Line #138 VideoGame/BreathOfFireII


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bof2.png]]
2
3	->''It was like waking from a long dream... but, now his father and sister have disappeared and no one else recognizes him...\
4	He dreamt of a horrific demon who ripped his heart and body apart... but it remains just a dream.\
5	Yet, the vision remains strong. Deep within the corners of his mind, he hears it calling. A different world... A world of silence... a world of darkness. He moves towards it, feeling both fear and exhiliaration. He succumbs and the darkness welcomes him.\
6	"You are the one" the demon screeches. Reaching within his own heart, he realizes that it is true. Then, in that moment, reality washes away and the dream begins to take shape...''
7	-->-- '''Intro Narration'''
8
9	The second entry into the long-running and popular ''Franchise/BreathOfFire'' Japanese RolePlayingGame series. It was released for the [[Platform/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]] in December 1994 in Japan and December 1995 for North America. It was later ported to the Platform/GameBoyAdvance in December 2001 in Japan, April 2002 for North America and June 2002 for Europe. It includes updated {{Character Portrait}}s, a dash button, upgraded graphics for the menu screens, a trade option between games (with a few bonus items) and a re-balancing of Exp/Money given by enemies.
10
11	Ryu Bateson seems to have the ideal life as a young child. Sure, his mom is missing, but his sister Yua and father Ganer love him very much. However, that all changes when, after saving his sister from a rampaging monster, he goes back into his hometown of Gate only to realize that [[RetGone no one remembers not only who he is, but who his father or sister are]] (the two of them have disappeared, natch). After spending the night at the local church's orphanage with his new friend Bow Doggy, he decides to flee his hometown for greener pastures.
12
13	Flash forward 10 years where he and Bow are now Rangers, working to protect the people of [=HomeTown=] from various monsters. One day, they get a mysterious call from a princess of Windia that will change their lives...
14
15	There are two things that stand out most about this game. The first is the [[BlindIdiotTranslation terrible, terrible job that Capcom did translating it (and by some accounts the GBA port's translation is even worse!)]] from the original Japanese, particularly all the butchered names. The second is the fact that despite this being the '90s, when Nintendo of America's censorship policies were in full swing, this game got away with having numerous and explicit references to both religion and death. The BigBad is a deity, for crying out loud! It's pretty much the opposite of what happened with VideoGame/BreathOfFireIV.
16
17	There exists a [[Characters/BreathOfFire character sheet]] for the series. Place any character-related tropes there.
18	----
19
20	!! Provides Examples of:
21
22	* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The toilet in [=WildCat=] Cafe, which opens into an entire ''cave''. It's empty of monsters, but you still have to cover a surprising amount of ground to get the item you went in there for.
23	* AlmightyIdiot: [[spoiler:Deathevan. He's been propped up as the godhead of the Church of Eva for so long that he believes his own propaganda. Once Ryu manages to wound him, Deathevan's kindly old man facade falls away, and his [[OneWingedAngel monstrous final form]] is a screaming lunatic that can't even comprehend why Ryu and his friends would fight so vehemently against him.]]
24	* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: The page picture is the original Japanese box art. North America got something close to what one would find in ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian''. In short, [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/ba/Breathoffire2_box.jpg Bow looks like he wants to chew you... as do the rest of the crew.]]
25	* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: In some events, you take control of Sten, then Nina, and then [[spoiler:Ryu's mother Valerie]].
26	* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:Particularly if you're in the Grand Church of Evrai. Tiga, Claris, Ray, Rand's mother, and potentially Ganer all bite it in that area.]]
27	* ApatheticCitizens: Two flavors:
28	** First: On the whole, the citizens of [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Fantasy Counterpart Amphibian France]] [=SimaFort=] can tell that the person claiming to be prince Jean is an impostor bent on stealing the throne. They also generally care a great deal more about [[FrenchCuisineIsHaughty haute cuisine]] and pursuing their various artistic passions than they do about the ongoing coup d'etat.
29	** Second, and more disturbing: The citizens of Evrai, [[spoiler:who, when not mindlessly and joyfully praising St. Eva, are little more than {{Empty Shell}}s incapable of independent thought and action, with their ability to communicate cut down to vague mutterings of distress using as few words as possible.]]
30	* ApocalypticLog: The deserted hunter's lodge contains a diary, with this summation: Do NOT go into the woods.
31	* AsianCleaverFever: About midway through the game, you visit a restaurant where [[spoiler:they try to cook and serve you]]. This trope is in full effect -- albeit mostly by implication due to LimitedAnimation -- as each strike of Chef [=WildCat's=] cleaver slashes you multiple times. You even have the option of being taught the move "Chop-Chop", which is pretty much this trope as an attack, by the chef after defeating him.
32	* AttractMode: As you let the title screen loop, you'll see story scenes for each party member explaining what they were doing just before the plot picks up after the [[AMinorKidroduction prologue]]. You'll then see them participate in a quick battle.
33	* AwesomeButImpractical: Averted by the Death spell; unlike most SNES JRPG's, this one is SimpleYetAwesome, since it works on a majority of non-boss enemies (but has a pretty simple animation).
34	* BadassPreacher: Ray. Spreads the word of St. Eva, kills monsters, and [[spoiler:can turn into a dragon]].
35	* BerserkButton: You do NOT mess with Ryu's friends. EVER. [[spoiler:Not even if you are God.]]
36	* BigBad: [[spoiler:Deathevan, the "god" of the Church of St. Eva.]]
37	* BilingualBonus: Eichichi's PunnyName, for starters.
38	* BlackoutBasement: Barubary's lair is pitch dark. Since it's mostly just a BossCorridor, this wouldn't be particularly relevant... if it weren't for the fact that there's an item hidden on a side path. Even if you get the hint from Barbubary by defeating him [[DuelBoss one-on-one]], you're still left blundering around in the dark [[GuideDangIt without even the knowledge that you'll need a couple field skills to actually reach the item]].
