The White King | |
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ā General Information ā | |
Gender | Male |
Hair color | White |
Occupation | White King |
ā Behind The Scenes ā | |
First appearance | Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There |
Portrayed by | Ford Sterling (1933) Harvey Korman (1985) |
The White King is a fictional character from the novel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll. He is based upon the chess piece of the same name.
Description[]
After Humpty Dumpty falls from his wall at the start of Chapter Seven, the White King appears with his soldiers, presumably in hopes of putting him back together. He and Alice begin characteristic Wonderland/Looking-Glass banter, as well as the usual Carrollian wordplay ("I only wish I had such eyes...to be able to see Nobody"). His imperial status as a king, as well as his tendency to take things literally, is reflected in such statements as "it isn't respectable to beg" when Alice simply says "I beg your pardon" and he also remarks that he needs his two messengers Hatta and Haigha: "one to come and one to go... one to fetch and one to carry". When Haigha arrives he claims, in all seriousness, that there is "nothing like eating hay when you're feeling faint", and having eaten two ham sandwiches consumes some hay just as casually. He expresses mixed feelings about two other characters, the Lion and the Unicorn: amusement at the fact that they are "fighting for the crown" even though it is his own crown they are fighting over, but at the same time nervousness when the "two great creatures" stand on either side of him.
His identity as a king in a game of Chess is revealed all the more when he admits that he can never quite catch up with his spouse, because, like all chess queens, she moves too fast and stays too many squares ahead for him to overtake her.
Chess Pieces[]
- Tweedledum: King's rook.
- The Aged Man: King's bishop.
- The White Knight: King's knight.[1]
Pawns[]
Other appearances[]
American McGee's Alice[]
In this video-game, the White King is co-ruler of the Pale Kingdom along with the White Queen. When the White Queen is kidnapped by the Red King, the White King recruits Alice to get her back and sends a pawn to assist her. When Alice asks him for strategy, he tells her that there is no strategy and only violence. Ultimately Alice fails to save the Queen, but her pawn does turn into a new queen. After Alice kills the Queen of Hearts, the White Queen is resurrected.
Alice: Madness Returns[]
The King appears larger and tethered to a door at the Queen's castle. He sacrifices himself by letting Alice kill him so that she can enter the castle.
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland[]
In this show, the White King was made into a composite-character with the Knave of Hearts, and Will Scarlet from the Robin Hood ballads. Will and the Red Queen eventually marry to become the White King and White Queen.
Gallery[]
References
ā Through The Looking-Glass Characters ā |
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Alice ā The Mad Hatter ā The Red Queen ā The Red King ā The Red Knight ā The White Queen ā The White King ā The White Knight ā The March Hare ā The Sheep ā Humpty Dumpty ā Tweedledum and Tweedledee ā The Lion and the Unicorn ā The Bandersnatch ā Jubjub Bird ā The Jabberwocky ā Kitty ā The Flowers ā The Aged Man ā Lily ā The Monstrous Crow ā The White Horse ā The Bread-and-Butterfly ā The Rocking-Horse-Fly ā Snap-Dragonfly ā The Gnat |