[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/radiatastories_4507.jpg]]
''Radiata Stories'' is a [[RolePlayingGame role-playing game]] developed by [[Creator/TriAce tri-Ace]] and published by Creator/SquareEnix for the Platform/PlayStation2 in 2005. The game is notable for its large number of distinct [=NPCs=], each of whom have their own lives, lifestyles, jobs, personalities, homes, dialogues, and schedules. It's also notable for its high content of humor despite having a pretty serious story.

While there are easily over 150 distinct recruitable characters in the game, there are only three that are central to the plot: [[PunnyName Jack Russell]], a [[BoisterousBruiser rude]], [[{{Pollyanna}} cheerful]] [[KidHero teenager]] who plans on [[KnightInShiningArmor being a knight]]; [[{{Tsundere}} Ridley Silverlake]], a [[TheSmartGuy smart]], [[{{Ojou}} proper, well-off young lady]] who wants nothing to do with him [[DefrostingIceQueen (at least at first)]]; and [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Ganz Rothschild]], a polite, genteel man, who is their superior in the [[BilingualBonus Rose Cochon]] brigade. This doesn't last long.

After one successful mission, what should be a simple FetchQuest goes awry and [[GameBreakingInjury Ridley suffers a debilitating injury to the point where she's bedridden]]. As a consequence for their failure to protect her, both Jack and Ganz are expelled from the knighthood because of her KnightTemplarParent. From there, they both try to join Theater Vancoor, the warrior guild, but Ganz fails the test and [[FishOutOfWater ends up in the Void Community]] (the thief guild) instead.

As Jack and Ganz try to adjust to their new lives, a series of seemingly unrelated incidents begins to occur. Ridley begins experiencing strange headaches and speaking in a voice that is not her own. The dreaded disease algandars, said to be the only thing capable of fully killing the immortal elves, makes a reappearance after being gone for centuries. Tensions between the humans and non-humans skyrocket as three particular individuals become prominent in the politics of Radiata: Zane, human-hating leader of the light elves; Lucian, a mysterious courtesan of Radiata Castle who displays frightening [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] capabilities; and Cross Ward, Ridley's {{Jerkass}} [[ArrangedMarriage fiancé]].

The game takes place in real time, albeit with the typical video game compression. While many games incorporate some method of this, ''Radiata Stories'' is one of the few where keeping track of the hour is crucial to gameplay, due to the fact that the majority of "free time" between missions provides only brief snatches where Jack is able to interact with other characters and the like before setting out once more. Furthering the theme of realism, Jack can interact with most objects in the game, [[ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer mostly by kicking them]].

[[SimilarlyNamedWorks Not to be confused]] with ''VideoGame/RadiantHistoria'', a similarly-named game that inherited a large portion of ''Radiata'''s production team.

!!This game provides examples of the following:
* EleventhHourRanger: The most powerful characters for both sides cannot be recruited until late in the game. The human side gives the player the leaders of each guild (particularly Elwen, who has an attack of 438), as well as Natalie, while the non-humans have the two orc leaders, Galvados (460) and JJ (430), as well as the black goblin chief, Gruel (410). [[spoiler:Valkyrie]] takes the cake. Recruitable only in the post game for both paths, she starts at Level 77. Once she reach Level 99, [[spoiler:Valkyrie's]] attack goes to 502. To drive the point home, her race is stated as "''God''".
* AbortedDeclarationOfLove: Jack had the perfect opportunity to tell Ridley how he really felt during the Ressan Tree scene on the non-human path, but he didn't.
* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The Path of the Spider, a series of interconnecting tunnels that forms the sewage system beneath Radiata, has wide pathways and it is easy to get lost in them. [[spoiler:It's implied that the tunnels are part of ruins left over from an ancient human civilization that was hit with the ResetButton, as it contains some murals deep within that allude to the game's greater plot.]]
* AdamAndEvePlot: The nonhuman ending left a lot of fans wondering if [[spoiler:Jack and Ridley]] would have to repopulate the [[spoiler:human]] race seeing as how the now-empty Radiata City implies that [[spoiler:the rest of humanity has been exterminated.]]
* AerithAndBob: Quite an extensive example, in fact; the title contains rather plain names, like Jack, Jill, Nick, and Lily; to somewhat uncommon names, such as Iris, Adina, Leona, and Santos; to downright bizarre names such as Zida, Few, Chatt, and Zeranium. All of these seem to have no racial or gender boundaries, as both humans and non-humans, males and females alike, exhibit this vast range.
* AggressiveNegotiations: The "bluff" at [[spoiler:Earth Valley]] turned into a massacre, thanks to Cross. There were no negotiations at all.
* AlasPoorVillain:
** No matter how much you disagree with Zane's reasons for wanting humanity eradicated, you have to admit that [[spoiler:hearing him sob before his brother's grave]] is extremely heart-wrenching.
** Another example of this with Zane shows up later on in the human path as [[spoiler:he cries out in despair as he becomes consumed by algandars.]] The Epic of Jack manga amps this scene up more, even turning on the waterworks and including a bit where [[spoiler:he sees Cairn and Nogueira waiting to greet him in the afterlife.]] It's almost easy to forget that he [[spoiler:attempted to murder Mikey and admitted to killing Cairn in cold blood just moments before.]]
** While it can be debated whether Jasne is a bona fide villain or rather just an unlikeable character, one can't help but feel at least a little sympathetic when he breaks down into tears upon learning that [[spoiler: Ridley is never coming back.]]
* TheAlcoholic:
** Jarvis, Jack's sergeant upon joining Theater Vancoor is introduced stumbling out of a bar with a flushed face and slurred speech.
** Hyann. He will drink a bottle of wine before going to bed then complain about being hungover the next morning.
* AllAnimalsAreDomesticated: Daniel has a pet crocogator and Nask has a pet smilodon--both of these animals will attack Jack in the wild.
* AllThereInTheManual: The surname of several characters is revealed in the ''Official Complete Guide'' as well as one of the manga series:
** Gerald Nixon
** Thanos Baines
** Alicia Allen
** Jarvis Mondale
** Daniel Arthur
** Herz Ashby
** Lily Milius
** Nocturne Reiner
* AlmostDeadGuy: After being gravely injured in battle at the end of the human path, [[spoiler:Cross]] lives long enough to warn Jack not to trust [[spoiler:Lucian.]]
* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The way the light elves view humans, and humans orcs; violent barbarians.
* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Adina and Elena are impossible to tell apart except for personal style choices.
* AmbiguousGenderIdentity: There are a couple of characters that fit this:
** Charlie, while appearing to be just your average flamboyant guy, is seen exiting the women's restroom in one scene. Additionally, he mentions at one point having a female roommate, not that coed rooming situations don't exist but it's definitely not as common.
** In Pinky's Friends List entry, his gender is listed as "Male?"
** Subverted with Felix as he very clearly identifies as male, even if others mistake him as female.
* AmbiguousRobots: At first, Sebastian simply looks like a short human in armor. However, if you go into Star's room at the right time, you might catch him charging up.
* AmbiguouslyBi: Jack, seeing as how he's able to take Charlie out on the fireworks date. He canonically is interested in Ridley in both routes, but on the human route, if the player choses Charlie, Jack will be this.
* AmbiguouslyGay:
** Gil on the non-humans side, is one of the [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking light elves' strongest fighters, an assassin, and well known for his poetry]]. There's a side plot where [[spoiler:Franz, a dark elf who's obsessed with martial arts, challenges Gil. Gil beats him in about two seconds, but gives the boy some encouraging words nonetheless. They then run off into the sunset which confuses the onlooking Jack.]]
** In his friendbook entry, Charlie is said to like "cute people and strong warriors" and on his relationship chart in the official strategy guide, he is shown to have an admiration for Cross.
* AnachronismStew: Radiata is a melting pot of old and new technology. On the one hand, warriors still fight with swords and shields and transport goods by goat-drawn carts but on the other hand, they're advanced enough to have radios, phonographs, and electric street lamps. [[spoiler:This is {{justified|Trope}} as humans have been hit with the ResetButton several times, thus their technology is all over the place because they are almost wiped out whenever they get to strong.]]
