History VideoGame / Drakengard

The game starts off simply enough, with Caim and any party members he's managed to find running from one location to the next, trying to prevent the Empire from destroying one of the three land-based seals. Each seal that is destroyed makes the burden on the Goddess that much more unbearable. As Caim journeys on, he learns about the [[PathOfInspiration Cult of the Watchers]] which has taken hold over the Empire and their evil machinations for the Goddess. The game gets progressively [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic weirder]] and [[TrippyFinaleSyndrome more surreal]] as events go on, and the interactions between characters [[CharacterDevelopment gradually become more nuanced and complex]] from the straight-up swords and sorcery formula. By its end, ''Drakengard'' has gone beyond the [[WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief standard unspoken agreement between author and audience]] and thrown us into [[NightmareFuel the stuff of nightmares]]. Watching how the characters react to this and observing their [[TheWorldIsAlwaysDoomed hopeless and doomed plight]] is strangely interesting; morbid curiosity drives one to finish the game's [[MultipleEndings five endings]]. Much like [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion a certain famous anime]] and [[Manga/{{Berserk}} manga]], ''Drakengard'' does not shy away from the surreal, the macabre, and the [[DownerEnding downright depressing.]]

** Even before that is the event with Grismor. The Dark Id puts it nicely.
---> '''The Dark Id:''' Nowe decides to not even attempt to mention to his best friend key facts like, I don't know: [[spoiler:Gismor poisoned him, the said poison is right over on the table, the general just confessed to murdering the former leader of the Knights of the Seal,]] or anything that would improve the situation in his favor. Instead, he just smashes through a nearby window and runs away crying. Way to go, kiddo!

* WhamEpisode: Chapter 12, "Chaos." [[spoiler:The chapter that introduces the Grotesqueries.]] The Dark Id's LetsPlay sums it up nicely:
-->"This is probably the most appropriate title for this chapter. If you watch this chapter and do ''not'' have an eyebrow raised expression of bewilderment and mutter 'what the fuck?!' at least once, then I suggest you seek counseling immediately as something is clearly broken within you."

* ShoutOut: In the Japanese version of ''Drakengard'', [[spoiler:the fighter jet that kills Caim and Angelus in Ending E has the callsign of "Scarface", referring to the PlayerCharacter in the ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' series who has the callsign "Scarface 1"]]. You can also unlock [[spoiler:the Su-47 Berkut, a jet prominently featured in ''VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies'',]] as a playable dragon for Caim to ride.

%%** To be fair, it is arguable [[EvilVersusEvil whether]] [[CrapsackWorld there's]] [[BlackAndGrayMorality anything that]] [[UpToEleven ISN'T]] lighter and softer than Drakengard.

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Used and averted. While [[spoiler:Furiae becoming a world-destroying terror]] is most definitely an example, Arioch is both attractive and a crazy baby-eater, and [[spoiler:the mother of the Grotesqueries]] has a chiseled sodium loveliness marred only by [[spoiler:the whole giving-birth-to-the-end-of-the-universe thing, as well as having some UncannyValley levels of contorted expressions of agony]].

* MultipleEndings: Five for the first game, three for the second. Both games are kind enough to tell you exactly how many, and toss in some broad hints for unlocking them.

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Every single ending except the ending A in the first game. Ending E ends up bringing it to [[VideoGame/Nier the modern day world]]

* TakeThat: Furiae in the first game is a major one at the ''LightNovel/SisterPrincess'' series, according to Yoko Taro himself.

--> '''[[TakeThatAudience Thanks you for playing!]]'''

* RealityEnsues:
** [[spoiler:Upon appearing over Tokyo in Ending E, Caim and Angelus are eventually shot down by JSDF fighter jets. The Free Expedition unlocked after this pits the player against an entire squadron of them, and they're easily able to outmaneuver and outgun Angelus.]]
** Ending E ends with [[spoiler:pieces of the Grotesquerie Queen's magical flesh falling over Tokyo as ash. As ''[=NieR=]'' would reveal, people ended up getting sick from this foreign substance, although it's heavily implied that it was more that she was forcing those who ingested her flesh to pact with her or die rather than foreign contamination.]]

