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1%%At some point, we may have to overhaul the page or create two other pages for Blue Dragon + and Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow.
2[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/81001953.jpg]]
3 [[caption-width-right:350:The ''other'' [[VideoGame/ChronoTrigger game]] created by [[Franchise/FinalFantasy Hironobu Sakaguchi]] and [[Manga/DragonBall Akira Toriyama]].]]
4
5''Blue Dragon'' started out as a 2006 RolePlayingGame for the Platform/Xbox360, developed by several of the people behind the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series and the artwork of the ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' franchise. It's basically Creator/AkiraToriyama, Hironobu Sakaguchi, and Creator/NobuoUematsu's[[note]]called the Square Dream Team by fans, as they previously collaborated on VideoGame/ChronoTrigger[[/note]] attempt at a ClicheStorm, after seeing how cliche {{RPG}}s had become.
6
7Shu, Jiro and Kluke live in a remote village that, once a year, is attacked by a mechanical creature known as the Land Shark. One year, in an attempt to fight it off, they are carried off by it to the flying fortress of the ancient [[BigBad Nene]], where [[HopelessBossFight they are trounced]] and a mysterious voice grants them {{Living Shadow}}s with the ability to use magic.
8
9Stealing (and crash-landing) an airship, they set off to get home and find a way to take down Nene for good...
10
11A sequel/spin-off was produced for the Platform/NintendoDS in 2009. It was called ''Blue Dragon Plus'', which is a StrategyRPG in [[HeroesUnlimited which nearly all of the supporting cast from the first game also gain Shadow magic powers and join the main party.]]
12
13A final third ActionRPG DS game, ''Awakened Shadow'', starring another customizable hero/-ine, was released worldwide in 2010. After literally everyone gained Shadow Magic in ''Plus'', it's disappeared from the world and the player character has to help Shu and friends bring it back. Its single player mode suffered, to say the least, from a focus on multiplayer and an overall lack of polish; although it is a nice alternative [[NoExportForYou to]] ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheTempest''.
14
15In ''Awakened Shadow'', the HubLevel becomes littered with inter-dimensional doors leading to a dozen {{Superboss}}es that are nearly impossible to defeat in single-player, with some hidden dungeons that could have benefited the game's short main quest had they been included.
16
17There was also an anime adaptation that had a different plot and introduced a new girl, Bouquet (who had the [[MsFanservice strange ability]] to [[InvisibleStreaker become invisible while naked]]), along with her Hippo Shadow, to the cast. The dub went through some pretty heavy editing in places, mostly due to how Bouquet was presented in the original. The anime eventually received a sequel called ''Blue Dragon: Trials of the 7 Shadows'' and begins by following Shu and Bouquet, two years later, dealing with the aftermath of the events in the previous series. Both anime adaptations are 51 episodes long.
18
19The entire anime series is available uncut on [[http://www.hulu.com/blue-dragon-uncut Hulu]] (provides a link to the sequel as well).
20
21!!The games include examples of:
22[[foldercontrol]]
23[[folder:Tropes in General]]
24* BatOutOfHell: Zola's Killer Bat is a furry, monstrous, nearly demonic-looking bat with long arms. Oddly enough, during her LimitBreak, it looks less like a bat and more like a giant monkey [[MixAndMatchCritter with Killer Bat's head, arms, and wings]].
25* BigBad:
26** The first game has Nene as its main villain up until his defeat. After this, [[spoiler:Deathroy decides to ditch Nene and becomes Destroy, a bio-mechanical superweapon who annihilated the civilization of The Ancients and final boss of the game.]]
27** The second game has Balaur, an evil three-headed dragon Shadow that lives within the Atomic Cube and is wielded [[spoiler:by Nene's evil side, both of whom are the end result of energy stored in the Atomic Cube.]]
28** The third game has Jyum and Ganda, who are [[spoiler:of the same race as Nene. At first it seems like their goal is stop Nene from taking over the world. However this turns out to be a lie and their actual goal is use the Egg of Light to create a new planet to rule over as gods. To this end, they use you by sending you off to grow stronger so that they could drain your shadow, believing that it would be strong enough to create a new planet. After their defeat, the Egg of Light becomes the final antagonist and goes on a rampage, requiring you to travel across planets and eventually defeat your dark self sealed in the Box of Ordeals in order to grant your shadow enough power to prevent the Egg of Light from devouring your planet. After obtaining the egg, it enventually leaves you and becomes a new planet which can be explored as a BonusDungeon.]]
29* BonusDungeon:
30** Many open up in the original game when the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon becomes available, containing [[spoiler:parts for the Mechat for use in the [[UnexpectedGameplayChange turret section]] just before the dungeon in question]]. The [[BrutalBonusLevel Shuffle Dungeon]], the hardest dungeon, is also unlocked very late in the game if bought as DLC.
31** Blue Dungeon: Awakened Shadow has Yggdrasil, Clockwork Castle and Sky Labyrinth, optional dungeons which have an OptionalBoss at the end of each one and no save points. Beating the game unlocks the New World which is a planet resembling a primeval Earth. There are no save points in the dungeon but there are warp portals after beating each boss that allow you to leave the dungeon.
32* EvilOldFolks: Nene. For much of the game, he terrorizes the towns of the world for [[ForTheEvulz very little reason]], often instilling fear and false hope to his victims. [[spoiler:And it's later revealed that his reason for antagonizing Shu and co was to make them power up their Shadows, which turn out to be composite Shadows of ''Nene''[='s=] Chimera. At the end of Disc 2, he absorbs the powers of their Shadows and regains a youthful form.]]
33** Jyum and Ganda are the BigBadDuumvirate of ''Awakened Shadow'' and seek to use the Egg of Light's power for their own ends.
