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Record of Lodoss War: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''I will defend the peace of Lodoss... with my life!''}}
It first began as a series of [[Tabletop Games|role-playing game sessions]], based on a Japanese game ''Sword World RPG'' which was heavily inspired by ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''. It was [[After Action Report|recorded and transcribed]] into a series of novels by Ryo Mizuno. In 1990, it became an animated 13-part [[OVA]] series, and from then on it branched into movies, manga and TV series (some of which were alternate universe versions of the OVA, but which followed the story in the original novels more closely).
What is "it"? It is ''[[Record of Lodoss War]]'', a sprawling epic which incorporates nearly every Tolkien-esque fantasy cliche in the book, but does so with style. The lovely art and character designs by Yutaka Izubuchi and Nobuteru Yuki make the OVA series a visual feast, in spite of its rather limited animation. The swelling orchestral score by Mitsuo Hagita makes it an aural feast as well.
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* [[After Action Report]]: What the original novels were.
* [[The Alliance]]: Fallis and Flaim, though in the anime, it's referred to as [[The Federation|a federation.]]
** An evil example would be Alania and Marmo.
* [[
* [[Anti-Villain]]: Ashram and Pirotess.
* [[Anyone Can Die]]: ...or just disappear, never to be heard from again...
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* [[Asskicking Equals Authority]]: Lodoss' most powerful rulers have a habit of being legends in their own time. This trope is probably most literal with Kashue, who becomes King of Flaim by forcibly uniting its people.
* [[The Atoner]]: Leylia is desperate to atone for the chaos that she inflicted upon Lodoss during her time under the possession of Karla, the Grey Witch.
* [[Awesome McCoolname]]: Slayn Starseeker.
* [[Badass]]: Kashue may be a very good fighter, but no other character of the setting, or few characters at all, can close to the awesomeness that is Ashram. He's a [[Bishonen]] [[Black Knight]] who wields a demon killing sword, and also does quite a lot of dragon killing on his way. When {{spoiler|his boss gets killed}}, he's the first one to step up and take over. See the ''crowning music of awesome'', for his personal character theme.
* [[Badass Bookworm]]: Slayn's apprentice Cecil seems to turn into one after the [[Time Skip]], no doubt thanks to Slayn's comment that he might have missed his true calling as a warrior.
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* [[The Berserker]]: Orson. Literally. Holy SHIT, you don't want Orson to ever get pissed at you.
** [[Berserk Button]]: That being said, '''DON'T''' hurt women in his presence.
* [[Best Her to Bed Her]]: Shiris, as it was deconstructed by Orson when he got his emotions back. Shiris was bested by Parn in the first episode of the TV series, and after that, Shiris was quite adamant that she was in love with him. However, Orson pointed out that she was really resentful of Parn beating her and desperately wanted to replace that resentment with another emotion, namely "love", in order to regain her lost pride. [[Armor-Piercing Slap|Shiris didn't take this lecture very well.]]
* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: Leylia, a priestess of the Marfa, the goddess of creation, is a kind-hearted hates seeing people suffer more than anything. But don't over step that boundary, because she WILL send your soul to the other side if necessary.
** Most of the good wizards fall under this as well. And Orson.
* {{spoiler|[[Big Guy Fatality Syndrome]]}}: {{spoiler|Happens to both Ghim and Garrack, though Garrack [[Back From the Dead|got better at the end.]]}}
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** By contrast, Etoh isn't so oblivious to Fianna's affections.
* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]: In the beginning of the TV series, Spark and Little Neese are briefly introduced as children. Later, they become two of the most important people in the series. Lampshaded in one of the omake episodes.
** Wagnard counts as well, as he and his plans are introduced in the first half of the series, but he doesn't become a major villain until the time skip.
* [[Chekhov's Gun]]:
{{quote|'''Kashue to Parn in episode three:''' "If you hadn't stopped to think about the consequences, then you might have won."}}
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* [[Chronic Hero Syndrome]]: Parn.
