Dragon Age: Origins/Tropes R to Z: Difference between revisions

** Like the above, Mithra, a Dalish guard at the start of "The Nature of the Beast" notes what odd company the Warden keeps.

** The entire Grey Warden order appears to fit this, to some extent, looking at the list of names during the Warden's Keep DLC. Makes you wonder if any of the Archdemons ever really had any sort of chance to begin with.

** And Awakening tries its hardest to follow suit. There's an apostate mage with an obsessive Templar out for his blood, a murderous elven hippie mage, a thief whose father is the noble who killed the Human Noble's family, a member of the Dwarven Legion of the Dead, a Fade spirit of Justice trapped in the body of a dead man, and a very nice Grey Warden recruit {{spoiler|who dies the second she takes her Joining}}. Oh, and the drunk dwarf soldier from Origins returns as well.

* [[Random Encounter]]: You are likely to have one, and only one, whenever traveling between major locations on the [[World Map]]. Some of them are beneficial or even tied to the main plot.

* [[Rated "M" for Manly]]: True, you can play as a woman, but the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SuJ5T9sfAA trailers] (among other things) seem to indicate this is [[BioWare]]'s approach to marketing the game. And yet, the endgame seems to be most developed/complex for a female PC, if you romance Alistair. Actually somewhat subverted. Bioware games (particularly [[Mass Effect]] and Dragon Age) have been some of the most popular among female gamers. There are female characters who can kick every bit as much ass as the male characters, including in the trailers.

* [[Real Is Brown]]: The most colorful thing in the game is the box art and [[Vanity Plate|Vanity Plates]]. And the blood. Especially when considering early screenshots:

* [[Real Men Wear Pink]]: Sten, the [[The Big Guy|giant]] [[The Stoic|stoic]] [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]], is found at various points being in love with cookies, hunting for cake, picking flowers, and ''playing with a kitten.''

* [[Real Time with Pause]]: Like all other [[BioWare]] games. In Dragon Age, failure to master this skill will make your life miserable.

* [[Religion Is Magic]]: Averted. Although the dwarves, the elves, and the humans all have their own faiths, none of these faiths are actualized with their own magics. The Chantry's templars, for instance, merely wield anti-magics. While {{spoiler|the Urn of Sacred Ashes}} is capable of performing miracles, Oghren suggests the possibility that the large, unusually pure [[Applied Phlebotinum|Lyrium]] vein not too far away inside the rock [[Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane|may be responsible for its powers]].

* [[Religion of Evil]]: The Cult of Andraste.

* [[Resurrection Sickness]]

* [[Required Party Member]]

* [[Running Gag]]: A variation. In every Dragon Age game so far, someone can (possibly) die by taking an ogre to the face. Cailan dies this way in ''Origins'', Varel can die this way in ''Awakening'' and Bethany or Carver in ''[[Dragon Age II]]''.

** Another gag is foreign characters commenting that Ferelden "Smells like wet dog", to which the player character can respond in variants of "It does not smell like dog!"

'''Sten''': Yes, I was trying to forget that. }}

** Ferelden might be in the south of Thedas, but in practice, it is [[Grim Up North]], since Thedas is basically Fantasy Europe flipped upside-down. Conversely, the Anderfels, located in the north, are a land of ravaged steppes and forests, and are close to a region called the Donarks, which are also filled with jungles.

* [[Sadistic Choice]]: Oh so many.

*** Despite all your efforts, however, {{spoiler|Sigrun (definitely) and Velanna and Justice (supposedly) will die if you leave them at the Keep and save Amaranthine, no matter if you got the Enduring Vigil achievement}}.

* [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens]]: The Qunari have a very strict caste system and don't really understand or like the idea that there might be other, equally viable, social organizations.

* [[Schmuck Bait]]: Loads of these: six black vials and three ominous gravestones ({{spoiler|[[Soul Jar|Soul Jars]] for nine boss-level Revenants}}); a deserted, inviting, and suspiciously pristine campsite in the Brecilian Forest ({{spoiler|an illusion cast by a Shade to lure in prey}}); the gong atop the ancient temple of Andraste ({{spoiler|summons the [[Bonus Boss|High Dragon]] for battle}}); and the stories of Gaxkang the Unbound ({{spoiler|temptations to lure traveling the adventures into the clutches of a litch}}).

