Adol Christin
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| Adol Christin | |
| Created by | Nihon Falcom Corporation |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished |
| Character Information | |
| Real name | Adol Christin |
| Age | 16-23 |
| Height | 5 feet 6 inches |
| Weight | 59-63 kg |
| Hair | Fiery Red |
| Eyes | Grey/Blue |
| Birthplace | Europa(Historically the Germania region) |
| Notable Allies | Dogi, Feena, Leah, Terra |
| Notable Enemies | Dark Fact, Darm, Galbalan |
| Species | Human |
| Notable aliases | Adol the Red |
| Notable powers | Swordsmanship, Magical abilities (depending on item usage) |
Adol Christin is the main character of the Ys video game series created by Nihon Falcom Corporation, which, according to a rumor, was based on a mythical story.
Contents |
[edit] Character history
[edit] Origin and first appearance in Esteria
Adol is a short red-haired swordsman that travels the world in search of adventure. Born as a peasant boy, in what apparently once was historical Germania, his father would tell him of many stories of fantasy: Heroes, dragons, etc. At the time of his 17th year, he left home in search of adventure. In Ys Books I and II, Adol, as a 17 year old boy, saves the country of Esteria from the evil forces of Dark Fact, a fallen priest turned evil sorcerer, and Darm, a demon manifested from the vices of man over the greed of the Black Pearl's power.
[edit] Adventuring in Celceta
Two years later, Adol travels to the land of Celceta (Ys IV) and confronts and defeats Eldeel, the last of the Eldeen, an ancient race of winged beings who happened to go insane and power hungry.
In the PCE version of Ys IV however, noted as the "Dawn of Ys", Adol doesn't actually "defeat" Eldeel in the traditional sense as this deed was done by Gruda, specifically by piercing through Eldeel's heart with the Cleria Sword stolen from Adol. In this version of Ys IV, generally credited as the more accurate Ys IV in terms of storyline and its relation to the stories of Ys I, II, AND VI, Adol battles the Clan of Darkness (Gruda, Bami, Gadeis), and their lord, an even worse evil known as Arem, who was once a warlord in the Celcetan Capital "El Doran". With the help of the power of Lefance and his disciples, Adol was able to unlock the full power of Cleria, transforming it into the sword, armor, and shield of El Doran, a brilliant gold metal that Lefance described as "the ultimate metal" or "the most powerful metal". With the El Doran equipment at hand and the Mask of the Sun (actually the Mask of Eyes/Mask of the Moon from Ys I), Adol triumphs over the evil Arem. Not only does Adol defeat Arem, but also has a little "reunion" battle with Darm once again, who appears as a standard boss in the fallen city. In the end, the capital of El Doran falls into ruin and is lost as Adol is safely teleported from the ensuing destruction by Lefance and his disciples.
[edit] Wandering in Felghana
One year after his adventures in Celceta, Adol travels to Dogi's homeland, Felghana (Ys III), and defeats another ancient but wicked being that was disturbing the land named Galbadan. An interesting prophecy at the end of the revamped version of Ys III(JP)for PS2 is revealed when Adol chooses to talk to an old woman as he's saying goodbye to everyone before leaving. Her words, loosely translated were: "You are the one who will bring together everyone's happiness in all your travels around the world."
[edit] Searching in Afroca
Adol then goes to the continent of Afroca and seeks the Lost Kingdom of Kefin in Ys V.
[edit] Discovering the Canaan Islands
Most recently in Ys VI, Adol at the age of about 23 washed ashore on the Canaan Islands in the middle of the Atlas Ocean. There, Adol discovers an important connection between the Islands and the lands he had visited in the other years of his young life. He found the remains of the Eldeen civilization, the land that gave birth to the civilizations of Europa. He also had to deconstruct the gigantic Ark of Napishtim with the help of swords and armor made of Emelas (which actually is Cleria in fact), a weather control system from the Eldeen civilization that threatened to flood the whole world. At the end of Ys VI: Ark of Napishtim, Adol sails off either in search of more adventure or to return to his homeland.
[edit] Appearances in other media
In the actual storyline written (and also hinted at the ending of Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys for PCE), Adol marries Lilia from Ys II; contrary to the romance between Feena and Adol which is seen more of, and implied, in the OVA series, particularly in the Ys II OVA Chapter where flashbacks are seen of them together. Feena herself commented in the PCE version of Ys II that "It would have been difficult, me being a goddess of Ys", and thus asks Adol to remember her as a human girl. Spoilers of Adol's settling down with Lilia are seen from the sword and armor on the mantle above the fireplace in his house, and the red haired child who looks surprisingly familiar (Ys IV Dawn of Ys). Another large spoiler is that the seiyuu for the woman reading the story is the same as Lilia as a young girl. Though most tend to associate Adol Christin with the games themselves, more is seen of himself (as a 3-dimensional character and as a person) in the OVA movies. Though the OVA series is generally not well known by most people, save the oldest of fans that are familiar with the story of Ys, most accredit the OVA with shaping his character more so as a human than merely a static video game character. What can generally be understood is that Adol is fairly introspective of himself and of others, tending to keep what he knows to himself (generally in his obvious travel diary, which, oddly enough, was what Lilia was reading at the ending of Ys IV).
In the OVA series, he's seen as a very dynamic character who makes stark transitions from a naive boy in search of adventure at the start of Ys I, to an experienced young adventurer with a duty in Ys II. The climax of his appearance as a truly human character is notable in the Ys II OVA where he mentally breaks down from his own interpreted failure of not being able to save anyone after Dalles "kills" Maria Messa. As a result of this, Adol succumbs to his darker side and his rage, nearly destroying Solomon Shrine with the Cleria Sword and in the end almost getting himself killed as his darker powers actually strengthened Darm. At the very last possible second, Adol was saved from his madness and rejoins the side of good with the much needed help of Lilia, Feena, and Reah. The only time this sort of 3 dimensionality is seen in the video game series is in Ys III (either the original for PCE or the remake), where he doubts his abilities to defeat Galbadan (in the PCE release the name was changed to Demonicus) and how he feels guilty for not being able to stop Galbadan from kidnapping Elena, Dogi's childhood friend. A slight misunderstanding in the video game series is how Ys II is credited (as by the makers) as the final chapter of the Ys saga. In terms of the Ys saga itself, this is true, and thus Ys III and onwards are more so tales of Adol's adventures despite how the name "Ys" is still tacked on.
In the first anime OVA, which was based on the first Ys game, he was portrayed by voice actor Takeshi Kusao. In the second OVA, based on Ys II, he was portrayed by Shotaro Morikubo.
