History VideoGame / DragonQuestVI

* {{Voluntary Shapeshift|ing}}er: [[spoiler:After being cured, Amos becomes one, and ends up joining your party -- but only if you play your cards right!]] However, he can't be controlled while transformed.

--> Ashlynn: So funny I forgot to laugh, [Hero].

* EvilIsNotAToy: [[spoiler:King Falle's plan to use Nokturnus to beat Mortamor was a baaaaad idea... Oddly enough, it can work just fine when ''you'' try it.]]

** [[spoiler: King Falle of Castle Graceskull tries to make one with Nokturnus, an grand archfiend even stronger than Mortamor. [[spoiler: Shockingly, despite everyone in the party and half the people in the castle seeing what a Very Bad Idea it is, this backfires on him spectacularly.]]
*** [[spoiler: If you manage to defeat Nokturnus in under twenty turns in his BonusBoss fight, you can make a deal with him ''yourself.'' Despite this seeming just as much a Very Bad Idea, doing so has much more successful results.]]

** [[spoiler: King Falle of Castle Graceskull tries to make one with [[spoiler: Nokturnus]], a demon even stronger than the Archfiend. [[spoiler: Shockingly, despite everyone in the party and half the people in the castle seeing what a Very Bad Idea it is, this backfires on him spectacularly.]]

** spoiler: King Falle of Castle Graceskull tries to make one with [[spoiler: Nokturnus]], a demon even stronger than the Archfiend. [[spoiler: Shockingly, despite everyone in the party and half the people in the castle seeing what a Very Bad Idea it is, this backfires on him spectacularly.]]

** You can also recruit [[spoiler:the former dungeon boss that Terry defeated.]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DQVI-box-art_8238.png]]

** [[spoiler: King Falle of Castle Graceskull tries to make one with Nokturnus, a demon even stronger than the Archfiend. Shockingly, despite everyone in the party and half the people in the castle seeing what a Very Bad Idea it is, this backfires on him spectacularly.]]
*** [[spoiler: If you manage to defeat Nokturnus in under twenty turns in his BonusBoss fight, you can make a deal with him ''yourself.'' Despite this seeming just as much a Very Bad Idea, it has much more successful results.]]

** King Falle of Castle Graceskull tries to make one with Nokturnus, a demon even stronger than the Archfiend. [[spoiler:Shockingly, despite everyone in the party and half the people in the castle seeing what a Very Bad Idea it is, this backfires on him spectacularly.]]

** Hassan became [[MeaningfulName Carver]], Mireille/Mireyu became Milly, Chamoro became Nevan and Barbara became Ashlynn. Furthermore, Mudo is now Murdaw, Akbar became Blackmar, Masarl and Krimut became Isaac and Benjamin, Deathtamoor became Mortamor, Dark Dream is Nokturnus and the kingdom of Reidock becomes Somnia, along with Lifecod and Deathcod become Weaver's Peak and Reaper's Peak. (Terry is still Terry and Amos is still Amos, though.)

* FiveBadBand: The Dread Fiends.
** BigBad: Archfiend Mortamor
** TheDragon: Blackmar
** TheBrute: Murdaw
** EvilGenius: Dhuran
** DarkChick: Jamirus

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Murdaw and the BigBad are defeated, but the Dream World and its inhabitants are cut off from the Real World as the link between the two worlds were created by Mortamor as part of his plans. Ashlynn, unlike the other Dream World protagonists, never had a real world body so that included her. The game ends with her giving a tearful farewell to the Hero as she is erased from the real world... though a scene after the credits gives a spot of hope, as Ashlynn and King Zenith witness the birth of the Zenith Dragon.]]

* CoolShip: Or how about a [[spoiler: FLYING BED]]?

* DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler:Terry ultimately sells his soul to become the strongest swordsman. Then you [[DefeatMeansFriendship beat him up]].]]

* DiscOneFinalDungeon: [[spoiler:Murdaw's Keep, of course.]]
** Like YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle below, this is a bit of a minor example, considering [[spoiler:Murdaw's defeat comes about ''fifteen'' hours into the game, before you're even introduced to the job system so lovingly detailed in the manual.]]

* DubNameChange: Hassan became [[MeaningfulName Carver]], Mireille/Mireyu became Milly, Chamoro became Nevan and Barbara became Ashlynn. Furthermore, Mudo is now Murdaw, Akbar became Blackmar, Masarl and Krimut became Isaac and Benjamin, Deathtamoor became Mortamor, Dark Dream is Nokturnus and the kingdom of Reidock becomes Somnia, along with Lifecod and Deathcod become Weaver's Peak and Reaper's Peak. (Terry is still Terry and Amos is still Amos, though.)

* LotusEaterMachine: The party is suspicious of the Isle of Smiles, and suspect it may be this. [[spoiler:Well, the island that takes you there is certainly one, and it gets you so high you can't resist them. The Isle itself is actually a trap, another suspicion of theirs.]]
** [[spoiler:Later, there's an obvious one: Lotus Lagoon. It's even more of an example than the previous one, and one reason why it's so effective is that the people who go there came from [[DespairEventHorizon Despairia...]]]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Both Ivy and the Mayor of Port Haven eventually realize how horrible they were to allow Ella to be enslaved. Ivy because she only wanted Ella out of the way so she could be with Johan but not actually wanting to hurt her, and the Mayor for realizing that he sold an innocent girl into slavery.]]

* MythologyGag: A meta example. Those in the west who played the first ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonsters'' will ''finally'' be able to learn the full story behind [[spoiler:Dhuran and the Masked Swordsman.]]

* NonIndicativeName: You'd think that the Armamentalist skill Lightning Slash and the Luminary skill Lightning would be Lightning-elemental, but they aren't. They actually share the same element as the Bang line of spells.

