Harry Dresden
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Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is a fictional detective and wizard. He was created by Jim Butcher and is the protagonist of the contemporary fantasy series The Dresden Files. The series blends magic and hardboiled detective fiction. In addition to the ten The Dresden Files novels, he has appeared in five published short stories and several unpublished short stories.[1] He was also adapted into a character by the same name for the TV series version of the novel series, also called The Dresden Files.
Fictional biography
Harry is a wizard, who works as a private investigator of sorts in Chicago (he's in the phone book, the only listing under "Wizards"), dealing with paranormal crimes and consulting for the Chicago Police Department. He is named after three different stage magicians — Harry Houdini, Harry Blackstone, Sr., and David Copperfield. This name was given to him by his father, Malcolm Dresden, a stage magician himself, who raised Harry while still performing his magic show all across the country. The stories are told from Harry's point of view in a hardboiled style.
Harry is considered a magical "thug," lacking fine control of his power, but is one of the strongest living wizards in terms of pure magical strength, as well as factors surrounding the timing of his birth. He favors fire and wind spells in battle, and he is an expert at tracking spells (which he uses in his investigations) along with summoning and entrapment spells to speak to faeries and other supernatural sources of information. Due to his lack of finer control, Harry often must rely on magical items to help focus and channel his magical energy. Harry has also been known to carry around a .44 revolver and a sawed-off shotgun for those times when 'magic just doesn't cut it'.
Harry's traditional arsenal includes an enchanted leather duster, a rune staff, a 'blasting rod' (a wooden stick used to channel his fire magic), a shield bracelet, a silver ring (used to channel blasts of kinetic energy), and his mother's silver pentacle amulet.
Harry also benefits from having a large number of contacts and acquaintances within the different groups of the magical community. Whereas most traditional and hidebound wizards refuse to have dealings with other magical beings, Harry has gained a great deal of respect and infamy that often allows him to pursue other options normally not available to wizards. Of particular relevance is the fact that Harry has met and has some level of interaction with all the Queens of the Summer and Winter Courts of Faerie.
Harry's mother, Margaret Gwendolyn LeFay, was a wizard herself, although Harry knew little of her prior to book six. Harry was raised by his father, a stage illusionist, until the age of six, when his father died of a brain aneurysm. He spent some years as a ward of the state before being adopted at ten (shortly after manifesting his magical powers) by Justin DuMorne, a former Warden of the White Council who turned renegade and dark mage. Justin later tried to enthrall Harry as his slave, but Harry fought back and in the process killed Justin. Harry was then entrusted to the care of Ebenezar McCoy, who mentored Harry and helped keep him out of trouble, until Harry was old enough to support himself.
Novels
Storm Front
The first book, Storm Front, reveals that Harry, along with a girl his age named Elaine, who was adopted shortly after he was, were DuMorne's apprentices; Harry and Elaine became romantically involved in their early teens. This lasted until shortly after Harry's 16th birthday, when DuMorne tried to enthrall (bind by a spell / enslave) him and sent a demon after him. In the ensuing battle, Harry killed DuMorne by burning him to death. Harry stole DuMorne's assistant Bob, a spirit of air and intellect bound to a human skull, from the wreckage.
Dresden was nearly executed for breaking the First Law of Magic, but the White Council ruled the killing self-defense. Dresden was placed under the Doom of Damocles (a sort of probation) and put in the care of Ebenezar McCoy until adulthood. He left Ebenezar at age 19, and spent a year or two wandering the country before arriving in Chicago though this is not revealed until "Summer Knight". Two years later, he began working under a P.I. named Nicholas Christian, for a detective agency called Ragged Angel Investigations. These events are partially chronicled in "Restoration of Faith." He spent three years with Nick before opening his own business, which had been open for two years at the time of the first book, Storm Front.
Harry also deals with a small time sorcerer attacking and killing people in Chicago. This book is where the Shadowman is introduced as well as Warden Morgan and the White Council.
Fool Moon
In Fool Moon, the second book in the series, Harry meets the Alphas, a group of young werewolves who give him aid throughout the series. Harry also starts to date Susan in this book.
Grave Peril
In Grave Peril, third book in the series, Harry's friend Michael is introduced, a holy Knight of the Cross who battles evil. Michael encourages Harry to admit that he loves Susan, his reporter girlfriend. However, this comes too late, as Susan is attacked by Red Court vampires, and almost turned into one of them. To get her back, Harry destroys a large amount of Bianca's property, and Bianca herself, starting a war between the vampires and the White Council. Susan ends up leaving town to deal with her new identity as a semi-vampire.
