Video Game / Colorgrave Universe

The Colorgrave Universe, also known as the Colorverse, is a common name given to a series of games that take place across at least two different worlds but in the same universe with some characters crossing over between them. Most of these games have a retro art style that takes some inspiration from the Game Boy Color palettes. They were developed by Colorgrave, a team of developers that also shares its name with one of the characters featured within the games.

The two worlds that are primarily featured are known as Lyrian and Ledamra, but there is also a dimension known as the Colorless Void, where one of the races from the latter world were banished to and are planning to escape some day.

Games released so far:

• Prodigal (2020)
• Curse Crackers: For Whom The Belle Toils (2022)

Games in development:

• Veritus (Estimated release 2024)
• Claire A La Mode (Estimated release 2024)
• Howling Crown (Estimated release 2024)

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Tropes found in the games:

• Aerith and Bob: There are normal names such as Belle, Bonnie, Caroline, and Hugh, and then more unusual names like Oran, Illy, Zaegul, and Barax. There's also Keaton and Oakley, whose names seem more like surnames being used as first names.
• All Crimes Are Equal: Any and all crimes commited in Ledarma are punished by a sentence in Hyrain, no exceptions, and the Knights strictly enforce this. Downplayed as the type of imprisonment is determined by how likely the criminals are to change their ways (with the ones considered to be lost causes being encased in crystal), and some are sentenced to work as Reapers instead.
• Amazing Technicolor Population:
  • The Scales created by Armadel seem to have different skin colors. Blindgaze's is dark blue, Oathbind's is red, and while Colorgrave is currently grey all over, official artwork shows her with grey-ish purple skin. Seeminly averted with Lorebright, who appears to have a caucasian skin tone.
  • The Mournlen and Gazen races come in different colors to the more normal skin tones.
  • The Revante are humanoid beings with pointy ears, white hair, and grey skin. Similarly, the Akinai are blue humanoid beings with pointy ears, tails, and horns.
• Apocalypse Cult: Ledamra seems to have a cult of people who are "looking forward to the Dawn", which is implied to be either the end of the world, or a very big change to it. It's hinted that Ursyla, Riley, possibly Maggie, and Belle's mother are part of this cult.
• Anachronic Order: While the games released so far take place in chronological order, Word of God has said that this won't be the case for all of them. Curse Crackers takes place about ten years after the events of Prodigal, and Veritus takes place another few years after that, but Howling Crown has been stated to take place at some point in between Prodigal and Curse Crackers.
• Cosmetic Award: Some games have the ability to unlock different color palettes for the player character, and different art for the main menu, earned by completing certain in-game achievements.
• Crapsack World: Lyrian is divided into the North and the South, and while people from both areas have been known to get along occasionally, there are also disagreements and signs of a possible war starting not helped by the fact that at least one of the people looking to conquer the North is a literal God. The North is shown to be dangerous, with several people dying at the Frontier, where it's said that unpredictable snowstorms called Howls can happen and will usually take someone's life or severely injure them if they're caught in it. Not only that, but there's also many dangerous creatures around the world, with the deadliest ones being found in the Frontier.
• Crapsaccharine World: Ledamra seems more bright and quirky compared to the world of Lyrian, but it isn't any less dangerous. There is a strict law system, the 7 people in the most powerful positions known as the Titled can be challenged by anyone which results in either them losing their Title or the one who challenged them being punished, there is some prejudice towards the Ungifted and a bit between the different types of Gifted as well, there's a Government Conspiracy designed to ruthlessly suppress any and all knowledge of the Colorless Void and the Graven, and if that doesn't sound too bad, everyone's hatred manifests as a power called Malice, which if left unchecked can cause the seeds that anyone can have inside them to grow and transform into a powerful monster called a Malevolent, killing the host in the process.
• Deliberately Monochrome: The Colorless Void and most of its residents are all in greyscale, with only certain parts involved in gameplay being colored.
• Early-Installment Weirdness:
  • In Prodigal, the residents of the Colorless Void refer to themselves as monsters, which fits their different appearances well enough, but Curse Crackers reveals that they are one of the races gifted by the Scales and known as the Graven, after their Scale Colorgrave. Unlike the other races, the Graven don't follow any specific rules when it comes to their appearances or abilities, but it's still odd to see them call themselves monsters in this game, which is probably down to the developers not having finalized their origins or even come up with the other Scales and races just yet. In addition, the way some of them talk to Oran in Prodigal make it sound as if mages are ordinary humans, while Curse Crackers establishes that only those gifted by the Scales can be mages, while anyone with a normal human appearance can't; however, Word of God has said that Caroline's daughter Ema is capable of magic despite looking like a normal human. It has been explained by the creators that all the races of Ledamra are technically humans, but it's unclear if the same can be said for the Graven.
