I love how while Darkstalker is based off of Tui’s abusive ex, Qibli is also based off one of Tui’s sons. The books dove into how the two characters mirror each other except Qibli did everything right while Darkstalker did everything wrong, almost like how Tui raises her son to be nothing like her ex. It ends up with Darkstalker being selfish and abusive towards Clearsight, meanwhile Qibli is a very respecting gentleman who treats Moonwatcher like a queen. It’s a nice symbolism.

One thing that I kind of noticed about Darkstalker is that he can't seem to comprehend that Clearsight ever could have moved on from him at all

There's one other detail about Darkstalker that I forgot to mention. After his mother was presumed dead, he had what Psychiatrists call a psychotic break. In layman's terms, he snapped. His whole method of dealing with the world went towards cruelty and control rather than the kindness and empathy that he once had. I have seen similar personality shifts in my own family and in other people. When a family member on my mother's side lost her husband, she drank herself to death. When a (former) friend lost her husband, she turned very ugly and mean towards anyone who tried to help her. Grief can make you lose your way. It can make you your own worst enemy.

He may have truly loved her but he contradicts himself by wanting to control her. In the end he could never let her go going so far as to enchant another dragon to act like her. Losing his mother turned his heart to stone, and in his grief he lashed out against those he hated. He wouldn't allow himself to not be in control again and anyone who got in his way would suffer the consequences including his friends.

It’s honestly kind of scary how some people genuinely think that Darkstalker was neither evil or abusive. I’ve seen people try to justify his actions by saying that he thought he was right to do everything he did, which shows a very black and white and unrealistic idea of what it means to be evil

i feel bad for clearsight :< she watched her boyfriend loose his soul right in front of her own eyes and no matter what she did she couldnt save him

The whole thing with fierceteeth was super fucked up. I had a feeling that he wouldve done more to her once he got the enchantment right.

This is a smart video. Darkstalker is my favorite villain because he has an eerie semblance to not only my ex but also a long-gone room-mate who had a similarly rocky relationship to a lady he was obsessed over. Whenever I read Dark's dialog, I can almost hear those two sociopaths whispering in my ear. His other details, such as his love for his mother and his heartache over losing Clearsight (due to his own bad decisions-which he admitted to in "Talons of Power") make him so fascinating to me and so many others.

If only Fathom enchanted a rock to ignore all of Darkstalker’s enchantments. And then Clearsight would use that rock to bash Darkstalker’s skull in.

Omigosh, I am SO happy to see someone else call Darkstalker out on the fact that he IS an abuser and the things he does absolutely ARE evil and wrong. I've seen so many comments about how he was just misunderstood, misguided, it's not his fault... Ugh. Yes. It IS his fault. HE chose to do immoral enchantments behind his family and friends' backs. HE chose to take SO MUCH OFFENSE to Indigo trying to protect Fathom from a perceived threat (which she was COMPLETELY RIGHT about, btw! >.>) that he decided to try and make Fathom forget about her, and when that didn't work, he chose to literally TRAP HER SOUL. HE chose to create a barrier that would KILL any IceWings that tried to cross the mountains, instead of, I don't know, maybe... simply prevent entry? HE chose to send an enchanted dagger to kill one IceWing every full moon for a year (and Pyrrhia has THREE moons >_>), and leave a message about him to scare them (this likely continued for the entire year, even after he was put to sleep). HE chose to block Clearsight from having any "bad" visions, and then had the utter GALL to blame her when she didn't see an assassin coming for him. HE chose to cast a magical plague upon the Ice Kingdom literally MINUTES after escaping from where he was buried, dooming many IceWings, icluding the QUEEN, to death, when no IceWing currently alive had ever wronged him, just because he hated IceWings (newsflash, Darkstalker, YOU are half-IceWing D8< ). HE chose to try and turn Fierceteeth into his long-dead girlfriend and make her the way HE wanted her to be (and what would he have done to Fierceteeth had he succeeded? Married her and had eggs with her without her knowledge or consent? Ugh... DX). HE chose to say no to a chance at a new life as a dragonet when given a choice, so, really, there was no choice but to turn him into Peacemaker. He absolutely HAD to be taken out somehow, and since he'd made himself invulnerable and immortal, it was the only way (Possibly Jerboa III's spell might have been able to destroy Darkstalker's magic, but who knows? Now THAT would be an interesting theory or AU. XD). He was a threat to every dragon that lived or would ever live. Even his own mother knew. And now he's gone. And good bloody riddance. >_< Yes, he's an excellent, and very well-written villain. But three moons, do I despise him as a dragon. DX He's legitimately awful, and Clearsight, Fathom, Moon, EVERYONE who associated with him deserved better than what he gave to them. Anyways... sorry for the rant. ;w; Darkstalker kinda makes me want to rant everytime I think about him. DX But I must add that this video was very enjoyable to listen to. You've earned a new subscriber. ^^

