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Brigandine is a Strategy RPG series with a twist: instead of controlling a few groups of characters, you control one of six playable nations.

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    Plot for Legend of Forsena and Grand Edition 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brigandine_the_legend_of_forsena_usa.jpg

Brigandine: The Legend of Forsena's story revolves around the mystical land of Forsena and its six countries' attempts to unite/conquer it:

  • Esgares: Regardless of which country you play as, the story starts with Esgares' ruler, Zemeckis, throwing a coup. Zemeckis first appears like a Take Over the World type of villain, but it later becomes clear that he actually does all this out of fear. Specifically, he fears a Blood Knight like him will become obsolete in a world without war. The player can play as Esgares by entering a simple cheat code - enter the Country Select Screen, press and hold R1 (keep holding it), press and hold L2 (keep holding it), then press start. However, it lacks story cutscenes. In Brigandine: Grand Edition (an expansion pack that was never brought to the U.S.), Esgares is a playable country with a story of its own (and the player can choose Esgares without having to enter in a code).
  • New Almekia: Prince Lance manages to escape Zemeckis's coup, flees to the western country of Padstow, and asks the wise King Coel to help him avenge his father. King Coel quickly shows his wisdom by giving the teenage Lance control of his entire country for the best of reasons: Lance's eyes are special and he knows that the best quality of a King is the trust with his people. King Coel also changes his country's name from Padstow to New Almekia.
  • Caerleon: Cearleon's "Silent Wise King" Cai realizes his own land is at stake thanks to the three ambitious warlords (Zemeckis, Dryst, and Vaynard) plaguing the land. He quickly forms an alliance with the bordering New Almekia and prepares for battle. His team primarily consists of mages.
  • Iscalio: Mad Monarch Dryst sees the chaos stirred up by Zemeckis as an excuse to attack other countries, and no matter how much the sensible Bishop Ulster tries to reason with him, Dryst never listens. The rest of Dryst's crew (besides Ulster) is made up of fools who count as Bunny-Ears Lawyer s. The only other character of special note in Iscalio is Dryst's personal aide Iria, an Emotionless Girl with a mysterious past who has earned the nickname 'Killer Doll' through her success in battle. The people suffer in this land thanks to Dryst's greed. The Knights, on the other hand, thinks Dryst is awesome enough that they are still loyal to him, thinking that with people like Dryst around, it'll never get boring in Iscalio.
  • Leonia: Leonia, a religious country led by a peasant-turned-Queen (named Lyonesse), is comprised of Technical Pacifists. However, when the two bordering countries led by warlords (Dryst and Vaynard) attack, Leonia strikes back. Most of the characters who fight for Leonia are priests, clerics, and the like. This is the hardest country with which to win the game, despite the game's manual saying otherwise.
  • Norgard: Norgard is a snowy land in the north occupied by some of the game's strongest knights. It's led by the appropriately nicknamed "White Wolf" Lord Vaynard. Like Dryst, he sees the chaos as a chance to conquer more land. He also wishes to have his older sister, who has become Zemeckis's wife, to return to Norgard. Despite the game never outright stating that the people suffer in Norgard, Lord Vaynard's warlord mentality plus his never once mentioning anything having to do with economics (a.k.a. the well-being of his people) implies he's a bad guy. On the other hand, he clearly has soft spots for certain members of his army (such as Noie) and all of his men were pretty chivalrous, believing in his vision of united Forsena. His most notable companions are the Rebellious Tsundere Princess Brangien and his ever-loyal right-hand man Guinglain. Almost all of his dudes and dudettes are named after characters from the Arthurian Legend and well-spread in what they do.

    Plot for Brigandine: Legend of Runersia 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brigandine_the_legend_of_runersia_coverart.png

The game features a multi-faceted war between six nations, five of which bear powerful relics called Brigandines, for complete control of the continent of Runersia. The conflict was instigated in the year 781 by a series of coinciding events: the Norzaleo Kingdom's monarch dying under unexplained circumstances, civil unrest in the Holy Gustava Empire precipitating an invasion of Norzaleo, the disappearance of the Republic of Guimoule's president, a revolt within the Mana Saleesia Theocracy, the formation of the Shinobi Tribe, and the United Islands of Mirelva seizing the opportunity provided by the chaos to plunder the mainland.

The six nations of Runersia are:

  • Norzaleo Kingdom: An Island Nation northwest of Runersia. It wields the Brigandine of Justice. The sudden death of Rubino III and the sudden invasion of it's Arch-Enemy the Holy Gustava Empire has forced the uncrowned Prince Rubino IV into taking action, believing that his actions are guided by justice. His Rune Knights are mostly comprised of Cultured Warrior and Knight in Shining Armor.

  • Republic of Guimoule: A large nation founded by the Mohanna Sect after secceding from the Mana Saleesia and the Zai Sect and the self-proclaimed birthplace of Rune Knights. It wields the Brigandine of Glory. The Republic is gripped into a unexpected crisis when the Mana Saleesia Theocracy sends the body of a Mohanna Sect Rune Knight in an obvious act of war. Making things worse is the sudden illness of its President Alden Uzala. His daughter Eliza Uzala now rules Guimoule due to being chosen by its national weapon, The Sword of Ange. The nation and most of its rune knights are just and honorable if it weren't for its Fantastic Racism towards the Barret Clan

  • Shinobi Tribe: An isolationist, matriarchal tribe born from the oppressed people of the former nation of Hazam. It wields the Brigandine of Freedom. Sensing the impeding chaos of the land and tired of working as mercenaries and spies of the other nations due to the death of her sister-figure Rei, Talia leads the Shinobi Tribe into achieving true freedom. Most of its rune knights are comprised of Nubile Savage.

  • Mana Saleesia Theocracy: A particularly powerful nation that is the seat of the Zai sect of the Rune faith. It wields the Brigandine of Sanctity. Rudo Marco usurps and murders his father while ordering the death of a Mohanna Sect Rune Knight, in order to begin his plan to the Take Over the World. Most of Mana Saleesia's rune knights are Knight Templar fanatics with a few Token Good Teammate.

  • United Islands of Mirelva: A loose alliance of pirate clans who rule an archipelago. It wields the Brigandine of Ego. Recently voted as Chairperson of the alliance, Captain Stella Hammet sees the opportunity to strike first against the other nation, seeing the chaos engulfing the conflict as an opportunity for pirates like her, as well as to make sure the Islands will not be conquered. Most of its rune knights are comprised of pirates and criminals, most of them quite the Boisterous Bruiser.

  • Holy Gustava Empire: A scorned nation founded by exiles from Norzaleo that follows the Zoar faith. It lacks a Brigandine of its own. Tim Gustav, the 13th Emperor, seeks to conquer the continent in order to prove the superiority of his clan and country without the use of a Brigandine. Many of its rune knights are exiles or unwanted people drawn by the Empire's Equal-Opportunity Evil policy.

