Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon is the third game in Broken Sword series. While George witnesses the murder of one of his clients, Nicole finds herself in a similar situation. They soon realize that both murders are connected.
These tropes can explain everything:
- Abandoned Area: L'Heiroglyphe.
- Adventurer Outfit: George and Nico wear safari outfits during their journey in Congo and Egypt.
- Ancient Order of Protectors: The St. Stefan Chapter of the Knights Templar.
- Angry Guard Dog: The dogs in Susarro's castle and in St. Stephan Chapter headquarters.
- Apocalypse Cult: The Cult of the Dragon.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: George decides to put a famous legend to the test. After been recently knighted by a long-forgotten Knights Templar sect, accidentally finding King Arthur's tomb and retrieving Excalibur (as it often happens, it's confused with the fabled 'sword in the stone') AND slaying a dragon, George throws the sword into a nearby lake. Nothing happens. Nico realizes that he believed a hand would come up out of the water and says, "Get real, George." with only the slightest hint of irony. Then the sword suddenly sinks, as if it was pulled under the water...
- Armies Are Evil: Susarro's army.
- Aside Glance: Before the credits roll George asks Nico what happened to Petra, the assassin who tried to kill them both many times throughout the game which prompts her to say that she just, "disappeared" and her eyes quickly glace towards the camera/player. Potentially displaying Genre Savvy-ness, given how many other "disappeared" characters turn up in later games.
- As the Good Book Says...: George has to remember the verse from the book of Revelation in order to open the secret door to Preceptor's chamber.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The dragon in Glastonbury.
- Awakening the Sleeping Giant: The Sleeping Dragon.
- Battle in the Rain: The final challenge has Nico and Petra having a showdown while George is fighting against the dragon in the middle of stormy weather.
- Berserk Button: Dudley Cholmondely gets angry at people who don't pronounce his name correctly.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: Susarro and Petra, but the latter one actually works for the Grand Master.
- Big "NO!": The Grand Master realizes that he cannot control the Dragon Power.
- Big Red Button: Cholmondely's machine has one but it causes to attract the enemy's attention. Later in the game, George lampshades about it after he pressed the button under Susarro's desk.
- Block Puzzle: Almost every other room, which was slightly controversial with casual adventure gamers.
- Bookcase Passage: There's a hidden emergency exit behind the bookshelf in Susarro's office and later a hidden passage in the catacomb's wine cellar.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: George hears his own catchphrase from Tristram to avoid getting beaten by Eamon.
- Boss Remix: The Grand Master has one after his transformation into a dragon.
- Bottomless Bladder: When Nico uses her bathroom her phone receives some of the messages. Later in the game, George can use the public toilet (or "pissoir", as the caretaker calls it) in Montfaucon square.
- Bowdlerise: Inverted in the Japanese version. The cutscene where Harry's plane is close to the roofs in flooded Glastonbury is more violent.
- Broken Record: This is what George describes to the Anubis hologram. He and Nico think it's just a recording.
- Call-Back: The red clown's nose George carried around in the original game can be seen in Nico's apartment.
- Cane Fu: Susarro uses his cane as a shield to block George's punch.
- Car Fu: Petra attempts to kill Nico this way to stop Nico from finding out the contents inside Vernon's DVD disc.
- Cat Fight: Nico and Petra.
- Chekhov's Gun: The scarf in Dragon Temple. This is the reason why the Cult of the Dragon decided to destroy the Templars of St. Stefan Chapter and steal the Key of Solomon in Paris.
- Chess with Death: The Anubis challenges George and Nico by solving a puzzle that involves Horus for both of their own lives and gain access to the Armillary.
- Closet Geek: George reveals that he has a collection of Tintin merchandise.
- Concept Art Gallery: As rewards after the ending credits.
- Continuity Nod: The Sleeping Dragon makes some references in the first game including the group of enemies, history of The Knights Templar and George wants to tell Nico how he escaped in Bull's Head Hill in Syria again.
- Convenient Misfire: Petra's magnum sometimes jams while she's trying to kill George and Nico.
- Cooldown Hug: Nico delivers one to George after they witnessed Bruno's death.
- Copy Protection: The US PC version of The Sleeping Dragon contains the dreaded Starforce copy protection.