* AncestralWeapon: The Arbitrator, a powerful sword that Jack's father, Cairn, possessed, was passed down to him by his sister, Adele.
* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:The fate of the elves who become afflicted with algandars disease; this ends with them being encased in a cocoon for eternity.]]
* AndManGrewProud:
** Thanos seeks a rare suit of armor that allows the wearer to fight for 24 hours straight. [[spoiler:It's actually a business suit.]]
** [[spoiler:The dragons attempt to wipe out humanity every time it becomes a threat to the world, [[BackFromTheBrink and yet some of them somehow survive every time]].]]
* AntiVillain:
** [[spoiler:Aphelion, the Silver Dragon]]; while he might be a brilliant schemer, and some of his actions might make him seem to be a WellIntentionedExtremist at best, it's hard to label him as a villain of any caliber. Especially since his goals involve [[spoiler:saving the human race from a total reset, despite the fact that it meant murdering his own kin.]] Sure, he tries to kill [[spoiler:Ridley]], but given that [[spoiler:she]] had, by that point, crossed the line into being a literal God of the [[spoiler:ResetButton]], it isn't like had any other choice.
** [[spoiler:Ridley and Zane]] move this territory because, as unfair as it is, humans apparently ''are'' to blame for the algandars disease that's killing the elves and driving humans mad because they're killing dragons, i.e. the dragons of the World's Cosmic Order. Cairn killed the Water Dragon and then the Earth Dragon was killed [[spoiler:defending the dwarves from the human's invasion of Earth Valley]]. If they ''don't'' hit the ResetButton then a different race is on the chopping block.
* AristocratsAreEvil: Played with:
** Averted by Ganz, who is genuinely friendly and goes out of his way to be polite.
** Larks, the head of Radiata, is [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure a good and compassionate leader, if a little strict]].
** Jasne is kind of a meddling dick when it comes to Ridley's life, but he does all he can to avoid war with the non-humans.
** [[spoiler:Lucian works behind the scenes to keep humanity alive.]]
** Anastasia, Dwight, and Cross are all arrogant, greedy, and have questionable morals, though it's hard to call them outright "evil".
** {{Downplayed|Trope}} by Ridley, who is just a little stuck up at first.
* ApocalypseMaiden: The fate of [[spoiler:Ridley]] once she awakens as the gold dragon.
* AwesomeButImpractical:
** Axes. They do a crapton of damage, but their [[MightyGlacier slowness]] leaves Jack wide open for attacks.
** Spears can potentially be this, depending. While they do keep Jack relatively out of harm's way in comparison to the other weapon types, their damage [[ScratchDamage really isn't anything to write home about]].
** Many of the later learned combos for all four weapon types have a number of perks from having enormous reach, hitting multiple times, to even damage multipliers that make your attacks all that much more formidible. However, they tend to be significantly more costly in CP (when most weapons outside of greatswords struggle to average higher than ''10 CP'' at any given time), and outside of a guide or experimentation, you have no info that tells you how well one attack chains into another...or if they even compliment one another at all.
* {{Aw Look They Really Do Love Each Other}}: Jack and Ridley's relationship started with [[DefeatMeansFriendship her beating him in a tournament]]. As teammates, they're antagonistic, but when Ridley is injuried, Jack becomes protective of her and the first thing she does after waking up is check on him.
* BadassLongcoat: Each path gets an exclusive suit of armor that features a coat, and one of them boasts some of the best defense in the game..
* BadassNormal: Subverted. Most of the ordinary townspeople are completely useless in combat.
* BadassPreacher: Godwin, Achilles, Rocky, and Kain, to name a few, are combat-oriented Olacion Order members. Fernando is the most badass of these. His attack can reach upward of 408.
* BaldHeadOfToughness: Dynas, the general of the Radiata Knights.
* BarredFromTheAfterlife: [[spoiler:Any Elf who dies because of algandars is said to essentially be unable to pass on naturally, preventing Transpiritation from saving them]].
* BareFistedMonk: The Olacion Order members are split into bare-banded martial artists and healers. There's a sidequest where Jack can fight them duel-style.
* BerserkButton:
** Humans infected with the algandars plague will go off on a violent streak after being provoked by the most petty things such as not winning a lottery ticket.
** While Jack is an overall easygoing person through most of the game, some people and things seem to trigger this in him. A notable example is when he quickly loses his temper and becomes very hostile whenever he sees [[spoiler:Gawain, who he believes to be responsible for the killing of his father Cairn. However, when Jack finds out the real story of his father's death, Gawain becomes a close friend of his. Aphelion killing Ridley]] in the human path also triggers this in Jack.
* {{Bifauxnen}}: Her priest robes might give it away, but one will probably not realize Vitas is a girl if crossing her path at night.
* BigBadEnsemble: The situation isn't the fault of any one individual, but the way events escalate can be mostly pinned down to three people driving the world off a cliff with their actions:
** Zane is the leader of the light elves and, later, the non-humans in general. He is a racist who wants to kill all humans for personal reasons rather than [[spoiler:humanity's disruption of the balance]]. He mostly stays offscreen in the human path and hides his rather bloodthirsty nature when dealing with Jack in the non-human route.
** Cross Ward, who is mostly to blame for the war igniting when he [[spoiler:slaughters the dwarves]]. He also [[spoiler:was the one who sent the blood orcs to attack the elves, triggering Jack and Ganz's expulsion as well as Ridley's receiving of a transpiritation.]] He becomes an ally of Jack's in the human route - in theory, anyway - and in the non-human route, he [[spoiler:is killed prior to the final confrontation]]. Also, the results of the second event above were largely out of his control.
** Aphelion, [[spoiler:a.k.a. Lucian, the most competent [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]] in the game and the only one who really knows what's going on. He's also the FinalBoss of both paths.]] Like the others, in both routes, he's not the cause of the conflict. In the human route, the player learns just how [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-intentioned]] his plan is, while in the non-human route, he's a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere.
* BigBadWannabe: This is subverted with Radian, as he complains pre-battle about not having a larger role in the game after being mocked for his appearance by Jack. He then proceeds to be incredibly difficult for Jack to beat. Double subverted in that he is nowhere near the BigBadEnsemble in terms of threat.
* BigDoor: The door to the fire dragon's lair is so big that Jack has to use two hands and use the force of his entire body to open it.
* BigNo: Jack does this a few times, both for comedy and drama. The very first one is lampshaded by Leonard:
-->(Leonard explains how he and Jack are sharing the stinky, dirty Trainee's Room)
-->'''Jack:''' (camera spinning around him) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
-->'''Leonard:''' (''{{Beat}}'') [[LampshadeHanging When you're done with the death wails, come on in.]]
-->'''Jack:''' (quietly) Fine...
* BigShutUp: Genius to Ganz when the latter has the audacity to break the former's concentration.
* BilingualBonus:
** Any French speaker gets to marvel at the names of the various brigades.
** The assassin Lily is also known as "Vice," or the White Princess. The German word meaning "white?" Weiss. Now if you were Japanese, and trying to translate that to German, how would you spell it?
** Genius' last name is a misspelling of the Japanese translation. The official English translation of his last name is "Weissheit" (with two s's) meaning "whiteness" in German. However, if you take out just one of the s's to spell "Weisheit", it means "wisdom".
* BitchSlap: Adele's favorite way of teaching both Jack and his enemies a lesson is a sharp smack to the face.
* BlackKnight: Jack, when he equips the Demon Mail, looks the part but he acts the same.
* BleedEmAndWeep: Jack lets out a small sob after [[spoiler:killing Parsec on the human path.]]
* BloodKnight: Gerald, Caesar, and Jack all love to fight. And who could forget Cross? He is a GloryHound who will go out of his way to start fights for his own amusement.
* BloodlessCarnage: The aftermath of many of the battles shown in cutscenes will show dead bodies lying on the battlefield but no blood is ever shown. It just looks like a bunch of [=NPCs=] scattered around, taking a nap. There are only a few instances where any blood shows up on characters (e.g. Leonard after being ambushed by a blood orc, Jarvis while being beaten by a gang of bandits, and Cross right before [[spoiler:getting killed by Lucian]]).
