Horned King (The Chronicles of Prydain)
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The Horned King is a fictional villain from The Chronicles of Prydain and in The Black Cauldron film by Disney.
In the book series, he appears only in the first book, The Book of Three. He is Arawn's champion and the War Leader of Annuvin. The Horned King is described as a large man wearing armor (except for his arms, which are naked), a red cape and a skull-like mask with the antlers of a stag. The antlers are obviously where he gets his name. Arawn sends him to capture the pig Hen Wen from Caer Dallben. He followed Taran across Prydain in search of the oracular pig Hen Wen, but could not find her, and attacked Taran at Caer Dathyl, trying to gain the pig. Taran tries to fight him, using the virtuous sword Dyrnwyn, but nearly dies as a result of the sword's power. Gwydion is able to complete the battle by using the Horned King's real name, which is never revealed, against him.
The second book concerns itself with Arawn's desire to possess the Black Cauldron. The film The Black Cauldron combines scenes from the first two books, and uses the Horned King in place of Arawn. He looks quite different in the movie; the antlers remain, but he wears a red hooded robe. Instead of a normal human, he is a skeleton or animated corpse, presumably because of some sorcery which kept him alive beyond his time. In the movie, he searches for the title object, seeking to use its power to bring to life an army of undead soldiers. Deploying his Creeper, the dragonic gwythaints, and human soldiers, the King seeks out objects of magic to aid in his quest. He eventually accomplishes his goal, but is thwarted when Gurgi throws himself into the Cauldron. When he attempts to throw Taran to the Cauldron as well, he ends up being sucked into the Cauldron where he died.
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| The Chronicles of Prydain |
|---|
| Books |
| The Foundling and Other Tales from Prydain | The Book of Three | The Black Cauldron | The Castle of Llyr| Taran Wanderer| The High King |
| Characters |
| Achren | Angharad | Arawn | Coll | Dallben | Doli | Eiddileg | Ellidyr | Princess Eilonwy | Fflewddur Fflam | The Horned King | Glew | Gurgi | Gwydion | Gwystyl | Magg | Maibon | High King Math | Medwyn | Orddu, Orwen and Orgoch | Prince Rhun | Pryderi | Rhitta | Taran |
| Other media |
| The Black Cauldron (film) | The Black Cauldron (video game) |
| Animals |
| Gwythaints | Hen Wen | Kaw | Llyan | Lluagor | Melyngar | Melynlas |
| Places |
| Annuvin | Caer Cadarn | Caer Colur | Caer Dallben | Caer Dathyl | Cantrevs | Free Commots | Isle of Mona | Marshes of Morva | Spiral Castle | Summer Country |
| Other |
| The Book of Three | The Black Cauldron | Cauldron-Born | Dyrnwyn | Fair Folk | Golden Pelydryn | Huntsmen | Mirror of Llunet |
