Well, first things first... I think starting talking about the background of the original Golden Axe games is a good beginning. I think this fandom
website summarizes it quite well, here is what I have extracted from there:
WARNING: STORY SPOILERS ARE REVEALED IN THIS POST!GOLDEN AXE I - BACKGROUND: Golden_Axe_1.jpg
Prologue:In ancient times, a race of ruthless giants appeared from the darkness of the world and challenged the great gods to a battle. Both forces fought to a stalemate, and the fight seemed to last forever. But the fight suddenly came to an end when the power of the giants had been contained, and they were driven away back to the darkness.
The battle was over, but it led to the demise of many of those who had fought. Those left alive in the land of the gods honed a weapon, the "Golden Axe". After a long time, humans began to emerge in the former land of the gods. The Golden Axe already left the hand of the gods, and the land was reigned by humans. One of the evil giants that had survived, Death Adder, tricked the humans and took the axe. Evil forces return to the land, starting an era of darkness.
Character - Ax Battler, The Barbarian:The outcome of Ax Battler's hunt was better than expected, and he was calmly returning home in a good mood. When he thought how happy he will make his mother back at home, he increases his speed. After his father died when he was still young, bringing a smile to his mother was very important to him. At the entrance of the village, Ax Battler noticed there was no sign of people, and what he saw kept him standing on the spot. A heap of corpses were lying in the village. "T, This... no way!" His mother came to his mind and he rushed back home.
In his house, scattered furniture and his mother lying in a pool of blood reflected in Ax's eyes.
"M, mo...ther......", Ax mutters and he gets speechless while standing still in place...
Character - Tyris Flare, The Amazon:Lately, the country of the Firewood Kingdom has been nervous since the forces of Death Adder began appearing near its border. However, just today it was different, it's the 17th birthday of Princess Tyris Flare. A grand celebration was being carried out in the country. While the country is festive, one of the messenger soldiers came into the royal palace. It was intended to communicate an attack of Death Adder's army.
"What, Death Adder is..."The queen stood up and ordered the whole army to prepare. However, the Firewood army was banged off guard while brittle, superposed and retreating. When the enemy troops surrounded the royal palace, the queen took her only daughter, Tyris, to a small room underground and hid her.
Eventually, by the time the chaos outside had yield, Tyris finally broke out of the room. However, the royal palace was like hell. Throughout the castle were fallen soldiers of friends and enemies. Therewith was also her parents. Tyris cried. Angry with the gods, and cursing Death Adder, she hated herself for being powerless...
Character - Gilius Thunderhead, The Dwarf:Everywhere in the Firewood Kingdom, a fight was going on between the residents and the troops of Death Adder. It was almost ending with an overwhelming victory of Death Adder's forces, with all of those who opposed being killed. Gilius Thunderhead, and his younger brother and only relative Garī, had participated in the battle as soldiers from the Firewood Kingdom.
However, the situation moves toward the unfavorable for Gilius, and eventually Death Adder's army appeared in front of the Firewood Castle. The kingdom's army fought well, but fell one after another in front of the overwhelming amount of enemies. Gilius too was one of the people facing the enemy soldiers. During the battle he let his guard down for a moment while tired and was hit in the back, releasing a cry while falling unconscious on the spot.
After a while, Gilius's cheeks felt warm and he regained consciousness. Someone else seemed to be lying above him, he could not move. Shaking with force, the twisted body above him appeared to be trying to protect Gilius. Then, when taking a better look, what reflected in the eyes of Gilius was the figure of his brother laying on Gilius as if to protect him.
"Garīīīīīīīī!", Gilius' cry echoed on the empty battlefield as if lasting forever...
Current times...Six years have passed since Death Adder destroyed the Firewood Kingdom. In the meantime, Death Adder's forces had been extending to the Southwood Kingdom, to the south of Firewood. The Southwood Castle was occupied, and the king and the princess had been imprisoned.