39	* BlindIdiotTranslation: A famous example, to boot; this game came as close to a TranslationTrainWreck as is possible without becoming totally incoherent. For example; an NPC offers you a tutorial on Joining Souls, but will only give it if you answer "no". This is because in the original Japanese you were being asked if you ''already knew''.
40	* BookcasePassage: The hidden entrance to Bando's crypt is under a statue. A [[PercussiveMaintenance sharp blow]] from Katt's stick reveals it.
41	* {{Bookends}}: Depending on your actions towards the end, then the game will both [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/bof/images/5/51/Valerie_dragon_form_artwork.png/revision/latest?cb=20111230125633 begin]] and [[https://lparchive.org/Breath-of-Fire-II/Update%2094/116-Breath_of_Fire_II_(USA)107.png end]] with a dragon blocking the path from Gate to Dologany.
42	* BoringButPractical: Chopchop[=/=]Slice only does around 60 damage, but it’s consistent, defense-piercing damage that doesn’t miss, and there’re several late-game monsters that [[ArmoredButFrail have low HP and high defense]] who fall very quickly to it.
43	* BottomlessPitRescueService: Nina, if she's leading your party in a dungeon and is not transformed into her angelic shaman-fused form. Averted in Thieves' Tomb, though, possibly due to the pits moving around.
44	* {{Bowdlerise}}: Surprisingly few examples for a game of its time. Among the worst, most blatant Bowdlerisations is the writing of man-crazy witch's name Nimpho Mani (as in, nymphomania) as Nimufu Mani - and even THAT'S potentially just a botched romanization of the Japanese characters of her name; [[BlindIdiotTranslation it's not as if there aren't plenty such examples already]].
45	* ButThouMust:
46	** Quite a few, such as when Petape [[BrokenBridge sinks your boat]], leaving you with no way out of [=SimaFort=] and therefore no choice but to save Jean. She later forces you to [[ForeignQueasine eat the food]] during the CookingDuel, then complains when you [[VomitDiscretionShot find it unpalatable.]]
47	** The Grass Man quest has an interesting variation on the trope: the Ringmaster asks you to either pony up an obscene amount of Zenny or get a replacement monster to be devoured instead. While you have the option to refuse to do either from the beginning of the quest, you will be roundly ignored unless you’ve fought the Uparupa and spared it, at which point it will progress the plot.
48	* CagedInsideAMonster: There is a boss with a figure listed as "Old Man" chained up to the side of it. Killing the boss without killing the man (easier said than done, as a lot of your strongest spells will also hit him) allows you to rescue him.
49	* TheCameo: Bo and Karn from the first game ([[GenerationXerox or possibly their descendants]], considering that they're still alive and don't even recognize Bleu) appear on a small northern island.
50	* CantCatchUp:
51	** It takes roughly half the game to clear Bow's name, by which time he'll be far behind everyone else in [[CharacterLevel exp]] when he rejoins.
52	*** To be fair, he ''can'' catch up; it'll just take some time LevelGrinding him. (And it's well worth it too, as he becomes the party's best healer.)
53	** Pretty much everyone compared to Ryu. Since you CantDropTheHero, he will almost always be higher-leveled than the rest of your party.
54	** Since this game avoids LeakedExperience, anyone who you don't use will remain at their original level. This isn't a problem in most cases, even when the game forces you to use a particular character, because you always have at least your other three "mains". Except in two cases with Sten and Rand. Sten will have to fight a tough boss (albeit one with little HP) and go through a short dungeon on his own. The game forces you to use him before then long enough so that he should barely survive. Rand, however, is a completely different story. If you've never used him, he'll be around level 7 or 8 when he will have to solo a very strong enemy with high HP and strength. Be ready to grind a few hours to get Rand up to par!
55	* CashLure: You can catch the [[FishPeople fish-man]] merchant Maniro by baiting your hook with a bit of gold.
56	* CaveBehindTheFalls: One waterfall near [=SimaFort=] hides a cave containing [[spoiler:a hermit who teaches Ryu the second-level Dragon transformations]]. [[GuideDangIt Good luck finding out about it without looking at a guide]].
57	* ChekhovsGun: Arguably [[spoiler:the Township itself]], for a role it will play in the true ending of the game.
58	* ClearMyName: The quest to clear Bow's name is infamous for being one of the longest {{Fetch Quest}}s in JRPG history. Humorously, this plot culminates in rescuing Jean after he's jailed for [[{{Irony}} impersonating the Prince]], which is ''another'' quest for [[ClearMyName clearing the name]] of another character. This whole quest takes up about 4 out of 10 chapters.
59	* {{Cloudcuckooland}}: [=SimaFort=]. The residents are so laid back, they don't even care if there's a coup d'état.
60	* CockFight: Optional; if you choose to claim there is something between Katt and Ryu, Tiga will challenge Ryu to a duel, which, sadly, [[HopelessBossFight isn't winnable]].
61	* ColonyDrop: [[spoiler:In the best ending, Ganer drops the entire Township on the gate to Infinity in order to seal it so that Ryu doesn't have to make the same sacrifice his mother did.]]
62	* {{Confessional}}: A selectable option at every church of St. Eva. The priest's response changes according to Ryu's current mission.
63	* ControllableHelplessness: Used to initiate the SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome in the YMMV tab.
64	* CookingDuel: A literal example -- the end of the [=SimaFort=] arc involves Jean and the imposter Prince competing in a cooking competition, as Jean is a renowned chef.
65	* CorruptChurch: [[spoiler:Evrai can be seen as this]]. ''Breath of Fire II'' is one of the first games to pull this trope off effectively.
