Ken was a god who first appeared in the fourteenth episode of the fourth season of Legacies.
Quick Answers
What led Ken, the god from Legacies, to cross into the mortal world?
Who are the members of Ken's family in Legacies?
How does Ken's role as a god influence his character in Legacies?
Early History[]
Sometime before 8000 B.C., the gods were happy. Every god except for himself. Seeking to satiate desire for conquest, he found a new place where he could be feared and loved. Ken, his sister, Lynn, and the other gods crossed into the mortal world from Peace and wars intensified. After Ken discovered Lynn ferrying souls to Peace, he cursed her. If she was so interested in helping humans, he would force her to do it for all eternity, never to return home. Always reaching the shore, but never able to actually set foot there.
Circa 3000 B.C., a village at the base of the Caucasus Mountains worshiped a group of gods that lived high atop one of the mountains. There, he loved a mortal women that bore a child with divine blood. The child, Ben, would eventually steal the fire that the world would come to know as magic.
Jen recounts that he liked to punish humans with earthquakes, fires, floods. When Jen refused to make something that takes a life, instead offering him protection, he cast her out and she lived alone.
Approximately a millennia later, sometime after the 11th Century, Ken came to his daughter, seeking her favor. She eventually learned that he was afraid of Malivore, a creature that could make the world forget someone ever existed. He was the ultimate death sentence for a god since they are only as powerful as people's belief in them. Doing as he asked, Jen created sarcophagi so that he and his family could sleep until Malivore's destruction.
Throughout Legacies Series[]
Season Four[]
In I Wouldn't Be Standing Here If It Weren't For You, Ken arrives outside the Salvatore School with a crack of thunder and a crash of lightning. With a booming voice, he demands for them to hand over his traitorous daughter, Jen. If they refuse to hand her over, they'll all die.
Hope leaves to school to face Ken directly and surprised to not see his daughter. Hope declares herself as Klaus Mikaelson's daughter; however, that name means nothing to him. Hope elaborates that her father stood for family above everything. This school is her family. He's almost insulted. A little girl to challenge a god. Hope creates fire in the palm of her hand and blasts it at Ken, however it's unaffected. Magic doesn't work on a god. Hope knows this, but it can be very distracting. Lizzie appears behind him and siphons from him, but she's overwhelmed and blown back by a gust of wind. Turning from her, he strikes Hope down with a bolt of lightning, sending her flying through the air. With Hope down, he turns his attention to Lizzie. Picking her up by the throat, he throws her into the school gates, impaling her in the stomach.
With his great power, he kicks Hope around like a ragdoll, but doesn't understand why she won't die. Hope quips that it's kind of her thing, but Ken reassures her that nothing is unkillable and even she will prove a disappointing adversary. Before he can strike her down with her own sword, Jen approaches her father, telling him to stop. If he leaves them alone, she'll go with him. Ken accepts and approaches her. Grabbing her by the shoulders, they're transported away in a bolt of lightning.
In Into the Woods, Ken takes Aurora, chained in the shipping container, to an unknown destination. When he approaches her, Aurora laughs at what he's wearing. He looks ridiculous and mocks that he’s the so-called king of the gods. He tells her that she may call him Ken and she comments that’s even sillier. She goes to introduce herself, though he's already familiar with her as Ben has told him quite a lot including one thing they share in comment. Aurora quips about it being a flair for the dramatic, but it is in fact the desire to kill the tribrid. She understands his request but hesitates all the same. He's not the first charismatic, power-hungry madman that she's encountered in her life. Instead of manipulation and torture, he hopes they can share a meal and talk and releases her from the shackles. She doubts he has anything that would satisfy her, but he surprises her and tosses a man into the shipping container. Aurora happily obliges and begins to feed on him.
