History VideoGame / SwordOfMana

* TheMessiah / MessiahCreep: The heroine.

* AntiVillain: [[spoiler:Dark Lord is just bitter over his father's refusal to save his mother; Julius is slowly succumbing to his Vandole blood(that's if he's not Vandole himself). ''Why'' are we fighting them again? Oh yes, because they're too stubborn to back down when the heroine begs them to in her route.]]
** Because they're both psychopaths who kill many innocent people and settle at just ruining just as many other lives to obtain their goals without hesitation.

Part of the WorldOfMana series--a VideoGameRemake, in fact, of the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure first game]] with many of the ''FinalFantasy'' references removed and many more [[ContinuityNod details in keeping with the Seiken Densetsu continuity]] inserted. It was released for the Game Boy Advance in late 2003.

** ContinuityPorn: Aside from Goremand and Isabella, we have [[LegendOfMana Li'l Cactus, Niccolo, and Dudbears]], [[VideoGame/SecretOfMana Dirac]], [[LegendOfMana the Seven Wisdoms]], and [[spoiler:one of Julius' OneWingedAngel forms, which is an {{expy}} of [[LegendOfMana Irwin]]]].

* GuideDangIt: ''Sword of Mana'' takes a lot of cues from ''{{Legend of Mana}}''. Unfortunately, this was one of them. Gardening is much more complicated than it looks like if you're trying to get certain kinds of produce, and trying out all the combination without a guide would be a ridiculously time-consuming expenditure. There's also the process of getting crystal weapons, Niccolo's special deals, and oh yes ALL of the advanced classes, especially the ones that require you to specialize in a weapon before you have access to it!

* WhiteHairedPrettyBoy: Devius.

Like many of the other "old-school" Seiken Densetsu games, ''Sword of Mana'' allows the player to choose whether to play as [[HelloInsertNameHere the hero or the heroine]][[hottip:*:who are called Matt and Rose in the English strategy guide and [[http://archive.gamespy.com/swordofmana/comic/index.shtml official promotional comics]] [[hottip:*: would be known as Sumo and Fuji if the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure'' naming trends were preserved, and are named Duke and Elena in Japan]]. Unlike other Seiken Densetsu games, though, there are significant differences depending on who you choose to play--the hero's route has slightly more focus on dungeon gameplay; in the heroine's story, the characters (particularly the villains) are MUCH more well-developed.

*** UnfortunateImplications: Thus, it's better to stick with your own race. Uh.

* MismatchedEyes: Lee (look closely).

* AntiVillain: [[spoiler:Dark Lord is just bitter over his father's refusal to save his mother; Julius is slowly succumbing to his Vandole blood. ''Why'' are we fighting them again? Oh yes, because they're too stubborn to back down when the heroine begs them to in her route.]]

* GenreSavvy: Dark Lord is fully aware of all the implications of his being Julius' MoralityChain, ''and'' apparently knows [[spoiler:exactly who and what Julius is]]. Eventually, [[spoiler:while dying, he tells the protagonists that they'd better go stop Julius because there's no longer any incentive for him to resist his Vandole blood]].

** MoralityChain: Dark Lord to Julius. [[spoiler:True to type, he completely succumbs to his Vandole blood right after Dark Lord's death and makes a beeline for the Mana Tree.]]

* ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil: Vandole and [[spoiler:Julius]].

* TheVirus: [[spoiler:Medusa's venom inflicts BodyHorror on Amanda; the Vandole family's addiction to Mana power eventually gets the better of Julius.]]

* {{Expy}}: Goremand, for ''SeikenDensetsu3'''s Deathjester, and Isabella, for ''SeikenDensetsu3'''s [[CaptainObvious Isabella]].

* {{Expy}}: Goremand, for ''SeikenDensetsu3'''s Deathjester.

* Identical Stranger: Julius has the same face and hairstyle (aside from skin tone or hair color) as the minor character Prince Durac of Lorimar. Marley notices this, but the reason why they look so similar is never explained.

* MysticalWaif: Julius to the villains' side, although ''SwordOfMana'' is far more vague on how he and Dark Lord wound up together than the original ''FinalFantasyAdventure'', where [[spoiler:Dark Lord was significantly older and Julius was an orphaned child he found in a cave. This does not seem to be the case here, as the two of them are roughly the same age]].

Part of the WorldOfMana series--a VideoGameRemake, in fact, of the [[FinalFantasyAdventure first game]] with many of the ''FinalFantasy'' references removed and many more [[ContinuityNod details in keeping with the Seiken Densetsu continuity]] inserted. It was released for the Game Boy Advance in late 2003.

Like many of the other "old-school" Seiken Densetsu games, ''SwordOfMana'' allows the player to choose whether to play as [[HelloInsertNameHere the hero or the heroine]][[hottip:*:who are called Matt and Rose in the English strategy guide and [[http://archive.gamespy.com/swordofmana/comic/index.shtml official promotional comics]] [[hottip:*: would be known as Sumo and Fuji if the ''FinalFantasyAdventure'' naming trends were preserved, and are named Duke and Elena in Japan]]. Unlike other Seiken Densetsu games, though, there are significant differences depending on who you choose to play--the hero's route has slightly more focus on dungeon gameplay; in the heroine's story, the characters (particularly the villains) are MUCH more well-developed.

