History VideoGame / SuikodenIII

* ThoseTwoGuys: Lilly's attendants Reed and Samus. They're {{Pallete Swap}}s of each other with notable personality distinction between them.

The first ''{{Suikoden}}'' game on the PS2, ''Suikoden III'' revolves around several smaller groups of heroes long before the [[OneHundredAndEight Stars of Destiny]] come into play. Set fifteen years after the events of ''SuikodenII'', it begins with an uneasy cease-fire between the Grassland tribes and the mercantile nation of the Zexen Confederacy. Meanwhile, the Holy Kingdom of Harmonia is waiting for a secret truce with the Grasslanders to hurry up and expire so they can launch their own offensive. This simmering pot of tensions boils over with a single horrific act, and the chain of events is filtered through the eyes -- and guided by the actions of -- several protagonists:

* InfantImortality: Averted. [[spoiler:The young Lulu is killed very early on at the end of both Hugo and Chris' chapters (at the hands of the latter).]]

* OlderAndWiser: Lucia, Apple, Sasarai, Nash (applies to the [[NoImportForYou Gaidens)]] and Futch.

* {{Expy}}: The detective Kidd dresses like [[Manga/DetectiveConan Detective Conan]].

** [[TearJerker Heartwrenchingly done]] in case of Viki or Futch, who [[spoiler:still remembered that Luc used to be their ally and now they're practically fighting their ex-ally.]]

* ActionGirl: Chris, Lilly, Queen and Elaine.

* ShoutOut: The child detective Kidd is a rather obvious CaptainErsatz of DetectiveConan.

* NoExportForYou: ''Suikoden III'' never got a PAL release.

** Really, all of the main characters have one; Chris leads the Six Knights of Zexen, who are all very capable in battle, and Hugo and his companions (Sgt. Joe, Fubar, Lilly, Reed, Samus, Mua, and Hallec) are all excellent fighters as well. Even Thomas has one, with Cecile, Juan, and Picollo. [[spoiler: Luc also leads one: while he's more than capable with his True Wind Rune, he also leads Sarah (a very powerful sorceress), Yuber (a demonic swordsman who's one of the best swordsmen in the series), and Albert (an incredibly talented strategist).]]

* BadassCrew: Geddoe's 5 (later 6) men ensemble, which you can't swap around for a majority of the game. You don't really need to. There's also [[TheRival Duke's]] crew, which only consists of four people.

* SpinOffspring: Emily (Ronnie Bell and Mose from SuikodenI), Sanae (Freed and Yoshino from SuikodenII) Sharon (Milia from game 1 yet again), Fred (Maximillian from the first 2 games' grandson) and his retainer Rico (the granddaughter of Maximillian's retainer), Ceasar and Albert (Silverberg decendants) compensate for the relatively few recurring characters this time around. Belle is implied to be Meg's (from the first two games) daughter.

* SpinOffspring: Emily (Ronnie Bell and Mose from SuikodenI), Sanae (Freed and Yoshino from SuikodenII) Sharon (Milia from game 1 yet again), Fred (Maximillian from the first 2 games' grandson), Ceasar and Albert (Silverberg decendants) compensate for the relatively few recurring characters this time around. Belle is implied to be Meg's (from the first two games) daughter.

* RoseHairedGirl: Estella inverts the trope by the opposite of the page description. She's an abusive mentor to her only student and lacks any kind of emotional warmth for anyone else.

* WhiteHairedPrettyGirl: Chris and a surprisingly modest Jeane.

