Malus Productions

Malus Productions is a series of video game ideas and sketches from deviantART user Patameth (also known for writing No Black Plume and Shiny Objects Videos). Though he freely admits he is not especially hopeful these ideas will be picked up, There Is No Such Thing as Notability and the tropes he uses are still worth sharing. There are two major works, one with the working title Magus and another with the working title Daedalus Stories.


 * Affably Evil
 * Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny: Downplayed. Rigel is easily distracted, but this is portrayed more as constant curiosity.
 * Author Avatar: Not quite, but each of the main characters is built with a bit of the author in mind.
 * Batter Up: Trent wields clubs.
 * Becoming the Mask:
 * Bittersweet Ending
 * Blade on a Stick: Rigel wields spears.
 * Bottle Episode: So to speak. The entire game takes place in the city of Daedalus.
 * Broken Bird: Izzi. Lita, to a lesser extent, after.
 * Competence Zone: Ages range from 18 to 23. Downplayed, however, as there are competent adults and competent kids; they just aren't as competent as the main characters.
 * Competitive Balance: Both in and out of battle.
 * Conveniently an Orphan: All the main characters were either orphaned or abandoned. Except.
 * Cool Big Sis: Lita, to Arly, and to the rest of the team to a lesser extent.
 * Crapsack World: Daedalus is dirty, dingy, overrun with crime, and controlled by a corrupt megacorporation. As if that weren't bad enough,.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Izzi.
 * Despair Event Horizon: Everyone goes through one, each time after a family death or near-death.
 * The Determinator: Lita is the last holdout in.
 * Does Not Like Guns: Trent, probably because he doesn't like killing.
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: Mercenary work is a belittled job for fit young people who are short on cash.
 * Ermine Cape Effect: The reason why Izzi is more dressed up than the others is that.
 * Fragile Speedster: Lita.
 * Genki Girl: Lita again.
 * Functional Magic: How the steam engines work.
 * Glass Cannon: Izzi.
 * Goggles Do Nothing: Both averted (by various eyewear Gadgets) and played straight (the goggles on Rigel's ultimate armor).
 * The Gunslinger: Izzi.
 * Heel Face Turn: Trent does this pretty early on.
 * Heroes Prefer Swords: Partly averted, since any of the four can be the hero.
 * Hollywood Nerd: Rigel
 * Hot Chick with a Sword: Lita. Downplayed, since her appearance is not exactly flaunted.
 * Ill Girl: Lita's sister Arly.
 * Infinity+1 Sword: Each character has an ultimate weapon and an ultimate outfit that provides huge stat boosts.
 * Insufferable Genius: Rigel can be pretty stuck up.
 * Jack of All Stats: Averted, which is unusual for an RPG.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Trent.
 * Katanas Are Just Better: Averted. The katana is an available weapon for Lita, but it is about as good as any other weapon one would get at that stage in the game.
 * Level Grinding: The maximum level is 30, but levels come very, very slowly.
 * Mighty Glacier: Trent.
 * Nintendo Hard: Half the point of the game. Of course, this can't be proved, since the game doesn't exist yet.
 * Palette Swap: Justified; the player chooses the colors of most of the character's clothes.
 * Pettanko: Izzi. Used to make her appear younger and more vulnerable than she really is.
 * Pimped-Out Cape: A few of the gadgets. Rigel has one by default on his ultimate outfit.
 * The Pollyanna: Lita.
 * Promotion to Parent: Lita again. She's had kind of a hard life.
 * Purity Sue: Yet again, Lita.
 * Puzzle Boss: The game is a combination of battling and puzzles, so it's only natural that many of the challenges are puzzle-based.
 * Rival Turned Evil:
 * Spirited Young Lady: Izzi.
 * Steampunk: The other half of the point of the game.
 * Stepford Smiler: Lita, who's in denial about Arly's sickness.
 * Stone Wall: Rigel.
 * Stripperiffic: Defied by Word of God.
 * Teen Genius: Rigel is a downplayed version.
 * Thou Shalt Not Kill: This is one of the first indicators of Trent's heart of gold.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy Lita to Girly Girl Izzi.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: Trent.
 * The Woobie: Everyone has shades of this.
 * Yamato Nadesico: Izzi has shades of this. Surprisingly, so does Rigel.
 * Zeppelins from Another World

Magus provides examples of the following tropes:

 * Anti-Anti-Christ:
 * Arc Number: Six.
 * Berserk Button: Don't call Naki a witch. Later,
 * Blue Eyes: Representing innocence.
 * Coming of Age Story
 * Conveniently an Orphan: Unusually, not Played for Drama. Naki is quite well-adjusted and completely at terms with her parents' deaths. However, it is used to strengthen her bond to Zan.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Eri.
 * Difficult but Awesome: Most of the spells, especially Utility spells, fall under this category. They are designed to work best with careful planning and synergy.
 * Doomed Hometown
 * Elemental Magic: Technically it's Color Magic, but the different colors of magic often manifest as an element.
 * Face Heel Turn: . He gets better.
 * Fetch Quest: Levels 1-48. Justified, since this is the Mages' duty.
 * Genki Girl: Naki.
 * Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: Many of the bosses from levels 31-48 are just whatever happens to be terrifying the Muggles.
 * Hard Work Hardly Works: Averted. Though Naki is a particularly skilled mage, she works hard to master magic.
 * Hello, Insert Name Here: Naki is just a placeholder name.
 * Heroes Prefer Swords: While others wield swords, Naki wields no weapon but her magic.
 * Heroic Mime: Justified. Naki is physically incapable of speaking.
 * Incorruptible Pure Pureness
 * The Ingenue
 * Level Grinding: Averted, since Naki gains one level per mission. However, there is Stat Grinding.
 * Magic A Is Magic A
 * Men Are Generic, Women Are Special: Defied. Naki and Eana were originally created as male characters, but were gender flipped specifically for this reason.
 * Moral Event Horizon: Eana hits it when she
 * Muggles: Deconstructed. Eana intends to
 * Power Gives You Wings: Naki.
 * Pride: The Fatal Flaw of several characters.
 * Promotion to Parent: Zan, who takes over as Naki's guardian.
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Eana is 242 years old. Her innate form of magic is resisting aging.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Eana,
 * Red Mage: Each Mage can learn every kind of magic.
 * Rival Turned Evil:
 * School Uniforms Are the New Black: Naki often wears her uniform during cutscenes, even after she graduates.
 * Sealed Evil in a Can: Technically Sealed Neutral In A Can, but the Destroying Angel has historically been used for evil.
 * Squishy Wizard
 * Teens Are Short
 * That One Level: Intentionally invoked with some of the missions. For example, when Naki must complete a mission blindfolded.
 * Utopia Justifies the Means
 * Wizarding School
 * Wizarding School