History VideoGame / SwordsAndSandals

* MakeMeWannaShout: In ''Swords and Sandals 2'', a valid min-maxing strategy is to focus mostly on Charisma, so that your Taunt skill becomes your free, deadly, ranged, and only, weapon.

* GoKartingWithBowser: In IV, Baron Wolfgang and HeChaos are fine playing an AdventureBoardGame with each other and a few other people, despite them leading opposing armies in Crusader. Arglaxx, who also led a different army in Crusader, works as a bartender in the tavern they play in.

*** [[FaceHeelTurn Betrayer of Brandor]]: The protagonist [[spoiler: wears Antares' crown, absorbing his power for themselves and becoming [[GreaterScopeVillain The Malevolence's]] new champion. You [[HeroKiller murder Belgrave]] and [[KickTheSonOfABitch HeChaos]] before ransacking Castle Claymore, gaining a large amount of gold and becoming the new great threat to Brandor.]]

** Extremely powerful melee weapons, such as the Yeti Project’s club or Bladetron v 2.0’s swords, can cause this by default due to their extraordinary damage output [[note]]For context, endgame characters in Swords and Sandals III have health in the mid hundreds to low thousands, with the latter mostly being Champions or very Vitality-heavy PCs. The damage dealt by the weapons quoted above is in the mid to high hundreds ''before'' strength bonuses, and they’re both encountered in the early-to-middle game, meaning that most player characters simply do not have the health or armour to endure even a single strike from them.[[/note]]; similarly, spells cast by a character with extremely high Intellect have a tendency to wipe out their opponent’s health bar in a single shot.

** Both the heroic and villainous leader-trios are roughly organised along these lines, with the neutral leaders (Celen and Bors) changing on a whim. This is particularly pronounced in their Conquer the Realm endings of the heroic factions, [[spoiler: where the loss of one component of the trio tends to result in the others becoming unbalanced and suffering unfortunate fates]].

* AndIMustScream: The (male) Evil Ninja made the mistake of [[BullyingADragon trying to steal the wizard Sagan’s familiar]], a rare rainbow-feathered owl. Sagan [[ForcedTransformation turned him into]] a [[BlobMonster Sagan Blob]], keeping him was aware of his surroundings but incapable of influencing his own body. [[spoiler: You beating him allows him to return to human form and re-join his granddaughter.]]

** Swords and Sandals II ends with the Nameless [[spoiler: setting sail from Doomtrek to Suul’s Gateway, drawn there by visions of Emperor Antares and a mysterious power deep beneath the mountains.]]
** Swords and Sandals III ends with the Starbound Gladiator [[spoiler: being taken aboard the Automatons’ ship along with Bhaargle and an alien gladiator, where an Automaton explains that they have been selected to compete in the Galacticus Fantasticus – the ultimate gladiator tournament in the galaxy.]]
** Swords and Sandals V has a downplayed example in its endings – [[spoiler: while Antares is vanquished forever, either a new BigBad has already come for the heroes to face ([[HeelFaceTurn Betrayer of Brandor]]) or a new one will almost certainly arise in the future (Protector of Brandor).]] For now, though, your character can rest.

* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: Tavern Quests limits you to a party of four members per game. Unlike most example, this is justified by the setting of the game: it’s a InUniverse [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons D&D-like]] RolePlayingGame with four characters acting as players.

** The Beast Force are the desert-dwelling version of the Legion of H, being comprised of unpredictable simian troops and bloodthirsty [[BeastMan Beast Men]]. This is most pronounced in [[spoiler: their Conquer the Realm ending, where they destroy almost everything man-made and reduce Brandor’s cities to stinking hovels.]]

** [=HeChaos=] has two of these: the Seal of Disapproval and his crystal falchion, both of which grant him greater power in exchange for worsening (or, perhaps, causing) his infamous madness. This makes sense, considering the former is a physical representation of his [[DealWithTheDevil deal with Archfiend Zeerzabahl]] and the latter is explicitly said to be cursed.
** The Grail of Antares. [[spoiler: As the name implies, it [[SoulJar contains the pieces of Antares’ soul]], keeping the former Emperor as a [[SealedEvilInACan prisoner incapable of threatening Brandor]]. However, it can also tempt those around it with the prospect of power – the unnamed protagonist of ''V'' very nearly succumbs to its influence in a Good playthrough before being snapped out of it by Belgrave, while an [[VillainProtagonist Evil protagonist]] is drawn in.]]
* ArtifactTitle: The series is called Swords and Sandals in reflection of its roots as a gladiatorial combat game. This applies even to Crusader (which is more of a TurnBasedStrategy) and Pirates (which takes place on the high seas).
* ArtEvolution: The ''Redux'' versions of Crusader and Emperor’s Reign feature updated artwork for the NPC shopkeepers and some of the bosses. For example: [[https://i.imgur.com/iSOaPPn.png original Arglaxx]] vs. [[https://i.imgur.com/9eQt26T.jpg new Arglaxx]].

** Many pre-battle intros, ranging from Baron Wolfgang verbally flipping off Antares in ''Crusader Redux'' to the introductions the Arena Champions use in ''III'' are this, with the characters boasting of their prowess or taunting their foes.

