Ivan Vasilyevich Drago (Russian: Иван Васильевич Драго, pronounced [ɪˈvan vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪdʑ ˈdraɡə]) is a fictional character from the Rocky film series.

He also appears in the 2018 film Creed II, in which he is the main antagonist and serves as the trainer to his son Viktor played by a real Romanian kickboxer.

In Creed II, it is revealed that Drago and Ludmilla had divorced as a result of his loss to Rocky Balboa and he is now raising their son - himself a professional boxer - alone.

Drago's trainers, Sergei Igor Rimsky (George Rogan) and Manuel Vega (James "Cannonball" Green), along with his wife Ludmilla (née Vobet) (Brigitte Nielsen), are convinced that he can defeat any boxer.

Drago even continues to attack Creed after the bell is rung to end the round, despite this being an exhibition match, leaving Apollo bloodied and slumped against the ropes.

It is revealed that the punishment Drago inflicted on Rocky left him with traumatic brain injuries (specifically diagnosed as cavum septi pellucidi [CSP]), causing issues with his memory and leading him to experience both visual and auditory hallucinations.

Balboa is saved when he witnesses the ghostly, fragmented dream figure of his old trainer, Mickey, exhorting Rocky to get up and fight one more time, thus inspiring him to defeat Tommy.

Following the end of the Cold War, Drago was forced to move to Ukraine,[4] where he lived a modest life while relentlessly training Viktor to be an even more formidable boxer than he was.

With Donnie injured and his confidence shattered, Viktor ascends to the top of the boxing world thanks to his unmatched power punches, and Drago's good standing with Russia is partially restored.

However, Rocky trains Donnie to accustom his body to repeatedly absorb heavy impact, and uses Viktor's lack of technique and reliance on power punches to his advantage.

Seeing that his son is unable to defend himself and might end up like Apollo, Drago throws in the towel, stopping the fight and allowing Donnie to emerge victorious.

Unlike the flamboyant Apollo Creed and the brash James "Clubber" Lang, Rocky's opponents in the first and second, and third previous films, respectively, Ivan Drago is quiet and non-boastful.

[citation needed] This is made evident by his cold-blooded pulverization of Creed in an exhibition match as well as by his callous reaction toward news of his opponent's death.

In this director's cut edition of the film, from Stallone himself, Drago is positioned as more of an individual experiencing greater conflict between being an instrument of the Soviets and of his own ambition as a 'warrior'.

Toward the conclusion of the fourth film, when Drago is confronted by a Communist Party functionary, the fighter from the collectivist USSR screams at the top of his lungs, "I fight to win FOR ME!!

[10] Russia's "goodwill ambassador" Katya Lycheva of the 1980s objected to the character Ivan Drago, claiming that the film uses him "to vilify the Russian people".