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Namco X Capcom

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Pronounced Namco Cross Capcom ("cross" as in "crossover"), it's a turn-based strategy RPG by Monolith Software that was meant to be a Namco-only game until Namco decided that their own characters weren't enough and asked Capcom permission to use their characters. The game follows the quest of original protagonists Reiji Arisu and his Fox-spirit partner Xiaomu as they lead an army of Capcom and Namco heroes larger than anything Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and Capcom vs. SNK 2 combined could shake a stick at, to save the multiverse as we they know it from certain destruction by scores of villain teams and a nemesis of Reiji's who has resurfaced after ten years.

It is most notable for its unique battle system (a pseudo-fighting engine as a nod to the other entries here; unfortunately, it makes the stages take an absurd amount of time), curious character choices (see below), and the protagonists' stories continuing in Endless Frontier: Super Robot Wars OG Saga, with the sequel Endless Frontier EXCEED even continuing the story of the original characters. And because of this, you can find the complete translated script here. Yes, the game is THAT text-heavy.

Also notable for its (fantastic) opening sequence, which was animated by Production I.G and appears to have been directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi (of Dead Leaves, Gurren Lagann and Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt fame).

In 2010, it was announced that Namco and Capcom would be collaborating again once more, although it's not quite what everyone was expecting: Street Fighter X Tekken and Tekken x Street Fighter. Both are more akin to being Spiritual Successors of the Vs. SNK line, with SFxT developed by Capcom, and TxSF developed by Namco. Both games will be done in the style of each company's latest release (Street Fighter IV and Tekken 6).

In 2012, Capcom is working with Namco/Bandai again for a 3DS game. This time around, though, Sega is also collaborating. The game is called Project X Zone.

Characters

Originals

Namco

Capcom

Tropes used in Namco X Capcom include:
  • Achey Scars: The scar over Reiji's temple begins to agitate him whenever Saya (the one who gave him the scar) is near.
  • Adaptational Badass:
  • Adult Child: Felicia, via Flanderization.
  • Anime Theme Song: "Brave New World".
  • Badass: Plenty of the cast. Notably, Akuma.
  • BFG: Masuyo's gun. It's called Wave Motion Gun but only fires in shots.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Akuma saving Sakura at one time, and defeating M. Bison (Dictator) at another time.
  • Big Bad: Saya, given her role in the plot as well as her ties to Xiaomu and Shougo Arisu, Reiji's Disappeared Dad. Then it's revealed that the true Big Bad is 99.
  • Boss Rush: The final stage. Justified in that the merging of worlds is bringing bosses Back from the Dead.
  • Canon Immigrant: Reiji, Xiaomu, and Saya would eventually Crossover into Endless Frontier, another series developed by Monolith Soft.
  • Cloning Blues: Katana, a product of the Ouma Project, is the clone of Saya. Their physical resemblance is questionable.
    • Althougth it's clarified to be more clones of her "vessel" than of Saya specifically. Essentially test models of the Soul Jar Saya was supposed to be, they were to make sure the concept worked in practice.
  • Clothing Damage: Arthur. He can actually invoke this on himself to quickly change out of armor.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: According to the GameFAQs fan translation, several characters are like this, most notably Mitsurugi and Gantz. Both of them use an extremely crass and rude way of speaking (the former is basically a Samurai version of an Arrogant Kung Fu Guy and the latter speaks like a thug/Delinquent). It's more of a translation adaptation.
  • Combination Attack: Multiple Assaults, where a group of 2 or more units gang up on single or multiple foes. Sometimes these overlaps with There Is No Kill Like Overkill, and sometimes are followed sometimes by Ass Kicking Poses. Unfortunately, the Multiple Assaults can also fall under Awesome but Impractical since they have a fixed damage, and by that point, you could literally kick ass to enemies up to how many thousand hit points from one turn. If you know when to use them, however, you can kill multiple enemies with one attack.
  • Combining Mecha: Unknown Soldiers 1P and 2P from Forgotten Worlds are accompanied by the Mobilsuits from Side Arms: Hyper Dyne. Just like in their namesake game, Side Arm α and Side Arm β are able to merge into a powerful form (this only appears in their Zetai Gattai Multiple Assault with Sylphie, the shopkeeper from Forgotten Worlds).
  • The Comically Serious: When Janga from Klonoa Heroes calls Guy a pain in the ass. Guy's response?
 

"A pain in the ass? Such things are irrelevant in battle."

