Rat King is a criminal and potential Presidential candidate appearing in the comic strip Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
History[]
The Rat King Gambit[]
The Ninja Turtles return to the lair after an extended absence to find that Splinter has been glued to the television set the entire time. Splinter sets them to cleaning the lair, which he has totally trashed while they were gone, and returns to the TV. The Turtles think it's weird he watches TV all day and wonder what's wrong with him.
On the set, the Rat King is blasting out a message for people to follow him and vote for him. The message goes out throughout New York City and plays on all of the TV channels. Anyone who spends time watching becomes hypnotized by the message which is accompanied by the flute music Rat King plays. Rat King's message is that he's the leader the country needs, and they must vote for him. When the Turtles comment on the horrible flute music, Splinter chases them from the room. While they are elsewhere in the lair discussing the situation, Splinter leaves, obeying Rat King's message to come to him and join his army of the oppressed.
When the Turtles learn of Splinter's absence, they stop to watch the TV to see what is going on with the weird dude on the set. That's when they discover that every station features this "mummified political pied piper" campaigning. They too become hooked on watching Rat King until Leonardo insists they take drastic measures to solve the dilemma. Thinking that April O'Neil can help, they try phoning her, but she doesn't answer. Little do they know that she's been hypnotized as well and is on her way to the old cheese factory warehouse.
After the Turtles figure out where Rat King is broadcasting from, they head out through the sewers. At the cheese factory, Rat King stands on a stage before a packed house. He makes a speech about celebrating the dawn of a new day, and then asks them all to join him in a repast of delectable morsels. He has provided cheese balls for everyone to eat, but they do not know that he's poisoned the food. Rat King's plan is to exterminate all of the humans so that rats can take over. Before he can complete his diabolical scheme, Leonardo shoves open the trap door beneath his feet, tossing Rat King into the air. Rat King lands on his head and is knocked unconscious. Leo grabs the microphone and tells everyone that the cheese balls are poisoned. April and Splinter help send the audience back to their homes and the Turtles wrap Rat King in bandages to await the police.
Later at the lair, Splinter examines the Rat King's flute and discovers it contains a small computer chip which enabled the villain to tap into the collective unconscious and bend the will of his victims. Splinter tells his sons that this means their two most notorious nemesis have returned - Shredder and Krang.