Lord Darkar

Title: Shadow Phoenix

Class: Deity

Gender: Male

Affiliation: Trix

Powers and Abilities: Umbrakinesis, Shadow Minion Manipulation, Dark Magic, Shapeshifting, Passive Magic Absorption, Metamorphosymbiosis, Realix's Ultimate Power (briefly)

Relationships: Trix (former minions)

Pet: Keborg

Lord Darkar is the main antagonist of Season 2 and is also known as the Prince of Darkness and the Shadow Phoenix. He has only appeared in Season 2, but makes a few cameo appearances in Season 3 and Season 4, and the Season 5 trailer.

Lord Darkar is an ancient deity of pure darkness who was born in the void from before the beginning of the universe and who is the polar opposite of the Great Dragon. Therefore, while the Great Dragon is a source of light, life and energy, and represents Good, Lord Darkar absorbs energy.

It Lord Darkar was the master of the Ancestral Witches and Valtor, and was the one who initially sent them to seek the Dragon's Flame from Domino, therefore being the cause of its destruction, as well as the ultimate cause of most of the events taking place in the first three seasons, the two Movies, and indirectly, the events in Season 4 since the Winx came to Earth after the Wizards attacked Bloom thinking, that she was the last Earth Fairy, having sensed her fairy energy in Gardenia, where she had been sent because Domino was destroyed on Darkar's orders.

Taking into consideration the retcons that started in season 5, he is indirectly responsible for the curse of Sirenix since the Ancestral Witches were his minions at the time, which turned Daphne into spirit without a body. In season 8, he is also indirectly responsible with Valtor's continued survival and who drained many stars of their light, Valtor eventually sought the power of the Wishing Star bringing the Magic Dimension under his threat once again.

Appearance

Darkar looks glowing red and wears armor over his seemingly skeletal body. He also has torn, red glowing fabric on the back of him. It is not possible to see his eyes during the show but they occasionally glow like fire with small pupils or they momentarily lightens with a red spark. His color palette is akin to that of dried blood.

Personality

Darkar is evil, cruel, destructive, violent, cunning, arrogant, manipulative. He did not believe the Winx to be a threat even though they destroyed him. Darkar cares very little about his followers, as he was only using the Trix to get the Ultimate Power, and banished them when they were of no more use to him. Unlike other Winx villains, he rarely does anything himself, as after releasing the Trix he has them, Kerborg, Shadow Avalon, and his monsters do all the dirty work for him until he turns Bloom evil and enters Realix.

Comics

Winx Club

Issue 20: An Evil Wind takes place after the defeat of Lord Darkar. The Specialists clear his castle of dark monsters, and Icy complains that what happened to them is his fault.

Pixie

In Word Magic, Darkar first appears in a flashback when the Pixies remember him kidnapping them, and they also remember his assistants, the Trix. The Tree of Life visualized their images and they attacked the Pixies, but they were then able to visualize the Winx in the Enchantix, so the visualizations of Darkar and the Trix were defeated and disappeared.

Games

Season 2

In both Winx Club: Quest for the Codex and Winx Club: Join the Club, in Relix, the Winx battle Darkar in his phoenix form and destroy him once and for all.

Books

In Il nemico e in pericolo, it was mentioned that the Trix redeemed themselves when they helped defeat Lord Darkar.

Magical Abilities

Lord Darkar is capable of creating his own army of shadow monsters and even shadow clones of people like he does with Avalon. He also turned Bloom into Dark Bloom by using his dark magic/energy. He can fire powerful dark energy beams and create energy shields, and energy bubbles to confine the pixies.

Darkar also has demonstrated the power to summon, create, control and/or manipulate darkness and/or shadows to his own whim and desire like creating barriers, beams of energy or blasts of power, and the power to transform into a giant phoenix-like creature as well as disguise himself.

He also has long, razor-sharp claws that deal large damage. Additionally, by peering at the fabric of his cloak, Lord Darkar can view all present and future events. There are limitations to this ability, such as locations with very little magic.

The difference between Lord Darkar's power and that of the Water Stars which also oppose the power of the Dragon is that, while Lord Darkar's power absorbs energy and the Dragon's power generates energy and with respect to each other, the former is Evil and the latter is Good, both the Dragon Flame and the Water Stars generate energy, but the energy released by each respectively is of opposing nature and neutral, none being Evil or Good with respect to each other.

Known Transformations

Phoenix, Cobra.

Trivia

Lord Darkar is the first male villain in the whole Winx Universe and is the first main villain to die.

