History Fanfic / RiskItAll

* EyelessMask: [[spoiler:When Ren meets Batman face-to-face, he notices that the eyes of Batman's bowl are white, likely a technological add-on to prevent others from identifying him via his eyes.]]

* CareerEndingInjury: Invoked by Ren's Soul-Crushing Strike skill, a punch with explosive force that bypasses attempts to guard against it. Its name is apparently derived from how it crushed the dreams of many a martial artist by ruining them. When going out as a vigilante, this attack leaves multiple members of the mob crippled for life, something that [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone makes Ren uncomfortable.]]

* SurveillanceDrone: Ren invests some of his prestige points into purchasing a few of these to help track down Black Mask's location. They're made to look and feel like real pigeons, allowing them to blend seamlessly into Gotham City without arousing suspicion. In addition to this, they're helpful as cameras to record his actions so he can safely gain some prestige without having to blow his SecretIdentity.

* TheTriadsAndTheTongs: The Snake-Flower Triads compete with Black Mask's mafia for control of Gotham City's Chinatown. While they're still ruthless crooks that Ren has little sympathy for, they come across as ALighterShadeOfBlack, given how one Triad seems to shoot a guy Ren had incapacitated to help him, nodding at him in affirmation. [[spoiler:Then it's revealed that Ren's uncle is a member and a loaded one at that, having paid for all of Ren's medical bills.]]
* UnexplainedRecovery: Due to his refusal to tell his parents about his new powers, Ren's rapid recovery from NothingButSkinAndBones to healthy and even fit over the span of a month comes across as weird at best and concerning at worst. Never mind how he somehow left the hospital with no lingering effects from brain damage despite being shot in the head at point blank range twice.

* FameThroughInfamy: Ren's power does not care if his publicity is good or bad, only that he's famous. As a result, good press will give him as much prestige as bad press. In fact, his first big boost of prestige is when he's caught on video apparently mugging a man who had held him at gunpoint earlier. He then gets a huge prestige boost when he posts a video of him fighting a mobster, only to look like a murderer when a Triad offscreen shoots the man.

* GoodIsNotSoft: Zigzagged. Ren is a fundamentally nice person and squeamish at the thought of leaving someone with crippling injuries. But his Soul-Crushing Strike is the best attack in his arsenal in his early days as a vigilante, and he's more than willing to use it if it means people won't end up dead.

* RedShirt: One of Ren's prestige ranks invokes this trope, being the next step up from Minor Character and just below Named Character, indicating that Ren's super identity is starting to become well-known in Gotham after his viral video of him fighting a mobster who gets shot dead.

* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeart: Some of Ren's less combat-ready skills are at least useful life skills like speaking multiple languages or driving. He struggles to come up with uses for some of the more esoteric skills like Barista, which just makes him an impeccable coffee brewer. The only useful thing he can come up with is starting a [=MeTube=] channel about brewing coffee for some prestige.

* WithGreatPowerComesGreatHotness: Ren notices that he gets noticeably more muscular while increasing his Strength stat. This is most noticeable after he decides to dump 30 points in Strength all at once, resulting in him packing on twenty pounds of muscle all at once overnight. Upping his Charisma also makes him look better in general, removing pimples, giving him a more pronounced jawline, and making his hair shinier following his six-month coma. By that point, he's confident enough in his physique to consider going shirtless for an internet video to get more prestige.

* WithGreatPowerComesGreatHotness: Ren notices that he gets noticeably more muscular while increasing his Strength stat. This is most noticeable after he decides to dump 30 points in Strength all at once, resulting in him packing on twenty pounds of muscle all at once overnight. Upping his Charisma also makes him look better in general, removing pimples, giving him a more pronounced jawline, and making his hair shinier following his six-month coma.

* IHaveNoSon: Ren's father claimed to not have any siblings, leading to Ren's confusion when his father says that Ren's uncle helped pay for his hospital stay. Even the mere mention of him gets nothing but cold silence from Ren's parents. [[spoiler:This is because said uncle is a member of the Snake-Flower Triads, recognizing Ren even in his disguise.]]

* LiteralSurveillanceBug: Some of the smaller and more expensive {{Surveillance Drone}} In Ren's prestige point shop are shaped like common insects like cockroaches and flies.

