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The leader ofthe Scorpion army is a chick,
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* BlondGuysAreEvil: The Scorpion Amy and their [[BlondesAreEvil blonde]] generalissimo.
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* ManualLeaderAIParty: With the exception of spell casting, you can only control one character at a time (although it allows co-op play where up to three players control a character), but the offensive action of the ones you are not using can be changed with a system called the "action grid", which allows the player to switch between offensive/defensive behavior on one axis and the range at which they engage the enemy on the other.
** Other entries in [[WorldOfMana the series]] uses this trope to different extents (with better or worse AI).
** Other entries in [[WorldOfMana the series]] uses this trope to different extents (with better or worse AI).
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Removing wick to Did Not Do The Research per rename at TRS.
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* DidNotDoTheResearch: The nation of Tasnica is also called "the Republic", yet it has a king (you even meet him). The sole trait that ''all'' republics have in common is the lack of royalty.
** This is a translation hiccup. (Don't blame Woolsey, he had all of a month to work on this thing.) The kanji for 'republic' (共和国, kyouwakoku) can also be translated 'commonwealth'. That said, Tasnica is probably supposed to work like the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (rzeczpospolita) did, with an elected king. Funnily enough, the Polish term's sometimes translated as "republic" on account of having the same root terminology.
** This is a translation hiccup. (Don't blame Woolsey, he had all of a month to work on this thing.) The kanji for 'republic' (共和国, kyouwakoku) can also be translated 'commonwealth'. That said, Tasnica is probably supposed to work like the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (rzeczpospolita) did, with an elected king. Funnily enough, the Polish term's sometimes translated as "republic" on account of having the same root terminology.
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** "Phantom and Rose" (AKA "Rose and Ghost") only plays in one town... when it has problems. Fix the problems, and you can't hear it again within the game itself without making a new file.
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** "Phantom and a Rose" (AKA "Rose and Ghost") only plays in one town... when it has problems. Fix the problems, and you can't hear it again within the game itself without making a new file.
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* PaletteSwap: A pretty heavy offender; with the exception of the last two bosses, ''every'' enemy and boss has a palette-swapped version.
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* PaletteSwap: A pretty heavy offender; with the exception of Aegropilion, Hexas and the last two bosses, ''every'' enemy and boss has a palette-swapped version.
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* PaletteSwap: A pretty heavy offender; with the exception of the last two bosses, ''every'' enemy and boss has a palette-swapped version.
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* LighterAndSofter: When compared with ''FinalFantasyAdventure'', yes, but there's ''no'' shortage of dark moments...
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It\'s been more than 24 hours, and I was given the go-ahead in the Discussion page, soo.
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Despite the rocky story of its creation, ''SecretOfMana'' is still to this day universally acclaimed as one of the Super Nintendo's crowning gems, and one of the best [=RPGs=] ever made for any console.
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Nope. I\'d like to hear your justification for your deletion of this part. Please start a topic on the discussion page.
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Despite the rocky story of its creation, ''SecretOfMana'' is still to this day universally acclaimed as one of the Super Nintendo's crowning gems, and one of the best [=RPGs=] ever made for any console.
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Despite the rocky story of its creation, ''SecretOfMana'' is still to this day universally acclaimed as one of the Super Nintendo's crowning gems, and one of the best [=RPGs=] ever made for any console.
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* "Phantom and Rose" (AKA "Rose and Ghost") only plays in one town... when it has problems. Fix the problems, and you can't hear it again within the game itself without making a new file.
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A Conclusion is not the same song as Morning Is Here
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** "A Conclusion" (aka Morning is Here) is another strong example. Heard after the Lich is defeated when the Mana Fortress begins to shake. Usually only heard for about 15 seconds (even though it's 50 seconds long before looping) for a few screens of dialogue before the characters run out, where it switches to "One of Them is Hope".
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** "A Conclusion" (aka Morning is Here) is another strong example. Heard after the Lich is defeated when the Mana Fortress begins to shake. Usually only heard for about 15 seconds (even though it's 50 seconds long before looping) for a few screens of dialogue before the characters run out, where it switches to "One of Them is Is Hope".
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* "Phantom and Rose" (AKA "Rose and Ghost") only plays in one town... when it has problems. Fix the problems, and you can't hear it again within the game itself without making a new file.
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** Attack spells don't climb linearly with MP cost. Hence it's best to stick with the cheapest attack spell you can cast.
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** Attack spells don't spell damage doesn't climb linearly with MP cost. Hence it's best to stick with the cheapest attack spell you can cast.
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** Attack spells don't climb linearly with MP cost. Hence it's best to stick with the cheapest attack spell you can cast.
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That red helmet is no mere myth.
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**The red helmet isn't merely a rumor. It ''does'' indeed exist within the game's code (it's called the Ruby Armet, and is mentioned in Nintendo Power's guide, even), but it's DummiedOut.
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*** [[KungPowEnterTheFist "But isn't Thanny a girl's name?"]]
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* UrbanLegendOfZelda: A few rumors about this game started early on after many people started playing, to name a few - The supposed 8th Magic supposedly called Solar/Energy, Level 9 spells, a hidden helmet with red coloring, and a fourth hidden character.
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* UrbanLegendOfZelda: A few rumors about this game started early on after many people started playing, to name a few - The supposed 8th 9th Magic supposedly called Solar/Energy, Solar/Life/Mana, Level 9 spells, a hidden helmet with red coloring, and a fourth hidden character.
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* UrbanLegendOfZelda: A few rumors about this game started early on after many people started playing, to name a few - The supposed 8th Magic supposedly called Solar/Energy, Level 9 spells, a hidden helmet with red coloring, and a fourth hidden character.
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* StandardStatusEffects: They're all here: Burning, Sleep, Poison, and all their familiar friends. However, in keeping with the game's "[[SugarBowl cute]]" graphics, they are done with an impish twist: when frozen, characters turn into snowmen, petrifaction renders you a cherubic statue, in lieu of paralyzation you get "balloned", etc.
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** OneTimeDungeon: After blowing up the Emperor's Castle, he strangely stops sending invitations.
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** OneTimeDungeon: After blowing up the Emperor's Castle, he strangely stops sending invitations.
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* HellIsThatNoise: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=687sEfSkx9Y "Ceremony"]] is very, very creepy.
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* AwesomeButImpractical: High-level weapon attacks don't see much use. In the time it takes to charge up a level 7 or 8 strike you'll either have been beaten down by a room full of enemies, or you could have killed everything twice over with normal attacks and magic
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* AwesomeButImpractical: High-level weapon attacks don't see much use. In the time it takes to charge up a level 7 or 8 strike you'll either have been beaten down by a room full of enemies, or you could have killed everything twice over with normal attacks and magicmagic.
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* HellIsThatNoise: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=687sEfSkx9Y "Ceremony"]] is very, very creepy.
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* OminousMusicBoxTune: The theme from the South Ruins is just dissonant enough to be [[NightmareFuel very, very creepy]].
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* OminousMusicBoxTune: The theme from the South Ruins is just dissonant enough to be [[NightmareFuel very, very creepy]].
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** Sure ain't wussy though. Purim is not the WhiteMagiciangGirl by any means, and Lucent Beam when leveled up makes [[spoiler:Dark Lich]] a piece of fricking cake.
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** Sure ain't wussy though. Purim is not the WhiteMagiciangGirl stereotypical "weak healer" by any means, and Lucent Beam when leveled up makes [[spoiler:Dark Lich]] a piece of fricking cake.
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** Sure ain't wussy though. Purim is not the StaffChick by any means, and Lucent Beam when leveled up makes [[spoiler:Dark Lich]] a piece of fricking cake.
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** Sure ain't wussy though. Purim is not the StaffChick WhiteMagiciangGirl by any means, and Lucent Beam when leveled up makes [[spoiler:Dark Lich]] a piece of fricking cake.
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* HighCollarOfDoom: The "Boss."
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* HighCollarOfDoom: The "Boss.""Boss" of the Scorpion Army.
