King Eurig

“	The world shall be cleansed and made anew! My Queen will be proud of me!	”
—King Eurig, Jack and the Sky Kingdom

King Eurig was a main character and the main antagonist of the sixth Dark Parables game, Jack and the Sky Kingdom. He also appeared in its bonus game, Rumpelstiltskin and the Queen and as an illusion the fifteenth main game, The Match Girl's Lost Paradise.

Corrupted by the imp Rumpelstiltskin, Eurig's love of gold grew into an obsession and his possession of the Bolide Shard threatened to destroy the world.

King Eurig was based on the king from the German fairytale, Rumpelstiltskin.

Appearance and Personality[]

King Eurig was overweight and had a beard. His hair was light brown in his youth but was a sandy white during gameplay. He tended to wear ostentatious clothing and obviously valued outward signs of wealth.

King Eurig was very greedy and downright obsessed with his kingdom's wealth. This is partly due to a curse placed on him by Rumpelstiltskin, but the curse only intensified the King's already visible desire for more than what he had. Eurig's greed and obsession even push away the love of his life, the Queen of the Sky Kingdom. It took him many lonely years, and a failed attempt at destroying the world, to realize that their love had been the greatest treasure of all.

History[]

Nothing is known of Eurig's upbringing and youth. It can be assumed that he was a Prince and became King with the death of his father, as is the usual course of things. The initial name of his kingdom is also unknown.

While King Eurig was still young, he heard a tall tale of a village girl who could spin wheat into gold. He demanded the girl spin a room full of wheat into gold for him by morning, and when she did so, he immediately married her. Despite the odd way they met, the two fell deeply in love.

They had a child, but to the King's surprise, an imp appeared and stole the newborn away. The imp demanded they guess his name in order to get the child back, but after a wrong guess, the King found himself turned into solid gold. His wife managed to save the day, rescuing their child, and reverting the curse, but his soul was still corrupted.

He desired wealth and gold above all else. He put the imp that had stolen his daughter to work in his dungeons, spinning gold for him day and night. Still, it wasn't enough. He always wanted more. Eventually, his wife had no choice but to leave him, bringing their baby daughter with her.

The King acquired three young boys from a witch, who had imbued each one with magical powers. One of them even developed magic beans that enabled the King and his Princes to live indefinitely. The witch returned again to deliver another treasure to him, the Bolide Shard, along with the news of his wife's passing and her final wish for the world to be destroyed and begin anew.

Thoroughly insane, and now also grief-stricken, the King decided to make his Queen's wishes a reality. He raised his kingdom into the sky and began planning to eventually destroy the earth below. Jack put a kink in those plans by inadvertently stealing one of the keys the King needed to activate the Bolide Shard.

However, Jack's trip up the beanstalk had brought Emma to the King. He recognized his beloved wife in her features and realized she was a descendant of his daughter's. He and his Princes welcomed her as one of the family. She softened his heart somewhat and a part of him even realized the error of his ways. Still, he couldn't stop himself from desiring more.

Once Jack, Emma, and the Fairytale Detective stopped his plans, Eurig's heart cleared entirely. He fully saw how he had let down his family and dishonored their memory. But it was too late for him to make amends for the wrong he'd done. He purposely fell from his kingdom, presumably to his death in the ocean below.

Powers and Abilities[]

Longevity (formerly): After eating the bean of longevity, King Eurig was able to live a long life.

Relationships[]

Queen of the Sky Kingdom (wife, deceased)
Princess of the Sky Kingdom (daughter, fate unknown)
Prince Leonard (adopted elder son)
Prince Hugh (adopted younger son)
Prince Julian (adopted middle son, deceased)
Emma (descendant)
Rumpelstiltskin (enemy and servant)
Evil Witch (possible merchant, fate unknown)
Miller (father-in-law, deceased)

Relevant Parables[]

Rumpelstiltskin (from Jack and the Sky Kingdom)

Once upon a time, a miller boasted his daughter could spin wheat into gold. The King demanded a demonstration, but the miller's daughter had no such skill. Knowing the dawn would bring her death, the daughter wept bitterly. Suddenly, an imp appeared before her and offered to spin the wheat in return for her first-born child. The daughter agreed. Delighted, the King married her the next day. Their first child soon followed and for a while all was well. But one day, the imp reappeared, demanding what had been promised to him. The King and Queen pleaded with the imp for mercy. So he proposed that if they could guess his name in three days time, he would release their daughter from the promise. The King guessed rashly and was cursed. But with the help of a tiny messenger, the Queen learned the imp's true name was Rumpelstiltskin. Foiled, the imp tried to leave, but the King had other plans.