** Most arena champions canonically died during their battles, only to be resurrected by magical healing off-screen due to being [[SavedByCanon, wealthy or generally liked enough]]. (This is also the justification for the Gladiator being able to continue after dying). It’s far from foolproof though, as several Champions were either too badly mangled (like Pigsus), [[ZeroPercentApprovalRating too widely hated]] (like [[HateSink the Slave Driver]]), or too poor (like [[{{Pirate}} Nine Cat Jack]]) by the populace to warrant resurrection.

* BadassPreacher: Father Painbringer, a legendary HunterOfMonsters and former gunslinger turned ordained priest and weapon vender. [[spoiler: You’re on the receiving end of his badassery during his Arena Champion battle, as he’s secretly been serving the Automatons and has been instructed to test you.]] After the Gladiae Ultratus, he eventually returned to patrolling the Badlands and protecting the weak.

* BeatStillMyHeart: One death animation seen throughout the series features the victim’s chest being slashed open, prompting their heart to fall out onto the sands where it continues beating for a few seconds before finally stilling.

** [[spoiler: Father Painbringer]] wields a powerful rocket launcher in his battle with you, and it’s quite the big gun.
** [[spoiler: [[FinalBoss Ultratus Omega’s]] ]] [[DualWielding dual weapons of choice]]. They’re at least twice as long as him and have a damage output in the hundreds to thousands at the minimum. [[ChainsawGood They’re also chainsaws]].

* BigBad: [[EvilOverlord Emperor Antares]] serves as the main antagonist for half the main series and one of its spinoffs, as the one controlling Doomtrek Arena (where the protagonist is enslaved) or the one waging war on the realm. While he’s dead by the time of ''Swords and Sandals V'', his shadow still looms large over the story due to the [[ArtifactOfDoom Grail of Antares]] [[spoiler: and he eventually takes centre stage as the FinalBoss, having been resurrected as part of a plot to kill him for good]].

* ButtMonkey: The Fearful Prisoner, an enslaved senior citizen who exists [[ZeroEffortBoss purely to be killed by your gladiator in their first match]] and accumulated a losing streak in the hundreds before Antares fell. Eventually subverted as of ''III'', where he TookALevelInBadass to become the first (albeit weakest) Arena Champion of the game, then retired to a life of comfort and peace following the game.

* ClimaxBoss: [[spoiler: Evil You]] in the second game – their defeat marks the point where the Nameless (mostly) goes from a self-serving NominalHero to a more traditional UnscrupulousHero and firmly sets themself against Antares. [[spoiler: Appropriate, considering you’re facing an EvilKnockoff representing all that is evil in you.]]

* CrystalDragonJesus: The Church of Suul has many similar aesthetics to Christanity. Their most commonly used icon is a crimson cross, their ''Crusader'' faction being is called the Templar Church, and the priest of the church in ''Swords and Sandals 2'' resembles a stereotypical Christian friar, among other similarities. In addition to this, their religion centres on the worship of a (seemingly) all-powerful, benevolent god who is opposed by a SatanicArchetype.

** A non-health version in ''Tavern Quests'': Test Your Fate tiles are almost always situated next to "lose money" tiles, and failing the test will send you onto the "lose money" tile. Since you cannot go any further without passing the fate roll, it’s entirely possible to lose huge amounts of your gold by repeatedly botching the dice roll.

* DeadlyGame: In ''V'', when Belgrave sends you to [[spoiler: infiltrate the Legion of H, [=HeChaos=] forces you into one under threat of death as punishment for deserting the Legion. He asks you a series of riddles with multiple answers, and if you pick the wrong answer, he throws you off a cliffside to your death on the rocks below while cackling like a loon.]]

** Dying in the main games has no real impact beyond breaking your win streak and sending you back to your last SavePoint. III is particularly noticeable in this regard – unlike II, you don’t even lose gold or progress made since the last SavePoint, but just lose your winstreak and are sent back to the town.
** Downplayed by the redux editions and the fifth game, in which death requires a saving throw to be made. Failing the throw costs you a small amount of gold and (if three are failed in a row) a point of one random stat, which can all be regained relatively easily through duels and adventures, respectively.
** Averted in [[EndlessGame Survival Mode]] and [[FinalDeathMode Ironman difficulty]], where dying once means the permanent end of your character.
* DeckOfWildCards: The Evil alliance of ''Crusader'' gradually becomes this [[spoiler: after the Legion of H's chapter, with Arglaxx and [=HeChaos=] both backstabbing Antares and going to war with each other.]]
* DegradedBoss: In the fifth game's final dungeon, the enemies you encounter include miniaturised and weakened versions of previous Arena Champions or Dungeon Guardians, such as the Demilich (a purple-and-green-robed version of the Lord of Sorrow).

** [[spoiler:[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Solon Zerad, the Light's End]]]] is an extremely powerful demon in the fifth game, found [[spoiler: at the end of the Lost Cathedral]]. If his introductory boast is anything to go by, he was one of those who [[spoiler: originally destroyed the world of Tolotia, from which the {{Precursors}} of Brandorian civilization are implied to have come]] and he's certainly more than capable of breaking you in half if you come unprepared.

** [[spoiler: Antares goes from the overarching BigBad in the first three games to a single (if very late-game) BossBattle in ''III'']]. Later subverted in ''V'', where they return to their former status.
** Bors the Mighty and [=HeChaos=] go from central figures in ''Crusader'' to item vendors in ''III''. (Assuming the former ''is'' Bors – they share the same appearance, [[spoiler: but Bors was canonically killed by the Death Imperium during the Crusades]].)

