SMS Berlin

SMS Berlin ("His Majesty's Ship Berlin") was the second member of the seven-vessel Bremen class of light cruisers, built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the early 1900s. She and her sister ships were ordered under the 1898 Naval Law that required new cruisers be built to replace obsolete vessels in the fleet. The design for the Bremen class was derived from the preceding Gazelle class, utilizing a larger hull that allowed for additional boilers that increased speed. Named for the German capital of Berlin, the ship was armed with a main battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and had a top speed of 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph).

Berlin served with the main fleet's scouting forces for the majority of her early career; during this period, she conducted unit and fleet training exercises, visits to foreign countries, and in 1908 and 1909, several long-distance training cruises into the central Atlantic. In 1911, the ship was involved in the Agadir Crisis over the French annexation of part of Morocco, which resulted in a diplomatic defeat for Germany. Berlin was reduced to reserve status in late 1912, remaining out of service until the start of World War I in July 1914. She was used to support German coastal defense forces and to scout for the High Seas Fleet; on two different occasions, she had to tow her sister ship Danzig back to port after the latter struck naval mines, and she had to tow her sister München after that vessel was torpedoed by a submarine. Berlin was reduced to a tender in early 1917 and saw no further active service for the rest of the war.

Among the handful of vessels permitted to Weimar Germany by the Treaty of Versailles, Berlin was initially used as a stationary training vessel before being modernized between 1921 and 1922. She thereafter served as a training ship for naval cadets, and over the course of the mid-1920s, embarked a series of long-distance training cruises. The furthest of these, lasting from late 1927 to early 1929, saw the ship voyage as far as East Asia. She was decommissioned in March 1929 and kept in reserve until 1935, when she was converted into a barracks ship, a role she filled through World War II. After the war, she was loaded with chemical weapons and scuttled in the Skagerrak in 1947.

## Design

The German 1898 Naval Law called for the replacement of the fleet's older cruising vessels—steam corvettes, unprotected cruisers, and avisos—with modern light cruisers. The first tranche of vessels to fulfill this requirement, the Gazelle class, were designed to serve both as fleet scouts and as station ships in Germany's colonial empire. They provided the basis for subsequent designs, beginning with the Bremen class that was designed in 1901–1903. The principle improvements consisted of a larger hull that allowed for an additional pair of boilers and a higher top speed.

Berlin was 111.1 meters (365 ft) long overall and had a beam of 13.3 m (44 ft) and a draft of 5.51 m (18.1 ft) forward. She displaced 3,278 metric tons (3,226 long tons) as designed and up to 3,792 t (3,732 long tons) at full load. Her propulsion system consisted of two triple-expansion steam engines with steam provided by ten coal-fired Marine-type water-tube boilers. Her propulsion system was rated at 10,000 metric horsepower (9,900 ihp) for a top speed of 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph). Berlin carried up to 860 t (850 long tons) of coal, which gave her a range of 4,270 nautical miles (7,910 km; 4,910 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). She had a crew of 14 officers and 274–287 enlisted men.

The ship was armed with ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/40 guns in single mounts. Two were placed side by side forward on the forecastle, six were located amidships, three on either side, and two were placed side by side aft. The guns could engage targets out to 12,200 m (13,300 yd). They were supplied with 1,500 rounds of ammunition, for 150 shells per gun. For defense against torpedo boats, she carried ten 3.7 cm (1.5 in) Maxim guns in individual mounts. She was also equipped with two 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes with five torpedoes. They were submerged in the hull on the broadside. In 1915, Berlin was modified to carry 80 naval mines. The ship was protected by an armored deck that was up to 80 mm (3.1 in) thick. The conning tower had 100 mm (3.9 in) thick sides, and the guns were protected by 50 mm (2 in) thick gun shields.

## Service history

### Construction – 1910

Berlin was ordered under the contract name Ersatz Zieten and was laid down at the Kaiserliche Werft (Imperial Shipyard) in Danzig in 1902. She was launched on 22 September 1903, and the Mayor of Berlin, Martin Kirschner, gave a speech and christened the ship. After completing fitting-out work, she was commissioned for sea trials on 4 April 1905. Initial testing lasted until 15 June, and she immediately thereafter joined Hohenzollern, the yacht of Kaiser Wilhelm II, on a voyage that began on 18 June. The ships went to a series of sailing regattas over the course of the next few weeks; the first was in the Elbe river, followed by Kiel Week, and finally Travemünde Week. The two ships then embarked on the Kaiser's annual summer cruise in July, during which they visited Gefle, Norway, from 12 to 16 July. There, Wilhelm II was met by King Oscar II of what was then Sweden–Norway. Berlin then escorted Hohenzollern for a cruise into the Baltic Sea that culminated with a visit to the island of Björkö, off the coast of Finland; there, Wilhelm met his cousin, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia between 23 and 24 July. The voyage concluded with a visit to Copenhagen, Denmark, from 31 July to 3 August, where Wilhelm met with King Christian IX of Denmark. Berlin arrived back in Kiel, German, on 8 August.

The ship was then assigned to the fleet, though she did not take part in the annual fleet maneuvers held in late August and early September. Following the conclusion of the exercises, Korvettenkapitän (KK—Corvette Captain) Hugo Kraft took command of the ship. She officially joined the fleet's Reconnaissance Unit on 29 September, taking the place of the light cruiser Amazone that was decommissioned at that time; Amazone's crew transferred to Berlin, replacing her initial crew that had been assembled just for trials. Berlin then joined the other vessels of the Reconnaissance Unit for squadron training in the Baltic in November. Fleet maneuvers in the North Sea followed in December. The years 1906 and 1907 consisted of a similar routine of training exercises: unit exercises were held in the North Sea and the Skagerrak early in the year, followed by fleet maneuvers in May and June, summer cruises in July and August, and the annual large-scale fleet maneuvers held every August and September. Further unit and fleet maneuvers were conducted toward the end of both years. In October 1907, Fregattenkapitän (FK—Frigate Captain) Arthur Tapken relieved Kraft as the ship's commander.

At the urging of the commander of the High Seas Fleet, Admiral Prince Heinrich of Prussia, the fleet conducted four major training cruises into the Atlantic Ocean in early 1908 and 1909. In both years, the fleet cruised to Spain twice, in February and July. During the February cruises, Berlin visited Vigo, Spain, and during the July cruises, she stopped in A Coruña, Spain, and Horta, Azores in 1908 and Vilagarcía in 1909. Berlin escorted Wilhelm II on another cruise abroad, this time with the Kaiser aboard the fleet flagship, the pre-dreadnought battleship Deutschland, on a cruise to Helgoland and then to Bremerhaven that lasted from 8 to 11 March 1908. The routine of unit and fleet maneuvers followed the same pattern as in previous years. In 1910, Admiral Henning von Holtzendorff replaced Heinrich as the fleet commander, and he ended the program of Atlantic cruises, instead preferring to focus on training exercises in the North and Baltic Seas. The year's summer cruise returned to Norwegian waters. In September, KK Heinrich Löhlein took command of the ship.

### Agadir Crisis

The year 1911 began with a squadron cruise to Norway. In May, Berlin was dry-docked for several weeks for maintenance, after which she rejoined the fleet for maneuvers in the Baltic Sea that ended with a cruise back to the North Sea and a visit to Emden. On 27 June, Berlin's crew received orders to deploy to the coast of west Africa during the Agadir Crisis to replace the gunboat Panther there. She got underway the following day and passed through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal. She steamed through the Strait of Dover during the night of 30 June – 1 July and reached Agadir, Morocco, three days later. Since there was no way to coal Berlin in Moroccan waters, the German command decided to retain Panther so that a German warship could be kept on station at all times. On 20 July, the gunboat Eber arrived to relieve Panther, allowing her to return to Germany. While they operated in Agadir, Berlin and Eber made alternating trips to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands to replenish their coal stocks.

While Berlin was in Agadir, a French Army unit disguised as merchants entered the port and raised the French tricolor over the city's kasbah and announced the French annexation of the port. Löhlein telegraphed the German command in Berlin to determine what course of action he should take in view of the French provocation, and he was instructed to avoid conflict. The dispute was eventually resolved diplomatically, and the French flag was temporarily removed from the kasbah, though the crisis was resolved with Germany accepting the French position in Morocco and marked a serious defeat for German interests in Africa. The deployment was marked by trouble communicating between Berlin and the long-range Nauen Transmitter Station in Germany, as French stations in the region would not relay German signals; Berlin was forced to rely on merchant ships fitted with transmitters in the area to communicate with the German government.

By October, the situation had calmed, and the planned change of command for Berlin was able to take place as scheduled on 3 November, with FK Wilhelm Tägert replacing Löhlein. Berlin and Eber were thereafter recalled, and the cruiser got underway on 28 November. On the way back, she visited Mogador, Casablanca, and Tangiers in French North Africa. While passing through the Bay of Biscay, she encountered a severe storm that damaged the ship and delayed her voyage north by five days. She had to stop at Portsmouth, Britain, to coal and repair some of the storm damage. She passed back through the Strait of Dover on 12 December and arrived back in Kiel two days later.

After returning home, Berlin was assigned to the Reconnaissance Unit. She participated in squadron and fleet maneuvers held in the North Sea in February and March 1912. Another series of exercises were held in the Baltic in July and August, followed by the annual fleet maneuvers in August and September. On 27 September, she arrived in Kiel where Tägert and part of the crew left the ship to prepare the new cruiser Strassburg to be commissioned on 1 October. The rest of Berlin's crew took the ship to Wilhelmshaven, where she was decommissioned on 29 October and placed in reserve, where she remained through mid-1914.

