RED KING

Real Name: Alan Wilson

Identity/Class: Human (British)

Occupation: Hellfire Club member (see comments)

Group Membership: Hellfire Club (London branch) (Black Bishop/Brian Braddock, Black King/Quentin Templeton, Black Queen/Emma Steed, Red Bishop/Conrad Strathdee, Red Queen/Margali Szardos, Red Rook/Scribe/Jane Hampshire)

Affiliations: Black Air (Michele Scicluna, Threadgold, others)

Enemies: Excalibur (Meggan, Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde, Wolfsbane/Rahne Sinclair)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Man"

Base of Operations: The Hellfire Club, London, England

First Appearance: Excalibur I#96 (April, 1996)

Powers/Abilities: The Red King did not display any superhuman powers though he was an accomplished swordsman, always carrying a sword in case he needed to use it.

Height: 5'8" (by approximation)
Weight: 148 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black (graying)

History: (Excalibur I#99 (fb) - BTS) - Alan Wilson was often a cautious man.

(Excalibur I#100 (fb) - BTS) - Wilson eventually became rich and powerful.

(Excalibur I#96 (fb) - BTS) - After joining the Hellfire Club and becoming their Red King, Wilson was part of a complex plan alongside the rest of the London Hellfire Club involving the Black Air organization and their Dream Nails facility.

(Excalibur I#99 (fb) - BTS) - Claiming he had changed his cautious nature, the Red King began pushing the Hellfire Club to move faster with their plans with Black Air.

(Excalibur I#96 (fb) - BTS) - When a man named Culley escaped Dream Nails, the Red King was apparently prevented from acting by the Hellfire Club's Black King, an act which allowed Dream Nails' secret alien experiments to be publicly discovered. The Red King felt as if he had been free to act, the public exposure of Dream Nails would not have occurred.

(Excalibur I#96) - The London branch of the Hellfire Club held a meeting to discuss the Dream Nails debacle and the Black King suggested that Red King's haste in such a complex plan would break apart the Hellfire Club. The Red King replied that if he had been free to act, Dream Nails' alien experiments would have remained secret. As the discussion continued, the Red King admitted that he had not counted on former government agent Pete Wisdom having a conscience, remarking that Wisdom had killed more men that the Red King himself had ever met. Black King reminded the Red King that Wisdom's newfound altruism was not the point and announced that the final part of the Hellfire Club's plan was delicate and that moving at speed could tear apart everything they had built. The Black King then ordered the Red King to communicate his wishes to the Red King's contact within the Black Air organization. The Red King then turned to Scribe, his Red Rook, and asked if she had recorded the Black King's wishes and, after Scribe announced that she recorded all, the Red King drew his sword and proclaimed that he would have hated to make his point more forcefully.

(Excalibur I#97) - The Red King was meeting with the rest of the London Hellfire Club when Brian Braddock arrived to petition for a place in the club as one of its bishops. The Red King then witnessed the Hellfire Club's Red Bishop challenge Braddock to duel for the position of sole bishop but Braddock swatted the Red Bishop aside, earning his place as the Club's Black Bishop.

(Excalibur I#98 (fb) - BTS) - The Red Rook/Scribe noticed that the Red King was not acting like the man he once was.

(Excalibur I#99 (fb) - BTS) - The Red King arranged to have Black Air acquire the head of the Excalibur's techno-organic member Douglock for use in the Hellfire Club's project.

(Excalibur I#98 - BTS) - Worried about the Hellfire Club's plans and how they would affect her family in London, Scribe confessed to Brian Braddock about the Red King's recent personality changes and how Braddock should find a way to stop the Hellfire Club from going through with their plans. Suspecting the Red King's personality changes were due to him being the extradimensional Mountjoy, whom he had infiltrated the Hellfire Club to locate, Braddock asked Scribe to slow down and describe the Club's plans to him.

(Excalibur I#98 - BTS/Excalibur I#99 (fb) - BTS) - Despite consent between the Black and Red factions of the Hellfire Club to work together on the project with Black Air, the Red King and Red Queen decided to test the project without the other Inner Circle members' knowledge.

