Welcome to the Netherworld! Disgaea Study Part 1

                Brennan's Study of Disgaea

Here it is, the long awaited, long discussed study of Disgaea!  I'm really excited to do this, and I hope you guys enjoy this as well.

Today, we will be focusing mainly on the race of Disgaea known as "Demons", but before we begin, I would like to give an overview of what Disgaea is for those who don't know.

        
 Disgaea: Dimensions of Fantasy, Monsters, and Japan 



For those of you who have somehow not heard me going on tangents about it, Disgaea is a strategy rpg series that has mostly thrive on the platform of Sony.  Known as one of the most Japanese rpgs on the market, this game has a decently sized, but very loyal fanbase.   Either the player didn't get it, or they thought it was awesome (me obviously being the latter).

So, what is Disgaea?  Well, many who have heard me talk about it have already heard this, but I'll cover it once more.  Disgaea could be summed up by a simple question: "What if demons and angels were just like humans?"

Demons and Angels are not unknown to us, and either exists as simple myth or truth.   Most of the time, they are shown as superior or inferior beings, either with incredible powers and majesty, or simply other creatures among the rest.  

Disgaea takes the base concept of demons and angels and brings them either down or up to our level, depending on what you think of them.  In Disgaea, humans, demons, angels, and monsters are simply different races, like elves and dwarves.  They all have different physical and mental attributes, but all have emotions, thoughts, and all of them have souls.  

Disgaea takes place across three different kinds of dimensions: Human Worlds, lands of the humans; Netherworlds, lands of the demons; and Celestia, land of the Angels.  Monsters live throughout all three dimensions, but rarely do humans, angels, or demons go outside of their own dimension (though the means to do so exist).  

But enough about that for now.  If I feel more needs to be explained, I will do so later.  Let's start our study with the main focus of the entire series: the Demons.

                Demons: What's 911?

1. The Netherworld
2. Appearance
3. Behavior
4. Society
5. Classes


Demons: evil monsters of myth and legend as well as the main focus of Disgaea.  As for why they chose to focus on demons specifically, that's unknown, but the majority of classes and characters in Disgaea are demons.   First up, we will cover their home, the Netherworld.

                               The Netherworld

 

Now, one thing that makes this complicated (due to bad concepts) is that there are multiple different Netherworlds.  This makes gathering data somewhat difficult, as things will obviously vary between Netherworlds.  This information I have collected about Netherworlds may not be completely accurate, but they might not have Disgaea down to a science either.

The Netherworld, while not simply a fiery pit of doom, is pretty much what you'd expect: dark, gloomy, and the temperature completely depends on the landscape.  The sky, while varying with amount of clouds and such, seems to be in a constant state of night.  This suggests that Netherworlds may not actually have a sun, though they do indeed have a moon.  Most of the lighting comes from either the moon or the terrain.

The Netherworld is overall very rocky, and the few places where vegetation grows are either small amounts of moss or swamps.  Fertile soil is VERY rare in the Netherworld, suggesting that fruit and vegetables might be somewhat of a rarity, though Overlords could probably get their hands on some with ease.

There are very few buildings in the Netherworld, most of which being castles owned by Overlords.  Most demons live in caves, small houses built out of what material they could find, or simply wander about with something to sleep on.

Temperature varies a lot depending on the landscape.  While they have weather just like us, the constant night and large supply of hazardous areas affect that.  Most of the time it's actually fairly cool, but landscape like lava or ice can affect this.  There are many areas that are either completely frozen or running with lava, and the temperature of these areas follow suit.

But that's enough about their home, onto the demons themselves!

                                   Appearance


Hah!  You thought these demons looked liked monsters?  Taste Japan!

In terms of physical structure, demons are almost exactly like humans, the only difference being their pointed ears.  Oh yeah, and their gravity-defying hair...which the humans also have as well. Some demons have wings, tails, or other strange features, but what oddities demons have varies between each demon.

