KING ACE = HE WHO SETS THE STANDARD
King Ace, born Albert Elijah Halbert and later self-renamed Adrian Halbert, is one of the most dangerous and theatrical antagonists in the W.A.R. & P.E.A.C.E. universe. A genius-level strategist with a flair for performance, King Ace views the world not as something to conquer—but as something to orchestrate. Every act of violence, every scheme, every confrontation is part of a larger “performance” designed to test, break, and ultimately entertain him. King Ace is essentially a philosophical wildcard—a villain who operates by a strict personal code, values fairness in combat, and will even ally with heroes if it preserves the “game” he so dearly cherishes. Following his death, descent into Hell, demonic rebirth, and eventual reunification with his suppressed humanity, he's since resigned after playing a crucial role in saving the Omniverse and helping rebuild the world, which granted him a pardon from the UN.
From a young age, Adrian rejected mediocrity and resented those who embodied it. His love for literature and the arts clashed violently with his family’s anti-intellectualism, fostering a sense of superiority that would later define his identity. Unlike many villains, King Ace does not act out of greed or power lust. He acts out of aesthetic philosophy. To him, Chaos is art, Conflict is structure, and People are pieces. Adrian was born into a British family that valued physical excellence over intellect. Overshadowed by his older brother and abused by his father, Adrian developed a deep resentment toward his family, a superiority complex rooted in intellect, and a fascination with control through knowledge. His father’s abuse culminated in a defining moment. After being accused of cheating despite earning straight A’s, Adrian insulted his father and was struck across the eye, leaving a permanent scar. This moment marked the death of “Albert.” From that point forward, he adopted the name Adrian Halbert and began asserting dominance over his household. Adrian’s behavior escalated rapidly to Psychological manipulation (blackmailing parents with their secrets), violent retaliation against authority, and a complete takeover of the household through fear. Eventually, his parents attempted to flee. Adrian sabotaged a train line, causing a fatal crash that killed them both. His brother committed suicide shortly after. Now completely unrestrained, Adrian became the sole author of his world. Sent to military school, Adrian honed his combat skills, developed elite marksmanship, and gained exposure to global conflict. However, instead of discipline, the military gave him structure for his cruelty. He was ultimately dishonorably discharged after torturing prisoners to death with a power drill. Freed from all restraint, Adrian embraced his true philosophy: “The world is a stage. I will direct it.” This led to the creation of his theatrical identity, his obsession with structured conflict, and his transformation into King Ace.
"Affably Evil" - Despite being a bloodthirsty international terrorist and supervillain, King Ace is known to be a very polite, amiable, well-mannered, and gracious gentleman whenever he's not threatening someone's life. Owing to his strict adherence to being a fair fighter and to showing respect to his enemies, he is almost impossible to hate.
"Hate-Sink" - A very circumstantial version that only applies to his demonic form, which possessed all of his bad qualities and none of his good qualities. He murders, maims, and terrorizes, but with none of the grace, style, or respect he had before. Aside from this one story arc, King Ace does not qualify as a Hate-Sink due to his charming, humorous, and hammy nature.
"Deconstructed Character Archetype" - Of the Dastardly Whiplash and the Saturday-Morning Cartoon Villain. Despite seeming like another hammy and over-the-top theatrical supervillain straight out of Batman: The Animated Series or GI Joe: A Real American Hero, King Ace does not fall into any of the pitfalls most of these villains become trapped by. He's not cowardly, nonsensical, or prone to thwarting his own evil plans. Everything he does is planned, and King Ace has killed A LOT of people during his 2 decades of supervillainy.
"Laughably Evil" - His tendency for pretentious one-liners that allude to his well-readness, his flamboyant, hammy personality that emphasizes his love of theater, and his obsessive need to make things as grand and glorious as possible make King Ace one of the funniest villains in WAR & PEACE.
"Evil is Petty" - He once hunted down and killed every terrible actor that performed in a Shakespeare In The Park production he attended. When he came back as a Demon, he went on a reign of terror through Harking City that lasted 3 straight days, and simply because he felt that edgy and stupid teens had turned his symbol into a brand.