 
  • Cool Big Sis: How Morrigan is portrayed towards Lilith.
  • Cosplay: Aside from possessing an arsenal consisting of various weapons and items from Capcom arcade games, Sylphie also can dress up as (and copy the techniques of) four other Capcom females: Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike's Makoto, Michelle Heart from Legendary Wings, Linn Kurosawa from Alien vs. Predator, and Mai-Ling from Red Earth. She also gets to sell two Magical Girl costumes to MOMO (one for a Rare Hunter skill, the other for a Limit Break).
    • Everytime new characters meet, they think the other person is cosplaying.
  • Cutscene Power to the Max: Ken can perform the Shin Shoryuken in a cutscene, something he can't do it in gameplay afterwards. It might be a nod to Brainwashed Ken from the mid-90s SF anime movie and Violent Ken from SNK vs. Capcom SVC Chaos, where he could do all sorts of wicked stuff. It could be argued that as one of the top practitioners of Gouken's style, Ken has learnt at least the theory of all of his school's moves.
  • Dinosaurs Are Dragons: When Allosaurus appears, Gilgamesh wonders if it's a dragon and Ki notes that they should prepare for its fire breath. Karin quickly corrects them.
  • The Ditz: Sakura has many moments that fit this trope nicely.
  • Dumb Is Good: Felicia was convinced that King was a werejaguar, despite King telling her over and over that he was just a luchador wearing a mask.
  • Elemental Powers: Obviously, given the cast. Between Reiji and Xiaomu, however, almost all of your "standard-fare" powers are covered by their moveset.
  • Enemy Mine: A few of your foes (the ones who are on the wrong side involuntarily notwithstanding) will decide to join forces with you when bested. To be exact, Waya-Hime, Cammy, Rose, Judas, Lilith and Armor King.
  • Everything's Better with Spinning: To the point of being able to create lightning (Klonoa). Baby and Mack fall into this category with the majority of their attacks. A number of other characters follow this trope too.
  • Fantastic Foxes: Xiaomu (Chinese Girl) and Saya (Japanese). And they are foxy indeed.
  • Faux Symbolism: During Reiji's Battou Ougi Shinra Banshou super (Shinra Banshou being a Buddhist idiom meaning "all of creation"), he and Xiaomu take a page from the Chinese concept of the Five Elements. Basically, their dialogue (with the two mixing up the exact phrases and who says what from time-to-time) proceeds as such:
 

"Wood fuels Fire!"
"Fire creates Earth!"
"Earth bears Metal!"
"Metal carries Water!"
"Water feeds Wood!"
"Together as one..."
"SHINRA BANSHOU!"

