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1%%READ REASONS IN EDIT about tearjerker and character pages and indexing. The characters and tearjerker pages need to be indexed.
2[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/21547_front.jpg]]
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4''Shining Force'' (subtitled ''The Legacy of Great Intention'' on the title screen) is the first title in a series of turn-based strategy role-playing games, and is part of a [[TheMultiverse larger franchise]] known simply as the ''VideoGame/ShiningSeries'', and is considered [[FollowTheLeader Sega's answer]] to ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' by many.[[note]]Though the game's creator also [[https://issuu.com/topov81/docs/retro_volume_3/217 claimed]] that the game wasn't based off of ''Fire Emblem'', whose pacing he claimed was so bad not even he wanted to play it. Instead, the series took cues from both ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' and ''Franchise/DragonQuest'' as well as an obscure [=PC88=] RTS/Action/RPG hybrid called ''Silver Ghost''.[[/note]]
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6''Shining Force'' begins in the kingdom of Guardiana, where the main character, Max, is put in charge of the titular Shining Force and charged with stopping an invasion from the rival Runefaust army. The army is controlled by Darksol, a mysterious cloaked man with aspirations to revive the monstrous Dark Dragon and use it to TakeOverTheWorld. It's a prequel to the first-person Genesis RPG ''Videogame/ShiningInTheDarkness'', which featured Darksol's son Dark Sol (or, in Japan, Mephisto).
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8The game had a UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance remake, now subtitled ''Resurrection of the Dark Dragon'', published in 2004. It features enhanced graphics and sound and an extended story that involves new subplots and characters as well as tweaks to the mechanics to provide more balanced gameplay.
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10Its sequel, ''VideoGame/ShiningForceII'', was released in 1993 in Japan and 1994 elsewhere, but the story of the first ''Shining Force'' game is continued in the ''VideoGame/ShiningForceGaidenGames'' for the Sega UsefulNotes/GameGear.
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13!!''Shining Force'' provides examples of:
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15* AdaptationExpansion: The remake gives more insight into many of the characters' backstories and dialogue outside of battle.
16* AerithAndBob: Characters tend to alternate between having fantasy-sounding names (Tao, Gort, Balbaroy) and standard English names (Max, Arthur, Ken). One character even has both, due to a mistranslation rendering Lug as Luke.
17* AfterTheEnd: The [[ComicBook/SonicTheComic British comic adaptation]] only, which had Granseal as an island in the distant future of our world, after a nuclear war led to mutations which produced analogues to the usual fantasy races.
18* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Max is envied and resented by the other knights of Guardiana because Lord Varios, a skilled and esteemed knight captain, is teaching him instead of them. Said knights also see Max as an upstart kid who's wasting Varios's time.
19* AllSwordsAreTheSame: Giving a character a different weapon swaps the weapon you see in their battle sprite, but otherwise, the animations are exactly the same. The only exception is the Chaos Breaker, which has fancy fire effects.
20* AllThereInTheManual: You won't know the backstories of all the members of the Shining Force until you read the game's manual or other accessory material. For example, Shining Force members Tao and Diane are sisters, which is only mentioned in the manual for ''Shining Force Gaiden'', a separate game that introduces their third sister, Wendy.
21* AnnoyingArrows: Arrow equipment upgrades tend to be very strong compared to other classes' weapons, but in exchange most archers don't have great attack growths for most of the game to compensate for their range. This means that Hans and Diane tend to spike and dip in attack power between their upgrades, getting extremely strong as soon as they obtain one and dealing ScratchDamage a few battles later. Lyle, the final archer, avoids this by being a complete GlassCannon.
22* AntiGrinding: The experience you get from killing enemies varies depending on your level; power up high enough and it's hard to find anything that'll give more than one point. Healing gives experience only if there was actual damage healed, but always gives a minimum of 10 points per heal, making it very easy for them to grind once they have enough MP to spam Heal and Aura. You have won the moment you can use it 10 times per fight. Characters with low attack stats that only do ScratchDamage per attack will only get minimal experience for it.
23* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: You can only have 12 characters in each battle, including your mandatory leader character. This can sometimes lead to having to make painful decisions over who gets bumped from the team when a strong new character comes along.
24* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: Mages might be the best at defeating heavily armored enemies, but their low physical defense requires them to be guarded by other units. Downplayed with [[MagicKnight Arthur]], who gets first-tier elemental spells, having lived in a city of mages.
25* ArtifactMook: A single Evil Puppet appears in Balbazak's army in Chapter 4, despite that enemy type being last seen in Chapter 2 (around seven battles earlier) and being created by Mishaela, who doesn't reappear until Chapter 6.
26* ArtificialStupidity: The enemies you will face are... not so shining. A few examples to note:
27** Enemy healers get the worst of it, as they will often attack for low damage or do nothing during their turns instead of healing. Even when they do decide to heal someone, they always use the strongest healing spell they have available, even if the target is only slightly injured.
28** Enemies that have high-damage, defense-ignoring spells and unique moves, especially bosses, can randomly decide to use their weaker attacks. For example, [[spoiler:Darksol can use a much weaker regular attack instead of his more powerful Demon Breath]].
29** Enemies with great support abilities often use them at the wrong times.
30* AutomaticCrossbows: When archers are promoted to bowmasters, they swap their bows for giant crossbows that can fire barrages of arrows or explosive shells.
