Line #0 YMMV/PlanescapeTorment


1	* AntiClimaxBoss: After [[spoiler:reaching the Fortress of Regrets, opening the Bronze Sphere, and discovering both your true name and the source of your torment]], thereby achieving emotional catharsis, you get to fight the BigBad. While you can [[spoiler:[[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath defeat him with words]] if you [[StatisticallySpeaking have high enough wisdom, intelligence, or charisma]], or if you brought the Blade of the Immortal]], he isn't all that impressive of an enemy in physical combat. Also, resurrecting [[spoiler:Vhailor]] and telling him the truth of your identity will make him an unbeatable killing machine that drops the boss with relatively few hits.
2	* AudienceColoringAdaptation: Dak'kon, an optional party member in a licensed title, is, to this day, the most famous and iconic githzerai in the franchise of ''Dungeons & Dragons''. Naturally, this means that from 3rd edition onward his entire race, once characterized by being chaotic and capricious, has become much more like him. This is despite the fact that originally, his lawful characterization was one of the factors that had made him an alienated pariah among his own kind.
3	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
4	** The RecurringRiff, and by extension, most of the battle music and the background music for TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon.
5	** Most of the {{Leitmotif}}s, especially [[TearJerker Deionarra's]].
6	* CompleteMonster: "[[ItsAllAboutMe The Practical Incarnation]]" is a [[spoiler: former incarnation of [[PlayerCharacter the Nameless One]]]]. Combining [[ManipulativeBastard a wicked intellect with a lack of morals]], the Practical enslaved an adventuring party to him, most notably by convincing a githzerai to follow him based on a religion the Practical invented. The Practical manipulated and murdered countless people, but the worst was what he did to the one woman who deeply loved him: after winning her love, he murdered her so her ghost, bound to the material plane by that love, would remain as a guide for future incarnations should the Practical's quest fail. At the end, the Practical confronts the current incarnation of the Nameless One and attempts to [[GrandTheftMe absorb him into the Practical's own consciousness]] along with all the others so the Practical can achieve his goals.
7	* CrossesTheLineTwice: Having Martha conduct an autopsy on you while you're still alive is pretty dumb, and then the game goes on to describe the procedure in squirm inducing detail before the Nameless One finally passes out.
8	* CultClassic: Essentially doomed to this, given its very unorthodox design and focus on text. The game didn't sell much at first and was out of print for a long time but did become more well-known over time.
9	* EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame: It's noted for its excellent story, characters, and loads of freedom and roleplaying options, but combat is definitely not the game's strong point. Fortunately, the fact that you can solve most problems with dialogue options rather than fighting does help this as the entire game has a total of three unskippable fights, and while most areas do have regular enemies who will attack you no matter what, they can be avoided if the player so wishes. To some though this only exacerbates the game’s heavy focus on story; with many remarking, some positively and others negatively, that playing ''Planescape'' is [[VisualNovel more like reading a book]] than playing a video game. The game’s side quests are also on the bland side, being mostly standard fetch quests.
10	* EnsembleDarkhorse: Within the broader ''D&D'' setting, Dak'kon is the most important and influential githzerai ever, so much so that, while he was once an odd, lawful figure in a mostly-chaotic race, [[FountainOfExpies subsequent editions of the game have re-written the whole race to be more like him]]. Fourth Edition even made them a playable, well-supported race!
11	* EpilepticTrees:
12	** The plot itself can give birth to umpteen, but in-game dialogue mentions an all-time great: that the Lady Of Pain, mysterious and godlike ruler of Sigil, who can banish lawbreakers to endless, eternal mazes (or just kill them by casting a shadow made of thousands of magical blades) for crimes like murder, treason or daring to worship her, is actually six giant squirrels wearing a cloak, a ring of levitation and an illusion spell.
13	** A popular fan one is that the Nameless One's original incarnation is Zerthimon. Despite the fact that the Nameless One appears as a human male, albeit covered in scars (not only on screen, but characters who bring up the Nameless One's appearance also describe him this way), and the game's creators have [[WordOfGod outright said]] that, while they don't know who he was, they '''do''' know who he was not, and he was '''not''' Zerthimon.
14	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn58158ygXI The guy sending the Symbol of Torment spell?]] It's the DM.
15	* EsotericHappyEnding: The endings mostly qualify as this. [[spoiler:In particular, intentionally sending yourself to Hell forever is considered the ''best'' ending, and the second-best is probably willing yourself out of existence.]]
16	* FanonDiscontinuity: The 1999 novelization, since it's not a very faithful one.
17	* GameBreaker:
18	** Dak'kon is a skilled fighter, but his mage part isn't impressive by itself. However, with enough intelligence and spell boosting equipment and tattoos, he's a force to be reckoned with.
19	** Target an enemy with Morte's "Litany of Curses," which forces them to attack him. Block off the route to him with other party members. Pummel with impunity. Especially effective on spellcasters who really want to be casting spells instead of trying to fight well-armed party members who're good at it.
20	** A few of your characters can get ludicrous boosts right before the final battle, should you decide to fight [[spoiler:the Transcendent One]].
21	*** [[spoiler:If you use the Bronze Sphere, you get a cool 2,000,000 EXP and the Symbol of Torment, a powerful charm that blows enemies in a large radius to kingdom come.]]
22	*** [[spoiler:If you resurrect Dak'kon, he also gets 2,000,000 EXP, plus a flat +1 to his STR and +3 to his DEX and CON.]]
23	*** [[spoiler:Resurrecting Vhailor nets him the craziest bonuses of the lot: 2,000,000 EXP, +3 STR, and instant 25 DEX and CON. The Transcendent One is going bye-bye.]]
