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  • Pacifist Run: It's possible to beat Oboromaru's chapter without killing any human beings. Doing so gets you one of his Infinity Minus One Swords.
  • Painting the Medium:
    • In the Definitive version of the fan translation, every level has its own font for displaying dialogue. For instance, the Cowboy chapter's text looks like an old-west sign, the Twilight of Edo Japan chapter's text looks like Japanese calligraphy, and Oersted's text gradually becomes more and more distorted after his Start of Darkness. In the Final chapter, everyone speaks using their respective chapter's font.
    • In the remake, Captain Square uses the exact same chiptune music as the original game (whereas every other track was re-recorded) and bitcrushed voice clips.
  • Peaceful in Death: The Shifu dies this way, knowing that he has avenged the deaths of two of his students and the last one will carry on his martial arts for generations.
  • Percent Damage Attack: A poisoned character loses a percentage of their current health every few turns. A boss-level enemy at high health can lose a couple hundred hit points per poison tick, but once they get to critical health, it'll start doing Scratch Damage.
  • Permanently Missable Content:
    • The seven initial chapters can be replayed after completion and have their results changed, thus allowing the player to find secrets they might have missed in their first playthrough, but only until the eighth chapter is unlocked and cleared. Afterwards, the chapter selection screen will become the Final chapter protagonist selection screen, making it impossible to replay any of the previous chapters without starting a new save file. This is defied in the remake, where starting the Final Chapter is presented as a separate option and you can replay any of the previous chapters whenever you like.
    • In the Final Chapter, any treasure chest(s) the player doesn't open in Akira's dungeon stays inaccessible for the rest of the playthrough after the characters leave, as there's no way to reenter it after leaving. At least the Infinity +1 Sword inside it must be acquired before the way out of the place appears.
  • Physical, Mystical, Technological: The Near Future party members. Lawless is the Physical, having his entire moveset consisting of punching or kicking his foes. Akira is the Mystical, with his psychic powers. Taroimo is the Technological, being a robot and can equip weapons to use their attacks.
  • Play as a Boss: Oersted's Final Chapter has you play as the Odio incarnations of each timeline to kill the heroes.
  • Plant Person: When Odio reveals his true form to you at the final battle, you can see that he appears as a giant face made out of greens.
  • Playable Epilogue: Available in only one chapter, the Distant Future. While every other story ends right after defeating their last boss, Distant Future only ends once Cube gets Darthe a cup of coffee. Until then, they're free to explore the entire ship without fear of getting attacked by the now-dead Behemoth, and can use codes to access the few rooms that weren't visited as part of the plot to get some more backstory on the crew of the Cogito Ergo Sum.
  • Playboy Bunny: In the remake, a few of them can be seen in the audience at the top of Max Morgan's arena in the Present Day chapter.
  • Player Nudge: In the Distant Future chapter, when Cube is trying to find a way to access and confront the Mother Computer OD-10, if the player hasn't found a way to do so yet, Darthe will call and ask Cube if there's something functionally unnecessary on the ship, yet connected to OD-10 in some way. The answer is the Captain Square game in the break room.
  • Point of No Continues: A very rare inversion of this trope during Masaru's chapter. Normally, losing to an opponent just takes you back to the "Game Over" screen where you have to load a previous save in order to continue from where you previously saved (thankfully, the remake has an autosave feature). However, losing to Odie O'Bright, the chapter's final boss, brings up a "Continue?" prompt and starts a countdown voiced by a narrator like in Street Fighter II. You can actually continue your game and restart the final battle directly without loading a save.
  • Point of No Return:
    • Pogo loses access to his village halfway through his chapter. This doesn't lock him out of Item Crafting due to two crafter cavemen being present in the Wild Lands, but he does lose access to a minigame that grants crafting materials and will need to get them as loot or enemy drops instead.
    • Entering the Indomitable Fist Fortress's final room prevents the Shifu and disciple from leaving. If all the optional fights in the fortress were skipped, fighting the Indomitable Fist Elite will be the only way the Shifu's disciple can obtain the sufficient experience to be a match for Ou Di Wan Lee.
    • Beating the sixth opponent in the Present Day chapter brings up an Ominous Save Prompt and follows it up with the chapter boss, forcing a save reload to refight any of the opponents (though as this feature was added in the remake, this is only apparent there).
    • After finding Matsu in the bar late into the Near Future chapter and reading his mind, the game promptly progresses to the finale with no other chances to explore the overworld, also locking out item synthesis with Tobei.
    • In the original SFC version, finishing the Middle Ages chapter will lock you into the Finale, with no way to repeat past chapters unless a new game is started. Upon speaking to Odio during the Finale, the final battle sequences will commence with no chance to recruit any missing party members or complete any more dungeons.
  • Powered by a Forsaken Child: In the near future chapter, robots can be powered the liquefied essence of a living being, with the power they generate seemingly proportional to one's mental faculties. The living beings are still sentient despite being liquid, though this isn't presented as a completely bad thing. One of the party members of this chapter is dying turtle given a second chance at life in a robot body, and is very grateful for it, as it also seemingly gave them human level intelligence as well. The heroes also seriously consider the idea of using a liquefied human in order to get the Steel Titan moving. Overall the process is presented more as uploading one's mind to a robot body rather than an And I Must Scream situation. Of course, that's only if it's done willingly with the person's consent. The antagonists of this chapter have liquified an entire lake's worth of humans against their will in order to bring the chapter's Big Bad back to life, and it's treated just as horrifically as it sounds.
  • Power Copying:
    • Masaru. Each time he gets hit by a wrestler's signature moves, he learns that move immediately; it's actually possible to have him defeat a wrestler using that wrestler's Signature Move. He states that this was a practice he pretty much invented recently, as no one else had the idea of doing so as well.
    • The Earthen Heart successors, sort of, as the Shifu is teaching them the attacks to begin with. Any of them (whichever one doesn't die) will learn all of the Shifu's attacks anyway, but you can influence which ones they learn first during the training sessions. Beat one up with only the Tiger and Dragon's Rebuke, for example, and they'll learn the Tiger and Dragon's Rebuke when they next level. Switch to beating them with Wise Fox's Grace after that, and they'll learn Wise Fox's Grace next, etc. Putting this kind of influencing, however, is vital for them to unlock all of the Shifu's skills earlier, because otherwise, they will need to be learned through level-up, which is quite limited in the Imperial China chapter.
  • Powerful, but Inaccurate: This is the main gimmick behind multi-hit moves. The more times a move strikes, the more likely it is for each individual hit to miss, but if most of them do connect, it'll either deal ridiculous damage to a single target or spread it out among a large group of enemies. If an opponent is paralyzed, all hits are guaranteed to connect from multi-hit moves, easily racking up 999 damage.
  • Pre-Ending Credits:
    • Inverted and Justified, every chapter has ending credits and they're the credits for those specific chapters, not the whole game's credits.
    • Played straight in the Wild West chapter if you flee from Mad Dog during the second duel with him. After Sundown leaves Success, the credits roll as he rides into the horizon, with snippets of what the townspeople are doing... finishing with Mad Dog showing up again to challenge Sundown to a third duel.
  • Prehistoria: The fittingly named Prehistory chapter takes place in an era of cavemen and dinosaurs, making it chronologically the first chapter. It's so primitive that spoken language isn't even a concept yet.
  • Present Day: The aptly-titled Present Day chapter is the only chapter taking place in modern times (read: the 90s), as the Near Future and Distant Future chapters take place in the future, and all the others take place in the past.
