Drakengard/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


The various very screwed up characters of Drakengard we all know and love.

Drakengard

Caim

The protagonist of the first game, Caim is a soldier of the Union and was originally the next in line for becoming King before his parents were murdered by a dragon, now motivated primarily by his love for his sister Furiae and a need for revenge. After suffering a grievous wound in battle, he stumbled across a similarly wounded Angelus, and forged a pact in order to preserve both their lives. The superhuman abilities and new flying mount were a pleasant bonus. Together with Angelus and his other friends travelling companions, they set out to the defeat The Empire.

  • Anti-Hero: A strong Type V. His only redeeming qualities are his love for his sister, friendship with Angelus, and that The Empire he fights is even worse. He's still a total bloodthirsty psychopath.
  • Authority Equals Asskicking: The King of the Union, and commander of the Union Army.
  • Back From the Brink: Justified by the fact that he forged a pact with the red dragon Angelus.
  • Badass: More or less single-handedly felled The Empire, destroyed entire armies, and depending on the ending killed at least two different Eldritch Abominations, the king of all dragons, and his own dragon.
    • The sequel makes him out as basically the most feared man on the planet, and for good reason. He outclasses the new protagonist, and manages to kill the The Grim Reaper.
  • Big Freaking Sword: He can acquire several, but Hymir's Finger in particular stands out.
  • Blood Knight: He basically only smiles when he's about to, is in the process of, and the aftermath of killing.
  • Brother-Sister Incest: A big part of the planned prequel manga would have been that Caim did indeed want to tap that, and was likely a reason for its cancellation. You can still see hints of it in artwork where he's blushing over Furiae.
  • Character Development: Basically goes from "I care only about my sister" to "I care only about my sister and the dragon", but still...
  • Cry Cute: Yes, a male example of the trope. Watch Ending 1 if you don't believe me. The man who didn't cry even for his sister sheds tears for Angelus as she becomes the new Seal.
  • Determinator Come on. Just try stopping him.
  • Dropped a Bridge on Them: In the fifth ending to the game, a heavily weakened Caim and Angelus are taken out by a couple of missiles.
  • Harmful to Minors: Not even child conscripts are safe from his wrath.
    • This trope actually happens to Caim himself. As a child, he witnessed an Imperial black dragon a.k.a. Legna killing his parents. This may go some way towards explaining his behavior.
  • Hates Everyone Equally: Caim doesn't really discriminate. If you stand in his way, he will gleefully kill you.
  • Heroic Mime: He gave up his voice as part of the pact with Angelus. Though calling him "heroic" is kinda stretching it...
  • Hidden Depths: It's possible that him not crying for his sister is justified, as her being the Goddess Seal is a huge source of the problems that have plagued them both. His tears for Angelus could be because he realizes she's taking up that same burden, even though Angelus says that she's "stronger than a human".
  • The Juggernaut: Caim slaughters his way through entire armies, and that's without Angelus. The only things that can stop him are the Eldritch Abominations in the different endings.
  • Kick the Dog: He kicks Verdelet in the face once for practically no reason. Oh, and that dying elf who tried to appeal to him for help. He kicked her in the face too. And then there were those child soldiers he mercilessly crushed... And all those other people he mercilessly crushed...
  • Kick Them While They Are Down: At the end of the third map, Caim catches up to an imperial trooper trying to kill his sister Furiae. After killing the man, he spends the remaining cutscene (while Furiae and Inuart are angsting. Er, talking.) stabbing the man's dead body over and over and over. To be fair, it was his sister, and bad things happen once she dies.
  • Magnetic Hero: For whatever reason, Caim seems to attract some "interesting" companions despite the fact that he honestly could not care less about them.
  • One-Man Army: The first game has him cutting through dozens of soldiers, and that's before he gets the pact; afterwards, he pretty much slaughters entire armies.
    • The second game pushes this Up to Eleven: he by himself made the entire world his enemy and doing it very smoothly! Not even the next protagonist Nowe can stop him. How bad is it? Killing his fire-breathing, flying dragon partner was seen as the easier alternative than engaging Caim himself.
  • Perpetual Frowner: When he's not adorned with a Slasher Smile, Caim's base state is 'scowling'.
  • Pet the Dog: Has some very poignant moments with his sister Furiae and with Angelus.
  • The Power of Hate Is An Awesome Power: He's basically fueled by his sheer, undying hatred of the Empire/the Union.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: This is the key aspect of his character. His parents including his mom, who was most likely the previous goddess seal, were killed by Legna when he was just a kid. Both he and his sister were denied their lives, and so he has a burning hatred of anybody who sides with the empire.
  • Rogue Protagonist: He doesn't even bother to hide it. His first deed in the second game is annihilating a whole army with a large smile! Interestingly, there isn't actually much change in his personality. The only real difference is that now your on the receiving end of his violence.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: As revealed during the backstory of NieR, Caim's father was a king, and he's technically a landless prince. This is the big part of why he hates the Empire so much, and it makes his sister a princess on top of everything else.
  • Shoot the Dog: He's forced to do this in Ending 2 as Furiae becomes an horrible world-ending monster and Ending 3 when his pact is broken and he has to fight Angelus.
  • Slasher Smile: In the sequel, Manah has a nervous breakdown from it.
  • The Speechless: The price of his pact. Angelus tends to speak for him when he's not using violence to get his point across.
  • The Unfettered: He'll protect his loved ones regardless of who, what or how many multitudes he has to slaughter.
  • Unstoppable Rage: Goes from making him interesting to making him a Flat Character, right back to interesting when things start getting really screwy. It's like his rage is all he's got.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: A lot of characters do this to him. Does he care? Hell no, this is Caim after all, he is the hero you wouldn't want to mess with.
  • Would Hurt a Child: With gusto. Especially Nowe.

