Golden Sun: The Abridged Series is an Abridged Series of Golden Sun made by Magmabear (now going under the new channel title of KisukeOboro
). Like most Abridged Series, GS:TAS relies on Alternate Character Interpretation for its humor and lampshading. Similarly, as the series progressed Magmabear recoded the in-game text boxes to suit the series' new dialogue. Since doing so, the series has made use of some particularly creative Big Lipped Alligator Moments for its humour.
As of Episode 9, the series has officially finished abridging the first game.
Tropes:
- Ambiguously Gay: Ivan, with more emphasis on "ambiguous" than "gay". We'd say Alex, but as of Episode Four it's not very "ambiguous" anymore.
- Ass Pull: The gang repeatedly pulls victories out of nowhere. They finally get called out on it - in-universe, no less - by Saturos and Menardi.
- Audience Surrogate: Done with Isaac for those unfamiliar with the games.
- Author Avatar / Take That Me: In Episode Eight, where "Isaac"'s Jerkassery is a thinly-veiled cover for Magmabear's lack of contacting his fans after his suspension.
- Batman Gambit: Turns out Saturos and Menardi aren't as stupid as everyone thinks they are and had a particularly clever backup plan in case anything happened to them. Their berating of Felix is revealed in Episode 9 to have been a plot to belittle him enough that he'll decide, in the event of their death, to carry on their work to prove that he has the balls to do it.
- Berserk Button: What makes Mia a total jerk since Episode Five? Friggin' barricades.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Mia is quite the Manipulative Bitch when she puts her mind to it.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: Saturos and Menardi.
- Brick Joke: The log and the Kraken. The former was done at the start and end of one episode. The latter took literally months to be laid.
- The news reel in Episode Eight that scrolls on the bottom of the screen during Colosso is literally composed of stories that set every unlaid brick the series had up until then.
- Brother–Sister Incest: Garet's sister is implied to feel this way towards him. Isaac is naturally
Squicked out.- Also implied with Alex and Mia, despite Alex's status as Camp Gay. This is suggested once in a Curse Cut Short and never mentioned again.
- Butt-Monkey: Ivan. Garet blows him up once and when the party sees the barricade he suggests blowing it up again (and tries to get Ivan to stand in its general vicinity while doing so).
- To a lesser extent, Felix doesn't get any respect from Saturos and Menardi.
- But Thou Must!: Averted in the hardest way possible when it comes to Lunpa.
- The Caligula: Babi Bu Be Bo!, or rather, Bobby is implied to be this. The Tolbi News reports that people suspect they will never escape him.
- There's also the way that he nonchalantly gives Isaac the Lure Cap:
Bobby: "Here, have this stupid looking hat. I should warn you though that it's been known to attract monsters." - Call-Forward: Ivan's contemplation about his mind-reading powers seems to be one for how the canon character feels about them in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn.
- Camp Gay: Alex's characterization seemed to be heading into Camp Gay territory due to his flirting with Saturos, but then it was not-so subtly implied that he'd had sex with Mia.
- Captain Obvious: To those familiar with the game, Ivan comes across as this. Isaac has none of it, however.
- Characterisation Marches On: Mia was not always such a Jerkass. But then...
- Closet Key: Mia outright states she turned Alex straight by wearing her swimsuit once. The experience was horrible enough that she hides her figure with a ridiculous amount of clothing to prevent a repeat of it.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Garet.
- Comedic Sociopathy: The entire Lunpa episode.
- Complete Awareness: Isaac, again.
- Mia and Alex also seem to have some of this, too.
- Curse Cut Short: Episodes Four and Eight.
- Cute, but Cacophonic: Mia
- Dark and Troubled Past: Apparently Ivan was created in a secret laboratory.
- Deadpan Snarker: Though they don't get much snarkier than Isaac.
- Dirty Coward: Alex. Isaac and Garet also see Ivan as this.
- Dogged Nice Guy: Felix towards Sheba.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Isaac and Garet. Thanks to Garet, however, the feeling between Isaac and Dora isn't mutual.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Isaac is an unrepentant Jerkass in this series, and even he's shocked by Mia's treatment of the children in Episode Five.
- The whole team is actually worse than the villains in terms of just how many lines they cross by the time of Episode 9. They're still shocked by Bobby's plot to rule Tolbi forever.
- Evil Brit: Subverted with Lady Layana, whom Master Hammet wants to divorce purely because she's British (although it often comes off as an Informed Nationality). Weirdly enough, Bobby also qualifies (just listen to his pronunciation of "Colosso") and he's not even meant to be British!
- ... Although it would explain his implied Caligulaness.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: A heroic version of the former occurs while Isaac is reading minds..."I've been married for fifteen years and my husband still doesn't realize that I'm a MAN."
- Evil Laugh: Ivan has one.
- Evil Mentor: Kraden is one. Venat may or may not be responsible.
- Expy: Kraden is one for Dr. Cid, right down to talking to Venat... who may not even be there. Isaac and Garet also started out as ones for Yusuke and Kuwabara, but then they got Character Development. Felix is Tristan from Yugioh Abridged (but only in so far as how he sounds). Two of the adepts preventing the boulder from falling are Beavis And Butthead. The old man in the temple talking about the forest is Hebert from Family Guy.