and here i am, wondering why in the world people would think darkstalker ISNT abusive??? wasnt he even literally based off of tui's abusive ex, or am i wrong?

Small correction here! (It's not really important) Darkstaker wasn't the one to kill Quickdeath. One of Fathom's guard did (i think it was Lionfish?) Still Darkstaker would have probably integrated Quickdeath and I think he would of maybe tortured him. Which you know is a bad thing that if you can assume that somebody would torture another if they hadn't died. Quickdeath is honestly lucky he died before Darkstaker got to him. It would quite literally a fate worse than dying

I dont even need to watch the video to say yes. (I will) I mean, everyone should agree that he is abusive even if you like him as a villain

I feel like Dark - Stalker didn’t INTEAD to abuse White - Out, but did so out of ignorance on her condition but she is the ONLY one I would say this about… my mom would do that to me (ASD among other disabilities) because she didn’t fully comprehend where my limitations are…

10:49 or he straight up forgot because icewings lives are that unimportant to him. Also a pretty chilling explanation.

I used to feel bad for Darkstalker when i read the book seven years ago. I re-read it and i was like, "Why the hell did i ever defend this ahole!?"

If it helps most people don't like most of what they made years ago since we're always learning and training our skills.

I really like your videos! This is so cool!

This is art is just, wow! Keep on going!

One small correction Darkstalker NEVER enchanted moon, not once. That's not to say he didn't abuse her, but canonically he never enchanted her.

Great video!!! Sums up everything very good

Quickdeath was killed by Wharf or Lionfish (I think I don’t have my Legends book with me rn) But every other point is SO TRUE! I was watching a wof video and people were like “Darkstalker deserves better!” (In my opinion) he really doesn’t he had two chances and he destroyed them both.

The only way to truly love something is to let it free

My cousin was in a similar situation. He got married to a girl who seemed like a decent person, but behind closed doors she was incredibly controlling and possessive of him. She took care of all their finances and always lorded it over his head, she isolated him from both his and her freinds and family, and she wouldn't let him go anywhere on his own. She spread rumors that he was a bum, and would blame herself when things went wrong to guilt trip him. At one point they went to see a marriage counselor, but after three sessions they stopped seeing them because "they were a quack." (One time I showed up at their house unannounced to borrow a toolbox and I didn't pick up on it at the time but she was trying to passive-aggressively shoo me away.) Anyway, about a year into their marriage he finally had enough and gave her the silent treatment (a favorite tactic of hers) and no joke, she flipped out and divorced him the next day. It all seemed really sudden, but as he opened up over the next few months we all slowly began to realize how fortunate he was to have gotten away from her so early. Had it gone on for a few more years there may have been no rescuing him.

I actually ADORED Darkstalker as a teenager and was horrified as to why anyone would dislike him because!!! Look! He's just so good! He just wants the best for everyone!!! (Sarcasm) yeah and then the first romantic relationship I end up in was straight up abusive. lmaooooooo

You say Darkstalker ignores Whiteout's wishes; but to be fair, can anyone even understand her enoguh to know what her wishes are? Casting spells on people without informed consent along with alot of other manipulitive things he did were pretty evil thoguh; but worst of all, he manipulated himself into beliving he was the hero of his own story.

When I read darkstalkers book I realized he was very abusive and did stuff but in a way that you can't argue with him...like when he makes clear sight that earring that makes her not see the bad futures, he said it was to make her not stressed, and that is like messed up in multiple ways but the way he explains it makes it seem like he had "good" intentions 🤨

Naw I thought it was obvious that Darkstalker was abusive considering what we see from him in the main series?? People genuinely think he’s not??

