There are seven games in the series:
- In The Dreamless Castle
, Sophia awakens from her magic slumber in a tower of an apparently empty castle. She must make her way through the various rooms to the exit, and along the way rediscover who she is. - In Moonfell Wood, the story continues from where the first game ended. Sophia has left the castle where she has been asleep for a hundred years, and must traverse the dark and unfamiliar titular forest in search of the Fairy Queen and the Witch of the Woods, who will help her reach the next stage of her journey.
- In The Goblin Kingdom, Sophia must find a way to reach the eponymous kingdom and seek the help of the Goblin King, who is renowned for his wisdom and kindness. Unfortunately, things have gone quite badly awry in the Goblin Kingdom, and she must put an end to the problems before anyone will be in any condition to help her.
- In The Skyward Castle, Sophia at last makes her way to the Skyward Kingdom, which was established by her long-lost parents after she entered her enchanted sleep. The evil wizard Dreadmyre followed the humans to their new home and has unleashed a series of horrors, from which she must save them.
- In The Sunhook Spire, Sophia has become Queen and is anxiously searching for a way to be reunited with her parents. She travels to the legendary titular spire to seek the counsel of the powerful Enchantress who lives there, but Dreadmyre's evil has cursed the spire and Sophia has her work cut out for her if she is to save her allies.
- In The Redleaf Forest, Sophia's journey brings her to the titular forest, where she is to find the centaur who can help her forge the Blade of Courage to defeat Dreadmyre. However, Dreadmyre has other plans, and it's up to Sophia to face off against Dreadmyre again once and for all.
- The Golden Age is a Prequel set in the Human Kingdom a century before Sophia's birth. You play as Sasha, a human who barely escapes an attack on her village by the Minotaur Kingdom. Alongside the human Prince Cedric, Sasha sets out to find out why the Minotaur Kingdom is attacking and to stop further attacks before all-out war breaks loose.
Additionally, Big Fish Games and Boomzap released a Freemium spinoff game titled Awakening: Kingdoms, in which the player served as the Skyward Kingdom's Royal Steward in Sophia's absence and helped to restore and repair the kingdom following the events of The Skyward Castle. It was not meant to supplant the main games, but to serve as worldbuilding and run concurrent to Sophia's story. After a few months, however, Boomzap announced that Awakening: Kingdoms has been discontinued, and it is no longer available for download or play.
Not to be confused with Fire Emblem: Awakening or Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening.
Tropes found in this game series include:
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- 100% Completion: The collector's editions of the third through seventh games add a series of unlockable achievements encouraging the player to work toward this.
- 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: The characters in The Golden Age are animated in CGI so they can move around, but the effect appears clunky next to the hand-drawn backgrounds.
- Achievement Mockery: The Golden Age has the "Murderer" achievement for trying to use a razor on some sleeping gnolls.
- Adrenaline Makeover: The Sunhook Spire has Sophia change from a full length gown to a more practical skirt over slacks Lady of Adventure Outfit.
- And Your Reward Is Interior Decorating: And exterior too. In Kingdoms, you would complete tasks to earn coins, light crystals, and resources, many of which were used to repair the damaged castle and other buildings throughout the Skyward Kingdom.
- Art Evolution: Sophia is given an older appearance beginning in Sunhook Spire, to emphasize the passage of time since the first game.
- Art Initiates Life: In Golden Age, the gnolls' favored form of magic is using magic charcoal which brings things to life. However, in Cedric's case, it traps him inside a faded drawing.
- Awesome Moment of Crowning: Sophia is declared Queen at the end of Skyward Castle, complete with one of these.
- Badass in Distress:
- There are a few instances of Sophia being captured or otherwise endangered during the course of the series. She is an entirely self-rescuing damsel, with only a little help here and there from characters she encounters.
- In The Golden Age, the same applies to Cedric, Sasha, and Longhorn.
- Barrier Apprentice: In the fifth game, Sophia gradually discovers that the Enchantress once had five apprentices, who had to be turned into the Guardians - djinn stationed throughout the Sunhook Spire to guard the Enchantress and the spire from Dreadmyre's power. They seem to be perfectly okay with it, except for the fact that Dreadmyre's attacks have weakened them as well.
- Big "NO!": Sophia gives one of these early in Redleaf Forest, when Ran the owl is caught by an ogre. She has good reason to think that her dear little friend won't survive the encounter, but luckily, he escapes and returns to her unharmed a few minutes later.
