History ThePowerOfLove / VideoGames

** ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'': After returning to the Mysterious Tower with [[spoiler: a comatose Sora, Yen Sid reveals someone must dive one last time into Sora's heart to wake him up. Mickey volunteers to do it, saying it's too dangerous for Riku. Yen Sid then states that Riku actually has the better chance of rescuing Sora, as he'd already been in his dreams as his Dream Eater. Following a moment of thought, Riku thanks Mickey for his offer, but tells him he needs to be the one to wake Sora up-- because he's the only one who can. Riku dives into Sora's heart once more and defeats the Armored Ventus Nightmare trapping him in darkness. Once he answers three cryptic questions from the residents of Sora's heart (Roxas, Ventus, and Xion), Sora awakens in the real world. Yen Sid later awards Riku the title of Keyblade Master ''specifically'' because he went above and beyond the call of duty for his best friend.]][[note]]There's also a slightly different meaning to some of what Riku says during his speech before he dives back into Sora's heart in Japanese; instead of "I'm doing it for me, too." he says, [[https://twitter.com/koisuru_mijinko/status/1187955188008546304 "I have to be the one."]] A more word-for-word translation is "It won’t work. / [[ActOfTrueLove He won’t wake unless I go."]] Meanwhile, "He needs me." is [[https://twitter.com/koisuru_mijinko/status/1187956613463719941 "I WANT to go."]] It's more or less [[https://twitter.com/koisuru_mijinko/status/1187953532353146880 a direct parallel]] to what [[https://twitter.com/steamwhistler2/status/1187898294267191296 Prince Phillip says about Aurora]] in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep''.[[/note]]

** ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'': After returning to the Mysterious Tower with [[spoiler: a comatose Sora, Yen Sid reveals someone must dive back into Sora's heart one last time to wake him up. Mickey volunteers to do it, saying it's too dangerous for Riku. Yen Sid then states that Riku actually has the better chance of rescuing Sora, as he'd already been in his dreams as his Dream Eater. Following a moment of thought, Riku thanks Mickey for his offer, but tells him he needs to be the one to wake Sora up-- because he's the only one who can. Riku dives into Sora's heart once more and defeats the Armored Ventus Nightmare trapping him in darkness. Once he answers three cryptic questions from the residents of Sora's heart (Roxas, Ventus, and Xion), Sora awakens in the real world. Yen Sid later awards Riku the title of Keyblade Master ''specifically'' because he went above and beyond the call of duty for his best friend.]][[note]]There's also a slightly different meaning to some of what Riku says during his speech before he dives back into Sora's heart in Japanese; instead of "I'm doing it for me, too." he says, [[https://twitter.com/koisuru_mijinko/status/1187955188008546304 "I have to be the one."]] A more word-for-word translation is "It won’t work. / [[ActOfTrueLove He won’t wake unless I go."]] Meanwhile, "He needs me." is [[https://twitter.com/koisuru_mijinko/status/1187956613463719941 "I WANT to go."]] It's more or less [[https://twitter.com/koisuru_mijinko/status/1187953532353146880 a direct parallel]] to what [[https://twitter.com/steamwhistler2/status/1187898294267191296 Prince Phillip says about Aurora]] in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep''.[[/note]]

** A major one from the first game: [[spoiler:After Sora commits "suicide" to save Kairi, who was locked within him, his heart is changed into a Heartless. Kairi, however, recognizes him and just by [[SayMyName yelling his name]] and hugging him, she somehow manages to return him to normal. Sora later explains to Kairi: "I was lost in the darkness, couldn't find my way. As I stumbled through the dark, I started forgetting things: My friends, who I was... the darkness almost swallowed me. But then, I heard a voice. YOUR voice. The light of our hearts broke through the darkness. I saw this light. And I think, THAT'S what saved me!"]]