(Excalibur I#99) - When the Red King's testing of the project came to light, an emergency session of the Hellfire Club was called to order and the Black King berated the Red King for testing the project without informing the others. The Red King claimed that it was necessary to test the project and that he did not have time to check every bar in London for the Black King. As the Black King responded by warning that he had men hung up by their entrails for such accusations, the Red King remarked that the Black King could stop his posturing and informed the Black King that it was absolutely necessary to test the project's efficacy. He then admitted that the tests had shown that the project's computer link was working and that their weapon, computer-guided hellfire, was ready. The Red King suggested the Hellfire Club travel to the project site to see the complete new development the Red King had arranged. Traveling to Black Air's Blackwall headquarters, the Red King and the rest of the London Hellfire Club were greeted by Black Air's Michele Scicluna and Threadgold and invited to enter the Blackwall's Necromanteion area. Once inside, the Red King explained that he had come up with the title of Necromanteion, as it meant a magician's workplace and seemed apt since their project would utilize magic. He then led the Hellfire Club to a covered area and revealed that their earlier radio link to the power source on their project was workable but impure, limited by the amount of energy they could transfer. The Red King followed by removing the covering to reveal the severed head of Douglock and explained how Black Air had acquired a physical link for their power source in the form of the techno-organic Douglock. Further explaining how Douglock could process energy at the speed of thought, the Red King explained how Douglock had been connected to their power source and an interface created from discarded shards of a trident thought to belong to the son of the devil himself. The next morning, the Red Queen seduced the Red King, who made fumbling attempts to dissuade the Red Queen. The Red Queen whispered into the Red King's ear, asking if he would die for her love, before ordering the Red King to bar the door, warning that if he failed, he would never see her again. Affected by the Red Queen's magic, the Red King did as ordered and the Red Queen connected herself with Douglock to begin the project, causing fire to erupt across London as a giant demon emerged from the ground.

(Excalibur I#100) - Still under the thrall of the Red Queen, the Red King, frozen where he stood by the Red Queen's spell, witnessed the possessed Red Queen holding the head of Douglock as chaos enveloped London. When Excalibur invaded the Blackwall to stop the Hellfire Club's demonic plans, the Red King blocked their way into the room housing the Red Queen, claiming that what was inside was his alone and warning that if they attempted to trespass, he would kill them. Ordering Kitty Pryde to phase herself and Wolfsbane into the room, Nightcrawler decided to remain behind to swordfight the Red King. Nightcrawler easily dodged the Red King's attacks and admitted that he did not wish to hurt the Red King but the Red King proclaimed that he was rich, powerful and in love and that he would destroy Nightcrawler. The enthralled Red King continued to savagely attack Nightcrawler, who continued to easily dodge the Red King, asking why love made the Red King want to kill others. Punching the Red King with the hilt of his sword, Nightcrawler replied that it was brain damage, rather than love, that made the Red King want to kill, further commenting that some days, there wasn't much of a difference between the two feelings. Nightcrawler then teleported away, leaving the Red King behind as he regrouped Excalibur to stop the demon beneath London.

Comments: Created by Warren Ellis, Carlos Pacheco and Bob Wiacek.

Alan Wilson's actual occupation was never revealed, as most of his time seemed to be taken up by his actions with the Hellfire Club. He did mention being rich and powerful so he presumably had some sort of occupation but it's also possible he was born into wealth and never had to work in his life...

The Red King's real name was first revealed in the modern (post-2000) Hellfire Club Marvel Handbook entry.
Alan Templeton and Quentin Wilson were two of my friends at school, hence the mix-and-match real names. - Loki

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Red King has no known connections to:

images: (without ads)
Excalibur I#99, p10, pan1 (Red King, standing, main image)
Excalibur I#96, p8, pan1 (Red King, headshot)
Excalibur I#97, p14, pan1 (Red King with back turned, standing)

Appearances:
Excalibur I#96 (April, 1996) - Warren Ellis (writer), Carlos Pacheco (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Suzanne Gaffney (editor)
Excalibur I#97 (May, 1996) - Warren Ellis (writer), Casey Jones (pencils), Tom Simmons (inks), Suzanne Gaffney (editor)
Excalibur I#98 (June, 1996) - Warren Ellis (writer), Carlos Pacheco (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Suzanne Gaffney (editor)
Excalibur I#99 (July, 1996) - Warren Ellis (writer), Casey Jones (pencils), Tom Simmons (inks), Suzanne Gaffney (editor)
Excalibur I#100 (August, 1996) - Warren Ellis (writer), Casey Jones, Randy Green (pencils), Rob Haynes (pencils, inks), Tom Simmons, Jason Martin, Rick Ketcham (inks), Suzanne Gaffney (editor)

First Posted: 04/02/2019
Last updated: 04/02/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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