King in the Mountain: Difference between revisions

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* [[King Arthur]] in Avalon, and Merlin in the oak. Said to come back when England is in its hour of most need. Still hasn't shown up, despite the threats of the Spanish Armada, Napoleon and [[Those Wacky Nazis]].

** Not to speak of the successful invasions by the Angles and Saxons, and later by Danish and finally by the Normans.

* [[Mabinogion|Bendigeidfran]] (or Brân the Blessed, not to be confused with '''[[Brian Blessed]]'''), giant and King of Britain. His severed, still living head was buried under the White Hill in London, facing France, to protect the Island of the Mighty from invasion. A jealous [[King Arthur]] dug it up, claiming his strength alone was enough to safeguard Britain.

* Charlemagne in the Untersberg near [[Austria|Salzburg]]. His beard is growing around a table, wrapping twice around it so far. When it has reached around three times... [[The End of the World as We Know It|you know the deal.]]

** As Ogier the Dane was originally from a French story, where he served a French king, some versions of the stories had him be spirited away to Avalon by Morgan Le Fay only to return 200 years later to save France.

* Friderich Barbarossa, asleep in the Kyffhäuser mountains in [[The Sixteen Lands of Deutschland|Thuringia]], Germany.

* Bernardo Carpio, rightful king of the Philippines.

* [[The Kalevala|Väinämöinen]]. He's apparently not sealed in any single location, but wanders between the stars ("higher earths, lower skies") until he's needed again. Parodied in a Finnish comic book when Väinämöinen visits Avalon. He meets King Arthur, mentioned above, and they briefly discuss this trope. Arthur reveals that he ''did'' in fact return once, during World War II, before adding that it took him two years to escape that asylum.

* Gearoidh Iarla (Earl Gerald) and his warriors are asleep in their seats around a long table under the [[wikipedia:Mullaghmast|Mullaghmast]]. Once every seven years, the Earl awakens and rides his horse around the [[wikipedia:Curragh|Curragh]], in County Kildare. When the horse's shoes are worn "''as thin as a cat's ear''", he and his warband will arise for good and drive the English out of Ireland.

* According to a Polish legend, there is [[Sealed Army in a Can|a whole army]] of knights (whether a king is included varies depending on the version of this legend), sleeping in a cave under the Tatra mountains until the time of need comes.

* According to a Serbian legend, Marko Kraljević, a legendary warrior, went to sleep long ago and will rise again one day to a better age, when he will once again kick ass and take names. The reason why? He saw a gun and realized that "the weakest sissy could kill the bravest, strongest warrior with it" and decided that he was just too awesome to go down like that.

 

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* In ''[[Phantom Dreams]]'', the Gekka family have a "sleeping king". Probably [[Sealed Evil in a Can]] for once.

* {{spoiler|Nakiami}} becomes this in the ending of ''[[Xam'd: Lost Memories]]''.

* Played with in ''[[The Five Star Stories]]''. The legendary warrior king Colus III really is dead, but his [[Humongous Mecha]] and [[Artificial Human]] partner Clotho are sealed away waiting for a worthy descendant of the king to use them in his nation's time of need.

 

* In a [[Iron Man]] story featuring [[Doctor Doom]] and [[Time Travel]], Stark and Doom find themselves in a future England (this was a sequel to a earlier storyline that had seen the same two characters go back to Arthurian times). Merlin is back, as is Arthur. Only due to genetic engineering and such Arthur was literally reborn to two Yuppie Britons and so is a spoiled young brat. So guess who has to take his place?

* ''[[Camelot 3000]]'' takes the [[King Arthur]] legend described above and runs with it. [[King Arthur]] does indeed return in the hour of England's greatest need: an alien invasion in the year 3000.

* In ''[[The Books of Magic]]'', Tim Hunter and Doctor Occult encounter The King Under The Mountain. When they ask which king, they're told he's all of them. The bard under the mountain specifically name-checks Barbarossa and Arthur, among others.

