Line #42 Fridge/BravelyDefault


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12	'''As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
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14	!FridgeBrilliance
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16	* Agnes' bangs make sense considering the hairstyle is called Windswept and she's the [[BlowYouAway Wind Vestal]].
17	** Her stat growths also lean towards being a white mage and healer, which makes sense since that's the class that learns the [[BlowYouAway Aero line]].
18	* A meta example: Do you ever wonder why the Bravely Second feature requires you to press the Start button to trigger it? The Start button is often configured to pause the game. '''You're literally pausing the flow of time.'''
19	* As the [[VideoGame/BravelyDefault main page]] spoils, remove the ''FF'' from the subtitle and you get ''Bravely Default: Lying Airy'' / ''Where The Airy Lies''. This bit of {{foreshadowing}} can count as FridgeBrilliance by itself; the true genius, however, lies on another level. This game is ''very'' similar to older ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games, to the point where it could somewhat accurately be described as ''Final Fantasy'' in all but name. Or rather, ''FF'' without the ''FF''. Good show, Squeenix. You not only gave the fans something they've been wanting for a while, but also gave a really meta clue to the foreshadowing hidden in the name.
20	* Why is the FinalBoss considered a dragon, when he looks like an EldritchAbomination? Because it is called Ouroboros, ''the dragon that bites its own tail''.
21	* The player may not be on the lookout for it at first until Ringabel points it out later, but for each and every world you visit, Airy's wings change as the worlds count down.
22	* Why does [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk-9ihcy2R8 That Person's Name is...]], the theme of the Eternian Generals, sound so heroic? It's because they ''are'' the heroes. Granted, most of them are [[PunchClockHero Punch-Clock Heroes]] at best, many of them are total monsters, or outright insane, but ''they'' are the organization that's trying to save the world while you're unwittingly dragging it towards doom. And you can't seriously argue that this theme ''doesn't'' suit an organization tasked with preventing the obliteration of all of reality.
23	* The final battle:
24	** Ouroboros, in his very definitely final phase, states that he can see into the Celestial Realm. While you may overlook this as BossBanter at first...later on, you can see something in the corner...an image of YOUR FACE, YOU THE PLAYER, superimposed over the upper-right corner of the screen, in what looks like a celestial body. This remains consistent, as the image disappears when this body is out of view. This could mean that, when Ouroboros mentioned invading the Celestial Realm, he was talking about THE VERY WORLD WE LIVE IN. Combined with the opening AR movie, the fact Ouroboros says Tiz is animated by a Celestial, making him an audience avatar, the fact that worlds you ablinked with are featured in the True Final Battle as alternate realities, and the Special Movie available only in the For the Sequel and International releases is played out in a first-person perspective from Tiz's point of view, this moment alone cements just how insanely meta the game has suddenly become.
25	** Furthermore, Ouroboros states at one point that he wants to end the boredom and dullness of the Celestial realm, which, depending on your reading, might be his main motivation. The point is, by being the instigator of the whole plot of the game, he basically livens up the dull life of the player, who resides in the Celestial realm.
26	** If you pay attention to all the things he says he wants to bring to the Celestial realm, they all happen during the plot of the game. In an odd way, Ouroboros succeeded in his plan. Taking that in consideration, you could say his plan was to entertain the player, which means all that death and destruction was for your sake, so you wouldn't be bored. This can be scary, as being a celestial, you, yourself, are a god who set the story in motion, even letting Airy and Ouroboros run free the way they did: the true villain, or TheManBehindTheMan, to Ouroboros' villainy is ''you''.
27	* The acknowledgment of the player as an in-universe entity who helps the party along is kept pretty consistently. For example, the time between the events of Default and Second in-universe is about three years — and the time between the two games' release dates is the same.
28	* The {{Fanservice}} outfits for Agnes and Edea make a lot more sense once you learn [[DirtyOldMan Sage Yulyana]] was the one who developed the asterisk system.
29	* Ringabel likes coffee, as does his starting world counterpart, Alternis Dim. Being Dark Knights, it's only natural that they'd like it black. You're welcome.
