The First Berserker: Khazanis one part of a greater puzzle. Spun off from theDungeon & Fighterseries,The First Berserker: Khazanhas a hefty timeline supporting its storytelling and fitting right into its hardcore action RPG genre.
Set to release later this March,The First Berserker: Khazancan already be experiencedthrough a playable demo. This demo shows off some of the key parts of Khazan’s story, much of which is the same as the story detailed inDungeon Fighter Online. It describes Khazan’s fall from grace, a military general in the Pell Los Empire who was framed for treason by a jealous Emperor. However, his exile is cut short when he escapes his prison procession due to an avalanche, creating adivergence in the character’s originalDNFstorywhere he ends up striking a deal with the Blade Phantom, plotting to take revenge on the Emperor.
Learn Everything You Need to Know About DNF Before Khazan Releases
The First Berserker: Khazan’s Timeline Explained
Despite this divergence,The First Berserkerstill takes placewithin theDNFtimeline, and thus it keeps to many of that timeline’s events. There’s still a possibility that things may converge back to normal—that Khazan dies and becomes the God of Destruction, rejecting Ozma’s offer to destroy the world and wandering aimlessly—spreading Khazan Syndrome, a curse of rage, throughout the world. If players can prevent this, that’s not currently known. Several known events take place before the game properly starts, though, that are the same betweenThe First Berserkerand the mainline series.
The time units ofDNFare measured inArad Years,named after the setting ofDungeon Fighter OnlineandThe First Berserker. It’s inArad Year 152that Khazan and his mage friend Ozma are cemented as heroes of the Pell Los Empire, as it’s in this time when the pair would defeat Berserk Dragon Hismar, a great blight on the Empire’s people
After taking down this threat, both heroes would become well respected among the people of Pell Los. Khazan would become a military general in the Empire, with Ozma always by his side. However, the Emperor would grow jealous of the pair’s success and the adoration they received. InArad Year 157, he framed the duo for treason, torturing them and bringing torment to their families.Khazan was gravely wounded, the tendons in his arms cut so he’d never wield a weapon again, and was exiled into the Stru Mountains. Ozma was thrown into the sea after being told his wife had become a concubine of the Emperor, but would soon rise again.
This is where things diverge, though; in the mainline canon, Khazan dies in exile and rises as the God of Destruction inArad Year 158, thanks to the machinations of Ozma. Ozma himself rose as the God of Chaos this year, plotting to destroy humanity. However,inThe First Berserker’s timeline, Khazan escapes his exile via an avalanche and regains the use of his arms. He strikes a deal with the Blade Phantom, a specter from the Netherworld, and allows them to possess his body to lay revenge against the Emperor.
The Future From Dungeon and Fighter
Dungeon & Fighter’s take on Khazandoesn’t go much beyond his turn to godhood in Arad Year 158, but Ozma plays a much larger role. After turning to godhood in Arad Year 158 and unleashing a Curse of Blood, he fully reappears in Arad Year 252 with an army of shadows, though he’s defeated in Arad Year 347. He resurfaces as a boss inDungeon Fighter Online800 years after his original death, and, though it seems as if things will go a bit differently inThe First Berserker, this level of importance makes it seem like he will appear in Khazan’s new adventure.
