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''Iconoclasts'' is a {{Metroidvania}} platformer game by Joakim "Creator/{{konjak}}" Sandberg, formerly a {{retraux}} VideoGame/CaveStory-influenced project called ''Ivory Springs''. It was in development for seven years before finally releasing in January of 2018.
Robin is a mechanic (complete with [[WrenchWench massive wrench]]) living in a world that's slowly withering away. Her society relies on Ivory, an energy source controlled by a powerful organization called One Concern, which is the center of a religion represented by a figure known as Mother. Robin is not permitted to do mechanical work due to their regulations, but she does it anyway. When she's found out and becomes a sinner in the eyes of the world, she embarks on an adventure with other outcasts in order to stop One Concern once and for all, and find out what's really happening to the planet.
The game's release trailer is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnUN19xGIzU here]]. Links to buy the game, as well as downloads for the 2012 alpha and the ''Ivory Springs'' alpha, can be found [[http://www.konjak.org on Konjak's website]].
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!!''Iconoclasts'' contains examples of the following tropes:
* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Royal is hated by practically everybody due to him basically being a superpowered spoiled brat. Pretty much the only person that shows him any kindness or respect is Robin, and even then it can be up to the player's dialogue choices.
* ActionGirl: Robin and Mina, as well as Black being a DarkActionGirl.
* AdvancingBossOfDoom:
** [[spoiler:The Omega Controller]], first as a RiseToTheChallenge scenario on an elevator platform and then as a horizontal chase where it takes the form of a buzzsaw. In both cases, Robin has to repel the boss with bombs.
** [[spoiler:Fitzroy]] slowly crawls towards Robin for his first two phases, which only makes it harder to keep dodging attacks from [[spoiler:his ivory-borne golem monster]].
* AGodAmI: Being the physical representative of the Starworm, Mother is prone to this. Royal also shows sign of this since [[spoiler:he's supposed to be Mother's successor]].
* AffablyEvil: Chrome may be a general in the the Concern, but he's a genuinely nice and devout man who prefers to avoid violence.
* AllThereInTheManual: The official names of two late-game bosses ([[spoiler:the cat Mother rides on is named Oedipuss after her pet cat, and Black's OneWingedAngel form is the Ivory Beast]]) can only be found on the game's soundtrack.
* AllTheWorldsAreAStage:
** [[spoiler:The Impact Zone]] consists of several rooms themed after previous locations, each containing enemies from previous areas [[spoiler:infested with the blue eyes]].
** [[spoiler:The Omega Controller]] constantly causes the terrain to cycle through the different area textures as you ascend the elevator shaft.
* AmbiguousGender: Agent Grey's gender is deliberately ambiguous, with Agent Black using "them" when referring to Grey.
* AncientAstronauts: It's heavily implied that [[spoiler:all of the humans are descendants of colonists who migrated from Earth to an alien planet. The Isi found and recovered an ancient colony ship which they revere as a sacred artifact, and their city has paintings of known human landmarks such as the Taj Mahal. The Concern similarly have a colony ship in their possession which they use for research purposes.]]
* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent:
** One part of Ferrier Shockwood is played entirely as Mina after she gets separated from Robin and Elro, complete with her own boss fight against a Controller. [[spoiler:She gets another unique segment during One Concern East, which ends with the Mendeleev fight.]]
** [[spoiler:Elro gets a segment during One Concern East as well, though most of it is him limping through the hallway with only a few enemies present. He fights Lawrence at the end of it.]]
* AnimeHair:
** Rather than tie her hair into a ponytail, Robin turns her hair into a big "U" stuck to the back of her head, most likely to resemble the head of a wrench. [[https://78.media.tumblr.com/5a220db53df86594ecfc8e0f98c6bf43/tumblr_p0f4zxLRme1rihtq2o1_1280.png Just look at it!]]
** Agent Grey has what can only be described as a big, fluffy mohawk.
* AntiMagic:
** The Isi’s seeds have extremely volatile reactions when exposed to Ivory, making them grow instantaneously; this makes them an excellent tool for wrecking Concern technology, which is reliant on Ivory. [[spoiler:They also work disturbingly well on humans who have been injected with ivory, being used to take out Agent White and Mother (Agent Black [[{{Determinator}} resists their effects]] until the blue eyes mutate her). When Robin jams a seed into the Starworm, the resulting explosion causes a wave of nature to overtake the whole planet.]]
** Detritus is a pinkish-purple powder that is produced whenever an object is drained of its Ivory. It is very much anti-Ivory, negating the HealingFactor of [[spoiler:ivory-infused individuals]] and, in the case of Royal, completely shutting down his powers. [[spoiler:Black kills Royal in a pit of Detritus at the end of One Concern West (she planned to kill Chrome there, but he had other plans), though he revives himself shortly after his body leaves the room. Elro's work with the [=ChemiCo=] Contra led to him inventing a serum that instantly removes Ivory from matter and turns it into Detritus, which is one of the few things that can kill Transcended humans.]]
* AppliedPhlebotinum: Ivory, which is used to power all technology and the Concern's stranglehold on it is the basis for their control of all society.
* ArcWords: "This is bigger than you."
* ArtificialLimbs: The Agents and General Chrome have these [[spoiler:to replace the limbs that they lost during Transcendence]]. Agent Grey appears to have artificial ''ears''.
* AsTheGoodBookSays: Chrome is fond of quoting the One Concern scriptures, even in the middle of boss battles.
* BadGuyBar: The Community Center (more or less a pub, even though alcohol is in short supply) in Settlement 17 is used as a hangout place for the One Concern while they're keeping tabs on the town, much to Black's annoyance.
* BaitAndSwitch: Ash mentions that [[spoiler:his daughter volunteered for Transcendence in order to become like him]]. The player will most likely assume he is referring to [[spoiler:Black]], since [[spoiler:she's the only female Agent they have encountered at this point]], but the credits imply that he was actually referring to [[spoiler:Nobel]]. This was {{foreshadow|ing}}ed by [[spoiler:Nobel's superpower being invisibility, like Ash]].
* BareYourMidriff: A number of Isi men, as well as Samba and that one pink-haired girl sitting on a couch underneath the save point in Isilugar. Agent Black also gets in on it once TheCoatsAreOff.
* BattleInTheCentreOfTheMind: [[spoiler:The first phase of the Starworm has Robin face off against shadow creatures that can only be killed by activating switches. This is symbolic in many regards: the shadows represent her failures (specifically, in order: Elro, Mina, Royal, and Black), and turning the switches represents her desire to “fix” things.]]
* BerserkButton:
** Reminding Agent Black about Agent Grey is a quick way to anger her (more so than usual). [[spoiler:And because of his involvement in Grey's death, Elro's mere existence is enough to set her off.]]
** Royal does not take kindly to being ignored or otherwise treated as lesser than he believes himself to be. [[spoiler:This more or less gets him killed when he attacks Him in anger.]]
* BigBrotherInstinct: Elro takes this ''way'' too far, [[spoiler:nearly dooming the planet several times because of it]]. It's only once Robin [[spoiler:literally ''kills God'']] does he grudgingly admit that ''maybe'' she can actually take care of herself.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Robin successfully dismantles the One Concern and saves the world from the evil birdman and his EldritchAbomination, the defeat of the Starworm causes nature to repopulate the planet, and it's implied [=ChemiCo=] Contra are making headway into alternative energy research without the One Concern to hold them back, but Royal is dead, Agent Black has become consumed by her grief and rage over the loss of her comrades and can barely be considered human anymore (and that's assuming she survived the combination of Isi Seed overgrowth, blue eye corruption, and being on the outside of a rocket exiting the atmosphere), and Elro has lost an arm, and has been greatly embittered by everything he and Robin have gone through. That said, it's implied that his finally acknowledging Robin's ability to care for herself has granted him some measure of peace.]]
* BlackoutBasement: The Dark Cave area of Darland Ascent is appropriately badly lit. Robin's wrench acts as a small flashlight when charged, and she can activate generators to turn on lampposts.
* BlessedWithSuck:
** [[spoiler:Along with the usual superpowers and immortality, Transcending caused Agent Black to suffer constant, unrelenting headaches which she describes as feeling like knives cutting her, meaning they are most likely [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_headache cluster headaches]], known for their extreme intensity. She has been like this for almost 200 years, so it's no wonder she's such a grouch all the time, and why her sanity could take such an abrupt nosedive as it did.]]
** [[spoiler:Agents in general are stuck with this, as the very act of Transcending has caused them to lose limbs or organs which require prosthetic replacement. Chronic pain also seems to be a common symptom as well, since Ash also mentions suffering heavy pains in his gut.]]
* BodyHorror:
** The entire process of [[spoiler:Transcending, which involves injecting Ivory directly into a person's body. A few people will succeed and survive the process with superpowers, though some will lose body parts in the process. And the many that fail basically melt into puddles of white goo. Even if it does work out, Transcended people who live long enough will find themselves consumed by the Ivory; Fitzroy turned into a mindless being made of dripping Ivory, while Leticia kept her sanity but is no longer recognizably human]].
** [[spoiler:Agent Black takes the cake when the blue eyes try to possess her while Isi Seeds sprout from her body. The end result is a giant monstrosity with ivory trees sprouting all over its body and clusters of eyes hidden inside said trees.]]
** The horrors of chemistry are demonstrated when [[spoiler:Elro develops a serum that quickly converts Ivory into Detritus dust. Its real purpose is to be used on Transcended humans, who are practically filled with Ivory. The result? The affected person's skin turns purple as they start deforming and boiling alive, until they explode into a fine purple mist]].
* BonusBoss: There are two, [[spoiler:Mother's Corners and Fitzroy]], both requiring some serious GuideDangIt to find.
* BraggingRightsReward: For the purposes of a single playthrough, the DoubleJump tweak granted after [[spoiler:defeating Mother's Corners]] is useless, since all that's left of the story by the time they're available to fight is [[spoiler:to confront the Starworm]]. It can still be carried over to a NewGamePlus, however. Same goes for [[spoiler:defeating Fitzroy]], since the tweak from his fight is a JokeItem designed for a SelfImposedChallenge.
* ButThouMust: [[spoiler:There's no getting around leaving Royal to die on a decompressing Midway, as one scanner is pulled too far away from the door to work while you're carrying him, and the other is just flat out broken, meaning trying to use the Usurper Shot to position him near it would be pointless even if it did work. The game even twists the knife by giving you way more time than you need to escape, as if to suggest that there is actually a way to save him when there isn't.]]
* ButtMonkey: The Silver Watchman really can't catch a break. He gets his ass kicked by you three times, then [[spoiler:accidentally saves your life while trying to kill you a fourth time]], then [[spoiler:gets possessed by the blue eyes (and gets his ass kicked by you again in his possessed state)]], and finally [[spoiler:is taken out by ''Royal'' of all people, who drops a boulder on top of him, trapping him underwater where his teleportation powers don't work, drowning him]].
* CanonImmigrant: Mina the thief was originally the focus of [[http://www.konjak.org/index.php?folder=9&file=26 another Konjak project]], though she was redesigned significantly for this game (her original design was recycled for an unique NPC in Isilugar).
* CaptainErsatz: Not in terms of what she does, but [[VideoGame/CryptOfTheNecrodancer Robin looks familiar...]]
* CardboardPrison: The trio of Robin, Mina, and Elro find themselves caught by the Concern and locked in The Tower’s jail cells at one point. Mina and Elro are locked up tight, but Robin’s cell includes a floor plate that she can stomp through to easily crawl out of her cell. Admittedly, not many people can GroundPound as well as Robin.
* CerebusSyndrome: The game starts out as a wacky adventure as Robin struggles against cartoonish, LargeHam villains, but as the game goes on, the villains get ''far'' less cartoonish as we see just how depraved and despotic the One Concern is. By the end, [[spoiler:a large number of people have died in a bloody civil war, and the final battle is against an outright EldritchAbomination that threatens to consume the entire world]].
* ChekhovsHobby: Elro's job is a chemist. He's apparently good enough to [[spoiler:create a serum that will forcibly remove all Ivory from any object, which makes it very effective at killing Ivory-infused people such as agents]].
* TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes: [[spoiler:The only doctor in the game has an incurable disease]].
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Quite a few of them.
** [[spoiler:Agent White: killed by an Ivory Tree Isi seed growing out of his back.]]
** [[spoiler:Mother shares Agent White's fate, though her entire body explodes into the tree.]]
** [[spoiler:Agent Grey and General Chrome: exploded into a purple dust thanks to a syringe made by Elro.]]
* CycleOfRevenge: The whole thing starts when [[spoiler:Robin and Elro's father's death is presumably caused by the Concern, causing Elro to kill Agent Grey in revenge, causing Agent Black to pursue Robin and Elro in response, starting Robin's quest to rescue Elro and take down the One Concern for good]].
* DespairEventHorizon: Agent Black went careening past it long ago, according to herself. [[spoiler:She almost came back when Agent Grey started trying (successfully if her dialogue before her final fight is any indication) to woo her, but that ended when Elro killed Grey.]]
* {{Determinator}}: [[spoiler:Black in her final battle is absolutely determined to protect the rocket from you, to the point that she eventually breaks open the rocket's fuel tank and starts drinking the Ivory fuel just so her HealingFactor can keep up with the damage you are dealing. By the end of the fight she is weakly shambling around, with multiple Isi Seeds sprouting out of her back, barely able to form a complete sentence, and vomiting up the fuel she's been guzzling, but still ''refuses'' to stop fighting until she is swarmed with the blue eye parasites and dragged offscreen. [[OneWingedAngel And even then, she's still not done]].]]
* DragonTheirFeet: [[spoiler:Agent Black and General Chrome manage to outlive Mother. Chrome doesn't get far before he's taken care of, but Black lives long enough to fight Robin one last time, long after she has a reason to keep fighting her beyond revenge.]]
* DualBoss: [[spoiler:Mother's Corners]] are an example where both bosses share the same health bar, and either boss can choose to hop into the background temporarily while the other keeps attacking.
* EldritchAbomination: [[spoiler:The final boss, Him, a giant, pale worm-like ''thing'' that destroyed the moon and that Mother secretly intends to unleash upon the world. This is actually subverted when it's revealed the Starworm/Him is really a spaceship piloted by an alien bird-man who just wants his gas tank filled up with Ivory.]]
* EnemyCivilWar: When [[spoiler:Chrome finds out about Mother's plan to flee to the Moon with a select few chosen ones and leave the rest of humanity behind, he stages a revolt to overthrow Mother]].
* EyeBeams: Agent White's main ability. Its properties actually change depending on the colour of sunglasses he is wearing. Red makes him shoot a fiery beam of death, while blue gives him a FreezeRay.
* FauxAffablyEvil:
** [[spoiler:Mother herself, who presents a facade of being a matronly goddess, but really is a glorified One Concern super soldier with a god complex and a hell of a temper.]]
** The Concern officials present themselves as affable to the general public, but each of them [[spoiler:aside from Grey]] is consumed by some sort of emotion that drives them to commit heinous acts. Chrome is a self-important fundamentalist with delusions of grandeur, Black is an emotionally-driven spiteful cynic, and so on.
* FeedItABomb: Both varieties of Croaktus in Shard Wastelands will eat bomb projectiles shot at them, blowing up shortly thereafter.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Quite a few things get hinted at pretty early on.
** The Agents being superhuman is shown by Agent White throwing Robin into the wall in the scene introducing the Agents.
** Agent Black's constant headaches get a small foreshadow by her pinching the bridge of her nose in almost every scene before her fights.
** [[spoiler:Samba and Mina's dialogues drop massive hints towards their relationship.]]
** After beating the first boss, you may notice [[spoiler:some large black feathers attached to the underside of the planet spine you fought the boss on, which obviously came from the Birdman (or at least ''a'' Birdman)]].