"Magnificent Bastard" - Possibly the greatest in WAR & PEACE, owing to his love of intricate planning and his obsession with fair play, often leaving deliberate holes in his plans. Which means he could win whenever he wanted, but doesn't because it wouldn't be fun.
"It Amused Me" - His entire motivation for why he chooses to be a supervillain.
"Even Evil Has Standards" - King Ace HATES Neo-Nazis and everyone who shares their beliefs with a Capital H. One time when one of his early gang members was being manipulated into joining a Neo-Nazi gang, he broke into the gang's hideout and solo killed EVERYONE. He also prides himself on being respectful to his allies and enemies, rarely even using foul language during his duels unless he's enraged or disgusted. He's also a surprisingly tolerant and benevolent boss to his henchmen, never offing them on a whim for understandable mistakes. He's also known for occasionally teaming up with the heroes to battle greater threats
"Ambiguously Bi" - Well, not really. King Ace is canonically bisexual and has a history of hooking up temporarily with his own henchmen, men and women.
"Depraved Bisexual" - Subverted. Despite being a notoriously murderous supervillain, King Ace is incredibly respectful of people's boundaries, both men's and women's. He'd never dream of violating anyone sexually.
"The Dreaded" - One of, if not the most feared, supervillains on Earth. His superior intellect, combat prowess, and sadistically playful detachment make everyone absolutely terrified of him.
"Abusive Parents" - He grew up in a rich yet stupid upper-class family that bullied and abused him for his love of art, literature, and music.
"Evil Brit" - A world-class Supervillain who hails from Great Britain and speaks with an elegant Queen's Accent.
"Even Evil Has Loved Ones" - King Ace has a woman and a man in every port across the world, though not in the sense that he's cheating on them. It's just friendships that involve casual sex. He never mistreats any of them.
"Anti-Villain" - A very subdued example. King Ace is a sadistic criminal mastermind terrorist who has killed enough people to fill 10 football stadiums to the roof, and caused so much property destruction that it often takes YEARS for the people to rebuild fully. And yet, he's a polite and respectful enemy who fights to maintain freedom and prevent Earth from becoming a boring place devoid of games, art, and creativity. He's even secretly funded several up-and-coming artists he's seen as having great potential.
"Wicked Cultured" - King Ace is a man who genuinely loves art, theater, and literature. He loves playing famous classical pieces on the piano for no one but himself and is even a classically trained violinist. He loves drinking Chai and even pronouncing it right. He's an incredibly well-dressed and well-spoken sophisticated gentleman who lives in a well-furnished theater he renovated to look like an opera house, and is often known to quote Shakespeare and other famous poets. He can be very sentimental about the art he loves, even killing one of his lackeys for ruining a priceless painting during a museum heist. He also possesses more wisdom and reason than you'd expect from a sadistic international terrorist, and can even be surprisingly philosophical and meditative when in a pleasant mood.
"Pop Cultured Badass" - He once quoted the line, "Please allow me to introduce myself. I am a man of wealth and taste," from the Rolling Stones classic "Sympathy for the Devil", showing he's obviously a fan of them. He's also canonically a fan of Game of Thrones, Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, Succession, Monty Python, Stephen King, and even YouTube.
"Genius Bruiser" - He's not just a Chess Master supervillain. He's also one of the most dangerous and deadly combatants on the planet, capable of going toe-to-toe with God-Tier Martial Artists like Ryuko, White Lotus, Shadow, and Silhouette.
"Satanic Archetype" - His devilish charm and hair, tall height, Black & Red & White motif, love of playing games of chance, hedonistic habits, and his desire to constantly rebel against what he thinks is "Crushing the Creative Soul of Mankind", King Ace shares quite a lot in common with classical versions of The Devil, even down to him liking apples. And then you have that entire arc where he came back from Hell as a literal demon...
"The Sociopath" - A sadistic and detached mass murderer with a talent for charismatic manipulation and a notorious habit for killing anyone he hates or thinks deserves it.