34* {{Expy}}: Several characters resemble and/or fulfill the same roles as others from the works the series' creators had their hands in:
35** The entire Deevee race, of which Marumaro is a member, are expies of the Moogles from ''Franchise/FinalFantasy''. They are bat/bear hybrid adorable little creatures with round noses who are obsessed with dancing and live in and around caves.
36** Nene is also more or less one of King Piccolo from ''Anime/DragonBallZ''.
37** And [[spoiler:Destroy]] looks almost exactly like Babadi.
38** The final boss of ''Awakened Shadow'' is similar to [[VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII Rhapthorne's final form]] in terms of appearance due to both characters being portly demons with bat wings; aside from that, the two are completely different in terms of actual personality.
39* GlobalAirship: The Mechat, gotten near the end of the first game. It reappears in ''Awakened Shadow'' as a world/cube transport fairly early into the story.
40* GlobalCurrency: Gold, although you encounter a couple of people in the first game who take Medals and "Nothing", respectively.
41* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Zola starts when she joins the party, helping them out, and Nene treats her like a party member, but she's still carrying out Nene's plan at the same time, making her a kind of double agent. She kills Nene after Shu takes away any reason to continue working for him.]]
42** [[spoiler:Szabo also pulls this at the end of the game. By the next two games, he's an ally of Jibral]].
43** Awakened Shadow has [[spoiler: Nene]] become an ally of the protagonists.
44* HeroesPreferSwords: Shu's default job is Sword Master, although the game doesn't have weapons to equip. Before he has his Dragon Shadow, he fights with a makeshift knife. In ''Awakened Shadow'', two of the three weapon classes include a variety of one-handed and two-handed swords.
45* HeroicResolve: [[spoiler:How Shu, and eventually his other friends, naturally bring their Shadow Magic back after Nene forcibly removes them from the heroes. Shu himself provides the most straightforward example of his group, being the first to will his Shadow back simply by completely owning to his [[TheDeterminator personal creed of never giving up]].]]
46* HybridMonster:
47** [[spoiler:Nene's Chimera Shadow, as the name implies, is actually a creature with the combined features of all the heroes' Shadows, sans the Killer Bat. This is because their Shadows were actually created from his.]]
48** The later games add many more Shadows to the series. For instance, ''Awakened Shadow'' adds a Hercules Beetle, a Robot, and a Devil to the first game's main trio's Shadows.
49** Awakened Shadow's final boss, [[spoiler: Last Slavery]] is a fusion of the main character's [[spoiler: shadow self and the Chimera Shadow versions of the party's shadows.]]
50* INeedYouStronger: [[spoiler:Nene's entire plan, up to the start of Disc 3. It worked, too.]]
51** Jyum and Ganda's plans involved letting you [[spoiler:go on adventures in order to strengthen your shadow, hoping they use the Egg of Light to drain it from you and use it to create a new planet.]]
52* InexplicableTreasureChests: You could say they're left over from the Ancient civilization...and apparently, this group of teenagers are the first people in thousands of years who have thought to open them up and see what's inside.
53* InterfaceScrew: For some reason, the in-game compass will flip upside down in some maps, oftentimes at random when you enter an area. There's no explanation for it, outside of making path-finding more difficult.
54* IntrepidMerchant: Toripo, who spends the entire game looking for the Aurora Ruins. He also sells the heroes class-enhancing Hearts and stat-enhancing Elixirs.
55* JigglePhysics: Zola in the game, as a consequence of her choice in attire. Maro's belly also jiggles, most notable in the cutscenes where he's dancing (which is often).
56* JustFriends: It's mentioned in a cutscene with Jiro that Shu does not fancy Kluke the same way Jiro does; Shu says as much when Jiro suspects him of this, and says that he'll back off if his suspicions are correct, invoking IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy. However, how true it is seems to vary throughout the rest of the game, especially during Disc 2, where Shu claims that he'd never really had feelings for any girl ''until'' he became friends with Kluke, saying that she's special to him. [[spoiler:By the end of the first game, he's even trying to get Kluke to admit which of the two boys she likes the most, with Kluke herself refusing to answer them.]]
57** It even continues into ''Awakened Shadow'', where one of the early quests sees Shu and Jiro racing to give Kluke the most medicinal herbs for her hospital work. Jiro even lampshades the fact that they're fighting over her again, saying that it seems that neither of them had really grown up in the two years since the first game's plot.
58* KleptomaniacHero: The first game has a ludicrous amount of objects to search. And there are even rewards for searching things that ''don't'' give you money or items.
59* LastOfHisKind: Nene, at least in the XBOX 360 game. And it's mostly because of this that he takes the role as the BigBad. [[spoiler:Then the series reveals [[ThereIsAnother Himiko]] and later Jyum and Ganda.]]
60* LevelGrinding: With the Warp Devices, you can go and heal up and level grind from practically anywhere.
61* LivingShadow: The basis of the entire battle system. In Awakened Shadow, you can use them in addition to your own attacks.
62%%* MascotMook: The poo snakes. Some of them are optional boss fights and in the second and third games, one can even join you as a party member.
63* MechaMooks: ''All'' of Nene's mooks, up to and including [[TheDragon his Dragon]]. The Mecha Robos appear in the sequels, though they are no longer serving under Nene.
64* NobleBirdOfPrey: Kluke's Phoenix. It starts off as a BlackMage in the games and is better suited for magical roles than physical ones. In the anime, Phoenix has barrier powers. It's played up like a GuardianEntity and powerful enough to defend against the BigBad.