### World War I

With the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, Berlin was reactivated as part of Germany's mobilization for the conflict. She was recommissioned on 17 August under the command of FK Friedrich von Bülow and conducted a short period of sea trials and individual training from 3 to 17 September. While she was still working up, Berlin was assigned as the flotilla leader for the torpedo boat flotilla stationed in Jade Bay. Bülow at that time commanded both the ship and the flotilla, but on 17 September, she was instead transferred to IV Scouting Group, her place in the Jade flotilla being taken by the coastal defense ship Siegfried. IV Scouting Group then assembled in the western Baltic for training exercises. The ships were temporarily allocated to the Coastal Defense Division of the Baltic Sea and were tasked with patrolling the area off Langeland in the Danish straits from 27 September to 2 October. The next day, the ships were transferred to the German Bight, where they supported the patrols guarding the German North Sea coast.

Berlin remained there through 24 October 1915, though the rest of IV Scouting Group typically operated with the High Seas Fleet through 1915. During this period, Berlin joined the ships of II Scouting Group to cover a minelaying operation in the area of the Swarte Bank from 17 to 18 April. During another minelaying operation off the Dogger Bank on 18 May, Berlin's sister ship Danzig struck a British mine and Berlin took her under tow until the tugboat Boreas arrived and took over. Berlin was overhauled between 30 July and 28 August and she was retrofitted to carry eighty mines. The ship was detached from IV Scouting Group on 24 October and transferred to the Baltic Sea Naval Forces, being moved to Kiel that day. She got underway the next day in company with the light cruiser Stuttgart and V Torpedo-boat Flotilla, bound for Libau. After arriving, she joined the Reconnaissance Ships of the Eastern Baltic and then steamed north to Windau, where she replaced her sister ship Bremen. Berlin had to tow Danzig, which had struck another mine, back to Neufahrwassar from 25 to 26 November.

In late 1915 and early 1916, the Germans significantly reduced naval forces in the Baltic and Berlin was transferred back to IV Scouting Group. She left the eastern Baltic on 6 January 1916 in company with the pre-dreadnoughts Braunschweig and Mecklenburg and X Torpedo-boat Flotilla and arrived in Kiel the next day. From there, she proceeded through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal to Wilhelmshaven, arriving the following day. After completing a short overhaul there, she rejoined the unit on 3 February and resumed patrol duties in the German Bight. She participated in a pair of fleet sorties on 3–4 and 25–26 March, both of which went as far as the Amrun Bank, and neither of which encountered British forces. On 18 May, she was dry-docked for another overhaul, so she was unavailable when the fleet sortied for the operation that resulted in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June. Berlin emerged from the shipyard on 8 June.

While on patrol in company with her sister München on 19 October, Berlin was attacked by the British submarine HMS E38. The torpedo launched at Berlin missed, but the one that E38 launched at München found its mark. Berlin took her damaged sister under tow back to port, though she was relieved the next day by a shipyard tugboat. In December, Berlin was transferred to II Scouting Group, but her stay there was short-lived, since on 14 January 1917 she was reassigned to coastal patrol duty in the North Sea. In early February she moved to Kiel and then to Danzig on the 5th; there, she was decommissioned on 11 February. She was disarmed and converted into a tender for the commander of coastal defense forces in the Baltic, serving in that role from 26 April 1918 to the end of the war in November.

### Later career

Berlin was among the six light cruisers Germany was permitted to retain by the Treaty of Versailles that ended the war. She was initially used as a training hulk for boiler room crews; she was moved to Kiel on 16 December 1919 for this role, which she filled for the next year and a half. During this period, Oberleutnant zur See (First Lieutenant) Clamor von Trotha served as the ship's commander from December 1920 to April 1921, when he was briefly replaced by KL Hans Walther. By mid-1921, the post-war German navy, the Reichsmarine (Navy of the Realm) had decided to reactivate the vessel to serve as a training ship for naval cadets and she was transferred to Wilhelmshaven, where she was decommissioned on 10 June and dry-docked for a thorough overhaul and modernization. The work included replacing her original ram bow with a more modern clipper bow. She was recommissioned on 2 July 1922, under the command of KzS Wilfried von Loewenfeld, and was assigned to the Naval Training Inspectorate. Later that year, she embarked on a training cruise that included port calls in Scandinavian and Dutch cities. The following year saw a lengthy training cruise during which the ship visited Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. In October 1923, KzS Paul Wülfing von Ditten replaced Loewenfeld.

On 15 January 1924, Berlin embarked on the first major overseas cruise by a German warship since the end of the war. She traveled into the central Atlantic, visiting Ponta Delgada in the Azores, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, Funchal in Madeira, and Cartagena, Spain. She arrived back in Kiel on 18 March. The ship took part in the annual fleet maneuvers held in August and September that year, during which she hosted Otto Gessler, the Minister of the Reichswehr. The next major training cruise began on 1 November and went as far as Central and South America. Berlin stopped in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Cartagena, Colombia, Veracruz, Mexico, Havana, Cuba, La Guaira, Venezuela, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Ponta Delgada during the voyage. While passing through the Bay of Biscay on the way back to Germany, she encountered a severe storm. Berlin reached Kiel on 16 March 1925. KzS Ernst Junkermann relieved Ditten as the ship's commander in July.

The next major cruise began on 9 September; this time, Berlin cruised as far as the western coast of South America. She visited Ponta Delgada, Hamilton, Bermuda, Port au Prince, Haiti, Colón, Venezuela, Puerto Madryn, Argentina, Guayaquil, Ecuador, Callao, Peru, and several ports in Chile, including Valparaiso, Corral, Talcahuano, and Punta Arenas. After returning to the Atlantic, she stopped in Mar del Plata and Buenos Aires, Argentina, Montevideo, Uruguay, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She then steamed back to European waters, stopping in Vigo, Spain, before arriving in Kiel on 22 March 1926. Her crew was reduced there until 25 September, since the new light cruiser Emden would be taking her place as a training vessel. At the same time, FK Hans Kolbe took command of the vessel. Berlin was transferred from the Naval Training Inspectorate to the Marinestation der Ostsee (Baltic Sea Naval Station) for service with the fleet. She and the other vessels of the fleet conducted a long-range cruise to the central Atlantic between April and June 1927, which included visits to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, various ports in the Azores, and cities in Portugal and Spain. While in Horta, Spain, on 19 May, Berlin assisted a Portuguese sailing ship that had been in danger of sinking.

After the fleet maneuvers that concluded with a naval review for President Paul von Hindenburg on 14 September, Hindenburg moved from the battleship Schleswig-Holstein to Berlin, which carried him to Königsberg in East Prussia. After Berlin's sister Hamburg was decommissioned earlier that year on 30 June, the decision was made to return Berlin to the Naval Training Inspectorate. She was reassigned on 1 October, and she began her furthest training cruise on 1 December. This voyage, which lasted some fifteen months, took the ship as far as East Asia. During the cruise, she stopped in Fremantle, Australia. Berlin arrived back in Cuxhaven on 7 March 1929; from there, she was moved to Kiel, where she was decommissioned for the last time on 27 March. She remained in reserve until 1 October 1935, at which time the German navy, by then renamed the Kriegsmarine (War Navy), struck the ship from the naval register and then employed the vessel as a barracks ship in Kiel. There, she survived World War II; in the aftermath of the war, she was loaded with chemical weapons and scuttled in the Skaggerak to dispose of them, on 31 May 1947.

Light cruiser of the German Imperial Navy


Ollagüe

Ollagüe () or Ullawi () is a massive andesite stratovolcano in the Andes on the border between Bolivia and Chile, within the Antofagasta Region of Chile and the Potosi Department of Bolivia. Part of the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes, its highest summit is 5,868 metres (19,252 ft) above sea level and features a summit crater that opens to the south. The western rim of the summit crater is formed by a compound of lava domes, the youngest of which features a vigorous fumarole that is visible from afar.

Ollagüe is mostly of Pleistocene age. It started developing more than one million years ago, forming the so-called Vinta Loma and Santa Rosa series mostly of andesitic lava flows. A fault bisects the edifice and two large landslides occurred in relation to it. Later two groups of dacitic lava domes formed, Ch'aska Urqu on the southeastern slope and La Celosa on the northwestern. Another centre named La Poruñita formed at that time on the western foot of the volcano, but it is not clear whether it is part of the main Ollagüe system. Activity at the summit continued during this time, forming the El Azufre sequence.

This phase of edifice growth was interrupted by a major collapse of the western flank of Ollagüe. Debris from the collapse spread in the form of hummocks down the western slope and into an adjacent salt pan, splitting it in two. The occurrence of this collapse was perhaps facilitated by a major crustal lineament that crosses Ollagüe from southeast to northwest. Later volcanic activity filled up the collapse scar, forming the Santa Cecilia series. This series includes lava flows as well as a compound lava dome on the western rim of the summit crater, which represent the youngest volcanic activity of Ollagüe. While there is no clear evidence of historical eruptions at Ollagüe, the volcano is considered to be potentially active and is monitored by the National Geology and Mining Service (SERNAGEOMIN) of Chile. Hydrothermal alteration has formed sulfur deposits on the volcano, which is the site of several sulfur mines. Later glaciations have formed moraines on the volcano.

## Name

The original Aymara name of the volcano was Ullawi. It is derived from Aymara ullaña to see, to look at, to watch, and wi which is a nominalizing suffix to indicate a place, thus "viewpoint".

The common name is Ollagüe. Other alternate names are Oyague, Ollagua and Oyahué.

## Geography and geomorphology

Ollagüe straddles the border between Chile and Bolivia, with most of the edifice lying on the Bolivian side. The Chilean portion lies in the commune of Ollague, in the El Loa province of the Antofagasta Region, while the Bolivian segment lies in the Potosi department. Towns and human sites close to Ollagüe are Amincha, Buenaventura, Cosca, El Chaco, Ollague and Santa Rosa, and the main road of Ollagüe runs along the western foot of the volcano. The mountain reportedly can be climbed from the eastern side. The occurrence of warning signs about minefields has been reported.