24	* GeniusBonus: The Tattoo of the Lost Incarnation is the Chinese character for 'rat'. Fitting for an alley thief who hid in the rat-infested catacombs.
25	* GoodBadBugs:
26	** Because the game used an early version of the Infinity Engine, you do not need to backstab from behind enemies. Also, you ''don't'' need to [[VideoGame/BaldursGate gather all your party before venturing forth]] when leaving an area.
27	** Larval Worms are some of the hardest hitting enemies in the game, obviously meant for higher level characters... and technically level 1 in the game files despite their damage and HP, meaning you can use Cloudkill to kill them en masse in Undersigil for 8,000 experience a pop. Since Undersigil is repopulated every time you leave and come back, it's entirely easy for a player to get tens of thousands of experience points with one casting of a fifth level spell and repeat the process as often as they like. Fixed in the unofficial patch, resulting in much wailing and gnashing of teeth for players interested in quick and easy leveling.
28	** [[spoiler: The True Shadows in Fortress of Regret]] are also vulnerable to Cloudkill, even though, being undead, they shouldn't be affected by it. If you're careful enough, you can lure big packs and kill them all, and maybe even level up there and then meaning your spells are replenished and keep on 'til you're depleted of Cloudkill, or the shadows exterminated.
29	* HarsherInHindsight: You remember all those times you chose to kill yourself just to fulfil a quest, like getting that 1000 copper from that lady who wanted to murder someone, or to make fun of that priest speaking about the afterlife? Yeah, [[spoiler:someone else, a random innocent ''somewhere'' in the multiverse, took the bullet for you every time you did it.]]
30	* MemeticMutation: "Updated my journal." An average playthrough will have this sound play several hundred times, and the phrase has become an in-joke between fans. Most of the Nameless One's barks have also attained minor in-joke status.
31	* NightmareFuel: Don't let the general quirkiness fool you, there are a ''lot'' of highly disturbing things in this game; enough that this trope requires [[NightmareFuel/PlanescapeTorment its own page]].
32	* OneSceneWonder: Quite a few characters are very memorable despite being met in only one scene, among them [[spoiler:Ravel Puzzlewell, the incarnations, and, of course, the Transcendent One.]]
33	* PlayerPunch:
34	** Within the sensorium is a sensory stone entitled 'Longing'. In it are Deionarra's experiences, days before her death. And as the Nameless One, you experience both sides of the conversation (it being with the past incarnation Deionarra loved), and come to know its horror. Two other stones are [[spoiler:a trap from the Paranoid Incarnation]] and [[spoiler:the experience of being tortured by Ravel Puzzlewell with some interactivity]], but many players find 'Longing' to be the worst of the three.
35	** Also, [[spoiler:when navigating the Fortress of Regrets, you have to watch as each of your scattered party members are approached by the Transcendent One and killed, with the player unable to help.]]
36	* SpiritualSuccessor: A lot of them:
37	** ''VideoGame/TormentTidesOfNumenera'' takes the ''Torment'' name and similarly plays with an amnesiac in a fantastic and wacky world seeking answers about themself and trying to stop a force of nature trying to kill them.
38	** ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'' is also a successor to ''Franchise/BaldursGate'' and ''VideoGame/IcewindDale''. From ''Planescape: Torment'' it takes a more reflexive tone, having very lenghty dialogues with [=NPCs=], bringing a lot of philosophical questions and discussions. However, the game is set in a more StandardFantasySetting.
39	** ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'' eschews a fantasy setting in favor of a police procedual in a quasi-mundane setting. Still, the games features an amnesiac protagonist in a journey of self-discovery, features extremely lenghty dialogues with [=NPCs=] about their beliefs, covering a lot of philosophical questions and also a reflexive and introspective story.
40	* {{Squick}}: The game gets really vivid and detailed in describing what happens when you [[EyeScream pluck out your own eyeball]] and replace it with a magical prosthetic. Or when you [[FinGore bite off your own finger]] and use your HealingFactor to graft another to the stump. Or when you ask a woman who prepares dead bodies to cut you open and rummage around in your guts for [[CrazyPrepared magical items left by previous incarnations]]. Also, two words: "[[MadeFromRealGirlScouts baby oil]]."
41	* StoicWoobie: Fall-From-Grace. She's a LawfulNeutral, borderline LawfulGood ''succubus'' who is constantly tempted to do evil due to her demonic nature. Despite this, she doesn't complain or even bring it up other than in the scene with Ravel.
42	* ThatOneLevel:
43	** [[TheMaze The Rubikon Dungeon Construct.]] While completely avoidable, essentially a BonusDungeon, if you want to find Nordom or kill the [[OptionalBoss Evil Wizard]], you have to set it to 'Hard' difficulty and go through it... and it is basically 62 instances of the same room copied over and over and ''over'', with one to three pain-in-the-ass constructs which are completely identical from room to room. After the cuteness factor wears off, you can be forgiven for just going on a mad dash through the thing without stopping to fight.
44	** Curst, which plays out exactly like it would in a normal RPG. It should come as no surprise that this segment of the game was made by a completely different team (though the dialogue was still written by Avellone's team), who obviously didn't "get it".
45	* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: You can torture your loyal party members in various ways, such as [[spoiler:shoving Morte or Annah into the Pillar of Skulls.]]
46	* TheWoobie: Many, many characters in this story.
47	** Heck, practically most of your party, including-but-not-limited-to The Nameless One.
48	** Special mention should be made of Deionarra, who could be the page image for this trope.

Context YMMV / PlanescapeTorment