History RolePlay / RecordOfLodossWar

* GoshDangItToHeck: The English dub of the OVAs remove all instances of profanity.

** Parn and Deed have a CrowningMomentofHeartwarming when he ''finally'' clues in after the fight against Shooting Star. He's still tongue-tied around her, but manages to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B51qNuzPrcw express his feelings via a white rose]] -- and she understands the message perfectly.

* OmnicidalManiac: Kardis, the Goddess of Destruction, [[CaptainObvious 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 Falaris, the God of Darkness, was to be resurrected. That's saying something.

* InherentInTheSystem: During the war of the gods, Kardis lay a curse on the continent of Alecrest as she was dying. Then, in an effort to counter that curse, Marfa performed a miracle and split the continent in two, one half being saved and the other half being cursed.

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: What will happen if Wagnard succeeds in his plan of ressurecting the Destroyer.

** TheEmpire: Marmo, which, being evil, is also a {{Mordor}}-type country. Ironically, the "empire" covers far less land than any of the other kingdoms.

* DragonRider: One the Kingdom of Moss has trained small wyvern-type dragons to fly in their aid.

* ActionGirl: Deedlit in the TV series, Shiris, Ryna, and Leaf.

''Lodoss'' is the great-granddaddy of all Western-style Sword-and-sorcery anime. From is near-contemporary ''LightNovel/HeroicLegendOfArslan'' through ''{{Anime/Berserk}}'' to ''Anime/SwordArtOnline'' they all trace back to this series.

''Lodoss'' is the great-granddaddy of all Western-style Sword-and-sorcery anime. From is near-contemporary ''Anime/HeroicLegendOfArslan'' through ''{{Anime/Berzerk}}'' to ''Anime/SwordArtOnline'' they all trace back to this series.

The production itself is played straight and with earnestness -- which is probably one of its greatest strengths, since it makes the events all the more epic and edge-of-your-seat dramatic as the story nears its end. Later on, the TV series which [[SpinOff spun off]] from it would insert humorous {{Omake}}s at the end of every episode, which were either enjoyable comic interludes, or which undermined the whole tone of the series, depending on how you looked at them. This series is actually more closely based on the plots of the original D&D-game-inspired novels than the beautiful OVA, and there are a number of different manga that also fill in the gaps to tell the full, true story. That said, regardless of what came after, the {{OVA}} version of the story stands out as one of the better examples of pure, ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''-inspired high fantasy (if not ''the'' best animated example ever).

It first began as a series of [[TabletopGames role-playing game sessions]] (first-edition ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', no less), [[AfterActionReport 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). It even returned to its roots as the most popular Tabletop Role Playing Game in Japan. The ''Lodoss'' RPG was created after [=TSR=] turned the world down as a ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' supplement.

As far as plot goes, it's standard RPG fare: KidHero Parn and his cleric buddy Etoh find themselves {{Walking the Earth}}, investigating evil after Parn [[YouCantGoHomeAgain gets himself thrown out of his hometown]]. Joining up with them are the wizard with the [[AwesomeMcCoolname cool name]], Slayn Starseeker, and his friend, the dwarf Ghim, who are on a quest to locate a missing WhiteMage named Laylia. They are soon joined by Deedlit, a wispy Elf who is FriendToAllLivingThings (and who falls for Parn like a cliff-diver in concrete shoes). At some point in the adventure, our heroes come upon the last member of their main party, the grungy, trouble-prone thief Woodchuck, whom they must rescue from prison (and who from there goes on to repeatedly demonstrate just ''why'' he was thrown ''into'' prison in the first place.) Our heroes must fight battles large and small -- with insane but beautiful witches, mountain-sized dragons, creepy dark elves, BadAss Black Knights, evil armies, and the godlike forces which threaten to tear their world apart. When one of their number is eventually captured to power the BigBad's [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt End of The World as We Know It Machine]], our heroes must snap into action to save their friend. Ultimately, Parn discovers that, to make everything right again, he must somehow restore the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil, but just how does one do that, while the villains are hacking away at them and the world around them is crumbling into a pile of artfully drawn boulders? You'll have to watch to find out.

* 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}} BlackKnight 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.

* PrivateMilitaryContractors: Mercenaries make up at least twenty-percent of each {{team}} in the series, such as Shiris, Orson, Leaf, and even King Kashue is known as the Mercenary King. The most {{Badass}} of them is Garrack, the "[[RedBaron Blue Meteor.]]" [[spoiler: He's not a real mercenary, but a knight of the Kingdom of Flaim.]]

* AlternateContinuity: The TV series is not a sequel to the OVA, following up on Parn's campaign as it was told in the manga and the novels, adapting Orson's and Spark's campaigns in greater detail.

* CompressiedAdaptation: The OVA only adapts Parn's campaign, with characters and plot points from Orson's and Spark's mixed in. The series skips over Parn's part of the story altogether.