### Regional

Ollagüe is part of the Central Volcanic Zone (CVZ), one of the volcanic arcs that exist in the Andes. The Andes have segments with volcanic activity and segments without; volcanic activity occurs only where the angle of subduction is relatively steep. There are four such segments, the Northern Volcanic Zone, the CVZ, the Southern Volcanic Zone and the Austral Volcanic Zone. The subducted part of the plate (slab) loses water as it sinks into the mantle, and this water and other components migrate into the mantle that lies between the subducted plate and the overlying crust (mantle wedge) and cause the formation of melts in the wedge.

The CVZ is located between 16° and 28° southern latitude, on the western margin of South America. At this latitude, 240–300 kilometres (150–190 mi) west of the CVZ, the oceanic Nazca Plate subducts steeply beneath the continental South America Plate in the Peru–Chile Trench. East of the CVZ lies the Altiplano, a plateau with average elevations of 3,800 metres (12,500 ft). The CVZ contains about 1,100 volcanoes of Cenozoic age, including Parinacota, San Pedro and Tata Sabaya. Many volcanoes in the CVZ have summit heights exceeding 5,500 metres (18,000 ft), forming the Occidental Cordillera of the Andes at these latitudes. About 34 of these volcanoes are considered to be active; most of the volcanoes have not received detailed scientific reconnaissance. A notable feature of the volcanoes of the CVZ is that they formed over a fairly thick crust, which reaches a thickness of 70 kilometres (43 mi); as a consequence contamination with crustal material has heavily affected the magmas that formed the volcanoes. The crust is not uniform along the length of the south-central CVZ because the northern segment is of Proterozoic and the southern of Paleozoic age.

The Central Andes formed first during the Paleozoic–Eocene and were worn down by erosion during the Oligocene. The recent volcanic activity started during the Miocene and includes major ignimbrite eruptions of dacitic to rhyolitic composition; such large eruptions began 23 million years ago and caused the formation of calderas like Galán. The total volume of this formation exceeds 10,000 cubic kilometres (2,400 cu mi). Stratovolcanoes also began to form 23 million years ago, although most were constructed in the last 6 million years. They are volumetrically much smaller and were formed by magmas whose composition ranges from basaltic andesite to dacite. Finally, small alkaline volcanic centres are found primarily in the back-arc region and appear to be young. A notable trait of the Central Andes are the long strike-slip faults that extend from the Eastern Cordillera northwest through the Altiplano into the volcanic arc. These include from north to south the Pastos Grandes–Lipez–Coranzuli, Calama–Olacapato–El Toro, Archibarca–Cerro Galan and Chulumpaja–Cerro Negro lineaments. Monogenetic centres are aligned on these faults.

### Local

Ollagüe is a stratovolcano and lies isolated slightly east of the main volcanic arc. The volcano is usually covered with snow, which together with yellow and red colours gives Ollagüe a "beautiful" appearance. Other than some past glacial activity, the arid climate of the Altiplano region has kept erosion rates low, meaning that the volcanic edifice is well preserved. On the other hand, lack of erosion also means that relatively little of its internal structure is exposed.

Ollagüe has two summits, Ollagüe South is 5,868 metres (19,252 ft) high and Ollagüe North 5,863 metres (19,236 ft). Southwest of the summit is the summit crater 300 metres (1,000 ft) below the summit with a narrow opening towards the south, which forms the Quebrada El Azufre. The rim of the crater culminates into 5,868 metres (19,252 ft) high Ollagüe South. The western rim is formed by several lava domes. These lava domes feature landslide deposits and lava flows that emanate from the foot of the dome. Originally they were considered to be a single lava dome, before it was found that the dome is formed by four individual domes. Just north of the summit crater lies another semicircular crater rim which encircles the summit crater on its northern side and whose high point is 5,863 metres (19,236 ft) high Ollagüe North. The northeastern part of the edifice is old and affected by glaciation and the development of gullies, while the southwestern part has experienced younger activity and flank collapses. The volume of the well exposed edifice is about 85 to 91 cubic kilometres (20 to 22 cu mi) covering a surface area of 260 square kilometres (100 sq mi). Ollagüe rises about 2,065 metres (6,775 ft) above the surrounding terrain.

The volcano has a number of adventive vents on its slopes, especially the northwestern and southeastern slope. These include Ch'aska Urqu on the southeastern slope and La Celosa (4,320 metres (14,170 ft); also known as El Ingenio) on the northwestern. They lie at distances of 4–8 kilometres (2.5–5.0 mi) and 1–4 kilometres (0.62–2.49 mi) from the summit vent, respectively. The alignment of these subsidiary vents with the summit vents suggests that a N55°W striking lineament influenced their eruption; such channelling of magma along radial fractures has also been observed on other volcanoes such as Medicine Lake volcano, Mount Mazama and South Sister. A normal fault runs across the main edifice but is not aligned with these adventive vents, and the Pastos Grandes-Lipez-Coranzuli lineament intersects with the volcanic arc at Ollagüe. Fault scarps are found on the northwestern and southeastern side of the edifice. Overall, northwest trending lineaments exercised a strong influence on the tectonic development of Ollagüe, and may be the path that feeder dykes of the more recent eruptions followed. The basement undergoes extension perpendicularly to the lineament.

A 700 metres (2,300 ft) wide phreatomagmatic vent named La Poruñita lies on the western slope, on the deposit formed by the sector collapse. It lies at an elevation of 3,868 metres (12,690 ft), is constructed out of tephra and formed on the sector collapse deposit. Farther up on the edifice, two cinder cones are found just north and west of the highest summit of Ollagüe.

Older volcanic centres around Ollagüe are Cerro Chijliapichina southwest (also known as Cerro Peineta), Cerro Canchajapichina south and Wanaku east of the volcano. These centres are unrelated to Ollagüe and were deeply affected by glaciation. On the eastern foot the Carcote ignimbrite crops out, a 5.9–5.5 million years old ignimbrite that is part of the Altiplano–Puna volcanic complex. These ignimbrites form the basement in much of the region. The Carcote ignimbrite originally formed a plateau that extended around the volcano. Off the western foot of Ollagüe lies a smaller volcanic centre that forms an effusive shield.

The Salar de Ollague is located due north, while the Salar de San Martin lies southwest and Salar de Chiguana northeast of Ollagüe. They are situated at elevations of 3,690–3,694 metres (12,106–12,119 ft). The Salar de San Martin and the Salar de Ascotán farther south form a northwest–southeast trending graben delimited by the same normal fault that crosses the edifice of Ollagüe. A ring plain formed by debris shed from Ollagüe surrounds the volcano.

### Glaciation

Presently, high insolation and evaporation as well as the dry climate prevent the formation of glaciers or the existence of a snow cover. Ollagüe lies in one of the driest regions of South America. Thus, the present-day snowline is higher than the volcano. Underground ice deposits have been found on Ollagüe; presumably they form through evaporation cooling.

Ollagüe has experienced glacial activity. Moraines are found on top of young lava flows and glacial valleys cut into the slopes. On the western side, there are remnants of a moraine girdle, which reaches an elevation of 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) on the southwestern foot of the volcano. Another possibly separate moraine girdle has been reported in the summit region, at elevations of about 5,000 metres (16,000 ft). This moraine is thought to have been formed during the Little Ice Age. The Pleistocene snowline may have occurred at elevations of 5,000 metres (16,000 ft).

### Debris avalanche

A major sector collapse occurred on the western flank of the edifice, with the deposit formed by the collapse extending west from it. Debris from the collapse flowed for 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) into the Salar de San Martin/Salar de Carcote, which slowed down the landslide. Only the distal sector of the collapse deposit is still visible; the parts higher up on the edifice have been buried by more recent lava domes and lava flows. The distal segment is also slightly raised compared to the more proximal parts. The collapse deposit covers a surface area of 100 square kilometres (39 sq mi) and has a hummocky appearance, similar to the collapse deposit formed by the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. The avalanche deposit separates the Salar de San Martin from the Salar de Ollague.

The younger debris avalanche deposit has a volume of about 1 cubic kilometre (0.24 cu mi). It was believed that it occurred about 600,000–400,000 years or 800,000 ± 100,000 years ago, but dating of the andesites cut by the collapse yielded a maximum age of 292,000 ± 25,000 years ago. Later the deposit was covered by lake deposits and debris from the piedmont, and evaporites accumulated in depressions within the deposit. Several lake terraces are set into the avalanche deposit, with the traces of the highstand of Lake Tauca being recognizable; thus the sector collapse predates the highstand.

Andesitic lava bombs on top of the deposit may indicate that an eruption occurred during the collapse. Indeed, pyroclastic materials have been found at the foot of the volcano within the collapse deposit, where they fill small depressions. These materials are formed by several units of pumice and ash, generated by fallout and lava dome collapses.

The sector collapse was probably caused by the edifice oversteepening as it grew, with Ollagüe reaching a critical height before the collapse. Magma pressurization probably triggered the failure, as the remnants of a lava lake in its summit indicate that magma pressure in the edifice was high at the time of the collapse. Conversely, hydrothermal alteration – which tends to weaken the stability of a volcanic edifice – was not involved in the onset of instability. The northwest–southeast cutting fault probably additionally destabilized the edifice, allowing it to fail into a southwestern direction. A previous southwesterly tilt of the basement also assisted in focusing the failure into that direction.

The sector collapse formed a 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) wide collapse scar on the upper western flank, although the summit itself was probably unaffected. This scar however was later filled by subsequent volcanic activity and modified by glaciation and is thus not conclusively identifiable.

