Appearing as the main antagonist in the movie "Reign Storm," Pariah Dark is the King of all Ghosts, with control of the powerful Ring of Rage and Crown of Fire. While wearing both of these items, Pariah Dark has limitless power. He commands the Fright Knight as well as an army of Skeletal ghosts. He is a very powerful foe, but more interested in becoming king than defeating his enemies.
History
It was revealed that long before Danny became a ghost, before nearly all the other ghosts in the Ghost Zone were even spawned, a ghost named Pariah Dark was the most powerful and dangerous ghost in the Ghost Zone. He was once the king of all ghosts, and the Fright Knight was his servant. Pariah was apparently a tyrant and ruled the Ghost Zone with an iron fist.
"When wearing both... he could do ANYTHING"
When Pariah had the two treasures, the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire, which give the bearer tremendous, if not unlimited, power, he was unstoppable. It was stated by Vlad Plasmius that the two items are useless on their own and they grant power only when together.
Eventually, a group of powerful ancient ghosts banded together to defeat the Ghost King. Their means of defeating him is not explained, however somehow Pariah's Ring of Rage and Crown of Fire were removed and sealed away. Also, his servant the Fright Knight was similarly sealed away, within a pumpkin as per his ghostly weakness. These ancient ghosts imprisoned Pariah himself in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, and destroyed his kingdom, leaving behind only his castle where they hoped he would sleep forever.
Pariah Dark's overthrown
Pariah Dark's Castle
It is interesting to note most ghosts in the show's present day time appear to be at most only as old as Pariah himself, and no older. Most ghosts in fact appear much younger in both their looks as well as the time from which is logical that they were spawned. One possible exception to the age of most ghosts would be Clockwork, who's age is unknown or infinite. (Clockwork also wears a hooded cape similar to those worn by the ancient ghosts.) The ancient ghosts which defeated the Ghost King are nowhere to be found in present time, nor are any other ghosts from Pariah's time to be seen, again save only for the Fright Knight and possibly Clockwork. It is possible that the two observers, as seen with Clockwork, could have been part of the ancient ghosts.
Reign Storm
When Vlad Plasmius accidentally released him from his imprisonment to get his crown, Pariah attacks him, and was upset to learn that that Vlad had the Ring of Rage. He ordered his army and the Fright Knight to look for the ring. The army arrived in Amity Park in search of the ring, which was given to Valerie Gray by Vlad for safe keeping.
Shortly after the arrival, Fright Knight put his sword to the ground to claim Amity for Pariah; if anyone were to remove the sword it would be a 'signal of surrender'. Danny removes the sword without knowledge of that fact, and the entirely of Amity Park was transported to the Ghost Zone.
Afterwards, Pariah realizes that Valerie had his ring and demanded it, which resulted in her sending it away via a missile for them to give chase and buy her time. Pariah eventually does get the ring, and begins his plan for world conquest.
Danny, with the help of various ghosts and his father's ecto-skeleton suit, fights his way into Pariah's castle and confronts him. Though Danny begins to run out of energy due to the suit's unstable ability to drain a person's life energy, he manages to knock off the crown and tosses Pariah into the sarcophagus that he was imprisoned in earlier, Vlad locking the coffin before Danny passes out from exhaustion, and thus restoring everything back to normal.
Thanks to his defeat of Pariah Dark, Danny Phantom, having long been considered public enemy number one thanks to Walker's smear campaign, was now seen as a hero by the majority of Amity Park, though some people (such as Valerie and Jack and Maddie Fenton) still did not consider him trustworthy.
Other Appearances
Pariah has never truly appeared in any other episode. He was mentioned in "Kindred Spirits," as an excuse by Danny for why he was late and in "Livin' Large," he is mentioned in "Infinite Realms," as his defeat is the reason Danny gained respect from Frostbite and his people. He also appears as one of the many ghosts that attack Danny when he tried to persuade to save the earth in "Phantom Planet."
Personality
Because he was once king of all ghosts, Pariah has a commanding force, expecting others to heed his word or perish. Ruthless, strict, and malevolent, he'll force his armies on other places in order to get what he wants without a second thought. He seems to enjoy power and gaining as much influence as possible. He cannot tolerate those who oppose him. He also appears to enjoy combat. He displays an interesting view of power, as he when he fought Danny, augmented by his suit, he remarks that wielding that much power is a burden. This is hinted even more as he was stated to be the only one who could handle the power of the Ring and Crown.
When he is imprisoned in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep however, it turns everything back to normal. Pariah Dark is also very arrogant, often underestimating his enemies.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
Pariah Dark is the most powerful ghost in existence (with the possible exception of Clockwork and Dan Phantom). Even all his basic ghost powers are on a level beyond other ghosts. When standing next to the Fright Knight we can see that both the Fright Knight and the Ghost King have a similar power source (ex. both have flaming hair). But it is easy to see that Pariah Dark's powers are on a much greater level. The powers he has are:
- Basic ghost powers: Intangibility, invisibility, flight, and overshadowing.
- Ghost Ray: Pariah Dark can fire a red blast attack which was so powerful that it destroyed Vlad's shields and knocked him unconscious twice, something that Danny had failed to do. He was able to knocked both Danny and Vlad at the same time and without his full power. He can shoot them from his eye and his mace. If he wields both Ring of Rage and Crown of Fire, his rays become far more powerful.