* TheFundamentalist: Chrome genuinely believes in the religion he follows, and quotes the One Concern equivalent of Literature/TheBible or Literature/TheQuran frequently, ''even during boss fights''. He's also a hard line believer in everything that his religion is ''against'', though he's open to discussion about the the differences and ideology between the pirate's religion and his own. [[spoiler:Once he leads the One Concern militia into City One, he becomes a full-tilt DarkMessiah, wishing to remake the world after thinking himself to be "chosen" once he {{No Sell}}s one of Elro's syringes of anti-Ivory material and losing faith in the higher echelons of One Concern. In reality, said syringe was only one of the two parts of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_liquid binary liquid]], and he's killed in the Bastion when Elro hits him with the other component.]]
* FlippingTheBird: Agent Black tells a Bastion trooper that she is going to crush his skull using only her two middle fingers.
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere:
** [[spoiler:Interestingly, it's not the enormous worm from the stars that crashes down onto your planet - the worm's pretty well established into the lore of the game, and bears a resemblance to some previously fought bosses. It's the giant, muscular alien bird piloting the worm, who was never hinted at before the fight, and is never properly explained afterward as the game ends. Context allows you to piece together that the bird was using the worm to pose as a deity and exploit the planet for fuel, but he's still an alien bird of an otherwise unknown species, with no dialogue and no connection to any other characters, and he's the final boss.]]
** Similarly, the [[spoiler:blue eye corruption seems to appear out of nowhere after Robin escapes the Tower and it's never explained what exactly it is or what its relation to Ivory is. Computers in the underground area hint it's some sort of biotech, and The Starworm has a cluster of the eyes roughly where another creature would have actual eyes, as well as the ability to manipulate and create more. However, other than that, the game doesn't reveal anything.]]
* GivenNameReveal: Out of all the Agents, we only learn Black's real name: [[spoiler:Madelyn Binoche]].
* GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger: Agent White really likes doing this, even using it as an attack in his boss fight.
* GuideDangIt:
** The last event of The Tower requires Robin to break into Black’s office to [[spoiler:attempt to save Elro]], which manages to be more confusing than intended. In the preceding cutscene, Mina laments that she’s lost her seeds and can’t blow up the office’s gate; Robin picked up the seeds while she was infiltrating the tower, so this seems to hint that Robin must figure out how to use the seeds or hand them over to Mina. Neither option is possible (the seeds don’t come up again until One Concern West), and the actual solution is to [[spoiler:jump up to a hidden ledge that leads to a crawlspace going directly into Black’s room]], which is marked by a small outcropping but is easy to miss in the panic.
** All three key item quests have a confusing trait to them. Laurie’s letter delivery is simply transferring key items back and forth between two people, but the location of the second person is hidden well. The cupcake quest starts simple since you can find its NPC in several areas, but the person you give the item to in Ferrier Shockwood just takes it without giving you anything; you must go back to the original person to get a different item and then backtrack to receive your reward. The Soldier’s RSVP is the trickiest: you can get the letter after Isilugar Labs, but it won’t be relevant until the end of One Concern West (at which point the game encourages to progress to the endgame), and [[spoiler:''you can’t deliver the item'' since the recipient was killed in Black’s rampage, so after examining the body you have to return to the Isilugar jail cell to report your failure and receive the quest reward.]]
** Both {{Bonus Boss}}es are tricky to activate, especially for players who make a habit of exploring past areas as soon as they can.
*** For [[spoiler:Fitzroy]], you first have to meet Leticia in five separate locations; the first time is in Blockrock, which you will likely find when you explore there after leaving Isilugar, but the rest are in out-of-the-way areas around the map, one of which requires the Galvanized Wrench to reach (she places her flag in the room next to where she is, as a slight hint). After the final encounter, you have to [[spoiler:swim to the secret cavern deep within Glass Strait]]; the only hint for this is that Leticia’s flag is on the water’s surface, but it's in an area that has little purpose otherwise.
*** [[spoiler:Mother's Corners]] can only be fought at the ''very'' end of the game after [[spoiler:the Starworm crash-lands in Blockrock]], where it really doesn’t seem like there’s anything else to do (unless you notice a missing space in the tweak collection box). It's at least easier to find the items necessary for the fight, though they are spread out a bit and one is way back in The Tower. The hint the items give is also a bit confusing.
*** There are only slight hints that the Usurper Gun's swapping shot works on [[spoiler:City One's gatekeeper]] and [[spoiler:Mother]], and no hints that it can [[spoiler:remove the blue eyes protecting enemies in the Impact Zone]].
* GroundPound: Robin starts out with the ability to do a midair flip and stomp downwards, which can break red blocks. It’s a surprisingly effective attack as well: many enemies can’t attack Robin while she’s jumping on their heads (such as the Concern soldiers), and the stomp deals good damage even late in the game.
* HarderThanHard: After beating the game, you unlock Challenge Mode, where you are a OneHitPointWonder. Iron Hearts will still soak up a hit, but enemies don't drop Ivory cubes to repair them. Instead, they are repaired at Save Statues.
* TheHeretic: Well, considering the game is called 'The Iconoclasts'...
* HeroicMime: Robin does not speak at all and only communicates through emotes and body language (and a few dialogue choices), but everybody seems to understand her anyways.
* HideYourLesbians: Despite how obvious it is from the get-go, [[spoiler:Mina and Samba]] are never explicitly stated to be a couple ([[spoiler:at least until the ending credits]]). {{Justified|Trope}} in that [[spoiler:Isi culture places an extremely high importance on procreation, which likely means same-sex relationships are not tolerated and they have to keep it secret]].
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:During the third phase against the Starworm, the Birdman reactivates it once he gets low on HP. This comes back to bite him when the Starworm's right hand crushes him before dying itself.]]
* HonorBeforeReason: [[spoiler:Agent Black admits that keeping Royal and Robin from using the rocket to attempt to reason with Him is a poor decision, but her orders to protect the rocket are the only point of stability she has to cling to at that point.]]
* ImplacableMan: Two of the boss fights near the rocket.
** While you are trying to get the elevator working, [[spoiler: Black]] can not be stopped. Defeating the boss is not an option; you must fix the elevator and get out of there.
** A more classic version is [[spoiler:Elro, going up against Lawrence. Lawrence can shoot Elro, throw knives, punch him if he gets too close, but unless he runs out of HP, Elro keeps. On. Coming. Good thing you're playing Elro, and your job is just to NoSell Lawrence's attacks while you keep marching up and stabbing him.]]
* InvincibleMinorMook: There are a lot of enemies that start off invincible (such as the Ghosmo ghosts), but the Usurper Gun can kill a lot of them. Ones that are always invincible include:
** Herculeans are big one-eyed boulders that can't be destroyed, though they can be knocked back by Robin's wrench.
** The Hazard Armor enemies are special Concern troops that can't be hurt or even stunned. The first time you encounter one is in a pseudo-boss fight where you have to play chicken with it while breaking down an ice block, but later ones just have to be avoided.
** Blue-eye possessed Bipedro enemies also can't be damaged... by ''you''. However you need them to break down certain walls for you so it's probably a good thing that you can't accidentally kill them and render the game {{Unwinnable}}. After they are done, there is usually a convenient pit of SpikesOfDoom nearby that you can make them run into which will kill them. They also are the game's only non-respawning enemies.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
** Royal. He means well and can be nice when he's not [[ItsAllAboutMe focusing on himself]], but it's clear the One Concern have their claws in him [[spoiler:with the whole thing about him being Mother's heir]].
** Elro is fairly nasty to everyone, but he has the best interests of Robin and her friends at heart, and he’s been broken by the events of the prologue. [[spoiler:In reality, he’s a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk, as the traumatic events of the storyline push him into VillainProtagonist territory.]]
* KnightOfCerebus: Agent Black, who heralds the more serious parts of the story. [[spoiler:Especially once she rips off Elro's arm with her bare hands. That's where the story really takes a turn for the darker.]]
* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Mina and Samba have this vibe going on. [[spoiler:In the credits, it's revealed that they are indeed a couple, although they made it pretty obvious throughout the game even outside of this trope.]]
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: On the one hand, Ivory is revered as sacred and powerful for good reason, as it can cause superpowers in those exposed to high amounts of the stuff, ultimately culminating in psychic powers that border on RealityWarping and an absurdly powerful HealingFactor. [[spoiler:Not to mention removal of it causes things to turn into a purple dust that inhibits said powers.]] On the other hand, [[spoiler:considering how the birdman piloting the Starworm (AKA Him) treats the stuff, it may just be a strange, mutagenic oil]].
* MechaMooks: This is One Concern's primary means of offense aside from their troops, mostly showing up in their late-game facilities.
* MegaNeko: [[spoiler:Mother fights you by using her RealityWarper powers to form a giant cat out of pavement, cars, and other objects in the vicinity, which she rides on.]]
* MindRape: The Starworm is capable of doing this to people, as [[spoiler:Robin and Royal]] find out the hard way. It appears that the Concern is also able to reverse engineer a gun that can replicate the effects.
* MyBelovedSmother: Mina's mother is basically a stereotypical JewishMother in a setting where Jews don't exist, constantly guilt-tripping her daughter with the usual "You never visit! You're leaving me again! You don't love me!", as well as suggesting Mina get together with that [[NiceJewishBoy Nice Isi Boy]] who keeps asking about her. Since she is in a wheelchair this could also cross over into DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Even though Royal had crossed the DespairEventHorizon and [[DeathSeeker asked to be left behind to die]] on the decompressing Midway moonbase, Robin obviously still feels enormously guilty for doing so. As soon as she lands back in Blockrock the first thing she does is sit in the TroubledFetalPosition and cry.]]
* MythologyGag: The Isi lady who's always seen sitting on couches in Isilugar is based on the design for Mina that was used in ''Mina of the Pirates'', one of Konjak's earliest big projects and the origin of Mina's name and base design.
* NewGamePlus: Beating the game allows you to save a completed file. Continuing the file will restart the game, but keep all of your Tweaks.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: It seems that Royal is particularly good at this. First, [[spoiler:he accidentally activates and is forced to destroy a Mega Controller, which throws the planet's ecosystem out of balance. He heads to City One to confront Mother, which basically allows Chrome to start his rebellion, which sparks a vicious civil war. He also attacks the Starworm when it ignores him, only causing it be angered and attack the planet. Though that last one may have been for the best, as the attack left a vulnerable spot on the Starworm, and it's likely a fight would have occurred regardless of Royal's assault]].
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler:Had the Silver Watchman not tackled Robin and ended up pushing her out of the tower in an attempt to kill her, it's very likely Agent Black would have successfully shot and killed Robin then and there.]]
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Chrome is a cyborg cowboy general with superpowers.
* NoNameGiven: The ending credits list the name of every character, enemy, and boss in the game. [[spoiler:Except the Birdman, whose name is left blank.]]
* NonIndicativeName: Agent Black is a very pale girl. Agent White is a ScaryBlackMan.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: Agent Black is very much a student of the WhyDontYouJustShootHim school of thought. [[spoiler:Indeed, she almost shoots Robin point blank in The Tower, and is only stopped by the Silver Watchman tackling Robin through the wall and out of room they were in due to wanting to kill her himself.]]
* NotSoStoic: [[spoiler:Agent White's death by Ivory-accelerated Isi Seed growth clearly terrifies Agent Black, while Grey's death at the hands of Elro actually made her break down. And that's not getting into her SanitySlippage in the game's climax.]]
* NotThatKindOfDoctor: Inverted. Dr. Gustavo is a medical doctor who says he's not the right kind of doctor to deal with the craziness of the Tower's pupils.
* ThePigPen: Mina apparently isn't too keen on bathing frequently, since a RunningGag throughout the game is that she smells absolutely awful. [[spoiler:During the fight against Ash, she ''has'' to hide in the pools of water, since he can smell her when she hides in the bushes.]]
* PistolWhipping: Mina's melee attack involves using her shotgun like a club.
* PlayingWithFire: Mendeleev's powerset.
* PoorCommunicationKills: Mother [[spoiler:blames Royal for hastening the end of the world due to him activating and destroying an Omega Controller. However, Mother herself is partially at fault because she didn't tell Royal anything about her plans or the true nature of the planet they were living on, which she was very well aware of]].
* QuirkyMinibossSquad: The Reborns-- Lawrence, Nobel, and Mendeleev-- fought at One Concern East.
* RecurringBoss:
** Two bladed Controllers are fought in the game: one with Robin as a WarmUpBoss in Blockrock, and another with Mina in Ferrier Shockwood.
** The Silver Watchman is fought four times. The first three fights are in The Tower, with one and two being DuelBoss encounters and the third being a gimmick fight inside a tiny elevator. You face him one last time in Dark Cave, where [[spoiler:he’s being used as a puppet by the Possessed Thunk, a Kathunk mecha infested with the blue eyeballs]].
** Agent Black is the boss of both One Concern West and [[spoiler:the Rocket Platform, where she's technically fought three times; once as an invincible enemy while activating the rocket, another time as a true rematch in front of the rocket, and then as the Ivory Beast, which has two forms]].
* RingOutBoss:
** Once reduced to just a head, all the Carver machine in Ferrier Shockwood can do is spin its blades to produce debris. Elro will jam his sword into the blades to lock them up, at which point Robin has to charge up and grab a rail to ram into the head and knock It back; this repeats for a while, with Robin occasionally dislodging Elro’s sword from the ceiling, until the Carver nearly falls off a cliff (it stays balanced, but the Controller that Mina was chasing pops out and wrecks it).
** Mendeleev works somewhat like this. If she's shot while she's outside of her fiery mode or when she's dropping fireballs, she gets knocked back and temporarily stunned. If she falls into an active electric current in this state, she gets zapped and loses a lot more health than she does from individual shotgun blasts.
* RelationshipReveal: Though they made it glaringly obvious throughout the game, [[spoiler:the ending credits show Mina and Samba reuniting for the first time since rescuing her from the Tower... and promptly start passionately making out]].
* RelationshipValues: Say the right things to a few characters and the BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind right before the FinalBoss has one or more phases become easier [[spoiler:by stunning them once you activate a switch)]], and Mina might join you for the FinalBoss itself.
* {{Retraux}}: The ''Ivory Springs'' version was very much so, and the newer version still has elements like square flowers.
* SadBattleMusic: [[spoiler:The final fight against Black]] has this, though it stops being sad once [[spoiler:she goes OneWingedAngel]]. The same sad music returns outside of battle when [[spoiler:you are escaping from Midway, and are forced to leave Royal behind to die]].
* SanitySlippage: Agent Black's sanity doesn't slip away so much as take a running leap off of the deep end after the first time you beat her in One Concern West's detritus pit. [[spoiler:We don't see the actual process, but once she shows up again at One Concern East for her rematch, she's clearly not in the best place, mentally speaking.]]
* ShaggyDogStory: The plight of the [[spoiler:acolytes Mother was grooming in isolation to be the chosen ones to escape to Midway. Mina leaves the entrance to the Tower open, allowing the acolytes to wander into the outside world for the first time. Unfortunately, the result is that many of the die from the elements or are murdered by Mother's Corners, with the few surviving ones devolving into ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'' level dysfunction]].
* ShieldedCoreBoss: The fight against [[spoiler:Possessed Thunk]] involves damaging [[spoiler:the Silver Watchman (who is being puppeted around on blue eye strings)]] until he falls over, then attacking the main boss while it [[spoiler:repairs the strings]]. Eventually, the boss gives up on this and starts charging at Robin, though fortunately it's WeakenedByTheLight.
* ShockAndAwe: Robin's wrench gets an upgrade that lets her charge it with electricity by spinning it, and a second upgrade that lets her bombs and missiles become charged as well. [[spoiler:The Birdman can do the same thing with his wrench]].
* ShortRangeShotgun: Handily averted by Mina’s pilfered shotgun, which has more range than any of Robin’s gun types, but absolutely no spread.
* SignpostTutorial: By means of signs that you walk past that expand to show how to perform commands. Some inexplicably reappear in [[spoiler:The Tower]] despite said area being long after you've gotten used to the controls.
* SmallGirlBigGun: Robin wields a massive wrench, although her actual ''gun'' is appropriately sized, as is Mina's shotgun. Agent Black, however, shows up for her rematch wielding a large rocket launcher.
