Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context VideoGame / ExitFate

Go To

1[[quoteright:344:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/exit_fate_01_5642.jpg]]
2
3''Exit Fate'' is a freeware RPG similar to ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'', wherein you can recruit seventy-five playable characters. It also bears some similarity to ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' (You can even unlock the menu sets of these two games).
4
5The story centers on a man named Daniel, a colonel in the Kirgard Army. Kirgard and Zelmony are two nations at war, fights breaking out every 20 years or so. On the eve of the invasion of Helman Island, Daniel blacks out and wakes up in the middle of the woods, only to be branded a traitor.
6
7Seeing no other alternative, he joins the other side in order to try and bring a swift end to the war. He is then put in charge of a special unit to defend Zelmony.
8
9You can get it [[http://site.scfworks.com/?page_id=10 here.]].
10
11----
12!!'''This game provides examples of:'''
13* ActionGirl: Lots and lots of 'em.
14* ActuallyFourMooks: Among other examples, the sergeant and soldier at Blackwater are actually ''five'' soldiers and a sergeant.
15* AerithAndBob:
16** Among the cast are Erin, Daniel, Myst, Ayara, Rorschach, Yomiko.
17** A circle of 9 druids include Vardak, Shorak, Milthanis, Marketh, Qualeth, Rivalna, Thistral, Feru... and Alex (who is recruitable).
18* AdventurerArchaeologist: Nomad, and possibly Mandala (though if so she's closer to the thief side).
19* AFatherToHisMen: Daniel Vinyard.
20* AfterCombatRecovery: A la ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'': In addition to the standard revival of KO'd characters at 1 HP at the end of battles, leftover mana is also used for casting healing spells after each battle.
21* AIRoulette
22* AlienGeometries: The Spiritual Plane is a very weird place. [[LampshadeHanging It even has monsters called]] "[[Creator/HPLovecraft Non-Euclidean Horrors]]."
23* AMillionIsAStatistic: The armies have literally hundreds of people dying on each side, but the importance of one noteworthy character's fate is more important than the rest. Daniel eventually calls out [[spoiler:TheEmperor]] on this but [[ShutUpKirk he throws it right back in his face]].
24* TheAlliance: Deconstructed. The State Union of Zelmony was founded by an idealistic statesman who singlehandedly unified five warring countries... however, thirty years later, it's incredibly corrupt, the state governments spend more time bickering amongst themselves than actually getting anything done, and he's been relegated to being stuck as a powerless figurehead.
25* AllianceWithAnAbomination: Enigmatic HumanoidAbomination Shin is a recruitable party member. He and the main character still don't especially like each other though.
26* AlmostDeadGuy: [[spoiler:Boris,the Demon Commandos and Gudrun, among others.]]
27* AlternateUniverse: The ones where the [[spoiler:shadow characters]] come from, presumably.
28* AlwaysABiggerFish: The reason [[spoiler:Clint]] gives up the hunt and turns over the responsibility to Daniel. After fighting [[spoiler:Brunhild]] and nearly getting killed in a CurbStompBattle, he realized he's nowhere near your league, despite training all his life.
29* AnachronismStew: Mostly expressed through the character's outfits and mannerisms. A possible side-effect of giving every character a unique appearance is putting five dudes in plate-mail (each with a different style, mind you) next to a modern-age rock guitarist, or having the kimono-wearing samurai walk up to the man with the plasma gun and ask to use his teleporter. This is probably a natural consequence of deliberately choosing an army's elite soldiers purely on the basis of who stands out the most in a crowd of normal people.
30* AnotherDimension: The Spiritual Plane.
31* AntiFrustrationFeature: The bribe system is really helpful and solves two annoying features of random battles commonly found in [=RPGs=]. The first is, once you get to know the area, it will tell you what type of encounter you get before you battle by the price of the bribe, and the second is it will allow you to skip the battle, which means you can avoid annoying or otherwise inopportune enemies, such as enemies with strong melee attacks when training up mages or enemies comparable to a BossInMookClothing.
32* ApatheticCitizens: Zigzagged, but mostly played straight; some {{NPC}}s have evolving dialogue that changes depending on the situation, but those that do are ''hardly'' panicking: most of the ones who talk about their situation are either optimistically hoping that their leaders will solve their problems for them, or are only vaguely concerned about the problems in the first place, with some {{NPC}}s remarking that things like the economy and their day-to-day lives are more important. The most extreme examples are {{NPC}}s afflicted with WelcomeToCorneria and keep asking if dinner is ready yet.
33* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: You can only have 6 characters active at a time, with two available as backup.
34** Sometimes justified when you have to infiltrate places covertly. More people would get you noticed.
35* ArcWords: "Fate," and more specifically "Hand of Fate."
36* AssassinOutclassin: When [[spoiler:Rorschach]] tries to assassinate Daniel [[spoiler:to avenge his dead sister]], he is rather soundly defeated in a [[DuelBoss one-versus-one battle]].
37* TheAtoner:
38** The {{Optional Boss}}es [[spoiler:Hugin and Munin]] say "Free us... Rescue us... save us..." before it comes to a fight with them.
39** Griever too, although you don't find out ''what'' she's trying to atone for unless you bring her along when you fight [[spoiler:Gudrun]] in the final dungeon.
40** Also [[spoiler:Soth]] after you beat some sense into him.
41* BadassLongcoat:
42** Daniel has a pretty good one.
43** So does Vanrushal, although it isn't quite as awesome.
44** Deke has a [[BadassLabcoat labcoat variation]] that certainly increases his hamminess factor.
45* BackStory: Many, many characters have some of this, but you can only find it by having [[IntrepidReporter Meiko]] interview them. The main plotline itself has some, as well.
46%%* BareFistedMonk: Shadfork.
47* BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: A favorite strategy of both General Keyser and Bast Gunwood.
48* BeefGate: The optional [[spoiler:Shadow]] bosses. You can unlock them even before the fight with the [[spoiler:Demon commandos]], but at this point, they're practically invincible.
49* BettingMiniGame: Johnny's blackjack game.
50* BigGood: Daniel becomes this more and more over the course of the game.
51* BilingualBonus: [[spoiler: Avelion]]'s weapon, Shinryuu, could easily be read as "Shin Ryu", which translates roughly to "True dragon". And then there is Ljusalf, whose name is Norse for "Light elf" (light as in what the sun makes, not in weight).
52* BittersweetEnding: The Last Report from the Hall of Memories is actually a scroll with [[spoiler:a formula for unsummoning demons, which also kills the target]]. When Brunhild reads it to [[spoiler:remove the Hand of Fate from Daniel]], Daniel [[spoiler:survives and the Hand is possessing Brunhild.]] After the following FinalBoss fight, she manages to [[spoiler:suppress the Hand's influence and [[WhatHaveIBecome asks Daniel to read the end of the Last Report formula]]. He refuses to kill her, and so she [[HeroicSacrifice does it herself]], resulting in her and great parts of Vanaheim being atomized.]]
53* BlackEyesOfEvil: Shin, lampshaded.
54* BlockPuzzle: Justified, being part of a dungeon made by a "mad king". A switch puzzle in the same area is DoubleSubverted: [[spoiler:Daniel is scolded when flipping the switches to match the lit torches springs a trap, but it turns out that ''was'' the solution, but he had up and down reversed.]] It ''was'' [[JustifiedTrope made by a MAD king, after all.]]
55* BloodKnight: Pereious, Boris and Clint. Ash is a much more cruel, ruthless example.
56* BodyguardCrush: Ayara has some very severe elements of this. Jasper isn't quite as bad, but it's still there.
57* BossBanter: Fukubei, an optional boss, likes to taunt you right before switching elements.
58* BraggartBoss: Trevor and Sick. [[spoiler: Until ''something happens''...]]
59* BraggingRightsReward: It wouldn't be an RPG without this.
60* BrawnHilda: Arguably Brunhild.
61* BroughtToYouByTheLetterS: Ryan, Carson and other people affiliated with the State Union of Zelmony wear "Z" emblems on their clothing.
62* ButtMonkey: Leonius, to the point where [[spoiler: he betrays Kirgard because he can't stand it anymore.]]
63* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler:Daniel and Brunhild]] are brother and sister, not two brothers, but the idea is the same.
64* CameBackWrong: Derek the skeleton is type 4: He's perfectly fine and decent, ''but he's still a frickin' skeleton.''
65** A drastic downside of the summoning ritual. The demon will be incredibly powerful, but will eventually go mad and become an uncontrollable terror.
66* CaptainErsatz: Quite a few, often in combination with a ShoutOut, see below.
67* CatapultNightmare: Daniel's nightmare at the very beginning of the game.
