Video Game / The Cruel King and the Great Hero

This is the story of how one day, you will defeat me...

“Tell me a bedtime story! About Papa!”
“Very well. Where shall I begin?”
“From the beginning!”
“As all stories should.”

Once upon a time, a brave hero was victorious against a dragon known as the Cruel King. However, instead of slaying the dragon, the hero cut off one of its horns and proclaimed that it must atone for its sins. In the days that followed, the hero and the dragon spent much time together, and became friends. One day, the hero suffered a fatal wound, and his dying wish was for the dragon to help raise his only daughter, Yuu, into a great hero. The dragon agreed, and has watched over Yuu ever since, but has kept his dark past a secret from her. Now, Yuu's idyllic childhood is about to end, and as the truth of the Cruel King's past will inevitably be known, it will form a rift between the hero and her protector.

The Cruel King and the Great Hero is a Creator-Driven Successor to Nippon Ichi's The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince. Unlike its predecessor, it is a Turn-Based Combat Eastern RPG. The game's official website (which includes character profiles, comics, and preorders for the Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition) and announcement trailer went up in Summer 2021, with an international release of March 2022 (the 11th for EU, and the 15th for US).

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Tropes:

• Ability Required to Proceed:
  • Several abilities are needed for side-quests: Rocky's ability to dig, Cybat's ability to knock down hanging chests, and Flora to glide over air streams. However, none are absolutely necessary to finish the game.
  • Near the end, Yuu gains the ability to break rocks on her own. While this is needed for side-quests, it is not needed to complete the game.
• All There in the Manual: The game's official website includes various character backstories not included in the game itself.
• Archnemesis Dad: As indicated by the game's Tag Line, and in-game as well, the Dragon King is prepared to let Yuu "defeat" him if it means that it will make Yuu a Great Hero. He sets himself up as the Big Bad for Yuu to defeat. After being returned to his true form by Arthur, the Dragon King actually becomes the Final Boss.
• The Atoner: The Dragon King was given the chance to be this in the backstory, raising Yuu to repent for his past actions as the Cruel King.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Upon being repowered by Arthur, the Dragon King spends time gaining his power back while turning into the Demon King. Upon his awakening, he is little more than just a rabid and powerful monster.
• Breaking Old Trends: Compared to its spiritual predecessors (The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince, A Rose in the Twilight, and htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary), The Cruel King and the Great Hero lacks much of the darker and tragic aspects of the former adventures, making it a much more lighthearted affair. This is especially notable with the ending being an unambiguously happy one instead of the often Bittersweet Endings of its predecessors.
• Breath Weapon: The Dragon King can breathe fire, which (secretly) helps Yuu by igniting her weapon for a burning slash or clearing away obstacles.
• Broken Bridge: Areas that aren't meant to be explored yet are always blocked off by NPCs, huge snowfalls, or other means until more plot progression is made.
• Bucket Helmet: Yuu wears a yellow kitchen pot for a helmet.
• Carry a Big Stick: Yuu initially has a mere wooden stick for a sword.
• Central Theme: The main theme of the game is forgiveness, empathy, and kindness working to break down generations of fear, prejudice, and ignorance, best exemplified by the end where Arthur witnesses how Yuu and her father have changed the realms for the better when humans decide to spare him—and he feels hope for the first time in his life.
• Chest Monster: Treasure Cats disguise themselves as treasure chests. They only take 1 HP of damage and have powerful attacks, including one-hit-kill moves, but if beaten they drop valuable items.
• Continuity Cameo: Comic #9 from the website has Yuu and the Dragon King crossing paths with the titular duo from The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Much like her fellow human predecessors (Mion, Rose, and the Prince), Yuu is a weaker human compared to her guardian, the Dragon King. Unlike her predecessors, Yuu is the only controllable character in the game and is capable of fighting monsters on her own, the Dragon King only providing support by keeping an eye on her and secretly igniting her sword for her attacks. The previous human characters cannot fight on their own, being One Hit Point Wonders who require the help of their respective guardians (Lumen and Umbra, the Giant, and the Wolf) whenever they're in danger.
• Death Seeker: As indicated by the game's Tag Line, the Dragon King is prepared to let Yuu "defeat" him if it means that it will make Yuu a Great Hero.
• Deliberately Monochrome: Yuu's trial in chapter 6 is all in black and white, including battles, with the music slightly distorted to match her turbulent emotions.
• Easily Forgiven:
  • In the backstory, the Demon King was forgiven for his monstrous crimes as long as he promised to atone for his misdeeds.
  • In chapter 3, Yuu forgives Cybat for trying to kill her and stir up trouble between the Hunee tribes.
  • Arthur as well. He is beaten and wounded but allowed to crawl off as he is no longer a threat.
• False Flag Operation: Chapter 3 revolves around a mysterious entity framing the Hunee Bears for attacking the Hunee Bees' storage chambers and causing the groups to go to war.
• Find the Cure!:
  • Chapter 2 has Yuu and Rocky, a fox, looking to find a cure for the rest of the fox family's illness.
  • A sidequest deals with finding a potential cure for emotional trauma to help a shut-in citizen.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: Normally, Yuu's Flame Slash is imbued with the Dragon King's fire to cause extra damage. In areas where he can't appear, however, it's just a normal sword strike.
• Guardian Entity: The Dragon King acts as one during gameplay, hiding in the background and using his flame breath to secretly help Yuu (who thinks she's blowing away obstacles with just her own strength) on her journey.
