History VideoGame / Paladins

* AllThereInTheManual: Much of the game's lore and story is delivered through lore cinematics, developer streams and statements, character bio's and the Paladins Chronicles blogposts, which are usually character-driven pieces.
* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Paladins shares quite a few ideas with ''Overwatch 2'', both in regards to gameplay and lore. Some notable examples:
** Gameplay related:
*** Atlas and Tracer both share an ability that rewinds them back a few seconds into the past, moving them to a previous location and restoring their health to the highest amount it was at during the rewinded period. They do have different use-cases however (Atlas's rewind is used to avoid damage and make it harder for enemies to hit him while on the point, Tracer uses it to confuse flankers and other enemies when fighting further up the battlefield).
*** Barik and Torbjörn both serve as TheTurretMaster of their respective games, supporting their team by laying down turrets, and both even have Nordic roots in how they are portrayed. The two do differ in that Barik is more focused on defense, while Torbjörn tends to leans towards offense.
*** Bomb King and Dredge share Junkrat's abilities between them (a bomb to launch themselves into the air, rolling pills for damage, sticky bombs to set up traps). Bomb King and Junkrats' ultimates conists of them taking control of a much larger bomb that explodes either on impact with an enemy, when specifically detonated, or after enough time has passed, all of which result in huge damage to any nearby enemies, though the two do differ in this regard by Junkrat becoming stationary as he uses the ability, while Bomb King, fittingly, becomes the bomb you control.
*** Cassie and Cassidy both wield fast firing weapons, can quickly roll in any direction, and possess an alternate fire that can mess with enemies (Cassie by knocking them back, Cassidy by stunning them). Cassie additionally shares the same ultimate as Widowmaker, both allowing their team to see all enemies for a brief period through walls.
*** Drogoz and Pharah both manoeuvre through the air with rocket thrusters controlled via the space bar, with hovering using a fuel resource that though recharges incredibly quickly, will cause the two to drop out of the air when it runs out. Both also wield rocket launchers, an ability that allows them to launch into the air to more easily begin their flight, and an ability that allows them to fire a barrage of multiple rockets at once, though this is limited to an ultimate ability for Pharah and is expectedly much deadlier.
*** Evie / Inara and Mei share some similar abilities, with Evie and Mei sharing one that briefly encases themselves in ice, temporarily making them immune to damage, with both additionally sharing an ultimate that summons an ice storm which slows down enemies caught, though Mei's can be thrown, while Evie's is summoned around herself. Inara meanwhile, shares a similar summonable wall with Mei, though unlike Mei's, Inara's isn't separated into several pieces.
*** Fernando / Terminus / Azaan and Reinhardt all share some similarities, Fernando being the most notable. Both Fernando and Reinhardt are equipped with large rectangular shields that lock them out of other abilities while active (though Fernando can still dash) yet allows them to protect their allies. Both shields eventually end up destroyed after taking enough damage, after which they can't be used for a short time. Both characters additionally possess a dash that allows them to displace enemies, though Reinhardt's travels further and is overall deadlier. The two additionally are only largely effective in combat within an incredibly short range, but both have an additional ability that allows them to launch a single large fireball to compensate.
*** Terminus shares some of these traits with Reinhardt as well, such as a shield and ranged attack, though they function notably differently from Reinhardt and Fernando's. Terminus does however bear a much stronger resemblance to Reinhardt in regards to their basic attack, both of which being melee swings from a massive melee weapon.
*** Azaan meanwhile also shares a type of shield, though his too functions notably differently from the previously mentioned characters, being more along the lines of Inara / Mei's walls. However, his dash does bear stronger resemblance to Reinhardt's than Fernando's does, being capable of dragging an enemy with him and stunning them if a wall is hit.
*** Grover and Lúcio are both supports that passively heal nearby allies within a radius around themselves, though while this healing is slow, it can be temporarily increased with the usage of an ability. The two additionally both possess an ability that allows them quicker movement around the battlefield (Grover's vine, Lúcio's speed boost and skates), and both additionally have ultimates that temporarily increase the survivability of themselves and nearby allies (Grover by quickly healing those around him, Lúcio by applying a huge shield to those around him).
*** Jenos and Zenyatta both serve as more passive supports that heal their team via marks that can be applied from greater distances than most supports, as well as both possessing an ability that theoretically makes finishing off enemies easier (Void Grip for Jenos, Orb of Discord for Zenyatta).
*** Kinessa and Widowmaker both serve as the first snipers of their respective games, with their rifles additionally firing faster when unscoped. The two are also able to easily reach higher ground with the use of an ability (teleporter for Kinessa, grappling hook for Widowmaker). Strix and Ana also serve as additional snipers in their respective games, with Strix also possessing an alternate fire for closer ranged fights, though Ana differs from the other snipers by being largely focused on support.
*** Koga / Maeve / Vatu / Zhin and Genji all share many similarities. Koga, Maeve, and Vatu all share a dash with Genji that can be aimed anywhere and deals damage to enemies caught in the way, with all additionally going through enemies with the exception of Maeve, who bounces off those hit. Maeve and Vatu additionally share a similar type of basic fire with Genji, throwing out sharp weaponry at a short range. Meanwhile, Koga and Genji can both climb walls and have a type of stance system, while Zhin and Genji can both deflect nearly any attack with their counter.
*** Lian / Octavia and Ashe both wield shorter range rifles with abilities that allow them to effectively deal damage from long distances, Octavia notably wielding a scope similarly to Ashe, with the two additionally both possessing an ability that allows them to leap into the air.
*** Makoa and Roadhog both wield hooks that briefly stun enemies and pull them in for further damage. Both additionally wield short range weapons which the hook helps maximize the potential of, as well as abilities that allow them to survive a bit longer under fire (a shield for Makoa, a heal for Roadhog)
*** Nyx and Ramattra both deal damage by punching enemies, are capable of throwing a projectile that creates a circular area of damage, can summon a shield to block damage, and can create an area of damage around themselves. However, Ramattra can only punch in one of his two forms.
*** Ruckus and D.Va both pilot mechs with a number of similar abilities. The two both utilize fast firing miniguns as their default attack, with a quick burst of rockets available as their alternate fire. The two additionally both possess an ability which allows them to briefly survive under fire (a shield for Ruckus, a projectile absorbing barrier for D.Va), and both have ultimates which can be extremely deadly to anyone nearby, but can also be easily avoided by simply hiding behind a small piece of cover for a short period.
*** Sha Lin and Hanzo both wield bows that only reach full power after being held back for a short time. The two additionally both possess an ability which briefly allows them to fire multiple arrows in quick succession.
*** Skye and Sombra are both capable of turning invisible to sneak into enemy backlines.
*** Torvald and Zarya support their team by applying shields to their allies and themselves. The two also have abilities capable of displacing enemies and potentially resulting in easy kills (Torvald by sending enemies flying off the map, Zarya by locking enemies in place for allies to easily shoot).
