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| 4 | [[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Dragon_Quest_VIII_7680.jpeg]] |
| 5 | |
| 6 | The eighth entry into the ''Franchise/DragonQuest'' series. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | Dark times have fallen on the kingdom of Trodain. The villainous jester Dhoulmagus has stolen a powerful scepter from the kingdom, and used its power to curse its inhabitants: most of the inhabitants have been [[{{Transflormation}} turned into humanoid plants]], King Trode has been turned into a squat little troll, and the beautiful Princess Medea has been turned into a beautiful white horse. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | The [[SoleSurvivor only one spared]] is a young guard, and he dutifully follows orders to hunt down Dhoulmagus, return the scepter to its rightful place, and break the curse over everyone. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | ''Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King'' broke ground in several respects: it's the first ''Franchise/DragonQuest'' game on the Platform/PlayStation2, the first ''DQ'' game in three dimensions, the first released in Europe (not counting the spin-off ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonsters''), and the first released as ''Franchise/DragonQuest'' in the United States (as Creator/SquareEnix finally acquired the rights to the name). It's also the first in which party members are visible during battle sequences. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | It's also notable in that it was the first ''Dragon Quest'' title to get at least some degree of moderate success in the West since [[VideoGame/DragonQuestI the first game]], for various reasons. Unlike its predecessors before it, ''Dragon Quest VIII'' did not suffer from LateExportForYou, it was released a year after its original Japanese launch in 2004, the localization made several changes for the upcoming release to make it more palatable for a modern gaming audience (orchestral music, a UI update, voice acting), and perhaps the most significant factor: a demo of the highly-anticipated ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' was included alongside it in the initial run. It ultimately paid off in the end, as ''Dragon Quest VIII'' helped lay the groundwork for the series in the West and to this day is still recognized as one of the best [=RPGs=] to have come out of the 2000s. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | In 2013, ''Dragon Quest VIII'' was released for smartphones in Japan. A North American release on iOS and Android followed in May 2014. It also received an upgraded port with new scenarios and [[PromotedToPlayable the additions of the thief Red and Morrie the arena keeper as party members]] for the [[Platform/Nintendo3DS 3DS]] in August 2015 in Japan and 2017 in North America. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | !!!For tropes related to the Characters, go to the [[Characters/DragonQuestVIII Dragon Quest VIII Character Sheet]]. New character trope examples should go there too. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | ---- |
| 21 | !!This game has examples of: |
| 22 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 23 | [[folder:A to D]] |
| 24 | * AcceptableBreaksFromReality: In the form of LeakedExperience. The original game did not have any reserve party members, but when this game added the mechanic, they receive the same amount of experience: even when you are in a dungeon (and cannot swap them out). Additionally, key items are automatically transferred over. |
| 25 | * ActuallyFourMooks: The 3DS remake does away with RandomEncounters by replacing it with individually spawned multi-mook encounters like the 3D DS-era games. |
| 26 | * AirplaneArms: King Trode of all people does this everywhere he runs. Contributes to his UglyCute status. |
| 27 | * AlwaysChaoticEvil: Subverted when you reach [[spoiler:Trian Gully, where monsters, humans, and elves lives together in peace and harmony]], but otherwise played straight with many other monsters you meet, especially [[spoiler:the ones from the World of Darkness]]. |
| 28 | * AmbitionIsEvil: A recurring theme of the game -- be on the lookout for any significant characters more concerned with their own prestige or advancement than with their duties, for these folks are either dogged by misfortune or heap it on others. |
| 29 | -->'''Trode:''' ''Dhoulmagus, you spineless clown! To attack one's own master is an unforgivable offence!'' |
| 30 | * AndIMustScream: The poor residents of Trodain castle. Also, anyone [[spoiler:possessed by Rhapthorne]] must feel like this, from Jessica's description. |
| 31 | * AntiFrustrationFeatures: The smartphone and 3DS versions of the game came with a number of gameplay changes, many of which help speed up the flow of the game or fix annoying aspects. |
| 32 | ** These were first introduced in smartphone version: |
| 33 | *** The alchemy pot is instantaneous upon first acquiring it, no longer requiring the player to run around until items are completed. The player is also able to make multiples of the same item at once. These two additions were first introduced in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX''. |
| 34 | *** Skill points no longer have to be used as soon as they are acquired, which was added from ''IX'', as well. This means that players no longer have to invest skill points in skills they weren't interested in and simply save them up for the ones they did want. The skill trees also shows the names of each skills and how many points are needed to unlock them. |
| 35 | *** A pop-up menu which allows quick access to some features, such as casting Zoom, summoning Baumren, and the Alchemy Pot, instead of having go individually go through the menus. This menu was placed on the touchscreen in the 3DS version. |
| 36 | *** Characters' attributes screen now shows how much experience they require to level up, no longer requiring the player to go to a church and do a "divination" to see how much more exp they need. |
| 37 | ** The 3DS version kept the changes from the smartphone version while also adding the following: |
| 38 | *** Changing from random encounters while walking to having monsters appear on the field, with the exception of traveling on the boat, yet another change which was introduced in ''IX''. Infamous monsters are now marked with a special icon to distinguish them from regular enemies. |
| 39 | *** The characters' HP and MP are fully restored upon leveling up. This mainly helps alleviate the EarlyGameHell where the player doesn't yet have a full party and doesn't have access to much healing nor items for the early dungeons. |
| 40 | *** Blue treasure chests, again making another reappearance from ''IX'', now appear all over the world map and reset on a daily basis. They can randomly contain anything from extra gold to rare and valuable alchemy ingredients, which can be frustrating to get through normal gameplay. |
| 41 | *** A fast-forward mode in battle that speeds up battle animations. |
| 42 | *** Upon clearing the A rank in the Monster Arena, instead of being given no reward from Morrie, the player [[spoiler:has the amount of monsters they can hold at once increased from 12 to 21, thus significantly conveniencing the testing out of various team combinations and allowing the player to easily the track the growth of a significantly larger amount of monsters. This is especially helpful with the many new infamous monsters the game has added, and the new Rank X that will leave the player scrambling to try any team they can think of in their attempt to beat it.]] |
| 43 | *** Morrie's skills as a playable character seem practically tailored for him to hunt metal slimes. Normally metal slimes run away from the player on the field, but his Monstrous Musk makes enemies chase after you. His club skillset is analogous to Yangus's axes, which includes an ability which always inflicts critical hits at reduced accuracy. |
| 44 | *** Equipment that there were only one of in the game that were required in alchemy to make another piece of equipment that you couldn't obtain otherwise, such as the Conqueror's Axe and the Metal King Spear, now each have another obtainable copy of them, absolving the conflict of players who did not want to sacrifice their one-of-a-kind equipment to obtain other one-of-a-kind equipment. |
| 45 | *** The {{Superboss}} of the game now drops a Seed of Skill every time he is fought and a ''Super'' Seed of Skill in his final form (which gives a whopping +10 extra skill points), meaning it's much easier for characters to max out their skill trees as opposed to other versions where you were lucky if he dropped one or were able to steal one. |
| 46 | *** All alchemy recipes you find now give the full recipe, instead of the majority giving only hints toward or omitting completely one or more ingredients or the end result. |
| 47 | * AnyoneCanDie: Not the core party, of course, but this game possibly has the largest side character body count in the entire series. To whit, [[spoiler:all seven of the Sage Heirs are murdered, Empyrea's child is destroyed ''before he's even born'', and the ''entire population of Neos'' is wiped out by the emergence of Rhapthorne's palace.]] |
| 48 | * ApatheticCitizens: When compared to other games in the series, this one fits the description the most. |
| 49 | * ArcWords: "Such a pity." Not merely Dhoulmagus' CatchPhrase, [[spoiler:but a symbol of Rhapthorne's disdain for futility]]. It actually ends up being used on accident by various heroes, [[spoiler:including Morrie, who feels it fitting after witnessing Marta's home burned to the ground even though he's never actually heard it before]]. |
| 50 | * ArrangedMarriage: Princess Medea of Trodain has been betrothed from birth to Prince Charmles of Argonia because the current kings wish to fulfill a marriage that never happened between the previous generation of rulers. Ironically, even though their grandparents weren't able to MarryForLove as they wished, it becomes apparent that Medea's and Charmles' marriage would have no love lost between them in the slightest. \ |
| 51 | \ |
| 52 | It resolves in different ways depending on which ending you've chosen. [[spoiler:In the standard ending, Medea becomes a RunawayBride to elope with the hero, and in the original GoldenEnding, the hero is revealed to be Argonian royalty in his own right, allowing them to properly fulfill their grandparents' promise. In the new alternate ending for the 3DS, if the player decides the hero loves Jessica instead, Medea pushes him to wed the sorceress despite her own feelings]]. |
| 53 | * ArtifactOfDoom: The Sceptre of Trodain, which is locked up in a vault in what was once the castle, chained to every single wall in the room, in the dead center of a [[GeometricMagic Magic Circle]]. Or, it ''was'', until Dhoulmagus stole it and unleashed Hell. [[spoiler:Its original name was the Godbird Sceptre, and it was used to seal away Rhapthorne, Lord of Darkness]]. |
| 54 | * AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: When [[spoiler:Baumren]] passes on after you put him to rest. |
| 55 | * AssKicksYou: Jessica's Hip Drop attack. |
| 56 | * AwesomeButImpractical: |
| 57 | ** Fire in the 'ole is a beautiful ability wherein Red literally takes a cannon and fires it. Problem is, Tension and Oomph don't affect it, so she would deal more damage with Fan Dango. |
| 58 | ** Golden Oldies. It's an absolutely ''hilarious'' attack that causes King Trode and a bunch of old men to appear out of nowhere and trample the enemies. Hilarious, but it requires 100 in Humanity - which hampers his combat skills to a degree. |
| 59 | * AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Cash and Carrie. Within their quest to determine who will be the heir to their father's fortune, the other one will be attacked by a monster, but the first will [[TakingTheBullet go out of their way to save them]] and have a DisneyDeath. The quest ends with them deciding to split it and work together with the casino. As it turns out, that was the plan. |
| 60 | * BadBadActing: When High Priest Rolo did his HeelFaceTurn and helped the party escape from the dungeon in Purgatory island, they [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTDmSGCFFIc devised a ruse to distract the guards to escape.]] This ruse is complete with purposefully stilted, wooden, and melodramatic acting with Yangus dancing the highlight of the scene. |
| 61 | -->'''Jessica''': He's going to die. Ah, help.\ |
| 62 | '''High Priest Rolo''': My '''gold''' rosary! I swallowed it. And now the pain is un-'''BEAR'''-rra-'''BLE'''!! |
| 63 | * BattleAura: When a character reaches Tension level 100, their body becomes involved in a pink aura (in the case of the Hero also gaining spiky hair a la [[Franchise/DragonBall Super Saiyan]]). |
| 64 | * BattleBikini: Jessica has several, and even changes outfits in-battle when they're worn. |
| 65 | * BeastlyBloodsports: Mori's Monstrous Pit, where the player is given a starter set and is tasked with finding and recruiting stronger ones to battle in the arena. |
| 66 | * BeautyEqualsGoodness: |
| 67 | ** Played straight with Princess Medea (who ''is'' beautiful) and Prince Charmles (who's a squinting BeadyEyedLoser too fat to wear anything properly). |
| 68 | ** Inverted with Yangus, who's a serious case of StoutStrength, but who had his HiddenHeartOfGold uncovered before the game begins. |
| 69 | ** It's played with by King Trode, [[spoiler:whose reward for helping to save the world is to regain his human form... which is just as ugly as his monster form]]. |
| 70 | * BigBadWannabe: [[spoiler:Dhoulmagus initially stole the scepter so that he could become the world's strongest magician and get back at all the people who humiliated him. Rhapthorne, however, had [[GrandTheftMe other plans]].]] |
| 71 | * {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The [[DefinitelyFinalDungeon Black Citadel]], Rhapthorne's palace, starts out merely looking imposing and eventually degenerates into an almost ''Franchise/SilentHill'' level of architectural creepiness near the end. Walking in circles in the "spiral town" without turning back slowly unravels its illusions, revealing a ruined town filled with poison pits. |
| 72 | * BonusDungeon: |
