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Gaming

What makes you a gamer isn't the systems you use, it isn't the genres you play, or even how good you are. What makes you a gamer is that you realize it's never "just a game." Because whether it's to save one special person or an entire world, you want to be the greatest in a match, or the greatest of them all. We pour our hearts and souls into what we do, We get back up no matter how many times we're knocked down, and we keep going until we reach our goal, and that passion is what makes us who we are.
— The Creed of the House of Gaming

The House of Gaming is a... colorful retro-themed house, decorated with a number of game rooms with every console in existence across the multiverse scaled for any set of hands that can hold a controller, and an arcade area with a twenty-foot-tall anachronistic pinball machine and, of course, many arcade games. Outside of the gaming center, there's a department where many deities are revising their high scores, and an achievement zone. There are also rumors of a copy of Half-Life 3 being hidden in the house somewhere.

Many deities originating from the video game industry visit this house. They challenge in many activities aside from participating in tourneys, and all aside of alignments. The recognized legends of this house are Friendly Rivals Mario and Sonic.

This house is located adjacent to the House of Technology, and gods from one house frequently visit the other.

Michael Jackson, an avid gamer, occasionally visits the house to provide music for certain games.

There has been a huge addition to this house for other kinds of games, like tabletop games, trading card games, board games, and poker games! It is simply known as The Inventory, and it is notable for being one of the few places where the gods can meet with certain mortals. Yes, certain mortals; you must be invited to this place if you're mortal. In fact, there is one mortal by the name of Reginald Van Winslow, former commodore for Guybrush Threepwood, mighty pirate. He is a prominent figure in this section of the House, ensuring that everybody has a good time, and is apparently is the right-hand man (or something) of the ambiguous manager of this wing. If you ever wanted to see different characters from different series play poker together, this is where you can find them, including Sam & Max, Strong Bad, the Heavy, Ash Williams, Tycho, Brock Samson, and Claptrap.

Love Machine isn't allowed at this house due to it being a malevolent AI program that could threaten the entire house, in addition to rendering almost everything here nearly unusable.

Due to a growing number of gods present, it has been split into some sub-houses.

    open/close all folders 

The Four Avatars of Gaming

The Gods that guard this house, keeping everyone else in line.

    Mario 
Mario, God of Fun (Mr. Video Game Himself, Number 1, Number 18, Super Mario, Jumpman, The Whimsical Italian Plumber, Mr. Video, Ossan, Dr. Mario, Paper Mario, The Great Gonzales, Big M, Mario Mario, the fire power, Mustache)
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mario_17.png
Click here  to see Paper Mario
Click here to see Dr. Mario

    Mr. Game & Watch 
Mr. Game & Watch, Avatar of Hammerspace (Master of Two Dimensions, Number 26, Mr. G&W, The secret guy)
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mrgameandwatch.png
  • Intermediate God (composes the Greater-level Subspace Army)
  • Symbol: Mr. Game & Watch himself. Alternatively, his bell.
  • Theme Song: Flat Zone and Flat Zone 2
  • Alignment: True Neutral
  • Portfolio: Hammerspace, Use of everything From Torches to Turtles to Fish to Buckets of Oil and Everything In Between, Flat Characters (literally), Secret Characters, Hyperspace Mallets
  • Domains: Darkness (he is monochrome, after all), the 2D realm
  • Allies: All ascended deities who were born in 2-D gaming, most famously Mario, Link, and Samus Aran, Pac-Man, 9-volt and 18-volt, Cranky Kong, Henry Stickmin, Bendy
  • Enemies: Tabuu, Galeem and Dharkon
  • Opposed by: Symmetra
  • Before Mario, Donkey Kong, but just after Nintendo’s career of creating playing cards, there was Mr. Game And Watch. A standard jack of all trades, appearing on handheld games tasked to do various tasks to increase points. One of the very first games of all time, it was only a matter of time before he finally officially ascended, the question is for what? Upon seeing how he keeps spawning items to use in battle from his body for Master Hand’s Tournaments, it was decided to give him the title of Hammerspace.
  • Mr. Game & Watch spends much of his time trying to catch up to Tabuu and get his revenge for Tabuu making him the worst boss ever.
    • While he did get angry at Galeem and Dharkon for ascending for what they did before, he does admit he was happy to find somebody take control of Tabuu. He now just hopes to set up a situation where he can force Tabuu to take part in a agonizing fight against several spirits.
  • Likes to show off his pandimensional Mismatched Sock Collection, made up of every sock in all of time and space that has ever been lost in the wash. Most are either indifferent or confused.
  • Whatever you do, do NOT mess with this guy. Besides being able to wield all Hyperspace Mallets and control all robotic implements that are too big to fit into a robot's body, he also has many, many, favors from Mario, Link, Sonic, Pit, all who gained their greatness in Nintendo, Deadpool, (G&W taught Deadpool a number of fourth wall weaknesses), and Solid Snake. You have been warned. If you don't want in over your head, and just want to see Spongebob vs. Deadpool, you can ask him.
  • It's possible that if he really wanted to, Game & Watch could cash in all his favors, battle Batman for the title of God of Preparations, and win, proving himself one of the most powerful beings under the Main House.
  • Mr. Game & Watch is looked up to by the CPU Candidates because they also represent handheld gaming, seeing him as the father of not only gaming, but handheld gaming.
  • In a mutual respecting relationship, 9-volt and 18-volt are both fanboys of him, and he in return absolutely adores the idea of them using his games along with other older deities for his microgames. It's possible that the three of them may have been the reason Pit may have gotten a third adventure, as well as his inclusion in the third smash game. As such, Mr. Game & Watch often tasks the duo to make microgames based on any old Nintendo IP in hopes of increasing awareness of them.
  • Due to being in 2 dimensions, he can only be seen when looking directly at his side. If you look right down in front of him, he appears as a thin piece of black paper. This allows him to hide in cracks or even just be Hidden in Plain Sight. He has been compiling a list of various deities secrets, possibly to rack up even MORE favors from deities.
    • During one of his times hiding, he accidentally bumped into another stick figure; Henry Stickmin. On both of their ends, they’re happy to find out they’re not the only stick people in the Pantheon and have engaged in multiple Hide and Seek games to hone in their stealth. The longest streak was 4 hours, 47 minutes and 12 seconds when Henry found Mr. Game & Watch posing on a roadside advertisement for a DJ Grooves movie being replaced by the Conductor in his team stapling their own advertisement on top of him. He ended up forcing him out of the stapled-on advertisement and onto Henry.
  • He ended up crossing paths with Bendy within the Dancing Devil's own ink studio. After finding a mutual love for bell ringing, the two have started to accompany many bands and Christmas carolers to join in on their tunes with their bells. Although, some deities will easily get annoyed and two them to shut up.
  • Due to a certain...accident involving a move from Smash Bros, he has been accused of being racist and as such, has been scrutinized by Indian deities, like Symmetra.
  • For the record, it's spelled Game & Watch. Not Game and Watch. Game & Watch.

