History VideoGame / ArTonelico3

[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Ar_tonelico_Qoga_7882.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:Clockwise, from top to bottom: Aoto, Saki, and Finnel.]]

The third game in the [[EasternRPG JRPG]] series by Gust is called ''Ar tonelico III: Sekai Shuuen no Hikigane wa Shoujo no Uta ga Hiku'' (''The Song of the Girl that Pulls the Trigger of the End of the World'') in Japan. Nippon Ichi released this game under the name of ''Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel'' in North America on March 15, 2011, with Qoga meaning End in Hymmnos.

This time around, the protagonist is a young steeplejack named Aoto, while the setting is the region of the third tower of Ar tonelico, Sol Cluster, where [[FantasticRacism Reyvateils hold high importance over the second-class humans]] and control their population, destroying entire human cities when they become too large in a genocidal process called Cleansing, while the survivors are turned into vegetables through a brainwashing process called Purification.

The story starts with Aoto lazying around during his work hours, when a rumble outside his house makes him notice that an old man and a woman are being attacked by Clustanian troops. After helping the woman to fend the Clustanians off, the woman transformed into other girl: Saki, while the old man died from the wounds he sustained, telling Aoto to take care of Saki and giving him a mysterious pendant that looked identical to one Aoto had, telling him to give it to his son. During their run to the air bus station to escape from the village now they were being chased by the Clustanians, they met with a friend of Aoto's, Tatsumi, who helped them escape, not before Saki made her own clothes magically disappear and used some sort of weird power to turn the soldiers and robots into giant pieces of cake. While this leaves them astonished at first, they take advantage of it as a chance to escape from the village. Once they stop to rest outside the village, Saki, now with her clothes again, awakens without any memories of what happened in the village or who the old man that died protecting her was, making Tatsumi suggest taking her to a Reyvateil-specialized doctor that lives in the neighboring city of Eternus Shaft.

However, this only marks the beginning of a long journey where they befriend other characters: Hikari Gojo, the good-natured doctor Tatsumi mentioned; and Finnel, a clumsy Reyvateil waitress that lives and works at the Eternus Shaft. Both of them seem to be keeping some secrets of their own, which Aoto and the others will discover as they fight to find the truth behind Saki's memory loss, the fact she and Finnel have multiple personalities that change their appearances entirely, why Clustania is so keen in capturing her, and the connection she and Finnel have with some incidents that happened in Sol Cluster's past; while protecting them both from Clustania and the human-ruled nation of Archia, the second of which seems to have ulterior motives. This will also take him to discover why the Third Tower was created originally and what were its functions, getting into an adventure that will decide not only Sol Cluster's fate, but also that of the entirety of Ar Ciel.

The game later on got small sequels in the form of Drama [=CD=]s, each one giving an ampler outlook on the endings of each individual heroine, while also pulling out a final sequel for the entire series in the form of two light novel tomes in which the casts of the three games join to accomplish a single goal.

Being as this is the page for the third installment, more general series tropes go on the ''{{Ar tonelico}}'' page.

----
!!This game contains examples of:

* ACupAngst: Finnel is very vocal about it. She even says she doesn't want to wear a certain item because she doesn't have the bust for it. Aoto immediately offers to make her some pads. Cocona gets defensive about her size at times as well.
* ActionGirl: Akane
* AllMenArePerverts: You have the option of invoking this when programming Hyumas. After purging to the final level, the player can ask the girl to stip again. Depending on the girl being programmed, she may not object to the idea...
-->Aoto:"You know, since we've gone this far, let's go all the way..."
** Saki's 3rd Cosmosphere level.
* AGodAmI: "Behold my refined body! The divine apperance of the new age's ruler!" [[spoiler: Ayatane after he switches from his Teru Tribe form to his Antibody form.]]
* AllWomenAreDomsAllMenAreSubs: Inverted. [[spoiler: Finnel secretly likes Aoto calling her 'servant' because she's a sub. He doesn't figure this out until she spells it out in her fifth cosmosphere level.]]
* AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield
* ApologisesALot: Saki whenever someone attacks her. Noted under DistressedDamsel.
* AchievementsInIgnorance: According to Coccona, Aoto is "too dumb to know something is impossible" and so he'll try doing it.
