Dunkelzahn

Dunkelzahn is a fictional character from the Shadowrun novels and role-playing game. He was a blue and silver Great Western Dragon who took an interest in the development and technology of humanity, and up until the time of his death appeared to be genuinely interested in the preservation of the species.

Character History

Dunkelzahn first appeared on January 12, 2012 (having been in hibernation during the magical down cycle pre-2011), at Cherry Creek Lake, Denver, in the United Canadian and American States (UCAS). At this time he gave a twelve-hour interview to reporter Holly Brighton.

Dunkelzahn became fascinated with the media and hosted the occasional talkshow Wyrm Talk for many years (often on whatever subject interested him at the time). As draconic communication is telepathic, and this is not receivable by technology in the Shadowrun universe, he used a translator (or "voice") who would repeat his words to the camera.

In 2056, he became a citizen of UCAS, and in 2057 he ran for the Presidency as an Independent. In an unexpected victory, Dunkelzahn became the first metahuman President of the UCAS. He was seemingly assassinated on August 9, 2057—the night of his inauguration—by a magical attack on his limousine outside the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. This resulted in an "Astral Rift" at the site of his death; every mage who attempted to study it either died or was driven insane.

His last voice, an Eastern-European elven woman named Nadja Daviar, was subsequently made Vice President of UCAS and CEO of a new corporation set up according to his will to administer his estate, the Draco Foundation.

Ghostwalker, another dragon strangely similar to Dunkelzahn, appeared several years after his death in 2061.

It would subsequently be revealed in the Dragon Heart Saga books that Dunklezahn committed suicide in order to power a magical artifact called the "Dragon Heart" which would be used to keep humanity safe from a great enemy from another plane of existence.

Name

The name "Dunkelzahn" is German for "Dark Tooth." It was, however, just the name he used in public in the twenty-first century. His draconic name (and/or title) was "Far Scholar." This was a private term and never used outside the company of other dragons. The character's nickname, both in the fictional worlds and out of it, was "the Big D." This was occasionally used as his username in fictional online discussions.

Earthdawn Links

There is a major dragon in the RPG series Earthdawn—originally produced by the same publisher as Shadowrun—by the name of Mountainshadow. One of Mountainshadow's agents or alter-egos is called "Dark Tooth" (the English translation of the German "Dunkelzahn"), implying that Dunkelzahn and Mountainshadow are the same dragon at different points in history.

If this is true, then Dunkelzahn is the brother of Ghostwalker, the great dragon that emerged from the Dunkelzahn Rift during the Year of The Comet. According to Earthdawn lore, Mountainshadow and Icewing (also known as Ghostwalker) were borne of All-Wings's last clutch before her destruction.