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Legend of the Five Rings/Characters: Difference between revisions
Legend of the Five Rings/Characters (view source)
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* [[Elves vs. Dwarves]]: The Crab prefer to use axes and clubs (which are better at cracking the hides of Oni), tend to live in fortresses, and are aligned with the element of Earth. They also don't care much for the niceties of Rokugani society. Guess what happens when they go up against the Crane?
* [[The Hunter]]: The Kuni Witch-hunters specially train in hunting down blood mages, while the Toritaka rangers are the only school devoted to fighting ghosts.
* [[Mighty Glacier]]: The Crab Clan, both individually and army tactics-wise. Though they also tend to be [[Stone Wall|StoneWalls]] too.
* [[Properly Paranoid]]:
** Some monsters of the Shadowlands can infiltrate Rokugan fairly easily, using Rokugani social customs to their advantage (leaving your weapons at the door in a geisha house or bath house, for instance). Crab samurai generally forego said customs, and frequently lose honor for it, but occasionally save lives in the process.
** There's also a certain Shugenja spell that detects if a person has been affected by the shadowland taint. Casting this spell on someone is generally one of the gravest offenses in Rokugan... except in the Crab clan, who see it as a healthy precaution.
* [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]]: All the clans to some extent, but especially the Crab and the Lion.
* [[Training From Hell]]: The Crab Clan's coming-of-age for all their samurai (including the priests and spellcasters) involves a solo mission into the Shadowlands, and they cannot return until they have slain a monster found there and returned with its head - thus taking the trope somewhat literally.
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* [[What Exactly Is His Job?]] - At the start of the storyline, the Crane Clan's role in the setting was seemingly ironclad, but since has fallen to the wayside due to storyline victories in other clans. The Emperor traditionally married a Crane spouse, a tradition that came to an end with Toturi. The Crane Clan ran the economy, which became iffy in backstory when their money-oriented family joined the Crab, and was quietly dropped with the prominence of Mantis and Unicorn trade routes. The role they held on to the longest was that of running the courts, but they officially lost that role to the Scorpion in Hidden Emperor nearly ten years ago, with the Scorpion either maintaining or increasing their dominance since. [[Word of God]] now says the Crane is ambiguously responsible for Rokugan's culture, and [[Informed Ability|has a high number of low-level functionaries around the courts]], but the clan's lost much of its former strengths. Fortunately, this does not affect [[Gameplay and Story Segregation|game mechanics]] or individual characters' cool storylines.
* [[White-Haired Pretty Boy]]: A large number of members of the Crane Clan of both genders dye their hair white. Though they usually are honorable, there are some that obey only the letter of the law, not its spirit. Daigotsu pretty much plays it straight, despite not being Crane.
* [[Yamato Nadeshiko]]: Women from the Doji family are legendary for being them, since their family (and Clan) founder is the supreme example of this trope. As a result, a majority of the Emperors, including the first one, took brides from this family, and having a Doji bride is a mark of high status. However, be warned that not a few turn out to be [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing|taking advantage of their family's reputation]].
== Dragon Clan ==
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* [[Death Seeker]]: Dishonored Lion samurai often decide to become deathseekers instead of committing seppuku, in order to reclaim their honor while slaying the Clan's enemies. Happens so often that most Lion generals can field at least one unit of deathseekers as shock troops to break the enemy line (and nothing breaks the enemy line like angry berserkers who KNOW that they'll only return honor to their family by killing you and your fellows before you kill him). It's also worth noting that this is the [[Trope Namer]].
* [[Four-Star Badass]]: This is what the Akodo tend to end up becoming after many years' worth of success in battle.
* [[Honor Before Reason]] Seriously. When the Emperor was possessed by the Dark God, about half of the Lion ''[[My Country, Right or Wrong|sided with him]]'' because unwavering loyalty to the throne is their thing.
* [[Hot-Blooded]]: The Lion Clan's Matsu family, <s>even</s> ESPECIALLY the [[Amazon Brigade|women]], to the point where even other Lion consider them to be nigh-psychotic at times. And yet, the Matsu are NOT the Lion family that tends to have naturally red hair.
