History Videogame / SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters

* MultipleEndings: Albeit mainly {{"Where Are They Now?" Epilogue}}s set sometime after the events of the Normal Path. [[spoiler:Certain maps do have alternate endings depending on whether Revya wins or loses, such as the final battle in the Demon Path and the BonusBoss battle against Lord Median.]]

* EverythingsBetterWithCows: Sepps have cow-like features, such as bipedal furry legs with hooves and horns atop their skulls.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Soul Nomad as a [[CrapsackWorld whole]], compared to other Nippon Ichi games. Gets ramped UpToEleven with the Demon Path. Even without the Demon Path, which you really have to go through to really experience[[note:to add a bit more perspective, compared to the bad endings in the ''Disgaea'' games involving mass genocide and trauma, the Demon Path is like those but for the entire game apart from the good ending]], the main story is still way darker than anything ''Nippon Ichi'' made before. Pretty much every villain in the plot is a KnightOfCerebus, there's no NoFourthWall jokes outside of a gag ending with [[spoiler:Asagi]], the flashy special attacks are a lot less over the top, and there's constant plot points of mass murder.

* MarketBasedTitle: The game's title went from "Soul Cradle" to "Soul Nomad".

* BonusBoss: It's a Nippon Ichi game. Of course it's going to have them. [[spoiler:Asagi, Median and Lujei.]]
** And in case you haven't noticed [[spoiler:old favorite Baal is ''missing'']].

-->'''Gig''': [[spoiler:Oh please! You're trying to play the ''victim''? We can't even move on with the story because you destroyed the world! [[NonstandardGameOver Now we gotta start all over again!]] Seriously, thanks a lot!]]

* ButtMonkey: [[spoiler:Odie]]. The man is so pathetic, even the other characters pity him. Ironically, though, he TookALevelInBadass in the Demon Path, with even [[spoiler:Dio, his relative and the most powerful sorcerer in the world,]] acknowledging his growth.
** [[spoiler:Galahad]] in the Demon Path.

* CardCarryingVillain

** Subverted with Thuris, as he is often OutGambitted.

-->'''Gig''': [[spoiler:"...That's it, I am ROYALLY FREAKING PISSED! [[Film/FullMetalJacket I'm gonna rip off your head and shit down your neck you overgrown asshole!!]] [...] NOW KICK THE SHIT OUT OF THAT BITCH!!"]]
* CombinationAttack: You're able to use skills that will activate after your attack, involving, well, combos with other characters. This ranges from a targeted attack on the leader to something capable of clearing the entire board.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Soul Nomad as a [[CrapsackWorld whole]], compared to other Nippon Ichi games. In other news: the Demon Path.
** Even without the Demon Path, which you really have to go through to really experience[[note:to add a bit more perspective, compared to the bad endings in the Disgaea games involving mass genocide and trauma, the Demon Path is like those but for the entire game apart from the good ending]], the main story is still way darker than anything Nippon Ichi made before. Pretty much every villain in the plot is a KnightOfCerebus, there's no NoFourthWall jokes outside of a gag ending with [[spoiler:Asagi]], the flashy special attacks are a lot less over the top, and there's constant plot points of mass murder.

* DeaderThanDead: If the Masters of Life don't want to put you back in the cycle, well, bye.
** Subverted for the World Eaters victim: they can release the souls they've eaten. And if they die, the souls are automatically released.
* DeadpanSnarker:
** Gig, baby!
** Revya becomes this during the course of the story, taking on some of Gig's traits.
* DealWithTheDevil: Gig attempts this with the player character. Pretty often, and rather loudly.

* DimensionLord: [[spoiler:Haephnes and Drazil rule their respective worlds named after them.]]
* TheDitz: Danette and Levin. [[spoiler:Though Levin...[[DemonicPossession not]] [[MagnificentBastard so]] [[ObfuscatingStupidity much]].]]
* DemonicPossession: Gig's possession of the player character, which is botched. For a more successful example, see also: [[spoiler:Raksha, to Levin.]]

* DownerEnding: The Bad Ending of the Demon Path has [[spoiler:Revya kill just about everyone who would dare stand against him/her in Haephnes. Then s/he devours ''Gig''. Then s/he kills Drazil and Haephens, and cause the end of all existence. All because it was fun!]]

** A more straight example is [[spoiler:the Gestahl battle in Drazil]].

* DysfunctionJunction: By midway through the Demon route, most of your group is outright insane in one fashion or another.
* EliteMooks: Gameplay-wise, almost every playable character is a stronger version of a specific [[CharacterClassSystem unit type]]. Exceptions are the main character, Endorph, [[spoiler:Median/Gestahl, Layna, Lujei and Asagi]] who have their own unique class.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[spoiler:The nature of Drazil is sufficient to make even Gig disgusted, as he declares quite loudly by claiming the whole place's nothing but a graveyard whose inhabitants just happen to be mobile.]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And most importantly, there were no hotpods.]]