* BodyguardCrush: Natalie's "relationship" with Jasne is her fawning over him while carrying out his orders.
* BookEnds: The intro scene shows Jack as he arrives in Radiata through Echidna Gate with his packsack, gazing up at Radiata Castle in wonder before he walks in. The ending to the human path mirrors this as it shows Jack [[spoiler:leaving Radiata through Lupus Gate with the same packsack, gazing back at Radiata Castle from a distance for one last time before he turns back around and leaves.]] He'll even still be wearing the same tunic he wore in the intro regardless of whether or not he was wearing it during the final boss battle.
* BonusDungeon: [[spoiler:The Dragon Lair Cave, and [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace the Distortion Corridor]]]] are extra areas the player can explore after completing the main game.
* BoringButPractical:
** One handed swords have the weakest damage of the four weapon types, but are the quickest and easier to combo with. As the game goes on, it becomes more practical to use them so Jack and land hits in on bosses while his allies hold aggro.
** It may be a bit of a stretch to call them so, but greatswords are this. They're slower then one handed swords and are not as powerful as axes, nor do they quite have the reach of spears. However, they're still very powerful weapons that definitely aren't the slowest weapons...and they tend to have pretty good CP allotment compared to one-handed swords. In fact, [[InfinityMinusOneSword Falvern]] has an attack rating of 127 and a CP of 15, the highest in the game, allowing you to use several of the higher cost combos in your attacks.
* BraggingRightsReward: Recruiting Elwen before the post-game is this. You have to defeat her in one on one combat, and her level is a fair amount higher than what you need to be at to finish the main story. And unlike most characters you can recruit by defeating (such as Gerald earlier on), you cannot cheese Elwen with poison or fire sacks as she is immune to all status effects that would be of any use to you. So you either have to cheese her with {{Tsuchinoko}} Dumplings (which are very rare) and Volty Attacks or simply be leveled enough to defeat her on normal terms. Either way, if you can recruit her before defeating the final boss, you almost certainly don't need her to defeat the final boss.
* BumpIntoConfrontation: You can literally do this by kicking on an NPC twice. This initiates a solo battle with the person you kicked in a 1v1 duel (Justified that the other members don't join in because you're the one who started it).
* CactusPerson: The Hollywoody enemy. Seen in the intro cinematic.
* CallBack: When Jack arrives to Cross and Dynas in something of a slight stalemate and shouting match between Gil and Cepheid, the Wind Dragon, Jack, in an actually somewhat impressive bit of {{Character Development}} for him given his tendency to want to kick the ass of whoever stands in his way, actually takes the time to try and talk things out with Gil to understand what the situation is and why humanity gets the short end of the stick before everything turns sour and Gil and Cepheid attack. This is a bit of a call back to Jack's first mission when Ganz tried to negotiate with the Goblin Trio, which also ended with everyone ultimately fighting.
* CampGay: Charlie's description states that he likes cute people and strong warriors. There's a cutscene of him entering the ladies' restroom in Radiata Castle without objection from anyone, just after Jack is scolded by Margaret if he attempts to enter. He's also one of the player's potential alternative "love interests."
* CanonForeigner: What are [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile Lenneth Valkyrie and Lezard]]]] doing in Radiata? Essentially nothing more than cameos at that point.
* CantArgueWithElves: Most light elves have a superiority complex when comparing themselves to humans. According to them, humans are barbaric, arrogant, and greedy and you can't prove them otherwise.
* CerebusSyndrome: The game's comedic tone takes a back seat as the game progresses and more serious events start to transpire, regardless of the path chosen.
* ChekhovsGag: During their first encounter, Parsec pays Jack for his services with Funny Money featuring Parsec's face on the bills. Later on, during the human path, Parsec seeks Jack's assistance once more and Jack confronts him about the Funny Money, stating that "real money has a picture of the king on it". Parsec agrees to pay this time with "real money with the king on it and everything". While the money he gives Jack does, in fact, have the king on it, the portrait shows him making the same kissy face Parsec had made earlier.
* ChekhovsGun:
** The orb that Jack obtains during the Stone of Miracles mission. Even though it wasn't the stone he was originally after, Kain believes that it will utterly alter Jack's fate. [[spoiler:The orb is later used to either slay the wind dragon (on the human path) or the fire dragon (on the non-human path), even if the latter wasn't Jack's intention.]]
** Additionally, the necklace Nocturne and his gang steal from Belflower/Arnold during the royal bodyguards mission may just seem like an ordinary piece of jewellry to later pawn off until it makes an appearance later on [[spoiler:as a "good luck charm" from Lucian to Jack before the latter sets out to slay the fire which will be used to seal away said dragon.]]
* TheChessmaster: [[spoiler:Lucian, a.k.a. the Silver Dragon Aphelion]] manipulates others both in the castle and in the guilds to stir the situation towards his goals.
* ComMons: There are several characters in each guild who Jack is forced to befriend as a stepping stone to the more badass leaders, who won't join unless everyone else does.
* CivilizationDestroyer: The dragons are this to humanity when the world becomes unbalanced.
* ConvectionSchmonvection: Fire Mountain has streams of lava and stones heated red with it. Yet neither Jack nor anyone else has a problem with the heat.
* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: Jack, though his older sister Adele acts as a parental figure.
* CoordinatedClothes: Adina and Elena, twins, dress the same. Also when the ColorContrast trope is additionally applied, Nogueira and Zane count as Nogueira dons a red robe and Zane a blue one.
* CorruptChurch: The New Faction of the Olacion Order has decided to dedicate themselves to making money instead of helping people. Oddly enough, several members are basically decent - if snobby - individuals personally loyal to their {{jerkass}} boss, Anastasia Ryan.
* CountryMouse: Clive came from a small town where he was known as a prodigy but upon moving to the big city of Radiata, he became humbled when learning that he's not as skillful as he once thought.
* CoversAlwaysLie: If you take a look at the cover, Jack is wearing the Divine Coat armor with the Arbitrator as his weapon. [[spoiler:In-game, you can't have both of them at the same time because the Divine Coat is only available in the human route, while the Arbitrator is only available in the non-human route.]]
* CuteBruiser: Miranda just as capable of healing you as she is punching you into the next town.
* CuteClumsyGirl:
** Downplayed with Ridley while Jack is in the Knights. She's cute and during battle her animations include her falling over when performing her heaviest attacks, but she is still a skilled combatant.
** The first time you meet Marietta, you only see her legs. The rest of her is buried underneath a pile of crates.
** Leona. Her first interaction with Jack includes her bumping into him, losing her glasses, which were on top of her head, running off embarrassed only to trip and fall before dropping her book which hits her in the head.
* DeadGuyOnDisplay: In one of the laboratories at the Vareth Magic Institute, there is a human body inside a tank that is either dead or in suspended animation.
* DeadpanSnarker:
** Thanos, the receptionist at Theater Vancoor, has as many sharp words as the guild warriors have blades.
** Ridley during the first two missions, mostly directed towards Jack but she also makes jabs at Clive and Genius as well as the goblin trio.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Ridley is dismissive and snobby to Jack in the first part of the game but thinks fondly of him after their second mission. This is possibly due to her injury causing an increased dependence on others or an effect of hearing how Jack took care of her while she was unconscious.
* DespairEventHorizon:
** [[spoiler:During the human path, Jack is saddened by Ganz leaving and traumatized by several character deaths. The final straw for him was when he failed to protect Ridley from the Silver Dragon; even after avenging her, he is grief-stricken and leaves his home in Radiata behind.]]
** [[spoiler:In the non-human path, Ganz is so shocked by his father's death that he chooses to stay in the Gold Dragon's castle as it collapses, knowing full well that it will kill him. It is also possible his departure in the human path is this; since the real story of Cairn's death is not revealed, he must accept that Jack will eventually kill Gawain.]]
* DisappearedDad: Gawain is this to Ganz. After [[spoiler:Cairn was murdered by Zane's assassins and Gawain did nothing to stop it despite knowing what was going on,]] he abandoned his family, his title as a royal knight and left the kingdom out of shame. Additionally, Cody mentions his father left on a long journey and never came back. It is not certain whether this was a case of ParentalAbandonment or if he simply died.