  • Press X to Die:
    • The airlock in the Distant Future chapter. You can open both doors of the airlock at the same time, which throws Cube out into the vacuum of space. Yes, even after you quarantine OD-10.
    • Abandoning the mission in the Twilight of Edo Japan chapter is functionally this; no matter what happens, you will die eventually.
    • If you play as Oersted/Odio in the Final Chapter and you're on the verge of losing, you can use "Armageddon" for the worst ending.
  • Protagonist Journey to Villain: The Middle Ages chapter sees its protagonist Oersted lose everything he ever believed in, fall into misanthropic insanity, become the Lord of Dark, and declare war on all of existence.
  • Pro Wrestling Is Real: The Present Day chapter, where Masaru can fight two wrestlers and gain their skills.
  • Psychic Powers: Akira has them. Telepathy, Telekinesis, Teleportation, Pyrokinesis, Cryokinesis, Vitakinesis, and various illusion-casting and physical-power-amplifying powers besides. He's got 'em all.
  • Pulling Your Child Away: In the Middle Ages chapter, Oersted starts off hailed as a hero and a champion, with one child proving to admire him greatly. Following an incident where he is tricked into killing the king, he becomes shunned and labeled the Lord of Dark. The very same kid refuses to accept these claims as true and attempts to run up to Oersted, only to be pulled away by his parents, who demand Oersted to leave them alone.
  • Punched Across the Room:
    • A Running Gag in the Prehistory chapter regarding Pogo and Gori.
    • In the Imperial China chapter, the Earthen Heart Shifu's student kills Ou Di Wan Lee with a roundhouse kick that sends him flying dozens of feet through the air. He plows through the back of his stone throne without stopping, and keeps going until he hits the massive gong at the back of the room with bone-shattering force.
  • Punny Name:
    • All of the Lord of Dark's names in each chapter are all some variant or spelling of his name, "Odio". With the exception of the Middle Ages, because you are playing as what would later become Odio.
    • Cube's name is one in the original Japanese: Kato first says that since the robot is round, he'll name it Koro. "Koro" is both a very common name for dogs in Japan, but also means "to roll", which is why Kato associates it to the robot's shape. Then Kato decides that name would be too common, and goes for the opposite with the name "Cube". The fan translation attempts to preserve the same idea by having the initial name be Rover (both a dog's name and a reference to the treads on the robot's feet), while the remake's localization goes with Roundy.
  • Puzzle Boss:
    • The Near Future chapter has the LH Combat Unit W1, which has ungodly stats and will dodge most of your attacks. The easiest way to defeat it is to attack it from behind where its liquefacted human tank is, which will likely cause it to counterattack with a special move which kills it instantly.
    • In the Distant Future chapter, the entire Captain Square game is this. Brute forcing the levels is possible, but it only helps so much as the enemies have gimmicks such as being able to constantly heal from terrain, overwhelm the Armored But Frail Captain Square through sheer numbers, or having immunities to all of Captain Square's attacks. For example, in the Earth stage, you need to defeat a Fire Elemental and a bunch of Water Elementals. The Fire Elemental can kill you with one hit and is immune to all of Captain Square's attacks, but if pushed onto Water panels (which Water Elementals make with their attacks), it will die from Water damage.
    • The second boss in the Archon's Roost from the Middle Ages chapter. Attacks that strike from the front will not deal enough damage to kill her (as her attacks sap your health and Strength), but Oersted has one attack that can strike from behind without moving, which can kill her easily.
    • In the final chapter, especially in the remake, Pogo and Oboro can become this if you've over-levelled them in their respective chapters, as you have to fight them one-on-one in order to recruit them. Thankfully, Lucrece Palace has a freely available Parasite Sword that you can use to one-shot one of them, unless you pilfered it as Oersted in the previous chapter, in the SNES original.
    • The Death Prophet in the Final chapter is a Superboss that appears if you flee from 100 fights, can tank your strongest attacks, is immune to the game-breaking Cola Bottle, and can easily turn your entire party to stone if you lack the proper Cosmic equipment or Cube (who is naturally immune to the stone status) is not in your party. But, like the LH Combat Unit W1, he can be easily defeated by attacking his weak-point, his tail. The problem is that he always starts the fight positioned on the top right corner of the battlefield, refuses to budge, and you have to position your character diagonally upwards from the tail in order for the attack to work. So the puzzle involves not just figuring out his weak point, but also finding out a way to get him to move in a proper position for you to be able to attack it.
  • Rage Quit: If you are on the verge of losing a boss battle in Oersted/Odio's finale chapter, you can choose the "Armageddon" option to reduce everything to nothingness.
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The party you will end up forming in the Final chapter (if you choose not to play as Oersted) will consist of leading characters from the other chapters, and as such, can potentially include a caveman with no grasp of spoken language, a kung fu master (who can be either a hot-blooded former bandit Action Girl, an Acrofatic Big Eater former thief, or a softspoken former pickpocket), a stern shinobi, a taciturn Wild West gunslinger, a modern-day street fighter, a Japanese Delinquent with Psychic Powers, and/or a robot.
  • Random Encounters: In a game that otherwises uses Pre-existing Encounters of various kinds, random battles first show up in the Middle Ages chapter as part of its resemblance to similar fantasy role-playing games of the time. These are retained when Lucrece is transformed into the Dominion of Hate.
  • Random Loot Exchanger: During the "Near Future" chapter, you can hand items over to Doc Tobei to let him tinker with them. He will then give you back semi-randomized piece of rare gear.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Unlike the other characters, Akira delivers one to Oersted if he is the Final Chapter protagonist.
    Akira: ...Know what your problem is? You blamed everyone else. Said it was them or gods or fate that made you what you are. But it was you! Just you! Yeah, people can suck. We can be selfish — look out only for ourselves. But if you focus only on the bad — judge them at their worst, well... You've already made up your mind, haven't you? Everything else is just an excuse!
  • Reed Snorkel: Oboromaru and some patrolling guards use one to breathe underwater in the moat of Ode Castle.
  • Reforged into a Minion:
    • The Twilight of Edo Japan chapter in the remake has Clockwork Gennai mention that he's going to replace the Prisoner's insides with his latest creation the next morning, presumably so that Ode can control him.
    • The fate of Watanabe's father in the Near Future chapter, who was liquefied and turned into the LH Combat Unit W1, who Akira's party was forced to destroy.
  • Reprise Medley: The Golden Ending credits song "Live For Live". It starts as a Triumphant Reprise of the title theme before eventually introducing reprises of every main chapter's theme and returning to the title theme for the end.
  • Rescue Romance:
    • Happens in the Prehistory chapter. Beru falls in love with Pogo after he protects her from the Kuu tribe and then rescues her from Odo.
    • Deconstructed in the Middle Ages chapter. This is Oersted's overall goal but par for the course in this chapter it goes dramatically awry. This trope is the only thing that Streibough beats Oersted at, and the consequences are dire.
  • Riddle for the Ages: After Odeo's defeat, the liquefied humans drown the conspirators, and then attempt to swallow Akira… cut to the epilogue, where it's never shown how Akira escaped in one piece.
  • Retraux: The Captain Square game in the Distant Future chapter evokes classic arcade games, including compressed voice clips in the remake.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge:
    • The Earthen Heart Shifu launches one on the Indomitable Fist Fortress after its students attack his own school and kill two of the Shifu's students. He attempts to do it on his own, but will be joined at some point by his surviving pupil. They then proceed to kick nine kinds of ass through all of the Indomitable Fist's various students (thugs and assassins mostly) right up to the most senior circle of students and the chapter's Big Bad, the school's master Ou Di Wan Lee.
