[[quoteright:215:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the-bards-tale-001_624.png]]
->''"A quest for coin and cleavage."''

Take your standard HeroicFantasy, except replace that hero with an AntiHero {{Jerkass}}, "a sardonic and opportunistic musician and adventurer, driven by carnal rather than noble pursuits". The Bard [[NoNameGiven (who is never identified by a specific name)]] is not interested in saving the world, his humble motivations being strictly "coin and cleavage". Then have his quest narrated by a mocking, biased man who cannot stand him.

Has nothing to do with the games of ''VideoGame/TheBardsTaleTrilogy'' (the first game being titled ''The Bard's Tale'' [1985]), although it does have a few shout outs to it (and some editions include the earlier games as an extra). To be fair though, this game ''was'' supposed to be a remake of the original game, but Creator/InXileEntertainment didn't have the rights to the original game as Creator/ElectronicArts held the rights to the series. The game was developed by Creator/InXileEntertainment, who later developed ''VideoGame/TheBardsTaleIV'', a true sequel to the original trilogy.

The Bard, after getting burned by and subsequently slaying a giant, fire-breathing rat, ends up being recruited by an old man to help free a princess named Caleigh. As a result of this, the Bard finds himself being attacked by an assortment of fanatics from a Druid-like cult, sent to dispatch him by a being called Fionnaoch. On the way to complete his quest, the not so valiant anti-hero will have to overcome the truly terrifying challenges of three monstrous guardians, break-dancing corpses, spontaneously melodious goblins and [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment a giant, fire-breathing rat]].
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!!The game provides examples of:
* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Fnarf loves letting loose with preponderously peppered phrases. Following the Bard felling the fiend, he hears himself [[GotMeDoingIt reluctantly responding]] in a similar syntax.
* AffectionateParody: While on one hand the game features some nice celtic settings, it doesn't take itself seriously at all.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: In the Starter Inn, being nice to the Innkeeper would get you nothing. Berating her for the huge rat in the basement actually gets the Bard some nookie.
* AllMenArePerverts: How did Caleigh get the bard to go on the quest when lures of money and power weren't enough? She offered sex. Lots and lots of sex.
* AnachronisticSoundtrack: The drunk guys in the first pub can be heard singing a real life drinking song from the 19th century.
* AncientGrome: Lugh, his automaton and the tower itself all have a distinctive, graeco-roman look on them.
* AntiHero: Played for laughs in the neutral ending, wherein [[spoiler:the Bard leaves and gets drunk with some zombies. As it turns out, The Bard doesn't make to be any sort of hero or villain at all, and the undead apparently make great bar buddies (and definitely good dancers, too)]].
* AntiMagic: Some areas, mostly dungeons, feature sections full of pink sparkles that disable the Bard's ability to use summons, forcing the Bard to go in using only his personal stats, equipment, and the dog if you have him with you.
* ApologeticAttacker: The Bodyguard actually apologize as he punches enemies in melee.
* ArtisticLicenseGeography: Though not openly stated, the game has a location based on the Orkney Islands and even cities corresponding to real locations. However, their arrangement differs a little from RealLife, mostly as if they were roughly clustered together in a smaller island.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: The consequences of the Nuckelavee's return, according to "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JQpE7n6eUk The Tale of the Nuckelavee]]" song:
-->The village is burned and the taverns are missed and the beer is all gone and the elders are pissed.
* AssholeVictim: The Renard Brothers are major jerks who send the Bard on a wild goose chase to take money from people when ''they'' owe it, and show themselves to be {{Dirty Coward}}s when threatened by somebody capable of backing it up, so it's quite cathartic if you decide to summon the Knocker right in front of them, which gets a special cutscene where it provides some "payback" for their "quest".
* AutomaticCrossbow: Anachronistically enough, both the Heroine and the old Farmer Bill in Kirkwall have one of these.
* BackFromTheDead: If you befriend him early enough, [[spoiler:the dog]] is eventually killed but then comes back as a zombie. If you ''didn't'', the one coming back is The Nuckelavee.
* BarredFromTheAfterlife: The Viking Jarl is struck inside the Frozen Tombs and cannot enter Valhalla. You have to get him angry enough to attack some other respawning Draugrs, allowing him to fight enough people to get his afterlife.
