Arak is a fictional comic book character published by DC Comics. He first appeared in a special insert in The Warlord #48 (August 1981) and was created by Roy Thomas and Ernie Colón. After his debut in The Warlord #48, Arak starred in a monthly DC Comics series, Arak, Son of Thunder, which ran 50 issues (and one 1984 annual) from September 1981 to November 1985.
Bright-Sky-After-Storm was the sole survivor of the Quontauka tribe. He was discovered as a boy in a canoe out at sea by a band of Vikings. Arak was rescued just before the canoe sank. He was unconscious, but awakened just long enough to utter the phrase "He-No" (a reference to his Native American father) a few times and swing a knife at the Viking leader. He was not attacking, but cut off the leader's necklace which had a hammer symbol called a hammer of thunder, related to the god Thor. The leader wanted to kill him, but another Viking stopped him and adopted the boy and named him Arak (intended as "Eric" but Bright-Sky-After-Storm mispronounced it).
Arak was raised as a Viking, trained in warfare. He was particularly effective with a small axe, similar in proportion to a Native American club he was found with, but could also use a sword, shield, and bow. Arak joined the Vikings as a young man on their raids. They consisted mostly of raiding monasteries for treasure, including a huge gold bejeweled cross which the captain hung upside down on the mast as a good luck hammer of thunder. But tragedy struck when a sea serpent attacked the Vikings and some monks. All of the Vikings, including Arak's adoptive father, were killed. Arak seized the gold cross and said "Hammer of one god, or cross of another, strike for me now!", he threw the cross, which had a sharp bottom, at the serpent. The cross pierced the roof of its mouth and entered its brain, killing it. Arak managed to save one monk. The monk told him that God had delivered them. Arak replied he does not know it if it was the monk's god, thunder, or his own god, whom he had all but forgotten.
Arak would become accepted in the court of Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne and served him for the rest of his life. Arak continued to go on other adventures, which include returning to North America to rediscover his tribe's origins.
Arak, Son of Tropes
- Action Girl: Arak's most constant travelling companion is Valda, the Iron Maiden. Valda was the daughter of Bradmante, the legendary female knight, and became the only female knight in Charlemagne's court.
- Bad Habits: Arak's ally Satyricus was a satyr who frequently disguised himself as a monk as the robe concealed his goat's feet.
- Badass Native: Arak is a Native American warrior who is the equal of any knight in Charlemagne's court.
- Barbarian Hero: Arak is a Native American raised by Vikings.
- Barbarian Longhair: Arak was a Native American raised by Vikings whose shoulder-length (or longer) black mane marked him as an outsider in Charlemagne's court. After learning more about his Native American origins, he underwent a Significant Haircut and started wearing his hair in a Mohawk to honour his ancestry, but eventually reverted to his barbarian longhair.
- Breeding Slave: The Black Pope has women kidnapped and turned into sex slaves and breeding stock in huge numbers, gloating about his intent to invade the surface with those bred for it.
- Court Mage: Malgigi is the court mage to Carolus Magnus (a.k.a. Charlemagne).
- Divine Parentage: Arak is the son of the thunder god He-No.
- Fauns and Satyrs: One of Arak's travelling companions was Satyricus; the cowardly and lecherous 'last of the satyrs'. He frequently disguised himself as a monk as the robe concealed his goat's feet.
- God of Thunder: He-No is the thunder god of the Quontauka Tribe.
- Historical Domain Character: Arak becomes a knight in the service of Charlemagne.
- Improvised Weapon: Arak killed the sea serpent that attacked his Viking longship by throwing a huge golden cross at it: piercing the roof its mouth and penetrating the brain.
- Last of His Kind: Arak's ally Satyricus was the last remaining Satyr.
- Mind-Control Music: Satyricus can use his pan flute to elicit emotions in his listeners that vary from lust to terror.
- Moses in the Bulrushes: Slightly older than is the norm for this trope, but as a boy Bright-Sky-After-Storm survived the attack that wiped out his tribe when he was knocked unconscious and fell into a canoe which was then washed out to sea. He was found by a Viking longship and adopted by one of the Vikings who trained him as a warrior. This started him on the path that would eventually see him become a knight of Charlemagne.
- Raised by Dudes: When her mother Bradmante failed to return from an ambush at the pass of Roncesvalles in the Pyrenees mountains in 778 C.E., where part of King Charlemagne's army was destroyed by the Basques, Valda was raised by Charlemagne and his Court Mage, Malagigi. Despite their best efforts, this may explain why she is much better at being a knight than she is at being a lady of court (which is what her mother wanted her to be).
- Sea Serpents: Arak's Viking band was wiped when their ship was attacked by a sea serpent while returning from an attack on a monastery. Arak and a prisoner monk were the only survivors.
- Significant Haircut: After learning more about his Native American origins, Arak cuts off his Barbarian Longhair and starts wearing his hair in a Mohawk to honour his ancestry.
- Spirit Advisor: Valda used a spell she learned from Malagigi to summon the spirit of Amadis of Gaul, a valiant warrior, and the ghost tutored her as a warrior into Valda's adulthood.
- The Squadette: Valda the Iron Maiden was the female knight of Charlemagne's court, and was regarded as the equal in bravery and martial prowess of any of her male comrades.
- Unicorn: In #37, a foreign envoy has brought a gift for the Frankish king: a unicorn. All they need to tame it is a maiden, and all eyes turn to Action Girl Valda. But they don't know about her recently-consummated relationship with Arak, and the unicorn has to be pacified by Court Mage Malagigi's magic when it goes wild.
- Unicorns Prefer Virgins: In #37, a foreign envoy has brought a gift for the Frankish king: a unicorn. All they need to tame it is a maiden, and all eyes turn to Action Girl Valda. But they don't know about her recently-consummated relationship with Arak, and the unicorn has to be pacified by Court Mage Malagigi's magic when it goes wild because she is no longer a virgin.
