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{{quote|''Piranha Bytes apparently takes any concepts that are salvageable out of the trainwreck that is ''[[Ultima IX]]'' (figuratively speaking), patch it all up with what they carried over from their pen&paper passion, and somehow make a great game out of that. The new German RPG prodigy is called ''Gothic''.''
|[http://blog.hardcoregaming101.net/2011/05/brief-history-of-western-action-rpgs.html Hardcore Gaming 101]}}
Not to be confused with the genre of [[Gothic Literature]], or the [[Goth]] lifestyle, or [[The Middle Ages|medieval architecture]], or the tribe of people from [[The Dark Ages|Gotland]].
A 2001 German game translated into English, ''Gothic'' is the first in a trilogy of PC action-[[RPG
Had a sequel
In the third game
An [[Expansion Pack]] called ''Forsaken Gods'' was also released, which took the [[Obvious Beta]] status [[Up to Eleven]] and wasn't made by Piranha Bytes. Most fans consider it [[So Bad It's Good]] at best. This time, the Nameless Hero returns from exile because he is majorly pissed off at the people of Myrtana not enjoying the peace he has brought them with hard work, but rather warring each other in various factions once again. In the end, the Hero becomes the new King of Myrtana to unite them once and for all.
The fourth game in the series, ''Arcania: A Gothic Tale'' or simply ''Gothic 4'' also not made by
Meanwhile, Piranha Bytes made their own spiritual successor named ''[[Risen]]'', which received good reviews and praise from journalists and fans.
[http://www.gothicz.net/serie-gothic/mike-hoge-talks-about-gothic/ One interview] with Piranha Bytes has confirmed they have regained the rights to the series due to their sale to JoWood being temporary.
''Gothic'''s main draw was its wide open world and the ability to 'choose' in the plot, although this really came down to just picking one of three camps for the first half of the game, as you are railroaded back into the central plot eventually. The world, however, is exactly as promised: within the limits of the magical barrier surrounding the colony (or the sea serpents/mountains in the 2nd game), exploration is rewarded with beautifully detailed scenery, complete with weather, and many hidden items.
Another notable draw of ''Gothic'' is the method of character advancement. Only hit points increase on their own at level up, while the player gains skill points as well. To spend these skill points, the player must seek out trainers. Basic abilities like raising an attribute typically have free, easy to locate, trainers (at least for low levels), while trainers for more esoteric abilities (such as lock picking) may be limited to a small handful that require a quest to learn from and higher skill levels generally require faction specific trainers. The hero's skill is also a much greater effect on combat than just speed or damage; at low levels he is visibly inept at weapon use, being slow, predictable and frequently stumbling, while as skill increases, new abilities in combat are gained, movement is more fluid, and fumbles are lessened. Armor also matters a great deal, and, (with the exception of a few early pieces that are simply bought) is linked with quest progress. ''Gothic'' in based much more firmly in character skill than most RPGs with real time combat, with a weak PC being unable to make any damage on a strong enemy.
Also notable for containing a character named Gorn, but no actual [[Gorn]].
----
{{tropelist}}
* [[Ancient Tomb]]
* [[Animal Motifs]]
* [[Anti-Grinding]]
* [[Anyone Can Die]]: Subverted in the first two games, where you can kill anyone but the plot-important NPCs (who are [[Plot Armor|simply immune to all damage]]), played straight in the third one.
** Though the plot-important NPCs in the first two games tend to become killable after they have played their role in the plot.
* [[The Artifact]]: In ''Night of the Raven'', the Milita trainer still notes that one handed and two handed skills are linked and you need to learn one to master the other, despite the expansion doing away with that mechanic.
* [[Artificial Atmospheric Actions]]: [[NPC]]s go about their daily lives, and animals hunt each other and scavenge corpses. The player can also perform almost any action that an NPC does, no matter how pointless (sit on chairs, play instruments, ...).
* [[Artificial Stupidity]]: NPCs when acting as temporary companions in ''Gothic 3'' are walking examples of this. To be brief, they will only notice an enemy when said enemy gets close enough to hit them in the face (sometimes they'll actually need to receive damage in order to unsheathe their weapon and enter combat mode).
