Emperor
| NPC | LTTB | Trivia |
Emperor is an NPC in Arknights. He is best known as a popular Terran hip-hop artist and the founder/CEO of Penguin Logistics, and acts as the deuteragonist in Code of Brawl and a supporting character in Il Siracusano.
Emperor is also one of the three musical acts that the player can support on Heart of Surging Flame, awarding the "Stylish" Portable Stereo once the Siesta Obsidian Milestone is completed (except in the rerun).
Background
Being a legendary "Lord of the Beasts", Emperor's past remains vague, but legend has it that he hails from the frigid tundra of the Infy Icefield who had traveled across the entire Terra. Around three hundred years ago, Emperor is active in Leithanien[1] under the alias Graf Pangwen as a renowned classical musician with the moniker der Schwingende Gentleman and residing on a Spire in Kreis Eingeweide. He was implied to have been acquainted with other Beast Lords, namely Dolly, Amma, and High Priest during this time. As time passes, Emperor grow tired with the stagnant classicism in Leithanien, and following what appears to be a bickering with other Beast Lords, he disappears from Leithanien and his Spire has since became a museum dedicated to Graf Pangwen.[2]
After his departure from Leithanien, Emperor shifted his attention to the newly founded Columbia and became famous after entering the West Columbian hip-hop scene and being nominated in several music awards, hence starting Columbia's hip-hop culture. Since then, he has received the title, the "rap god" of Columbia, and is acting as a producer for the music company Monster Siren Records, where the band Alive Until Sunset belongs too.[3] He is also known for his self-production and his bad relationship with the fellow Columbian rapper 6060.[4]
During his days in Columbia, Emperor also encountered Cellinia Texas who at that time, was in the process of making a pact with Zaaro the "Signore dei Lupi" Being interested in her, Emperor decided to establish Penguin Logistics where he will experience a successful business career in commerce.[5] His success forces him to focus more on expanding his business to other enterprises which slows down his musical projects.[3] Even then, he is still active in his music career.
Emperor has been keeping a low profile in regards to his personal life, making him notoriously difficult to be reached aside from his employees.[3] However, this is not without reason. Emperor's success and attitude cause him to be surrounded by many enemies, whether those who are jealous to his success or those who hates him for whatever reasons. While he does own a pistol nicknamed "Li'l Homie" for self-defense, Emperor prefers to leave his personal security details to the P.L. employees.
Due to his power as a Lord of the Beast, Emperor possesses an appearing immorality which later became a rumor. Many claim that he had survived countless assassinations and lethal scenarios, such a fire in a warehouse where he managed to escape unscratched, a grenade's explosion, a drive-by shooting, and even poisons. These cause others to believe that not even a Catastrophe can kill him.[6] Even P.L. employees admit that Emperor had died and returned alive so many times that they no longer bother and show any concern of his "death."[7] It is hinted based on his conversation with Zaaro that he at least acquaints or knows the existence of other Beast Lords, and Zaaro even said that Emperor's power could be some sort of control over blizzard.[1]
Story
Heart of Surging Flame
Emperor was one of the many musical artists who participated the Obsidian Festival 1097 in Siesta. However, his participation had also attracted many assassins. One of them was "Songster," a Savra who claimed that his career and life were destroyed by Emperor. He disguised himself as his fan to come closer to him and then pulled out a crossbow in order to kill him. To his surprise, however, Emperor calmly faced Songster and stated that he himself was the one who destroyed others' career and life for his own. And before Songster could fire, Emperor shot him first with the Li'l Homie in his hand.[8]
Code of Brawl
While Bison was on the way to meet the P.L. members, he was somehow targeted by some Siracusan mafiosi and met an ambush attack. Luckily, Exusiai came for the rescue. When the whole gang showed up in front of the mafiasos, Emperor appeared on a stage and even dissed the mafiosi for entering their territory.[9]
After the fight, he, along with Bison and the P.L. members, headed to one of the P.L. safehouses. But before the gang could relax and enjoy their snacks, they accidentally detonated a packaged bomb in disguise of some Victorian candies, which was possibly set up by the mafiasos. The explosion not only wrecked the safehouse but also destroyed Emperor's prized vinyl records.[10] The incident caused him to get mad (even letting out some "indescribable penguin sounds" in the process) and vow to have the mafiasos pay the price dearly.
