Line #10 Main/RatKing


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3	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
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5	%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1478753749097679900
6	%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.
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8	[[quoteright:299:[[Literature/TheNutcracker https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_nutcracker_and_the_mouse_king_by_blavatskaya_d5ol7lo.png]]]]
9	[[caption-width-right:299:[[WebVideo/RatMovieMysteryOfTheMayanTreasure ♫ I'm the giant rat that makes all of the rules! ♫]]\
10	[-[[https://blavatskaya.deviantart.com/art/The-Nutcracker-and-the-Mouse-King-343631292 Image]] by [[https://blavatskaya.deviantart.com/ Blavatskaya.]]-]]]
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12	-> ''"Through your eyes, brothers, I finally see the world for what it really is. This city is infested. Eight million parasites, scrambling around in their pointless lives, spreading disease, forcing us to live in the shadows, like vermin. No more! They are the true plague. Together, we shall rid this city of humanity, and reclaim it for ourselves."''
13	-->-- '''The Rat King''', ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'', "[[Recap/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012S1E13IMonster I, Monster]]"
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15	Because rats are social, have long tails, and happily live in dirty environments, they occasionally [[TheWormThatWalks get stuck together]]. In particular, their tails can become tangled, and they're unable to separate themselves once this happens--though they usually groom themselves well enough to keep this from happening in the first place, making the phenomenon thankfully rare. As rare as it may be, though, it's spectacular enough that humans--long-time unwilling companions of ratkind--have noticed these unfortunate entities and ascribed them with special properties. Details vary by region, but generally they're held to be omens of plague and other rat-based calamities.
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17	Rat kings in fiction tend to have [[ResourcefulRodent greater than typical intelligence, even on par with a human being]], and the right to command other rats, be it through some conferred rat respect or overt psychic control, potentially turning a dissociated nuisance into a [[SwarmOfRats swarming wave of diseased, omnivorous devastation]]. They may be viewed as the manifestation of a rat HiveMind, the rodent equivalent of a HiveQueen. Storytellers who either haven't done the research or don't like the "several rats conjoined by their tails" image may instead depict Rat Kings as [[VisualPun royalty]] of some sort, typically RodentsOfUnusualSize or anthropomorphic RatMen imbued with greater intelligence and rule over other rats.
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19	Note that some {{Pest Controller}}s control rats. In order to count as Rat Kings, they must be rats themselves, or at least very rat-like. Wearing a rat costume doesn't count.
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21	Not to be confused with the book by [[Literature/AsianSaga James Clavell]] or the one by [[Literature/KingRat China Miéville]].
22	----
23	!Examples:
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25	[[foldercontrol]]
26
27	[[folder:Comic Books]]
28	* ''ComicBook/TheBalladOfHaloJones'': While working on a star liner, Halo discovers that the hidden guest in the Presidential suite is a Rat King, but that one of the linked rats is dying. She's tasked with finding a replacement rat before its HiveMind falls apart - and does so, saving its life. Much later, it's revealed that this was a [[spoiler:NiceJobBreakingItHero scenario - the Rat King was used to coordinate a 'Ratwar' for Earth's military, murdering an entire world with targeted plagues]].
29	* ''ComicBook/BeastsOfBurden'': A Rat King is the BigBad of "Something Whiskered This Way Comes", leading a massive colony of rats in the sewers beneath the town. and plotting to [[spoiler:overthrow mankind with the help of a powerful supernatural entity.]]
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	%%[[folder: Fan Works]]
33	%%* ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': {{Invoked\|Trope}} when Ami starts using trained rats to perform menial tasks.%%Quotes aren't context.
34	%%-->'''Cathy''': ''"Brr, rats. I find them gross. Oh well. If they can do part of my work, I will put up with a horde of rats bustling about the dungeon. However, I see a minor problem."''\
35	%%'''Mercury''': ''"Yes?"''\
36	%%'''Cathy''': ''"[[ConversationalTroping All hail the Queen of Rats!]]"''
