History VideoGame / Drakengard

%%* FourTemperamentEnsemble
%%* FreakOut: Nearly the whole cast has a little moment at one point or another.

%%* FunctionalMagic: Very lightly touched upon besides the pact-beasts.

%%* GenreShift: From [[DarkFantasy dark]] HeroicFantasy to CosmicHorrorStory SurvivalHorror.
%%* GentleGiant: Seere's pact-partner, {{Golem}}.

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: You'd think, compared to nearly every weapon in the game, Caim's weapon would recieve a [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast terrifying nickname]], especially judging by his [[UnstoppableRage personality]]. What is the name of his sword? Caim's Sword.

''Drakengard'' is the first game in Cavia's ''Franchise/{{Drakengard}}'' series, released in 2003 on the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2. It's 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]].

[[labelnote:Characters from left to right]] Seere, Golem, Inuart, Verdelet, The Red Dragon, Caim, Arioch, Leonard, Furiae (at the bottom center) [[/labelnote]]]]

* WhamShot: The shot of [[spoiler:a modern cityscape]] in Ending E of the first game, followed by a captaion reading [[spoiler:"TOKYO"]].

[[caption-width-right:350:''Crimson lights the sky...'' [[labelnote:Characters from left to right]] Seere, Golem, Inuart, Verdelet, The Red Dragon, Caim, Arioch, Leonard, Furiae (at the bottom) [[/labelnote]]]]

One of the most striking things about the game is how so many VideogameTropes are turned completely on their head. Your main cast is less than virtuous: [[TheHero Caim]] is a [[SociopathicHero mute bloodthirsty nutcase]], [[TheLancer Inuart]] goes [[HeroicBSOD completely nuts]] and [[FaceHeelTurn evil]], [[TheChick Furiae]] isn't entirely [[BrotherSisterIncest innocent]], and the list just goes on and on. Really, there's few games like it out there.

* FiveManBand: The first game.
** TheHero: Caim, [[SociopathicHero in the loosest sense]].
** TheLancer: Either Angelus or Leonard.
** TheSmartGuy: Verdelet (MrExposition)
** TheBigGuy: Either Leonard (of the GentleGiant variety) or Arioch (for sheer game breaking power).
** TheChick: Seere, who is trapped as a waifish blond six-year-old boy. [[TemptingFate Arioch is a child eater.]]

* DownerEnding: Every single ending in the first game apart from the first one, most especially Ending B, Ending D and Ending E, [[spoiler:the last of which creates ''VideoGame/NieR'''s post-apocalyptic CrapsackWorld]]. 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.

* KillEmAll: In most endings, the cast gets decimated at least, wiped out entirely at worst. [[spoiler:The events of Ending E even lead to the [[VideoGame/{{NieR}} extinction of the human race in another timeline]]]].

''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]].

* AllThereInTheManual: Among other things, it's revealed that Leonard was absent from the massacre that killed his brothers because [[spoiler:he was alone masturbating in the forest.]]
* AlternateHistory: The game actually takes place in an alternate world version of [[TheHighMiddleAges 11th century]] Europe (specifically around the Iberian Peninsula), just with magic and fantasy elements, though the connections to the real world are otherwise pretty slim. [[spoiler:[[BaitAndSwitch Or so it seems]]. In truth the game takes place in a timeline which started off identical to our world until the year 856, at which point a futuristic city filled with magic and fantasy creatures (the Imperial Capital from the game) inexplicably materialized in midair and greatly impacted the course of history for millenia to come. Ending E has Caim and Angelus travel to 2003 in a version of the world where this event ''didn't'' happen- as in, the normal human world- but by doing so they inadvertendly introduce magic to it, thus kicking off the ''{{VideoGame/NieR}}'' timeline which is heavily implied to eventually cause the aforementioned event of 856 back in the world of ''Drakengard''. If all this sounds like a TemporalParadox, that's because it is. There are forces InUniverse who are aware of this and are trying to stop it by unscrambling the TimeyWimeyBall that the timeline had become, but not only have they not been succesful thus far, it's implied the world has already looped over in different ways multiple times. As a final twist of MindScrew, the ''real'' real world (as in, [[BreakingTheFourthWall the one you exist in right now]], where ''Drakengard'' is a game) appears to be observable InUniverse as demonstrated by Accord in ''VideoGame/Drakengard3'']]. [[SarcasmMode So, yeah, just a bog standard mediavel fantasy world.]]

