History VideoGame / Dragonforce

* AntiHero - Junon and [[spoiler: Goldark]], very much.

* PermaStubble - Rudger of Highland (even reflected in his sprite!), and Ortega of Tristan are notable.

*** TheLancer: arguably Manoa, possibly Reiner too
*** TheBigGuy: Gulen

*** TheBigGuy: Baghib (though he's more of TheBerserker)

* HighlyVisibleNinja - Sayaka, literally. She wears ''pink''.

** [[TheDreaded Homura]] to Mikhal

** Miral to Wein

** Farla (the ''previous'' Elf-Queen) to Teiris
** Leviathan to Gongos
** Homura to Mikhal
** Kazabu to Leon

** Faust to Junon

** Faust to Junon
** Kazabu to Leon

** Rather early on in Reinhart's campaign, [[spoiler: Uryll confesses that she was actually sent by Madruk to assassinate him, but cannot bring herself to do so now because she has fallen in love with him. Unable to convince Reinhart to undergo a FaceHeelTurn, she leaves reluctantly to face punishment for failing her mission. Santana pursues and captures her, and reveals to Reinhart that he has been appointed as her executioner (after forcibly ejecting you from one of your castles). Ardor then begs Reinhart to rescue Uryll, and if you choose to do so, you find that Santana has brought along 3 other MookLieutenant generals (a Spirit User, a Monk, and a Ninja), each with ''at least 60 troops''. At this stage of the game, the average players is not likely to be able to outnumber them, and Ardor even forces an encounter with Santana (Cavalry do ''not'' fare well against Zombies). Gigg helps somewhat with his dragons, but the fight will still probably be rough. O, and those MookLieutenant generals? They all get killed in combat, so you don't get to use their huge armies.]]

* WarmUpBoss - Of a sort. Each monarch (save Reinhart) 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).

* TheAtoner - [[spoiler: Goldark]], near the end. Then subverted when it's [[TheReveal revealed]] that [[spoiler: he was a WellIntentionedExtremist from the start.]]

* AvengingTheVillain - Talon, Gyzzdark's son, begins Goldark's campaign seeking to avenge his dead father. He gets better after being [[DefeatEqualsFriendship defeated]], and ends up as one of Goldark's more loyal generals.

* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning - Goldark's ''intro'' [[spoiler: where he escapes from prison and kills his corrupt brother so he can realize his plan to unite the continent.]]
* BabiesEverAfter: Teiris and Leon's endings. There's no offspring to be seen in their love interests' respective endings (Wein and [[spoiler:Junon]])

** Even the SCENE in which Goldark's BFS's are introduced is badass! [[spoiler: upon finding out Gyzzdark's plans, Goldark quickly asks Lyria (a waify nun who, by the way, is one of his inner circle of generals) to hand him a sword. She somehow manages to heft one of the BFS's over to him (a badass feat in it's own right, considering her build). [[CrazyAwesome Goldark then somehow cuts himself free,]] ''even when both his hands are shackled'', [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill picks up the second BFS, and brutally murders his own brother]] ''before he can cry for help or fight back.'' Oh, and Goldark's been shackled like that for goodness knows how long, yet he pulls off the entire stunt smoothly and flawlessly!]]

* BadassGrandpa/ CoolOldGuy - Tsugal: "There's no way I'm losing to a bunch of preening quakebuttocks!"
** Goldark as well.

** [[spoiler: Goldark seems like a typical case at first, what with the [[TakeOverTheWorld conquering overlord vibes]] and all, but it's subverted at the end when he reveals his true intentions.]]

* {{BFS}} - Goldark is probably the only character to [[DualWielding dual-wield]] BFS's in the game, lending further weight to his [[{{Badass}} badassery]].

* CainAndAbel - Goldark and Gyzzdark. [[spoiler: Just not in the way the game would have you believe: Goldark is actually the Abel, and the extent to which Gyzzdark is the Cain is debatable, given Gaul and Scythe's manipulations.]]

* CharacterDevelopment - a few notable examples:
** Junon [[spoiler: starts as an angst-ridden, revenge-driven queen, resists the temptation of Faust to wield [[EvilWeapon Eclisis]] to achieve her goals, and learns to bury the hatchet with Goldark to focus on beating the real BigBad, Madruk.]]

* {{Determinator}} - In several campaigns, Goldark evades capture the first time, and returns about a month later with a *huge* army to attempt his conquest of Legendra anew. He marches unflinchingly toward your monarch, and ''none'' of your troops will dare to stand in his way. It's played for drama, but falls apart once the battle starts and Goldark only has his usual 100 Cavalry troops (and a couple more levels to match your monarch's).

* DiscOneFinalBoss - Goldark. [[spoiler: If you play as Goldark, it's [[KnightInShiningArmor Wein]], who comes out of hiding to challenge Goldark one last time when he threatens to execute all the other monarchs if Wein doesn't surrender himself.]]

* DualWielding - Goldark and his magnificent [[{{BFS}} BFS's]].

* BlackKnight - Subverted by Junon and Gulen, who are good.
** Wein is an inversion of this trope: he wears white armor with [[HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic no helmet.]]

** From Trandor, we have Presto, whose profile states that he enjoys using violent spells in combat, all while wearing a NiceHat, a monocle, and a tuxedo!