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** ThrivingGhostTown: Potos has only three houses!
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[[quoteright:330:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/som_logo_721.png]]
''SecretOfMana'' is the second game taking place in the WorldOfMana. It follows the story of a young hero who unintentionally pulls the Sword of Mana [[OnlyTheChosenMayWield out of a rock]] to cut a path back to town. Unleashing the Sword also opened its seal on evil, and monsters began to enter the world again. Exiled from his hometown for his [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHeinous crime against humanity]], and with the help of a Girl and a [[AmbiguousGender Sprite]], he sets out to stop TheEmpire that wants to seal away the power of mana and take over the world.
''Secret of Mana'' was promoted by Nintendo at the time of its release, featuring revolutionary gameplay features such as ''three'' players being able to control the game at once (taking the roles of the Boy, the Girl and the Sprite at the same time). If only one player is available, the game's AI will control the other characters.
''Secret of Mana'' was intended to launch on the SNES' [[UsefulNotes/{{SNESCDROM}} CD add-on]], but when that fell through, {{Square|Enix}}soft was left with a contractual obligation to make the game, but on the much smaller space of a cartridge instead of the CD-ROM they'd expected. They spent several months stripping the game down: removing large sections of the game-world, shortening the script, adjusting the game's plot, re-writing or removing a great deal of dialogue, and using compressed instruments and recomposing the music in an SPC format for the SNES. While this did have the side-effect of pushing the limit of the SNES's capabilities to the limit (making it much more [[SceneryPorn aesthetically stunning]] than almost any other 16-bit game of the time), it also soured the relationship between the two companies, to the point that Square didn't work with Nintendo again for the greater part of a decade once the PlayStation came out.
Despite the rocky story of its creation, ''SecretOfMana'' is still to this day universally acclaimed as one of the Super Nintendo's crowning gems, and one of the best [=RPGs=] ever made for any console.
SecretOfManaTheater is a well-known adaptation/affectionate parody of this game.
Now on the [[IOSGames iOS]].
----
!!Tropes:
* ActionBomb: Any enemy who can use the Burst spell, and Popoie. Lesser enemies will use this as a SuicideAttack, while stronger enemies and Popoie can blow themselves up repeatedly without any repercussions (aside from MP usage).
* ActionGirl: Purim, in spades. Her default weapons are the [[BareFistedMonk knuckles]], and she shows up trying to rescue her boyfriend from a decidedly unfriendly witch. And her boyfriend is a ''soldier''.
* ActuallyIAmHim: Sage Joch. (Sage [[FetchQuest Jerk]], more like).
* AdvancingWallOfDoom: The Wall Face boss will attempt to smush you against the (inanimate) back wall if you don't kill it quickly enough.
** It's a last ditch effort if it runs out of MP, which it will quickly, futilely attempt to revive its eyes if you "kill" them.
** Demon Wall, the upgraded version, just barrages your characters with special attacks if it runs out MP. Which again, it will burn through quickly.
* AllThereInTheManual: It has the canon names for the main characters. The boy is Randi, the girl is Purim, and the sprite is Popoie.
* AmbiguousGender: Popoie; so the player isn't forced into TwoGuysAndAGirl or TwoGirlsAndAGuy.
* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: ''NintendoPower'' had exhaustive coverage of ''[=SoM=]'', including (as was its custom in the early nineties) [[http://www.giantbomb.com/secret-of-mana/61-19507/artwork-nintendo-power-issue-64/52-102977/12/51-268472/ original artwork]] depicting scenes from the game. These illustrations are decidedly more western in nature; in particular, the Mana Beast looks like something out of GaryGygax's nightmares.
* AndManGrewProud: The ancient civilization that gave rise to the Mana Fortress.
* AntidoteEffect: The strict inventory caps (only four of each type of item) lead to a dependence on healing magic.
* ApocalypticLog: The Empire was already up to mischief in the Old World, if the orbs in Mandala are anything to go by.
* AwesomeButImpractical: High-level weapon attacks don't see much use. In the time it takes to charge up a level 7 or 8 strike you'll either have been beaten down by a room full of enemies, or you could have killed everything twice over with normal attacks and magic
* BadassCape: A popular look in this game's world. Jema is the only heroic character who wears one.
* BadassNormal: Randi. When Purim and Popoie first receive their magic powers, he's a bit dismayed, but Undine tells him that eventually the Mana Sword will become stronger than any magic (and he's [[TheChosenOne the one meant to wield it]]).
* BadassSanta: [[spoiler: Frost Gigas]], literally.
* BittersweetEnding: The Mana Fortress is destroyed, as is the BigBad... but [[spoiler: so is the Mana Beast, the Mana Tree is still gone, Dyluck died as well and Randi and Purim will never see Popoie again.]]
* BlackMagic: Exclusive to the sprite kid.
** Fire Bouquet, Flame Wall, and Lucent Beam are the exceptions, available to the Girl. Seems it's hard to come up with nonlethal uses for fire magic.
* BlatantLies: Thanatos' reason for reviving the [[LostSuperweapon Mana Fortress]] is, in the NA version of the game at least, to create a "peaceful world."
** Emperor Vandole, when he invites LaResistance over to his castle for a "truce".
* BlobMonster: Lime/Dread Slime.
* BlondGuysAreEvil: The Scorpion Amy and their [[BlondesAreEvil blonde]] generalissimo.
* BookEnds: Randi returning the sword to its place under the waterfall.
* BossArenaIdiocy: If the [[spoiler: Mana Beast]] doesn´t take part of the battle against it just standing before you, allowing you to kick the monster´s ass instead of diving into your party over and over, the battle would be unwinnable.
** GoodBadBug below.
* BrokenBridge: After the Sunken Continent has resurfaced, Jema will tell you what's going on: the Emperor and his cronies are holed up inside the Grand Palace, which is on top of the Ancient City. You need to find a way through the palace to reach them, but if you go inside, you'll see that the main entrance has no paths. So, you'll have to find a way AROUND the Grand Palace as well. Depressing. (Once the continent sinks again, the side entrance is lowered within reach.)
* CallReceptionArea: Yanking the Mana Sword from the stone causes monsters to appear everywhere. Whoops.
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard / ThatOneAttack: Like all ''Mana'' games, you are not allowed to dodge if a boss feels like casting a spell on you. While this is fair once you can cast spells back, it makes early fights... a tad unfair.
* ChainmailBikini: "Tiger Bikini" is a purchasable armor for the girl.
* CityOfGold: Gold City.
* ConMan: The Sprite, when you first meet him/her.
* CoolOldGuy: Jema.
* CoOpMultiplayer: It was the first RPG to feature a co-operative multiplayer gameplay mechanic where a second or third player could drop-in and drop-out at any time.
* DegradedBoss: The [[InstantAwesomeJustAddNinja Dark Stalker]], the boss masquerading as a FakeKing. In the [[ForcedLevelGrinding next area]]!
* DealWithTheDevil: How [[spoiler: Thanatos and his followers]] got their powers.
** [[spoiler:The emperor's in on this too]] in the Japanese game; poor Ted Woolsey ran out of text space, though, so we Stateside never got that plot point.
* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: There are two occasions where you can't get a game over. The first is up until you beat the first boss. Mostly because they were probably kind enough to not make players sit through the couple of minutes it takes to get from "Enter name" to "Controlling character". The second is, if you really wanted to, you could get a game over during the rematch with the Biting Lizards in the Ice Palace. Except, its host just kicks you out after reviving Randi.
* DidNotDoTheResearch: The nation of Tasnica is also called "the Republic", yet it has a king (you even meet him). The sole trait that ''all'' republics have in common is the lack of royalty.
** This is a translation hiccup. (Don't blame Woolsey, he had all of a month to work on this thing.) The kanji for 'republic' (共和国, kyouwakoku) can also be translated 'commonwealth'. That said, Tasnica is probably supposed to work like the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (rzeczpospolita) did, with an elected king. Funnily enough, the Polish term's sometimes translated as "republic" on account of having the same root terminology.
