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Drake
Drake-0
Roderick Gordon dressed as Drake.

Species/Race

Human, Topsoiler

Occupation

Former Visual Optics Engineer, Styx's 'slave', Renegade

Family

Parry (father)

Status

Deceased, killed by two shots from limiter rifles in Terminal.

 Drake is a fighter against the Styx , ally of Will, and a main character in the series. A toughened veteran, Drake is experienced and will do whatever he can to stop the Styx from taking over Topsoil. Will, Chester, and Cal first meet him in the Deeps with Elliott. He saves Cal from a sugar trap, which caused Will and Chester to be under the impression that Cal was dead. From this moment on, Drake is an important help in stopping the Styx's Dominion plot. He is also a member of the Old Guard.

Early life[]

He studied with Fiona and Luke at Imperial College in London. The three of them formed a group known for their achievements throughout the university, called by other students as the Wunderkammer. His major was optoelectronics.

Fiona disappeared one day while riding her bicycle. She was thought to have been abducted by the Styx for her skills.

Drake was also abducted by Styx and they forced him by torture to craft night visors based on the Light balls.

He fled and saved Elliot, killing Lloyd.

In the series[]

Deeper:[]

A while after Cal was caught in a "sugar trap", Will and Chester come upon a group of Styx. While observing the Styx, Will opens a packet of chewing gum, and suddenly Will and Chester are held by an unknown man with knives to their throats. They come to to find that his name is Drake, and along with his parter, Elliott, he informs Will that the Styx's stalker dogs would have smelled the scent from the chewing gum and be on them in seconds. Drake is a "good" renegade, and allies with Will & Co. in their quest to fight the Styx and stop the Styx's plans to unleash the Dominion Virus Topsoil.

Appearance[]

Drake is depicted as having broad shoulders and an imposing physical presence. It is said that he is exceptionally lean and honed, with prominent cheekbones, and a face so thin that the muscle groups composing it are almost visible through his skin. His skin is the color of tanned leather, and lined by a mesh of scars. He has a strong nose and bright blue eyes overhung by his prominent brow.

His age is uncertain and, according to Will he could have been anything from thirty to fifty.

During Deeper his most typical outfit consists in a long jacket with a belt around his waist with numerous pouches attached to it, and a scarf wrapped around his neck and mouth. He also wears a lens over his right eye, held in place by a band around the top of his head (like a drop-down lens). The lens is milky with a very faint orange glow to it. A pair of twisted cables are attached to the monocle's perimeter and pass around the headband and behind his head.

Personality[]

Drake is a veteran-type person who knows what he is doing and is passionate about it. He hates the Styx, and will do whatever he can to defeat them. He is extremely loyal to those he knows are allies (Will, Elliott, Chester, Cal, Mrs Burrows and co.) After what happened with Eddie (the "former" limiter) Drake also becomes a little more cautious about the people he works with.

Later on in the books, Drake becomes sort of a father figure to Will after the death of Dr. Burrows.

Trivia[]

  • Roderick Gordon has stated that Drake is not the character's real name, and he does not wish to reveal what it really is. However, a Tunnels forum answer said that his real name might possibly be Parry Smith Jr, as Drake went under the name Mr. Smith when Topsoil in Closer. (this is not accepted though!)
  • Roderick Gordon started writing a prequel of the series with Drake as its main character, but he cancelled the project as Chicken House showed no intention of publishing it. An extract can be found here: https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=http://mundotuneles.com/downloads/Drake%27s-Progress-Extract.pdf&hl=es
  • In the prequel of the series, Drake sees Celia for the first time and hears her say that she wants to become an actress. Funnily enough, Sweeney says ‘Mark my words, that’s the first and last you’ll ever hear of her
  • He was listening to 'Don't you wan't me' by the Human League. Sweeney had known the song for some time, but he says it was their latest album. This song belongs to the album Dare (October 1981) and the following was Hysteria (May 1984), so we can assume that this prequel takes place in between that period, most likely in 1982. It is said that Drake was fourteen in the prequel, so he was probably born between 1968-1970. The events of Tunnels started in 2007, and we can conclude therefore, that Drake was in his mid to late thirties during the events of the series (between 37 and 39 years old during Deeper).
  • He graduated from college and was then kidnapped by Styx. He stayed in the Colony for aprox a year before escaping to the Deeps. That means he spent more than ten years there as a renegade before the events of Deeper.

Book Appearances[]

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