While Aurora feeds, Ken makes a field of flowers bloom in the clearing hoping she'd like them. She's surprised about his powers, assuming the legends to be true. Despite this she still questions his wardrobe and tosses him the other man's clothing. Ken is hesitant to change as they're impractical for battle. Aurora reminds him this is the modern world and Ken does as she'd asked. He sheds his armor and dresses in the new clothes as Aurora questions why he wants to kill the tribrid. He is the most powerful being in existence, yet when he was awoken, he heard of a girl claiming the same title. He intends to crush her and prove otherwise. Such is the way of gods. He bested her and yet she refused to die. Aurora admires him in his new attire. Ken confides in her that he's unaccustomed to asking for help and she cannot imagine what he's gone through, being imprisoned by his own family for centuries. The loneliness of that, the torture and the utter lack of love, which is the very thing that fuels a god. He's only returned to the world, a world he does not understand, but must rule and he desperately needs a guide and possibly someone to rule with him at his side. Though a bit forward, Aurora understands and can empathize with him. He takes it as her willingness to help and asks her to name her price.
Aurora continues to elaborate on her past. The Mikaelson family abused her, warping her thinking. Now she wonders if her brother Tristan had done the same. In many ways, like Ken, she has lost everything, but unlike him, she doesn't know if revenge can restore it. Ken still hears the rage in her voice. He believes that smiting her enemies will bring her mind to peace and justice for her brother, even if it does not bring him back. Aurora questions if he can bring him back. She pledges to help him kill the tribrid in exchange for her brother. That is her ask, a small task for a powerful god. Ken, however, tells her that he cannot do that for her. With her ask denied, she doesn't know the point of this journey, but knows that she won't help him. She explains that many of the partnerships in her life have only given her hope for it to be taken from her. If she is meant to learn some lesson it is this: she is doomed to be alone. Upset, she vamps off.
After some thought, Ken tracks Aurora down, appearing to her in a bolt of lightning. She's thrown backwards to the ground and he offers her a hand to pick her up, but she chooses to resist him. She wonders if he's come here to threaten her, and if he has, it's taken him longer than she thought it would. Aurora has misunderstood him, which is his fault. He's come to apologize to her. He explains that when he said he could not return her brother, she assumed it was beyond his power. He corrects himself, telling her that he wouldn't return her brother. Angered, Aurora questions why he refuses her. Based on what she's told him about her brother, he doesn't deserve to live again. She calls him a hypocrite because she knows of his cruelty and your malice from his own children. Ken wonders if she truly believes them and she does. She's experienced Ben's memories–his pain and his suffering–for herself. As a vampire, she can see into a person's mind. Ken wants her to look into his mind so she can judge him for herself just as he's judged her brother through her stories. Aurora hesitates. This kind of judgment is frowned upon in the modern world and questions her place in it. He wants her to witness his truth and advances towards her, picking her up. Doing as he's asked, she places her forehead onto his and dives into his mind.
Aurora spends the remainder of the day experiencing Ken's memories until she's seen enough. She asks him to put her down and he does. His children lied to her and to him. They've painted him as a coward and a tyrant but she's now seen he's nothing of the sort. Ken tells her that he was a father, determined to protect his family from Malivore, at least, the ones he hadn't already consumed. He was so intent on destroying him that he was blind to the true enemy in his midst; his daughter. Jen tricked him and the rest of his children and because of it, he was imprisoned. Powerless to stop Malivore from ruining the world he had conquered. To keep those he loved safe. Now she understands why he will not make that mistake again. Aurora won't make the same mistake either. She now sees Tristan's actions for what they were. He asks if that means she will help him restore order to this world. She doesn't answer him. Instead, she wonders if her mind is sick, or has it just been another lie she's been told. She wants Ken to render his judgment. Their stories are so similar and to judge her would be to judge himself and he cannot do that. In this moment, that falls to her. Aurora takes a moment and comes to her decision. She will help him kill the tribrid and anyone who thinks they are wrong have the power to stop them. Ken will confront Hope in a trial by combat, the way of royalty and the gods. They seal their union in a kiss.
In By the End of This, You'll Know Who You Were Meant to Be, Ken's dream is invaded by Cleo. He's in Jen's workshop looking over a map at the grounds of the Salvatore Boarding School. Ken turns to her, asking who she was and how she invaded his dream. Before she can answer, she backs up to leave as Ken throws a dagger at her.