68* CatchPhrase: Almost every character drops one either when talked to, taken into the active party, or losing their army unit. They usually also fit the character's personality very well, especially the message when they join your active party. Some memorable examples:
69--> Merrick: "Arg! Damn you!" (which ''of course'' is not the joining message,[[note]]which is "I'll show you a thing or two", by the way.[[/note]], but his unit losing text.)
70--> [[NothingIsScarier Shin]]: "Hmm."
71--> Naja: "For all my people!"
72--> [[TalkingAnimal Kl]][[CatsAreSuperior aus]]: "I'll honor you with my presence."
73--> [[YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe Sef]]: "My heart lies beneath my sword! I shall forfend injustice in this world!"
74--> [[LadyOfWar Griever]]: "I go where fate takes me." (unit loss, again)
75--> King: "Arf! Arf!", of course.
76--> [[JokeCharacter Royston]]: "Oh? Are we going on a trip?"[[note]]He even says this when taken to the final dungeon for the epic, world-influencing showdown. A trip. Oookay. But don't expect a picnic...[[/note]]
77* CatsAreSuperior: PlayedForLaughs with [[TalkingAnimal Klaus von Lichtenheim]].
78* ChainPain: Outsider wields a chain as his weapon.
79* CharacterPortrait: Anyone who is either recruitable or relevant to the plot has one. This, like YouALLLookFamiliar, leads to a ChekhovsGunman effect.
80* ChekhovsGunman: Does that random person have a portrait? Remember where they are, 'cause you can probably recruit them later.
81* CherryTapping: Try to finish off a boss with [[ImprobableWeaponUser Beau's book of law or Mai's designer purse]].
82* ChestMonster: In Deke's mansion and Vishnu Citadel. Oddly enough, they also show up as random encounters in several areas without the intermediate "pretend to be a normal treasure chest" step.
83* ChickMagnet: A rather impressive proportion of the cast seems to have a crush on Daniel.
84%%* ChildhoodFriends: Daniel, Angel and Jovian.
85* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Daniel is often accused of this. In actuality, it's mostly due to a combination of being repeatedly framed and [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight ignoring orders he doesn't like]].
86%%* ChurchMilitant: Deus and Luther.
87%%* ClickHello: Done by Clint to [[spoiler:Brunhild]].
88* ColonelBadass: Daniel starts out as a Colonel, and the badassitude is a natural consequence of being the hero of an RPG. Same applies to Angel. Bruce ''tries'', but...
89* CompensatingForSomething: Trevor's ridiculous {{BFS}} is mocked by both Daniel and Sick for this reason.
90* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Played for both comedy and as a show of Yan Angwa's personality when he doesn't see what's special about "frozen water" appearing in the middle of the Oischin Forest... despite both Daniel and Ljusalf explaining it right before asking him.
91* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Status effects. Enemies use them all the time, you don't have them, and you can't even prevent them the way you can in ''VideoGame/LastScenario''. On the plus side, ''positive'' status effects are extremely helpful.
92* ConflictingLoyalty: Invoked by Angel by forcing Daniel to choose between his friendship to Jovian and his ideals early [[spoiler:and later]] in the game. [[spoiler:Angel ''thinks'' Daniel chose his ideals, betraying their friendship, when he really didn't have a choice at all. However, she didn't expect him to TakeAThirdOption instead.]]
93* ContinuityNod: There is a man in one town telling his grandchildren a story about "a boy who wanted to become a hero." For other references to ''VideoGame/LastScenario'', see the ShoutOut examples on this page.
94%%* CoolOldGuy:
95%%** Bast, in spades.
96%%** Rashnu, although he's a bit... eccentric.
97* CrazyEnoughToWork: Bast's plans against Keyser. Justified; he goes for the crazy option since he knows Keyser will have [[ThePlan considered all the rational possibilities]].
98* CripplingOverspecialization: Your war units.
99* CrypticConversation:
100** It takes a really long time to learn what the heck the conversations between Brunhild and Siegfried mean.
101** Nearly everything Yan Angwa says, with heavy LampshadeHanging by Daniel.
102--->"Once again, I have no idea what you're talking about."
103* CulturedWarrior: Boris is an evil version of this.
104* CustomUniform: No one on any group's high command seems to follow any sort of standard uniform.
105** Seriously, how does Daniel get away with [[BadassLongcoat wearing that nifty coat]] in an ''army''? Angel and Bruce are the same rank as him to start with, and also wear totally different outfits. In a flashback scene they are shown as new recruits, and at that point they all wear the standard Kirgard Plate seen on ordinary soldiers like Ayara.
106** Even the Kirgard legion commanders, all of whom wear plate armor and a cape, have different ''styles'' of armor and different colored capes.
107** Within the Elysium army, the variety in armour is probably justified by the democratic, individual-focused "structure."
108* CutsceneIncompetence:
109** Fairly early on, a couple of soldiers somehow manage to knock out ''all eight'' people in the party without a fight after Daniel [[StupidityIsTheOnlyOption falls into a painfully obvious trap]].
110** In some of the later war battles, you'll probably start wishing you could just take your party in and cut a bloody swath through the opposing army without bothering with yours, particularly when you've been fighting the enemy {{mook}}s enough that you can wipe out six of them before they even get the chance to attack. The last battle in particular.
111* CutscenePowerToTheMax: In his HeelFaceTurn cutscene, [[spoiler:Rorschach]] strikes down more than a dozen soldiers from behind, but later, when he becomes playable, he is one of the weaker characters.
112* DarkIsNotEvil: [[TokenEvilTeammate Most of]] the [[CastingAShadow Dark-elemental characters]] you can recruit. Shin is definitely ''something'' evil (God knows what) and a few others (like Deke the MadScientist) are questionably moral at best, but most of the rest are perfectly nice people (Francesca is just a goth and Derek is an ordinary guy who just happens to be a skeleton, for instance). Even [[spoiler: Vanrushal, a ''vampire'',]] is decent enough, if rather smug. Played straight with [[BlatantLies legitimate importer]] Marcello and, as already mentioned, Shin.
113* DeathSeeker: Arguably [[spoiler: Leonius]], who wants to be punished by Daniel in a [[DuelBoss duel]] ''because'' he knows he can't win. Well, he ''does'' wield a poison sword, but Daniel knew anti-poison spells and still had the rest of the team close to heal him. Maybe [[spoiler:Leonius]] wanted the fight to still hold a minimum of equality. A last burst of anger and desperate pride...
114* DefeatMeansFriendship:
115** [[spoiler:General Keyser, Colonel Merrick, Captain Erin and Jasper]], as well as a couple of optional characters who you have to beat in some way or another. Sort of inverted with Shadfork, who you have to "[[ILetYouWin lose]]" to in a race to recruit.
116** Daniel tries and fails to invoke this with [[spoiler:Pereious]].
117--->''"I think you misunderstand. We're still enemies."''
118** Here's a list of the optional ones: [[spoiler:Paris (but only if you defeat him really soundly), Naja, Johnny (who demands that you beat him at ''gambling''), Reod (if you call outsmarting defeating), Deke (indirectly), Soth and by proxy Shin, Vanrushal, Mai]].
119* DefectorFromDecadence:
120** [[spoiler:Bast]] stays with you even after you [[spoiler:rejoin Kirgard]].
121** [[spoiler:Tarlia]], who defects to Elysium when she can't put up with her higher-ups anymore.
122** Daniel's action of [[spoiler:rejoining Kirgard due to his reluctance serving the stubborn, corrupted Republic of Zelmony]] also counts.
123* DegradedBoss: Sort of. When the party first runs into them, one Mist Monster counts as a boss, but it's pretty clearly established that there are a whole lot more of them deeper in the forest. Sure enough, they're all over the place as random encounters once you get back there.
124* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler:Daniel's SuperPoweredEvilSide]] is actually a very powerful demonic spirit. Towards the end of the game, after [[spoiler:Trevor and Sick get possessed in the same manner]], it's revealed that [[spoiler:Almenga found a way to summon demons into soldiers in their army to turn them into SuperSoldiers. The demons eventually took over, naturally, and nearly destroyed the country.]]
125* DiscOneNuke: Outsider can be hired as early as Chapter 3 for a then-outrageous price of 1400 Arn; however, he's worth the pricetag, not only starting at level 18 (at least 5 levels higher than other characters if recruited as soon as possible) as a good melee character, but also allowing early recruitment of Francesca (who needs a Dark-element party member) and acting as a commander in field battles. In fact, if he isn't hired in Chapter 3, he becomes unrecruitable, [[spoiler:what with Kirgard invading Mayfall and all]], until near the end of Chapter 4.
126* DualBoss: Trevor and Sick, [[RecurringBoss several times]]. Also an optional fight with [[spoiler:Hugin and Munin]].
127* DualWielding: Rorschach.
128* DuelBoss: At one point, Daniel is forced to fight off an assassin by himself. [[spoiler:Leonius]] also requests, and is granted, a one-one-one fight with him.