* AxCrazy: Soma. [[TrustMeImAnX Don't worry, she's a professional murderer.]]
* BadassPreacher: Reverend Gengai. A [[EyepatchOfPower one-eyed]], pony-tailed, [[HoverBoard air-surfing]], [[BareFistedMonk fist-fighting]], hard-drinkin' priest. The other characters constantly question exactly HOW holy he can possibly be.
* BalefulPolymorph: Saki has the power to turn humans into cake.
* BandageBabe: Filament [[spoiler: symbolizing the 'broken messiah' aspect of the Planet's Will.]]
* BeyondTheImpossible: When the Rinkernator is open, Reyvateils can't use Song Magic because the systems that make it possible are disabled. Cocona can cast anyways because she is connected to ''Infel Phira'' (back at the Second Tower) instead of the Third Tower whose Rinkernator was open at the time. There's a cutscene showing the energy transfer through space.
* BeamSpam: [[spoiler: Tyria loves this as it manifests in all her spells. ]]
* BelligerentSexualTension: Aoto and Finnel, though they're probably just playing around more than anything.
* TheBigGuy: The military instructor Mute, as seen [[http://kotaku.com/5442398/ar-tonelico-iii-rolls-out-the-manly-lady-voiced-by-pikachu here]]. [[spoiler:Her other form, not so much.]]
* BilingualBonus: The story EXEC_FLIP_FUSIONSPHERE/. tells in its [[ConLang Hymmnos]] lyrics is arguably more interesting than the song's context in the game.
** It's at the same time the most beautiful and the most depressing thing you'll hear. Song [[http://tindeck.com/listen/vzvq here]], Lyrics [[http://artonelico.wikia.com/wiki/EXEC_FLIP_FUSIONSPHERE here]].
* BittersweetEnding: The normal and bad endings. Get the bad ending? [[spoiler: Finnel and Saki both die and all life will be killed by the Antibodies]]. Get the normal ending? [[spoiler: The heroine you didn't choose dies. Not only that but with the state the planet is in, the Will of Ar Ciel itself, Ciela, will die in a year. Without Ciela, the other Wills would die too, and without the Wills, the Planet is dead]]. So either way, [[spoiler: [[KillEmAll everyone will die]].]]
* {{Bokukko}}: Soma uses the pronoun 'boku'.
* BodyguardCrush: Inverted at first as Saki and Finnel show signs of affection to Aoto before the player chooses a specific girl's ending route, thus choosing Aoto's specific romantic interest.
** Also plays a huge role in Tyria's Binary Field, where you essentially get to play through a VisualNovel with yourself taking on the role of the Bodyguard. Exactly how crushy it gets depends on your choices, but for the Best Ending... it'll need to get VERY crushy.
* BodyHorror: [[spoiler: Rev. Gengai gets turned into the Reyvaroid, a grotseque human-Antibody hybrid. Fortunately, he returns to normal after the heroes defeat the monstrosity.]]
* BreastPlate: Sakia Lumei's armor can become this.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: Many characters occasionally become very aware that they exist inside a JRPG, typically during synthesis. Cocona seems to be perpetually aware of this fact
* ButThouMust: If you pick the wrong choices in Tyria's Binary Field, it sends you back through the levels.
** Also in Finnel's [[RPGEpisode RPG-style Cosmosphere level]], if you choose not to help Finnel, she'll keep asking until you choose to help her.
* CaptainErsatz: Soma's costume looks like some sort of demon [[NiGHTsIntoDreams Nightmaren.]]
* CastFromHitPoints: [[spoiler: EXEC_FLIP songs draw power from the singer's own life energy, potentially killing her. Saki and Finnel both have one, which are heard as part of the plot, aside of Saki's constant use of her Miracle power, which is a form of EXEC_FLIP as well. As for if they are killed from singing them, that depends on which ending route you're in.]]
* CatGirl: Filament has cat ears under her nun habit.
* ClothingDamage: Exaggerated to the point that you can't do a powerful special attack (especially when purging) unless one of you has been stripped down, even to the point of bearing your underwear!
** Literal in Filament's case. The more that she is purged, the more tattered her clothes get.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Tyria; somehow every other thought ends with 'fried bread' or some other random topic.
