Tales of Legendia

"I hear the voice of the sea..."

The seventh title in Namco Bandai's Tales (series), released in August 2005 in Japan and February 2006 in North America.

Tales Of Legendia is split into two halves: the first is the Main Quest, a typical Save the World story. The second half of the game is comprised of the Character Quests, a series of loosely-connected side stories focusing on the backstories and development of the supporting cast.

The Main Quest begins with a young Alliance Marine called Senel Coolidge drifting on an endless ocean with his adopted sister Shirley. With their food and water supplies exhausted, they are on the verge of death when a massive island bursts out of the mist with frightening speed and sweeps their boat up in its wake. When they awaken on its shores, Senel and Shirley discover that the "island" is actually the Legacy, a massive ship created by a long-lost civilisation and now colonised by humanity.

Their new life aboard the Legacy is soon thrown into chaos when several opposing factions aboard the ship begin to suspect that Shirley is the legendary "Merines", a being able to control the Legacy and its ancient technologies at will.

The Character Quest section focuses on an evil force that has begun to corrupt the monsters and people of the Legacy, forcing each party member to confront their own dark side.

Tropes used in Tales of Legendia include:
  • A Boy and His X - Moses's character quest is all about his relationship with Giet, his pet Grand Galf.
  • Action Girl: Chloe, Norma, Grune and Shirley.
  • Action Mom: Grune, during her Awakened state. She also noticeably says the line, "The times always comes when a child must leave its parents. Humans are the same way."
  • A God Am I: Did someone call for Schwartz?
  • Aliens Speaking English: The Orerines somehow speak the same language as the Ferines, even though both races were not of the same world. Oddly enough, even though the Ferines know Relares and Old Relares, their native language, they don't use it.
  • All Your Powers Combined - Solon, who uses both Iron Eres and Crystal Eres.
  • Exclusively Evil: It's a little milder than most examples, but many Ferines believe the Orerines are this.
  • Always Save the Girl: Senel to Stella, very much.
  • Always Second Best: Shirley, second to her sister, Stella.
  • Amnesiac Dissonance Grune, an intelligent and serious goddess is rendered a Cloudcuckoolander by her amnesia.
  • Amnesiac God: Grune
  • Anatomy of the Soul: Shirley, during her possession by Nerifes.
  • And Man Grew Proud: The war between the Orerines and Ferines.
  • Anime Theme Song - "TAO" by Do As Infinity.
  • Anti-Frustration Features: If you can't or do not wish to go through a Puzzle Booth, any character you are not in control of at the time will ask if you want to switch with them, and whichever character it is will get through it for you.
  • Anti-Villain - Stingle.
  • Apocalypse Maiden - Shirley, of course.
  • Armed Legs: Senel, as he fights with both his fists and his feet.
  • Artificial Stupidity:
    • Unless you turn off several elemental spells, the casters (And Jay considering he deals elemental damage) will have a tendency to spam a particular one. Naturally, this leads to annoying happenings such as Will using Flame Blade on a fire elemental, saying "That didn't seem to work on it", then using it again. Funny considering that he's a Bookworm, but annoying when you find out that this destroys your grade...
    • Norma also has a tendency to start off every battle with Thunder Arrow.
    • Grune also unintentionally does some pretty stupid things, partly because she doesn't have that many spells available. During the first part, she only really has Bloody Howling, Aqua Laser, and maybe Brilliant Lance or Eruption. Because most bosses and trash mobs near the end of the first part are Sea Elemental, this means you'll have to turn off Aqua Laser if you don't want them to absorb it. Then, in the second part, when she learns more Sea and Curse elemental spells...pretty much all the bosses are weak to sea but resistant/immune to Curse.
  • As Long as There Is Evil - Schwartz claims she exists because of misery and hate.
  • The Atoner: Alcott/Stingle, Senel, Jay and Will.
  • Awesome but Impractical - Tidal Wave, the strongest spell in the game, doesn't have any special requirements to cast it once unlocked, but unlocking it requires eres stones from Dinowyrm enemies. Dinowyrms are a rare variety of monster that are difficult to kill and are only found in the deepest part of the longest dungeon in the game. (Plus, it's learned by Shirley, who has an irritating voice.) Unless you want to go all the way through the Wings of Light again, you're better off just forgetting about it and sticking with Ray, Maelstrom, and Judgment for your strong sea-elemental spells.
    • You actually do have to go through there later on, though. And it is pretty good, inflicts a lot of hits. It's safe to say you're rewarded for getting it.
  • Awful Truth: The Hannibal Lecture given to the party by Maurits, along with Jay's past.
  • Backstory: All of the main characters have one.
  • Backup Twin - Thyra, for Fenimore
  • Badass Adorable: Jay.
    • The Oresoren. Cuter than anything and incredibly nice to everyone. Except ninjas.
  • Beam Spam: Solon has a habit of doing this. Annoying when you're attempting to cross the battlefield.
  • Because Destiny Says So: Shirley, as the Merines who is supposed to give up her life to use the Wings of Light to destroy the land, and humanity along with it.
  • Berserk Button: Chloe has one. Always relates to Stingle.
  • Betty and Veronica: Quite so... except for the fact that Senel is certainly not caught between Shirley and Chloe. Stella occupies his mind too much for that.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: The majority of the main cast, mainly Senel when dealing with Vaclav, Shirley after Fenimore is killed by the Captain of the Gadorian Knights, Moses when he finds out Cashel attacked the other bandits and Jay in which he eventually seeks vengeance against Solon. Chloe counts, when Alcott pushes her too far in the Forest of No Return. Grune also has her moments when dealing with Schwartz.
  • Big Bad: Vaclav and Schwartz.
  • Big Bad Wannabe: Cashel. He loves to gloat about himself and his skills, but in the end, he really isn't as powerful as he makes himself out to be.
  • Big No - "STELLAAAAAA!"
  • Bittersweet Ending
  • Black and White Morality: Most of the Ferines seem to think this way, although it shows most clearly in Walter.
  • Blade on a Stick - Moses uses spears.
