Gareth Ragnar Haddock the Second, King of the Wilderwest and the Grounded Dungeon, O Hear His Name and Tremble, UGH UGH! is the leader of the Grounded Dungeon Rebellion.
Appearance[]
Thirty-one-year old Haddock is just over six feet tall, lanky, lean, and fit, with broad shoulders. He has a mop of chocolate brown hair which tickles the nape of his neck in the back. He also has a short-cropped scruffy beard covering an angular, somewhat chiseled chin and high cheekbones. Haddock's eyes are hazel-green, though when he wears green clothing, they appear far brighter.
King Haddock [by kingofthewilderwest]
Haddock wears fine clothing fit for his status, usually donning a finely embroidered high-collared long sleeved shirt and a long cape. He tends to wear thick, tall, furry boots, a thick belt with an extravagantly designed buckle, and tight pants. Invariably, though, the king will always carry his sword Endeavor at his right hip. His wife has even complained he would wear the sword in his sleep without her intervention.
Haddock walks straight-backed but with a slight limp because of an old war injury on his left leg from when he was a Captain of the Wilderwest Guard. He also receives an injury to his right left halfway through Season 1, causing him to walk on crutches for the rest of Season 1 and all of Season 2.
At the end of Season 3, Haddock is branded with the s-shaped Slavemark on his right temple below the hair line. He attempts to hide it with the combination of his long hair and the placement of the royal circlet on his brow.
During the last ten years of his life, Haddock grows his hair down to his shoulders and thickens his beard. Haddock's hair begins graying early in his mid-thirties, starting first with his beard and the front of his head. By the age of fifty, he has far more gray than brown, and when he dies at fifty-six, his head is almost completely gray.
Unbeknownst to most individuals, the king has a small monochromatic tattoo of a raven in flight on the back of his right shoulder. The raven has its wings unfurled and is pointing its beak toward the right.
Personality[]
Haddock is formal, stoic, easily angered, impulsive, and extraordinarily protective. The younger he is, the more fiery, temperamental, and unrestrained he acts. After the age of thirty-two, Haddock begins mellowing out and relaxing, although his proud, defiant core remains the same.
Haddock finds nothing more important than living by personal honor. He acts with the utmost dignity, quelling his personal emotions and interacting with others as formally as possible, believing that keeping this demeanor amplifies a respectable kingly presence. Thus, Haddock's diction can at times be rather stiff, rarely if ever straying into the vernacular. He tends not to interact in lighthearted events, but rather finds great distaste with simple recreation. He is most likely to respond indignantly to practical jokes or joyful singing rather than join the fun; indeed, it seems as though the only off-time activities he can enjoy and participate in are sparring and spending time with family.
Haddock's desire to be honorable arises from an internal insecurity which first budded in his childhood. His father's constant disappointment in his son - and especially his banishment of Gareth when he was eighteen years old - has led Haddock to believe that he will always fall short of his father's greatness. He takes his duties as king extraordinarily seriously in hopes he can measure up to even a fracture of his father's regal disposition. This desire to be honorable also makes him act rather stiffly and pretentiously, even towards his own friends in private.
Closely correlated to Haddock's honor-centric goals, the young king holds to an incredibly strict code of morals. Highly utilitarian in practice, Haddock will do anything - everything from extreme, highly questionable acts like torture to humble self-sacrifice - in order to reach what he considers the proper moral end. Nevertheless, Haddock's fervent moral code frequently collides with others, igniting his infamously short, passionate, and impulsive temper. Haddock frequently makes brash and dangerous decisions when angered. The most common reason his temper is ignited is when a subject under his care is threatened.
King Haddock of the Wilderwest [by akkeyroomi].
Abilities[]
Leadership An incredibly dedicated leader, Haddock focuses enormous efforts on ruling keenly, demonstrating kindness to his subjects, and giving his people something to which to aspire. Haddock can speak very inspirationally, and though he has made more than his fair share of hot-tempered mistakes to land him many enemies, the king's dedication to his cause overall makes him a very strong, charismatic, and respected monarch.