| 73 | ** The Godbird's Eyrie in the World of Light. It has the same layout as the one where you fought Gemon in the World of Darkness, though it has different treasures to find and the enemies are different with no boss at the top. |
| 74 | ** Dragon Graveyard is an area found in the desert and can be a useful place to do some level grinding due to Metal King Slimes being found there. It is also part of a sidequest that is required if you intend to unlock the Baccarat Casino later on, and in the 3DS version, you can return there after defeating Marcello to unlock the [[BonusDungeon Altar of Wroth]]. |
| 75 | ** The Troll Maze. Finding it is one huge {{Guide Dang It}}, and the dungeon itself is something of a {{Big Lipped Alligator Moment}} (Trolls living inside a mirror want to eat Argonia's chancellor? What?), though you still get a lot of [[RareCandy seeds]], opportunities for some LevelGrinding, and a high quality sabre for Angelo. |
| 76 | ** The Dragovian Path, which is unlocked after you beat the game, and can be only accessed by using the Godbird Soulstone. If you're able to get past the strong monsters, you'll eventually get to the Dragovian Sanctuary and the second part of the dungeon called the Heavenly Dais. At the end of the Heavenly Dais is the Lord of the Dragovians, and after beating him, you can return to the Heavenly Dais and reach the end to partake in the [[{{Superboss}} Dragovian Trials.]] |
| 77 | ** The 3DS version adds two more dungeons. [[spoiler: The Altar of Wroth which can be unlocked after the Rhapthorne events in Neos.]] and [[spoiler: Memories Lane which is unlocked by wishing for it after beating one of the dragon forms during the Dragovian Trials. It contains 14 rematches against bosses you fought before but are much more difficult, and with it's final boss being none other than Estark.]] |
| 78 | ** On a smaller scale, the Puff Puff club. It has no relevance whatsoever on the plot and keeps no bonuses or notable items apart from a tiny medal. |
| 79 | * BookEnds: The opening cinematic when you start up the game shows two birds flying over the heroes at the beginning of their journey. [[spoiler: In the 3DS version, during the Jessica ending, those two birds soar past Jessica and the Hero.]] |
| 80 | * {{Bowdlerise}}: The 3DS version. Surprisingly, this isn't because of Nintendo like some people think; it's due to the CERO guidelines for getting an All Ages rating becoming much stricter between 2004 and 2015. |
| 81 | ** Some of Jessica's fanservice outfits have been dialed back. For example: Jessica's Magic Bikini now has an actual knee-length swim skirt covering the bikini bottom in addition to the mini sarong. Red's outfit was changed to her wearing short-shorts under her bearskin pelt skirt instead of her original bikini-style briefs. Funnily enough, the 3DS version of Jessica's Bunny Outfit shows ''more'' skin by changing the original strapless corset teddy into a strapless bra and short shorts. |
| 82 | ** Dominico was positively ''vicious'' in how he treated his manservant David in the original, but in the 3DS version David isn't forced to eat dog food. |
| 83 | ** Marcello's attempt at warding off the Scepter's influence after first picking it up was changed from stabbing himself in the arm to throwing the dagger away and using magic to suppress it. |
| 84 | * BraggingRightsReward: |
| 85 | ** The Gospel Ring. [[EncounterRepellant It eliminates random encounters when equipped]], but the only way to get it is to defeat every enemy in the game at least once, including Rhapthorne and the final trial of the Lord of the Dragovians. So, by the time you get it, there's nothing left to do. However, the 3DS version allows you to obtain it by defeating most of the game's monsters, not counting the ones added into the 3DS version. In other words, it becomes more useful for what remains of the game. |
| 86 | ** The Lord's Bracer in the 3DS version is obtained by [[spoiler: Completing Memories Lanes and defeating Estark.]] It doubles all damage inflicted, but at that point its worth is reduced since there's nothing to use it on. [[labelnote:Though...]]If you wished for Memories Lane early and decided to train there before defeating the rest of the Dragovian Lord's forms, they'll be a cinch to take down.[[/labelnote]] |
| 87 | * BrainwashedAndCrazy: |
| 88 | ** Khalamari, a giant squid living in the depths off the coast of Port Prospect, is driven mad by merely encountering Dhoulmagus and having a conversation with him. He takes it out on anything that passes over his head, including entire ships. |
| 89 | ** It turns out this is a common affliction, [[spoiler:consuming anyone who gains hold of the Scepter -- Rhapthorne immediately begins taking over their mind]]. |
| 90 | * BreakTheHaughty: The haughty in this game ''exist'' to be broken. Dominico, who abuses his absolutely loyal manservant David? Broken. King Trode, whose egotism makes him think the quest is [[ItsAllAboutMe All About Me]]? Broken. Various officials of the CorruptChurch? Broken. |
| 91 | * BrickJoke: During Dhoulmagus's past, he mentions he had to teach himself what little magic he does know to make up for Rylus not teaching him any, though he dismisses them as parlor tricks. Said "parlor tricks" actually entertain Trode to allow Dhoulmagus to stay the night in his castle, as well as blind one of the guards so Dhoulmagus can knock him out. Overlaps with NotCompletelyUseless. |
| 92 | * BrutalBonusLevel: The 3DS version adds two. |
| 93 | ** The MonsterArena has an extra level, Rank X. Every monster has around 800 HP, they all will dish out well over a hundred damage with their attacks, about half of them can crit, others can inflict statuses that will end your run if they proc, and the final match will exploit the hell out of your monster's targeting AI, to get them stuck in an endless loop of repeatedly targeting a monster that can be endlessly revived when it dies. There's an extremely shallow pool of monsters remotely viable for the rank, that will pretty much require the hero to be at postgame levels for his monsters to be strong enough to win, and even then it's a huge gamble on if so many things will go right for you to win it. Trying to clear the X Rank is RNG hell. |
| 94 | ** Memories Lane, which is a BossRush "training ground" you can gain access to by beating the {{Superboss}} of the Dragovian Sanctuary. Not only will you have to fight all your favorite bosses with souped up stats, many of them will have extra skills, more inventive ways to cripple you, go more often in a single turn, and increased critical hit rates, and the difficulty curve is huge -- you can probably squeak past the first few bosses while your levels are in the fifties, but many aren't able to handle the last few until they're in the nineties. |
| 95 | * ButNowIMustGo: [[spoiler:Empyrea, a.k.a. [[VideoGame/DragonQuestIII Ramia]], leaves after the party dispatches the BigBad for good, with a heartfelt thanks.]] |
| 96 | * ButThouMust: Obligatory, with the most entertaining occurring in the normal ending: [[spoiler: Say no when Medea asks the hero to run away with her and King Trode will give him a ''very'' powerful DeathGlare.]] |
| 97 | * TheCameo: Torneko and Ragnar from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'' are the first two opponents in the Monster Arena's S Rank battles. |
| 98 | * TheCasanova: |
| 99 | ** Morrie, who seems to have cobbled together a happy [[{{Polyamory}} polyamorous]] relationship with his curvy blonde companions Marrie, Mirrie, Murrie, and Merrie. |
| 100 | ** Angelo. The "Lady of Skills" even flirts with him when you ask about his Charisma. |
| 101 | * CantDropTheHero: Unusually for ''Dragon Quest'', this trope is played straight in the 3DS version. In that version, the hero must be in the active party at all times and cannot be switched out. |
| 102 | * CatchPhrase: |
| 103 | ** Yangus' "COR BLIMEY!" whenever something (usually King Trode) startles him. |
| 104 | ** Dhoulmagus' "Such a pity." The latter turns out to be [[spoiler:Rhapthorne's catchphrase, not Dhoulmagus' -- whoever he's possessing via the staff will say it.]] |
| 105 | * CentralTheme: The major conflict of the game is between observing your obligations and pursuing personal happiness. Continually, the game presents you with contrasts between people who faithfully follow their duties, and those who most assuredly ''don't''. A few examples: |
| 106 | ** Medea regretfully but determinedly contributes as the party's ''beast of burden'' even as Trode wanders back and forth between self-aggrandizing and feeling sorry for himself (conversely, Trode is at his best when he dotes on Medea). |
| 107 | ** Dhoulmagus disobeyed his master in his search for personal power, and ultimately killed him. [[spoiler:Which wouldn't have happened if Dhoulmagus were more patient a student and Rylus less careless a master]]. |
| 108 | ** Valentina entreats the party to help restore her beloved father, Farebury's local drunk Kalderasha, to his true calling. |
| 109 | ** Jessica pursues vengeance for Alistair even to the point of defying her mother's attempts to honor shallow tradition. |
| 110 | ** There's a whole CorruptChurch filled with the political wrangling of priests and orders whose failure to observe their proper pieties enables tragedy. |
| 111 | ** Angelo continually disgraces the order with his selfishness and vice, even as his brother Marcello's ambition and abrasiveness cause more harm and obstruction than good; Marcello is so ambitious, as a matter of fact, that he gets to be the direct instrument of the church's tragedy. |
| 112 | ** Royal maid Emma continues to devotedly serve King Pavan of Ascantha even as he suffers through a two-year HeroicBSOD. |
| 113 | ** King Clavius is the only member of the Argonian royal family to try and observe his duties to his parents and his people even as his brother Eltrio abandoned the throne and his son Charmles intends to abuse it. |
| 114 | ** David devotedly serves and defends his arrogant master Dominico in spite of ''incredible'' degradation and abuse. |
| 115 | ** The ([[VideoGameRemake original]]) GoldenEnding allows the historically thwarted Argonian wedding vow to be properly fulfilled [[spoiler:when the hero and Medea are lawfully wed]]. |
| 116 | ** It's not simply being the youngest member of a bloodline that makes you a sage's heir, it's being dutiful. [[spoiler:Alistair was notably the most dutiful member of the family even to the point of observing an obligation to improve his magic and swordplay for its own sake; Marek, who abandoned the family obligation to guard the ruins to pursue his own career, essentially led the sage's bloodline to die out even before his mother was murdered]]. |
| 117 | ** Downplayed with Castle Trodain, which is implied to have neglected its history and thus forgotten; King Trode, for example, hasn't got much of a clue about what the scepter actually is, only that it's a great treasure ([[ArtifactOfDoom it's not]]) and it has major hocus-pocus ([[ArtifactOfDoom it does]]). |
| 118 | * ChekhovsGun: Quite a few, but one doesn't pay off until the good ending: [[spoiler:the Argonian Heart you obtain while performing the initiation rite [[strike:with]] for Charmles. Once the hero's discovered his history, it pays off in a ''BIG'' and very satisfying fashion.]] |
| 119 | * ChokepointGeography: |
| 120 | ** The bridge between Trodain and Farebury is broken before the events of the story, so the kingdom of Trodain can only be approached from the west. |
| 121 | ** Subverted with the door to Moonshadow Land; the official (but legendary) doorway is atop Wisher's Peak, but the technical requirements are met by a window in Trodain Castle's library. |
| 122 | * ChosenOne: Averted. Notable in that ''Dragon Quest'' games tend to be Chosen One narratives. The Hero in VIII is a part of the story due to sheer coincidence, and his mysterious past is so unrelated to the story that it only gets revealed post-game. If anything, it gets Played With, as any of the characters with any sort of noble bearing have such nobility stripped from them by curses, disownment, or sheer bad fortune, and a theme of the game is that how one acts is more important than where one comes from. |
| 123 | * ColdBloodedTorture: The church in this game still keeps dungeons in its abbeys for converting heretics, and the party is kept in a cell at one point to await torture in one the next morning. Angelo's comments make pretty clear that Marcello has a decent amount of practice as an inquisitor. |
| 124 | * TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: The battles in the game are of the old school "enter your commands at the start of the round and watch them execute" variety. The computer has no such limitation and will take its turn at the moment, rather than at the round start like the player. This results in situations such as the enemy curing itself of a status effect that was just inflicted that turn, dispelling freshly cast buffs, healing and reviving freshly killed allies, etc. Naturally, the player is unable to perform such clairvoyant acts and must wait until the next round. The twist comes in the fact that, if you put your own allies on AI, ''they'' can now perform these acts. This makes the computer a far more effective healer than the player, since they can cure injuries instantly and efficiently instead of being forced to wait, or wasting MP curing everybody regardless of full health in preparation for incoming damage. |
| 125 | ** The player can even exploit the computer reviving allies for powerleveling. |
| 126 | ** In the Monster Arena, the monsters of some opponents have abilities their species don't have in the game and that the equivalent special monster you can recruit don't have either. For example, [[spoiler:Morrie's Liquid Metal Slime can cast Kaboom, while Metabble, the Liquid Metal Slime you can recruit, is limited to the much less effective Sizzle and Kasizzle]]. Additionally, opponents can have monsters with stats that well exceed what the equivalent special monster you can recruit is capable of at their capped level. For another example, [[spoiler:Jewelbag, the Goodybag you can recruit, is one of the weaker monsters you can get and isn't remotely viable in the higher ranks even with its maximum stats. However Torneko in his S rank battle and especially Cash & Carrie in the 3DS' X rank have a Goodybag that can hold its own against appropriate monsters for those ranks]]. |