31* AwesomeButImpractical: [[{{Curse}} Cursed weapons]]. Despite sporting far higher attack than anything that can be bought in stores, they carry negative drawbacks that make them undesirable. Cursed weapons can take away the user's HP with attacks, and cursed rings grant attack buffs but can randomly stop the user from attacking; they may also affect their stats negatively. They cannot be removed without the aid of a costly purification from a priest or a high-level detox spell. They do have their uses, though; the damage drawback of weapons can be rendered moot by giving them to the right units (the tankiest knights can wield the Devil Lance without needing to worry about the chip damage chance), and the rings can be used in combat to replicate spell effects without triggering the curse.
32** The Sword of Darkness qualifies on two counts: in addition to being a cursed weapon, its spell effect when used is [[UselessUsefulSpell Desoul]]. Even if it were useful, it's only available for a single battle, after which it gets replaced by the Chaos Breaker, which has the same attack stat but isn't cursed.
33** Certain MagikarpPower characters, primarily Adam, who appear later in the game. They need LevelGrinding to make them effective party members, whereas you're probably using Zylo, Pelle (or Arthur), Musashi and others who you've had plenty of time to build up or were strong right out of the game. Hanzou could be this if you leveled up a lot, but if you haven't this is averted as he can still deal good damage.
34* AwesomeButTemporary: [[spoiler:Both the Sword of Light and the Sword of Darkness. The Sword of Light sports a very high attack and can cast Bolt 2 unlimited times. The Sword of Darkness, while cursed, is tied with the strongest weapon in the game at 40 attack and can also be equipped by the flying Birdmen. However, both swords are required to be discarded to unlock the ultimate SwordOfPlotAdvancement in the game, the Chaos Breaker. The Sword of Light is only available for three battles as a result, and the Sword of Darkness only for one.]]
35* BadassBoast: In the remake, everyone in the current party gives their own when facing Dark Dragon.
36* BareFistedMonk: Gong, whose combination of HealingHands and decent combat capability means he usually levels much quicker than the standard SquishyWizard-type {{White Mage}}s at first, only falling off once weapon boosts outpace his growth. He's also the first optional character to join the team in the series.
37* BattleCouple: The birdwoman Amon and her husband, Balbaroy. Both of them join at the same time and are effectively the same unit apart from slightly different growths, making them most effective when paired together.
38* BlackSwordsAreBetter: Subverted. Stats wise, the Sword Of Darkness is even better than the Sword Of Light. However, it's cursed and its spell effect is Desoul, which is the epitome of a UselessUsefulSpell.
39* BlindIdiotTranslation: Even worse than most [[EasternRPG JRPGs]] of its time; the game's English translation left out major plot points, such as the player character suffering from amnesia, or the reveal that he and [[spoiler:Kane are brothers]]. In addition, the names of a few objects were romanized to English rather than being translated, resulting in GratuitousJapanese such as "Sugoi Mizugi" (amazing bikini) "Kitui Huku" (revealing dress). The GBA remake has a more accurate translation
40* BootstrappedLeitmotif: The "Circus Battle" theme. It actually plays for several major bosses, but [[WakeUpCallBoss the Marionette]] left such a strong impression on players that the theme is associated exclusively with its battle. In the GBA remake, the Marionette--along with Mishaela, who fights similarly--are the only two bosses where this theme plays.
41* BrainwashedAndCrazy:
42** The Muddle spell can do this to your fighters. Though it says your characters are "confused" or "in a daze", the spell basically lets the AI hijack your characters and make them waste their MP or go after whoever they can kill. Some mages also get this spell and can confuse enemies in turn.
43** [[spoiler:Kane turned out to be this, brainwashed by Darksol into becoming his weapon, after you defeat him in Dragonia. The same applies to King Ramladu, and possibly most of Runefaust's forces as a whole.]]
44* BreakableWeapons: Some weapons, such as the Halberd and the Atlas Axe, can be used to cast spells with a random chance of them showing wear. Using them again will destroy them, unless they're taken to a shop for repairs. Rings have this effect as well, but this trope doesn't apply, since they're not weapons. Averted with the [[spoiler:[[InfinityMinusOneSword Sword of Light]], [[ArtifactOfDoom Sword of Darkness]], and [[InfinityPlusOneSword Chaos Breaker]]. The former two are needed to [[ItemCrafting create the latter]], and the [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement latter]] is required to defeat [[FinalBoss Dark Dragon]]]]; as a result, they will never break when used to cast spells.
45* ButThouMust: The player is forced to spare [[DirtyCoward Balbazak]] after he begs for mercy, despite him being otherwise irredeemable. It doesn't amount to much, since [[YouHaveFailedMe Darksol promptly obliterates him]]. Earlier on, the player also needs to forgive the King of Alterone in order to continue on, after having gotten into the last battle due to him ratting out Max to Runefaust after surrendering to them.
46* CantDropTheHero: Max, the HeroUnit, can never be removed from the active Shining Force, and him dying automatically ends the battle. This means that he often needs to be protected by other units, but often leads to him typically being many times stronger than the other characters if he gets levels.
47* ChainLightning: The Bolt/Spark spell has a wider AreaOfEffect than Blaze or Freeze, and is one of the most useful spells because of this.
48* CharacterDevelopment: Bleu starts off as a young cowardly dragon who is babied by the children of Rudo and dislikes fighting. However, when Karin is threatened by one of Kain's soldiers, the dragon GrewASpine and saved the girl by roasting the enemy to ash. If you choose to keep Bleu in your party, level him up, and promote him, he'll turn into a powerful and mighty adult dragon who inflicts as much damage as Zylo and uses lightning breath.
49* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Some classes can use more than one weapon type. Warriors, in addition to axes, can use the two lower level swords. Knights have the option of using spears, which are weaker, but allow for a ranged attack, or lances, which are more powerful, but are restricted to melee range. A viable tactic among some players is to kit knights out with both and switch weapons depending on how close they can get their knights to their intended target.
