The Dark Dragon or Black Dragon (黒龍 Kokuryū?) is a powerful dragon god embodying pure evil and a counterpart of the Divine Dragons. Having a hatred for mankind, the dragon wreaked havoc until he was defeated by the Dragon Lineage, with the Dark Dragon Blade forged from it's bones and the Jewel of the Dark Dragon emerged from it's heart as a result. A immortal being, the dragon is also the progenitor of the Raven Clan's bloodline.[5] While briefly mentioned in the main story of Ninja Gaiden, he serves as the chief antagonist of Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword for the Nintendo DS and Ninja Gaiden 4, serving as the final boss to his descendant, Yakumo.
Appearance[]
The Dark Dragon's appearance differs based on the method of its revival. In his first physical form, using Ishtaros as the seed and Ishtaros as the nutrients, the Dark Dragon appears as a giant bipedal black dragon with red spikes, markings and winged arms, standing roughly fifty feet tall. His avatar form from the Dark Dragon Blade is a long serpentine black dragon similar to an serpentine Asian Dragon.
In Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 and Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, it appears as a smaller four-legged dragon with black wings and flames bursting from its sides.
In Ninja Gaiden 4, after being supplied with countless human lives as sacrifice, and Seori's death releasing its soul, the cursed wyrm appears in its true form: a gigantic Japanese dragon with black and dark blue obsidian scales, an orb on its side that emits a laser made of lightning energy.
While taking human-sized humanoid form against his descendant, Yakumo, the Dark Dragon sports a same face as him, with its eyes glowing a baleful blue color, similar to Yakumo when executing an Ultimate Technique or obliterating a crippled opponent.
Personality[]
The Dark Dragon is the embodiment of wrath and hatred. He revels in mass deaths and destruction and wants nothing more than to plunge the world into an eternal chaotic darkness, where all living sentient beings are indiscriminately eradicated, whether they are human or fiend.[6]
At some point in the past, it took on a human form to father a human child, implying this as its last act of conscience and benevolence before plunging into evil.
History[]
The Dark Dragon depicted in ancient chronicles.
During the age of chaos wrought on by the Evil Deity Vigoor, the benevolent creator and first deity Gurdu was split apart. One of the pieces of Gurdu formed into the Deity of Creation known as Serpent.[7] While the other deities panicked in their newly born state, Serpent was able to plant the seeds of life, seeds that would mature over time.[8]
Once matured, the seeds of life spring the 13 Dragons, born and breed for warfare.[9] The Dragons emerged victorious after what seemed like an endless eon of war, banished Vigoor from the earth. However Vigoor, ruler of the Evil Deities and the origin of hate and evil, would never be destroyed, for he found within the youngest of the Dragons an insecurity. Being the youngest and weakest of the 13 Dragons, this Dragon had an envy for his siblings, emotions Vigoor sought to play with, slowly corrupting and empowering the dragon with hate.[10] Overtime mankind appeared and the Dragons lived in peace with them, until the youngest of the Dragon Deities, now fully corrupted, revealed himself and emerged as the Dark Dragon in land that would later be known as the Vigoorian Empire. Wasting no time, the Dark Dragon defeated his brethren and plunged the worlds into a dark abyss of death and destruction, even though each of the 13 Divine Dragons have infinite evolution and strength, but not all of them are equal in that infinite rate of growth, with Vigoor's corruption, The Dark Dragon gained exponential increase at the rate of his infinite evolution, making him much stronger than all of his 12 brothers combined.[11]
It was then that a warrior, the most powerful of the humans rose up to face the Dark Dragon.[12] With the aid of the Dragon Sword, he countered the might of the Dark Dragon and slew the unholy beast with the divine weapon.[13]
Upon his death, enormous amounts of dark energies were released from the Dark Dragon forming into cyrstalized orbs filled with immense evil energy. These orbs were known as the Dark Dragonstones, It is said that even only one of the Dark Dragonstones contains a lot more than enough power to completely eradicated universes with their entire dimensions, and each one of those stones are able to bestow an enormous surge of malevolent power on those who possess them, but it's power won't be fully utilize nor controlled due to it's extremely unstable state and the one who tries to control them will end up be consumed as shown in Ninja Gaiden DS , [14] Furthermore the bones of the Dark Dragon were made into the Dark Dragon Blade, an evil blade containing the undying soul of the Dark Dragon. This evil blade was eventually retrieved by the Dragon Lineage, who sealed the indestructible blade and kept it safe from evil.[15]
Plot[]
Ninja Gaiden Sigma[]
The Dark Dragon Blade
The sealed Dark Dragon Blade had been passed down the generations of the Dragon Lineage, each generation keeping it safe from evil forces, all the way to their modern descendants, the Dragon Ninja of the Hayabusa Ninja Clan. By now the Dark Dragon had faded into legend, and the Dark Dragon Blade, a relic of ceremony.