    • Oersted, now Odio, launched one offscreen sometime after the end of his chapter. What happened exactly is never specified except for the fact that it ended in the deaths of every human in Lucrece.
  • Robot Buddy:
    • In Near Future, Taroimo, formerly Tarokichi the turtle.
    • In Distant Future, Cube. Unusually for the trope, he is also the main character of his chapter, but he's still Kato and Darthe's friend.
  • Robot Me: Oboromaru, with some guesswork and a strange item dropped by Clockwork Gennai, can find a blank robot and bestow it with his likeness and a few of his moves.
  • Robot War: Occurred in the backstory of the Distant Future chapter. Darthe, who has lost many friends to the battle robots, is particularly bitter over it. Once he and Cube take down OD-10, he relaxes his grudge, befriends Cube, and retires from the military to help make medical robots.
  • Role-Reversal Boss: In the Final Chapter, you can pick who you want your protagonist to be, including Oersted, who you've just seen be Driven to Villainy. Should you pick Oersted, or rather, Odio, the scenario will completely change. It's revealed that the bosses of the first seven chapters were all different incarnations of Odio, and you must perform a reverse Boss Rush, playing as each version of Odio and killing the heroes off.
  • Room Full of Crazy: Upon Kirk's death, Rachel takes to dragging his corpse into her room and laying it in her bed, pretending he's just sleeping. Her belongings, if checked, are described to be damaged. There's also a crazy text document draft readable on her computer terminal.
    "Tell me what to do Kirk I know you're in there I know this isn't happening it's not real it's not I did what you wanted why won't you speak to me Kirk please Kirk Kirk Kirk"
  • Rule of Symbolism: In the remake, during the ending of the Twilight of Edo Japan chapter, while Oboromaru and the prisoner watch the morning sun rise under Japan, clouds form on the sky depending on the number of people Oboro killed, clearly representing blemishes on Oboro's conscience for committing murder. If you went full genocide and killed all 100 people in the castle, the sky darkens and a strong thunderstorm starts, adding some very ominous tones to the chapter's ending.
  • Rule of Three: The Earthen Heart Shifu takes on three students, and while training them, he focuses on improving three of their stats (first defense, then speed, and finally strength). However, each training session consists of four sparring rounds, meaning at least one student will inevitably be given the short stick each time. This gets the underdeveloped students killed.
  • Running Gag:
    • The whole Watanabe thing, where someone (mostly always a father) dies shortly after it's brought up or said. It happens once in every chapter. Some are more obscure, like the antenna in the Distant Future chapter, and a way to trigger an audience member getting mauled in the Wrestling chapter. Or one is completely missable, like Wan Tan Na Bei from the Imperial China chapter, which can only be seen if you picked Hong as the successor.
    • In the Infiltrator chapter, Oboromaru learns of the password system, which is also demonstrated when one of the samurai just blurts out "potato", outing him as an intruder. You can proceed to use "potato" when asked the password to start a fight almost every time.
  • Samurai Ponytail: The Ronin-type enemy and their palette-swaps sport one.
  • Sapient Ship: Cube's chapter has the Cognito Ergo Sum's AI, Decimus; also A.I. Is a Crapshoot.
  • Save-Game Limits: In the Distant Future, to save Captain Square progress, a memory card is needed.
  • Say My Name: Done repeatedly in the Cowboy chapter, particularly with Sundown Kid and Billy.
  • Scare Chord: One plays in the Distant Future chapter when it's revealed what happened to Kirk's body; Rachel took it to her room and pretends that he's just sleeping.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In the Twilight of Edo Japan chapter, you can turn around at the starting segment of the castle and abandon the mission. Doing so will have you labeled as a traitor and subsequently hunted down by your fellow ninja until you ultimately die.
  • Sdrawkcab Name: As written in the artwork, the title is vertically mirrored with the center on the A, creating a perfect palindrome (LIVE A ƎVI⅃). The fact that "live" backwards spells "evil" is not a coincidence.
  • Secret Final Campaign: If you thought you were done after clearing the seven available characters, you'll be surprised to find that there is an eighth. Once you beat that character's story, you still aren't done. You have one more story to clear with any of the eight characters acting as protagonist. Just know that Oersted won't provide a happy ending if you have him serve as the protagonist.
  • Secretly Dying:
  • Sheathe Your Sword: This trope is a given in Oboromaru's chapter, where the pacifist run revolves around avoiding fights as much as possible. However, secret pacifist solutions to mandatory fights are plot-relevant in two other parts of the game:
    • The Post-Final Boss of the Western chapter is Mad Dog, making good on his promise to have a duel to the death with Sundown once Success was saved. Noticing that the "Flee" command isn't grayed out is what leads to the chapter's alternate ending, where Sundown refuses to shoot and Mad Dog leaves him be, with them having one more shootout out in the desert after the credits (this time with Mad Dog surviving like in his first battle).
    • After defeating the Purity of Odio, the Lord of Dark is reduced to just his form as Oersted, and demands that you strike him down. Accepting leads to an easy Post-Final Boss and the neutral ending. Denying his request and backtracking to the statue room lets him regain his strength and pisses him off, starting the second portion of the final boss sequence that leads into the true ending.
  • Shoo Out the Clowns: The Middle Ages chapter's Watanabe scene is in the very first scene of the chapter as well as some humorous dialogue from the villagers seeing you off, and it's the darkest of the eight main chapters.
  • Shout-Out:
    • Prehistory chapter:
      • Gori's constant snickering is very similar to Muttley's.
      • Zaki's tribe uses 'cars' very similar to The Flintstones.
      • The primitive man's Infinity +1 Sword? A simple coke bottle.
      • Odo being worshiped by the cavemen as a god is highly similar to Daikyouryu no Jidai.
      • In one secret optional area, you can find a black monolith. Using a Bone in front of it gives an item which raises IQ tremendously, referencing the beginning where the Monolith teaches the tribe of apes on how to use tools, for which they do with bones as makeshift weapons. Pogo even throws a bone in the air, similar to the famous Match Cut from the movie.
    • Imperial China Chapter:
      • Hong's original Japanese name Sammo is most likely a reference to Hong Kong actor and martial artist Sammo Hung.
      • While performing the Heavenly Peaks Descent, Yun can shout, "ATATATATA!" as a Kiai in the Japanese dub, referencing both Bruce Lee and Kenshiro's signature battle cries.
      • The whole chapter can also be a reference to Journey to the West: The Shifu is no doubt a stand-in for Tang Sanzang/Tripitaka, the master accompanied with three disciples, but he's a lot more badass; Sun Wukong/Monkey is represented by Lei, who's the most eager to fight and short-tempered, and previously living in a forest like an animal, her surname is basically the Japanese translation of Wukong reversed (She, however, does not count as a Monkey King Lite); Zhu Bajie/Pigsy is represented by Hong who's fat and a Big Eater; and finally, Yun represents Sha Wujing/Sandy, if only because he's the most unassuming. The trailer for the Successor chapter for the 2022 remake also goes along with this, by introducing the students in the same order of the disciples that joined Sanzang (Lei/Wukong -> Hong/Bajie -> Yun/Wujing).
      • In the remake, one of the NPCs will declare that a man who hasn't eaten a soup dumpling is never a full man.
