Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?

Every life is precious. Except his.
—tagline

Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? is a spinoff of the Disgaea games. This one's not a Turn-Based Strategy game like the others, though; it's a platformer.

This game puts you in charge of the combustible penguin heroes on their quest to find the legendary "Ultra Dessert". Hardly anyone knows what the actual ingredients are, but Etna, being the kind and benevolent leader that she is, decides to send her Prinnies to the most dangerous parts of the Netherworld to find items to satisfy her sweet tooth. In order to get around the usual vulnerabilities of Prinnies, she gives them a special scarf that gives them limited protection against impacts. Unfortunately, there are a thousand Prinnies, and only one scarf. So the Prinnies simply pass it on to the next one down the line when the Hero falls.

The sequel Prinny 2: Dawn Of Operation Panties, Dood, is essentially more of the same, except this time, the Prinnies are looking for Etna's stolen panties. The sequel introduces a Baby Mode, extra playable characters and Break Mode.

Gotta have tropes, dood!
  • Affectionate Parody: Darth Moab, an obvious parody of Darth Vader, has lines like "If he could be churned, he'd make a powerful stir-fry", and "The sauce is weak with this one...". After defeating him, the hero even says "Enough of this parody crap, dood! I've got to get to Sir Sweet!".
  • Alas, Poor Villain: At the end of Asagi mode, her Prinny suit explodes and kills her. It's not all bad though... in The Stinger, she comes back as a Prinny. She also gets her own mini-campaign in the sequel, the closest she's gotten so far to getting her own game.
  • All Just a Dream: A lone Prinny defeating a reborn Tyrant Overlord Baal!? It's too good to be true. It is.
  • Alternate Universe: In this one, Laharl sacrificed himself to resurrect Flonne, becoming a Prinny in the process. However, Seraph Lamington is possibly alive, meaning it could be a mix of the original Disgaea's good (canon) ending, and the normal ending. If this game is part of the regular Nippon Ichi continuity, it remains to be revealed.
    • It's also possible Laharl died in a different scenario. It was mentioned by one Prinny that he died in a war, which could mean Disgaea's last chapter, or something else entirely.
      • According to his file in Prinny 2, it was in a war between the Netherworld and Celestia, which does add some support to the theory.
  • An Axe to Grind: Haldi in the sequel has an absolutely HUGE one. It's twice as big as she is, and causes her to have to build up her run.
  • Artifact of Death: Spoofed with Etna's panties. According to rumors, her panties can cause total annihilation, but that's only because Etna will kill anyone caught sniffing them or wearing them on their head.
  • Art Shift: The Disgaea: Love-Hate Battle Tale trailer uses the more realistic artwork of the Hayarigami artist instead of Takehito Harada's artwork.
  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The sequel's final boss is a giant Etna. And there's the Quadruple Wielding Dovalky!
    • It Got Worse with the Baal battle. If you thought Etna was huge...
  • Awesome but Impractical: Prinny Raid. While it's certainly very useful for clearing the screen and makes the Prinny invincible the whole way through, you lose 1 life for every Prinny that falls onto the screen.
    • It's actually a bit of a gamble. You have to weigh the use of those lives now against the very real possibility of losing them anyway through repeated replays.
    • Prinny Laharl and Prinny Asagi in the sequel. Their attacks are powerful, but they use up an extra life when used, and you can use them only for one level, after which you have to buy them again. But then again, considering their power, you might actually end up losing less lives, making them Awesome Yet Practical.
  • Bad Boss: Take a wild guess. Etna.
  • Big Eater: The Gourmet Ogre. His character info notes that he invented a fifth meal just to kill time before going to sleep.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Eventually, the Prinnies sent out to gain the Ultra Dessert ingredients demand a raise in the form of actual money instead of fish. Etna, of course, refuses, and engages the Prinnies, who have banded together against her along side all but four of the Prinnies out of her entire staff (giving the player infinite lives). By the end of the battle, Etna shows that defiance of her power is futile.
