Vulture
- "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. I'm sure you saw that yourself. She pours wealth into the talons of those who bow and scrape to her, and she doesn't care a fig for anyone else."
- — Vulture to Qibli about Queen Thorn in Darkness of Dragons.
Template:Charbox Vulture is an elderly male SandWing and a main antagonist of Darkness of Dragons. Vulture founded an organization called the Talons of Power, whose main goal was to kill Queen Thorn and enthrone Onyx in hopes of Vulture being able to control her power for himself. He is well-respected and feared in the Scorpion Den for being quite wealthy, intimidating, and powerful; after Thorn left the Den, Vulture became its new leader.
Personality
Vulture is deceitful, cunning, and sly. He seems to be devoid of empathy for other dragons, and was said by Darkstalker to be "a dragon made of paper who has never been happy one day in his life." Most of his motivations come from his lust for money or power, or for his own status. Vulture doesn't seem to care about his family, but he does care about maintaining his reputation and collecting riches.
Appearance
Vulture has pale yellow scales[1] dotted with numerous dragon skull tattoos,[2] symbolizing the numerical statistics of the different dragons that Vulture has killed (one for each dragon). He has a hooked snout[2] (possibly his namesake), black eyes with golden rings like bottomless voids, and gold-leaf dip on his talons[1] and tail barb. He wears several accessories, including two black-and-golden spider-shaped earrings, a black cloak lined with gold, and gold chains along his wings[1]. He is also described as "really tall"[2], and having a "long neck"[1].
Biography
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.
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, created both to trick thieves and spare their lives. As Vulture was making his grand speech, Onyx snuck up behind the queen, but Thorn was saved by Qibli's warning call. Thorn suggested a royal challenge instead of a covert assassination, since all the past challengers have come this way. Onyx accepted, and both she and Vulture believe she was worthy due to her royal blood. Afraid Onyx would be chosen, Qibli summonned a sandstorm with Princess 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 on, where Vulture is seen in The Lost City of Night, bargaining and talking 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.
Quotes
"Urple." - To Qibli
"Oubliette. Ooooooooubliette. It sounds much friendlier than it is, like you should be able to eat it at parties." - To Qibli
"Everyone agrees they're no smarter than mice." - To Qibli and Winter
"Qibli. Just the dragon I've been waiting for." - To Qibli
"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 in Darkness of Dragons. This is an example of how Vulture uses Logos (the persuasive appeal to logic) to disarm his opponents and weaken their arguments. In this case, he's downtrodding on Winter's opinions of scavenger intelligence.
"What a whimsical friend you've brought for my entertainment." - To Qibli about Winter
"Oh, really, Prince Winter? And how exactly do you intend to pay me, when your family thinks you're dead and your royal funds have been cut off?" - To Winter
"So, Grandson. I see that like many hundreds of SandWings across the kingdom, you've realized that Thorn is in no way qualified to be queen, and you've come to pledge your loyalty where it truly belongs." - To Qibli
"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 Thorn
"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." - To the SandWings, lying about Thorn.
"Summon our informative friend for me, will you?" - To a SandWing guard
"We're the new law and order in this town, and soon in the whole kingdom. I had them looking into these heartbreaking attacks and the dreadful mess Thorn has made of investigating. We discovered who's responsible and we'll bring them to justice." - To Qibli
"I call them my Talons of Power." - To Qibli
Trivia
- A vulture is a bird of prey that is known for eating rotting animals.
- In Darkness of Dragons, he says "Great snakes", which is a famous expression Tintin uses in his movie. (Tintin is a person from another series entirely, not a dragon)
- Each of Vulture's skull tattoos represents a dragon he's 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 and not just for show.
- Vulture is the name of Upper Egypt, as Cobra is the name of Lower Egypt.
Family Tree
| Unknown | Vulture | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unknown | Cobra | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sirocco | Rattlesnake | Qibli | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Gallery
-
A typical SandWing (lineart), by Joy Ang -
A typical SandWing from the German publication, by Max Meinzold
-
Reference by Platypus the SeaWing
-
SandWing Sigil by Platypus the SeaWing -
Vulture by xTheDragonRebornx
-
Vulture by Spookapi
-
Hey, Gramps by XshadowseekerX
-
Vulture by PastelMorning
-
Vulture by hakkenryu-dchneo6
-
Vulture by SharkCatz
-
A Real Vulture (photo by National Geographic)
-
Charismatic by PastelMorning -
Vulture by Tailbite10
References
| SandWings | |
|---|---|
| Queens | |
| Royalty |
Blaze • Blister • Burn • Char • Scald • Singe • Smolder • Sunny • Onyx |
| Jade Mountain | |
| Other Dragons (Present) |
Addax • Agave • Armadillo • Camel • Capybara • Cereus • Cobra • Dune • Horizon • Jerboa III • Kindle • Meerkat • Needle • Ocotillo • Ostrich • Palm • Parch • Prickle • Quicksand • Rattlesnake • Saguaro • Sandstorm • Sirocco • Six-Claws • Tawny • Torch • Viper • Vulture |
| Other Dragons (Historical) |
|
| Hybrids | |
| Kingdom |
Blaze's fortress • Blister's hideout • Great Five-Tail River • Jerboa III's hut • North Beach • Possibility • SandWing stronghold • Scorpion Den |
| Society | |
