Darko the Sorcerer

Darko the Sorcerer is the main antagonist in the animated film, The Real Shlemiel (also known as Aaron's Magic Village). He is voiced by Steven Newman.

Biography
Darko was an evil and feared sorcerer. The foolish villagers of Chelm did not show him the respect that he craved (it is hinted they were even unaware of his existence), so to punish them, Darko sought to destroy Chelm. To do this, he created a golem out of clay and water, but was unable to bring it to life. He read that in order to do so, he needed the Book of Marvels, which was in Chelm.

Darko sent his fox to spy on the villagers, and learned of Shlemiel's plan to marry off his daughters so he would be rich. So Darko appeared before Shlemiel disguised as a female matchmaker and offered three rich, imaginary sons to his daughters in exchange for the Book of Marvels. Shlemiel refused, so Darko angrily revealed his true identity and caused a blizzard, which nearly killed Shlemiel's nephew Aaron and also caused a magical imp, the Lantuch, to lose his memory.

When Gronam entrusted the Book of Marvels to Shlemiel, Darko sent his fox to find where Shelmiel would hide it and inform him. Shlemiel hid it in the vault Gronam took it from and hid the key in his shoe. The fox stole the key while he slept and gave it to Darko, who then stole the Book of Marvels despite Aaron's attempt to stop him.

With the Book of Marvels, Darko brought the golem to life and commanded it to destroy Chelm down to the last house. Though the golem destroyed most of Chelm, he spared the synagogue because it was sacred. After berating the golem for disobeying his orders, believing it was because the golem was made of clay from Chelm, he walked into another room.

Having followed the golem to the sorcerer's castle, as soon as Darko was out of the room, Aaron read in the Book of Marvels how to kill the golem, but Darko was alerted to their presence when the Lantuch cast a spell gone wrong. The golem gave the Book back to Darko, but Zlateh the goat rammed him, causing the Book to fall into the fire. Aaron, Zlateh, and the Lantuch escaped Darko's castle, and Darko sent the golem after them.

When the golem caught up to Aaron, it refused to harm him due to his courage. Darko arrived and caused a rockslide in an attempt to kill Aaron himself, but the golem protected him, much to the sorcerer's anger. The golem then threw a boulder at Darko, who avoided it but was separated from his fox (who walked away and was never seen again). Darko drew a sword and rode his horse at Aaron in a final attempt to kill him. However, the Lantuch, having regained his memory from being hit in the head with a rock, turned Darko and his horse to stone with a magic spell, ending his threats forever.

Trivia

 * He is never referred to by name in the film, except in the credits (in which he is credited as "Darko, the Sorcerer"). All characters including the narrator simply refer to him as "the sorcerer".
 * He may have been named after one of the animators, Darko Belevski.
 * It is never specified whether turning to stone is fatal in this film (as is strongly implied with Diablo the Raven), although Aaron later tells the villagers "the sorcerer's gone".