** Tuta. He's just a CuteShotaroBoy in II, and now he's a {{Bishonen}} doctor who bangs a hot nurse (Mio)

* AdaptationDistillation -- The Suikoden III manga is pure, concentrated {{Fanservice}}.
* ActionGirl - Chris, Lilly, Queen and Elaine.
* AnAxeToGrind - Leo, Hallec.
* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent - The Trinity Sight System, as outlined above, cast players in the role of several different heroes. Also factored into the MultipleEndings: [[spoiler: gathering all ''104'' heroes before the final war battle unlocked the final scenario, replaying through the events of the game as viewed by the final four Stars - the villains.]]
* {{Badass}} - The ducks tribe looks ridiculous, but Sgt. Joe ''will'' earn your respect.
* BareFistedMonk - A number of characters use fists to fight (except Kenji, he uses calisthenics). Juan and Emily are probably the most notable for being absolute {{GameBreaker}}s at higher levels.
* BadassCrew - Geddoe's 5 (later 6) men ensemble, which you can't swap around for a majority of the game. You don't really need to. There's also [[TheRival Duke's]] crew, which only consists of four people.
* BathtubBonding - Going to the bath with certain parties renders some very funny dialogues.
* TheBerserker - Hallec
* BewareTheNiceOnes - Mel. A [[CuteAndPsycho seemingly sweet]] girl with a PerversePuppet who's much stronger than she looks, with [[KillItWithFire considerable]] [[PsychoElectro magical]] [[BlackMagicianGirl talents]].
* BigEater - Wan Fu.
* {{Bishonen}} - A staple in every ''{{Suikoden}}''. This installment presents [[DarkSkinnedBlonde Hugo]], Nash, Borus, Percival, Jacques, Caesar, Albert, the Flame Champion, [[spoiler:Luc]], who else, who else...
** [[PsychoForHire Yuber]], Sasarai, Fred, Futch, are we still missing anyone?
*** Tuta, Edge, Juan, and there's likely still more.

* BoisterousBruiser - Ace, Dupa, Hallec.
* CharacterDevelopment - One of the major benefits of the GeodesicCast is getting to know more of the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters better.

* ContinuityNod - Again, plenty to be found.
* CrowningMusicofAwesome - [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBhwCjpv3-Q&fmt=18 Wind and Ground]]
* DarkSkinnedBlond - Most of the Karayans.

* DefeatMeansFriendship - Not always right ''away'', but the game's setup results in plenty of matchups between future allies.
* DefrostingIceQueen - Chris for one. Staring off she's as rigid and cold as her armor, but mellows a bit by the end game. Yuiri.
* DemonicDummy - Branky, a nasty, foul-mouthed puppet carried by GenkiGirl Mel, who ''insists'' she isn't a ventriloquist, and cheerfully bashes Branky's head against various surfaces to punish its arrogance.
* DualWielding - Hallec, Yuber.

* TheEmpire - Harmonia makes its first real move in the series here. It's apparently a very huge and powerful empire with a habit of adding other lands and cultures to its own, not unlike ancient Rome.
* EmpathicWeapon - The True Runes and the Star Dragon Sword.

* FieryRedhead - Lilly Pendragon and Emily.
* FiveManBand - Too many to list. For the leads, we have Chris' Zexen Knights and Geddoe's mercenary company.

** Duke's group - Duke is Choleric, Elaine is Sanguine, Nicholas is Melancholic and Gau is Phlegmatic.
** [[spoiler:Luc's group - Luc is Melancholic, Sara is Supine, Yuber is Sanguine and Albert is Phlegmatic.]]
* GenkiGirl - Mel and Shabon.

* GravityBarrier - After [[spoiler:Karaya Village is destroyed]], a vertical drop prevents you from accessing the village itself (even though this was never a problem before).

* HelloInsertNameHere - You get to name the Flame Champion, however... [[spoiler: He's not a playable character; instead, one of the three leads takes up the True Fire Rune -- and his name, if you so choose.]]
* HerCodeNameWasMarySue - Erk de Forever from 'Erk's Adventures', penned by 'Hitman Bravo', [[spoiler: aka Ace]].
* HeroicBastard - Hugo has a DisappearedDad, and [[spoiler: Thomas is the illegitimate son of a Zexen noble.]]

* HeroicMime - {{Averted}}. All four of the main playable characters talk. The ones that are real silent are some background characters and even THEY don't stay quiet the whole time.
* HiddenElfVillage - Alma Kinan, hidden from the world by a magic barrier and the only one of the Grassland tribes not to appear the truce meeting with Zexen.
* ImprobableWeaponUser - Several; Mel stands out by using her [[DemonicDummy puppet]] Branky. Then there's the [[MusicalAssassin Buskers]]...
* InterspeciesRomance - It is hinted in this game that Nash married the 1000-year-old vampiress mistress Sierra, a playable character from Suikoden II, whom he met during the first of his gaiden games. Though, considering that she did suck his blood (and that he doesn't seem to have aged a day in the last 15 years), he may no longer be human.

