History VideoGame / Dragonforce

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dragonforceadd2_6164.jpg]]

A RealTimeStrategy game by Creator/{{Sega}} for the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn involving war among eight nations of the continent of Legendra. It was localized by Creator/WorkingDesigns.

Gameplay is split between administrative mode and campaign mode. Each nation starts with five generals, including the monarch. During campaign mode, generals and their troops are organized among castles and sent to capture enemy castles.

Combat plays out on a side-scrolling map with free-roaming camera, one army against one army until all generals are defeated on a side. Troops can be given preset attack patterns and generals can use magic skills to affect either army.

Administration mode allows equipping of items, strengthening of castles, searching for new items, honoring generals with combat awards (which grant more troops) and persuading captive generals to switch sides.

Defeating enemy monarchs causes them to either join as subservient generals or escape to fight another day. Once all nations are defeated, the eight monarchs learn they are the Dragon Force destined to fight the [[GodOfEvil Dark God]] Madruk. Variations occur through each nation's path, making for excellent replayability.

It is a rare gem on the Saturn, and was critically praised for its addictive gameplay. From Wiki/TheOtherWiki: "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Force Dragon Force]] won Electronic Gaming Monthly's Game of the Month award, as well as their Saturn Game of the Year award for 1996. EGM later ranked the game as #111 on their 'The Greatest 200 Videogames of Their Time."

A sequel (''Dragon Force 2'') was made and released for the Saturn as well, but was never localized outside Japan. However, as of April 2015, there is a [[http://www.verve-fanworks.com/ fan-made translation patch]] for it.

A Sega Ages remake of the first game was released in 2005 for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2.

Not to be confused with [[Music/DragonForce the band]].

