“ | Gnat. Speck. None can stand against the Iron King. | „ |
~ The Iron King |
The Iron King (real name: Jun Kun), also known as the King of the Iron Dominion and The King, is a mighty and ruthless emperor and a villain in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series. He is a Mobian Ox and a strong warlord who initially worked alongside his wife known as the Iron Queen, an Overlander sorceress with mastery over magitek (combination of magic and technology) in the Dragon Kingdom to establish their namesake empire known as the Iron Dominion.
History[]
Warlord[]
Years ago, Jun Kun was a young warlord in the Dragon Kingdom. At some point in time, the young Regina Ferrum came before him, pledging her allegiance to him, secretly to gain power. Following this, the two worked together for many years, and became known as the Iron King and Iron Queen.
Rule of the Iron Dominion[]
Sonic and Tails first encountered the Iron King and Queen during their quest for Ixis Naugus, who fled across all of Mobius. When they arrived at Stormtop Village, they learned that the Iron King and Queen crowned themselves ruler of the village. When the villagers refused to swear loyalty to either, the Iron Queen set Mount Stormtop on fire for over a hundred days and would not lift the spell until the villagers agreed to bow down to them. Sonic and Tails were told by Li Yeun that only the magical Fan of Fen Xing could blow out the flames on the mountain. When the two tried to retrieve it, the Iron Queen cast a spell on the renegade cyborg, Monkey Khan, to kill Sonic and Tails before they arrived. They managed to free Khan and he joined them in assaulting the Iron King at the two evil monarchs' castle with Sonic and Tails dogging his blows as Khan retrieving the fan of Fen Xing and lending to Sonic whom blew the Iron king with it. Sonic and the others returned to Mount Stormtop to blow out the flames, the Iron Queen tried to use her magic to stop them but failed and the flames were extinguished. The Iron Queen left the village swearing vengeance on Sonic.
New Empire[]
Nearly 2 years later, the Iron King served as a Sub-Boss to the Eggman Empire over the Dragon Kingdom. The local resistance there were beginning to keep the Iron King and Queen at bay. After the Iron Queen made romantic connections with Snively Robotnik over in New Megaopolis, the Iron King accompanied her along with the Yagyu Ninja where they arrived at the landing bay of the Eggdome via the Iron Blimp, with plans to usurp the Eggman Empire followingDr. Eggman's recent descent into madness.
Days after his arrival at the Eggdome, the Iron King showed anger at the fact they had come to a ruined city when they had everything back in the Iron Dominion, and he also took an immediate dislike to Snively as he seemed quite casual around the Iron Queen. The Iron Queen reassured her husband that they would move the seat of power back to the Dragon Kingdom, and Snively suggested the Iron King look through the ruins for weapons to add to his armory, which he did with the help of the Bride of Conquering Storm.
When both Sonic and Monkey Khan attempted to attack the city, the Iron King himself arrived on the battlefield after Sonic and Khan managed to fend off the Yagyu Ninja and Dark Egg Legion. Sonic attacked the Iron King with a spin dash, though it had no effect on the giant ox, and it in fact wounded Sonic. The Iron King then knocked back Monkey Khan with his Tremor Mace. Due to this, the Dark Egg Legion managed to wound both heroes even more, which forced them to retreat. The Iron King cancelled Lien-Da's order to shoot them down, insisting they allow them to escape so their humiliation and defeat would instill fear in the Freedom Fighters.
Later, a panicked Snively ran into the Iron King and told him that Eggman had escaped. The Iron King first thought Snively had betrayed him, however, Snively tried to explain himself before they heard a loud boom, signaling Eggman's departure from the Eggdome. The Iron King later accompanied the Iron Queen and the dominion's forces in their attempt to recapture Dr. Eggman from Sonic. Despite the superior odds against Sonic, and even totally stopping him, the Iron King and his fellow attackers were defeated by the arrival of the Freedom Fighters, with Amy Rose and Antoine D'Coolette even succeeding in damaging the King's armor. While still desiring battle, he was forced to instead focus on saving the Iron Queen after Sonic and Tails disabled her pod. He later made an attempt to break the shield over New Mobotropolis but was unsuccessful, after which he and their armies subsequently returned to the Eggdome.
