See also
- The Dark-Hunter, Dream-Hunter, Were-Hunter and Hellchaser Universe
- Sherrilyn Kenyon § Manga and graphic novels for the Japanese comic adaptation
Dark-Hunter is a term from a paranormal romance and fantasy series by Sherrilyn Kenyon. [1] [2] Kenyon began writing the series in 1986 in horror, fantasy and science fiction magazines. [3]
The Dark-Hunters are immortal warriors who sell their souls to the Greek goddess Artemis for an Act of Vengeance against the one who murdered them.[3] Once they've had their revenge, they are dedicated to defending mankind against Daimons (a psychic race cursed by Apollo)[4] and other preternatural enemies.
She knew of Acheron's love and compassion for humans and his unwillingness to allow others to suffer when he could stop it. Knowing this, she created her immortal warriors and manipulated him into leading, training, and being responsible for them. Not just anyone may become a Dark Hunter, nor is the process easy.
A person must die as the direct result of a terrible betrayal, such as their best friend or a family member killing them in a brutal way. At the moment of their death, their soul will cry out for vengeance loudly enough to be heard by Artemis on Mount Olympus. Upon arriving, she offers the person a choice: true death or trading their soul to her to be resurrected as a Dark Hunter. In exchange for their soul and service in her Dark Hunter army, Artemis gives them 24 hours to seek their revenge against those who betrayed them. After those 24 hours are up, they must do their duty to mankind and hunt down the Daimons that prey on the humans.
When a Dark Hunter slays a Daimon, they release any human souls that the Daimon has stolen, provided that the Dark Hunter finds the Daimon fast enough. If the Daimon is not slain soon after taking the human's soul, the soul will die from being in the wrong vessel and be unable to pass onto whichever afterlife they were meant to go to upon their death.
The Dark Hunters work individually, each of them having a territory to watch over. They cannot be in close proximity to each other for more than a short amount of time without draining each other's powers. Also, any physical harm caused by one Dark Hunter to another will cause the first Dark Hunter to suffer the same physical pain or hurt tenfold.
The Dark Hunters are night dwelling immortals who cannot be in sunlight (as Apollo cursed the Daimons with not being able to go out in the sunlight so too did Artemis leave the Dark Hunters with the inability to stand sunlight). They were made to be similar to the Daimons that they hunt so that they would be better able to hunt, battle, and kill them. They have fangs, super sensitive senses, and various psychic powers.
| Dark # | L.O.A. # | Were # | Dream # | Hellchaser # | C.O.N. # | Shadows Of Fire # | Title | Characters | Publication Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | -- | -- | -- | Dark-Hunters (formerly Fantasy Lover) | Julian and Grace | February 2, 2002 | |||
| 2 | -- | -- | -- | Night Pleasures | Kyrian and Amanda | September 1, 2002 | |||
| 3 | -- | -- | -- | Night Embrace | Talon and Sunshine | July 1, 2003 | |||
| 4 | -- | -- | -- | Dance with the Devil | Zarek and Astrid | December 1, 2003 | |||
| 5 | -- | -- | -- | Kiss of the Night | Wulf and Cassandra | March 23, 2004 | |||
| 5.5 | 1 | -- | -- | Sword Of Darkness | Kerrigan & Seren | March 28, 2005 | |||
| 5.75 | 2 | -- | -- | Knight Of Darkness | Varian and Merewyn | November 1, 2006 | |||
| 6 | -- | 1 | -- | Night Play | Vane and Bride | August 3, 2004 | |||
| 7 | -- | -- | -- | Seize the Night | Valerius and Tabitha | December 28, 2004 | |||
| 8 | -- | -- | -- | Sins of the Night | Alexion and Danger | June 28, 2005 | |||
| 9 | -- | 2 | -- | Unleash the Night | Wren and Maggie | December 27, 2005 | |||
