History Videogame / BreathOfFireIII

The game is mostly remembered for introducing some of the trademark game mechanics on the series, including Ryu's dragon gene system, which allowed the player to mix and match several different "genes" (crystals) in order to create a variety of dragon forms; The Masters, certain {{N|onPlayerCharacter}}PCs who after fulfilling their requirements granted those under their tutorship stats bonus as well as new techniques; and the Skill system, special master/enemy spells that could be learned and used by any party member. Most of these gameplay elements were later refined in VideoGame/BreathOfFireIV.

There exists a [[Characters/BreathOfFire character sheet]] for the series. Place any character-related tropes there.

* AlwaysCheckBehindTheChair: There are chests of drawers on more than one occasion.

* ArrangedMarriage: One quest in the first part of the game deals with this. The Guildmaster of Rhapala wants his daughter Shadis to marry Zig, the big, strong sailor he's chosen to be the next Guildmaster, and has set him the EngagementChallenge of fixing the guild lighthouse. However, she's in love with the guild's bookkeeper, Beyd, who's smart and kind but is too weak for anyone in the Guild to take him seriously as a leader. Accordingly, the party takes it upon themselves to teach Beyd to fight so he can fix the lighthouse before Zig does. [[spoiler: Zig challenges him to a duel for the right to go to the lighthouse, which will mean the right to marry Shadis. Beyd wins, but is too badly beaten up to go fix it; nonetheless, beating Zig proves that Beyd has the chops to lead the guild.]]

* AudioAdaptation: ''Breath of Fire III Drama Album'', which has Nina as the {{Narrator}}, talking about her adventures with Ryu pre-TimeSkip to two [[CanonForeigner original characters.]]
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Usually averted; enemy leaders tend to be crooked cowards, rather than boss-worthy. Played straight with Balio and Sunder, who are CoDragons to the mysterious leader of the Sin City gang and far stronger than Ryu and his friends (they're only defeated when Garr steps in). DoubleSubverted with the boss man himself, who makes a RunForTheBorder when he hears that [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge Rei is after him]], but [[spoiler: when caught at the border gate, proves to be a transforming boss and takes Rei down with one shot]].
* AwesomeButImpractical: The Chain Formation - yes, it gives you insane speed, but it shoots your defense to hell, meaning that if you're not going to kill your enemy in one turn, you'd better be prepared with tons of healing items.

* BerserkButton: Steal the apple off the [[BossInMookClothing GooKing]] if you want it to stay and fight. [[OhCrap Though you may regret it if you're not prepared enough...]] They have a chance to drop the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Goo King Sword]] if you manage to survive, though.
* TheBerserker: The "Berserk" skill, which dramatically increases the target's strength and removes control of it for three turns, after [[DeadlyUpgrade which he just dies.]] There's also the enemy Berserker who uses said skill, and both Ryu and Rei get transformations which turns them into this.

* BilingualBonus / ThemeNaming: All [=McNeil=] ghosts are named after business concepts. Similarly, all characters related to the port city of Rhapala have their names based off types of fishing bait.

* BossBonanza: In the Myria station. There are plenty of new bosses. But given how some of the bosses are inside some segments of the station itself...it might not qualify specially in the end where you get to the inner laboratory where you face the Experiments which are mostly a {{Boss Rush}} per Capcom's tradition but they included a few new ones (including a Dodo bird, still the crowning moment of funny is when you have to face Rocky X 5 [[spoiler: Giant Rooster]], considering it can still inflict you the Egg status, Ovum spell).
* BossInMookClothing: The Archmage and Berserker, probably the best known examples on the whole series. The [=GooKing=] may also count, specially when it's [[UnstoppableRage angry.]]