* [[Knight Templar]]: Don't give the Lion a reason to hate you. They'll remember it for a few generations and wipe out your descendants at the first opportunity.
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== Mantis Clan ==
* [[The Archer]]: the Tsuruchi family, who combine this with their [[Bounty Hunter]] tradition to be commando rangers.
* [[Dual-Wielding]]: The Mirumoto of the Dragon Clan and the Yoritomo of the Mantis Clan both train with two weapons, but the Mantis specialize in [[Dual-Wielding]] "peasant" weapons such as tonfa and sai.
* [[Greed]]: The weakness of the Mantis Clan. Because they're so likely to succumb, it gives an extra Character Point if you take the disadvantage of the same name.
* [[Improvised Weapon]]: Befitting their swashbuckling nature the Yoritomi bushi school is pretty much dedicated to this.
* [[Lady Land]]: While the men of the Moshi family are allowed to enter their familiy's signature school, they aren't expected to excel at it as well as the women will, and they can never expect to be leaders.
* [[Money Fetish]]:
** The original Mantis Clan built their reputation for being the best mercenary army that money can buy, and any criminal with a substantial reward on their head should worry about Tsuruchi arrows flying their way. Now that the Mantis are a Great Clan, they still are the most openly mercantile among the Clans, who usually view commerce and the pursuit of wealth as something beneath the status of a samurai. And Yoritomo courtiers use their wealth as the political equivalent of a blunt instrument.
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** The Scorpion even did this to [[The Atoner]] recently, who admitted that nothing he could do would avert this fate.
* [[Ax Crazy]]:
** The Scorpion Clan are home to cunning politicians, cold killers, and actors who possess such absolute control over themselves that they can flawlessly adopt new identities. Oh, and the Dark Sword of Bitter Lies, a bunch of lunatic killers who couldn't follow a plan across the street, and are bound only by their loyalty to the clan.
** To illustrate how insane a Bitter Lies swordsman is: if an enemy army sees a single Bitter Lies swordsman charging at them, ''the enemy army run away in fear''.
* [[Badass in a Nice Suit]]: One of the defining traits of the clan's art. The more distinctive the outfit, the deadlier the Scorpion associated.
* [[Becoming the Mask]]:
** A danger to the clan in general. They're intended to be the Emperor's killers, and villains ultimately loyal to the throne. They're often just in it for themselves.
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* [[Blessed with Suck]]: One of the Scorpion ancestors is a cunning mastermind who can seamlessly blend into any environment... and who couldn't stand out if he tried anyway. Choosing him as a forebear gives your character great power to manipulate events, at the cost of any recognition for service.
* [[Butt Monkey]]:
** While nobody since Kachiko's been fully accepted by the clan, each successive daimyo has had it worse.
** Yojiro retired due to pressure from traitors in the clan who felt he'd weakened the clan by betraying its ideals, despite the clan being the strongest it had been in decades under Yojiro, and enjoying both alliances and control of the courts. He died at the hands of a random Unicorn chump who killed him in a case of mistaken identity.
** Sunetra was demoted for being unable to deal with the leader of the clan's traitors in a timely fashion, because said leader escaped purely through [[Deus Ex Machina]]. She became the Emperor's personal assassin, and ultimately died because she ignored the advice of every Scorpion leader in history, to stay and gloat over a foe she'd already hurt.
** Paneki's entire career as leader was one fiasco after another, with him needing help to find his own wife, then attacking the Crab [[Indy Ploy|while having not only the skimpiest of motives, but having no plan whatsoever for dealing with the superior military forces of the Crab he'd provoke if his plan was successful]], much less the utter failure it was eventually proven. He then presided over his clan during unprecedented famine, and was so distracted he didn't notice the Spider Clan moving into Rokugan. When the time came for an open vote to decide which clan champion died of the plague, the Scorpion voted overwhelmingly to off Paneki, with several players stating it was the only way they could see him getting a good story finally. Now risen as a zombie, it's quite likely Paneki will only be remembered as the father of Shoju reincarnated.