* [[Clingy Jealous Girl]]: Deedlit, sometimes.
* [[Co-Dragons]]/ [[Dragon Ascendant]]: Ashram, who, ironically, fights a lot of ''real'' dragons himself, and Wagnard, who becomes the [[Big Bad]] of the OAV.
* [[Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like]]: When Parn saves Shiris from Orson's berserker-induced attacks, what does she say as thanks?
{{quote|'''Shiris:''' "Hey! Who said you could save me!?"}}
* [[Conflicting Loyalty]]: Hab has this with his duty as a priest of the Kingdom of a Flaim and his duty (which is to find true heroism, even if it's on the opposing side) to his god, Myrii, the god of war.
* [[Crapsack World]]: Hey, Lodoss ain't called "The Accursed Island" for nothing. {{spoiler|Lucky that things turned around at the finale of the TV series, or else it would have ended up [[Berserk|like this universe.]]}}
* [[Creepy Monotone]]: Orson's voice.
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* [[The Determinator]]: Garrack, Parn, and Spark. Special mention goes to spark toward the end of the TV series.
* [[Disc One Final Boss]]: Emperor Beld. Built up as the [[Big Bad]], he goes down roughly 1/3 through the overall storyline.
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: So, Wagnard crossed the line with the academy of magic by switching over to [[The Dark Arts]] and was therefore justifiably booted out. And this has driven his whole agenda of resurrecting the almighty evil black goddess Kardis and wanting to become the King of the Dead. Even Neese pointed out that this was a childish vendetta.
** Also, when Kashue's forces fail to slay Shooting Star, the dragon says that he would kill a hundred humans for every scale that was scratched. We can't do the math for that, but damn!
* [[Dying Moment of Awesome]]: Orson taking the spirit of anger back to save Shiris, kills both the Dark Elf, the skeleton warriors, and the amazon that beat Shiris, receiving mortal wounds in the process.
* [[The Empire]]: Marmo, which, being evil, is also a [[Mordor]]-type country. Ironically, the "empire" covers far less land than any of the other kingdoms.
* [[Ending Theme]]: Notably, the OVA actually has an English version of the closing credits theme for the dub - and it fits remarkably well.
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* [[God of Evil]]: Kardis, the Goddess of Destruction.
* [[God of Good]]: Marfa, the Goddess of Creation.
* [[The Good King]]: Basically, omit the evil rulers and you have a continent full of these.
* [[Grand Theft Me]]: Karla the Grey Witch, whose magical circlet pretty much allows her to take over anyone she wants. And we mean ''anyone''. {{spoiler|Poor Woodchuck!}}
* [[Have I Mentioned I Am a Dwarf Today?]]: Ghim.
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* [[Hidden Elf Village]]: The home of the elves is called [[I Don't Like the Sound of That Place|The Forest of No Return]] and they're not too enthusiastic about intermingling with the [[Somebody Else's Problem|worries of the outside world.]]
* [[High Fantasy]]: One of the best known examples in anime.
* [[Hot-Blooded]]: Parn and Spark.
* [[I Don't Like the Sound of That Place]]: The Forest of No Return. [[Sarcasm Mode|That sounds welcoming.]]
* [["I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight]]: Not a fight with the person in question, but in the TV series finale {{spoiler|Spark is struggling and fighting against dark energy that is being spewed at him by Neese, who is being possessed by the dark priestess Naneel, in order to get through to her. She is able to free herself of Naneel's grip on her soul enough to allow Spark through to her subconscious right before she is absorbed into darkness. [[Final Boss New Dimension|Once there]], [[Battle in the Center of the Mind|the real battle begins]].}}
* [[I Will Definitely Protect You]]: Spark to Neese.
* [[Ideal Hero]]: Parn.
