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The character list for the Record of Lodoss War universe, which spans across the OVA, TV series, novels, and games.
Two anime series based on the Record of Lodoss War novels and role playing games have been released in Japan in various forms. The first series, a 13 episode original video animation (OVA) produced by Madhouse Studios, was released in VHS format from June 30, 1990, through November 20, 1991.
Main Characters
Parn
Voiced by: Takeshi Kusao (JP, OVA), Nobutoshi Canna (JP, TV series), Bill Timoney (EN)
A simple village boy whose father Tessius was once a famous knight, who became disgraced. He decides to take up his father's sword and armor and joins his best friend Etoh on a journey.
- Arrested for Heroism: His early attempts at heroism get him exiled from his home town, as the townspeople feared that all his rescuing people from goblins would accomplish would be to inspire them to retaliate.
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: Parn's standard form of combat. His companions eventually show him that defense is just as important as well.
- Badass Normal: As he's supposed to represent the Fighter class, he has no magical abilities, but he doesn't really need them.
- Cool Sword: Parn wields his father's sword when he first sets out on his journey, later acquiring the holy sword of Valis after King Fahn dies.
- The Exile: He's exiled from his hometown because of his early attempts of heroism.
- Idiot Hero: At first. Parn's blatantly reckless and charges into everything without thinking. However, unlike most examples of this trope, he is not a particularly good fighter until he gets some training under his belt and learns to use his head a bit, leading him to constantly need to be bailed out.
- Interspecies Romance: He develops a romantic relationship with the elf Deedlit.
- The Load: Pre-Character Development, he's the guy who the rest of the party constantly need to rescue from his own naivete and recklessness.
- Oblivious to Love: He doesn't recognize Deedlit's love, much to the latter's annoyance (at least at first). Later in the OVA he shyly brings her a flower.
- Took a Level in Badass: Over the course of the OVA. He starts as a wet-behind-the-ears kid but becomes a seasoned warrior.
- You Can't Go Home Again: He decides to burn down his home and leaves on his journey after an encounter with the demons on his hometown.
Deedlit
Voiced by: Yumi Touma (JP, OVA), Lisa Ortiz (EN, OVA), Shiho Niiyama & Junko Noda (JP, TV series), Lisa Ortiz & A.J. Parks (EN, TV series)
A female high elf who leaves the Forest of No Return in order to explore the world. She is quite young for an elf, being 160 years old, and is believed to be the last hope for the high elves.
- Action Girl: Especially in the TV series, where she kills Shooting Star.
- Elemental Powers / Summon Magic: Deedlit is a shaman who specializes in summoning the spirits of nature for various effects.
- Interspecies Romance: As an elf, she's in a relationship with the human Parn.
- Magic Knight: Fights with both Summon Magic and a Royal Rapier
- She Cleans Up Nicely: She looks beautiful in a Pimped-Out Dress, but is clearly unused to such tight and restricting clothing so she's seen complaining about it.
Etoh
Voiced by: Kappei Yamaguchi (JP, OVA), Shinichirō Ōta (JP, TV series); Ted Lewis (EN)
Parn's best friend and a priest of Falis, the Supreme God. Although he left the village as part of his training, he eventually returned to ask Parn to join his group of companions.
- Babies Ever After: Itoya, a son born quite soon after his marriage to Fianna, and a daughter by the name of Elianna.
- Carry a Big Stick: In keeping with RPG cleric tradition.
- Cool Hat: A zucchetto / yarmulke-style hat that he wears, even after he becomes the new king of Valis.
- Healing Hands: He has this ability as a priest of Falis, though when he was a novice it was limited.
- Unexpected Successor: When Princess Fianna married him for love, it caused a bit of a stink among the knighthood of Valis, as the king had traditionally beren chosen from among them rather than via bloodline. The priesthood of Falis however, pulled strongly for the highly talented and accomplished young priest, and so he was crowned.
- White Mage: As an RPG-type cleric.
Slayn Starseeker
Voiced by: Hideyuki Tanaka (JP, OVA), Mitsuru Miyamoto (JP, TV series), Al Muscari (EN, OVA & TV series)
An experienced wizard who lives in the same village as Parn. He sometimes serves as a mentor to Parn, as well.