65* OlderThanTheyLook: The characters (except Zola, and possibly Marumaro) are all in their teens (between 14 and 16),
66* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Shu's Shadow, the titular Blue Dragon (simply called "Dragon" in-game). Incidentally, King Jibral also has a dragon-like Shadow in later games, although it happens to based on Eastern dragons rather than Western ones (though its name is Kirin, like the horse-dragon creature of myth). [[spoiler:Nene's Shadow is also a sort of dragon.]]
67* OurMinotaursAreDifferent: Jiro's Minotaur, which is oddly frail-looking for a minotaur (at least until Jiro gains his Limit Break), possibly to reference its initial role as the WhiteMage of the group. In ''Awakened Shadow'', the Minotaur has the physique of a normal bull.
68* OverworldNotToScale: Just like the classic [=JRPGS=] of old.
69* PantheraAwesome: Maro's Saber-Tooth/Tiger. Starts off in the Monk class and takes to that class and the Guardian class particularly well.
70* PreExistingEncounters: You can see and avoid enemies, or even engage two rival groups simultaneously so that they fight each other instead of you and whittle their own numbers down. You can also learn several skills that take advantage of this trope.
71* RecycledSoundtrack: ''Blue Dragon Plus'' and ''Blue Dragon Awakened Shadow'' reuse music from the original game recomposed in different soundfonts.
72* RuinsForRuinsSake: Averted with places like the underground hospital and many "Ancient" locations, but also played straight elsewhere.
73* SavePoint: In the form of the cube[[spoiler:, which has a bit of significance later on.]]
74* ScienceFantasy: It has spells, magical wards, and shadows that rise off the ground and animate, but it also has robots, lasers, hovercraft, etc.
75* SchizoTech: Knights in armor fight robots with guns and lasers in this setting.
76* SlidingScaleOfGameplayAndStoryIntegration: Near the end of disc 2, Kluke gets a necklace put on her that will explode in under an hour if the characters don't get to Nene before them. [[spoiler:Except this is complete bull. The necklace is actually a togglable RestrainingBolt that won't explode, and the claim it will is made by Nene to lure the cast into a trap. Fittingly, if the player lets the timer run out, they will get a cutscene where the cast realizes that the timer is up but the explosion hasn't happen, and wonder why it hasn't gone off.]]
77* StatusEffects: The only odd one out is "Kelolon", [[ForcedTransformation which turns you into a weird frog/imp creature]], robbing you of your Shadow (and thus, your main way of damaging foes, as your base stats sans Shadow are pathetic). It's most similar to the "Frog" and "Imp" statuses from the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series.
78** The third game has the standard set of status effects, though interestingly Confusion makes it that so your attacks ''heal'' enemies until they wear off.
79* SufficientlyAdvancedAlien: Subverted in that they could perform both magic and science.
80* {{Superboss}}:
81** The original game has several Dragons that don't ''need'' to be beaten, but give the player a useful accessory if they are. The hardest superbosses include the Gold Mecha Robo, the King Poo, and the Golden Poo. The game's DLC [[BonusDungeon Shuffle Dungeon]] adds in rematches with the optional Dragons and several new bosses, culminating in a battle with purple versions of your shadows called the Shuffle Guardians.
82** ''Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow'' had the Door Bosses who were optional bosses of varying difficulty with [[spoiler:Destroy and Arcane Dragon]] being the only ones to have 10 stars in terms of difficulty. There was also the Omega Dragon fought at the very end of [[BonusDungeon New World]], who was among the hardest fights in the game.
83* TookALevelInBadass: Essentially, all of the Shadow Wielders. Most notably [[spoiler:Nene when he manages to cure his illness in the sequels.]]
84* UnderwaterRuins: This is an odd example, as they're actually inside a massive cube of water floating ''above'' the ocean.
85* UnwittingPawn: After this revelation, Nene [[spoiler: promptly rips your Shadows away and reabsorbs them, regaining his youth and strength, and leaving your party all but helpless.]]
86** [[spoiler: Nene was Deathroy's UnwittingPawn all along. Deathroy, aka the Bioweapon Destroy, was waiting for an opportunity to devour Nene's soul to break the seal on his powers.]]
87** The player turns out to be this to Jyum and Ganda, though unfortunately for them by the time they reveal this, you've defeated the Egg of Light and proceed to kill them afterwards.
88* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon:
89** The first game has Primitive Cube, a huge lava-filled... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin cube]], floating [[spoiler: in the void between the two halves of the planet, revealed after Nene saws the world in half]].
90** The Abyss serves as one for ''Blue Dragon Plus'' and is the deepest part of the Atomic Cube where the party descends in order to finish off Balaur once and for all.
91** ''Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow'' has the Dimension Sanctuary which has two guardians Ghost Demon Malboro and Devil Cupid who need to be taken down to access the final area. The player and their party travel there in order to [[spoiler:stop the Egg of Light from devouring their planet.]]
92* VillainousLegacy: Though [[spoiler:Destroy]] himself is gone by the end of the first game, the sequels establish that [[spoiler:clones of him exist]]. ''Blue Dragon Plus'' has Balaur use a CloneArmy of Destroys to defend him during his final boss fight and the Destroy Clones are a minor plot point in ''Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow''.
93[[/folder]]
94[[folder: Tropes in Blue Dragon]]
95* AbandonedHospital: One of the first lengthy dungeons encountered in Blue Dragon. It even doubles as a BigBoosHaunt, as it's the first place that has ghost enemies to fight.
96* AccidentalMarriage: Marumaro wearing exactly one hat in Kelaso Village (where everyone wears multiple hats) causes all the little girls to ask him for marriage. For some reason Zola, who also wears one piece of headgear, isn't subjected to this, and has to bail Maro out.