30	* Breaking from the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' tradition of naming the currency "gil", Bravely Default instead uses the term "pg" (pronounced peeg). At first glance, this seems to be short for "pieces of gold"... but if you turn the lowercase letters upside-down, you get "bd" — as in Bravely Default. Or, alternatively, it could be a reversal of GP, which is what currency in the older ''FF'' games was denominated as until ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' onwards, when it was changed to Gil.
31	* Airy's likes and dislikes start to make a lot more sense towards the endgame. She likes Agnès because she's the key to her whole plan of reviving Ouroboros and she dislikes Ringabel since as a survivor of her last slaughter in his world, he is the biggest threat to her plans. Luckily for her, he got amnesia.
32	* Asterisks:
33	** Kind of a small one, but you find out that Asterisks contain knowledge of a job, sort of like how Materia/Magicite could contain knowledge of an ability or magic. You also find out that originally, the jobs could only be changed by paying the Orthodoxy to allow a person to interact with a crystal. So basically, originally jobs were bestowed by the crystals, similar to FFIII. Basically, Asterisks are Job Materia that bestow multiple abilities instead of just one and the knowledge was originally gotten from the experiences and memories of masters of the jobs that were added to the Crystals (similar as well to how Materia in [=FF7=] came from the Lifestream, which was also comprised of memories and spirits). Basically, this game links the Crystals with the Lifestream and Asterisks are basically an advanced form of Materia.
34	** Additionally, look at the ones who carry Asterisks before you get them. They don't fit the sort of traits you'd expect for their jobs, in many cases. The Monk is a BloodKnight loon, the WhiteMage is a [[TheBaroness cruel and sadistic]] creep, the BlackMage is AxeCrazy and unfocused, and the KnightInShiningArmor is a dirty fighter. Contrast Owen, who became a knight by training hard. The villains are using the Asterisks as a shortcut to power, because they aren't interested in doing so legitimately. The heroes use them because they're [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt under a clock]], to be honest. So they're using the asterisks to enhance their performance. Sounds a lot like the Baseball Hall of Fame putting asterisks next to certain records, huh?
35	** And it also serves as a shout out to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' opening and zodiac stone plot... A warrior takes sword in hand, clasping a gem to his heart. Engraving vanishing memories into the sword, he places finely honed skills into the stone. Spoken from the sword, handed down from the stone... Now the story can be told... Basically, you learn their skills from the stone, or asterisk, and speack them through your blade, or whatever weapon you're using at the time.
36	** Why are the Asterisk Holders able to [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard do things with with abilities that the party never can,]] despite in many cases never being able to reach the level of combat experience the party can? It's because all of them have been in possession of those things for years, if not decades or in a couple cases even centuries, while the party has had them for a few months at the most. They're still restricted to the abilities that the Asterisks provide, but they've had the time to train each ability to reduce or eliminate the downsides of several of them, such as Praline removing the BP cost of "My Hero".
37	*** The Asterisks are stated to bestow a lifetime of skill and experience on the bearer. So, the gist of the above point is, combining that with ANOTHER lifetime of skill and experience leads to amazing results.
38	*** Then why aren't we able to do this once we master a class? Is it because the previous users were able to super-master them?
39	* Why is Ringabel's Mind stat so low when his Intelligence is fairly high? It's the result of his amnesia and the SanitySlippage he endured even before then. This goes even further. Edea has the best strength and defense; why? She's the only one who actually knows how to fight because she was trained by Kamiizumi. Agnès has the best magic because she's the most devoted to the Crystals and is a Vestal. Tiz is the most balanced but has the worst MP? He's a farmer who thus would have to be well rounded in raising animals and crops.
40	* Why does Sage Yulyana have access to skills from three different classes (Conjurer, Pirate, and Time Mage for the first fight. Conjurer, White/Red Mage, Black Mage {as Red Mage cannot access Firaga}) instead of two, like everyone else? It's because he created the job asterisk system to begin with. As such, he probably knows how to go around the restriction.
41	** It's also possible that he just learned them normally, given how long he's lived. The Asterisk system is used to learn skills ''rapidly''; it doesn't prevent people from learning them via other means. In particular, since Asterisks contain the skills of actual people, it's possible that the Conjurer Asterisk is based on magic he learned and developed himself over his long life, and he never actually had to use it (because by definition it only contained things he already knew.)