----
!! This game contains examples of:
* AirborneMook - Harpies and Dragons. The latter count as airborne even though they look like their feet are on the ground in their idle animation. This distinction means that spells like Stone Pedestal & Quagmire do not root them in place (preventing them from moving or attacking), while other, grounded troops will become sitting ducks for them to rip apart.
* AllDesertsHaveCacti - Averted: there is not a single cactus in sight during desert battles, and the adventure map is too zoomed-out to make out such details anyway.
* AllMonksKnowKungFu - Topaz is all over this trope.
* AllSwordsAreTheSame - See InformedEquipment below. Other than stats, the main difference is between the "oriental" and "western" swords. Samurai & Ninja generals are the only ones who can equip oriental swords, and in turn, they cannot equip western swords.
* AllThereInTheManual - Creator/WorkingDesigns put a lot of work into [[http://www.frayedlogic.com/download/DragonforceManual.pdf this one]]. Information ranges from the hilarious fact that Bozack's chief export is bananas to the useful Soldier Chart.
** A more direct example is that the CD itself. When put into a PC, it has additional story info in a plain text file going into more detail into Madruk's motivation and the ancient era mentioned in the introduction.
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl - If the player stops by at the Fiend Tower to recruit [[NobleDemon Vlad]], a side story will open up, wherein Ryskim, Vlad's mortal enemy, takes over a random castle and taunts Vlad with his BrainwashedAndCrazy girlfriend, Sierra. After you beat him, he comes back ''yet again'', [[spoiler: provided you stopped by Lightan and disturbed Zanon at least once before,]] and captures a female general in order to lure out your monarch. For the other monarchs, the female in question is from their starting FiveManBand, but for Wein? [[spoiler: [[{{Foreshadowing}} It's]] [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Teiris.]]]]
* AmazonBrigade - To a certain extent. 3 out of Tristan's 5 starting generals (including the monarch) have harpies (the only clearly-female troop type) as their default troop type.
* AmbiguousGender - Due to graphic constraints, Archer and Mage troops could belong to either gender, though Mages' death cries are unambiguously female.
** Magician, Priest, and Thief generals use the same sprites regardless of gender. This is made worse by the MookLieutenant Magician generals, whose portraits are also ambiguous. Somewhat improved with their new portraits in the [=PS2=] version.
* AnAxeToGrind - Fighter generals and male Beast generals can equip axes.
* AnachronismStew: Some snippets of dialogue obviously draws from modern history and pop culture. This is very common in English translated Japanese games to give variation to the dialogue. In the case of quasi-medieval fantasy, this trope is OlderThanYouThink.
** A Creator/MontyPython reference when you unsuccessfully attempt to recruit a character: "Go away or I shall taunt you again."
** One very agressive female character clearly refers to herself as a {{Dominatrix}}.
** There's a character named Vlad. We usually associate [[{{Dracula}} certain things]] with this name. He lives up to most of them.
** Grudar's references to [[{{Blaxploitation}} Christie Love]] and his attack line "I'm gonna git you suckas!". Somewhat appropriate being that he's also the [[TokenMinority Token Black Guy]].
** The chief export of Gongos' kingdom is bananas.
** Gongos punctuates some of his sentences with a drawn out "Yesssss!" Much like Megatron in ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars''.
** If you take away an award or artifact, one character says: "Where I come from, we call that Indian Giver."
** When Tieris tries to persuade Leon to join in their common cause, referring to Astea, he responds: "Astea? THE Astea? Never heard of her."
** Gayrus's taunt is "You speak with the air of a true idiot. By perchance are you a member of the Lollard League?"
* AncientArtifact/ {{MacGuffin}} - You have to acquire a couple of these in the second arc. Three, to be precise:
** MagicWand - The Moon Cane, useable by the casters (Teiris & Reinhart).
** PowerFist - The Sun Bracelet, useable by the "brawlers" (Leon & Gongos).
** HeroesPreferSwords - The Stargem sword, useable by all the others (Wein, Goldark, Mikhal, and Junon).
* [[AncientTomb Ancient Shrine]] - A watered down version in the Snow, Cape, and Forest Shrines, each of which contains an AncientArtifact (see above). Accessible only in the second arc (i.e. after uniting the continent): [[spoiler: Wein and Goldark are sent to the Snow Shrine and fight Gyzzdark; Leon, Mikhal, and Junon to the Cape Shrine and fight Gaul; Teiris, Reinhart and Gongos to the Forest Shrine and fight Scythe.]]
** In Goldark's campaign, [[spoiler: the shrine encounters are changed: Gaul and Scythe are at the Forest Shrine, while Santana, Zado, and Kyoem are at the Cape Shrine. Thankfully, Zado and Kyoem are using their nerfed, QuirkyMinibossSquad forms, not their super-powered boss forms.]]
* AnnoyingArrows - Archers are the weakest troop type ([[TacticalRockPaperScissors except when]] [[CripplingOverspecialization they battle]] [[HarpingOnAboutHarpies Harpies]]).
* AnotherDimension - [[MrExposition Lord Frest]] can do little more than talk during his early appearances, as he is apparently trapped in a NegativeSpaceWedgie somewhere.
* TheApocalypseBringsOutTheBestInPeople - Madruk's impending revival unites the entire continent.
* ApocalypseHow - Class 1, in the backstory. Madruk's attack on Legendra (and subsequent duel with Harsgalt) caused a lot of damage, but the people were eventually able to pick up the pieces. In-game, it's implied that Madruk may even pull off a class 5 if he awakens fully and succeeds.
* ArbitraryMinimumRange - Averted. Archer and Mage troops will continue pelting their foes even in melee range. Should this happen, prepare to see the melee troops tear their formation up like wet tissue paper.
* ArtEvolution - The [=PS2=] remake boasts beautifully re-rendered artwork and higher resolution character portraits. Subverted by the actual game map and sprites, which keep their charmingly dated super deformed proportions and pixellated resolutions. Not all [[FullMotionVideo FMVs]], sadly, were redone for the [=PS2=].
* ArtifactDomination/ MindControlDevice - The dark orb that [[spoiler: Ryskim uses to enslave Sierra. Vlad later uses it again to free her if you include him in the party for the fight.]]
* AssKicksYou - The female Beast generals' version of the Sky Driver and Cross Rush will slam the opponent with her butt, several times in the case of the latter.
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority - No matter who you play as, the other monarchs (and their armies) become subservient to you after you beat them. Yes, even Gongos. [[ButtMonkey Eventually.]]
* AttackAttackAttack - Issuing the "melee" command in battle causes all your surviving troops to blindly seek and destroy any remaining enemy troops, before making a beeline to the enemy general. Problem is, they cluster around the centre rows of the battlefield en route, and there is NO WAY to withdraw the order or change orders. Now, [[OhCrap if the enemy general has a spell that hits the centre rows...]]
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking/ OneManArmy - The monarchs. Leon, Gongos, Junon, and Goldark are known to hold their own relatively well in battle.
** Applies to all generals as well. Even a low level Spirit User/Magician/Priest general, the physically weakest general type, is much stronger any type of troop, as [[{{Mook}} mooks]] are all [[OneHitPointWonder one-hit point wonders]]. Those that stand out are the heavy, combat-oriented ones like Knights and Dragonmen.
* AwesomeButImpractical - Some SummonMagic spells have the potential to wipe out vast swathes of enemy troops around the region where they're cast, but the player has no control over the location. Instead, the summons appear where the greatest concentration of enemy troops are. As troops will continue to move while spell animations are playing out (but before the actual damage occurs), a mistake in timing may result in said spell hitting very few (or even ''no'') enemy troops at all.
* BadassBoast - some of the generals' [[PreAsskickingOneLiner Pre-Asskicking One-Liners]] may count.
* BadassFamily - According to the manual, all of Gongos' starting generals are siblings, so they may fit the bill to some degree.
* BarbarianTribe/ NobleSavage - in-universe, the Beast-Men are seen as this. Their monarch, [[BarbarianHero Gongos]], [[DumbMuscle doesn't always]] [[BoisterousBruiser help their]] [[HotBlooded reputation...]]
* BareFistedMonk - Plenty. Leon being the monarchical example.
* BareYourMidriff - the Spirit User generals.
* BattleCouple - the most obvious being Wein and Teiris, and Leon and [[spoiler: Junon]]. Unfortunately, gameplay restrictions mean that only one may be deployed in combat at any time, though players can always place them in the same division on the world map.
* BeastMan - Umm...the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Beast Men]].
* {{BGM}} - Each Monarch has their own, most of which fit in very nicely with their kingdom's profile. All of them get a nice remaster in the [=PS2=] remake.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvqf_WnWhgk Wein's]] is a rather catchy, brass-and-wind affair, which really brings out the heroic, KnightInShiningArmour spirit that Highland embodies.
** Teiris and Reinhart use slow-paced, mystical sounding themes. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zgdgpYAdHY Teiris']] is more orchestral, with strings and gentle percussion, while [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUpr9-Gfgg8 Reinhart's]] has a strong xylophone and synthetic organ feel.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Of7VZQ9O10 Leon's theme]] is strange in the sense that it doesn't quite match the "zen" feeling of monks...it's predominantly done with harpsichord, and is quite fast-paced.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r46rjyJri9k Mikhal]] uses a beautiful melody of oriental strings and percussion that conveys Izumo's {{Wutai}} theme very well.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY2iIFJAgmw Gongos]] has a very tribal, shamanistic theme with a heavy emphasis on drums, perfect for the beast men.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVjkxfd7lLI Junon's theme]] might sound out of place at first, with Tristan being a militaristic empire and all, but when you think about how Junon subverts so many evil tropes, the gentle, orchestral theme kind of makes sense.
* {{Bishonen}} - The Archer troops (which are [[{{Elfeminate}} Elves]], so this is a given), and many, many male generals.