* AntiHero: Caim is... not a very pleasant fellow, with a ''magnificently'' enthusiastic approach to violence who just so happens to be fighting people and/or things which are even worse. He does occasionally have good or at least understandable motivations behind his behavior, though, especially in ''Drakengard 2''.

* ApocalypseHow: The Empire initially seems to be striving for a Class 0~3 extinction by ignoring peace treaties, destroying the status quo and generally murdering as many innocents as possible in their attempts to break the Seals. [[spoiler:As it turns out, they're being manipulated by the Cult of the Watchers, who is in turn a vessel of an elusive God who is aiming for a ''Class Z Apocalypse''; the destruction of not only the world of Drakengard but its parallel worlds (i.e. Ending E's "real world" and by extention the ''Nier'' timeline that picks up from there) and ''different game universes altogether'' (i.e. ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', whose collaboration event with ''Nier Automata'' inadvertently sheds some light on the original ''Drakengard'').]]

* {{BFS}}: Hymir's Finger, a collectible weapon that's a ShoutOut to [[Manga/{{Berserk}}the dragon slayer]] and would since appear in every future game in the series (under the more-accurately-translated name "Broken Iron").
* BittersweetEnding: For the first game, Ending A. Ending D is also this with a bit of FridgeLogic: [[spoiler:much of "Europe" is frozen in time and the protagonists have all suffered AFateWorseThanDeath, but the world as a whole is safe from the Grotesqueries.]] As for Ending E, [[spoiler:Caim and Angelus's world is safe (maybe), but not only did they die immediately after their victory in an exceedingly humiliating and contrived fashion, they also completely ruined another world]]. Also, the first two endings in the second game, with the third ending approaching outright happy ending territory.

* BleakLevel: [[spoiler: Tokyo, oddly enough. All of Ending E is DeliberatelyMonochrome, with all voice acting and sound effects during cutscenes sounding muted underneath a layer of static, and the only music to be heard are some ominous bell chimes [[MickeyMousing created by Caim and the giant battling it out.]] After the ending and Caim and Angelus' deaths are some SilentCredits with only the sounds of traffic in the distance.]]

** ''Drakengard 2'' has Ending B, where [[spoiler:Nowe and Eris are shown leading an army of Holy Dragons to fight against the Watchers in the sky.]]

** The four Knights of the Seal lieutenants guarding the various keys in ''Drakengard 2'' all have pacts as well. Zhangpo is bonded with the jinn Ifrit, sacrificing his ability to eat; Hanch is bonded with the sea creature Kelpie, sacrificing her charm; Yaha is bonded with a large pack of gnomes, sacrificing his "luster"; and [[spoiler:Urick is bonded with [[TheGrimReaper a Reaper]], sacrificing his [[ImplacableMan mortality]].]]

* BrotherSisterIncest: Furiae wants Caim. Sexually. References to such were mostly removed from the US release (although it was left explicit in the PAL version), but some hints remain sprinkled across a few scenes. Whether or not Caim returns those feelings is left to the player's interpretation of his [[TheVoiceless wordless reactions]], though some novellizations explicitly state the feeling is mutual, and that the reason the price of his pact was his voice was that it prevented him from telling her the truth [[spoiler: before [[DrivenToSuicide it's too late]]]].

** Getting Ending E unlocks a Free Expedition mission to [[spoiler: Tokyo, where you're pitted against a squadron of fighter jets that can fly circles around you (they fly so fast not even your homing shots can keep up with them) and fire even faster homing missiles. This is the closest measure of payback that Caim and Angelus will get after their deaths in Ending E.]]

