King of hearts
The king of hearts is a face card in decks of French-suited playing cards, depicting a king of the hearts suit and associated with the King of Franks Charlemagne. The card is also sometimes called the "Suicide King" due to an optical illusion where it appears the king is stabbing himself with a sword, leading to interpretations of sacrifice or the end of old orders. The king of hearts is also the only king without a mustache. This was due to the fact it was lost during the reproduction of the original design due to the wear and tear on the original wooden printing blocks used for mass production.
Features
The king of hearts is one of the card games using the French and German suits. In France, it is found in 32-card, 52-card and tarot decks.Image:King of Hearts Ruen pattern comparison.jpg|thumb|left|Evolution of the king of hearts from the Rouennais pattern to the English pattern|257x257px
Generally speaking, the king of hearts is the highest card of hearts or immediately follows the ace of hearts; in belote, pinochle, soixante-six and other similar games, the ace and ten of hearts are higher than the king. The card precedes the queen of hearts in French-suited games, the Ober of hearts in German-suited games.
In other regional varieties of card games, the equivalent of the king of hearts is the king of cups or roses.
The king of hearts is called "bearded" in the game of the same name, an older version of the game of the Queen of Spades. In Nain Jaune, the king of hearts is one of the five cards for which a bet is allocated.