* SmugSuper: [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold As polite as he's capable of being]], Royal has pretty clearly let his psionic powers influence how he perceives others. [[spoiler:Mother doesn't display this nearly as openly, [[ImpliedTrope but the fact that she seems pretty comfortable with everyone else being considered lesser than her has to indicate something about her personality]].]]
* SoapOperaDisease: [[spoiler:Dr. Gustavo]] has an unspecified genetic disease, which makes him somewhat of a social outcast among the Isi since their culture highly values procreation and he refuses to have children since they would inherit his disease.
* StealthBasedMission:
** Early in the game, Robin has to escape from jail by crawling through the community center’s attic. The Concern soldiers having a break near the bar will periodically laugh loudly at each other’s crude jokes, allowing Robin to crawl forward unheard until she can get away.
** The fight with [[spoiler:Ash]] is a stealth-based boss. [[spoiler:Ash]] is invisible, and if he sees Robin or Mina out of hiding, he’ll rush to them (regardless of who the player is controlling) and slam them into the ground for unavoidable damage. To hurt [[spoiler:Ash]], the duo has to stay in hiding spots (there are bushes and puddles to hind it, but Mina can only hide in puddles) until he starts wandering around; his location is signaled by sound waves and rustling grass, and he’s vulnerable to attack at this time.
* TheStoic: Agent Black, whose main emotions seem to be apathy and annoyance.
* TechnicalPacifist: All of Robin's attacks only kill [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman the local wildlife]], and destroy [[MechaMooks robotic enemies and machines]]. Human enemies are merely knocked out, with visible [[CirclingBirdies circling stars]] above their heads. [[spoiler:Throughout the entire story, she only ever directly kills one person out of necessity: Agent Black]]. In contrast, Mina's shotgun and Elro's sword actually do kill human enemies.
* TeleportSpam: The Silver Watchman's main ability, which he uses to dodge your attacks as well as close the distance to strike with his sword.
* ThemeNaming:
** The Agents are all named after shades of grey: Black, White, Ash, and, er, [[ShapedLikeItself Grey]].
** Those with the same powers as Agents but other jobs in the Concern are named after metals: The Silver Watchman and General Chrome.
** The Reborns appear to be named after famous scientists: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitri_Mendeleev Mendeleev]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel Nobel]], and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Lawrence Lawrence]].
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Mina and Robin. Mina carries a large shotgun, bashes things with its butt, has enough body odor that a trained hunter can track her by scent, and gets angry a lot. Her chosen profession at the start of the game is wandering the world looking for stuff to take. Robin may be a mechanic with an oversized wrench, but also carries a small stun pistol (see TechnicalPacifist), apparently bathes regularly, gets flustered, embarrassed, or scared far more easily, and even dolls up her hair. Her chosen profession at the start of the game is to fix up and nurture a settlement near where she lives. This distinction is on display in the fight against [[spoiler:Mother]], wherein Robin [[spoiler:counters and dodges Mother's attacks, occasionally stunning Mother and pulling her out from protection]] while Mina [[spoiler:is the one to do the actual damage against her by shoving seeds into her body, after Robin has made her vulnerable]].
* UndyingLoyalty: The basic One Concern {{Mooks}} all have complete loyalty to General Chrome, and refuse to let anyone but Chrome and possibly his NumberTwo Tolo order them around. Not the EliteMooks of the Bastion, not the Agents, not even Mother herself. [[spoiler:They all universally back Chrome when he rebels against Mother.]]
* TheUnfought: [[spoiler:General Chrome is never fought in true combat (he rides on the helicopter at the end of Shard Wastelands, but he doesn’t pilot it or use any attacks himself), and is ultimately killed by Elro’s serum at the end of City One.]]
* UnexpectedlyRealisticGameplay: Swimming of all things follows real-life rules. You can mash the jump button to swim faster, but your OxygenMeter will deplete more quickly. By swimming at your default, agonizingly slow speed, you conserve oxygen much better and can cover far more distance. The game never tells you this, [[spoiler:and knowing it is required to reach Fitzroy. It's impossible even with three Breathlesses equipped if you mash]].
* UngratefulBastard: You'd think [[spoiler:the Silver Watchman]] would be a little more grateful that you [[spoiler:freed him from his blue eye possession]], but no, he still tries to kill you again the next time you see him.
* VillainProtagonist: [[spoiler:Elro, whose stubbornness and selfishness nearly doom the planet to destruction several times over. His controlling nature with Robin and fear for her after losing his wife and child also cause several problems throughout the game and result in a needlessly antagonistic relationship with Mina. His RevengeBeforeReason attitude also results in his arm getting torn off by someone ''much'' stronger than he is, wounding him even further.]]
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Chrome. Some of the Isi men also wear open shirts.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: There are quite a number of [=NPCs=] and side characters that are briefly seen but never mentioned again. For example:
** [[spoiler:Thor and Thandie finally manage to reach City One, right on the same day civil war breaks out between Chrome and Mother's factions. They are never seen or mentioned again.]]
** We never see any sort of resolution regarding [[spoiler:Mina's strained relationship with her mother]].
** The last we see of [[spoiler:Royal, Robin is forced to leave him behind in the decompressing Midway moonbase. It's not clear if he actually died or not, but seeing as he's effectively immortal with the only known methods of permanently dispatching him being the seeds or Elro's serum, it's highly likely he's still stranded up there, dying and regenerating endlessly]].
* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Agent Black nearly says this word-for-word when Chrome insists on going through an unnecessary execution scene.
* WhereItAllBegan: The entrance to the last stretch of the game before the FinalBoss opens up in the exact same spot where you fought the very ''first'' boss.
* WrenchWench: The heroine, Robin, to the point of having a gigantic wrench that is used for most of the gameplay.
* XRaySparks: Mendeleev gets zapped in this manner if she falls into an electricity bar during her fight.
* YouAreInCommandNow: [[spoiler:Tolo inherits command of what remains of Chrome's forces after Chrome's death.]]
* YouKilledMyFather: Though it's not exactly clear what caused the death of Robin and Elro's father, Elro clearly lays the blame on the Concern. [[spoiler:This is what causes him to create his anti-Ivory chemical which he uses to kill Agent Grey.]]
* ZeroEffortBoss: [[spoiler:The final shadow creature during the final boss's first phase can be shot without any resistance. [[DevelopersForesight If the player lets it crawl to the other side, it ends up exploding anyway.]]]]
----
Robin is a mechanic (complete with [[WrenchWench massive wrench]]) living in a world that's slowly withering away. Her society relies on Ivory, an energy source controlled by a powerful organization called One Concern, which is the center of a religion represented by a figure known as Mother. Robin is not permitted to do mechanical work due to their regulations, but she does it anyway. When she's found out and becomes a sinner in the eyes of the world, she embarks on an adventure with other outcasts in order to stop One Concern once and for all, and find out what's really happening to the planet.
The game's release trailer is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnUN19xGIzU here]]. Links to buy the game, as well as downloads for the 2012 alpha and the ''Ivory Springs'' alpha, can be found [[http://www.konjak.org on Konjak's website]].
----
!!''Iconoclasts'' contains examples of the following tropes:
* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Royal is hated by practically everybody due to him basically being a superpowered spoiled brat. Pretty much the only person that shows him any kindness or respect is Robin, and even then it can be up to the player's dialogue choices.
* ActionGirl: Robin and Mina, as well as Black being a DarkActionGirl.
* AdvancingBossOfDoom:
** [[spoiler:The Omega Controller]], first as a RiseToTheChallenge scenario on an elevator platform and then as a horizontal chase where it takes the form of a buzzsaw. In both cases, Robin has to repel the boss with bombs.
** [[spoiler:Fitzroy]] slowly crawls towards Robin for his first two phases, which only makes it harder to keep dodging attacks from [[spoiler:his ivory-borne golem monster]].
* AGodAmI: Being the physical representative of the Starworm, Mother is prone to this. Royal also shows sign of this since [[spoiler:he's supposed to be Mother's successor]].
* AffablyEvil: Chrome may be a general in the the Concern, but he's a genuinely nice and devout man who prefers to avoid violence.
* AllThereInTheManual: The official names of two late-game bosses ([[spoiler:the cat Mother rides on is named Oedipuss after her pet cat, and Black's OneWingedAngel form is the Ivory Beast]]) can only be found on the game's soundtrack.
* AllTheWorldsAreAStage:
** [[spoiler:The Impact Zone]] consists of several rooms themed after previous locations, each containing enemies from previous areas [[spoiler:infested with the blue eyes]].
** [[spoiler:The Omega Controller]] constantly causes the terrain to cycle through the different area textures as you ascend the elevator shaft.
* AmbiguousGender: Agent Grey's gender is deliberately ambiguous, with Agent Black using "them" when referring to Grey.
* AncientAstronauts: It's heavily implied that [[spoiler:all of the humans are descendants of colonists who migrated from Earth to an alien planet. The Isi found and recovered an ancient colony ship which they revere as a sacred artifact, and their city has paintings of known human landmarks such as the Taj Mahal. The Concern similarly have a colony ship in their possession which they use for research purposes.]]
* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent:
** One part of Ferrier Shockwood is played entirely as Mina after she gets separated from Robin and Elro, complete with her own boss fight against a Controller. [[spoiler:She gets another unique segment during One Concern East, which ends with the Mendeleev fight.]]
** [[spoiler:Elro gets a segment during One Concern East as well, though most of it is him limping through the hallway with only a few enemies present. He fights Lawrence at the end of it.]]
* AnimeHair:
** Rather than tie her hair into a ponytail, Robin turns her hair into a big "U" stuck to the back of her head, most likely to resemble the head of a wrench. [[https://78.media.tumblr.com/5a220db53df86594ecfc8e0f98c6bf43/tumblr_p0f4zxLRme1rihtq2o1_1280.png Just look at it!]]
** Agent Grey has what can only be described as a big, fluffy mohawk.
* AntiMagic:
** The Isi’s seeds have extremely volatile reactions when exposed to Ivory, making them grow instantaneously; this makes them an excellent tool for wrecking Concern technology, which is reliant on Ivory. [[spoiler:They also work disturbingly well on humans who have been injected with ivory, being used to take out Agent White and Mother (Agent Black [[{{Determinator}} resists their effects]] until the blue eyes mutate her). When Robin jams a seed into the Starworm, the resulting explosion causes a wave of nature to overtake the whole planet.]]
** Detritus is a pinkish-purple powder that is produced whenever an object is drained of its Ivory. It is very much anti-Ivory, negating the HealingFactor of [[spoiler:ivory-infused individuals]] and, in the case of Royal, completely shutting down his powers. [[spoiler:Black kills Royal in a pit of Detritus at the end of One Concern West (she planned to kill Chrome there, but he had other plans), though he revives himself shortly after his body leaves the room. Elro's work with the [=ChemiCo=] Contra led to him inventing a serum that instantly removes Ivory from matter and turns it into Detritus, which is one of the few things that can kill Transcended humans.]]
* AppliedPhlebotinum: Ivory, which is used to power all technology and the Concern's stranglehold on it is the basis for their control of all society.
* ArcWords: "This is bigger than you."
* ArtificialLimbs: The Agents and General Chrome have these [[spoiler:to replace the limbs that they lost during Transcendence]]. Agent Grey appears to have artificial ''ears''.
* AsTheGoodBookSays: Chrome is fond of quoting the One Concern scriptures, even in the middle of boss battles.
* BadGuyBar: The Community Center (more or less a pub, even though alcohol is in short supply) in Settlement 17 is used as a hangout place for the One Concern while they're keeping tabs on the town, much to Black's annoyance.
* BaitAndSwitch: Ash mentions that [[spoiler:his daughter volunteered for Transcendence in order to become like him]]. The player will most likely assume he is referring to [[spoiler:Black]], since [[spoiler:she's the only female Agent they have encountered at this point]], but the credits imply that he was actually referring to [[spoiler:Nobel]]. This was {{foreshadow|ing}}ed by [[spoiler:Nobel's superpower being invisibility, like Ash]].
* BareYourMidriff: A number of Isi men, as well as Samba and that one pink-haired girl sitting on a couch underneath the save point in Isilugar. Agent Black also gets in on it once TheCoatsAreOff.
* BattleInTheCentreOfTheMind: [[spoiler:The first phase of the Starworm has Robin face off against shadow creatures that can only be killed by activating switches. This is symbolic in many regards: the shadows represent her failures (specifically, in order: Elro, Mina, Royal, and Black), and turning the switches represents her desire to “fix” things.]]
* BerserkButton:
** Reminding Agent Black about Agent Grey is a quick way to anger her (more so than usual). [[spoiler:And because of his involvement in Grey's death, Elro's mere existence is enough to set her off.]]
** Royal does not take kindly to being ignored or otherwise treated as lesser than he believes himself to be. [[spoiler:This more or less gets him killed when he attacks Him in anger.]]
* BigBrotherInstinct: Elro takes this ''way'' too far, [[spoiler:nearly dooming the planet several times because of it]]. It's only once Robin [[spoiler:literally ''kills God'']] does he grudgingly admit that ''maybe'' she can actually take care of herself.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Robin successfully dismantles the One Concern and saves the world from the evil birdman and his EldritchAbomination, the defeat of the Starworm causes nature to repopulate the planet, and it's implied [=ChemiCo=] Contra are making headway into alternative energy research without the One Concern to hold them back, but Royal is dead, Agent Black has become consumed by her grief and rage over the loss of her comrades and can barely be considered human anymore (and that's assuming she survived the combination of Isi Seed overgrowth, blue eye corruption, and being on the outside of a rocket exiting the atmosphere), and Elro has lost an arm, and has been greatly embittered by everything he and Robin have gone through. That said, it's implied that his finally acknowledging Robin's ability to care for herself has granted him some measure of peace.]]
* BlackoutBasement: The Dark Cave area of Darland Ascent is appropriately badly lit. Robin's wrench acts as a small flashlight when charged, and she can activate generators to turn on lampposts.
* BlessedWithSuck:
** [[spoiler:Along with the usual superpowers and immortality, Transcending caused Agent Black to suffer constant, unrelenting headaches which she describes as feeling like knives cutting her, meaning they are most likely [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_headache cluster headaches]], known for their extreme intensity. She has been like this for almost 200 years, so it's no wonder she's such a grouch all the time, and why her sanity could take such an abrupt nosedive as it did.]]
** [[spoiler:Agents in general are stuck with this, as the very act of Transcending has caused them to lose limbs or organs which require prosthetic replacement. Chronic pain also seems to be a common symptom as well, since Ash also mentions suffering heavy pains in his gut.]]
* BodyHorror:
** The entire process of [[spoiler:Transcending, which involves injecting Ivory directly into a person's body. A few people will succeed and survive the process with superpowers, though some will lose body parts in the process. And the many that fail basically melt into puddles of white goo. Even if it does work out, Transcended people who live long enough will find themselves consumed by the Ivory; Fitzroy turned into a mindless being made of dripping Ivory, while Leticia kept her sanity but is no longer recognizably human]].
** [[spoiler:Agent Black takes the cake when the blue eyes try to possess her while Isi Seeds sprout from her body. The end result is a giant monstrosity with ivory trees sprouting all over its body and clusters of eyes hidden inside said trees.]]
** The horrors of chemistry are demonstrated when [[spoiler:Elro develops a serum that quickly converts Ivory into Detritus dust. Its real purpose is to be used on Transcended humans, who are practically filled with Ivory. The result? The affected person's skin turns purple as they start deforming and boiling alive, until they explode into a fine purple mist]].
* BonusBoss: There are two, [[spoiler:Mother's Corners and Fitzroy]], both requiring some serious GuideDangIt to find.
* BraggingRightsReward: For the purposes of a single playthrough, the DoubleJump tweak granted after [[spoiler:defeating Mother's Corners]] is useless, since all that's left of the story by the time they're available to fight is [[spoiler:to confront the Starworm]]. It can still be carried over to a NewGamePlus, however. Same goes for [[spoiler:defeating Fitzroy]], since the tweak from his fight is a JokeItem designed for a SelfImposedChallenge.
