Unsettled by what was happening, Dan ran out into the street and was hit by a truck. As he was losing consciousness, he saw an old man sitting in a circle of light. When he woke up, the man was standing over him, wearing a clay mask shaped like a dragon. He pushed a red gem into Shidan's hands, told him he had a destiny, and disintegrated.
Dan woke up again, for the second time, in a hospital. Confused, he joined the Yakuza and began moving up in the ranks. He met American law student Kimberly Salazar and fell in love. At the same time, he became the costumed assassin Black Dragon. Eventually, Kim and Dan married and had a son, Alex. Kim left Dragon when he became violent. Realizing what was happening, Dan burned his Black Dragon costume and went off to America to redeem himself in both her eyes and his own.
As the hero Golden Dragon, he helped found Wildside and reform it again after it had split up. He eventually remarried Kim and became leader of the team. During a brief hiatus, he and Kim had another child, Mary, who was afflicted by Dan's exposure to King Cobra's COIL gene.
Dragon also suffered a period when he was possessed by his other-dimensional counterpart Black Dragon. His powers faded as his goodness did until he regained his own personality.
Finally, Dan was recalled to the Dragon Cult when a vicious attack by the Cult of the Wyrm seriously damaged them. They also took Dan's son Alex, who had been training with the Cult. While hunting for the Wyrm, they also took Kim. After a visit to the extradimensional Dragon Lands to regain the power of Okage, the dragon inside the gem, Dan returned to Wildside and asked for their help.
They gave it, and together they were able to defeat the Cult of the Wyrm and Dan's corrupted half-brother, now calling himself Black Dragon. However, they had indoctrinated Kim and Alex, and Dan was forced to return to the Dragon Cult in hopes of restoring them back to who they once were.
He succeeded, and trained again as the Cult's champion in the upcoming Tournament of the Death Dragon. He emerged from his training only briefly to help Wildside defeat Doctor Destroyer. During the final battle to prevent the Death Dragon from entering our world, Golden Dragon was killed, stopping his possessed half-brother.