The Dragon Detective Agency

The Dragon Detective Agency: Main Character

The novel I have chosen is titled 'The Dragon Detective Agency' by Gareth P. Jones. One of the main characters present in this novel is Dirk Dilly, Mountain Dragon and detective extraordinaire.

Dirk Dilly is a very kind and helpful dragon. Even though he was always moody and grouchy on the outside, he was always glad to help someone in need. For example, when he discovered that he had the ability to help others using his dragon abilities, he created an anonymous agency where humans could call in and confess their problems and Dirk would try his best to try and solve them. One of the good things of being a dragon is that he could camouflage and blend with the background to avoid detection. This proved useful whenever he was tracking or shadowing other people. Being able to fly, Dirk could reach high places and even fly ahead to find anything. After he had learnt these unique abilities, Dirk decided to benefit from them and use them to help humans like us. Hence the name, the Dragon Detective Agency.

As shown by Holly Bigsby, one of his closest friends, Dirk is also a very determined dragon. When Holly had first contacted each other, Dirk was a little reluctant to help her, a child, since he had risked breaching the laws of the Forbidden Divide by helping humans. However, when Dirk had found out that there were other vengeful dragons bent on the destruction of mankind involved in the case of the missing cats which included Holly's cat Willow, he immediately place all his time and thought to ponder over the situation, even going underground and meeting another secretive dragon for more information. It was through his hard works and determined efforts that led him to the location of the missing cats, and also to an imprisoned Amphiptere, who was forced to consume cats and release her poisonous blood to the world and thus destroying mankind. Dirk managed to avert the crisis at nearly the cost of his own life, which included freeing the Amphiptere and accidentally consuming some of its blood. It is clearly shown that Dirk is a very determined dragon when it comes to saving humanity — and his friend Holly.

Another one of Dirk Dilly's amazing aspects is his personal ingenuity and improvisation, enabling him to come up with any ideas in a matter of seconds to solve any kind of problems. For example, he had managed to gain more information on the activities of the Kinghorns (a group of dragons who secretly despise humans and wished to eradicate them all) by following a couple of them and even impersonating some of them in the nick of time to escape capture by a couple of Tree Dragons. He also knew where and who to look for when it comes to gathering information and even managed to use his Dragonsong to enchant people into follow give him information. It was also thanks to his ingenuity and improvisation that he managed to thwarted Vainclaw Grandin, leader of the Kinghorns, thrice in a row. His lightning-fast improvisations, such as concocting a ploy to convince a corrupted jailguard to release his friends, had many a time managed to help him slip out of trouble, including avoiding being seen by humans and escaping from the Kinghorns. He even managed to trick one of the henchdragons to reveal the Kinghorns' plan when combating him and deliberately pulling him near the microphone, where the henchdragons accidentally blurted out their schemes in a moment of boasting.

Dirk Dilly must also be credited for his profound intelligence. He managed to memorise a book of Dragonlore, which describes the many different characteristics of different types of dragons and their breeding and eating habits. For example, Dirk managed to make the connection of the involvement a Sky Dragon in his friend Alba Long's sister's disappearance by observing the shape of ashes found in her sister's cave, which formed the shape of the dragon. Dirk remembered that the Dragonlore had described that the discovery of dragon-shaped ash markings indicate the sublimination of a Sky Dragon in the area, prompting Dirk to help Alba and rescue the Sky Dragon from the Kinghorns' clutches. With his extensive knowledge of dragons and their characteristics, Dirk was also able to avoid the poisonous acid spits of Desert Dragons, which he encountered in Los Angeles. It was also largely thanks to his knowledge that enabled him to smeld into the ground and reappear somewhere else in the world — another dragon ability he had learnt from Dragonlore by Ivor Klingerflim. Whenever Dirk had spare time, he flipped through Dragonlore in hopes of learning something new to benefit from.

Dirk Dilly also has a very keen eyesight and observation and he is a cautious and alert dragon. This can be proved when he noted the number and position of security cameras in a certain area and instantly locating their blindspots in order to avoid discovery. His observation was also very sharp, which allowed him to sense that things were amissed when he realized that the Dragonlore was not in his office the moment he landed in his office. He observed the Gronking Shinards logo and immediately figured out that the company was supervised by a group of Kinghorns who used humans to do their bidding. His alertness can also be seen when he sensed two GS officers approaching the area and immediately blending to the background and laying low to avoid detection until the officers left. It was also largely thanks to his cautiousness that Dirk had in most times managed escape danger. For example, he always checked to see if there were cameras that might be recording his actions before executing a plan. Dirk also always prepared a second backup plan if his original plan fails — just to be on the safe side, of course.

In conclusion, Dirk Dilly is a remarkable dragon with noble values and abilities which he used to help others in need. We should learn from him these qualities and traits in order to become better persons in the future.

Ho Jin Jonathan

4 Cergas

9th January 2014