History Characters / DarkSun

''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreatures Creatures]]'': General ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesA A]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesB B]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesC C]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesD D]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesE E]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesF F]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesG G]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesH H]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesIToL I to L]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesM M]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesNtoQ N to Q]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesR R]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesS S]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesT T]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesUToZ U to Z]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDragons Dragons]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiends Fiends]] ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiendsDemons Demons]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiendsDevils Devils]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiendsYugoloths Yugoloths]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsUndead Undead]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsSettingSpecificCreatures Setting-Specific Creatures]]\\

The sorcerer-king of Kurn.

* TheAtoner: His hat in recent lore is that he's the only sorcerer-king actually trying to make Athas a better place, and that his remorse over committing genocide on the lizardmen is what drives him.

* HeroicWillpower: He was somehow able to reverse his transformation into an Athasian Dragon, and is now on his way to becoming an Avangion.

* OffstageVillainy: She's officially a villain, but unlike most of the other sorcerer-kings, she is rarely depicted actually doing anything evil.

* BattleHarem: The Templars of Nibenay are known as the "Shadow Brides" and are handpicked by the Sorcerer King for their skills and their beauty.

* WeHardlyKnewYe: He's the sorcerer-king we learn the least of.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Except for Kalak and Tectuktitlay (who make no effort to hide their sociopathy), Nibenay (who makes no effort to interact with the public unless he absolutely has to), and Oronis (who is no longer evil) the sorcerer-kings put varying degrees of effort into ''not'' coming across as demonically evil psychopaths, be it doling out the BreadAndCircuses, engaging in only PragmaticVillainy, or even pretending they're JustTheFirstCitizen. Yet evil is what all of them (save Oronis) are, and when push comes to shove, all of them will stop at nothing to get what they want or to eliminate any threat to their rule.

* PoweredByAForsakenChild: In order to just ''start'' the journey to become a Dragon, the original disciples of Rajaat had to commit a genocide. Ever wonder why there aren't any kobolds, goblins, pixies, orcs, ogres, gnomes, wemics, or trolls in Athas? A ''complete'' genocide isn't necessary, as many of the sorcerer kings targeted races that still exist, but large-scale death is still pretty bad.

* {{Dracolich}}: Of all the sorcerer-kings, Dregoth had come the closest to completing the Rites of Draconic Ascension... fearing a repeat of the near-disaster that was Borys' ascension, the other sorcerer-kings killed him. He then came back as a unique lich monster.
* FantasticRacism: Alone amongst the sorcerer-kings, he's still caught up in the idea of human supremacy... except his views have mutated somewhat. Now he believes that ''dragons'' are the true master race, with humans second (and only because they can be turned into dragons); non-humans are scum fit only to be slaves or exterminated.

* BaldOfEvil: As a human he had no hair except for a savage long beard.
* BigBad: The Dragon is the most powerful and the most evil being active in the Tablelands. He's the main threat of the story, an evil force who roams Athas and forces the cities into offering mass human sacrifices for an unknown purpose. [[spoiler: Turns out, he's keeping the even more monstrous Rajaat sealed.]]

* TheDreaded: The Dragon terrifies everyone on Athas and noone, not even the Sorcerer Kings, dare to go against him. [[spoiler: In the Kings' case, it is because they have a deal.]]

* KarmicDeath: He spent his life as a Champion in an attempt to eradicate the Dwarves and used to wield the Scourge of Rkard before turning against his master and sealing him in the Void. [[spoiler: He's finally slain by Rikus, an half-dwarf, with his own sword and the power of the Void.]]

* MagicKnight: During his days as Champion he was a master sorcerer and a top-notch swordsman.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: No wings, shell-covered torso, very slim body, he spits sand and is a master of sorcery and psionics. He has wings though in the tabletop game depiction. Furthermore, Athasian Dragons are more or less the apex form of all evil spellcasters, attainable through power and bloodshed.

** Downplayed, he frequently wanders Athas and has no trouble showing up where he wants to to lay destruction and death.
** The inhabitants of the Dragon's lair and city, Ur Draxa, have begun to see ''the Dragon'' as this, as it has grown less and less interested in managing the city over the centuries, and often spends long periods of time elsewhere in the world or simply lurking in its private sanctum.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: His sacrifices [[spoiler: keep the even more dangerous Rajaat sealed, which is why all the Sorcerer Kings go along with it]].

