The Gamers Alliance

"In a universe where humans, elves, dwarves, gods and demons once existed peacefully, everything is slowly but surely unraveling. The Grand Alliance has risen once more as a candle in the darkness, but traitors lie in wait even in these noble ranks. The Crimson Coalition appears to counter the Alliance with its own goals and motives. Both sides feel their causes are just, both sides are ready to battle to oblivion if necessary. And yet, divided, they don't stand a chance against the massive demon hordes. Can they come together to defeat this threat? Or will darkness triumph over all?"

The Gamer's Alliance, or tGA, is a diceless Play By Post Role-Playing Game set in an original Medieval fantasy world which emphasizes writing and character development over combat. The rules are lax for the most part and allow a free playing environment although they're strict enough to prevent god-moding.

The world of tGA has seen many grand events unfold, most recently a worldwide catastrophe caused by a mysterious beast, the Godslayer. It single-handedly ended a drawn-out war by devouring the two gods responsible for the conflict, and the resulting shift in power rearranged the continents and killed countless people. The beast formed a cult around it and fell asleep shortly after its rampage, and the five nations of the world ended up living in isolation and rebuilding their war-torn kingdoms while dreading what future had in store for them. At the same time the demons, whose god the Godslayer had devoured, got used to their newfound freedom and began massing their forces to take over the world while they quickly conquered the most ravaged nation which became their base of operations. It didn't take long for ambitions to grow even in these dreadful times, however, and various factions rose among the races of the world as more and more people began bidding for power.

After over 10 years of relative peace, sinister forces stirred, forcing old and new heroes to form the Grand Alliance to oppose this rising threat. However, a few of the Alliance's enemies reacted by doing the unthinkable: they put their differences aside and formed the Crimson Coalition to counter the Alliance. The goals of these rival armies escalated into a new war while the demons, the Godslayer's cult and a few neutral factions observed the conflict. Despite their different ideals, the Alliance and the Coalition have their equal share of heroes and villains, thus blurring the line of good and evil.

It remains to be seen whether the armies, bickering races and long-time rivals can eventually put aside their differences and combine their strength to face the looming threats of the Godslayer's cult, demons, rogue gods, The Undead and even ambitious individuals, all of whom have plans of their own. The world of tGA is not a happy place to live in, but heroes on all sides are willing to fight against the odds in order to reach for a better tomorrow.

Even though the world of tGA has its share of fantasy elements such as elves, dwarves, dragons, magic and such, there are also other elements such as the occasional airship, pirates, samurai, communists, fundies, the Soap, a gruesome elven plague, zombies and, last and least, Scuns. The stories have their share of dramatic elements, but humour is present as well. The world currently consists of five nations, each of which has various factions with different motives.

The game started out as a small ezboard in early 2000 and later moved to its current server. In its earliest years the plots were mainly individual quests with derivative characters and settings but these storylines were later weaved together into a coherent, original Myth Arc which is still ongoing. The history of the RP has been compiled into a comprehensive wiki(mirror), but no prior knowledge of the plot is required to join and participate in the story.

Tropes used in The Gamers Alliance include:
  • Above Good and Evil: The Godslayer considers itself above other creatures, sees gods as relics of the past which must be wiped out, feels good and evil are needless concepts, uses its acolytes to spread prosperity and a new world order, and wishes to increase its knowledge by any means necessary. In its views the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, even if that means sacrificing many innocents along the way.
  • Action Girl: Ax, Rhylian and Vaetris among others.
  • Action Mom: Glaurung, Skye and Varalia all have kids and kick ass. If you dare threaten or harm their children, you'd better run away while you still have legs to carry you.
  • Adventure Duo: Kaizoku and Shuu are a villainous version of this trope, the former being relatively straight and the other being quite quirky.
  • Affably Evil: Hannibal is a teenager who likes to flirt with girls, obeys his mother, trains with his servants and generally treats people in a friendly manner. And he is just as determined as his Big Bad mother to take over the world.
    • Vaetris also counts when she's acting as the heroes' ally.
  • After the End: All tGA ages began after a catastrophe that ended the previous age. The current plot is set 11 years after the latest disaster known as the Cataclysm.
  • All of the Other Reindeer: Shyralis is bullied because she's a half-elf with snake-like eyes.
  • All Your Base Are Belong to Us: The Yamato Empire and the Clergy of Mardük lead a surprise attack on the Aisonian capital of Myridia during the Yamatian Invasion arc.
  • The Alliance: The Grand Alliance. The Crimson Coalition is the Alliance's seemingly villainous counterpart. Then again, most of the story has only been seen through the eyes of the Alliance so far...
  • Exclusively Evil: Initially played straight with demons until it is revealed that not all of them are bloodthirsty monsters.
  • Amnesiac Dissonance: Happens to Ronove after the siege of Vanna when he recovers his memories and remembers that he used to be a Dreadlord of one of the demon hordes. He leaves his human friends behind and rejoins the demons, acting like a seemingly cruel Manipulative Bastard as most demons do, but he also still seems to harbor some feelings for his former companions in the Alliance who he is now forced to oppose.
  • Amplifier Artifact: The magic swords Dawn and Dusk.
  • Ancestral Weapon: Refan's sword Smaragdos once belonged to his father Omaroch who in turn got it from his father Malakhia.
  • Ancient Conspiracy: The Order of the Black Rose has existed since the First Age and has plotted behind the scenes to subtly take over the kingdoms one by one by infiltrating the top levels of government.
  • Animate Inanimate Object: The Soap. The people of the world need it for the sake of clean, happy mouths everywhere!
  • Another Dimension: There are quite a few such as the High Plane, the Demon Realm and the Land of the Dead to name a few. However, the majority of the story takes place in the ordinary world.
  • Anyone Can Die: This happens quite a few times and often to major characters. Not all of them come back from the dead, and this includes prominent heroes.
  • Anti-Anti-Christ: After some soul-searching, Jemuel chooses to openly defy the lich warlock Drishnek even though Drishnek wants him to fulfill his destiny as the champion of the Underworld.

Drishnek: I brought you back to be Death's champion! MY champion! Remember the hate that you had for this world last time you left it!
Jemuel: No...you DESTROYED that man when you tortured his soul into becoming your servant, don't you understand!? I am Jemuel, born in Remon...I am Jemuel the Wise, Lord of Alent! I am Jemuel, and I will be your demise!

  • Anti-Hero: Although Belial works for the Grand Alliance, he is ruthless and does whatever is necessary to make his Order grow more powerful.

Belial: Yes, I've been using you for my own gain, but it's been out of necessity. Things are hardly ever black and white in this Age of Emptiness. We all must do what we can to survive even if it means we need to act in...less pleasant ways.

