History VideoGame / Iconoclasts

** When you get to the moon base, the area still has lower gravity if you jump. While you're required to carry Royal for a bit, Robin's jump height is still higher than average, but still affected by Royal's weight.

** Robin's GroundPound normally goes straight down. However, it has a minor homing effect on enemies, meaning that you'll still land the hit if you attempt to GoombaStomp an enemy but your aim is slightly off.

* ArcWords: "This is bigger than you." Said to both the heroes and the villains, it's frequently used to talk down to someone or to try and convince them to back off. It never works. This ties into the game's theme of not conforming to what's expected of you.

* BraggingRightsReward: For the purposes of a single playthrough, the DoubleJump tweak granted after [[spoiler:defeating Mother's Corners]] is useless, since all that's left of the story by the time they're available to fight is [[spoiler:to confront the Starworm]]. It can still be carried over to a NewGamePlus, however. Same goes for [[spoiler:defeating Fitzroy]], since the tweak from his fight is a JokeItem meant to make things more challenging.

* TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes: The only doctor in the game [[spoiler:has an incurable disease]].

* BareYourMidriff: A popular fashion choice among the Isi, including Samba, the pink-haired girl who likes sitting on couches, and all of the men who don't [[WalkingShirtlessScene forgo a shirt entirely]] (except Gustavo and the scientists). Agent Black also does this under her coat, which [[TheCoatsAreOff she discards before your first fight against her]] and never puts back on for the rest of the game.

* AppliedPhlebotinum: Ivory is used to power all technology and the Concern's stranglehold on it is the basis for their control of all society besides the pirates/Isi, who get it from underwater Ivory pustules. It can function as a battery for a home, a component to be used in ItemCrafting, [[spoiler:a source of immortality and superpowers for those with the necessary constitution]], and ultimately [[spoiler:gasoline for some alien bird's space truck]].

* GreenAesop: An energy crisis is brewing in the background of the plot due to both the Tri and the Isi's overreliance on the non-renewable fuel, of which one can draw eerily similar parallels with real-world oil. Unlike oil drilling, mining for Ivory doesn't destroy the ecosystem... but instead ''[[UpToEleven can fracture a chunk of the world into space if done too much]]''.

* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: Elro refers to his formula as a binary compound. In reality the formula is a trinary compound; it requires both parts of the formula and Ivory Oil for the reaction to occur. The compound itself is inert until it meets with the Ivory Oil. Possibly [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by the fact that the Ivory doesn't appear to actually react with the chemicals- Elro states that it "ejects" the Ivory.

* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: Elro refers to his formula as a binary compound. In reality the formula is a trinary compound; it requires both parts of the formula and Ivory Oil for the reaction to occur. The compound itself is inert until it meets with the Ivory Oil.

** The Roller Bomb's charge shot is a powerful missile with the highest range of any attacks Robin can use. Unfortunately, in addition to the long charge and cooldown time it has, it can only fire straight forward and needs a split second to ready itself before it blasts off; if the missile hits anything in the short range it flies before igniting, the attack is wasted. You'll probably use the missile for puzzle-solving and an incidental enemy or two, since it's all but useless against bosses.

* NoOSHACompliance: Everything concerning the chemical sorting minigame you have to do to get the grenade launcher attachment. First off, despite being contained in what look like secure boxes, those will [[MadeOfExplodium combust spontaneously]] if chemicals are mixed. Furthermore, mixing any amount of triangle-labelled chemicals with circle-labelled chemicals causes a massive [[ChainReactionDestruction Chain Reaction Explosion]], so naturally, you'd have to be pretty careful with handling them, right? No, the One Concern soldier carrying the chemicals has no regard to what is being put where, and another one gets bored and instructs him to [[DifficultyByAcceleration move faster]], giving you less reaction time to put the carrier on the correct level. Finally, once you beat the helicopter boss while on the train, Royal jumps in and blasts the cargo with his powers... except, you can see the triangle and circle labels pasted to the car you're standing on top of, and the subsequent explosion from the mixed chemicals causes the entire train to topple and crash.

* KnightOfCerebus: Agent Black, who heralds the more serious parts of the story. [[spoiler:Especially once she rips off Elro's arm with her bare hands. That's where the story really takes a turn for the darker.]]

* IronicEcho: Multiple examples, but one even occurs in the credits: [[spoiler:the Ivory spores seen around the planet after Robin restored its original environment through injecting Isi seed into Star Worm's body are the same ones that fly around during the third phase of Agent Black's final fight.]]

* NotSoDifferent: When Agent Black sees the way that the Isi have treated the ark early in the game, she is appalled and calls them savages and rants about their mistreatment of it and how the One Concern must recover the vessel. When Mina sees that the One Concern have an ark of their own, she goes on a very similar rant.

