History VideoGame / LOOM

* KansasCityShuffle: Bishop Mandible traps Bobbin in a cage, but doesn't take the magical distaff Bobbin carries. Big mistake, right? Not quite -- Mandible is actually after the Draft of Opening. He watches Bobbin cast the spell to unlock the cage and then takes the distaff.

** So, having created the Ultimate Weapon, they just stand around polishing it [[spoiler:until the BigBad shows up to take it for itself]]. (See WhatAnIdiot on the YMMV page.)

* MessianicArchetype: Bobbin was miraculously born from the Loom itself, [[spoiler:and can resurrect people,]] many will die for his name, but the world's salvation lies in his hands. [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory Ring any bells?]]

* UpdatedRerelease: The CD version, which featured a full CD-quality talkie soundtrack, although [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks much of the previous versions' dialogue, animations, portraits and music were cut]] to fit the whole thing on one disc. Notably, the abbreviated talkie version's script was edited by Creator/OrsonScottCard.

** VGA renderings of the character closeups, first created for the FM-TOWNS release, were planned to be used in the CD-ROM version and are still present in the datafiles. However, except for Chaos, all of them went unused, presumably due to an inability to create convincing lip-sync animations. (One artist, presumably frustrated by all this work going to waste, actually hid a scathing message in the Elder Atropos closeup - LOOM SUCKS!)

* DummiedOut: An early screenshot showed a room in the Glassmakers' City with three giant sandglasses, two of which had run out and were sealed up; the last one was open at the top and a worker was pouring sand into it to keep it running. The three sandglasses of course represent [[spoiler: the three Shadows, of which the first two have long since passed, and the third is imminent]]. The room was ultimately cut to save disk space. The sandglasses can still be glimpsed in the 16-color version, in the wide shot of the city (though they were painted out in the VGA upgrade).
** The existence of a puzzle can be deduced: [[spoiler: Bobbin was probably going to use the Emptying draft (which you can play by the time you get to Crystalgard) to empty the sandglasses. The running sands mark the time remaining until the Third Shadow: they were being replenished indefinitely, but presumably Bobbin screws that up and reduces the symbolic time until the Apocalypse to nil. NiceJobBreakingItHero! Alternately, playing the draft in reverse might have ''added'' time before the apocalypse.]]

* {{Unwinnable}}: While you can backtrack to some drafts when you first need to use them, forgetting to write them down correctly can leave you stuck if you forgot them later unless using a walkthrough or earlier saved game. The healing draft is an excpetion, as its first learned before you can use it, with no obvious way to relearn the draft.

** The Weavers generally remain hooded due to the alleged danger in removing their hoods. Cob is foolish enough to test this rumor with Bobbin. On lower difficulties, the scene [[GoryDiscretionShot suddenly cuts to somewhere else]], and expert (or obscures the head with a flash of light) before sucking in Cob.

* GlowingEyes: In the ending of the CD version, Bobbin's eyes will glow to match the note's color.

* {{Unwinnable}}: While you can backtrack to some drafts when you first need to use them, forgetting to write them down correctly can leave you stuck if you forgot them later.

** The Weavers generally remain hooded due to the alleged danger in removing their hoods. Cob is foolish enough to test this rumor with Bobbin -- the scene [[GoryDiscretionShot suddenly cuts to somewhere else]] (or obscures the event with a flash of light on Expert difficulty) and the player sees {{nothing|IsScarier}}.

*** There is ONE version of the game where you actually get to see Cob get magically sucked into Bobbin's hood.

* {{Unwinnable}}: If you didn't write down the notes for the drafts or don't consult a walkthrough, you'll get stuck and need to revert to an earlier point.

At its time of release, ''Loom'' was noted for its ambitious fantasy story, imaginative setting and surprisingly barren user interface: The only item the player could carry was the Distaff, a magical instrument used to shape the world around the player and solve puzzles, which was used by learning and casting short four-note drafts that could be heard around the game world. Most of these drafts were also randomly generated at the start of each game, meaning they would have to be re-learned on each individual playthrough.

