Record of Lodoss War – Father of Dungeons & Dragons
The anime of Record of Lodoss War began life as a series of 1986 “replays,” which are basically transcripts of Role Playing Games sessions (these replays became the foundation of the modern-day Dungeons and Dragons adventures). Since then Lodoss has evolved into a broad franchise, encompassing manga and anime (Japanese comic books and cartoons respectively) as well as videogames. With a franchise this large, it’s inevitable that some versions share similar plot elements. Unfortunately this works against Lodoss, as navigating its universe is sneaking through a beehouse. No matter how careful you are, there’s always a hornet ready to sting you. This article will focus on the first three anime adaptations and the twisted web of adventures depicted therein.
The thirteen episodes of the 1990 anime play out like an excerpt of Lord of the Rings: Young knight Parn journeys the land with his band of adventurers (complete with an elf, dwarf, thief, priest and wizard). Their mission is to free the priestess Leylia, who is being controlled by the entity Karela (an ancient witch whose consciousness is trapped in a magical circlet that possesses its wearers). Along the way the band crosses paths with the Black Knight Ashram, a fierce, almost invincible warrior. Although neither Parn nor Ashram know it at the time, but their rivalry would come to define both men.
Inevitably, they get involved in the war between the Valdis and Marmo kingdoms; who just happen to be ruled by Fahn and Beld, two of the Six Heroes responsible for defeating the Demon God King decades earlier. Fahn and Beld both die at each other’s hand, leaving their protégés (Parn and Ashram respectively) to pick up their swords: a foreshadowing for their inevitable destiny.
After many harrowing adventures, Parn and his party do save Leylia, but at the cost of the life of Ghim (Leylia’s godfather and Parn’s Dwarven mentor). But here is where all notion of continuity is thrown out the window, and where the quagmire of confusion starts.
The 1990 anime has the dark wizard Wagnard capturing elven warrior Deelit (apparently the perfect sacrifice to the death-goddess Kardis). Parn succeeds in saving Deelit, and finally together, they ride off into the sunset.
The second anime adaptation takes a different route. Instead of Deelit’s sacrifice, Parn and his allies race against Ashram from obtaining the Scepter of Domination (putting the Lodoss population under the wielder’s control).
The story jumps a decade in the future, chronicling the adventures of young warrior Spark, who assembles his own band of heroes to protect Little Neese (daughter of Leylia and the wizard Slayn). In true fantasy fashion, Spark and Neese fall in love; but before anything happens Wagnard kidnaps Neese to sacrifice her to the goddess Kardis.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before.
Yep. You read it right. Apparently in this version, Neese takes Deelit’s place as the sacrifice, and things play out more or less according to the 1990 anime.
Record of Lodoss War has all the hallmarks of a great fantasy: elves, dwarves, thieves and wizards; goblins, dragons, sacrifices, death goddesses, and the like. Although its origins are the foundation for the Dungeon & Dragons Role Playing Game, the Lodoss franchise gets lost in its own continuity, acknowledging, ignoring and replacing key events on a whim. Trying to untangle a true timeline is harder than solving a Rubik’s Cube, so don’t bother. Just enjoy Lodoss for the fun fantasy romp it is. Have fun.
Worldwalker 