History Videogame / Boktai

* AndThenJohnWasaZombie: Ringo, Django and Sabata's father, was turned into a vampire by The Count rather than killed.

* BreakingSpeech: Duke Dumas, many times in Lunar Knights. Lucian is furious that Dumas doesn't even remember that he killed his lover, and Dumas remarks that [[NotSoDifferent Lucian probably doesn't know the names of all of the enemies the player has killed up to that point.]] He does it to Aaron as well, claiming that he's really fueled by revenge for Dumas killing his father (who he does remember) rather than fighting for justice.

* SuspiciousVideogameGenerosity: In ''Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand'', Django can find the Javelin Solar Gun frame in a dungeon before Sol City, the second best Heavy Shot guns with an S in Attack and an A in Stun. If this is obtained during the day, this trope is subverted. On the night of a full moon, however, Carmilla will appear to curse Django with Kaamos, preventing him from drawing in the power of sunlight until either a week has passed or Django heads under the Solar Tree [[RightOnTheTick exactly at sunrise.]]

%%* EyepatchOfPower: Lucian.

%%* FortuneTeller: Zazie and [[spoiler: the old sunflower girl that dies prior to Zoktai]].

* KillSat: Zigzagged with the Sunflower in ''Lunar Knights''. The sunflower comes complete with sunlight-channeling [[WaveMotionGun Purifex Cannon]], but it can't reach vampires on the ground due to the sunlight-blocking [=ParaSOL=]; thus the protagonists have to fly the vampires up to the Sunflower to purify them point-blank. [[spoiler:The Sunflower eventually gets employed in a more classic manner in the final battle with Polidori, creating an opening to allow the protagonists to destroy his true body.]]

* ArmCannon: Thanks to crossover content with MegaManBattleNetwork, where the eponymous Mega Man comes complete with his trusty Mega Buster. Django himself can obtain the Mega Buster in Zoktai and Shinbok.

* {{Lunacy}}: When the in-game calendar detects a full moon, the player can press A at night to cause Lunar Bugs to appear. These bugs can be absorbed to heal the player.
* Sabata's boss fight AI also becomes much more difficult on the night of a full moon.

** ''Lunar Knights'', on the other hand, has many characters named for literary {{Shout Out}}s. The immortal villains are named for authors of vampire fiction--[[Literature/VarneyTheVampire James Malcolm Rymer]], Creator/EdgarAllanPoe and his wife Virgina, Creator/BramStoker, Creator/AlexandreDumas, and [[Literature/TheVampyre John Polidori]].

** Lisbeth, with her brown hair, white blouse, and blue apron, seems like a mix of Lita and Ursula; she even has hints of being a LoveInterest for Aaron like Lita was for Django.

** Lisbeth, with her brown hair, white blouse, and blue apron, seems like a younger copy of Lita; she even has hints of being a LoveInterest for Aaron.

* AlternateHistory: ''Lunar Knights'' takes place in the alternate timeline mentioned in ''Boktai 3'', in which Django has died and Ratatosk has taken over the world. When Trinity was kicked out of his world, he accidentally broke the seal on Django's grave, interfering with the past and causing the timeline to split in two.

* AristocratsAreEvil: ''Lunar Knight'' has two evil viscounts (most likely twins to boot), an AxCrazy human-hunting Margrave, an [[MadScientist evil scientist]] baron, and an earl who became a NecessarilyEvil duke. Interestingly enough, in the earl's case, his ascension to dukehood was the capper of his career as an earl, bagging vampire hunters and Guild gunslingers alike and instilling fear in said opposition from all that rep.
* ArmCannon:
** Django can obtain the Mega Buster in Zoktai and Shinbok.
** And of course [[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork MegaMan.exe]] himself has one.

%%* HotLibrarian: Lady of San Miguel, who also apparently tutors Lita as a martial artist.
* IntercontinuityCrossover:
** The heroes of Konami's ''Boktai'' and Capcom's ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' frequently visited the other's games for crossover content and sidequests, with some Navis be represented via gear for Django or dolls he can decorate his house with. Unfortunately, foibles of localization meant that some of this content never made it to Western shores.
*** The Gun del Sol was featured as a [[FightLikeACardPlayer battle chip]] in each installment of the second ''Battle Network'' trilogy, and was soon joined by chips featuring Otenko and Django. Django and Otenko themselves occasionally appeared in far-flung {{Bonus Dungeon}}s hunting down either [=ShadeMan.EXE=] or The Count of Groundsoaking Blood, the ClassicalMovieVampire of each game's world. [=MegaMan.EXE=] would appear in ''Boktai 2'' and ''Boktai 3'' to return the favor, and Django can obtain the [[ArmCannon Mega Buster]] or special equipment based on specific [=NetNavis=] depending on the adventure.
*** [=MegaMan=] can also appear in Shinbok's motorcycle minigame either as a cameo, or as a playable character instead of Django (with the right equipent).

