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Black Dragon

From Fire Emblem Wiki, your source on Fire Emblem information. By fans, for fans.
Black Dragon

FERD Black Dragon concept.png
Artwork of a black dragon from Tellius Recollection: vol. 2


Prince Kurthnaga in black dragon form. While still relatively young, his potential is undeniable.

Unit type(s)

Dragon

Weapon(s)

Strike

Skill(s)

Shove

The black dragons (Japanese: 黒竜ブラックドラゴン black dragon) are a laguz clan of Tellius and one of the dragon tribes, along with the red dragons and white dragons. They are the ruling caste of the dragon laguz nation, the Kingdom of Goldoa, and are by far the most powerful of both all the laguz tribes and of all mortal creatures on Tellius.

History

Like both the beorc and the other laguz clans, the black dragon tribe is descended from the Zunanma. The first black dragon king, Dheginsea, was one of the goddess Ashera's Three Heroes who defeated Yune, and afterward he sequestered the dragon tribes away in their own nation, Goldoa, under the belief that they were too powerful to interact equally with the rest of the world. The black dragon clan became the ruling clan of Goldoa as Dheginsea remained its king for 780 years, and over time his family was subject to the same rule of non-interference with the outside world as the rest of the dragons.

It was ironically the black dragons themselves who violated the Goldoan rule of sequestration and inadvertently made massive contributions to conflicts in the outside world. Dheginsea's daughter, Almedha, left Goldoa out of disagreement with her father's non-violent policies and married Daein's Mad King Ashnard, which in turn led her brother Rajaion to depart Goldoa and become trapped by Ashnard, transformed into a Feral One, and used as his personal steed. Numerous other dragons entered Daein's service because of Almedha's actions, including Rajaion's pregnant fiancée Ena, her grandfather Nasir, and a platoon of red dragons who also became Feral Ones.[1]

Despite all of this, Dheginsea adamantly maintained Goldoan neutrality through the Mad King's War to prevent the unsealing of Yune, but three years later the war between the Laguz Alliance and Begnion - in which Dheginsea's last child, Kurthnaga, allied himself with Daein as well to help Almedha - caused Yune and Ashera to awaken anyway and for the latter to judge the world. Although his two surviving children allied with Yune to free the world from Ashera's petrification, Dheginsea and the rest of Goldoa allied with Ashera out of Dheginsea's guilt. Following Dheginsea's defeat by Kurthnaga, Ike, and Micaiah at the Tower of Guidance, Dheginsea died and Kurthnaga succeeded him as the second king of Goldoa, continuing the black dragon dynasty.

Characteristics

Kurthnaga towers behind Ena and Elincia in transformed state.

Physical appearance

Ike: That black dragon is Prince Kurthnaga? Sheesh, I thought the lions got big...
Tibarn: Ah, it’s the son, is it? I thought maybe the dragon king had shrunk a bit in his old age.

— Ike and Tibarn

Like the other dragon tribes, black dragons in their unshifted state have a distinctive orange/bronze skin color. All known black dragons have dark green hair. Also like the other dragon tribes, black dragons have no obvious physical characteristics giving away their laguz nature other than their skin color, whereas most other unshifted laguz still have wings or tails.

When transformed, black dragons are by far the largest living creatures on Tellius, dwarfing both beorc and laguz in their sheer size; the size of their dragon form grows even larger as they age. They otherwise look similar to the other dragon tribes, being muscular and standing on two legs.

Behavior

As with the other laguz dragon clans, the black dragons tend to be extremely susceptible to the chaotic influence of a battlefield and are particularly prone to losing control in the heat of the moment.[1] Black dragons who are inexperienced in battle such as Kurthnaga seem to experience intense feelings of pain, discomfort, and even psychosis when subjected to extreme amounts of chaos in this way.[2]

Powers

Kurthnaga breathing a fire blast.
I’m not deluded enough to think that I can beat you. The goddess herself would hesitate to fight you.
— Naesala, on Dheginsea

Black dragons fight by exhaling breath of blue-white flames. They are acknowledged by virtually everyone in Tellius, both beorc and laguz and even Ashera herself,[3] to be vastly more powerful than any other mortal creature on Tellius. Their power is such that a single blast from Kurthnaga, a very young black dragon, was capable of leveling a castle's tower.