** Dwarf Commoner: During the Dwarf Noble origin, when the player converses with the Proving master, he/she will be asked if they came to watch the Provings; if the player replies "Wouldn't miss it", a proving trainer appears by the door. If conversed with, the proving trainer will talk about a huge scandal that happened at the last week's Proving, about some "casteless bruiser" impersonating Everd and winning the Provings, only to be busted by the semi-sober Everd. Also, upon coming/returning to Orzammar and exploring the carta hideout, The Warden (if they are ''not'' a Dwarf Commoner) finds Leske locked up in a cell. In the next cell over (the very same one the Dwarf Commoner player is imprisoned in during the origin story), there lies a dead dwarf. Leske says that the other dwarf stopped eating one day and died of starvation "all for a stupid bet", in an obvious reference to the Dwarf Commoner origin.

** Dwarf Noble: Bhelen's plot and betrayal of his older siblings, and subsequently the succession crisis that occurs {{spoiler|in the wake of King Endrin's death}}, happen whether or not the Dwarf Noble origin is played. If a Dwarf Commoner player eavesdrops on some NPC's conversations, King Endrin's "middle child" is mentioned a couple of times, since it takes place one week prior to the Dwarf Noble's origin story. Also, Gorim is always a merchant in Denerim, which implies that the events of the Dwarf Noble story that led to his exile happened anyway. During Orzammar, at least one of the Dwarf NPCs will mention Endrin's favorite as having been murdered, implying that the exiled Dwarf Noble eventually died in the Deep Roads without Duncan present to rescue them.

* [[Seven Deadly Sins]]: Condensed into the main five types of demons encountered in the Fade: Rage (wrath), Hunger (gluttony), Sloth (also, according to the codex, envy), Desire (greed and lust), and Pride. Just as in real-life Christianity, Pride is considered the most evil of all by the Chantry because they are the most likely to gain full sentience and therefore more freely amass power.

* [[Sex Equals Love]]: Averted within the gameplay, but played straight when it comes to unlocking the romance sidequest achievements: no matter how good your character's relationship with a companion is, he or she is not considered to have begun a romance with them until they have sex.

* [[Shrug of God]]: The answer to why the player can import a character to Awakening even if he {{spoiler|chose to sacrifice him/herself at the end of Origins}}.

* [["Shut Up" Kiss]]: One of many touching dialog options during a [[Romance Sidequest]], as Leliana blabbers about how you let her go on and on about how much she likes you without telling her you like her back.

** Dwarves/Elves/Humans -- other races are present, but these are the provided player character options.

** [[Our Monsters Are Different]] -- Thedas's demons and werewolves are different. Dragons seem to occupy the same role in Origins, but backstory reveals more and more differences.

** [[Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards]] -- A single Templar to execute a potentially dangerous Mage early will save dozens of Templar lives later.

** [[The Empire]] (Orlais) and several [[The Kingdom|The Kingdoms]], with [[Standard Royal Court]], modeled off of [[Medieval European Fantasy|historical feudal]] and imperial societies. And then there's [[The Horde]] (darkspawn).

** Seems to be the ''entire'' point of {{spoiler|the Morrigan romance}}.

** Prince Bhelen and Rica, arguably, depending on your choices. Though she is only his concubine, it's heavily implied that they have genuine feelings of strong affection for each other (or, at least, she certainly does for him). If you side with Harrowmont during the Orzammar quest and make him king, Bhelen attacks you in a rage and you are forced to kill him, which leaves Rica heartbroken and her life in tatters.

* [[Sticks to the Back]]: All shields and weaponry. Apparently the sword belt was never invented in Ferelden. Well, at least an actual sword belt: there is a "sword belt" item in the game but it's just a + strength belt.

* [[Stop Poking Me]]: Clicking on Ariane in the Witch Hunt DLC too often will lead her to [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall|offhandedly remark]] that when she was young she would break the fingers of those who poked her.

* [[Stripperiffic]]: Largely averted. While a handful of female mooks have revealing clothing, and there are moderately [[Stripperiffic]] options for a female Warden, most of the named female NPCs are dressed quite sensibly. The exception, of course, is Morrigan -- one can only assume that her shapeshifting powers allow her to secrete Krazy Glue, because there's no other way that outfit should stay on in combat. Amusingly, her scanty garb is often lampshaded by the other NPCs in background conversations.