* CameBackWrong: If Inuart succeeds in resurrecting [[spoiler:the goddess Furiae]], it goes... poorly. ''[[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Very poorly]].''

** Caim and Angelus 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 and even possible lovers, [[spoiler:as seen in ending A and C]]. In the sequel, [[spoiler:Caim is willing to destroy the world in order to free Angelus from her torment.]]

* CompletionMockery: the more you complete of the original game, [[spoiler:the more psychotic the main character reveals himself to be and the worse the endings that you unlock become]].

* CoolButInefficient: Hymir's Finger is huge and damaging but slow. It's brutally damaging, but until it reaches its highest level, it's too slow for its damage output to be meaningful. At [[GameBreaker level 4, though...]]

* DeathCourse: The final level of Ending D. Instead of a final boss battle, you have to fly through a cloud of Grotesqueries and ''repeatedly dodge'' their onslaught of magic, all to get Seere into postition over the Queen Beast. Faltering for even a few seconds with see you fail, and you'll have to do this SuicideMission all over again.

** 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. Or, in Ending E's case, [[VideoGame/NieR a parallel universe]].]]
* DeliberatelyMonochrome: [[spoiler:Modern-day Tokyo]] in Ending E is black and white. Even [[spoiler:the final boss's attacks are black and white energy waves.]]

* DistressedDamsel: There exists Furiae concept art where she wields a crook as a weapon and is shown with a pact-beast. In-game, she spends all but the first handful of levels captured [[spoiler:and dies in every single ending.]]

* DownerEnding: Every single ending in the first game apart from the first one, most especially Ending B, Ending D and Ending E, [[spoiler:the last of which creates ''VideoGame/NieR'''s post-apocalyptic CrapsackWorld]]. 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.

** The Grotesqueries, in an unspeakably creepy [[spoiler:parody of innocent baby-like cherubs. They have teeth and {{slasher smile}}s.]]
** [[spoiler:In Ending 2, Inuart places Furiae into a Seed of Resurrection, causing her to return to life... as a ''horrifically'' twisted version of herself. The end result has thorned tentacles, massive angel wings with her old arms on the very ends, and with her human face still on the end, among other things. And then, in the end, every ''other'' seed gives birth to a ''copy'' of that monstrosity]]!
* EleventhHourSuperpower: In the first game, the dragon obtains a Chaos Form for use in the final air battles [[spoiler:and one boss fight against Caim]] in some routes. In the sequel, [[spoiler:depending on your ending, Nowe will fight the final boss in his "New Breed" form.]]
* TheEmpire: Subverted with [[NonIndicativeName "the Empire" who aren't actually an empire by any definition of the word]] but rather are a ragtag collection of mind-controlled strangers assembled into a zombie-esque army by a cult who is trying to destroy the world, meaning they understandably don't care much about gaining land and their "capital" is just the city they happened to pillage first in their quest to break the Seals.
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: [[spoiler:Most endings except in ''Drakengard 1'' imply this to some extent sans Ending A. Ending E ends up bringing it to [[VideoGame/NieR the modern day world]]]].

* EvilHero: Caim battles the Empire so as the save the world, but also does so to satiate his bloodlust and hatred against them, and frequently [[KicktheDog abuses both his teammates and random innocents.]]

** [[spoiler:Furiae being resurrected into not one, but several ''thousand'' [[{{Eldritch Abomination}} horrific monstrosities.]]]]
** [[spoiler:Seere, Caim, and the dragon when time itself is destroyed around the Imperial capitol. Seere never gets to die and rejoin his mother, and Caim and the dragon are stuck in the midst of being devoured by Grotesqueries. Forever.]]

** After the Empire kidnap Inuart and [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwash him]], he fights against Caim a couple of times. [[spoiler:he still does so after his brainwashing is broken, due to him wanting to resurrect Furiae, which will bring about the end of the world.]]