Fencing Haddock is an enormous capable sword fighter, one of the single best Viking fencers nation-wide and onward. He can quickly gauge an opponent's weaknesses and use those to his advantage to quickly disarm and best the other fighter. This is his weapon of choice; while Haddock does know archery, wrestling, and the basics of fighting with most other weapons, it is on the sword alone that he truly demonstrates his fighting abilities.
Music While Haddock loathes either participating in or listening to singing, he is somewhat musically adept in instrumental performance. Growing up, Haddock was taught how to play the recorder, harp, and lyre. He is the most proficient at the harp, though he will never admit he actually enjoys playing it, and consequently will only demonstrate his musical aptitude after great cajolement. When he does play, though, it is beautiful, quiet, delicate melodies he prefers.
Speaking Communication is both a major strength and a major weakness for the king. Haddock has strong verbal speaking abilities, containing a large vocabulary which he uses without pause in either private or public situations. However, while Haddock is very well spoken, he has a weakness of not expressing his own positive thoughts. He is able to speak out his anger, give motivation and advice to others, and express formal gratitude; however, he never speaks aloud his tender emotions or insecurities.
Fears[]
Frozen Heart Jokul Frosti's second assassination attempt on Haddock almost froze the king's heart. Ever since then, King Haddock has displayed symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He is hyperattentive and easily agitated, and whenever his life is in danger, he will subconsciously reach either for his sword or move one hand toward his chest. He can be prone to flashbacks and even believe his heart is chilling during cases of extreme danger.
Magic Haddock is incredibly leery around magic, in part due to poor past experiences with the art. These past experiences include seeing his aunt Eleanora Rose use it for ill ends, as well as almost being killed by Jokul Frosti's ice. Consequently, Haddock does not know much about magic's nature at all, and will be very quick to leave an area when it is in heavy use.
Medicine Haddock does not trust medicines, herbs, potions, or healers. He tends to balk whenever an injury of his needs to be treated by a professional, and will completely, indignantly rebel if someone with lesser experience sees to him.
History[]
Family[]
Haddock is the single child of Sturgeon Halibut Haddock. His father spent very little time with him during the boy's childhood, and those instances in which the two interacted were limited to stiff dinner conversations and terse meetings in the throne room. Haddock grew up mostly under the care of his mother, Gunnhild Grey, who is much younger than her husband Sturgeon.
Haddock comes from a stable dynasty of Wilderwest Kings. His paternal grandparents are King Gareth Ragnar Haddock the First and Valborg of the Wild East. In addition to their son Sturgeon Halibut, Gareth and Valborg had a daughter named Eleonora Rose, the eldest of the family, and Sturdyfist, Sturgeon's twin. However, Haddock's uncle Sturdyfist died in battle at the age of twenty-four.
However, Haddock's Aunt Eleonora lives. Eleonora married Chief Strongfist of the Wildest West, but he died at a mysteriously young age and for no good explicable reason. Eleonora did, however, have a daughter from him, a girl as weedy thin as she, but with a sweet - almost too sweet - temperament. Her name is Elin. She is three and a half years younger than her cousin. Haddock does not enjoy the company of either Eleonora or Elin - particularly Eleonora, a sorceress who practices black magic in secret.
Haddock married a peasant innkeeper's daughter named Mera Violet, a young woman who is the second eldest of four children. They have four children total. During the times of the Grounded Dungeon Rebellion, two of his children have been born; his eldest son Egil is six years old, and his daughter Signy is fourteen months. After the rebellion, Mera gives birth to twin boys Sindri and Jonas.
