Story

In the village of Coriander, a 14-year old girl named Platina lives with her cruel parents. The village falls upon hard times and her friend Lucian finds out that her parents are going to sell her into slavery. The two run away but accidentally wander into the Weeping Lily Meadow where Platina dies from the toxic pollen.

Lenneth Valkyrie awakens in Asgard and is tasked by the god Odin and goddess Freya with recruiting Einherjar for their war with the Vanir and the coming of Ragnarok. Her first recruits are the princess Jelanda and mercenary Arngrim. After the arrogant Arngrim inadvertently embarrasses her father, Jelanda plots revenge but is kidnapped by a traitorous court minister and transformed into a monster. Lenneth helps Arngrim kill the monster and claims Jelanda as an Einherjar. Arngrim, having unknowingly aided Jelanda's captors, kills the man responsible but commits suicide rather than be arrested. At Jelanda's request, Lenneth makes Arngrim an Einherjar but Odin and Freya find him lacking the qualities of an Einherjar and refuse to accept him into Valhalla so Arngrim remains at Lenneth's side.

During Lenneth's travels, she meets Brahms, lord of the undead and enemy of Odin, who possesses her sister Silmeria (due to circumstances explained in Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria) and the necromancer Lezard Valeth, who lures her to his tower. Lenneth learns that Lezard has been experimenting with half-elven homunculi to use as vessels to attain godhood. Lezard wants Lenneth for himself, but she refuses to cooperate and destroys his experiments. The sorceress Mystina, one of Lezard's rivals, discovers what he has been doing and takes his last remaining homunculus. When he discovers her theft, Lezard freezes her body while she is spirit walking, separating Mystina's soul from her body. Lenneth recruits her, though Odin and Freya refuse to accept Mystina into Valhalla and, like Arngrim, she remains with Lenneth.

Lenneth eventually meets Lucian, who grew up to become a poor thief in Gerabellum. He notices that Lenneth resembles the silver-haired Platina, though Lenneth does not know who Platina is. Lucian later becomes a Einherjar when he is killed by soldiers cleaning up the slums. Before he is sent to Valhalla, Lucian takes Lenneth to Coriander and the Weeping Lily Meadow, telling her he still loves Platina. Lenneth tells him to forget about her and kisses him before he departs but Lucian continues to brood upon Lenneth and Platina.

Lenneth's travels bring her to the Lost City of Dipan. Discovering a time machine within the city, she accidentally travels into the past and witnesses her sister Hrist execute King Barbarossa and destroy the city for defying the gods and building the time machine (Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria). Returning to her own time, Lenneth helps Barbarossa's soul find peace by defeating the three Magi haunting Dipan.

Meanwhile, in Valhalla, Lucian learns that Valkyries "sleep" in Midgard, reincarnating in Asgard upon their human deaths. However, Odin and Freya seal their memories, as they might interfere with their Valkyrie duties. The Æsir Loki tells Lucian that the Water Mirror can be used to contact the Valkyrie, though it is forbidden for anyone besides Odin to use. Lucian does so anyway and gives Lenneth an earring, telling her she will know where to find its match, but Lenneth is angry at him for his disobedience. Loki uses the distraction to steal the Dragon Orb and kills Lucian, using him as a scapegoat to cover his theft. When Lenneth returns to Asgard, Freya tells her of the Dragon Orb's theft and Lucian's death.

Lenneth finds the other earring at Platina's grave in the Weeping Lily Meadow and her memories as Platina return. Sensing that the seal is broken, Odin performs the Sovereign's Rite, transmigrating Lenneth's soul and summoning Hrist. Hrist takes control of the Valkyrie's body and tries to destroy Arngrim and Mystina, who refuse to serve her, but Lenneth intervenes. The blast shatters Lenneth's soul and Mystina crystallizes the fragments to prevent them from dissipating. Lezard Valeth appears and tells them of a way to save her. After temporarily transferring Lenneth's soul into Lezard's homunculus, Arngrim, Mystina, and Lezard confront Hrist in Brahms' castle, where she has gone to retrieve Silmeria. With Brahms' help, they defeat her and reclaim the Valkyrie's body. Back in Mystina's workshop, the elven homunculus is fused with the Valkyrie's body and Lenneth is reborn. Her memories of Lucian and Platina intact, Lenneth is disgusted with how the gods manipulate humans and the suffering they cause.