*** Viktor and Soldier: 76 both serve as the "Call of Duty" character, wielding assault rifles with an alternate fire allowing for some burst damage, with both additionally being capable of endlessly sprinting, as well as both having ultimates that allow them to deal massive damage to nearly any enemy they can see.
*** Yagorath and Wrecking Ball both shift between a damage focused mode, as well as a more mobile secondary mode that packs their limbs away. The two additionally both have personal defensive abilities they can activate to increase their survivability, as well as abilities that allow them to increase their speed while in their mobile modes, allowing them to deal damage and knock back any enemies caught in their paths.
*** Both games featured a mechanic (though Paladins' has since been removed) that attempts to highlight the most notable play of the match (Top Play in Paladins, Play of the Game in Overwatch), with these highlights often being credited to those who obtained many kills in a short period of time, often leading to these highlights in both games being a character using their ultimate ability in the most standard manner possible and killing a few people, leading to damage characters and a few others with massive damage dealing ultimates (such as Jenos for Paladins or D.Va for Overwatch) dominating these highlights.
** Lore related:
*** The general main storyline of both games is oddly similar. Both begin long ago (a century for Paladins, 30 years for Overwatch) when a huge war is spreading chaos and destruction (Goblin Scourge for Paladins, Omnic Crisis for Overwatch), eventually causing the formation of a specialized group of heroes to stop this threat (the original Paladins and the original Overwatch strike team), which after awhile, they succeed in. After stopping the threat, both groups restructure themselves with new leaders taking charge (the Paladins reforms into the Magistrate, leadership moving from Valera to Karne, while Overwatch simply restructures itself, with Jack Morrison replacing Gabriel Reyes as leader), leading to a new golden age of peace and prosperity under their leadership.\\\
However, new threats begin emerging and threaten the safety of the world once more (the discovery of crystals for Paladins, terrorism and conflict as a result of Talon, Null Sector, and omnic rights movements for Overwatch). While the two groups attempt to resolve the issues, making some progress on the matters, they're ultimately powerless to completely resolve the new growing conflicts, and at some point after a massive explosion (crystal explosion caused by criminal in Paladins, Swiss Overwatch base exploding with Jack and Gabriel inside for Overwatch) the event ultimately leads to members of the original groups (Valera for Paladins, Winston for Overwatch) deciding enough is enough and reforming the groups to fight the new conflict, though this action technically classifies them as breaking the law, ultimately putting them at odds both with the new conflict, as well as old allies. However, the chaos continues to grow (the Abyss and Maw becoming active in Paladins, Talon and Null Sector becoming more aggressive in Overwatch), which the newly reformed groups with a handful of new members fight against in the name of what the groups originally stood for.
*** Both games feature a race that suffers from FantasticRacism as a result of something that occurred during the initial conflicts, for Paladins, this is the Ska'drin (hated due to not helping during the Goblin Scourges), while for Overwatch, it's the Omnics (hated due to causing the Omnic Crisis).
*** Both games feature an area that was once a regular location, but became an irradiated wasteland due to a massive explosion in the past, with the area now largely only being inhabited by one specific group (the Shattered Desert being destroyed by Yagorath shattering the moon and killing everything around her when she landed in the Realm, with only the Followers of Io continuing to live in the area, while for Overwatch, Australia was destroyed by the country's omnium exploding, ultimately leading to the construction of Junkertown, inhabited almost exclusively by the Junkers).
*** Both games feature an elite unit (Sentinels for Paladins, Blackwatch for Overwatch) within the restructured main groups (the Magistrate and Overwatch), but after a disastrous final mission (never explained for Paladins, Venice Incident for Overwatch), the group was ultimately disbanded, with some members leaving the group altogether (Buck, Kinessa and Tyra for Paladins, Moira and Cassidy / [=McCree=] for Overwatch), others staying in the organization (Strix for Paladins, Genji for Overwatch), but the majority of blame fell on the groups' leaders (Viktor and Gabriel).
*** Both games feature a group of monks (Tau-Kor for Paladins, Shambali for Overwatch) that originated from individuals negatively affected by the initial major conflict (those ravaged by the Goblin Scourges for Paladins, outcast omnics from the Omnic Crisis for Overwatch) that both have their roots in a notable individual who ascended to a higher power (Jenos for Paladins, Aurora for Overwatch). They're largely peaceful individuals, but ultimately end up attracting notably unwanted negative attention that ultimately turns violent (House Aico leading to Siege of Ascension Peak for Paladins, Talon and Null Sector leading to Mondatta's assassination and King's Row Uprising for Overwatch).
*** Both games feature a criminal empire with Asian inspired aesthetics (Thousand Hands for Paladins, Shimada Clan for Overwatch) and are also notable for nearly every single revealed member of the groups having left them.
*** Many individual characters have lore notably similar to others from the opposing game as well. Some notable examples include:
*** Androxus and Reaper (Gabriel Reyes) are both former members of the restructured main groups (the Magistrate and Overwatch) that were initially extremely dedicated to ensuring judgement was cast, but after encounters with specific individuals following a notable event (fighting an unnamed Abyssal entity for Androxus, Moira worsening an already present condition after nearly dying in the Swiss Overwatch explosion for Gabriel), the two changed, becoming darker, more sadistic, far edgier looking, and now being opposed to the very groups they once devotedly stood alongside, notably putting them in conflict with their former partners / best friends (Lex for Androxus, Jack for Gabriel) where both sides don't hesitate to attempt and kill each other.
*** Barik and Torbjörn are both short irritable inventors that are responsible for many inventions found throughout their respective games (notable examples include Drogoz's wings and goblin mining suits for Barik, and various types of omnics for Torbjörn). Both additionally end up working alongside a member of their games' respective hated race (Talus a ska'drin for Barik, Bastion an omnic for Torbjörn).
*** Betty La Bomba / Bomb King and Junkrat are all notable unhinged criminals with an obsession for explosives, yet despite being a bit off, they all share an actual knowledge of explosives.
*** Buck and Genji were both once part of their games' respective criminal organization (Thousand Hands for Buck, Shimada Clan for Genji), but ultimately ended up leaving and eventually joined their games' respective elite units within the main groups of the games (the Magistrate's Sentinels for Buck, Overwatch's Blackwatch division for Genji). However, following the disastrous final mission of the group, the two eventually left the organizations altogether and ended up wandering the world, now damaged on a spiritual level (Buck for reasons never explained, Genji for struggling to accept his new mechanical body). The two would eventually encounter a notable monk (Jenos for Buck, Zenyatta for Genji) who helped heal their spiritual wounds and find a new path in life, before the two ultimately ended up joining their respective games' illegal LaResistance group (Resistance for Buck, Winston's reformed Overwatch for Genji).
