History VideoGame / BlueDragon

** Awakened Shadow's final boss, [[spoiler: Last Slavery]] is a fusion of the main character's [[spoiler: shadow self and the Chimera Shadow versions of the partby's shadows.]]

** For players unable to access the multiplayer exclusive areas for seeds who've already fed Destroy every type of seed they could find in-game, the game gives them the option to obtain Dark Seeds from defeating [[spoiler: Raging King Destroy which prevents the Destroy sidequest from being UnwinnableByAccident.]]
* CloneArmy: Its revealed that the Mighty Quartet have an army of infant Destroy clones in the Blizzard Cube. Szabo manages to get rid of most of them, though two remain. The Mighty Quartet fuse with one to become Demon King Destroy, and one is found

* Foreshadowing: During your trip in the Blizzard Cube, you'll fight enemies who are blue versions of each member of the Mighty Quartet and you eventually come across a room full of Destroy clones. During the end of the dungeon, they announce their intention to fuse with Destroy in order to become a powerful warrior in order to create a world of destruction and chaos.

[[Tropes in General]]

* AbandonedHospital: One of the first lengthy dungeons encountered in the first game. It even doubles as a BigBoosHaunt, as it's the first place that has ghost enemies to fight.
* AccidentalMarriage: Marumaro wearing exactly one hat in Kelaso Village (where everyone wears multiple hats) causes all the little girls to ask him for marriage. For some reason Zola, who also wears one piece of headgear, isn't subjected to this, and has to bail Maro out.
* ActionCommands: In the first game, this appears as the Charge meter, where holding down the A button will fill up the bar and letting go at the "sweet spot" (represented by a dark red/brown spot on the bar) will enable more powerful effects. Even without hitting the sweet spot, charging often has additional benefits, such as Cure Poison going from healing one ally to the whole party when charged. The speed of the charge, as well as the sweet spot's location, depends on the class and spell/attack being used (for example, the Shadow spell under Black Magic is erratic, but Flare under the same is steady).
* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: Toripo's Hearts (used to advance a particular class rank by one), which double in cost each time you buy one.
* AllThereInTheManual: The Monster and Item Records that can be perused in the first game's Item menu hold a lot information and world lore that otherwise isn't mentioned elsewhere in the game.
* AlwaysCheckBehindTheChair: Not only does just about every environmental and background object contain items you can take (most often gold, but stat boosts and EXP can be found as well), but many more hold "Nothing," which is apparently ''not'' the same as not having anything inside. Finding enough Nothing will let you get items from a certain {{NPC}}. The “Six Treasures” DownloadableContent includes a pair of glasses that places markers on top of things that are hiding Nothing.
* AntiFrustrationFeatures: During the [[spoiler: rematch with the Egg of Light]], if you fall in battle, the game will give you a cutscene telling the player they're not strong enough instead of the usual Game Over screen.
** For players unable to access the multiplayer exclusive areas for seeds, the game gives them the option to obtain Dark Seeds from defeating [[spoiler: Raging King Destroy which prevents the Destroy sidequest from being UnwinnableByAccident.]]
* AttackItsWeakPoint: Several bosses in the first game have weak points that need to be hit in order to either damage them more, mitigate their damage to the party, or to stop them from performing devastating special attacks.

* BecomingTheMask: [[spoiler: Averted with Zola. She wanted power, which Nene granted her, but hated working for Nene. She helped Shu and co., even becoming one of them, which she preferred. She played DoubleAgent and helped (willingly or unwillingly) with Nene's EvilPlan at the same time. When Shu showed her she had power inside her, she betrayed him.]]
* BigBad: Nene. [[spoiler:At least, up until the end of the game; then it's Deathroy, who is actually the Ancient ultimate bioweapon Destroy]].
* BittersweetEnding: The original game. [[spoiler:The world has still been split in half, but Nene and Destroy have been stopped from doing anything more to it, and everybody has moved onto the floating cubes within.]]

