Line #10 VideoGame/SuikodenIV


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5	Set over 150 years ''before'' the events of [[VideoGame/SuikodenI the first]] ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'', ''Suikoden IV'' takes place in the ocean far south of the Scarlet Moon Empire, revolving around the islands that would come to be known as the Island Nations following the events of this game. It tells the tale of [[HelloInsertNameHere Lazlo]], a recent graduate of the Gaien Marine Knights Academy on the nation's island colony of Razril. He gets snared in a deadly chain of events involving the [[ArtifactOfDoom Rune of Punishment]], one of the most dangerous of the 27 True Runes, and winds up wrongfully accused of murder and exiled. From there, he is drawn into the [[LaResistance resistance movement]] as the islands are attacked by the aggressive [[TheEmpire Kooluk Empire]].
6	----
7	!!''Suikoden IV'' provides examples of:
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9	* AllThereInTheManual: A ''lot'' of important details about the plot only come out if the player makes sure to talk to ''everyone'' as much as possible, and even then, a great deal was left out. [[VideoGame/SuikodenTactics Enter the sequel]]...
10	* AndYourRewardIsClothes: Oddly enough, the clothes you find? They're for ''Snowe''.
11	* AristocratsAreEvil: Vincent Vingerhut and Schtoltenheim Reinbach ''II''. Their sons [[UpperClassTwit aren't quite as bad]].
12	* AssholeVictim: After Lilin is rescued from Cray Trading Company's thugs, she comments that some of her sisters didn't make it. Lazlo is given the option to sink their fleeing ship, killing them.
13	* BadassFamily: Lino En Kuldes and his daughter, Flare. [[spoiler: And Lazlo, as he is Flare's brother. Or at least heavily hinted. With all the subtlety of a brick to the head.]]
14	* BeastMan: Nay-Kobolds.
15	* BlessedWithSuck: Whoever posses the Rune of Punishment. To go into detail, as a True Rune, it desperately ''wants'' its massive power to be used. It will do its best to put the host in situations where the power ''has'' to be used. And it has the power of ''pure destruction''. But it gets worse. The Rune of Punishment also drains the life force of its host. For in-battle usage, that means it drains some of Lazlo's HP every time one of its spells is cast. For the wider-scale plot-based uses, he tends to be put into a coma for a while. And eventually, it'll drain enough that the host dies. The Rune of Punishment does [[TheAgeless halt the aging process]] like other True Runes, but its previous hosts have never lived long enough for that to matter. The host could try to just not use the Rune of Punihsment's power at all to avoid this curse, but the Rune won't let them get away with that. True Runes can manipulate fate to some unspecified degree, and the Rune of Punishment makes its host a DoomMagnet specifically to force them into situations where they have to either use it or die. If they're able to hold onto their sanity and have enough willpower to still not use it, [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt whoever kills them becomes the new host]].[[note]]It's not specified what would happen if the Rune of Punishment's bearer was killed by the bearer of one of the other 26 True Runes, since a single person can only bear one of them at a time.[[/note]] [[spoiler:In the [[MultipleEndings good ending]], Lazlo is able to get the Rune to switch from its "judgment" phase to its "forgiveness" phase, allowing him to survive. In his ''VideoGame/SuikodenTactics'' guest appearance, it's revealed that this makes the Rune of Punishment completely broken, it now ''heals'' him with every use instead of draining him.]]
16	* BossInMookClothing: Leviathan, which is encountered randomly on the world map.
17	* ButtMonkey: Snowe. And it's ''not'' played for laughs.
18	* ButThouMust: Subverting this a couple of times leads to a few [[NonstandardGameOver Bad Endings]].
19	** Also used in the final dungeon, when [[spoiler:Eleanor insists that she and Lino lead a party into El-Eal to take out Cray. Lino is optional to take; refusing Eleanor prompts her to lock Lazlo in his bedroom until after her events are played out.]]
20	* CantDropTheHero: Averted in the first stage of the final dungeon, where, although Eleanor is directly controlled on the field, your party can be anyone else from the army.
21	* CatFolk: The Nay-Kobolds.
22	* CatGirl: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] by Noah, who has cat ears and huge cat paws... which may or may not be a headband and gloves, though she insists she's a Nay-Kobold.
23	** Given that she clearly doesn't look anything like a Nay-Kobold, clearly she's an eccentric human girl who wants to be a catgirl.
24	** She also explicitly states when you recruit her you're an idiot for believing she is a Nay-Kobold (even though you have to have the IdiotBall to recruit her...)
