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.

During Ultimate, takes an alternative step to the story, and Loki proceeds to desert Odin early at the Wuzhang Plains. Although he has the traitor cornered, the spirit of Gaia arrives and rescues Loki. Nonetheless, Odin's plans for Ragnarok are still closely the same as with the previous story, still using Orochi X to fuel Yggdrasil. During these events, he eventually corners Zeus and the Snake Bracelet holders at Changshan, but Hades unexpectedly arrives and helps clear out Odin's illusions and horrors. Gaia later points out that Odin can be resurrected an infinite amount of times so long as his soul is kept safe.

Although the tide has now changed against him, Odin expresses little fear over his defeats and he faces the Coalition head-on at the Spring of Mimir, Odin's constant rejuvenations begin to exhaust the heroes of the Coalition, but Hades arrives and locates Odin's soul near the spring itself, allowing the Coalition to finally kill him. Because Odin was Yggdrasil's power source, his death causes the entire tree to collapse. In spite of his demise, Gaia's voice calls out claiming that the true problem had yet to be solved.

In the alternate scenario where the real Perseus was revived before the battle against Odin, it is revealed that Odin was manipulated by Hades into unknowingly powering up Yggdrasil for the King of the underworld. By the time the Coalition arrives at the Spring of Mimir, Odin has already been slain by Hades, who is now able to tap into Yggdrasil's power completely.

As they are unable to stop Hades in this state, the Coalition is able to combine Gaia's ability to read the memories of the world with Kaguya's time-travel ability to return to the past and rescue Odin. Although put into debt by the humans, Odin only agrees to aid the Olympians due to their common foe in Hades. Perseus then directs the Coalition (mostly Jin-Azai) to the underworld, where Hades's sacred treasure, Bindet, which has the power to free him from Yggdrasil, which will strip it and Hades of its power. The Coalition is able to take advantage of Hades's time in the Spring of Mimir to infiltrate the underworld to seize it. In order to take the treasure, he and the Coalition's officers face Hades's trials, where he is confronted by illusions of himself exposing inner fears of death, but he is encouraged by the humans to stay strong.

Amused by how the humans were able to uplift him, Odin acts on their behalf and helps rescue Lu Xun and Takatora Tōdō's decoy unit from Hades's wrath. In the final battle against Hades at the Spring of Mimir, Odin is able to finally separate himself from Yggdrasil. Despite being worn out by this move, Odin is happy to regain his freedom as well as weaken Hades, who begins to fall deeper into insanity.

Once Hades is finally defeated, Odin volunteers to keep Yggdrasil standing until all the others escape, promising to stay alive when everything is finished.

In the side stages, Odin joins the Zeus in the mock battle at Sekigahara against the Mystics in order to prove their superiority to their eastern counterparts. He and Loki also join Gaia's final battle with the humans as a parting gift before they return back to their respective times. Odin thanks the humans for providing him with refreshing entertainment throughout before deciding to return to his traveling lifestyle.

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

 * See also Odin/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

Rare Weapon Acquisition

 * Stage: Destined to be Destroyed

Norse Mythology
Odin originated from Germanic mythology among the Germanic people. However, he 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 Poetic 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 Poetic 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.