- Bittersweet Ending:
- In Skyward Castle, Sophia defeats Dreadmyre and ascends to the throne, but her parents have been left comatose because their battle with Dreadmyre sapped their spirits.
- In Sunhook Spire, she manages to save the Spire from Grimble's attack and the Enchantress is able to save her parents' spirits from their prison, but the moment is fleeting as the King and Queen fade away - though not before promising Sophia that they'll see her again and that they are proud of her. This only strengthens her resolve to truly defeat Grimble and Dreadmyre once and for all.
- Brainwashed:
- Captain Ironhoof, the sky pirate who captures Sophia at the end of the epilogue of Skyward Castle, is actually under the influence of a curse that Grimble cast over him. Once released from the effects, the captain apologizes and thanks Sophia for freeing him when she destroys the amulet casting the curse.
- The Enchantress herself falls under Grimble's curse, as Sophia waking her from the coma leaves her extremely weakened and susceptible to attack. She too gets better with Sophia's help.
- The clockwork dragon that Grimble comes to possess is also under his magic. When freed, he provides Sophia with a ride to the Redleaf Forest in the epilogue.
- Turns out Grimble himself was cursed and brainwashed by Dreadmyre himself. In this case, it's Laser-Guided Karma because Grimble's petty greed made him an easy target for Dreadmyre.
- The dragon who attacks Sasha's group in Golden Age is under mind control. When Sasha's group frees him and heals his injuries, he gives them a ride to the location of the Black Tree as thanks.
- Breath Weapon: Sunhook Spire introduces special dragon altars that give the pocket dragon new powers through her breath, changing her color in the process.
- Broken Pedestal: In Golden Age, Prince Cedric is extremely proud of his uncle, General Claudius for leading the army and rescuing the villagers from the Minotaur attacks. When the truth surfaces that Claudius created the Black Tree, which spurred the minotaurs' attacks, Cedric is outraged.
- Call-Back:
- In the playable epilogue of Redleaf Forest, Sophia's daughter Andreia recreates Sophia's adventures throughout the castle.
- The epilogue of The Golden Age shows Sasha receiving visions of her future and of Sophia's journey. Justified in that she is revealed to be Sophia's grandmother and they do share a slight resemblance.
- The Chosen One: It was prophesied that a human born without magic would be the one to defeat the evil Dreadmyre. When Sophia was a child, the decision was made to put her in a magical sleep until it was time for her to defeat Dreadmyre.
- Continuity Cameo: In the Playable Epilogue bonus chapter of Redleaf Forest, several characters appear in the form of dolls belonging to Princess Andreia. One of these is the captain of the Skyward Castle guard, but he's only recognizable to those players who were able to participate in Kingdoms during its short-lived existence; he was one of the main supporting characters.
- Dark Is Evil: Dreadmyre, obviously.
- Dark Is Not Evil:
- The Witch of the Woods is dressed in dark robes, but she is definitely on the side of good.
- In Goblin Kingdom, the dark-robed and shady-looking peddler is actually the Goblin Kingdom's Court Mage, and he's been subtly aiding Sophia because he's in hiding with the real king.
- A Dog Named "Dog": In Redleaf Forest, the Dwarves have a giant mole which helps them dig tunnels. His name is Moley.
- Dressing as the Enemy: Goblin!Sophia drugs a guard and steals his armor so she can sneak into the Goblin court.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Sophia has to go to hell and back, almost literally, in order to find her people and rescue her long-lost parents. The final scene of Redleaf Forest shows that she ultimately triumphs. Dreadmyre is defeated, her parents are alive and well, and she commissions a giant portrait (seen in her daughter's rooms during the bonus chapter) of herself surrounded by all the friends who helped her along the way.
- Enfant Terrible: The bonus chapter of Redleaf Forest implies that Sophia's daughter Andreia is one of these; she's driven off several nannies, and the player is the most recent person to attempt the role. The player can find a note from her tutor advising her mother that she's an excellent student, but prone to misbehaving. Subverted, however, as it turns out that Andreia is actually a sweet little girl with a lively imagination, who likes to go on pretend adventures and needs someone to play with her.
- Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: Some of the puzzles and scenes, particularly in Dreamless Castle, feature gemstones quite prominently.
