Record of Lodoss War

Record of Lodoss War is a 13 episode OVA series based on the franchise of fantasy novels by Ryo Mizuno based around the work he originally created for a world called Forcelia for role-playing games (RPGs). There have since been multiple manga, anime and computer game adaptations, several of which have been translated into English. The plots generally follow the conventions and structure of the RPG systems including Dungeons & Dragons and Sword World RPG, being based around a party of several characters of distinct types undertaking a specific quest.

Record of Lodoss War was a Toonami Reactor exclusive, never appearing on the actual Toonami block. The series premiered on Toonami Reactor 2.0 on November 14, 2001.

Plot
Record of Lodoss War centers around the adventures of a youth by the name of Parn, the son of a dishonored knight. Part of his motivation for adventuring is to find out what happened to his father, and to restore his family's honor. Despite his inexperience, Parn is considered the leader, who is accompanied by his childhood best friend Etoh, his friend and sometimes advisor Slayn (and later on Slayn's lover Leylia), and his newfound mentor Ghim. They are accompanied by Parn's romantic interest, the high elf Deedlit, who comes from the Forest of No Return seeking an answer to her people's isolationism and an end to what she sees as a slow march to extinction and a thief named Woodchuck. Throughout the series, Parn comes into contact with friends and foes alike. His allies include King Kashue, King Fahn, Shiris, and Orson; his enemies include Emperor Beld, Ashram, and the evil necromancer Wagnard.

Main Characters
Parn - Parn begins as a simple village youth, but through extraordinary circumstances dons his father's armor and sword, and takes on the role of a warrior. This differs from his introduction in the manga series, where he is already a mercenary when discovered by the rest of his party. It is never disclosed what Parn's age is. Parn specializes in the use of bastard sword. In the beginning of the series, he wields his father's sword until it is destroyed. At this point, he is granted the Holy Sword of Falis to continue his journey. Parn's romantic interest comes in the form of Deedlit, an elven princess.

Deedlit - Deedlit plays a major role in Record of Lodoss War. She is the one who tells Parn and Etoh to return to their village to go and do battle with the goblin clan, which results in Parn's secret exile from the village, but starts him on his journey. Deedlit does not actually meet Parn until the second episode, where she scolds him for even considering practicing his swordsmanship on a tree, before she shows him the spirits within all things. Due to Deedlit's mutually returned infatuation and romantically inclined relationship with Parn, the two become close very quickly. She does tend to get jealous of Shiris, who makes passes at Parn, something that he does not notice. She is relieved when Parn makes his love for her publicly apparent on several occasions, which shames and publicly embarrasses Shiris, resulting in her taking it out on Orson. Though typically saving Parn himself early on in the series, things take a turn when the dark wizard Wagnard finds out that in order to resurrect Kardis, the goddess of destruction, he will need both the Scepter of Domination and the essence of a high elf, due to their immortality. His choice of which high elf to use as a sacrifice falls upon Deedlit, as she is the only high elf who is not within the Forest of No Return.

Etoh - Parn's best friend and a priest of Falis, the Supreme God. Upon King Fahn's death, he later becomes the king of Valis and the husband of Princess Fianna.

Slayn - Parn's older friend and sometimes advisor, a wise and powerful magician. He marries the priestess Laylia and is the father of Little Neese.

Ghim - Ghim's purpose is apparent right from the beginning of the series, as he is looking for a girl, Leylia, Neese's adopted daughter. Ghim wishes to get her back from her kidnappers. He is devoted to Neese, the high priestess of Marfa, the goddess of all creation and acts as a father figure for Leylia. Ghim plays a major role throughout more than half of the Record of Lodoss War series, up until his death, and serves as Parn's mentor, teaching him how to fight. He plays no role whatsoever in Chronicles of the Heroic Knight, Legend of Crysania, or even Welcome to Lodoss Island. Ghim is exclusively a fighter, and has in his possession what appears to be a Battle Axe of Returning, an axe which he can throw, and will return to him after each throw, as his axe always returns after being thrown.It is never hinted at, as to what the age of Ghim is, but judging from his appearance, he seems somewhat old, and could be between the ages of 175 and 220.

Woodchuck - A thief and the last member of the party to join them, Woodchuck encounters the group when they are briefly thrown into prison. After Leylia is rescued from Karla's possession, Karla possesses Woodchuck. His whereabouts after his possession by Karla is unknown.

Other Characters
Leylia - Leylia is the daughter of Neese, a priestess of Marfa. She is possessed by Karla when her mother is busy tending a battered Ghim. Ghim then sets out to rescue Leylia from Karla's control. Later Leylia marries Slayn and becomes the mother of Little Neese.

