The game is, on the surface, about this guy, called Laharl. He's a demon, and he's 1313 years old. His father, King Krichevskoy, has died, leaving Laharl to assume the position of Overlord. Laharl himself is, in one word, an ass. He's arrogant, he's rude, he's loud, he's obnoxious, and he has the emotional maturity of an 11 year old boy.
Pictured: Laharl. You just know that, if the artist were allowed to draw him that way, this kid would be flipping you the bird.
In Disgaea, the world is divided into three parts: There's the human world, the world of demons named the Netherworld, and the world of angels named Celestia. Laharl was the prince of the Netherworld, and spends the first half of the game becoming its ruler. However, there is a complication: the ruler of the angels, the Seraph, has sent an assassin to do away with Laharl. And her name is Flonne.
Not Pictured: A competent assassin.
Flonne, however, eventually learns that Laharl is incapable of love and compassion. Feeling that such a thing is impossible, she joins Laharl, to observe if he truly is incapable of such things. Because of her continuous belief in love, Laharl and his vassal, Etna, give the little angel the title of Love Freak.
In spite of the abuse that Laharl and Etna send her way, Flonne stays, determined to see if Laharl truly is incapable of love. When she loses her special angel pendant, which allows her to stay in the Netherworld, she begs Laharl to help her. He does, though only through the promise of a reward.
Flonne is someone who believes in love and kindness. She believes everyone is capable of good, and that no one is truly irredeemably evil. Throughout the game, her faith is rewarded: She sees demons, whom she had been taught knew nothing of mercy or love, commit acts that could only be fueled by such emotions. She sees Laharl spare a demon's life, because the demon had a son who begged for his father to be spared. She witnesses Laharl cry for his departed mother. She sees Laharl put his subjects before himself, albeit slightly begrudgingly, when he rounded up the zombies that were collected by a child of his realm, which had managed to escape. Flonne, in time, learns that in spite of how he's a demon, Laharl is, deep down, good. In fact, no. Flonne learns that someone being a demon, a human, or an angel is not what determines if they are good. All are capable of love.
And in time, she learns the true nature of her mission: She was to become the bridge between the Netherworld and Celestia, to bring peace between these once bitter enemies. But, there are those in Celestia who would oppose such a thing.
Pictured: Vulcanus. An Angel of God, and an asshole.
Vulcanus, who does not know of the Seraph's true plan, and would oppose it if he did, sets out to murder Laharl himself. Unlike Laharl, Vulcanus is truly evil. Among his plans, he manipulates the human world into attacking the Netherworld, costing an untold amount of casualties, just to kill Laharl. He is the one who stole Flonne's pendant, endangering her life, just to be rid of her. And the worst of all, he makes pacts with several demons, forbidden by angel law, just to destroy Laharl.
Vulcanus reminds me too much of people that claim themselves to be good by virtue of being religious. There are a lot of people in this world, none of whom I will name, that believe themselves to be paragons of virtue just because they read this holy text, or they pray at that church. In fact, that's who Vulcanus is: he's every religious hypocrite in the world, rolled up into an arrangement of two dimensional sprites. He's everyone who has ever held up their nose to the poor as they strutted down to church. He's every church goes who has ever gone to a diner and left no tip to the waiter. He's every pastor, every priest that has ever preached the word of God only to throw out someone from his parish by virtue of not wearing decent clothing. He's every deacon that has ever preached against homosexuality, only to go to Vegas to buy a male hooker. He's every Rabbi that has eaten pork, every Imam that has ever spat at a beggar.
Flonne, on the other hand, is like every authentically religious person in the world. She practices what she preaches, and she is not afraid of standing firm in her beliefs. But, she does not rub it in the faces of those who are different from her. Flonne believes in love, and that is what she shows the world. She shows everyone love, patience, and understanding. She stands by Laharl and Etna through thick and thin, expecting nothing in return every time she helps them. The one time Flonne stands up to Laharl is when she demands that he treat her with respect, to at least remember her name, which in time, he does.
Laharl himself is an impetuous being, but deep down, there is good. He thought himself incapable of love, but deep down, he loved his mother. Deep down, Laharl cares about more than himself. He cares about his Netherworld, about his vassals, about Etna, and Flonne.
That's what the game is about, when you get down to it. The game asks "what makes a person good?" And the game provides an unambiguous answer. The game sides with Flonne, 100%. Love is what makes someone good. Nothing else. Vulcanus himself, who is more than worthy of punishment, is shown mercy by Flonne herself, when she, at the end of the game, becomes his teacher.
What makes someone good? It's how you treat everyone else. It's not what you associate yourself with, it's how you treat other people. Being part of a religion does not make you a good person. If you want to be good, you need to do good. And when you get down to it, every religion in the world tells you how to do precisely that. Give to the poor, feed the hungry, comfort the weeping. In short: love thy neighbor, as you love yourself.
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