129** Frore is set up to fight his longtime friend/rival Kella at the end of the request to recruit him. However, they both back down at the last second because they realize how pointless it would be.
130* DumbBlonde: ZigZagged. Tiffany, the {{stripperiffic}} dancing girl, eventually leaves her partner to pursue a career in academics. But after you recruit her, she admits that she found all that studying to be extremely boring. However, she seems to have either learned a lot or have a lot of talent, since she has a very high magic stat that can't come from nowhere. (Though admittedly intelligence and magic power aren't the same in this game)
131* EldritchLocation: The Spiritual Plane. Weird monsters, an Creator/MCEscher-esque sky and InterfaceScrew...
132* ElegantGothicLolita: Francesca... in a MedievalStasis setting.
133* TheEmperor: [[spoiler:Siegfried, of the Almengan Empire.]]
134* EnemyWithin
135* EpicFlail: Boris.
136* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler:Leonius, trusted general of Kirgard's fourth legion, sells out his country to Almenga. Mainly because he's sick of [[ButtMonkey the constant abuse, mockery, and failure]].]]
137* TheEvilEmpire: [[spoiler:Almenga.]]
138%%* EvilRedhead: Tiamat.
139* {{Expy}}:
140** In-universe example: Ayara and Jasper are effectively the same character with different bosses, except Jasper's got a few years experience over her. [[spoiler:They even marry in the epilogue]]. Gudrun seems to be what happens when that same archetype then gets applied a third time to a very bad boss.
141** Keyser is pretty much what [[VideoGame/LastScenario Drakovic]] would be if he wasn't a NonActionGuy.
142** Bruce is essentially [[VIdeoGame/FinalFantasyVIII Seifer Almasy]] with dark skin, white hair, and a different name.
143** Mike doesn't have the personality of [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII Seifer]] but he definitely looks like him with the blond hair, white jacket and choice of weaponry.
144* EyesAlwaysShut: Angel, to the point where some fans assume she's blind. Even the younger version of her in flashbacks has her eyes closed.
145* FaceHeelTurn: Arguably, [[spoiler:Leonius]].
146* FalseFlagOperation: [[spoiler:The Kelsinger incident, featuring Almenga soldiers. ZigZagged due to Daniel's involvement via [[DemonicPossession the Hand of Fate]]...]]
147* FanGirl: Francesca seems to be a goth who speaks in PurpleProse. Then you bring her a Dark Element character and she starts gushing showing that she's still a teenage girl. Then she goes back to her normal self.
148* FantasticScience: At Faraday University, there are lectures of magic theory.
149* FantasyGunControl: Plays this straight for the most part, but Clint has a cowboy six-shooter ([[ThisIsMyBoomstick much to Daniel's confusion]]), and Deke has his own PLASMA GUN! (which is one of the game's better weapons, too.) This is Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in Clint's case, since he's from a different country that has presumably made it past the MedievalStasis the rest of the world is in. And Deke ''is'' a mad scientist, though how he got the materials to make something like a plasma gun in a Medieval Stasis world is anyone's guess.
150* TheFederation: The State Union seems to have been one of these when Ryan was young and the government was less corrupt.
151* FieldPowerEffect: Both Demon [[spoiler:Commandos]] possess one such spell; one buff to his entire party and one debuff to the entire enemy party.
152* FieryRedhead: Jovian, who is, naturally, best friends with TheStoic Angel. They even [[RedOniBlueOni wear red and blue, respectively]].
153* FlashOfPain: In the color of the [[ElementalRockPaperScissors element]] the enemy was attacked with. On a critical hit, the whole screen flashes.
154* {{Foil}}: Erin and Jasper serve as foils for Daniel and Ayara when [[LawfulStupid choosing the]] MyCountryRightOrWrong path.
155* {{Foreshadowing}}:
156** All the {{cryptic conversation}}s, not to mention the occasional line that's absolutely redolent with irony on a replay; Daniel's [[spoiler:"Is it justifiable to murder your own father to put an end to a war?"]] is particularly memorable.
157** The opening scene would be quite important if anyone actually remembered it by the time it becomes relevant.
158* ForgottenFriendNewFoe: [[spoiler:Daniel and Brunhild.]]
159* ForWantOfANail: After you defeat one of the [[spoiler:shadow]] [[OptionalBoss bosses]], they show you a flashback cutscene of their past, only they made a different decision than [[spoiler:the character they are a shadow of. This leads to their eventual death.]] For instance, in [[spoiler:Shadow Daniel]]'s cutscene, the party decides to try to find Brunhild when she runs instead of moving on immediately; as a result, [[spoiler:the soldier with the Portal Key gets tired of waiting for someone and uses it before they get there. They try to get home via ship from Ashton Port, not knowing it's been taken over, find out the hard way that Pereious and Ash have conquered mainland Kirgard, and are executed.]] This was actually the point though -- the tellers' dialogue amounts to warning/informing the main characters of just how unbelievably lucky they all were.
160* FourStarBadass: Essentially every single general in the entire game; several of them are among the most powerful player characters. The only real exception is [[ButtMonkey Leonius]].
161* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The Kirgard generals and Bruce make a five-temperament version. Jovian is enthusiastic and cheerful (sanguine), Bruce is a HotBlooded {{Jerkass}} (choleric), Keyser is an analytical and perfectionistic {{chessmaster}} (melancholic), Leonius is a [[TheEeyore doleful]] ButtMonkey (supine), and Eander is middle-of-the-road phlegmatic.
162* FrictionlessIce: In the Elemental Mansion, where Ice enchanted the floor to be a slippery obstacle.
163* GambitRoulette: Arguably the entire plot was one by [[spoiler:the emperor of Almenga]].
164* GameBreakingBug: Playing it on Vista often results in no text being displayed unless you rename the [=ExampleFont=].ini into Font.ini and insert your font of choice there.
165* GameFace: Whenever [[spoiler:Daniel Vinyard]]'s SuperPoweredEvilSide breaks out, his pupils disappear, strange shadows appear across his face and he gains a freakish SlasherSmile.
166* GeneralRipper: Ash, though rather than being paranoid and xenophobic, he's a [[SociopathicSoldier sociopathic]] BloodKnight.
167* GetAholdOfYourselfMan: At one point when Daniel is getting particularly panicky, Angel delivers a well-deserved BitchSlap to snap him out of it.
168* GlobalAirship: Averted, but you can get a Teleporter that works from your castle, as well as a "Portal Key" that [[WarpWhistle takes you back to the castle from anywhere on the world map]].
169* GlassCannon:
170** Klaus. You'd be surprised how much he hits for [[GuideDangIt if you find him soon enough]].
171** Griever's war unit. Where most units have base stats around four or five in both attack and defense, her cavalry group has a base attack of ''seven'' and a base defense of ''two''.
172* GoldfishPoopGang: Trevor and Sick. [[spoiler:At first.]]
173* GoodRepublicEvilEmpire: Inverted at the start of the game - You're fighting for the Kingdom of Kirgard against the Republic of Zelmony. [[spoiler:Played straight at the end of the game, though, when you're fighting for the Republic of Elysium against the Empire of Almenga.]]
174* GrimUpNorth: [[spoiler:Almenga.]]
175* GuideDangIt: Some of the optional characters are a real pain to find. Frore in particular, who you have to hunt down in a bunch of locations around the world with minimal clues. Or Klaus, who moves around in such a way that if you carefully explore everywhere you visit and think to talk to the cat, he's not a problem. But if you miss him in one place, he's a pain in the neck to hunt down.
176* GuineaPigFamily: [[spoiler:Siegfried used his own unborn child as a demon host, also causing the death of his wife in the process.]]
177* TheGunslinger: Clint.
178* HealthDamageAsymmetry: At the end, your highest-leveled characters will most likely have 1250-2000 HP. The last optional boss has ''25000''. Many enemies also have attacks almost as strong as yours - the balance is kept by your party usually consisting of six people, your healing spells, and the {{status buff}}s you obtain later.
179* HeelFaceTurn:
180** Arguably, [[spoiler:Tarlia, Orlando, Ice]], and possibly [[spoiler:Vanrushal.]]
181** Also [[spoiler:Governor Miller]].
182* HeroAntagonist: Daniel winds up switching sides often enough that he's often fighting people he likes and respects.
183* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:After the final boss fight, Brunhild, who is then a host for the Hand of Fate, kills herself with an ancient spell to destroy the Hand, much to Daniel's grief.]]
184* HeroMustSurvive: Losing Daniel's unit makes you lose a war battle. On the plus side, this applies to enemies too; if you can take out the commander's unit, it doesn't matter how much of their army they have left, though you get a higher score if you defeat all of them.
185* HerrDoktor: Deke has a heavy German FunetikAksent. [[LampshadeHanging Joe thinks he's faking it]].
