My idea for a main antagonist

[thecouldvebeenking]

I decided for my most recent campaign that I wanted to make a villain who was established in the main universe, but undeveloped. After scanning for some potential villains, I settled on my namesake.

For those who don't know, the Could've Been King is one of the abominations created during the Time War which threatened to cross over in The End of Time. All canon has established is that he leads the Army of Meanwhiles and Neverweres, and is scary.

Here's my idea for the character. Please point out any mistakes, since my players are living encyclopedias of Whoniverse lore :

The King was once the ruler of a lush planet called Lorenia, which became a staging ground during the War. Because of the conflict throughout time, the fabric universe began to stretch around the planet. Both sides attempted to manipulate the King's past in order to favor their side, and the damage worsened around him. The Time Lords realized the universe was being warped around the planet and chose to test the improved De-Mat Gun (not yet The Moment) on the King, to erase him from history and reduce the damage (they were lazy).

The Gun malfunctioned. This, combined with the already strained space-time around the planet and the King specifically, erased the entire planet. The King, however, was ripped from reality and became a living paradox, a conscious wound in the fabric of Time.

He can only exist in areas of stretched or damaged space-time. However, when he is present, he is able to rip holes in reality, creating time spurs, summoning Reapers, etc. He is able to avoid these effects (ie. not get eaten by Reapers) due to existing independent of reality itself. This also grants him invulnerability to conventional weapons.

To explain, the universe insulates him from itself, due to how much damage he can cause. Usually, this means he can't exist, but when damage is already present he can slip through its defenses. This means, however, that matter does not interact with him, and so to him weapons don't exist.

This also allows him to summon beings who have also been removed from reality, by the Reapers or what have you. This is his army.

Feedback appreciated!

[misterharry]

Interesting idea. When the Could Have been King was mentioned by the Doctor, it sounded interesting but I've always thought that he would probably be best left as just a name. But these ideas are well suited to the concept of something out of the Time War.

I'd guess that the King himself would be a very powerful entity, so would your idea be that he's mainly encountered indirectly? I can see the players being trapped in distorted versions of reality or time loops and suchlike. But maybe save the Could Have Been King for the series finale?

[ugavine]

A very good and clever idea.

And thanks, because that is certainly something I can use in my adventures.

[thecouldvebeenking]

Yes, he would defiantly be encountered indirectly. The first encounter with him would be set up far in advance, like the Bad Wolf or Mr. Saxon, and he would serve as the main antagonist for a season and possibly even a campaign, since by his nature he could return again and again. In fact, I was thinking of structuring an arc around stopping him from entering the universe by repairing paradoxes.

A little bit more about him:

While The King cannot enter stable reality, the Meanwhiles and Neverweres can (since they are lesser paradoxes) if they catch a ride out of the Vortex or the Void. Once in reality, they slowly degrade it by their presence. They may not even be aware of their nature, since they were once normal beings and may continue to act as such, serving as sleeper agents to usher the King's coming. This could serve as an excellent intro to the King, encountering time damage from them. Of course, the Army can also recall their nature and become deadly foes. I am hoping that the new time travel supplement will create more paradox mechanics, since I was thinking of having them cause damage simply by warping spacetime itself.

Any suggestions on how to create mechanics like that while waiting for the supplement?

[zebaroth]

I think that is The no name king but could be wrong

[Craig Oxbrow]

No, it's the Couldhavebeen King.

Personally, I'd keep him(?) off camera, as the name and idea suggests such weird notions that any one appearance won't match everyone's ideas. If he did appear, I'd make him more nebulous, not give him a backstory - he is simply the king of thing which could have been, and different every time.

[da professor]

As well as king of a thing which could have been, he could be someone who could have been king but was killed/usurped/never born.
Perhaps he's a gestalt of all the above.

[monkeyprime]

They explored this sort of in the audio series with Charlie and the anti-time people. They were made of people the Celestrial Intervention Agency had removed from time, look for Neverland for the big confrontation. I like the use of the king as there is already an expectation of power there. Nice work!

[thecouldvebeenking]

@ Craig Oxbrow:

I wanted to give him a backstory to give him a motivation. I personnally prefer making villains who can be sympathized with and (at least partially) understood, even if in this case he wants to destroy reality in revenge.

@ da professor:

Sorry, I didn't explain correctly: that is exactly what he is. Due to the use of the De_mat gun, neither he nor his planet every existed, yet he continues to live.

The campaign has started now; I think I'm going to keep him offscreen, as it were, for most of the season, let the players wonder what is going on and build suspense