  • Blatant Lies: Mostly Moses during his Character Quest, but others have their moments, both humorous and serious.
  • Block Puzzle - The Puzzle Booths. For the character quests, they all reset with some new twists to make them look like the same puzzle you solved last time you came through, but are actually quite a bit tougher.
  • Blond Guys Are Evil - The Ferines are all blonde. Until they Heel Face Turn
  • Blood Knight: Solon and Cashel.
  • Bratty Half-Pint - Harriet.
  • Break the Cutie:
    • Shirley. Done considerably well, too.
    • Jay is also partial to this trope.
  • But Now I Must Go: Grune.
  • Butt Monkey: Norma, until Moses joins the party and takes over the post.
  • Calling Your Attacks
  • Captain Ersatz: The Oresoren are intelligent fuzzy creatures that are decent with machines and have a Verbal Tic, and just in case anyone was under the impression that this might be a coincidence, one of the most significant Oresoren is named "Quppo", which is pronounced like "kupo".
  • Cast of Snowflakes / Loads and Loads of Characters:
    • Every single NPC in Werites Beacon has a name, no matter how insignificant they are.
    • Every Oresoren and Ferines also has a name.
  • Catch Phrase: Grune's "Charge!", although the catch phrase was started by Norma.
  • Character Development - Senel and Shirley in the Main Quest, everyone else in the Character Quests. Heck, there's a lot of character development with the others in the mai nquest too.
  • Chaste Hero - Senel. Although he apparently has reason to believe that he got Shirley pregnant...
  • Chekhov's Gun:
    • Everything Vaclav did to the Ferines (including how Shirley met Fenimore) helps to motivate Shirley into becoming a true Merines (as it is stated by Will that the Ferines may believe that Vaclav's actions are the fault of the entire human race). Stella's death is also a partial factor that pushes her to become the Merines.
    • Grune's memory loss is mentioned shortly after meeting her, and her entire Character Quest is based upon her memory and the duties she carries along with those memories.
    • Senel's flashbacks about Stella; namely the very first one in chapter one.
    • The "golden light" that appeared and/or saved Senel various times. This was actually Stella's Teriques.
    • Norma mentioning her mentor when the party enters the Secret Passage in chapter one.
    • Chloe telling Senel about her past.
    • Jay talking to the Oresoren in chapter six, mentioning that he had lots of experience with "certain matters", after Quppo asks him if he's planning to do something about Shirley by himself.
      • Chekhov's Boomerang: Vaclav's name just keeps coming back up, even after his death. In fact, to Senel, he's still enemy number one. Vaclav is also part of the cause which made the Ferines turn against the Orerines.
  • Chewing the Scenery - Senel screaming "Stella!"
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: Shirley could qualify (including her obsession with him even after he tells her his feelings as her brother won't change). Senel doesn't return her feelings, however, as he remains in love with Stella. It is heavily implied that by the end of the game, Senel still thinks of Shirley as a sister (which she would have been his sister, anyway, if he married Stella).
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Grune.However, she loses the trope after regaining her memories.
  • Color-Coded Elements
  • Combat Medic: Will, Norma, and Shirley.
  • Combination Attack: The Climax Combo, or any general combo made from using usual attacks.
  • Con Lang: Relares, the Ferines' native language, explained here. Most of the songs on the game's soundtrack that have vocal parts are in Relares.
  • Cooldown Hug:
    • Senel to Shirley: "I trust you."
    • Shirley to Thyra, during the Interlude of the Character Quests.
  • Cool Ship: Since the Legacy is technically a giant ship, it qualifies.
  • Cool Old Guy: Will. Although he is only 28, Norma has pretty much dubbed him "Old".
  • Crystal Dragon Jesus: the Merines, i.e. Shirley
  • Crystal Spires and Togas: Ferines architecture has this kind of feel going on.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Senel, Chloe and Jay. Will and Shirley to an extent.
  • Dark Secret: Senel and Jay have their own respectively. Alcott also hides the fact that he is Stingle up until Chloe's Character Quest.
  • Dark-Skinned Redhead: Moses
  • Deadpan Snarker: Jay. True to the form of this trope, he becomes the strategy officer for the war against Crusand.
  • Death Is a Sad Thing: Harriet and her mother, Amelia, before the story.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Well, it sure calmed down the ocean...
  • Defector From Decadence: This is implied for Senel, when he tells Chloe that life in the Ferines village was the first peaceful experience he'd had in his life. Instead of completing his mission, he stays with the Ferines, even going so far as to fall in love with Stella.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: Senel, Chloe and Jay. Mostly Senel and Chloe to each other; especially during Chloe's Character Quest. Jay has the help of the whole party, although for the most part, Moses and Senel do the trick.
  • Deus Ex Machina: Vaclav tells his soldiers to activate the Nerifes Cannon. However, once Vaclav is defeated and the group has just saved Stella and Shirley, Vaclav stands up again, and everyone realizes he's had a switch that could fire the cannon the entire time.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu? - Schwartz, a destroyer of worlds, was beaten by the positive emotions of the people of ONE island
    • It does help that they were channeled through Schwartz's equal and opposite half, Grune.
  • Died in Your Arms Tonight - Fenimore, in Shirley's arms. The scene doubles as Maurits crossing the Moral Event Horizon.
    • Also, Stella, in Senel's arms.
  • Damsel in Distress: Shirley, though this lessens during the Character Quests, in which she finally becomes playable.
  • Dude in Distress: Jay in his Character Quest.
  • The Ditz - Grune, of course, though she can also be incredibly perceptive at times.
  • Dual Boss:
    • Moses and Giet
    • Dark Moses and Giet
    • Dark Jay and Solon.
    • Dark Senel and Dark Shirley
  • Dude, Where's My Respect?: The two rich girls in Werites Beacon couldn't care less if you died saving their lives...
  • Dying Declaration of Love: Happens when Stella almost dies when she and Senel were younger, telling him she was looking forward to performing the Rite of Feriyen with him and again when she actually is dying, in which this time, Senel brings the Rite up.