  • Anti-Villain: Kagetsu I deeply cares for his subordinates and loves his wife Marya above anything else. He knows that his plan of destroying the world is an unfortunate but necessary step to create an everlasting utopia but he hesitates when he has to choose whether to sacrifice Marya to make his dream come true.
  • Apocalypse Maiden: Leon becomes this when he almost manages to regain his Andain powers during the First Battle of Remonton. He realizes at that moment that as long as he exists as a revenant, his existence will eventually make magic disappear and cause the end of the world. He gets better when he is revived as a full mortal for his services to the forces of Light. However, fate has a nasty way of making things worse when the Godslayer appears and causes the Cataclysm anyway.
  • Apocalyptic Log: The elven sages' diaries about the Blood Fever. The first entries show some curious, out of the ordinary events in the sages' lives, but as the entries progress, the effects of the Blood Fever start showing up in more gruesome ways and the writings become increasingly desperate and terrified, eventually culminating in the respective final entries where the writers perform a Heroic Sacrifice to end the plague... which doesn't work because the plague shows up deadlier than ever in the present day.
  • The Archmage: Jemuel is given the title of archmage because he is a very powerful de facto leader of the Council of Mages which rules over the Magicracy of Alent during the Third Age.
  • Aristocrats Are Evil: Played straight with Martin Struan and Koschei Dravaris and averted with various Maar Sulais nobles.
  • Armies Are Evil: Soldiers of Lea Monde and the Yamato Empire.
  • Asskicking Equals Authority: The way of life for demons.
  • The Atoner: Omaroch becomes this after the Cataclysm. Marcus is also headed for this direction now that he has broken free of Shyralis's control and wants to set things right again.
  • Attempted Rape: Happens twice to Ax who fights off the attacker.
  • Authority Equals Asskicking: The archdemons are immensely more powerful than their subordinates. Various monarchs and military officers of tGA world also fit this trope.
  • Avenging the Villain: When a minor villain named Dorecia is killed, her lover Ferron promises to hunt down her killer who turns out to be Refan. Belial wants to avenge the death of his brother Antigonus who opposed various heroes in the past, and this later gets reversed when Antigonus comes back to life and finds out Belial has been assassinated.
  • Back for the Dead: Marya and Mori'sul in the Godslayer arc. One ends up setting the stage for a power-hungry prince's return to the political stage of Maar Sul before committing suicide, the other is crushed by a collapsing temple while saving the heroes from certain death.
  • Back from the Dead: Drishnek, Jemuel, Leon and the Silverbranch brothers.
  • Badass Beard: Belial, Khasra, Orestes, Pronin, Refan and Taliesin have these.
  • Badass Bookworm: Richelieu has glasses and looks frail, but his spells really pack a punch, going so far as to take out brainwashed Jemuel, an archmage, out of all people.
  • Badass Family: Clan d'Zarnagon, House Aurelac, and House Ardyn definitely count. Their members have proven their mettle many times in fields of battle as well as in political scheming.
  • Badass Normal: Many characters such as Ax and Despard.
  • Bad Dreams: Refan suffers from these and their content foreshadows that he is a half-demon.
  • Bald Black Leader Guy: Ismail served as the captain of the Black Guard of Vanna until his death in a duel against Leraje.
  • Bald of Evil: The elven mercenary Lucky is a shining example of this.
  • Baleful Polymorph: A curse temporarily turns Shyralis into a goat.
  • Ballroom Blitz: The Nightstalker gang crashes the ball in the Maar Sulais citadel, causes general havoc and kidnaps the elven mage Tiyana before the heroes can stop them.
  • The Baroness: Shyralis and Vaetris after she reveals herself as the Duchess of the Eastern Horde.
  • Bastard Understudy: Jemuel to Dante. Zarnagon to Distreyd XII.
  • Beard of Evil: Played straight with Koschei and Pronin and averted with Belial, Khasra III and Omaroch.
  • Beard of Sorrow: Refan grows a beard after his Heroic BSOD.
  • Beast and Beauty: Omaroch is a demon warrior and Delora ia a human cleric. Despite their opposite alignments, they bond and learn valuable lessons from one another, and eventually get married.
  • Beast Man: The Beastmaster (aka Maiyr Korath) has the ability to mutate and command various beasts of the forest. He puts his skill to good use when he sends his beastly minions to openly attack the elven capital Sanae.
  • Bed Trick: The goddess Hivena turns into Rhylian in order to fool Nesa into sleeping with her.
  • Being Tortured Makes You Evil: Tanya and Kaizoku were originally decent fellows but the Clergy of Mardük catches them and brainwashes them into obedient servants. Kaizoku breaks out of it, but Tanya on the other hand...
  • Berserk Button: Do not insult Razia in front of Belial if you want to keep your head attached to your shoulders.
  • The Berserker: Razoul and the warriors of the Black Guard in general. They tend to devour Drakeroot before battle in order to become more ferocious and powerful, but the root also has the side effect of turning them into nearly mindless brutes as a result.
  • Beta Test Baddie: Rune is a clone of Jemuel and wants to show his superiority by becoming more powerful than him.
  • Bi the Way: Ax, Leon and Ronove like both boys and girls.
  • Big Bad: Several during various eras:
  • Big Bad Ensemble: Many major antagonists are working for different goals separate from one another during the Godslayer era:
  • Bigger Bad: The Nameless Evil, who took over the god Dreamweaver's body and became Death, has turned out to have influenced all the previous BigBads in a gamble of cosmic proportions.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Several of these. In one instance the treacherous advisor Firion and his minions are about to assassinate the elven king Amandil but the heroes arrive at the palace just in time to save the king.
  • Big Eater: Ronove can devour a lot of food, and he'll get hungry not long after he's finished eating.
  • Big Screwed-Up Family: The Matheson Crime Family and Clan d'Zarnagon.
  • Bilingual Bonus: There have been occasional sentences and words in e.g. Finnish, French, German, Japanese and Russian.
  • Biological Mashup: A dragon, an archdemon and a mage join together into one entity known as the Godslayer.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Desdemona.
  • Black Best Friend: Ismail is Belial's best friend. They met each other for the first time when Belial began spending time with Sultana Razia whom Ismail served as the captain of the guard in Vanna. The two men instantly got along and actually began teaching each other about their respective cultures, gaining mutual respect over the years which turned into a lasting friendship. When Razia's twin sister Adela usurped the throne, Ismail was sent into exile. Belial immediately offered him and the other exiled people a sanctuary in his Maar Sulais home, and Ismail returned the favour by becoming Belial's bodyguard as well as the mentor of Belial's son.
  • Black Cloak: Worn by clerics of Mardük and Totenkopfs.
    • Ragnar and Refan are the rare heroic examples wearing a black cloak... at least until Refan does a Face Heel Turn.
  • Black Knight: Wulfgar and Ulrik.
  • Black Magic: Oh yes.
  • Black Sheep: Jeremiah and Omaroch had to suffer a lot in their respective families.
  • Blond Guys Are Evil: Both Geraden and Hannibal are evil blond guys.
  • Body Surf: Drishnek likes to do this. Every time he swaps bodies, the body he leaves behind dies.
  • Bodyguard Betrayal: Hannibal is betrayed by his new bodyguard Caliban who turns out to be working for the Totenkopfs.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: Zarnagon does this to Refan's friend Jessica and sends her to kill Refan.
  • Break the Cutie: Marya is a kind character but after her husband Kagetsu I's sealing she is forced to live her life as a wandering prostitute. Things get better for her for a while when she is reunited with Kagetsu but then Arawn kidnaps and rapes her. Marya is saved but only gets to spend a little while with Kagetsu who is later killed in battle. Marya is an immortal but her beloved Kagetsu is now dead so she realizes that she has to live her life without him for all eternity. This finally makes her snap, and she turns into a cold, ruthless individual who later kidnaps and corrupts Prince Geraden Aurelac of Maar Sul, going even so far as to boink him in order to control him. Once she's made sure Geraden can take over Maar Sul, she suffers from guilt of all the nasty things she's done and commits suicide with poison in order to be reunited with Kagetsu.
  • Break the Haughty: Amano and various other Yamatians suffer this fate when the rebels they thought of as "weak" end up beating their asses.
  • Brother-Sister Incest: Desdemona and Mordecai.
  • Butt Monkey: Pretty much every Scun ever.
  • Cain and Abel: Refan and Zarnagon, Leraje and Ronove.
  • Call Back: Lots of these. For example Leon reacts violently to seeing Drishnek as he recalls that Drishnek's former master Taro Ofuchi killed Leon's best friend Hiroshi Hayabusa in an earlier plot.
  • Captured Super Entity: Awar manages to trap the god Shakkan into a shard of Krystallopyr, prompting the heroes to find a way to set the god free.
  • The Captain: Ax, Kaizoku and Varalia among others.
  • Cavalry Betrayal: During the Second Battle of Victoire a regiment of Proninists disguised as Scun Loyalists manage to fool the Maar Sulais army into letting them get closer until it's too late and force the Maar Sulais to flee.
  • Chained to a Rock: The Sirithai do this to a few heroes, prompting the other heroes to challenge the monster in the Sirithai arena to save their friends.
  • Changing of the Guard: Khalid, who is revealed to be Belial's son at Belial's funeral, decides to continue the mission which Belial began. Razoul continued his father Ismail's mission as the captain of the Black Guard