It can, however, be questioned whether Lord Darkar is really dead or not since, in "Up To Their Old Trix", Professor Wizgiz said that everything needs to have an equal opposite to continue existing and to maintain the balance of the Universe, and that a power's opposite is automatically created along with itself. This means that the Shadow Phoenix and the Great Dragon were born at the same time and that they also need each other to counter each other's powers and maintain the balance of the Universe. It could be that Lord Darkar is still alive, imprisoned in the Relix Dimension, or it could also be that he effectively died, but that his power or his essence still exists, but in a disembodied form, maintaining the balance of the Magic Dimension by countering the power of the Dragon Fire (similar to the Great Dragon: while the Dragon itself no longer exists, its power still exists in the disembodied form of the Dragon Flame which has been passed down through generations of the Royal Family of Domino). If so, his disembodied essence was likely sealed in Oblivion or in the Relix Dimension.

According to the 4Kids continuity, he was once a man named Argulus seeking the Shadow Fire, and stumbled across Darkar's Fortress (Shadowhaunt), the underground castle. Darkar took control of the Shadow Fire. The Shadow Fire obeyed his will and was his servant.

Ogron's ability to absorb the Fairies' powers is slightly similar to Darkar's ability to absorb all energy. The Wizards turning Mitzi and her friends in Season 4 is also similar to how Darkar gave the Gloomix to the Trix and how he turned Bloom into Dark Bloom. Ogron's red hair and Darkar's red color also increases this similarity.

The size of the Shadow Phoenix varies.

Sometimes he is the size of a giant ladybug and other times he is so huge you are only about the size of his eye.

Lord Darkar is a typical Dark Lord, having the same personality as well as all the attributes of most fictional Dark Lords.

His appearance is similar to that of Sauron and Morgoth in the The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion books of J.R.R. Tolkien, especially to how Sauron appeared in the The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring movie adaptation, wearing/his body being like a dark armor. Even Darkar's role in Winx Club is somewhat similar to that of Morgoth and of Sauron in the world of Tolkien in the following ways:

In the Cinélume dub, Darkar caused the destruction of Domino by sending his servants, the Ancestral Witches there to claim the Dragon Fire, just like Morgoth caused the destruction of the Realms of the Elves and of Men in The Silmarillion, and Sauron caused the Downfall of Númenor in The Silmarillion by corrupting the minds of the people of that Kingdom.

Darkar's ability to change his appearance recalls the ability of both Morgoth and Sauron to transform themselves at will.

The Gloomix that Darkar gave the Trix also recalls the Rings of Power that Sauron gave to the different peoples of Middle-earth to make them stronger, but to turn them into his slaves as well.

Darkar's servers, the Ancestral Witches somewhat resemble the Nazgûl as they appeared in the Lord of the Rings books and films: once powerful and made of flesh and bones like everyone else, but later becoming wraiths (the bodies of the Ancestresses apparently perished during their imprisonment in Obsidian, and were bound to continue existing in a ghost-like appearance).

Darkar is also very similar to Unicron, one of the main antagonists of the Transformers franchise.

Unicron is an ancient evil God of Chaos who originated at the dawn of the universe and whose goal is to consume the whole universe until there is nothing left around him except the void.

Similarly, Darkar is an ancient maleficent deity who originated from the void before the creation of the Magic Dimension and who absorbs and consumes all energy.

Unicron's twin brother is Primus, who is also his opposite, with Unicron representing evil and chaos while Primus represents good and order, and their continued existence is necessary for the stability of the universe. Primus later became the planet of Cybertron, the home world of the Transformers, and his name is invoked religiously by both the Autobot and the Decepticon factions of the Transformers.

Similarly, Darkar's equal and opposite is the Great Dragon, with Darkar representing evil and darkness while the Great Dragon represents good and light, and Professor Wizgiz implied in Season 2 that their continued existence is necessary for the balance of the universe. The Great Dragon later went to rest on the planet of Domino, and it is invoked with high respect by both the Fairies and the Witches.

Both Unicron and Darkar make deals with less powerful beings, giving them great power in exchange for their servitude.

Unicron has sent his heralds to attack Cybertron so he can destroy the Matrix of Leadership, which contains the essence of Primus, the only thing which stands in Unicron's way.

Darkar similarly sent his servants to attack Domino so he can obtain the essence of the Great Dragon.

Both Darkar and Unicron have the ability to change their appearance and both have at least one robot-like form.

Darkseid from DC Comics, especially the version of Darkseid from the DC Animated Universe.

Darkseid is an ancient God of Evil whose goal is to acquire a power called the Anti-Life Equation which will allow him to rule the whole Universe.

