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Jun Kun, also known as the Iron King, is a Mobian Ox who initially worked alongside the Iron Queen, an Overlander Magitek sorceress. Both of them are enemies of Monkey Khan. The Iron King has an affinity for collecting weapons. Sonic and Tails encountered the Iron King and Queen during their quest for Ixis Naugus, who fled across all of Mobius. Sonic and Tails learned during their trek that the Iron King and Queen crowned themselves ruler of a Mobian settlement in the Dragon Kingdom. With help from the settlers, the Iron King and Queen were defeated, with the Iron King being blown away by the magical Fan of Fen Xing. The Iron King later moved to the ruins of New Megaopolis along with the Iron Queen to take over the Eggman Empire, unaware of his wife's plans to cut him out of the picture and rule alongside her new love, Snively Robotnik. He was soon defeated by Sonic and friends after they recaptured the Fan of Fen Xing and turned the Clans against the Iron Dominion.
History
Origins
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Jun Kun is one of the twelve Khans, being the Ox Khan. As a result of his cybernetic upgrades, the Iron Queen could manipulate him.
Rule over the Iron Dominion
Years ago, Jun Kun was a warlord in the Dragon Kingdom. At some point in time, the young Regina Ferrum came before him, pledging her allegiance to him secretly to gain power. Following this, the two worked together for many years, at first employing her Magitek talents to reactivate the Dragon Kingdom's dormant machines in an effort to achieve victory. Unfortunately, the free people they attempted to oppress and the Clans also fighting for control of the region defeated their every effort. It was then that Dr. Ivo Robotnik came to them, and despite Jun Kun's distaste with serving any master, they became his Sub-Bosses in the Dragon Kingdom during the First Robotnik War. (StH: #202, #207)
With this assistance, Jun Kun and Regina managed to rule over the free people of the Dragon Kingdom. However, they found themselves unable to overcome the four clans, which worked harder against them after learning the Iron Dominion received backing from Dr. Robotnik. Jun Kun found himself unable to overcome the four clans by himself. (StH: #207)
In 3236, Jun Kun and Regina attempted to impose their rule on Stormtop Village. When the villagers refused to accept them as their rulers, Regina set Mount Stormtop ablaze with her magic, which continued for over one hundred days. When Regina discovered Sonic and Tails in the area, Jun Kun warned her to take them seriously, suggesting that they posed a threat to their control of the region. After Monkey Khan was freed from the control of Regina's technomagic, he, Sonic and Tails all attacked the Iron Fortress together, where Jun Kun fought against them. However, he was defeated. Sonic used the Fan of Fen Xing to blast him far away. The fires on Mount Stormtop were subsequently put out using the fan, and Regina fled the scene. (StH: #60)
Nearly two years later, the Iron King served as a Sub-Boss to the Eggman Empire over the Dragon Kingdom. The local resistance there continued to keep the Iron King and Queen at bay. After the Bride of Rich Nights refused a bribe from Regina to join the Iron Dominion, Jun Kun murdered her, though allowed Regina to take the credit so that she would become the new leader of the Yagyu Clan. Although Jun Kun didn't understand her motivation behind this at first, he soon realized the benefit of it when Regina used the Yagyu to deceive each of the other three clans into believing their rivals had joined the Iron Dominion. With all opposition now removed, Jun Kun hoped to solidify their control over the Dragon Kingdom, but decided to follow Regina's choice take over the Eggman Empire as she had made the right choices thus far in their campaign. (StH: #200, #207)
New Ruler of the Eggman Empire
After the Iron Queen made romantic connections with Snively Robotnik over in New Megaopolis, the Iron King accompanied her along with the Yagyu Ninja where they arrived at the landing bay of the Eggdome via dirigible, with plans to usurp the Eggman Empire following Dr. Eggman's defeat. (StH: #194, #200, #207)
Days after his arrival at the Eggdome, the Iron King showed obvious anger at the fact they had come to a ruined city when they had everything back in the Iron Dominion, and he also took an immediate dislike to Snively as he seemed quite casual around the Iron Queen. The Iron Queen reassured her husband that they would move the seat of power back to the Dragon Kingdom, and Snively suggested the Iron King look through the ruins for weapons to add to his armory, which he did with the help of the Bride of Conquering Storm. (StH: #201)
When both Sonic and Monkey Khan attempted to attack the city, the Iron King himself arrived on the battle field after Sonic and Khan managed to fend off the Yagyu Ninja and Dark Egg Legion. Sonic attacked the Iron King with a spin dash, though it had no effect on the giant ox, and it in fact wounded Sonic. The Iron King then knocked back Monkey Khan with his Tremor Mace. Due to this, the Dark Egg Legion managed to wound both heroes even more, which forced them to retreat. The Iron King canceled Lien-Da's order to shoot them down, insisting they allow them to escape so their humiliation and defeat would instill fear in the Freedom Fighters. (StH: #202)