66	* CreativeClosingCredits: Rather than showing the development staff, the credits list the names of ''every single'' character in the game, even minor {{NPC}}s and town dwellers, sometimes on a full-name basis. This is also so full of {{Shout Out}}s to western culture that it counts as a BilingualBonus for the Japanese.
67	* CutscenePowerToTheMax: It is simply implausible that anyone could take out Ryu so easily in a one-on-one fight, and then die like a chump not two hours later. Unless you're [[HopelessBossFight Tiga]].
68	* CrystalDragonJesus: The church of St. Eva worships one. [[spoiler:Or rather, [[PathOfInspiration they worship an arch-demon]] ''[[PathOfInspiration pretending]]'' [[PathOfInspiration to be one.]]]]
69	* DarkerAndEdgier: Much more so than the first ''{{VideoGame/Breath of Fire\|I}}'' game. Heck, this trope applies when comparing ''Breath of Fire II'' to a lot of SNES games at the time.
70	* DeathMountain: Mt. Fubi, Mt. Rocko, and Mt. Maori.
71	* DeathOfPersonality: The reason why being transformed into a "[[GiantFlyer Great Bird]]" is a heroic sacrifice [[spoiler:when Mina does it in Nina's place]]. To quote one NPC [paraphrased]:
72	--> "If you become a bird, your mind becomes a bird's. Isn't that the same as dying?"
73	* DemonicPossession: Several boss characters. Most are humans who were corrupted by power or greed.
74	* DisadvantageousDisintegration: When hunting, Bleu/Deis [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill rains lightning bolts down on all the animals on the screen]]. This makes her the easiest character to hunt with... if you don't mind getting a lot of nearly-useless Charcoal. You ''can'' at least turn Charcoal into free Herbs by cooking (and turn those into stronger items later), but that's only useful if you picked the Township option that lets you cook, and even then you'd be better off with the Roasts and such that you'd normally get from hunting.
75	* DisproportionateRetribution: Because you humor Jean's sister Petape in her attempts to expose the impostor Prince Jean (about which literally no one else, including the ''real'' prince Jean, cares all that much), he will have you executed.
76	* DressingAsTheEnemy: Katt wears a nun's habit when infiltrating the church of St. Eva.
77	* DubNameChange: Plenty, mostly due to the BlindIdiotTranslation as it seems the translator didn't even know how to render names correctly (''Rand Marks'' instead of Land Marks). Other cases are due to space restrictions (Jean and Spar), making up new ones (Katt), or, randomly, because they wanted to adhere to the original ''VideoGame/{{Breath of Fire\|I}}'s'' translation (Bleu, some magic spells).
78	* DuelBoss: More than a few. Ryu gets a couple, though one (Tiga) is unwinnable and the other (Barubary) is optional. Nina, Rand, Sten, and Bow (optional) get theirs as well.
79	* EarlyBirdCameo: [[spoiler:The worst ending]] shows the silhouette of the BigBad far before he normally appears.
80	* EarlyGameHell: This game doesn't really hold your hand after the DistantPrologue finishes; after being thrust into the shoes of Ryu and Bow, heading out into the overworld and to your destination ''will'' result in you getting slaughtered in no time flat. Most guides recommend you're at least level 10 before entering the first cave, and you have to grind a bit more from there for Bow to get some healing magic to make things more bearable. Then you lose Bow [[spoiler:for an entire third of the story]], and you have to barely survive with only Ryu to the next party member before things ''finally'' begin to even out.
81	** Likewise, after the difficulty is partly smoothed out by Ryu getting his Baby Dragon transformations, soon after you reach [=SimaFort=] enemies once again have enough HP that it won't one- or two-shot them... unless you [[GuideDangIt spot the hermit]] [[CaveBehindTheFalls behind a random waterfall]] on the world map which unlocks Ryu's adult dragon skills.
82	* EldritchAbomination: The more you go through the game, the more the enemies start becoming this. In the beginning, we're talking things like two-headed werewolves. By the end of the game, you'll be seeing mini-Cthulhu's in priest gear, giant bloated scorpions with ''human skulls for heads'', [[http://spriters-resource.com/snes/breathfire2/sheet/19935 and whatever the hell THIS is supposed to be]]!
83	* ElementalHairColors: Each Shaman's hair color corresponds to their respective element.
84	* EncounterRepellant: The Smoke spell and item, and the [=HolySF=] accessory.
85	* EvilTowerOfOminousness: Infinity is an ''underground'' variant. You get a good look at it in the game's intro.
86	* ExactWords: In the CookingDuel between the real Prince Jean and the imposter, when the King declares the winner, he says "from where I'm standing, the one on the left," which from the balcony overlooking the room would be the fake Jean. No one seems to notice that just before he said this, ''he turned around'', so that the real Jean was actually the one on his left.
87	* FakeLongevity: One particularly annoying example stands out. After helping Ray save the villagers in Capitan, he says he wants to give you a blessing, and asks you to take him back to where your party gathers. So, you have to travel on foot all the way back to Township, just so Ray can give a spell to a party member of your choosing. [[note]]Never mind that 4 of your 6 party members are already right there in Capitan with him, and the only 2 that aren't both eventually learn the spells he offers just from leveling up anyway.[[/note]] Then, you get to travel all the way back from Township to Capitan again, whereupon Ryu is shoehorned into attempting [[FusionDance to fuse with a Shaman]], which awakens his dragon powers and destroys the Shamans' house. So, the Shamans force you to take them back to Township and give them part of the house there. At least the trip back to Township this time is just done via cutscene, but the trip back to Capitan AGAIN to recruit a carpenter is NOT. Thankfully, you don't have to personally escort the damn carpenter back to Township yourself, and after all that's done you can FINALLY move on with the plot.