Angelus

A red dragon who holds a rather disdainful opinion of humanity. Seeing the situation she was in at the beginning of the game and not to mention the sequel... perhaps she can be forgiven her views. After agreeing to a pact with Caim, she becomes his mount, his (rather ineffectual) voice of reason, and over time, the closest of his companions, to the extent where Caim sheds tears when they part in the first game's canonical ending.

  • Back From the Brink: She was dying, just like Caim, when they met. Only a pact with him saved her life.
  • Barrier Maiden: In the first ending, wherein she takes Furiae's place as the Goddess of the Seal.
  • Character Development: Starts out as cold and aloof towards Caim, but by the end, she has mellowed out considerably.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Usually at the expense of humans.
  • Dropped a Bridge on Them: In the fifth ending to the game, a heavily weakened Caim and Angelus are taken out by a couple of missiles.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: She becomes the new seal in the first ending of the first game. In Drakengard 2, we see that being the seal entails horrific, constant agony for her.
  • Humans Are the Real Monsters: And how!
  • Morality Pet: Becomes one for Caim as their relationship deepens, especially in the sequel.
  • Our Dragons Are Different: In that they can create pacts with others.
  • Pet the Dog: Towards Caim despite starting out as allies of convenience
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Despite disliking humans, Angelus asks Caim if he really has to kill that many.


Inuart

A bard who was initially Furiae's betrothed until her ascension to becoming the Goddess robbed them of their chances at wedding each other. Nevertheless, he remained close to Furiae and Caim... although a strong undercurrent of jealousy remained towards Caim's exploits, as well as Furiae's deep (perhaps too deep) affection for her brother... one that the villains wasted no time in exploiting.


Furiae

A young maiden chosen to be the 'Goddess', a title for a person bearing a Seal that supposedly prevents The End of the World as We Know It from occurring. A rather colourless individual, the strongest facet of her personality is also a rather unpleasant one... She's in love with her brother.


Arioch

Voiced by Megumi Hayashibara (JP), Michelle Ruff (EN)

One of the few survivors of the Empire's attack on the Forest seal and elven purge. After enduring such horrific circumstances, her mind... broke. In exchange for her womb, she entered into a pact with the spirits of ice and fire, Undine and Salamander.

  • Action Girl/Dark Action Girl
  • An Ice Person: The power of her pact partner Undine.
  • Ax Crazy: And holy freaking HOW!
  • Break the Cutie: She was once a kind and loving mother, until Empire soldiers slaughtered her family...
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She disappears from the face of the planet in the sequel, with the only mention of her being in the form of her weapon, which your protagonist can find.
  • Eats Babies: Prefers them over adults. Her logic is that devouring them will ensure they're never taken from her again, and she can care for them forever.
  • I Am a Humanitarian: Mostly children, but doesn't mind adults when there aren't any children around. In Arioch's novella, she bites off the fingers of one of her guards, and she doesn't spit them out.
  • Karmic Death: So you like eating babies, huh? Well, perhaps it's only fitting that you got eaten by mind-numbing horrors in the shape of human babies...
  • Laughing Mad: When she eats the Child Soldier.
  • Our Elves Are Better: Averted. She's really not better than anyone in the Crapsack World of Drakengard, except at being crazy.
  • Playing with Fire: The power of her pact partner Salamander.
  • The Quiet One: Doesn't talk very often, but when she does...

So sweet...


Verdelet

As the Union Hierarch, Verdelet is responsible for maintaining the goddess seal, down to replacing her if necessary.

  • Cursed with Awesome/Blessed with Suck: The only thing Verdelet sacrificed is his hair, which is rather light compared to others. However, his dragon pact partner has since become petrified, leaving him with just his not-quite-telepathy.
  • Killed Off for Real: Was killed by Caim sometime before Drakengard 2 for strengthening the seal on Angelus and thus intensifying her suffering.
  • The Load: Not much use.
  • Mr. Exposition: His only purpose in the game is to remind Caim how doomed the world is.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In Ending A, his attempt at purifying Manah just makes her go One-Winged Angel.
  • Non-Action Guy: The only member of Caim's group that cannot fight.


