Who the Clix? is a series of articles featuring information on comic book characters that have been made into figures for the popular tabletop game Heroclix. These articles are meant to help Heroclix players learn more about the characters behind their favorite pieces.
The trickster of the Pantheon has been a thorn in the Turtles’ shells and his name is: Rat King
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Appearances in Heroclix: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Heroes in a Half Shell
First Appearance: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #36 (IDW)
Team Affiliations: N/A
Universe: IDW
Created by: Jim Lawson
The Rat King is a member of an ancient family of god-like beings known as the Pantheon. These beings have been engaged in a game for thousands of years that involves humanity. It seems that infighting increased once their father, the Dragon, was killed. Kitsune, paramour of Oroku Saki, is sister to the Rat King and therefore also a member of the Pantheon. In the past, Rat King was famously the Pied Piper of Hamelin and enjoys toying with humanity.
Rat King first encounters the Hamato Clan when Leonardo and Splinter are discussing whether they should attack the Foot Clan or stop construction of the Technodrome. Rat King kidnaps them both and uses his mental powers to torture them while telling them about himself and his family, fully planning to hide these memories from them once he is done.
Rat King attempts to turn father against son and son against father, only for both of them to be able to see through his manipulations. Leo is even able to move and almost strike Rat King before the entity realizes it. Rat King is impressed with both with them and leaves them back in the sewers where he found them, all memory of their encounter gone from their minds.
He next confronts Casey Jones and April O’Neil as they travel through a desert, seeking his sister Aka. He fools them into a magical maze but when they are able to solve it, he appears and brings them to Aka. April and Aka speak while Rat King continues to torment Casey by appearing as a large dragon made out of rats. Rat King next appears at the Pantheon Family Dinner put on by Toad Baron. Rat King is delighted by the appearance of the Turtles, as it makes the dinner far more interesting than he expected.
After the attempted Triceraton invasion of New York, and plays Pied Piper once again. He leads a number of children to a bridge, fully intending on having them all jump to their deaths. The Turtles intervened with Leonardo battling Rat King on the Astral Plane while Mousers killed the rats. Thwarted, Rat King retreats to await his next chance at “fun.”