Appearance: Pretty good, actually, with the long black hair and the trim build for a middle-aged man. King is never actually described physically. He is noted to be strong, a mighty warrior, and his heroic appearance and bearing definitely make him stand out when amid others. The most beautiful Sheffield man, without question- he even has good hair. Well-built but not muscle-bound, and attractive while managing to appear male. Tends to dress down. Has an interesting selection of funny faces when upset. He's an older man, portly, with thick white hair and a mustache. King is very tall, powerfully built young man in his late twenties standing something like 6' 4" or so with a weather-beaten face. This is an advantage in Aikijutsu as it allows him great leverage due to his long arms.

His hair is black and always pulled back into a short ponytail. He usually dresses in dark clothing. Originally a fairly fit man, with a lean build and deeply tanned skin. He usually wears simple clothing - a sleeveless top, loose khaki fatigue pants and a belt to signify his martial arts expertise, along with a blue jacket, leather gloves and boots. He always has a lit cigarette clamped between his teeth, regardless of the situation. He has a serious face, and brown eyes. Although King wrestles Walker barehanded and without armor, he normally carries weapons. Usually, he is described as wearing a simple open-faced helm, a shirt of mail and carrying a sword and a roundshield.

Smarts: Not bright- but not as stupid as he can seem, either. Enough to get some prime real estate in Japan and found his own dojo. Plays a decent game of go or shogi. King is slow on the uptake and has a very bad memory, which makes him appear dumber than he actually is. He knows people well and is generally a good judge of character, and since his thoughts run along the same channels as Walker's, he appropriately shares his trait of being able to call a situation well.

Cooking: He's got Rahan for that. Learned to get by on relatively little food while training. As with Walker, eats out most of the time. Likely has some clue of how to cook, although we know he tends to rely on Rahan for that. (addendum: King seemed to have a lot of trouble just trying to cook fish over flame)

Fighting Skills: Adequate. The best swordsman in the world, bar none (I am specifically thinking of Rahan). King's sword work is flawless, and he's also a good man with a blunt weapon, or just about anything physical he can get his hands on. (Although he has not yet, like Walker, used people as a weapon. But Walker's more of a projectile guy anyway, and throwing people right in keeping with that...) Has his own dojo, but is almost never seen training, or teaching students other than Rahan. King demonstrates a number of common Aikido moves, combined with pure cinematic hokum. King's training concentrated on powerful attacks rather than the usual aspects of martial arts. His three main attacks are: He usually demonstrates an assortment of strikes, takedowns, throws, and joint locks, all of which look painful. Added to this are the usual dash of powerful punches and kicks.

His constant "Block-Counterstrike" move has been worked in as a damage shield. He has demonstrated proficiency with a number of weapons, notably the staff and staff-like weapons (pipes, pool cues, and so on), and swords. King's fighting style is usually to block first, and then strike, followed by a takedown. If the opponent is armed, then usually it's a block, joint lock or joint break (to disarm his enemy), followed by a throw. Moving targets usually get thrown. Anyone who is stunned or on the defensive will get a rapid series of strikes. King is a self-taught combatant handy with his home-made spear. When pressed, he launches himself into the air, bringing himself down on top of the opponent, impaling them on his spear. King is constantly learning new attacks with time and practice.

Special Abilities: "Floating Head with Long Tongue" face, ability to keep shrine open despite no visible means of support. Uses surprising creativity and zeal in going about a set task, and will never stop until it is finished. King's main ability is his strength. He is said to have the strength of 30 men in his hand grip. His great strength allows to slay and subdue giants, fight with great sea-going beasts and successfully wrestle with Walker. At one point in the story, King describes at great length his ability to swim (he once spent 5 days out in the oceans), as well as his prowess vs water monsters. He also seems to be quite capable of spending enormous lengths of time underwater (it takes him the better part of a day to get to the bottom of Rhine's pool, he spends an entire night under the ocean fighting with sea serpents).

As a Samurai (and a flamboyantly cinematic one, at that), Nicholas King has all the abilities one would expect. He's a capable swordsman, a skilled sailor, and has more luck than any man has a right to. He's at home both in the rigging and on-deck, can handle a variety boats and ships, and certainly knows his way around the sea (and the rest of the world). King's greatest asset, however, isn't his skill with the sword, pistol, or ship's wheel, but with words. He's quite capable of taking just about anyone into doing whatever it is King needs done. Let's see. He can charm any women who see him shirtless. Has an almost infinite ability to make people like and trust him. Of course, as King is also (at times) cursed with no luck at all, not all of his plans work out quite the way he intends. King is usually ex-special forces or a police officer, skills have been chosen to reflect this.

Economics: The usual cash from bandit hordes. Well, if you can get King off his butt and back to active teaching, the shrine might actually become self-supporting.