History VideoGame / YggdraUnion

* MaiNakahara: Yggdra's seiyuu.

* HundredPercentAdorationRating: [[spoiler:Gulcasa]]. This is played for all the tragedy it's worth when [[spoiler:due to the HeroicRROD incident at the end of chapter 5, he winds up too sick to take to the field even when the Royal Army starts to invade his country--everyone in the country willing to bear arms stands up to protect him, and is [[DyingLikeAnimals swiftly cut down]]]]. Although it's nowhere near to the same degree, Yggdra is also very popular with her people, which is remarked upon a few times early in the game.

A prequel called ''BlazeUnion'' concerning the events of the Bronquian revolution was released in May 2010.

* DecoyProtagonist: You start off playing as Milanor, who is set up as the hero with Yggdra in a traditional DistressedDamsel role. Two and a half battlefields later, Yggdra becomes the player character, and Milanor is firmly established as her {{sidekick}}, losing nearly all plot significance except the ability to attract [[BigDamnHeroes Kylier]] [[DeusExMachina when the Royal Army has dug itself into a hole]] and the default commander seat when Yggdra is somewhere else. The game is explicitly about Yggdra's CharacterDevelopment and [[TheHighQueen growth as a ruler]] as she learns to balance hot-blooded idealism with compassion and an understanding of how the world works. Then the universe of episode II [[YggdraUnison started]] [[BlazeUnion expanding]], a certain antagonist's backstory and true motivations got lots more attention, and [[spoiler:Gulcasa]] made off with Yggdra's hero seat. On top of all this, the character in the episode II games who is the most important to [[VideoGame/DeptHeaven the 'verse]] is ''none of the above''--it's actually [[spoiler:Nessiah]], the ''antagonist,'' about which WordOfGod and [[AllThereInTheManual the side materials]] are very clear. UpToEleven, indeed.

* DubInducedPlotHole: Gulcasa's title was changed from "Blazing Emperor" to "Emperor of Carnage" for the English version for whatever reason. This still makes some degree of sense--Fantasinia doesn't like him, so they wouldn't be calling him anything that sounds friendly--until you hear his people, [[LickedByTheDog who wholeheartedly adore him]], calling him the same thing... and ThemeNaming starts to show up when Imperial landmarks turn out to have fire-based names, which are also altered ("Gates of Carnage"[[note]]The name is even left as "Asura Gate" on the translated map[[/note]], anyone?). Then it just starts sounding rather awkward. It will probably become a much bigger problem if {{Atlus}} ever localizes ''BlazeUnion,'' where Gulcasa's fire motif is even more important.

* HideYourLesbians: There's a fair amount of subtext between Zilva and Elena, none of which amounts to much due to [[spoiler:Zilva dying]]. In addition to this, there was definitely ''[[DidTheyOrDidntThey something]]'' going on between [[spoiler:Gulcasa and Nessiah]] according to ''YggdraUnison'' and ''BlazeUnion''.

** The fact that Nessiah is the ''only'' character on good terms with Gulcasa who ''doesn't'' use some kind of suffix with him caused quite a few raised eyebrows, since FirstNameBasis is a way of showing that two characters are very close. [[HoYay Certain fans likely had a field day with it.]] [[spoiler:And according to ''BlazeUnion'', they were right.]]

* {{Leitmotif}}: Every character in the Royal Army has his or her own battle theme, as do Gulcasa, Nessiah, Aegina [[spoiler:and Luciana]], and Nana-chan. Other enemies just have generic music according to their rank. As of BlazeUnion, pretty much everyone in the ''Imperial'' Army has their own battle theme as well, leaving Inzaghi as pretty much the only recurring character without his own theme.

** Also, where'd [[BlazeUnion Eater]] go? Does her status as OptionalPartyMember have something to do with it?
*** All the new characters in ''BlazeUnion'' leave the continent after that game, which is explicitly discussed in its epilogue. Eater in particular [[GloriaUnion goes worldhopping.]]