Leonard

Voiced by Koichi Yamadera (JP)

  • The Atoner: Somewhat...
  • Bowdlerise: In the original Japanese version, Leonard is explicitly a pedophile. An offical bio even states that the reason he was not in the fire that destroyed his home was because he was molesting a young boy in the forest at the time.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: As with Arioch, he does not appear in the sequel. He does, however, get a minor mention by an NPC, and you can find his weapon.
  • Disability Superpower: In exchange for his pact powers, he gave up his sight. Not that it hinders him at all in gameplay.
  • Driven to Suicide: Almost.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Blows up himself (and the Faerie) to take out some of the Grotesqueries.
  • It's All My Fault: Blames himself for the death of his brothers.
  • Survivor Guilt: And how!
  • You Shall Not Pass: Against the Grotesqueries.


Faerie

Voiced by Yuko Miyamura (JP), Wendee Lee (EN)

Leonard's pact partner, introduced after his failed suicide attempt. She tried to have him take another go at it, before deciding that forging a pact with him would be more amusing. This sets the tone for their relationship.

  • Dirty Coward
  • The Fair Folk: She looks cute, but is easily one of the nastiest characters in the game.
  • Humans Are the Real Monsters: Yeah, right... because you're so good and noble, huh?
  • Jerkass: The little rat!
  • Moral Myopia: Accuses Leonard of being a coward who can't even kill himself right. Then, when Leonard does his Heroic Sacrifice against the Grotesqueries, the faerie turns out to be an even greater coward who would be cool with the world ending if only she was allowed to survive.
  • Small Annoying Creature: She pretty much only exists to tell Leonard how much he sucks.


Seere


Manah

Voiced by Sherry Lynn (creepy little girl voice), Daran Norris (creepy Watchers voice)

High Priestess of the Cult of Watchers and apparent leader of the Empire via mind control, Manah started her life as a simple, unassuming child. Unfortunately, her mother hated her for some reason, to the extent that Manah viewed death as a preferable alternative, and when the Watchers approached the unhappy and insecure six-year old with promises of eternal love and happiness if they accepted her, they found a willing vessel.

In the first ending, she asks to be killed, but is refused... her punishment as decreed by Angelus and enforced by Caim is to wander the world and to witness the consequences of her rash decision with her own eyes. Likely a very large reason that she becomes The Atoner in Drakengard 2.

Drakengard 2

Nowe

Nowe: Gismor... you are a sad man.

Legna

  • All There in the Manual: It's directly stated in the Memory of Blood supplement that Legna is both the dragon that killed Caim and Furiae's parents, and the dragon Inuart rode in the first game.
  • Evil Mentor: Well, not per se given the setting of Drakengard, but definitely not one of the good guys.
  • Grumpy Old Man: Probably helped along by his voice actor.
  • Humans Are the Real Monsters: Legna's attitude to all humans except Nowe.
  • Karma Houdini: In Ending B, and some would argue in Ending A and C since Caim wasn't the one who got to kill him.
  • One-Winged Angel
  • Sdrawkcab Name: To Angel. This bit is lost in translation when they decided to call her Angelus.

Manah

Eris

Urick

Gismor

Caim

Now the antagonist, Caim is devoted to freeing Angelus from being the seal she became in the first game. Despite the eighteen year difference between games, he's still as strong, if not stronger, and just as murderous.

  • Anti-Villain
  • Ax Crazy: If you think he was bad in the first game, just wait until you see him in the second.
  • Badass: Look at it this way: Caim's pact with Angelus is still active, meaning if one dies, the other will too. It was easier to kill the dragon than it would be to kill Caim.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Was able to kill Urick simply by slashing him until he killed the Reaper.
  • Dynamic Entry: Just one slice.
  • Eye Scream: Manah stabbed an eye out while escaping from Caim. Thus, he's known as The One-Eyed Man for most of the game.
  • The Juggernaut: Only this time, you're on the receiving end of his sword. Let's just say that getting in his way isn't a very good idea...
  • Kick the Dog: Two instances: a) It is mentioned early that Caim killed general Oror, Nowe's surrogate human father and Gismor's balance on the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism; b) Later on, Caim kills Ensemble Darkhorse Urick in order to break the seal.
    • Big Damn Villains: The latter case also means that Nowe doesn't have to do it, since both of them technically wanted the latter to happen, but Nowe can't make himself do it.
  • Legendary in the Sequel: Specifically by becoming The Dreaded.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: "The one-eyed man", for roughly the first half of the game.
  • Peek-a-Bangs: His hair tends to cover his eyes.
  • Slasher Smile: Even more pronounced now.

Oror

Zhangpo

Hanch

Yaha

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