* BeingGoodSucks: The good guys don't quite get the fact that the Bard likes to be paid, and [[spoiler: doing the right thing doesn't leave him with anything gained for the adventure]].
* {{BFS}}: The Bard can also learn to fight with two-handed weapons, mostly claymores and axes. At high levels they're enchanted with lightning, and he can hit multiple enemies. The two unique weapons (The Shadow Axe and the Ego Sword) share the same animation and techniques.
* TheBigGuy: The Bodyguard, The Mercenary, The Knight, and The Brute could all qualify as this, having larger, bulkier builds than most other characters and being useful for providing brute physical support and protecting others from harm. Their personalities also fit too though to varying degrees.
* BlatantLies: The Narrator loves to engage in these, to the chagrin of The Bard.
* BottomlessMagazines: No limit to those arrows!
* BloodKnight: Lugh, the guardian of the Mountain Tower, is one. He even acknowledge the Bard as a WorthyOpponent before the boss fight.
* BribingYourWayToVictory: At least in the Android version of the game. You have the options of buying packs of items, stat points, talents and in game currency with real currency if you want to. Its all stuff you can acquire in game and its single-player so you're just paying to speed up the game.
* ChainmailBikini: The Valkyrie who comes to escort the Jarl to Valhalla and teaches the Fire Elemental Tune to the Bard wears a mail bikini bottom, shoes and a massive iron chestpiece with shoulderguards and helmet.
* CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys: Jacques and Jean, a pair of French guys, who give you the run around after offering a tune, will accept your challenge to a fight, then surrender as soon as you draw your weapons.
* ChosenOne: Parodied in various ways.
** TheChosenWannabe: Throughout your quest, you will encounter many other chosen ones, most of whom are either dead or arrested.
** TheChosenZero: Not only is the Bard an unlikely hero (and has this pointed out to him), there are many other "Chosen Ones" (people who think the are, anyway [[note]]They actually are, but they just sucked.[[/note]]) who end up dead or worse. And after you come across them, some trow come out and sing about it! [[spoiler: A dialogue between Fionnaoch and Caleigh may subtly imply that Fionnaoch himself started this way.]]
** TheChosenMany: At one point you'll even encounter a couple dozen of them. They've all been locked up so they don't hurt themselves.
** TheUnchosenOne: Guess who manages to make his way past the challenges and manages to get a chance to confront the BigBad?
* CloudCuckooLander: Old Hatcher, the Butcher, mistakes the Bard for one of his relatives. Which one though, varies from minute to minute, starting with brother, then son, then wife, then granny, then uncle, and finally even father.
* ContinuityNod: In a conversation early in the game the Bard proclaims that he's had enough adventures, involving, among other things, cities locked in eternal winter. This was the plot of the original 1985 ''Bard's Tale''.
* CowTipping: There are a number of cows in [[FirstTown Houton]] that the Bard can push over and if you tip enough of them, a very angry cow will attack him.
* CrapsackWorld: It already began as pretty nasty with murderous Kunal Trow and vicious, wild wolves bigger than men wandering the fields and forests, but at least the towns were safe. After completing the first tower dungeon, the state of the world quickly turns FromBadToWorse mostly due to a ZombieApocalypse that decimates the majority of the towns in the game. By the time you're halfway through the game it becomes a DeathWorld, where the safest town in the game is a DungeonTown filled with murderous Druids that slaughter random civilians. Unless you count the optional Finstown which has been completely conquered by HornyVikings who have imprisoned all of the townsfolk except for those who have escaped. You can save the townsfolk from the vikings but upon leaving, you're locked out forever for allowing the Vikings to invade in the first place due to [[NoodleIncident past actions involving an imprisoned dragon.]]
* CrateExpectations: Parodied. When the bard smashes a barrel early in the game, the barrel maker comes out and chastises him for smashing his barrels. He then offers a deal: smash all other barrels the Bard sees so that the barrel-maker can sell more barrels. Also, [[AllThereInTheManual the game guide]] lists that the Bard's previous profession was as an assistant to the barrel maker, however he was fired for producing inferior barrels which "... shattered with a mere whack of a sword." And his mentor chased him out of town for such shoddy work, saying that "A key won't even be safe in these things."