42	* You can use spells and abilities like Drain or Battle Thurst to gain HP, MP, BP, or stat buffs by draining them from most enemies... except undead, which make you lose what you're trying to drain instead. Why so? [[ReviveKillsZombie Because they're already dead]], and by using it you're getting one step closer to being like them. ''You're not only potentially getting a zombie infection, you're sucking the death out of them.''
43	* Crosses with Fridge Horror, but Ouroboros's battle theme is called "Serpent Eating The Horizon". The game's composer, Revo, is the leader of the band Linked Horizon. It seems the [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou fourth wall was unable to protect his Celestial Realm.]]
44	* Ringabel's stat distribution seems to be perfect for the Dark Knight Job. Given who he really is, this makes perfect sense.
45	* Why the 4 heroes of light had to go through that many worlds: In all the worlds so far, Airy has murdered the heroes of light after exploiting them to summon the pillar of light, then seek out a new Agnès of the next world. Why did she not do the same for the current iteration of the 4 heroes? This is because in the last few worlds (chapter 5 onwards), the Agnès or Tiz or Edea of that world is/are already dead (Agnès protecting Olivia, Tiz saving Til, Edea killed by Ominas, etc). She had no choice but to recycle her current heroes of light, despite the inclusion of Ringabel sabotaging her chances of being found out.
46	* Title:
47	** In a way, the game's [[MeaningfulName title itself]] qualifies. The game is a very traditional JRPG that makes no effort at hiding what it is in an era where games of its kind are increasingly viewed as old-fashioned or irrelevant, while still doing its part to update the genre to make it more compatible for new and old gamers alike. In other words, the game is being [[TitleDrop Bravely Default]].
48	** Additionally, a rarely-used definition for the word 'default' is 'do nothing', so the title could read as 'with courage, do nothing'. That's exactly what the characters do towards the end of the game. Rather than shattering a crystal, which they know will merely delay whatever it is Airy's planning and not actually stop it, they don't act on their suspicions and go along with Airy, choosing to face the danger head-on.
49	* Lategame spoilers: Why does Norende's reconstruction continue after passing through the Holy Pillar? Because prior to departure, Tiz put ''Egil'' in charge of the reconstruction effort. Even if ''Tiz'' is absent and unable to give orders, Egil is there to sort things out on behalf of the player.
50	* If you listen closely, the LoveTheme "Under the Hollow Moon" is a more flourished version of [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Terra Branford's theme]]. What was Terra's [[CharacterDevelopment whole problem]]? ''She didn't know what love is''.
51	* Midgame spoilers: If Airy has murdered the heroes of countless other worlds, such that the heroes aren't aware of the time loop, why is it that suddenly they remember everything after the first loop playing through the game? Because that's the first loop where Tiz is possessed by the celestial--aka the player. Likewise, the temporal loop spawn point isn't the opening of the chasm; rather, it's from the first moment that the player gained control of Tiz. Although... that doesn't fit either; since Ringabel comments on the sea breeze in the opening, the respawn point necessarily must be before the chasm is even opened, making this a case of FridgeLogic unless Ringabel's scene in the opening actually takes place before the respawn point where the player first gained control of Tiz.
52	* Florem's society is based on being as pure and chaste as flowers. No wonder the Bloodrose Legion was able to turn them to licentiousness and degredation so easily--any botanist can tell you that "chastity" and "''flowers''" have absolutely nothing to do with each other.
53	* The idea that Florem never really was the paradise that Agnes remembers (or that the Matriarch describes) is supported by Alternis's comments in the third world. He grew up in the city's slums, and relied on the powers of darkness to survive. A world away from the initial image we get of a pure city defiled by corruption and greed.
54	* Turtle doves are known to form strong pair bonds and are seen as symbols of devoted love. The Ba'al known as Turtle Dove therefore has a wedding motif and a gimmick that forces player characters to 'fall in love' with each other.
55	* The game starting off by having a character speak directly to the player, followed by an AR movie, may seem a bit on the gimicky side for a first impression. But after beating the game, it makes perfect sense. Agnes' prayer reached you, in the Celestial realm, and Airy's sister intended to talk specifically to you.