The main thing that separates demons from us (beyond manga art style) is their clothing.  Even though the air in the Netherworld appears to be fairly cool, most demons wear very little clothing.  Male demons almost never wear shirts (a jacket at best), and normally wear either long poofy pants or shorts.  Female demons pretty much always have their stomache showing, wearing either short shirts or much less overall than desired.  Like males, they also tend to wear short pants on long poofy pants, but sometimes wear short or long skirts.   Trending colors seem to be red, black, grey, dark blue, etc.

It is possible that clothing somewhat expresses your rank among the demon world, as more important demons do wear more clothing.  However, this is merely speculation, and has never been mentioned in the series.

Their physique tends to be either more buff or more agile, probably due to the harsh living conditions of the Netherworld.  Their skin is actually pretty white, once again, probably due to the constant night of their habitat.

                                       Behavior



Demons tend to be, well...devilish.  It's not really that surprising.  Demons have a greater tendency than most to steal, lie, fight, and kill.  Whether due to Netherworld culture or genes, the majority of demons have devilish tendencies.

Notice that I said "tend", and this is where Disgaea changes demons a lot.  Demons, while more evil than most, are not directly "evil".  Sure, most demons like doing more evil things, but that does not restrict demons to that.  There are kind, honorable, and sometimes, even generous demons.

Like humans, angels, and monsters, demons have souls, meaning they have feelings and emotions.  While demons seem to be mostly evil, they have the capability of changing, proved by both Disgaea games, in which demons clearly show signs of change.  This could mean that the nasty behavior is completely determined by society, which means things could and maybe have changed in some Netherworlds.

                                      Society



Demon society can be related to what we call the medieval "dark ages".  The Netherworld is a place where "survival of the fittest" is taken to the most literal sense.  Either you become strong, or you die.

Once again, I would like to note that while these are tendencies, these are not restrictions, so everything I say about their society isn't always the case, it's more of a generality.

In the Netherworld, being the strongest is what matters most.  It doesn't matter if you're a genius or the best artist in the world, if you can't fight you're nobody.  What little respect demons have for each other depends entirely on combat skill.  

In the Netherworld, the law is completely determined by a jury known as the "Dark Assembly". All laws made have to be passed by them, making this jury possibly the strongest force in all Netherworlds...not that it's a very well organized jury.  Bribing officials is common, and sometimes laws will be passed by beating the crap out of the jury until they submit.  They may be why the most respected member of the jury are the strongest of the jury.

As for the laws themselves, there's nothing against criminal activities unless the jury disagrees with it, and even then those laws are rarely held to.  

The highest rank of demon is an "Overlord", and how that title is earned has no direct method.  Some earn it by birth, others beat up other demons to get it, and sometimes demons just call themselves Overlord and then everyone follows suit.  It's unknown who became the first Overlord and how.  

Overlords have no actual power in the Dark Assembly, it's more of a symbol of capability.  Overlords are usually the strongest demons in Netherworld who aren't a part of the jury and thus, are the most respected.  They usually reside in castles, unlike most demons, and once again, there are various methods of obtaining one, most of them not legal by our standards.

Education isn't held very highly in the Netherworld, only members of the jury and Overlords have access to much education.  Most of what is taught is magic and combat skills and how to live on your own. Most demons learn how to fight at early childhood, some having committed actual murders.  There are a few schools, and the few that exist are quite popular, but there aren't many.

There aren't actually that many demons, I would estimate each Netherworld having about 1/50 of earth's population, which is probably due to the harsh living conditions and high crime rate.  Despite this, demons live much, MUCH longer than humans.  This is both good and bad, as they have the normal lifespan of a human being, just stretched incredibly long, meaning it could be thousands of years before a demon grows into an adult.

                             Classes

Now to discuss the different kinds of demon.  Due to only having played these games, I will only be covering the classes from Disgaea 1 and 2.  Skills, magic, and etc can be passed on from class to class, so what class you are is more of stats, appearance, and behavior.