* [[Ascended Extra]]
* [[Asshole Victim]]
* [[Awesome but Impractical]]
* [[Badass]]
* [[Badass Army]]
* [[Bag of Spilling]]:
** The loss of status from ''Gothic I'' to ''Gothic II'' makes sense. The Colony had a society all its own, and no one in the greater world is going to care if you were a mercenary or a templar in the Colony. The Fire Mages in Khorinis wouldn't know about you if you went that route in ''Gothic
** ''Gothic
* [[Batman Gambit]]
* [[Beat Still My Heart|Beat Still, My Heart]]:
* [[Berserk Button]]
* [[Big Brother Mentor]]
* [[Big Creepy
* [[Boss Battle]]:
* [[Boss in Mook Clothing]]:
* [[But You Screw One Goat!]]
* [[Character Level]]
* [[The Chew Toy]]
** Killing him is probably the kindest option. The alternative is to beat him up, then when he stands up again you tell him you enjoyed that. That's right, you can show him that you're just as much of an asshole as everyone else who's been kicking him down all his life. You bastard.
** Well, there is a kinder option
* [[Combos]]
* [[Commonplace Rare]]
* [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard]]: In ''Gothic 3'', NPCs with magical abilities will never run out of mana, and sometimes will surprise you by throwing remote-controlled magic missiles at your face, with said 'nukes' even slipping through several other enemies - and even environmental objects - before hitting its moving target (usually, your ass) with deadly precision.
* [[Continuing Is Painful]]
* [[Cool Old Guy]]
* [[Crapsack World]]
* [[Critical Hit]]
** Archers have a weapon skill stat, but instead of regulating critical hits per se, it regulates the chance of actually inflicting a wound when the arrow hits. However, since every wound is a critical hit, you quickly learn [[Goddamn Bats|not to mess]] [[Game Breaker|with archers]].
* [[Crutch Character]]
* [[Damn You, Muscle Memory!]]
** Or you could change it back in the options...
* [[Dark Is Not Evil]]
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]
* [[Death Mountain]]:
* [[Death of a Thousand Cuts]]
* [[Disc One Nuke]]
* [[Do Not Drop Your Weapon]]: Averted, as being knocked unconscious will make anyone drop it.
* [[Dracolich]]: The final boss of the second game.
* [[Dude, Where's My Respect?]]
** After clawing his way up to a position of respect and prosperity at the end of one game, he'd be right back where he started by the next one. Seeing as he's understandably frustrated that he gets no respect each time, and it gets worse the more he tried to be a good guy
* [[Early Game Hell]]
* [[Easter Egg]]
** Getting into Khorinis at the start of ''Gothic II'' is normally just a simple task of obtaining a set of farmer's clothes and bluffing your way past the guards, but if you enter via [[Sequence Breaking]], you not only get a nice sum of experience, but a few unique lines.
* [[Excuse Plot]]: ''Forsaken Gods''s plot is essentially an excuse to explore Myrtana for another twenty hours. It's also a bridge (albeit a weak one) to ''Gothic 4''.
* [[Expansion Pack]]
* [[Fake Ultimate Mook]]:
** Shadow Beasts in caves in ''Gothic II''. While hyped in the setting and one of the more likely things to maul a new player, once you have a weapon+weapon skills+strength that can hurt them even the slightest bit, just repeatedly attacking can kill them due to their huge delay before attacking. The Black Troll is a very noticeable example, so threatening and prominent it's marked on your map, but it can't turn at a decent rate and is easily circle strafed.
** All trolls in ''Gothic 3''. Huge, physically imposing monsters with a loth of health... but so slow you can [[Death of a Thousand Cuts|repeatedly slash or maul them to death]] without sustaining any damage, since they just can't block your attacks and aren't fast enough to land a punch if you keep attacking again and again.
** To some extent, Dragons in ''Gothic 3''. They only attack by throwing fireballs out of their mouths, and since [[Our Dragons Are Different|their wings seem to exist only for decorative purposes]], a player with good hunting skills can use any big enough environmental object as a shield and shoot arrows at them until they drop dead. With good timing, positioning and movements, even an average player character with average equipment can take down one of the (supposedly) toughest enemies in the entire game.