* CombatStilettos: Every female in the game wears something with high heels but this trope is concerned with Coccona [[spoiler: and Richa]] who are the only ones to melee fight in them.
* ContinuityNod: Most of them are provided by Coccona [[spoiler: AKA Tatsumi.]]
** Herself of course.
** Her mission to [[spoiler: deliver the Heart of Gaea.]]
** Remarking on he similarites between a dress made in synthesis and the Floral Dress from her game.
** Snarking when [[spoiler: Roto wants to add "Maximum Pentration" to his new weapon, as that was the battle quote Croix said when he used his EX technique.]]
** Her dislike of Sol Cluster's baths references the Reyvateil power up system: "There's no one to talk to, no toys and no bath oil. What a boo bath!"
* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: Aoto and Cocona. Of course, the Reyvateils couldn't have parents to begin with; pure blood Beta types are clones.
* CreepyGood: Even after [[spoiler:Soma]] makes a HeelFaceTurn and start helping the heroes, she's ''still'' creepy as hell, due in no small part to her spectacular SlasherSmile. Her LimitBreak in particular is disturbing. Of course, it helps that she's a [[spoiler:MonsterClown]].
* DeadpanSnarker: Aoto sometimes, but mostly Tatsumi[[spoiler:/Cocona. Looks like she picked it up from her big bro.]]
* DeathFromAbove: All of the [[LimitBreak Flipsphere]] attacks are some variant of this. Depending on what Reyvateil and Persona you're using, the thing raining DeathFromAbove can be anything from cake, to [[WordsCanBreakMyBones words]], to cats, to [[KillSat energy-beams]], to plain, old, boring meteors.
* DeclarationOfProtection: Aoto says this often to Saki and Finnel. [[spoiler: Deconstructed as the strain of protecting someone from two superpowers with only a drill and a handful of friends is so great it drives him to a breakdown.]]
* DesperationAttack: Saki's Miracle power works like this. [[spoiler:It turns people into ''cake''.]]
* DetachedSleeves: Finnel, Akane if you squint.
* TheDulcineaEffect: Aoto to Saki in the first 5 minutes of the game. Not so much because of Saki herself (at first), but because it was a dying man's final wish and his keepsake piqued Aoto's curiosity further.
* DistressedDamsel: Phase I is more or less keeping Saki away from Clustanian forces and rescuing her when it happens. Lampshaded in a Phase 2 talk topic: "I'm sorry I got abducted multiple times."
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: [[spoiler: In the non-true ends, the planet will die.]]
* EvolutionPowerup: Each Persona in the party has a mind guardian and they have three stages of evolution. Each time a Purge is done they change physically and their attack range and power increases.
* EyepatchOfPower: Gengai. At least we think it gives him power.
* {{Fanservice}}: Undoubtedly the most blatant in the series which is saying a lot considering the last two involved a ModestyTowel costume. Also, there's a trophy that's literally titled "What's wrong with being a pervert!?"
** Changed in the English version to "Return to Innocence"
* FantasticRacism: Reyvateils of Clustania "cleanse" human communities (read: destroy) and "purify" individuals (read: brainwash) [[spoiler: It turns out that most of them are fairly nice, if snobby, and the ones causing problems at the start HeelFaceTurn. The true villain is one more human who sees Reyvateils as disposable dolls.]]
* FashionableAsymmetry: Finnel's stockings don't match.
* FinishingMove: Ultra Supermoves and Flipspheres.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: When you Dive into Saki, you'll see her Hymn Code is written: [[spoiler: '''SAKIA'''_FEHU_TILIA_HARVESTASYA]]. Guess what it means?
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: [[spoiler: You can encounter Soma within Finnel's "second" Cosmosphere before discovering that Finnel is Soma during the course of the game. You can also fuse Finnel and Yurisica together in her real second Cosmosphere level and have Finnel fight as her after Yurisica helps you escape from Eternus Gallery (possibly before, as well), but Tatsumi doesn't bring up the fact that the girl that helped them escape from the prison was a Persona of Finnel.]]