| 127 | ** Another Monster Arena one; the monsters on your team are all considered to be in one group regardless of composition, even though different species can't be in the same group together normally. However the teams you fight in the arena have all their monsters considered to be in their own individual groups. This means moves that affect only a group of enemies like the Sizz spells and Thwack will affect your entire team when used by opponents, while when your monsters use group-affecting skills, they'll only be able to target one of the opposing team's monsters at a time with them. |
| 128 | ** Another bit of cheating the computer can do is using powerful high-damage attacks like fire-breathing as often as it likes for no penalty. This is especially grating early on, when the weakest breath attack does 30 to 40 damage to everyone and your characters' max HP scores are barely twice that at best. Get into a fight with three or more enemies that can use such attacks, and you can easily get a full-party defeat without any chance of even trying to heal up from it. |
| 129 | ** Easily the worst example, however, are the bell-like enemies. Their favorite tactic is to call in reinforcements, which, in the case of the ones in the arctic area, is more of themselves...who ''then'' get a free turn to call in ''more'', until you're facing a full octave of them... at which point the 8th one will perform a technique that ''kills your entire party.'' (Just to rub salt on the wound? The animation for this technique is the 8 bells ''playing the "Game Over" dirge.'') |
| 130 | ** [[spoiler: In the 3DS version in Memories Lane, the later bosses either have extremely high chances to do critical hits or some of their attacks do double the damage of what they should regularly do.]] |
| 131 | * ContinuingIsPainful. While you don't have to reload the game, losing half your gold is nothing to laugh about. That is, until you find a bank and start selling excess armor and weapons. |
| 132 | ** And of course, only the hero is revived after a party wipe. You've got to shell out the money to resurrect the rest of them. And the higher the level of a dead party member, the more expensive it gets to revive them. |
| 133 | * CorruptChurch: The Church of the Goddess is disastrously corrupt. Despite two of the major clergy (the Lord High Priest and Abbot Francisco) being benevolent, selfless true believers, the structure of the church is thoroughly rotten: demanding money from the faithful in return for absolution, rising through the ranks based chiefly on bribery (to the chagrin of those who would rather rise ''through blood''), and [[spoiler:using the church's martial arm to further personal aims]]. This results in the party's quest being stymied at several points. In one of the 3DS consult conversations, Angelo lampshades it by saying it's the church that produced ''him''. |
| 134 | * CovertPervert: King Trode. Go on, hit the select button after changing Jessica's outfit, ''especially'' regarding the bunny suit and the divine bustier. See DirtyOldMan below. |
| 135 | * CrutchCharacter: |
| 136 | ** For the Monster Arena, Potbelly, the Potty Dragon. He is available to be recruited as soon as the player gains access to the Monster Arena, having no prerequisites before he can appear and being located on the peninsula southwest of Trodain. With having HP over 500, attack approaching 200, and over 100 defense for his base stats, he is by a large margin the strongest monster you can immediately recruit at the earliest point you can gain access to the Monster Arena. He additionally has a flame breath attack that hits the entire enemy party for up to 40 damage each, which when combined with his very high base stats, allows him to crush the first three ranks of the Monster Arena. The power of his flame breath however will quickly grow obsolete as you go up in the ranks, which when combined with his non-damaging sand attack that usually fails to affect enemies, leads to him wasting a lot of turns in later ranks. Then with HP growth during the Hero's level ups that is merely decent at best, low attack growth, and low defense growth, his statistical prowess declines sharply in later ranks, while he gets surpassed by other monsters like Hackzilla and is unable to match the powerhouses you get later in the game. |
| 137 | *** Snap Case, the Man-Eater Chest you find near Trodain, is also one. He has pretty good base stats across the board, especially in attack, while also possessing highly valuable abilities in being able to attack twice a turn and critical hit. But with awful HP growth, and poor growth in the rest of his stats, he'll become really frail by the later ranks standards while his offensive prowess will become steadily less impressive. |
| 138 | *** Similar to Snap Case is Capers. His damage output and speed make him easily one of the strongest monsters you can obtain before you get a ship and he's even a strong contender afterwards, but his lack of HP paired with his damage output falling off later makes him unsuitable for higher ranks. |
| 139 | *** Brickman looks like he'll be this; he's one of the strongest monsters you can initially get at the point you gain access to the Monster Arena, with only the aforementioned Potbelly and Hackzilla having greater base stats. In stark contrast though to Hackzilla who has awesome growth rates alongside the hero's levelups to keep him one of the strongest monsters throughout the game, the player will notice that Brickman doesn't get any stronger at all when they level up, and that he starts lagging behind by E rank. This is subverted however when the hero's level reaches the 20s; from that point on Brickman starts "levelling up" with growths that are on par with Hackzilla's, allowing him to become viable again in the later ranks. He can additionally form the "My Three Golems" team alongside Goldman and Stoneman, where they can [[FusionDance fuse into a super Golem named Mazin]], and are capable of beating the S rank. |
| 140 | ** For "crutch weapons", there's the Hero's Boomerangs. They're nigh-essential in the early game, when you have just two characters against encounters of up to 8 enemies, while lacking attacks that hit multiple enemies at once. The first Boomerang and its upgraded Reinforced Boomerang additionally have comparatively high attack power for the early point of the game. But after the upgrade to the Reinforced Boomerang, the gaps between when you can get a stronger Boomerang becomes very long, and then the stepup in power between upgrades isn't much. To emphasize how weak Boomerangs become by the endgame, the strongest Boomerang you get before the postgame, the Flametang Boomerang, has a paltry attack power of 63, when other weapons will have something around 100; most glaringly this is less than half the power of the Gringham Whip, a weapon that too can hit all enemies at once. Then with the Boomerang skills, the only worthwhile one you'll get is Super Throw; the second hit on Crosscutter Throw deals barely any additional damage while still costing MP to use, Power Throw is rarely worth using over just a normal attack while still costing MP, Firebird Throw and Starburst throw will deal less overall damage than a regular throw and Super Throw respectively in most cases by the time you get them, and Gigathrow deals marginally more damage than Gigaslash, while only hitting a single enemy and being completely inferior to Gigagash, the move you'll get if you 100 both Swords and Courage. Then with the Boomerang's declining attack power and the relatively weak skills, Boomerangs will be by far the Hero's weakest weapon against bosses, the hardest part of the later game. |
| 141 | * {{Curse}}: The premise is that everyone in the kingdom of Trodain except the main character has been cursed by the villainous Dhoulmagus. King Trode is now a little troll-like creature, Princess Medea is a horse, and everyone else is a plant. The main character escaped the curse because [[spoiler:a memory wiping curse that was cast on him when he was younger]] had the beneficial side effect of rendering him immune to other curses. |
| 142 | * CursedItem: There is some GameplayAndStoryIntegration regarding the hero and cursed items. Ostensibly, the hero was immune to curses and the Curse status effect because [[spoiler:he was hit with a powerful Dragovian curse as a child that nullifies any other curse on him]]. For this reason, the hero can equip and remove cursed equipment without penalty. |
| 143 | * CursedWithAwesome: In the epilogue, it's revealed that the main character [[spoiler:had his memory wiped as a child... with the side effect being that he was given immunity to curses. This shows up in gameplay as well, as he cannot be afflicted by the Cursed status ailment, and can easily remove cursed equipment.]] |
| 144 | * CuteButCacophonic: Don Mole, the fifth boss. A journal in Castle Argonia continues the RunningGag of how awful he is by telling that his music causes birds to fall from the sky and causes deer and rabbits to writhe on the ground in agony foaming at the mouth. |
| 145 | -->'''Angelo:''' It sounds like a monstrous dragon howling, or a hellish demon screaming, or a...a...really horrible thing making a REALLY horrible racket. |
| 146 | * CutsceneIncompetence: Reoccuring throughout the entire game from about the half-way point onward. [[spoiler: [[LivingMacGuffin Important people in danger]] but you sit around like an oaf while the [[EvilGloating villain slowly monologues]] and [[PlotlineDeath then slowly stabs said important person]]. ]] |
| 147 | ** Despite having all their weapons and armor, as well as a ''key that can open any door on the planet,'' [[spoiler: the party and High Priest Rolo get captured and sent to Purgatory Island extremely easily. When they try to escape, Rolo offers to stay behind to operate the lever that raises the cage, even though has the power to turn into a bird and fly away (and they do just that in the next cutscene in Neos.]] |
| 148 | * CutscenePowerToTheMax: For some bizarre reason, nobody ever bothers to defend themselves against the Knights Templar, even though they're just a bunch of foot soldiers. |
| 149 | * DarkerAndEdgier: Probably the darkest game in the Dragon Quest series, at least until ''VideoGame/DragonQuestX'' and ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI''. |
| 150 | * DeadpanSnarker: You wouldn't know it by listening to just his voiced dialogue, but if you take the time to listen to Angelo every now and again while speaking to the party, it's pretty obvious he is one. |
| 151 | * DefeatMeansFriendship: Each time you defeat an Infamous Moster (after unlocking the Monster Arena) it will gain respect for your power and ask you to join you. |
| 152 | * DegradedBoss: The Red Horn and Blue Fang can be found as regular enemies after [[spoiler:finishing the Black Citadel, where all the dark monsters are released upon the world]], on the unmarked island as rare encounters. They have the same stats and abilities, except with their HP being substantially reduced to about a fifth of what their boss version possessed, and giving less than a fifth of the experience. Since the unmarked island is well out of the way and the player won't have a reason to ever go back there at this point in the game (outside of clearing a postgame Codex challenge on the 3DS version), most players are unlikely to ever encounter them in their degraded boss form, but the monster log gives a hint about this with their "available locations" section listing the Unnamed Isle, as well as indicating that they have random item drops. |
| 153 | * DelusionsOfEloquence: Yangus, trying to make himself sound proper. To his credit, the words he's ''trying'' to use are quite appropriate more often than not, it's just obvious he doesn't call on such knowledge very often. Must be a side effect of hanging out with Brains. |
| 154 | * DevelopersForesight: After you meet Red, she'll send the party to retrieve a tear-shaped gem in order to get Princess Medea back. However, it's possible to go to the dungeon, clear it and obtain the tear before talking to Red (with no in-game indication that this is an option). If you do, a cutscene will play after you leave Red's shack where Yangus admits to Trode that he played up his response. Knowing Red as well as he does, Yangus knows if she found out that the party already got the tear, she'd just send them after something else. |
| 155 | * DemonicPossession: [[spoiler:Rhapthorne does this to anyone holding his staff.]] |
| 156 | * DinosaursAreDragons: Most dragons in this game look more like dinosaurs or giant lizards than proper dragons. The one exception is [[spoiler: The Lord of Dragovians, whose transformed forms look like more traditional dragons, including one who homages the Dragonlord from VideoGame/DragonQuestI. |
| 157 | * DirtyCoward: Prince Charmles. You'd want to punt him for it, but he'd run away before you could. |
| 158 | * DirtyOldMan: |
| 159 | ** King Trode. Equip Jessica with any of her {{Battle Bikini}}s, and his comments on the status summary screen change from general tips and commentary to openly admiring her. Equip ''part'' of her [[PlayboyBunny Bunny Girl]] outfit, and he practically ''screams'' at you to hurry up and find the rest of it already! |
| 160 | ** One of the villagers in Alexandria in the village's church at night: |
| 161 | --->Dear Goddess, hear the plea of a poor old man. Please let the Alexandra's Day pilgrimage go ahead this year. It fills my heart with joy, seein' the beautiful angles of the statues of Alexandra.\ |
| 162 | ...And the voluptuous curves o' the statuesque Miss Jessica! |
| 163 | * DiscOneFinalDungeon: The Dark Ruins. A dangerous, evil temple in a distant corner of the map, where you finally reach the villain you've spent half the game chasing. Of course, by that point there's still several regions you haven't explored. |
| 164 | * DiscOneFinalBoss: [[spoiler:Dhoulmagus in the aforementioned DiscOneFinalDungeon]]. |
| 165 | * DiscOneNuke: |
| 166 | ** When Yangus' Fisticuffs skill reaches 42 points he will learn Thin Air, which hits every enemy, dealing about 45 points of damage each. What makes it so useful is that the soonest point Yangus can master this ability is level 12! |