* ButThouMust: [[spoiler:There's no getting around leaving Royal to die on a decompressing Midway, as one scanner is pulled too far away from the door to work while you're carrying him, and the other is just flat out broken, meaning trying to use the Usurper Shot to position him near it would be pointless even if it did work. The game even twists the knife by giving you way more time than you need to escape, as if to suggest that there is actually a way to save him when there isn't.]]
* ButtMonkey: The Silver Watchman really can't catch a break. He gets his ass kicked by you three times, then [[spoiler:accidentally saves your life while trying to kill you a fourth time]], then [[spoiler:gets possessed by the blue eyes (and gets his ass kicked by you again in his possessed state)]], and finally [[spoiler:is taken out by ''Royal'' of all people, who drops a boulder on top of him, trapping him underwater where his teleportation powers don't work, drowning him]].
* CanonImmigrant: Mina the thief was originally the focus of [[http://www.konjak.org/index.php?folder=9&file=26 another Konjak project]], though she was redesigned significantly for this game (her original design was recycled for an unique NPC in Isilugar).
* CaptainErsatz: Not in terms of what she does, but [[VideoGame/CryptOfTheNecrodancer Robin looks familiar...]]
* CardboardPrison: The trio of Robin, Mina, and Elro find themselves caught by the Concern and locked in The Tower’s jail cells at one point. Mina and Elro are locked up tight, but Robin’s cell includes a floor plate that she can stomp through to easily crawl out of her cell. Admittedly, not many people can GroundPound as well as Robin.
* CerebusSyndrome: The game starts out as a wacky adventure as Robin struggles against cartoonish, LargeHam villains, but as the game goes on, the villains get ''far'' less cartoonish as we see just how depraved and despotic the One Concern is. By the end, [[spoiler:a large number of people have died in a bloody civil war, and the final battle is against an outright EldritchAbomination that threatens to consume the entire world]].
* ChekhovsHobby: Elro's job is a chemist. He's apparently good enough to [[spoiler:create a serum that will forcibly remove all Ivory from any object, which makes it very effective at killing Ivory-infused people such as agents]].
* TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes: [[spoiler:The only doctor in the game has an incurable disease]].
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Quite a few of them.
** [[spoiler:Agent White: killed by an Ivory Tree Isi seed growing out of his back.]]
** [[spoiler:Mother shares Agent White's fate, though her entire body explodes into the tree.]]
** [[spoiler:Agent Grey and General Chrome: exploded into a purple dust thanks to a syringe made by Elro.]]
* CycleOfRevenge: The whole thing starts when [[spoiler:Robin and Elro's father's death is presumably caused by the Concern, causing Elro to kill Agent Grey in revenge, causing Agent Black to pursue Robin and Elro in response, starting Robin's quest to rescue Elro and take down the One Concern for good]].
* DespairEventHorizon: Agent Black went careening past it long ago, according to herself. [[spoiler:She almost came back when Agent Grey started trying (successfully if her dialogue before her final fight is any indication) to woo her, but that ended when Elro killed Grey.]]
* {{Determinator}}: [[spoiler:Black in her final battle is absolutely determined to protect the rocket from you, to the point that she eventually breaks open the rocket's fuel tank and starts drinking the Ivory fuel just so her HealingFactor can keep up with the damage you are dealing. By the end of the fight she is weakly shambling around, with multiple Isi Seeds sprouting out of her back, barely able to form a complete sentence, and vomiting up the fuel she's been guzzling, but still ''refuses'' to stop fighting until she is swarmed with the blue eye parasites and dragged offscreen. [[OneWingedAngel And even then, she's still not done]].]]
* DragonTheirFeet: [[spoiler:Agent Black and General Chrome manage to outlive Mother. Chrome doesn't get far before he's taken care of, but Black lives long enough to fight Robin one last time, long after she has a reason to keep fighting her beyond revenge.]]
* DualBoss: [[spoiler:Mother's Corners]] are an example where both bosses share the same health bar, and either boss can choose to hop into the background temporarily while the other keeps attacking.
* EldritchAbomination: [[spoiler:The final boss, Him, a giant, pale worm-like ''thing'' that destroyed the moon and that Mother secretly intends to unleash upon the world. This is actually subverted when it's revealed the Starworm/Him is really a spaceship piloted by an alien bird-man who just wants his gas tank filled up with Ivory.]]
* EnemyCivilWar: When [[spoiler:Chrome finds out about Mother's plan to flee to the Moon with a select few chosen ones and leave the rest of humanity behind, he stages a revolt to overthrow Mother]].
* EyeBeams: Agent White's main ability. Its properties actually change depending on the colour of sunglasses he is wearing. Red makes him shoot a fiery beam of death, while blue gives him a FreezeRay.
* FauxAffablyEvil:
** [[spoiler:Mother herself, who presents a facade of being a matronly goddess, but really is a glorified One Concern super soldier with a god complex and a hell of a temper.]]
** The Concern officials present themselves as affable to the general public, but each of them [[spoiler:aside from Grey]] is consumed by some sort of emotion that drives them to commit heinous acts. Chrome is a self-important fundamentalist with delusions of grandeur, Black is an emotionally-driven spiteful cynic, and so on.
* FeedItABomb: Both varieties of Croaktus in Shard Wastelands will eat bomb projectiles shot at them, blowing up shortly thereafter.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Quite a few things get hinted at pretty early on.
** The Agents being superhuman is shown by Agent White throwing Robin into the wall in the scene introducing the Agents.
** Agent Black's constant headaches get a small foreshadow by her pinching the bridge of her nose in almost every scene before her fights.
** [[spoiler:Samba and Mina's dialogues drop massive hints towards their relationship.]]
** After beating the first boss, you may notice [[spoiler:some large black feathers attached to the underside of the planet spine you fought the boss on, which obviously came from the Birdman (or at least ''a'' Birdman)]].
* TheFundamentalist: Chrome genuinely believes in the religion he follows, and quotes the One Concern equivalent of Literature/TheBible or Literature/TheQuran frequently, ''even during boss fights''. He's also a hard line believer in everything that his religion is ''against'', though he's open to discussion about the the differences and ideology between the pirate's religion and his own. [[spoiler:Once he leads the One Concern militia into City One, he becomes a full-tilt DarkMessiah, wishing to remake the world after thinking himself to be "chosen" once he {{No Sell}}s one of Elro's syringes of anti-Ivory material and losing faith in the higher echelons of One Concern. In reality, said syringe was only one of the two parts of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_liquid binary liquid]], and he's killed in the Bastion when Elro hits him with the other component.]]
* FlippingTheBird: Agent Black tells a Bastion trooper that she is going to crush his skull using only her two middle fingers.
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere:
** [[spoiler:Interestingly, it's not the enormous worm from the stars that crashes down onto your planet - the worm's pretty well established into the lore of the game, and bears a resemblance to some previously fought bosses. It's the giant, muscular alien bird piloting the worm, who was never hinted at before the fight, and is never properly explained afterward as the game ends. Context allows you to piece together that the bird was using the worm to pose as a deity and exploit the planet for fuel, but he's still an alien bird of an otherwise unknown species, with no dialogue and no connection to any other characters, and he's the final boss.]]
** Similarly, the [[spoiler:blue eye corruption seems to appear out of nowhere after Robin escapes the Tower and it's never explained what exactly it is or what its relation to Ivory is. Computers in the underground area hint it's some sort of biotech, and The Starworm has a cluster of the eyes roughly where another creature would have actual eyes, as well as the ability to manipulate and create more. However, other than that, the game doesn't reveal anything.]]
* GivenNameReveal: Out of all the Agents, we only learn Black's real name: [[spoiler:Madelyn Binoche]].
* GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger: Agent White really likes doing this, even using it as an attack in his boss fight.
* GuideDangIt:
** The last event of The Tower requires Robin to break into Black’s office to [[spoiler:attempt to save Elro]], which manages to be more confusing than intended. In the preceding cutscene, Mina laments that she’s lost her seeds and can’t blow up the office’s gate; Robin picked up the seeds while she was infiltrating the tower, so this seems to hint that Robin must figure out how to use the seeds or hand them over to Mina. Neither option is possible (the seeds don’t come up again until One Concern West), and the actual solution is to [[spoiler:jump up to a hidden ledge that leads to a crawlspace going directly into Black’s room]], which is marked by a small outcropping but is easy to miss in the panic.
** All three key item quests have a confusing trait to them. Laurie’s letter delivery is simply transferring key items back and forth between two people, but the location of the second person is hidden well. The cupcake quest starts simple since you can find its NPC in several areas, but the person you give the item to in Ferrier Shockwood just takes it without giving you anything; you must go back to the original person to get a different item and then backtrack to receive your reward. The Soldier’s RSVP is the trickiest: you can get the letter after Isilugar Labs, but it won’t be relevant until the end of One Concern West (at which point the game encourages to progress to the endgame), and [[spoiler:''you can’t deliver the item'' since the recipient was killed in Black’s rampage, so after examining the body you have to return to the Isilugar jail cell to report your failure and receive the quest reward.]]
** Both {{Bonus Boss}}es are tricky to activate, especially for players who make a habit of exploring past areas as soon as they can.
*** For [[spoiler:Fitzroy]], you first have to meet Leticia in five separate locations; the first time is in Blockrock, which you will likely find when you explore there after leaving Isilugar, but the rest are in out-of-the-way areas around the map, one of which requires the Galvanized Wrench to reach (she places her flag in the room next to where she is, as a slight hint). After the final encounter, you have to [[spoiler:swim to the secret cavern deep within Glass Strait]]; the only hint for this is that Leticia’s flag is on the water’s surface, but it's in an area that has little purpose otherwise.
*** [[spoiler:Mother's Corners]] can only be fought at the ''very'' end of the game after [[spoiler:the Starworm crash-lands in Blockrock]], where it really doesn’t seem like there’s anything else to do (unless you notice a missing space in the tweak collection box). It's at least easier to find the items necessary for the fight, though they are spread out a bit and one is way back in The Tower. The hint the items give is also a bit confusing.
*** There are only slight hints that the Usurper Gun's swapping shot works on [[spoiler:City One's gatekeeper]] and [[spoiler:Mother]], and no hints that it can [[spoiler:remove the blue eyes protecting enemies in the Impact Zone]].
* GroundPound: Robin starts out with the ability to do a midair flip and stomp downwards, which can break red blocks. It’s a surprisingly effective attack as well: many enemies can’t attack Robin while she’s jumping on their heads (such as the Concern soldiers), and the stomp deals good damage even late in the game.
* HarderThanHard: After beating the game, you unlock Challenge Mode, where you are a OneHitPointWonder. Iron Hearts will still soak up a hit, but enemies don't drop Ivory cubes to repair them. Instead, they are repaired at Save Statues.
* TheHeretic: Well, considering the game is called 'The Iconoclasts'...
* HeroicMime: Robin does not speak at all and only communicates through emotes and body language (and a few dialogue choices), but everybody seems to understand her anyways.
* HideYourLesbians: Despite how obvious it is from the get-go, [[spoiler:Mina and Samba]] are never explicitly stated to be a couple ([[spoiler:at least until the ending credits]]). {{Justified|Trope}} in that [[spoiler:Isi culture places an extremely high importance on procreation, which likely means same-sex relationships are not tolerated and they have to keep it secret]].
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:During the third phase against the Starworm, the Birdman reactivates it once he gets low on HP. This comes back to bite him when the Starworm's right hand crushes him before dying itself.]]
* HonorBeforeReason: [[spoiler:Agent Black admits that keeping Royal and Robin from using the rocket to attempt to reason with Him is a poor decision, but her orders to protect the rocket are the only point of stability she has to cling to at that point.]]
* ImplacableMan: Two of the boss fights near the rocket.
** While you are trying to get the elevator working, [[spoiler: Black]] can not be stopped. Defeating the boss is not an option; you must fix the elevator and get out of there.
** A more classic version is [[spoiler:Elro, going up against Lawrence. Lawrence can shoot Elro, throw knives, punch him if he gets too close, but unless he runs out of HP, Elro keeps. On. Coming. Good thing you're playing Elro, and your job is just to NoSell Lawrence's attacks while you keep marching up and stabbing him.]]
* InvincibleMinorMook: There are a lot of enemies that start off invincible (such as the Ghosmo ghosts), but the Usurper Gun can kill a lot of them. Ones that are always invincible include:
** Herculeans are big one-eyed boulders that can't be destroyed, though they can be knocked back by Robin's wrench.
** The Hazard Armor enemies are special Concern troops that can't be hurt or even stunned. The first time you encounter one is in a pseudo-boss fight where you have to play chicken with it while breaking down an ice block, but later ones just have to be avoided.
** Blue-eye possessed Bipedro enemies also can't be damaged... by ''you''. However you need them to break down certain walls for you so it's probably a good thing that you can't accidentally kill them and render the game {{Unwinnable}}. After they are done, there is usually a convenient pit of SpikesOfDoom nearby that you can make them run into which will kill them. They also are the game's only non-respawning enemies.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
** Royal. He means well and can be nice when he's not [[ItsAllAboutMe focusing on himself]], but it's clear the One Concern have their claws in him [[spoiler:with the whole thing about him being Mother's heir]].
** Elro is fairly nasty to everyone, but he has the best interests of Robin and her friends at heart, and he’s been broken by the events of the prologue. [[spoiler:In reality, he’s a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk, as the traumatic events of the storyline push him into VillainProtagonist territory.]]
* KnightOfCerebus: Agent Black, who heralds the more serious parts of the story. [[spoiler:Especially once she rips off Elro's arm with her bare hands. That's where the story really takes a turn for the darker.]]
* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Mina and Samba have this vibe going on. [[spoiler:In the credits, it's revealed that they are indeed a couple, although they made it pretty obvious throughout the game even outside of this trope.]]
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: On the one hand, Ivory is revered as sacred and powerful for good reason, as it can cause superpowers in those exposed to high amounts of the stuff, ultimately culminating in psychic powers that border on RealityWarping and an absurdly powerful HealingFactor. [[spoiler:Not to mention removal of it causes things to turn into a purple dust that inhibits said powers.]] On the other hand, [[spoiler:considering how the birdman piloting the Starworm (AKA Him) treats the stuff, it may just be a strange, mutagenic oil]].
* MechaMooks: This is One Concern's primary means of offense aside from their troops, mostly showing up in their late-game facilities.
* MegaNeko: [[spoiler:Mother fights you by using her RealityWarper powers to form a giant cat out of pavement, cars, and other objects in the vicinity, which she rides on.]]
* MindRape: The Starworm is capable of doing this to people, as [[spoiler:Robin and Royal]] find out the hard way. It appears that the Concern is also able to reverse engineer a gun that can replicate the effects.
* MyBelovedSmother: Mina's mother is basically a stereotypical JewishMother in a setting where Jews don't exist, constantly guilt-tripping her daughter with the usual "You never visit! You're leaving me again! You don't love me!", as well as suggesting Mina get together with that [[NiceJewishBoy Nice Isi Boy]] who keeps asking about her. Since she is in a wheelchair this could also cross over into DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Even though Royal had crossed the DespairEventHorizon and [[DeathSeeker asked to be left behind to die]] on the decompressing Midway moonbase, Robin obviously still feels enormously guilty for doing so. As soon as she lands back in Blockrock the first thing she does is sit in the TroubledFetalPosition and cry.]]
* MythologyGag: The Isi lady who's always seen sitting on couches in Isilugar is based on the design for Mina that was used in ''Mina of the Pirates'', one of Konjak's earliest big projects and the origin of Mina's name and base design.
* NewGamePlus: Beating the game allows you to save a completed file. Continuing the file will restart the game, but keep all of your Tweaks.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: It seems that Royal is particularly good at this. First, [[spoiler:he accidentally activates and is forced to destroy a Mega Controller, which throws the planet's ecosystem out of balance. He heads to City One to confront Mother, which basically allows Chrome to start his rebellion, which sparks a vicious civil war. He also attacks the Starworm when it ignores him, only causing it be angered and attack the planet. Though that last one may have been for the best, as the attack left a vulnerable spot on the Starworm, and it's likely a fight would have occurred regardless of Royal's assault]].