* TheDitz: Clive is a space case who doesn't understand the purpose of "watching" one's client.
* DontTryThisAtHome: The description for the umbrella weapon suggests to not use it as a method of combat in reality. Best listen to that.
* DownerEnding: Given the game has multiple endings, there ''[[RuleOfDrama had]]'' to be one. Although, depending on how you look at it, ''both'' could be considered downer endings:
** If the player opts to side with the humans, [[spoiler:Ridley dies and Jack leaves Radiata, too shell-shocked to stay after all he's been through. With her death, all of the Dragons die as well, [[UncertainDoom leaving it unclear what will happen to the world as well]].]]
** If the player decides to join the non-humans, [[spoiler:Ridley survives and instead Ganz is the one to die. Ridley and Jack then return to a Radiata that seems to be [[GainaxEnding inexplicably deserted and filled with glowing globs of unknown origin]]. The most probable explanation is that it represents Ridley, who is now the awakened Gold Dragon, remaking the world, while still keeping Jack by her side.]]
* DragonsAreDivine: While feared by the humans, the dragons do serve a divine purpose as guardians of the world.
* DrivenToSuicide: In the non-human path, [[spoiler:as the final dungeon starts to collapse with the death of Aphelion, Ganz silently shakes his head at Jack and turns around to stay with his father's corpse, forcing Jack and Ridley to leave him behind to die.]]
* DudeLooksLikeALady:
** Felix, and possibly Lucian, are mistaken for women. The former especially has trouble with this trait in regards to other characters.
** One Let's Player of the game once remarked that Zane looks just like his brother "except more like a chick". If it weren't for his beard he would probably be more convincing.
* DuelToTheDeath: Downplayed. While no one will die, other characters will challenge Jack to a fight if he kicks them too much.
* DumbIsGood: Clive, a country hick, is the nicest guy in the game. Not only will he be Jack's friend without a FetchQuest but he'll come to the guild and volunteer.
* DyingDeclarationOfHate: [[spoiler:Dynas to Cross after Cross impales him for threatening to report him to Larks]] on the non-human path:
--> [[spoiler:'''Dynas:''' Cross! You'll rot...in hell!]]
* ElementalPowers:
** Dark elves and light elves wield fire and wind magic, respectively.
** The four elemental dragons each have powers of their respective element, and in battle employ them.
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: The fate of [[spoiler:human civilization]] once the changeover occurs.
* EnslavedElves: Though not technically canon, in ''The Song of Ridley'' manga, Hap recounts to Ridley a time in history when light elves were enslaved by humans.
* EpicFlail: Dynas and [[spoiler:Gawain]] both fight with flails.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Felix does not like the male attention that he gets. [[OverlyLongGag Notice a pattern here?]]
* EvilBrit:
** Cross' accent makes him sound like a stereotypical English noble from this period more interested in personal glory than protecting those in his care.
** While [[spoiler:Lucian/Aphelion]] is not evil per se, he is definitely an antagonist and the fact that [[spoiler:he is the final boss no matter which side you choose]] is as good of a reason as any.
* EvilPlan: As with BigBad, this is also averted as there is no one villain's plot that encompasses the whole game. It's more all the candidates' {{plan}}s clashing until only one left is to finish their own.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Fire Mountain, as well as the attack descriptions for the Vareth Institute's various staffs.
* EyepatchOfPower: Gerald, the Vancoor NumberTwo, wears one. The younger members thinks he's cool.
* FakeDifficulty: Several stats have been tweaked to force the player to keep recruiting. For example, there is ''no'' magic stat, so, except for healers, all spellcasters go obsolete as time goes on, as opposed to melee types who don't experience (as much) change in usefulness over time. Jack's stats are atrocious when compared to some of the other characters, with the exception of [[BornLucky luck]].
* FantasticRacism: Racial antagonism drives a good portion of the plot:
** Cross is willing to commit atrocities against communities of non-humans, and there are a number of hints that said non-humans were, and might still be, heavily discriminated against.
** Plenty of non-humans cross the line from understandable mistrust to unjustifiable racial hatred. Zane, the light elf's leader, wants nothing more than to wipe out every last human being in the world; not because they [[spoiler:caused a cosmic imbalance]], but because he unfairly blames them for the death of his brother, who died from the algandars disease.
* FictionalCurrency: Dagols.
* TheFightingNarcissist: Subverted with Star. He's actually a mediocre fighter but that's not how he sees himself.
* FirstLawOfTragicomedies: The game starts out very goofy and remains so for most of its running time, with serious moments scattered around. However, as both paths near their end, the comedy dies out and the story gets very serious, and the game ends with [[spoiler:either a BittersweetEnding or DownerEnding, with the ending where Ganz basically kills himself and humanity is implied to be destroyed being the BittersweetEnding!]]
* FishOutOfWater: Ganz may be the knight who believes the most in chivalry but he ends up at the Void Community, as mentioned previously. It's justified in that he fell in with ''honorable'' bandits.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** It's extremely subtle, in a "blink-&-you'll-miss-it" sorta way, but the opening shows Cairn Russell's eyes take on a crimson, feral tint as he fights against the Water Dragon. Later on, you learn that one of the symptoms of algandars is people taking on a feral, animalistic look in their eyes as they become uncharacteristically violent. Thus, the opening cutscene foreshadows that Cairn wasn't murdered like Jack believes he was.
** Not long after Ridley is injured by the blood orc, Cross charges into the scene. Even the characters are pretty suspicious of his reasons for being present in the elf lands, despite his admittedly flimsy excuse that he was on a mission, as well as their bewilderment as to why a blood orc was so far out of their territory. [[spoiler:Ganz later learns that Cross had led the blood orc to attack the elves.]]
** Rynka and Flau add to it when they make a passing comment that some of the especially shady deals with the Void Community are coming from the castle, which sets Ganz off in feeling someone is up to something heinous among the nobility. This also ties in to the above revelation that Ganz learns.
** The "Eccentric Visitor" event has Parsec, disguised as a rather strange human, seeking out Aphelion in Radiata and enlisting Jack's help. Jack eventually leads Parsec to Elwin due to the dragon's belief that he may find Aphelion through "the strongest fighter". Though they talk like old companions, there is a not-even-slightly veiled animosity between them and the scene ends with Elwin commenting that "the time is drawing near". [[spoiler:This is the first major clue that the dragons are about to enact their world reset plan and wipe out humanity.]]
** If Jack chooses the human path, then during a meeting, Lucian will talk about several legends regarding the dragons and their resetting the world, which Jack then later repeats to Genius in the Path of the Spiders murals. Genius at first seems strangely suspicious, wondering how ''anyone'' could possibly know all this when Genius himself had taken a long time to transcribe what the murals were even saying. [[spoiler:The reason is because Lucian is really Aphelion the Silver Dragon]], which Genius seems to catch onto before the end of the scene.
* GaiasVengeance: [[spoiler:The algandars disease is implied to be this. When humanity shifts the natural balance of Tottaus, the disease appears alongside the Dragons to try and punish humanity, and the Dragons being killed leads to the disease spreading even quicker.]]
* GainaxEnding: In the ending for the non-human path, [[spoiler:Jack, whose voice echoes, walks into a strangely empty Radiata with Ridley, who is glowing like the Gold Dragon. The implication being that Ridley resets the world, but spares Jack.]]
* GambitPileup: There's the humans who want to do business by exploiting the dwarves; the dwarves who want to make more money at the expense of the humans; the elves who generally want to wipe out humanity because they don't want to be [[AndIMustScream trapped in a cocoon for eternity]] and believe this is the solution; the orcs who just like fighting and eating; the dragons who are trying to preserve a cosmic balance, and that's without going into individuals. Cross is an arrogant gloryhound who screws everyone else for his goals. Zane is an anti-human racist who wants to commit genocide. Aphelion wants to [[spoiler: bump off the other dragons to save the humans.]] Ridley [[spoiler: opposes him by trying to wake up the Gold Dragon and start the Changeover]] and Jack who wants to protect Ridley even after finding this out. All of the characters (except for Cross and Zane) are more or less sympathetic.