*** Corvus and Moira were both originally part of their games' respective major groups (the Magistrate for Corvus, Overwatch / Blackwatch for Moira) where they were involved in particularly dark work (researching the Abyss for Corvus, general immoral experiments for Moira). Their work was largely unknown to the general public until later notable events (Raum being summoned for Corvus, the aftermath of the Venice Incident for Moira), ultimately led to people learning of them and causing them to leave their groups, turning elsewhere to continue what they believe is right (Corvus forming the Shadow Tribunal and using the Abyss' power to try and save the Realm, Moira continuing her research in the hopes of making a scientific breakthrough). Both additionally appear to lack morals (though Corvus does supposedly still have his), leading to them making huge sacrifices and questionable choices for the sake of their goals and own greater good, and overall being rather arrogant characters. The two also additionally played a part in the reconditioning of specific characters (Terminus for Corvus, Widowmaker for Moira) into living weapons for their groups (the Magistrate for Corvus, Talon for Moira) and continue to monitor them (Corvus controlling Terminus, Moira simply monitoring Widowmaker). The two are additionally notably in conflict with another character that has an angel-like design (Furia for Corvus, Mercy for Moira).
*** Fernando and Reinhardt are both glory seeking knights that experienced the death of a notable superior before ultimately taking up a position not initially meant for them, though Fernando did this all in secret, while Reinhardt's situation is public knowledge. Additionally, while Fernando still chases glory, Reinhardt learned to prioritize justice and the safety of his friends.
*** Furia and Mercy are both supports with angel-like designs, notably despise and are in conflict with a dark immoral researcher (Corvus and Moira), and are often shipped with the bright green wearing ninja of their respective games (Koga and Genji) by the communities (the former for no apparent reason, the latter due to it being heavily implied in-game).
*** Jenos and Zenyatta are both notably unique monks (Jenos having ascended and gained cosmic power, Zenyatta by disagreeing with the other omnic monks) and former members of their respective games' monk group (Tau-Kor and Shambali). The two also have their abilities based on power not perfectly understood by most other characters. The two additionally also helped other characters find their way and heal their spirits after notable events in their past (Buck for Jenos, Genji for Zenyatta).
*** Koga and Genji are both bright green wearing former ninjas of criminal empires (Thousand Hands for Koga, Shimada Clan for Genji), but the two ended up betrayed, attacked, and chased out of their former homes. They returned years later and fought with one of their former family (Zhin for Koga, Hanzo for Genji) with both members ultimatley surviving before Koga and Genji leave and join the illegal LaResistance group (Resistance / New Resistance for Koga, Winston's reformed Overwatch for Genji).
*** Nyx and Ramattra are both high ranking members, if not the outright leader of villainous groups (Abyss for Nyx, Null Sector for Ramattra). The two additionally were both once part of a relatively more heroic group (Pyre for Nyx, Shambali for Ramattra), but after growing disillusioned with these groups, they left and ultimately ended up in conflict with their former allies (Nyx due to viewing the Pyre as too controlling and also too willing to throw countless lives away, Ramattra due to despite how much he tried, humans refused to accept omnics and continued to destroy the limited number of them).
*** Raum and Doomfist are both high ranking members of villainous groups (Abyss for Raum, Talon for Doomfist) that have been referred to as a "scourge" (Scourge of the Realm for Raum, Scourge of Numbani for Doomfist), but during one event where they were causing destruction, they were ultimately defeated by an individual who had exactly what they needed to defeat them (Tiberius having an "anti-evil" sword for Raum, Orisa being designed specifically to combat Doomfist).
*** Skye and Sombra are both extremely untrustworthy individuals that are associated with the color purple and a playful personality. The two specialize in stealth operations and were once part of criminal groups (Thousand Hands for Skye, Los Muertos for Sombra) before eventually finding their way into notable positions in major groups (the Magistrate for Skye, Talon for Sombra), yet the two aren't loyal to the groups in the slightest and only care about abusing their resources to get what they want.
*** Talus and Zenyatta are both members of the oppressed race (ska'drin and omnics) that are at odds with the way others of their species act (the ska'drin hiding away in fear, the omnics spreading their beliefs through religious teachings), with Talus and Zenyatta instead believing the best way to mend their race's reputation is to focus on building personal relationships with others to show them their race isn't worth hating.
*** Terminus and Widowmaker were both initially not directly involved in their games' conflicts, but were ultimately taken away by one of the games' groups (Magistrate for Terminus, Talon for Widowmaker) with both being presumed dead, but later resurfaced as agents of these groups, their original personalities largely suppressed, though still somewhat present, replacing them with cold and sadistic killers devoted to carrying out orders.
*** Viktor and Soldier: 76 (Jack Morrison) are both former high ranking members of their respective groups (Magistrate / Sentinels for Viktor, Overwatch for Jack) that were both originally highly respected, but after certain events (Sentinel final mission for Viktor, various reasons for Jack), the two lost a lot of respect. Though the two do differ on what happened after, with Viktor remaining with the Magistrate attempting to regain his position, while Jack became a vigilante working tirelessly to uncover the truth behind Overwatch's collapse.
*** Zhin and Ashe both originally lived in the lap of luxury, but due to events in their lives, ended up robbed of inheriting it, leading both to form their own criminal gangs that ultimately united once conflicting smaller groups, as well as serving as their own makeshift families.
** Other:
*** Ash and Ashe clearly share nearly identical names, being pronounced exactly the same, with the only difference being the additional E for Overwatch's Ashe.
*** Corvus and Echo were both characters that initially only appeared in a cinematic, only to end up becoming highly anticipated characters in-game (though they do differ in regards to Corvus not being initially planned as a playable character, while Echo was largely always planned in some form). Both were also originally anticipated to be released as a specific class, and were in fact originally intended to be released as such (Damage for Corvus, Support for Echo), but ultimately ended up releasing as the exact opposite (Support for Corvus, Damage for Echo).
*** Furia and Tracer were both involved in controversies relating to sexualized content not fitting the character which were both ultimately replaced (Furia originally not wearing pants and was soon given some, while Tracer originally had a victory pose which drew a huge amount of focus towards her butt, which was soon changed for something a bit more fitting Tracer's character).
*** Makoa and Roadhog both share some similarity in their names, notably with Roadhog's real first name being "Mako", just one letter off from Makoa.
*** Io and Kiriko were compared with each other, largely due to the two both being accompanied by glowing blue foxes. They also do share another similarity in both having Japanese inspirations, Kiriko actually being Japanese, while Io's design takes heavy inspiration from anime.
*** Both games were accused of being rip-offs (Team Fortress 2 for Overwatch, Overwatch itself for Paladins) which ultimately ended up creating a lot of hate towards the games ([=TF2=] fans hating Overwatch, many non-Overwatch fans hating Paladins, and Paladins fans themselves also hating Overwatch), yet despite the hate, both games ended up surviving alongside their claimed rip-offs and doing decently well for themselves.