** Likewise, the standard ending in the sequel pits [[spoiler:Nowe against Legna, which also happens in the final one.]]

** TheChick: Seere, who is trapped as a waifish blond six-year-old boy. [[TemptingFate Arioch a child eater.]]

* AlternateHistory: The game actually takes place in an alternate world version of [[TheHighMiddleAges 11th century]] Europe (specifically around the Iberian Peninsula), just with magic and fantasy elements, though the connections to the real world are otherwise pretty slim. [[spoiler:[[BaitAndSwitch Or so it seems]]. In truth the game takes place in a timeline which started off identical to our world until the year 856, at which point a futuristic city filled with magic and fantasy creatures (Capital City from the game) inexplicably materialized in midair and greatly impacted the course of history for millenia to come. Ending E has Caim and Angelus travel to 2003 in a version of the world where this event ''didn't'' happen- as in, the normal human world- but by doing so they inadvertendly introduce magic to it, thus kicking off the ''{{VideoGame/NieR}}'' timeline which is heavily implied to eventually cause the aforementioned event of 856 back in the world of ''Drakengard''. If all this sounds like a TemporalParadox, that's because it is. There are forces InUniverse who are aware of this and are trying to stop it by unscrambling the TimeyWimeyBall that the timeline had become, but not only have they not been succesful thus far, it's implied the world has already looped over in different ways multiple times. As a final twist of MindScrew, the ''real'' real world (as in, [[BreakingTheFourthWall the one you exist in right now]], where ''Drakengard'' is a game) appears to be observable InUniverse as demonstrated by Accord in ''VideoGame/Drakengard3'']]. [[SarcasmMode So, yeah, just a bog standard mediavel fantasy world.]]

* BlackAndGrayMorality: A revenge-driven genocidal maniac, a {{Jerkass}}, human-hating dragon, a suicidal pedophile and his sociopathic fairy companion, a psychotic cannibal who likes to eat children, a cowardly priest, and a naïve young boy who shouldn't be in [[HarmfulToMinors this]] RagtagBunchOfMisfits...[[TheyFightCrime They are all that stands in the way]] of TheEmpire headed by a possessed CreepyChild.

* TheEmpire: The antagonists of the first game, led by a group known as the Cult of the Watchers, who seek to bring said Watchers into the world, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt which will bring about the apocalypse.]]

%%* UltimateEvil: The FinalBoss.

* BrutalBonusLevel: Getting Ending E unlocks a Free Expedition mission to [[spoiler: Tokyo, where you're pitted against a squadron of fighter jets that can fly circles around you (they fly so fast not even your homing shots can keep up with them) and fire even faster homing missiles. This is the closest measure of payback that Caim and Angelus will get after their deaths in Ending E.]]

* BolivianArmyEnding + ChargeIntoCombatCut: Both endings to Chapter 9 in the first game. One of which has you fight what is probably the hardest (actual) boss in the game (one of your friends mutated into an EldritchAbomination) and then realizing that the Seeds are giving birth to hundreds of ''copies'' of said boss. [[OhCrap Uh-oh]]. The other ending begins after [[spoiler:killing Angelus, with Caim charging to fight an entire horde of dragons.]]
** As well as Ending B in the sequel, where [[spoiler:Nowe and Eris are shown leading an army of Holy Dragons to fight against the gods descending upon the world. The end.]]

* NintendoHard: The {{final boss}} only, due to the sudden {{genre shift}}.

* WhamEpisode: Chapter 12, "Chaos",[[spoiler:where the Watchers are introduced and all hell breaks loose.]]

* HeroicFantasy: In an extremely dark, negative take.

* HundredPercentCompletion: Required for Ending 5, the hair-tearing difficulty of which is rewarded with the most anticlimactic finisher imaginable. You also get [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9MN8xyZESg a bonus mission]] where you fly an Su-47.

* SchizoTech: The Imperial gargantuan cyclops, airships, and cannons.

* VisibleSilence: Caim, considering the price of his pact was his voice.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Caim and Angelus. [[spoiler:They eventually become actual friends and partners.]]
* VoiceOfTheLegion: Manah, sometimes. It's {{Narm}}y as all get-out, too.