25	* CharacterDevelopment: Snowe's character arc is given the most attention in the game, mirroring your [[HeroicMime Silent Protagonist's]] own--and since Lazlo [[TheStoic doesn't emote much]], that makes him more or less the main focus by default.
26	* ChestMonster: Golden Hairballs and Angel Hairballs.
27	* ChickMagnet: Lazlo, surprisingly, has quite a few girls giggling over him. There's Rita, Rene, and Noah, and then there's his self-appointed [[BodyguardCrush bodyguards]] Millay, Gretchen, and Helga.
28	* ClingyMacGuffin: The Rune of Punishment, as is typical of a True Rune, is very hard to get rid of. [[spoiler:Graham Cray]] managed to do it in the past, but that ended badly.
29	* CoolShip: Your headquarters. A massive, multi-leveled ship with more than enough space to give most of your important Stars individual rooms, as well as hold a roomy lounge/inn/bar where all your {{MiniGame}}s go, ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'s'' equivalent to a strip mall, a blacksmith, ''two hot-spring style baths'', a training hall, a specially designed room for the mermaids...
30	* ContinuityNod: The Hero's weapon is named after Riou's from ''VideoGame/SuikodenII''. Or is it the other way around?
31	* CuteKitten: The Nay-Kobolds--feline counterparts to the usual canine Kobolds.
32	* DefeatMeansFriendship: Helmut is a textbook example; Snowe subverts this.
33	* DemBones: Skeleton enemies.
34	* DevelopersForesight:
35	** One feature in the NewGamePlus is the ability to switch your onscreen character to someone besides the hero. If you go into first person mode with a variety of different people, you'll notice that this isn't just cosmetic; the perspective actually changes to match the height of the character. It's a surprising amount of effort for a feature most players will never notice.
36	** During the Razril festival, with the torch in hand, if you go to the back streets and enter a random battle, the hero will [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHbMyaC8JNo use it as a weapon]]. It noticeably burns enemies.
37	* DirtyCoward: Snowe.
38	* EarnYourHappyEnding: Kind of important for Lazlo, as only by gathering all the Stars of Destiny can he [[spoiler: avert his PlotlineDeath]].
39	** You must also take care to use more heroic and/or compassionate answers when the in-game dialogue prompts you to get the True Good ending.
40	* EasilyForgiven: Averted ''hard''. [[spoiler: In order to get the good ending, you have to forgive Snowe ''constantly'', and every time you do, he shows up again less worthy of forgiveness each time.]] But it's only by giving someone forgiveness ''they don't deserve'' that you ''might'' be able to break the cycle of punishment.
41	* EmotionlessGirl: Mizuki, Paula.
42	* EvilPlan: It seems like the Cray Trading Company wants to take over the Islands but the BigBad has something else in mind. [[spoiler: Graham Cray orchestrated the entire Kooluk invasion in order to get his hands on the Rune of Punishment again. He's notably surprised and upset when the Rune sticks with Lazlo at the end of the game.]]
43	* FakeLongevity:
44	** Ship travel is slow and this game has a very high RandomEncounter rate.
45	** Recruiting Taisuke requires you to go through the small dungeon cavern in the Deserted island five times.[[note]]one time to talk to him, backtrack to get his clothes, go in again and give it to him, backtrack while he got dressed and go in again to recruit him.[[/note]] And then you have to go again to recruit a mermaid.
46	** To recruit Travis, you must travel right through the Obel Ruins to find him. When finally encountered, he asks Lazlo if he has an Escape Talisman and asks him to prove it by using it. This (irritatingly) warps you right to the start of the Obel Ruins, which must be navigated again to finally recruit him.
47	* FantasticRacism: Goes both ways between [[spoiler: the human and elven natives of Na-Nal. Both sides claim the island belongs to them; the Kooluk's entry into the equation just makes things more complicated.]]
48	* FishingMinigame: Naturally; you can also throw a net off the back of the boat and snag items [[spoiler: ([[GuideDangIt and an ally]])]] that way.
49	* FlyingSeafoodSpecial: Plenty of the enemies out in the sea.
50	* FourIsDeath: This is the fourth Suikoden game. [[spoiler: Guess what kind of side effects the Hero gets from his True Rune when used too much. Unless staved off by collecting 108 stars of course.]]
51	* GameplayAndStorySegregation: See MassTeleportation. Can you imagine how broken it would be in the middle of a naval battle to suddenly teleport your ships behind the enemy and out of their guns' line of fire? In out-of-battle use of Viki's teleportation, it's made very clear that this is well within her ability, yet nobody ever thinks of it.
