The Rat King

"If it does exist, it's a slithering, coldblooded menace. I respect that."

- Lyvis Silkya

At a Glance
Also referred to as "The Thirteen-Headed King", The Rat King was the name given to the Skaven ruler who came to power following Nehekhara's sacrifice at the end of the First Necrotic War. Responsible for isolating its people even further into The Shallows, the existence and identity of the Rat King is shrouded in mystery.

A few radical scholars and academics have attempted to explore the origins of The Rat King, but have done so at great risk to their lives. Skaven society is known for its fierce paranoia and any outsider seeking information about its highest level of leadership is either assassinated or murdered outright. Still, some sparing details have been unearthed.

In appearance, the Rat King is rumoured to be a number of rat-hengeyokai intertwined at their tails, which had became stuck together with blood, dirt, or feces -- or simply knotted. If this is to believed, the Rat King isn't a monarch (as its name would suggest) but a democracy run by an physically-bonded committee. Others believe that the Rat King is an amalgam of Thirteen Skaven who were fused together and imprisoned by Torog in an act of insanity.

The edicts of The Rat King are proclaimed by a Seer who acts as a papal figure to the Skaven.