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: The Bard is a selfish and sexist jerk more interesting into getting "coins and cleavages" than performing heroic deeds, but that doesn't mean he is not a very competent fighter when he has to.
* TheDeadCanDance: In a joke cutscene two groups of zombies are seen having a dance-off to the Bard's confusion. This reappears in the Neutral ending where the zombies are seen partying in a bar with the Bard.
* DeadpanSnarker:
** The Bard, whenever you go with the snarky option in conversations.
** The Narrator gets in a few zings.
* {{Determinator}}: In the town of Houton, there is an old man who will demand an apology from you if you bump into him. If you refuse, he'll just keep insisting, even following you into a dungeon full of zombies to do so. Refuse enough times and he'll swear to chase you all the way into hell [[SeriousBusiness until you say you're sorry]].
* DistractedByTheSexy: The Rogue will use this, although it won't stop the bad guys from attacking, it will just stop them from attacking '''you'''. Also, the Bard is so wrapped up in his desire to sleep with Caleigh that he never stops to think about the whole thing.
* DoomedHometown: After completing the PlotTunnel from the the Mountain Pass to Dounby, the FirstTown Houton is destroyed and overrun by zombies.
* DualWielding: The Bard can learn to dual wield a sword with a dirk in the off-hand. He can't knock down enemies, but he can chain several, damaging strikes in a row.
* DungeonTown:
** The town of Dounby. Justified as the town is also the location of [[TheBigBad Fionnaoch's]] [[EvilTowerOfOminousness Tower]] so it makes sense that the streets would be swarming with his druids.
** Kirkwall becomes a downplayed variant when you return after completing the Forest Tower and the town is attacked by the Nuckelavee and several skeletal horses. The only building still intact is the armory owned by the snobby shopkeeper. Kirkwall stays this way for the rest of the game, full of skeletal horses and hysterical civilians.
** Stromness too though it's so thoroughly destroyed by the infinitely respawning undead vikings that it barely counts as a town by the time you get there. That said there are two buildings still intact albeit on opposite edges of the town. The butcher's house and the shop of [[InsaneProprietor Crazy Thorvald]] on the docks.
* EekAMouse: The Bard's modus operandi when in a bar, in order to get at least a free meal. Hilariously enough it works on a gigantic burly viking in Finston and [[spoiler: On Lugh's female guards on the second floor.]]
* ElaborateEqualsEffective: Best seen with the Sword line of weapons, going from a shoddy rusty blade to a stylish rapier-like weapon, back to a glowing shortsword, then a glowing broadsword adorned with a fine handguard and finally a massive, wicked-looking black longsword.
* EldritchAbomination: Despite being, essentially, an oversized monstrous mosquito, the Gouger is described in this terms by the narrator.
* ElementalEmbodiment: The three guardians of the Towers: Herne is a treant-like vegetable humanoid who can phase through wood and summon plants, Lugh the valiant warrior is a massive armor-clad humanoid seemingly made of metal and rules over clockwork warriors, while Mannanan is an earthen being served by crystal-studded monsters and residing in a Tower mostly made of stone, rocks, dirt and crystals.
* EscortMission: The game has a couple: you have to lead Ketill Svart from Neversdale back to Houton, lead the Firbolg explorer out of the mines, escort [=MacRath=] back and forth Greenland Plains and finally lead Hatcher across the Draugr-infested city and the zombie-filled farm against the Haggis Monster. If you keep him alive untill the end, he'll reward you with the game's best bow and shield. Luckily enough, the Hag can heal the escortee if they're wounded. Aside from Hatcher, they tend to stay backwards, out of trouble.
* EvilPaysBetter: Sometimes you're better off being mean. Also, [[spoiler:the evil ending has what could be considered the happiest ending for The Bard.]]
* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The boss towers.
* FetchQuest: In order to reach each tower, the Bard has to undertake one of these, much to his dismay.
* {{Facepalm}}: The Bard does this a lot when watching other people sing and dance.
* FighterMageThief: The three Guardians could be seen as this: Herne is the Thief, being a sneky, resorting to tricks and summoning and moving around the tower a lot during the combat. Lugh is the Fighter, unleashing a powerful assault with flying axes, javelins and blades at the Bard, while Manannan is a sorcerer bombarding the Bard with fireballs, lightning bolts and tornadoes.
