History VideoGame / Deception

* TrapMaster: The player characters, and an occasional NPC. ''Another Princess'' is the first game to subvert this, as your character can actually attack invaders directly.

#''Deception IV: Blood Ties'' (''Kagero: Darkside Princess'') -- Released in March, 2014. Centered around a girl named Laegrinna, an "animated fragment of the imprisoned Devil's soul", she operates under the guidance of three servants: [[EvilRedhead Veruza]], Caelea, and [[CuteAndPsycho Lilia]]. Received an UpdatedRerelease in 2015 as ''Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess'' (''Kagero: Another Princess''). This version introduces a new 100-level Quest Mode starring the titular Nightmare Princess, Velguirie. It's also a full-blown CrisisCrossover

* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: In ''The Nightmare Princess'' where you can attack enemies directly by kicking them for extra damage, and can do it to a victim ''literally'', giving them a taste of your boot when they're on their last legs.

* AmusingInjures: You can be especially creative in ''The Nightmare Princess'', rigging traps that might be more likable to cartoon characters than an evil sorceress. Want to shove a victim down a playground slide, off a trampoline, and then end by punting him through a basketball hoop? That's just one of many sadistic ways to do it.

* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: you can do it to a victim ''literally'', giving them a taste of your boot when they're on their last legs.

Being the hero is [[GoodIsBoring so dull]]. I mean... [[ItstheSameNowItSucks it's always the same]]: Grab your sword, run to the castle of evil, fight against the boss, [[VictoryIsBoring easily beat him]], save the world, everybody loves you, right?

* CostumeCopycat: A lookalike of Fiana is brought in to try and reason with you, but it turns out to be a trap. Subverted in that you can check your map, [[GenreSavvy see the trap ahead of time and disable it]].

The series in general follows the same pattern, with you having to protect your castle [[ExcusePlot for one reason or another]], with {{Death Trap}}s and gizmos. The biggest selling points in general is the same: play from an unusual point of view (the TrapMaster) and kill your enemies in [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential gruesome ways]]. In most of them you are plain evil, but some of them try leave you in a more ambiguous position, where [[BlackAndGreyMorality it's not clear which side is the good one]]. This actually makes the experience stronger, as one is not sure if what you are doing is right or wrong.

* AdventuresInComaland: In ''The Nightmare Princess'' [[spoiler: Velguirie is the result of this.]]
* ALighterShadeOfGrey: Especially prevalent in ''Deception 4'', where the holders of the twelve verses are all rather evil. They range from a corrupt mercenary, to a psychopathic nun.
* AlternateSelf: In ''The Nightmare Princess'', due to the [[PlaceBeyondTime weird]] [[DreamLand setting]] [[spoiler: there's basically two versions of each of the other trap mistresses running around. One version loses their soul, while the other goes home.]] Velguirie herself [[spoiler: gets one in Kanata Fuyuno, the high-school girl who dreamed her up.]]
* AerithAndBob: While some characters have normal names, such as Gordon, the series also has some truly ridiculous names, such as Goatbone, Scuba, Loongear, and others, too numerous to list.

** One of the unlockable costumes in ''Deception IV'' is [[DeadOrAlive Ayane]], referencing a cameo from the second game in that series. It also has costumes from the earlier games.

* ContinuityNod: Each game takes place in its own little universe. However, one of ''Kagero'''s endings implies that Millennia [[spoiler:would go on to become Astarte.]] Also, Ardebaran's mask appears in ''Kagero'' as an unlockable trap. Some of the later games have vague references to previous ones. ''The Nightmare Princess'' directly references the previous games as part of it's CrisisCrossover status.

* CrisisCrossover: The plot for ''Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess'' includes the new main character battling the old main characters from ''Deception II'', ''Deception III'', ''Trapt'' and ''Deception IV: Blood Ties''. Rachel from ''Trapt'' also appears in a {{DLC}} mini-campaign. The crossovers are facilitated via DreamLand [[spoiler: and a version of each character goes back to their own world in the end.]]