• Hammerspace: Cybat, a servant of the Dragon King and one of Yuu's allies, can pull knives out from the void at the base of his body. Comic #3 from the website shows him pulling out an entire pile of items bigger than himself in order to find an apple for Yuu.
• Happily Adopted: Yuu adores the Dragon King and has no problems calling him "Dad". When she finds out that becoming a great hero would mean having to defeat him, she breaks down into tears and refuses to go through with it.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: After Yuu's stick breaks, the monster village blacksmith reforges it into a wooden sword, which is gradually upgraded into more powerful varieties.
• Heroic Lineage: Yuu, the daughter of a brave hero, who is expected to grow up to be a Great Hero herself.
• Hero Killer: The flashback sequence in the game's credits show that Arthur fatally injured both Yuu's parents.
• Hidden Villain: Arthur, the spider monster who acts as the Dragon King's messenger and scout, secretly works to restore the Demon King's evil nature and power.
• Humans Are Bastards: Arthur's villainy is driven by this. Having lost all hope of monsters coexisting with humans, he transforms the Dragon King into the Demon King to conquer the human race. It's when he's spared by a human stranger at the very end of the story that he realizes that it's possible for humans to change for the better.
• Infinity +1 Sword: Each character has a weapon that's far stronger than the rest. Their optional nature means that many players don't even know they exist, and 3 of them can only be obtained by defeating bosses that are as strong, if not stronger, than the final boss itself.
  • Aside from having the highest attack rating, all of these weapons have the incredibly powerful +1 Vitality regeneration effect.
  • Flora's Royal Parasol is a slight subversion, as you get it from a quest which isn't difficult at all. It gives her more Defense to complement her role as being the tank of the party.
  • Rocky's Great Fangs can be obtained by defeating Nightmare Rocky in the Black Fountain in Chapter 7. It gives Rocky more Attack than usual.
  • Cybat's Assassin Knife can be obtained by similarly defeating Nightmare Cybat in Chapter 7. It gives Cybat a lot of Speed, ensuring that he almost always goes first.
  • Yuu's Sword is the most difficult to obtain, as you'll need to defeat Nightmare Yuu, which requires also defeating the other Nightmares, and is far stronger than even the final boss itself. It gives a boost to all of Yuu's stats, and she benefits the most from the +1 Vitality regeneration given that she has very powerful-but-expensive skills.
• Jack of All Stats: Yuu has well-rounded stats in HP, Attack, Defense, and Speed, as befits a hero.
• Last Request: One series of sidequests involves finding exotic food and drink for Nathan, a gourmand who's on his deathbed. He passes away after the final request.
• Lighter and Softer: While it has its moments of tragedy, The Cruel King and the Great Hero is undeniably a much more light-hearted affair, lacking the often dark and violent moments of htoL#NiQ, A Rose in the Twilight, and The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince.
• Missing Mom: While the tale about Yuu's Papa gets great focus, the topic of Yuu's mom isn't brought up in the main story until the ending, as Yuu believes her Living Weapon, or rather the Fountain Spirit who turned herself into it, is her mother. Fountain Spirit's protective behavior towards Yuu serves as Foreshadowing.
• Princess Classic: Princess Flora is kind, devoted to her people, and determined to fight the Demon King and overcome her own fears. She bonds with Yuu over the course of the adventure.
• Random Effect Spell:
  • Flora gets the skill "Royal Power" late into the game. She pulls out a random item from her purse, and while she will only use items with positive effects, she can pull something as strong as a Stardust or something as weak as a Power Fruit.
  • However, when Shadow/Nightmare Flora uses this skill, it always pulls an item that hits your whole party for high damage while inflicting a status condition.
• Redemption Demotion: Cybat initially joins your party and turns out to be the boss of the chapter he debuts in, where he rejoins. Par for the course, his boss form is more powerful than when he is part of the party.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter:
  • Rocky, the yellow fox who joins as the first party member.
  • According to the manual, Cybat is this for the game's designer. Cybat's design included things that the creator adores.
• Sad Battle Music: The battles with the Demon King have appropriately sad music with a lot of pianos, woodwinds, and violins, given Yuu's connection to the boss as her father.
• Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: After his defeat, Arthur scoffs at the possibility of Yuu being able to usher forth a world where humans and monsters can coexist peacefully before scurrying off. He's proven wrong at the end of the game when he's spared by a human stranger, indicating that Yuu has begun changing the world for the better.
• Suicide by Cop: If the Tagline hasn't made it clear, the Dragon King isn't being subtle that he's raising Yuu as the Great Hero's successor with himself as the final challenge, believing he'll atone to his previous crimes. Yuu doesn't learn this until Chapter 5 when she spares the Dragon King, only for Arthur to brainwash him into the Cruel King and making him a threat for real.
• Tragic Monster: The Dragon King believed that only by slaying him could Yuu become a great hero despite raising Yuu as his daughter. When Arthur works to reawaken his evil power, he loses all reason and becomes a rampaging beast despite Yuu's efforts to save him.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: The boss of Chapter 4, Flora's Shadow, marks the point where the game stops holding back. While previous bosses could be dealt with by brute strength and healing, the boss uses status effects to her advantage to increase the damage you take, cause you to miss attacks, or permanently poisoning you if not healed, and powerful magic attacks that can wipe the party if not defended against, requiring planning ahead and foreknowledge of what's to come.

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