  • Both Prodigal and Curse Crackers were initially released without the post-game content, which was added in new patches. The developers intended to do this for all their games, adding new content in a number of updates to the games to keep players interested. However, they soon decided it would be better to focus on creating more new games instead of making new content for their older ones, so as of Veritus, the only new patches will be to fix bugs and other gameplay problems.
• The Empath: The Hearthen are able to sense emotions by hearing them with their rabbit ears, although some are better at it than others.
• Fantastic Racism:
  • A few of the races and nations in Lyrian don't get along with each other, usually either based on if they're from the North or the South, or who they worship. For example, the Estarosans, who worship Zolei, are distrustful of the Revante, who worship Raem.
  • In Ledamra, the Ungifted are often looked down upon, mainly because more of them appeared after the war of the Scales, leading people to initially believe that no more Gifted would be born. Some Gifted also believe it's unfair that they can't get an advantage over the Ungifted who are still skilled in combat.
  • Downplayed when it comes to the different types of Gifted; they're generally on good terms with each other, but the other races don't get on well with the Gazen, who can see Malice and will often make people uncomfortable when talking about it or just being mysterious in general, and the Hearthen aren't allowed to play card games because they might use their ability to hear other people's feelings to cheat.
• Fantasy Pantheon: There are several Gods, and also powerful beings that are considered to be Gods. The ones we know of so far are Nyxian, the God of Hate, Armadel, the God of Life, Veritus, the God of Shadow, and Revulan, the God of Storm, and Kieger, the God of Metal. There are also Gods of Light, Water, and Earth, but their names are unknown. There are also beings who are not true Gods but are still worshipped as them, such as Raem, Var, and Zolei.
• Gender-Restricted Ability: Even though there are males who were gifted by the Scales and have the appropriate physical features, they are only able to use their natural abilities (such as the Gazen's ability to see Malice) and can't use magic like females can. The Loren get this quite bad; while the males still have long lifespans, they can't use the huge amount of magic that they're supposed to get when their antlers grow in. This might be because the Scales and their creator were all female.
• Great Big Library of Everything: The abandoned library in Ledamra, once watched over by the Loren, is implied to be one, or at least what's left of it after the War of the Scales, supported by the fact that what we see of it is underground while the area above is mostly ruins. There's also a nearby tower where Lorebright resides, and it's hinted that a new library was built elsewhere.
• Great Offscreen War:
  • Lyrian had the War of Glass, a war between the Gods that ended with a region becoming a wasteland made of glass, where the war got its name from. It's from this war that Veritus was split into four parts and the God of Hate was killed, among other things.
  • Ledamra had the War of the Scales, although sources are unreliable on whether Colorgrave started the war by herself or if it was several or all of the Scales who did as a result of their disagreements. Either way, it resulted in Colorgrave and her people being banished from the world, and the deaths of the other Scales, although some of them are revealed to still be alive.
• Guide Dang It!: A recurring theme throughout these games is that there are many hidden secrets, most of which are harder to find than others, as well as very little guidance on how to progress certain quests (which usually involves having to talk to the right people at the right times).
• Little Bit Beastly: Some of the races gifted by the Scales have animalistic features. For example, the Hearthen have rabbit ears, the Gazen have tails, the Loren have antlers, and the Mournlen have sharp teeth and spikes in their hairstyles that resemble fins.
• Long-Lived: The Loren have significantly longer lifespans than the rest of the Ledamrans. In Curse Crackers, a conversation with the Loren fisherman on the bridge has him mention how he's outlived many people. He's later revealed to be Sir Toan, who was first mentioned in Prodigal to have been involved in a war that is hinted to have taken place hundreds of years ago.
• Monster Clown:
  • Bonnie's scythe is called Hollow Whimsy and used to belong to someone called Penbrook the Clown, who is said to have been a rather bloodthirsty Titled warrior.
  • A member (and possibly the leader) of the Dawn cult is a masked jester who forces Belle to fight a rather aggressive jack-in-the-box after putting her through many challenges, and is able to knock people out with her magic. It's strongly hinted that she is actually Belle's mother, and a wanted criminal.
• No Body Left Behind: Ledamrans don't leave bodies behind when they die, instead turning into flames of light known as souls, which are collected and taken to a place called the Grave by the Reapers.
