History VideoGame / ActRaiser

* {{Archenemy}}: The heroes of each area have a connection to one of Tanzra's generals.

* [[HeadlessHorseman Headless Man]]: The headless natives in Marahna's Act I, which have faces on their chests and jab at you with long spears. They're based on the "anthropophagi" (man eaters) that [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Othello]] talks about meeting in his travels.

* HoldingOutForAHero: Fillmore's problem in ''Renaissance''. The citizens of Fillmore became so dependent on Philotes that once he was out of the picture, Tanzra's minions easily overran Fillmore. The character development of Fillmore's citizens has them achieve self-reliance and the confidence to take on foes without Philotes's help.
* HumbleHero: Philotes and Shemaal are cordial with the Angel and the Master and are quite kind-hearted. Philotes believes that the people of Fillmore shouldn't rely on him so much. Shemaal is humble enough that upon learning that his religion is a ruse by Kalia, he sides with the Master without further complaints, willing to change his viewpoint and becomes the chosen hero of Marahna.
* IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace: Bloodpool, Death Heim.

* JumpPhysics: Largely averted. Once you've committed to the direction of a jump, you can't change it, and you can't do other tricks like turning around in midair and swinging your sword at enemies behind you, either. At best you can slightly lengthen or shorten your leap by holding the respective direction. ''Renaissance'' keeps the original's fixed height jumps but gives you more air control.

* MsFanservice: In ''[=ActRaiser=] 2'', the demon of Lovaous, a demon made of beautiful ice, takes the form of an equally beautiful woman, who is naked with [[ShesGotLegs shapely legs]], [[LongHairIsFeminine long wavy hair]], and [[HartmanHips alluring hips.]] The demon took this form to seduce the king of Lovaous into an endless sleep.

* OurMinotaursAreDifferent: The boss of Fillmore Act II is the Minotaurus armed with AnAxToGrind.

* {{Precursors}}: Northeast of Marahna is a mysterious bird-shaped island covered with trees. Many miles west, on an inaccessible plateau in Kasandora, lies a symbol of identical size and shape [[{{Mayincatec}} inscribed in the earth]]... [[spoiler:Lead your people to first one and then the other, and they'll uncover the best-hidden magic spell in the game.]]

* [[{{Mummy}} Shambling Egyptian Mummy]]: In the Pyramid of Kasandora Act II, naturally.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: In the TowerDefense segments of ''Renaissance'', Miracles can't damage structures or harm your population like they normally would in the simulation phase since Miracles are used to repel monsters in these segments.

* TowerOfBabel: The Tower of Souls in the sequel is practically it. The people of Humbleton specifically built it so they can reach the Sky Palace and become Master themselves.

* TowerOfBabel: The Tower of Souls in the sequel is practically the {{Expy}} of it. The people of Humbleton specifically built it so they can reach the Sky Palace and become Master themselves.

* ChainReactionDestruction: The bosses explode in that manner
* ChargedAttack: The spells in the second game are activated this way, with the exact spell you get determined by what you're doing when you release the attack button: standing for a [[KillItWithFire flamethrower]], crouching for a shield, aiming upward for a shower of 3 energy balls, jumping for 4 balls of ice, floating for a lighting bolt, gliding for an energy shot and diving for a phoenix dive.

* CharacterLevel: Based on the population attained in the simulations. Many a game gets stalled out at the second-highest level when all of the town populations show "max" and no further growth can take place. See [[https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/snes/563502-actraiser/faqs/47431 here]] for more details.

On September 23rd, 2021, a full remake of the original ''[=ActRaiser=]'' titled ''[=Actraiser=] Renaissance'' was announced and released for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, UsefulNotes/Playstation4, PC via {{UsefulNotes/Steam}}, and mobile devices. In addition to featuring completely overhauled graphics, ''Renaissance'' boasts expanded gameplay, including new features in both the action and city-sim segments, an entirely new Realm, new levels and bosses, 15 new music tracks and a remastered soundtrack by original composer Yuzo Koshiro, and quality of life features.

