History VideoGame / TormentTidesOfNumenera

* DummiedOut:

* EvilLuddite: The DummiedOut Order of Flagellants and Austerities, who believe that use of Numenera is a sin.

* OurElvesAreBetter: Castoffs differ in a fundamental way from most settings' elves, in that they're a series of custom-designed bodies (some of which aren't even human) rather than a naturally-evolved people, but they fill the niche surprisingly well, with even a few elements of TheFairFolk.

** There is a woman who has three orbs orbiting her head. Each orb contains a rodent. Their names are [[VideoGame/BaldursGate Bei, Bu and Bao]].

* {{Cult}}: The game feature a number of cults with unique beliefs. They may act as a source of information, attempt to use the player character as a pawn and cast them aside when finished, or become hostile to the Last Castoff. In loose order of appearance, the most notable are

* AfterTheEnd: The game takes place on Earth after the rise and fall of eight "great civilizations", in the historical era known as the Ninth World. The setting is filled to the brink with mysterious artifacts and ruins from most of human history, and knowledge of the past is all but forgotten.
** Despite being called the "Ninth World", it's heavily implied, and outright stated by at least one NPC, that there's been ''many'' more than just eight civilizations before this current one, and that there's honestly no good reason for this to be called the Ninth World except that's just the name that stuck.

* TheNeedsOfTheMany: Discussed, in part through the game's ArcWords: which many? Which few? ''What does one life matter?'' The Indigo Tide in particular maps to putting society and the greater good first, but it's up to the player to decide whether that's more important than the safety and happiness of the individual, the freedom of others to choose for themselves, or the importance of future progress, knowledge, art, or some other abstract ideal. Where these fall among the other four Tides can depend on your intent.

* TheNeedsOfTheMany: Discussed, in part through the game's ArcWords: which many? Which few? ''What does one life matter?'' The Indigo Tide in particular maps to putting society and the greater good first, but it's up to the player to decide whether that's more important than the safety and happiness of the individual, the freedom of others to choose for themselves, or the importance of future progress, knowledge, or some other abstract ideal such as art. Where these fall among the other four Tides can depend on your intent.

* SchmuckBait: There's a person inside the Bloom who has a sealed vessel containing part of the Iron Wind. A member of your party can accidentally break it, mutating your entire party, and resulting in a NonStandardGameOver.
** The game is literally full of these, anything from giving [[spoiler:The Changing God control of your body, giving you a non-standard game over]] to drinking what is obviously acid from a puddle of acid.

* SequelHook: Of the spinoff variety, as the epilogue [[spoiler: mentions that Adult!Rhin is "a story for another time".]]

* LostAesop: The question "What does one life matter?" was used heavily in promotional material for the game and is asked by several major characters during the story. It's clearly intended to be the CentralTheme and DrivingQuestion of the story, and the use of the phrase "''one'' life" would lead a reasonable player to imagine the story would perhaps confront the ideas of AMillionIsAStatistic or TheNeedsOfTheMany. [[spoiler: This never happens. Like 90% of Western [=RPG=]s, the player makes choices that determine if certain characters live or die, but there is never any particular focus on ''one'' life, nor is the player given any reason why ''one'' life should or shouldn't particularly matter. Notably, every choice for the final decision of the game involves at least one important character not surviving, so the player is left scratching their head to as to which "''one'' life" is supposed to be "mattering," beyond the trivial trope of some characters living and some characters dying that is common to almost every Western [=RPG=].]]

* BizarreAlienReproduction: Sn'erf is an alien studying these. He goes on to describe several cases to you. That includes human reproduction, although he strongly suspects the people who described that were {{troll}}ing him -- which, judging from [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments his description]], was most certainly the case. His own race reproduces by [[spoiler:detaching their limbs -- and even heads -- and growing them into complete beings. He, himself, is an exile from his planet after stumbling across a machine that replaced his limbs -- a great disgrace among his people, which he couldn't prove was accidental.]]
** You can later enlist his aid to help a machine intelligence have children of its own.

* CardCarryingVillain: Narve the Blessed.
-->'''Narve the Blessed:''' I'm an explorer and a villain. The worst villain you'll ever meet! ... And by that I mean that no matter what I try to pull, [[MinionWithAnFInEVil it somehow ends up]] ''[[MinionWithAnFInEVil helping]].''

* ExactWords: One of the stories the Clerk can tell you is about a prize being offered to one who can complete a marvelous painting, the prize being a life extending numenera. No one dared, but then some guy simply splashed a bucket of paint on the incomplete parts. The painting was technically complete, but ruined. The ruler who offered the prize returned the favor, and the guy had his life extended... to be spent in torture chambers.

* IdentityAmnesia: Your character doesn't have any memories of their life before the Changing God left.
** Unlike most examples of the trope, though, this is mainly because your character, quite literally, did not ''have'' a life before the Changing God's departure -- the Last Castoff is born the moment the Changing God departs his body. The Last Castoff is not recalling their own life, but fragments of the Changing God's life. [[spoiler:Complicated further by TheReveal that The Changing God was not able to escape your body before The Sorrow burned out his memories. It's possible that you actually ''are'' the amnesiac Changing God.]]