Emperor ordered a high-speed chase out of vengence in Lungmen's highways. When the P.L. members saw the mafiosi's car, Emperor provided covering fire with his Li'l Homie.[11] Just then, the tanker rig suddenly blew up thanks to a mysterious sniper, but the explosion caused Bison to be separated from the rest. Even then, Emperor assured that Mostima would look after him.[12]
The remaning P.L. members returned to Emperor's bar, "The Ends of the Earth," for a quiet rest after the long chase. At the same time, Emperor greeted Bison who managed to reach the bar thanks to Mostima's guidance. The temporary peace was broken, however, when the mafiosi attacked the bar.[13] Emperor then ordered the gang to deal with the mafiosi once again and the battle completely destroyed the bar and his precious bottles of vine. Being totally pissed off, he decided to take the fight straight to the mafiosi themselves.[14]
Because of the constant street fights with the mafiosi, P.L. accidentally enraged the Rat King and had to escape from his wrath. On the other hand, Emperor decided to "make some noise" in the main Sauin celebration to challenge the godfather.[15] During the Sauin carnival, he appeared before the crowd together with the P.L. gang and delivered a performance. Without knowing, the Rat King stabbed him on the back as if he had killed him.[16] But to the other's surprise, Emperor miraculously survived the incident, making the rumour of his immortality to be somewhat true.
After the end of the whole "Sauin gag," Emperor had to deal with a lot of messes. While having a drink with the rest of Lungmen's "four dragons (Emperor, Rat King, Eurill Pides, and Wei Yenwu)," he complained about the Rat King's intention as well as the damaged bar. As a compensation for the "gag," Eurill agreed to cover all the damages for P.L.[17] He led the P.L. members to attack the remaining hideouts of the mafiosi as a payback for messing with them and Bison.[18] He also finally got his revenge for the destruction of his prized vinyl records by delivering a bomb disguised as a package from the Rat King to the mafiosi.[19]
The Great Chief Returns
Upon meeting the High Priest in Acahualla, Croissant remarked that he "got the same energy" as Emperor's; in return, the High Priest replied that he knew Emperor and had met him long ago.[20]
Beyond Here
Hildegard coincidentally met Emperor at the "The Ends of the Earth" bar. He was quite angry when she said that bar is owned by Eurill. In turn, he complained that even though Eurill had bought the bar as a compensation for the last Sauin incident, he is still the one and only bartender there. Before he could continue, he received a call from the P.L. members that their goods were duped. Being furious enough, he ordered them to blast the ship and hurried off. Although Hildegard was speechless for his rather "illegal" action, she was shocked that he actually remembered Paul Landen, the founder of her monastery centuries ago.[21]
Il Siracusano
Following Texas and the crew of P.L., Emperor appears during the incident in Siracusa in 1099 shortly after Zaaro of the Signori dei Lupi goes rogue. As a participant in the Signori's "great game", Zaaro was honor-bound to follow its only rule, that being to avoid involving outside humans. When he breaks this rule out of anger towards his former Fang, Bernardo Bellone, Emperor arrives alongside several other defeated Signori to force Zaaro's surrender. After the latter retreats, Emperor introduces himself to Signora Sicilia, who is revealed to have put him up to it, and announces his intention to stay in Siracusa for the time being.
LTTB
| This section contains story information that are non-canonical to the plot of Arknights. |
In this April Fools story, Emperor is having a concert that is soon interrupted by someone called the "Sandstorm Rudes" (actually the Rat King himself). Nevertheless, the MC (Eurill) of the concert and the "Old School Musician" (the High Priest) let it be, and a (literally) heated rap battle ensues between Emperor and "Sandstorm Rudes". In the end, "Sandstorm Rudes" admits his defeat and Emperor boasts his victory to his fans by telling them that he is the only truth standing on this stage.