    • And even without the Etna Bonus Boss, the original ending has a lighter, more comedic variation. Etna decides to reward the Prinnies with a party... that they have to pay an obscene amount of money to attend.
  • Boisterous Bruiser: Turmeric, when he's not fulfilling the roll of a one-man Goldfish Poop Gang.
  • Bonus Boss: Etna, Prinny Laharl and Prinny Baal
    • In the sequel, Etna, Baal, Prinny Baal and Priere.
  • Bonus Level: Operation V-Panties in the sequel. It is unlocked by either acquiring all 30 Netherworld Medals, or by talking to the Tutor Manager and pressing Triangle 100 times while in the menu.
  • Boss Rush: The second to last stage has you fighting most of the bosses over again.
    • There are two of them in the sequel. One is like the first game though this time, you fight each boss' "Junkie" doppelgängers, and the other is a special stage where you fight the female bosses from the first game and a suped-up panty-on-the-head-wearing Gourmet Ogre.
  • Breakout Mook Character: This game is one for the Prinnies and Asagi.
  • Brutal Bonus Level: The hidden Martial Tower is orders of magnitude harder than the rest of the game. In the sequel, the Martial Temple and Martial Tower: Abyss.
  • Chainsaw Good: After collecting all 120 Lucky Dolls in the sequel, you can use these as a weapon for the Hero Prinny and Prinny Asagi. The weapon is stronger than the knives that the Hero Prinny usually wields, and has an auto-attack, but does not have the ability to shoot projectiles. For Prinny Asagi, it's a powerful, unlimited use, extreme-close-range weapon that prevents you from being able to use the other weapons unless you pick up her cat or guitar items.
  • Classic Cheat Code: NIS uses the same code to unlock the alternate storyline on all three of its PSP games: Triangle, Square, Circle, Triangle, Square, Circle X (US version; the original Japanese one swaps the Circles and Xs).
    • Using it in the sequel to unlock the Asagi Wars campaign, however, will only get you the preview. No shortcuts this time around. The code will unlock Asagi Wars, however, if you buy a special ticket for it via Playstation Network (thankfully, it's for free!).
  • Complaining About Things You Haven't Paid For: In-universe example: Etna asks the Hero Prinny to sell some games and the console she's playing them on, claiming they suck. The Prinny points out that she pirated the games and hacked the console.
  • The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Subverted. Asagi uses Action Replay to increase her level to 9999. Since this isn't a normal style Disgaea game, however, this is only Cutscene Power.
  • Cosmetic Award: The various medals that can be unlocked do... nothing.
    • If anything, they're largely there as in-game milestones. In the sequel though, collecting them all unlocks a final stage... if you haven't already figured out how to unlock it manually.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: In the first and second games, the boss battle against Bok Choy (Demon Sea Aria or Sandwich Palace, 10 Hours Left, respectively) is about on par with the Waddle Dee battle from Kirby Super Star. He's just a single zombie that hops as his only attack. That's it. No gimmicks, no pitfalls, no Dark Sun, nothing.
  • Dirty Cop: Though none appear in the actual game, the Prinny you play as says he was one of these before he died.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: Prinny caught the [Passion Seed] in his mouth!
    • Not to mention said item's in-game description: "Lots of protein, but hard to swallow."
    • How about the "G-Sweet"? Not to mention the seemingly... passionate... way the Big Bad talks about it and how hard it took for him to find it.
    • Or the "Used Recorder"? The in-game description asks if both of the twins used it at once. Yeeeaaahhh...
    • Asagi Asmaal Asalindt offers Prinny Asagi to join her and make "offspring", musing that they can make enough to create a full baseball team.
  • Double Entendre: Turmeric constantly makes these:

"Turmeric of the Phoenix Clan is not ready to climax just yet!"
"I, Turmeric of the Phoenix clan, am a no-holes[sic] barred warrior of passion..."
"I, Turmeric of the Phoenix clan, will not allow such a tiny worm to penetrate my tight barrier!"

  • Double Jump
  • Downloadable Content: For about $4 each, there are additional levels available for download from the Playstation Network. So far, there are three, Flonne's Castle, Li'l Asagi Come Home, and Marona of Phantom Brave.
    • The sequel holds the record for the cheapest piece of paid for Downloadable Content in gamings history, with the ten yen Demon World Radish, though it's about 99 cents in the US. There's also Pram's stage and the Asagi ticket for free.
  • Dropped a Bridget On Him: You know that cute little Lilim? The one that looks like a little sister to the Succubus? It's not until you earn the secret file that you learn it's a guy.
    • Bouquet Garni, the girly looking alraune in the sequel, is also male. The game is kind enough to tell us right off the bat in his normal gallery page at least.
  • Dual Boss: The twins Kim and Chi, and the skeletal dragon... things, Basil and Chervil. And about half of the bosses in general in the sequel, even having a 3-on-one! Not to mention a 100-on-one! Technically speaking that is.
  • Dynamic Entry: If you choose to play as Prinny Laharl, he will drop from the sky and land on the current Prinny. And yes, it does cost you a life every time that happens. Same happens when you unlock Asagi.
  • Easy Mode Mockery: Baby Mode gives you three hit points (or lower rating decrease in Asagi Mode as well as increased ammo on all weapons), pick ups that allow you to regain lost hit points, extra blocks to make platforming easier, and less stun points on bosses in exchange for turning all of your hit points into diapers.
    • For extra mockery, there is a medal for clearing 22 stages in this mode. But considering that it's needed to obtain the last actual medal in the game....
  • Everything's Better with Penguins: No kidding, dood!
  • Evil Counterpart: Asagi Kurosugi to Asagi Asagiri. Imagine the Asagi we all know and love. Now imagine her as a Manipulative Bastard, and you more or less have Asagi Kurosugi.
  • Evil Laugh: Laharl's laugh increases his combo gauge, but leaves him vulnerable to enemy attacks. Just like the Evil Overlord List predicted.
  • Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: The CHEFBOT-9000 has no real reason to be in the game except to break up what would otherwise be a very long cutscene with a boss fight, and has no indication that he actually exists prior to his pre-battle introduction except the mysterious giant padlock on the scene. Lampshaded by the Hero Prinny himself.
  • Goldfish Poop Gang: Turmeric becomes this during the Boss Rush. Every time he tries to make his introduction, he's knocked offscreen by another boss...
    • His sister Haldi continues the tradition in the sequel, but she isn't hit with this trope as bad as Turmeric and gets thrown a bone in the ending.
  • Ground Pound
  • Hopping Machine: TX-6 Jumpstart.
  • Hurricane of Puns: Many, but Darth Moab's pre-boss cutscene stands out. He grows out of it in the sequel, for the most part.
  • Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels: Standard and "Hell's Finest". In the latter, your Prinny is turned into a one hit-point wonder. Also, Baby Mode in the sequel.
  • Impossibly Delicious Food: The Ultimate Desert!
  • In-Universe Game Clock
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: Etna-chamber... antechamber... ugh.
  • Justified Extra Lives
  • Lethal Joke Weapon: The downloadable Netherworld Radish in the sequel for Hero Prinny and Prinny Asagi. The weapon's melee attack is weaker than the knives that the Hero Prinny usually wields, and has an auto-attack, but does have the ability to shoot projectiles (which actually become more powerful with this weapon), as opposed to the chainsaw, and is also capable of being used at the beginning of the game. For Prinny Asagi, it's an unlimited use extreme-close-range weapon that prevents you from being able to use the other weapons unless you pick up her cat or guitar items, just like with the chainsaw.
  • Lunacy: On the night of the full moon, Hoshikage[1] becomes Tsukikage.[2] Much faster, stronger and angrier than usual. She even scares Master Frog.
    • Similarly, Mustard becomes Bloomin' Mustard during full moons. She gets possessed by a ghost, changing her from a Flunky Boss who cheers from the sidelines to an insane, famished, rabid maniac jumping all over the arena on all fours.
  • Mythology Gag: Much of the game's enemies are based on or lifted from the Disgaea series and Makai Kingdom. The boss Cyberclops, for example, is based on the Galactic Demons from Disgaea: Hour of Darkness.
  • Ninja: Both as regular enemies, and one as a boss.
  • Ninja Log: How the non-boss ninja become immune to stunning. Hoshikage has a variant that uses her master, a ninja frog.
  • Nintendo Hard: Those 1,000 lives you get? You're gonna need a lot of 'em, even on the Standard difficulty.
    • The sequel somehow manages to make it even harder.
  • No Fourth Wall: Asagi Mode.
  • Nonstandard Game Over: When you ask the ninja at your hub to help you run away to start a new play cycle, the end credits roll, showing your Prinnies' failed attempt at escaping. You also get one if you lose all 1000 of your lives. Replaced by "Death" in the sequel. He's really a pants tailor.
  • One-Hit-Point Wonder: On "Hell's Finest" difficulty, Prinnies die if they're touched by anything hazardous. With Score Break in the sequel, they also explode if they jump onto the walls or ceiling after a dash, in ANY mode.
  • Panty Shot: The final boss of Prinny 2, a giant Etna, uses this as an attack!