* DistressedDude: Dyluck.
* DominoMask: The Scorpion Army.
* TheEmperor: Emperor Vandole.
* EnemyScan: The Analyze(r) spell.
* EvilEmpire: Seems to be played straight at first, but is kindasorta subverted in that [[spoiler:Thanatos is one wirepulling jerkass bastard, and Emperor Vandole probably wouldn't have become such a douche if he hadn't had that influence going on.]]
* EvilIsNotWellLit: Elinee and the Emperor have a fondness for mood lighting.
* EvilSorcerer / TheStarscream: Thanatos. And HOW.
* ExcaliburInTheRust: The rusty sword you take from the pedestal at the beginning of the game is revealed (quite early on) to be the legendary Mana Sword.
** And thus Excalibur by extension according to the opening scroll! Nifty.
* FakeKing: Sheex's scheme to overthrow Tasnica.
* FanTranslation: The "Enhanced" version of Secret of Mana uses a much more efficient system of text placement, allowing for a lot of text that was LostInTranslation to be added back in. Among other things, the Cannon Travel Service menu now displays the names of the destinations rather than 1, 2, and 3. You can get it [[http://fantasyanime.com/mana/somdownloads.htm here.]]
** Seeing as the JP script was an elusive beast at the time, most of [=FuSoYa's=] additions are just made-up expansions on the existing script. Be that as it may, it's still damn good, and since the JP script is online, a real translation is possible.
* TheFerryMan: You meet a cute creature named Karon (a mistranslation of "Charon") in the desert, who will ferry you through the Sea of Stars to the Moon Palace... without cost, of course.
* FieryRedhead: Popoie.
* FourIsDeath: The emperor's quartet of hench...uh, people (Fanha, Geshtar, Sheex, Thanatos). They're referred to with the traditional 'shitennou' in the Japanese game.
* GameOver: "Sadly, no trace of them (or "Randi" earlier in the game) was ever found..."
* GhibliHills: The Kingdom of Pandora.
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Boreal Face.
** He's actually the only one in the game, though the origin of Frost Gigas is something of a brain wreck.[[hottip:*:Santa?!?]]
* GivingTheSwordToANoob: Jema {{hand wave}}s this by declaring that the sword "chose" the boy, making him ''the'' Mana Knight by default. None of the neighboring kingdoms seem to make a fuss over it.
* GoldfishPoopGang / OddlySmallOrganization: The Scorpion Army. There's [[TerribleTrio three of them]].
* GoodCostumeSwitch: Once she's defeated, Elinee reverts from a hooded psychopath to a kindly old granny with her hair in a bun.
* GottaCatchThemAll: To fix the Mana Sword, one must visit all eight Temples and receive blessings from the Spirits. Simultaneously, Randi is required to seal all eight Mana Seeds to prevent the Empire from raising the Fortress. All of this is moot; the Empire manages to unseal all of the Seeds while you're away, and the final Spirit (Dryad) is too feeble to bless the sword, anyway.
* GrandTheftMe: Thanatos attempts to do one on Dyluck.
** And manages! For like a second and a half. It's so hard to be a ... whatever-the-hell he is.
*** How does "Undead-Affront-To-All-That-Is-Good-and-Holy" grab ya?
*** Funny you should mention grabbing [[spoiler:aaauuugggh creepy lich floorhands make him stop it.]]
* GreenAesop: The abuse of Mana to power the potentially world-destroying Mana Fortress is a nod to our world's abuse of our planet's natural resources.
** One of the orbs in Mandala has a dialogue expanding on this. "We must restrict the use of Mana energy...we're using it up!" "Hah! You can't USE UP Mana!" "Argh, you don't understand!"
* GunshipRescue: The big reveal of Adult Flammie.
* HarderThanHard: There is a fan made hack of the game that ramps the difficulty UpToEleven. To put it in perspective, boss fights consist of CurbStompBattle on the receiving end even with reasonably overleveled characters in the normal game.
* HighCollarOfDoom: The "Boss."
* {{Hover B|oard}}ike: Geshtar rides one, complete with {{bayonet|Ya}}.
* HufflepuffHouse: Tasnica is the only nation standing between the Empire and global domination. Some Tasnican troops make landfall with Jema once the Lost Continent rises.
* HairOfGold: Purim and Dyluck.
* ImmortalityImmorality: Thanatos needs a very special individual to body-jump into. He's even willing to be a blue-haired teenage girl if that's what it takes. (Unfortunately for Dyluck, only he makes the cut.)
* ImpossiblyCoolWealth: King [[MeaningfulName Mammon]] abused Lumina's power to turn his entire island to gold.
** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in the Enhanced FanTranslation, where an NPC laments that their island's economy is now ruined by [[RealityEnsues massive inflation]].
* InevitableWaterfall: Whoops! Sorry, Randi.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: RandomlyDrops from the enemies in TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. Ironically, the Gigas Axe is actually better in every way than its final form, the Doom Axe.
* InterfaceScrew: One of the effects of the Silence/Confusion spell is to reverse the controls.
* IntrepidMerchant: Neko/Nikita and Watts.
* ItsUpToYou: Jema's raison d'être.
* LastDiscMagic: Dryad's "Mana" magic, which powers the Mana Sword to full strength -- but the menu selection is greyed out until the final boss battle.
* LevelGrinding: Not only normal levels, but weapons and spells. Spells level up at a third of the speed if you don't cast them in a combat area (indicated by whether or not the heroes have their weapons out)
** Luckily, the Wind Palace, despite never containing any enemies, grants full spell XP, and there's free healing there to boot, making it the best place to level up pretty much all the Girl's magic (most of the Sprite's magic requires an enemy to cast it on).
* LordBritishPostulate: Some people have actually succeeded in defeating the final boss without ever reviving the Mana Sword. It took some doing, but it's possible[[hottip:*: Hint: This is only time you'll want to use max level charge attacks. The Sword is still the only weapon that harms the final boss, though]]. A more mundane example would be Karon, the friendly NPC who shuttles you to the Moon Palace... and happens to be a random monster programmed not to attack the player, so the player can kill him with magic. This was fixed in the iOS version.
** He/she just comes back, but still.
* LostForever: Anything that [[RandomDrop randomly drops]] from enemies only found in the penultimate dungeon; it disappears when the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon appears. For example, the boy's best helmet.
** You can also skip the spear if you properly skip the first visit with Sage Luka.
* LostInTranslation: In Matango, "Gontma" means goodbye because "ゴントマ" is "マタンゴ" backwards. This was caught and changed to "Ognatam" in the iOS version.
* LostSuperweapon: The Mana Fortress.
* LostTechnology: The Mana Fortress, and a lot of stuff on the Sunken Continent. [[spoiler: Your party gets to ''ride the subway'' at one point, which [[RagnarokProofing amazingly still works]]. It's full of zombies, for extra realism.]]
* LoveMakesYouEvil / MoreThanMindControl: Turns out Phanna did those evil things out of jealousy.
** Well, it's fifty-fifty Phanna's blargh and Thanatos's mindscrew.
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler: (Insert Name Here), the Mana Tree is your mother.]]
** [[spoiler: Also, the ghost in the intro? Your ''dad''.]]
* ManEatingPlant / WarmupBoss: Tropicallo.
* MassHypnosis: Thanatos can't resist building a cultist army wherever he goes.
* MirrorBoss: Sage Joch's final trial. The bosses are PaletteSwap versions of the main characters.
* MobileMenace: The Emperor's agents hit up each of the Mana Temples while Randi is running errands for Sage Joch.
** {{Justified|Trope}} with Thanatos blowing up [[spoiler:the Mana Tree]]. In fact, he was probably sitting up there for hours waiting for you to show up first.
* MookMaker: Tomato/Eggplant Men, Kimono Birds and [[GoshDarnItToHeck Heck]] {{H|ellhound}}ounds are a few examples who summon a single type of mook (Heck Hounds and Eggplant Men occasionally summon a second type). Shape Shifters can summon a wide variety of mooks for you fight.
