Arkhan

, also known as Arkhan the Cruel, is a dragonborn paladin/barbarian. He is played by Joe Manganiello.

Appearance
Arkhan is a heavily muscled, red-scaled dragonborn who is nearly seven feet tall.

Around his neck he wears a loop of golden thorns inset with dozens of gems, representing each of the chromatic dragon colors. It is an exalted legendary magical artifact called The Wreath of the Prism and grants him control over powerful beasts and monstrosities. His holy symbol is an amulet adorned with the five-headed dragon sigil of Tiamat built into the chest plate of his heavy armor. This same symbol is emblazoned on the front of his magic shield.

He wears a suit of jagged, spiked, obsidian-metal plate armor with green dragon scales embedded throughout the main plates. He carries Fane-Eater, a magical battleaxe carved from deep cerulean sapphire and adorned with numerous runic sigils.

Personality
Arkhan has a genuine faith and loyalty to his empress: the Scaled Tyrant. He views taking the Hand of Vecna as being not for personal gain but "altruistic".

Arkhan views the Lord of the Hells as a nefarious deity who has messed with the flow of the cosmos and time. He believes that by freeing the Scaled Tyrant, she would restore balance by destroying the universe that the Lord of the Hells has been manipulating.

Arkhan is a seasoned adventurer, and he works well in groups (as evidenced by his past adventures with the various members of Vox Machina). In Avernus, he is a highly charismatic leader of an entire army of dragons, dragon-worshipers, and undead. Even some Warlocks have taken Arkhan as their Otherworldly Patron.

Background
Arkhan was a former hired killer who was imprisoned and nearly beaten to death in an attempted forced conversion by a religious cult. Arkhan was able to break his chains and murder his captors, aided by visions and power granted to him by the five headed chromatic dragon goddess, Tiamat. Thus, the (third level) Paladin chose to become an Oathbreaker and took up worship of the Scaled Tyrant.

After receiving a vision from Tiamat, Arkhan set out to find the location of a mysterious cave. He was led to a monk named Duan of the Cobalt Reserve, who revealed its location as the Vault of Shumas. Not knowing what dangers lay within he hired a small band of mercenaries: The Headmistress, Percival de Rolo, Keyleth and Dupont Dupont. Dupont Dupont activated the trap necessary to open the vault. Inside were multiple Yuan-Ti and other snake creatures that Arkhan and his hired mercenaries killed, allowing Arkhan to retrieve Tiamat’s powerful relic inside.

Vander, a high elf Arkhan considered to be "the closest thing he'd ever had to a brother," was burned to death in an attack by Vecna's death knight aided by Delilah Briarwood. This ambush also led to someone cutting out the still beating heart of a Goliath companion of Arkhan's.

Arkhan then chased Delilah and the death knight to Thar Amphala on a white dragon named Obatalá. Obatalá was killed and Arkhan was left for dead by Vecna's followers.

While attempting to wrestle a gloomstalker to the ground, Arkhan stumbled into a building where Vox Machina were hiding. With the aid of Vex and Grog, Arkhan used the Wreath of the Prism to take control of the gloomstalker he dubbed “They,” thus turning it into his attuned mount.

Afterward, he and Vox Machina struck a deal. If Vox Machina could look past the religious differences between their good-natured gods and Arkhan’s Queen of Darkness, Tiamat, and help Arkhan get revenge on the death knight, then he would in turn join them and “fight for their lives with the fury of a man who was already dead.” The group unanimously agreed and soon after put Grog and Arkhan into position to destroy an outer sigil protecting Thar Amphala.

This unfortunately attracted the attention of Sylas and Delilah, riding atop a now undead Obatalá. Arkhan and Vox Machina managed to defeat Delilah (which ended the force reanimating Obatalá), but Sylas escaped. Arkhan then took a bit of revenge by animating Delilah's corpse into his own undead puppet.

Inside the tower of Entropis, Arkhan encountered a reanimated Vander and successfully channeled the power of Tiamat to use Control Undead on his former companion. Further up the tower, had it not been for a “lucky” natural 1, Arkhan would have beheaded Shaun Gilmore due to a trick by Vecna.

