Brütal Legend: Difference between revisions

The game is noteworthy in being inspired by, and providing a ludicrous amounts of [[Special Guest|Special Guests]], [[Shout-Out|Shout Outs]], and references to just about everything ''[[Testosterone Poisoning|metal.]]''. All the areas of the game are basically [[The Eighties|1980s]] metal album covers, even. It provided yet another cult hit for [[Double Fine]] in their long history of cult hits, but received mixed reviews after its [[Development Hell]] ended. It has a very dedicated and vocal fanbase.

* [[Action Girl]]: Every single female character in the game. See [[Brütal Legend/Characters|characters page.]].

* [[Affectionate Parody]]: [[Tim Schafer]] described ''[[Brutal Legend]]'' as "a love letter to metal." Special mention goes to Lionwhyte, who although is an [[The Eighties|Eighties]] Glam Rock stereotype, has some of the best metal and rock from that era, no matter how much people deny it.

* [[Alien Sky]]: Lots of work went into the skies of Brütal Legend, which is never ever clear blue.<ref> Except at the very end, so Eddie can effectively [[Riding Into the Sunset|Drive Into The Sunset]].</ref>. Inspired by the popular works of [[Frank Frazetta]], the sky's colors shifts all kinds of colors at all times, and at night, brilliant stars and evil looking nebulae shower the night sky. Each playable character has the power to change the sky to be themed around them, causing different effects.

* [[Almighty Janitor]]: Eddie. He can fix anything, (Exceptexcept for Kabbage Boy's music),) build anything, and start a revolution with nothing. Yet he deliberately stays out of the spotlight. Check out his quote on the [[Hypercompetent Sidekick]] page.

* [[And This Is For]]: Used during the penultimate boss fight. {{spoiler|[[Car Fu]] is involved.}}.

* [[Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?]]: The Baron and Eddie, on how to deal with Metal Beasts-:

'''Baron:''' ... You must be joking. }}

* [[Autobots Rock Out]]: Subverted,: considered a twist in the ending, {{spoiler|Eddie never takes the spotlight, never performs a song at the end, and doesn't even seek the credit for his deeds.}}. manyMany players expected one of these in the end and were taken by surprise.

* [[Badass Boast]]: "For the honor of Bladehenge, for the freedom of its people, and the glory... OF ITS METAL!"

* [[The Band Minus the Face]]: The ending. {{spoiler|Lita replaces her dead brother, and is the Queen of Bladehenge.}}.

* [[Battle Cry]]: When Eddie performs the Battle Cry solo, a golden aura forms into Lars's sword (also called Battle Cry), and bursts into a soundwave. The [[Audible Sharpness|sound]] compels allies to fight harder, boosting attack power ([[The Power of Friendship|Double Teams can double in power.]]).

'''Eddie:''' It's called... Heavy Metal. }}

** [[Battle Cry]] can [[Up to Eleven|BUFF THE ROCKCRUSHER.]].

* [[Beauty Equals Goodness]]: The Titans are [[The Precursors]], and are the strongest and most beautiful race of beings in the Age of Metal. {{spoiler|And the human race is their descendants.}}.

* [[Bilingual Bonus]]: The voices can be changed to a variety of languages. [[Tim Schafer]] commented that he did not have direct control over who dubbed the game in different languages, and that there is an actor who voices "German [[Jack Black]]", one for "French [[Jack Black]],", "Spanish [[Jack Black]]" and so on. His favorite foreign VA for the game is [[Everything Sounds Sexier in French|French Doviculus.]].

* [[The Call Has Bad Reception]]: Eddie's problems stem from this, and cause him to really {{spoiler|mess up his relationship with Ophelia.}}.

* [[Car Fu]]: Your default attack for the Deuce is to ram people with it. {{spoiler|Used prior the final fight}}.

* [[Cast of Snowflakes]]: Exaggerated. This is an action/RTS hybrid, and ''every single type unit is wildly different than every other.''. Check the character sheet!