** Once you beat ''Awakened Shadow'', you'll unlock the New World which is much harder than what came before it.
* BrokenRecord: To play the ''Blue Dragon'' Drinking Game, take a shot every time Shu says "I won't give up!" Even if you only do it when he repeats the phrase twice in a row, you'll be drunk inside an hour.
* ChargeMeter: Used for magic, and the Monk job class skill "Charge Attack" can use this for normal attacks too.
* TheChosenMany: The depiction of Shadow users in ''Blue Dragon Plus'', which pretty much includes almost every major character from the first game.
* CognizantLimbs: A few bosses from the first game have these, the first one being the Hydrattler, a giant multi-headed snake.
* DamselInDistress: [[spoiler:Kluke ends up being kidnapped by Nene during the latter half of Disc 2, prompting the party to rescue her.]]
* {{Determinator}}: Shu's utter refusal to give up under any circumstances isn't just a plot concern. For a significant portion of the game, [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration he cannot flee from battles]]. [[spoiler:It's also how he gets his Shadow back.]]
* DiscOneFinalDungeon: Both discs have one: the Flying Fortress in Disc 1 and Nene's Fortress in Disc 2.
* DoomedHometown: There's barely a town in the whole game that Nene ''doesn't'' regularly attack. Your own hometown isn't destroyed, but has been abandoned by the time you get back there.
* DoubleAgent: [[spoiler:Zola is doing one or more out of three things at any given time - helping the party, being treated like a party member, and carrying out Nene's plan. She prefers helping the party, but owes Nene because he gave her power, which is useful because of Nene's EvilPlan. She finally betrays Nene when Shu and friends show her an alternative to Nene's power.]]
* DragonAscendant: In a really weird way. [[spoiler:Deathroy, the little frog-newt thing that hangs around Nene, is actually one of the creatures that nearly destroyed the planet long ago, trapped in a weakened form. When Zola throws away Nene's power, Deathroy ingests it and, with the aid of the Eternal Engines scattered everywhere, regains its true form, becoming the final boss Destroy.]]
* ElementalRockPaperScissors: But not the typical FireIceLightning set; it uses [[DishingOutDirt the]] [[BlowYouAway four]] [[PlayingWithFire classical]] [[MakingASplash elements]] plus [[LightEmUp Light]] and [[CastingAShadow Dark]].
* EternalEngine: Loads of them, and toward the end of the game [[spoiler:the whole ''planet'' turns out to be one]]. The term itself, however, is used in-game to refer to the power sources of the Ancient machinery.
* EvilOldFolks: Nene. For much of the game, he terrorizes the towns of the world for [[ForTheEvulz very little reason]], often instilling fear and false hope to his victims. [[spoiler:And it's later revealed that his reason for antagonizing Shu and co was to make them power up their Shadows, which turn out to be composite Shadows of ''Nene''[='s=] Purple Dragon. At the end of Disc 2, he absorbs the powers of their Shadows and regains a youthful form.]]
** Two other members of Nene's race appear in Awakened Shadow and seek to use the Egg of Light's power for their own ends.
* ExpansionPack: Downloadable content adds stuff like new items, a randomized BonusDungeon, and a NewGamePlus mode with higher difficulty levels. The player is advised not to even bother trying the highest of the difficulty levels unless your party is at least Level 50.
* ExplosiveLeash: In Disc 2, Nene captures Kluke and puts a collar on her when Shu and the others finally managed rescue her. He claims they must get to him within an hour or the collar will explode. [[spoiler:This turns out to be a ruse, and the main reason Nene wanted them there was to help bring the Shadows they had to him. The collar turns out to be a restraining noose.]]