Ragnarok occurs and Loki, with the power of the Dragon Orb, betrays and kills both Odin and Surt, the leaders of the Æsir and Vanir. Returning to Asgard, Lenneth slays Fenrir and Bloodbane before confronting Loki, who destroys the world in a demonstration of his power. Fusion of the Valkyrie's body and half-elven homunculus allows Lenneth's divine powers to grow and she is able to shield herself and her Einherjar from Loki's destructive display. Her compassion for mankind and love for Lucian allows her to draw upon all of humanity, gaining the power of creation. Lenneth undoes Loki's destruction and kills him, becoming the new Lord of Creation. She then turns to see Lucian, who has been reborn, and the two are reunited.

[edit] Mythology

Valkyrie Profile is based on various events and characters from Norse Mythology, and while some depictions remain accurate to their mythic counterparts, tri-Ace took artistic liberty with others, deviating substantially from the original myths. Some such differences are as follow:

• During the game, the chief opponents of the Æsir during Ragnarok are the Vanir, Loki, and Surt. In traditional Nordic myth, the chief opponents are the Æsir and the Jotun (a race of giants), Loki, and Surt. The Vanir and Æsir were at war at one time, however, though it was not for the battle of Ragnarok.
• In Nordic myth, the Vanir are another race of gods with little differences to the Æsir actually expressed, whereas in Valkyrie Profile, the Vanir are depicted themselves as giants, and appear to take on the general role of the Jotun.
• In Nordic myth, Loki is originally half-Æsir and half-Jotun. In the game, he is half-Æsir and half-Vanir, further demonstrating Tri-Ace's substitution of the Jotun for the Vanir.
• In Nordic myth, Surt is a fire Jotun and ruler of Muspellheim who burns down the world during Ragnarok, while in the game, he is leader of the Vanir, and appears to be an ice giant who still rules over Muspellheim, though it should be noted that many of his attacks are fire based. In the "A Ending" game, it is Loki who destroys the world during Ragnarok after slaying Surt.
• In Nordic myth, Loki dies from his wounds after battle with Heimdall, the watchman of the Gods. In the game, Loki is slain by Lenneth.
• In Nordic myth, Odin is slain during Ragnarok by Fenrir, a giant wolf who eats him alive. Fenrir is then slain by Vidar, Odin's son. In the game, it is implied that Odin is slain by Loki, who has Fenrir at his side. Odin is not consumed alive in the game as in the myth, and it is Lenneth, not Vidar, who slays Fenrir in the game.
• In Nordic myth, both Freya and Frei are of the Vanir; Freya later married into the Æsir to end the war between the Æsir and the Vanir. In the game, both are aligned with the Æsir, though it is never stated whether or not they were originally of the Vanir.
• In Nordic myth, Frei is male, Freya's brother, one of the more powerful Norse gods, and among the first to die at Ragnarok. In the game, Frei is portrayed as a young girl and her death during Ragnarok is not depicted, though her fate is ultimately uncertain. However, in the official manga adaptation, Frei is one of Loki's first victims as he wages war on Valhalla.
• After Ragnarok in Nordic Myth, the world is reborn and two humans, Lif and Lifthrasir, emerge as the sole human survivors. Baldur, a God who was tricked and slain (indirectly) by Loki, survives the conflict and leaves Hel. In the game, the world is similarly reborn after Ragnarok, but Lenneth and Lucian are shown together in the end, rather than Lif and Lifthrasir. Rather than Baldur, it is Lucian who is tricked and slain by Loki, only to be miraculously resurrected after Ragnarok.
• In Nordic myth, as in the game, Valkyries are responsible for choosing Einherjar (the souls of brave fallen warriors) to escort to Valhalla to fight at Odin's side during Ragnarok. However, Valkyries originally did not train Einherjar, and while they are indeed warriors, never engaged in combat on Earth, as they do in the game.
• In Nordic Myth, Arngrim is a mighty warrior who battles many foes in the employ of a king to win the hand of his daughter, the princess. In the game, Arngrim is a mighty warrior who fights in the employ of a king, but as a mercenary. The king's daughter, Princess Jelanda, plays a crucial role in Arngrim's portion of the game, however, and he eventually fights and dies avenging her rather than trying to marry her.
• Lenneth Valkyrie herself is possibly featured after Brynhild in the Icelandic The Saga of the Volsungs (or Brünhild in the German Nibelungenlied). Brynhild is a valkyrie who was punished by Odin for disobedience and love for Siegfried, a human. Many of the events during the game resemble the events surrounding Brynhild. For instance, Lenneth has her memories of Lucian, a human she was in love with, magically erased. In the myth, Siegfried has his memories of Brynhild magically erased. In the myth, Brynhild is trapped by a ring of fire from which Siegfried frees her and helps her awaken, and in the game, Lenneth's memories are sealed by the Nibelungen Ring; memories that Lucian eventually helps her remember so that her true personality may awaken. Furthermore, in the myth, Siegfried is renounced by Brynhild shortly before his murder as a precursor to Valhalla's fall during Ragnarok. In the game, Lucian is renounced by Lenneth shortly before he is murdered as a precursor to Ragnarok.