* [[Chekhov MIA]]: {{spoiler|Succoria and Riggnorak.}}.

* [[Chekhov's Armory]]: Eddie has a hell of one. It includes {{spoiler|his belt buckle and t-shirt.}}.

* [[Civil Warcraft]]: [[The Quisling|General Lionwhyte's]] faction of [[Evil Counterpart|Evil Counterparts]]s.

** Pink means "Follow Me.". They are chasing you.

** Blue means "Defend.". They are holding still.

** Green means "Move,", in which they are moving to a second green light that you designated.

* [[Combination Attack]]: You can do this with all your units. They are called Double Teams. There are achievements/ trophies for doing it with all units of each side. They are also the [[The Power of Friendship|most powerful attacks in the game.]].

* [[Continuity Nod]]: One can speculate on whether or not multiplayer is canon. In it, {{spoiler|Drowned Ophelia and Doviculus are alive, the Headbangers and Eddie talk as if Lars is still alive, and Doviculus does not understand that cars are machines and not living things. He [[Crowning Moment of Funny|tries to command them to surrender and obey him.]]}}.

* [[Cool Car]]: All three [[Hero Unit|Hero Units]] have their own, but the Deuce (AKAa.k.a. "Druid Plow") gets special attention in the campaign with a variety of weapons, upgrades, and paint jobs that can be bought from the Motor Forge.

* [[Cosmic Deadline]]: {{spoiler|After Lionwhyte's palace, the speed of story resolution picks up suddenly. Drowned Ophelia and Doviculus get far less screen time and development than Lionwhyte did, which reaches its unfortunate peak when they are forced to share the same boss fight.}}.

** {{spoiler|Ophelia gets her fair share of screen time and stage battles, but it feels faster because there's no missions between them, and you keep moving from zone to zone as opposed to fighting in and around Bladehenge.}}.

* [[Crazy Enough to Work]]: Action and RTS? [[Sacrifice|Pffft.]]. [[Herzog Zwei|Who would even]] [[Battlezone (1998 video game)|think something like that to be plasuible?plausible]]?

** In the single-player mode, the fight between Lita and Ophelia is a curb-stomp battle. With a few swings of her pole-axe and a well-placed kick, Lita disarms Ophelia and knocks her to the ground. Only Eddie's intervention prevents Lita from killing Ophelia.

* [[Dark Fantasy]]: mildlyMildly.

* [[Dark Reprise]]: The romantic rock ballad [[Scorpions|"Holiday"]] plays over a dream sequence of Eddie and Ophelia [[Meadow Run|frolicking on a beach]] [[Offhand Backhand|stabbing druids]], then as Eddie wakes up it brilliantly and [[Nightmare Fuel|eerily]] segues into the haunting and depressing "So Frail", by Mirrorthrone, {{spoiler|as Ironheade launches their final attack on her.}}.

* [[Deus Sex Machina]]: Remember, kids, enough orgy can initiate {{spoiler|time-travel}}.

* [[Divide and Conquer]]: Inverted for beginners and played straight for advanced. [[Word of God]] says new players should start out by disregarding the RTS parts and focus completely on clumping your whole army together and [[The Power of Friendship|fighting along side them on the ground, supporting them with buffs and using Double Team attacks.]]. As players become more advanced, they must learn to spread their army around and bounce around supporting them as needed.

* [[Don't Explain the Joke|Don't Explain the Joke:]]: When the Bouncers join Ironheade:

{{quote|'''Eddie:''' Okay, but I can't be holding their hands the whole time. ''* chuckles* '' Get it? 'Cause their hands are too big.

'''Ophelia:''' ''* sighs* '' }}

'''Eddie:''' *Departsdeparts then turns for one last glare.* }}

* [[Dying Like Animals|Dying Like Very Very Camp Animals]]: All of Lionwhyte's faction, of the [[Les Collaborateurs]] type. Though Lionwhyte is the only one who could seriously be [[Sissy Villain|considered overly camp,]], since most of them are in it for the chicks and booze.