- Superhuman Speed: Pariah Dark, can move at such speed that only Vlad Plasmius has only barely survived.
- Telekinesis: Shown when his thrown mace missed Danny, but then turned back and struck him from behind returning to his hand. Though this could be the mace moving on its own..
- Flight: He is able to fly faster than all other ghosts, despite his enormous size.
- Superhuman Strength: He is stronger and more durable than any other ghost, although not able to break Danny’s one hundred times stronger shield, he was able to drain 60% of Danny’s energy with one hit, when Danny tried to hold it, and destroyed his duplicates with one hit each.
- Superhuman Resistance: He was also able to have take three of Danny’s one hundred times more powerful ghosts rays at the same time and showed only minimal discomfort, it took the remainder of Danny’s energy to hold the lid to his Sarcophagus closed.
- Immortality: He has survived for thousands of years, with no debilitating side-effects inside the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep for centuries.
- Superhuman Stamina: Pariah's ghost musculature produces almost no fatigue toxins during physical activity. He can exert himself for hours, possibly even for days before fatigue begins to impair him. This stamina also allows him to handle the might contained within the Ring and Crown.
- Ghost Tail: He also has a ghost tail.
- Teleportation: He teleported Amity Park to the Ghost Zone.
- Size alteration: He also appeared able to change his size as it constantly changed from about ten feet to up to fifty feet in some scenes.
- Ghost skeleton army summoning: One of his main abilities is to summon a ghost skeleton army that obey all of his commands, and he uses to gain control over the ghost zone. The number of his army seems to be unlimited.
- Projection: He can project himself over a town/city to watch over it.
Weapons
- Ring of Rage and Crown of Fire: In order to reach his maximum power, he must have the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire, which gives him an almost if not infinite power. When Skulker was telling his story, he said that with both the ring and crown he could do anything, but it might be just to demonstrate that he was very powerful. But even without his treasures, Pariah possesses enough power to instill fear in all of the ghosts inhabiting the Ghost Zone, and he can easily defeat Danny and Plasmius at the same time. Apparently, the Ring of Rage and Crown of Fire can only be worn by powerful ghosts as most could not handle it. The only other character that could possibly rival his raw power is Dan Phantom (taking into consideration that the fright knight serves Dark Danny, it is possible that he is the only one to beat the Pariah without help or the aid of a weapon)
- Mallet: He also poses a mallet with spikes that he uses to shoot his ghost rays, this weapon is nothing special like the ones mentioned above.
- Sword: He has a sword in his waist, though he never used it.
Weaknesses
Though he is one of the most powerful ghost in existence, it should be noted that anyone who wielded the reality gauntlet would most likely be able to defeat him with ease.
Also, if somebody takes away his crown and ring, he can be defeated if his enemy is a formidably powerful ghost, though he was already defeated once by a group of ghosts who rebelled against him and locked him in the Sarcophagus of Forever sleep, even when he had his full power.
Sightings
Season 2
- 204. "Reign Storm"
- 217. "Kindred Spirits" (mentioned)
Season 3
- 302. "Infinite Realms" (pictured)
- 312. "Phantom Planet" (no lines)
Quotes
- "Who DARES!"
- "To serve...ME."
- "And perhaps it's time to remind you, and that intruder, who rules this place."
- "You have freed me from my Sarcophagus and thus woken me from the Forever Sleep."
- "You're not the one who woke me. You are a duplicate!"
- "So, where?"
- "ON...MY...ORDERS!"
- "Go to that world, bring the Ring to me, and to those who stand in your way...show NO MERCY."
- "They are ghosts and humans!? Is there a new end to these day's surprises?
- "Actually my loyal servant; it is."
- "Come, we have plans to make, for soon, this human world, will also be MINE."
- "A little ragged around the edges, eh child?"
- "Very well, I ACCEPT YOUR TERMS!!!"
- "Having that much power, IT'S A BURDEN, isn´t it child!?"
- "Surrender child, you can´t possibly win."
- "No! No!!!"
Trivia
- Pariah Dark, like Clockwork and Nocturn, has a scar on his eye. Unlike them, who possess it on their left eye, he has it on his right.
- Butch Hartman has once stated in an interview that the DC Comics villain Darkseid was an inspiration for the idea of Pariah Dark.
- Physically, Pariah Dark seems to incorporate elements of Odin from Norse mythology. Particularly, his eye patch and the fact that one of his horns is damaged.
- During the ad campaign leading up to the premiere of Reign Storm, Pariah Dark is referred to solely as "Reign", possibly to hide his identity from the fans before the movie aired.
- Pariah Dark is one of the few evil ghosts that have never been seen being caught in the Fenton Thermos.
- Pariah Dark is the first mega-ghost to appear in the series.
- Because of Pariah Dark's defeat at Danny's hands, he became a hero instead of Public Enemy #1 in the end of the movie.
- Like Dark Danny, there is a strong possibility that Pariah Dark could escape from his imprisonment and return as an antagonist for a hypothetical fourth season (which Butch Hartman has recently alluded to in his Twitter Page when discussing the possible revival of the series).
Gallery
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