| 167 | ** Once Jessica gets the Gringham Whip, her Twin Dragon Lash becomes the second most damaging spammable attack against a single target in the game[[note]]beaten only by the Hero's Dragon Soul, which he only gets at Level 65[[/note]]. You only need to invest 23 points to get Jessica's Whip skill to get the latter and the Gringham Whip could be {{Save Scum}}med for the moment you have access to the Baccarat Casino, trivializing bosses from that point on until near the end. There's a reason why one of the changes done in the 3DS version was to {{Nerf}} Twin Dragon Lash. |
| 168 | ** A sufficiently [[LuckBasedMission determined]] and [[GuideDangIt informed]] player can complete the Monster Arena before facing off against [[spoiler:Dhoulmagus]] and obtain the Hero Spear, the strongest spear in terms of pure attack power you can get before post-game that also comes with the nifty effect of healing the Hero when he uses certain attacks. |
| 169 | *** Heck, if you're ''really'' determined, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74GsPjzzYmM one can beat Rank S before obtaining the ship!]] |
| 170 | %%** If you're observant enough to be gathering recipes and using the Alchemy Pot, you can take full advantage of being able to create equipment that is often better than what you can buy in stores.. |
| 171 | *** After you've beaten Rank D in the Monster Arena, Talos becomes this. He comes straight out of the gate with a whopping 800 HP and extraordinarily high attack and defence values, making him a worthwhile contender all the way up to the final ranks! |
| 172 | * DistractedByTheSexy: |
| 173 | ** This is actually an ability of Jessica. Put skill points in her Sex Appeal and monsters will start missing turns just to ogle her. Her own allies, ChivalrousPervert Angelo included, are immune. ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'' has a similar effect through the "Style" stat, but it affects all playable characters and isn't limited to only sexy outfits. |
| 174 | ** Both games also feature active abilities to affect opponents in this fashion (learnable by both your characters and foes) - the Puff-Puff attack in ''[=DQ8=]'' and the Sultry Dance in ''[=DQ9=]''. Entertainingly, a foe that tries to use the former move on Jessica will get demoralized because Jessica is more voluptuous, and ''they'' miss a turn instead. |
| 175 | * DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The scene where [[spoiler:PrinceCharmless tries to ride Medea]] is either a metaphor for spousal abuse or rape, depending on how you interpret it. |
| 176 | * {{Doorstopper}}: One book that the Hero can pick up is so heavy the game notes that its weight tires out his arms rather than giving an excerpt of its contents. |
| 177 | * DoubleMeaningTitle: The title of the game, "Journey of the Cursed King" makes sense on face value as you're leading around King Trode in his cursed state. However... [[spoiler: when you find out that not only is the Hero "cursed" due to the origins of his curse immunity, but also could've been the next King of Argonia if his father hadn't left? The title of the game can easily refer to the Hero as well.]] |
| 178 | * DramaticWind: Morrie's scarf constantly billows in the wind, both inside and outside the Monster Arena. |
| 179 | * DreamingOfThingsToCome: After beating the game for the first time, [[TheStinger the last scene]] shows where the BonusDungeon lies. The next time you load up that file, talking to your party reveals they all had a strange dream about that area. |
| 180 | ** In the first city you visit, you meet Valentina, who seems to have this very power. |
| 181 | * DrowningMySorrows: |
| 182 | ** The once-great Fortuneteller Kalderasha is found in a pub, drinking hard. He eventually gets better and returns to his profession, thanks to the party and Valentina. |
| 183 | ** Yangus suggests they take a side-trip to [[WretchedHive Pickham]] so that the King can [[PetTheDog get a drink for once]]. King Trode immediately hits the pub once you arrive. |
| 184 | * DudeWheresMyRespect: When Prince Charmles greets the party at his wedding, he casually states that since they are peasants, they won't be allowed in the church. This is despite the fact that 1) they had recently saved the world, 2) if it wasn't for them, he would have been disinherited for failing to complete the Argonian Rite of Succession, and 3) The Hero [[spoiler:had been promoted to Captain of King Trode's, his father-in-law-to-be's Royal Guard, making his exclusion from the wedding a serious insult to his bride's family.]] |
| 185 | ** Also not to mention that a few people in the church, such as King Pavan, [[spoiler:Lord]] High Priest Rolo, Carrie and Cash, owners of a massive casino, as well as King Clavius himself are good personal friends of the party, meaning they have some damn good connections. Not to mention the wealth and status of Jessica and Hero respectively. Jessica being a lady of a rich family, and Hero being the Championne and heir to the Monster Arena, essentially the most secret and prestigious of clubs to the richest of the rich. Way to show how much of an ass you are in front of the world's richest and most influential people, Charmless. |
| 186 | * TheDyingWalk: [[spoiler:Marcello]] walks into the horizon after you defeat him in battle. In the [[Platform/PlayStation2 PS2]] version, he's never seen again, though the 3DS remake has him help the party defeat Juggerwroth. |
| 187 | [[/folder]] |
| 188 | [[folder:E to I]] |
| 189 | * EarlyGameHell: Don't event think about entering the first dungeon or even going outside at night before you've gotten a few levels and some stronger equipment. |
| 190 | * EarnYourHappyEnding: Let's see... in order to get the best ending, you have to beat the final boss, go through the difficult BonusDungeon, defeat the {{Superboss}} at the end, and beat the final boss all over again; the Hero has more than earned the right [[spoiler:to marry the Princess Medea.]] |
| 191 | ** [[spoiler: In the 3DS version, right after getting Jessica back from Rhapthorne's possession, go back to Alexandria and talk to Jessica's mom Rosalind and she will give you the late Alistair's Armor. In addition you will need to stay in the inn in Alexandria to trigger another cutscene between the Hero and Jessica. Doing these objectives unlocks the Jessica ending when you have the Argon Ring in possession.]] |
| 192 | * EekAMouse: Prince Charmles and lizards. Also a maid in Albert Mansion in Alexandria whe she sess Munchie. |
| 193 | * EnormousEngagementRing: The party accompanies the prince of Argonia on a rite to slay an Argonian lizard and bring back its crystal "heart" to be made into an engagement ring. The prince is disappointed to discover how small they are and insists the party get a big one before returning home. Naturally, it is by far the largest such crystal anyone's seen. |
| 194 | * EntitledBastard: Prince Charmles is an almost ''textbook'' example. He [[spoiler: has to undergo a trial to prove that he's worthy, which is to get an Argonian Lizard's jewel-like heart. He not only treats your party like shit the entire time and make them undergo the trial, but then they discover that he flat out ''BUYS'' one from the black market, rather than using the one the heroes had earned, making all their hard work go for naught]]. Naturally, he is ''surprised'' when this comes back to bite him. |
| 195 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: High Priest Rolo. He explains that the only obstacle to the position of Lord High Priest was time: not the incumbent himself. |
| 196 | * EveryoneCanSeeIt: |
| 197 | ** After going to the Mystical Spring several times and letting Medea drink from it so she can briefly talk to the Hero as a human, Jessica will mention in one conversation how obvious it is that Medea has a thing for him. |
| 198 | ** The servants at Castle Trodain lament at how miserable the Hero will be when Medea gets married to Charmles and mention that the two are very close. |
| 199 | * EvilOverlooker: The cover for the 3DS version of Dragon Quest VIII features Dhoulmagus sinisterly overlooking the good guys (and a couple of Slimes), who are charging headlong into battle. |
| 200 | * EvilSorcerer: Dhoulmagus |
| 201 | * EvilWeapon: [[spoiler:The staff that Dhoulmagus stole allows Rhapthorne to possess the wielder.]] |
| 202 | * {{Expy}}: That mysterious, softly-spoken man with blue hair is named Ishmahri. Not [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX Seymour]]. |
| 203 | ** Also, at one point [[spoiler:Rhapthorne possesses Marcello, transforming him into... Magus from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''.]] |
| 204 | * FailureIsTheOnlyOption: [[spoiler:You always fail to protect Rhapthorne's targets.]] See YouCantThwartStageOne |
| 205 | * FastForwardMechanic: You can stay at an inn until either sunset or sunrise, in case you wish to interact with [=NPCs=] who only appear during the day or night. |
| 206 | * FaunsAndSatyrs: Satyrs, Pan Pipers, and Silenuses make their debut to the series, using their flutes as weapons and perform various skills with it, such as CountingSheep, and Cursed Verse. |
| 207 | * FanService: Jessica, but also many other female characters around you. And, of course, the infamous [[UnusualEuphemism "Puff]] [[MarshmallowHell Puff"]] Club, in Argonia. |
| 208 | * FantasyCounterpartCulture: [[spoiler:In the English release, the Dragovian characters have Chinese-styled names perhaps as a reference to the Chinese worship of dragons.]] |
| 209 | * ForcedTransformation: Dhoulmagus used the scepter to transform King Trode and Medea into a goblin and a horse, respectively. The entire Kingdom of Trodain suffered a substantially worse fate; [[spoiler:the residents were all forced to become unmoving plants]]. |
| 210 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: |
| 211 | ** When other party members avoid being Cursed, the game states that they jumped out of the way. When it fails on the ''Hero'' (which it always does), the game instead declares, "But the curse dissipates before it reaches (Hero)!" [[spoiler:The fact he isn't affected by curses turns out to play a major role in the PlayableEpilogue.]] |
| 212 | ** Everything Munchie, who is occasionally mentioned by other characters to be a very special mouse. Considering that he can use {{Breath Weapon}}s that would put a dragon to shame by eating certain types of cheese, it's a fair assessment. [[spoiler:He's actually a member of an ancient species of Dragon-folk in disguise]]. |
| 213 | ** Right after [[spoiler: murdering Abbot Francisco]], Dhoulmagus briefly [[spoiler:speaks in a voice very different from his own, hinting at his DemonicPossession.]] |
| 214 | ** When you witness the full flashback of Dhoulmagus stealing the staff, it's in a sepia-tone filter with no color. Yet you can still see Dhoulmagus' hair change color from a darker black to a pale white, clearly indicating wielding the staff changes the person's appearance.[[spoiler: This of course is meant to hint at Rhapthorne possessing someone.]] |
| 215 | ** The Dark Ruins is ''full'' of it. |
| 216 | *** Monsters use it as a shrine to worship some mysterious Dark Lord. [[spoiler: ''i.e.'' Rhapthorne]]. |
| 217 | *** There's a big ol' statue in the ruins' "foyer" of a be-winged demon[[note]]Explicitly declared to be a representation of the Dark Lord in the 3DS remake[[/note]]. The statue deliberately anticipates not one but two OneWingedAngel boss fights, [[spoiler:Dhoulmagus' and Leopold's]]. |
| 218 | *** There are murals that depict [[spoiler:[[BigBad Rhapthorne]] being sealed inside the sceptre by Empyrea and the sages, foreshadowing the plot of the game's second half.]] The significance of this story doesn't become clear until ''after'' [[spoiler: [[DiscOneFinalBoss Dhoulmagus]] is defeated.]] |
| 219 | ** Check out King Clavius' reaction when the party walks into his throne room. [[spoiler: One of them, the Hero, looks identical to the king's missing brother. That's because the Hero is actually the king's nephew, unbeknownst to them both. This information isn't even revealed in the main storyline; the player has to wait until the playable epilogue.]] |
| 220 | * FreeRotatingCamera: This actually serves a purpose in the 3DS version, as rotating the camera changes the enemies in the area. |
| 221 | * FreudianExcuse: Marcello's life was effectively ruined by Angelo's birth, and he's more than a bit bitter over it. He also has to deal with the fact that, since he was born a commoner, he's not exactly popular with the Church's higher ups despite his status as Templar Captain [[spoiler:and later, leader of the Templars, period]]. Whether or not this justifies his later actions is debatable. |
| 222 | * FusionDance: |
| 223 | ** In the Monster Arena, certain team combinations (3 Slimes, 3 Drackys, 3 Golems, and (in the 3DS version only) 3 Moles) will result in the three monsters fusing into one extra-strong creature. Regardless of the result, the fusion only lasts until the end of battle. |
| 224 | ** [[KingMook King Slimes]] are the result of several Slimes fused together with a magic crown, as shown when you help one trapped in a well by pulling its crown out. |
| 225 | ** There are three groups of 4 monsters each which can fuse during battle in a parody of CombiningMecha (Mum, Boh, Jam, and Boe into Mumboh-Jumboe, Jab, Ber, Wok, and Kee into Jabberwokee, and Head of State, Body Politic, Right Wing, and Left Wing into Democrobot). |
| 226 | * GaidenGame: ''Shōnen Yangus to Fushigi no Dungeon'', part of the ''Mystery Dungeon'' franchise. Stars a young Yangus and was relased on 2006 for the PS2. |
| 227 | * GameBreakingBug: In the English release of the 3DS version, if you use Goldman and Jewelbag together on a monster team, it will make a special team called "The Treasure Hunters", where they gain access to a deathmove called Good as Gold, which when used nets you extra gold equal to half the damage they inflict with the attack. However whenever they use it, if the monster they target does not die from the move, the game will crash immediately after damage is dealt, with the game freezing up and sending the player to the Home menu while forcing a reset. |