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler:Had the Silver Watchman not tackled Robin and ended up pushing her out of the tower in an attempt to kill her, it's very likely Agent Black would have successfully shot and killed Robin then and there.]]
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Chrome is a cyborg cowboy general with superpowers.
* NoNameGiven: The ending credits list the name of every character, enemy, and boss in the game. [[spoiler:Except the Birdman, whose name is left blank.]]
* NonIndicativeName: Agent Black is a very pale girl. Agent White is a ScaryBlackMan.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: Agent Black is very much a student of the WhyDontYouJustShootHim school of thought. [[spoiler:Indeed, she almost shoots Robin point blank in The Tower, and is only stopped by the Silver Watchman tackling Robin through the wall and out of room they were in due to wanting to kill her himself.]]
* NotSoStoic: [[spoiler:Agent White's death by Ivory-accelerated Isi Seed growth clearly terrifies Agent Black, while Grey's death at the hands of Elro actually made her break down. And that's not getting into her SanitySlippage in the game's climax.]]
* NotThatKindOfDoctor: Inverted. Dr. Gustavo is a medical doctor who says he's not the right kind of doctor to deal with the craziness of the Tower's pupils.
* ThePigPen: Mina apparently isn't too keen on bathing frequently, since a RunningGag throughout the game is that she smells absolutely awful. [[spoiler:During the fight against Ash, she ''has'' to hide in the pools of water, since he can smell her when she hides in the bushes.]]
* PistolWhipping: Mina's melee attack involves using her shotgun like a club.
* PlayingWithFire: Mendeleev's powerset.
* PoorCommunicationKills: Mother [[spoiler:blames Royal for hastening the end of the world due to him activating and destroying an Omega Controller. However, Mother herself is partially at fault because she didn't tell Royal anything about her plans or the true nature of the planet they were living on, which she was very well aware of]].
* QuirkyMinibossSquad: The Reborns-- Lawrence, Nobel, and Mendeleev-- fought at One Concern East.
* RecurringBoss:
** Two bladed Controllers are fought in the game: one with Robin as a WarmUpBoss in Blockrock, and another with Mina in Ferrier Shockwood.
** The Silver Watchman is fought four times. The first three fights are in The Tower, with one and two being DuelBoss encounters and the third being a gimmick fight inside a tiny elevator. You face him one last time in Dark Cave, where [[spoiler:he’s being used as a puppet by the Possessed Thunk, a Kathunk mecha infested with the blue eyeballs]].
** Agent Black is the boss of both One Concern West and [[spoiler:the Rocket Platform, where she's technically fought three times; once as an invincible enemy while activating the rocket, another time as a true rematch in front of the rocket, and then as the Ivory Beast, which has two forms]].
* RingOutBoss:
** Once reduced to just a head, all the Carver machine in Ferrier Shockwood can do is spin its blades to produce debris. Elro will jam his sword into the blades to lock them up, at which point Robin has to charge up and grab a rail to ram into the head and knock It back; this repeats for a while, with Robin occasionally dislodging Elro’s sword from the ceiling, until the Carver nearly falls off a cliff (it stays balanced, but the Controller that Mina was chasing pops out and wrecks it).
** Mendeleev works somewhat like this. If she's shot while she's outside of her fiery mode or when she's dropping fireballs, she gets knocked back and temporarily stunned. If she falls into an active electric current in this state, she gets zapped and loses a lot more health than she does from individual shotgun blasts.
* RelationshipReveal: Though they made it glaringly obvious throughout the game, [[spoiler:the ending credits show Mina and Samba reuniting for the first time since rescuing her from the Tower... and promptly start passionately making out]].
* RelationshipValues: Say the right things to a few characters and the BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind right before the FinalBoss has one or more phases become easier [[spoiler:by stunning them once you activate a switch)]], and Mina might join you for the FinalBoss itself.
* {{Retraux}}: The ''Ivory Springs'' version was very much so, and the newer version still has elements like square flowers.
* SadBattleMusic: [[spoiler:The final fight against Black]] has this, though it stops being sad once [[spoiler:she goes OneWingedAngel]]. The same sad music returns outside of battle when [[spoiler:you are escaping from Midway, and are forced to leave Royal behind to die]].
* SanitySlippage: Agent Black's sanity doesn't slip away so much as take a running leap off of the deep end after the first time you beat her in One Concern West's detritus pit. [[spoiler:We don't see the actual process, but once she shows up again at One Concern East for her rematch, she's clearly not in the best place, mentally speaking.]]
* ShaggyDogStory: The plight of the [[spoiler:acolytes Mother was grooming in isolation to be the chosen ones to escape to Midway. Mina leaves the entrance to the Tower open, allowing the acolytes to wander into the outside world for the first time. Unfortunately, the result is that many of the die from the elements or are murdered by Mother's Corners, with the few surviving ones devolving into ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'' level dysfunction]].
* ShieldedCoreBoss: The fight against [[spoiler:Possessed Thunk]] involves damaging [[spoiler:the Silver Watchman (who is being puppeted around on blue eye strings)]] until he falls over, then attacking the main boss while it [[spoiler:repairs the strings]]. Eventually, the boss gives up on this and starts charging at Robin, though fortunately it's WeakenedByTheLight.
* ShockAndAwe: Robin's wrench gets an upgrade that lets her charge it with electricity by spinning it, and a second upgrade that lets her bombs and missiles become charged as well. [[spoiler:The Birdman can do the same thing with his wrench]].
* ShortRangeShotgun: Handily averted by Mina’s pilfered shotgun, which has more range than any of Robin’s gun types, but absolutely no spread.
* SignpostTutorial: By means of signs that you walk past that expand to show how to perform commands. Some inexplicably reappear in [[spoiler:The Tower]] despite said area being long after you've gotten used to the controls.
* SmallGirlBigGun: Robin wields a massive wrench, although her actual ''gun'' is appropriately sized, as is Mina's shotgun. Agent Black, however, shows up for her rematch wielding a large rocket launcher.
* SmugSuper: [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold As polite as he's capable of being]], Royal has pretty clearly let his psionic powers influence how he perceives others. [[spoiler:Mother doesn't display this nearly as openly, [[ImpliedTrope but the fact that she seems pretty comfortable with everyone else being considered lesser than her has to indicate something about her personality]].]]
* SoapOperaDisease: [[spoiler:Dr. Gustavo]] has an unspecified genetic disease, which makes him somewhat of a social outcast among the Isi since their culture highly values procreation and he refuses to have children since they would inherit his disease.
* StealthBasedMission:
** Early in the game, Robin has to escape from jail by crawling through the community center’s attic. The Concern soldiers having a break near the bar will periodically laugh loudly at each other’s crude jokes, allowing Robin to crawl forward unheard until she can get away.
** The fight with [[spoiler:Ash]] is a stealth-based boss. [[spoiler:Ash]] is invisible, and if he sees Robin or Mina out of hiding, he’ll rush to them (regardless of who the player is controlling) and slam them into the ground for unavoidable damage. To hurt [[spoiler:Ash]], the duo has to stay in hiding spots (there are bushes and puddles to hind it, but Mina can only hide in puddles) until he starts wandering around; his location is signaled by sound waves and rustling grass, and he’s vulnerable to attack at this time.
* TheStoic: Agent Black, whose main emotions seem to be apathy and annoyance.
* TechnicalPacifist: All of Robin's attacks only kill [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman the local wildlife]], and destroy [[MechaMooks robotic enemies and machines]]. Human enemies are merely knocked out, with visible [[CirclingBirdies circling stars]] above their heads. [[spoiler:Throughout the entire story, she only ever directly kills one person out of necessity: Agent Black]]. In contrast, Mina's shotgun and Elro's sword actually do kill human enemies.
* TeleportSpam: The Silver Watchman's main ability, which he uses to dodge your attacks as well as close the distance to strike with his sword.
* ThemeNaming:
** The Agents are all named after shades of grey: Black, White, Ash, and, er, [[ShapedLikeItself Grey]].
** Those with the same powers as Agents but other jobs in the Concern are named after metals: The Silver Watchman and General Chrome.
** The Reborns appear to be named after famous scientists: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitri_Mendeleev Mendeleev]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel Nobel]], and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Lawrence Lawrence]].
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Mina and Robin. Mina carries a large shotgun, bashes things with its butt, has enough body odor that a trained hunter can track her by scent, and gets angry a lot. Her chosen profession at the start of the game is wandering the world looking for stuff to take. Robin may be a mechanic with an oversized wrench, but also carries a small stun pistol (see TechnicalPacifist), apparently bathes regularly, gets flustered, embarrassed, or scared far more easily, and even dolls up her hair. Her chosen profession at the start of the game is to fix up and nurture a settlement near where she lives. This distinction is on display in the fight against [[spoiler:Mother]], wherein Robin [[spoiler:counters and dodges Mother's attacks, occasionally stunning Mother and pulling her out from protection]] while Mina [[spoiler:is the one to do the actual damage against her by shoving seeds into her body, after Robin has made her vulnerable]].
* UndyingLoyalty: The basic One Concern {{Mooks}} all have complete loyalty to General Chrome, and refuse to let anyone but Chrome and possibly his NumberTwo Tolo order them around. Not the EliteMooks of the Bastion, not the Agents, not even Mother herself. [[spoiler:They all universally back Chrome when he rebels against Mother.]]
* TheUnfought: [[spoiler:General Chrome is never fought in true combat (he rides on the helicopter at the end of Shard Wastelands, but he doesn’t pilot it or use any attacks himself), and is ultimately killed by Elro’s serum at the end of City One.]]
* UnexpectedlyRealisticGameplay: Swimming of all things follows real-life rules. You can mash the jump button to swim faster, but your OxygenMeter will deplete more quickly. By swimming at your default, agonizingly slow speed, you conserve oxygen much better and can cover far more distance. The game never tells you this, [[spoiler:and knowing it is required to reach Fitzroy. It's impossible even with three Breathlesses equipped if you mash]].
* UngratefulBastard: You'd think [[spoiler:the Silver Watchman]] would be a little more grateful that you [[spoiler:freed him from his blue eye possession]], but no, he still tries to kill you again the next time you see him.
* VillainProtagonist: [[spoiler:Elro, whose stubbornness and selfishness nearly doom the planet to destruction several times over. His controlling nature with Robin and fear for her after losing his wife and child also cause several problems throughout the game and result in a needlessly antagonistic relationship with Mina. His RevengeBeforeReason attitude also results in his arm getting torn off by someone ''much'' stronger than he is, wounding him even further.]]
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Chrome. Some of the Isi men also wear open shirts.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: There are quite a number of [=NPCs=] and side characters that are briefly seen but never mentioned again. For example:
** [[spoiler:Thor and Thandie finally manage to reach City One, right on the same day civil war breaks out between Chrome and Mother's factions. They are never seen or mentioned again.]]
** We never see any sort of resolution regarding [[spoiler:Mina's strained relationship with her mother]].
** The last we see of [[spoiler:Royal, Robin is forced to leave him behind in the decompressing Midway moonbase. It's not clear if he actually died or not, but seeing as he's effectively immortal with the only known methods of permanently dispatching him being the seeds or Elro's serum, it's highly likely he's still stranded up there, dying and regenerating endlessly]].
* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Agent Black nearly says this word-for-word when Chrome insists on going through an unnecessary execution scene.
* WhereItAllBegan: The entrance to the last stretch of the game before the FinalBoss opens up in the exact same spot where you fought the very ''first'' boss.
* WrenchWench: The heroine, Robin, to the point of having a gigantic wrench that is used for most of the gameplay.
* XRaySparks: Mendeleev gets zapped in this manner if she falls into an electricity bar during her fight.
* YouAreInCommandNow: [[spoiler:Tolo inherits command of what remains of Chrome's forces after Chrome's death.]]
* YouKilledMyFather: Though it's not exactly clear what caused the death of Robin and Elro's father, Elro clearly lays the blame on the Concern. [[spoiler:This is what causes him to create his anti-Ivory chemical which he uses to kill Agent Grey.]]
* ZeroEffortBoss: [[spoiler:The final shadow creature during the final boss's first phase can be shot without any resistance. [[DevelopersForesight If the player lets it crawl to the other side, it ends up exploding anyway.]]]]
----
to:
Robin is a mechanic (complete with [[WrenchWench massive wrench]]) living in a world that's slowly withering away. Her society relies on Ivory, an energy source controlled by a powerful organization called One Concern, which is the center of a religion represented by a figure known as Mother. Robin is not permitted to do mechanical work due to their regulations, but she does it anyway. When she's found out and becomes a sinner in the eyes of the world, she embarks on an adventure with other outcasts in order to stop One Concern once and for all, and find out what's really happening to the planet.
The game's release trailer is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnUN19xGIzU here]]. Links to buy the game, as well as downloads for the 2012 alpha and the ''Ivory Springs'' alpha, can be found [[http://www.konjak.org on Konjak's website]].
----
!!''Iconoclasts'' contains examples of the following tropes:
* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Royal is hated by practically everybody due to him basically being a superpowered spoiled brat. Pretty much the only person that shows him any kindness or respect is Robin, and even then it can be up to the player's dialogue choices.
* ActionGirl: Robin and Mina, as well as Black being a DarkActionGirl.
* AdvancingBossOfDoom:
** [[spoiler:The Omega Controller]], first as a RiseToTheChallenge scenario on an elevator platform and then as a horizontal chase where it takes the form of a buzzsaw. In both cases, Robin has to repel the boss with bombs.
** [[spoiler:Fitzroy]] slowly crawls towards Robin for his first two phases, which only makes it harder to keep dodging attacks from [[spoiler:his ivory-borne golem monster]].
* AGodAmI: Being the physical representative of the Starworm, Mother is prone to this. Royal also shows sign of this since [[spoiler:he's supposed to be Mother's successor]].
* AffablyEvil: Chrome may be a general in the the Concern, but he's a genuinely nice and devout man who prefers to avoid violence.
* AllThereInTheManual: The official names of two late-game bosses ([[spoiler:the cat Mother rides on is named Oedipuss after her pet cat, and Black's OneWingedAngel form is the Ivory Beast]]) can only be found on the game's soundtrack.
* AllTheWorldsAreAStage:
** [[spoiler:The Impact Zone]] consists of several rooms themed after previous locations, each containing enemies from previous areas [[spoiler:infested with the blue eyes]].
** [[spoiler:The Omega Controller]] constantly causes the terrain to cycle through the different area textures as you ascend the elevator shaft.
* AmbiguousGender: Agent Grey's gender is deliberately ambiguous, with Agent Black using "them" when referring to Grey.
* AncientAstronauts: It's heavily implied that [[spoiler:all of the humans are descendants of colonists who migrated from Earth to an alien planet. The Isi found and recovered an ancient colony ship which they revere as a sacred artifact, and their city has paintings of known human landmarks such as the Taj Mahal. The Concern similarly have a colony ship in their possession which they use for research purposes.]]
* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent:
** One part of Ferrier Shockwood is played entirely as Mina after she gets separated from Robin and Elro, complete with her own boss fight against a Controller. [[spoiler:She gets another unique segment during One Concern East, which ends with the Mendeleev fight.]]
** [[spoiler:Elro gets a segment during One Concern East as well, though most of it is him limping through the hallway with only a few enemies present. He fights Lawrence at the end of it.]]
* AnimeHair:
** Rather than tie her hair into a ponytail, Robin turns her hair into a big "U" stuck to the back of her head, most likely to resemble the head of a wrench. [[https://78.media.tumblr.com/5a220db53df86594ecfc8e0f98c6bf43/tumblr_p0f4zxLRme1rihtq2o1_1280.png Just look at it!]]
** Agent Grey has what can only be described as a big, fluffy mohawk.
* AntiMagic:
** The Isi’s seeds have extremely volatile reactions when exposed to Ivory, making them grow instantaneously; this makes them an excellent tool for wrecking Concern technology, which is reliant on Ivory. [[spoiler:They also work disturbingly well on humans who have been injected with ivory, being used to take out Agent White and Mother (Agent Black [[{{Determinator}} resists their effects]] until the blue eyes mutate her). When Robin jams a seed into the Starworm, the resulting explosion causes a wave of nature to overtake the whole planet.]]
