Overlord (Novel)

Description

From Yen On:
For twelve years, the virtual world of Yggdrasil has served as the playground and battlefield for the skeletal lord Momonga and his guild of fellow monsters, Ainz Ooal Gown.
But the guild's glory days are over, and the game is shutting down permanently. When Momonga logs in one last time just to be there when the servers go dark, something happens and suddenly, fantasy is reality. A rogues' gallery of fanatically devoted NPCs is ready to obey his every order, but the world Momonga now inhabits is not the one he remembers.
The game may be over, but the epic tale of Ainz Ooal Gown is only beginning.

Type

Novel

Related Series

Overlord (Spin-Off)

Overlord The Undead King Oh! (Spin-Off)

Associated Names

Amir (roman)

Повелитель (ранобэ)

اورلرد (رمان)

اوفرلورد (روايه)

オーバーロード

不死者之王

오버로드

Groups Scanlating

Baka-Tsuki

Flying Squirrel Overlords

Imoutolicious LNT

Skythewood

Latest Release(s)

v.Blu-Ray 6 Special c.Prologue by Skythewood 9 years ago

v.9 c.Afterword by Skythewood 10 years ago

v.9 c.3-4 + Epilogue by Skythewood 10 years ago

Search for all releases of this series

Status in Country of Origin

16 Volumes (Ongoing)

Completely Scanlated?

Anime Start/End Chapter

Starts at Vol 1 (S1) / Vol 4 (S2) / Vol 7 (S3) / Vol 10 (S4)

Ends at Vol 3 (S1) / Vol 6 (S2) / Vol 9 (S3) / Vol 14 (S4+ Movie 3)

User Reviews

N/A

Forum

5 topics, 12 posts

Click here to view the forum

User Rating

Average: 8.8 / 10.0 (417 votes)

Bayesian Average: 8.63 / 10.0

53%

19%

12%

Last Updated

April 25th, 2025 9:37am PDT - 2 months ago

Image [Report Inappropriate Content]

Genre

Action Adventure Comedy Drama Fantasy Sci-fi Seinen
Search for series of same genre(s)

Categories

Log in to vote! Show all (some hidden)

Category Recommendations

Overlord

Mahou no Kuni no Madan (Novel)

Isekai Mokushiroku Mynoghra: Hametsu no Bunmei de Hajimeru Sekai Seifuku (Novel)

Konjiki no Moji Tsukai - Yuusha Yonin ni Makikomareta Unique Cheat

Ore no Ie ga Maryoku Spot Datta Ken: Sundeiru dake de Sekai Saikyou (Novel)

Recommendations

Dalbin Jogaksa (Novel)

Mushoku Tensei - Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu (Novel)

Only Sense Online (Novel)

Monster

Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (Novel)

Author(s)

Maruyama Kugane

Artist(s)

so-bin

Year

2010

Original Publisher

Enterbrain

Serialized In (magazine)

N/A

Licensed (in English)

Yes

English Publisher

Yen On (16 Volumes - Ongoing)

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #827

(+15)

Monthly Pos #1559

(-300)

3 Month Pos #2363

(-551)

6 Month Pos #3230

(-535)

Year Pos #3870

(-509)

List Stats

On 1839 reading lists

On 493 wish lists

On 63 completed lists

On 51 unfinished lists

On 517 custom lists

Note: You must be logged in to update information on this page.

Forum Posts Click to view the forum

Overlord Novels to End with Volume 17

5 years ago

There is no harem and hence the tag should be removed.

9 years ago

Overlord volume 10, release date confirmed.

9 years ago

Not a romance

10 years ago

Why is Volume 6 so crap?

10 years ago

User Comments [ Order by time added ]

A grim fantasy

by Eldau
10 years ago

Rating: 8.0 / 10.0

Overlord can be considered an expansive view into the world where the MC (linchpin) is dropped.
If it is read as an OP characters is transported into a new world where the MC is going to be fighting for an ideal or goal against strong opponents on equal ground, you are certainly going to be disappointed. However if you approach the novel with the idea that the MC is transported into a world where the factor of hidden adversaries and political challenges pose a great risk which can overturn the situation against the cautious approach of the MC, then you are likely to find the novel interesting.