* TheCameo: Following in VideoGame/BreathOfFireII's tradition, though obscured due to the translator's ignorance. From ''VideoGame/{{Breath of Fire|I}}'' there's Mogu, Bo (named Gary from his Japanese name Gilly, which is short of his Japanese original Gilliam) and Ox (his Japanese name is Builder, which the translator changed into Worker). From ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII'' we have Bow (not referred by name, though) and Jean (under his first name Ecarl/Ekaru). Ladon (the Dragon Lord/God of previous games) appears also as a Master. One can also spot Chun-Li and Sakura from ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' watching from among the crowd in the contest.

** Nina's ''[[ShipTease very]]'' [[ShipTease insistent]] that Ryu "is not a bad dragon".

* DemotedToExtra: Deis, still an important NPC, but this time only helping as a Master.

* DoubleConsciousness: Rei has a moment where a ghost like apparition of himself walks out of his body and he talks to it. Seems he is torn between his easy life as a highwayman and his quest for philosophical knowledge of why world destroying power exists. There really is no comparison between the two and he tries to come to terms with the fact things aren't as simple as he's used to.

* DumbDodoBird: One is a part of the BossBonanza.

* EarlyBirdCameo: Both [[spoiler: Myria]] and [[spoiler: adult Teepo]] are seen almost at the start of the game.

** Interestingly, it's ultimately up to the player to decide which side is in the right. [[spoiler: Either ending can be interpreted as good, and notably, Myria does not kill any of Ryu's friends if he agrees with her, just wipes their minds and sends them home. Given how Myria's fears are proven ''right'' in Videogame/BreathOfFire4 due to just how terrible the technology is there and what it was capable of, the player can be forgiven for thinking siding with her is the 'good' choice, mostly because there is no wrong choice here, just an open debate.]]
* GravityBarrier: A notable egregious one. One of the teleporters leads very close to TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon and PAST the [[ThatOneLevel Desert Of Death]], but you can't step out of it due to a crate blocking out the stairs, even though the characters could as easily ''jump down'' the damn machine!

* JustifiedSavePoint: The main method of saving is a journal found during camping.

* MarathonLevel: [=McNeil=] Manor is an early-game example. It has two parts (the garden and the interior) that the party has to traverse like a maze. The garden part is mostly a StealthBasedMission with a minor FetchQuest near the beginning and two MiniBoss battles, and the interior is so labyrinthine that some characters inside even lampshade the oddity of ''why'' the mansion is like that in the first place. The interior is dotted with powerful random encounters at that point in the game and several MiniBoss battles. There is a bed for healing relatively[[note]]you still have to go through several rooms[[/note]] close to the entrance, and you'll find yourself backtracking there several times, especially after a tough battle, until at least you finally reach the attic (the second healing point) which by then is again, ''relatively'' close to the party's objective. Oh, and the worst part? The player must traverse through the interior with only two characters.

*** All above examples of max HP loss can only be cured by sleeping in an inn, sleeping at the always-available free tent doesn't cure it and neither do any of the items.

* OneWingedAngel: If you are against an human/humanoid character, expect him/her to transform ''just'' before the fight.

* OverratedAndUnderleveled: Garr gets so much praise during the story as the former champion of the contest, who single-handedly defeats groups of three and who can DeathGlare Balio and Sunder [[BringMyBrownPants shitless.]] Yet once he joins you, he's barely above the player in stats/level. This may be justified as a case of holding back: When Garr joins the party, he fully intends to [[spoiler: take Ryu to Angel Tower and kill him to wipe out the Brood once and for all]]. He wouldn't really want to show off all his best moves up until that point, lest [[spoiler: Ryu]] be prepared for him. He is ultimately much stronger at that point as well, though [[spoiler: Ryu]] still wipes the floor with him.

** Thanks to the Lava Men who [[ElementalAbsorption give out more experience after being attacked with fire]], Mt. Zublo can become one. However, better come prepared, because [[CurbStompBattle one too many can mean instant death.]]

* PowerCopying: Becomes a series' staple with the Skill system.

* SchizoTech: A major plot point. Still, there's the small issue of [[spoiler: TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon being a SpaceStation...]] Betcha didn't see that coming, did ya? Fully justified, though: [[spoiler: Myria wanted to keep the world in perpetual stasis to prevent any of her "children" from coming to harm, which is also why she wanted to wipe out the Brood. Any technological advances could jeopardize her efforts.]]

