Video Game / The Book of Unwritten Tales 2

"Do you remember the story of the Nothing? A great blackness that slowly engulfed a fairy kingdom? This time it is worse. It is... pink.."

— The Elf Queen

The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 is a comedy point-and-click adventure video game created by the German developer King Art Games and released on 20 February 2015.

The story is a sequel and takes place a year after the events of The Book of Unwritten Tales. The four heroes of the original game have each returned to their normal lives: Princess Ivodora is passing her days in the Elf Burrow trying to fend off the suitors arranged by her mother but feeling increasingly ill, Wilbur has become the only teacher in Seastone's recently reappeared magic school and is worried about the upcoming election, and Nate and Critter are back to being treasure hunters, with all the mishaps corresponding to the trade. The peaceful course of things comes to a halt when each of the heroes are confronted with strange events which threaten the stability of the realm and the safety of everyone in it.

Unwilling to let things stay as they are, they each begin to search for the threads of the plot that will eventually bring them all back together.

---

This game provides examples of:

• Always Night: In the Dark Woods it is always night, and a full moon can be seen high up in the sky. The mayor even notes that it isn't a coincidence that Wilbur arrived in the Dark Woods at night - there is never any other time there.
• Arranged Marriage: Ivodora is engaged to a river elf by the name of Lalios. She is not happy at all about that, as she is secretly in love with Nate.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Growing up as a poor kid, Nate wished to reach the floating pirate island, as he believed he could make something of himself there. He reaches it, only to find that it was captured by the Red Pirate, who has used the head of Medusa to turn all the inhabitants to stone. He becomes a prisoner and is put in the stocks.
• The Big Damn Kiss: A much-awaited one between Ivo and Nate, when the misunderstanding they had is finally cleared up.
• Bittersweet Ending: The world returns to normal but Nate has been transformed to stone, the Archmage is dead, the refugees still need to be taken care of, Wilbur found out he could only do magic thanks to his wand and Munkus not only survived his fall but has discovered a number of apparent clones of himself at the bottom of the chasm. All this hint at a Sequel Hook.
• Brainless Beauty: Kiki is oblivious to the fact that the Count is not a rich old fool, but a vampire luring in his future prey.
• Brutal Honesty: Headmaster Bloch does not pull his punches when he expresses doubt about Wilbur's qualifications and professional competencies. Blout, one head of the two-headed ogre, is too childish to grasp things like subtlety, tact and diplomacy, and openly calls Ivodora fat when he sees her.
• Bumbling Dad: Ivo's father has shades of this. He stays so much in one spot that mushrooms and vines begin to grow on him and lets his wife, queen Feodora, rule the realm. He is wise and kind though, and Ivo loves him. Despite this, he immediately notices Ivo's pregnancy, while his wife is too busy with her duties to care. Besides, the Queen thinks Ivo's simply fat.
• Can't Argue with Elves: They are slender, beautiful, in tune with nature, immune to cold and have centuries to achieve excellence in whatever subject they choose.
• Classical Movie Vampire: Count Vlad Orlov. He lures young women to his castle for erm, dinner, covers his mirrors and drinks only red wine.
• Chainmail Bikini: Found in a shop in the Dark Woods. Lampshaded by Wilbur, who points out how absurd and dangerous it is.
• Corrupt Bureaucrat: Averted. Headmaster Bloch seems to fit this trope in the beginning, but Wilbur later realizes that he is a strict, but honest man who follows the rules and will give praise when it's due. He seems very unhappy with the direction things have taken under van Buren, and does not rat out Wilbur when he finds him into his office.
  • Played straight with Mrs. van Buren.
• Covers Always Lie: The game cover shows Wilbur fending off an evil-looking hand emerging from the magic lamp Critter is holding. In the game, the magic lamp is a minor item that contains a bumbling, benevolent genie.
• Drugs Are Good: After breaking into van Buren's office, Ivodora has the option of writing a law allowing the smoking of herbs for medical and recreational purposes.
• Elfeminate: River elf Lalios sends Ivo a portrait of himself and his sister. She sarcastically asks which one is the sister.
• Elves vs Gnomes: Although they do not have a traditional enmity, Ivodora is very condescending in her comments about gnomes and gnome technology in particular.
• Exposed to the Elements: Ivodora mentions that elves do not feel heat or cold as others do, and so she can afford to wear her summer dress in snow-covered Seastone.
