Video Game / New Yankee in King Arthur's Court

A knight and his lady

New Yankee is a series of time management games from Alawar Games. It follows the exploits of John and Mary, husband and wife ranchers from California who, following a magical mishap, find themselves trapped in the time of King Arthur. In subsequent games, similar accidents send them to various fantastic realms, where they have to direct the local populace to gather resources, construct buildings, uncover treasures, and fight (or run away from) assorted monsters. Will Sir John's sword arm and Lady Mary's mastery of magic be enough to escape their current predicament?

The series is generally praised for its impressive artwork, endearing music, and off-the-wall sense of humor. Anachronism Stew and Fantasy Kitchen Sink are present in full measure. Starting with the fourth game, some (though not all) installments are available in both a Vanilla Edition and a collector's edition, which includes extended gameplay in the form of extra levels, wallpapers, and other goodies.

Several of the games are simply titled New Yankee in King Arthur's Court followed by the game number.

Games in the series

• The first two games provide the backstory of the series. John and Mary are tourists taking pictures at Stonehenge when mysterious lightning strikes the stones. John wakes up to find that he's a knight pledged to the service of King Arthur, and has to travel the kingdom fulfilling tasks if he ever wants to get back home. The story spans both games, with the first ending on a minor cliffhanger.
• The third game, New Yankee in Santa's Service, has John and Mary, reunited and successful in their attempts to thwart Arthur's hidden enemy, perform a spell to send themselves home. But the spell goes sideways and they instead crash land at the North Pole, where their messy arrival scares off Santa's reindeer. With elves to assist them, they have to round up the missing deer in order to save Christmas.
• The fourth game puts the heroes back home at last, where John opens a bottle of wine to celebrate their triumphant return. The wine, however, turns out to be stored in an enchanted bottle and they find themselves back in Arthurian Britain, where the king once again needs their services.
• The fifth game again brings them to Arthur's court, this time thanks to a large plant with grabby vines, where Mary's magic is needed to tame four dragons who otherwise endanger the realm.
• The sixth game, New Yankee in Pharaoh's Court, sends John and Mary on what they intend will be a vacation in ancient Egypt. However, once they arrive, they're called upon to stop the machinations of a false ruler.
• In New Yankee 7: Deer Hunters, John and Mary decide to vacation at their castle in Arthur's realm while repairs are being made on their ranch. Since they're in the neighborhood, Arthur tasks them with tracking down the mystical white deer he encountered in the woods.
• New Yankee 8: Journey of Odysseus drops John and Mary in ancient Greece to aid the hero Odysseus. He's trying to get back to Ithaca; they're trying to get back to Arthur's realm to have a word with the one who sent them spiraling through time.
• New Yankee 9: The Evil Spellbook pits our heroes against a sentient and malevolent book of spells which wants to take over Camelot. While they've been trapped in the adventure of the previous game, the book has ensorcelled the minds of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, declared John and Mary to be outlaws, and destroyed the mirror that will allow them to get back to California.
• New Yankee: Under the Genie's Thumb sees John and Mary in their own version of Arabian Nights - they're captured by an evil genie who forces them to work for him.
• New Yankee: Battle for the Bride brings the gang together in Arthur's realm once more. Sir Lancaster's daughter is being courted by a greedy knight who just wants her father's money, and John and Mary have to help the knight who truly loves her.
• New Yankee: Karma Tales has King Arthur summon John and Mary for a special diplomatic mission. One of Camelot's best trading partners has ceased operations, and he wants the heroes to visit the Raja of that country and find out what's happened.
• New Yankee 13: Mary's Dark Side sends the heroes to retrieve King Arthur's missing crown. But when Mary loses her memory during the quest, she awakens as a dark and sinister version of herself, still in command of all of her magic. John and their friends have to find a way to undo the memory loss before it's too late.

Tropes found in these games include:

Tropes found throughout the series

• 20 Bear Asses: Some of the games include this as one of their objectives; collecting the items (and there usually are twenty) happens during gameplay and is necessary to complete the game. A counter on the map will keep track of how many remain.
  • Throughout the sixth game, John and Mary have to collect twenty golden ankhs in order to appeal to the ancient Egyptian gods to send them home.
  • In the eighth game, they're on the lookout for Odysseus's missing sheep.
  • In the ninth, they must find all the fragments of the shattered Magic Mirror so Ears can reassemble it.
• Abhorrent Admirer: Taliesin, in the ninth game, seems ready to swear his undying devotion to the Lady of the Lake. She's unimpressed and borderline annoyed. The tenth game's bonus levels make it even more evident that he's head over heels for her; she's still not amused.
• Absurd Phobia: Goblins are afraid of dogs, so Max is able to distract them or sometimes even scare them off entirely to allow the minions to access resources unharmed. This is very odd, given that the goblins are more than twice as big as Max.
• Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Bran the raven wears pince-nez spectacles and a gold pendant.
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • Mary and John use various pet names for each other, such as sweetheart and darling; Mary also sometimes calls her husband "Johnny."
  • Mary calls the dragons "my babies."
  • Bran the raven insists on politely addressing his master and mistress as "my lord" and "my lady," although (at least in John's case) it's not clear how affectionate he really intends to be.
  • In the tenth game, Scheherazade calls Bran "wisest one."
  • At the end of the eleventh game, Lady Olwen dubs Ears "Gremley."
  • In the twelfth game, the merchants frequently address Mary as "my beauty."
• All Myths Are True: Apparently, everything is true in the world of these games, including Arthurian Legend, the existence of Santa Claus, and all sorts of magic.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Gremlins as a race despise machinery and feel compelled to destroy it. Ears, however, loves building machines, and so was cast out of gremlin society.
• All Women Love Shoes: Mary loves shoes and occasionally mentions going shopping for more, using the gold collected by the minions. John is implied to be less than thrilled, but swallows his annoyance to keep her happy.
• Art Evolution:
  • The first two games in the series have a much different look than the ones which followed. The third game is very cartoony, and starting with the fourth the CGI becomes more obvious.
  • John's look is pretty consistent throughout the series. Mary, on the other hand, is blonde in the first game and brunette in the second (the page image is from the second game), with lighter brown hair in the third, and in all three of these her face is drawn differently. From the fourth game onward, she's very much a blonde with a consistent face.
  • For the first ten games, the character icons which sit beside dialogue boxes are nonmoving. Starting in the eleventh game, they're suddenly animated, with the characters now able to nod, blink, and breathe.
• Art Shift: The illustrated panels which serve as non-animated cutscenes are drawn in a different style than the gameplay.
• Awesome Ego: In-Universe example. In some of his dialogue, John comes across as a bit of a blowhard with an exaggerated sense of self-importance. He's also occasionally prone to boasting about Mary's skills, and Mary does likewise about his; as the series progresses, she likewise becomes more outspoken about her own abilities. In the gameplay, they are both able to back up any claims either one makes, as John is able to dispatch any foe he attacks and Mary's spells always succeed.
• Benevolent Boss: Although the earlier games make him seem more like a Bad Boss, John turns into this over the course of the series. He offers pay increases to the minions when their tasks are going to be exceptionally difficult and expresses concern for their safety and well-being.
• Big Eater: John makes a lot of comments which indicate he's this. In the eighth game it's noted that he eats five meals a day.
• Big Fancy Castle: Each of the color-coded knights in the fourth game owns one of these. John and Mary end up "inheriting" the one which belonged to the Purple Knight; they basically use it as a vacation home. A comment by Lancaster in the ninth game suggests that they also own the castles which had belonged to the other colored knights. Since all of the knights are actually robots built by Ears, whom they more or less have adopted as a member of their family, this makes sense.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: John is depicted as having these; it's mostly obvious in the loading screens and dialogue tags.
• Bilingual Bonus: A very subtle one. From the fourth game onward, John and Mary's corvid companion is named Bran, which is the Welsh word for crow.
• Blue Is Heroic: Starting in the fourth game, John's armor is blue^note in the gameplay, that is - in the cutscenes and loading screens, it's steel gray. The uniforms of minions who are drafted to become guards are also blue, and they operate out of blue and white tents. When John and Mary's castle is seen in later games, they've repainted the roofs of the turrets blue as well.
• Breath Weapon: Three of Mary's dragons each have a different one of these, and their names are a reminder of their specific powers. Freezy has ice breath, Blazy breathes fire, and Smoky breathes clouds of thick, dense smoke.
• Broken Bridge: Minions often have to repair these in order to access different parts of a level. In later installments, Mary is able to use pillars constructed by druids to create magical "ghost bridges" which fulfill the same purpose.
• Brown Note: Boggy makes acoustic waves with his roar that, fortunately, only harm enemies. His Non-Indicative Name comes from the fact that he's specifically a swamp dragon.
• Busman's Holiday: Whether they're lounging in the living room at their California ranch, planning a holiday in Egypt, or trying to catch some sun at the beach, John and Mary just can't seem to help running into trouble. John lampshades it more than once in the series.
• Call-Back: Most of the later installments make at least some reference to things which happened in previous games. The eighth game opens with Bran working on John's biography, mentioning the events of the other games. The eleventh shows Bran and Max looking at scenes from their previous adventures in Mary's gold-framed mirror.
• Canine Companion: Sometime between the fourth and fifth games, John and Mary adopt an adorable bulldog named Max. In levels where the player can build his doghouse, he can be employed to chase away enemy creatures and subdue vicious prehensile plants. He also demonstrates tracking abilities in the seventh and ninth games.
• Chain of Deals: The heroes occasionally have to enter short chains in order to achieve their goals. For instance, in the eleventh game, they require assistance from a goblin; the goblin won't help unless they give him certain treasures; a nearby merchant will help them get those treasures if they will first help him recover his lost cargo from a river.
• Cheap Gold Coins: The only money seen in the games is measured in gold, which is needed to upgrade most buildings and clear boulders. Some levels allow players to build a foundry, which enables mined gold to increase in value.
• Chest Insignia: John's armor has a red cross on its breastplate. This is a subtle reference to St. George, the patron saint of England.
• Cool Crown: Arthur, Guinevere, and the Egyptian pharaoh each wear these.
• Cosmetic Award: From the second game onward, the games have these in the form of unlockable achievements. Many of them can only be earned on specific levels.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: John is a very mild one of these. Part of the reason it takes him a long time to warm up to Bran is because, as he puts it, "I believe you spend too much time on my wife's shoulder!"
• Cuteness Proximity: Mary finds the dragons to be heart-meltingly adorable and, once they're subdued, insists on keeping them. She also dotes on Max, as does John to a lesser extent.
• Dem Bones: Skeletons frequently invade levels and terrify the minions away from their work. The skeletons wear horned helmets and blue jeans.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Red-haired succubi appear in some levels to lure lovesick minions away from their tasks.
• A Dog Named "Dog": Their gremlin companion is nicknamed "Ears" by John, but his character profile (seen in the extras menu of the collector's editions of some games) gives his name as actually being "Gremlin." So he's both this trope and Only Known by Their Nickname.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: The earliest games in the series suggest that John is something of a Henpecked Husband, and Mary is a foul-mouthed harridan who must be appeased. None of the regular supporting characters, like Max, appear in the first three games, and as noted above the art style is quite different. Certain minion actions, such as cutting wood and breaking up boulders, are much more 'expensive' in terms of resources used, while later installments lower the 'price.' Lancaster the merchant also serves an actual function in the first two games, trading commodities the player may need to reach their goals, but in later games he's mostly just a mild nuisance.
• Easily Forgiven: Despite having run amok in Arthur's kingdom as the Black Knight, and having built the Red, Green, Golden, and (we presume) Purple Knights to do his bidding, Ears isn't really ever punished. He's shown having to sometimes do regular household chores for John and Mary, but he also gets to live with them in modern comfort and indulge in his love for machinery; he's very attached to Max the dog, and he and Bran form an Odd Friendship due to them both being very intelligent. His character profile in later installments downplays the entire matter, claiming that he used his Black Knight persona to "frighten his neighbors into behaving themselves," suggesting a benevolent intent all along.
• Evil Laugh: Most of the various monsters announce their presence with one of these. In some cases, it literally sounds like "mwa-ha-ha-ha".
• Excalibur in the Stone: Subverted. Throughout the series there are multiple swords embedded in stones, none of which are Excalibur (or Caliburn, for that matter). John and Mary both complain about this during the fourth game; Bran, being native to Arthur's realm, coolly tells them, "It's tradition. Deal with it."
• Face of a Thug: Ears the gremlin has a red mohawk and a number of punk-type earrings. He's also incredibly sweet and totally harmless.
• Facial Scruff: John is depicted with a faint five o'clock shadow.
• Fluffy the Terrible: Mary's dragons, once she tames them, have cute names like Freezy. This does not make them any less dangerous to her enemies.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Lancaster, the greedy and conniving merchant, is not very popular with the heroes. Nevertheless, they recognize him (reluctantly) as an ally of sorts, and are willing to make deals with him when necessary. It shocks them to their core when they eventually meet his daughter, Lady Olwen, whom they do like very much and are happy to help.
• Friend to All Living Things: Mary adores animals of every kind and tends to get very angry if someone mistreats an animal in her presence; this is one reason why Bran is particularly fond of her.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: John goes from being your average modern guy to a renowned medieval knight with no formal training. This is just as confusing to him as it is to anyone else.
• Functional Magic: Various spells and charms abound in these games, and despite being an ordinary American woman from modern times, Mary is able to command them with relative ease.
• Fungus Humongous: Later games feature this as an enemy - large walking sentient mushrooms, usually purple, with Celtic knotwork on their caps. They emit a strange noxious cloud, and when forced to stop by a Broken Bridge or other insurmountable obstacle, they stand around tapping their feet. No, really. John initially thinks there's something wrong with the minion who tells him about them because it sounds so ridiculous.
• Funny Background Event: These are often seen in the illustrated exposition slides which serve as cutscenes. Looking carefully, the player can spot things like Max the bulldog stealing King Arthur's boot.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Ears, which is why the other gremlins kicked him out.
• Good Wears White: After she's introduced in the seventh game, Queen Guinevere is always shown in a soft white gown with gold embellishments.
• Gotta Catch 'Em All: From the fourth game onward, the games have puzzle pieces hidden in certain levels. Finding and clicking on these gradually reveals a piece of bonus artwork of the heroes; some games require the player to assemble the puzzle themselves, while other games do it automatically.
• Green Thumb: Mary's particular talent in magic involves working with plants, and most of the spells she's able to perform are related to them. She can revive dying fauna, regenerate crops and trees, and grow magical plants for specific purposes. When they meet the witch Circe in the eighth game, she agrees to help them get back where they belong in exchange for Mary doing some work in her garden, since she herself is not nearly as skilled with plants.
• Grows on Trees: In some of the later games, the heroes discover a variety of bush which grows berries literally made of gold. Mary can use magic to make the bushes regenerate, providing an endless source of gold as long as there's sufficient mana for the spell.
• Guest-Star Party Member: Several of the games add at least one new temporary character to The Team:
  • Sir Lancaster: A Sixth Ranger in the first two games, where he actually performs merchant functions, but in his subsequent appearances he's mostly just The Load and The Friend Nobody Likes; in the eleventh game, he's the Quest Giver
  • "Antlers": The white deer whom the heroes are sent to pursue in the seventh game, a presumed example of Gold and White Are Divine, and a Talking Animal revealed to to be a Forced Transformation victim
  • Odysseus: He joins the gang in the eighth game and is The Load on a few occasions, with a Continuity Cameo in the ninth game
  • Taliesin: Introduced as a guest star in the ninth game but a fully-fledged Sixth Ranger by the eleventh, who is The Gadfly, Quirky Bard, and Non-Action Guy
  • Scheherezade: In the tenth game, The Smart Guy and a Native Guide as she tells the heroes about the needs of the locals; she occasionally comes across as the Only Sane Man
  • Shivaguru: In the twelfth game, something of a Hermit Guru and local expert who serves as the adventure's Mr. Exposition
  • Anjali: Also in the twelfth game, a belly dancer who is So Beautiful, It's a Curse; after she becomes Unseen No More, she's eventually revealed to be someone quite significant and will likely be another Sixth Ranger in future games
• Happily Adopted: A weird interspecies version, but after the events of the fourth game, John and Mary bring Ears the gremlin back to modern times and let him tinker with all the machinery his heart desires. In the later games, they - John especially - more or less treat him like he's their son.
• Happily Married: John and Mary love each other a great deal. Arthur and Guinevere are also this, although it isn't shown for the first several installments. Odysseus and Penelope are likewise implied to be this, despite his being gone for several years.