* CrapsackWorld: 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 [[{{Manga/Berserk}} like this universe.]]]]

* AlternateContinuity: the TV series splits it plot away from the [=OVA=] series about episode 9 of the [=OVA=] following a different path to the same plot.

* BroadStrokes: TheSeries in relation to the {{OVA}}. This is mostly because the series takes the original novels and manga as canon, while the OVA tried to condense the entirety of the novels (or game recordings, rather) and manga volumes down into a 13 episode story arc. The series is much more faithful to the original stories, but requires forgetting everything that happened after the story-shifting moment midway through the OVA, as well as some points before that. It's better to just read the manga version of Parn's adventures and jump straight to the second anime if you want the whole story, but the OVA has better art and music, by most accounts, despite its highly condensed plot…

* GreaterScopeVillain: Kardis, [[GodOfEvil Goddess of Destruction.]]

What is "it"? It is ''RecordOfLodossWar'', 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.

* YouCantThwartStageOne: 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 [[LivingMacGuffin Neese]] to Wagnard]], and the turmoil can only be settled right when [[spoiler: Naneel has already been resurrected in Neese, [[EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt with the world on the verge of impending doom]].]]

See also ''RuneSoldierLouie'', which is set in the same world as ''Lodoss'', on the northern continent of Alecrast (but which is otherwise unconnected to the series).

* GeniusBruiser / GentleGiant: Aldonova the wizard, who's twice the size of most other characters and can haul around an armored dwarf like a sack of potatoes, but is ''really'' unaccustomed to conflict.

* NamesToKnowInAnime:
** OAV: Creator/TakeshiKusao (Parn), YumiTouma (Deedlit), Creator/KappeiYamaguchi (Etoh), Creator/NorioWakamoto (Woodchuck), Creator/HideyukiTanaka (Slayn), Creator/YoshikoSakakibara (Karla [[spoiler: and her host, Laylia]]), Creator/ShuichiIkeda (King Kashew), Creator/SakikoTamagawa (Pirotess), Creator/AkiraKamiya (Ashram), Creator/ShowHayami (Orson), Creator/MinamiTakayama (Shiris).
*** And for the dub, Creator/LisaOrtiz (Deedlit).
** TV series: Creator/KenjiNojima (Spark), Creator/NobutoshiCanna (Parn), Creator/ShihoNiiyama (Deedlit), Creator/MitsuruMiyamoto (Slayn), Creator/ReiIgarashi (Karla), Creator/ShowHayami (Ashram), Creator/KumikoNishihara (Pirotess), Creator/NobuyukiHiyama (Orson), Creator/JojiNakata (King Kashew), Creator/MaayaSakamoto (Leaf), YuuAsakawa (Shiris), Creator/MichieTomizawa (Laylia).

* NonActionGuy: Marr.

* ObliviousToLove: 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.

* SheCleansUpNicely: Deedlit gets to wear a [[WomanInWhite white]] PimpedOutDress in the OVA, during King Fahn's party. She ''does'' complain quite a bit about how tight it is, though (if only in the hopes of getting Parn to pay attention). Simiarly, Shiris gets to wear a nice red dress (befitting of her red hair and usual red outfit) in the TV series, when she dances with Parn at King Kashue's party. Both of these events of course are adaptations of the same moment in the novels and manga, which were condensed into one shorter and tighter story for the OVA.

* {{Sneezing}}

* {{Stripperiffic}}: Pirotess' outfit, a white leather dress with a very short skirt and a top that displays AbsoluteCleavage. She also wears matching ThighHighBoots.

* UnusualEars: 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 [[MobileSuitGundam 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 ''WorldOfWarcraft''.

* AnyoneCanDie: ...or just disappear, never to be heard from again...
** This is a result of not following ALL media forms of the story. It's explained in the manga and novels.

* EvilTwin: Deedlit and Pirotess, although not related, do resemble each other, and play similar back-up roles for the men they are in love with.

** Ghim doesn't seem particularly fond of high elves, as he makes quite a few less than subtle comments toward Deedlit.
** Deedlit herself isn't entirely innocent either. In the very first episode of the OVA she makes a derogatory comment about dwarves.

* FauxActionGirl: Deedlit in the OVA, and Shiris doesn't fare much better. [[TookALevelInBadass They get better in the TV series]]
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Deedlit.

* GoGoEnslavement: When sacrificing a pretty female high elf to summon the goddess of darkness, it is absolutely vital that she be wearing a skimpy black dress. Really. [[spoiler: Poor Deedlit]]

* PrivateMilitaryContractors: Mercenaries make up at least twenty-percent of each FiveManBand in the series, such as Shiris, Orson, Leaf, and even King Kashue is known as the Mercenary King. The most {{Badass}} of them is Garrack, the "[[RedBaron Blue Meteor.]]" [[spoiler: He's not a real mercenary, but a knight of the Kingdom of Flaim.]]