The Emperor

"No. There is no other way. There is only me, there is only my throne, and there is only surrender."

The Emperor (birth name unknown)  is the main antagonist of the novel.

Once the kind son of a village elder, the Emperor is known as a mysterious, violent and merciless dictator who is determined to conquer the Whispy Woods at any and all costs. Ever the violent warlord, he leads his armies to slaughter those who oppose his rule and will stop at nothing to get what he desires. However, within the Emperor's black heart resides the broken and mutilated soul of a distraught young man; one who sought nothing but to be with the woman he loved.

Physical Description
The Emperor's true appearance was never described, nor seen. Given form only through his attire of black robes and metal talons worn upon his feet, his original body was completely gone and invisible to mortal eyes. His eyes are pale white and glow with a bright, illuminating light, the only features that could be plainly distinguished from his dark clothing, apart from his large antlers. In a rage, he appeared in a hellish burst of flame. Mortal men could not touch him, and any weapon that struck him would instantly be destroyed (unless of great enchantment, such as Finn's sword). The Emperor himself wielded few armaments, his only weapon being a simple steel longsword. His arsenal was not limited to physical means, however; the Emperor is an accomplished sorcerer and uses his magic to devastating effect. He was surrounded by an aura of terror, which affected all living beings; too much exposure of this aura was deadly, and even his voice struck terror and despair in all who heard him.

The Emperor always wore a single ring on his right ring finger, which was comprised of a large, gold signet set with a small, round black stone. This ring held much of his power, and only he could safely wear it. The well-meaning who tried to handle it would get a burning shock as though stung by a swarm of insects, while those who intended outright malice could be destroyed by it.

Outward
The Emperor represents true evil in every sense of the word - a heartless tyrant with no conscience, no feeling of remorse or empathy, and never recognizing the worth and humanity of anyone except himself. In part, this is true, for what is the Emperor if not a tyrant who revelled in bloodshed and misery to all others. However, there is more to his nature than most assume. The Emperor understands that most others see him as evil, despite believing that his goals are justified. Furthermore, he sees himself as beyond all morality, rather than simply evil. To him, morality is nonexistent and a "mere concept" used to "shield the world from what people can truly do". Aside from his opinion on morality, he believed himself to be the living embodiment of darkness itself, even stating that he was "the death of all worlds" at one point. This and other statements were used to instill within his enemies and allies' ranks alike, that he feared nothing - death among them.

Like most psychopaths, the Emperor is outwardly unapologetic and utterly remorseless to those he causes pain. Believing morals and principles to be a sign of weakness, the Emperor finds peace and kindness to be sickening concepts and despises those who revere them. As such, he possesses little to no kindness and rarely shows any interest in the feelings of others. A nihilist in his own right, the only thing the Emperor seemed to enjoy was to ensure the lives of those around him were as miserable and joyless as his own. It has been said that he brings sadness everywhere he goes.

He possesses an extremely high intellect, even by the standards of his time; not only did he excel at thinking quick on his feet, he was always focused on his endgame and usually had a backup plan, making it much harder to anticipate and defeat him. His intellect made him incredibly lethal even without using his powers or fighting skills, as displayed by his ability to create extremely complex and well-coordinated plans and execute them effectively. In addition to his intelligence, the Emperor was expertly manipulative, seducing many with with promises of power, prize, and even salvation to further his agenda.

The Emperor is rather taciturn and usually speaks only in brief statements. Because he seldom speaks, his words carry great gravity. In this regard, he seems to be a man of wit; despite not caring about the pain he caused, on several occasions attempted to justify the matter with educated statements. His educated, fairly polite demeanor was only a cover for a horrifically sadistic mind who saw his actions as "nessecary" to accomplish his goals. He leads his conquest with an unbroken sheet of calmness, and upon meeting the enemy, he phlegmatically informs them of his motives and plans. Although the Emperor demanded absolute loyalty from his followers, he was often treacherous and felt no obligation to return in kind.

The Emperor exhibits an extreme sense of megalomania, seeking to dominate the world through great acts of cruelty, malice and arrogance; during a conversation, he once stated that he wanted to have "all the power in the world and more". Without any discernible human feeling, he leads an army who seem just as cruel and depraved as he is. However, despite displaying pride towards his men, he does not care about them beyond a professional level. He shows little regard for their safety and only cares about them for pragmatic reasons, seeing a majority of them as nothing more than disposable pawns to carry out his tasks. After years of his reign of terror, his reputation became so horrible and well-known, that people shuddered at the mere mention of him or any of his followers.

However, despite his terrifying demeanor, the Emperor seemed to have a cowardly side, rarely leaving the safety of his fortress or engaging any of the protagonists in direct combat up until being forced to. More often than not, he preferred to slink unnoticed in the shadow of his powerful army. However, in direct combat, the Emperor is willing to fight to the bitter end, without a care in the slightest what happens to him in the process. In addition, when ultimately defeated, he was perfectly willing to destroy all of existence beyond repair post-mortem if he could not rule over it, even leaving behind a shadow of his power to ensure that his purpose would be achieved.

The Emperor also had a pragmatic, though very pathological, philosophy. According to him, the concept of good and evil (and even strength and weakness) were both meaningless. He believed that the only right and wrong were what he decided, due to his "divine" right to rule. Any choice he made was the right one, simply by virtue of it being his choice, and that indecisiveness and attempts to guide oneself by moral principles were signs of weakness; traits he despised.