• Haughty Help: Bran the raven is this in much of his dialogue, especially when he's first introduced in the fourth game. He joins the party after John and Mary's arrival accidentally destroys his previous master, the Purple Knight; Bran isn't too broken up about his master's loss, and is willing to work with John and Mary instead. He's deferential enough to Mary, but shows clear disdain for John. They grow to like each other over time, though.
• Here There Be Dragons: Each game has a map, which shows the 'path' the party takes through the assorted levels. Starting with the fourth game and its enhanced graphics, these maps become much more detailed and even animated, showing things like whales spouting and windmills turning. Occasionally there really are dragons. The maps will often update when the heroes do something specific in a level, such as in the twelfth game when they introduce black and white swans to a lake.
• Hitchhiker Heroes: The series begins with just John as The Hero, then reunites him with his wife Mary to form a two-person team. Starting in the fourth game, they have their dog Max with them, and by the fifth they've added Bran and Ears to create a Three Plus Two ensemble. As the series progresses, they pick up occasional Guest Star Party Members, though by the eleventh game Taliesin has become an official Sixth Ranger.
• Horned Humanoid: The succubi look like normal human women, except for their little black horns, wings, and pointed tails.
• An Ice Person: A whole species of them - ice witches. They can turn minions into blocks of ice and can only be repelled by John's sword or a continuously burning fire.
• Idle Animation: If minions run out of tasks in their queue, they will start performing these, such as sitting down, gnawing on turkey legs, or drinking from beer steins. John and Mary have these as well; John will take off his helmet and wipe his brow, while Mary will occasionally fuss with her hair or pull out a mirror and check her reflection.
• The Immune:
  • Orchids in these games emit a strange toxin which causes humans to fall into a trance; they forget to do much of anything and eventually waste away and die. Gremlins, however, are immune to their effects, so Ears has to be the one to destroy them in levels where they appear.
  • In a different vein, John, Mary, Max, Bran, and Ears are all immune to the effects of succubi, ice witches, gorgons, and any other marauding monsters. They also are never affected by the spells emitted from dark altars. The minions... aren't so lucky.
  • Taliesin is also a different kind of immune; his character profile describes him as being "barely susceptible to hypnosis, herbal drinks, or reason".
• In-Universe Game Clock: In addition to the timer which determines the score for each level, some levels have day/night mechanics. This is usually related to the kinds of enemies which will appear; succubi and sand spirits only appear by day, while ice witches and werewolves only come out at night.
• Incredibly Lame Pun: Some of John's humor falls into this.
• Inexplicably Identical Individuals: The minions are always completely identical. This falls under Acceptable Breaks from Reality, because making that many unique sprites would be too much of a strain on the game engine (and the developer's budget).
• Intellectual Animal: Bran the raven is a highly erudite bird, who speaks very eloquently and is implied to be smarter (or at least more educated) than John. According to one of Mary's comments in the seventh game, he has three doctoral degrees.
• Laugh of Love: The succubi and fairies emit high-pitched flirty giggles when they appear.
• Loading Screen: These are shown briefly whenever the game transitions between the map and a level. They show a portrait of one of the major characters framed by a green loading bar. Sometimes the characters shown have not yet been introduced, making it a minor Interface Spoiler.
• Mana: Mary needs the minions to collect this in order for her to cast spells; in this series, it takes the form of a blue liquid which resembles water. Usually they draw it from mana wells, but it can also be found pre-collected in vials or hidden inside treasure caches. Building a druid temple allows it to be manufactured.
• The Magnificent:
  • According to his character profile, Bran the raven has this exact sobriquet. "His real name is Bran the Magnificent, but no one ever remembers this."
  • When he's first encountered in the ninth game, Bran introduces Arthur's court bard as "Taliesin the Mellisonant." Mellisonant means "pleasing to the ear."
• Minigame Zone: Starting in the fourth game, which is the first to offer a collector's edition, there are optional levels scattered throughout the game which take the form of assorted minigames. These include jousting, flying games, and flipping tiles to match images, among others. The points earned in these minigames are included in the overall score of the playthrough, enabling the player to unlock bonuses faster.
• Mondegreen Gag: John occasionally hears unfamiliar words and repeats them incorrectly. For example, in the eighth game he refers to the astrolabe as an "astroblurb."
• Mr. Exposition: Bran the raven sometimes fills this role, explaining to John and Mary (and thus the player) what has happened or what needs to happen in the current level. John and Mary themselves occasionally do it as well.
• The Nicknamer: John falls into this quite often, as he almost never uses anyone's real name except for Mary and Max. Bran is usually "Birdie" or "Feathers", or, more rarely, "Rook." The gremlin is "Ears" (or sometimes "Big Ears"), the white deer in the seventh game is "Antlers," and so on.
• Only in It for the Money: Sir Lancaster's entire motivation to do anything, ever, is to make himself even richer. His character profile describes him as being King Arthur's richest and least loyal knight.
• Our Fairies Are Different: According to her character profile, the Lady of the Lake is a special kind of water-dwelling fairy. Her unique powers allow her to travel between bodies of water at will.
• Our Goblins Are Different: Goblins are normally small, deformed creatures. In this series, they appear to have cross-bred with giants; according to the character profiles, they are frequently mistaken for orcs because they are hulking green monsters. When they appear, they often help themselves to gold and timber, thereby reducing the amount available to the player. If minions get too close and Max is not actively providing a distraction, the goblins kick them into a cave prison, and Mary will need a sufficient amount of mana to rescue them.
• Palette Swap: Ice witches, sand spirits, gorgons, fire wraiths, and stone spirits are all the exact same monster, just in different colors.
• Permanently Missable Content: In the later games, reaching certain score thresholds allows the player to select from three bonuses. These offer game enhancements such as increasing the length of spell activation times, reducing the frequency of certain monster attacks, or improving the effectiveness of buildings like guard towers and gold foundries. However, each group of three bonuses is only offered once, and whichever one the player selects, the other two can never be acquired in the same playthrough.
• Pet the Dog: John, for all of his bluster, truly wants to help the people and benevolent creatures of Arthur's realm. In the seventh game he's particularly shown to be concerned for Queen Guinevere, and directs others not to upset her.
• Purple Is Powerful:
  • Mary is the resident mage, and beginning with the fourth game, her outfit is mostly purple.
  • May also apply to Taliesin, who wears an outfit which is pretty much entirely purple and is acknowledged (both in-universe and in actual Arthurian legend) as the greatest bard of the realm.
  • Definitely applies to Rajmus, the genie in the tenth game, who is lord over all junior genies and has purple skin.
• Really Fond of Sleeping: Boggy the dragon might as well be called Lazy, because he spends more time sleeping than doing anything else.
• Resources Management Gameplay: Minions must be dispatched to gather resources in order to meet each level's objectives. Every level will require food; depending on the nature of the level, the other resources which may be needed are timber (for constructing buildings and repairing bridges), gold (for smashing boulders and improving houses), and mana (for Mary's spells). Occasionally, the layout of a level means that resources are finite until different parts of the area can be accessed; this can render the level Unintentionally Unwinnable if the player mismanages the resources, and they will have no choice but to restart the level. (This is seen more frequently in the earlier games than the later ones; later games have almost no unwinnable scenarios.)
• Respected by the Respected: He likes to use their skills for his own ends, but King Arthur is definitely a fan of John and Mary's track record.
• Rouge Angles of Satin: Occasional spelling errors or incorrect word usage can be found throughout the games, particularly in the first few installments; players will see things like "excise" instead of "excuse." These appear less frequently as the series progresses. (Arguably the funniest example is seen in the Spellbook's character profile in the eighth game, where Merlin's name is given as Marilyn.)
• Shout-Out:
  • The series title is, of course, a shout-out to A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain.
  • One of the achievements in a couple of the games is called "Elementary, my dear John!"
  • The Black Knight in the fourth game has a Cool Airship called the Flying Dutchman. In the maritime history of the real world, the Flying Dutchman is said to be a ship cursed to never be able to make port; it's also the name of the cursed ship in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series.
  • Ears is a gremlin and has a mohawk, which may be a nod to Spike.
  • In one of the mini-games in the sixth game, Mary remarks that she feels "like a real Tomb Raider!" John points out that they're not actually raiding a tomb, but adds that if she wants to feel like a video game character, there's nothing wrong with that.
  • In one of the bonus levels of the eighth game, Mary suggests splitting up to save time as they search the caves. Ears replies, "We need to stick together! Have you never watched Scooby-Doo?!"
  • In the opening cinematic of the ninth game, Mary is perturbed by her "Wanted!" Poster. Not only is the bounty insultingly low, but she doesn't understand why the person who drew her picture didn't get her nose right.
  • The ninth game introduces the flirty, purple-clad Quirky Bard Taliesin. Compare his appearance◊ with that of Dandelion from The Witcher.
  • The eleventh game has a Goblin King (well, chieftain) who kidnaps someone.
  • In the twelfth game, one level requires the heroes to drive away the evil tiger known as Shere Khan.
  • Also in the twelfth game, while on Shivaguru's boat, John and Mary reenact the "I'm flying" scene from Titanic (1997).
  • In the twelfth game's bonus levels, John makes the remark that "It looks like we wandered onto Bald Mountain right after the witches' sabbat." The same level also features dancing brooms.
• The Smurfette Principle: The main heroes fall into this, as Mary is the only female. John, Ears, Max the dog, Bran the raven, and all of the minions are male. Several of the supporting cast are female, including Morgana, Circe, Scheherazade, and the Lady of the Lake, but Mary is the leading and only lady of the permanent squad.
• Spell Book: Mary finds one of these in the Evil Chancellor's lair during the first adventure, and it teaches her how to perform magic. At the beginning of the eighth game, she accidentally drops it into a potion and it gains sentience and the ability to speak. It becomes the primary antagonist of the ninth game, but starting in the eleventh is forced into helping the heroes.
• Spell My Name With An S: The series can't seem to decide whether the sorceress of Camelot is called Morgan or Morgana.
• Success Through Insanity: John's character profile in some of the games describes him this way - he's "the bravest (and craziest) knight in King Arthur's court".
• Supreme Chef: According to his character profile in the later games, Ears is an excellent cook, which goes well with John's large appetite.
• Sword and Sorcerer: John is the brawn, using a blunt weapon to battle foes when directed. Mary is the magic user, activating various altars to perform spells and thawing out minions who have been frozen by ice witches.
• Take Your Time: Beginning in the fourth game, players have the option to play the games in relaxed mode, which takes away the timer and guarantees that every level will be completed with a gold trophy. This is ideal for players who are more interested in the wacky storylines than the gameplay mechanics. (However, some of the achievements actually require finishing levels with silver trophies, so it's not always possible to earn every achievement in relaxed mode.)
• Talking Animal: In addition to Bran the educated raven, healing the magical Great Oak in the seventh game restores this ability to the enchanted white deer.
• The Team: John is The Leader, a Boisterous Bruiser and Deadpan Snarker. Mary is The Lancer, something of a Proud Beauty, and also The Smart Guy since she often figures out what needs to be done Bran is Mr. Exposition, an Honest Advisor, and also John's Number Two since he's in charge of the castle whenever John and Mary aren't in residence. Ears is The Big Guy, as later games have him literally turn into a giant when needed, and also a Bookworm, Gadgeteer Genius, and Supreme Chef, Max is the Team Pet, whose ability to scare off enemies makes him Badass Adorable. The Spellbook is the Big Bad of the ninth game who starts out as a Trickster Mentor to Mary; after being imprisoned, the book has something of a Heel–Face Turn and becomes a Status Buff provider with Pet the Dog moments.
• Trademark Favorite Food: John loves steak.
• Ugly Cute: Invoked with the dragons, who aren't the prettiest beasts but Mary clearly finds them utterly darling. Ears could also be described this way, as he's a weird-looking gremlin but still kind of oddly adorable. Even some of the monsters fall into this, like the walking mushrooms.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Starting in the second game, Mary is depicted as being a very lovely woman. (The first game gives her a somewhat more plain appearance.) John, by comparison, is kind of round and goofy-looking.
• Unicorn: Later installments introduce a roving unicorn in some levels, which terrifies the minions until they tame it by providing it with a sufficient quantity of food; once tamed, the unicorn becomes an ally and runs around the screen attacking any monsters which appear.
• Victory Pose: At the completion of every level, all of the minions onscreen jump up and down in celebration.
• Video Game Tutorial: All of the games come with the option to have the interface provide hints on what to do, for those who are unfamiliar with the time management gaming style. This can be turned on or off under the Options menu.
• Voice Grunting: There is very little voice acting in the games. John fulfills the trope literally, as he's only ever heard to grunt. Mary will say "Mmhmm" or "Yeah" when directed to cast a spell. Minions will shout "Wow!" or "Yahoo!" depending on circumstances, or yelp in terror when running away from a monster, and each kind of monster has its own sound. All other dialogue is strictly written.
• Wandering Minstrel: When Taliesin isn't performing as King Arthur's formal court bard, he's out doing this.
• When Trees Attack: Treants are sentient trees identified by their unusually colored leaves. They get very hostile if the minions try to cut down trees within a certain range of themselves, so an invisibility spell is required in order to harvest the timber.

