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|height = 168 cm
 
|height = 168 cm
 
|status = Deceased <small>(Branch A)</small><br>Alive <small>(Branch B, C)</small><br>Sealed <small>(Branch D)</small>
 
|status = Deceased <small>(Branch A)</small><br>Alive <small>(Branch B, C)</small><br>Sealed <small>(Branch D)</small>
|image = <tabber>Drakengard 3=[[File:Zero.png|280px]]</tabber>
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|image = <tabber>Drakengard 3=[[File:Zero.png|270px]]</tabber>
 
|age = 17 <small>(Novella)</small><br>'''18''', 17 in appearance. <small>(Prologue)</small><br>'''19''', 17 in appearance. <small>(''DOD3'')</small>
 
|age = 17 <small>(Novella)</small><br>'''18''', 17 in appearance. <small>(Prologue)</small><br>'''19''', 17 in appearance. <small>(''DOD3'')</small>
 
|bwh = Unknown
 
|bwh = Unknown

Revision as of 12:18, 29 August 2014


A gifted Intoner with superhuman battle skills and expert swordsmanship. She is open and uninhibited with men, yet violent and lazy by nature. She constantly quarrels with her overly serious sister, One. The flower blooming in her right eye prolongs her life and has given her a unique body.
— Official Website Description

Rose[1], who changes her name to Zero after obtaining the power of song, is the main protagonist of Drakengard 3. She is an Intoner, one who is gifted with the ability to manipulate magic through songs. She is the eldest and the most powerful of the Intoners. Zero is on a killing spree and relentlessly hunting her sisters.

Zero's left arm is prosthetic. She gains a distinctive flower growing out of her right eye, which continues to grow. Mikhail is her trustworthy partner.

Story

See also: Zero's Novella and Memories of the Intoners
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Zero - A Rain to End and a Flower to Begin

Zero is a nickname; she has no real given name. Her oldest memory is her abusive mother yelling at her. Her mother would whip her back constantly until she lost all sensations on it. Zero reasoned that her mother was only raising her in the only way she knew and didn't blame her mother for her cruelty. She accepted long ago that she was an unwanted child and a bothersome pest to her mother's livelihood. Her mother sold her off when she was a child to prostitution.

She once teamed up with a fellow prostitute girl she trusted and decided to call Indigo (based on the color of her eyes). They decided to steal as much gold from the brothel as they could carry. As they ran out of town, a regular costumer of Indigo was waiting for them by the town gate. Indigo and him were determined to kill Zero, as Indigo revealed she only needed her to carry away more gold.

Zero was caught by people from the brothel and brought back. Eventually, she decided to kill everyone in the brothel and to make an escape by herself. She also pocketed all the money she could, but was robbed by bandits later on, barely escaping from being sold into prostitution again. Zero decided to only take as much money as she needed from then on.

Wandering again to a city that didn't know her face, Zero had encountered a man whose name she doesn't remember. He was one of the patrons of the brothel where she worked. While he did recognize her, for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to kill him when he approached her. They lived together within the same house and shared a quaint life of peace together. Zero, however, contracted a deadly and highly contagious illness and, fearing for his life, the man abandoned her, but not before trying to sell her. Zero, however, killed the man by cutting off his head, noting that the man looked surprised in his final moments.

As she continued to wander, Zero had subconsciously decided to kill anyone in sight when she wanted something. She has killed so many people –regardless of age or gender– that she has lost count. One day, she broke into a household for food and killed every single family member. When the eldest daughter asked her reasons for the slaughter before her death, Zero found that she had no real justifications for doing so and merely did it as a reflex.

Zero was ultimately caught, when her illness became too much for her to bear. She was placed in a cell with five other girls that had plotted against the corrupt Lord of the land. These girls were subject to horrible torture, unlike Zero, who was simply given a few lashes instead. The girls all died one by one, with Zero being the last one alive. Finally, Zero's illness caught up with her, as she started coughing up blood. In her last moments, she gazed upon a beautiful pink flower that rose from the ground.

The flower that she saw revived her, taking root deep within her. She became a tool of destruction through which the flower sought to further its ambition of destroying humanity. It gave Zero the power of an Intoner. Zero attempted to destroy the flower by committing suicide, but that only resulted in the flower creating five more Intoners in the form of the freedom fighters from Zero's cell and the splitting of Zero's powers among them. Zero sees the creation of her Intoner "sisters" as her own fault, which is why she decides to kill them by herself.

Zero's Prologue

Zero first met Michael when he was drawn to the battle between her and the soldiers that served Caerula. He then attempted to kill Zero as game, but she used Michael's firepower and brute strength to eliminate the soldiers trailing her. While trying to kill Zero, he came to notice the flower growing within her and laughed at this realization. Once the soldiers were defeated, he didn't proceed with his attack and only asked to talk with Zero.

While transporting Zero to the mountains, Michael wanted to know more about Zero's Flower. He explained to the Intoner how dragons have an existence deeply connected with the Flower, and that the latter and the dragons were natural enemies due to the dragon race being the only beings capable of destroying the Flower. Michael agreed to help Zero kill her Intoner sisters and also to kill Zero herself when the task was done.

