Darth Vader, also known by his birth name Anakin Skywalker, is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. Vader appears in the original film trilogy as a pivotal antagonist whose actions drive the plot, while his past as Anakin Skywalker and the story of his corruption are central to the narrative of the prequel trilogy. The character was created by George Lucas and has been portrayed by numerous actors. His appearances span the first six Star Wars films, as well as Rogue One, and his character is heavily referenced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He is also an important character in the Star Wars expanded universe of television series, video games, novels, literature and comic books. Originally a Jedi prophesied to bring balance to the Force, he falls to the dark side of the Force and serves the evil Galactic Empire at the right hand of his Sith master, Emperor Palpatine (also known as Darth Sidious). He is also the father of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa, secret husband of Padmé Amidala and grandfather of Kylo Ren. Darth Vader has become one of the most iconic villains in popular culture, and has been listed among the greatest villains and fictional characters ever. The American Film Institute listed him as the third greatest movie villain in cinema history on 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains, behind Hannibal Lecter and Norman Bates. However, other critics consider him a tragic hero, citing his original motivations for the greater good before his fall to the dark side.

Deadpool (Wade Winston Wilson) is a fictional antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by artist/writer Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza, the character first appeared in The New Mutants #98 (cover-dated February 1991). Initially Deadpool was depicted as a supervillain when he made his first appearance in The New Mutants and later in issues of X-Force, but later evolved into his more recognizable antiheroic persona. Deadpool, whose real name is Wade Wilson, is a disfigured and mentally unstable mercenary with the superhuman ability of an accelerated healing factor and physical prowess. The character is known as the "Merc with a Mouth" because of his talkative nature and tendency to break the fourth wall, which is used by writers for humorous effect and running gags. The character's popularity has seen him feature in numerous other media. In the 2004 series Cable & Deadpool, he refers to his own scarred appearance as "Ryan Reynolds crossed with a Shar Pei". Reynolds himself would eventually portray the character in the 2009 film X-Men Origins: Wolverine and reprised the role in the 2016 film Deadpool.

The Decepticons are a fictional faction of sentient mechanical self-configuring modular robotic lifeforms from the planet Cybertron led by Megatron, and are the main antagonists in the fictional universes of the Transformers franchise and related comics and cartoons.Decepticons have red eyes (while Autobots have blue eyes) and are typically represented by the purple facial insignia they all wear. Primarily, they have a preference for high-tech or powerful vehicles; including aircraft, military vehicles, construction vehicles, expensive luxury or sports cars and even smaller-than-human-sized objects. In the Japanese version of the franchise, the Decepticons are called Destron or Deathtron (Japanese: デストロン Desutoron). The only exception to this naming convention is Car Robots, where the sub-group referred to as "Decepticons" in the Robots in Disguise adaptation, is known in Japan as the Combatrons (the Japanese name of the G1 subgroup known as the Combaticons). The overall name of the Robots in Disguise villain faction is Destronger. However, the Japanese Version of Transformers Animated uses Decepticon (ディセプティコン). As opposed to the Autobots' Supreme Commander or Prime, the Decepticons' highest ranking leader is often given the title Emperor of Destruction. Beginning with the original generation 1 cartoon, the Decepticon rallying cry has been "Decepticons attack!" As well as, beginning with the transformers: animated series "transform and rise up!" in mockery of the Autobots' "Transform and roll out!"

The DeLorean time machine is a fictional automobile-based time travel device featured in the Back to the Future franchise. In the feature film series, Dr. Emmett Brown builds a time machine based on a DeLorean DMC-12 car, to gain insights into history and the future. Instead, he ends up using it to travel over 130 years of Hill Valley history (from 1885 to 2015) with Marty McFly to change the past for the better and to undo the negative effects of time travel. One of the cars used in filming is on display at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Dracula is an 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. It introduced Count Dracula, and established many conventions of subsequent vampire fantasy. The novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to move from Transylvania to England so that he may find new blood and spread the undead curse, and of the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing. Dracula has been assigned to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel, and invasion literature. The novel has spawned numerous theatrical, film, and television interpretations.

A dragon is a large, serpent-like legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures around world. Beliefs about dragons vary drastically by region, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, four-legged, and capable of breathing fire. Dragons in eastern cultures are usually depicted as wingless, four-legged, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence. The earliest attested dragons resemble giant snakes. Dragon-like creatures are first described in the mythologies of the ancient Near East and appear in ancient Mesopotamian art and literature. Stories about storm-gods slaying giant serpents occur throughout nearly all Indo-European and Near Eastern mythologies. Famous prototypical dragons include the mušḫuššu of ancient Mesopotamia, Vṛtra in the Rigveda, the Leviathan in the Hebrew Bible, Python, Ladon, the Lernaean Hydra in Greek mythology, Jörmungandr, Níðhöggr, and Fafnir in Norse mythology, and the dragon from Beowulf. The popular western image of a dragon as winged, four-legged, and capable of breathing fire is an invention of the High Middle Ages based on a conflation of earlier dragons from different traditions. In western cultures, dragons are portrayed as monsters to be tamed or overcome, as in the popular legend of Saint George and the Dragon or in other dragon-slaying myths. They are often said to live in caves and hoard treasure. The word "dragon" has also come to be applied to the eastern lung, which is a symbol of good fortune and said to control weather. Lung were also identified with the Emperor of China. Dragons appear frequently in western fantasy literature, including The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, and A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin.

