History VideoGame / DivinityDragonCommander

* ScienceIsBad: Your advisers' stance. He blames the current situation on science and how rapidly it advanced. The war machines the royal bastards built to conquer the world in record time add weight to his complaints, but the actual source of his disdain is [[spoiler:The fact that it is all powered by an insanity inducing demon eager to escape his seal.]]

* ScienceIsBad: Your advisers' stance. He blames the current situation on science and how rapidly it advanced. [[spoiler:The fact that it is all powered by insanity inducing demons eager to escape is the main source of his disdain, though.]]
** Justified in that the war machines built to take over the world are also what allowed the royal bastards to so quickly conquer it for themselves.

* NotSoDifferent: Let's be perfectly honest: the only one on the ship as sexist as Catherine is Yorrick; she's just misandrist rather than misogynist.

* DummiedOut: The Commander can learn that the Imp princess exploded before being able to come to the Raven. She was actually cut due to time constraints, along with the Orc princess (and the Orcs in general).

''Divinity: Dragon Commander'' is a video game set in the same universe as ''VideoGame/DivineDivinity'' by Creator/LarianStudios. As a HalfHumanHybrid RoyalBastard and [[YoungestChildWins youngest prince]] of an empire in chaos, the player character (the eponymous dragon commander) is tasked with capturing territory and using armies to battle those of his evil half-siblings.

*** When Grumio is about to arrange is VERY young (Niece/Daughter/Troper Brain Fart) with a MUCH older man; Cathrain starts is LIVID, but if '''the Dragon''' reveals that she Married off her sons in Arranged Weddings just like Grumio.
*** But to offer counter point, once '''The Dragon''' calls Catharine out on her hypocrisy, Catherine realises her mistake, and makes a final plea, with a very good point.

*** But at this point you, the player, has already made their choice and her plea falls on deaf ears.

The game has two primary phases with two genres. The strategy map is where the player determines army movements, building placement, research, and the use of strategic cards in typical TurnBasedStrategy fashion, reminiscent of a ''TabletopGame/{{Risk}}'' map. When opposing armies occupy the same territory, the player can let the computer auto-resolve the battle, or opt to take command personally in a RealTimeStrategy engine, with the most notable feature being your ability to [[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons turn into a dragon and personally partake in the battles.]]

* ProperlyParanoid: Edmund is quite reserved and cautious about anyone else he meets, which he claims is a byproduct of his having spent a good deal of time [[DeadlyDecadentCourt among backstabbing, self-interested nobles.]]

* OurElvesAreBetter: Subverted. Elven culture is put to the forefront during Lohannah's storyline and shown to often be as repressive and closeminded as the Undead side, just on the other wing: hard left as opposed to hard right. The elf councilperson Oberon is also not above making some truly mind-boggling decisions (the homophobic elf inquisitor debacle comes to mind), and it is well within your power to [[ScrewYouElves shut him down]].

** Orcs, despite being a sentient species, are not one of the "civilized" races, and so are discussed in the same way as cattle or other base creatures. In at least one instance, using them as lab monkeys to test a new wonder drug is presented as a positive choice, as it won't harm anyone civilized, though their intense {{Constitution}} is part of the consideration.

* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Both Charlotte and Scarlett run the risk of this over their personal storylines. The former, initially pushing for voting rights and pay equality, culminates in asking the Dragon to fire his male military officers and hiring women in their place. When a corrupt, homophobic elven witch hunter gets off with a light sentence after his crimes are exposed, Scarlett asks the Dragon for permission to enact vigilante justice on him. In the latter case, tempting as it is to give her the go-ahead, doing so deals a disastrous blow to elven relations, while denying her ends with Scarlett writing a scathing treatise that gets the witch hunter punished properly and keeps elven approval intact, at the cost of a bit of gold per turn, while Scarlett is given a deluge of thankful letters from the LGBT community: her treatise helped her cause far more than simply slaughtering a disgraced witch hunter ever would have.

* HotConsort: You are given a choice of four {{Princess}}es to marry.

--> '''Edmund:''' "We lizards have superior senses, and I rather object to being forced to constantly smell her in heat."

* BigBad: [[spoiler: Corvus the demon is responsible for every unpleasant event of the protagonist's life. Played with in that Corvus himself was defeated and bound prior to the events of the game, and the game itself is spent dealing with the mess his advanced technology and behind-the-scenes influence has made of the kingdom.]]