Life cycle and reproduction

Much like their manakete counterparts in other games, the dragon laguz have extremely long life spans, and the black dragons are the longest-lived of the dragons, dwarfing all other mortal creatures on Tellius. This is best exemplified by King Dheginsea, who had lived since the age of Ashunera herself; the only living being to rival him in sheer age is Lehran. They tend to not show any physical signs of aging, with the process coming to a complete halt at some point in their lives. By black dragon standards, Kurthnaga's age of 100 years is effectively still young adulthood.[4] They also seem to share the manakete problem of an extremely low birth rate, as Kurthnaga was the youngest dragon of any kind in Goldoa as of the events of Radiant Dawn despite his age of 100 years, and Rajaion and Ena's child was the first to be born since Kurthnaga.[5]

Notable black dragons

Character Description Appears in
Portrait dheginsea fe10.png
Dheginsea
The black dragon king of Goldoa. One of the three heroes who defeated the dark god. While his own power is nearly godlike, he has removed himself from all affairs outside Goldoa. Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn
Portrait kurthnaga fe10.png
Kurthnaga
The black dragon prince of Goldoa. He is the son of King Dheginsea, and the youngest of all the dragons. He has established friendly ties with the outside world. Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn
Portrait rajaion fe09.png
Rajaion
A dragon laguz from Goldoa. His reason and his very identity were stolen by King Ashnard, who then used him as a personal steed. Path of Radiance
Portrait almedha fe10.png
Almedha
The mother of Soren but tricked by Izuka to believe that King Pelleas was her long lost son, and former concubine of Ashnard. She was separated from her son when he was an infant, and spent her life searching for him. She is a very doting mother. Radiant Dawn

Class data

Black Dragons were properly introdued as a class in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, exclusive to Kurthnaga and Dheginsea. Both of these has a different variant of the class with different base and maximum stats, with Dheginsea's being the stronger version by a significant margin. Kurthnaga's variant is the strongest of the playable dragon classes, with immense HP, strength, and defense, with their other stats being respectably high. Compared to other laguz classes, however, both are fairly lacking in speed.

Black Dragons wield suitably themed variants of the Breath strike, with both Dheginsea and Kurthnaga having different versions from each other. Dheginsea's Breaths are the stronger of the two. When unshifted, Black Dragons can counterattack incoming enemies with punches, but they cannot initiate battles themselves in this state.

Kurthnaga and Dheginsea have differently-named classes in their unshifted states. Kurthnaga's unshifted class is Dragon Prince (Japanese: 竜王子プリンスドラゴン Prince Dragon), while Dheginsea's unshifted class is Dragon King (Japanese: 黒竜王キングブラックドラゴン King Black Dragon).

Base stats

Game HP Strength Magic Skill Speed Luck Defense Resistance Movement Constitution Weapon level
Radiant Dawn
(Dragon Prince)
55 » 55 15 » 30 7 » 14 8 » 16 10 » 20 0 » 0 15 » 30 15 » 30 6 » 5 7 » 17 Strike weapons A
Radiant Dawn
(Dragon King)
100 » 100 25 » 50 13 » 26 18 » 36 15 » 30 0 » 0 25 » 50 23 » 46 5 » 6 13 » 39 Strike weapons SS

Max stats

Game HP Strength Magic Skill Speed Luck Defense Resistance Movement Constitution Weapon level
Radiant Dawn
(Dragon Prince)
80 » 80 23 » 46 12 » 24 18 » 36 16 » 32 30 » 30 23 » 46 19 » 38 20 99 Strike weapons SS
Radiant Dawn
(Dragon King)
100 » 100 25 » 50 13 » 26 22 » 44 19 » 38 30 » 30 25 » 50 23 » 46 20 99 Strike weapons SS

Miscellaneous stats

Game Experience CRP Gold Weight mod. Capacity Vision Size
Radiant Dawn
(Dragon King)
-- -- -- +10 » +40 50 3 --
Radiant Dawn
(Dragon Prince)
-- -- -- +5 » +25 50 3 --

Class growth rates

Game HP Strength Magic Skill Speed Luck Defense Resistance Charm Constitution* Movement* Weapon level
Radiant Dawn
(Dragon Prince)
95% 45% 15% 20% 35% 60% 25% 40% -- -- -- --
Radiant Dawn
(Dragon King)
0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% -- -- -- --
See class growth rate for more details on the mechanics of class growths in each game.