-->'''[[spoiler:Undines]]:''' Someone took our AncientArtifact without which our race will die! Screw looking for it! Some dude, [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter who couldn't possibly under any circumstances have anything to do with its disappearance]], said we should go ''[[RapePillageAndBurn pillage our neighbors]]'' so we can ''[[PoweredByAForsakenChild use their blood]]'' to solve the problem... [[StepThreeProfit somehow.]]\\

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:Nessiah.]] ''SO MUCH.'' [[spoiler:His entire twisted story just goes to show what TheMessiah is capable of [[BreakTheCutie if you break him hard enough]].]]

* TheMessiah: Yggdra gradually becomes one over the course of the story. [[spoiler:Nessiah also seems to have started out as one, although [[BreakTheCutie the idealism was tortured out of him a long time ago]].]]

** Also interesting to note is that [[spoiler:for all the manipulating Nessiah did]], none of it actually ''forced'' anyone to do anything evil. The Undines were ''tempted'' to use their loss as justification to vent their FantasticRacism on humans, the FeudingFamilies in Verlaine were ''tempted'' to start a war over shiny toys, and Fantasinia and Bronquia were ''tempted'' to keep fighting, but in the end it was always the rulers' own decisions that caused bloodshed, and if they had risen above the ugliness of human and undine nature, everyone probably would have been fine. (Not to say that tempting them in the first place was a nice thing to do, [[KickTheDog as it wasn't]].)

** Also interesting to note is that [[spoiler:for all the manipulating Nessiah did]], none of it actually ''forced'' anyone to do anything evil. The Undines were ''tempted'' to use their loss as justification to vent their FantasticRacism on humans, the FeudingFamilies in Verlaine were ''tempted'' to start a war over shiny toys, and Fantasinia and Bronquia were ''tempted'' to keep fighting, but in the end it was always the rulers' own decisions that caused bloodshed, and if they had risen above the ugliness of human nature, everyone probably would have been fine. (Not to say that tempting them in the first place was a nice thing to do, [[KickTheDog as it wasn't]].)

->''Even with the Holy Sword, things are going wrong. It may be true that the Holy Sword is sacred... but, that doesn't change the fact that it's just a weapon. Those who wield it are bound to deliver justice. We are bound to strike down the unjust. But, the Holy Sword is still a sword... It can only wound.''\\

* TheEmpire: Subverted ''so hard'' with Bronquia, [[spoiler:which originally seems to fit this description to the letter. And then you find out that ''this is exactly what Fantasinia did''. Bly specifically says at the end of Battlefield 14-II that Bronquia was the only independent country left--and he once advised Yggdra's father and grandfather to go ahead and conquer it while the people would still be grateful for having their dictator gotten rid of. Too bad Gulcasa beat Fantasinia to the punch. Not.]]

* BerserkButton: Gulcasa's is [[spoiler:losing his allies [[DeadLittleSister and loved ones]]. After having said button hit enough times, he tries to [[HeroicSacrifice use his own life]] to summon Brongaa and wipe the Royal Army out. Depending on the ending, he either comes dangerously close to succeeding or [[NonstandardGameOver does, with tragic consequences for the entire world]].]]

* TheArcher: Played straight with Elena and Zilva, but subverted in Mizer and Cruz, who are more childish characters.

''Yggdra Union'' is a TurnBasedStrategy game which is part of Sting Entertainment's ''DeptHeaven'' cycle. The Game Boy Advance and PSP UpdatedRerelease were both handled in North America by {{Atlus}}.

Chronologically the first of the ''DeptHeaven'' games, ''Yggdra Union'' takes place during a war between the Kingdom of Fantasinia and the New Bronquian Empire. Gulcasa, the Emperor, has just defeated most of the Royal Army and slain the king, but Princess Yggdra (the only surviving member of the Royal Family) escapes her captured city with her family's AncestralWeapon and goes about gathering allies to take her country back--and get revenge. It doesn't hurt that said AncestralWeapon, the Gran Centurio, is a national symbol of justice. Whatever Yggdra and her army do, it's obviously the right thing.

