The War King

The War King was a renegade Time Lord who became the leader of the Great Houses during the Second War in Heaven.

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, told the Great Housess what he had witnessed, and vowed to help the Time Lords in any way they wished, but President Umbaste refused to accept the Enemy's existence and their threat to the Homeworld. She warned the War King that if he ever returned to unsettle Time Lord society with talk of a war, he would be arrested for his earlier crimes against the Time Lords.

The War King's actions on Gallifrey had caused some Time Lords to investigate the existence of the Enemy and their threat to Gallifrey. The Time Lords discovered the Enemy was a credible threat and had the power to destroy the Time Lords. Some Time Lords 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 Time Lords 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 Gallifrey in his TARDIS 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 Time Lords 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 Time Lords wiped all records of his past and made him War King of the Nine Gallifreys. (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)

The War King sent Homunculette to investigate the Elder Things. (PROSE: The Taking of Planet 5)

Fifty years after the battle on Dronid, the War King hired House Lolita to destroy Faction Paradox's powerbase in the Eleven-Day Empire. This stopped the Faction from supplying weapons to the Enemy or signing a treaty of reconciliation with House Tracolix. (AUDIO: The Eleven-Day Empire)

The War King later understood the true motive of Lolita, a sentient TARDIS, who had evolved from one of his previous TARDISes. (PROSE: Toy Story) Lolita planned to reach the Eye of Harmony on Gallifrey, to contaminate the entire universe with her own biodata. She could 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)

Erasure
The Eighth Doctor, in a desperate attempt to avert the future chaos he had learned of, erased the Second War in Heaven's timeline by destroying Gallifrey and restoring the normal timeline to the universe. The events that had led to the War King of Gallifrey never occurred. (PROSE: The Ancestor Cell)

Appearance
The War King had many scars from the days when he was a criminal in the eyes of the Time Lords. 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

 * The War King is clearly intended to be an incarnation of the Master, but, due to copyright restrictions surrounding the name "the Master", stories in the Faction Paradox series refer to the character simply as the "War King".
 * 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.