Vulture

"Friends! SandWings! Talons of Power! Listen to me! Have we really come to this? SandWings fighting SandWings? So soon after the war that tore our tribe apart? Look how divided we are! Do you know why we fight each other? Because we are ruled by a false queen. One who does not deserve this palace! She doesn't care about anyone but herself! She stole this throne to make herself rich! She's been letting SandWings die all over her kingdom without lifting a talon to save them. A good ruler would find the dragons responsible and protect you all! We need someone who will see the danger clearly!"

— Vulture to the SandWings of Thorn's stronghold, Darkness of Dragons

Vulture is an elderly male SandWing and an antagonist of Darkness of Dragons. Vulture was powerful, wealthy, and well-respected within the Scorpion Den before his disappearance. He is the founder of the Talons of Power, and his current location is unknown.

Appearance

Vulture has pale yellow scales covered in hundreds of black dragon skull tattoos, looking like a leopard from a distance. He wears a black cape lined with gold and draped with gold chains all along his wings. His claws and tail barb are dipped in gold leaf, and enormous black-and-gold earrings shaped like spiders gleam in his ears. His eyes remind Qibli of the Eye of Onyx: "not solid black, but black in loops all the way down, like looking into the longest, deepest hole in the world." He is huge and has a hooked snout.

Personality

According to Darkstalker, Vulture is "a dragon made of paper who has never been happy one day in his life." Along with being cunning, deceitful, and sly, Vulture is selfish, conceited, and egotistical. He does not seem to care about anything other than wealth, infamy, and power. He deceived his own grandson, Qibli, in Darkness of Dragons in a plot to steal the SandWing throne. He is willing to backstab or kill anyone who stands in the way of his plans, and often views dragons as though they are equal to inanimate objects. Although his cruelty gives him power, Darkstalker eventually claimed him "easy to manipulate" showing that behind his dark, powerful and cruel exterior, he is a truly shallow dragon.

Biography

The Jade Mountain Prophecy

Moon Rising

Near the beginning of the story, Moonwatcher had a vision of Qibli backed against a wall glaring up at three larger dragons, who were later confirmed to be Vulture himself, Sirocco, and Rattlesnake. Into their sneering faces, Qibli curled up his tail and shouted, "Where is she?" In the vision, he was referring to Cobra, although in the book he never said those exact words. After Moon's vision, ironically, Qibli said, "… The best news of my life is that I'll never have to see any of my family ever again."'

Winter Turning
Qibli says that his family would never do anything good to him when discussing families with Winter.

Darkness of Dragons

When Onyx kidnapped Ostrich and took her back to the Scorpion Den, Qibli, along with Winter, came to rescue her. They were taken back to Vulture's compound by Sirocco and Rattlesnake, where Vulture took Qibli to see his mother's prison. He explained that if Cobra was to be free, then Qibli was to write down all of Thorn's secrets on a blank scroll and give it to Vulture. After Qibli, along with Winter, Ostrich, and Cobra, escaped Vulture's compound, Qibli had his mother arrested for treason — the plan all along had been to bring Cobra into Thorn's stronghold only to kill her via poison. Later, Vulture bombed Thorn's stronghold, holding the "Eye of Onyx" in his talons — however, Thorn appeared and explained that Vulture was holding a fake version, created both to trick thieves and spare their lives. After Onyx attempted to kill her, Thorn suggested a royal challenge instead, since all the past challengers have come this way. Onyx accepted, and both she and Vulture believed she was worthy due to her royal blood. Afraid Onyx would be chosen, Qibli summoned a sandstorm with Anemone's weather bracelets, and in the chaos of the storm, Vulture disappeared from the stronghold completely with no warning or sign. Throughout the book, Qibli always had a suspicion that Vulture would end up working for Darkstalker and become a juggernaut, taking over the world. That suspicion proved to be true later when Vulture is seen in the lost city of night, bargaining with Darkstalker about their alliance. Near the end of the book, when Darkstalker tried to convince Qibli to become an animus and work with him, he used his power to teleport Vulture in front of him. Darkstalker then enchanted Vulture many times, including to make him act like a hatchling, make him feel guilty for everything bad he had done, and make him be the best grandfather for Qibli. Darkstalker then made Vulture disappear. It is unknown what happened to him after that.