--> '''Trooper:''' Pay me in blood!

-->'''Yorrick''': To show our appreciation, we are organizing an event completely novel among the Undead. A... 'party' I believe the word is. Trinculo also suggested something called an... "[[APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy orgy]]"? But Prospera shooed him away.

* DemocracyIsFlawed: Your own cabinet of squabbling political leaders doesn't always paint a pretty picture, and having ''you'' as the tie-breaking vote in every deadlock is seen as a good thing. [[spoiler: If the high lizard approval options are taken, you can move in the direction of a ''real'' democracy, something which [[DemocracyIsBad horrifies all the other councilmembers from beginning to end]].]]

* DueToTheDead: You can allow Aida, the Dwarf Queen, to do pretty much anything but if you allow her to [[spoiler: dump her JerkAss of a father's corpse in a pig pen you won't hear the end of it.]]

* EmergencyTransformation: [[spoiler: Princess Ophelia's arc involves her curing her disease in any one of a number of ways: gaining a living human body (either by taking one from a living woman or having a powerful mage "draw" her one), [[BrainUploading transferring her soul to an imp-built robot]], *then* either leaving it that way or [[MixAndMatchMan adding some skin]], simply cutting a DealWithTheDevil and turning her into a vampire... or, just being a jerk and letting her die.]]
* TheEmpire: A potential choice for running your territorial holdings. With just a few consular decisions, you can have a highly militarized theocratic state which guts civil liberties on a whim [[spoiler: and is led by a power hungry madman backed by a soul devouring demon.]] Typically taken by players aiming for high Undead approval.

--> '''Trinculo:''' Commander, here was me agreeing with one of Yorrick's proposals and still you disagree! [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall You won't see an opportunity to please both imps and undead pop up again in a hurry!]]

-->'''Yorrick''': Seven bless your merciful soul, Commander! I don't know what I'd do without my Cuddles! His blood-stained fur, his glimmering white teeth... He's a darling, that Fangbear!

--> '''Trinculo:''' Damn the Gods, for there are none, and damn petty morality, for it is a break on progress.

* GadgeteerGenius: Grumio, the Raven's chief engineer. You purchase any and all upgrades for your units from him. [[spoiler: [[PlayingWithTropes Played with]], as his inspiration comes from things the demon Corvus shows him in his dreams. He is, however, still capable of building fully functioning versions almost totally from memory.]]

* GodivaHair: Ophelia, the undead princess, [[spoiler: if you choose to encourage her to become human (either as a BodySnatcher or by asking a wizard to "draw" a humunculus which she can inhabit) to escape her disease.]]

* HighClassGlass: Edmund.
* HistoricalInJoke: One event involves the Dwarven Scientist [[UsefulNotes/CharlesDarwin Darles Charwin]] and the controversy surrounding the hypothesis of his latest research paper, [[spoiler: specifically, that Lizards and Orcs have a common ancestor.]] Much like in real life, everyone gets the meaning of this assertion completely wrong and it accidentally creates a small wave of racism.

--->'''Yorrick''': I bet you were one of those youths that brought a candle under the bed sheet to leer at dirty drawings in the night! That's how fires start, you know! [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial And if you're not lucky enough to come back as an undead, you... but er... never mind all that... I seem to have lost my train of thought]].

---->"But.... that was different! They were boys; they couldn't wait to get their hands on their bride! Surely... Oh fine I admit it. I did the same, but can I not repent? Must that innocent imp maiden suffer because you, I, and every bloody nobleman out there seeks power and wealth?"

-->'''Camilla''': Now then, to read through last week's transcripts. I'll see you later. Maybe we can have a spot of dinner together. Marriage is a happy occasion after all, and demands some sort of formal celebration. That is the custom, is it not?

** Edmund can get some CharacterDevelopment along these lines if [[spoiler: the player sends him out to deal with rumors of a genocide in Harrowidge, finding them to be true.]] He muses that he might pay for the library there to be rebuilt. He also falls in love with an elven girl as detailed above.

--->'''Maxos''': There was an...[[NoodleIncident incident.]] Best not to speak of it.