| 10 | -- | 3 | -- | Dark Side of the Moon | Ravyn and Susan | May 30, 2006 | |||
| 11 | -- | -- | 1 | The Dream-Hunter | Arik and Geary | February 6, 2007 | |||
| 12 | -- | -- | -- | Devil May Cry | Sin and Kat | July 31, 2007 | |||
| 13 | -- | -- | 2 | Upon The Midnight Clear | Aidan and Leta | October 30, 2007 | |||
| 14 | -- | -- | 3 | Dream Chaser | Xypher and Simone | February 5, 2008 | |||
| 15 | -- | -- | -- | Acheron | Acheron and Soteria/Tory | August 4, 2008 | |||
| 16 | -- | -- | -- | One Silent Night | Stryker and Zephyra | November 25, 2008 | |||
| 17 | -- | -- | 4 | Dream Warrior | Jericho and Delphine | February 3, 2009 | |||
| 18 | -- | 4 | -- | 1 | Bad Moon Rising | Fang and Aimee | August 4, 2009 | ||
| 18.5 | -- | -- | -- | 1 | Infinity | ||||
| 19 | -- | 5 | -- | No Mercy | Dev and Samia | September 7, 2010 | |||
| 19.5 | -- | -- | -- | 2 | Invincible | ||||
| 20 | -- | 6 | -- | Retribution | Sundown and Abigail | August 2, 2011 | |||
| 21 | -- | 7 | 5 | 2 | The Guardian | Seth and Lydia | November 1, 2011 | ||
| 21.5 | -- | -- | -- | 3 | Infamous | ||||
| 22 | -- | 8 | -- | Time Untime | Ren and Kateri | August 7, 2012 | |||
| 22.5 | -- | -- | -- | 4 | Inferno | ||||
| 23 | -- | -- | -- | Styxx | Styxx and Bethany | September 3, 2013 | |||
| 23.5 | -- | -- | -- | 5 | Illusion | ||||
| 23.75 | -- | -- | -- | Dark Bites | Collection of short stories | January 21, 2014 | |||
| 24 | 3 | 9 | -- | 3 | Son of No One | Cadegan and Jo | September 2, 2014 | ||
| 24.5 | -- | -- | -- | 6 | Instinct | ||||
| 25 | 4 | 10 | -- | 4 | Dragonbane | Maxis and Seraphina | August 4, 2015 | ||
| 25.5 | -- | -- | -- | 7 | Invision | ||||
| 26 | 5 | 11 | -- | Dragonmark | Illarion and Edilyn | August 2, 2016 | |||
| 27 | -- | -- | -- | 5 | Deadmen Walking | Bane and Mara | |||
| 28 | 6 | 12 | -- | Dragonsworn | Falcyn and Medea | August 1, 2017 | |||
| 28.5 | -- | -- | -- | 8 | Intensity | ||||
| 29 | -- | -- | -- | 6 | Death Doesn't Bargain | Kalder and Cameron | |||
| 30 | 7 | 13 | -- | Stygian | Urian and Sarraxyn | September 3, 2018 | |||
| 31 | -- | -- | -- | 7 | At Death's Door | Valynda and | |||
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Artemis is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. In later times, she was identified with Selene, the personification of the Moon. She was often said to roam the forests and mountains, attended by her entourage of nymphs. The goddess Diana is her Roman equivalent.
Karl Edward Wagner was an American writer, poet, editor, and publisher of horror, science fiction, and heroic fantasy, who was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and originally trained as a psychiatrist. He wrote numerous dark fantasy and horror stories. As an editor, he created a three-volume set of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian fiction restored to its original form as written, and edited the long-running and genre-defining The Year's Best Horror Stories series for DAW Books. His Carcosa publishing company issued four volumes of the best stories by some of the major authors of the so-called Golden Age pulp magazines. He is possibly best known for his creation of a series of stories featuring the character Kane, the Mystic Swordsman.
Kane is a fictional character created by American author Karl Edward Wagner in a series of three novels and about 20 short stories published between 1970 and 1985. Most Kane tales are sword and sorcery with strong elements of gothic horror and set in a grim, pre-medieval world which is nonetheless ancient and rich in history. In some of Wagner's later stories, Kane appears in the present day—for example, as a drug dealer in "Lacunae" and as a somewhat suspect publishing magnate in "At First Just Ghostly".