* [[The Chessmaster]]: The hat of the Scorpion clan and a description that fits many Scorpion Clan Champions throughout the history of the Emerald Empire.
* [[Combat Pragmatist]]: The Scorpion as a whole are this trope. In particular, Bayushi fighters are referred to as always having secret training with at least one ninja weapon for the sole purpose of this trope.
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* [[Curse]]:
** The Yogo Curse runs through all Yogo family members and a significant percentage of non-Yogo Scorpion as well, ever since Fu Leng cursed Yogo, the family founder, during a battle in the early days of Rokugan. The curse is exceptionally devious: all bearers are doomed to betray someone (or something) they love at one point in their life. It could be as little as breaking your mother's favorite, irreplaceable heirloom vase, to as horrible as cheating on your spouse... and the ultimate betrayal so far: selling out your Clan to an evil god. As a result of this, Yogo samurai tend to be aloof and cold towards everybody to discourage developing feelings, and only samurai who have broken their curse are placed in positions of trust and authority in the family.
** The whole reason the Yogo are part of the Scorpion Clan is because their champion convinced their founder to join on the grounds that he would ''never'' love the Scorpion. Which led to a very ironic situation where, one thousand years later Yogo Junzo, the Daimyo of the Yogo, due to his own fanatical loyalty to his Lord Bayushi Shoju, opened the First of the Twelve Black Scrolls and became an undead servant of Fu Leng, betraying the very Empire that Shoju tried to save, fufilling his own curse.
* [[Cursed with Awesome]]: The Dark Sword of Bitter Lies students, for all their loyalty, tend to be fools and madmen. They're incredibly lucky because of this, however, and ridiculously good at killing major threats because of it.
* [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]]: If your Scorpion character doesn't have hints of this, you're doing it wrong.
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: Official propaganda aside, the Scorpion losses during their coup were relatively light, consisting of the champion, his heir, and a decent but not crippling portion of their army, with the champion's wife, Bayushi Kachiko, forcibly married to the Emperor thereafter to the frustration of the rest of the remaining clans. For all intents and purposes, the Scorpion are now on the throne... except Kachiko's beloved son is dead. Cue Kachiko manipulating the Emperor into disgracing the entire family of the Lion general who stopped the Scorpion at the last minute, then allying with the Kolat to destroy the general's clan; poisoning the Emperor to within an inch of his life; and creating a corrupt copy of her son's father and unwitting killer, Crane champion Doji Hoturi, to lead the Crane into ruin in retaliation. Both Lion and Crane suffer to the point where, a mere five years after the coup, both clans are bordering on annihilation. In the Scorpion, [[Disproportionate Retribution]] is not a sign of insanity, but a virtue.
* [[Femme Fatale]]: A common and acceptable career path for Scorpion women. Notably, Bayushi Kachiko.
* [[I Am Not Left-Handed]]:
** So common among Scorpion duelists that the Kitsuki of the Dragon actually attempt to list down who among the Scorpion are '''actually''' left-handed.
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** Similarly, the Scorpion's alliance with the Dragon Clan is one of the few sacred cows in the game. Even the suggestion of breaking it can provoke flame wars, as both clans' players have exerted substantial effort to support each other over the past ten years. This came to a head when it was revealed during the Race for the Throne that a Scorpion victory meant they would turn the empire against whoever came in second, which turned out to be the Dragon. While some players snapped at both in trying to demand that the other take a dive to preserve the alliance, the general consensus that emerged was more of a "may the best clan win" respectful rivalry, with no few Scorpion players celebrating Dragon's ultimate victory.
* [[Ninja]]:
** You better believe these guys exist. The Scorpion Clan are their main employers. Of course, don't say that to the Scorpion themselves; everyone knows ninjas don't exist.
** They're ''[[Insistent Terminology|shinobi]]''. Only those bastards from the Spider Clan are ''ninja''. Or at least that's the defense the Scorpion use (even though the words mean the same thing).
