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about (mild spoilers)
name Roland Crane age 48 (20 physically) dob October 23 (Scorpio) work President of the United States (Ichi no Kuni); Chief Consul of the Kingdom of Evermore (Ni no Kuni) VA Jared Zeus (English VA)
canon
Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom was released in 2018 by Level-5 and serves as the sequel to Ni no Kuni: The Wrath of the White Witch. Though the first game involved Studio Ghibli as collaborators in animating the cutscenes, NNK2 borrows the same thematic with artists who switched studios, creating a lush and vivid world filled with fantastical elements, magical design, and an iconic use of nature vs. technology that most Ghibli movies are attributed with. Additionally, legendary composer and musician Joe Hisaishi returns to NNK2, crafting an OST that fits every dip and rise in the story.
NNK's primary setting involves the existence of two worlds - the First World which is assumed to be that of regular Earth, and the Second World, it's alternate fantasy universe. Both are inextricably tied to one another's destinies, and carrying lore from NNK1, NNK2 contains the same concept of mirrored paths and persons. Where one exists, there may be another who shares both your heart, your apperance, your soul...
Roland Crane is the President of the world's leading superpower, heavily implied to be the United States. On a motorcade to a peace summit, the game opens to a harrowing scene: he is on ground zero as a nuclear missile meets it target, razing the city to smithereens. This prelude of war should have ended with his death, but he is mysteriously saved as his body vanishes into light, narrowly escaping his fate.
In the Second World, young grimalkin prince Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum prepares to be crowned King of Ding Dong Dell after his father Leonhard passes away. But as the squall rolls into the night, he is instead greeted with a rising coup, planned by his father's own chancellor Mausinger in an attempt to reclaim the throne in the name of Mousekind. In Evan's bedroom does the doomed President reappear, suddenly and without warning, bathed in magic and runes. His physical appearance is altered to look decades younger, no older than twenty, and this is where everything begins; the start of Evan and Roland's mentorship, friendship, and camaraderie across generations. Roland saves Evan from regicide and decides to spend his days helping his benevolent new king build a land where "everybody can be happy," eventually co-founding and becoming the Chief Consul of the kingdom of Evermore, located across the ruins of Ebbswaine in the Heartlands.
You may read more about NNK through the following links: Here | Here | Here.
NNK's primary setting involves the existence of two worlds - the First World which is assumed to be that of regular Earth, and the Second World, it's alternate fantasy universe. Both are inextricably tied to one another's destinies, and carrying lore from NNK1, NNK2 contains the same concept of mirrored paths and persons. Where one exists, there may be another who shares both your heart, your apperance, your soul...
Roland Crane is the President of the world's leading superpower, heavily implied to be the United States. On a motorcade to a peace summit, the game opens to a harrowing scene: he is on ground zero as a nuclear missile meets it target, razing the city to smithereens. This prelude of war should have ended with his death, but he is mysteriously saved as his body vanishes into light, narrowly escaping his fate.
In the Second World, young grimalkin prince Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum prepares to be crowned King of Ding Dong Dell after his father Leonhard passes away. But as the squall rolls into the night, he is instead greeted with a rising coup, planned by his father's own chancellor Mausinger in an attempt to reclaim the throne in the name of Mousekind. In Evan's bedroom does the doomed President reappear, suddenly and without warning, bathed in magic and runes. His physical appearance is altered to look decades younger, no older than twenty, and this is where everything begins; the start of Evan and Roland's mentorship, friendship, and camaraderie across generations. Roland saves Evan from regicide and decides to spend his days helping his benevolent new king build a land where "everybody can be happy," eventually co-founding and becoming the Chief Consul of the kingdom of Evermore, located across the ruins of Ebbswaine in the Heartlands.
You may read more about NNK through the following links: Here | Here | Here.
history
Roland Crane is the deuteragonist of NNK2 and is deeply integral to the formation of Evermore and to the progression of the overarching story. He acts as a foil to Evan's charming innocence and wide-eyed desire to rule with peaceful intentions, serving as both the voice of mature reason and Evan's parental figure throughout majority of the game. As his DLC story will reveal in The Tale of a Timeless Tome, Roland comes from a divided Earth plagued by warfare and chaos. It is said that his presidency was shadowed by the threat of world war, and that even his best intentions to overcome this hurdle were not enough to curb the tide from taking his nation down under. However, his term is notable for a couple of reasons: his obsession with implementing Healthcare for All, and aspiring for higher office inspite of his relative youth even before he was transformed back to his twenty-year-old self. (A young ruler of a young nation...) The first may have plenty to do with his son, William Crane, who he describes in his own words as 'gravely ill.' Thoughts of his son, who he leaves behind and is presumably dead from the nuke, stay close to his heart all throughout the events of the game, though he is notoriously tight-lipped about anything to do with his life in the past.
