Basic Trope: What a character has equipped isn't visible.
- Straight: No matter what Hiro and his friends have equipped, their appearances never change — Hiro is always wearing the simple clothes he started with, Marcy is always wearing the same Cute Witch getup, Mana always wears her flowing white robes, and so on.
- Exaggerated: Not only are Hiro and his friends always shown wearing the same things, but this extends to combat — Hiro's always shown swinging a sword, Marcy wielding a whip, and Mana brandishing a staff, even if the menu claims they have completely different weapons equipped.
- Downplayed: No matter what Hiro and his friends have equipped, they will always have the same clothes on, although their weapons and accessories will change.
- Justified:
- Rather than actual individual pieces of equipment, the party is wearing suits that can modify themselves based on plug-ins.
- The equipment in question is always objects too small to be noticed on the sprite.
- Everybody explicitly wears armor underneath their other clothes which would plausibly hide it or would look identical to their existing outfit. Hiro wears breastplates beneath his tabard, Mana and Marcy use different grades of cloth.
- Inverted: The party members change their own bodies without ever changing their equipment.
- Subverted: Due to their class type, everyone can only equip clothes and weapons that resemble their basic model. Possible use of a Palette Swap to differentiate between different tiers of "shirt".
- Double Subverted: Except for some unique armor which actually does change the in-game sprites.
- Parodied: Hiro starts carrying around a really large gun, but everyone keeps acting like it's the same wooden sword he had at the beginning of the game. Marcy doesn't understand it.
- Zig Zagged: While armor generally isn't shown, the party's weapons are visible. In addition, certain characters get extra costumes that change their appearance, but only to reflect that particular piece. Hiro also gets an Important Costume Change to signify his growth into The Hero.
- Averted:
- Every piece of equipment causes a distinct change in the sprite or model of the character wielding or wearing it.
- Or, for an Exaggerated take on it: By stripping the party of their clothes and armor, the player can make them go save the world wearing nothing but their underwear.
- Enforced: Hardware limitations make it difficult for the programmers to design and insert different models for every possible piece of equipment.
- Lampshaded:
- Hiro complains about how incredibly heavy his BFS and Bling of War are. He looks exactly the same as he always has, seemingly unarmed. Marcy looks him over, then gives the player an Aside Glance.
- "I'm wielding a chaingun, but it looks like a wooden sword. Somehow."
- Invoked: Hiro, who believes in not showing his strength to the enemy, uses illusion magic to hide what he's actually using.
- Exploited: Hiro tricks his enemies into running away when he points out he may well be wielding a legendary weapon and they just can't see it.
- Defied: Hiro goes out of his way to make sure he looks different.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: "It'd be nice if the equipment actually changed on the character model. I keep forgetting what I had equipped."
- Implied: It's never directly stated, but it's implied Hiro picks up actual programs that allow him to use different "weapons", and they are all channeled through his equipment.
- Plotted A Good Waste: The game doesn't have any icons for items, and there is a weapon that is supposed to have "beauty so potent it's just as much a weapon as the blade". Due to the trope, you never see it.
- Played For Laughs: Not only can the player not see what Hiro and the others have equipped, neither can anybody else — including the other party members, who can never remember who has what.
Back to Informed Equipment