    Pac-Man 
Pac-Man, God of Gluttony, Champion of the Arcade (Yellow Fella, Most Recognized Gaming Icon In History, Zac, The Yellow Bane of Ghosts, Number 55, Dr. Pac-Man, History's Greatest Enemy)
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pacmanssbu.png
  • Greater God (Borders on Overdeity, as he can freely traverse the gaming multiverse at will and summon forth beings of other worlds with ease)
  • Symbol: Cherries, strawberries, oranges, apples, pretzels. Alternatively, "a pizza with a missing piece" (basically 8-Bit Pac-Man)
  • Theme Songs: Pac-Man (Namco Museum Vol.1), Pac-Man Park & Block Plaza
  • Alignment: Neutral Good
  • Portfolio: Big Eaters, Granddaddies Of Video Gaming, Hollywood "Just Not Getting Him", Namco's Golden Boy, Consumer of All, The Origin of Powerups, Spectral Exterminator, Booking It, Turning the Tables, Seen Everything, No Concept Of "Quitting", Cool Fathers
  • Domains: Fun, Arcade Games, Eating
  • Followers:
  • Heralds: Jr. Pac-Man/Pacster/Pac-Man II (his son), Ms. Pac-Man (his wife).
  • Allies: Mario, Sonic, Mr. Game & Watch, Yoshi, King Dedede, Aila Jyrkiäinen, Fix-It-Felix Jr., Dig Dug
  • Rivals: Kirby, Garfield
  • Enemies: Missingno
  • Though predated by Game & Watch by a few months, Pac-Man was the world's first actual character in videogames, as the collective of Game & Watch would not spawn a representative among the nameless figures until some time later. A pioneer in an uncharted land, Pac-Man broke the barrier of objects and vehicles being the only player representative in games, giving the players, at last, a true ally in their quest for the highest scores.
  • After the notion of creating a "continuity" for Pac-Man was abandoned, the yellow fella found himself transcending all manners of boundaries — without any sort of ties or anchors to keep him in place, his presence and power snowballed to a degree the likes of which never seen before or since. The act of joining the Mario Kart events was something he was able to do on a whim, and finding his way into the world where the artifact Pandora was being fought for was no trying feat.
    • Thirty years under his belt, Pac-Man finally decided it was time to pass the torch to a new generation. Giving Namco consent to give him a "reincarnation" in a younger and more modern Pac-Man (who turns out to be his son, an all grown up Jr. Pac-Man), the legend respectfully allowed himself to somewhat retire, going out on top as one of the most important figures in gaming history.
    • Following his contact by old friend and "student" Mario, Pac-Man consented to join the great gathering of Super Smash Bros. for their fourth tournament. It was only shortly thereafter that he became aware of the Pantheon's presence at all and, as he's oft to do, strolled right on in. His legacy was quickly acknowledged and, well aware of the kind of power held behind that deceptively lighthearted package, nobody was exactly keen on the notion of telling him "no".
  • Pac-Man, while respected for his significance in history, is also regarded by some of the higher-ups in the justice-oriented Houses as a secret weapon. With his ability to consume quite literally anything, it is kept in mind that this frightening hunger could be unleashed on any rogue member of the pantheon, no matter how great or terrible. Thankfully, Pac-Man's neutrality isn't absolute, and he recognizes that going on a hunger spree amongst the gods would be wrong.
  • It has been seen that Pac-Man actually appears distressed or aggravated when in the presence of MissingNo., the renowned glitched abomination. While the young/modern members of the House can't figure out why, Game & Watch and the House Legends are well aware that Pac-Man's almost instinctive exception to the glitch harkens back to the "Progenitor Glitch", Level 256 that halted his stride years before...
  • Made the mistake of taking Light Yagami's favorite bag of potato chips...and EATING them without adding the extra "awesome".
  • He and Kirby spend the majority of their time gorging in the dining hall, cleaning up after legendary food fights or eating everyone's leftovers, usually leaving (or in Kirby's case, spitting out) the plates to be washed. There is no waste in this House.
  • Has built a miniature robot that looks similar to Mokujin, meant for beating the life out of anyone who gets in his way of an all-you-can-eat buffet. Has also used the mech to hunt down an overweight man who has suffered a mid-life crisis and believes he is Mega Man.
  • Is the only being to consume Mystery Food X, an indescribably-horrid dish created by Yukiko Amagi and her allies Chie Satonaka and Rise Kujikawa, without any side effects. Despite this, Pac-Man would still prefer his good ol' power pellets instead.
  • Once tried to eat Pinkie Pie after eating a Power Pellet, believing her to be one of the Ghosts.
  • Participated in the First Pantheon Gourmet Race and ended up in a three-way tie alongside Goku and Kirby. He naturally has a lifetime membership in the Gourmet Racer Club.
  • For some reason, PacMan seems to like hanging out on Sark's airship. Amusingly, Sark never seems to take notice of the stowaway.
  • He's wary of slingshots, thanks to the many cruel things players did to him in Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures.
  • One day, for a joke, Ed reprogramed Pac-Man's famous maze. When the ghost munching God entered for a round, he found that the maze was tilting about, forcing all the ghosts, and himself, to tilt with the maze. He has since forgiven Ed for the prank (Granted, when you have a stomach of iron, it's hard for you to throw up in a tilting maze, and 30+ years of bumping into walls have given him a resistance to head trauma), and certain Gods have requested to try out this new variant of his famous game.
  • Panic struck the House of Gaming, as the Progenitor Glitch, 256, returned upon Pac-Man's 35th Birthday, seemingly intent upon consuming he and his rivals to bring all of their series to oblivion. In a bold and heroic bid that may very well have cost him not only life but existence, Pac-Man lured the nightmare away from the House into a hall of endless mazes. Though a slew of wild ghosts mindlessly sought to take their last chance to get him once and for all, Pac-Man escaped safely — leaving the all-consuming abomination trapped within the infinite stretch forever. At least, hopefully...
  • Also in the House of Food.

    Sonic the Hedgehog 
Sonic the Hedgehog, God of Animal Mascot Platformers (The Blue Blur, Nineties Video Game Legend, (Second) Fastest Thing Alive, Knight of the Wind, Suger-hog, Big Blue, "Iblis Trigger", Sonic the Werehog, Legendary Blue Hedgehog, "King Arthur", Hedgehog the Sonic, Blue Devil, Blue Justice, Sonic Wachowski, Sanic, Jesus Christ, The Hyperactive Hedgehog, The Most Supersonic Sonic of All The Sonics, Ogilvie Maurice Hedgehog, Embodiment of Chaos, Bob Beaky, The Hero of Mobius, Sonic Man, A Spark (That Won't Go Out))
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0342e9f7_7e76_460a_8498_22dbc467c1c1.png
Classic design 
Sonic Boom design 
Super Sonic 
Hyper Sonic 
Darkspine Sonic 
Excalibur-Sonic 