"Ambiguously Human" - Specifically, after his soul was put back in his physical body, as it's not clear if he still kept some of the demonic power from his time as a demon.
"Ax-Crazy" - Despite his polite and gentlemanly demeanor, King Ace is a bloodthirsty mass murderer who laughs manically as he watches his curated acts of terrorism unfold. He's also known to enjoy the act of torture, the most notable example from when he carved the swastika tattoo off the chest of a Neo-Nazi who tried to join his crew.
"Card-Carrying Villain" - Takes pride in his role as one of Earth's greatest Big Bads.
"Evil Counterpart" - To Lady Lotus/White Lotus. Both are cultured and worldly blood knights who are also the most dangerous and deadly combatants on Planet Earth. The difference is that Lady Lotus/White Lotus is a warrior who uses her skills to protect and help the public, while King Ace uses his talents to enact grand schemes of high-stakes crime and terrorism.
"Gadgeteer Genius" - He builds most of his weaponry, designing his signature cane/sonic cannon/laser sword, as well as his numerous different razor cards.
"I Gave My Word" - Despite being a murderous terrorist, King Ace is a man of integrity and honor, always keeping his promises, whether good or bad.
"Graceful Loser" - Even when he is caught by the heroes, he always comes willingly and congratulates everyone for such a fun game. After all, victory is never his true motivation. King Ace desires nothing more than a genuine challenge.
"Mad Bomber" - Often known to use lots of hidden planted bombs in his games of Terrorism Chess, the most notable example being when he hid 20 landmines all over the sidewalks of Harking City and challenged Ryuko to a hand-to-hand fight to see if she could grab the map from his coat pocket.
"Narcissus" - His hideout is dripping with him, and he has several self-portraits hung on the walls. He also clearly has an ego that couldn't fit within one dimension, given how he does all of his supervillain stuff to show off how smart he is.
"Slasher Smile" - His default expression.
"Worthy Opponent" - How he views most of the heroes who have managed to catch him after thwarting his plans, mainly Ryuko, Lady/White Lotus, Pyra, and others.
"Hidden Depths" - King Ace is a secret fan of Thomas the Tank Engine, specifically the Fan-made projects on YouTube.
"Large Ham" - Do I even need to explain this one?
"Death Seeker" - Though it's never outright stated, King Ace clearly does not care if his constant seeking of worthy opponents leads to his death. When he was killed by Lady Lotus, he said, "I am so proud of you," to Lotus as she plunged his own sword into his face through his eye.
"Seven Deadly Sins" - Specifically Pride and Lust.
"Icy Blue Eyes" - His eyes are Baby Blue and absolutely terrifying, given how detached he is from reality.
King Ace's fighting style is as Theatrical as it is deadly. When fighting with his cane, he uses an advanced form of the Gentleman's Martial Art, Bartitsu. When he activates its laser sword mode, his fighting style is a mixture of Kenjutsu, Kendo, Battojutsu, Longsword Fencing, and Arnis Sword Fighting. On top of that, his aim is impeccable from his time in the military, making him an expert sniper and marksman who could kill as easily with a gun as with his razor cards. When unarmed, he's still incredibly dangerous, able to go hand-to-hand for several minutes with God-Tier Martial Arts Masters like White Lotus, the evolved and enlightened Lady Lotus. His fighting style is a mix of bare-knuckle boxing, kickboxing, MMA, Karate, Sambo, Aikido, Muay Thai, Krav Maga, and even Savate.
A lot of King Ace's philosophy is a mixture of Max Sterner and Friedrich Nietzsche (the actual version, not what stupid people think it is). One major difference between a character like Alastor the Radio Demon and King Ace is that Alastor is a deeply cynical man who builds people up just so he can watch them crash and burn. King Ace actually views himself as a mentor to others, always encouraging both hero and villain alike to strive to be the best at their chosen craft. Whenever he does manage to best a hero in combat, he's not truly excited. He's disappointed.