97* ActionCommands: In the first game, this appears as the Charge meter, where holding down the A button will fill up the bar and letting go at the "sweet spot" (represented by a dark red/brown spot on the bar) will enable more powerful effects. Even without hitting the sweet spot, charging often has additional benefits, such as Cure Poison going from healing one ally to the whole party when charged. The speed of the charge, as well as the sweet spot's location, depends on the class and spell/attack being used (for example, the Shadow spell under Black Magic is erratic, but Flare under the same is steady).
98* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: Toripo's Hearts (used to advance a particular class rank by one), which double in cost each time you buy one.
99* AllThereInTheManual: The Monster and Item Records that can be perused in the first game's Item menu hold a lot information and world lore that otherwise isn't mentioned elsewhere in the game.
100* AlwaysCheckBehindTheChair: Not only does just about every environmental and background object contain items you can take (most often gold, but stat boosts and EXP can be found as well), but many more hold "Nothing," which is apparently ''not'' the same as not having anything inside. Finding enough Nothing will let you get items from a certain {{NPC}}. The “Six Treasures” DownloadableContent includes a pair of glasses that places markers on top of things that are hiding Nothing.
101* AttackItsWeakPoint: Several bosses in the first game have weak points that need to be hit in order to either damage them more, mitigate their damage to the party, or to stop them from performing devastating special attacks.
102* BecomingTheMask: [[spoiler: Averted with Zola. She wanted power, which Nene granted her, but hated working for Nene. She helped Shu and co., even becoming one of them, which she preferred. She played DoubleAgent and helped (willingly or unwillingly) with Nene's EvilPlan at the same time. When Shu showed her she had power inside her, she betrayed him.]]
103* BittersweetEnding: The original game. [[spoiler:The world has still been split in half, but Nene and Destroy have been stopped from doing anything more to it, and everybody has moved onto the floating cubes within.]]
104* BrokenRecord: To play the ''Blue Dragon'' Drinking Game, take a shot every time Shu says "I won't give up!" Even if you only do it when he repeats the phrase twice in a row, you'll be drunk inside an hour.
105* ChargeMeter: Used for magic, and the Monk job class skill "Charge Attack" can use this for normal attacks too.
106* CognizantLimbs: A few bosses from the first game have these, the first one being the Hydrattler, a giant multi-headed snake.
107* ContagiousPowers: [[spoiler:Even after having the spheres that granted them their shadow powers taken away at the end of disc 2, the party is eventually able to resummon their shadows due to the fact that they had become so accustomed to using them by that point they can generate that power on their own now.]]
108* DamselInDistress: [[spoiler:Kluke ends up being kidnapped by Nene during the latter half of Disc 2, prompting the party to rescue her.]]
109* DarkestHour: [[spoiler:The end of disc two/the start of disc three. The cast has been {{Depowered}} of their shadows and trapped in a village Nene uses as his personal prison, where everyone is held hostage by a monstrous [[{{Treants}} Treant]]. Shu tries to fight it and is promptly [[CurbStompBattle curbed stomped]], barely making it out alive. Trapped, it seems like all hope is truly lost. Thankfully, Shu is able to recover his shadow [[{{Determinator}} through sheer force of will]] and takes down the monster holding everyone hostage.]]
110* {{Determinator}}: Shu's utter refusal to give up under any circumstances isn't just a plot concern. For a significant portion of the game, [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration he cannot flee from battles]]. [[spoiler:It's also how he gets his Shadow back.]]
111* DidntSeeThatComing: [[spoiler:Nene's plan of using the party to LevelGrind his own powers for him was practically flawless. The only thing he didn't count on was the party becoming so accustomed to their shadow powers by the point he takes them away that they could eventually resummon them even without the spheres they were gifted.]]
112* DiscOneFinalDungeon: Both discs have one: the Flying Fortress in Disc 1 and Nene's Fortress in Disc 2.
113* DoomedHometown: There's barely a town in the whole game that Nene ''doesn't'' regularly attack. Your own hometown isn't destroyed, but has been abandoned by the time you get back there.
114* DoubleAgent: [[spoiler:Zola is doing one or more out of three things at any given time - helping the party, being treated like a party member, and carrying out Nene's plan. She prefers helping the party, but owes Nene because he gave her power, which is useful because of Nene's EvilPlan. She finally betrays Nene when Shu and friends show her an alternative to Nene's power.]]
115* DragonAscendant: In a really weird way. [[spoiler:Deathroy, the little frog-newt thing that hangs around Nene, is actually one of the creatures that nearly destroyed the planet long ago, trapped in a weakened form. When Zola throws away Nene's power, Deathroy ingests it and, with the aid of the Eternal Engines scattered everywhere, regains its true form, becoming the final boss Destroy.]]
116* ElementalRockPaperScissors: But not the typical FireIceLightning set; it uses [[DishingOutDirt the]] [[BlowYouAway four]] [[PlayingWithFire classical]] [[MakingASplash elements]] plus [[LightEmUp Light]] and [[CastingAShadow Dark]].
117* EternalEngine: Loads of them, and toward the end of the game [[spoiler:the whole ''planet'' turns out to be one]]. The term itself, however, is used in-game to refer to the power sources of the Ancient machinery.
118* ExpansionPack: Downloadable content adds stuff like new items, the [[BonusDungeon Shuffle Dungeon]][[note]]A dungeon with randomized areas, rematches with the optional Dragon bosses and several new boss fight exclusive to the dungeon.[[/note]], and a NewGamePlus mode with higher difficulty levels. The player is advised not to even bother trying the highest of the difficulty levels unless your party is at least Level 50.
119* ExplosiveLeash: In Disc 2, Nene captures Kluke and puts a collar on her when Shu and the others finally managed rescue her. He claims they must get to him within an hour or the collar will explode. [[spoiler:This turns out to be a ruse, and the main reason Nene wanted them there was to help bring the Shadows they had to him. The collar turns out to be a restraining noose.]]