186* HeterosexualLifePartners: Outsider and Mike seem to be somewhere between this and a [[ParentalSubstitute father/son relationship]].
187* HiddenDepths: PlayedForLaughs with Hawk the stereotypical farmer, who due to wondering about his FunetikAksent eventually discovers his interest in etymology and plans to become a linguist.
188* HighlyVisibleNinja: Gilbert wears a ''bright red'' ninja costume. However, his interview with Meiko implies he's just [[TechnicolorNinjas so damn good he can still make it work]]. Rorschach and Yomiko wear blue and green/black respectively, which are at least a bit less conspicuous.
189* HonorBeforeReason: Daniel [[spoiler:cooperates with the Matrech governor's staged trial]] because he thinks it's the right thing to do, even though he knows the whole thing is just an excuse to get rid of him. [[SubvertedTrope Luckily]], his subordinates recognize that he's being an idiot and [[spoiler:rescue him after the KangarooCourt convicts him.]]
190* HopelessBossFight: Against [[spoiler:the Demon Commandos]] the first time you fight them.
191* HumanoidAbomination: Quite possibly Shin. [[spoiler:Demon-possessed people]] may also qualify.
192* IceBreaker: If one of your guys gets hit with a "frozen" status effect, get them cured or off the front lines ''quick''.
193* IdiotBall: Daniel has a moment like this early on that actually ''did'' cause a bunch of problems. Yes, trust the non-uniformed teenager who tells you to leave the rest of your entourage behind and follow him down an alleyway so he can take you to the governor's mansion. This will definitely not result in you getting kidnapped in a sudden attack of CutsceneIncompetence.
194* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: After meeting [[spoiler:Brunhild]] at Kelsinger Pass, [[spoiler:Daniel]] regains control maybe two seconds before killing his companions.
195* ImprobablePowerDiscrepancy:
196** How in the world did Kirgard win the war ten years before when even Almengan ''slimes'' can kill a soldier from either other country in one hit?
197** How is an Elven boy just as strong as a Kirgard colonel with an established history of fighting said Almegan soldiers?
198* ImprobableWeaponUser: Hoo boy. The playable characters include wielders of ''a designer purse'', two books, a fan, a walking cane, a sceptre, playing cards, a paintbrush, razorwire, a [[MusicalAssassin harp]], a pencil, a monster tooth, a [[ChainPain metal chain]] and a ''[[ChurchMilitant Holy Water Sprinkler]]''.
199** And you can take the designer purse to a ''blacksmith'' to improve it. [[FridgeLogic They must be horribly overcharging you for dropping something heavy in the bottom.]] Having your blacksmith sharpen the teeth of a dog or the claws of a cat doesn't make more sense, either.
200* InAWorld: The (cryptic) SequelHook.
201* IncomingHam: Luther acts this way, but [[DeconstructedTrope Vanrushal makes him look ridiculous]].
202* InfinityPlusOneSword: The Holy Grail is ''incredibly'' useful - equip a character with it and they can use it infinite times to pretty significantly heal anyone in the party for free.
203* InformedEquipment
204* InsaneTrollLogic
205-->'''Luther:''' Everyone knows that vampires all play organs! That means, if you're playing an organ, you must be a vampire!
206** As it happens, the organ player ([[spoiler:[[FriendToAllLivingThings Royston]]]]) is about as far from being a vampire as it's possible to get.
207* InsurmountableWaistHeightFence
208* InterfaceScrew: [[spoiler:The Spiritual Plane]]. Most annoying: some parts invert the controls, which makes the dungeon even harder and causes massive disorientation. At least the boss is pretty easy.
209* IntrepidReporter: Meiko. She'll even try to interview [[{{Jerkass}} Yan]] [[TheQuietOne Angwa]], [[HumanoidAbomination Shin]], the non-TalkingAnimal King, and ''herself''.
210* {{Irony}}: Teej named his guitar "Harmony".
211* ItemCaddy: Aside from Reod, who's an excellent spellcaster, most of the thief characters have mediocre stats at best. Joe is the worst offender, being pretty much useless when he's not actually stealing things. Roshash also has high speed, and in fact the highest speed growth in the game, which in the later games means he will have more mana to cast status buffs, which don't depend on the magic stat, but don't expect him to do high damage.
212* {{Jerkass}}: Yan Angwa almost never talks, but when he does, it's usually to say something nasty.
213* JobSystem: There are four interchangeable unit types in war battles. There are no {{Character Level}}s or special skills for units, though; the unit class only affects attack, defense and range. Each unit leader can handle each job more or less well; units using a job their leader isn't good at receive a penalty.
214* JokeCharacter:
215** Klaus is a real pain to get, and has pitiful defense. To make matters worse, he can't wear armor. Though Klaus is needed to recruit a useful character, and he does fairly high damage with a meat shield since he combines abnormal speed with decent attack power.
216** King, however, is an ordinary dog and doesn't even compare to Klaus, since he's only slightly better defensively and nowhere near as good offensively.
217** And Royston, a senile old man who sucks at combat. Although, [[MagikarpPower at high level he has the highest MP+ stat of all the characters, the fourth highest magical defense]], and a tolerable magical strength, making him a good support mage with a meat shield.
218** Bartolli the shopkeeper is basically a melee version of Royston.
219** Fitch becomes it if you re-recruit him, but at the point you get him, he's rather useful since, though weak, as one of two party members he still makes quite a difference.
220* KangarooCourt: [[spoiler:After Daniel is arrested, the Governor of Matrech stages one of these.]]
221* KansasCityShuffle: Keyser and Rock both ''love'' plans that involve deliberately leaking information to the enemy. Naturally, when collaborating at one point, they wind up with a plan that involves deliberately leaking ''two'' different stories about what they're going to do, with the intent that the enemy will realize one of them is fake, think they're very clever for seeing through the ruse, and assume the other is real.
222* KickChick: IntrepidReporter Meiko.
223* KindheartedCatLover: Griever can only be recruited by talking to her with [[TalkingAnimal Klaus]] in the party; an NPC in town says that she's been feeding stray cats to boot.
224** {{Invoked}} on top of that: the ''reason'' she joins is because she thinks that anyone that such a noble, innocent creature as a cat trusts ''must'' be a good person.
225* KudzuPlot: Explaining the plot of this game is ''hard'', even if you don't mind revealing spoilers. A politically-focused HighFantasy with a large cast, a complex backstory, and a lot of side-plots will do that to you. Still, most of the important plot arcs are wrapped up or left as clear {{Sequel Hook}}s.
226* LadyOfWar: Several, but especially Griever, Tarlia, Angel, and Erin.
227* LamePunReaction: The "[[QuirkyMinibossSquad Caretakers]]" were so named by Boris because: "If you get in our way, we'll take care of you!" Most of the other characters respond to this with, "[[VisibleSilence ....]]"
228* LaResistance: The Highland Rebels.
229* LargeHam:
230** Boris, Luther, Rock and Shadfork, among others. Deke deserves a special mention - even his ''battle sprite'' oozes ham.
231** Trevor and Sick, the two elite Kirgard Commandos who declare Daniel their nemesis. Trevor constantly spouts over the top statements with an air of pure seriousness.
232--> "We will not rest until we have wiped out your existence and thrown your remains in an active volcano!"
233* LaserGuidedAmnesia:
234** So very, very much. Daniel can't even remember conversations about the subject for more than a few minutes.
235** And then there's Nikolai, who has a much more standard case of this. He doesn't remember his name for quite a while after you can meet him, but immediately remembers everything with some prompting later on.
236* LateCharacterSyndrome: Odds are you're not going to wind up using Gilbert or Yomiko much.
237* LaughablyEvil: Despite everything that happens, Trevor and Sick are still... entertaining in their very own way.
238* {{Leitmotif}}: Even though it's imported from another game, the Hand of Fate has music that plays every time it's on screen. Clint[[note]]who uses the Turks Theme from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''[[/note]], Brunhild, and the Commandos also have their own music.
239* LethalJokeCharacter: Klaus the cat has pathetic defense and can't wear armor (because he's, well, a ''cat''), but he makes for one hell of a GlassCannon if you put him behind someone with better physical defense.
240* LightIsNotGood: There are monsters who are light-elemental, and, of course, light-elemental damage spells. This is kicked up a notch when [[spoiler:''the final boss'']] is light-elemental as well.
241* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: Rather spectacularly ''inverted''; due to the way the game's battle system is handled, characters in the back rows can't be targeted (except by ranged attacks) if there's a fighter in front of them. Thus, fighters often take the role of meat shields while {{Squishy Wizard}}s in the back dish out extremely powerful magic and healing. However, once you start getting the -strike spells and the ability to max out weapons, fighters can have very powerful attacks and can exploit elemental weaknesses (one of the reasons spells are so powerful), easily outclassing even top-tier spells and for no MP cost to boot. Thus, the casters become relegated to healing and buffing while the fighters dish out most of the damage.
