Odin

Odin (オーディン, Óðinn) is a mythological Norse god who ruled over Asgard before the coming of Ragnarok, often associated over Wisdom and Magic. Legends often depict him as a one-eyed traveler wearing a cloak and hat.

Role in Games
The Warriors Orochi series has Odin arrive in Orochi's dimensional realm to seize power, resulting in a struggle between him, Zeus and the Mystics. He had sent Loki ahead of him to manipulate the human armies for his own personal desire. This makes him the true main antagonist of the fourth title.

Before the events of the game, Odin was destined to die in a war amongst the Norse gods, Ragnarok. However, in fear of his own demise, he gathered all the knowledge and power that he can obtain, and avoided his own destined death, winning the war. He then executed or de-powered those who fought against him, including Loki. With this, he decided that he should be the one ruling all worlds, and prepared his forces in an all-out attempt to conquer them; Odin then noticed Zeus, an Olympian god, having created a parallel world involving humans from the Three Kingdoms era and the Sengoku period, which was originally created by Orochi, the Serpent King. Knowing this, he sent Loki to masquerade as Perseus, a half-mortal acquaintance of the Olympians and steal the bracelets that will help stabilize the world. He then allies himself with the remnants of Orochi's army led by Da Ji and Kiyomori, who were also assisted by Lu Bu's army. Using Loki as his proxy, Odin's forces invades the world, creating a three-way war between the humans, Olympians and Asgardians.

As he arrived, Odin then sought Orochi's power, specifically the God of Destruction's power, from Shuten Dōji, who was transported to the realm accidentally. He then forcibly transformed Shuten Dōji to become the God of Destruction, not realizing the "real" Orochi would be revived as well. The stabilization of the realm allowed Zeus to arrive and during a confrontation between the humans and Olympus, he and Loki arrived just as Ares stole Zeus' power, having made an arrangement with Ares, forcing the humans to retreat. Not long after forcing the humans to retreat, he betrays Ares and steals Zeus' power, making him the most powerful being in that world; he then uses the power of the God of Destruction and Zeus' power to create Yggdrasil, a weapon that has the energy to destroy every world, apart from himself. Despite numerous setbacks, he had gained enough power from the God of Destruction to fuel Yggdrasil, despite the coalition destroying both the God of Destruction and the "real" Orochi. With Yggdrasil grown enough, he was ready to destroy all worlds, even with Zeus returning and clearing the path to Yggdrasil; however, Loki betrayed Odin, wanting revenge against Odin for what he did. Enraged, Odin then kills Loki and uses his body as a puppet to fight the encroaching Coalition forces. Even with the power of Zeus, combined with his own, he was defeated and killed by the coalition, with Zeus taking back his own powers and destroying Yggdrasil, and with it, the parallel world.

Personality
Having survived Ragnarok, Odin is eager to accumulate power for his own ends. As King of Asgard, Odin is rightfully one of the strongest beings in the universe, and always tend to seek knowledge wherever he can. However, when faced with Ragnarok and his fated death, Odin became fearful of this, and gathered all possible knowledge and power to avoid it; he was then victorious in Ragnarok. However, his victory in Ragnarok came at a very disturbing price: Odin become overly ambitious, wanting to conquer or destroy all worlds to avoid his fate and wanting to rule all worlds alone, having either executed or subdued all of his opponents in Ragnarok. His victory also made him incredibly arrogant, only working to his own ends and seeing others as his means to his ends, and turns a blind eye over other's concerns. His ambitions is matched equally by his thirst for knowledge: already seeking knowledge before Ragnarok, after his survival, he eagerly searches every possible area of knowledge to avoid his fate, which is where he learns of Zeus' power.

Character Symbolism
Odin's appearance in the game is based on his appearance as written in Old Norse texts and the Poetic and Prose Edda: where he appears as a traveller with one eye and a staff, which is his weapon, although he is without his beard here. This disguise is Odin's way to seek knowledge.

Voice Actors

 * Sohta Arai - Warriors Orochi 4

Quotes

 * "I hear you harness the power of miracles. Show me the extent of this strength that you possess."
 * "My miracles are not for show. I simply follow the will of the heavens to rescue the people from their plight. You are a god, with unbridled power at your fingertips. You could save so many if you used your strength for the good of the people."
 * "Hehe... You jest, surely. My strength is solely to prevent my own demise. I care not a jot about the people..."
 * "Arghh... You have such might, yet you use it solely for yourself. This is most lamentable..."
 * Odin and Zhang Jiao; Warriors Orochi 4

Norse Mythology
Odin originated from Germanic mythology among the Germanic people, however Odin became more commonly associated with Norse mythology of the Nordic people; historically, the first notable mention of Odin in a form of literature comes from the Prose and Poettic Edda, which was recorded between the 10th and the 13th century. Odin is normally the leading deity of Norse and Germanic mythological pantheon, the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek Pantheon.

In Norse text, Odin rules Asgard, one of the Nine Worlds, linked by Yggdrasil, the World Tree and he resides in Valhalla, where he welcomes those who died in battle into his army, the Einherjar. He is also accompanied by the Valkyries, female warriors who are associated with Odin in choosing who can enter Valhalla or not. In the Poettic Edda, the poems first mentioned Odin in the poem of the AEsir and Vanir War, a war between two races of gods, of which Odin is the leader of the AEsir. The AEsir won the war, which unifies both races into one pantheon. Another poem then told the story of Odin and a shaman who foretold Ragnarok, the cycle of end and rebirth of the Norse mythology. In Ragnarok, the AEsir gods led by Odin will engage in battle against the Fire Giants and the Frost Giants, led by Surtur and Loki respectively. Odin will then lead the Einherjar against them, however it was foretold that Odin would be swallowed whole by the wolf Fenrir, son of Loki.