History Videogame / RadiataStories

* ArmorPiercingSlap: Adele's favorite way of teaching both Jack and his enemies a lesson is a sharp smack to the face.

While there are easily [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters over 150]] distinct recruitable characters in the game, there are only three that are central to the plot: [[PunnyName Jack Russell]], a [[BoisterousBruiser rude]], [[{{Pollyanna}} cheerful]] [[KidHero teenager]] who plans on [[KnightInShiningArmor being a knight]]; [[{{Tsundere}} Ridley Silverlake]], a [[TheSmartGuy smart]], [[{{Ojou}} proper, well-off young lady]] who wants nothing to do with him [[DefrostingIceQueen (at least at first)]]; and [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Ganz Rothschild]], a polite, genteel man, who is their superior in the [[BilingualBonus Rose Cochon]] brigade. This doesn't last long.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: There are ''a lot'' of recruitable characters, most of whom are, unfortunately, useless to some degree. The player cannot recruit all of them in a single playthrough.

* UnderratedAndOverleveled: [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters The huge cast of characters]] guarantees at least a few will be mundane people with little or no combat training. The inability to focus the plot on each character also means that the developers didn't have time to give in-universe justification for everyone's combat capabilities.

* RapunzelHair: Zane and Nogueira have everyone beat as their hair is so long, they have to keep it wrapped around their entire body to keep it from dragging on the ground and potentially tripping them up. They also happen to be the rulers of the Light and Dark elves, respectively, thus implying this is a status symbol. Lucian and Yuri also qualify.

** Dark elves and light elves wield fire and wind magic respectively.

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: The fate of [[spoiler:human civilization]] once the changeover occurs.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Natalie has green hair. No other human has green hair. There are many other examples of human characters with unnatural colored hair as well, one being Faraus with his purple hair.

* AdultFear:
** Jasne is worrisome when his only daughter is about to leave on her first mission. The fact that [[spoiler:she comes home severely injured from one of them]] gives him even more reason to worry, especially when [[spoiler:she runs away.]]
** Rynka has a reason to worry when her son Cody wanders off and even more so when [[spoiler:she thinks that Ganz has kidnapped him.]]

* AdamAndEvePlot: The nonhuman ending left a lot of fans wondering if this was the fate for [[spoiler:Jack and Ridley]] seeing as how the now-empty Radiata City implies that [[spoiler:the rest of humanity has been exterminated.]]

* AllThereInTheManual: The surname of several characters is revealed in the Official Complete Guide as well as one of the mangas.

* AbortedDeclarationOfLove: Jack had the perfect opportunity to tell Ridley how he really felt during the Ressan Tree scene on the non-human path but he didn't.

* StoryBranchFavoritism: Despite the game having two routes, the non-human route is the only route where Jack learns many of the game's big reveals, develops more as a character, reunites with both Ridley and Ganz, and becomes an OfficialCouple with Ridley. The Human route allows for more unique gameplay elements such as having Jack romance another character, at the cost of the story being less explained and having an ending that is more concrete but decidedly more somber.

* TakeItToTheBridge: A number of battles take place on bridges, and given the abundance of bridges in Tottaus it comes as no surprise.

** In the non-human path, the final encounter with [[spoiler:Elwen]] occurs on a bridge (though the actual gameplay takes place on a wide battlefield as normal).

** Near the end of the human path, there's a surprise nonhuman attack on the bridge outside Lupus Gate where the final showdown between Jack and Zane occurs.

* BaldOfAwesome: Dynas is the head of the Radiata Knights and his cue ball is as shiny as his helmet. Jack was on the verge of becoming his fanboy before he was kicked out of the knights, though he didn't like the bald look.

* StoryBranchFavoritism: Despite the game having two routes, the non-human route is very much intended to be the canonical route. It's the only route where Jack learns much of the game's big reveals, his character is developed the most in it, and the trio of Jack, Ganz, and Ridley only unite in said route. It's also the route where Jack and Ridley become an OfficialCouple, whereas the human route allows for more unique gameplay elements such as having Jack get with another NPC at the cost of the story being less explained and having an ending that is more concrete, but decidedly more somber.

* StoryBranching: The game splits into two very different stories depending on a choice made mid game.
* StrokeTheBeard: Zane is seen doing this a couple times in the game when plotting or speaking to allies. He does it even more in the "Song of Ridley" manga.

* TakeItToTheBridge: There are a number of battles which take place on bridges in this game, and given the abundance of bridges in Tottaus, it comes as no surprise.
** In the non-human route, the final encounter with [[spoiler:Elwen]] occurs on a bridge. Though the actual fight screen takes place on a wide battlefield as normal.
** Nocturne and Gerald decide to take their scuffle to the bridge outside of Faucon Gate to settle their dispute from years before.
** In the human path, the Faucon Gate bridge is also the location in which Jack, Cross, and Dynas initially face off with the fire dragon.

* TokenEvilTeammate: On the Human path, Cross serves as this, though he never properly joins your party. Though still an elitist asshole, Cross doesn't commit the evil acts he does in the Non-Human path like [[spoiler:murdering Dynas]], and at the end [[spoiler:he sacrifices his life to warn Jack that Lucian is actually the Silver Dragon, when he could have played dead and probably survived.]]