* EveryoneDies: In the Demon Path[[spoiler:'s bad ending, Reyva kills both Haephnes and Drazil, ending life]].
* EverythingsBetterWithCows: Sepps are part cow.
* EvilLaugh: Gig wouldn't be Gig without this trope.
** The Thurists love to do this, being an insane Doomsday Cult. Interesting to note that Gig actually finds the Thurists laughing creepy.

* EvilIsEasy: Subverted; the Demon Path is ''much'' harder than the main campaign, even though it's unlocked as soon as your first NewGamePlus (with all the benefits that entails).

** Revya in the Demon Path. And by fallen hero, we mean VillainProtagonist.

* ForTheEvulz: ''Rivers of blood! Mountains of flesh! A glorious world of pain! Feeble humans crushed like insects they are!'' Yeah, Gig really, really enjoys destruction for its own sake.
** [[spoiler:Apparently, the Devourlord annihilates the worlds because of this. See his/her last line]] in the Demon Path[[spoiler:'s Bad Ending]].

* FromBadToWorse: Again, the Demon Path.

* GoldfishPoopGang: 'Dio' and his minions.

** [[spoiler:Subverted]] in the Demon Path, where [[spoiler:everyone ''thinks'' this at first, but where Gig openly admits that he's just along for the ride.]]

* TheGrimReaper: Gig is a 'master of death' -- a being who should ''technically'' do the standard duties of the grim reaper.

* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Dio of the Evil Eye/Odie, who ''says'' he's a legendary wizard, but in reality is just the leader of a GoldfishPoopGang with an inferiority complex (him, not his buddies). [[spoiler: He later turns out to have been the only failure in magic to have ever been produced by a legendary clan of wizards, and was so ashamed of himself that he took his older brother's name. He gets over it and joins your party.]]
* InfinityMinusOneSword: Room variant: Hades' Despair. Downside: When your Stamina hits 0, you die. Upside: It increases your stats by the percentage amount of lost stamina. So, with 5% stamina remaining, all your stats are increased by 95%.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: Room variant: Cat's Cradle. Its power depends on how many [[NewGamePlus cycles]] the player has completed. Note that this ''includes'' a new cycle caused by a NonStandardGameOver, which crosses it with DiscOneNuke, since a reliable way to farm [[NewGamePlus cycles]] is to constantly impale yourself against [[HopelessBossFight Feinne]], which is, what? The fourth battle? And accepting Gig's [[DealWithTheDevil deal]], time and time again until you are satisfied, or beat her and get the gag ending with [[spoiler:Asagi]]. That or [[spoiler:blazing through the Demon path, which is much shorter (albeit harder) than the normal path]]. The maximum amount of is reached at ten circles with a stat increase of 350%.

** In the Demon path, virtually everyone, given your own status as a VillainAntagonist.
* HeroicMime: The player character, though s/he does speak during battles, not to mention [[spoiler:getting an epic EvilLaugh in the Bad Ending of the Demon Path.]]

* HeyYou: Gig RARELY calls anyone by name. To list them: Revya: Kid/Soulmate. Danette: Stupid Cow. Levin: Man Cow. Odie: Sluggo. Grunzford: Gramps. Layna[[spoiler:/Virtuous]]: Old Hag.

* HiddenElfVillage: The hidden village the protagonist comes from. Averted in the "hypocritical" aspect, as it was pretty much the only way to protect them from the World Eaters.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Double subverted with the Nereids. Their attitude towards humans is closer to humans are untrustworthy rather than full on humans are bastards. They are also more fair than other believers in this trope, preferring to look at it through a case by case basis. The ones that are judged to be decent people however....

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Cuthbert [[spoiler:stabs Lobo to death]].
* KidWithTheLeash: The player character.

* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:Median is revealed to be the player's father. Immediately after ''they kill him''.]]

** Master Of Death turns out to be a subversion, the Master of Death is the title of the one who guides souls to the afterlife.
* MamaBear: Juno, to Penn.

* MultipleEndings: Nippon Ichi in general is a huge fan of these. Most of them are humorous WhereAreTheyNow epilogues, so likely they're all partially canon, minus Revya's presence in each of them.
* MyFutureSelfAndMe: By abusing the TimeyWimeyBall, you can unlock the past-era Median as a usable character, then arrange to (briefly) have him in your party at the same time as the modern Median, at least during the Demon Path. Nobody comments on this... though, granted, the fact that you have the past version Median ''at all'' is a matter of GameplayAndStorySegregation.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Gig, after regaining his memories, in Demon Path's Good Ending.]]