** Detritus is a pinkish-purple powder that is produced whenever an object is drained of its Ivory. It is very much anti-Ivory, negating the HealingFactor of [[spoiler:ivory-infused individuals]] and, in the case of Royal, completely shutting down his powers. [[spoiler:Black kills Royal in a pit of Detritus at the end of One Concern West (she planned to kill Chrome there, but he had other plans), though he revives himself shortly after his body leaves the room. Elro's work with the [=ChemiCo=] Contra led to him inventing a serum that instantly removes Ivory from matter and turns it into Detritus, which is one of the few things that can kill Transcended humans.]]
* AppliedPhlebotinum: Ivory, which is used to power all technology and the Concern's stranglehold on it is the basis for their control of all society.
* ArcWords: "This is bigger than you."
* ArtificialLimbs: The Agents and General Chrome have these [[spoiler:to replace the limbs that they lost during Transcendence]]. Agent Grey appears to have artificial ''ears''.
* AsTheGoodBookSays: Chrome is fond of quoting the One Concern scriptures, even in the middle of boss battles.
* BadGuyBar: The Community Center (more or less a pub, even though alcohol is in short supply) in Settlement 17 is used as a hangout place for the One Concern while they're keeping tabs on the town, much to Black's annoyance.
* BaitAndSwitch: Ash mentions that [[spoiler:his daughter volunteered for Transcendence in order to become like him]]. The player will most likely assume he is referring to [[spoiler:Black]], since [[spoiler:she's the only female Agent they have encountered at this point]], but the credits imply that he was actually referring to [[spoiler:Nobel]]. This was {{foreshadow|ing}}ed by [[spoiler:Nobel's superpower being invisibility, like Ash]].
* BareYourMidriff: A number of Isi men, as well as Samba and that one pink-haired girl sitting on a couch underneath the save point in Isilugar. Agent Black also gets in on it once TheCoatsAreOff.
* BattleInTheCentreOfTheMind: [[spoiler:The first phase of the Starworm has Robin face off against shadow creatures that can only be killed by activating switches. This is symbolic in many regards: the shadows represent her failures (specifically, in order: Elro, Mina, Royal, and Black), and turning the switches represents her desire to “fix” things.]]
* BerserkButton:
** Reminding Agent Black about Agent Grey is a quick way to anger her (more so than usual). [[spoiler:And because of his involvement in Grey's death, Elro's mere existence is enough to set her off.]]
** Royal does not take kindly to being ignored or otherwise treated as lesser than he believes himself to be. [[spoiler:This more or less gets him killed when he attacks Him in anger.]]
* BigBrotherInstinct: Elro takes this ''way'' too far, [[spoiler:nearly dooming the planet several times because of it]]. It's only once Robin [[spoiler:literally ''kills God'']] does he grudgingly admit that ''maybe'' she can actually take care of herself.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Robin successfully dismantles the One Concern and saves the world from the evil birdman and his EldritchAbomination, the defeat of the Starworm causes nature to repopulate the planet, and it's implied [=ChemiCo=] Contra are making headway into alternative energy research without the One Concern to hold them back, but Royal is dead, Agent Black has become consumed by her grief and rage over the loss of her comrades and can barely be considered human anymore (and that's assuming she survived the combination of Isi Seed overgrowth, blue eye corruption, and being on the outside of a rocket exiting the atmosphere), and Elro has lost an arm, and has been greatly embittered by everything he and Robin have gone through. That said, it's implied that his finally acknowledging Robin's ability to care for herself has granted him some measure of peace.]]
* BlackoutBasement: The Dark Cave area of Darland Ascent is appropriately badly lit. Robin's wrench acts as a small flashlight when charged, and she can activate generators to turn on lampposts.
* BlessedWithSuck:
** [[spoiler:Along with the usual superpowers and immortality, Transcending caused Agent Black to suffer constant, unrelenting headaches which she describes as feeling like knives cutting her, meaning they are most likely [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_headache cluster headaches]], known for their extreme intensity. She has been like this for almost 200 years, so it's no wonder she's such a grouch all the time, and why her sanity could take such an abrupt nosedive as it did.]]
** [[spoiler:Agents in general are stuck with this, as the very act of Transcending has caused them to lose limbs or organs which require prosthetic replacement. Chronic pain also seems to be a common symptom as well, since Ash also mentions suffering heavy pains in his gut.]]
* BodyHorror:
** The entire process of [[spoiler:Transcending, which involves injecting Ivory directly into a person's body. A few people will succeed and survive the process with superpowers, though some will lose body parts in the process. And the many that fail basically melt into puddles of white goo. Even if it does work out, Transcended people who live long enough will find themselves consumed by the Ivory; Fitzroy turned into a mindless being made of dripping Ivory, while Leticia kept her sanity but is no longer recognizably human]].
** [[spoiler:Agent Black takes the cake when the blue eyes try to possess her while Isi Seeds sprout from her body. The end result is a giant monstrosity with ivory trees sprouting all over its body and clusters of eyes hidden inside said trees.]]
** The horrors of chemistry are demonstrated when [[spoiler:Elro develops a serum that quickly converts Ivory into Detritus dust. Its real purpose is to be used on Transcended humans, who are practically filled with Ivory. The result? The affected person's skin turns purple as they start deforming and boiling alive, until they explode into a fine purple mist]].
* BonusBoss: There are two, [[spoiler:Mother's Corners and Fitzroy]], both requiring some serious GuideDangIt to find.
* BraggingRightsReward: For the purposes of a single playthrough, the DoubleJump tweak granted after [[spoiler:defeating Mother's Corners]] is useless, since all that's left of the story by the time they're available to fight is [[spoiler:to confront the Starworm]]. It can still be carried over to a NewGamePlus, however. Same goes for [[spoiler:defeating Fitzroy]], since the tweak from his fight is a JokeItem designed for a SelfImposedChallenge.
* ButThouMust: [[spoiler:There's no getting around leaving Royal to die on a decompressing Midway, as one scanner is pulled too far away from the door to work while you're carrying him, and the other is just flat out broken, meaning trying to use the Usurper Shot to position him near it would be pointless even if it did work. The game even twists the knife by giving you way more time than you need to escape, as if to suggest that there is actually a way to save him when there isn't.]]
* ButtMonkey: The Silver Watchman really can't catch a break. He gets his ass kicked by you three times, then [[spoiler:accidentally saves your life while trying to kill you a fourth time]], then [[spoiler:gets possessed by the blue eyes (and gets his ass kicked by you again in his possessed state)]], and finally [[spoiler:is taken out by ''Royal'' of all people, who drops a boulder on top of him, trapping him underwater where his teleportation powers don't work, drowning him]].
* CanonImmigrant: Mina the thief was originally the focus of [[http://www.konjak.org/index.php?folder=9&file=26 another Konjak project]], though she was redesigned significantly for this game (her original design was recycled for an unique NPC in Isilugar).
* CaptainErsatz: Not in terms of what she does, but [[VideoGame/CryptOfTheNecrodancer Robin looks familiar...]]
* CardboardPrison: The trio of Robin, Mina, and Elro find themselves caught by the Concern and locked in The Tower’s jail cells at one point. Mina and Elro are locked up tight, but Robin’s cell includes a floor plate that she can stomp through to easily crawl out of her cell. Admittedly, not many people can GroundPound as well as Robin.
* CerebusSyndrome: The game starts out as a wacky adventure as Robin struggles against cartoonish, LargeHam villains, but as the game goes on, the villains get ''far'' less cartoonish as we see just how depraved and despotic the One Concern is. By the end, [[spoiler:a large number of people have died in a bloody civil war, and the final battle is against an outright EldritchAbomination that threatens to consume the entire world]].
* ChekhovsHobby: Elro's job is a chemist. He's apparently good enough to [[spoiler:create a serum that will forcibly remove all Ivory from any object, which makes it very effective at killing Ivory-infused people such as agents]].
* TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes: [[spoiler:The only doctor in the game has an incurable disease]].
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Quite a few of them.
** [[spoiler:Agent White: killed by an Ivory Tree Isi seed growing out of his back.]]
** [[spoiler:Mother shares Agent White's fate, though her entire body explodes into the tree.]]
** [[spoiler:Agent Grey and General Chrome: exploded into a purple dust thanks to a syringe made by Elro.]]
* CycleOfRevenge: The whole thing starts when [[spoiler:Robin and Elro's father's death is presumably caused by the Concern, causing Elro to kill Agent Grey in revenge, causing Agent Black to pursue Robin and Elro in response, starting Robin's quest to rescue Elro and take down the One Concern for good]].
* DespairEventHorizon: Agent Black went careening past it long ago, according to herself. [[spoiler:She almost came back when Agent Grey started trying (successfully if her dialogue before her final fight is any indication) to woo her, but that ended when Elro killed Grey.]]
* {{Determinator}}: [[spoiler:Black in her final battle is absolutely determined to protect the rocket from you, to the point that she eventually breaks open the rocket's fuel tank and starts drinking the Ivory fuel just so her HealingFactor can keep up with the damage you are dealing. By the end of the fight she is weakly shambling around, with multiple Isi Seeds sprouting out of her back, barely able to form a complete sentence, and vomiting up the fuel she's been guzzling, but still ''refuses'' to stop fighting until she is swarmed with the blue eye parasites and dragged offscreen. [[OneWingedAngel And even then, she's still not done]].]]
* DragonTheirFeet: [[spoiler:Agent Black and General Chrome manage to outlive Mother. Chrome doesn't get far before he's taken care of, but Black lives long enough to fight Robin one last time, long after she has a reason to keep fighting her beyond revenge.]]
* DualBoss: [[spoiler:Mother's Corners]] are an example where both bosses share the same health bar, and either boss can choose to hop into the background temporarily while the other keeps attacking.
* EldritchAbomination: [[spoiler:The final boss, Him, a giant, pale worm-like ''thing'' that destroyed the moon and that Mother secretly intends to unleash upon the world. This is actually subverted when it's revealed the Starworm/Him is really a spaceship piloted by an alien bird-man who just wants his gas tank filled up with Ivory.]]
* EnemyCivilWar: When [[spoiler:Chrome finds out about Mother's plan to flee to the Moon with a select few chosen ones and leave the rest of humanity behind, he stages a revolt to overthrow Mother]].
* EyeBeams: Agent White's main ability. Its properties actually change depending on the colour of sunglasses he is wearing. Red makes him shoot a fiery beam of death, while blue gives him a FreezeRay.
* FauxAffablyEvil:
** [[spoiler:Mother herself, who presents a facade of being a matronly goddess, but really is a glorified One Concern super soldier with a god complex and a hell of a temper.]]
** The Concern officials present themselves as affable to the general public, but each of them [[spoiler:aside from Grey]] is consumed by some sort of emotion that drives them to commit heinous acts. Chrome is a self-important fundamentalist with delusions of grandeur, Black is an emotionally-driven spiteful cynic, and so on.
* FeedItABomb: Both varieties of Croaktus in Shard Wastelands will eat bomb projectiles shot at them, blowing up shortly thereafter.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Quite a few things get hinted at pretty early on.
** The Agents being superhuman is shown by Agent White throwing Robin into the wall in the scene introducing the Agents.
** Agent Black's constant headaches get a small foreshadow by her pinching the bridge of her nose in almost every scene before her fights.
** [[spoiler:Samba and Mina's dialogues drop massive hints towards their relationship.]]
** After beating the first boss, you may notice [[spoiler:some large black feathers attached to the underside of the planet spine you fought the boss on, which obviously came from the Birdman (or at least ''a'' Birdman)]].
* TheFundamentalist: Chrome genuinely believes in the religion he follows, and quotes the One Concern equivalent of Literature/TheBible or Literature/TheQuran frequently, ''even during boss fights''. He's also a hard line believer in everything that his religion is ''against'', though he's open to discussion about the the differences and ideology between the pirate's religion and his own. [[spoiler:Once he leads the One Concern militia into City One, he becomes a full-tilt DarkMessiah, wishing to remake the world after thinking himself to be "chosen" once he {{No Sell}}s one of Elro's syringes of anti-Ivory material and losing faith in the higher echelons of One Concern. In reality, said syringe was only one of the two parts of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_liquid binary liquid]], and he's killed in the Bastion when Elro hits him with the other component.]]
* FlippingTheBird: Agent Black tells a Bastion trooper that she is going to crush his skull using only her two middle fingers.
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere:
** [[spoiler:Interestingly, it's not the enormous worm from the stars that crashes down onto your planet - the worm's pretty well established into the lore of the game, and bears a resemblance to some previously fought bosses. It's the giant, muscular alien bird piloting the worm, who was never hinted at before the fight, and is never properly explained afterward as the game ends. Context allows you to piece together that the bird was using the worm to pose as a deity and exploit the planet for fuel, but he's still an alien bird of an otherwise unknown species, with no dialogue and no connection to any other characters, and he's the final boss.]]
** Similarly, the [[spoiler:blue eye corruption seems to appear out of nowhere after Robin escapes the Tower and it's never explained what exactly it is or what its relation to Ivory is. Computers in the underground area hint it's some sort of biotech, and The Starworm has a cluster of the eyes roughly where another creature would have actual eyes, as well as the ability to manipulate and create more. However, other than that, the game doesn't reveal anything.]]
* GivenNameReveal: Out of all the Agents, we only learn Black's real name: [[spoiler:Madelyn Binoche]].
* GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger: Agent White really likes doing this, even using it as an attack in his boss fight.
* GuideDangIt:
** The last event of The Tower requires Robin to break into Black’s office to [[spoiler:attempt to save Elro]], which manages to be more confusing than intended. In the preceding cutscene, Mina laments that she’s lost her seeds and can’t blow up the office’s gate; Robin picked up the seeds while she was infiltrating the tower, so this seems to hint that Robin must figure out how to use the seeds or hand them over to Mina. Neither option is possible (the seeds don’t come up again until One Concern West), and the actual solution is to [[spoiler:jump up to a hidden ledge that leads to a crawlspace going directly into Black’s room]], which is marked by a small outcropping but is easy to miss in the panic.
** All three key item quests have a confusing trait to them. Laurie’s letter delivery is simply transferring key items back and forth between two people, but the location of the second person is hidden well. The cupcake quest starts simple since you can find its NPC in several areas, but the person you give the item to in Ferrier Shockwood just takes it without giving you anything; you must go back to the original person to get a different item and then backtrack to receive your reward. The Soldier’s RSVP is the trickiest: you can get the letter after Isilugar Labs, but it won’t be relevant until the end of One Concern West (at which point the game encourages to progress to the endgame), and [[spoiler:''you can’t deliver the item'' since the recipient was killed in Black’s rampage, so after examining the body you have to return to the Isilugar jail cell to report your failure and receive the quest reward.]]
** Both {{Bonus Boss}}es are tricky to activate, especially for players who make a habit of exploring past areas as soon as they can.
*** For [[spoiler:Fitzroy]], you first have to meet Leticia in five separate locations; the first time is in Blockrock, which you will likely find when you explore there after leaving Isilugar, but the rest are in out-of-the-way areas around the map, one of which requires the Galvanized Wrench to reach (she places her flag in the room next to where she is, as a slight hint). After the final encounter, you have to [[spoiler:swim to the secret cavern deep within Glass Strait]]; the only hint for this is that Leticia’s flag is on the water’s surface, but it's in an area that has little purpose otherwise.
*** [[spoiler:Mother's Corners]] can only be fought at the ''very'' end of the game after [[spoiler:the Starworm crash-lands in Blockrock]], where it really doesn’t seem like there’s anything else to do (unless you notice a missing space in the tweak collection box). It's at least easier to find the items necessary for the fight, though they are spread out a bit and one is way back in The Tower. The hint the items give is also a bit confusing.
*** There are only slight hints that the Usurper Gun's swapping shot works on [[spoiler:City One's gatekeeper]] and [[spoiler:Mother]], and no hints that it can [[spoiler:remove the blue eyes protecting enemies in the Impact Zone]].
