Dark-Hunter is a term from a paranormal romance and fantasy series by Sherrilyn Kenyon.[1] [2] Kenyon began writing the series in 1986 in horror, fantasy and science fiction magazines.[3]
The Dark-Hunters are immortal warriors who sell their souls to the Greek goddess Artemis for an Act of Vengeance against the one who murdered them.[3] Once they've had their revenge, they are dedicated to defending mankind against Daimons (a psychic race cursed by Apollo)[4] and other preternatural enemies.
She knew of Acheron's love and compassion for humans and his unwillingness to allow others to suffer when he could stop it. Knowing this, she created her immortal warriors and manipulated him into leading, training, and being responsible for them.Not just anyone may become a Dark Hunter, nor is the process easy.
A person must die as the direct result of a terrible betrayal, such as their best friend or a family member killing them in a brutal way. At the moment of their death, their soul will cry out for vengeance loudly enough to be heard by Artemis on Mount Olympus. Upon arriving, she offers the person a choice: true death or trading their soul to her to be resurrected as a Dark Hunter. In exchange for their soul and service in her Dark Hunter army, Artemis gives them 24 hours to seek their revenge against those who betrayed them. After those 24 hours are up, they must do their duty to mankind and hunt down the Daimons that prey on the humans.
When a Dark Hunter slays a Daimon, they release any human souls that the Daimon has stolen, provided that the Dark Hunter finds the Daimon fast enough. If the Daimon is not slain soon after taking the human's soul, the soul will die from being in the wrong vessel and be unable to pass onto whichever afterlife they were meant to go to upon their death.
The Dark Hunters work individually, each of them having a territory to watch over. They cannot be in close proximity to each other for more than a short amount of time without draining each other's powers. Also, any physical harm caused by one Dark Hunter to another will cause the first Dark Hunter to suffer the same physical pain or hurt tenfold.
The Dark Hunters are night dwelling immortals who cannot be in sunlight (as Apollo cursed the Daimons with not being able to go out in the sunlight so too did Artemis leave the Dark Hunters with the inability to stand sunlight). They were made to be similar to the Daimons that they hunt so that they would be better able to hunt, battle, and kill them. They have fangs, super sensitive senses, and various psychic powers.
| Dark # | L.O.A. # | Were # | Dream # | Hellchaser # | C.O.N. # | Shadows Of Fire # | Title | Characters | Publication Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | -- | -- | -- | Dark-Hunters (formerly Fantasy Lover) | Julian and Grace | February 2, 2002 | |||
| 2 | -- | -- | -- | Night Pleasures | Kyrian and Amanda | September 1, 2002 | |||
| 3 | -- | -- | -- | Night Embrace | Talon and Sunshine | July 1, 2003 | |||
| 4 | -- | -- | -- | Dance with the Devil | Zarek and Astrid | December 1, 2003 | |||
| 5 | -- | -- | -- | Kiss of the Night | Wulf and Cassandra | March 23, 2004 | |||
| 5.5 | 1 | -- | -- | Sword Of Darkness | Kerrigan & Seren | March 28, 2005 | |||
| 5.75 | 2 | -- | -- | Knight Of Darkness | Varian and Merewyn | November 1, 2006 | |||
| 6 | -- | 1 | -- | Night Play | Vane and Bride | August 3, 2004 | |||
| 7 | -- | -- | -- | Seize the Night | Valerius and Tabitha | December 28, 2004 | |||
| 8 | -- | -- | -- | Sins of the Night | Alexion and Danger | June 28, 2005 | |||
| 9 | -- | 2 | -- | Unleash the Night | Wren and Maggie | December 27, 2005 | |||
| 10 | -- | 3 | -- | Dark Side of the Moon | Ravyn and Susan | May 30, 2006 | |||
| 11 | -- | -- | 1 | The Dream-Hunter | Arik and Geary | February 6, 2007 | |||
| 12 | -- | -- | -- | Devil May Cry | Sin and Kat | July 31, 2007 | |||
| 13 | -- | -- | 2 | Upon The Midnight Clear | Aidan and Leta | October 30, 2007 | |||
| 14 | -- | -- | 3 | Dream Chaser | Xypher and Simone | February 5, 2008 | |||
| 15 | -- | -- | -- | Acheron | Acheron and Soteria/Tory | August 4, 2008 | |||
| 16 | -- | -- | -- | One Silent Night | Stryker and Zephyra | November 25, 2008 | |||
| 17 | -- | -- | 4 | Dream Warrior | Jericho and Delphine | February 3, 2009 | |||
| 18 | -- | 4 | -- | 1 | Bad Moon Rising | Fang and Aimee | August 4, 2009 | ||
| 18.5 | -- | -- | -- | 1 | Infinity | ||||
| 19 | -- | 5 | -- | No Mercy | Dev and Samia | September 7, 2010 | |||
| 19.5 | -- | -- | -- | 2 | Invincible | ||||
| 20 | -- | 6 | -- | Retribution | Sundown and Abigail | August 2, 2011 | |||
| 21 | -- | 7 | 5 | 2 | The Guardian | Seth and Lydia | November 1, 2011 | ||
| 21.5 | -- | -- | -- | 3 | Infamous | ||||
| 22 | -- | 8 | -- | Time Untime | Ren and Kateri | August 7, 2012 | |||
| 22.5 | -- | -- | -- | 4 | Inferno | ||||
| 23 | -- | -- | -- | Styxx | Styxx and Bethany | September 3, 2013 | |||
| 23.5 | -- | -- | -- | 5 | Illusion | ||||
| 23.75 | -- | -- | -- | Dark Bites | Collection of short stories | January 21, 2014 | |||
| 24 | 3 | 9 | -- | 3 | Son of No One | Cadegan and Jo | September 2, 2014 | ||
| 24.5 | -- | -- | -- | 6 | Instinct | ||||
| 25 | 4 | 10 | -- | 4 | Dragonbane | Maxis and Seraphina | August 4, 2015 | ||
| 25.5 | -- | -- | -- | 7 | Invision | ||||
| 26 | 5 | 11 | -- | Dragonmark | Illarion and Edilyn | August 2, 2016 | |||
| 27 | -- | -- | -- | 5 | Deadmen Walking | Bane and Mara | |||
| 28 | 6 | 12 | -- | Dragonsworn | Falcyn and Medea | August 1, 2017 | |||
| 28.5 | -- | -- | -- | 8 | Intensity | ||||
| 29 | -- | -- | -- | 6 | Death Doesn't Bargain | Kalder and Cameron | |||
| 30 | 7 | 13 | -- | Stygian | Urian and Sarraxyn | September 3, 2018 | |||
| 31 | -- | -- | -- | 7 | At Death's Door | Valynda and | |||