* [[Fetch Quest]]
* [[Fighter, Mage, Thief]]: Or rather Fighter, Mage, Archer. Though any combination of their individual skills is possible and by the end of ''Gothic I'', you're most likely going to be a [[Magic Knight]] due to the mages being the highest rank in all the factions, so you have to go through the fighter-based ranks first. Though how many skills of theirs you learn is up to you.
* [[Five-Man Band]]: In ''Gothic 3'', albeit they split up from the beginning.
** [[The Hero]]: The Nameless Hero.
** [[The Lancer]]: Diego, who is also [[The Obi-Wan]].
** [[The Big Guy]]: Gorn.
** [[The Smart Guy]]: Milten.
** [[The Heart]] and alternate [[The Big Guy]]: Lester.
** Actually, the dynamic of the five friends has existed since ''Gothic I'' and is a popular concept with the fans, though the first time they actually all fought side by side was in [[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon]] in ''Gothic II''. Hell, when German fans made [[The Movie]] (with in-game graphics, of course) they decided to have [[Adaptation Expansion|the five go into the final dungeon together]], [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|taking on an entire city of orcs in the process]].
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]/[[Easter Egg]]: A name that will ring a bell for most Gothic fans is Velaya. She is the slave girl that appears in the opening and can be found in the room above the throne room in central hall of the Old Camp in the original ''Gothic''. Velaya has exactly one spoken line of dialogue. Yet, she has almost reached [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] status among some fans, so much that some German modders made a [[Game Mod]] featuring her as the main character. The reason for this? Going into the room Velaya is locked in at certain times during the day will result in the player finding her completely naked (without any [[Barbie Doll Anatomy]], no less!) and seemingly having [[A Date with Rosie Palms|a lot of fun while washing herself in a bathtub]].
** The nudity [[Bowdlerise|is censored in the US release]] (she wears a bathing suit). However, it can be removed by deleting a game file.
* [[Gladiator Subquest]]: You get one in every single arena of ''Gothic 3''.
* [[Going Through the Motions]]
* [[Great Wall]]: The Great Barrier is a deadly forcefield that keeps all inhabitants of the penal colony mines inside. Due to a miscalculation, the barrier is permanent and now the kingdom responsible is forced to barter with prisoners for ore instead of using them as slave labor. Some of the mages responsible for enacting the barrier were trapped inside and are now accepting donations of the magic ore [[Practical Currency|used as currency within the prison]] to fuel their attempts at removing it {{spoiler|there's also an [[Eldrich Abomination]] inside the barrier's boundaries, and the Water Mages are actually trying to ''strengthen'' the barrier because of it, scamming their donors for the safety of civilization. It goes down in the ending once the threat is killed.}}
* [[Grey and Gray Morality]]: The guilds that the player can join in ''Gothic I''/''Gothic II'' are this, you can choose between a militaristic, [[Knight Templar]] faction, a freedom-loving and rough bandit/mercenary faction, or a group of religious fanatics. Averted with non-humans: Beliar and his "evil creatures" servants are [[Exclusively Evil]].
** It's noteworthy that the Adanos-based factions (the middle ones, usually) tend to try neutral alignments to begin with, but the Innos factions (Paladins and Fire Mages), especially in ''Gothic II'', are essentially [[Lawful Good]] with pride issues and the tendency to overstate their own importance. Otherwise, they're often somewhat decent people still. [[A Lighter Shade of Grey]].
** It's more traditional White And Black in ''Gothic 3'', but it immediately goes pretty far back into Grey and Gray by the time of the [[Expansion Pack]], which prompts the frustrated Nameless Hero to [[Take a Third Option]].
* [[Hanging Judge]]: The justice system after the discovery of magic ore was HARSH. It didn't matter if you killed someone or ignored a "keep off the grass" sign, the punishment was the same: you get thrown in a big prison colony where you either mine ore or get shanked by your fellow prisoners.