Childhood[]
Haddock grew up in the capital of the Wilderwest within the palace, the only offspring of King Sturgeon Halibut Haddock. From a young age, Gareth was tutored by royal teachers in a number of subjects including reading, writing, arithmetic, fencing, wrestling, history, government, dance, and music. However, he tended to be incredibly rebellious, balking at the instructions, and in his free time getting into enormous trouble with his best friend. The two of them managed to thoroughly embarrass the king on many occasions, such as the time when the two teenagers, drunk, "freed the animals" and led an entire parade of pigs through the formal dining hall - running themselves on top of the table - during an important diplomatic meeting between the Wilderwest and the Wild West.
Even from a young age, Gareth demonstrated impulsivity and a terrible temper. As a boy, he frequently fought others, but never felt any shame from it and instead boasted about how he always won. As an eleven-year-old he tried to hijack one of his father's ships and sail away on an adventure to prove himself a battle-fighting Hero. Then, when he was fourteen, he almost cut off fellow Viking Seabeard's head with an axe because he had been "antagonizing" the boy. As a seventeen year old in battle between the Wilderwest and the Wildest North, Gareth murdered two men named General Toran and Prince Patir. General Toran had come to Haddock to surrender, but Gareth instead plunged his sword into the man's face. Patir stepped up demanding his people be protected by the surrender; Haddock killed him, too.
Gareth's short temper led to great dangers in the wilderwest when he, the eighteen-year-old Captain of the Wilderwest Guard, whose job it was to protect the Northern Border, led his regiment in a slaughter against unarmed foreigners. The guard had been undergoing a routine inspection of migrants when a group of northern merchants refused to let their cargo be searched. Gareth claimed they directly disobeyed the order of the prince and attacked them, killing six, wounding ten, and capturing twenty of the weaponless fruit sellers. King Sturgeon revoked Haddock's title as Captain of the Guard and cast him out of the military entirely. Haddock refused to give up his sword, and when Sturgeon told the guards to take it from him, Haddock pulled out the weapon and impulsively killed one of his own men, someone he had grown up with named Rockguts. He was placed in prison, but later escaped with the assistance of his best friend.
Haddock's actions nevertheless prompted the beginning of a war between the Wilderwest and the Wilder North.
Exile[]
Eighteen-year-old Haddock traveled as far away from his home as possible, now formally exiled by his own father. He headed into the Wilder North, where at one small village inn he met a pestersome young woman named Mera Violet, fourteen years old at the time. She badgered a great deal of information out of him, indeed learning far more than she was supposed to. Haddock felt obliged to stay in the village to make sure she kept her mouth shut and did not report him to either the Wilderwest or Wilder Norther governments after he left.
During this time of exile in the Wilder North, Haddock fell in love with Mera, a young commoner about five years his junior. The two of them began courting when Haddock was nineteen. However, it was not much later that Haddock had to flee because someone, realizing who he was, sought to kill him. Mera decided to flee with him, and thus began a long series of escapades and harrowing adventures. In one event, the two of them were kidnapped, and while tied up together in the back of a horse carriage, Haddock proposed to Mera and asked if she would marry him. She said "Yes." When the two of them were rescued, they immediately entered the nearest town and asked to be married by the village elder. Haddock was twenty-one and Mera barely sixteen years of age.
Haddock learned that there was a danger brewing for his old homeland when he was twenty-three. The Wilderwest was going to be attacked by peoples from the Wildest North. Because Haddock and Mera were currently occupied in a village somewhat close to the Wildest North, he heard about this news far sooner than he believed anyone in the Wilderwest could have heard. Haddock tried sending warnings to Sturgeon via small messenger dragons - Terrible Terrors, Hogflies, Common Browns, and the like - but because he never received a response, he had to assume that Sturgeon either was not receiving the messages, or that his father refused to read the messages once he realized it was his son’s handwriting.
Haddock, after being prompted by Mera, thus decided to take upon the matters of the invasion himself and assemble his own army. Mera organinzed men and women from her home country to fight for the Wilderwest. Their haphazardly assemble militia marched swiftly to the west, hoping to intercept the Northern invaders before Haddock's enemies caught Sturgeon by surprise.