However it's dark powers were soon discovered by a rogue former ninja of the Hayabusa clan, who would use this knowledge to scheme a plan to unseal the blade, fuel it with death and destruction, and ultimately empower himself as the Devil Incarnate. This Dark Disciple tipped off the location of the blade to the power hungry Vigoor Emperor. In hopes of fulfilling a fiendish prophecy, the Emperor sent his loyal demonic general Doku, Lord of the Greater Fiends to retrieve the Dark Dragon Blade.[16] With the Vigoorian Samurai army, Doku led an attack on the Ninja Village and stole the Dark Dragon, leaving many villagers dead, including the current Dragon Shrine Maiden Kureha, and the young Dragon Ninja Ryu Hayabusa.
Ryu would recover from death and go on a vengeful quest to recover the blade, upholding his clan's sacred duty to safeguard it from evil forces. As his journey unfolded, the Dark Dragon Blade grew in power with every death dealt by Ryu. The Vigoorian Emperor's strength increased as the blade fed on death and chaos, until the unholy blade's unsealment, resulting in the Emperor obtaining power on the level of the Evil Deity Vigoor. With the power of the Evil Deities restored upon the Emperor, fiends began to flood into the world as the realities unraveled.
Ryu eventually fought his way through the fiends and defeated the fully powered Emperor to recover the blade, but in his haste escape, the blade landed at the foot of the Dark Disciple who turned out to be Ryu's uncle Murai. Murai the instigator of this incident took the Dark Dragon and imbued himself with its immense power, transforming him into the Devil Incarnate. With these godly powers Murai attempted to kill his newphew, even summonning the Dark Dragon spirit from within the Blade, but after the hard fought battle Ryu would managed to defeat him.
With the full strength of the True Dragon Sword, Ryu shattered the evil Dark Dragon Blade, destroying its evil once and for all.
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword[]
Six months later the Dark Dragon would return due to the twin sisters Ishtaros and Nicchae. Ishtaros and Nicchae wished to resurrect the Vigoor Empire and recreate a world where fiends would rule over mankind once again. However they required the power the Dark Dragonstones, which were scattered when the Dark Dragon was slain ages ago. They used the Black Spider Clan as puppets to recover all the relics of the Dragons Lineage, and kidnap the Shrine Maiden Momiji, guardian of the Dragon Eye.
The twin sisters had already possessed a handful of Dark Dragonstones and had begun using it's unholy powers to resurrect the Vigoor Empire. Ishtaros's master plan was to use the Eye of the Dragon (which was unexpectedly fused to Momiji), to manipulate Ryu Hayabusa to defeat all those possessing a Dark Dragonstone and gather all the Dark Dragonstones for her, as Ryu followed each Dark Dragonstone's call to the next Dragonstone, until the he reached the last one in the possession of Ishtaros.
Desperate to find Momiji, Ryu did as expected and followed the Dark Dragonstones, gathering them from foes after fallen foes of many different locales, until he finally reached Ishtaros in hell. There Ishtaros used her telekinetic abilities to steal all the Dark Dragonstones, empowering her with the powers of the Dark Dragon and making her the most powerful being in the world. With the powers of the Dark Dragon she had almost killed Ryu, however Momiji with the help of her deceased sister Kureha, released the Eye of the Dragon to Ryu, who combined it with the Dragon Sword to once again unleash the True Dragon Sword. With the odds even, Ryu defeated Ishtaros. Nicchae then used her sister's dead but empowered body to fuel the resurrection of the Vigoor Emperor in Deity form and restart the age of Fiends.