* LateCharacterSyndrome: Averted, as all seven potential companions appear in the first quarter of the game.

* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler: The Sorrow, surprisingly. Throughout the game, it hunts the Last Castoff like an unstoppable [[ImplacableMan Eldritch Terminator]], yet when it finally deigns to explain itself at the end, it patiently answers all of the Last Castoff's questions in a reasonable manner. The Sorrow explains how the Castoffs bring nothing but pain to the world through their abuse of the Tides, whether they mean to or not, and thus they must be eradicated for the good of reality. Afterwards, the Sorrow calmly lists the Last Castoff's options, and -- whichever choice they make -- executes their decision without any backstabbing or JackassGenie bullshit. Of course, this might be the first time in literally millions of years that anything has managed to potentially thwart the Sorrow, so it might be Affable only out of sheer desperation.]]

* ArcWords:
** An ArmorPiercingQuestion, and one to which you'll eventually need to find your own answer.
--->''"What does one life matter?"''
** The castoffs, Oom, and various others are also compared to "fallen leaves to be crunched underfoot".

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: "[[ArcWords What does one life matter?]]" as well as a great many others, often the [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath deadliest weapon]] in your arsenal. It's that kind of game.

* CentralTheme: "What does one life matter?" WordOfGod states that the secondary themes are "abandonment" and "mystery". This also plays a ''major'' role in [[MultipleEndings the final decision]]. Another is specifically families, parents and their children, especially adopted ones. Castoffs refer to each other as "sister" or "brother", the Last Castoff is frequently called a "child" and a "newborn", the Changing God is often "father" or "sire".

* LateCharacterSyndrome: Averted, as all six potential companions appear in the first quarter of the game.

* TheNeedsOfTheMany: Subverted -- which many? Which few? ''[[ArcWords What does one life matter?]]''

* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler: The Sorrow, surprisingly. Throughout the game, it hunts the Last Castoff like an unstoppable [[ImplacableMan Eldritch Terminator]], yet when it finally deigns to explain itself at the end, it patiently answers all of the Last Castoff's questions in a reasonable manner. The Sorrow explains how the Castoffs bring nothing but pain to the world through their abuse of the Tides, whether they want to or not, and thus they must be eradicated for the good of reality. Afterwards, the Sorrow calmly lists the Last Castoff's options, and -- whichever choice they make -- executes their decision without any backstabbing or JackassGenie bullshit. Of course, this might be the first time in literally millions of years that anything has managed to potentially thwart the Sorrow, so it might be Affable only out of sheer desperation.]]

* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: Out of seven available companions, with Oom added in the ''Servant of the Tides'' update, only three can join the Last Castoff at a time.

** Tybir's effortless charm and slightly callous personality resembles both Morte, the flirtatious floating skull and best friend of the Nameless One, and [[VideoGame/NeverwinterNight2MaskOfTheBetrayer Gannayev-of-Dreams]], plus a few years and minus a few gender restrictions. Like Morte and Gann, he's done questionable things with his persuasive abilities and must face that his actions have effected people other than himself, including those that he loves.

* AxCrazy: The Nychthemeron during daytime. So much so that you can only speak to it during nighttime. It'll try to rip your head off during the day if you bother it.

* CallAHumanAMeatbag: You meet a drone that calls you "Fleshwalker". It's visibly disgusted at you.

* CentralTheme: "What does one life matter?" WordOfGod states that the secondary themes are "abandonment" and "mystery". This also plays a ''major'' role in [[MultipleEndings the final decision]].

* DeadAllAlong: An entire philosophical debate near the very end of the game hinges on the possibility that a character may have been this, for a given value of dead. You witness a memory that reveals that [[spoiler:the Changing God's consciousness wasn't actually able to escape when you fell from the sky and crashed into the dome. The Spectre that claims to be him is actually just an ArtificialIntelligence based on a backup copy of his memories]]. The result is an argument on whether or not direct continuity of consciousness is necessary for one being to be considered a continuation of another, identical one. [[spoiler:The Last Castoff can cow the Spectre into getting out of the way by arguing they're distinct entities and the Changing God truly is dead, but the Sorrow suggests it's not entirely clear cut, and the Last Castoff can even agree that they just said what they said as a convenient lie to get the Spectre out of the way.]]

* FeelNoPain: The Last Castoff can transmit their suffering to others nearby. Alternatively, they can take on the burden of their pain.

''draff -'' something worthless

* OhMyGods: "By the Black Three!" seems to be Greater Garravia's oath of choice.

* ThatThingIsNotMyChild: The Changing God oesn't even consider the castoffs to be people, much less his children. [[spoiler:He also refuses to believe that Miika is anything more than a reflection of his daughter, since she's just a copy of his daughter's consciousness. Which is pretty rich coming from [[BrainUploading the Specter]].]]

* ArbitrarySkepticism: Rhin's ability to speak to gods is treated as an obvious childish delusion by absolutely everyone, even though this is a setting completely full of strange inexplicable things and even though ''their powers are demonstrably real''.

* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler: The Sorrow, surprisingly. Throughout the game, it hunts the Last Castoff like an unstoppable [[Film/TheTerminator Eldritch Terminator]], yet when it finally deigns to explain itself at the end, it patiently answers all of the Last Castoff's questions in a reasonable manner. The Sorrow explains how the Castoffs bring nothing but pain to the world through their abuse of the Tides, whether they want to or not, and thus they must be eradicated for the good of reality. Afterwards, the Sorrow calmly lists the Last Castoff's options, and -- whichever choice they make -- executes their decision without any backstabbing or JackassGenie bullshit. Of course, this might be the first time in literally millions of years that anything has managed to potentially thwart the Sorrow, so it might be Affable only out of sheer desperation.]]

* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler: The Sorrow, surprisingly. Throughout the game, it hunts the Last Castoff like an unstoppable [[TheTerminator Eldritch Terminator]], yet when it finally deigns to explain itself at the end, it patiently answers all of the Last Castoff's questions in a reasonable manner. The Sorrow explains how the Castoffs bring nothing but pain to the world through their abuse of the Tides, whether they want to or not, and thus they must be eradicated for the good of reality. Afterwards, the Sorrow calmly lists the Last Castoff's options, and -- whichever choice they make -- executes their decision without any backstabbing or JackassGenie bullshit. Of course, this might be the first time in literally millions of years that anything has managed to potentially thwart the Sorrow, so it might be Affable only out of sheer desperation.]]

* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler: The Sorrow, surprisingly. Throughout the game, it hunts the Last Castoff like an unstoppable [[TheTerminator Eldritch Terminator]], yet when the Last Castoff finally talks to it at the end, it patiently answers all of their questions in a reasonable manner. The Sorrow explains how the Castoffs bring nothing but pain to the world through their abuse of the Tides, whether they want to or not, and thus they must be eradicated for the good of reality. Afterwards, the Sorrow calmly lists the Last Castoff's options, and -- whichever choice they make -- executes their decision without any backstabbing or JackassGenie bullshit. Of course, this might be the first time in millions of years that anything has managed to potentially thwart the Sorrow, so it might be Affable out of desperation.]]

* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler: The Sorrow, surprisingly. Throughout the game, it hunts the Last Castoff like an unstoppable [[TheTerminator Eldritch Terminator]], yet when the Last Castoff finally talks to it at the end, it patiently answers all of their questions in a reasonable manner. The Sorrow explains how the Castoffs bring nothing but pain to the world through their abuse of the Tides, whether they want to or not, and thus they must be eradicated to make things right again. Afterwards, the Sorrow calmly lists the Last Castoff's options, and -- whichever choice they make -- executes their decision without any JackassGenie bullshit. Of course, this might be the first time in millions of years that anything has managed to potentially thwart the Sorrow, so it might be Affable out of desperation.]]

* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: Out of six available companions, with Oom added in the ''Servant of the Tides'' update, only three can join the Last Castoff at a time.

* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler: The Sorrow, surprisingly. When the Last Castoff finally talks to it at the end of the game, it patiently answers all of his/her questions in a reasonable manner, and explains how the Castoffs bring nothing but pain to the world through their abuse of the Tides, whether they want to or not, and that they must be eradicated to make things right again. It calmly lists the Castoff's options, and personally makes their wish reality. All this after the Sorrow has been firmly established as an unstoppable force that can't be reasoned with. Of course, this might be the first time in millions of years of existence that anything can end the Sorrow; the PC. So it might be Affable out of desperation.]]

-->'''Child:''' [[BlatantLies I am a normal human child enjoying the sights.]] [[DeceptivelyHumanRobots Please move out of the way of my forward sensors.]]\\

* GuideDangIt: It is possible, albeit extremely difficult, to turn many of the Memovira's inner circle against her [[spoiler:once it's revealed that she's actually the First. Being castoffs, you'll have interacted with (and possibly controlled) several of them through [[MentalTimeTravel the meres]], where the choices you made and the details you learned can open up dialogue options which can help you persuade them that the First's plan is just as insane as the Changing God's and need to be stopped.]] The Memovira notably cannot be conversed with during the crisis. [[spoiler:Although you ''can'' opt to let her start the process and sabotage it ''after'' the Sorrow begins its assault on the Memovira's fortress.]]

* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: Deconstructed. The reason the Last Castoff stumbles into conflicts only they can solve everywhere they go is because the Tides provoke those conflicts in everyone whose path they cross. The pentagonal tattoo branded on each castoff's skull -- like the Sigil of Torment from ''Planescape: Torment'' -- draws out suffering everywhere they go.

** They view of mortals is paternalistic at best, seeing them as tools to use and discard at worst. Even [[spoiler:Matkina]], who shuns her fellow Castoffs because of this, is callous to the suffering of most non-Castoffs. Even mere physical proximity to a castoff is dangerous for mortals. Indeed, the only way for the Last Castoff to [[spoiler:ensure that their people get to have a free future is to sacrifice thousands of mortal residents of Sagus Cliffs in order to kill the Sorrow]].