The first two games

• Evil Chancellor: As it turns out, this is Merlin. He takes off before the end of the second game and is then absent from the rest of the series, but he does ultimately have a lasting impact in the form of his spellbook.
• Frying Pan of Doom: We never see it, but in the first two games, John makes a few remarks which imply that Mary wields one of these when she's mad at him.
• Historical Domain Character: Napoléon Bonaparte appears in the second game. It's never explained why - or how, for that matter - he's in Camelot.
• Landmark of Lore: The first game kicks off at Stonehenge.
• Save the Princess: In the first game, John is informed that the forces of evil have captured a feisty, foul-mouthed princess. He's amused by the description, but not especially interested, pointing out that he's already married. Eventually he agrees to rescue her, mostly because he's hungry and hopes that she knows how to cook. Much to his surprise, the "princess" turns out to be Mary; until he rescues her, he has no idea that she's been blasted into Arthurian Britain right along with him.
• Symbol Swearing: Mary's occasional swear words in the first two games are bleeped out. Since all of the dialogue in the games is written onscreen, this takes the form of "[bleep]". Averted in the rest of the games; the dialogue from the third game onward includes little swearing, but any time someone does swear, it's actually shown.

New Yankee in Santa's Service

• Christmas Elves: Santa appoints one of these to serve as an assistant to John and Mary while they're rounding up the reindeer, and they recruit others along the way.
• Christmas Episode: This installment is basically this for the series.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Much like succubi in other installments, here it's fairies in bikinis who lure lovesick elves away from their tasks.
• Famous Ancestor: Inexplicably, this game seems to imply that Santa Claus himself is John's (or possibly Mary's) grandfather. It only comes up in the final bit of storytelling, after they've successfully recovered all of the missing reindeer; he congratulates them for "making your grandfather proud." No further elaboration is provided, so exactly what is meant by this remark is never clarified.
• Happy Holidays Dress: Mary's ensemble during the game amounts to one of these.
• Improbable Weapon: In nearly every installment, John uses a sword and shield to take down enemies whenever the player directs him. In this game, however, since he's at the North Pole, his sword has been replaced with a giant candy cane. It still works, although at one point he mentions getting sick of having to use it.
• Oddball in the Series: New Yankee in Santa's Service is this in several respects. It has different monsters than the other games (except for the ice witches, which return in later installments); it has a unique setting never visited again; it uses Christmas Elves instead of regular human minions; and even the animation style is different from every other game in the series.
• Santa Claus: He's not especially happy when John and Mary crash at his place, but he's enough of a Reasonable Authority Figure to grant them warm clothes and an elf assistant while they try to fix what they wrecked.
• Snowlems: These are a recurring menace, often appearing alongside either the ice witches or yeti. Unlike either of those, however, the snowlems don't hurt the minions, merely send them running in terror.

