The War King

The War King was a renegade member of the Great Houses who became their leader during the War.

Early life
The future War King was one of four notable renegades born due to abnormalities in the breeding engines one generation before the War. Two of the other four were Grandfather Paradox and the Imperator.

At an early age, the future War King left the Homeworld for unclear reasons. He was notorious for meddling in the affairs of lesser species for power, personal gratification, and casual amusement; he often hired, manipulated, and seduced the more mercenary or megalomaniac of the lesser species. He was dedicated to his own desires above all else.

Soon, his crimes filled two whole datacoils, and he was considered the second-most-wanted criminal among the Great Houses. They captured him a number of times, but he always eventually escaped, despite their attempts to imprison him.

After becoming War King, he kept twelve white squares of a hypercube stacked neatly on his desk. The dismantled cube represented his only concession to sentimentality and his last remaining link to his unfortunate past.

Rise to power
Before the War, the War King was captured and interrogated by agents of the enemy. He escaped, but the torture deeply affected him and made him realise how he cared for his people. The War King concluded that he would help them in any way he could. Common rumours said he took advantage of this opportunity to gain immunity for his past crimes and power over the Homeworld.

The War King arrived on the Homeworld in his self-modified timeship, told the Great Houses what he had witnessed, and vowed to help the Great Houses in any way they wished, but the current President refused to accept the enemy's existence and their threat to the Homeworld, going so far as to warn that if the War King were to ever return, he would be arrested for his earlier crimes against the Great Houses.

The War King's actions on the Homeworld had caused some Great Houses to investigate the existence of the enemy and their threat to the Homeworld. The Great Houses discovered the enemy was a credible threat and had the power to destroy them. Some Great Houses took this further and suggested that the War King be pardoned of his crimes to become part of a future war effort.

The War King saw this banishment as a mere setback and began to devise ways for the Great Houses to combat the enemy. He spent over forty years creating plans for new weapons and devices. With the plans he had created, the War King returned to the Homeworld in his timeship and was captured by the House Military. He admitted to all of his offences and asked for an emergency meeting of the High Council to propose his plans. During the emergency session, the Great Houses accepted that the War King had told the truth and concluded that Gallifrey would need a new leader with military experience. The War King was the obvious candidate, and the Great Houses wiped all records of his past and made him War King of the Nine Homeworlds. (PROSE: The Book of the War)

As War King
Two years after coming to power, the War King negotiated a pact with Compassion, creating a "second front" for the War. One evening when the War King was at a banquet, Compassion materialised in the room, looking for "answers". After a lengthy conversation, Compassion told the War King that when "House Lucia" emerged, the true threat to Gallifrey would be revealed. (PROSE: The Book of the War)

When the Doctor tried ending the Rutan-Sontaran War by bringing General Sontar to Gallifrey for negotiations, Sontar remarked that the Capitol had once been a fortress, pointing out its thick walls, buttresses, and battlements; this surprised the Doctor, since Sontar was clearly right, but such history was never taught on Gallifrey. (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors) The old, bearded Lord President during the War recounted this conversation to Homunculette, saying he heard it from a friend of his. He condemned the Time Lords' past naiveté to the reality of the coming conflict, which indeed drove Gallifrey to turn its Capitol back into a fortress and to start breeding soldiers to be efficient killers, just like the old alien general. He then sent Homunculette to investigate the Elder Things. (PROSE: The Taking of Planet 5)

The War King later understood the true motive of Lolita, a sentient timeship, who had evolved from an old model timeship. (PROSE: Toy Story) Lolita planned to rewrite the Spiral Politic to suit her own ends. As a last resort, he allied with the last members of Faction Paradox against Lolita. The War King's alliances failed and Lolita consumed him. (AUDIO: Words from Nine Divinities)

Appearance
The War King had many scars from the days when he was a criminal in the eyes of the Great Houses. After gaining office, the War King decided to keep the scars to illustrate his suitability for the role. (PROSE: The Book of the War) He had a long, wispy white beard and wrinkled skin that was "parchment-thin". He wore traditional Gallifreyan robes, albeit black instead of their usual colour. (PROSE: The Taking of Planet 5)

Behind the scenes

 * In The Taking of Planet 5, the War King tells Homunculette about something an alien general said to an old friend in the years before the War. This conversation, specifically between Sontar and the Doctor, took place in The Infinity Doctors. The implication is that, before becoming War King, he was the Magistrate, who in The Infinity Doctors played a similar role to that which The Book of the War says the War King played under Umbaste's administration. Both the War King and the Magistrate are hinted to be, but never explicitly identified as, incarnations of the Master.
 * The Book of the War also hints that the War King is an incarnation of the War Chief, apparently confirming the ages-old theory that the War Chief is the Master.