* GameBreakingInjury: Ridley takes a bad blow from a Blood Orc and is out of action for a while.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: In the non-human path, [[spoiler:your final battle against Elwen can be won, though winning isn't mandatory, but the fight a little later against Cross is unwinnable. Yet the last fight against Cross near the end of the game is much easier to win than fighting Elwen, and this time he has soldiers backing him up]].
* GardenGarment: Both light and dark elves dress in this style to further contrast the humans; the light elves have "grass clothes", while the dark elves have "leaf clothes".
* GenderBlenderName:
** Ridley's name certainly had Jack fooled:
--> '''Jack''': I have to fight Ridley Silverlake, right? He's dead meat...
** "Arnold" appears to be this when the person herself appears, but this is merely an alias she's using.
* GirlsStareAtSceneryBoysStareAtGirls: Inverted. On the [[spoiler: human path]]; Jack's date at the fireworks will steal a glance at him while he watches the fireworks.
* GloryHound: Cross loves a good battle, especially if it will earn him prestigious titles such as "the dragon slayer".
* {{Golem}}: Melissa Mark II is a giant creature made of clay and animated with magic. Presumably Sebastian is one as well but made of metal.
* {{Gonk}}:
** Joaquel, a member of Void, is huge, hideous, and disfigured.
** Anastasia looks like a pig in too much finery.
** Whether it be his pudgy face, his tooth-to-gum ratio, or the fact that he's always sweating, something about Dwight just doesn't look right.
* GoodShepherd: The Old Faction of the Olacion Order is composed of pious and good-hearted clerics who focus on helping people first and foremost.
* GrayAndGreyMorality: The conflict of the second half of the game boils down to this. The non-humans oppose humanity for reasons running the gambit, from justified retaliation for past misdeeds to [[spoiler:because the humans caused a cosmic imbalance that threatens all the races of the world]], but are led by a near-genocidal xenophobe and is filled with many who hate humans for flimsy justifications. The humans fight for self-preservation and because they are desperate to try and obtain important resources for living, but many of them are haughty and xenophobic as well, ''especially'' Cross. Both sides have good reasons to wage war upon each other, and both sides have heroes, but they also each have villains and considerable amounts of blood on their hands. Both routes have Jack seeing the best and worst of both sides, as even someone like Cross gains some amount of sympathy on the human route.
* GroupIdentifyingFeature: Present in many of the non-human races. Some examples include:
** All dwarves are short, bearded, and have thick eastern European accents.
** All light elves have green hair and wings.
** All green goblins have green skin, and all black goblins have black skin.
* GroundhogDayLoop: While the game has a more realistic experience than the standard RPG towns populated with [[YouAllLookFamiliar eerily identical cookie cutter residents]] who [[WelcomeToCorneria say the same things ad inifinitum]], the characters will repeat the same list of activities every day, with a few exceptions.
* GuideDangIt: The optional (and easily missable!) Fireworks Festival event on the Human path requires Jack walking past his mailbox immediately after receiving Ganz's letter while the clock isn't past 5pm; if this flag is missed, [[PermanentlyMissableContent there is no second chance]] (until NewGamePlus). The real [[{{Pun}} kicker]] is setting up which person Jack takes as his date[[note]]Adina, Alicia, Anastasia, Charlie, Claudia, Cornelia, Elena, Iris, Flau, Flora, Herz, Jill, Leona, Lily, Lulu, Marietta, Miranda, Morgan, Natalie, Nina, Rynka, Synelia, Ursula, Vitas, Yuri[[/note]], because it relies on an ''entirely hidden affection mechanic'' (the only hint that it exists at all is that most of his potential dates blush while talking with him if their affection with him is high). Not only will Jack's date be in their evening attire, but [[spoiler:said date will also watch Jack leave Radiata in the ending]].
* GunboatDiplomacy: Attempted by [[spoiler: the humans, in response to the dwarves raising trade prices due to dwindling ore supply. An army accompanies two men sent to negotiate the price change. It was supposed to be a bluff, but unfortunately, one of the negotiators is a [[Main/GlorySeeker glory seeker]]; when the dwarves do not change their position, [[AggressiveNegotiations he orders the army to invade the village]], which sparks a war between the humans and non-humans.]]
* {{Guyliner}}: While it is uncertain whether Zane is wearing makeup or if that's just how he naturally looks, the fact that he is the only light elf who has green eyelids and green nails suggests the former.
* HardWorkHardlyWorks: Subverted. Every HopelessBossFight is against people older, or at least more experienced, than Jack. Gerald personally defies it:
-->'''Jack:''' ''Awww! I didn't even come CLOSE to winning!''.
-->'''Gerald:''' ''What did you expect, fool? I was a swordsman years before you were born.''
* HatePlague: What the algandars disease does to humans. While Elves infected with it either die or become encased in a form of cocoon, Humans go into a violent rage and lash out at anything around them, not to different from how real world rabies in animals.
* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: Averted. Most of Theater Vancoor's members wear helmets that completely cover their face, with you only able to see their faces in their bios, though many of the knights' faces are obscured even without their helmets. And Jack himself can get a couple armors that have helmets, though most do not.
* HeroicSacrifice:
** [[spoiler:Nogueira contracts the algandars disease when he saves Ridley and Hap by performing the transpiritation ritual on them]]
** [[spoiler:Gawain saves Ganz from being penetrated by Aphelion's sword by taking the blow himself.]]
** [[spoiler:On the human path, Dynas saves Cross from foolishly being killed; when Cross lunges at the fire dragon, who is taking a large breath, Dynas jumps in the way of the resulting fire blast and is killed.]]
* HiddenElfVillage: The City of Flowers.
* HidingBehindYourBangs: Lily and her mentor, Iris, have these. It's fitting for a void member.
* HomeGuard: You can recruit a wide variety of civilians to your party from chefs to construction workers to children with slingshots. This doesn't mean they'll be worth a damn in combat though.
* HookedUpAfterwards: [[spoiler:Jack and Ridley]] at the end of the nonhuman path.
* HopelessBossFight: The first battle against Ridley is unwinnable; her HP states: ??? There's also a few later where [[ButThouMust the game progresses whether the player wins or loses]], with slight variations in dialogue being the only consequence. All of these fights end when you are hit with the boss's [[LimitBreak Volty Blast]], even if you survive the attack.
* HotWitch: Morgan is a professor at Vareth and dresses in a fashion for another profession.
* HumansAreSpecial: [[spoiler:Lucian[=/=]Aphelion is fond of humanity. Despite the fact that the cosmic balance of the world sometimes requires the destruction of humanity, every time the dragons strike them down they manage to rebuild. After seeing this cycle play it for an untold number of times, he's grown sick of the system blatantly in favor of every race but one, and is willing to kill his fellow dragons to get rid of it.]]
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: The whole reason the light elves and many of the other races feel hatred and distrust toward humans is because they, from the non-humans' point of view, are considered selfish, evil beings who are ruining the balance of the world. To be fair, they're not entirely wrong [[spoiler:on that last bit; the balance and all that.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: [[spoiler:Lucian/Aphelion's]] plan is to save humanity from being the race that has to be murdered to preserve the balance of the world. How is this plan to be achieved? By seeing to the deaths of the other dragons, and consequently any non-human who stands in humanity's way in pursuit of that goal. While he's a WellIntentionedExtremist, it seems a bit hypocritical that his plan to save a species from being wiped out involves annihilating others.
* IdiotHero: Jack isn't the sharpest tack in the box at times.
* ImaginedInnuendo: When [[spoiler:Jack takes over Fort Helencia]], he decides to bask in his glory by (jokingly) telling Natalie that he will spare her life if she does exactly as he says. Natalie misinterprets this until Jack clarifies that all he wanted her to do was "grovel a bit".
* {{Immortality}}: Applies to light elves and dragons.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Quite a few characters use various forms of cutlery as weapons, while others use either musical or personal instruments, or discarded trash. Elef, the foreman of Radiata's bridge builders, for instance, uses his iron tobacco pipe.