50* CircusOfFear: In Rindo, one of the boys from the town gets lost inside a circus trap set by Mishaela, and so Max and the gang have to defeat an army of {{Monster Clown}}s to rescue him.
51* ClassChangeLevelReset: Once characters reach a certain level, they can be promoted. Doing so upgrades their class--for example, a Knight becomes a Paladin, and a Warrior becomes a Gladiator--at the cost of sending them back to level 1. However, some of their stats are preserved, and the [[{{Cap}} level cap]] that affects unpromoted characters is removed.
52* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: A subtle example: the mage Anri specializes in the [[AnIcePerson Freeze]] line of spells, Alef specializes in the [[ShockAndAwe Bolt]] spells, while Tao has all of the [[PlayingWithFire Blaze]] spells. Anri wears a blue (and later, black) robe, Alef wears a yellow (later green) robe, and Tao wears a purple robe.
53* CombatMedic:
54** Khris, who despite being a straight WhiteMagicianGirl on paper, out-damages the actual CombatMedic Gong at higher levels.
55** Many healers can do a lot of damage when equipped with the proper staff (most of them can critically hurt particular enemies--i.e, the GBA version's Voodoo Charm can one-shot undead enemies), and since a mage's attack spells often do [[FixedDamageAttack fixed amounts of damage]], it's better to let them attack as well until their spells reach level three or higher.
56* ComicBookAdaptation: ''Shining Force'' had a loose comic adaptation in ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'', running for a single series.
57* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: To compensate for their poor AI in other areas, enemy units often have foresight benefits and stat advantages that aren't available for the player, such as high speed that can grants them unexpected extra turns, extremely high dodge rates, being able to sense when they can get a double-attack, and surviving attacks with a sliver of health. Most of it was averted in the GBA remake, where you can see the order of turns now, and the AI cannot "read" double attacks anymore.
58** In particular, if you're foolish enough to deploy Max anywhere near the front lines, the enemy will all close in on him like a swarm of hungry sharks and the computer will ''shamelessly'' rig the game to ensure he dies in a single turn [[WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou and you instantly lose the battle]]. Back-to-back criticals, implausibly-frequent double attacks, and the turn order "conveniently" being reshuffled so that enemy units can close in on and attack Max twice before he even gets ''one'' turn to respond are so common that attempting to use him as a FrontlineGeneral is effectively straight-up suicide.
59* CoolSword: Some weapons can be used to cast spells. This ability makes the Sword of Light able to cast Bolt 2 on a wide area as many times as you like to hit multiple enemies at once for good experience gain, making it easy for Max to [[LevelGrinding level grind]] until he loses it.
60* TheCorrupter: [[spoiler:Darksol was the one responsible for turning the kingdom of Runefaust, formerly named "Protectora", into an evil force that antagonizes the player characters by the start of the game, all for a plan to resurrect an evil dragon.]]
61* CrutchCharacter: Zuika in the remake. Narsha is a little too unprepared for what the game throws at her, and Zuika meanwhile is able to solo the entire maps. However, he manages to remain quite useful if the player chooses to use him.
62* DamnYouMuscleMemory: Anyone going into the GBA remake for the first time may want to use some old favorites, not realizing that the way post-promotion stats work in the remake means several top-tier characters from the original have toppled down the ranks.
63* DarkIsNotEvil: Usually not the case; "Dark" or "Evil" items are generally [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique cursed and damage their user]] in exchange for their awesome power, but when part of a YinYangBomb, the Sword of Darkness isn't evil (the words "dark" and "evil" are practically interchangeable most of the time, perhaps due to translation issues).
64* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: In stark contrast to rival franchise ''Franchise/FireEmblem'', a Force member falling in combat only knocks them unconscious. They still need to be revived at a priest before they can fight again, but the cost is so pitifully token (10g per character level, when you rapidly start to earn hundreds of gold from every enemy you kill) that it's barely noticeable, unless you're bad enough to be losing almost the entire Force in every battle. Even losing Max, which [[WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou causes you to instantly lose the battle]], only returns you to the last priest you saved at rather than causing a game over, retaining all EXP and gold your characters had already earned in the battle, functionally no different from using the Egress spell.
65* DecapitatedArmy: If the Force's leader dies, you automatically lose the battle no matter what, and have to start over. This applies to some enemies as well. Sometimes, a boss or powerful new enemy will be in charge, and defeating them will kill lead to an instant victory.
66* DiscOneFinalBoss: [[spoiler:Kane, one of Darksol's top commanders and the one who kickstarts most of the initial plot, is fought midway through Chapter 6.]] Despite his high difficulty and significance, his defeat only marks the two-thirds point of the game.
67* DoomedHometown: The core members of Max's party live in Guardiana. After their first battle with Runefaust forces, they return to find their hometown in ruins and several people either wounded or dead.
68* DownerEnding: {{Subverted|Trope}}. After the final battle, [[spoiler:Max is sunk under the water with the Chaos Breaker while a majority of the remaining of the force is [[TeleportersAndTransporters Egressed]] out scot-free]]. However, [[spoiler:the cutscene after the credits shows Max and Adam and alive and well]].
69* DreamingOfThingsToCome: In Chapter 1, both the local priest and a little girl in Guardiana mention having nightmares about an impending invasion. Right after your first battle, revisiting Guardiana shows that forces of Runefaust attacked and left the town in ruins.
