Goblin Slayer: Who Is The King & Was He a Skilled Adventurer?

GOBLIN SLAYER! is a dark fantasy and adventure light novel series that focuses on a young and inexperienced Priestess who wants to become an adventurer but lands in trouble as goblins wipe out her first party; she is saved by the mysterious Goblin Slayer, a brutal murderer of goblins, whom she then joins as they adventure together. This article won’t focus on any of the protagonists but rather on a specific secondary character with a truly great story in GOBLIN SLAYER!. The character in question is The King, The Princess’ older brother, who was once a famous adventurer. In this article, we are going to tell you all you need to know about him.

The King was a former adventurer with a great reputation

The King’s past has not been explored in too much detail, but that is where his story actually begins and where we’ll start off this article. Namely, The King is a very complex personality and there is a lot we can say about him, but his story has to be told from the beginning, and that is what we are going to do in this article. So, let us start with the King’s story.

Now, the character known as The King is the “ruler of the land,” but his story starts much earlier, when he was a young man and when we assume, his parents ruled over that same land. At that time, The King was an adventurer, a role much different than he is playing now, and he was a very skilled adventurer from what we can deduce from the light novel. His rank is unknown, but based on his reputation, he was definitely a formidable adventurer and a highly successful one.

He himself refers to his time as an adventurer as a much simpler time and in a way, he is more than correct. While the tasks were more dangerous, as the goblins were not an easy opponent, he did not have to deal with court politics and the intrigues he had to deal with as the ruler. His only job then was to slay the goblins, while now, he has to balance multiple aspects of his land, and that is far more complex. At the time, his main goal was the eradication of goblin nests, a job he was successful in doing.

Also, at the time, he met Sword Maiden for the first time and the two of them have been friends ever since. This happened roughly 10 years before the current timeline. In Volume 4, we saw how close the two of them were, during the issues with the Evil Wizard. Namely, at the time, The King had problems with Evil Wizard and he could not take care of himself, which is why he asked for a party of adventurers, a task that Sword Maiden could help him with. During their meeting, he confided in her, telling her that he did not take the transition that well and that he constantly yearned for the simpler days when he was a simple adventurer who did not have to deal with all the intrigues he was dealing with now, as the ruler.

And that is his story in general, up to Volume 8, which is currently being adapted into the anime. Now, his role in Volume 8 wasn’t that grand, but… well… let us explain what happened.

He now rules over his kingdom and takes care of his sister

While the Goblin Slayer’s party was in the Capital, Priestess, while she was getting changed, had her chain mail stolen by someone. Due to the attachment she had to this piece of armor, its disappearance broke her completely – she was sad, and she cried a lot. It later turned out that the Princess stole it because of her own aspirations, but when she realized how attached the Priestess was to that piece of armor, she felt guilty and later returned it to the Priestess. And that is how the story evolved. But, you might be wondering – what does The King have to do with this? Well, in case you did not deduce it for yourselves, here is the answer.

We know that The King is The Princess’ older brother and that he is the one taking care of her, as their parents are dead. We also know that The Princess was stubborn and that she had her own plans, which is why she stole the chain mail from Priestess and disappeared, pretending to be an adventurer. Of course, Goblin Slayer’s party was sent to investigate and find her, while The King oversaw all of it and waited for his sister to be returned safely. His role was not big, that much you can deduce for yourselves, but he was present, and his supporting role here is what actually inspired this article, i.e., it was the reason why we decided to talk about The King in the first place.

In case you want to know what happened to him later, we suggest you take the light novel, as we’re not going to spoil everything here. Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!