King Harlaus

King Harlaus is the king of the Kingdom of Swadia, a Medieval France-esque kingdom in Mount and Blade and its sequel, Warband. He is on the older side but is a powerful warrior, leading a kingdom which is among the most often at war in the game. He is also known as "The Butterlord" as Swadia produces most of the world's butter, a somewhat valuable trade commodity.

Personality
Little is known about King Harlaus' personality, but he seems to be rather greedy. He is infamous for happily acceping the player's help, but is very reluctant to give any new conquests to any but his most loyal vassals. He only has one relative in-game, either a cousin or a cousin's daughter (connection is unclear), but he hates her as she is a pretender to his throne.

In-Game
King Harlaus is one of the strongest NPCs in the game. He has a high HP pool and some of the best armor in the game. Compounding this threat, he can ride at the head of one of the strongest armies in the game. If you fight King Harlaus in the field, expect him at the head of a head-on charge of the much-dreaded Swadian Knights, the heaviest cavalry in the game, followed by Swadian heavy infantry. This is usually enough to shatter most possible armies, except for those mainly composed of anti-cavalry units (spearmen, pikemen) or top-tier units (housecarls, your own knights). Furthermore, any of the knights in Harlaus' army are capable of one-shotting the player if they strike the player with a lance while at full gallop. This, combined with their thick armor and strong melee abilities, may make it difficult for the player to get through Harlaus' surrouding knights to actually attack the man.

However, he also leads the most-attacked faction in the game, as Swadia has rich lands in the center of the map. Swadia tends to lose these wars simply due to weight of numbers, and as they lose territories, Harlaus' army becomes weaker.

Harlaus is not technically a villain, as Mount and Blade has no heroes and villains. However, as most factions fight Harlaus at some point, and Swadia's tendency to lose wars will often cause players to defect to other factions, most players who choose to align with a faction will oppose Harlaus at some point.