37	%%[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Literature]]
40	* ''Literature/TheAmazingMauriceAndHisEducatedRodents'' has one as its ultimate villain. Spider, so-called because it's made from eight young rats (eight being a number of great occult significance on the Discworld), has psychic powers so potent it can not only control rats and see anything they can see, but also influence human behavior. It can even strip away the magical awareness given to the protagonist rats and cat, making them ordinary creatures. Horribly, making a Rat King is part of the qualification for mastery in the Ratcatchers Guild, suggesting that there are many of these things across the Disc. It's specifically noted that the notion of Rat Kings being formed naturally is complete bullshit, as baby rats have very short tails and the mothers will keep their nests as clean as possible, and the myth that they get tangled together in filth is something invented to hide the fact that it's humans tying them together.
41	* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': Invoked by David. When he [[TheBusCameBack reappears]] twenty-odd books after being [[ShapeshifterModeLock trapped as a rat]] and left on an island, he claims that rats see him as a natural leader and obey him, and that he has armies billions strong. Rachel is skeptical and soon says that that's not possible, rats are not like that and he can't communicate with them that way and something else is going on. She's right.
42	* ''Beyond Literature/TheSpiderwickChronicles'': The idea of a rat king is discussed when the protagonists find three salamander-like baby dragons with their tails fused together. It's later discovered that the dragons [[spoiler:are merging together into a massive Wyrm King, i.e., a hydra]].
43	%%* ''Literature/{{It}}'':%%Quotes aren't context.
44	%%-->"A litter. Biggest litter I ever saw...''anyone'' ever saw, probably...Their ''tails''...they were all tangled up, Bill. Knotted together. Like snakes."
45	* ''Literature/LeftHandMagic'': A supernatural [[SwarmOfRats conglomeration of twelve New York street rats]] tries to eat the heroine's puppy. [[spoiler:Luckily, her witchy boyfriend's {{familiar}} instead [[AlwaysABiggerFish ends up eating the rat king]].]]
46	* ''Literature/{{Mouseheart}}'': Emperor Titus is the ruler of Atlantia, a kingdom of rats that live in the subway stations of Brooklyn. He's later succeeded by his son Zucker.
47	* ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'': The nations of London Below include a highly regarded class of humans called Rat Speakers, who carry out the orders of the rats, who themselves are ruled with absolute authority by an entity described only as "the Golden".
48	* ''Literature/TheNutcracker'': The Mouse King has seven heads, which suggests that it might have been inspired by stories of Rat Kings. He's changed to the Rat King in many adaptations, since [[YouDirtyRat rats]] are seen as more villainous than [[NiceMice mice]].
49	* ''Literature/TheRats'': The alpha of the killer rats stalking London is a white, hairless and obese rat with two heads.
50	* ''[[Creator/MaryGentle Rats and Gargoyles]]'': The eponymous {{Rat\|Men}}s are ruled by groups of nine of their number with [[BodyHorror their tails deliberately fused together]].
51	* ''Literature/{{Triss}}'' features a variant using ''vipers'' instead of rats. A trio of newborn adders got their tails ensnared in the chain of a flail used by an enemy who'd killed their mother and, having no hands, couldn't untangle themselves.
52	* ''Literature/TheWarForTheLot'': The primary antagonist(s) is/are a blind, psychic HiveMind rat-king.
53	* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': In ''Firestar's Quest'', [=SkyClan=] is threatened to be wiped out by a swarm of rats. Firestar realizes that the rats have a leader, which is more intelligent than the others: it is able to speak Cat, and give commands to all the other rats. Once he [[spoiler:kills the leader, the rest of [[KeystoneArmy the rats have nothing to command them, and they scatter]]]].
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
57	* ''Film/TheNutcrackerIn3D'': The film's villains are anthropomorphic rats donning Nazi-like attire and aesthetics, and ruled by a Rat King (who just goes by the name "Rat King", apparently), hoping to take over the world after being shunned to the sewers and forced out of the sunlight for so long. The Rat King is an eccentric character who dances to jazz music while children's toys are burned in a massive crematorium, rides a "rat bike" equipped with machine guns, and can shoot out his teeth at will, usually when agitated or angry, creating quite a terrifying effect.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
61	* ''Series/{{QI}}'': Discussed alongside the concept of Squirrel Kings. Jeremy Clarkson finds the idea hysterical, in light of the damage grey squirrels have done to British woodlands, although he admits it's a bit sad that it usually happens to baby squirrels.