Ambiguous Ranks

    Etrian Odyssey Guilds 
The Etrian Odyssey Guilds, Divine Organizations of Cartography In Gameplay (Tharsis Guild: Titan Hunters)
  • Individually range between Demi-, Lesser, and Intermediate Deities, capable of felling lower- or even mid-tier Greater Gods (together, or even alone)
  • Symbol: A collection of maps they've graphed
  • Theme Song: Inital Strike (remix) (Etria), The First Campaign (remix) (Lagaard), (The First Campaign (Armoroad), Battlefield - Storm (Tharsis), Battlefield - Activation (Arcania), Battlefield -Exaltation (Maginia)
  • Alignment: All over the place for each individual member, but their goals end up putting them between Lawful Good and Neutral Good (though Etria's do lean a bit more to Lawful Neutral)
  • Portfolio: Adventurer Player Characters, From Being Just Another Guild To Legends In Their Base Cities, Hail From Post-Apocalyptic Settings That Used To Be Earth, Facing Cosmic Horrors Near The End of Their Journeys, Crazy-Prepared Out Of Necessity, Can Sense Impending Danger, Can Map Even While Talking or Fighting, Featureless Protagonists, Going Up Yggdrasil (Lagaard and Arcania guilds only), Lazy Backup, Limit Break, Ambiguous Guild Leader, Collecting Organ Drops, Purely Aesthetic Genders, Saving the World (in varying degrees)
  • Domain(s): Exploration, Adventuring, Cartography, Dungeons, Post-Apocalypse
  • Heralds: The Aslarga guild (Etrian Mystery Dungeon), Wufan, Kibigami, and Logre (Tharsis Guild only), Arken (Arcania Guild only)
  • Allies: The Monster Hunters, S.E.E.S., the Investigation Team, Zen and Rei, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, Aloy, Artyom, Cid Highwind and Cid Pollendina (for the Tharsis Guild)
  • Frequented Locations: The Ancestor's Darkest Estate, Yomi's Dungeon, King Togwoggle's Catacombs
  • Enemies: The Five Elders, the Hounds of Tindalos, the Grand United Alliance of Destruction, pirates (especially for the Armoroad guild), Azathoth (especially for Armoroad), The Keeper
  • Distrust: All squirrels (Lagaard guild onwards)
  • Every game that has a map mechanic eventually has a Cartography Sidequest, where rewards are earned for filling up that map, or it helps with finding areas yet to be explored. In most games, these are truly minor sidequests with barely a good enough character to represent them. However, for the Etrian Odyssey game series, cartography is a core aspect of the game. If one wishes to be technical though, it's assumed that the main quest of each game is to explore the Yggdrasil Labyrinths, while the "sidequest" (more like secondary quest) is to map out the place for fulfilling other quests and for your own sake.
  • Because of the lack of a main character, it was decided to ascend all of the player guilds that have participated in all the adventures so far (and to discount the Story Mode casts in case tropes can be found for them). If one counts every game as having been participated by one guild each, this counts as six.
    • First off is the one that adventured in the country of Etria to explore the nearby Yggdrasil Labyrinth, which delved deep enough to find the ruins of Shinjuku, Japan. Eventually, they end up dooming Etria into decline after exposing every possible mystery within (despite other reasons for exploring the Labyrinth still existing, especially in regards to Lost Shinjuku) because they defeated the mastermind behind a scheme to kill all explorers before the Labyrinth can be fully explored; Chieftain Visil, who was also a survivor of the old era.
    • Second is the one at the northern Duchy of High Lagaard to… explore the nearby Yggdrasil Labyrinth, and climb upwards to the castle far above, and to save its dying duke with the Grail of Kings reported to be found there. However, what they found was a Heavenly Keep made as an ark for people of the old era, and the Overlord there (a head researcher who transferred his consciousness into a machine) was the culprit behind the powerful monsters in the labyrinth, who all used to be humans, and had used the Grail of Kings for that purpose. The guild that reached him eventually put a stop to that plot, and claimed the grail for the ailing duke's daughter.
    • Third is at the ocean city of Armoroad, where explorers were gathered for a specific purpose; there is something the Senatus hope to claim in the undersea realm beyond the First Stratum of the ruins known as the Yggdrasil Labyrinth. To challenge those depths requires more than a journeyman’s skill, else it would be a suicide run. And they wish to find worthy explorers. As it turns out, Deep City and its Abyssal King are at war with the Deep Ones, and did not want knowledge of the Deep Ones' King to spread enough fear to the surface dwellers to make keeping it at bay harder than it already is, and in case their intentions aren't aligned. However, thanks to the guild's strength, they impressed Abyssal King enough to ask them to handle their problem. They also possess a boat for exploring the oceans (to reconnect Armoroad with the surrounding kingdoms) and aren't strangers to underwater exploration, even though it's likely from advanced underwater architecture keeping the air in…and allowing sea life to "swim" in it just fine.
      • Another thing of note is that their storyline has branching paths midway. The fork in the road comes in the form of the Senatus of Armoroad wishing to take on the Deep Ones together, but the Abyssal King of the Deep City disagrees and wishes for only the guild and themselves to handle this problem. One path sides with Armoroad (gaining access to the Shogun class), and the other with the Deep City (gaining access to the Yggdroids). Due to New Game Plus shenanigans, the Armoroad guild has memories of both paths, though started pro-Armoroad first before then going pro-Deep City and seeing events from the former path in a new context. Coincidentally, the pro-Armoroad side also had a quest involving healing sick royalty just like Lagaard, but the royalty they were healing turns out to be a Deep One as discovered on the Deep City path.
      • That said, there's actually a third path that could be taken, and that's what the Armororad guild "underwent" after taking both prior paths. It ends up with the Deep Ones' master being freed, though the guild managed to put a stop to their invasion by slaying the leader the Eldest One/Progenitor, and then eventually going deeper to put an end to the Abyssal God once and for all (who's technically also reachable in the Armoroad and Deep City paths).
    • Fourth is at the remote city of Tharsis. A legend claims that something sleeping within the Yggdrasil tree in sight calls people to eternal paradise. The Outland Count of Tharsis wanted to ascertain the truth of this legend by issuing a challenge to explorers to reach Yggdrasil and uncover that truth. Many guilds flocked to claim fame and fortune, and theirs was but one of them. They rose as heroes, united with the Vessel and Sentinel races (plus saving the latter from extinction from a plant-transforming plague), re-established contact with the Empire ahead (and even recruiting a few to their cause), and put a stop to the Imperial Prince Baldur's mad plan to restore his Empire at the cost of the non-human races and the Medium, as well as felling the Heavenbringer Titan he had awakened to enact that plan, which turned back into the Yggdrasil tree, which had fallen earlier due to the Empire.
      • They also possess a skyshipnote  that can be equipped with all sorts of gear like Armoroad's boat, starting with a Foodapult that can fire large bait (though it's useless as a weapon) (and a Mk. II for longer range), but eventually gets various lures that net them rarer beasts, dowsing rods for finding treasure, a Windrider Bell that lets them fly against strong currents, a Storm God Icon that lets them fly into tornadoes without getting blown away, an Emergency Pole that sets up… well, an Emergency Pole for quick escapes (in their case, back to their temple), and a Twin Propellor for increased movement speed.
    • Fifth is at Arcania, in the town of Aeolis, whose Yggdrasil Labyrinth was closed for a time due to a man who became known as the Mad King, who waged war on the other nations to attain enough military might to secure the power of the tree. Of course, all those other nations banded together to bring his kingdom to rout, and then forbid entry to the labyrinth after setting up Golems to keep out others with the same desire as the Mad King. Eventually, centuries later, exploration of Yggdrasil was reopened, but only to private explorers, and this guild was but one of them. As the guild discover on the Fifth Stratum, and after later context from other Pantheon locals, it turns out that the planet they were on wasn't Earth, but Mars, given life and greenery by the Yggdrasil Tree planted by the Arken race, and it sealed away the Eternal Tyrant that would ruin it and had done so previously. After vanquishing the Eternal Tyrant at the top of the Fifth Stratum, Arken of the Arken race requested the guild escort her to her vessel so she can proceed to her next assigned planet. After vanquishing the Star Devourer that had made Arken the Last of Her Kind, they either saw her off as she departed, or joined her on her journey to Earth.
    • And finally, the guild of the Flying City of Maginia ended up gathering folks from the first four above locations since Arcania isn't even on the same planet (though classes there still make it here)note  to explore the Lost Islands of Lemuria their possible ancestral home, drawn to its legends of lost treasures of an ancient civilization, or whatever other reasons they might have (duty, lust for adventure, seeking riches, escaping their past crimes for a new life in the city, and some guilds even give up exploring for that life), and led by Maginia's Princess Persephone Maginias, who is of Lemurian descent, under the Maginia Expeditionary Force. Among these possible treasures are more advanced skyships, teleporters, and even an elixir of life, but the one most sought out by Persephone is "that which brings everlasting prosperity to whatever nation possesses it", which Lemuria's apparently used all of its resources to create, that it lay at the foot of Yggdrasil.
      • This treasure was a great power/abomination named Jormungandr, the World Serpent, which was made by taking energy from Yggdrasil. Evidently, Lemuria prospered only because it was protected by the World Serpent, which deterred invaders. And then when they misused it, a.k.a. their enemies stopped coming, they lost it and shortly perished under the wrath of a god a.k.a. Jormungandr, which yearned for a target to destroy and turned on its masters, the few survivors fleeing in a flying ship, who are the ancestors of present Maginia. Jormungandr sleeps beneath Yggdrasil to this day after the Lemurian royal family sealed it away. The guild has crossed paths with other parties interested in the treaures as well, like Princess Enrica of the Seafarers, whose ancestors have battled with and lost to the Lemurians due to Jormungandr, and are in dire need of this treasure given her country's larger neighbors. According to Chief Makiri of the native forest folk however, it promises no such prosperity, and is a materialization of man's desire, a calamity which destroys all. There is also Blót, who seems to believe that releasing Jormungandr would bring prosperity to mankind despite the warning of destruction because he is (or rather, he and his twin are) under the belief the calamity it would bring will unite the world against it and usher a new era of peace.
      • Naturally, the guild and Maginia as a whole were opposed to this mad plan even as he successfully reawakened the weapon and struck preemptively to put a stop to Jormungandr once and for all (Blót having died after awakening it and his twin blown off into the depths below). Or so they had thought. As it turns out, according to Yggdrasil's avatar, which has been observing everything thus far, Jormungandr was merely rendered dormant after the battle, kept alive by Yggdrasil itself. In order to defeat it for good, an Yggdrasil Fruit (which has the power to birth another Yggdrasil tree) has to be used right after slaying it (again). Also, Blót's twin had survived and was down there too, now in hopes of finishing what his brother started, though he was eventually convinced otherwise by Enrica. Naturally, the guild accomplished this task, bringing the series to a close.
    • Of course, due to the ambiguous nature of being a set of player characters and the flexible chronology, it is not known how many of these guilds could potentially be one and the same, but it is certain that they cannot all be just one guild for the following reasons:
      • One, The Lagaard guild's 'involvement' in the immortality project invalidates the possibility of them being involved in other storylines.
      • Two, the Arcania guild is from another world entirely. Mars, to be exact.
      • Three, the Maginia guild are told about the preceding guilds (sans the Mars-borne Arcania guild) by their allies who came from Etria (Shilleka), Lagaard (Artelinde), Armoroad (Edie Napier), and Tharsis (Wiglaf), and of those guilds' successes, thus giving the Maginia guild the courage to follow in their footsteps. Therefore, it's highly unlikely that their guild is a previous one.
      • However, some guilds can be possibly thought of as coming from one another via previous members potentially joining up.
    • And being player-based, their fates after the "post-game" can vary, whether they stay at their city, depart for other lands together, and/or go their separate ways, since what they do after all their adventuring is out of the player's hands. For the sake of their ascension, all the guilds' members are together when the call of the Pantheon comes to them.
      • Despite potentially recruiting them, to maintain consistency and to avoid further complications on this profile, the ascended Tharsis guild will not have the Vessel leader Wufan, the Sentinel leader Kibigami, or the Imperial spy Logre a.k.a. Whirlwind among its members, due to their presumed commitments to their respective territories even when the guild inevitably departs.