Relationships

Chameleon

After Chameleon lost connection with Scarlet, he conspired with Vulture and agreed in using himself as a hostage in his MudWing form in return for treasure. Chameleon helped Vulture lie about the bombs, receiving massive payment for his service.

Cobra

Though he is Cobra's father, he seemed to not be very loving and instead, valuing his power and wealth. Vulture also uses his daughter for his own sinister plans, and is found scheming with her. Vulture also has his own daughter raising dragonets in order for them to succeed him one day.

Darkstalker

Vulture had sided with Darkstalker in hopes of money. News of this new king brought to him by a messenger, the thought of a king swayed Vulture from helping Onyx. In Darkness of Dragons he was seen standing by Darkstalker's side, and later on summoned into a cave by Darkstalker to convince Qibli to become an animus.

Qibli

Vulture pretended to be friendly to Qibli on the outside, but he was just a tool for his grand plan of stealing the throne. Qibli thought that Vulture hated him more than anything. Qibli was his grandson, but was clearly disappointed in him in Qibli's thoughts about the past.

Family Tree

Unknown

Vulture

Unknown

Cobra

Sirocco

Rattlesnake

Qibli

Quotes

"It's perfectly normal to feel like your pet must think the way you do, […] It's happened to many dragons. The Camels' Rights Movement. Iguanas Are Dragons, Too. Save the Scavengers. World Walrus Fund. All very sweet, and very misguided. Save your energy for dragons, who can appreciate it."

― to Winter, about scavengers

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"Oh, yes, […] Her erstwhile popularity, such as it was, is plummeting. Everyone agrees that she's been quite useless so far. Has the kingdom improved in any way? No one's life is any better, except of course for her own Outclaws, who are now rolling in treasure up there in the palace. She pours wealth into the talons of those who bow and scrape to her, and she doesn't care a fig for anyone else."

― to Qibli, about Queen Thorn

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"And these tragic bombings, tsk, […] Dragons are dying and she hasn't done one thing about it. She has no idea who's responsible. If she even cares. But I do. I have found the culprits! I am the only one who can protect our tribe."

― about Queen Thorn

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"You think you are, […] Because she stole you away and brainwashed you. You haven't thought for yourself in years. You do exactly what she tells you to and think whatever she tells you to think. You're not your own dragon, Grandson. Everyone knows her group is basically a cult. It's true; ask anyone. The whole kingdom has figured out that her Outclaws are blind followers. You don't want to be a blind follower, do you, Qibli? Don't you want to think for yourself?"

― to Qibli, about Queen Thorn and the Outclaws

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"Friends! […] SandWings! Talons of Power! Listen to me! […] Have we really come to this? […] SandWings fighting SandWings? So soon after the war that tore our tribe apart? […] Look how divided we are! Do you know why we fight each other? […] Because we are ruled by a false queen, […] one who does not deserve this palace! She doesn't care about anyone but herself! She stole this throne to make herself rich! She's been letting SandWings die all over her kingdom without lifting a talon to save them. A good ruler would find the dragons responsible and protect you all! We need someone who will see the danger clearly! Our tribe is under attack, fellow SandWings!"

― to the SandWings at Thorn's stronghold

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"My friends, it is time for a new ruler of the SandWings!"

― to the SandWings, at Thorn's stronghold

Trivia

• Each of Vulture's skull tattoos represents a dragon he has killed. This gruesome display was also taken up by two of his grandchildren, Rattlesnake and Sirocco. It is rumored they have the tattoos for the same purpose.
• According to Cobra, Vulture has always been interested in a business alliance with the IceWings.

Gallery

• Reference by Platypus the SeaWing
  Reference by Platypus the SeaWing