* FeaturelessProtagonist: The main character in ''Awakened Shadow''. You *do* get to choose gender/hair/etc., but the other characters refer to you with gender-neutral pronouns anyway.
* FightingYourFriend: Marumaro, the first time you meet him. [[spoiler:And Zola much, much later in the game]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Several hints are dropped in the first game if you know where to look:
** [[spoiler:Zola's decision to betray Nene, which she had always planned to do since joining him, solidifies when she encounters the party again after they've gotten back their Shadows (which she says herself at the end of the game), despite Nene taking that power away from them (an event that Zola missed). The cutscene when she arrives on the Mechat has her acting in a more friendly manner compared to the earlier ones, where she's a bit more aloof. Notably, she also is able to use [[LimitBreak the Tension/Coporeal skill]] that the others gained from regaining their Shadows despite never losing her Shadow to Nene, implying that she most likely witnessed them doing that at some point between Devour Village and Noluta, and then performed the action herself.]]
** [[spoiler:Deathroy being Destroy is only really hinted at if you pay attention to his design and that of the giant monster in the ancient murals you find, which look eerily similar. However, Deathroy actually despising the fact that Nene kept him around as a "crutch" for his loneliness is hinted at the end of Disc 2. Nene (genuinely) thanks Deathroy for being there for him, saying that otherwise he'd probably have gone mad with loneliness. Deathroy, in one of the few instances where he isn't parroting what Nene says, responds with "That's too bad", implying that Deathroy would rather see the old man go insane than be tethered to him all this time.]]
** [[spoiler: Himiko, a female Ancient, isn't mentioned at all in the first game, but her existence is foreshadowed by her accessories, which are named after her and can be found in the final dungeon.]]
* ForTheEvulz: How Nene presents himself for the whole of the first game. A few points in the story provide scant reasons for his behavior, but they mostly stem from him being the LastOfHisKind. [[spoiler:It isn't until ''Blue Dragon Plus'' that we're given a real reason as to why Nene acted the way he did in the first game.]]
* FreudianExcuse:[[spoiler: The reason Nene's such a bastard in the first game? In addition to being the last of his kind with a vague extreme aging disease, he was actually sealed by his love, who wish to preserve him until a cure was found (two other Ancients, preserved in a similar manner, appear in ''Awakened Shadow''), but unfortunately, she had seemingly passed away once he awoke and a cure still didn't exist. Nene became angry at the world, taking his rage out on the humans who now inhabited it, and making them feel the fear and pain he had to deal with upon waking.]]
* FusionDance: Two of Awakened Shadow's bosses do this such as Demon King Destroy, and [[spoiler: [[FinalBoss Last Slavery]] ]] are a result of this.

* GotTheCallOnSpeedDial: [[spoiler: The entire gang resolves to regain their Shadows even after Nene takes the Shadows into himself at the end of Disc 2. They succeed.]]

* HeroesFightBarehanded: Everyone; once they gain their Shadows, the party simply directs their Shadows to attack.

* HopelessBossFight: Really, until you get to the final confrontation with Nene, your encounters with him tend to go like this.
** The first fight with Eet-Yeet in Devour Village
* HundredPercentCompletion: Several Xbox 360 Achievements involve completing various lists, like the Monster Book and Item Log.

** [[spoiler:Nene's Chimera Shadow, as the name implies, is actually a creature with the combine features of all the heroes' Shadows, sans the Killer Bat. This is because their Shadows were actually created from his.]]

* LastDiscMagic: Put in a blender with LimitBreak and SummonMagic. After you [[spoiler:regain your shadows]] in Disc 3, you get access to powerful "Corporeal" attacks where your Shadow temporarily splits off and becomes solid.
* LastOfHisKind: Nene, at least in the XBOX 360 game. And it's mostly because of this that he takes the role as the BigBad. [[spoiler:Then the series reveals [[ThereIsAnother Himiko.]]]]
* LawOfOneHundred: Unlocking the boss fight with [[spoiler: Destroy]] in Awakened Shadow requires you to feed him 100 seeds.
%%* LethalLavaLand: The Primitive Cube.

* LimitBreak: The party gains the ability to use this at the end of the game, before the world opens up.
* LivingShadow: The basis of the entire battle system.
%%* MascotMook: The poo snakes.
* MechaMooks: ''All'' of Nene's mooks, up to and including [[TheDragon his Dragon]].
* MetalSlime: The Platinum and Golden Poo Snakes. They're only found on specific islands (with Platinum being a rare spawn on its island), both run from battle if given the first chance to move (which their high speed will almost always ensure unless the player prepares for that), and both give large amounts of SP (Platinum, if certain conditions are met) or EXP (Golden) upon victory.
* TheMole: [[spoiler:Zola. She hates it and prefers Shu and company.]]
* MoneySpider: Oddly enough, some monster encounters justify this - the money comes out of their poo after you beat them, implying they ate other people with valuables and are literally pooping it out everywhere.
* MrFixit: Jiro. Give him an Ancient device, and he'll get it working.
** Inverted in the Pachess Town arc, where Marumaro actually gets the desired object to work by banging on it.
* NeverBareheaded: Marumaro always wears a hat, which almost results in an AccidentalMarriage in Kelaso Village.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: During Disc 2, the party ends up powering up Nene thanks to his XanatosGambit. Later,[[spoiler: Zola's execution of Nene led to Destroy's resurrection.]]