  • The guilds comprise of the following Classes of adventurers, and the ones in Lagaard and Maginia come with Force Boosts and Force Breaks (though these render Force Boosts unusable until the party returns to town):
    • Landsknechts are powerful soldiers who wield massive blades, be they mounted on hilts or handles. They're balanced in offense and defense, though lean more to the former. They also know how to channel the power of fire, electricity, or ice in their blades for the physical-resistant adversary. Landsknechts of the Tharsis division (and those in Maginia) follow a different discipline, and are focused on getting the first strike in and enhancing every subsequent attack from their allies.Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Survivalists are explorers who, as the name implies, specialize in survival techniques. Their knowledge of the Labyrinth allows them to hide in the shadows, ambush their foes, and guide their companions to swifter victories with skills in archery.Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Protectors serve as knights with incredible defense who protect their fellow party members via protective magic or their own shields. They also learn a couple of simple healing spells to round out their repertoire, though nowhere as proficient as Medics.Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Dark Hunters are leather-clad masters of whips and blades, and are fantastic at dealing out damage laced with nasty side-effects. A few expert lashes can bind their opponents up, then siphon away the last of their life force, while a sufficiently honed blade in their hands can deal pinpoint strikes to leave their target paralyzed, confused, or petrified. Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Medics are talented healers with a wide range of recovery skills; if it exists, they can figure out how to cure it. On top of this, their allies can enjoy some positive effects, like Regenerating Health, elemental resistances, and "overhealing" for a while. Some even have what it takes to fight in the frontlines with a staff or a hammer, though there are only a few of these as it's an understandably dangerous way to battle. Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Alchemists are have refined the very elements into secret formulas that can be mixed into jars and unleashed upon the battlefield at will. Not only are the powers of fire, ice and lightning at their command, and can learn several vital support skills like keeping tabs on horrible FOEs and warping the party away to safety. Their skill Compression also turns any area-wide attack they perform (skill or item use) into a devastating single-target attack. Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Troubadours are performers who inspire their comrades to greater successes with their songs and dances. Supporters to the core, they're not proficient in dealing damage, yet can still effectively cover their allies from the back line. Whether it's adding elemental kicks to their weapons, healing, restoring stamina/mana, strengthening their bodies, or weakening the enemy, the Troubadour is second to none when it comes to helping others. Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Ronin are warriors skilled in foreign arts. All of their skills revolve around three basic stances, each of which confers its own strengths upon the user and allows them access to specialized attacks. While changing stances mid-battle can eat up time (thankfully, they can do damage in the midst of that), the results are difficult to argue against. Ronin from each division regularly exchange notes to refine their battle performance. Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Hexers craft crippling curses to lay upon all their enemies, but the most frightening of their skills may well be their Evil Eye. Anyone who has fallen under its power can only obey whatever orders the Hexer gives, whether that means turning against their allies… or even destroying themselves. Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Highlanders are spear-wielders who rely on using offensive skills by sacrificing HP. Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Gunners are marksmen with a truly impressive arsenal of weapon-based skills. Their shots can be charged with any element, strike any part of their target's body and leave it temporarily useless, stun an opponent outright, or even heal an ally's ailment. And thanks to their weapon, they can deal all this massive damage from the back lines, well protected by their capable friends, though their accuracy can leave a bit to be desired. A small group of Lagaardian Gunners use techniques that work favorably with their speed instead. Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • War Magi combine the healing skills of a Medic with the physical might of a Landsknecht to fill two roles at once. In addition to learning various recovery spells, a trained War Magus with a trusty blade can capitalize on the various weaknesses their allies have already inflicted upon their enemies. They may also learn how to transfer their own energy to others; combining that skill with the ability to drain enemies dry can help ensure an experienced party never runs dry. Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Beasts (white saber-toothed tiger, brown bear, wolf, or panda) are wild yet fiercely loyal companions with an unique array of skills. Many of these skills revolve around healing themselves, such as recovering faster from their injuries, draining an enemy's own lifeforce through their fangs, or even taking a quick power nap in the middle of battle! They can also potentially sniff out and scavenge any of the forest's treasures, and are incredibly powerful fighters. That said, given all the other classes so far, they're best utilized as tanks for the party (better than the Protector, even), though the guilds find having both a Beast and Protector in one party redundant. Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Princes/Princesses/Sovereigns are of Royal Blood in some way, shape or form, and this gives them the power to help keep their party's morale high. They are definitely not to be underestimated; their armor may seem gaudy and ornamental, but they've chosen the path of adventurers and explorers, with all that implies. Their Orders can boost offense, boost defense, help endure fatal blows, block oncoming status ailments (but not binds), follow-up on elemental attacks with the same on one or all foes, and they can also purge all (de)buffs on a foe (or ally/allies in exchange for healing and being closer to using Force Boosts). Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Ninjas have handled down the ancient arts of the ninja for generations, and have mastered various techniques (such as shadow clones last ditch bombs, strikes that can petrify or Instant Kill) meant to ensure that all their explorations end successfully. These versatile shinobi can function well in any position, be it right on the front lines or supporting their allies from the back. Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Buccaneers are descended from those who once ruled the seas, and are experts with guns and blades alike. While they lack the raw power of Gladiators, they make up for it with impressive speed and an arsenal of somewhat less direct tactics, which mainly translates to following up the attacks of their allies.
    • Hoplites are best known for their iconic armor, which completely encases them and provides unparalleled defense on par with the most famous Protectors. Spears are their weapons, enabling them to fight up close or from the back line.
    • Monks use the power of Qi energy to heal others, and naturally excel in unarmed combat, to the point that they can potentially fight on the front lines right alongside their fiercest comrades. With the lack of Medics in Armoroad, they are the best stand-ins for the healer role and are far better off there, though at least they aren't frail like the other backline classes.
    • Gladiators have honed their bodies to become combat experts, particularly with the hammer or sword, and are completely focused on attacking in battle, ignoring such things as defense.
    • Zodiacs are astrologers who have turned their knowledge of the secrets of the skies towards combat purposes; they can collect ether of the various elements and use it as a catalyst for their powerful star arts, even make it so that their allies can use their abilities at zero cost. They stand in for Hexers and Alchemists in Armoroad and are the only spellcasting class on Maginia. Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Arbalists have mastered the use of all manner of bows, from the familiar longbow to more physically imposing crossbows that are nearly the same size as them. They're capable of doing heavy damage from either row in battle, but it's extremely risky to do so in the front without someone to shield them.
    • Wildlings, as the name implies, share an affinity with wild creatures and can communicate with them, going so far as to be able to convince these same beasts to fight alongside them during battle, and even take blows for the team.
    • Farmers are easily the weakest of the lot, having little to offer combat-wise. Where they excel is finding and utilizing the vast resources that the world provides (they can also revive fallen party members, and even lead the party back to town without the need for Ariadne Threads, though Maginian ones instead can only take a party out of battle and back to the last stairs or Geomagnetic Pole used and at the cost of some of the party's HP); many have thus set out to find their fortunes, despite the vast dangers of the sea around Armoroad. Some of them do return to agriculture in the Pantheon, but they're all still game to explore or just gather materials. Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Shoguns are skilled commanders hailing from the far east whose tactics can change the tide of battle — and they aren't afraid to dirty their own hands, either. One of their best skills is Warrior Might, where in exchange for lowering their defenses, they follow up on their allies' attacks. And with a little bit of math, their damage output goes through the roof! Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Mechanical humanoids, Yggdroids have a variety of unusual attacks. They use knives or books (which every other class can use) in battle, can summon attack drones, and launch their limbs at foes, and so forth. In desperate situations, like when fully bound (though they can actually make that easier with Core Dump), they can even perform HP Gun, which deals damage proportional to how much health they lost. However, given all the other perks all the other Armoroad classes can do, they're pretty sub-par in comparison.
    • Fortresses are armored just as heavily as their name implies, taking up the duties of Protectors, Beasts and Hoplites. Unlike their other shieldbearing counterparts their skills are more focused towards Draw Aggro and function their best taking hits for the party. With their heavy hammers and clubs, they also pack a considerable punch.
    • Runemasters invoke the raw elemental forces found in the atmosphere, channeling them through runic symbology, and serve the same role as Alchemists and Zodiacs for the Tharsis division. They have also pioneered the ability to shape magic for attacking different enemy formations, which has served as a blueprint for the other spellcasting classes to vary their skillset.
    • Nightseekers lurk in the shadows while weakening their targets, sapping their strength with throwing knives before advancing with dual blades drawn. Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Snipers pick off their enemies from a distance using bows. They specialize in doling out critical hits, as well as aiming at vital areas in order to seal off their target's ability to move parts of their bodies.
    • Dancers take up where the Troubadours of old left off, supporting and inspiring their allies with their dazzlingly quick, nimble dances. Along with boosting their strength, certain moves let them relieve their friends' exhaustion, and when the situation demands it, they leap into battle with a whirlwind of blades!
    • Arcanists are part of the Vessel race (created by humans long ago, no less), who live in the wilds of the Second Land, and only join the Guild after the rescue of the Medium of the Vessels from the Hollow Queen with Wufan's help. By setting up special Circle fields, they can inflict various negative effects upon their enemies, and can attack or heal by releasing those fields. They can also cast Tame Ground, which reduces damage from painful terrain during exploration. Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Bushi are the fighting men and women of the Sentinel race (also created by humans long ago) of the Third Land, who resemble great beasts and possess all the strength that implies. They fight by bearing down upon their enemies with blades flashing, the flow of battle filling their bodies with energy. They only signed up after helping retrieve the Titan's Heart, the Empire revealed its presence, and Kibigami offers to join the guild.
    • Imperials have learned how to handle drive blades, special weapons which can perform powerful special attacks, but are prone to overheating. It's only after it's made evident that Imperial Prince Baldur is going too far to save his people that they join the Guild. Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • Arcania has a variety of races, and each have their own classes (which all races can take on via Class Change if one so wishes). They can also take on Legendary Names to further specialize in certain branches of their art.
      • Earthlains/Earthruns are basically standard humans, who come with a wide range of classes and are known for their defenses and agility. Their aptitude for magic is terrible, though.
      • Fencers are Earthlain fighters who skillfully wield pointed swords. While they share similarities to their Landsknecht cousins, they have a stronger focus on evasion. They can take on one of two Legendary Names — Phantom Duelist, which puts a greater focus on evasion and drawing attacks to them, or Chain Duelist, which is more aggressive and well-rounded and specialize on Combos.
      • Dragoons are Earthlain fighters who boast of defense as tough as a dragon and fight with artillery. They can take on one of two Legendary Names — Shield Bearers are more defensive, while Cannon Bearers specialize in greater ordinance. In addition to their shields and cannons, they can also deploy Bunkers and Turrets to Draw Aggro (and while the latter can also attack, they cost more than the former).
      • Pugilists are Earthlain fighters who clear through battles with their tempered fists. They can take on one of two Legendary Names — Barrage Brawlers are highly capable of disabling their opponents and delivering a rapid flurry of blows, while Impact Brawlers take a high-risk high-reward approach with skills that grow stronger at lower health. Maginian Pugilists are more focused towards the Barrage Brawler specialization, and their punches are not as potent as their Arcanian counterparts. Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
      • Harbingers are Earthlain fighters who fell enemies with sickles that bring death. They can take on one of two Legendary Names — Deathbringers gets more debilitating ailments to boost their offenses with, while Deathguards uses their miasma to shield their allies. Maginian Harbingers are more adept at manipulating their miasma to further their Deathguard skills. Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
      • Celestrians/Lunarians are an elf-like race that specialize in magic, but are consequently physically frail. They also possess Innate Night Vision.
      • Necromancers are Celestrian summoners who command the spirits of the dead and use coffins to battle (and Necromancers can take a swing deceptively fast with those things). They can take on one of two Legendary Names — Spirit Evokers are focused on support, using a multitude of wraiths for offense and defense, while Spirit Brokers are more aggressive, using deadly attacks to generate high-health wraiths.
      • Warlocks are Celestrian sages skilled in elemental (Fire, Ice, Lightning) attacks. They can take on one of two Legendary Names — Omnimancers gain unique spells that can hit with physical attributes (Wind and Earth), while Elemencers greatly improve their elemental repertoire with devastating Area of Effect attacks. While they generally prefer staves, they can also equip cannons if one so desires.
      • Therians are beast-like people that have agility and health comparable to Earthlains, but also have very high physical strength in exchange for being more inept at magic than Earthlains.
      • Rovers are Therian hunters who command falcons and dogs. They can take on one of two Legendary Names — Flying Falcons specialize in commanding hawks to hunt any enemy, while Hunting Hounds utilize their hound companion to support the party.
      • Masurao are Therian heroes who potentially wield can up to four swords. They can take on one of two Legendary Names — Blade Dancers unlock the full offensive potential of the Masurao with multi-blade attacks (at the cost of being a Glass Cannon, and looking like this when quad-wielding), while Blade Masters eschew multiple swords to hone their skills with a single blade.
      • The Brouni/Brownies are a race of smaller humanoids who worship nature. While not exactly the best at combat (with their terrible strength and luck), they are highly valuable due to their supportive skills.
      • Shamans are Brouni who use mysterious powers to help their allies. They can take on one of two Legendary Names — Divine Punishers dispel their buffs to perform powerful attacks, while Divine Heralds access stronger buffs and can even restore health while doing so.
      • Botanists are Brouni masters of healing with herbs, but can also utilize their knowledge of herbs to inflict debilitating ailments. They can take on one of two Legendary Names — Merciful Healers gain stronger healing skills, while Graced Poisoners utilize stronger Smoke skills to wreak havoc on enemy lines.
    • Heroes hail from the floating city of Maginia, and can fill most any role, whether attacking, defending, or supporting. They're also known for spawning afterimages that repeat their last-used skill (and can be targeted by enemies as a distraction). Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
    • As for the others, the Etria guild merely has the ability to Boost their abilities, the Armoroad Guild has Limits learned through Scripts as mentioned above, the Tharsis guild has Burst Skills that work just about the same as Limits, and the Arcania guild has Union Skills specialized to each race (though other allies regardless of who/what they are can pitch in as long as an Arcania guild member initiates).
    • Also, the "power" of subclasses (only for the Armoroad, Tharsis, and Maginia guilds) allows for the use of the abilities of other classes. Of course, generalization is not recommended, so don't expect the physical types to dabble in spells or vice-versa. Rather…
      • For Armoroad, one can have a Hoplite with Ninja techniques to make a shadow clone of oneself and double on defenses, a Ninja with a Zodiac's Dark Ether can optimize mana use for the party, a Monk could make great use of the Sovereign's Orders, a Farmer might actually be able to Instant Kill/Petrify something with a Ninja jutsu thanks to their great Luck, Gladiators with Shogun skills can really do a lot of wrecking, Arbalists can ramp up the damage with the Gladiator's Berserker Vow, and Yggdroids essentially require a subclass to function as effectively as their fleshy comrades ([Punch] Monk and Hoplite are the best).
      • For Tharsis, Dancers can rack up the attacks-per-turn with Nightseeker's Dual Wield, Nightseekers can maximise the potency of their poisons with some of the Arcanists' passives, and Imperials can make weaknesses with a Runemaster's Elemental Runes to ramp up the obscene damage they can already do by default (at the cost of cooldowns).
      • For Maginia, Harbingers can stack the Miasmas and their attack rate with Ninja skills, Gunners can rack up their chances to bind foes with Pugilist skills and rack up damage with Raging Billows (increases damage the more ailments/binds the target has), Protectors can get even tankier with Highlander skills, and Heroes can maximize the damage output from their Afterimages with Imperial Drives.
    • In addition, Vampires are actually a subclass for the Maginia guild members, accessible only by wearing the Scarlet Evil Eye. Force Boosts and Force Breaks 
      • Speaking of the Scarlet Evil Eye, there's only one available for this Maginia guild, and it's not known which of their number has the Vampire apart from a discomfort for sunlight. And due to Gameplay and Story Segregation, the Eye can be transferred between members without much consequence.

