| John King was an extremely successful business man and the third richest man in America, with only Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor with more money to their names. On the surface, John King appeared to be a humanitarian who used his billions to travel from city to city, rejuvenating and improving their conditions with the goal of saving lives, but he was secretly gaining control of crime and using his charity to indenture the citizens of those cities to his will as servants of The King. When he moved to Seattle, he was almost mugged and was saved by Green Arrow. Seeing that the hero had intentionally missed taking a fatal shot to incapacitate the mugger, King was inspired to give Seattle the hero he believed it deserved, instead of the coward he perceived Green Arrow to be, and began plotting to make Seattle his next major renovation. He was confronted by his wife, and in order to ensure his secret remained from the public, he overpowered and stabbed her to death on their kitchen table, an act that was witnessed by their young daughter, Mia Dearden. |
