He has appeared in most of the main series games as the playable character, accompanied by his loyal slave, Sill Plain.

Rance, a mercenary with the Keith Guild, accepts a mission to find and rescue the daughter of a rich family.

The first game made under the AliceSoft brand, it was released on the PC-8800 and PC-9800 series of computers, as well as the Sharp X68000, the MSX 2 and 2+, the FM TOWNS, and the PC88VA.

Rance sets out with Sill to defeat them, but soon learns that their minds were corrupted by the power of the rings that they wield.

The latter released Kai version includes the completely rewritten script to better fit the main canon.

There, Rance must find a way to escape from the island, but is hindered by agents of Helman who are attempting to revive and control the Wargod Upsilon, an ancient weapon created by the Holy Magic Sect.

Rance accepts a quest to stop a horde of underground monsters from attacking the Happiness Pharmaceutical building, where Ibeprofun, a healing medicine, is produced.

Rance, bored of his normal life, gathers a group of outlaw bandits and takes over some towns in southern Helman.

Rance, in fulfilling his general role as an epic hero, saves The Continent from destruction by a greater evil.

Rance 5D: The Lonely Girl is based on a unique roulette system, where the role-playing elements are determined by randomization.

While within the slave camp, Rance joins the resistance group "Ice Flame", which seeks to change the inequality of Zethan society, in which non-magic users are treated as second-class citizens.

Rance sets out for Nippon, an island archipelago to the east of the Continent, which is modeled after the Warring-States Period of Japanese history.

While attempting to convince the Queen of Pencilcow, a kingdom to the west of Leazas, to cure Sill, he offends her, and she places a curse on him that he must become much stronger to overcome.

The expansion includes an alternate ending that segues into Rance IX, and was directly implemented into the official English release, without needing to be purchased separately.

The government of Helman has fallen into the hands of Stessel Romanov, who corrupts the country and plans to take over the entirety of the Continent.

A revolutionary force gathers, seeking to replace the former emperor to the throne, and they solicit the aid of Rance, who agrees, having heard of a magical item in Helman's treasury that can remove Sill's curse.

Consisting of four episodes, the OVA was directed by Takashi Nishikawa and animated by studio Seven and Pink Pineapple.