The following morning, Ken stands in front of a window and dresses. Aurora believes something is bothering him and he explains to her that he had a strange dream. If it means what he thinks it does, then there's something he must attend to. Aurora attempts to inquire further, but Ken only tells her it's the business of gods. She pushes for more information, but he retorts that because he was relaxed last night and his guard was down, an intruder entered his dream. The timing of her and the invader is convenient, to say the least. Aurora believes that his time in a metal coffin has made him paranoid. Ken muses that he's always been paranoid and that is how he took the throne from his siblings. He's willing to accept that betrayal may come from anywhere. He needs confirmation that all the things she has told him are true. In the meantime, he wants her to prove her usefulness in another way. He's asked his daughter to construct a weapon that can kill the tribrid, but so far, she has been resistant. He asks Aurora to persuade her for him. Aurora quips, or else what, but Ken is not amused. She can ask his siblings if she can find their bodies.
As the day progresses, he's visited once again by Cleo, startling her. He was asleep when she entered his mind before. This time; however, he's very much awake. Motioning with his hand, rooted vines shoot up from the ground and grab Cleo by the arms. Cleo struggles to try and free herself as Ken tells her it doesn't have to be this way–hostile and combative. There was a time where her kind and his worked in harmony. Cleo questions just what her "kind" is and Ken is surprised that she doesn't know. Ken explains that this connection they're sharing, her entering his mind, it's the hallmark of a unique magical ability. When an oracle interferes in their visions, changing the future, they transform into something else. She's one of the Furies now. The last of the Furies, considering he killed the others when they stopped being collaborative. They are Nature's balance. Nature created this space, a bridge between the two of them so that they can confer, share counsel, and warn each other. Reach an accord. He removes the vines and creates two makeshift chairs. They can be civilized, after-all, only one person needs to die: the tribrid. Cleo is sure that he can't kill her because the Red Oak is gone. However, Ken ponders just what he could do if he had the ashes of one of those Red Oak stakes forged into a weapon made by a god. That would kill her. He makes Cleo an offer. Bring Hope to him and he will let everyone else live. Refuse, and all the deaths that come after this will be on her and her alone.
Ken believes the task to be simple. Is keeping the tribrid alive worth so many deaths? Cleo is amused at his proposal. She tells him that all would-be tyrants think they are so unique and special, yet she has heard this offer before. They are all so predictable. Cleo throws the dagger from her coat sleeve; however, Ken catches the blade with his bare hand, unfazed and amused. She's made her choice and tries to leave, but she's blocked. Ken holds dominion and tells her that he says when she can leave and he's not done with her yet and plans a trap.
After Kaleb head-dives into Cleo's mind, breaching her and Ken's connection, Ken appears behind him, restraining him with a stake to his heart. Cleo begs him to leave Kaleb alone. Ken believes his last offer was too abstract. Thanks to their connection, everything he does here affects the real world, so he makes her another offer. Bring him Hope, or he'll kill Kaleb right before her.
Ken needs an answer and forces her to decide by beginning to count down from three. Kaleb begs her not to do it, not to give him what he wants.
As Ken counts down to one, Cleo, tears in her eyes, tells Kaleb it's his eyes as Ken plunges the stake into his chest, killing him. With Kaleb dead, he eventually releases her from their connection.
In This Can Only End in Blood, at Torch 'n Toke, Ken, impatiently, questions how much longer it will take Jen to forge his weapon. Jen responds, telling him to chill considering she's smithing something that has never existed before. Ken doesn't appreciate the backtalk and only requires her skill. Due to her insolence, he questions if he should return her to her prison or perhaps force her to build a more painful one. With her spear complete, she begs him to let her go. Ken picks up and admires the weapon, boasting of the day he no longer needs to see her shameful face. He commands that she will go nowhere until her weapon is proven true against the tribrid. Jen assures him that god magic plus Red Oak ash equals a lethal combo for the tribrid that is if he can stick it in her heart. Brandishing the spear against her neck, Ken threatens that she better not be lying to him again, otherwise she can pray to some other god.