* [[Hitbox Dissonance]]: In ''Gothic II'', it is easy to avoid fire varan's [[Breath Weapon|fire breath]] by a [[Nonchalant Dodge|single step back]], even though visually the fire still reaches you. Same for troll's crushing attack.
* [[Hitchhiker Heroes]]: The ones in the first game turn are actually one group of conspirators. However, it's played straight in the second one.
* [[HP to One]]
* [[Impossible Item Drop]]
* [[Insurmountable Waist High Fence]]:
** That they ''avert'' this trope rather spectacularly is part of what makes ''Gothic'' games what they are. The Barrier in ''Gothic I'' is not a case of an [[Insurmountable Waist High Fence]], not even metaphorically because it makes perfect sense for it to stop you. Anything else - fences, roofs, city walls, the huge battering ram in ''Gothic II'', mountains - if it looks climbable, it almost always is. Hell, there are at least three little known ways to get into Khorinis in ''Gothic II'' that depend on this (though just using the gates and tricking the guards to let you through is easier, but perhaps not as rewarding). The game actively encourages you to look for creative ways to get to seemingly inaccessible places.
** There is one instance in ''Gothic II'' that plays this straight, although it is likely to be a glitch. The Orcs cannot follow [[The Hero]] up the log leading into the besieged fortress but they will try. Oh yes, THEY. WILL. TRY. In the end, it is possible to have the ''entire Orc camp'' clustered at swordslength and much [[Level Grinding]] ensues. Glorious days, those.
** And then they dropped the context sensitive jump system when they changed engines for ''Gothic 3''... The trope is still averted, but is much more difficult to avert.
** Also extremely blatant for the enemies in ''Gothic 3'', many of whom cannot jump at all. Is there a high rock nearby? Do you have a lot of arrows/the mana regeneration ability? Okay, everything nearby without a ranged attack is dead.
*** Doubly excellent when you could find dragons that followed the same pathing rules as normal people, so they couldn't just step up waist-high breaks... or, y'know, fly.
* [[Invisible Wall]]: The Barrier. Which becomes more and more visible the closer you get to it, and starts manifesting as electric death when you get much too close.
** Ironically brought back in ''Gothic 3'' {{spoiler|with the same guy who put your character in one erecting the same thing around himself willingly}}!
* [[Karl Marx Hates Your Guts]]: Some special merchants in the second game that will buy one item type for full price are an exception, but everyone else pays the same for every item.
* [[Kiting]]: One of the first NPCs encountered in the first game explicitly advises you do this whenever possible if asked for advice. Most enemies can be dealt with in this manner, wolfs (who automatically agro any other nearby wolfs when agroed) being the most prominent exception.
* [[La Résistance]]
* [[Lizard Folk]]
* [[Load-Bearing Boss]]
* [[Low Fantasy]]
* [[Magic Knight]]: In the first game, an Old-Camp player could join the guards, learn
* [[Mass Monster Slaughter Sidequest]]
* [[Money Spider]]
* [[Multiple Endings]]:
* [[Musical Spoiler]]:
* [[Naive Newcomer]]
* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]:
* [[Nintendo Hard]]
** The series as a whole prides itself on this. In fact, you can possess every [[Game Breaker]] and exploit every [[Good Bad Bug]] you want, and the games are still hard and unforgiving even on the easiest difficulty.
* [[Non-Indicative Name]]: "Scavengers" are agreesive and seemingly predatory.
* [[Non-Lethal KO]]: One of the parts that make this game unique is that characters enjoy engaging in close-combat duels with each other, where the looser will fall to the ground, have his HP reduced to 1 and will often afterwards be robbed and have his weapon taken away by the winner. In many parts of the ''Gothic'' world, this is a perfectly regular pastime and will even have nearby characters cheer on the fighters. A downed adversary can be finished off by [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice|driving one's weapon into their chest while they still lie on the ground]], but this is generally looked upon less favorably by onlookers. If you don't finish them, they'll get up after a short time, usually acknowledging your victory with an annoyed comment or even running away from you. However, none of this is true for combat with any kind of monster (in which emptying the health bar is always fatal for either player or enemy), some always-hostile characters (like bandits), ranged weapons or most kinds of spells.