* NonstandardGameOver: Some of the dialogue choices lead to this (but the game warns you ahead of time). Generally, they involve taking Gig up on his offer of (huge) additional power- in exchange of your body.

* OlderAndWiser: Endorph, [[spoiler:whom you might remember from ''VideoGame/PhantomBrave'' as Walnut, the JerkAss with a bit of a SocialDarwinist streak who made life much harder for poor little Marona]]. Now he's JustLikeRobinHood, a [[BigDamnHeroes Big Damn Hero]], and inspires the weak-willed to become stronger, which earns him the hatred of DarkActionGirl Shauna.
* OneWomanWail: ''Crying for the Dark Sky'', Thuris' theme song. Bonus points in that the one woman wailing sounds just a little like Kanan's VA.
** Also present in the theme songs for Fienne and [[spoiler:Drazil]].
* OnlySaneMan: Revya. "I am going to sleep 'cause everyone is stupid."
** Also, Vitali (although he does have some, ah, [[{{Crossdresser}} quirks]]). Gig...''thinks'' he is.
** [[spoiler:Lobo is the sane one in the demon path, for having the common sense to betray you in the end. Thorndyke and Shauna, too. [[SanitySlippage Initially]].]]

* PaedoHunt: [[spoiler: Hawthorne]] is one of the few characters that you face down in both the normal and Demon Path modes. In the former, he attempts to rape and murder [[spoiler: Trish.]] In the latter, [[spoiler: he succeeds.]]

* PetTheDog: Subverted in [[spoiler:the Demon Path]] where [[spoiler:Revya saves the life of a angel just so that s/he could ''kill her friend right in front of her''.]] This behavior is also mocked when [[spoiler:Lobo is revealed to be a traitor in the Demon Path]], specifically [[spoiler: if you choose to say that you trust Lobo, his FreudianExcuse kicks into play and he leaves you, claiming that people who trust each other are fools. Gig mocks him for it.]]
** [[spoiler: Dio also has one in the Demon Path where he's risking his life to save his queen and eventually has a full blown HeelFaceTurn.]]

* ThePlan: [[spoiler: Lots of people actually, but Levin/Raksha's is the most jaw-droppingly magnificent.]]
** Though Layna's gambit [[spoiler:backfires epically in the Demon Path, since she didn't anticipate that you would be ''worse'' than Gig.]]
* PlotTumor: A good portion of the game is unrelated to the titular world eaters, Gig notes this and provides the quote for the trope's page. [[spoiler:Subverted. Every single one of those quests was the grand plan of Levin, who is actually one of the World Eaters.]]

** The Gideon class, which becomes available after you beat the game once. They've been compared to Majins in the VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness for how broken they are.

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Levin also answers to 'Raksha', and he wants to be a God.]]

* ScrewDestiny: [[spoiler:Subverted. [[StartOfDarkness It takes you to really bad places]].]]

* SharingABody: Revya and Gig.

* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Both versions of the Median ending. To put it into perspective, in the Victory version of the Median ending Revya and Gig die of Scarlet Iago and are turned into weapons by Drazil.]]
* ShouldersOfDoom: All the gods in the game, including Gig, wear these, though they actually hover above their shoulders. Your main character gains Gig's ShouldersOfDoom whenever he / she uses Demon Blast. Gig's ShouldersOfDoom can also turn into wings.
* ShoutOut: Gig, upon being pressed on info on Feinne, claims it can '[[Comicbook/{{Superman}} fly at 5 million miles an hour and shoot freaking lasers from its eyes, but can't see through lead and is totally weak to a certain element from its homeworld]]'.
** He also mentions that one World Eater can move at hyperspeed and create tornados by running in circles. Gee, [[Franchise/TheFlash who could that be?]]
*** And to round out the [[Creator/DCComics DC]] trifecta, he mentions how one of them [[ComicBook/MartianManhunter has green skin, wears a cape, and can turn invisible.]]

* SinisterScythe: [[TheGrimReaper Gig's]] [[spoiler: when he gets to fight briefly in the normal ending.]] And when the main character performs their special attack, Demon Blast, the Onyx Blade turns into a red scythe at the end of the attack and appears to ''slice the foe in half''.

* StableTimeLoop: [[spoiler:The Median ending]] causes a very unusual one of these.
* StealthHiBye: Vitali is a master of this technique.

* SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum: [[spoiler:If you ''win'' the final battle of the Demon Path, Revya kills both Haephnes and Drazil and erases both their worlds from existence, killing everything on them and him/herself with it.]] And his/her last words after doing so:

* TimeyWimeyBall: [[spoiler:In the Median Victory ending, should Gig and Revya go back in time fight the guy who started this whole mess and win, they get turned into two of the World Eaters. This means that even in non-Median time travel plots, you're fighting alternate future versions of yourselves.]]

* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Gig loves hotpods.

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Using edicts such as 'Kick', 'Fight' 'Steal', 'Kidnap' and 'Combine' on InnocentBystanders boosts your stats, gives money, or allows you to recruit characters you can't buy at this point. Just don't try it on people who can't fight back, or you'll have [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment Heroman]] to contend with.
** Or posters for that matter.

* AWizardDidIt: See Lujei's Soul Nomad Character page for full details.

* WorthIt: [[spoiler: Spoken near the end of the Demon Path.]]
-->'''[[spoiler:Revya:]]''' It doesn't matter. It was ''[[WorthIt fun]]''.

The game will be ported to UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch alongside ''VideoGame/PhantomBrave'' as part of ''NIS Classics Vol. 1'', a CompilationRerelease on August 31st, 2021 and on it's own to PC via Steam in Summer 2021.

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Gig believes this in his ending if Revya is female after the rest of the cast starts shipping them, but really it's subverted, most of the female characters can't stand him.
** Mostly, it's just Danette, seeing he insults her the most of the cast aside from Levin.

* AristocratsAreEvil: [[spoiler:Hawthorne.]]

* BecomingTheMask: Implied, and later confirmed, if you're headed for the [[spoiler:Levin ending.]]
** [[spoiler:Also to Levin/Raksha in the Demon Path, when he decides that GoodFeelsGood.]]

* BigGood: Lady Layna([[spoiler:or rather Virtuous]]) though some of her actions tend to be morally ambiguous, such as her gamble with fusing Gig's soul with Revya's and sometimes being vague. She's still one of the most heroic characters nonetheless, beat out only by Haephness herself.

** And in case you haven't noticed [[spoiler:old favorite Baal is ''missing''.]]

* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler:Trish in the Demon Path comes pre-broken due to her adoptive father being a serial rapist.]]

* ButtMonkey: Odie. The man is so pathetic, even the other characters pity him.
** Ironically, though, [[spoiler:Odie TookALevelInBadass in the Demon Path, with even Dio, his relative and the most powerful sorcerer in the world, acknowledging his growth.]]
** [[spoiler:Galahad in the Demon Path.]]

** [[spoiler:Also, Raksha.]]

* ClusterFBomb: Gig in the English dub, especially when [[spoiler:Feinne attempts to eat him.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Gig''': "...That's it, I am ROYALLY FREAKING PISSED! [[Film/FullMetalJacket I'm gonna rip off your head and shit down your neck you overgrown asshole!!]] [...] NOW KICK THE SHIT OUT OF THAT BITCH!!"]]

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: During Inspections, enemy leaders sometimes ignore Decor disadvantages. For instance, "Antimatter" gives you a 90% boost to defense (making you nearly untouchable) at the cost of turning everyone in the room into a OneHitpointWonder - take any damage at all and you're dead. Leaders still take normal damage.

** Even without the Demon Path, which you really have to go through to really experience [[spoiler: to put a bit more perspective, the bad endings in the Disgaea games, the Demon Path is like those the entire game apart from the good ending]], the main story is still way darker than anything Nippon Ichi made before. Pretty much every villain in the plot is a KnightOfCerebus, there's no NoFourthWall jokes outside of a gag ending with Asagi, the flashy special attacks are a lot less over the top, and there's constant plot points of mass murder.

* DespairEventHorizon: Nearly everyone in the Demon Path, but especially [[spoiler:Shauna, whose in-game vocals change to hollow monosyllabic grunts after her sister dies. Thorndyke almost literally crosses this after he believes he's killed his son, to the point where he's so broken that he's unable to come back to sanity even when it turns out that he didn't.]]

* TheDitz: Danette and Levin. [[spoiler: Though Levin...[[DemonicPossession not]] [[MagnificentBastard so]] [[ObfuscatingStupidity much]].]]

* DuelBoss: The [[spoiler:second Feinne]] fight is an odd example, you CAN summon others to the fight, but [[spoiler:as your level is boosted by 2000, and your foe is 1000, you don't them, and unless your play a NewGamePlus, Fienne will shrug off any attacks they make anyways.]]
** [[spoiler: If you use the item after you summon your allies, their level is boosted as well.]]
** [[spoiler:The Gestahl battle in Drazil.]]

** [[spoiler:Every sane villain regarding the [[OmnicidalManiac player character]] actions in the Demon Path.]]
* EveryoneDies: [[spoiler:In the Demon Path's bad ending, Reyva kills both Haephnes and Drazil, ending life.]]