Vox Machina’s moment of relief was interrupted when Vecna’s death knight caught up to the group. A revenge fueled Arkhan chose to stay behind and sacrifice himself by holding the knight back with his two undead minions while Vox Machina continued on to confront Vecna himself.

Arkhan defeated the death knight and rejoined Vox Machina late in their battle with Vecna. He made a dramatic entrance by tossing the severed head of Delilah Briarwood and the death knight’s helmet into the crevasse below. Having used a magical potion of flying to manifest a faint pair of shimmering, chromatically-shifting dragon wings, he flew up into the fight and added key support by using the last of his Divine Smites to deal 135 points of damage in a single round and then breaking Vecna’s spell concentration at a key moment in the battle, returning a banished Grog and Scanlan to the Prime Material Plane. Eventually Arkhan and Vox Machina managed to defeat Vecna using the Divine Trammels and the Tome of Isolation. Vecna imploded leaving behind no trace save for his weaponized hand. Then with the support of Vox Machina, Arkhan prepared to destroy the Hand of Vecna for good. He raised his magical battle-axe Fane-Eater above his head and whispered a prayer to his goddess Tiamat but instead of swinging the axe down onto Vecna’s hand, Arkhan chopped off his own hand at the wrist. In the wake of Vox Machina’s shock, he attached the Hand of Vecna to himself, healed himself, and then Teleported out, claiming it was “just business." His whereabouts at the time were unknown. Joe Manganiello later revealed at D&D Live 2019 that Arkhan had Teleported to a rendezvous point to meet Krull, one of his military advisors, who Plane Shifted them both to Avernus: the first of the Nine Hells.

Percival de Rolo and Keyleth
Arkhan briefly adventured with Percy and Keyleth several years before they encountered each other again in Thar Amphala. After receiving the mental image of a golden jeweled artifact during a dream provided to him by Tiamat, Arkhan ventured into the corrupted Temple of Shumas with Percival and Keyleth where they battled several Yuan-Ti before coming face to face with the Temple’s spectral guardian. Arkhan took control of the ghost using his Control Undead ability and therefore gained control of the temple’s boss, a Manticore named Changó. Wrapped around the Manticore’s neck was the same golden jeweled treasure he saw in his dream... The Wreath of the Prism. This adventure was played out in an episode of CelebriD&D.

Vander
Vander, a high elf ranger, was a companion of Arkhan's and the closest thing he had ever had to a brother. Vander was incinerated by Vecna’s death knight during an excursion into Thar Amphala. Later, when Arkhan was traveling with Vox Machina, they encountered Vander's reanimated corpse inside the tower of Entropis. Arkhan used Control Undead to take control of Vander's corpse and bring him to the top of the tower with him. Zombie Vander was killed while assisting Arkhan during his battle with Vecna’s death knight.

Grubby
Grubby, a gnome wizard, was another of Arkhan's companions who was killed and reanimated by Vecna. Arkhan briefly recognized Grubby's zombified corpse before it was destroyed by Pike in Entropis.

Vox Machina
Arkhan’s fealty to Tiamat was a conflict with Vox Machina when they met, but their goals seemed temporarily in alignment. Arkhan joined Vox Machina and assisted them in the final slaying of Delilah Briarwood and her undead dragon before singlehandedly holding off the death knight with his two zombie minions so that Vox Machina could get the jump on Vecna. He defeated the death knight and rejoined the group, ultimately helping them to rid the Prime Material Plane of Vecna. Once Vecna was defeated, Arkhan tricked Vox Machina into believing he was going to destroy the Hand of Vecna once and for all. Instead, he cut off his own hand and used the last of his Lay on Hands pool to reattach Vecna’s Hand to himself before teleporting out, claiming this betrayal was "just business” and in no way reflected his personal feelings about the group.

Abilities
As an Oathbreaker paladin, Arkhan is required to be evil, and "[w]hatever light burns in [his] heart has been extinguished. Only darkness remains." In exchange, he has immense power to control and raise undead creatures; the ability to frighten other creatures; and a +4 bonus to melee attack damage.

Arkhan multiclassed as a barbarian, granting him the ability to go into a frenzied, reckless rage.

Arkhan now wields The Hand of Vecna.