The nine realms of the world are connected by the roots of the world tree, Yggdrasil. Three of the strongest roots contain the five realms significant to Valkyrie Profile:

• Asgard, the home of the Æsir and Vanir, and Alfheim, realm of the elves, exist on the highest root. The only way to enter from Midgard is to cross the rainbow bridge Bifrost. It is home to the Hall of Valhalla, where warriors who died heroically are brought by Valkyries to fight alongside the gods.
• Midgard, the realm of humans, and Jotunheim, the home of the giants, exist on the middle root. Midgard is a war torn land, separated from the snowy land of Jotunheim by tall mountains and vast oceans.
• Niflheim, the realm of the dead, exists on the lowest root. It is a dark, fog-covered land neglected by the other gods, where those who died ignominious deaths were condemned to an eternity of torment and suffering by the death goddess Queen Hel.

Four powerful artifacts ("the Four Great Treasures") ensure the stability and peace of each realm:

• Asgard - Gungnir, Odin's spear.
• Alfheim - the Sylvan Bow, which is currently in Odin's possession.
• Midgard - the Dragon Orb. Once located in Midgard in the Palace of the Dragon, but Odin has stolen it as of Valkyrie Profile to prepare for the coming of Ragnarok.
• Niflheim - the demon sword Levantine. It was eaten by the dragon Bloodbane.

Valkyrie Profile takes place mostly in Midgard during the war between the Æsir and Vanir. Midgard consists of a several smaller islands surrounding a large continent where the majority of humans live. The kingdom of Villnore, which includes the village of Coriander and the Weeping Lily Meadow, are in the northwest. The kingdom of Gerabellum, including the village of Lassen, occupy the southwestern portion of the continent. The militaristic Crell Monferaigne controls most of the eastern half of the continent. The small kingdom of Artolia and village of Camille, located centrally, are often caught in wars between their three larger neighbors. The monarchy of Flenceburg, known for its magical academy, lies on a peninsula in the southeast. The rest of the continent is covered by mountains, forests, swamps, and ancient ruins. The land of Hai-Lan lies on the island of Yamato to the southwest while the Lost City of Dipan (featured in Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria) is on an island to the north. The Forest of Spirits, home of the elves in Midgard, lies on a large island to the south-east of Flenceburg. The Palace of the Dragon lies on a small island to the east. The castle of Brahms, lord of the undead, floats over an island to the west. Finally, the final part of the game brings Lenneth to either Jotunheim Palace, home of the Vanir, or Asgard Hill, home of the Æsir, depending on which ending is achieved.