Runaan

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“	An assassin doesn't decide right or wrong, just life and death.	„
	~ Runaan describing his work as an assassin.

“	Tonight, we bind ourselves to justice!	„
	~ Runnan to his group as they make an oath to kill Harrow and Ezran.

Runaan is a supporting character in the 2018 Netflix animated fantasy series The Dragon Prince and the deuteragonist of its 2022 prequel/spin-off graphic novel Bloodmoon Huntress.

He was the mentor of Rayla and the leader of a group of assassins who were sent to murder King Harrow and Prince Ezran out of revenge for the former killing Avizandum and seemingly his son Azymondias as well.

He was voiced by Jonathan Holmes.

Biography[]

Backstory[]

In the past, Runaan married an elf named Ethari and became the leader of a group of Moonshadow assassins. Runaan was always determined to finish his mission as an assassin and forgot about his morals, since he believed that his assassinations would help his village and the people he loved.

One day, his best friends Tiadrin and Lain gave their daughter Rayla to him and Ethari because they were sent to protect the egg of the Dragon Prince. Rayla then would try to find out what was the work Runaan had, since he was out for most of the day unlike Ethari, with the latter refusing to tell Rayla due to how much he loved Runaan and wanted to protect Rayla.

Rayla then found Runaan teaching a group of assassins about their rituals and cultures, but he hears Rayla and almost kills her with an arrow before realizing it was her and ordering her to go back their house. After finding out what an assassin meant from Ethari, Rayla asked how Runaan was able to kill people, with Runaan saying that the deaths are necessary to protect those he loves.

After the two have an argument, they are stopped by Ethari, who convinces them to relax, so they just go to their respective bedrooms and slam their doors. The next day, they would again have an argument with Runaan using flavour and nutrition and that it was needed to sacrifice one of them for their good to make her understand that a job of an assassin would help many people, but Ethari stops them from arguing any further.

Runaan would have Rayla see him training assassins to know how it worked, but Rayla still didn't like his work, and while sitting in a tree, he would meet an elf that revealed that his family was kidnapped by another elf who planned to have them sacrificed for a ceremony during the Bloodmoon Festival, which was that night.

Rayla then went to her village to inform Runaan and Ethari about Suroh's family being kidnapped and in danger, but they didn't believed because they thought she was joking about the Bloodmoon Huntress, a story told in her village about an elf who drank the bloood from other elves during the Bloodmoon Festival.

Understanding that no one would help her, Rayla left her village and helped Suroh in saving his family, but Kim'dael, the elf that kidnapped Suroh's family, threw Rayla off a waterfall, but Runaan and Ethari save her life and apologize to Rayla for not believing her. Runaan would then fight Kim'dael while Rayla and Ethari saved Suroh.

After Suroh was saved and Kim'dael understood that she was loosing, she decided to disappear, but not telling Runaan and Ethari that she would kill them if she ever saw them again. Rayla would then talk to Runaan, and understands now why an assassin is important to protect people, and told him that she was to train with him.

Runaan would spend the next years training Rayla to become an assassin, and after finding out that the Dragon King and Prince have both been killed by humans, he accepted a mission from the Dragon Queen Zubeia to kill King Harrow and Prince Ezran out of revenge for the deaths of her son and mate.

The Dragon Prince[]

Runaan is first seen ordering Rayla to kill a human soldier, but she refused and to make it look like she killed him, she smashed several red fruits and put them in her swords. After finding out that the soldier was alive the next day due to a group of humans lead by Soren went to their hideout to see if they were still there, Runaan ordered Rayla to stay in the hideout while they did their mission.

Rayla, to prove her worth, infiltrated in Katolis's castle and attempted to kill Ezran, but after finding out that the egg of the dragon prince was not destroyed and that it was still intact, Rayla tried to convince Runaan to stop the mission, but since they couldn't undo the oath they made, Runaan tried to kill Ezran, but Rayla defended him and fight him so they could escape.

After understanding that Rayla was just distracting him, Runaan had his assassins attack the Harrow's bedroom where he was. Runaan would then kill Harrow and send a message to Zubeia about his death. However, Viren would then capture Runaan and imprison him in a dugeon where he would interogate him, and killed his allies and turned them into magic.

Runaan would refuse to give in to Viren's interogation even after he had him starve for days. Understanding that he didn't fear death, Viren showed him coins of the elves he collected, and after he refused to tell him about the Mirror of Aaravos, Viren turned him into a coin. Runaan's apparent death also had an affect on Ethari, as he became more pessimistic before Rayla showed him Azymondias, which gave him hope again.

Runaan's coin would be used by Claudia to force Rayla to release Terry, whom Rayla was holding hostage, alongside Tiadrin and Lain's. Claudia seemingly tried to throw the coins to lava, but it was revealed that there was just rocks and Claudia still had the coins, but Terry convinced her to give Rayla the coins as he called her out on how wrong it was.

Personality[]

Runaan is a no nonsense person who believes that assassins are needed to bring peace to the world, and is willing to remove his empathy for others so the mission can be complete. He has a low opinion on humans, believing them all to be liars. Runaan cares for his people deeply, and would do anything to protect them, as shown by his willingness to give his life for them by refusing to give in to Viren's interogation even while tortured and starving.

Despite their issues, he truly sees Rayla as a surrogant daughter to him, as he took care of her for most of her youth after her parents left her. He also loves Ethari, with the latter helping him by creating weapons for him. Runaan also has an ideology that if captured by his enemies, he should be treated like he was dead. After two years of being inside a cursed coin, Runaan has been filled with guilt over trying to kill the one he saw as a daughter. Even with that guilt, he knew to that his oath to Ethari to return to him should be kept.

After being convinced to return to the normal world, Runaan also shows no grudge or resentment towards Callum, having seemingly let go of his previous prejudice against him for being a human.