** The player can also "learn" (if you didn't notice Saki's Hymn Code) [[spoiler: Sakia is the true persona instead of Saki]] from the Cosmosphere before it is revealed in the plot. Aoto seems surprised by the information he already knew.
* [[spoiler:GeniusLoci: The Will of Ar Ciel is the will of the Planet. Saki and Finnel are two containers for its personae. [[GaiasVengeance The final boss is the will of Ar Ciel.]]]]
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: If the "purge" feature, in which Reyvateils literally strip to make themselves more powerful, is any indication, then either the radar no longer exists or the developers stopped caring about it or the radar wasn't there. Some countries are lax on the topic of nudity, which would explain why this game got an M rating in the United States and an equivalent of a T rating everywhere else.
* GirlyBruiser: Clustanian reyvateils in general, considering they are front line soliders here.
** [[spoiler: Mute]] acts like a HouseWife in Phase 4 and goes onto [[spoiler: put Raphael into a paralyzing bear hug]]
** Sakia, the sword bearing and armor wielding guardian, has a very cutesy soulspace. When asked about it, she blushes and refuses to comment.
* GoodMorningCrono: The game begins with Aoto oversleeping.
* GratuitousEnglish: EXEC_CUTYPUMP/. includes a few English words and phrases.
** Tyria uses this a lot too and [[GratuitousItalian ciao]] anyone?
* GratuitousFrench: Used by Aoto when trying to teach Akane about love.
* HeelFaceTurn:
** [[spoiler: Akane]], but if you're GenreSavvy then you should have seen this coming a mile away.
** [[spoiler: Mute]]
* HeyItsThatVoice: Not [[Literature/KaraNoKyoukai the first time]] MaayaSakamoto has voiced a short-haired DeadpanSnarker who's secretly the origin of the world.
** Or NoriakiSugiyama a young HotBlooded idiot [[FateStayNight whose great at making weapons and has spiky hair that's going prematurely white.]]
** On the American side of things, [[CristinaValenzuela Noel]] is a Reyvateil!
** Also a bit of a class reunion for Neptunia as you got WendeeLee, Melissa Fahn, StephanieSheh and TarahPlatt
* HomoeroticSubtext
--> '''Akane''': [[spoiler: Lady Finnel, Your Highness... Ever since the night we met, I have been enthralled by your beauteous eyes.]]
** If you install the DLC Tsundere personality for Harvestasha, it turns in to a LoveTriangle.
* HospitalHottie: Yurisica's first level purge looks like a nurse and she tease Aoto about it in the Cosmosphere.
* HypocriticalHeartwarming: Aoto is this repeatedly in Finnel's cosmosphere. No one can mistreat his servant but him!
* ImplausibleFencingPowers: ''Don't mess'' with commander Akane!
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Everyone:
** Aoto's weapon is a combination of sword, giant drill and a giant scissor with beams around it. Tyria [[{{Lampshade}} lampshades]] that Aoto's weapon is illogical.
** Tatsumi's weapon is called a V-Board; a surfboard with a motor and a beam edge around it. One image synthesis deconstructs the idea: his new V-Board is reinforced with rare metal because the old one broke. These are not supposed to be weapons.
** Hikari Gojo is the biggest offender. Officially it's a doctor bag, well not just a doctor bag. It's a doctor bag that can: Shoot laser beams, transform into a shield, bazooka, stun enemies with electric, a beam saber installed inside it, [[{{GundamSEED}} DRAGOON]] beam cannon pods, and a WaveMotionGun. A doctor bag has never been this {{Badass}} before.
** Cocona's weapon is a [[spoiler: V-Board too, since she is Tatsumi]] but she's a bigger offender because her [[spoiler: V-Board]] can seperate into [[BifurcatedWeapon two beam tonfas]]. The tonfas can generate a beam wave and beam twister, and by the way it can also float too considering it's originally was supposed to be a [[spoiler: V-Board]]. When she uses her [[LimitBreak EX-Move]] she takes her original weapon: her beam sword generating hair clips. Yes, you read it right '''Beam Hair Clips'''! [[RuleOfCool Only in Ar Tonelico...]]
* InexplicableTreasureChests: Amusingly deconstructed.
--> '''Aoto''': Hey, there are treasure chests in the Tower right?
