| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/st_clean.png]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:All aboard the [[MemeticMutation Soul Train]], baby!]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | -> ''"You have a very important mission ahead of you. The kingdom is in danger. We're all counting on you. You understand the gravity of the situation, don't you? [...] I will wait for you here. That's what we princesses have always done. From what I understand, it's kind of a family tradition."'' |
| 5 | -->-- '''Princess Zelda''', [[SubvertedTrope before joining you in said mission]] |
| 6 | |
| 7 | The fifteenth game in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series, ''Spirit Tracks'' was released in December of 2009. It is an indirect sequel to ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'', and by proxy ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'', taking place over a hundred years after the events in that game and starring a new Link and Zelda. For the most part, controls are similar to its predecessor. However, there are several new features introduced for this game. Firstly, the player can take control of Phantoms (like those in ''Phantom Hourglass'') to aid in combat and solving puzzles. The second major change is that this game takes place on land, not the ocean. Link controls not a ship, but a train. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | A long time ago, in the land of the Lokomo people, a great evil called the Demon King was fought and sealed in the ground. The chains binding him stretched the entire length of the land, and ended up the basis for a railway system. Since then, a new Kingdom of Hyrule was founded in the land (by the ''The Wind Waker''/''Phantom Hourglass'' Zelda), apparently coexisting peacefully with the native Lokomos. In the present day, Princess Zelda is once again a reigning monarch in charge of a functional kingdom, rather than the {{Tsundere}} LittleMissBadass of the prior games. The story opens with Link, an apprentice engineer, needing to attend his presentation ceremony in which Princess Zelda will appoint him as a Royal Engineer. She does so despite the annoyance of her ObviouslyEvil [[EvilChancellor Chancellor]], Cole; secretly, however, she requests Link's aid in investigating why the Spirit Tracks are disappearing. Almost as soon as Link sneaks the princess out of the castle, the EvilChancellor shows up and casts some sort of spell that separates Zelda's soul from her body. While the villain takes Zelda's body for himself, her soul stays with Link, and they team up to put her soul back where it belongs. Besides playing ExpositionFairy, it is ''Zelda'' herself who can possess the Phantoms and help Link in dungeons. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | It is the third ''Zelda'' game so far to have a rating that is not the default E (it's rated E10+). The first two were the T-rated ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' and ''VideoGame/LinksCrossbowTraining'', although the latter is a spinoff game.[[note]]It is worth noting that earlier Zelda games were given higher ratings in [[UpdatedReRelease remakes and re-releases]].[[/note]] |
| 12 | ---- |
| 13 | !!This game provides examples of: |
| 14 | |
| 15 | * EleventhHourSuperpower: |
| 16 | ** The first portion of the Dark Realm has you [[spoiler:eliminating every Armored Train on the map by hunting each of them down with the Tears of Light. Grab one of them and pull down the whistle to have an ''extreme'' boost in speed and invincibility to boot. Better yet, switching directions ''and'' the speed are conserved while under the Tears of Light, so you can go ''backwards'' and still have the same speed.]] |
| 17 | ** The great spin attack. You get it after collecting all 20 stamps, and since the portal to the dark realm is near Aboda, chances are you'll end up turning in the stamps right before you go in for the final battle. The boulder phase of the Malladus fight is extremely difficult without this technique. |
| 18 | * HundredPercentCompletion: The train parts, much like the ship parts in ''Phantom Hourglass''. It's made easier by the sets coming into only four categories instead of eight, but getting them all is still time-consuming (since they're now earned by trading treasures, some of which are of high rarity). |
| 19 | * AbsurdlyShortLevel: Out of all the train stations in the game, Bridge Worker's Home is by far the smallest, consisting of one house with a quest-relevant NPC and one treasure chest. Link will have everything explored in less than five minutes. |
| 20 | * ActionGirl: One of the few canon Zelda games to have Zelda actually DO something other than stand around for most of the game that's actually playable. The game actually makes fun of this. When Zelda is told that her body is being kept at the top of the tower (and why), she frantically heads right towards Link and borderline-psychotically orders him to go and save it. She adds that she'll remain behind to wait for him ([[LampshadeHanging "From what I understand, it's kind of a family]] [[PrincessClassic tradition!"]]) before being informed that she'd have to help him out also. |
| 21 | * AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: Linebeck III demands you retrieve a Regal Ring for him to pay off his debts to the bridge builder, claiming it's worth 8,000 rupees (his debts only amounted to 5,000 rupees). If you find another and sell it to him, he gives you 2,500 rupees for it. |
| 22 | * AdvancingWallOfDoom: Rocktites pursue your train in tight tunnels and need several shots to the eye before being shortly pushed back. Then they come up with their shells closed, so you now need to shoot an exploding barrel to expose their eye. |
| 23 | * AerithAndBob: Delve into the mystic and fantastical world of such interestingly named characters as Anjean, Malladus and... Cole? Granted, it ''does'' match the ThemeNaming of the Lokomos, but still. |
| 24 | * AfterlifeExpress: A very weird exception. There's the Spirit Train and a [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghost]] who rides it (along with a living passenger), but the ghost in question gleefully giggles, smiles and plays around on the train while it drives around, removing all the creepiness from the situation and moving it into heartwarming territory instead. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tN8Ls77-NNY The game's commercial]] plays it straight. |
| 25 | * AfterTheEnd: New Hyrule is built upon the ruins of an ancient civilization. The titular "Spirit Tracks" are the main indication that the continent had inhabitants long before the characters from ''The Wind Waker'' encountered it. |
| 26 | * TheAllSeeingAI: If Link blows down a beehive from a distance with the Whirlwind item, the bees will inexplicably head straight towards Link to attack him, even though they should logically have no idea that he caused the mayhem. Of course, any other NPC in close vicinity will be ignored as well. |
| 27 | * AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: There are golden dolphins and rabbits with fur blending in with any environment (including the green of the Forest Realm, red of the Fire Realm, and blue [[MisplacedWildlife of the Ocean Realm]]). |
| 28 | * AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: Compare the [[http://zeldawiki.org/images/f/f2/Spirit_Tracks_Cover.jpg American boxart]] to its [[http://www.rpgfan.com/news/pictures2009/zelda_spirit_tracks_euro_box.jpg European and Japanese counterpart]]. |
| 29 | * AndYourRewardIsClothes: 15 (of 20) stamps in Niko's stamp book unlocks the train conductor's outfit you wore at the beginning of the game. That's right, his reward is clothes that you already owned. |
| 30 | * AnEconomyIsYou: A justified example: New Hyrule's economy heavily relies on train traffic, and Link is the only train engineer whose train had not been corrupted. Also subverted, as various shop owners do in fact sell stuff Link doesn't need, but can buy anyway (to transport it somewhere else). |
| 31 | * AnIcePerson: Ice Chuchus make their debut in this game, freezing Link on contact unless he uses the Boomerang and/or Whirlwind. |
| 32 | * AnimatedArmor: The Phantom really is an enemy and will attack Link until he allows Zelda's spirit to possess it. |
| 33 | * AntiFrustrationFeatures: |
| 34 | ** The train will flip to the direction you want to go when exiting a station, portal and some caves in order to avoid having to go backwards and manually turning around. Interestingly, this is also done in [[spoiler:the Dark Realm if you decide to back into a portal.]] |
| 35 | ** All characters with side quests available will yell at you from a distance (displayed with a text box moving to the top screen) to save you from the ordeal of having to talk to every NPC all the time. |
| 36 | ** In all boss fights, the knockback the bosses inflict on Link after they were stunned does not cause damage. |
| 37 | ** If a passenger leaves the train early due to bad driving skills on Link's behalf, Zelda offers you to retry, which will warp you back to the original train station, saving you the hassle to back-track all the way there. |
| 38 | ** When Link is riding Phantom Zelda's shield, you can double-tap the ground to make Link jump down. If this action would cause Link to jump in lava, he will automatically cancel the jump. |
| 39 | ** If you failed too often in the Anouki village puzzle, Zelda will conclude every Anouki's preferences, stating who they ''want'' to pair up with, in addition to the statements of the Anoukis, who only told Link their dislikes. |
| 40 | * ArbitraryMissionRestriction: Near the end of the Tower of Spirits, you need to take a detour to swap Zelda's Wrecker Phantom armor out for another Phantom type, because she can't ferry Link across lava when she's curled up and rolling around. It's not explained why, as a Wrecker, she ''has'' to ball herself up to follow the paths you draw out for her, since she's able to move about on foot when she's just following Link around. |
| 41 | * ArrogantKungFuGuy: Byrne/Staven, who is quite [[TheStoic stoic]], but still has a superiority complex to rival [[Franchise/{{Naruto}} Neji Hyuuga's]]. |
| 42 | * ArtisticLicenseBiology: The Rabbits from the Ocean Realm can inexplicably ''walk on water'', and will even continue to do so in the Rabbitland Rescue after you captured them, even though they should have access to grass now. |
| 43 | * AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler:Anjean, Byrne's spirit, and the rest of the Lokomos, at the very end of the game.]] |
| 44 | * AwardBaitSong: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N21htq8lXQ Final Duet with Zelda which contains reprises from all the Lokomos you've met]] leads into the FinalBoss Climax Music. And it's gorgeous. |
| 45 | * BadassAdorable: |
| 46 | ** Phantom Zelda. Even the other Phantoms observe that she's adorable, although they don't quite know why. The little round pink eyes that appear in the usually empty space beneath Phantom's helmets are more than enough to qualify her. |
| 47 | ** ''Link''. [[spoiler:And both he and Zelda take it up to eleven in the final fight against Malladus.]] |
| 48 | * BarrierChangeBoss: Fraaz, the boss of the Snow Temple, performs attacks based on fire and ice to confront Link, but its weakness is also related to those same elements. When it's preparing an attack from either element, Link has to inflict damage on it by imbuing his Boomerang with the opposite one. The boss is smart enough to subvert BossArenaIdiocy when it destroys the torches Link has been making his Boomerang pass by to imbue the corresponding element to it, but since the boss still attacks back and forth with ''both'' elements instead of sticking with one (and, therefore, also switches its own elemental weaknesses) it ends up being a TacticalSuicideBoss, prompting its defeat anyway. |
| 49 | * BattleCouple: Link and Zelda, of course. Even moreso than their predecessors since they spend nearly the whole game together, with Zelda joining in the combat as a giant Phantom, and the game really likes to play the romantic angle between the two. |
| 50 | * BattleThemeMusic: The game is unique among the 2D and 2.5D ''Zelda'' games in that it features a larger-than-usual repertoire of music tracks for bosses, putting it closer to the style of the 3D games except ''Majora's Mask''. There is one for the odd-numbered temples (Forest, Ocean, Sand), one for the even-numbered ones (Snow, Fire; the latter adds VariableMix for when Link isn't riding the minecart necessary to damage the boss), one for the overworld miniboss Rocktite (VariableMix is used depending on how close the monster is to the Spirit Train), one for all remaining minibosses, one for ClimaxBoss Byrne (a BossRemix of his {{Leitmotif}}), one for {{Superboss}} Dark Link (borrowed from the GhostShip from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass''), one for the Demon Train, and three for Cole and Malladus (with the second being a BossRemix of Cole's Leitmotif and the third being a upbeat reprise of the game's title screen theme). |
| 51 | * BanditMook: Crows once again steal Link's Rupees on contact. |
| 52 | * BeTheBall: Princess Zelda herself can curl when she possesses a Wrecker Phantom in the Tower of Spirits. |
| 53 | * BetterThanABareBulb: This has got to be the most tongue-in-cheek ''Zelda'' so far with Zelda being the most stereotypical DamselInDistress princess before [[TookALevelInBadass discovering her ability to posses Phantoms]]. |
| 54 | * {{BFS}}: Like in ''Phantom Hourglass'', the Phantoms carry huge claymores they can swing around one-handed. But this time, Zelda can take over Phantoms to use their swords for herself. |
| 55 | * BigBad: Initially [[EvilChancellor Chancellor Cole]], as he desires to release Demon King Malladus, his master, who is sealed within the Tower of Spirits, and is destroying the titular Spirit Tracks for that purpose. Once Malladus is freed, he takes over as main villain and attempts to conquer Hyrule. |
| 56 | * BigCreepyCrawlies: Stagnox is a gigantic stag beetle that charges at Link during battle, though its abdomen can be hurt. In the first phase, it's necessary to remove the surrounding poison from the abdomen; in the second phase, stunning it requires hitting the head with an explosive instead. |
| 57 | * BigNo: Zelda lets out an ear-piercing '''''"IYAAAAAAAAAAA!"''''' (Japanese for "no") when she finds out what Chancellor Cole [[DemonicPossession is planning to do with her body.]] |
| 58 | * BigThinShortTrio: The guards at Hyrule Castle come in three different body types: the broad-shouldered ones, the tall and thin ones, and the small recruits. |
| 59 | * BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Link and Zelda kill Malladus and save the day once again, but all the Lokomos, including Byrne, disappear.]] One of the three MultipleEndings also gives off this vibe, due to [[spoiler:hinting that Link left Hyrule.]] |
| 60 | * BlackoutBasement: Certain portions of the Tower of Spirits are almost completely dark, save for one or two torches near the entrance; you can use the Boomerang to transfer fire from them to the conspicuously unlit torches further ahead, but this only lights up small, circular areas. Ghost-like Nocturns also patrol the dark, and are completely invulnerable unless caught in the light, making it dangerous to stay in the darkened areas too long. One of the types of Phantoms encountered in these darkened areas carries a flaming sword which is its own light source. |
