DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT INFO

DLC comes with classic costume for Death-Skull from his Epic Blades I debut, a skin for Rhamzeez in which he's wearing a double crown, white pharaoh outfit and lacks wrappings around his body and an oni-based skin for Kloch. Also comes with a patch that lets you fight Tawhai in Story Modes and Online Modes for free if he hasn't been downloaded yet.

BIO

The Rat-King is a terrifying amalgam of plague-bearing black rats that were reportedly causing the infamous Black Death across Europe. The creature's origins are unknown, though it can be traced back to when sailors returned from the Black Sea, causing the spread of the bubonic plague and it is theorized that during the first days of the Black Death, the rats that infested villages somehow combined together into a grotesque humanoid harbinger of death.

GAMEPLAY DETAILS

SPECIAL MOVES

• Black Rat - Rat-King shoots a black rat from his right hand at his opponent.
• Sickle Whip - He swings a sickle from his chain at his opponent, followed by another sickle at him/her.
  
• Chained Up - He throws his chained sickles at his opponent and wraps him/her up.
  
• Bubonic Breath - He breathes a black cloud from his mouth at his opponent.
  
• Grapple Sickle - He flings his sickle at his opponent and drags him/her towards himself.
  
• Plague Fist - He forms into a giant fist made of black rats and hurdles to his opponent with a punch before turning back to his huanoid form.
  

FINISHING MOVES

VANQUISHMENT

Rat Torture - Rat-Kind pins his opponent's two feet to the ground with his sickles. He walks away from the agonized opponent a little only to turn around and open his mouth very wide. His pharyngeal jaw sprints out from his mouth and jams itself into the screaming opponent's abdomen. The opponent is in even more agony as his/her eyeballs pop out from the sockets and black rats begin to crawl out of every orifice in his/her body until he/she crumbles into a gory mess. After the entire opponent is viscerally destroyed, the pharyngeal jaw retracts back into Rat-King's mouth as rats surround him.

QUICK DEATHS

• Black Rat - The rat chews through the screaming opponent's neck until his/her head comes off.
  
• Sickle Whip - The opponent gets his/her arm cut off before getting the rest of himself/herself split in half.
  
• Chained Up - The tied opponent is pierced by the sickles on the chains and dies as a result.
  
• Bubonic Breath - The screaming opponent's flesh melts off while blood gushes from all over him/her.
  
• Grapple Sickle - The opponent gets his/her ribcage torn out and dies from it.
  

AUTO-SLAY

Wrapped in Chains - Rat-King has his chained sickles wrapping around his body. After getting tied up, the sickles pierce him, one in the left eye and the other in his right foot. Rat-King screams as he crumbles into blood-covered black rats that then roam around the floor and even feast on the blood that is on the floor.

MISC.

• Voice Actor: Travis Willingham
• Intro Sequence: A bunch of black rats run aorund all over the floor and three seconds later, they all combine together into a humanoid shape from feet to head. The humanoid shape becomes Rat-King and he says upon coming to life, "Now that I am here completely, I shall make you suffer greatly!" He emits a chain with two sickles linked on each end from his hand, grabs one of the sickles, and grabs another one with his other hand.
  
• Victory Sequence: Rat King lays down his chained sickles and says, "Endure the crisis as my strain rises." He tears off his shirt and black rats begin to shoot out from his chest towards the screen. All the black rats crawl around the screen as we here Rat-King's sinister laughter.
  
• Stage: Plague Town (BGM: Plagues of Babylon by Iced Earth)
  