New Yankee 4 and 5

• Black Knight: The Big Bad of the fourth game is known only as the Black Knight. He turns out to be a lonely gremlin who joins the heroes.
• Chest Insignia: In the fourth game, Mary observes that the Green Knight's chestpiece has a curious symbol which seems very familiar. It's a gear, which looks totally out of place in Arthurian Britain. It's a hint that he's really a robot.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: In the fourth game, the castles and armor of the Black, Purple, Green, Red, and Golden Knights are all colored according to the names of their owners.
• Colorful Theme Naming: In addition to the Black Knight, there's the (late and unlamented) Purple Knight, the Green Knight, the Red Knight, and the Golden Knight.
• Cool Airship: The Black Knight pilots one of these. John's forces bring it down (offscreen) and the minions repair it for use by the heroes.
• Dragon Tamer: The fifth game gives this role to Mary; once the various dragons in the realm are subdued and tamed, she regards them as her babies.
• Face–Heel Turn: Defied. As they near the end of the fourth game, John warns Mary that Bran is likely to turn on them at any moment. Bran is justifiably insulted, as he has no intention of doing anything of the sort.
• Famed In-Story: John has become this by the fourth game. His exploits in the first two games have earned him King Arthur's respect, although the king also likes to make use of John's skill whenever possible. After John wins a tournament on the king's behalf, Bran informs John that he has become a respected member of the knighthood and is well known throughout Arthur's realm; he advises John to leverage that fame in a request for land of his own.
• Humongous Mecha: Seen in the fourth game. The Red, Green, and Golden Knights all turn out to be giant steam-powered robots. (Presumably the Purple Knight was also one of these.) The bonus chapters clarify that the Black Knight, who is the gremlin Ears, actually built the others, and they're semi-autonomous. In later installments, he occasionally reanimates them to help with various levels.
• I Just Want to Be Beautiful: The entire motivation of the 'villain' of the fifth game. Prior to the start of the game, Morgana spotted her first wrinkle and attempted to brew a youth potion but it went badly awry. Mary comforts her and introduces her to modern cosmetics.
• Magic Mirror: The Red Knight has one in the fourth game, which allows the heroes to travel to the lands belonging to the Golden Knight. Afterward, as seen in the opening of the fifth game, John and Mary take it back home with them and use it whenever they want to return to Arthur's realm.
• Smart People Play Chess: Also smart birds. The opening art for the fourth game shows Bran and John playing chess.
• Sneeze of Doom: In one of the bonus chapter levels of the fourth game, John sneezes and Bran informs him that the sneeze has, for no clear reason, woken up an ancient evil. Said evil takes the form of one hundred marauding skeletons.
• Younger Than They Look: The evil witch Morgan(a) in the fifth game looks like a stereotypical old crone. When John and Mary finally confront her and make a reference to her advanced years, she indignantly informs them that she's not even forty years old. She just had a magical accident that left her looking much older than she should. Mary helps her, and in all her future appearances, she looks like a beautiful twentysomething.

New Yankee in Pharaoh's Court

• All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Mummies, in ancient Egypt, terrify the minions but don't actually harm them. The real danger that the mummies pose is that they will move into lumber mills, gold refineries, and any other available production buildings, thus causing them to stop manufacturing resources. They will do this whether the building is staffed by a minion or not, and only a soldier from the barracks can get them out (or defeat them before they get in).
• Ancient Egypt: A very fictionalized version of it (complete with mummies stalking the desert) is the setting of the game.
• Appeal to Flattery: The Pharaoh heaps praise on Ears and his "majestic armor," saying he's the only one who can clear the great stone blocks from the road. While this is actually true, Mary is clearly amused at the obvious attempt at flattery - and at how Ears buys into it.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The Pharaoh is only ever called "Pharaoh." According to his character profile, his real name is Hotepsekhemy, but no one ever calls him that because no one knows how to pronounce it.
• Evil Chancellor: The Pharaoh gets one of these in the form of the sorcerer Lord Melehan. He's the one who creates the Evil Twin of the Pharaoh.
• Giggling Villain: Mummies announce their arrival onscreen with an unearthly chuckle. It's much creepier than the Evil Laugh of most other monsters, because of how very human it sounds.
• Landmark of Lore: Subverted; the trip to Egypt is meant to allow the heroes to visit the pyramids, but they accidentally travel back to before they've been built.
• Spot the Impostor: The rightful ruler of Egypt has been deposed by an evil sorcerer, Lord Melehan, who transformed his own minion to look like the real ruler and put him on the throne. Lord Melehan then sealed the true ruler in a stone sarcophagus, where he's trapped until Ears breaks him out. When they encounter the impostor later, the heroes have some difficulty telling them apart.^note The player, however, might notice that Pharaoh (the true ruler) always has a serious expression, while the impostor wears a smug little smile.
• Zombie Gait: The mummies move like this, complete with outstretched arms.

Deer Hunters

• Curse: One of these is pivotal to the plot of the game, and the heroes need to find the means to break it. There is no Curse Escape Clause; they have to fulfill the terms of the enchantment.
• Gold and White Are Divine: King Arthur reasons that the deer he saw in the woods must be special, because it has a coat as white as snow and horns that seem to be made of gold. He's Right for the Wrong Reasons.
• Hopeless with Tech: In the beginning of the game, it's shown that John has given King Arthur a walkie-talkie for communication, so that he won't have to keep sending messengers. But Arthur doesn't understand how it works, so a messenger shows up carrying the walkie-talkie.
• Impossible Item Drop: The heroes discover that the reason King Arthur wants the white deer so badly is because it literally drops gold coins when it runs.
• Interface Spoiler: Queen Guinevere appears in loading screens before she's actually seen in the game. Note the white dress and the shape of her golden crown. Then look at the antlers of the white deer...
• Leprechaun: Part of the plot requires the heroes to meet with one of these in order to get a necessary map.
• Magic Mirror Queen Guinevere has a small, hand-held one, which allows her to view beautiful landscapes to inspire her tapestries.
• Mistaken for Cheating: King Arthur thinks Queen Guinevere ran away to be with Lancelot (in the traditional Love Triangle of the legend). In fact, she was cursed into the form of a deer by a succubus, and all she wants is to be with her husband again.
• Pet the Dog: The ones responsible for the curse have a single instance of this, having given the curse victim her Magic Mirror so that she doesn't get bored while imprisoned.
• Race Against the Clock: The curse has a very specific deadline; if its terms are not fulfilled by Christmas, the Forced Transformation victim will remain that way forever.
• Save the Princess: Seen in this game. So, the white deer that the heroes are chasing? Yeah, that's Queen Guinevere, and she needs them to undo her curse.
• Shapeshifting: Guinevere has this ability, but only when she's in Avalon. If she leaves, she's forced into the appearance of the white deer. While she's in Avalon, she can wear whatever form she wants.
• Textile Work Is Feminine: Queen Guinevere apparently excels at needlework. The image formed by collecting all of the puzzle pieces in the game shows her standing by her tapestry loom. The succubi cursed her into a deer to force her to make them an elaborate tapestry, which she can only work on in Avalon.

Journey of Odysseus

• Classical Mythology: This game leans heavily on the old Greek myths. Odysseus is a main character, and Circe appears in several levels; there are also multiple references to Poseidon.
• Exact Words: Penelope buys herself time against her captors by telling them she'll only marry the one who can fire Odysseus's bow. Mary uses this to their advantage by enchanting the bow so that only John can fire it. When John points out that he's already married (to her), Mary reminds him that their enemies don't know that.
• Friendly Enemy: The witch Circe clearly doesn't like the heroes, but is willing to work with them in order to get what she wants in exchange for the way home they need.
• Good Is Dumb: Odysseus is a good-hearted fellow who does some boneheaded things. He opens the Bag of Winds against Mary's advice, causing them to be blown off course, and severely underestimates Calypso and the lure of the succubi; he seems to believe that because he's the hero, he's obviously doing the right thing and can't be tempted. John and Mary have their hands full.
• I Have Your Wife: The last arc of the game centers around rescuing Odysseus's wife Penelope, who has been captured by a group of baddies trying to force her to marry one of them. The Sphinx warns Odysseus that if these enemies learn that he's coming to save Penelope, they'll harm her, so John and Mary have to go in his place in order to not arouse suspicion.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Late in the game, the heroes meet the witch Circe, who has turned several of the minions into pigs. Circe counters that they've knocked over her cauldron, picked all her golden berries, stolen her non-enchanted pigs, and generally made a mess of her island. Mary admits that she's not wrong and offers to make amends.
• Magic Potion: The Spellbook teaches Mary how to brew one of these for Ears; when he drinks it, he can turn into a giant version of himself in order to smash large obstacles. This becomes a recurring task in all subsequent games, removing the need (usually) for any of the Humongous Mecha.
• Riddling Sphinx: A recurring antagonist. It talks a lot about eating the heroes if they can't solve its riddles, but the game provides the answer (which always takes the form of either resources or an item found in the current level). In its final appearance, however, it proves to be genuinely helpful by informing Odysseus of what's happened to his wife Penelope.
• Roaring Rampage of Rescue: Odysseus wants to go on one of these when he learns that his wife has been kidnapped. However, it's subverted in that he can't - the Sphinx warns him that if he tries, her kidnappers will make her suffer.
• Save the Princess: Odysseus's queen, Penelope, has been captured by monsters while he's been away. A large chunk of the back half of the game revolves around rescuing her.
• Taken for Granite: A large statue of the great bear Callisto blocks the path on one level; however, Mary realizes that the statue is actually Callisto herself, cursed with this trope, and works out a counterspell.
• Textile Work Is Feminine: Queen Penelope is a talented weaver who treasures her loom, which is a nod to the original Greek myth about her weaving a funeral shroud to buy time.
• Unwitting Pawn: The heroes, Mary in particular, fall into this role here. Merlin's newly sentient spell book tricks them into activating an ancient magical sanctuary, which it then uses to send them back in time to ancient Greece.
• Walk on Water: "Water Skis" is a spell first introduced in this game. It allows the minions to walk across short bodies of water in order to reach small islands to collect resources or rescue other minions who are stranded. If the spell wears off, they are stuck wherever they are until Mary has enough mana to cast it again.