* EvilLaugh: The Thurists love to do this, being an insane Doomsday Cult. And Gig wouldn't be Gig without this trope.
** Interesting to note that Gig actually finds the Thurists laughing creepy.
** Also [[spoiler: Revya in the Bad Ending of the Demon Path.]]
* EvilIsEasy: Subverted, the demon path is much harder, you'll only be able to beat it if you play it a NewGamePlus.

** [[spoiler:Revya in the Demon Path. And by fallen hero, I mean VillainProtagonist.]]
** [[spoiler:Thorndyke in the Demon Path. [[SanitySlippage Painfully]].]]
** [[spoiler:Gig was originally a kindhearted GrimReaper until he was killed and Drazil turned him into the psychopath he is during the game.]] In essence, not exactly his fault.

** [[spoiler:Apparently, the Devourlord annihilates the worlds because of this. See his/her last line in Demon Path's Bad Ending.]]
** Thuris' motive, though he also wants Gig dead since Gig abused him and the other World Eaters when he worked for [[spoiler: Drazil.]]

* GambitPileup: The plot turns out [[spoiler:to be one ''massive'' plan by Layna and Virtuous to make Gig and Revya destroy Drazil (the world that neighbors Haephnes) in order to restore the correct flow of souls which was originally upset by Drazil manipulating Median into slaying Vigilance, the Master of Death of Haephnes.]] And that isn't even counting [[spoiler:Dio and Gestahl's plans to restore Gestahl to his true power as Median, by killing Drazil and his Masters of Life and Death; Raksha's plan to become a god and destroy Drazil and his Masters of Life and Death; and Thuris' plan to fuse with Feinne and Raksha and.... do something else afterward. He kinda fails before he gets the chance to explain his grand plan.]]
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: Several characters in the Demon Path have their in-combat vocals change to match their mental state in the new scenario -- most noticeably the hero, %% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* GollumMadeMeDoIt: The duality between Gig and the main character in Soul Nomad And The World Eaters is somewhat like this, despite Gig being [[DemonicPossession an intruder in your mind]] and not a creation of it. In many cases it's not so much 'Gig made me do it' as it is 'Gig made the other guys do it to me so I had to defend myself'. It goes both ways in their case — by the end of the game, the protagonist has gotten more brash and trigger-happy, much like Gig, and Gig has become a great deal less Omnicidal.
** [[spoiler:Subverted in the Demon Path, where everyone ''thinks'' this at first, but where Gig openly admits that he's just along for the ride.]]
* GoodFeelsGood: [[spoiler:Raksha in the Demon Path.]]

** The Normal Path has [[spoiler:Endorph and Levin (though both can permanently join you at Drazil if you had enough RelationshipValues points).]] The Demon Path has [[spoiler:Dio, Gestahl, Vangogh, Pinot and Agrippa.]]
** Kotaro, a minor character who randomly appears when you enter the Arrange menu. He sticks for one story battle and leaves you squad afterwards.

* InfinityMinusOneSword: Room variant: Hades' Despair. Downside: When your Stamina hits o, you die. Upside: It increases your stats by the percentage amount of lost stamina. So, with 5% stamina remaining, all your stats are increased by 95%.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: Room variant: Cat's Cradle. Its power depends on how many [[NewGamePlus cycles]] the player has completed. Note that this ''includes'' a new cycle caused by a NonStandardGameOver.
** Which crosses it with DiscOneNuke, since a reliable way to farm [[NewGamePlus cycles]] is to constantly impale yourself against [[HopelessBossFight Feinne]], which is, what? The fourth battle? And accepting Gig's [[DealWithTheDevil deal]], time and time again until you are satisfied, or beat her and get the gag ending with Asagi. That or [[spoiler:blazing through the Demon path, which is much shorter than the normal path.]]
** The maximum amount of is reached at ten circles with a stat increase of 350%.
* IronicHell: The "Good Ending" of the Demon Path. If you lose the final battle, [[spoiler:Revya is sealed into the same sword that Gig once inhabited, only with Danette for company.]]

** Thorndyke.
** In the Demon path, virtually everyone.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Drazil, Virtuous and Gig in the Demon Path's Bad Ending. Drazil in the normal story - his plans to use Gig backfire either way.]]
* HopelessBossFight: Feinne. [[spoiler:Although you can defeat her in subsequent cycles, leading to the BonusBoss Battle with Asagi.]]
** At least Soul Nomad has the decency to tell you this, with the win condition for the level being "everybody dies." Though given that Feinne is level 1000 at the fourth fight of the game, it's pretty obvious you're supposed to lose even without being told you're supposed to.

* {{Jerkass}}: Gig. Mainly because he's not allowed to express himself fully and kill you all, so he resorts to being an incredible jerk instead. [[spoiler: Gig's CharacterDevelopment first becomes noticeable by the fact that he actually refrains from his usual obnoxious comments during truly tragic episodes later in the game.]]