* [[Earth-Shattering Poster]]: Drawn by Scott Campbell and, [https://web.archive.org/web/20111101151647/http://shop.doublefine.com/posterofthebeast.aspx available for purchase.].

* [[Easy Communication]]: Subverted;: you have to be close enough to your units for them to hear your orders. However, the game gives you a "Rally Army" [[The Power of Rock|solo]], which calls your troops to your position, no matter how far away they are.

* [[Forged by the Gods]]: A lot of the stone and metal land scape. In particular, the sword in the center of Bladehenge is called the Blade of the Metal gods. {{spoiler|The Ironheade final attack summons a second one out of the sky.}}.

* [[Frank Frazetta]]: A lot of in game art is inspired by his work. See [[Alien Sky]] above.

* [[Friendly Fireproof]]: As long as Eddie's the one dishing it out, his soldiers show an amazing immunity to fire, explosions, lightning, lasers, and ''zeppelin crashes''.

* [[Game Breaking Bug]]: A serious problem on Ps3PS3. Players are reporting their save getting corrupted just by approaching 80% in the single player. Double Fine says they have a patch, and every now and then, [[Word of God]] says it's [[Electronic Arts]] who refuses to make the patch available.

'''Eddie:'''Light itself bends to my will! }}

** Played straight once. {{spoiler|In gameplay, Eddie has [[Super Drowning Skills]], but in the finale cutscene, he swims like a champion in the Sea of Black Tears.}}.

* [[Gameplay Roulette]] / [[Genre Busting]]: The core of the game is a third-person brawler, mixed with vehicular combat, [[Rhythm Game]] like guitar solos, with [[Real Time Strategy]] boss battles, all connected by a [[Wide Open Sandbox]].

* [[Genre Busting]]: Unless you're one of the very few who have played ''[[Sacrifice]]'', ''[[Battlezone (1998 video game)|Battlezone 1998]]'' or ''[[Giants: Citizen Kabuto]]'', this will be your first Action/RTS, in which you command an army with the size, scale, and command ability of a [[Real Time Strategy]] game, yet get to fight along side your army like an action game. Oh, and lets not forget the open world that contains it.

* [[Gladiator Games]]: The Stage Battles. Where the viewers are the actual [[Human Resources|source of power.]].

* [[Grim Up North]]: The obligatory northern mountains are called Death's Clutch. (Death's Fjord in multiplayer).

'''Eddie:''' Is that like "I'll see you in hell?" }}

{{quote|'''Eddie:''' It's smells like a whale... ate a bunch of cabbage... and died in your mouth... like a year ago!"}}

** [[Tim Schafer]] conceded that the game needed more tutorials to get players to understand how to play such a game that combines Action and RTS. He created a [https://web.archive.org/web/20091015225910/http://www.doublefine.com/news/comments/battle_time/ guide] to help players out.

** Deadly Sinners by [[3 Inches of Blood|Three Inches of Blood]], was in the Demo Trailer, and is practically the Ironheade theme song.

** Die for Metal by [[Manowar]].

** The Metal by [[Tenacious D]].

** Metal Thrashing Mad by [[Anthrax]].

* [[Hold the Line]]: The first Stage Battle, set to "One Shot At Glory," by [[Judas Priest]], and it's awesome.

* [[HUD]]: A minimalist version. HUD elements only appear when selecting / performing solos, building units, units are damaged, or when something happens involving your stage or a fan geyser.

** A possible exception is Tainted Coil. Their Merch Booth is called a Digestor, it's a giant mouth chewing fans. When Doviculus compels the fans to join him, he sometimes mutters "suckers...".

* [[Intercontinuity Crossover]]: With ''[[Metalocalypse]]'', [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLTz56PJJT0 appropriately.].

** "Girlfriend" by Kabbage Boy throws in this at one point, but it's [[Squick|rather gross.]].

* [[Interspecies Romance]]: {{spoiler|Riggnarok and Succoria.}}.