* WhamEpisode: Chapter 12, "Chaos." [[spoiler:The chapter that introduces the Grotesqueries.]]
* WhamShot: The shot of [[spoiler:a modern cityscape]] in Ending E of the first game. Followed by [[spoiler:TOKYO]].

* WorthyOpponent: Inuart desperately wants to be one to Caim. Succeeding is another matter.

* BrotherSisterIncest: Furiae wants Caim. Sexually. References to such were mostly removed from the US release (although it was left explicit in the PAL version), but some hints remain sprinkled across a few scenes. Whether or not Caim returns those feelings is left to the player's interpretation of his [[TheVoiceless wordless reactions]], though some novellizations explicitly state the feeling is mutual, and that the reason the pact of his price was his voice was that it prevented him from telling her the truth [[spoiler: before [[DrivenToSuicide it's too late]]]].

** Downplayed in ''Drakengaard 2'', which is for the most part a sequel to Ending A but it also has some elements from Ending B and according to WordOfGod it's not meant to be a [[BroadStrokes 100% direct continuation of any of the first game's endings]] per se.

* AlternateHistory: The game actually takes place in an alternate world version of [[TheHighMiddleAges 11th century]] Europe (specifically around the Iberian Peninsula), just with magic and fantasy elements, though the connections to the real world are otherwise pretty slim. [[spoiler:[[BaitAndSwitch Or so it seems]]. In truth the game takes place in a timeline which started off identical to our world until the year 856, at which point a futuristic city filled with magic and fantasy creatures (Capital City from the game) inexplicably materialized in the midair and greatly impacted the course of history for millenia to come. Ending E has Caim and Angelus travel to 2003 in a version of the world where this event ''didn't'' happen- as in, the normal human world- but by doing so they inadvertendly introduce magic to it, thus kicking off the ''{{VideoGame/NieR}}'' timeline which is heavily implied to eventually cause the aforementioned event of 856 back in the world of ''Drakengard''. If all this sounds like a TemporalParadox, that's because it is. There are forces InUniverse who are aware of this and are trying to stop it by unscrambling the TimeyWimeyBall that the timeline had become, but not only have they not been succesful thus far, it's implied the world has already looped over in different ways multiple times. As a final twist of MindScrew, the ''real'' real world (as in, [[BreakingTheFourthWall the one you exist in right now]], where ''Drakengard'' is a game) appears to be observable InUniverse as demonstrated by Accord in ''VideoGame/Drakengard3'']]. [[SarcasmMode So, yeah, just a bog standard mediavel fantasy world.]]

* AlternateHistory: Surprisingly enough, the ''Drakengard'' timeline from the 10th anniversary box reveals that the world of Drakengard shared our world's history up until 856 A.D., when an event named the "Great Apocalypse" happened. According to the "Drag-on Dragoon World Inside" book that was included with the 10th Anniversary Box, it is implied that after the events of ''Drakengard 2'' in A.D. 1117, the world starts going down a path similar to our world's history again, though with certain changes such as "Black Friday" being known as "Black Thursday" and the black death plague being caused by the red eye sickness instead, amongst others. [[spoiler:Then ''Drakengard'''s Ending E happens in this world around 2003, carrying over from the last AlternateUniverse of the first game.]] This is directly contradicted later in the official artbook for Drag-on Dragoon/Drakengard 3 which states the two timelines are completely unrelated and unconnected. This has never been addressed by Yoko Taro or any of the other scenario writers for the series, leading to a ContinuitySnarl that has yet to be corrected.

** To wit with the ''Drakengard 2'''s best ending: [[spoiler:The corrupt Knights of the Seal are defeated, the world is saved from both the dragons and God, all of Nowe's friends survive, Caim and Angelus are finally [[DiedHappilyEverAfter at]] [[TogetherInDeath peace]], and after two games' worth of death, destruction, betrayal, and despair, the world is finally beginning to improve.]]

