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gu6chan · 6 months

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So What Was Yaha's Deal? Drakengard Things You Might Not Know

GOD okay so im finally rambling about him okay so

I've been thinking about Yaha lately and it's really dawning on me how a lot of people just do NOT know about Yaha's past and it makes sense!! Literally NONE of this is available in English and it's so :( but also it makes me sad both because it's SO good and also because when people shrug him off as just "Reason Drakengard 2 sucks: it has a gay stereotype" like oh you do NOT even know omg

anyways, just so we're on the same page: this is NOT a theory discussing what happened to Yaha, just the best collage of what's ACTUALLY considered "canon" that I've picked up from different side materials and interviews (Most notably, Memory of Blood and World Inside). If I ever find anything else I'll be sure to update it :3

I WILL dive into a bit of personal interpretation/rambling over his battle lines (i have them save lmao) a bit later, maybe even in a separate post, but BOY

So TW: Mentions of noncon, dubcon and CSA up ahead

So i think the first thing that's to be established about Yaha's character is that the Empire DID wipe out most the elf population in DOD1, and while he did survive this, he was more or less still a victim in the respect that his parents WERE killed in likely less-than-painless ways as the Empire sought to use the elves both to use their blood for magic-repellent armour (While it looks like it was only introduced the the third game, it's actually been plot point for a while!) and the children to open the seal.

Given he's 25 by the events of Drakengard 2, he'd have to be around 7 at oldest before he arrived at the orphanage where met Urick. (He's not even 10 and he's already been through it...... baby...........)

Fortunately or unfortunately enough, Yaha DID manage to find a way to "survive" in this world from a very young age, and that was due to the fact that even as a child, he wasn't just commonly mistaken for a girl, but an absolutely "captivating" one. As it reads in his glossary section in Memory of Blood:

"He grew up an orphan, and even though he was a male, he boasted such beauty that he was frequently mistaken for a woman from an early age [...] For this, he uses his beauty as a systemic tool for survival. He captivates everyone, both male and female, and gains both status and protection in exchange for his body, which he used to escape life in the orphanage." (Glossary section from Memory of Blood)

It should be noted before I go on that the director, Akira Yasui, DID hint in his world inside interview that he thinks there was "something" between Yaha and Urick during their days in the orphanage, but whether that means feelings or an actual relationship isn't really clear (Though judging by his tone, it seems to lean more towards the short-lived, childlike-fling interpretation than anything imo i could just be biased though lmao):

"...As for his relationship with Urick, Yaha had liked him since they were in the orphanage together. I think there was definitely “Something” between them before Yaha left the orphanage. The powers of his pact didn’t reach Urick because he already knew how to deal with it; Urick was also once mesmerised by Yaha’s charm." (Yasui interview from World Inside)

(That last line is included for those tragedy points from when we get to the ~Split~ and BOY)

As for the orphanage, Yaha was...... "Adopted" by a well-to-do man when he was 14 years old. As for why and how he got adopted, it's unfortunately stated right at the end of his glossary entry which isn't even the worst part when you take into consideration that he's already been doing this for a while.

At any rate, Yaha DOES decide "You know what? Fuck it, we splurge" and uses all adoptee's fuckass money to buy useless shit until he turned 16 and joined the Knights in search of a better standard of living (How can he get that if he's already pretty much rich? given what he's going through at that point, you do the math)

and you know what? he deserves nice things <3

(And to note, Urick was also taken in by Oror from the orphanage as an apprentice when he was 16 as well.)

Anyways, Yaha was back to survival mode after joining the Knights, and just as he did when he was in the orphanage, used his body to climb the ranks of the KotS in search of a better standing in life. It's just repeating what his glossary says, but Yaha WAS slandered for this and got a lot of shit and rumours spoken about him behind his back for it. And the list...... wondering why gismor isn't on that list.... is there something he's not telling us???

"He joined the Knights of the Seal in search of a better standard of life; his successful climbing of its ranks being more due to his "body" than his skill in battle. The only people of notable standing who had not had a relationship with him are Oror and the Hierarch Seere (It is rumoured that he may have also had a relationship with Verdelet). Behind his back, Yaha was labelled a nymphomaniac." (Glossary section from Memory of Blood)

While working on an excavation site during the creation of the different countries of Midgard into districts (It's own can of worms), Yaha comes across a beautiful jewel unlike anything he had seen before. SO beautiful as a matter of fact, that Yaha, who by merit made beauty his everything on the basis that it was all he had (aside from Urick), took personal offense to this and pointed his sword at it. However, from the jewel came a gnome who would go on to offer Yaha a pact, offering him irresistible charm so that he could get whoever he wanted. Yaha, seeing the opportunity to move up even further in the ranks of the Knights of the Seal (both due to his charm and his status as a Pact-Partner, as Gismor was looking for Pact-Partners specifically SO they could guard the Seal Keys and manage the districts) and also claim Urick's heart by doing it, accepted the pact in an instant. But as you all know, that came at a VERY high price. Of course, Yaha lost his ability to feel pleasure, resulting in whatever "barrier" from his mental scars he had whenever he tried to do the deed being removed. The act of sex, for Yaha, was filled with not just mental pain made lighter by the aspect of pleasure, but now was just sheer psychical pain as well. What a lot of people may not know, however, is how literally Urick meant it when he said "Don't look into his eyes, he'll trick you with his lies" and followed up with "It's the power given to him by his pact-beast. Or maybe it's the price he had to pay." Urick was not joking.