* [[It's Been Done]]: [[Tim Schafer]] felt the Stage Battles were a [[Spiritual Successor]] to ''[[Herzog Zwei]]''. He had no idea it played more like ''[[Sacrifice]]'', or that he had hired one of its developers.

* [[Justified Tutorial]]: The story teaches the stage battles slowly, and is woven into the story to the point where skipping straight to the multiplayer spoils many things, such as {{spoiler|Eddie learning to fly, and especially Ophelia's [[Face Heel Turn]].}}. Eddie starts off with basic weapons and car, and introduces the creation of Ironheade slowly, unit by unit. None of the factions were made possible {{spoiler|until Eddie's arrival in the Age of Metal. The human race was disconnected, the Drowning Doom didn't exist, and even the Tainted Coil did not have cars until they observed Ironheade.}}.

* [[Leg Cling]]: Eddie gets a Zaulia on each leg, Ophelia on his left arm, and a Razor Girl on his right. But that trailer was so early into the game's production that it has practically nothing to do with the game. (Itit's a now-dead Sierra trailer.).

* [[The Legions of Hell]]: The big bads are this, with a certain [[Corrupt Church|Black Mass]] / [[Bondage Is Bad|Hellraiser]] sort of twist.

* [[Leitmotif]]: One would think there would be many, but only {{spoiler|Ophelia}} has one: "Betrayal" by Lita Ford.

As you drown, my dear, in me.'']] }}

* [[Luke, I Am Your Father]]: Peculiarly averted, as {{spoiler|Doviculus}} is explicitly stated to ''not'' be Eddie's parent. (Wewe do find out his parentage, but neither parent is ever met.).

* [[Make-Out Point]]: The giant Iron Cross for {{spoiler|Eddie and Ophelia, post game.}}.

** Set[[Meadow Run]]: {{spoiler|Eddie's dream pre-Drowned Ophelia fight, in which he and Normal Ophelia have one of these all the while being chased by demons}}, set to "Holiday" by [[Scorpions]]. Even cute loves scenes can be metal.

* [[Merchandise-Driven]]: In-universe example. All of the stage battles ''run'' off this trope, because making merch booths for the fans is the only way to build and upgrade your army. It gets to the point where Eddie realizes {{spoiler|Drowned Ophelia}} is going to be a problem '''''just because she has merchandise.'''''

{{quote|'''Eddie''': "Merch is a little like a wedding ring. Sure, it's a material thing, but it's a symbol of your connection." }}

** Even the minor female characters adhere to this trope. The Zualia wear KISS makeup and [[Stripperiffic]] outfits, and the Razorgirls have tight t-shirts, tight-jeans, and Playboy bunny proportions. Even the battle nuns are, as Eddie puts it, "kinda sexy in a weird way."

* [[Mistaken Identity]]: {{spoiler|Doviculus was seeking out Succoria by scent. Ophelia refusing to explain who Succoria was made her look like Succoria in Eddie's eyes. She was really hiding the fact that Eddie could be related to her, so Lita and Lars would not assume he was going to destroy them as the prophecy says. It tears them apart.}}.

* [[Musical Assassin]]: Eddie and Lionwhyte both wield the power of weaponized stage effects through the power of a guitar and a microphone, respectively. Later on, there's {{spoiler|Drowned Ophelia}} and Doviculus, both with guitars of their own.

'''Eddie''': "TO BLADEHENGE!" }}

** Unit specific Nerfs are available at the [[Brütal Legend/Characters|Character Sheet.]].

* [[No Campaign for the Wicked]]: Sadly, there are no adventures as Doviculus or {{spoiler|Drowned Ophelia.}}.

'''Ophelia:''' * ''[[Unsound Effect|shank]]''* }}

** There's an even more hilarious (and adorable) moment of this later on;: Eddie dreams about running along a beach with Ophelia, happily slashing down Druids together with nary a glance away from one another.

* [[Oh Crap]]: {{spoiler|Lionwhyte}} gets one of these before his {{spoiler|[[Karmic Death]]}}.