When playing the game, you fight battle after battle with 12-15 Rune Knights (people who can summon and control monsters) until you conquer/unite the land of Forsena. The replay value comes from both choosing which of the six countries to play as and choosing which 12-15 Rune Knights to use.

Brigandine was released in the U.S. and has since gained cult status (a game from '98 costing $40 now is remarkable). As a result of its low U.S. sales, the expansion pack filled with goodies, called "Brigandine: Grand Edition," was never brought to the U.S. The Grand Edition of the game, however, did well enough in Japan that it's available as one of the PS1 Classics/Archive in the Japanese PSN, so you can always give this game a shot if you understand/don't mind Japanese. And if you're well-versed in patching and emulation... well there is an English patch, with some fan dub, though as of current, it will remove any voice acting outside movies, but the patchers are working on it.

After years of absence, a Non-Linear Sequel was announced for Nintendo Switch, titled Brigandine: Legend of Runersia. As the name suggests, it takes place in a brand new continent. It was released on June 25, 2020 worldwide. A PS4 port was released on December 10th, 2020.

For other JRPG strategy games with a similar country-conquest objective, See DragonForce and Dark Wizard.

This game is not to be confused with the piece of armor worn by knights in real life or the Mecha Expansion Pack from Thunder Force V that both share the same name.