56	* The opening AR movie is full of brilliance if you think about it long enough. Is the Agnes in the opening AR movie the Agnes from Ringabel's world, or the same Agnes who would become an angel and appear before [=DeRosso=] and Yulyana? Both possibilities are pretty interesting. If it's the former, that means that Airy's sister intervened at the end of World 6, not the beginning of World 5 - did the ''player'' save [=Ringabel/Alternis=]? If it's the later, that means the angel's prayer and edict was so powerful that it reached the Celestial realm [=and/or=] the realm Airy and her sister are from.
57	* Airy never responds to your side questing. At least, in the first loop. Since she has foreknowledge of everything you'll have to do to get to the crystals, she consistently nudges in that direction, but is willing to give your lot time to level grind and gain asterisks so you'll be strong enough to face the later monsters and bosses. Since the party doesn't know that she knows all of this, she avoids mentioning the crystals directly to maintain trust. (This sort of thing is especially obvious just before you get the Eschalot - if you pay attention, she's rather anxious for your party to steal the ship.) On each subsequent loop, however, she knows that there are convenient shortcuts to each of the crystals available, so her mental filters are a bit weaker and her true priorities come to light; additionally, the other characters now know exactly how to reach each crystal, giving her an excuse to constantly argue they should just ignore everything else and do so. With this in mind, her characterization is much more consistent than it seems at first glance.
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59	!FridgeHorror
60	* [=DeRosa=] says that his plan is to abduct women and infect them with his cologne so they can help him get to the top. This could account for how he's the Captain of the Bloodrose Legion, a legion that, aside from him, consists solely of women...
61	* Florem was very dedicated to the Crystals until the Blood Rose Legion invaded. After which it became nothing more than a cesspool of shallow women who prized beauty over all else. It's entirely possible that [=DeRosa=] came up with the idea for a town of women to suddenly become obsessed with beauty and impressing men, the kind of women that makes easy marks for someone like him.
62	* It's extremely likely that Florem was a horrifyingly awful place before [=DeRosa=] got anywhere near it. The only city in a landmass the size of an entire country banning men from owning property there (which is quite possibly the entire reason Alternis's childhood was spent in the slums) is an unbelievably horrible idea, and there's very little to suggest the government of Florem was anywhere near competent enough to make it work.
63	** It's definitely pretty bad, and it could suck for someone like Alternis, but it's not particularly different from real-world societies that banned women from owning property throughout history - it's not going to make society ''unworkable''.
64	* Speaking of Florem and its administration, the kindly old matriarch is [[AWolfinSheepsClothing far less innocent than she lets on.]] When Ringabel and co. confront De Rosa in the first world, he brags about how he turned the Flower Festival into a beauty contest with just "a few bribes" to key officials. And while we can assume that there are others, who is the ONLY Florem official that we see in-game?
65	* Using the Steal, Mug, or Shake Down command on the [[{{Mooks}} members of the Bloodrose Legion]] nets you fairy wings... and as Mephilia tells the party, the highly-coveted Spirit Hairpins are created by ripping the wings off Flories -- the fairies worshipped by the women of Florem. Yeah.
66	* Scrap at the bottom of the Great Chasms:
67	** An in-game example happens during one of the loops, but Ringabel notes the scrap at the bottom of the ravine created in the beginning, and how flying into the pillar of light leads them to the ravine of an alternate world. The alternate versions of the heroes had to be disposed of somehow...
68	** Or he could be referring to how they've realised that they are the ones causing the Great Chasm. Travelling through the Holy Pillar appears to damage Grandship somewhat, and the 'mechanical scrap' is mentioned in the ship's journal entry. The idea that alternate heroes have also died at that point also makes sense; they did in Ringabel's own world. It's entirely likely that wasn't the only time the heroes had exposed Airy's deception in the Holy Pillar, at the last possible point in their world's timeline. Horrific, either way.
69	* Why does Ominas Crowe carry the Ise no Kami and have it as a death drop in the rematch in Chapter Five? This time around, he ''murdered'' Edea when she angered him.
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72	!FridgeLogic
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Context Fridge / BravelyDefault