Class skills

Game Skill Learning conditions
Radiant Dawn Is wii shove.png Shove Innate.
Radiant Dawn Is wii ire.png Ire Mastery skill. Learned by using a Satori Sign at Level 30 or higher.

Class change

Radiant Dawn

Unshifted class Transformation method Shifted class
Dragon Prince
Dragon King
Gaining 30 transformation gauge points. →
Transformation gauge reaching 0 points.
Black Dragon

Playable Black Dragons

Playable Characters
Name Game
Kurthnaga Radiant Dawn
Playable Black Dragon units in the Fire Emblem series.

Notable enemy Black Dragons

Enemy Units
Name Game
Kurthnaga Radiant Dawn
Dheginsea Radiant Dawn
Enemy Black Dragon units in the Fire Emblem series.

Flavor text

Game Text
(English)
Text
(Japanese)
Radiant Dawn
(class roll, Dragon Prince)
Kurthnaga, prince of Goldoa. He
fights as a black wyrm. He counter-
attacks with fists as a human.
ゴルドア王子クルトナーガ
黒竜に化身して戦うラグズ
人型の時には拳で反撃する
Radiant Dawn
(help; Dragon Prince, untransformed)
Kurthnaga, prince of Goldoa. A
powerful black dragon who punches
to counter while human.
ゴルドア王子クルトナーガ
黒竜に化身して戦うラグズ
人型の時には拳で反撃する
Radiant Dawn
(help; Dragon Prince, transformed)
Prince Kurthnaga in black dragon
form. While still relatively young,
his potential is undeniable.
竜王子が化身した姿
まだ幼さを残しているものの
黒竜としての強さの片鱗を見せる
Radiant Dawn
(class roll, Dragon King)
Dheginsea, the king of Goldoa. He
transforms into a black dragon.
Uses his fists in his human form.
ゴルドア王デギンハンザー
黒竜に化身して戦うラグズ
人型の時には拳で反撃する
Radiant Dawn
(help; Dragon King, untransformed)
Dheginsea, king of Goldoa. An
overwhelming warrior as a dragon,
he punches to counter when human.
ゴルドア王デギンハンザー
黒竜に化身して戦うラグズ
人型の時には拳で反撃する
Radiant Dawn
(help; Dragon King, transformed)
One of the founders of the modern
world. He rules over dragonkind.
He employs the skill Ire.
この世界における万物の霊長
竜鱗族の頂点に君臨する黒き竜
奥義【逆鱗】を使う

Etymology and other languages

Transformed
Names, etymology, and in other regions
Language Name Definition, etymology, and notes
English

Black Dragon

--

Japanese

黒竜ブラックドラゴン

Officially romanized as Black Dragon. In Radiant Dawn, all Japanese class names are spelled primarily in kanji (i.e. 黒竜), with a foreign-language name in katakana applied as furigana (i.e. ブラックドラゴン) and used as the basis for the romanized name in the class roll.

Spanish

Dragón negro

Black dragon

French

Dragon noir

Black dragon

German

Schwarze Drache

Black Dragon

Italian

Drago nero

Black dragon

Untransformed, Kurthnaga
Names, etymology, and in other regions
Language Name Definition, etymology, and notes
English

Dragon Prince

--

Japanese

竜王子プリンスドラゴン

Prince Dragon

Spanish

Príncipe dragón

Dragon prince

Untransformed, Dheginsea
Names, etymology, and in other regions
Language Name Definition, etymology, and notes
English