Dragonborn Abilities

 * Draconic Ancestry (Red)
 * Breath Weapon (Fire)
 * Damage Resistance (Fire)

Class Features

 * Aura of Courage
 * Aura of Protection
 * Cleansing Touch
 * Divine Sense
 * Divine Smite
 * Extra Attack
 * Fighting Style
 * Improved Divine Smite
 * Lay on Hands (70 points)
 * Oathbreaker
 * Aura of Hate
 * Channel Divinity
 * Control Undead
 * Dreadful Aspect
 * Oathbreaker spells
 * Spellcasting (Charisma-based ability)

Oathbreaker Spells
Arkhan has access to the following spells, which do not count against the number of spells he can prepare.

1st-level

 * Hellish Rebuke
 * Inflict Wounds

2nd-level

 * Crown of Madness
 * Darkness

3rd-level

 * Animate Dead
 * Bestow Curse

4th-level

 * Blight
 * Confusion

Paladin Spells
Arkhan has access to paladin spells up to 4th-level. As a 14th-level paladin, he can prepare up to 11 spells per day.

4th-level

 * Death Ward

Class Features

 * Danger Sense
 * Primal Path: Path of the Berserker
 * Frenzy
 * Rage
 * Reckless Attack
 * Unarmored Defense

Notable Items

 * Fane-Eater, a very rare artifact battleaxe: You gain a +3 bonus to attack rolls made with this weapon. When you deal a critical hit with this weapon, the target suffers an additional 2d8 necrotic damage, and you regain an equal amount of hit points. You gain an additional use of Channel Divinity between rests while attuned to this weapon. When you bring a medium or larger living creature to 0 hit points with this weapon, you can expend a use of your Channel Divinity to gain a number of temporary hit points equal to your character level.
 * Obsidian Flint Dragon Plate +2 : You gain poison resistance. The bladed and jagged nature of this armor grants the wearer advantage to break non-magical grapples.
 * The Wreath of the Prism (Exalted), a legendary artifact neckpiece: The wearer gains darkvision and can see invisible objects and creatures up to 60 feet. The wreath can be removed for up to 1 minute before losing attunement. If the wreath is placed around the neck of a beast, dragon, or monstrosity of CR 6 or lower (requires a successful grapple attempt against the creature), the creature must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 17). On a success, the creature is immune to the effects of this item for 24 hours. On a failure, that creature is charmed by the attuned and will follow simple commands. This effect lasts until the wreath becomes unattuned, or another creature is charmed by the wreath. A creature that is released from the wreath's influence knows it was charmed by the bearer.
 * The Hand of Vecna, wondrous item, artifact: Your Strength score becomes 20, unless it is already 20 or higher. Any melee spell attack you make with the Hand, and any melee weapon attack made with a weapon held by it, deals an extra 2d8 cold damage on a hit. The Hand has 8 charges. You can use an action to expend 1 or more charges to cast one of the following spells (spell save DC 18) from it: Finger of Death (5 charges), Sleep (1 charge), Slow (2 charges), or Teleport (3 charges). The Hand regains 1d4+4 expended charges daily at dawn. Each time you cast a spell from the Hand, it casts the Suggestion spell on you (spell save DC 18), demanding that you commit an evil act. The Hand might have a specific act in mind or leave it up to you.

Quotations

 * "Don't hurt him!" – To Vax, trying to wave him off as he tried to subdue a gloomstalker using the Wreath of the Prism.
 * "I'm sorry, it was just business. Until we meet again..." – To Vox Machina after chopping off his own hand, replacing it with the Hand of Vecna, and before using it to Teleport away.