* BittersweetEnding - Ultimately [[SubvertedTrope subverted.]] the last FMV shows [[spoiler: Ruinlege, Madruk's prison mountain, [[LoadBearingBoss erupt in a devastating volcano.]] The monarchs' generals are all seen mourning their deaths, [[SubvertedTrope but Astea reveals that she saved them in time, and delivers them safely back from their epic final fight]].]]
* BlackAndWhiteMorality - Classic story of Good vs. Evil. Note the lack of an AlternateCharacterInterpretation entry under the YMMV tab.
* BlackMage - Spirit User and Magician generals come with repertoires of army-decimating spells.
* BladeOnAStick - Lance weapons, which can only be used by Knight generals.
* BlockingStopsAllDamage - While played absolutely straight in combat, generals have no block animation (just a short "weapon clashing" sound), making them appear unflinching whenever they block an attack.
** This is also how TacticalRockPaperScissors is displayed in combat: the troop type with the advantage will tend to attack unflinchingly through the disadvantaged troop type's attack animation (with that same sound effect), taking them out while remaining unscathed.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality - Of a sort. [[AllThereInTheManual Dragons (and their masters, the male gods), were created as agents of entropy and destruction, opposite from the goddesses of creation]], but Madruk was the one to take a personal interest in destroying Legendra.
* BodyguardingABadass - Played with. While the monarchs tend to end up as the most powerful generals of all [[spoiler: since they are the eponymous Dragon Force, and any player with common sense would load them full of power-ups]], they aren't that much stronger than their starting generals at the very beginning.
* BonusBoss - Inherently linked to the secret characters, in that they will only appear if the player makes an effort to unlock the secret characters in the first place.
* [[BottomlessMagazines Bottomless Quivers]] - Archer troops.
* BrotherSisterTeam - Same gender variant in the [=PS2=] remake: [[spoiler: Ayame and Matsuri, the SecretCharacter CreepyTwins.]]
* CallingYourAttacks - Often used to hilarious effect, thanks to Creator/WorkingDesigns. See the character page for notable examples.
* CatGirl - Female Beast generals.
* ColorCodedArmies - has the effect of making the early-game map look like a rainbow!
** Highland: White
** Fandaria: Gold
** Palemoon: Blue
** Topaz: Yellow
** Izumo: Purple
** Bozack: Green
** Trandor: Red
** Tristan: Black
** Neutral (i.e. everyone else): Grey
** Curiously, Dragon troops do not always follow the above code. For example, Highland's dragons are red, Trandor's are white, and Tristan's are green.
* CombatMedic - Priest generals.
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard - Duels tend to end in the CPU's favour if both generals are fairly evenly-matched. Made worse when there's absolutely nothing the player can do to control their general during the duel itself. Some players avoid dueling with their monarch at all to avoid this, since the defeat of your monarch means an automatic GameOver.
* {{Cooldown}} - An interesting variation. Generals have a power bar that fills at a set rate throughout combat, and spells can only be cast at "full power". All spells have a "power rating", that determines how much of the power bar is consumed when cast (and, to a lesser extent, the damage dealt to the enemy general, if any). The higher the power, the greater the consumption, and the longer the effective "cooldown" before another spell can be cast. Interestingly, not all power ratings are uniform across the board; some generals have unique, inherently higher or lower ratings.
* CripplingOverSpecialization - Archer troops. They're really only good against Harpies, and are terrible against almost everything else. Zombies in particular eat them for breakfast. This is made especially {{Egregious}} by the presence of Mages, who are as good as or better than archers in every way (in particular, they absolutely ''slaughter'' Zombies).
* CrystalSpiresAndTogas - A mild example in Trandor's castle backdrops. Par the course for a MagicalSociety.
* CueTheSun - An epic one when Astea and Harsgalt enter the fray against Madruk in the introduction. Also, in the last FMV, this happens when [[spoiler: [[BigGood Astea]] reveals that she saved the Dragon Force from [[LoadBearingBoss Ruinlege's eruption following Madruk's defeat.]]]]
* CurbStompBattle/ RedshirtArmy - Whenever a particular troop type [[TacticalRockPaperScissors goes up against one they're weak against.]] Of note are dragons against samurai (VERY useful near the endgame), harpies against mages/archers, and archers against zombies.
* DangerousDeserter - Generals who desert can potentially be recruited by enemy kingdoms and used against the player in future battles.
* DarkIsEvil/ LightIsNotGood - Fandaria combines the two, to striking effect. Their official colour is gold, but their castles' backdrops are the gloomiest and most ominous, and they're presented as the main antagonists for the first arc. [[spoiler: Ultimately subverted at the end when Goldark reveals his true intentions.]]
* DarkestHour - In the ''introduction'', when [[BigBad Madruk]] ravages Legendra with his [[TheHorde forces.]] Thankfully, [[BigGood Astea and Harsgalt]] put a stop to that.
* DeathByAThousandCuts: Using troops against generals typically works like this. Troops do very little damage to generals, and are often killed in one hit by them. However, if you have over fifty troops attacking the enemy general, chances are their individual attacks will eventually defeat the general, unless they run away first.
** Special mention goes to [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity Zanon]] and [[BonusBoss Zado]], who [[NighInvulnerable only take 1hp of damage per attack from mooks, and take drastically reduced damage from spells.]] The only way to defeat them soundly is with this trope. [[spoiler: At the final battle, Gaul and Scythe get in on this as well.]]
* DeathFromAbove - The spell Sky Driver is essentially this. Also, [[HolyHandGrenade Holy Blast]] and Solar Flare, which look like a ''KillSat'' has fired on the battlefield.
* DecapitatedArmy - Madruk's dragonmen are presumably all routed after his defeat. Averted nicely when you attempt to conquer the other monarchs, however; as long as they still have castles under their control, they will always flee successfully to the nearest one. The only way to wipe their armies off the map is to corner them in their last castle and beat them there.
* DefeatMeansFriendship - All over the place, though some captured MookLieutenant generals may refuse to join you despite repeated offers.
** It varies depending on who you play too. Some leaders will join you willingly, and in some cases will join even without your interaction. Others must be defeated in combat before they're willing to join. However, Gongos and Goldark are unable to utilize the faction leaders until the end when [[BigBad Madruk]] and his forces begins to cause mayhem.
*** In Gongos' case, this is because ''none'' of the other leaders can bring themselves to work under him (or believe that they've been beaten by a Beast Man). They end up either escaping from battle, or from imprisonment. [[ButtMonkey It seems the Guardian of the Forest really can't catch a break.]]
*** In Goldark's case, he [[spoiler: actually captures the other monarchs, but imprisons them after they refuse to join him. Later, he stages their public execution to draw out Wein, the only one who escaped.]]
* DemBones - Zombie troops are more this than typical decaying, shambling corpses.
* DespairEventHorizon - See TearJerker under the YMMV tab.
* DirtyCoward: Bastion, Bastion, ''Bastion''. An opportunist who will defect even if you give him tons of Faith Coins or medals (on the plus side, if he's on an enemy army, he might desert them to join yours). If he's in your army, then the best solution is to either [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves let him rot in jail]] or [[ReassignedToAntarctica send him to a castle far]] ''[[ReassignedToAntarctica far]]'' [[ReassignedToAntarctica away from any enemy troops]].
** Interestingly, Bastion will tend to side with whichever army has more female generals (including HornyDevils Uryll & Sierra). That's also a good way to keep him loyal to you. Make of that what you will.
* DivineParentage - [[spoiler: Harsrud/Harsserudo, one of the [=PS2=] remake's new hidden characters, is revealed to be [[CrystalDragonJesus Harsgalt's]] son.]]
* DoesNotLikeShoes - Many of the Beast-Men go barefoot.
* DoomedHometown - Izumo used to be an island off the west coast of Legendra. Madruk ''sank the entire place like Atlantis'' in the game's backstory. The survivors fled to the mainland and rebuilt, but the incident remains a very sore spot in Izumo's history. [[FridgeBrilliance This probably explains why Samurai have become so good at dealing with Dragons.]]
** Alternatively, Madruk might have crushed Izumo so thoroughly precisely ''because'' the Samurai were such a great threat to his Dragon armies.
* DraconicHumanoid - Dragonmen troops and generals look more like this than actual, bestial dragons, with impressive physiques to boot.
* DramaticPause - Some of the [=PS2=] voice acting gets in on this.
* DualBoss - Not in the usual sense, since all fights are one-on-one. One of the new [[SecretCharacter hidden characters]] in the [=PS2=] remake is [[spoiler: a ''pair'' of MysteriousWaif CreepyTwins, who count as "one" enemy general when you fight them.]]
* DubNameChange - Some characters had their original names changed by Creator/WorkingDesigns. Of note:
** Lowe -> Rudger
** Sommalion -> Galam
** Kalhazard -> Kharhaz
** Gideon -> Gaul
** [[NonIndicativeName Grace]] -> Scythe
** Mikazuki -> Mikhal
** Hourai -> Mistal
** Ra Deli -> Presto
** Ulysses -> Yuri
** Katmandu -> Katmando
* DuelBoss - A few:
** Goldark vs Wein in Wein's campaign, and vs Mikhal in Mikhal's campaign [[spoiler: (though it's actually a HopelessBossFight both times).]]
** The spirit of Leviathan, Gongos' ancestor (through possession of Gunner), vs Gongos in Gongos' campaign.
* DumbMuscle - The Beast Men tend to get this treatment from the other races, especially Gongos in relation to the rest of the Dragon Force.
** Madruk's Dragonmen generals are also this. Though they are mighty combatants (NEVER attempt to duel them unless you can win in 1 hit!), they're no more intelligent than the [[MookLieutenant generic Fighter generals]], and their Command Ratings (which determines how effective a general's troops are in combat - rather redundant, seeing as how they're commanding ''[[EliteMook Dragons]]'') are usually lower than most.
* ElementalPowers - Nearly all non-physical spells have some elemental flavours, if only for purely aesthetic effect.
** BlowYouAway - Hyper Storm and Mega Tornado. Also, the Spirit User's summon, Wind Dancer. Interestingly, mooks hit by the first 2 spells are [[NotQuiteDead only taken out of combat]], and are returned to the general afterward if they win the battle.
** CastingAShadow - Dark Vortex and Ensnare. Zombie generals like Santana and Ryskim also give off a shadowy aura whenever they cast spells (regardless of element).
** DishingOutDirt - Stone Pedestal, which temporarily encases the enemy's troops in stone.
** HolyHandGrenade - The aptly-named Holy Blast. A similar version, Solar Flare, hits ''both'' enemy and friendly troops.
** MakingASplash - The Spirit User's summon, Trident's Daughter.
** PlayingWithFire - Several spells, from small fireballs that target only the enemy general, to screen-clearing ones like Meteor Storm and Dante's Inferno.
** ShockAndAwe - Thunder Fall.
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt - What the titular Dragon Force is meant to prevent, and Madruk's ultimate goal for Legendra.
* EmpathyDollShot: One is shown in the intro video for the game when Madruk makes his appearance to destroy life on Legendra.
* TheEmpire - Fandaria and Tristan, although the former more than the latter.
* EnemyMine - What most of the monarchs try to invoke (against Fandaria) as they go about uniting the continent. In-universe, none of them know who the other members of the Dragon Force are (only that Harsgalt's crest will mark them), so they use Fandaria's war as a front to go looking for them. [[spoiler: Goldark sets out to do this as well. He's also against Madruk from the outset, but hides his intentions, and isn't quite so diplomatic about it as the others.]]
* EvilLaugh - The [=PS2=] remake takes this UpToEleven.
* EvilWeapon - Eclisis.
* {{Fanservice}} - Par the course for a fantasy game. See the character page for specific examples.
* FantasticNuke - For all intents and purposes, [[HolyHandGrenade Holy Blast]] and [[DeathFromAbove Solar Flare]]. Timed just right, they can wipe out about ''80 out of a full army of 100.''
* FantasyCounterpartCulture - Izumo is obviously Japan, Topaz's architecture looks Chinese, and Bozack appears to be MayIncaTec.
* FatBastard - Borgon. His final words even reference his gluttony!
* FireForgedFriends - The Dragon Force.
* FiveBadBand - of a sort, though the numbers don't match up:
** BigBad: Madruk
** CoDragons: the Apostles of Darkness
*** EvilGenius: [[spoiler: Gaul]]
*** TheBrute: Katmando
*** TheDarkChick: [[spoiler: Scythe]]
** GoldfishPoopGang: the Skull Children
** ThoseTwoBadGuys: [[MeaningfulName Paine and Aggoni]]
** A lesser one is introduced in Goldark's campaign, namely:
*** BigBad: [[spoiler: Gaul]]
*** TheDragon: [[spoiler: Scythe]]
*** TheBrute: Zado
*** EvilGenius: Ryskim and Santana (though their Intelligence scores may suggest otherwise, they're the ones who use the most magic aside from the first two)
*** TheDarkChick: Kyoem
* FiveManBand: You start with one.
** Highland Kingdom:
*** TheHero: Wein
*** TheLancer: Galam
*** TheBigGuy: Rudger, who is also something of a ChivalrousPervert.
*** TheChick: Nina
*** TheSmartGuy / KidAppealCharacter: Link
** Fandaria Empire:
*** BigBad [[spoiler: (actually TheHero)]]: Goldark
*** TheDragon [[spoiler: (actually an EvilChancellor and TheManBehindTheMan)]]: Gaul
*** DarkActionGirl: Scythe
*** GeniusBruiser: Kharhaz
*** TokenGoodTeammate: arguably Lyria, with hints of MyMasterRightOrWrong
** Palemoon Kingdom:
*** TheHero: Teiris
*** TheLancer: Manoa
*** TheBigGuy: Gulen and Reiner
*** TheSmartGuy: Manoa, also Duran, who is a MagicKnight
** Bozack Nation:
*** TheHero: Gongos
*** TheLancer: Rygar
*** TheBigGuy: Baghib (also TheBerserker)
*** TheSmartGuy: Katt, notable for her intelligence among the Beast Men
*** TagalongKid / BrattyHalfPint: Yuni, oh so much...
** Topaz Kingdom:
*** TheHero: Leon
*** TheLancer: Garyus
*** TheChick: Yanna, though she's more of an ActionGirl and TheAce
*** TheSmartGuy: Shaia
*** TheBigGuy: Raizak, with hints of DumbMuscle
** Izumo Nation:
*** TheHero: Mikhal
*** TheLancer: Zagat
*** TheBigGuy: Jackal
*** TheSmartGuy: Shione
*** TagalongKid: Mistal, though he's quick to disagree with anyone who thinks of him that way.
** Trandor Kingdom
*** TheHero: Reinhart
*** TheLancer: arguably Sophie
*** TheAce: Bardal
*** BloodKnight: Presto
*** CoolOldGuy: Tsugal
** Tristan Empire
*** TheHero: Junon
*** TheLancer: Ayrios. Also doubles as TheAce.
*** TheBigGuy: Ortega and Scar. Scar is also a ShellshockedVeteran, and has hints of [[spoiler: TheStarscream during gameplay if certain conditions are met, though he's not evil per se]]
*** TheSmartGuy: Cinna
* FlashStep - the aptly-named spell "Cross Flash" seems made to invoke this.
* FriendlyFireproof - in full effect, considering some of the generals' devastating, screen-clearing spells.
** Four notable aversions exist: [[CastingAShadow Dark Vortex]] (''only'' Teiris has the FriendlyFireproof version), [[LightEmUp Solar Flare]] (an indiscriminate version of Holy Blast), [[BlowYouAway Mega Tornado]] (an indiscriminate version of Hyper Storm), and [[TakenForGranite Quagmire]] (an indiscriminate version of Stone Pedestal).
** A milder aversion exists with the spells [[SummonMagic Summon Wyvern and Summon Golem]], which clear a small zone around their summoned location when cast, before wreaking havoc on the enemy.
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration - In Junon's campaign, [[spoiler: Leon takes an attack from Faust meant for her, when Faust tries to goad her into a fight. Leon gets wounded, and actually ends up hospitalized (like any other general whose hp was reduced to 0 in combat). Thankfully, a quick [[HealingHerb Astea's Herb]] fixes him up just as well.]]
** The roles are reversed in Leon's campaign, only that [[spoiler: Junon saves Leon from Goldark.]]
** Again, in Junon's campaign, [[spoiler: Wein and his inner circle decide not to join her at first, but sneak into Fandaria to find out what Goldark is up to. They fail, and when they make it back to Junon, all five of them are hospitalized for their injuries.]]
* GeoEffects - Terrain bonuses and penalties, which vary according to troop type. Defenders in a castle also get a "home ground" bonus that scales with castle level.
* GlassCannon - [[SquishyWizard Spirit User and Magician generals.]]
* GlowingEyesOfDoom - The Dragonmen generals' portraits have subdued versions. The Zombie generals' combat sprites have ''something'' glowing within their hoods that ''might'' be their eyes...
* GondorCallsForAid - Your job is to unite the continent to fight a greater evil. Sounds about right.
* TheGoodChancellor - Technically, all of the monarchs' chancellors are these, as they provide very valuable MissionControl during the game. Nolun of Highland gets special mention, including in the manual, for practically teaching Wein everything he needs to know about running a kingdom.
* GroundPunch - Dragon generals do this with both fists when they cast [[DishingOutDirt Stone Pedestal.]]
* GuideDangIt:
** Worried about generals leaving your army due to lack of recognition? When selecting through them, there is a small box that tells you if a general is worthy of an award or not, so you can use that as a guide. If you don't want to give them a medal, you can also give them an item to keep their loyalty. Additionally, the starting generals for each lord will never leave, so once they join your forces, you can neglect them if you'd like, although it's still a good idea to reward them as medals increase how many troops they command during battle.
** Additionally, make sure you use the enemy monarchs as much as possible once you acquire them. [[spoiler:The reason is that these 8 characters are the ones you use at the end, and if they're not fully geared/leveled, they'll have a tough time against the final bosses.]]
** The [[GoldfishPoopGang Skull]] [[TerribleTrio Children]]/[[ThoseTwoBadGuys Paine & Agonni]], who randomly show up on the map, are annoying, especially if they pop up at a remote location that's weakly guarded. However, they're the best source of leveling up for your generals as conquer more lands, and have fewer enemies to fight. Dragon generals/troops take over once you hit end-game, so make sure you have plenty of samurai, mage, or harpy soldiers scattered throughout your lands to combat them.
** New players' first encounters with [[NighInvulnerable Zanon]] will usually go like this: "Hey, there's a wierd neutral kingdom in Lightan castle. Let's go conquer it!"; "Wow, that was a tough fight...huh? They all escaped?"; "Damn, they just keep coming back to take Lightan castle!"; "OMG WHY WON'T THEY STOP!" [[spoiler: The only way to permanently clear Lightan castle and defeat Zanon is to do Vlad's side-quest. There are no hints whatsoever that the player needs to do this first.]]
* GuysSmashGirlsShoot - Somewhat averted. Many Magician generals are male (though Spirit Users are all female, and there are few male Priests), and there are several female Beast generals.
* HamToHamCombat - Can happen, depending on the generals' [[PreAsskickingOneLiner pre-asskicking one-liners.]]
* HappilyMarried - In the epilogue, [[spoiler: Wein marries Teiris, Leon marries Junon, Mikhal marries Shione, and Talon (Goldark's nephew) marries Aisha.]]
* HauntedCastle - Magicka castle, on the borders of Topaz and Palemoon, starts off as a heap of ruins. It can be rebuilt by sending any general there, but an event soon occurs where the castle's previous occupants turn up to haunt the place. Sending your monarch there puts an end to it (non-violently), and you receive a Spirit Crest (an item that allows any general to command Zombie troops) for your troubles.