Sherrilyn Kenyon is a US writer. Under her former married name, she wrote both urban fantasy and paranormal romance. She is best known for her Dark Hunter series. Under the pseudonym Kinley MacGregor she writes historical fiction with paranormal elements. Kenyon's novels have sold over 70 million copies in print in over 100 countries. Under both names, her books have appeared at the top of the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today lists, and they are frequent bestsellers in Germany, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
Neron is a supervillain appearing in various American comic book stories published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Underworld Unleashed #1 and was created by Mark Waid and Howard Porter.
The Olympians are a fictional species appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. These characters are based on the Twelve Olympians/Dii Consentes and other deities of Classical mythology. During the beginning of the 1960s, the exploits of the Asgardians Thor and his evil brother Loki demonstrated that an updating of ancient myths could again win readers. In 1965, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced the Olympians in Journey into Mystery Annual #1.
The Midnight Sons are a team of supernatural superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Including Ghost Riders Danny Ketch and Johnny Blaze, Blade, and Morbius, the original team first formed as part of the Rise of the Midnight Sons story arc, culminating in the first full team appearance in Ghost Rider #31. Following the success of the crossovers, Marvel branded all stories involving the group with a distinct family imprint and cover treatment, which lasted from December 1993 to August 1994. The team has been revived several times with different characters, but the most frequent members include Morbius, Blade, and at least one Spirit of Vengeance.
Occult detective fiction is a subgenre of detective fiction that combines the tropes of the main genre with those of supernatural, fantasy and/or horror fiction. Unlike the traditional detective who investigates murder and other common crimes, the occult detective is employed in cases involving ghosts, demons, curses, magic, vampires, undead, monsters and other supernatural elements. Some occult detectives are portrayed as being psychic or in possession of other paranormal or magical powers.
Artemis of Bana-Mighdall is a fictional Amazon superheroine, a comic book character published by DC Comics. The character was created by William Messner-Loebs and Mike Deodato, and debuted in Wonder Woman #90 as a rival to Princess Diana of Themyscira. Artemis had briefly succeeded Diana as the new Wonder Woman, but was later killed while assuming the role, fulfilling a prophecy of Wonder Woman dying. After her death, Artemis was sent to the Underworld, but eventually returned to the world of the living.
Judith Lewis, better known by her pen name Cassandra Clare, is an American author of young adult fiction, best known for her bestselling series The Mortal Instruments.
Lori Handeland is an American author of romance novels. She has twice won the Romance Writers of America RITA Award.
Noctum is a pen and paper survival horror role-playing game developed by Mischa L Thomas. There were two earlier Swedish editions published by Wicked World Games 1.1. The third edition was published by Mongoose Publishing under their Flaming Cobra imprint.
The Dark Hunter Universe is the world in which multiple interlocking series come together to create one massive epic tale. Each series is marked by the type of creatures the novels are about.
The Blood of Olympus is an American fantasy-adventure novel written by Rick Riordan, based on Greek and Roman mythology. Released on October 7, 2014, the fifth and final novel in The Heroes of Olympus series, and it was followed by The Chalice of the Gods (2023), part of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series.
The Chronicles of Nick is a series of young adult novels written by Sherrilyn Kenyon. They are a spin-off of the Dark-Hunter, Dream-Hunter, Were-Hunter and Hellchaser Universe. The series is about a teenage boy named Nick Gautier, the son of a powerful demon. The series tells Nick's past and teenage years as he goes through high school.
The Dark Prophecy is an American fantasy novel based on Greek and Roman mythology written by American author Rick Riordan. It was published on May 2, 2017, and is the second book in The Trials of Apollo series, the second spin-off of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. The book and its cover art by John Rocco were first announced in 2016. It has been published in hardcover, paperback, audiobook, ebook, and large-print editions. The Dark Prophecy has been translated into seven languages from its original English.