** He also discusses the trope while mulling over his reasons for becoming a superhero in the first place. To him, all life has intrinsic value and it doesn't feel right for him to play judge, jury, and executioner. But at the same time, not all life is sacred, and he believes that some people do deserve whatever horrible fate is coming to them. [[spoiler:When he realizes that Black Mask is just going to be sprung from prison within hours of being apprehended, Ren decides to end the threat the mobster poses permanently by crushing his rib cage, lungs, and spine, [[FateWorseThanDeath leaving Black Mask in unspeakable agony, but alive thanks to Thou Shalt Not Kill]].]]

* FateWorseThanDeath: Discussed. Ren avoid using Soul-Crushing Strike on anything but people's arms. He didn't want to test the limits of Thou Shalt Not Kill, and he considers being a vegetable a fate worse than just killing them. The skill's description even lampshades this, saying that Ren's opponents won't be able to die even if they want to. [[spoiler:He makes an exception for someone like Black Mask, nailing him with two Soul-Crushing Strikes to the chest to pulverize Black Mask's chest, ribs, lungs, and spine leaving him vomiting blood and crippled but also unable to die.]]

* FateWorseThanDeath: Discussed. Ren avoid using Soul-Crushing Strike on anything but people's arms. He didn't want to test the limits of Thou Shalt Not Kill, and he considers being a vegetable a fate worse than just killing them. The skill's description even lampshades this, saying that Ren's opponents won't be able to die even if they want to. [[spoiler:He makes an exception for someone like Black Mask, nailing him with a Soul-Crushing Strike to the chest to pulverize Black Mask's chest, ribs, lungs, and spine leaving him vomiting blood and crippled but also unable to die.]]

* OhCrap: [[spoiler:Just as Ren crushes Black Mask's diaphragm and is about to call the cops on him, Ren turns around and bumps right into Batman of all people.]] Ren's reaction to this after bumping up his luck stat specifically to end his BornUnlucky streak is palpable.

** He also discusses the trope while mulling over his reasons for becoming a superhero in the first place. To him, all life has intrinsic value and it doesn't feel right for him to play judge, jury, and executioner. But at the same time, not all life is sacred, and he believes that some people do deserve whatever horrible fate is coming to them. [[spoiler:When he realizes that Black Mask is just going to be sprung from prison within hours of being apprehended, Ren decides to end the threat the mobster poses permanently by crushing his rib cage and lungs, [[FateWorseThanDeath leaving him in unspeakable agony]], but alive thanks to Thou Shalt Not Kill.]]

* CardboardPrison: When Ren and Black Mask finally meet face-to-face again, Black Mask boasts that it doesn't matter if he goes in handcuffs, he'll be sprung from prison within hours. [[spoiler:Ren agrees and decides to prevent Black Mask from ever threatening anyone again by demolishing the mobster's respiratory system.]]

* FateWorseThanDeath: Discussed. Ren avoid using Soul-Crushing Strike on anything but people's arms. He didn't want to test the limits of Thou Shalt Not Kill, and he considers being a vegetable a fate worse than just killing them. The skill's description even lampshades this, saying that Ren's oppoonents won't be able to die even if they want to. [[spoiler:He makes an exception for someone like Black Mask, nailing him with a Soul-Crushing Strike to the chest to pulverize Black Mask's chest, ribs, and lungs, leaving him vomiting blood and unable to breathe but also unable to die.]]

* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: Ren is frustrated to find that his prestige point shop charges high for products he needs like body armor. The only skills that are available are low-tier and grievously overpriced for what they provide. To make matters worse, he can only sell them back for a fraction of the prestige points he paid to buy them. [[DiminishingReturnsForBalance His stats also cost more to increase the more he invests in them]], putting a soft cap on his growth rate.

* EvilPowerVacuum: On the night he heads out to take down Black Mask, Ren worries that taking him out will change nothing in the end, as another organized crime syndicate will simply take Black Mask's place. He figures that nothing would change until Gotham runs out of gangs, but that just means he'll have to keep working until the streets are clean, hoping that maybe he'll get to team up with Batman and Robin. He admits it's a stupid thought, but it brings a smile to his face.