* MrExposition: Jema always has pointers on where to go next.
* MultiMeleeMaster: Anyone, with enough work.
* MythologyGag: Jema himself is a shout to the Gemma Knights of the first game, released in the US as ''FinalFantasyAdventure''.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Thanatos. I mean, duh.
* NeverSayDie: In the English translation.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Well, 'old guy', really - remember Dyluck's ill-fated hike to Elinee's castle? Well, [[spoiler:Purim's dad sent him out there because he didn't approve of his daughter wanting to marry a soldier and a commoner's kid at that...and this leads into Dyluck getting voiped by Elinee to the Pandoran ruins and thus involved in the GrandTheftMe energy-thieving antics and plot machinations of hidden BigBad Thanatos...WAY TO GO, ELMAN, you almost screwed the world over on account of your overparenting.]]
** You also get this reaction from the townsfolk in your home village, seeing as how the pulling of that rusty sword out of the stone turned out to break the last straw keeping the world relatively normal.
*** It's anyone's guess how long it would've acted as a stopgap, though. And imagine the world of suck that would have busted loose had certain henchmen of the emperor picked it up!
* NoCutsceneInventoryInertia: Not quite a cutscene example, but when you fight your party's doppelgangers late into the game, they'll always wield the sword, knuckles, and boomerang (for the Hero, Girl, and Sprite, respectively), regardless of what your real party members are wielding.
** Averted at all other times; when the script calls for a character to attack someone (such as, say, Purim attacking a Thanatos-possessed [[spoiler:Dyluck]] late in the game), they will do so using whatever weapon you have them equipped with.
* NoMisterBondIExpectYouToDine: What's this? The Emperor wants a truce. And he's invited the Resistance over to his castle for negotiations. When you get to the dining room, he reveals that you're screwed--it's a trap. [[TrapIsTheOnlyOption How expected]].
* NoNameGiven: The original game had no default names for the characters. Names from Japanese game guides had been used to refer to them: "Randi" for the boy, "Purim" for the girl, and "Popoi" for the sprite, but they weren't all confirmed to be their {{Canon Name}}s until the iOS version used these as their default names.
* NotCompletelyUseless: The Midge Mallet and Moogle Belt normally apply the pygmy and mooglization [[StandardStatusEffects debuffs]] to the targets, and you can only target your own party members with them. Why are they useful? [[spoiler:Because if either of them is used on someone who already has the corresponding debuff, the debuff will be removed instead]].
* OneWingedAngel: Sheex and Fanha both transform when you engage them in battle, and Thanatos reverts to his true lich form.
* OnlyTheChosenMayWield: The Mana Sword.
* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame
** Except for Watts (kinda). He's blue!
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: The waterfall ghost.
* PauseScumming: Were it not for the 999 HP {{cap}}, the stack damage from the Sprite's magic would kill any boss in seconds.
* PropheticName: King Mammon.
** King Ma'''n'''mon was transliterated because Ted Woolsey didn't know that that's how they spell it in Japanese. It was actually changed to Mammon in the iOS release.
** Okay, Thanatos HAS to count toward this one, because seriously.
*** Kind of makes you wonder why anyone trusted the guy at all.
*** "Call me... Thanny?"
* RandomDrop: Some of the monsters have pretty good armour as rare drops. Top tier armour pieces are actually the common drops from monsters in the [[VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon mana fortress]], while their rare drops are weapon orbs (or candy if you're already maxed out on that type of orb), and you need seven of them to upgrade every weapon except the sword to level 9.
* RebelLeader: Krissie.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Sage Luka is 200 years old, yet she looks like a young woman (not that you can tell from such a tiny sprite, but still...).
** Thankfully Randi {{lampshade|Hanging}}s it so we know.
*** She uses the typical 'old folks' sentence ender 'ja' in the Japanese script as a hint.
* RightHandAttackDog: Elinee's pet tiger.
* SandIsWater: Morie and Meria's sandship.
* ScaledUp: Fanha transforms into a [[MultiArmedAndDangerous four-armed]] [[SnakePeople naga]].
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: It takes an entire game and three boss fights, but the Scorpion Army finally gets wise. You are ''really'' THE Mana Knight.
* ShonenHair: Randi. The rebel leader, Krissie, is a female version of this trope.
* ShoutOut: The second vampire boss that Randi & Co. face is called Series/{{Buffy|TheVampireSlayer}}.
** The Scorpion Army's ultimate weapon is named Kilroy, a reference to Styx's cult song "Mr Roboto".
*** The Scorpion Army could also be a ShoutOut to [[TerribleTrio the Dorombo Gang]] from ''Anime/{{Yatterman}}''. The Scorpion Army Boss dresses a lot like Dorombo boss Doronjo, the "Boys" resemble Boyacky, and both teams fight with cartoony mechas.
** One of the Mandalan crystal balls mentions Lorimar - this is a city that shows up in Seiken I and again in Dawn of Mana. In the Japanese game, this one also mentions Wendel, the holy city of other titles. This can spawn all kinds of WildMassGuessing fits and headaches about just HOW the timeline of the games is supposed to go...
** Subtle, but watch how many of the zombies move around. [[Music/MichaelJackson Yes, sliding backwards]].
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The names for the girl and the sprite [[{{Fanon}} everybody]] seems to know? They're overly literal transcriptions of the katakana. Using proper vowel contractions you get "Prim" instead of Purim, which comes from Primrose and is actually much more likely as an origin for the name, but is most likely rejected for sounding, well, very [[RealWomenDontWearDresses prim and proper]]. The sprite's name is supposed to be "Popoi", which is probably rejected [[ComicStrip/{{Popeye}} for equally obvious reasons]].
* StormingTheCastle: The game's finale.
** One reverse castle storming after Emperor Vandole lies about a parley, too.
* SupernaturalAid: Started the tradition of gaining power from the eight elemental spirits.
* SupportingLeader: Jema. Any time he actually does something it happens offscreen, because ItsUpToYou.
* TakingYouWithMe: Upon being defeated, Geshtar decides to ''blow up'' his boss' castle rather than let you escape. Luckily, Flammie swoops down and carries you away.
* UltimateBlacksmith: Watts.
* UndeathAlwaysEnds: Thanatos spent a ''lot'' of time searching for an ideal body. Once [[spoiler:Dyluck]] dies, the lich's boss music communicates his rage.
* UnholyNuke: Dark Force and Evil Gate.
* VideoGameSettings:
** AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The Imperial Sewers.
** AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield: The Mana Fortress is trippy in both music and appearance.
** BigFancyCastle: Elinee's and the Emperor's castles.
** DeathMountain: The Lofty Mountains.
** DiscOneFinalDungeon / OneTimeDungeon: The Emperor's crib.
** DoomedHometown / FirstTown: Potos has a small vermin problem...
** DungeonShop: Ever-reliable Neko is always hiding in a nook somewhere.
** FirstTown: Potos.
** HailfirePeaks: The climate of the Great Forest is carved up according to season. On a smaller scale, the Scorpion Army harnesses the power of Salamando to create [[MundaneUtility a tourist trap]] in the middle of Ice Country.
** TheLostWoods / TheMaze: The Great Forest.
** MedievalEuropeanFantasy
** MinusWorld: It is possible to sneak back into the village and get your [[MemeticMutation power wrist]] by exploiting a glitch, but you won't be able to get ''out'' again unless you have control of Flammie.
** MonsterTown: Matango.
** NoobCave: Gaia's Navel.
** OminousFloatingCastle / TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: The Mana Fortress.
** OneTimeDungeon: After blowing up the Emperor's Castle, he strangely stops sending invitations.
** SinisterSubway: Located underneath the Ancient City. Zombies are the only passengers...[[hottip:*:And one Eggplant Man and two Needlions.]]
** {{Tomorrowland}}: The base of the Great Palace is a textbook example of RagnarokProofing.
* WakeUpCallBoss: Elinee's Spikey Tiger. Also often cited as ThatOneBoss, even though it's only the ''third boss'' in the game.