88	* FantasticVoyagePlot: A wizard shrinks the party in order for them to enter the body of Tunlan's Queen and slay the demons inside her heart that are causing her obesity.
89	* FlashbackEffects: Scenes from Ryu's past are DeliberatelyMonochrome. The game itself begins in black & white, but abruptly turns color when young Ryu enters the woods.
90	* ForeignQueasine: The cuisine of the [[FrogMen frog-people]] of [=SimaFort=] involves worms, cockroaches, and flies. Ryu gets to taste some... With [[VomitDiscretionShot predictable results.]]
91	* FreeFallFight: Sten and Torubo battle on a collapsing bridge as it plummets.
92	* FusionDance: There are six recruitable shamans. Most of the party members can merge with up to two of them at a time. Ryu, on the other hand, absolutely ''cannot'' because of his draconic heritage, but attempting to do so unlocks his dragon potential. [[OptionalPartyMember Bleu]] also cannot fuse with any Shamans, but she's a strong enough BlackMage that she doesn't ''need'' to.
93	* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: The monsters you fight in the Queen’s body don’t drop any money, which makes sense as there’s no conceivable way they could have come across it before.
94	* GiantMook: Any RandomEncounter on Monster Island counts as one. This also presents the debut of the series-recurrent [=GooKing=] enemy (or K.Sludge as its named in this one).
95	* {{Glamour}}: Evrai seems like a utopia full of happy citizens. [[spoiler:Try to leave, however, and they're revealed to be muttering, brainwashed puppets.]]
96	* GlassCannon: Katt. She can't take much physical abuse, but she can dish it out better than any other character in the game.
97	* GlobalAirship: The Great Bird, and later [[spoiler:Township]].
98	* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: The entire point of the [[spoiler:St. Eva]] scam.
99	* GoodWingsEvilWings: Averted by Nina ([[PurpleIsTheNewBlack "black"]] bird wings) and Patty (dark bat wings). Played straight by various demons.
100	* GuideDangIt: So, SO many...
101	** Finding the guy who teaches Ryu's Elemental Dragon upgrade isn't terribly obvious. Fittingly enough, the Prima Strategy Guide actually references this secret with the heading, "Why People Buy Strategy Guides". Miss your first chance, and Wildcat, a boss who would be a total pushover with said upgrade, instead becomes ThatOneBoss and you have no way of going back for the upgrade. Your second chance lasts the whole game after a certain point, but it's still quite well hidden. And you don't get the "G. Dragon" upgrade, which surpasses the Elemental Dragons, until very late in the game. Up to that point ''every boss'' is ThatOneBoss because they are all designed expecting you to be using the Elemental Dragons and therefore dealing far more damage than you're capable of with your pathetic Elemental Puppies.
102	** Avoiding the BittersweetEnding requires finding a certain NPC to live in your new village, saving [[spoiler:the old man strapped to the Eye Machine boss]], and finding the hidden control room under the village. Miss the first, you'll never know what the third does. Miss the second, you'll never get the third to work. You'll not get a single hint as to what it does until you've already got it working.
103	** The Township's potential inhabitants themselves are a large GuideDangIt on top of that. To the uninitiated: From an early point in the game, you're tasked with turning a single run-down building into a bustling town. The first step is to find a carpenter to build a few houses; the choice of carpenter decides the layout and style of the residential buildings, as well as the function he and his wife serve in their own building. (Hint: The one you want is the one who will eventually allow you to cook items, which is a huge GameBreaker when you consider that you can buy two cheap items and turn them into one item that permanently raises one's stats, or take it a couple steps further to get effectively infinite ShopFodder.) Pick a carpenter you don't like, and you can't change them. More to the point, your town has a rather paltry maximum of six houses, so if you're too generous early in the game, you're stuck with losers like Poo (who sits around thanking you and eventually sells an item... ONCE) or El (who literally does nothing). Inviting some of these losers leaves you unable to give houses to people like Yozo (who offers the unique deal of raising one's max AP) or the {{Permanently Missable\|Content}} Barose (who offers the equally-unique deal of granting spells to any party member you want). The real problem comes into play when you realize that each tenant will only occupy a ''specific'' house in the Township; if you invite El, you can never invite Yozo. A real GuideDangIt for people wondering why a prospective tenant suddenly lost all interest in moving into your town.
104	** Another example involves a secret character: [[spoiler:Bleu/Deis, a recurring character from the first game.]] Sure, finding this character isn't as hard as some of the others on the page, but it's still a GuideDangIt in its own right. The search involves two simple steps: First, you have to walk into a random (albeit marked) spot in the middle of a desert to find an empty abode, containing little more than two unhelpful spirits that simply proclaim that "[their] master is away". Then, you're expected to visit a building in the first town -- one that you've had almost no business in since the start of the game -- and talk to a random NPC within, who inexplicably transforms into [[spoiler:Bleu]]. Considering that said character is met at a high level (relative to the level you're expected to be when you first enter the aforementioned desert) and knows a ton of powerful magic, pulling this off [[GameBreaker makes things considerably easier.]]
105	** Yet ''another'' example: Finding all six of the elemental shamans. Using these can power up your characters drastically, but only two of them are encountered in the course of normal play, and of the remaining four, only one (Shin) fails to qualify for this trope, and you get her right before TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. Seso is at least possible to run into by chance... Except that when you do, she's TakenForGranite, and good luck remembering to go back for her after you lift the curse on everyone in the tower. Solo requires you to donate 2000Z to Namanda, when the game only lets you donate 100Z at a time - the only hint you're given is a wise tree telling you to "be generous with your donations!" and it's entirely probable for a player to miss this tree altogether. The worst part is that Solo won't even show up until after [[spoiler:you level the St. Eva Church]], in a place the player is less than likely to return to, and if you didn't donate 2000Z by this point, Solo is [[PermanentlyMissableContent lost forever]]. And the last shaman, Seny, somehow manages to be even worse - randomly showing up in a dungeon the player beat three hours ago, with no indication whatsoever that anything is different there. This, by the way, is the second method of finding Seny - the first method[[note]]The hallway before Seny's room has two arrow switches on the floor you need to press to access different rooms. To access Seny, you need to press the right arrow switch to expand the hall as far as you can, then step onto it again and stay there for five minutes to make the hall expand a final time.[[/note]] is such utter GuideDangIt that it took the playerbase '''fifteen years''' after the game's release to find it. If this isn't indicative of ''II'' taking GuideDangIt up to eleven, nothing is.