70* EasilyForgiven: There are a few times in the story where characters will oppose or otherwise inconvenience the heroes, such as the king of Alterone selling out Max in Chapter 1, but are quickly forgiven by the Shining Force due to having been coerced into these actions by Runefaust.
71* EasyLevelTrick: The first battle in Chapter 3 can be won instantly by having Balbaroy and Amon rush the Master Mage boss, one of them equipped with a Power Ring. ArtificialStupidity prevents either the High Priest from healing the Master Mage, or his bodyguards from defending him. Even the boss himself doesn't attack immediately, instead attempting to retreat; unfortunately for him, the birdmen have no trouble pursuing him.
72* EnergyWeapon: Later enemies such as the Torch Eyes and Laser Eyes have the ability to fire a laser, taking away a decent amount of HP while ignoring defense like magic.
73* EscapeBattleTechnique: The "Egress" skill, only available to Max, instantly warps the Shining Force out of battle and to the nearest priest. Since you usually cannot replay battles after finishing them, using Egress is one of the keys to LevelGrinding.
74* EverythingsBetterWithSamurai: Musashi, a secret character in Chapter 7, is a samurai for hire who joins the Shining Force after they find his note. He comes with a powerful katana and high stats right out of the gate, and is considered pre-promoted.
75* FantasyCharacterClasses: Early game characters cover most of the bases, being archers, mages, warriors, and the like. Later on, some characters have more unique classes, such as Adam (Robot/Cyborg) or Zylo (Werewolf/Wolf Baron).
76* FantasyGunControl: Subverted. While the early game features standard medieval weaponry, more advanced gear starts coming out of the woodwork. Runefaust starts digging up LostTechnology like the Laser Eye and Lyle packs a rocket launcher as his personal weapon.
77* FantasyKitchenSink: While primarily based on western fantasy settings, the game has LoadsAndLoadsOfRaces (see below) unusual to the setting, SchizoTech, magic, robots, zombies, and possibly at least one inter-dimensional being.
78* FireIceLightning: The three damaging elemental spells are, in order of power, Blaze, Freeze, and Bolt/Spark. Certain enemies may carry a weakness to one of the elements.
79* FlunkyBoss: Most boss battles consist of fighting the boss themselves alongside their {{Mooks}} who attempt to block you from reaching them.
80* {{Flynning}}: Max incorporates swishing strikes into his attack animation after promoting to the Hero class.
81* FramingDevice: Simone, the game's "host", reads the game's backstory during startup, and then asks the player their name to start the adventure.
82* FriendlyFireproof: The Laser Eye provides an amusing aversion in the player's favor. The land bridge it's aimed towards is stocked full of enemies, and every time it fires, it will hit ''every single one of them'' as collateral damage. If you're not concerned about the loss of experience, you can wait several turns and allow it to decimate the enemy forces for you.
83* GenreShift: ''VideoGame/ShiningInTheDarkness'' was a dungeon crawling RPG, but ''Shining Force'' is a tactical RPG. The dungeon crawling genre wouldn't be revisited until ''VideoGame/ShiningTheHolyArk''.
84* GeoEffects: Terrain plays a role in giving a defense bonus, as well as a movement penalty.
85* GlassCannon: Mages/wizards, archers, and certain centaurs can deal ridiculous damage, but are vulnerable to getting killed in one or two hits if not protected by tanky units.
86* GratuitousSpanish: The flying magical creature you can recruit is named Domingo, Spanish for the day Sunday. It's not even an isolated incident; another magical creature in the ''VideoGame/ShiningForceGaidenGames'' is named Amigo.
87* GuideDangIt: Because the game is done in chapters and you can't backtrack, there is a chance you will permanently miss out on recruiting the more obscure characters or items.
88** The ninja Hanzou is hiding in the final town of the game disguised as a bush, and will join if you inspect his leafy disguise. In the US version, there's [[spoiler:a piece of paper on the bush to make it stand out]]. In the Japanese version, he looks like ''every other bush in the game'', none of which have anything to gain by examining them.
89** The rules of promotion aren't explained well in-game, which can be an issue since it's a major part of keeping characters viable later on in the game. It's sometimes hard to tell whether a character should be promoted early or delayed as long as possible, as even characters from the same class can benefit differently from each.
90** The GBA remake added a bunch of character cards hidden around the overworld. Some of them are fairly intuitive, and some of them are... not. Many are found by checking seemingly innocent objects scattered around the overworld (special mention goes to one card being behind the nameplate of a single church in one of the towns) while others are obtained by speaking to various [=NPCs=] wandering around the game world (including random people who have little to no relation to that character and a ''pig'' wandering around in the corner of Pao on your second visit). And you're not even done when you find and memorize them all, since every boss (and some recurring enemies, but only specific ones) also has a card, requiring the boss or enemy to be finished by a specific character.
91* HalfHumanHybrid: Every single Knight-class character, plus Lyle the assault/strike knight, is a centaur. There are also {{Wolf M|an}}en, birdmen, half-giants, dragonmen, and even an armadillo-man.
92* HeadlessHorseman: Dullahans are headless ''centaur'' knights that you start to encounter from the march to Dragonia onwards.
93* HealerSignsOnEarly: Lowe, a priest, is one of the first characters to join Max before your first battle. You get Gong, a monk, and Khris, another priest, within the first chapter.
94* HeelFaceTurn:
95** Pelle joins the Force after nearly being killed by the forces of Runefaust.
96** After you [[spoiler:defeat Kane, he breaks free of Darksol's brainwashing and realizes what he has done, prompting him to atone for his horrible actions. He does not join the heroes, but performs a HeroicSacrifice in a later chapter.]]
