Nikolai Dante
| Nikolai Dante | |
|---|---|
|
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| Character information | |
| First appearance | 2000 AD #1035 (1997) |
| Created by |
Robbie Morrison Simon Fraser |
| In-story information | |
| Team affiliations | Agent of Tsar Vladimir the Conqueror Romanov Dynasty Katarina Dante's pirate crew |
| Partnerships | Elena Kurakin |
| Notable aliases | Quentin Durward |
| Abilities | Bio-blades, accelerated healing, telepathic communication with a Weapons Crest (an alien computer disguised as the Romanov crest); expert marksman with fast reflexes |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Rebellion Developments |
| Schedule | Weekly |
| Formats | Original material for the series has been published as a strip in the comics anthology(s) 2000 AD. |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | March 1997 – July 2012 |
| Main character(s) | Nikolai Dante Jena Makarov |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Robbie Morrison |
| Artist(s) |
Simon Fraser John Burns Chris Weston Charlie Adlard Henry Flint Andy Clarke Steve Yeowell |
| Creator(s) |
Robbie Morrison Simon Fraser |
| Editor(s) | Tharg the Mighty |
| Reprints | |
| Collected editions | |
| The Romanov Dynasty | |
| The Great Game | |
| The Courtship of Jena Makarov | |
| Tsar Wars Volume 1 | |
| Tsar Wars Volume 2 | |
| Hell and High Water | |
| Sword of the Tsar | |
| The Beast of Rudinshtein | |
| Amerika | |
"I'm too cool to kill"
Nikolai Dante was a comic book series published in the weekly British science fiction anthology 2000 AD from March 1997 through July 2012.
Nikolai Dante was created by writer Robbie Morrison and artist Simon Fraser. The lead character, Dante, first appeared in 1997 in Prog 1035, and he made his final appearance in 2012 in Prog 1791. Fraser was the primary artist for the first three years of the series, with support from artists including Charlie Adlard, Henry Flint, Chris Weston and Andy Clarke. From 2000, the majority of the stories were painted by John Burns, until Fraser returned to the character in October 2006, when the two artists began to alternate on different stories.
In the 27th century after a resurgent Imperial Russia has seized control of Earth and an interstellar domain, Dante, a swashbuckling young thief and ladies' man, discovers he is an illegitimate scion of the Romanov Dynasty, aristocratic rivals to the Tsar. Dante's Romanov genes bond him with a sentient "Weapons Crest," a biological weapon which gives superhuman abilities—in Dante's case, the ability to extend bio-blades from his hands and hack into computer systems. He outrages aristocratic society and enjoys a turbulent relationship with Tsarina Jena. Dmitri, the Romanov patriarch and bitter enemy of the Tsar, tries to mold Dante into an aristocrat and killer worthy of the Romanov name.
Dmitri's underhanded political maneuvering prompts his war between the Makarov and Romanov dynasties, despite Jena's and Dante's attempts to prevent it, and the lovers break off their burgeoning romance. The civil war rips the empire apart, and Dante is forced to commit many atrocities. Vladimir triumphs, Dmitri dies by his own hand, and the power of the Romanovs is broken. Dante, now the most wanted man in the empire, returns to thieving, joining his mother, Katarina Dante, and her pirate crew. After spending time in the Pacific, he is forcibly recruited into the Imperial Service.
In his new role as Sword of the Tsar, Dante works against everything he once held dear, though he secretly abuses his position in order to plot against his employer as he begins to build a secret army. A massacre in the oppressed state of Amerika prompts Dante to try to kill the tsar. Imprisoned and tortured, Dante escapes from jail with the help of Jena, and the two renew their relationship and raise an army of thieves and whores to win a revolutionary war against the tsar. Tsar Vladimir is put on trial for his crimes and Dante proposes to Jena. Their happiness is cut short by the return of Dmitri Romanov.
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Wikipedia