* AbortedArc: Many individual character plots such as the revenge of Koga or the redemption of Androxus often end up cut short with no advancement or resolution, but a major aborted story arc would be the iconic Crystal War that ultimately kicked off the game's modern lore. The game's first lore cinematic, ''A Realm Divided'', made it clear the conflict was a huge deal, with most character bios of the time referencing it in some way, often tying the other characters that were absent in the cinematic into the war. However, while this story arc was still present in the background, occasionally being brought up here and there, most characters began to stop being tied to the war while the focus was shifted to fighting Yagorath and the Abyss. The latest lore cinematics, ''A Conflict Reignited'', which showed the aftermath of Yagorath's rampage, instead of resuming the Crystal War, instead wrote Karne out of the plot, didn't even mention the Resistance or Valera, before beginning a brand new conflict related to the racism towards the Ska'drin.
* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: The maximum level for any character or account is Level 999. Player accounts are almost purely aesthetic and you get pretty much nothing for leveling up your account (except for a small amount of gold, which quickly becomes useless to most players), but character mastery levels do give you rewards. Levels 2 and 8 unlock other talents for that character, level 30 unlocks a character title, and Level 50 nets you the characters' Golden Skin, though at the moment, for some characters this only consists of a Golden Weapon. Some older characters, such as Bomb King, also have Mastery Poses, Emotes, and Cosmic and Obsidian Skins at varying levels below Level 30, but not all characters have them. Past level 50 however, champion levels also become purely aesthetic.