242* TheLoad: Several characters can become this when they are a RequiredPartyMember for a certain plot event. Fortunately, you can always just put them in your entourage (two slots for characters who won't appear in battle) and fill your actual party with more useful characters.
243** Sally at the Shiro arc. She sucks at battle and doesn't even have a helpful special ability, but you MUST put her into your party at that point, which blocks a slot for an actually usable character.
244* LudicrousPrecision: Wilona is pretty much always calculating things to a hundredth of a percentage point.
245* LuckBasedMission: To recruit an optional party member, you have to win 5000 in currency from him in blackjack. Be prepared for many restarts if you want to get him when he's first available. (Or you can wait until later when you can bet 10000 at a time, but where's the fun in that?)
246* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:Daniel and Brunhild are the children of the Almengan emperor]]. This is blatantly {{foreshadow}}ed by the opening cutscene starting a new game and an earlier [[TheReveal reveal]] that [[spoiler:Daniel and Brunhild are siblings, probably twins]].
247* MachoMasochism: Boris is bad about this, to the point that [[spoiler:it gets him killed]].
248* MadScientist: Deke.
249* MageKiller: Clint was trained to kill [[spoiler:the demon-possessed]] his whole life.
250* MagikarpPower: Almost every single JokeCharacter.
251** Royston, a sweet old man with a walking cane, actually ends up with the highest amount of MP+ and great [=MDef=]. This and his decent magic stat make him a usable mage.
252** Beau is actually a good spell caster on par with Midian and the others despite starting at level 10 and seeming weak.
253** TalkingAnimal Klaus is a powerful GlassCannon with good MP+ and light-element for healing.
254** Whatever {{Stripperiffic}} ValleyGirl Tiffany studied at Faraday University, it helped: Her magical powers can compete with several powerful mages like Mai.
255* MagneticHero: Acknowledged. The maximum count of ''75 player characters'' should tell enough.
256* MarathonBoss: All the secret [[spoiler:shadow]] bosses. Even when you've been LevelGrinding so much that you're able to OHKO nearly everything, even the Dracoknights from the last dungeon, and even [[spoiler:the Hand of Fate itself]] wouldn't get more than two turns, you still need about 10 minutes to defeat a bunch of those nasty [[spoiler:Shadow Legionnaire]] random encounters. The bosses themselves need many many turns to get down - it's the worst with [[spoiler:Ljusalf and Yan Angwa]]. All of them have at least one TotalPartyKill attack, and your buffs ''will'' wear out. Fighting them is dominated by buffing, restoring fallen characters and refreshing buffs, and you are likely to run out of most healing spells.
257* MarathonLevel: Vanaheim is two or three times longer than any other dungeon and has ''three'' bosses before you reach the final boss.
258* MarkOfTheBeast: [[spoiler:Soth]]'s eyes and hair are turned black by his deal with Shin.
259* MasterOfUnlocking: Reod. He only does it once onscreen, but is nevertheless implied to be this.
260* MasterOfNone: Sadly, due to the focus on stats, any character who doesn't have a strong specialization (Sally, Richard) ultimately ends up being useless due to poor damage, average health, and only wasting spells dedicated casters could be using, so they have no place in team setups. Daniel almost suffers from this himself, but he ends up making a rather good healer despite not being as good a caster as some.
261* MeaningfulName:
262** [[spoiler:[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiamat Tiamat]] is a dragon.]] Also of note are a few of the Almengan characters' names - Siegfried ("peaceful victory") and Gudrun ("knows the ways of battle") are two particularly fitting ones.
263** A lot of the character names in the backstory are from Myth/NorseMythology-- Hugin and Munin are named after Odin's ravens, for instance.
264** The name "Shin" is related to "xindu", roughly translated "deadly silence".
265* MedalOfDishonor: You get a "Badge of Shame" for finishing a war battle with an F rating.
266* MercyKill: [[spoiler:Some demon-possessed characters - or their ghosts - beg to be "freed".]]
267* {{Metagame}}: Keyser and Bast's strategies are often more about psyching out the enemy commander than about the actual, well, strategy. ''Especially'' when they're up against each other.
268* {{Metaphorgotten}}: Trevor will often mix metaphors into an incomprehensible (but hilarious) Frankensteinian mess.
269* MildlyMilitary
270* MissingSecret: One of the game's greatest secrets, the identity of [[spoiler:Yan Angwa]], is never uncovered. May be a SequelHook.
271* MutualDisadvantage: Characters of the same element deal less damage to each other, and with characters of opposing elements it's the other way round. With meat shielding and elemental enchants, you can turn this to your favour or change it, though.
272* MyGreatestFailure: In the flashbacks to the pasts and [[spoiler:eventual deaths]] of the aforementioned [[spoiler:shadow]] [[OptionalBoss bosses]], one even explored a decision which the maker spent his entire life regretting and second-guessing: [[spoiler:Eander, feeling responsible for the King's death and the fall of Kirgard.]] However, if he had refused [[spoiler:Leonius's request to be transferred to the defense of St. Reinard, Leonius would have shown up anyway and Eander and his legion would have been killed]].
273* MyMasterRightOrWrong:
274** Ayara follows Daniel no matter ''what'' he does. Jasper is similarly devoted to Erin. And, emphasis on the "wrong" part, [[spoiler:Gudrun to Siegfried (for [[UnrequitedLoveLastsForever a certain reason]])]].
275** Subverted with [[spoiler:Tarlia]]. After seeing all these characters who will do anything, no matter how uncomfortable they feel about it personally, to protect their master, [[spoiler:Tarlia leading a chunk of the army directly against her commander Ash]] comes as a bit of a surprise.
276* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: It's not that hard to figure out that Tiamat is the most dangerous of [[QuirkyMinibossSquad the Caretakers]].
277* NebulousEvilOrganisation: Arguably [[spoiler:the Brotherhood]], although it isn't strictly criminal.
278** The SequelHook suggests that it could be subverted.
279* NintendoHard: Getting an A rank on some war battles is nigh-impossible.
280** War battles in general are ''much'' more difficult than the RPG aspect of the game, even if you have all the available characters up to that point.
281* NoHeroDiscount: While this is to be expected in any RPG worth its salt, it becomes extremely jarring when you can recruit characters to run various shops in your castle. All of them work ''for'' you, but ''they all charge full price for their wares''. The only exception is that someone occasionally arranges a free inn stay for you.
282* NoNameGiven: [[spoiler:"Yan Angwa" is actually the name of a religious order.]]
283* NonElemental: Spectral Prisms.
284* NotQuiteTheRightThing: Most of the bonus cutscenes unlocked by beating the shadow bosses center around this.
285* OhCrap: When the gang hears the CatchPhrase of a... certain character, this is their general reaction.
286-->'''Angel''': ...[[spoiler:Daniel]]? Are you okay?
287-->[[spoiler:'''Hand of Fate''']]: Oh yes... [[SlasherSmile I've never felt better]].
288* OminousPipeOrgan: Vanrushal's battle theme, taken from ''VideoGame/SuikodenII'.
289* OminousSavePrompt: Before some of the war battles and the final boss.
290* OneOfTheseDoorsIsNotLikeTheOther: In Credence Castle.
291* OneManArmy: One war battle is against [[spoiler:the Demon Commandos]]. You have to call in ''your whole army'' to take on [[spoiler:two guys]], and it still isn't easy.
292* OneWingedAngel: Subverted for laughs.
293--> '''Trevor:''' [[StockPhrase It's shameful, but we're not done for yet! We can still show them our greatest skill!]]\
294'''Daniel:''' They still have more?\
295'''Sick:''' Uh, Trev? What's our greatest skill?\
296'''Trevor:''' The art of escaping, of course!
297* OnlyOneName: Notable exceptions are Daniel Vinyard, Angel Windsor, Jovian Knight, Charles Ryan, Bast Gunwood, Siegfried JÃ¥dengand and Clint Harrison. Just about every other character in known by only one name. The game isn't really consistent about using the first or the last name either, even when it includes a title ([[FirstNameBasis Erin/Captain Erin]], [[LastNameBasis Keyser/General Keyser]], ...).
298* OneSizeFitsAll: Mostly played straight, but averted by a few unique female-only/male-only pieces of armour (Silver Tiara, Valkyrie Dress, Circlet of Insanity) and by the two animal {{Optional Party Member}}s who can't wear armour at all.
299* OptionalBoss: ''Six'' [[spoiler: shadow versions of important party members]], reachable if you recruit all 75 party members, plus an unrelated pair of ghosts from the backstory hidden behind misleading architecture. Also, a slew of (simulated) bonus war battles (as many bonus ones as storyline ones!), culminating in a nearly-impossible battle against [[spoiler:[[MirrorMatch a souped-up version of your own army]]]].