* FragileSpeedster: Outside of being the only party member that doesn't require a summon slot, this is the dog's niche after you gain the Dog Training talent. It doesn't do much damage, and can be knocked out easily, but it's one of the fastest party members in the game.
* FollowTheBouncingBall: Every single CrowdSong in the game.
* FunnyForeigner: Anybody who doesn't speak with an English accent.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: You can summon Caleigh to heal you [[spoiler:even if you choose to fight against her in the final battle. If you summon the healing spell during said battle, she appears without any transformation]].
* GenreBlind: The Narrator acts like he has never seen a fantasy game before, given his shock at some standard tropes.
* GenreSavvy: The Bard, mostly from his own past experiences (if you take the word of a self-serving liar and crook like him, anyway).
* GlassCannon: The Vorpal Rat. Highest damaging summon, but it only has 11 hit points and no armor. The attack, easily over 110 points, enough to smash all but the most hardy mooks.
* GoodIsNotNice: [[spoiler:Fionnaoch]] is willing to kill whoever it takes to ensure [[spoiler:Caleigh]] remains sealed.
* GroinAttack: If you're snarky to one of the women in Finnstown, The Bard will get a knee to the jewels for it, while the Narrator laughs.
* GuideDangIt: Almost all the tokens are Missable, and you never know which conversation option will yield the plot.
* HandsomeLech: The Bard acts as a snarky one, though the Narrator and many other people could make arguments against that...
* HeKnowsAboutTimedHits: Parodied once again. The Bard thinks the guy giving the tutorial is just plain crazy, but plays along, anyway.
-->'''Old Man:''' Ye've already proven that ye know how to move around and attack with your weapon. Let's talk a wee bit about jumping.
-->'''The Bard:''' 'Course I know how to walk around! And jumping? Heh, I know how to jump!
-->'''Old Man:''' Press the Triangle Button.
-->'''The Bard:''' Wha'? What're you on about? What button? You're completely insane, aren't you? Y'know, I ran into this other guy once; he kept talking about mice I couldn't see!
* HereWeGoAgain: The Good Ending concludes with the Bard summoning the Mouse to scare a barmaid, which is how the whole story started.
* HeroicDog: Early on you gain a dog if you're nice to it. Said dog being able to find buried treasure, flush out grouse that you can hunt for silver, and, with the Dog Training talent, acts as a free FragileSpeedster party member that doesn't take on a summoning slot. The heroic part was also emphasized in the trailer, where the dog suggests to the Bard to take the path that involves saving the world.
* HisNameReallyIsBarkeep: Yes, 'The Bard' literally is his name.
* HornyVikings: They appear, more often than not as enemies, being twice the size of the Bard and wielding swords, throwing axes and hammers. Their leader, Silkbeard, has taken over Finstown. They also come with undead variants known as Draugrs.
* HowWeGotHere: The game starts outside Fionnach's tower and goes on to a flashback after the druids rush at The Bard's party of summons. And when you get to that point in the game, the narrator tries [[ResetButton to tell the tale from the beginning, again]]. The Bard will have none of it.
* ImpossibleItemDrop: The LemonyNarrator [[LampshadeHanging expresses incredulity]] in the early game when a wolf drops a sword. He says he'll skip all such passages from now on, and the bard complains that its his primary source of income.
* InNameOnly: Has no relation to the original Bard's Tale series aside from a few {{Shout Out}}s and (in some versions) including them as extras.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: The Ego Sword, [[spoiler: acquired by rescuing some firbolgs trapped behind a cave-in.]] It's not the most damaging weapon in the game, but you can summon creatures without unequipping it to draw your instrument, and it's got an [[RazorWind oddly long]] reach.
* IronButtmonkey: The Explorer's primary purpose is to alert the party to traps and then disarm them. It seems that he is incapable of doing this without setting off the trap upon himself in the process though he never complains about it.
* InsaneProprietor: Crazy Thorvald found in the zombie viking-infested ruins is as crazy as his name says.
* JavelinThrower: The Knocker is a lightning-based, elf-like summon who can throw lightning rods to fry enemies with chain lightning. Lugh's Mechanical Centurions attack with spears from afar.
* JumpScare: Averted when the Bard meet the undead Jarl in his tomb, and is GenreSavvy enough to guess that's going to spring into action as soon as he approaches. Played straight by the hideous spirit in Mac Rath's Dungeon.