--> '''Tyria''': Well, no one would bother to come if there were no treasures.
--> '''Aoto''': Actually, I think the fact that there are treasure chests inside the Tower is surprising in the first place. Who the hell put such a thing inside the tower anyway?
--> '''Tyria''': Why, of course it was me. '''They were created at the same time as this Tower's creation'''.
* InferredHolocaust: [[spoiler: Ar Ciel dying one year later after the game unless the AAA Project is carried out successfully. This means that if the player ends the game with any ending but the True ones, the planet will break apart, and everything in it will die.]] WordofGod even went on to write a [[http://artonelico.isisview.org/wiki/index.php/Ar_Portal_translation/Ar_Ciel_Technical_Data_Compilation_Room/Issue_3 complete description]] for this!
* InnocentInnuendo: A series tradition: when a young couple uses phrases like 'dive virginity' and 'consensual' and 'you didn't even sweet talk me' it's easy to get the wrong idea.
* IntertwinedFingers: [[spoiler:Finnel and Akane do this in the ending, complete with both of them blushing.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Momoko often brutally bullies Finnel, which immediately pisses off Aoto, until you learn the truth. [[spoiler: Momoko was merely complying to Finnel's wish to keep being tortured; in fact she genuinely cares about Finnel to the point that she willingly performs a HeroicSacrifice to save Finnel's mind from collapsing. Even Aoto cries for her]].
--> '''Momoko''': [[spoiler: [[TearJerker Baton touch Aoto. From now on you're Finnel's Mind Guardian]]]].
** Also in Finnel's Level 9 Cosmosphere, [[spoiler: old habits are hard to break as evident when Momoko is reborn, picks on Finnel and (optionally) later tells you Finnel's "weak points".]] She has the best intentions in mind...
* JigglePhysics: They made an extra video explaining the physics of the different character models.
* KindHeartedCatLover: Saki loves cats and is TheIngenue. She has a [[http://artonelico.isisview.org/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1797 song]] devoted to cats. She also has a cat mask and and known to meow.
** Filament's purge reveals cat ears and a tail. Her magic involves cats and her mind guardian is a cat.
* LadyLooksLikeADude: Mute, when powered up. (Katene prefers her that way.)
* LampshadeHanging: Aoto asked Finnel why Clustenia has Dive Shops because... you know, they have no humans in their town, right? So why bother having dive machines? Even better, why install one in every house? Finnel only says that it's one of Clustenia's seven mysteries, leaving Aoto to wonder about the other six.
** Synthesis discussions as the character's regularly point out the improbability of wearing dresses as armor, discuss why you'd ever want to build a flame thrower or use a V-Board as a weapon and so on.
* LargeHam: Mute is often shouting and running and [[spoiler: calling herself a super hero]]. Aoto, too, whenever the protection of Reyvateils is concerned or his passion for drills comes up.
* LoopedLyrics: EXEC_COSMOFLIPS/.
* LuminescentBlush: All the girls do this when Purging. This is hilarious in the case of Tyria, since when she's fully purged she's wearing the exact same outfit she always wears when traveling with the party, having dressed up for the battle.
* LyricalDissonance: Listen to [[spoiler: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37RoSilv8CA EXEC_Z/.]]]] then [[spoiler: [[http://artonelico.isisview.org/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1823&sid=ab4432d373b4ab5df7aa143968747231 look at the lyrics]]]].
* MadBomber: Yurisica, who always seems to be enjoying herself way too much when she sets off explosives. Aoto points this out: she's a reyvateil. She's has magic. She doesn't need bombs in the first place.
* TheManBehindTheMan: In Clustania, [[spoiler: the reason for Harvestasha's genocidal hatred of humans, as well as her love of turning them into vegetables via "purification" is her being reprogrammed by an Ayatane 700 years ago. Another Ayatane controls the movements of the Great Fang Militia by giving them choice information as Luphan... meaning the Ayatane family basically controlled every event outside of Archia for centuries.]]
* MsFanservice: Sarapatra wears a suggestive dress and often flirts with Aoto.
* NakedApron: [[spoiler:In the Tyria ending she does this.]]
* NobodyPoops: Averted. There's a string of scenes involving Finnel being caught on the toilet. Nothing explicit is shown but the dialogue makes it quite (hilariously) clear what's going on.
* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler: Ayatane turns into a giant dragon-eagle thing when he fights the heroes.]]
* OfCorsetsSexy: Sarapatra has one under her dress and is [[TheTease the most sexual of all the personae.]]
* OurMermaidsAreDifferent: Zoi, the Pregnant Dolphin Mermaid.
* PaperThinDisguise: Saki's Nyamo cat mask. Only the IdiotHero thinks it'll work and even then his friends think he's just playing along to make Saki feel better.
* PregnantBadass: Zoi, [[spoiler:Ar Ru's]] Song Magic, is a literal one, her evolution through each Purge it's just a ever increasing Gestation Period, and attacking with her babies.
* PrettyInMink: Several of the outfits.
* SameContentDifferentRating: The US version got a M (Mature) rating, while it got a T (Teen) equivalent in ''everywhere else in the world''.
* SelfDeprecation: In the English release (which was published by Nippon Ichi America) we get this bit of dialog when Aoto expresses his disgust over Gergo.
--> '''Aoto''': It's just some niche character designed to appeal to hardcore fans. [[NipponIchi Just like that stupid]] [[{{Disgaea}} penguin thing]]
* SexyBacklessOutfit: Finnel's dress is rather revealing in that area as is Coccona's.
* ShoutOut: [[spoiler:Harvestasya has a ton of OS-related references, it seems. The title of her "chmod b111000000/n" song is a slight tweak to a Unix command, and there are two "editions" of her named for different Windows [=OSes=] (XP and Vista).]]
** Is it cool? Is it fashionable? Is it [[BohemianRhapsody the real life or or is it just fantasy?]] -Aoto.
** In fact, the song servers could be considered shout outs to PC technology in general.
** [[spoiler:XP is the nice Havestasya and Vista is the mean one.]] On purpose? No idea. Hilarious? You bet.
** "I've never seen a superhero in shorts, a tank top and a straw hat" - Cocona while synthesizing, as the topic was about what makes a superhero (they were talking about costumes). Aoto replies saying he'd kind of like to see that. Sounds like a reference to Luffy of One Piece!
* SimpleYetAwesome: This is Coccona's preference; she doesn't like her weapons having extra dodads and her supermoves are all based on a simple premise like 'turning' or 'go fast in one direction'.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism : This game sends something of a HumansAreTheRealMonsters message (what with the "reyvateil supremacy", and such), but does try to balance it. Still heavily tipped towards the "cynicism" side, since what it does to try to tip it towards the "Idealism" side is rather low-detail.
* SoftspokenSadist: A certain surprising someone.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The English version gives us Sarapatra instead of Salapator.
* SplitPersonalityTakeover: Although the alternate personalities are kind enough to give the body back after they finish up their business... Well, maybe not for [[spoiler: Suzunomia]], but she got better.
** [[spoiler: Inverted with Saki. While it is later revealed that Sakia Lumei was actually the main persona and Saki an alternate persona, ''Sakia'' is the one who's trying to turn Saki into the primary personality.]]
* StockingFiller: Richa, Sarapatra.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: Part of the game system.
* SuperMovePortraitAttack: Make it Super Move Portrait Animation.
* SweetPollyOliver: [[spoiler: Tatsumi, who turns out to be [[VideoGame/ArTonelico2 Cocona Bartel]]. Justified since she was trying to hide the fact she was a Reyvateil. Given that all Reyvateils are female, pretending to be a boy was the best way to achieve that goal.]]
* TakeThat: When doing an Item Synthesizing a Rehearshal Frill with Tatsumi.
--> '''Tatsumi''': ...Somehow it looks like Goth Loli ([[ElegantGothicLolita Gothic Lolita]]) clothes.
--> '''Aoto''': What is that? Some kind of Gokiburi (Cockroach)?
--> '''Tatsumi''': Aoto, with that statement you have made an innumerable amount of enemies.
* TeenGenius: [[ChildProdigy Sasha]] again, only this time she can create her own personal Hymnnos and a satellite. Even Tyria commented that given another 3 years she may surpass her creator.