Senel: Weren't you looking forward to performing the Rite of Feriyen? ...If you go on without me, how can I propose to you?

  • Dysfunction Junction
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Grune appears briefly in Werites Beacon in the scene where Senel first meets Jay.
  • Easily Forgiven :Maurits, Alcott/Stingle, Shirley, Senel, Jay, and Chloe all get easily forgiven then some crap they pulled at some point or other. In some cases, like with Jay, who was blackmailed, it's completely reasonable, in others, like with Maurits, who was evil by choice, it's highly confusing.
  • Elemental Powers
  • Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: "Light" in this game is replaced with "Sea", which seems a little interesting...but then you realize that this means Spread and Aqua Laser are technically "light" spells, and you can get these rather early, too. (Darkness is just called, "Curse") It makes a lot more sense given that Sea is holy in this universe.
  • Eleventh-Hour Superpower:
    • The Quiet Nerifes gives these (story-wise) to everyone else so they can use them on the surface where nobody else can use Eres.
    • Grune and Shirley. Grune doesn't join until very late in the main quest and only comes with a couple spells for most of it. Shirley likewise doesn't join until the character quests but this is especially true with Tidal Wave, since by the time you get it, the game is maybe 90%+ done.
  • Enemy Scan: The Magic Lens'.
  • Enigmatic Minion: Walter. He fights you a couple times before the Ferines ally with the Orerines... only to start the enemy cycle all over again once the alliance is broken.
  • Evil Costume Switch: Shirley.
  • Evil Laugh: Vaclav and Solon are full of them.
  • The Exile: Will suffered from this pre-game.
  • Expy - Many of the character designs are based on those from the designer's previous works, Samurai Champloo and Final Fantasy Unlimited. Moses, Will and Chloe, for one, are very similar facially to Mugen, Jin and Fuu.
  • Extended Gameplay: The Character Quests section.
  • Facial Markings: Senel
  • Fantastic Racism: Both humans and Ferines are guilty of this. Even the ocean gets in on it.
  • The Fatalist: Schwartz.
  • Fighting Your Friend: Giet, who is borderline Brainwashed and Crazy by the Black Mist, also causing him to begin turning wild.
  • First Town - Werites Beacon, the main city in the island.
  • Five-Man Band: (In terms of the Main Quest, before Grune joins late on)
  • Foreshadowing:
    • At the end of chapter 1, Pippo and Quppo give Senel and Shirley a pair of seashells. These shells are usually used by the Oresoren to represent an engagement. At the end of the main quest, Senel and Shirley inadvertently complete the Right of Feriyen, the Ferines engagement ritual. The game never actually states that they're engaged after that, so whether they actually are or it was just a symbolic gesture of cooperation between the Ferines and Orerines is up to the player.
    • You can also see Grune in the bottom of the screen when the Bantam Bouncers meet Senel the first time.
    • Also, when Grune says, "I hope I can stay with you all forever."
  • Gambit Pileup: The Ferines having Shirley perform the Rite of Accession, Walter lying to Senel's group to keep them from finding out about said ritual and trying to kill them as well, and the Captain of the Gadorian Knights trying to arrest Shirley for false reasoning and accusations. Then, in chapter six, while Senel's group begins to find out the truth to their history with the help of the Quiet Nerifes, Shirley, Walter and Maurits are planning for the Wings of Light.
  • Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Jay and Senel. In Jay's case, Senel hits him on the head to get his attention and Stop him from crying. Happens to Senel rather frequently. One instance being when Chloe slaps him; twice. Most notably when Senel Sees Stella again for the first time in three years, after going on believing she had died. Moses and Will try to pull him back, but ultimately fail.

Moses: Senel! Come on! Get a grip!