     Tropes associated with both games. 
  • The Archmage: In Forsena: Cai, the Warlock ruler of Caerleon, and Gish the Wizard. While in Runersia, Jiu of Norzaleo, Mu'ah of Guimoule and Gilliam of Mana Saleesia are highly renowned spellcasters.
  • An Ice Person: Most female spellcasters of the Enchantress class. Also, Vaynard of Norgard and Rubino of Norzaleo's classes and spells are of the ice element.
  • Artificial Stupidity:The AI has a tendency to send their important monster units or their rune knights into the front-lines without any regard for their safety. This leads to situations such a Squishy Wizard moving next to an enemy's powerful melee monsters just to finish off a dying unit. Legend of Runersia manages to improve the intelligence of the AI although not by much.
  • Asskicking Leads to Leadership: The leader of the country usually is the best fighter, though Lance is a double-subversion. He starts out as a wimpy Level 1 Prince, but when leveled up and becoming King, he will show a lot of ass-kicking. Lyonesse is similar, she started out as a Level 3 Queen. Rubino later adds up as a Level 5 Prince.
  • Boisterous Bruiser: Iscalio and The United Islands of Mirelva as a nation. The former and the later enjoy steamrolling their oppositions and partying with each other for pleasures, with their difference being that Stella eventually learns to give a damn about governing, whereas Dryst absolutely has no interest on it.
  • Blue Is Heroic: Present in both settings, with varying degrees: In Forsena, the Blue-colored Kingdom, Norgard, is considered antagonistic, but they're more of a pragmatic Anti-Villain faction with the most noble goal compared to the other antagonistic kingdom. In Runersia, the Blue-colored Kingdom, Norzaleo, is squarely good and nice, despite how others think they are getting too overzealous and getting off their moral high horse thanks to their Brigandine of Justice.
  • Cruelty Is the Only Option:
    • New Almekia and Caerleon are allied in the beginning, but there's one good kingdom left: Leonia. There is no alliance option, to win the game, Leonia must be crushed. The same goes for Leonia against New Alemkia and Caerleon.
    • The same goes for the good nations in Runersia like the Kingdom of Norzaleo, the Republic of Guimoule and the Shinobi Tribe. Even if they are reluctant to fight each other, there can only be one nation ruling the continent. And worse still, Guimoule is basically pincered with Norzaleo and Shinobi while having to contend with Mana Saleesia, and unlike New Almekia and Caerleon, there's no alliance scenario, they have to watch out against each other while fighting their more direct opposition (Gustava and Mana Saleesia respectively)
  • Crippling Overspecialization: The Mermen monsters gain bonuses in water tiles in hitrate, evasion, movement and health regeneration. Otherwise, they perform terribly on land which is most of the battle maps in-game. This is averted with the their Runersian successors, the Mermaids, in they have support spells and are able to float in non-water areas.
  • Cast Of Snow Flakes: Each Rune Knight has their own unique portrait, backstory listed in their stats and their own character quotes.
  • Color-Coded Armies: Each Kingdoms' flags are designated with certain colors:
    • Red: New Almekia, Guimoule
    • Blue: Norgard, Norzaleo
    • Green: Caerleon, Shinobi
    • Aquamarine: Leonia
    • Yellow: Iscalio
    • Orange: Mirelva
    • Black: Gustava
    • Purple: Esgares, Mana Saleesia
  • Crutch Character: High-level Rune Knights (played straight) and the starting Promoted monsters (downplayed). They may serve as good babysitters for weak monsters and low-level Rune Knights, but if the Rune Knights have low Rune Power, they'll likely become benchwarmers once your low-level Rune Knights with high Rune Power reach a decent level, because the main firepower of a squad is the monsters they control, not just the Rune Knight. The promoted monsters can still stay relevant until the end of the game when other monsters catch up, but early game, their job is to protect the lower-leveled monsters until the latter catch up.
  • Death or Glory Attack: Starting in Brigandine: Grand Edition, many dedicated melee Rune Knights have an ability to make a powerful but highly inaccurate attack that deals massive damage if it hits and it can't be used post-movement. Players can mitigate this by having other characters surround and isolate the target (to the point that they could only move one space), in which the attack receives an accuracy boost. In Legend of Runersia, some higher tier monsters also gain one.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Beating a Kingdom means that some of the Rune Knights end up joining you. If you're not the one dealing the decisive attack, then you may randomly get a defeated Knight from that nation that offers friendship:
    • Forsena: These all apply unless you're playing Esgares in Grand Edition (except for Iscalio).
      • New Almekia: Defeating them directly will net you Carlota and Loufal (and Liguel, if you have one of her siblings). If they're defeated by another kingdom, then you randomly get either Adilicia or Batercus.
      • Caerleon: Defeating them directly will net you Janfadar and Bilcock. If they're defeated by another kingdom, then you randomly get either Cierra or Shast.
      • Norgard: Defeating them directly will net you Kirkmond and Dillard. If they're defeated by another kingdom, then you randomly get Faticia or Zerafin.
      • Leonia: Defeating them directly will net you Chantail and Langueborg. If they're defeated by another kingdom, then you randomly get Charlene or Isfas. If you're playing Norgard in Grand Edition, however, Langueborg and Charlene switch places.
      • Iscalio: Defeating them directly will net you Daffy and Victoria (and Miguel, if you have one of his siblings). If they're defeated by another kingdom, then you randomly get Bagdemagus.
      • Esgares: Defeating them directly will net you Fiel and Ivan (and Soleil, if you recruited Schutleis, and also Castor, if you have one of his siblings). If they're defeated by another kingdom, then you randomly get Roecod, or if you're lucky he popped up already, Shred. Also defeating Esgares opens up quests to recruit Mira, Millet (leading to the recruitment of Ranguinus) and Shiraha.
    • Runersia
      • Norzaleo: Defeating them directly will net you Leonora and Ferrick.
      • Guimoule: Defeating them directly will net you Diana and Faye (for Faye, you need to conquer Guimoule after a certain time where he appears)
      • Shinobi: Defeating them directly will net you Xi'on.
      • Gustava: Defeating them directly will net you Scymerius and Sylvie.
      • Mana Saleesia: Defeating them directly will net you Aisha and Jaden.
      • Mirelva: Defeating them directly will net you Lorenzo and Gallivard.
  • Disc-One Nuke: When you start the game, look around the map. Did you see a Lv 20 Monster that a certain country possesses (most notably, Lance's Salamander, Cador's Vampire Lord, Dryst or Tim's Bahamut)? Get them captured to your forces (or you play as one of those countries for less efforts). If it's too hard for you, get something that has a Charm (Enchantresses, or Mermaids in Runersia) to Charm it, then defeat the controlling Rune Knight (works better if said Charmed monster delivered the final blow). In time, you can gather a group of top-tier monsters that can steamroll any enemy force, all while protecting and raising your own.
  • Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Red element beats Green element, which beats Blue element that defeats Red element. Meanwhile, White and Black element deal extra damage to each other. This starts only at Grand Edition, in Legend of Forsena, only Red and Blue oppose each other, while Green is merely 'neutral unit with fancier color and support magic'.
  • The Empire:
    • In Legend of Forsena, After his rebellion, Zemeckis renamed the Almekia Kingdom as Esgares. Just to put more emphasis that he's there to conquer, he changed the term from Kingdom to Empire too. They also have the largest number of castle when compared to the other nations.
    • In Legend of Runersia, The Holy Gustava Empire acts as such, even having a history of almost successfully expanding their territory before being beaten back by the other nations. However, unlike most classical empires, they rule a land that has few resources and mana and they have a sparse number of castles in comparison to the other countries (Mana Saleesia, Guimoule and even an alliance of pirates have a large number of cities when compared to them).