During this journey, Haddock and Mera needed to cross the border. In order to disguise himself, Haddock borrowed some of Mera's clothing and pretended to be her grandmother. Somehow, despite his horrible disguise, the incident passed uneventfully.
Haddock's militia collided with an army near the border, and only after fire began exchanging between the troops did he realize he had run into his father's own men. Sturgeon had apparently heard the news and moved his own forces to engage the Northern enemy, too. There was a moment of confusion and a brief exchange of arrow fire before they realized they were all fighting for the same cause. Yet while Haddock had halted his men as quickly as possible, he realized to his horror that Sturgeon had been felled by an arrow. It pierced his chest near the heart. Haddock rushed to his father’s side, but Sturgeon had already died. The doctors at the late king’s side had to relay Sturgeon’s final words to Haddock.
Most of those words were personal. Other words from Sturgeon were far more official and soon proclaimed throughout the Wilderwest: though Haddock had been exiled several years before, his valor abroad made him a fit king of the Wilderwest. He was to succeed Sturgeon Halibut Haddock as the next monarch of that throne.
For the truth of the matter was, Sturgeon had received Haddock’s messages sent by messenger dragon. But Sturgeon’s response messages had been intercepted and never made it to Haddock. So Sturgeon knew what his son had done and what honor he had intended with the Northern forces. His last words stated that, while his son still had to grow much more, he was very proud of who Haddock had become.
Reign as King of the Wilderwest[]
Haddock was nearly twenty-four years of age when he assumed his responsibilities as King of the Wilderwest. Shortly later, after his twenty-fifth birthday, he and his wife adopted fourteen-year-old Akkey, whom Haddock appointed as Chief of the Stoic Hearts when she came of age. The new royal family also had children of their own: a son named Egil and daughter named Signy.
About three years into his reign, Haddock begins sheltering the half-breeds who have been discriminated against in High Central. This provokes a war between himself and High Central. Haddock gathers armies, although his conflict with High Central eventually leads him to flee on foot by himself. However, he is captured by Klara and other High Central soldiers and then taken to the Grounded Dungeon, where he is questioned by Darien. Darien sifts through his mind and attempts to remove Haddock's memories of the rebellion, but Haddock preserves many of his memories by conjuring lies in his mind instead. He is then thrown into a cell of the prison.
Haddock does not stay long in that cell. He sees Treepelt walking free through the dungeon halls, and unaware she has just become possessed by a demon, asks her to free him. She reveals she is the warden of the Grounded Dungeon now and has no plans for him to be release. Haddock attempts to attack her, which backfires and lands him in the second-lowest cell of the dungeon, restrained in chains, completely isolated and alone. However, a small dragon visits his cell, and he realizes that it is owned by one of the prisoners in the upper levels. He and the other prisoners begin to use the dragon as a means of sending written messages, communicating and preparing for a rebellion and jailbreak.
Role in the Rebellion[]
Season 1[]
Haddock oversees the Battle of the Changewings [by kingofthewilderwest].
Haddock begins the Grounded Dungeon Rebellion by calling together all the prisoners and rallying them against the Warden. The Warden scoffs at the king's defiance, but ultimately he and his people successfully break out of the Grounded Dungeon and flee to an ice fortress created by an allying Bewilderbeast.
Haddock again leads the Grounded Dungeon Rebels into battle a few days later when the Warden attacks with a newly hatched and recently trained Changewing army.
When the Warden unexpectedly surrenders, Haddock orders her to be locked and chained in the cells of the fortress. Haddock antagonistically questions the Warden in her cell alongside his Chief War Strategist Vox, who convinces the king to reluctantly let the young woman go, believing that the demon Warden no longer controls her vessel, Treepelt. Haddock struggles with the decision. He cares for Treepelt, the Warden's vessel, and greatly respects Vox, and thus ultimately chooses to listen to the Chief War Strategist. However, as soon as Haddock releases Tree from the chains, the Warden again takes control of Tree's body, using her feline claws to stab and kill Vox.