Far from being defeated, the Iron King launched a solo assault against Fort Acorn, battling the Mes Braves Battalion and Amadeus Prower in his efforts to destroy the power source for New Mobotropolis' shield. Despite Amadeus' efforts, the Iron King easily defeated him, but before he could deliver a final blow, Sonic intervened, giving the battalion time to evacuate. Unable to directly cause damage, Sonic used his speed to dig the King into a trench, though the latter was able to free himself. The appearance of Monkey Khan gave the fighting a pause as the King attempted to demean Khan's position as "King of the Free People" and Khan made it clear that he refused to back down. A brutal battle ensured between the three of them, but despite the efforts of the heroes, the Iron King suffered no damage. Turning his attention to the energy dome, he began hammering on it, sending ripples through the shield. Monkey Khan jumped the king from behind, slamming his charged Atom-Bat into the ox`s helmet. Forcing the monkey down on the ground and intending to finish his old nemesis, he was again interrupted by Sonic, who gave the ox an offer: he would allow the King to destroy the energy siphon alone, cutting off the power to New Mobotropolis, if the King would leave the shield intact, allowing it to continue to protect the environment. The King questioned this, and Sonic claimed he was simply cutting his losses against a foe he acknowledged as too powerful to defeat. Smirking, the King went on to destroy the generator and returned to the Eggdome triumphant - only later, when Regina berated her husband for his incompetence, did he realize he'd been tricked into destroying a decoy. Mumbling that it looked like the power siphon to him, he was cut off by Regina who stormed off to her chambers, leaving the king alone with Snively. After explaining some of his and Regina's past in the Dragon Kingdom, he snarled at the tiny man, blaming him for Regina's current treatment of him and Sonic`s constant mockery. While Snively was terrified by the accusations, the Iron King then stomped off, deciding he needed to meditate and rest while thinking of a way to get past the shield.
Taking Over New Mobotropolis[]
After Snively informed the Iron Queen of the nature of New Mobotropolis' Nanite construction and the role of NICOLE in maintaining it, the Iron King accompanied the two of them and the rest of their army to the city. As Snively helped Regina and was warmly thanked, Jun Kun complained that she was being too familiar with him. After she waved aside his concerns, he watched as she used her powers against NICOLE. Success greeted them as the reprogrammed "Iron NICOLE" opened the way into New Mobotropolis for them, sealing off the city and informing its citizens that they were under arrest. The Iron King quickly zeroed in on Sally Acorn, Monkey Khan, and Sonic, attacking them only to be held off by Khan. He soon overpowered the distracted Freedom Fighter, only to be attacked by Amy Rose, who surprised both King and Khan with her impressive strength and Piko Piko Hammer as she faced Jun Kun by herself. Once the city was claimed, the Iron King had a "merry time", in Lien-Da's words, smashing the city and any civilian who dared oppose them.
The Iron King was later part of the vast audience gathered to witness the Legionization of a number of prisoners, a ploy intended to lure in members of the resistance. Bored by having to watch the procedure instead of hunting down the rebels himself, he was soon appeased as Amy Rose, Antoine D'Coolette, and Geoffrey St. John charged in to save the captive Rotor Walrus and other prisoners. Though successful against Geoffrey, he found himself up against Amy yet again, her strength a match for his own. He was then caught off guard by the return of Sonic and his teammates from the Dragon Kingdom, with the Hedgehog knocking him off his feet and then speaking to Amy Rose while standing on top of him, much to the Iron King's indignation.