* NoOntologicalInertia: [[spoiler:Mortamor was the one who created the link between the Real and Dream Worlds, so when he dies, the link is destroyed along with him.]]

* PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling: When it comes to leveling vocations (not so much {{Character Level}}s; {{Metal Slime}}-infested areas would be better for that), the Spiegelspire has relatively weak monsters when it is accessible in the game (assuming you aren't underleveled), but lacks the level requirements of most areas in the game, so beating monsters up here is a quick way to master vocations. It's even possible to zoom there for an easy way to get to and from Alltrades Abbey from there.

* SecretCharacter: [[spoiler:Amos of Scrimsley, who's a bit under the weather when you first meet him... for good reason.]] Also, [[spoiler:Lizzie the Hacksaurus, who previously was defeated by Terry in the Arkbolt quest, can be recruited after the latter joins the party.]]

*** You can also recruit [[spoiler:the former dungeon boss that Terry defeated.]]

* ShoutOut: Milly mentions that a castle floating in the sky would make [[Creator/ReneMagritte a great subject for a painting]].

* SlippySlideyIceWorld: Mt. Snowhere.

* StarCrossedLovers: [[spoiler:Rod, an injured fisherman, loves the mermaid who saved his life, Unda.]]

* StealthPun: Milly and Terry are brother and sister. Try putting their names together.

* TakenForGranite: This is what Murdaw does to intruders.
** [[spoiler:The ultimate fate of everyone in Gallows Moor by Mortamor (except the heros, of course) once Blackmar is killed.]]

* TookALevelInBadass: As he reveals in Party Chat, when Amos was little, he was called a coward. That's the whole reason he got into the town hero business.

* DreamIntro: Subverted. The game starts with a trio of heroes entering a demon lord's castle, getting their asses kicked, and then one of the three wakes up, starting the game. [[spoiler: Turns out it wasn't a dream, the demon lord turned their bodies into statues and sent their spirits to the dream world]].

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Carver, most notably. Arguably Nevan, as while his heart is definitely in the right place, his first scene shows him to be pretty full of himself.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Murdraw and Mortamor are defeated, but the Dream World and its inhabitants are cut off from the Real World, as the link between the two worlds was created by the BigBad as part of his plans. Ashlynn, unlike the other Dream World protagonists, never got a real world body, so that includes her. The game ends with her giving a tearful farewell to the Hero as she is erased from the real world... though a scene after the credits gives a spot of hope, as Ashlynn and King Zenith witness the birth of the Zenith Dragon.]]

* CrapsackWorld: The Dread Realm/Dark World, so much so that literally just ''being'' there smacks you with a massive stat penalty until a certain event.
* CurbStompBattle: You vs. Murdaw at the start of the game. Also, [[spoiler:Nokturnus vs. Mortamor if you can beat Nokturnus in under 20 turns.]]

** King Falle tries to make one with a demon stronger than the Archfiend. [[spoiler:Shockingly, despite everyone in the party and half the people in the castle seeing what a Very Bad Idea it is, this backfires on him.]]

* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Mortamor]] wields this as a ''weapon'', pushing victims past this point. [[spoiler:Late in the game, you discover a whole village of them: [[MeaningfulName Despairia]].]]

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:Captain Rusty's punishment for (correctly) vouching for your identity is to be sent to the front line, an act tantamount to a death sentence, and Ella's apparent final fate is to be sold as a slave, in a world where slavery equals certain death, and the Mayor outright states that nearly every single traveling merchant (such as the one who "bought" Ella) has been picked off by the rapidly increasing monster attacks.]] Subverted [[spoiler:on both counts: If you return to Port Haven after defeating Murdaw, you'll find that Ella has returned and is reunited with Johan, while the mayor that sold her has left the town in grief over his mistake; and Rusty turns up again in the dread realm, having been abducted there instead of killed (or rather, his dream world "Blade" persona does, but it suggests Rusty may still be alive).]]
* DubNameChange: Hassan became [[MeaningfulName Carver]], Mireyu became Milly, Chamoro is Nevan, and Barbara is now Ashlynn. Further, Mudo is now Murdaw, Deathtamoor becomes Mortamor, Dark Dream is Nokturnus, and the kingdom of Reidock becomes Somnia. (Terry is still Terry and Amos is still Amos, though.)

* RapeAsDrama: [[spoiler:Milly's past, which involved her father selling her to the Gandino family, who in turn sold her to the former King of Felonia, who had a whole harem of slave girls used as dancers (and possibly worse things, as there exists a room in the castle that was once his "private pleasure chamber"). Given that Milly is on pins and needles the entire time she is in Felonia (as evidenced by party chat) or whenever Felonia is even ''mentioned'', this trope may well be in play. Even if rape is never mentioned, the implication is still there, and Milly herself refuses to talk about it. The whole thing is not helped by the fact that there's a very good chance Milly was quite young when she was sold as a slave, if the mention of Terry being a very young boy at the time is any indication.]]

** [[spoiler:The fate of everyone in Gallows Moor once Blackmar is killed.]]

* GenreSavvy: When entering Graceskull Castle, you quickly find out that the king intends to summon a superpowerful demon, bind it to his will, and get him to kill the Archfiend. Just about every reaction line is a variation on ThisIsGonnaSuck.

* InfantImmortality: Averted offscreen with Matthew Tress. You get to meet his spirit later on.

* YouShouldntKnowThisAlready: Zigzagged. You can get into the Spiegelspire as soon as you find it and without having heard how to open it ([[spoiler:use Peep on the door]]), but the cutscene with the Hero's [[spoiler:DeadLittleSister]] retroactively changes the name so you're still in the wrong.

** Castle [[HeMan Graceskull]].