- NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of the Dweller-In-Darkness from the Marvel Cinematic film series. The mainstream version can be found here: Dweller-In-Darkness.
| “ | Thousands of years ago, all of our people lived in peace and prosperity, until the attack of the Dweller-in-Darkness. He came with his army, devouring every soul in their path, and with each kill, they grew stronger. After decimating our largest cities, they were headed to your universe to do the same. The leaders of Ta Lo sent their strongest warriors here to stop them from reaching the portal to your world. But our ancestors were no match for them... | „ |
| ~ Ying Nan telling the story about the Dweller. |
| “ | Release me! Release me! | „ |
| ~ Dweller-In-Darkness. |
The Dweller-In-Darkness is the overarching antagonist of the 2021 Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
He is a draconic alien that invaded Ta Lo with his army of Soul Eaters to ravage the land. After years of war with Ta Lo's people, the Dweller-In-Darkness was eventually defeated and sealed in a mountain. He would spend centuries luring people into Ta-Lo and tricking them into attempting to release him by fooling them into believing that their deceased loved ones were trapped behind the gates that keep him sealed. He is the Great Protector's archenemy.
He was voiced by Fala Chen with Ying Li's voice.
Appearance[]
The Dweller is a draconic creature with humungous wings and long tentacles from his hindquarters. Primarily black with translucent red in his wings, he has a fearsome maw and a spiked head. His neck glows when he consumes the souls of his opponents, gaining strength and power in the process. He also has a row of spikes along his spine from head to tail while two forearms are equipped with four talons on each hand. His secondary forelimbs possess three sharp talons on each hand. Difficult to miss are two huge dragon wings which give him an aerial mobility. There are also two large temple crests which are hard to ignore while a large nose spike extends upward from his face.
Personality[]
The Dweller-in-Darkness was intelligent and manipulative. He used voice mimicry to lure people to his prison, using the voices of their loved ones to get them to free him. The beast knew how best to manipulate his unknowing saviors, and was able to trick Xu Wenwu, the leader of the Ten Rings. In addition, the Dweller was incredibly destructive, seeking to consume all the souls he could to gain more power.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Soul Eater Physiology: Unlike all other soul eaters, the Dweller-In-Darkness was a large dragon filled by the powers of every soul sucked by the other soul eaters, as the leader of the pack.
- Immeasurable Strength: The Dweller possessed a tremendous level of strength, able to break out from the Dark Gate with ease when it had been weakened. He could match the Great Protector in combat and slowly overwhelmed her after he consumed enough souls to increase his size and strength.
- Immeasurable Durability: The Dweller was incredibly durable and shrugged off many physical attacks unfazed, even able to survive a dragon scale-tipped arrow that Katy Chen fired to his throat. However, his durability had limits, when Shang-Chi forcibly had him swallow the Ten Rings, their powers combined with the aerokinesis and using Ta Lo fighting style that he learned from his aunt Ying Nan were proven to be too great to handle, which resulted in the Dweller's destruction.
- Immeasurable Speed: The Dweller possessed incredible levels of speed, though he had shown to be slower than the Great Protector.
- Immeasurable Agility: To be added
- Immeasurable Stamina: The Dweller had incredible stamina, being able to withstand various attacks from the likes of the Great Protector, and Ta Lo. Further, he was able to bear the attacks from the Ten Rings of Shang-Chi and Xu Wenwu before getting destroyed.
- Regenerative Healing Factor: The Dweller could easily heal from normal wounds owing to his high healing factor.
- Longevity: The Dweller possessed a very long lifespan and could wait for four thousand years to be liberated from his imprisonment.
- Flight: The Dweller could use his massive wings to fly through the air.
- Telepathy: The Dweller reached out to potential saviors using mental pleas, usually in the voice of a loved one.
- Soul Absorption: The Dweller had the ability to absorb souls, growing larger and more powerful with every soul he devoured. As well as being able to take souls itself, as he did with Xu Wenwu, he could also deploy his minions, the Soul Eaters, to harvest souls for him, and return them to him for consumption. The Dweller consumed the souls orally, seemingly the only way he could do so. It was also a process, though quick, it was not instant, as the Great Protector was able to be saved from having her soul drained. The process could also be stopped if his throat was injured, as seen when struck by Katy Chen's dragon arrow the resulting injury from the blow prevented him from absorbing the Great Protector's soul.
Abilities[]
- Master Combatant: The Dweller was a highly skilled and formidable combatant, being able to outmatch the sheer power and skill of the Great Protector itself, after absorbing many souls.
- Master Tactician: The Dweller was a highly skilled tactician, being able to manipulate and outsmart Xu Wenwu, which caused him to come to Ta Lo and successfully free him from the Dark Gate.
History[]
Past[]
Millions of years ago, the Dweller invaded Ta Lo, along with his army of Soul Eaters, ravaging the village. After years of war, he was defeated and sealed into a mountain behind a magical dark gates.
The Dweller plotted to lure humans into Ta Lo by imitating the voices of their deceased loved ones, making them believe that breaking the dark gates would bring their loved ones back to life. According to Ying Nan, many people have reached Ta Lo intending to open the gates but all those attempts ended in failure as the residents of Ta Lo always stopped them. Eventually the Dweller turned his attention to Xu Wenwu, a man who carried a set of ten magical rings which had enough power to destroy the dark gate. The Dweller began his usual manipulation tactic making Wenwu hear his dead wife Ying Li's voice in his head, asking him to open the gate.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings[]
Xu Wenwu, believing the Dweller's lies and desperate to restore his family, had his terrorist organization the Ten Rings begin to plan to invade Ta Lo thinking they are freeing Ying Li. The villagers of Ta Lo alongside Xu Wenwu’s children Shang-Chi and Xialing and Shang-Chi's friend Katy Chen began preparing the attack. When the Ten Rings arrived in Ta Lo Ying Nan and Wenwu's children tried to convince him that the voices in his head were a trap but Wenwu refused to listen. As Wenwu and Shang-Chi fought, Wenwu managed to damage the gate that sealed the Dweller which freed some of the Soul Eaters and they began stealing souls. The Ten Rings and the villagers chose to work together after a Soul Eater stole the soul, of a high member of the Ten Rings, Death Dealer.
While the villagers and the Ten Rings fought against the Soulsuckers with the help of the Great Protector and Shang-Chi continued to fight his father, the Dweller eventually broke through the dark gate. Then the Dweller turned his paying attention to Wenwu, who pushed Shang-Chi out of the way before having his soul absorbed but not before giving his son the ten rings before dying. Then the Dweller tried to attack Shang-Chi but he used the rings to repel him and Xialing and the Great Protector stopped him, he began flying towards the village before the Great Protector stopped him the two began to fight. While the Great Protector incipiently gained the upper hand over him by creating a powerful whirlpool, the Soul Eaters quickly gave the Dweller the souls they collected, allowing him to overpower her and try to absorb her soul. As the Dweller had almost absorbed the Great Protector's soul, Katy shot a Dragon Scale arrow at his neck to weaken him long enough for the Great Protector to create another whirlpool to subdue the Dweller before Shang-Chi shot the rings directly into the Dweller's mouth and then used the rings in conjunction with the Great Protector's power to create an explosion that killed the Dweller in an instant which also killed all the Soul Eaters in the area.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In the comics, the Dweller-In-Darkness was originally a tentacled being who was primarily an enemy of Doctor Strange.
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