| 61 | * BlingBlingBang: One of the unlockable train parts is golden cannon, which adds to your ride's health like that of the Golden Boat in ''Phantom Hourglass'', [[PowerAtAPrice but it's still pretty pricey]]. |
| 62 | * BlockPuzzle: A staple of the series. This game features block puzzles on FrictionlessIce as well as rolling block puzzles; the blocks of the latter can only be moved by means of the Sand Wand. Notably, one floor of the Tower of Spirits has a block puzzle maze reminiscent of ''VideoGame/{{Sokoban}}''. |
| 63 | * BlowYouAway: The Whirlwind, one of Link's new items, is a pinwheel-like device that creates small cyclones, and is operated by blowing into the DS microphone. He can use it to push pinwheels, push important items across chasms, and throw bombs into the resident dungeon boss. |
| 64 | * BlueMeansCold: The blue flames that featured in ''Ocarina of Time'' return with the ability to freeze things. |
| 65 | * BlushSticker: Link gains some, although they are only visible on his map sprite-symbol and in certain cutscenes. This is the second notable trait that sets him apart from the otherwise identical Link from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', the first being the lower pitch of his voice. |
| 66 | * BodySnatcher: The plot is kicked off by Chancellor Cole stealing Zelda's newly-soulless body. |
| 67 | * BodySurf: How Zelda takes control of the Phantoms. She can quickly surf from one Phantom to another one whenever Link hits one in the back. This turns into a true Body Surf-Orgy in the last segment of the Tower of Spirits. |
| 68 | * BonusDungeon: The game has a few with his various secret train stations, but the best example is the [[spoiler:Lost at Sea station, consisting of a dungeon with four floors and ''Phantoms'', harkening back to the Temple of the Ocean King from ''Phahtom Hourglass''.]] |
| 69 | * BossArenaIdiocy: Compared to most bosses in the game and the ''Zelda'' series, Fraaz takes a rather different approach; upon noticing that Link has been using the two torches in his chamber to damage him, he simply reaches over and smashes them apart. And then [[TacticalSuicideBoss he starts using attacks that can be used as replacements for the torches to damage him]], making it only a little harder than before. |
| 70 | * BossRemix: |
| 71 | ** Byrne's battle theme is a remix of his {{Leitmotif}}. |
| 72 | ** [[spoiler:Cole's theme]] is remixed for the first phase of [[spoiler:Malladus' beast form]], followed by an epic remix of the [[spoiler:[[MagicMusic song used to weaken him]]]] in the second phase, which itself is a remix of the game's main theme. |
| 73 | * BossRush: While the Take 'Em On All minigame is by default a MultiMookMelee challenge where you go through a bunch of monsters (adding the first boss at the end of the easiest setting and the first three over the course of the intermediate one), in its hardest setting it fully transitions into this, as you first deal with several mooks as usual (including minibosses in-between) in the first floors and then fight all all bosses (excluding [[spoiler:Byrne, who isn't a monster and eventually redeems anyway,]] and the endgame bosses) back-to-back, followed by [[spoiler:Dark Link]] at the very end. |
| 74 | * BossSubtitles: A prerequisite for 3D ''Zelda'' titles. The "boss name, then title" format from ''Phantom Hourglass'' is reused (eg., "Stagnox, Armored Colossus", "Fraaz, Master of Icy Fire", etc.). It's later subverted to great effect in the fight against Byrne. He is just "Byrne". |
| 75 | * BottomlessFuelTanks: Link never needs to refuel his train, no matter how long he uses it. A justified example, as it's implied that the trains get their energy directly from the magical Spirit Tracks. |
| 76 | * BottomlessMagazines: |
| 77 | ** The Pirate's Hideout mini-game gives you endless arrows to pelt the pirates with. |
| 78 | ** Also occurs during [[spoiler:the final battle, when Zelda has an endless supply of arrows to fire with the Bow of Light]]. |
| 79 | ** The Spirit Train's cannon, much like the Ship Cannon in the prequel, never runs out of ammo. |
| 80 | * BrainBleach: In-universe, Zelda is understandably freaked out by the idea of the Demon King possessing her body. |
| 81 | * BreathWeapon: |
| 82 | *** To activate the Whirlwind, you have to blow into the microphone. The animation shows Link blowing into the device, which magically amplifies it. |
| 83 | *** The boss Fraaz is an entire boss fight centered around its BreathWeapon. The boss [[BalloonBelly inflates]] with a specific element, either ([[KillItWithFire normal fire]] or [[KillItWithIce frigid blue fire]], and the player has to use the opposite element against Fraaz as it's inflating with another attack. |
| 84 | * BrokenBridge: A literal example with the bridge leading to the Ocean Realm, which needs to be repaired by Kenzo. On a broader, more figurative scale, a big chunk of the game revolves around repairing the Spirit Tracks, therefore missing tracks block your progress constantly. |
| 85 | * BuildLikeAnEgyptian: The game's [[ShiftingSandLand Sand Realm]] features a temple built like a pyramid, which is also reflected in the inner layout of its dungeon map (this was also the case with Mutoh's Temple in ''Phantom Hourglass''). Find it requires completing a series of dangerous trials, and once inside ven more hazards (like boulders and spiky traps) await. |
| 86 | * TheBusCameBack: The [[note]]regular[[/note]] [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI Bubbles]], [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast Mothulas]], [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime White Wolfos, Freezards]], [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Bulblins, and Bulbos]] make their reappearance after being absent since ''Twilight Princess'' in the case of the first and the latter four, and ''The Wind Waker'' in the case of the second. |
| 87 | * ButNotTooChallenging: Byrne has spent an untold number of years training to be the best warrior he can be. When he actually faces defeat at the hands of Link and Zelda, he is completely aghast that he could ever lose, least of all to mere Hylian children. |
| 88 | * ButNowIMustGo: At the end of the game, [[spoiler:Anjean and the other Lokomos leave the kingdom of Hyrule under the protection of Link and Zelda, since the defeat of Malladus fulfilled their duties]]. |
| 89 | * ButThouMust: Renzo demands a full [[ShockinglyExpensiveBill 5,000 rupees]] from Linebeck III in order to repair the BrokenBridge to the Ocean Realm. Linebeck himself decides that ''Link'' is paying for that, giving that he wants the bridge to be repaired. The player can answer with a BigNo, which Linebeck doesn't even acknowledge, simply stating the same as he would if the player had agreed instead. |
| 90 | * ByTheEyesOfTheBlind: Zelda becomes a SpiritAdvisor and ExpositionFairy only Link and the Lokomo can see. |
| 91 | * ByTheLightsOfTheirEyes: Tektites and Rocktite's eyes glow in the dark, which is the only way to spot them when they ambush the Spirit Train in one of Hyrule's caves. |
| 92 | * CampGay: The shopkeep at Castle Town. He has one hand on his hip, he uses the word "fabulous", and he doesn't wear pants. |
| 93 | * CelShading: The game uses a similar art style to the one first seen in ''Wind Waker'', referencing how it's set in the same continuity as that game. |
| 94 | * CharacterDevelopment: Zelda goes from a DamselInDistress who only accompanies Link on the quest to restore the Spirit Tracks because he can't do it alone to an ActionGirl who shows no hesitation charging into battle and facing the final boss alongside Link. |
| 95 | * CharacterShilling: Not in the game itself, but the launch trailer features Stagnox and Fraaz quite a noticeable amount. Cragma is also the only boss to have any official artwork of it, which was included in a lot of promo materials. |
| 96 | * ChekhovsSkill: You're taught during your final exam how to use the train whistle to clear away friendly animals. After the first dungeon or so, its two uses are to summon Beedle down so you can visit his shop and wow passengers. [[spoiler:Then in the Dark Realm, it allows your train to go ''extremely'' fast, making the Armored Trains a lot easier to handle.]] |
| 97 | * ChestMonster: The game takes the familiar Like-Like enemy and makes it more frustrating by including ones that hide inside pots and burst out to attack you when you get too close. Pots containing them will occasionally shake, tipping you off to the [[MooksAteMyEquipment shield-eating menace]]'s presence, but chances are that you'll be either too busy or too eager to get whatever's inside the pot to notice. And then there's the one hidden inside an actual treasure chest. Fortunately, this only happens once. |
| 98 | * AChildShallLeadThem: Princess Zelda, though due to her age she's being tutored by a counselor, while the political duties are being administered by Chancellor Cole, who happens to be a CorruptPolitician. |
| 99 | * ChromaticArrangement: The Lokomos collectively form a rainbow when [[spoiler:performing alongside Zelda and Link to expose Malladus' weakspot]]. |
| 100 | * CirclingBirdies: Like in ''Phantom Hourglass'', Link become dizzy if he uses the SpinAttack too many times because the touch screen controls allows you to execute the attack much faster than in most other games. You'll also get dizzy if you roll too many times. |
| 101 | * ClimaxBoss: The game has the fight with [[TheDragon Byrne]] at the top of the Tower of Spirits, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aytSMb0xVo unique boss theme]] and all. He's fought at the top of the Tower of Spirits, just before [[spoiler:Malladus finally possesses Zelda's body]]. |
| 102 | * ClothesMakeTheLegend: Link's tunic and cap yet again, this time justified by being the uniform for the royal guards, and Link has to dress up as one to sneak Zelda out. Interestingly, US-version dialogue indicates that no one seems to find the outfit very flattering; one guard calls it "goofy-looking," and when Link puts it on Zelda comments that "It works...I suppose." |
| 103 | * CollectionSidequest: Train Parts, Rabbits, Force Gems and Train Stamps for the stamp book. The Train Parts work like the Ship Parts in ''Phantom Hourglass'', as they help Link customize the Spirit Train and increase its LifeMeter when a full set is in use; however, for the sake of convenience, the parts come in only four categories instead of eight. The Rabbits are spread all over Hyrule, and in each region there's a specific breed; bringing them to a rabbit corral northwest of the Forest Realm will yield rewards for Link. The Force Gems, earned by completing character-driven sidequests, unlock new rails for the Spirit Train to traverse, which in turns unlocks new shortcuts, new stations and lurking parts for Rabbits. The Train Stamps are located in major stations, and Link has to add their marks onto a book Niko entrusted to him; collecting 10 will allow Link to switch between his Hero Clothes and the train uniform, while collecting all 20 unlocks a sword skill. |
| 104 | * ColorCodedMultiplayer: Battle Mode lets you control one of four Links with differently colored tunics, ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwordsAdventures Four Swords]]'' style. |
| 105 | * TheComputerIsALyingBastard: |
| 106 | ** The Song of Healing restores all your hearts when played inside a dungeon or during a boss battle. The spirit who teaches you the song tells you it can only be used “one time”, which makes it sound TooAwesomeToUse, but what she actually means is that it can be used once each time you visit a dungeon. |
| 107 | ** In the Disorientation Station cave, you're supposed to go "north and north" to discover the treasure. The European version will tell you to go "north, north, north". You can only go north twice, and the room in question looks perfectly normal otherwise, so instead of searching it for the hidden treasure, you're likely to instead assume you're in the wrong place, or supposed to find a way through the wall. |
| 108 | * ContinuityNod: |
| 109 | ** Tetra appears in a stained-glass window; Niko mentions how Link reminds him of someone he used to know when he was younger; you can obtain the shield from ''Phantom Hourglass'' at one point, and so on... |
| 110 | ** Zelda desperately notes, during her freak-out, that it's the required job for the Link in each generation to rescue his corresponding Zelda. |
| 111 | ** You visit [[spoiler:Linebeck's grave]] at one point in the adventure. |
| 112 | ** One of the rarer treasures Link can find is the "Crown of Ruto". Ruto was the Water Sage in [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaofTime the era of the Hero of Time]]. |
| 113 | ** The Ends of the Earth station has puzzles for Master, Tempered and Golden puzzlers. Those are the names of the sword's upgrades in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]''. |
| 114 | * ContrastingSequelAntagonist: Chancellor Cole is a smug, manipulative CorruptPolitician that aims to free Malladus from his imprisonment. This separates him from the TragicVillain portrayal of Ganondorf in ''The Wind Waker'' and the pure-evil nature of Bellum from ''Phantom Hourglass''. |
| 115 | * ContrastingSequelSetting: While the first two games on the Adult Timeline took place on the open sea where Link must sail between islands, ''Spirit Tracks'' takes place on a single landmass where the main method of transportation is steam trains. |
| 116 | * ControlRoomPuzzle: Like in ''Phantom Hourglass'', there are areas with multiple switches within. They usually include stone tablets with the proper switch sequence written on them in cryptic form. |
| 117 | * ConvectionSchmonvection: There are plenty of the molten stuff to go around, and Link isn't affected unless he lands in it, where he loses half a heart from terminal fall respawning. With the exception of the Wrecker Phantoms, Link can ride ''on top of Zelda'' over these molten masses and neither of them will be hurt. The extra-heavy armor that Wrecker Phantoms use must be made of Goron iron... |
| 118 | * ConvenientColorChange: When Zelda possesses a Phantom, its armor turns to a shade of pink. |
| 119 | * CoolTrain: The Spirit Train goes under the water on sunken tracks, and replaces bombs with ''torpedoes'' underwater. And if you think that's cool, you haven't seen the [[spoiler:[[EleventhHourSuperpower super speed and invincibility given by Tears of Light]] in TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon--which even works ''in reverse''. And even without that, it rivals the FinalBoss' train in terms of speed]]. It's basically this side of the [[Series/KamenRiderDenO Den-Liner]] and [[Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII Doc Brown's flying time traveling train]] in terms of coolness. |
| 120 | * CopyProtection: Copied/pirated versions of the game don't display the train controls, making riding the train very difficult indeed. |