* DecoyProtagonist: You start off playing as Milanor, who is set up as the hero with Yggdra in a traditional DistressedDamsel role. Two and a half battlefields later, Yggdra becomes the player character, and Milanor is firmly established as her {{sidekick}}, losing nearly all plot significance except the ability to attract [[BigDamnHeroes Kylier]] [[DeusExMachina when the Royal Army has dug itself into a hole]] and the default commander seat when Yggdra is somewhere else. The game is explicitly about Yggdra's CharacterDevelopment and [[TheHighQueen growth as a ruler]] as she learns to balance hot-blooded idealism with compassion and an understanding of how the world works. Then the universe of episode II [[YggdraUnison started]] [[BlazeUnion expanding]], a certain antagonist's backstory and true motivations got lots more attention, and [[spoiler:Gulcasa]] made off with Yggdra's hero seat. On top of all this, the character in the episode II games who is the most important to [[DeptHeaven the 'verse]] is ''none of the above''--it's actually [[spoiler:Nessiah]], the ''antagonist,'' about which WordOfGod and [[AllThereInTheManual the side materials]] are very clear. UpToEleven, indeed.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: As it's part of DeptHeaven (and is thus far the chronologically earliest game in TheVerse) this is to be expected for the {{Metaplot}}. Additionally, ties very neatly into the ArcWords; in at least one case, some things that look like other tropes turn out to be rather excellent {{Foreshadowing}}.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: What really puts the [[BittersweetEnding "bittersweet"]] in [[MultipleEndings Ending A]]? [[spoiler:If he'd been able to take his revenge, Nessiah would have killed ''the DeptHeaven series villain, Hector,'' and ended a horribly corrupt heavenly system. This would have ''prevented the tragic scenarios of KnightsInTheNightmare and RivieraThePromisedLand from ever happening,'' sparing entire other worlds from their suffering.]] Nice job breaking it, Yggdra.

* TacticalRockPaperScissors: A rather complex one. There's the FireEmblem-standard sword-axe-lance triangle, and those weapons beat bows, which beat magic, which beat the sword-axe-lance triangle again.

** Say what you like about the English voice acting, but they were wise to cast an actor for Milanor [[SpikeSpencer who knows]] [[NeonGenesisEvangelion how to scream]].

* EyesOfGold: Gulcasa and Emilia.

* InferredHolocaust: [[spoiler:The best (A) ending, though this is only apparent if you've played the other games and realize [[BigBad exactly]] [[CompleteMonster who]] Nessiah was trying to kill with his atrocities.]]

* HumansAreBastards: Almost every Embellian Undine subscribes to this viewpoint, mainly because some jerk human stole their means of survival. They use this as their justification for attacking completely unrelated humans to try to use their blood for eternal youth potion. [[spoiler:...Which turns out to be exactly how Nessiah, who set up the theft and fed them information about said potion, [[UnwittingPawn was hoping they'd react]].]]

-->'''[[spoiler:Undines]]:''' Someone took our AncientArtifact without which our race will die! [[spoiler: Screw looking for it! Some dude, [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter who couldn't possibly under any circumstances have anything to do with its disappearance]], said we should go ''[[RapePillageAndBurn pillage our neighbors]]'' so we can ''[[PoweredByAForsakenChil d use their blood]]'' to solve the problem... [[StepThreeProfit somehow.]]\\
'''Yggdra:''' [[spoiler: The Undines are]] burning that city, and we just [[spoiler: killed a bunch of them]]. Surely they'll still honor their treaty obligations to join me in my fight against TheEmpire!\\

'''Durant:''' We don't need to travel through their base and the whole reason we came here was to find allies, there's no real reason why we can't just ''leave,'' [[spoiler:'''we must kill them. We must kill them all until they are dead.''']]

