Daq Dragus

"But if I get this and I become a Hunter...who will I be?"
"You actually gave me the idea back when you so rudely entered my office."
"I like where this is going."
"I want you to be a Sith Lord."

―Rieve and Dragus discuss Rieve's Hunter personality^[2]

Daq Dragus, also known as Durasteel during his time as a fighter, was an individual who recruited Hunters for Balada the Hutt's Grand Arena on Vespaara. He trained the Hunters and helped them create the character they wanted to portray. A self-described showman, he acted as a frontward-facing personality for the Hunters of the Outer Rim, but also as an employee and partner to Balada the Hutt. As Durasteel, Dragus fought in underground fighting rings, where he wore combat gear.^[2]

Biography

Formerly a fighter known as Durasteel, Daq Dragus partnered with Balada the Hutt to create the Hunters of the Outer Rim, a combat competition in which contestants, called Hunters, battled for supremacy. Dragus's primary focus in the Grand Arena was creating an entertaining experience for the audience. While this meant he sometimes tolerated the unconventional narratives Rieve's early days in the arena provided, he nevertheless intended to mold her into a better, more cooperative Hunter. Dragus ended up being a mentor for Rieve, helping to train her and develop her Hunter persona. He mandated her to do extra training sessions, including private training with himself, J-3DI, and Grozz. His eye for entertainment also inspired him to introduce Huttball into the match rotation.^[2]

When Rothwell's goons attempted to cause massive destruction to the Grand Arena, Rothwell sported his Durasteel costume and persona to fight against the invaders. Dragus eventually apprehended Rothwell and was rescued from a Class-A thermal detonator explosion by Rieve.^[2]

When tensions between Mandalorian mercenary Aran Tal and former bounter hunter Imara Vex came to a head, a brawl began in the Arena's chow room. Daq was forced to intervene, firing warning shots and telling the pair to save their battle for the Arena. He led them out, as droids rushed to clean the mess.^[4]

Tal and Vex's feud would be far from the last Dragus would have to deal with. Sentinel, a stormtrooper and Imperial loyalist, and Pilbush, an Ewok with a deep appreciation of the Rebel Alliance, were determined to dislike each other from their first meeting. Late one night, Sentinel snuck toward Pilbush's AT-ET and graffitied it with the Imperial crest. He attempted to justify his actions, but Dragus was less than moved and forced Sentinel to clean the Ewok's walker.^[5] When Pilbush destroyed Sentinel's favorite E-Web Heavy Repeater with her AT-ET, and Sentinel responded by disassembling her walker's legs and leaving them outside her door, Dragus became irritated and scolded the two of them and insisted they repair each other's equipment.^[6]

Even after Sentinel won a Clash against Pilbush, their feud didn't subside. After a confrontation that left Sentinel's prep pod destroyed, Daq Dragus forced the two of them to work together to move Sentinel's surviving possessions to a new pod as a punishment. Hours later, once they were finished, Dragus told them to say once nice thing about the other. Sentinel refused and Pilbush started cursing at him in Ewokese; Dragus walked away, disgusted.^[7]

When the Iridonian Zabrak Nox joined the Hunters, she came into conflict with Rieve. On one occasion, a brawl between the two broke out in the trainging grounds, and Dragus was forced to intervene, telling them to settle their score in the Arena.^[8]

Shortly after a Clash between Nox and the Miraluka marksman Diago, Balada and Daq Dragus arrived at the Training Ground, announcing that Balada's prized tiara had been stolen from her chambers. They offered a reward for the capture of the thief, hinting that this may have something to do with a new Hunter who would be arriving shortly.^[9]

The incoming Hunter was Glikkin, a Kubaz from Coruscant. Shortly after arriving, Glikkin came into conflict with fellow Hunter Utooni, a pair of Jawa brothers. Balada had decided that the two should compete in an Arena-wide scavenger hunt, which resulted in possessions all around the Arena going missing. When the hunt ended in a tie, Balada announced that the first Hunter to retrieve Dragus' prized championship belt would win the game. And so, Glikkin immediately scaled the wall to Daq's office window, and Utooni picked the lock on his office door, both unaware that not only was Dragus in his office, but that he was wearing his championship belt. Dragus grabbed them by their collars and, irritated by the commotion they had been causing, demanded they settle their differences with a Pinnacle Event. The Hunters agreed.^[10]

Personality and traits

Dragus was a professional fighter in his youth and even after his retirement from fighting, he maintained proficiency in hand-to-hand combat. He was adept at analyzing his opponents' styles and exploiting their weaknesses, a skill he tried to impart onto Rieve. She later asked him why he retired from fighting, to which he explained that he got more satisfaction from training others and being the public face of the Hunters without enduring the pain of fights.^[2]

Equipment

Dragus' costume was shirtless, with massive armored gauntlets that matched his armored boots. He wore tight red pants and a thick metallic band around his waist. In his professional life in the Hunters for the Outer Rim, he wore outfits appropriate to put on a show. When he first met Rieve, he wore a dark blue suit with a white undershirt and orange neck scarf. On another occasion he wore a shimmering purple suit and a red-and-black suit.^[2]

Behind the scenes

Daq Dragus was first visually depicted through a sticker in Star Wars: Hunters. — Daq Dragus was first visually depicted through a sticker in *Star Wars: Hunters*.

Daq Dragus was first mentioned in the 2023 mobile video game Star Wars: Hunters,^[1] soft-launched on November 16, 2021, in select countries.^[11] Dragus later made first appearance in the 2023 tie-in novel Hunters: Battle for the Arena, written by Mark Oshiro and published by Disney–Lucasfilm Press on March 7, 2023.^[12] During update 0.19 of Star Wars: Hunters, Dragus got his first visual depiction through a sticker cosmetic in-game,^[1] which released on January 9, 2024.^[13]