Once at their destination, Michael tested Zero's strength and power over the Flower by tasking her to kill the magical beasts on the mountain castle in return for not killing her immediately. Zero soon completed the trial, and Michael took her to the Forest Country for another test.

Two months later, Michael served as the final test of strength for Zero within the Temple of Sands. Zero won the fight, and as promised, Michael began fighting by her side from then on as her friend and companion.

Drag-On Dragoon Utahime Five

The sisters are quick to defeat the Lords of all the world's countries and divide the land among themselves.

Zero appears on a ledge, watching One's battle from afar. Although she does not seem to be at full strength, she declares with a smile that she will kill her sisters.

She arrives at the Cathedral City in time to stop her sister's destruction, bestowing them each with a Disciple. Once Michael had destroyed the Black Flower, Zero turn her attention to One.

Drakengard 3: Chapter 0

Savage... I think you mean Intoner.
— Zero, Drakengard 3
Zero meets her sisters in Cathedral City to kill them, but One summons Gabriel, who kills Michael. Zero loses one of her arms, but manages to survive the battle.

Drakengard 3

Branch A

The flower begins growing out of Zero's eye. She seeks out Mikhail, Michael's reincarnation, and one year later decides to put an end to her sisters once and for all, before the power of song grows out of their control.

After eliminating Five and subsequently recruiting Dito, Zero decides to travel to the mountainous region. On the way, they encounter a Cerberus that tries to hinder them but it escapes following the decapitation of two of its heads. As the group reaches the end of their trek, they encounter the Cerberus once more, finally ending its life by decapitating its last head. However, as Zero turns her back from the corpse, a still-living rogue Cerberus head attacks her from behind, consuming her other arm and effectively killing her. Suddenly, the flower in her eye blossoms into a gigantic flower, from which the body of a bloody new Zero climbs out with her arm restored. Dito is shocked by the seemingly immortal Zero while Mikhail shudders at the sight.

Following Zero's successful confrontation with One, she seeks to deliver the finishing blow until One summons Gabriel into the fray. With Mikhail in tow, Zero defeats Gabriel with much ease until Mikhail collapses from the apparent over-exhaustion the battle has waged on him. Zero realizes her folly in desiring victory as she looks back at a depleted Mikhail, having died after the engagement. A distraught Zero walks towards One who has just finished saying her goodbyes to Gabriel. One tells Zero that she will go on ahead, ultimately meeting her end by Zero's hand.

Following the completion of her mission, Zero takes a moment and is subsequently impaled in the abdomen. Blood flushes out of Zero's body as it covers an individual who resembles One in appearance, albeit in a masculine form. He tells her that he is One's younger brother and that he was created for the sole intent of eliminating Zero ever should One be the first to die from their duel. As the young man pleads for Zero not to hate him for his actions, Zero only comments that she never hated anyone in the first place, not even her own sisters. She just wanted to be the last surviving Intoner, mentioning how hate never even played a part in her decisions because she had always intended to kill herself in the end. One is left aghast by her statement.

Within the reach of death, Zero slowly reaches out to Mikhail, thanking him for his recourse before ultimately perishing, apparently ending the current generation of Intoners. However, a disturbed One wonders about the future and tends to his dead sister, asking her what he shall do in a world without such divine beings governing its foundation. It is then that One comes to the revelation that he will start a church of sorts to protect the world in the place of its fallen Intoners, worshiping and revering his own sister in her place.

Following One's exit, doves surround the bodies of the fallen Zero and Mikhail, with a mysterious female having graced the location, citing how she already knew what was going to happen and that they should have taken another branch to proceed. As the doves exit the area, she abruptly takes her leave.

Branch B: The Price

After defeating Raphael, Mikhail reveals to Zero that he was afflicted with too much of its poison, ultimately dying from the toxins. Zero, distraught by the dead Mikhail, curses at him for leaving her again and once more at the flower for its unending curse. At that point, Zero remembers her flower's capabilities, utilizing her song powers to chant a seemingly powerful incantation. Apparently using the last of her strength, Zero thanks Mikhail before disappearing into the light.

Mikhail wakes up giddily and looks for Zero, sporting a familiar pink flower in his eye. A small child's voice responds to Mikhail in Zero's familiar tone, with Mikhail casually responding as if he were talking to Zero.

Branch C: Emesis

Following her victory against One, Mikhail dies from his wounds. One taunts Zero and dies. Zero is left with much regret and remorse over Mikhail's death while she continuously vomits on the floor. She tries to look for another dragon to end her life but she does not succeed in finding one.

Branch D: The Flower

Zero consumes One and allows the flower to bloom within her. The two are then transported to the "Spirit World", where giant statues of the six Intoners appear and engage Mikhail in a rhythm game. Mikhail triumphs, and after reminiscing with Zero, he destroys them. As they disintegrate, Accord states that the power of the flower has been sealed in the spirit world, nullifying its threat to humanity, although there is still a possibility of the seal breaking one day. Accord also states that although the recording function for Zero (likely the version of Accord assigned to her) was broken, she feels sure that Zero is still alive and that they will meet again.