• Fetch Quest: Averted and lampshaded. When Ivodora asks Arbor for his fishing rod, he... just gives it to her. She stares at him dumbfounded and explains that she expected to have to put one together or be sent to retrieve a variety of magical items in exchange. Arbor looks at her like she's an idiot and says that it's just a rod. "Not everything has to be complicated."
• The Fettered: Feodora the elven queen is a dutiful monarch who puts her kingdom above her personal wishes and wants Ivodora to do the same. When asked about whether she wanted to marry Ivodora's father, Feodora recounts how she fell for him at first sight, but is adamant that she would have married him anyway regardless of what she felt about him. Judging by what we see of her in the game, she is telling the truth.
• Fiery Red Head: Averted with Feodora the elven queen and her daughter Ivodora. Feodora is the very picture of royal dignity and composure while her daughter, although more adventurous and rebellious, is also calm and composed most of the time.
• Flat-Earth Atheist: Ethel is a talking alchemist rat who lives in a world populated by ogres, wizards, elves, zombies and knows for a fact that magic exists, and yet she does not believe in ghosts and dismisses Wilbur when he tells her a ghost is keeping Remi prisoner.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Chantal van Buren, a rich young girl who liked fairy tales turned into a terror after getting her hands on Wilbur's magic wand.
• Gold Digger: Kiki is a blatant one, being interested in Count Vlad Orlov just for his money.
• Genie in a Bottle: Nate and Critter steal a magic lamp from the Red Pirate, but it turns out to contain Benny, a clumsy, insecure genie who is not very good at magic. Benny claims that his brothers, powerful genies serving the most important and wealthy people in the universe, have sent him to this planet to practice, so if he screws up, nobody will notice.
• Gilded Cage: Elf Burrow is this for Ivodora. She lives in luxury, the weather is always sunny and she is respected... but on the other side, she cannot choose when or whom to marry, cannot leave at will and longs for a more exciting life.
• Ghost Town: The village in the Dark Woods has only one remaining inhabitant. The rest have either fled or been consumed by the curse of the woods.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Chantal van Buren.
• Haunted Castle: The castle in the Dark Woods is inhabited by a vampire, but it is actually Wilbur that will make it (briefly) haunted.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Nate gets turned to stone by the Medusa head wielded by van Buren because he protected Ivo, who was pregnant with his child. The Archmage uses his last remaining strength to crush the head and scare van Buren away.
• Hidden Elf Village: The Elf Burrow, where it never rains and where time passes by very slowly.
• Hideous Hangover Cure: A mild example that involves a combination of coconut milk, peppermint, and salt, which must be shaken in a certain way.
• The High Queen: Ivodora's mother. She is the one ruling the kingdom, and works very diligently for that purpose. Even Ivodora, who dislikes her somewhat, grudgingly admits that her mother works very hard at her job.
• Intrepid Reporter: It is implied that Mister Fox used to be one, but he has essentially sold himself to van Buren and only writes what he is told. He hates it and is deeply miserable and disappointed with himself, but continues down the same path and drowns his woes in alcohol.
• Lady of Adventure: Ivodora. Often escaped to the human world to explore, and after returning from her adventure with Wilbur, Nate and Critter, she finds her life back home static and boring and longs to go out adventuring again.
• Lovable Rogue: Nate has his share of good qualities, in spite of being a thief and a pirate.
• Love at First Sight: Ivodora's mother confesses that she fell in love with her husband the moment she saw him.
• Man-Eating Plant: There is one in the Seastone school of magic, although it is not large enough to eat a full-grown human. It can however, eat imps.
• Meaningful Name: Ivodora means gift of the yew tree.
• The Metric System Is Here to Stay: The mage school's headmaster has developed a "more efficient" means of measuring time based on the metric system. Each day has 100 hours, split into 100 minutes, split into 100 seconds. According to him, it's less confusing. To be fair, it would've been less confusing... if people weren't too used to the current way of keeping time. As it is, telling his subordinate that he expects a task done by 72:00 o'clock means the subordinate first has to convert that to normal time.
• Modest Royalty: Ivodora never flaunts her status as an elven princess and acts very down to earth. Thanks to this and her kind attitude, she makes friends easily.
• Moving the Goalposts: Headmaster Bloch is determined to prove that Wilbur is a failure, so he keeps assigning him nigh-impossible tasks and little time to do them in. If he happens to complete those, then he piles on even more tasks.