* InfantImmortality: Averted on several occasions.
** First one is when [[spoiler:Robin's niece, Ella, is killed along with her mother through "Penance" when Robin is caught fixing Ivory tech at Elro's house.]]
** Then, it happens when [[spoiler:officials at The Tower respond to pupil Gerry briefly escaping and seeing the outside world by staging his suicide in a theatrical play to ensure compliance from the rest.]] Much later on, [[spoiler:most of the same pupils get killed by Mother's Corners, deluded into thinking this will bring Mother back and reset the world.]]

* MindRape: The Starworm is capable of doing this to people, as [[spoiler:Robin and Royal]] find out the hard way. It appears that the Concern is also working on reverse engineering a gun that can replicate the effects. Careful attention will show that their prototype ended up in the hands of a sea captain who uses it to recruit and control his crew... and briefly in Mina's hands, when she ''fired'' at Robin but Robin dodge it.

* MindRape: The Starworm is capable of doing this to people, as [[spoiler:Robin and Royal]] find out the hard way. It appears that the Concern is also working on reverse engineering a gun that can replicate the effects. Careful attention will show that their prototype ended up in the hands of a sea captain who uses it to recruit and control his crew... and briefly in Mina's hands, when she ''fired'' at Robin. (It was an ineffective misfire. Probably.)

* BoringButPractical: The Iron Heart tweak. All it does is absorbing a single hit before breaking, but the fact that it's possible to stack three of them at a time and landing shots on an enemy helps regenerate a broken tweak means that they're incredibly useful to have equipped for most boss battles. [[spoiler:Plus, it's the only way to avoid being a OneHitPointWonder in Challenge Mode]].

* ButtMonkey: The Silver Watchman really can't catch a break. He gets his ass kicked by you three times, his fourth attempt to kill you [[spoiler:accidentally saves your life instead]], then he [[spoiler:gets possessed by the blue eyes (and gets his ass kicked by you again in his possessed state)]], and finally [[spoiler:he is taken out by ''Royal'' of all people, who drops a boulder on top of him, trapping him underwater where his teleportation powers don't work, drowning him]].

** Take time to grieve over the deaths of your loved ones and those close to you. If you don't, you may act irrationally and lash out in ways you'll later regret. [[spoiler:This bites both Elro and Agent Black ''hard.'' Elro makes a huge mistake that essentially kickstarts the conflict of the game because he didn't think rationally when Agent Grey was simply asking him to calm down and Agent Black slowly goes off the deep end demonizing Elro and Robin for what Elro did instead of taking Chrome's advice and taking time to come to terms with the death of Grey.]]
** Don't let what's expected of you or indoctrinated into you cause you to ignore what's right, but at the same time, don't let your ego prevent you from seeing right and wrong clearly in the first place. Each of the supporting characters are weighed down by what is expected of them (or what they expect of others) and what that costs them personally, while wrestling with their own selfish impulses that only make things worse: Robin, on the flipside, is characterized by her staunch devotion to whatever she can do to help regardless of what anyone thinks, and her sense of self-sacrifice.

** Normally, Robin's GroundPound goes straight down. However, it has a minor homing effect on enemies, meaning that you'll still land the hit if you attempt to GoombaStomp an enemy but your aim is slightly off.

** The first boss fight with Agent Black features [[AlwaysAccurateAttack an attack that Robin cannot dodge, no matter what]]. As compensation, weak enemies will always spawn right after Black uses this move, and these enemies will always drop health pick-ups.

* RelationshipReveal: Though it's heavily implied throughout the game, [[spoiler:the ending credits show Mina and Samba reuniting for the first time since rescuing her from the Tower. The two ladies start promptly and passionately making out, confirming that the two of them are girlfriends]].

* SmallGirlBigGun: Robin wields a massive wrench, although her actual ''gun'' is appropriately sized, as is Mina's shotgun. [[spoiler:Agent Black, however, shows up for her rematch wielding a rocket launcher with a length that's nearly double her height.]]

* TheStoic: Agent Black, whose main emotions seem to be apathy and annoyance.

** Normally, Robin's GroundPound goes straight down. However, it has a light homing effect on enemies, meaning that you'll still land the hit if you attempt to GoombaStomp an enemy but your aim is slightly off.