* [[No Name Given]]: The Nameless Hero. In fact, people actively try to shut him up whenever he attempts to introduce himself.
* [[Nonstandard Game Over]]
* [[Now Where Was I Going Again?]]
* [[Obvious Beta]]:
** ''Forsaken Gods'' was a very obvious version of this, but the same team that fixed ''Gothic 3'' has managed to turn this game into something, while somewhat weak story wise, is playable and fully functional in a gameplay sense.
* [[One-Handed Zweihander]]
** Played straight if you train the "Twohanded"-skill to its maximum. Sure, you're holding the weapon in two hands
* [[One-Man Army]]
* [[Oxygen Meter]]: Interestingly, one of the few examples not instantly refilled on surfacing.
* [[Penal Colony]]
* [[The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything]]: [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|The pirates]] in ''Night of the Raven''.
* [[Preexisting Encounters]]: [[Anti-Grinding|They also won't respawn if killed]].
** Somewhat averted in the Community Patched versions of ''Gothic 3'' and ''Forsaken Gods'', with some enemies set to respawn with a given percentage of posssibility.
* [[Prestige Class]]: Guards/Fire Magicians, Mercenaries/Water Magicians and Templars in ''Gothic I'', Paladins and Dragon Hunters in ''Gothic II''.
* [[Recurring Riff]]: Title theme of ''Gothic 3'' sounds in several battle themes, mostly boss encounters. It's also a version of the original ''Gothic'''s title theme.
* [[Restart At Level One]]: ''Gothic II''.
* [[Retcon]]: A minor one: ''Gothic'' ends with the Nameless Hero leaving the {{spoiler|Sleeper-Temple completely unharmed}}, ''Gothic II'' starts with the Hero {{spoiler|buried beneath it}}.
* [[The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized]]: Rebels and nomads are supposedly the "good guys" in ''Gothic 3'', yet don't expect them to take prisoners when reconquering strongholds or villages.
* [[Rodents of Unusual Size]]: One of the recurring monsters in this franchise.
* [[Roof Hopping]]: While not required, the roofs of Khorinis have some ''very'' nice stuff for the early game that can be found if you do this.
* [[Scary Black Man]]: Gorn has the look, but is subverted by the fact he's a fairly nice guy (he's said to has "a lot to pay for" in the 2nd game, but it is never said what). Thorus plays this trope straight, though he gets less scarier each game.
* [[Scenery Porn]]: All of the games to some degree, but perhaps more notable in ''Gothic 3'', since it has the most modern graphics of the three games.
* [[Screen Shake]]: Trolls.
* [[Sequence Breaking]]: The [[Insurmountable Waist High Fence]] subversion above, combined with the willingness to run like a maniac past enemies you cannot overcome at low level, means you can get some nice loot early and basically run entire quests well before receiving them as actual tasks.
* [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog]]: In ''Gothic II'', after spending two chapters {{spoiler|having Lothar insult you and call you mad, you've finally gotten something you can shove in his face to prove he is wrong and you're right, but by the time you get back to town, he has been murdered}}.
* [[Super-Persistent Predator]]: Normally averted: "monster" enemies generally do give warning to back off for a few seconds and will break chase if you run far enough, though they don't react to being injured.
* [[Sole Entertainment Option]]: The bubble-world of the first game has a single fighting arena in the Old Camp. The Sect Camp is composed of narcotics-users, and their whole religious cult around the Sleeper, so they have something to occupy their time with. The New Camp is most egregious: asides from mining and rice-growing, there's not much to do (well, except for going to the pub).
** In the German version, the Old Camp had (on the gallow platform at the entrance to the inner keep) the real world Medieval Metal Band ''[[wikipedia:In Extremo|In Extremo]]'', performing their song ''Herr Manelig''. This was cut from all other language versions due to copyright problems.
* [[Sound-Coded for Your Convenience]]
* [[Spiritual Sequel]]: ''[[Risen]]''.
* [[Sprint Shoes]]: The running jump gave you just a little extra speed... enough to outrun most sword-wielding maniacs. Well, OTHER sword-wielding maniacs.