It is also revealed in this book that Harry has a faerie godmother, Leanansidhe, who helped him to escape Justin DuMorne in exchange for his fealty, as well the fact that his mother, before she died, had made a pact with "Leah".
Summer Knight
In Summer Knight, fourth book in the series, Harry learns that Elaine survived the fire that killed Justin and that the Winter Queen of faerie, Mab, has purchased his debt from Leanansidhe. Harry then is forced into Faerie dealings and their fighting.
Death Masks
In Death Masks, fifth book in the series, Harry meets other Knights of the Cross and inadvertently absorbed the essence of a fallen angel by the name of Lasciel. Susan returns briefly before moving to South America to work with other not-quite-vampires against vampires.
Blood Rites
In Blood Rites, sixth in the series, Harry learns that the White Court vampire Thomas Raith, whom he encountered in Grave Peril and Death Masks, is his half-brother: both are the sons of Margaret Gwendolyn LeFay, and Thomas is six or seven years his senior. He also learns that Ebenezar is the equivalent of the White Council's hitman, and that Harry's mother had once been Ebenezar's apprentice, before she rebelled and took up with a bad crowd. She did not die naturally in childbirth, but was murdered by Thomas' father, Lord Raith of the White Court. Additionally, in this book Harry severely burns his left hand, crippling him.
The other important thing in this novel is that Harry meets Mouse! Mouse is a large, sloppy Chinese temple dog, with the ability to sense evil. The book opens with Harry's assignment to rescue Chinese temple puppies from bad entities, and he manages to, but one puppy slips out into the blue beetle and rides home with Harry. At that point, Mouse fits into Harry's duster pocket, and Harry decides to keep him. Mouse ultimately grows to be about 300 pounds huge, and is Harry's constant companion.
Dead Beat
In Dead Beat, seventh in the series, Harry finds out about a long since executed Dark Wizard named Kemmler. While Murphy is out of town, Mavra threatens to destroy her career if Harry does not get her the last copy of the book Word of Kemmler from the Disciples of Kemmler who also come for the last surviving copy. The disciples are aligned with the Red Court and while Harry is busy the White Council is hit in a massive assault, resulting in the loss of over three-fourths of the Wardens. Harry tries to keep them from killing millions. When the Head of the Wardens, Luccio, comes to Chicago to help stop the “Kemmlerites,” she also elevates Harry to the rank of Warden to help alleviate the recent loss of force and raise morale of the surviving Wardens, many of whom are young and see Harry as an idol. In this book Butters determines why Wizards heal so well and live so long, as well as helps Harry begin to regain control over his burned hand. Also, in this book, Harry first becomes aware of the presence of Lasciel inside of him. Harry walks a fine line between using the gifts she offers (such as Hellfire, which supercharges his spells, and her photographic memory) and resisting her overtures for fear he will become dependent on her.
Proven Guilty
In Proven Guilty, book eight, Harry takes the rebellious Molly Carpenter (eldest daughter of his friend Michael Carpenter) as his apprentice, under similar circumstances to his own apprenticeship under Ebenezar. The act of sparing her life results in both Harry and Molly being placed under the Doom of Damocles, with Harry responsible for all of Molly's actions. Harry and Ebenezar discuss the existence of the heretofore "Black Council."
White Night
In White Night, book nine, Harry is forced to confront the fact that Lasciel has been influencing him, making him quicker to become angry at his friends. However, he discovers that his subconscious has also been influencing Laciel's shadow, enough that she takes a metaphorical bullet for him and apparently "dies." He also meets Elaine again, discovers Thomas's occupation as a hairdresser, and appears to be becoming involved in setting up a network to help members of the magical community who are not powerful enough to protect themselves.
It also turns out that Harry, due to the timing of his conception and birth, may have power beyond that of normal wizards. His mother apparently carefully arranged matters so that he would be the only wizard with the ability to destroy or banish Outsiders. Apparently the Council is unaware of this, although it is striking that Harry's power manifested years before that of most young wizards (such as Molly Carpenter, whose power manifested at sixteen/seventeen).
Small Favor
Harry returns to deal with a bargain he made with Mab, monarch of the Winter Court of the Sidhe, the Queen of Air and Darkness. Harry also is given the power of Soulfire, the magical opposite of Hellfire. Soulfire magic is used to create things whereas Hellfire is used to just destroy. This magic was given to him supposedly by Uriel, an archangel, also known as the "Watchman" at the end of the book.