* DreamLand: ''The Nightmare Princess'' takes place in one of these, known as the Dark Side Heaven. [[YourSoulIsMine Velguirie takes the souls of anyone she kills in the dream world]], [[YourMindMakesItReal so anyone who dies in the dream never wakes up.]]

* MarketBasedTitle: The original game was called ''Kokumeikan'' in Japan, which translates to "Engraved Fate Building". This became ''Tecmo's Deception: Invitation to Darkness'' in America and ''Devil's Deception'' in Europe. The second game was called ''[[SequelTheOriginalTitle Kagero: Kokumeikan Shinsho]]'' in Japan and ''Kagero: Deception II'' overseas. Essentially, they just replaced "Kokumeikan" with "Deception". The third game, ''Soumatou'', was [[DolledUpInstallment dolled up]] as ''Deception III: Dark Delusion''. The fourth ''Kagero 2: Dark illusion'' was ''reversed'' dolled-up, as ''Trapt''. Finally, ''Kagero: Darkside Princess'' and ''Kagero: Another Princess'' became ''Deception IV: Blood Ties'' and ''Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess''. So basically, the series is called Kagero in Japan and Deception overseas...more or less.

* OddlyNamedSequel: ''Trapt'' is the worst offender, but if it wasn't for the [[NumberedSequel numbering]] in the first three, few people would know they were related at first glance. In Japan it's even worse.
* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: You fight them in ''The Nightmare Princess''. Although it's implied they might not be that ordinary since [[spoiler: there's mention of them being members of a gang.]] Also, [[spoiler: Velguirie is the dream self of a high-school student.]]

* VideoGameCaringPotential: If an invader decides to retreat, you ''can'' be merciful and allow them to go. This is especially notable for civilians who either wandered into your lair by mistake, or were forced into coming by their ruthless superiors. [[BeingGoodSucks You won't get anything out of it though.]]

* FragileSpeedster: You can't attack directly, the enemy can inflict truly devastating status ailments (often via guided projectiles too!!!) and after Deception 1, your own character is only a shade more enduring than the baseline grunts in the early levels. So it's a good thing that few enemies can keep up to your character when she starts running and you have the abililty to roll away from an attack - the closest the enemy have are the agile characters like ninjas and thieves jumping away from a limited set of traps. Just be careful, some enemies have a rush attack that's more like low altitude flight and certain bosses can have ones that can almost reach the end of a room.
** Averted in ''Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess'', where you can physically kick enemies. However, it's effectiveness is far less than the traps themselves.

* MarketBasedTitle: The original game was called ''Kokumeikan'' in Japan, which translates to "Engraved Fate Building". This became ''Tecmo's Deception: Invitation to Darkness'' in America and ''Devil's Deception'' in Europe. The second game was called ''''Kagero: Kokumeikan Shinsho'' in Japan and ''Kagero: Deception II'' overseas. Essentially, they just replaced "Kokumeikan" with "Deception". The third game, ''Soumatou'', was [[DolledUpInstallment dolled up]] as ''Deception III: Dark Delusion''. The fourth was ''reversed'' dolled-up, as ''Kagero 2: Dark illusion'' became ''Trapt'' overseas.

* SequelTheOriginalTitle: ''Kagero''.

* DolledUpInstallment: They were only a "series" in the loosest sense in Japan. In the US, they're a consistently named series... up until ''Kagero 2'', which was the first straight-out sequel in Japan.

* GaidenGame: Judging by ''Deception IV'', ''Trapt'' is officially this now in the overseas "canon". Ironically, ''Deception III'' is probably this is the native Japanese canon.