  • Faction-Specific Endings: Each game features an ending for each of the nations which can unite the continent of Forsena or Runersia.
  • Fantasy Kitchen Sink: Both Forsena and Runersia are lands where humans from medieval Europe-like setting co-exist with dragons, faeries, giant birds, merfolk, zombies, unicorns and many more. Runersia also has elf-like people (the Barrets) or werewolves (Bazoos), while Forsena has... ninja. A Japanese-based ninja (actually two).
  • Fragile Speedster: The Hellhound and High Dog monsters. High stats in agility and can move after attacking but can easily be killed due to their low defense and HP.
  • Glass Cannon: The Giant and Gigas monster class. Their attacks deal heavy damage and has a chance to inflict the Faint status-effect but their low defense in comparison to other heavy-class monsters, their poor attack accuracy and vulnerablity to magic can see them dead sooner than later without proper support.
  • The Good Kingdom:
    • Actually zig-zagged in Forsena. Almekia used to be called The Kingdom of Almekia, and it was good... but when Zemeckis took over, it was changed into Esgares Empire and it forced every other neighboring kingdoms (and one queendom) into warfare to defend themselves or take opportunity on the war. And one particular kingdom, Iscalio, might have been a good kingdom, except for the fact that their King is a hedonistic mad dude that doesn't really care about his people and a lot of his higher rank knights are selfish assholes that goes along with the madness and only saved because they're actually competent at being kickass knights.
    • In Runersia, each nations aren't just Kingdoms and Empire, there are more variety in the names, like Republic, Tribe, Theocracy and United Island Nations. However, the token Kingdom, Norzaleo, is considered one of the highest tier of Good despite their flaws as they hold the Brigandine of Justice and ruled by a Nice Guy of a wise prince.
  • Heart Is an Awesome Power: Rune Power. On paper, it didn't seem much to a personal strength or stats, as in it doesn't affect things that could turn one into an One-Man Army (Strength, Intelligence or Agility). In this game, however... having high Rune Power means being able to store and rule over many-many costly Monsters which forms the firepower of your army, when those high levelled Knights that could be a formidable fighter on their own would end up as a Crutch Character who would never be a One-Man Army and Can't Catch Up. When Coel asked Lance about what's the most important thing about rulership, he indirectly taught the trope that forms the backbone of the series.
  • Keystone Army: Killing a Rune Knight will force every other monsters under their control to retreat. Killing a national ruler will cause the entire army to instantly rout.
  • Morality Kitchen Sink: Overall, Both games offer a lot of shades of morality.
    • In Forsena: While New Almekia, Caerleon and Leonia are squarely good with no signs of bad guys, the designated bad guys are filled with people with varying cases of morality. Vaynard overall is a ruler who wants peace, but is very aggressive to achieve it, making him an Anti-Villain. And the Knights of Norgard can range from chivalrous men like Guinglain or downright nice ladies like Noie. Dryst is a selfish hedonist along with a lot of his men, but aside of Ulster that actually gave a damn on Iscalio's welfare, some of his knights like Lucia are actually decent, if troubled, people. And then there's Esgares, which runs gamut from a megalomaniac like Paradoll manipulating the Priest Corps, bloodthirsty generals like Esclados to actually nice and personable twins Mira and Millet who are just feared due to superstitions about twins bringing bad luck, not saying something to Zemeckis who's capable of acts of decency despite overthrowing Almekia. And then there's Bulnoil who's just plain evil, period.
    • In Runersia, even the good nations have some negative points that prevents then from being truly good.
      • Rubino and the Norzaleo Kingdom's rune knights are good and well-intentioned but they are rather over-zealous and prideful of being symbols of justice, to the point of being thoroughly mocked by the other nations.
      • The Republic of Guimoule and the Mohanna Sect harbor Fantastic Racism towards the Barret Clan to the point of making Child Soldiers of them but otherwise its ruler Eliza Uzala (who wishes to stop the above) and most of its rune knights are chivalrous warriors and nice ladies, if rather troubled. The conflict with the other nations arises from them being in possession of the Brigandine of Glory and believing themselves to have been chosen to unify the continent.
      • The Shinobi Nation was severely mistreated by the former Hazam Nation and now enforces a no-man policy as a result (though they still accept men within their ranks, provided they're not from the Tribe) but are nonetheless honorable warriors who fight primarily to obtain the freedom they've long been denied.
      • While the Gustava Empire might be an invading force, Tim is a just ruler, well respected by his people and accepts those who were rejected by the masses, giving them jobs and opportunities they wouldn't get anywhere else. While everyone badmouthed their kingdom as invading barbarians, those claims were unfair slander born out of their conflictual history with Norzaleo and Guimoule, to say nothing of the other nations in general looking down on them just because of their lack of a Brigandine.
      • The Mirelva Island Nations is essentially a selfish marauding army who's launching an attack on Runersia out of sheer opportunism, but its pirates are mostly of the Loveable Rogue type and Stella's conquest of Runersia is at least partially motivated by the desire to protect her people from a potential invasion.
      • The ruler of Mana Saleesia, Rudo Marco, is a bonafide megalomaniacal Evil Overlord but has actual reasons to act like a tyrant: the Mohana and Zai sects have been hating each other's guts for ages and no amount of diplomacy was ever able to put an end to the constant fighting, so he decided to commit evil actions for the greater good of stopping the war between the two groups. In addition, many of the Mana Saleesia knights are genuinely decent individuals, contrasting sharply with their ruler.
  • Non-Indicative Name: Despite the title, the brigandine type of armor is not mentioned at all in the game. It turns out to be a history book that records your efforts to unite Forsena and only mentioned in the ending. Legend of Runersia averts this, however, each of their countries possess a special armor referred as 'Brigandine of (insert traits here)'.
  • Lady of War: Most Lancers, notably Halley and Iria in Legend of Forsena and Eliza Uzala in Legend of Runersia. The former are mostly lance-wielding elegant lady soldiers, while Eliza differs by sporting a Royal Rapier.
  • Purple Is Powerful: The purple-colored nations, Esgares and Mana Saleesia, are considered the most powerful, dangerous and had the most aggressive attitude out of all nations involved, and their rulers are some of the most kickass knights in their continents.
  • Red Is Heroic: Likewise with the Blue Is Heroic trope, though it's more inverted between continents: In Forsena, New Almekia is red-colored and squarely good. In Runersia, Guimoule is mostly quite good along with its ruler, but also plagued with inner issues such as racism against the Barret clan as well as the ever-present conflict between Mohanna and Zai sects.
  • Risking the King: Because a country's leader tends to also be the most powerful unit, it makes sense to use them in battle. But if they go down, it means a full retreat for the rest of the party.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: All country's leaders; the ruler of a country usually is the strongest knight.
  • Squishy Wizard: Caster type characters tend to be squishy; Priests are notably less squishy than Mages. You can avert this by multiclassing your character, but it's not recommended due to their stat growth going out of whack. Notably, Caerleon is the Squishy Wizard kingdom, they have a disproportionate number of caster knights and their king is The Archmage. Perfect for those who like playing a mage army.