* NoGearLevel: After the XanatosGambit mentioned below, your party begins Disc 3 [[spoiler: without their Shadows, leaving them virtually powerless]]. Shu eventually manages to recover his [[{{Determinator}} through sheer force of will]], but you have to beat a boss and work your way through a monster-filled forest before the rest of the party gets back to normal.
* NoIndoorVoice: Marumaro, made strange by the fact that literally ''none'' of the other Devee talk that way, and made especially annoying by the fact that his voice sounds like [[WesternAnimation/SouthPark someone writing on a chalkboard with a rusty nail.]] When Shu asks him why he shouts all the time, Maro simply responds by saying he doesn't know why.
* NoobCave: The first "dungeon" area where you control Shu and the others is fairly short and mostly exists just to get you used to battling. It later houses the strongest non-DLC BonusBoss.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: [[spoiler:Deathroy, AKA Destroy.]]

* ParentalAbandonment: Averted with Jiro and Marumaro, subverted with Shu (parents killed by the Land Shark, lives with his grandfather) and played straight with Kluke (parents also killed, lives by herself).
* {{Pastiche}}: The first game is quite obviously a loving homage to classic [=JRPGs=], particularly (thanks to the pedigree) the ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' and ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series.
* PointOfNoReturn: In the first game, when attempting to pursue Nene after he burrowed his fortress deep into the earth, you get a cutscene, Zola and Jiro both warning you that it's probably a one-way ticket, a chance to save your game, and a final yes/no confirmation before you proceed to the endgame area ... which [[SubvertedTrope includes a dimensional portal so you can enter/leave it at will]].
* PostDefeatExplosionChain: After being defeated, the final boss sinks into lava while numerous explosions erupt across his body.

* RaceAgainstTheClock: Disc 2, [[spoiler: rescuing Kluke from the clutches of Nene and his collar in under an hour, otherwise a bomb will go off, killing her. Inverted through Nene's Xanatos Gambit; the party's NiceJobBreakingItHero led them all to their demise.]]

* ShoutOut:
** Shu [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EX7jqoSr6g starts the game waking up from a nap before his adventure]]. Like another [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda famed character]].
** Zola's Killer Bat makes one to ''Franchise/DragonBall'' during their LimitBreak. You'd expect it to look more like its namesake, but instead Killer Bat turns out to be a giant, white, tailed ape (with Bat's head and wings) that attacks by firing energy beams at the foe, not unlike Vegeta's giant ape form in ''Manga/DragonBallZ''.
** Let's face it, in a broad sense, the shadows are basically [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure Stands]].
* SigilSpam: That spiky-circle logo on Ancient stuff turns up ''everywhere''.
* SkillSlotSystem: Your Shadows are actually the ones learning battle techniques, which are represented as skills you can equip into your character's slots. Certain skills also increase the number of slots you have.
* SleepModeSize: [[spoiler: Deathroy, a.k.a Destroy.]]
* SmugSnake: Nene, who never loses that [[SmugSmiler infuriating grin]].
* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: In the first game, Nene sends progressively stronger [[MechaMooks Mecha Robos]] at the heroes, making one wonder why he didn't just ''start'' with these stronger Robos at the outset. [[spoiler:Then he reveals his scheme at the end of Disc 2, justifying this trope.]]

* SuppressedHistory: the Book of the Beginning tells of the creation of the world. But it does so, in such a cryptic way, that it leads people to think that the world was one of light, before shadows came along to be stopped by the Warriors of Light. [[spoiler: Actually, the world's original state was darkness, and probably nonexistence, until the Warriors of Light, who were themselves shadow-users, sealed it away, creating the world people live in.]]
* ThreePlusTwo: Shu, Jiro and Kluke are the three, Zola and Maro are the two.
* TimedMission: In [[spoiler:Nene's Headquarters]] you are on a time limit because [[spoiler:Kluke has been given a bomb collar that will supposedly go off after an hour. This is subverted because the bomb collar does not actually explode and is actually part of a plan to extract the party's magic. Accordingly, letting the timer run out just results in a cutscene where the bomb fails to explode, much to everybody's confusion.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: Essentially, all of the Shadow Wielders. Most notably [[spoiler:Nene when he manages to cure his illness.]]

* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: Depending on what you're doing and what file you use, it's possible to become stuck on a NewGamePlus file pretty easily. Early in the game, right after the Land Shark attack, you end up in the NoobCave. In order to proceed, you're supposed to kill the Poo Snakes and loot their treasures, which will spawn a new treasure that continues the game after opening. However, depending on the save you used for New Game Plus, it's actually possible to have the maximum amount of items on you before this, making it impossible to loot the chests and continue the game, thanks to the fact that you also can't ''drop'' excess items from your inventory, you can only sell them. Better hope you didn't save over the file used to start New Game Plus and/or have a save set before you started killing the Poo Snakes...[[note]]Since you either need to use an item to attack them (Thorn Grass) or to let them hit you so you can waste a few healing items (Medicine and Light Crystals) so you can pick up the treasure in the chests.[[/note]]

* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: Primitive Cube, a huge lava-filled... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin cube]], floating [[spoiler: in the void between the two halves of the planet, revealed after Nene saws the world in half]].

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:Nene. He had SoapOperaDisease and was dying. His lover Himiko put him into cryogenic sleep... he wakes up and she's dead, and he's still dying. In other words, he missed out on living with his true love for nothing. This makes him almost kill humans because he was basically so pissed off at everyone.]]
* WrongSideAllAlong: [[spoiler: The henchman of the BigBad (after the BigBad has supposedly been defeated) reveals that the party is being used to open up the Dark World by their leader. Of course, they don't realize this until after helping almost destroy the world.]]

** [[spoiler:This is lucky for Zola: She hates working for Nene, and would rather help Shu and co. This way, she can do both until Shu makes Nene's gift to her defunct.]]

* BoobsOfSteel: In the first game, the bustiest character is Zola, who's the only character that ''isn't'' a child and is also considered one of the most badass characters InUniverse.

** For players unable to access the multiplayer exclusive areas for seeds, the game gives them the option to obtain Dark Seeds from defeating [[spoiler: Raging King Destroy which preventing the Destroy sidequest from being UnwinnableByAccident.]]

* FeaturelessProtagonist: The main character in ''Awakened Shadow''. You *do* get to choose gender/hair/etc., but the other characters refer to you with gender neutral pronouns anyway.

* GotTheCallOnSpeedDial: [[spoiler: The entire gang resolve to regain their Shadows even after Nene takes the Shadows into himself at the end of Disc 2. They succeed.]]

* LethalLavaLand: The Primitive Cube.

* MascotMook: The poo snakes.

* AlternateContinuity: For the anime, the characters' appearances are mostly the same as they are in the game, except for small details like Jiro's hair being gray instead of black, if not much else... The entire story is almost completely different from the one in the games, with many changes to the first game's base plot of "Nene terrorizes the world's towns for his own amusement" (for example, unlike the games, Shu and Jiro ''aren't'' childhood friends, starting off as rivals as soon as they meet, Zola is introduced almost immediately instead of midway through the plot, Nene's army includes human soldiers, and the shadows are voiced characters in their own right instead of just extentions of the user).

* {{Bowdlerization}}: Done in the US version of the anime, regarding Bouquet, most likely because of her age.
* CanonForeigner: Bouquet, the ditzy barmaid, and Homeron. They surprisingly did not make an appearance in ''Blue Dragon Plus'', even though anything that breathed from the first game was part of the party. Hell, a couple of things that ''didn't'' breathe in the original game joined the party.
** The closest the games come to referencing Bouquet is in ''Awakened Shadow'', where you can make a female PC with Bouquet's hairstyle and eyes (both the default choices when starting a new game, although the hairstyle has some slight differences and the eyes aren't purple).
* CensorBox : [[GagBoobs Bouquet's]] blue "dressing" in the anime dub.
** Incidentally, the anime sequel gives Bouquet a ''slightly'' more modest attire that covers her chest more, while simultaneously revealing her midriff.

* GagBoobs: Bouquet's exceptionally buxom for her age and the anime does as much as it can to remind you of this fact.
* GuileHero: Homeron.
* InNameOnly: There is also a manga spinoff, which is so different from the source material (mainly thanks to being drawn by the ''Manga/DeathNote'' guy) that the only real connections the two have is that the characters have living shadows, and the monsters eat each other (a gameplay gimmick).
* InvisibleStreaker: Bouquet. She can become completely invisible, but ''only'' [[NakedPeopleAreFunny when she's naked]].