* [[HealingPotion Healing Herb]] - Astea's Herb, an item that instantly allows a hospitalized general to recover and return to service.
* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic - Bonus points for Galam, Rudger, and Kharhaz, whose lack of headgear is reflected in their sprites (which have standard {{Mook}} bodies), while most other generals' isn't.
* HerdHittingAttack - If a general's spell is stated to hit "enemy-army" or "enemy-all", prepare to see {{Mooks}} dying en masse.
* HeroUnit - Any of the generals, technically, but more so the Dragon Force.
* HitAndRunTactics - The AI will sometimes attempt this when you threaten their territory. Since the probability of a general successfully retreating is influenced by several factors (number of troops remaining on either side, level differences between generals, etc), failing to properly fortify a frontier castle may result in the player eventually losing it to attrition.
** To elaborate, every castle can hold 10 generals, while an attacking division can only hold 5. While defenders will always have the upper hand through numbers of generals, every battle in a castle comes with the chance of decreasing the castle's level. What does this do? It reduces "home ground" terrain bonuses for the defenders, as well as the troop stores used to restock the generals' armies out of combat. Enough attrition will eventually wear down the defenders unless they receive external backup.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard - Indiscriminate spells (see FriendlyFireproof above) can spell (pun intended) doom for the caster's own side if fired off carelessly.
* HonorBeforeReason - In at least Wein's, Mikhal's, and Junon's scenarios, Goldark will initially evade capture, and return at a later time to challenge them again. [[spoiler: Fortunately, in Junon's case, Goldark doesn't force a duel, and you can own him flat with your harpies. For Wein and Mikhal? Well...see HopelessBossFight below.]] What do your amassed forces do during this time? Bow out of his way like pansies. Made worse by the fact that Goldark doesn't get any special powerups for this second encounter - he's still the same DualWielding BadassGrandpa.
* HopelessBossFight - In Wein's and Mikhal's campaigns, [[spoiler: Goldark evades capture, but returns a short time later to have it out with you. During this scripted event, there is nothing (and I mean NOTHING) you can do to stop him from marching right up to wherever Wein/Mikhal are and challenging them to a duel. Like any other duel, there's nothing the player can do but to watch as Goldark beats the hell out of Wein/Mikhal (but this doesn't result in a GameOver due to the event script - rather, Wein/Mikhal survive with [[HPToOne 1HP]]) and leaves them with a ReasonYouSuckSpeech, before vanishing again.]]
** In Junon's campaign, [[spoiler: Goldark is the one to challenge Katmando instead of Ramda (and you get to play as him for that brief moment), as Ramda gets killed by Gaul and Scythe after his MrExposition scene. Goldark gets better in time to meet Wein at the Snow Shrine to look for the Stargem Sword. [[ForegoneConclusion He has to, since he's a member of the Dragon Force.]]]]
* TheHorde - Madruk's [[OhCrap army...of]] ''[[EliteMook Dragons]]'', no less, both mook- and general-types. Once freed from Ruinledge, they will continue to ravage the continent until the Dragon Force marches up the mountain for the final battle. Better put all those Samurai troops to use quickly...
* HotBlooded - Some of the Fighter, Monk, and Beast generals. Knight generals tend to be more reserved, but they have their moments.
* HybridMonster - Harpies.
* IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace - Ahem, ''RUIN''lege, Madruk's prison mountain.
* InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn - During the FinalBattle, your monarch faces off with [[BigBad Madruk]] alone. [[JustifiedTrope Justified,]] as the other 7 members of the Dragon Force have their hands full with the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Apostles of Darkness]]. See LeaveHimToMe below.
* InTheHood - The Zombie generals.
* [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity Plus One Weapon]] - One of the three AncientArtifacts gets empowered near the end of each monarch's campaign (according to their class), and becomes stronger than the best weapon they can equip.
* InformedEquipment - Generals' sprites do not change, regardless of what equipment they're given.
* InterspeciesRomance - [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Wein and Teiris]], most obviously, though Gongos attempts to build a love triangle (but Teiris doesn't reciprocate).
* KiAttacks - A few spells could be considered this, notably Aura Assault.
* KillItWithFire - Mage troops shoot small fireballs from their staves. Also, the fire-type spells cast by generals.
* KilledOffForReal - See HeroicSacrifice above. Also, some [[MookLieutenant genereic Fighter and Knight generals]] may end up slain in combat instead of merely injured and captured.
* TheKingdom - Highland.
* KnifeNut - Thief generals come armed with only a dagger, which they also use in their (very) limited repertoire of spells.
* LampshadeHanging - of all people, the ''narrator'' gets in on this. "However, as with all such tales bordering on morality plays, one lied in wait to cast a dark shadow over the prosperity and tranquility of Legendra."
* LargeAndInCharge - Generals tend to have bigger sprites than their troops.
* LeaveHimToMe - Used during the FinalBattle against the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Apostles of Darkness]], so that your monarch can hurry on to face [[BigBad Madruk]]. The basic pattern is: [[spoiler: Junon & Leon vs Scythe, Mikhal (thank Astea for Samurai) & Reinhart vs Gaul, and Wein, Teiris, & Gongos vs Katmando. If you're playing as any of these 7, Goldark will substitute them when they go on to fight Madruk.]]
* TheLegionsOfHell - Madruk's [[TheHorde horde of]] [[EliteMook Dragonmen]] seem designed to invoke this.
* ALighterShadeOfGrey - The manual invokes this with Tristan (compared to Fandaria), [[spoiler: but once you actually play Junon's campaign, it's revealed that she really isn't that bad after all, and is actually trying to build diplomatic relations with Wein of Highland to combat Fandaria.]]
* LightningBruiser - Any general who can use the skills Cross Flash and Cross Rush (which take a solid chunk out of the enemy general's HP) may qualify. While it's quite logical for monks wearing simple martial arts clothes & beast men wearing loincloths to be able to pull these off, it's quite another thing to see warriors in full plate armour doing it.
** Goldark even does it while DualWielding [[{{BFS}} BFS's]]!
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
* LoopholeAbuse - While on the world map, travelling armies (referred to as "divisions") are indicated by walking sprites. Said sprites have some sort of collision box that determines how close they have to be to other divisions to enter combat. When a division attacks a castle, its sprite will essentially walk right up to the castle's sprite so that the two overlap. If the attacker is defeated, the division will retreat to the nearest friendly castle. If the player instantly deploys their own division right after successfully defending their castle, their division's sprite will immediately "encounter" the retreating army, thus giving players a second shot at capturing AI generals. Savvy players can effectively bleed the AI dry by repeating this ad nausem.
* LoveAtFirstSight - Played for laughs, in part due to the males' awkwardness: [[spoiler: Leon to Junon (when he sees her unmasked), and Gongos to Teiris.]]
* LoveTriangle - One between Wein, Teiris and Gongos. [[spoiler: it's one-sided on Gongos' part, though]] Another is revealed in Mikhal's campaign. See BerserkButton above.
* LuckBasedMission - The battle with Madruk can sometimes be this, since he has nearly 100 MP, and may sometimes spam spells ([[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard that cost only 1 MP apiece!]]) at your monarch. Each spell takes off a good chunk of HP, so even at max HP (127), your monarch won't be able to take more than a few hits before you see the dreaded GameOver screen...
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe - Fighter generals can equip shields for added defence. [[InformedEquipment They don't show up on their sprites, however.]]
* MageKiller - Ninjas, and to a much lesser extent thieves, are excellent for dealing with magic users, as their spells damage the ''power bar'' (which determines how often a general may cast spells) instead of Hp.
* MagicalSociety - Tradnor.
* {{Mana}} - MP, used by generals to cast spells.
* MayIncaTec - Bozack, in terms of architecture.
* MeaningfulName - ''Faust'', Junon's mentor from the [[HeroOfAnotherStory previous Dragon Force]], plays on Junon's [[YouKilledMyFather angst]] and thirst for {{Revenge}} against Goldark to tempt Junon with [[EvilWeapon Eclisis]]. The catch? Junon will likely end up as an AxCrazy BloodKnight like the weapon's previous wielder, [[ThatOneBoss Zanon]].
* MissionControl - Each monarch comes with their own advisor, who essentially fills this role, both on the world map and in Domestic Affairs.
* {{Mook}} - the troops your generals command.
** EliteMook - High-performance troops like Dragons, Harpies, and Zombies may qualify.
** MookLieutenant - The "generic" generals, who have identical portraits and palette-swapped sprites.
* MrExposition - Lord Frest.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone - See TearJerker under the YMMV tab.
* NewGamePlus - Of a sort. Players can only select Fandaria and Trandor after completing the game beforehand, as Goldark's and Reinhart's campaigns contain massive spoilers.
* NoArcInArchery - The Archers' arrows go hilariously straight.
* NoHonorAmongThieves - Thief generals are notoriously disloyal, often deserting at the drop of a hat if they're mistreated. Either keep them meticulously rewarded for each battle they fight, or [[ReassignedToAntarctica keep them FAR behind the front lines.]]
* NobleDemon - Vlad in particular.
* NorthIsColdSouthIsHot - Tristan, the northernmost kingdom, is situated on a frigid plateau. Bozack, in the southwest, is a jungle populated by Beast-Men.