120* FightingYourFriend: Marumaro, the first time you meet him. [[spoiler:And Zola much, much later in the game]].
121* {{Foreshadowing}}: Several hints are dropped in the first game if you know where to look:
122** [[spoiler:Zola's decision to betray Nene, which she had always planned to do since joining him, solidifies when she encounters the party again after they've gotten back their Shadows (which she says herself at the end of the game), despite Nene taking that power away from them (an event that Zola missed). The cutscene when she arrives on the Mechat has her acting in a more friendly manner compared to the earlier ones, where she's a bit more aloof. Notably, she also is able to use [[LimitBreak the Tension/Coporeal skill]] that the others gained from regaining their Shadows despite never losing her Shadow to Nene, implying that she most likely witnessed them doing that at some point between Devour Village and Noluta, and then performed the action herself.]]
123** [[spoiler:Deathroy being Destroy is only really hinted at if you pay attention to his design and that of the giant monster in the ancient murals you find, which look eerily similar. However, Deathroy actually despising the fact that Nene kept him around as a "crutch" for his loneliness is hinted at the end of Disc 2. Nene (genuinely) thanks Deathroy for being there for him, saying that otherwise he'd probably have gone mad with loneliness. Deathroy, in one of the few instances where he isn't parroting what Nene says, responds with "That's too bad", implying that Deathroy would rather see the old man go insane than be tethered to him all this time.]]
124** [[spoiler: Himiko, a female Ancient, isn't mentioned at all in the first game, but her existence is foreshadowed by her accessories, which are named after her and can be found in the final dungeon.]]
125* ForTheEvulz: How Nene presents himself for the whole of the first game. A few points in the story provide scant reasons for his behavior, but they mostly stem from him being the LastOfHisKind. [[spoiler:It isn't until ''Blue Dragon Plus'' that we're given a real reason as to why Nene acted the way he did in the first game.]]
126* FreudianExcuse:[[spoiler: The reason Nene's such a bastard in the first game? In addition to being the last of his kind with a vague extreme aging disease, he was actually sealed by his love, who wish to preserve him until a cure was found (two other Ancients, preserved in a similar manner, appear in ''Awakened Shadow''), but unfortunately, she had seemingly passed away once he awoke and a cure still didn't exist. Nene became angry at the world, taking his rage out on the humans who now inhabited it, and making them feel the fear and pain he had to deal with upon waking.]]
127* GotTheCallOnSpeedDial: [[spoiler: The entire gang resolves to regain their Shadows even after Nene takes the Shadows into himself at the end of Disc 2. They succeed.]]
128* HeroesFightBarehanded: Everyone; once they gain their Shadows, the party simply directs their Shadows to attack.
129* HopelessBossFight: Really, until you get to the final confrontation with Nene, your encounters with him tend to go like this.
130** The first fight with Eet-Yeet in Devour Village
131* HundredPercentCompletion: Several Xbox 360 Achievements involve completing various lists, like the Monster Book and Item Log.
132* LastDiscMagic: Put in a blender with LimitBreak and SummonMagic. After you [[spoiler:regain your shadows]] in Disc 3, you get access to powerful "Corporeal" attacks where your Shadow temporarily splits off and becomes solid.
133* LimitBreak: The party gains the ability to use this at the end of the game, before the world opens up.
134%%* LethalLavaLand: The Primitive Cube.
135* MetalSlime: The Platinum and Golden Poo Snakes. They're only found on specific islands (with Platinum being a rare spawn on its island), both run from battle if given the first chance to move (which their high speed will almost always ensure unless the player prepares for that), and both give large amounts of SP (Platinum, if certain conditions are met) or EXP (Golden) upon victory.
136* MetaTwist: [[spoiler:A rather crazy one. It turns out [[BigBad Nene]] is the one who gifted the characters their shadow powers in the first place. Why? ''So you could do his LevelGrinding for him!'' All of his prodding the party throughout the game was ''specifically'' so he could strengthen the shadows for when he eventually took them back.]]
137* TheMole: [[spoiler:Zola. She hates it and prefers Shu and company.]]
138* MoneySpider: Oddly enough, some monster encounters justify this - the money comes out of their poo after you beat them, implying they ate other people with valuables and are literally pooping it out everywhere.
139* MrFixit: Jiro. Give him an Ancient device, and he'll get it working.
140** Inverted in the Pachess Town arc, where Marumaro actually gets the desired object to work by banging on it.
141* NeverBareheaded: Marumaro always wears a hat, which almost results in an AccidentalMarriage in Kelaso Village.
142* NiceJobBreakingItHero: During Disc 2, the party ends up powering up Nene thanks to his XanatosGambit. Later,[[spoiler: Zola's execution of Nene led to Destroy's resurrection.]]
143* NoGearLevel: After the XanatosGambit mentioned below, your party begins Disc 3 [[spoiler: without their Shadows, leaving them virtually powerless]]. Shu eventually manages to recover his [[{{Determinator}} through sheer force of will]], but you have to beat a boss and work your way through a monster-filled forest before the rest of the party gets back to normal.
144* NoIndoorVoice: Marumaro, made strange by the fact that literally ''none'' of the other Devee talk that way, and made especially annoying by the fact that his voice sounds like [[WesternAnimation/SouthPark someone writing on a chalkboard with a rusty nail.]] When Shu asks him why he shouts all the time, Maro simply responds by saying he doesn't know why.
145* NoobCave: The first "dungeon" area where you control Shu and the others is fairly short and mostly exists just to get you used to battling. It later houses the strongest non-DLC OptionalBoss.
146* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Deathroy turns out to be the [[spoiler:weakened form of Destroy, an ancient bio-mechanical superweapon who destroyed the civilization of the Ancients.]]
