Emperor Dornkirk is the main antagonist of the anime series The Vision of Escaflowne. He is the ruler of the Zaibach Empire and a brilliant scientist who has made it his mission in life to obtain the power to alter fate so that he may build what he views as an ideal future for all of Gaea.
Japanese Voice: Masato Yamanuchi
English Voice (Bandai): Richard Newman
English Voice (Funimation): Jeremy Schwartz
History[]
Life on Earth[]
The man who would be known as Dornkirk was originally the great physicist Isaac Newton. Not long after his discovery of the force of gravity, he began to question why people were drawn to each other and why they act the way they do. He eventually concluded that the unseen force known as Destiny was responsible for the fates of humans. He began to research a way to control destiny and continued to pursue that goal all his life but never found an answer. On his death bed, just before he expired, he was transported to Gaea (though it is never explained how this happened).
Life on Gaea[]
Isaac would find himself in Zaibach, a barren nation where the inhabitants lived harsh lives of toil and struggle. Believing that he had come to save these people, Isaac used his scientific knowledge to educate the people and give them the tools they needed to make their lives easier. This allowed Zaibach to grow into an industrial society and the most technologically advanced nation on Gaea. Praised as a hero by the people, Isaac became the leader of Zaibach, taking the title of Emperor and renaming himself "Dornkirk". As well as devising technology to advance Zaibach's society and warfare, he also developed advanced medical technology which he would use to prolong his own life well past its natural limit.
Search for Atlantis[]
Dornkirk's search for the power to control destiny continued on Gaea and he discovered the legend of Atlantis. He became obsessed with the secret of Atlantis and at some point, he met Leon Schezar who was also searching for the secret of Atlantis, said to reside in the Mystic Valley. Leon discovered the secret of Atlantis but refused to tell Issac, and so Dornkirk had him killed. At some point, Dornkirk built a giant machine called the Fate Alteration Engine which would allow him to predict the future. However, his ultimate goal was to be able to bend reality to his will through his wishes as the Atlanteans were once able to do.
As part of his grand plan, Dornkirk sought out what he referred to as the "dragon", which was actually the mystical Ispano Guymelef known as Escaflowne. Escaflowne and its pilot - Van Fanel, newly crowned King of Fanelia - would pose a great threat to Zaibach's ideal future, and so Dornkirk sent his Strategos, Folken, to capture the dragon. However, an unknown element had presented itself in the form of Hitomi Kanzaki, a young girl from Earth who had appeared on Gaea in a pillar of light. Hitomi possessed an uncanny ability to predict the future and sense the presence of invisible threats, which Dornkirk found intriguing and disturbing.
Dornkirk would learn that the secrets of Atlantis were being safeguarded by the Duchy of Freid and sent his forces to invade and conquer the nation. However, Freid's Duke had already informed Van and his allies of where the power of Atlantis could be found, giving them the location of the Mystic Valley. Though Folken was dispatched there to capture Van and the others, they arrived to witness Van, Hitomi, Allen Schezar and the Escaflowne disappear in a pillar of light. To Dornkirk's delight, the trio had appeared within his own fortress at the Zaibach capital. The Emperor introduced himself and revealed his plan to control destiny, though Hitomi dismissed him as insane. Hitomi, Van and Allen were briefly imprisoned while Dornkirk's sorcerers saw to dismantling Escaflowne, but Van's psychic connection to the Guymelef allowed him to control it remotely, breaking out of containment and freeing them.
War for Gaea[]
Realising the extent of the threat both Hitomi and Escaflowne posed, Dornkirk sought to separate her from Van. He ordered Folken to enlist his two finest soldiers, Naria and Eriya, to take part in an experiment to intensify their own natural luck, injecting their bodies with a mystical "fortune's blood" that would replace their own natural blood. When the two intensified luck soldiers were on the cusp of accomplishing their mission to capture Hitomi, they fell ill as the fortune's blood in their bodies poisoned them. They returned to Folken aboard the Vione and died in his arms, much to Folken's grief. Dornkirk expressed his disappointment in the two, but Folken was enraged by the Emperor's callous attitude to the loss of those he considered dear to him. As the Vione was heavily damaged after an attack by Escaflowne, Folken fled the doomed flying fortress.
Following Naria and Eriya's attack on Asturia, the newly-crowned King Dryden cut off diplomatic relations with Zaibach and called upon Asturia's neighbouring countries to unite against the Empire. Folken would also take part in this new Alliance, offering his knowledge of Dornkirk's plans and Zaibach's weapons and tactics. Meanwhile, Dornkirk's Fate Alteration Engine would approach full power, which the Alliance believed would spell the total destruction of Gaea. As the Alliance fought against the armies of Zaibach in the greatest battle Gaea had ever seen, Hitomi met with Folken and asked him to help her get to Zaibach and confront Dornkirk, hoping that she could convince him to stop the war.
Death[]
Using machinery salvaged from the Vione, Folken was able to generate a pillar of light that transported him and Hitomi into Dornkirk's castle. However, the Fate Alteration Engine had reached full power and Dornkirk could not stop it at that point, even if he had wanted to. Folken drew his sword, intent on killing the Emperor. Dornkirk emerged from his life-support harness, daring Folken to strike him down. Folken flew up to Dornkirk and slashed him, but his sword struck the chassis of the life-support machine and shattered. A sword shard became embedded in Folken's chest, resulting in his death as well as Dornkirk's as an effect of the Fate Alteration Engine.
Though Dornkirk had been slain, he remained present as a ghost while the Fate Alteration Engine was active. He and Hitomi witnessed the machine generate a Zone of Absolute Fortune which was to bring about true happiness across Gaea, but all it seemed to do was increase the aggression of the soldiers who were fighting, causing allies to turn on one another with each nation vying for control of Gaea. Hitomi was able to call out to Van telepathically and convinced him to stop fighting, calling him towards Dornkirk's fortress. Van flew Escaflowne to the fortress where he smashed the Fate Alteration Engine and rescued Hitomi. With the Engine deactivated, the Zone of Absolute Fortune dissipated and Dornkirk's spirit vanished.