** Boreal Face, sort of. The boss was probably designed to upset the "spam magic until dead" strategy. But it was still plenty vulnerable to weapons.
** Aegagropilon is also another if spamming magic is the preferred strategy and one forget to level up Shade. It'll cast Wall first thing, which reflects all magic.
* WastedSong: ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghKpsiv-scQ Eternal Recurrence]]''. One of the best songs in the game. Plays in a two-rooms dungeon, only ''after'' you clear it, and in a few of the altar chambers.
** ''The Oracle'' could be considered kind of wasted too. If you spam magic like a mad thing, you probably won't hear a damn thing of it, and it's fricking wicked. Damn limited sound channels.
** "A Conclusion" (aka Morning is Here) is another strong example. Heard after the Lich is defeated when the Mana Fortress begins to shake. Usually only heard for about 15 seconds (even though it's 50 seconds long before looping) for a few screens of dialogue before the characters run out, where it switches to "One of Them is Hope".
** Jeez, that entire area has a lot of Wasted Music of Awesome. The brief track that plays once Dark Lich appears, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts572usU0Eg The Curse]], is one of the most genuinely terrifying little bits of strange in any game.
* WeaponOfChoice: One of the game's distinctive features.
** CoolSword: And the [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Mana Sword]], no less.
** BladeOnAStick: It hits things. [[BoringButPractical That's about it]], though on higher levels it does have excellent crowd-clearing capabilities.
** PowerFist: Sometimes does a throw instead of an attack, which... actually doesn't damage the enemy at all. [[UselessUsefulSpell Huh.]]
*** It's used to bring back to consciousness enemies that have been knocked out by powerful attacks. Useful if you can't hurt the enemy while it's down.
** PrecisionGuidedBoomerang: Or Shuriken (or even ''cobra shuttle''), after upgrading.
** TheArcher: The bow hits enemies higher and lower than you, and very noticeably averts NoArcInArchery.
** AnAxeToGrind: Clears away rubble, as well as being good for whacking things over the head.
** WhipItGood: Can be used to swing across gaps; becomes an EpicFlail.
** ProngsOfPoseidon: Used as a javelin, works more or less like the bow.
* WeCanRebuildHim: Geshtar pops up a second time in the Sunken Continent, having been restored to life by Thanatos.
* WhiteMagic: Exclusive to the girl.
** Sure ain't wussy though. Purim is not the StaffChick by any means, and Lucent Beam when leveled up makes [[spoiler:Dark Lich]] a piece of fricking cake.
** Noticeably, staves are one of the few weapons that ''don't'' show up in this game. The closest you can give Purim is the spear... which makes her even ''more'' of an ActionGirl.
* WildMassGuessing: The [[spoiler: Mana Beast]] sure looked a lot like Flammie. ...say, where ''is'' Flammie?
** And those ittybitty purple dragons in the Upper Land Woods...
*** The characters themselves remark on this: "I guess in those days Flammies were [[spoiler: Mana Beasts]]..."
*** And one of the mushroom people in Matango remarks that those "ittybitty" dragons are "similar to" Mana Beasts...
** There's some reoccurring names and character archetypes in the Mana/Seiken series that were likely used just to prompt this!
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: After the hero's removal of the rusty sword triggers a monster outbreak near Potos, the villagers agree that he's too dangerous to allow to stay, and banish him from there forever.
** And they mean it... even late in the game when you've acquired your uber-weapons and uber-spells, the guard villager will ''still'' be there, telling you to scram.
** In the ending, it's implied that Randi is accepted back in the village.
* YouCantThwartStageOne: It's a given that the Empire will raise the Mana Fortress.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: All of the [[spoiler:not-exactly-human]] characters have brightly-coloured hair - Popoi's is pink, Luka's is blue, Geshtar's green, Sheex's purple, Fanha's lurid orange, and Thanatos's is - mauve...? Anyway. Phanna/Pamela is the only person to have this outside the spoiler.
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-->You are hereby banished from this page. Now, [[GetOut get out of here]]!
<<|ActionAdventure|>>
<<|ActionRPG|>>
''SecretOfMana'' is the second game taking place in the WorldOfMana. It follows the story of a young hero who unintentionally pulls the Sword of Mana [[OnlyTheChosenMayWield out of a rock]] to cut a path back to town. Unleashing the Sword also opened its seal on evil, and monsters began to enter the world again. Exiled from his hometown for his [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHeinous crime against humanity]], and with the help of a Girl and a [[AmbiguousGender Sprite]], he sets out to stop TheEmpire that wants to seal away the power of mana and take over the world.
''Secret of Mana'' was promoted by Nintendo at the time of its release, featuring revolutionary gameplay features such as ''three'' players being able to control the game at once (taking the roles of the Boy, the Girl and the Sprite at the same time). If only one player is available, the game's AI will control the other characters.
''Secret of Mana'' was intended to launch on the SNES' [[UsefulNotes/{{SNESCDROM}} CD add-on]], but when that fell through, {{Square|Enix}}soft was left with a contractual obligation to make the game, but on the much smaller space of a cartridge instead of the CD-ROM they'd expected. They spent several months stripping the game down: removing large sections of the game-world, shortening the script, adjusting the game's plot, re-writing or removing a great deal of dialogue, and using compressed instruments and recomposing the music in an SPC format for the SNES. While this did have the side-effect of pushing the limit of the SNES's capabilities to the limit (making it much more [[SceneryPorn aesthetically stunning]] than almost any other 16-bit game of the time), it also soured the relationship between the two companies, to the point that Square didn't work with Nintendo again for the greater part of a decade once the PlayStation came out.
Despite the rocky story of its creation, ''SecretOfMana'' is still to this day universally acclaimed as one of the Super Nintendo's crowning gems, and one of the best [=RPGs=] ever made for any console.
SecretOfManaTheater is a well-known adaptation/affectionate parody of this game.
Now on the [[IOSGames iOS]].
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!!Tropes:
* ActionBomb: Any enemy who can use the Burst spell, and Popoie. Lesser enemies will use this as a SuicideAttack, while stronger enemies and Popoie can blow themselves up repeatedly without any repercussions (aside from MP usage).
* ActionGirl: Purim, in spades. Her default weapons are the [[BareFistedMonk knuckles]], and she shows up trying to rescue her boyfriend from a decidedly unfriendly witch. And her boyfriend is a ''soldier''.
* ActuallyIAmHim: Sage Joch. (Sage [[FetchQuest Jerk]], more like).
* AdvancingWallOfDoom: The Wall Face boss will attempt to smush you against the (inanimate) back wall if you don't kill it quickly enough.
** It's a last ditch effort if it runs out of MP, which it will quickly, futilely attempt to revive its eyes if you "kill" them.
** Demon Wall, the upgraded version, just barrages your characters with special attacks if it runs out MP. Which again, it will burn through quickly.
* AllThereInTheManual: It has the canon names for the main characters. The boy is Randi, the girl is Purim, and the sprite is Popoie.
* AmbiguousGender: Popoie; so the player isn't forced into TwoGuysAndAGirl or TwoGirlsAndAGuy.
* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: ''NintendoPower'' had exhaustive coverage of ''[=SoM=]'', including (as was its custom in the early nineties) [[http://www.giantbomb.com/secret-of-mana/61-19507/artwork-nintendo-power-issue-64/52-102977/12/51-268472/ original artwork]] depicting scenes from the game. These illustrations are decidedly more western in nature; in particular, the Mana Beast looks like something out of GaryGygax's nightmares.
* AndManGrewProud: The ancient civilization that gave rise to the Mana Fortress.
* AntidoteEffect: The strict inventory caps (only four of each type of item) lead to a dependence on healing magic.
* ApocalypticLog: The Empire was already up to mischief in the Old World, if the orbs in Mandala are anything to go by.