* DubInducedPlotHole: The choice to turn "God" into "gods", plural, created some plot-related confusion, which was further exacerbated in ''Drakengard 2'' as it implied that the Watchers are the "nameless entity" that once warred with the dragons are one and the same. The true nature of "God" and the Watchers is a closely guarded mystery even in the Japanese versions, but at the very least the in-game text implies them to be separate from one another and "God" is usually addressed in the singular.

* Leonard the forester has a pact with a fairy. With it, he has access to the fairy's powerful magic. He gave up his sight. He was a pedophile in the original Japanese version, but international releases [[{{Bowdlerize}} edited this part of his character out completely (though sloppily)]].

* Verdelet the hierarch also made a pact with a dragon, but that was long before the events of the game and the dragon has since been [[HandWave petrified]]. He would normally have gained the allegiance of the dragon as Caim has from his pact, but he can't call upon his pact-partner. As a consequence, Verdelet can hear the telepathy that goes between pact-partners, but he gave up [[CursedWithAwesome his hair.]]

* AntiHero: Caim is...not a very pleasant fellow, with a ''magnificently'' enthusiastic approach to violence who just so happens to be fighting people and/or things which are even ''worse''. His portrayal in the second game is of an unstoppable, mad warrior who can and will kill anyone, closer to Jack the Ripper.

* ApocalypseHow: In some of the most horrifying ways ever committed to the medium.
** In an AlternateContinuity example: [[spoiler:Caim and Angelus are responsible for setting the events of ''[=NieR=]'' in motion via [[FromBadToWorse Ending E]].]]

* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: [[spoiler:When Verdelet attempts to exorcise the Watchers from Manah, they turn her into a gigantic FinalBoss. The big momma Grotesquerie counts as well.]]
* BackToBackBadasses: [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Only in cutscenes, though.]]

* BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil: Embodied in two characters, [[spoiler:Manah and Seere. Also Caim and Angelus against the Grotesquerie Queen.]]

* 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 high levels of contorted expressions of agony]].
* {{BFS}}: Part of GameplayAndStorySegregation, and also played straight with Hymir's Finger.
** Hymir's Finger cannot be anything but a ShoutOut to the [[{{Manga/Berserk}} Dragonslayer]].
** Hymir's Finger appears in the sequel with a new name and appearance: Broken Iron. The similarities are still blatantly obvious, and even the backstory states that it ''used'' to be the largest sword in the world. That was essentially the title of Hymir's Finger.
** A new sword introduced in the sequel is Pitch Black, which resembles a [[{{meaningful name}} black]] flamberge.

* BondCreatures: In the setting, a person can form a "pact" with a creature (or in some cases, a pack of creatures), the person sacrificing something of themselves in return for both of them becoming more powerful.

** Verdelet and his petrified dragon (sacrificing his hair; since his pact partner is petrified, he can also hear the telepathy other pact-partners share between themselves).
** The four Knights of the Seal lieutenants guarding the various keys in ''Drakengard 2'' all have pacts as well. Zhangpo is bonded with the jinn Ifrit, sacrificing his ability to eat; Hanch is bonded with the sea creature Kelpie, sacrificing her charm; Yaha is bonded with a large pack of gnomes, sacrificing his "luster"; and [[spoiler:Urick is bonded with [[TheGrimReaper the land's Reaper]], sacrificing his [[ImplacableMan mortality]].]]

* BrotherSisterIncest: Furiae wants Caim. Sexually. References to such were mostly removed from the US release (although it was left explicit in the PAL version), but some hints remain sprinkled across a few scenes.

* CameBackWrong: If Inuart succeeds in resurrecting [[spoiler:the goddess Furiae]], it goes...poorly. ''[[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Very poorly]].''

* TheChosenOne: Nowe, which earns him some disrespect among the Knights. Nowe himself [[IJustWantToBeNormal just wants to be normal]].

* ColossusClimb: See that scaffolding on the Imperial war cyclopses? Better get ready to... [[SubvertedTrope take them out from the sky with your dragon instead.]]