* KnightInShiningArmor: The Knight. An honest, brave, noble fella passionate about fighting evil and delivering justice. His sympathy for Princess Caleigh's imprisonment and insistence that they must do the quest to rescue her no matter what make him rather similar to the many "Chosen Ones" encountered throughout the game.
* LandSeaSky: The three Towers the Bard has to breach into and conquer in order to release Calaigh are sublty themed after these elements of Celtic folklore: we have the Forest Tower for Land, the Mountain Tower for Sky and the Island Tower for Sea.
* LargeAndInCharge: Whereas the druids are about the same height as The Bard, their leader Fionnaoch outright towers over The Bard.
* LastSecondEndingChoice: Choose between the [[spoiler:demon]] princess, her druid captor, [[TakeAThirdOption and yourself]].
* LeakingCanOfEvil: As the game progresses he seal containing [[spoiler:the demon Caleigh]] weakens, resulting in zombies overrunning much of the land.
* LemonyNarrator: Portrayed by Creator/TonyJay, the Narrator would much rather be reading a traditional fairy tale than dealing with this ass of a protagonist. They frequently get into arguments and the Narrator even cuts all the parts regarding animals dropping gold and weapons.
-->'''Narrator''': Thus concludes the Bard's Tale. Finally the end... I thought I'd never be rid of him. Never ask me to read this half-wit's story again, please!
* LethalLavaLand: Parodied with the Obligatory Lava Level.
* KickTheDog: [[spoiler:Or stomp on it with a giant flying pterodactyl-like thing.]]
* KillItWithFire: Higher-level bows shoot fire arrows. You also get to summon a fire elemental and a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot firey exploding triceratops skeleton.]]
* KleptomaniacHero: [[BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord He's not stealing, he's performing a public service and cleaning the chests out so they won't be cluttered.]]
* MacGuffinGuardian: Each Tower holds a flame that must be extinguished by the Bard. Each flame has a Guardian entity summoned by Fionnaoch to deal with intruders.
* MagicPants: [[spoiler:Caleigh's transformation into her real form shreds her dress but leaves her private bits covered. Fancy that.]]
* MaleGaze: The first scene after the introduction shows just the innkeeper's chest, and eventually works up to her face.
* MoneySpider: Parodied. After one straight execution of this trope happens, the narrator says that he'll skip all such passages in the future. The Bard complains, since it was a major source of income. Since the ShopFodder they do drop is instantly converted to coins it works out the same.
* MultipleEndings: In the end of the game, you could either help Caleigh and fight Fionnaoch [[spoiler:which lets the world be engulfed in evil while the Bard and demon queen Caleigh live HappilyEverAfter]], help Fionnaoch and fight Caleigh [[spoiler:which returns the world to normal and [[HereWeGoAgain the Bard goes back to looking for coin and cleavage again]]]] or TakeAThirdOption [[spoiler:and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere leave them to their squabbles]] and go party with the undead.]]
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: The token reward for Dolyn's quest is determined by whether you were nice or snarky about freeing him. Being nice gets you the key to a token room and an extra token in a later chapter, while being snarky causes him to run off alone and get himself killed, leaving a different token but breaking the key, meaning you miss out on the token room.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Finnstown. You learn what happened as a NoodleIncident with HornyVikings. Also, the Nuckelavee. Really, the Bard's whole career is built on these, and a good portion of the sidequests involve either making new mistakes or fixing ones you made previously. [[spoiler: Ultimately, the last second choice at the end involves wether to actually fix the biggest mistake or to let everything go to hell.]]
* NightmareFetishist: The Bard. [[spoiler:He gets oddly aroused by Caleigh's real form.]]
--> "Is it just me, or is she still hot?"
* NoFourthWall: The Bard frequently argues with the Narrator (who responds in kind), much to the confusion of anyone nearby.
* NobleDemon: Fionnaoch shows signs of this, especially after talking to Mannanan about the Bard and promising to avenge him should things go wrong. [[spoiler: Justified as he's the good guy.]]