- Evil Sorcerer: Dreadmyre. His attack on the human kingdom when Sophia was a child is what prompted the humans to leave the magical realm. Turns out he's an evil spirit who was involved in a Summoning Ritual gone wrong; he then killed and possessed the human kingdom's court wizard, a good man whose name was Patrick Dreadmyre. The ghost of the real Patrick appears to Sophia and reveals the way to defeat Dreadmyre.
- Faerie Court: One of the characters introduced in the first game is the Fairy Queen. She and many members of her court act as guides and protectors for Princess Sophia.
- Face–Heel Turn: General Claudius is the actual power behind the Black Tree. He was using it to incite war against the Minotaur Kingdom and stage a coup against his brother, the King. He was also the one to hire the gnolls to capture and kill Cedric. Cedric is shocked at the revelation and it only makes him more determined to stop Claudius's plan.
- Fairy Companion: Mira is assigned by the Fairy Queen to guide Sophia through Dreamless Castle and Moonfell Wood. Ran the fairy owl then takes her place in subsequent games.
- Fantastic Racism: The dwarves blame the loss of their queen on the centaurs, resulting in a long and bloody feud. Only Prince Gillel of the dwarves and the centaur blacksmith appear to believe that peace can be possible.
- Feathered Fiend: Averted by the cockatrice, which is needed to defeat the basilisk.
- Featureless Protagonist: Averted by the main series, but played straight in Kingdoms, since the player was literally meant to be playing as themselves. In the bonus chapter of The Redleaf Forest, your avatar is blank as you are the newest nanny to Sophia's daughter.
- Floating Continent: After Dreadmyre's attack, the humans retreated to Skyward Kingdom in the clouds. The bonus chapter of Goblin Kingdom shows Sophia gaining a winged unicorn to access the Skyward Kingdom, which is the setting of the fourth game.
- Flower Motif: Dreamless Castle incorporates flowers into many of its puzzles as well as its decor. The dress Sophia wears even has a white rose ornamenting the bodice.
- Foreshadowing: In Golden Age, the recurring symbols of the royal coat of arms popping up around the Black Tree sets up the fact that Claudius is the Black Knight and is the one controlling the tree and causing the Minotaur Kingdom's drought.
- Forced Transformation: The cute hamster Nibbles that you help the mysterious peddler recover? He's really King Crookshanks, the Goblin King. His brother Grimble turned him into a hamster in order to usurp the throne. The peddler is actually Cyrus, the Goblin court wizard, who went into hiding with the king until Sophia arrived.
- Friend to All Living Things: Sophia. She befriends and adopts the little pocket dragon in Moonfell Wood by feeding her. The griffin and the winged unicorn who allow Sophia to travel to the other kingdoms also take a liking to her after she feeds them, and in the unicorn's case, she heals his injured wing.
- Fungus Humongous: In the Fungal Forest, where the Gnomes live in Goblin Kingdom, most things there are based around mushrooms or spores. Their Sacred Toadstool is a massive glowing mushroom several stories tall.
- Ghost City: The original human kingdom, where Sophia awakens in Dreamless Castle, is this in the sense that she is the only human left in it. It's been so long since humans were seen there that some of the goblins she encounters don't even believe in her existence anymore.
- Girl in the Tower: Dreamless Castle opens with Sophia waking up in her room, located inside a tower in the castle.
- The Good King: Sophia's father, and the Goblin King. Unfortunately, King Crookshank's weaselly brother Grimble turned him into a hamster in order to usurp the throne.
- Good Morning, Crono: Dreamless Castle begins with Sophia waking up from her enchanted sleep.
- Gotta Catch 'Em All: Kingdoms had various collectibles scattered around which could be found during the course of completing objectives; most of them were given as bonuses in hidden object scenes. Collecting all of a particular kind of object (e.g. a certain group of flowers) would earn prizes such as extra coin or supplies.
- Guile Hero: Sophia is, at least physically, a sixteen-year-old girl without any magic. As such, she has to rely on her own wits and intellect to accomplish her goals.
- Hello, [Insert Name Here]:
- In Kingdoms, a squabbit (squirrel/rabbit hybrid) served as the hint assistant. Its default name was "Buddy," but the player could change it to anything they wished.
- The hoopoe bird Sasha finds in Golden Age is given the default name of Naranja, but that can be changed as well.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Early in Redleaf Forest, the clockwork dragon makes one in order to kill the ogre who has captured the Centaur blacksmith. Despite the creature being only a mechanical construct, Sophia nevertheless mourns the loss and honors its bravery. Even worse, the sacrifice is a failure - the ogre gets away.