* CriticalExistenceFailure: For Caim and the world itself if the seals go bust.
* CuttingOffTheBranches: Of the five endings in the first game, only the first one is treated as canon by the sequel.

* {{Deconstruction}}: The game gives us a glimpse into the psyche of the kind of person in an RPG who would be willing to kill a buttload of people in order to strengthen his weapons and level himself up. The result? [[SociopathicHero Not]] [[HarmfulToMinors very]] [[BloodKnight nice.]]

* DiabolusExMachina: The universe of ''Drakengard'' is just deadset on killing any chance of hope or success, especially in Ending Routes B through E.

* DownerEnding: Every single ending in the first game apart from the first one, most especially Ending 2, Ending 4, and Ending 5, [[spoiler:the last of which creates ''VideoGame/NieR'''s post-apocalyptic CrapsackWorld]]. 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.
* DubInducedPlotHole: Oh boy! The choice to turn "God" into "Gods", plural already created ''some'' plot-related confusion, but when the sequel uses the terms Nameless (for the Angels/Watchers) and Gods (now pluralized) interchangeably, this leads to the lore-breaking and bewildering "reveal" that the Grotesqueries (actually the Angels/Watchers), are "the Gods," despite clearly being established as separate in the first game; a misunderstanding that's pervasive ''to this day'' in the Western fandom.
* TheDragon: Inuart after his FaceHeelTurn, replete with his own dragon. Manah is often this to whatever BigBad winds up threatening the universe next. And Eris proves to be this to General Gismor.
* DragonRider: Caim can take massive leaps to mount his dragon in field battles and rides on her back in aerial battles.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Ending 5, which was likely played for laughs. Given what utterly hideous boss precedes it, it's a joke at the expense of the player.

* EarnYourBadEnding: The first ending you get in the first game is bittersweet. All subsequent endings get worse and WORSE and require more and more effort to unlock.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: In the second game, you need to beat it at least three times to get the ''best'' ending. The bad part? The game automatically fixes the difficulty to hard and then [[HarderThanHard extreme]]. Not even an option in the first game, where each ending becomes both harder to achieve and more depressing.
** To wit with the second game's best ending: [[spoiler:The corrupt Knights of the Seal are defeated, both the Grotesqueries and the Dragons are gone for good, freeing mankind from the demand of the mass sacrifices of innocents by the former and the manipulations of the latter, all of Nowe's friends survive, Caim and Angelus are finally [[DiedHappilyEverAfter at]] [[TogetherInDeath peace]], and after two games' worth of death, destruction, betrayal, and despair, the world is finally beginning to improve.]]

* EatsBabies: Used by Arioch and hilariously/creepily inverted by the Grotesqueries.

** The Grotesqueries, in an unspeakably creepy [[spoiler:parody of innocent baby-like cherubs. They have fucking teeth and {{slasher smile}}s.]]

* 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]].

** [[spoiler:Manah begging for death after being defeated in ending A.]]

* FightingYourFriend: After the Empire kidnap Inuart and [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwash him]], he fights against Caim a couple of times. [[spoiler:he still does so after his brainwashing is broken, due to him wanting to resurrect Furiae, which will bring about the end of the world.]]

** Then there's ending number 3 in the first game, where the dragon ends Caim's pact and the two of them fight to the death to determine the fate of the world.

* FunctionalMagic: Very lightly touched upon besides the pact-beasts.

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Very little of what you accomplish in-game makes a difference in the story.
* GenericanEmpire: The Union and the Empire.
* GenreDeconstruction: ''Drakengard'' is to {{Action RPG}}s what ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is to the SuperRobot genre.
* GenreShift: From [[DarkFantasy dark]] HeroicFantasy to CosmicHorrorStory SurvivalHorror.

* AGodAmI: Several end bosses go this route, to varying degrees of success.
* GodOfEvil: [[spoiler:The Watchers.]] That being said, in this game, [[CrapsackWorld who]] ''[[WorldHalfEmpty isn't]]''?

* {{Gorn}}: The manga is... brutal, to put it bluntly.