He is also a canonical widower, though his in-game wife is never seen, not even during flashbacks.
In the Ni no Kuni, Roland brings with him not just the muscle but more importantly, his plethora of wisdom. Since arriving in the other world, Roland has proven time and again that his greatest strength is his mind, honed through decades of political work. Evan learns from his example, though both protagonists excel in different fields of statesmanship and rule. Where Evan is more keen to mingle and interact with his people, ready to help at any given notice regardless of how mundane or outrageous the task, Roland is more practiced in the duties of bookkeeping, budgeting, drafting laws, creating citizen census, and managing the overall operations of the kingdom's day to day. Where Evan dreams of what he wants his kingdom to achieve, Roland is the guy to make it happen no matter what. This devotion is rooted in multiple layers of motivation. As Evan begins his journey to kinghood, Roland is already on his way back, having experienced the worst of a jaded nation. He offers learnings that, at the same time, juxtapose Evan's minted view of the world. He is quicker to doubt where Evan is ready to lend credence even to the most suspicious claims. But instead of causing conflict between the two, Roland is instead elevated to the position of Chief Consul of the kingdom, as Evan recognizes how much he offers in terms of nation building and what to do. Meanwhile, Roland views Evan with awe and a heightened level of respect, admiring the boy's strength of will to do what he must to unify his own divided world.
Roland serves as Chief Consul dutifully even when it is revealed that he is the soulmate of the story's main antagonist, Doloran the Arcane of Allegoria. As canon law dictates, those born with soulmates in the other world are bound together for eternity, with implications that even after death, the bond transcends generations until the other's rebirth. This means that whatever happens to one, happens to the other; for good or for worse. Roland expresses his desire to see Evan's kingdom, and the safety of his new home, by risking his life to stop his counterpart. In the end, Roland and Evan part ways after Doloran is freed from the shackles of his delirium to revive his fallen kingdom, with the magic that brought Roland to the ni no kuni slowly wearing off in the aftermath. Though nobody in Evermore discover what happens to him afterwards, it's revealed in the end credit scene that his work in the other world successfully reverse the doomed event that destroyed Earth; though more particularly, this is credited to Doloran's conversion to starting anew despite his failure to revive kingmaker and kingdom.
He is also a canonical widower, though his in-game wife is never seen, not even during flashbacks.
In the Ni no Kuni, Roland brings with him not just the muscle but more importantly, his plethora of wisdom. Since arriving in the other world, Roland has proven time and again that his greatest strength is his mind, honed through decades of political work. Evan learns from his example, though both protagonists excel in different fields of statesmanship and rule. Where Evan is more keen to mingle and interact with his people, ready to help at any given notice regardless of how mundane or outrageous the task, Roland is more practiced in the duties of bookkeeping, budgeting, drafting laws, creating citizen census, and managing the overall operations of the kingdom's day to day. Where Evan dreams of what he wants his kingdom to achieve, Roland is the guy to make it happen no matter what. This devotion is rooted in multiple layers of motivation. As Evan begins his journey to kinghood, Roland is already on his way back, having experienced the worst of a jaded nation. He offers learnings that, at the same time, juxtapose Evan's minted view of the world. He is quicker to doubt where Evan is ready to lend credence even to the most suspicious claims. But instead of causing conflict between the two, Roland is instead elevated to the position of Chief Consul of the kingdom, as Evan recognizes how much he offers in terms of nation building and what to do. Meanwhile, Roland views Evan with awe and a heightened level of respect, admiring the boy's strength of will to do what he must to unify his own divided world.
Roland serves as Chief Consul dutifully even when it is revealed that he is the soulmate of the story's main antagonist, Doloran the Arcane of Allegoria. As canon law dictates, those born with soulmates in the other world are bound together for eternity, with implications that even after death, the bond transcends generations until the other's rebirth. This means that whatever happens to one, happens to the other; for good or for worse. Roland expresses his desire to see Evan's kingdom, and the safety of his new home, by risking his life to stop his counterpart. In the end, Roland and Evan part ways after Doloran is freed from the shackles of his delirium to revive his fallen kingdom, with the magic that brought Roland to the ni no kuni slowly wearing off in the aftermath. Though nobody in Evermore discover what happens to him afterwards, it's revealed in the end credit scene that his work in the other world successfully reverse the doomed event that destroyed Earth; though more particularly, this is credited to Doloran's conversion to starting anew despite his failure to revive kingmaker and kingdom.
personality
Roland Crane is an undeniably stubborn man with a strong sense of justice and a fervent desire to do the right thing for others. Though he may come across as overtly stern and serious when it comes to matters of work, his introspection is always full of wit, dry humor, and intelligence. Oftentimes he will mutter something strangely sarcastic, but he is never without his self-awareness. And while there are moments he loses his cool - though they come far and few in between - Roland is reliably the guy to keep his head above high water; the last to panic despite all odds. He is also quick to action, a noticeable trait even in his first cutscene in the game where he shoots a mousekind guard who was ready to kill Evan during the coup without hesitation.