* AGodAmI: Wants to become a dragon and then [[GodhoodSeeker become a god]].
* {{Dracolich}}: Of all the sorcerer-kings, had come the closest to completing the Rites of Draconic Ascension... then was killed and came back as a unique lich monster.

Sorcerer-queen of Raam. Unusually for her peers, Abalach-Re does not openly rule her city-state, but instead claims that she is merely "The Great Vizier", appointed to rule by a divine power called "Badna" that will strike her dead and replace her should ever she be deemed a failure. Her citizens see this as a pathetic ploy to deflect blame for her own ineptitude and incompetence, near-openly reviling her for her weakness. As such, Raam is traditionally the most anarchic of the city-states. It has largely avoided being conquered due to the sheer numbers it can wield, and the ferocity of its citizens when fighting in self defense.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: The narrations makes no mention of the disfigured visage she sports in the tabletop game itself.

* DiscOneFinalBoss: She's the biggest obstacle fought by the heroes in the first part of the final book. Fighting her also showcases how stronger the group went.
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Given the desertic nature of Athas, her pale complexion stands out, paired with her black hair.

* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Unlike Lalali-Puy, she's as cruel as they come.

* HateSink: Possibly the leading competitor in universe, which is no mean feat. Like the other Sorcerer-Kings, she is an evil, genocidal tyrant. Like the other Sorcerer Kings [[spoiler: except Oronis]] she still has no noteworthy remorse on what she did. However, the mixture of her cruelty, pettiness, hypocrisy, and incompetence means she is hated almost as much as she is feared because she is not even able to rule her own city-state. The people of The Tablelands have been used to bending the neck to immortal dictators for hundreds of years, but an immortal dictator that is '''obviously weak''' is something else, and in the meta she lacks the EvilisCool credit of many of her competitors.

* TotalitarianGangsterism: What her rule over Raam amounts to. She is too tyrannical and brutal to be loved, but also too incompetent and corrupt to be able to control her city and its people. Which is why she is essentially the nastiest and most powerful gang leader in her city rather than a proper ruler.

Sorcerer-king of Balic, Andropinis refers to himself as "Dictator" and claims to have been elected to his position as "Dictator for Life" over seven centuries ago. He is described as resembling a "stately old man". That is largely where his original lore ends.

* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: Rajaat grabs him and seals him in the Black, like he and the others did to him. According to extra materials though he was released from his prison but lost his domain over Balic.]]

* PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny: Runs a Bronze Age Greece/Rome flavored version. Balic Templars and thus the government officials below Andropinis are actually elected by vote from the city-state's freeman population, and serve 10-year terms. Andropinis, however, isn't above meddling in the votes -- both by telling the people who to vote for, and executing "wrongfully" elected individuals before demanding recasts -- and ''his'' position is unshakeable. Even so, it's worth noting the other sorcerer-kings don't even ''pretend'' to believe in democracy. Balic is no less of a tyranny than the other cities, but is disguised as a republic where Andropinis is elected (for life, obviously) and his templars are elected by the people (and eliminated by the King if not appreciated).

* SpikesOfVillainy: He has boney spikes protuding from his elbows and when he turns around Tithian notices several spikes along his spine.

Sorcerer-king of Urik. Styling himself the great Warrior-King of the Tablelands, Hamanu eagerly wages wars of conquest on the other city-states, and leads his forces from the front in battle as he does so.

* MagicKnight: He's one of the physically strongest Sorcerer Kings, not afraid to take things mano a mano if he has to.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Despite being no less cruel than his fellow Sorcerer Monarchs, Hamanu's draconian laws enforce meritocracy and overall make Urik a powerful and safe city to live in.

* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: "Utopia" might be pushing it, but he is fanatically dedicated to the concept of turning Athas back into a lush, green world.... under his management.

* YouHaveFailedMe: In the third book is mentioned en passant that Hamanu slaughtered the entire Lubar family for failing to stop Rikus' army.