The Three Sons (from Jack and the Sky Kingdom)

There was once a wealthy King who was a fanatical collector of valuable treasures. One day, he heard that an old crone had three unique 'treasures' in her possession, and paid her a visit. The crone presented to him three orphan boys, each imbued with a special talent. She guaranteed their loyalty to the King so he brought them to his kingdom and appointed them Princes. The King's obsession with his fortune pushed him to increasing acts of madness. His subjects fled the kingdom in fear, but the three loyal Princes remained by the King's side. It was on the deserted kingdom that the Princes came of age and into their talents. The eldest Prince, Leonard, grew to a mighty warrior, with a quick temper and a love of battle. The second Prince, Julian, was the king's closest confidante. A hedonist and a shape-shifter, taking different appearances as he pleased. The youngest Prince, Hugh, was an avid scholar. Persuant of all knowledge, he developed magic beans that allowed them to live unnaturally long lives. The three were united in only one cause: to obey the King's whims. Their mindless devotion to the King made them a most fearsome foe to those who would cross him.

The Mercenary King of the Sky Kingdom (from Jack and the Sky Kingdom)

Once upon a time, there was a poor but honorable King, who was determined to rebuild his kingdom's fortune. One day, his appetite for gold suddenly grew insatiable. The Queen, in despair of his greed, took their daughter in hand and left him. The King suffered many lonely years without them, but his obsession with treasure only flourished. One day, a strange witch came to sell him 'the most valuable treasure in the world'. And it was from this witch that the King learned of his beloved Queen's death and her most unexpected final wish: that the world be purged and remade into one of beauty and peace. The grieving King vowed to honor her memory with the sacrifice of his greatest treasure. He decided to unleash the Shard on the day a meteor shower would rain closest to the earth, a rare occurrence that happened only once every millennium. To protect the rest of his treasure, the King used magic to raise his kingdom into the sky. Though magic ensured the King's long life, his plans were thwarted by a petty thief named Jack, who had unwittingly stolen the key that would unleash the treasure. Though Jack escaped, the rest of his gang was left behind. And there was one woman who reminded the King very much of his beloved Queen and their young daughter...

The Adventures of Lady Emma (from Jack and the Sky Kingdom)

The story begins with a noble-born lady named Emma. Unsatisfied with her mundane lifestyle, she rebelled against her family and trained under the Order of the Red Riding Hood Sisters. During patrols, Emma saved a young man by the name of Jack, a fortune hunter with a charming smile and tales of adventure. They fell in love and she left the Sisters for a future with him. Jack had a dream as well, in the form of the elusive kingdom in the sky and the heist of a lifetime. But all his research fell to naught, until Emma gave him the magic beans that had been in her family's possession for generations, a secret heirloom connected to the kingdom. But the kingdom proved to be as treacherous as it was bountiful. Emma found herself abandoned by the man she loved and at the mercy of the King and three Princes of the kingdom. Unexpectedly, the King claimed Emma as his descendant, proven by her possession of the magic beans. He treated her like a daughter, but Emma soon realized the King had been bewitched to set upon a nefarious path that would destroy the world. Emma knew she would need help to stop the King. She sabotaged the floating kingdom, exposing its location, and hoped it would alert the attention of the Fairytale Detective before the island's destruction went too far.

Trivia[]

Eurig's name is Welsh, derived from the word 'aur' which means "gold". Fitting for a man who became obsessed with wealth.
In a 'blink and you'll miss it' moment, in the ending cutscene of the bonus game, where the king is free from the golden curse, his eyes were no longer its original color, but red. It's possible the golden curse inadvertently cause the king to be obsessed with gold.

Quotes[]

Quotes by King Eurig[]

"My Queen, I will erase the world of its ugliness, and rebuild it in the image of your beauty."
"No one can stop me now!"
"The world shall be cleansed and made anew! My Queen will be proud of me!"
"I failed my family when they needed me. And I see now, nothing I do will amend that. But I can still do what's right for you. Do you think my Queen would welcome me now?"
Dear Emma, If you see this, that means I have failed. And I am grateful for the part you played in that. A part of me realizes I have gone too far. But all the time I have spent, all that hope... I would give anything to have my family back by my side. I turned a deaf ear to your pleas, but I know you are a smart, courageous girl, and you will think of a way to stop me. I regret that such a large burden was placed on your shoulders. I can only hope that I was stopped in time. Thank you.

Quotes about King Eurig[]

"A statue of the Sky King - built from respect or conceit?" - Fairytale Detective
"Surrounded by this architecture, the King's statue sticks out like a sore thumb."
"The Sky King looking quite paternal." (observation by Fairytale Detective about a portrait of King Eurig in his daughter's nursery)
"The King must still care greatly for his Queen to keep her portrait here."