Golden Axe is an high fantasy arcade game trilogy where the main villain is called Death=Adder. The first game was released in 1989 simply called Golden Axe; the second game, Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death=Adder was released in 1992 and the last one Golden Axe: The Duel in 1994. Well, these were the genuine titles. The others I will talk about latter.
Golden Axe
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Ax Battler (アックス=バトラー, akkusu batora^) "The Barbarian"
To reach the Castle of Southwood Kingdom he must traverse the "village of turtle" (Turtle Village) and "path of monster" (the ~Fiend's Path~).
Tyris=Flare (ティリス=フレア, teirisu furea) "The Amazon"
Her full name is Tyris Firewood Flare (ティリス・ファイアーウッド・フレイヤー, teirisu faia^uddo fureiya^) and she is the princess of Firewood (ファイアウッド). Ten years(?) ago Death Adder killed Tyris parents (while he killed the King of Firewood in his own castle, Lt. Bitter killed the Queen outside when she was escaping his her daughter Tyris). She then was adopted by the Amazons but inherits the royal blood of the destroyed Firewood kingdom. At the time of "The Duel" the new kingdom is called Winwood.
Tyris now she joins Ax Batter and Gilius to save the kingdom of Southwood (サウスウッド, sausuuddo) against Death Adder.
Gilius Thunderhead (ギリウス=サンダーヘッド, giriusu sanda^heddo)
Death=Adder
A descendant of the giants that were relegated to the darkness in the old days. Regained the power of darkness to get "Golden Axe", the weapon made by gods. He used the magic power of Golden Axe to destroy the previously flourished Firewood kingdom. He now have imprisoned the king and princess of the Southwood kingdom. Former South Wood Castle became the residence of the Death=Adder and now has become his natural fortress.
The Revenge of Death・Adder
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Sternblade/Stern (スタンブレード, sutanbure^do)
A young man with a suppressed combative spirit who uses a sword to defeat the enemy!
Seven decades after the game, the old Stern Blade adopts the next game's main character and tought him the swordsmanship as well as cast fire elemental forces. Latter Stern dies saving another child from fire, leaving his sword and last name with Kain.
Dora (ドーラ, do^ra)
A female Centaur tribe fighter who has an extremely powerful killing technique.
Goah (ゴア, goa)
A Giants tribe warrior who engages in battle with Gilius on his back.
Little Trix (リトル・トリックス, ritoru torikkusu)
Gilius Thunderhead (ギリウス=サンダーヘッド, giriusu sanda^heddo) *Not Playable*
The legendary axeman that helped to defeat Death Adder will now sacrifice himself to defeat Death Adder and, according to "The Duel" manual, he used the Golden Axe against the villain to kill him. It is the only famous warrior alive from the previous game and, after beating the game, is also dead.
The Duel
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According to the Arcade's flyer, this story happens 80 years after the last game. Now, every previous hero had died, however some of the descents are present in this game. For instance, Gilius died 80 years ago, at the end of the last game. Tyris died probably from old age long before the last game and Stern died trying to save a child when he was about 88* years old. Both Gilius and Tyris left descendants, where Rockhead is his great-grandson and Milan is probably her great-great-granddaughter.
Kain Blade (カイン・ブレード, kain bure^do)
The main character. Orphaned by the war and found by a famous warrior [it doesn't sat who but obviously is Stern Blade from RODA], Kain Blade learned the art of swordsmanship from an early age. When the very old Stern Blade died attempting to save another child from fire, Kain could not accept the way his master died. Kain's whole life had been devoted to perfecting his combat skills; death by other than combat was unimaginable.
Milan Flare (ミラン・フレアー, miran furea^)
The princess of the kingdom of Winwood, and descendant of Tyris Flare, who helped defeat Death Adder long ago [in GA1]. She is also the protector of the kingdom and relies on wind magic to battle her adversaries.
Gillius Rockhead (ギリウス・ロックヘッド, giriusu rokkuheddo)
Comes from a family of distinguished fighters. His great-grandfather, Gilius Thunderhead, is the legendary axeman who
Notes: It is interesting to note some mistakes/retcons. Gilus Thunderhead and Tyris Flare are now spelled Gillus and Tiris respectively. The manual tells us that Gilius defeated Death Adder with the mystical axe. However, in the last game Gillius used his own axe, sacrificing himself in the processes.
* Approximate age: The math is simple. If Stern Blade has the same age of Kain Blade and supposing he find the kid and tough him until the age of 8, then the result will be 88.
Differences between the original Japanese and overseas releases:
- The kingdom of Southwood is called Yulia
- Ax Batter is called Tarik in SMS version and Best Battle
Sources:
Tyris ending script and credits (PC Engine): http://www.geocities.jp/bgrtype/gsl/pce/goldenaxe/gax.html