- Big Brother Mentor: He often teaches Parn on his journey.
- Beta Couple: With Leylia, after she's freed from Karla's possessing circlet.
- Magic Staff: His weapon of choice.
Ghim
Voiced by: Yoshisada Sakaguchi (JP, OVA), Greg Wolfe (EN, OVA)
A dwarven warrior who is devoted to the priestess Neese, whose daughter Leylia has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. He recruits his friend, the wizard Slayn on a journey to help find her.
- Big Guy Fatality Syndrome: He's the largest and powerful dwarf warrior who is killed while fighting against Karla.
- Character Death: He dies in the battle against Karla; Big Guy Fatality Syndrome at work.
- Elves vs. Dwarves: Ghim has a playful rivalry with Deedlit, but the two respect each other as traveling companions.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Your standard axe-wielding dwarven warrior.
![Record of lodoss war ova 1 Record of lodoss war ova 1](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126466110/613351462.jpg)
Woodchuck
Voiced by: Norio Wakamoto (JP, OVA), Jacques LeCan (EN, OVA)
A thief that the group encounters when they're thrown into prison for a short time. He is the last companion to join the group.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: He doesn't appear in the TV series despite playing a major role in the OVA.
- Fate Worse than Death: The OVA never really elaborates what happens to Karla after she possesses Woodchuck. The TV series doesn't even mention him, showing a completely different woman serving as the vessel for Karla.
- Grand Theft Me: After removing Karla's influence from Leylia, the witch finds a way to live on by possessing Woodchuck.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Puts a throwing knife through a dragon's eye in the first episode.
- Token Evil Teammate: Steals, cheats, gambles, and has no qualms about killing.
- You All Meet in a Cell: The party meets him in the cell he's been in for twenty years due to petty theft.
- Took a Level in Kindness: In the books, Woodchuck is considerably greedier and purposely allows himself to be taken by Karla. But in the OVA he's shown to be a loyal companion who tags along with Parn and his friends and is quite horrified when Karla's circlet comes toward him. ('No! NO!NOOOOOO!!!!')
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Other Heroes and Allies
Shiris
Voiced by: Minami Takiyama (JP, OVA), Yuu Asakawa (JP, TV series), Karen Smith (EN)
A female mercenary with a fiery temper who travels with her companion, Orson.
- Faux Action Girl: Sadly she is downgraded to this role in Chronicles of the Heroic Knight. In this series, she loses almost every fight she gets into, including the Designated Girl Fight.
- Minidress of Power: Seems to be the standard outfit for action girls in Lodoss.
- Ship Tease: With Orson, despite her protestations that they're just friends. She also develops a crush on Parn.
Orson
Voiced by: Show Hayami (JP, OVA), Nobuyuki Hiyama (JP, TV series), Chris Yates (EN, OVA), Oliver Gregory (EN, TV series)
A strong and silent mercenary who hides all of his emotions from the world. He can become an unstoppable force if he flies into his berserker rage.
- Berserk Button: He flies into his berserker rage whenever women are in danger, particularly Shiris. The TV series reveals that the reason for this is because Orson's village was raided by bandits and they killed his older sister when she tried to protect him, leaving him as the Sole Survivor. Afterwards he was possessed by Hyuri, the spirit of rage.
- The Berserker: He became one after being possessed by Hyuri.
- Blank White Eyes: When Orson's eyes turn all-white, get the hell away!
- Death by Adaptation: In the TV series he gets killed.
- The Dreaded: Even skilled elven warriors like Deedlit and Pirotess are wary of fighting Orson once they realize he's possessed by the spirit of rage.
- Dying Moment of Awesome: In the TV series, he takes the spirit of rage back within himself to save Shiris from a Dark Action Girl. He then takes out a necromancer and all his skeleton minions despite being skewered multiple times. It's only when every enemy is dead does he collapse in front of Shiris and succumb to his wounds.
- I Let Gwen Stacy Die: His beloved sister's death is what caused him to become a berserker.