| 121 | * CorridorCubbyholeRun: Subverted in the [[ShiftingSandLand Sand Temple]]. Sets of two boulders close together are rolling down at regular intervals and there's a safe area halfway through, but it turns out to be a TrapDoor into a BottomlessPit. You're instead supposed to squeeze between the boulders. |
| 122 | * CosmeticAward: Beat Alfonzo's training record of 900 hits and you get a rare treasure, and the guards call you "Captain". Not much, considering you can get the treasure other ways so all you really have is the honor of their respect and that's it. |
| 123 | * CoupDeGraceCutscene: The game features Link jamming his sword into Malladus' forehead [[spoiler: with Zelda's help, after the former has taken over Chancellor Cole's body]] after a little PressXToNotDie. |
| 124 | * CovertPervert: Zelda gives off this vibe when handing Link his "disguise" in her room early on in the game. |
| 125 | -->''Zelda:'' Please get changed so we can leave. ...Oh! I-I'm sorry. I'll look the other way. |
| 126 | * CrosshairAware: During the boss battle with Byrne, purple crosshairs appear on Link right before Byrne launches his claw at him. |
| 127 | %%% |
| 128 | %%Please put the Crowning Moments in the respective subsection |
| 129 | %%% |
| 130 | * CursedWithAwesome: Princess Zelda. She is cursed into being a ghost. This gives her, among others, the ability to hover (which she openly enjoys in the trailer), turn into a [[ExpositionFairy fairy-like orb of light]] and, most importantly, possess the deadly Phantom-soldiers. |
| 131 | * DamnYouMuscleMemory: |
| 132 | ** Are you used to the roll input from ''Phantom Hourglass''? Now you have to double tap the screen instead of drawing circles on it. |
| 133 | ** The game lacks the RealTimeWeaponChange nature of the item inventory seen in ''Phantom Hourglass''. |
| 134 | * DamselInDistress: Subverted--Zelda's ''body'' is kidnapped, but her spirit escapes and travels with Link for his entire adventure, sometimes even [[ActionGirl helping him fight]] and navigate through dungeons. [[spoiler:The battles with Byrne and the BigBad make them a full-fledged BattleCouple.]] Quite a contrast with ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass Phantom Hourglass]]'', in which Tetra/Zelda is [[spoiler:held captive by the BigBad for the first half and TakenForGranite for the second half]], never getting a chance to do anything. One sidequest involves rescuing a DistressedDude from pirates. |
| 135 | * DarkerAndEdgier: Although it still has an overall lighthearted tone, ''Spirit Tracks'' is a lot eerier than its predecessor ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass Phantom Hourglass]]'', which is reflected in that it's one of the only two Zelda games in the Toon Link style to not receive a regular E rating, but rather E10+ (the other game being the HD remake of ''The Wind Waker''), as well as the only handheld game in the series with that rating. The antagonist is a twisted, corrupt politician who is actually a demon in disguise, and the story features one of the shortest, but creepiest plot points of ''Twilight Princess'' (itself one of the darkest games in the series already) as framework for a huge chunk of the story: [[spoiler:Princess Zelda's empty body being possessed by a male SealedEvilInACan]]. |
| 136 | * DastardlyWhiplash: Chancellor Cole definitely has the look, complete with top hat (or rather, two of them, to hide his horns; hatless, he looks like the original PointyHairedBoss). But he's a lot more competent than most Dastardly Whiplash characters and, early in the game, kills Zelda because he didn't actually need her ''alive'', since her body is necessary for reviving his boss, Demon King Malladus. This backfires, funnily enough; Zelda is [[SpiritAdvisor surprisingly]] [[AnimatedArmor useful]] while dead. |
| 137 | * TheDayTheMusicLied: Link and Zelda celebrate the PowerOfFriendship after defeating a boss. The camera slowly pans around them, the background fades to white, happy music flares up...then the band stalls when the background returns to normal and you see the NotQuiteDead boss simply limp out of the room back to his master. |
| 138 | * DeadlyGas: Stagnox's main defense for its abdomen is its toxic gas, especially during the first stage of the fight against it. |
| 139 | * DeadToBeginWith: The bad guys remove Zelda's soul from her body; most people can't see her soul and her body is lifeless. The plan is to then house a monster's spirit in her body and thus control Hyrule. |
| 140 | * DeceptiveDisciple: [[spoiler:Byrne, who betrayed his master, Anjean, out of his thirst for power]]. |
| 141 | * DegradedBoss: |
| 142 | ** Snapper, the miniboss you get the whip from, later appears as just another enemy. It is very satisfying to whip him to death with the weapon you took from him. The Geozard, a heavily-guarded enemy, is also made short work of after you can use the whip to remove its shield. |
| 143 | ** The Heatoise in the Fire Temple. After you get the Bow and Arrow from the first one, two more show up, and your new weapon can be used to eliminate them in short order. |
| 144 | * DemonicPossession: Remember what happened [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess the last time]] Zelda's soul was removed by the BigBad? It's repeated here, but this time it happens in the very beginning of the game. Also, during the climax of the story, [[spoiler:Malladus forcefully possesses Cole's body after Zelda manages to retrieve hers]]. |
| 145 | * DesignatedVictim: Lampshaded. Once a ghost, Zelda insists you go retrieve her body while she waits for you, claiming it's tradition. Anjean, who's listening to all this, tells her that it's not happening that way this time, and Zelda joins you as your ExpositionFairy instead. |
| 146 | * DevourTheDragon: [[spoiler: Near the end of the game, Zelda gains her body back, leaving Malladus without a host. Malladus then resorts to Plan B and steals Cole's body for a power boost.]] |
| 147 | * DidYouActuallyBelieve: Byrne agrees to betray the Lokomos to revive the Demon King Malladus in exchange for power. Malladus cripples Byrne not a minute after coming back to life, and Cole mocks him for believing that the Demon King would ever trust someone who already abandoned his own tribe. |
| 148 | -->'''Cole''': Nyee hee hee! Thank you for your help. But you are too gullible, my friend. Don't you know that he will never give you new power? |
| 149 | * DiscOneFinalBoss: Byrne, who is faced in the Tower of Spirits. What appears to be a PreFinalBoss fight preceding the battle against Cole and Malladus turns out to be in fact the only boss battle in that dungeon, since the two antagonists leave the tower for good after Malladus regains his power, and aren't fought until much later in the Dark Realm (and that endgame has its own PreFinalBoss with the Demon Train). |
| 150 | * DiscOneFinalDungeon: Floors 18-24 of the Tower of Spirits. Link and Zelda make it to the top of the tower, only to [[spoiler:have the villains escape on the Demon Train. It wasn't helped by the fact that they averted InterfaceSpoiler (in the menu screen and, to a lesser extent, the maps), so the existence of a fifth dungeon was a major surprise.]] |
| 151 | * DishingOutDirt: The Sand Wand has this power. With it, Link is able to raise sand so he can rise to higher spots, move or stop heavy objects, walk over quicksand, attack sand-based enemies, etc. It's very versatile. |
| 152 | * DistantFinale: The game serves as a finale to the saga of [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker the Hero of Winds]], showing that after his and Tetra's quest to find a new land ([[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass and dealing with Bellum along the way]]), they ultimately succeeded and founded a new Hyrule, only for it to suffer its own troubles with a Demon King. |
| 153 | * DittoFighter: Dark Link appears as a {{superboss}} at the end of the third (and final) round of the Take 'Em All On minigame. He can attack with the sword as well as the bow and the bombs. |
| 154 | * DoorToBefore: Just like its predecessor [[VideoGame/TheLegendofZeldaPhantomHourglass Phantom Hourglass]] and unlike most games in the series, this game has teleporters to the start of a dungeon ''before'' the final boss, that go both ways (i.e. you can warp out of a dungeon and return straight to the boss). |
| 155 | * DoubleMeaningTitle: The Japanese subtitle is ''Daichi no Kiteki'', which means "train whistle of the land". When you remove one of the kanji from "kiteki", it becomes ''Daichi no Fue'' (flute of the land), the Japanese name of the Spirit Flute. |
| 156 | * DoWellButNotPerfect: You have to score less than 4000 points to win the quiver from the Pirate's Hideout minigame. You have to deliberately miss a couple of times, as if you hit everything flawlessly to keep the counter up you will exceed 4000 and win a HeartContainer instead (both prizes are great, but the former is still given only with a score lower than that for the latter). |
| 157 | * TheDragon: Byrne is this to BigBad Chancellor Cole, with Malladus as the GreaterScopeVillain. |
| 158 | * DramaticIrony: One recurring sidequest involves Zelda's teacher asking to be taken to various towns while looking for her, unaware of the fact that she's been with Link all along ([[CassandraTruth though not for lack of trying on Link's part]]). |
| 159 | * DressingAsTheEnemy: Link dresses as a castle guard, while Zelda possesses Phantoms. |
| 160 | * DubNameChange: Several {{Non Player Character}}s and locations have different names between the American and British English versions of the game. |
| 161 | ** Byrne = Staven |
| 162 | ** Phytops = Cactops |
| 163 | ** Cragma = Vulcano |
| 164 | ** Aboda Village = Outset Village |
| 165 | ** Whittleton = Mayscore |
| 166 | ** Rabbitland Rescue = Rabbit Haven |
| 167 | ** Forest Temple = Wooded Temple |
| 168 | ** Forest Sanctuary = Woodland Sanctuary |
| 169 | ** Wellspring Station = Icy Spring |
| 170 | ** Papuchia Village = Papuzia Villge |
| 171 | * DungeonBypass: The mechanic of "main dungeon you keep returning to" makes a return from ''Phantom Hourglass'', but this one has bypasses built into it and isn't timed. |
| 172 | * EarlyBirdBoss: Fraaz, the Snow Temple boss, is unusually tough in spite of only being the second boss in the game. Fraaz's attacks increase in frequency as the battle goes on, he can split himself in two, and once he's destroyed the torches in his chamber, you have to run suicidally close to his attacks in order to reflect them and stun him. The player only gets one free heart container before him; it's possible to get more, but they involve scraping up a lot of Rupees and a BossRush challenge. |
| 173 | * EdgeGravity: You are actually attracted to lethally empty voids, and approaching any edges in the game is a mortally bad idea. Unless you want to jump to a different platform, which is only accomplished by running at the edge at high speed. |
| 174 | * EekAMouse: Zelda is frightened by a mouse shooting out from its hole, even though she's a spirit possessing an invincible {{Golem}}, not to mention the granddaughter of the pirate Tetra. [[spoiler:Cole actually summons magical rats to incapacitate her during his boss fight.]] |
| 175 | * EldritchAbomination: The fittingly named Skeldritch, a giant, humanoid, ancient demon skeleton [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot thing]] with an unusually large spinal column, and wearing spiked viking attire. What exactly ''was'' this thing? Was it ever even ''alive'' at one point? |
| 176 | * EnemyChatter: A Zelda-possessed Phantom can converse with the other Phantoms [[VerbalTic WHO SPEAK IN ALL CAPS]]. Apparently, the lower-ranking Phantoms do not get on well with the elite ones. |
| 177 | ---> SOMETIMES IT'S LONELY BEING SO ELITE |
| 178 | * EscortMission: |
| 179 | ** The Force Gem sidequests which don't involve transporting ''items'' from one place to another instead require you to transport ''people'' from one place to another without taking too much damage during the ride. |
| 180 | ** Big Keys in the Tower of Spirits are electrified and Link can't carry them, so Zelda (in Phantom armor) carries them instead -- but then you have to protect her from Keymasters who try to take the key back. |
| 181 | ** [[spoiler:Phantom Zelda in the first part of the fight with Cole and Malladus has to guide Link to the front of the train, while Malladus shoots a laser beam.]] |
| 182 | * EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: "Just call me Postman! All my friends do." |
| 183 | * EverythingsBetterWithBunnies: You can catch bunnies with a net that looks like a bunny as well. You can even visit them at the Rabbit Sanctuary and get rewards for saving them! |
| 184 | * EvilIsNotAToy: |
| 185 | ** Malladus and Cole seem like they are allies at first, but after [[spoiler:Zelda manages to get her body back, Malladus does not even hesitate to possess Cole instead and transforms into his final phase]]. |
| 186 | ** Also, [[spoiler:Byrne is quickly betrayed by Cole when Malladus starts possessing Zelda's body]]. |
| 187 | * EvilTowerOfOminousness: The Tower of Spirits. The only times you can't see it from your train are when there's physical objects (mountains, trees and the like) blocking your view. |
| 188 | * ExpositionFairy: Zelda -- [[spoiler: the second time in the series that an ExpositionFairy is also [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess the titular Princess]].]] |
| 189 | * {{Expy}}: |
| 190 | ** Alfonzo, Link's teacher and master, bears a striking resemblance to Gonzo, Tetra's first mate in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]''. He's descended from him, which would make this an example of GenerationXerox as well, along with Zelda ("Legacy-Expy" of Tetra) and Link ("Legacy-Expy" of the Hero of Winds from ''Wind Waker'' and ''Phantom Hourglass''). |
| 191 | ** Malladus is [[spoiler:a giant blue pig-thing who possesses Zelda, looking a lot like Ganon in the older ''Zelda'' games]]. |
| 192 | * {{Faceship}}: While Ganon himself doesn't appear in it, the Demon Train (a CoolTrain with a human face on the front) looks so much like him it has been nicknamed the Ganontrain. |
| 193 | * FairyBattle: The Jellyfish from ''Phantom Hourglass'' return in the Ocean sector map, and once again they can be shot for Rupees. |
| 194 | * FairyCompanion: Princess Zelda's spirit travels in the form of a little glowy ball, resembling a wingless fairy. When she wants to talk, she's your usual, glowing and floating in mid-air, [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghost-girl]]. |
| 195 | * FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: [[spoiler:Byrne screams in pain as he is ''electrocuted to death'' by Malladus.]] This likely contributed to the E10+ rating. |
| 196 | * FeedItABomb: Fire Babas are fireball-spitting, Link-eating plants that can swallow bombs if you throw them with the proper timing. This kills them in one hit, which is good, since the usual method of fighting them (with your sword), can be quite tedious, and runs the risk of you getting swallowed and taking a fair amount of damage. |
| 197 | * FetchQuest: By the trainload, literally. Your train eventually gets a freight car, and you'll be using it frequently to keep [=NPCs=] happy (and earn items). |
| 198 | * FightingFromTheInside: Averted. [[EvilChancellor Cole]], being as savvy as he is, removed the Princesses' spirit from her body before performing the soul-transfer ritual on it, specifically so it couldn't end like this. She still manages to fight the possession though -- from outside. |