  • With so many locations to traverse and map, the guilds have set their eyes on several dungeons. Even if some of them are the special type that change their architecture after leaving, it's still a good way to keep their cartography skills sharp.
    • The Darkest Estate is one such locale for the guilds, and they do get some profits in selling copies of their maps to other adventurers there, not to mention their Yggdrasil trips mean they get more out of the land than the Heir's hired Adventurers, though the numerous human foes they need to kill do dishearten them considerably (less so for the Etria guild, who had to exterminate the forest folk  in the 4th Stratum of their labyrinth [in actuality, Visir was hoping the forest folk would wipe out the guild, but that plan obviously backfired], though enough did manage to survive to establish a kingdom as the Armoroad guilds can attest to, if the swordsman Lindworm was any indication), and they loot only their belongings (curios and gold all still go to the Heir's funds to maintain his Adventurers). Crimson Court vampires and other formerly-human creatures though are still liable to get their parts harvested. And after the first two parties they sent to the Darkest Dungeon ended up needing to retreat (the first's map ending up being useless to the second), and hearing of the terrors within, they have elected to never again venture to that particular location. There wasn't even any worthwhile loot save for the one Ancestor's Knapsack, but it held items that can be more easily found elsewhere in the estate.
      • Speaking of the Crimson Court, their "temple" is also one of many places the guilds take on and have become one of many of their annoyances, especially to the guilds' Sovereigns.
      • As for The Hag, they're somewhat more distressed when fighting her than the Heir's adventurers whenever she sends one of their own Into The Pot! On the other hand, she's annoyed that whenever they do beat her, they also try to make off with her cauldron, too.
    • Yomi's Dungeon is quite the anomalous case given all the Cute Monster Girls that populate it. Because of their humanoid appearance, it feels wrong to harvest their parts, and so their loot is limited to stolen weapons, some ejected slime, the Abyssal Cow's milk, chocolate from the Chocolate Mimic, the Queen Bee's honey, and mana shards to trade to Charlotte for items. And to keep things from getting way too perverted, the guild's only letting the following guys explore (all females are permitted by default) after testing and confirming these traits without a doubt: the unnaturally chaste, the utterly celibate, the homosexual, the married as long as they can stay faithful to their spouses, those Oblivious to Love, and those Not Distracted by the Sexy.
    • The Abyss is one of the most challenging places yet given the Strains of Ascent once you've gone deep. It doesn't help that there are no Geomagnetic Poles for quick teleportations, and the use of Ariadne Threads is discouraged due to nobody knowing just how the Strains would affect someone warping back through multiple layers. The Armoroad guild is most equipped for this task, as they are more accustomed to camping, not to mention the Yggdroids being mechanical bypasses the Curse of the Abyss, even if Yggdroids aren't the most optimal of them. They (well, their Yggdroids [and with the Yggdroid Plan, they can construct as many as necessary]) intend to delve as deep as they possibly can (which would take a long time since they intend to comb the entire place rather than race down there like most Delvers), probably even reach the bottom, given what they've accomplished thus far.
      • Theoretically, the Maginia guild can also deploy Yggdroids who can take on any class combination, so they're participating in exploring the Abyss as well.
      • Their biggest snag so far is the Great Fault, where finding or forging a reliable way down and up is an arduous task. And given the Fifth Layer's Strains, the Fourth Layer might be the limit for the organic members of the guilds. It will have to be Yggdroids from then on.
      • Which brings them to Bondrewd's domain,
    • King Togwaggle's Catacombs serve as another location worth exploring, and he actually likes them less than other explorers due to how powerful they can be and even run the risk of clearing his catacombs repeatedly.
    • The Keeper's Dungeon is also on their list, and the Keeper was pretty peeved by their presence given they spend more time wiping out his forces and harvesting them for parts than searching for his treasure, are too cautious for his liking thanks to their adventures in their Yggdrasil Labyrinths (multiple "dungeons" in the case of the Tharsis and Maginia guilds), are too quick to retreat when things go sour, and have the sense to map out his dungeon for future ventures (and to sell to other adventurers), forcing him to "reset" his temple. Eventually, it became a low-priority location due to the lack of variety of loot (unless a quest specifies something in the Keeper's Dungeon that isn't the treasure), not to mention the Keeper being able to smite the entire party as soon as they enter whenever he likes (at the cost of gold, though).
    • They've also decided to tackle the Upside Down, and given the post-game bosses they have felled, not to mention their cartography skills, they've proven to be a great asset in mapping out the place. They eventually hope to find the Treasury there.
    • Minecraft is another haven of exploration for the guilds, even if its resources (including the Nether, the End, and The Aether) aren't quite as varied as the Yggdrasil Labyrinths.
    • Another realm they've been banned from exploring is the Spirit World (by Korra and Aang); the former doesn't want it being exploited just as Kuvira once had with Spirit Vine weaponry. Not to mention that some of the flora are sapient, too, in which the Etria guild made the decision to back off; they had been forced to commit genocide before in their Labyrinth, and it would be in everyone's best interest that they don't do it again.
    • The Chalkzone was also in consideration, but was shortly removed from their list due to the fact that everything there is susceptible to liquid, and the zone isn't really teeming with dangerous creatures.

