Odin Sphere
Setting and characters
### Setting and characters

*Odin Sphere* is set on the fictional continent of Erion, which is divided into multiple nations scattered across the land. The two main nations are the warrior land of Ragnanival, and the forest\-bound Fairy Kingdom of Ringford, separated by a wasteland that was once the kingdom of Valentine. At the game's opening, Ragnanival is ruled by the Demon Lord , and Ringford is ruled by the Fairy Queen  with help from her nephew . The other nations include the neutral land of Titania; the volcano\-bound Fire Kingdom ruled by the one male resident King ; and the Netherworld, the land of the dead where natural crystals grow, ruled by the undead Queen . Two key elements in the game are psyphers, weapons incorporating crystals made from phozon life energy; and the Crystallization Cauldron, a weapon created by Valentine that crafts crystals by absorbing phozons from the land. A driving force of the plot is the tale of the Armageddon, a foretold catastrophe in which Erion is destroyed and the survivors rule the new world.

Many years prior to the game's events, the world was controlled by King , who ruled the kingdom bearing his name. Originally a kind man, a spell to bring his people prosperity drained his goodness, causing him to turn into a vicious dictator who declared war on the rest of Erion. During his conquests, the Cauldron went wild and destroyed the kingdom in a single night — everyone was cursed and transformed into [Pookas](/wiki/P%C3%BAca "Púca"), while Valentine's kingdom was reduced to a wasteland. In the aftermath of Valentine's fall, Ragnanival and Ringford had become Erion's most powerful nations, while the other nations have become weak in comparison. At the game's opening, Ragnanival and Ringford are at war over possession of the Cauldron in the wasteland of Valentine, as each see the Cauldron as too dangerous for the other to possess.

The story is told from the perspective of a young girl named Alice reading a series of books in her attic, with five initial storylines or "books" playing out between the five main characters and overlapping at multiple points. The five main protagonists are , a [Valkyrie](/wiki/Valkyrie "Valkyrie") and daughter to the Demon Lord Odin who has lived for years in the shadow of her sister ; , the prince of Titania turned into a Pooka; , daughter of Elfaria and later the reluctant queen of Ringford; the "Shadow Knight" , a dark knight in service to Ringford who was found abandoned as a baby and adopted by Melvin; and , a survivor from the Kingdom of Valentine who hides her identity as Odin's illegitimate daughter and has been dubbed the "Forest Witch". Other key characters outside the royalty of Erion's surviving nations include the Three Wise Men, a group manipulating Erion's nations to fulfill the ancient prophecies surrounding the Armageddon; , Velvet's brother who like Velvet retained his humanity and was key to the disaster that consumed his kingdom; and King Valentine, having escaped the Netherworld as an insane revenant bent on destroying Erion.


How does the story of Odin Sphere unfold?