| 199 | * FinalBossNewDimension: In order to track down Malladus and Cole, you need to use the Compass of Light to follow them into the Dark Realm, a dimension of evil that they fled to immediately after Malladus' resurrection. [[spoiler:However, the final part of the battle is back in Hyrule]]. |
| 200 | * FireIceDuo: Fraaz can control both ice and fire, shown by one eye being red and the other being blue. When he's hit enough he splits into two Fraaz Jr.'s, which each control one element. |
| 201 | * FisticuffsBoss: During the fight against {{superboss}} [[spoiler:Dark Link]], all weapons except the sword are disabled. |
| 202 | * FlamingSword: The game gives these kinds of swords to Torch Phantoms so as to act as a light source; beyond that, there's nothing else different about them. |
| 203 | * FlawExploitation: Chancellor Cole uses Zelda's [[EekAMouse fear of mice]] to interrupt a battle. |
| 204 | * ForDoomTheBellTolls: The background music in the Tower of Spirits gets more and more defined as you climb higher and higher up the staircase. Somewhere toward the middle of the climb, snares accompanied by bell rings dynamically enter. |
| 205 | * FreakOut: Princess Zelda understandably loses it when Anjean reveals that a demon will take over her body. She freaks out so badly that, at one point, the player has no control over the text boxes. It's played for laughs, and she snaps out of it rather quickly when Anjean tells her that she needs to accompany Link, as several traps in the Tower of Spirits require teamwork. |
| 206 | * FreudianTrio: Both the heroic trio and the three main villains form one. |
| 207 | ** Zelda is plucky, emotional, and hot-blooded (id); Link is equal parts determined, tough, and ditzy (ego); Anjean is a wise, experienced mage (superego). |
| 208 | ** Malladus is a cruel, fickle deity who turns out to be dangerous to friend and foe alike (id); Cole is a calculating schemer with suppressed sadistic and maniacal tendencies (ego); and Bryne is a stoic, cool-headed warrior (superego). |
| 209 | * FriendlyPlayfulDolphin: This game has yellow dolphins that swim alongside the train while it's going over water. They squeak and jump out of the water when you blow the whistle, and they are ''adorable''. If you keep blowing your whistle, they give you hearts to heal your train. |
| 210 | * FutileHandReach: Done by Link during the endgame, as Zelda's body is carried off by Cole and Byrne. |
| 211 | * GameplayAllyImmortality: Zelda gains the ability to control phantoms, which are giant armored knights. She can't be killed, but some attacks will stun her, she'll panic from the sight of rats, and [[spoiler: the final boss can take control of her and make her attack you.]] |
| 212 | * GenerationXerox: Princess Zelda; Linebeck III; Alfonzo -> Tetra; Linebeck I; Gonzo. Subverted with Link, who is confirmed to be an IdenticalStranger instead. |
| 213 | * GetBackHereBoss: Byrne, who constantly jumps back and forth between a series of posts around the arena for much of his first phase, all the while peppering you with weak but quick energy blasts. The only way to get him down to your level is to wait until he launches his grappling claw, dodge it, and direct Phantom Zelda to grab it and pull him off his post. |
| 214 | * GhostFiction: Princess Zelda is a CuteGhostGirl for most of the game, the GreaterScopeVillain Malladus is a demon whose spirit is sealed via the titular Spirit Tracks, and the Tower of Spirits is quite literally the central location of this entire plot and Hyrule itself. |
| 215 | * GiantEnemyCrab: Rocktite is a large crustacean monster with a rocky exoskeleton, and it's fought three times. And it can put a shell on its [[AttackItsWeakPoint weak point]] whenever it wants the second and third time. And gets little ones to help the third time. And the third time, you need to transport Dark Ore. |
| 216 | * TheGlomp: [[spoiler:Zelda gives Link one, after she gets her body back. Complete with a LuminescentBlush from the latter]]. |
| 217 | * GlowingEyesOfDoom: On Zelda-possessed Phantoms. Despite being pink, they still look quite badass, especially when in one of the dark rooms. |
| 218 | * GoForTheEye: |
| 219 | ** Rocktites are one-eyed, armored enemies that can only be defeated by being shot in the eye. |
| 220 | ** The Ocean Temple boss, Phytops, can only be harmed by shooting its eye, which begins the battle covered in rolls of flesh that Link must cut off by throwing its own thorns back at it. |
| 221 | * GoodFeelsGood: The Force Gems sustain the eponymous Spirit Tracks and restore the railways that were originally installed to seal Malladus. Every time Link helps a character in a sidequest, the gratitude he receives from them crystallizes into a Force Gem and a few previously-vanished tracks are restored. |
| 222 | * TheGoomba: Spinuts, which can only attack by running into Link, go down in two hits at most, and can be easily blocked with a shield. |
| 223 | * GottaCatchEmAll: In addition to the standard {{heart container}}s, this game lets you collect rabbits, stamps and train parts (including those of the downright expensive Golden Train). Having complete sets of a particular motif gives your train more health than mixing and matching, for added incentive. |
| 224 | * GrandTheftMe: Cole intends to have Malladus possess Zelda's body. Zelda gets a FreakOut to high heaven. |
| 225 | * GrapplingHookPistol: Byrne wears what amounts to a really big Hookshot as an ArtificialLimb over his left arm. |
| 226 | * GreaterScopeVillain: Malladus. The plot is actually driven by Chancellor Cole trying to resurrect and unseal him. |
| 227 | * GreatEscape: One minigame in the Pirate Hideout revolves around escaping the prison with one prisoner. |
| 228 | * GreenHillZone: The Forest Realm is the first area of the game, and it features lush grasslands and a few forest areas. |
| 229 | * TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: "What that? The princess('s body) has been kidnapped and the Chancellor was a demon in disguise bent on destroying us all? [[NotNowKiddo Stop playing around, kid!!]]" |
| 230 | * GuestStarPartyMember: Any Phantom [[spoiler:possessed by Princess Zelda's spirit]]. During gameplay, you switch between Link and the Phantom. |
| 231 | * GuideDangIt: |
| 232 | ** A few, but the worst offender is finding the person who provides the Force Gem for the Pirate's Hideout. It's [[spoiler:the woman in Papuchia Village who needs ice from Wellspring Station for her fish.]] |
| 233 | ** The Whip Race in Whittleton can become this if you've mastered the Whip early or replayed the game. Aside from treasure, there are two major rewards: [[spoiler:A bomb bag upgrade and a heart container.]] You get the latter for a time between 1:05 and 1:15 minutes, and if you get again a time below 1:15, you will get a rare treasure instead. In order to get the former main price, you'll actually need a time ''above'' 1:15. If you played the game only once for the heart container or to get rare treasure, you will never even realize there is something else. |
| 234 | ** The song of healing is this, mainly due to a bad description. The game makes it sound like you can heal yourself only once, giving the song a TooAwesomeToUse vibe. You can actually use the song ''once per dungeon.'' And it resets when you leave the dungeon. |
| 235 | * GuysSmashGirlsShoot: During the final battle, Link attacks Malladus with his sword from the front while Zelda attacks him with Light Arrows from the back. |
| 236 | * HeadPet: Playing the Song of Birds near one of the small pigeons will cause one to roost on your head, staying there until you change screens or pick up an object, but staying even if you start pulling spin attacks. |
| 237 | * HealingPotion: Like its predecessor, the game has the classic red potion which restores 8 hearts, the unique purple potion which automatically revives Link when he dies, and the yellow potion which completely refills Link's health. |
| 238 | * HeartContainer: Like its predecessor and the two NES ''Zelda'' games, ''Spirit Tracks'' has only full Containers to extend Link's LifeMeter. In addition to those earned after defeating bosses in dungeons, there are Containers in the overworld obtained after completing sidequests or expensive purchases in shops. |
| 239 | * HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:After Cole betrays him, Byrne ends up helping Link, Zelda, and Anjean. Of course, the FaceHeelTurn he did out of greed was what got him working for the BigBad in the first place.]] |
| 240 | * HeroicBSOD: Played for laughs. Zelda goes ''totally batshit insane'' for a minute or two immediately after learning [[DemonicPossession what Cole intends to do with her body.]] |
| 241 | * HeroicSacrifice: |
| 242 | ** [[spoiler:Byrne holds Malladus off just long enough to give Zelda a chance to reunite her body and soul.]] |
| 243 | ** Subverted earlier when Anjean, an old lady, holds Byrne, a young, powerful man, off so Zelda and Link can escape the Tower of Spirits. [[spoiler:As explained in a cutscene later, she is actually much, '' much'' stronger than him.]] |
| 244 | * HighSpeedTrainReroute: |
| 245 | ** The MinecartMadness version is seen in the Fire Temple. One of which involves moving ''two'' minecarts simultaneously (one for Link, one for the boss key) and therefore activating the switches for two separate tracks while in motion. Thankfully, the game shows you which switches to hit, it's up to the player to remember which ones. |
| 246 | ** Averted with the Spirit Train itself (the main form of transportation): While the player can switch tracks while the train is moving, the train doesn't really move fast enough for it to be a problem, the map shows you where the train will go (including when the tracks branch off) and progress can be made automatically by charting a course on the map. |
| 247 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:At the end of the game, Cole, whose ultimate goal was to have Malladus possess Zelda's body, gets possessed himself.]] |
| 248 | * HoldingHands: Link and Zelda hold hands at the end of the game, with the camera focusing on them. |
| 249 | * HolyHandGrenade: The Light Arrows, shot with the sacred Bow of Light. They're the only thing that can weaken the defenses of Malladus during battle, including [[spoiler:his link with Zelda's body, allowing the princess to regain it after Malladus' soul is repulsed from it]]. |
| 250 | * HomingProjectile: Pirate cannonballs. Gets ''very'' annoying on the Ocean Realm, since they only go away when you're on land. |
| 251 | * HostageSpiritLink: In the final battle, Zelda is FriendlyFireproof but must [[ProtectionMission be defended from enemy fire]]. If she's hit, you lose some life. |
| 252 | * HypnotizeTheCaptive: Not only is Zelda's body possessed like in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', but there's also the second-to-last boss battle, where [[spoiler:Ghost Mice repeatedly possess Zelda, while ''she'' is possessing a Phantom.]] |
| 253 | * IcePalace: The Snow Temple, which not only has slippery ice but also dense snowy terrain, where the White Wolfos are better at moving through than Link. Large bells are hit with the Boomerang to open doors. |
| 254 | * IdenticalGrandson: |
| 255 | ** Linebeck III shares the same appearance as his grandfather Linebeck from ''Phantom Hourglass'', only with a hat |
| 256 | ** Applies to Zelda as well; her appearance is that of a tan-less Tetra. She even wears Tetra's royal garb (which Tetra herself, however, didn't wear that often). |
| 257 | ** Subverted with Link, who is a copy-paste of the ''Phantom Hourglass'' Link, but is actually [[IdenticalStranger unrelated]]. Likely so his [[ImpliedLoveInterest relationship with Zelda]] doesn't have any incestuous implications. Niko (a character from ''The Wind Waker'' and ''Phantom Hourglass'') also appears in this game as an elderly man, and even comments that Link in his recruit uniform is the spitting image of an "old friend" (obviously referring to the Hero of Winds). |
| 258 | ** Also Alfonzo to Gonzo, in looks if not personality. |
| 259 | * IFightForTheStrongestSide: It turns out that [[spoiler:Byrne is a rogue Lokomo who is trying to revive the tribe's enemy, the demon king Malladus]], because he could only get the power he wants that way. After his defeat against Link and Zelda, he goes back to Malladus' whereabouts to witness his awakening; yet the villain [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves one-shots his servant with a magic blast]]; as a result, the now-betrayed character joins the good guys' side. |
| 260 | * ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Link and Zelda [[spoiler:execute Malladus by planting the Lokomo Sword into his forehead]]. |
| 261 | * ImpliedLoveInterest: Of course, Link and Zelda. Actually, in the entire series, only ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' can compete with this game in how clear it is. |
| 262 | * InexplicableTreasureChests: A variation with the "stamp stations" located in several ancient dungeons of doom, a remote part of an active volcano, and a pirate lair, among other unlikely spots. The ones in more plausible locations are often inconveniently located behind a lake or on a miniature island reachable only by grappling onto passing birds. |
| 263 | * InflatingBodyGag: Fraaz. His only (damaging) attack is performed by blowing himself up with either ice or fire, and the beginning of the battle showcases his inflation ability. |
| 264 | * InstructiveLevelDesign: In the Snow Temple, Link needs to use the Whirlwind to push floating wooden crates across water pools. In the first instance where this is happening, you will see a whirlwind switch that you already know from the temple before: Link can only activate it while standing on top of the crate, automatically [[BlowYouAway blowing it away]] and therefore automatically showing the player what to do next. |
| 265 | * InterfaceSpoiler: Beedle's balloon doesn't float freely through the world, but always follows the rail lines... no matter if Link has already restored them or not. Therefore, if Beedle (Terry) is shown on the map as floating across a seemingly empty space, the player knows for certain that there will be a railway later on. |
| 266 | * InternalHomage: |
| 267 | ** Remember the episode of the [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfZelda1989 Zelda cartoon]] where Link's spirit was separated from his body and his soul guided Zelda so that his body and soul could be reunited? Hmm, interesting little role reversal we have here...especially interesting, since we find out that only Link can see spirit-Zelda (apart from the Lokomos, anyhow). Just like only Zelda could see spirit-Link in the cartoon. |
| 268 | ** The final boss's final form is [[spoiler:very reminiscent of Ganon, what with being a demonic blue warpig with a red mane. The Demon Train also resembles Ganon.]] |