* InVinoVeritas: Jarvis can become quite aggressive when he's had one too many.
* InfinityMinusOneSword:
** The Arbitrator for the non-human path is the second strongest one-handed sword in the game.
** Falvern is this for greatswords, having an attack rating of 127 and a massive ''15 CP'' for allotting Jack's attack combos. In addition, it also has a chance of instantly killing a target.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: Holy Sword Gram has an attack rating of 170 and it is obtained after beating [[spoiler:Valkyrie]]. Despite supposedly being a legendary sword re-forged by the gods, she had two. [[spoiler:This makes sense when you remember that in ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile'', she can make more than one Gram.]]
* InsufferableGenius: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Genius]] will make sure you know he's smarter than you.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Jack, as the hero, fits this pretty clearly. He's impatient, brash, and cocky, and quite often sticks his foot in his mouth more often than not. That said, when it comes down to it, he's a pretty good kid who clearly doesn't want to hurt anyone who doesn't really deserve it.
* JokeCharacter: Loads of examples, particularly those who have no affiliation with the guilds and work mundane jobs, such as farmers, doctors, nurses, and the like.
* JokeWeapon: Many mundane objects such as an umbrella and different kinds of farming tools can be used as weapons.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: The best one-handed and two-handed swords available for purchase are katanas. However, the best swords ''period'' are not.
* KarmaHoudini: Aside from the injuries they suffered, the [[spoiler: Hecton Squad]] faces no repercussions for [[spoiler: failing their mission to watch and protect Princess Bellflower during her excursion around Radiata City, which also led to Gerald nearly being fatally killed by Nocturne. Elwen even promotes Jack to sergeant and allows him to command his own squad, despite the fact that him and Daniel's distracted arguing was what led to [[spoiler: Bellflower getting kidnapped by Void Community bandits]].
* KilledOffScreen: [[spoiler:Hap and Nogueira]] and presumably [[spoiler:Zane]] on the non-human side, die offscreen. Although his presumed death occurs after the time frame of the game, Ridley confirms to Jack under the Ressan Tree that [[spoiler:Zane has algandars]], which is pretty much a death sentence in itself.
* LadyAndKnight: Jack appoints himself Ridley's White Knight [[spoiler:in the in the non-human path]] and not only protects her but lifts her spirits with endearingly corny jokes. [[spoiler: In personality, they're the bright couple, but to the humans, they're the dark couple. Gerald praises him for having the balls to turn against his entire race for the sake of his girl.]] For her part, Ridley is a bright lady {{ojou}} who is trying to do what she think is right, and is grateful for Jack's support.
* LadyOfWar: Ridley, Elwen, Alicia, Natalie, Lily, Iris, and [[spoiler:Valkyrie]], to name a few, are graceful and skilled fighters. Elwen in particular; being of stunning beauty, it's surprising to see a woman in such a position without making her into a {{tsundere}} or something similar.
* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: To get the leaders of the warrior, mage, and priest guild, you have to recruit everyone in the guild, then talk to (and fight in the case of the former two) the leader of the guild. For the thieves guild, you have to recruit the other three leaders, then do a short quest that ends with fighting the thieves guild leader. Recruiting everyone else in the guild is optional.
* LazyBum: Eugene is the dictionary definition of this. He joined Olacion hoping that he can get miracles to do everything for him. He complains that no one ever gives him work so he sleeps all day and drinks at night.
* LegendaryWeapon: The Arbitrator is a sword passed down to Jack from his father and according to Gawain, was touched by evil--though that was 16 years ago and the curse likely wore off.
* LemonyNarrator: Some characters have snarky descriptions in the Friends List.
* LethalJokeCharacter: While there's likely a few more, Franz, the hammy dark elf who challenges Gil, has the only attack that knocks the Ethereal Queen off her feet. He's also quite fast and does notable damage for such a minor character.
* LettingHerHairDown: Ridley's hair is kept up in tight pigtails at the start of the game. The more the story progresses and the closer she comes to accepting her fate, the more her hair loosens until it's finally all the way down.
* LimitBreak: The "Volty Blast" special attack, which is limited to a small number of individuals. This includes Jack, who can learn one for each of the four weapon types.
* LimitedWardrobe: Averted. Not only is Jack able to change his clothing, but the vast majority of Radiata's population has both day and night attire.
* LivingForeverIsAwesome: Everyone who has immortality loves it, and Aphelion's plan involves preserving his own as a nice bonus to his main goal. However, Ganz and Ridley argue that mortality isn't bad either.
* LovableCoward: Star's excuse for why he won't go someplace or why he lost a duel are funny.
* MachoCamp: [[spoiler:Gabriel Celesta, of all people, is quite muscular and hammy. In almost any other appearance, he's a pretty boy.]]
* MagikarpPower: While there are plenty of examples, [[ShrinkingViolet Leona]] is the most prominent. She starts at level 3, which is incredibly low at the point in the game the player can recruit her. Through grinding, her attack stat can reach upward of 398. Since her weapon is a [[TomeOfEldritchLore magical book]] instead of a [[MagicWand staff]], she has the ability to fire multiple [[EnergyWeapon magical lasers]], which can decimate even the toughest enemies.
* MamaBear: Rynka. Though she's seemingly fine with letting her son wander the streets without her, when she (falsely) believed that [[spoiler:Ganz had kidnapped him]], she lets her fist do all the talking.
* TheMedic:
** Morfinn is a literal example, coupled with some HarmfulHealing due to his curiosity.
** Several members from the Olacion Order also fit but they use WhiteMagic instead of medicine.
* MediumAwareness: [[spoiler:Radian's]] "Why wasn't I the main character of this game?!"
* MeaningfulName:
** All of the Radiata Knight brigade names are a combination of colors and animals in French (e.g. Rose Cochon = Pink Pig, Violet Chevre = Purple Goat, Noir Mouton = Black Sheep).
** Cross is the captain of the Noir Mouton brigade, which is a fitting name considering "black sheep" is a term which refers to someone who is odd or disreputable, typically due to bad behavior.
** Genius is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a genius]]. Also, his last name is Weissheit, which in German means "whiteness". While "whiteness" doesn't make much sense with regards to Genius's personality, this may be a translation error or misspelling. His name may have been intended to be spelled "Weisheit" (with only one S) which means "wisdom" in German and makes much more sense as a last name to someone named "Genius".
** The warrior guild squad names seem to have some relation to numbers (i.e. Hecton = hecto- prefix is a factor of 100, Triton = tri- prefix refers to 3, Acht = German for 8, Zweit = German for 2nd, etc.).
** Kain is the High Priest of the Olacion Order.
** Morgan is a witch.
** Nogueira is Portuguese for "walnut tree".
** Nyx is, presumably, [[spoiler:a vampire]].
** Jack's full name is "Jack Russell", as in the dog. Makes sense given he's a young boy with far too much energy and thinks he's bigger than he is.
* MetalSlime: The dagol tortoises, tsuchinoko, and metal tortoises are extremely rare creatures which can drop obscenely useful items upon defeat. Also, the Killer Queen, who you can only fight once in the entire game, drops ''obscene amounts of exp'' and one of each type of berry in the game.
* MissingChild: Rynka has a reason to worry when her son Cody wanders off and even more so when [[spoiler:she thinks that Ganz has kidnapped him.]]
* MissingMom: All three members of the main trio have mothers that are, at most, only briefly mentioned but never actually shown. The one exception may be Ridley's mother who is at least visible in a painting in her bedroom. While it is concluded on the non-human side that [[spoiler:Jack's mother is dead]], it is never explicitly stated what became of [[spoiler:Ganz and Ridley's mothers.]]
* MortonsFork: The game provides you with one in the middle of the game where you must decide the path you're going to play. In the end, neither side feels particularly satisfying as Jack really doesn't want to hurt the other races, and yet joining them has all the human friends he made think of him as a vicious traitor to humanity (which you technically are for making that choice). Even the endings feel unsatisfactory with [[spoiler:the implied destruction of humanity in the non-human ending, or Jack leaving Radiata forever because of everyone he lost due to the war]]. In the end, you're going to feel like crap for the choice no matter what you choose, and most of the time it's not your fault in the end.