* NotQuiteDead - Generals reduced to 0hp aren't actually killed (unless directly stated), but merely knocked out, and will appear as "hospitalized" if you manage an overall victory in that particular battle (if you lose, they get captured by the enemy instead).
* OfficialCouple - From Goldark's epilogue, we have [[spoiler: his nephew, Talon, and Aisha. Both are members of his WarmUpBoss squad.]]
* OneHitPointWonder - All mooks are essentially this. TacticalRockPaperScissors is thus displayed by having the stronger troop type NoSell the weaker's attacks (see BlockingStopsAllDamage above).
* OneSteveLimit - In full effect. LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, all with unique names.
* OnlyTheChosenMayWield: Only the Dragon Force may equip the [[AncientArtifact Ancient Artifacts]].
* OurDragonsAreDifferent - The roles of dragons vary in-game, ranging from expendable troops, good or evil generals, and all the way to powerful gods.
* OurElvesAreBetter - Magically, at least. Most Spirit User and Magician generals are Elves. Hilariously inverted with Archer troops, which are the worst troop type overall.
* OurLichesAreDifferent: Santana and Ryskim, undead sorcerers who wear dark cloaks and hoods that obscure their faces. They're referred as "Phantoms" in cutscenes, but their in-game job is literally "?????".
* OurZombiesAreDifferent - They attack with their ''ribcages''.
* OutGambitted/ SpannerInTheWorks/ UnwittingPawn/ UsingYouAllAlong - In Goldark's campaign, [[spoiler: it's revealed that Gaul is using Madruk's power to seduce Goldark over to the dark side (and thus potentially ruin the Dragon Force), and Goldark shows signs of giving in, what with his merciless continent-wide war and all. However, when Gaul asks Goldark to execute the captured monarchs, the latter laughs in his face, and reveals his WellIntentionedExtremist plan to unite Legendra into a single, massive army AGAINST Madruk, and that he was merely using Gaul, Scythe, and all their power to help him achieve that goal. The magnificent combination of YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness and UnwittingPawn really does a good job of driving the two of them into a seething rage.]]
** [[spoiler: When Gaul attempts to strike Wein down afterward, Goldark takes the hit for him, but doesn't suffer any lasting damage. The selfless act causes Goldark's crest to reveal itself; all the other monarchs' crests glow in reaction, and their combined light forces Gaul and Scythe to retreat. NiceJobFixingItVillain.]]
* PaletteSwap/ YouAllLookFamiliar - The result of having to differentiate the [[MookLieutenant generic generals.]]
* PatchworkMap - Nicely averted, with logical geographical tropes in play. NorthIsColdSouthIsHot aside, Palemoon is a forest in a valley near the coast, while the centre of the continent around Topaz and Trandor are more arid. Fandaria seems to be in a rain-shadow zone north of Izumo's mountains, and has a similar lack of lush vegetation, while Bozack, south of Izumo, is the Beast-Men's rainforest home.
* PeltsOfTheBarbarian - Some of the Beast-Men's wardrobes, including Gongos.
* PimpedOutCape: Practically every general has one.
* PlotCouponThatDoesSomething - The three [[AncientArtifact Ancient Artifacts]] found in the three shrines are also [[InfinityPlusOneSword powerful weapons.]]
* PowerEchoes - The Dragonmen generals in the [=PS2=] remake.
* PowerFist - Claw weapons, equippable by Beast generals (of both genders) and Monk generals.
* PowerFloats - Some generals, like Vlad, Presto, or the generic Spirit Users float.
* PowerGlows - The monarchs glow a brilliant gold whenever they use their holy-dragon-fuelled ultimate spells after their power-ups.
* ThePowerOfFriendship - The game's StockAesop.
* PreAsskickingOneLiner: Every general has one before the battle starts, another one to prepare his/her troops, another one for casting a spell, [[OverlyLongGag and ANOTHER one before a duel starts.]]
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy - The Beast Men have shades of this.
* PurelyAestheticGender - Generals' effectiveness in combat is not affected by their gender whatsoever.
* PurposelyOverpowered - Your starting team in both Goldark's and Reinhart's scenarios, but for different reasons.
** In Goldark's case, he and his inner circle (sans Lyria) all start above level 5, meaning they begin with 2 out of 3 spells in their roster. They also have more troops than most other kingdoms' generals (again, sans Lyria). Later on, [[spoiler: Gaul & Scythe show up with some seriously overpowered allies in tow (Zado with 100 Dragons comes to mind), granting a huge boost to Fandaria's might. This is because none of the other monarchs or their inner circles will join Fandaria until the end, and the player will need all that muscle to conquer the continent. Predictably, you don't get to keep Gaul, Scythe, or any of your overpowered allies; you'll even be forced to fight them once their true allegiance is revealed.]]
** In Reinhart's case, he starts with a second army (Ardor, Uryll, Gigg, and Santana) in addition to his inner circle. This is because [[spoiler: he's actually a ManBehindTheMan to Wein, and has surreptitiously commissioned him to unite the continent on his behalf. Wein ends up handing everything over to Reinhart on a silver platter (sans Goldark, of course) at the end of the first arc. This means that Reinhart's campaign calls for very tight defenses as the player holds out until Wein succeeds. Those overpowered generals (Uryll can ''Resurrect Dragon troops'') really make life easier.]]
* QuirkyMinibossSquad - The Apostles of Darkness: [[spoiler: Scythe, Gaul]], and Katmando.
** [[spoiler: Goldark himself gets one in his campaign, courtesy of Gaul, who's trying to use the offer to bribe Goldark over to Madruk's side. Predictably, all of them desert together with Gaul & Scythe in the second part of the game, only to reappear later to challenge the Dragon Force as they try to obtain the [[AncientArtifact ancient artifacts]].]]
* RandomDrops - Of a sort. The only way to get new items is to search your currently occupied castles (only generals with >70 Intelligence may do this) during Domestic Affairs mode. All castles have a small chance to yield loot when searched, though some specific castles seem to have specific "loot tables". These tend to yield better items like powerful weapons or crests that allow generals to command the more powerful troop types.
* RapidFireFisticuffs - Whenever Monk generals use the spell "Cross Rush". [[ActionGirl Yanna of Topaz]] even ends hers with a spectacular {{Shoryuken}}.
** Beast generals do the same, but with rapid-fire ''weapon-strikes''.
* RazorWind/ SwordBeam - Sonic Boom/Wave/Blast.
* RegeneratingMana - An interesting variation, in that generals will instantly regenerate to full MP once they're in castles, but ''only'' in castles. This means that if a general retreats after a lost battle with their army in tatters and MP drained, they will ''not'' regenerate a single point of MP until they're indoors. A savvy player can exploit this to capture the AI's generals while they're retreating from their own battles elsewhere.
* RescueArc - See AlwaysSaveTheGirl above. Notable in that it is purely optional, and does not affect the main plot in any way.
* TheReveal: A few:
** [[spoiler:Goldark is actually GoodAllAlong, even though he plays the BigBad for much of the game, even when you play as him.]]
** [[spoiler:For non-Junon players, Junon's portrait is the black helmet until they join your ranks. Junon players find out right away that it's actually a woman inside the suit.]]
** [[spoiler:Gaul and Scythe were merely using Goldark to help resurrect Madruk. Unfortunately for them, he was also using them as well, to help unite Legendra against Madruk's inevitable revival.]]
* ReviveKillsZombie - Averted. The spell Resurrect revives zombies.
* RiskStyleMap - The focus of much of the game. Alternates with an administrative mode called "Domestic Affairs".
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge/ YouKilledMyFather - Junon wants to kill Goldark at the start because of this. When it's revealed (also at the beginning) that the diplomatic envoys Tristan sent to Highland were all killed [[spoiler: thanks to Fandaria's machinations]], Junon teeters on the edge of ''another'' RROR against Wein, before being talked out of it by TheGoodChancellor.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething - All 8 members of the Dragon Force are either royalty, or the appointed rulers of their respective kingdoms.
* RuleOfThree - Three AncientArtifacts hidden in three shrines across the continent? Yup. Three [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Apostles of Darkness]]? Yup. Three hidden side-plots yielding [[SecretCharacter secret characters]] (Vlad + Sierra, Hayate + Shirox, and Vangal)? Yup.
** Also, every general gets only three spells each (one starter, one at level 5, and one at level 10).
* SecretCharacter - A few, each complete with their own storyline.
** [[NobleDemon Vlad,]] [[DarkIsNotEvil vampire lord of the Fiend Tower,]] [[spoiler: seeks your help to rescue his girlfriend, Sierra, from the clutches of Ryskim.]]
** Hayate, a master {{Ninja}} who agrees to fight for Legendra against Madruk. His own storyline is only expanded upon if [[spoiler: you play as Mikhal, and pit him against Kyoem.]]
** Vangal, an old and disillusioned dragon-man, who [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch just wants to live out his days in peace.]] [[spoiler: Unfortunately for him, [[ThatOneBoss Zado]] sees him as a traitor to their species.]]
** The [=PS2=] remake contains two new secret encounters, [[spoiler: [[MysteriousWaif Ayame & Matsuri]], a pair of somewhat CreepyTwins in a village south of Palemoon, and Haaserudo/Hasrud, a WingedHumanoid in a village north of Fandaria. Unlike the others, they cannot be recruited, and the jury's out on what their encounter encompasses until their dialogue is translated.]]
* SequenceBreaking - The player can indulge in this. Fandaria is built up as the DiscOneFinalBoss very early on, but kingdoms like Topaz and Bozack, which start with very Monk and Beast-heavy armies respectively, [[TacticalRockPaperScissors can curb-stomp Fandaria's predominantly-cavalry army]] early on, and remove a significant threat from the map before completing the first story arc.
