THE DARK DRAGON
(The one on the right)
The Dark Dragon (aka Unit 01) was the first major enemy seen in a Panzer Dragoon game. In Panzer Dragoon (Eine),
he headed the legions of monsters that stood against the Empire in Episode 6, resulting in the destruction
of the Imperial Capital. He was also responsible for the death of one of the Heresy Dragon's riders (the "Sky Rider"), having shot him
during the games intro. The rider passed his knowledge onto Kyle however, and a legend began taking place.
The Dark Dragon causes a few problems for gamers during Panzer 1, appearing as both the Episode 2 and final boss. In
the final confrontation, the Dark Dragon uses the Imperial Capital Tower's power to effectively "warp-digivolve" to his
"ultimate" form: The Prototype D. Even on defeating this behemoth, the players then had to defeat the Episode 2 boss AGAIN
to prove they were good enough to beat hard mode.
One popular discussion about the Dark Dragon is the subject of his rider. In many places throughout the game,
including the illustration above, the Dark Dragon is seen to have a rider. This rider's identity, however, remains top secret.
Theories mentioned at the Excavation Camp include:
-The rider is a drone, constructed by Sestren to assassinate the Heresy Dragon.
-The rider is a normal human, but was tuurned into a mind slave by the Dark Dragon.
-The rider was just a rival of the Heressy Dragon's rider.
No matter how you look at it, the Dark Dragon was a tough first bad-guy for Panzer Dragoon. He won't be back I don't think, seeing
as how he crashed into the sea at the end of the first game. He did make a cameo in Zwei though, so who knows? Maybe he'll get the ressurrection treatment....
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