  • Applies to all the guilds:
    • For the sake of consistency and by virtue of being the Series Mascot, The Face of their collective guilds is this Protector◊ named Shishou, who may or may not have some involvement with the Empire past Tharsis. Alternatively, the Heroes in the Maginia guild would also count.
    • In addition to your standard adventurers, some of the guilds also have teams specialized in gathering resources at points the adventurers have marked and where there's an easy way out for easy harvests. They either comprise of specialized Survivalists or Armoroad/Maginia Farmers (or Ninjas with Farmer as a subclass). No, they're not Yggdroids named Byeah. Not all of them, at least.
    • Their "temple" is comprised of a small town populated by all the guild members (as each guild has a maximum of 30 members each, except Maginia with its maximum of 60, this counts up to 210 people total). One can find several Farmers there too, when they aren't harvesting materials for the guild. Some of them are likely Ninjas too via Armoroad/Maginia subclassing, which helps in their survival at dangerous territories. At least one of them is a mainline explorer, too, though usually not when it's time to take on a boss.
      • In regards to specifics however, there's usually one of each class for each guild, leaving the rest ambiguous as to what they are, so:
      • Etria: 9, plus five Survivalists for "farming", leaving 16 slots.
      • Lagaard: 14, plus five Survivalists for "farming", leaving 11 slots.
      • Armoroad: 12, plus five Farmers, and five Ninjas with the Farmer subclass, leaving 8 slots.
      • Tharsis: 10, leaving 20 slots.
      • Arcania: 10 + 10, two of each class with each Mastery, leaving 10 slots.
      • Maginia: 19 (with at least one with a Vampire-subclass among them), five Survivalists and/or Farmers for "farming", leaving 36 slots.
    • Because of the numerous beasts they kill on a regular basis, the Bestiary has a heavy hunting limit set on the guilds, and that only one party at a time is allowed within the premises. Oh, and hunting Pokémon is off-limits due to the presence of Arceus. SMT!Demons are still fair game, though.
      • And the Pokémon world is off-limits, too, even if they can ignore the Pokémon themselves and settle for Berries, mushrooms, precious stones, etc. because there will always be those few who can't help themselves.
    • They will stop at almost nothing to map the dungeons they travel in, be it a monster, FOE, fellow adventurers, or even (in the case of the Armoroad guilds) a super powerful Yggdroid, no matter their size.
    • Occasionally hunt the same beasts the Monster Hunters do given their experience with FOEs.
    • Any party that ends up in the House of Gaming (which is all the time since they reside there) is always, well, game to hunt down the Reaper, who—as far as they're concerned—is just a high-tiered FOE.
    • Whenever there's a treasure room, the guild members are always on edge, because in the labyrinths they've been to, monsters come their way far more often in such rooms.
    • As explorers of uncharted territory, they're always checking all sorts of things for materials, and even try out all sorts of potential nourishment like fruits, water sources, tree sap, dandelion roots (for coffee), and even moss. Of course, those come with their own hazards, but that's part of what makes exploration a thing.
    • Petaloids are a pain due to inducing sleep, which is really deadly to do while out exploring, and so they have a pathological impulse to prioritize such creatures to take down or at least disable.
    • In addition to taking jobs at the Pantheonic Soldiers of Fortune and other mercenary guilds, they also frequent all sorts of bars, other eateries, and anywhere people discuss matters and all sorts of woes.
    • Besides medicines to heal wounds, recover from status effects, or even bring Back from the Dead, the guilds also order bottles of formaldehyde. When asked why, they claim it helps with getting "conditional drops" too hard to attempt "the old-fashioned way".
    • As someone else from a post-apocalyptic world that used to be Earth, they got along with Aloy after a few hunts together with her. The same has occured with their encounter with Artyom.
      • Naturally, as people from post-apocalyptic world, they don't look forward to seeing worlds destroyed again, and as such are in opposition to the Grand United Alliance of Destruction.
    • Have official partnerships with the Houses of Food and Craft, to where they sell off their findings in exchange for cash that they in turn use to buy weapons, armor, medicine, Escape Rope-type items (which are very important for them, and never go out without them on hand. Preferably several, like a minimum of 3.), and other items useful for exploration.
      • They also have partnerships with some deities in the House of Commerce in order to get more Ental (or whatever their currency they're using nowadays) for their findings.
    • The guilds eventually heard of S.E.E.S., the Investigation Team, and the Phantom Thieves of Hearts' (plus Zen and Rei's) expeditions in labyrinths, and the guilds decided that allying with them would be a good idea. Though apparently their definition for F.O.E., rather than Formido Oppugnatura Exsequens or Field-On Enemy, is Fysis Oikein Eidolon (according to Zen and Rei) or Film Obscurité Étendeu (according to Hikari).
    • Given how much city guards manage to do in Labyrinth exploration, the guilds don't put much faith into them, though the Arcania guild tries to encourage them whenever they can. That said, given how much funding is needed to sustain them, and how great numbers mean nothing in confined spaces like dungeons, it makes some amount of sense.
    • As explorers dedicated to mapping out the world (well, only the Armoroad and Tharsis guilds have needed to explore more than the labyrinths), the very notion of deliberately leaving something uncharted is unprecedented, and so they rightly oppose the Five Elders of the World Government. The Armoroad guild have it most personal given what Olympia did at the 2nd Stratum for presumably decades, and the Etrian guild moreso given the Radha Chieftain Visil's actions mirror theirs, though his motivations were different; keep the mystery of the Labyrinth to keep Etria's source of income (explorers) flowing in.
    • Have occasionally encountered the Kecleon Brothers during their outings, and tend to sell all their findings to them (if possible) as well as buy curatives in order to be able to continue hunting for more loot before heading back. And after one of their parties got blacklisted due to shoplifting just to see how many Kecleon they could take out before being overwhelmed, the guilds had to do a fair bit of negotiations to ensure this doesn't happen again.
    • Rumor has it that (Insert Name Here) is the unseen master of all the Guilds. Not even the guild members know who manages everything behind the scenes.

  • Applies to more than one but not all of the guilds or some of its classes:
    • Every guild after Etria's distrust squirrels due to the ones in the labyrinths making off with their Ariadne Threads.
    • The Etria and Lagaard guilds possess Grimoire Stones that grant them skills used by other classes or even monsters. That said, the process of making these stones seems to only work in the presence of an Yggdrasil Labyrinth, so no more can be made in the Pantheon.
    • Their Gunners in particular eventually got sold on the more powerful firearms provided by Marcus Kincaid's vending machines, and dealings with Drebin 893. And with the skills they already possess, this has made them that much more effective, even though they stick to single-shot weapons like handguns and rifles.
    • The Armoroad and Etria guilds in particular are often ready to hunt them! thanks to their own experiences with giant ants. And the ants the former knew were living in a lava location, too.
    • At least one Beast in the Lagaard guild has been seen wearing a bikini that halves fire, electric, and ice attacks on it. When asked why the Beasts are wearing them, the guild comments that it not only naturally provides little protection for anyone else, it's likely too revealing even for Dark Hunters. However, should certain FOE battles call for it, as many of the entire participating party as is absolutely necessary will have these Bikini Armors on.
      • The Armoroad guilds also have sets of these too, but they only block 20% of elemental damage, and in exchange boosts one's action speed. This makes it ideal for support classes (such as Monks) or explorer-party Farmers.
    • The Armoroad, Tharsis, Arcania and Maginia guilds all forge their weapons to enhance them, but they have different techniques. Armoroad and Tharsis forge their weapons to either customize or improve their functionality, while Arcania and Maginia use forging to unlock and hone the special properties of their equipment.