Warrior


Male Warriors are pretty simple.  In order for a man to become one, they must sign a contract with the Warrior God, Grandell.   This apparently must be a common thing for demons, because these are about as basic as any unit gets.  They're pretty much the peasants of the Netherworld. Most of them have little to no combat art and believe that simplicity in combat is best, and it certainly has it's advantages. Skilled with swords and axes. No ranged capabilities or magic.

Valkyrie


Valkyrie are essentially the female versions of warriors, although much more rare.  They are often trained by retired Valkyrie's, sometimes for their entire lives.  However, there is still very little art to their combat, and while a bit more refined, are still as simple as male warriors. Skilled with swords and spears.  No ranged capabilities or magic.

Magician


Magicians, known as Skulls in Disgaea 1, are essentially male wizards.  They go to pretty much the only kind of school the Netherworld has, and we're not talking Harry Potter.  These guys pack a punch with their spells, mainly learning elemental spells that really hurt.  A team is not complete without some form of magic user, and these guys aren't bad choices.  They learn magic skills a lot faster than other classes. Very skilled with staves and magic.  Very frail.

Witch


Witches (Mages in Disgaea 1) are female versions of Magicians.  Unlike Magicians, becoming a Witch requires no prior training, meaning that they are very common and often very inexperienced.  However, trained witches can be very deadly with their combat magic, and for some reason it's easier for them to cast spells than other classes.  Very skilled with staves and magic.  Very frail.

Ninja


Ninjas come from a brotherhood of assassins.  They follow a strict code, and any breaking of that code comes with severe punishment.  However, in some Netherworlds Ninjas have become very loyal and useful bodyguards.  Very skilled with fists, dodges attacks easily, and knows a few special moves.  Is somewhat frail and has no ranged capability.

Kunoichi


Kunoichi are also assassins, but unlike their male counterpart, they aren't part of an organization and mainly are assassins for hire.  They are faster than even Ninjas, are skilled with fists, and know quite a few techniques.  Unfortunately, they are frail, and while they are better with their magical techniques than Ninjas, are more average than Ninjas.

Majin


Unlike other demons, Majin are widely respected by all in the Netherworld.  They are few and far between, but they are the best of the best, some considered to be demigods.  They have come so far that they are skilled with all weapons, and can learn pretty much any technique possible.  Unfortunately, they are can be sort of slow, and their rank makes them massive targets.  However, fight against a Majin with no allies, and you'll wish you were never born.

Armor Knight


Trained in a special organization, these men are the main bodyguards of the Netherworld.  Most that become them stay as them, and proudly wear their armor for the rest of their lives.  Their special armor is given to them when their training is complete, and it's just as resistant against magic as it is physical damage.  

These guys are some of the best minions to have.  If they are several levels below their opponent, they'll take average damage.  A few levels?  It'll hurt a little.  Equal?  It won't even scratch.  These guys take hits and laugh, and they have great throwing capability as well.  Unfortunately, they move REALLY SLOW, and have no magic or ranged attacks.  They are pretty decent with swords, spears, and axes.  

Sinner


What exactly these guys are is kinda a mystery.   These guys have to have committed some pretty serious offenses, because they actually ended up in Netherworld prisons.    In a place where crimes are usually worn as honorable medals, they must've done some pretty nasty stuff.

This is somewhat funny, as while supposedly they train constantly and are called upon by the Dark Assembly for battles, they kinda...suck.  They are good with fists and have a high counter rate, but they suck with all other weapons, are pretty frail, and have no magic skills.  They're not horrible, but certainly one of the worse demon units by far.

Wiseman


These guys are the masters of Geo Crystals, mysterious crystals that affect the land about them in various ways.  They can control them, destroy them, use them to teleport, and are masters in the item world.  The price for this power is their youth, even young Wisemen can look thousands of years old.  Good with staves, star and healing magic, they aren't bad units.  That being said, they are frail, and while they have magic, they aren't amazing at it either.

Samurai


Samurai, the only demons that are almost naturally good.  There are no battles in their hometown, and their clans usually have good morals.  It is because of this that they are known throughout the Netherworld as good and loyal bodyguards.  They are skilled with swords and have really high attack and good speed, but can be somewhat frail and are not skilled in any other weapon (magic included).