** Wall Jump Boosting (referred to by fans as simply "Wall Jumping", "Z-Jumping" or "Wall boosts") came about from an oversight as to how the game determined if you were near a wall or not, and adjusted height of the jumps accordingly. However, if you look at the wall in any direction, and use a movement ability that propels you forward, you are granted a ''much'' higher jump. Pip, for example, can take advantage of this with his Weightless ability.

** Androxus and Lex were once partners as lawmen, which perfectly highlights this in effect.
* AllThereInTheManual:
** Nearly all the game's lore and story is delivered entirely through lore cinematics, developer streams, and developer statements, and often only in incredibly small portions over long periods of time.
* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Paladins shares ''a lot'' of similar ideas with Overwatch, both in regards to gameplay and lore. While most first saw the light of day with Overwatch, some did surface in Paladins first. Some notable examples of similarities include.

*** Atlas and Tracer both share an ability that rewinds them a few seconds into the past, moving them to a previous location and restoring their health to the highest amount it was at during the rewinded period.
*** Barik and Torbjörn both serve as TheTurretMaster of their respective games, supporting their team by laying down turrets, though the two do differ by Barik being more focused on defense, while Torbjörn leans towards offense.
*** Bomb King / Dredge and Junkrat share similar primary fires, notably Dredge and Junkrat with their projectiles being affected by gravity and utilizing physics, while Bomb King and Junkrat both possess an ability that lays down a unique bomb that when detonated, launches nearby enemies, and Bomb King / Junkrat themself if close enough, into the air. The two also both have ultimates consisting of taking control of a much larger bomb that explodes either on impact with an enemy, when specifically detonated, or after enough time has passed, all of which result in huge damage to any nearby enemies, though the two do differ in this regard by Junkrat becoming stationary as he uses the ability, while Bomb King himself fittingly becomes the bomb.
*** Cassie and Cassidy / [=McCree=] both wield fast firing weapons, can quickly roll in any direction, and possess an alternate fire that can mess with enemies (Cassie by knocking them back, Cassidy / [=McCree=] by stunning them). Cassie additionally shares the same ultimate as Widowmaker, both allowing their team to see all enemies for a brief period through walls.
*** Drogoz and Pharah both maneuver through the air with rocket thrusters controlled via the space bar, with hovering using a fuel resource that though recharges incredibly quickly, will cause the two to drop out of the air when it runs out. Both also wield rocket launchers, an ability that allows them to launch into the air to more easily begin their flight, and an ability that allows them to fire a barrage of multiple rockets at once, though this is limited to an ultimate ability for Pharah and is expectedly much deadlier.

*** Both games feature a race that suffers from FantasticRacism as a result of something that occurred during the initial conflicts, for Paladins, this is the ska'drin (hated due to not helping during the Goblin Scourges), while for Overwatch, it's the omnics (hated due to causing the Omnic Crisis).

* SkillGateCharacter: Each class has one permanently unlocked champion that is easy for beginners to use and learn how to play that class. There's Fernando for Front Line, Pip for Support, Viktor and Cassie for Damage, and Skye for Flank.

