King of All Cosmos

Concept and design

The King of All Cosmos was created by Keita Takahashi for Katamari Damacy. His hammer-shaped head originated from unused design work for a cancelled game called Action Drive, where such heads were meant to stun human targets driving by, with steering wheels attached to the tops of their heads after being hacked. Takahashi repurposed this visual element for Katamari Damacy after Action Drive was discontinued. The character's face and flamboyant personality were based on British musician Freddie Mercury, while his body was modeled after Japanese ballet dancer Tetsuya Kumakawa.

The King is portrayed as aloof and capricious, constantly berating his son the Prince and belittling his katamari efforts. He is depicted as perplexed, surprised, or infatuated with human creativity as expressed by objects on Earth. He speaks numerous languages, including Esperanto, and uses the royal we. Before each level, he provides mission summaries and descriptions of subjects like countries and living creatures.

His voice is conveyed through record scratches of various tempos: slow for disapproval or deep thoughts, fast for urgency and excitement. His comments are passive aggressive, never overtly cruel, conveying that the Prince is a source of disappointment. Later games maintain his flamboyance and expand his odd backstory. His obsession that an amalgamation of little things makes up for big mistakes reflects the series' humour.

For Takahashi, the subtext concerns mass consumption and excess of non-essential products, with humour as a sugar coating for deeper messages.

Appearances

The King of All Cosmos once woke up after a night of heavy drinking to find he had accidentally wiped out every star. To fix this, he ordered his son, the Prince, and his cousins to roll up everything on Earth and turn it into new stars. A later game shows more of his life before that mess, as he tries to grant wishes from fans he made during the first adventure. On a family vacation, the King caused a tsunami while playing in the ocean, destroying all the animal-filled islands, and again sent the Prince to clean up. Outside the main games, he became a playable character in the mobile game Crossy Road in 2016. A webcomic about him and his son started on ShiftyLook.com in 2012. He also appeared on the cover of the second issue of the indie game magazine A Profound Waste of Time, a project involving game designer Keita Takahashi, illustrator Doug John Miller, and editor Caspian Whistler.

Promotion and reception

To promote We Love Katamari, a website focusing on the King and his eccentric mannerisms launched in September 2005. Amazon.com included him among notable characters with prominent moustaches to promote Movember in November 2012. The cover art for the vinyl release of the Katamari Damacy soundtrack, promoted by Mondo, depicts the King and Prince in poses reminiscent of Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam. Lucas Sullivan from GamesRadar considered the King a prototype for GLaDOS from Portal, an ominous, quotable foil to the silent protagonist.

Roger Altizer Jr. described him as aesthetically unique, capturing the imagination of video game enthusiasts with his antics and a backstory involving abuse, power, and mistakes. In 100 Greatest Video Game Character, Altizer Jr. noted similarities between his capricious behavior and Greek mythology, as well as a cycle of dysfunction in his relationship with his own father and his progeny. Allegra Frank from Polygon lauded him as an all-time great character, attributing the series' funny moments to sharp writing.

Chris Shive from Hardcore Gamer stated the King has some of the best quotes of any video game character due to their random, nonsensical content adding to his charm, and that he motivates players to improve their katamari score. Alan Wen from Rock, Paper, Shotgun opined that failing to please the King is key to enjoying the game, with emotional payoff when the player elicits genuine praise.