Later, a panicked Snively ran into the Iron King and told him that Eggman had escaped. The Iron King first thought Snively had betrayed him, however, Snively tried to explain himself before they heard a loud boom, signaling Eggman's departure from the Eggdome. The Iron King later accompanied the Iron Queen and the dominion's forces in their attempt to recapture Dr. Eggman from Sonic. Despite the superior odds against Sonic, and even totally stopping him, the Iron King and his fellow attackers were defeated by the arrival of the Freedom Fighters, with Amy Rose and Antoine D'Coolette even succeeding in damaging the King's armor. While still desiring battle, he was forced to instead focus on saving the Iron Queen after Sonic and Tails disabled her pod. He later made an attempt to break the shield over New Mobotropolis but was unsuccessful, after which he and their armies subsequently returned to the Eggdome. (StH: #205, #206)
Far from being defeated, the Iron King launched a solo assault against Fort Acorn, battling the Mes Braves Battalion and Amadeus Prower in his efforts to destroy the power source for New Mobotropolis' shield. Despite Amadeus' efforts, the Iron King easily defeated him, but before he could deliver a final blow, Sonic intervened, giving the battalion time to evacuate. Unable to directly cause damage, Sonic used his speed to dig the King into a trench, though the latter was able to free himself. The appearance of Monkey Khan gave the fighting a pause as the King attempted to demean Khan's position as "King of the Free People" and Khan made it clear that he refused to back down. A brutal battle ensured between the three of them, but despite the efforts of the heroes, the Iron King suffered no damage. Turning his attention to the energy dome, he began hammering on it, sending ripples through the shield. Monkey Khan jumped the king from behind, slamming his charged Atom-Bat into the ox`s helmet. Forcing the monkey down on the ground and intending to finish his old nemesis, he was again interrupted by Sonic, who gave the ox an offer: he would allow the King to destroy the energy siphon alone, cutting off the power to New Mobotropolis, if the King would leave the shield intact, allowing it to continue to protect the environment. The King questioned this, and Sonic claimed he was simply cutting his losses against a foe he acknowledged as too powerful to defeat. Smirking, the King went on to destroy the generator and returned to the Eggdome triumphant - only later, when Regina berated her husband for his incompetence, did he realize he'd been tricked into destroying a decoy. Mumbling that it looked like the power siphon to him, he was cut off by Regina who stormed off to her chambers, leaving the king alone with Snively. After explaining some of his and Regina's past in the Dragon Kingdom, he snarled at the tiny man, blaming him for Regina's current treatment of him and Sonic`s constant mockery. While Snively was terrified by the accusations, the Iron King then stomped off, deciding he needed to meditate and rest while thinking of a way to get past the shield. (StH: #207)
Taking Over New Mobotropolis
After Snively informed the Iron Queen of the nature of New Mobotropolis' Nanite construction and the role of NICOLE in maintaining it, the Iron King accompanied the two of them and the rest of their army to the city. As Snively helped Regina and was warmly thanked, Jun Kun complained that she was being too familiar with him. After she waved aside his concerns, he watched as she used her powers against NICOLE. Success greeted them as the reprogrammed "Iron NICOLE" opened the way into New Mobotropolis for them, sealing off the city and informing its citizens that they were under arrest. The Iron King quickly zeroed in on Sally Acorn, Monkey Khan, and Sonic, attacking them only to be held off by Khan. He soon overpowered the distracted Freedom Fighter, only to be attacked by Amy Rose, who surprised both King and Khan with her impressive strength and Piko Piko Hammer as she faced Jun Kun by herself. Once the city was claimed, the Iron King had a "merry time," in Lien-Da's words, smashing the city and any civilian who dared oppose them. (StH: #208, #209)
The Iron King was later part of the vast audience gathered to witness the Legionization of a number of prisoners, a ploy intended to lure in members of the resistance. Bored by having to watch the procedure instead of hunting down the rebels himself, he was soon appeased as Amy Rose, Antoine D'Coolette, and Geoffrey St. John charged in to save the captive Rotor Walrus and other prisoners. Though successful against Geoffrey, he found himself up against Amy yet again, her strength a match for his own. He was then caught off guard by the return of Sonic and his teammates from the Dragon Kingdom, with the Hedgehog knocking him off his feet and then speaking to Amy Rose while standing on top of him, much to the Iron King's indignation. Despite the advantage in numbers, the heroes had little chance of subduing the king until the timely appearance of Espio the Chameleon, who arrived bearing the Fan of Fen Xing, something the King had thought stored safely in his own armory. This visibly frightened the King, and with one wave of the fan, Monkey Khan sent the ox flying into the air and through the city's dome, something Sonic described as "reverse sky-diving." Where he landed is unknown, though Sonic did make mention of hearing about pleasant weather on the west coast before he was blown away. (StH: #210, #211)
