Question: What if Vlad was the Ghost King?
This is a really interesting question!
It's interesting to note how most fans focus on alternate universes where Danny Fenton/Phantom becomes the king of the ghosts, when in the canon version of the series it is Vlad, at some point, who possesses the objects of power... and having the Crown of fire and the Ring of rage, in theory he has infinite power. Considering that at the time Fright Night is in his service, Vlad has access to the entire triptych of the objects of power, the ring, the sword and the crown, three things that historically carry enormous symbolic value.
On top of that, Vlad owns also the Skeleton Key, that can unlock any door, realm, case, or prison, even allow access to any realm in the Ghost Zone.
Isn't that enough, to be near-omnipotent?
And despite all this, Vlad never uses the Crown and the Ring at the same time, refusing in a certain sense to become the Ghost King. He does not allow himself to be corrupted by infinite power, because that is not his goal. (As usual, in our analysis we leave out the third season, because there the characters' motives appear too fundamentally altered and unrecognizable. We have an explanation for this too, but it will come in its time!).
Within the series, this is left as an open question, never answered: Vlad could indeed become the King of the Ghosts, but we are never shown the objects of power again after Reign Storm (only once, briefly, in the graphic novel "A Glitch in Time", but in an inconsequential way. Vlad continues to possess those objects, but it is clear that he does not use them directly to acquire power, but rather to seek something else).
So, asking "What if Vlad was the Ghost King?" is... pretty normal. A rather natural consequence of what we have been shown.
Of course, this doesnāt mean that we donāt find it interesting how other fans give this role, that of the king, to Danny Fenton/Phantom: every interpretation is completely subjective and we like to explore every possibility. All this is just a preamble to the real answer, of course: what if Vlad wore the symbols of power? What if Vlad, as you asked, decided to become the King of the Ghosts?
Because that's what it comes down to: his choice to accept that power.
At this point, many things could happen... but we will decide to analyze one path in particular: that of power which, combined with the sadness of an abandoned man, corrupts him.
But let's start from the beginning, shall we?
What does it mean to become a Ghost King?
The Ghost Zone originates from the remains of the Fallen Ancients, enormous living creatures that were once part of the material plane, but during a fracture of reality descended into a completely empty dimension. The decomposition of their magical bodies created an entire ecto-ecosystem, with a unique spiritual imprint, which quickly gave rise to sentient entities.
One of the first entities born in this way, around the time the first phantomhives were formed, decided to create magical objects that would allow it to control the power of these Ancients, much like mages on the material plane sometimes do with the bones of great magical creatures, which contain a portion of the power of when that creature was alive.
The entity in question, whose identity is debated, is often referred to in texts simply as "Blacksmith".
The Blacksmith did not know that everything within the Ghost Zone originated from the remains of the Fallen Ancients, so they could not have foreseen that these magical objects they had created would not only be of unheard-of power, but also capable of controlling every single being within their plane of reality, be they living or non-living. Possessing the Crown, Ring, and Sword at the same time grants any spirit immediate and total dominion over the entire Ghost Zone.
Among the spirits, a Ghost King is neither essential nor particularly welcome: it is a role created by mistake, directly from the ancient relics, and is not necessary in any way to the functioning of the Ghost Zone.
Long periods of time can pass between one "coronation" and another, mainly because the spirits tend to hide the relics, or to guard them, to prevent other individuals from using the power. There are some "legends" that speak of how the role of a Ghost King makes sense and is necessary to maintain order, but this is mere monarchist and totalitarian propaganda, usually commissioned by other Kings in order to give a semblance of reason to their power and to keep them under control.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to destroy the relics, both because of their robustness and because of their deep energetic connection with the Ghost Zone, which would risk causing enormous cataclysms, and the possible destruction of the entire phantom ecosystem if they were shattered to pieces, so there will always be Ghost Kings.
Vlad as a Ghost King: how it happened?
(Aka, what if Vlad was a REAL villain? What if he chose the bad path?)
Having the relics is not enough to be the King, you also need to wear them. The Crown of Fire and the Ring of Rage, in particular, need to be used in synergy, amplifying each other's strength, and this is a problem, because wearing the Ring means entering a state of continuous fury, where the individual has no other choice than to pursue a goal in any way, even with extreme violence; Vlad is therefore reluctant to use the relics as they were designed and tries to channel their power in other ways, without much success.
Vlad gives in after a cruel prank: the Fentons' daughter, Jasmine, spends the afternoon with him, giving him the hope of some friendship and human contact, only to reveal that she actually wants to capture him, having discovered thanks to Danny that he is a half human and half ghost (very similar to what happens in 211. "Secret Weapons").