  • Exclusive to Etria's guild:
    • Due to their traumatic first impressions of the Ragelopes, the Etria Guild had their weapons ready the second Xerneas ended up in their sights, leading to a brief misunderstanding despite not exactly charging at the great deer.
    • Having used the first and most primitive version of the mapping system, the first generation of Etrian adventurers take solace in that their successors would not have to struggle as much with plotting out some nightmarish floors with limited tools.

  • Exclusive to Lagaard's guild:
    • The Lagaard guild has experience with harvesting helping with city development, restaurant advertisement (perhaps they choose a sponsor at the House of Food?), and seeing a hot spring at the 12th floor of the labyrinth they traversed.
    • Having had to contend with a thief who desired a pair of magic flutes that could calm or drive berserk monsters, (whether or not they possessed one of those flutes themselves), they're wary of those with such implements, such as Ember McLain and the Pied Piper.
    • Once had a run-in with the Hounds of Tindalos, but the Hounds here don't seem to have a desire to hunt them for some reason. But given how threatening they are, the guild is on constant watch and has warned the others, too.
    • Due to the last time they've participated in a "Battle Program", virtual simulation battles are a sore spot for them, if not given the option of proper rest time. There was probably one, but they obviously didn't know how to work that out.
    • Knowing where the floor bosses came from in Lagaard's Yggdrasil Labyrinth, they oppose any form of immortality that sacrifices one's humanity or morality, which the Overlord of the Ark was responsible for. As such, they oppose the likes of Bondrewd (much more than any of the other guilds).

  • Exclusive to Armoroad's guild:
    • While all of the guilds are willing to accept aid from others or provide aid to others, the Armoroad guild is most accustomed to assembling a party that can support the hired aid thanks to their time doing Sea Quests.
    • The Armoroad guild once remembered seeing an old man wearing a white robe and with lifeless, yellow, muddy eyes standing in the middle of a maelstrom they got caught in. Folks theorize it might've been Poseidon.
    • Ever since having once plundered an elephant graveyard, every pachyderm always feels wrong in the presence of anyone in this guild, though Ganesha is the least bothered by this, not being the type to hold a big grudge over that.
    • Have the biggest beef against Cthulhu and his kin given what the Abyssal God was like. While there were ways to cheese it, defeating it "fair and square" was definitely possible.

  • Exclusive to Tharsis's guild:
    • As owners of a skyship, the Tharsis guild corresponds with the Cids for upgrades and repairs for their craft.
    • Among their inventory is a dagger called Epetam, which is actually a vessel for a giant lightning-controlling bird called the Iwaoropenelep. It will try to fly around in search of blood to shed if grasped by anyone who isn't from the Tharsis guild, so it's better off in their hands.
    • Very strongly oppose genocide, since that's what the Empire close to the Yggdrasil Tree at Tharsis desired to do with the Vessels and Sentinels (as well as the Medium) to return prosperity to their land. This has led to a few contentions with the Etria guild, which partook in such an atrocity on behalf of Visil, who actually hoped the forest folk would exterminate the guild.
    • If there is one quest this guild would rather not take (again), it would be extensive hunting sprees, especially if the targets need to be done in a certain order before it's considered done. That "Investigational Support" quest at the Echoing Library is more than enough.

  • Exclusive to Arcania's guild:
    • Using culinary techniques from the four races, they have developed a knack for cooking food within the labyrinth using ingredients gathered from within and out.
    • Having faced the Star Devourer, this guild is the most prepared for taking on (provided they're weakened enough) planet- or star-consuming entities, and while they're probably not up to taking them on at full power, they're willing to fight the likes of Unicron and Galactus.

  • Exclusive to Maginia's guild:
    • In terms of the kinds of folk their guild has gathered, besides Heroes, they've only got Protectors, Medics, Ronin, Survivalists, and Highlanders from Etria, Gunners and War Magi from High Lagaard, Sovereigns, Ninjas, Zodiacs, Farmers, and Shoguns from Armoroad, Landsknechts, Nightseekers, Arcanists, and Imperials from Tharsis, and Pugilists and Harbingers despite no official representatives from Arcania, unless they're from the Arcania guild that came to Earth with Arken.
    • While the Maginia guild was forced to go through forest folk soldiers in the Barren Wastelands just like the Etria guild, they are distinctly different in that Maginia's only went through them in order to rescue Persephone after Blot abducted her and brainwashed those soldiers, compared to Etria's genocide meant to wipe out the guild.
    • Greatly oppose those who believe conflict is for the betterment of mankind, as Blot desired to release a great enemy to cause a calamity in order for the world to unite against it.
    • Due to the nature of Lemuria's treasure Jormungandr, the guild is in heavy opposition to those who use sentient superweapons, since they can turn on their masters should anything go wrong with its instructions.

    Howard and Kreese 
...Nothing here? Okay, who's coming n-

Howard: "Hey, excuse me, are you a certified announcer like us?"

Well, not really. I'm more of a-

Kreese: "Well then SHUT THE FUCK UP! This is our profile, you don't see us comin' and stealing your job narrating the fuckin' Tales or whatever!"

*Cue Kreese and Howard slamming the narrator into a burning barrel and throwing it unto oncoming traffic.*

Howard: "And would you look at that, they had a barrel of a time! I'd like to check out what's left of them but first, our profile."

Howard "Buckshot" Holmes and Kreese Kreely, Patron Saints of Talkative Announcers

