Record of Lodoss War
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Record of Lodoss War (ロードス島戦記 Rōdosu-tō Senki) is a series of fantasy novels by Ryo Mizuno based around work he originally created for a role-playing game system. There have since been multiple manga, anime and computer game adaptations, several of which have been translated into English. The plots generally follow the conventions and structure of the Dungeons & Dragons system, being based around a party of several characters of distinct types undertaking a specific quest.
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Novels
Began in the 1980s, the earliest novels ran in serial form in the magazine Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko (角川スニーカー文庫), published by Kadokawa Shoten. The first novel, The Grey Witch (灰色の魔女 Haiiro no Majo) forms the basis for the manga series of the same name, and the first eight episodes of the Record of Lodoss War OVA. The second, The Demon of Flame (炎の魔神 Honō no Majin) was also adapted in manga form, and as a 4 CD radio drama. The final five episodes of the OVA series are based on the story told in across the third and fourth novels, Karyū-san no Maryū (火竜山の魔竜 lit. The Demon Dragon of Fire Dragon Mountain). Mizuno continues writing Lodoss novels to this date, in addition to creating other series, including the sci-fi series Starship Operators which has recently been adapted into anime form by J.C.STAFF.
Anime
- 1990 Record of Lodoss War (ロードス島戦記 Rōdosu-tō Senki) 13 episode OVA
- 1995 Legend of Crystania - The Motion Picture (はじまりの冒険者たち レジェンド・オブ・クリスタニア Hajimari no Bōkensha-tachi: Kurisutania no Densetsu) movie
- 1996 Legend of Crystania (レジェンド・オブ・クリスタニア Kurisutania no Densetsu) 3 episode OVA
- 1998 Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight (ロードス島戦記 英雄騎士伝 Rōdosu-tō Senki: Eiyuu Kishiden) 27 episode TV series
- 1998 Welcome To Lodoss Island! (ようこそロードス島へ！ Yōkoso Rōdosu-tō e!) 27 parody mini episodes, later compiled into 'movie' form
Manga
- The Grey Witch (灰色の魔女 Haiiro no Majo) 3 volumes, art by Yoshihiko Ochi
- The Demon of Flame (炎の魔神 Honō no Majin) 2 volumes
- The Lady of Pharis (ファリスの聖女 Farisu no Seijo) 2 volumes, art by Akihiro Yamada
- Chronicles of the Heroic Knight (英雄騎士伝 Eiyū Senshi-den) 6 volumes, art by Masato Natsumoto
- Welcome to Lodoss Island (ようこそロードス島へ！ Yōkoso Rōdosu-tō e!) 3 volumes, four panel manga
- Deedlit's Tale (ディードリット物語 Dīdoritto Monogatari) 2 volumes, art by Setsuko Yoneyama
- Legend of Crystania
CPM Manga are currently publishing translations of several of these series.
Games
- Record of Lodoss War (SNES)
- Lodoss War (Game Boy Color)
- Record of Lodoss War (Dreamcast)
Title
It should be noted that "Record of Lodoss War" is a somewhat misleading translation of the Japanese title. Lodoss island is a rather poor transliteration of the Japanese proper noun ロードス島 rōdosu shima; meaning "the island of Rhodes."Template:Citeneeded While "record" is not strictly incorrect, 戦記 senki is more precisely "military history" or perhaps more poetically "chronicle of war." Thus the translation "Chronicle of the War(s) of Rhodes" might be considered more faithful. However, "Record of Lodoss War" is nonetheless the generally accepted romanization in Japan.
Characters
Parn: Warrior. Parn is the main character of the series; a Holy Knight of Lodoss and the son of Tessius, a disbarred Holy Knight. Parn wears his father's armor and carries his father's sword. Parn is an impulsive and angry youth at the start of the series, but grows in age and experience, becoming more wise and mature. Similarly, Parn's swordfighting skills, which are laughable at first, advance to such a degree that he is able to stand toe-to-toe with some of Lodoss's finer swordmen later in the story.
Etoh: Cleric. Etoh is a priest of Falis, the supreme god of the Lodoss world. Etoh fights with a scepter-like mace. His mature wisdom provides a cool contrast to Parn's hotheaded aggressiveness.
Slayn: Magic User. Slayn is a young wizard whose practice as a country wise man is interrupted by his friend, Ghim the dwarf. He focuses his magical powers through his staff.
Deedlit: Elf. Deedlit, or "Deed," is the youngest of her clan of Silvan Elves, and a skilled magic user and fighter. Deed fights with a rapier. She's also in love with Parn.