    Tropes associated with Legend of Forsena and Grand Edition 
  • A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: Inverted. Esclados, Gereint's master, used to be a decent general, until he got involved in Zemeckis' rebellion, not yet siding with him, and drew blood with his blade. He was then taken over with his own battle and blood lust and decided that a sword was only meant for killing, and joined Zemeckis for that, while Gereint stayed as an upstanding guy.
  • The Ace:
    • "Knight Master" Dinadan and "Mr. Perfect" Asmit.
    • Played around with Leonia Lancer Charlene. She doesn't use ice, but she has 'ice' written all over her theme, she's called "Ice Queen of Leonia", and she comes equipped with the Ice Javelin item.
  • Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Exemplified in Gereint's master Esclados, despite him being a samurai instead of a kung fu fighter
  • Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Kings of Norgard. As stated by Brangien, "The throne of Norgard has been passed down to those who were the strongest."
  • Awesome, but Impractical: The Ninja Master class. How cool is it to control a super ninja in the middle of European Medieval setting? However, to get that class, you must first recruit Shiraha or Kazan, both of whom are only available after the fall of Esgares, and you still need someone with an Expert status on Ranger (which can be hard to maintain until you defeat Esgares) to promote into a ninja and then level them up to Level 20 to become Ninja Master, and their stats are nothing special to write about and their selection of spells pale with other supports or offensive spellcasters. All in all, Ninja Masters tend to be more trouble than they're worth. Of course, there is a way to use the class more practically, and that's by playing as Esgares, which already has Shiraha from the start, but getting another of your knights to become ninja like Shiraha and Kazan, even as Esgares, are still kind of impractical.
  • Badass Bookworm: Cai. Although his physical damage is quite wimpy by leader standard, it takes quite a feat to make a book hurt.
  • The Beastmaster: Soleil and Dogal. The former is appropriately called 'Beastmaster Soleil' while Dogal is a solitary wildman who only has monsters for company. Both have one of the highest rune power in the game.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: Cador and (exclusively in Grand Edition) two Esgares minor characters Eniede and MelTorefas eventually get killed and then Bulnoil resurrects them as Death Knight-like characters.
  • Butt-Monkey: Ulster. He tries to convince Dryst to help the people but he is usually ignored and mocked for his efforts.
  • Card-Carrying Villain: Bulnoil in Legend of Forsena, who is attempting to end the world, buys slaves only to discard them when they're used up, and commits various other in-game evil acts.
  • Chewing the Scenery: Vaynard is usually cold and aloof, but there is a reason why Zemeckis calls him "A man who loves his own voice very much." This is best shown upon beating Vaynard for the first time: he goes on a long rant about how he'll win the next battle against you. His confidence withers thereafter though, as evidenced by the less-than-enthused speeches he gives when you beat him again. And Grand Edition trims his rant into just 3 parts; he originally had more.
  • Cool Mask: And terrifying skull ones; these are pretty standard for Death Knights. Examples include Cador, Gaheris and Olwen, the latter two being zombified MelTorefas and Eniede of Esgares.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Iria. She was originally named Celena and worked as a barmaid. Bulnoil bought her from her father for a silver coin and she became an experiment of immortality. Unfortunately, the experiment was a failure and she did not become immortal; however, she became more powerful at the expense of losing her memories, feelings, and emotions. Bulnoil discarded her once he knew she was a failure. That is when King Dryst found her in the wild and brought her in to be a Knight of Iscalio..
  • Dragon with an Agenda: Cador is only in Zemeckis' rebellion so he could at least engulf the continent into war and weaken the seal of Ouroboros. All according to the plan of his true master, Bulnoil.
  • Dub Name Change: The Grand Edition translation patch changes several existing names for some reason. Most prominently, Ouroboros became Jormungandr.
  • Face–Heel Turn:
    • Morholt, despite being Almekian, joins Norgard instead of New Almekia because "Lance isn't greedy enough" to conquer the continent. Of course, Zemeckis's coup at the beginning qualifies too.
    • In Grand Edition Multiplayer, if you choose the second and third scenario, Carlota is implied to pull one: rather than following Lance to Caerleon, she joins Norgard.
    • In a sense, if you're using Norgard, Langueborg would count as he's from Norgard but joins Leonia because he doesn't like Vaynard. Unlike Luintail, he doesn't come back. Luckily for Vaynard, he's usually considered too much of a moron for him to bother.
    • The most classic case of a Heel Turn would be Irvine. He used to be a childhood friend of Lance, but Zemeckis' rebellion sparked something in him: He's sick of being second banana and overshadowed as a commoner to Lance's royalty, so he decided to give Lance the middle finger and join Esgares while stating 'I never liked you to begin with' or something to that effect.
  • For the Evulz: In Legend of Forsena, Bulnoil really has no discernible reason to summon Ouroboros other than HE'S EVIL. Grand Edition characterizes him as a Straw Nihilist, believing that destroying the world using Ouroboros will put an end to the never-ending cycle of conflict and suffering that mankind has caused.
  • Four Is Death: The four Esgares generals - Esclados, Gish, Shred and Cador.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation:
    • Noie is inflicted with a fatal illness, but she won't die until you finished the game as Norgard (or being in the 3rd scenario for Multiplayer, where she's nonexistent from the get-go). Also if you defeat Norgard, she will also vanish, implying that she died.
    • Langueborg of Leonia originated from Norgard, but sticks with Leonia because he doesn't like Vaynard (and unlike Luintail, he doesn't return once Vaynard shows his worth). However, he'd still rejoin Vaynard if Norgard beats Leonia. This is fixed in Grand Edition, as Norgard will get Charlene instead of Langueborg for defeating Leonia.
    • Iria, the emotionless, sinister Killer Doll, is classed as a Valkyrie, which allowed her to cast Holy Word and heal allies. May be an example of Light Is Not Good, but very jarring considering Iria's attitude. This is also fixed in Grand Edition, whereas Iria gets a special class (Killer Doll) and her White element is changed to Black.
    • Despite Leonia being a very peaceful, pacifistic country, there is no option for allying with New Almekia and Caerleon even if both countries are good. Leonia must crush all countries in order to win.
    • Quests are basically scripted and available to anyone that is not your leader. By this logic, you can send Cador to quest, have him Pet the Dog or even involved in silly mistakes like being robbed, cursed into a duck, tricked by a rabbit to get bitten by a viper... all of them are pretty OOC when compared to his dreaded personality. Grand Edition remedies this by not letting Cador go to Quests... but other Esgares generals that have become cold, megalomaniacal and evil like Esclados and Gish are still fair game for this segregation.
    • In the original, if you entered the cheat code as Esgares and defeat other kingdoms, you still have other level-headed good generals from other countries to join Esgares, the nation that caused the war in the first place. This is fixed in Grand Edition, Esgares will not get any Rune Knights from the kingdoms they defeated with the exception of Iscalio, the second least moral of the kingdoms, or the Rand siblings.
  • Grim Up North: Norgard, it's territories are the only place in Forsena where it sometimes snows and it is a powerful kingdom second only to the Esgares Empire.
  • Gratuitous Ninja: Forsena's setting is that similar of medieval Europe... which suddenly has two ninja, Shiraha and Kazan. And in a lesser manner, Japanese-style Samurai/Shogun are also abundant in this medieval Europe setting.
  • Hypocrite: Discussed during the confrontation between Vaynard and Dryst. Dryst says that the two and Zemeckis are the only 'honest' people in Forsena, they make it clear that they will conquer Forsena, as opposed to the others that claimed that they don't want to conquer but invaded other nations anyway. As it's kind of hard to argue against Dryst in that department, Vaynard can only debate about their true purpose of conquering, his is less selfish.
  • Jack of All Stats: Norgard as a kingdom. None of its roster, monsters and Vaynard included, reach level 20 at the beginning of the game, and thus there is no Crutch Character at all. However, they are very well-spread in class types and each knight is very competent in their job (even the lower-leveled ones like Noie and Elaine have cases of Magikarp Power).
  • Kamehame Hadoken: The Monk's Prana Burst where they put their palms open together and push forward, unleashing a long range Fireball, akin to the latter trope namer.
  • Killer Rabbit: Fairies (evolved form of Pixies) are primarily support units whom you'll most often use for their Reactnote . They're small, cute, and squishy, and it's not unheard to kill them in one hit from a high-end unit such as Dragon. Yeah, well, good luck hitting the cute little fairy with their ungodly evasion, and if they counter, there's a good chance it will apply Charm on your big badass dragon.
  • The Lancer: Most countries have their main 'Number Two' play this role, including Gereint from New Almekia, Dinadan from Caerleon, Guinglain from Norgard, Kiloph from Leonia, and Iria from Iscalio. Esgares' used to be Cador, but after his betrayal, Esmeree takes his place.
  • Late Character Syndrome: A lot of characters can be obtained via quests and quite late in the game at that. By the time you get them, unless you performed badly, you probably already have a reliable set of core parties and they'll mostly end up being sent on quests.
  • Let's Get Dangerous!: Dryst upon promotion to Super Tyrant.
  • Let's See YOU Do Better!: Dryst's answer to Ulster's objection in the ending of Iscalio, also doubling as a Dare to Be Badass. If he objects so much to re-engulfing Forsena into war, all Ulster had to do is to make his new Padstow the most badass nation of new Forsena, beat Dryst and the rest and then apply his new more peaceful rule.
