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''[[Speak of the Devil|Call not the Watchers' name.]]''}}
 
{{quote|''"Strap in, kids. It’s going to get fucking weird..."''|'''[[The Dark Id]]'''}}
|'''[[The Dark Id]]'''}}
 
''[['''Drakengard]]''''' is a videogame,video game published by [[Square Enix]] and made by Cavia in 2003, noticeable for its combination of a multilayered, surreal plot and excellent atmosphere with rather weak, repetitive gameplay. The gameplay switches between [[Hack and Slash]] and [[Simulation Game|Flight Sim]], so one could think of it as a mixture of ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'' and a sandbox version of ''[[Panzer Dragoon]]''. It takes place in a [[Heroic Fantasy|Heroic]]/LowFantasy medieval setting, and it follows [[Anti-Hero]] [[Meaningful Name|Caim]] on a mission to destroy [[The Empire|an evil empire]] [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|(aptly named "the Empire")]] while also protecting his sister Furiae. Furiae is called "the Goddess" because she is [[Cosmic Keystone|part of four seals that protect the world from an unknown danger]]: she is a living seal, and her death would [[The End of the World as We Know It|herald chaos in the world]]. Caim is joined initially on his quest by Inuart, [[Two Guys and a Girl|his best friend and Furiae's betrothed]] before she became the Goddess, and [[Optional Party Member|four other characters]], the circumstances of each being varied and [[Dysfunction Junction|always tragic]].
 