* MovesetClone: [[LightningBruiser Jack]] and [[GlacierWaif Ridley]], if the former's wielding an axe as well.
* MultipleEndings: There are two possible endings for the game, depending on which side of the war the player has Jack align. One is a DownerEnding, and the other is a BittersweetEnding.
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: Jack's general idea for how to solve a problem is to kill the person causing it. He gets chewed out for this in the non-human path [[spoiler: by JJ, an ''orc'', of all people.]]
* MyGreatestFailure: Not warning Cairn about [[spoiler:Zane's plans of having him assassinated]] was Gawain's biggest regret.
* NoCutsceneInventoryInertia: Zigzagged. It is averted in that Jack will always have whatever armor he is wearing on in cutscenes, but it is played straight with your weapon. No matter what weapon you are using, even if it isn't a one handed sword, Jack will always pull out the first one handed sword he starts with, except [[spoiler:right before the final boss of the non-human path where he pulls out the Arbitrator instead. In the human-path, he pulls out any one handed sword you may have equipped at that time.]]
* NobodyPoops: Subverted. Lavatories can be found in Theater Vancoor and Radiata Castle, which certain characters will actually use.
* OddFriendship: Ganz, a knight, eventually befriends Rynka and Flau, two members of Void.
* OfficialCouple: Jack and Ridley [[spoiler:are implied to be romantic in the non-human path, given Jack's indirect LoveConfession and the fact that they are HoldingHands in their final scene. In the human path, they're StarCrossedLovers.]]
* OldMaster: Curtis, the Vareth Magic Institute's head advisor, and Fernando, leader of the Olacion Order's Old Faction, are some of the mightiest characters the player can recruit. There is Also, Zeranium, Godwin, and Ortoroz. If you're an elderly person in ''Radiata Stories'' who isn't a farmer, you ''will'' kick ass.
* OlderThanDirt: The frescoes Genius is studying in the Path of the Spider. Even he can't pinpoint how old they are exactly but estimates they were painted at least several centuries ago.
* OneGenderRace: All members of the nonhuman races (except for the elves) seem to be male. Although, there are certain dwarf characters Jack is unable to recruit so we never get to see their gender.
* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler: Aphelion]] at the end of the game. Also, [[spoiler:Baade and Parsec]] when they transform into their dragon forms.
* OpeningTheSandbox: The game is initially pretty restrictive in where the player can go and what they can do; just a few places in Radiata castle and the two missions as a knight are straightward. Once Jack joins Theater Vancoor, the player can begin to explore, recruit, do sidequests, etc.
* {{Ojou}}: Ridley starts out as the stuck-up and bossy type and [[spoiler: In the non-human path, she mellows into the sweetheart type.]]
* OurElvesAreDifferent: Universally united in their [[spoiler:hatred of humans, to the point of declaring war for the sole purpose of exterminating them]]. Furthermore, dark elves are, technically, ''half''-elves, while the light elves are portrayed more closely to the standard faerie.
* ParentalAbandonment: Gawain abandoned his family, though not willingly.
* ParentalSubstitute: Ganz is this for Cody. Though Cody's mother is still in the picture, his father is missing, a trait which Ganz shares that they bond over.
* PetTheDog: Despite being a generally horrible person, [[spoiler:at the end of the human path, Cross sacrifices his life to warn Jack that Lucian is really Aphelion, the Silver Dragon. He could have survived if he had just played dead.]]
* PinkMeansFeminine: Natalie's pink armor. In fact, female knights in general wear pink.
* PlantPerson: The light and dark elves count as this due to their plant-like hair; it's a nature thing that contrasts them with the industrial humans and dwarves.
* PlayerCharacter: Jack. No, seriously, this is worth noting: the player can ''recruit'' tons of individuals, but they ''remain'' just that: individuals. Jack is the game's only ''controllable'' character.
* PunnyName:
** Jack is an energetic young man, relatively short in stature, who is nonetheless quite fierce and not to be underestimated. It's hard to believe this wasn't on purpose.
** Adele, Jack's sister, is named ''Airedale'' in the Japanese version.
** Cairn is the third person in the Russell family to be named after a terrier.
** Ridley's original last name is Timberlake.
* PrettyBoy: Felix, Franklin, Lucian, and Gil, to name a few.
* TheQuietOne: Coco's a reserved dark elf who isn't use to talking with others.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: The light elves all look very young, despite being centuries old and immortal. [[spoiler:Cepheid's light elf form]], while it doesn't show it in the game, one of the Japanese guides shows concept art of him looking like a small child, despite being a thousands-year old dragon in reality.
* ResetButton: [[spoiler:The big twist is that the world is subject to this every so often when Humanity becomes [[AndManGrewProud too strong]], at which point the Gold Dragon Quasar essentially rewrites the world, and brings mankind back to basics. In the human route, Ridley's death prevents this, but in the non-human route, [[GainaxEnding its unclear what is happening]], with the implication being Ridley completes it, sparing Jack]].
* ReverseCerebusSyndrome: [[spoiler:The comedic tone makes a return if the player chooses to do the {{Bonus Dungeon}}s, as most of the bosses found in them usually have a comedic cutscene before they and Jack do battle.]]
* RewardingVandalism: Jack can interact with most objects in the game. As a result, the player will occasionally receive money or items.
* RichBitch: Conrad looks down his nose at anyone with less money than him. He also qualifies as a SpoiledBrat.
* RobeAndWizardHat: Morgan and Curtis, both professors at Vareth, sport the classic look.
* RoseHairedSweetie: Alicia has pink hair and is characterized by her friendliness.
* TheRunaway: Jasne is worrisome when his only daughter is about to leave on her first mission. The fact that [[spoiler:she comes home severely injured from one of them]] gives him even more reason to worry, especially when [[spoiler:she runs away.]]
* SadisticChoice: The player cannot save both [[spoiler:Ridley and the rest of humanity]] in the same ending. Similarly, if one chooses the path wherein [[spoiler: she and the world ''are'' liberated, Ganz dies instead]].
* SaintlyChurch: The Oralcion Old Faction are interested in helping people. For example, Miranda fully heals Jack whenever he talks to her, for free, and others are also polite and helpful.
* {{Samurai}}: Caesar has the armor, the weapon, the topknot, the battle mentality etc. Jack may count, too, if he equips the correct armor.
%%* SarcasmBlind: Parsec.
* ScrewDestiny: Jack ultimately rejects fate at the end of the human path [[spoiler:and prevents the Changeover.]]
* SecondLove: A gameplay mechanic on the Human route invokes this. Without Ridley in his life, Jack can pursue a relationship with any of the female party members ([[AmbiguouslyGay or Charlie]]). The game chooses based on the character Jack has had in his party the longest.
* SecretIdentity: Cornelia is secretly [[spoiler:[[MagicIdolSinger Rachel]].]] It's hush hush though, so don't tell anyone.
* ShoutOut:
** Ganz dresses up like a fatter, older [[VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory Claude]] at one point.
** Jack can dress up as [[VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime Fayt]].
** [[MagicalGirl Cornelia]] looks similar to [[Manga/CardcaptorSakura Sakura]] and [[VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}} Momo]]. Her schtick is also similar to another [[Anime/MagicalPrincessMinkyMomo Momo]]. Additionally, in the Japanese version, her Rachel persona is a Music/NamiTamaki cameo. She even holds nightly concerts, singing the game's OST.
** The Black Goblin Pietro is one for ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. To recruit him, you need to beat him three times, with him getting stronger each time. At one point, he states he is going "[[SuperMode Super Goblin]]". Once he's recruited, if you talk to him, he'll say:
--> "Me make you legendariest warrior! First, [[PowerDyesYourHair dye hair yellow]]! [[InvokedTrope All legendariest warriors has yellow hair]]!"
** The Training Device accessory that can be acquired in the game is a reference to the classic manga/anime series, ''[[Creator/IkkiKajiwara Kyojin no Hoshi]]''. The accessory looks a spring-loaded harness of the same kind that the protagonist Hyuuma wore under his clothes in order to undergo TrainingFromHell.