** There are two enemy {{Shout Out}}s to fellow Creator/{{Capcom}} franchise ''Franchise/ResidentEvil''. Two of the late-game enemies are named [=Plant42=] and Yawn. The latter, however, is LostInTranslation as the enemy was renamed Foul Weed.

** One of the late-game weapons is the Heat Shotel, a reference to ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing''.

* TheUnreveal: We never find out why Ryu had a prophetic dream as a boy (but never again) or whose voice warned him not to kill in Dauna Mine. (Fan speculation is that it was [[spoiler: the spirit of his dead mother, who may have been the female ghost in the mine]].) For that matter, we never find out why Ryu is still alive, when all the other remaining Brood lost the ability to transform (it's implied in a cutscene that Deis was responsible somehow, though).

* WackyWaysideTribe: The shenanigans that happen in Rhapala during Childhood have very little relevance to the greater plot. You just have to sort out the issues with an ArrangedMarriage, a broken lighthouse, and the fairies that were breaking the lighthouse before you can pass on to the Urkan Region. While the Guild provides some assistance after the TimeSkip and the fairies become a major SideQuest later, ultimately the purpose of the events in Rhapala is to extend the game a bit.

-->'''Garr:''' Recorded on these stone tablets are the names of us Guardians...otherwise known...[[spoiler: as Dragon-Slayers!]]

* AnnoyingLaugh: You will come to ''hate'' Balio and Sunder's whinnies.

The game takes place in a StandardFantasySetting, except that it has [[PettingZooPeople humanoid animals]] co-existing peacefully with humans. There are also some machines, though [[SchizoTech their origin is a mystery]]. A long time ago there also existed a race of dragons, but they were killed off for some forgotten reason; only their fossils remain, turned into crystals which are mined to power machines.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Ryu and friends defeat Myria, who muses if she did the right thing and asks if there really is a God that can answer her as she dies alone, but this means the technology and the Desert of Death are unable to be mitigated any further, and Garr [[TakenForGranite turns to stone]] as the mere act of fighting Myria was a HeroicSacrifice. While Yggdrasil points out that Myria was holding back the world from recolonizing and potentially fixing the problem themselves, the game ends on the ambiguous note of our heroes staring out at the desert from a cliff, and leaves the player to determine on their own if the right thing was done.]]

* ArtShift: the final scene of the game ditches the in-game models and depicts the characters in their concept art appearances (see the page picture). This is mainly only a problem for Nina, who looks almost nothing like her artwork in both halves of the game.

* OffModel: For such a beautifully animated game, anyone who looks at the artwork and then the in-game spritework will find it jarring that Ryu, Teepo, and Nina basically barely resemble their artwork at all. While Ryu's post-TimeSkip self looks on-point, his child self has completely different clothes and an almost jelly-esque poo hair shape, and Teepo gets long hair and an outfit that looks it has a skirt. Nina's young design has somewhat accurate clothing, but her hair style is pretty different, and after the timeskip her ''entire design'' is completely different. This is the most blatant when you get the ArtShift in the ending, as Nina suddenly barely resembles herself from the past couple dozen hours.

* PointOfNoReturn: Quite a few actually, though in every case, they're temporary:

* OffModel: For such a beautifully animated game, anyone who looks at the artwork and then the in-game spritework will find it jarring that Ryu, Teepo, and Nina basically barely resemble their artwork at all. While Ryu's post-TimeSkip self looks on-point, his child self has completely different clothes and an almost jelly-esque poo hair shape, and Teepo gets long hair and an outfit that looks it has a skirt. Nina's young design has somewhat accurate clothing, but her hair style is pretty different, and after the timeskip her ''entire design'' is completely different. This gets jarring when you get the ArtShift in the ending, as Nina suddenly barely resembles herself from the past couple dozen hours.