* AwesomeButImpractical: High-level weapon attacks don't see much use. In the time it takes to charge up a level 7 or 8 strike you'll either have been beaten down by a room full of enemies, or you could have killed everything twice over with normal attacks and magic
* BadassCape: A popular look in this game's world. Jema is the only heroic character who wears one.
* BadassNormal: Randi. When Purim and Popoie first receive their magic powers, he's a bit dismayed, but Undine tells him that eventually the Mana Sword will become stronger than any magic (and he's [[TheChosenOne the one meant to wield it]]).
* BadassSanta: [[spoiler: Frost Gigas]], literally.
* BittersweetEnding: The Mana Fortress is destroyed, as is the BigBad... but [[spoiler: so is the Mana Beast, the Mana Tree is still gone, Dyluck died as well and Randi and Purim will never see Popoie again.]]
* BlackMagic: Exclusive to the sprite kid.
** Fire Bouquet, Flame Wall, and Lucent Beam are the exceptions, available to the Girl. Seems it's hard to come up with nonlethal uses for fire magic.
* BlatantLies: Thanatos' reason for reviving the [[LostSuperweapon Mana Fortress]] is, in the NA version of the game at least, to create a "peaceful world."
** Emperor Vandole, when he invites LaResistance over to his castle for a "truce".
* BlobMonster: Lime/Dread Slime.
* BlondGuysAreEvil: The Scorpion Amy and their [[BlondesAreEvil blonde]] generalissimo.
* BookEnds: Randi returning the sword to its place under the waterfall.
* BossArenaIdiocy: If the [[spoiler: Mana Beast]] doesn´t take part of the battle against it just standing before you, allowing you to kick the monster´s ass instead of diving into your party over and over, the battle would be unwinnable.
** GoodBadBug below.
* BrokenBridge: After the Sunken Continent has resurfaced, Jema will tell you what's going on: the Emperor and his cronies are holed up inside the Grand Palace, which is on top of the Ancient City. You need to find a way through the palace to reach them, but if you go inside, you'll see that the main entrance has no paths. So, you'll have to find a way AROUND the Grand Palace as well. Depressing. (Once the continent sinks again, the side entrance is lowered within reach.)
* CallReceptionArea: Yanking the Mana Sword from the stone causes monsters to appear everywhere. Whoops.
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard / ThatOneAttack: Like all ''Mana'' games, you are not allowed to dodge if a boss feels like casting a spell on you. While this is fair once you can cast spells back, it makes early fights... a tad unfair.
* ChainmailBikini: "Tiger Bikini" is a purchasable armor for the girl.
* CityOfGold: Gold City.
* ConMan: The Sprite, when you first meet him/her.
* CoolOldGuy: Jema.
* CoOpMultiplayer: It was the first RPG to feature a co-operative multiplayer gameplay mechanic where a second or third player could drop-in and drop-out at any time.
* DegradedBoss: The [[InstantAwesomeJustAddNinja Dark Stalker]], the boss masquerading as a FakeKing. In the [[ForcedLevelGrinding next area]]!
* DealWithTheDevil: How [[spoiler: Thanatos and his followers]] got their powers.
** [[spoiler:The emperor's in on this too]] in the Japanese game; poor Ted Woolsey ran out of text space, though, so we Stateside never got that plot point.
* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: There are two occasions where you can't get a game over. The first is up until you beat the first boss. Mostly because they were probably kind enough to not make players sit through the couple of minutes it takes to get from "Enter name" to "Controlling character". The second is, if you really wanted to, you could get a game over during the rematch with the Biting Lizards in the Ice Palace. Except, its host just kicks you out after reviving Randi.
* DidNotDoTheResearch: The nation of Tasnica is also called "the Republic", yet it has a king (you even meet him). The sole trait that ''all'' republics have in common is the lack of royalty.
** This is a translation hiccup. (Don't blame Woolsey, he had all of a month to work on this thing.) The kanji for 'republic' (共和国, kyouwakoku) can also be translated 'commonwealth'. That said, Tasnica is probably supposed to work like the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (rzeczpospolita) did, with an elected king. Funnily enough, the Polish term's sometimes translated as "republic" on account of having the same root terminology.
* DistressedDude: Dyluck.
* DominoMask: The Scorpion Army.
* TheEmperor: Emperor Vandole.
* EnemyScan: The Analyze(r) spell.
* EvilEmpire: Seems to be played straight at first, but is kindasorta subverted in that [[spoiler:Thanatos is one wirepulling jerkass bastard, and Emperor Vandole probably wouldn't have become such a douche if he hadn't had that influence going on.]]
* EvilIsNotWellLit: Elinee and the Emperor have a fondness for mood lighting.
* EvilSorcerer / TheStarscream: Thanatos. And HOW.
* ExcaliburInTheRust: The rusty sword you take from the pedestal at the beginning of the game is revealed (quite early on) to be the legendary Mana Sword.
** And thus Excalibur by extension according to the opening scroll! Nifty.
* FakeKing: Sheex's scheme to overthrow Tasnica.
* FanTranslation: The "Enhanced" version of Secret of Mana uses a much more efficient system of text placement, allowing for a lot of text that was LostInTranslation to be added back in. Among other things, the Cannon Travel Service menu now displays the names of the destinations rather than 1, 2, and 3. You can get it [[http://fantasyanime.com/mana/somdownloads.htm here.]]
** Seeing as the JP script was an elusive beast at the time, most of [=FuSoYa's=] additions are just made-up expansions on the existing script. Be that as it may, it's still damn good, and since the JP script is online, a real translation is possible.
* TheFerryMan: You meet a cute creature named Karon (a mistranslation of "Charon") in the desert, who will ferry you through the Sea of Stars to the Moon Palace... without cost, of course.
* FieryRedhead: Popoie.
* FourIsDeath: The emperor's quartet of hench...uh, people (Fanha, Geshtar, Sheex, Thanatos). They're referred to with the traditional 'shitennou' in the Japanese game.
* GameOver: "Sadly, no trace of them (or "Randi" earlier in the game) was ever found..."
* GhibliHills: The Kingdom of Pandora.
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Boreal Face.
** He's actually the only one in the game, though the origin of Frost Gigas is something of a brain wreck.[[hottip:*:Santa?!?]]
* GivingTheSwordToANoob: Jema {{hand wave}}s this by declaring that the sword "chose" the boy, making him ''the'' Mana Knight by default. None of the neighboring kingdoms seem to make a fuss over it.
* GoldfishPoopGang / OddlySmallOrganization: The Scorpion Army. There's [[TerribleTrio three of them]].
* GoodCostumeSwitch: Once she's defeated, Elinee reverts from a hooded psychopath to a kindly old granny with her hair in a bun.
* GottaCatchThemAll: To fix the Mana Sword, one must visit all eight Temples and receive blessings from the Spirits. Simultaneously, Randi is required to seal all eight Mana Seeds to prevent the Empire from raising the Fortress. All of this is moot; the Empire manages to unseal all of the Seeds while you're away, and the final Spirit (Dryad) is too feeble to bless the sword, anyway.
* GrandTheftMe: Thanatos attempts to do one on Dyluck.
** And manages! For like a second and a half. It's so hard to be a ... whatever-the-hell he is.
*** How does "Undead-Affront-To-All-That-Is-Good-and-Holy" grab ya?
*** Funny you should mention grabbing [[spoiler:aaauuugggh creepy lich floorhands make him stop it.]]
* GreenAesop: The abuse of Mana to power the potentially world-destroying Mana Fortress is a nod to our world's abuse of our planet's natural resources.
** One of the orbs in Mandala has a dialogue expanding on this. "We must restrict the use of Mana energy...we're using it up!" "Hah! You can't USE UP Mana!" "Argh, you don't understand!"
* GunshipRescue: The big reveal of Adult Flammie.
* HarderThanHard: There is a fan made hack of the game that ramps the difficulty UpToEleven. To put it in perspective, boss fights consist of CurbStompBattle on the receiving end even with reasonably overleveled characters in the normal game.
* HighCollarOfDoom: The "Boss."