** In the original ''Swords and Sandals II'', you start off as a [[MadeASlave slave in the Emperor’s dungeons]], having been locked up so long you [[NameAmnesia forgot your own name]] [[note]]''Swords and Sandals II Redux'' has the protagonist come to Doomtrek under similar circumstances to the original game, being washed ashore and then enslaved to fight as a gladiator[[/note]]. You’re forced to become a gladiator by your [[WardensAreEvil sadistic prison warden]] through murdering a helpless, demented old prisoner, then sent out into the arena with a rusty knife and maybe a few scraps of armor to die to the amusement of the crowd in a few days.
* EarlyBirdCameo: If you move far enough across the main Gladiae Ultratus arena, you can see a private box where four [[MechanicalLifeforms Automatons]] are watching the fight. [[spoiler: They’re the fourth, thirteenth, twenty-first, and final Arena Champions.]]

** [[spoiler: Evil You]], the penultimate boss of the second game is this to [[spoiler: the player, being a physical incarnation of all their evil and negative traits]]. Appropriately enough, they’re a MirrorBoss who copies the spells, stats, and equipment of their original good self.

** King Lionel IX is essentially this to Antares, being a [[TheGoodKing just and wise king who is beloved by his subjects and willing to fight for their lives]] while Antares is a ruthless [[EvilOverlord Evil Emperor]] and OmnicidalManiac hellbent on destroying all life on Tritonia who prefers to work through his minions.
* FeedItWithFire: By stacking your immunity to an element above 100% in the third and fourth games, spells of that element will actually heal you. This is also demonstrated by certain bosses – don’t even think of using lightning spells on [[spoiler: Ultratus Omega]].

** The [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores Legion of H]] makes a habit of press-ganging people from Eddengarth and turning the citizens of cities they raid into slave soldiers, keeping them in line through fear and brutal treatment. It's also deconstructed in that this makes them exceptionally prone to [[WeAREStrugglingTogether violent infighting]] and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere desertion]], as their lack of loyalty means they'll take any opportunity to get up the ranks or get out of the Legion as a whole, as seen in the case of ''[=SaS V=]'''s protagonist.

** One of several playable races in ''III'', in which they appear as one-eyed humanoids made out of rock. Curiously, [[BloodFromAStone they bleed like any other race]] despite this.

* GreaterScopeVillain: The Malevolence, the series' SatanicArchetype. While they're never seen in person, they're all but stated to be [[GodOfEvil the root of all evil]] in Tritonia and are heavily implied to be TheManBehindTheMan to Antares. [[spoiler: The Book of Lore sheds some further light on this: the Malevolence is the ancient enemy of [[GodOfGood Suul the One]], having attacked Suul's homeworld of Tolotia and slaughtered all life there; Suul and a few survivors escaped through the [[InterdimensionalTravelDevice Constellation Mirror]] to Tritonia, where they civilized Brandor and sealed the way behind them. The Malevolence's ultimate goal is to use Antares as a pawn to unlock the Mirror, travel to Tritonia, and do battle with Suul before [[OmnicidalManiac exterminating all life there]] and moving onto the next world.]]

* HeroAntagonist: While all of the [[BossBattle Dungeon Guardians]] are this to some extent, Thangreal the Vigilant stands out. Unlike the other Guardians, he’s the only one to try and negotiate with you rather than attacking on sight, and fights you purely because he was charged with preventing [[spoiler: Antares’ return]] at all costs, which the hero is actively trying to engineer [[spoiler: so that he and Belgrave can kill the Emperor for good.]]

** [[spoiler: Ultratus Omega]] is actually so resistant to lightning spells that they ''[[FeedItWithFire heal]]'' from being hit with them. Also justifiable, considering they're an Automaton.
* InstantAwesomeJustAddMecha: The mysterious Automatons, who make their debut in Swords and Sandals III.

** By the time of the Battle for Brandor in ''Crusader'', [[spoiler: Antares has crushed the armies of Free States of Braxis and routed the Templar Church's forces at Drakondier, leaving only the Kingdom of Phaetor to stand between Antares and total defeat.]]
** [[spoiler: Antares blasts Sir Belgrave and [=HeChaos=] aside upon his resurrection]] in ''V'', leaving you to face the full wrath of the FinalBoss alone.
* ItsAWonderfulFailure: Failing a story mission in ''Crusader'' yields a screen of your leader standing before their burning home castle, with a detailed description of how your failure led to their faction's defeat and your character's death or imprisonment. Particularly pronounced is the defeat during [[FinalBattle the Battle for Brandor]], which [[spoiler: describes an apocalyptic scene of Brandor in ruins after the war against the Death Imperium, with a badly-wounded and utterly exhausted King Lionel sitting alone amidst the bodies of his friends and soldiers, [[DespairEventHorizon having finally lost all hope of stopping Antares]]. Antares finds and wordlessly finishes him off, leaving Brandor to be reduced to a lifeless wasteland by the omnicidal undead hordes.]]

** In true [=HeChaos=] fashion, Zeerzabahl's lost [[ArtifactOfDoom Seal of Disapproval]] was [[spoiler: under his bed in Eddengarth all the time. Hey, it did say it was "Lost close to home,"...]]