- Ship Tease: With Shiris. Orson confesses his love for her in the TV series when he regains his emotions, but that doesn't go over well...
- Spared by the Adaptation: Orson dies in the TV series, but is alive in well by the end of the OAV.
- The Stoic: By necessity, otherwise he risks becoming a danger to everyone around him.
Kashue Arnague
Voiced by: Shuichi Ikeda (JP, OVA), Chris Yates (EN, OVA), Joji Nakata (JP, TV series), Anthony Cruise (EN, TV series)
Known as the Mercenary King, Kashue became famous for uniting the desert kingdom of Flaim using only his sword. During the War of Heroes, he staves off the invasion of the forces of Marmo and takes up leadership after King Fahn's death.
- Asskicking Equals Authority: He's a badass fighter who became a mercenary king in uniting Flaim.
- Hero of Another Story: Has been off on his own adventures long before the start of the story.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He has a reasonable judgment and is willing to listen to Parn and his allies.
Leylia
A priestess of the goddess Marfa. In the backstory, she became possessed by the Grey Witch Karla, leading to the events at the beginning of the story.- The Atoner: After being freed from the possession of Karla. She also feels guilty because it led directly to Ghim's death, as well as mass death and suffering.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She's an incredibly powerful priestess, not to mention being possessed by the wicked Naneel.
- The Chosen OneAn evil kind due to being the reincarnation of Naneel.
- The Corruptible: By the start of the series, she's already corrupted by Karla's influence.
- Generation Xerox: Like her mother Neese, joins a party of adventurers as a healer to battle a great evil in Marmo.
- Healing Hands: She's a priestess of Marfa, god of creation, so this is one of her powers.
- Virgin Power: She's the incarnation of Naneel, an incredibly powerful evil priestess of Kardis, and the key to Kardis's resurrection and return to power. Or she would be if she hadn't gone and married Slayn and borne 'Little' Neese.
Neese
- Hero of Another Story: Was one of the Six Heroes who defeated the Demon King decades ago.
- Retired Badass: She lives a mostly peaceful life afterwards.
Spark
- The Hero: The main protagonist of the TV series.
Greevus
- Magic Knight: He's good at both calling upon the powers of Myrii and with his huge axe.
Garrack
- An Axe to Grind: He wields an axe in combat.
Little Neese
- Ascended Extra: Goes from the cute little girl that spends most of the first part of the show sleeping in the arms of several of the older characters, to a member of the main band and one of the keys to either damning or saving the world.
- The Chick: And a future Apocalypse Maiden
- Virgin Power: Like her mother she's a reincarnation of Naneel and the key to bringing back Kardis.
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair: She has purple hair.
Leaf
- Half-Human Hybrid: She is a half-elf
- Shipper on Deck: She's totally enthralled by the idea that Spark and Little Neese, who has a crush on him, are made for each other.
Aldonova
- Gentle Giant: He's a friendly giant
Ryna
- Sixth Ranger: She joins the group much later in the series.
Fahn
Voiced by: Osamu Saka (JP, OVA), J.W. Gunther (EN, OVA)
The king of the Holy Kingdom of Valis. 30 years before the story, he was one of the six heroes that saved Lodoss, along with his former companion Beld.
- Asskicking Equals Authority: He's a well-known hero who became the king of Valis
- Character Death: He dies during the battle with Beld.
- Cool Sword: The Holy Sword, which serves as a counterpart to Beld's Soul Crusher.
- Knight in Shining Armor: Per tradition, before Etoh, he was drawn from the Knighthood of Valis to become king.
Princess Fianna
- Hot for Preacher: She falls in love with Etoh, a priest of Falis. Later, they get married and he becomes her King Consort.
- The Ojou: Of the Spoiled Sweet type
Kingdom of Marmo
Beld
Voiced by: Tarō Ishida (JP, OVA), Bob Barry (EN, OVA)
The emperor of Marmo, who was once a close companion to King Fahn. He was one of the six heroes who saved Lodoss from evil 30 years ago. He was touched by darkness afterwards and eventually gained the evil sword, Soul Crusher.
