Overview
Yanluo Wang (阎罗王) is the King of Hell in Chinese mythology: the most famous judge of the dead in the Chinese underworld. He is the figure who appointed Zhong Kui as the King of Ghosts after recognizing his intelligence and sense of justice. Yanluo Wang is expected to appear in Black Myth: Zhong Kui given his direct role in the protagonist's origin story.
Mythological background
Yanluo Wang originates from Yama, the Hindu and Buddhist god of death, whose worship entered China with Buddhism during the Han Dynasty. Over centuries, the figure was sinicized. Reinterpreted as a bureaucratic judge rather than a cosmic deity. In Chinese tradition, Yanluo Wang wears the robes of a magistrate, sits behind a desk, and consults ledgers.
In the Ten Courts system described in the Jade Record (Yuli Baochao), Yanluo Wang presides over the Fifth Court, not the first, as commonly assumed. His court contains sixteen Departments of Heart-Gouging and features the "Mirrors of Regret" (Nie Jing Tai), which force souls to confront their past wrongdoings. His jurisdiction covers murderers, hunters, those who are lustful, and religious sinners. He is stern but not evil, his job is to be fair, not kind.
Relationship with Zhong Kui
The relationship between Yanluo Wang and Zhong Kui is one of the most interesting dynamics in the source mythology. Yanluo Wang saw something in the angry, suicidal scholar that others had missed. Where the living emperor rejected Zhong Kui for being ugly, the King of Hell appointed him for being capable. There is a biting irony in that. The afterlife turned out to be more meritocratic than the mortal world.
In the game, this relationship could take many forms. Yanluo Wang might serve as a quest-giver, an ally, or a figure whose authority Zhong Kui eventually challenges. The mythology leaves room for all of these.
In the game
No confirmed details exist about Yanluo Wang's role in Black Myth: Zhong Kui. Given that the story centers on Zhong Kui's supernatural duties and the afterlife, he is a near-certainty to appear.