Despite the advantage in numbers, the heroes were unable to subdue the king until the timely appearance of Espio the Chameleon, who arrived bearing the Fan of Fen Xing, something the King had thought stored safely in his own armory. This visibly frightened the King, and with one wave of the fan, Monkey Khan sent the ox flying into the air and through the city's dome, something Sonic described as "reverse sky-diving." Where he landed is unknown, though Sonic did make mention of hearing about pleasant weather on the west coast before he was blown away.
Jun Kun remained absent for some time, and the Raiju Clan-which became a chapter of the Dark Egg Legion-possessed no knowledge as to his whereabouts when Dr. Eggman arrived in the Dragon Kingdom for a tour.
Powers and Abilities[]
The Iron King is an exceedingly powerful Mobian. He was able to single handingly dispatch an entire platoon of the Mes Braves Battalion with ease and even fought evenly against the combined efforts of Sonic the Hedgehog and Monkey Khan and eventually cancelled them out til they hit him on his unarmored arms to free themselves from his grip.
The Iron King possesses a mysterious nigh-invulnerability, enabling him to shrug off an incredible amount of damage; he is unaffected by laser blasts and electrical surges from the Atom-Bat, and the combined assault on him from Sonic, Monkey Khan, Amy and Antoine did little more than slow him down. However, he is not completely immune to attacks as he can still be stunned by strong enough strikes or surprise attacks such as when he was rammed by the Freedom Fighters' hovercraft and Amy's Piko Piko Hammer. The Iron King also has an incredible amount of endurance and stamina, as he can participate in prolonged fights and endure continuous attacks without showing any signs of fatigue.
In addition, the Iron King has a great deal of super strength and is easily among the top 5 strongest Mobians. He could smash the majority of Fort Acorn with his bare fists and he could break free from being buried in the ground through brute force. He also has proficiency in wielding various weapons of both technological and magical nature.
The Iron King possesses no known weaknesses and is as such nearly impossible to defeat in combat. The only reliable way to defeat him is the Fan of Fen Xing which creates a wind powerful enough to blow him far away. His large ego is also an Achilles' heel as Sonic was able to trick him to attacking a decoy when he pretended to surrender to him.
Weapons[]
The Iron King possesses a large collection of weapons which he collects to use against his enemies even though he has his own personal favorites.
The Tremor Mace is the Iron King's weapon of choice. It has a red grip and a cylinder-formed head with flat spikes. It has the power to shake the earth and can go up against weapons like the Atom-Bat and the Piko Piko Hammer. However, he lost the Tremor Mace following his defeat in New Mobotropolis.
Romance[]
The Iron King's only known romantic relationship is his marriage to the Iron Queen, but it was strictly out of benefit and not romance, which is made all the more obvious by the Iron Queen finding love with Snively.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- It was stated in the letters page of "Sonic the Hedgehog: #71" that the Iron Queen was a Mobian badger. However, writer Ian Flynn stated that he considered her an Overlander given her character design, adding that the Iron King and Iron Queen's "titles are purely honorary and not romantic. They're together out of benefit, not out of romance" and that "having a human [Overlander] female wed to a animal character might raise some eyebrows.".
- The Iron King, along with the Iron Queen, holds the 4th longest non-appearance gap in the main comic series at 140 issues (StH: #60-200), tying them with the badnik Coconuts.
- The Iron King seems to be based on the Ox King from Journey to the West.
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(Archie Comics) Villains | ||
Eggman Empire Sub-Bosses Egg Bosses Badnik Horde Dingo Regime Battle Bird Armada Witchcarters Others Order of Ixis Overland Dark Legion Guardian Units of the Nation Team Dark Destructix
Babylon Rogues Suppression Squad Sol Dimension Iron Dominion Freedom Fighters of the Galaxy Zone Light Mobius Dark Mobius Another Time, Another Place Zone Jail Black Arms Future Timeline Breeze Media Deadly Six Pirates of the Setting Dawn Others See Also |