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** Woodchuck is explained in the Demon of Flame manga, or at least why he ''isn't'' explained. {{spoiler|Immediately after then end of the first story (which is slightly different than how it's told in the OVA, and fits into the TV continuity, Parn won't stop until he finds Woodchuck and destroys Karla. But when he's in the Desert with Deedlit in the manga that bridges the gap to the TV series, he comes to the conclusion that instead of relentlessly pursuing Karla in revenge, he should try to help fix the world and thus undermine the chaos Karla has created. He still regrets not saving Wood though, as pointed out in episode 2 of the TV series. And poor Wood probably was killed when Karla got her final form for the second part of the TV series.}}
*** Woodchuck's fate is reportedly revealed in the recent Record of Lodoss War Next Generation novel series.
* [[Long Bus Trip]]: After the ten year [[Time Skip]], all characters from the first arc make more than one appearance, though they are not the central characters anymore... all except for Cecil, that is. He is shown in one episode during the second arc and is never seen again.
* [[Luke Nounverber]]: Slayn's full name, revealed in the novels and manga, is Slayn Starseeker.
* [[MacGuffin]]: There are sacred and ancient artifacts everywhere in Lodoss, like the Soul Crystal Ball, the Staff of Life, and the Scepter of Domination. And they all have the potential of being [[Artifact of Doom|artifacts of doom]] if they fall into the wrong hands.
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* [[Medieval European Fantasy]]
* [[Mordor]]: The Empire of Marmo. In a twist, it's not the evil of its rulers that blighted the land, but rather that it was ''always'' a monster-infested shithole, and the leaders of the people stuck living there had to become ruthless and pragmatic just to survive.
* [[Names to Know in Anime]]:
** OAV: [[Takeshi Kusao]] (Parn), [[Yumi Touma]] (Deedlit), [[Kappei Yamaguchi]] (Etoh), [[Norio Wakamoto]] (Woodchuck), [[Hideyuki Tanaka]] (Slayn), [[Yoshiko Sakakibara]] (Karla {{spoiler|and her host, Laylia}}), [[Shuichi Ikeda]] (King Kashew), [[Sakiko Tamagawa]] (Pirotess), [[Akira Kamiya]] (Ashram), [[Show Hayami]] (Orson), [[Minami Takayama]] (Shiris).
*** And for the dub, [[Lisa Ortiz]] (Deedlit).
** TV series: [[Kenji Nojima]] (Spark), [[Nobutoshi Canna]] (Parn), [[Shiho Niiyama]] (Deedlit), [[Mitsuru Miyamoto]] (Slayn), [[Rei Igarashi]] (Karla), [[Show Hayami]] (Ashram), [[Kumiko Nishihara]] (Pirotess), [[Nobuyuki Hiyama]] (Orson), [[Joji Nakata]] (King Kashew), [[Maaya Sakamoto]] (Leaf), [[Yuu Asakawa]] (Shiris), [[Michie Tomizawa]] (Laylia).
* [[Never Found the Body]]: {{spoiler|Ashram}} falling into the lava pit.
* [[No Honor Among Thieves]]: Discussed between Priest Hab and Ashram, as they have no trust in their other teammates.
* [[Non-Action Guy]]: Marr.
* [[Oblivious to Love]]: Parn may be good at the whole hero thing, but he is absolutely clueless when it comes to dealing with Deedlit's affections for him (he overcomes his shyness toward the end). Spark and Neese are also somewhat awkward about their feelings for each other, but not obliviously so.
* [[Older and Wiser]]: The first five-man band after the time skip in the TV series.
* [[Ominous Latin Chanting]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZH6aKq9w9o Okoreru Kyousenshi/An Angered Berseker]. Fits [[Crowning Music of Awesome]] also.
* [[Omnicidal Maniac]]: Kardis, the Goddess of Destruction, [[Captain Obvious|no doubt]]. Of course, the kook of a black wizard who wants to reincarnate her also deserves mention. Parn even said that the world would be better of if Valaris, the God of Darkness, was to be resurrected. That's saying something.
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* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]: Good or evil, most of the rulers in this series are pretty darned sensible.
* [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]]: Shiris and Orson.