The Evil Spellbook

• Call-Back: More than any other installment, this one is particularly a call-back to the other games in the series, as the plot sends the heroes bouncing around several of the scenes of their previous adventures, including Continuity Cameos by some of their prior acquaintances.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Lord Melehan, who was first encountered in the sixth game, is unexpectedly needed here.
• Cool Airship: Remember the one owned by the Black Knight back in the fourth game, which John's minions repaired for the heroes to use? It's back, and still just as cool as ever.
• Deadly Book: The title character can be seen as this. It actively wants to subdue and harm people; furthermore, it's sentient and speaks. It's not every book that wants to conquer Camelot, after all.
• Dismantled MacGuffin: Part of the plot involves recovering all the missing shards of the shattered Magic Mirror, so it can be restored and allow John and Mary to go back home.
• Distress Call: When John, Mary, Max, and Ears return from ancient Greece to find Camelot in shambles at the start of the game, they realize that their only hope of putting things back to rights is to find Bran, who seems to have escaped the Spellbook's tyranny. The first order of business is to locate a hunting horn with which to put out a literal one of these.
• Dreadful Musician: The only way to get rid of the sand spirits (which have not been seen since the sixth game) is for John to use Mary's enchanted harp to create what Ears describes as an acoustic nightmare for them.
• Faceless Goons: Most of the assorted monsters in the series have facial features, but in this game, the Spellbook has created sentient scrolls of paper which serve as guards. They have arms and legs, but no faces.
• Friendly Enemy: Morgana has become something along these lines by this point in the series. When the heroes help her regain control of her swamp hut, she allows that they are skilled and she'll work with them to defeat their Enemy Mine, "but you're still incredibly annoying." She generally gets along well with Mary, however.
• Giggling Villain: The mummies are back and they're still doing this, and it's still creepy.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Mary realizes that the king and queen have been put under a spell because their eyes have an eerie green glow. As she puts it, either they're enchanted "or they've finally lost their minds."
• Golem: The game has some of these acting as higher-level mooks to the Spellbook. In keeping with the paper theme, they're made of cardboard - which does not make them any less dangerous. They don't pose an overt threat to the heroes or the minions, but they do block the way forward and have to be defeated by soldiers from the barracks.
• Gondor Calls for Aid: To save the kingdom, the heroes have to contact potential allies they might otherwise never think to bother, such as the Lady of the Lake.
• Good Is Not Nice: The Lady of the Lake is a heroic character; however, even Lord Melehan advises the team that they do not want to suffer her displeasure. She is one of the most powerful beings in Camelot and, as he says, "You don't want to piss her off."
• Insult of Endearment: When the heroes meet up with the Lady of the Lake, Bran greets her very respectfully. She responds by cheerfully calling him "Bran, you old prune!" It's clear from the way she says it that it's meant to be this trope.
• Let's Split Up, Gang!: John, Mary, Ears, and Max travel back to ancient Greece and Egypt to request help from Odysseus and Pharaoh, since they both owe them favors. Bran, meanwhile, suggests that he and Taliesin should remain in Camelot to continue mustering local forces. John agrees, leaving Bran in charge of the effort.
• Love Potion: Mentioned briefly during the bonus chapter. Mary, having lost her book of magic to the main plot, is searching on the internet for a reliable grimoire to replace it, and complains to Bran and Ears that all she's finding are recipes for love potions. Not only is this a kind of magic that she doesn't need, she finds it to be quite dodgy.
• Mook Maker: The scrolls of paper which serve as guards for the Spellbook are produced by giant bejeweled tomes known as the Books of Monsters. The heroes have to cut off the mook supply by tying the books shut with enchanted ropes.
• Orcus on His Throne: The Spellbook isn't actually faced until near the very end of the main story. Instead, it sends waves of enemies to try to weaken the heroes.
• Pet the Dog: When they rescue him, the heroes allow Lord Melehan to return to Camelot (under careful watch) in exchange for his assistance, and make sure that he's recovered from his ordeal.
• Power Limiter: After the heroes rescue him from the desert, as part of his 'parole,' Lord Melehan is forced to wear a pair of bracelets which severely curtail the amount of magical power he's able to wield.
• Putting the Band Back Together: The heroes were somewhat broken apart by the events of the eighth game, as Bran was not present when the others were sent back to ancient Greece. From his perspective, they were all Put on a Bus. He's very relieved to get their Distress Call in this game, and immediately comes flying in to welcome the rest of the team back so they can save Camelot together.
• Quirky Bard: Taliesin, Arthur's court minstrel, falls into this. He's very silly and flirty and does little to be of any real use, but he's harmless and friendly.
• Rescue Introduction: The heroes meet Taliesin the bard when they drive off the sentient paper guards who have him tied to a tree.
• Roaring Rampage of Rescue: Mary is not pleased to learn that her beloved dragons have been imprisoned. Rescuing them becomes the first challenge the reunited team must work to overcome.
• Save the Villain: While visiting ancient Egypt, the heroes manage to rescue Lord Melehan, who has been poisoned by the Scorpion King (no, not that one) and is near death in the desert heat. The rescue results in a somewhat reluctant Heel–Face Turn, and he agrees to help them in their quest.
• Secondhand Storytelling: The final battle shows an illustration of John, Mary, and the assorted forces they've assembled about to enter a fray with the legions of the Spellbook's followers. This is followed by an illustration of... the Spellbook in a cage, being forced to listen as Bran recounts the events of its defeat. Bran then observes that the book isn't enjoying itself and offers to play chess instead.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: The main focus of the game is this, as the heroes must find a way to undo all the havoc the Spellbook was able to wreak while they were helping Odysseus in ancient Greece.
• Zombie Gait: The mummies, returning from the sixth game, still do this along with their creepy laugh.

Under the Genie's Thumb

• Absurd Phobia: The genie, Rajmus ibn Jirjis, is described in his character profile as a troglophobe, meaning he has an irrational fear of being underground. For a genie who can teleport through solid matter, this is a strange phobia indeed.
• "Arabian Nights" Days: The game uses this type of setting, taking place in a faraway land that none of the heroes have ever seen (and which quite possibly doesn't exist in the real world). It looks a lot like the scenery from Aladdin.
• Clever Crows: Bran the raven is a bit more than merely clever (what with having university degrees), but he fits the trope here. In some levels, building him a birdhouse to give him shade from the desert heat allows him to be rested enough to retrieve items which are in locations that the heroes otherwise could not reach.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The skin colors of the genies give an indication as to their disposition. The green ones are unpleasant, while the blue-toned ones tend to be benevolent or at least neutral in their dealings with the heroes; red genies are always hostile. Rajmus, the main genie of the story, is purple and more powerful than the others.
• Commonality Connection: Scheherazade and Bran bond over being extremely well-read; it's implied that it's the first time either of them has met someone who was their intellectual equal. They are also both angered by the shah imprisoning the sacred hoopoe birds in small cages.
• Flying Carpet: Some of the levels require a special tent to be built where the minions can use these to gather very hard-to-reach resources.
• Forced into Evil: As part of their subservience to the genie Rajmus, John and Mary's forces have to ambush a number of supply camels and steal the wares they're carrying.
• Genie in a Bottle: The game begins with the heroes relaxing on a beach, where Mary discovers an antique-looking lamp buried in the sand. Picking it up causes her to unleash one of these. Unfortunately, rather than granting them wishes, he demands that they grant his. Throughout the rest of the game, they encounter several other genies, all of whom are also tethered to bottles.
• Gratuitous French: Near the end of the bonus levels, Mary groans about the whole thing ending "with Cherchez la femme again!" The phrase literally translates as "look for the woman," and they're once again searching for Morgana.
• Ice Palace: By the time of the bonus levels, Lord Melehan is living in an isolated one of these, though he is occasionally invited to Arthur's court for special events.
• Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Scheherazade is stated to have an extraordinary grasp of many fields of knowledge, including physics and genetics, and is also an omniglot.
• Sliding Scale of Villain Threat: In his character profile in this game, it's noted that Lord Melehan is "only moderately evil." While he does crave power and immortality, he's willing to go only so far in order to acquire either.
• The Usurper: The shah in this game is apparently this. According to Scheherazade (and it's heavily implied by his character profile to be true), he claimed the throne of his unnamed country through judicious use of poison. He's also a Karma Houdini, as the heroes are never able to give him any sort of comeuppance for it.
• Weird Currency: New to this game are the merchant shacks, where one kind of resource can be exchanged for another. Merchants will only accept specific resources, however, so this can be as annoying as it is helpful.
• Wrongly Accused: The central plot of the bonus levels is that someone has stolen a locket belonging to the visiting shah, and the heroes have to chase through all of Camelot eliminating suspects. Everyone they think is responsible turns out to be this trope, and the accused then turns around and wrongly accuses someone else. The culprit ultimately turns out to be a man-eating plant in the royal garden. The shah dropped his locket and the plant swallowed it.