* NotQuiteDead: Parodied for all that it's worth with Bobd (well... one of them), after he's run through by the Nuckelavee, with an OverlyLongGag of him collapsing "dead", then waking up to talk to Bard more, collapsing again, doing this several times until he finally tells Bard where to find the Mountain Pass entrance, after which he's left to die a slow and agonizing death, mostly because Bard gets so annoyed by this gag that he'd ''prefer'' there to be one less Bobd in the world.
* {{Nuckelavee}}: One was imprisoned in the stone circle until you freed it. Woops.
* OddlyShapedSword: The Ego Sword resemble some sort of stout SinisterScimitar (or, given the setting, a saex or falchion) with three useless metal bars jammed perpendiculary across the blade. Then again, it does attack by manifesting a long, misty aura from the blade itself, so the shape is meaningless.
* OdeToIntoxication: "Beer, Beer, Beer".
* OneSteveLimit: Averted, you'll find five Bodbs. [[UncannyFamilyResemblance They're all siblings.]]
* OurGhoulsAreCreepier: Redcaps are feral, thin creatures with long red hair and a taste for corpses, which they can eat to replenish their health. They're mostly found in the grasslands of Greenland.
* PermanentlyMissableContent:
** The "Brew Connoisseur" achievement requires buying one drink from each town bar, and since every town gets destroyed or otherwise becomes unavailable after certain story events, forgetting to buy one will lock you out unless you are willing to lose progress by reverting to an older save.
** Each of the Towers will become inaccessible after completion, so if you miss a song or token you can't go back to look for them.
** The outcome of the {{Geas}} breaking quest rewards you with either a sword that will later be replaced or a token with a permanent stat boost, which is one of the rare times where being a {{Jerkass}} is outright detrimental to you.
** If you run away from the village that ambushes you, all you get is a snarky comment about your reputation preceding you and it is wiped from the map. This means you miss out on the whole viking segment, and all the treasure and new summons that go with it.
* PetTheDog: The protagonist is an AntiHero JerkAss more interested in, as the game states, "coin and cleavage" than saving the world. He is a compulsive liar and cheat, swindling his way through life and seducing his way through women. However, not only does he pick up a dog companion early in the game, whom he regularly praise when he digs up treasure, but he [[spoiler:sheds a genuine tear and vows revenge when the dog is killed by a monstrous minion of the apparent BigBad, and is genuinely happy if he sees it returning as a ghost]].
* PlotTunnel:
** Once you enter the Mountain Pass and get put under a {{Geas}}, you won't be able to return to any previous locations until you undo it and reach Dounby 3 Chapters later.
** A shorter one takes place upon taking riding the raft in Firbolg Mines leading to the Underground River. Even after getting to the end of this Chapter you won't be able to return to previous locations until after completing the following Island Tower Chapter. The town portions of Dounby also become inaccessible, being replaced by [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Dounby Tower.]]
* ThePowerOfRock: The Shadow Axe is an axe, that has strings tightened on it that enables it to sound like an electric guitar when you summon someone.
* PrecisionFStrike: The Bard lets one loose after being told that some creature that died on his journey wants to see him.
* PublicDomainSoundtrack: "Beer, Beer, Beer" is a real drinking song from the 19th century.
* {{Pun}}: Plentyful, most notably the self-description of the Ego Sword, which is quite a jerkass... a ''bastard sword'' if you will...
* RaisingTheSteaks: Breaking the first seal result in skeletal horses roaming the land. Breaking the second will result in undead [[AsteroidsMonster chicken]], sheep and cows attacking. The boss of Hatcher's Farm is even the dreaded [[HaggisIsHorrible Haggis]] [[FleshGolem Monster]], which can even heal itself by grinding nearby zombie animals to shreds.
* RamblingOldManMonologue: Olav the Viking undergoes one once you talk to him. If you listen to the very end with no interruption, you can get a Lightning Stone for free.
* ReverseGrip: The dirk in the off-hand when dual-wielding, though some of the later ones avert this.
* ReverseShrapnel: Lugh's artifact power, the "Aura of War."
* RockMonster: Mannanan is a floating, malformed rock creature covered in crystal spikes. In spite of the usually-associated tropes, it's a powerful Sorcerer.
* RuleOfFunny: The purpose of the snarky option's existence (sometimes being nice gives you better results, and sometimes being snarky does).