* ArcWords: "This is bigger than you."
* ArtificialLimbs: At first, they appear as simply a necessary attribute of an agent. Agent White has cybernetic eyes that allow him to shoot EyeBeams, and Agent Black is revealed to have cybernetic arms. Eventually, Royal reveals that [[spoiler:any individual who survives Transcendence but doesn't perfectly merge with the Ivory like Mother and Royal did will end up with a certain body part consumed by the Ivory. Said body part is then replaced by an implant that gives said individual their powers, while itself functioning only due to the Ivory in the rest of the person's body. As such, General Chrome has cybernetic legs and Agent Grey had cybernetic neck or ''ears''. Ash, who complained about gut pains, might have lost an internal organ to gain invisibility.]]

--->'''Mina:''' Come down here, coward Mother! Have a fistful of MY earth!

** However, s scene when Agent Black subverts this when [[spoiler:she rips off Elro’s arm, as it has a couple of blood splatters. Elro spends the rest of the game walking around with a bandaged but still oozing stump where his arm used to be, his med-tape and shirt thoroughly saturated with his own blood]].

* BoringButPractical: The Iron Heart tweak — all it does is absorbing a single hit before breaking, but the fact that it's possible to stack three of them at a time and landing shots on an enemy helps regenerate a broken tweak means that they're incredibly useful to have equipped for most boss battles. [[spoiler:Plus, it's the only way to avoid being a OneHitPointWonder in Challenge Mode]].

** Early in the timeline: [[spoiler:Agent Black mentions her repeated suicide attempts untold numbers of years ago, until she finally accepted it was easy for her to be brought back]] .

** The first boss fight with Agent Black features [[AlwaysAccurateAttack an attack that Robin cannot dodge, nomatter what]]. As compensation, weak enemies will always spawn right after Black uses this attack, and these enemies will always drop health pick-ups.

** Normally, Robin's GroundPound goes straight down. However, it has a mild homing effect on enemies, meaning that you'll still land the hit if your aim is slightly off.

* PlayerNudge: The boss battle against [[spoiler:[[AdvancingBossOfDoom the Omega Controller]]]] starts with a nearby One Concern soldier throwing grenades at it to knock it back, hinting that the player to do the same.

* EnemyCivilWar: When [[spoiler:Chrome finds out about Mother's plan to flee to the Moon with a select few chosen ones and leave the rest of humanity behind, he stages a revolt to overthrow Mother]].

** Elro is a KnightTemplarBigBrother of the first order, and his actions [[TheMillstone cause more problems than they solve]]. [[spoiler:In particular, he started the whole affair by killing Agent Grey in a MomentOfWeakness, which fueled Agent Black's hatred for him and his family, including Robin. Later in the game, Elro attempts to confront Black one-on-one, and [[AnArmAndALeg gets his arm ripped off for his troubles. Then, when he has to press a button to launch a rocket into space with Robin on it, Elro outright refuses to do it, even though Robin needs to go to the moonbase to save the world. Mina even shoots Elro in the leg to prevent him from leaving. Later on, it's heavily implied that Teegan had to push the button to launch the rocket instead of Elro because of how stubborn he was.]]

* PlayerNudge: The boss battle against [[spoiler:[[AdvancingBossOfDoom the Omega Controller]]]] starts with a nearby One Concern soldier throwing grenades at it to knock it back, cluing in the player to do the same.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Mother blames Royal for [[spoiler:hastening the end of the world by destroying an Omega Controller, whose demise sent out a signal to the Starworm to come down, and made the earthquakes afflicting the planet from Ivory loss completely uncontrollable]]. However, Mother (and the other One Concern officials) are also partially at fault because none of them bothered telling Royal anything that was going on, namely [[spoiler:that Ivory mining has left the planet on the brink of destruction, destroying the Omega Controller would just make things worse, and the One Concern has been working on a rocket to help at least part of humanity escape before it's too late]].
** Not to mention that apparently, no One Concern official dared to tell her [[spoiler:'''how''' Agent White died]], and so her reaction at [[spoiler:Mina jamming seeds into her is bewilderment]], rather than horror [[spoiler:and desire to stop the fight]]. Robin is obviously not allowed to mention this as well.
*** This is doubtful. Agent Black most certainly told her. It's just as likely that Mother is so haughty and arrogant, [[spoiler:she simply didn't ''believe'' that a small number of seeds would kill her]]. Her behavior underlines that: [[spoiler:She doesn't appear frightened until it's far too late, and even then shows defiance.]]
** Equally, when Royal first suggests his plan to [[spoiler:see Mother to heal Elro,]] neither Robin nor Elro himself bother to tell him that [[spoiler:Elro murdered an agent unprovoked]], and so is highly unlikely to receive help at the best of times. Of course, Royal also neglects to mention that he's [[spoiler:merely talking about spiritual healing rather than physical healing]]; had the rest of the party known from the start, they likely wouldn't have bothered trying to [[spoiler:confront Mother]] in the first place.
** Then, Robin was already told by Teegan [[spoiler:how Elro's serum works]] when she faces [[spoiler:Chrome at the Bastion]]. Yet, she again cannot mention the part about [[spoiler:binary compounds]], which might have dissuaded [[spoiler:Chrome from exposing himself to the syringe]].
*** In fairness, that scene is ambiguous. It was mostly done in a flashback, and there's nothing in the dialogue to indicate that Teegan re-told Robin what happened. Furthermore, [[spoiler:Chrome was going to ''kill'']] Robin as part of [[spoiler:his plan to spare the planet from the Starworm]]. If Robin knew, it was unlikely she was going to say anything about it.
** Nobody bothered to fill General Chrome in on the details of [[spoiler:the "flee the planet" plan]]. His anger at learning about the plan and [[spoiler:finding out that he and his men were going to be left behind]] is part of what inspires him [[spoiler:to kick off the EnemyCivilWar.]]