Battle for the Bride

• Androcles' Lion: When the heroes save a penguin's egg late in the game, the penguin expresses her thanks by giving Bran some much-needed information.
• Animate Inanimate Object: The Swamp Witch has dancing brooms (possibly a Shout-Out to Fantasia) guarding levels in her area of the map.
• The Big Bad Shuffle: The description of the game makes it seem like the Big Bad is going to be Culhwch's rival for Olwen's hand. This is only partly true. We're then made to think that it's the Swamp Witch who enchanted Lancaster's treasury. Then it's back to Agravain, the rival, followed by the malevolent genie Ifrit. To be sure, every one of these is a nuisance to the heroes, but the real Big Bad is Blackmore, the chieftain of the northern goblins, who abducts Olwen just after her hand is promised to Culhwch.
• Bouquet Toss: Olwen throws hers at the end of the main game at her wedding. Ears catches it, if being bonked in the head with the flowers counts as 'catching'.
• Chest Monster: Much to everyone's shock, the green chests holding much of Lancaster's wealth are alive, and run off with his treasures.
• Compete for the Maiden's Hand: The basic plot. Naturally, things go increasingly sideways as the competition continues.
• Cool Airship: It's back again, this time to transport the heroes to the frigid northern realm ruled by Blackmore, a goblin chieftain, who isn't even liked by other goblins.
• Doting Parent: Lancaster is actually this, much to John's befuddlement; he's not above using his daughter to increase his own wealth, but at the same time he clearly adores her. John describes the man as a "bloodthirsty tyrant who is also somehow the loving father of the beautiful Olwen".
• Dragged Off to Hell: An oddly non-fatal variant. When the heroes run afoul of the genie Ifrit, he banishes them all to hell - while they're still alive. However, they don't actually go to hell; he merely sends them into some relatively local fire caves.
• Enemy Mine: Upon entering goblin territory, the heroes encounter a goblin who wants to fight them until he finds out they're looking for Blackmore. Since Blackmore is an enemy of the goblin's own chieftain, he agrees to give them directions instead.
• Engagement Challenge: Lancaster has a list of Impossible Tasks which must be completed in order for him to agree to his daughter's marriage.
• Garage Band: The opening cinematic suggests that some of the companions have formed an Arthurian version of one of these, with Taliesin as the lead singer, Ears on the drums, and Bran on the keyboard. The summons to Arthur's court interrupts Taliesin's solo.
• Gingerbread House: The Swamp Witch lives in one of these. John offers to double the pay of whichever minion eats the most of it.
• Gold Digger: Sir Agravain is a male example, wanting to marry Olwen so he can inherit her father's wealth.
• Hair-Contrast Duo: Culhwch has blond hair and is the romantic hero of the story. Agravain has black hair and is a smarmy Gold Digger who actively tries to sabotage his rival.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Both Culhwch and Olwen have this, being fair-haired heroic types.
• Healing Potion: New to the Minigame Zone is the potion making exercise, in which falling ingredients must be added to Mary's cauldron in precisely the right order to brew the healing potions she wants.
• Heel–Face Turn: In the final levels, Agravain offers a truce - he says that saving Olwen's life should take precedence over the competition, and he's willing to concede that Culhwch has won. All he claims for himself is Blackmore's gold chain. Shockingly, this turns out to be subterfuge.
• Manly Tears: At the Wedding Finale, John has his arm around Mary and, if you look really closely, his blue eyes have a bit more of a sheen to them than usual...
• Marry for Love: Olwen wants to do this. Her father is more concerned with her marrying for profit, although he does seem to genuinely want her to be happy too.
• Missing Mom: We have no idea where - or who - Olwen's mother is.
• Mook Maker: The Books of Monsters from the ninth game return in one level.
• Nephewism: The heroes get asked to help Sir Culhwch win Lancaster's trials chiefly because he's King Arthur's nephew.
• Neutral Female: Olwen is lovely and personable, but unable to defend herself from danger. Justified in that, as the noble-born daughter of a wealthy knight, she's never received or needed any sort of combat training.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The genie Ifrit sends the heroes into some fire caves. This turns out to be helpful, since it's the location of one of the items on Lancaster's list.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Lancaster has not forgotten a time when John apparently decked him, noting that "My jaw still aches when it rains."
• One True Love: Sir Culhwch and Lady Olwen are this for each other, and want nothing more than to be together; but he needs John and Mary's help to get through the trials set by her father, Sir Lancaster.
• Polar Bears and Penguins: The penguins who are in the northern realms explain to Bran, who can speak their language, that they came from the South Pole in search of a better life. Seeing as they arrived to find that the fire genie has turned the northern realms into a large desert, things didn't exactly go according to plan for the misplaced wildlife, and the heroes have to help them.
  • In the bonus chapter, Bran at one point warns that war is brewing between the penguins and polar bears. John's idea is to equip the penguins for defense, and then have them serve as guards for the honeymooning newlyweds.
• Power Limiter: The Spellbook which the heroes defeated in the ninth game returns as a reluctant ally. To keep history from repeating itself, the Spellbook is summoned via a magical altar; as Bran explains, this altar forces anyone summoned by it to obey the orders of the summoner, so the Spellbook has no choice but to do Mary's bidding instead of running off to conquer Camelot again.
• Protectorate: The bonus levels revolve around this concept. King Arthur sends the newlyweds on a honeymoon tour of the kingdom, but quickly realizes that the route will take them through a variety of dangers. He invokes John's oath as a Knight of the Round Table and commissions the heroes to act as advance guards, traveling ahead of the honeymoon carriage and clearing any threats.
• Samus Is a Girl: As this game reveals, the Spellbook has been female all along. (The previous installments assigned no gender to the book, but here she's identified using female pronouns.)
• Save the Princess: About halfway through the game, Olwen gets kidnapped by the goblin chieftain Blackmore, who wasn't even one of the contenders for her hand. He steals her under the mistaken belief that her hair is made of real gold and her headpiece is made of rubies.
• Smoking Gun: Used at the climax. After Agravain steals Olwen out from under the heroes' noses and tries to convince Lancaster that he's the one who rescued her (and should therefore get to marry her), the heroes present irrefutable evidence against this - Agravain dropped his helmet while fleeing, whereas Culhwch has Blackmore's very own fang as a trophy from the battle. Lancaster acknowledges that Culhwch has the better claim, because "You can't pull a fang out of someone's mouth unnoticed."
• Snowlems: These return for the first time since the third game; however, this time, the snowlems are stationary and present no threat to the minions. They're just NPC Roadblocks with unsettling smiles.
• Solitary Sorceress: Morgana is this as usual, but she's not the culprit behind the Chest Monsters; instead, she points the heroes in the direction of a woman known as the Swamp Witch, who is one of these and has a serious grudge against Lancaster.
• Stating the Simple Solution: One of Lancaster's trials involves finding a magic vessel which will keep liquids hot. John laughs and says he can just pop back to his ranch and grab a thermos. Of course, Mary points out that Lancaster won't appreciate the no-frills appearance of such a thing, and they'll need to put the thermos inside something much fancier.
• Status Buff: This is the chief purpose of having the Spellbook in any level. She only rarely interacts with the characters this time around; instead, once she's been summoned to the appropriate altar (in levels where it appears), she can be used to temporarily increase the output of any of the manufacturing buildings with a purple circular arrow on them.
• Thirsty Desert: The heroes go to the frigid realms of the northern goblins only to find themselves in one of these, recently crafted by the fire genie Ifrit.
• Treasure Map: Certain levels have fragments of treasure maps locked inside cages. Collecting all of the fragments of a map opens up a side adventure in which the heroes claim the treasure for themselves. This has no impact on the main storyline and is completely optional; it's just another factor for 100% Completion.
• The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Sir Lancaster is... weird-looking, to say the least, not to mention conniving and greedy. His daughter Olwen is a beautiful and amiable young woman with a sweet disposition.
• Unusual Ears: As seen previously in the ending cinematic of the ninth game, the Spellbook now has cat ears (and a tail). There's no reason given as to why; it's possibly meant to indicate that she's no longer dangerous.
• Useless Item: During the main game, the heroes encounter four giant rubber ducks belonging to the Lady of the Lake. Bran recommends that they take the ducks with them, as they could be useful later if leverage is ever needed. They never get mentioned again in this installment; the next one, however, is a different story.
• Wedding Finale: As the description may suggest, the main campaign ends with the celebration of Lady Olwen's wedding to her victorious suitor. Several members of the recurring cast are in attendance.
• Weird Currency: Exchange merchants return from the tenth game, and still look like they belong in the Arabian Nights.
• Wham Line: Presented without context: "Go to hell!"
• You Owe Me: Seen in the bonus chapters. When Mary's magic works a little too well and causes the heroes to be trapped on a rapidly melting ice floe, they're rescued by the Lady of the Lake. She reminds Bran that "I didn't rescue you because of your shiny feathers," and he assures her that they're quite ready to repay her for the service.

