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The Gods are the unseen primary antagonists of the Drakengard and Nier series and a powerful force in the world, being the creators of the Watchers, dragons and all the races of Midgard, with the exception of humans. While they are a group of deities in the English versions of the game, in the Japanese version, the world was created and is ruled by a single eponymous deity referred to as "God" ( Kami?).

Profile[]

The gods have never been seen in the series' history despite their influence on the world, instead of being represented by other beings.[1] The gods, or rather God, is defined as "the one and only absolute Creator of every creature and person"[2], with nearly all things acting in accordance to their/its will. They created the dragons as well as the Red Eye Disease to destroy mankind, who is seen as a failure due to their strong ego and uncontrollable nature. Due to this, humans often regard the trials endured over the years as tests sent by the gods.[3] Despite the cruel intentions of the gods, humans in both the Union and the Empire worship them. The Empire is considered to be composed of extremely devoted followers.

While they are only vaguely mentioned in Drakengard 3, given their wishes for the destruction of humanity, it is speculated that the gods created the flower that spawned the Intoners. In Drakengard, a god-like entity uses Manah, a girl driven mad after being starved of love and abused by her mother, as their agent for releasing the Watchers into the world. In Drakengard 2, the gods are described by the dragons as usurpers who cast the dragons from their position as the world's rulers. The Gods were mentioned again in the alternative universe of NieR where they would force the humans of that world to make a pact at the cost of binding their souls to their slavery.

Known Deities[]

Trivia[]

  • The change from a singular God to a multitude of deities in the Western release of the game was likely made to further disconnect the Cult of the Watchers (Church of Angels) from Christianity.
  • They are sometimes erroneously thought to be the same as the Watchers.
  • The lore and abilities of weapons from Drakengard and Drakengard 2 would suggest that the gods are Nordic in nature, while the naming of dragons and Watchers (along with the original Japanese referring to the Gods as a monotheistic deity) hint at similarities to the pantheon of Abrahamic religions.
  • There is a distinction between singular and plural nouns in Japanese without using additional terminology. The usage of the word "kami" (神) for god could be either singular or plural. The general suffix to make proper nouns plural could range from -tachi (達) to -gumi (組), among others. Generally, multiple gods are referred to as "kami-gami" (神々), however, none of these suffixes are ever used to refer to this being, suggesting it is a singular entity.
  • It can be speculated that the known deities of the Drakengard series can be ranked by strength.
    • God(s) - The one(s) who created the Drakengard and Nier universe.
    • Black Flower - A mysterious being sealed within the Cathedral City, spawned the Flower.
    • Watchers - Beings created by the Gods to destroy the world. They are led by the Queen-beast.
    • Intoners - Beings spawned from the Flower and utilize the Power of Song

References[]

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