  • Girlish Pigtails: Fenimore and Thyra
  • God Was My Co-Pilot The "Quiet Nerifes" during chapter six. Grune as well, during the Character Quests, as she tells her friends not to listen to Schwartz's voice. Also counts for her in her Awakened state, as she guides the others.
  • God Is Good and God Is Evil - During the Main Quest - The Nerifes of the Fallen/Quiet Lands, and the Nerifes of the surface. Also, Grune and Schwartz.
  • Going Through the Motions
  • Good All Along: Stingle.
  • Good Is Impotent: Shirley.
  • Good Morning, Crono - Senel being wakened by a different person each time is a running gag.
  • Go Out with a Smile: Grune.
  • Go Through Me: Fenimore for Shirley, when the Captain of the Gadorian Knights attempts to kill Shirley. This, however, results in Fenimore's death.
  • Got Me Doing It: Grune picks up on Norma's "Charge!", and it becomes her Catch Phrase. By the time anyone knows it, everyone is doing it.
  • Guide Dang It:
    • Some of the Puzzle Booths are pretty hard; even to the point where walkthrough creators couldn't even complete them. However, they are by no means impossible. Getting all the treasure chests in the game is also a pain, because after the Main Quest, all the original ones are replaced and there are actually new ones on top of that.
    • Some of the skits qualify as well, which is annoying since Norma gets a title if you view them all. A few egregious examples: one requires you to have your entire team poisoned. Not just the fighting party, ALL EIGHT CHARACTERS AT ONCE. Another requires you to control Senel, fight a team of weaker monsters, and make the battle last more than 5 minutes in a game where fights against level-appropriate monsters MIGHT last a minute.
  • Guile Hero: Jay.
  • Healing Hands: Will, Norma and Shirley.
  • Hair of Gold: Shirley. Temporarily loses the trope during her Face Heel Turn. Also, Stella.
  • Heavy Sleeper: Senel. To the point where he sleeps through earthquakes and falling onto the floor.
  • Heel Face Revolving Door: Walter, to an extent. He seems to enjoy attacking the party with his Hopeless Boss Fights, although he occasionally is neutral; namely just before the Alliance was formed. This remains true until his inevitable, final Face Heel Turn.
    • This can be somewhat explained by him being only truly loyal to Shirley; you'll notice that his allegiances tend to align with hers at any given point in the game.
  • Heroes Prefer Swords - Averted. This is the first Tales Of game that the main character uses fists as his weapons instead of a sword.
  • Heroic BSOD:
    • Senel's reaction when he does not receive the blessing of Nerifes.
    • Everyone except Senel after Maurits' Hannibal Lecture.
    • This happens to each character individually during the Character Quests, save for Senel. Shirley has a slight issue of it during the Interlude. Chloe, Jay and Moses are arguably the worst offenders of this trope; in which case, in the case of Jay's Quest, the group could have avoided getting ready to go after Shirley and Jay if Jay had only taken Moses' advice and told everyone what was bothering him. An issue that caused the Oresoren to deal with everything because Jay Cannot Spit It Out.
  • Heroic Sacrifice:
    • Stella
    • Fenimore, for saving Shirley.
  • Holy Hand Grenade: The God's Breath spell, which was incorrectly localized as Judgment, takes this to its logical extreme and hits all enemies in range with an actual holy hand.
  • Hot-Blooded: Moses. Chloe starts out this way, but mellows out as her character develops.
  • Hopeless Boss Fight: Very, very frequently.
  • Human Aliens: The party thinks the Ferines are aliens. Turns out it's the Orerines that came from another planet.
  • Human Resources: Eres Stones, as told to Senel by Will during a skit very early on.
  • Humans Are the Real Monsters: Walter keeps this belief through thick and thin. Most other Ferines also feel this way.
  • Humanity on Trial: Cue the Ferines' motivation for having a Merines.
  • Humans by Any Other Name - Ferines and Orerines, meaning "people of the sea" and "people of the land," respectively. The Ferines can breathe underwater and summon a light being to serve as a pair of wings or assist them in combat, but are aesthetically identical to Orerines.
  • Ill Girl: Shirley, with her weakness to seawater.
  • Improbable Weapon User:
    • Will's hammers. Mainly because he's a Crystal Eren.
    • Norma's straw,
    • Grune's giant urn,
    • Shirley's quill pens... (She actually uses her Teriques, but the equipped weapons are quills)
    • Mimi uses a baguette as a sword.
  • Insufferable Genius: Jay, to an extent. Averted during and after his Character Quest.
  • Interspecies Romance: Senel and Stella.
  • Is That Cute Kid Yours: Senel and Shirley get this treatment from everyone who sees them with the abandoned baby at the start of Will's quest. Amusingly, Senel is the first one to react with shock and horror when he sees Shirley with a baby in her arms.
  • It Got Worse: Many times.
  • It's All About Me: Schwartz and Solon.
  • It's All My Fault: Senel believes Stella's death and Shirley's change are both his fault.

Senel: Stella's death, Shirley's change... Trace it all back, and It's All My Fault.

