DRAGON, THE (Vlad Giurescu)	BIOGRAPHY
Created by Ron Marz and Darryl Banks

PERSONAL DATA

Real Name: Vlad Giurescu
Occupation: Assassin
Citizenship: Romanian
Marital Status: Single
Base of Operation: Mobile
Gender: Male
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 165 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
First Appearance: Previewed: Green Lantern Secret Files #2 (1999)
Appears: Green Lantern Vol. 3 #119 (December 1999): "Spectre of the Past"
Creators: Ron Marz and Darryl Banks

HISTORY

Vlad Giurescu was one of the deadliest operatives in Romania's Securitate, the secret police answerable to dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Giurescu earned the nickname "Dracul" or "the Dragon" due to the red dragon tattoo on his back and the knife he used called the Dragon's Tooth.

Years ago, former farmer and soldier Radu Stancu was put under his command. Stancu served for a few years but did not have the will as Giurescu did to be a killer. The time came when Stancu and his wife Elena tried to defect to the West. The Dragon was assigned to prevent their escape.

He caught up with the couple in Vienna as they were trying to board a train bound for Paris. Stancu and Giurescu struggled and the Dragon's Tooth was taken from the Dragon. Stancu cut the Dragon, costing the assassin his left eye. The Dragon managed to shot Stancu, striking his leg. The injury caused Stancu to lose his grip on his wife's hand. The Dragon caught Elena as the train her husband was riding sped to freedom.

According to the Dragon, he tortured and killed Elena over the course of days. The Dragon never forgot Radu Stancu, his only failure. The Dragon left Romania before the fall of Nicolae Ceausescu and therefore avoided the dictator's fate. Working in international circles brought the Dragon many opportunities for wealth and women. - Green Lantern Secret Files #2, Green Lantern Vol. 3 #120

Recently, the Dragon caught up with his former associate in New York City's Greenwich Village. Stancu had bought the property at 175 Bleeker Street and opened a coffee shop and apartments. From a rooftop across the street, the Dragon waited for his target. - Green Lantern Vol. 3 #119 - 120

The next morning, Stancu and one of his tenants, Kyle Rayner, were opening the coffee shop when the Dragon fired a bullet through the shop's front window. The bullet struck right in the forehead of a stylized coffee pot decorating the window. It was a message to his target that the Dragon had arrived.

The Dragon waited on the rooftop for Stancu to come to him. Taunting Stancu with the death of Elena, the Dragon was ready for his attack. He might have killed Stancu right then and there if not for the arrival of Green Lantern. The hero knocked the Dragon off Stancu but turned his back on the assassin. The Dragon shot the ring wielder, striking him in the shoulder. While Green Lantern tried to get his bearings, shocked by the bullet wound, Stancu charged the Dragon. They struggled and Stancu threw the Dragon over the side of the building. The Dragon hit the sidewalk and is presumed dead. - Green Lantern Vol. 3 #120

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Dragon, The in chronological order click here

PROFILE REFERENCES

Green Lantern Secret Files #2 (September 1999)