Dragon Ball (Japanese: ドラゴンボール, Hepburn: Doragon Bōru) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. Originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from 1984 to 1995, the 519 individual chapters were printed in 42 tankōbon volumes by the publisher Shueisha. Dragon Ball was inspired by the Chinese novel Journey to the West. It initially had a comedy focus but later became an action-packed fighting series. The story follows the adventures of Son Goku, from childhood to adulthood, as he trains in martial arts and explores the world in search of the seven orbs, known as Dragon Balls, which summon a wish-granting dragon when gathered. Along his journey, Goku makes several friends and battles villains, many of whom also seek the Dragon Balls. The manga was adapted into two anime series produced by Toei Animation: Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, which were broadcast in Japan from 1986 to 1996. A media franchise has built up around the series; among the merchandise, there have been both animated and live-action films, collectible trading card games, action figures, collections of soundtracks and video games. The series was licensed for an English-language release in North America and the United Kingdom by Viz Media, and in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. The companies initially split the manga into two parts, Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z to match the anime series but the most recent edition of the series was released under its original title. Dragon Ball has become one of the most successful manga series of all time. Its collected volumes have sold over 156 million copies in Japan and more than 240 million worldwide, making it the second best-selling manga series. Regarded as one of the most influential manga series, Dragon Ball has inspired artists including Eiichiro Oda (One Piece), Masashi Kishimoto (Naruto) and Tite Kubo (Bleach). Critical reception to the series has been mostly positive. Reviewers have praised the comedy and fight scenes while recognizing the coming-of-age theme and the use of cultural references from Chinese mythology and Japanese folktales. Complaints from parents in the United States resulted in English-language releases being edited to remove nudity, potentially racist stereotypes, and other content.

Dragon Ball Z (Japanese: ドラゴンボールZ (ゼット), Hepburn: Doragon Bōru Zetto, commonly abbreviated as DBZ) is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. It is the sequel to the Dragon Ball anime and adapts the latter 325 chapters of the original 519-chapter Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama. Dragon Ball Z aired in Japan on Fuji TV from April 26, 1989 to January 31, 1996, before getting dubbed in territories including the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe, India and Latin America. Dragon Ball Z follows the adventures of Goku who, along with his companions, defend the Earth against villains ranging from conquerors, androids and other creatures; such as Frieza, Cell and Majin Buu. While the original Dragon Ball anime followed Goku from childhood to early adulthood, Dragon Ball Z is a continuation of his adult life, but at the same time parallels the lives of his sons, Gohan and Goten, as well as the evolution of his rivals Piccolo and Vegeta from enemies to allies. Due to the success of the anime in the United States, the manga chapters comprising its story were initially released by Viz Media under the title Dragon Ball Z. Additional works called animanga were released in Japan, which adapt the animation to manga form. Dragon Ball Z's popularity has spawned numerous releases which have come to represent the majority of content in the Dragon Ball universe; including 17 movies and 148 video games, many of them being only released in Japan, and a host of soundtracks stemming from this material. Dragon Ball Z remains a cultural icon through numerous adaptations, including a more-recent remastered broadcast titled Dragon Ball Kai. There have also been two sequel series; Dragon Ball GT (1996–1997) and Dragon Ball Super (2015–2018).

Dragon's Egg is a 1980 hard science fiction novel by Robert L. Forward. In the story, Dragon's Egg is a neutron star with a surface gravity 67 billion times that of Earth, and inhabited by cheela, intelligent creatures the size of a sesame seed who live, think and develop a million times faster than humans. Most of the novel, from May to June 2050, chronicles the cheela civilization beginning with its discovery of agriculture to advanced technology and its first face-to-face contact with humans, who are observing the hyper-rapid evolution of the cheela civilization from orbit around Dragon's Egg. The novel is regarded as a landmark in hard science fiction. As is typical of the genre, Dragon's Egg attempts to communicate unfamiliar ideas and imaginative scenes while giving adequate attention to the known scientific principles involved.

A droid is a fictional robot possessing some degree of artificial intelligence in the Star Wars science fiction franchise. Coined by special effects artist John Stears, the term is a clipped form of "android", a word originally reserved for robots designed to look and act like a human. The word "droid" has been a registered trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd since 1977.