• Rival: Tawhai
  

STORY MODE

INTRO CUTSCENE

(We're treated with a panoramic landscape view of a random European town at night time with Two Steps From Hell's "Argovia" playing throughout. Five seconds later, we cut to a house where there are plague victims, each one with bubos all over their bodies and gangrene on certain areas like feet and noses. Plague doctors enter the place.)
Doctor #1: "This does not look good. These people appear horrible."
Doctor #2: "This patient seems to be suffering from very high fever."
Doctor #1: "Son of a bitch! He's loosing it!"
(Cut to the town itself. We suddenly a bunch rats swarming around the streets. Meanwhile, we see all the horrified townsfolk come together as the town's mayor gives a speech in regards to plague.)
Mayor: "To all the good people of this town, we are now suffering from a horrific epidemic!"
Man #1: "Yeah, and it's all thanks to somebody who brought the damn thing to this town after a boat trip whoever it was!"
Mayor: "Now now! Let us not cast blame onto others! We must find a way to..."
(One woman sees some rats and screams.)
Woman: "RATS!"
Mayor: "Where?"
(The start swarming all around the towns people, who try to stomp on the rats but to no avail due them constantly evading the stomping. Five seconds later, the rats all combine together into a humanoid shape, much to the people's horror.)
Man #2: "What in God's name is going on?"
(A disembodied laugh is heard and the humanoid shape forms into Rat-King, scaring the townsfolk.)
Mayor: "W-what is the meaning of this?"
Rat-King: "I... am the Rat-King, the bubonic plague I shall bring."
Man #3: "You monster! You want to harm us all with your miserable plague!"
Rat-King: "Pray your god will save you, the Black Death will take you!"
(Rat-King shoots black rats out of his hands at all the people.)
Rat-King: "You will all fall and collapse, you weak and worthless saps!"
Mayor: "Somebody stop it!"
(One guardsman runs towards Rat-King and as the guardsman swings a halbert down, Rat-King grabs the halbert and yanks it off the guardsman before braking it apart. He effortlessly shoves his fist down the guardsman's throat.)
Rat-King: "Your attempts to kill me, that which you can never succeed!"
(Black rats starts bursting out of every orifice of the guardsman, killing him.)
???: "Stop right there, monster!"
(Two knights are aiming their crossbows at Rat-King, who takes his arm out of the guardsman and looks at the two. The knights shoot arrows at Rat-King, who surprisingly absorbs the arrows through his chest.)
Rat-King: "Your arrows will work on me? They will now shoot upon thee!"
Knight: "Oh you gotta be kidding me!"
(Rat-King shoots the two arrows, one from each palm, at the knights, shooting them in the eye.)
Mayor: "I pray to God that you be destroyed this instant!"
Rat-King: "I'm sorry, but did I here you say you'll pray?"
(Rat-King releases a chain with two sickles, one linked to each end, from his right hand until it ends at a handle of one of the sickles.)
Rat-King: "This isn't even the Lord's day!"
Mayor: "Shut up!"
Rat-King: "I'll make you the one to shut up! You'll be the one who shall be fucked up!"
(Rat-King spins a little while holding his chained sickle weapon and flings it at the mayor, wrapping him in the chains and ending with him getting his eye gouged by one of the sickles.)
Mayor: "Oh Jesus, my eyes!"
Rat-King: "No man by that name is here for you, is he! Now begone with you for I will be busy!"
(Rat-King reels the chains, spinning the mayor until his head is ripped off from the body. Two Steps From Hell's "Argovia" stops playing as the mayor's headless body falls and Rat-King reels the sickle up with the mayor's disembodied head on it.)
Rat-King: "I must make sure my essence spreads, tearing the whole world into shreds."

PROLOGUE

The Black Death is a horrifying time of events that all started with Europeans arriving back to their homeland from the Black Sea. Sailors in the trading ships that reached to Sicily were found dead while some have survived but wound up diseased due to what would soon transpire across the continent. Black rats that were infested with fleas bombarded a good number of countries in Europe with what is known as the "bubonic plague". Dozens of victims of that disease suffered from fever, boils, bodily cramps, and eventually death. The Black Death has led to numerous conflicts fueled by religion, social issues, and/or economics. But the worst thing of all about The Black Death is a creature called Rat-King, a sentient monster composed of black rats that is currently setting its sights on infecting the rest of the world with the bubonic plague.