* BareYourMidriff: Zola in the first game, as well as some [=NPCs=]. ''Awakened Shadow'' includes outfits for the female PC that can induce this on her.

* {{Gainaxing}}: Zola, and ''only'' her. Although she's present in the other two games (and the anime), it's really only used in the first game (and in ''Awakened Shadow''[='s=] opening cinematic where it's barely noticeable).

* {{Gainaxing}}: Bouquet, [[GagBoobs very often]]. In fact, it seems that what little bouncing Zola did in the games was transferred to Bouquet in the anime, as the former seems to lack her JigglePhysics from the game.

BittersweetEnding: The original game. [[spoiler:The world has still been split in half, but Nene and Destroy have been stopped from doing anything more to it, and everybody has moved onto the floating cubes within.]]

** Many open up in the original game when the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon becomes available. The [[BrutalBonusLevel Shuffle Dungeon]], the hardest one, is also unlocked late in the game if bought as DLC.

* DreamTeam: This is the first game that [[Franchise/FinalFantasy Hironobu Sakaguchi]], Creator/NobuoUematsu, and Creator/AkiraToriyama worked on together since they worked on ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' back in 1995.

* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: Primitive Cube, a huge lava-filled... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin cube]], floating [[spoiler: in the void between the two halves of the planet]].

* BonusBoss: Tons of 'em, even if you ignore the downloadable content mentioned below.
** Awakened Shadow introduces Door Bosses which serve as these, with [[spoiler: Destroy and Arcane Dragon being the hardest ones.]]
* BonusDungeon: [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Tons of 'em, even if you ignore the downloadable content mentioned below]].
** Once you beat Awakened Shadow, you'll unlock the New World which is much harder than what came before it.

* ExpansionPack: Downloadable content adds stuff like new items, a randomized BonusDungeon, and a NewGamePlus mode which actually advises you not to even bother trying it unless your party is at least Level 50.

* StatusEffects: The only odd one out is "Kelolon", [[BalefulPolymorph which turns you into a weird frog/imp creature]], robbing you of your Shadow (and thus, your main way of damaging foes, as your base stats sans Shadow are pathetic). It's most similar to the "Frog" and "Imp" statuses from the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series.

* AnimalTropes: Each of the Shadows represent different creatures:
** BatOutOfHell: Zola's Killer Bat is a furry, monstrous, nearly demonic-looking bat with long arms. Oddly enough, during her LimitBreak, it looks less like a bat and more like a giant monkey [[MixAndMatchCritter with Killer Bat's head, arms, and wings]].
** OurMinotaursAreDifferent: Jiro's Minotaur, which is oddly frail-looking for a minotaur (at least until Jiro gains his Limit Break), possibly to reference its initial role as the WhiteMage of the group. In ''Awakened Shadow'', the Minotaur has the physique of a normal bull.
** NobleBirdOfPrey: Kluke's Phoenix. It starts off as a BlackMage in the games and is better suited for magical roles than physical ones. In the anime, Phoenix has barrier powers. It's played up like a GuardianEntity and powerful enough to defend against the BigBad.
** OurDragonsAreDifferent: Shu's Shadow, the titular Blue Dragon (simply called "Dragon" in-game). Incidentally, King Jibral also has a dragon-like Shadow in later games, although it happens to based on Eastern dragons rather than Western ones (though its name is Kirin, like the horse-dragon creature of myth). [[spoiler:Nene's Shadow is also a sort of dragon.]]
** PantheraAwesome: Maro's Saber-Tooth/Tiger. Starts off in the Monk class and takes to that class and the Guardian class particularly well.
** HybridMonster: [[spoiler:Nene's Chimera Shadow, as the name implies, is actually a creature with the combine features of all the heroes' Shadows, sans the Killer Bat. This is because their Shadows were actually created from his.]]
** The later games add many more Shadows to the series. For instance, ''Awakened Shadow'' adds a Hercules Beetle, a Robot, and a Devil to the first game's main trio's Shadows.
** Awakened Shadow's final boss, [[spoiler: Last Slavery]] is a fusion of the main character's [[spoiler: shadow self and the Chimera Shadow versions of the partby's shadows.]]

* FiveManBand
** TheHero: Shu.
** TheLancer: Zola
** TheSmartGuy: Jiro
** TheChick: Kluke
** TheBigGuy: Marumaro

** FusionDance: Two of Awakened Shadow's bosses do this such as Demon King Destroy, and [[spoiler: [[FinalBoss Last Slavery]] ]] are a result of this.