* BornUnlucky: Ren has always had poor luck. Between growing up in Gotham, getting shot by Black Mask, his repeated humiliating bouts of NotWhatItLooksLike tarnishing his reputation, it's hard to argue with him. As if to emphasize the point, his base Luck stat is a piddling 2. But at the same time, he's thankful for having "all the luck in the world" for surviving two gunshot wounds to the head, and he starts investing his prestige points in Luck to do away with this trope.

** He has this reaction again along with OhCrap when
* ThouShaltNotKill: Enforced by the skill of the same name. Thou Shalt Not Kill prevents Ren from ever killing his opponents so long as their brains are intact. This means that attacks that would otherwise lead to massive internal bleeding and death will "merely" cripple his opponent. He initially considers selling this, but after seeing the results of Soul-Crushing Strike firsthand, he opts not to, as he simply isn't mentally or emotionally prepared to end someone's life.

That's what Ren Song is thinking when he accepts a sponsorship to enter the shady VIP room in the back of one of Gotham's illegal casinos. As a kid with little to his name but a knack for gambling (and cheating), the chance to come away with the jackpot to support his parents is [[TooDesperateToBePicky too good to refuse]].

* FateWorseThanDeath: Discussed. Ren avoid using Soul-Crushing Strike on anything but people's arms. He didn't want to test the limits of Thou Shalt Not Kill, and he considers being a vegetable a fate worse than just killing them. [[spoiler:He makes an exception for someone like Black Mask, nailing him with a Soul-Crushing Strike to the chest to crush his diaphragm and prevent him from hurting anyone else.]]

** [[spoiler:Ren's father and uncle come from a line of powerful qi cultivators who honed their control over their internal energies to accomplish astonishing feats of strength and speed. Ren's uncle is able to avoid all of Ren's {{Surveillance Drone}}s, keep up with his FlashStep, and appear out of thin air. He then seemingly teleport Ren to an empty rooftop and then knocks him out with a tap to the forehead. Ren's own latent abilities saved his live, and his near-death experienced awakened them, though it's unclear why they manifested with his gambling interface, nor does it explain his ability to turn fame into power.]]

* ThisIsGonnaSuck: Ren recites this verbatim as he uploads his first video, knowing full well that he's going to get a ton of bad press from crippling the mobsters and Triad along with the one mobster who was shot to death.

* ClarkKenting: Inverted. Ren is by his own admission a nobody, but he goes the extra mile to disguise himself as a vigilante, hiding his hair InTheHood, wearing a face mask, and putting on contacts to change the color of his eyes. He also wears baggy clothes to avoid drawing attention to his rapid recovery from his six-month coma. Despite all this, [[spoiler:his uncle, a Triad he's never met, deduces his identity fairly easily.]]

* EvilUncle: [[spoiler:Ren's uncle is a member of the Snake-Flower Triads, making him a gangster who has murdered and defrauded people before. [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes But he also pays for Ren's hospital stay]] and seems to be almost delighted to meet his nephew in person.]]

* FateWorseThanDeath: Discussed. Ren avoid using Soul-Crushing Strike on anything but people's arms. He didn't want to test the limits of Thou Shalt Not Kill, and he considers being a vegetable a fate worse than just killing them.

* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** Ren's parents are extremely uncomfortable when talking about his uncle, to the point of pretending he didn't exist until he paid for Ren's medical bills. Ren is baffled by this, but doesn't think too hard about it because of how much of a conversational landmine it clearly is. [[spoiler:This is because Ren's uncle is a Triad, a criminal and a murderer.]]
** The Snake-Flower Triads are also unusually cooperative with Ren, with the stranger Lei paying for Ren's entry into Black Mask's VIP room. Then in his first large fight, Ren is "helped" by a Triad member who shoots a man Ren was fighting dead before giving him an affirmative nod, which is odd given that Ren is acting as a vigilante superhero and could have easily gone for him next. [[spoiler:This is another hint to Ren's uncle being a member of the Triads.]]

* ParentalObliviousness: Subverted. It's heavily implied that Ren's father has an inkling of what he's been up to and is suspicious of Ren's rapid recovery and sudden growth spurt, but doesn't press Ren on it.

