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

* [[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.

* [[Randomly Drops]]: Certain enemies {{spoiler|like Gaxkang}} have a chance of dropping unique items; if you fail to get it, you just need to reload before fighting them and keep beating them until you get it. The game also has a rather sadistic variation; certain ''chests'' have a chance of holding pieces of certain armor sets {{spoiler|the Chevalier and Commander's Plate sets}}. This is set when you ''enter the area''. If you fail to get it after fighting your way through whatever enemies are in your way –- tough luck. You have to reload outside of the area and try again. Adding insult to injury, the sets aren't even that great.

* [[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:

{{quote| '''Shale''': [[Lampshade Hanging|The only wonder of Thedas is how everything got to be so]] ''brown.''}}

* [[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.''

* [[Recurring Riff]]: The wail in "In Uthenera," the game's main theme, is repeated several times in the soundtrack.

* [[Refusal of the Call]]: This gets Ser Jory killed.

* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]:

** The City Elf Origin.

** As is picking Harrowmont if you're a dwarf noble. {{spoiler|Not that it's a great idea.}}

* [[Robe and Wizard Hat]]: Wizard hats are especially notable for how absolutely ridiculous they look.

* [[Royals Who Actually Do Something]]:

** The Couslands, who are descendants of kings and command only slightly less respect than Ferelden's actual royal family, send troops to fight the Blight. Said troops include their heir and would have included their patriarch, had he not been murdered by his supposed best friend.

* [[Screw Destiny]]: You are free to weasel out of {{spoiler|your [[Heroic Sacrifice]] by engaging in some hanky-panky with Morrigan}}. Opinions vary.

** [[Incredibly Lame Pun|"Screw Destiny"]] Indeed...

** There's also {{spoiler|a dragon magically sealed inside the throne room of the Orzammar Royal Palace}}, although finding it is a bit of a [[Guide Dang It]].

* [[Second Coming]]: Mostly within the lore of the game series itself: The Maker is prophesied to return and make his world a paradise once the Chant of Light has been sung from all the corners of the world.

* [[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.

* [[Smug Snake]]: Caladrius.

* [[Socketed Equipment]]: The game's enchantment systems works by "binding" runes to equipment.

* [[Solo Class]]: A few examples. First is the Arcane Warrior, a heavily armored mage who gets abilities that allow them to seriously reduce or totally nullify all damage and they also have access to heals and powerful offensive spells. Then there's the rogue. Properly built, a rogue can become essentially immune to melee damage, and resist all but the most powerful spells.

* [[Someone Has to Die]]: {{spoiler|The archdemon cannot be defeated without a Grey Warden sacrificing themselves. Morrigan, however, lets you [[Take a Third Option]]}}.

** Mages all have the ability to detect disruptions in the Veil that can, with practice, allow them to detect spirits and especially powerful spells.

* [[Spikes of Doom]]: All the armor that the darkspawn wear is adorned with lots of these.

* [[Spirit World]]: The Fade.

* [[Spotting the Thread]]:

** 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).

** 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.

* [[Stealth Pun]]: The Denerim Alleyway encounter where Taliesen attacks you has a couple of crows hopping about on the ground.

* [[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.

{{quote| '''Morrigan:''' So are you going to continue staring at me as if I am covered in eels?<br />

'''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]].

* [[Stupidity Is the Only Option]] / [[Failure Is the Only Option]]: {{spoiler|Whether the Dwarf Noble PC is [[Too Dumb to Live]] and catches the [[Idiot Ball]] to readily trust that Bhelen has no underhanded motive in helping them or a [[Genre Savvy]] politician who decides to wait and see how things develop, Trian ends up dead, everyone testifies against them, and the PC gets exiled into the Deep Roads. [[But Thou Must!|Becoming a Grey Warden is mandatory]], after all. The 'everybody' includes a guy you could have fought in an honorable fight in a Proving, and even given the reward for his valor in battle.}}

** Also a random encounter with {{spoiler|Zevran}}. There is no way to avoid an ambush (which is pretty obvious, even if you play the first time). If you try to flank your enemies, the cutscene kicks in and your team walks straight into it, like a band of total morons...

