Deflowering the Idols (Drakengard 3)

(Originally written on the 29th of September, 2022)

SPOILERS FOR DRAKENGARD 3

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Nothing better demonstrates how inherently uncomfortable a practice is than if its very name inspires feelings of unease. The word "idol" is defined as “a person or thing that is greatly admired, loved, or revered.” Its second definition, while very similar, is far more relevant to Drakengard 3: “an image or representation of a god used as an object of worship.” Drakengard 3’s Intoners match this definition to a tea; the five girls have legions of soldiers who would do anything to defend the honour of their deities. However, in spite of this control of the masses, closer examination would show that both these fictional girls, and the real-world Japanese idols that they imitate, are dehumanised through the male gaze, corrupting the ideals of femininity and womanhood.

When designing the 5 enemy Intoners, Yoko Taro drew inspiration from the girls of Madoka Magica: a show that explored femininity through a dark take on the magical girl genre. The place of magical girls in otaku culture is much like that of Japanese idols, except that magical girls are protected by the separation of reality from fiction. Japanese idols are required to uphold their pure image to appeal to the masses of adoring men who obsessively idolise such an impossible idea of a woman. To further cement the connection between the Intoners and idols, one only has to look at their name. An Intoner is someone who recites prayers, and the girls in the game invoke their god-given abilities through singing. They are idols in both senses of the word.

Much like how idols are given false personalities to be worshipped, the truth of the Intoners was also fabricated. They were not goddesses who descended to bring peace to humanity. In truth, they were merely spawns of an inter-dimensional parasite that sought to bring mankind to extinction. the The parasite (known as "The Flower") is at the centre of the game's bastardisation of femininity. The Intoners all have sexual desires that their disciples (created by Zero) exist to satisfy said desires. Given how the Intoners were created by The Flower in retaliation to Zero attempting to kill both it and herself, it is all but certain that all of them carry attributes of Zero herself.

The game's characters frequently resort to sexual humour clearly intended to entertain the players. However, the sheer frequency of said humour very quickly becomes unbearable. This all stems from Zero, who spent her early years as a child prostitute named "Rose" (her friend being named "Indigo" only solidifies the flower motif). The connotation of her old name juxtaposes greatly with that of the life that she was forced to live; her name invoked a sense of feminine purity whilst her body was sold for the sexual pleasures of men. Whether it be purity or sexuality, femininity and womanhood as a whole are malformed by the men who use them for their own gratification. The parasitic flower trapped her in an ending cycle of death and rebirth, using her as a vessel bring about mankind's downfall. The symbol of femininity that created the idols that the men worshipped was, in fact, far more malicious than they believed. Thus, is it significant that the players grow tired of the game's obnoxious sexual humour. Any gratification that could have once been gleaned from sex is taken from the player.

Out of the five main Intoners, the three that use their disciples for sexual satisfaction change in appearance as the Flower's power grows within them: Five's breasts, Four's fingernails, and Three's hair (although Two has a disciple, her relationship with him is genuine). These physical traits are often associated with femininity, and yet their malignant growth would ultimately become a hinderance (even a dangerous hazard) as mentioned in the spin-off prequel manga Utahime Five. Much like real world idols, the feminine attributes that the girls accentuated for the gaze of their adoring male followers only ended up oppressing them, creating a paradoxical restrictive empowerment.

In truth, the idolisation of femininity among the masses of male soldiers was not that of pure devotion, but rather one built on the sexualisation of femininity. Soldiers serving under Three, for example, bemoan over her no longer being sexually active, longing to have "one more night" with her. Similar objectification can be seen with the fans of real-world idols who fetishise the women that they claim to adore, only truly caring for what the idols can do for them. The men only wish to satisfy their selfish sexual desires, only furthering the Flower's agenda: allowing it to grow in influence until it is given the chance to bring about the end of the very men who let it fester. Given the similarities between Zero's final form and the Queen Beast from the original Drakengard, it is all but certain that the Flower succeeded (with ground zero being Tokyo itself) It was always a parasite, a corrupted representation of femininity that brought nothing but harm to every human who it came in contact with. The girls that adored through it are not seen as real people. The Intoners lack true names and are merely referred to by numbers: nothing more than one of many objects for the male gaze. Unless we want to see that festering Flower destroy us and the women we admire, the fetishisation needs to end.