History VideoGame / BreathOfFireI

One aspect who's well known about this game is the story behind its localization: At the time {{Capcom}} apparently didn't felt like translating such a heavy text-based game, so they handed localization and distribution duties to [[Creator/SquareEnix Squaresoft]], with Ted Woolsey involved in the translation. This ensured a somewhat decent translation, albeit with random name changes that obscured connections with its sequels and some details regarding its story lost in the transition. It's also the likely reason why the first ''[=BoF=]'' isn't on the VirtualConsole when the sequel is.

Until E3 2014, when Capcom announced the SNES version of Breath of Fire will come to Wii U VirtualConsole, possibly before the end of the year.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bof1_cast_3603.jpg

* YokoShimomura: Composed the melody used in Prima, the merchant town.

* DiscOneNuke: The Earth Key can be used to deal 30 damage to all enemies once per turn. While insignificant later on, it out-damages your warriors when you first get it and can end most fights in one round.

* HPToOne[=/=]ChekhovsSkill: The Dragon Heart song that you learn in Tunlan is a song that damages dragons and reduces Ryu's HP to 1. It could be useful later.

* InvincibleHero: Agni makes any battle, up to and including the final boss, practically impossible to lose. The best strategy for the final boss is to cast the Agni transformation and then use Auto-Battle.

* OurFounder: Camlon is the very first [[AdventureTowns Adventure Town]] Ryu visits. When he returns in the game's second half, the populace have erected a statue of Ryu in the square.
* PaletteSwap: Like the Slime mentioned above, enemies from the random battles encountered early in the game may re-appear later-on in different colours, and more tougher than their cousins.

* PlotCouponThatDoesSomething: Out of the six Goddess Keys, only 3 can be used in-game: the Light and Dark Key switches daytime/nightime, and the Earth Key mimics an earthquake attack.

* VoluntaryShapeshifter: Ryu and his dragon morphs, Karn and his FusionDance magic, plus [[spoiler: Gobi and Nina]] get special forms as well.

* WeaksauceWeakness: Though it doesn't seem to affect anyone else in the group, the 'Shock' spell will [[OneHitKill completely annihilate]] Ryu almost 100 percent of the time, regardless of whether or not he's in dragon form.

* WeCanRuleTogether: Juda offers this at one point to the party. [[ButThouMust Even if you accept, you can't do anything but stand still,]] as moving will prompt Jade to ask again, and not moving will prompt him to [[MultiMookMelee sic some monsters]] on you to appease his boredom.

** Arguably, but the sprite for the various town chiefs is suspiciously similar to [[VideoGame/MegaMan Dr. Wily]].

** The town with the zombies is named [[GeorgeRomero Romero]]. Can't get more blatant than that.

Place any character-related tropes on the [[Characters/BreathOfFireIcharacter sheet]].

There exists a [[Characters/BreathOfFire character sheet]] for the series. Place any character-related tropes there.

* DoomedHometown: Drogen (Dragnier), right in the prologue.

* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: Nina is introduced with her going on a quest of her own, accompanied by two [[SpearCarrier guards]]; later on, [[spoiler: Gobi]] splits off from the group to retrieve a PlotCoupon.
* AsteroidsMonster: The [=SlimeX=] boss.
** Actually, this is an inverted version of that. It starts out as three slime monsters; when you defeat all three, they [[FusionDance merge]] into one large one.

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: Level 99.

* YokoShimomura: Composed part of the music.

* WeaksauceWeakness: Though it doesn't seem to affect anyone else in the party, the 'Shock' spell will [[OneHitKill completely annihilate]] Ryu almost 100 percent of the time, regardless of whether or not he's in dragon form.

* CreepyChild: Tyr's initial form. The concept art takes it to [[NightmareFuel ridiculous extremes...]]

* BiologicalMashup: The special ability of Karn is to merge himself with other party members. [[spoiler:Ryu's last dragon form]] also works like this.

* WeCanRuleTogether: Juda offers this at one point to the party. [[ButThouMust Even if you accept, you can't do nothing but stand still,]] as moving will prompt Jade to ask again, and not moving will prompt him to [[MultiMookMelee sic some monsters]] on you to appease his boredom.