** While you are trying to get the elevator working, [[spoiler:Black]] can not be stopped. Defeating the boss is not an option; you must fix the elevator and get out of there.

* MyBelovedSmother: Mina's mother is basically a stereotypical JewishMother in a setting where Jews don't exist, constantly guilt-tripping her daughter with the usual "You never visit! You're leaving me again! You don't love me!", as well as suggesting Mina get together with that [[NiceJewishBoy Nice Isi Boy]] who keeps asking about her. Since she is in a wheelchair, this could also cross over into DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery.

* PlayingWithFire: Mendeleev's powerset.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Mother blames Royal for [[spoiler:hastening the end of the world by destroying an Omega Controller, whose demise sent out a signal to the Starworm to come down, and made the earthquakes afflicting the planet from Ivory loss completely uncontrollable.]] However, Mother (and the other One Concern officials) are also partially at fault because none of them bothered telling Royal anything that was going on, namely [[spoiler:that Ivory mining has left the planet on the brink of destruction, destroying the Omega Controller would just make things worse, and the One Concern has been working on a rocket to help at least part of humanity escape before it's too late]].

* PurpleIsPowerful: Purple seems to be the signature colour of the One Concern, TheTheocracy that rules the planet.

** The fight with [[spoiler:Ash]] is a stealth-based boss. [[spoiler:Ash]] is invisible, and if he sees Robin or Mina out of hiding, he’ll rush to them (regardless of who the player is controlling) and slam them into the ground for unavoidable damage. To hurt [[spoiler:Ash]], the duo has to stay in hiding spots (there are bushes and puddles to hide in, but Mina can only hide in puddles) until he starts wandering around; his location is signaled by sound waves and rustling grass, and he’s vulnerable to attack at this time.

** [[spoiler:Agent White: killed by an Isi seed growing into an Ivory tree that tears itself out of his back.]]
** [[spoiler:Mother shares Agent White's fate, though her entire body explodes into the tree.]]
** [[spoiler:Agent Grey and General Chrome get boiled alive and explode into Detritus dust thanks to Elro's anti-Ivory serum.]]
** [[spoiler:Agent Black bites it by being transformed into a monster made up of Ivory trees and the "blue eye" substance seen around the rocket platform, and then soon suffering from an acute case of [[YourHeadASplode spontaneous cranial combustion]]]].
** [[spoiler:Finally, the pilot of the Starworm gets his head crushed by his malfunctioning ship.]]

** After being taken into [[NoGearLevel The Tower]], it's possible to use a [[GoodBadBugs long dive]] to enter the Strange Contraption entrance without your wrench. In order to keep players from getting stuck, this Strange Contraption entrance is one of the only ones that doesn't require you to use your wrench to leave.
** When you get to the moon base, despite there being no platforming in this section, the area still has lower gravity if you jump.

** Even earlier in the timeline: [[spoiler:Agent Black mentions her repeated suicide attempts untold numbers of years ago, until she finally accepted it was easy for her to be brought back]] .

* EasierThanEasy: The Relaxed difficulty mode, in which the player character [[NighInvulnerability doesn't take actual damage when hit]], and only has their Tweaks broken. There's only two instances where the player can die in this mode: [[spoiler:getting crushed to death during the Omega Controller fight, and [[TimedMission running out of time]] when escaping Midway]].

* ActionGirl: Robin and Mina, as well as Black being a DarkActionGirl.

* AGodAmI: Being the physical representative of the Starworm, Mother is prone to this. Royal also shows signs of this, since [[spoiler:he's supposed to be Mother's successor]].