106	** Beating Barubary in a one-on-one fight is certainly a climactic moment; he even praises your bravery and gives you a hint to the location of a rare and powerful accessory! Problem is, his hint[[note]]"Turn right and proceed forward and take the treasure!"[[/note]] doesn't mention anything about needing both Katt and Sten's field abilities to actually ''reach'' the treasure, and since his lair is [[BlackoutBasement pitch dark]], there's no way to determine that for yourself short of blindly flailing around or looking it up somewhere. To add insult to injury, neither Katt nor Sten can use their field abilities while transformed (which they almost certainly will be, if they're part of your party for TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon).
107	* HalfDressedCartoonAnimal: [[CatGirl Katt]], [[BeastMan Tiga]], and [[SnakePeople Bleu / Deis]].
108	* HalfHumanHybrid: Ryu and his sister - their father is human, but their mother is of the Dragon Clan.
109	* HandInTheHole: A guard in the Joker Gang's hideout tells you the switch to open a gate is in a nearby hole in the wall. [[spoiler:It's actually a trap containing a poisonous spider, but [[TrapIsTheOnlyOption you don't have the option to say no]]. You do at least get to kill both the spider and the guard afterwards.]]
110	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Sten fakes us out of one, then Nina gets robbed of hers by Mina. Just after you enter Evrai, the amount of sacrifices is considerably increased; Tiga and Ray go down for your sake, followed by Rand's attempt only for his mother to switch places with him, and Ganer is more than willing but it depends on you; some time later it's Valerie's turn so you can progress; and finally Ryu has two different situations: one in which everyone is willing but he must ''not'' sacrifice a friend, and the last one in the [[MultipleEndings normal ending]] where he takes up his mother's place.]]
111	* HolyCity: Evrai. You may never want to leave!
112	* HolyPipeOrgan: The village church theme, "Please, God", is a rather soothing organ piece. [[spoiler:It serves as a stark contrast to "[[OminousPipeOrgan Decadence of God]]", which is heard after the Church's true nature is revealed.]]
113	* HopelessBossFight:
114	** The first battle with Barubary, given that Ryu is a child at the time.
115	** The optional duel with Tiga is also impossible to win.
116	* HumanResources: There are several ancient machines powered by draining life energy. [[spoiler:One under Evrai, in which Ryu's father has been imprisoned, one in Highfort, which the princess must be rescued from, and one under the Township, which Ryu's father [[HeroicSacrifice insists on powering]] if you rescue him, allowing Township to fly.]]
117	* IHaveNoSon: Windia's royal family has disowned Nina. Her mother refuses to acknowledge they're even related. [[spoiler:They were supposed to kill Nina because of a prophecy about a black-winged royal bringing destruction to Windia. Instead, they sent her to [=HomeTown=] when she was a little girl, and they faked her death to ensure that she would be safe]].
118	* IHaveYourWife: [[spoiler:The Church of St. Eva]] abducts Rand's mother after she refuses to donate her land.
119	* InevitableTournament: The contest at the Coliseum in Coursair, although Ryu only has one actual battle (against Katt).
120	* InformedDeformity: It would make a lot more sense if Nina's black wings were actually... y'know, ''black''. This might be explained by 1) with the 16-Bit engine, if they really ''were'' black, they'd likely just look like a shadow following her, and 2) you meet Nina around the same time you meet Patty, so the colour change was so you wouldn't mistake one for the other.
121	* ItsAllUpstairsFromHere: Witch Tower. Sky Tower inverts the trope.
122	* ItsPersonal: [[spoiler:Midway through the game, the Rangers Guild gets what their most veteran members declare an impossible task: to slay a monster near the town of Gate, where Ryu and Bow first met. They quickly realize it's Barubary, the same monster that nearly killed them as children and [[JumpedAtTheCall take up the mission without a moment's hesitation]]. You can opt to ramp this trope's invocation up to eleven in the final dungeon, by having Ryu take Barubary on ''solo.'' Revenge will ''never'' be sweeter.]]
123	* JapaneseRanguage: The cast list at the end of the game is filled with blatant misromanizations of proper English words. Apparently, lumberjacks in the ''Breath of Fire'' world are called "ramberjacks".
124	* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: The arc about entering Gandaroof's dreamworld.
125	* LaserGuidedAmnesia: The trope that sets the plot into action. Later, you get to meet the guy who fired the laser [[spoiler:and kick his face in]].
126	* LastOfHerKind: Katt thinks she's one, as she's not seen any other [[BeastMan Woren]] around. [[spoiler:Tiga later explains to her that there are a very few of them scattered all over the world.]]
127	* LeotardOfPower: They actually have an armor called [=LeotrdCL=], wearable by the female characters. [[note]]Apparently, "[=CL=]" stands for either "Cloth" or "Clothing"[[/note]] It becomes obsolete after about the third town, though.
128	* LetsYouAndHimFight: When you enter [=CotLnd=], Tiga decides to fight Ryu because he thinks there's something going on between him and Katt.