Two old sector collapses occurred during the older stages of volcanic activity. Their collapse scars are noticeable on the southeastern-southern and northwestern areas of the summit. The first is 400 metres (1,300 ft) high and 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) long, the second 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) long and many 10 metres (33 ft) high. Hydrothermally altered breccia with block sizes of several 0.1–1 metre (3.9 in – 3 ft 3.4 in) from the first collapse fills a valley on the western slope of the volcano. Compared to the younger collapse, they are much narrower and have a highly unusual rectilinear form. These collapses occurred about 450,000 years ago along the strike of a normal fault that cuts across Ollagüe. Like in the young collapse, the summit was unaffected. The lava domes that form the western rim of the summit crater have been subject to smaller sector collapses as well.

## Composition

Ollagüe has erupted rocks ranging from basaltic andesite to dacite. Blobs of basaltic andesite are found in all rocks from the volcano; they probably formed when mafic magma was quenched by colder felsic magma. The andesites and dacites are relatively rich in crystals. Phenocrysts in the main andesite-dacite series include amphibole, apatite, biotite, clinopyroxene, ilmenite, magnetite, orthopyroxene, plagioclase and rarely olivine, quartz and zircon. The more acidic rocks also contain rare sphene. Some of the phenocrysts are surrounded by reaction rims, suggesting that they were not in chemical equilibrium with surrounding magma. Cumulates of phenocrysts indicate their formation during the magma differentiation process.

Overall, the composition of Ollagüe's rocks fits into a high-potassium calc-alkaline series. Gabbroic clots embedded in the lavas probably formed from cumulates. Xenocrysts with large reaction rims testify to a strong crustal contamination of the forming magma.

Areas of hydrothermal alteration are found on Ollagüe, including in the summit crater, on its northeastern and northwestern rim and low on the northwestern slope. Alunite, gypsum and sulfur were formed by the alteration on the summit and the northwestern slope, and chalcedony, clay, kaolinite and opal are found as well.

The overall magma temperatures ranged 825–1,000 °C (1,517–1,832 °F) for the andesitic and dacitic magmas and 1,010–1,060 °C (1,850–1,940 °F) in the basaltic andesite. The magmas became cooler over time, with the post-collapse magmas being colder than the pre-collapse eruptive products. Variations in temperature between the outside and the inside of phenocrysts suggest that the magma chamber of Ollagüe was occasionally reheated by fresh magmas. Water contents of the main edifice magmas range 3-5% by weight; in the Ch'aska Urqu and La Celosa magmas the water content is less well determined, but is comparable to that of the main edifice magmas. Later research, however, has raised questions about the reliability of the method used to determine water content in magma, which may have been lower than 3–5%.

Element compositions match those of other volcanoes in the CVZ. Ollagüe magmas did not exclusively form from fractional crystallization; magma mixing and crustal contamination contributed to the formation of the magmas although it is not easy to determine what the composition of contaminants was. Probably, it was in part hydrothermally altered upper crustal rock, and in part Miocene age ignimbrites that crop out close to the volcano in Bolivia. Crystal fractionation with some minor contamination by crustal components is probably the most satisfactory explanation for the magma chemistry of Ollagüe. It is however difficult to tell the relative importance of contamination vs. assimilation.

The composition data indicate that Ollagüe was underpinned by a large magma chamber that was the source of the main edifice building andesite magmas. In this main magma chamber, differentiation processes generated the andesitic and dacitic magmas from basaltic andesite. The chamber itself was chemically zoned. Episodically, new mafic magmas were injected into the magma chamber from below. Subsidiary magma chambers which developed beneath the northwestern and southeastern flank gave rise to the La Celosa and Ch'aska Urqu volcanic centres, respectively. These subsidiary pathways also allowed basaltic andesite magmas to ascend to the surface; the main magma chamber would have intercepted any mafic magmas ascending into the central vent as such mafic magmas are denser. The walls of the magma chamber were also affected by strong hydrothermal alteration processes, with weaker alteration also occurring in the walls of the subsidiary magma chambers. La Poruñita was probably formed by magmas from the floor of the main magma chamber, or from the magma that enters the magma chamber from below; it had already undergone some crustal contamination in the depths of the crust when it erupted.

## Fumarolic activity

A major fumarole is active on the summit of the volcano, its plume reaching heights of 100 metres (330 ft). It is strong enough that it can be seen on the ground from over 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away. The vent of the fumarole lies in the summit lava domes, more specifically in a 200 metres (660 ft) high and 350 metres (1,150 ft) wide collapse scar in the southeasternmost lava dome of the compound summit lava dome. Other volcanoes in the area with fumarolic activity include San Pedro and Putana.

Fumarole temperatures appear to be so low (less than 100 °C (212 °F)) that in 1989 the exhalations could not be detected in the Thematic Mapper infrared band of the Landsat satellite even during night. More recent satellite observations have shown the existence of hotspots with temperature anomalies of about 5 K (9.0 °F); the relatively poor visibility of the hotspots in satellite images contrasts with the good visibility of the fumarole from the ground and may reflect the relatively small surface area of the hotspots, which makes them difficult to isolate in satellite images.

Fumarolic gases are made up primarily by SO
<sub>2</sub> and H
<sub>2</sub>O; CO
<sub>2</sub> is a subordinate component. The amounts of SO
<sub>2</sub> released have been measured; quantities vary but in December 2013 appeared to be about 150 ± 162 tonnes per day (1.74 ± 1.88 kg/s).

## Eruption history

Not many radiometric dates have been obtained on Ollagüe. Most dates are younger than one million years. One proposed timeline subdivides the volcano into three stages: Ollagüe I between 1.2 million and 900,000 years ago, Ollagüe II 900,000–600,000 years ago and Ollagüe III 400,000 years ago to present. La Poruñita, once considered of Holocene age, has been dated at 680,000 ± 200,000 to 420,000 ± 200,000 years ago; it is also not clear if it belongs to the Ollagüe volcanic system. Magma output during the history of the volcano is about 0.09 cubic kilometres per millennium (0.0029 m<sup>3</sup>/s).

### Vinta Loma and Santa Rosa

The oldest stage of activity is known as Vinta Loma and formed the bulk of the volcanic edifice, especially on the eastern side and in the summit area. During this stage, lava flows and some pyroclastic flows were erupted from a central vent. The pyroclastic flows are exposed as a 60 metres (200 ft) thick sequence in a cirque close to the summit and reflect the occurrence of Plinian eruptions during this stage of volcanic activity. The Vinta Loma series is subdivided into two groups separated by an unconformity, which are dated to 870,000 ± 80,000–641,000 ± 9,000 and 910,000 ± 170,000–1,230,000 ± 80,000 years ago respectively. The Vinta Loma series more recently was partitioned into two series, Vinta Loma proper and the younger Santa Rosa. Two summit crater rims and sector collapses formed during these stages. The northern summit cinder/scoria cone and some lateral lava flows have been assigned to the Santa Rosa series.

Lava flows from these stages have gray colours and rocky appearance which sometimes appears like it is covered by plates, with flow folds and some breccia. Their thicknesses and widths range 20–90 metres (66–295 ft), increasing on gentler slopes. Especially on the upper slopes, old colluvium conceals the surface of Vinta Loma lava flows. The texture of the lavas ranges from porphyritic to seriate. Two-pyroxene andesite is the dominant component but dacite has been found as well.

The Vinta Loma edifice developed on top of an older fault. During the progression of volcanism the fault itself progressively propagated up and across the edifice and caused the southwest sector of the volcano to subside, without changes in volcanic activity. Eventually, the subsidence prevented lava flows of the Santa Rosa series from flowing northeast across the fault trace. Then, the two older sector collapses occurred on the southwestern sides of the fault.

### Ch'aska Urqu, El Azufre and La Celosa series

Later the Ch'aska Urqu stage was erupted on top of Vinta Loma deposits through radial vents on the southeastern flank. This stage is named after the 300 metres (980 ft) high Ch'aska Urqu lava dome on the southeastern flank. The stage generated lava flows, lava domes and coulees with compositions ranging from basaltic andesite to dacite, the former forming the base of the stage and the andesites and dacites being deposited above it. These basaltic andesites form 1–2 metres (3 ft 3 in – 6 ft 7 in) thick grey coloured lava flows and a 20 metres (66 ft) thick plate-covered flow on top of the smaller ones.

About 10 lava andesitic-dacitic domes and coulees were erupted on top of the basaltic andesite lava flows. They are short and have steep slopes, often ending with scree at the front. On the foot of the volcano they sometimes developed pressure ridges, and a 80 metres (260 ft) deep cleft in Ch'aska Urqu may have formed when the dome spread laterally during its formation. As with Vinta Loma lavas, the upper parts of the coulees are covered with thin colluvium.

Simultaneously, another dacitic lava dome stage occurred on the northwestern flank, forming the La Celosa lava dome-coulee complex. Its age has been controversial, with it being first associated with the youngest post collapse stages through argon–argon dating; then with the oldest stages of volcanic activity. Eventually potassium-argon dating yielded an age of 507,000 ± 14,000 years ago. Two other dates obtained from northern lava domes are 450,000 ± 100,000 and 340,000 ± 150,000 years ago. It has a lobate appearance, and similar to the Ch'aska Urqu dome a 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) wide rift cuts through the dome. The La Celosa complex was erupted from two separate vents, and owing to its low altitude it has not been affected by glaciation.

The andesites and dacites are of grey to light grey colour respectively, with porphyritic to vitrophyric textures. In this stage, dacites are more common than in the Vinta Loma deposits. Basaltic andesite contains olivine, while the dacites tend to contain more amphibole and biotite. There is a tendency of silicic acid contents to increase in the upper parts of the exposure.

Later evidence has indicated that some lava flows were erupted from the summit during the Ch'aska Urqu stage. Also, a structure interpreted as a former lava lake formed close to the summit during this time. The lava lake-like structure itself is undated; one of the lava flows was dated 410,000 ± 80,000 years ago and the southern summit cinder cone is 292,000 ± 25,000 years old. This series is known as El Azufre. The El Azufre series was emplaced within a sector collapse, a collapse which generated pyroclastic deposits in the Poroto section of the southwestern flank.