* {{Gamebreaker}}: The Agni transformation makes the game incredibly easy. Merging the whole party into a single being, max HP, an attack that does 999 damage, and status immunity would do the trick.
** The (Boomer)Rang weapons. Combine them with Mrbl1 items (a cheap, easily obtained item that guarantees Critical Hits), and you will wipe the floor with the entire enemy group with ''just'' Ryu.
** For that matter, Mrbl1. Just Mrbl1. These also work on Ryu's dragon attacks too. Carry entire stacks of these around, and bosses die much faster. Well, until you get Agni.....
** Karn's fusion forms are similar. He combines with two or three other party members for a major stat boost. He'll always go first and will deal more damage than anybody except Ryu's dragon forms and Bleu's magic. Unlike Ryu's dragon forms, Karn's fusions aren't limited to one fight, so unless you need a map ability, there's little reason not to have him fused.

One aspect who's well known about this game is the story behind its localization: At the time {{Capcom}} apparently didn't felt like translating such a heavy text-based game, so they handed localization and distribution duties to [[Creator/SquareEnix SquareSoft]], with Ted Woolsey involved in the translation. This ensured a somewhat decent translation, albeit with random name changes that obscured connections with its sequels and some details regarding its story lost in the transition. It's also the likely reason why the first ''[=BoF=]'' isn't on the VirtualConsole when the sequel is.

One aspect who's well known about this game is the story behind its localization: At the time {{Capcom}} apparently didn't felt like translating such a heavy text-based game, so they handed localization and distribution duties to SquareSoft, with Ted Woolsey involved in the translation. This ensured a somewhat decent translation, albeit with random name changes that obscured connections with its sequels and some details regarding its story lost in the transition. It's also the likely reason why the first ''[=BoF=]'' isn't on the VirtualConsole when the sequel is.

** CanonImmigrant: The two [[NoNameGiven nameless]] guards on the game were given names in the GBA port, taken from two characters from ''Princess of the Wings'', Sieg and Raifel.

* DubNameChange: Mostly due to space restrictions and [[{{Woolseyism}} Square's handling of the translation]]. Only among main characters, we have Bo/Gilliam, Ox/Builder, Karn/Danc, Bleu/Deis, Manillo/Gobi, Zog/Zorgon, Jade/Judas and Tyr/Myria. Most of the towns and enemies are also affected.

** TheBiggerBad: Tyr

** TheEvilGenius: Both Cort ([[MadScientist Alchemically speaking]]) and Mote ([[PsychicPower psychologically speaking]])

** TheDarkChick: Cerl [[spoiler:(until her change of heart)]]

Being the first game on the series, its story is not as ambitious as following sequels: Many years ago, the goddess Tyr (Myria) appeared on the world and staged a terrible war among the [[PhysicalGod Dragon Clan]] for [[ForTheEvulz her own amusement]], splitting it into two sides: the Light Dragons and the Dark Dragons. This carried on until a [[TheChosenOne a warrior of the Light Dragons]], together with 7 allies, sealed up the goddess using the six [[PlotCoupon Goddess Keys]].

Cut to many, many years after: The [[TheEmpire Dark Dragon Empire]] has grown in power, and under the leadership of their [[TheEmperor Emperor]] [[BigBad Zog]], they are waging war against the world while searching the keys to release Tyr. The Light Dragons are the first on Zog's hit-list, but they are saved from decimation by the sacrifice of their priest, Sara. Missing ever since, Sara's brother Ryu embarks on a quest to [[IWillFindYou find her]], while gathering allies who are all opposing the Dark Dragons' ambition.

There exists a [[Characters/BreathOfFire character sheet]] for the series. Place any character-related tropes there.

* BagOfSharing: Whenever the party splits up, you always retain access to the entire inventory. Even while controlling an [[AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent entirely new character]].
* BeneathTheEarth: The molemen city of Gramor.

* BrokenBridge: Everywhere! Literal cases includes the bridge following Tantar/Tuntar, the bridge on Guts and the small bridge before Scande. Other examples include a frozen waterfall and an underwater chasm.

** CanonImmigrant: The two [[NoNameGiven nameless]] guards on the game were given names in the GBA port, taken from two characters from ''Princess of the Wings'', Sieg and Raifel.
* CaveBehindTheFalls: The waterfall in Spring Town.

* ChekhovsGunman: Two instances: the robed guy who keeps popping up to help the party [[spoiler:is revealed to be Jade, helping you overthrow Zog]], while in Tunlan [[spoiler:the Nina look-alike ends up being Nina after time travel shenanigans.]]