** In ''Gothic II'', this was changed, but still true if you had Acrobatics.
* [[Storming the Castle]]
** Averted in some towns, where [[La Résistance]] will actually lend a generous hand: Braga, Bakaresh or Montera qualify. Played absolutely straight with others like Silden, Faring or Ben Sala, where you'll be all alone against a full garrison of orcs and mercenaries/hashishin.
* [[Caffeine Bullet Time|Swampweed Bullet Time]]
* [[This Loser Is You]]: Interestingly combined with eventual [[Take a Level In Badass]]. Originally, the Nameless Hero starts out like a newbie (which, if you are playing for the first time, you are), and he's weak and has no clue how to fight and survive (again, for a first time gamer, this is also true). He also starts out not knowing what's going on and dependent on others for help (again, a new gamer will also be like this). This trope was strongest in ''Gothic II'', but was dropped in ''Gothic 3'', where it would be in universe impossible to justify the Nameless Hero being a total newbie all over again, hence why he doesn't start off nearly as incompetent and dependent on others like the other games.
* [[Took a Level in Badass]]: Just compare what the Nameless Hero says in the start of either ''Gothic I'' or ''Gothic II'' to what he says when he {{spoiler|faces down the undead Shamans and Cor Kalom in ''Gothic I''}} or {{spoiler|makes his demands to the dragons when he has the Eye of Innos in ''Gothic II''}}.
* [[Trauma Inn]]: Spending too long in someone else's house will eventually make them attack you, but if you're quick, you can dash in, lie down on the bed, get a good night's sleep and run out again without setting off the attack. {{spoiler|The Seekers make this trope no longer function for healing. Creepily}}.
* [[Vestigial Empire]]: King Rhobar's kingdom is not all it used to be.
* [[Unexplained Recovery]]: One dialog option when meeting Bloodwyn in ''Night of the Raven'' is to comment that you killed him back in ''Gothic I'' <ref>Note that killing an NPC is ''Gothic I'' meat ''impaling him while he's unconscious''.</ref> (while never required or even recommended, killing him was common because he's pretty damn evil). His response is that he survived a lot of things.
* [[Unwinnable]]: The manual for the second game explicitly states that the dev team went out of their way to avoid this. The game should always be winnable in some form, even if you choose to go on a wild killing spree in a plot-critical zone. Within reason, of course. They said you can still break your game by, say, throwing the Eye of Innos into the sea. This is wrong, of course. [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything|They prepared for that too]].
* [[Wallet of Holding]]
* [[Weaksauce Weakness]]: No enemy will chase you over water (and if trapped in water, none of them can attack, just like you). While this looks like gameplay limitations, it's noted by one NPC vaguely in
* [[Welcome to Corneria]]
* [[Where Are They Now? Epilogue]]: In ''Gothic 3''. Not much point to it though, since ''Forsaken Gods'' picks up the story at the end of ''Gothic 3'' again anyway...
** To elaborate, ''Gothic 3'' had three endings: side with humanity and drive out the orcs; side with orcs and drive out the humans {{spoiler|and head off with Xardas to another world}}; and the Hashishin ending which screws both over and hands over power to the third party. However, ''Forsaken Gods'' goes the route of ''Deus Ex'' and uses elements of all three endings as the starting point for two years after the ''Gothic 3'' ending.
* [[Who's Laughing Now?]]: Remember Bullit, the guy from the opening who punched you in the face? You can go back to him near the end of the first game, wearing the most powerful equipment there is and by this point, being strong enough to slaughter the likes of his in droves. The Nameless Hero will even remark on how nicely the situation is reversed now. Then you can butcher the guy. Or, for added irony, punch him until he drops, provided you have trained your strength enough to do damage despite his armor.
* [[Wide Open Sandbox]]: ''Gothic 3''.
** [[Sliding Scale of Linearity vs. Openness|The first two games are Level 4, and the third is Level 5]].
* [[With This Herring]]: The start of ''Gothic II''.
* [[You All Look Familiar]]
* [[You Bastard]]
* [[You Have to Believe Me]]
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Video Game]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Western RPG]]
[[Category:Multiple Works Need Separate Pages]]
[[Category:Video Games of the 2000s]]
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