- I Have No Son!: The Dwarf King in Redleaf Forest, upon learning that his son Gillel has brought a centaur to the palace to assist him and Sophia in their quest, angrily declares that "You are not fit to be called my son." He relents later after Gillel's Missing Mom is restored to them, and he realizes that his son was right all along.
- In-Series Nickname: Sophia is sometimes called "the light in the dark." Ran addresses her as "Milady", and after the events of Skyward Castle, she is called the "Skyward Queen." Dreadmyre, conversely, is sometimes called "the dark in the light."
- Inconsistent Spelling: Is the Goblin King called Crookshank or Crookshanks? The games can't seem to decide.
- Kid Sidekick: In Kingdoms, a local boy named Quinn would offer his advice to the player on various tasks in exchange for resources for his squabbit den.
L-Z
- Lady of Black Magic: Played with. The Witch of the Woods in Moonfell Wood is said to be fearsome and powerful, which is true - but she's firmly on the side of good. She held off Dreadmyre's attack long enough for the humans to flee the kingdom, and then she and the other forest guardians kept an eye on the sleeping Sophia until she woke.
- Lady of War: The bonus chapter of Skyward Castle reveals that Sophia has become this. Now Queen Sophia, she commands a huge army as she searches for a cure for her parents. She's on this quest when her ship is attacked by sky pirates, leading to the events of Sunhook Spire.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: When Sophia first awakens, she has no memory whatsoever - she doesn't even know her own name. The memory loss is an apparent side effect of the magic spell which put her in the enchanted dreamless sleep; she was a young girl when this happened, and when she wakes she's a fully grown woman. As she progresses through the castle to make her way out into the world, she slowly starts to remember things as she finds pictures, statuary, and other hints about her remarkable past. Throughout the sequels, there are occasional instances of her memory slipping (for instance, in Sunhook Spire it takes her a long time to remember who Grimble is), which may be lingering after-effects of the spell.
- Light Is Good: Sophia is referred to as "the light in the dark," while Dreadmyre is "the dark in the light."
- Literally Shattered Lives: The magical stone Gargoyle blocking the way to the throne room and left by Dreadmyre in the Skyward Castle is defeated by first freezing it solid, then dousing it with a cauldron of boiling hot water, causing it to shatter.
- Magical Negro: The Enchantress in Sunhook Spire is literally a powerful enchantress who happens to be black. Played with in that her race is not mentioned at all, and while she is a powerful being in her own right, she does not guide Sophia along her journey in the game as she is trapped in a magical coma. She put herself in that state in order to use her magic to protect the spire, and only provides help in the very last chapter of the game.
- Magitek: The world of the games runs on a combination of magic, energy crystals, and basic industrial-age technology.
- Meaningful Name: Sophia means "wisdom." There are repeated references to her being expected to rule over her people with wisdom and kindness; a magical message left by her parents explicitly states this.
- The Medic: Longhorn the minotaur is one of his kingdom's respected healers. He joins Sasha and Cedric on their journey to find the cause of the drought.
- Missing Mom/Disappeared Dad:
- Sophia finally finds her parents in Skyward Castle. Unfortunately, they're trapped in a magical coma and have no idea she's there.
- The Dwarves in Redleaf Forest lost their beloved Queen some years prior to the events of the game; she left behind a grieving husband and son. Happily, they're reunited by the end of the game thanks to Sophia.
- Also in Redleaf Forest, the blacksmith has a young son, but it's not made clear whether his mother is still alive. (It's possible that she is the healer who aids Prince Gillel, since she heals him in the blacksmith's home, but this is never stated.)
- No mention is made of who Andreia's father is or if Sophia ever married in Redleaf Forest's epilogue.
- Muggle Born of Mages: The King and Queen are extremely strong and powerful magic users, and it's implied from the narration that all of the humans have the ability to wield magic as well. Sophia does not have any magic of her own and has to rely on her brains and wits.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Dreadmyre. It's a twist, though, in that the original Dreadmyre - Patrick Dreadmyre, the royal magician as noted above - was a really nice guy.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: The pocket dragon in Sunhook Spire is placed on various altars that give her new elemental abilities, which of course are necessary to solve specific puzzles. Once she receives new powers, she apparently has no access to her old powers, so the new powers are only given when the old ones are no longer needed.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: You know that magical coma that the Enchantress was in? She put herself in that state in order to enact the Spire's barrier. Sophia waking her up breaks the barrier, allowing Grimble to attack. The Enchantress is also extremely weakened from her coma, which leaves her susceptible to being possessed by Grimble's curse. As it turns out, Sophia was deliberately captured by Ironhoof and then allowed to escape so that she would do exactly what she did.