147* ParentalAbandonment: Averted with Jiro and Marumaro, subverted with Shu (parents killed by the Land Shark, lives with his grandfather) and played straight with Kluke (parents also killed, lives by herself).
148* {{Pastiche}}: The first game is quite obviously a loving homage to classic [=JRPGs=], particularly (thanks to the pedigree) the ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' and ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series.
149* PointOfNoReturn: In the first game, when attempting to pursue Nene after he burrowed his fortress deep into the earth, you get a cutscene, Zola and Jiro both warning you that it's probably a one-way ticket, a chance to save your game, and a final yes/no confirmation before you proceed to the endgame area ... which [[SubvertedTrope includes a dimensional portal so you can enter/leave it at will]].
150* PostDefeatExplosionChain: After being defeated, the final boss sinks into lava while numerous explosions erupt across his body.
151* RaceAgainstTheClock: Disc 2, [[spoiler: rescuing Kluke from the clutches of Nene and his collar in under an hour, otherwise a bomb will go off, killing her. Inverted through Nene's Xanatos Gambit; the party's NiceJobBreakingItHero led them all to their demise.]]
152* ShoutOut:
153** Shu [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EX7jqoSr6g starts the game waking up from a nap before his adventure]]. Like another [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda famed character]].
154** Zola's Killer Bat makes one to ''Franchise/DragonBall'' during their LimitBreak. You'd expect it to look more like its namesake, but instead Killer Bat turns out to be a giant, white, tailed ape (with Bat's head and wings) that attacks by firing energy beams at the foe, not unlike Vegeta's giant ape form in ''Manga/DragonBallZ''.
155** Let's face it, in a broad sense, the shadows are basically [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure Stands]].
156* SigilSpam: That spiky-circle logo on Ancient stuff turns up ''everywhere''.
157* SkillSlotSystem: Your Shadows are actually the ones learning battle techniques, which are represented as skills you can equip into your character's slots. Certain skills also increase the number of slots you have.
158* SleepModeSize: [[spoiler: Deathroy, a.k.a Destroy.]]
159* SmugSnake: Nene, who never loses that [[SmugSmiler infuriating grin]].
160* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: In the first game, Nene sends progressively stronger [[MechaMooks Mecha Robos]] at the heroes, making one wonder why he didn't just ''start'' with these stronger Robos at the outset. [[spoiler:Then he reveals his scheme at the end of Disc 2, justifying this trope.]]
161* SuppressedHistory: the Book of the Beginning tells of the creation of the world. But it does so, in such a cryptic way, that it leads people to think that the world was one of light, before shadows came along to be stopped by the Warriors of Light. [[spoiler: Actually, the world's original state was darkness, and probably nonexistence, until the Warriors of Light, who were themselves shadow-users, sealed it away, creating the world people live in.]]
162* ThreePlusTwo: Shu, Jiro and Kluke are the three, Zola and Maro are the two.
163* TimedMission: In [[spoiler:Nene's Headquarters]] you are on a time limit because [[spoiler:Kluke has been given a bomb collar that will supposedly go off after an hour. This is subverted because the bomb collar does not actually explode and is actually part of a plan to extract the party's magic. Accordingly, letting the timer run out just results in a cutscene where the bomb fails to explode, much to everybody's confusion.]]
164* VisualInitiativeQueue: You can see the turn order during battle, allowing you to strategize accordingly.
165* WarpWhistle: You get Warp Keys fairly early in the game, allowing you to access Warp Panels that will let you teleport back to them in an instant (barring the times where you're unable to use this action due to plot).
166* WeakButSkilled: The Generalist class. Unlike the other classes, Generalist doesn't increase the character's base stats. However, it's main draw are the two abilities the characters can get from it; extra accessory and extra skill slot. Both of this increase in the number of accessory and skill slots the more the class is leveled up, allowing the characters to use more skills from the other classes when using a specific class.
167* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Nene invokes this on the party when they use the Defense Mecha Robo's barrier device to continuously destroy his war mechs mindlessly walking into it. When he sends his Servant Mecha Robos (who are sentient, capable of emotion just almost as well as humans, and had one of their members - the robot, Yasato - befriend them earlier in the game), the party ends up debating this trope, with Zola insisting that they keep the barrier up because the Servants are just robots. [[spoiler:In the end, [[ButThouMust regardless of how the player feels about it]], the barrier must be turned off to continue the game.]]
168* WhenTreesAttack: The poor village of the aptly named Devour Village suffer from demonic trees that keep them in the town so that the giant monster tree in the center [[IAmAHumanitarian can feed on them]].
169* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: Depending on what you're doing and what file you use, it's possible to become stuck on a NewGamePlus file pretty easily. Early in the game, right after the Land Shark attack, you end up in the NoobCave. In order to proceed, you're supposed to kill the Poo Snakes and loot their treasures, which will spawn a new treasure that continues the game after opening. However, depending on the save you used for New Game Plus, it's actually possible to have the maximum amount of items on you before this, making it impossible to loot the chests and continue the game, thanks to the fact that you also can't ''drop'' excess items from your inventory, you can only sell them. Better hope you didn't save over the file used to start New Game Plus and/or have a save set before you started killing the Poo Snakes...[[note]]Since you either need to use an item to attack them (Thorn Grass) or to let them hit you so you can waste a few healing items (Medicine and Light Crystals) so you can pick up the treasure in the chests.
170* XanatosGambit: At the end of Disc 2, [[spoiler: Nene reveals that your Shadows are actually fragments of his one, and you've just spent two discs [[LevelGrinding powering them up]] for him]].