* RunningGag: Each time the Bard discovers the fate of a "chosen one" (usually, the discovery of a corpse, through the dozens of chosen ones held in Dounby's jail for their own protection also count), a trio of Throws appear and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6b9Xeyh2WQ sing about the guy's demise]].
* SayingTooMuch: A TooDumbToLive Druid in Greenland actually lets the Bard know that he must go to Stromness in order to reach the Island Towers. His superior promptly kills him when he's about to accidentally spill more info.
* SceneryPorn: It's based on the ''VideoGame/BaldursGateDarkAlliance'' engine and looks quite nice for its time.
* SchmuckBait: A chest in the middle of nowhere is obviously a trap, but the Bard goes "oh, what the hell" and loots it anyway. The dialogue with the two men from Finnstown also makes it quite clear that the town did ''not'' bake you a cake. The most literal example, however, would be [[spoiler: princess Caleigh herself, and her ready acceptance to give you whatever you want, including money which she shouldn't realistically have, and all the sex you want.]]
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:In the Neutral Ending, the Bard sides with neither Caleigh or the Druids but flees the tower, then go partying with a group of undead.]]
* SealedEvilInACan:
** [[spoiler:Caleigh]] is revealed to be a hideous demon bound long ago by [[spoiler:the Druids]]. All of the chaos seen throughout the game is due to her can weakening.
** The Nuckelavee was sealed beneath a ring of standing stone until the Bard kills a horse there, the only way to release it.
* SecretLevel: Four extra dungeons can be unlocked by finding a Trow randomly appearing on the world map and buying his very expensive maps. Each dungeon contains a Token which will permanently improve your stats and tons of loot.
* SeenItAll: The Bard. By the time you get to the last tower, he gets pretty tired of hearing idle threats. Also if you skip a scene, you'll sometimes hear the Bard give a dismissive "Next" or "Heard it already".
* ShieldBash: A special ability you can obtain: it's either performed after a parry or used as a special attack with the sword equipped. Both stun enemies.
* ShopFodder: All sorts of it, among it {{Wanted Poster}}s of the Bard himself, but thankfully, it's all exchanged for silver as soon as it's acquired.
* ShoutOut:
** Some of the wolves you kill will drop a [[Literature/LittleRedRidingHood red cloak or a picnic basket.]]
** The description of one of the Tokens, The Boots of Quickening, says that they were once worn by [[Series/{{Highlander}} "the great highland warrior Duncan MacClaidh",]] and that [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne "there can be only one pair surviving to this day".]]
** You eventually receive a sword that can speak. When getting hit it advises you to use [[Film/ThePrincessBride Capo Ferro]]. Double points, given who voices [[Creator/CaryElwes the Bard]].
** A deceased character's spirit will be on the verge of revealing some information when they are suddenly called back to the dead. The Bard will ask to [[Film/ANewHope bring them back and play the entire message]].
** Many zombies drop brains, naturally. Some however, drop bottles of [[Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Chianti]].
** The scarecrows drop diplomas (possible ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' reference).
** A group of strange little men come out to sing every time another Chosen falls. [[Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory Seem familiar?]]
** The vorpal rat is explicitly described like the rabbit from ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''. It even has the rabbit's deadly pouncing attack, and is especially effective against the clockwork knights.
** One of the treasure drops for the cannibalistic red caps is [[Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs a bottle of chianti]]. They do not, however, drop fava beans.
** The sound options can be [[Film/ThisIsSpinalTap set to 11]] rather than just 10.
* SideQuest: Mostly of the, "Let's poke around in this old ruin full of monsters and inexplicably well-maintained traps" variety.
* StationaryBoss: Herne Is confined to the tree stumps, and can occasionally teleport from stump to stump. The Haggis Monster is confined to his hole, and will occasionally sink back inside in order to wait for other zombified animals to come and heal it.
* StrangeSyntaxSpeaker: Fnarf had a tendency to speak with alliteration.
-->'''The Bard:''' "I've had just about enough of these atrocious alliterative announcements... [[GotMeDoingIt Now I'm doing it!]]"
* SummonMagic: A big part of gameplay. Several of the summon spells you get are plot-important.
** First, you can summon various creatures and warriors to back you up in battle, spending energy out of your ManaMeter. They stay with you until they're killed or banished.
** Second, you can use magical artifacts in combination with a limited supply of adderstones. These artifacts call Caleigh or one of three [[VideoGame/DungeonKeeper tower bosses]] to cause some instant or temporary effect on the field.