300* OptionalPartyMember: 48 of 'em.
301* OrphanageOfLove: The Levier Orphanage.
302* OurDragonsAreDifferent: One SideQuest is devoted to two dragons: one a good dragon in [[VoluntaryShapeshifting human form]] and another, evil dragon that's been terrorizing a village.
303* OurElvesAreDifferent: Standard arrogant fantasy elves, complete with an elf saying "We are closer to the elements". [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything They don't do much]], however, since they want to maintain political neutrality.
304* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Despite [[LogicalFallacies what Luther says]], this is not because they play organs.
305* OutOfFocus: Many characters who were important in the beginning are just pushed into the background later on. Of course, this makes a certain amount of sense, given the number of characters and the increasing scope of the conflict. The game developer was clearly aware of this, too; there's an entire mini-arc around chapters 6 and 7 where Ayara gets depressed because Daniel doesn't pay as much attention to her anymore.
306* OverratedAndUnderleveled: Jasper. He's treated like a powerful fighter, but his stats are subpar.
307* PamphletShelf: Found in the Hall of Memory.
308* ParanoiaGambit: Bast's plan against Keyser [[spoiler:after Mayfall in invaded]]. The logic is that if they do anything that makes sense, then [[CrazyPrepared Keyser will have taken it into account]], but if they do something that doesn't seem remotely worth the trouble, it'll throw him off and make him start questioning his own decisions.
309* PathOfInspiration: The Brotherhood, possibly.
310* ThePawn: [[spoiler:Daniel. It's just fate.]]
311* PermanentlyMissableContent: Mostly averted! Not a single potential party member in the game can be permanently missed. Secret dialogues and special boss items, however, can. (What do you mean, you didn't haul along an otherwise-useless thief character and protect them while they [[LuckBasedMission attempt]] to [[VideoGameStealing steal that armor]] from the boss?)
312* PerpetualFrowner: Yan Angwa.
313* PersonalityPowers: Variously averted, subverted, and played straight. Daniel, the [[AllLovingHero nice]], [[ReluctantWarrior pacifistic]] hero is light-elemental, while hotheaded, berserk Joshua is water-elemental. Most characters just seem to have a random element tacked on to them that doesn't have anything to do with their personality at all, though. Elements seem to be a [[GameplayAndStorySegregation gameplay element]] mostly.
314** There tends to be an underlying theme for each element for each obtainable character. Electricity: Focus on one's job or training. Water: Wisdom or the seeking of knowledge (Tiffany went to the collage of her own volition). Ice: Devotion to a metaphysical or abstract (Rock to leadership, Cid to music, the shopkeepers all care about their jobs.)Fire: Energy and restlessness. Dark: single minded focus and ruthless pursuit (Myst to the dark arts, Franciska to being dark, Deke is not evil, but relentless in his focus in getting knowledge). Light: Innocence and determination. (Even Klaus is innocent to some extent, even if he isn't sweet.)
315* PirateGirl: Sally. Might also be exaggerated, since she's "just" a young girl who owns her own ship. Her grandfather had been a famous {{pirate}}, but she herself isn't an actual one -- just acts like one, complete with an accent.
316* ThePlan: Most of Keyser's and Bast's plans are one of these.
317* PlayingBothSides: Variation; [[spoiler:Brunhild framed Daniel in order to pit him against Kirgard. The timing of the war was probably the Empire's fault as well, and they certainly benefited from it.]]
318* PlotTumor: The [[spoiler:Demon Commandos]] practically have an arc devoted to defeating them, though Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad...
319* PowerFloats: [[spoiler:The Demon Commandos.]]
320* PrecisionFStrike: Joe, upon being taken to Deke's house for Deke's recruitment mini-quest, who he stole from:
321-->Oh shit.
322** Also, take [[spoiler: orlando to confront his ex boss Timat]] and he says a line.
323-->Oh crap!
324* PromotedToPlayable: Eventually happens to ''all'' characters for whom DefeatMeansFriendship, except Rashnu. WordOfGod is that he was ''meant'' to be recruitable, but technical limitations (The total cap for party members that could be put into the engine) prevented it.
325* ProperlyParanoid:
326--> '''Jovian:''' ''Everything'' looks like a trap to you, Keyser.
327::While that particular example was legit, General Keyser is so suspicious of everything (on the principle that if ''he'' was doing it, it would definitely be a trap) that he's very hard to trick.
328* PurpleIsTheNewBlack: Dark-elemental spells are purple along with black.
329* PutOnABus: Most characters who disappear in the ending disappear in a way that makes you know they ''will'' reappear.
330* TheQuietOne:
331** Sormaus, to the point of ridiculousness. {{Lampshade}}d in his interview.
332** Yan Angwa is willing to help Daniel beat up monsters so he can watch him, but won't explain a damn thing no matter how helpful it would be, much to Daniel's exasperation. When he finally does decide to chime in with useful information, everyone is rather shocked.
333** Played for chills with Shin, who (which?) rarely says anything aside from "Hmm."
334* QuirkyMinibossSquad: Two of em', the "Caretakers" and the "Elite Kirgard[[spoiler:/Zelmony]] Commandos".
335* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: A reporter, a university student, a lawyer, a dancing girl, two elves, a vampire, an elemental, a mob boss, a ''cat''... the list goes on.
336* RecurringBoss: The Commandos.
337* RecurringElement: In a ''Franchise/FinalFantasy''esque manner, some elements from ''VideoGame/LastScenario'' reappear in ''Exit Fate''.
338** Enemies: Aside from standard mooks, some very SCF-specific creatures like the Starshine/Sirius Lux pair, the Eyestalkers, the Belgugon, and the giant killer squirrel BossInMookClothing called Mara.
339** Bosses: Riftgate, Pestilence, and Rashnu. As one could expect, they're not the same persons/creatures though; some of them, however share the fighting style of their namesake. One example is the [[OurMonstersAreWeird Riftgate]], which [[ThatOneBoss stomped you into the ground by being almost immune to everything except non-elemental magic]] in ''VideoGame/LastScenario'', but has rather low defense in ''Exit Fate''. However, its attacks are almost the same, and it looks the same despite being yellow instead of black...
340** Items: the standard healing herbs as well as epic ultimate armour like Lord-Sorcerer's Gown, Archangel's Halo, Mashimizu's Robe, or characters' weapons (Seraphim [Blade] = [[spoiler:Zawu]]'s ultimate sword as well as Daniel's weapon). Like in case of the enemies, the items are very different in both games. LS' Mashimizu's robe is more similar in function to the Hermes Boots than the item of the same name, and EF's Lord Sorceror's Gown is more like the Sacral Gown of LS.
341* RedEyesTakeWarning: Yet another reason to run away from Tiamat. CurtainsMatchTheWindow, too.
342* RedundantResearcher:
343** Myst has been trying to bring the dead back to life for god knows how long when Daniel comes along and does it for him on his first try.
344** Nomad also is unable to find the clues to entering Avalon on his own, but is still reasonably competent - he's the only one who knows how to open the doors, for example. And it's understandable that Nomad wouldn't think to ask some random guy in an inn somewhere in another country where Avalon was. (Nomad then rubs his victory in the face of his sister, who had made the terrible mistake of trying to find it methodically.)
345* RelationshipValues: Sort of. Each character has three relationships to others, either marked by an A, B, C or F. If you put characters with a relationship into your active party, their stats are modified. 'A' means a very high bonus on all stats, B a still significant bonus, C a small bonus and F a malus. These relationship values seem to depend mostly off of off-screen interaction between characters, though; for example, {{Cool Old Guy}}s [[PlugNPlayFriends tend to be friends with each other as soon as you get the characters in your party]] with little explanation as to why Royston and Midian are C-rank relationships with each other. Other relationships make sense, such as [[MadScientist Deke]] being F-rank with [[StickyFingers Joe]] (who broke into his house), and [[TalkingAnimal Klaus]] being A-rank with [[KindHeartedCatLover Griever]].
346* ReluctantWarrior: Daniel.
347* RequiredPartyMember: You often have to include specific characters in the party due to plot events, and Daniel in particular is nearly always required. However, you can always move them into the "reserves" if you don't want to use them.
348* RetiredBadass: Bast and Midian.
349* ReverseGrip: How Reod and Joe use their daggers.
350* ReversePsychology: {{Lampshade}}d by [[RedundantResearcher Myst]], when he after countless attempts of reviving the dead actually tries to use this on himself, of course fails and then sums it up:
351-->I should have expected that... Reverse psychology. It never works.
352* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: Subverted; despite protests, [[spoiler:Leonius]] is given a high rank in the enemy army after selling out his country to them.