Trivia

 * Joe Manganiello revealed Arkhan's motivations and epilogue at "D&D Live 2019: The Descent". From Arkhan's point of view, his actions had been "altruistic". Arkhan had taken and attached the Hand of Vecna in the hopes to use such a powerful magic item to free his deity, the Scaled Tyrant, from her prison in Avernus (first of the Nine Hells). With the Hand in his possession, he Teleported to his keep in Avernus. As of May 17, 2019 (roughly the 63rd episode of Campaign 2), Arkhan is still in Avernus, trying to unlock the power of the Hand of Vecna and the Whispered One's ability to teleport entire cities across planes, so that the Scaled Tyrant will be free to destroy and enslave the planes of existence.
 * When Adam Lee of the D&D creative team learned about this, Adam revealed that the upcoming D&D adventure takes place in Avernus ("The Descent into Avernus"). Joe sent "books of material" to Adam, so Arkhan was added to the adventure (and thus, Forgotten Realms lore) as a canon NPC. This Arkhan is a general of Tiamat, in command of an entire army of dragons and dragon-worshipers, including his chief military advisors: Torogar Steelfist (a minotaur Brute Fighter, who Joe previously played on the Stream of Many Eyes in 2018) and Krull (a tortle Death Domain Cleric). Torogar serves as Arkhan's bodyguard, and in Avernus, he rides a motorcycle-like Infernal War Machine. Krull is an evil mastermind who performs magical and alchemical experiments in Arkhan's Tower to benefit his master and his army (such as grinding down unicorn horns to manufacture a concoction that helps Arkhan heal and stave off the necrotic power of the Hand of Vecna).
 * Joe has described Arkhan's status in Avernus as being a mixture of the villains Ariakas and Verminaard from the Dragonlance setting of Dungeons & Dragons.
 * Arkhan's official title is "Highlord", which is a title for the five draconic generals of the dark goddess Takhisis in the Dragonlance setting of Dungeons & Dragons. It is unknown if there are (or ever were) other Highlords besides Arkhan in Avernus or elsewhere, but given that Joe compared Arkhan to Ariakas (Emperor of the Dragonarmies and second-in-command to Takhisis), it's possible that Arkhan is the Scaled Tyrant's only Highlord, or at least of a superior rank to any other Highlords.
 * The spell Teleport can only transport you to a destination on the same plane of existence as you (even if the destination is known to you), so Arkhan arranged to meet with a minion of his elsewhere on the continent of Issylra in the event that Arkhan survived the Battle of Vasselheim and succeeded in Teleporting away with the Hand of Vecna. Joe decided the minion would be a Cleric (since Clerics are one of the few classes able to learn the spell Plane Shift), which provided the beginnings of the character Krull. Upon Arkhan rendezvousing with the tortle Death Domain Cleric, Krull healed Arkhan, fed him a Potion of Vitality (to get rid of the side effects of Arkhan's Barbarian Frenzy), and then Plane Shifted them both into Arkhan's Tower in Avernus.
 * Joe revealed that Arkhan was inspired by Conan the Barbarian, Darth Vader, and the Lord of Darkness (from the 1985 dark fantasy film Legend).
 * Arkhan has the highest AC (at 24) of any player character to appear on Critical Role thus far.
 * Arkhan has the highest character level of all guest characters so far, at 17.
 * Arkhan has crossed over into more one-shots than any other character in the series, three, beating Jester by one. In Arkhan's case, Joe Manganiello played him in the episode of CelebriD&D he was featured in, alongside Taliesin Jaffe and Marisha Ray, who played as Percival and Keyleth respectively. Manganiello played as Arkhan again during The Wizards of the Coast's "Stream of Annihilation event, in the Mike Mearls DMed "Tower of the Curator" adventure. Manganiello also plays a 6th level version of Arkhan in season two of Force Grey: Lost City of Omu.
 * Vander and Grubby are characters played by Joe's real-life brother and producing partner Nick and by writer/comedian Will Hines, respectively.
 * Gale Force Nine supplied Manganiello with a custom Arkhan miniature for him to use during episodes 113 & 114.
 * Arkhan is one of the available Champions in the game Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms.
 * Arkhan shares his name with the character Arkhan the Black from the Warhammer Fantasy & Age of Sigmar Universe.
 * It is unknown which Paladin oath and which deity Arkhan kept before becoming an Oathbreaker at Level 3.
 * Arkhan the Cruel set the all time D&D record for points of melee damage inflicted in one round with 323 during the live streamed, Mike Mearls DM’d inaugural “Founders and Legends Day” game celebrating what would have been Gary Gygax’s 80th birthday.
 * He also set the record for the Critical Role stream of highest damage in a single round (135 points of damage to Vecna), but was dethroned when Percy dealt 156 points against a corrupted empyrean in.
 * Arkhan’s 135 point strike dethroned Vax'ildan, who had held the title after dealing 118 points against Thordak.
 * Arkhan is the only villain to have been a player character in either campaign.