** BatOutOfHell: Zola's Killer Bat is a furry, monstrous, nearly demonic-looking bat with long arms. Oddly enough, during her LimitBreak, it looks less like a bat and more like [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys a giant monkey]] [[MixAndMatchCritter with Killer Bat's head, arms, and wings]].

** ALoadOfBull: Jiro's Minotaur, which is oddly frail-looking for a minotaur (at least until Jiro gains his Limit Break), possibly to reference its initial role as the WhiteMage of the group. In ''Awakened Shadow'', the Minotaur has the physique of a normal bull.

* StandardStatusEffects: The only odd one out is "Kelolon", [[BalefulPolymorph which turns you into a weird frog/imp creature]], robbing you of your Shadow (and thus, your main way of damaging foes, as your base stats sans Shadow are pathetic). It's most similar to the "Frog" and "Imp" statuses from the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series.

* UnwinnableByMistake: Depending on what you're doing and what file you use, it's possible to become stuck on a NewGamePlus file pretty easily. Early in the game, right after the Land Shark attack, you end up in the NoobCave. In order to proceed, you're supposed to kill the Poo Snakes and loot their treasures, which will spawn a new treasure that continues the game after opening. However, depending on the save you used for New Game Plus, it's actually possible to have the maximum amount of items on you before this, making it impossible to loot the chests and continue the game, thanks to the fact that you also can't ''drop'' excess items from your inventory, you can only sell them. Better hope you didn't save over the file used to start New Game Plus and/or have a save set before you started killing the Poo Snakes...[[note]]Since you either need to use an item to attack them (Thorn Grass) or to let them hit you so you can waste a few healing items (Medicine and Light Crystals) so you can pick up the treasure in the chests.[[/note]]

** NobleBirdOfPrey: Kluke's Phoenix. It starts off as a BlackMage in the games and is better suited for magical roles than physical ones. In the anime, Phoenix has barrier powers. It's played up like a GuardianEntity and powerful enough to defend against the BigBad.

** InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons: Shu's Shadow, the titular Blue Dragon (simply called "Dragon" in-game). Incidentally, King Jibral also has a dragon-like Shadow in later games, although it happens to based on Eastern dragons rather than Western ones (though its name is Kirin, like the horse-dragon creature of myth). [[spoiler:Nene's Shadow is also a sort of dragon.]]

There was also an anime adaptation that had a different plot and introduced a new girl, Bouquet (who had the [[MsFanservice strange ability]] to become invisible while naked), along with her Hippo Shadow, to the cast. The dub went through some pretty heavy editing in places, mostly due to how Bouquet was presented in the original. The anime eventually received a sequel called ''Blue Dragon: Trials of the 7 Shadows'' and begins by following Shu and Bouquet, two years later, dealing with the aftermath of the events in the previous series. Both anime adaptations are 51 episodes long.

* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: In the first game, Nene sends progressively stronger [[MechaMook Mecha Robos]] at the heroes, making one wonder why he didn't just ''start'' with these stronger Robos at the outset. [[spoiler:Then he reveals his scheme at the end of Disc 2, justifying this trope.]]

** Shu [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EX7jqoSr6g starts the game waking up from a nap before his adventure]]. Like another [[Franchise/{{Zelda}} famed character]].

''Blue Dragon'' started out as a 2006 RolePlayingGame for the UsefulNotes/Xbox360, developed by several of the people behind the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series and the artwork of the ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' franchise. It's basically Creator/AkiraToriyama, Hironobu Sakaguchi, and Creator/NobuoUematsu's attempt at a ClicheStorm, after seeing how cliche {{RPG}}s had become.

* AlternateContinuity: For the anime, the characters' appearances are mostly the same as they are in the game, except for small details like Jiro's hair being gray instead of black, if not much else... The entire story is almost completely different from the one in the games, with many changes to the first game's base plot of "Nene terrorizes the world's towns for his own amusement" (for example, unlike the games, Shu and Jiro ''aren't'' childhood friends, starting off as rivals as soon as they meet, Zola is introduced almost immediately instead of midway through the plot, and Nene's army includes human soldiers).

* SuddenlyVoiced: All the Shadows can talk, whereas in the games they remain silent, only retaining their animal roars.