    • Twilight of Edo chapter:
      • The young monk that summons the folding screen tiger is a reference to the Japanese tale "Ikkyu-san and the Tiger". The young monk lamenting "I couldn't keep him tied up!" references how the Lord in the story tasks the young monk to tie up the tiger picture that was on his folding screen, claiming that the tiger was real.
      • Oboromaru having to fight famous Japanese figures raised from the dead such as Yodogimi, Amakusa Shiro Tokisada, and Miyamoto Musashi, as well as other bizarre figures such as the Clock Punk cyborg Gennai, is an obvious homage to the works of Futaro Yamada, the man who literally wrote the books on ninja and samurai fiction, especially Makai Tensho, also known as Samurai Reincarnation.
    • Wild West chapter:
    • Present Day chapter:
      • Max Morgan = Hulk Hogan. His signature Max Bomber is also a reference to the Axe Bomber Hogan used as a finisher in Japan.
      • Odie O'Bright is a likely reference to wrestler Gary Albright. Design-wise, he resembles a bald Geese Howard wearing Akuma's prayer beads or Sagat wholesale.
      • Jackie Iaukea is a reference to Hawaiian pro wrestler King Curtis Iaukea.
      • The six rivals in the Present chapter are arrayed on a blue background, in the same style as Mega Man (Classic) or Street Fighter, where the latter is more leaned towards in the remake with a heavily stylised "Choose your fighter" screen.
    • Near Future chapter:
      • Akira's "Elbow Strike" resembles Mitsuharu Misawa's Rolling Elbow, and the kids are all watching a wrestling match featuring a "Misawa." Yuki also namedrops Misawa's Tiger Driver.
      • Decking yourself out in Rider accessories. Besides its namesake, it's just full of lovingly corny, Japanese retro sci-fi in general. The opening, with a black screen before two eyes appear, is straight out of the original manga for Mazinger Z and Shin Mazinger, with Akira's question towards the player being near-identical to Kouji's own question, except asking what [you] would do if you could read minds instead of piloting a giant robot. The climax of the chapter even has Steel Titan rising out of the park lake which parts in half, just like the original intro of Mazinger Z. In the remake, Akira sometimes shouts "God or Devil" when using Halogen Laser, a reference to a recurring theme where Mazinger Z has the power to become either a God or a Devil.
      • One of the body equipment options is a Jushin wrestling shirt.
      • Steel Titan's design is highly reminiscent of Giant Robo.
      • If you play the organ in Akira's chapter, he might play the Chocobo Theme.
      • Akira's unique chime consists of four quick metal sounds that are followed up by two quick metal sounds, which is very similar to the opening of The Terminator.
      • A psychic child named Akira. This one should be obvious. The chapter even has horrific amounts of Body Horror regarding the liquefied humans, and this Akira is out to stop it, akin to the first one trying to stop a mutating Tetsuo.
    • Distant Future chapter:
    • Middle Ages chapter: The best solo healing item is the Alice Biscuit, which the description notes would be pretty good for a tea party.
  • Shown Their Work: O. Dio is described as the only survivor of the Seventh Cavalry, Custer's unit. The sheriff of Success notes with confusion that he'd heard there were no survivors. In real life, the only survivor of the Seventh Cavalry was, in fact, one of the horses. This also turns out to be O. Dio's true identity.
  • Skyward Scream: The end of the Imperial China chapter has the successor of the Earthen Heart shifu scream this to the heavens once the shifu passes on.
  • Shut Up, Hannibal!: The Final chapter protagonist provides one after the final battle towards Odio, about why they always win and why he keeps losing. Akira of special note breaks out in a "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
  • Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Almost all of the chapters start on the cynicism side before sliding towards idealism as the story progresses. The Middle Ages chapter, on the other hand, starts wildly idealistic before taking a hard fall down the slippery slope into cynicism. As for the final chapter, it depends on whether or not Oersted is chosen as the player character; the game can either swing back into idealism with the heroes of the previous chapters banding together to defeat him, or crash straight into cynicism with Odio destroying them all.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: A little boy still believes that Odio is still a good person. So long as just one person believes, then Oersted can't fully turn evil.
  • Smash Mook: The Headhunter has only one strategy: move towards the nearest party member and hit them with its Wizenblade attack. Considering that it's one of the game's superbosses, this is really all it needs to give you a hard time.
  • Smash the Symbol:
    • The giant rock on top of Mount Aspiration in the Imperial China chapter is an interesting case, as it symbolises the future of the Earthen Heart kung-fu through its destruction rather than its intact existence. The Shifu fails to break it in the beginning, convincing him that he needs to find a successor before his art dies with him. Said successor manages to split the rock clean in half at the end, showing that the art is now in good hands. Played straight later on when the successor kicks Ou Di Wan Lee right through his throne and into the giant gong at the back of the room, ending his life and tyranny once and for all.
    • In the remake, the end result of the Boss Rush has the Odio incarnation statues smashed to pieces.
  • The Smurfette Principle:
    • Lei is the only female protagonist. She's only one of two playable female characters in the entire game. On top of that, she's optional; depending on the player's choices in the Imperial China chapter, Hong or Yun could take her place.
    • OD-10 from the Distant Future chapter is the only female Odio incarnation.
  • So Long, and Thanks for All the Gear: Characters who leave your party, be it permanently or not, will never return their equipment to your inventory unless you manually unequip them first.
  • So Proud of You:
    • In the Imperial China chapter, Shifu's final speech to his successor, after they defeat Ou Di Wan Lee, right before his death includes this.
    • In the remake, during the Distant Future chapter, if you talk to Kato after defeating OD-10, he tells Cube how proud he is of him and how glad he is that he has brought him to this world.
  • So What Do We Do Now?: Used in an interesting (read: depressing) way in two of the endings. Consumed by hatred, Oersted lashes out at humanity. In the Final chapter, you can play as him, controlling each of the chapters' bosses and gleefully crushing the protagonists. If Oersted wins, after indulging in empty spite, there is nothing left for him to do but aimlessly wander his world alone. If the protagonists win but personally kill Oersted, they're stuck in Lucrece and won't ever return to their time periods.
  • The Speechless:
    • Of the protagonists, Pogo (the earliest, chronologically) and Cube (the latest, chronologically) can't speak English… or any language at all, for that matter, though Pogo does later learn a single word and grunts his name when levelled up.
    • Odo doesn't say anything other than roars, being essentially a feral beast. Odeo also doesn't speak for some reason.
  • Start of Darkness: The Middle Ages chapter for Oersted.
  • Static Role, Exchangeable Character:
    • In the Imperial China chapter, whichever student you trained the most is the Sole Survivor of the attack on the dojo. They become the Earthen Heart successor, and represent the Imperial China era in the Final chapter.
    • In the Final Chapter, you choose one of the previous heroes to continue through, with the other heroes being recruitable companion characters. This affects your interactions with the final boss. Choosing Oersted, however, puts you on a very different route.
  • Status Effects: Petrification, Paralysis, Sleep, Poison, Incapacitation, Dismissal (in which the character disappears from battle and cannot be revived). Along with these, there is also Intoxication (can only use your weakest attack and randomizes movement on the battle grid), Restraint (cannot use arm-based attacks), and Snare (cannot move or use leg-based attacks). There are also some that can only be inflicted on foes.
  • The Stinger: Particularly in the Caveman chapter. It ends with Pogo speaking the first words mankind ever spoke. Namely, Love. And then Gori snickers. Most chapters have a stinger of their own, but it's mostly just a 'fin' screen.