| 228 | * GameplayAndStoryIntegration: The Hero survives Dhoulmagus cursing the entirety of Trodain castle. In battle, he's completely immune to the Curse status condition. [[spoiler:It's revealed it's because he's already under a curse that blocks out others.]] |
| 229 | ** In the 3DS version, Trode explains the ArbitraryHeadcountLimit as having the other two party members watching over him and Medea. On the overworld map, they can be swapped in and out at any time. However, inside a dungeon, those two party members will be unavailable as they are outside guarding Medea and Trode. [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality Any key items will still be transferred over]], and they [[LeakedExperience still gain experience]]. |
| 230 | * GameplayAndStorySegregation: Multiple times: |
| 231 | ** Zig-zagged with Red and Morrie in the 3DS version: |
| 232 | *** On one hand, Red joins after a certain part in the game: and she actually will appear in some story events, such as when the party escapes from prison and she appears alongside Trode. Red and Morrie do actually appear in the consultation screens, and will appear in full party shots. |
| 233 | *** On the other, Morrie is optional and seems to contribute very little to plot scenes (less than Red). A particularly notable case of GameplayAndStorySegregation happens when the party is put into jail where, even if you have Red ''and'' Morrie in the active party, they will be mysteriously swapped out with the two in reserve. Yangus ''does'', however, explain that Red and Morrie snuck away, but it does seem weird regardless. |
| 234 | ** Particularly whenever there's a storyline death. Party members die all the time... all you need to do is cast Kazing, or drag them to a church. This may be [[JustifiedTrope justifiable]] early-game when the player does not have access to Kazing or the church, but it does not quite explain why nobody else used them. |
| 235 | * AGodIAmNot: The Godbird Empyrea states this of herself in the ending when King Trode asks if it's proper to tell a goddess to [[spoiler:take care]], saying these are merely titles humans bestowed upon her. [[spoiler:This is also when Empyrea takes the time to reveal that her true name is Ramia, the very same one from ''DQIII''.]] |
| 236 | * GoryDiscretionShot: Whenever a character is actually killed onscreen. |
| 237 | * GottaKillEmAll: [[spoiler:Rhapthorne]]'s goal, as the deaths of the descendants of the Seven Sages is required to release the SealedEvilInACan. Suffice to say, he succeeds. |
| 238 | * GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe: Not really "Space", but Raja the female [[OurElvesAreDifferent Elf]] in Tryan Gully fits this trope well. |
| 239 | * GrimyWater: There are a few areas (such as a segment in the Black Citadel) where the player can walk through what appears to be purple water. Doing so slowly damages the entire party. |
| 240 | * GuideDangIt: 90% of the Alchemy Pot formulas. They often give you only a vague description of the ingredients, leaving you to figure it out (thankfully you can trial-and-error all you want without losing any ingredients). |
| 241 | ** The Troll Maze BonusDungeon is unlocked in Argonia after beating the Dark Citadel. If you don't have a reason to return to Argonia, or don't talk to the NPCs there, you will never know it exists. |
| 242 | ** The [[spoiler:playable epilogue]]'s effect on the endgame, as well as the recipes for [[spoiler:the most powerful weapons and armor in the game]]. Made all the more infuriating by the fact that the official Prima guide ''deliberately omits'' all of this information. If you get all your info from the Guide, you'll never know [[spoiler:who the Dragovians are]] at all. |
| 243 | ** Fortunately the Piggyback guide has every part of the game covered, with the last part of the book sealed up so you don't look at any spoilers. |
| 244 | ** Photo Quests 131, 138-142 of Cameron's Codex in the 3DS version. |
| 245 | * HalfHumanHybrid: [[spoiler:The Hero, who is half human, half Dragovian.]] |
| 246 | * HappilyAdopted: [[spoiler: Valentina]]. Cash and Carrie as well. |
| 247 | * HeelFaceTurn: High Priest Rolo starts the game as a corrupt FatBastard trying to become the new Lord High Priest. After [[spoiler:being betrayed by Marcello, he starts to see the errors of his ways and ends up sacrificing himself to allow the heroes to flee Purgatory Island]]. However, [[spoiler:luckily for him, he gets a RedemptionEarnsLife and becomes the new Lord High Priest as well as a better person]]. |
| 248 | * HeelRealization: After David is killed in Arcadia, Dominico realizes that the servant that he'd so horribly belittled and abused was the descendant of the sage that his family had sworn to protect for generations, and that he'd lost sight of this because of the power that the Sage gave his ancestors for this purpose. |
| 249 | * HelpfulMook: In battle, Puppeteers can buff your party's tension with Exciting Tale. Out of battle, several [=NPCs=] are monsters that are more than happy to talk to you. |
| 250 | * HeroesFightBarehanded: You can have a barehanded hero and armed party members, but in this way you miss the chance of using powerful and useful weapons. You can however learn how to cast RazorWind. |
| 251 | * HowWeGotHere: Jessica asks how Yangus, a former bandit, ended up becoming the hero's staunch ally. Yangus and Trode provide the details. |
| 252 | * HybridAllAlong: The post game reveals that [[spoiler:the protagonist is half Dragovian, a powerful species of were-dragon. This is ultimately expressed by his ultimate Heroism skill "Dragon Soul," though he never turns into a dragon himself. Incidentally it was the Dragovians' unwillingness to tolerate the union of a human and a Dragovian or the resultant offspring that allowed the hero to be in a position both to ultimately thwart the BigBad and save the Dragovians themselves in the post game when their leader loses his mind.]] |
| 253 | * {{Hypocrite}}: |
| 254 | ** King Trode has a rather dramatic soft-spot for dutiful young women... and he happens to be a complete {{Narcissist}}. |
| 255 | ** Marcello welcomes a young orphaned Angelo into the monastery -- and then promptly revokes the welcome and goes against everything he claims his order stands for the moment he learns that the orphan is the half-brother that he was disinherited in favor of. |
| 256 | * IdenticalGrandson: The Hero is an identical son to his father, [[spoiler:if the pictures shown while Chen Mui tells his grandson of his past are any indication]]. |
| 257 | ** [[spoiler:When you first meet King Clavius, he bolts from his throne and clears out his eyes when he sees the Hero. The King then tells his minister that he looks like someone he knew, but must be mistaken.]] |
| 258 | * ImprobableWeaponUser: Your party uses the standard-fare swords, staves, bows, axes, and clubs as their weapons of choice, along with the usual magic. The ''enemies'', on the other hand, use odd and downright goofy weapons such as puppets, hornpipes, stampeding sheep, sloppy kisses, and dance moves. |
| 259 | ** Some characters' skillsets contain moves that play this trope straight. Yangus uses some strange attacks, including [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOC23Dq8Tqc an odd dance move]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dsHXl3zUuwa a stampede of elderly people led by King Trode (about 3:15 into the video).]] |
| 260 | * InfinityPlusOneSword: Take two swords: One is a legendary blade passed down through a hidden society of dragon people for eons, the other is a pinnacle of metal forging with Orichalcum and a symbol of slime royalty. Mix the two together and you get the most powerful weapon in the GAME, and the name is just as epic as it sounds: The Dragovian King Sword. Now go forth, and obliterate thine enemies with it. |
| 261 | * InMediasRes: The game starts after the hero has been traveling for some time and has already met up with Yangus. Given the actual distance between Trodain and Farebury, not much. |
| 262 | * InSeriesNickname: Princes Charmles of Argonia. Just about everyone (except his dad, of course) calls him "Charmless" behind his back, even Princess Medea, though she corrects herself. |
| 263 | ** Yangus's nickname for the protagonist is "Guv". |
| 264 | * InterfaceSpoiler: The enemy log contains a few of these. |
| 265 | ** If you view the full list of enemies, you'll notice there are ''many'' empty spaces still remaining by the time you reach Dhoulmagus... |
| 266 | ** The enemies you encounter in the World of Darkness while you're on the Godbird's Isle have other locations listed in their entries, all of which are places you've visited previously. [[spoiler: It's not hard to figure out that the dark creatures will eventually be unleashed on your home world somehow.]] |
| 267 | * InterspeciesRomance: [[spoiler: The Hero's parents, a human male and a Dragovian female.]] |
| 268 | * IOweYouMyLife: Yangus's reason for following the Hero. |
| 269 | * ItAlwaysRainsAtFunerals: At [[spoiler:Abbott Fransisco's]], anyways. |
| 270 | * ItemCrafting: The alchemy pot. You receive it after sleeping in inns a few times after the first dungeon, and it gets upgraded after events in Pickham so it can mix three items now. In the [=PS2=] version you have to walk around to wait until the concoction is ready, but in later version it's instantaneous. You can also find recipes for it by reading books, but most of them are vague or incomplete in the [=PS2=] version. |
| 271 | [[/folder]] |
| 272 | [[folder:J to N]] |
| 273 | * {{Jerkass}}: Strong overlap between this and the AmbitionIsEvil theme. Kalderasha, Marcello, Prince Charmles, Cash and Carrie, "The Great" Dominico, High Priest Rolo, ''etc.'' All these characters are jerks to varying degrees and it causes varying degrees of misery in turn. |
| 274 | * JigglePhysics: Jessica. She has enormous boobs, which jiggle and bounce, as well as several different character models of her in skimpy clothing, and even a skill set called "Sex Appeal". Many [=NPCs=], including ''women'', make note of her generous assets. |
| 275 | ** They even bother to model the effects of gravity on her chest when she's lying on her side and as she sits up instead of just on special moves in combat. Someone spent waaaay too much effort on this. |
| 276 | ** A family of humanoid female enemies have this too, with jiggling boobs when attacked. Their Puff-Puff attack involved their boobs, causing the male party members to lose one or more turns in lust. They can even do this to ''Jessica'', with hilarious results... |
| 277 | --->"Jessica laughs triumphantly, having won the battle of the bulges." |
| 278 | ** In a non-female example, Don Mole is a morbidly obese anthropomorphic mole...so much so that his rolls of fat jiggle even during his idle stance. When he attacks, it is essentially a tidal wave of blubber. |
| 279 | ** This is even worse during the final battle. The FinalBoss has ''so'' many rolls of fat that just jiggle, even when he's doing nothing! |
| 280 | * JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Marcello, whose bitterness and resentment go FromBadToWorse once the death of his MoralityChain leaves him to his own devices, and he becomes consumed with ambition. He starts out as a KnightTemplar when the heroes meet him, then quickly turns to resorting to bribery to climb the political ladder of the church and practically starving the monks at Maella Abbey in favor of his Templars. And then goes FromBadToWorse, with [[spoiler:him crossing the MoralEventHorizon and killing the Lord High Priest, who is a relatively defenseless old man.]] Granted, the game hints at Marcello [[spoiler:being somewhat under Rhapthorne's influence, and even ''Angelo'' says he doesn't believe Marcello would resort to murder]]. |
| 281 | * JustAStupidAccent: All over the place. While most are variants of British accents, a few others are out there. After all, the game was localized in the UK to give it a medieval European theme used by the rest of the series. |
| 282 | ** Dominico's accent seems to be from Birmingham. (It's harder to tell, since he's also seems to be affecting a more exotic Eastern European accent [[WhatTheHellIsThatAccent that almost constantly decays]]). |
| 283 | ** American accents can be found in Baccarat and the Monster Arena announcer. Cash and Carrie take this one step further with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valspeak Valspeak]], like, what-EVER. |
| 284 | ** Every bartender with spoken lines will speak with a French accent. |
| 285 | ** Also Morrie, who uses a lot of GratuitousItalian. |
| 286 | ** Marta & Marek speak with a Russian accent. Marta's dog Boris even ''barks'' in Russian. ("Gav gav!") |
| 287 | ** Kalderasha and Valentina seem to have a Romanian-like accent(?) |
| 288 | * JustAddWater: The alchemy pot easily combines the two or three items that are popped into it. Of course, it's a magical tool designed for this job. |
| 289 | * KickTheDog: Charmles just had to go for the biggest gem during his initiation, didn't he? No matter [[MonsterIsAMommy the cost]]. [[spoiler:Funny you should mention "[[HoistByHisOwnPetard cost]]"...]] |
| 290 | ** Poor David. The way Dominico abuses him when the party first arrives in Arcadia is bad enough. He even treats his pet dog Sir Leopold much better than David. When he makes him get on his knees to eat ''dog food'' after accusing David of poisoning it, it's enough for most players to pass Dominico off as a JerkAss, until [[spoiler:David is killed by the now-possessed Sir Leopold, causing Dominico to break down emotionally at his murder and then realizing that he was not the heir to a sage. After wallowing in self-pity, he [[HeelFaceTurn mellows out dramatically]] and urges the party to kill his once-beloved pet dog to atone for his ignorance. He also awakens some of Jessica's potential as a magician, enabling her to cast Kacrackle and Kasizzle.]] |
| 291 | * KingMook: |
| 292 | ** The 3DS remake introduces a handful of special monsters that only appear after you've defeated 30 of a normal monster variant -- the slime example would be a giant glob of cream and gelatin called the Creme Caraslime. |
| 293 | ** The King Slime, King Cureslime, and Metal King Slime once again qualify, but doubles as an EliteMook. |
| 294 | ** Downplayed with Khalamari, who is the biggest, nastiest squid in the sea (and has a unique design to boot) in a game that has numerous squid monsters, including squidlings called Khalamari Kids and Squid Kids, the latter of which are the juvenile versions of King Squids. |