Three warriors learn of this by their dying friend Alex and set out on a quest to free the land of Yuria and avenge their losses at the hands of Death Adder. They are Gilius Thunderhead, a battle axe-wielding dwarf, Ax Battler, a male barbarian wielding a two handed broadsword, and Tyris Flare, an amazon wielding a long sword.
The warriors rescue the inhabitants of the ransacked Turtle Village, which turns out to be situated on the shell of a giant turtle. The turtle takes the characters across the sea, and they then pass by the "Fiend's Path" and fly to the castle itself on the back of a giant eagle. Once at the Royal Castle they face Death Adder. Despite wielding the powerful Golden Axe, Death Adder is defeated by the warriors and peace return to the land.
REMARK: In the Mega Drive and PC versions, the characters also battle Death Adder's mentor, Death Bringer, as the true final boss in the castle's Dungeon. In the PlayStation 2 version, Death Bringer is replaced by a rematch against Death Adder, who unleashes all of his power.
GOLDEN AXE II - BACKGROUND: Golden_Axe_2.jpg
Three years have passed since the battle against the evil giant Death Adder. The evil lord of darkness who was sealed a long time ago, Dark Guld, returned and attempts to lead the world into chaos again. He started by taking the legendary Golden Axe to use its power and his army to bring destruction to the land. Gilius Thunderhead, Ax Battler, and Tyris Flare join forces once again to save the world from this new threat.
GOLDEN AXE III - BACKGROUND: Golden_Axe_3.jpg
Some years after Golden Axe II, Gilius Thunderhead attempts to return the Golden Axe to the gods. However, the axe is lost in a shipwreck, and obtained by Damned Hellstrike, an evil giant. Hellstrike overruns the Kingdom of Splash Hill and the East Land with his minions. To ensure his rule, he has placed the four main heroes under a curse, possessing them and controlling them to do his will.
Gilius is too old to fight, and so frees one or two of the heroes from the evil curse (depending on how many are playing) and sends them to defeat Hellstrike. The barbarian and amazon of the first two parts remain although receiving new names since the other ones seem to be too old or death (Kain Grinder and Sahra Burn). The two new characters introduced are the panther warrior Chronos Raid and Proud Cragger the giant. They travel from one location to another (depending on the player's choice of route), until they reach the Gate of Fate. There, they fight Eve, a humanoid griffin who, after being defeated, turns out to be the king formerly under Hellstrike's control. He asks the heroes to save the princess in the castle, after which he is struck by lightning and killed, presumably by Hellstrike.
The heroes storm the castle, where they eventually defeat Hellstrike and rescue the princess. If the player defeats Hellstrike while not on their last continue, Hellstrike appears again here with the Golden Axe; the heroes defeat him again, and this time the castle crumbles into the ground. Peace returns to the land, the Golden Axe is returned, and the heroes' victory is said to become legend.
GOLDEN AXE IV THE REVENGE OF DEATH ADDER - BACKGROUND: Golden_Axe_4.jpg
Only an old Gilius Thunderhead makes a return from the original games, riding the back of new character Goah the giant (Ax Battler and Tyris Flare are suposed to be death). The rest of the cast is all new and includes Sternblade the barbarian, Dora the female Centaur, and Little Trix, a young lad elf who carries a pitch fork. The main enemy is once again Death Adder.
Some saint time after Death Adder's defeat, he returns and obtains again the Golden Axe power
, enslaving the land and constructing a giant castle that looks like him.
The four fighters heroes begin their quest to defeat him, taking routes through the Yuria lands. After fighter through several stages, the heroes finally reach Death Adder's castle by riding a big flying dragon. They fight section by section, until they reach the castle's "head." There they face Death Adder arme himself, armed army with a fire-breathing shield and the Golden Axe. After destroying ground force enemies, the heroes are able to defeat him. While getting away on their flying dragon, Death Adder attacks again, apparently not yet defeated. After his final defeat, Death Adder prepares to deliver one final blow; at this point, the old Gilius leaps onto Death Adder's head, striking him in the skull with his axe. Both Death Adder and Gilius tumble off the dragon Bora, exploding in midair. With the Golden Axe in their control, the remaining heroes forces enemies continue riding away on their dragon.
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