View source for Dragon of Mars

{{AdeptusMechanicusPortal}}
The '''Dragon of Mars''' is an ancient, exceedingly powerful entity that is currently imprisoned in the [[Noctis Labyrinth]] on [[Mars]]. There are hints that point to it possibly being one of the [[C'tan]], more specifically [[Mag'ladroth|Mag'ladroth the Void Dragon]], but it has not been explicitly stated that this is the case.

==Overview==
The Dragon of Mars was supposedly defeated in combat by the [[Emperor]] on ancient [[Terra]] and later imprisoned under the surface of Mars. It has remained there for millennia, its influence affecting the inhabitants of that planet and leading to the creation of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]]. {{Fn|1a}} It is watched over by a series of individuals known as the '''Guardians of the Dragon''' — much of the information known about the Dragon comes from these Guardians due to their ability to share the creature's memories, the veracity of these memories is debatable however.

{{QuoteBox
|quote = '''''It's all the Dragon remembers... Or at least a version of its memories. It's hard to tell what's real and what's not sometimes. I listen to its impotent roars of hatred as it watches from its gaol on Mars and write what comes out...But truth, as of all things, is a moving target. What of this is real and what is fantasy...well, who can tell."'''
|source=[[Adept]] [[Semyon]], Guardian of the Dragon{{Fn|1a}}
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==History==
According to [[Adept]] [[Semyon]], one of the versions of the Dragon's memories shows him fighting the [[Emperor]] near the city of [[Wikipedia:Cyrene|Cyrene]], in [[Wikipedia:Libya|Libya]], around the 11th or 12th century (i.e., the first or second century [[M2]]), but also as a soldier serving Emperor [[Wikipedia:Diocletian|Diocletian]] (who ruled from 284-305.[[M1]]), which implies that this battle is the origin of the story of [[Wikipedia:Saint George and the Dragon|Saint George and the Dragon]].{{Fn|1b}}

In this account, the Emperor (described as a lone warrior knight in golden armour and a scarlet-plumed helmet, riding on a mighty charger of midnight-black and wielding a tall lance of purest silver, from which flew a long red and white banner depicting a soaring eagle grasping a bolt of lightning) fought the Dragon (described as being half crawling beast with talons like scythe blades and half loathsome bird, with an immense scaled head, a tail twenty metres long, malignant fire in its eyes, plate-like scales rippling like liquid mercury, and the light of devoured stars shining in its breast) and defeated it by thrusting his sword at a weak spot beneath the Dragon's left wing and then tied his banner around the helpless Dragon, although he stated that he was unable to destroy it completely.{{Fn|1a}}

Whether this describes a literal conflict or an allegorical one is unclear - it is implied that, at some point between the time of this battle and the [[Age of Strife]], the Emperor brought the Dragon to Mars and imprisoned it in the Labyrinth. However, as the only given record of this is the recollections of the Guardians, the exact truth is unclear. What is known is that, by the 31st millennium, the Dragon lies imprisoned beneath the Noctis Labyrinth on Mars.{{Fn|1a}}

The [[Eternity Gate (Imperial)|Eternity Gate]] in the [[Imperial Palace]] features the Emperor battling a dragon.{{Fn|5}} It is unknown if this is a reference to the Dragon of Mars.

===Relationship with the Adeptus Mechanicus===
Adept Semyon, the Guardian of the Dragon, claims that with the Dragon sealed in Mars, the Emperor orchestrated the rise of the Mechanicus, using the Dragon's dream that would trigger the creation of the first machines of the priests of Mars.{{Fn|1a}}

===Guardians of The Dragon===
The role of the Guardians of the Dragon is to keep the bindings of the Dragon maintained; they are souls chosen by the Emperor for this task and their lifespans are vastly extended.