It's insane how people believe Darkstalker was wrongfully punished. A tumblr user I once saw flipped Darkstalkers story somehow and said CLEARSIGHT is the abusive one and how Darkstalker is "mentally a child" so he's allowed to groom other dragons for his own gain which is *Disgusting* to say the least. The same user also kinned Darkstalker, said Tui is racist, and Tui deserved to end her own life over not making her books fit their twisted world view. Crazy how disgustingly defensive people get over an obviously villainous character...

I was wondering if you had anywhere to submit fanart?

This is a good video! I love your analyses but don't comment much, though I will here. While it's not about Darkstalker or Wings of Fire in particular, yesterday I had been bugged by 3 people over a certain villain who was clearly incredibly abusive to the main cast of characters (*and* he'd done horrible things that I cant mention in KZfaq comments) who said that he hadn't done anything wrong. They tried justifying all of it. It makes me very upset, to see that people will look at a character and say "oh! well he looks nice, or he is charming" when they are blatantly overlooking the character's actions AND words; either that or they are not looking into anything at all, revealed to me by someone else after the argument yesterday. (the people i had argued with had not even played the entire game that the character i mentioned was in.) People will go off what they know. An analysis shouldn't even be necessary for this kind of stuff especially if the person who literally wrote the villain said they were based off an abusive ex, but this goes for all things. Why not be open minded to all arguments, and look into it yourself? Still, this video makes for a perfect remark if someone says he wasn't abusive.

small mistake. quickdeath was not killed by darkstalker but by lyonfish, one of fathom bodyguard

I hate Darkstalker,but I love the way he’s written.Tui clearly shows he’s terrible,and I almost feel like the message is with him is:”If this is happening to you,it’s wrong.And not ok,break free.”

OOOO

Wait think about it he's probably this way because of his father. Also poor whiteout ..

The thing is… FEEL BAD FOR DARKSTALKER, why? 1. His mother is dead 2. He is the most realistic character, how would you feel in his way? All that power in your talons… I would have used it long ago, call me a bad person but I don’t care 3. His father was abusive, he could have turned out like cobras sons but nope, he managed to hold out for so long 4. He wanted to punish Diamond but couldn’t, all that repressed hate will eventually release in a large tsunami, like the tide 5. He believed he was doing the best, he believed Clearsight could love him for that, but all that slipped through his talons 6. He just wanted to be happy for the rest of his life, all he got were a few weeks

Very much a cruel dragon his acts into a violences kind of inhumans with in the storytelling dragons

You posted a video 2 days ago how are you doing this! HOW (I really like your videos by the way)

I don't mean to assume or imply anything bad here, but from my point of view as someone with Autism, it's possible that Whiteout wasn't the only one who was neurodivergent. From your descriptions of how Darkstalker thinks about the world and other dragons, how he bases everything in relation to himself using logic, his incredible genius, his very few emotional connections only with dragons he's closest to, it kinda sounds like he has some neurological symptoms of his own. Now, I am nowhere near an expert on neurodivergency or psychology, but there seems to be certain aspects of conditions like Autism, narcissism, and antisocial personality disorder at work here. (Of course none of that would excuse his actions in any way, and I am not diagnosing or outright saying that Darkstalker necessarily has any of these. I'm simply remarking on the fact that some of the characteristics of such disorders resemble the way his personality is described.) Anyway, this is a detailed and well-explained video, very interesting! Thanks!

