"Mel, look at you. Delicate, unscarred, all of your original limbs. Untouched by this putrid world! AND I WOULD LIKE TO KEEP IT THAT WAY!"
―Ken to Mel
Ken the Butcher is the deuteragonist of The Gaslight District.
He is the leader of The Smiling Dead, the younger brother of Mud, the father of Breadhead, and the adoptive father of Melancholy Hill. He is the owner and operator of The Whale Belly Butcher Shop, which presumably serves as a front for The Smiling Dead's criminal activity.
He is voiced by Jason Marnocha.
Appearance[]
Ken is an enormous Rotling with a muscular, albeit rotund physique. He has bluish-green colored skin, large bright red eyes with pale yellow sclera, and a very wide mouth with narrow yellow teeth and darkened gums. He also has a bloodied kitchen cleaver placed in the center of his indented head, which he can take out as he pleases. His left arm has peeled-off chunks of skin, which expose the fleshy muscles of his biceps and bronchioles.
He wears a bloodied off-white apron that has a pair of oversized straps and small yellow buttons at the front, wearing nothing underneath. He only covers himself with a pair of undergarments.[3] He wears black boots.
Personality[]
Ken is known for having a short temper, often hollering in rage during certain situations, and going into violent rages. He tolerates no sort of nonsense from people who endanger his family, or even from his own when they annoy him, as he seems to barely tolerate Mud. He can also be polite, as seen when he welcomed a female guest to his restaurant by kissing her hand rather excessively.
Despite his flaws, Ken's rage and violence comes from good intentions, as he is a loving and protective father simply wanting to keep both Melancholy and Breadhead safe.
Ken is unique for being the only being within The Gaslight District to not display animosity or fear towards the prophesied human. As the only one aware of Melancholy's true nature as the human, he is extremely protective of her, keeping their secret hidden from their own family, as well as cementing even his own friends and employees (such as Jack) to ensure Mel's safety.
Although it is unclear why he goes to such lengths to support the human, even in spite of the prophecy that would presumably mean his own demise, Ken evidently holds some animosity towards his own kind, constantly insisting to Melancholy that he protects her to ensure that she does not "end up like one of us".
Biography[]
History[]
From the way he speaks of it, it seems Ken was at some point sentenced to Antenora, the Ninth Circle of the Inferno, where he was tortured by the freezing, endless rain and by the Virtue Temperance. Whether he was released or escaped isn't clear. At an undisclosed time in the past, he opened The Whale Belly Butcher Shop.[4]
Twenty years before the events of the pilot, Ken came into contact with Temperance and the infant Melancholy Hill. Despite knowing that Mel was the prophesied human who would bring an end to the Gaslight District, Ken took Mel to the Gaslight District and raised her as his daughter. He also created Breadhead and founded the Smiling Dead.[4]
PILOT[]
His first appearance is when he goes to hunt Jack down with the rest of The Smiling Dead, since he saw Mel's nose bleed and therefore knows her blood is black. During the chase, he's constantly raging, telling Mel to get back into the car and even going as far as hitting Mud's head off. Ken then tells Breadhead and Mud to cement Jack.
We then see Ken in The Whale Belly Butcher Shop, working as usual. But when Mel presents her plan to destroy the human egg, he starts getting angry and protective, even going as far as taking his daughter to a separate room to talk. But, reluctantly, being convinced by Melancholy's plan, he agrees, with the condition that she never leaves his side. Afterwards, he, Mel, Mud, and Breadhead head over to Paradise Lost to carry out the plan.
In heaven, and after some distractions, things are going according to plan (except for Mud greeting Joshua and then killing him). While he and Mel walk through the hallway to get to the staircase, Ken sees the Laboratory, a place he seems to recognize. He asks for five minutes, but Mel is confused, since he told her to never leave his side. He then pinkie promises to her that they'll meet in the stairway.
In the Lab, he finds Temperance, who's surprised and scared to see him. According to him, he kept his promise of never telling anyone, but The Butcher is still mad at him. And although the reasons why are currently unknown, Ken hits him in the head multiple times, revealing his brain, and then eats it. The only hint we're given about the cause of why he wanted to kill him so badly is a photo of baby Mel, presumably recently hatched from her egg, held in Temperance's arms. Ken burns this photo on sight. He returns to the staircase, expecting to see Mel, but all he finds is a note she left saying "plans change".
Melancholy then falls off the staircase, being caught by Ken, who is offended and sad from the fact she broke their pinkie promise. But, with no time to lose, they run over to the exit while being chased by the Angel Mother. The virtue Diligence then shows up, fully knowing The Smiling Dead are intruders, but after a short fight with Ken, he gets sent into the Angel Storm, heavily damaging him and marking the success of the mission.
They then return to the district to destroy the "human egg", but while Ken is giving a speech on how the human shall never find peace, one which visibly disturbs her, the egg hatches, putting him and his daughter into a dire situation.[4]
Powers and Abilities[]
Skillset[]
- Cooking Skill: Ken seems to be the primary cook at the shop. His skill is so great he could create a living yeast golem.
- Superhuman Strength: Ken is very strong, able to pummel Temperance to the ground without difficulty and fend off Diligence with just one hand.
Unique Abilities[]
- Immortality: As a Rotling, Ken has the mark of the Black Hand on his body and will be revived if he is killed in any way.
Relationships[]
The Smiling Dead[]
Ken is The Smiling Dead's leader, and he seems to care about the group as well as the individuals within to a fair extent.
Melancholy Hill[]
Ken is Mel's adopted father, and he works with The Smiling Dead in order to protect her from those who find out about her being human. Ken is, regardless, also overprotective of his daughter due to her mortality, and goes to great lengths to ensure that no one besides himself is aware of Mel being human, as he cemented all the employees of the Whale Belly Butcher Shop who knew about her black blood. Ken also ripped off Temperance's head and ate his brain while in Paradise Lost, likely because of something that occurred while Temperance had possession over the young Mel.
Mud[]
Despite the fact that Ken and Mud are brothers, they don't appear to be particularly close or affectionate with each other.
Breadhead[]
Breadhead and Ken have a close father-son relationship, with Ken going so far as to say Breadhead was an angel compared to his sister. It seems that he favors Breadhead over Mel.
Temperance[]
Ken has a particular hatred against Temperance, leaving the mission to steal the egg for a moment to kill him after finding his room. When Ken enters the room, Temperance is surprised that he found him. Temperance also says that he kept his promise, although it is unknown what this promise is yet. Ken then rips Temperance's head off and eats his brain, killing him and burning a picture of Temperance holding a baby Melancholy Hill.
Appearances[]
| Season 1 | |||
| 1. Pilot: | Debut | ||
Trivia[]
- Ken was originally named ''Construction Worker Wally".[5]
- Ken's head is featured on the logo for the series.
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