  • Magikarp Power: Lance starts as a wimpy Level 1 Prince, but when he becomes a Level 30 King, he's one of the most powerful units in the game. This can also apply to low-level Rune Knights with high Rune Power (200+). Also, Ghouls start off lousy but become powerful Vampire Lords after a lot of leveling-up.
  • Man Behind the Man: Bulnoil. During the Battle of Lidney, he immobilized King Doremiditt of Norgard during his duel with Zemeckis, ensuring the latter's rise to power. He then manipulated the Almekian ministers to convince King Henguist of Almekia to falsely frame Zemeckis of treason. Then he ordered the Death Knight Cador to plan the seeds of the coup and to convince Zemeckis to rebel against Alemekia, sparking the rebellion and the continent wide war as a result.
  • Morality Pet: Vaynard's sister, Esemeree, serves as this for Zemeckis.
  • My Greatest Failure: All defeated country leaders usually suffers from this. From which their most trusted vassal usually give You Did Everything You Could speech.
  • Ninja: Shiraha and Kazan both start in the "Master Ninja" class.
  • Not Blood Siblings: Cai and Merriot.
  • Overly Long Fighting Animation: Legend of Forsena contains 3D animation for attacking or casting spells. The problem is, one animation of both sides take a VERY long time, and once it plays, it cannot be skipped, so one turn can last VERY long. You can simply turn the animation off from the Options menu, but that limits the map sprites into 'walking animations'. Little wonder that Grand Edition takes the middle road by having the animation happening in the map with existing sprites and keeping them short.
  • Paper Tiger: The Esgares Empire under control of the AI. They are the most powerful nation at the start, with many powerful rune knights and the largest number of castles at the beginning. However, they are forced to defend many borders due to being surrounded on all sides by the other kingdoms and if they lose battles, monsters or/and castles too often (which is an inevitability due to poor AI), they simply cannot replenish their numbers and will be the first nation to fall. The Multiplayer scenario double-subverts this trait of Esgares: Being forced to defend from many fronts was exactly why they no longer existed at the start of Scenario 3, but that was after they were being the one to destroy New Almekia at the start of Scenario 2... but that was because Norgard set their sights on Leonia first, the moment Leonia was conquered, Norgard immediately attacked Esgares, forcing Esgares to split their forces and eventually leading their defeat.
  • Pet the Dog: Zemeckis's treatment to Esmeree is this. Vaynard's soft spot for Noie is too.
  • Pimped-Out Cape: A few characters wear fur-lined capes.
  • Planet of Hats: Caerleon and Leonia are notable for having disproportionate number of spellcasters and white-aligned units, respectively.
  • Promoted to Playable: Grand Edition elevated Esgares into a playable faction. Meanwhile, back in the vanilla version, Kazan and Helrato will join any random country if you recruit Shiraha and Layoneil respectively, you can't get them normally. In Grand Edition, enemy kingdoms will do quest and could get Shiraha and Layoneil before you do. When that happens, you can then quest to get Kazan and Helrato, so you can play as them.
  • Punch-Clock Hero:
    • In Story Mode, the only Hero that counts is Schutleis, who joins the first country to take one castle from Esgares. In Multiplayer, Halley can join any country provided that they're currently the strongest country. In Multiplayer Scenario 3, Kiloph can become one, provided that you're not Norgard (he's to Norgard what Schutleis was to Esgares).
    • The Rand siblings Miguel, Castor and Liguel. Serving kingdoms are mere jobs for them because they're told to uphold their family names by serving different kingdoms, and they can be convinced to join the country that has their sibling in it, depending on the combinationnote , it could either spell a Heel–Face Turn or Face–Heel Turn to your kingdom. Their mid-low levels means that the AI will be less than likely to deploy them to see this at play.
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The Kingdom of Iscalio is full of them to the point that many characters are utterly weirded out by their questionable motives.
  • Rebellious Princess: Merriot and Brangien, the later of which is extra bitter because...
    • Stay in the Kitchen: Vaynard only became Norgard's ruler, instead of Brangien, because he's a man.
  • Red Baron: "Mad Monarch" Dryst, "White Wolf" Vaynard, "Silent Wise King" Cai, "Knight Master" Dinadin, "Goddess of the Night" Brangein, "Silver Knight" Guinglain, "Killer Doll" Iria, "Shooting Star" Halley, and "Death Knight" Cador.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The friendship between Palomides (Red Oni) and Yvain (Blue Oni).
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: The Snake of Chaos, Ouroboros, which Bulnoil desires to release from its can.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: The Belferes twins Mira and Millet.
  • Sinister Scythe: Dryst is a sinister man that wields a scythe as his weapon.
  • Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: It varies based on which country you play as... In Brigandine: Grand Edition, it depends on which country you play as in Story Mode, but the extended endings suggest New Almekia (Idealism) to be the eventual victor. In Multiplayer Mode, however, it primarily leans toward Cynicism, as evidenced by how, in the second scenario, both New Almekia (Idealism) and Leonia (Idealism) start out defeated by Esgares (Cynicism) and Norgard (Cynicism), respectively. This leaves Caerleon as the only remaining country of good guys. However, Idealism stood a better chance because in a further latter scenario, Caerleon still stands while Norgard defeated Esgares.
    • Also in the Multiplayer Scenario 1, Halley no longer joins New Almekia by default. She'll join whichever country is currently the strongest, which makes her a Punch-Clock Hero.
  • Smug Snake: Camden is very much a typical example of the trope, a mustached Professional Butt-Kisser, but turns out to be a subversion. As Iscalio decreed, 'honor and competence do not go hand in hand', and Camden proves himself very capable in combat when he puts his efforts into it.
  • Story Branch Favoritism: New Almekia, especially in Grand Edition. Aside of being the one that was directly affected by Zemeckis' rebellion, it also has the exclusive scenario linked with the true Big Bad (Bulnoil), linked with Cador and Halley. And it's the only one that has an extended ending when compared to its Legend of Forsena edition. (Other kingdoms play out their default ending after defeating Bulnoil) And generally, getting the most out of it required extra planning.note 
  • Technical Pacifist: Lyonesse, when Vaynard's aggressive attempts to cow Leonia forces her to declare war on Norgard.
  • Then Let Me Be Evil: The game starts with Zemeckis, fresh from a major victory against Norgard and hailed as a hero, was informed by Cador that the other ministers of Almekia were getting jealous of him and decided to frame him as a traitor now that he has served his purpose as a warrior. With a little more tinkering, an outraged Zemeckis decided that if that's how it is, so be it, he'll betray Almekia and make his own Empire for warriors like him.
  • There Can Only Be One: Unlike any other class, there can only be one Ninja Master and the only one capable of becoming that is Shiraha.
  • Throw the Book at Them: How the "Silent Wise King" Cai manages to have a weaker physical attack than the White Magician Girl.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Promoting Lance to King will do this, as will promoting Dryst to Super Tyrant or anyone to Necromancer/Witch.
  • Two Guys and a Girl: Caerleon's Wild Knights (Eloute-Gush-Lecarra) and the Rand family team (Miguel-Castor-Liguel).
  • Video Game Cruelty Potential: No one is stopping you as either New Almekia or Caerleon to break their alliance by attacking one of their undefended territory. The betrayed party will think that your ruler has lost his mind and steels themselves to their defense. One of the reasons why you may want to do this is more apparent in Grand Edition: If your nation is not well prepared to face Bulnoil and your ally is just one castle away from unifying Forsena with their and your castle numbers combined, you may want to save your enemy (to destroy them later yourself) by betraying your allies, prolonging the war and giving you more levels and potent monsters to face Bulnoil.
  • We Used to Be Friends: Since beating a kingdom means that you and other kingdoms get a different set of Knights, you can still pit them in battle and in Grand Edition, they will express the trope, but overall, not holding it against each other to not joining their side. The game has these pairs:
    • New Almekia: Carlota and Adilicia
    • Leonia: Charlene and Isfas/Langueborg
    • Iscalio: Daffy and Bagdemagus
  • "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: Downplayed. In Grand Edition, finishing with New Almekia has an expanded epilogue taking place after the unification of Forsena (and beating Bulnoil), particularly on Padstow, but only a few characters' fates were known:
    • Meleagant has taken his lessons about 'leader is not about power but trust' to heart and rightfully took the throne of Padstow for the retired Coel, and looks forward to apply the lessons he learned. Adilicia became his constant companion, though whether they became a couple or not are left ambiguous.
    • Carlota became the highest ranking magic instructor of Padstow, and she's teaching the next generation of mages along with Gilsus.
    • Loufal became the leader of Padstow's Royal Guards and training the soldiers there.
  • White Mage: Of the varying Cleric-Lector-Saint and Priest-Bishop-Cardinal class trees. And Leonia is pretty much the White Mage kingdom, they have a rather disproportionate white magic users. Though it is good for those who likes to play healers, it also makes it one of the hardest Kingdoms to play as because of it.
  • Wise Beyond Their Years: Elaine, despite being Roadbull's daughter, talks Roadbull into accepting Vaynard's new ways - ways that are better but different - than the established norm.
  • With Us or Against Us: Vaynard's idea of diplomacy is to say this in front of Lyonesse, since he was pretty sure that Leonia was military-wise inferior thanks to their religious pacifist stance. It backfired and caused Lyonesse to choose 'against' willingly and impressed Vaynard when he's not in front of anyone else.
  • You Killed My Father: Both Lance and Brangien say this to Zemeckis.