The Dark Dragon Cocoon
However Ishtaros's slain body unexpectedly cocooned, and power was taken away from the Vigoor Emperor, causing him to crumble from his Deity form, to his Devilish Skull form, where he attacked Ryu but was defeated by the Dragon Ninja. Nicchae, seeing the future of the fiends unravel before her, fell into hopelessness as she realized the Dark Dragon was going to emerge and plunge the world into darkness once again, resulting in the extinction of both the Fiends and Humans.[17] Nicchae told Ryu there was nothing either of them could do to stop the Dark Dragon, but if she was going to die, she would have the satisfaction of killing Ryu before she died.[18] The two fought to the death and Ryu emerged victorious, just as the true threat rose from Nicchae’s body, the dark dragon.
The God of Destruction; the Dark Dragon resurrected
Nicchae as the Dark Dragon, smashed hell into a single platform with her enormous strength and shattered the area with her huge energy beams and large energy balls, with the occasional attempts at slamming the Dragon Ninja under her full weight and crushing Ryu in her jaws. These explosions from the Dark Dragon's immense power left Ryu with little breathing room as his surroundings crumbled away. Throwing everything he had against the Dark Dragon, Ryu barely manages to slay the beast, as his ancestor had did before him.
NINJA GAIDEN Σ2[]
Despite its defeat, the Black Dragon was resurrected by Elizébeth through a blood baptism, but was ultimately vanquished once more by Ryu[2][3]. (Chapter 12: Heart of Darkness)
NINJA GAIDEN 4[]
Resurrected through the workings of the Great Fiend Achilles, a priestess of the Dark Dragon, Seori, was manipulated into having the Dark Dragon brought back into the world, hoping to taste its flesh and claim its power . However, the ritual was thwarted by Ryu Hayabusa, now the chieftain of the Hayabusa Clan. Despite his efforts, the cursed dragon god's husk remained, bringing the Rain of Darkrot; the Dark Dragon's tainted blood tainted with evil, rising into the skies as descending as raining miasma. This would weaken the walls between Earth and the Underworld, turning Tokyo into a city of devils.
To prevent the calamity from spreading, Ryu, having freed the priestess of Achilles's influence, worked with her and the Divine Dragon Order to erect seals on ritual weapons, the Accursed Armaments, to ensure no one without Seori could remove them and revive the cursed wyrm. It is then revealed that a warrior of the Dragon Lineage can never truly finish the Dark Dragon. No matter how many times he dies, he inevitably returns. Only a master ninja of the Raven clan could purify the Dark Dragon's soul, and end the cycle completely, but no such shinobi has heeded the call, leaving sealing the Dragon the only option.
After a long battle, the Dark Dragon Seals were broken, and the Dark Dragon rose again, with Seori's life as the cost, his soul carried inside of her. After Yakumo proved his worthiness to face his ancestor and end the Raven's shame forever, Ryu entrusts the younger ninja with a parting gift from Seori; the Jewel of the Dark Dragon, created from the fallen divine beast's heart eons ago. The crystalized magatama-shaped heart and the mysterious fragment Yakumo carried, revealed to be a shard of the Dark Dragon Blade that Hayabusa destroyed, merged to form the sword anew; its black blade was also tinted red like blood. Revealing that only in the hands of the Raven ninja, inheritors of the Dark Dragon's bloodline, can the blade purify the Dragon, Hayabusa sends Yakumo to face the Dragon and end the cycle.
After losing to Yakumo in its true form, the Dark Dragon refused to die. Taking on a sinister image mirroring Yakumo's form, ancestor and descendant engage in a cursed blood battle. As the blade pierced the Phantom Formed Dark Dragon's heart, he tried to choke Yakumo out, but the memories of Seori and her dying wish, gave him the strength to finish the Dark Dragon. With the Dragon purified and destroyed once and for all, the Raven's mission to slay the Dark Dragon is complete, and the cycle that tormented the Dragon Lineage for so long has finally ended.
