DRAGON KINGS
Classification: Humanoid reptiles
Known Members: Sssaaa
Affiliations: Worshipped unspecified Lords of Chaos (also referred to as the Lords of Darkness); possibly associated with the Slorgs
Enemies: Father Gorm, Karm Karvus, Lords of Light, the 19 Gods (Aarzoth (Lord of the Winds), Drym (God of Storm, Lord of the Thunderbolt), Illana (Goddess of the Moon), Tiandra (Goddess of the Luck), others), Sharajsha of Zaar, Sarkaja Sumia, Thongor, Lord Thungarth
Aliases: Dragon Lords (in a next issue
box),
Dragon Men (in the Marvel Comics Index to Conan and the
Barbarians),
Nargasarkaja (in Thongor: Against the Gods)
Serpent Gods (on the cover of CotL#26)
Location/Base of Operations: The Castle of the Dragon Kings, the Dragon Isles, pre-Cataclysmic Lemuria (see comments)
First Appearance: Thongor and the Wizard
of Lemuria (1965 (written?), 1969 (published?));
Creatures on the Loose#26 (November, 1973)
Powers/Abilities: The Dragon Kings may
have possessed enhanced human strength and/or durability, but
they were not especially skilled warriors. They had knowledge of
the forces of magic and drew power from unspecified Lords of
Chaos.
Under unknown circumstances they apparently possessed the ability
to transform into giant form, much like a carnivorous dinosaur,
although, unlike our friend T. Rex, they retained functional
arms.
Traits: The Dragon Kings sought to conquer, slaughter, and/or enslave humanity and give the Earth over to their Lords of Chaos
History: - The exact origins of the Dragon Kings are unknown. They are descendants of Set.
(Wizard of Lemuria(fb)/CotL#26(fb)) - In the
ancient days of elder Hyperborea, when giant reptiles walked the
Earth, great ones among them rose, became kings--and
necromancers! Their way of life was wicked--cruel. They raised
monolithic cities of black stone wherein they studied strange
arts and practiced grim sorceries. Seeing how evil were these
Dragon Kings, the nineteen Gods created the first men, beginning
with Phondath the Firstborn! And to him was given Evalla as his
mate...
So men built Nemedis, the first city--and fought the Dragon Kings
for dominance of Lemuria! Thus began the 1000 year war! And
so at first the Dragon Kings were successful--and men hid behind
the walls of their cities--in Nemedis and Althaar, in Yb and
Yaodar! And then--one night in a mighty storm wherein the sky
rained down torrents of lightning--Father Gorm appeared to Lord
Thungarth o'er the walls of Nemedis..."Alone, you can never
defeat the Dragon Kings, my child! Behold--the Star Sword!
In its steel--the power of the Nineteen Gods have been sealed for
all eternity! Use it--to defeat the Dragon Kings!"
And so at Grimstrand Firth, Thungarth and the Star Sword
shattered the Dragon Kings! Yet in that battle, mighty Thungarth
died, the broken Star Sword in his hand!
(Wizard of Lemuria(fb)/CotL#26(fb)) - Some of the Dragon Kings escaped the holocaust at Grimstand Firth and long lay hidden. Eventually, they began to plot a return in which they might bring their masters, the Lords of Darkness, to Earth.
(Thongor: Against the Gods) - They hid in inner-sea of Neol-Shendis, mountainous heart of the continent, 1000 leagues east from Patanga. Their blasphemous worship was instilled in their followers and spiritual sons, the black sorcerers of Zaar.
(Wizard of Lemuria/CotL#25-28 - BTS) - The wizard Sharajsha recruited the barbarian Thongor to steal the remnants of the Star Stone, from which he might form another Star Sword to oppose the Dragon Kings. Thongor successfully completed this mission, recruiting Karim Karvus and Sumia to his side in the course of his adventures.
(Wizard of Lemuria/CotL#29) - Sharajsha, Karvus, and Sumia traveled to the Dragon Castle--Thongor was believed to have been killed by a Grakk--but they were ambushed and overpowered by the Dragon Kings, who knocked the Star Sword from Sharajsha's grasp. The Kings then prepared to sacrifice them to the Lords of Chaos at the Hour of the Quinox, at which point the Dragon Kings would then arrive on Earth and wipe humanity from its face. As the Hour arrived, the faces of the Lords of Chaos could be seen beginning to pierce the heavens above Sssaaa as he raised the blade to sacrifice Sumia. However, Thongor had survived, and he had made his way to the Castle as well, were he found the Star Sword, which he used to free the others. Thongor then attacked the Dragon Kings, easily overpowering them with the mighty Star Sword. Finally, Father Gorm himself struck from the Heavens--leaving naught but ashes where the Dragon Kings had stood a moment before. Gorm was nice enough to spare the good guys.