** [[spoiler: Reg the Hammer]] bites it offscreen at the hand of Legion of H soldiers near the climax of [=SaS V=], [[spoiler: having [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived his usefulness]] to the Legion.]]

** With the advent of stat-boosting equipment in ''[=SaS III=]'' pure Mages became this. While their damage starts out extremely low, stacking certain bits of equipment and putting most of your points into Magicka and Stamina allowed you to reach four or even five-figure damage outputs in a single cast, delivering a OneHitKill to all but the hardiest of bosses.
** This was infamously played straight with several bosses – their absurdly high armour and melee damage meant that fighting them in melee was a LuckBasedMission reliant on good dodge and hit rolls, while mages could simply cast [[{{Knockback}} Gale]] and then spam [[SpellLevels tier six]] spells until the boss died or got too close (upon which Gale would have cooled down and could be used again).

** The Dungeon Guardians act as this in ''Grail of Antares'': they are a set of four powerful monsters, each of which dwells at the bottom of a dungeon and guards a shard of the eponymous ArtifactOfDoom. The Hypogeum has [[OurLichesAreDifferent the Lord of Sorrow]], the [[PyramidPower Forbidden Pyramid]] has the [[{{Golem}} Lapis Devastatum]], the [[SlippySlideyIceWorld White Wyrm Caverns]] has [[TokenGoodTeammate Thangreal the Vigilant]], and [[spoiler: [[CreepyCathedral The Lost Cathedral]] has [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Solom Zerad, the Light's End]].]]

* MilesGloriosus: [=HeChaos=] the Scourge boasts that he has made cities crumble and emperors cowl in his first appearance, yet almost every scheme of his fails catastrophically despite his bragging and the man himself is repeatedly shown to be an incompetent, unstable GeneralFailure. He also claimed that he killed the Great Beast at Doombtrek, which the 85,000 fans who saw the Nameless slay it vehemently disagree with.
* MirrorBoss: The penultimate boss of the second game is [[spoiler: an evil duplicate of you, created by [[BigGood Bhaargle]] as a SecretTestOfCharacter.]] When you defeat them in battle, [[spoiler: the Nameless completes their HeelFaceTurn from lawless buccaneer and potential [[TheDragon Dragon]] to Antares to become a full-fledged hero.]]

*** King Lionel IX: [[spoiler: Without the Templar Church and Free States to keep them in balance, the Kingdom of Phaetor gradually becomes increasingly decadent, and its people become disdainful of their liege. Its people eventually stage a wholesale revolt against the monarchy and depose the elderly King Lionel, reorganising the Kingdom into a republic.]]
*** Sir Belgrave: [[spoiler: Though the Templar Church has won, Belgrave is [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone utterly disgusted with himself for betraying and conquering his old friends]]. He resigns from his position as High Marshal and goes into self-imposed exile out of grief, while the Church turns Brandor into [[TheTheocracy a theocratic state]] where religious rule is mandatory, GladiatorGames are banned, and “heretics” are burned at the stake.]]
*** Baron Wolfgang: [[spoiler: As he and his men celebrate their victory, a drunk Baron Wolfgang decides he can fly and steps off a castle’s parapet. His men subsequently re-name Drakondier in his honour, while the Free States expand and prosper.]]
*** Celen Helmguard: [[spoiler: Helmguard forcibly abolishes all noble titles and forces large numbers of citizens to labour at sword-point, turning Brandor into a heavily-industrialised realm of factories and bleak halls, guided by his Doctrine of the Common Man and enforced by his Brute Sqauds. Celen eventually dies of a heart attack after a few decades, but the Iron Republic endures.]]
*** Bors the Mighty: [[spoiler: Having taken control of Brandor, the Sons of Frost spend some time consolidating their grip on the realm. Bors slowly becomes more paranoid during this time, executing several of his former allies on suspicion of treason before ultimately setting out with a large war-fleet to conquer distant territories. The fleet is never heard from again, and is implied to have been KilledOffscreen by a [[SeaMonster Leviathan]]]].
*** [=HeChaos=] the Scourge: [[spoiler: A victorious [=HeChaos=] razes Drakondier to the ground, intending to build the world's grandest gladiatorial arena in its place [[EvilIsPetty out of spite toward his childhood rival Belgrave.]] Construction of the arena got halfway before he ran out of money and [[SanitySlippage lost the last few shreds of his sanity]], ending his days as a deranged prisoner beneath his own arena.]]
*** Arglaxx: [[spoiler: The Beast Force rampages across Brandor, destroying everything they find and reducing civilized cities to stinking hovels. The remaining sentient races flee overseas or to Eldor Hath, leaving Brandor to be reclaimed by nature and become a land of overgrown jungles, forests, and plains full of BeastMen.]]
*** Emperor Antares: [[spoiler: Antares’ undead armies overrun Brandor, butchering all sentient life within a year and raising them as undead soldiers to swell his legions. The victorious Emperor subsequently returns to the south to conquer his homeland of Eldor Hath, before using preparing to seek out and massacre new worlds via the Constellation Mirror.]]

** [[spoiler: Antares]] is eventually finished off this way [[spoiler: during the final battle of the Crusades - after he's weakened by a surprise attack from Sir Belgrave, King Lionel takes the Emperor's head off with his sabre.]]