** The entire premise of the game, which is revealed after the aforementioned final boss battle ends with [[spoiler:the upper Tower Nightmare (who was fought in the original game but not here) ambushing the Blood Team and killing the entire party save Otsuu and Little Mermaid]], is that Otsuu [[spoiler:is the BonusBoss Nightmare from the first game, who grew fond of Little Mermaid as a child and had been searching for her for more than a decade. Little Mermaid [[DeathByOriginStory was killed in self-defense by Red Riding Hood in the first game's prequel novel]]; when Otsuu learns from the first game's Blood Team that she's dead, she uses a Jail core to travel back in time and insert herself into the timeline as a Blood Maiden. Not only does this screw the first game's Blood Team out of the victory that they earned over Snark, but the new timeline [[ButterflyOfDoom is much worse off]]. Otsuu and Little Mermaid ultimately opt for a ResetButtonEnding, correcting the timeline back to that of the first game at the expense of their relationship.]]

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':

** The OmnicidalManiac Mysterious Nightmare is [[spoiler:Alice, with the Alice that eventually rejoins the party being a [[CloningBlues mimic]]. Otsuu, through her inexplicable connection to the Jail and its Nightmares, reasons that the thought of killing Jack was too much for Alice to bear, and simply reviving him wouldn't be enough as it wouldn't erase that the deed was done. The only way that Alice thought that she could completely make things right, according to Otsuu, is to destroy the world that would make her kill Jack. The Jail responded by transforming her into a Nightmare]]. Upon hearing all of this, Nightmare Jack [[spoiler:is unable to process there being two Alices to protect, each on opposing sides. The Jail responds to this by swallowing Nightmare Jack and Nightmare Alice, releasing a fusion of Nightmares Jack and Alice titled Nightmare Love alongside a humanoid mimic of Jack that joins the party]]. Cue the final boss battle.

* In ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', the Final Ascension picture of Assassin EMIYA, [[spoiler:a [[LightNovel/FateZero Kiritsugu who never met Irisviel]], shows Assassin EMIYA being embraced from behind by the ghost of Irisviel, who [[AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence is one with the Holy Grail]]. In other words, Irisviel's love for Kiritsugu transcends beyond space and time. This is also why Assassin EMIYA has the "Affection of the Holy Grail" skill, even though he doesn't know who Irisviel is nor does he care.]]

** In the finale of ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'', it's implied that this is how Nero gained his Devil Trigger, out of love for [[spoiler: his father and uncle, Vergil and Dante respectively]] as he attempts to stop [[spoiler: the brothers from killing each other.]] It's also implied that Nero's love for Credo, his adoptive brother is what also pushed him to produce such strength. Nero admits to himself that he's always hated himself for [[spoiler: [[MyGreatestFailure being unable to save Credo]]]] and resolved not to let history repeat itself with [[spoiler: Vergil and Dante.]]

** In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'', it's implied that this is how Nero gained his Devil Trigger, out of love for [[spoiler: his father and uncle, Vergil and Dante respectively]] as he attempts to stop [[spoiler: the brothers from killing each other.]]

** The villains who seek the power of Sparda throughout the series are called out as failing in their quests because they ''lack'' the ability to love:

** The Devil Sword Sparda, Sparda's original sword and one of the often targeted artifacts of the series, actually works through this. While the sword can only be wielded by beings of great strength, it is, in truth, an EmpathicWeapon, and will only release its ''true'' power in the hands of people with great strength and love. Dante was able to release the sword's full power in ''DMC1'' not simply because of his strength, but also because of the love he held for his family, allowing him to defeat Mundus. Trish, while being a demon, [[HeelFaceTurn awakened to love and compassion]] because of Dante, and thus is also able to wield the sword fully.

** The series began due to an example of this. The legendary Dark Knight Sparda, in the distant past, awakened to love thanks to Eva (Dante and Vergil's mother). As a result, [[LoveRedeems Sparda became a heroic figure]] and turned on Mundus, the ruler of the underworld, imprisoning him and separating the underworld from the human world.
** In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'', when Sanctus questions why he is unable to wield Sparda's power, even though he wields his weapon, Nero tells him it is because Sparda had the capacity to love another person, even a human, and this is what Sanctus lacks.
** In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'', it's implied this is how Nero gained his Devil Trigger out of love for [[spoiler: his father and uncle, Vergil and Dante respectively]] as he attempts to stop [[spoiler: the brothers from killing each other.]]