* '''Damage''': [[ThrowDownTheBomblet Betty La Bomba]], [[ThrowDownTheBomblet Bomb King]], [[TheStraightAndArrowPath Cassie]], [[GhostPirate Dredge]], [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Drogoz]], [[SummonBiggerFish Imani]], [[GhastlyGhost Kasumi]] [[FriendlySniper Kinessa]], [[LadyOfWar Lian]], [[DaChief Octavia]], [[TwoHeadedCoin Saati]], Sha Lin, [[ColdSniper Strix]], [[CatFolk Tiberius]], [[ScarilyCompetentTracker Tyra]], [[OldSoldier Viktor]], [[AttackDrone Vivian]], [[OurFairiesAreDifferent Willo]]

* '''Damage''': [[ThrowDownTheBomblet Betty La Bomba]], [[ThrowDownTheBomblet Bomb King]], [[TheStraightAndArrowPath Cassie]], [[GhostPirate Dredge]], [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Drogoz]], [[SummonBiggerFish Imani]], [[GhastlyGhost Kasumi]] [[FriendlySniper Kinessa]], [[LadyOfWar Lian]], [[DaChief Octavia]], [[TwoHeadedCoin Saati]], [[ArcherArchetype Sha Lin]], [[ColdSniper Strix]], [[CatFolk Tiberius]], [[ScarilyCompetentTracker Tyra]], [[OldSoldier Viktor]], [[AttackDrone Vivian]], [[OurFairiesAreDifferent Willo]]

* FantasyKitchenSink: The setting itself is distinctly fantasy, but that's less of a specific term and more of an umbrella to include as many fantasy archetypes as possible on the roster. Just looking at the cast, you'll see [[BadassNormal normal humans]], a [[DeityOfHumanOrigin mortal god]], a [[WhenTreesAttack sentient tree]], [[OurMagesAreDifferent mages]], a [[CursedWithAwesome demonic godslayer]], an [[AnIcePerson ice witch]], an [[KillerRabbit intelligent rabbit sorceress]], an [[ArcherArchetype Asian archer]], a [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demonic (but not evil) teenage boy]], a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot bomb-throwing monarch robot]], and [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombies]]. That still isn't all of them.

*** Both games were accused of being rip-offs (Team Fortress 2 for Overwatch, Overwatch itself for Paladins) which ultimately ended up creating a lot of hate towards the games (TF2 fans hating Overwatch, many non-Overwatch fans hating Paladins, and Paladins fans themselves also hating Overwatch), yet despite the hate, both games ended up surviving alongside their claimed rip-offs and doing decently well for themselves.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: The description for Serpent Beach on the Trial of the Realms map briefly describes the stones and their "sorrowful story of its long-removed inhabitants", with the doom and gloom of said story makes the place "seem to always be under perpetual night"; alluding to the map in-game always being set at night.

''[[https://www.paladins.com/ Paladins]]'' is a Free-to-Play [[HeroShooter hero-based]] FirstPersonShooter developed by Evil Mojo Games and published by Hi-Rez Studios of ''VideoGame/{{SMITE}}'' fame. It was in Open Beta on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, and UsefulNotes/Playstation4 before being fully released on May 8, 2018, where a now-defunct UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch port released shortly afterwards on June 12, 2018. The game was also put on the UsefulNotes/EpicGamesStore on March 24th, 2020. The story is based around a war between the Magistrate and Resistance in a world simply known as "The Realm".

*** The start of 2022 had Viktor receive a ''Film/{{Rambo}}'' skin, available if you had Amazon Prime.

** Played with in the lore, as both Khan and Karne are almost phonetically identical (and did briefly cause confusion when Corvus was revealed).

* PaletteSwap: Uncommon skins act like this, as they are recolors of their main kit. Characters released after Furia sometimes have a minor model change too (Furia has no pants, Dredge removes his hat, Imani shaves her hair off etc.)

* RayGun: Invader Pips' potion launcher is modeled to look like one.

* RecognizableBySound: Every champion has unique voice lines divided between two groups; "[=VGS=]", a system that has player-initiated commands (such as "Retreat" or "Capture the Objective"), and "Auto-callouts", which as the name implies, has characters shout out relevant information mid-match (usually when a sniper is nearby or when capping the point). Between the two, there are around 150 voice lines (that we know of), and skins get their own [=VGS=] and Auto-callouts too, ''greatly'' inflating this number. While some skin voice packs do share voice actors, the great majority are distinct and at least try to sound different to each champion and skin.

* SelfPlagiarism: A lot of the character archetypes and abilities from this game come from {{VideoGame/SMITE}}. The Legacy [=VGS=] system also comes from said game, and even post-vgs-rework, the system is still called as such.

* SpotlightStealingSquad: Maeve, Viktor, Seris and Ying. They get the most skins out of any other character, in large part because they are some of the most popular characters in the game, and the developers are more than happy to use this knowledge to make a quick buck. To date Seris, Viktor, and Ying have 20 skins each, while Maeve has 18.

* Retcon: Vulpin were originally said to generally keep to themselves, with Pip being unique in that he was one of the only vulpin with a desire to leave his home of Brightmarsh, with this generally appearing to the case, as no vulpin were ever seen in the background of any cinematics or cards, beyond a few in Pip's. However, when Trials of the Realm launched, the description for Brightmarsh said the vulpins who lived there had quickly abandoned their home once the Crystal War broke out in order to serve as medics for both sides. Despite this, as mentioned, no vulpin aside from Pip has been seen with either side.