** In Tavern Quests, spaces containing monsters are helpfully marked out by a cartoonish demon head. Stepping on one triggers a battle against a randomly generated enemy gladiator.
** [[BeefGate Dungeon Guardians]] in the fifth game always inhabit the fifth, tenth, or fifteenth floor of the dungeon in question, with the dungeon’s final boss always being found on the twentieth level. There is no way to progress or escape the floor without taking them down, though the game is kind enough to somewhat warn you of their presence before you run into one.
* PrepareToDie: With the exception of the [[LivingStatue Lapis Devastatum]], all of the Dungeon Guardians and Sentinels greet you with a sinister warning or threat running along these lines, warning you to turn back due to them being bound to [[spoiler: defend the pieces of the Grail of Antares and prevent his resurrection at all costs]].
* SecretTestOfCharacter: [[spoiler: Evil You]] is created as part of one, in which the Nameless must [[spoiler: confront a ShadowArchetype of themself which represents what they'll become if they side with Emperor Antares]]. Defeating them results in [[spoiler: the Nameless completing their HeelFaceTurn and siding against Antares once and for all.]]

* SleepDeprivation: For [[spoiler: his incompetence and betrayal of the Imperium during the Crsuades]], Antares cursed [=HeChaos'=] to suffer terrible nightmares should he try and sleep for more than a couple hours at a time. Unsurprisingly, [[SanitySlippage this has just rendered him even more unhinged]].

* RichesToRags: Mr Omazing used to be the fourth-richest citizen of Brandor before losing much of his wealth in founding the Gladiae Ultratus arena, forcing him to turn to gladiatorial combat to make ends meet. [[spoiler: He [[IronicDeath ultimately dies at the Starbound Gladiator’s hands in the arena he founded.]]]]
* RummageSaleReject: Assuming you wear multiple bits of gear from different armour sets, this is the resultant image – it’s entirely possible to wear a {{Ninja}}-like mask and royal ermine cape atop a Ancient Greek myrmidon's armor while wielding a futuristic keytar, for example.

** [[spoiler: [=HeChaos=]]] does something similar during a flight of fancy, demanding that the PC find him a certain amount of his favourite food in the White Wyrm Caverns or die from a time-delayed curse.]]
** One of the final stages of [[spoiler: The Lost Cathedral]] puts you on a race against time, courtesy of [[spoiler: the castle's defensive wards.]] Failing to achieve your objective in time results in the level's ceiling collapsing on your character's head, unsurprisingly killing them.
* TreacherousAdvisor: [[spoiler: Reg the Hammer has secretly been serving the Legion of H all along. His pushing you to explore the dungeons and battle the Arena Champions was a means of using you to find the remaining Grail pieces while gaining your trust.]] They’re ultimately RewardedAsATraitorDeserves on [=HeChaos’=] orders [[spoiler: once you have all bar one of the Grail pieces, as they’ve [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived their usefulness]] and don’t want to risk being backstabbed by someone whose loyalty is easily brought.]]

* YouKilledMyFather: [[MasterArcher Battlemaiden Anna]] is out for Arglaxx’s head because his Beast Force murdered her parents and forced her people to flee during the Crusades. While she ultimately falls to the Starbound Gladiator, he agrees to take up her quest for revenge; Arglaxx is eventually [[spoiler: crippled in battle with the Gladiator, and survives only due to the efforts of die-hard Beast Force loyalists.]]

* AndIMustScream: The (male) Evil Ninja made the mistake of [[BullyingADragon trying to steal the wizard Sagan’s familiar]], a rare rainbow-feathered owl. Sagan [[BalefulPolymorph turned him into]] a [[BlobMonster Sagan Blob]], keeping him was aware of his surroundings but incapable of influencing his own body. [[spoiler: You beating him allows him to return to human form and re-join his granddaughter.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sas_7.png]]

** The earlier games had more cartoonish character designs and were overall DenserAndWackier, with fairly thin {{Excuse Plot}}s, sparse woldbuilding, and very little interaction between characters.

** ''Crusader Redux'' begins and ends with the Kingdom of Phaetor's POV.

* CrystalDragonJesus: The Church of Suul has similar aesthetics to Christanity, with Cross Iconography, their crusades faction being called the Templars and a Monk appearing in ''Swords and Sandals 2''.

** The earlier games had more cartoonish character designs and were overall more DenserAndWackier.

** There are little to no female characters in the original versions of the first two games, with the only present female being the owner of the Magic shop. ''II Redux'' would give you the option to play as a female, complete with unique sprites and voice clips. There's are also female opponents, meaning female gladiators can still be involved even when you're playing as a male.

** King Lionel IX is essentially this to Antares, being a [[TheGoodKing just and wise king who is beloved by his subjects and willing to fight for their lives]] while Antares is a ruthless BadBoss and OmnicidalManiac hellbent on destroying all life on Tritonia who prefers to work through his minions.
* FeedItWithFire: By stacking your immunity to an element above 100% in the third and fourth games, spells of that element will actually heal you. This is actually demonstrated by certain bosses –don’t even think of using lightning spells on [[spoiler: Ultratus Omega]].

*** [=HeChaos the Scourge=] is the Id of the evil leaders – a reckless, impulsive, somewhat unstable commander who is ruled by his emotions, even acting against his own interests out of pure pique or [[EvilIsPetty to settle childhood grudges]].