!!This game contains examples of:

* ALoadOfBull: The boss of Fillmore Act II is the Minotaurus armed with AnAxToGrind.

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Practically an InvokedTrope; maxing out your population requires you to kill your followers by destroying low-level structures, thus making room for higher-level, higher-capacity houses. In the SNES original, earthquakes are the best way to go about this, since the highest-level structures aren't affected by them and it affects the entire map. ''Renaissance'' makes the basic lightning Miracle the most economical way to do so, as the earthquake no longer targets the entire map automatically, the highest-tier buildings are no longer immune to it and the ability to use higher-leveled Miracles that cost more SP but have a much larger area of effect lets you wipe out all the buildings in 4-6 uses.

* PowerCrystal: Starting from Fillmore Act 2, all non-respawning enemies in ''Renaissance'' drop magic crystals when killed, which power up Master when collected: the first 2 levels increase his physical and magic damage by 20%, the next 2 levels increase them by 50% and the last level increases both by 100% and allows Master to [[AutoRevive revive once with half HP per life]].

* DegradedBoss: Bosses you've previous defeated in Acts can show up later in monster lairs guarding Spawners. Like with standard Mooks, they don't need to be defeated in order to clear the lair, and disappear once the Spawner is destroyed.

** ''Renaissance'' downplays its usefulness; while still useful, far fewer stars fall, and they don't do so as quickly.

* HoldingOutForAHero: Fillmore's problem in ''Renaissance''. The citizens of Fillmore became so dependent on Philotes that once he was out of the picture, Tanzra's minions easily overran Fillmore. The character development of Fillmore's citizens has them achieve self-reliance and the confidence to take on foes without Philotes's help..
* HumbleHero: Philotes and Shemaal are cordial with the Angel and the Master and are quite kind-hearted. Philotes believes that the people of Fillmore shouldn't rely on him so much. Shemaal is humble enough that upon learning that his religion is a ruse by Kalia, causing Shemaal to side with the Master. Shemaal is willing to change his view and becomes the chosen hero of Marahna.

* JumpPhysics: Largely averted. Once you've committed to the direction of a jump, you can't change it, and you can't do other tricks like turning around in midair and swinging your sword at enemies behind you, either. At best you can slightly lengthen or shorten your leap by holding the respective direction.

* TowerDefense: In ''Renaissance'', you'll need to defend your towns and temples from monster sieges by building gatehouses (to block off roads) and block houses (to pelt monsters with arrows), placing palisades to slow down the encroaching hordes, and attacking the monsters with a HeroUnit and your angel's Miracles.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Practically an InvokedTrope; maxing out your population requires you to kill your followers by destroying low-level structures, thus making room for higher-level, higher-capacity houses. In the SNES original, earthquakes are the best way to go about this, since the highest-level structures aren't affected by them and it affects the entire map.

* FakePlatform: Quite a few platforms fall when you step on them.

** Sandstorm's Ravenous Scourge

* AdaptationalCurves: In the original ''Actraiser'', Rafflasher was just a mass of vines and plant-like maws. In ''Renaissance'', she has been turned into a beautiful dryad with a nice body. Still just as deadly as her original counterpart.

* FakeDifficulty: Actraiser 2 falls ''hard'' into this with it's last few stages. Starting with the Ice Palace, what was a tough but fair game suddenly becomes a quagmire of constant spike traps, unreasonably difficult jumps, enemies with way too much health, enemies whose attacks are nearly impossible to avoid, enemies that spawn right on top of you and ThatOneBoss after ThatOneBoss.

* HoldingOutForAHero: Fillmore's problem in ''Renaissance''. The citizens of Fillmore became so dependent on Philotes that once he was out of the picture, Tanzra's minions easily overran Fillmore. The character development of Fillmore's citizens has them achieve self-reliance and the confidence to take on foes withou Philotes's help..

