Daniel Dravot (DRAV-it) is a fictional character in

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

's novella "

The Man Who Would Be King "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888) is a story by Rudyard Kipling about two British adventurers in British India who become kings of Kafiristan, a remote part of Afghanistan. The story was first published in '' The Phantom Rickshaw and other Ee ...

" (1888) and its

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

. In the film, he is portrayed by

Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...

. Robert Hutchinson in his biography of Frederick Wilson suggests that Pahari Wilson, the so-called Raja of Harsil, was the inspiration for Kipling's character.

In the short story

In the short story, Dravot and co-conspirator Peachey Carnehan are members of the Third Degree of

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

. Travelling to

Kafiristan Kāfiristān, or Kāfirstān ( ps, کاپیرستان, prs, کافرستان), is a historical region that covered present-day Nuristan Province in Afghanistan and Chitral District of Pakistan. This historic region lies on, and mainly comprises ...

(in modern

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

) with the intention of becoming kings, the two make a very convenient discovery: the natives are in possession of the secrets of both the First and Second Degrees of Freemasonry, but ''not'' those of the Third Degree. Dravot puts on his Master Mason's apron, whereupon the natives recognise the Third Degree symbol as their own sacred symbol concealed on the bottom of a stone. As luck would (again) have it, the stone on which the symbol is engraved is the very stone upon which Dravot is then sitting. Dravot immediately declares himself " Grand Master of All Kafiristan" and also Co-King of Kafiristan along with Carnehan. The conspiracy is eventually discovered, which results in the death of Dravot. Carnehan is crucified between two trees and survives for a day. The natives see this and let him go. He later returns to India, finds the narrator of the story, and tells him what has happened.

Film adaptation

The film is very true to the short story, but goes into less masonic detail. The different degrees are not mentioned by name. The identification of Dravot as a supposed god is made by the fact that he wears a pendant bearing a symbol, which is the sacred symbol of the Kafir natives. The symbol used in the film is not named, but is clearly shown, and is simply the Square and Compasses symbol of Freemasonry.

Other works

In the English writer

Kim Newman Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula (1931 ...

's novel ''

Anno Dracula ''Anno Dracula'' is a 1992 novel by British writer Kim Newman, the first in the ''Anno Dracula'' series. It is an alternate history using 19th-century English historical settings and personalities, along with characters from popular fiction. ...

'' (1992), Dravot appears as a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

who works for

the Diogenes Club The Diogenes Club is a fictional gentlemen's club created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and featured in several Sherlock Holmes stories, such as 1893's "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter". It seems to have been named after Diogenes the Cynic ...

during the time

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by som ...

rules Britain, and helps them hunt down

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer wa ...

. He reappears in the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

-set sequel, ''

The Bloody Red Baron ''Anno Dracula: The Bloody Red Baron'', or simply ''The Bloody Red Baron'', is a 1995 alternate history/ horror novel by British author Kim Newman. It is the second book in the ''Anno Dracula'' series and takes place during the Great War, 30 ye ...

''. In the second sequel, ''

Dracula Cha Cha Cha ''Anno Dracula: Dracula Cha Cha Cha'' (re-titled ''Judgment of Tears: Anno Dracula 1959'' upon initial U.S. release) is an alternate history/ horror novel by British writer Kim Newman. First published in 1998 by Carroll & Graf, it is the third ...

'', Dravot is said to be the vampire father-in-darkness of Diogenes Club agent

Hamish Bond Hamish Bryon Bond (born 13 February 1986) is a retired New Zealand rower and former road cyclist. He is a three-time Olympic gold medallist at the 2012 London Olympic Games, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, and at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic ...

(a reference to both characters being played by Sean Connery). In the comics adaptation '' H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds'' and ''

Scarlet Traces ''Scarlet Traces'' is a Steampunk comic series written by Ian Edginton and illustrated by D'Israeli. It was originally published online before being serialised in 2002, in the British anthology ''Judge Dredd Megazine''. A sequel, ''Scarlet Traces: ...

'' by Ian Edginton and d'Israeli, Dravot works for Dr. Davenport Spry, an official of the British government preparing for a counter-invasion of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

following the events of ''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...

''. In the sequel, '' Scarlet Traces: The Great Game'', it is said that Dravot died in the first major battle in the invasion, the Siege of Tharsis Ridge. His son James is a major character.

References

External links

Details of Kipling's masonic career
including a study of The Man Who Would Be King. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dravot, Daniel Fictional British people Fictional con artists Fictional soldiers Literary characters introduced in 1888