* ShownTheirWork: The toadstool powder's description explains it is made out of ''Amanita virosa'' spores. This is an actual, and fatal, fungus that is extremely poisonous when eaten.
* ShrinkingViolet: Leona, Gene, and Rolec are all shy people. The former hides behind her books, the second spends his time with flowers, and the last in a bathroom.
* SingleMindedTwins: Elena and Adina are both kinda snotty and loyal to Anastasia, though their viewpoints differ in concerns to who is most important in their lives.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Star would make you think he is the best warrior in the kingdom, but he's only a novice in Vancoor.
* StockShonenHero: Whether ironically or not, Jack fits the bill.
* StoryBranchFavoritism: Despite the game having two routes that generally are equal in content, the non-human route is the only route where Jack learns many of the game's big reveals, develops more as a character, reunites with both Ridley and Ganz, gets to use his father's sword, and becomes an OfficialCouple with Ridley, making it clearly the route that is meant to be the true ending. By contrast, the human route allows for more unique gameplay elements such as having Jack romance another character, as well as having the largest cast of party members to use, at the cost of the story being less explained and being simpler, with the ending being a more concrete and easier to grasp, but more somber than the non-human ending.
* StoryBranching: The game splits into two very different stories depending on a choice made midway.
* StrokeTheBeard: Zane is seen doing this a couple times when plotting or speaking to allies. He does it even more in the ''Song of Ridley'' manga.
* {{Superboss}}: [[spoiler:The four Elemental Dragons, Radian, Cairn Russell, [[VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile Lenneth Valkyrie, Lezard]], [[SeriesMascot Gabriel Celesta, the Ethereal Queen]], and Quasar, the Gold Dragon]] can be fought if the player wants additional challenge.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: The Knight Selection Trials has a clear dissonance. At the start, the judge says it is a "completely unbiased assessment of your abilities". At the end, Jack passes after getting knocked out ''in the first round'' because his dad's a national hero.
* TakeItToTheBridge: A number of battles take place on bridges, and given the abundance of bridges in Tottaus, it comes as no surprise:
** Nocturne and Gerald decide to take their scuffle to the bridge outside Faucon Gate to settle their dispute from years before.
** In the non-human path, the final encounter with [[spoiler:Elwen]] occurs on a bridge, though the actual gameplay takes place on a wide battlefield as normal.
** In the human path, the Faucon Gate bridge is also the location where Jack, Cross, and Dynas initially face off with the fire dragon.
** Near the end of the human path, there's a surprise non-human attack on the bridge outside Lupus Gate where the final showdown between Jack and Zane occurs.
* TemptingFate: Ganz gets this for responding to Jack's joke. Yes, the joke was funny and clever, but you don't praise the joker when the subject is your boss, ''who's standing right in front of you''.
* ThirdPersonPerson: Herz will mention her name in every sentence.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Cross serves as this on the human path, though he never properly joins your party. Though still an elitist asshole, Cross doesn't commit the evil acts he does in the non-human path like [[spoiler:murdering Dynas]], and at the end [[spoiler:he sacrifices his life to warn Jack that Lucian is actually the Silver Dragon, when he could have played dead and probably survived]].
* TomboyishName: Ridley is the best example, though a few others skirt close to this. Jack thought his first opponent was a ''boy'' before he saw her pigtails.
* TortureCellar: Found in the basement of the Void Community. Jack and Jarvis will show up here later [[spoiler:as they're being beaten by Void members in front of Princess Belflower]].
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil:
** Not necessarily big spoilers or anything, but one of the trailers spoils [[spoiler:Jack walking. This is ''the human side ending''. There's also a scene where he draws his sword in an epic fashion manner is the final battle of the human side.]]
** The trailer features a soundbite of [[spoiler:Aphelion declaring his intent to destroy Jack]] near the end of the game, before the final battle.
* TranquilFury: Gerald often does this:
** When Jarvis gets stinking drunk at Carl's pub in the middle of the day, and in the presence of Jack and Daniel, Gerald happens to walk into the pub, smiles as he greets the two before dragging the very nervous sergeant out onto the street. You are left to guess what happens next.
** Gerald appears to be calm when he gets up and leaves his office when Jack delivers a letter to him, [[spoiler:which turns out to be a challenge to a fist-fight by Nocturne]].
* {{Tsundere}}:
** Ridley is tsun tsun to everyone from her arranged fiancé to her commanding officer and stays that way. As the story progresses, her dere dere sides emerges more and more around "her Jack".
** Lily is aloof and dismissive of Jack, yet she's one of the "date options" for the fireworks.
** Morgan and Urusla as well.
* UnderratedAndOverleveled: The huge cast of characters guarantees at least a few will be mundane people with little or no combat training. The inability to focus the plot on each character also means that the developers didn't have time to give in-universe justification for everyone's combat capabilities.
* UnwantedHarem: Felix has a lot of male fans, much to his chagrin. This is likely due to his looks.
* UnwittingPawn: Jack is a pawn for [[spoiler:Lucian to carry out his plan of killing the other dragons. He doesn't realize it until Lucian kills Ridley right in front of him.]]
* UpperClassTwit: Star is a nobleman who acts like an over-confident fob.
* VengeanceFeelsEmpty: On the human path, Jack keeps talking about [[spoiler:getting revenge against Gawain for the murder of his father]] but when he finally does, he realizes that it hasn't brought him any closure or made him feel any better about what happened.
* VillainTakesAnInterest: Zane couldn't care any less about Jack or even Ridley's existence until he learns how they can be useful to him, and thus allowing them both to fight in his army.
* VillainousBreakdown: Zane's very first onscreen appearance features him breaking down into tears at [[spoiler:his brother's grave]].
* ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer: Fortunately for Jack, the "kill everything" approach is correct more often than not. Unfortunately for everyone else, the same approach is incorrect in two very big ways: [[spoiler:when Cairn kills the Water Dragon in the prologue and when Cross slaughters the dwarves just before the split.]]
* VoluntaryShapeshifter: Herz uses her ability to impersonate others. Cornelia will also shapeshift into [[spoiler:Rachel (Nami Tamaki in the Japanese version)]] at night.
* WalkingTheEarth: [[spoiler:In the human path, Jack leaves Radiata because of his guilt in Ridley's death.]]
* WarIsHell: The war is definitely bad for both sides. There's death, there's tragedy, and the only person who says WarIsGlorious is an asshole. [[spoiler:In the Human route, Jack even leaves Radiata in the end because of his failure to save Ridley]].
* WeaponSpecialization: Iris fights with whips.
* WellIntentionedExtremist:
** Aphelion [[spoiler:does his best to prevent the war from happening and tries to stop it as quickly as possible, as all he wants is to prevent the world from being constantly reset because the system is blatantly in favor of every race except humanity. To do so requires the deaths of the other Dragons, which causes the world to become closer to ending, and upsets the balance.]]
** Most non-humans (though not Zane) are this. They're [[spoiler:supporting the genocide of humanity to preserve the rest of the races and correct the cosmic imbalance caused when humanity gets out of control]].
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: Many of the recruitable characters have passive abilities that are only useful in very specific situations, if ever.
* WhatTheHellHero: Gawain gives Jack a verbal and [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown physical beat down]] after latter slays the Wind Dragon:
--> "You're the one...WHO SLAYS DRAGONS FOR SPORT!"
* WideOpenSandbox: Once the player is fully allowed to explore Radiata, they are free to try sidequest before moving the story forward.
* WorldOfTechnicolorHair: Natalie has green hair. No other human has green hair. There are many other examples of human characters with unnatural colored hair as well, one being Faraus with his purple hair.
* YouAreWorthHell: The opinion of the Ancient Elf King to his queen, and Jack to Ridley, is that their love is worth the consequences. Gerald ''hopes'' to find someone he loves this much someday.
* YouCantThwartStageOne: Averted when Jack looks up the password to the Goblin Cemetery. He realizes the answer is obviously on the last page and skips to the end.
* YouKilledMyFather: Jack has these words for [[spoiler:Gawain]] when the two come face-to-face.
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