    Tropes associated with Legend of Runersia 
  • All the Other Reindeer: The Holy Gustava Empire are treated very poorly by the other countries due to being descendants of exiled rune knights, their lack of Brigandine, and their location in the impoverished northern lands.
  • Army of Thieves and Whores: The United Islands of Mirelva, an alliance between the pirate leaders of the seven small islands of Mirelva. The Holy Gustava Empire also apply due to them accepting exiles and individuals unwanted by the their respective countries as long as they are loyal to the regime.
  • Arch-Enemy:
    • The Norzaleo Kingdom and the Holy Gustava Empire have been enemies ever since the Gustava Incident, a war in which the Holy Gustava Empire nearly conquered the Kingdom and exacting retribution against them for their oppression until the Republic of Guimoule intervened due to the Holy Gustava Empire then setting sights on attacking the Merchant Republic of Gui, prompting the later to seek help to the nation of Moule and both it and the Kingdom repelled the Empire.
    • The Republic of Guimoule and the Mana Saleesia Theocracy have also hated each other due to a schism caused by the actions of it's founders. Mohanna Carradine, disciple of General Zai and eventually founder of the Mohanna Sect, stole the Mana Stones of the Zai Sect and spread them throughout Runersia believing that the blessings shouldn't be monopolized. General Zai did not react to this betrayal due to wanting to prevent an armed conflict but his followers did not share his opinion, triggering the Thirty Year Mana Stone War.
  • Applied Phlebotinum: Mana. It enables certain individuals with great strength in power and magic to summon and control monsters.
  • Badass Normal: The Holy Gustava Empire is the only nation without a Brigandine armor and they live in a land devoid of resources and mana, yet they can stand strong against each of the other empowered five nations.
  • Belly Dancer: One of the new class trees in Runersia is the Dancer class, promoting into Rogue then Assassin, but in practice, they also wear the trope's default outfit and have damaging dances that can cause various status effects. Guimoule and Shinobi had plenty of them.
  • Barbarian Tribe: The Shinobi Tribe, they are Nubile Savages and their territories are full of forests that take full advantage against invaders.
  • Composite Character: Grappler type classes are a combination of Forsena's Grappler and Monk. Monks as the first tier are basically treated like Rangers instead of being a 2nd tier possible branch from Priests, and their attacks cause Knock Back. As Grapplers, they gain a white element just like Monks (Forsena Grapplers were colorless). And like Forsena Grapplers/Champions, they cannot cast magic at all and became more pure close-range brawlers, losing the Prana Burst, though in exchange they get a no-Knock Back Life Drain-based uppercut attack.
  • The Corruption: Mana in Runersia is speculated by a few characters to increase the people's aggressivity, locking the continent into an endless war. This is the main reason why Aurora wishes for the player to eliminate the Rune God, although in some scenarios where you side with the Rune God, such as Guimoule, it may be interpreted as a Secret Test of Character: Mana may be corruptive, but strong-willed humans can suppress its corruption and use it for good, ending wars and shaping their own destiny. He left the realm in peace afterwards.
  • Cultured Warrior: The Rune Knights of Norzaleo besides being powerful warriors, also have a cultured vocation. For example: Grados, the general of their armies is also a literary arts teacher. The Prince, Rubino, also mostly defaulted in writing playwrights for theatres and would most likely do so more if war didn't come knocking and their King disappeared.
  • Darker and Edgier: Mana Saleesia's story in the main campaign when compared to the other nations of Runersia and even Forsena's. The intro starts with Rudo murdering his father in cold blood then blaming the Republic of Guimoule for his death in order to kickstart his campaign to conquer the continent for his own selfish ends and it goes downhill from here.
  • Does Not Like Men: Downplayed. The Shinobi Tribe women have driven off all the men in their nation due to being previously persecuted and abused by their predesessor state the Hazam Nation. They even have a law in which if a male baby is born, they will abandon it to the very edges of their territory. But on the other hand, they are okay with male Bazoo (Toby) and other men as long as they don't come from the Tribe, as seen with Jose and Sid, the two chief swordsmen of the faction.
  • Draco in Leather Pants: An in-universe version, in addition of its inverse in regards of Gustava. Its originator, Asid Gustav, was seen as a disgraced Knight from Norzaleo, but when the other nations' history book viewed him as being exiled for being power hungry and created a marauding group that became an Empire as a result, the Gustava history book portrayed him as being exiled for resisting the corrupt nobles of Norzaleo and united the nomadic exiles with charisma alone, thus stating that the others' scorn against Gustava was unfair and more because they were being overly proud for owning any of the Brigandines.
  • Driven to Suicide: The fate of Rudo Marco if Mana Saleesia falls.
  • Dysfunction Junction: The Holy Gustava Empire has tons of unwanted exiles here and there, so their cast does include crazed fanatics, someone who looks like a playwright but likes to punch people in the face, a lady who's Too Kinky to Torture and likes giving out orgasms (and she's the token healer!), and the Emperor's sister who has a brocon and is Dressed Like a Dominatrix, whip and all...
  • Expy: New monsters in Runersia have similar functions with monsters from Forsena, though sometimes they have some improvement:
    • Goblins for Giant Scorpions, since their attacks poison the enemies. Goblins, however, have a ranged attack.
    • Mermaids for Mermen, being units that suffer Crippling Overspecialization of water terrain. Mermaids, however, make it up with being able to cast spells.
    • Imps for Pixies, being the main support spellcaster with Protect and Silent as starter spells. However, they do not have extra effect on their criticals.
    • Ghouls' final class is not Vampire Lord here but Lich.
    • Giant Snakes for Hydras, being the powerful but sluggish water terrain specialist. They also evolve into Hydra as the final class, but they don't have any black elements anymore like Tiamats.
  • Evil Wears Black: The Rune Knights of the Holy Gustava Empire wear a lot of full black and gray outfits and most of them skirt the edge from being amoral at best to outright malevolent.
  • Equal-Opportunity Evil: To the other nations, the Holy Gustava Empire's acceptance of exiles and unwanted people in their land comes across as this.
  • For Great Justice: The Norzaleo Kingdom's values this although the other nations have a less than ideal view towards their idea of justice, finding them zealous and overbearing.
  • Funny Background Event: During Jazz’s recruitment and report on Endorian, she is also tattooing a rose on Coco. As the others continue the discussion, Coco is still screaming in pain.