* Retcon: There have been numerous.
** The first occurred when the game's original lore from the early alpha, was completely abandoned, with new lore being made later alongside the switch away from ScienceFantasy.
** A big retcon came when the Golden Age of peace was lowered from several centuries down to only a single, noticeably making a huge amount of cinematics, bios, and voice lines inaccurate, with Jenos no longer having spent several centuries in the stars, the Warders, Stagalla, and Paladins no longer being ancient, among other problems.
** Originally, Mal'Damba was never specified to be a ska'drin, and when Talus was later introduced, the race was described as a brand new one to the game, with no references to Mal'Damba or hidden ska'drin being made. However, people began theorizing Mal'Damba may be a hidden ska'drin later on, due to various hints towards it, until the fact was eventually fully revealed. While it's difficult to be certain whether or not this was a retcon or intended from the start, it appears more likely this was a well implemented retcon.
** Additionally for Mal'Damba, it was originally said that he was black, but years later, it was stated he's not black.
** Talus was originally claimed to be a young kid, but after many years of vague comments, he was stated to be an adult, despite the prior comments.

** Fernando launched as a flamboyant CasanovaWannabe, only for years later, despite everything so far pointing to him being a straight enjoyer of women, he ended up being revealed as gay. Though this was explained after the fact, even the developers admitted they didn't do the best job at hinting at this change.
** Jenos' bio originally said he returned for "some arcane purpose that only he understands", yet it was eventually revealed he returned to stop the Darkness from destroying the Realm, a goal that doesn't appear very complicated.
** Lian was initially stated to both not be evil, as well as to have inherited the Ruby Throne from her father, while later, Yagorath and Vora claim Lian is indeed evil, while Lian's also mentioned as needing to scheme her way into becoming the Ruby Throne's legitimate heir, with her father no longer being mentioned.

** It was originally said that a future version of Vora is the character that tore off Atlas' arm in the future he originates, however it was later stated this version of Vora wasn't the same individual as the Vora controlled in-game, despite it also being made clear prior to this that Vora is her actual name and not a title, leading to this other character being referred to as Vora extremely odd.

** Though this didn't stop characters like Saati and VII from being added, who look straight out of a modern or futuristic setting, with Saati riding ''a literal motorcycle'' in one card. Very fitting for a world that largely still uses horse and carriage.

''[[https://www.paladins.com/ Paladins]]'' is a Free-to-Play [[HeroShooter hero-based]] FirstPersonShooter developed by Evil Mojo Games and published by Hi-Rez Studios of ''VideoGame/{{SMITE}}'' fame. It was in Open Beta on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, and UsefulNotes/Playstation4 before being fully released on May 8, 2018, where it was ported to the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch shortly afterwards on June 12, 2018. The game was also put on the UsefulNotes/EpicGamesStore on March 24th, 2020. The story is based around a war between the Magistrate and Resistance in a world simply known as "The Realm".

* RiseToTheChallenge: The "Rise of Furia" event takes place in the Abyss, where players will have to climb the Abyssal Spire and destroy the crystal on the top. Hazards include the slowly rising [[BottomlessPits Abyss]] and the Abyssal Lord flying around and blasting the spire. Dying during the climb will respawn the player at the lowest possible checkpoint. Destroying the crystal at the top of the spire will bring all the players to the top for a 5 v 5 Team Deathmatch, with the team who broke the crystal gaining additional Ultimate charge.

* MsFanservice: It's be easier to mention the characters that don't fall into this. Some champions are less extreme, such as Ash wearing a [[SensualSpandex skin tight suit]] under her armor, to Kinessa and Inara [[BareYourMidriff baring their midriffs]], while others are more extreme, such as Betty, Imani, Io, Skye, and Evie rocking outfits with prominent cleavage, with Skye having a NavelDeepNeckline and always assuming a BoobsAndButtPose and [[TheTease talking in innuendo's]], Lian, Saati, Seris, Vora, and Ying's outfits are all decidedly {{stripperiffic}}, among so many more fanservice tropes. Though this is somewhat subverted with Cassie and Furia, as Cassie used to show her midriff with a skintight top, but was later redesigned with a more modest costume, while Furia used to lack pants and had a LeotardOfPower. [[DoubleSubversion Both are still available as unlockable costumes, however]].

* EarlyGameHell: Options for new players are notably limited, with only 7 of the over 50 characters being freely available at the start, with others requiring often rather large amounts of gold, crystals, or DLC purchases to freely play as, with gold, while being a free currency, takes quite awhile to build up. Additionally, each character is also locked to only a single one of their talents until the individual champion is leveled up enough, which itself can take several matches. Though this is partially helped by a weekly rotation of four premium characters being temporarily free for all.