  • Stone Wall:
    • Masaru (but only in the Final chapter). When he can level up, he does so quickly, and his HP and defenses shoot through the roof. It's rare to see him ever die once leveled, even without the best armor.
    • Several "enemies" such as rocks, screen doors, and a giant table exist on the field purely to get in your way and don't attack nor move, but it's possible to defeat them to clear footspace.
  • Story Branch Favoritism: In the Imperial China chapter, you have time for four one-on-one training sessions with your pupils before a rival school attacks and kills the two students you've neglected the most. Ties are resolved in the order Hong > Lei > Yun.
  • Street Urchin: Yun, who was forced to steal from others by Sun Tzu Wang, including his own grandmother. Once Shifu beats up his tormentor, he takes Yun in as a student.
  • Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred!: Oersted, should he not be chosen as the main character in the Final Chapter, will ask the party to kill him after his Purity of Odio form is defeated. Doing so results in the Neutral Ending.
  • Stripperiffic: Beru, wearing only a Seashell bra. Zaki's even worse, with a lizard biting into his crotch he even throws at people for an attack.
  • Stupidity Is the Only Option:
    • After being banished into exile, Pogo wanders the barren wilderness and comes across a cave to take shelter in for the night. Unfortunately, it's the same cave that Zaki and his Kuu tribe henchmen were using to think of another plan.
    • Oersted suddenly wakes up in a cold sweat. And with Streibough standing next to him? He then walks out to find a demon in the throne room… doing absolutely nothing. You can't even tell the guards right outside about this, who just question why you're up this late, or leave the throne room, since there's a wall of guards blocking the exit. Trying to wake Uranus won't work either, since he's deep into a nightmare, but only wakes up when it's too late.
  • Superboss: There are a number of extra-tough optional bosses spread around the chapters:
    • The Prehistory chapter has the Mammoth King, a tanky lava-spewing mammoth who starts stampeding around the Wild Lands after Pogo reaches Kuu Village. Beating him grants Pogo the Fang of the King accessory, and it can drop the powerful Cola Bottle that can be equipped or used as an attack item.
    • Twilight of Edo Japan features Lord Iwama, a Legendary Carp in the castle moat who drops the Suijin Scale, and the ghost of Majin Ryunosuke, who guards the Muramasa, Oboromaru's alternate strongest sword for the chapter. There's also Hayate, Oboro's master from the chapter opening, who comes for you if you abandon the mission and kill all the Enma Trackers sent to kill you, and is capable of using all of Oboro's moves (with much greater effect). Unlike every other superboss, there's literally no reason to fight him other than bragging rights, as even if you beat him, he blows you up in a cutscene with no way to avoid it, ending the game.
    • In the Dominion of Hatred, there are five secret bosses who drop the powerful Cosmic equipment when found and defeated. There are a few other optional bosses fought as part of the trial dungeons, but they aren't as difficult.
  • Super Robot Genre: The Near Future chapter, with the Steel Titan and its Hot-Blooded theme song.
  • Surprisingly Creepy Moment: The Prehistory chapter is definitely the game's comedy chapter with a young caveboy and his farting, poop-slinging gorilla sidekick who both beat each other up on a regular friendly basis, an attractive cavewoman whose singing can literally kill, and a brash rival from an opposing clan whose strongest attack is throwing his pet lizard who's also covering his crotch as a loincloth. Then you get to the end and you come face-to-face with a bloodthirsty dinosaur who completely sticks out from the cartoony animal enemy designs, scared said rival tribe into sacrificing many animals and humans to it as food, and eats the evil tribe leader for good measure.
  • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
    • If you have Sundown Kid as your main hero in the final chapter and attempt to recruit Masaru, the latter decides to not fight him. Reason? Sundown is carrying a gun; all of Masaru's martial arts will not save him from a bullet to a vital spot.
    • As badass and Hot-Blooded as Akira and Matsu are along with having Taroimo (a robotic turtle with built-in weapons and super strength), when confronting The Conspirators, while only one of them out of the three can fight, Matsu knew it would be a bad idea to fight them head-on due to General Yamazaki's influence over his army.
  • Sword of Plot Advancement: Brion, in the Middle Ages and Final chapters. It is required to enter the Forbidden Land.
  • Sympathy for the Devil: At the end of the Golden Ending, all of the characters offer varying levels of empathy towards Oersted, either noting that they understand what they're going through, attempting to offer some words of wisdom, or simply trying to physically console him. The only exception is Akira, who instead tears into him about how he has no one to blame but himself for succumbing to despair and taking it out on the rest of humanity.
  • Ten Paces and Turn: During the Cowboy chapter, Sundown and his rival Mad Dog step out for a five-pace duel early on. They turn, take five steps, turn again… and both shoot hidden members of the Crazy Bunch gang. They then put their rivalry on hold for the much more pressing issue of an impending gang attack.
  • Terminally Dependent Society: The Cogito Ergo Sum, run by Decimus, the computer system of the Distant Future chapter. When it sees the crew being dysfunctional, it chooses to kill them all because they made its purpose of keeping harmony impossible.
  • Theme Naming:
    • Most of the Success townies in the Western chapter are named after famous outlaws or actors associated with the Wild West.
    • During the second visit to the Archon's Roost in the Middle Ages chapter, all of the new enemies and mid-bosses are named after various phobias.
    • The names of each boss in the first seven chapters have some variant of "Odio" in it. However, it might not be in their enemy name. It's not a coincidence.
  • Theme Music Power-Up: Pretty much once per chapter, but best embodied by Steel Titan.
  • Then Let Me Be Evil: Oersted chooses to become the demon people have labeled him to be.
  • Through His Stomach: Pogo wins Beru's affection and smooches by bringing her Meaty Bones.
  • Thrown Out the Airlock: It nearly happens to Cube when Rachel goes mad and OD-10 attempts to gaslight her into launching herself out of the ship, though Kato manages to catch his poor armless robot just in time. Later, you get free access to the console, and opening both the airlock and the door to it at the same time ejects Cube out of the spaceship and is an instant Game Over.
  • Thug Dojo: The villains of the Imperial China chapter are the Indomitable Fist, a brutal school of Martial Artists led by Ou Di Wan Li that terrorizes the populace while espousing cruelty and social darwinism.
  • Time Crash: Starting the Final Chapter has your chosen protagonist suddenly pulled out of their ending and thrown into a black void. Running up causes ghostly images of all 8 eras to appear. Once in the ruins of Lucrece proper, the monsters that can be encountered range from wooly mammoths that Pogo fought a couple millennia ago to the robots and flying warships from Akira's time. Items found throughout the land also include some pieces of equipment or consumables from nearly all the previous eras as well.
  • Timed Mission: The bulk of the Cowboy chapter is finding and setting traps to take out as many mooks as possible before they arrive at the saloon, thus reducing the enemies fighting with O. Dio. After eight bells, the boss fight will start. The Dungeon of Time in the Final chapter also runs on eight bells, with your goal being to get the weapon at the end and leave before the eighth bell. Should you fail, you'll be attacked by four strong, unique enemies, though beating them awards one of the best equipment items and eliminates the timer.
  • Title Theme Drop: The game's title theme reappears in the Final chapter as the random battle theme.
  • To Be Continued: Happens after the credits for the Middle Ages chapter, following Oersted declaring himself as the Lord of Dark, Odio and setting up the events of Dominion of Hate.
  • Toilet Humor:
    • One of Gori's attacks is him throwing his poo at the opponent. Just like a real ape!