Darkar is an ancient deity of evil whose goal is to acquire the Ultimate Power of the Relix Dimension which will allow him to rule the whole Universe.

In the "Legacy" episodes of Superman: The Animated Series, Darkseid temporarily brainwashes Superman and turns him evil.

In Season 2, similarly, Darkar temporarily captured Bloom and turned her evil.

Lord Darkar's methods of acquiring the Ultimate Power from the Relix Realm is very similar to Arkham's methods of acquiring the power of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda from the Demon World in Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening.

As an evil deity and the opposite of the Great Dragon, who is the benevolent and life-giving creator deity of the Magic Dimension, Lord Darkar is also similar to and might also have been inspired by the Christian Devil.

A reference to this might be when Darkar tells the Trix that they belong to him after he gives them the Gloomix and frees them from Lightrock Monastery. This is similar to the myth of the deal with the Devil, where a person sells their soul to the Devil in exchange of favors like power and riches.

Another reference might be the underground location of Darkar's fortress, which reflects the popular view that the Devil's realm, Hell, is located deep under the earth.

The Phoenix is a supernatural bird found in many legends from across the world.

In Chinese Mythology, the Phoenix is a legendary bird symbolizing virtue and grace and which is associated with royalty. Its counterpart is the Chinese Dragon and the pairing of the Phoenix and the Dragon in Chinese tradition is said to represent the Yin and Yang.

Professor Wizgiz similarly said in one of his classes that good energy and evil energy exist in a balance similar to the Yin and the Yang. This was possibly a suggestion that the powers of the Shadow Phoenix and the Fire Dragon exist in complete balance like the Yin and the Yang.

In Greek Mythology, the Phoenix is an extremely long-lived bird that, when its life draws to a close, builds a nest of spices where it burns itself and is then reborn as a young version of itself from its own ashes. Unlike the Chinese Phoenix, the Greek Phoenix is not associated with dragons.

Each time Lord Darkar uses his powers, dark red symbols can be seen in the air around his spells. These symbols are letters from the Alphabet of the Magi, which was used by real-life practitioners of the occult for inscriptions in talismans in the 17th century.

Lord Darkar is the most powerful villain in the Magic Dimension.

Faragonda called Lord Darkar "The Prince of the Darkness" in the original series. But in the fourth Winx Club special, she only refers to him as "the Shadow Phoenix".

In Season 1, Darcy said that the level of dark energy in Riven was equal to that of the "Prince of Darkness". It is however unknown whether the "Prince of Darkness" she was referring to was Lord Darkar or not, maybe it was just a metaphor used by her to describe Riven's character.

In the original version, his servant disguised himself as Avalon, while in the Nickelodeon special, he himself was disguised as Avalon.

Darkar was never seen during season 3 due to his death at the end of season 2. But he is mentioned in a few episodes. First in "The Heart and the Sword" when Vanessa tells Bloom when he placed her under a dark spell and Sky confessed his love for Bloom to save her, then in "Alfea Under Siege" when Stormy suggests to Valtor about setting up quarters at Darkar's Fortress when he was not satisfied with his hideout in Andros anymore, and finally in "Wizard's Anger" when Icy complains to Darcy and Stormy about how they get abused by Darkar and then Valtor. He is also seen in flashbacks to the final battle (mostly his tails as the Shadow Phoenix).

A picture of him is also seen at the beginning of Season 4 along with pictures of the other villains, such as the Trix and Valtor.

He is the first person to double-cross the Trix.

Both he and Valtor are tied with having the least appearances in the Winx Club Comic Series compared to any other villain in the series.

Darkar's 4Kids voice actor, Jason Griffith, is the voice actor for Ace, a character from World of Winx dubbed under DuArt.

Darker supposedly had a Transatlantic accent in the Cinelume dub, since some of his words have a British-like pronunciation and some with an American-like pronunciation.

Shadow Haunt

Darkar's Fortress (also Shadow Castle or, in the 4Kids dub, Shadow Haunt) was Lord Darkar's fortress in Season 2 and the home for the Trix as well.

Darkar's fortress was an underground fortress which was difficult to enter, let alone approach, because of the intense negative energy found there, as well as the lack of sunlight, weakens creatures living on the surface and also because it was guarded by the Shadow Monsters of the Under Realm were under Darkar's command. Because of this even Bloom, despite possessing the Dragon's Flame, the most powerful power in the Universe, was weakened when she went to Darkar's Fortress to save the Pixies.

Although the fortress has been seen only in Season 2, it is unknown for how long has it been existing and whether Lord Darkar was already residing there before he was defeated by the Lord of the Knights of Roccaluce.