Inward
During his childhood and early adulthood, the Emperor was known to be extremely kind and cherished all life and the world itself. When he met a young maiden, he fell in love, and was shown to be an extremely caring and devoted man to her, and eventually to their unborn child as well. This came to a tragic end, however, when his father killed them both in a fit of prejudice-fueled rage. The loss of his maiden sent the Emperor down a dark, violent path; one filled with a bitterness towards the world. After killing his father, the man wanted nothing but ultimate power, because he felt that only it would soothe the meaningless life he now led without his one true love.

Powers and Abilities
In addition to his magical abilities, the Emperor was a capable warrior reportedly on par with most knights. He is well-versed in horsemanship and has tremendous sword-fighting skills, and beyond these purely marital powers he seemed to exude an aura of terror and darkness around him. Whether this was done consciously is unknown, but he or his general presence had the ability to produce a chilling effect on all those who beheld him. His mere presence often caused panic and despair in his enemies, and only individuals of great courage could face him in combat. Furthermore, this aura was also poisonous to mortal creatures. Merely being in the vicinity of him could cause disorientation and ill health. Intense exposure could be lethal.

Background
The Emperor’s past is shrouded in mystery and darkness, fire and blood. Very little is known about his earlier life, up to and including recent history. What is known, however, is that the Emperor was born to a tribe of ancients, known as the Velkor, at some point late in the First Age. The Velkor were direct descendants of the Mag Nuk, the first known tribe of humans to live within the region which became known as the Whispy Woods. Despite their noble heritage, the Velkor (believing that an excess of power led to evil) gave up their lands to lead simpler lives, thus isolating themselves from their cousins, the Arnor, who were left to rule themselves. King Hugo and his family are direct descendants of the Arnor.

The Emperor was the son of a village elder; one who saw great potential in his son as Velkor. However, the Emperor, who had always fantasized about living a grander life after having heard stories of the Arnor, felt dissatisfied with his life. While hawking one day, the young man’s horse bucked him off a hill, knocking him unconscious. He was discovered, injured but alive, by a young maiden, who nursed him back to health in her cottage. She was an Arnor of high birth; the daughter of a powerful lord. Despite his father's warnings to stay away, the Emperor became captured by her kindness toward him, sneaking out of the village frequently to meet with her, and the pair eventually fell in love.

One night, after a severe scolding by his father, the Emperor tried to distance himself from their relationship, fearing that his father might harm his love, but the maiden confessed that she was pregnant with his child. Overjoyed, the couple made plans to elope, with the Emperor suggesting that they leave their home and spend the rest of their lives searching for a place where their love could flourish. However, before they could marry, tragedy struck. Late one night, the Emperor’s father heard his son singing a song intended for his maiden, unknowingly giving him her location. Unfortunately, the elder did not approve of their love, for he believed that their resultant child would dilute the Velkor blood.

Out of prejudice and anger, the elder forcibly ended their relationship by finding the maiden and killing her, causing the death of her and the Emperor’s child as well. Upon learning of this terrible crime, the Emperor confronted his father in his grief and demanded the truth. The elder coldly admitted to the murder, claiming that their child would’ve destroyed the family and that she was better dead than alive. In a blind rage, the Emperor strangled his father to death.

The noise attracted a small group, who discovered what the elder’s son had done; in retaliation, the young man slaughtered them all. Believing life and existence to be meaningless without his love, the Emperor set fire to his village, killing many of them. Inconsolable, the elder’s son forced the remainder of his people deep into the wilderness, with all of them dying in a matter of hours. By the end of that fateful day, all but one of Velkor were dead.

Becoming an Emperor
Following this, the Emperor spent several years wandering the wilderness, begging for death. For all he knew, the love of his life was gone, and he sought nothing more than to see her again in the afterlife. His only possession was his father’s signet ring, which he had stolen from him shortly after murdering him. Unbeknownst to the man, the elder’s killing (as well as the deaths of the villagers) had enchanted the ring with an especially rare kind of magic - an evil kind, one that only those who tempted with fate could be bestowed upon, and one that even Merlin could not properly take into account. As such, the malignant influence produced from the ring twisted the Emperor’s body and mind, and prolonged his life well beyond its natural limits. The cursed ring prevented him from death; no disease could affect him, no wound would hide him, no wild animal would attack him. It truly was a horrid fate

A hundred years of suffering led the Emperor had reached a region far beyond all civilization - the farthest north, a region so barren and hostile that even the sun refused to shine there. During this time, the Emperor either found or magically constructed a castle of ice and stone- which, after many centuries, became known as the Palace of Shadow. A series of enchantments served to hide his home from mortal eyes.

Many years passed, and during the Third Age, the Emperor began to make himself known. He quickly negotiated a truce with the goblins (most of whom lived in hiding), and with their connections, he soon commanded a formidable army. What began as small acts of vandalism soon spiraled into widespread mayhem. Generations of children grew up fearing the mysterious "Emperor" whose forces ravaged their homes. When they grew older and then died, the cycle would start again.

At the end of the Fourth Age, the Emperor's power increased ten-fold. With this power, he became the source of the corruption and evil that was afflicting the Whispy Woods. Unbeknownst to all except him, this was due to Finn's own negative thoughts, emotions, and guilt following his parents' deaths; the living embodiment of all of his inner demons.

Names

 * The Dark Lord, most likely coming from his background in sorcery.
 * The Dark Lord of the Shadows, A variant of the above title.
 * The Fallen Velkor
 * King of the Darkness
 * Anorak-Urdal
 * Crimson Khan
 * Red Shan
 * The Last Velkor
 * High Lord of Despair
 * Your Darkness
 * His Darkness
 * Your Highness
 * The Crimson Monarch
 * Defiler of Worlds
 * Red King
 * Carrion King
 * The Demon
 * He/Him (by most except his followers)