129	* ListingTheFormsOfDegenerates: The [[FanTranslation fan retranslation]] has Father Halk delivering such a litany when describing "all of society's refuse" that the Church will nonetheless gladly take in. [[spoiler:[[ReligionOfEvil No doubt as fodder to summon]] [[EldritchAbomination their dark god.]]]]
130	* LongLostRelative: [[spoiler:Patty is actually Yua, Ryu's sister]]. This is barely alluded to, with only one quick line ("[[spoiler:I want my brother!"]]) despite being a central aspect of the TheDragon's plan, and is never followed up. See WhatHappenedToTheMouse.
131	* LostInTranslation:
132	** Most of the {{Punny Name}}s and ThemeNaming.
133	** Gandaroof should've been Romanized as Gandalf.
134	** The "A" in "A. Sludge" stands for "[[NuclearMutant Atomic]]", which might explain [[spoiler:why most of the monsters in the island where you fight them are giant]].
135	* LostSuperweapon: [[spoiler:Highfort]]. Surprisingly for a JRPG, Shupkay ''fails'' to reactivate it.
136	* LoveTriangle: Torubo hates Sten for abandoning the Princess, who loves him. Made more complicated by the fact Torubo pines for the Princess himself.
137	* MeaningfulName:
138	** [[FloatingContinent Township]].
139	** Father [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Manson]].
140	* AMinorKidroduction: The game's prologue shows Ryu as a child, and how his troubles begin.
141	* MissingMom: [[spoiler:She's around; she's just not able to do much, what with the whole "[[BarrierMaiden holding closed the doors keeping the horde of demons and their god from escaping Infinity]]" thing.]]
142	* MobileCity: The entire city of Township gains the ability to fly after an optional quest. This is required for the best possible ending.
143	* MobileMenace: Teleportation is the ''only'' possible explanation for Habaruku serving as both leader of the St. Eva church ''and'' [[spoiler:priest of a tiny backwater village on another continent]]. For ten years. (Granted, the game ''does'' have a "Warp" spell.)
144	* MoneyForNothing: Get the cook carpenter for Township, and you'll be able to make as many gold bars as you want out of fish or other cheap things.
145	* MultipleEndings: There's a bad ending [[spoiler:where everyone gets killed and the demons win]], a bittersweet ending [[spoiler:where the world is saved but Ryu sacrifices himself to reseal the entrance to the underworld]], and the good ending, [[spoiler:where Ryu's sacrifice is averted by his father, who drops Township onto the underworld's entrance, sealing it under thousands and thousands of tons of rock]]. You can only get the good one if you don't kill a certain person during a boss battle.
146	* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: Each of the six Shamans can only be fused to one character at a time, with several characters' most powerful forms requiring a specific combination of Shamans. Want to use Nina's most powerful fused form? Then you're not gonna be having Sten's, Jean's, or Bow's in the same party.
147	* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Ray knows that [[spoiler:the Church of St. Eva is bad]], but fights you anyway out of loyalty to his adopted father.
148	* {{Nerf}}: The original ''VideoGame/{{Breath of Fire\|I}}'' allowed you to stay in dragon form indefinitely after an initial AP cost. In this game, the dragon transformation is a [[SummonMagic one-off deal]] that consumes ''all'' your AP (and gets weaker if you have less than a full tank). This is somewhat mitigated by the fact Ryu can cast the dragon forms multiple times if the player constantly replenishes his AP.
149	** Makes some sense in-series as, unlike the Ryus in other games, Ryu Bateson is a [[HalfHumanHybrid half-breed]] with a weakened connection to the dragon genes. As is explained in-game, interbreeding with other clans can lead to loss of clan abilities and eventually leads to future generations becoming Clanless (i.e. humans). It's a well-established piece of lore in the series, and it's made clear it applies when Nina has her little talk with an old friend...
150	* NobleDemon: Barbaroi/Barubary. If Ryu decides to face him [[DuelBoss one-on-one]], he will praise him for his honor and courage. Win, and he'll give a hint to the location of a useful accessory.
151	* NobodyPoops: Averted. ''II'' is the only game in the series to include bathrooms in every house, and even two instances where the bathroom ''is a dungeon''.
152	* NoobCave: Mt. Fubi.
153	* NPCAmnesia: When you're trying to smuggle your partner out of town in a garbage can, the guard will stop you and ask what you're carrying. Any of the three responses will work. Later on, the party is asked by a monk what the true name of their god is; answering correctly will let you skip a boss fight.
154	* NPCBoomVillage: The "Township" sidequest is about turning the run-down house Ryu and Bow hide out in at the start of the game into a full village. This is done by rescuing carpenters in an early story quest, and finding [=NPCs=] to move in (and provide services). To get the best ending, [[spoiler:you must find a hidden machine under the town, recruit the right NPC to restore it, and rescue a certain character to power it; this allows the entire settlement to ''fly''.]]
155	* OptionalPartyMember: Bleu/Deis is not necessary to finish the game. That said, she's an [[GameBreaker absolutely badass mage]] with a skill that recovers her HP for free, and she'll likely start several levels above your other characters, so it's probably wise to pick her up.
156	* OrphansPlotTrinket: The Dragon Tear, the only memento Ryu has left from his mother. It also serves as an indicator of how certain people feel about him.
157	* PaperThinDisguise: The [[FakeKing fake Jean]] looks nothing like the real one. Subverted in that his subjects [[ApatheticCitizens don't really care]], so he can get away with being thinner and handsomer.
158	%%* ParentalBonus:
159	* PathOfInspiration: [[spoiler:The Church of St. Eva]]. Probably one of the earliest examples of a video game using a religious organization as an antagonistic force.
160	* PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling:
161	** The area right near [=SimaFort=]. Just southeast of it is a signpost; south of this signpost are orange crabs that are meant to be fought a bit later. They give far more XP than other monsters you've seen so far, and they all die very fast to Nina's S.Boom spell that she learns about the same time you get to this area.