- Non-Human Sidekick:
- Ran the owl and the pocket dragon are Sophia's constant companions.
- Kingdoms gave the player one in the form of Linea, another owl.
- The Golden Age gives Sasha a bird called a hoopoe.
- No Name Given:
- The pocket dragon has never been identified by a name.
- Sophia's parents' names have not been given.
- There has also been no identity offered for the father of Sophia's daughter Andreia.
- Only Known by Their Nickname:
- Ran's actual name is Randolph.
- Prior to Skyward Castle, most characters simply call Sophia "Princess." In Sunhook Spire, she is sometimes identified as "Skyward Queen" rather than by her actual name.
- Our Dragons Are Different: The only one we meet fits in Sophia's pocket!
- Our Genies Are Different: The Djinn who protect the spire while the Enchantress is comatose are actually her apprentices.
- Our Mermaids Are Different: Twice during the events of Sunhook Spire, Sophia is aided by the mermaid Shellsea, who is roughly the size of a trout and spends part of the game living in a fishbowl.
- Our Minotaurs Are Different: The opening of The Golden Age leads the player to believe the main antagonist is the Minotaur Kingdom. Except they aren't - they're only attacking under the belief that Human Kingdom have been trying to starve them as their water source has been cut off. One of the minotaurs, Longhorn, believes differently and offers his help. It's then revealed the mysterious Black Tree has been absorbing the minotaurs' water. Once the truth comes to light, the minotaurs help rebuild the Human Kingdom in gratitude.
- The Owl-Knowing One: Ran and Linea the fairy owls serve as the hint buttons and provide any necessary exposition. In the cutscenes, Ran is shown assisting Sophia when needed.
- Parental Abandonment: In order to save their people from Dreadmyre, the King and Queen of the human kingdom literally packed up all of their subjects and moved them to a realm in the sky - leaving behind their only child. It gets explained that they did this because Sophia was the prophesied Chosen One who could defeat Dreadmyre, so as long as she stayed in the original kingdom, it was (incorrectly) believed that he wouldn't seek out the other humans. The princess would meanwhile be kept safe under the protection of the Fairy Queen, the Witch of the Woods, the goblins in the castle, and the other forest guardians until she was old enough to confront Dreadmyre.
- Pet Interface: Ran the owl helps provide exposition and hints, while the pocket dragon helps by lighting or melting things. In the fifth game, the dragon also becomes able to blow powerful winds, freeze things, and perform additional elemental actions.
- Since Ran was off with Sophia during the events of Kingdoms, Linea the owl was the one to teach the player the game mechanics and also provided some of the quests, while a squabbit was the hint button.
- Sasha's hint button in Golden Age is a hoopoe bird .
- Pixel Hunt: Some of the games, Redleaf Forest being the worst offender, are very particular about objects being placed in exactly the right spot.
- The Place: The names of the first six games in the series are this trope.
- Playing with Fire: Cedric's special ability in Golden Age is to summon fireballs, which comes in quite handy when he and Sasha work together.
- Pocket-Sized Dragon: The little dragon in Moonfell Wood follows Sophia around. She's built into the inventory in following games.
- Power Crystal: Light crystals are the energy source fueling the lift in the Sunhook Spire. In Kingdoms these were used to purchase building upgrades and also to speed up the reconstruction time on various buildings.
- Prequel: The Golden Age is the seventh game in the series, and is set in the Human Kingdom a century before Sophia's birth. Sasha is revealed to be Sophia's grandmother.
- Present Absence: Most of the series is driven by Sophia's search for her absent parents and subjects. Even after she regains her kingdom and recovers her parents' bodies, she's still searching for a way to save them.
- Princesses Prefer Pink: Throughout the games, Sophia wears either dark or light pink clothing.
- Proud Merchant Race: The Goblins. They are friendly and helpful to Sophia, but only for the right price or if she helps them with a task first. The Goblin Kingdom maximizes this to the hilt as Sophia needs to gather bolgins, the Goblin currency, in order to acquire needed items.
