Visual Novel / Silver Crisis

From Left to Right we have: Lucas, Silver, and Lucario.

Silver Crisis is a free Ren'Py-based Visual Novel created by MegaBlueBlaster, leader of the Super Smash Bros. Machinimator group Virtual Smash. The story initially started as a Super Smash Bros. Brawl Machinima created by him, but due to life complications, he decided to move the story to a Visual Novel format so he could finish it and give the fans closure.

The story begins with Lucas living his everyday life with his best friend Ness, who taught him how to use his Psychic Powers. Suddenly, a man named Ganondorf appears with a Silver Lucario, both of them overpowering Lucas and Ness, and kidnapping Ness in the process. They nearly finish off Lucas, when a Blue Lucario shows up and rescues him. The Silver Lucario proceeds to use Ness' Psychic power to bridge the many worlds across the Nintendo-verse, involving everyone from those worlds in his plans. The Lucario that saved Lucas then informs him that the Silver Lucario was created from himself, and that he is going to find and put a stop to him before he can harm anyone else. Lucas, wanting to repay his debt to his best friend who changed his life, resolves to save him from Silver’s clutches, despite how weak he is.

The visual novel can be downloaded here.

Be warned, there will be unmarked spoilers for the Nintendo games Mother 3 and Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.

Silver Crisis contains examples of the following tropes:

• After the End: It’s heavily implied that the world that Lucas currently lives in was the one he created at the end of Mother 3 upon pulling the final needle, causing a total memory wipe and world reset in order to make a world with no evil and idle tranquility.
• Animesque: Even back when it was a Machinima, the series was heavily inspired by anime flairs such as the opening and ending scenes as well as eyecatches. When it was made as a Visual Novel, the fights have instances of anime speedlines, Dragon Ball Z-esque clashes, and more!
• Batman Gambit: During the Final Battle, Lucas quickly realizes after he unlocks his true potential that Silver will only let his guard down around Lucario due to his belief that he's above his original self in every way. So after saving him, he hides Rope Snake who is holding a Silver Arrow inside of Lucario's tail, and acts as a distraction to bait Silver into a false sense of security, allowing Silver to kill him. Lucario, faking an act of giving into his rage to further lure Silver into this, takes the opportunity to stab him with the Arrow, ending this Crisis once and for all.
• But Thou Must!: At the end of the story, you’re given a choice on whether or not Lucas is ready to return home and have the worlds restored to their original state, thus separating him and the others as everyone goes back to their own homes. Choosing "No" causes Lucas to be noticeably more hesitant about his answer, but he ultimately defies the player’s choice to do what he knows is unselfish of him. This moment also acts as a Call-Back to his original game, where choosing No when asked to pull the Final Needle causes Lucas to disregard the Player’s Choice and pull it anyways.
• Big Damn Heroes: This is pretty much Captain Falcon’s main role in the plot, saving Lucas most times when he telepathically calls for his help.
  • Claus also gets to have one of his own in Chapter 11, saving Lucas and co. when even Falcon couldn’t protect them alone.
• The Cavalry Arrives Late: After Silver has been defeated by Lucario and everyone has been revived, Knuckles, after only showing up once in the visual novel, arrives to help Sonic, Tails, and Shadow fight off Silver. Evidently, Sonic tells the Echidna that he is very late to the party and the big bad has already been taken care of.
• Central Theme: The story ruminates on the meaning of strength and what it means to have power, whether by trusting in other people or relying on your own power, reflective of its three central characters: Lucario, Lucas, and Silver. On one hand, raw strength can take you a long way, it can also corrupt you and cause you to lose yourself and those you cherish on the path to achieving it, as seen with the isolated Silver and Lucario. On the other hand, strength alone isn’t everything, it’s trust in others and not being afraid to rely on them, as well as your own will and heart that makes one truly strong, and lets them have the potential to grow beyond their former selves, present in Lucario and Lucas' dynamic. In the end, Silver, despite obtaining the raw power that makes him the equivalent of a Physical God, ends up being defeated by the bond that the much weaker pair of Lucario and Lucas have in each other.