* SerialEscalation- The average fighter-type general gets somewhere in the order of 10 MP or less by end-game, with casters seldom reaching 20. Even Reinhart, ChildMage and son of the god of war, will probably have somewhere between 20 and 30 MP by end-game, and that's if the player pumps him full of MP-boosting consumables. During the final battle, the QuirkyMinibossSquad and the BigBad have [[OverNineThousand somewhere close to 100 MP.]] Thankfully, they aren't prone to spamming spells at every last opportunity they get.
* ShmuckBait - So you've just thrashed an enemy [[SquishyWizard Priest's]] army, and your troops are in his/her face, negating the usefulness of Resurrection (most Priests command Mages, which get ripped apart in melee combat, and the spell raises new troops just behind the caster). Victory, right? Hello, Holy Shield!
** To elaborate: Holy Shield is a cheap (2MP to cast), mid-tier spell available to most Priests. It surrounds the Priest with blue streaks of light that spiral outwards, ''clearing out nearly every enemy troop in the vicinity.''
** And just when you thought you could catch the Priest in a duel and snatch victory, he/she retreats! Have fun!
* ShouldersOfDoom - Goldark combines this with a PimpedOutCape, while Junon's go with SpikesOfVillainy [[spoiler: (except she's not exactly evil)]].
* SinisterScythe - Katt's Summon Reaper spell. See HpToOne above.
** Also, um...[[IncrediblyLamePun Scy]][[PunnyName the.]]
* SlapOnTheWristNuke - Meteor Storm.
** Subverted ''painfully'' by [[spoiler: Gaul after he reveals his allegiance to Madruk]]. To put it simply, spell damage (on generals, since every {{Mook}} is a OneHitPointWonder) depends on the caster's intelligence. [[spoiler: After revealing his true colours, Gaul (and Scythe) gets a huge boost,]] making this spell of his truly deadly. Coupled with [[spoiler: his huge MP reserves, this makes Gaul the deadlier of the two when compared to Scythe.]]
* SmurfettePrinciple - Teiris is the only female among the 8 monarchs (and thus the Dragon Force), [[spoiler: until it's revealed that Junon is a woman as well.]]
* TheSomethingForce
* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil - The monarchs start off with their WarmUpBoss, then go on to unite the continent against Fandaria [[spoiler: (or finish taking over it, in Goldark's case)]], tangle with the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Apostles of Darkness]], and top it off with an epic FinalBattle with [[BigBad Mad]][[GodOfEvil ruk]] in Ruinlege.
* SortingAlgorithmOfThreateningGeography - Of a sort. As Fandaria is the last kingdom most players would attack (except in cases of SequenceBreaking), its BleakLevel castle backdrops would be a significant change from the other kingdoms' castle backdrops. This is followed by the eerie, ominous caves in Ruinlege where the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Apostles of Darkness]] are fought, and then Madruk's own prison, which turns into an EvilIsVisceral MeatMoss level when he goes OneWingedAngel.
* SpoonyBard - Thieves. They're basically ninjas with worse overall stats, a smaller movepool, and that uses the awfully common soldier troop instead of the exotic and much better samurai.
* SquishyWizard - Mage-type generals (which include Magicians, Priests and Spirit Users) aren't good in duels.
* StormingTheCastle - once all 8 members of the Dragon Force have gotten their AncientArtifact, all that's left is to saddle up and confront the BigBad (and QuirkyMinibossSquad) in the Ruinledge mountains.
** Played straight when your forces invade a enemy castle, or vice versa.
* SummonMagic - Most Spirit User spells, like Summon Wyvern.
* SupernormalBindings - Ramda is locked in the Shadow Tower by some sort of rune, while Frest is trapped within some kind of NegativeSpaceWedgie. Considering their potential power [[spoiler: (even Gaul and Scythe have no option but to flee from them, at least before their [[GameFace true natures]] are revealed.]], this comes as no surprise.
* TacticalRockPaperScissors: Troop strengths/weaknesses, nicely detailed in the Creator/WorkingDesigns manual. Of note, each high-ability troop has a hard counter in a lower ability troop (Samurai counter Dragons, Monks/Mages counter Zombies, Archers/Mages counter Harpies, and Monks/Beasts counter Cavalry), while average-ability troops sit firmly in the middle of the spectrum (i.e. they counter low-ability troops, but get curb-stomped by high-ability troops).
** Interestingly, shooters like Archers and Mages, while listed as "low-ability", are really only weak in melee combat. Their strength lies in how ''they continue firing'' even when generals are casting their spells, while melee troops can only continue to move (but not attack). By casting a long, time-wasting spell (like Meteor Storm), a general with Archers/Mages can easily decimate an opposing army of melee troops (unless outnumbered).
* [[TakeOverTheWorld Take Over Legendra]] - Goldark's [[spoiler: apparent]] goal.
* TakeYourTime - What's that? [[BigBad Madruk]] is waking up and his [[EliteArmy Dragon]][[ZergRush men]] are decimating the countryside, you say? No hurry, you can sit around fighting EliteMooks all day to level-grind your generals as much as you want!
* TechnicalPacifist - CPU-controlled Teiris automatically allies herself with [[spoiler: Wein and Junon]] when you approach Palemoon territory in their respective campaigns without a fight, but she is fully capable of thrashing an enemy army when deployed in battle (see BadassAdorable above).
** This is also a good thing, gameplay-wise, for [[spoiler: Junon, as the player would be VERY Harpy-heavy so early in the game. What troops does Palemoon have an abundance of? [[CripplingOverSpecialization Archers.]]]]
* TerseTalker - Santana.
* ThemeSong - See {{BGM}} above. Major players like [[BigGood Astea]] and [[BigBad Madruk]] also get their own.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech - Famously, [[spoiler: Goldark to Wein. Mikhal gets a more subdued one. See HopelessBossFight above.]]
* TokenMinority - Grudar, the only black guy in the game.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl - [[spoiler: Junon]] and Teiris.
* TribalFacePaint - The Beast-Men.
* TheUndead - The Zombie generals (see OurLichesAreDifferent), and Zombie troops, naturally.
* UnitsNotToScale - Par the course, for a game with super deformed sprites. Not that it's a bad thing.
* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon - Ruinlege, where the epic FinalBattle takes place.
* VictoryQuote - Surprisingly averted. Both generals get a PreAsskickingOneLiner before combat, and the loser gets a ''defeat'' quote at the end.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential - with consequences. Mistreat your generals enough (pass them over for awards when they earn victories in battle, take away their items, etc), and they'll desert. No so much in the second arc though, because once you've united the continent, they'll have nowhere to desert ''to''.
* VideoGameSettings - a few:
** BleakLevel - not strictly a "level", but whenever you attack one of Fandaria's castles, the background looks decidedly gloomy and ominous (the other kingdoms' castles have theme-appropriate backgrounds when you attack them). Fitting, as Fandaria is usually the last kingdom many players will attempt to conquer, unless they indulge in some [[SequenceBreaking sequence breaking.]]
** GrimUpNorth - Tristan's territory.
** JungleJapes - any outdoor fight in the regions of Palemoon (Elf forest) and Bozack (Beast-Man forest) will feature this as the backdrop, complete with terrain effects.
** ThirstyDesert - the centre of the continent around Topaz and Trandor.
** {{Wutai}} - Izumo.
* WalkingShirtlessScene - Not any of the named characters, but the ''[[{{Mook}} mooks]]'' get this. Monk and Beast troops are bare-chested.
* WarmUpBoss - Of a sort. Each monarch (save Reinhart, he gets a WakeUpCallBoss a while after the game starts) starts out having to deal with a minor antagonist and their cronies, most of whom will [[DefeatMeansFriendship end up joining their forces.]] The nice thing is, they will remain "extra" loyal throughout the game (i.e. more loyal than the average MookLieutenant, but not as much as the members of the starting FiveManBand).
** Wein has, by far, the largest story development in this area. First, he has to deal with Rock and Hilga, two vigilante thieves who attack him because they mistook him for a commander of Travan. Once Wein sorts out the mistaken identity, he goes on to face the Flash Knights of Travan, Ogredd and Lone, before offing its tyrannical ruler, [[FatBastard Borgon.]]
** Teiris has to contend with [[{{Dominatrix}} Laine,]] a jealous Elf who has her eyes on Palemoon's crown.
** Goldark faces off with Talon, the son of [[spoiler: his brother, Gyzzdark, who wants revenge for his father's murder.]]
** Leon has to deal with Dayne, a renegade monk who's thrown in his lot with mercenaries.
** Gongos is challenged by Gunner, an ambitious beast man (he even starts with an item called an "Ambition Ring") who wishes to usurp his position.
** Junon is confronted by Gustav and his mercenaries, who have been hired by Fandaria [[spoiler: (probably Gaul)]] to assassinate her.
* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou - Even if you've gathered all the members of the Dragon Force, the defeat of your monarch will instantly result in a game over.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears - Arguably, Wein, king of Highland at age 17. While he does have a very capable advisor in Nolun, he seems to have gotten the hang of ruling his kingdom very well, to the extent that he is genuinely loved by the populace. Reinhart has the excuse that he's the [[DivineParentage son of the god of war.]]
* WolverineClaws - the PowerFist items that can be equipped by Monk and Beast generals look like this in Domestic Affairs mode. [[InformedEquipment They don't show up on their combat sprites, however.]]
** Beast generals' sprites show that they at least naturally wear these into battle.
* YouDontLookLikeYou - [[spoiler: Junon's hair is blonde in cutscenes, but a rather striking ''orange'' in her portrait (sans helmet). The [=PS2=] remake fixes this.]]
* ZergRush: A viable tactic in most cases. However, keep in mind that TacticalRockPaperScissors is also at play here, and sending out your large army of troops, perhaps a hundred dragons, that are weak to the enemy general's troops, such as samurai, will quickly turn them into a RedShirtArmy.
----