* GroundPound: Robin starts out with the ability to do a midair flip and stomp downwards, which can break red blocks. It’s a surprisingly effective attack as well: many enemies can’t attack Robin while she’s jumping on their heads (such as the Concern soldiers), and the stomp deals good damage even late in the game.
* HarderThanHard: After beating the game, you unlock Challenge Mode, where you are a OneHitPointWonder. Iron Hearts will still soak up a hit, but enemies don't drop Ivory cubes to repair them. Instead, they are repaired at Save Statues.
* TheHeretic: Well, considering the game is called 'The Iconoclasts'...
* HeroicMime: Robin does not speak at all and only communicates through emotes and body language (and a few dialogue choices), but everybody seems to understand her anyways.
* HideYourLesbians: Despite how obvious it is from the get-go, [[spoiler:Mina and Samba]] are never explicitly stated to be a couple ([[spoiler:at least until the ending credits]]). {{Justified|Trope}} in that [[spoiler:Isi culture places an extremely high importance on procreation, which likely means same-sex relationships are not tolerated and they have to keep it secret]].
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:During the third phase against the Starworm, the Birdman reactivates it once he gets low on HP. This comes back to bite him when the Starworm's right hand crushes him before dying itself.]]
* HonorBeforeReason: [[spoiler:Agent Black admits that keeping Royal and Robin from using the rocket to attempt to reason with Him is a poor decision, but her orders to protect the rocket are the only point of stability she has to cling to at that point.]]
* ImplacableMan: Two of the boss fights near the rocket.
** While you are trying to get the elevator working, [[spoiler: Black]] can not be stopped. Defeating the boss is not an option; you must fix the elevator and get out of there.
** A more classic version is [[spoiler:Elro, going up against Lawrence. Lawrence can shoot Elro, throw knives, punch him if he gets too close, but unless he runs out of HP, Elro keeps. On. Coming. Good thing you're playing Elro, and your job is just to NoSell Lawrence's attacks while you keep marching up and stabbing him.]]
* InvincibleMinorMook: There are a lot of enemies that start off invincible (such as the Ghosmo ghosts), but the Usurper Gun can kill a lot of them. Ones that are always invincible include:
** Herculeans are big one-eyed boulders that can't be destroyed, though they can be knocked back by Robin's wrench.
** The Hazard Armor enemies are special Concern troops that can't be hurt or even stunned. The first time you encounter one is in a pseudo-boss fight where you have to play chicken with it while breaking down an ice block, but later ones just have to be avoided.
** Blue-eye possessed Bipedro enemies also can't be damaged... by ''you''. However you need them to break down certain walls for you so it's probably a good thing that you can't accidentally kill them and render the game {{Unwinnable}}. After they are done, there is usually a convenient pit of SpikesOfDoom nearby that you can make them run into which will kill them. They also are the game's only non-respawning enemies.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
** Royal. He means well and can be nice when he's not [[ItsAllAboutMe focusing on himself]], but it's clear the One Concern have their claws in him [[spoiler:with the whole thing about him being Mother's heir]].
** Elro is fairly nasty to everyone, but he has the best interests of Robin and her friends at heart, and he’s been broken by the events of the prologue. [[spoiler:In reality, he’s a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk, as the traumatic events of the storyline push him into VillainProtagonist territory.]]
* KnightOfCerebus: Agent Black, who heralds the more serious parts of the story. [[spoiler:Especially once she rips off Elro's arm with her bare hands. That's where the story really takes a turn for the darker.]]
* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Mina and Samba have this vibe going on. [[spoiler:In the credits, it's revealed that they are indeed a couple, although they made it pretty obvious throughout the game even outside of this trope.]]
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: On the one hand, Ivory is revered as sacred and powerful for good reason, as it can cause superpowers in those exposed to high amounts of the stuff, ultimately culminating in psychic powers that border on RealityWarping and an absurdly powerful HealingFactor. [[spoiler:Not to mention removal of it causes things to turn into a purple dust that inhibits said powers.]] On the other hand, [[spoiler:considering how the birdman piloting the Starworm (AKA Him) treats the stuff, it may just be a strange, mutagenic oil]].
* MechaMooks: This is One Concern's primary means of offense aside from their troops, mostly showing up in their late-game facilities.
* MegaNeko: [[spoiler:Mother fights you by using her RealityWarper powers to form a giant cat out of pavement, cars, and other objects in the vicinity, which she rides on.]]
* MindRape: The Starworm is capable of doing this to people, as [[spoiler:Robin and Royal]] find out the hard way. It appears that the Concern is also able to reverse engineer a gun that can replicate the effects.
* MyBelovedSmother: Mina's mother is basically a stereotypical JewishMother in a setting where Jews don't exist, constantly guilt-tripping her daughter with the usual "You never visit! You're leaving me again! You don't love me!", as well as suggesting Mina get together with that [[NiceJewishBoy Nice Isi Boy]] who keeps asking about her. Since she is in a wheelchair this could also cross over into DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Even though Royal had crossed the DespairEventHorizon and [[DeathSeeker asked to be left behind to die]] on the decompressing Midway moonbase, Robin obviously still feels enormously guilty for doing so. As soon as she lands back in Blockrock the first thing she does is sit in the TroubledFetalPosition and cry.]]
* MythologyGag: The Isi lady who's always seen sitting on couches in Isilugar is based on the design for Mina that was used in ''Mina of the Pirates'', one of Konjak's earliest big projects and the origin of Mina's name and base design.
* NewGamePlus: Beating the game allows you to save a completed file. Continuing the file will restart the game, but keep all of your Tweaks.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: It seems that Royal is particularly good at this. First, [[spoiler:he accidentally activates and is forced to destroy a Mega Controller, which throws the planet's ecosystem out of balance. He heads to City One to confront Mother, which basically allows Chrome to start his rebellion, which sparks a vicious civil war. He also attacks the Starworm when it ignores him, only causing it be angered and attack the planet. Though that last one may have been for the best, as the attack left a vulnerable spot on the Starworm, and it's likely a fight would have occurred regardless of Royal's assault]].
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler:Had the Silver Watchman not tackled Robin and ended up pushing her out of the tower in an attempt to kill her, it's very likely Agent Black would have successfully shot and killed Robin then and there.]]
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Chrome is a cyborg cowboy general with superpowers.
* NoNameGiven: The ending credits list the name of every character, enemy, and boss in the game. [[spoiler:Except the Birdman, whose name is left blank.]]
* NonIndicativeName: Agent Black is a very pale girl. Agent White is a ScaryBlackMan.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: Agent Black is very much a student of the WhyDontYouJustShootHim school of thought. [[spoiler:Indeed, she almost shoots Robin point blank in The Tower, and is only stopped by the Silver Watchman tackling Robin through the wall and out of room they were in due to wanting to kill her himself.]]
* NotSoStoic: [[spoiler:Agent White's death by Ivory-accelerated Isi Seed growth clearly terrifies Agent Black, while Grey's death at the hands of Elro actually made her break down. And that's not getting into her SanitySlippage in the game's climax.]]
* NotThatKindOfDoctor: Inverted. Dr. Gustavo is a medical doctor who says he's not the right kind of doctor to deal with the craziness of the Tower's pupils.
* ThePigPen: Mina apparently isn't too keen on bathing frequently, since a RunningGag throughout the game is that she smells absolutely awful. [[spoiler:During the fight against Ash, she ''has'' to hide in the pools of water, since he can smell her when she hides in the bushes.]]
* PistolWhipping: Mina's melee attack involves using her shotgun like a club.
* PlayingWithFire: Mendeleev's powerset.
* PoorCommunicationKills: Mother [[spoiler:blames Royal for hastening the end of the world due to him activating and destroying an Omega Controller. However, Mother herself is partially at fault because she didn't tell Royal anything about her plans or the true nature of the planet they were living on, which she was very well aware of]].
* QuirkyMinibossSquad: The Reborns-- Lawrence, Nobel, and Mendeleev-- fought at One Concern East.
* RecurringBoss:
** Two bladed Controllers are fought in the game: one with Robin as a WarmUpBoss in Blockrock, and another with Mina in Ferrier Shockwood.
** The Silver Watchman is fought four times. The first three fights are in The Tower, with one and two being DuelBoss encounters and the third being a gimmick fight inside a tiny elevator. You face him one last time in Dark Cave, where [[spoiler:he’s being used as a puppet by the Possessed Thunk, a Kathunk mecha infested with the blue eyeballs]].
** Agent Black is the boss of both One Concern West and [[spoiler:the Rocket Platform, where she's technically fought three times; once as an invincible enemy while activating the rocket, another time as a true rematch in front of the rocket, and then as the Ivory Beast, which has two forms]].
* RingOutBoss:
** Once reduced to just a head, all the Carver machine in Ferrier Shockwood can do is spin its blades to produce debris. Elro will jam his sword into the blades to lock them up, at which point Robin has to charge up and grab a rail to ram into the head and knock It back; this repeats for a while, with Robin occasionally dislodging Elro’s sword from the ceiling, until the Carver nearly falls off a cliff (it stays balanced, but the Controller that Mina was chasing pops out and wrecks it).
** Mendeleev works somewhat like this. If she's shot while she's outside of her fiery mode or when she's dropping fireballs, she gets knocked back and temporarily stunned. If she falls into an active electric current in this state, she gets zapped and loses a lot more health than she does from individual shotgun blasts.
* RelationshipReveal: Though they made it glaringly obvious throughout the game, [[spoiler:the ending credits show Mina and Samba reuniting for the first time since rescuing her from the Tower... and promptly start passionately making out]].
* RelationshipValues: Say the right things to a few characters and the BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind right before the FinalBoss has one or more phases become easier [[spoiler:by stunning them once you activate a switch)]], and Mina might join you for the FinalBoss itself.
* {{Retraux}}: The ''Ivory Springs'' version was very much so, and the newer version still has elements like square flowers.
* SadBattleMusic: [[spoiler:The final fight against Black]] has this, though it stops being sad once [[spoiler:she goes OneWingedAngel]]. The same sad music returns outside of battle when [[spoiler:you are escaping from Midway, and are forced to leave Royal behind to die]].
* SanitySlippage: Agent Black's sanity doesn't slip away so much as take a running leap off of the deep end after the first time you beat her in One Concern West's detritus pit. [[spoiler:We don't see the actual process, but once she shows up again at One Concern East for her rematch, she's clearly not in the best place, mentally speaking.]]
* ShaggyDogStory: The plight of the [[spoiler:acolytes Mother was grooming in isolation to be the chosen ones to escape to Midway. Mina leaves the entrance to the Tower open, allowing the acolytes to wander into the outside world for the first time. Unfortunately, the result is that many of the die from the elements or are murdered by Mother's Corners, with the few surviving ones devolving into ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'' level dysfunction]].
* ShieldedCoreBoss: The fight against [[spoiler:Possessed Thunk]] involves damaging [[spoiler:the Silver Watchman (who is being puppeted around on blue eye strings)]] until he falls over, then attacking the main boss while it [[spoiler:repairs the strings]]. Eventually, the boss gives up on this and starts charging at Robin, though fortunately it's WeakenedByTheLight.
* ShockAndAwe: Robin's wrench gets an upgrade that lets her charge it with electricity by spinning it, and a second upgrade that lets her bombs and missiles become charged as well. [[spoiler:The Birdman can do the same thing with his wrench]].
* ShortRangeShotgun: Handily averted by Mina’s pilfered shotgun, which has more range than any of Robin’s gun types, but absolutely no spread.
* SignpostTutorial: By means of signs that you walk past that expand to show how to perform commands. Some inexplicably reappear in [[spoiler:The Tower]] despite said area being long after you've gotten used to the controls.
* SmallGirlBigGun: Robin wields a massive wrench, although her actual ''gun'' is appropriately sized, as is Mina's shotgun. Agent Black, however, shows up for her rematch wielding a large rocket launcher.
* SmugSuper: [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold As polite as he's capable of being]], Royal has pretty clearly let his psionic powers influence how he perceives others. [[spoiler:Mother doesn't display this nearly as openly, [[ImpliedTrope but the fact that she seems pretty comfortable with everyone else being considered lesser than her has to indicate something about her personality]].]]
* SoapOperaDisease: [[spoiler:Dr. Gustavo]] has an unspecified genetic disease, which makes him somewhat of a social outcast among the Isi since their culture highly values procreation and he refuses to have children since they would inherit his disease.
* StealthBasedMission:
** Early in the game, Robin has to escape from jail by crawling through the community center’s attic. The Concern soldiers having a break near the bar will periodically laugh loudly at each other’s crude jokes, allowing Robin to crawl forward unheard until she can get away.
** The fight with [[spoiler:Ash]] is a stealth-based boss. [[spoiler:Ash]] is invisible, and if he sees Robin or Mina out of hiding, he’ll rush to them (regardless of who the player is controlling) and slam them into the ground for unavoidable damage. To hurt [[spoiler:Ash]], the duo has to stay in hiding spots (there are bushes and puddles to hind it, but Mina can only hide in puddles) until he starts wandering around; his location is signaled by sound waves and rustling grass, and he’s vulnerable to attack at this time.
* TheStoic: Agent Black, whose main emotions seem to be apathy and annoyance.
* TechnicalPacifist: All of Robin's attacks only kill [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman the local wildlife]], and destroy [[MechaMooks robotic enemies and machines]]. Human enemies are merely knocked out, with visible [[CirclingBirdies circling stars]] above their heads. [[spoiler:Throughout the entire story, she only ever directly kills one person out of necessity: Agent Black]]. In contrast, Mina's shotgun and Elro's sword actually do kill human enemies.
* TeleportSpam: The Silver Watchman's main ability, which he uses to dodge your attacks as well as close the distance to strike with his sword.
* ThemeNaming:
** The Agents are all named after shades of grey: Black, White, Ash, and, er, [[ShapedLikeItself Grey]].
** Those with the same powers as Agents but other jobs in the Concern are named after metals: The Silver Watchman and General Chrome.
** The Reborns appear to be named after famous scientists: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitri_Mendeleev Mendeleev]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel Nobel]], and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Lawrence Lawrence]].
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Mina and Robin. Mina carries a large shotgun, bashes things with its butt, has enough body odor that a trained hunter can track her by scent, and gets angry a lot. Her chosen profession at the start of the game is wandering the world looking for stuff to take. Robin may be a mechanic with an oversized wrench, but also carries a small stun pistol (see TechnicalPacifist), apparently bathes regularly, gets flustered, embarrassed, or scared far more easily, and even dolls up her hair. Her chosen profession at the start of the game is to fix up and nurture a settlement near where she lives. This distinction is on display in the fight against [[spoiler:Mother]], wherein Robin [[spoiler:counters and dodges Mother's attacks, occasionally stunning Mother and pulling her out from protection]] while Mina [[spoiler:is the one to do the actual damage against her by shoving seeds into her body, after Robin has made her vulnerable]].
* UndyingLoyalty: The basic One Concern {{Mooks}} all have complete loyalty to General Chrome, and refuse to let anyone but Chrome and possibly his NumberTwo Tolo order them around. Not the EliteMooks of the Bastion, not the Agents, not even Mother herself. [[spoiler:They all universally back Chrome when he rebels against Mother.]]
* TheUnfought: [[spoiler:General Chrome is never fought in true combat (he rides on the helicopter at the end of Shard Wastelands, but he doesn’t pilot it or use any attacks himself), and is ultimately killed by Elro’s serum at the end of City One.]]
* UnexpectedlyRealisticGameplay: Swimming of all things follows real-life rules. You can mash the jump button to swim faster, but your OxygenMeter will deplete more quickly. By swimming at your default, agonizingly slow speed, you conserve oxygen much better and can cover far more distance. The game never tells you this, [[spoiler:and knowing it is required to reach Fitzroy. It's impossible even with three Breathlesses equipped if you mash]].
* UngratefulBastard: You'd think [[spoiler:the Silver Watchman]] would be a little more grateful that you [[spoiler:freed him from his blue eye possession]], but no, he still tries to kill you again the next time you see him.