* {{Hover B|oard}}ike: Geshtar rides one, complete with {{bayonet|Ya}}.
* HufflepuffHouse: Tasnica is the only nation standing between the Empire and global domination. Some Tasnican troops make landfall with Jema once the Lost Continent rises.
* HairOfGold: Purim and Dyluck.
* ImmortalityImmorality: Thanatos needs a very special individual to body-jump into. He's even willing to be a blue-haired teenage girl if that's what it takes. (Unfortunately for Dyluck, only he makes the cut.)
* ImpossiblyCoolWealth: King [[MeaningfulName Mammon]] abused Lumina's power to turn his entire island to gold.
** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in the Enhanced FanTranslation, where an NPC laments that their island's economy is now ruined by [[RealityEnsues massive inflation]].
* InevitableWaterfall: Whoops! Sorry, Randi.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: RandomlyDrops from the enemies in TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. Ironically, the Gigas Axe is actually better in every way than its final form, the Doom Axe.
* InterfaceScrew: One of the effects of the Silence/Confusion spell is to reverse the controls.
* IntrepidMerchant: Neko/Nikita and Watts.
* ItsUpToYou: Jema's raison d'être.
* LastDiscMagic: Dryad's "Mana" magic, which powers the Mana Sword to full strength -- but the menu selection is greyed out until the final boss battle.
* LevelGrinding: Not only normal levels, but weapons and spells. Spells level up at a third of the speed if you don't cast them in a combat area (indicated by whether or not the heroes have their weapons out)
** Luckily, the Wind Palace, despite never containing any enemies, grants full spell XP, and there's free healing there to boot, making it the best place to level up pretty much all the Girl's magic (most of the Sprite's magic requires an enemy to cast it on).
* LordBritishPostulate: Some people have actually succeeded in defeating the final boss without ever reviving the Mana Sword. It took some doing, but it's possible[[hottip:*: Hint: This is only time you'll want to use max level charge attacks. The Sword is still the only weapon that harms the final boss, though]]. A more mundane example would be Karon, the friendly NPC who shuttles you to the Moon Palace... and happens to be a random monster programmed not to attack the player, so the player can kill him with magic. This was fixed in the iOS version.
** He/she just comes back, but still.
* LostForever: Anything that [[RandomDrop randomly drops]] from enemies only found in the penultimate dungeon; it disappears when the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon appears. For example, the boy's best helmet.
** You can also skip the spear if you properly skip the first visit with Sage Luka.
* LostInTranslation: In Matango, "Gontma" means goodbye because "ゴントマ" is "マタンゴ" backwards. This was caught and changed to "Ognatam" in the iOS version.
* LostSuperweapon: The Mana Fortress.
* LostTechnology: The Mana Fortress, and a lot of stuff on the Sunken Continent. [[spoiler: Your party gets to ''ride the subway'' at one point, which [[RagnarokProofing amazingly still works]]. It's full of zombies, for extra realism.]]
* LoveMakesYouEvil / MoreThanMindControl: Turns out Phanna did those evil things out of jealousy.
** Well, it's fifty-fifty Phanna's blargh and Thanatos's mindscrew.
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler: (Insert Name Here), the Mana Tree is your mother.]]
** [[spoiler: Also, the ghost in the intro? Your ''dad''.]]
* ManEatingPlant / WarmupBoss: Tropicallo.
* MassHypnosis: Thanatos can't resist building a cultist army wherever he goes.
* MirrorBoss: Sage Joch's final trial. The bosses are PaletteSwap versions of the main characters.
* MobileMenace: The Emperor's agents hit up each of the Mana Temples while Randi is running errands for Sage Joch.
** {{Justified|Trope}} with Thanatos blowing up [[spoiler:the Mana Tree]]. In fact, he was probably sitting up there for hours waiting for you to show up first.
* MookMaker: Tomato/Eggplant Men, Kimono Birds and [[GoshDarnItToHeck Heck]] {{H|ellhound}}ounds are a few examples who summon a single type of mook (Heck Hounds and Eggplant Men occasionally summon a second type). Shape Shifters can summon a wide variety of mooks for you fight.
* MrExposition: Jema always has pointers on where to go next.
* MultiMeleeMaster: Anyone, with enough work.
* MythologyGag: Jema himself is a shout to the Gemma Knights of the first game, released in the US as ''FinalFantasyAdventure''.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Thanatos. I mean, duh.
* NeverSayDie: In the English translation.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Well, 'old guy', really - remember Dyluck's ill-fated hike to Elinee's castle? Well, [[spoiler:Purim's dad sent him out there because he didn't approve of his daughter wanting to marry a soldier and a commoner's kid at that...and this leads into Dyluck getting voiped by Elinee to the Pandoran ruins and thus involved in the GrandTheftMe energy-thieving antics and plot machinations of hidden BigBad Thanatos...WAY TO GO, ELMAN, you almost screwed the world over on account of your overparenting.]]
** You also get this reaction from the townsfolk in your home village, seeing as how the pulling of that rusty sword out of the stone turned out to break the last straw keeping the world relatively normal.
*** It's anyone's guess how long it would've acted as a stopgap, though. And imagine the world of suck that would have busted loose had certain henchmen of the emperor picked it up!
* NoCutsceneInventoryInertia: Not quite a cutscene example, but when you fight your party's doppelgangers late into the game, they'll always wield the sword, knuckles, and boomerang (for the Hero, Girl, and Sprite, respectively), regardless of what your real party members are wielding.
** Averted at all other times; when the script calls for a character to attack someone (such as, say, Purim attacking a Thanatos-possessed [[spoiler:Dyluck]] late in the game), they will do so using whatever weapon you have them equipped with.
* NoMisterBondIExpectYouToDine: What's this? The Emperor wants a truce. And he's invited the Resistance over to his castle for negotiations. When you get to the dining room, he reveals that you're screwed--it's a trap. [[TrapIsTheOnlyOption How expected]].
* NoNameGiven: The original game had no default names for the characters. Names from Japanese game guides had been used to refer to them: "Randi" for the boy, "Purim" for the girl, and "Popoi" for the sprite, but they weren't all confirmed to be their {{Canon Name}}s until the iOS version used these as their default names.
* NotCompletelyUseless: The Midge Mallet and Moogle Belt normally apply the pygmy and mooglization [[StandardStatusEffects debuffs]] to the targets, and you can only target your own party members with them. Why are they useful? [[spoiler:Because if either of them is used on someone who already has the corresponding debuff, the debuff will be removed instead]].
* OneWingedAngel: Sheex and Fanha both transform when you engage them in battle, and Thanatos reverts to his true lich form.
* OnlyTheChosenMayWield: The Mana Sword.
* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame
** Except for Watts (kinda). He's blue!
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: The waterfall ghost.
* PauseScumming: Were it not for the 999 HP {{cap}}, the stack damage from the Sprite's magic would kill any boss in seconds.
* PropheticName: King Mammon.
** King Ma'''n'''mon was transliterated because Ted Woolsey didn't know that that's how they spell it in Japanese. It was actually changed to Mammon in the iOS release.
** Okay, Thanatos HAS to count toward this one, because seriously.
*** Kind of makes you wonder why anyone trusted the guy at all.
*** "Call me... Thanny?"
* RandomDrop: Some of the monsters have pretty good armour as rare drops. Top tier armour pieces are actually the common drops from monsters in the [[VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon mana fortress]], while their rare drops are weapon orbs (or candy if you're already maxed out on that type of orb), and you need seven of them to upgrade every weapon except the sword to level 9.
* RebelLeader: Krissie.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Sage Luka is 200 years old, yet she looks like a young woman (not that you can tell from such a tiny sprite, but still...).
** Thankfully Randi {{lampshade|Hanging}}s it so we know.
*** She uses the typical 'old folks' sentence ender 'ja' in the Japanese script as a hint.
* RightHandAttackDog: Elinee's pet tiger.
* SandIsWater: Morie and Meria's sandship.