Love and hate darkstalker so much hes so silly but so…ewww

No. No she's not. She had ONE job, and it was a job she CHOSE; the job of keeping Darkstalker sane, no matter what, because she knew how dangerous he could become. * She knew that he was in an enviroment that was detrimental to his psychological well-being. * She knew that she had to keep him out of Vigilance's clutches no matter what, because the queen would pounce on any opportunity to deploy animus magic against the icewings with complete disregard for how that would affect Darkstalker's psyche. That's not even something that you'd need magical visions to understand, basic reasoning skills are more than sufficient to let you figure out that a queen in the middle of a war isn't going to say no to an opportunity to exploit an emotionally vulnerable animus. That's what already happened to Albatross, ffs, and that was during a time of peace! On top of that, Allknowing is a hack, and Clearsight knows this, which means that she knows that once she starts to try to save the world from Darkstalker (which can only be done by saving Darkstalker from the world), she'll need animus magic to keep Vigilance at bay. * Once Foeslayer "died" and Clearsight had clear-as-day *proof* that her visions weren't enough to keep her ahead of the game, Clearsight's had the *self-imposed* obligation to immediately inform Arctic that his son was teetering on the edge, that Vigilance was itching to take advantage of Darkstalker's mental state, that Whiteout (and, to a lesser extent, Arctic himself) were the only things left that could shore up Darkstalker's fading sanity, and that the only chance of avoiding catastrophe was for Arctic to find common ground with his son and hold that broken family together. But no, she just couldn't bring herself to take action. To paraphrase an old macroeconomic historian; "The seers have hitherto only seen the future in various visions. The point, however, is to change it.” Clearsight saw, and did nothing useful. If anything, she just made everything worse by confusing Arctic with that cryptic prophecy of his upcoming death, nagging on darkstalker (again, an individual she *knew* was already under a lot of pressure and had a habit of knee-jerk enchanting stuff) and inadvertently causing herself to be visionarily impaired. Darkstalker was self-righteous, impulsive, and potentially dangerous, but Clearsight *knew* about the risks, and did nothing to mitigate them. Her wilful ignorance and unwillingness to intervene doomed him, her, his family, and the whole Night Kingdom. This is what breaks Clearsight as a character: * She's an author self-insert, and is supposed to be sympathetic. * *But* unlike Tui IRL, Clearsight already *knows* just how badly things can go, and she's the *only* one who knows just how badly things can go, how high the stakes are, and she... doesn't do anything constructive with that information. She just dawdles on while the world falls apart around her. And once it's all over, she just wipes the blood off of her talons and says "well, I did my best", and flies off, leaving what is now the most paranoid animus in the world, a broken shell of a dragon, buried in the ground like a ticking time bomb for future generations to try and defuse. Not her problen anymore. P.S. Then there's that scene in book 10 where Darkstalker finally wakes up and realises that he's gone off the deep end, and seeks out Moon and his mother for advice. He's broken, confused, begging for some solid ground to stand on, something to believe in, and he's managed to push his paranoia aside enough to actually listen to reason from the last two dragons on the planet that he atill has some amount of faith in, and what does he hear? "Please consider self-euthanasia, and while you're at it, your mother wants you to turn your remains into a new dragonet so that she can start over from scratch". The newspaper-page-thin attempt at sugar-coating it honestly just makes it so much worse, especially since it's Moon we're talking about; she must-ve known, arguably better than anyone, that not only would it not work, but that it would also sever any and all remaining threads of trust left between them, and leaving Darkstalker completely unhinged again. Thank the stars for the Fragaria-ex-Machina. The one defence I can find for Clearsight and Moon is that they were both dragonets, and that Moon growing up alone in the rainforest would inevitably leave her intellectually stunted. Even so, it's hard to call them victims. I'd go as far as to say that Darkstalker and Clearsight were both victims of Vigilance's ambition, and that Moonwatcher was a victim of Clearsight's failure to sort out the mess that the Queen had created. * Vigilance (or her predecessor) fucked up, big time. * Clearsight saw the potential consequences, but decided not to take them seriously, even as they were becoming increasingly obvious as Darkstalker's social support network crumbled around him. * Moon's less-than-ideal upbringing and resulting dim-wittedness is at least in part the result of Vigilance's ancient idiocy (the part where she moves the tribe to an active volcano) which somewhat excuses her failure to take control of the narrative (she had the scroll. All she needed was to race back to JMA and aquire an inkwell and quill, and she'd be able to disappear off of the face of the world, giving her all the time she'd ever need to piece together Darkstalker's past and come up with a sensible plan of action). TL;DR Tui was a victim because she didn't know what she was getting herself into. Clearsight wasn't, because she did. Moon was just dumb, but she had a good excuse (an active volcano, Vigilance? Really?). Also, author self-inserts and adapting lived experiences into fictional narratives are hard to get right, especially when you add in magical foresight that dramatically changes the power dynamics in the fictional realm as compared to what went down in the real world.

He is not abusive-

That’s wild, imagine being so petty that you base your books villain off of a 15 year old. No high school relationship is “healthy”. How bizarre