62	[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
65	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': In ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'', cranium rats function similarly to rat kings in that they become more intelligent and capable at higher population densities. Enough cranium rats crammed into a small space can rival the most intelligent beings in the multiverse, command other cranium rats to do their bidding, and host a variety of dangerous psychic powers.
66	* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' has emperor rats, also known as "rat-hydras". They come to be when multiple giant rats are [[BodyHorror fused into one creature]] by [[WildMagic Wyld energies]].
67	* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': The fourth Bestiary contains statistics for these, in the traditional "entangled tails" form. They're smarter than normal rats (although still quite dim by human standards) and can communicate with them. They also carry disease, and make the diseases carried by other rats harder to resist.
68	* ''TabletopGame/{{Malifaux}}'' features Rat Kings as part of Hamelin the piper's crew. A large mass of rats (who aren't physically connected to each other) bound in what looks like it was once a sack. The mass combined with the bag ends up looking like a humanoid figure in a hooded robe and can even pass for a human in the right shadow and from a distance.
69	* In the ''Realms of Pugmire'', rodents use the title "Rat King" [[spoiler: for any leader of a group of rodents, independent of their gender, status, alignment, or whether they’re a rat or mouse. In truth, no Rat King is true nobility, because unlike dogs and cats, there isn’t a centralized government for rodents since they don’t have their own lands]]. ''TabletopGame/MonarchiesOfMau'' has an add-on story "All Hail The Rat King!", which has [[spoiler: three of them, Luka, Meeka and Kola, each of which uses their own methods to try fighting against the discrimination rodents face]].
70	* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': Skreech Verminking, a Verminlord -- a powerful Daemon of the Great Horned Rat, sent to act as a divine ruler for the Skaven RatMen -- was created when the god took the members of the Council of Thirteen who rule over the Skaven and fused and molded them into a single powerful being.
71	* ''TabletopGame/{{Warpath}}'', among their rat-like Veer-Myn, have the Tangle. A mass of undersized Veer-Myn infants born with their tails bound together, who are revered by their species and typically possess powerful psychic abilities. Though they're feared by the Veer-Myn as much as they are revered because they can just as likely bring and end to their nest.
72	[[/folder]]
73
74	[[folder:Video Games]]
75	* ''VideoGame/ArmoryAndMachine's'' boss of the second area is the Rat King. He sports Royal Decree, an ''extremely powerful'' attack among other weaker ones. Similar to the rat mooks in the area, their deadly attack ''must'' be interrupted or the fight will almost certainly end in your defeat.
76	* ''VideoGame/{{Cataclysm}}: Dark Days Ahead'' has Rat Kings as enemies in caves. They can inflict the player with a disease called "Ratting" which reduces stats, can cause vomiting, or, in especially bad cases, cause the player to mutate slowly into a rat.
77	* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'': A large hyper-intelligent rat actually goes by "the Rat King" moniker, commanding all other rats in the game. You can actually join the Rat King's Covenant -- while he bemoans your un-rat-ness, he magnanimously allows you to serve him for some nifty multiplayer perks.
78	* ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' has the Mauswheel, three Maice (computer mouse-like enemies) bound by their tails into not just a clump, but a super-speedy ''[[RollingAttack wheel.]]'' It serves as a MiniBoss in Queen's mansion, with Kris and co. having to dispose of it because it's [[EekAMouse scaring]] the Swatchlings running the kitchen.
79	* ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' goes for a very unusual take: Rat Kings are large, bipedal rodent-like monsters that carry their young within the swollen flesh on their backs, and can summon said young to attack the player.
80	%%* ''VideoGame/Fallout2'' has "Keeng Ra'at", who has an army of rats to do his bidding.%%Ruling vermin isn't enough to make an example by itself. Is he also a rat?
