King Character Development Spotlight
King must follow Cyclone, even though King was the original. As in, King was fundamentally formed any other character. That’s how I remember it, anyway. But any way you cut it, King’s been with me a long, long time. Before there was my world, there were stories with King, or this King of Yore if you will.
King of Yore
This extremely proto version of King, as I recall, traveled with like this gruff adventurer guy and with his two warriors. I felt like even then he was the Last of a race.
King’s aesthetic and his ship was/is based on the LEGO Insectoid series, as LEGO was where things began.
King…as More Like King
As in, King as we see him in The Creation and other stories of that era. I think King of Yore was semi-canonical in my mind then, but to be honest, King of Yore was done super early in my life so my memory is very hazy over what actually happened then and how much I sort of consciously spilled over to this era (which was also early in my life).
This King has some dry wit personality to him, a bit exasperated, and still has his warriors so far until they were retconned. And, of course, he went on adventures with the Trinity and the One and slowly his backstory was fleshed out.
Including, well…the Malnoren bit.
Malnoren
The Malnoren/reincarnation aspect to his character is so fundamental to him and yet, probably a bizarre turn, if we’re like looking at it from … purely plot and rational story telling perspective. I say bizarre because King has a lot going on even without that. He’s special because he’s the Last Flana, an actual King, and he’s a member of the Trinity and the One.
Then you add in the Malnoren thing and it’s so busy…but it’s essential to him.
And it’s been a part of him for a long while.
I think it started as like this spirit or force from him and then it became soon clear what Malnoren was in relation to him. I am pretty sure that Malnoren came before the Great Fallen Angels proper as a result (that’s a whole other post, I think).
Why this is… I can’t say WHY I chose this…particular trait to give to him, but it is what it is. And it’s critical. It’s why he’s withdrawn, why he’s cagey about letting people in, why he’s OK with throwing himself into a crazy quest to provide maybe a little bit of value to the race he was ‘barely’ a coherent member of. He’s 100% self-aware of his future and his existence, but…doesn’t necessarily let it weigh him down every moment, but it does control his future.
Up until a point.
King Growing into Himself
That’s where he begins: Last of Flana, Malnoren Incarnate, a Shade, on some journey to make the most out of it all.
And then he learns that making the most out of it all is way more than he expected. He’s more than all of that, and yet all of it. All of his parts he thought he knew and more. And each book, each step of the journey, gives him that insight. I feel like, in terms of critical character growth per book, King is #1. Balon maybe #2, but she’s been in less books. But seriously, especially in 1-4, King is a big driver emotionally/personally. He always has something stewing with himself, or something thrown at him to stew upon. Reflection, progress, whatever.
He’s cooled off, towards the end, but…well, there’s the relationship side that picks up for him…
King and Cyclone
I didn’t talk about their relationship in Cyclone’s post and here is more apt anyway.
King and Cyclone. What a pair. They’ve always been inter-tangled and so close. At some point I realized that like…they are together romantically. Or would be.
Originally, the slow burn of their relationship took decades to resolve. As in, decades in-verse.
That was my plan…but when writing the series proper, being in the weeds of it, it didn’t seem like that was going to happen. Like I couldn’t stretch it that long. They were just coming together so beautifully, at the pace they chose. I couldn’t deny them their just resolution and coming together in the finale of the ten book arc. So in Emerald Haze, I effectively committed to it with their flirtation/promise scene and all that stuff that had been simmering. Then in Amethyst Shards there was the execution of it.
I’m pleased with it all. I’m pleased that they hooked up at the end of the ten book arc rather than dragging it out for much longer. It feels really good.
They are so good for each other. There’s so many great moments with them throughout the series. Ones that linger in my mind. The burn of it, well, still burns within me.
But now that they are together, proper, it’s going to be fun writing them as a couple rather than the tease of it. New memories of new experiences.
King Malnoren Cyclone Fla’neiel
Four out of five, pretty crazy, right? But don’t be worried. King may have more names of himself, may understand himself more, but he isn’t done at all or at risk for Dialona. So don’t worry about that haha.
But let’s appreciate, like where King started. King Fla’neiel, Fla’neiel, the Last Flana…to King Malnoren Fla’neiel. King. Malnoren. Fla’neiel. With Cyclone.
It’s just staggering how far he’s come. It’s like you start with someone who doesn’t think they have any worth besides doing something honorable, who doesn’t think they’ll even exist soon, and then you slowly give him reasons to keep on…and choose existence. And love it and thrive in it. Every arc of his has him being further pulled out of his dark place and actualizing further.
It’s awesome and kind of emotional to think about since, yeah, I said Cyclone was super critical for development of everything, but KING’s development, like his actual character growth, is like the heart of so much of the series and certain arcs. It’s his being that actually concretely drove the series itself and pushed things on. King starts the series. It’s his story that starts us off. He has a special place for that alone too.
So.
We wouldn’t be here without Cyclone, but here wouldn’t look like anything like it is without King.
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