One of the things that we know about the Record of Ragnarok is that it involves a fight to the death between gods and men in a tournament to determine whether or not humanity will be given the right to live. In that regard, both sides chose 13 fighters that would participate in the Ragnarok tournament, which ended up allowing us to see multiple rounds of fights between gods and men.
Considering that nothing short of death would determine the victor of a fight, that means that there have been deaths on both sides. The thing is that death here involves destroying the soul of the person when they are sent to Niffleheim. As such, while gods are essentially immortal and the humans in the tournament are already dead, dying in the tournament means getting their souls destroyed. So, with that said, let’s look at all of the characters that have died in Record of Ragnarok.
First Round: Lu Bu and Randgriz
The first round of the Ragnarok tournament involved a fight between two of the mightiest warriors on both sides. Humanity sent out Lu Bu, the Flying General, as he is known as one of the greatest warriors in the history of mankind. Meanwhile, the gods chose Thor, who we know is the mightiest among the Norse gods.
This was where the concept of the divine weapons was revealed when Brunhilde allowed the gods to witness how Lu Bu’s spear was able to match Thor’s Mjolnir. As such, the gods were now aware of the fact that humanity wielded divine weapons that allowed them to not only match the gods but slay them as well. Unfortunately, when Thor finally decided to fight at his full strength, he smashed Lu Bu’s spear, which happened to be the Valkyrie named Randgriz. Both Lu Bu and Randgriz died as a result of this battle.
Second Round: Adam and Reginleif
The second round of the tournament involved a fight between Adam, who wielded a knuckleduster that was created when Reginleif performed Volundr with him. Shiva was supposed to be the one to fight the first man, but Zeus interrupted and decided to fight Adam out of his excitement of facing the first man in history.
It was the fact that Adam was a copy of the gods that allowed him to use a power called Divine Reflection, which allowed him to copy all of Zeus’ attacks. This ability allowed Adam to be Brunhilde’s trump card, as he could stand up to the mightiest of gods due to his ability. Nevertheless, Zeus used all of his power to force Divine Reflection to reach its limit as the chief of the gods defeated and killed the first man and Reginleif.
Third Round: Poseidon
The third round was the deciding match in the tournament because that was when humanity sent out a perennial loser in the form of Kojiro Sasaki, a samurai that was always second to some of the greatest samurai in history. He went up against Poseidon, one of the top three gods of the Greek pantheon.
Because of the fact that Kojiro was a perennial loser, he was known as someone who already had enough experience to know what it was like to lose and get back up again. Using the combination of the sword styles that he encountered in his life as a samurai, Kojiro defeated Poseidon and killed the god to give humanity a fighting chance in this tournament.
Fourth Round: Hercules
The fourth round of the tournament was a battle between good and evil as Hercules represented the gods and went up against Jack the Ripper, the most famous serial killer in the history of mankind. At first, it appeared that Jack had no match for the most famous hero of all time. But his malice proved to be more than what Hercules could handle.
Jack tricked Hercules regarding his divine weapon multiple times, as this allowed him to set up several traps that the hero fell for. Despite the fact that Hercules used the power of his 12thLabor, Jack’s deceitfulness allowed him to win when he transformed his own blood into a divine weapon and caught Hercules off-guard to stab him with his hands. As such, Hercules died as both a man and a god in this round.
Fifth Round: Raiden Tameemon and Thrud
The fifth round was a must-win for both sides because it was what decided who would take the lead after a 2-2 deadlock in the first four rounds. In this round, the gods fielded Shiva. Meanwhile, humanity fielded Raiden Tameemon, the greatest sumo wrestler of all time. It was an all-out brawl that allowed both fighters to display their skills and prowess.
Raiden had the upper hand early on because he was finally able to use his overgrown muscles thanks to the power of the Valkyrie named Thrud. However, when Shiva used his Dance of Destruction, things evened out. In the end, Shiva’s power was too much for Raiden to handle as the god of destruction overcame the sumo legend’s muscles and techniques to kill him and Thrud.
Sixth Round: The Seven Shinto Gods of Fortune And Hajun
Round 6 of the Ragnarok tournament involved one of the biggest surprises because Buddha betrayed the gods to fight on the side of humanity. Meanwhile, out of anger at the betrayal of Buddha, the Shinto gods combined to form Zerof*cku, who was the original version of all of the Shinto gods of fortune. While Buddha allowed Zerof*cku to become a god of fortune once more, Beelzebub’s experiment on him changed him into the Demon Lord of the Sixth Heaven, Hajun.
Nevertheless, Buddha overcame Zerof*cku’s powers using his Volundr as he was able to use the Great Nirvana Sword – Zero to overcome the demon. In that regard, Hajun and the seven Shinto gods of fortune died in this fight against Buddha. Meanwhile, the score was tied at 3-3.
Seventh Round: Hades
Round 7 is the latest to conclude in the manga, as round 8 is yet to see its own conclusion. In this fight, Brunhilde chose to go with the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, who went on to fight alongside the Valkyrie Alvitr, who became the emperor’s spaulders. They went up against Hades, who took Buddha’s place among the 13 gods that Zeus chose to participate in this fight.
During the early part of the battle, Qin Shi Huang was able to push Hades to a corner, as the god was forced to use Ichor: Desmos, his most powerful trump card. However, Alvitr changed into the emperor’s sword as he was able to find a vital weakness in Desmos to defeat and kill Hades. This gave humanity the first lead it has ever tasted in the Ragnarok tournament.