* [[The Only One Allowed to Defeat You]]: Just like ''[[Herzog Zwei]]'', the [[Hero Unit]] can't destroy the enemy stage. [[The Power of Friendship|Only your units can do it.]]. If you try to, the fans residing there will visibly swat away your attack and hurt you.

* [[Ordinary High School Student]]: The [[MacGuffin]] was meant for a [[Physical God]], not for a ''roadie!''!

* [[Our Demons Are Different]]: Well, they're, uh... sexy in a weird way.

Don't you know? Light itself now bends to his will. }}

* [[Parental Incest]]: The Tainted Coil. [[Squick|ALL of them.]].

* [[Pieces of God]]: {{spoiler|Metal, Noise, Blood and Fire.}}.

*** Tim Schafer recounts that originally he merely was basing the character off Jack Black. Sierra, however, chose to just get Jack Black to do the role.

{{quote|'''Lemmy Kilmister''': "[http://www.brutallegend.com/media/videocelebtrailer-20091015094909316 I'm playing Kill Master. Typecasting, y'know.]."}}

* [[Racing Mini Game]]: Druid Plow vs. Fletus' Squealer... GO!

* [[Sarcastic Clapping]]: Lionwhyte, complete with "Bravo.".

* [[Scenery Porn]] / [[Scenery Gorn]]: The art design of the world is truly breathtaking;: no matter where you are in the world, it's virtually guaranteed that there is something cool to look at. And to make sure you don't miss any of it, the game includes mounted tourist binoculars of the best vistas and gives experience points and an achievement for viewing them all.

* [[Self-Fulfilling Prophecy]]: {{spoiler|Succoria}} arguably creates one of these. {{spoiler|When she travels to the future, she sees that humans ultimately win the war against the Coil; crushed, she stays in the future and eventually gives birth to Eddie. Therefore, Succoria deprived the demons of their true leader ''and'' created the person who would ultimately defeat Doviculus--... causing humanity to win the war.}}.

** No man. Earlier. Like... The Early Seventies.

* {{spoiler|[[She Is the King]]}}: Turns out to be the case for {{spoiler|Succoria. This is how Eddie can be the child of the Tainted Coil's emperor despite having a human father.}}.

* [[Shout-Out]]: Besides the many, ''many'' shout outs to heavy metal bands and songs, occasionally, Eddie will shout, "[[Pokémon|Super effective!]]" while attacking, and after playing the Call of the Wild, solo, he'll scream, "''[[Call of the Wild]]'' was my favorite book!".

** Previous Schafer game ''[[Day of the Tentacle]]'' gets a shout out in a rare response to Eddie's orders: "I'm on ya, lasagna!" Something Hoagie (a roadie, as it happens) would say to [[Benjamin Franklin]].

** {{spoiler|So, [[Hamlet|Opheila died after drowning, huh?]]? sadSad way to go.}}.

* [[Single Tear]]: Ophelia sheds one near the end. {{spoiler|A ''black'' one.}}.

* [[Snow Means Death]]: {{spoiler|Lars}}.

* [[Spikes of Villainy]]: Used straight and inverted. Good, evil, or even just part of the landscape; the game is ''loaded'' with spikes. [[I Thought It Meant|No, not]] [[Spikes of Doom|that kind.]].

* [[Spiritual Successor]]: The Stage Battles are a faster, console version of ''[[Sacrifice]]'' or ''[[Battlezone (1998 video game)|Battlezone 1998]]'' (the remake), and the even more obscure ''[[Giants: Citizen Kabuto]]'', both games by Shiny. The heavy metal theme and prevalence of bikers also tie it closely to an earlier Schafer gamer, ''[[Full Throttle]]'' -... as does returning voice actress Kath Soucie.

* [[Spawn Broodling]]: The Tainted Coil's Rock Stage can only produce these, in the form of Battle Nuns, Warfathers and Overblessers. They spawn demonic units by... uh... [[Tim Curry|germinating Doviculus's seed.]].