Love Life
We only hear of Harry having two girlfriends in his entire life. This scarcity may be due to the tragic ends of both love affairs, making him wary of getting involved with women.
His first girlfriend and first love Elaine, who was also a fellow apprentice, lived with him and Justin DuMorne for several years, and as Harry puts it, they drove each other nuts and went through puberty together. She was enthralled (a magical mind control technique, deemed black magic by the Council) by DuMorne and attempted to kill her boyfriend, and Harry believed she had betrayed him. When he killed DuMorne, he also thought (incorrectly) that Elaine was dead.
His only major girlfriend after that was Susan Rodriguez, whom Harry dated steadily for a few years but found himself unable to say "I love you" to. He finally said it when she was turned half-vampire, and proposed marriage soon afterwards, but Susan rejected him and left the U.S. She later returned, and they resumed their sexual relationship briefly. Harry hasn't gotten over her loss yet, and as of White Night he reveals that he's been celibate ever since their last tryst.
Harry also flirted with the idea of becoming involved with Karrin Murphy, but this never went anywhere. In addition, wizards tend to live much longer than non-wizards; Karrin would die of old age centuries before Harry. Despite this, their platonic friendship is often closer than that of lovers.
As of Small Favor Harry has begun flirting with Anastasia Luccio, otherwise known as Captain Luccio, of the Wardens of the White Council. They have only been on one date, but the relationship seems both reciprocal and genuine.
In the novel "Dead Beat," a sorcerer that Harry killed, via Mouse, hits Harry with his death curse: "Die alone," which has led some to speculation that whatever love life he might have will eventually fail, as a result of this curse. The curse may come to nothing as Harry's deceased father appearing as a ghost or hallucination explains everyone dies alone, in that "It's a door. One person wide", this evidence is fragile though, because as stated, Harry thinks he was hallucinating.
Adaptations and influence
Television series
Debuting on January 21, 2007, the Sci Fi Channel TV adaptation starred Paul Blackthorne as the eponymous wizard. Harry's history in the series differed from that of the novels in several significant ways; his father, Malcolm Dresden, did not die from an aneurysm, but was instead murdered by Justin (named Morningway rather than DuMorne, and Harry's biological uncle). Bob is the spirit of a medieval wizard who, in punishment for using black magic to resurrect his life's love, is doomed to spend eternity inside his skull; he can manifest a human appearance outside the skull - but only within a short radius of the skull itself - and must return to the skull when ordered. In "What About Bob?", it is revealed he was also Dresden's primary magical teacher as a child.
Harry wears a magical "shield-bracelet" (rather than a pentacle necklace, which makes an appearance in flashback scenes from "Bad Blood") that once belonged to his mother, and was given to him by his father. As a private investigator, Harry drives a Korean-war-era military Jeep instead of the infamous "Blue Beetle" VW Beetle of the novels (a change made based on actor Blackthorne's height and the difficulty of filming inside a VW Beatle).
According to "Bad Blood," Harry was around 31 when he killed Justin, instead of 16 as in the novels; a Red Court vampire, Bianca, protected Harry while the High Council investigated Morningway's death. The two had a sexual relationship that does not exist in the books.
In the episode "What About Bob?", the events surrounding Justin's death at Dresden's hands are fully revealed: Only five years prior to the series Dresden discovered that Justin, using black magic, was responsible for the death his father. Justin said that he did not kill Harry's mother, but he died before the truth could be divined. Dresden used thaumaturgy - in this case, a voodoo doll of sorts - to attack Justin, who fought back using his own magical ability. In the scuffle, Harry accidentally crushed the voodoo doll, causing Justin to die with a "circle-shaped crushing wound" around his heart.
The series was canceled by the SciFi Channel in August of 2007. Efforts by fans still exist to bring the show back or find it a new home.[2]
Graphic Novel
In spring 2008, Dabel Brothers comic book publisher will launch a comic book adaptation of The Dresden Files, along with two other major properties. They will be distributed Del Rey Books in the summer or fall of 2008
Influence
As a possible gag or tribute, he is also listed as one of the magicians on the same bill as Alfred Borden in the movie The Prestige.
References
- ^ Jim Butcher's page on The Dresden Files
- ^ Slice of SciFi's "Save Dresden!" campaign
External links