Powers & Abilities[]
General[]
- Dragon Physiology: A powerful dragon, the Dark Dragon possess the powers befitting a dragon at a heighten level, surpassing even the higher level of fiends at his peak of power. His powers and form are dependent on the amount of sacrifices and power used in resurrecting him.[5] When fully corrupted by Vigoor, he became the god of destruction. his power was enough to defeat his brothers and could plunge the infinite universes into an abyss of death and destruction.
- Immortality: The Dark Dragon is effectively immortal, being difficult to permanently kill due to his soul retreating into his Dark Dragon Preiestess, allowing to to be revived at a later time.[5][19] While the Dragon Sword is capable of slaying the creature for a time, only the Dark Dragon Blade in the hands of a member of the Raven Clan (his descendants) can purify him, resulting in its true death.[19]
- Flight: The Dark Dragon is able to fly with his pair of Dragon Wings. He is also seen levitating within his cacoon state.
- Devil Incarnation: As a spirit within the Dark Dragon Blade, once unsealed he is able to bestow onto whoever possessed the blade the hatred and evil of all living things, reincarnating them as the Devil. An evil power so great that it can only be countered with the True Dragon Sword.[20]
- Resurrection: Those who possess the Dark Dragonstones can use the Dark Dragon's power to resurrect whole empires, restoring ruined buildings and even powerful deities.
- Peak Form: When adequantly revived from untold human sacrifices, the Dark Dragon possesses immense power.
- Phantom Form Shapeshifting: The Dark Dragon can adopt a human form for a variety of purposes; it used this form to procreate with humans and can battle opponents.[5][19] His human form is eerie similar to Yakumo in physical appearance and abilities.[19]
- Superhuman strength: The Dark Dragon has enough strength to contend with his descendant, Yakumo.[19]
- Superhuman speed: The Dark Dragon can match Yakumo in speed.[19]
- Superhuman durability: In his human form, the Dark Dragon can withstand hits from Yakumo's cursed araments and the Dark Dragon Blade.[19]
- Superhuman agility: The Dark Dragon's agility in his human form is similar to Yakumo's prowess.[19]
- Bloodbind Ninjutsu: The Dark Dragon can utilize the same Bloodbind Ninjutsu as Yakumo, being able to manipulate magic using blood as a medium to transform weaponry.[19]
Abilities[]
- Martial arts: In Phantom Form, the Dark Dragon's martial abilities rivals that of Yakumo.[19]
- Swordsmanship: In Phantom Form, the Dark Dragon is immensely skilled in using twin blades and a oversized tachi, able to battle his descendant.[19]
Techniques[]
- Swoop Slam: Using the full weight of his body, he will swoop down from the air smashing onto his target, if his target was unfortunate enough to be caught, it would be picked up and eaten.
- Energy Beam: A devastating attack, the Dark Dragon blasts a large beam of energy, causing devastating damage, blinding lights and scarred of earth.
- Energy Ball: A giant ball of energy, once it strikes an object, it explodes with immense force, sending rubble into the air, with blinding lights and craters.
- Izuna Drop: In Phantom Form, the Dark Dragon can perform the Izuna Drop.
Trivia[]
- Originally in Ninja Gaiden it was mentioned that the Dark Dragon Blade contained the souls of the Black Dragons, but this was a mistranslation as the Japanese language didn't have specifications for plural (黒龍神 Koku-Ryuujin; Black Dragon God). This was later revised in Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, which states that the Dark Dragon Blade contains the singular spirit of the Dark Dragon.[21][22]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Ninja Gaiden intro: "The evil Dark Dragon Blade... A legendary sword, said to have been carved out of the bones of a Black Dragon..."
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 NINJA GAIDEN Σ2 PLUS website, Characters/Enemies section.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 From a Famitsu Article on NINJA GAIDEN Σ2: その発端となった魔刀"黒龍丸"に封じられた神が、新ボス･黒龍だ, lit. "The god sealed within the cursed sword "Dark Dragon Blade" that started it all is the new boss, the Black Dragon.
- ↑ NINJA GAIDEN: Dragon Sword intro: "In the countless millenia since [the defeat of the Dark Dragon], the Dragons have since long died out".