- Psychological Torment Zone: In the bonus chapter of Sunhook Spire, Dreadmyre inflicts this on Sophia by dragging her into a twisted version of her previous adventures in order to try to break her, but he fails.
- Really 700 Years Old: Sophia and her parents are a full century older than they appear.
- In fact, this is true of all of the residents of the human kingdom, as they were trapped in stasis while the princess was in her magic slumber (see Time Stands Still, below). Doubly unfortunate due to the fact that they were preparing to welcome her back with a parade when she was supposed to awaken... on her coming of age birthday.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent:
- The basilisk unleashed by Dreadmyre turns people into stone, and is paid back in kind when the cockatrice defeats it and turns it to stone in turn.
- Averted with the pocket dragon. She's mostly harmless and fiercely loyal to Sophia.
- Requisite Royal Regalia: One of the final puzzles in Dreamless Castle requires Sophia to "crown yourself." She has to put a tiara on a statue of herself.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Pretty nearly every animal Sophia encounters, but particular mention in the main games must be given to her pet pocket dragon, Ran the owl, and Nibbles the hamster. Kingdoms added the equally adorable squabbit and Linea the owl.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something:
- The King and Queen of the human kingdom sealed themselves in a time bubble fighting Dreadmyre. Their daughter Sophia is likewise industrious, actively leading the search for a way to stop Dreadmyre for good.
- The Goblin King (that is, the real one) is highly regarded by his people for actively caring for their realm.
- The Fairy Queen also qualifies, being - among other things - one of Sophia's primary guardians during her enchanted sleep.
- Prince Gillel of the dwarves is the only one who believes Sophia and the blacksmith's story about Dreadmyre and offers his help in any way he can. He gets sidelined by Dreadmyre's curse as he saves her from being hit.
- Prince Cedric in The Golden Age is no slouch, as he first tells Sasha and her friend Caity that he's a Ranger in the royal army before divulging his true identity. It's implied that Sasha will eventually marry Cedric, as she's revealed by game's end to be Sophia's grandmother; the implication is that Cedric is Sophia's grandfather.
- Samus Is a Girl: The devs confirmed on the Big Fish Games forums that the pocket dragon is female. This is eventually proven in the games when she is fully grown with her own clutch of eggs; however, there are a number of instances of Sophia referring to the dragon with male pronouns, suggesting that either she didn't know the dragon was a girl or the devs hadn't made up their minds yet.
- Scenery Porn: These games are beautiful.
- Sequel Hook: Each of the first five games ends on one of these, hinting at what is to come in the next game. Redleaf Forest is the true finale, with Golden Age being a prequel.
- Shout-Out:
- In Skyward Castle, Sophia learns that every year on the Winter Solstice, the people of the Skyward Kingdom release enchanted lanterns. Her parents devised this celebration to help the princess find her way back to them, much like another king and queen used lanterns to commemorate their missing daughter.
- Captain Jackdaw, the ship's captain/castle navigator in Skyward Castle is very, very obviously an Expy of Captain Jack Sparrow.
- Similarly, Skullface the... uh, skull references memes such as "Am I missing an eyebrow?" and 'taking an arrow to the knee'.
- Skullface is also a reference to the talking skull guard from the Quest for Glory series, down to the accent.
- Another one which is either this or just a funny coincidence: the Goblin King's name is Crookshanks, just like Hermione's cat.
- In Redleaf Forest, it's revealed that when the people rose up against Dreadmyre's tyranny many years earlier, he protected himself from being killed by splitting his essence into multiple parts and hiding them inside various relics. Sophia has unwittingly destroyed all but the last one. The relics aren't called horcruxes, but...
- In Redleaf Forest, one item that has to be found and used late in the game is called a tesseract.
- Significant Anagram: More amusing than significant, really. The currency unit of the Goblin Kingdom is the bolgin, which is an anagram of the word goblin.
- Sky Pirate: Captain Jackdaw in Skyward Castle looks like one, but isn't really. However, in the playable epilogue of the collector's edition of the game, she's taken prisoner by a bunch of them. Captain Ironhoof, their leader, is actually under a curse by Grimble, causing him to order Sophia's capture in the first place.
- Slipping a Mickey:
- The peddler in Goblin Kingdom sells Sophia a sleeping potion to sneak into a guard's drink so she can steal his armor.
- In Sunhook Spire, Sophia has to sneak a potion into Captain Ironhoof's soup in order to break the immediate effects of the spell placed on him.