* ApocalypseMaiden

* ConvectionSchmonvection: The city of the Blacksmiths, the Forge, is a castle protected by a moat filled with molten metal (and the drawbridge seems to be made of iron). Nobody feels any kind of discomfort when crossing it. Then there is Hetchel who [[spoiler:flies into a furnace through one of its pipes to retrieve Bobbin's distaff]]. She comments that she "must not singe the feathers" but otherwise seems to be unharmed.

* DreamMelody: C' - F - G - C. [[spoiler:It turns out to be the Transcendence draft which allows you to turn into a swan and AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence.]]

* YouShouldntKnowThisAlready: if you try a draft before you've learned it, you get a shower of sparkles to indicate you've hit an actual spell, but you don't get the desired effect. (You can find this out by saving and reloading, by trying all possible drafts--there are only four possibilities for Night Vision, for example--or by playing the CD version, which did not randomize drafts between games.)

* LudicrousGibs: The "[[CruelAndUnusualDeath draft]]" used to kill [[spoiler:Bishop Mandible]]. Naturally, it's irreversible.

* LudicrousGibs: The "[[CruelAndUnusualDeath Rending]]" draft as used on [[spoiler:Bishop Mandible]]. Naturally, it's irreversible.

* ObviousRulePatch: The second-to-last draft you use is [[spoiler:Unmaking]], which you learn how to cast when [[spoiler:Chaos Unmakes Hetchel]]. In the original version of the game, the same draft was used earlier in a cutscene [[spoiler:when Chaos Unmade Bishop Mandible]], and so anyone capable of playing on Expert mode already knows the draft coming into the final scene--but, as noted under YouShouldntKnowThisAlready below, you still have to wait until after [[spoiler:Hetchel's death]] for it to work. This was fixed in later versions of the game by changing the draft used in the cutscene [[spoiler:to Rending]].

* LudicrousGibs: The "[[DeaderThanDead Unmaking]]" draft. Naturally, it's irreversible.

* YouShouldntKnowThisAlready: if you try a draft before you've learned it, you get a shower of sparkles to indicate you've hit an actual spell, but you don't get the desired affect. (You can find this out by trying all possible drafts--there are only four possibilities for Night Vision, for example--or by playing the CD version, which did not randomize drafts between games.)
** This becomes an almost-plot point (and somewhat frustrating) in that at one point near the end, [[spoiler: Chaos]] uses a draft in a cutscene (but close enough for the player to hear.) Unfortunately, you're not carrying your distaff at the time (which normally echoes music and shows you which notes to play.) It's totally possible, if you have a good ear,[[labelnote:*]]and if you are playing the game on Expert mode, you ''have'' to have a good ear,[[/labelnote]] to recognize the notes of the draft and play it yourself. In some versions of the game, you use this draft later, and you have to learn it the 'proper' way [[spoiler:(at great personal cost)]] before it will work. (In other versions of the game, you use a different draft.)

[[UsefulNotes/DigitalDistribution The CD version is available for purchase off of Steam.]] Give it a look sometime.

** [[spoiler: The CD version has Bobbin state that healing the body was actually easy, but it needed the soul being there, thanks to Mandible's tearing the pattern open in the first place. So, this only works in an actual doomsday scenario.]]

* DragonHoard: The dragon that steels sheep from the Shepherds lives in a volcano, sitting on a heap of gold.

* EvilIsNotAToy: Bishop Mandible attempts to summon Chaos from the realm of the dead. [[spoiler:[[GenreBlindness This goes about as well as you would expect.]]]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: You encounter several graveyards in the game. Trying to cast "open" on them will result in an ominous rumble and Bobbin going "Uh-oh." but no further effect. You will learn what that is all about.

** Rusty Nailbender's actual first name is "Wellwrought". Given that he's apparently a lazy layabout and a bit of failure, it's not hard to see why he's better known by his nickname.

* TheWeirdSisters: The three Elders of the Guild of Weavers are named Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos like the Moirai of Myth/GreekMythology. The Weavers have mastered the art of weaving "subtle patterns of influence into the very fabric of reality" and are the keepers of the Great Loom, a device that is able to predict the future as well as to manipulate reality.