Basic Trope: The player controls one member of the Player Party while the rest are controlled by AI.
- Straight: The player controls Alice, while Bob and Claire are controlled by the CPU.
- Exaggerated: There are entire sections where Alice is controlled by the AI too, essentially making them unscripted cutscenes.
- Downplayed: The player has the option of letting the AI control Bob and Claire or commanding them manually.
- Justified:
- The player is a "guardian spirit" guiding Alice and only Alice. The other party members are doing their own thing.
- Alice is the only human member of the team. The other party members are Ridiculously Human Robots.
- Alice is the highest ranked member of the squad.
- Alice is the team-coach who decides the general playbook for the match, but leaves the minutiae to the team itself.
- Inverted: Bob and Claire are controlled by the player, but Alice is controlled by the CPU.
- Subverted: Initially the CPU controls Bob and Claire, but Alice angrily tells them to listen to her and they follow the player's commands from then on.
- Double Subverted: The game has a "loyalty" mechanic. If Bob and Claire get angry with Alice then they'll go back to being AI controlled.
- Parodied: Alice expects her guardian spirit to command Bob and Claire too when they join her party. They find the idea odd (and a little creepy).
- Zig Zagged: Some members of the party are AI controlled, others are not.
- Averted:
- All characters are controlled by the player.
- Alice is the only character in the game.
- Enforced:
- The game is a tech demo to show off a new AI system.
- The combat is real time, but the player has a large party. AI control for most of the members is the only option.
- Lampshaded: "Why would we just wait around for orders? We know how to do what we do better than you do."
- Invoked: Alice tells Bob and Claire to do their own thing, since they trained together and probably know their own abilities better than she does.
- Exploited: One boss declares he knows how Bob and Claire's AI works and exploits it.
- Defied: Bob and Claire insist on being told what to do.
- Discussed: "So...what do you want us to do, Alice?" "Just fight. You know how, right?"
- Conversed: "Don't you need to tell the rest of the party what to do?" "Nope, they're controlled by the AI." "Oh my, games have come a long way since my day..."
- Implied: Not applicable. (This trope can only be shown.)
- Played For Laughs: While the player is controlling Alice, Bob and Claire do silly stunts in the background.
- Played For Drama: You are the leader, and your teammates have their own personalities. While you can give them general tactical instructions (support the team with buffs and debuffs, heal the team, inflict maximum damage...), they will act on their own free will. You can access a quest line to give yourself manual control over your party... By brainwashing your teammates, a fact you are made aware of when that quest line becomes available to you. Sure, manual control over your teammates would greatly improve your combat efficiency... The further you go down that quest line, the more control you have over your teammates... And the more you get to see them turn into Empty Shell, that can only obey your orders and never think for themselves. People with a life, a personality, a future, motivations, all that gradually erased... Or you could just become your teammates' friend, help them with their own problems, learn about their personality, and deal with their issues and personalities the same way you learn their go to tactics and which party members have the best synergy and how you can use tailor your own tactics to complement theirs, and deal with their suboptimal tactical choices. And it is your decision all the way, the game never pulls any But Thou Must! shenanigans on you. Make your choice, and reap what you sow, good or ill.
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