Ghim: Dwarf. Ghim is questing to save the daughter of his lover, the high priestess Neese. His weapon is a broad, double-bladed axe. Ghim bickers frequently with Deedlit and belittles Parn's fighting skills, but he is a strong and loyal warrior in a fight.
- Ghim's name refers to the dwarf Gimli from The Lord of the Rings.
Woodchuck: Thief. Wood was saved from a fate of languishing in a prison by Parn's kindness, and because of this, the honorable thief feels he owes a debt of gratitude to the young warrior. He carries a long fighting knife.
The party is opposed by Karla the Grey Witch, a powerful and mysterious woman whose goals are known only to herself, and by Ashram, a strong black knight.
Later in the series, Ghim is killed by Karla the Grey Witch and replaced by Leylia, another Cleric (Leylia, the daughter of Ghim's lover, Neese, had been possessed by Karla for five years and was freed by Ghim and Slayn). Meanwhile, Parn and Deedlit befriend two new characters (who incidentally represent character classes from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, rather than the basic version of the game):
Shiris: Shiris, like Parn, is a Fighter. Like Deedlit, she uses a rapier as her primary weapon.
Orson: Orson is a Barbarian whose special ability is a nearly unstoppable berserker rage in which he cannot tell friend from foe. He uses a massive greatsword as his weapon.
Significant locations/entities
Kardis: Dark goddess, also called the destroyer. At the beginning of time she battled Marfa, and the resulting cataclysm formed the island of Lodoss, called the Cursed Island.
Leylia: In the original OAV and manga, she was the host body of the Gray Witch. It was Ghim's quest to free her, and he did so, but died in the attempt. In the second series, she is a priestess of Marfa, and is married to Slayn and has a daughter, Neese.
Lodoss: An island upon which most of the action takes place. Maps can be found either online at fansites, or in the soundtrack leaflets.
Marmo: A dark island south of the island of Lodoss. It is the headquarters of the villians; namely, the Dark Emperor Beld, his lieutenant Ashram, and the evil wizard Wagnard. It is a foul land, desolate and overrun with hordes of goblins and demons.
Beld: Originally one of the Six Heroes, Beld is the evil ruler of Marmo. His Demon Sword, bathed in the blood of the devil king, allows Beld to use the fearsome Soul Crusher technique. Additionally, Beld controls the many creatures of Marmo, including Narse, one of the five ancient dragons.
Pirotess: Female dark elf who serves Ashram, dark warlord of Marmo. Although it seems that he has no real emotions toward her, she loves him. She appears to be killed late in the first series, but returns in the second series, as liberties were taken with the plot of the manga series for the shorter OVA as she never died in it.
Wagnard: He is an evil priest that seeks to raise the dark goddess Kardis, also called the destroyer. In the first series, he seeks to do this by sacrificing the elf, Deedlit, and is thwarted by Parn. In the second series, he tries to summon Kardis into the body of Neese, a young priestess of Marfa, daughter to Leylia and Slayn, and is thwarted by Spark, a young knight trainee of Flaim, and his party of misfits, which includes Parn and Deedlit from the first series.
King Kashue: The King of Flaim, Kashue fights to save his people and Lodoss from falling under Marmo's control. He also assists Parn and his party on their quest and is a pivotal character in Parn's development. Spark from the second series idolizes him.
OVA (1990) Episode Guide
Central Park Media has released the anime in America on a two disc set entitled "Record of Lodoss War." It contains episodes 1-13. The episodes are:
- 01. "Prologue to the Legend"
- 02. "Blazing Departure"
- 03. "The Black Knight"
- 04. "The Grey Witch"
- 05. "The Desert King"
- 06. "The Sword of the Dark Emperor"
- 07. "The War of Heroes"
- 08. "Requiem for Warriors"
- 09. "The Scepter of Domination"
- 10. "The Demon Dragon of Fire Dragon Mountain"
- 11. "The Wizard's Ambition"
- 12. "Final Battle! Marmo, the Dark Island"
- 13. "Lodoss, the Burning Continent"
It should be noted that the second Lodoss anime, "Chronicles of the Heroic Knight", overwrites the final five episodes of the OVA. The proper chronologic order of the two series is OVA episodes 2-5, OVA Episode 1, OVA Episodes 6-8 (omitting Shiris' and Orsen's appearance in the beginning of episode 8), and finally the entirety of the "Chronicles" series. After the two Lodoss series, the Legend of Crystania series further chronicles the adventures of Ashram and Pirotess as they travel to find a new home for the warriors of Marmo.
The comedy manga/anime series Rune Soldier, also created by Ryo Mizuno, is set in the same world as the Lodoss and Crystania series, on the northern continent of Alecrast; this is only made explicit in the manga, however, and the series is otherwise unconnected to the story of Lodoss.