** Done in quite an asinine-yet-[[RealityEnsues realistic]] fashion in Ending E when [[spoiler:Caim and Angelus finally defeat the EldritchAbomination BigBad... and are then abruptly shot down by fighter jets. The citizens of Tokyo have no understanding of what is going on, they just want to stop these otherworldly ''things'' that appeared out of thin air and wrecked half of their city. Unfortunately, the truth is that only one of the beings was malevolent and is spreading TheCorruption from its remains, and the only being Tokyo could've asked for help is the same one they lethally shot down. This results in ''VideoGame/{{NieR}}''.]]

%%* TheEmpire: The antagonists of the first game.
* EndlessWinter: The E ending means this in the real world. Subverted in that, [[VideoGame/{{NieR}} 1312 years later]], it looks normal again (or at least as normal as a post-apocalyptic world can be).
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Every single ending except the ending A in the first game.

%%* EvilHero: Caim.

* FightingYourFriend:

** Likewise, the standard ending in the sequel pits [[spoiler:Nowe against Legna]]. [[spoiler:The same thing happens for the final ending.]]

* LighterAndSofter: ''Drakengard 2'', compared to the original, is much less messed up in its tone.

** ''Drakengard'': Deposed prince with a penchant for slaughter, dragon who thinks humanity barely rates above roaches, paedophile and his {{jerkass}} [[TheFairFolk fairy]] companion, cannibal survivor of the elven holocaust with a taste for human veal and her elemental buddies, blond kid with a giant magic robot, and a long-winded old bald priest.

%%* SealedEvilInACan: The Grotesqueries.

* SequelHook: [[spoiler:The cutscene after the end of the credits of Drakengard 2's Ending C shows the shadow of a dragon flying overhead, despite what Seere said before about all the dragons disappearing. That could just be Nowe, though.]]

* ShootTheShaggyDog: Many of the endings of the first game, except the ending A, are like this. Probably the worst offender is the bonus "E" ending, which only unlocks after collecting ''all'' 65 weapons (GuideDangIt!), whose sole mission pits the player against a NintendoHard UnexpectedGameplayChange, with a... less than optimistic ending to reward them. Was the effort worth it according to most players? Not exactly, no.

* [[HideYourChildren Show Your Children And Slaughter Them Mercilessly]]: As The Dark Id's Let's Play can attest, [[MemeticMutation Drakengard hates children.]]

--> '''[[TakeThatAudience Good Work.]]'''

%%* ABoyAndHisX: A Boy And His Dragon. Caim and his dragon are both an emotional and battle pair. %% Add more context to describe their relationship and what effect it has on them. %%

** It's still character development if your protagonist becomes slowly more evil over time, right?
** There is also the changing relationship between Caim and Angelus. They start out hating each other's guts and only cooperating for the sake of survival. Canonically, they grow to respect each other and by the end actually become friends, [[spoiler:which is why the ending A is such a TearJerker]]. In the sequel, [[spoiler:Caim is willing to break the world in order to free Angelus from her torment.]]

* ShoutOut: In the Japanese version of ''Drakengard'', [[spoiler:the fighter jet that kills Caim and Angelus in Ending E has the callsign of "Scarface", referring to the PlayerCharacter in the ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' series who has the callsign "Scarface 1"]]. You can also unlock [[spoiler:the Su-47 Berkut, a jet prominently featured in ''VideoGame/AceCombat4ShatteredSkies'',]] as a playable dragon for Caim to ride.

%%* TheOneTrueSequence: Averted.

->''"Speak not the Watchers.''\\
''Draw not the Watchers.''\\
''Write not the Watchers.''\\
''Sculpt not the Watchers.''\\
''Sing not the Watchers.''\\
''Call not the Watchers' name."''

