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Fafnir the Dragon is a character appearing in comic books and webcomics of the same name created by Thormod Skald and Asta Gunn and published by Arcana Studio and Iron Hammer Graphics. The character is based upon Fafnir Hreidmarsson of Norse mythology and is a continuation of the original character's life into the modern era. Character biography In the Viking myth Volsunga Saga, Fafnir Hreidmarsson uses the enchanted Aegis Helmet to transform into a nearly invincible dragon to better guard the cursed gold of Andvari. Fafnir is eventually killed by the hero Sigurd wielding the magical sword Gram who then takes the dragon's treasure only to later be destroyed by its curse. The treasure horde continues to bring doom to those who possess it until eventually it is lost and scattered throughout the world. The comic series is a tongue-in-cheek adaptation that picks up after these events and details the return of Fafnir and his ongoing efforts to recover his treasure. Although most of the treasure horde has long ago been melted down into other forms, the curse of Andvari still remains and grants the possessor complete control over Fafnir for a period of nine days after which they must surrender the gold. As with the original myth, many of the characters in the series are greedy, spiteful and self-absorbed resulting in their destruction either by Fafnir or their own ambition. Political/cultural references and theme Fafnir the Dragon frequently uses contemporary political/cultural events and people such as Barack Obama, Jon Stewart, the polarization of American culture and the Twilight vampire mania. Fafnir's controllers are usually people who symbolize the theme of each story while Fafnir himself is incredibly powerful but only semi-intelligent which leads him to fulfill his master's commands in a literal but often clumsy and destructive way. The humor of Fafnir the Dragon is an example of Reductio Ad Absurdum, (reducing the opposing viewpoint to the absurd or in this case, using the absurd to point out the absurd) similar to comedic methods employed by Stephen Colbert and South Park. Fafnir is a villain in Marvel Comics, an enemy of Thor. Powers and abilities Fafnir Hreidmarsson was already a skilled wizard before he came into possession of Andvari's gold. As a dragon, his intelligence has dropped to roughly that of a well-trained dog but his strength has become god-like and in addition, he has become virtually indestructible to any non-magical attack. His wings allow him to fly, albeit clumsily, and he can project a cone of fire from his mouth hot enough to melt any non-magical metal. Additionally, Fafnir's latent wizard abilities allow him to create new powers at will although he is no longer intelligent enough to remember to do this without direction from his controller. Fafnir is also able to travel between different dimensions (including time travel) which causes him to sometimes appear and disappear seemingly out of thin air. Fafnir appears to have no motives whatsoever other than to recover his treasure and stay well-fed, particularly on hot-wings for which he has an insatiable appetite and which have a catnip-like effect upon him.
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