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Cuthbert [[spoiler:stabs Lobo to death.]]

* OmnicidalManiac: Gig and [[spoiler:The Devourlord.]] Despite their names, the World Eaters are not, though Thuris is still pretty damn evil.
* OlderAndWiser: Endorph, [[spoiler:whom you might remember from ''VideoGame/PhantomBrave'' as Walnut, the JerkAss with a bit of a SocialDarwinist streak who made life much harder for poor little Marona.]] Now he's JustLikeRobinHood, a [[BigDamnHeroes Big Damn Hero]], and inspires the weak-willed to become stronger, which earns him the hatred of DarkActionGirl Shauna.

** Also present in the theme songs for Fienne and [[spoiler:Drazil.]]

** [[spoiler:Finally, your entire party and Gig in the Bad Ending of the Demon Path.]]

* XanatosGambit: The possession during the opening sequence was orchestrated by Layna, who predicted the outcome. If Gig doesn't try possession, he stays locked up. If he does and fails, his power is used to wipe out the world eaters. If he tries and succedds, Layna can stuff him back in his can.
** [[spoiler:Of course, it goes horribly wrong in the Demon Path, when you betray her with it. As it turns out however, she even had a contingency plan for that.]]

The game will be ported to UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch alongside ''VideoGame/PhantomBrave'' as part of ''NIS Classics Vol. 1'', a CompilationRerelease and on it's own to PC via Steam in Summer 2021.

The game will be ported to UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch in Summer 2021 alongside ''VideoGame/PhantomBrave'' as part of ''NIS Classics Vol. 1'', a CompilationRerelease.

* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: Several characters in the Demon Path have their in-combat vocals change to match their mental state in the new scenario -- most noticeably the hero, whose new tone is decidedly villainous, but also Shauna and a few others at key points.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: This game contains [[strike:implied]] rape, murder, slavery, genocide, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking thirty three uses of the word shit]], and that's just the NORMAL PATH. It's also rated T.

* {{Gainaxing}}: The Bad Ending of the Demon Path, sweet merciful Gig. [[spoiler:In short, Revya straight up kills everyone, devours Gig, then goes on to kill Haephness and Drazil, bringing an end to both worlds. All because it was ''fun.'']]

* TheMole: Initially, the game tries to make [[spoiler:Vitali and Christophe]] look like moles, but in the end, they really are on Revya's side. The real mole is [[spoiler:[[ObfuscatingStupidity Levin]].]]

%%* BigGood: [[spoiler:Virtuous.]]

%%* CharacterDevelopment

%%* DontFearTheReaper: Vigilance.

%%* FriendToAllChildren: Juno.

%%* {{Gainaxing}}

%%* GodIsEvil: [[spoiler:Drazil.]]
%%* GodIsGood: [[spoiler:Haephness.]]

%%* HeroicComedicSociopath: Gig.

* NobleDemon: [[spoiler:Gig, after considerable CharacterDevelopment. He's still a jerk, though.]]

%%* ObfuscatingStupidity: ''[[spoiler:'''Levin''']]''.

%%* OutDamnedSpot: Cuthbert.

%%* SupernaturalAid

%%* WorldOfBadass

** Even without the Demon Path, which you really have to go through to really experience [[spoiler: to put a bit more perspective, the bad endings in the Disgaea games, the Demon Path is like those the entire game apart from the good ending]], the main story is still way darker than anything Nippon Ichi made before. Pretty much every villain in the plot is a KnightOfCerebus, there's no NoFourthWall jokes outside of a gag ending with Asagi, the flashy special attacks are a lot less over the top, and there's constant points of mass murder.

* PettingZooPeople: Sepps are part cow.

** Also, to Disgaea's favorite superheroes [[spoiler:in the Demon Path.]] [[spoiler:Galahad]] tells [[spoiler:Trish]] that he'll find her missing feathers. What does he call himself? [[SuperSentai Prism Beige]]. [[spoiler:by this point, Thorndyke, Trish and Galahad are completely off their rockers. Gig must be awesome at BreakTheCutie]]

A 2007 strategy RPG title for the Playstation 2 brought to you by the good people at Creator/NipponIchi. It's a DarkerAndEdgier take on their usual formula, and could best be described as "''VideoGame/OgreBattle'' [[ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs on a power trip]]".

''Soul Nomad'' is also known for [[spoiler: an infamous VillainProtagonist campaign called the "Demon Path". In this alternative storyline, Revya decides that it would be a better idea to use the awesome destructive powers of an evil god to [[ForTheEvulz do whatever the hell they want]], and with the gleeful encouragement of Gig, starts down a path to ultimate power as the tyrannical "[[BigBad Devourlord]]". [[FromBadToWorse Then it gets worse]]. [[MoralEventHorizon Much worse]]]].