* ArtShift: the final scene of the game ditches the in-game models and depicts the characters in their concept art appearances (see the page picture).

* Creator/AkariKaida.

* BishonenLine: Both subverted and played straight. Ryu's dragon forms get more and more monstrous, yet his ultimate form, the Kaiser, is... Himself, colored gold. Subverted when he uses the Kaiser Breath attack, which turns him into a gigantic dragon.

* BossBonanza: In the Myria station. There are plenty of new bosses. But given how some of the bosses are inside some segments of the station itself... It might not qualify specially in the end where you get to the inner laboratory where you face the Experiments which are mostly a {{Boss Rush}} per Capcom's tradition but they included a few new ones (including a Dodo bird, still the crowning moment of funny is when you have to face Rocky X 5 [[spoiler: Giant Rooster]], considering it can still inflict you the Egg status, Ovum spell).

* GravityBarrier: A notable egregious one. One of the teleporters leads very close to TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon and PAST the [[ThatOneLevel Desert Of Death]], but you can't step out of it due to a crate blocking out the stairs... Even though the characters could as easily ''jump down'' the damn machine!

* MartialPacifist: Hondara. Before he'll allow you to study under him, you first have to learn how to fight without killing, which you accomplish by learning the otherwise useless moves of the ActualPacifist mentioned above. The Urkans as a whole seem to lean in this direction... Except in the very, very rare event that they [[BewareTheNiceOnes go to war]]. Then [[GoodIsNotSoft the gloves come off]].

* NotCompletelyUseless: Durandal's Backhand can't finish off an enemy. Aside from the fact that you have to learn it to unlock Hondara, most players would write it off as useless... But when training Beyd, you want to injure him without knocking him out, so Backhands are a good way to train up his HP and Defense.

* [[spoiler: GenocideBackfire: Myria thought the dragons would be a menace to the world and ordered them killed.]]

* OurGodsAreDifferent: There are several beings referred to as gods, or who are otherwise of equal power (Myria and Ladon for the first, Yggdrasil and Deis [[note]] Though the latter name is itself a feminization of "Deus," Latin for "God" [[/note]] for the second; Ryu as the Kaiser may also count). None of them are omniscient or omnipotent, however (and Myria ''thinking'' of herself as such is what drove much of the BackStory).
** [[spoiler: In the ending, Myria herself is found praying.]]
* OverratedAndUnderleveled: Garr gets so much praise during the story as the former champion of the contest, who single-handedly defeats groups of three and who can DeathGlare Balio and Sunder [[BringMyBrownPants shitless.]] Yet once he joins you, he's barely above the player in stats/level.
** This may be justified as a case of holding back: When Garr joins the party, he fully intends to [[spoiler: take Ryu to Angel Tower and kill him to wipe out the Brood once and for all]]. He wouldn't really want to show off all his best moves up until that point, lest [[spoiler: Ryu]] be prepared for him. He is ultimately much stronger at that point as well, though [[spoiler: Ryu]] still wipes the floor with him.

** The Dolphin and the Ammonites are a reference to Film/{{Jaws}}.
** One of the late-game weapons is the Heat Shotel, a reference to Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing.

* LostForever: Did you [[spoiler: fail to compliment Deis the first time you saw her in serpent form?]] No Master for you!

* PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling: Thanks to the Lava Men who [[ElementalAbsorption give out more experience after being attacked with fire]], Mt. Zublo can become one. However, better come prepared, because [[CurbStompBattle one too many can mean instant death.]]
** Earlier, Tar Men provide a ''lot'' of experience for Ryu if he takes the plea of a previously met NPC Tar Man to "not freeze us" to its logical conclusion.

* SpaceStation: The VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, the Orbital Station Myria.
** Actually the Station only hovered above a city.

* StockScream: Surprisingly, the sound effect of Myria's Venom spell is the Howie Long scream slowed down. You can clearly hear it in [[http://youtu.be/Ut1hD33kjSc?t=1m48s this sped-up video]].