BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
BORN
78?? AC
DIED
8000 AC
AGE
100-200
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
SPECIES
Human (formerly)
Shade
GENDER
Male
HAIR COLOR
Crimson
EYE COLOR
Maroon (White in film)
CHRONOLOGICAL AND POLITICAL INFORMATION
AFFILIATION
Spirit in Durza, Broddring Empire
FAMILY
Unknown
OTHER
FILM PORTRAYER
Robert Carlyle
Durza (born as the human Carsaib) was a Shade in the service of Galbatorix. He was one of Eragon's primary adversaries. He was one of two Shades in Alagaësia during Eragon's time: the other being Varaug, though they were not alive at the same time. He was the main antagonist in Eragon.
The child who would become Durza was born into a nomadic tribe and was given the name "Carsaib". His family was banished and abandoned by the tribe after his father was accused of oath-breaking.
Tragically, both of Carsaib's parents were murdered by bandits and Carsaib wandered blindly into the desert, wishing that he could be dead as well. He was found by a sorcerer named Haeg, who took him in and began to teach him the art of controlling spirits.
After a few years, Haeg was murdered by a group of bandits and in a rage, Carsaib summoned up avenging spirits that were too powerful for him to control. They turned on him and possessed his mind and body, thus transforming him into the Shade Durza.
Eventually, Durza formed an alliance with the tyrannical King Galbatorix. He taught the King dark magic that helped him overthrow the Riders. As the years passed, Durza grew more and more powerful, and was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocents (both on Galbatorix's orders and for his own twisted, cruel pleasure). At one point, he even dueled with Ajihad, leader of the Varden. Ajihad was able to mar the Shade's sword, leaving a wire-thin scratch upon the blade, but failed to kill the Shade.
Durza commanded the Urgal tribes in the Battle Under Farthen Dûr through a combination of force, deception and the use of sorcery to bend the will of the Urgals. Although a magically powerful being, he did serve Galbatorix, which we can assume means that he was not as powerful as Galbatorix.
Durza was sent to ambush the dragon eggcourier, Arya. He was successful in capturing the elf, but the primary objective - to recapture the egg - was unsuccessful. Through his magical cunning, he was able to kill Arya's companions. The dragon egg was teleported into the Spine, where it was found by Eragon. Galbatorix then charged the Shade with recovering the information of the egg's location from the elf: Durza promptly set to work and tortured Arya to the brink of madness and death, both for information and his own pleasure.
It is unknown if he knew about Saphira's hatching, but Durza was known to observe the Urgals' progress when they created weapons, sometimes teleporting into the chamber unexpectedly.
