Shruikan

Shruikan was a black male dragon, forcibly bonded to Galbatorix. He was the only dragon other than Glaedr to survive the Fall of the Riders (not including the Forsworn's dragons, who were killed later).

History
When Galbatorix's dragon, Jarnunvösk, was killed by Urgals, Galbatorix traveled back to the Rider's stronghold in Ilirea, where he was brought before the Council of Elders. He demanded another dragon and the desperation of his request revealed that he was insane. He was denied his hope and to exact revenge, he formulated a plan to steal a dragon hatchling.

Shruikan was the dragon stolen by Galbatorix, with the help of Morzan, after he killed Shruikan's first rider. Galbatorix then named the dragon Shruikan,[1]a perversion of the usual custom, as dragons normally opted to choose their own names when they were old enough to understand this concept. He twisted the young dragon's mind with powerful dark magic, so that Shruikan would serve as Galbatorix's new dragon. Galbatorix used magic to artificially speed up Shruikan's growth, making him gigantic in size.

When Shruikan was fully grown, he was forced by Galbatorix and his servant, Morzan, to take down the Riders and kill his own brethren. Shruikan was spared in The Banishing of the Names because he was forced into servitude, unlike the Forsworn's dragons who chose to help.

Bond to Galbatorix
The bond between Galbatorix and Shruikan was a mangled and corrupted version of the natural link between dragon and Rider. Therefore, it is extremely likely that Galbatorix had control of Shruikan's Eldunarí, which gave Galbatorix control over Shruikan. Shruikan went insane and was consumed by hatred due to having been controlled and corrupted by Galbatorix his entire life. His loyalty to Galbatorix is questionable, but Shruikan seemed to take tormented pleasure in fighting for him. When he made his first appearance in Inheritance, Elva noted that he was the most unhappy creature she had ever met. All she could sense within him was madness. She goes on to say that if he could, he would destroy everything in his path and burn every plant until none were left.

Physical appearance
Shruikan was a black dragon of titanic size. According to Inheritance, Shruikan had a pale blue-white iris, the color of a high mountain glacier. He was larger than Glaedr and told to have spikes as thick as tree trunks and to make the ground shake more than a mile around him with every step he took. He was eventually killed in Galbatorix's throne room because the room was too small for him to adequately move. Both Saphira and Thorn held down Shruikan's head so he couldn't move his head away when Arya went to stab him through the eye with the Dauthdaert, Niernen.

Personality
In Inheritance, it was revealed that Shruikan's only desire was to burn and destroy every last being and plant until nothing remained. Elva had admitted that he was too far beyond sanity to be helped and Galbatorix said that he was angry with everyone. Galbatorix mention in Inheritance that if Shruikan was woken up he tended to eat people.

Appearances
Shruikan's first actual appearance was when the Varden were outside the gates of Urû'baen. Galbatorix used Shruikan to demoralize the Varden by revealing his immense size and power. He came from Urû'baen and then flew around, unleashed a jet of flames and then flew back to Urû'baen. It was impossible to tell his size but at this point Eragon guessed that he could have been the biggest dragon he had ever seen.

Shruikan next appeared when the four warriors, Eragon, Arya, Saphira and Elva confronted Galbatorix. He was mistaken for a large curtain as he lay behind the King's throne. When he awoke he made a challenging glance the group and even a challenging growl at Saphira personally, as his growl was much louder than hers. However Galbatorix calmed him.

When they broke free of Galbatorix's magic, Thorn attacked Shruikan, although he only succeeded in getting injured. However, the two dragons were able to get Shruikan's neck down almost to the ground with their combined weight because the room was to small for him to lift his neck up all the way. As they did he breathed his black fire and almost succeeded in incinerating Arya, who had the Dauthdaert in her hands. Because Shruikan couldn't move his head with the weight of Saphira and Thorn pressing down, Arya was able to stab Shruikan through the eye with the enchanted dragon-killing weapon. With that, Shruikan's life came to an end.

Shruikan's corpse was stripped of all flesh by Galbatorix's suicide by magic, which caused a nuclear explosion. It is probable that his skeleton was destroyed when the rest of the throne room collapsed on it.

Shruikan appeared briefly at the very end of the Eragon film (seen to the right). He was seen blowing fire in the last shot of the film, after Galbatorix cuts a map in half, which reveals the dragon hiding behind. Also there was no mention that Shruikan would not be Galbatorix´s original dragon but a stolen one.

During the film, if you pay attention, you can hear Shruikan growling in the background during a scene where Galbatorix pushes Durza against the map of Alagaësia threateningly. It is very faint but noticeable.