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Video Game / Chocobo's Dungeon

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Chocobo's Dungeon is a series of three roguelike games spun off from the ankle-sprainingly popular Final Fantasy series as part of Chunsoft's Mystery Dungeon (Fushigi no Dungeon) franchise. The main character is a Chocobo with only a player-given name, if any. Chocobo adventures through randomly generated dungeons, collecting treasure and saving the world. Just like the mainline games, these take place in seperate continuities: Chocobo meets the same people (including Final Fantasy staples Cid and Mog and a white mage named Shir[o]ma) while living out different stories.

Games in the series:

Other Chocobo games:

  • Chocobo Racing, a Mascot Racer. (PlayStation, 1999)
  • Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, a minigame collection. (Chocobo to Mahou no Ehonnote  in Japan; Nintendo DS, 2007)
  • Chocobo to Mahou no Ehon: Majo to Shoujo to Gonin no Yuusha,note  sequel to Chocobo Tales. (released in Japan only, Nintendo DS, 2008)


This series provides examples of:

  • Adaptational Wimp: The Tonberry is a dangerous enemy in most Final Fantasy games due to being capable of inflicting a One-Hit KO. In Chocobo's Dungeon 2, they do not have that ability and are actually one of the easier enemies to deal with in the game.
  • Amazing Technicolor Battlefield: During the fight with the Destroyer in physical form. It's a standard of final boss battles in Final Fantasy.
  • Badass Adorable: The titular Chocobo, able to single handedly- er, taloned-ly defeat entire swarms of monsters including the Destroyer in Fables. Somehow, seeing said Chocobo wear the classic Final Fantasy job outfits in Fables makes him even more adorable. Or badass, in the case of the Dark Knight.
  • Breakable Weapons: At least in the second game.
  • Clipped-Wing Angel: After taking a certain amount of damage, the final boss of Chocobo's Dungeon 2, Glass Goth X, will transform into Glass Goth Z, who hits harder, but is a lot slower. It takes 1.5 turns just for him to use his regular attack, and his Mouth Beam, while visually impressive, locks him into charging until he is positioned in a straight line towards you to fire it. Thus, he is easily outmaneuvered, especially with Haste.
  • The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Inverted in Chocobo's Dungeon 2:
    • When you are invisible, no enemies except for bosses can detect you; however, if they become invisible, you can still target them with magic.
    • Some magic spells (such as Ultima) can hit outside the player's vision range, though there has to be one enemy within targeting range to use them.
    • Whenever the player character is morphed into a monster, either by Morph Tonics or a certain trap, they can use both a standard technique and one of the monster's special techniques. Said special techniques often take 2 or more turns when a monster uses them, but only one turn for the player character.
  • Continuing is Painful:
    • Especially in Chocobo's Dungeon 2, where you lose everything you own.
    • In Fables, it's all played straight, subverted and averted. Like before, you lose all items on hand (wing?), but you don't lose anything equipped on you. In special rule dungeons, since you're required to deposit everything on-hand before entering, death only makes you drop what you picked up. This especially softens the blow in some of the late-game bonus dungeons. Taken to its logical conclusion in the new Hard difficulty Every Buddy, where your equipped items are also lost on defeat.
  • Cursed Item: The series features cursed equipment. You won't know if equipment is cursed unless you use an identification item on it or you equip it. If you equip it, you can't remove it unless you have a dispel tonic, or you wear the gear out.
  • Enemy Scan: The Libra spell.
  • Fake Trap: They don't always go off, and some are beneficial.
  • Fire, Ice, Lightning: The Black Mage job starts with the Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder spells, and later on picks up Firaga, Blizzaga, and Thundaga.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: In Chocobo's Dungeon 2, a random Kuz you encounter at the beginning of the game eventually "grows up" to be the game's Big Bad.
  • Guest-Star Party Member: Many in Chocobo's Dungeon 2, including Shirma and Cid.
  • Guide Dang It!:
    • In the second game, getting all the feathers in the most efficient manner requires breaking equipment at different levels. Determining which levels will get you the right feathers is best done by finding a guide. Additionally, the Spin-Kick Claws and Ribbon Saddle can only be obtained through crafting in a certain way (the former is especially bad because it's not intuitive at all).