  • It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Shirley.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Shirley to Senel, for years, involving her risking her life for him and his first love interest at ridiculous extremes. Eventually subverted, though—when Senel rejects her outright, Shirley finally snaps.
  • I Will Definitely Protect You: Senel to Stella and Shirley when they are both being used to fire the Nerifes Cannon.
  • Jerkass: Walter takes the cake. Even with his dying breath, he curses Senel, blaming him for all of his problems even though he brought most of them on himself.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Senel starts out this way, although some people seem to relate him more to being a typical Jerkass in the beginning. Jay also qualifies, as his heart of gold is shown for the Oresoren, and eventually, for the rest of the party.
  • Kick the Dog: Pretty much any scene involving Vaclav or the Terrors involves some dog-kicking.
  • Killed Off for Real: Walter, Stella, Fenimore.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: Grune
  • Leitmotif: Moses, Jay, Grune, Vaclav, and Schwartz have one.
  • Lethal Chef: Harriet.

Jay: I'm surprised you can eat that. It's worse than poison.

  • Let's Meet the Meat: The skit resulting from equipping a Galf Cloak on Norma is definitely in the spirit of this trope.
  • Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards: Inverted - The Iron Erens deal more damage than the crystal erens. The crystal erens still have their use though; especially since if you give them an item that regenerates lost TP (or cuts TP usage down) they'll be able to cast all day.
  • Locked Out of the Loop - Stella made Senel swear never to tell Shirley about his past or why their village got attacked. When Maurits eventually tells her that Senel was one of Vaclav's Child Soldier graduates and a spy for Crusand's army at the worst possible time, she's much more upset about being kept in the dark than about what she's actually being told.
    • Stella never specifically MADE him swear he wouldn't tell her. It was what he thought was her dying wish, and promised her that he wouldn't tell Shirley.
  • Lost Forever:
    • Mostly character titles that rely on not giving up on puzzles or finding every chest in the game.
    • Of all the bread recipes, only one of them can be missed. If you didn't get the Chocolate Cornet recipe from the Frontline, too bad.
  • Love Makes You Evil: One of the reasons Shirley becomes a villain is because Senel does not return her romantic feelings.
  • Love Martyr: Shirley. Eventually, she gets fed up.
  • Love Triangle: Chloe and Shirley both love Senel... except Senel loves Stella.
  • Love You and Everybody: Grune likes ALL the male characters

Norma: So girls, who's your favorite boy?
Grune: Hm... I guess that would be Senel.
Chloe and Shirley: * gasp*
Grune: And Will, and Moses, and Jay... Oh, and I couldn't forget Giet, too.
Chloe and Shirley: * sigh of relief*
Norma: You just love everybody, don't you?

  • Mad Lib Fantasy Title
  • Magical Incantation
  • Manipulative Bastard: Maurits gets extra points when you realize how he manipulated the heroes. First he he stops Walter from saving Fenimore in order to give Shirley that final prod to become the Merines. And for the grand finale, he kept the fact that Senel had originally been a member of Vaclav's army, and had originally been sent to her village as The Mole before his change of heart, to himself just as a secret weapon in case Senel's group managed to successfully break through her nature as the Merines.
  • Marshmallow Hell: Grune does this to both Senel and Moses.
  • Master of None: Shirley appears to be the only "Hybridized" character in the game, being able to combo with a ranged weapon but also cast a lot of great spells. But she doesn't really excel at those as every one of her spells is already known by any of the three casters...until Tidal Wave, that is.
  • Meaningful Echo: "I get anxious when another person and I are good at the same things. I always feel I simply must find out which one is truly better," said by Jay. Initially to coax Senel into a boat race. Repeated later to tear down Cashel's confidence and underestimation of the party's strength.
  • Meaningful Name: All the Ferines' surnames are combinations of Relares words, and have something to do with their personalities or abilities. And then there's Grune[1] and Schwartz[2].
  • The Messiah: Shirley. She's the Ferines' Crystal Dragon Jesus, something of The Antichrist where the Orerines are concerned, spends a short time as an Anti-Anti-Christ, and completes her evolution into The Messiah by the character quests.
  • Milkman Conspiracy: Much of the population of Werites Beacon, including Will and the Bantam Bouncers, are actually agents of the Holy Rexalian Empire.
  • Mons: Walter uses his Teriques to attack the Senel and/or the party when he cannot attack them directly. A few other Ferines attack the party with their Teriques, though they never fight you directly.
  • Mood Whiplash: Seems to occur frequently, although a very notable one is after Schwartz is defeated and everyone is ready to go back to town, Grune's body beings to fade.
  • More Than Mind Control: Nerifes does not actually completely take control of Shirley's actions. Shirley willingly turns against Senel and the others after what seems to be some convincing from Nerifes (and with no help from Maurits.) By definition, the Merines is the Nerifes' emmisary rather than puppet, though once the choice is made to serve Nerifes, it's hard to go back, as Shirley does try and fail to break free of her new mental state later on.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Any of the playable girls can qualify, thanks to their tight outfits showing off their bodies, but Grune is arguably the worst offender.
  • My Country, Right or Wrong: Chloe. While she remains loyal to Gadoria, she certainly isn't a follower of the Captain of the Gadorian Knights, who tells her to kill the Merines.
  • My Name Is Not Durwood: Senel is far from excited when Norma gives him the nickname "Senny"/"Sene-Sene" (English, Japanese) upon their first meeting. Will and Chloe are also not pleased when Norma also nicknames them. Type D.
  • Mysterious Waif: Grune
  • New Game+
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
    • Senel's infamous decision to reject Shirley's romantic feelings and "stay with Stella," even though Stella is dead. This is one of the factors in Shirley's decision to complete the Rite of Accession and become Brainwashed and Crazy.
    • Also, at once point in his character quest, Harriet finally tries to accept Will as her father and bond with him. However, something goes terribly wrong, and Will's angry reaction ends up making Harriet hate him again. Nice job re-breaking your relationship with your daughter, Will! Thankfully, things are finally mended at the end of the quest.
  • The Nicknamer: Norma.
  • Noble Demon: Schwartz is actually trying to save the world by destroying it. By destroying the world as it was, she would end all suffering, which was her main goal. She even leaves Senel's group alive after their second to last encounter with her because she wasn't there to kill them.