### Post-collapse and Santa Cecilia series

The principal sector collapse occurred after the Ch'aska Urqu stage. It was followed by the eruption of andesitic lava flows and the compound lava dome in the summit region, all focused into the collapse scar; this focusing is a phenomenon noted at other volcanoes which underwent flank collapses such as Planchón-Peteroa. This formation has been named the Santa Cecilia series. The compound summit lava dome probably fills the collapse scar but young lavas and glacial erosion make this assessment difficult. Dates obtained on the summit lava domes range from 220,000 ± 50,000 years ago to 130,000 ± 40,000 years ago. The youngest date was obtained on the youngest dome and shows an age of 65,000 years ago. Tephras identified in the Salar Grande close to the Pacific coast and dated to be less than 330,000 years old may come from Ollagüe or Irruputuncu.

The lava flows are best exposed on the western flank and have a grey colour. They display levees and pressure ridges and appear to be younger than the Ch'aska Urqu flows. They originate at elevations of 4,800 metres (15,700 ft) and extend over distances of 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi). The summit lava dome has a volume of 0.35 cubic kilometres (0.084 cu mi); blocks with sizes of up to 10 metres (33 ft) were formed by landslides during its growth. Later research has shown that the summit lava dome is actually formed by several separate lava domes that extend southeast along a feeder fissure and become younger to the southeast. The foot of the compound dome is formed by scree-like breccia deposits.

Compositionally, the post-collapse magmas appear to fit into two distinct groups. Older flows are dominated by pyroxene with only small quantities of amphibole and biotite. Younger shorter flows farther up on the edifice and the summit lava dome conversely contain relatively large quantities of amphibole and biotite.

### Recent activity and hazards

The post-collapse lava flows have been affected by glacial activity, indicating that eruptive activity ceased before the end of the last glacial stage; thus the volcano was largely constructed in pre-Holocene times. However, a 300 metres (980 ft) long and 150 metres (490 ft) wide lava flow extending from the youngest summit lava dome appears to post-date glaciation, and the dome itself is also unmodified.

An uncertain report of an eruption on 3 December 1903 exists, as well as on 8 October 1927. Increased fumarolic activity was observed in 1854, 1888, 1889, and 1960. Substantial earthquake activity occurs at Ollagüe in a diffuse pattern around the volcano, sometimes in the form of seismic swarms.

The volcano is considered to be potentially active because of the fumarolic activity, and SERNAGEOMIN publishes a volcano hazard index for Ollagüe. A seismometer array was deployed in 2010–2011. Future eruptions of Ollagüe may threaten the town of Ollague 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) away and the highway .

## Sulfur mining and processing

Sulfur deposits on Ollague and neighbouring Aucanquilcha have been mined, with the Santa Cecilia mine located on the northwestern rim and the Santa Rosa mine in the centre of the crater. In 1990, it was estimated that 3,000,000 tonnes (3,000,000 long tons; 3,300,000 short tons) of sulfur can be mined at the Santa Rosa mine. According to a report in 1894, fumes released from sulfur beds on the volcano can incapacitate a man in seconds, making ascents difficult.

Large-scale exploitation of natural resources in the area commenced in the late 19th century, when after the Saltpeter War Chile acquired the territories, began to exploit them and capitalism and industrialization came to the region. A private company, Luis Borlando, began to mine sulfur on Ollagüe in response to demand by the saltpeter and copper industries. Mining was still underway in 1988 but eventually ceased in the 1990s as fluctuations in the global markets and the inability of the Chilean sulfur industry to compete on global markets forced its decline. Only after the cessation of mining did the Chilean government become active in the area and set up the infrastructure of the town of Ollague.

A road reaching up to an altitude of 5,500 metres (18,000 ft) leads to the western and southern mines. Sulfur was transported through an aerial tramway, which had replaced llamas. A reduction plant with autoclaves is also found at Ollagüe, it was the first such plant in Chile, while south of the town a mining camp was set up at Buenaventura. Worker camps and railway stations, part of the Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia railway between Bolivia and Chile, completed the infrastructure.

Mining activity at Ollagüe is mostly documented by many technical reports and by local oral tradition. Presently, much of the infrastructure is in ruins and is the backdrop of a past interplay between migration, modernization and economic activity. Some of the sites were dismantled, others were left with virtually all their equipment. Since 2015, an investigation project has been running in the town of Ollagüe to record and preserve the history of sulfur mining and industrialization in the region.

Sulfur mining was mostly carried out by an indigenous workforce, as other people are not adapted to the extreme conditions at high altitudes (cold, hypoxia, intense winds) and thus unable to perform the work. The harsh climate and precarious social status of this workforce conditioned work at Ollagüe, where sulfur mining and processing occurred under unique conditions. Contemporary references to working conditions are ambiguous, as there were both concerns about the working conditions in newspapers of the 1930s and the impact that working conditions could have on economic productivity. There was a high turnover in the workforce, which came to a large degree from Bolivia to the point that the Bolivian government curtailed it in 1925, triggering a decline in the Chilean sulfur industry.

## See also

- Aucanquilcha
- Olca
- List of volcanoes in Bolivia
- List of volcanoes in Chile

Stratovolcano in Bolivia and Chile

International mountains of South America


George Moore (novelist)

George Augustus Moore (24 February 1852 – 21 January 1933) was an Irish novelist, short-story writer, poet, art critic, memoirist and dramatist. Moore came from a Roman Catholic landed family who lived at Moore Hall in Carra, County Mayo. He originally wanted to be a painter, and studied art in Paris during the 1870s. There, he befriended many of the leading French artists and writers of the day.

As a naturalistic writer, he was amongst the first English-language authors to absorb the lessons of the French realists, and was particularly influenced by the works of Émile Zola. His writings influenced James Joyce, according to the literary critic and biographer Richard Ellmann, and, although Moore's work is sometimes seen as outside the mainstream of both Irish and British literature, he is as often regarded as the first great modern Irish novelist.

## Life

### Family origins

George Moore's family had lived in Moore Hall, near Lough Carra, County Mayo, for almost a century. The house was built by his paternal great-grandfather—also called George Moore—who had made his fortune as a wine merchant in Alicante. The novelist's grandfather—another George—was a friend of Maria Edgeworth, and author of An Historical Memoir of the French Revolution. His great-uncle, John Moore, was president of the Province of Connacht in the short-lived Irish Republic of 1798 during the Irish Rebellion of 1798.

George Moore's father, George Henry Moore, sold his stable and hunting interests during the Great Irish Famine, and from 1847 to 1857 served as an Independent Member of Parliament (MP) for Mayo in the British House of Commons. George Henry was renowned as a fair landlord, fought to uphold the rights of tenants, and was a founder of the Catholic Defence Association. His estate consisted of 5000 ha (50 km2) in Mayo, with a further 40 ha in County Roscommon.

### Early life

Moore was born in Moore Hall in 1852. As a child, he enjoyed the novels of Walter Scott, which his father read to him. He spent a good deal of time outdoors with his brother, Maurice George Moore, and also became friendly with the young Willie and Oscar Wilde, who spent their summer holidays at nearby Moytura. Oscar was to later quip of Moore: "He conducts his education in public".

His father had again turned his attention to horse breeding and in 1861 brought his champion horse, Croagh Patrick, to England for a successful racing season, together with his wife and nine-year-old son. For a while, George was left at Cliff's stables until his father decided to send him to his alma mater facilitated by his winnings. Moore's formal education started at St. Mary's College, Oscott, a Catholic boarding school near Birmingham, where he was the youngest of 150 boys. He spent all of 1864 at home, having contracted a lung infection brought about by a breakdown in his health. His academic performance was poor while he was hungry and unhappy. In January 1865, he returned to St. Mary's College with his brother Maurice, where he refused to study as instructed and spent time reading novels and poems. That December the principal, Spencer Northcote, wrote a report that: "he hardly knew what to say about George." By the summer of 1867, he was expelled, for (in his own words) 'idleness and general worthlessness', and returned to Mayo. His father once remarked, about George and his brother Maurice: "I fear those two redheaded boys are stupid", an observation which proved untrue for all four sons.

### London and Paris

In 1868, Moore's father was again elected MP for Mayo and the family moved to London the following year. Here, Moore senior tried, unsuccessfully, to have his son follow a career in the military though, prior to this, he attended the School of Art in the South Kensington Museum where his achievements were no better. He was freed from any burden of education when his father died in 1870. Moore, though still a minor, inherited the family estate that generated a yearly income of £3,596. He handed the estate over to his brother Maurice to manage and in 1873, on attaining his majority, moved to Paris to study art. It took him several attempts to find an artist who would accept him as a pupil. Rodolphe Julian, who had previously been a shepherd and circus masked man, took him on for 40 francs a month. At Académie Julian he met Louis Welden Hawkins who became Moore's flatmate and whose trait, as a failed artist, shows up in Moore's own characters. He met many of the key artists and writers of the time, including Pissarro, Degas, Renoir, Monet, Daudet, Mallarmé, Turgenev and, above all, Zola, who was to prove an influential figure in Moore's subsequent development as a writer.

While still in Paris his first book, a collection of lyric poems called The Flowers of Passion, was self-published in 1877. The poems were derivative, and were maliciously reviewed by the critics who were offended by some of the depravities in store for moralistic readers. The book was withdrawn by Moore. He was forced to return to Ireland in 1880 to raise £3,000 to pay debts incurred on the family estate, owing to his tenants refusing to pay their rent and the drop in agricultural prices. During his time back in Mayo, he gained a reputation as a fair landlord, continuing the family tradition of not evicting tenants and refusing to carry firearms when travelling round the estate. While in Ireland, he decided to abandon art and move to London to become a professional writer. There he published his second poetry collection, Pagan Poems, in 1881. These early poems reflect his interest in French symbolism and are now almost entirely neglected. In 1886 Moore published Confessions of a Young Man, a lively memoir about his 20s spent in Paris and London among bohemian artists. It contains a substantial amount of literary criticism for which it has received a fair amount of praise, for instance The Modern Library chose it in 1917 to be included in the series as "one of the most significant documents of the passionate revolt of English literature against the Victorian tradition."