--->'''Trinculo''': O dear, o dear! A ravishing Imp princess was on her way to the Raven, Commander, but she and her chambermaids [[TooDumbToLive were playing hide-and-seek-the-lit-fuse aboard her transport ship and...]] well... they didn't find it in time. Poor girl. Died a true Imp's death, though - blasted to smithereens, fireworks in the sky. [[BlueAndOrangeMorality I'm happy for her really!]]

** Then revealed by either Trinculo or in the following day's newspaper - [[spoiler: "Imp Princess dies during Hide-and-seek-the-lit-fuse game! Ministry of Education demands Nationwide ban!"]]

--> '''Maxos:''' Oh, to be a youth of 500 again.
* RoyallyScrewedUp: Besides the PlayerCharacter and the [[DealWithTheDevil terrible]] [[StrawMisogynist things]] he can get up to, his half-siblings are a corpulent lunatic who has replaced both his hands with axes, a paranoid schizophrenic woman who cut out her tongue to make the voices in her head be silent, and a man who thinks he's an undead who just hasn't died yet and tries to remedy the situation by peeling off his skin. [[spoiler: It's implied that it was Corvus's influence in their dreams making them crazy ''before'' the endgame]].

* ScienceIsBad: Your advisers' stance. He blames the current situation on science and how rapidly it advanced. [[spoiler: The fact that it is all powered by insanity inducing demons eager to escape is the main source of his disdain, though.]]

* SealedEvilInACan: ''The Raven'', your CoolAirship, is powered by a captive demon called Corvus. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, though the can stays sealed, it starts to leak...]]

--> '''Aida:''' Always got me drinks, that trick. Never got me any boys though.

** Ophelia, with one exception, changes her whole look. She is normally topless and either [[spoiler: a vampire, a robot, a robot with flesh covering that resembles a [[MixAndMatchMan attractive flesh golem]], or a human.]] Notably, one of these ([[spoiler: the uncovered robot]]) sees everything ''but'' her wardrobe change.

* {{Tsundere}}: Aida the Dwarf Princess. She's somewhat dere to you but is really Tsun to her father to the point of [[spoiler: arranging him to be killed and his corpse being eaten by a bunch of pigs.]]

* UndeathAlwaysEnds: Averted for most Undead. They're perfectly happy as they are, seeing their second life as a sign of the gods' favor. [[spoiler: Played straight with Ophelia. The only way she'll survive is to return to flesh and blood or transfer to a robotic body. Her speeches note that she'd prefer to be human again even if she didn't have a disease, missing her human beauty and the sensations of life (especially the touch of the man she loves).]]

-->'''Yorrick:''' [[ThisCannotBe This is]] ''[[ThisCannotBe impossible]]''...intolerable...beyond comprehension! May the Seven tear you limb from limb! May they boil you in demon's feces! How will our children learn morality and compassion when you ban the Seven Scriptures!?! MAY MAGGOTS DEVOUR YOU ALIVE!
* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: [[spoiler: Every [[DealWithTheDevil sacrifice you make to Corvus]] increases the demon's power, and when he turns on you in Chapter 3 he will be markedly stronger for it.]]

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: King Thelor of the Dwarves is thoroughly disliked by the vast majority of his people, and Falstaff will, despite his slightly misogynistic streak, remark with obvious disgust at the kings abominable treatment of his own daughter and express relief she's safely away from him should you marry Aida. [[spoiler: If, via careful maneuvering, you get him assassinated, Falstaff will imply that the "ocean of mead" he's ordering for the funeral isn't to drown sorrows, but to properly mask the almost boundless relief the old bastard is dead.]]

** The two principle Undead characters (the counsellor and the princess) are both named after characters from Theatre/{{Hamlet}}. The counsellor is even named after [[AlasPoorYorick the character that only appears as a skull.]]

* {{Schizo Tech}}: The Juggernaut is a WWII-esq battleship with super-firing turrets, and with upgrades, carries a wing of fighter planes on its own and is capable of launching missiles with {{Fantastic Nuke}}-warheads, and yet it's a paddle steamer with the construction not out of place in mid 19th century

* ArrangedMarriage: Towards the beginning of the second Act, you must marry one of the princesses of four of the races (the imps did try to provide a princess but [[TooDumbToLive she managed to blow herself up along the way]]). While the dwarven and lizard princess are primarily in it for political reasons, the undead and elven princess start off quite smitten with you.
** These are also the subject of one of Catherine's grievances, and the Commander can actually outlaw the practice in the Empire if he so chooses. Doing so will, however, earn you a few choice comments [[HypocrisyNod since your own marriage was one.]]

