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The Demon King (魔神王, majin-ō) is a demon and the main antagonist of the Demon War. It was sealed away in the Deepest Labyrinth centuries ago, but released by the Duke of Skard. The Demon King and his demon army promptly conquered the Stone Kingdom and the duchy of Skard and plunged the island of Lodoss in chaos, with demons suddenly randomly appearing throughout the island, thus beginning the Demon War. A volunteer force was formed to counter the demon invasion, with its last six members managing to defeat the Demon King.

The Demon King is of the most powerful species of demons, with some believing his power to be comparable to that of a god.[1] Demon kings are species that exist as just immortal souls without a body, but they can use another one’s body as a vessel. It is possible that the Demon King adopts, albeit slightly, parts of the personality of the person whose body it possesses.

The Demon King is the main antagonist in the Legend of Lodoss light novels and the manga adaptation Record of Lodoss War: The Lady of Pharis.

Appearance[]

A young, slender, short woman with long dark curled hair and dark eyes. The Demon King is almost naked, wearing only remnants of clothes destroyed in a battle in Moss. The female body is not the Demon King's original body, as demon kings normally exist as just souls without a body.

History[]

 The Demon King, like all other demons, originates from a “world” other than the three planes—material world, spirit world, fairy world—that are known to exist on Forcelia. Sometimes referred to as the “demon world”.

 During the age of the ancient kingdom of Kastuul, the Demon King was summoned to the material world by sorcerers of the ancient kingdom, along with tens of thousands of demons, with the purpose of enslaving them, or have the demons fight for them. Whatever their purpose, they were used without mercy.[2] Eventually, the summoner-sorcerer Aznadeer sealed away the Demon King and the other demons in the Deepest Labyrinth in the south of Moss, where they would remain sealed for the next ~500 years.

 Roughly 500 years later, Duke Bruuk of Skard learns of the existence of the demons in the Deepest Labyrinth through his court magician Wort[3] and became fascinated with them. From Wort, he learned how to liberate the demons from the labyrinth, and how to control them.[4]

 In NRC 473 Bruuk sacrificed his daughter, Princess Reena, in the Deepest Labyrinth, releasing the demon army and the Demon King. The Demon King killed Bruuk on the spot and its army promptly attacked the underground settlement of the dwarves, the Stone Kingdom, killing all but one of the dwarven residents. They conquered the Duchy of Skard and made it their main stronghold. The Demon King expanded their control by having his army take the city of Muskett and the Duchy of Russen. It also attacked the Mirror Forest, home of elves, and stole life essence from the ancient tree, which was used to create pseudo lifeforms to expand the demon army. All throughout Lodoss demons appeared at random, causing havoc.

 To counter the demon invasion, a volunteer force called the Hundred Heroes is assembled and the son of Duke Bruuk, Nasher, is appointed as leader of the army. He is succesful in liberating the duchy of Russen and the city Muskett, but gets dismissed from his position when the truth about his father, who wanted to conquer Lodoss using the demons so Nasher could take it from him, is revealed. Seeking closure, Nasher goes to Skard alone and requests an audience with his father. When he kills his father, Nasher is in turn stabbed in his stomach by his sister Reena, with the Demon Sword, revealing Reena to be the Demon King. Nasher escapes and flies off on his dragon, but dies from the wound.

 The Demon King teleports to the Duchy of Highland, where the Six Heroes and other important figures from Moss followed Nasher via the Mirror of Truth. The Demon King promptly attacks the heroes and outmatches them all, until Neese calls for a miracle of Marfa. Neese's magic harms the Demon King and destroys her clothing, leaving it with nothing but some torn pieces of cloth around its otherwise naked body. The Demon King takes off. The Six Heroes believe the Demon Sword may be the way to destroy the Demon King and head to the Deepest Labyrinth for a final confrontation. The Demon King is slayn by the Six Heroes. His sword, the Demon Sword “Soul Crusher”, is passed on to Beld.

Notes[]

  • The translation "Demon King" is used in the two Lodoss animes and the novel. The translations "Demon Lord" and "Demon God" are used in the manga.
    • Contrary to the translators of the animes and novel, the translation-team behind the manga got to see how the Demon King looks (depicted as a female). Perhaps this, combined with the fact the Demon King's history is not explained in the manga, is why the manga translators opted to go with more gender-neutral terms "lord" and "god".
  • In the Legend of Lodoss RPG replay novels, a second Demon King appears in Alania in the northeast of Lodoss. Also in the appearance of a young, dark-haired woman. She is defeated by Lucent and his companions.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Mizuno, R. Legend of Lodoss: The Legendary Hero, page 185 (fan translation)
  2. Mizuno, R. Legend of Lodoss: Prince of the Fallen Land, page 157 (fan translation)
  3. Mizuno, R. Legend of Lodoss: Eternal Returner, page 34 (fan translation)
  4. Mizuno, R. Legend of Lodoss: Eternal Returner, page 39 (fan translation)
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