* NintendoHard: The {{final boss}} only, due to a sudden and awful {{genre shift}}.

* NoOntologicalInertia:
** The world. ItMakesSenseInContext, kind of.
** There are also a few cases where defeating a squad leader eradicates its entire party, such as with the Imperial war cyclopses in Chapter 7.

* RedEyesTakeWarning:
** A sure sign of (some degree of) Imperial MindControl.
** In the manga, it's a sign of the Red Eye syndrome.
* ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming: All named dragons introduced so far all have some sort of angelic name such as Angelus, [[SdrawkcabName Legna]], [[ArchangelMichael Mikhail]] and [[ArchangelGabriel Gabriel]].

* RuleOfEmpathy: Let's face it, you wouldn't be so sad for Caim and Angelus if you hadn't played through the first game.
* SavingTheWorld: Which you either do or fail to do in each ending.
* SchizoTech: The Imperial gargantuan cyclops, airships, and cannons. The LetsPlay wonders why people don't have cars, or actually use guns.

* ScrewDestiny: Nowe's answer when he learns how the dragons intend to save the world.

* StoryboardingTheApocalypse: Subverted. By the time you see it happening, it's too late to stop.

* TenuouslyConnectedFlavorText: The first two games have some for its weapons, which are connected, but takes levelling up the weapon a while, to reveal how:
** ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}'' has a short story for each of its 65 weapons, unlocked as they level up:
*** Apostate's Misery: Poleaxe:
---->Level 1: There was once a wind spirit who fell in love with a mortal man. Though it was against all the laws of her race, each day she allowed her love and passion to grow.
---->Level 2: The spirit was condemned to death for the betrayal of her race. The Lord of Spirits sent vassals to carry out the sentence, armed with a bardiche enchanted to slay spirits.
---->Level 3: Sensing that her life was in danger, the spirit made one last visit to the man she loved, then fled through the forests and seas and mountains, pursued all the while by her would-be executioners.
---->Level 4: Some years later, a healthy young boy was seen playing around the village. This remarkable boy could control the very winds. His father never told him who his mother was...
*** Butcher's Joy: Cleaver (Sword):
---->Level 1: Juices oozing from tender, succulent flesh, the sweet aroma of fine herbs... The master cook made dishes of meat that none in the city could resist.
---->Level 2: Every day, customers lined up outside his inn, waiting for their chance to partake. Even the king himself would sneak down from his castle to sample the master's art.
---->Level 3: But once he entered his kitchen, the smiling cook's face would grow stern. The meat he used was no ordinary meat...
---->Level 4: The years passed, and the cook and his inn disappeared from the town. But his cleaver remains as gleaming and sharp as ever, waiting for its next master.
** ''Drakengard 2'':
*** Apostate's Misery: Poleaxe:
---->Level 1: The young man was popular with everyone in the village. He had the ability to control the wind, and was often seen flying over rivers and valleys. He was a cheerful boy, though he always seemed be troubled by something.
---->Level 2: Several years later, his father passed away. Before he died, he told his son about the young man's mother, whom his son had learned never to mention in his presence.
---->Level 3: "Go to the place marked on the map." said his father. As if guided by a spirit, the young man took up his scythe and left, carried by the wind. How long had he been travelling? Over the forests, oceans and mountain Ranges he flew. Exhausted and frail, He came at last to a village.
---->Level 4: The chief of the village welcomed the young man and told him that the scythe he was carrying had once belonged to the village. Just then, a beautiful woman entered the room. The young man knew at once that she was his mother. From that day forth, he helped keep peace between humans and wind spirits. The scythe was never used again.

* TrippyFinaleSyndrome: Ending number five. [[spoiler:Caim and the dragon are warped to modern-day Tokyo, where they defeat the queen EldritchAbomination with an UnexpectedGameplayChange. Then they are shot down by Japanese air defense pilots. Really.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:''Crimson lights the sky...'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:[[LetsPlay/TheDarkId "Strap in, kids. It’s going to get fucking weird..."]]]]