* In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'', when Sanctus questions why he is unable to wield Sparda's power, even though he wields his weapon, Nero tells him it is because Sparda had the capacity to love another person, even a human, and this is what Sanctus lacks.

* The Power Of Love plays are very important role in the ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'' gameverse. The Angel's [[CoolShip Emblem Frames]] performance is [[EmpathicWeapon linked]] to the pilot's state of mind. In DatingSim's terms: the more they like you, the better they fight. It's even used to the extreme in the second and third game's final missions: Tact and his chosen Angel must pilot Unit #7 together, since Tact's presence brings the Angel's mental and emotional state to the max to power up the H.A.L.O. system.

** The lyrics in one of ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER 1}}'''s songs are [[spoiler:"Love is the power, love is the glory, love is the beauty and the joy of spring. Love is the magic, love is the story, love is the melody we all can sing!"]] You also defeat the Final Boss, [[spoiler:Giegue, by singing him a Melody that the Human woman who raised him, Maria, used to sing him as a child, causing him to flee in tears from remembering what he did to her and how she cared for him.]]
** In ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'' (SNES) and ''VideoGame/Mother3'' (GBA), one of the defaults for the name of the main character's signature move (and Canon Name in Mother 3's case) is "PK Love". It's an excellent general-use psychic attack when you get it, and the upgraded versions work well until the end-game (where the main character's MP is better spent on buffing and healing his party members).

** The entire premise of the game, which is revealed after the aforementioned final boss battle ends with [[spoiler:the upper Tower Nightmare (who was fought in the original game but not here) ambushing the Blood Team and [[KillEmAll killing the entire party]] save Otsuu and Little Mermaid]], is that Otsuu [[spoiler:is the BonusBoss Nightmare from the first game, who grew fond of Little Mermaid as a child and had been searching for her for more than a decade. Little Mermaid [[DeathByOriginStory was killed in self-defense by Red Riding Hood in the first game's prequel novel]]; when Otsuu learns from the first game's Blood Team that she's dead, she uses a Jail core to travel back in time and insert herself into the timeline as a Blood Maiden. Not only does this screw the first game's Blood Team out of the victory that they earned over Snark, but the new timeline [[ButterflyOfDoom is much worse off]]. Otsuu and Little Mermaid ultimately opt for a ResetButtonEnding, correcting the timeline back to that of the first game at the expense of their relationship.]]

* The Power Of Love plays are very important role in the ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'' gameverse. The Angel's [[CoolShip Emblem Frames]] performance is [[EmpathicWeapon linked]] to the pilot's state of mind. In DatingSim's terms: the more they like you, the better they fight.

** In ''VideoGame/{Earthbound1994'' (SNES) and ''VideoGame/Mother3'' (GBA), one of the defaults for the name of the main character's signature move (and Canon Name in Mother 3's case) is "PK Love". It's an excellent general-use psychic attack when you get it, and the upgraded versions work well until the end-game (where the main character's MP is better spent on buffing and healing his party members).

* The full name of ''Franchise/TouhouProject'''s Marisa Kirisame's "signature" KamehameHadoken is "Love Sign: Master Spark". (The spell is actually [[PowerCopying power-copied]] from Yuuka Kazami.) In general, all her laser attacks get folded into "Love Sign". The description of Love Sign: Master Spark includes "Whisper tenderly into the magical reactor, point it at someone you don't like, and ''release the Annihilation of Love''!" There are two major reasons why Marisa would declare herself powered by love: The first is that it's part of Marisa's desire to be a "MagicalGirl", even though she is technically a witch of human blood. The second is the sheer subversiveness of declaring herself a heroine of love, even though her only motivations in any of the games seem to be to [[BloodKnight kick in the teeth of as many powerful people as she can]], show up [[TheRival Reimu]], and maybe [[PowerCopying steal even more magical powers]] ([[KleptomaniacHero or anything else,]] [[StickyFingers for that matter,]]) from whatever victim she is currently harassing. It's worth noting, however, that DefeatMeansFriendship in this game, and she has a ''[[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters lot]]'' of "[[LesYay friends]]" over years of adventuring, so there ''may actually be'' something to the name, after all.