  • Graceful Loser: Rubino, Eliza and Stella all take the fall of their respective nations quite well, choosing either to carry on as a playwright and dancer (Rubino and Eliza respectively) or to sail the coast of Runersia and teach the people how to fish and read the tides (Stella).
  • Grey-and-Gray Morality: The conflict between the Mohana Sect and the Zai Sect. Simply put, just as they're capable of doing good deeds to those in need, they have hated each other for an endless period of time. The so-called 'nice' man of the Mohana, in the beginning of the Mana Saleesia story, starts out by badmouthing and spewing bemeaning words towards the Zai sect just because, in front of Selena who was acting as nothing but genuinely nice to him. While Rudo delivers a Disproportionate Retribution upon him by brutalizing him in the re-education center and sends him back to Guimoule in a sorry state, it's hard to deny that for this once, he's just doing his job as the Chief Watchman to make sure the situation doesn't escalate to something even worse at the cost of the more innocent side of Zai.
  • Ham-to-Ham Combat: If Hazarov of Gustav and Ginny of Mirelva face off, the conversation quickly devolves into yelling and boasting (though Ginny is more good-natured about the whole thing), and ends in Hazarov declaring that they must now take turns punching each other until Ginny can't move.
  • Home Field Advantage: Shinobi is full of Green Element and works well in a forest terrain. Their home castles are surrounded with forests, making invasions towards Shinobi a nightmare if you are short on mages with Red element or attacks that never misses. And especially its unique unit: Toby the Bazoo Knight, who gains an even bigger evasion rate if he stays on a fores tile, making him nigh-untouchable.
  • Hotter and Sexier: With different art styles, Runersia has no shortages of Stripperiffic ladies when compared to Forsena (which has little to no skimpy ladies). It's not just limited to the Shinobi Tribe either, though they make up half of the female population, not the majority.
  • I Just Want to Be Free: The Shinobi Tribe desires to be free of being used as mercenaries by the other nations and from the impeding chaos of the war that threatens to take away even more of their freedom. Just like with Norzaleo's obsession of justice, however, the other countries question why the Tribe needs to conquer the other nations to achieve their freedom.
  • Jerkass Gods: The Rune God. He wasn't actively malevolent and more content to leave humans be after using the Mana he gave. But, the creation of Aurora boils down to 'he saw Aurora's mom and thinks she's hot and then impregnated her by force' as well as not liking it when humans got too close to his secrets, to which he reacted with killing them, as it happened to Rubino's father. Aurora paints him as a Demiurge-like Control Freak figure, but he also willingly hands down healing towards those that serve him and lets humans do whatever they like with their free will... just as long as they don't pry too much into his private thoughts.
  • Knight Templar: The Mana Saleesia Theocracy and the Holy Gustava Empire have some in their ranks, some even being part of their nations' respective Secret Police to hunt down, kill or forcibly convert heretics and dissidents.
  • Moral Event Horizon: An in-universe version happens in two cases:
    • When playing as Mana Saleesia and many players tend to hold the same sentiments towards Rudo afterwards. Rudo ordered a massacre of the Mohanna Sect knights and his followers do it without question in a fanatic frenzy. And when one of his loyal but kindly followers Selena dared to faint at the wanton cruelty, Rudo ordered her imprisonment. This, along with the slaughter, caused several Mana Saleesia Knights like Frederico and Cyrus to leave out of disgust.
    • When playing as Gustava, if Tim sides with Aurora, then the Rune God crosses this by possessing Sin Gustav and then forcing Tim to kill him. This gives Tim and the whole Gustava Empire enough reasons to renounce the Rune God and take up arms against him.
  • Ms. Fanservice: The Shinobi Tribe in their entirety, being full of beautiful Nubile Savages in scantly-clad attire.
  • Mystical Pregnancy: The Shinobi Tribe have a rule in which women that reach the age of 18 are required to bathe in a magical spring in order reproduce and bear children.
  • Non-Indicative Name: Downplayed with the Shinobi Tribe. While they look more like a barbarian tribe, they do perform ninja-like duties as mercenaries and spies for the other nations.
  • Poor Communication Kills: The leaders of the three good nations (Norzaleo Kingdom, Republic of Guimoule and the Shinobi Tribe) are unable to settle their differences and ally with each other due to ultimately being kind and idealistic but very stubborn people leading opposing armies. In particular:
    • Rubino and Talia are stubborn in believing that their path leads to justice/freedom respectively while Eliza believes that she and her country are chosen to end the war. This is despite Guimoule helping out in defending Norzaleo from Gustava as well as destroying the Hazamu nation, therefore granting the Shinobi tribe freedom.
    • On the death of the previous King of Norzaleo, the kingdom then started suspecting that Guimoule might be responsible, especially with Eliza's rise and claim to unite the land for glory. This suspicion was never cleared out and when Eliza admits that she didn't kill the King and Rubino respectfully asked her to fight alongside him, she refused to stray from her path.
    • Additionally, the Guimoule kingdom, especially Mu'ah, saw the other good nations through Jade-Colored Glasses, deconstructing their otherwise good concept:
      • With the death of the King of Norzaleo, their obsession with justice and how they suspected Guimoule for the deed made Guimoule believe that they became drunk on their moral high horse and must be taught a lesson.
      • They also saw the Shinobi tribe being drunk on their newfound freedom and the next step of a former slave enjoying their freedom would be harassing others and taking away other people's freedom, therefore they become a threat.
      • Ironically enough, Stella lampshades it her battle event with Eliza. The fact that she of all people is the closest to accept Eliza's offer of an alliance (until Eliza asks her to surrender her and pirates weapons).
    Stella: You're smack in the middle of it and you'd rather fight one 'nother than try comin' to some accord.
  • Sacrificial Lamb: Playing as Shinobi or Mana Saleesia will introduce you to some characters who only appear early in the story before the actual gameplay begins and in flashbacks. The moment the story kicks in, they die. They're still playable but must be unlocked in the Challenge Mode, which is mostly considered non-canon:
    • Shinobi's example is Rei, Medessa's daughter and Talia's Cool Big Sis figure, who blew herself up during a botched mission in Mana Saleesia because some men grabbed her, she's about to be captured, and the Shinobi laws decreed that she should choose death.
    • Mana Saleesia's example is Holy See Romanov, Rudo's father. He's a revered leader and a Nice Guy who sought for peaceful methods in order to stop the endless hatred between Mohana and Zai sect, but hadn't bore fruit. For that and his own ambition, Rudo assassinated him and pinned the blame on the Mohana sect.

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