* BuxomIsBetter: All four of the princesses have notably massive chests -- even the [[NonMammalMammaries lizard]] and [[DemBones undead]] princesses.

* ChivalrousPervert: Henry all the way. Think so highly of himself that when Scarlet turns him down he thinks it's because she is a lesbian. (She is but that's besides the point). However, he's quite understanding in regards to the aforementioned revelation, and he agrees with Catherine that [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil any soldier caught raping a woman]] should have his [[GroinAttack instrument cut off.]]
** He also approves of you making half of the officer corps women. Mainly because it makes him happy to see more women.
* CleavageWindow: The dwarven princess wears an outfit with one. Amusingly, it seems that she improvised it, as it consists of a row of undone buttons, and she remarks on how tight her shirt is.
** Lampshaded at one point, when she states "With all the dirt we'll find in there, we can squeeze [my father] tighter than my boobs are in this bloody blouse!"

* DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler: A literal one with Corvus. It usually involves you allowing him to eat the souls of your people and up to killing your wife.]]

* DreamWeaver: [[spoiler: While trapped in the Raven, Corvus is still able to influence mortal minds through their dreams.]]

* EnemyMine: Happens occasionally, when two normally opposed councilors fall on the same side of an issue, such as the reactionary and theocratic Yorrick backing the uber-libertine Oberon in a policy of restricting the number of children an Imp family can have.
** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] during one such occurrence by Trinculo.

* EvilIsEasy: The primary reasons for turning your faction into TheEmpire are the considerable bonuses to your military that such policies will grant you. [[spoiler: This is also the main reason for striking a deal with Corvus.]]
* {{Expy}} : Maxos is basically Myth/{{Merlin}} to the Dragon Commander's Arthur.

* HighClassGlass: Edmund

** Catherine initially has a FreudianExcuse for her [[DoesNotLikeMen misandry]] in that men overthrew her as queen in her native country, and she is the primary voice for things like suffrage and wage equality. A bit of digging reveals that men were treated like trash under her rule even before the rebellion, however, and she quickly reveals she's less interested in equality than she is female superiority, often making astounding feats of doublethink in the progress: just look at her opinion on arranged marriage.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Edmund can get some CharacterDevelopment along these lines if [[spoiler: the player sends him out to deal with rumors of a genocide in Harrowidge, finding them to be true.]] He muses that he might pay for the library there to be rebuilt. He also falls in love with an elven girl as detailed above.
** Henry, too. He picked up a pretty abrasive attitude after being abandoned by his so-called comrades during a major battle and tends to push people away rather than take the risk to trust them. Given the right dialogue options, he reveals himself to be a rather civil individual, all things considered: he's rather open-minded in regards to social issues, he gets along swimmingly with Scarlett, and he's a loving father.

* MadeOfExplodium: A distressing amount of impish pastimes revolve around it. It's hinted and lampshaded that this is the reason why the impish princess doesn't show up.
-->'''Maxos''': There was an...[[NoodleIncident incident.]] Best not to speak of it.

*** WordOfGod is that they did plan for an imp princess but didn't have the budget for her story arc. So they came up with a sensible, in-character reason for not having her.

* NotSoAboveItAll: If you convince Henry to bond with the other generals over poker, Edmund denounces it afterwards as "the past-time of booze-hounds and imbeciles".
-->'''Edmund''': [[BlatantLies To change the subject entirely]]: could I receive my wages a bit earlier this month? I've had some... unexpected expenses.
** Catherine similarly partakes in the game, but comments that it ''was'' fun, albeit in a "vulgar sort of way".

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Rough-spoken, capitalist industrialists with Scottish accents. Which means ElvesVersusDwarves is in full swing.
** Taken to a point of near self-parody, as the preeminent nation of the Dwarves is called "Hammerdale".
** They are, however, also master shipwrights and provide the vast bulk of your naval personnel.

* ShoutOut

* [[YouAreACreditToYourRace You Are A Credit To Your Gender]]: Catherine tends to come across as this if the Commander is amenable to her requests for more equality.
* YouKilledMyFather: [[spoiler: Corvus arranged for the death of the Prince's dragon mother as well as his siblings' destructive madness before the game began.]]