** Robin's GroundPound has a mild homing effect on enemies, making it easier to land hits even if your aim is slightly off.
** During boss fights, incidental dialogue said by the NPC heroes will give hints as to what you need to do. For instance, in the ClimaxBoss fight in City One, Mina will shout "get down here!" at the boss, hinting that you need to use the Usurper's charge shot to bring them to the ground.
** In Challenge Mode, Lawrence's health is reduced from twelve hits to six hits. Very convenient for a fight [[OneHitPointWonder where one mistake means repeating it]] and you're playing as Elro, which is [[MightyGlacier extremely slow but quite strong]].
* {{Antepiece}}: When Robin arrives at City One, she's stopped by a gatekeeper, and the only way to get past him is to use the Usurper's charge shot, which pulls him off the high platform and onto the ground. [[spoiler:This weakness is shared with Mother, the boss fought a few minutes after this scene.]]

* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: Elro refers to his formula as a binary compound. In reality the formula is a 'trinary' compound as it requires both parts of the formula and Ivory Oil for the reaction to occur. The compound itself is inert until it meets with the Ivory Oil.

** Many of the tweaks end up being this, mainly because a tweak "breaks" when Robin takes damage from anything, so [[UnstableEquilibrium players who take a lot of damage aren't able to reap their benefits]]. Outside of that, Robin only has three tweak slots for the entire game, so powerful combat Tweaks (such as faster charged shot renewal, a wall-piercing Usurper Shot, and massive Roller Bomb explosions) are going to be set aside for the ones that let you move faster, solve puzzles in less time, and prevent health bar damage.
** The Roller Bomb's charge shot is a powerful, fast missile with the highest range of any attacks Robin can use. Unfortunately, in addition to the long charge and cooldown time it has, it can only fire straight forward and needs a split second to ready itself before it blasts off; if the missile hits anything in the short range it flies before igniting, the attack is wasted.
* BadassBoast: Several human antagonists get to say them:
-->'''Agent Black:''' When you know no-one has got your back, you learn to prepare to fight in any situation. Let us grieve existence, together.\\

* BaitAndSwitch: Ash mentions that his daughter volunteered for Transcendence in order to become like him. The player will most likely assume he is referring to [[spoiler:Black, the only female agent encountered up to this point]], but the credits imply that he was actually referring to [[spoiler:Nobel]]. This was {{foreshadow|ing}}ed by [[spoiler:Nobel's superpower being invisibility, like Ash]].

* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: We finally find out what the One Concern "prototype" does when [[spoiler:Starworm uses the real thing on Robin, and she has to face off against the shadow creatures who represent the people she failed, while the backgrounds portray said failure. The first creature carries Elro's broken sword, and has his ruined house standing in a sunflower field (sunflower being Elro's nickname for Robin), with the statues of his wife and daughter in the background. Mina's shadow has the graves of her Isi ancestors filling the background, Robin presumably thinking they would've lived if she could have stopped the One Concern sooner. The triangle-headed apparition representing Royal has the broken moon where he died. Agent Black has a literal black void, both it and her figure being a skeleton referring to her death at Robin's hands. The first three cannot be damaged conventionally and must be bypassed by turning on switches, which represents Robin's unwillingness to hurt others and desire to “fix” things. All but Black that is. "She" must either be shot again, or allowed to crawl past and explode on her own.]]

* BigShutUp: Black delivers a "SHUT... UP!" in large, vibrating text towards a calm-as-always Chrome in One Concern West, shortly before [[RageBreakingPoint beating the shit out of him]].

** [[spoiler:Agents in general are stuck with this, as the very act of Transcending has caused them to lose limbs or organs which require prosthetic replacement. Chronic pain also seems to be a common symptom as well, since Ash also mentions suffering heavy pains in his gut.]]
* BloodlessCarnage: None of the dead bodies seen in the game, whether it's [[spoiler:One Concern soldiers killed in their civil war]] or [[spoiler:the Tower's pupils killed by Mother's Corners]] ever display blood. The only exceptions are the AlienBlood of [[spoiler:the Transcended individuals, which is white like Ivory, and the green blood of the final boss, an actual alien.]]
** [[spoiler:However, the scene when Agent Black rips off Elro’s arm subverts this, as it has a couple of blood splatters, first when she shoots him and then when she rips off his arm. Double Subverted, as there are no bloodstains to show for it, however. That said, Elro spends the rest of the game walking around with a bandaged but still oozing stump, his med-tape and shirt thoroughly saturated with his own blood.]]

** [[spoiler:Agent Black takes the cake when the blue eyes try to possess her while Isi Seeds sprout from her body. The end result is a giant monstrosity with Ivory trees sprouting all over its body and clusters of eyes hidden inside said trees.]]