- When Sasha and Cedric are captured by gnolls in Golden Age, a disguised Longhorn orchestrates their escape by cooking up a stew with a heavy sedative, which knocks out the gnolls.
- Socialization Bonus: In Kingdoms, some of the achievements could only be unlocked by getting other players to be your friends.
- So Proud of You: Sophia's final message from her parents in Sunhook Spire is exactly this.
- Standard Fantasy Races: Four races play major role in the story: Humans, Fairies, Gnomes, and Dwarves. It's shown that before Dreadmyre attacked the realm, all the races shared the world in harmony. Fauns, Goblins, Centaurs, Minotaurs, and other fantastical creatures are also shown to live in this world. It's only after Dreadmyre's attack that the Humans fled to the sky, and the Centaurs and Dwarves that mainly inhabit the Redleaf Forest have been feuding since.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Sophia looks a great deal like her mother, and in the bonus chapter of Redleaf Forest, Sophia's own daughter Andreia continues the resemblance.
- Suddenly Voiced: Beginning with Skyward Castle, voices are given to Ran and any characters that Sophia meets.
- In Sunhook Spire, a woman narrates the events of the story. Come Redleaf Forest and that same woman is still narrating, except that now she's doing so in the first person. It was Sophia the whole time, and she speaks throughout the adventure.
- Taken for Granite: The humans and the Faun in Skyward Castle were turned into stone by Dreadmyre unleashing a basilisk on the kingdom prior to Sophia's arrival.
- And before his attack on the Human kingdom, he turned the Dwarf Queen to stone, framing the Centaurs for it and setting off the feud between the Centaurs and Dwarves.
- Taking the Bullet: The clockwork dragon is killed by the Ogre while valiantly battling it to save Sophia and the centaur blacksmith. Prince Gillel takes the brunt of Grimble's curse when he aims it at Sophia. He gets better.
- Time Skip: The bonus chapter epilogue of Redleaf Forest takes place at least ten years later as Sophia now has a little girl of her own, Andreia. The player is the newest nanny for the princess. Ran now sports a pair of glasses, and the pocket dragon is now a full-sized dragon with her own offspring.
- Time Stands Still: Skyward Castle reveals that the human kingdom became stuck like this when Dreadmyre attacked, turning the people into stone and trapping the King and Queen in a time bubble with him.
- Tonto Talk: Some of the Gnomes speak like this, their Shaman in particular, seeing as they're Native American themed.
- Transformation Sequence: A small one happens in a cutscene as Sophia's boat nears the Goblin Kingdom and she takes a disguise potion given to her by the Gnomes. It temporarily turns her into a Goblin so she can sneak back into the Goblin court and confront the King without problems. She reverts back to her normal form after getting inside the castle.
- Universally Beloved Leader:
- Sophia (like her parents before her) clearly is this to her subjects, all of whom have been waiting patiently for a hundred years for her to come and save them from Dreadmyre.
- In the playable epilogue of The Golden Age, the Elder Trees advise Sasha that she must be a wise ruler when she becomes Queen. She is Sophia's grandmother, and the family will need her support when the worst comes.
- Unlockable Content: In the collector's editions, completing the main game unlocks the Playable Epilogue and things like music and screensavers, as well as additional mini-games like Sophia had to play in the main game.
- Un-Sorcerer: Sophia's lack of magic, in a world where all the humans have some degree of magic, allows her to be unaffected by magical attacks and bypass the magical barrier of the Sunhook Spire.
- When Trees Attack: The mysterious Black Tree is the source of the Minotaur Kingdom's drought, prompting them to attack the Human Kingdom under the mistaken belief that the humans stole their water.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The bonus chapter of Redleaf Forest reveals that Sophia has a daughter of her own, Andreia. King Crookshanks eventually forgave his brother and Grimble is one of his advisors. Mira returned to life in the fairy woods, while Captain Jackdaw continues to pilot the Skyward Castle. The Centaurs and Dwarves ended their feud when the Dwarf Queen returned, and peace and prosperity have flourished throughout the land.
- Whole-Plot Reference: Arguably, Golden Age is this to Hamlet. The uncle - whose name is even Claudius! - tries to usurp his brother the king and get rid of the crown prince. Fortunately, the ending of the game is considerably happier.
- Winged Unicorn: Sophia's feathered friend and means of transportation to the Skyward Kingdom.