And while he is willing to play along a fool's errand for the sake of camaraderie, Roland will pull no stops to ensure not just the safety of his charge, but the promised success of their plans. To this extent, it is not beneath Roland to use more underhanded strategies to get Evan a boon. This is the crux of his personal chapter (Chapter 7: A Traitor in Our Midst), devising a plan that puts him directly under enemy territory as a double-crosser. In reality, Roland needed access to Ding Dong Dell castle such that he could discover the whereabouts of the Mark of Kings, a pendant passed down across Tildrum generations that grants the royal family special access to hidden places across the land. He offers this to Evan, which Roland correctly guesses is the one thing Mausinger is looking for that could grant Evermore a way to bargain for their cooperation.
It's not all professionalism and work for Roland, no matter what his constant use of journals and diaries will tell you. He hides his enthusiasm for movies, toys, and geekery well under a veil of silence. In fact, only after Evan and Bracken Meadows infiltrate his Leafbook diary do they read about his constant comparisons of the events in ni no kuni to genres of films he used to watch as a kid. This paints Roland as a more layered individual than he would have others see him; always so poised and put-together, groomed fairly well, if not excessively. He still retains his childlike wonder for things that remind him of happier days, which may be why he is so keen on protecting Evan's own innocence, advising him to never let go of his good heart and his kindness in Chapter 8 (8: The Land of my Fathers). He may lean towards individuals who display goodness in spades because of his upbringing, constantly bullied for being smaller than other kids, until seeing his mother despondent pushed him to take up the sword at an early age.
At the end of the day, Roland is a resolute individual with determination that pushes him forward, one step at a time. He does not falter even in the face of adversity, though at times it may get difficult for him to be convinced of another path. Not only does Roland continue to advocate for saving his son, who was beset with illness early in his life, he also strives to one day save the fate of his homeland from its set course. He accepts the cards he has been dealt with, including the destruction of his world, and questions not so much the absurdity of circumstances around him, but focuses on what to do next and how does he keep going with the life he has been granted the second time around.
And while he is willing to play along a fool's errand for the sake of camaraderie, Roland will pull no stops to ensure not just the safety of his charge, but the promised success of their plans. To this extent, it is not beneath Roland to use more underhanded strategies to get Evan a boon. This is the crux of his personal chapter (Chapter 7: A Traitor in Our Midst), devising a plan that puts him directly under enemy territory as a double-crosser. In reality, Roland needed access to Ding Dong Dell castle such that he could discover the whereabouts of the Mark of Kings, a pendant passed down across Tildrum generations that grants the royal family special access to hidden places across the land. He offers this to Evan, which Roland correctly guesses is the one thing Mausinger is looking for that could grant Evermore a way to bargain for their cooperation.
It's not all professionalism and work for Roland, no matter what his constant use of journals and diaries will tell you. He hides his enthusiasm for movies, toys, and geekery well under a veil of silence. In fact, only after Evan and Bracken Meadows infiltrate his Leafbook diary do they read about his constant comparisons of the events in ni no kuni to genres of films he used to watch as a kid. This paints Roland as a more layered individual than he would have others see him; always so poised and put-together, groomed fairly well, if not excessively. He still retains his childlike wonder for things that remind him of happier days, which may be why he is so keen on protecting Evan's own innocence, advising him to never let go of his good heart and his kindness in Chapter 8 (8: The Land of my Fathers). He may lean towards individuals who display goodness in spades because of his upbringing, constantly bullied for being smaller than other kids, until seeing his mother despondent pushed him to take up the sword at an early age.
At the end of the day, Roland is a resolute individual with determination that pushes him forward, one step at a time. He does not falter even in the face of adversity, though at times it may get difficult for him to be convinced of another path. Not only does Roland continue to advocate for saving his son, who was beset with illness early in his life, he also strives to one day save the fate of his homeland from its set course. He accepts the cards he has been dealt with, including the destruction of his world, and questions not so much the absurdity of circumstances around him, but focuses on what to do next and how does he keep going with the life he has been granted the second time around.