--->"(Troper Brain Fart)"

* FantasticNuke: The Imp Bunker Buster, which single-handedly makes the Juggernaut one of your most useful units in the later stages of the campaign. Hell, its HUD icon ''is'' a nuke.
** Slightly less obviously, the dragon's Eye of the Patriarch spell also serves this purpose.
* FantasticRacism: Orcs, despite being a sentient species, are not one of the "civilized" races, and so are discussed in the same way as cattle or other base creatures. In at least one instance, using them as lab monkeys to test a new wonder drug is presented as a positive choice, as it won't harm anyone civilized, though their intense {{Constitution}} is part of the consideration.

* {{Hypocrite}}: The organ donation debate event reveals Yorrick to be this in regards to medicine: despite such things being forbidden by his religion, and repeated votes against medical ordinances like national health care, Yorrick is willing to...ahem...make an exception for the sake of fixing his brittle knee.
** Similarly, there's his line if you opt to not ban violent games and books.

* IceQueen: Princess Camilla starts as [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent cold blooded as an actual lizard]] in both marriage and her court cases. She'll [[DefrostingIceQueen warm up]] to the Prince slowly if he proves competent enough in his views on her verdicts to earn her respect and compassionate enough to break her narrow view of the law.
** To put this in perspective, she encourages the Commander to take on a mistress ''immediately after the wedding'', so as to minimize the chances of her being distracted from her court cases.
--->'''Camilla''': Now then, to read through last week's transcripts. I'll see you later. Maybe we can have a spot of dinner together. Marriage is a happy occasion after all, and demands some sort of formal celebration. That is the custom, is it not?

* IllGirl: [[spoiler: Princess Ophelia is one of the rare undead to contract a deadly disease. Her people's restrictive dogma prevents her from seeking a cure. If brought to the Raven as queen, she'll devote her time to finding one with the Prince's help.]]

* InterspeciesRomance: All four potential queens are princesses of non-human (in one case, [[TheUndead formerly human]]) races chosen for potential alliances with their respective racial parties.

* LadyLand: Westbridge, the country from whence Catherine was queen, is described as being a realm where "...women ruled and men served."
** Interestingly, talking with Catherine about the place reveals that it isn't a {{Utopia}} as such places are usually portrayed, but is actually more repressive than the rest of Rivellon when it comes to gender politics. To clarify, in the greater Empire, women are treated slightly worse than men, but can easily be high ranking officials or generals with little fuss made of their gender, while in Westbridge, men were essentially slaves based solely on the virtue of their gender. Catherine ended up out of a throne and in your employ when a huge rebellion by the men ousted her and her sexist regime.
** Edmund offers a rather [[DeadpanSnarker droll opinion of the place.]]
--> '''Edmund:''' Must have been a quaint locale indeed.

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dragon_commander.jpg]]

** The two principle Undead characters (the counsellor and the princess) are both named after characters from Theatre/{{Hamlet}}. The counsellor is even named after [[JustForPun the character that only appears]] [[AlasPoorYorick as a skull.]]

* ZergRush: The game is very aggressive, fast paced, and thus heavily geared toward this type of play; due to there only being a finite number of build spots to own, rushing out as fast as you can to claim them is imperative. On the unit side, Troopers are the go-to guys for this: the cheapest and fastest unit you can make, they can swarm en masse to either capture enemy buildings with Spoils of War, or use For The Emperor! to blow up units much larger then themselves. Of course, units like Hunters and abilities like Mustard Gas can quickly end a rush before it gets anywhere.

** The two principle Undead characters (the counsellor and the princess) are both named after characters from Theatre/{{Hamlet}}. The counsellor is even named after [[JustForPun the character that only appears]] [[AlasPoorYorrick as a skull.]]

* AntiquatedLinguistics: Ophelia speaks in rather Shakespearian prose compared to other characters. Appropriate, really, [[''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' given the name.]]

* AntiquatedLinguistics: Ophelia speaks in rather Shakespearian prose compared to other characters. Appropriate, really, given the name.

* ArrangedMarriage: Towards the beginning of the second Act, you must marry one of the princesses of four of the races. While the dwarven and lizard princess are primarily in it for political reasons, the undead and elven princess start off quite smitten with you.

* AntiquatedLinguistics: Ophelia speaks in rather Shakespearian prose compared to other characters.