* JeanneDArchetype - Chris inherits her position from her dead superior and feels uncomfortable in it but carries it out for the good of Zexen's people.

* LadyOfWar - Chris Lightfellow is one of the series most prominant examples.

* LizardFolk - One of the major Grasslands tribes. Surprisingly, they're ''not'' evil, subverting the ReptilesAreAbhorrent trope. They live in a huge underground cave and their beds are "nice and chilly" because, being cold-blooded, they can only go to sleep when it's cold.

* [[MagicalNativeAmerican Magical Karayan]] - Aila, a young shaman-in-training from the Karayan Tribe, can read the spirits of the earth and nature.
* MayflyDecemberRomance - It is a DeconstructedTrope for this game.
* MultipleEndings - Taken a step further in that any of the three main leads can become the ''main'' lead by [[spoiler: taking up the True Fire Rune]], leading to special endings for each. Also, collecting all the Stars of Destiny adds [[spoiler: a PlayableEpilogue recapping the events of the game from the villain's point of view]].
* MusicalAssassin - The Buskers Toppo, Nei and Shabon.

* MythologyGag - [[spoiler:Luc]] will remark that Hugo had [[spoiler:similar vibes with Tir and Riou from the previous game. Hugo is not the Tenkai star, but he pretty much held the 'main protagonist' spot, something that Luc wouldn't comment on Geddoe and Chris]].

* NoExportForYou - ''Suikoden III'' never got a PAL release.
* NoIndoorVoice - Peggi, the ''very'' enthusiastic Lizard Clan [[TheBlacksmith blacksmith]].
* NonActionGuy - Thomas is the Tenkai Star this time around, but generally lets more capable people do the fighting for him. Still plays an important role in events, however, and goes through some nice CharacterDevelopment in the process ''without'' going all gung-ho for combat. Also, he won't [[InexplicableTreasureChests loot bodies for treasure]]. Or climb ladders, for some reason. His stats are also arguably the worst out of the heroes... Or just the worst, period. It ''is'' possible to make him a decent fighter, however.
* ObliviousToLove - Chris is adored and fawned over by most of her knights. Their subtlety is a rock that still manages to fly over her head.
* OldSaveBonus - Save data from the first two games unlocks some extra goodies and more personal [[ContinuityNod Continuity Nods]].
** There are also some for the Gaidens, but [[NoExportForYou for obvious reasons]] these don't appear in the North American version.
* OlderAndWiser - Lucia, Apple, Sasarai, Nash (applies to the [[NoImportForYou Gaidens)]] and Futch.
* OlderThanTheyLook - [[spoiler: Geddoe]] (looks 35ish but is actually over 100}, [[spoiler: Jimba]] (Looks like late 20s but is actually about 80), and the Twins (in their 30s and look like androgynous 16 year olds). ALL are justified by their True Runes.
* OneWingedAngel - So we got the BigBad cornered and [[AllYourPowersCombined all the True Elemental Runes]] at our disposal so we can beat him... {{OH CRAP}}! DID HE JUST TRANSFORM INTO A FUCKING WIND PHOENIX?!?
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou - Duke and the 14th Unit have this attitude towards Geddoe and the 12th Unit, which led to their HeelFaceTurn.
* PapaWolf - Put Toppo and Shabon in your party. Should Shabon get knocked unconscious during battle, Toppo will go [[UnstoppableRage berserk]], meaning he will get even stronger than before.
** This occurs with a number of other character combinations, too, but in keeping with the trope: Sergeant Joe is a more apparent in-story example to Hugo and Lulu, and berserks when either of the boys are heavily injured or knocked out.
* PettingZooPeople - The Duck tribe, and the various Dog people.