171** [[spoiler:This is lucky for Zola: She hates working for Nene, and would rather help Shu and co. This way, she can do both until Shu makes Nene's gift to her defunct.]][[/note]]
172[[/folder]]
173[[folder: Tropes in Blue Dragon Plus]]
174* TheChosenMany: The depiction of Shadow users in ''Blue Dragon Plus'', which pretty much includes almost every major character from the first game.
175* InfinityPlusOneSword: After completing the final side quest in Mecha Town, you gain an item called the Balaur Prisom which can be equipped to a party member. Doing so allows you to wield Balaur in battle, and is the strongest Shadow in terms of stats despite their one offensive move being luck based.
176* MultipleHeadCase: Marumira's shadow is Cerebus, a three headed dog. [[BigBad Balaur]] also has three heads.
177* PromotedToPlayable: Several minor characters such as Fushira, King Jibral, Marumira, Marutora, Sahlia, Toripo and Yasato end up becoming playable characters with their own shadows in this game.
178* SendInTheClones: During the final dungeon, the final boss will be surrounded by [[spoiler:clones of Destroy, the final boss of the previous game.]]
179* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:Nene as revealed in Blue Dragon Plus. He had SoapOperaDisease and was dying. His lover Himiko put him into cryogenic sleep... he wakes up and she's dead, and he's still dying. In other words, he missed out on living with his true love for nothing. This makes him almost kill humans because he was basically so pissed off at everyone.]]
180%% * WrongSideAllAlong: [[spoiler: The henchman of the BigBad (after the BigBad has supposedly been defeated) reveals that the party is being used to open up the Dark World by their leader. Of course, they don't realize this until after helping almost destroy the world.]]
181[[/folder]]
182[[folder: Tropes in Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow]]
183* AntiFrustrationFeatures: During the [[spoiler: rematch with the Egg of Light]], if you fall in battle, the game will give you a cutscene telling the player they're not strong enough instead of the usual Game Over screen.
184** For players unable to access the multiplayer exclusive areas for seeds and have already fed Destroy every type of seed they could find in-game, the game gives them the option to obtain Dark Seeds from defeating [[spoiler: Raging King Destroy which prevents the Destroy sidequest from being UnwinnableByAccident.]]
185* BigBadDuumvirate: Jyum and Ganda are both Ancients who work together to ensure their goal will succeed.
186* CallBack: The fight with [[spoiler:{{Superboss Destroy}} has several references to his final boss fight]] in the first game. Both fights take place in an EternalEngine surrounded by lava, The Seal is Broken plays during the fight and several of [[spoiler:Destroy's]] attacks are renamed versions of attacks he had in his debut fight.
187* CloneArmy: Its revealed that the Mighty Quartet have an army of infant Destroy clones in the Blizzard Cube. Szabo manages to get rid of most of them, though two remain. The Mighty Quartet fuse with one to become Demon King Destroy, and one is found in an early game dungeon which starts a sidequest.
188* DualBoss: The fight with Jyum and Ganda has you fight both Shadow wielders who have their own separate HP bars. The Twin Ghosts fight has you fight two ghosts though they share a health bar between them.
189* EvilCounterpart: Jyum and Ganda serve as this to Nene in that they're both Ancients who awakened after years in stasis. While Nene lashed out at the world to make them feel his fear and pain after losing Himoko, Jyum and Ganda simply wanted to rule a new world as gods. Jyum and Ganda also wield evil versions of the Dragon and Beetle shadows respectively, and fuse with them before their boss fight.
190** [[spoiler:Arcane Dragon]] is implied to be one to the player's shadows. It's a blue dragon which can also use Dragorus Sword, Defoilus and Dartsus which are skills your shadows can also learn.
191* FeaturelessProtagonist: The main character in ''Awakened Shadow''. You *do* get to choose gender/hair/etc., but the other characters refer to you with gender-neutral pronouns anyway.
192* {{Foreshadowing}}: During your trip in the Blizzard Cube, you'll fight enemies who are blue versions of each member of the Mighty Quartet and you eventually come across a room full of Destroy clones. During the end of the dungeon, they announce their intention to fuse with Destroy in order to become a powerful warrior in order to create a world of destruction and chaos, averting a fight with each individual member.
193* FusionDance: Two of Awakened Shadow's bosses do this such as Demon King Destroy, and [[spoiler: [[FinalBoss Last Slavery]] ]] are a result of this.
194* GeneticMemory: The pre-battle cutscene with [[spoiler:Destroy]] implies that he has the memories of the original, though unlike the original, he's far more affable, even [[PetTheDog thanking the player for raising them so well.]]
195* ItemCrafting: After completing the sidequest Yasato's Close Shave, you can go to Yasato's Synthesis Shop in order to create new weapons, armour and accessories by fusing their old ones with specific items. Completing another sidequest Himeko Resurrected upgrades the feature by allowing you to synthesis items with your equipment to upgrade their rank or elemental damage and/or resistances.
196* LawOfOneHundred: Unlocking the boss fight with [[spoiler: Destroy]] in Awakened Shadow requires you to get his growth rate to 100% by feeding him various types of seeds.
197* LoadBearingBoss: After King Uber is defeated, the pillars in Neo Jibral Deep Layer collapse and there is damage shown at the surface of Neo Jibral Castle Town as a result.
198* LongSongShortScene: State of Emergency only plays during an early game cutscene and is never used again, even though there were at least 2 boss fights[[note]][[DualBoss Jyum & Gunda]] and [[{{Superboss}}Arcane Dragon]][[/note]]where the song would've fit for.
199* MadeOGold: The Ultimate Door, which appears after completing the game, is gold and red and the two badges which increase Attack and Defence depending on how much money you have are also gold coloured.
200* MoodWhiplash: After Szabo laments the death of his former comrades, the Quest Clear text appears and victorious music plays afterwards.
