Sue is the nickname of a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton located at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
Story
In Dead Beat, Sue is reanimated by Harry Dresden. In doing this he exploits a loophole concerning necromancy in the Laws of Magic, which only forbids the reanimation of people.[1]
Official art of Harry Dresden riding Sue made for the Dresden Omnibus Wizard at Large.
Harry needs Sue to reach the vortex of the Darkhallow that the necromancers Cowl, Grevane and Corpsetaker are about going to call up that Halloween eve. The Necromancers plan to call up the spirits of ancient warriors to consume their power. Harry needs to get close to stop them. To get close, he needs necromatic energy of his own as a shield against theirs that will suck out the life energy of every living being in the area.[1]
Sue facing Chicago
Harry and Waldo Butters, who drums the necessary beat with his polka-suit that keeps the dino-zombie under command, ride Sue through Chicago north to Evanston crashing into buildings and crushing vehicles along the way. Sue crushes a Hummer at a National Guard checkpoint. When they get near the campus, they see the Wardens, led by Luccio, clustered around children and fighting zombies. Sue leaped over the them, stomped on the Caddy's hood that was aimed right at them, ripped off the roof—then ate Li Xian who was driving it. Sue went to town chomping, stomping and hurling through Corpsetaker's zombies.[2]
Shortly, Harry and Ramirez, the only ones not wounded, head into the center of the Necromancers' storm to stop the spell, Butters drumming from a distance.[3] Sue chomps through legions of Ancient Native zombies. Overcome by bloodlust, Sue stops responding to Harry, so they jump off. Sue continues on her zombie killing spree. While Kumori, holds Harry captive at knife-point to throat, and Cowl performs the spell, Bob the Skull possesses Sue and takes out Kumori allowing Harry to stop Cowl and the Darkhallow.[4] Then he shields the unconscious Ramirez from the blast of the collapsing spell with Sue's giant form, saving his life.[5]
Afterwards, the reanimation spell wore off and her bones fell into a sports field. This was officially attributed to a prank by a group of mischievous teens. When Harry asked Bob why he went for Sue instead of any other zombie, Bob compared it to having steak instead of a wiener.[5]
Route
Harry and Butters ride Sue through Chicago from the Field Museum of Natural History (just south of downtown by the lake) all the way up to Evanston, (just north of the Chicago border) along Lake Shore Drive. They turn onto Sheridan Road as they enter Evanston.[2] They are heading to the Mitchel Museum on the campus of Kendall College.[6]
Description
Sue's metaphysical strength comes from the fact that she is 65 million years old.
Per Harry, Sue had power in spades. Sue is very fast. As she gathers speed, the length of her body, her spine, is nearly parallel to the ground. She's as long as a city bus but moves with grace and power. Her roar shattered a few windows and rattled a few buildings as she hurtled through the streets. Her tail broke every window of the first two floors of a building — Sue doesn't corner very well at all.[2]
The transformation: Harry called forth ectoplasmic energy to cover the ancient bones with muscle and heavy yet surprisingly supple hide. There was a black ripple pattern along the head and back similar to a jaguar. Then Harry called forth the ancient spirit of the predator.[2]
Harry used saddles for him and Butters straddling her spine near the neck.[2]
References
See also
External links
- Sue on Wikipedia
- Sue Exhibit at the Field Museum: Photo Gallery, Videos, etc.
- Tyrannosaurus Rex - National Geographic
- [[wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrannosaurus Tyrannosaurus - Wikipedia]
- [[wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Shore_Drive Lake Shore Drive - Wikipedia]
- Image — LakeShoreDrive.jpg
- Sheridan Road - Wikipedia
- Evanston - Wikipedia
- North Chicago, Evanston map - Google Maps
- Mitchell Museum of the American Indian: Chicago area museum
- Mitchell Museum of the American Indian - Wikipedia