  • Character Development: Lots of it for both heroes and villains.
  • The Chessmaster: Distreyd I, Iblis and the Master.
  • A Child Shall Lead Them: Gerard becomes the King of Maar Sul in his early teens and comes up with a plan to capture Pronin whose forces are besieging Maar Sul City.
  • Child by Rape: Unithien and her half-brother Ildor were both conceived this way when two powerful men raped their mother Varalia.
  • The Chooser of the One: During the Stirrings of Chaos plot, the elven cleric Schuldich Cedheros is the sole survivor of the massacre of his order and is sent by the Gods of Order to find wielders for two special weapons, Dusk and Dawn, which the chosen ones will be destined to use to fight the forces of Chaos. Schuldich manages to deliver Dusk to its intended bearer but narrowly fails with Dawn (he did find two candidates for Dawn's intended bearer but before he could figure out which of the two women were meant to have the sword, an evil goddess appeared, killed him and stole the sword right in front of the women's noses).
    • Leon also ends up in this role when he is tasked with finding the bearer of the Silver Branch whose destiny is to stop the Landpoison of Yamato and heal the wound on the earth caused by the dark god Mardük's tainted magic.
  • The Chosen One: Marcus is destined to become the King of Remon and the wielder of Dusk. Ax is said to be the chosen wielder of Dawn but after Nergal's emotional taunting she begins wondering if she's not actually the intended wielder but only meant to deliver the sword to the true chosen one.
  • Cincinnatus: When Gerard comes of age, Leon willingly abdicates the throne of Maar Sul to him. However, some people, most notably Geraden, see him as an usurper who only abdicated the throne in order to control the throne from behind the scenes.
  • Civil War: Grandbell, Libaterra and Remon have it rough.
  • The Clan: Maar Sul and Scundia are full of these, for example the House of Aurelac and Clan Mallorein. Demons have clans too.
  • Clear My Name: Marcus has to do this during the Great War when Yamatians frame him for slaughtering defenseless villagers in Remon.
  • Cloning Blues: Shamshir, Venom and Rune are clones of Jemuel who are active during the Great War.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Ronove, when suffering from amnesia, really doesn't understand what's going on most of the time. For example, when demons are about to invade Vanna, he decides to go on a picnic and convince the demons to surrender by offering them cake.
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: The Church of the Memory of Cardia and the Clergy of Mardük are fond of this.
  • Colliding Criminal Conspiracies: Happens when the Nightstalkers end up entangled in the complex plots of Matheson Crime Family, the Order of the Black Rose and the Totenkopf cult, all of which take place in Maar Sul City. The gang tries to make the most out of it in the dangerous environment but does suffer quite a bit along the way because they simply aren't powerful enough to upstage the other influential factions in their own game.
  • Colonel Badass: Nobuo and Samachi are very competent although the former doesn't show it unless he's forced to act.
  • Combat by Champion: Ismail vs. Leraje during the siege of Vanna.
  • Combat Pragmatist: A few such as Ax, Briss and Refan. They fight dirty whenevery they can, using their enemies' weaknesses to their advantage.
  • Combat Tentacles: The Shadow loves morphing his hands into shadowy tentacles to dispose of his enemies.
  • Commie Land: Scundia becomes this after the Proninist Party has conquered it.
  • Cool Airship: The M.S.S. Pandora and the Imperator.
  • Cool Boat: The Behemoth, the Eroean, the Flaming Monkey, the Hiltraud, the Law, the Lesbian Seagull and the Proletariat are the most (in)famous examples that come to mind.
  • Cool Horse: Ax's horse Widowmaker aka Dubya.
  • Cool Mask: Leopold has one.
  • Cool Old Guy: Josiah and Harrad are cool, old and eccentric wizards.
  • Corrupt Church: Clergy of Mardük originally promoted freedom of choice but became twisted when its deity Mardük was consumed by madness. The Church of the Memory of Cardia has also been acting not-so-nobly lately.
  • Cosmic Plaything: The Guy Who The Gods Like To Pick On has it pretty rough because for some weird reason the gods really do like to pick on him all the time. He ends up from one miserable situation into another and can't even kill himself because the gods like to keep him alive to humiliate him.
  • Cosmopolitan Council: The council of the Crimson Coalition consists of leaders of different factions from all around the world.
  • Cradling Your Kill: Refan does this after he has killed Awar in the aftermath of the siege of Vanna.
  • Cryptic Conversation: Taliesin talks to Leon about the Laws of the Andain by using riddles because he feels every Andain must figure out the laws and their meanings themselves with no outside help.
  • Cult: The Mullencamp are entirely devoted to serving the Losstarot line. The Totenkopfs are worshipping the Master as the avatar of death.
  • Daddy Had a Good Reason For Abandoning You: When Omaroch is reunited with his son Refan, he explains to him why he has been absent for so many years and wasn't around to save Refan's mother from death. He had in fact been kidnapped by demons and was thus unable to help his family when they needed him the most. Although he claims that he managed to flee from demons, the truth ends up being much more horrific: he was actually tortured and brainwashed to become a servant of the dark god Mardük and was ordered to return to the world of mortals to make sure his sons would fulfill an ancient prophecy which would result in Mardük's resurrection. He eventually breaks free from the god's taint but at that point it's too late because his actions end up causing the Cataclysm as well as turning his son into a bitter, fallen hero. He does his best trying to set things straight and regain his sons' trust, but so far it's been futile.
  • Dances and Balls: The Maar Sulais ball starts out alright but then things start to get weirder and weirder as it progresses, or how else would you describe it when the herald suddenly introduces a freaking lion which promptly devours four nearby Scuns?
  • Dark Action Girl: Adela, Desdemona, Endoran, Etna, Glaurung, Shyralis, Tarna, Vaetris, Varalia and Zenobia among others.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Some of the demons such as Omaroch and Ronove are not as bad as one might think. The Forgotten are not as villainous as the Clergy of Mardük even though both worship the dark god Mardük.
  • Dark Messiah: Glaurung is a very charismatic leader with great oratory skills. However, her plans of creating an utopia are... quite unorthodox.
  • Dead Person Impersonation: Geraden takes the identity of Oswald Flynn. He discards the false identity after he has gathered enough followers to take over Port Dunross from the Proninist Party.
  • Dead Person Conversation: The heroes talk to the spirits of the dead in Tes Pellaria.
  • Death by Childbirth: Viirsa gives birth to Kaisa and dies in her lover Hector's arms in the aftermath of the infiltration of Myridia during the Great War.
  • Death Is Dramatic: Played straight with Belial, Hiroshi Hayabusa, Ismail and Leon among others. Averted with Koryaksky who dies an undignified death in a back alley.
  • Decoy Damsel: Mordecai is a male variant. He is seemingly kidnapped by the Totenkopfs for some nefarious ends. It later turns out it was all a ruse and he has in fact been working for them all along and put up the act of being kidnapped so that he can operate more freely without worrying about tipping off the heroes.
  • Defector From Decadence: Omaroch wants do something else with his life than just randomly kill people like other demons do. This leads him to enter the Land of the Living and he eventually falls in love with a human cleric, leaving his old life behind and siding with humans against his kin.
  • Demon Lords and Archdevils: Each of the four demon hordes has an archdemon leading it, but a few independent archdemons exist as well. The known archdemons are Hepnaz, Malphas, Nina, Pazuzu, Vaetris, Omaroch, Yurius, Nhrakate and Malakhia.
  • De-Power: Leon loses his Andain powers when he is resurrected. All mortals lose their innate magical abilities after the Cataclysm caused by the Godslayer.
  • Designated Girl Fight: Ax vs. Varalia in the Ruined Kingdom.
  • Determinator: Leopold and Orestes stop at nothing to get the job done.
  • Determined Widow: Marya becomes a dark version of this after her husband Kagetsu bites the dust. She doesn't take his death well, and after a long period of mourning she becomes fixated on making his dream become real, going so far as kidnapping and corrupting a prince to do her bidding while acting as his Evil Mentor, setting the stage for a brutal civil war in Maar Sul, and subtly opposing the Grand Alliance which she had once called friends. Once she has done all this and made sure that the prince will carry out her mission, she is overcome by guilt of all the horrible things she has done to achieve her husband's dream, and she commits suicide to be reunited with Kagetsu in the afterlife.
  • Deus Ex Machina: When Leon is about to die in battle, a black wolf appears all of a sudden and saves his life. It later turns out that the wolf was in fact Kagetsu I whom Leon had unknowingly freed earlier. Technically Kagetsu was only a half-god, though.
  • Diabolical Mastermind: Vesuvius Matheson is the wealthy head of the far-reaching Matheson Crime Family which owns the city of Matheson and has his minions infiltrating or bribing many government officials in Maar Sul. He hatches elaborate schemes to strengthen his power base, even going so far as to fund the Proninist invasion of Maar Sul.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: The heroes work together to defeat Nergal, the God of War, in combat.
  • Dirty Communists: The Proninist Party. They have cake.