* The [[Elseworlds]] story ''[[Batman]]: Dark Knight of the Round Table'' re-imagined Batman as a knight in [[King Arthur]]'s court. At the end of the story, the dying Batman is enchanted to sleep and awaken at the hour of Britain's greatest need. the final page shows the Batplane battling German fighters during the Blitz.

 

== [[Eastern Animation]] ==

* ''[[Suur Toll]]'', being an animation of the myth of Toell The Great, has his decapitated head announce that he will one day return to protect Saaremaa, but without those troublesome kids mucking it up.

 

== [[Film]] ==

* In the director's cut of ''[[Evil Dead|Army of Darkness]]'', Ash does this, complete with his car and boomstick, but wakes up 1000 years later than planned and misses humanity's demise.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* [[H. G. Wells]]' ''The Sleeper Awakes'', where a man previously in a coma for two centuries happens to awaken to find himself in a bleak, dystopian London of the future. Not only that, but upon first entering his trance-like coma two hundred years prior, his money had been placed into a Trust which had managed his money for him in his name; this money accumulated into a vast quantity over the centuries, due to the compound interest compiling steadily for so long, and the stewards of that Trust eventually put all this wealth to establishing a global political and economic conglomeration. The effects of all this boil down to the Sleeper now finding himself the richest man in the world, as well as effective leader of the world seeing that this political and economic entity had been created in his name. He proceeds to assume the role of the "Hero" in an attempt to restore London from this grim present and free the oppressed populace.

* Recurring in the works of [[J. R. R. Tolkien|JRR Tolkien]]:

** The Army of the Dead in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' - traitors cursed to guard the tunnels under the White Mountains (the Paths of the Dead), until they fulfilled their promise to protect Gondor.

** In ''[[The Silmarillion]]'', the evil last king of Numenor, Ar-Pharazôn, set sail with his armies to conquer the holy lands of Valinor from the Valar (god-like angelic demiurges). God prevented the slaughter of countless Valinorean elves by burying him and his armies under a mountain. Supposedly he will only be freed to fight in the final battle with the [[Satan|Dark Lord]].

* The Koryfonic Empire from ''[[The Magids|Deep Secret]]'' by [[Diana Wynne Jones]] has this as a plot point; the emperor in question disappeared rather than being buried under a mountain, and reappears at the end of the book. [[Diana Wynne Jones]] also uses this trope in ''[[A Tale of Time City]]'' with the sleeping Faber John inside Time City.

* In [[Poul Anderson]]'s ''Orion Shall Rise'', the line "Orion shall rise" is used by many citizens of a subjugated land. This trope is invoked to explain their superstition. {{spoiler|In reality, they're talking about the restarting of a secret program codenamed "Orion". This was to ensure that any leaks would be attributed to the superstition, helping cover up the program. Given [[wikipedia:Orion (nuclear propulsion)|what the Orion Project is]], the secrecy is understandable.}}

* In the ''[[Robin Hobb|Farseer Trilogy]]'', legends state that King Wisdom awakened the Elderlings to defend the Six Dutchies. He vanished afterwards, but will return again to save the land. After King Verity does the same to end the Red Ship war, the same legends form around him.

** ''[[That Hideous Strength]]'': the fact that Merlin is resting beneath Bragdon Wood is a major plot point, and both factions wish to recruit the reawakened wizard to their side.

** ''[[The Silver Chair]]'': we meet the Giant Time, who is lying asleep underground. This one's a subversion, though, as when he wakes up in ''[[The Last Battle]]'' it's a sign of the end of the world. "When he slept he was called Time. Now he is awake he will have another name." Presumably, "Eternity."

* A legend in [[Stephen Hunt]]'s ''The Court of Air''. {{spoiler|At the climax, someone exploits this belief with smoke figures.}}

* A variant of this occurs in the ''Warrior'' trilogy set in the ''[[BattleTech]]'' universe with Morgan Kell, the famous founder of the Kell Hounds mercenary unit. As the story opens, it's been years since he's disbanded half his unit and retreated to a monastery after a fight against one Yorinaga Kurita (who likewise hasn't been seen in action since) for reasons unknown to the others, and it takes his old enemy's return onto the battlefield {{spoiler|and the death of his brother, though he didn't plan for ''that'' to happen}} to bring him out of his retreat and have him take the reins again.