'''Sten:''' Eels would be something. }}

** The Chasind Robes you can find at the end of the "Signs of the Chasind" sidequest, but, [[Most Gamers Are Male|oddly]], only if equipped on a woman, in which case they suddenly have a big [[Cleavage Window]] and what looks like [[Stocking Filler|fishnet stockings]].

* [[Suspicious Videogame Generosity]]: On the top floor of Fort Drakon, right after fighting [[Degraded Boss|a few monsters who no longer qualify as bosses]]. The sheer ''amount'' of generosity [[Oh Crap|hints]] as to what's through the next door.

** Not very suspicious: {{spoiler|you already know the Archdemon's waiting for you on the roof.}}

* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: In ''Awakening'', you can make the Orlesian Warden this to your [[Heroic Sacrifice|sacrificed Warden]], if you wish.

* [[Sword and Sorcerer]]: Warriors and Mages. It's a common party setup.

* [[Thunderbolt Iron]]: A random encounter shows a meteor crater, where a couple of farmers finds a [[Superman|young boy]] and adopts him. The player can take the remains of the meteor and give it to the blacksmith at {{spoiler|Soldier's Peak}} to be made into one of the most powerful swords in the game (either a longsword or a greatsword) -- Starfang. The weapon has an exotic look and appears to glow.

* [[Tongue on the Flagpole]]: Not performable, but mentioned as a euphemism;

* [[Too Dumb to Live]]: Occasionally, someone will try to cut a deal with you, then attack you when you say "no dice". Most of the time, this is excusable, but there's a few times where they really ought to know better. The bad guy in the City Elf origin, for example, notes that you're covered in the blood of the guards you just killed and tries to reason with you to weasel out of your vengeance, then attacks if you say "[[Screw You, Elves|screw you, human]]!" And then there's Sgt. Kylon's famous quote...

** Arl Howe. Because when you're confronted by the Human Noble whose entire family you brutally had murdered, who's survived waves of assassins you yourself have sent after them, countless legions of Darkspawn, Dragons, Ogres, Demons, and the biggest and most brutal creatures Thedas can muster... do you really think it's wise to ''taunt them'' about how [[Berserk Button|you killed their parents?]]

** One of the Mages Collective quest has the PC intercept a group of adventurers on their way to Denerim before they can falsely accuse a mage of being a blood mage. When challenged, the leader of the group of adventurers remarks that [[Bullying a Dragon|your group doesn't look that tough.]] [[Suicidal Overconfidence|They just fought off a squad of darkspawn, after all.]]

** Rylock from ''Awakening'', the [[Inspector Javert|overzealous Templar]] pursuing Anders, who is determined to bring him in to face justice for the deaths of the Templars who were guarding him during the Darkspawn attack on the Vigil. While she's claims that Chantry law supercedes the Crown in matters regarding Mages, she's convieniently forgotten that part where the Crown merely accepted that they '''cannot''' deny a Grey Warden who has invoked the "''Right of Conscription''". The Chantry certainly does not allow her to foolishly attempt to ''murder'' the Warden for refusing to hand Anders over, either.

* [[Town with a Dark Secret]]: Haven.

* [[Tragic Monster]]: When you encounter the elven woman Danyla, {{spoiler|she has completed her transformation into a werewolf and will insist that the player kill her -- if not voluntarily, she attacks to force your hand. However, there is a possible way to achieve a happy ending for her; if you avoid her on the way into the Lady's lair and then convince the werewolves you'll help them attack the elves, her husband goes to find her and convinces her to infect him so they can remain together as fellow wolf-creatures. And don't think you can simply ignore her and then go on to get Zathrian to end the werewolf curse. Danyla will just vanish afterwards.}}

** Although {{spoiler|the codex entry and dialouge afterwards indicates that with the curse ended, she would have returned to being an elf. You never see her, but he does run off to look for her.}}

* [[Trailers Always Spoil]]: Including the killing of Ser Jory, Cailan's death, and Loghain as a bad guy.