Sorcerer-king of Tyr, it says everything about Kalak that he calls ''himself'' "The Tyrant of Tyr". Nakedly honest about his position of absolute authority, Kalak ran Tyr with brutal efficiency for over a thousand years... until twenty years before the present of the original boxed set, when he seemed to go senile, appropriating massive amounts of slaves to construct a mysterious giant ziggurat. Kalak pursued this project with such obsessive focus that he barely seemed to notice (or care) that Tyr was falling into anarchy. \\

* Really700YearsOld: At least more than 1500 years old.

Sorcerer-king of Kalidnay, before the well-meaning sabotage of the templar Thakok-An inadvertently trapped the city-state in the [[TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}} Demiplane of Dread]] and compelled Kalid-Ma into a deep mystical slumber.

Sorcerer-queen of Gulg. Ruling over the last forest of Tyr, Lalali-Puy is known to her people as the "Oba", meaning "Forest Goddess", and is genuinely beloved by her people. She fights an endless war against Nibenay, who rapaciously attacks her domain for its wealth of valuable timber and other plant resources.

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: She's listed as "Evil" in the tabletop game, but even there it is said that she's the closest thing the setting has to a good Sorcerer King.
* AntiquatedLinguistics: In the tabletop, it is mentioned how Lalali-Puy talks in old, outdated language that her entire court must speak as well.

* MsFanservice: She is the most attractive of the sorcerer-kings, and the few illustrations of her play this up.

* NobleDemon: She's seen in a far better light than her colleagues and is basically the only Sorcerer King who's genuinely adored by her subjects.
* OffstageVillainy: She's probably the only good Sorcerer King, since even her commoners bless her and consider her a goddess they willingfully worship.

Sorcerer-king of the city-state of the same name, the Shadow King is a mysterious and enigmatic figure who largely rules from seclusion, with his will being carried out by his all-female Templars. The reason for his seclusion is to cover his distinctly inhuman appearance, as Nibenay is the most draconic of the reigning sorcerer-kings.

* EvilSorcerer: Like all the other Kings, he's a tyrant who rules a despotic regime from the shadows.

* OrcusOnHisThrone: Invoked, he'd rather stay hidden from everyone but the closest members of the court. The only time he leaves his throne room is when Borys commands it.

* ShroudedInMyth: He calls himself the "Shadow King" and likes to stay unseen, so that noone really knows how he looks like.

Sorcerer-king of Draj. Calls ''himself'' "The Mighty and Omnipotent Tectuktitlay, Father of Life and Master of the Two Moons", which should tell you something about his ego. Whilst he rules over one of the most fertile city-states, he is constantly at war with the other sorcerer-kings, seeking victims to offer up as {{Human Sacrifice}}s to his own glory.

* WeHardlyKnewYe: He's the Sorcerer King we learn the least of.

Sorcerer-king of Kurn.

* TheAtoner: His hat in recent lore is that he's the only Sorcerer King actually trying to make Athas a better place, and that his remorse over committing genocide on the lizardmen is what drives him.
* {{Cincinnatus}}: New Kurn is noted to be a true democracy, and Oronis has completely retired from politics to allow his people to rule themselves without his interference.

* HeroicWillpower: Was able to stop his transformation into an Athasian Dragon, and is now on his way to becoming an Avangion.

Sorcerer-king of Eldaarich.

Undead sorcerer-king of Giustenal. Dregoth became fascinated with the Rite of Draconic Ascension; not only was he the only sorcerer-king after Borys to attempt to complete it, but he became fixated on the idea that it wasn't humanity, but a race of dragons evolved ''from'' humanity who should rule over Athas. His experiments led to his near-complete ascension into a fully-fledged dragon -- but this alarmed his fellow sorcerer-kings, who slew him and lay waste to his city-state. However, Dregoth had prepared contingency spells, which revived him as a [[OurLichesAreDifferent lich-like undead being]] and he went underground -- literally, setting up a new base beneath the ruins of Giustenal and working to both create his dray army (or to recreate it, in 4th edition) and to find some way to complete his own draconic transformation and from there become a god.