- Dark-Skinned Redhead: He has dark skin and has red-hair.
- Evil Sounds Deep: He has a low voice befitting for a king.
- Evil Weapon: His Soul Crusher can cut down anything.
- Face–Heel Turn: In the backstory, he was good.
- Fallen Hero: He was a beloved hero who saved Lodoss in the past who eventually turned to evil.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: After killing King Fahn in a duel, he is killed by the Grey Witch Karla, believing that no one side should grow too powerful.
Ashram
Voiced by: Akira Kamiya (JP, OVA), Show Hayami (JP, TV series), John Knox (EN, OVA & TV series)
A highly skilled warrior and lieutenant of Emperor Beld, known as the Black Knight. After Beld's death, he inherits the sword Soul Crusher and leads the people of Marmo.
- Evil Counterpart: To Parn, even down to similar romantic interests.
- Evil Sounds Deep: He has a deep voice befitting for a villain.
- Evil Weapon: Soul Crusher, which originally belonged to Beld.
- Shoulders of Doom: His broad shoulders doesn't hide the fact that he's a villain.
- The Rival: To Parn.
Wagnard
Voiced by: Takeshi Aono (JP, OVA), Bruce Winant (EN, OVA), Chikao Ohtsuka (JP, TV series), Oliver Wyman & Bruce Winant (EN, TV series)
A powerful dark sorcerer and priest of the goddess of chaos, Kardis. He plans to resurrect Kardis, hoping that she will grant him immortality in return.
- Big Bad: The main antagonist of the OVA.
- Die Laughing: He gives out a final Evil Laugh before he succumbs to his wounds from Ashram.
- Dragon with an Agenda: Seems to be biding his time under Beld while he gains enough arcane power to accomplish his own goals.
- Evil Sounds Raspy: He has a raspy voice and is the Big Bad.
- Go Out with a Smile: In his dying moments, he smiles as he says no one can control Kardis.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How Ashram kills him.
- Pointy Ears: Although he's human, Wagnard's ears are pointed due to his usage of dark magic. They're much less pronounced than elven ears.
Pirotess
Voiced by: Sakiko Tamagawa (JP, OVA), Kumiko Nishihara (JP, TV series), Meg Frances (EN)
A female dark elven noble and a follower of Wagnard. Although she planned to kill Ashram as revenge for her brother's death, she eventually learns that he was not responsible and joins his army.
- Bad Powers, Bad People: Pirotess is a shaman like Deedlit, but she calls upon spirits of darkness that the high elves won't associate with.
- Cute Monster Girl: All of the other dark elves in the series are quite ugly compared to Pirotess.
- Dark Mistress: To Ashram, eventually.
- Death by Adaptation: She only dies sacrificing herself for Ashram in the OVA.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Only in the OVA, where she sacrifices herself to protect Ashram from Shooting Star's fiery breath.
- Rapunzel Hair: Long white hair that reaches nearly to her feet.
Karla
Voiced by: Yoshiko Sakakibara (JP, OVA), Simone Grant (EN)
An enigmatic sorcerer of incredible power. Her true origins and goals are shrouded in mystery.
- Balance Between Good and Evil: Is absolutely obsessed with this. Karla believes that the scale tipping one way or the other will destroy Lodoss.
- Balance of Power: The lesson she took from the fall of Cashull is that Lodoss should never be unified under a single power, whether it's through conquest or treaty. So, she's spent the next several centuries playing off the various kingdoms and other powers against each other so it never happens again.
- The Chessmaster: King Beld of Marmo wants to conquer Lodoss. King Fahn of Valis wants to unify it through treaties and alliances. Karla doesn't want either of those things to happen, so she manipulates them into war so that they destroy each other.
- The Corruptor: She corrupts Leylia and eventually Woodchuck.
- Face–Heel Revolving Door: Formerly of the Six Heroes, Karla now lends her services to the Marmo Empire... but for how long?
- Grand Theft Me: Karla's spirit, contained in the circlet, can travel from person to person.
- Hero of Another Story: Was Sixth Ranger of the Six Heroes who slew the Demon King.