    • The Near Future chapter is full of this, where Akira can sit on several toilets which often cause different events to occur, one mandatory event has him read Doc Tobei's mind while he's in an unpleasant experience on his shop's toilet, and Akira can wash his hands in various spots.
  • Tomato Surprise: O. Dio is the last survivor of the regiment that was wiped out, yes. What you don't know is that the last survivor was a horse, who was possessed by the spirits of all those who were slain.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: They never meet per se, but amongst the playable females, Lei (tomboy) and Beru (girly).
  • Took a Level in Badass: At least half of the playable characters become badasses over the course of their chapters. The rest were badass to begin with.
  • Trailers Always Spoil:
    • Promotional materials for the Switch remake prominently show the secret Middle Ages chapter and its protagonist, plus scenes from the final chapter which reveal the heroes are eventually going to team up. One prominent scene for Oersted in the trailers is him confronting Streibough at the end of his chapter, although his identity is partially obscured in shadow, his voiced line in this scene indicates he was a friend of Oersted. The worst offender is the Playstation trailer which bluntly shows the beginning of the Boss Rush at the Final Chapter's end with Odio in plain view as Oersted with a cape.
    • The chapter-specific trailers all spoil the boss of their specific chapter, many of which are normally a surprise. In particular, the Prehistory trailer spoils the fact that its boss is a surviving dinosaur.
  • A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Late one night, Oersted sees Streibough (who's supposed to be dead) walking out the door, and Oersted follows him to find the Lord of Dark standing in the throne room. Oersted goes up and kills the Lord of Dark, who goes down easily. However, it turns out that it was just an illusion, and Oersted actually struck down his own king. Had Oersted just stopped and asked why the Lord of Dark was in the good king's throne room or was able to tell the guards outside about this, this tragedy might have been averted.
  • Trash the Set:
    • The Wild West’s chapter boss battle takes place in the main road of Success Town with several items in the background knocked over. Justified, since the Crazy Bunch did just storm through earlier.
    • The Captain Square game in Distant Future gets overwritten for the battle against OD-10, where the ground tiles are noticeably damaged in the remake.
    • The Final Chapter Dominion of Hate takes place in the ruins of Lucrece, where everything is abandoned and the remake makes the buildings look damaged and run down.
  • The Trope Kid: The Sundown Kid. Lampshaded by the bartender who puts his "Wanted!" Poster up, quipping he's clearly much older than a kid.
  • Troubled, but Cute: Akira appears this way. His good looks and abilities couple with his tragic past.
  • Turn Coat: Streibough, with a Face–Heel Turn. Also fulfills the Forgotten Friend, New Foe trope.
  • Two Lines, No Waiting: The game at first appears to just have 7 stories which don't have any direct relation to each other aside from a Running Gag, until the player figures out that the name of each chapter's main antagonist is a variant on "Odio", suggesting a connection. Then after the completion of the Middle Ages chapter, a Time Crash occurs, bringing all 7 main protagonists together to discover that they were fighting incarnations of the Lord of Dark Odio.
  • Uncertain Doom: In the original release regarding the Watanabes in the Twilight of Edo Japan chapter, killing the man who notices and manages to kill the Papa Rat removes their scene and has the items from their location missing, indicating their heist was successful, but it's left ambiguous if they managed to escape or got caught afterwards. The remake confirms they also escaped just fine if Oboromaru aborts the mission.
  • Underground Monkey: Most show up in a majority of the chapters. The Final Chapter's enemies are nothing but this aside from some unique minibosses, with them all spanning from the 7 time periods.
  • The Unfought:
    • The chieftain of the Kuu Tribe in the Prehistory chapter, who runs off and is Eaten Alive by the chapter's final boss.
    • The three followers of Odeo in the Near Future chapter are never fought directly, although they do summon the deity to possess the Great Inko Buddha Statue.
  • Unstoppable Rage: Several:
    • Masaru, before fighting Odie O'Bright to avenge the combatants O'Bright killed after Masaru merely defeated them in fair combat.
    • In the Near Future chapter, Lawless has to restrain Akira from fighting the Conspirators after he realizes the giant robot they just destroyed was actually Watanabe’s dad, who they forcefully turned him into.
    • O. Dio, before fighting Sundown and Mad Dog. It turns out that Dio was a horse possessed by the accumulated rage and hatred of a cavalry that had been wiped out.
    • Oersted, during the scene at the end of the final chapter that leads into the Boss Rush.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
    • Streibough wanted to be a local Card-Carrying Villain so he could take revenge on his rival Oersted. This causes said target to lose his mind, obtain unimaginable power through a string of coincidences, and become a time conqueror. When you meet his ghost later on, he's stuck in shock at the realization that his actions indirectly caused untold death and misery across at least nine different "worlds". Thanks a lot.
    • Alethea's spiteful suicide caused Oersted to forgo kindness and become a Lord of Dark. Thankfully, she realizes how much damage was caused by her actions and actively begs the heroes to defeat Odio and save Oersted.
  • Ur-Example: Is probably the earliest example of a fully fleshed-out Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds in video games. Odio was a villain ahead of his time, even by the standards of pre-merge Squaresoft, as most villains at the time of this game's release were either Generic Doomsday Villains, Adaptational Villainy, Card Carrying Villains, Well Intentioned Extremists, Giant Space Fleas From Nowhere, or all of the above, mostly due to the storytelling limitations at the time. Similarly, it's also one of the first, if not the very first instance of a video game hiding its lore over a seemingly surface-level story, only unraveling its secrets when we learn about Odio's origins. Chrono Trigger did this as well, but was released a year after Live A Live's initial commercial failure, and ironically enough, had a literal Giant Space Flea from Nowhere as its main antagonist.
  • Useless Useful Spell: Because there is no EN or MP limits for which attacks can be used, a lot of attacks end up being this where the only thing the player has to worry about is the attack's range, element, and casting time. However, some attacks are calculated from a stat that the player might not be expecting, nor does the game explicitly state this.
    • Almost all the starting moves of the protagonists become this once they start learning newer and stronger attacks. Defied with Cube, as his default attacks are all he has and he cannot learn new moves outside of accessories obtained from the Near Future or extremely rare drops in the Final Chapter. Downplayed with Akira's physical attacks, as Low Kick and Elbow Strike have no charge time and certain enemies in the Near Future go down faster when hit by his physical attacks rather than his special ones.
    • Masaru's Frankensteiner and Tornado Press uses his Special Attack (which cannot increase through level-up) to determine damage and combined with being a Death or Glory Attack if it misses, the attack will see little use, despite its decent range. It doesn't help that his German Suplex has the same range and damage rating as Frankensteiner, except that it uses his much superior Physical Attack stat. Fleetfoot has slightly less range than Tornado Press, but it uses Masaru's Vitality stat and has the added chance of interrupting opponent's charged attacks. Downplayed with Arm Lock, where despite using his Special Attack, its crippling effect will have it see some use.
    • Hong's Pork's Second Cooking is this, as it deals fixed amounts of damage that cannot be countered or defended against, but is completely random and only goes up to 99 damage at best. However, it can see some use if one wants to defeat the Odio mole first rather than last as the game intends.
  • Vague Age: None of the characters' ages are established, but it's obvious that Cube's a newborn, Akira and Yun aren't of legal age, Pogo, Lei, Hong, and Oboromaru are teens at least and young adults at most, Sundown is somewhere in his 30s, and Oersted, Streibough, and Princess Alethea are at least twenty due to the Lord of Dark having kidnapped the late Queen of Lucrece that many years ago.
