The characters of King's Ascent. Due to the nature of the game, spoilers are unmarked.
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The King
I'm sorry! It had to be done, for the kingdom!
The title character. Once a lord who served the tyrant king of old, he rose up against him and freed the people. He then did various good deeds for the people. However, those deeds came at the cost of others, and now his victims have returned, out for blood.
- Abdicate the Throne: At the end of the game, he decides that he has had enough of hurting his friends and allies just to please the unpleasable peasantry, and so gives up the throne to become a farmer.
- The Good King: He tries to be this, but finds himself doing morally questionable things to please his people.
- Heel Realization: Alabaster and Dravious's plan is to induce this in the king by forcing him to literally face his failures. In the end, he instead resigns as he is tired of being forced to try to please everyone.
- Totalitarian Utilitarian: He wanted to please his people and be a good king, and to achieve that he is willing to steal a dragon's home for farmland, drain a town of it's water, and sacrifice men as a diversion for an invading kingdom.
- Villain Protagonist: Downplayed as he is a Well-Intentioned Extremist who, in the backstory, was willing to go to any lengths possible to help his people prosper, even if it meant backstabbing his closest allies. The story is him fighting against the people who have been hurt by his decisions.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He does things like steal the home of a dragon who protected him, drain a town's water, and sacrifice men as a diversionary tactic to win a war, but he does it all for the sake of his kingdom.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Every character in the game, even the Big Bad Tyrant, calls him out on backstabbing his allies and destroying people's lives to serve the peasantry.
The Dragon
You took my land... reduced me to a thief. Then killed me for trying to survive.
A beast who rampaged in the kingdom, eating livestock. She was once a loyal defender of the king, but when he took away her home to use it as farmland, she grew furious and sought revenge. Long after the king killed her, she came back as a dracolich, revived by Alabaster.
- Delightful Dragon: Used to be this, as she protected the king's land. Then the king took her home to use as farmland and she turned on him.
- Dragons Are Demonic: The intro portrays her in this light, as a Saint George and the Dragon-esque being that ate livestock and terrorized the peasantry. Subverted when we learn her backstory and that she used to be good until the king betrayed her to take her land.
- Dracolich: After being revived by Alabaster, she becomes this.
- Fallen Hero: Was once a defender of the kingdom, but when the king stole her land to use as farmland, she sought revenge and became a livestock-eating menace to the peasantry.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Her eating livestock and attacking anyone who tried to stop her was actually this, rather than just a dragon being a dragon. The king stole her home to use as farmland, so she turned on him and his people.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: She was loyal to the king- only after he took her home and converted it into farmland did she turn against him and start rampaging in the kingdom.
Alabaster
Do you remember why you built this castle? Do you remember how you stopped the drought? Do you remember where the water came from? Did you remember that everyone in that town had to leave? Did you remember that it was my home?! Because now I can do something about it.
The king's court mage. She lived in the town that the king rerouted water from, resulting in everyone having to leave. For this reason, she seeks revenge on the king.
- Anti-Villain: She is the one reviving the monsters to take revenge on the king because he destroyed her town by stealing its water. Despite this, when the king finally does Abdicate the Throne, she refuses to take his place, knowing that she is too consumed by revenge to be a good ruler.
- Co-Dragons: She and Dravious are working for the Tyrant.
- Evil Sorceress: Downplayed as while she is an antagonist, she is an Anti-Villain seeking revenge on the king for depriving her home of its water.
- The Heavy: She is the one reviving the monsters that serve as the bosses, despite working for the Tyrant.
- Meaningful Name: Alabaster the sorceress has pale white skin.
- White Hair, Black Heart: Downplayed as she is an Anti-Villain seeking revenge on the king for her destroyed village.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: After the king drained her town of water, resulting in it becoming inhospitable and abandoned, she sought revenge on him.
Dravious
You didn't protect those men. You didn't protect my son.
The king's general. His son was among those who died in the diversionary attack on the invading kingdom, and he too seeks revenge.
- A Father to His Men: He dearly loved his men. One of them was literally his son. He loved them so much that when the king sacrificed them as a diversion against an invading kingdom without thinking of any other plans, he tyurned against the king.
- Co-Dragons: He and Alabaster are working for the Tyrant.
- Love Makes You Evil: His reason for turning against the king was that the king sacrificed Dravious' men, including his son, to win a war against an invading kingdom.
The Fish Monster
A creature created by Alabaster to chase down the king, and the second boss of the game. It lived in the river that the king drained.
- Generic Doomsday Villain: Unlike the others, it doesn't speak and is just a mindless fish controlled by Alabaster.
- Sea Monster: A giant fish with sharp teeth.
The Regiment
The soldiers that the king sent to sacrifice themselves as a diversion so the invading kingdom could be defeated. Alabaster revives them into a monster, and they serve as the third and penultimate boss.
- Body of Bodies: It is a giant mound made up of the soldiers who were killed by the invading army.
- Dem Bones: Two skeletons are sticking out of it.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: They were sacrificed by the king as a diversion to defeat an invading army, and were brought back by Alabaster as revenge.
The Tyrant
I was the ruler of the country. It was my right to do with it as I saw fit.
The prior king who ruled over the land. He oppressed the citizens and had slaves tend to his every need. Eventually, he was overthrown by the new king, and killed. But he has returned and seeks to regain his throne, masterminding the conspiracy to overthrow the king.
- At Least I Admit It: He claims that he's better than the king because he was satisfied with being a monster, whereas the king claims to be a hero.King: You were a monster!
Tyrant: Of course I was, and I was content. You waste so much time trying to make yourself FEEL good about the things that you do.
King: I tried to make good decisions.
Tyrant: You always talk about trying to make the right decisions, after you've already made the wrong ones. - Big Bad: As the one behind the conspiracy to dethrone the king so he can regain his power.
- Card-Carrying Villain: He proudly admits he was a monster and that he was 'content' with it.
- Eviler than Thou: As bad as the king was, he was trying to satisfy the demands of his people, and most of his enemies were people hurt by him who had understandable motives. The Tyrant, on the other hand, is a Card-Carrying Villain who masterminded everything so he could rule again.
- Giant Hands of Doom: He has two giant, floating hands in his boss form.
- Might Makes Right: He claims that, as the king of the land, he had the right to do whatever he wanted, including oppress his people.
- One-Winged Angel: An odd example in that this form is the only one the player fights. After his death, he returns as a giant, gray, floating torso with a Skull for a Head and Giant Hands of Doom.
- Skull for a Head: In his One-Winged Angel form, he has a giant skull head.