- The Kingslayer: Kills Emperor Beld in the OVA due to her obsession with balance.
- Know When To Fold Them: In the OVA, once Wagnard taps into the power of Kardis, Karla retreats to the sidelines. Even a magical being of Karla's magnitude is no match for an evil god, it seems.
- Precursors The last descendant of a race of inherently magical people.
- Really 700 Years Old: Via Grand Theft Me. Has been doing this since the fall of Cashull.
- Supervillain Lair: Likes hanging around in the ruins of Cashull, the ancient kingdom of sorcery.
- Wild Card: Karla is her own faction in the struggle for Lodoss, no matter what side she is currently aligned with.
- Wrong Context Magic: Unlike most magic users in the setting, Karla doesn't need to use incantations. In addition, her style of magic is unique; she can unleash destructive energies without channeling spirits or relying on enchanted tools.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The ancient dragons are truly gigantic! The opening sequence of the TV series makes a point by showing Parn on horse riding on ground while a red dragon flies next to him, dwarfing him. Then said red dragon flies into the background towards Shooting Star, only to end up smaller than Shooting Star's eye; and we still have no idea how close the unnamed red dragon actually was to Parn.
- Kaiju: The Ancient Dragons aren't merely the size of Godzilla, Godzilla himself looks like a dwarf next to them.
- Our Dragons Are Different: There are the wingless firebreathing dragons, the two-legged wyvern mounts and the aforementioned Ancient Dragons.
Abram
- Death by Adaptation: He dies in the TV series.
- Hell Is That Noise: Abram can drive people mad by merely roaring.
- Sea Monster: He's an aquatic dragon.
- Spared By Adaptation: He survives (apparently) in the OVA, mostly because he only shows up once to grant his power to Narse.
- Who Dares?: 'Who disturbs my slumber?'
Bramd
- Cool Old Guy: Bramd is the oldest and wisest of the Ancient Dragons.
- Death by Adaptation: He is slain by Ashram in the show.
- Spared By Adaptation: He survives in the OVA.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Despite having three or four appearances in the OVA, he doesn't show up in the end.
Mycen
- Good Wings, Evil Wings: She has a pair of golden, bird-like wings in comparison to the bat-like wings of Narse or Abram. Even in the series.
- Leave Him to Me: She goes ahead of her wyvern-rider army in order to fight Narse one-on-one.
- Noble Bird of Prey: Her design is more bird-like compared to the other dragons.
- The Smurfette Principle: She is the only female of the Ancient Dragons.
Narse
- Bat Out of Hell: In both the OVA and TV show, Narse has a very bat-like look to him.
- Disney Villain Death: After getting set ablaze by Mycen, he falls to his death.
- Dragon-in-Chief: Literally and metaphorically for Wagnard after he takes over for Beld.
- Expy: Of Ancalagon.
- Multiple-Tailed Beast: In the OVA Narse has two tails.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: In the OVA, he has a black top and a red underbelly.
- Slasher Smile: His default facial expression.
- Suddenly Voiced: (to Wagnard) 'Answer me. Answer me!'
- You Shall Not Pass!: In the final battle of Marmo.
Shooting Star
- The Dreaded: The most powerful of the Ancient Dragons and the one who protects the Scepter of Domination, the most powerful of the treasures of Lodoss.
- For the Evulz: He makes regular attacks on Blade just for the hell of it.
- Hero Killer: Well, more of an Anti-Hero Killer but he manages to kill Pirotess.
- Large and in Charge: As the most powerful and thus the leader of the Ancient Dragons, he is also decidedly the biggest. As mentioned above, conventional dragons are dwarfed by his eyes alone.
- Super-Deformed: He shows up as the mascot of the Welcome to Lodoss Island shorts... as an adorable chibified pink dragon.
- Taking You with Me: As he dies, he takes Ashram to the grave with him.
- Vertebrate with Extra Limbs: In the OVA he has four wings.
- Volcano Lair: Where he lives.
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Gods
Falis
Kardis
- God of Evil: The goddess of destruction and madness.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The greatest evil in the world of Lodoss.