Grune: You did not survive your encounter with her on your own. She merely allowed you to live.

    • She was also trying to fulfill the wish of Nerifes.

Jay: Wait a minute. Isn't what she's doing contradicting that?
Grune: There is more than one way to free people from their suffering.

  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Vaclav to Senel at the Ruins of Frozen Light.
  • Noodle People
  • No Sense of Humor: Walter.
  • Not Blood Siblings - Senel and Shirley
  • Not Helping Your Case: Averted by Jay when he "betrayed" the group. Grune mentions that "his face looked pretty sad", which proved his guilt and unwillingness.
  • Not in This For Your Revolution: Jay started out this way. By the end of the game, he starts showing a couple signs of being The Messiah, although this could very well be influenced after his conversation with Shirley.
  • Nothing Can Stop Us Now: Melanie and Solon. In Melanie's case, she literally says, "This can't be happening!" after the party defeats her.
  • Not So Different: Senel and Walter.
  • Now Where Was I Going Again?: There is a journal Senel keeps in which he writes down events as they happen. The rest of the party also eventually begins to write, so it's all written in first person, with the author of the entry at the top.
  • Numerical Hard: Especially when dealing with four or more Eggtopus monsters...
  • Obviously Evil: Solon. It doesn't help that he, literally, stops and stares at Senel and Shirley when you first see him at Port-on-Rage before he continues on his way.
  • Official Couple: Senel and Stella.
  • Onee-Sama: How Thyra refers to Fenimore when she appears during the Character Quests in the Japanese version.
  • One Head Taller: Grune.
  • Only in It For the Money: Norma's habit of obsessing over money, although this lessens as the game progresses.
  • Only Smart People May Pass: Averted QUITE ridiculously, almost enough to Wow someone with the final Quiz Grandpa's only question, "What is my name"?, with his name right at the top of the dialogue box.
  • Orphan's Plot Trinket: Very likely a deliberate example of this trope: Jay's bell. There is even a flashback with Jay where he states that it may be a clue to finding his family.
  • Our Monsters Are Weird - Ever had to fight a demonic canopy bed?
  • Palette Swap: This is actually a gameplay mechanic - there are "classes" of monster which are essentially just palette swaps. In order for the casters to use new spells, they need a number of drops from two or three different classes, depending on the spell.
  • Parental Abandonment: Senel, Chloe, Jay, and Moses all suffer this, with the last having decided to separate from his parents of his own will. Jay actually suffers this twice, with his biological parents having abandoned him, then again when abandoned by Solon. Norma also ran away from home.
  • Path of Inspiration: The way Nerifes started out, although this trope is subverted after the Main Quest.
  • People Jars: Two examples. One in the Ruins of Frozen Light, which powers and controls the Legacy and is occupied by Stella, and a pair in the Bridge which use the life force of a pair of Ferines to charge and fire the Nerifes Cannon.
  • Percussive Maintenance
  • Perpetual Frowner: Walter.
  • The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Moses' gang doesn't seem to do much stealing... although that could be because Senel kicked the ever-loving crap out of them after they kidnapped Shirley.
  • Plucky Girl: Shirley, so very much. Even during her Face Heel Turn.
  • Power Gives You Wings: The Wings of Light.
  • Power Glows: An eren's fingernails glow when they use eres. The Ferines's hair glows when they're submerged in water. Shirley's hair glows continuously after she completes the Rite of Accession.
  • The Power of Love: Used to convince Shirley to stop the cataclysm...
  • Purity Sue: In-universe, Senel considers Stella to be this. It's soon shown, however, that he's an Unreliable Narrator and she's got quite a jerkish side. Subverted further when her death proves extremely unSuetiful as it solves nothing in the grand scheme of things and only serves to make the world's situation even worse.
  • Quirky Miniboss Squad: The Terrors.
  • Railroading: If a player tries to wander too far on the World Map, a character will stop you, basically telling you that you have no reason to go that way. This keeps players from visiting unrevealed locations at that point in the game. This actually becomes annoying when one is trying to find treasure chests on the map, as it makes you wait to get any chests beyond that point.
  • Randomly Drops
    • Eres Stones, necessary for casting.
    • Flan, of which you find three in chests but need at least eleven for sidequest completition.
  • Redemption Equals Death: Alcott feels this is true. He doesn't get it, though.
  • Replacement Goldfish: Fenimore and her identical twin sister Thyra. Fenimore dies in the main quest. Then Thyra comes in the character quests. She's mad at first and blames Shirley for Fenimore's death (which really wasn't her fault), but after she gets over that, she's pretty much a clone of her sister.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Walter loves delivering these to Senel, and all Orerines in general.
  • The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Both Crusand and Gadoria are guilty of this.
  • Right in Front of Me: Senel, before he finds out about Will and Jay's occupations. He also has this issue with Curtis. In the case with Curtis...