Hope appears behind Ken, mocking him by saying she wouldn't bother and they tend to suck. Her unexpected appearance surprises him and questions why she's come. Hope explains that Cleo told her that only one person has to die. She's come to accept his terms. As self-sacrificing as it is, it's also disappointing. However, Hope has actually come to issue her own challenge, according to the Old Ways. Trial by single combat. Between her and him. Ken assumes that Ben has informed her of their customs. Hope confirms that he has and that once a challenge is issued, it can't be refused. She proposes to start the battle in two hours at the school. He accepts, but decides why wait when she's here, now. He takes the spear and lunges it towards her; however, instead of the spear impaling her, it goes through her and strikes a bearing wall behind her. Jen compliments her on her sweet move, while Hope assumed Ken would try something so shady, hence the astral projection. She tells him she'll see him on the battlefield and disappears.
After issuing her challenge, Ken sends Aurora to fight as test Jen's weapon. At his most opportunistic moment, Ken enters the battle with a bolt of lightning striking the Earth. Emerging from the dust, he demands to know what is going on, if Aurora is having more doubts. Aurora vamps to his side with the spear in tow. She claims it was a ruse and tells him that the weapon is effective. This will be a much heralded day in his legend. Hope scoffs and questions if Ken really sent her into battle not knowing if his weapon would work. She could have been killed. Hope begs Aurora not to do this and that she saw real doubt in her eyes. Ken commands her to be silent, that her opportunity was wasted with mercy. Hope ignores Ken, still attempting to reach Aurora. She was worth trying to reach even if her brother, Klaus or Ken never saw it. Ken has had enough. Hope picks back up her sword and the two begin to fight.
Hope and Ken match blows against one another until Hope struggles to fight through the pain. Ken lands another blow and she tumbles to the ground. Soon she'll be too weak to fight while he's only just getting started. Hope stands and manages to kick him backwards, but Ken only believes that she is delaying the inevitable as he's already decimated her cavalry. He claims no one else is coming to help her and lands another blow. In a strange way, he's done her a favor. He admits that she could have been worshiped as a god, but she chose to bind her fate to lesser creatures and that her attachments were her weakness. Hope stands and faces Ken, refusing his claims. Her friends have made her stronger. Ken doesn't understand how, but as she claims, monsters rarely do. Aurora stands watching events unfold, not willing to intervene. With end in sight, Ken creates lightning in the palm of his hand and strikes Hope, sending her flying through the air. Ken approaches her, claiming the end of the legend of the tribrid, the legacy of Klaus, forever. As Hope struggles to stand, Ken raises the spear to land a killing blow. As he brings the spear down, Aurora vamps in front of Hope as the spear's end plunges into her chest. Hope braces her as Aurora stares Ken down. Confront with her betrayal, he removes the spear and Hope vamps away with Aurora.
Ken yells for Hope to come and face him. He's in the mood to spill some blood. As he turns, he stops an arrow at his face. Ben and Alaric stand and face Ken, who accepts to kill them first. Ben states that he'll make him regret all the things he's done today and for all the people that've died because of it. Ken's only regret is not killing him sooner. He launches the arrow back at Ben, but Alaric jumps in front of the arrow, taking it in the shoulder. The two amuse him; a mortal and a former half-god. Ken calls out to Hope, questioning if this is the best she's got to offer him. Lizzie vamps behind him; she's his next opponent. Facing her, he quips that last time she tried to take his power, she could barely contain it. Vamping to face him directly, she tells him she's been practicing and grabs his hand, siphoning. She calls out to Ben to get her father out of there and to get him help. Ben grabs up Alaric and the two stumble out of the meadow as Lizzie struggles to hold on to Ken who's resisting her. Continuing to siphon him, she wonders if he smells it–white fire and brimstone. Ken falls, with one knee bracing him.
Ethan calls out for Lizzie to wait and appears beside her. She explains that she can't hold the god magic for much longer and the meadow is going to explode. Ethan tells her he's not going anywhere because he's "Rescue Guy". On the count of three, Lizzie denotes the explosion as Ethan teleports them to safety beside Alaric and Ben. Alaric pulls Lizzie into a hug only to discover that Ethan has turned into ash right beside them; his finite powers resulting in his death.