* TortureCellar: Found in the basement of the Void Community. Jack and Jarvis will show up here later [[spoiler:as they're being beaten by Void members in front of Princess Belflower.]]

--> "I have to fight Ridley Silverlake, right? He's dead meat..."
** Arnold sounds like even though this is merely an alias.

** Joaquel, a member of Void, is huge and hideous and disfigured.
** Anastasia looks like a pig in too much finery.
** Dwight, whether it be his pudgy face, his tooth-to-gum ratio, or the fact that he's always sweating, something about him just does look right.

* GuideDangIt: The optional (and easily missable!) Fireworks Festival event on the Human path requires Jack walking past his mailbox immediately after receiving Ganz's letter while the clock isn't past 5pm; if this flag is missed, [[PermanentlyMissableContent there is no second chance]] (until NewGamePlus). The real [[Pun kicker]] is setting up which person Jack takes as his date[[note]]Adina, Alicia, Anastasia, Charlie, Claudia, Cornelia, Elena, Iris, Flau, Flora, Herz, Jill, Leona, Lily, Lulu, Marietta, Miranda, Morgan, Natalie, Nina, Rynka, Synelia, Ursula, Vitas, Yuri[[/note]], because it relies on an ''entirely hidden affection mechanic'' (the only hint that it exists at all is that most of his potential dates blush while talking with him if their affection with him is high). Not only will Jack's date be in their evening attire, but [[spoiler:said date will also watch Jack leave Radiata in the ending]].

* GaiasVengeance: [[spoiler:Algendar's Disease is implied to be this. Due to the natural balance of the world being tipped due to Humanity, disease appeared alongside the Dragons to try and punish humanity. With the Dragons being killed, it increased and spread even quicker]].

* GuideDangIt: The optional (and easily missable!) Fireworks Festival event on the Human path requires Jack walking past his mailbox immediately after receiving Ganz's letter while the clock isn't past 5pm; if this flag is missed, [[PermanentlyMissableContent there is no second chance]] (until NewGamePlus). The real kicker is setting up which person Jack takes as his date[[note]]Adina, Alicia, Anastasia, Charlie, Claudia, Cornelia, Elena, Iris, Flau, Flora, Herz, Jill, Leona, Lily, Lulu, Marietta, Miranda, Morgan, Natalie, Nina, Rynka, Synelia, Ursula, Vitas, Yuri[[/note]], because it relies on an ''entirely hidden affection mechanic'' (the only hint that it exists at all is that most of his potential dates blush while talking with him if their affection with him is high). Not only will Jack's date be in their evening attire, but [[spoiler:said date will also watch Jack leave Radiata in the ending]].

* HatePlague: What algandars Disease does to humans. While Elves infected with it either die or become encased in a form of cocoon, Humans go into a violent rage and lash out at anything around them, not to different from how real world rabies in animals.

* GuideDangIt: The optional (and easily missable!) Fireworks Festival event on the Human path requires Jack walking past his mailbox immediately after receiving Ganz's letter while the clock isn't past 5pm; if this flag is missed, [[PermanentlyMissableContent there is no second chance]] (until NewGamePlus). The real kicker is setting up which person Jack takes as his date, because it relies on an ''entirely hidden affection mechanic'' (the only hint that it exists at all is that most of his potential dates blush while talking with him if their affection with him is high). Not only will Jack's date be in their evening attire, but [[spoiler:said date will also watch Jack leave Radiata in the ending]]. Below is the list of his potential dates:
** Adina
** Alicia
** Anastasia
** Charlie
** Claudia
** Cornelia
** Elena
** Iris
** Flau
** Flora
** Herz
** Jill
** Leona
** Lily
** Lulu
** Marietta
** Miranda
** Morgan
** Natalie
** Nina
** Rynka
** Synelia
** Ursula
** Vitas
** Yuri (the employee of the Begin Eatery restaurant)

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: In the non-human path, [[spoiler:your final battle against Elwen can be won, though winning isn't mandatory, but the fight a little later against Cross is unwinnable. Yet the last fight against Cross near the end of the game is much easier to win than fighting Elwen, and this time he has soldiers backing him up.]]
* GardenGarment: Both light and dark elves dress in this style to further contrast the humans; the light elves have their "grass clothes", while the dark elves with their "leaf clothes".

** Ridley. She certainly had Jack fooled:

* GloryHound: Cross loves a good battle, especially if it will earn him prestigious titles such as "the dragon slayer".

* BloodlessCarnage: The aftermath of many of the battles shown in cutscenes will show dead bodies lying on the battlefield but no blood is ever shown. It just looks like a bunch of NPC's scattered around, taking a nap. There are only a few instances where any blood shows up on characters (e.g. Leonard after being ambushed by a blood orc, Jarvis while being beaten by a gang of bandits, and Cross right before [[spoiler:getting killed by Lucian]]).

* BloodlessCarnage: The aftermath of many of the battles shown in cutscenes will show dead bodies lying on the battlefield but no blood is ever shown. It just looks like a bunch of NPCs scattered around, taking a nap. There are only a few instances where any blood shows up on characters (e.g. Leonard after being ambushed by a blood orc, Jarvis while being beaten by a gang of bandits, and Cross right before [[spoiler:getting killed by Lucian]]).

* RealityEnsues: You can recruit a wide variety of civilians to your party from chefs to construction workers to children with slingshots. This doesn't mean they'll be worth a damn in combat though.