* BadassAdorable - Teiris might be the sweetest Elf-girl in Legendra, but is fully capable of decimating an entire army with [[CastingAShadow Dark Vortex (read: a black hole summoned above the battlefield that ONLY affects the enemy).]]

* BewareTheNiceOnes - Teiris and Reinhart are polite and amiable, but they pack enough magic to wipe out entire armies.

** Wein effectively comes of age, growing from an insecure teenaged king into a great leader.
** Teiris goes from second-guessing half of her own decisions to a confident and steadfast leader.

* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning - whenever Teiris casts a spell, she does a graceful twirl (while her floating cloak ''doesn't'') while the 3 motes of magic around her spin overhead. This is usually followed by mooks dying in droves.

* MysticalHighCollar - Reinhart's [[AntiGravityClothing floating cape]] gives him this appearance. He's also the most magic-attuned of the Dragon Force, besides Teiris.

** Teiris' pleasant disposition even rubs off on the ''other monarchs'', such that in her campaign, she only needs to fight [[spoiler: Leon, Mikhal, and of course, Goldark directly. The others join her with little to no fuss.]]

* AntiGravityClothing - Teiris (her original Sega Saturn art provides the page image). Also, Reinhart. In the PS2 art, Teiris is shown using her cape as an ''anti-gravity chair'', while Reinhart is leaning forward on his elbow over the collar of his floating cloak.

** From Palemoon, we have Reiner, who [[LampshadeHanging outright states]] in his PreAsskickingOneLiner that he's become a "battle junkie"!

** This little gem from Gulen of Palemoon:
*** Sonic Wave (tier 2 Knight spell): "Special delivery!"

* ChildMage - Reinhart.

* HalfHumanHybrid - [[spoiler: logically, Wein's & Teiris' children would be half-Elves (seen only in Teiris' ending).]]

* LadyOfWar - Common, Teiris being the most prominent example, and [[spoiler: Junon]] being the most magnificent.

** Rudger of Highland is particularly notable:
*** Sonic Boom (basic Fighter spell): "No one does it like Rudger! Atomic wedgie, comin' up!"
*** Sonic Blast (his ultimate, tier 3 spell): [[{{Understatement}} "This might sting a little."]]

* ChildhoodFriendRomance - Wein and Teiris knew each other since they were children, and had a mutual crush since then. They end up together in any of the endings.

* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic - Wein. Billed front and centre as the hero? Check. Idealistic (if a little naive) paragon of heroism in-game? Check. A knight in shining armour? Check. Mikhal is an {{Wutai}} example.

* ActionGirl - Plenty. Yanna of Topaz even lampshades her resemblance to [[StreetFighter Chun Li]]: "Chun who? She's got nothing on me!" indeed...

* AmazonChaser - Leon, who, in his own words, is turned on by strong women. After being captured in Junon's campaign, [[spoiler: he breaks into her bedroom with his FiveManBand, intending to assassinate her after escaping from Tristan's dungeons, not knowing that SamusIsAGirl. Junon berates him like any proud noblewoman would, while Leon's flustered response is downright hilarious. Presumably, that sows the seeds of their romance.]]

* AmbiguouslyBrown - Ogredd.

* 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'', 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.]]]]

* SpellMyNameWithAnS - Some characters had their original names changed by WorkingDesigns. Of note:
** Lowe -> Rudger
** Sommalion -> Galam
** Kalhazard -> Kharhaz
** Mikazuki -> Mikhal
** Hourai -> Mistal
** Ra Deli -> Presto

* Determinator - In several campaigns, Goldark evades capture the first time, and returns about a month later with a *huge* army to attempt his conquest of Legendra anew. He marches unflinchingly toward your monarch, and ''none'' of your troops will dare to stand in his way.

* DespairEventHorizon - see TearJerker under the YMMV tab.
* DevourTheDragon - after you defeat Madruk the first time, he absorbs the essences/souls of his (already defeated) QuirkyMinibossSquad in order to go OneWingedAngel on you.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech - Famously, [[spoiler: Goldark to Wein. See HopelessBossFight above.]] Madruk also attempts one against your monarch, but they bounce back with a HeroicResolve [[ShutUpHannibal speech instead.]]

** Goldark vs Wein in Wein's campaign ([[spoiler: though it's actually a HopelessBossFight]])

* HonorBeforeReason - In at least Wein'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? 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.

** In Wein's campaign, [[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 is and challenging him 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 (but this doesn't result in a GameOver due to the event script - rather, Wein survives with [[HPToOne 1HP]]) and leaves him with a ReasonYouSuckSpeech about how he's too young and inexperienced to lead, before vanishing again.]]

** New players' first encounters with [[ThatOneBoss 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.]]

** Additionally, make sure you use the enemy leaders 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 {{Mooks}} that 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.

* 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.

* KnightInShiningArmor - Many examples, Wein and Galam being notable. Galam himself borders on TheFettered.

* EyepatchOfPower- Inverted by Viper: "Curse this infernal eyepatch!"

** In Mikhal's scenario, Kyoem flees with a BrainwashedAndCrazy Sayaka after his defeat, and Sayaka cannot be recruited.

** Also, Yuri to [[BloodKnight Zanon]]. [[spoiler: It doesn't end well for Yuri.]]