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Ninja Gaiden 4 - Archives: Dark Dragon / Dark Dragon (Phantom Form)
- ↑ "There will be no more Fiends, no more humans. There will be no tomorrow! Can you comprehend the nightmare that will take place here? Be afraid, very afraid... Just as I am. For the Darkest of all Dragons... Has been unleashed! Ryu Hayabusa. You can not stop it. Not even you, who defeated us once before... Who could have imagined... It is the fate of Fiends and Humans to perish together." -Nicchae, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
- ↑ "During the throes of the unending destruction, the body of Gurdu himself split into fourths. Each part became a Deity itself, controlling Sentiment, Wisdom, Immorality, and Creation. " -Book of Evil Deities, Ninja Gaiden
- ↑ "In this age of panic, the Serpent, Deity of Creation was the only one of the Deities who managed to keep some semblance of sanity. The Serpent gave birth to a tiny presence, something that no other being would even notice... the seeds of life." -Book of the Dragons, Ninja Gaiden
- ↑ " These seeds managed to take hold and grow in the storm of chaos, and ever so slightly began to evolve, eventually becoming thirteen Dragons, whose destinies were to be found in battle. " -Book of the Dragons, Ninja Gaiden
- ↑ "However, it was at this time that the youngest and lowest in position of the Dragons, the Dark Dragon, summoned the Hatred with its feelings of inferiority. Due to this betrayal, Vigoor was able to keep from being completely destroyed." -Book of the Dragons, Ninja Gaiden
- ↑ "In ancient times, humans lived in peace with dragons. But then came the Dark Dragon, a malevolent giant that wasted no time in plunging the Earth into an abyss of darkness. " -Intro, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword
- ↑ "Among the strongest of mankind, Dragons’ blood courses through their veins. Members of this bloodline, the Dragon Lineage, have vowed to stay vigilant and protect our world from the threat of the Archfiends." -Ninja Gaiden 2 instruction booklet"
- ↑ "It was with this sword that the humans were able to defeat the Dark Dragon." -Intro, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword
- ↑ "Dark Dragonstones are able to bestow an enormous surge of malevolent power on those who possess them. " -Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword
- ↑ "Long ago, the Dark Dragon plunged the world into an era of chaos. Upton it's eventual defeat, an enchanted sword known as the Dark Dragon Blade was created from it's bones. This dangerously powerful weapon, infused with the malevolent spirit of the Dark Dragon itself, was entrusted to the care of a bloodline of humans known as the Dragon Lineage." -The Dark Dragon Blade Incident, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword
- ↑ "If a new warrior of the Dragon Lineage shall appear, the Holy Emperor shall be infused with the power of the Evil Deities. After seven days, from the unity of His Majesty with the Dark Dragon once again, we Fiends will be blessed with an exquisite harmony." -The Book of the Future, Ninja Gaiden
- ↑ "There will be no more Fiends, no more humans. There will be no tomorrow! Can you comprehend the nightmare that will take place here? Be afraid, very afraid... Just as I am. For the Darkest of all Dragons... Has been unleashed!" -Nicchae, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword
- ↑ "After an eternity of conflict, the destinies of our races end here... We share eternal despair. So be it. Fate has given me the chance... To kill you with my own hands."
- ↑ 19.00 19.01 19.02 19.03 19.04 19.05 19.06 19.07 19.08 19.09 19.10 Ninja Gaiden 4
- ↑ "It is said that if the blade's seal were to be broken, it would gather the hatred and evil of mankind and confer it upon the one who wields it, transforming him into the Devil incarnate." -Intro, Ninja Gaiden
- ↑ "THE EVIL DARK DRAGON BLADE...A legendary sword, said to have been carved out of the bones of a Black Dragon, it brought plague and death to the world during the age of ancient myth. It has been sealed by those of the Dragon Lineage since the dawn of history because of its incredible capacity for evil, made possible by the souls of the vanquished Black Dragons that dwell within it." -Intro, Ninja Gaiden
- ↑ "Long ago, the Dark Dragon plunged the world into an era of chaos. Upton it's eventual defeat, an enchanted sword known as the Dark Dragon Blade was created from it's bones. This dangerously powerful weapon, infused with the malevolent spirit of the Dark Dragon itself, was entrusted to the care of a bloodline of humans known as the Dragon Lineage." -The Dark Dragon Blade Incident, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword