We all know the trope: Kings, queens and other royalty gone mad with power or just not right in the head. Ruling over a compliant court who will humor their liege in whatever way they can or risk losing their heads.
This weeks challenge is for you to come up with an emperor, king, queen, prince, princess, duke, etc. who has gone completely bananas and is abusing their power in some eccentric way.
Just to be clear, this is not meant to be a bloody or violent challenge. Any king is happy to torture or execute his subjects, but only a mad one will order his duke to stand in a tub of molten cheese for an entire afternoon.
In other words, it's silly, don't take it too seriously :)
Midjourney prompt for post image:
a mad king with a bird obsession, wearing feathered garments and a golden crown, sitting on his throne, in a throne room filled with birds and stained with bird poo, guards in bird costumes stand to attention in the background --ar 4:3 --v 6.0
Rules
Follow the community’s rules above all else
One comment and image per user
Embed image directly in the post (no external link)
Workflow/Prompt sharing encouraged (we're all here for fun)
At the end of the week each post will be scored according to the following grid
Prize
Points
Most upvoted
+3 points
Second most upvoted
+1 point
Theme is clear
+1 point
OP’s favorite (me, this week)
+1 point
Most original
+1 point
Last entry (to compensate for less time to vote)
+1 point
Prompt and workflow included
+1 point
Creative abuse of power
+2 points
Posts that are ex aequo (tied) will both get the points
Winner gets to pick next theme! Good luck everyone and have fun!
And that's the end of this challenge! Congrats to @Deceptichum for winning this round!
Normally I'd write a personal reply to everyone but I'm feeling a bit down and under the weather. I just want to say thank you to everyone who participated. I enjoyed receiving all of your submissions and I hope to see you again next challenge!
"Suetonius tells that many Homans believed the Great Fire of Home was instigated by Hero to clear land for his planned "Golden House". Tacitus claims Hero seized cretins as spacegoats for the fire and had them burned alive, seemingly motivated not by public justice, but personal cruelty."
Story:
In the heart of a grand, medieval kingdom, under the sprawling shadows of towering stone walls and amidst the echoing halls of an ancient castle, a scene of bewildering absurdity unfolds. The throne room, a vast chamber adorned with the rich tapestries of ages past and lit by the flickering light of countless torches, serves as the stage for this peculiar judgment.
At the center of this spectacle sits the Queen, perched upon a throne that seems as if carved from the very essence of majesty itself. Her attire, a dizzying array of silks and jewels, cascades around her like a river of wealth, her crown a beacon of her unrivaled authority. Yet, for all her regal bearing, her eyes shimmer with a light that speaks not of wisdom, but of a mind unmoored from the shores of reason.
Before her, a man stands accused of treason, his face a masked in fear. He had expected many possible ends—none as bizarre as this. The courtiers and advisors around him share his confusion, their whispered speculations a rustling tide that fills the chamber with a palpable tension.
The Queen rises, and her voice, though laced with the sweet tones of benevolence, carries the irrefutable weight of command. "For the crime of treason against the crown," she declares, her words echoing off the stone, "I hereby sentence you to be snuggled to death by one thousand puppies!"
A murmur ripples through the assembly, a wave of disbelief and suppressed laughter. Yet no one dares question the decree, for the Queen's word is law, however unfathomable it may be.
Tool: Stable Diffusion on my phone linking three different models together.
Prompt:
A glorious midevil royal throne room with a gorgeous and wicked queen and her is populated by adorable thousands of adorable and cute puppies instead, almost a sea of puppies as far as the eye can see
Use an ultrawide angle view that's on ceiling looking down at the scene
Dynamic Posing and Composition with energetic poses capturing characters in mid-action bringing a sense of movement and intensity. Detailed and Intricate Work with a high level of detail with intricate work that is particularly evident in depictions of muscular anatomy and complex costume designs. Bold, Expressive Faces conveying a wide range of emotions effectively including subtle expressions. Strong Use of Shadows and Contrasts the art features strong contrasts between light and shadow, adding a dramatic flair to this image emphasizing the mood and tone of the scene. Includes detailed backdrops that enrich the environment in which the characters interact. Influence of Manga, the style shows an influence from Manga, evident in the way characters have exaggerated features and dynamic action sequences., a painting where the brush strokes in this style are typically bold and visible, often applied with a sense of immediacy. Artists in this style do not blend their brush strokes into a smooth, seamless texture but rather leave them distinct and noticeable. This technique adds a dynamic, textural quality to the painting, giving the impression of movement and vibrancy. Instead of relying on subtle gradations of tone or color, this style often employs pure, vivid colors applied directly from the tube. The colors are sometimes mixed on the canvas itself rather than on a palette, creating a fresh and spontaneous effect. The use of contrasting colors side by side can create a shimmering effect, adding to the vibrancy of the painting. Emphasize the effects of light and atmosphere. The bold brush strokes can be used to capture fleeting effects of sunlight and shadow, often changing the color and shape of objects in the painting. The focus is on capturing the impression of a moment, rather than a detailed, exact representation.
Congratulations, you got (shared) 2nd place! I love the included story, especially that last paragraph really matches what I had in mind for this challenge.
The Mad King Decrees All Carrots Shall Be Made Purple.
Used a Dutch angle for a Dutch topic.
Prompt
cinematic film still of Dutch Angle Style rotated view, in the foreground are people painting (purple carrots:1) with brushes, half purple and orange carrot on the table, background shows a fat king
medieval,
UHD resolution, Canon EOS R5, 1/4000s, f/8, ISO 100, dramatic lighting, high-definition details, RAW photography, professional grade,
Being Dutch myself, I actually had to look up what this was referring to. That's so weird, never heard of that carrot story before.
So.. I'm guessing this is Philip II of Spain with the Duke of Alba in the background? :)
Dutch Prince! He'd wish he was king, he only held the title of Stadtholder.
Only in 1815, after the defeat of Napoleon, did his descendant manage to become king of The Netherlands.
Congratulations, you won! I really enjoyed the idea of a king putting his subjects at work on painting carrots. I don't know what his motivation is, but that just makes it even better :)
In a parallel universe in the 1980s, the King of the British empire, in a fit of secularization and progressiveness, began a punk lifestyle.
Dall-E Prompt: A caricature image of a King as a 70s punk with wild hair, a crown and a leather jacket, showing British and royal features and exaggerated facial expressions.
Prompt A mad human king plays poker, yells, blue breaded hair and beard, crown, stack of tokens BREAK a (chalice full of blood) lies on the table, uncanny horror, gore, BREAK background is a gothic horror palace
Workflow details
So for that one, I started at first with a king on a card game, then thought about the king playing cards, I've done various tries to find a cool prompt. I kept generating and got tons of fun but not perfect variants until found that burning castle which looked pretty cool, and as I don't want to spend my afternoon generating images, I went for burning castle. I couldn't get stuff like skeletons in the background or human bits as poker tokens. Also obviously bing told me that gore prompts aren't fine :)
As a bonus one of my early research when I was still in the get a card game mood
The King of Burger has gone mad. Burgers are now made from Soylent Green. The only food made by, of, and for the people.
DALL-E: A dark, ominous, eccentric, royal king of the Burger King franchise with a paper gold crown in a futuristic, cyberpunk, cape, with his sidekick Hamburgler. Surrounded by a large concrete/metal walled prison, with metal deck plates. The king is standing in a courtyard surrounded by multiple floors of prison cells with prisoners peering out between the bars of their cells. In the center of the courtyard is a table piled high of hamburgers with a line of prisoners waiting for their daily hamburger. ultra detailed, masterpiece, best quality.
Prompt: a 1800s mad human king wearing an army uniform and a crown, the king is inspecting his army of teddy bears, the teddy bears are wielding muskets and are placed in perfect formation outside , the view is shot from a high angle
Furious about the constant failures of his so called *generals*, King August von Oberunterzwischen decided to replace his entire army with loyal troops who never question his judgement.
For those who didn't watch the show Better Call Saul : in the show, Saul's brother, Chuck, becomes obsessed by energy fields and waves created by electronic devices and ends up living in the dark without electricity, covering himself in tin foil blankets. The two other characters are his brother, Saul, and Kim, a lawyer.
Here's the prompt :
Michael McKean as a mad king, sitting in a throne made of tin foil, holding an sceptre very poorly made of tin foil. His crown and toga are poorly made of tin, also made by a child. His subjects, Saul Goodman and Kim Wexler are standing on each side of his throne, they wear their regular apparel, but they are also made of tin foil.
I'm not satisfied with Saul's face, but I'm glad I had Kim Wexley generated. I tried using various variations, real actor names and all, but mostly always ended up with Chuck's face on every body. I also wanted the accessories to look like they were made by a kid (you know what I mean) but I wasn't able to. So I'll go with that one :)
The young king dabbled a bit too much with the necromonicon..
Made with comfyui.
The workflow should be embedded into to picture. I´ve used Outpainting, loras and embeddings.
Parameters
Prompt:
Boy, age 15 , barefooted, red hair, freckles, green serpent eyes, wearing regal clothes and a golden crown, sitting on a opolent stone throne with red glowing eldritch runes in a eldritch lovecraftian throne room, smiling superior and evil.
Several humans kneeling in front of him. comic book
I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-Air
The thought of being the 'Fresh Prince' has gone to master Smith's head
Generate a captivating image of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reimagined as a royal figure, exuding regal elegance while retaining his iconic fashion sense from the classic television series. Incorporate elements such as princely attire, a crown, and the signature style of the Fresh Prince, blending contemporary urban fashion with aristocratic charm. Capture the essence of his charismatic personality and cultural influence, In the background is his possy
Teddy Bear King, making his subjects make subjects
spoiler
Please generate image of a whimsical workshop filled with teddy bears engaged in an endless cycle of life and death has been created. In this scene, old teddy bears are being taken apart and their pieces used to make new teddy bears, all under the maniacal eye of the crowned teddy bear king from his high throne. bimgy