Also like many other "old-school" Seiken Densetsu games, ''SwordOfMana'''s story is wrought with angst, and a great many main characters die. Good luck not getting attached to any of them, though.

* AGodAmI: [[spoiler:Julius/Vandole's goal]].

* ActionGirl: The heroine, primarily in her route. She's [[{{Chickification}} Chickified]] a bit in the hero's. Amanda and Isabella also count to some degree.

* [[HeroesWantRedheads Anti Villains Want Redheads]]: Dark Lord's apparent love interest, Isabella, has red hair. ([[HoYay Julius would count too, depending on your interpretation...]])

** Except for [[spoiler:in Dime Tower, where you are best off simply playing as Marshall and blasting everything to pieces with laserbeams before your main character has a chance to get themself killed.]]
* AscendedExtra: All the characters' roles were expanded and given more depth, but especially Willy stands out for this trope. He didn't even manage to survive the first ten minutes of ''FinalFantasyAdventure'', and here he actually makes party member status! Along with being [[spoiler:one of the ''markedly'' few characters to actually survive the game]].

* ContinuityNod: Each of the six class trees from SeikenDensetsu3 show up again here. Isabella (in appearance only) and Deathjester (now named Goremand) have [[{{Expy}} expies]] here as well.
** ContinuityPorn: Aside from Goremand and Isabella, we have [[LegendOfMana Li'l Cactus, Niccolo, and Dudbears]], [[SecretOfMana Dirac]], [[LegendOfMana the Seven Wisdoms]], and [[spoiler:one of Julius' OneWingedAngel forms, which is an {{expy}} of [[LegendOfMana Irwin]]]].

* EraSpecificPersonality: The antagonists are given much more development than in ''FinalFantasyAdventure''. The heroine also has her own storyline, instead of being a DistressedDamsel.

* GenerationXerox: [[spoiler:Like every Vandole]], Julius has distinctive red hair and green eyes.

* GuideDangIt: ''{{Sword of Mana}}'' takes a lot of cues from ''{{Legend of Mana}}''. Unfortunately, this was one of them. Gardening is much more complicated than it looks like if you're trying to get certain kinds of produce, and trying out all the combination without a guide would be a ridiculously time-consuming expenditure. There's also the process of getting crystal weapons, Niccolo's special deals, and oh yes ALL of the advanced classes, especially the ones that require you to specialize in a weapon before you have access to it!
* HalfHumanHybrid: [[spoiler:Medusa's children, Dark Lord and Devius]].
* HeIsNotMyBoyfriend: The heroine to Watts re: the hero, in the scene where she gets the ''kusarigama''.

* [[spoiler:IAmYourFather: Bogard is the heroine's father.]]

** Julius also calls the Mana Clan out on this very early in the story, perhaps in parody of the GreenAesop in ''SecretOfMana''. "This wouldn't be happening if you'd stop keeping your powers to yourselves, you know." "Huh? But Mana is everywhere, how could we be hoarding it?" "...Wow, talk about completely missing the point."

* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: Poor Amanda. Willy probably also counts.

* [[YouCantFightFate You Can't Fight Fate]]: Well, this ''is'' a Mana game...

* CommonEyeColors: All the main characters but [[EyesOfGold Isabella]] and [[MismatchedEyes Lee]].

* AwesomeButImpractical: Mooglemorphis turns you into a [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome Moogle!]] Along with [=BubbleBoat=] and Shadow, these spells make the player invisible to all monsters except those that can track you by smell, sight, and sound respectively. However you can't attack, move very slowly, and probably will still be surrounded by monsters if you were trapped before.

* HoYay: Arguably, Dark Lord and Julius.

Like many of the other "old-school" Seiken Densetsu games, ''SwordOfMana'' allows the player to choose whether to play as [[HelloInsertNameHere the hero or the heroine]][[hottip:*:(who are called Matt and Rose in the English strategy guide and [[http://archive.gamespy.com/swordofmana/comic/index.shtml official promotional comics]], would be known as Sumo and Fuji if the ''FinalFantasyAdventure'' naming trends were preserved, and are named Duke and Elena in Japan))]]. Unlike other Seiken Densetsu games, though, there are significant differences depending on who you choose to play--the hero's route has slightly more focus on dungeon gameplay; in the heroine's story, the characters (particularly the villains) are MUCH more well-developed.

Like many of the other "old-school" Seiken Densetsu games, ''SwordOfMana'' allows the player to choose whether to play as [[HelloInsertNameHere the hero or the heroine]][[hottip:*:(who are called Matt and Rose in the English strategy guide and [[http://archive.gamespy.com/swordofmana/comic/index.shtml official promotional comics]], would be known as Sumo and Fuji if the ''FinalFantasyAdventure'' naming trends were preserved, and are named Duke and Elena in Japan)]]. Unlike other Seiken Densetsu games, though, there are significant differences depending on who you choose to play--the hero's route has slightly more focus on dungeon gameplay; in the heroine's story, the characters (particularly the villains) are MUCH more well-developed.

* StaffChick: Gloriously averted. The heroine wields a staff, but as long as you're playing as her, its primary use is as a bludgeoning weapon. (She is, however, far better at all types of magic than any other character.)