Dragon King

--

Japanese

黒竜王キングブラックドラゴン

King Black Dragon

Gallery

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Kurthnaga: Nasir, I need to know something. Why has Goldoa sided with Goddess Ashera!? What is Father thinking? The laguz and beorc have joined together to save the petrified. Why hasn’t Goldoa joined the effort?
    Nasir: As you wish. Lady Almedha… Are you aware of the fact that everything that’s happening is due to your decision to leave Goldoa?
    Almedha: …What?
    Kurthnaga: Explain, Nasir.
    Nasir: King Dheginsea forbade the dragon tribe to use our transformation for the purpose of war. Almedha, you left because you did not agree with this policy, did you not?
    Almedha: That’s right.
    Nasir: Shortly after you left Goldoa, you met Ashnard in Daein and were united with him. However, your union begat a chain of tragedies. Did you know that the red dragon platoon which went in search of you was captured and turned into Feral Ones by King Ashnard?
    Almedha: I-I had no idea.
    Nasir: Ashnard needed Goldoa to get involved in his war. That’s why he did everything in his power to provoke King Dheginsea. Most of you have never fought in a war, but even more than other laguz, the dragon tribe loses control once they taste battle.
    Kurthnaga: Oh…
    Nasir: Near the end of the war, we found out that Prince Rajaion could not be saved. I thought the king would surely go on a rampage. At the time, we had no idea that Lady Almedha was still alive. The king thought he’d lost not only dragon soldiers but also his children.
    Ena:
    Nasir: If the war had ended any later… Had Ike not killed Ashnard… Goldoa would have joined the war. And we would have started killing. We would have destroyed the Daein army, its coconspirators, everyone. We would not have stopped until the continent was ashes. Then the spirit of chaos would have spread across Tellius, awakening the goddess and destroying the dragon tribe. That was the danger we faced in the Mad King’s War.
    Kurthnaga:
    Ena: But Ashnard was defeated. And Rajaion regained his sanity thanks to the songs of the heron clan.
    Almedha: …Sniff… Bwuah… Sniff…
    Nasir: We escaped annihilation once. We took Prince Rajaion’s body back to Goldoa. And the king did not shed a tear, nor fly into a rage. He endured his loss by himself. He endured for the sake of his last child, and for the sake of his people. Goldoa remained neutral.
    Kurthnaga: Father…
    Nasir: But now… All that effort has been wasted. The war between the Laguz Alliance and Begnion has spread through Daein and Crimea. And to top it all off, Goldoa can no longer stay neutral because of what Prince Kurthnaga has done!
    " — Kurthnaga, Nasir, Almedha, and Ena, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
  2. "Ike: Prince Kurthnaga!
    Kurthnaga: It’s so hot… I’m burning up! My body, it’s on fire!
    Ike: Can you hear me? I guess not. Kurth, what’s happening to you?
    Kurthnaga: I don’t want to fight… I… I don’t want to take any more lives…
    " — Ike and Kurthnaga, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
  3. "Ah, son of the dragon king… You may be the greatest among the enfleshed, but you are no match for me." — Ashera, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
  4. "Nasir: It may be difficult for you beorc to believe, but...We of the dragon tribe live for a very, very long time. When we reach a certain maturity, we stop showing almost all signs of further aging. For example, do you remember Prince Kurthnaga whom you met in Goldoa?
    Ike: Yeah, he was a nice kid.
    Nasir: The prince is the youngest in all of Goldoa, yet for all his apparent youth, he's at least a hundred years old.
    " — Nasir and Ike, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
  5. "Ena returned home and gave birth to her lost fiance’s child. Goldoa rejoiced at the first dragon born in centuries." — Epilogue, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

See also

Project Classes.png This article is part of Project Classes, a project focused in writing articles for every class present in the Fire Emblem series.
Races and animals of the Fire Emblem series
Major species BeorcBrandedDragon (ManaketeDivine DragonEarth DragonFell DragonFire DragonFirst DragonIce DragonWar DragonWyvern) • EmblemGodHumanKitsuneLaguz (Black DragonCatHawkHeronLionRavenRed DragonTigerWhite DragonWolf) • MirageMorphNabateanTaguelWolfskinZunanma
Animals and other species CorruptedFabricationGriffinHorseIllusionKinshiMonsterPegasusPhantomRisenWolf
Classes in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Base classes ArcherArmored AxeArmored LanceArmored SwordAxe KnightBanditBow KnightCitizenDracoknightFighterFire MageHorseLance KnightLight MageMyrmidonPegasus KnightPilgrimPriestSoldierSword KnightThiefThunder MageVendorWind Mage
Advanced classes Axe GeneralAxe PaladinBishopBlade PaladinBow PaladinClericDark SageDragonmasterDruidFalconknightFire SageHalberdierHeroLance GeneralLance PaladinLight SageRogueSniperSword GeneralSwordmasterThunder SageWarriorWind Sage
Master classes Arch SageAssassinBlack KnightChancellorDragonlordEmpressGold KnightLight PriestessMarksmanMarshallOrder IncarnateQueenReaverSaintSentinelSeraph KnightSilver KnightSpiritSummonerTruebladeValkyrieVanguardWhisper
Laguz classes Beast Tribe (CatLionLion KingTigerWolfWolf Queen) • Bird Tribe (HawkHawk KingHeronRavenRaven King) • Dragon Tribe (Black DragonRed DragonWhite Dragon)