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''Drakengard'' is a series of action role-playing games published by Square Enix. Its first entry, ''Drakengard'', was released in 2003 in Japan and 2004 in western territories. It was followed by a sequel ''Drakengard 2'' (2005/06), a spin-off, ''Nier'' (2010), and a prequel ''Drakengard 3'' (2013/14). ''Drakengard'' follows Caim, a deposed prince of the Union who forms a pact with a dragon, as he and his companions fight against the evil Empire to protect the magical Seals responsible for sustaining the world. Caim and his friends eventually battle the Cult of the Watchers and their possessed leader Manah. ''Drakengard 2'' takes place eighteen years later, when the Union controls the remnants of the Empire and sustains the Seals. The main protagonist is Nowe, an initiate of the Knights of the Seal, who rebels against the Union's rule alongside his dragon Legna and a repentant Manah. ''Drakengard 3'' centers on Zero, a woman with magical powers who sets out to kill her five sisters, each of whom poses a threat to the world. ''Nier'' is set in an alternate timeline stemming from one of ''Drakengard''s endings, and it depicts the protagonist's journey to save a loved one in a post-apocalyptic world. The games' characters and stories were principally created by Taro Yoko, the series director and scenario writer. Other contributors are series producer Takamasa Shiba, series writers Sawako Natori and Emi Nagashima, and ''Drakengard'' co-producer Takuya Iwasaki. Reviewers have been mostly positive about the games' characters: the first game's cast received favorably, and many praised their dialogue. Opinions were more mixed about the characters of ''Drakengard 2'', which certain reviewers claimed were weaker than those of the previous game. ''Drakengard 3'' was criticized for uneven writing, but it received praise for its unusual characters and their interactions. ''Nier''s cast and the relationship between its story and characters were lauded. The characters of ''Drakengard'' and ''Nier'' have gained a strong following in Japan. ==Creation and development== The setting of ''Drakengard'', an dark fantasy world called Midgard, is primarily inspired by the folklore of Northern Europe, while other elements were inspired by Japanese-style revisionism.〔〔 The characters' costumes and armor were inspired by classical Medieval Europe.〔 The games' stories frequently contain many dark or adult themes, deliberately contrasting with ''Dragon Quest'' and ''Final Fantasy''.〔〔 The universe of ''Drakengard'' is split into multiple timelines: an event in the world's past 〔 A key aspect of the ''Drakengard'' universe is the pact, a ritual that links souls and grants a human great power in return for some aspect of themselves (their voice, charm, aging ability, etc.).〔〔Pact: in the original Japanese〕 ''Nier'' takes place in a separate alternate timeline created by one of the endings of ''Drakengard''.〔 The main theme of the ''Drakengard'' series is immorality, which is shown through the characters' dialogue. Other themes included war and death (''Drakengard 2''), and "sense of contrast" (''Drakengard 3'').〔〔〔 The core concepts, characters and stories of series have been created and written for by series director and scenario writer Taro Yoko, series writer Sawako Natori, and series producer Takamasa Shiba. The original game also received input from ''Drakengard'' co-producer Takuya Iwasaki. In the original game, Yoko took charge of Leonard and Arioch, Iwasaki was involved in developing Verdelet, Inuart and Caim, while Natori was responsible for the majority of the script writing for them.〔〔〔〔 The majority of the characters and their personalities and personalities have been inspired by anime of the time, including ''Sister Princess'', ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' and ''Puella Magi Madoka Magica''. Many of them represented certain character archetypes.〔〔〔〔 The characters for ''Drakengard'', and for future games in the series, were designed by Kimihiko Fujisaka.〔 His earlier designs were inspired by the character designs of ''Final Fantasy'' and ''Dragon Quest'', while his designs for ''Drakengard 3'' were intended to appeal to fans of the ''Drakengard'' series as it had become at that time.〔 ''Drakengard 2'' was designed to keep some of the dark aesthetics of the original, but at the same time tone down or remove others to increase the series' appeal to mainstream gamers. The game's producer, Akira Yasui, also wanted to make the game the "opposite" to ''Drakengard'', which partly involved the game having a broader color palette.〔〔〔 The characters for the game were voiced by multiple well-known actors in Japan.〔 For ''Drakengard 3'', a prequel to the first two games, the developers wanted to create a balance between the previous games' dark atmosphere and stories, and additional moments of humor to help lighten the atmosphere.〔 In contrast to the previous games, the team made ''Drakengard 3''s protagonist a woman, with many of her design aspects meant to evoke the dark atmosphere.〔 Ideas to make the setting a modern one and the protagonist a contemporary schoolgirl were rejected at an early stage.〔 ''Niers story was inspired in Yoko's mind by the 9/11 incident and its aftermath: he wanted to create a story where both sides believed in what they were doing, and that would show the player the story from each side's perspectives.〔 The characters were given extensive back-stories, as well as the narrative being designed to challenge players.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Characters of the Drakengard series」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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