* Played for laughs in [[Tom Holt]]'s ''[[Who's Afraid of Beowulf?]]?'' in which Viking King Hrolf of Caithness (god forsaken country - but it is my kingdom) and his band of heroes are disinterred in time to put an end to their ancient enemy, the Sorceror King's, attempt to take over the modern world via magic - or as we call it, technology.

* In ''Her Majesty's Wizard'', first book of [[A Wizard in Rhyme]], Matt is taken to a cave in the mountains where the legendary emperor Hardishane and his knights are waiting for the time when they will need to save the world from evil. {{spoiler|They don't come back just yet; Matt just needs to be there for a special knighting ceremony. But there ''is'' an example of [[Waking the Sleeping Giant]].}}

* In ''[[War of the Dreaming]]'' by [[John C. Wright]], it's the King in Exile and his sleeping warriors that await the [[Apocalypse Wow|time]] of their [[End of the World Special|triumphant]] [[Rightful King Returns|return.]] Only, it's been a very long wait, and some of them are getting impatient...

* If you happen to be a [[Fish Person]] or some other kind of gibbering horror, Dread [[H.P. Lovecraft|Cthulhu]], dreaming in his sunken city of R'lyeh, waiting for the day the stars are right again, probably qualifies.

* In [[Jack Campbell]]'s ''[[The Lost Fleet]]'', the story is that Black Jack Geary will come to save them all. This makes it rather awkward for Geary when he actually shows up. Especially after he '''does''' save them all.

* In ''Maurauders of [[Gor]]'', Torvald, legendary founder of Torvaldsland, is said to sleep in his mountain, awaiting someone to wake him to defend Torvaldsland. Ivar Forkbeard goes there and discovers that it's only true in a metaphorical sense.

* In [[Michael Flynn]]'s ''[[Spiral Arm|The January Dancer]]'', Hugh sneaks off planet with the promise to return again. Later, the Fudir speaks of the legends of Stonewall and how they correspond to many King in the Mountain legends.

* In the [[Captain Future]] novel ''Planets in Peril'' by [[Edmond Hamilton]], the Captain is convinced to go into a parallel universe and impersonate an ancient hero who promised to come back when needed. {{spoiler|In the end, it is revealed he didn't go into a parallel universe, but his own twenty billion years in the future, and he '''was''' the hero he impersonated}}

 

* In ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'', there's a legend like this surrounding the Klingon imperial founder Kahless. In an attempted power grab, a group of monks make a clone of him and claim that he's returned.

* Subverted in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' serial ''Battlefield'': it's implied that the King Arthur of a parallel universe is doing this on the main Whoniverse Earth, but {{spoiler|it turns out he was dead all along and the story that he would return was just propaganda}}.

* In ''[[Highlander the Series]]'' Duncan became this in his hometown after his first fight as an immortal where he [[Not Quite Dead|"killed"]] the immortal Kanwulf who was attacking his clan. These events started a legend that Duncan Macleod would return whenever his hometown, Glenfinnan was in trouble. When Kanwulf returned some time later, Duncan [[Killed Off for Real|Kills him off for real.]]

 

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

** This is also a common legend regarding the fate of certain [[Space Marine]] legions' Primarchs. Roboute Guilliman of the [[Ultramarines (novel)|Ultramarines]] was put in a stasis tomb after being terminally poisoned, but nevertheless the chapter maintains that he's slowly healing and will fully recover someday. The Dark Angels are convinced that Lion El'Jonson is cloistered away in the depths of their asteroid headquarters, and because Jaghatai Khan of the [[White Scars]] and Leman Russ of the [[Space Wolves]] both disappeared while pursuing enemies instead of being confirmed dead, they're expected to return for an apocalyptic final battle. There's even a similar myth about Ferrus Manus of the Iron Hands, who was not only confirmed killed but ''decapitated'' during the [[Horus Heresy]].