  • Variable Mix:
    • In the Cowboy chapter, the music in the saloon, "Sancho de los Panchos," is played by the in-universe musicians. Since they're citizens of the town, you can send them out to set traps and prepare for the attack, just like everyone else; if you do, their instrument is removed from the BGM until they come back.
    • In the Distant Future, "Unseen Syndrome" (the theme of the Cogito Ergo Sum under OD-10's control). It starts out with just a warbling bassline, adds strange "clanking" sounds once the Behemoth is loose, and then plays "Psycho" Strings once OD-10 reveals its true intentions.
  • Vengeance Feels Empty: Odio. When he changes history by killing off the seven protagonists so that he is the winner, he is somewhat pleased with his victory… but becomes depressed. Why? Because he is completely alone with no friends or enemies to interact with and will never know the satisfaction of the pain and despair of those he had destroyed. What's worse is that he had no one else to witness his accomplishment, which completely defeats the efforts he made in proving his point.
  • The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: The Archon's Roost in the Middle Ages chapter, a dark cavern with glowing crystals that turns into an ancient ruin as the shrine for the Lord of Dark himself. When Oersted and his party climb up the first time to slay the Lord of Dark, the music with the same name as the dungeon plays. The same music track plays in the Final Chapter as well, when Oersted himself has become the Lord of Dark and the heroes climb up the Archon's Roost the same way as he did.
  • Victory Pose: Noticeably added in the remake, alongside quotes for the one who finished off the last enemy.
  • Video Game Caring Potential:
    • If you decide to kill everyone in the Twilight of Edo Japan chapter or at least just a certain man, this incarnation of father Watanabe avoids getting killed in the chapter because the man who is going to kill him is dead by the time the chapter's Watanabe Scene plays. If Oboro aborts the mission, they'll be shown if spared in the remake. You can also spare any innocent women you come across.
    • The quest to recruit Hong in the Imperial China chapter involves Hoi telling the Shifu to beat Hong up for stealing soup dumplings, leading to a quick fight. Alternatively, showing sympathy by rejecting the first prompt allows the Shifu to foot Hong's bill himself, satisfying Hoi and letting Hong join without a fight.
    • The Imperial China chapter's Wong Village has some old people suffering from stomach cramps (except for one starving old lady, who needs a bun). You're only required to help Yun's grandmother to proceed the story, but nothing's stopping you from saving all of them.
    • Although you don't have any real reason to outside of grabbing any other items you missed, you can return to Lucrece Castle with the previous heroes Uranus and Hasshe to visit the King, who is overjoyed at their presence.
  • Video Game Cruelty Potential:
    • One way to get Oboro's Infinity +1 Sword in his chapter is to kill everyone in the castle, which makes you just strong enough to fight a superboss for it. This includes innocent servant girls and lady nobles.
    • Unless you spot that the Run command is available, you can kill Mad Dog at the end of the Wild West chapter.
  • Video Game Cruelty Punishment: If you off even just one female (even the kunoichi or the ugly stalker hag; the ghosts and yokai are fair game, however) in the Twilight of Edo Japan chapter before a specific point, then you won't be able to get one of the best accessories in the game… Or, if you're going for a 100 kill run, you'll miss out on a kill. Actually going through with 100 kills in the remake nets a new (but cosmetic) ending where the peaceful weather is suddenly replaced with a dark thunderstorm, as if this was a warning that Oboromaru's actions may lead to dark times in Japan's future.
  • Vignette Episode: The entire game consists of seven chapters (9 when you unlock the Middle Ages chapter and, in turn, the Final chapter), and they all revolve around a specific time period, and these chapters aren't connected to each other, aside from one recurring joke and a misanthropic and genocidal demon.
  • Villain Protagonist: Oersted, if he is selected for the final chapter. Because he is Odio.
  • Villain Team-Up:
    • At the end of the Cowboy chapter, if the Sundown Kid doesn't kill Mad Dog, after he leaves Success Town, he encounters his rival again in the desert, who's now riding O. Dio, reverted back into his true form of a horse. It's almost immediately subverted when the Sundown Kid shoots Dio's reins, causing him to buck Mad Dog off and run off into the desert, forcing Mad Dog to chase after him. Completely subverted in the Golden Ending where this happens, where Mad Dog presumably makes amends with Sundown and manages to keep O. Dio.
    • The goal of Oersted's version of the Dominion of Hate is to command Odio's incarnations to kill the heroes.
  • Visions of Another Self: Odio's seven reincarnations, which cause the main conflict in their respective timelines, and either succeed or fail completely, forcing Odio to bring them to Lucrece.
  • Waiting Puzzle: If Oboromaru hadn’t killed any (living) women after making it to the top floor, one resident rewards him with the paltry Maid's Sash for his kindness. If you stand still and wait for a few moments after this, she returns and apologises for giving you the wrong thing, instead giving you the much better Lacquered Medicine Box.
  • Weird West: Only a bit, but a horse being possessed by vengeful spirits into an incarnation of the Lord of Dark isn't Wild West ordinary.
  • Wham Episode: The Middle Ages chapter. It's far darker than any of the other seven episodes up to this point, and reveals the details of the origins of the Big Bad Odio.
  • Wham Line:
    • After starting your second chapter, you may notice something’s very fishy when the local antagonist is named something similar to "Odio" and that the same creepy organ theme plays in their presence, which, after your third chapter when this happens again, suggests that these events aren’t completely unrelated after all…
    • A minor one, but Pogo finally says his first word, and thus the first word uttered by humanity, at the end of his chapter, "Love" (the remake has him shout "AIIIEEE!" instead).
    • A minor one appears at the end of Oboromaru's chapter if you're well-versed in Japanese history, revealing that the prisoner you were sent to rescue is Sakamoto Ryōma.
    • If you check the files at the Tsukuba Research Facility in Akira's chapter, you'll find a file detailing the Crusaders gang you've been fighting, which also reveals its founder as Kenichi Matsui.
      • Another shocking one comes from Akira learning something from Lawless.
    Lawless: There's something you ought to know, kid. About me and your dad.
    • After a certain point in the Distant Future chapter, inspecting any database terminal, computer, or anything electronic displays the message "It would be in your best interests to stop. This ship is my domain, and I its master."note 
    • Oersted (a silent protagonist) speaking at all is only the beginning, once you hear just what he's saying:
    Oersted: Did I not do all that was asked? Did I not serve and seek my fair and just reward? And for my deeds, they damn me. Name me demon. …And who am I to deny it? Demon, then! Renouncing former ties and titles! And in their place, I claim... The Lord of Dark. Odio!
    • In the remake, Oersted finally fighting back against his inner hatred and speaking these simple words:
      Oersted: I am...I must...I will!
  • Wham Shot:
    • The hallway before the Lord of Dark. A player could easily freeze in their tracks when they see seven statues resembling each of the seven bosses prior to the Middle Ages chapter, which not only does confirm that said seven bosses are connected somehow (their names and their shared Ominous Pipe Organ (which often clashed with the rest of the chapters' respective soundtracks) implied a connection, but that was about it), but it is also the first hint that there's much more to the Middle Ages chapter (which until that point, played like the most stereotypical JRPG ever) than it first appeared. This counts in-universe, too; every protagonist reacts with shock when they interact with their respective statue in the Final chapter.