- Coup de Grâce Cutscene: Near the end, the cutscene shows George stabs the dragon's lower jaw and slashes its neck which turns the dragon into shattered crystals.
- Covers Always Lie: The Japanese PS2 version cover features George and Nico swinging in the rope while Nico's wearing a short skirt and holding a gun. They don't do anything like that in the actual game, though.
- The Cracker: Inverted with Vernon Blier who just hired for the need of money.
- Cult: The Cult of the Dragon which was a former group of Neo-Templars.
- Darker and Edgier: This game compared to the previous installments.
- Dead Guy on Display: George and Nico discover a mutilated corpse near in the elevator and later an explorer who got impaled with spikes in Congo.
- Department of Redundancy Department: When George goes to Glastonbury, after leaving Africa, this exchange happens with Alyssa's father:Man: Are you aware of the annual Glastonbury Popular Music Festival?George: "The Glastonbury Popular Music Festival"? Hmm. That's one of the most popular music festivals on the popular music festival calendar.
- Dismantled MacGuffin: The three alphabet stones which are used in opening the door to the Armillary.
- Dressing as the Enemy: George and Nico go undercover as Susarro's henchmen to get inside the castle and save Bruno.
- Elaborate Underground Base: The St. Stefan Chapter of Knights Templar hides in sewers in Montfaucon Square.
- Elevator Escape: George and Nico have to reach the elevator before Petra captures them.
- Enemy Chatter: Two soldiers in Susarro's castle are talking about Petra's interrogation methods.
- Escape Sequence: Happens a few times in the game especially the parts where George and Nico have to flee from Petra.
- Everybody's Dead, Dave: Averted. George enters a room where several Templar members are killed by Susarro's army.
- Exact Eavesdropping:
- George sees Susarro and two Congolonese soldiers talking through the cave's small hole.
- George and Nico overheard Susarro's conversation about the search of Key of Solomon to Petra, Bruno and Flap.
- Foreshadowing: At one point in the game, Zazie tells George that she saw a vision of Bruno being killed on fire and a dragon eye. Upon entering the warehouse, George only sees a mysterious man wearing a blue hood. It turns out that man is the Grand Master, who will transform into a dragon.
- Frying Pan of Doom: Nico uses one against Petra in Vernon's apartment. It doesn't work, though.
- Funny Background Event: While George and Bruno are talking about the Dragon Energy, Colonel Butley passes by. Moments later, the colonel goes back to Cosmic Faerie with his shotgun.
- Gosh Dang It to Heck!:
- Petra says "damn" whenever she fails in killing George and Nico.
- Towards the end of the game, George says "Oh, shoot!" after he witnessed the Grand Master using the Dragon Power.
- Gory Discretion Shot: George and Nico discover a dead body near the elevator in an underground theater with his chest been burned away.
- The Guards Must Be Crazy: The soldiers in Susarro's castle aren't aware that Nico is disguised as Petra. Justified that most of them never met Petra personally..
- Heroic Sacrifice: Bruno, who cheats in Horus puzzle in order to let George and Nico escape from the temple.
- Hollywood Fire: George rescues Bruno from the burning warehouse.
- I Was Quite a Looker: One of Vernon's neighbors said to Nico that she worked as a dancer at the Moulin Rouge before.
- Kiss of Distraction: Nico does this to Boris after George asks her to distract the guard for the fourth time. Judging from George's reaction, he's really hurt.
- Unfortunately, that scene becomes canon when Nico talks about it to George in the fourth game.
- Kleptomaniac Hero Found Underwear: George receives Bruno's shorts (or "pants" as what Tristram says) in Glastonbury.
- Light and Mirrors Puzzle: The game involves crystals under the temple in Congo.
- Meanwhile Scene: The game cuts to the villains after George, Nico and Bruno leave the abandoned theatre.
- "Metaphor" Is My Middle Name: George calls himself "The Cat" after he found the open window in the castle.
- Mineral MacGuffin: The Key of Solomon. Not only it is used to activate the Dragon Power in Armillary, it is also a key to release Excalibur as well.
- Nostalgia Level: The game features Flobbage (the old man from The Shadow of the Templars) working in Montfaucon Square. There's also a sewer key available to that area but it is only used temporarily.