* {{Stripperific}}: The first female summon has an armour of sorts, which of course includes very low neckline and ZettaiRyouiki. Then you get another female summon, who just has a brown bikini and high-heeled boots. And the outfit on the flighty barmaid [=McRary=] is hilariously ridiculous, especially the shoes. It all fits the world, though.
* SwordOfPlotAdvancement: Carsgair and the Shadow Axe. You need the former to escape a Trow's geas (and there's no way to skip it), and the latter to gain entrance to the Island Tower. In a way, some of the summons, such as the Bodyguard, Light Fairy and Flame Elemental are vital to succeed.
* TakeAThirdOption: After being offered two choices for every action throughout the game, you are offered a third at the very end, and you have good reason to take it.
* ThemeNaming: Many of the names and characters are influenced by Celtic mythology and the stories of the Orkney Islands.
* ThisIsGonnaSuck: The Bard has this reaction... well, many times. Most notably in the Farm where, after killing a couple of waves of zombified cattle, hears ominous roaring and rumble coming from the dark pit in which all the unused bodyparts were discarded.
%%* ThoseTwoGuys: Jacques and Jean.
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: If you choose to be snarky to Gower in the end of the mountain pass segment, the bard will [[ExactWords give the sword to him]].
* TooAwesomeToUse: The Adderstone powers can feel like this at times.
* TranquilFury: When The Bard's dog was killed, his words 'you're going to pay for that' never sounded more sincere, or more threatening. Considering who we are talking about, that idiot druid pushed the wrong BerserkButton.
* TrueCompanions: The Brute gets pretty protective of the Bard.
* UndignifiedDeath: The reason why the Jarl is stuck on earth as a Draugr: when he was getting ready to start the greatest raid of all time, he got so drunk that he fell on his own sword and gutted himself. The Bard finds this hilarious.
* TheUnintelligible: [=MacRath=] only speaks an old Scottish dialect so thick the Bard (and the Narrator) cannot make a word out of it.
* UnusableEnemyEquipment: Enemies drop a variety of weapons that the Bard can't (or would rather not) use. These get converted into silver upon pickup.
* UpdatedRerelease: ''The Bard's Tale: Remastered and Resnarkled'', which brought widescreen support and higher resolution options to the game along with availability for 2017-era hardware.
* UseYourHead: Skinny Zombies will remove their skulls and throw them at the Bard as highly-damaging poisonous projectiles.
* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: Dounby Tower, the head quarters of the druids and Princess Caleigh's prison. It's less of a dungeon and more like 12 floors of combat against enemies battled throughout the game with the 13th floor holding the FinalBoss fight.
* TheVillainSucksSong: ''The Tale of the Nukleavee'' and ''Here's To The Bard (Viking remix)''. [[spoiler:Both about the Bard screwing stuff up.]] Every song but the one about beer, really.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Oh, plenty--
** Watching the "Chosen Ones" (a small army of teenagers) get killed in stupid and hilarious ways is one of several [[RunningGag running gags]].
** You can also kill chickens and push over cows in Houton. This serves no purpose (the chickens give you minimal experience, and only occasionally drop a nugget worth 1 piece of silver, and the cows getting tipped is only there for poops and giggles) and will get a very angry cow and chicken coming after you if you do it enough times.
** Count the number of times that you can arbitrarily swindle, abuse, or threaten people to get money or goods. Don't make a drinking game of it though; you'll make yourself very sick.
* ViolentGlaswegian: Averted. You'll run into a guy with a '''very''' thick Scottish accent, loves to go to Pubs, but doesn't ever once engage in an act of violence.
* WanderingMinstrel: The Bard makes his living playing at bars and hustling the barmaids for free drinks and sex.
* WeCanRuleTogether: The Evil Ending sees the Bard team up with [[spoiler:Caleigh]], though it's less ruling and more the sex that appeals to him.
* WeakSauceWeakness: The undead cows can be killed in one hit if attacked from the side. This is due to all the times The Bard tipped them over.
* WithLyrics: The Vikings add lyrics to the game's main theme and use it as a drinking song.
* ZombieApocalypse: Happens in most of the towns. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero You cause them all through various blundering means.]]
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