* WeaksauceWeakness: [[spoiler: To ordinary steel, amazingly enough. Granted, it still takes a lot to slay him.]]

* DeathByChildbirth: When they were first created, muls were stated to frequently cause the death of their mothers due to their size. This aspect was waived in later editions.

* LighterAndSofter: 4th edition removed some of their more needlessly grimdark attributes, such as being sterile or their propensity to kill their mothers in childbirth.

* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Really arrogant and quick to resolve to violence to solve his problems.

* EvilSorcerer: Like all the other Kings, he's a tyrant who rules from the shadows with a despotical regimen.

In contrast to the noble eagle folk of the TabletoPGame/ForgottenRealms, Athasian aarakocra are a race of humanoid vultures who raid and scavenge across the blasted wastes of Athas.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Another race that has not become nicer in Athas and is more xenophobic and selfish.

* WingedHumanoid: Much like their ''Forgotten Realms'' cousins, they are this.

* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: Pterrans are based very firmly on old pulpy views of pterodactyls.

%%* TheBrute: Amongst the Sorcerer Kings he's the most violent and brutal, lacking finesse and tact.
%%* TheCaligula: The members of his council have been blinded and had their tongues cut for no other reason than petty cruelty.

* TheBrute: Amongst the Sorcerer Kings he's the most violent and brutal, lacking finesse and tact.
* TheCaligula: The members of his council have been blinded and had their tongues cut for no other reason than petty cruelty.

* HappinessInSlavery: As noted above, muls are excellent laborers and gladiators, but are also expensive to breed -- and difficult to contain if they become disgruntled. Thus, slave owners tend to be "protective" of their mul slaves, pampering them in ways that would be unthinkable for a human slave. In the end, many muls end up feeling like their slavery isn't that bad of a deal.

* Archmage: By far the most powerful being ever to walk Athas and so strong even the Sorcerer Kings are nothing to him.

A pyreen known as the First Sorcerer, Rajaat appeared first in history teaching Preserver magic to the people in the Green Age. Any good will he may have earned from this was lost, unfortunately, as he later gathered the fifteen disciples that would eventually become the sorcerer-kings and taught them Defiler magic as part of the path to dragonhood. This was not done out of kindness to the sorcerer-kings, however, as he really planned to have them wipe out all of Athas' "inferior" races, including eventually humanity, so that he could return it to its original rulers, the halflings.

* FantasticRacism: 2nd generation dray, having been indoctrinated from birth by Dregoth in their cult of racial supremacy, despise all non-dray; humans are pitied and forced to become new dray, their "destiny", whilst non-humans are fit only to be destroyed. 1st generation dray lack this trait.

* AGodAmI: Tectuktitlay is one of the few sorcerer-kings who actively demands to be worshipped as a god, and has gone to elaborate lengths to construct a mythos about himself.

* SmallNameBigEgo: Despite his NomDeGuerre and the fertility of Draj, Tectuktitlay is not regarded with much respect by other Athasians. The in-universe narrator for the boxed set openly states that Tectuktitlay is almost certainly ''not'' the strongest of the sorcerer-kings, and speculates that he was originally a relatively young and weak defiler who lucked into finding an extremely fertile spot of unclaimed territory in the mudflats and founded Draj, which eventually led to his being recognized as a sorcerer-king.

* PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny: Runs a Bronze Age Greece/Rome flavored version. Balic Templars and thus the government officials below Andropinis are actually elected by vote from the city-state's freeman population, and serve 10-year terms. Andropinis, however, isn't above meddling in the votes -- both by telling the people who to vote for, and executing "wrongfully" elected individuals before demanding recasts -- and ''his'' position is unshakeable. Even so, it's worth noting the other sorcerer-kings don't even ''pretend'' to believe in democracy.

* Characters/ThePrismPentad

* BigBad: The Dragon is the most powerful and the most evil being active in the Tablelands.

* OrcusOnHisThrone: The inhabitants of the Dragon's lair and city, Ur Draxa, have begun to see ''the Dragon'' as this, as it has grown less and less interested in managing the city over the centuries, and often spends long periods of time elsewhere in the world or simply lurking in its private sanctum.