Series

Season 2

At the beginning of this season, Darkar kidnapped the Pixies and imprisoned them in his fortress in an attempt to find the location of the Codex. Aisha tried to rescue the Pixies but she was stopped and defeated by Lord Darkar, and she only managed to save Piff.

After Aisha arrived at Alfea, Faragonda sent her together with Bloom, Stella, Sky and Brandon to rescue the Pixies. After many difficulties and passing through the realm of Downland, they managed to save the Pixies with the help of a mysterious Paladin who was later revealed to be the new teacher at Alfea, Professor Avalon.

Towrds the end of the season the fake Avalon who had been sent to Alfea by Darkar kidnapped Bloom took her to Lord Darkar who turned her into Dark Bloom to use her to obtain the ultimate power of the Relix. The remaining Winx and Specialists then launched an assault on the castle and were soon followed by two of the school directors and a Red Fountain teacher (Saladin sent Codatorta in his place). After Darkar was defeated in the Relix Realm, most of Darkar's fortress was left in ruins.

Season 3

In "Alfea Under Siege, "Stormy suggested to Valtor that they should move to Lord Darkar's Fortress, Darcy rejected the idea because she does not want to live "underground like a mole."

Comics

Season 2

Darkar's Fortress is first made mention of in Issue 19: Monsters on the Loose as the Pixies recount their latest misadventures to the Traveling Pixie with their picture book.

With everyone settled at the Story Tree, Ninfea opens the book to a drawing of the Fortress as she explains to the Traveling Pixie that a majority of their friends were kidnapped by Lord Darkar and imprisoned within the Fortress alongside Aisha, a dear friend of theirs, so that he could learn the location of their village. With enough prodding, Ninfea tells the Traveling Pixie that Darkar wished to learn the location of Pixie Village to steal its quadrant of the Codex, which would bring him one step closer to ultimate power.

Once Chatta and Tune were done bickering over who could tell the rest of the story, Ninfea continues where she left off by telling the Traveling Pixie of Aisha's bravery as she climbed the side of Darkar's Fortress in an attempt to free her Pixie friends after breaking free from her own imprisonment. Unfortunately, Darkar caught Aisha and knocked her off the Fortress and into a river, though, Aisha would later return to the Fortress with the Winx Club, her new friends, and the Specialists. Despite all the odds being stacked against them, the group would rescue the Pixies, bond with them, defeat Darkar and the Trix, resulting in the Fortress' destruction.

Long after Darkar's defeat, groups of students from Alfea, Cloud Tower and Red Fountain would have to return to the mountains above where Darkar's Fortress was located to ensure that all the Shadow Phoenix's monsters were destroyed along with him.

In the following issue, it is revealed that the Trix survived the cave-in caused by the destruction of Darkar's Fortress and now live within its remains as highly wanted fugitives. Wanting to reintegrate into society to escape having to live like rats, Icy eventually comes up with the idea to erase the memories of everyone in Magix so that no one would be able to remember their past misdeeds. The Trix find just the spell they are looking for after cracking open a book Icy smuggled from libraries of the Fortress and quickly leave the Fortress remains to put Icy's plan into action.

Trivia

Lord Darkar's fortress might have been partly inspired from Barad-dûr, the fortress of the Dark Lord Sauron from The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, and by Mount Doom, the volcano found near Barad-dûr.

In The Lord of the Rings, Sauron had poured a large amount of his power into Barad-dûr and Mount Doom such that, when Sauron was defeated for good, Barad-dûr collapsed (while in earlier times the enemies of Sauron had been unable to completely destroy Barad-dûr because Sauron was still alive) and Mount Doom had a massive eruption after which it became dormant forever, similar to how Darkar's fortress and all the caves around it collapsed after Darkar was defeated.

In The Lord of the Rings, the darkness at the heart of Mount Doom was so intense that even the light of the Phial of Galadriel, containing the light of Eärendil's star, the purest light of the universe of the Lord of the Rings, was subdued and Frodo's will was broken and he ended by becoming corrupted by the One Ring. This is similar to how the evil at the heart of Darkar's realm was so powerful that even Bloom, who possessed the Dragon Flame, the most powerful power of light in the Magic Dimension, was severely weakened.

The realm of Darkar may also have been partly inspired by Mordor, the land ruled by Sauron. Mordor is a land peopled by evil creatures such as orcs, trolls and giant spiders and where normal life cannot exist.

Utumno, the fortress of Morgoth, the original Dark Lord and Sauron's master in The Silmarillion, might also have been an inspiration for Darkar's fortress as both are very deep underground fortresses made of many caves, tunnels, corners and rooms.