Pronin: Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your lives, your freedom, and all of your worldly possessions!

  • Dirty Cop: George Bush is a SAVAGE officer secretly working for the Totenkopfs.
  • Disability Superpower: Jono is blind but it doesn't stop him from kicking ass.
  • Disappeared Dad: Omaroch to Refan and Zarnagon.
  • Damsel in Distress: Amarawyn and Marya both get in trouble a few times, prompting heroes to save them from kidnappers.
  • Dude in Distress: Happens to Refan when the Sirithai capture him and tie him into the arena where he is to be sacrificed to the monstrous Plushiebunny.
  • Divide and Conquer: Jemuel plays both the Grand Alliance and the Yamato Empire against each other during the Great War in order to carve his empire while the two are busy fighting.
  • Divine Parentage: The half-god Andain. The most famous Andain have been Kagetsu I, Leon, Pooka and Taliesin.
  • Do with Him as You Will: A villainous variant happens to Awar after the siege of Vanna. Ronove, who has betrayed his former companions in the Grand Alliance and has become the new Dreadlord of the Northern Horde, uses his authority to free Awar from demon captivity... only to end up handing him over to a pissed off Refan whose adoptive little sister Awar had killed some time earlier. Refan executes Awar then and there.
  • Doomed Hometown: This happens to Skye when the Clergy of Mardük and Yamatians raze her hometown because it helped the Grand Alliance on its quest to liberate Remon from the Yamatian yoke.
  • Double Entendre: Ronove's ramblings are often taken the wrong way. On one occasion he asks if he can taste Ax's cherry pie. He actually wants to trade pie recipes with her and isn't thinking of anything sexual but everyone around them misunderstands the conversation. Hilarity Ensues.
  • The Dragon: Several:
    • Sydney Losstarot War: Yurius.
    • Ofuchi Usurpation: Drishnek.
    • Manster Rebellion: Kagetsu I.
    • Arawn Losstarot War: Gordius.
    • The Great War: Zarnagon.
    • Godslayer arc:
      • Endoran, Orestes and Leopold for Glaurung of the Crimson Coalition.
      • Varalia for Xerathas of the Grey Cult.
      • Koschei for the Master of the Totenkopfs.
      • Leraje, and later Ronove for Malphas of the Northern Horde.
      • Nina for Vaetris of the Eastern Horde.
      • Naamah for Pazuzu of the Western Horde.
      • Richelieu for Jemuel of the Magicracy of Alent.
      • Iblis for Adela during the first half of the Vanna arc.
  • Dragon Ascendant: Yurius becomes the next Big Bad when his master and father figure Sydney is killed. Richelieu ends up as this when Jemuel is frozen in stasis inside the beam of Alent.
  • Dragon with an Agenda: Ronove for Malphas.
  • Dreaming of Things to Come: Kaisa and Leon have these.
  • Dressing as the Enemy: The heroes use this tactic to infiltrate a city held by the Clergy of Mardük.
  • Driven to Suicide: Poor Marya finally cracks when she becomes guilt-ridden by all the bad things she's done.
  • Drowning My Sorrows: Ax, Nobuo and Refan do this often.
  • Dual-Wielding: Ismail, Khalid and Vaetris all dual wield swords.
  • Dude Looks Like a Lady: Izael is often confused for a woman because of his pretty face.
  • Duel to the Death: There have been plenty of these, the most brutal ones being Arawn vs. Leon, Amano vs. Ax and Leraje vs. Ismail.
  • Eccentric Mentor: Harrad. Candy machine, anyone?
  • Eldritch Abomination: The Nameless Evil is a force beyond comprehension except that it is evil. Its true form is enough to drive the god Dreamweaver mad, and its whispers can corrupt even the purest and most powerful individuals if given enough time. Its reasons (if any) for doing the things it does remain a mystery.
  • Elemental Embodiment: Elementals are rare but powerful creatures whose power is rivalled only by the gods and the dragons. A fire elemental burned down the military school Graves Hall and most of the students and masters, an ice elemental froze one quarter of Remonton and over half of its citizens, and an earth elemental killed off hundreds of demons.
  • Elite Mooks: The Blessed are the Master's most fearsome Totenkopf minions. The Coalition's S-Class Mullencamp are deadly efficient warriors and mages who are only surpassed by the Vulfsatz in effectiveness. Demons of Hoch class, particularly the Black Death squad, are surpassed only by the Dreadlords and the archdemons in raw power and cunning.
  • The Emperor: Takeshi Ofuchi.
  • The Empire: Yamato before it was taken over by demons.
  • Enemy Civil War: Although the four demon hordes want to take over the world and enslave "lesser beings", they also fight brutally against one another for power. Duchess Vaetris intends to change all that, however, by uniting the bickering hordes under one banner in order to take over the world.
  • Enemy Mine: Kagetsu I begins working with the Grand Alliance against Arawn when the Alliance saves his wife Marya from Arawn's stronghold. Likewise a group of clerics of Mardük and Samachi work with the Alliance during the battle of Vanna despite their animosity which stems all the way from the Great War.
  • Energy Beings: The Dwellers are manifestations of the Essence although they often take spider-like forms before attacking their prey.
  • Enfant Terrible: Young Arawn and Yurius.
  • Enigmatic Minion: The Shadow and Simon.
  • Enslaved Elves: The Sarquil use dark-skinned desert elves, whom they have conquered in various wars, as slaves. Some of the Alliance members don't like it, but some others are perfectly fine with it.
  • Ephebophile: Galeras likes to have sex with teenager boys. Marya ends up boinking the 16-year-old Geraden in order to control him.
  • Et Tu, Brute?: Belial is betrayed and killed by his niece Desdemona.
  • Evil All Along: Cain, Desdemona, Mordecai and Vaetris during the Godslayer era.
  • Evil Chancellor: Drishnek to Jemuel and Iblis to Adela. On the one hand Iblis was behind the equally villainous Sultana Adela's rise to power and did his best to aid her over the years, a job in which he succeeded admirably. However, in the end he betrayed Adela during the battle against the Grand Alliance and revealed that he had ultimately been working for the demonic Southern Horde with the sole intention of weakening Vanna from within for his true masters' upcoming invasion. He had thus been playing both Adela and the Alliance against each other while furthering his own goals.
  • Evil Eye: Dante hypnotizes Leon to do his bidding for a time during the Great War. His eye can control a person and put a geas on his victim which forces the victim to subconsciously obey his orders. Leon learned this the hard way when he found out that all his actions during the Yamatian Invasion arc had in fact been Dante's all along.
  • Evil Gloating: The Master loves these.

The Master: You've outlived your usefulness, Belial de Ardyn. Die knowing that you've failed in your mission and that you've helped me achieve my goals!
Belial: You're gravely mistaken. I still hold enough power to defeat both you and Kos.
The Master: It is you who are mistaken! You've digged your own grave by underestimating me! Did you really think that I would've played all my cards this early in the game?

