Forest King

The  is a character in Ousama Ranking and its anime adaption. He is an unnamed monarch who rules over the forest that lies between the Bosse Kingdom and the Underworld.

Bojji briefly encountered this king while lost in the forest.

Appearance
The Forest King is a very tall old man with grey eyes, an emaciated face, unkempt grey hair, and a large grey moustache. He wears a yellow fur tunic and darker-yellow fur boots, both of which appear to be made out of pelts. His eyes are slightly askew, giving him an air of madness.

The only thing that identifies him as a king is the solid gold crown upon his head.

Personality
The Forest King seems to be completely mad, though his circumstances (like everything else about him) are very mysterious.

In spite of his madness, the Forest King has periodic moments of lucid wisdom. During these lucid moments the Forest King demonstrates deep knowledge of the inner workings of the forest, including the existence of a mysterious creature in the sky that collects the souls of slain animals.

Strangely, the Forest King refers to people from other kingdoms as belonging to the "secular world", hinting that he considers the forest a highly-spiritual area. Perhaps because of this, the Forest King engages in extremely ritualistic behavior, including a Dance of Reconciliation meant to appease the mysterious sky-creature.

The notion of sacrifice seems to be extremely important to the Forest King, and to that end he doesn't differentiate between humans and animals, at one point implying that he would sacrifice Bojji.

Plot
Bojji first encountered the Forest King after becoming separated from his party and falling into one of the King's pitfall traps. Bojji narrowly avoided being skewered by its stakes. The Forest King seemed to take Bojji's presence in stride, and allowed the young prince to accompany him as he prepared his dinner on top of a nearby cliff.

While there the Forest King showed Bojji the strange creature in the sky that replenishes the forest, and taught Bojji his own Dance of Reconciliation to thank the creature for its service.

The encounter was short-lived, however, as the Forest King quickly hinted that he may sacrifice Bojji to the creature as well. Spooked, Bojji escaped the Forest King's presence and rejoined his escorts, Dormas and Hokuro.

The Forest King has not been seen since, though several flashbacks hint at a tragic history for the character, and a possible relationship with the criminal Kingbo.

Kingbo
It's heavily implied that the Forest King is Kingbo's father. While this is unconfirmed, the two bear a striking resemblance to each other, and Kingbo's father was shown to have gone mad after abdicating and passing his kingdom to his son.

Kingbo's father was both a wealthy and wise king, but seemed to have misgivings about passing his kingdom onto his son. One of his last acts before abdicating was to strongly counsel Kingbo to find more empathy for his subjects.

Forest Lore
When lucid, the Forest King is exceptionally knowledgeable about the forest, including the magical happenings within. He considers the forest a deeply intriguing, mysterious place, and appears to have studied it for a long time.

Dance of Reconciliation
A ritual practiced by the Forest King, meant to appease the mysterious sky creature that ingests the souls of slain animals and provides new animals to the world. It is unclear if this dance has any mystical bearing, or if it's entirely superstition, but the Forest King takes it very seriously. The Forest King taught this ritual to Bojji upon their meeting.

Trivia
Many fans suspect the Forest King is a very highly-ranked monarch, with some suggesting he may be a former #1 King who went mad after receiving his treasure from the Divine Treasure Vault. This is somewhat supported by his implied relationship to Kingbo, whose father appeared to have been a high-ranking monarch who abdicated his throne, went mad and slaughtered his former subjects.

There is a possibility that the Forest King was the former ruler of the Bo Kingdom. This is due to his son's name, as well as how he shares physical traits with members of the Light clan. While unconfirmed, if true this means the kingdom no longer exists, and that he is responsible.