| 269 | ** The final boss battle is very similar to that in ''[[spoiler:[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]]]'' in that [[spoiler:Zelda is running around and shooting Light Arrows at the villain, while Link serves merely as a distraction]] and how [[spoiler:Link ends the battle with forehead-impalement on Malladus's part, just as his predecessor finished off Ganondorf.]] The key difference is that this time, [[spoiler:you actually control which way Zelda goes and when she shoots the arrows. Also, she can't accidentally hurt Link with them, like she could in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]''.]] |
| 270 | ** The symbol for the Ocean Realm bears a striking resemblance to an [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass hourglass]]. Also, whereas in ''Phantom Hourglass'' you needed to collect the Sand of Hours, [[spoiler: the Ocean Realm is the location of the Sand Sanctuary and Temple.]] |
| 271 | ** You travel to forest, snow, ocean and mountain, with a large tower standing in the middle. There's some differences, but the resemblance to [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Termina]] is hard not to notice. Also, one of the songs you learn is called the Song of Healing. |
| 272 | ** The whip is known as the "rope snake." In several games in the series, the snake enemies are called 'Ropes'. |
| 273 | * InvincibilityPowerUp: There are [[spoiler:Tears of Light in the Dark Realm. Pick these up in your train, and enjoy the ''invincibility, super speed, and TouchOfDeath on the bomb trains that oh-so have been asking for being knocked right off of the tracks''!]] These are essentially [[spoiler:Power Pellets]]. |
| 274 | * InvincibleBoogeymen: As you progress through the game, the tracks on the overworld feature Dark Trains and Armored Trains which can't be destroyed (the Dark Trains can be temporarily stunned by shooting them enough times, Armored Trains NoSell your shots). They don't actively chase you (fortunately), but it's all too common to be trapped between two of them on a portion of track where you can't move out of the way, which is an instant GameOver. There's a grand total of one time in the game where they can be hunted down and killed, and that's just before the final boss. |
| 275 | * InvisibleToNormals: Zelda becomes a SpiritAdvisor and ExpositionFairy only [[TheHero Link]] and the Lokomo can see. |
| 276 | * ItsAllUpstairsFromHere: The 30-story Tower of Spirits has to be reassembled piece by piece by completing the game's other dungeons, and then each relocated part has to be navigated upon upward. |
| 277 | * IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: The guy who runs the Rabbitland Rescue really, ''really'' loves bunnies (although he also says that the bunnies want you to shoot bombs at the rocks they hide behind) ...so much so that he left his wife behind in Castle Town with no indication of where he went. When Link brings her to see him, she's angry at first, but relents and decides to stay and help him take care of the bunnies, since it makes him happy. |
| 278 | * JollyRoger: Returning from ''Phantom Hourglass'', warships are little boats with only a canon on them that fly a small white flag with a black skull and crossbones, a color-inverted Jolly Roger. |
| 279 | * JustifiedTutorial: Link's final exam, Zelda's escape, Link's sword training, and the Tunnel to the Tower all teach the player about operating the train, avoiding and controlling Phantoms, using the sword, and solving puzzles, respectively. |
| 280 | * JustTrainWrong: Even to a person with little knowledge of steam locomotives, the artistic license taken by the game is quite glaring. First of all, the trains in the game are ''tiny'' compared to those in real life, with Alfonzo being bigger than the passenger carriage; secondly, the Spirit Train has no tender or supply car (instead sporting a ''cannon'' of all things, which would likely be top heavy enough to tip the entire train over). The Spirit Train is also very clean, with no sign of ash or smoke anywhere save for the pretty white puff-balls discharged from the chimney (which appears to double as a whistle despite a separate whistle being clearly visible on the engine). The train has no visible infrastructure, never runs out of water or coal, and the tracks have green ties and yellow rails and are insanely narrow. Also, the ties are arranged in a zig-zag pattern. The train can even decide which way to turn at intersections, when real trains just have to go whatever way the railroad switch is set to. That's several problems found without even having an in-depth knowledge of how locomotives are constructed. However, this is all [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] given the game itself mentions the train itself is [[AWizardDidIt magical]], as well as the tracks themselves being actually magic shackles binding a demon lord that just happen to look like train tracks. |
| 281 | * KarmicDeath: During the prologue of the game, Chancellor Cole robs Zelda's body to give it to Malladus as a vessel. [[spoiler:During the climax of the story, Zelda regains her body and Malladus ends up possessing Cole's body; this leads to Cole's eventual death when Malladus loses the FinalBoss battle against Link.]] |
| 282 | * KillTheHostBody: [[spoiler:Near the climax, Zelda needs to come to terms with the fact that it might not be possible to kill Malladus without killing her body as well. However, [[https://kaialone.tumblr.com/post/619019802072301568/spirit-tracks-translation-comparison-the-bow-of this is less clear in the American English translation]]. Fortunately, she gets better.]] |
| 283 | * {{Knighting}}: While not actually a knighting ceremony, Link receiving his licence to become a Royal Engineer is treated the same way, complete with Princess Zelda personally handing him his certificate. Trains are SeriousBusiness in New Hyrule. |
| 284 | * LampshadeHanging: |
| 285 | ** At the beginning of the game: |
| 286 | --->'''Zelda:''' I will wait for you here. That's what princesses have always done. From what I understand, it's kind of a family tradition. |
| 287 | ** Also the kid who tells you about the trade system, remarking at the end that she has no idea what it means. |
| 288 | ** When fighting (or rather, fleeing for your very life from) the Rocktite, Zelda will cry out "Why hasn't this tunnel ended yet?!", noting how implausibly long the tunnel is. |
| 289 | * LandShark: Malgyorgs are sand-colored sharks with armored heads that can swim through sand. They are encountered in the Sand Realm, where they attack the Spirit Train in groups of three. |
| 290 | * LargeHam: Malladus, who, despite getting barely three lines in the whole game, manages to still be almost hammier than Ganondorf himself. Malladus's very first spoken line in the game is a rage-filled [[IncomingHam "RELEAAAAASE MEEEEEEE!!!"]] |
| 291 | * LateArrivalSpoiler: TheReveal of ''The Wind Waker'' gets spoiled before your first dungeon crawl (somewhat indirectly, but still). So if you plan on playing that game for the first time and want to be relatively unspoiled, then wait to play ''Spirit Tracks'' until afterward. |
| 292 | * LegacyCharacter: |
| 293 | ** Link and Zelda as usual, but also Linebeck III, who is a carbon copy of his grandfather both in appearance and personality. |
| 294 | ** In a sense, Hyrule itself is a Legacy '''Country'''. This game takes place on a new continent discovered by Link and Tetra and named after the country that was destroyed in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]''. It seems different enough, however, what with the trains and all. |
| 295 | ** Averted with Niko. While some characters like Alfonzo seem to be [[{{Expy}} Expies]] or descendants of ''Wind Waker''-era characters, Niko appears as an old man in Link's village, with a pictograph of himself circa ''Phantom Hourglass'' on the wall. |
| 296 | ** The Postman. This is the third game where a postman comes to deliver mail directly to you. |
| 297 | * LastSecondEndingChoice: Zelda asks Link ''just before'' going into the final battle against [[BigBad Chancellor Cole]] what he's going to do with the rest of his life if they manage to reseal the Demon King Malladus. "Soldier", "Engineer", or "I dunno" all lead to three ''barely'' different endings. |
| 298 | * LegacyOfService: Alfonzo was once a member of New Hyrule's castle guard, his family having served the royal family for generations. Given that [[spoiler:he's a descendant of Gonzo, who was Tetra's first mate]], this legacy of service has lasted through ''two'' different iterations of the Kingdom of Hyrule, plus the lengthy interregnum in between. |
| 299 | * LegendaryInTheSequel: Tetra from ''The Wind Waker'' is remembered fondly as the founder of New Hyrule, with a stained glass portrait of her overlooking Hyrule Castle's throne room. |
| 300 | * LethalLavaLand: The Fire Realm as a whole. The volcano has been dangerously active since the rails started disappearing, so Link has to go to the Fire Temple and defeat the resident monster (Cragma) to eradicate the problem. |
| 301 | * LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand: After defeating Byrne in battle, Link and Zelda take a moment to sentimentally smile at each other in an affirmation of their friendship, while a heartwarming version of "Zelda's Lullaby" swells. And then it deflates as we see that Byrne is getting away, while Link and Zelda continue to stand there and smile like morons. |
| 302 | * LeyLine: The eponymous railways are not only rails for the royal trains, they also act as the Ley Lines that channel the energy of the Spirits and keep Malladus imprissoned within the Tower of Spirits. |
| 303 | * LocomotiveLevel: How the overworld is traversed. Initially, only a small handful of tracks are available, but as Link and Zelda rebuild the Tower of Spirits by conquering the temples, retrieve the Ancient Tablets, and collect Force Gems by completing sidequests and such, more and more tracks will reappear. |
| 304 | * TheLostWoods: There's a brief area in the Forest Realm you have to navigate through, with intersections where you must look at the direction the nearby tree's branch is pointing to choose where to turn. Top it off with the last intersection in the puzzle being accompanied by a tree designed to point ''opposite'' of where you're supposed to go (a man from Whittleton does warn you about this, though). Reaching the end of this maze takes you to the Forest Temple, which contains various rooms with toxic smoke that can only be cleaned with the Whirlwind, and is guarded by a massive insectile monster posing at the top (Stagnox). |
| 305 | * MacGuffinEscortMission: Most of the Force Gem sidequests involve transporting fish/ice/lumber/iron/cuccos/a highly breakable vase from one location to another. |
| 306 | * MagicMusic: It was obvious that this game would go with this trope ever since it was revealed that the game's Japanese name was "Earth's Whistle". The "whistle" was revealed to be the Pan-flute like "Spirit Flute", which is played by using the touchscreen and microphone in tandem. It works almost identically to magic instruments from earlier games. You also play duets with the Lokomo and Zelda with instruments such as bass, shamisen, flute, drums, and oboe, and to some extent... a pair of vocal cords. Which are held by Gage, Steem, Carben, Embrose, Rael, and Zelda, respectively. |
| 307 | * MagicWand: The game features the Sand Wand, which solidifies sand into pillars and stops Quicksand from [[QuickSandSucks sucking]]. |
| 308 | * MaouTheDemonKing: Malladus is often referred as the Demon King. He once terrorized the land that would become known as New Hyrule before the Spirits of Good imprisoned him with the spirit tracks. He has a subservient demon known as [[EvilChancellor Chancellor Cole]] who seeks to resurrect his master with Zelda's body, as well as a fleet of demonic trains to do his bidding. A fun trivia, he's actually the first villain to bear the title "Demon King" in the English version, long before Ganondorf was revealed to be Demise's reincarnation. |
| 309 | * MarathonLevel: |
| 310 | ** The last section of the Tower of Spirits is the longest and most labyrinthic, and houses a vast array of puzzles and enemies that guard the last PlotCoupon of the game, the Compass of Light. |
| 311 | ** The "Take 'em All On" minigame, where players must power through rooms and rooms of enemies before reaching the exit. The final version culminates in a BossRush against the dungeon bosses, ending with the {{Superboss}} [[spoiler:Dark Link]]. |
| 312 | * MatchMakerQuest: There is one that has become quite infamous due to what happens after said quest. [[spoiler:Namely, a pretty depressed village that has been left without a chief since he eloped. The girl also ''already had a boyfriend'', who was kidnapped by pirates at the time. You can rescue him in a later sidequest... and he's not happy when he gets home]]. |
| 313 | * MaybeEverAfter: The constant strong ShipTease of the game would suffice by itself, but it goes further. The last shot of the game is Link and Zelda holding hands in a very romantic tone. Also, in two of the three epilogues of the game we see that they still are together in some way. |
| 314 | %%* TheMaze: Disorientation Station. |
| 315 | * MegaDungeon: The Tower of Spirits is a very tall dungeon (and the tallest one in the ''Zelda'' franchise with 30 floors, surpassing the 13 of its predecessor's equivalent) whose magic is connected to that of the rails the trains travel across (the rails also have the function of sealing the Demon King Malladus). As Link and Zelda venture through the temples of Hyrule to restore the rails, they also manage to rebuild the Tower and explore the higher floors, as doing so allows them to explore new parts of the land to access new temples and repeat the cycle. Unfortunately for them, by the time they fully restore the magical seal, Malladus is already freed by Chancellor Cole, so the purpose of the last round of the cycle (which consists of the last remaining temple and the Tower's highest floors) revolves around finding the weapon that can kill Malladus and then gain access to his new location (the Dark Realm). |
| 316 | * {{Metapuzzle}}: Snowdrift Station is a secret, unlockable location whose cave features a crystal switch puzzle. At their sides are branching paths that take Link to specific puzzles and obstacles, and when each one is solved Link will find an inscription stone providing a hint related to the order in which the switches have to be hit. Once all four paths are solved and the hints of their respective inscription stones are jotted down, Link has to work out the correct order to hit the switches in (and he needs to hit them with the Boomerang due to the very short timespan allowed to input the sequential hits). Hitting them in the wrong order, or a certain switch that is warned against by one of the inscription stones, will trigger a trap beneath Link. |
| 317 | * MinecartMadness: There are a few minecart puzzles in the game, and make up for the majority of puzzles present in the Fire Temple (culminating with a boss battle centered around the mechanic); there's also a full minigame where Link has to shoot targets while traveling around a wide canyon with the Spirit Train. [[spoiler:The BossFight against the Demon Train also occurs during one]]. |
| 318 | * MirrorBoss: [[spoiler:Dark Link]] shows up as a {{Superboss}} at the very end of the most difficult BossRush challenge of the game, and not only replicates Link's sword skills but also his usage of bombs and arrows. |
