As an example, when the Queen, who enjoys ordering beheadings, attempts to have Alice executed (charged with being unable to answer who is lying down in front of her), the King of Hearts reminds her that she is only a child.

At the Knave of Hearts' trial, however, where he acts as judge, he is revealed to be quite juvenile, with such lines as, "don't be nervous or I'll have you executed on the spot" to the Mad Hatter, or asking the Duchess's cook irrelevant questions such as "what are tarts made of?"

The Disney movie portrays the King of Hearts as a dwarfish man wearing an extremely tall crown, and he is very much subdued by the Queen in terms of popularity among their subjects.

He appears briefly when the Cheshire Cat entangles the Queen's croquet mallet (actually a live flamingo) in her dress, causing her to fall over and expose her red heart-printed bloomers.

However, when the trial begins she offers an atypical approach towards justice: sentence before verdict (the same stance taken by her original portrayal in the book with regard to the Knave of Hearts).

Although the King announces rule #42 which says that "all persons more than a mile high must leave the court immediately", Alice feels free to call the Queen a "fat, pompous, bad-tempered old tyrant" while growing to her new size.