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: [[spoiler: Gig's sums up Drazil as being like a graveyard because of how every aspect of a person's life is controlled, to the point that they have to be told what to think. Oh, and the world has no hotpods.]]
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Every unit you can deploy has a Leader, and every manikin inside of a unit contributes a percentage of their stats to the leader of that unit as a constant bonus as long as that manikin is alive. Thus, if for example you stack a bunch of identical manikins with identical levels in a room, the one designated as leader will have significantly higher stats than its twins.

* AxCrazy: [[spoiler:[[UpToEleven Everyone in the Demon Path.]] Some aversions are usually insane and/or dead.]]

* BigGood: [[spoiler:[[TheChessmaster Virtuous]].]]

* ButtMonkey: Odie. The man is so pathetic, [[TheWoobie even the other characters pity him]].

* CharacterDevelopment

* TheChessmaster: [[spoiler: Layna/Virtuous]] is one for the side of good, though [[spoiler:she]] still plays Revya and Gig like a fiddle to get them to [[spoiler: stop Drazil from destroying Haephnes by stealing souls from the world.]]
** Thuris is supposed to be one, but he's busy being OutGambitted. [[spoiler:Also, Raksha.]]
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: With Danette

* CrossDresser: Penn.

** His brother is still better than him statwise, but you never get a chance to have both of them on your party at the same time, so it hardly matters.

* DeadpanSnarker: Gig, baby!

* DontFearTheReaper: Vigilance.

* DubNameChange: The game's title went from "Soul Cradle" to "Soul Nomad" and a couple of characters had their names changed, possibly due to trouble with [[NoPronunciationGuide pronunciation]] (Example:Juno was originally Jost, which was pronounced Youst).

* EvilIsNotAToy: The basic premise of the game averts this, in that using Gig can (hopefully) save the world, assuming Revya doesn't do anything stupid, and Revya is fully aware of the danger. Also, [[spoiler: inverted in the Demon Path with Gig and the player character, but averted when Dio releases Raksha to try and stop you, and ''it works''. Or, at least, Raksha does end up on his side.]]
** Case of it playing true in the main story [[spoiler: the king of Raide tries to use a crimson tear to control Feinne. Gig states that this won't work, and of of course it turns out he's right. This instead causes Feinne, who before was just sitting and doing nothing, to level a large portion of the landscape and then kill the king.]]

* FallenHero: [[spoiler:Revya in the Demon Path. And by fallen hero, I mean BigBad.]]
** [[spoiler:Also Thorndyke in the Demon Path. [[SanitySlippage Painfully]].]]
** [[spoiler:Gig was originally a kind hearted GrimReaper until he was killed and Drazil turned him into the psychopath he is during the game.]] In essence, not exactly his fault.

* FriendToAllChildren: Juno.

* {{Gainaxing}}
* GambitPileup: The plot turns out [[spoiler:to be one ''massive'' plan by Layna and Virtuous to make Gig and Revya destroy Drazil (the world that neighbors Haephnes) in order to restore the correct flow of souls which was originally upset by Drazil manipulating Median into slaying Vigilance, the Master of Death of Haephnes.]]
** [[spoiler:And that isn't even counting Dio and Gestahl's plans to restore Gestahl to his true power as Median, by killing Drazil and his Masters of Life and Death; Raksha's plan to become a god and destroy Drazil and his Masters of Life and Death; and Thuris' plan to fuse with Feinne and Raksha and.... do something else afterward. He kinda fails before he gets the chance to explain his grand plan.]]

* GodIsEvil: [[spoiler:Drazil.]]
* GodIsGood: [[spoiler:Haephness.]]

* HeroAntagonist: Thorndyke.

** In ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 3|AbsenceOfJustice}}'', Revya (female, if you must know) still doesn't talk, although Gig certainly does. Mao has to use magic just to give her attack noises.

* HeroicComedicSociopath: Gig.

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: EVERYONE in the Demon Path bad ending.]]

* ManIFeelLikeAWoman: Averted, if a female Revya elects to take a bath after being possessed by Gig, despite the text suggesting she has concerns about just this kind of thing, Gig mentions he doesn't care.
** Maybe not. After all, you get twice the boost to Gig's [[RelationshipValues Relationship Value]] as a female than if you choose that option with a male Revya.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Gig in Demon Path's Good Ending.]]
* [[TrickAndFollowPloy Nice Job Guiding Us Hero]]

* ObfuscatingStupidity: ''[[spoiler:'''Levin''']]''.

* OutDamnedSpot: Cuthbert.