Junkie Etna: I'll show you something good!
Earthshattering Kaboom

  • Pet the Dog/Throw the Dog a Bone: In the sequel's ending, Etna decides to be nice to the Prinnies for once and treat them to a hot spring vacation with no strings attached. Yeah, she says she's using a free coupon, but this is probably the nicest Etna has ever been to the Prinnies. And even after Hero Prinny comes in with her panties on his head (which was totally by accident), she doesn't go back on her word about the vacation, though she does leave Hero Prinny with multiple bruises.
  • Petting Zoo People: Cardamon, a fox girl who wishes she were a cat girl...
  • Phantom Thief: The eponymous Big Bad of the sequel who goes around stealing rare items. Later revealed to be Lord Junkie, a demon noble who wants revenge on Etna.
  • Platform Hell: Especially in the later parts of the game. Martial Tower and Martial Tower 2[3]deserve special mention.
    • Getting Torn Letter 10 is enough to make you snap your PSP in half. You have to master the double jump, running jumps, and just about every other little bit of platforming just to reach the halfway point. The last jump in particular has to be pixel-perfect, or you'll be doing the whole thing all over again.
  • Press X to Die: Pressing L R and X together kills you and brings you back to the last checkpoint. You lose a life, but it's useful if you want to restart boss battles and such.
  • Rank Inflation: A mild example: it uses the fairly standard D,C,B,A,S.
  • Refuge in Audacity: The subtitle of the sequel is Dawn Of Operation Panties, Dood... You're tasked with finding the guy who stole Etna's panties...
    • And to further dig themselves in, NIS America announced a contest... to design a new pair of panties for Etna.
    • Even further, there is a bonus level based upon the old bosses hunting down a spot where the "ultimate panties" are. You end up in a land where panties scatter the background, are used as items to collect tons of points, and beat an old boss who's wearing a pair on his head and uses EXPLODING panties as weapons.
  • Revive Kills Zombie: The Prinny Laharl boss battle. You have the option of fighting him normally, but Ground Pounding him three times and then tossing him ends the battle much more quickly. This goes for Prinny Asagi in the sequel. As in previous Nippon Ichi games, Prinny Baal lacks this weakness.
  • Scarf of Asskicking: Sort of. The scarf keeps Prinnies from exploding.
    • In the sequel, once in Standard Break mode, it can be used as a weapon while Prinny is spinning.
  • Secret Character: Prinny Laharl and Prinny Asagi are playable in the sequel.
  • Secret Level: You can unlock an alternate campaign involving Asagi's attempts to become the hero by entering a code at the title screen, or by collecting all the Torn Letters. This returns in the sequel, this time collecting Torn Tickets.
  • Shout-Out: The character info for the CHEFBOT-9000 is a reference to the "Over NINE THOUSAND" meme. Apparently, the writers couldn't bring themselves to go all the way with it.
  • Soundtrack Dissonance: A volcanic, ninja-infested hellhole gets... cheery upbeat jazz music?
  • Spam Attack: An absolute necessity on bosses. You know that pain you get in your arms from lifting weights too much? Yeah, playing this game for a day or two causes that same feeling.
  • Sprite Polygon Mix Dood!
    • The sequel pushes this even further with the bigger bosses being rendered in 3D.
  • The Stinger: All four endings come with one.
  • Super Drowning Skills: Prinnys can't swim, dood.
  • Super Mode: Break Mode in the sequel.
  • Swamps Are Evil: The swamp level in the sequel.
  • Testosterone Poisoning: Asagi Schwarzinature is this combined with The Ahnold.
  • Theme Naming/Punny Name: The Prinnies in the main hub. If you take the time to talk to 'em, you'll notice their names are things like Pripaid, Prittany, Prix, Pritchy...
    • In addition, a lot of the characters specifically added for the game are named after various cooking terms or foods, considering the goal of the first game is to obtain the ultimate desert. Names include Bok Choy, Anise, Kim and Chi, Basil and Chevril, Cardamon and Turmeric.
    • A large majority of the monsters in this game are also Makai Kingdom monsters, which mostly have food designs
  • Timed Mission: Sorta. You have ten hours to find the ingredients for the Ultra Dessert before Etna goes ballistic, but that's the exact number of stages you'll need to play to win (the first six can be selected in any order).
    • Played straight during actual gameplay. Each stage has to be beaten in eight minutes, and bosses have to be finished in three.
  • Transformation Sequence: Subverted and parodied by Asagi. In your final battle against her, Asagi will say the words Pretty Prinny Evolve and will appear to flash as her Theme Music Power-Up starts playing. However, once the flash is over, she runs off screen to put on her costume. And the kicker? It's just a Prinny costume.

Asagi: Hey, no peeking, perv!

  1. ↑ "Star Shadow".
  2. ↑ "Moon Shadow".
  3. ↑ a.k.a. "Lil Asagi Come Home".
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