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Follow the Leader -> Divergent Series Evolution: Episode One is partially an expy of Yu Yu Hakusho Abridged. After that, the series became the torrent of Big Lipped Alligator Moments, Extreme Jerkassery and Alternate Character Interpretation that we know today. - Forgot About His Powers: Ivan is the absolute worst offender of this ever. The rest of the party will have none of it, though. Mia also starts out like this before taking her level in jerkass.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: Isaac's occasional approach to in-game problems that the gamer has to find the long way around due to a Violation of Common Sense is to invoke this trope.
- Genius Ditz: Saturos and Menardi were revealed to fit this bill posthumously in Episode 9. It's... actually rather surprising.
- A God Am I: This appears to be Kraden's modus operandi.
- Jerkass: The whole party has their moments, but most noticeably Isaac and Menardi.
- Mia quite possibly crosses the an event horizon of Jerkassery in Episode Five. But only that episode though-she gets slightly better.
- As of Episode Seven, Garet has officially surpassed Isaac.
- As of Episode Nine, Sheba has officially surpassed everyone.
- Ho Yay: Deliberately invoked between Saturos and Alex.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: Played for Laughs. Felix is probably the only antagonist whose brain isn't made of stupid.
- Ignored Epiphany: When the gang realises that the only way that they've ever won a fight is by bullshitting their way through it, how do they react? By summoning the Elite Beat Agents and bullshitting their way through the Final Boss battle, of course!
- Ivan also has one earlier in the episode regarding his mind-reading powers.
- Incredibly Lame Pun: Ivan in Episode Four. Garet responds with Disproportionate Retribution.
- Also, in Episode 8, Sheba really likes these
- Kill It with Fire: The party seems to delight in burning things. Especially Ivan.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler / Suspiciously Specific Denial: Master Hamma is most certainly not Ivan's sister, now shut up and finish your quest.
- Mistaken for Gay: Ivan. It also happens to be his Berserk Button.
- Ms. Fanservice: Parodied and then subverted with Mia.
- Mood Whiplash: Invoked and Played for Laughs. Ivan spends a good chunk of Episode 9 lamenting his mind reading powers when they reveal things he really didn't want to know. When Garet questions the sincerity of this sudden and unexpected tirade, Ivan reacts by saying, "Hell no! Mind reading ROCKS!"
- Nightmare Fuel: In-Universe, Garet regards Ivan's ability to talk to trees as this; to the point that he more or less breaks down and starts yelling at him to stop doing it.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: There have been quite a few hints that Garet isn't as dumb as he seems. Most of them involving some Magnificent Bastardry.
- Omniscient Morality License: The Wise One. Possibly. As with the real game, it's very hard to tell.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Lady Layana.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: "WE. ARE. ADEPTS!"
- Pyromaniac: Garet. Given his remarkably low intelligence, everyone might very well be completely screwed.
- Reluctant Fanservice Girl: Mia. Her body is apparently so attractive, she has to wear a lot of clothes all the time, even in the desert, because the consequences of not doing so are too dire.Mia: "My body turned Alex straight when I wore my swimsuit."
- Running Gag: "Do we get a reward?" They eventually did, but it was the Lure Cap.
- Shout-Out: Isaac attempts one to Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series. Garet attempts to stop it, but then steals it for himself.
- Garet's Father is disappoint in his son.
- Episode Eight also has a huge one to Spike Jones. Beetlebomb...
- In the same episode, head-crabs show up.
- Episode 4 has Ivan chant Indignation from Tales of Phantasia GBA beginning.
- Episode 5 has Tret quoting Ganondorf from the toon CD.
- Babi (Bu Be Bo!) is one to Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Golden Sun 4Koma Gag Battle.
- Episode 9 has one to Elite Beat Agents.
- Squee: Garet gives a massive one in Episode Eight.
- Stupid Evil: Saturos and Menardi aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed. Every time one of their evil plans screws up, Saturos' immediate response is usually to say "[he's] out of ideas", even when they're constantly being fed to him. Not to mention how Menardi completely ignores the possibility of letting Felix watch their hostages on Mercury Lighthouse. Subverted with Alex, whose Dirty Cowardice and general laziness put him in Selfish Evil territory.
- Subverted as of Episode 9! See "Batman Gambit".
- Ironically, Felix seems to be the most competent of them all. He willingly removes his mask (something they had to coerce him into doing in the original games) and volunteers to watch over Jenna and Kraden while Saturos and Menardi fight Isaac and co.
- Take That!: To Pirates of the Caribbean and YouTube's format changes in Episode Seven.
- This Is Your Premise on Drugs: Invoked. Episode Seven reveals Isaac and Garet to literally be on drugs, with the latter admitting to smoking ten pounds of pot to excuse his surreal behaviour to his father (and explain why they hadn't saved the world yet).
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Mia (who goes from being a bit of a moron to one of the most morally bankrupt people on the team) and Sheba (who starts out as a ditz before turning into an extremely annoying Valley Girl).
- Though Mia tones down a little, but Sheba is still the absolute worst jerkass that even Saturos cannot stand her.
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: See "Creepy Awesome" on the YMMV page.