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Haddock question the Warden, whom he has locked in prison [by akkeyroomi].
Haddock reacts by imprisoning every member of the Grounded Dungeon who has ever been possessed by the demon Warden, whom he calls the "Tyrant." However, a number of Grounded Dungeon Rebels balk against the king's latest edict. Emily the Alpha flies these individuals away, amongst them QuickySlippy, to a different shelter and constructs another ice fortress to protect them from Haddock. Haddock begs for them not to go, but only Emily returns, saying she will be imprisoned if the king so wishes it. Haddock apologizes and asks if Emily will be his adviser. She accepts the position humbly.
A Stranger speaks mysteriously to the king, prompting Haddock in a rage to pin the man down and torture him for answers. However, he learns nothing even after he imprisons the Stranger in his dungeon, who subsequently is released by Jokul Frosti. Jokul then turns against his king and attempts to kill him. Though Jokul is not successful in ending the king's life, he manages to drive a spike of ice through the king's right leg, allowing him to escape. Several frightened members of the Rebellion gather around Haddock and attempt to heal him as best they can, all the while the king protests at their work - especially when they begin singing to "calm him down." However, the king's leg is treated, and he begins to recover slowly. In the meantime, he has to walk on crutches.
Jokul returns to try to kill Haddock a second time while the king sleeps in his quarters. Jokul manages to begin freezing the king's heart before either Haddock or his bodyguard Stonegit can respond. Haddock, with his last bit of strength, throws his sword at Jokul and slays the traitor. Haddock thence forth suffers trauma and reaches up to touch his heart whenever he feels threatened.
Stonegit protects Haddock [by treepelt].
Haddock travels with a party of Grounded Dungeon members to the lake because the mysterious Stranger returns and tells the king that he can revive Vox's life. Though Haddock is suspicious of this claim, he follows the Stranger anyway to a lake. There he learns that the Stranger is his old-time war friend, Pitch Black. In the confrontation that follows, Haddock's bodyguard Stonegit is blinded. Stonegit chooses on his own volition to stand up and protect Haddock, then steps into the lake before the king can make the act himself. Vox is returned to them, but Stonegit descends to Hel.
It is a broken party that returns to the rebels' camp, and Haddock especially blames himself for the events that have transpired. However, in an attempt to lighten the spirits of his people, he announces that they shall have a celebratory feast in honor of Vox's return.
Season 2[]
Haddock enters the feast late to give his speech. However, before he can begin, a number of his drunk subjects halt him, throwing fish at him and attempting to dance with the incredibly upset king. All of this mayhem is halted when Stonegit unexpectedly stumbles through the Great Hall doors, blinded but miraculously alive. Haddock rushes forward and embraces his bodyguard.
Haddock and Stonegit speak the following morning in the king's rooms, during which his bodyguard reveals to him that Hemlock is treacherous. Before the king can go and investigate, however, he is presented with a new member of the Grounded Dungeon Rebellion, Tezzeret Verdile, who has only recently wandered into the camp. Haddock accepts Tezz's services and agrees the man can join their people.
Stonegit and Haddock arrive at the courtyard to face Dust [by kingofthewilderwest].
Stonegit states that he should step down from his position as Haddock's bodyguard, much to the king's dismay. Haddock attempts to dissuade the bodyguard from giving up his work, exclaiming that he cares deeply for the young man, even leaning forward and impulsively kissing Stonegit on the lips. Stonegit reacts explosively, shouts at the king, and then flees. Stonegit does, however, return to the king, displaying that he has somehow recovered vision. It turns out - to Haddock's horror - that Stonegit has made a deal with the Warden. She has made Stonegit her vessel, and in turn, has restored his eyesight.
Stonegit despairs over Haddock's death [by akkeyroomi].