353* TheRival: Subverted; Bruce ''used'' to be Daniel's rival, but over the course of the game he gets more and more hopelessly outclassed until [[UnknownRival his resentment becomes kind of hilarious]].
354* RunningGag: Random {{NPC}}s in their homes asking if dinner is ready yet.
355* RushBoss: [[spoiler:Soth]] buffs himself significantly every few turns, so fighting him is primarily a matter of nuking him before he makes himself completely invincible.
356* SaintlyChurch: The order of Cento Temple is portrayed as this.
357* ScaryShinyGlasses: Luther.
358* SelfMadeOrphan: [[spoiler:Near the end of the game, Daniel kills his own father, though for good reasons, and his mother suffered DeathByChildbirth.]]
359* SetSwordsToStun: Despite being fought with heavy and very ''sharp'' weapons, many battles are obviously nonlethal, and it's implied about others (for instance, by the {{Non Lethal KO}}s inflicted on your characters).
360** Although there are other fights where this is subverted. The main factor as to if this trope will go into effect: Are the enemies you're facing forceful and strong willed, or at least committed to the battle? If the answer is "yes" then the enemy will most likely die from the fight, instead of being captured or running away.
361* SequelHook: Quite a few hints in the epilogue; notably, [[spoiler:Daniel left with Nashal, and both of them and several other characters (notably Yan Angwa, Frore, and Shin) "disappeared" or "were not heard from for fifteen years."]] And there's [[TheStinger that scene after the credits]]...
362* SergeantRock: Merrick, sort of.
363* ShipTease: Minor but there, a combination of Daniel being the center of motivation for ''everyone'' he's shared a scene with and two [[BodyguardCrush Bodyguard Crushes]]. Daniel/Angel, Daniel/Ayara, Daniel/Tarlia, Jasper/Ayara and Jasper/Erin seem to be the most obvious.
364* ShoutOut:
365** Several to SCF's first game, ''VideoGame/LastScenario'':
366*** "Brunhild" is the name of Hilbert's ship.
367*** "Gate to ''Elysium''" was the name of the final BonusDungeon.
368*** They both have a secondary female villain with red hair and an AxCrazy personality named Tiamat.
369*** King Frederick IV looks almost identical to King Alfred III, not to mention the similar names.
370*** Sef with his [[HeroicWannabe reckless heroism]] is kind of a [[PluckyComicRelief comic]] version of Hilbert, with religion thrown in. Plus their uncanny resemblance.
371*** There's also Col, who, like Hilbert, is a young, somewhat overenthusiastic, hero-worshipping soldier with blond hair and a bow.
372*** Or the druids' names, which already were those of Havali {{NPC}}s in ''VideoGame/LastScenario''.
373*** There is a menu set called "Hilbert Set" that makes the interface look very similar to Last Scenario's.
374** Hmm... a dog named [[VideoGame/EarthBound1994 King]].
375** So, this guy is named Shiro... And he uses the... [[Creator/ShirowMasamune Masa]][[Franchise/FinalFantasy mune]].
376** Also, there is a character called [[Franchise/FinalFantasy Cid]], who happens to be a [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV spoony bard]].
377** Griever wields the Literature/{{Dragonlance}}.
378** Gilbert is more than a little reminiscent [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Kakashi]].
379** There's no one in the State Union who can outsmart General [[Film/TheUsualSuspects Keyser]].
380** Avelion once says something in the lines of "[[Manga/DeathNote Humans are interesting]]".
381** [[UnknownRival Bruce's]] BadassLongcoat bears a more than passing resemblance to that of [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII a certain other Jerkass rival character]].
382** We have a cowboy named "[[VideoGame/{{Mother 3}} Clint]]"
383** Daniel himself looks a lot like [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]]. [[spoiler: And with good reason...]]
384** [[Webcomic/GirlGenius Klaus]], lord of cats
385** Luther and Vanrushal are parodies of Kahn Marley and Neclord from the VideoGame/{{Suikoden}} series respectively.
386** ''VideoGame/SuikodenII'': Boris looks much like Kiba, and Ash could be called a more subtle version of Luca Blight. [[StoneWall Sormaus]] looks just like Bolgan, complete with the hair.
387** With his viking helmet, bad-fitting armour and bored facial expression, Regin the [[PluckyComicRelief ridiculously]] [[DirtyCoward cowardly]] Almenga commander looks like he walked straight out of ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''.
388** The FinalBoss has an attack called [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics Holy Explosion]].
389** One of the random encounter monsters in Vanrushal's mansion is a little vampire girl who looks exactly like [[Franchise/TouhouProject Remilia Scarlet]].
390** Similarly, Vanrushal references one of Remilia's win quotes against Patchouli from the ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' FightingGame SpinOff ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody':
391-->'''Vanrushal''': "These books are boring. Don't you have only comics?"
392-->'''Remilia''': "What, you have no manga? These are the only books you have."
393** The entire cast is one big ShoutOut to the members of an online ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' messaging board, popular between 2001-2008 mostly.
394** A few self contained weapon names: Vanrushal (A vampire) and Film/{{Nosferatu}}, Erin and [[Franchise/{{Highlander}} McLeod]], Venkal and Rembrandt (a well known artist).
395** Sef quotes a couple of lines from ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'' -- rather hilarious when you consider that he's trying to sound heroic and righteous, yet is quoting a ''murderer''.
396** The battle with [[spoiler:Demon Trevor and Sick]] is similar to the multi-part battle with Luca Blight in Suikoden II, where you split up into three separate parties to battle an absurdly hard boss.
397* SideQuest: Lots of 'em, almost all of them devoted to recruiting optional characters. Many of them contain an optional boss as well: [[spoiler:Mai, Vanrushal, Tiamat, Fukubei]], the Demilich, [[spoiler:Soth, Deke]]'s Iron Golem, Pendragon, the Mist Queen...
398* SignatureStyle: ''Exit Fate'' features a NeutralGood protagonist seeking peace and justice, a complex situation with three countries in a war, many [[ManBehindTheMan men behind the men]], and a large cast. SCF seems to [[AuthorAppeal like]] those tropes and motives, considering the fact that aforementioned elements were also formative for ''VideoGame/LastScenario''.[[note]]Though he could have done this deliberately to make the fans expect such a plot in his next game just to pick it apart then, seeing as how both his games have some elements of {{Deconstruction}}, {{Subversion}} and other kinds of PlayingWithATrope.[[/note]]
399** The dynamic between Daniel and Brunhild is very similar to the dynamic between [[spoiler:Ethan and Castor]] in ''LS'', as well: [[spoiler:two siblings who used to be very close, but are now on opposite sides after one turned on the other, and one of the two doesn't even remember they ''are'' siblings due to magically-induced LaserGuidedAmnesia. Once the amnesiac finds out, he's conflicted because he feels obligated to stop what his sibling is doing, yet doesn't want to hurt them]].
400* SinisterScythe:
401** Wielded by Derek the skeleton, appropriately enough.
402** And Hawk, [[JustifiedTrope since he's a farmer]].
403* SlasherSmile:
404** [[spoiler:The Hand of Fate (as Evil Daniel ''or'' Brunhild)]] is more than a little freaky.
405** [[MadScientist Deke]] has a somewhat less creepy one.
406** A SlasherSmile is also the standard expression for [[spoiler:Demon Trevor and Sick]], and Sick in general.
407* SmokeOut: Instead of your JRPG-standard escape command, you have this as the special ability of some characters.
408* SnipeHunt: Marcello tries to get rid of you by sending you after a black ruby. You can get them by [[spoiler:stealing from a Hoarder or finding it in Vanaheim]], it turns out, to his chagrin.
409* SoLongAndThanksForAllTheGear: Characters leave your party often, especially near the beginning. They take equipped items with them. While every character that leaves can eventually rejoin later (most automatically, a few must be hunted down), it'll usually be so much later that their items will be worthless.
410** The worst by far is Luther. You first meet him when you're clearing undead out of Credence Castle, but he then disappears and you don't see him again until [[spoiler:you've conquered half of Almenga.]] And even if you plan to remove the equipment you give him, you'll probably still miss the chance when [[spoiler:[[SurprisinglyEasyMiniQuest a boss fight fails to materialize]]]].
411** Thankfully, ''you'' can also "steal" from temporary crew members that only join you as long as you support them in their quest (and afterwards), like Richard or Sef.
412* SpannerInTheWorks:
413** [[spoiler:Lady Sigrid]]'s influence kept the Hand of Fate from taking over completely.
414** [[spoiler:Brunhild]] coming to see Daniel because of personal reasons wasn't planned either, and was the only reason Daniel even noticed something was wrong with him.
415* SpellBlade: The *strike spells.
416* SquishyWizard: Most magic-users have very low defense and HP. On the plus side, they tend to have very high magic defense, so put them in the back row with a fighter-type in front and nothing that hits will do significant damage.