* SleptThroughTheApocalypse: In ''Renaissance'', Philotas falls victim to this before his rescue by the Fillmore leaders. According to Philotas, he used to rule over the lands that became Fillmore until his curse by Tanzra.

* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: In the original ''[=ActRaiser=]'', the Arctic Wyvern merely existed to be the literal [[TheDragon Dragon]] to Tanzra. In ''Renaissance'', the Wyvern is given a backstory showing that he was once friends with the AmbiguouslyHuman Taia, but the return of the Lord of Light has caused Tanzra's influence to force the Wyvern to fluctuate between being an {{Expy}} of [[Literature/TheHobbit Smaug]] and a TragicMonster.
* AdaptationalCurves:
** In the original ''[=ActRaiser=]'', the Master's avatar in the side-scrolling segments was clearly masculine but otherwise had little defining features beside his armor, while the angel was a nude cherub. In ''Renaissance'', the avatar has been remade into a {{Bishounen}} and the angel is now an [[AmbiguousGender androgynous]] human child with angel wings and a halo.
** In the original ''Actraiser'', Rafflasher was just a mass of vines and plant-like maws. In ''Renaissance'', she has been turned into a beautiful dryad with a nice body. Still just as deadly as her original counterpart.
* AdaptationalJerkass: The Angel in ''Renaissance'' is given an actual personality unlike the original. In the remake, while they care for the humans that the Lord of Light is helping to guide, they initially perceive humans as weak and helpless without the guidance of their god and is loyal to the Master to a fault, getting irrationally upset at humans who deny the Master's existence or don't follow His teachings.
* AdaptationalModesty: The Angel wears clothes in ''Renaissance'', unlike in the original where they were permanently nude.
* AdventurerArchaeologist: Alonso, the hero of Kasandora, is an explorer and archeologist. Despite his selfish ways, he reveals that he has a softer side and spurs on the folk of Kasandora when the curse is upon them.
* AllThereInTheManual: The name of the TrueFinalBoss of ''Renaissance'' is withheld from the player at all times- except in the quest menu, where his name is revealed to be [[spoiler:the Archangel.]]

* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: In ''Renaissance'', your ally in Northwall is the blue-skinned Taia, who more than bears a passing resemblance to the Jotunns of Norse Mythology.
* AnAxToGrind: The Minotaurus boss of Fillmore Act II. Philotas, the ally of Fillmore in ''Renaissance'', also carries a battle-axe of his own.

* BarbieDollAnatomy: In the original game, the angel is buck naked, but no visible features are shown. Averted in ''Renaissance'', which gives them clothes.

* {{Cowboy}}: Alonso, an explorer working in Kasandora, is always seen with a giant revolver and a Stetson hat despite [[FantasyCounterpartCulture the area otherwise being Egypt-themed]].
* CrystalDragonJesus:
** Whether it's God or the Master, the game's set in a pure fantasy world.
** Shemaal fits the trope in ''Renaissance''. He's a kind-hearted shepherd who wants to help the folk of Marahna despite his disagreements with the Angel. He's even a part of Consecrate Green, the religion that clashed with the Lord of Light's religion. He even becomes a chosen one after realizing that Consecrate Green didn't have the best of intentions for the folk of Marahna.
* CuteWitch: Daniella in ''Renaissance''. At first, she's quite a coward, wanting to run away from her duties. Over the course of her arc, she develops into a fine witch, gaining the confidence to save the day.

* DeadAllAlong: Mixed with DeadPersonImpersonation in ''Renaissance''. Zeppelin Wolf did indeed exist before the Lord of Light arrived in Bloodpool, but he was killed by one of Tanzra's agents and his corpse was posessed by this same agent, turning him into the Vampire/Werewolf that appears as the boss. After the boss fight, the Angel comments that something was holding Zeppelin Wolf's full powers back, suggesting that a shred of the ''real'' Zeppelin Wolf's soul was still lingering in the agent's body.