* SupernaturalMartialArts: Several of Ren's skills amount to this. Soul-Crushing Strike is a powerful punch that is guaranteed to penetrate attempts to guard with martial arts and smash bones. Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist also has him performing CombatParkour, which he combines with Flash Step to instantly close the distance on some mobsters to beat them down in hand-to-hand.

* WhamLine: Ren is stopped in his tracks when he meets his estranged uncle, who warmly greets him [[spoiler:as a member of the Triads.]]

* WrongContextMagic: The source of Ren's powers is a mystery. He's never had any kind of empowering accidents except for being shot in the head and tests negative for the metagene. He also has no knowledge or relationship with magic or the supernatural prior to obtaining his powers.

* NaiveNewcomer: Despite living in [[WretchedHive Gotham]], Ren has a certain idealistic streak that hopes everything will turn out alright. This idealism is what got him tangled up in the MobWar in the first place, as his dream of winning big and taking his earnings home brings him face-to-face with Black Mask. After getting superpowers, he starts his crusade with the hope that he'll be able to stop Black Mask despite being woefully inexperienced and largely outgunned. This part of him is quickly challenged by the realities of superhero work. He lets himself get mugged after seeing a gun again triggers his PTSD. He watches a man he tried to incapacitate non-lethally get shot in the middle of a MobWar. Then said war escalates as a result of his actions and he's branded a villain by the internet due to multiple cases of NotWhatItLooksLike. He chastises himself multiple times for his naivete, but continues to stubbornly stick to ThouShaltNotKill and minimizes collateral damage whenever he can.

* RandomNumberGod: Although abilities are organized into "tiers" of general effectiveness, whatever powers Ren gets is largely up to chance, with the author stating that he rolls a die when it comes to determining what abilities Ren gets. This means powers can be as mundane as being good at driving or speaking multiple languages, to more exciting like being able to DoubleJump and FlashStep, to damaging attacks like Soul-Crushing Strike.

* SpeedBlitz: Ren makes use of the athleticism granted by his powers and his FlashStep ability to repeatedly come up on his opponents faster than they can react before incapacitating them with Soul-Crushing Strike or a simple punch or kick.

* ProfessionalGambler: Ren styles himself as this, crunching the numbers on the probability of certain things happening in casino games to make the right judgment calls and cash in. This talent of his catches the eye of Lei, a Triad member who sponsors his entry into a Gotham casino's VIP room in hopes of winning big.

* RPGMechanicsVerse: Similarly to ''Webcomic/TheGamer'', Ren is the only one to interact with the world like a game, getting new powers by playing casino games, allocating prestige to improve himself like an MMO character, and having a personal electronic marketplace where he can spend prestige points on equipment.

* RPGMechanicsVerse: Similarly to ''Webcomic/TheGamer'', Ren is the only one to interact with the world like a game, getting new powers by playing a slot machine, allocating stat points to improve himself like an MMO character, and having a personal electronic marketplace where he can spend points on equipment.

* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: Ren is frustrated to find that his prestige point shop charges high for products he needs like body armor. To make matters worse, he can only sell them back for a fraction of the prestige points he paid to buy them. [[DiminishingReturnsForBalance His stats also cost more to increase the more he invests in them]], putting a soft cap on his growth rate.

* SurveillanceDrone: Ren invests some of his prestige points into purchasing a few of these to help track down Black Mask's location. In addition to this, they're helpful as cameras to record his actions so he can safely gain some prestige without having to blow his SecretIdentity.

* BookDumb: Although his grades are middle-of-the-pack at best, Ren demonstrates a keen understanding of probability and statistics, quickly crunching the numbers to weigh the risk vs. reward in casino games as well as the randomness of the skills and powers he gains.

* BulletproofVest: The super suit Ren purchases from his prestige point shop is a spandex bodysuit with armor plates fitted over it to protect him from bullets.

* NotWhatItLooksLike: After breaking the arm of the man who mugged him, Ren quickly realizes that it looks like ''he's'' the one doing the mugging and feebly tries to tell onlookers that the guy mugged him first. He quickly gives up, takes his money back, and runs for dear life.
-->'''Ren:''' [[LampshadeHanging God, it totally looks like I'm mugging this guy.]]