King Kashue - Also known as "the mercenary king", Kashue is famous for being the only man capable of uniting the desert country of Flaim, which he accomplished using only his sword. During the War of Heroes, Kashue was instrumental in staving off the invasion of Lodoss by the Marmo forces, assuming leadership following the death of King Fahn, after the latter killed Beld in the final battle by cutting him down when he was distracted by a crossbow bolt shot by Karla the Grey Witch. (The story surrounding these events was changed in the OVA, instead having Karla perform the killing blow herself.) Because of this Ashram holds Kashue responsible for treachery, and would love nothing more than to slay him for his supposed sins. Parn greatly admires him.

King Fahn - Like his former friend and companion Beld, Fahn was one of the Six Heroes and a Holy Knight of Valis, later becoming the King of Valis. He is the one force that truly holds Beld in check and prevents him from acting. Fahn holds the opposing blade to Soul Crusher, called the Holy Sword of Falis, the two blades increase in power when in each other's presence. Parn's father was a former knight of his. Fahn is struck down by Beld just before Beld himself is killed.

Shiris - A red-headed and somewhat hot-tempered mercenary woman. She meets Parn and his companions while on protective watch over a village, along with her partner Orson. She develops a crush on Parn (much to Deedlit's disconcertion), but in the end they only remain good friends.

Orson - A strong and silent male mercenary, and the partner of Shiris. He maintains an impassive front to anything and anybody, mainly because he is a berserker. Orson is secretly in love with his partner Shiris; his berserkism is triggered when he sees her in mortal danger, and only she is able to bring him out of it. However, because of his condition he cannot bring himself to admit his feelings to her.

Antagonists
Emperor Beld - Beld was a former member of the "Six Heroes", a band of adventurers who fought and defeated the demon god 30 years before the events of Record of Lodoss War. During the battle with the demon god, Beld's soul was destroyed when his blade became baptized in the blood of the demon, and in the aftermath, his sword became the legendary blade Soul Crusher. He later became the lord of Marmo Island and led an army comprising humans, dark creatures, and Dark Elves in an invasion of Lodoss. The invasion was largely successful, but just after killing his old friend Fahn in personal combat, he is betrayed and struck down by Karla the Grey Witch; the rule of Marmo subsequently passed over to his general, Ashram.

Lord Ashram - Known as the "Black Knight", Ashram is a highly skilled warrior and the former retainer and right-hand aide of Emperor Beld. He served Beld during the War of Heroes, and was sent in the front to deal with any possible resistance. After the death of Beld at the hands of Karla the Grey Witch, Ashram took up his blade, The Demon Sword Soul Crusher and returned to Marmo to regroup. Later on, Ashram seeks to dominate Lodoss rather than conquer it, as he looks for one of the governor's treasures, the Scepter of Domination. After the destruction of the scepter, Ashram is believed to have died in the fires of Fire Dragon Mountain, but it is later revealed that one of the agents of Wagnard sacrifices his powers (stripped by Wagnard himself) in order to save his life.

Karla The Grey Witch - Karla The Grey Witch (so named because of her obsessive neutrality) is the enigmatic sole survivor of the ancient kingdom Kastuul, "Kingdom of Sorcery." As barbarian tribes laid siege to the city, Karla, a member of the nobility at the time, foresaw the destruction and sealed her consciousness into a circlet she wore on her forehead. Though her original body was inevitably killed in the battle, her consciousness (and power) lives on in an endless series of host bodies, utterly possessed by her so long as they wear the circlet in which she resides. Due to the horrible fate of Kastuul, Karla swore never to allow such destruction to occur again. Karla has maintained a secret, shadowy influence on the major events of Lodoss for more than 500 years. Her long life and incredible power has warped her perception of herself. Her sworn duty "for the good of Lodoss" is to endlessly shift the balance of power between the various nations of Lodoss, preventing the annihilation of any one power, at the cost of preventing its rise. All of the major wars in Lodoss since the fall of Kastuul have been carefully manipulated (and some directly participated in) by her, though by nature of her neutrality, she is not always an antagonist. She was even one of the "Six Heroes" - a group of adventurers who fought and defeated the Demon God King 30 years prior to the events of the series.

Wagnard - Wagnard is a dark wizard, and a worshiper of Kardis, the goddess of destruction. He was originally a student of the magical academy in Valis (the same Slayn had attended), but was expelled for studying the dark arts of magic and cursed with a spell which restricted his ability to cast magic by inflicting severe pain whenever he does so. In time, however, Wagnard became mostly inured to the pain and managed to attain great power as a magician. Despite following Beld, Wagnard's intentions are far worse, as he seeks to kill all the inhabitants of Forcelia, and rule over them as their undead king (a lich). He attempts this by abducting the high elf Deedlit, as high elves have near immortal life spans, and such energy is necessary to revive Kardis.