  • Ambiguous Rank (Kreese is often assumed to be a really durable Demigod)
  • Symbol: The Shock TV 86 Logo
  • Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
  • Portfolio: Jerkasses, Refuge in Audacity, Alliterative Name, Cluster F-Bomb, Toilet Humor, Comically Missing the Point, DeathWatch commentators, Only heard, never seen
  • Domains: Commentary, Announcers, Blood Sport, Carnage, Audacity
  • Mainly spectates over: Jack Cayman, Blacker Baron, Big Bull, Herr Frederick von Twirlenkiller, Jude the Dude, Rain and other Kombatants, Travis Touchdown, The Bakers, Eliza
  • Rivals: Wiz and Boomstick
  • Enemies:
  • Popular with: The House of Slaughter
    • Howard: The Houses of Lust
  • Annoyed with: Junko Enoshima
  • Opposed by: The House of Craft
  • Howard: "Good evening bloodthirsty gods and goddesses! It's a beeaautiful day out in the Trope Pantheons, just perfect to spectate over - you guessed it - unfamily friendly bloodbath and carnage. My name is Howard "Buckshot" Holmes and along with my co-commentator Kreese Kreely, I'll be giving you a slay-by-slay coverage over tonight's meat grinder with access to more than 100,000 cameras you can be sure you won't miss any evisceration, liquidation, or sick corpse defiling. Say, wouldn't you say this is the Pantheon's first official broadcast?"
    Kreese: "Right you fucking are, Howard. While Death Watch isn't open to the Pantheon just yet, we've taken it upon ourselves to serve as announcers here to talk over every bit of messy manslaughter. Here we have loads and loads of gods and having met some of these weirdos I can tell you that this place is going to be more gruesome shows of disembodied limbs an than a family meeting swimming in a naval minefield. We've got a hell lot more amazing arenas, weapons, traps, and a shit ton more surprises coming your way.
    Howard: "So sharpen your knives, pull up a seat, and get ready to enjoooooy our profile!"
    Kreese: "I can't even read it!"
  • Kreese: "Oh hey it's Jack! Still chopping wankers to bits with that- double chainsaw!?"
    Howard: "Seems like the Baron's back again, wait he's with Jack? Didn't they kill each other that one time?"
    Kreese: "Aw he dies all the time. Must be a respect thing. Like Big Bull Crocker who seemed to got an upgrade in, well everything. Twirlenkiller stayed the same, though. Oh Jesus, but his farts from his turbines got even stronger."
    Howard: "No, it was me again."
    Kreese: "Argh, seriously Howard?!"
  • Howard: "As per according to the divine rankings we're assigned as Ambiguous deities as while he participated in the games, we were never actually seen doing so by everyone here."
    Kreese: "You're telling me they didn't see that time in '07 where Frank shoved his fist up my ass and turned me into a hand puppet?"
    Howard: "Apparently not."
    Kreese: "You know, I never get these rankings. All the guys up top ever do is sit on their ass and masturbate and only ever get involved when it's fucking convenient for them. And yet everyone kisses their ass over and over again and never shuts up about them.
    Howard: "Bastards like them are wasting all that good power not funding games like Deathwatch."
  • Kreese: "You know I ran late this morning 'cause I was dealing with Rain? Prince or not, you'll be more than wet when this princely stripper is done with you. He'll send you down the river while you're pissin' your pants, which is what exactly he did to me after giving me a swirly. Hmph, and if it that wasn't enough he can call thunderstorms out of nowhere."
    Howard: "Hate to rain on your parade but throughout the battle with that deckhead and I thought to myself was water you doing?!"
    Kreese: "The eye, I'm going to stab you IN YOUR GODDAMN EYE!"
    Howard: "You shore about that?"
  • Howard: "You know, the other day I met this girl named Junko Enoshima and she apparently wants to help out with bringing in Death Watch to the Pantheon."
    Kreese: "Hell no! Keep her out of this."
    Howard: "Sounds like you're acquainted with her already."
    Kreese: "Acquainted? She made me sit through so many of her goddamn Killing Games, they're boring as sin! Everyone involved just moves around trying to not kill each other and only do it when that fucktard bear says so. Then they spend on and on with how the murder is committed and everything last goddamn detail. The only exciting bits are when some asshole gets executed, almost makes her babbling on despair worth it."
    Howard: "You know, we should get some of those execution equipment for when Death Watch comes back. Put it through better use than whatever the hell she's doing."
    Kreese: "Aaaaamen to that."
    • Howard: "And speaking of Killing Games, it seems we've had a lot of hate mail from people who went through thing like that-"
      Kreese: "What?"
      Howard: "-and hated it. 'Don't go and trivialize people's deaths ugh!' 'People shouldn't be forced to participate in Death Watch neegh!'"
      Kreese: "Isn't that the fucking point? I don't see the problem here, you know how much trouble it would be if we had to ask every single goddamn ratfucker if they want to participate or not?"
  • Howard: "Look here, apparently we've been compared quite a lot to "Wiz and Boomstick". Says here with how we run things is similar to how they talk over DEATH BATTLE!, even though we totally came before them!"
    Kreese: "I dunno, I kinda like Boomstick. He pretty much speaks my language, probably go drinking sometime. Not with Wiz, though. Smartass has less luck with love than Howard."
    Howard: "Wow, he must really suck."
    Kreese: "I know."
    Howard: "Maybe we should all do an episode one day and have Jack be one of the contenders. I could rant about my ex-wife with Boomstick and also teach Wiz a thing or two about love."
    Kreese: "I doubt he'd learn anything from you."
  • Kreese: "You know, after a day of announcing and spectating of gruesome murder, sometimes you just wanna kick back and take a break. Something like sitting down and smoking meth or maybe some time playing golf- well, not that I have ever done so."
    Howard: "Oh wee. Whew. Finally got 'Mystery Food X' out of my system. And it only took a full 30 minutes of vomiting to do so!"
    Kreese: "I can tell you had shrimp for lunch, still can't believe I got my ass punted by that Kick Chick for saying how shit it was."
    Howard: "Hmph. Only constructive criticism if you ask me. Anyways, what'd I miss this time? Any mortifying mutilations?"
    Kreese: "Oh, eh uh, just buzzsaw. Fourth time today."
  • Howard: "You should be more mindful of where you are in the Pantheon. At least, a bit more than usual."
    Kreese: "Why?"
    Howard: "Lately there's been talk of a teacher with an atrociously simple appearance. They say that when you encountered them you have to find and solve all his math problems within his seven notebooks and even getting one wrong has him chasing you all over the House to do something with that ruler of his."
    Kreese: "Ah hell, I know that prick. I had to go through them and got every single one of them wrong. You know when I signed up to be an announcer here NOBODY SAID THERE'D BE MATH!"
    Howard: "I blaaaaame our schoooools!"
  • Howard: "Today gods and goddesses we have here some unwilling deities placed in the lovely humble homestead of the murderous Jack, who seems to be in the mood for using his crippling chainsaws!"
    Kreese: "Why did we have to place 'em there in the first place? Isn't Jack already into games like this?"
    Howard: "Jack Baker, with his Chainsaw Shears but he's not limited to just that! Give this family man anything and he'll make faaantastic use of it. You could probably give him someone's entrails and he'll choke someone to death with them! He's a bit of a favorite among spectators, what with his lovable attitude and all. And he's got one hell of a wife too! "
    Kreese: "I don't want to think of any bugs right now, I'm pretty sure her fucking bug-children has all types of diseases. They might be why I got yellow fever, malaria, and dengue just just yesterday."
    Howard: "Speaking of children, their son Lucas Baker forces others to play Deadly Games with all the neat and sadistic traps he made all by himself. That's the kind of ingenuity you don't see much of these days!"
    Kreese: "Cowardly little shit. I 'ought to kick his punk ass one day."
    Howard: "Well why not now?"
    Kreese: "Uh, probably 'cause of all the traps.
    Howard: "Fair point."
  • Kreese: "Jesus, you know how much how I hate going into the House of Health and Diseases? Every time I go there almost every time there's doctor asking me a buncha questions: 'How'd you survive Death Watch all this time?' 'How are you still living even when you're declared legally dead?' 'Can I touch your pig tits sown on your body?' All I want is to get fixed up, is that hard to get some goddamn service?
  • Howard: "You seem to be on your period today. Ran out of weed?"
    Kreese: "Nope."
    Howard: "Someone made a pun?"
    Kreese: "Yeah, but not the problem. They let sickos like Cruella into this place, it's disgusting!"
    Howard: "Again, didn't you compete in DeathWatch?"
    Kreese: "And again, asshole, the only living things I killed are people, and that's different! What she tried to pull was just fucked up. And besides, Lysandere planned to kill off everyone so I'm in the right."
    Howard: "Well, you're not wrong about that. Mathematically speaking, that may just be more kills than pretty much everyone in Death Watch combined, even with Jack on board!"
    Kreeese: "For fucks sake, NOBODY SAID THERE'D BE MATH!"
    Both: "I blaaaaame our schoooools!"
  • Kreese: "Come to think of it, what the hell is up with TV Tropes anyways? I see it plastered all over the Pantheon no matter where I fucking go, and no one seems to notice!"
    Howard: "Says here it's a wiki page meant to catalog every trope, a figure of speech or expression like a theme or device of sorts, across all of pop-culture. Movies, literature, and of course TV. And the Pantheon is no different, with characters chosen to represent them from pretty much everywhere. Then they stick 'em into a room just to see what would happen, mostly to watch them kill each other. Man, considering the amount of effort these Tropers put into all this, their lives must be pretty sad and boring.
    Kreese: "Well why'd ya think I asked you?"
  • Howard: "I just got a letter from the House of Craft. It says here we're not welcome because of our comments on artists during the credits. I called them a rash you wanted to go away while you called them 'brain-dead booger eaters'."
    Kreese: "Well it's true."
  • Howard: "There goes another Mook's spleen, surgical precision all thanks to Travis Touchdown and his beam katanas. Even for a dead-end loser like him, he can still cut you down to size!
    Kreese: "I'm pretty sure he's missing more than his spleen."
    Howard: "Well no shit, you think I couldn't see that?"
    Kreese: "Wouldn't be the first. Anyways, and I thought Geek senior and Geek junior with their wienie-ass hate sabers were bad enough but Mr. Crownless King over her takes whatever energy they had into a whole new level. He's faced Humongous Mechas piloted by a sports team, a grandma with a Wave-Motion Gun, and other circus freaks even with the same nerd sticks he has! He's gotta recharge them through masturbating though. How does he still have a dick after all that, anyways? There's no way it could be any worse than that."
    Howard: "Let Lust be my witness because what Travis does couldn't even compare..."
    Kreese: "I witnessed enough."
  • Kreese: "And here's Eliza. You know, it's thanks to her parasite that Sekhmet she's capable of attacking with blood and pretty much recovering from any wounds if she gets into a good enough source of one, and here I thought that other blood-hungry bitch was bad enough."
    Howard: "Awesome rack on her, though!"
    Kreese: "Aw, true dat! I remember tryin' to get a good luck at her before her manwhores kicked the shit outta me. I got sent to the House of Health and Diseases with eight broken ribs, massive hemorrhage, and iron deficiency."
    Howard: "Awesome rack on her, though!"
    Kreese: "True dat!"
  • Howard: "This is Howard "Buckshot" Holmes!"
    Kreese: "And Kreese Kreely!"
    Howard: "Saying thanks to all the gods, the readers, and of course the Tropers."
    Kreese: "And we'll see you in hell!"

    Vic Viper 
Vic Viper, Patron Avatar of Shoot 'em Ups (Pilots: Variable, Itself, Anoa Aoba (Hyper Anoa), Leo Stenbuck)
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vic_viper_gradius_v.png
Anoa Aoba 
Leo Stenbuck 

    XCOM 
XCOM, Divine Army of Difficult Starts (Extraterrestrial Combat Unit, The XCOM Project)
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/256_icon_04.jpg
The X-COM logo

Alternative Title(s): Gaming Genres

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