  • Evil Is Not a Toy: A greedy mage releases Yurius who immediately kills him.
  • Evil Matriarch: Grand Duchess Nhrakate fits this trope to a T.
  • Evil Overlord: There have been plenty of these, for example Mardük, Masamori Hyuga and Sydney Losstarot.
  • Evil Power Vacuum: When King Renu dies in the First Age, his kingdom becomes a battleground for rival factions until the Mullencamp cult led by Sydney Losstarot defeats the other factions and takes over. Demons begin fighting against each other when their master Mardük kicks the bucket in the Cataclysm during the Third Age.
  • The Evil Prince: Prince Geraden, the cousin of the current King Gerard Aurelac de Maar Sul, was kidnapped as a baby and ended up corrupted into an amoral, power-hungry warrior. He sees his younger cousin as a weak, easily manipulative fool who has in his view robbed him of his rightful throne and that it is his destiny to turn Maar Sul into a powerful, feared kingdom which it once was. Emira Adela al-Saif ends up killing her twin sister Razia in order to become the Sultana of Vanna.
  • Evil Redhead: Vaetris and her sister Nina. It runs in the family.
  • Evil Sorcerer: Arawn, Distreyd, Iblis, Ofuchi, Zarnagon...
  • Evil Tower of Ominousness: The Dark Tower in Myridia during Zarnagon and Xerathas's reign.
  • Evil Weapon: The Sword of Darkness can't be sheathed until it has tasted blood.
  • Extreme Omnivore: Ronove eats pretty much anything.
  • Face Heel Turn: Abel makes this very clear by adapting the name Cain once he's turned to the dark side. The heroes are oblivious to his new, treacherous nature and think he's only acting emo because of his embarrassing encounter with a lustful mage earlier in the story.
    • Also happens to Refan and Ronove after the siege of Vanna.
  • The Fair Folk: The Faerfolc are mysterious and powerful beings who can turn out to be friendly (provide a blessing) or hostile (kill or torture anyone who trespasses on their lands) depending on the circumstances... and what mood they happen to be in when you meet them. When they were released from captivity, they offered cryptic advice to the heroes but later on rampaged in Libaterra, killing hundreds of people in their lust for revenge before retreating back to the forests to live their life in peace. Currently the fey have two factions: the neutral, tradition-bound ones led by Morrigan who wish to live away from the corruption of mortal civilizations, and the fanatic destroyers led by Curdardh who wish to purge the world from "impure" races.
  • Fake Defector: Briss betrays the heroes and escorts one of the heroes' enemies to Trinity Gask where he hopes to meet with the Big Bad.
  • Fallen Hero: Kagetsu I was originally a revered hero until his dream of a better world drove him to attempt to destroy the world and create it anew as an utopia.
  • False Friend: Ferron to Refan during the Great War arc.
  • Familiar: Some mages have familiars, for example Antigonus has Bifrons the rat, Belial has Valefor the raven, and Josiah has Artagel the cat.
  • Fantastic Racism: The anti-elven movement in Remon gets so bad that humans pretty much hunt down any elves they can find and vice versa until the dark elf Mori'sul finally manages to calm things down. The Sarquil tribes of Libaterra use dark-skinned desert elves as slaves and kill any lizardmen they can find. Demons see all non-demon races as inferior which in their view justifies that they can use these "lesser races" as slaves and food.
  • Fantasy Pantheon: Various gods live in the High Plane and are basically divided into factions supporting Chaos, Order or Neutrality. Each god and goddess is a jerkass to a degree.
  • Fantasy World Map: Yes there is.
  • Fetch Quest: Quite a few such as the quest for the Cricket Ball of Magic.
  • Feuding Families: The Jardines and the Mathesons.
  • Fiery Redhead: Vaetris.
  • Fighting a Shadow: The Shadow comes back to life more powerful than its previous form if it's killed.
  • Find the Cure: Rhylian is desperately searching for a cure to the Blood Fever, a disease which is fatal to elves.
  • Five-Bad Band:
  • Flash Back: Quite a few for various characters.
  • Floating Continent: Alent in the First Age of tGA.
  • Fluffy the Terrible: Plushiebunny's second form is downright frightening, being able to swallow grown men whole while grinning evilly.
  • Foe-Tossing Charge: Refan and Zarnagon go at each other by using this method.
  • Foreshadowing: Lots of it. Many of the plots, characters and objects that made cameo appearances in earlier chapters become more prominent as the story moves on.
  • Forged by the Gods: The swords Dawn, Dokubaraken, Dusk, and Morninglight.
  • Four Is Death: The four archdemons and the Vulfsatz.
  • Gayngster: Galeras Matheson oh so very much. He prefers young boys but doesn't turn down any handsome man if he happens to see one.
  • Gang-Bangers: The Nightstalkers are a gang of thugs with big plans for rising up in the Maar Sulais criminal hierarchy.
  • Geas: The archdemon Malphas ends up under a geas when he kisses fellow archdemon Nina Heeate's enchanted ring, and the geas forces him to serve Nina's every whim. It turns out that Nina was using magic and her female physique to mess with Malphas's mind, which confused Malphas enough to make the geas take effect. Nina doesn't keep Malphas on a tight leash, however, and instead lets him do what he wishes as long as he doesn't stand in her horde's way. The geas also requires Malphas to keep his mouth shut about the whole endeavour, further ensuring that Nina's part in the whole mess stays out of the limelight.
  • Genius Bruiser: Ismail. He's strong but also knows how to use his wits in battle.
  • Gentle Giant: Daven and Ismail, despite their size, are actually quite gentle outside combat, Daven even more so because of his experience.
  • Ghost City: Dar'Cenrath aka the Ruined Kingdom. It used to be a big city until its population was sacrificed to bind an evil dragon within a magical diamond.
  • Giant Mook: The demon colossus during the siege of Vanna.
  • Gladiator Games: The heroes have to fight in an underground arena against the monstrous Plushiebunny for the amusement of the Sirithai.
  • Glorious Leader: Dylas and Pronin pretend to be saviours of their people but are actually power-hungry tyrants who use people for their own purposes and aren't afraid to break a few eggs to make an omelette.
  • Glory Days: When Agarwaen becomes the King of Manster, he starts yearning for the days when he was still a free adventurer.
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom: The eyes of demons and half-demons start glowing when they're about to kick some major ass.
  • Go Back to the Source: Khasra III enters the cursed city of Xar Daeon to purify it from the taint of darkness, which helps him weaken demons' regenerative powers. The heroes of the Grand Alliance are given the task of locating the source of the Blood Fever in order to put an end to it.
  • A God Am I: Zarnagon sees himself as a god and makes people worship him as such when he becomes the Witch-king of Myridia. He and two others later fuse together and transcend into a godly being known as the Godslayer.
    • Arawn also aspired to become a godly sorcerer and he would've succeeded unless those pesky Andain hadn't sacrificed themselves to stop him.
  • God in Human Form: Gods fill this role whenever they possess a willing mortal host.
  • God Save Us From the Queen: Played straight with Adevia of Alenia and Adela of Vanna. Averted with Shyla of Lutherin and Razia of Vanna.
  • Good All Along: The Sirithai lizardfolk are introduced as violent human-eating monsters but are later revealed to be misunderstood victims of persecution from the Clergy of Artemicia. They still won't hesitate to brutally slaughter and eat captives but they're also willing to listen to reason once their opponents have proven their worth to them.
  • The Good King: Khasra Mallorein III of Scundia is a pretty decent and wise fellow even though he tends to also be a Deadpan Snarker and occasionally seduces and has sex with other people's wives. Gerard Aurelac of Maar Sul also becomes a good king when he's finally given the crown and the throne. Marcus Sarillius of Remon is also this whenever he isn't being manipulated by ambitious and/or villainous people.
  • Groin Attack: Ax's preferred method of dealing with male enemies. Poor Refan also got to experience it first hand.
  • Grumpy Old Man: Vauldorf and Waldheim although the latter becomes more jovial later on.
  • Half-Human Hybrid: The world has a few half-demons, half-dwarves and half-elves.
  • Handsome Lech: The blind swordsman Jono keeps flirting with girls and tends to be quite successful with bedding them although he often gets in trouble with it. However, when he finds a challenge from Vaetris who doesn't fall for him quite so easily, he's intrigued and smitten by her. They eventually grow close until Jono discovers to his horror that Vaetris is in fact one of the four dreaded archdemons who has been deliberately manipulating his feelings for her to achieve her sinister goals.
  • He Who Fights Monsters: Refan is diving deeper and deeper into the darkness within in order to fight against his foes, and it is slowly corrupting him.
  • Healing Hands: People gifted with white magic can heal themselves and others. Some examples are Nesa and Unithien.
  • Hearing Voices: Ax and Refan. The former because her tribe has a close connection with the dead, and the latter because his sword (which houses a malevolent spirit) is influencing him and triggering his demonic side.
  • Heel Face Mole: Ferron during the Great War. Xerathas, Varalia and the Shadow pull an elaborate one during the battle in Vanna.
  • Heel Face Turn: A bunch of antagonists eventually switch sides and become more heroic. Some examples include Dalthas, Jemuel, Kagetsu I (he joins the Alliance because they saved his wife, but he still more or less pursues his agenda albeit with different means while being bound by his oath to the Alliance), Omaroch, Titaniel and Viirsa.
  • Hellish Pupils: Shyralis has these and it serves as a reason why many call her Snake Bitch.
  • The Hero: Various, for example Ax, Marcus and Leon.
  • The Hero Dies: Quite a few such as Belial, Ismail and Hiroshi Hayabusa.
  • Heroes-R-Us: SAVAGE is Maar Sul's elite military corps which has several branches such as Covert Operations, Enforcement Division, Strategic Response Team, and Bureau of Bullshit.
  • Heroic Bastard: Rastus turns out to be the illegitimate son of King Byron.
  • Heroic BSOD: Several. Some examples include:
    • Mardük is consumed by madness and grief when he sees the corruption of his son Kagetsu I. This leads him to the path of becoming a dark god of Chaos.
    • Refan freaks out when he finds out that his nemesis Zarnagon is in fact his long-lost older brother Kareth and that both of them are heirs of the Demon Realm who are fated to help Mardük plunge the world into darkness.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Hiroshi Hayabusa casts Shiropyr which kills both him and Taro Ofuchi. Kagetsu I does the same to Arawn Losstarot. Geraud/Grady chooses to become the new world tree when the old one dies. Mori'sul sacrifices himself to save the heroes from a collapsing temple.
  • Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Despite working for the heroes, Bashkar abuses his allies, openly shows his dislike for elves in increasingly ridiculous ways, actually represents Arawn Losstarot in a council meeting and is willing to betray and kill anyone for a chest full of treasure.
  • He's Back: Ronove after he regains his memories during the Battle of Vanna. As soon as he's back in the game, he shows everyone why he was once called the Walking Death by defeating the seemingly invincible Dreadlord with ease.
  • Hidden Villain: The Master. The only things the heroes know about him is that he is the leader of the Totenkopfs, uses the alias Kamen Grimgaze, is connected to the spread of Blood Fever and is possibly male.
    • Ax's longtime friend and ally Vaetris turns out to be one of the four archdemons.
  • Hidden Agenda Villain: The Master. The heroes know that he is connected to the Blood Fever epidemic somehow, but his overall goals remain a mystery.
  • Hidden Elf Village: Illunii, Sanae and Tel'Elee are the three great elven cities in the world, all of which are hidden in ancient forests.
  • His Name Is--: After defeating Dreadlord Leraje, Ismail momentarily glances at the wall where the sultan's posse is observing the duel and suddenly realizes who Leraje reminds him of and who thus fits perfectly into Nergal's prophecy of a traitor being in the Grand Alliance. This distracts him momentarily, which allows Leraje to regenerate and skewer him. Ismail, realizing he's done for, uses the last of his strength to try to tell the Alliance the identity of the traitor, but is decapitated just before he can finish saying the name.
  • Hitman with a Heart: Sylus defects from the Order of the Black Rose when he can't bring himself to kill people anymore.
  • Hive Mind: The Dwellers have a hivemind which calls itself the Essence. Essentially every Dweller is just an extension of the Essence's will, and thus killing one Dweller (even a powerful, evolved one) doesn't harm the Essence itself.
  • The Horde: Four demon hordes settle into Yamato after the Cataclysm.
  • Horse of a Different Color: Doomhounds are demons specifically bred to act as mounts, scouts and magic detectors.
  • Human Mom, Nonhuman Dad: Delora and Omaroch for Refan and Zarnagon. Ditto for Skye and Refan to Gabriel.
  • I Am What I Am: Refan eventually accepts his demonic side.
  • I Have You Now, My Pretty: Galeras Matheson forces Amarawyn Jardine to marry him and uses the marriage as a means to take over her business in Jardine.
  • I Have Your Wife: Ferron forces Refan to work for him by threatening to kill Refan's son Gabriel if Refan refuses. Arawn kidnaps Kagetsu's wife Marya, forcing Kagetsu to work for him and preventing him from joining the Alliance.