* ScaledUp: Fanha transforms into a [[MultiArmedAndDangerous four-armed]] [[SnakePeople naga]].
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: It takes an entire game and three boss fights, but the Scorpion Army finally gets wise. You are ''really'' THE Mana Knight.
* ShonenHair: Randi. The rebel leader, Krissie, is a female version of this trope.
* ShoutOut: The second vampire boss that Randi & Co. face is called Series/{{Buffy|TheVampireSlayer}}.
** The Scorpion Army's ultimate weapon is named Kilroy, a reference to Styx's cult song "Mr Roboto".
*** The Scorpion Army could also be a ShoutOut to [[TerribleTrio the Dorombo Gang]] from ''Anime/{{Yatterman}}''. The Scorpion Army Boss dresses a lot like Dorombo boss Doronjo, the "Boys" resemble Boyacky, and both teams fight with cartoony mechas.
** One of the Mandalan crystal balls mentions Lorimar - this is a city that shows up in Seiken I and again in Dawn of Mana. In the Japanese game, this one also mentions Wendel, the holy city of other titles. This can spawn all kinds of WildMassGuessing fits and headaches about just HOW the timeline of the games is supposed to go...
** Subtle, but watch how many of the zombies move around. [[Music/MichaelJackson Yes, sliding backwards]].
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The names for the girl and the sprite [[{{Fanon}} everybody]] seems to know? They're overly literal transcriptions of the katakana. Using proper vowel contractions you get "Prim" instead of Purim, which comes from Primrose and is actually much more likely as an origin for the name, but is most likely rejected for sounding, well, very [[RealWomenDontWearDresses prim and proper]]. The sprite's name is supposed to be "Popoi", which is probably rejected [[ComicStrip/{{Popeye}} for equally obvious reasons]].
* StormingTheCastle: The game's finale.
** One reverse castle storming after Emperor Vandole lies about a parley, too.
* SupernaturalAid: Started the tradition of gaining power from the eight elemental spirits.
* SupportingLeader: Jema. Any time he actually does something it happens offscreen, because ItsUpToYou.
* TakingYouWithMe: Upon being defeated, Geshtar decides to ''blow up'' his boss' castle rather than let you escape. Luckily, Flammie swoops down and carries you away.
* UltimateBlacksmith: Watts.
* UndeathAlwaysEnds: Thanatos spent a ''lot'' of time searching for an ideal body. Once [[spoiler:Dyluck]] dies, the lich's boss music communicates his rage.
* UnholyNuke: Dark Force and Evil Gate.
* VideoGameSettings:
** AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The Imperial Sewers.
** AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield: The Mana Fortress is trippy in both music and appearance.
** BigFancyCastle: Elinee's and the Emperor's castles.
** DeathMountain: The Lofty Mountains.
** DiscOneFinalDungeon / OneTimeDungeon: The Emperor's crib.
** DoomedHometown / FirstTown: Potos has a small vermin problem...
** DungeonShop: Ever-reliable Neko is always hiding in a nook somewhere.
** FirstTown: Potos.
** HailfirePeaks: The climate of the Great Forest is carved up according to season. On a smaller scale, the Scorpion Army harnesses the power of Salamando to create [[MundaneUtility a tourist trap]] in the middle of Ice Country.
** TheLostWoods / TheMaze: The Great Forest.
** MedievalEuropeanFantasy
** MinusWorld: It is possible to sneak back into the village and get your [[MemeticMutation power wrist]] by exploiting a glitch, but you won't be able to get ''out'' again unless you have control of Flammie.
** MonsterTown: Matango.
** NoobCave: Gaia's Navel.
** OminousFloatingCastle / TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: The Mana Fortress.
** OneTimeDungeon: After blowing up the Emperor's Castle, he strangely stops sending invitations.
** SinisterSubway: Located underneath the Ancient City. Zombies are the only passengers...[[hottip:*:And one Eggplant Man and two Needlions.]]
** {{Tomorrowland}}: The base of the Great Palace is a textbook example of RagnarokProofing.
* WakeUpCallBoss: Elinee's Spikey Tiger. Also often cited as ThatOneBoss, even though it's only the ''third boss'' in the game.
** Boreal Face, sort of. The boss was probably designed to upset the "spam magic until dead" strategy. But it was still plenty vulnerable to weapons.
** Aegagropilon is also another if spamming magic is the preferred strategy and one forget to level up Shade. It'll cast Wall first thing, which reflects all magic.
* WastedSong: ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghKpsiv-scQ Eternal Recurrence]]''. One of the best songs in the game. Plays in a two-rooms dungeon, only ''after'' you clear it, and in a few of the altar chambers.
** ''The Oracle'' could be considered kind of wasted too. If you spam magic like a mad thing, you probably won't hear a damn thing of it, and it's fricking wicked. Damn limited sound channels.
** "A Conclusion" (aka Morning is Here) is another strong example. Heard after the Lich is defeated when the Mana Fortress begins to shake. Usually only heard for about 15 seconds (even though it's 50 seconds long before looping) for a few screens of dialogue before the characters run out, where it switches to "One of Them is Hope".
** Jeez, that entire area has a lot of Wasted Music of Awesome. The brief track that plays once Dark Lich appears, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts572usU0Eg The Curse]], is one of the most genuinely terrifying little bits of strange in any game.
* WeaponOfChoice: One of the game's distinctive features.
** CoolSword: And the [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Mana Sword]], no less.
** BladeOnAStick: It hits things. [[BoringButPractical That's about it]], though on higher levels it does have excellent crowd-clearing capabilities.
** PowerFist: Sometimes does a throw instead of an attack, which... actually doesn't damage the enemy at all. [[UselessUsefulSpell Huh.]]
*** It's used to bring back to consciousness enemies that have been knocked out by powerful attacks. Useful if you can't hurt the enemy while it's down.
** PrecisionGuidedBoomerang: Or Shuriken (or even ''cobra shuttle''), after upgrading.
** TheArcher: The bow hits enemies higher and lower than you, and very noticeably averts NoArcInArchery.
** AnAxeToGrind: Clears away rubble, as well as being good for whacking things over the head.
** WhipItGood: Can be used to swing across gaps; becomes an EpicFlail.
** ProngsOfPoseidon: Used as a javelin, works more or less like the bow.
* WeCanRebuildHim: Geshtar pops up a second time in the Sunken Continent, having been restored to life by Thanatos.
* WhiteMagic: Exclusive to the girl.
** Sure ain't wussy though. Purim is not the StaffChick by any means, and Lucent Beam when leveled up makes [[spoiler:Dark Lich]] a piece of fricking cake.
** Noticeably, staves are one of the few weapons that ''don't'' show up in this game. The closest you can give Purim is the spear... which makes her even ''more'' of an ActionGirl.
* WildMassGuessing: The [[spoiler: Mana Beast]] sure looked a lot like Flammie. ...say, where ''is'' Flammie?
** And those ittybitty purple dragons in the Upper Land Woods...
*** The characters themselves remark on this: "I guess in those days Flammies were [[spoiler: Mana Beasts]]..."
*** And one of the mushroom people in Matango remarks that those "ittybitty" dragons are "similar to" Mana Beasts...
** There's some reoccurring names and character archetypes in the Mana/Seiken series that were likely used just to prompt this!
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: After the hero's removal of the rusty sword triggers a monster outbreak near Potos, the villagers agree that he's too dangerous to allow to stay, and banish him from there forever.
** And they mean it... even late in the game when you've acquired your uber-weapons and uber-spells, the guard villager will ''still'' be there, telling you to scram.
** In the ending, it's implied that Randi is accepted back in the village.
* YouCantThwartStageOne: It's a given that the Empire will raise the Mana Fortress.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: All of the [[spoiler:not-exactly-human]] characters have brightly-coloured hair - Popoi's is pink, Luka's is blue, Geshtar's green, Sheex's purple, Fanha's lurid orange, and Thanatos's is - mauve...? Anyway. Phanna/Pamela is the only person to have this outside the spoiler.
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