• Oddly Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: Downplayed with Curse Crackers: For Whom The Belle Toils, which isn't as much of a sequel to Prodigal as it is a game taking place in the same universe (but a different world) several years later, but it's still a mouthful compared to the single word title of the previous game. Played a bit straighter with Veritus, which is a sequel to Prodigal (though it still takes place years later) and shares its name with that of the God of Shadow who is hinted to be the main antagonist, rather than a description relating to the game's events.
• Once per Episode: Each game so far has a lyrical track during the final boss of the main story.
• Our Humans Are Different: There are six different types of human in Ledamra who were gifted by the Scales, as well as the Ungifted, who are just ordinary humans. They are known as the Hearthen, the Oathen, the Mournlen, the Loren, the Gazen, and the Forgen. Each have different abilities based on their Scale, and the females are also able to use magic. There is another type of Gifted known as the Graven, but they refer to themselves as monsters based on their more unique and monstrous appearances.
• Planet of Hats: Downplayed with the Ledamran races, who usually follow a certain theme based on the Scale they were gifted by but aren't completely limited to it. For example, the Oathen are mostly warriors, but Jacky is interested in history which would be more fitting for a Loren, and the Hearthen are known to be more supportive towards people but Bonnie is skilled in magic and combat while Genevive wants to become a Knight.
• Pointy Ears: Most of the Ledamrans who are Gifted have pointy ears, with the exception of the Hearthen, who have rabbit ears instead, and the Mournlen, who appear to have fins. The Scales and few of the races in Lyrian also have pointy ears.
• The Power of Hate:
  • In Ledamra, Malice exists as a force that causes people with enough of it to have seeds in them; if they don't keep their Malice under control, it can create creatures known as Spites, and eventually cause their seeds to grow and turn them into beings called Malevolents. This can even happen to Ungifted, if Belle's house being surrounded by a lot of Malice is anything to go by. The Gazen also have the ability to see Malice and seeds.
  • Lyrian has a God of Hate. Different sources refer to this God either as Hate or as Nyxian, though it's possible that they might be separate characters, with Hate being someone who works for Nyxian. It's also likely that Nyxian is the one responsible for the Malice in Ledamra.
• Prison Dimension: The Colorless Void functions as one, where Colorgrave and the Graven were sent after the war she started in Ledamra. By the time Prodigal takes place, they've already found a way to escape into other worlds, but Colorgrave has ordered everyone not to return to Ledamra just yet. It's also shown that if they die, they'll just respawn back in the void.
• Red Baron: In Ledamra, there are 7 highly-skilled people known as the Titled, who have a position of authority, with each of them having their own unique title. If a Titled is defeated by someone who challenges them, they become a Subtitled, while the other person becomes a Titled. People who are skilled and famous (or infamous) enough can also become a Subtitled.
• Retraux: The games not only use a pixel art style but also often use limited color palettes in most of their sprites to resemble the style of Game Boy Color games, as well as the soundtracks having a lot of chiptune in them. There are some elements that break away from this, such as a few changes in art and animation, as well as using more vibrant colors in some places, and the music tracks including other instruments, but overall the games invoke a retro feel to them.
• Schizo Tech: Both worlds take place in a fantasy setting where there is little technology, making the technology that does exist stand out more. Lyrian is a Medieval European Fantasy / Heroic Fantasy world, but has machines like cranes, slot machines, and mechas. Meanwhile, Ledamra is also a Heroic Fantasy world, especially since there are more people who use and therefore rely on magic, and letters are delivered by birds, but the first area in Curse Crackers has levels with digital screens, stage lights, and sound equipment, and Belle plays an electric guitar.
• Sdrawkcab Name: Ledamra's name is that of its creator, Armadel, spelled backwards.
• Soundtrack Cover Character Jam: The cover of Prodigal's soundtrack shows Keaton singing, while the one for Curse Crackers shows Belle playing the guitar. Both characters actually do this in their respective games.
• Talk to Everyone: Talking to everyone not only provides more lore about the settings of the games, but can often progress certain quests and sidequests.
• The 'Verse: The games take place across two main worlds so far, one of which was created by one of the Gods.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist:
  • The Knights in Ledamra are quite strict with the way they imprison criminals in Hyrain, their floating prison, even going so far as to keep the ones they consider the most dangerous trapped in crystal, as well as punishing anyone who tries and fails to challenge a Titled by making them collect the souls of the dead, but they're doing so in order to keep the peace and prevent another war from happening.
  • A possible example with Revulan, who is trying to claim as many crowns in Lyrian as she can. It's unclear whether she's doing so because she thinks she can make the world a better place under her rule and that people are better off without any monarchies, or if she just wants the power all to herself.
• World of Technicolor Hair: There are several characters with unusual hair colors that appear to be their natural hair color, such as Caroline, who has blue hair, River, who has green hair, and Belle, who has pink hair.

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