Kagetsu I: Release her.
Arawn: Oh, I think not, my dear friend Kagetsu. I'm afraid I'll have to have some assurance of our friendship from here on in. I cannot have you joining yourself to the elf-lover and the wizard. Know that from this day onward, I own your precious wife.

    • Unlike the other two examples, when Glaurung finds out that some shady people want to use her kidnapped son Hannibal as a means to control her, she doesn't submit as easily. Instead, she responds by placing a ransom on the heads of the kidnappers.
  • I Will Find You: Natsumi is looking for her brother who was kidnapped by demons. Skye seeks for Refan from whom she got separated in a battle.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Refan and Zarnagon do this to each another during the Second Battle of Myridia. Nergal does this to Ax during the battle in the Ruined Kingdom.
  • In the Back: Zarnagon betrays Omaroch at a crucial moment by stabbing him in the back.
  • In the Blood: While Refan is horrified to find out what he really is, Zarnagon on the other hand embraces his demonic bloodline with open arms.
  • Indy Escape: The heroes have to run from a giant boulder which does its best to smash them inside an ancient temple in the Ruined Kingdom. It turns out that the boulder and the descending ceiling traps are actually activated simultaneously and thus they end up cancelling each other.
  • Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Fred Nacht aka Nightstalker Fred who tries to do his job of being a menacing villain but always ends up bumping into Nesa who foils his plans and humiliates him (often without Fred even knowing who his mysterious tormenter is).
  • Inept Mage: Leon when he first gains his powers. At first he can only turn into a kestrel because of a goddess's poison that affects him, and he sucks at most spells.
  • Infant Immortality: Kids are just as likely to die as adults... or become ravenous zombies if they end up infected with the Plague of Undeath.
  • Interspecies Romance: Omaroch and Delora are a demon and a human, respectively. Their romance ends tragically.
  • It Gets Easier: Refan gradually stops worrying about the people he's killed as he turns more and more into He Who Fights Monsters.
  • It Got Worse: The Grand Alliance is heavily outnumbered during the final battle of the Great War in Yamato, and the villains get more reinforcements from the dark god Mardük and his demonic army. Things seem to turn for the better when the good god Cardia shows up and attacks Mardük directly. Suddenly a new foe, the Godslayer, appears and devours both Cardia and Mardük, which makes the now leaderless demons run amok and attack everyone. The death of the two gods releases so much energy that it causes a worldwide Cataclysm which makes continents collide and Innate Abilities disappear while demons take over Yamato. In other words people can no longer rely on their former special powers, the gods whom people relied on can no longer help their respective sides, demons are invading en masse, the Godslayer rules unopposed, and the world itself is on the brink of turmoil.
  • It's Personal: Refan goes after Zarnagon because Zarnagon has harmed Refan's loved ones. This also happens when he confronts Awar who has slain Refan's dear friend and adoptive little sister Nalaen.
  • Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Ismail uses brutal methods to make Izael talk about the Totenkopfs' plans.
  • Jerkass: Bashkar and most Scuns are annoying jerks.
  • Jerkass Facade: An interesting and complex example with Ronove after his memories return. He acts like a generic cruel overlord in front of his peers and enemies, but also occasionally shows a quirky side which most accept as remnants of his former goofy personality (most notably him munching on cake and sand gnome legs). He has shown a less evil persona recently but quite subtly. He let his caught friends flee the occupied city alive while weaving a convincing enough tale to his superiors for the seemingly "evil" reasons he let the escape happen. He takes over the torturing of his former, captured master seemingly because he enjoys the cruel act, but in fact it's because letting others torture said person would be far more severe than what he ends up doing to him. He openly manipulates Refan but does it for the man's own good because he sees Refan's demonic side useful and allowing the man to grow into a warrior who doesn't have to fear for his life anymore. However, Ronove harbors more complex plans than most people think, and even the one person who realizes that things don't quite add up is still being manipulated by him into believing one thing while the truth is actually quite different. It's thus clear that he has some sense of honour, but he's also capable of acts of Cruel Mercy by twisting seemingly benevolent acts into something far more sinister for reasons that still remain unclear.
  • Jerkass Gods: All gods (even the "good" ones) are this to a lesser or greater extent depending on the god. One thing they all have in common is that they use mortals as their pawns, partly because they don't want to risk getting killed by appearing in the world of mortals in godflesh. However, despite the things listed below, each god (even the "bad" ones) does have at least one redeeming feature which has aided their followers.
    • Artemicia, the Goddess of Healing, doesn't like her half-god son, going so far as to threaten to kill him if he ever interferes with her plans again.
    • Cardia, the God of Order, made his followers believe that other gods didn't exist and that he was the only thing they could truly rely on.
    • Gaea, the Goddess of the Earth, ate her unpopular child Phil, the God of Arseholes, because he annoyed her.
    • Hephaestus, the God of Smithing, only gives cryptic advice to the heroes even when explaining things clearly would work far better for the heroes' favour. He also doesn't bother to stop the massacre of his clerics and only acts when other gods are taking action personally.
    • Hivena, The Goddess of Love and Fertility, manipulates, blackmails and eventually rapes an unlucky paladin to get pregnant and use her half-god child's power to attempt a coup in the heavenly court.
    • Mardük, the God of Chaos, corrupted and twisted his servants, the once noble demons, into horrific monstrosities.
    • Nergal, the God of War, seals any beings he doesn't like into ethereal prisons and helps spread conflict anywhere he can just so he can see people kill each others, which strengthens him.
    • Paedün, the God of Knowledge, created technology and spread it to his followers, hoping to get them addicted to it and thus turn them into his obedient servants.
    • Shakkan, the God of Beasts, began a campaign of genocide against humans because he sees them as responsible for the suffering of his followers, the lizardfolk Sirithai. He is also more than willing to pit a bunch of heroes against his deadliest monsters in an arena for his amusement.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kusobaba and Raistlin II slowly reveal this side of themselves as time passes.
  • Just Between You and Me: Nergal, the God of War, confronts the heroes in the Ruined Kingdom and taunts them about how they've been playing right into his hands all along. The Master does the same to Belial.
  • Just Like Us: Some of the heroes of the Grand Alliance have realized that the Crimson Coalition might not be as bad as they originally thought. Many others in the Alliance refuse to see it that way, however.
  • Katanas Are Just Better: Dokubaraken is a special katana which has been used by Kagetsu I, various Distreyd Thanadars and most recently Geraden Aurelac. Yamatians and the Akai Tora also prefer katanas as their main weapons.
  • Kill and Replace: Gwydion does this to Koskenkorva.
  • Killed Off for Real: A bunch of people, most recently Awar, Belial, Ismail, Marya, Nalaen and Pronin.
  • Killer Rabbit: Plushiebunny's first form looks like a cute and harmless black rabbit. It couldn't be further from the truth...
  • King Incognito: The dirty bum Howdy later turns out to be King Byron Kagawest of Aison in disguise. Oswald Flynn turns out to be Prince Geraden of Maar Sul.
  • The Kingdom: Aison, Libaterra, Maar Sul, Remon and Scundia in the Third Age.
  • Knight in Shining Armor: Marcus is a virtuous, and gullible, paladin who is always eager to save damsels in distress and set things right.
  • Knight Templar: The Clergy of Cardia and later the Church of the Memory of Cardia show signs of this in their quest to hunt down anyone worshipping Mardük or collaborating with demons.
  • The Ladette: Ax is a spunky woman who likes to fight dirty, drink, and curse.
  • Lady of Black Magic: Desdemona and Shyralis are quite frail-looking but wise women who possess tremendous magical powers.
  • Lady of War: Skye fights elegantly.
  • Last of His Kind: Daven is the last of the Lefein race... until he finds out that in fact There Is Another.
  • Legion of Doom: The Crimson Coalition is the Alliance's villainous counterpart... although lately many heroes have found out that the Coalition might not be as bad as it originally seemed to be.
  • The Legions of Hell: Demons, demons, demons.
  • Les Collaborateurs: Martin Struan chooses to betray his Maar Sulais countrymen and work for the Yamatians in order to get the throne of Maar Sul for himself.
  • The Library of Babel: Alent and the Magestar have these.
  • Life Energy: Drishnek and the Master can suck lifeforce out of people.
  • Light Is Not Good: Many clerics of Cardia are more than willing to torture and enslave half-demons who they see as abominations. Artemicia, despite being the Goddess of Healing, has tried to kill her son Leon on several occasions, and her clergy has also committed atrocities.
  • Lima Syndrome: The Grand Alliance imprisons Glaurung Losstarot's son Hannibal during the Vanna arc and tries to figure out what's the best way of using his hostage status against his mother and the Crimson Coalition as a whole even when Hannibal calmly reminds them that using him against Glaurung will only enrage her and sign a death warrant for the Alliance. One of the heroes, Jono, ends up befriending Hannibal and starts seeing him as a woobie and an unfortunate, innocent victim of the Alliance's power play, and this eventually makes him confront the other heroes about the issue and when his arguments fail, he breaks Hannibal out of the dungeon and flees with him to Glaurung's headquarters.
  • Living Shadow: The Shadow.
  • Lizard Folk: The Sirithai. They initially appear to be antagonistic but the heroes eventually convince them to join the Grand Alliance.
  • Loads and Loads of Characters: There are quite a few characters running around in the world.
  • Loads and Loads of Races:
  • Lost Technology: The Alentian and Lefeinish devices.
  • Lotus Eater Machine: Nesa finally seems to achieve happiness by getting married to his sweetheart Rhylian in a world which is no longer plagued by wars... until he realizes that the goddess Hivena has trapped him inside a dream world.
  • Love Triangle: Ax, Khalid, Marcus and Refan.
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: Omaroch turns out to be the father of Refan and Zarnagon.
  • Mad God: Shakkan isn't exactly a sane god and only cares about his children, the lizard folk. He might just as easily oppose as help the heroes depending on his mood.
  • Mad Scientist: Dante clones and experiments on people to resurrect a powerful black mage from an earlier era.
  • The Mafia: The Matheson Crime Family.
  • Mage Tower: The Magicracy of Alent has a lot of towers because the richest mages wish to erect such to display their power and knowledge of the arcane arts.
  • Magic Knight: Belial can use both sword and spells.
  • Magical Land: The Isle of Yggdrasil.
  • The Magocracy: The Magicracy of Alent is a city ruled by mages.
  • Malevolent Masked Men: The Totenkopfs wear masks that resemble human skulls.
  • Maligned Mixed Marriage: Omaroch (demon) and Delora (human) fall in love, get married and have two half-demon sons. Their respective clergies support rival gods and thus see the marriage as well as the offspring as utterly irredeemable. It escalates into a full-blown conflict as both factions actively hunt the family, which eventually results in Omaroch's capture and subsequent torture and brainwashing by demons, Delora's death at the hands of human clerics and one of the children being sold into slavery.
    • The tragic chain of events later repeats itself when the aforementioned couple's half-demon son Refan marries the human warrior Skye. The human clergy sets its eyes on the newly wed not only because they once again see such union as taboo but also because they want to capture and use Refan and his son for a more sinister purpose.
  • Mama Bear: Glaurung, Skye and Varalia.
  • The Man Behind the Curtain: Distreyd XII used to be a powerful sorcerer but became weak and aged rapidly after his constant leeching of the Krystallopyr shard drained most of his lifeforce. By the time Jemuel confronts him in Vulpengaard Keep, Distreyd has become a mere shell of his former self.
  • The Man Behind the Man: Marya for Geraden.
  • Man of Wealth and Taste: Koryaksky Matheson.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Arawn, Dylas and the Master.
  • Master of Illusion: Shuu.
  • The Medic: Nesa and Unithien.
  • Meaningful Funeral: Belial has one.
  • Merchant City: Jardine and Matheson in the kingdom of Maar Sul.
  • Military School: Graves Hall.
  • The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: Whenever shapeshifters like Gerard, Leon and Pronin take an animal form, there's always a risk that animal instincts take over and they'll be stuck in their animal form permanently.
  • Mind Rape: Shyralis likes to do this to Marcus.
  • Mob War: The Matheson Crime Family vs. the Nightstalkers
  • Mode Lock: Happens to Pronin when his wolfish form duels with Gerard. Also happens to Leon in his kestrel form until he learns to use the First Law of the Andain to turn back into his true form.
  • The Mole: Cain, Desdemona, Dylas, Megumi, Rune, Shyralis, Vaetris, Viirsa and Gwydion/Koskenkorva among others. The heroes have it rough.
  • Mook Promotion: Zenobia is a mere Totenkopf mook in her first appearance but she slowly climbs up the hierarchy and is now getting closer to achieving the status of the Master's Blessed.
  • Mysterious Protector: Omaroch in his first appearances.
  • Mythology Gag: Quite a few such as "the fire was either accidental or one done on purpose", "monotonous carriage rides", "something warm and (definitely not) floppy".
  • N-Word Privileges: Quite a few characters (both good and bad) aren't afraid of calling people outside of their comfort group as niggers (blacks), faggots (gays), mudbloods (half-elves etc.), lesser beings (humans compared to demons) and such depending on who they're addressing. When a character uses such terms when referring to others, it's a sure sign that such character is a certified Jerkass at the very least.
  • Named Weapons: Plenty of these, the most famous ones being Dawn, Dokubaraken, Dusk, Inferno, Krystallopyr, Morninglight, Smaragdos, and Twilight.
  • Necessarily Evil: Marya.
  • Necromancer: The elf Razravkar can summon shades when he's gathered enough life energy from slain foes. Although he's opportunistic and can do job for the occasional villain, he's not really that bad once you get to know him and doesn't mind working with the heroes either.
  • Nice Hat: Rhyn has one.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Oh so many. Some examples:
    • Leon is brought back to life so that he can find the destined bearer of the Silver Branch and fulfill an ancient prophecy. However, his passage into the world of the living opens up a rift that allows some of the spirits of the dead to escape and be resurrected. One such spirit belongs to the long-dead black mage Jemuel who becomes a major threat later on.
    • The heroes travel to the crystal catacombs of Tes Pellaria to find out who is the descendant of the long-dead King of Remon and happen to set the Faerfolc free. The Faerfolc are pissed off because they have been trapped in the caves for millennia, and they travel to a neighbouring kingdom and kill everyone in sight in their bloodlust.
    • The heroes charge up a magical artifact in an ancient reactor core underneath the city of Lutherin in order to use the artifact's power to weaken Big Bad Distreyd XII's black magic. The resulting energy burst succeeds in doing that but it also causes the reactor to explode, destroying Lutherin and killing thousands of civilians in the process. It also gives the black mage Jemuel an excuse to turn the locals against the heroes and take over the kingdom in the chaotic aftermath of the explosion. Whoops.
    • Ax and Marcus use their magic swords, Dawn and Dusk, in tandem to defeat an ice elemental which is attacking the city of Remonton. However, the released energy from the blades disrupts magic which opens the Gate of Light on the other side of the world and lets the ravenous Dwellers out.
  • Nigh Invulnerability: Averted with the gods. If they manifest in the world in their own godflesh, they can be killed just like any other mortal. Hence the reason why gods prefer using hosts when visiting the world of mortals; if the host dies, the god's essence can simply leave the body and return to the High Plane safely.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Zarnagon single-handedly slaughters almost all of the heroes who come to arrest him during the Second Battle of Myridia.
  • Not in This For Your Revolution: Belial only helps the Grand Alliance because it profits him. Ferron only helps the fellowship because he wants to regain his position in the government.
  • Not Worth Killing: This happens after the siege of Vanna when Dreadlord Ronove of the Northern Horde decides to spare the surviving defenders and allow them to flee while the horde takes over the city. His superior and peers later question the merciful act as well as the fact that the survivors will inevitably spread news of the horde's activities and strategies to other cities which will be prepared for the upcoming war. He quickly justifies his actions by explaining his reasons for letting the heroes flee: their worthy opponent status, the promise of a later even bloodier battle worthy of higher demons' time, as well as the heroes' tales of the siege which will weaken other cities' morale when they find out about the horde's unstoppable might. However, Ronove is playing a much more complicated game because he also wanted to pay the heroes back for helping him when he was helpless by letting them flee to fight another day.
  • Occupiers Out of Our Country!: The Grand Alliance fights against Yamatian invaders during the Great War arc. The Akai Tora want to drive invading demons out of Yamato during the Godslayer arc.
  • An Offer You Can't Refuse: Arawn kidnaps Kagetsu I's wife Marya and uses her as a bargaining tool to blackmail Kagetsu to work for him.
  • Offing the Offspring: Every Distreyd Thanadar tries to kill his children when they're about to come of age; if he doesn't, said children will kill him to take his place as the high cleric of Mardük. This is also a twisted way for Distreyd to ensure that only the strongest of his children survive and kill him off to carry on his legacy as the next Distreyd Thanadar.
  • Older Than They Look: Daven, Despard, Leon, Marya, gods, elves and demons in general. Some of them may look like they're in their 20s or 30s but can in fact be hundreds of years old.
  • Omnicidal Maniac: Yurius wants to make the whole world burn.
  • Order Versus Chaos: The story's about this in the beginning because of the complex plots of Cardia and Mardük to use others as pawns for their own ends.
  • Our Demons Are Different: The average demons are dark, horned, glowy-eyed, winged beings with tails who are stronger than an average human. Many of them can shapeshift into a human/elven/dwarven form. There are various different breeds, ranging from imps to colossal demons.
  • Our Dragons Are Different: Dragons are very intelligent and powerful beings who possess high-level magic and who can decimate entire armies if they feel like it. Luckily they seem to show little interest in mortal affairs and prefer to live away from cities.
  • Our Gnomes Are Weirder: The sand gnomes of Tronin Desert are savage, bestial beings who try to kill and eat the heroes. However, the heroes end up killing and eating them.
  • Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions: The Magicracy of Alent believes only in the power of man, having forsaken the gods who they see as cruel, enslaving beings.