| 319 | * MissionPackSequel: The game recycles some graphics and the controls of its predecessor ''Phantom Hourglass'', and the overall structure, progression style and interface are all kept almost the same: Both games divide the overworld into four large quadrants, there's a central dungeon that has to be revisited several times, the various destinations and playable areas have to be accessed through a vehicle, and in both games the penultimate dungeon is a pyramidal temple filled with dangerous traps and a very tall boss whose body first has to be dismantled before Link can attack the weak point at the top of the head. |
| 320 | * MoneyForNothing: |
| 321 | ** Once you find Linebeck, you can sell the many pieces of treasure you've picked up to him. Earlier in the game, this doesn't quite result in a MoneyForNothing situation, since good treasure is rare, and there's still plenty of nice items to spend cash on; plus, you may want to save treasure for train upgrades, which can't be bought with regular money. Later on, however, once you've bought the major necessities and have accessed the multiple minigames that hand out rare treasure like candy, the game clearly reaches this point. |
| 322 | ** The "Lost at Sea Station" game is practically a license to print Rupees--a few short and relatively easy puzzles gain you a Regal Ring (2500 Rupees) and several other treasures, and you can repeat it as many times as you like--though getting there requires you to beat most of the game, and complete an extremely difficult delivery sidequest. |
| 323 | * MookBouncer: The Phantoms evict you to the last entry point for the floor you're on, but unlike in ''Phantom Hourglass'' there's no time penalty since there's no time limit. They also infinitely respawn and cannot be destroyed by direct means; the only way to remove one from a floor is to insert Zelda into it. There's also a new enemy called a Key Master, but instead of targeting you [[EscortMission they target the Big Key for the level]]. |
| 324 | * MookThemedLevel: Like its ''Phantom Hourglass'' equivalent, the Tower of Spirits is themed around the Phantoms. However, you only have to dodge them until all Tears of Light are gathered and Link is able to stun them so Zelda can possess them. |
| 325 | * MothMenace: A Mothula (moth enemies that first appeared in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'') acts as the MiniBoss in the Forest Temple. |
| 326 | * MultiMookMelee: The Take 'Em All On minigame is a gauntlet divided into three tiers of varying duration. The highest tier adds [[BossRush bosses thrown in for good measure]] as well as the usual enemies. |
| 327 | * MultipleEndings: Three, although they differ only very slightly from each other, depending on the answer given to Zelda's question shortly before the final battle. The game lets you save directly before this, so you can play again to see each of them without having to redo the entire game. |
| 328 | * MundaneUtility: |
| 329 | ** The Hylians take the [[SealedEvilInACan Seal on an Evil In A Can]] and ride their trains on it. |
| 330 | ** The Song of Discovery is a magic tune for the Spirit Flute that functions as a detector. |
| 331 | * MyRulesAreNotYourRules: In the final level of Take 'Em All On, during the fight against [[spoiler:Dark Link]], the player is unable to use any subweapons, but the boss gets to [[spoiler: throw bombs and fire arrows]]. |
| 332 | * MysticalCityPlanning: The entire rail network is a giant confining seal for a demon. |
| 333 | * MythologyGag: The final battle begins with Link protecting Zelda from the attacks of the boss while she charges up her magic power like in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwordsAdventures Four Swords Adventures]]''. The second half of the battle involves Zelda stunning the boss with Light Arrows so Link can attack, similar to the final battle of ''The Wind Waker''. |
| 334 | * MythPrologue: The game opens with Nico, a character from ''The Wind Waker'', explaining how New Hyrule was founded after the events of said game, told in an "ancient tale" format because he has a penchant for dramatics. |
| 335 | * NeutralFemale: Zelda tries to invoke this for herself in the beginning, claiming that watching on the sidelines is [[LampshadeHanging a family tradition]]. It doesn't stick. |
| 336 | * NeverMessWithGranny: Lokomo sage Anjean. The lavender-haired, steam-powered Segway-riding old maiden releases the Spirit Train from its sleep at the least. [[spoiler:She also conjures the Lokomo Sword and a custom Phantom for Zelda, despite injuries sustained from fighting Byrne to a stalemate while you were out at the Fire Temple. Mock her now.]] She spends most of the game [[spoiler:holding the Tower os Spirits together to keep Malladus from entering the world completely. And she did it ''by herself''.]] |
| 337 | * NewWorkRecycledGraphics: The game was built upon the assets, engine and mechanics of its predecessor, ''Phantom Hourglass''. This helped the developers accelerate its making, similar to the case of ''Majora's Mask'' (in relation to ''Ocarina of Time'') and the two ''Oracle'' games (in relation to ''Link's Awakening''). Its overworld map is also structured akin to that of ''Phantom Hourglass'' (four big quadrants, each corresponding to a themed region of the mainland). |
| 338 | * NewWorldTease: Happens three times upon exploring the Ocean Realm. First, upon completing the puzzle that opens the entry to the Ocean Temple, you can see a big desert with a great pyramid in the distance. Then, after you completed the Temple, you can see a giant statue facing away from you, and shortly after you can spot a train station on an island you cannot reach yet. [[spoiler:The pyramid is the Sand Temple, which you will only visit much, much later after completing the DiscOneFinalDungeon, the statue is part of the puzzle to open it, and the train station is the Pirate Hideout that is only needed for a sidequest.]] |
| 339 | * NoIndoorVoice: |
| 340 | ** The Phantoms talk entirely in {{CAPS LOCK}} and end every sentence WITH A PERIOD. |
| 341 | ---> "YOU SEEM CUTER THAN USUAL. WHY."\ |
| 342 | "SOMETIMES IT'S LONELY BEING SO ELITE."\ |
| 343 | "MY TORCH IS THE LATEST IN TORCH TECHNOLOGY." |
| 344 | ** There's a ''sign'' written like this in the Tower of Spirits (written by the Phantoms): |
| 345 | ---> "PHANTOMS LIKE US LIKE THE DARK." |
| 346 | * NoItemUseForYou: Item usage as a whole is disabled during the very last fight of the Take 'Em All On! minigame. |
| 347 | * NonDubbedGrunts: Most obvious with Zelda's BigNo, where she's clearly saying [[https://jisho.org/search/%E3%81%84%E3%82%84 "IYA"]] instead. |
| 348 | * NonStandardGameOver: When you're travelling with a character, a Pirate tank (or ship) may invade your train. When this happens, lots of Miniblins (and later a [[MiniBoss Big Blin]]) will try to kidnap your passenger. If they succeed, you can still rescue the character when going to the Pirate Hideout island, so this wouldn't be a big deal. But if that place hasn't been unlocked yet (and it '''isn't''' yet by the time you're taking Carben, a plot-critical character, with you), you have no way to rescue the character, and you get an automatic Game Over. |
| 349 | * NoobCave: The cave preceding the Tower of Spirits, and to an extent the first visit to the tower itself. In these areas, Link learns the ropes of basic gameplay, and in the latter part Zelda also learns about spirit possession and how the Tears of Light can enable it. |
| 350 | * NoSell: Like Likes can't eat the Shield of Antiquity. |
| 351 | * ObviouslyEvil: Cole. At least Zelda has her suspicions, but they're not nearly as strong as they should be. |
| 352 | * OminousLatinChanting: The theme heard in the staircase of the Tower of Spirits. It isn't added to the song right until you almost reach the top. |
| 353 | * OneHitKill: Unusually for the ''Legend of Zelda'' series, the Dark Trains and Armored Trains will cause an instant GameOver if they hit your train, regardless of how fast they hit you or what condition your train is in. [[spoiler: The situation is reversed when you get the Tears of Light in the endgame, only to reverse itself again if you run out of Light before killing them. The dynamic is extremely like ''VideoGame/PacMan'']]. |
| 354 | * OneOfTheseDoorsIsNotLikeTheOther: One villager tells Link that he has to turn in the directions tree branches point in order to make it through the Lost Woods... [[spoiler:but another villager tells him that the fourth tree "has no sense of direction", and you must go ''opposite'' of where it's branch is pointing instead.]] |
| 355 | * OneWingedAngel: Malladus attains his last, monstrous form by taking over Chancellor Cole's body, mutating it in the process. In a strange coincidence, the result ends up looking somewhat like Ganon's Dark Beast form from ''Twilight Princess'', only more goat-like than pig-like. |
| 356 | * OptionalBoss: The third Rocktite doesn't have to be fought unless the player is tackling the Dark Ore delivery sidequest. |
| 357 | * OurFounder: A stained glass portrait of Tetra in her pirate outfit overlooks the throne room in Hyrule Castle. And on a more subtle note, the castle also cotains a recurring symbol of a dragon's head and twin scimitars, representing the figurehead and jolly roger respectively of her crew's ship. |
| 358 | * OurGhostsAreDifferent: Princess Zelda herself becomes a ghost after the villain steals her body, and can aid Link by possessing Phantoms, enemies resembling living suits of armor. |
| 359 | * PaletteSwap: There are two forms of Geozard, green and red. The red one is stronger, to the point that it's a MiniBoss. |
| 360 | * ParryingBullets: Like in [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass the previous game]], you can stop arrows by hitting them with your sword. Also like in the previous game, this requires decent timing and [[AwesomeButImpractical it's just easier]] to use your [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe shield]] or dodge altogether. |
| 361 | * PlayerDeathIsDramatic: Like ''Phantom Hourglass'', the game makes the camera pull out after Link collapses and then it fades to black. |
| 362 | * PlotCoupon: Four colored Force Gems (which are needed to assemble the chunks of the Tower of Spirits together, followed by the Bow of Light to defeat Malladus, and then the Compass of Light to access his whereabouts (the Dark Realm). |
| 363 | * PopGoesTheHuman: The second boss Fraaz has this happen to it upon its defeat having lost control of its [[InflatingBodyGag self-inflation]] superpower. |
| 364 | * PowerFist: Byrne's single oversized gauntlet. Downplayed in that it's also his weakspot. Having Zelda grab it allows her to pull him down to a height where he can be damaged. |
| 365 | * PreFinalBoss: Link and Zelda has to defeat the Demon Train before proceeding to challenge Malladus (and, indirectly, Chancellor Cole) in the climax. This is justified, because the evildoers are awaiting them within the Train, and their battle's first phase takes place above the frontmost wagon. |
| 366 | * PrincessesPreferPink: When Zelda possesses a Phantom, it turns pink. The cutscene of the first time this happens even shows Phantom Zelda with glowing pink eyes. |
| 367 | * PrincessProtagonist: Zelda is turned into a ghost at the beginning of the game, allowing her to possess suits of AnimatedArmor and accompany Link on his journey (and voice her reaction to events, since Link... [[HeroicMime well...]]). At the beginning she even says it's a family tradition to wait and be rescued, but here she gets told it's not happening. |
| 368 | * ProductDeliveryOrdeal: Once Link manages to add a freight car to the Spirit Train, he'll be able to undertake sidequests where he's asked to deliver a specific product located in one part of Hyrule to someone who is waiting for it in another. Unlike the usual {{Escort Mission}}s where Link is taking a passenger (who gets impatient every time the train is hit by an enemy attack or Link fails to follow the road signs), here Link has to protect the train because any attack will directly affect the integrity of the product. In cases where he's transporting a specific amount of something, that amount will decrease by one with each hit taken (in the case of the vessel Link buys from Papuchia Village to deliver it to Steem in Snow Sanctuary, ''any'' hit will break it). The most extreme case is the delivery of Dark Ore from a Goron mining station to Linebeck, because the ore will ''also'' deteriorate with sunlight over time, and it's actually impossible to succeed unless Link has previously activated a certain pair of teleporters for the Spirit Train to head ASAP to Linebeck's Trading Company in the Forest Realm; to make matters worse, along the way lies a Rocktite in the caves, and if it's fought the Spirit Train can only be hit ''once'' during battle (it's possible to defeat it before undertaking the delivery, though). |
| 369 | * ProgressiveInstrumentation: As more sections of the tower become accessible, the music that plays in higher sections contains more instruments. |
| 370 | * PromotedToPlayable: The first (and so far, only) time in the core series where the player gets to control Zelda herself directly by making her possess phantoms. [[spoiler:Played straighter in the FinalBattle, where the player gets to control her in her own body]]. |
| 371 | * PsychoStrings: |
| 372 | ** The music that plays when you meet the Dark/Armored Trains, to great effect. |
| 373 | ** [[TheDragon Chancellor Cole's]] {{Leitmotif}}, which fits his deranged personality and malice. |
| 374 | ** The BattleThemeMusic for Rocktite incorporates this via VariableMix, as it transitions into Psycho Strings as the monster gradually approaches the Spirit Train. |
| 375 | * PunchClockVillain: The Phantoms in the Tower of Spirits, who actually aren't supposed to be villains at all and normally wouldn't be attacking Link. The dark power of Cole and Malladus causes them to incorrectly perceive him as a threat. |
| 376 | * PunnyName: Most new characters' names are puns on terms related to trains. |
| 377 | ** Chancellor Cole (Coal). |
| 378 | ** '''Anjean''' (Engine) of the '''Lokomo''' (Locomotive) tribe. Apparently, this is a characteristic shared by ''all'' the Lokomos; the other names are "Gage", "Steem", "Carben", "Embrose", and "Rael". |
| 379 | ** Even Malladus falls under this. You have "mal" (evil), "malleus" (hammer, like for railroad spikes), and even "Mallard" (which is a type of train). It's also pretty close to "malady" (illness). |
| 380 | ** Ferrus, who is named after the Latin word for iron (ferrum). |
| 381 | ** The boss Skeldritch is, fittingly, a skeletal EldritchAbomination. |
| 382 | ** Link's hometown is Aboda Village, "abode" being another word for "home." |
| 383 | ** This is also very true of the Japanese version. Some are rather obscure, though: Byrne is "Diigo", which comes from the popular-with-Japanese-railfans [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D51_steam_locomotive D51 locomotive]], while Cole is "Kimaroki", referring to a [[http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AD%E3%83%9E%E3%83%AD%E3%82%AD%E7%B7%A8%E6%88%90 specific arrangement of locomotives and specialized railcars]] used in the past to clear snow off the tracks. A third is Shirokuni (Alfonzo), who is a reference to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JNR_Class_C62 C62 locomotive]], the fastest and most powerful passenger locomotive of Japan's steam era. |