Cracks of thunder ring out as Ken, though badly wounded, emerges from the smoke. Hope walks up behind them, instructing them to get them to safety. She can handle Ken. Lizzie tells her she's in no shape to fight, but Hope refuses to listen. Lizzie stops her and siphons off her wounds, allowing her to heal. Completely recovered, Hope advances to face Ken. He admits that he underestimated her, but it won't happen again. Even in his weakened state, she won't be able to kill him. It won't stop her from trying and she telekinetically grabs her sword. Ken claims she will die alone, but Lizzie stands beside her, joining the fight. MG, Kaleb, and Jed appear by their sides, joining them as well. She's not alone and the five of them face off against Ken. Lizzie doesn't understand how they're back, and Jed tells her it's a long story. Kaleb will fill them in once they defeat Ken. Ken is still confident in his abilities as this changes nothing. They will all die. Hope commands Kaleb for the first strike and he unleashes dragon-fire. Ken easily stops it, unaffected by Kaleb's assault. Lizzie vamps behind Ken and screams out for them to take the spear as she siphons from him. Kaleb, MG and Jed rush Ken and grapple with the spear, though their combined strength pales to Ken, even in his weakened state. He slams the spear into the ground, releasing a shockwave of energy that sends the four of them flying into the air. As they scramble on the ground, fear covers their faces as Ken has had enough. They are children and cannot kill a god. Setting his sights for Hope, he raises the spear and launches it at her. Unwilling to move, the spear stops just shy of her heart, surrounded in a yellow glow. Ken, as much as Hope, is surprised and doesn't understand what is happening and demands what treachery this is. Cleo comes and claims the spear for herself and clarifies this is her judgment as a Fury. Ken demands to know what she's deemed him guilty of, but she retorts for being a dick. His punishment is Hope and she vamps behind him. Turning to face her, Hope reiterates that it takes god magic to kill a god. Using the might of her physical powers, she kicks Ken through the air as Cleo raises the spear. Ken is impaled in the back by his own weapon. She hopes he rots in hell as he takes his final breath. Dead, Ken's body explodes in a fiery burst of light.
Personality[]
Ken is a very self-assured hubristic warrior among his family. He valued strength, war, and destruction, and condemned those that showed mercy and kindness, such that he cursed his sister Lynn for helping mortals cross over into peace and believed his daughter Jen to have the heart of a coward when she wouldn't construct weapons for him. Above all, he desired to kill Hope Mikaelson, the tribrid, as he would not stand for a girl claiming his same title; "the most powerful being in existence". When confronted by her, he dismissed her father's name as it had no meaning to him and considered that sending her to challenge a god was almost and insult. Despite his strength he was confused as to why she wouldn't die though believed nothing was unkillable and that even she would prove to be a disappointing adversary. In spite of his many talents, he was unaccustomed to asking for help, especially after being betrayed and imprisoned by his family for centuries, which he claimed that the loneliness and lack of love was torture which is the very thing that fuels gods. Though he did not understand the world he awoken into, he decided he must rule it and restore order and Hope was his only obstacle.
Physical Appearance[]
Ken is a handsome man who appears to be 'middle-aged' despite living for unknown millennia. He has shoulder length dirty blond hair, a full beard and mustache, and a muscular physique. When engaged or in preparation for battle, he wears his god-forged, golden battle armor. However, instructed by Aurora, his armor is not suited for the modern world and dressed him in a casual, but fancy suit, which Ken viewed as impractical for battle.
Powers and Abilities[]
Ken possessed powers and abilities afforded to him by birthright as a god.
Weaknesses[]
Ken had the typical weaknesses of a god.
Relationships[]
- Ken and Jen (Family/Enemies)
- Ken and Ben (Family/Former Allies/Enemies)
- Ken and Hope (Enemies)
- Ken and Cleo (Nature's Balance/Enemies)
- Ken and Aurora (Former Allies/Lovers)
Appearances[]
- The Only Way Out is Through (Flashback)
- Everything That Can Be Lost May Also Be Found (Indirectly Mentioned)
- I Wouldn't Be Standing Here If It Weren't For You
- Into the Woods
- By the End of This, You'll Know Who You Were Meant to Be
- This Can Only End in Blood (Death)
- Just Don't Be a Stranger, Okay? (Indirectly Mentioned)
Name[]
- Ken is a masculine name of Celtic origin that means "born of fire" and "handsome".[1]
Trivia[]
- Ken is described as "a malevolent god who has returned to take down Hope, the world's only tribrid, and reclaim his title as the world's most powerful being."[2]
Gallery[]