RIVAL CUTSCENE

(Scene takes place in a mountainous area with sharp-pointed tops and skulls in certain areas, including a horned skull that spews a waterfall of blood that forms around the area like a lake. Rat-King approaches the circular platform that is on top of the blood lake.)
Rat-King: "As I accomplish what I have planned, the world will become a bubonic wasteland."
???: "YOU THERE!!!"
(Rat-King turns around and sees Tawhai pointing his war club at him.)
Rat-King: "You, one who would sneak up behind my ear! Tell me what you are doing here!"
Tawhai: "I have come in search of the devil! It appears that you must be an affiliate of his!"
Rat-King: "I am not affiliated with anyone. If you want to stop my plan, it shall not be undone!"
Tawhai: "What are you then?"
(Rat-King flings one of his sickles at Tawhai's club and drags the Maori warrior over to himself.)
Rat-King: "I am the Rat-King, the bubonic harbinger! My apocalypse will be far bigger!"
Tawhai: "Bubonic? You mean your contagious?"
Rat-King: "Correct, human! The disease shall be blooming!"
(As Tawhai is about to swing his club at Rat-King, Rat-King crumbles into a swarm of rats that move away from Tawhai.)
Tawhai: "DAMMIT!"
(The rats combine together again, morphing back into Rat-King.)
Rat-King: "Try to kill me all you want. Keeping my energy from spreading you shant!"
Tawhai: "Think again, biohazardous demon!"

FINAL BOSS CUTSCENE

(Rat-King walks over to the down and wounded Tawhai.)
Rat-King: "You know what I find bizarre? You are not as strong as you say you are!"
Tawhai: "Shut it, demon!"
Rat-King: "I told you I serve no one! Not Be'al-Zebos nor Satan! I wont carry this talk from here on, so I say that you shall be gone!"
(Rat-King drives one of his chained sickles into Tawhai's right eye. He drives another sickle into the screaming Tawhai's left eye.)
Rat-King: "There is no more to beckon, send my greetings to the heavens."
(Rat-King pulls the chains and rips Tawhai's face off. Tawhai's brain and tongue are exposed. Rat-King rips the severed face in half.)
Rat-King: "Your nation is next, distances from my steps!"
(Rat-King walks towards the Sphere of Wonders, only to be teleported to a circular platform in Hell where there's a glowing pentagram on the ground and the platform is surrounded by pillars that are shaped like curved spikes sticking diagonally around it.)
Rat-King: "So this is what Tawhai's been rambling about? I say I must get out."
???: "Yes, this is Hell."
(A burst of hellfire rises from the center of the platform and out from the fire emerges Be'al-Zebos.)
Be'al-Zebos: "Welcome to Hell, Rat-King. I figure you've heard of me."
Rat-King: "I know of devils and demons and whatnot! Because this is what people who fear me have taught!"
Be'al-Zebos: "I see you are working your way to spread the plague across the entire world. I don't blame you. In fact, I am in love with your good work."
Rat-King: "I am glad you are proud of what I do, due to every bad thing in Europe coming out of the blue."
Be'al-Zebos: "Yes, seeing Europe being at eachother's throats, blaming one another, and yet their so-called "all-loving God" can't do a damn thing to save them! In fact, I especially love how these Christian Europeans, who are suppose to "love thy neighbor" according to their stupid religion, lashing out at the Jews and framing them for causing the plague. How it is rich."
(Be'al-Zebos shows Rat-King a vision of a Jewish woman in a dungeon on a chair being interrogated and tortured by monks.)
Monk #1: "Now tell us! What were you doing out there prior to this cursed disease brought upon us?"
Woman: *sniff* "What are you talking about?"
Monk #2: "You know what we are talking about! Why did you poison the wells? Huh?
(Cut to Be'al-Zebos standing next to Rat-King as they both watch the vision of the Jewish woman suffering during a persecution scenario. Be'al-Zebos is eating human eyeballs from a bag labeled "Bag-O-Eyes" like popcorn.)
Be'al-Zebos: "Anti-semetic persecutions like this always make my day. Well done, my friend."
Rat-King: "You are welcome, devil. Mankind shall tremble."
Monk #2: "This is for the glory of god!"
(Cut back to the vision where the screaming woman is being burned in the stake. She begins to burn up into a mummy-like corpse as a result.)
Be'al-Zebos: "Yep, my hats off to you, Rat-King! You are a wiz at making humans suffer!"
Rat-King: "And that's why I want to spread the bubonic disease across the world. Now where's the Sphere of Wonders?"
(Be'al-Zebos makes the vision dissolve.)
Be'al-Zebos: "Really, the Sphere of Wonders? Is Europe not enough for you? Are you this desperate!"
Rat-King: "As long as people suffer, I live! The sphere is something you must give!"
Be'al-Zebos: "That is such a petty excuse to hear from you!"
Rat-King: "I live off sickness, so I want to continue my business!"
(A pillar of hellfire rises, summoning the Hellraiser trident that stands on top of the platform. Be'al-Zebos grabs onto Hellraiser.)
Be'al-Zebos: "You wish to infect the rest of the world, you'll have to go through me first."