** Antares’ skeleton army is WeakenedByTheLight, which causes them to slowly weaken and eventually die again if exposed to daylight. The Death Imperium’s forces can fight and move in the daytime without penalties of any kind in both ''Crusader'' and its [[UpdatedReRelease Redux]] version.

** The Dusk Harlequin, the [[TheNecrocracy Death Imperium’s]] [[AttackOFThe50FootWhatever Colossus]], resembles a giant grim reaper wearing a blank WhiteMaskOfDoom and is said to harvest souls for the [[SatanicArchetype Malevolence]].

* HarderThanHard: Ironman difficulty, which combines Hard’s over-levelled opponents with {{Permadeath}}. So not only are you facing enemies that are much stronger than you, ''any'' lost fight against gladiators or monsters means that you need to restart from the beginning.

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Each of ''Crusader'''s chapters is named after an element or title of the POV character. The only exception is the final chapter, which is named after the eponymous FinalBattle.

** [[spoiler: Ultratus Omega]] is actually so resistant to lightning spells that they ''[[FeedItWithFire heal]]'' from being hit with them.

* InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn: By the time of the Battle for Brandor in ''Crusader'', [[spoiler: Antares has crushed the armies of Free States of Braxis and routed the Templar Church's forces at Drakondier, leaving only the Kingdom of Phaetor to stand between Antares and total defeat.]]

* {{Leitmotif}}: Part of the game’s theme (the guitar riff and MetalScream of “GLADIATOR!”) plays at the start of every BossBattle in the third game, while the fifth makes use of an ominous choir to signal the beginning of Arena Champion/Dungeon Guardian fights.

** Pushing an opponent onto the spike pits at the edge of the arena causes them to make a saving roll; if they fail, it causes instant death as they [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice land on the spikes]] or [[DisneyVillainDeath fall from the edge of the map to their doom]].

* TimedMission:
** Several of the quests in ''V'' are timed:
*** One of the earliest has [[EvilSorcerer Fizzacles]] place a time-delayed fatal curse on the player [[ItAmusedMe for his entertainment]]. The PC has to find him and have him call it off before the curse kills them, with the time remaining represented by a burning candle. [[spoiler: [=HeChaos=]]] does something similar during a flight of fancy, [[spoiler: demanding that the PC find him a certain amount of his favourite food in the White Wyrm Caverns or die through a timed curse.]]

** There are little to no female characters in the original versions of the first two games, with the only present female being the owner of the Magic shop. ''II Redux'' would give you the option to play as a female, complete with unique sprites and voice clips.

** The earlier games had more cartoonish character designs and were overall more DensierAndWackier.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: [=HeChaos=] started out as a powerful conqueror and was the BigBad of ''Swords and Sandals I'', in sharp contrast to his later depictions as an AxCrazy PsychopathicManchild and [[GeneralFailure utterly incompetent]] [[DemotedToDragon lackey to Antares]].

*** One of the earliest has [[EvilSorcerer Fizzacles]] place a time-delayed fatal curse on the player [[ItAmusedMe for his entertainment]]. The PC has to find him and have him call it off before the curse kills them, with the time remaining . [=HeChaos=] does something similar during a flight of fancy, [[spoiler: demanding that the PC find him a certain amount of his favourite food in

* MilesGloriosus: [=HeChaos=] the Scourge boasts that he has made cities crumble and emperors cowl in his first appearance, yet almost every scheme of his fails catastrophically despite his bragging, and the man himself is repeatedly shown to be an incompetent, unstable GeneralFailure. He also claimed that he killed the Great Beast at Doombtrek, which the 50,000 fans in attendance when the Nameless slew it vehemently disagree with.

* MultipleChoicePast: Swords and Sandals V allows you to create a backstory for your character in this manner. The broad strokes of the backstory remain the same [[note]]In rough order: the character leaves home for some reason, does something good or evil on your journey. They get drawn into fighting in the Crusades, before being press-ganged into the Legion of H for several years, where they are left physically scarred by an incident and see many of their fellows die. They desert the Legion of H and make for Suul's Gateway, where our story begins.[[/note]] but the individual elements can vary dramatically (for example, the PC may have left home to study with Arkimagus' mages or fled in terror as [[DoomedHometown bandits razed it to the ground]].)

** Both the heroic and villainous leader-trios are roughly organised along these lines, with the neutral leaders (Celen and Bors) changing on a whim. This is particularly pronounced in their Conquer the Realm endings of the heroic factions, [[spoiler: where the loss of one component of the trio tends to result in the others suffering unfortunate fates]].

*** Sir Belgrave Rhykier is the Superego: a stoic, pious and somewhat cynical man who nonetheless possesses a great deal of knowledge and insight about fighting TheUndead and Antares’ other minions.

*** [=HeChaos the Scourge=] is the Id of the evil leaders – a reckless, impulsive, often unstable commander who is slowly being driven mad by multiple curses and is ruled mostly by his emotions.
*** Emperor Antares is the Superego, as a ruthless, patient, and rational commander who acts as TheChessmaster to his colleagues, manipulating them to achieve his own goals.
*** Arglaxx is the Ego – while he does display moments of HotBlooded recklessness and a desire for violence, he’s also smart enough to recognise that Antares is manipulating him and tries to balance logical planning with aggression.