For those familiar with Junji Ito's Tomie, it was essentially just that: Yaha wasn't just in possession of extreme charm, but enough to bring people to lose all rational thought and reason when they were around him. And the way the glossary talks about this...

"[...]As a result, his beauty became even more ebullient, to the point it lead to people easily losing all sense of reason. However, his body was no longer able to feel the sensation of pleasure. This was the price of his pact. Although Yaha had come to immensely regret it, it was already too late. He now lives every day being swarmed by those who have lost all reason and is forced to engage in sexual acts filled with nothing but fear and pain."

Yaha............ :( SO this is what leads to the real final kicker: Yaha has gotten his position, has more beauty than anyone could ever imagine, but what he really wants is Urick, right? Of all the pain of sex both psychically and mentally, if he could at least be with Urick, the one person he saw differently, the one person that at least wouldn't be mentally scarring to sleep with, maybe it could all make sense. So Yaha confesses to Urick. But Urick turns him down - not because of any sound argument, but because all he sees is a self-absorbed narcissist in his friend's place, manipulating others and sleeping around carelessly just to up his own ranks in society. For two seconds, it would make sense - That's technically what it is. A honest flaw in Yaha's character is that he's genuinely greedy and materialistic. He uses goddamned slave labour, for Christ's sake. On the other hand, is he really looking for a higher place in society? Or is he looking for stability? A place to get away from his past and be the one in control for once? Of course, being perfectly aligned with Urick's own version of "self-absorption" (All the Lieutenants have it!), he completely failed to realise where all that stemmed from. He saw Yaha as just being greedy and narcissistic from the lens of him being inherently bad, didn't for a second take into account Yaha's origins which led to that behaviour. His own best friend. So, long story short: Urick thinks Yaha is a bastardisation of his best friend and, following in his cowardly character, takes that as personally as you can (as you see in all his scenes and lines relating to Yaha together, im going to slap that little cunt) - despite the fact Yaha SHOULD have had the upper hand via his Tomie-like powers, as I mentioned towards the start of the post, Urick was already charmed by Yaha - he had just grown used to it because of how close they already were.

Brief Personal Analysis:

Personally reading into it, Yaha doesn't really care so much about his position as, beyond just being about as high as you can get, and it wasn't what he really wanted. The underlying source that got him that position to START with was his beauty, which Yaha cherishes like a narcissist would. He's used to people changing their tune whenever they lay eyes upon them, which Urick specifically instructs not to do towards the beginning of the battle, and is the source of such lines as "If I die, my beautiful body and the holy crystal shall perish. You would let that happen?" At the same time, a player death results in a VERY different tune from Yaha, where he dejectedly says the line "My beauty... It is my sin." Possibly hinting towards his own conflicted feelings and sorrow towards it as again, he goes from "My body is perfect, is it not?" to "My beauty is my sin" as soon as Nowe or his crew is too dead to question it. The difference is VERY jarring between the two, and I also bring into question the tone he uses to speak about his gnomes on whether he intentionally sounds exhausted of them (It would make sense, given the hinted resentment he has towards his pact-beasts for doing him dirty like that) or if he... Just sounds like that. Granted, a LOT of Yaha's lines sound similar in their sultry, somewhat sorrowful and tired tone all around. Of course, there are also his lines directed towards Urick, which should be self-explanatory given the context, but a few other notes and trivia and whatnot before i wrap up:

Just to note and say the obvious a final time since I know how this fanbase can be: Yaha IS genuinely a narcissist, that being his leading character flaw, though of course it should go without saying that while his actions as a result of that (re: slave labour) are definitely not to be swept under the rug, it's just as important to note the context that led to that and the tragedy of his character because of it. As Urick says, "He was very different then."

Yaha is confirmed bisexual! It surprised me too, but...

"Similarly, when I designed Yaha, I designed him to be a typical narcissist — a character who would probably go and describe their own self as "Beautiful". But even though his character is supposed to be one who is attracted to both men and women in the story, people who are attracted to both genders in real life are usually not of this type. Like Gismor, he also largely captures the image of "Bewitching"." (Character Artist Fujisaka commenting on Yaha's design in Memory of Blood)

Just a fun little detail: During Yaha's battle against the Rock Gnome, when it lifts the jewel above it's head in order to throw it at you, you can throw out a magic attack at just the right time and it will drop the jewel on its head for massive damage! And of course, similarly you mainly attack the Rock Gnome by using jump attacks to bring your weapon down on its head. And if you look at Yaha's portrait during his death scene...

Similarly, Urick is strong against monsters, which encourages you to use him to bring the final death blow to Yaha. And given their lore together I'd be damned if this cruel little snippet wasn't done intentionally.

The drawing of Yaha's death with the gnomes is titled "End of Agony", and hopefully after reading this post, you now know why.

A bit more interpretation than theory, but I have an ongoing hunch that each of the layouts and/or "gimmicks" of the Lieutenant's fortresses are based off the personality and story of the Lieutenant itself. Hanch is based around walls, closed doors and of course, water, Urick's is a twisting maze based off of sacrifice with the themes of life and death, Gismor's is based in fighting your way up a tall tower to reflect his ego and overlying reach as an antagonist, and Yaha's, primarily, is based off of illusions. The more you get past them and through the fortress, the less "ebullient" and fancy it looks until you reach its end - a single, shabby room filled with sand and dirt with nothing but a few musty crates and a bunch of jail cells meant for holding sacrificed prisoners to the Seal Keys. If that doesn't reflect Yaha's whole character, I don't know what does.

Either way, that's about all I think I have for him! Hopefully you learned something new, and if you have any questions, do let me know~