97* HeroicMime: Max, though he does say a couple lines after the final boss battle. Played with in the remake, in which Max actually talks and has his own personality, but loses his voice at a certain point, regaining it at the very end when he first spoke in the original. [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration This prevents him from casting Egress for certain battles.]]
98* HeroMustSurvive: Max (or whichever name he's given) is a HeroUnit who acts as the leader of the force. If he dies, you lose and are sent back to the last priest and without half of your money (if it's not deposited).
99* HitodamaLight: Whenever a playable character is seen while dead, they have a large flame as their sprite until they're revived.
100* {{Hobbits}}: Halflings are a common race, typified by Lowe (human/dwarf) and Gong (human/giant).
101* InfinityMinusOneSword:
102** [[spoiler:The Sword of Light, obtained at the end of Chapter 6 after defeating Mishaela. It can freely cast Bolt 2, which can attack a 13-square range of enemies. It is one of the weapons needed to get the Chaos Breaker.]]
103** [[spoiler:The Sword of Darkness, Kane's sword which is given to Max after his HeroicSacrifice in Chapter 7. It has unlimited casts of Desoul for a chance to one-hit kill. Although cursed, it shares the same attack as the Chaos Breaker. It is one of the weapons needed to get the Chaos Breaker.]]
104* InfinityPlusOneSword: [[spoiler:The Chaos Breaker, obtained six battles before the end of the game. It's the strongest sword in the game and has unlimited casts of Freeze 3. It isn't cursed unlike the Sword of Darkness.]]
105* InterspeciesRomance: It's implied Mae develops a thing for Max in the first game, although the latter is never shown to reciprocate; not even in the remake, where he's no longer a HeroicMime.
106* InventoryManagementPuzzle: Characters can only hold four items, including their weapon and any rings. This causes a lot of juggling of item slots during town visits. The remake gives characters an extra four slots exclusive to weapons and rings (and secret costumes for Tao, Khris, Anri, and Narsha).
107* ItsUpToYou: The battle is lost the instant Max gets knocked out, even if there's one minor opponent left.
108* JoinedYourParty: Whenever a new member joins the Shining Force, it will display a message of their joining with a happy fanfare playing. However, if their join time is less than pleasant, it plays a sorrowful fanfare instead. None of the party members recruited after Chapter 6 get this, either joining behind the scenes or being found from secrets.
109* KillItWithFire: Zombies are resistant to physical attacks, but weak against Blaze spells.
110* KillSat: In the remake, a magical satellite powers a line of "Supernova" spells exclusive to Max.
111* LastChanceHitPoint: If Max is at full health and the opposing attack would have normally defeat him, he will be left with 1 HP, to lower his chances of dying and failing a battle.
112* LetsSplitUpGang: This works as a way to keep slower characters at the same level as your faster ones. Enemies will usually be in two or more clusters at different ends of the battlefield, so by splitting your team up, everyone gets equal experience.
113* LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy: The setting has humans, elves, dwarves, merfolk, centaurs etc.; as well as beastfolk like Zylo (wolfling), Alef (foxling), Balbaroy and Amon (birdmen), and even lesser seen ones like Guntz (armadillo man) and Khris (dog-girl[[note]]Dog-humans are distinct from wolflings and foxlings. They are officially known as "Kyantoru" in Japan, "Cantaur" when translated to English, and "Cantaul" in the remake, but some fans have adopted the name "Kyantol" for the species[[/note]]). The remake adds the insectoid character Zuika.
114* LoadsAndLoadsOfRaces: The Shining Force setting encompasses a ton of fantasy races of all kinds, to the point where there are only five human members on the Force: Max, Anri, Kokichi, Hanzou, and Musashi (and Narsha in the remake). The forces of Runefaust have many more races, as well. In the remake, Diane can teach the player about various other kinds of Beastmen in the setting that don't appear in the game.
115** The Shining Force includes: 7 Centaurs, 5 Humans, 3 Elves, 2 Dwarves, 2 Halflings, 2 Birdmen, 1 Half-Giant, 1 Cantaur (dog-person), 1 Wolfling, 1 Hamster, 1 Armadillo, 1 Magical Creature, 1 Dragon, 1 Foxling, and 1 Robot.
116** TheMentor is a "Dragonewt" (dragon-man).
117** The remake adds one human, one insect-man, and one character of an unknown race/home dimension.
118* LostTechnology: The Ancients left behind some very advanced technology for a fantasy setting. The entire third chapter is dedicated to the Runefaust army recovering the Laser Eye, a giant laser cannon that hits everything in its line of sight. Robots start showing up in the last couple of chapters as well.
119* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:Max is the brother of Kane, one of Runefaust's top generals]]. This rather important reveal was left out of [[TranslationTrainwreck the English script]], though it was present in the remake ''Resurrection of the Dark Dragon'', which featured a far more accurate translation.
120* MagicFromTechnology: In ''The Legacy of Great Intention'', there are several examples of ancient technology in the form of robots. Its remake expands upon this, by explaining how magic comes from a satellite orbiting the planet. A satellite that the main character can use to fire a ''freaking laser'' over an enemy.
121* MagicKnight: Arthur is a knight who picked up magical skills from living among wizards. Domingo qualifies in a more esoteric fashion, being a powerful monster with magical abilities.
122* MagikarpPower:
123** Several characters, including Bleu, the baby dragon, and Arthur, a centaur, require a significant amount of grinding and patience, which can cause them to be discarded by more impatient players, but are some of the strongest units in the game by the ending. Adam is an unfortunate example, being one of the last members of the Shining Force to join yet starting at level 10 unpromoted, leaving him no time to reach the point where his stats spike without copious uses of Egress or Egress-equivalent items.