* [[Technical Pacifist]]: The Dalish are nomadic and never stay in one place too long to avoid conflict. The Keeper even says that they ''could'' destroy a nearby Human village who are rallying a mob to drive them out, if they so wished, but that would only cause King Cailan to send soliders next time, thus it is wiser to simply move on.

* [[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.

{{quote| '''Alistair''': Why, have you ever [[Unusual Euphemsism|licked a lamp-post in the wintertime?]]}}

** 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.

{{quote| '''Guard:''' ''(repeatedly)'' [[Broken Record|It has always been thus in Haven]]. [[Madness Mantra|We do not question tradition]].}}

* [[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.}}

* [[Underground Monkey]]: The archdemon is an ancient dragon of a different color, and pulls an [[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors]] switch.

* [[Un-Equal Rites]]: A long time ago, a powerful nation called the [[The Empire|Tevinter Imperium]] once conquered nearly all of the known world by using an extremely dangerous sorcery called Blood Magic which allowed them to broker deals with and summon demons as well as use a powerful form of [[Mind Control]]. Eventually, their reign was toppled by the appearance of [[The Corruption|The Blight]], which struck the Empire from nowhere and left them crippled. Most of the world's nations were formed by barbarian clans that rebelled against the weakened Empire, and the followers of those early rebels quickly formed a religion called The Chantry. The Blight continues to plague the world to this day, and the Chantry teachings blame magic for unleashing it. Because of this, mages in general are treated as worse than dirt, and any mage that is not under the direct control of the Chantry is labeled as an apostate which is to be killed on sight. Worse than them are the "Maleficar", which are simply apostates which use the hated Blood Magic which unleashes demons and once enslaved the world.

** And between Oghren and Wynne, about Alistair's pike-twirling hobby. Mind you, it is exactly what it sounds like -- twirling a pike of the sort used to stick charging horses and such. Though, where Alistair ''found'' a pike...

** "Ever lick a lampost in the winter?" Alistair is [[Sarcasm Mode|surprised when the alternative meaning is pointed out.]]

** Orzammar is divided into the Merchant Quarter, where most dwarves live, the Diamond Quarter, where the nobility and royalty live, and Dust Town, which is where the Casteless live.

** Denerim has an Elven Alienage, which is basically a ghetto for City Elves.

** Traps actually ''are'' a very effective way to kill one [[Bonus Boss]] because {{spoiler|Flemeth}} is non-aggressive. You can easily use this time to surround the combat area, and when the boss becomes hostile...they ''all'' go off on her.

* [[Useless Useful Spell]]: Curse of Mortality is probably the perfect example of a spell that, despite the fact that it works exactly the same way for players and enemies, is obscenely powerful in enemy hands, and mostly useless (or at least underpowered) for the player. Getting hit with it results in the target being unable to have their health, stamina, or mana restored by any means for thirty seconds, on top of doing damage over time. Used in combat, it is essentially an unavoidable death sentence on any creature upon which it is cast, barring quick use of a dispel magic effect, and it's not even a top-ranked spell, so you can get it fairly early in the game (and nearly every magic-wielding opponent from mid-game onward will be able to cast it). Unfortunately, your opponents seldom bother to heal themselves anyhow, relying instead on armor and massive amounts of health to stay alive long enough to pose a threat, not to mention the fact that they can die by the dozens and keep sending in more troops, whereas you get a game over if you lose four party members in one fight.

** If you choose to get Bann Vaughan's money in the City Elf origin... things aren't okay in the Alienage after that mess. [[Video Game Cruelty Punishment|And you don't even get to keep the money unless you already know what's going to happen.]]

** Alistair serves you a textbook example of this trope if you {{spoiler|kill Connor or Isolde during the Redcliffe quest. If you spare Loghain at the Landsmeet, he even leaves the party. Unless, of course, you execute him.}}

* [[When Trees Attack]]: Sylvans.

* [[Where Are They Now? Epilogue]]: Although it only mentions what happened to the party members if {{spoiler|you died during the ending, preventing you from asking the party members what they intend to do now.}}