* RetCon: A major one happens in ''Lunar Knights'', regarding the nature of the vampires of Earth. The first three games establish that vampires are "Immortals", beings removed from the cycle of life and death and led by "Dark", "the will of the Galaxy". If living beings will not submit to the Undeadening (the premise of the first game), the Immortals will activate an Ancestor Piece and annihilate them instead (the premise of the second game). Ratatosk, the villain of the third game, is unique in his refusal to follow Dark's orders and instead tries to establish himself as ruler of the planet with the Ancestor Piece buried in the moon. In Lunar Knights (a timeline in which Ratatosk succeeds in his mission), the rules change a bit: the game insists that the vampires are suddenly ''[[InformedAttribute living beings]]'', while trying to establish the {{Aesop}} that "all life is precious". [[BrokenAesop Unfortunately]], the [=LK=] vampires are ''exactly the same'' in nature and powers (and are responsible for several atrocities, which deadens the empathy), including their signature preservation from the cycle of life and death (i.e. they still need to be purified). The term "Immortals" in Lunar Knights now refers to the beings responsible for placing Dumas in charge, with the vampires essentialy being reduced to their hick cousins from Earth.

* RobotGirl: The robotic attendants at the Solar Bank and the store and also the seemingly more human robotic female aide to the the resident MadScientist.

* ScarfOfAsskicking: Django wears his father's crimson scarf, which becomes [[CapeWings wings]] when he turns into a vampire.
%%** Aaron's scarf.

** Film/{{Django}}, [[Film/TheSabataTrilogy Sabata]], [[APistolForRingo Ringo]], Film/{{Trinity}} and Film/{{Sartana}} are all named after the protagonists of SpaghettiWestern films. Also, Ennio, Luis and Marcello are named after profilic Italian composers who composed music for those pictures.
** In the first three games, plot-important enemies are named after characters from Norse mythology, with the final bosses taking their names from the children of Loki.
** In ''Lunar Knights'', a lot of antagonists and side characters are named after authors of some persuasion.
*** The two Viscount siblings are named based on Creator/EdgarAllanPoe and his wife.
*** Two major antagonists are called [[Creator/BramStoker Baron Stoker]] and [[Literature/TheVampyre Polidori]].
*** The terrenials are all named after authors of children's books except Nero and Toasty/Otenko. Nero is named after Franco Nero, who played the original Django in the [[Film/{{Django}} Western film]].
*** Doubling as a StealthPun, the Schrödinger is a [[CoolShip Mobile Fighter]] operated by [[UsefulNotes/SchrodingersCat a cat terrenial]] named after [[Creator/CharlesPerrault the author]] of "Literature/PussInBoots".
*** The second mobile fighter is called Laplace. Pierre-Simon Laplace was a mathematical[=/=]physical astronomer who was born in the mid-eighteenth century. Ignoring for the moment his actual achievements, one of the things he is most remembered for articulating causal or scientific determinism, and more particularly the postulation that if there was an "intelligence" that was aware of the location and motion of [[UpToEleven each and every atom]] in the universe, it could know all past and future events by calculating from the laws of classical mechanics. In the age of Newton, the idea caught on, and people began talking about "Laplace's Demon" ([[BeamMeUpScotty which he never actually called it]]). So basically, the Laplace and Schrodinger fighters are named for thought-experiments about ''knowing everything'' and ''knowing nothing''.

* UnexpectedShmupLevel: In ''Lunar Knights'', every boss fight is capped off with a ten minute long unskippable space shooter level, where the DS stylus is used to move your ship and to fire your guns.
* UnwillingRoboticization: In ''Lunar Knights'', one of the many atrocities of the vampires was their kidnap of women to subject them to experiments, using forbidden alchemy to turn them into {{Robot Girl}}s. Sheridan's maid Carmilla and the Solar Bank attendant Laura survived this process and managed to escape.

--> '''Polidori''':But don't you find it all a bit pointless? Humans and vampires have fought one another since the days of folklore. Sometimes the humans are victorious, and sometimes fortune favors the vampires, but in the end they always destroy each other... A cycle with no end. What purpose could there possibly be behind such a struggle? Imagine, if you will, a utopia, free of conflict... Isn't that a goal worth working towards?