### Controversy in England

During the 1880s, Moore began work on a series of novels in a realist style. His first novel, A Modern Lover (1883) was a three-volume work, as preferred by the circulating libraries, and deals with the art scene of the 1870s and 1880s in which many characters are identifiably real. The circulating libraries in England banned the book because of its explicit portrayal of the amorous pursuits of its hero. At this time the British circulating libraries, such as Mudie's Select Library, controlled the market for fiction, and the fee-paying public expected them to guarantee the morality of the novels provided. His next realist novel, A Mummers Wife (1885) was also regarded as unsuitable by Mudie's, and W H Smith refused to stock it on their news-stalls. Despite this, during its first year of publication the book went through fourteen editions, mainly because of the publicity stirred up by its opponents. The French newspaper Le Voltaire published it in serial form as La Femme du cabotin in July–October 1886. His next novel, A Drama in Muslin was again banned by Mudie's and Smith's. In response Moore declared war on the circulating libraries by publishing two provocative pamphlets; Literature at Nurse and Circulating Morals. In these, he complained that the libraries profit from salacious popular fiction while refusing to stock serious literary fiction.

Moore's publisher Henry Vizetelly began to issue unabridged mass-market translations of French realist novels that endangered the moral and commercial influence of the circulating libraries around this time. In 1888, the circulating libraries fought back by encouraging the House of Commons to implement laws to stop "the rapid spread of demoralising literature in this country". Vizetelly was brought to court by the National Vigilance Association (NVA) for "obscene libel". The charge arose from the publication of the English translation of Zola's La Terre. A second case was brought the following year to force implementation of the original judgement and to remove all of Zola's works. This led to the 70-year-old publisher becoming involved in the literary cause. Throughout Moore supported the avant garde publisher, and on 22 September 1888, about a month before the trial, wrote a letter that appeared in the St. James Gazette. In it Moore suggested that, rather than a jury of twelve tradesmen, Vizatelly should be judged by three novelists. Moore pointed out that such celebrated books as Madame Bovary and Gautier's Mademoiselle de Maupin had morals equivalent to Zola's, though their literary merits might differ.

Because of his willingness to tackle such issues as prostitution, extramarital sex, and lesbianism, Moore's novels were initially met with scandal, but this subsided as the public's taste for realist fiction grew. Moore began to find success as an art critic with the publication of books such as Impressions and Opinions (1891) and Modern Painting (1893), the first significant attempt to introduce the Impressionists to an English audience. By this time Moore was first able to live from the proceeds of his literary work.

Other realist novels by Moore from this period include A Drama in Muslin (1886), a satiric story of the marriage trade in Anglo-Irish society that hints at same-sex relationships among the unmarried daughters of the gentry, and Esther Waters (1894), the story of an unmarried housemaid who becomes pregnant and is abandoned by her footman lover. Both of these books have remained almost constantly in print since their first publication. His 1887 novel A Mere Accident is an attempt to merge his symbolist and realist influences. He also published a collection of short stories: Celibates (1895).

### Dublin and the Celtic Revival

In 1901, Moore returned to Dublin at the suggestion of his cousin and friend, Edward Martyn. Martyn had been involved in Ireland's cultural and dramatic movements for some years, and was working with Lady Gregory and William Butler Yeats to establish the Irish Literary Theatre. Moore soon became deeply involved in this project and in the broader Irish Literary Revival. He had already written a play, The Strike at Arlingford (1893), which was produced by the Independent Theatre. The play was the result of a challenge between Moore and George Robert Sims over Moore's criticism of all contemporary playwrights in Impressions and Opinions. Moore won the one hundred pound bet made by Sims for a stall to witness an "unconventional" play by Moore, though Moore insisted the word "unconventional" be excised.

The Irish Literary Theatre staged his satirical comedy The Bending of the Bough (1900), adapted from Martyn's The Tale of a Town, originally rejected by the theatre but unselfishly given to Moore for revision, and Martyn's Maeve. Staged by the company which would later become the Abbey Theatre, The Bending of the Bough was a historically important play and introduced realism into Irish literature. Lady Gregory wrote that it: "hits impartially all round". The play was a satire on Irish political life, and as it was unexpectedly nationalist, was considered the first to deal with a vital question that had appeared in Irish life. Diarmuid and Grania, a poetic play in prose co-written with Yeats in 1901, was also staged by the theatre, with incidental music by Elgar. After this production Moore took up pamphleteering on behalf of the Abbey, and parted company with the dramatic movement.

Moore published two books of prose fiction set in Ireland around this time; a second book of short stories, The Untilled Field (1903) and a novel, The Lake (1905). The Untilled Field deals with clerical interference in the daily lives of the Irish peasantry, and of the issue of emigration. The stories were originally written for translation into Irish, to serve as models for other writers working in the language. Three of the translations were published in the New Ireland Review, but publication was then paused because of their perceived anti-clerical sentiment. In 1902 the entire collection was translated by Tadhg Ó Donnchadha and Pádraig Ó Súilleabháin, and published in a parallel-text edition by the Gaelic League as An-tÚr-Ghort. Moore later revised the texts for the English edition. These stories were influenced by Turgenev's A Sportsman's Sketches, a book recommended to Moore by W. K. Magee, a sub-librarian of the National Library of Ireland, who had earlier suggested that Moore "was best suited to become Ireland's Turgenev". The tales are recognised by some as representing the birth of the Irish short story as a literary genre.

In 1903, following a disagreement with his brother Maurice over the religious upbringing of his nephews, Moore declared himself to be Protestant. His conversion was announced in a letter to the Irish Times newspaper. Moore remained in Dublin until 1911. In 1914, he published Hail and Farewell, a gossipy three-volume memoir of his time there, which entertained readers but infuriated former friends. Moore quipped, "Dublin is now divided into two sets; one half is afraid it will be in the book, and the other is afraid that it won't".

In his later years he was increasingly friendless, having quarrelled bitterly with Yeats and Osborn Bergin, among others: Oliver St. John Gogarty said: "It was impossible to be a friend of his, because he was incapable of gratitude".

### Later life

Moore returned to London in 1911, where, with the exception of frequent trips to France, he was to spend much of the rest of his life. In 1913, he travelled to Jerusalem to research his next novel, The Brook Kerith (1916). Moore once again courted controversy, as the story was based on the supposition that a non-divine Christ did not die on the cross but instead was nursed back to health and repented of his pride in declaring himself Son of God. Other books from this period include a further collection of short-stories called A Storyteller's Holiday (1918), a collection of essays called Conversations in Ebury Street (1924) and a play, The Making of an Immortal (1927). Moore also spent considerable time revising and preparing his earlier writings for new editions.

Partly because of his brother Maurice's pro-treaty activity, Moore Hall was burnt by anti-treaty partisans in 1923, during the final months of the Irish Civil War. Moore eventually received compensation of £7,000 from the government of the Irish Free State. By this time the brothers had become estranged, mainly because of George's unflattering portrait of Maurice in Hail and Farewell. Tension also arose from their religious differences: Maurice frequently made donations to the Roman Catholic Church from estate funds. George later sold a large part of the estate to the Irish Land Commission for £25,000.

Moore was friendly with many members of the expatriate artistic communities in London and Paris, and had a long-lasting relationship with Maud, Lady Cunard. Moore took a special interest in the education of Maud's daughter, the well-known publisher and art patron, Nancy Cunard. It has been suggested that Moore, rather than Maud's husband, Sir Bache Cunard, was Nancy's father, but this is not generally credited by historians, and it is not certain that Moore's relationship with Nancy's mother was ever more than platonic. Moore's last novel, Aphrodite in Aulis, was published in 1930.

He died at his address of 121 Ebury Street in the London district of Belgravia in early 1933, leaving a fortune of £70,000. He was cremated in London at a service attended by Ramsay MacDonald among others. An urn containing his ashes was interred on Castle Island in Lough Carra in view of the ruins of Moore Hall. A blue plaque commemorates his residency at his London home.

