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As a bit of irony, Flagg's appearance is not really as threatening as are his actions and personality. He appears to be merely an average looking man, taking on the appearance of whatever the local people look like. However, his attire is strictly Americana. He dresses in typicial American clothing such as blue jeans and a hooded sweater. Particularly noteworthy is the buttons he collects and attachs to his clothing over the course of his appearances. Amongst these are a peace symbol, a smiley face, and a CK button. In the Dark Tower series, he also has one that has a picture of an eye on it.
Throughout most of King's novels, Flagg's origins and true nature are left to the reader's imagination. In The Stand, it is suggested that Flagg cannot remember his youth, and that he has vague memories of having been a Marine and of being involved in the kidnapping of Patty Hearst. In Eyes of the Dragon, he is described as demonic in nature, and in The Gunslinger he describes himself, in the guise of Walter O'Dim, as an "Ageless Stranger". In his final appearance, in The Dark Tower, it is revealed that Flagg is in fact a human being, born 600 years or more earlier as Walter Padick in a land called Delain (the setting of Eyes of the Dragon). He is said to have run away from home at the age of fourteen and, after being sodomized by a bandit on the road, became determined to exact revenge on the universe for the poor lot he had been cast in life. Becoming a powerful wizard, Flagg began to sow discord and strife through Delain and neighboring lands, seldom acting directly, preferring to move behind the scenes and patiently set events into motion over years, decades, or even centuries. At some point, he attracts the attention of the Crimson King and becomes his emissary.
Flagg made his first appearance in the 1978 novel The Stand. In it, he was an antichrist-like being who was trying to stop civilization in the United States from rebuilding after a devastating plague by an out-of-control virus. Building a following around him in Las Vegas, NevadaAlternate meanings: Las Vegas (disambiguation). Highway 93 Interstate 215 Las Vegas is the largest city in Nevada and a major tourist destination. At the 2000 census, the city had a population of 478,434 making it the largest city in the state of Nevada., Flagg planned to attack the one other growing civilization in Boulder, ColoradoBoulder (40n01, 105w16 MST) is a city located in Boulder County, Colorado, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 94,673. It is home to the University of Colorado at Boulder, the largest university in Colorado. It has an elevation while leaving his civilization of criminals and immoral individuals to be the only survivors. However, his plan was foiled when an act of God caused a nuclear bomb to be exploded in Vegas, killing all of his followers.
Whether or not Flagg himself was killed in this event is debatable, due to the fact that King implies that Flagg may have had an out-of-body experienceAn out-of-body experience (or OBE, or OOBE) is the subjective perception that one is no longer in one's body, while (generally) being able to perceive it from the outside. It is sometimes associated with near-death experiences, hypnopompic or hypnagogic d during the explosion that allowed him to spiritually (possibly magically, as later books suggest) escape unharmed. Still, even in this case it is likely that Flagg's physical body was destroyed in the blast. While the original version of the novel does not tell of Flagg's fate afterwards, the 1990 expanded re-release of the novel, The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition, tells that Flagg reincarnated somewhere in Africa, where it is suggested that he continued to wreak havok upon the human race in his new form.
It is believed by some fans that the original edition of The Stand and the expanded edition are actually parallel dimension variations of the same story. This theory is due to the multiple dimensions of the Dark Tower series, which the story of The Stand intersects. If this is true, then it is possible that there are two different Flaggs as well (one for each dimension).
Flagg was depicted in film by Jamey Sheridan in the tv miniseries version of The Stand. This miniseries was based off the original edition of the novel. As of 2004 this is the only film appearance the character has had.