| 384 | ** All of these applies to the English version of the game. Even more Punny Names can be found in the other versions. |
| 385 | * APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil: Byrne was an apprentice of Anjean in the Tower of Spirits. He desired power from the good spirits, and when he was not granted it, he left and reached out to serve the Demon King Malladus. |
| 386 | * PuppyLove: It may be [[ImpliedLoveInterest implied]] (albeit VERY strongly this time), but the romance between Link and Zelda in this game comes in this flavour. [[spoiler: It gets especially obvious in the finale.]] |
| 387 | * PuzzleBoss: At first, Fraaz can be harmed when Link uses the fire and ice torches in his arena to imbue his Boomerang with them and attack the elementally-opposite halves of the boss. Halfway through the battle, however, Fraaz destroys both torches, forcing Link to think outside the box and imbue his Boomerang with the elemental attacks performed by the boss itself. |
| 388 | * QuicksandSucks: The Sand Realm has quicksand pits in the Sand Temple and parts of the nearby Tower of Spirits. The Sand Wand can create sand bridges by solidifying part of the quicksand's terrain so Link (as well as Phantom Zelda in the Tower of Spirits) can walk over them safely. |
| 389 | * RacingMiniGame: The Whip Race, located in a hidden area northeast of Whittleton, is where Link has to clear an obstacle course with the help of his whip in a time limit. A standard run rewards him with a Bomb Bag upgrade, while beating a certain record will net him a (full) HeartContainer. |
| 390 | * RailEnthusiast: Ferrus, the resident {{Fanboy}} in the train-covered world. You meet him a few times in the main adventure, in which he gives you helpful hints about the next temple, and he's also a part of a few {{sidequest}}s in which you can fufill his dreams of going underwater and meeting Alfonzo. Oh, [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential and you can hit him with the cannon.]] |
| 391 | * RailroadEmployeeRoundhouse: Link himself, who starts as an apprentice engineer, and is quite heroic as usual. His mentor Alfonzo also counts. |
| 392 | * RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Byrne sacrifices his life so Zelda can regain her body.]] |
| 393 | * RedRightHand: Chancellor Cole has a pair of horns hidden under his twin top hats. Less conspicuously, he also has reverse-colored eyes, with black scleras and white irises. For some reason, however, his eye color is normal whenever he shows his demonic traits... |
| 394 | * RescueRomance: The Link of the time period meets the Zelda of the time period after the plot's started rolling, and the two grow affectionate during Link's quest to restore her to mortality. It's not done completely straight, though, as they spend more time working together as partners than they do as hero and distressed damsel. |
| 395 | * RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: [[spoiler:Since Byrne was "once the servant of those disgusting spirits", Malladus blasts him instead of granting him the power he signed on for.]] |
| 396 | * RocketPunch: Byrne has a big power glove that he can fire to grab or punch his opponents. It's attached to a chain, making it retrievable. |
| 397 | * RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: This is the most active and helpful a Princess Zelda has ever been in this series, second only perhaps to [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Tetra]], who wasn't raised as a princess. After initially demanding that Link do the usual job of a Link and rescue her (body), she consents to follow Link and help him in every way she can. That includes pulling double duty as an ExpositionFairy and acting as Link's invincible armored partner in the Spirit Tower. [[spoiler:During the final battle, she's a formidable fighter on her own, outside of the armor]], and [[spoiler:the credits]] show that she's not above doing the important bureaucratic work that comes with being royalty, either. For reference, ''Spirit Tracks'' is the first ([[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDIGames canonical, Nintendo-published]]) ''Zelda'' game in which Zelda is playable. |
| 398 | * SameContentDifferentRating: This is the only handheld game in the ''Zelda'' series to be rated E10+ by the ESRB, instead of just E. While the game does have a darker story, in terms of explicit content it's not any more violent than the other ''Zelda'' games, and the ESRB still uses the same content label they put onto the predecessor ''Phantom Hourglass'' (Fantasy Violence). |
| 399 | * SamusIsAGirl: Stagnox, the first boss, a giant beetle that most players just think of as genderless, is explicitly made to be female in her trophy from ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'', and the Blastworm mooks she summons turn out to be her own larvae. |
| 400 | * SandBlaster: The Sand Wand allows Link to create pillars of sand, which is useful to traverse quicksand, expose enemies hiding beneath the sandy floor, and move or stop heavy objects. |
| 401 | * SandIsWater: How Malgyorgs move through it. Most sand-dwelling enemies in the ''Zelda'' series are worms of some sort, but Malgyorgs are sand-swimming ''sharks'' (serving as distant cousins of the sea-dwelling Gyorgs from ''Majora's Mask'', ''The Wind Waker'' and ''Phantom Hourglass''). |
| 402 | * SandWorm: The game shows a variant of the shark-like Gyorg seen in ''Wind Waker'' and ''Phantom Hourglass'' called Malgyorg, which swims in the desert of Sand Realm. |
| 403 | * SaveGameLimits: Like ''Majora's Mask'' and ''Phantom Hourglass'', the game only has two save files, giving you little room for saving backups (and none if you either share the game with someone else or choose to preserve a cleared playthrough). |
| 404 | * ScaryStingingSwarm: Rolling into trees has a chance to knock down beehives, which will send a swarm of angry bees chasing after Link. |
| 405 | * SchizoTech: Aside from the obvious train travel in an otherwise medieval world, the fifth dungeon is an [[spoiler:Egyptian-inspired pyramid that's guarded by ''defense turrets'']], and the overworld features enemy ''tanks'' that frequently attack Link's train. |
| 406 | * ScoldedForNotBuying: Beedle complains loudly if you leave his shop without buying. It's justified because he has to pedal extra hard to get the hot-air balloon shop down to the ground. |
| 407 | * SealedEvilInACan: The Demon King Malladus. He's such a big evil that his binding chains were big and long enough to form the basis of New Hyrule's railway system. |
| 408 | * SecretLevel: Some of the playable locations can only be unlocked by restoring rails with Force Gems that are rewarded by completing very obscure and/or difficult sidequests. Examples include the Snowdrift and Slippery Stations in the Snow Realm, and the Lost at Sea Station in the Ocean Realm. |
| 409 | * SegmentedSerpent: Skeldrich is an odd example in that it's a human skull on a spine rather than a snake or worm. |
| 410 | * SelfParody: ''Spirit Tracks'' is essentially what happens when the series makes fun of itself, particularly with its own conventions. |
| 411 | * SentientSands: The Gerune s an enemy who appears in the Sand Temple. It somehow looks like a sand BedsheetGhost and in its regular form is invulnerable to almost anything except for the Sand Wand. This item, which is used to create elevated platforms out of sand, will paralyze them and make them solid, and Link will be able to destroy them in that state. |
| 412 | * SequelGoesForeign: Inverted. Whereas its two predecessors in the Adult Timeline took place in the Great Sea and the World of the Ocean King respectively, ''Spirit Tracks'' is set in a newly-founded version of Hyrule, much like the more traditional ''Zelda'' games. |
| 413 | * SequentialBoss: [[spoiler:There are three phases to the final boss fight (four or five if you include the Demon Train or the six armored cars beforehand, but you can save after those battles).]] |
| 414 | * SeriousBusiness: |
| 415 | ** Trains. You can't be an engineer without what essentially amounts to a ''knighting ceremony''. This finds its logical conclusion when Ferrus is outright ''disappointed'' to learn that Alfonzo is not a legendary engineer, but "only" a legendary warrior. |
| 416 | ** And as the Esoteric-Goron claims, engineers have a special "aura" allowing them to feel the presence of one. It's like engineer is another word for [[MundaneMadeAwesome "really awesome person"]] in New Hyrule. In the immortal words of Alfonzo: "You sure you don't mean legendary warrior? I've never heard of a legendary engineer." |
| 417 | * ShiftingSandLand: The Sand Realm, though it doesn't affect gameplay at all, seeing as you can only stop at the sanctuary and the temple (which does have plenty of desert-themed motifs, including an item to manipulate sand, the Sand Wand). |
| 418 | * ShockinglyExpensiveBill: Renzo demands a full 5,000 rupees from Linebeck III in order to repair the BrokenBridge to the Ocean Realm. Linebeck himself decides that Link is paying for that, giving that he wants the bridge to be repaired. |
| 419 | * ShootingGallery: Two minigames, namely the rescue sequence in the Pirate Hideout (where Link has to shoot at several Miniblins, including a Big Blin at the end, while riding a minecart to rescue a captive character) and the Goron Test Range (where Link has to shoot bombs from his Spirit Train to several target posts while riding across the rails of a large shooting test area). |
| 420 | * ShootTheBullet: The best way to avoid getting hit by a cannonball is to shoot it out of the air with your own cannon. |
| 421 | * ShoutOut: |
| 422 | ** Creator/EijiAonuma's main inspiration for this game was ''The Tracks Go On'', a children book he once read to his son. |
| 423 | ** The whip is very similar to that of Lucas in ''VideoGame/MOTHER3''. |
| 424 | * SkywardScream: PlayedForLaughs when Zelda finds out Cole's plans. She, now a wandering spirit, learns that TheDragon is going to use her body as a vessel for the BigBad. Her reaction? She flies up and screams right at the camera while spinning around. |
| 425 | * SlasherSmile: Cole. Makes one wonder how could he fool everyone in Hyrule Castle when he's so ObviouslyEvil. |
| 426 | * SlippySlideyIceWorld: The entire Snow Realm, which encompasses the Anouki village (no Yooks to deal with this time, unlike in ''Phantom Hourglass''), the Snow Sanctuary, the Snow Temple, and several optional (some needing to be unlocked via sidequests) snowy stations. As a standout, the aptly-named Slippery Station, which revolves around obstacle courses to get treasure, involves traversing corridors of ice-covered floor, which requires rolling to adjust Link's position. |
| 427 | * SmashingSurvival: There's a [[ThatCameOutWrong lot of rubbing to get released]]: [[ManEatingPlant Fire Babas]] eating you, [[ExtremeOmnivore Like Likes]] eating you, basically everything trying to eat you. [[spoiler:Plus driving your sword into the main villain's '''skull'''.]] |
| 428 | * SmashMook: You're [[spoiler:ambushed by pirates]] on your way back to the Ocean Sanctuary. You fight them in the train carriage, and they come in waves. One wave is a single Smash Mook; it pulls its arm back, prepares to swing, and then after a long time finally swings its club. The damage it does is monstrous, so it's best to play it safe. |
| 429 | * SmugSnake: Subverted: Cole has all the trappings of never becoming anything more than an annoying little twat, but he's a surprisingly effective villain. |
| 430 | * SnakeWhip: The whip that Link acquires ends in a fanged snake head capable of grabbing objects it's whipped at. This allows Link to grab onto distant supports to swing himself across gaps, snatch shields away from enemies, and battle the boss Phytops by throwing objects at him. |
| 431 | * {{Snowlems}}: The game has Sir Frosties on the overworld map where they pop up and attack your CoolTrain with thier heads. |
| 432 | * SnowySleighBells: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pSHX30mXs4 theme]] playing in the icy Anouki Village feature sleigh bells at some point. |
| 433 | * SolveTheSoupCans: While possessing a Wrecker Phantom, Zelda can't carry Link across a lava field because she turns into a sphere and rolls instead of walking (not because [[LavaIsBoilingKoolAid lava is hot]]), so you have to track down a regular Phantom for her to control. The problem is, she ''can'' walk normally as a Wrecker--she does it whenever you aren't directly controlling her movement, and should be perfectly capable of carrying Link over the lava in that form... but the game goes out of its way to dissuade you from even trying, and [[TooDumbToLive if you attempt it anyway]] she stubbornly starts rolling and tosses poor Link into the lava. It seems someone forgot that the whole situation only makes sense if Wreckers cannot walk. |
| 434 | * SomeDexterityRequired: |
| 435 | ** You will often need to quickly alternate between controlling Link and Zelda to solve puzzles in the Tower of Spirits. Then exaggerated during [[spoiler:the final boss fight, where one must simultaneously attack Malladus with Link while positioning Zelda at the proper spot so she can shoot a Light Arrow at the demon's weakspot]]. |
| 436 | ** The Lokomo duets force the player to slide the stylus on the touch screen to play the correct note on the Spirit Flute, while also blowing on the mic to the rhythm of the designated tune. |
| 437 | * SomethingElseAlsoRises: The tip of Link's infamous hat randomly rises in one scene where Princess Zelda hugs him. Alternatively, this might be a derivative of ExpressiveHair. |
| 438 | * SongsInTheKeyOfLock: The Spirit Flute, which utilizes the DS microphone, has magical properties enabled with the songs learned. Playing duets with the Lokomos help restore the Spirit Tracks, which enable you to go to new areas. |
| 439 | * SongsInTheKeyOfPanic: There's a sequence where your train goes into a dark tunnel, shooting the occasional tektite as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlfdA9jfGcA this]] plays. Then you meet the boss, who takes up half the tunnel and is only vulnerable to shooting ExplodingBarrels (recall that both you and the boss are moving at different speeds), and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e50EpYW_lkQ this]] plays as gets inexorably closer (and drops back to the former if you manage to hit him). |
| 440 | * SparklingStreamOfTears: Zelda does this before [[spoiler:the final battle against Malladus]], due to [[spoiler:Byrne's HeroicSacrifice]]. |
| 441 | * SpinAttack: With the obligatory upgrade from Niko once you collect all 20 stamps. |
| 442 | * SpoiledByTheManual: Stagnox, Fraaz, Cragma and Skeldritch are all spoiled on the official website. Fraaz is also in most screencap collections for the game, and Cragma is one of the few bosses to have official artwork for it released. |
| 443 | * {{Superboss}}: [[spoiler:Dark Link]] in the final level of the "Take 'Em All On" minigame. Not only is he proficient at swordplay, but can also attack with arrows and bombs, making him a MirrorBoss. |