* PowerTrio - Hugo, Geddoe and Chris. [[spoiler:Geddoe, Wyatt and the Flame champion]]

* PurpleIsPowerful - Lilly, Fred, Rico, Picolo, Ayame, Salome, Melville, Wilder, Roland.
* TheQuisling - Franz, a Mantor trainer trying to earn second class citizenship for his hometown, Le Buque. Unlike most examples, he's treated Sympathetically (Foolish, but sympathetic) - since everyone else in Le Buque just sit on their asses and complain about the conditions. Geddoe pointed that out in his [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome CMOA]].
* RoseHairedGirl - Estella inverts the trope by the opposite of the page description. She's an abusive mentor to her only student and lacks any kind of emotional warmth for anyone else.
* RuleOfFunny - Getting a [[WTHCastingAgency badly cast]] play in theater will get the show booed... But who cares about that when [[CrowningMomentOfFunny those reek of complete hilarity]]!?

*** And she's certainly grown up nicely in other ways, if you know what I mean.
** Tuta too. He's just a CuteShotaroBoy in II, and now he's a {{Bishonen}} doctor who bangs a hot nurse (Mio)
** And no mention of ''Futch?'' BrattyHalfPint in I, EmoTeen {{Bishonen}} in II, and MrFanservice in III.
* ShoutOut - The child detective Kidd is a rather obvious CaptainErsatz of DetectiveConan.
* SimultaneousArcs - For much of the game, you alternate playing chapters between the three leads. (i.e. Hugo Chapter 1, then Chris Chapter 1, then Geddoe Chapter 1.) The three Chapter 1s cover roughly the same period of time, but from different perspectives.
* SpinOffspring - Emily (Ronnie Bell and Mose from SuikodenI), Sanae (Freed and Yoshino from SuikodenII) Sharon (Milia from game 1 yet again), Fred (Maximillian from the first 2 games' grandson), Ceasar and Albert (Silverberg decendants) compensate for the relatively few recurring characters this time around. Belle is implied to be Meg's (from the first two games) daughter.

* {{Stripperific}} - Unlike the other installments, this game gloriously averts this, as only Estelle is a major example.
** It is notable that this is the only game in the series where Jeanne averts this trope. She makes up for it later.
* SurprisinglyEasyMiniQuest - The castellan's sidequest. Also gets subverted later.
* TakeYourTime - You can actually leave the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon at any time you want and spend as much time as you want riding horses, putting on plays, rearranging the furniture and so on. Your enemy will hold off on the whole [[spoiler: ceremony to destroy the world thing. [[hottip:* :Though it's fun to nab all the other runes first, effectively derailing his plan ''anyway''...]]]]
* ThemeNaming - Geddoe's mercenaries are named: Joker, Queen, Ace and Jacques. Hint: think of a deck of cards. All of which, or at least in Joker's case which hints that the others may be as well, are pseudonyms.
* ThoseTwoGuys - Lilly's attendants Reed and Samus. They're {{Pallete Swap}}s of each other with notable personality distinction between them.
* TogetherInDeath - [[spoiler: Luc and Sarah at the end of his path.]]
* TricksterMentor - Estella.
* WellIntentionedExtremist - [[spoiler: Luc, whose EvilPlan is supposed to avert a horrible future.]]
* WhiteHairedPrettyGirl - Chris and a surprisingly modest Jeane.
* WhoWantsToLiveForever - Plays a critical role this time around, as a True Rune bearer gave up his power and immortality so that he could grow old and die with the woman he loved.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen - Early plans included having [[spoiler: Sasarai]] as the ''fifth'' [=PoV=] character, which would have included giving players [[spoiler: their first really good look at the Holy Empire of Harmonia]]. ExecutiveMeddling resulted in the fifth character being [[spoiler:TeamPet Koroku]] instead. The manga does make up for some of this by giving more focus on what would have been her POV.

* MythologyGag - [[spoiler:Luc]] will remark that Thomas had [[spoiler:similar vibes with Tir and Riou from the previous game. Thomas, of course, is the Tenkai star]].

* HotChickWithASword - Chris, Lilly, Queen and Elaine.

* PrettyInMink

** The four main characters count. Hugo is Sanguine, Chris is Choleric, Geddoe is Phlegmatic and Thomas is Melancholic.

* MythologyGag - [[spoiler:Luc]] will remark that Thomas had [[spoiler:similar vibes with Tir and Riou from the previous game]].

* BadassFurry - The ducks tribe looks ridiculous, but Sgt. Joe ''will'' earn your respect.

* Berserker - Hallec