Comments: Created by Lin Carter.
Adapted
by Gardner Fox, Steve Gerber, and Val Mayerik.
For discussion of the possible chronology of Thongor's era, see the comments of Greg O's Thongor profile.
I read these stories to investigate another
potential appearance of the Serpent Men. In some images the
Dragon Kings look much like the Serpent Men, while in others they
are quite different--more like giant dinosaurs. Lin Carter almost
certainly based his Dragon Kings on Robert E. Howard's Serpent
Men--Carter wrote a number of Conan novels as well. While I don't
think they're the same race, the Dragon Kings could be yet
another of the Elder races which ruled Earth in the distant past.
As such, they might be the spawn of an Elder God, such as Set, or
perhaps one of the Old Ones.
The Marvel Comics Index to Conan and
the Barbarians describes the Dragon Kings as "presumably the same race which
later menaced Kull and Conan."
Still, there's been no mention of Thongor or any of his
characters in any other series definitively linked to Earth-616.
Alternatively, the Dragon Kings and the Slorgs might have been
alternate dimensional counterparts of the Serpent Men and the Man
Serpents.
Here's a page with lots of details about Lemuria in all of its incarnations, although there are a bunch of broken links.
Clarifications:
No known connection to:
The Lords of Chaos may have represented some group of Dark Gods or perhaps some of the Old Ones, as described under the Elder Gods clarification.
Basically, with the exception of Lemuria, none of the characters from the Thongor stories have any connection to any other MU characters, unless otherwise specified.
Father Gorm
The All-Hallowed Lord of Light, he either was
one of the 19 Gods worshipped by many of the Lemurians, or he--in
turn--worshipped the 19 Gods. Similarly, I couldn't quite tell if
the Lords of Light were the same as, or actually another level
above, the 19 Gods.
At any right, Gorm, or Father Gorm, was frequently invoked by
Thongor and his contemporaries, much like Conan would invoke
Crom, or like Kull would invoke Valka. Gorm created the Star
Stone and gave the first Star Sword to Lord Thungarth of Nemedis.
He also destroyed the Castle of the Dragon Kings when Thongor
attacked them with the second Star Sword.
--Wizard of Lemuria; Creatures on the Loose#26 (26(fb), 29
Star Sword
It was forged by Father Gorm from the Star Stone, which "came from the Heavens." Thungarth used the first Star Sword to defeat the Dragon Kings in the past, but the sword was shattered during that struggle. The remaining fragment of the Star Stone was placed in the Scarlet Tower of Tsargol, where it was guarded by the Slorgs. Thongor retrieved the Stone for Sharajsha, who forged it into another Star Sword. Sharajsha then empowered the Sword with the holy lightnings from atop Mount Sharimba. Thongor used the Sword to slaughter the remaining Dragon Kings, and the use of the Sword may have allowed Father Gorm to access the Earthly plane and destroy the Castle of the Dragon King
--Wizard of Lemuria; Creatures on the Loose#26 (26(fb), 26-29
These creatures apparently dwelled in the
Eastern Lemurian desert, but were believed to have been extinct
for ages. However, a grop of them guarded the Star Stone in the
Scarlet Tower of Tsargol. They were quite strong and were able to
pull Thongor back inside the Tower and restrain him. More often
than not, however, they ended up with his sword through their
heads.
Perhaps they might be the female counterparts of the
Man-Serpents?
--Wizard of Lemuria; Creatures on the Loose#26
Appearances:
Thongor: Against the Gods (1967) - Lin Carter (writer)
Creatures on the Loose#26 (November, 1973) - Gardner Fox (writer), Val Mayerik (pencils), Wayne Howard (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Creatures on the Loose#27 (January, 1974) - Gardner Fox (writer), Val Mayerik (pencils), Vicente Alcazar (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Creatures on the Loose#28-29 (March-May, 1974) - Gardner Fox (writer), Vicente Alcazar (artist), Roy Thomas (editor)
Last updated: 04/04/04
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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are the property of the estate of Lin Carter.
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