81	* ''VideoGame/LittleKingsStory'': [[FinalBoss The Rat King]] leads a group consisting of himself and three other rats. It and its followers symbolize the HorsemenOfTheApocalypse, with the Rat King symbolizing Death.
82	* ''VideoGame/{{Lunacid}}'': These are one of the enemies encountered in the Fetid Mire's sewers, though they're just mundane rats stuck together. There are also Rat Queens, [[RodentOfUnusualSize dog-sized rats]] [[BodyOfBodies with multiple smaller rats seemingly growing out of their bodies]].
83	* ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'': Going by the description of Alolan Rattata, it seems as though Alolan Raticate are this. Alolan Raticate also serves as a Totem Pokémon boss in ''Pokémon Moon'' and summons Alolan Rattata to assist it in battle.
84	* ''VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns'': In the Hong Kong campaign, Gobbet's (a shaman with a rat totem) loyalty mission involves returning to collective she used to live in, in order to confront an old friend (another rat shaman) who's gone [[DrunkOnTheDarkSide toxic]] and started ruling with an iron fist after acquiring a [[UpgradeArtifact fetish]] (no, not that sort).
85	* ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight: King of Cards'', which has kinghood as a recurring motif, features an enemy called the Rat King, appearing as a Propeller Rat with a bunch of other rats clustered around it. Every time you attack it, a rat will fall off. Attack enough times, and it will revert to an ordinary Propeller Rat.
86	* ''VideoGame/{{TinkerQuarry}}'': The rats in the Dollhouse are ruled by the Rat King, a massive, three-headed, albino rat that serves as one of the last few bosses of the game.
87	[[/folder]]
88
89	[[folder:Webcomics]]
90	* ''Webcomic/SleeplessDomain'': The monster that tries to break into the hospital in Chapter 20 is a large rodent-esque monster themed around a rat king. It appears to be a constantly shifting amalgamation of shadowy purple rats, with heads, limbs, and tails all emerging and disappearing from the mass as if trying to escape.
91	* ''Webcomic/{{Snarlbear}}'': The rat queen is a huge rat joined to many smaller rats.
92	* ''Webcomic/TalesOfTheQuestor'': A mad biomancer created a rat king that could create wights, living shadows that feed on magic, which were shaped like rats.
93	[[/folder]]
94
95	[[folder:Web Original]]
96	* ''WebVideo/RatMovieMysteryOfTheMayanTreasure'': The rats are lead by "the giant rat that makes all of the rules". If the Giant Rat dies, another one grows in size and becomes the new leader.
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:Western Animation]]
100	* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': The Rat King in "[[Recap/AdventureTimeS6E11LittleBrother Little Brother]]" is the king of all rats, being a normal-sized rat with a crown and a cape [[TheWormThatWalks hiding a legion of rats making him look taller]].
101	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' has Patrick Poundstone aka [[http://dcanimated.wikia.com/wiki/Ratboy Ratboy]] from "[[Recap/BatmanBeyondS2E9Rats Rats]]", who can control the giant rats that live below Gotham. He is a StalkerWithACrush to Dana Tan, Terry's LoveInterest and kidnaps her. When she rebuffs him, he orders his rats [[IfICantHaveYou to kill her]] but Batman manages to save her. [[spoiler:Other people were not so lucky.]]
102	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': An "undulating" rat king is listed among the reasons the Quahog Board of Health shut down a Medieval Times-esque restaurant.
103	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hilda}}'': The Rat King is a swarm of rats that move in a hulking mass and speak in unison. They know all secrets overheard by the rats of Trollberg and will happily [[KnowledgeBroker trade them for more]].
104	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'': There is a recurring antagonist named "the Rat King". He is a gigantic, muscle-bound lab rat in command of a gang of sewer rats.
105	* ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'': The Rat King tends to be depicted as having control over rats in some adaptations. In [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 the first cartoon]], he is initially capable of doing so via a flute ala ''Literature/ThePiedPiperOfHamelin'', and in later episodes he can do it psychically. In [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 the 2003]] and [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012 the 2012]] cartoons, he is able to do so mentally from the start.
106	[[/folder]]

Context Main / RatKing