## Works

- Flowers of Passion London: Provost & Company, 1878
- Martin Luther: A Tragedy in Five Acts London: Remington & Company, 1879
- Pagan Poems London: Newman & Company, 1881
- A Modern Lover London: Tinsley Brothers, 1883
- A Mummer's Wife London: Vizetelly & Company, 1885
- Literature at Nurse London: Vizetelly & Company, 1885
- A Drama in Muslin London: Vizetelly & Company, 1886
- A Mere Accident London: Vizetelly & Company, 1887
- Parnell and His Island London: Swan Sonnenshein Lowrey & Company, 1887
- Confessions of a Young Man London: Swan Sonnenshein Lowrey & Company, 1888
- Spring Days London: Vizetelly & Company, 1888
- Mike Fletcher London: Ward & Downey, 1889
- Impressions and Opinions London: David Nutt, 1891
- Vain Fortune London: Henry & Company, 1891
- Modern Painting London: Walter Scott, 1893
- The Strike at Arlingford London: Walter Scott, 1893
- Esther Waters London: Walter Scott, 1894
- Celibates London: Walter Scott, 1895
- Evelyn Innes London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1898
- The Bending of the Bough London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1900
- Sister Teresa London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1901
- The Untilled Field London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1903
- The Lake London: William Heinemann, 1905
- Memoirs of My Dead Life London: William Heinemann, 1906
- The Apostle: A Drama in Three Acts Dublin: Maunsel & Company, 1911
- Hail and Farewell London: William Heinemann, 1911, 1912, 1914
- Elizabeth Cooper Dublin: Maunsel & Company, 1913
- Muslin London: William Heinemann, 1915
- The Brook Kerith: A Syrian Story London: T. Warner Laurie, 1916
- Lewis Seymour and Some Women London: William Heinemann, 1917 (reworking of A Modern Lover)
- A Story-Teller's Holiday London: Cumann Sean-eolais na hÉireann (privately printed), 1918
- Avowals London: Cumann Sean-eolais na hÉireann (privately printed), 1919
- The Coming of Gabrielle London: Cumann Sean-eolais na hÉireann (privately printed), 1920
- Heloise and Abelard London: Cumann Sean-eolais na hÉireann (privately printed), 1921
- In Single Strictness London: William Heinemann, 1922
- Conversations in Ebury Street London: William Heinemann, 1924
- Pure Poetry: An Anthology London: Nonesuch Press, 1924
- The Pastoral Loves of Daphnis and Chloe London: William Heinemann, 1924
- Daphnis and Chloe, Peronnik the Fool New York: Boni & Liveright, 1924
- Ulick and Soracha London: Nonesuch Press, 1926
- Celibate Lives London: William Heinemann, 1927 (reworking of Celibates including the short story "Albert Nobbs" from A Story-Teller's Holiday, which was made into a film starring Glenn Close in 2011.)
- The Making of an Immortal New York: Bowling Green Press, 1927
- The Passing of the Essenes: A Drama in Three Acts London: William Heinemann, 1930
- Aphrodite in Aulis New York: Fountain Press, 1930
- The Talking Pine Paris: The Hours Press, 1931
- A Communication to My Friends London: Nonesuch Press, 1933
- Diarmuid and Grania: A Play in Three Acts Co-written with W. B. Yeats, Edited by Anthony Farrow, Chicago: De Paul, 1974

Letters

- Moore Versus Harris Detroit: privately printed, 1921
- Letters from George Moore to Ed. Dujardin 1886-1922 New York: Crosby Gaige, 1929
- Letters of George Moore Bournemouth: Sydenham, 1942
- GM: Memories of George Moore by Nancy Cunard. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1956
- Letters to Lady Cunard Ed. Rupert Hart-Davis. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1957
- George Moore in Transition Ed. Helmut E. Gerber, Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1968

19th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights

20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights


Drakengard

Drakengard, known in Japan as is a series of action role-playing video games created by Yoko Taro. The eponymous first game in the series was released in 2003 on the PlayStation 2, and has since been followed by a sequel, a prequel and several spin-offs. A spin-off series titled Nier, taking place in an alternative timeline set after a different ending to the first Drakengard than the one 2005's Drakengard 2 followed, was started in 2010 with the eponymous game. Yoko directed every game in both series, with the exception of Drakengard 2 in which he only had minor involvement.

The stories of both Drakengard and Nier generally focus on the fortunes and personalities of a small group of protagonists either directly or indirectly connected to and affected by the events of the story. Dark or mature plot and character themes and multiple endings have become a staple of the series. The setting of the Drakengard games is a Northern Europe-like dark fantasy world where humans and creatures from myth and legends live side by side, while the Nier games are set in the distant future of a different ending to the first Drakengard from the one Drakengard 2 follows, leading to 2017's Nier: Automata taking place in a much different, post-apocalyptic science fiction setting. Both series have been largely praised for their complex characters and storylines, although the practical gameplay of the Drakengard games has been criticized.

Both Drakengard and the original Nier were long considered popular in Japan, selling well and gaining a cult following, and resulting in multiple adaptations and additional media such as books (including several novelizations), manga, comics, and a stage play. They remained little-known outside of Japan until the 2017 release of Nier: Automata, which was a worldwide commercial and critical hit and led to an increase in interest from western countries, resulting in a remaster of the original Nier, subtitled Replicant ver.1.22474487139..., being released in 2021 to larger attention and substantially better sales than the original.

## Games

- Drakengard, the first installment in the franchise. It released for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) in September 2003 in Japan, March and May 2004 in North America and Europe respectively. Square Enix published the title in Japan and North America, while Take-Two Interactive published it in European territories. A Europe-exclusive mobile port was released in August 2004. The mobile version was co-developed and co-published with Macrospace.
  - Drakengard 2, the second installment in the series and direct sequel to the first game. It released on the PS2 in June 2005 in Japan, February 2006 in North America and March of the same year in Europe and Australia. For its release in western territories, Square Enix partnered with European game developer and publisher Ubisoft. Ubisoft also handled the game's localization.
  - Drakengard 3, the third main installment in the series and a prequel to the first game. It released on the PS3 in December 2013 in Japan and May 2014 in North America and Europe. Like Nier, it was published in all regions by Square Enix.
- Nier, a spin-off from the main series stemming from the last of Drakengards five possible endings. Nier was released on the PlayStation 3 (PS3) and Xbox 360 (as Nier Replicant in Japan for PS3 only, Nier Gestalt in Japan for Xbox 360, and Nier in North America and Europe) in April 2010 across all regions. It was published by Square Enix across all regions. An updated version titled Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139... was released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows in April 2021.
  - Nier: Automata, a distant sequel to Nier, set in the same universe but thousands of years in the future. It was released for PlayStation 4 in February 2017, Microsoft Windows in March 2017, Xbox One in June 2018, and Nintendo Switch October 2022.
  - Nier Reincarnation''', a spin-off title for mobile platforms, set in the Nier universe but disconnected from the other titles as it takes place in a pocket dimension called the Cage. It was released for Android and iOS in February 2021.

## Development

### History

The idea for Drakengard originated in 1999 between Takamasa Shiba and Takuya Iwasaki. The gameplay was conceived as a blend of elements from Ace Combat and Dynasty Warriors 2. The team developing the game went under the moniker "Project Dragonsphere". The game was developed by Cavia and directed by Yoko Taro, who was the main drive behind the game's dark atmosphere. It was Shiba's first project as a producer. As Yoko was told there would not be a sequel, multiple endings were created. When it was localized and released in the west, references to things such as sexual taboos were censored. In addition, the title was changed, as Drag-On Dragoon was considered wrong for a western audience. Drakengard was considered enough of a success that a sequel was commissioned. Multiple staff members returned for the creation of the second game, although Yoko was mostly tied up with other projects and was replaced as director by Akira Yasui. Yoko still had a role in development, and he and Yasui had creative clashes during development. Yasui ended up making Drakengard 2 the thematic opposite of the previous game, employing a lighter tone and broader color palette.

Nier originated when Yoko and Shiba teamed up to create a third Drakengard game. As the project continued, it became more detached from the main continuity and eventually developed into an entirely new spin-off. Despite what it became, Yoko has stated that he considers Nier to be the true Drakengard 3. It was the last game developed by Cavia. After its release, Cavia closed down and was absorbed by AQ Interactive, then Yoko Taro left to pursue a wider range of projects. A stalled attempt to begin production of further games in the series at AQ Interactive was blamed by Shiba on a prevalent trend at the time for light-weight games for the general gaming community. Later, Yoko and Shiba came together again to create a proper second sequel to Drakengard, with the intention of creating a hard core RPG for the fanbase. Unlike the previous games in the series, Drakengard 3 was developed by Access Games, a developer whose noted games included Deadly Premonition, and brought in team members used to create action games. During the run-up to Drakengard 3's release, both Yoko and Shiba expressed their willingness to continue the series on the PlayStation 4 if the latest game was enough of a success. Speaking in 2014 after the game's release, Yoko stated that the series was on hold due to lack of funds. A new Nier game was revealed to be in development at Square Enix and PlatinumGames.

### Writing and character design

The stories of the original game's characters were written by Yoko, Shiba and Iwasaki, while the main game script was written by Sawako Natori, who would go on to co-write the main scenarios for future Drakengard games. Yoko designed the darker elements to both contrast and actively compete with the likes of Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. Yoko conceived the "insane" characters around the premise that people who killed hundreds of people in pursuit of their goals and took satisfaction from it were naturally insane. During the production of Nier, his focus changed to writing a story where everyone believed they were in the right whatever their actions. Through the series, Yoko has also been attempting to answer the question of why people are driven to kill. Although some of the dark narrative themes were kept for Drakengard 2, many of the other narrative elements were made more mainstream.

`Drakengard 3 was intended to return to a dark aesthetic, but also to include moments of humor and tie in with Nier.`

The character designer for the Drakengard games is Kimihiko Fujisaka. Initially a minor staff member at Cavia, the team were impressed by his skill as an amateur artist and he was recommended for the post of character designer for the game. The designs for both the characters and the world were influenced by armor and clothing of Medieval Europe. He returned in the same capacity for Drakengard 2, and later for Nier. Disliking some of his initial designs for Drakengard, he took the opportunity to remodel them more to his liking for the arcade game Lord of Vermilion. In Drakengard 3, Fujisaka designed the protagonist Zero around the dark themes of the game, although some unusual elements were nearly cut. The other female characters were inspired by Puella Magi Madoka Magica, while the male characters, considered a low priority, were designed around male archetypes and approved quickly.

The character designs for Nier were handled by an artist under the moniker D.K. For Nier's international release, the protagonist was redesigned from a teenager to an adult character. This was because the publishers felt an older character would appeal more to western players. For Nier: Automata, the main character designs were handled by Akihiko Yoshida, an artist noted for his work on the Final Fantasy series. While he was initially expected to refuse, he agreed as several staff members at his company CyDesignation were fans of Nier. For his designs, Yoko requested he focus on smooth outlines and black coloring. Other characters were designed by Yuya Nagai and Toshiyuki Itahana.

