The Legend of Dragoon (Manga)

The Legend of Dragoon (レジェンド・オブ・ドラグーン, Rejendo obu Doragun) is a manga book by Ataru Cagiva based on the Playstation 1 video game The Legend of Dragoon. The manga only published one issue under the publisher "Bros. Comics".

The book follows the story of the events of disc one of the game but pulls away from the story in many parts. It is missing many characters and events in order to decrease the book's size. The book was released in 2000 only in Japan and was never translated in America.

Overview
This is a story of a war between the two nations of Basil and Sandora, separating the continent of Serdio. These two have been in constant fighting over control of the continent of Endiness. Soon, Sandora attacks the quiet town of Seles and kidnaps a girl living there, Shana. When her childhood friend Dart, a sword-wielding knight in all red, returns to his hometown after leaving many years ago, he finds her missing and sets off for the Sandorian stronghold of Hellena Prison to rescue her. There he meets Lavitz, a knight of Serdio's town Basil, trying to escape after being caught in a battle. The two rescue Shana and escape from the prison and head straight to Basil's stronghold of Hoax to fight back against the forces of Sandora. During the attack, Dart fights with the giganto Kongol and is severely injured. Before he could get killed, he is resued by the mysterious female rogue, Rose. She awakens the power of the Dragoon inside Dart's memento, changing his life forever. Dart and his friends set out to fight back the forces of Sandora and save the continent of Endiness!

Characters
Dart Feld- A traveling knight in all red armor from the town of Seles. His parents were killed when his first hometown Neet was attacked by a beast, the Black Monster. After the town burned down, he returns to find his father's glowing stone, a special memento which turns out to be the Dragoon Spirit of the Red-Eyed Fire Dragon. Dart is very protective of his childhood friend Shana and treats her just like a baby sister. Dart's journey begins when he sets off to Hellena to save her. After Hellena, the team goes to Hoax, where Rose reveals Dart's father's memento as being the Red-Eyed Fire Dragoon.

Shana- A sweet, caring woman from the town of Seles. She grew up in this town her whole life and is childhood friends with Dart. She secretly loves him and usually does not like him being so overprotective of her. For unknown reasons in the book, she was captured by the nation of Sandora and sent to Hellena Prison. She is rescued by Dart and Lavitz and travels with them on their journey to save Serdio. When fighting the dragon Feyrbrand on their way to Black Castle, Shana is poisoned by the dragon's breath and becomes ill. To save her, Dart, Lavitz, and Rose journey to Shirley's temple, where they receive a stone which turns out to be Shana's Dragoon Spirit, the Dragoon of the Silver Light Dragon.

Lavitz Slambert- A dedicated knight of the town of Basil under the nation of Serdio. He joins Dart while escaping from Hellena Prison after being caught in one of the war's battles. He follows the team in hopes of freeing his nation from Sandora threat. He is very devoted to his lord, Prince Albert of Basil. During the fight with Feyrbrand, Lavitz's father's old friend, Greham, appears as the Dragoon of Wind. After he is killed in a battle with the team, Greham gives Lavitz the Dragoon Spirit of the Green-Tusked Wind Dragon.

Rose- A very mysterious female swordsman with a secret past. She first appears when saving Dart from a dragon on his way to Seles. She reappears during the battle at Hoax, revealing herself as the Dragoon of the Dark Dragon, and awakens Dart's Dragoon Spirit. She follows the team in hopes of learning more about Dart and why he had the Dragoon Spirit of the Red-Eyed Dragon. She later appears to be an old friend of Shirley from the temple where they saved Shana.

Lloyd- A very mysterious swordsman who only appears twice in the book. He first appears during the battle with Feyrbrand to finish off the dragon. He later appears at the end of the book as the secret man in the black cloak and steals the moon gem from the body of Prince Albert. He appears to be a member of the ancient race of the Winglies.

Prince Albert- The prince of the city of Basil and head of the nation of Serdio. He does not appear often but shows at the end to fight in the battle at Black Castle. His body was holding the ancient artifact, the Moon Gem.

Greham- One of the knights of Basil and Lavitz's father's old friend. He fights beside Feyrbrand against Dart and the group as the Wind Dragoon. He dies in the battle but gives Lavitz his Dragoon Spirit.

Shirley- A spirit that lives in an ancient temple who gives the team the Light Dragoon Spirit. She appears to be an old friend of Rose. She was the former Dragoon of Light.

Kongol- A member of the extinct race of Gigantos who fights Dart and Lavitz in the battle of Hoax. He dies in battle.

Fruegal- A portly general in charge of Hellena Prison who almost stops the team's escape from the prison.

Manga & Game Differences
This book has many differences to the original game.

Haschel - The character Haschel who joins the party halfway through disc one does not appear in the book.

Hero's Tournament - The tournament where Dart first meets Lloyd and reunites with Haschel in Lohan does not happen after they recover Shana.

Basil & Limestone Cave - After Hellena Prison, the team does not journey through the cave where they fight the snake to get to Basil. In fact, after they escape Hellena, they head straight to Hoax instead of Basil.

Feyrbrand's Death - The Dragoons do not defeat Feyrbrand, but instead Lloyd appears and kills it.

Battle at the Temple - In the game there is a servant who protects Shirly at her temple, but the battle with him does not appear in the book.

Lohan - The team does not journey to Lohan at all.

Albert's Capture - In the game, Prince Albert is taken away to Hellena, but in the book, he takes knights straight to Black Castle.

Volcano Villude - In the book, the team does not go to Volcano Villude and does not fight the Virage.

Stealing the Moon Gem - After they first go to Hellena, they do not return later like they did in the game. Thus, Lloyd steals the Moon Gem at Black Castle instead.

Lavitz's Death - Because they do not return to Hellena, Lloyd does not end up killing Lavitz, causing Albert to not become the new Dragoon.

Kongol's Death - In the book it appears that Kongol dies in his first fight with Dart. In the game he escapes, has a rematch with the team at Black Castle, and later joins them to become the Dragoon of Earth. But in the book, Dart kills him at Hoax.