** Character-level grinding nets you talents to use, mastery skins, mastery emotes, and a Golden skin.

* MoneySink: Gold has been notorious due to lacking much of anything for most players to spend it on. At first there's quite a lot of options, notably the various characters, some recolors, Mastery related poses, emotes, and occasionally skins, some avatars, and other various odds and ends. However, once the player unlocks everything they want, there's next to nothing to do with gold. The games' initial solution to this problem was to let players purchase character levels (which was near-universally condemned by the player base, see the [[YMMV/{{Paladins}} YMMV page for why]]), and when this functionality was removed in Patch 3.02, it was replaced with the ability to purchase five super-expensive titles for One Million Gold each; those being ''"Has it all", "Live, Laugh, Frag", "Is a bot"'' and ''"The Edgelord".'' The last title is an eye-searingly expensive '''Five Million Gold''', and is aptly called ''The 1%''. However this too has done little to solve the abundance of gold most players end up swimming in.

** Golden weapons vaporizes enemies they kill in a multicolored blaze of glory.

** The Ruby Throne of House Aico was originally shown to inhabit a snow free area of the Realm, but was later placed in a frigid tundra when the Realm map and later Trials of the Realm released. Yet despite this, House Aico was later placed back in a non-snowy area again in one of Saati's cards. Additionaly, House Aico being located in a tundra seems notably odd due to Lian's... light clothing.

* LevelGrinding: Very prevalent in a number of ways.
** Each individual character has their own level, with the various talents that can alter how they function being locked behind these levels. While the level required to unlock all of a champion's talents are low, it still results in a massive amount of grinding, as this has to be repeated for every individual character. Cosmetics are also available at higher levels, most notable of these being golden skins, which are awarded at level 50. Getting just one golden skin is a huge grind.
** Event Pass (formerly Battle Pass) levels are another source of this, with it often taking many games to advance just a single level, and with each Event Pass only being available for a limited time, this naturally leads to level grinding.
** Every player also has their own individual account level, though this means little to most players. However, each level up does award some gold, which can lead to newer players grinding account levels in order to build up gold so they can purchase characters.

** Vulpin were originally said to generally keep to themselves, with Pip being unique in that he was one of the only vulpin with a desire to leave his home of Brightmarsh, with this generally appearing to the case, as no vulpin were ever seen in the background of any cinematics or cards, beyond a few in Pip's. However, when Trials of the Realm launched, the description for Brightmarsh said the vulpins who lived there had quickly abandoned their home once the Crystal War broke out in order to serve as medics for both sides. Despite this, as mentioned, no vulpin aside from Pip has been seen with either side, both before and after this error was made.

* LoopholeAbuse:
** Purchasing Bounty Store skins can be used as a way to get more favorable results from chests. So for example, the Booty Box contains five skins, but Pip's "Raider" skin, Tyra's "Baroness" skin, and Kinessa's "Viking" skin are all in the Bounty Marketplace, leaving only two skins in the chest; Barik's "Swashbuckler" skin, and Makoa's "Dutchman" skin as the only options left to roll. This does require one to be persistent ''and'' prepared enough to fully achieve this, as you need to have enough bounty coins to purchase the skins as leverage (about 17,000 bounty coins), but there's nothing stopping you from doing it, so you can tip the odds of what you get in chests in your favor.
** The Bounty Store was partially motivated by the developers so players could earn skins without needing to use crystals, bypassing the storefront if you're willing to grind for Bounty Coins in the Event Pass and the Trials.

** Throne[[labelnote:*]]Can only be played in custom servers and during some limited time modes.[[/labelnote]]

** Magistrate's Archives[[labelnote:*]]Originally released in the ill fated [=OB64=] update, it was revamped in the Darkness and Dragons update to turn it into Corvus' study, with more abyssal artifacts, notably a giant ball reminiscent of Seris' weapon, among other visual changes to make the map look nicer.[[/labelnote]]

* '''Limited Time Modes''': Game modes that were rotated in each weekend that change the game in some way:
** Several examples include:
*** ''Aerial Acrobatics'' - Play Team Deathmatch as Evie, Maeve, or Willo, but with increased jump height on all characters.
*** ''Target Practice'' - Play a King of the Hill match, one team playing as either Strix or Sha Lin, and the other team playing as either Evie and Willo.
*** ''Leaping Dead'' - Both teams can play as Pip and Terminus against one another. Increased movement speed on all champions is in effect.
*** ''Seriously Serious Shooter'' - Two teams can plays as either Kinessa, Octavia, Strix, Tyra, or Viktor; in a Team Deathmatch battle.
*** ''Wildfire'' - Two teams consisting of Tyra, Fernando, and Drogoz are pitted against one another.
*** ''Bunker Buster'' - One team of Raum players plays against an opposing team consisting of Barik, Ash and Fernando players.
*** ''Hide and Seek'' - All players play as Strix and must defeat the others. All players have unlimited stealth charge, greater movement speed and faster cooldowns.
** Starting from Patch 4.5:
*** ''Pick Any'' - a 5v5 match that allows you to have duplicate champions in your team (2 Grohks, 3 Io's, for example).
*** ''Knockaround'' - Players play as either Ash or Bomb King on the map "Throne". Normal abilities and inhands deal reduced damage, but cooldowns are reduced and knockbacks have a 50% increased effectiveness.
*** ''Grab Bag'' - a 5v5 match that randomly selects a champion for you, HilarityEnsues.
And many more.