* Parodied in ''Videogame/BreathOfDeathVII'', where late in the game Sara randomly decides that Dem loves her, with the two gaining the Unite technique "True Love". In contrast, when Lita brushes off Erik's advances, they gained the "Scorned Love" technique.

* In ''Videogame/Disgaea5'', the literal driving force behind the secret technique Macrocosm, the strongest attack in the universe, is caring about other people and wanting to help them. You can, quite literally, blast the evil out of a target by properly hitting them with this technique, and the attack animation is freaking brutal in execution. [[spoiler:This is ultimately what saves Liezerota]].

** Every main character in Disgaea 5 basically gets an upgraded Overload by caring about others. This is especially true for Red Magnus who can use Super Universe by simply learning to care about the health and safety of his servants, or Usalia, who straight up gains a SuperPoweredEvilSide from learning to face her fear instead of crying.

** In his true "Super" form, Orion's Noble Phantasm "Artemis Agnos" is a blessing representing the love that the Goddess Artemis has for him that enhances him to the point that it is ranked as "[[OneManArmy Anti-Army]]" .

** In ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'' (SNES) and ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER 3}}'' (GBA), one of the defaults for the name of the main character's signature move (and Canon Name in Mother 3's case) is "PK Love". It's an excellent general-use psychic attack when you get it, and the upgraded versions work well until the end-game (where the main character's MP is better spent on buffing and healing his party members).
** In ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER 3}}'', Lucas manages to [[spoiler:stop his [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed]] [[IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight brother because the ghost of their mother pleads with them to stop fighting]]. [[DyingAsYourself Claus regains his senses long enough to zap himself with his own PSI and end the battle]].]]

* Hagspawns [[strike: usually]] always look like [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hagspawn.JPG this]]. Gann, the female protagonist's love interest from ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'': Mask of the Betrayer however, looks like [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gannayev.JPG this]]. Why? Hags normally reproduce by raping a suitable male, but his mother and father actually loved each other.

*** Which leads to some GameplayAndStoryIntegration and FridgeBrilliance -- although the lore suggests a Return used by a Gardevoir should be, on average, much more powerful then any other Return, Gardevoir is a SquishyWizard and does not specialise in physical attacks, even with it's [[SuperMode Mega Form's]] [[OurFairiesAreDifferent Pixilate]] ability, Return wouldn't be too useful when Gardevoir uses it.

* Wonderfully subverted in ''Videogame/SinAndPunishment'' -- the villain orders the hero to use the power of love to regain his human form but the hero refuses because although he knows he will love his girlfriend some day, they both still need time to open up to each other. The two of them then proceed to keep his monster form and use it to defeat the villain. Despite that the power of love is still what allows the protagonist to remain sane while in his monster form. This applies to the sequel too.

* This is the only way to [[spoiler:stop being a shinigami]] in VisualNovel/{{Suika}}. And it can't be unrequited love, either.

* The full name of ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'''s Marisa Kirisame's "signature" KamehameHadoken is "Love Sign: Master Spark". (The spell is actually [[PowerCopying power-copied]] from Yuuka Kazami.) In general, all her laser attacks get folded into "Love Sign". The description of Love Sign: Master Spark includes "Whisper tenderly into the magical reactor, point it at someone you don't like, and ''release the Annihilation of Love''!" There are two major reasons why Marisa would declare herself powered by love: The first is that it's part of Marisa's desire to be a "MagicalGirl", even though she is technically a witch of human blood. The second is the sheer subversiveness of declaring herself a heroine of love, even though her only motivations in any of the games seem to be to [[BloodKnight kick in the teeth of as many powerful people as she can]], show up [[TheRival Reimu]], and maybe [[PowerCopying steal even more magical powers]] ([[KleptomaniacHero or anything else,]] [[StickyFingers for that matter,]]) from whatever victim she is currently harassing. It's worth noting, however, that DefeatMeansFriendship in this game, and she has a ''[[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters lot]]'' of "[[LesYay friends]]" over years of adventuring, so there ''may actually be'' something to the name, after all.