I personally read Overlord as a story about the faction of Nazarick, their interaction with the world, and how the world reacts to this unknown/uncertain factor. This allows me to enjoy the expansive cast of side characters which add life and expectations/foreshadowing to the story, while granting it rules to live by, rather than allowing the author to dump information and characters as he wishes to create/solve an issue momentarily.
It also offers a story in the personal growth of the characters in the story, Sebas being the most notable example of this.

While the MC and the center of the cast of Nazarick are evil, they fall closer to a lawful/neutral evil alignment.
The story does however contain 'needless' violence and torture as other have mentioned previously. This mostly seems to be created from the Supreme Beings' character settings for them, which leads to these serious and humourless cruelties and abnormal personalities.

In the end I am reminded of 'the raven' By Edgar Allan Poe. While the raven is not the main character, but rather a symbol of evil, yet still named after it. Could Overlord be the same? A story about an evil Overlords rise (and fall) to (from) power in another world, or simply a story of a transported OP MC grasping for straws in a sense of loneliness while adjusting to the world?

Was this comment useful? Yes

Nostalagia

by kronpas
10 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

As someone who quitted my job literally for WoW for almost a year, I feel great sympathy with the main char, esp the overwhelming loneliness once you decide to quit the fantasy world you ve dedicated so much of your life to be back to fleeting reality. The novel's world is also drenched in MMORGP-ness, which is something the author doesnt even try to hide. This is a must read for every MMO player out there.

... Last updated 10 years ago

Was this comment useful? Yes

How should I put it...

by Mizura
9 years ago

Rating: N/A

It seems readers have different opinions of the individual components of the story, but here's mine:

The good:

The characters (Nazarick). Like them or not, the author gets props for deviating from what you usually find in light novels:

Original race and alignment: the cast of Nazarick certainly isn't your usual fare. While the female characters are certainly gorgeous, their true forms are hideous and range from lampreys to blobs to... whatever that interrogator is, same for the male characters and the past Supreme Beings (which are really fun to read about). And if the gorgeous human appearances of the NPCs make you forget their true nature, their vicious behavior will certainly remind you. It feels like a really nice change from your usual human/elf/dwarf/furry fighting-for-the-good fare.
Interactions: the cast does feel pretty flat at the start, but the author actually fleshes the individuals out later on and shows more diverse interactions between them, and it's interesting how fiercely protective they are of their home. Things really get going once you realize that despite their worship of their overlord, they really have their own agenda and are doing things behind his back (often thinking that he knows... when he has no clue. Which is hilarious).
The MC doesn't hog all the OP-ness: He's not the strongest and most certainly not the most cunning. Problem is, his underlings (who are Much more cunning and sometimes stronger than he is) think he is, and will build all sorts of grand reasonings around his goof-ups. Which is hilarious, and also makes the MC more relateable and down-to-earth (for a skeleton, anyway).
Gender parity and not-quite-harem: It's really nice that the author doesn't go down the path of "all the characters are females clinging to the MC", instead there are quite a lot of characters of both genders. And while many female characters are taken with the MC, they're treated primarily as characters rather than love interests. On the one hand, the MC is totally devoid of sexual functions and thinks of his underlings as his children. On the other hand, you have characters like Albedo. Well, you know how in many fantasy series, the MC is a huge pervert who chases in a comedic manner after girls only to get turned down, but is actually badass? That's Albedo, except a cunning, evil and female version.

Writing: The writing of Overlord is really descriptive in a good way. The Tomb of Nazarick really comes across as incredibly grand, and the writing can switch easily between humor and horror.

