Dain

Dain was a grade three Ol tasked with infiltrating the Resistance and Lief's quest. He took the form of a Toran boy

close to Lief's age and joined the Resistance, secretly reporting information about the group to the Shadow Lord. He was a secret plan in case the Belt of Deltora was reforged and the gems collected, but was killed by Lief and the Belt in the end. However, in the Hub Squad;Teamwork is Magic series, he was brought to life by The Elements of Teamwork and Princess Marillia decides that Dain should be reformed so he could stop working for the Shadow Lord and become good.

History[]

Early life[]

According to the false story created by himself, he was born on a farm not far from Del. One day bandits attacked the farm, forcing Dain to flee and be separated from his parents, who he later believed fled to Tora. It was soon after this that Doom encountered him and took him in.

However, the truth was that he was a Grade Three Ol created in the Factory in the Shadowlands. Cunning and able to take on any living and inanimate shape in Deltora, Dain chose his shape with care, to fool others into believing that he was the heir to Deltora. He encountered Doom at one stage a year before the events of the main series, and pretended to be an orphan so that Doom would take him into the Resistance. There, Dain was perfectly positioned to hear information and plans to resist the Shadow Lord, and began to report what he discovered to the Shadow Lord and others in Del.

The Shifting Sands[]

Dain is met shortly in Rithmere, where he is under Doom's orders to serve Queen Bee Cider which is drugged. He serves Neridah and Jasmine Queen Bee Cider, but Jasmine refuses her drink and Glock drinks it instead, the result being Glock and Neridah falling asleep. Dain quickly escapes as Games officials investigate what has just happened.

The Maze of the Beast[]

In the sixth book of the series, the Maze of the Beast, Dain saves Lief, Barda and Jasmine from an Ol attack. In doing so, he breaks his arm and a few ribs. The three take him to a Resistance stronghold to heal him. He later saves them from Doom, who locked them up because he was testing them to see if they were Ols. (He truthfully wanted to get them to tell him their objective, as he knew they were not). Dain starts to travel with them, making Lief jealous because of his admiration for Jasmine, and thinks that they are going to Tora. He is later upset because he discovers that they aren't, and they 'lied' to him. He, Barda and Lief split up from Jasmine to stay safe from danger and Ols. They travel to Where Waters Meet, a deserted city near River Tor, and later board a boat; where they find Jasmine in disguise. However, the boat is attacked by pirates (the same group that destroyed Where Waters Meet) and kidnapped. He is found later on in the book when they come across the pirates near the Maze.

The Valley of the Lost[]

Lief, Barda and Jasmine stumble upon the pirate ship in which Dain is a captive. They rescue him but cannot get to shore and are swept away down the river. They arrive in Tora hours later, and enter the city to find it deserted. Dain becomes ill upon entering the city, because he is a creature of evil, but he hides it well, making the trio believe that he is stricken with grief over finding the city deserted. Later, they leave the city and meet Doom and Neridah. Dain is furious with Doom for not telling him the truth about Tora and yells at him. Dain later returns to the Resistance stronghold with Doom.

Return to Del[]

He is met again in the eighth and final book of the series, Return to Del. In the book, while Lief is searching for the heir to the throne, he is a major candidate. Lief realises that he could be the heir because he and his mother were Toran, his mother died in Tora (which, in Lief's opinion would be the best place for the royal family to hide) and his name is an anagram of Adin.

He is later 'kidnapped' in the book by Ichabod when he actually had just changed forms into a dagger. He hears of Lief's plans to free him [Dain] from the Grey Guards and his plan to save his parents and drive the Shadow Lord out. He is revealed to be an Ol when the Resistance attack, where he reveals his true form. Doom tried to stab him in the heart, but was tossed into a nearby building. Lief was finally able to kill Dain with the Belt of Deltora, which caused his body to liquify.

Keep Calm and Berry On[]

Dain's appearance is in Keep Calm and Berry On, in which Princess Marillia delivers his dead liquified Ol body to Hub City in the hopes that the fourteen Hub characters can successfully reform him as a mutual ally. She casts a protective spell on the Elements of Teamwork and personally requests Strawberry Shortcake to give him a chance. Once Marilla leaves, he is brought to life by the elements and reveals that he has heard everything even though he was dead. He resides in Strawberry's cafe for most of the episode, taking advantage of her enduring patience and hospitality. During Dain stay, he is legitimately surprised to hear that Strawberry's defends his actions and even considers him a friend.

The situation soon becomes critical because of an earlier attack resulting the Ols' in Berry Bitty City, so Strawberry asks Dain to command them to stop and go back home. He says he will do so on the condition that Strawberry will never raise her element against him, so she reluctantly agrees much to the chagrin of her friends. This leads to Dain betraying her and only make the attacks worse by commanding the Ols to crush the Berrykins, believing that he is finally free to wreak havoc and offering Strawberry to indulge in the attacking with him. Though Strawberry does not break her own promise, she angrily renounces her friendship with him and walks away.

Initially, he brags about how no one tells him what to do and asks if she truly believed that he cared if he lost his first and only friend. This results in an epiphany as Dain finally understands the consequences of his actions - and realizes that he actually does value her friendship. Feeling ashamed and with his eyes welling up with tears, he commands the Ols to stop attacking after finally understanding the magic of friendship, if somewhat embarrassed to admit it. When Princess Marillia arrives later, he announces that he is ready to become good "most of the time".

While Dain senses a change in Marilla's outlook and is eager to accept him, she is aware that she is dealing with the king of the Ols and leaves the Elements of Teamwork in the possession of Lief as a contingency plan. Dain overhears Marillia revealing her intention to Lief and shows a face of concern. Strawberry holds his hand and reassures that "He can be a real sweetheart once you get to know him." However, the others give expressions of uncertainty.

Anime[]

Dain's role in the anime is primarily the same as in the books. However, he was given a subplot with Jasmine that

hinted to romantic feelings (which was later revealed to be a lie). The circumstances of his death are also completely different in the anime. He steals the Belt of Deltora from Lief, who pursues him to an open staircase on the Palace where the two of them fight. During the battle, Dain's body mutated whenever he received an injury; he even grew a hard chithin plate over his heart when Lief stabbed it. Fallow later arrived and distracted Dain long enough for Lief to wrap the belt around him, which caused his body to melt. However, Dain tried one last time to attack Lief by pretending to return to being Lief's friend (which he'd done earlier in the fight and Lief fell for again). Lief was able to avoid the attack, and Dain died.

Trivia[]

His name is actually an anagram of 'Adin', which leads Lief to believe him as the heir to the Deltoran throne.
His fake mother's name, 'Rhans' (Arn in the anime) is also an anagram of 'Sharn', Endon's wife (the previous Queen of Deltora).
Dain easily escaped Doom's suspicion of being an Ol because he [Dain] is a Level 3 Ol, and Doom can only detect Level 1s and 2s.