52	** And if she messes up the teleportation that time? It's not uncommon knowledge Viki could very well, I dunno, sneeze and send the ships to the Grasslands or something. Or over a town.
53	** Lazlo using his Rune of Punishment in fights does not effect the plot one bit, while in certain cutscenes, his using it effects the plot a great deal.
54	* GenkiGirl: Jewel, Mitsuba, Rita, Noah, Wendel...
55	* GhostShip: An optional dungeon, in which you can recruit [[spoiler:Ted.]]
56	* GiantEnemyCrab: The "Master" of the deserted island.
57	* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: The FinalBoss ''feels'' like this, even if you've been carefully piecing together the plot: [[spoiler: WTF Giant Magic Tree of Death?]]
58	* {{Golem}}: Boss of the Ruins of Obel.
59	* GuideDangIt: The Deserted Island where your characters end up near the beginning of the game is home to two recruitable characters later on. Good luck finding it again without help. Even the official guide doesn't say where it is! [[spoiler: It's near the exact center of the map, northwest of Mordo Island.]]
60	* HeelRealization: [[spoiler: Snowe's takes the bulk of the game to come about; he appears to honestly think he's doing the right thing until he's greeted by [[PowderKegCrowd an angry mob]], and even ''then'', he thinks he's just following Lazlo's lead when he gets his own band of pirates.]]
61	* HerCodeNameWasMarySue: The Rose Swordsman from the story published in Perrault's newspaper after Reinbach and Micky join.
62	* HiddenElfVillage: A literal one on [[spoiler: Na-Nal; the elves living there don't take too kindly to the chief of Na-Nal striking a deal with the Kooluk...]]
63	* HighlyVisibleNinja: Akaghi and Mizuki boast some striking designs, but don't ''appear'' to be aiming to get noticed...
64	* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Snowe, after [[spoiler: getting attacked by an angry mob of citizens blaming him for selling out Razril.]]
65	* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Snowe has elements of this, but...
66	* IntrepidMerchant: Chiepoo. He even attempts to sell Lazlo something during a bath once.
67	* JigsawPuzzlePlot: The bare bones of the plot are presented to the player, yet plenty of important details require careful hunting, grilling every NPC, receiving and reading various notes in the comment box, tracking down Old Books to read...
68	** In fact, it's possible that, unless you're previously informed, you won't even ''know'' the game is set before the original Suikoden until you come across Ted. Even then you might not know that it's 150 years before...
69	* LightIsNotGood: Angel Hairballs.
70	* MassTeleportation: Viki in other games of the series is used only to teleport your active party around. This time, when she teleports you, she ''brings the whole fleet with her''. A fleet that always includes one huge battleship and up to four smaller ships depending on how well you perform in the naval battles. She does this an unlimited amount of times, with no MP cost.
71	* MiniGame: A few, the most notable being [[strike:Mahjongg]] Rita-pon.
72	* MinorInjuryOverreaction: A fall where Snowe hurts his arm causes him to abandon the ship he is commanding, along with the crew, who are all his friends, to a bloodthirsty pirate. This becomes justifed since Snowe, who was promoted beyond his competence due to political connections and had never seen serious combat before, simply panicked and used the arm as an excuse.
73	* NewGamePlus: You get to keep your money and items except for a few artifacts, and, best of all, you can now skip the CG scenes by pressing the triangle button.
74	* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: The Unicorn Zombies in the Ruins of Obel.
75	* OldSaveBonus: The lack of one enraged the fandom, despite how the timeline would've rendered it impractical anyway...
76	* OlderThanTheyLook:
77	** [[spoiler:Ted]] is well over a century old by the time of this game yet has the physical appearance of a young teenager.
78	** To a lesser extent, Chiepoo. He has a childish sounding voice, and has been mistaken in-game for a child, yet is 19 years old.
79	* PirateBooty: Found through a digging MiniGame.
80	* TheQuisling:
81	** [[spoiler: Snowe, who trades vital information, the dissolution of Razril's chapter of the Knights of Gaien, and the use of their island as a hub for the Kooluk's ongoing invasion in exchange for Razril's safety. In exchange, the Kooluk give him a false title and duties, distracting him from how Razril suffers under their control... leading to his immense surprise when the citizens [[TheDogBitesBack turn on him]].]]