### Music

The first game's soundtrack was created by Nobuyoshi Sano and Takayuki Aihara. The two created the score using samples from well-known classical composers. The second game's soundtrack was composed by Ryoki Matsumoto and Aoi Yoshiki, who had never before been involved with video game soundtracks. The game's Japanese theme song, Hitori, was sung by Mika Nakashima. The music for Nier was composed by Keiichi Okabe, who composed the soundtrack as something different from the main series, and to directly reflect the sombre tone of the game's setting and story. Singer Emi Evans (Emiko Rebecca Evans) wrote and sung the vocal tracks, and performed many tracks in an invented language dubbed "Chaos Language". "Chaos Language" is less a language and more a writing style, as each individual song has a different language based on a real-world language. The one exception to this is "Song Of The Ancients" which is sung in a language based upon multiple different languages, instead of a single language. Okabe returned to compose the soundtrack for Drakengard 3: in an interview, he stated that, in composing the music, he tried to emulate the work of the earlier composer without imitating them. He also commented that the result was very unlike the traditional Square Enix game. The game features two theme songs: "Black Song", performed by Eir Aoi, and "This Silence is Mine", the game's theme song proper, written and sung by Chihiro Onitsuka. Okabe is again providing the music for Nier: Automata, with singer Emi Evans also returning.

## Common elements

### Setting

The Drakengard games take place in a dark fantasy version of Medieval Europe called Midgard. Humans appear to be the predominant species, although races such as dragons, fairies and elves are shown to exist. The setting, mythos, and landscape borrow extensively from the lore of Northern Europe. The world is overseen by a group of unnamed gods who have yet to make a personal appearance. The gods are served by beings known as the Watchers, entities created to destroy humanity because they are considered a failure. The Watchers are kept from entering the world with the seals, which act to keep the world in balance: should the seals be destroyed, the Watchers would enter the world and destroy humanity. At the core of the seals is the Goddess of the Seal, a mortal virgin female chosen and branded with the final seal: if all the seals are destroyed, all that stands between the Watchers and the world is the death of the Goddess herself. A core element of the Drakengard universe is the ability for humans and beasts to form a Pact, a magical bond which links their souls and grants the human partner great power at the cost of some physical ability or personal trait (their voice, singing abilities, etc.). Pacts are normally entered into by beasts so they can feed off negative emotions, but sometimes they will enter a pact for other reasons. A recurring element across the series is the representation of magic using the Celestial Alphabet, with a common letter arrangement representing the human gene.

The universe of the Drakengard series is split between multiple timelines. Events in those timelines are separate, but they can overlap. The core timeline is formed from Drakengard and its sequel. Drakengard 3 acts as the first game's prequel, but most of its events take place in separate timelines leading to different outcomes. In Drakengard 3, a malevolent flower uses servants called the Intoners, women gifted with the power to use magic through song, as instruments of humanity's destruction. In Drakengard, which succeeds the fifth version of Drakengard 3's events detailed in a supplementary novel, the Watchers use a group known as the Cult of Watchers to spark a religious war and destroy the seals. In Drakengard 2, the Watchers continue to use the former head of the cult to destroy the new seals, while the dragons prepare to usurp the gods and rule over the world. Nier is set in an alternative reality created by events stemming from Drakengard's fifth ending: in this reality, our modern world was decimated by a plague created by the magical beings who came through the portal, bringing humanity to the brink of extinction. Nier: Automata takes place after the fourth ending of Nier, featuring appearances and mentions of characters from both Nier and the Drakengard games.

### Gameplay

The Drakengard games feature a mix of action-based hack-and-slash combat during ground-based battles and aerial combat mixed in with RPG leveling mechanics. In the original, the player guides the characters around ground-based battles to combat small groups of enemy units. In aerial combat, the player takes control of the protagonist's dragon partner. In these situations, the dragon can either lock onto a target and unleash a barrage of small fireballs, or the player can manually aim and fire large bursts of flame, which do more damage but do not home in on a target. Basic gameplay changed little for Drakengard 2, but there are some differences and additions, such as weapon types being tied to the character they are associated with, with changing them also swapping the character. The dragon gameplay remained virtually unchanged, apart from the ability, during air-ground missions, for the dragon to swoop down on a group of enemies in a special attack depicted in a short cutscene.

In Nier and Drakengard 3, the player controls the main protagonist with two other characters acting as AI-controlled supports. Drakengard 3 was designed to be a faster experience than the previous games, with the protagonist being given a special hyper-mode and the ability to freely switch between weapons without pausing the action. Aerial gameplay was also changed, with the dragon now capable of ground combat. Nier, while featuring similar hack-and-slash combat, also includes other gameplay types such as a top-down view for puzzle areas, 2D style areas for buildings or similar structures. Side-quests were also added, which often involved fetch quests, fishing and farming.

### Themes and influences

One of the running narrative themes for the main series is Immorality, which also became the key character theme and was expressed through their personalities and actions. The second game also focused on themes of war and death. The theme for the world of Drakengard 3, as described by composer Keiichi Okabe, is "the sense of contrast". Multiple anime series have influenced the series' characters over the years, including Neon Genesis Evangelion, Sister Princess and Puella Magi Madoka Magica. The series writer, Sawako Natori, drew inspiration for her writing from shōnen manga. The original game world was designed around Celtic and Norse myths, together with Japanese-style revisionism. The team for the original game were influenced by Asian epic movies and western action-adventure films such as the 1999 remake of The Mummy and Dragonheart. While developing Nier, the team drew inspiration from the God of War series, while the narrative structure was inspired by the September 11 attacks and the War on Terror. The central theme of Nier: Automata is struggling out of a bad situation, defined by the game's staff using the Japanese word "agaku".

### Related media

The games received multiple adaptations and additional story content in the form of novelizations, manga and supplementary material. The first game received two novelizations: Drag-On Dragoon: Side Story on November 28, 2003, and Drag-On Dragoon: Magnitude "Negative" on January 23, 2004. The first book was written by Emi Nagashima, writing under her pen name of Jun Eishima, and the second by Takashi Aizawa. The novelization of Drakengard 2, written again by Nagashima, was released on September 30, 2005.

Nagashima wrote character stories and manga for Drakengard 3 leading up to that game's release. The manga was Drag-On Dragoon: Utahime Five, a prequel following the game's main antagonists, and Drag-On Dragoon: Shi ni Itaru Aka, which acts as a sequel, although for Branch A, as it along with Branches B, C, D, and E lead to alternative timelines. A book detailing the narrative connection between Drakengard 3 and Drakengard, titled Drag-On Dragoon 3 Story Side, which serves as the fifth branch similar to the events of B and D, narrated by Brother One, was released on 28 August 2014. Drag-On Dragoon 3 Complete Guide + Setting, a complete guide to the game with extra features explaining the game chronology and a novella set after the events of Shi ni Itaru Aka, was published by ASCII Media Works in 2014.

Nier was expanded after release with a CD drama which told of events immediately after the events of Drakengard's fifth ending, and a supplementary book titled Grimoire Nier containing extra stories and concept art alongside a fifth ending for the game. Square Enix also paired up with WildStorm to create a digital comic, which detailed the backstories of the game's characters and world.

The Japanese girl band Yorha performed on the Drakengard 3 soundtrack, and in 2015 performed a stage production written by Yoko Taro that is directly related to the plot of Nier: Automata. The band's fictional backstory places them as military androids similar to the playable characters in Automata.

## Reception

The Drakengard series has received mixed to positive reviews over the years. So far, the original Drakengard has received the most positive response of the main series games. Drakengard 2 and Drakengard 3 have received lower scores. Each title in the series has received favorable review scores from Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu.

The common point of praise for the series through most of its life has been the story. While individual aspects have come in for criticism, the dark atmospheres, unconventional characters and general scenarios have been cited as one of each game's strengths. Despite some mixed feelings from reviewers either for the story as a whole or certain aspects of it, the characters and plot of Drakengard 3 have also been praised. The major exception is Drakengard 2: the story's lighter tone and more traditional narrative were noted and sometimes criticized for being overly simplistic or too similar to other games in the genre. The Drakengard characters have remained popular in Japan, with Dengeki holding a popularity contest for those characters to celebrate the series' tenth anniversary and the announcement of Drakengard 3. Among the most popular characters were the first game's main protagonists, Caim and Angelus (the former having earned the nickname Prince (王子, ouji) among fans). The characters of Drakengard 3 have also proved to be highly popular.

The gameplay has so far come in for major criticism, with the original title's aerial and ground-based gameplay being seen as repetitive and dull, although some reviewers found it entertaining. Drakengard 2 also came in for such criticism, although minor improvements were cited. In contrast, the gameplay of Drakengard 3 was generally praised or seen as an improvement upon the previous two entries, though the dragon-riding segments came in for criticisms for difficult controls. Opinions were divided on Nier's unconventional mix of gameplay styles from multiple game genres, with some praising the variety and others seeing it as poorly executed. The series as a whole has gained a cult following in Japan.

Each game has sold relatively well in its home market. The original game was a commercial success, selling over 120,000 units in the first week of release and eventually selling over 240,000 copies in Japan. Drakengard 2's first-week sales were similarly impressive, selling 100,000 units. It sold over 203,000 copies by the end of 2005. Drakengard 3 sold just under 115,000 units in its first week, and over 150,000 units by May 2014. The two versions of Nier—Gestalt and Replicant—sold roughly 12,500 and 60,000 copies in their first week respectively. Replicant eventually sold over 121,000 in Japan by the end of May 2010. The series has sold over 770,000 units in Japan as of May 2014. Sales figures for western regions are unavailable. The first two games in the main series have both been included in Square Enix's Ultimate Hits series, re-releases of popular titles developed or published by them. Nier: Automata became a worldwide success, shipping over 4 million copies by June 2019, becoming the best-selling title in the franchise. As of July 2021, Automata has sold over 6 million units worldwide. Less than two months after its release, the remaster of Replicant'' had shipped over one million copies worldwide, two times the estimated sales of the original game.

## See also

- List of Square Enix video game franchises

Video game series

Video game franchises introduced in 2003