King Franz

Franz Renoir was the king of the Canopy Kingdom, thus the husband of Nancy Renoir and the father of Parasoul and Umbrella, who inherited his red hair (somewhat, in the case of the latter). He wielded one of the Renoirs' Living Weapons called Eroberung, an umbrella-shaped firearm.

Known for his ruthlessness, he was responsible for much growth in the kingdom, but they were largely due to his many war campaigns. It was during this time that he authorized the creation of the Anti-Skullgirl Labs. However, his war efforts were put to an end when his wife became the Skullgirl. Although he was also responsible for the Labs' decommissioning, they were restarted in secret after his disappearance.

During the war, with the help of the Gigan leader Gilgamesh, King Franz was able to take down Nancy. However, he was seemingly decapitated by her living weapon Todd in the process.

Thanks to Umbrella's story mode in Skullgirls 2nd Encore it is known that he is still alive (with only Parasoul knowing he's still alive), hidden in the castle, but not in a normal way as he is without a head and a flame is in it's place.

Trivia

 * Some dialogue implies that the people of Canopy do not have a high opinion of him and his tyranny. For instance, in Eliza's story mode when Squigly voices distress and embarrassment over getting into a fight with the princess, Leviathan responds, "If she turned out anything like her father, I would not worry about it."
 * Early concept art had him originally wielding Todd, before their appearances in Skullgirls Mobile confirming Todd was instead wielded by Nancy.
 * Eroberung, the name of Franz's living umbrella, is the German word for "Conquest". This fits with the theme of the Renoir family's Living Weapons being named after the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
 * It was originally undecided if King Franz had died or was missing within the canon. Alex Ahad said that he would end up going with “whatever sounds cooler” once his true fate is revealed.
 * However, Alex left the production of the game years before his true fate was shown in Umbrella's story mode.
 * King Franz potentially being missing or the residents of the kingdom not knowing whether he is alive or not can explain why the current ruler, Parasoul, is still considered a princess and not a queen.