* EleventhHourSuperpower: The Master gets a free SwordBeam powerup in the final battle, an item normally found only once before in the game. It emits an energy wave with every swing of the sword, and doubles attack power to boot.
* EvilFormerFriend: Arctic Wyvern, the bad guy of Northwall, used to be friends with Taia. He even raised her as well.

* FallenAngel: In ''Actraiser 2'' we learn that Tanzra used to be a servant of the Master, but he rebelled and was cast out of Heaven as punishment. He then plots to get revenge against the master by sending his seven demon lieutenants to cause chaos in the kingdoms of man.

* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: Your amount of loyal subjects translate directly into how beefy your avatar is during the side-scrolling portions.
* GodIsGood: The Master is a benevolent deity who protects his subjects from demons and helps human civilizations in their development.
** GoodIsNotNice: The Master can be very much the God of the Old Testament, and is perfectly capable of sending a BoltOfDivineRetribution down on his followers' heads if the offerings don't keep coming, or conduct urban renewal with an earthquake, which kills all worshippers not in the highest level of housing. This is, in fact, ''necessary'' to reach the maximum level. The Angel {{Lampshades}} this early on in ''Renaissance''.

* HealThyself: ''Renaissance'', roughly halfway through the game, gives you a spell that lets you self-heal a percentage of your health on command, provided you have the (considerable) MP to do so.

* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:Tanzra, at first a disembodied head, transforms into a skeletal monstrosity when his first life bar is depleted.]]

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Migrana, the heroine of Aitos in ''Renaissance'', first appears as a ghost, telling the folk of Aitos to leave her sacred land. [[spoiler:She gets her body back through the events of the Simulation section.]]

* PhysicalGod: The Master, after he animates his statue.

* SacredBowAndArrows: The angel uses this to fend off monsters in the sim sections.

* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Tanzra was resurrected by the hatred of 13 demons in the sequel.

* TrademarkFavoriteFood: The Angel's favorite food in ''Renaissance'' is apples, and it heals their health. They even sneak some behind the Master's back in a Fillmore sidequest.

On September 23rd, 2021, a remastered version of the original ''[=ActRaiser=]'' titled ''[=Actraiser=] Renaissance'' was announced and released for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, UsefulNotes/Playstation4, PC via {{UsefulNotes/Steam}}, and mobile devices. In addition to featuring completely overhauled graphics, ''Renaissance'' boasts expanded gameplay, including new features in both the action and city-sim segments, an entirely new Realm, new levels and bosses, 15 new music tracks and a remastered soundtrack by original composer Yuzo Koshiro, and quality of life features.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:Teddie]] survives in ''Renaissance'' because [[spoiler:Daniela steps in during the lottery event]].

* CensorshipBureau: Nintendo's policies led to the God/Master/Satan/Tanzra name changes.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Migrana, the heroine of Aitos in ''Renaissance'', first appears as a ghost, telling the folk of Aitos to leave her sacred land. [[spoiler: She gets her body back through the events of the Simulation section.]]

** In ''Renaissance'', [[spoiler:the TrueFinalBoss in Alcaleone is implied to be this, with Taia even muses that it must have been a god (or at least a loyal angel) once upon a time]].

* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler: Teddie survives in ''Renaissance'' because Daniela steps in during the lottery event.]]

* TowerDefense: In ''Renaissance'', you'll need to defend your towns and temples from monster sieges by building gatehouses (to block off roads) and block houses (to pelt monsters with arrows), placing palisades to slow down the encroaching hordes, and attacking the monsters with a "hero" unit and your angel's Miracles.