* ComicBookAdaptation: Two, under the subtitles ''The Dragon Warrior'' and ''Princess of The Wing''. There's also an SpinOff pseudo-sequel, ''Breath of Fire Part 2 Little Adventurer'', which stars the children of Ryu/Nina and Bo.
* CompressedAdaptation: ''The Dragon Warrior'' manga adaptation, which crams most of the game's main plot into 6 chapters, leaving out several events while meshing together others. Most notably, the existence of the Four Devas (Jade's QuirkyMinibossSquad) is mentioned, but only one out of the 4 (Mote/Sigmund) makes an actual appearance.

* DesperationAttack: When low on health, the characters will speed up their attacks.

* DoomedHometown: Drogen (Dragnier), right in the prologue.
* DoorToBefore: Most early dungeons have these, only unlockable using a party member's skill, most of the time [[MasterOfUnlocking Karn's]].
* DubNameChange: Mostly due to space restrictions and [[{{Woolseyism}} Square's handling of the translation]]. Only among main characters, we have Bo/Gilliam, Ox/Builder, Karn/Danc, Bleu/Deis, Manillo/Gobi, Zog/Zorgon, Jade/Judas and Tyr/Myria. Most of the towns and enemies are also affected.

* EvilTowerOfOminousness: Zog's throne room at Scande. Also, the [[CaptainObvious Goddess Tower]].

* FiveBadBand:

* TheGrimReaper: Three {{Mini Boss}}es: Morte, Mortea and Morteo, the latter of which is named {{Shinigami}} in the original.
* GuestStarPartyMember: The two guards (later named Sieg and Rai) who escort Nina during her solo time, and the third one (Enon) who guides Ryu afterwards.
* GuideDangIt: To get Ryu's dragon forms, there are certain items which are required. The game makes no effort in telling you which ones, let alone where they are.

* IHaveYourWife: The Dark Dragons kidnapped all women on Ox's hometown to force the men into building them a weapon.

** It is also the ambition of the [[EvilSorcerer Wizard]] from Karma Tower.

* InnSecurity: Played with in Bleak's Inn. Being a [[ThievesGuild town of thieves]], it's rather suspicious that it's totally free. If you decide to stay, you'll wake up with your savings stolen. Buying an special item on Auria will catch the Inn owner on the act, who will pay you to avoid any further problems.

* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: Mote's stitch is to capture his targets into a dreamworld of his creation. He does this twice (once to Mogu, later to the whole party), and it eventually leads to a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind.
* LateCharacterSyndrome: Mogu comes out quite late on the story, and since he has very little redeeming qualities he tends to be stuck on the back.

* MerchantCity: Prima, UnderwaterCity home of the ProudMerchantRace.

* MockGuffin: The anticlimatic 'Book of Thieves' hidden in Krypt's basement. The logic being: if he's made it that far, Karn is ''already'' the world's greatest thief, and therefore doesn't need a handbook.

* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: Mote's japanese name, in reference to Sigmund Freud.

* PlotCouponThatDoesSomething: Out of the six Goddess Keys, only 3 can be used in-game: the Light and Dark Key switches daytime/nightime, and the Earth Key mimics an earthquake attack.

* ShoutOut: The leader of the golden city Auria is named Rosewater in the original, from the main character of KurtVonnegut's story "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater".
** Sieg and Rai on the GBA port can be seen as one too.

* ShoutOutThemeNaming: Bo's japanese name is Gilliam, while the son of his tribe's chief is Terry...together they form TerryGilliam.

* TakeOverTheWorld: Zog's a rather typical EvilOverlord.

* VideoGameGeography: Type 1 "toroid".

* VoluntaryShapeshifter: Ryu and his dragon morphs, Karn and his FusionDance magic, plus [[spoiler: Gobi and Nina]] get special forms as well.

* WeatherControlMachine: The Sky Key and, by extension, the Spyre where it is located.

* ThatOneLevel: Most of the [[MindScrew surreal]] dungeons on Mote's dreamworld, the crystal-path maze being specially loathed.

* TearJerker: [[spoiler:Cerl and Alan's ultimate end]], definitively. In ''The Dragon Warrior'' manga adaptation, [[spoiler:Jade and Sara's final hopeless stand against Myria]] counts as well.
** DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: ..did the party save Ox from near death by ''kicking the crap outta death itself''!?

* IrrelevantImportance: You can't really dispose of any "key" item, even if those are totally useless afterwards.