Berandas: Don't you understand? We are the gods' unwanted children. We are the castoffs, the forgotten. And instead of following some doomsday cult, believing ourselves lost and hopeless like the Grey Cult, or clinging to some decayed bloodline like the Crimson Coalition, we will stand and fight for humanity! The gods don't like our choice of allies, our rising technology? They can burn for all I care, they have never helped us.

  • Overlord, Jr.: Hannibal and Xerathas are this to Glaurung and Zarnagon, respectively.
  • Parental Abandonment: Kaisa lost her parents in the Great War.
  • Parental Substitute: Ax ends up being a hybrid of a mother and a big sister to Kaisa who lost her parents in the Great War.
  • Parents in Distress: When Glaurung is kidnapped by demons, her son Hannibal wastes no time organizing a squad to bring her back and make the kidnappers pay with their life.
  • Path of Inspiration: The Clergy of Artemicia seems benevolent at first but it later turns out that the goddess they worship is an amoral bitch who stops at nothing to make others bow under her will and is even willing to create a doomsday weapon to show her power to other gods.
  • People's Republic of Tyranny: The Proninist Party adds "People's Republic of" in front of the name of every city it has conquered, e.g. People's Republic of Remonton.
  • Physical God: The Godslayer and the gods.
  • The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: The Wanderers are pirates but they don't burn or pillage. They just wander around the seas aimlessly, trying to run away from conflicts that have enveloped the world around them.
  • The Plague: The Blood Fever (which only affects those with elven blood) and its mutated variant known as the Plague of Undeath (which affects everyone).
  • Plot Coupon: The Cricket Ball of Magic, Dokubaraken, Krystallopyr and the Silver Branch.
  • Plucky Comic Relief: Artagel, Bashkar, Kusobaba, Ronove and Titaniel.
  • Power Degeneration: Distreyd XII ages considerably in a matter of three years when he starts using the full powers of the Krystallopyr shard to amplify his already considerable black magic.
  • Power Limiter: During the Battle of Vulpengaard Keep, Khasra III manages to severely weaken all demons' innate link to the magics of the celestial city of Xar Daeon. From that moment on demons can no longer regenerate themselves quickly, which gives other races of the world a fighting chance against the previously nigh unstoppable hordes.
  • Powered Armor: Daven wears a Lefeinish power armor which is the last of its kind.
  • Private Detective: Fonzie and Fel.
  • Private Eye Monologue: Fel the dwarven detective is quite fond of this.
  • Professional Killer: The Three are a group of three ruthless elven mercenaries who assassinate people for the right price.
  • Proud Warrior Race Guy: The Sarquil tribes.
  • Psycho for Hire: Curdardh and Leraje enjoy all the killing. Oh so very much.
  • A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: Harrad's student Warley turns out to be the one behind the mage murders in Alent. He desired power to surpass his mentor, and that eventually corrupted him into leeching power from other mages, which resulted in a killing spree.
  • Puppeteer Parasite: The Dwellers.
  • Quirky Miniboss Squad: The Black Hunters, the Three and the Vulfsatz.
  • The Quisling: Martin Struan betrays his homeland Maar Sul to the Yamatians and causes the deaths of King Remy and Princess Réin in order to become the lord of Maar Sul City. He manages to stay as a puppet ruler of the kingdom for a while until Prince Kagetsu II comes to settle the score.
  • Race Against the Clock: The heroes have one week to find the lizardmen in the desert and bring back the head of the lizardmen leader or their friends will drown in sand in a giant hourglass.
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Various hero groups fit this trope to a T.
  • Rage Against the Heavens: Kagetsu I's modus operandi is to slay the gods and distribute their powers to mortals in order to create a more equal world. Zarnagon decides to fight against the gods when he finds out that they have been responsible for all the suffering he and his family have been through and that they have used his family as pawns in the war between Order and Chaos.
  • Rage Against the Mentor: Leon does this to Taliesin when he finds out that Taliesin has been using him as a pawn in a complex game of politics and sorcerous intrigue.
  • Rape as Drama: Varalia is raped twice, and Ax is almost raped on a few occasions.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Quite a few, for example Jemuel after he has been freed from Drishnek's influence.
  • Rebellious Princess: Shyla... although at that time she is actually a queen.
  • Rebellious Rebel: Damian thought that the Akai Tora were no more the virtuous group it had once been. When the Maar Sulais heroes were captured and were sentenced to be executed, he was disgusted that the heroes weren't given proper trial. When the heroes managed to escape from Vulpengaard Keep, he made sure that the rest of the Akai Tora would be too busy elsewhere to stop them.
  • Recurring Boss: Kaizoku, the Three, the Vulfsatz, Xerathas and the Shadow (aka Taliesin).
  • Redemption Equals Death: Mori'sul realizes the error of his ways and decides to sacrifice himself to help the heroes escape from a collapsing temple.
  • Regent for Life: Jemuel takes over the Kingdom of Cardia after Unne's death.
  • Religion of Evil: Clergies of Mardük and Nergal.
  • The Remnant: The new version of the Akai Tora.
  • The Reveal: Plenty. Some examples: Refan and Zarnagon turn out to be brothers as well as sons of a powerful demon lord, the Shadow is Leon's old mentor Taliesin, Steve is the reborn Despard Silverbranch, Khalid turns out to be Belial's son and the exiled emir of Vanna, and Vaetris is actually one of the four archdemons.
  • Rightful King Returns: Agarwaen, Khalid and Marcus turn out to be of royal blood and come to claim their rightful throne from usurpers. Averted with Byron who never manages to reclaim his throne despite his efforts.
  • Ronin: Kazuya Redeemer is a master-less warrior who fights his own battle against the Clergy of Mardük in order to cleanse and thus redeem his tainted family's name.
  • Royal Blood: There are many royal families. True heirs of the House of Aurelac in Maar Sul have the ability to shapeshift into a wolf.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: All the royals shown so far have always participated actively in wars.
  • Running Gag: Plenty of these. Some examples include variations of the "something warm and floppy" scenes (referring to male genitalia in awkward situations), Nesa bumping into and tormenting the hapless Nightstalker Fred, and Ronove's craving for sand gnome legs and cake during the weirdest scenes.
  • Samurai: The Akai Tora and Hiroshi Hayabusa.
  • Scars Are Forever: Ax has a nasty scar in her face. Although she could go to the white mages to heal it, she chooses to keep it as a reminder of her past mistakes.
  • Scary Black Man: Ismail, Obama, Ragnar and Razoul.
  • Screw Destiny: Despite being told by the gods that one can't fight against fate, the heroes decide to find a way to change the world for the better.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: Yurius has been banished twice to another plane of existence. Mardük ends up like this after the Chaos War but is released during the final battle of the Great War.
  • Sealed Good in a Can: Paedün and the majority of the Lefein were sealed by Nergal who wasn't happy about their advanced technology which would've hindered his plans for world domination.
  • Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Before his banishment, Yurius tells the heroes that one day Sydney's descendant will appear and plunge the world into a war. The heroes begin searching for Sydney's descendants in order to prevent the prophecy, and their hunt eventually alerts the evil Mullencamp cult to the location of one such descendant, Arawn, whom they take under their wing. This ends up fulfilling Yurius's prophecy years later when Arawn has grown into a powerful warlock.
  • Self-Made Orphan: All the Distreyds except Distreyd I and Distreyd XIII have killed their fathers. Ax is forced to duel and kill her father when they find themselves on opposite sides of the Libaterran civil war.
  • Shades of Conflict: White and Grey and Black vs. White and Grey and Black.
  • Sharing a Body: The spirit of Despard Silverbranch with Kagetsu Aurelac II, and the spirit of Grady Silverbranch with Geraud Aurelac.
  • Sibling Team: Alain, Despard and Grady Silverbranch; Desdemona and Mordecai de Ardyn, Antigonus and Belial de Ardyn, Distreyd Thanadar XIII and Tarna. Leraje and Ronove Thanadar were this until Leraje betrayed Ronove.
  • Siblings in Crime: The leaders of the Matheson Crime Family are all siblings or half-siblings. Crime runs in the family.
  • The Siege: The Northern Horde besieges Vanna.
  • Sinister Minister: Almaric and Anthony are clerics who are corrupt by the power they possess. They'll do anything in their power to keep people kissing their feet.
  • Sins of Our Fathers: Belial uses this to force Refan to serve him. Yurius swears to make the descendants of the heroes who have sealed him to pay for it with their lives once he is released.
  • Slasher Smile: Whenever Leraje smiles like this, be very afraid.
  • Smart People Wear Glasses: Richelieu and Gertrude are two intelligent mages and both wear glasses.
  • Smug Snake: Jacob Seneron and Martin Struan are examples of this trope. They react to everyone else with disdain, claiming to be superior to everyone in every way.
  • Snowlems: Frosty the Snowman is a sentient Remonian snowman but dies a gruesome death in the hands of Leon who thinks Frosty is after his life.
  • Sorcerous Overlord: Various Distreyd Thanadars, Arawn, Jemuel, Zarnagon, Xerathas.
  • Soul Jar: Drishnek has stored his soul in a phylactery.
  • Sour Supporter: Elendur isn't exactly happy about helping the Grand Alliance.
  • Specs of Awesome: Richelieu, the resident Badass Bookworm, has these.
  • Spoony Bard: Leon oh so very much. He's quite skilled as a bard, but lacks in a few other areas.
  • The Spymaster: Alistair is initially the head of SAVAGE's Covert Operations department but is later replaced by his sister-in-law Siobrach.
  • Squishy Wizard: Xerathas and most other mages fit this trope. They can cast powerful spells but can be defeated relatively easily in melee
  • Sssssnaketalk: The Sirithai sssometimesss ssspeak like thisss.
  • Standard Royal Court: Played straight with the Maar Sulais court.
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: Omaroch and Delora are a demon and a human whose relationship the society couldn't accept.
  • The Starscream: The resurrected Jemuel betrays his master Dante.
  • The Stoic: Xerathas shows no emotion whatsoever. This is caused by an incident in the past which sucked out part of his soul, turning him into a cold, calculating sorcerer.
  • Storming the Castle: Plenty of these. Some examples include the infiltrations of the enemy headquarters in Remonton and Myridia.
  • The Strategist: Flavius and René.
  • Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum: Yurius goes berserk when he witnesses the death of his father figure Sydney. He wants to make the whole world pay for Sydney's death by destroying everything in sight.
  • Super-Powered Evil Side: Refan's demonic form.
  • T-Word Euphemism: A group of Scuns unknowingly make fun of the political correct speech of the Maar Sulais court at the grand ball which was set up to welcome the Grand Alliance's army into the kingdom's capital during the Godslayer era. The Scuns address King Gerard's black girlfriend Elena as a n***** (pronouncing the row of asterisks effortlessly) repeatedly and in honest astonishment. The use of the uncensored n***** word is prohibited in the kingdom, but the version with asterisks is more tolerable although still frowned upon for being insensitive against the kingdom's racial minority. Being the Jerkass racists they are, the Scuns simply don't know when to quit and can't fathom seeing a white king ever dating a woman of another colour. This understandably upsets quite a few reasonable people in the court who react by trying to teach the brutish Scuns some manners but end up using the n***** word repeatedly themselves to make a point in the argument. Hilarity Ensues as the debate escalates into epic levels which leads to one person actually dying of brain aneurysm (rather, his head actually graphically explodes from all the blood pressure) when he hears too many "naughty words" in rapid succession which his politically correct brain simply can't process on such short notice.
  • Take Over the World: The goal of various villains such as the Yamato Empire which led a campaign to conquer the other nations.
  • Take Up My Sword: Khalid continues Belial's mission after Belial has been assassinated.
  • Taking the Bullet: Kage pushes Ax away and ends up being fatally stabbed by the Shadow during the Battle of Remonton in the Great War.
  • Taking You with Me: Kagetsu I does this to Arawn Losstarot, and Hiroshi Hayabusa to Taro Ofuchi.
  • Tattooed Crook: Leraje and Shakkan have elaborate tattoos and aren't exactly friendly.
  • Team Pet: Kaisa's pet dire wolf Liulfr has become this to the Alliance after they warmed up to him.
  • Temple of Doom: The gigantic temple in the middle of the Ruined Kingdom is filled with all sorts of traps.
  • Terms of Endangerment: Taro Ofuchi calls Hiroshi Hayabusa "Prentice" whenever they talk. This always disturbs Hiroshi because it makes him remember his time as Ofuchi's student and by using the term Ofuchi states that he is still superior to Hiroshi in every way.
  • Terrible Trio: The Three, the Korath brothers, the trio consisting of Xerathas, Varalia and the Shadow, and the trio consisting of Arbriel, Ansgar and Traugott.
  • Thanatos Gambit: When Kagetsu I realizes that the only way to kill Arawn is to sacrifice himself, he decides to modify his original plan and uses his death as a catalyst to kill off Arawn and all the half-gods and distribute their powers to mortals. This results in the birth of Innate Abilities but also has a nasty side-effect known as the Explosion which kills a lot of people and rearranges the continents.
    • Grand Duchess Nhrakate actually has set a complex plan in motion that will result in her death and the unification of all the rival hordes into one massive demon army which will then launch a full-scale assault on the world and begin a new, glorious era for demonkind.
  • Throw the Dog a Bone: After suffering a lot of hardships, Leon finally finds happiness by getting married, becoming a father and getting the position of a respected councillor in the Maar Sulais court.
  • Thwarted Coup De Grace: Happens during the Battle of Vanna to Dreadlord Leraje twice: first when he's about to kill Marcus and Refan swoops in to blocks the hit, and later Ronove saves Refan from the same fate.
  • Token Evil Teammate: Ferron who most people in the party know to have a shady past but who they allow to tag along anyway because he is useful thanks to his magic and political connections. Too bad that decision comes to bite the heroes in the ass when Ferron tries to assassinate Jemuel while the heroes are busy elsewhere.
  • Tongue-Tied: Gerard experiences this when his wolf form is magically forced to serve Xerathas for a while during the Vanna arc.
  • Took a Level In Kindness: Raistlin II in the Second age is at first a cold, calculating individual but the time he spends with his new allies slowly changes him for the better. Also happens to Nymgrock in the Third Age who learns to see people as friends instead of disposable pawns.
  • Transhuman Treachery: When Arbriel's plan fails and he turns into a zombie who manages to retain his sentience, he decides to turn everyone into his undead servants so that they can share his pain.
  • Trash Talk: Ax and Leraje are fond of this. An example from a duel between Ax and Varalia:

Ax: Come on, let's fuck that pretty face up a bit more!