* GreenAesop: Thoroughly averted. Areas start out with a variety of ecosystems, from swamps and jungles to deserts and artic tundra. All will be cleared out to make room for more houses and farms. The game has an almost UsefulNotes/ManifestDestiny attitude towards the spread of your worshipers.
** Downplayed considerably in ''Renaissance''; you still do everything mentioned above but your miracles don't straight-up terraform everything to grasslands anymore - you're mostly just clearing up the worst of nature's overrun, and even then it's just enough so to make the realms habitable for human life, so Kasandora absolutely stays a desert, Northwall stays a winter wonderland, etc.

* GodIsGood: The Master contains equal parts Conan, Rambo, and Giuliani.
** GoodIsNotNice: The Master can be very much the God of the Old Testament, and is perfectly capable of sending a BoltOfDivineRetribution down on his followers' heads if the offerings don't keep coming, or conduct urban renewal with an earthquake, which kills all worshippers not in the highest level of housing. This is, in fact, ''necessary'' to reach the highest level. The Angel {{Lampshades}} this early on in ''Renaissance''.

* {{Cowboy}}: Alonso, a mercenary working in Kasandora, is always seen with a giant revolver and a Stetson hat despite [[FantasyCounterpartCulture the area otherwise being Egypt-themed]].

** Fillmore - Greece (the bosses of both Acts are the Centaurus and the Minotaurus, creatures from Greek mythology. One of the enemies in Act II are called "Dragonteeth" in reference to the Dragon-tooth warriors guarding the Golden Fleece.)

** In the original ''[=ActRaiser=]'', the Master's avatar in the sidescrolling segments was clearly masculine but otherwise had little defining features beside his armor, while the angel was a nude cherub. In ''Renaissance'', the avatar has been remade into a {{Bishounen}} and the angel is now an [[AmbiguousGender androgynous]] human child with angel wings and a halo.

* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: In ''Renaissance'', your ally in Northwall is the blue-skined Taia, who more than bears a passing resemblance to the Jotunns of Norse Mythology.

** ''Renaissance'' has Easy Normal, and Hard difficulty modes for the main game which can be adjusted at any time, and the unlockable Special Mode adds [[HarderThanHard Divine]] mode.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture

** Bloodpool - Germany and Romania (the castle of Bloodpool appears distinctly European in style, and the bosses of the Acts are a winged manticore and a vampire/werewolf.) In ''Renaissance'', the Bloodmen are dressed in a manner similar to the UsefulNotes/{{Romani}}
** Kasandora - Ancient Egypt (is mostly desert by the time you arrive there, and you venture inside a pyramid in Act 2 where you fight mummies, ''Renaissance'''s take on the act having giant statues of Anubis inside, bird-head warriors patterned after Horus and Ra, and the boss looks like Tutenkhamen's golden mortuary mask)
** Aitos - Japan (has bamboo, {{Samurai}} and {{Tengu}} enemies, an Oriental Dragon as the boss of Act 1, and a monstrous [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanyudo Wanyudo]] as the boss of Act 2). In Actraiser Renaissance, the people of Aitos are known as the Aitok, a counterpart to the Ainu folk in Hokkaido. Their hero is even a kamuy in the form of Migrana.
** Marahna - Southeast Asia (has a Cambodian Temple and a boss that resembles a Hindu god)
** Northwall - Scandinavia (takes place in the cold north and has a giant tree akin to the mythical trees of Norse legends). The Northmen bear a resemblance to the UsefulNotes/{{Sapmi}} in ''Renaissance''

* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler: Tanzra, at first a disembodied head, transforms into a skeletal monstrosity when his first life bar is depleted.]]

* TowerOfBabel: The Tower of Souls in the sequel is practically the expy of it. The people of Humbleton specifically built it so they can reach the Sky Palace and become Master themselves.

* BeautyIsBad: The demon of Lovaous, a beautiful ice creature taking on the alluring form of an [[MsFanservice equally beautiful woman]], seduces the king into an endless sleep, while putting his subjects into a freezing hellhole.

* CrystalDragonJesus: Whether it's God or the Master, the game's set in a pure fantasy world.