82	** Another example is [[spoiler: the chief of Na-Nal, who makes his own alliance with the Kooluk and openly mocks Lazlo and Lino for trying to fight back. It doesn't end well.]]
83	* RandomEncounters: ''Oh very much so''. The rate's just a ''liiiittle'' bit high in this incarnation, and it ''hurts''.
84	** Fortunately, you get Viki later on to the point that you can just use her warping abilities. Except for those few times when she won't let you teleport due to story reasons.
85	* RebelliousPrincess:
86	** Flare, though her rebellion is aimed towards the enemy forces rather than her father.
87	** Millay is a straighter example, though not royalty. [[spoiler: Her parents tried to force her into an ArrangedMarriage with Middleport's heir -- who's twice her age -- and when she fled, the local lord sent his {{Mooks}} after her. Ironically, Schtoltenheim Reinbach III didn't even ''know'' about said arrangements until he helps Lazlo ''save'' her, and seems rather horrified by the thought himself.]]
88	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: [[spoiler: Ted, in a sort of EarlyBirdCameo. Kinda.]]
89	* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Killer Rodents.
90	* RunDontWalk: Default is running; you can walk by using the + directional pad and run ''faster'' by holding the R1 button.
91	* RunningGag: Schtoltenheim Reinbach III appears ''in person'' this time around. As do the fictionalized accounts of his life that will make him famous to future generations.
92	* TheScapegoat: Lazlo; at one point, [[spoiler: Katarina acknowledges that she suspected he wasn't to blame, but wanted to see ''someone'' pay for Glen's death.]]
93	* SmugSnake: Vincent Vingerhut, Snowe's father. The richest man on Razril, he [[spoiler: [[{{Backstory}} took advantage of Razril's growing budget issues as Gaien scaled back its navy to]] [[{{Blackmail}} subtly buy out the local branch of knights]] -- something Commander Glen resents, yet can't do anything about or he'll lose his funding.]] In the game ''proper'', he [[spoiler: takes advantage of Glen's PlotlineDeath to frame Lazlo and have him exiled, then instills his son as the new commander... then hides out in his mansion when things get rough, only emerging to [[UngratefulBastard try and drive Lazlo off]] after TheAlliance liberates Razril from the Kooluk.]]
94	* SpiritedCompetitor: Mitsuba, a [[ConMan Teenage Con Woman]] who doesn't mind getting beat when she gets recruited afterwards.
95	* StartOfDarkness: [[spoiler: Graham Cray]] has a surprisingly tragic one: [[spoiler: He had the Rune of Punishment once, and cut off his hand to escape the curse -- then it jumped to his son. Then his village was attacked by ''his own superiors'' in the Scarlet Moon Empire, and his son died using the rune to stop them.]]
96	* TheStoic: Lazlo, who combines this with HeroicMime.
97	* TheStrategist: Eleanor Silverberg, who doubles as a LadyDrunk.
98	* {{Stripperific}}: Jeane's outfit this time around is... well. There was a joke theory in fandom that, since she was steadily losing clothes in each game, [[AnachronicOrder IV's position on the timeline]] meant we'd see her in full heavy robes. Didn't happen.
99	* TheWanderingYou: played this straight to an extent that annoyed many players. The world map this time is an open ocean that you sail about in your [[CoolBoat headquarters]]. The map is rather large, the islands are very far apart, and the ship is very slow. These facts are then exacerbated by the extremely high encounter rate while at sea.
100	* WeaponOfMassDestruction: The massive Rune Cannon at El-Eal.
101	* WellDoneSonGuy: Snowe craves for approval from his father and Glen. His sword is even called the ''Daddy Blade,'' for pity's sake. Although it evolves to ''My Blade'' after enough sharpening.
102	* XanatosGambit: Happens on [[spoiler: Na-Nal. After you injure a few Kooluk soldiers, while trying to liberate Na-Nal, their Chief reveals he sold the island out, mocks you for [[LaResistance fighting,]] then forces you to steal, an elven remedy from the local HiddenElfVillage, ''just'' to piss them off, rub your team's noses in your ''helplessness,'' and suck up to the Kooluk, by helping them heal their men. However, the elven elder ''predicted'' he'd do this, and replaced the remedy with poison -- so the chief accidentally ''kills'' the injured soldiers, and the enraged Kooluk start massacring civilians left and right.]]
103	** In short, the planner is [[spoiler: the elven elder. If the humans don't bother them, then great, but if they do, all they'll get is poison for the invaders.]]

Context VideoGame / SuikodenIV