* [[Reluctant Warrior]]: Though he lacks emotions which actually makes him a much more efficient fighter, Orson doesn't enjoy fighting and would much rather for his adversaries to run away.
* [[Rescue Romance]]: The last arc of the series.
* [[Royals Who Actually Do Something]]: Kashue is a very competent king. He fights well. Despite his Mercenary King title, he is not just a [[Punch Clock Hero]]. He actually cares for his subjects.
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* [[Sneezing]]
* [[Spank the Cutie]]: Garrack does this to Leaf when she starts complaining on their travels.
* [[The Stoic]]: Due to his status as a literal Berserker, Orson keeps his emotions reeled in to suppress his [[Unstoppable Rage]].
** [[Emotionless Girl|Emotionless Guy]]: A [[Rare Male Example]].
* [[Stripperiffic]]: Pirotess' outfit, a white leather dress with a very short skirt and a top that displays [[Absolute Cleavage]]. She also wears matching [[Thigh-High Boots]].
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** The [[Dubbing|dub]] often tried to translate these jokes and puns.
* [[Supporting Leader]]: King Kashue, and, later, arguably Parn and Deedlit.
* [[Sword and Sorcerer]]: Parn and Deedlit respectively.
* [[Taking You with Me]]: {{spoiler|Wagnard said this to Spark when he stabbed him, but it didn't work. Haha.}}
* [[Talking to Himself]]: This happens a lot in the dub, to the point where in one scene late in the TV series, there are 4 characters in one scene and [[Crispin Freeman]] is voicing three of them.
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* [[Unusual Ears]]: Deedlit and Pirotess, whose ears are far longer than what most Western fantasy fans would attribute to elves. The character designer was supposedly inspired by the antennae on [[Mobile Suit Gundam|Gundam]] robots. It's worth mentioning that this seems to have influenced the appearance of "elf ears" in all Japanese media afterwards and even bled into Western productions like ''[[World of Warcraft]]''.
* [[Virgin Sacrifice]]: In order for the dark priestess Naneel to be reincarnated, it must be done so with the body of one who is of pure blood. The high priestess of Marfa Leyla was the first contender for this position, but after giving birth to a daughter, it was passed on to her.
* [[Weapon Tombstone]]: {{spoiler|Ghim's axe marks his grave.}}
* [[Welcome Back, Traitor]]: A not very big example, but in episode five of the TV series, Marr ditches Orson, Shiris, and Cecil on the pirate ship. He is soon intercepted by the rest of the team with Parn, Deedlit, and King Kashue and they all rejoin. Cecil says some words to Marr about him betraying them and Marr just says "sorry" pretty much. After that, they all team up and go along with their objective.
* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: Karla the Grey Witch, whose atrocities were part of an effort to "balance power" in the world and keep it from being destroyed by any one faction.
* [[Will They or Won't They?]]: Garrack and Ryna - and [[Shipper on Deck|Leaf]] ships them from time to time.
* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]: When the gold and black dragons fight against each other, they telepathically call out for a green and purple dragon, which awaken from their slumber. After they are shown rising from their sleep, the scene changes and they get never shown or mentioned again.
** Well, from the looks of it, they're probably sending power to the fighting dragons.
* [[White and Black Morality]]: At the end of the day in Lodoss, the epic battle is always between the forces of good and the forces of evil. However, there are some exceptions, such as with the [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Karla]] and [[Anti-Villain|Ashram]] who are more in the grey.
* [[You Can't Thwart Stage One]]: In ''Chronicles of the Heroic Knight'', Spark and his guys constantly try to get one step ahead of Wagnard by getting to the [[MacGuffin|Soul Crystal Ball]] and to the [[MacGuffin|Staff of Life]] first. All plans fail - including {{spoiler|losing [[Living MacGuffin|Neese]] to Wagner}}, and the turmoil can only be settled right when {{spoiler|Naneel has already been resurrected in Neese, [[Endofthe World As We Know It|with the world on the verge of impending doom]].}}
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