| 444 | * StationaryBoss: Phytops cannot move from the watery pit where it lives, and attacks by lashing out with its long tentacles and by spitting globs of poison. Since Link cannot swim across its pit, he also cannot attack it directly and must go through a complex routine to stun Phytops and make it slump onto the side of the pit in order to reach it. |
| 445 | * StealthBasedMission: A variation in which Link's iconic green outfit is also that worn by castle guards, so Link can run around in plain sight of patrols; it's Princess Zelda (whom he's [[EscortMission escorting]]) who must remain hidden. The inverse logically occurs (in a downplayed manner) during the Tower of Spirit dungeons -- Link generally needs to avoid patrolling Phantom soldiers, but Zelda (possessing Phantom armor) can walk around freely. |
| 446 | * SuitUpOfDestiny: Played with. Link starts out in an engineer's uniform and only changes his clothes to blend in with the [[StealthBasedMission guards prowling around the castle]]. Unlike ''Wind Waker'' Link, he doesn't seem to have much of an opinion about his new look. Zelda, on the other hand, isn't so crazy about it. |
| 447 | * SuperDrowningSkills: As in the predecessor, Link cannot swim whatsoever. Zelda acknowledges it and when they reach Papuchia Village, she can offer Link to teach him swim after their adventure. |
| 448 | * SuspiciousVideoGameGenerosity: Before fighting the {{Superboss}} at the end of Take 'Em All On, you enter a room full of jars with hearts in them, despite the entire rest of the challenge containing no means of recovering health. |
| 449 | * SwordBeam: Your reward for [[GottaCatchEmAll getting all 50 rabbits]]. |
| 450 | * SwordOfPlotAdvancement: The Bow of Light and the Lokomo Sword, obtained after defeating Skeldritch. Both allow you to stun phantoms without collecting tears of light, and the Bow of Light is necessary to defeat Malladus. |
| 451 | * TacticalSuicideBoss: In true Zelda tradition, most of the bosses really need to rethink their battle strategy. |
| 452 | ** Stagnox throws explosive slugs at you, which you must use to damage his armor (since you don't have bombs yet). |
| 453 | ** Fraaz would be invincible if he stuck to either fire or ice, but instead he alternates, allowing you to [[ElementalRockPaperScissors damage him by boomeranging his previous breath attack into him]]. Oddly, he ''is'' smart enough to smash [[BossArenaIdiocy the fire/ice torches]] in the room after a couple of rounds. |
| 454 | ** Even though Phytops spends the entire pre-fight climbing sequence with its head underwater, it also spends most of the fight itself with its head ''out of'' the water, leaving its weak point exposed. |
| 455 | ** Cragma has a recurring tendency to rain down volcanic boulders on you if you attack its weak point, which it exposes every so often by lifting itself out of the lava to store up an attack. The boulders can then be smashed apart into platforms and used to reach the minecarts you use to pelt the boss with arrows. |
| 456 | ** Skeldritch must be disassembled by catapulting his own boulders back at him. He also has a laser-beam attack; if he only used that, Link would be unable to harm him. |
| 457 | ** To hit Byrne, you have to dodge his grapple-arm and have Zelda yank him to the ground with it. His other attacks don't make him vulnerable, but he keeps using the grappler anyway. |
| 458 | * TagalongKid: You can saddle Beedle with one, the same kid from Link's home village who conned him into rolling into a bee-infested tree. It's necessary to get a Force Gem from the kid, but even more so, it's hilarious to see Beedle's reaction when you bring him into the store. |
| 459 | * {{Tagline}}: "Ride into adventure with Link and Princess Zelda." |
| 460 | * TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:This is what Malladus plans to do with [[OmnicidalManiac the rest of the world]] as he notices Cole's body rejecting him.]] |
| 461 | * TeaserEquipment: Several shopkeepers have items at display you will not be able to buy until much, much later in the game, like the Anouki in the Anouki General Store who sells a heart container for 2,000 rupees (which you won't have even closely by the time), or the Goron in the Goron Country Store who sells a quiver upgrade for another 2,000 rupees (at a time where you don't have the bow yet). Beedle's Air Shop takes the cake though, having a heart container on top of a shelf that you cannot purchase but get as a Membership reward after you have spent ''5,000 rupees'' in his shop. |
| 462 | * TeleportingKeycardSquad: Every time you get a big key in the central dungeon, giant disembodied hands appear out of the floor. They will move towards the Phantom carrying the key on sight, can force the Phantom to drop the key in one hit (they will then return it to its original location), and are positioned in the most inconvenient places possible for the player. Kill them? They'll just respawn. |
| 463 | * TentacledTerror: Phytops, the third boss, is a giant cyclopean octopus with ''thorned'' tentacles it uses to slam on Link and to impede his way around the arena. Thankfully, the thorns can be snatched with the whip and hurled on Phytops' [[GoForTheEye single eye]]. |
| 464 | * TheThreeTrials: Though the game's overarching quest averts the trope (its structure is more comparable to those of ''Majora's Mask'' and ''The Minish Cap''), there are three trials which must be passed to gain entrance to the Sand Temple, where the sacred Bow of Light lies. The trials are based on, respectively, defeating Rocktite, traversing a convolute maze, and destroying the turrets protecting the Sand Temple itself. All of them must be done while driving the Spirit Train. |
| 465 | * ThrowingTheDistraction: Phantoms can be lured away from their post by making noise near them. The page quote is provided by a Hyrule Castle guard, whom this ability must be practiced on. |
| 466 | * TimeLimitBoss: |
| 467 | ** You need to chase the Demon Train across a set of rails in another dimension. If you take too long, you reach the end of the line and crash. |
| 468 | ** Unlike the first and second Rocktites, which have to be fought as part of the main story and are battled in infinitely long tunnels, the third one has a finite tunnel length and will respawn with full health if the player doesn't defeat it in one go. |
| 469 | * TimeSkip: Takes place one hundred years after ''Phantom Hourglass'', and thus 102 years after ''The Wind Waker''. Despite the large skip, Niko from those games is still around. |
| 470 | * TookALevelInBadass: As usual in the series, Link. But this time Zelda turns into LittleMissBadass herself. [[spoiler:Malladus]] can vouch for that. |
| 471 | * TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The official trailer not only reveals the existence of Stagnox and Fraaz but also shows the viewer how to beat them. Stagnox is also shown on the info video for the Whirlwind, and Zelda's spirit being forced out of her body is practically the main marketing point of the game. |
| 472 | * TrainTopBattle: In a game centering around trains, this was inevitable: [[spoiler:part of the final boss fight against Malladus is Link and Zelda making their way across the top of the Demon Train.]] |
| 473 | * TranquilFury: When Zelda is possessing a phantom, [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential you can hit her with several of your subweapons]]. She will [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment strike back if you keep hitting her]], and shortly before she snaps, one of her dialogues will consist of nothing but ellipses. |
| 474 | * TrickShotPuzzle: Like in ''Phantom Hourglass'', there are puzzles where Link has to use Arrow Orbs to redirect arrow shots and hit targets he wouldn't be able to otherwise. At one point in the Tower of Spirits, he has to do this while Zelda is carrying the orb and positioning herself in the exact required spot. |
| 475 | * {{Tsundere}}: Zelda, just like her grandmother. But the most notable difference between her and [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Tetra]] is that her default mood is Dere-Dere, while Tetra had Tsun-Tsun for a default-mood. |
| 476 | * TwoKeyedLock: There's a good number of two-keyed puzzles in the game. Sometimes using a block or the assistance of lovely Princess Zelda (as a Phantom) to push one, or hitting a series of switches with the boomerang. |
| 477 | * UncommonTime: |
| 478 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWayZatk1hI Stagnox's Theme]]. |
| 479 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HVvSYYEfo4 Dark Trains Approaching]] features an unsettling use of 7/8 time. |
| 480 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynjGeu7IbkA Tears of Light in the Dark Realm]] (a TriumphantReprise of the above) plays with the same time signature but at a ridiculously fast tempo of ''205 beats per minute''. |
| 481 | * UndergroundMonkey: There are five types of rabbit you can collect, matching the environment in which they're found, including one that lives in the sea. |
| 482 | * UnderTheSea: Being the distant sequel to ''Wind Waker'' and ''Phantom Hourglass'', the game has the Ocean Realm, which does have a large section underwater (the Ocean Floor) where Link's train can navigate without any issues (except for some enemies like the Octomines and two evil trains). However, the dungeon accessed within (the Ocean Temple), while being underwater as well, is somehow devoid of water in its rooms (even as a cosmetic element). |
| 483 | * UnnaturallyLoopingLocation: Disorientation Station consists of several looping identical rooms that are randomly distributed. |
| 484 | * UnnecessaryCombatRoll: Like in ''Phantom Hourglass'', rolling four times in a row causes Link to get dizzy. |
| 485 | * UnresolvedSexualTension: When Link and Zelda first meet, Link blushes, then at the end of the game [[spoiler: immediately after Zelda reclaims her body, she gives Link a hug, causing Link to blush]], which seems innocent enough, until [[spoiler:after the final boss, Link and Zelda hold hands, which is much less innocent than it sounds. UST is restored at the game's conclusion, though, as Link returns to his engineering, becomes a warrior trainee, or just departs from Zelda's life depending on the choice the player makes near the end.]] |
| 486 | * VariableMix: The overworld theme varies in instrumentation and volume depending on the speed your train is going. Also, the theme inside the Tower of Spirits changes as you progress (e.g. drums are added on the 2nd set of stairs, OminousLatinChanting on the next set...) |
| 487 | * TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: The Dark Realm, a FinalBossNewDimension accessible once you retrieve the Compass of Light at the very end of this game's MegaDungeon (the Tower of Spirits). The Demon Train, as well as Chancellor Cole assisting the first form of Malladus, are confronted during the train portion and Phantom portion respectively, but the game kicks back to New Hyrule for the final parts of the battle. |
| 488 | * VideoGameCrueltyPotential: |
| 489 | ** Link can attack Zelda in various ways when she's possessing a phantom, which includes ''whipping'' her (though if you keep it up, [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment she will retaliate.]]). |
| 490 | ** You can shoot Ferrus with the cannon when he's by the tracks, and blowing the train whistle while next to him makes him jump. |
| 491 | ** You can shoot Beedle's hot air balloon, but all it does is make him take off again. |
| 492 | ** You can shoot birds, dolphins, and pigs with the cannon, though the latter will get angry and attack your train. |
| 493 | * VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: You can attack Zelda with various items while she's possessing a Phantom. If you hit her too many times, the red haze and [[SoundCodedForYourConvenience "you've been spotted by a phantom" music]] will play, and she'll attack back. |
| 494 | * VillainOverride: Malladus pulls this on his minion Chancellor Cole near the end of the game, possessing him and transforming it into a large, demonic warthog-like creature. |
| 495 | * WarpWhistle: There's a series of fixed warp gates set up in various places along the titular train tracks, each of which must be activated by a shot from the Spirit Train's cannon before it can be used, then turned on by blowing your train whistle. |
| 496 | * WaterfrontBossBattle: Phytops is an octopus-like monster found lurking inside a large flooded pit. As Link can only stand on the edge of this pit and thus can't reach the creature, while Phytops has free reign to strike with its tentacles and spit globs of poison across the gap, he must wait for Phytops to attack, grab a thorn from its tentacles, and throw it at its eye. Doing this often enough will stun the beast and cause it slump on the edge of the pit, allowing Link to attack it directly before Phytops recovers and retreats. |
| 497 | * WhatTheHellPlayer: |
| 498 | ** If you attack Zelda with any of your weapons, she'll protest. Each weapon elicits a different response, [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential some of which are hilarious.]] Do it too many times and she'll tell you that you're making her angry and ask why you're being so pushy. Keep provoking her and [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment she'll hit you back]]. |
| 499 | ** At one point the Lokomo of the Snow Sanctuary, Steem, asks you to bring him a vessel. After obtaining it from [[spoiler:the fortune-teller in Papuchia Village]], you deliver it to him. He's ''really'' happy, giving you a Force Gem out of gratitude. But if you succumb to temptation and break the vessel, he'll yell at you and demand that you replace it. (The replacement vessel costs twice as much as the first one. By this point in the game, either amount is small potatoes, but you still deserve it!) |
| 500 | * WhereItAllBegan: It is noted that the entrance to the Dark World is located not far at all from Link's hometown. |
| 501 | * WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Zelda is afraid of mice. This comes up in a few puzzles [[spoiler:and the first phase of the final boss battle]]. |
| 502 | * WickedCultured: Chancellor Cole doesn't embody this trope in personality, but he sure does in dress. In fact, he actually wears ''two'' top hats. Of course, they ''are'' to cover up his two demon horns. |
| 503 | * WorkplaceAcquiredAbilities: Isn't it convenient that a newly-minted train engineer just so happened to be our Link? |
| 504 | * YouCanSeeMe: When Zelda realizes that Link has followed her into her room. It's never really explained ''why'' he can see her. All of the Lokomos they meet can ''also'' see her. It seems that Malladus, Cole, and Byrne can also see her. Basically, only plot-relevant people can see ghost Zelda. |
| 505 | * YouCantThwartStageOne: The bad guys are trying to resurrect an ancient demon and you have to climb to the top of the Tower of Spirits in order to stop them. Guess what happens when you reach the top. |
| 506 | * YouShouldntKnowThisAlready: |
| 507 | ** Songs can't be played before they are learned. |
| 508 | ** Even if you know the right path to the Snow Temple, you can’t get through the blizzard until Ferrus shows you his map. |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext VideoGame / TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
