Dharkhon

Kill the fighters for interfering (both failed in the true ending, but succeeded if spared in his ending).

### Crimes

Omnicide (his ending only)
Mass murder (his ending only)
Possession
Slavery
Usage of dark magic/malefic

### Type of Villain

Cataclysmic Dark Form

**Dharkon** (in Japanese: ダーズ, *Darz*) is main antagonist in the story mode "World of Light" of the 2018 Nintendo video game, *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*.

It is the dark and destructive counterpart of Galeem. While Galeem wishes to cover the world in eternal light, Dharkon seeks to destroy all life, drowning it into pure darkness.

## Appearance

Dharkon appears to be a floating, disembodied cyan eyeball. He is surrounded by fleshy red and black tendrils that can change forms during his battle. When he hits half health, Dharkon's eye becomes bloodshot with his pupil turning gray.

## Biography

Prior to the main events of the game, Dharkon has been in conflict with Galeem for many years, due to their conflicting natures. Eventually, Dharkon returns once more after Galeem is first defeated to settle scores, appearing from a crack in the sky as he is introduced. Leading an army of Crazy Hands and taking over most of Galeem's spirits and the remaining captive fighters, he continues to wage his war against both the fighters and Galeem, who happens to lead an army of Master Hands.

If the player fights and defeats Dharkon alone, Galeem will deliver the final blow on Dharkon, destroying the Lord of Darkness's entire body, then proceeds to cover the world with light once more. However, if Galeem is defeated instead, Dharkon will be the one to finish off Galeem by chaining and impaling him with spikes before proceeding to destroy all life with darkness.

In the true ending of the game, both Dharkon and Galeem are defeated by the fighters as their bodies shatter and sink down into the ocean, erupting in a flash of light and ending their conflict once and for all as the spirits they once controlled fly free.

After their defeat, both Galeem and Dharkon then become primary legendary spirits themselves, being the two most powerful spirits in the entire game and granting fighters the abilities "Bane of Darkness" (for Galeem) and "Bane of Light" (for Dharkon), allowing fighters to deal massive amounts of damage to light spirits (for Dharkon) or dark spirits (for Galeem) at risk of receiving higher damage.

Dharkon also appears in the Hero's reveal trailer, where he sends his puppet fighters against Link and the Hero's four incarnations.

## Trivia

* Due to his demented and horrifying appearance, Dharkon resembles that of famous Lovecraftian villains such as Yog-Sothoth and Azathoth.
	+ As another note (although it is likely not intentional), Dharkon's appearance, a single eye with a mass of tentacles, looks similar to the *Marvel Comics* villain Shuma-Gorath.
* Dharkon's name is a corruption of "Darken", similar to how Galeem's name is a corruption of "Gleam".
	+ Dharkon may have also earned his name from the Latin word "Archōn", which is a third declension noun (Gen. Archontis) meaning "ruler".
* The Rage Blaster weapon bears a resemblance to Dharkon's tentacles in appearance.
* The Hero's reveal trailer marks Dharkon's "official" reveal to the public, as unlike Galeem, he was not included in any promotions, trailers, or listed on the website for the game beforehand, most likely to prevent spoilers.
* When Dharkon uses his Thorn Spray attack, a sound that resembles a machine gun, chain gun, or sub-machine gun can be heard.