| 295 | ** Inverted with Geyzer, who is technically the only boss in the Merman class and further distinguished by living in a waterfall rather than the ocean... but he's also only the first boss, amounts to little more than a PaletteSwap with a scar, and would lose terribly in a fight against other Mermen. |
| 296 | * KnightTemplar: Marcello, who leads, fittingly, the Knights Templar. Under his leadership, the rest of his Templars definitely qualify too, and the tradition probably goes back aways if the current and old abbey's dungeons are any indicator. |
| 297 | * LargeHam: Morrie. [[spoiler:Rhapthorne engages in this too once he gets his physical form back, to somewhat hilarious effect in his first form.]] |
| 298 | * LaserBlade: Angelo's best sword, The Shamshir of Light, looks like it's just a dagger when its put away. Yet in battle, it's actually just a hilt for a light blue lightsaber with a curve on the end just like a Shamshir would have. |
| 299 | * LastLousyPoint: In the 3DS version, photoquests 138-142 in Cameron's Codex, which only become available near the end of the game. Ignoring all the GuideDangIt, RNG, and other frustrating aspects involved in these photoquests, you can only do one of them each day. So if you know what to do and with probably plenty of SaveScumming involved, it'll still take at minimum five real days to complete them all, whereas a determined player with enough time on their hands could feasibly finish the main game and complete all the postgame content before they're able to complete all five of these photoquests. |
| 300 | * LaterInstallmentWeirdness: Of a sorts - since this game, Dragon Quest has been known for its use of [[PunnyName monsters and locations named after puns]] and accents, thanks mostly to Nintendo (Who has essentially published the ''entire'' series outside of Japan). ''VIII'' did introduce the puns and accents, but they are ''much'' less pronounced than in "later" installments including the DS remakes. |
| 301 | ** [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness Early Resurgence Weirdness]]: This also came ''before'' the DS remakes of the Zenithian trilogy - so in a way it is also EarlyInstallmentWeirdness. |
| 302 | * LevelGrinding: Pretty much a requirement early on. ''You will die on the way'' to the first dungeon if you aren't at least level five. |
| 303 | * LevelUpFillUp: Added in the 3DS remake. Gaining a level completely restores your HP and MP. |
| 304 | * LikeBrotherAndSister: If you visit the Mystical Spring near the end of the game, [[BlatantLies Medea will tell the Hero he's like a brother to her]]. This is after she told him she sees him as a man. |
| 305 | ** This is one possible interpretation of the scene added in 3DS remake where Jessica temporarily envisions the Hero as her brother. |
| 306 | * LoveDodecahedron: The Hero and Princess Medea are in love with each other, but Medea is betrothed to Prince Charmles. In the 3DS version, [[spoiler:Jessica is also in love with the Hero and it's possible to reciprocate. However, she's engaged to Lorenzo and seems to have a thing for Angelo as well.]] |
| 307 | * LivingMemory: [[spoiler: All the bosses in Memory Lane except for Estark are memories formed from the party. [[{{Superboss}} They're also much harder than anything that came before.]] ]] |
| 308 | * LuckBasedMission: The Monster Arena, to an extent. Though you can recruit and place which monsters you want on your team, and you can get your monsters stronger whenever you level up the hero, you can't control their actions. You have to just sit back and watch. You can get monsters strong enough to just overpower the earlier ranks to victory, but as soon as [[ThatOneLevel B Rank]] rolls around, you're going to start needing the RNG's blessing to win, where just one instance of one of your monsters holding the IdiotBall can be enough to doom your run in the higher ranks. |
| 309 | * MagikarpPower: Among the special monsters you can recruit, there are three Slimes, three Drackies, and in the 3DS version, three Moles, that are all very weak individually with no real special abilities, being nigh-useless for serious use in the Arena and for your field teams. However put them on the same team together with the rest of their respective trios, and they can [[FusionDance fuse]] together into a super monster far stronger than any individual monster in the game, that can each potentially beat the arena's S rank with some luck. |
| 310 | * {{Malaproper}}: Geyzer, who suffers ''mild brain damage'' after getting bashed in the head with a crystal ball. |
| 311 | * TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:Rhapthorne, controlling whoever touches his scepter to release him]]. |
| 312 | ** All but [[spoiler:one strong-willed Templar, and even then he manages to take over eventually.]] |
| 313 | ** This was actually well-planned by the original trailer for the game. [[spoiler:It hypes up Dhoulmagus as this epic big evil for the team to defeat, when really it's only the halfway point of the entire game. ]] |
| 314 | * MarathonBoss: The game features a Final Boss where before you could even attack, you had to use a special item seven times by all four party members. Moreover, you're being attacked the whole time, and have to heal every other turn. Then comes the absurdly large health meter — and this boss has a habit of healing himself regularly, stretching it out even further. |
| 315 | * MarshmallowHell: The Puff Puff attack, which Jessica and some female monsters can do in battle to distract the opponent. Curiously, when done by Jessica, she turns her back to the enemy. Oh, there is also the secret ''Puff Puff Club'' near Argonia, accessible only with the legendary key. There your characters can get a Puff Puff for free. (Yes, even [[LesYay Jessica]]). |
| 316 | * MatchMakerQuest: Prince Charmles' initiation quest is not only meant to prove his worthiness for the throne of Argonia, but his worthiness to wed his betrothed, Princess Medea of Trodain. Conversely, Princess Medea's "prize" is to be able to wed the little creep. |
| 317 | * MascotMook: If it appeared in a previous game, expect it to appear again here. |
| 318 | ** A variant of this game's {{Mascot Mook}} has its [[MetalSlime own trope]]. |
| 319 | * MetalSlime: Well, yeah. Ironically, the Metal Slime isn't even the true {{Metal Slime}} of the game; that honor goes to its upgraded versions, the Liquid Metal Slime and the King Metal Slime. |
| 320 | * MinigameZone: The two casinos and the monster arena. |
| 321 | * {{Mons}}: The Monster Team mechanic returns after having been absent in the previous game. After you talk to Morrie and get him 3 specific monsters, you can start recruiting monsters from those visible on the overworld (or those marked with a star in the 3DS version) and have them replace your party for a few turns during battle, or make them fight in the arena. |
| 322 | * MonsterArena: A literal one, since only monsters are allowed to fight in it, though you can also spar with your main parry against your own monster team. |
| 323 | * MonsterClown: Dhoulmagus after obtaining the scepter. [[spoiler:The 3DS remake reveals he only dressed up as one to gain access to Castle Trodain to steal the scepter. Rhapthorne even allows him to keep the outfit since it suits him perfectly!]] |
| 324 | * MonsterTown: Trian Gully, a hidden town in the middle of a valley where humans and monsters live side by side, having been founded by an elf, a gigantes, and one of the Seven Sages aeons ago. |
| 325 | * MsFanservice: Jessica, especially when the player equips her with various {{Battle Bikini}}s. Red, to a lesser extent. |
| 326 | * MuggleInMageCustody: David, a servant to the magician Dominico whom the player's party meets in the town of Arcadia. David shows nothing but gratitude towards his master for taking him in when he was alone and starving, even though Dominico constantly bullies and humiliates him and wonders even to himself why he keeps David around. It turns out that [[spoiler:David is actually descended from a great sage who transferred his powers to Dominico's family in exchange for them protecting his descendants. So while David himself is a muggle, he's still linked to Dominico by magic, even though neither is initially aware of it.]] |
| 327 | * MultiArmedAndDangerous: The Hell Gladiator, a four-armed zombie with a different weapon in each hand, returns from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'' with its {{Underground Monkey}}, the Zombie Gladiator in tow. The game also introduces the Servant of Darkness, first appearing as a boss alongside 2 Dancing Flames when escaping from the Black Citadel [[spoiler: after Rhapthorne's first defeat]] and then [[DegradedBoss appearing as a normal enemy]] in the Heavenly Dias, as well as ''VideoGame/DragonQuestX''. |
| 328 | * MultipleEndings: The original game had two potential endings: [[spoiler: one in which the hero rescues Medea from her wedding and the two end up MaybeEverAfter and a second which the Hero gets married to Medea.]] The [[UpdatedRerelease 3DS remake]] adds two additional endings [[spoiler: which are variants of the originals, where the hero ends up with Jessica instead.]] |
| 329 | * MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Dominico. Once he learns the truth behind himself and David, he ''immediately'' changes his tone. |
| 330 | * NeverSmileAtACrocodile: Some areas are infested with Heligators, Darkodiles, and Crocodogs, as in giant, floating half-mutt half crocodile monsters. |
| 331 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero -- [[spoiler:Marcello]] tries to pull this on the party late in the game. Keyword being "tries". It rings hollow, however, given ''he'' had been the one stupid enough to use the ArtifactOfDoom carrying the [[spoiler:''devil's'' spirit]] [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong to try and create a better world]] and arrogant enough to think he could fight him off indefinitely. Given a mere confrontation was all it took to weaken his will sufficiently, as evident from [[spoiler:the possession's trademark VoiceOfTheLegion]] it's clear his downfall was a matter of "when" not a question of "if". |
| 332 | * NiceJobFixingItVillain: One of the abilities that the puppeteer enemies around Ascantha can use is an "Exciting Story". It's so exciting that it raises the whole party's tension by one level, allowing you to finish them off faster! Irritatingly, Moppet the infamous monster can use the same ability during battle. |
| 333 | * NoNonsenseNemesis: [[spoiler:Rhapthorne doesn't screw around when it comes to killing the people holding the seal on him. More than one are killed in front of the heroes' eyes.]] |
| 334 | * NotCompletelyUseless: |
| 335 | ** The Skull Helm is a CursedItem exclusive to Yangus which, if worn, will reduce his attack power to zero. While the most obvious appeal of this helmet is its use as an alchemy ingredient in the sun crown recipe, [[NotTheIntendedUse it has a second use]]--if Yangus is trained to use [[VideoGameStealing Steal Sickle]], the lack of attack means he can use it without killing an enemy, making it much easier to grind for {{Rare Random Drop}}s. |
| 336 | ** The 3DS version has a candy cane as a downloadable weapon for Yangus, which always does 1 damage and also makes it easier for Yangus to farm items with Steal Sickle. As a bonus, it isn't cursed, so there's no need to visit a church to remove it. |
| 337 | [[/folder]] |
| 338 | [[folder:O to R]] |
| 339 | * OfficialCouple: The Hero and Medea have loved each other since their childhood years but were never able to act upon it due to their own respective duties getting in the way. [[spoiler: In the good ending, the Hero runs away with Medea on her wedding day to Charmles and in the best ending, they get married instead.]] |
| 340 | * OneCurseLimit: Why the castle's curse did not affect [[spoiler:the Hero]] and why he cannot be cursed in battle. The one he already has blocks the others. |
| 341 | * OurDemonsAreDifferent: One of the first things to be seen in the Dark Ruins is an imposing statue of a bewinged goatlike demon, distinctly modeled after the classic Baphomet. [[spoiler:Cameron's Codex in the 3DS version indicates it to depict a former incarnation of Rhapthorne, Lord of Darkness, which lends a little extra meaning to fight with Dhoulmagus after he goes OneWingedAngel]]. |
| 342 | * OurDragonsAreDifferent: the main type of dragons you find around the world are either made of [[ManEatingPlant Thorns]], or very large [[DinosaursAreDragons Dinosaurs]] which can attack with poleaxe or use BoozeBasedBuff, or simply [[JustEatHim chomp you whole]]. [[spoiler:Averted with the [[{{Superboss}} Dragovian Lord]], who can turn into 8 different badass Dragons.]] |
| 343 | * OutlawTown: Pickham. |
| 344 | * PantheraAwesome: Great Sabrecats are a staple monster of the ''Franchise/DragonQuest'' series, but can also be befriended in a few of them. This time around, the reward for a certain sidequest is a bell that summons a sabrecat for your character to ride on, multiplying your movement speed on the world map tenfold (obtained by [[spoiler:achieving the GhostlyGoals of Baumren]] in a rather moving subplot with his former master, Felix). |
| 345 | * PartyInMyPocket: Oddly enough, this is the only main Dragon Quest game not to display party members AllInARow (not counting the first game, which only had one character to show). This might have been because this was the first Dragon Quest game in full 3D without a top-down perspective: Having all four characters on-screen (plus Medea and Trode) would make it impossible to see where you are going. Not to mention it would increase the loading time between areas. Although you can still occasionally hear Medea clop around/whinny behind you. |
| 346 | * PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling: Three of them, where you can find the different varieties of MetalSlime. |
| 347 | ** The first is a small forest next to the Argonian Hunting Grounds, where basic Metal Slimes appear in large numbers. It's the perfect spot to grind before venturing into the Dark Ruins. |