Karma Tales

• Always Identical Twins: Shivaguru and Chaturvedi are elderly identical twin brahmans. They were Separated at Birth but found each other again as old men.
• Ambadassador: This is the reason Arthur wants John and Mary to investigate the situation - he knows that they can serve as perfectly amiable ambassadors, but he also knows that if there's a problem causing their neighbor to have ceased trading with Camelot, the two of them are more than capable of setting things right by might and magic.
• Animal Motifs: Completed levels are marked on the world map with golden elephants with their trunks raised, which are a traditional Indian symbol of good fortune. Similar elephants can also be seen as statuary in some levels.
• The Atoner: The reason Shivaguru helps the heroes is because he's filled with guilt that he could not protect the Raja from whatever fate has befallen him.
• Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": The succubi of previous installments are called asparases in this game. They still look and behave exactly the same.
• Chekhov's Gun: Remember the giant rubber ducks from the previous adventure? There's a bunch of them in the Raja's kingdom, which Bran realizes is a sign that the line between worlds has indeed become blurred.
• Chess Motifs: The elephant sent to King Arthur in the bonus levels is named White Bishop.
• Crazy People Play Chess: Twin brothers Shivaguru and Chaturvedi have an ongoing chess rivalry. Whichever of them wins four games first will remain as the Raja's advisor; the other must give up the way of the brahman and go into exile. It Makes Just as Much Sense in Context.
• Deus Exit Machina: Mary's dragons are almost immediately written out of the game, with her complaining that they couldn't fly to their destination because the weight of everything King Arthur has them delivering would be too much for the beloved beasties. This is the convenient, albeit plausible, reason they have to traverse the desert on foot; however, the dragons do occasionally show up later to provide delivery service.
• Doorstop Baby: Anjali was found as a very little girl on the doorstep of a temple, and it was believed that her presence was a sign from the gods. Not quite.
• Dyeing for Your Art: In-Universe example. Anjali is eventually revealed to not actually have black hair as thought, and she explains that her natural color (blonde) is so unusual in the surroundings that it was attracting too much attention, so she started dyeing it in order to make people notice her dancing rather than her hair.
• Fisher King: When the heroes discover that the sacred banyan tree is dying, Shivaguru laments that it's further proof that the Raja is probably doing likewise. John suggests that if they heal the tree, it might save the Raja. While they do save the tree, it's never made clear whether or not this had any effect on the Raja's own health, as he's perfectly fine when they meet him.
• Friend to All Living Things: Many of Anjali's requests of the Raja have to do with treating animals well. Bran observes that this creates a Commonality Connection between her and the similarly animal-loving Mary. And yes, that is some Foreshadowing you hear.
• Gold Digger: Anjali is initially hinted to be this; once the Raja is completely enamored of her charms, he leaves his throne to go off and find her various expensive presents. Love Makes You Stupid, so the Raja doesn't seem to get why abandoning his kingdom to chase down treasures for a pretty face is a bad thing. Ultimately subverted, however - as it turns out, the reason for her increasingly outlandish requests is because the Raja is her Abhorrent Admirer and she's just trying to get him to leave her alone.
• Heel–Face Turn: The Spellbook, while not exactly a benevolent creature, has definitely mellowed since her captivity. In one of the extra levels she admits to feeling sympathy for all creatures who are caged or chained, and wants to free them. She also is the one to warn the others of an enemy Raja's attack on the kingdom, and advise them to rebuild the palace.
• His Name Really Is "Barkeep": The ruler whom John and Mary and Shivaguru are all trying to find is Raja Chandrasen. Chandrasen is a Hindi name meaning "King."
  • Repetitive Name: The title of Raja also means "King," so his name is effectively King King.
• Improbable Weapon User: In one of the bonus levels, the heroes come under attack by ornery penguins, who wear horned helmets and throw fish at them. The penguins want to keep the white elephant because they've mistaken him for their leader, but it's never explained why.
• The Load: Once the heroes finally catch up with the Raja, they have to repeatedly keep him from doing something dumb that gets him into trouble.
• Long-Lost Relative: For the first time, we learn that Mary had an older sister who went missing as a baby before Mary herself was even born. She disappeared while their parents were visiting a temple in India, and their child became separated from them in a storm. As they quickly realize when Anjali's history is revealed, Anjali is Mary's sister. A local oracle confirms this once all of the requisite MacGuffins are found. John actually invokes the trope by name, and insists that there be a DNA test done when they get back to California.
• Meaningful Name: In the first level the heroes encounter a local named Shivaguru, who gives them helpful advice. His name is made from the individual names Shiva, which means "friendly," and Guru, which means "teacher."
• Mystical India: The game basically takes place in the Fantasy Kitchen Sink version of India.
• Never Found the Body: Shivaguru explains that the Raja is missing, having "gone on a journey to fulfill someone else's whim," and is feared to be dead but no one knows for sure. Fortunately, with John and Mary's help, he's able to catch up to the missing ruler and discover that he's very much alive.
• NPC Roadblock: The first obstacle to be overcome in the game is a sacred cow blocking the path.
• Panthera Awesome: Many of the usual marauding monsters of previous installments have been replaced by man-eating tigers, which can only be dispelled by siege towers which shoot flaming arrows.
• Past-Life Memories: Mary gives Anjali a ruby potion to help her regain memories from her early childhood. Anjali is frustrated because the potion is so powerful that it instead causes her to remember a past life, "and I don't want to talk about it."
• Snowlems: They appear in a couple of the bonus levels, and as in the eleventh installment, they are unfriendly but non-dangerous NPC Roadblocks.
• So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Anjali's beauty lures the Raja from his throne, and he's been driving her crazy ever since they met. She's only too happy to take off with John and Mary in the bonus levels.
• Status Buff: The Spellbook can be summoned for this purpose once again. Mary refers to her as "that traitorous book," and wishes they didn't need the buffs she provides.
• Temporal Paradox: Bran explains that one of these is in play, which is why even though Anjali is Mary's older sister, she is considerably younger than Mary now.
• Title Drop: The concept of karma is mentioned as early as the second level by Shivaguru, who believes in it firmly.
• Unexpected Gameplay Change: The Minigame Zone includes a few new games this time, in addition to the previously seen matching tile game. Of particular note is the painting minigame, in which the player is given an array of colors to click into the blank spots of a picture. There doesn't seem to be any way to actually win this minigame, forcing the player to simply return to the map without scoring. It does, however, give the player the option of screenshotting their masterpiece.
• Unwanted Gift Plot: The bonus levels center around John and Mary returning to Arthur with the Raja's assurances that their trade agreement is as solid as ever. He also sends along many gifts, including spices, silks, and a (literal) white elephant. They are not at all happy about that last one, since it's going to severely slow down their return trip.

Mary's Dark Side

• The Power of Love/The Power of Friendship: John, Ears, and the gang are hoping that these will help them save Mary from her dark self.

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