''Drakengard'' is the first game in Cavia's ''Franchise/{{Drakengard}}'' series, released in 2003, notable for its combination of a multilayered, surreal plot and excellent atmosphere, with rather weak, repetitive gameplay. The gameplay switches between HackAndSlash and [[SimulationGame Flight Sim]], so one could think of it as a mixture of ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' and a sandbox version of ''VideoGame/PanzerDragoon''. It takes place in a [[HeroicFantasy Heroic]]/LowFantasy medieval setting, and it follows AntiHero [[MeaningfulName Caim]] on a mission to destroy [[TheEmpire an evil empire]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin (aptly named "the Empire")]] while also protecting his sister Furiae. Also known as "the Goddess", Furiae is [[CosmicKeystone part of four seals that protect the world from an unknown danger]]--she is a living seal, and her death would [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt herald chaos in the world]], Caim is joined initially on his quest by Inuart, [[TwoGuysAndAGirl his best friend and Furiae's betrothed]] before she became the Goddess, and [[OptionalPartyMember four other characters,]] the circumstances of each being varied and [[DysfunctionJunction always tragic]].

** The game also takes a jab at MultipleEndings being unlocked by completing other criteria in-game. What, you think you deserve a better ending because you killed ''more'' people? [[spoiler: Indeed, almost every ending past A makes the situation worse and worse for the cast and world.]]

* DownerEnding: Every single ending in the first game apart from the first one, most especially Ending 2, Ending 4, and Ending 5. According to WordOfGod, this is because he believes a story where the main character kills thousands of people in a horrible war doesn't merit a happy ending, not to mention the cast of Drakengard being comprised of such terrible people that they don't really deserve one anyways.

** Done in quite an asinine-yet-[[RealityEnsues realistic]] fashion in Ending E when [[spoiler:Caim and Angelus finally defeat the EldritchAbomination BigBad... and are then abruptly shot down by fighter jets. The citizens of Tokyo have no understanding of what is going on, they just want to stop these otherworldly ''things'' that appeared out of thin air and wrecked half of their city. Unfortunately, the truth is that only one of the beings was malevolent and is spreading TheCorruption from its remains, and the only being Tokyo could've asked for help is the same one they lethally shot down. This results in ''[[VideoGame/{{NieR}}]]''.]]

%%*** [[VideoGame/NieR There is!]]

* NotQuiteTheRightThing: Ending E. [[spoiler:Caim and Angelus defeat the Queen in another world to ensure that she can't return in the ''Drakengard'' world... except this other world is ''our'' world. At first, it seems the only downside is that it resulted in expensive property damage as well as some injuries and casualties and the government having to clean up the corpses of Caim, Angelus, and the Queen, but ''Grimoire Nier'' and collectible files in ''[=NieR=]'' reveal that the Queen survived via forcing everyone who ingested her ashes to pact with her or die so she can take over the world, resulting in the decline of Earth's society over the next century or so as they try to preserve humanity, leading to the post-apocalyptic background of the ''[=NieR=]'' games.]]

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: A weapon story in ''Drakengard 2'' reveals that [[spoiler:when Manah and Seere's mother was pregnant with them, a nameless seer crashed her baby shower and told her a prophecy that one of her children would be of darkness and the other of light. He then left before anyone could question him.]] This foretelling made her so paranoid, that she [[AbusiveParents abused Manah]] and treated her as TheUnfavourite while giving Seere all her love. This caused Manah to develop a nasty case of IJustWantToBeLoved, which made her vulnerable to being possessed by the Watchers and ''kickstarted the entire plot of the first game'', making this a truly epic case of SelfFulfillingProphecy. To that nameless seer, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero nice job breaking it, jackass.]]

* LampshadeHanging: When the metaphysical shit hits the fan this hard, even the game has to step back and acknowledge it. In an especially cruel fashion, [[spoiler:Seere's HeroicSacrifice is mocked in the ending titles when he tries to compare it to a fairy tale his mother told him.]]

* SmallAnnoyingCreature: Leonard's fairy. She's like Navi's abusive older sister.