* VillainProtagonist: [[spoiler:Elro, whose stubbornness and selfishness nearly doom the planet to destruction several times over. His controlling nature with Robin and fear for her after losing his wife and child also cause several problems throughout the game and result in a needlessly antagonistic relationship with Mina. His RevengeBeforeReason attitude also results in his arm getting torn off by someone ''much'' stronger than he is, wounding him even further.]]
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Chrome. Some of the Isi men also wear open shirts.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: There are quite a number of [=NPCs=] and side characters that are briefly seen but never mentioned again. For example:
** [[spoiler:Thor and Thandie finally manage to reach City One, right on the same day civil war breaks out between Chrome and Mother's factions. They are never seen or mentioned again.]]
** We never see any sort of resolution regarding [[spoiler:Mina's strained relationship with her mother]].
** The last we see of [[spoiler:Royal, Robin is forced to leave him behind in the decompressing Midway moonbase. It's not clear if he actually died or not, but seeing as he's effectively immortal with the only known methods of permanently dispatching him being the seeds or Elro's serum, it's highly likely he's still stranded up there, dying and regenerating endlessly]].
* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Agent Black nearly says this word-for-word when Chrome insists on going through an unnecessary execution scene.
* WhereItAllBegan: The entrance to the last stretch of the game before the FinalBoss opens up in the exact same spot where you fought the very ''first'' boss.
* WrenchWench: The heroine, Robin, to the point of having a gigantic wrench that is used for most of the gameplay.
* XRaySparks: Mendeleev gets zapped in this manner if she falls into an electricity bar during her fight.
* YouAreInCommandNow: [[spoiler:Tolo inherits command of what remains of Chrome's forces after Chrome's death.]]
* YouKilledMyFather: Though it's not exactly clear what caused the death of Robin and Elro's father, Elro clearly lays the blame on the Concern. [[spoiler:This is what causes him to create his anti-Ivory chemical which he uses to kill Agent Grey.]]
* ZeroEffortBoss: [[spoiler:The final shadow creature during the final boss's first phase can be shot without any resistance. [[DevelopersForesight If the player lets it crawl to the other side, it ends up exploding anyway.]]]]
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* TheHeretic: Well, considering the game is called 'The Iconoclasts'...
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I just realized the symbolism here is incorrect. The gravestones in the back and the water bubbles that show up during phase 2 are clearly intended to represent isilgur.
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* BattleInTheCentreOfTheMind: [[spoiler:The first phase of the Starworm has Robin face off against shadow creatures that can only be killed by activating switches. This is symbolic in many regards: the shadows represent her failures (specifically, in order: Elro, One Concern as a whole, Royal, and Black), and turning the switches represents her desire to “fix” things.]]
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* BattleInTheCentreOfTheMind: [[spoiler:The first phase of the Starworm has Robin face off against shadow creatures that can only be killed by activating switches. This is symbolic in many regards: the shadows represent her failures (specifically, in order: Elro, One Concern as a whole, Mina, Royal, and Black), and turning the switches represents her desire to “fix” things.]]
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* TheFundamentalist: Chrome genuinely believes in the religion he follows, and quotes the One Concern equivalent of Literature/TheBible or Literature/TheQuran frequently, ''even during boss fights''. He's also a hard line believer in everything that his religion is ''against'', though he's open to discussion about the the differences and ideology between the pirate's religion and his own. [[spoiler:Once he leads the One Concern militia into City One, he becomes a full-tilt DarkMessiah, wishing to remake the world after thinking himself to be "chosen" once he {{No Sell}}s one of Elro's syringes of anti-Ivory material and losing faith in the higher echelons of One Concern. In reality, said syringe was only a half dose (the liquid used to kill Agent Grey was a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_liquid binary liquid]]), and he's killed in the Bastion when Elro hits him with a full dose.]]
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* TheFundamentalist: Chrome genuinely believes in the religion he follows, and quotes the One Concern equivalent of Literature/TheBible or Literature/TheQuran frequently, ''even during boss fights''. He's also a hard line believer in everything that his religion is ''against'', though he's open to discussion about the the differences and ideology between the pirate's religion and his own. [[spoiler:Once he leads the One Concern militia into City One, he becomes a full-tilt DarkMessiah, wishing to remake the world after thinking himself to be "chosen" once he {{No Sell}}s one of Elro's syringes of anti-Ivory material and losing faith in the higher echelons of One Concern. In reality, said syringe was only a half dose (the liquid used to kill Agent Grey was a one of the two parts of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_liquid binary liquid]]), liquid]], and he's killed in the Bastion when Elro hits him with a full dose.the other component.]]
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* ImplacableMan: Two of the boss fights near the rocket.
** While you are trying to get the elevator working, [[spoiler: Black]] can not be stopped. Defeating the boss is not an option; you must fix the elevator and get out of there.
** A more classic version is [[spoiler:Elro, going up against Lawrence. Lawrence can shoot Elro, throw knives, punch him if he gets too close, but unless he runs out of HP, Elro keeps. On. Coming. Good thing you're playing Elro, and your job is just to NoSell Lawrence's attacks while you keep marching up and stabbing him.]]
** While you are trying to get the elevator working, [[spoiler: Black]] can not be stopped. Defeating the boss is not an option; you must fix the elevator and get out of there.
** A more classic version is [[spoiler:Elro, going up against Lawrence. Lawrence can shoot Elro, throw knives, punch him if he gets too close, but unless he runs out of HP, Elro keeps. On. Coming. Good thing you're playing Elro, and your job is just to NoSell Lawrence's attacks while you keep marching up and stabbing him.]]
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* AsTheGoodBookSays: Chrome is fond of quoting the One Concern scriptures, even in the middle of boss battles.
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* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Agent Black nearly says this word-for-word when Chrome insists on going through an unnecessary execution scene.
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Pointed out similar design, move to YMMV if that's better.
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* CaptainErsatz: Not in terms of what she does, but [[VideoGame/CryptOfTheNecrodancer Robin looks familiar...]]
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* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: On the one hand, Ivory is revered as sacred and powerful for good reason, as it can cause superpowers in those exposed to high amounts of the stuff, ultimately culminating in psychic powers that border on RealityWarping. [[spoiler:Not to mention removal of it causes things to turn into dust that inhibits said powers.]] On the other hand, [[spoiler:considering how the birdman piloting the Starworm (AKA Him) treats the stuff, it may just be a strange, mutagenic oil]].
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* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: On the one hand, Ivory is revered as sacred and powerful for good reason, as it can cause superpowers in those exposed to high amounts of the stuff, ultimately culminating in psychic powers that border on RealityWarping. RealityWarping and an absurdly powerful HealingFactor. [[spoiler:Not to mention removal of it causes things to turn into a purple dust that inhibits said powers.]] On the other hand, [[spoiler:considering how the birdman piloting the Starworm (AKA Him) treats the stuff, it may just be a strange, mutagenic oil]].
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I decided to overhaul the game's description. If you think it needs more cleanup or additions, feel free to work on it.
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''Iconoclasts'' is a {{Metroidvania}} platformer game by Joachim "Creator/{{konjak}}" Sandberg, formerly a {{retraux}} VideoGame/CaveStory-influenced project called ''Ivory Springs''. It is about a society that relies on an energy source named "ivory" which is monopolized by a totalitarian government and linked with a religion called “One Concern”, centered around a goddess called Mother. All practice of mechanical engineering is illegal, but the heroine Robin does it anyways.
An alpha version is available [[http://www.konjak.org/index.php?folder=8&file=20 here]], a more recent trailer is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv8-RZ3vljw here]], and the first ''Ivory Springs'' version is available [[http://www.konjak.org/index.php?folder=9&file=27 here]], with a true release on January 23rd.
An alpha version is available [[http://www.konjak.org/index.php?folder=8&file=20 here]], a more recent trailer is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv8-RZ3vljw here]], and the first ''Ivory Springs'' version is available [[http://www.konjak.org/index.php?folder=9&file=27 here]], with a true release on January 23rd.
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''Iconoclasts'' is a {{Metroidvania}} platformer game by Joachim Joakim "Creator/{{konjak}}" Sandberg, formerly a {{retraux}} VideoGame/CaveStory-influenced project called ''Ivory Springs''. It was in development for seven years before finally releasing in January of 2018.
Robin isabout a mechanic (complete with [[WrenchWench massive wrench]]) living in a world that's slowly withering away. Her society that relies on Ivory, an energy source named "ivory" controlled by a powerful organization called One Concern, which is monopolized by a totalitarian government and linked with the center of a religion called “One Concern”, centered around represented by a goddess called figure known as Mother. All practice of Robin is not permitted to do mechanical engineering is illegal, work due to their regulations, but the heroine Robin she does it anyways.
An alpha version is available [[http://www.konjak.org/index.php?folder=8&file=20 here]],anyway. When she's found out and becomes a more recent sinner in the eyes of the world, she embarks on an adventure with other outcasts in order to stop One Concern once and for all, and find out what's really happening to the planet.
The game's release trailer is[[http://www.[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv8-RZ3vljw here]], com/watch?v=FnUN19xGIzU here]]. Links to buy the game, as well as downloads for the 2012 alpha and the first ''Ivory Springs'' version is available alpha, can be found [[http://www.konjak.org/index.php?folder=9&file=27 here]], with a true release org on January 23rd.Konjak's website]].
Robin is
An alpha version is available [[http://www.konjak.org/index.php?folder=8&file=20 here]],
The game's release trailer is
* AllThereInTheManual: The official names of two late-game bosses ([[spoiler:the cat Mother rides on is named Oedipuss after her pet cat, and Black's OneWingedAngel form is the Ivory Beast]]) can only be found on the game's soundtrack.
* MechaMooks: This is One Concern's primary means of offense aside from their troops, mostly showing up in their late-game facilities.
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** Agent Black is the boss of both One Concern West and [[spoiler:the Launch Site, where she's technically fought three times; once as an invincible enemy while activating the rocket, another time as a true rematch on the rocket platform, and then in her OneWingedAngel form, which has two phases]].
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** Agent Black is the boss of both One Concern West and [[spoiler:the Launch Site, Rocket Platform, where she's technically fought three times; once as an invincible enemy while activating the rocket, another time as a true rematch on in front of the rocket platform, rocket, and then in her OneWingedAngel form, as the Ivory Beast, which has two phases]].forms]].
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* TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes: [[spoiler:The only doctor in the game has an incurable disease]].
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* NotThatKindOfDoctor: Inverted. Dr. Gustavo is a medical doctor who says he's not the right kind of doctor to deal with the craziness of the Tower's pupils.
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* SoapOperaDisease: [[spoiler:Dr. Gustavo]] has an unspecified genetic disease, which makes him somewhat of a social outcast among the Isi since their culture highly values procreation and he refuses to have children since they would inherit his disease.
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* TechnicalPacifist: All of Robin's attacks only kill [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman the local wildlife]]. Human enemies are merely knocked out, with visible [[CirclingBirdies circling stars]] above their heads. [[spoiler:Throughout the entire story, she only ever directly kills one person out of necessity: Agent Black.]]
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* TechnicalPacifist: All of Robin's attacks only kill [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman the local wildlife]].wildlife]], and destroy [[MechaMooks robotic enemies and machines]]. Human enemies are merely knocked out, with visible [[CirclingBirdies circling stars]] above their heads. [[spoiler:Throughout the entire story, she only ever directly kills one person out of necessity: Agent Black.]]Black]]. In contrast, Mina's shotgun and Elro's sword actually do kill human enemies.
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* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Mina and Robin. Mina carries a large shotgun, bashes things with its butt, has enough body odor that a trained hunter can track her by scent, and gets angry a lot. Her chosen profession at the start of the game is wandering the world looking for stuff to take. Robin may have an oversized wrench but also carries a small stun pistol (see TechnicalPacifist), apparently bathes regularly, gets flustered, embarrassed, or scared far more easily, and even dolls up her hair. Her chosen profession at the start of the game is to fix up and nurture a settlement near where she lives. This distinction is on display in the fight against [[spoiler: Mother]], wherein Robin [[spoiler: counters and dodges Mother's attacks, occasionally stunning Mother and pulling her out from protection]] while Mina [[spoiler: just bashes Mother, inflicting the only actual damage against her, when Robin has made her vulnerable]].
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* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Mina and Robin. Mina carries a large shotgun, bashes things with its butt, has enough body odor that a trained hunter can track her by scent, and gets angry a lot. Her chosen profession at the start of the game is wandering the world looking for stuff to take. Robin may have be a mechanic with an oversized wrench wrench, but also carries a small stun pistol (see TechnicalPacifist), apparently bathes regularly, gets flustered, embarrassed, or scared far more easily, and even dolls up her hair. Her chosen profession at the start of the game is to fix up and nurture a settlement near where she lives. This distinction is on display in the fight against [[spoiler: Mother]], [[spoiler:Mother]], wherein Robin [[spoiler: counters [[spoiler:counters and dodges Mother's attacks, occasionally stunning Mother and pulling her out from protection]] while Mina [[spoiler: just bashes Mother, inflicting [[spoiler:is the only one to do the actual damage against her, when her by shoving seeds into her body, after Robin has made her vulnerable]].
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* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Mina and Robin. Mina carries a large shotgun, bashes things with its butt, has enough body odor that a trained hunter can track her by scent, and gets angry a lot. Her chosen profession at the start of the game is wandering the world looking for stuff to take. Robin may have an oversized wrench but also carries a small stun pistol (see TechnicalPacifist), apparently bathes regularly, gets flustered, embarrassed, or scared far more easily, and even dolls up her hair. Her chosen profession at the start of the game is to fix up and nurture a settlement near where she lives. This distinction is on display in the fight against [[spoiler: Mother]], wherein Robin [[spoiler: counters and dodges Mother's attacks, occasionally stunning Mother and pulling her out from protection]] while Mina [[spoiler: just bashes Mother, inflicting the only actual damage against her, when Robin has made her vulnerable]].
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** After beating the first boss, you may notice [[spoiler:some large black feathers attached to the underside of the planet spine you fought the boss on, which obviously came from the Birdman (or at least ''a'' Birdman)]].
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** Blue-eye possessed Bipedro enemies also can't be damaged... by ''you''. However you need them to break down certain walls for you so it's probably a good thing that you can't accidentally kill them and render the game {{Unwinnable}}. After they are done, there is usually a convenient pit of SpikesOfDoom nearby that you can make them run into which will kill them.
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** Blue-eye possessed Bipedro enemies also can't be damaged... by ''you''. However you need them to break down certain walls for you so it's probably a good thing that you can't accidentally kill them and render the game {{Unwinnable}}. After they are done, there is usually a convenient pit of SpikesOfDoom nearby that you can make them run into which will kill them. They also are the game's only non-respawning enemies.
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* ShockAndAwe: Robin's wrench gets an upgrade that lets her charge it with electricity by spinning it, and a second upgrade that lets her bombs and missiles become charged as well.
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* ShockAndAwe: Robin's wrench gets an upgrade that lets her charge it with electricity by spinning it, and a second upgrade that lets her bombs and missiles become charged as well. [[spoiler:The Birdman can do the same thing with his wrench]].
* UnexpectedlyRealisticGameplay: Swimming of all things follows real-life rules. You can mash the jump button to swim faster, but your OxygenMeter will deplete more quickly. By swimming at your default, agonizingly slow speed, you conserve oxygen much better and can cover far more distance. The game never tells you this, [[spoiler:and knowing it is required to reach Fitzroy. It's impossible even with three Breathlesses equipped if you mash]].
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* ViolationOfCommonSense: You swim underwater at an agonizingly slow speed, but mashing the jump button will let you swim faster. Since you have an OxygenMeter, common sense would dictate you mash that button as fast as possible to get the most distance out of your oxygen, but that actually causes it to deplete much faster than swimming at slow speed. The game does not tell you this, and it's impossible to [[spoiler:reach Fitzroy]] without knowing this trick. Alternately, could be a case of RealityEnsues; frantic, rapid movements deplete your oxygen faster than slow, controlled movements when swimming in real life, requiring you to breathe more often.