• Continuity Nod: Many references are made to the previous adventures/games of much of the Nintendo cast, such as Ike bringing up his quest to avenge his father in Path of Radiance, Mario talking about how he and Luigi have had many battles against Bowser, Link and Zelda detailing their fight against Ganondorf in Twilight Princess, etc.
• Curbstomp Battle: Most fights Lucas gets into has him on the receiving end of this, but one of the most notable is probably his fight against Bowser, which ends with him begging him to live.
  • This is also a recurring trope as the heroes on the whole are usually on the receiving end of this for any battle against Silver or Ganondorf, assuming Captain Falcon or Claus aren’t around. And even then, those exceptions are subverted towards the end of the story.
• Cutaway Gag: In Chapter 2, Mario points out how many times Luigi’s chickened out of helping Mario to fight Bowser due to his crippling fear of danger, pointing out each occasion that it happened, and the game proceeding to show us how each one played out.
• A Dog Named "Dog": Lucario goes by the name of his species, causing Lucas to be confused as to why he’d call himself that. It’s later revealed that the reason for this is because Lucario wanted to isolate himself from others after losing faith in humanity when he was betrayed by his former trainer that he dedicated his life to, the one who gave him his actual name, "Laiyu".
• Earn Your Happy Ending: The game initially seems to be setting out for a Downer Ending, with Lucas sacrificing his life to allow Lucario the chance to finish off Silver, and Din being revealed to be behind Ganondorf’s resurrection, as well as being the main reason the world’s were able to be bridged together by Silver in the first place, who is about to reset everything and everyone with her power. But then Farore and Nayru arrive and contain her, allowing the heroes to make 3 wishes. One is wasted on Sonic's desire for a Chili Dog, but then the next is used to revive everyone who had died and/or was absorbed by Silver during the story. Lucas is revived along with everyone else, and shares a tearful reunion with Claus, Ness and Lucario. The worlds are then bridged by the two Goddesses (with the help of Palutena as well), Lucario and Lucas share a tearful goodbye, and thank each other for helping one another become stronger as people through their journey. The Epilogue has Lucas lamenting that he and the others are locked out from talking to their other world friends due to the dimensions being restored to normal. But with some encouragement from Claus and Ness, Lucas activates his True Power once more, and with it, uses it to teleport across dimensions with them to visit their friends.
• Enemy Without:
  • Silver is this to Lucario. He was created by Ganondorf from the darkest parts of Lucario's Aura, which harbors his anger and bitterness towards his former master and humanity as a whole. Without Lucario's morality, Silver's unhinged goal of destroying all of existence goes unopposed.
  • This also happens to Link midway through the story, courtesy of Ganondorf once again. He creates his own variation of Dark Link, though his existence is very short lived.
• Evil Knockoff: The robots the villains have produced can transform into other characters by infusing the dark parts of their souls. Silver near the end of the story also creates evil doubles of the remaining protagonists to contend with, who are described by Silver as "the darkest parts of the soul," and are different from the robots that they've encountered. They are however quickly dispatched using the power of the three goddesses' light.
• Evolving Title Screen: The initial title screen of Silver Crisis features Lucas, Lucario, along with Silver's aura and a silhouette of him in the top-right corner. Once the player clears Silver Crisis, this changes to feature almost every single hero that shows up in the visual novel. Lucario and Lucas' appearances have also changed, where Lucario is in his Mega Evolved form, while Lucas has transformed into his Omega form seen after awakening his true power.
• Final Boss, New Dimension: The final chapter starts with Silver bringing all the remaining heroes to a shadowy new dimension, where he summons a bunch of evil clones for them to fight. He takes Lucario to fight him in a completely different area as well, which he explains is the rift between dimensions. Once Lucario stabs Silver with the Silver Arrow, it weakens him enough to bring the other heroes back to his base, while Lucario and Silver's battle takes place in the rift.