ENDING CUTSCENE

(Be'al-Zebos blows up into lava-like blood and volcanic rocks.)
Rat-King: "Now that your reign and power are slammed, I shall get to the sphere at hand."
(Rat-King walks towards the Sphere of Wonders.)
Rat-King: "Sphere of Wonders, rich and impearled, give my infestation access across the world."
(Rat-King cuts the sphere in half and the scene flashes into a white background. Two Steps From Hell's "Planet-Ize" starts playing as the white background fades to a shot of the planet Earth.)
Rat-King (v/o): "The world shall something to be afraid of, I will give it what I'm made of!"
(Camera zooms to the Americas, transitioning to a Native American village where we see plague rats swarming the place, terrorizing the Natives. The scene fades back to Earth and the camera switches over to Africa, thus transitioning to African tribesmen suffering from the bubonic plague and its symptoms, much to their horror. Fade back to Earth as the camera switches over to Asia.)
Rat-King (v/o): "Be it Europe, be it Asia,..."
(The scene transitions to a Japanese castle. A shogun is slowly arriving as he is suffering from the plague as well. An onmyoji comes to the sick shogun's aid.)
Rat-King (v/o): "I am far worse than any form of -plasia!"
(The onmyoji sees a couple of black rats swarming around the entrance and is shocked in horror. The scene fades back to Earth and the camera switches over to Australia and the Oceanic regions, transitioning to the Australian Northern Territory. Aborigines are fighting off the constantly swarming rats that have entered their land until they form into Rat-King right in front of them.)
Aborigine: (DEMON!)
Aborigine chief: (Let's kill it!)
(The Aborigines try to fend off Rat-King, but Rat-King manages to takes them all down as well as killing them in the process with his chained sickles, hacking them up one by one.)
Aborigine chief: (Get out of here, demon!)
Rat-King: "You cannot banish me, Aborigine chief! Seeing you sick shall be my relief!"
(Rat-King flings his sickle at the Aborigine chief's chest and pulls him towards himself.)
Rat-King: "What will you do now? Will you survive somehow? I think not, and now you will rot!"
Aborigine: (What... kind of demon are you?)
Rat-King: "I am no demon, but a fusion of rats, clothed under peasant spats."
Aborigine: (You will not succeed in your terror!)
Rat-King: "In death you are hither, I beg to differ."
(Two Steps From Hell's "Planet-Ize" stops playing as Rat-King effortlessly rips open the chief's torso by tearing out the heart as well as the lungs, liver, stomach, and intestines.)
Rat-King: "You are now minced meat, unable to stand against me!"
(Cut to a shot of the dead, ripped-open chief on the ground. The camera pans close to his face followed by panning close to his left eye, which shows a reflection of Rat-King holding the innards on his sickle.)
Rat-King: "HAHAHAHAHAHA! Nothing can stop me of my power, so kiss my bubonic ass in your dying hour!"
(Sevendust's "Ugly" starts playing as the Epic Blades II logo pops up. Seven seconds later, the logo fades away and credits start to roll as we see various characters from the roster performing techniques with their weapons in a black background that has technicolor fire of different variants rising in different directions per character appearance.)