162	** The Island of Giants, home to {{Giant Mook}}s that drop loads of experience and are generally fairly easy to kill if you know the trick to it (watch out for the incredibly deadly K.Sludges, though).
163	* PermanentlyMissableContent:
164	** Building up the Township community requires careful planning, as there are only 6 available houses, each one with a short list of possible residents. Since it only takes speaking to a tenant to make him/her join, it is quite easy to talk to the wrong {{NPC}} and have them permanently take the place of a far more useful tenant.
165	** The [[spoiler:Great Bird]], lost very close to the end, leaves Ryu's InfinityPlusOneSword out of reach if you didn't get it in the brief time she was available.
166	** [[spoiler:Getting Township to fly requires saving Ganer in a boss fight where it might not even occur to you that saving him was an option. If he dies, too bad, because now you're permanently locked out of your replacement GlobalAirship AND the GoldenEnding. Hope you had an extra save file from earlier, or have fun starting the entire game over again.]]
167	** Solo the Earth Shaman, as mentioned under GuideDangIt. Especially frustrating in that (A) the only clue you get is a vague hint to be generous with your donations, (B) there is ''nothing'' that tells you how much to donate or clues you in when you've given enough, and (C) even if you ''do'' donate enough, she doesn't show up until a few hours of gameplay later, in a spot you might not even think to go back to check.
168	* PlanetOfHats: Nobody speaks a word in Tunlan, instead communicating via flute music.
169	* PlotlineDeath: [[spoiler:Tiga and Claris. Both are killed by Habaruku when the plan to infiltrate the cathedral goes south.]]
170	* PowerUpFood: The cooking carpenter specializes in making these, which is why he's considered a GameBreaker compared to the other two carpenters.
171	** Foods that permanently boost certain stats by 1 point each[[note]]Dinker, [=GutsBL=], [=LuckCndy=], [=MisoSoup=], [=PwrFood=], & Stamina[[/note]] can be made from items bought in the item shop in Guntz, plus maybe some fish that you can buy from Daiye if you recruited him for your town. If one doesn't mind the monotony of stocking up on supplies and cooking over and over again, then you can max out your party's stats, regardless of level, by the game's halfway point.
172	** Biscuits will fully heal your entire party, as well as cast a full-party defense buff. They're very easy to cook in unlimited quantities, but if you went with one of the other carpenters instead, then they can only be found as very rare enemy drops.
173	* PunnyName: Alzheimer (Aruhamel), Aspara Gus (Spar), Eichichi ([[BoobBasedGag chichi literally means "udders"]] — the credits call her "A Titi Efcup"), Land Marks (Rand) and Nympho Mani (Nimufu) were LostInTranslation. Algernon and Township made it in, though. The FanTranslation preserves Eichichi's PunnyName by naming her Gigi Kupp.
174	* RelationshipValues: Ryu's Dragon Tear measures how other characters feel about him. {{Subverted\|Trope}} in that it barely has any impact on the storyline. It allows Ryu (and by extension, the player) to figure out the feelings of the person he's talking to, which can be useful to get some nice upgrades from a couple [=NPCs=].
175	* ReligionOfEvil: Played with regarding [[spoiler:the Church of St. Eva]]. While it's secretly bad to the bone, its believers (and many of its puppet preachers) genuinely believe it's as good and noble as they were told.
176	* RenovatingThePlayerHeadquarters: The game has side gameplay where the player can recruit several characters to help them repopulate a village, adding life and vibrancy to the town and offering goods and services, like selling items or playing the in-game soundtrack.
177	* RepulsiveRingmaster: The Chief of the traveling circus, who keeps an imprisoned Grass Man as a star attraction. He eventually grows frustrated with the Grass Man's waning popularity and plans a blood sport where he'll feed the Grass Man to a monster. As you have need of a Grass Man's aid at that point, you intervene and are offered a choice between paying an exceedingly large sum of money or going and fetching a replacement creature for the event. No matter which you offer the ringmaster (the money, the creature, or just telling him to fuck off after going through the associated FetchQuest), he'll turn into a mammoth demon and fight you.
178	* RequiredPartyMember: You need Sten to get to Highfort, Katt to enter the Whale and [=CotLnd=], and Rand to break down walls in the Grand Church.
179	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: It doesn't matter if you think you're God: [[spoiler:if you kill his friends in front of him, Ryu ''will'' bring you down, no matter how many explosions you throw at him.]]
180	* SaintlyChurch: The Dragon Clan and their religious beliefs. There's something very Literature/BookOfRevelation-y about the story, with the people ignoring the benevolent deity and [[spoiler:worshiping a demon who poses as one]].
181	* ShoutOut: The tenants are full of these: The fortuneteller is named after Creator/WhoopiGoldberg, the old guy Barose/Burroughs from the dreamworld is named after a character from ''Film/FreddysDeadTheFinalNightmare'', artist Salvador is named after Creator/SalvadorDali, etc...
182	** Kilgore Trout is a fictional character created by Kurt Vonnegut of Slaughterhouse Five fame. Kilgore and Trout are the feuding rich folks in [=HomeTown=].
183	** The Gargoyle enemy sprite bears a striking resemblance to [[VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins Firebrand]].
184	** The giant plant boss fought at the Hunter's Lodge is called [[Literature/FlowersForAlgernon Algernon]]. The two underlings it calls in battle are called Danielle and Suiky[[note]]Lienda and Eskey in the retranslation[[/note]] as reference to Daniel Keyes, the author of the novel.
185	* ShoutOutThemeNaming:
186	** Elforan and Gedd are named after ''Literature/{{Earthsea}}'' characters.
187	** Resistance members such as Tiga (Tigger) and Daisy (Daisy Duck) are named after Disney characters.