* SupernaturalAid

* ThemeMusicPowerUp: Gig has three {{leitmotif}}s, 'Bad Boys', 'Desperado' and 'Rock 'N Rocks' -- when the two latter start playing, heads will usually roll.
** In the Demon Path however, Desperado usually plays when [[MoralEventHorizon something really bad]] is going to happen.

* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Gig and hotpods.

* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: All of your troops are only present via Gig's materialize ability, channeled through Ravya. If Revya dies, your entire army vanishes into thin air and you lose.
** All members of a squad will retreat if their squad leader is defeated, making this trope applicable to anyone the player puts as a leader of a squad.
* WifeHusbandry: [[spoiler:Hawthorne's '[[Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet Judge Turpin-like]] habit of raising girls to the age of 17 to rape and murder afterwards.]]

* WorldOfBadass

* GodIsEvil[=/=]GodIsGood: [[spoiler: Yeah, this game actually plays both tropes straight, the former applying to Drazil and the latter applying to Haephness.]]

* ThePlan: [[spoiler: Lots of people actually, but Levin/Raksha's is the most jaw-droppingly magnificent.]]
** Though Layna's gambit [[spoiler:backfires epically in the Demon Path, since she didn't anticipate that you would be ''worse'' than Gig.]]

* OlderAndWiser[=/=]TookALevelInBadass: Endorph, [[spoiler:whom you might remember from VideoGame/PhantomBrave as Walnut, the JerkAss with a bit of a SocialDarwinist streak who made life much harder for poor little Marona.]] Now he's JustLikeRobinHood, a [[BigDamnHeroes Big Damn Hero]], and inspires the weak-willed to become stronger, which earns him the hatred of DarkActionGirl Shauna.

* [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard The Playstation Is A Cheating Bastard]]: During Inspections, enemy leaders sometimes ignore Decor disadvantages. For instance, "Antimatter" gives you a 90% boost to defense (making you nearly untouchable) at the cost of turning everyone in the room into a OneHitpointWonder - take any damage at all and you're dead. Leaders still take normal damage.
** Another example of cheating is that the computer will keep letting other units take their turns before you despite your turn being listed as the next. It seems to happen when the computer attacks you and you kill the squad that attacks you, it keeps going until they stop sending squads at you or you end up killing everything

* [[spoiler:RocketPunch]]: not that you would expect that kind of stuff when you first start the game. The attack description : [[spoiler:The hammerfall of an angel destroys the enemy.]]

--->'''Odie''': What's that up in the sky!?
--->'''Rockum''': Gyarahga! (Dat's a bird!)
--->'''Sockum''': Kryuruku! (It looks so plain! Teehee.)
--->'''Odie''': No! It's the legendary dragon, [[CaptainErsatz Sluperam]]!

* [[spoiler: YouBastard: Demon Path takes this [[UpToEleven to the extreme]]]]

* GoldfishPoopGang: 'Dio' and his lackeys, the latter are [[LampshadeHanging perfectly aware of their status]], and spend much of their time trying to make the former [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain see past his inferiority complex]] and realize this. [[spoiler:He eventually takes their advice and joins you, becoming a much happier person as a result.]]

* BigBad: [[spoiler:Drazil]] in the Normal Path. [[spoiler:[[VillainProtagonist Revya him/herself]]]] in the Demon Path.

''Soul Nomad'' is also known for an infamous VillainProtagonist campaign called the "Demon Path". In this alternative storyline, Revya decides that it would be a better idea to use the awesome destructive powers of an evil god to [[ForTheEvulz do whatever the hell they want]], and with the gleeful encouragement of Gig, starts down a path to ultimate power as the tyrannical "[[BigBad Devourlord]]". [[FromBadToWorse Then it gets worse]]. [[MoralEventHorizon Much worse]].

** He also mentions that one World Eater can move at hyperspeed and create tornados by running in circles. Gee, [[TheFlash who could that be?]]

* EliteMooks: Gameplay-wise, almost every playable character is a stronger version of a specific [[CharacterClassSystem unit type]]. Exceptions are the main character, Endorph, [[spoiler:Midian/Gestahl, Layna, Lujei and Asagi]] who have their own unique class.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: [[spoiler:The Asagi fight ending]]

* EliteMooks: Gameplay-wise, almost every playable character is a stronger version of a specific [[CharacterClassSystem unit type]]. Exceptions are the main character, [[spoiler:Midian/Gestahl, Layna, Lujei and Asagi]] who have their own unique class.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: While Asagi appeared previously in ''VideoGame/MakaiKingdom'' and ''VideoGame/Disgaea2CursedMemories'', her cameo in this game established the HostileShowTakeover schtick that would be with her for a very long time.