* AllThereInTheManual - WorkingDesigns put a lot of work into [[http://www.frayedlogic.com/download/DragonforceManual.pdf this one]]. Information ranges from the hilarious fact that Bozack's chief export is bananas to the useful Soldier Chart.

* CallingYourAttacks - Often used to hilarious effect, thanks to WorkingDesigns. See the character page for notable examples.

* DubNameChange - Some characters had their original names changed by WorkingDesigns. Of note:

* TacticalRockPaperScissors: Troop strengths/weaknesses, nicely detailed in the WorkingDesigns manual. Of note, each high-ability troop has a hard counter in a lower ability troop (Samurai counter Dragons, Monks/Mages counter Zombies, Archers/Mages counter Harpies, and Monks/Beasts counter Cavalry), while average-ability troops sit firmly in the middle of the spectrum (i.e. they counter low-ability troops, but get curb-stomped by high-ability troops).

** Gongos punctuates some of his sentences with a drawn out "Yesssss!" Much like Megatron in BeastWars.

It is a rare gem on the Saturn, and was critically praised for its addictive gameplay. From TheOtherWiki: "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Force Dragon Force]] won Electronic Gaming Monthly's Game of the Month award, as well as their Saturn Game of the Year award for 1996. EGM later ranked the game as #111 on their 'The Greatest 200 Videogames of Their Time."

** A MontyPython reference when you unsuccessfully attempt to recruit a character: "Go away or I shall taunt you again."

* {{Badass}} - the Fandaria Empire, though played as the BigBad [[spoiler: if only for the first part of the story]], is just full of this. See PurposelyOverpowered below.

** Magician, Priest, and Thief generals use the same sprites regardless of gender. This is made worse by the MookLieutenant Magician generals, whose portraits are also ambiguous. Somewhat improved with their new portraits in the PS2 version.

* ArtEvolution - The PS2 remake boasts beautifully re-rendered artwork and higher resolution character portraits. Subverted by the actual game map and sprites, which keep their charmingly dated super deformed proportions and pixellated resolutions. Not all [[FullMotionVideo FMVs]], sadly, were redone for the PS2.

* {{BGM}} - Each Monarch has their own, most of which fit in very nicely with their kingdom's profile. All of them get a nice remaster in the PS2 remake.

* BrotherSisterTeam - Same gender variant in the PS2 remake: [[spoiler: Ayame and Matsuri, the SecretCharacter CreepyTwins.]]

* DivineParentage - [[spoiler: Harsrud/Harsserudo, one of the PS2 remake's new hidden characters, is revealed to be [[CrystalDragonJesus Harsgalt's]] son.]]

* DramaticPause - Some of the PS2 voice acting gets in on this.
* DualBoss - Not in the usual sense, since all fights are one-on-one. One of the new [[SecretCharacter hidden characters]] in the PS2 remake is [[spoiler: a ''pair'' of MysteriousWaif CreepyTwins, who count as "one" enemy general when you fight them.]]

* EvilLaugh - The PS2 remake takes this UpToEleven.

* PowerEchoes - The Dragonmen generals in the PS2 remake.

** The PS2 remake contains two new secret encounters, [[spoiler: [[MysteriousWaif Ayame & Matsuri]], a pair of somewhat CreepyTwins in a village south of Palemoon, and Haaserudo/Hasrud, a WingedHumanoid in a village north of Fandaria. Unlike the others, they cannot be recruited, and the jury's out on what their encounter encompasses until their dialogue is translated.]]

* YouDontLookLikeYou - [[spoiler: Junon's hair is blonde in cutscenes, but a rather striking ''orange'' in her portrait (sans helmet). The PS2 remake fixes this.]]

A RealTimeStrategy game by Creator/{{Sega}} for the SegaSaturn involving war among eight nations of the continent of Legendra. It was localized by Creator/WorkingDesigns.