Jun Kun remained absent for some time, and the Raiju Clan-which became a chapter of the Dark Egg Legion-possessed no knowledge as to his whereabouts when Dr. Eggman arrived in the Dragon Kingdom for a tour. (SU: #39)
Abilities
The Iron King is a powerful adversary due to being "nigh-invulnerable" and has great strength; he is counted as one of the five strongest Mobians. As such, he was easily able to shatter the woodwork of Fort Acorn and dispatch an entire platoon of the Mes Braves Battalion, as well as fighting BOTH Sonic and Monkey Khan to a standstill. It is also implied in several instances that he has a great deal of endurance, as he has endured several lengthy battles and both delivered and received powerful attacks, showing no signs of fatigue in the process. However, he is easy to stun, as when he was rammed by the Freedom Fighters' hovercraft and Amy's Piko Piko Hammer. The only weapon he has encountered and apparently has no means of countering is the Fan of Fen Xing, which unleashes a wind so powerful that it can blow anyone great distances away. He is also able to use various weapons of both the technological and magical which he collects to use against his enemies even though the Tremor Mace is the only one he has been seen wielding so far, suggesting it is a personal favorite. Following his defeat in New Mobotropolis, he dropped the Tremor Mace, leaving him with no apparent weapons. (StH: #60, #201, #202, #207, #208, #211, CSE)
Personality
The Iron King is a strict ruler with a short temper. He gives no quarter and believes that defeating an enemy is worse than actually killing one, as it means the enemy must live with that defeat and return to his allies in shame. He is extremely arrogant and boastful, often extolling his own abilities while belittling those of his opponents, even in the midst of battle. He views himself as a true warrior and enjoys collecting weapons. He puts much stock in his perceived status; he hates the idea of being subservient to anyone and shows annoyance with the manner in which Regina speaks to Snively, believing it far too casual for one he considers little more than a servant. Proud and confident, the only thing he has ever displayed fear of is the Fan of Fen Xing, after experiencing its devastating power. (StH: #60, #201, #202)
Romance
The Iron King's only known relationship is his marriage to the Iron Queen, but it was strictly out of benefit and not romance, which is made all the more obvious by the Iron Queen finding love with Snively. (StH: #60, #194, #201, #202)
Background Information
- It was stated in the letters page of Sonic the Hedgehog: #71 that the Iron Queen was a Mobian badger. However, Writer Ian Flynn stated that he considered her an Overlander given her character design, adding that the Iron King and Iron Queen's "titles are purely honorary and not romantic. They're together out of benefit, not out of romance" and that "having a human [Overlander] female wed to a animal character might raise some eyebrows." (1)
- In appearance, the Iron King-due to being an anthropomorphic Ox-resembles the Minotaur of Greek mythology.
- The Iron King seems to be based on the Ox King from Journey to the West. In terms of abilities he also seems similar to Marvel Comics Juggernaut, both of them powerful beings who were virtually unstoppable unless confronted with special means.
- The Iron King's actual name was implied as Jun Kun in StH #202 and finally confirmed to be so in StH #206.
- Ian Flynn reported on his forum that he chose the name Jūn Kūn (君坤) because of its Chinese translation, "Ruler of Earth." (2)
- As of the Iron Dominion arc's conclusion in Issue #212, the Iron King was the only prominently featured character whose location and status remained unknown. The Iron Queen has since reappeared, but Ian Flynn revealed in a podcast that he doesn't wish for the two characters to be inseparably tied together.
- Iron King was planned to eventually be revealed to be the Ox Khan, with Regina able to manipulate him using technomancy.[1]
Appearance
Jun Kun is a brown-furred Mobian Ox with white, pupil-less eyes. He is one of the taller variants of Mobian, similar in height to the likes of Mammoth Mogul, and is also broader than Sonic or most smaller Mobians. He wears blue, Asian-style armor that covers his chest and shoulders while leaving his arms free to move, with a metal skirt around his waist. He wears open-toed blue shoes that leave his hooves exposed, and blue gauntlets matching his armor on his forearms. His outfit is topped by a blue helmet with holes to accommodate his horns and a square ridge on top.
In his younger appearance, Jun Kun wore simpler armor without a helmet, and possessed hair that he wore in a raised ponytail.
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