• Funny Background Event: When Pit is telepathically communicating to Palutena about their newfound knowledge of Silver and what he could be like, Luigi and Ike in the background get progressively more and more weirded out by what appears to them as Pit becoming more and more excited talking to himself.
• A God Am I: Ganondorf has a huge complex of this, being nigh invulnerable to most people’s attacks, and while he can still be hurt by very strong individuals, he cannot die unless attacked with Sacred Weapons such as Arrows of Light. He even wishes to become a God over all of the worlds with his power.
  • Silver is another huge case of this, becoming more and more apparent with him as he continues to absorb the Auras of more and more people, culminating in him absorbing the Spirit of Din who was inside Ness, and then absorbing Ganondorf himself, which gives him unimaginable power as he takes on the appearance of a Mega Evolved Form. This boost in strength then causes him to proclaim himself as the Ultimate Life Form, a God.
• Heroic BSoD: Happens to Lucas and Lucario in Chapter 10. After his fight with Silver, Lucario is trapped in his own mind with his emotions, also being unable to use his True Power by opening his door until he resolves his inner conflict. He then comes to terms that isolating himself is the wrong thing to do, and realizes how important it is to place trust in others and Humankind once more. This allows himself to finally wake up, only to see Lucas being consumed by his own Aura’s rage due to his belief that he will always be useless and can never become strong enough to save Ness. Lucario then convinces Lucas that he isn’t useless, and how his trust in Lucario was what really saved him, not just his own physical strength. Lucas then starts crying Tears of Joy at finally hearing that he has been helpful, finally snapping Lucas out of his BSOD as well.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Lucas gives up his life in order to give Lucario the chance to strike down Silver once and for all. Once the final battle is over he gets revived, alongside the other souls that were absorbed by Silver.
• Ironic Echo: When Lucas and Lucario first introduce themselves, Lucas says "Just Lucario?" in response to Lucario basically saying that he just wants to be called the name of his species. Later in the story, we see that Lucario repeated this same line when he and his former Master first met each other, in response to Medicham also choosing to go by the name of his species. He then proceeds to state the importance of having a proper name, and how it makes the connections you have with others mean something. However, in the present day, he’s completely reversed those beliefs he'd had at that point in time, hence why he also has forsaken the original name his trainer gave him.
  Lucario: Even if fickle, a name means more than just an identity. It gives meaning to the connections you have with the people who call you that name.
• Kid Hero: Both Lucas and Lucario are 13 and 16 respectively, despite Lucario’s vast maturity suggesting otherwise. Sonic mentions to the duo he's around 15, with Lucario stating he isn't surprised considering the blue hedgehog's relative immaturity.
• Lame Pun Reaction: Lucas elicits this from the cast a couple times during the story, his most infamous one being the one he says to Link and Zelda.
  Zelda: If we're going to defeat Ganondorf, I'm going to have to try trusting in you more.
  Lucas: Yeah! And if that doesn't work, you can always...try force!
  [Beat]
  Lucario: [groans]
  Zelda: [sighs]
  Pikachu: [shocks Lucas]
  Lucas: Ow!
• Lampshade Hanging: Long before they meet him, Pit and Palutena talk about how cliche it’d be for Silver to actually be named after his primary body color. They nearly make a bet on it, but Pit backs out because he doesn’t want to risk having to eat Vegetables for the rest of his life if he loses.
  • On a related note, when Ganondorf creates Dark Link, and he names himself his titular name, Ganon notes that all of his dark creations seem to lack originality when naming themselves.
  • At one point in the plot, Silver drags Ganondorf away from killing the heroes all because he can't figure out how to stop an alarm from ringing inside their base. Ganondorf then asks why didn't he handle it, with Silver replying that he doesn't know how to use human technology. Ganon replies with:
    Ganondorf: You can rip through the universe with ease, but you can't learn how to use a computer. How piteous...