The bad:

All the other characters. The story often shifts POVs to characters outside of the Nazarick cast, except it's so obvious that it's attempting to build sympathy (again) for some poorly-developed fodder whose sole purpose is to draw out some cheap tears, that it's Really hard to feel anything for them other than annoyance before they're squatted away by our MCs like flies. It may have worked the first time, but once it became a trend, it got really tedious.
The plot. There is no plot. When you've got an OP cast who has literally no opposition in this world, well what sort of tension do you expect to get? The author attempts to remedy that by shifting to the POV of the opposition and having our MCs be the source of tension instead, but nah, it doesn't work at all.

To summarize, basically, Overlord is like the author made a really cool cast with a badass stronghold, then didn't know what to do with them. So you spend half the series reading about Other characters facing up against our cast with the effectiveness of throwing eggs against a wall. Which is just as entertaining as it sounds. What a waste.

... Last updated 9 years ago

Was this comment useful? Yes

Better than I expected.

by ZombieObed
10 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

The main character reminds me of Summoned Skull.

It has the typical, transported to another world while playing a VR game feel, but the difference is that the main character is the only one transported. Once in this new world, all the NPCs from his guild become sentient and he keeps the appearance of his avatar from the game.

The plot has so far been decent. It goes a little slower than others, but it's been enjoyable. The MC is simply exploring and learning.

There are some scenes that can have a lot of gore; however, it's a novel not an anime. If you don't like it, just skim through it. I do.

Edit 8/26/2015: The later novels are interesting because the author doesn't forget about his cast. One thing that is hard for big casts is to give each character their limelight, but so far each new novel focuses on a member of Ainz ooal Gown.

... Last updated 10 years ago

Was this comment useful? Yes

What's not to like?

by 4techlock
10 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

It got battle maids, loli vampire and yandere demon lady among other things... plus

The MC is now living his game character (which is an lv100 lich) in a real world, come hell or high water, he will lead his army of darkness to rule the world.

@alphaGulp: MC's alignment is total evil. This isn't SAO, where your cutey mc gets the girl and saves the world. If that torture part makes you squeamish, get off. It'll get more daunting as more conflicts and killings occur in the path of world domination.

... Last updated 10 years ago

Was this comment useful? Yes

Awesome from an "Evil" protagonist.

by neoquicksilver
10 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

Finally another "evil" side that I love hearing about in Fantasy settings. Just like Re:monster. The RPG sides are glossed over into reality. He tries to keep in his role of Overlord for his subordinates, he's overpowered and trying to figure out the world he's in. His underlings are impressive and OP themselves. A little bit of romance here and there. The World building is pretty good too. I don't know why people say he's not evil when he does kill numerous people whether they be good, bad, heroes, adventurers, soldiers, villagers and many others. I get the feeling that these people haven't read more than one chapter of the novel.

... Last updated 10 years ago

Was this comment useful? Yes

Well balanced read

by drunkguy
10 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

This recent trend of escaping to a fantasy world has been a nice change of pace from the dumb highschool dramas the flooded manga and anime these past couple of years. Among these stories, this one stands out.

While the MC may strike some as OP at first, there are many hints on his limits both in power and personality that keeps one's mind from feeling he is invincible. Combine that with his goals which require more thought than brawn and you get a engaging look into the mind of a lonely gamer turned conqueror. That isn't to say this story is all talk and drama. Humor and action are frequently mixed into this often bloody story.

Still, the strongest theme is nostalgia. Overlord is best enjoyed by those who play(ed) MMOs or tabletop rpgs. For others, many of the subjects may fly over their head.

Was this comment useful? Yes

why the hell is there a harem tag?

by gaiafires
10 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

Shalltear and Albedo = 2 this is NO WHERE at harem level such as Ichika and his harem of 5+ girls or high school DxD with groping 5+ women or all these new reincarnation novels with at least 4+ love interests. Also harems are there so each member/heroine/girl involved will constitute a single character archtype which in turn make them one dimensional and the story bad. 2 heroines taking up maybe 2% of the word count with their advances does not justify the series to be tagged as harem and MC sees them more as he + friends' creations in a almost fatherly view while Shalltear romantically seem to be just there so Albedo can have love drama and I am pretty sure if MC and Shalltear are not both high tier undead (true vampire and archlord lich) Shalltear would not be involved in this triangle at all due to the fact that she seem to have A LOOOOOT of female sex toys with the vampire brides and captured adventurers in the webnovels one can call her 100% a goth loli dominatrix lesbian. Albedo's almost Yandere AI settings seem to also be building up into a plot point as the story develops and may explode in the most entertaining and unexpected ways with her actions in the background and is NOT for fanservice like typical harem settings are for. People need to at least READ the contents before taking a glance at the tags and then declaring their pointless opinions.