* ThirdPersonPerson: Saki switches back and forth, sometimes in the same sentence. Cocona continues her trend of third-person reference from [[VideoGame/ArTonelico2 AT2]], although she uses it less frequently in this game. The trope itself is parodied inside Tyria's cosmosphere.
* ThisIsADrill: Aoto's weapon has one in it. [[LampshadeHanging His love for them is lampshaded]] when you perform image synthesis and create a couple new weapons and Supermoves for Aoto.
* TinyGuyHugeGirl: [[spoiler:For Mute and Katene. At least when Mute's in her muscular form. He is a fan of this trope.]]
* TimeSkip: Compare [[http://artonelico.wikia.com/wiki/File:Cocona.jpg Cocona Bartel]] and [[http://artonelico.wikia.com/wiki/File:At2-sasya.jpg Sasha]] from the [[VideoGame/ArTonelico2 previous game]], to [[http://artonelico.wikia.com/wiki/File:Cocona_At3.jpg Cocona]] and [[http://artonelico.wikia.com/wiki/File:At3-sasya.jpg Sasha]] in this game. Also [[http://artonelico.wikia.com/wiki/File:Krusche.jpg Krusche]] [[http://artonelico.wikia.com/wiki/File:At3-cursye-elendia.jpg since the first game.]]
* TimedMission: [[spoiler: Defeating a boss called M.Y.U. in a certain time frame determines whether you can go on to get one of the true endings or not. Also, if you don't defeat the final boss quickly enough, a [[{{BFS}} giant sword]] appears and kills you.]]
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Tyria has a liking toward ''Agepan'' (Fried Bread in the English version); sadly it doesn't exist anymore (or so they say, even thought you can buy one from the game's special merchant) so we never get to see her eating one.
** All the Reyvateils have one that you can give as a present when "programming" in order help [[ThroughHisStomach make them more agreeable to stripping further]].
* TransformationSequence: The process of Purging, by removing pieces of clothes.
* TrickTwist: Someone's twisted wish...made out of love. Who would've seen that coming?
* {{Tsundere}}:
** Finnel is Type B as she has a tendency to drop the hurt on Aoto when offended, sometimes even calling him stupid beforehand but is nice to everyone else. Her character profile describes her as a 'typical tsundere'.
*** In her cosmosphere, Yurisca says both Finnel and Aoto are tsundere and that's why [[ThereIsOnlyOneBed she deliberately included only one bed.]]
** [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]] with the DLC Personality Patch for Harvestasha; installing it will turn her into a typical Type A, even breaking out the infamous [[MadLibsCatchPhrase "It's not like I ________ or anything."]] line. Coccona calls her a 'lunatic girl' and the 'booest boo I ever met'.
* UnusualEars: Saki's hair accessories act like this, to the point where they "prick up" when she's surprised.
* VaporWear: Richa. Fitting, considering her desires (or so you can infer). Krusche even calls her "that sexy military chick", so the viewer can relate to seeing it as abnormal.
* VariableMix: Your Reyvateil's song has different musical effects added in depending on which Hymma you have equipped.
* VirtualPaperDoll: While the clothes each persona is wearing can't be changed, gradually removing them is a central feature of battle.
* WetSariScene: The reason Soma's dress is often transparent.
* WingedHumanoid: Harvestasya, and [[spoiler: Ar Ru.]] Except they're not really wings; they're something else gameplay-related.
* WidgetSeries: If the first two games didn't convince you, this one will go out of its way to leave you completely bewildered.
** 1) You have to have your Reyvateils ''take their clothes off'' so they can become more powerful.
** 2) Your best friend since childhood? [[spoiler:He's a chick. From the second game, as a matter of fact.]]
** 3) The [[GoldfishPoopGang big guy that keeps trying to kill you]] [[spoiler:is actually a loli.]]
** 4) One of your Revyateil companions [[spoiler:turns people into cakes]] and we haven't gotten into the battles yet. This game is so Japanese it's funny, similar to how {{Disgaea}} is.
* WordSaladTitle: "Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel" is 7 words long and two actual words in it, one of which is somewhat obscure. The rest of it is so obtuse that Nippon Ichi Software America released a press release ''explaining what the title means''.
* ZettaiRyouiki: A number of characters have this in some form or another. Akane's is apparently a uniform.
----