• Limit Break: When the door inside of one’s Aura/Soul is opened, it allows them to achieve this, gaining access to their true potential. Lucas achieves his true power during the finale, giving him Silver hair with a Yellow streak in it. Likewise, Lucario’s Mega Evolved form is his equivalent of this.
  • Claus has a different variation of this. When his Rope Snake, Scopes, mentally syncs with him, their combined power allows him to do Psychic Attacks to the level of Gamma, which not even Ness has attained yet. He can even use it to create an energy sword.
• Literal Split Personality: Towards the end of the story, Lucario has a Heroic BSoD, which has him encounter all of his different emotions/facets of his personality as actual people in his own mind, who are trying to help him resolve the inner conflict deep within himself.
• Merged Reality: The story kicks off with Silver using Ness and his immense psychic power as a conduit to merge several worlds together into one, all so that he can absorb the auras of several living beings. The reason why Ness was used as a catalyst was that he harbored the aura of the goddess Din, the one Ganondorf was searching for. By the end of the visual novel, reality returns to what it once was, with the worlds separating and everyone returning home.
• Might Makes Right: One of the bigger questions and focal points of the story. Does Raw Strength truly mean everything? Or does trusting in others and companionship mean more? This is the the main mindset and belief that Silver holds and is one of the driving forces of his plan to destroy the world. It’s also the mindset of Lucario’s former Trainer, Lucas.
• Mythology Gag:
  • During the battle against Silver in Chapter 9, he absorbs the power of the Chaos Emeralds, which cause Sonic to tap into their negative energy. This allows him to transform into Dark Sonic, with Sonic quoting the same line he said before the final battle of Sonic and the Secret Rings after transforming into Darkspine Sonic.
    Sonic: If this is your world, then it's a world I don't want any part of!
• No-Sell: Silver and Ganondorf are able to shrug off any blows dealt to them in most of the battles involving them. Granted, it makes sense because Ganondorf can only be killed by Sacred Weapons made by the Gods, and the same applies to Silver because he was a being created by Ganondorf’s magic.
• One Free Hit: During the final confrontation, Silver in his infinite arrogance, allows Lucario to hit him as hard as he can with his own power. Unfortunately, this is a Silver who has just ascended to become a Physical God after absorbing the auras of Ganondorf and the Goddess Din. His newfound godhood allows him to notice that Lucario was carrying the Arrows of Light, the one thing that could damage him, which he destroys before Lucario can even use. Lucario does take the chance to hit Silver directly, but it doesn't do anything, much to Silver's disappointment.
  Silver: I will give you one chance at attacking. I will neither defend, or deflect your attack. But, you will have to rely on your own power.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted. Lucas shares a name with Lucario's former trainer, Lucas, the last human that Lucario grew close to.
• Out-Gambitted: Silver does this to Ganondorf, fully intending to betray him from the beginning, and doing the research to figure out how to defeat him. He bluffs Ganondorf into allowing him to go through with his plan, knowing that Ganon needs his help in order to achieve the power of a God and become unstoppable. During the final battle, he takes Din’s Aura from Ness himself, who she was residing in, angering Ganondorf, and causing him to attack Silver. But Silver then lands a fatal blow on him with a Silver Arrow he had hidden, absorbing his Aura for himself and becoming the "Ultimate Life Form", in his own words.
• The Power of Friendship: Played straight here. The story goes out of its way time and time again to show how important it is to place your trust in others and not isolate yourself. By the end of the story, the bond Lucario and Lucas made with each other was what allowed them to defeat the godlike Silver in the end.
• Physical God: Silver claims to be this after absorbing both Din and Ganondorf's Aura.