It is revealed that Haddock's record keeper Hemlock in fact is a woman possessed by the Valkyrie Dust, who challenges Stonegit to a duel to the death. Stonegit accepts, and Haddock supports his bodyguard by coming to the courtyard where the two shall fight. The duel goes poorly for Stonegit, so he desperately attempts to transfer the Warden into Haddock to save the king's life. He does this by placing a seal on the king's hand against his will. Haddock struggles, but he feels the demon entering him.
At that moment, Stonegit turns against Haddock and yields a fire ball. He shoots his fire magic straight into the king's chest, killing him instantaneously. Haddock dies on the courtyard, but even his body vanishes during the aftermath of the duel.
Season 3[]
The rebels of the Grounded Dungeon hold Haddock's funeral, burning a ship and speaking emotionally of the good he did to the people. Little do they realize, though, that Haddock in fact still lives. During the confrontation between Stonegit and Dust, the Warden transports Haddock away from the courtyard in the rebels' fortress. He first was pulled to the Weaver, the Warden's cousin, where the two demons combined heal Haddock of his injury, leaving a scar on the king's chest. Haddock speaks to the two demons and learns that he now is going to be the Warden's vessel. He then is taken back to Midgard to a location he does not recognize. Haddock wakes an indeterminate time later, remembers the Warden's voice in his head explaining how he had survived, and immediately begins to fighting the possession. After a long battle of wills, the Warden succeeds in controlling Haddock's body and mind, pushing his traumatized consciousness away from any volitional abilities over his own actions. The Warden then takes her new vessel back to the Grounded Dungeon Rebels' camp.
Haddock and the Warden [by kingofthewilderwest]
The Warden enters the camp and shocks the people, who quickly learn that the demon is in control of King Haddock's body. Akkey first speaks to Haddock, then Mera, the latter of whom is choked by Haddock's hand. He throws her aside and then leaves the shocked crowd of Vikings.
After Tezz's death, King Haddock's mind criticizes the Warden's actions. His grating words against her actions at first hit hard against the Warden, but then she turns around and threatens the king by reminding him he has no control over himself anymore. When Haddock still speaks fiery words against her, the Warden subjects him to psychological sensations of watching his family being killed and himself being killed. The torment breaks the king. Obsequiously, he agrees to never step up against the Warden again, but will do and say nothing but what he is told.
Treepelt finds Haddock's possessed body and begins to speak to him. The conversation oscillates between the Warden's voice and the king's, before Tree leaves, distraught.
Hel visits the camp while Haddock and the Warden are in the center of it. Hel demands to speak to the king, but finds his broken state of mind pitiful. She says she will return when Haddock is in a better state of mind to test him, then leaves him and the Warden.
The Warden makes a deal with Haddock for the benefit of both of them. She needs Haddock to regain his sense of personal independence in order for her to escape the wrath of the other demons and Hel. She even releases Haddock completely for an hour, allowing him to speak candidly with his wife Mera for the first time since he was imprisoned in the Grounded Dungeon.
Hel returns to Haddock to test him. She tells him to grab Stonegit and take him outside to the lake in front of the entire Grounded Dungeon camp. He acquiesces, and as he stands there before everyone holding his comatose bodyguard, Hel asks Haddock if Stonegit's life is worth a second chance. Haddock argues yes, and speaks to all the rebels about why they should vouch in favor of Stonegit, too. Hel decides that Haddock has passed the test, allowing him complete release of the Warden's possession. Then he watches Stonegit, who has just passed his own test, take up in his arms.
The reunion between Haddock and Stonegit does not remain happy, however. As Haddock returns to his work reigning as king over the rebellion, his bodyguard informs him that he has the Warden inside him again. Haddock, still traumatized from what the Warden did to him, becomes angry at Stonegit and demands he find a way to oust her immediately. Stonegit politely asks Haddock how much the king trusts him to better gauge how to act around Haddock, but the question is never answered because Mera marches in the room and demands to speak to each man privately. She yanks Stonegit out of the room first, and then speaks to her husband. She confronts Haddock about his relationship with Stonegit, having detected that the two men hold affections for one another. Haddock confesses he and Stonegiti have kissed twice; Mera in turn slaps him harshly twice on the cheek and threatens to divorce him. She leaves the room, telling him not to disappoint her again. That evening, after Haddock has worked hard, she only reluctantly lets him inside his own private chambers. In part, she lets him in simply to allow him to reunite with his children after a year of separation.
