Black King (Drifters)

The Black King is the leader of the Ends and the main antagonist of the Manga and Anime series Drifters.

Appearance
A long, hooded cloak conceals his face and most of his body save for his arms and hands, both of which bear a number of scars. The most curious of the scars is a circular marking centered in the palm of his right hand. He also often carries a wooden staff topped with a dragonfly.

Personality
Because his identity is unknown, his presence is always accompanied by a dark and mysterious aura. He shows himself to be a charismatic leader, having earned the unwavering loyalty of his allies and subordinates and is a remarkable military leader and civilization builder.

He holds a deep-seated hatred toward the human race, which denied his offer of salvation (and which also probably killed him), and for this reason he decided to side with all nonhumans as the Ends and other monsters against the humans and anyone who would dare to help them, including the Drifters, the [|Elves], the [|Dwarves] and the[Oct| Oct].

His goal is to build a civilization of non-humans that rivals the accomplishments of the civilizations founded by humans, whom he believes to be cruel and oppressive (a stark contrast to the thinking of his archenemy [no Seimei|Abe no Seimei], who believes in the goodness of humanity and has no intention of starting a war between them and the non-humans).

However, despite this pessimistic view of humanity and the ensuing maltreatment of them on his part (such as a mass slaughter of innocents and the abuse of human prisoners), the Black King has at times shown himself to have a good side as well, and is capable of kindness. He looks after not only the [|Ends] but also his soldiers, healing their injuries and granting them the resources they need without hesitation.

Role
The Black King's true identity is currently a mystery, but like all his fellow Ends, he is apparently an individual from human history, whose traumatic near-death experience caused him to become completely misanthropic towards all other humans, resulting in his goal to wipe-out mankind. He serves as leader of the ends.

Abilities
Although the Black King has yet to be shown in combat, he has already proven himself to be one of the most powerful characters in the series, with abilities that far surpass those of the beings around him (be they human or non-human), including [no Seimei|Abe no Seimei]. They include not only such offensive powers as those demonstrated when he annihilated the Bronze Dragon in one shot, but also defensive powers such as healing, duplication (e.g., wood and wheat) and telepathy, all of which can at times lead others to think of him as something akin to a god. However, the Black King dismisses this notion, claiming that he lacks the immortality needed to be a deity in the truest sense of the word. This is later shown to be true, as he is slowly turning to salt, though he keeps it a secret from all.

In addition to his supernatural abilities, the Black King has also shown himself to be a brilliant strategist, able to teach the non-humans of the fantasy world how to build their own culture, economy and military. In fact, [no Yoshitsune|Minamoto no Yoshitsune] has described him as a "multi-world expert".

The Black King also knows the "Descent", an aerial support and maneuver of flying transports dropping soldiers into the battlefield. This military tactic was introduced by Nazi Germany in World War II, hinting that the Black King has some knowledge of the modern era.

Cell Multiplication: One of The Black Kings main abilities, it gives him the ability to duplicate any living cell whether it be plant or animal. This has been seen used in several ways the first being the ability to heal any wound. Another use is the duplication of crop seeds and wood. The ability also has offensive capabilities as it allows the Black King to cause rapid cell duplication resulting in cancer being spread throughout the victim's body as seen with the Bronze Dragon.