* AwesomeButImpractical: Dark Loans can give you energy, but they want it paid back at an absurd rate. Unless you are desprate, or just before the FinalBoss in which case the game will be over before you have to pay them back, it's best to avoid using them.

* CuteMonsterGirl: Dark Loans are by a cute vampire.

* GenericDoomsdayVillain: Jormungandr, the monster that Black Dainn is intent on releasing to exterminate the living, turns to simply be a creature whose only instinct is to eat everything it sees. Since it's simply the BeastOfTheApocalypse, it actually works in its favor as it's simply meant to be a terrifying entity that will bring about the end of the world if it isn't stopped.

** Jormungandr serves as in the second game. Black Dainn is the BigBad but his goal revolves around free Jormungandr to destroy the living, and after Black Dainn is defeat, Jormungandr acts as the FinalBoss.

** The final bosses of the second and third games are both horrifically powerful monstrosities called "Ancestor Pieces" who are truly immortal and require an immense amount of magic to seal into dormancy.

* CoolBigSis: Lady to Django and Lady to Lita, Bea to Aaron.
* CoolShip: Schrödinger, though it eventually develops into more of a HumongousMecha.

* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The Azure Sky Tower in the first game, the Spiral Tower in the second, Vambery and Auguste in Lunar Knights.

* EyepatchOfPower: Lucian.
* TheFatalist: Sabata in ''Boktai''.

* FortuneTeller: Zazie and [[spoiler: the old sunflower girl that dies prior to Zoktai]].

* HellHound: One of the higher level mooks. Garmr's namesake is one of these.

* HopelessBossFight: The prologue of ''Boktai 3'' involves Sabata combating a mysterious beast. After a few moments of controlled combat, it soundly defeats him.
** In the same game, Django is thrust into a second battle against The Count after the Ancient Tree that he is unable to win. This leads to the introduction of Sol Trance as a mechanic, which allows Django to immediately reverse the odds in his favor.

* HotLibrarian: Lady of San Miguel, who also apparently tutors Lita as a martial artist.

* PlantPerson: Red Durathror.

* TheRival: Sabata.

* ScarfOfAsskicking: Django wears his father's crimson scarf, which becomes [[CapeWings wings]] when he turns into a vampire, and Sabata wears his mother's blue scarf.
** Aaron's scarf qualifies as well.

* SunnySunflowerDisposition: The sun spirit Otenko. Ditto with Toasty from Lunar Knights, who is actually the same character in Japanese.

* WaveMotionGun : The Pile Driver (Especially with the "Wild Bunch" attack), The Purifex Cannon.

%%* CoolBigSis: Lady to Django and Lady to Lita, Bea to Aaron.

%%* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The Azure Sky Tower in the first game, the Spiral Tower in the second, Vambery and Auguste in Lunar Knights.

%%* EyepatchOfPower: Lucian.
%%* TheFatalist: Sabata in ''Boktai''.

%%* FortuneTeller: Zazie and [[spoiler: the old sunflower girl that dies prior to Zoktai]].

%%* MirrorBoss: Sabata.

%%* PlantPerson: Red Durathror.

%%* TheRival: Sabata.

%%** Aaron's scarf qualifies as well.

%%* SunnySunflowerDisposition: The sun spirit Otenko. Diddo with Toasty from Lunar Knights.

%%* WaveMotionGun : The Pile Driver (Especially with the "Wild Bunch" attack), The Purifex Cannon.

* MarshmallowHell: This happens to Django twice in the third game. Unfortunately for him, one of those times involves a girl who is a bit... flat, in addition to being the CuteBruiser. Poor Django ends up within an inch of his life. (You only have ''ONE'' hit point after the interaction regardless of your health before.)

** The Sunflower and its Purifex Cannon take the place of the original trilogy's Piledriver.

** Interestingly, it' the [[{{Lunacy}} power of the moon]] that allows Lunar Children to use the other elements, as the Moon is "reflective". [[spoiler: This is how Sabata can use the Dark element, though it still involved some heavy and unpleasant interference from his aunt]]. The Piledriver is said to use this power too in order to reflect ThePowerOfTheSun onto immortals, and you can even see its symbol etched onto the mirrors when they're facing upright.

* EscortMission: Defeating the Immortal is not the end of it. Django then has to drag the coffin containing their body out of the dungeon to a position where he can set up the Piledriver to purify them. He suffers from reduced movement while dragging the coffin and needs to combat enemies on the way out. In the meantime, the Immortal may attempt to struggle and cause the coffin to pull away if not attended to. Fortunately, completion of the dungeon often opens up a DoorToBefore to shorten the return trip, on top of special teleporters that can transport him with the coffin.