Townsman: Do you realize what you've done?! Do you know who this is?!

  • Romantic Two-Girl Friendship: * ahem*
  • Running Gag: Senel's heavy sleeping habits.
  • Sacrificial Lion: Stella and Fenimore.
  • Say My Name: STELLA!
  • Scenery Porn: While the character models were awkward, and the game used a lot of bright colors, it's clear that they lovingly spent a lot of time on the backgrounds. The dungeons are simply beautiful.
  • Schmuck Bait: The "bed" in the Man-Eating Ruins. Norma, of course, plays the part of the schmuck.
  • Scripted Battle: Many.
  • Shadow Archetype: Schwartz is this to Grune, in addition to being an Evil Twin.
  • Shipper on Deck: Norma, who does this to Senel and Chloe; although more often to Chloe.
  • Ship Sinking: Senel and Chloe during the character quests.
  • Shout-Out:
    • "STELLA!" may be one to A Streat Car Named Desire.
    • Maybe it's because of his seiyuu and who he voiced.
    • The Oresoren do an off-key rendition of Also Sprach Zarathustra" to add a little drama to the party seeing the tram.
    • Moses calling Norma Bubbles and her even getting it as a title has got to be one.
  • Sidequest: The side quests in this game are particularly hard to get. While getting all the treasure chests in the game is a self-imposed side quest, the main side quests in this game are time-limited. You must speak to people at a specific time or during a specific timeframe, or you'll experience Lost Forever for the duration of the game. This also makes it difficult to complete the Collector's Book, because some items cannot be obtained outside of these side quests.
  • Slasher Smile: Solon should win an award for this.
  • Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: In Legendia's case, it is idealism. Especially in the Character Quests; most notably in Grune's.
  • Smug Snake: Cashel and Solon.
  • Solve the Soup Cans: The Puzzle Rooms. There's never any storyline explanation as to why they even exist, which in and of itself creates a ton of Fridge Logic as to why places like a bandits' hideout would have one. On top of that, they're not even required to be solved. At any point during the puzzle, you can elect to solve it automatically and move on. Seeing as how all you get for clearing the puzzles without help is a title for Senel, there's really no good reason to go through with the puzzles unless you're trying for One Hundred Percent Completion.
  • Somebody Else's Problem:
    • Senel's first mindset is that "If it's not about Shirley, it's none of my business, so don't drag me along with it." Pisses off many people. He gets better, though.
    • Moses also counts, when he says, "I just wanna stir somethin' up. This ain't my problem."
  • Spam Attack: Vaclav and Stingle seem to enjoy doing this.
  • Spoiler Opening: Chloe stabbing Senel, as she does during her Character Quest, the scenes with Shirley's hair being colored blue which features her Merines outfit, the fact that Moses and Jay are obviously going to interact a lot as they were introduced together, etc.
  • Stealth-Based Mission: The Frontlines. Getting noticed means you fight a simple battle with a couple enemies... And then you get sent back to the beginning of the screen.
  • Stellar Name: Stella
  • Stepford Smiler: Jay. Moses at times, during his Character Quest. Both Type A.
  • The Stoic: Walter.
  • Surfer Dude: The Grand Gaet. So much for "Mighty One"...
  • Take Over the World: Averted. Very averted. Instead, one villain wants to destroy it, one doesn't care what happens to it, and one just wants to show off the power of the Legacy, whilst trying to destroy Gadoria in the process.
  • Talking the Monster to Death: Senel does this to Maurits and Shirley. In the former's case, however, you do not see the change of heart until after the Main Quest.
  • Team Mom: Grune.
  • Team Pet: Giet, Moses' wolf-like companion
  • Teen Genius: Jay.
  • Terraforming: What the humans/Orerines did to the planet, which was entirely ocean when they landed on it.
  • The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: The stealth mission in chapter four, in which you can be caught at the most ridiculous times. Although, this is averted quite strongly when they don't notice you and you're right behind them or any other very obvious place. Also when you are at a treasure chest and don't click the button when an enemy would have otherwise found you. Not averted at all by Schwartz, or even Solon; both sometimes at ridiculous extremes. Try casting a spell at the same time as Solon. He'll cast Tractor Beam in half the time it takes you to cast it. Then there's Ground Dasher, in which you will find yourself not even halfway across the battlefield at the beginning of the fight by the time he casts the spell, never mind starts the spell (assuming he uses it at the very start of the battle).
  • The Evil Prince: Vaclav.
  • There Are No Tents: Although there are Ducts that will lead you right back to Werites Beacon, where you can find an inn that charges 100 Gald per night. If you're too cheap for that, there is also the Orisoren Village, the Hermitage and the Village of the Ferines; all free, visited at different points of the game, and instantly accessible afterwards via Duct.
  • This Is a Drill: The Earth Javelin. "Drilling is life. Drilling is a dream. Real men drill."
  • This Is Sparta: Senel's "Let... her... go!"
  • Time Skip: There is a two week timeskip in chapter four, as well as a two month timeskip between chapters seven and eight. Senel is the one who mentions it having been two months.
  • Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Stella
  • Took a Level in Badass: Shirley, during her Face Heel Turn.
  • Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Shirley, after failing the Rite of Accession the first time.
  • Trial Balloon Question: Norma and Chloe say some pretty rude things about the Ferines before they find out Shirley is actually one of them. This came up from the rumors of her being the Merines.
  • Trick Twist: While researching The Legacy's origins, it appears as if The Ferines had originally come from outer space; it turns out that it was the humans who had invaded their planet long ago. Jay had figured out the truth though.
  • Try Not to Die: Jay has a habit of teasing the party with this often, namely during the war against Crusand. A bit hypocritical, really, considering he goes on to say to the Oresoren, during the same war, not to talk about giving up their lives, not even as a joke, because he hates it. Look who jokes about it himself.
  • Tsundere: Chloe, Fenimore, Jay, Thyra, and several others.
  • Turncoat:
    • Walter, during the Alliance; although he doesn't stay on your side. Also, Maurits, who goes from being your ally to your enemy, back to being your ally. Then there's Shirley who has a Face Heel Turn and then a Heel Face Turn.
    • Also, Jay in his character quest briefly turns on everyone, because his horrifically evil surrogate father is threatening the Oresorens' lives.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: Walter, Walter, Walter.