#''Deception IV: Blood Ties'' (''Kagero: Darkside Princess'') -- Released in March, 2014. Centered around a girl named Laegrinna, an "animated fragment of the imprisoned Devil's soul", she operates under the guidance of three servants: [[EvilRedhead Veruza]], Caelea, and [[CuteAndPsycho Lilia]]. Received an UpdatedRerelease in 2015 as ''Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess'' (''Kagero: Another Princess''). This version introduces a new 100-level Quest Mode starring the titular Nightmare Princess, Velguirie.

* MultipleEndings: Never fewer than three, for all four games.

* AlternateSelf: In ''The Nightmare Princess'', due to the [[PlaceBeyondTime weird]] [[DreamLand setting]] [[spoiler: there's basically two versions of each of the other trap mistresses running around. One version loses their soul, while the other goes home.]]

** ''Trapt'' has Millenia and Reina as unlockable costumes. Millenia is also foguth as a BonusBoss.

* MostDefinitelyNotAnImpostor: ''3'' and ''Trapt'' both include some schmo-ette pretending to be the evil queen, seeking your help. Fails the smell-test both times, not that that means you can't accept.

* NewGamePlus

* ALighterShadeOfGrey: Especially prevelant in Deception 4, where the holders of the twelve verses are all rather evil. They range from a corrupt mercenary, to a psychopathic nun.

* BonusBoss: Pretty much any gaiden character in ''Trapt'', but especially the final bosses of each path: Millennia (trap-tripper) and Kendal (creates illusions), each more inexplicable than the last. (That last one is very [[GainaxEnding "Congratulations"-y]].)

** Millenia appears in every game after her debut game as a WakeUpCallBoss who can trigger your own traps against you.
** ''Trapt'' has Millenia and Reina as unlockable costumes.
** One of the unlockable costumes in ''Deception IV'' is [[DeadOrAlive Ayane]], referencing a cameo from the second game in that series. It also has costumes from the earlier games. ''Nightmare Princess'' goes straight into CrisisCrossover territory.

* ClothingDamage: Deception IV: Blood Ties has this feature where attacking armored enemies with the right kind of attack (different for each one) causes their armor to be blasted off, leaving them in their underwear (and vastly reducing their life gauge). Female armored enemies are usually wearing some kind of string bikini underneath.

* CrisisCrossover: The plot for ''Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess'' includes the new main character battling the old main characters from ''Deception II'', ''Deception III'', ''Trapt'' and ''Deception IV: Blood Ties''. Rachel from ''Trapt'' also appears in a {{DLC}} mini-campaign. The crossovers are facilitated via DreamLand.

* DePower: In Deception IV, the armour-breaking mechanic might be this. Enemies in armour, not only take less damage from any attacks that don't bypass defense, they also have total immunity to certain attack types such as boulder drops. If you manage to break the armour of an enemy, they lose all the benefits including the immunities.

* DreamLand: ''The Nightmare Princess'' takes place in one of these. [[YourSoulIsMine Velguirie takes the souls of anyone she kills in the dream world]], [[YourMindMakesItReal so anyone who dies in the dream never wakes up.]]

* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: Princess Fiana and Princess [[strike:Alicia]] Allura. Laegrinna might count as well, given how her daemons keep referring to her as hime-sama.

** Averted in the rerelease of ''Deception IV'', where you are allowed to fight yourself, but the effectiveness is far less than the traps themselves.
* FriendlyFireProof: Played straight with the enemy amongst each other, someone who accidentally gets an arrow from his buddy will take no damage from it. Brutally averted by your own traps, they're just as dangerous to you as they are to your enemies. Especially amusing is watching your girl grab her crotch and crumple in a heap after getting dinged by the Delta Horse.
* GaidenGame: Judging by ''Deception IV'', ''Trapt'' is officially this now in the overseas "canon".

** Taken to extreme levels with the ''Deception IV'' re0release, where you can design everything.

* OddlyNamedSequel: ''Trapt'' is the worst offender, but if it wasn't for the [[NumberedSequel numbering]] in the first three, few people would know they were related at first glance.