  • Treacherous Advisor: Firion is this to the elven king Amandil in Folsworth Woods during the Great War. Iblis also ends up being one in the Godslayer era because the only reason he aided Sultana Adela as her vizier was to subtly weaken Vanna from within and let his true masters, the demons of the Southern Horde, to invade Adela's realm.
  • Tsundere: Unithien is usually a kind and compassionate white mage but she reacts violently to any man who is unlucky enough to provoke her. A hilarious example takes place in Vanna when she tries to seduce a guard in order to gain access to a cell where her mother is. Let's just say it doesn't end well for the lecherous guard.
  • Turncoat: Dylas and Gordius turn on their respective commanders at crucial moments as their ambitions grow.
  • Turn Out Like His Father: The premise of the Descendants of Losstarot storyline. The heroes fear that the descendants of Sydney Losstarot will become as dangerous as he was and thus they actively try to find the descendants, turn them into decent people and kill those who have stepped over the line. The strategy works for the most part, but the heroes fail to find all the descendants, and thus one line eventually breeds Arawn who follows his forefather's footsteps by becoming a Big Bad.
  • Ultimate Evil: The Nameless Evil which corrupted and merged with the god Dreamweaver and became the Lord of Death. After that Death has had a hand in corrupting noble heroes and gods into BigBads as well as fueling other villains' ambitions.
  • The Unfavourite: Omaroch, the son of the Grand Duchess, and Phil, the God of Arseholes.
  • The Undead: There are ghosts, liches, revenants and zombies running loose in the world.
  • Unresolved Sexual Tension: Ax and Khalid, Ax and Marcus, Ax and Refan, Ax and Shyla. Notice the pattern?
  • Utopia Justifies the Means: Kagetsu I wants to create a world where everyone can be equal and and live in peace. However, to make this happen, he has to destroy the world and slaughter everyone, including the gods.
  • The Vamp: Desdemona does everything in her power to seduce King Marcus in order to become his queen and thus the most powerful person in the kingdom.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: Ferron, who worked for the dark clergy in the past, has become the beloved high cleric of the Church of the Memory of Cardia in the Godslayer arc.
  • Viral Transformation: The Plague of Undeath kills people and resurrects them as zombies.
  • The Walls Are Closing In: The heroes face this in the ancient temple of the Ruined Kingdom.
  • Warrior Prince: Geraud and Kagetsu II among others.
  • Was Once a Man: The arachnid monster which attacks Ax's group in the dungeons of Myridia used to be one of Zarnagon's test subjects.
  • The Watcher: Omaroch does this to Refan and Zarnagon.
  • We Will Meet Again: Nergal and Xerathas like to say this to the heroes.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: Glaurung wishes to create a world with no borders and make everyone equal. Jemuel wishes to unite Libaterra under his rule and make others see the threat posed by the demon hordes. Kagetsu I wishes to destroy the world and kill the gods in order to spread their powers among mortals and create an everlasting paradise. Taliesin is willing to kill a lot of people in order to maintain the balance in the world. Xerathas manipulates people in order to keep Aison safe and to prevent a bigger catastrophe which he has seen in visions.
  • Wham! Line: Several, some examples listed below. Here there be spoilers!

Desdemona: "Farewell, uncle."
Leraje: "You, the oh-so-serious Count Ronove Thanadar, rise from the dead after all this time and then dare to insult me? How very unlike you, brother."
Nergal: "Remember that girl, Shyla? What if I told you that she is still alive and waiting for you? I figured out that it was she who was originally meant to have Dawn."
Oswald: "If you truly wish to know, my name is Geraden Aurelac de Maar Sul, and I am the rightful King of Maar Sul!"
Ronove: "I'll become a new Dreadlord of this horde... and I'll also take over Vanna!"
Vaetris: "Woman, do you understand who you're dealing with? Vaetris L'andariel, Duchess of the Eastern Horde... soon to be Grand Duchess of the Four Hordes."

  • What the Hell, Hero?: Marcus chops off the head of an unarmed Yamatian officer in anger even though the officer was a prisoner of war who was to be interrogated the following morning. Ax leaves a group of injured Totenkopfs, who plead for their lives, to die in a collapsing temple out of anger for them hurting her friends. Their friends are shocked by the two's actions and call them out. When Marcus rejoins the heroes and explains his reason for siding with the antagonist Xerathas during the Vanna arc, the heroes call him out and blame him for acting selfishly and endangering everyone's lives in the process.
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy: Izael looks so pretty in fact that he's often mistaken for a girl.
  • White-Haired Pretty Girl: Viirsa.
  • White Magic: Oh yes.
  • Willing Channeler: Any god who wishes to possess a mortal body must be granted access by the host him/herself. If the host isn't willing, the god can't enter the body.
  • Wise Beyond Their Years: Gerard and Hannibal are teenagers and yet they're already in high positions of their respective armies. They're also well-cultured and very intelligent, beating overwhelming enemy forces with their cunning plans. And the icing on the cake is that these boys are on the opposite sides of the war.
  • The Wise Prince: Geraud and Kagetsu II.
  • With Friends Like These...: Khasra III and Steve insult and pull brutal pranks on each other (e.g. Khasra sleeps with Steve's wife and gets syphilis from her because Steve predicted his actions). Their prank war escalates until Steve is revealed to be the reborn Despard Silverbranch, after which they make a truce.
  • Wizarding School: The Magestar.
  • A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Gwydion infiltrates the hero group by posing as their comrade Koskenkorva.
  • Woman Scorned: Let's just say that Adela does not take the news of Belial loving her twin sister well.
  • World Tree: Yggdrasil's existence keeps the world in a harmonic balance. However, when the landpoison corrupts it and makes it wither, the existence of the world is threatened. Yggdrasil eventually dies from the poison but Geraud Aurelac/Grady Silverbranch uses the Silver Branch and sacrifices himself to become a new world tree known as the Silverbranch Tree.
  • Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Brutally averted. Not only will men hit women, they also rape and kill them (and sometimes even eat them if you're Leraje).
  • Wrecked Weapon: An ice elemental shatters Ax's sword Dawn during a climactic battle in Remonton. Another example is the shattering of Krystallopyr which kicks off a storyline where various factions try to restore it to its former shape.
  • Xanatos Gambit: Kamen Grimgaze, the Master of the Totenkopfs, ends up putting quite a few gambits in motion which benefit him no matter how they turn out and which take into account even most of the unforseeable variables which would otherwise ruin a plan of any lesser man (and even if something happens which even he didn't somehow think of, he can simply adapt and use that new event and outcome to further his goals). Whether his Crimson Coalition succeeds or not is trivial: either way his opponents in the Grand Alliance will still have to spend considerable time fighting the Coalition which is seen as the greater enemy, and that gives him enough time to manipulate events in relative peace. Although remaining undiscovered while acting as a mole within the Alliance is preferable to him (he gains the Alliance's trust and can use his authority to misdirect them), he has prepared for the possibility of being revealed as the mastermind. If the heroes discover his true identity, he can simply drop the fake kindness act (thus being able to operate more freely without needing to be cautious anymore) and use the revelation of his betrayal to shatter the Alliance's morale by showing that even the seemingly incorruptible Alliance has hidden evils within it and that those evils are in fact people the Alliance trusts the most (which in turn creates even more paranoia among the Alliance members who can't be sure how many of the Master's minions are still within it, which hinders the Alliance even more). His acts of corrupting various heroes follow a similar pattern: if successful, he'll gain valuable new acolytes, but if he doesn't succeed, he'll just kill the person then and there with his superior magic in order to get rid of the liability which he or she presents to him. Even if the heroes who refused to follow him survived somehow, he'll still know their weaknesses because he has spent considerable time with them in the past and has heard their confessions. He even actively encourages backstabbing within his ranks (whether the minion is a former, corrupted hero or a full bona fide villain) because the thrill of a possible betrayal keeps him on edge. If/when the betrayal takes place, he has secretly placed a magical killswitch on every one of his acolytes and can simply trigger it get rid of the problem right then and there if he so chooses.
    • Grand Vizier Iblis also pulls a gambit off during the Vanna arc. He intends to reforge the godblade Krystallopyr which will grant its wielder enough power to threaten even the gods, and the only way to stop the process is to destroy the Black Stone while the magical forging is taking place within the stone. He doesn't care whether the heroes of the Alliance thwart Krystallopyr's reforging or not, because either outcome will benefit him. If Krystallopyr is forged, he and his masters will possess an unbeatable weapon which will advance their goals immensely and incinerate any members of the Alliance who try to oppose them. If the Black Stone (and Krystallopyr within it) is destroyed, however, it will make the ancient magical shield around the city of Vanna disappear and allow Iblis's masters to finally invade Vanna en masse with a demon horde without worrying about the city's former magical defenses.
  • Xanatos Speed Chess: Xerathas often resorts to these when he's captured by the heroes. His plans keep constantly getting derailed because someone acts more idiotically than he had expected, so he has to adapt his strategies so that the outcome of these new actions still end up benefiting him.
  • You All Meet in An Inn: Happens during the story preceding the Yamatian invasion of Remon in the Third Age. People who will later be known as the Fellowship of Tes Pellaria actually meet in an inn and later become core members and founders of the Grand Alliance.
    • A villainous variant happens to a few prominent clerics of Mardük and Yamatians who meet in a shady inn and start working together as a group to stop Marcus Sarillius's rebellion against the Yamatian overlords in Remon.
  • You Are Not Alone: Marcus is about to face the ice elemental alone but is quickly joined by Ax and various other heroes who tell him that he's not alone and that they'll fight the elemental together.
  • You Have Failed Me...: The Master and Zarnagon prefer this method when dealing with their subordinates.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: What the Master says to Belial before having him killed.
  • You Kill It, You Bought It: Whoever kills a higher level demon takes said demon's place and title. The son of Distreyd Thanadar must kill his father to become the next Distreyd while also dealing with siblings who are after the same title...
    • Subverted with Distreyd XIII who takes the title without having to kill the previous Distreyd.
  • You Killed My Father: Refan finds and kills his mother's murderer Derak. Belial tries to kill Refan when he mistakes him for Omaroch who killed Belial's brother Antigonus.
  • You Monster!: Uttered by Khalid during the siege of Vanna when he saw how coldly Razoul acted even though Razoul's father Ismail had been slain only a moment ago before their very eyes.

Khalid: You're a monster.
Razoul: I am what I am. Someone has to be.

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