Jasmine wears the ectoskelenton suit, controlled through a neural interface, that allows her to fight on equal terms with him, and to easily overcome this obstacle, Vlad decides to wear the Ring and the Crown.
Once he becomes the Ghost King, unable to control his new and boundless power, Vlad kills Jasmine with a single shot, causing her and the suit to explode.
At first he despairs, for having taken the life of someone so young, but soon he realizes that he is relieved to have gotten rid of her and also a little proud of himself for having managed to overcome the fear (which he defines as "mortal") of killing someone.
The power begins to fill his head with unhealthy ideas and killing (or dominating) those who dared to harm him in the past becomes an obsession with an easily achievable resolution. In a single night, he kills Jack in his bed and kidnaps Maddie, but luckily for Danny, the boy is not at home: he is at a party with two of his friends, Sam and Tucker.
Vlad reaches him, swollen with pride, with his hands still stained with blood and the crown that is burning on his head, and reveals to him that he killed his parents, voluntarily omitting that he only kidnapped Maddie. Danny begs him to spare him, promising him that he would become a diligent student if he survived.
Vlad has no desire to become Danny's mentor, but now only to take his life. In front of him, he kills Tucker without any remorse, strangling him. Danny, to distract the killer and prevent him from doing the same to Sam, insults him, challenges him and starts to run away. Vlad orders a bloodhunt on him: now every spirit in the world, among those who answer to his orders, will try at every moment to capture the fleeing boy. Danny will run away relentlessly for five years, while all the spirits in the world chase him.
+ The Man and the Demon +
Being an halfa, Vlad is an extremely anomalous Ghost King, possessing a human side in addition to his ghost self: the Crown and Ring only feed the latter, making him extremely unbalanced.
His ghost, huge and aggressive, is considerably more capable of taking control of his flesh body, as well as detaching itself from it for long periods of time. Vlad's human side still has some restraint and does not want the harm they are inflicting on others to be so extreme, but the more time passes, the more the ghost side of him, obsessed with power, is able to subjugate him.
Human Vlad had an infatuation for Maddie, a completely normal thing towards the only woman who has ever shown to understand him and who shares interests and passions with him.
After becoming the Ghost King, and realizing that he can achieve anything through force, Vlad captured Maddie and locked her in a cage, where he thinks he can break her will and force her to love him. The woman does not seem to submit to his will in the least, and insults him with sagacity and malice whenever she can, especially when he is in front of an audience.
Vlad continues now to keep her prisoner, not for love, but as punishment: over time, living close to her, he has learned to detest her, but he does not want to let her win and will never release her voluntarily.
A Ghost King has near-absolute control over everything around them when they are in the Ghost Zone.
Some of the most notable powers of a Ghost King include:
Extended Teleportation: In addition to transporting their body to other places, breaking down their ectoplasm and reassembling it at will in almost any part of their realm, a Ghost King can also transport any other creature/object native to the Ghost Zone;
Supernatural Stamina: A King can sustain prolonged efforts, well beyond human limits, such as running for several days without ever having to stop or without eating. The true limit of this resistance is unknown, as the King's organism is entirely sustained by absorbing the Ghost Zone's energy, therefore it is thought that exhausting his energy is equivalent to mortally draining every single spirit in his realm of all strength;
Summoning: already personally knowing the creature he wants to summon, a Ghost King can summon it almost instantly to any part of its realm, without necessarily using magical sigils or standard summons, but only by pronouncing the name of the entity. This power does not extend to beings that were born outside the realm;
Mind Control: A King can control, as if it were a puppet, the actions of any spirit to which he has affixed the Fire Mark, regardless of the origin of the spirit itself. Unlike other forms of mind control, that imposed by a Ghost King is total and can even force an individual to perform actions that harm their physical and mental safety, to the point of suicide;
Blood Hunt: One of the most iconic powers of a Ghost King is the ability to designate a victim that each "subject" must try to kill on sight. Whoever the designated victim is in a Blood Hunt, they will be chased everywhere by hordes of spirits who crave their blood and who, sooner or later, will surely capture and kill them by any means at their disposal.
We hope that you liked our interpretation! And if you want to know more, feel free to ask ;)
(On an interesting note... it seems like your question is absolutely timely, because right now we're thinking about writing something where the main antagonist is a Ghost King Vlad. Two of the drawings related to this answer are from the early stages of the project, they're concept art! And it's cool that we got to use them for something else, too. The last drawing was done just for this specific ask :D )
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