188	** All the bouncers in the [=WildCat=] Cafe have their names given in the CreativeClosingCredits. They are all characters from Creator/{{Capcom}}'s WrestlingGame ''VideoGame/SaturdayNightSlammasters''.
189	* StormingTheCastle: The Grand Church of Evrai.
190	* {{Stripperific}}: Katt only wears a small top, foot coverings, and gauntlets. Patty dresses in a LeotardOfPower. All the Elemental Shamans barely wear anything beyond some strips of cloth.
191	* TakeAThirdOption:
192	** One happens as a SecretTestOfCharacter. To obtain the ultimate power of Anfini, Ryu is told he must sacrifice one of his party members. [[spoiler:The correct choice is to refuse to sacrifice any of them.]]
193	** In the best ending, [[spoiler:Ryu is told that [[BigBad Deathevan]] [[AsLongAsThereIsEvil may return]], so he prepares to sacrifice himself by using his dragon form to seal the entrance to the underworld just as his mother did (which is what happens in the bittersweet ending). Then Ryu's father shows up and [[ColonyDrop drops]] [[FloatingContinent Township]] [[ColonyDrop onto the gate]], burying it completely.]]
194	* ThePowerOfFriendship: Not only is it actually a running theme in the game about how far Ryu will go for his friends, or how far they are willing to go for him in return, [[spoiler:it also turns out that this is the true power of Anfini: to revive all of Ryu's friends after being killed by Deathevn so they can help in the final battle.]]
195	* ThemeNaming: All the tenants who sell weapons are named after gun manufacturers (Heckler, Beretta, Kalashnikov, Remington). [[BlindIdiotTranslation Obviously, the translator never figured this out...]]
196	* TournamentArc: Coursair's battle tournament. Subverted by Augus, the crooked manager, who's trying to turn it into a BloodSport.
197	* TownWithADarkSecret: Several locales in this game use this trope, with Evrai being the most prominent example.
198	* TraumaCongaLine: Sets the record for sheer number of Trauma Conga Lines in a single game in the franchise, damn near being a Trauma Conga Limbo Party in and of itself with most of the cast.
199	* UnderTheSea: The Upa Caves and Sky Tower.
200	* UndergroundLevel: The Dry Well of Capitan.
201	* UglyGuyHotWife: Ryu and Yua's parents. Their mom is a hot young winged woman who can turn into a gigantic dragon and their dad, while not necessarily ugly, is a normal old human:[[http://images.wikia.com/bof/images/2/2e/958876-bof2_ganer_super.jpg Ganer official artwork]] / [[http://images.wikia.com/bof/images/4/4b/Valerie.jpg Valerie official artwork]].
202	* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: Infinity. In a twist, there's an entire town of friendly [=NPCs=] about halfway through.
203	* WakeUpCallBoss: Augus. He gets two turns every round, and one of his actions can be to charge up his next attack to do extra damage. Charging up then attacking in the same round will [[OneHitKill one-shot]] Katt at full health unless she's blocking (and Ryu and Rand if they're not pretty close to full health). Oh, and he can heal himself. It's also worth mentioning that charging up his attack doesn't guarantee he won't also get a critical. If he happens to get a critical on his charged attack, it'll easily one-shot even Rand.
204	** Also Terrapin, found in the dried up well in Capitan. One of the harder bosses of the game if you're underleveled, mostly due to being one of the first bosses with attacks that hit the entire party.
205	** And let's not forget Algernon and her friends who... Well, let's say she's been known to put a stop to progression for many people.
206	* TheWanderingYou: This game features long treks across the world map in general, but the worst one happens when you reach Capitan and save the townspeople there. Ray wants to reward you with a blessing, so you have to go back to your hideout... at the other end of the continent. Once you have the blessing, you have to walk back to Capitan, where Sana the Fire Shaman drags the main character off for some [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything private business involving "uniting"]]. When you've finished setting the house and the surrounding forest on fire, you get back to town and a man says your friends got bored and walked back to the hideout on their own. You're then (thankfully!) warped back home and told to get a carpenter... from Capitan. Once you get there for the ''third'' time and hire a carpenter, you're finally allowed to move on with the plot. Fortunately, not too long afterwards you'll start to gather alternative transport methods that save a ''lot'' of frustration.
207	* WarmupBoss: The [[GiantMook giant Roach]].
208	* WellDoneSonGuy: Averted when Rand's mother [[spoiler:sacrifices herself to save him]].
209	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
210	** After Patty ([[spoiler:who is really Yua, Ryu's long-lost sister]]) serves her purpose in the plot, close to the endgame, she is unceremoniously thrown into the tall grass and ''never seen again''.
211	** An attempted aversion is made in the GBA remake as TheStinger shows her watching over the area from a tree, but she still effectively disappears without a word.
212	* WhereItAllBegan: [[spoiler:Ryu's hometown, Gate, is where the final dungeon is located]].
213	* WholePlotReference: The [=WildCat=] Cafe, where a monster cat asks you how you want to be cooked, is lifted straight out of ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Restaurant_of_Many_Orders The Restaurant of Many Orders.]]''
214	* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: Ryu gets a lot of flak for his alias, "Baba(del)".
215	* WiseTree: Gandaroof the Great Wise Tree. There are also several "minor" Wise Trees around the world.
216	* WombLevel: You physically enter both Grampa the Whale and the [[FantasticVoyagePlot Queen of Tunlan]].
217	* WrenchWench: Eichichi (Gigi), who has massive breasts and finds machines... stimulating. She'd probably be MsFanservice, too, if the sprites in this game were large and detailed enough.
218	* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Applies in the prologue -- Ryu comes back from a nap to find his father and sister are gone and [[LaserGuidedAmnesia none of the other townsfolk remember him]].

Context VideoGame / BreathOfFireII