    • Over a quarter of the "romantic phrases" in Fables must be discovered outside the game. The manual claims they're on the official website, which appears to be only partially finished.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Dungeon Hero X says that you're not allowed to use Teleport when fighting him, even though he himself uses Teleport in battle. Justified because he wrote that rule himself.
  • Infinity +1 Sword: The best Claws and Saddle in the second game are the Titan set. They can reach +99 with a base power of 40, and are extremely durable. They are also only available in the post-story game, and have to be crafted by getting the essence of a difficult boss, which means acquiring them may end up being more trouble than they're worth.
  • Interface Screw:
    • The "Confuse" status makes you move/attack in random directions. Part of the "Blind" effect is disabling the mini-map.
    • In Fables, the "Halt" status occasionally conflicts with the controls to pivot in place without using up turns, resulting in cheap hits if you're surrounded by enemies.
  • Item Crafting: Fusing weapons, which gets game-breaking in Final Fantasy Fables. For example, you could craft together a pair of talons that inflict sleep, blind and poison, boost your attack, and hit three squares, and a saddle that defends against the same ailments, several elements, and gives Chocobo permanent stealth. All with a ridiculous number of pluses and an innate rustproof effect that doesn't take up an effect slot, of course.
  • Kiss of Distraction: Enemies can cause a "confusion" status effect by kissing you.
  • Level Drain: Level down seeds, traps, and vampire monster attacks in the second game.
  • Living Statue: Titan in Chocobo's Dungeon 2.
  • Nigh-Invulnerable: The shopkeepers, should you attack them, take only 1 damage from everything unless you abuse some equipment quirks.
  • No Continuity: Every single Chocobo gamenote  takes place in their own completely different worlds and settings. With the only thing common between the games being Chocobo, Cid, Mog, and Shirma but with different backstories every game.
  • No Name Given: The main chocobo doesn't get a name, but others of his species do.
  • Shoplift and Die: In Chocobo's Dungeon 2, The Grim Reaper will attack if you steal from a shop.
    • In Final Fantasy Fables, trying to steal a super-rare item from the Moogle Shop gets you attacked by Dungeon Hero X. Notable for the fact that either winning this battle or using clever tactics (casting Sleep on him, using the White Mage Teleport ability, or simply outmaneuvering him) is the only way to get Thief's Memories.
  • Stalked by the Bell: Bad things happen if you stay on a dungeon floor for too long...
  • Summon Magic: In Fables, defeating certain boss-level creatures causes them to drop a Magicite, which allows a one-time summoning for a special effect.
  • Tempting Fate: The Destroyer, after a clash with Croma, basically tells her that she'll need much more than Firaga and Thundaga to defeat him... as a Meteor spell starts screaming down in the background. It still doesn't hurt him, though.
  • Too Awesome to Use: In the second game, as your weapons and armor are breakable, the better ones can quickly become this if you don't have any Repair Cards.
  • Unidentified Items:
    • Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon has talons and saddles (read: weapons and armor) that may harbor curses or stat bonuses, while collars, food, and flasks have generic descriptors until identified. Appraisal Glasses and Scholar's Glasses are consumable items for identifying one or all unknown items Chocobo is carrying, respectively. The Scholar job has the Appraise ability to analyze all items as well. Finally, wearing the Appraiser's Collar lets Chocobo automatically identify items as he picks them up.
    • Chocobo's Dungeon 2 also had unidentified items. An Identify Card let you verify one item, a Verify Card identified all of them, and an Amnesia Card made you forget all of them.
  • Universal Poison: To the point where, in Fables, Chocobo always takes 1 point of damage per turn and (almost) all enemies always take 10. Doesn't matter what level Chocobo is or what kind of enemy or trap inflicted it.
  • Wizard Needs Food Badly: A food meter requires you to keep Chocobo fed with Gysahl Greens. Different jobs get hungrier at different rates, and some equipment effects can further alter this. Fables has a dungeon with a special rule of "permanently at 0% food", so it's like battling a persistent Poison effect.

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