Season 4[]
Oh wouldn't you like to know all that, wouldn't you?
Season 5[]
Commence an evil cackle of doom.
Extended Universe[]
Wilderwest Reign[]
King Haddock reigns over the Wilderwest kingdom after the Grounded Dungeon Rebellion. Shortly after Ragnarok, he adopts a second, smaller riding dragon named Sharpteeth who follows him everywhere. His wife births twin boys, Sindri and Jonas. Haddock's reign overall is peaceful, although the tensions between himself ad his headstrong eldest son often arise.
Grey Marked Chief[]
At the age of thirty-six, Haddock visits Grey Bergman on Haligan Island as she rises up to become chief of her tribe. He gives her advice and encouragement for how to handle her new position, assuring her that she can be a successful leader if she keeps her heart toward the Haligan Tribe.
Death[]
At the age of fifty-six, Haddock is taken in battle by King Eindride of the Wildest North. Eindride immediately takes him to the headsman to be executed. Haddock's last words, before he is beheaded by an axe, are "Long live the king."
Relationships[]
Mera Violet Haddock[]
Mera is Haddock's wife, whom he loves very dearly and calls "angel". The two of them greatly enjoy the time they spend together with their children and argue amazingly seldom. Haddock finds Mera incredibly precious, and she indeed is the one person whom he cannot retaliate against in true anger, much less touch her. That said, she can irritate him with her sass and jibes, though he has learned to tolerate them over the years.
Haddock and Mera's marriage struggles when they are thirty-one and twenty-six, respectively, after Mera learns that Haddock has kissed his nineteen-year-old bodyguard, Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss. Mera threatens to leave him for his actions, though that threat was never actually meant; simply, she wished to hurt him and test him to make sure their marriage could be mended. When it does mend, the couple continue forward as strongly as before the fight.
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss[]
Haddock is incredibly fond of his younger bodyguard to the point he has actually demonstrated romantic affections toward him. This is despite the fact Haddock does not understand his own non-platonic emotions toward the bodyguard. In fact, most of Haddock's interactions with Stonegit involve him becoming incredibly irritated at the younger man. The king finds himself constantly yelling down the man for speaking rudely and without the due respect required of a monarch.
Akkey[]
Because he and his wife raised Akkey from the time she was fourteen, Haddock considers Akkey like a daughter to him. He is very protective over her and gets angered if anyone seeks to harm her.
Blunt Donz[]
Haddock finds Blunt's flirtatious acts despicable and becomes quickly angered by the man's personality.
Pitch Black[]
Haddock loathes Pitch. He and Pitch met when Haddock was in his twenties and Pitch in his thirties during a meeting of war generals. While he and Pitch coexisted peacefully then, and in fact could be considered friends at that time, his emotions toward Pitch rapidly reversed once he took in Akkey. Haddock hates Pitch for leaving his daughter, finding it completely inexcusable, and thus has no qualms attempting to attack, kill, torture, or maim Pitch.
Treepelt[]
Prior to the Grounded Dungeon Rebellion, Haddock was moderately close to Tree. He found her an agreeable personality to be around. However, once he saw her as the warden of the Grounded Dungeon, he vowed never to call her by her real name, and indeed tried to choke her to death while he was an inmate. He and the Warden entered increasingly tense and threatening verbal exchanges. It was only later Haddock learned Tree had been possessed; when she was released, he was able to resume his relationship to her as before - for the most part.