124** Domingo is recruited as a level 1 "mage", but gets promoted stat grows that turn him into a StoneWall at higher levels, despite being otherwise portrayed as the typical SquishyWizard.
125** Narsha in the remake zig-zags this. She gets a few maps specifically so that she, Zukia, and Mawlock will be able to catch up with the rest of the party and when they do join, have a lot of extra time to catch up if they wound up underleveled. However, Narsha requires some babying in order for her to survive the first map, as it's ''very'' easy for her to become overwhelmed.
126* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:The heads of the Runefaust army, Kane and King Ramladu, are actually innocent and under the control of [[TheCorruptor Darksol]]]].
127* MindOverMatter: After being promoted to wizards, Tao, Anri, and Alef can attack by using telekinesis to whack enemies with their staves.
128* MyCountryRightOrWrong: General Elliot is loyal to Runefaust to a fault, and despite being an famed and honorable commander, he still fights for the evil kingdom until his death.
129* MysticalWhiteHair: Anri, the princess [[AnIcePerson ice mage]], has long white hair.
130* NameOfCain: The evil knight Kane is one of Runefaust's strongest enforcers. [[spoiler:Fittingly, he's also the brother of the protagonist.]]
131* NeverSayDie: When a character reaches 0 HP, they're "exhausted" (which is either called "X can fight no longer" or "X's strength is gone"), yet still need to be taken to a priest to have their spirit revived.
132* NightmareSequence: In the very first chapter, you can talk to a little girl in town and she'll explain she had a nightmare where Guardiana was on fire, including the house where she and her family lived. Unfortunately, it ends up coming true, and by the time you get back, you find that the girl and her mother had been sent away by the father to safety when Runefaust attacked.
133* NominalImportance: Subverted. You meet a RecurringTraveler named Boken who has a unique set of sprites but no dialogue portrait, and he is utterly inconsequential to the story until one point in Prompt where he lets you out of jail, a role that could have gone to almost anybody else.
134* NotNowKiddo: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by the elf girl Simone in the introduction; she thinks [[GreaterScopeVillain Dark Dragon]] is currently on the rise and wants to tell someone, but as she puts it, "who would listen to a kid like me?"
135* NPCRoadblock: Various paths are blocked off by {{Non Player Character}}s until you complete certain missions. It can also happen randomly when an NPC wanders through a doorway, blocking your path until they change direction.
136* ObfuscatingStupidity: [[spoiler:The kingdom of Prompt is known for being home to the descendants of the gods, but when the Shining Force arrive, all the people are like country bumpkins. They later drop the act and reveal that they're actually a highly advanced civilization.]]
137* OldSoldier: A few characters qualify.
138** Gort--when Guardiana is attacked, he defends the local bar and, as such, it is the only building in the town that remains undamaged. [[RetiredBadass He was considered one of Rune's greatest warriors in his prime and in gameplay, he's fairly useful.]]
139** Gong mentions fighting Runefaust for many years when you first talk to him.
140** Kokichi, [[PerilousOldFool the inventor joins without a second thought]], but he may object to the "Grandpa" part.
141** Torasu, the game's final (and potentially strongest) healer infiltrates an enemy stronghold with Alef and joins after being rescued by the Force.
142* OneHitKill:
143** The spell Desoul can kill anyone even at full health, including Max. It's available for the party's mages as well as bosses, but has a low success rate.
144** The Doom Blade that [[{{Ninja}} Hanzou]] carries has a chance of inflicting this.
145* OneManParty: The flipside to AntiGrinding-- our heaviest hitters are going to hit the level plateau really quickly, and your support characters... aren't. Healers are an exception, as they gain a fair chunk of experience when they heal someone, though this is still a slower process than with your offensively-based characters until the late-game Aura spell is obtained. Also, back-row characters can be leveled up by farming injured enemies.
146* OneSteveLimit: Averted. The name "Max" applies both to the protagonist of ''Shining Force'' and the protagonist of ''VideoGame/ShiningForceNeo''; the name "Arthur" can be either a centaur knight in this or a human knight in ''VideoGame/ShiningTheHolyArk''; and so on.
147* OurCentaursAreDifferent: Centaurs are a recurring race on both the heroic and villainous side, with a total of seven (six knights and one specialized archer) joining the force. Standard horses seem to be completely absent.
148* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Gort resembles a traditional fantasy dwarf with his long beard, short stature, and preference for axes. Lug/Luke is similar, but doesn't have a beard and looks younger (despite being fairly old himself)
149* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: Zylo is a wolfman who is usually kind but gruff, but was turned feral by Runefaust and will only join the Shining Force after being cured. He attacks with jumping claw strikes when unpromoted, then switches to a RazorWind of wolf-head projections after promotion. (The remake gives the jumping strikes to his promotion, while unpromoted he just slashes rapidly.)
150* PermanentlyMissableContent: The towns and overworlds of each chapter are left behind for good after the chapter ends, which can lead to optional characters and items being lost.
151* PoweredArmor: Guntz's suit of steam armor gives him very high defense at the cost of speed and movement, and Kokichi's flying machine lets him fly like the birdmen units while still being able to use heavy lances.
152* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Kane]] performs a HeroicSacrifice shortly after he regains his senses to repent for his past misdeeds.
153* RespawningEnemies:
154** If you escape or lose a battle; all the progress made up until that point is reset, and all the enemies are respawned. In a few key battles, the hero's Egress spell can be a means for power-leveling.