| 348 | ** The second one is a small island in the southwest (that doesn't appear on the map) that can be reached as soon as you obtain the ship, and is chock-full of Liquid Metal Slimes that makes it quite a hotspot to do some grinding at an early level. |
| 349 | ** The third one is the "Howlwind Hill" which is near Rhydon's Tower and can only be accessed by flying. It's home to every type of Slime, including Liquid Metal Slimes and King Metal Slimes (which give the largest amount of EXP in the game at 30.000) in large numbers. While they're still rare encounters, it's far more convenient to look for them here than in any other place where they can spawn. |
| 350 | * PhotoMode: The 3DS version adds Camera Mode with a full-blown sidequest tasking the player with taking photos of various landmarks and monsters. Doing so can yield some pretty valuable rewards, like exclusive items and equipment. Some of the later photos can verge on ThatOneSidequest, however. |
| 351 | * PimpedOutDress: Medea's wedding dress. |
| 352 | * PirateGirl: Red, a DarkActionGirl thief who gets herself involved with the legend of Captain Crow. |
| 353 | * PlayboyBunny: Jessica can dress as one in battle with the right gear. |
| 354 | * PokemonSpeak: Don Mole's underlings after you beat him say nothing but "dig" and "dug." Odd not only because you can understand them fine, but there's no indication any of them were speaking this way before the fight. |
| 355 | ** King Maximillian speaks in nothing but grunts, harrumphs, and coughs from his sick bed. The voice actor seemed to being having fun. |
| 356 | * PolarOppositeTwins: Cash and Carrie view themselves as this way, but the player can see that they are similar. |
| 357 | * PoorCommunicationKills: In the 3DS version, the optional event of seeing Dhoulmagus' past is an example of this trope. It is revealed that Master Rylus was a harsh teacher to Dhoulmagus and did not teach him any magic, which prompted Dhoulmagus to seek magic on his own (and hence the sceptre incident). In reality, Master Rylus was working on the medicine that would help release Dhoulmagus' hidden magical talent and only told Dhoulmagus about it [[spoiler:after he got possessed by Rhapthorne]]. |
| 358 | * PowerDyesYourHair: In the American and European versions of the PS2 version[[note]]Sadly, this change didn't return for the 3DS version.[[/note]], when the main character builds his tension high enough, his hair becomes lighter and spiky. Which obviously begs comparison to [[Anime/DragonBallZ another of Akira Toriyama'a works]]... |
| 359 | * PowerfulButInaccurate: The Hero's Spear skills Thunder/Lightning Thrust and Yangus' Axe skills Hatchet Man and Executioner, which have a higher miss rate, but also a higher critical hit rate, than their standard attacks. These are very useful when fighting {{Metal Slime}}s, since critical hits [[ArmorPiercingAttack ignore Defense]] and will always OneHitKill them. And ''everything'' has a very high miss rate against Metal Slimes, so the inaccuracy of the attacks isn't that important. Angelo also has the Bow skills Needle Shot/Rain, which either deal 1 damage (functionally equivalent to a miss) or a OneHitKill (if he "hits a vital area"), but their low hit rate plus ContractualBossImmunity to instant death makes them {{Useless Useful Spell}}s. |
| 360 | * PretentiousPronunciation: Prince Charmles is quick to insist that his name is pronounced "Sharm-LAY", particularly whenever he's called "Prince Charmless". It's actually just "Charm-ulls". |
| 361 | * PreAssKickingOneLiner: High Priest Rolo is not the one doing the asskicking, but he does get a good line in Purgatory Island. |
| 362 | --> '''Rolo''': Take a little nap, you half-wit nurses! |
| 363 | * PrinceCharmless: To no surprise, Charmles. It's even his in-game nickname! And the first one to call him that? ''King Trode!'' |
| 364 | ** The Trope Namer as well. |
| 365 | * PyroManiac: Jessica in cutscenes. The first thing she does when she meets the Hero (and mistakes him for Alistair's killer) is to sling fireballs at him. |
| 366 | * RandomEncounters: The original PS2 and mobile versions had these, in addition to the "Infamous Monsters" which are visible in the overworld, and can later be recruited by beating them). The 3DS version replaced them with preexisting encounters, with Infamous Monsters now marked with a star to distinguish them from all other enemies. |
| 367 | * RareCandy: The stat-boosting seeds. (Tip: Save them for later, they're excellent Alchemy ingredients.) |
| 368 | * RecurringBoss: Though gameplay-wise, he is always quite different, you have to fight [[spoiler:Rhapthorne]] so many times you almost start to feel bad for him. Nearly every story boss [[spoiler:post-Dhoulmagus]] is him in some form, with only a few exceptions. He stops seeming like such a terrible threat about the third or fourth time you beat him down, but at least he's persistent. |
| 369 | ** For those keeping count: [[spoiler:Dhoulmagus' first form, then his second. That's two. Then Jessica. Then Sir Leopold the Flying Dog. Marcello is pretty clearly under the influence of the staff when you fight him, though unlike the rest he's not completely controlled. Then you fight Rhapthorne's "true form" in his castle. THEN, you fight his final final ''final'' form. Counting both phases of the final battle, you have to beat Rhapthorne ''eight times''.]] |
| 370 | * RegionalBonus: |
| 371 | ** Amazingly, despite its popularity there contrasted with its unpopular status elsewhere, Japan did not get (until the 3DS version) a version with voice acting. |
| 372 | ** Japan also does not get the visually enhanced interface and the symphonic score that the Westerners got. |
| 373 | * RedOniBlueOni: Literally in the form of two guardian bosses (Red Horn and Blue Fang)at the bottom of the [[BonusDungeon Dragon Graveyard]]. The former only attacks with pure brute strength, the latter heals and supports both. |
| 374 | * RelaxOVision: Jessica's Puff-Puff attack. Subverted when the hero goes to a massage parlor and gets one. He closes his eyes [[spoiler:and doesn't see the masseuse merely rubs two [[MascotMook slimes]] against him]]. At least, it's a "warm and soft pair". |
| 375 | ** Also on Purgatory Island, [[spoiler:when the whole party, including Yangus with a SlasherSmile, ambush the two guards from behind and clobber them.]]. |
| 376 | * RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Most monsters. Thanks to [[Creator/AkiraToriyama Toriyama's]] sense of whimsy, the monsters that aren't this are at worst UglyCute instead. |
| 377 | ** Sometimes subverted; for instance, the [[UniqueEnemy Sea Dragon]] looks quite strong and menacing. |
| 378 | * [[AdamSmithHatesYourGuts Rising Cost Of Health Insurance]]: Priests get progressively more expensive as you level. Thankfully, you can eventually learn to use resurrection spells yourself. |
| 379 | * RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Geyzer, who wants to get even with whoever hit him on the head with a crystal ball and slurred his speech. |
| 380 | * RoyalBrat: Why Charmles is TheScrappy. Medea was apparently one in her youth, but she's long-since outgrown it. |
| 381 | * RunningGag: King Trode will pop up and make a comment when the team least expects to see him, always prompting a "COR BLIMEY!" from Yangus. Lampshaded late in the game, when Trode shows up at Tryan Gully, and Yangus starts to say his line, but then stops and says [[OverusedRunningGag he's getting sick of that old bit.]] |
| 382 | ** Near the very end of the game, it even gets subverted: after you have defeated the BigBad, you're flying away on Empyrea and Yangus looks around, expecting Trode to show up ''on the back of a giant bird'', then laughs at his gullibility. |
| 383 | ** In the normal ending, this is played straight, [[spoiler:this time by ''Princess Medea'' when she sees her father at the reins of the horses pulling the stagecoach which she took to get to Savella for the marriage to Prince Charmles, after the Hero and the party crashed said wedding to whisk Medea away from a lifetime of unhappiness.]] |
| 384 | [[/folder]] |
| 385 | [[folder:S to Z]] |
| 386 | * SaharanShipwreck: The party actually uses one of these as their main transportation, after using magic to get it back to sea. Strangely for a fantastic setting, it's pretty clearly stated to be a receding coastline issue -- they get it back to sea by using magic to "get the area to remember when there was ocean there". |
| 387 | * SceneryCensor: A non-naughty version. Flashbacks to the night of Dhoulmagus stealing the scepter are carefully framed to prevent you from getting a good look at Medea and Trode's faces, sometimes in the most contrived ways. |
| 388 | * SceneryPorn: This is one of the ''nicest'' looking games on the [[Platform/PlayStation2 PS2]]. |
| 389 | ** Stand on top of that mountain next to Farebury, look to the castle ''WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY'' in the distance across the trees and hills, and see if your pants don't shrink. |
| 390 | ** Have you ever seen the sunrise or sunset while on the boat or on a beach? Oh ''man''. |
| 391 | * SchizoTech: In the 3DS version, the Nitid Tutu which makes Jessica look like a Magic Idol Singer comes with a headset. |
| 392 | * SchizophrenicDifficulty: The early game isn't a cakewalk, since it's not too afraid to throw 5-6 enemies at you at once who [[ZergRush can take out over half your health if they attack the same character at once]], and enemies who can use breath attacks to take out half your health at once. Once you get Jessica and later Angelo, it gets far easier. But then you get a difficulty leap when you fight [[spoiler: Dhoulmagus]], and until you [[spoiler: beat Evil Jessica]], the game will start ramping up the difficulty. But once that's done, the rest of it becomes far easier to beat. |
| 393 | * SchmuckBait: Engaging in combat with the Axoraptor lurking just outside Farebury is a very bad idea at a low level. Fortunately if it chases you down, you can always flee from it with no fear of getting attacked. |
| 394 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: If your level is high enough, certain infamous monsters will run ''away'' from you instead of towards you when they see you in the field. |
| 395 | * SealedEvilInASixPack: The BigBad [[spoiler:Rhapthorne]]. His soul is sealed inside the [[spoiler:Sceptre of Trodain]], and requires the death of seven people to break. His body [[spoiler:is sealed in the statue of the Goddess in Neos.]] |
| 396 | * SecretTestOfCharacter: Interestingly, a key one plays out that isn't for TheHero, but for [[spoiler:Prince Charmles. Who fails.]] |
| 397 | * ShadowDiscretionShot: We're treated to one each time Dhoulmagus runs someone through with his scepter. |
| 398 | * ShipTease: |
| 399 | ** Angelo flirts with Jessica quite a bit. He is also the one in cutscenes to shield her from danger or help her down places. At one point when Angelo is shown to be hitting on an NPC [[spoiler:during the feast at the restored Trodain Castle in the wake of Rhapthorne's defeat]], [[FunnyBackgroundEvent Jessica can be seen lining up a Frizz spell to pelt Angelo with (much to the alarm of the children she was just showing it off to)]], so it's not entirely one-sided. |
| 400 | ** Medea eagerly wishes to return to the Mystical Spring for all the opportunities it affords her to talk to the hero (and clearly enjoys their dream-conversations for the same reason). Jessica even thinks so in a Consultation conversation. |
| 401 | ** Yangus and Red have a fair amount of history that involves a few smouldering traces of romance (case in point: Yangus' long-unfulfilled promise to obtain the Venus' Tear for her). |
| 402 | ** King Pavan and Emma, after the former awakens from his HeroicBSOD -- after he recovers, he gives Emma some ''much deserved'' time-off... but he tells her this while meeting with her in secret at night away from the castle. A local guard is spying on them with this very much in mind. |
| 403 | ** The 3DS remake adds some scenes between TheHero and Jessica. [[spoiler: In fact, get them all, and they get married]]. |
| 404 | * ShoutOut: If the main hero can reach maximum tension, his bandanna comes off, his hair gets a couple shades lighter (though pinkish purple instead of blond) and gets incredibly spiky. Of course, Creator/AkiraToriyama ''did'' do the character designs, so the fact that the hero can go [[Anime/DragonBallZ Super Saiyan]] should surprise nobody. |
| 405 | ** Given that he was not only designed by Akira Toriyama but also looks a ''lot'' like teenaged Gohan, it's a nice nod to ''Manga/DragonBall'' fans either way. |
| 406 | ** On that note, his ultimate move, Dragon Soul, looks suspiciously similar to Super Saiyan 3 Goku's [[{{Shoryuken}} Dragon Fist]], except green and performed in a diving motion. These last few references were not in the Japanese original but added to North American and European versions. |
| 407 | *** Another Hero-''Dragon Ball'' correlation: [[spoiler:he and Gohan are both [[HalfHumanHybrid half-human]]. Both characters' non-human racial traits allow transformations into a large beast.]] |
| 408 | ** Another ''Dragon Ball'' ShoutOut near the end of the game involves collecting seven orbs [[spoiler: needed to break the shield around Rhapthorne's final form.]] |
| 409 | *** Also a MythologyGag. The same goal of collecting magic orbs appeared in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'' [[spoiler: and were needed to awaken Ramia]]. |
| 410 | *** Alexandria, Jessica's ancestor and one of the original sages, is also wearing the traditional Sage outfit from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'' when her spirit speaks to the party. |
| 411 | ** Last but not least, his whole outfit is the same outfit [[Anime/DragonBallZ Tapion]] wears, except for the bandanna. Which is similar to the one Gohan wears in his "[[SecretIdentity Great Saiyaman]]" guise. |
| 412 | ** Jessica can learn an attack called Pink Typhoon, whose name is the same as the Japanese name of Angela's Love Typhoon attack in ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana''. |
| 413 | ** Back to ''Dragon Ball'', during Jessica's first appearance, her stance while charging up her fireball attack is reminiscent of that of the [[KamehameHadoken Kamehameha]]. |