    • After Oersted and Uranus return from their disastrous rescue mission after Hasshe and Streibough's deaths and retire for the night, Streibough appears directly next to Oersted and wanders off. Following him to the throne room reveals the Lord of Dark, but defeating him in a rather strange battle reveals that Oersted was tricked into killing his own king.
    • After Streibough's death, Alethea appears, then after mourning his death, she pulls out a knife.
    • After your chosen protagonist for the final chapter finds themselves in the ruins of Lucrece, you're wandering around the area until you see a familiar face: One of the other protagonists.
    • In the remake, after defeating Odio's Last Stand with his incarnations, Oersted is about to keel over in defeat like the original, only to start screaming in pain as he draws all of the world's hatred to him. The fight is long from over.
  • What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Akira's psychic powers (except for his healing) have to be charged before attacking, and most are focused on Status Effects and debuffs rather than raw damage. To add onto the spooniness, he starts off with having the worst HP out of all the protagonists which significantly adds to the difficulty of completing his chapter. The remake does buff his stats a bit though and some of the charging time is shortened or made instant.
  • What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Ghosts, traps, yokai, and giant fish don't add to Oboromaru's kill count, so in a Pacifist Run, you'll need to grind out these enemies to level up high enough to beat the bosses. Ode Iou turns into the Gamahebi demon at the end, which is definitely off the human kill list.
  • When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Whereas the rest of the characters in the game get a pretty good variety of attacks, Sundown and Mad Dog's attacks can pretty much be summarized as "shooting people", "shooting multiple people", and "shooting multiple people many times".
  • "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: After the battle with Odio, everyone is returned to their timelines, and…
    • Pogo has his first baby with Beru. However, Gori surprises him that he's having many baby gorillas with the female gorillas they rescued before.
    • The Earthen Heart successor (Yun/Lei/Hong) is training a new generation of Earthen Heart students. The remake reveals that Sun Tzu Wang and his gang decided to bury the hatchet with them and become students.
    • Oboromaru either continues to be a ninja in service of the Enma clan, or becomes Ryoma Sakamoto's bodyguard, foiling an assassination attempt that's implied to be the same one that killed him in real life.
    • The Sundown Kid returns to wandering in the wilderness. Depending on his actions, he may or may not have to deal with Mad Dog again. Should you spare Mad Dog, the remake adds a scene of them riding across the wilderness together.
    • Masaru closes his current training room, picks up his bag, and resumes his journey in his quest to be the strongest.
    • Akira lives his life normally with the orphanage kids and occasionally visits/assists Tobei, who is now currently trying to use the teleporting device on Taro... before it breaks down again.
    • Cube returns to the now-repaired Cogito Ergo Sum after presumably having fun on Earth, reuniting with Kato and Darthe. Kato gives him a warm hug.
    • The Distant Future Chapter has this at the end. Cube and the surviving crew make it to earth. Captain Hor, Kirk, Huey and Rachel's bodies are all given proper burials, and Kato is currently in medical treatment. Corporal Darthe has retired from the military and now works for the creation of medical robots.
  • Whole-Plot Reference: The Distant Future chapter's plot is essentially Alien mixed with 2001: A Space Odyssey.
  • Why Isn't It Attacking?: Comes up in the Middle Ages chapter when the "Lord of Dark" appears in Castle Lucrece's throne room, but it's a But Thou Must! battle even if you notice something's wrong.
  • With This Herring: Defied in the Middle Ages chapter, as upon receiving the mission to rescue Alethea from the Lord of Dark, Oersted is given free reign to grab every piece of equipment and healing item from the castle's bedrooms and treasury, most of which he doesn't even need, followed by plenty of gifts from the townsfolk as he departs. This is deliberate, given that all of this trust and praise is completely overturned by the halfway point of the story.
  • The Wild West: The Cowboy chapter, taking place during the time of the good ol' cowboys.
  • Winged Humanoid: The Brow of Odio / Purity of Odio, who seems to be Oersted after getting a pair of vulture wings and becoming completely bald and naked.
  • A Winner Is You:
    • The ending of Captain Square in the Distant Future chapter, which just has Captain Square flying through space and taking off his sunglasses. The only other thing you can get from this is a funny bit of Developer's Foresight if you beat the game while Kirk is watching.
    • In the Super Famicom version, if the player managed to get the best ending with a chapter's character, they received a portrait of said character, drawn by the chapter's original artist, along with each chapter's victory text. In the remake, the victory text is again displayed, but sadly the character portraits are completely absent (most likely due to the game's complicated copyright situation).
  • Wolfpack Boss: The Jaggedy Jacks, a superboss within the Dominion of Hate's Trial of Time. The fight consists of four enemies with only around 500 HP each, but they start out completely surrounding the party, have above-average defenses, and can use area-of-effect attacks, lay out electrical tiles to rapidly heal, or use the rapid-fire Spacephage for high damage.
  • Worthless Treasure Twist:
    • In the Twilight of Edo Japan chapter, the Watanabe Clan thieves are aiming for three boxes which they believe are full of riches they can take to their hometown. However, two of them are empty while the remaining box contains a single koban. They seem to cut their losses if the father survives and both just head home with that.
    • In the Wild West chapter, the town of Success promises Sundown the town's money after the Crazy Bunch are defeated. However when he's about to head off, it's revealed that the town's actually broke. He's not bothered by this, since the experience enabled him to live again. The remake replaces this with a very small stash of gold the town offers to Sundown as a reward, but he doesn't want to accept it.
  • Worthy Opponent: The Sundown Kid and Mad Dog seem to regard each other as this. Especially if Sundown doesn't kill Mad Dog at the end of his chapter. In the remake, should Mad Dog live, the two ride off together.
  • You ALL Share My Story: The Final chapter, where it's revealed that all player characters were up against a reincarnation of Oersted/Odio.
  • Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: With a literal princess in the Middle Ages chapter. Aside from the seven statues hinting at something greater in the works, the chapter seemingly reaches its end point like a typical fantasy RPG where the heroes defeat the Lord of Dark, only to discover Princess Alethea is nowhere to be found. She was actually stashed in a secret room which Streibough figured out, but instead used this as part of his plan to take all the glory for himself.
  • You No Take Candle: The Prehistory chapter's attack and item descriptions are presented in this way. This also applies to the loading tips specific to this chapter, though these have addenda in proper English.
    Stick item description: "Stick is stick."
  • Your Size May Vary:
    • Most human or humanoid bosses, with the exception of playable characters like Streibough or Mad Dog, have sprites that tower over your characters. However, in the overworld, they are no bigger than a normal person with the same build as them.
    • The LH Combat Unit W1 (aka Watanabe's dad) in the remake is an egregious case. In the overworld, it is a gigantic, imposing behemoth, being twice the size of Akira, Lawless, and Taroimo. But as a boss, it is only marginally bulkier than a cyborg turtle.
    • Battle sprites notwithstanding, official artwork from 1994, overworld sprites and the artwork from the 2023 trailer seem to conflict with the heights of the Shifu and disciples. Official art from 1994◊ and the 2023 trailer demonstrates Lei being slightly taller than Hong/Sammo while their overworld sprites depict Hong/Sammo being the taller one. The artbook containing 1994 art indicates a different height order where Hong/Sammo is the tallest followed by Ou Di Wan Lee(whose 1994 artwork in the link depicts him taller than Hong/Sammo), Lei, Yun, and the Shifu as the shortest. Similarly, Yun is depicted as slightly taller than the Shifu in both the 2023 trailer art and 1994 art. However, his overworld sprite is approximately the same height as the Shifu's.

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