* [[Trickster Mentor]]: {{spoiler|Mouse, aka the Pride Demon the mage Player Character encounters in the Fade}}, has a few shades of this. Had you failed the test, you would most certainly have died while unleashing a demon upon Ferelden, but having passed it, he seems to have no ill will against you. Despite the fact that he could easily have killed you at that point, he not only lets you live, but he gives your character some good advice as well.

* [[Troperiffic]]: All of the usual WRPG tropes are in place. [[Tropes Are Tools|Indeed, this game could be shown as an example as to the proper use of Tropes in games]]. There is plenty of [[Lampshade Hanging]] on everything from Ser Gilmore's snarky attitude to the giant rats in the cellar in the Human Noble origin. Indeed, the Human Noble origin is the most concentrated pile of RPG and fantasy cliches in the game, and it's almost certainly deliberate -- the above-mentioned rats, the [[Doomed Hometown]] (well, castle), and even a chance to comment that "I've got a bad feeling about this...", among others.

* [[True Companions]]: Get your party members' affection high enough, and it'll trigger dialogue which affirms the strength of the relationship.

* [[Twenty Bear Asses]]: A Chantry board quest demands corpse gall for research purposes. You can give them a smaller amount -- just about what you'll get from fighting your way up to Connor in Castle Redcliffe, or a larger amount for more gold. Without carefully combing the map for corpses, it's impossible to get all of the galls before the climax.

* [[Twincest]]: Alluded to, not so subtly, between brother and sister fighting team Myaja and Lucjan:

'''Myaja''': ''[[Twin Threesome Fantasy|Unless you want to find out?]]'' }}

* [[Ultimate Blacksmith]]: Wade, a stuffy artistic diva of an armorer in the city of Denerim. Perfectly accessible in his shop at almost any time, he only does his best work when "inspired" by the Warden bringing him rare materials, and is almost intolerable otherwise. When you're holding [[Infinity+1 Sword|Vigilance]] in your hands, though, you will want to have his children. Mikhail Dryden, once you've completed Soldier's Peak, will also make one of the finest swords in the original game.

* [[Walk It Off]]

* [[Walking Wasteland]]: The darkspawn spread a curse/disease called "the taint" wherever they go that slowly kills everything around them.

** The Ogre at the top of the tower will be a huge kick in the teeth to players who insist on playing this game like ''[[Diablo]]''. Tip: Shield bash the ogre whenever he grabs someone and he lets go. Just remember to take Bash off of tactics so it's ready when you need to use it.

*** Actually, you can set a shield-using character to use Shield Bash like this ''automatically''.

* [[The War Sequence]]: Ostagar and the game's finale.

* [[Weak but Skilled]]: Isabela describes her fighting style as being like this, and can train you to fight the same way.

* [[What Could Have Been]]:

** According to [[Word of God|David Gaider, the game's lead writer]], Jowan was originally supposed to be a joinable party member after {{spoiler|the events in Redcliffe ,as the main character could have invoked the Right of Conscription when speaking to Arl Eamon in order to recruit him}}. However, they didn't have room to add another character, so the idea was scrapped.

** A City Elf Warden will return to the Alienage in the midst of the final battle.

** The Mage Warden does this ''twice'', returning to the Circle Tower in the "Broken Circle" quest and once more in ''Witch Hunt''.

* [[World Half Empty]]: While it's not as bad as the [[Crapsack World]] presented in ''[[The Witcher]]'', Ferelden is pretty well crammed with bastards and injustice.

* [[World of Ham]]: Seasoned and cured with [[Deadpan Snarker|deadpan snarkery]].

** Some have speculated that Morrigan's way of speaking might be due to the fact that, since she's spent most of her life in the middle of the Korcari Wilds, far away from civilisation, the only way she learnt English was from ''incredibly'' old books provided to her by Flemeth, hence her rather archaic language. Her rather sing-song way of speaking likely also comes from her having learnt to talk via metre.

** Some of the subtle pauses in her dialogue also appear to be spoken in ''iambic pentameter.''

* [[You Are Already Dead]]: The Walking Bomb spell.

* [[You Can't Thwart Stage One]]: Regardless of your actions, Ostagar will be a bloodbath. Likewise, all the horrible crap that leads up to you becoming a Warden of whatever origin will happen no matter what. The most you can do in some cases is blunt the bloodshed a bit.

 

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[[Category:Dragon Age]]