* SchizoTech: In Deception IV, enemies range from girls carrying bows and arrows to enemies in armour out of Halo or Killzone who are carrying gas guns and energy rifles. One boss, a deranged nun even boasts of carrying a gun given by God (and it sure hits like it too!!!).

* ScratchDamage: In Deception III later enemies have defense so high that a lot of low damage traps will do only a single point of damage. Arrow traps are especially hard hit by this since many of them only do damage rather than move an enemy around or hold them. Some enemies will actually take only one point of damage even from your hardest-hitting traps, so low-damage multi-hit traps become better than hitting with a single Spike Ball. Later games don't have enemies with such ridiculously high defense, this keeps your old traps from going obsolete and allows you to use a wider variety of traps.

** The [[strike:fifth]] fourth game, Deception IV, was called Kagero: Darkside Princess. Clearly, they learned their lesson.

** And right back to being totally evil with ''Deception IV'', where the protagonist is literally the daughter of the devil himself and has no goal other than to kill people. 3 and Trapt's protagonists had the excuse of simply trying to survive using their weird powers. [[spoiler:In IV however, if you choose to spare Celia, this leads to an ending where Laegrinna and Celia end up using the Devil's power to make the world a better place.]]

#''Deception IV: Blood Ties'' (''Kagero: Darkside Princess'') -- Released in March, 2014. Centered around a girl named Laegrinna, an "animated fragment of the imprisoned Devil's soul", she operates under the guidance of three servants: [[EvilRedhead Veruza]], Caelea, and [[CuteAndPsycho Lilia]]. Received an UpdatedRerelease in 2015 as ''Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess'' (''Kagero: Another Princess'').

* CallBack: Millenia appears in every game after her debut game as a WakeUpCallBoss who can trigger your own traps against you.
** ''Deception IV'' has costumes from the earlier games, and it's rerelease even adds the previous trap mistresses for you to defeat using the new mechanics.

** One of the unlockable costumes in ''Deception IV'' is [[DeadOrAlive Ayane]], referencing a cameo from the second game in that series.

* ContinuityNod: Each game takes place in its own little universe. However, one of ''Kagero'''s endings implies that Millennia [[spoiler:would go on to become Astarte.]] Also, Ardebaran's mask appears in ''Kagero'' as an unlockable trap.

** The [[scratch:fifth]] fourth game, Deception IV, was called Kagero: Darkside Princess. Clearly, they learned their lesson.

#''Deception IV: Blood Ties'' (''Kagero: Darkside Princess'') -- Released in March, 2014. Centered around a girl named Laegrinna, an "animated fragment of the imprisoned Devil's soul", she operates under the guidance of three servants: [[EvilRedhead Veruza]], Caelea, and [[CuteAndPsycho Lilia]]. Receiving an UpdatedRerelease in March of 2015 as ''Deception IV: Another Princess''.

* LadyOfBlackMagic: Astarte.

#''Deception IV: Blood Ties'' (''Kagero: Darkside Princess'') -- Released in March, 2014. Centered around a girl named Laegrinna, an "animated fragment of the imprisoned Devil's soul", she operates under the guidance of three servants: [[EvilRedhead Veruza]], Caelea, and [[CuteAndPsycho Lilia]].

* TrapMaster: The player characters, and an occasional NPC.

* ScrewThisImOutofHere: Some of the more cowardly enemies will try to escape from your lair if they lose over half their life bar. They'll even have a cut-scene saying something to this effect if they successfully leave.

* Stripperific: You'll be hard-pressed to find a female character who ''isn't'' dressed in something very skimpy.

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: It's possible to set up a series of traps that don't end strong. You can fling an enemy into the air, slice them with a bladed pendulum, impale them on spikes, shoot them with a fireball...and them have them slip on a banana.

* HoistedByHisOwnPetard: If you're not careful, you might end up stumbling into your own traps.