Norma: Hey! You would've died if it weren't for us! You could at least say thanks!

    • He later proceeds to try to kill the group again. And even after the Ferines formed an alliance with the Orerines, Walter continues to give the group his usual Jerkass attitude. Honestly, calling him an ungrateful bastard is simply giving him credit by terming it nicely.
  • Unreliable Narrator - Senel's flashbacks about Stella. If interpreted through Shirley's perspective, we see a completely different side of Stella that Senel didn't know about (or neglected to notice).
  • Unsound Effect - Grune, at the Fire Monument. "Think... think... think... Ponder... ponder... ponder... Cogitate... cogitate... cogitate..."
  • Useless Useful Spell: Grune has this problem often with her Sea and Curse elemental spells. Her attacks are very useful and powerful, with one problem being that in certain dungeons, or even a section of some dungeons, almost all the monsters in the given area are Sea or Curse elemental monsters. The other problem being that every spell Grune learns is Sea or Curse, save for Eruption and Absolute. This means if you don't want to lose large amounts of GRADE in these dungeons, in places with mostly Sea monsters, you would need to turn off five of her spells. With Curse monsters, it would be four. The third problem being that Grune only learns a total of eleven spells. Now imagine what it would be like in dungeons that have both of those elements in them.
    • Not really a problem if one allows her only one element, sets her enemy choice to "same" and goes exclusively after an elementally exploitable enemy. It's often best to focus on taking them out one by one in this game, anyway.
  • Unstoppable Rage: Senel, Chloe, Moses and Jay.
  • Verbal Tic - The Oresoren, a race of otters, say "Ors!" a lot
  • The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: The Wings of Light, the Legacy's terraforming device that caused the Cataclysm and will again if the party doesn't stop the villains... for the Main Quest. The Character Quests have the Cradle of Time, Schwartz's private dimension.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds : Moses and Jay start off hating each other, but they start to switch to this in Moses's character quest (notably when Jay worries about Moses when he fails to rise to Jay's usual snarks, and by the end of Jay's character quest, they're solidly in this trope (Moses goes as far as informally adopting Jay as his "little brother".)
  • Warmup Boss: Moses and Giet in chapter one.
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy - Senel, although he's a lot less effeminate than most examples of the trope.
  • Would You Like to Hear How They Died?: Although not hitting this trope on the dot, Solon still manages to hit it with his description of how he wants to kill the Oresoren.
  • Yandere - Shirley during her mental breakdown and possession by Nerifes. She gets better afterwards, not that the fangirls have taken notice...
    • To be fair, she still has some... moments, even in the Character Quests. There's one in particular towards Norma, but it's Played for Laughs.
  • You Are Not Alone: Almost like an actual theme' in the Character Quests.
  • You Can Barely Stand: Walter.
  • You Can't Fight Fate: Schwartz's attitude toward Grune and the rest of the group.
  • You Can't Go Home Again: Will, who was exiled from the mainland. Also, Shirley, whose village was burned.
  • You Shall Not Pass: Walter says this word-for-word in the Wings of Light.

Walter: You... shall not... pass...

  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair:
    • Blue: Grune, Schwartz, and Melanie.
    • Green: Csaba.
  • Your Princess Is in Another Castle:
    • At Mirage Palace. Senel finally fixed what he broke earlier and Shirley thanked him and told him how long she waited to hear that... And then proceeds to announce that she's about to activate the Wings of Light.
    • Happens yet again in the Wings of Light. Maurits is presumably dead, Shirley is back to normal, everyone's about to head back to Werites Beacon... And then the lights start pulsing again... Guess Maurits wasn't dead. And he's taken it upon himself to make sure that the Cataclysm happens one way or another, even if he has to channel Nerifes and activate the Wings of Light himself. Cue final boss of the Main Quest.
  • Zettai Ryouiki: Norma.
  1. ↑ German for green
  2. ↑ German for black
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