417* StatusEffects: Including some that aren't so standard. Like in ''VideoGame/LastScenario'', [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard enemies use them relentlessly on you, but you don't get them]]. You can still use buffs, though.
418* StealthPun: Tiamat's line about [[spoiler:walking into the dragon's lair. You though it was a figure of speech? [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Wrong]].]]
419* StickyFingers:
420** Reod is recruited by catching him out on this, and even steals the pen off Meiko during her interview with him - although she notices.
421** Joe is also characterized as one, though a bit less blatantly. He still comments that the bar of Elysium castle has a lot of people with money.
422* TheStinger: As a SequelHook.
423* StormingTheCastle: In the end, this happens to [[spoiler:[[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Vanaheim]].]]
424* StoryOverwrite: Major example: If you manage to beat one of the [[spoiler:Demon Commandos]] [[HopelessBossFight before the actual battle with them]], Deus / Yan Angwa will collapse anyway.
425* TheStrategist:
426** Bast, although he's also [[CoolOldGuy pretty good in combat]].
427** On the other side, there's General Keyser, (in)famous as Kirgard's undefeatable tactician.
428** In the epilogue it's said that [[spoiler:they occasionally meet to [[SmartPeoplePlayChess play chess]].]]
429* StrawFeminist / DoesNotLikeMen: Played for laughs with Petra.
430* StupidityIsTheOnlyOption: A particularly annoying example in [[spoiler: Highland]], where you have to walk into an obvious ambush to [[EventFlag advance the plot]] (also combined with CutsceneIncompetence).
431* SuicidalOverconfidence: Besides the RPG standard of monsters 30+ levels lower than you attempting to ambush you, NPC units in war battles occasionally act this way. For example, take the first real battle, where the newly-minted Elysium Army is assisting with putting down a rebellion in Highland. There are two AI-controlled units of 350 soldiers each already there. There are 2700 rebels. Those 700 soldiers ''will'' charge straight into the front of the enemy army and get themselves shot to pieces.
432* SummonMagic: Seems to be quite popular in Almenga; pretty much any time you encounter them, there are Summoners of some flavor around the place.
433* SuperpoweredEvilSide: [[spoiler:The Hand of Fate to Daniel]].
434* SurprisinglyEasyMiniQuest: [[spoiler:Credence Castle]]. You run around fighting off very strong undead, and you finally walk into an ominous-looking room expecting a boss battle with [[spoiler:a vampire]]. But it turns out a little different...
435** Which is probably for the best. The actual boss is over level 70 and would have [[CurbStompBattle stomped you into the ground]] if you'd actually fought him then.
436* SwirlyEnergyThingy: The Riftgate, which (sort of) returns from ''VideoGame/LastScenario'', is a living, malevolent one.
437* TakeOurWordForIt: Out of the two survivors of [[spoiler:Daniel's SuperpoweredEvilSide rampage during the Almengan war]], one was unconscious at the time and the other was so terrified by it that he refuses to give any details, even years later. However, it's rather telling that a slightly lesser repeat of the incident is one of the few times the game [[BloodlessCarnage actually]] [[SubvertedTrope shows blood]].
438* TalkingAnimal:
439** Klaus, lord of cats.
440** [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in King's case: unlike Klaus, all he says is "Arf!"
441* ThereAreNoTents: The only way to get an instant full heal is to stay at an inn or equivalent. Luckily, some of these are free, and if your party has enough mana and healing spells left over after a battle, they'll cast them, meaning that by late in the game, when even your meat shields have an MP+ stat well over 30, you'll rarely come out of a battle much below full health.
442%%* ThrivingGhostTown
443* ToBeLawfulOrGood: Daniel's initial dilemma. Returns between chapter 5 or 6, mainly for [[spoiler:Erin and Jasper, who choose the MyCountryRightOrWrong path, while Daniel cements his NeutralGood alignment again.]]
444* TomatoInTheMirror: May or may not count, since the fact that there's something wrong with Daniel's memories is obvious from the very beginning, but [[spoiler:he's the host for an extremely powerful demon that's been messing with his head for years]].
445* TurbulentPriest: Galius is the only governor who opposes the plot against Daniel.
446* TurnsRed: Fukubei. ''Five times''.
447* TwentyFourHourArmor: Nobody has any alternate sprites, so this is a given for anyone visibly wearing armor.
448* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Daniel, Jovian and Angel. [[spoiler:But there was also Brunhild, Daniel just [[LaserGuidedAmnesia doesn't remember]].]]
449* TraumaInn
450* UndergroundMonkey: Many monsters, for example wolves, [[BlobMonster puddles]], orcs, or minotaurs, have different types of varying strength, only distinguished by a PaletteSwap.
451* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: After reaching Blackwater for the first time, you can sell all your equipment and use all money you have now to buy consumables, then waste them, and you'll be permanently stuck in a town where you're required to rest at an inn, but don't have the money to do so.
452* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: You can have a party consisting of a [[TalkingAnimal talking cat]], a thin, seemingly lifeless [[HumanoidAbomination abominable-looking]] hulk in [[SpikesOfVillainy spiky armour]], a water elemental, a farmer, a MadScientist and a kid... and no NPC will care.
453* UnrequitedLoveLastsForever: [[spoiler:Gudrun.]]
454* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Zigzagged. Some on screen discussed strategies work because the player needs to know what to do next, somethimes the plan fails at the last minute. But when the game doesn't show the negotiations between [[spoiler:Rock and Daniel]], you just know something's fishy.
455* UntrustingCommunity: Daniel is surrounded by one in Zelmony after joining the State Army.
456* VanHelsingHateCrimes: Luther is pretty determined about chasing down Vanrushal, even though the latter didn't actually do anything.
457* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: [[spoiler:Vanaheim]], especially when you go up some stairs. Its architecture full of idols and epicly shining windows shouts "[[AC:FATE]]" in capitals.
458* VillainousDemotivator: You do ''not'' want to be one of [[GeneralRipper Ash's]] soldiers.
459* VisibleSilence:
460** A few times, usually in response to something so stupid as to be surreal, like Boris's IncrediblyLamePun.
461** The symbol of the "silence" status effect looks like this.
462* VisionaryVillain: [[spoiler:Siegfried]].
463* VisualInitiativeQueue
464* WarpWhistle: The Portal Key.
465* WarriorTherapist: Quite a few characters, especially Brunhild.
466* WeaponsKitchenSink: The result of giving every recruitable character a unique weapon (often [[NamedWeapons named]].) What other game allows a practitioner of ChainPain to fight in the same party as a DeathDealer?
467* WeBuyAnything: Shopkeepers will gleefully buy anything you sell them except ''any'' spells.
468* WelcomeBackTraitor: [[spoiler:Daniel and Co. are welcomed back into the Kirgard army eventually. Not that Kirgard had much of a choice.]]
469* WelcomeToCorneria
470* WellIntentionedExtremist: Rock, Governor Vosch and also [[spoiler:Siegfried]].
471* WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife: [[spoiler:Boris]] tries to defeat the party alone, even though they defeated him ''with three of his friends'' before, just so he can die in combat "[[InHarmsWay like a true hero does]]."
472* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: This happens to the Almengan commander [[spoiler:Regin]] near the end. After the last war battle he just disappears and is never seen again.
473* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: Before the credits, a brief ending blurb is given for each player character who has been recruited. Many are played for laughs - and some as a SequelHook.
474* WhosLaughingNow: The quirky, comic relief [[spoiler:Trevor and Sick]] suddenly become a major threat when [[spoiler:Brunhild summons demons into them and they become a [[OneManArmy Two Man Army]]. There's one scene that's a HopelessBossFight against them, and their reaction to seeing Daniel forced to kneel before them is basically this.]]
475* WickedCultured: Ice. Also Ash.
476* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: The major downside of [[spoiler:demon summoning]] is that it drives the user into a psychotically violent rampage. [[spoiler:The exception is Daniel, and that took very special measures. Plus he still goes nuts when the Hand takes over.]]
477* {{Wutai}}: Despite being a pseudo-European fantasy world, Mayfall, Blackwater Port, and Amen Corner all have distinctly Asian architecture. Not to mention the NINJA VILLAGE. The presence of Shiro (a kimono-wearing Samurai) and Merrick, (an EagleLand-style military commander) in not just the same state, but ''adjacent cities'', does not help things.
478* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: Sef.
479* YouALLLookFamiliar: Played straight with all the normal, unnamed citizens and soldiers in the game, and averted with all the recruitable characters and most of the plot-important ones.
480* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness:
481** The final boss says these ''exact'' words to Daniel right before you fight them.
482** Earlier, [[spoiler:Vosch tries to pull this on him via a [[KangarooCourt blatantly corrupt/rigged trial]]]] after deciding that he no longer serves a purpose to the country.

Top