** The trope is also [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in the most ''hilarious'' manner possible. The Scorpion actually ''do'' employ the black-pajama-wearing, shuriken-throwing, ninjato-wielding cliché ninja, in rather large numbers... ''as a distraction''. Often, when assassinating someone, the Scorps will send several of these guys to engage in Crazy Ninja Hijinks while the ''actual'' shinobi (who has quite possibly been spending months as a geisha/courtesan/etc) performs the actual necessary wetwork. Having to do the whole "black pajama ninja" thing is actually called The Gauntlet by the Scorpions, and it's basically considered shinobi gempukku - if you can survive having to be sneaky while using the ''dumbest'' gear possible for a year, then you're ready to learn how to do it ''properly''.
* [[Perfect Poison]] - the Shosuro devote the entire garden of their castle to raising the plants and herbs necessary to produce this.
* [[Poisoned Weapons]]:
** People falling over dead days after dueling with a Scorpion, even if they won the duel, is not an unexpected occurrence.
** The Clan sword:
*** First subverted. While all clan swords are empowered to be lethal if the wielder attempts to use it against the clan, the Scorpion sword is further enchanted to look... like just another Scorpion sword. And if you suspect that the Scorpion poisoned their sword before a duel, well, you can't outright say so without insulting the Scorpion, but you can suggest the duelists exchange weapons...
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== Shadowlands/Spider Clan ==
* [[
* [[Black Magic]]: The powers of the Shadowlands.
* [[Blood Magic]]: Maho, the art of magic practiced by the Bloodspeakers.
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* [[Evil Versus Evil]]: While they like power and use a lot of [[Blood Magic|maho]], the Shadowlands natives and the maho-tsukai under Iuchiban don't like each other. In fact, Iuchiban actually [[All Your Base Are Belong to Us|took over the City of the Lost for a while before he was forced out.]] And then we have the events of ''Path of the Destroyer'', where the Shadowlands emptied out because they were trying to escape from the invading armies of [[Hindu Mythology|Kali-Ma's Destroyers.]] This culminated with a fight between Kali-Ma and {{spoiler|Fu Leng, ending in the Dark God's death and the new lord of Jigoku, Daigotsu, ripping Kali-Ma's heart out to end the war.}}
* [[Face Heel Turn]]: Most characters who succumb to the Taint end up being totally evil, in some cases a 180 degree flip from their original personality-- meek, subservient characters have ended up being bloodthirsty [[Person of Mass Destruction|killing machines]], and honorable samurai turn into insane, cannibalistic monsters.
* [[Glowing Eyes of Doom]]: Most of the Shadowlands creatures have these.
* [[Hell Gate]]: The Festering Pit of Fu Leng and the Second Pit formed in the aftermath of ''Path of the Destroyer''.
* [[Hellish Horse]]: The mounts of the Dark Moto.
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* [[Somebody Else's Problem]]:
** The default attitude of most of the (non-Crab) Clans when it comes to the Shadowlands - it is a taboo topic for polite conversation (causing Honor losses when discussed improperly), and most samurai think the Crab exaggerate the threat of the Shadowlands to gain sympathy for their cause, get favorable treatment, and justify their lack of interest in courtly matters. This varies from time to time, depending on events in the background - for example, the Shadowlands is taken far more seriously in the aftermath of an invasion by the reincarnation of Fu Leng, while even the Crab's closest allies may be embarassed on their behalf when the Shadowlands has been quiet for some time.
** This also varies depending on the character - Asahina priests, who are normally devout pacifists, will [[Berserk Button|obliterate]] an enemy that shows the first sign of corruption.
* [[The Undead]]: The Shadowlands generally love to have hordes of zombies. However, they do have sentient, non-mindless undead on their side, too.
* [[Villainous Rescue]]: The conclusion of the Destroyer arc has Kali-ma's forces being stopped mainly by Spiders, lead by {{spoiler|Fu Leng himself}}. In fact, since Spider decks won much in the Celestial Edition tournaments, this basically resulted in them being the only competent clan in the storyline.
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