* PoliceAreUseless: Despite being decidedly within their paygrade, the GCPD only ever seems to show up after the fight is said and done, leaving Ren to take on Black Mask's goons by himself. The GCPD's reputation for being notoriously corrupt doesn't help matters, and Ren instinctively distrusts the cops and tries not to get get caught by them for vigilantism.

* RandomNumberGod: Although abilities are organized into "tiers" of general effectiveness, whatever powers Ren gets is largely up to chance, with the author stating that he rolls a die when it comes to determining what abilities Ren gets. This means powers can be as mundane as being good at driving or speaking multiple languages, to more exciting like being able to DoubleJump, to damaging attacks like Soul-Crushing Strike.

* WretchedHive: Gotham City, natch. As Ren says, Gotham is infamous for its crime rate and you'd be forgiven for thinking you would be mugged a dozen times over while walking down the street. The air is full of smog and the light pollution is so prevalent that Ren has never seen the stars with his own eyes before. That's not even taking into account the supervillains and gangs rampaging every other day.

* PoiliceAreUseless: Despite being decidedly within their paygrade, the GCPD only ever seems to show up after the fight is said and done, leaving Ren to take on Black Mask's goons by himself. The GCPD's reputation for being notoriously corrupt doesn't help matters, and Ren instinctively distrusts the cops and tries not to get get caught by them for vigilantism.

* DirtyCop: Subverted. Ren expects Detectives Renee Montoya and Harvey Bullock to press gang him into talking by dangling his underage gambling over his head, but they simply leave their contact information before letting him keep his silence. But the GCPD's reputation for being corrupt still doesn't assuage Ren's fears.

* FormulaWithATwist: While ''Risk It All'' is far from the first fanfic to be inspired by ''Webcomic/TheGamer'', it distinguishes itself by having Ren's power progression be tied to notoriety rather than EXPGrinding. As a result, he can't just punch people to get stronger and bide his time in secret, forcing him to make his super identity known to improve his powers.

* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: Ren is frustrated to find that his prestige point shop charges high for products he needs like body armor. To make matters worse, he can only sell them back for a fraction of the prestige points he paid to buy them. [[DiminishingReturns His stats also cost more to increase the more he invests in them]], putting a soft cap on his growth rate.

* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: Ren is frustrated to find that his prestige point shop charges high for products he needs like body armor. To make matters worse, he can only sell them back for a fraction of the prestige points he paid to buy them. His stats also cost more to increase the more he invests in them, putting a soft cap on his growth rate.

* BornUnlucky: Ren has always had poor luck. Between growing up in Gotham, getting shot by Black Mask, his repeated humiliating bouts of NotWhatItLooksLike tarnishing his reputation, it's hard to argue with him. But at the same time, he's thankful for having "all the luck in the world" for surviving two gunshot wounds to the head.

* CastFromStamina: Ren's powers seem to be taken from his own energy reserves. Using FlashStep and Soul-Crushing Strike in rapid succession over the course of a 40-second firefight leaves him winded and gasping for air despite not taking any hits.

* MagikarpPower: Due to the way his power works, Ren wonders if he could make himself as strong as ComicBook/{{Superman}} one day as he keeps acquiring new abilities and upping his stats. But in the present, he's only about as strong as reasonably fit teenager and is very much lacking NighInvulnerability. In addition, several of his powers are useless in direct combat, such as Multilingual and Driving.

* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: Ren is frustrated to find that his prestige point shop charges high for products he needs like body armor. To make matters worse, he can only sell them back for a fraction of the prestige points he paid to buy them.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Black Mask's mobsters refer to Ren and the Triads as "fucking yellow bastards" while threatening war. The password to one mobster's phone is "8-0-0-8" or "boob".

* FlashStep: Ren rolls Flash Step following his first video, giving him the ability to quickly cross short distances, but only forward or backwards. This means he can't turn or go up or down stairs with this power.

** Discussed. While mulling over the weirdness of his gamer powers, Ren notes that abilities like Thou Shalt Not Kill aren't ''too'' weird to wrap his head around, given that Superman must clearly have some kind of tactile telekinesis to avoid ripping every plane he catches in half.