155** During the FinalBoss battle against Dark Dragon, there are two spawn points for Armed Skeletons, manageable but still threatening enemies. The player can prevent them from respawning by placing party members over the spawn points, but that means that the player has two less members who can actually attack Dark Dragon.
156* SayMyName: At the end of the remake game, whoever speaks last among the Shining Force (even Jogurt) (factors depending on how often you used them, and defaulting to Nova otherwise) calls out Max's name [[spoiler:after he's left behind at Dark Dragon's lair]]. The only exceptions are Domingo in the remake who's limited to PokemonSpeak, and Adam who [[spoiler:parts ways by then to find and rejoin Max later when he somehow survives]]. In the original, this role was exclusive to Mae.
157* SchizoTech: Swords, axes and arrows coexist in a world with lasers and robots.
158* SequenceBreaking: By carefully [[NPCRoadblock pushing a wandering NPC into the way of the guards stopping your exit]], it's possible to exit the first town without recruiting the first few members of the Shining Force.
159* ShedArmorGainSpeed: In ''Resurrection of the Dark Dragon'', promoting Zuika to the Terminator class gives him a chitinous armor. When his health drops below 30%, the armor breaks, dramatically increasing his movement speed and replacing his normal attack with a FlashStep strike that has increased range and deals double damage.
160* ShootTheMedicFirst:
161** A good policy for both sides, however, this is taken to an extreme by the enemies. Starting from the beginning, they will aim directly for your magician Tao, and once she dies (which will be often), they will aim for all your other magicians and healers. Notably, since he counts as both a mage and a flying unit (another priority target type), Domingo is very frequently attacked, despite being a StoneWall who can tank most physical attacks in the midgame.
162** The healers and magicians have lower defense and are often easier to kill, and the AI loves preying on anyone it can kill quickly and in one turn. It goes for the other ''Shining Force'' games as well. They usually won't exclusively go after Master Monks in [[VideoGame/ShiningForceII the second game]] because they can take hits and defend themselves.
163* TheSomethingForce: The [[TitleDrop Shining Force]] refers the band of heroes commanded by Max to fight Runefaust.
164* SpellMyNameWithAnS:
165** Lug is often mistranslated as "Luke", when the actual word is the former.
166** Kane's name is rendered as Cain [[spoiler:on the battle screen when you fight him]].
167%%* SpiritualSuccessor: ''VideoGame/GoldenSun''
168* SpitefulAI: Even when death seems imminent, the enemies seem to at least die happy when they know they used their last move to kill one of your weaker characters rather than focusing on the main character (who might have survived the hit) like they had been, which can frustrate to no end.
169* SquishyWizard:
170** It can depend on the character and how leveled up they are, but it's generally not a good idea to put your wizards or healers on the frontlines. If they run out of MP they might as well be a StoneWall since their physical attacks rarely do much (again, depending on the character). A notable exception is the hidden character Domingo, who has a ridiculously high Defense stat despite being otherwise entirely an offensive spellcaster. Indeed, due to the enemy tendency to attack him over other targets, he winds up being a very effective tank for the latter half of the game.
171** [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in the remake, in which Anri reveals that she specifically became a mage because she was useless when it comes to physical stuff.
172* StandardEvilEmpireHierarchy:
173** TheEmperor: Ramladu, the king of Runefaust whose forces cause destruction and death wherever they go. [[spoiler:Subverted, as Darksol corrupted Ramladu and his kingdom into evil]].
174** The Right Hand: Kane, who ranks just below Ramladu, but was responsible for Guardiana's destruction. [[Subverted, he was brainwashed by Darksol into becoming evil]].
175** The General: Elliot, a sympathetic AntiVillain [[MyCountryRightOrWrong who serves Runefaust even though the kingdom is evil]].
176** The Guard: Balbazak, who guards Urbantol for the sole purpose of keeping the Shining Force out of the harbor, but proves himself a DirtyCoward when he is defeated and begs the Shining Force to spare him. [[EvilSorcerer Darksol]] [[YouHaveFailedMe was not pleased]].
177** The Oddball: Mishaela uses dark magic.
178** TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:Darksol, the evil sorcerer who fuels the main story with his goal of reviving [[GreaterScopeVillain Dark Dragon]] and corrupted the kingdom of Protectora into Runefaust, and brainwashed Kane to further his own goals]].
179* SteamPunk: Guntz wears steam-PoweredArmor and Kokichi rides a flying steam-powered engine.
180* StoneWall: Domingo eventually gets one of the best HP and defense in the game, plus great evasion. If a character can hit him, they generally only do ScratchDamage, and he has enough HP to weather it all. He's also one of the highest priority targets to the computer, above most healers and other magicians, and below Max, TheHero. This means that if you put Domingo and almost any other character on either side of an opponent, they'll always go for him, allowing the other to hit them repeatedly from behind. Unfortunately, he isn't as resistant to magic attacks, which become more common during the final maps and can lead to him being one-shot if he places himself poorly.
181* StorybookOpening: In ''Resurrection of the Dark Dragon'', Simone reads about the story of the Shining Force with somebody unknown while she waits for her grandfather to return.
182* TheStrategist: Nova, who gives you advice if you talk to him at the base.
183* SuddenlyVoiced: Max was a HeroicMime in the original, but is given a voice and personality in the remake.
184* SwordOfPlotAdvancement: The Chaos Breaker is required to complete the game, as it functions as a key to TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon.
185* TapOnTheHead: The game begins when Max wakes up from a concussion caused by his teacher Varios hitting him during training. He's fine afterwards.
186* TeamPet: A few of the party members are animals, including Jogurt the helmet-wearing hamster, Domingo the squid-like magic creature, and Bleu the young dragon. Save for Bleu, who is plot-mandatory, they are [[PermanentlyMissableContent easy to miss]].