Up to the time of the [[Horus Heresy]] Adept Semyon was the Guardian, around this time he passed the knowledge of all his antecedents and the Emperor's will onto Adept [[Dalia Cythera|Dalia]] making her the new Guardian of the Dragon. {{Fn|1c}} She is known to have held this position for around ten thousand years.{{Fn|1d}}

Around the time of Dalia's elevation to Guardian, the book that contained the secrets of the Guardians of the Dragon vanished from its place in the Noctis Labyrinth, an event said to have dire consequences in the future:

{{QuoteBox
|quote = '''''
Only much later, when Dalia dared return to the silver cavern, did she see that the book containing the grand lie of Mars had been taken. Ten thousand years would pass before the next Guardian was drawn to the Noctis Labyrinth, but by then the damage had been done."'''{{Fn|1d}}
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===Prison of the Dragon===
The daemon [[Hrangore]] claims that the Sleeping God of Mars lies deep in the Noctis Labyrinthus, in a great chamber of basalt, with machines of antique silver towering around it and flickering beams of unimaginable energy flowing in a glittering arc to a vast sarcophagus on the floor made of gold and adamantium.{{Fn|2a}}

However, the Guardians of the Dragon say he is bound in a cavern ''beneath'' the Noctis Labyrinth.{{Fn|1c}}

==Similarities with the C'tan==
{{trivia}}
It can be interpreted that the Dragon may in fact be a shard of the C'Tan Mag'ladroth, commonly known as the [[Void Dragon]]. The Dragon of Mars is described as having many qualities which could indicate that it is one of the C'tan, these include:

* The Dragon of Mars once lived in space, between the stars. (Unclear whether this info comes from the Akasha, the Warp, the Dragon's memories or Semyon.)
*The Guardian Semyon asks Dalia whether "the others" have already devoured all the stars - possibly a reference to the C'tan and their star-eating tendencies.{{Fn|1e}}
* Dalia recognizes the Dragon of Mars as an incredibly old, powerful and exotic life-form which "had brought entire civilisations into existence and then snuffed them out on a whim" - this could be interpreted as a reference to the C'tans' relationship with the [[Necron]]/[[Necrontyr]] race. {{Fn|1f}}
* In the memories of the Dragon of Mars it is said that he waged war against his own kind, which left him in a weakened state, so he hid on Terra. - this could possibly refer to the older canon materials which state that the C'tan warred amongst themselves (or post ret-con the Necron uprising against the C'tan). {{Fn|1b}}
*In the description of the Dragon it is stated that his breast shone with the light of the stars he had devoured - possibly a reference to the C'tans' role as star devouring entities. {{Fn|1b}}
* During his fight with the Emperor, the Dragon's scales are described as being silver in colour, harder than steel and yet rippling like liquid mercury when struck hard enough - this is very similar to the [[Necrodermis]] which the C'tan's bodies were made from. {{Fn|1b}}
*'''Codex: Necrons (3rd edition)''' relates a conversation between [[Abaddon]] and the Daemon Hrangore, where an entity dwelling in the Noctis Labyrinth is described - although few details are given, the simple fact that this is in the Necron Codex may imply a connection. {{Fn|2a}}
*'''Codex: Necrons (3rd edition)''' also describes an assault on Mars by a Necron fleet; although their intention is unknown, it implies a connection between the Necrons and Mars. {{Fn|2b}}
*Of the 4 possible endings to the game '''Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus''', the [[Xenarite]] ending features [[Acquisitor (Adeptus Mechanicus)|Tech-Acquisitor]] [[Scaevola]] of [[Stygies VIII]] gathering as much data from the [[Tomb World]] of [[Silva Tenebris]] as her internal data-stores can carry. She subsequently heads to Mars, babbling that she must report her findings to "The Dragon".{{Fn|4}}

==Sources==
*1: [[Mechanicum (Novel)]]:
**{{Endn|1a}}: Chapter 3.03, pp. 362-363
**{{Endn|1b}}: Chapter 3.03, pp. 358-361
**{{Endn|1c}}: Chapter 3.03, pp. 364-365
**{{Endn|1d}}: Addenda, p. 415
**{{Endn|1e}}: Chapter 3.02, p. 346
**{{Endn|1f}}: Chapter 3.03, p. 352
*2: [[Codex: Necrons (3rd Edition)]]:
**{{Endn|2a}}: pg. 26
**{{Endn|2b}}: pg. 11
*{{Endn|3}}: [[Man of Iron (Short Story)]]
*{{Endn|4}}: [[Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus]], Scaevolla ending cutscene
*{{Endn|5}}: [[Era of Ruin (Anthology)]] - Cover art
{{Deities}}

[[Category:Characters (Gods)]]
[[Category:Adeptus Mechanicus]]
[[Category:The Horus Heresy]]