- Paper Key-Retrieval Trick: You do this while playing as Nico on the second visit to the murdered hacker's apartment, using her pencil and a handy nearby newspaper (the first time you climbed onto the balcony and opened the latch on a window with her press ID card).
- The Password Is Always "Swordfish": The password for Vernon's safe is Beatrice's birthday.
- Place of Power: Glastonbury.
- Power Incontinence: Susarro once harnessed the Dragon Power, but this causes him to become weak and ill.
- Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Nico makes one before her Cat Fight with Petra in Glastonbury.
- The Precarious Ledge:
- Nico climbs to the scaffolding to get across to the theatre.
- George has to find another way to get inside the castle in Prague.
- Press X to Not Die: Occasionally.
- Previously on…: The Extras menu includes plot summaries of previous two games on PC and PSX for the players who missed out on them during their initial release.
- Public Domain Soundtrack: "Tristan's Lament".
- Ransacked Room: Nico's apartment is ransacked by Susarro's agents in search for Bruno and the Key of Solomon while George and Nico are in Congo. Unfortunately, Andre is unable to stop them.
- Redemption Equals Death: Lampshaded by Bruno Ostvald before his execution.
- Scaled Up: The Grand Master becomes a dragon, as a consequence of controlling the Dragon Power.
- Scooby-Dooby Doors: The two tunnels in Glastonbury. George wonders how he managed to get another way easily.
- Separated by a Common Language: "Pants" means underwear in UK English. This causes a nasty surprise for George.
- Show Within a Show: Eamon O' Mara's "Up Your Alley With Eamon".
- Skeleton Keycard: Nico managed to open the window in Vernon's room using her press card.
- Spikes of Doom: The Dragon Temple in Congo has them. George temporarily blocks its cogs to stop the mechanism.
- Static Stun Gun: One of the members of St. Stefan Knights Templar uses a taser to knock out George and steal the Key of Solomon.
- Stealth-Based Mission: a few times, despite the game having no camera controls whatsoever.
- Stealth Sequel: This game was revealed to be a sequel from the first game The Shadow of the Templars, with some characters showing up from the latter.
- Stopped Clock: George finds a broken grandfather clock in St. Stefan Chapter headquarters which indicates the time when Susarro's henchmen attacked the Templars.
- Storming the Castle: George and Nico travel to Susarro's castle in Prague to save Bruno.
- Third Is 3D: Applies: the first two games were released in the mid- to late-1990s. This one was released in the early 2003, for then next generation of video games.
- Toilet Humor: The game has the conversation between George and the pissoir caretaker in Montfaucon.
- Trailers Always Lie: In the E3 trailer
, you won't actually see George running around while wearing safari outfit in Paris, or Nico and Petra having a fight inside Vernon's apartment in actual gameplay. - Trash Landing: At Prague, George falls out in an Air-Vent Passageway and into a pile of socks.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: Once again, both Nico and George are played separately at first:
- George is summoned to the middle of an African jungle to provide legal counsel to one Dr. Cholmondely, and crosses paths with a man named Susarro and another conspiracy. Later, he travels to Glastonbury, in the British Islands, in search of Bruno Ostvaldt, following a clue he found in Africa.
- Meanwhile, Nico is after another big scoop, and sets a interview with a geek guy who supposedly translated a dangerous manuscript. She ends up crossing paths with a female assassin that seems to have a personal vendetta against her.
- At last, their paths converge at an abandoned theatre on Île de la Vache, and the larger picture appears: a new conspiracy is on the rise, and involves the contents of the manuscript the geek decrypted.
- Unexpected Gameplay Change: The game has a couple of action sequences, including stealth.
- Villainous Crush: Inverted when George is interested with Petra and asks Nico whether she would go blonde. Nico is very annoyed about it.
- Wasn't That Fun?: After the characters escape from the guards in Egypt, Nico says it was fun but George disagrees after what she did.
- Wham Line: "She was talking to me, Susarro!"
- With Friends Like These...: George lampshades about it when he and Nico see Susarro and the Grand Master arguing.
- Working the Same Case: George investigates the murder of a scientist in Congo, while Nico is trying to find the killer who shot the computer hacker in Paris. George lampshades about it after he saves Nico in the theater.