Vox[]
Haddock holds high respect for Vox's logical mind, and appoints him Chief War Strategist of the Grounded Dungeon Rebellion. He is comfortable around Vox and is fond of him, even if Haddock remains his proper self around the younger man. After the incident at the lake, Haddock even expressed to Vox he believed it was his fault for the man's death. Vox assures Haddock it was not his fault. However, their relationship is never as strong as it used to be after that.
Trivia[]
Haddock is left-handed.
According to the Myers-Briggs Personality Test, Haddock is an ISFJ. He slightly prefers Introversion over Extroversion, has a distinct preference of Sensing over Intuition, and has moderate preferences of Feeling and Judging over Thinking and Perceiving, respectively.
Haddock is based off of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third from How to Train Your Dragon 2, and his name comes from his mun's nickname "Haddock." Early drawings of him indeed had him wearing Hiccup's clothing and even missing a left limb.
Haddock loathes being called by his first name because it reminds him of his youthful failures. He only allows his wife Mera to call him "Gareth" - or even "Garthy". He endures the latter nickname simply because his wife would never desist in the pet name, and it was better than any of the other alternatives she suggested.
The reason Haddock hates singing is because his aunt Eleanora, a powerful witch, uses song as a powerful element to cast her spells. Haddock, incredibly frightened of magic, thus holds an incredibly antagonistic view against singing. In his eyes it is either frivolous and childish, or the use of dark magic. This is also why instrumental music, which is not used in dark spells, does not irritate the king in the same way.
Haddock enjoys an occasional glass of wine in the evenings, yet overall he is very sparse and particular in his liquors. This, however, changes when he feels enormously stressed. When Haddock is experiencing a particularly overwhelming situation, he does have a tendency to overdrink, sometimes intentionally, sometimes by simply losing count of his shots. On the rare occasions Haddock becomes drunk, he becomes very easily angered and is prone to getting into fist fights.
Outside of war and battle, Haddock has murdered eleven people.
Quotes[]
● You guys are becoming more and more like Alvin the Treacherous and Excellinor’s regime every day. It’s supposed to be the Grounded Dungeon, not the Amber Slavelands. How is your rule superior to the lives of those with their sad headcanons in the dungeon? You better be careful, Warden, because a King AND a goddess are in your dungeon… are you sure you want to provoke us too much?
● I rule by the right and might deserved of me. You shall never silence me, you shall never break me, you shall never control me.
● Rally to arms! Commence the Battle of the Grounded Dungeon! Hail, Warden of the Grounded Dungeon, I hereby intrepidly arise with my fellow prisonmates and supporters declaring WAR against you and your tyranny! We no longer shall tolerate your despicable treatment of us within this prison. We demand release. See that you are outmatched, kitty cat, and prudently step aside. Back down while you still live, Warden, or crumble beneath the might of the Grounded Dungeon and their monarch - for it is I, King of the Wilderwest and the Grounded Dungeon, O Hear My Name and Tremble, Ugh Ugh!
● DOESN’T EVERYONE KNOW BY NOW I HATE SINGING???
● Sometimes, Stonegit, who we are and what we think we should be are two wholly separate things. And sometimes… sometimes they’re not so distant as we perceive.
● You’re human. You shall make mistakes, no mind how sage you try to be in your decisions. Sometimes your decisions will be wrong. Sometimes they can be costly. And some will be life-changing and irreversible. What is important is not that you make the right decision every time. Unfortunately such an aim is impossible to achieve, and to try to hold yourself to such a standard will only harm you, never help you. Step forward with the best intentions. Let others advise and guide you. Never listen to their expectations - not to anyone’s expectations - but hold yourself to the morals of your heart and the evidence of your strengths and weaknesses. What’s important is that, when you err, you do what is right to correct for it, as much as is possible. People will hold their respect for you if you step up and try to rectify the wrongs you will make, take responsibility for who you are, and show you legitimately care for the intentions and effects of every action you take.
● Long... live... the... king.