* DubInducedPlotHole: Gulcasa's title was changed from "Blazing Emperor" to "Emperor of Carnage" for the English version for whatever reason. This still makes some degree of sense--Fantasinia doesn't like him, so they wouldn't be calling him anything that sounds friendly--until you hear his people, [[LickedByTheDog who wholeheartedly adore him]], calling him the same thing... and ThemeNaming starts to show up when Imperial landmarks turn out to have fire-based names, which are also altered ("Gates of Carnage"[[hottip:*:The name is even left as "Asura Gate" on the translated map]], anyone?). Then it just starts sounding rather awkward. It will probably become a much bigger problem if {{Atlus}} ever localizes ''BlazeUnion,'' where Gulcasa's fire motif is even more important.

* DecoyProtagonist: Taken to BeyondTheImpossible levels. You start off playing as Milanor, who is set up as the hero with Yggdra in a traditional DistressedDamsel role. Two and a half battlefields later, Yggdra becomes the player character, and Milanor is firmly established as her {{sidekick}}, losing nearly all plot significance except the ability to attract [[BigDamnHeroes Kylier]] [[DeusExMachina when the Royal Army has dug itself into a hole]] and the default commander seat when Yggdra is somewhere else. The game is explicitly about Yggdra's CharacterDevelopment and [[TheHighQueen growth as a ruler]] as she learns to balance hot-blooded idealism with compassion and an understanding of how the world works. Then the universe of episode II [[YggdraUnison started]] [[BlazeUnion expanding]], a certain antagonist's backstory and true motivations got lots more attention, and [[spoiler:Gulcasa]] made off with Yggdra's hero seat. On top of all this, the character in the episode II games who is the most important to [[DeptHeaven the 'verse]] is ''none of the above''--it's actually [[spoiler:Nessiah]], the ''antagonist,'' about which WordOfGod and [[AllThereInTheManual the side materials]] are very clear. UpToEleven, indeed.

* ActiveRoyalty: Played straight for both sides with Yggdra and Gulcasa.

** And if you don't believe us, have his (furiously shouted) response to Yggdra's request for a cease-fire [[spoiler:directly after he learns of Emilia's death]]:

* [[BreakableWeapons Breakable Items]]

* ChainedByFashion: Nessiah.

* InferredHolocaust: [[spoiler:The best (A) ending, though this is only apparent if you've played the other games and realize [[BigBad exactly]] [[CompleteMonster who]] Nessiah was trying to kill with his atrocities.]]

* SadlyMythtaken : Nietzsche. To quote [[http://hg101.kontek.net/ Hardcore Gaming 101]]
->''Most Japanese games that are based on some kind of mythology usually end up getting it wrong, but this is one of the most hilarious I've ever seen. Nietzsche (in real life) was a German philosopher who introduced the concept of nihilism. Nietzsche (in the game) is a cutesy little girl undine (mermaid) who pokes gently with her spear.''

* ThirdPersonPerson: Nietzsche. This troper believes it's to remind you she's in no way like that other [[FriedrichNietzsche Nietzsche]].

-->'''[[spoiler:Undines]]:''' Someone took our AncientArtifact without which our race will die! [[spoiler: Screw looking for it! Some dude, [[PoorJudgeOfCharacter who couldn't possibly under any circumstances have anything to do with its disappearance]], said we should go ''[[RapePillageAndBurn pillage our neighbors]]'' so we can ''[[PoweredByAForsakenChil d use their blood]]'' to solve the problem... [[StepThreeProfit somehow.]]\\

-->'''Undines:''' Someone took our AncientArtifact without which our race will die! Screw looking for it, some dude, who couldn't possibly under any circumstances have anything to do with its disappearance, said we should go ''pillage our neighbors'' so we can ''use their blood'' to solve the problem... somehow.\\
'''Yggdra:''' The Undines are burning that city, and we just killed a bunch of them. Surely they'll join me in my fight against TheEmpire!\\

'''Durant:''' We don't need to travel through their base and the whole reason we came here was to find allies, there's no real reason why we can't just ''leave,'' '''we must kill them. We must kill them all until they are dead.'''