** The unit's entire body glowing orange is a build rate buff (Tainted Coil).

* [[Subtitles Are Superfluous]]: Completely averted. Every minor line of dialog is covered in the subtitles, including the grunts of exertion eddieEddie makes when he swings his axe, and the squeal of pain he makes when he tries to play his guitar when it's red-hot...

* [[Super Dickery]]: Anyone who played just the demo can be quite forgiven for thinking that Ormagöden was an evil monster and the overall [[Big Bad]] of the game. {{spoiler|In truth, he's anything but. He was more like a force of nature for one, and while the Tainted Coil are his spawn, much of the rest of what he left the world was all meant to be used for good.}}.

* [[Take That]]: Kabbage Boy is a ''[[Anvilicious|very]]'' obvious [[Take That]] against the likes of [[Linkin Park]], [[Korn]], or [[Limp Bizkit]]. That said, even if you like that kind of music, it's done in [[Rule of Funny|an amusing enough way]] that you don't mind.

** When two of the same army are fighting (Drowning Doom vs. Drowning Doom, etc.), they'll tend to take potshots at each other for the other's lack of "Trueness", often yelling out "Poser!"...

'''[[Tim Schafer]]''': ''You mean besides it sucking?'' }}

* [[Terminator Twosome]]: Inverted in every aspect with {{spoiler|Succoria going to the future and Riggnarok stealthily tagging along.}}.

* [[That Came Out Wrong]]:

'''Roadie''': "I'm not blowing anybody!" }}

* [[Trapped in Another World|Trapped In A World Based on Metal Album Covers]]: Subverted. {{spoiler|Eddie doesn't really want to leave.}}.

'''Eddie:''' "[[I Choose to Stay|Pfft!]]" }}

* [[Video Game Settings]]:

* [[Weird Moon]]: In the very beginning, Eddie comments on the cool eclipse. Some theories state that it was the Earth he left behind, because of its color. Later on, in Drowning Doom territory (and during Encompassing Gloom in multiplayer), the moon is [[Bad Moon Rising|shaped like a skull.]].

* [[Weird Sun]]: The sun is never visible and the sky is never a clear blue. See [[Alien Sky]] above.

* [[What Were They Selling Again?]]: The advertising not only intentionally hid the core gameplay, but it also turned off some people who hate [[Jack Black]], found the combat in the demo shallow (not knowing Eddie is a [[Hero Unit]] to something bigger,), and causing people to think the game is a "joke" or "''[[Guitar Hero]]''" game.

* [[Wild Teen Party]]: The soldiers of Ironheade have a keg party, complete with bonfires and large amplifiers blaring heavy metal music, set up on the beach. {{spoiler|If you visit them after beating the campaign you can even join them for a beer.}}.

* [[Written by the Winners]]: Hidden throughout the Single Player world are Legends which flesh out how the Age of Metal came to be. During the second half, the player can fine some that are chained up until the story is completed. Then they can be unlocked, and they reveal the truth about {{spoiler|Eddie's past, how he (not Lars) is [[The Messiah]] how he saved humanity.}}.

* [[X Meets Y]]: ''[[StarCraft]]'' meets ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]''. ''[[Sacrifice]]'' meets Ozzfest. [[Hack and Slash]] meets [[Real Time Strategy]].

* [[Xtreme Kool Letterz]]: Lampshaded by Eddie, who tacks an "e" onto Ironhead to make it cooler. More specifically, to let everyone they "Mean business".

''' {{spoiler|Drowned Ophelia}} to Eddie''': Does it make you feel like a man?!

''' {{spoiler|Drowned Ophelia}} to fleeing opponent''': Ladybug ladybug, fly away home. Your stage is on fire and the children are all gone!

''' {{spoiler|Drowned Ophelia}}, enemy flies away''': [[Mundane Solution|PULL!]] }}

* [[You Require More Vespene Gas|You Require More Fans]]