FYI the MC is NOT and never declared to be EVULS or EVIL or FOR THE EVIL. The novel states at least once a volume that he is an average businessman before he was trapped in this new strange world as his player character and he has a clear goal, reunite or find his friends that may or may not also came to this world that his now sentient NPC minions misunderstood. All his EVULZ actions are large ham because he is ACTING DRAMATICALLY as he stated himself to be what is expected from him by other people or his minions. Momon is all for show, the mid level undead he summoned during the graveyard crisis are so other people would not interfere with his heroics for show, him using creation magic to shock and awe the lizardmen are for show, him beating "spoiler" who went rogue and letting his minions watch using tactics and baiting was all for show (guy has world tier items that can affect the world).

MC is not evil, never declared himself to be evil, but is realistically believable and is willing to listen to reason, acts overly logically, and has his own self interest and that of his subjects first before those of others. He is probably the strongest person in the current world by far and commands the strongest faction by far but he is in fear of possible hidden max level players, his NPC rebelling now they are real and other forces growing stronger over time so his actions are cautious and he make many plans just in case.

Was this comment useful? Yes

Evil Alignment MC

by malk
10 years ago

Rating: 8.0 / 10.0

There are some things you need to note before reading this light novel. 1. The main character is pure evil alignment. Evil alignment means evil acts (i.e. gore, blood, and ruthlessness). 2. The main character is from a non-human species that was hunted by sport by human characters in the previous game, thus he has no sympathy for humans. 3. The main character is of a lich race which, when the game becomes real, start to blunt his human emotions and empathy. 4. The mc was a lvl 100 (highest lvl) in the previous game and is at this point very OP.

The reviews for this series are split between 1. people who know what they're getting into and enjoy the process and mindset of a main character that's been put in a real world rpg with an evil alignment and 2. people who are squeamish about blood, gore, and evil and seek to criticize the main character for being evil alignment. This series is so far pretty good. You just have to know what you're getting into before you start. Personally, I want some more instances of him using deception and evil mastermind-like plans to supplant his enemies, but the series hasn't gotten that far yet for me to see much. At the moment though, it's done a good job of showing the mistakes and learning process you'd have to have to adapt to a completely foreign world (the only thing transported to the real rpg world is his guildhouse) and proceed to conquer the world. He's cautious, but that in itself is necessary given the circumstances. Overall, the characters are very balanced in diversity of looks and personalities. They all are very loyal to the MC, but they all have very different personalities. I'm interested in seeing where this goes.

Things I like: 1. Likeable characters, 2. Wide range of races and rpg-like skills, 3. A sense of wonder about this new world, 4. New viewpoint (evil alignment) when compared to the super-good superhero alignment that tends to over-saturate rpg reincarnation genres.

Things I dislike: The main character is simply TOO op. In the world he's sent to, anything above tier 5 is considered a "legendary" magic and the MC is capable of easily using tier 10. He hasn't had to think flexibly and be a true evil mastermind and strategize simply because he has nothing in this world that rivals his power. He can overpower literally anything seen so far in this world. He does face a challenge that causes one of his npcs to become incapacitated, but it's unknown at this time whether the enemy just got lucky or if they will indeed be an entity to rival the MC.

... Last updated 10 years ago

Was this comment useful? Yes

Awesome.

by Creeper
11 years ago

Rating: N/A

Who wouldnt want to be a new conquering demon lord in an unsuspecting world? Great story and characters. Its hell to wait for each chapter but so worth it. Id love it if this series were sold in English. Id buy every volume.

Was this comment useful? Yes

Pages (3) [ 1 2 3 ]