(The Pale King is a higher being and the tyrannical monarch of Hallownest. After giving common bugs intelligence, his kingdom thrived until the old ruler of the lands, the Radiance, returned and unleashed “the infection”, a disease transmitted by dreams which reduces a creature back to its natural instincts. The Pale King performed many experiments in an attempt to create a mindless vessel to trap the Radiance, killing at least thousands of his own children in the process.)