** Though there are hints that Leman Russ is still alive. The Space Wolves have a legendary 'lost company' who are believed to have accompanied Russ, and one of the Black Crusades threw up mention of potential sightings of gigantic, ancient Space Marines fighting in the Eye of Terror itself against Chaos and their leader was said to be a giant, even among the Marines.

** If any primarch could survive 10,000 years fighting in the heart of Chaos, it'd the one who could punch the ''Emperor'' across the room ''with his bare fist'' while the Emperor, ''the greatest warrior in all of human history, possibly the universe, able to kill thousands with little more than a thought, while he was wearing the greatest suit of armour ever forged by man.''

* In Henry Zhou's novel ''Emperor's Mercy'', the ancient xenos artifact the Old Kings is supposed to produce the Star Kings at some point.

* In the ''[[GURPS]] Technomancer'' setting, Stalin turned out to be this for the Soviet Union. He awoke after [[The Great Politics Mess-Up]].

* ''[[Shadowrun]]'' supplement ''Germany Sourcebook'' decker comments.

*** During the Eurowars in 2032, a German mercenary officer named Friedrich von Stauffen led the defense against an Islamic invasion, first made himself known and hired his first soldiers at Bad Frankenhausen near Frederick's tomb.

*** A group of Neo-Nazis was waiting for Frederick's return near his tomb. One day the door opened and a troll (variant metahuman) walked out. The Neo-Nazis killed him for not being a normal human. Apparently in life Barbarossa had the metagene that would make him a troll but it only expressed itself (due to the return of magic) after his resurrection.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* In ''[[Halo 3]]'', {{spoiler|Master Chief winds up adrift in space, with no communications available. He enters a stasis tube with the final words "Wake me when you need me."}}

* After stopping the Xen Invasion, [[Half Life|Gordon Freeman]] spends 20 years floating in space-time limbo courtesy of the G-Man, and as a result misses out on the subjugation of Earth by the Combine Empire. In the meantime, word of this [[Meaningful Name|Free Man]]'s deeds [[Shrouded in Myth|have grown to mythic proportions]], to the point that news of his return is enough to spark humanity's uprising against the Combine.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* In ''[[Beast Wars]]'', the original Optimus Prime (in stasis lock) sits in his command chair in the Autobot ark, which crash-landed and buried itself under a dormant volcano, awaiting a revival millions of years in the future.

* The Avatar Aang in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' accidentally seals himself and Appa, his [[Team Pet|flying bison]], in ice for a hundred years. He does indeed return to save the world, although judging by what [[Anti-Villain|Zuko]] says in the first episode, everyone probably expected an old man [[Orcus on His Throne|in hiding]] rather than a [[Keet]] [[Cheerful Child]].

* In ''[[The Boondocks]]'', Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is revealed to be this, awakening from a coma 40-odd years after being shot. In a pretty dark subversion of the trope, he turns out to be pretty disappointed with the direction that African-American culture has gone in his absence.

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

* A popular urban legend claims that [[Walt Disney]] was cryogenically frozen in a chamber [[Lampshade Hanging|underneath Space Mountain]] at Disneyland. As noted on his page, the fact that the American version of the King in the Mountain story is about an entertainer rather than a political leader is an interesting commentary on American culture.

* Elvis, who is likely [[Elvis Has Left the Planet|exploring the universe with space aliens to return when he has amassed the collective wisdom of our interstellar precursors]].

* Similar rumors sprung up about [[Michael Jackson]] faking his death. There is one theory claiming that Elvis was abducted as a representative of Earth to some aliens (because he was "the king") and when he died they came back and got Michael Jackson to replace him.

* Some people believe Tupac Shakur will return in the (insert number here)-th anniversary of his death.

* There are similar myths regarding the return of [[Andy Kaufman]].

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Royalty and Nobility Tropes]]

[[Category:Death Tropes]]

[[Category:Sealed Index in A Can]]

[[Category:Older Than Print]]