* NoBodyLeftBehind: Both played straight and subverted. Regular enemies will typically turn to ashes when killed or some simlar variation (like how [[{{Golem}} golems]] explode into rubble). Subverted in the case of Immortals in that they will leave a body, which you will then put in a coffin and drag to the Piledriver where you proceed to ''burn their body to ashes.'' In Boktai 2 Ringo does this to himself after Dainn's purification to make sure he takes him down with him.
* NonstandardGameOver: ''Boktai 2'' is pro at this. Fail to piledrive Django in time, take Lita up on her offer to drink her blood while a vampire, agree to join forces with the BigBad, or fail to draw enough sunlight when Jörmungandr swallows you.

*** The Crossover Battle feature from Zoktai, in which ''Battle Network'' players and ''Boktai'' players race to defeat [=ShadeMan.EXE=] in their own game's combat system. The Shinbok version instead could pit both players against the Count.

--> spoiler:Black Dainn: What the...?! You got your memory back?!

** From the same game, continuing to throw away Lita's Solar Nuts when she's trying to teach you how the gardening system works leads to her becoming increasingly upset, giving an ImpliedThreat on the fourth and fifth instances, before attacking Django for half his HP on the sixth instance.

* MundaneSolution: In Boktai 2, Sabata [[AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent (for the brief moment you play as him)]] and [[spoiler:Dark Django]] take damage in direct sunlight. This can be mitigated just by putting on some sunscreen.

* VegetarianVampire: [[spoilers:In the second game, Dark Django can heal himself with tomato juice.]]

* NeverFoundTheBody: Sabata asks Smith if the latter saw his father's last moments. Smith replies that nobody did, and that Ringo's body was never found.

** ''Boktai 2'' and ''Boktai 3'' both feature an amnesiac [[{{Series/MetalGear}} Solid Snake]], who is likewise referred to as ???.

Shinbok. Depending on how you fare in the final battle and which Trance you have been favouring, [[spoiler:Sabata and/or Otenko]] will die. It is, however, possible to save them both.
* MyNameIsQuestionMarks: In ''Boktai'', you set the protagoinist's name upon creating the save, but the narrator uses ??? on his introductory speech about Istrakan.

* MultipleEndings: Shinbok. Depending on how you fare in the final battle and which Trance you have been favouring, [[spoiler:Sabata and/or Otenko]] will die. It is, however, possible to save them both.

* AndThenJohnWasaZombie: Ringo is turned into a vampire by The Count. Subverted with Django, who is attacked by his father early in the second game, but purified before the transformation is complete, making him a half-vampire.

* AnIcePerson: Zazie can usually be found asleep in the Inn. If the player makes Django wake her up twice, she will freeze him. After she wakes up, she tells Django that she's cranky because of her low blood pressure, and as an apology she teaches him the freezing spell.

* AbsurdlySharpBlade: In ''Shinbok'' Django can use swords to smash through rocks ''that are nearly four times as big as him'', and those suckers shatter too.
* AlternateHistory: ''Lunar Knights'' takes place on the alternate timeline mentioned in ''Boktai 3'', in which Django has died and Ratatosk has taken over the world. When Trinity was kicked out of his world, he accidentally broke the seal on Django's grave, interfering with the past and causing the timeline to split in two.

* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: There's a brief section of Boktai 2 where you play as Sabata, [[spoiler:dragging Django's coffin in order to purify him with the Pile Driver.]] You also get to play as him while exploring the Spiral Tower, which forces the player to alternate between him and Django to solve puzzles and progress further into the dungeon.

** The heroes of Konami's ''Boktai'' and Capcom's ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' frequently visited the other's games for crossover content and sidequests. Unfortunately, foibles of localization meant that some of this content never made it to Western shores.

* {{Lunacy}}: When the ingame calendar detects a full moon, the player can press A at night to cause Lunar Bugs to appear. These bugs can be absorbed to heal the player. In a more extreme example, the BigBad of the first game, Hel, can use the power of the Moon to turn the entire planet Undead, after the necessary energy sacrifices are in order.

** The [[UnwillingRoboticization vampire brides]] Laura and Carmilla are expies of Luxana and Doomy, the Solar Bank and Dark Loans clerks from ''Boktai 2''; Carmilla pulls double-duty as a [[CompositeCharacter composite]] expy of the original ''Boktai'' Carmilla.