| 414 | ** A mustachioed man with a thick Italian accent that wears red and green is definitely a ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' reference. One of the [=NPCs=] in the Monster Arena actually refers to Morrie's Harem as the "Super Morrie-o Sisters". |
| 415 | *** The Monster Arena ring announcer is a straight-up {{Expy}} (right down to the voice) of Michael Buffer, the ring announcer best known in boxing matches and Wrestling/{{WCW}} wrestling matches for the trademarked catchphrase [[BattleCry "LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!"]] The Monster Arena announcer says [[LawyerFriendlyCameo "LET'S GET IT ON!"]] before every round. |
| 416 | ** Hilariously enough, several recruitable monsters are jokes and references: |
| 417 | *** A Slime named [[Music/{{Eminem}} Slime Shady]]. |
| 418 | *** A Berserker named Bushwacker whose nickname is [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush Bush-W]]. |
| 419 | *** A dinosaur named [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} Hackzilla]]. |
| 420 | *** In the 3DS version we have a [[Film/TeenWolf "Teen Fox"]] whose nickname is [[Creator/MichaelJFox Michael J.]], a spitnik named [[Music/RayCharles Ray Churls]], a Wight Priest named [[Music/BarryWhite Barry Wight]], and a Chimera named [[Creator/AlPacino Flappacino]]. |
| 421 | *** Some monsters take their names from the previous ''Dragon Warrior'' localizations, such as the Metal Slime and Liquid Metal Slime going by "Metaly" and "Metabble". |
| 422 | ** Don Mole is a very cheesy Music/JamesBrown riff. |
| 423 | ** A book in Pickham refers to the town as a [[Franchise/StarWars "wretched hive of scum and villainy."]] |
| 424 | ** To one of Level-5's past projects: One of Jessica's alternate outfits was [[http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/darkcloud/images/9/95/Dark_Cloud_2_-_Monica_Star_Set.png/revision/latest?cb=20140208023616 used]] in ''VideoGame/DarkChronicle''. |
| 425 | * SiblingRivalry: Cash and Carrie. These two also fall under SiblingSenioritySquabble and, eventually, BrotherSisterTeam. Their {{Punny Name}}s are also {{meaningful|Name}}, since they run a casino. |
| 426 | * SignificantAnagram: [[spoiler:Munchie's name is an anagram of his actual identity: Chen Mui, the Hero's grandfather.]] |
| 427 | * SilentProtagonist: The Hero, as per ''Dragon Quest'' tradition. A couple of cutscenes occasionally depict him "explaining" things to other characters, but the only words the player ever really hears out of him are "Yes" and "No". |
| 428 | * SingleLineOfDescent: Played with. While the descendants of the Seven Sages must die for the BigBad to be released from his can, it must be seven ''specific'' people who inherit that portion of the "can"--meaning that in a couple cases there are other descendants in the family in question, but they are useless to the BigBad's plan. Examples: Alistair vs. Jessica, Marta vs. her son. |
| 429 | * SoNearYetSoFar: As soon as you enter the Swordsman's Labyrinth you can spot the chest containing the treasure required to progress the game, but you can't get it until you have walked around the whole dungeon, beaten all puzzles and killed the guardian monster. |
| 430 | * SomeoneToRememberHimBy: [[spoiler:Xia, a girl from the Dragovian Tribe, visited the human world and fell in love with the human prince of Argonia, Eltrio. The girl's father disapproved of their courting, and took his daughter away, back to the Dragovian Village. Eltrio searched all over the world for his lost love, eventually dying just before he could reach the village. The girl was heartbroken, but soon after she received word of his demise, she discovered she was pregnant with his child, TheHero.]] |
| 431 | * SpareToTheThrone: It's a similar situation with King Argonia, an UnexpectedSuccessor who had to step up after his elder brother disappeared while pursuing his lost love. While he has shaped up to be a good ruler, his ''own'' son is none other than [[PrinceCharmless Prince Charmles]], causing his father no end of grief over how horrible ''he'' would be once it's time for ''him'' to hand down the crown. In the GoldenEnding, [[spoiler:he's presented with his brother's son at a rather awkward time for a family reunion, and it's heavily implied he cedes the right to rule after him to this new arrival, giving his own son the shaft]]. |
| 432 | * SpoiledBrat: |
| 433 | ** It's another negative character trope; [[RunningGag it must be Charmles.]] |
| 434 | ** Also Cash and Carrie, but they become better after their sidequest is through. |
| 435 | * SpoiledSweet: Cash and Carrie post CharacterDevelopment, when they learn that they really do love each other and decide to not only split their father's fortune, but to work together and make the casino live on. |
| 436 | * SpeechImpediment: Another Charmles trope. He talks like Elmer Fudd, except higher-pitched and more abrasive. |
| 437 | * StandardFemaleGrabArea: How Angelo drags Jessica away from a bar brawl before she can start ''throwing fireballs'' in the inn. |
| 438 | * StealthInsult: King Clavius to Prince Charmles after he presents his (fraudulently obtained) Argon heart: |
| 439 | --> "Very well. Then I congratulate you. I accept this Argon heart as proof of your ''true'' character." |
| 440 | * SticksToTheBack: The Hero's and Yangus's weapons. |
| 441 | * StoutStrength: Most prominently Yangus, but a number of monsters as well. |
| 442 | * {{Stripperific}}: |
| 443 | ** When you first meet her, Jessica wears a fairly respectable outfit, but her AdventurerOutfit has an ImpossiblyLowNeckline and she has massive breasts[[note]]It's implied part of the reason to take up the outfit is to defy her mother, who considered it vulgar; later, Jessica herself wonders if it isn't too revealing[[/note]]. All her other visible costumes show at least as much or even more skin. |
| 444 | *** Hell, her final outfit is an actual corset with stockings and garter belts. |
| 445 | *** There is a bit of irony here, though; her alternate outfits, while usually showing a significant amount of skin, tend to be far more ''modest'' with her chest than her default outfit. |
| 446 | *** Lampshaded when Jessica will sometimes ask you if you think her outfit is too revealing if you talk to her. |
| 447 | ** Also the Female Warriors you see around in some places, a bright example of ChainmailBikini |
| 448 | ** Red is a mixture of this and RummageSaleReject. |
| 449 | * TakingYouWithMe: |
| 450 | ** [[spoiler:Gemon, one of Rhapthorne's minions, destroys Empyrea's egg with his death explosion. It gets better... kind of.]] |
| 451 | ** The Kamikazee spell, which deals significant damage to your enemies in exchange for your death. Certain monsters have similar skills. |
| 452 | * TeamPet: Munchie, a very odd little mouse who attends the hero, and has been for at least a decade, according to Medea. |
| 453 | * TechnicolorBlade: Some swords and weapons are unusually colored. For example, the Dragon Buster sword is red. |
| 454 | * {{Transflormation}}: This has happened to nearly all the inhabitants of Trodain at the beginning of the game. |
| 455 | * {{Tsundere}}: Jessica, as per Toriyama's requirement that every project he works on has ''at least'' one. She even has the appropriate pigtails. When first introduced, it looks like she'll be heavy on the tsuntsun, but deredere is actually her default personality. It's only when Angelo gets to womanizing or an enemy hurts someone innocent that [[GameFace she goes full tsun]]. |
| 456 | * UnclePennybags: |
| 457 | ** Morrie, the owner of the [[strike:Monster Arena]] '''MONSTROUS PIT''' and one of the wealthiest men in the world... [[VerbalTic ragazzo.]] |
| 458 | ** Mr. Golding, though you only hear about him posthumously. |
| 459 | * UpdatedRerelease: The 3DS version, which adds Red and Morrie as playable charactes, two new dungeons, a new Monster Arena rank, more recruitable monsters, new equipment and alternate outfits, an alternate ending, and all the features mentioned under AntiFrustrationFeatures. |
| 460 | * UnexpectedSuccessor: The current ruler of Argonia, King Clavius, only took the throne because his brother disappeared. Also, [[spoiler:if his brother's son is discovered, he in turn replaces Prince Charmles as heir]]. |
| 461 | * UnexplainedRecovery: It's not explained in the ending just ''how'' [[spoiler:the new Lord High Priest Rolo]] survived. An interpretation for this is late in the game, as the party [[spoiler: escapes from Purgatory Island after being imprisoned with Rolo for one month after being wrongfully accused by Marcello for killing the Lord High Priest. They could not raise the cage lift without using the nearby lever to activate it. Rolo elected to stay behind and activate the lift. The two guards whom were knocked out so they could make their escape cornered Rolo, who accepted his fate. As the party gets off the lift when it reached the top, the chain snaps, sending the lift plummeting into the shaft. Note that Rolo and the two guards were standing in the vicinity of where the lift was. This still does not explain how Rolo got out, but it's something.]] |
| 462 | %%* UnitsNotToScale: averted. |
| 463 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: |
| 464 | ** [[spoiler: Dhoulmagus really shouldn't have taken away the staff that held Rhapthorne from its protective circle.]] |
| 465 | ** [[spoiler: For that matter, his master really should have just bloody told him]]. |
| 466 | * UselessUsefulSpell: Any of Yangus's weapon skills that are not Axe-related. The Hammer's extremely specialized skills immediately come to mind. Even when Morrie gets his clubs, they act like Yangus's axe-weapons. |
| 467 | * VictoryThroughIntimidation: The "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Intimidate]]" command. It can be used before inputting commands for your characters, where you use your party's turns trying to scare your opponents. If you're a sufficiently higher level than your enemies, they'll just run away. If they're not, they'll ignore it, or attack you with no chance for you to retaliate. |
| 468 | * VideoGame3DLeap: ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'', which used a SpritePolygonMix, was a minor leap in comparison; ''VIII'' brought the true presentation upgrade. |
| 469 | * VoiceOfTheLegion: As the Scepter grows in power, a secondary voice begins to underlie the owner's. [[spoiler:It's Rhapthorne's voice, underlying both Dhoulmagus' and Jessica's words with his own. When the scepter falls into Sir Leopold's clutches, however, only Rhapthorne speaks as a disembodied voice]]. |
| 470 | * WackyWaysideTribe: The Moles led by Don Mole, who only exist to pad the game a ittle by stealing the Moon Harp. |
| 471 | * WakeUpCallBoss: Hope you've grinded and upgraded your equipment before you get on the ship in Port Prospect, because Khalamari will be there to make damn sure you're serious about this game before you get to go any further. |
| 472 | * TheWanderingYou: This game has an enormous world to explore filled with useful but ultimately nonessential treasures, which seem to be placed around only to get you to explore and fight more creatures. |
| 473 | * WhamLine: |
| 474 | -->[[spoiler: '''Jessica:''']] [[HereWeGoAgain Such a]] [[{{Catchphrase}} pity...]] |
| 475 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Did Prince Charmles ever mature into a decent ruler? If not, did Clavius disinherit him in favor of [[spoiler: the Hero]]? |
| 476 | * WhatYouAreInTheDark: Prince Charmles hires the Hero and his friends to acquire an Argon Heart in order to pass a rite of passage, but not only expresses dissatisfaction at the ones they bring, but unfairly buys one from a bazaar. What he doesn't know is that his father King Clavius was watching his actions through a telescope the entire time. When the young prince steps forward to present the Argon Heart, King Clavius gives his unsuspecting son a last chance to come clean by saying he won't blame him if he got help, as opposed to if cheated by buying his prize off someone else. To his dismay and disappointment, Charmles continues to cover up his dishonesty, proving to his father that in the dark, his son can't even be bothered to do the right thing on his own terms. This quote actually seals it: |
| 477 | -->'''Clavius:''' Very well. Then I congratulate you. I accept this Argon Heart as [[ExactWords proof of your true character]]. |
| 478 | * WhosLaughingNow: This was Dhoulmagus' original motivation for stealing the scepter. [[spoiler:Rhapthorne, however, had other plans for him...]] |
| 479 | * TheWonka: Morrie. When we first meet him, he's standing on a roof staring off into space, then he arbitrarily chooses you because he sees promise. It turns out half the people ''in'' the MonsterArena fall into this category, those who didn't buy their way in. He's not a total weirdo, but he garbles phrases ("I shall be waiting with bad breath"), refers to the arena by an extremely interesting name, and is generally similar to the Trope Namer. |
| 480 | * YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord: Averted. Although it is what Morrie always refers to Hero as, we are never told what "Ragazzo" translates as (it's Italian for boy). Then again, his voice actor apparently wasn't told either, so it makes little difference. |
| 481 | * YouCantThwartStageOne: No matter what you do, you can't prevent [[spoiler:Rapthorne's return nor save any of his victims]]. An especially harsh display of this trope, as it involves several huge [[PlayerPunch Player Punches]], notably [[spoiler:the deaths of [[GoodShepherd Abbot Francisco]], [[TheWoobie David]] and [[CoolOldLady Marta]].]] |
| 482 | * YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: Hey, you defeated Dhoulmagus, great job! Wait... why are Trode and Medea still cursed? |
| 483 | ** If you hadn't been paying attention to the world map and seeing how much was still unexplored, you'd probably think it really was the FinalBoss battle at first. You've just made your way through what gives a very good impression of TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon and fought through a [[OneWingedAngel multi-form]] [[ThatOneBoss extremely difficult]] BossBattle, after all. Even if you ''have'' been looking at the map, the fake final boss is so well-done that it would be easy to forget you've got half the game left to play. |
| 484 | [[/folder]] |
| 485 | ---- |
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