• Ms. Fanservice: Kiki is a gorgeous, buxom blonde dressed in a skimpy outfit. Ivo could also count.
• My Beloved Smother: Ivo's mother really loves her daughter and can often be overprotective and restrictive, locking her in her room and casting a sleep spell on her in spite of the fact that Ivodora is an adult even by elven standards.
• My Secret Pregnancy: Ivodora finds herself pregnant even though she has never done anything that could result in it, and hides this from her mother. It turns out that she was right to do so, as when Feodora does find out, she places Ivo in a deep sleep that stops time for her.
• Mystical Pregnancy: After feeling ill and gaining weight for some time, Ivodora is shocked to discover that she is pregnant, although she has done nothing that would lead to such a result (she hasn't even heard of this thing called "sex" and is annoyed that no one wants to tell her what it is and how she can get it). It turns out that Nate wished they would have a child together and the artefact made it happen.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Munkus returns much more threatening in this game manipulating Wilbur to build a golem to attack the archmage and also get a magic book for him while he himself got a ring to make himself immune to the Van Buren's magic, defeating them and retaking his position as Big Bad. If it weren't for Alistair warning Wilbur, which he needed to sacrifice his life becoming a ghost to do, Munkus would have won. A far cry from himself in the first game who was beaten by a wet floor trap.
• Pregnant Badass: Ivodora's pregnancy speeds along considerably once she is the human world, and she is heavily pregnant by the end of the game. That doesn't stop her from fending off a troll with the help of a hippogriff and walking a tightrope across an abyss.
• Our Gnomes Are Weirder: Unlike the rest of his kind (inventors, tinkerers, lovers of technology), Wilbur wishes to be a mage. It's considered a very unusual choice, as gnomes are not naturally inclined towards magic.
• Red Herring: One of the potion ingredients is a red herring. When Ivodora asks the book if it really means it, the book points out that a red herring is one of the most useful fish in the world.
• Scenery Porn: Some of the backgrounds in the game are gorgeous, especially the view of the Dark Woods.
• Screw You, Elves!: Not everybody likes elves, and Ivodora is treated with contempt by some of the characters.
• Shout-Out: The game is full of them. Some examples:
  • The Elf Burrow has several items from other games in the library with the Dovahkiin helmet, the Buster Sword and a companion cube among them. Three dragon eggs are also there...
    • Ivodora will also mention a ruler in the North, who wanted to build himself a throne out of the swords of all his conquered enemies. He died after conquering a single enemy and sitting on the throne.
  • When the reading the files of former mage students, you get plenty of these, such as Ioda Greengnome's entry: "Magic strong in this one is, but weak his grammar be." Or Mario Mushroom's: "Mario jumps on other people's heads, lights them on fire and then calls the whole thing 'non-violent'."
  • The caretaker troll also seems to suspect Wilbur of dropping a penny in the door to get it stuck. This is actually the way to get your hands on his keyring.
  • In his bedroom, Wilbur also has a few boxes: one is labeled as "property of the Half-Blood Prince" and the other as "Schrodinger". Wilbur idly wonders if the latter holds a dead cat... or not.
  • When you travel into the past and talk to the time travel book's past version, it reacts with "Great Scott! IT WORKED!"
  • The medical book at the Elf Burrow suggests several possible causes for an elf to feel ill, finishing with "and, of course, it could always be Lupus." When Ivo asks if it could possibly be Lupus, the book asks if she's been bitten by a werewolf lately. When she denies it, it concludes that it couldn't be Lupus then, could it?
  • The botany book at the Elf Burrow library lists a number of magical plants, including Killer Tomatoes, Mandrakes, Steel Magnolias, and guard plants called Vigilia Audriensis (which can develop an unhealthy taste for blood and which sing in baritone).
  • When Wilbur reads his wanted poster, which describes him as Armed and Dangerous, he declares that he doesn't even own a shark gun.
• Time Travel: In an optional sidequest, Wilbur can travel back in time to save a few books from a leaky roof. Each time he travels, the graphics and music of the game become more and more retro, until it is nothing but a text adventure.
• Uptown Girl: Ivodora, an elven princess, is this for Nate, a treasure hunter coming from a very humble background.
• Wacky Cravings: When Ivo examines the window shop of a bakery in Seastone, she will list a number of odd food combinations she would like to eat.
• War Refugees: As a result of the war between the Alliance and the forces of Mortroga, many refugees have come to Seastone in search of shelter.