* HarderThanHard: Ironman difficulty, which combines Hard’s over-levelled opponents with {{Permadeath}}.

* HopelessBossFight: If you encounter the Grim Reaper in a dungeon, '''run for it'''. Its attacks are all guaranteed OneHitKills and its armour/health are almost impossible to get through, but it will not follow you beyond the initial encounter.

* LivingStatue: The Lapis Devastatum, a vaguely {{Mayincatec}}-themed animate statue that serves as the second Dungeon Guardian of [=SaS V=].

* MilesGloriosus: [=HeChaos=] the Scourge boasts that he has made cities crumble and emperors cowl in his first appearance, and claims that he single-handedly killed the Great Beast following the second game. Almost every scheme of his fails catastrophically despite his bragging, and the man himself is repeatedly shown to be an incompetent, unstable GeneralFailure.

** The end-game Warrior skill Whirlwind gives you up to a 10% chance of instantly decapitating your opponent on a power attack, [[OneHitKill instantly killing them]].

** Several late-game enemies in ''Grail of Antares''/''V'' also re-use the models and animations of bosses (such as the Harpy Queen), with a few minor alterations to their colouration and size.

* ThePowerOfRock: Guitars are a weapon in the third game, and playing solos with them can damage your enemy’s health or magicka. Their unique death animation even involves summoning a pair of amps and playing music until the target’s head explodes!

* PrepareToDie: With the exception of the [[LivingStatue Lapis Devastatum]], all of the Dungeon Guardians and Sentinels greet you with a sinister warning or threat running along these lines, warning you to turn back or [[spoiler: not resurrect Antares]] due to the fatal consequences.

* TreacherousAdvisor: [[spoiler: Reg the Hammer has secretly been serving the Legion of H all along. His pushing you to explore the dungeons and battle the Arena Champions was a means of using you to find the remaining Grail pieces while gaining your trust.]] They’re ultimately RewardedAsATraitorDeserves on [=HeChaos’=] orders [[spoiler: once you have all bar one of the Grail pieces,]] as they’ve [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived their usefulness]] and don’t want to risk being backstabbed by someone whose loyalty is easily brought.

* BlobMonster: Sagan Blobs, large gelatinous humanoids conjured by wizards to act as manual labourers.
* BloodFromTheMouth: When a gladiator takes damage in the third and fourth games, blood may appear round their mouth during the damage animation.

** A non-health version in ''Tavern Quests'': Test Your Fate tiles are almost always situated next to "lose money" tiles, and failing the test will send you onto the "lose money" tile. Since you cannot go any further without passing the fate roll, it’s entirely possible to lose all your gold by repeatedly botching the dice roll.

** Mossocles the Venomous is a misanthropic [[PlantPerson Floralisk]] whose species and land suffered horrifically at human hands in the Crusades; their home forests were torched [[ForTheEvulz almost purely out of spite]] and many of their tribes were decimated by the Iron Republic, courtesy of their [[LesCollaborateurs treacherous king]]. These events essentially turned him into the bitter killer he is today.

** Downplayed by the redux editions and the fifth game, in which death requires a saving throw to be made. Failing the throw costs you a small amount of gold and (if three are failed in a row) a point of one stat, which can all be regained relatively easily through duels and adventures, respectively.

* DegradedBoss: In the fifth game's final dungeon, the enemies you encounter include miniaturised and weakened versions of previous bosses, many of which are outright re-skins

** [[spoiler:[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Solon Zerad, the Light's End]]]] is an extremely powerful demon in the fifth game, found [[spoiler: at the end of the Lost Cathedral]]. If his introductory boast is anything to go by, he was one of those who [[spoiler: originally destroyed the world of Tolotia, from which the {{Precursors}} of Brandorian civilization are implied to have come]] and he's certainly more than capable of breaking you in half.

** [[spoiler: Antares goes from the BigBad in the first three games to a single (if very late-game) BossBattle in ''III'']]. Later subverted in ''V'', where they return to their former status.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: [=HeChaos=] started out as a powerful conqueror and was the BigBad of ''Swords and Sandals I'', in sharp contrast to his later depictions as an AxCrazy PsychopathicManchild and [[GeneralFailure militarily incompetent]] [[DemotedToDragon lackey to Antares]].

* HarderThanHard: Ironman difficulty, which combined Hard’s over-levelled opponents with {{Permadeath}}.

* ImmuneToFire: Archfiend Coalbhaal’s fire resistance is enough to functionally shrug off any fire damage. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], considering he’s a [[EvilIsBurningHot Fire Demon]].

** [[spoiler: Reg the Hammer]] bites it at the hand of Legion of H soldiers near the climax of [=SaS V=], [[spoiler: having [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived his usefulness]] to the Legion.]]

* MilesGloriosus: [=HeChaos=] the Scourge boasts that he has made cities crumble and emperors cowl in his first appearance, as well as claiming that he single-handedly killed the Great Beast. Almost every scheme of his fails catastrophically despite his bragging, and the man himself is repeatedly shown to be an incompetent, unstable GeneralFailure.