187* TemptingFate: Max's mentor Varios congratulates his growing skill as a warrior and mentions that he'll be tested soon enough. Immediately after, Varios is summoned by the king of Guardiana, leading to Max and his party intercepting nearby Runefaust forces. The rest is history.
188* TooAwesomeToUse:
189** Showers of Cure heal the entire team for around 40 HP when used, but can't be bought from stores and only around three or four can be found in chests across the game. They're saved for particularly dire situations as a result.
190** The Turbo Pepper can buff movement by up to 2 spaces, while not taking up an inventory space like the Mobility Ring (and both can be stacked). Only a single one is available, right after the first battle of Chapter 7, and most players are likely to have several party members who would benefit heavily from it, making it a tough decision.
191* TookALevelInBadass:
192** Most characters will once promoted. The most triumphant example is [[spoiler:Bleu, who gets a special portrait change and goes from a cowardly hiding dragon to the strongest, bulkiest flying unit in the game]].
193** Certain character personalities undergo this in the remake. Hans in particular looked and acted pretty wussy and cowardly in the original, even constantly reminding you not to put him in the front lines as he hates getting hit. In the remake, his redesign made him look less cartoonish and more bishounen. Gone is his cowardice and he even gives Dark Dragon a BadassBoast in the final battle.
194* UniqueEnemy:
195** In a game where most non-boss enemies appear in multiple battles, the Mannequins and Dire Clowns only appear in the circus tent battle of Chapter 2, and only a single Evil Puppet appears outside of it (in Balbazak's forces at the end of Chapter 4).
196** The Laser Eye is only fought in the finale of Chapter 3, and despite its unique design and gimmick, it's not considered a boss. Due to the battle's end being triggered by killing a nearby Silver Knight, it doesn't need to be defeated at all.
197* UpdatedRerelease: ''Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon'' on the Game Boy Advance redid all the graphics and added a subplot about Narsha and her bodyguards defecting from Darksol's forces.
198* UseItem: A few weapons and rings can be used in battle for magical effects. If abused too much, the item will crack, necessitating taking it to a shop for repair; if it's used again beforehand, it breaks entirely and vanishes from your inventory.
199* UselessUsefulSpell: Status-infliction and instant-death spells like Muddle and Desoul, due to their unreliable accuracy ([[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard unless an enemy uses it on you]]), being resisted by certain types of enemies, and because magic that doesn't directly attack or heal gives minimal experience points. However, status buffs like Quick, Boost, and Shield are comparatively very useful, but are also more expensive and only learned at high levels.
200* TheVicar: Healer units turn into Vicars when promoted, with the exception of Gong, who turns into a Master Monk.
201* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: In the beginning of the game, you can push a rolling cart at an NPC while you're in Guardiana. You can also do it again in Alterone, in order to get to an otherwise inaccessible treasure chest. The game (and the [=NPCs=]) can call you out if you do it.
202--> "[[WhatTheHellHero What a rude thing to do]]!"
203* VideoGameRemake: ''Resurrection of the Dark Dragon'' introduces three playable characters, Narsha, Zuika, and Mawlock, adds a couple battles with them, fixes balance issues, and expands the story, even adding a few new twists to it.
204* WeBuyAnything: Item shopkeepers will still buy weapons and vice versa, though a line of dialogue makes it a [[JustifiedTrope justified]] example:
205-->'''Shopkeeper:''' Thanks, I don't sell this type of item, but I know someone who does.
206* WeCanNotGoOnWithoutYou: Losing Max at any point forces you to restart from the last save point, no matter what state the rest of the Force is in. Can be justified by fact that Max always acts as the leader of the Force, and without him there is [[DecapitatedArmy nobody who can give proper commands to the Force]].
207* WhiteMagicianGirl: Khris, the game's only female healer and an early recruit to the Shining Force. However, she can out-damage other healers like Gong if properly leveled up.
208* WithMyDyingBreathISummonYou: The game revolves around the story of Darksol, an evil sorcerer, trying to revive Dark Dragon to take over the world. The heroes fight him in Dark Dragon's lair, and as he's about to die, Darksol shouts the trope name and Dark Dragon is brought to life as the FinalBoss.
209* WouldHurtAChild: In Rindo, the young grandson of the town's mayor wanders off out of excitement to see the upcoming circus, only to get kidnapped by Mishaela and her minions, who plan to feed the boy to a dragon. Rescuing him in one piece is the only way you can receive the mayor's permission to use his boat to travel to Prompt.
210* YinYangBomb: The Chaos Breaker, an [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity+1]] SwordOfPlotAdvancement which is created from the Swords of Light and Darkness.
211* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness:
212** In Bustoke, the Runefaust army have forcibly dragged away the men to unearth the Laser Eye, a secret weapon built by the Ancients, to put an end to the Shining Force. When it is found, the evil Master Mage in charge of the operation gives the order to kill them all, having had no further use for them. Fortunately, Max and the Shining Force arrives just in time to save the men.
213** In Urbantol, Darksol eliminates Balbazak for begging the Shining Force to spare him in return for giving them a ship to use. In the remake, Ernest wasn’t about to spare Balbazak, so he tries to sweeten the deal by offering to tell them some info on Darksol, who then appears and kills him before he could say anything.
214* YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo: In the GBA remake, after being coerced by Kane to sell out Max, after the former orders for he destruction of the remnants of Guardiana, the king of Alterone said that's wasn't part of the agreement. Kane clarifies that he agreed to spare ''only'' the king, but said nothing about anyone else.
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