One of the major concepts in ''Drakengard'' is that of a [[Summon Magic|pact]], or of two beings of different races binding their souls into one. Caim is mortally wounded in the first stage as he runs towards Furiae's castle in the midst of a battle, and discovers a chained and wounded dragon in the courtyard. He proposes that in order to save them both, the two should form a pact. In forging the pact, Caim can control the dragon during flight and has access to the dragon's vast strength, but he gives up his voice (he's capable of speaking telepathically with the dragon). However, if either Caim or the dragon dies, they both die, and it seems the pain one feels is transferred to the other as well. All of the other members of Caim's party have a pact, and a certain price they have paid for it:
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* [[Barbie Doll Anatomy]]: The Grotesqueries are missing any sort of identifying genitalia, making them androgynous.
* [[Beauty Equals Goodness]]: Used and averted. While {{spoiler|Furiae becoming a world-destroying terror}} is most definitely an example, Arioch is both attractive and [[Complete Monster|a batshit crazy baby-eater]], and {{spoiler|the mother of the Grotesqueries}} has a chiseled marble loveliness marred only by {{spoiler|the whole giving-birth-to-the-end-of-the-universe thing}}.
* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: Ending 1, Ending 3. Also, the first two endings in the second game.▼
* [[BFS]]: Part of [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]], and also played straight with Hymir's Finger.▼
* [[Black and Gray Morality]]: 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 naive young boy who doesn't belong in this [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]] are all that stands in the way of [[The Empire]] headed by a possessed [[Creepy Child]].▼
▲* [[BFSBlade of Fearsome Size]]: Part of [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]], and also played straight with Hymir's Finger.
** Hymir's Finger cannot be anything but a [[Shout-Out]] to the [[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.
▲* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: Ending 1, Ending 3. Also, the first two endings in the second game.
▲* [[Black and Gray Morality]]: 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 naive young boy who doesn't belong in this [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]] are all that stands in the way of [[The Empire]] headed by a possessed [[Creepy Child]].
* [[Bolivian Army Ending]] + [[Charge Into Combat Cut]]: 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 [[Eldritch Abomination]]) and realizing that the Seeds are giving birth to hundreds of ''copies'' of said boss. [[Oh Crap|Uh-oh]]. The other ending begins after {{spoiler|killing Angelus, with Caim charging to fight an entire horde of dragons}}.
** As well as Ending 2 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. [[Charge Into Combat Cut|The end]]}}.
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* [[Critical Existence Failure]]: For Caim and the world itself if the seals go bust.
* [[Cutting Off the Branches]]: Of the five endings in the first game, only the first one is treated as canon by the sequel.
** The fifth ending leads into ''[[Nie RNieR]]'', but the two "sequels" are treated as two separate [[Alternate Continuity|Alternate Continuities]].
* [[Damsel in Distress]]: 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}}.
* [[Dark Fantasy]]: [[It Got Worse|At first]].
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* [[Easter Egg]]: The SU-47 in the first game.
* [[Eats Babies]]: Used (by Arioch) and hilariously/creepily inverted (by the Grotesqueries).
* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: The Grotesqueries, in an unspeakably creepy {{spoiler|parody of innocent baby-like cherubs. ''[[Nightmare Fuel|They have fucking teeth]] and [[Slasher Smile|slasher smiles]]}}''}}.
* [[Eleventh-Hour Superpower]]: 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}}.
* [[The Empire]]: The antagonists of the first game.
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** The Fairies justify their [[Jerkass]] natures with this. Angelus also has a tendency to act haughty and superior when around humans.
** "A wise man chooses death before war. A wiser man chooses ''not to be born."'' Ouch.
* [[Hyperspace Arsenal]]: You can carry eight weapons ranging from polearms, hammers and axes to daggers and swords (including the [[BFSBlade of Fearsome Size|world's largest sword]]) into battle with you. Joy!
* [[Idle Animation]]
* [[Inescapable Ambush]]: Quite often.
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* [[Karmic Death]]: {{spoiler|[[Eats Babies|Arioch]] in the fourth ending gets devoured by the [[Wave of Babies|Grotesqueries]]}}.
* [[Katanas Are Just Better]]: They ''look'' better, sure, but they're actually no better numerically than any other weapon you could choose from.
* [[Kill'Em All]]: In most endings, the cast gets decimated at least, wiped out entirely at worst. {{spoiler|The events of Ending E are directly responsible for the [[Nie RNieR|extinction of the human race]]}}.
* [[Knight in Shining Armor]]: Deconstructed in the first game with Caim, and then played straight with [[Posthumous Character]] Oror in the second.
* [[Knight Templar]]: Eris, at the beginning of ''Drakengard 2''.
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* [[Ominous Pipe Organ]]
* [[One-Man Army]]: The player character, whether it be Caim and his allies in the first game, or Nowe and his in the sequel.
* [[The One True Sequence]]: Averted.
* [[Optional Party Member]]: Leonard, Arioch and Seere are completely optional. Seere in particular cannot be unlocked until having beaten the game once already.
* [[Party in My Pocket]]: Only one member of the party is actually on the field at a time, though dialogue overlays imply that they're intended to be all present at once.
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* [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil]]: Directly in proportion to eerie otherworldliness.
* [[Sorting Algorithm of Weapon Effectiveness]]: Shaken up with some poor balancing decisions.
* [[Stealth Sequel]]: ''Drakengard'' gets one in, of all things, the ''[[NieR]]'' series. ''NieR'' starts off as a continuation of Ending "E" to the first ''Drakengard'' game in which the player goes through a portal to 2003 Tokyo and is killed by a cruise missile -- but not before introducing magic to the "real" world. This sets in motion events that ultimately result in the world of ''NieR''. For more info, see [https://nier.fandom.com/wiki/Timelines the "Timelines" page] at the ''NieR'' Wiki.
* [[The Stoic]]: Arioch's pact-partners Undine and Salamander, for what little time they have on-screen.
* [[Story-BoardingStoryboarding the Apocalypse]]: Subverted. By the time you see it happening, it's too late to stop.
* [[Summon Magic]]: Leonard, Seere and Arioch summon their pact monsters for magic attacks. Caim appears to summon his party members to deploy them in the field.
* [[Sword Beam]]: Specific weapons can produce a projectile attack when finishing certain combos.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Video Game{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Video Game]]
[[Category:Video Games of the 2000s]]
[[Category:Simulation Game]]
[[Category:Survival Horror]]
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[[Category:PlayStation 2]]
[[Category:Hack and Slash]]
[[Category:DrakengardFantasy Video Games]]
▲[[Category:Video Game]]
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