• The Reveal: It turns out that The Goddess of Power, Din, was behind everything that transpired in the story. She was the one who resurrected Ganondorf after his defeat by the hands of Link in Twilight Princess. He then tried to take her power and nearly succeeded, but she escaped, and hid in the nearest soul she could in order to regain her strength, which ended up being Ness. This led to Ganondorf seeking out Lucario and creating Silver from him, so he could use his power to sense the Aura and find who Din was hiding inside of. By channeling her power through Ness’s body, Silver was able to bridge the many worlds together, and enact his plans, and it was ultimately her Aura along with Ganondorf's that led him to become as powerful as a God, and let him nearly destroy the world.
• Same Character, But Different: Claus is slightly different from his original portrayal in Mother 3. While he is the same energetic and brash kid, he's also noticeably a lot more mouthier and acts more like a Big Brother Bully to Lucas than in his home game.
• Shout-Out: A blatant one to Sonic '06. During Sonic and Silver’s fight, Silver freezes Sonic dead in his tracks with his power, and tells him “IT’S NO USE!”, before sending him flying into a wall.
• Significant Name Overlap: Before Lucario met Lucas, he was previously partners with a Pokemon Trainer who was also named Lucas^note (the default name of the Pokémon Diamond and Pearl male protagonist). Lucario had loved his trainer and they were partners, much like how he bonded with Lucas throughout Silver Crisis. Unfortunately, his old trainer Took a Level in Cynic after a big defeat, and the bond between them was broken forever, leading to Lucario's own cynicism in the present.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: A huge part of the story is about whether strength comes from raw power, or from your own will/mindset and the help of others. The scale slides towards the cynical side for most of the plot, with moments such as Lucas’s constant losing streak and status of being a burden to Lucario, Silver’s overwhelming power, and the corruption of Lucario’s former trainer leaning on the side of “raw power means everything”. But by the end of the story, the scale lands firmly on the idealistic side, showing that the trust Lucas and Lucario had for one another is what truly defeated Silver, as well as Lucas’s strength of heart and willingness to better himself being what allows him to truly unlock his hidden power and become truly strong.
• Speed Blitz: Happens during the fight with a Negative Chaos Energy Infused Sonic and Silver. The two are fighting at such a fast speed that Lucas can't tell or see what's going on.
• Superpowered Evil Side: When Silver confronts Lucario, Lucas, and Sonic in Chapter 9, the villainous Lucario is able to absorb the power of the Chaos Emeralds that Sonic had which allowed him to go Super Sonic. Sonic however tapping into the Chaos Emeralds and their negative energy allowed him to transform into Dark Sonic.
• Title Drop: Nearly done by Fox in Chapter 6, when he and Falco suddenly appear in front of Lucas and Lucario.
  Fox: Excuse us, but we'd like to have a word with you two... My name's Fox McCloud, and this is my partner, Falco Lombardi. We'd like your assistance in ending this... 'Crisis'.
  • Chapter 12 is simply titled "Silver Crisis".
• Twin Telepathy: While Lucas and his brother Claus share no type of special twin connection, this trope can be taken in a literal sense, as Lucas and Claus are both psychic.
• Wham Line:
  • Near the end of Chapter 12, Snake is tasked with rescuing the remaining people that Silver had kidnapped on his multiverse-wide conquest. However, what he finds is an empty room, which Silver confirms that he absorbed every last living being in there.
    Snake: Hey! That kid gave me the wrong intel! There's no prisoners in there!
  • A big one in Chapter 13, which is right before it fully reveals the backstory of Lucario and Silver.
    "This is our story...But this story doesn’t just begin with us...It begins with a Boy. A Boy who we would eventually dedicate our lives to. A boy...named Lucas."
• Whole Episode Flashback:
  • Most of Chapter 8 is dedicated to Lucas' recount of his life before the events of the story began, and how Ness' arrival changed everything for him.
  • The entirety of Chapter 13 is dedicated to Silver giving everyone the memories and life story of his and Lucario's tragic past.

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