*** Defender of Brandor: The protagonist [[spoiler: destroys Antares’ crown and the last of the evil Emperor’s spirit, finally ridding the realm of his evil. [[BigBadWannabe HeChaos the Scourge]] is arrested by [[BigGood Belgrave’s]] Templar Knights and dragged off to await trial, while you are rewarded with a large amount of gold and the adoration of Brandor.]]
*** [[FaceHeelTurn Betrayer of Brandor]]: The protagonist [[spoiler: wears Antares’ crown, absorbing his power for themselves and becoming [[GreaterScopeVillain The Malevolence’s]] new champion. You [[HeroKiller murder Belgrave]] and [[KickTheSonOfABitch HeChaos]] before ransacking the Castle, gaining a large amount of gold and becoming the new great threat to Brandor.]]
** ''Crusader'' also provides several endings in Conquer the Realm mode, with the exact nature of the ending varying based on the leader you chose:
*** King Lionel IX: [[spoiler: Without the Templar Church and Free States to keep them in balance, the Kingdom gradually becomes increasingly decadent, and its people become disdainful of their liege. Its people eventually stage a wholesale revolt against the monarchy and depose King Lionel, now an old man.]]
*** Sir Belgrave: [[spoiler: Though the Templar Church has won, Belgrave is utterly disgusted with himself for betraying and conquering his old friends. He resigns from his position as High Marshal and goes into self-imposed exile out of grief, while the Church [[TheTheocracy turns Brandor into a theocratic state]] where religious rule is mandatory, GladiatorGames are banned, and “heretics” are burned at the stake.]]

*** Celen Helmguard: [[spoiler: Helmguard forcibly abolishes all noble titles and forces large numbers of citizens to labour at sword-point, turning Brandor into a heavily-industrialised realm of factories and bleak halls, guided by his Doctrine of the Common Man and enforced by his Brute Sqauds. Celen eventually dies of a heart attack, but the Iron Republic endures.]]
*** Bors the Mighty: [[spoiler: Having taken control of Brandor, the Sons of Frost spend some time consolidating their grip on the realm. Bors slowly becomes more paranoid during this time, executing several of his former allies on suspicion of treason before ultimately setting out with a large war-fleet to conquer distant territories. The fleet is never heard from again, and is implied to have been KilledOffscreen by a Leviathan]].
*** [=HeChaos=] the Scourge: [[spoiler: A victorious [=HeChaos=] razes Drakondier to the ground, intending to build a grand gladiatorial arena on the spot [[EvilIsPetty out of spite toward his childhood rival Belgrave.]] Construction of the arena got halfway before he ran out of money and lost the last few shreds of his sanity, ending his days as a deranged prisoner beneath his own arena.]]
*** Arglaxx: [[spoiler: The Beast Force rampages across Brandor, destroying everything they find and reducing civilized cities to stinking hovels. The remaining sentient races flee overseas or to Eldor Hath, leaving Brandor to be reclaimed by nature, becoming a land of jungles, overgrown forests, and plains full of ape-derived BeastMen.]]
*** Emperor Antares: [[spoiler: Antares’ undead armies overrun the Brandor, butchering all sentient life within a year and raising them as Undead to swell his legions. The victorious Emperor subsequently returns to the south to conquer his homeland of Eldor Hath, before using preparing to seek out and massacre new worlds via the Constellation Mirror.]]

* {{Ninja}}: The aptly-named Evil Ninja and Evil Ninja Redux are both obviously inspired by them, with the latter even wielding nunchuck-like weapons.

** [[spoiler: Antares]] is eventually finished off this way [[spoiler: during the final battle of the Crusades.]]

* PaletteSwap: The maps of Tavern Quests are essentially the same, just with their colours inverted and their layout reversed.
* PowerfulButInaccurate: Power attacks can deal huge amounts of damage, but suffer a hefty accuracy penalty.

** In Tavern Quests, spaces containing monsters are helpfully marked out by a cartoonish demons’ head. Stepping on one triggers a battle against a (randomly generated) rival gladiator or enemy.
** [[BeefGate Dungeon Guardians]] in the fifth game always inhabit the fifth, tenth, or fifteenth floor of the dungeon in question, with the dungeon’s final boss always being found on the twentieth level. There is no way to progress the plot without taking them down, though the game is kind enough to somewhat warn you of their presence before you run into one.
* PrepareToDie: With the exception of the [[LivingStatue Lapis Devastatum]], all of the Dungeon Guardians and Sentinels greet you with a sinister warning or threat running along these lines, warning you to turn back or [[spoiler: to not resurrect Antares]].

* RummageSaleReject: Assuming you wear multiple bits of gear from different armour sets, this is the resultant image – it’s entirely possible to wear a {{Ninja}}-like mask and royal cape with a full set of futuristic Automaton armour while wielding a Viking’s battleaxe, for example.

** Many of the bosses have unique weapons or armor that straight-up ''cannot'' be brought anywhere else in the game. Unsurprisingly, [[TheEnemyWeaponsAreBetter 90% of them are much more powerful than yours]]. For an example: Bluescreen Death’s twin swords have four-figure damage at ''minimum'' and are completely exclusive to this boss.
** ''[=SaS II: Redux=]'' subverts this trend by allowing you to pick up two unique pieces of gear from defeated Arena Champions. While you can only get one during the battle, defeating their VengefulGhost lets you pick up the other bit.

* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: Downplayed in ''Crusader Redux'' – if the leader of your faction is defeated on the battlefield, they will be whisked away by medics while your troops [[ScrewThisImOutOfHere run away in terror]], losing the battle without any further troop losses.