Ragnarok: A transformation from Manga to MMORPG

The hit manga Ragnarok by Myung-Jin Lee was no doubt the inspiration for the popular MMORPG Ragnarok Online, and as a long time fan of the game, I decided to see what the two had in common.

The manga follows several characters in a fascinating retelling of the events that bring the age of man. Fenris Fenrir, a fiery sorcerer, knows that Ragnarok must come to pass and devotes herself to finding the people who are key to its beginning. However, her mission isn't as easy as she hoped it'd be. The 12 valkyries are determined to stop Fenris Fenrir and continue the age of gods for another thousand years. The game takes place after the manga and while it's supposed to be the backstory for RO, anyone who's played the game knows references to this, or any back story for that matter are rare.

When I opened the first few pages of the book, I expected to see porings and lunatics littering the countryside. However, there wasn't a single one in sight. Not only that, I didn't recognize a single monster the characters were fighting. While this change was understandable, considering the creatures in RO are fairly mindless drones and the creatures in the manga are more intelligent, I was surprised that the game's monsters don't seem to be inspired by the manga.

At least one thing remained the same from manga to game: the character classes. Clerics travel with swordsmen on their quests and hide on the sidelines casting spells to boost their stats and weapons. Sorcerers are vulnerable due to cast time, and have to start all over when attacked by a monster. Thieves are ever-present in trying to loot-steal other character's items.