Spoilers end here.

Personality

Zero has a violent disposition and is easily irritated, having no tolerance for anything complicated. She doesn't care about her own appearance in the slightest. Often apathetic and bitter, she is prone to scoffing at anyone or anything which distracts from her main objective. In the Japanese script, she has a quirk for flippantly switching to polite language. When she does this, it's often used as build up for a satirical insult. Her haughtiness is occasionally mocked and played for laughs, especially when she appears to be confident in herself.

Michael was the only being Zero had trusted. The two partners were close and understood one another well. Zero is haunted by her dreams of their time together after his death. She initially feels emotionally detached from Mikhail –since the two dragons are completely different from one another– and refuses to call him by name; she insists that Michael is the only one who can have that right. Over the course of their adventure, however, Zero's feelings for him soften as she instructs and relies on him. She eventually becomes attached to him with maternal endearment.

While she either ignores or threatens them, Zero does have some fondness for her other comrades in the story. She briefly shows moments of melancholy if they should die for her. She spares them no mercy if they should betray her.

Development

Character designer Kimihiko Fujisaka has said in a Famitsu interview that he initially designed Zero to look like a typical protagonist with traits matching his perception of a goddess. As her design went through revamps, he comments that an unaesthetic quality was added as the scenario came into being. She originally didn't have her eye-flower. Fujisaka believes flowers are feminine and wanted to somehow include it for her design. He spontaneously plopped one into her eye for originality and to have her design stick out. Taro Yoko liked it as soon as he saw it and approved it for the final, despite the producer's hesitation for it. When Zero's similarities with Kainé's flower motif was brought up, Fujisaka avoided explaining his thoughts in detail.

Zero's design was the first to be approved by Yoko, but he wanted more female characters to interact with her. He requested for Fujisaka to "think Puella Magi Madoka Magica" when designing her sisters.

Gallery

Trivia

  • Zero is the first female protagonist of the game series.
  • She is also the only protagonist to also be the final boss in the same game when ending D is considered.
  • Zero shares similarities in design and personality with Kainé from NIER.
  • Zero's Sword has a similar shape to that of Nowe's Sword or General Oror's Sword
  • Her emblem bears similarity to Caim's pact emblem. Zero's is a revised version with a flower motif.
  • Her prosthetic arm can only move due to the parasite that is inside it.
  • Zero's regeneration may be interrupted if something stops her from climbing out of her flower.
  • Zero curls into the fetal position after being made idle for a long time while at the base camp.
  • Zero shares multiple elements with her sisters in her appearance.
    • She shares One's outfit color scheme (predominantly white with black).
    • She and Two have a flower as design ornament (hers in her left eye, while Two's is on her hair).
    • She shares the same hairclip with Three (with the exact same place, above their left eye).
    • She shares an armored left arm with Four (Zero's is smaller due to it being a prosthetic, while Four uses it to conceal her rapidly growing nails).
    • She shares a similar shoulder decoration (albeit differently colored) with Five.
  • In Dengeki Online's Drakengard 3 character popularity poll, Zero was voted in fourth place.[2]
  • In Dengeki Online's Intoner panties poll, a majority of fans voted black panties for Zero.[3]

References

Characters
Playable Characters
Intoners
ZeroOneTwoThreeFourFive
Dragons
Mikhail / MichaelGabriella
Non-Playable Characters
Disciples
CentOctaDecadusDito
Other Characters
AccordCaerulaGabrielOnePartition
Locations
Midgard
Land of Seas
Zero's CottageCoastSunken CityShrine of Seas
Land of Mountains
Cliffside PathGarrisonFour's FortressSnowy PeaksMt. WhateverIn the Sky
Land of Forests
Poisoned ForestForest of FaeriesForest of LightForest RuinsLost ForestForest ShrineGrove of the Dead
Land of Sands
Surface RuinsUnderground RuinsDesertShrine of SandsIn the Sky
Cathedral City
OutskirtsCity CoreCathedralUnderground LairIn the Sky
Lore
Angels
PhanuelArmarosArmisaelEgregoriGalgalielZophielEzraelRaphael
Terms
BranchesThe CataclysmChurchDiscipleDragonDragonbone SwordElder SisterFlowerIntonerMagicThe Magic AcademyMaterialsMiraclesMultiple WorldsPower of SongRulersSingularitiesTimelinesYounger Sister
Gameplay
DLC
BGMCostumesHeadgearPrequel StagesVoice-Over
Weapons
ChakramsCombat BracersSpearsSwords
Database
ChaptersEnemiesItemsMemoriesNovellasProphecyQuotesTrophiesWeaponsWeapon HistoriesWeapon Shops
Characters
The Intoner Five
OneTwoThreeFourFive
Lords of the Land
BassGrayShaxorCaerula
Other Characters
AccordBartasGabriellaMichaelPartitionZero
Database
ChaptersTermsTimelines