201* PortalDoor: Several doors appear in Neo Jibral Castle Town and each contain a power Beast of the Otherworld behind it. If you complete the [[spoiler: Destroy sidequest, you can unlock the Despair Door where the now fully grown Destroy resides. Beating the game unlocks the Ultimate Door (aka the Extreme Door) which has Arcane Dragon sealed behind it.]]
202* PressStartToGameOver: It is completely possible for [[spoiler:Destroy]] start his fight by [[TotalPartyKill wiping out your entire party]] with Judgement Thunder before they start doing any damage. If anything, that attack is basically a litmus test to determine if your party is strong enough to even fight [[spoiler:Destroy]] to begin with.
203* RedemptionRejection: General Szabo tries to get the Mighty Quartet (now renamed the Demon Kings) to change their ways and realize the value of a peaceful life. They decide they only want a world where they can wreak havoc and destruction and fuse with a Destroy clone to become Demon King Destroy. After destroying them, Szabo expresses sadness that his comrades would never get to live a life of knowing the joy of a peaceful life.
204* ScratchDamage: Once you get [[spoiler:Destroy]] down to low health, he'll suddenly take only 1 damage from all attacks unless they're a FixedDamageAttack, ensuring that you'll have to be much more strategic in order to finish the fight.
205* SealedEvilInACan: The Extreme Door (referred to as Ultimate Door in dialogue) has the ultimate misfortune sealed behind it who turns out to be [[spoiler: Arcane Dragon]].
206* StatusInflictionAttack: Some enemies and bosses have attacks that can inflict status effects, with notable examples being Poo Tycoon [[note]]Who if you're particularly unlucky can stunlock your entire party to death.[[/note]], Mistwalker[[note]]Whose attacks can inflict Confusion, causing the fight to drag on due to confused party members healing them with their attacks[[/note]] and [[spoiler:[[[[{{Superboss}} Arcane Dragon.]][[note]]His Nightmare attack inflicts ''every'' status effect in the game, ensuring that you will be in critical condition if it connects.[[/note]]]]
207* VillainShoes: The game's tutorial section allows you to play as Jyum and Ganda, both of whom have Shadows of their own. Sadly, you can't play as them again after you awaken the main character.
208[[/folder]]
209
210----
211!!The anime and manga adaptations include examples of:
212* AlternateContinuity: For the anime, the characters' appearances are mostly the same as they are in the game, except for small details like Jiro's hair being gray instead of black, if not much else... The entire story is almost completely different from the one in the games, with many changes to the first game's base plot of "Nene terrorizes the world's towns for his own amusement" (for example, unlike the games, Shu and Jiro ''aren't'' childhood friends, starting off as rivals as soon as they meet, Zola is introduced almost immediately instead of midway through the plot, Nene's army includes human soldiers, and the shadows are voiced characters in their own right instead of just extensions of the user).
213* TheAnimeOfTheGame: There are two of them, with the second essentially being the "second season" of the first. The second is called ''Blue Dragon: Trials of the Seven Shadows'' and takes place two years after the first.
214%%* {{Bowdlerization}}: Done in the US version of the anime, regarding Bouquet, most likely because of her age.
215* BuxomBeautyStandard: Bouquet's exceptionally buxom is often focused on by the male character or the MaleGaze.
216* CanonForeigner: Bouquet, the ditzy barmaid, and Homeron. They surprisingly did not make an appearance in ''Blue Dragon Plus'', even though anything that breathed from the first game was part of the party. Hell, a couple of things that ''didn't'' breathe in the original game joined the party. The closest the games come to referencing Bouquet is in ''Awakened Shadow'', where you can make a female PC with Bouquet's hairstyle and eyes (both the default choices when starting a new game, although the hairstyle has some slight differences and the eyes aren't purple).
217%%* CensorBox: Bouquet's blue "dressing" in the anime dub. Incidentally, the anime sequel gives Bouquet a ''slightly'' more modest attire that covers her chest more, while simultaneously revealing her midriff.
218* {{Chickification}}: Kluke plays the role of damsel in distress far more often in the anime than she did in the original game (which was ''once'').
219* {{Expy}}: In the anime, Legolas ([[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings No, Not that Legolas]]) is an expy of [[Manga/DragonBall Hercule (Mr. Satan)]].
220* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Zola turns out to be the villain in the anime, although [[DemonicPossession not by her own volition...]]]]
221%%* GuileHero: Homeron.
222* InNameOnly: There is also a manga spinoff, which is so different from the source material (mainly thanks to being drawn by the ''Manga/DeathNote'' guy) that the only real connections the two have are that the characters have living shadows, and the monsters eat each other (a gameplay gimmick).
223* InvisibleStreaker: Bouquet. She can become completely invisible, but ''only'' [[NakedPeopleAreFunny when she's naked]]. The viewer [[VisibleInvisibility can still see her]], but SceneryCensor, ShouldersUpNudity, and ToplessnessFromTheBack angles are used to conceal any naughty bits.
224* MsFanservice: Bouquet, in one of the most transparent examples of the trope. In the first series, she's introduced [[MaleGaze boobs-first]] and her innate invisibility powers only activate when she's nude, which would make her an inversion, except she's drawn more often than not as a blue ghost during these scenes, allowing viewers to see her even when they shouldn't. Additionally, her Hippo Shadow is essentially useless, nearly making her into an anime JokeCharacter when it comes to combat. Even after it gains [[DittoFighter a useful combat ability]], TheWorfEffect makes sure that she and her Shadow don't really succeed at using it well.
225* SuddenlyVoiced: The shadows are merely extensions of their user in the game, whereas they become voiced characters in their own right in the anime.
226* UnderwearFlag: In the original Japanese version of the anime, Marumaro hangs a pair of Kluke's panties from a flagpole, much to her ire.

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