Female Samurai


Apologies for the small sprite, but apparently sprites don't exist for the Female Samurai of Disgaea 2.  Anywho, they work pretty much just like normal Samurai, except they are a bit more skilled in bows and spears, and are more frail than their male counterpart.   Still, they are just as loyal, and just as strong as normal Samurai.

Gunner


These boys almost need no explanation.  They are good with guns and rarely ever miss their targets.  They don't get along with other demons well at all, which is funny, as they do more damage when attacking with someone else.  Maybe they just like killstealing, who knows.  Behind the hair covering their right eye is what as known as the "Evil Eye" which can spot anything, even through objects.  However, they are low on both the damage charts and are a bit frail.  They aren't really good with anything else besides guns either.  That being said, still the best gun users out there.

Thief


Since they are male in Disgaea 1 and female in Disgaea 2, I'm considering it a dual gender class.  All thieves are a part of an organization known as the "Thieves' Guild", and are best as stealing anything.  They can steal items, equipment, stats, even somehow emotions and abilities.  That being said, they aren't really good at anything but stealing, they aren't that good at any form of combat.  They are best with bows and guns, but other than that, don't ever throw them into combat.


Cleric


Supposedly fallen angels from Celestia, they are pretty much the only class good at healing.  Though for hundreds of centuries, demons have stupidly believed healing to be "sinful", they are finally starting to realize that "Hey, maybe feeling less pain is a GOOD thing!"  As expected, pretty much only good with staves and very frail, but they are best with healing magic, along with their male counterpart.

Male Cleric


Just in case I didn't mention before, all Disgaea 1 sprites are apparently smaller, so if it's a small sprite, it's because it's not present in Disgaea 2.  Male Clerics believe, like other demons, that healing is mainly a sin, and thus wear barbed robes as self torture.  Other than being demons for sure, they are no different from Clerics in terms of use.

Archer


Archers come from an all-female society in cold mountains protected by wind spirits.  Masters of the bow and nothing else, they rarely miss and are fantastic in their element, but are kinda frail and low on the attack department like Gunners.  Still, they aren't bad to have around.

Beast Master


The um...more-revealing-than-should-be Beast Master is a female class that specializes in the taming and raising of Monsters.  They often are known to spend more time with Monsters than other Demons, and often grow distaste for their own kind.  That being said, they are fairly nice overall.  Decent with swords, spears, and axes, and they are great at making Monsters powerful.  That being said, they can't really support other demons well, and aren't that good at fighting solo.

Magic Knight


The very rare and very sought after Magic Knights.  A female class that is about as balanced as you can get.  They are good with swords and staves, and are equal in both magic and melee, though have really powerful elemental magic.  They can respond to any situation pretty well, but can become average in terms of stats.   Apparently, they can see the future, and are very loyal (in terms of demon loyalty, of course).

Strider


Striders, like Wisemen, can control Geo Crystals, but to a lesser extent.  They are childish boys who speak in a unique dialect known only to them, and thus hated by most of the Netherworld.  Good with guns and fairly quick, but there aren't much to these guys beyond messing with the landscape.  They aren't strong and are somewhat frail, but they can be very useful in Item Worlds...just not as much as Wisemen.


Male Martial Artist


These demons are martial artists who are good with fists and somehow guns and swords.  They use a martial art known as "Dark Hadou", which is rumored to have actually been created by a legendary human street fighter.   They have high attack and a high counter rate, but they tend to be overlapped by thieves, who have the same stats with dodging and special techniques.  Still, they are great basic fighters.


Female Martial Artist 


Female Martial Artists come from the outskirts of a Netherworld, a place known as the Village of Beasts.   Originally a place for...marriage...training....somehow became a training ground for female fighters...yeah...anywho, they are pretty much no different from Male Martial Artists beyond gender. 


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Anywho, that's it for demons!  Next up, Monsters!