 
  • Foe Yay: Definitely Reiji and Saya.
  • Gainaxing: Taki in the animated intro.
  • Gunpoint Banter: Between Reiji and Saya at the end of Chapter 4. Nothing quite like two people shoving the barrels of their guns in each other's faces and still being able to carry a conversation.
  • Guns Akimbo: Reiji uses a pistol and shotgun. Xiaomu? Two pistols.
    • Sword and Gun: Both also carry swords which they use in concert with their guns.
    • Gun Kata: And lots of it.
  • Hammerspace: Hsien-Ko's sleeves are filled with an infinite number of weapons (even firearms she pulls out for her MA). She explains that even after she throws her weapons, more appear in their place.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: At the end of the game, Reiji attempts to pull one to destroy 99 once and for all but suddenly, every single character goes Big Damn Heroes and suggests him to just beat the stinking crap outta her.
  • Hot-Blooded: Quite a few characters. Even Reiji has his moments when he's not in snark mode.
  • Humongous Mecha: Jin's Blodia, which is "borrowed" by Sylphie.
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: There's one level where magic causes everyone to start speaking in these. Needless to say, for the characters, it gets old really fast. Lampshaded by the characters and the game text (the text has the puns in red).
  • Irony: Hsien-Ko the Jiang-shi is paired with a Resident Evil protagonist.
  • Katanas Are Just Better: Expect a good deal of characters either have the real deal (i.e. Mitsurugi, Kagekiyo, Reiji, Saya, etc.) or a slight variation of it (e.g. Taki and Waya-Hime use kodachi, Xiaomu has a shikomizue, Ginzu uses a ninjato, etc.).
  • Kiss of Death: Saya's super begins with one.
  • Kitsune: Xiaomu is a 765-year-old Chinese werefox, whereas Saya is a Japanese werefox.
  • Laser Blade: Apparently, Strider Hiryu's Cypher. Naturally, the same would go for Strider Hien's double-bladed cypher. Overlaps with Hot Blade.
  • Loads and Loads of Characters: Seems to be one of the main points of the game, to have as much characters as possible to satisfy fans.
  • Lovable Sex Maniac: Tarosuke.
  • Magic Knight: Xiaomu and Saya, justified by their status as mystic foxes. Also, Valkyrie.
  • Magic Skirt: Wonder Momo.
  • Noblewoman's Laugh: Morrigan.
  • More Dakka: The aforementioned Zettai Gattai, where Sylphie combines the Mobilsuits of Side Arms: Hyper Dyne into a more powerful form. The new mecha, along with the Unknown Soldiers and Sylphie (who has taken on the form of Michelle Heart from Legendary Wings) do not waste time in opening fire upon their foes. The unlucky victims are greeted by storm of bullets, followed by a FREAKING GIGANTIC LASER BEAM.
  • Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Evil undead Genji warriors, who gain control of a race of tentacle aliens.
    • The Allosaurus is heavily implied later in the game to have been infected with the T-Virus.
  • Noble Demon: Red Arremer Joker, who seems to be the main character of Demon's Crest (Firebrand in America).
  • Nothing Up My Sleeves: Played for Laughs. Hsien-Ko's Multiple Assault provides Bruce McGivern, Fong Ling, and Regina with enough weaponry to make the U.S. military jealous... and then she gets worked up and accidentally drops spiked maces over them, and a frying pan on Bruce's head.
  • Odd Couple: The sullen and snarky, but well-meaning Reiji and his much, much older partner, the upbeat, flirty, and overprotective Xiaomu.
  • Original Generation: Reiji Arisu, Xiaomu, and Saya. Also Katana and 99.
    • The last isn't so unexpected, their existence is certainly hinted at prior their name and the exact form, however, that was never mentioned.
  • Petting Zoo People: Xiaomu and Saya. Felicia and Morrigan. King and Armor King. Klonoa and Gantz actually GET petted by the girls...
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Fong Ling and Regina even lampshade it when they were first thrown into a new world. Let's see: two high school students (Sakura and Karin), three spies (Bruce, Fong Ling, and Regina), a wrestler (King), a pop star idol, an undead Chinese girl (Felicia and Hsien-Ko, respectively), two teachers (Hideo and Kyoko), three people from the future (Shion, MOMO, and KOS-MOS), another pop star idol (Wonder Momo), a businessman (Bravoman), and two underground secret agents (Reiji and Xiaomu). Yup, can't get more ragtag than that. And, to top it all, that line is from Stage 5 or 6 (not including the prologues) AND with only about 5% of the playable cast in your party.
  • Recurring Boss: Nearly every single villain fall under this trope as they always flee when defeated until their proper death in the plot.
  • Running Gag: The real nature of Felicia's fur bikini.
    • Also, Felicia constantly refering about King as "a fellow Darkstalker" despite King explaining her over and over that he isn't a Darkstalker, he's just a human Luchador wearing a jaguar mask. This long running gag also serves a a setup for another joke, as King (after complaining endless times about how dumb and dense Felicia can be) suddenly realizes that Felicia is a Darkstalker instead of a woman cosplaying as a cat as he believed all along.
  • Shout-Out: Check the page.
  • Speaking Simlish: Averted with Klonoa (who has this as a signature trope); Namco opted for him to speak proper Japanese instead. This is because the incarnation of the character appearing in the game was the one from Klonoa Heroes, one of two Klonoa games (three if you count the language track option in the Door to Phantomile Wiimake) where the characters spoke a proper language instead of Simlish.
  • Spiritual Successor: The Endless Frontier games.
  • Super Robot Wars: Reiji and Xiaomu are pretty much official regulars in Endless Frontier. Saya also joins in, since she's The Rival and has big enough breasts to fit in the world is sexy enough to compete with the world has enough importance to be included as well.
  • Sword and Gun: Reiji, Xiaomu, and Saya. Reiji, in fact, has two swords and two guns, as well as a shotgun. Xiaomu's blade is actually a cane sword. Saya also wields a M203 grenade launcher and probably beats them out in terms of sheer firepower. She also holds three katanas. And all of their swords have elemental affinities. Rule of Cool, much?
  • Sword and Sorcerer: The prime example would be the Battle Couple Gilgamesh and Princess Ki, the latter having been upgraded from her Damsel in Distress status.
  • Theme Music Power-Up: "Lion - Irony of Fate" WILL always override the "enemy turn" music whenever Judas appears as an enemy. Also, it also has overriden every Tales of Destiny song (Stahn and Rutee even uses that music rather than the common battle/boss theme).
  • Token Evil Teammate: Heihachi Mishima.
    • To be more specific, he's not stupid or petty enough to want to watch the multiverse burn, but he sure does have his own selfish motives for helping out, but once his chance to achieve them comes and goes, he's otherwise acting heroically.
  • Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe: Not quite, as the game involves hopping through dimensions. However, a ferocious battle two rival organizations took place in Shibuya, Tokyo ten years ago, setting up the backstory of the protagonists (notably, Reiji). Ten years later (in 20XX), temporal and spatial fluctuations occur in Shibuya, setting the plot into motion.
  • Underground Monkey: Many Mooks.
  • The Unexpected: Many of the character choices, although it does make for variety and unpredictability. You can thank Capcom and Namco for catering to a fanbase other than primarily Street Fighter.
  • Verbal Tic: Xiaomu has a tendency to add "-jya" (じゃ) to the end of her sentences.
    • Guy adds "-de gozaru" to his speech at times, just like a stereotypical ninja.
    • Hsien-Ko/Lei-Lei sometimes adds -aru, like a Chinese character in an anime.
  • The Voiceless: Tekken's King and Armor King in Namco x Capcom have no voice acting (but they do get text dialog). It gets silly with the later, for he doesn't get any pre-/post-battle quotes (at least the former has Felicia covering him up) and thus ends up standing there being mute.
  • Walking Armory: To a degree, Reiji, Xiaomu, and Saya. See "Sword and Gun" above.
    • Contrast Hsien-Ko, the most blatant example of Hyperspace Arsenal. In this game, she's revealed to hide various firearms in her giant sleeves as well, along with the more traditional weapons that she is normally associated with as well.
  • Working with the Ex: Taizo Hori and his ex-wife Toby Masuyo. Although they divorced long ago, Toby still holds a grudge against Taizo.
    • Still, just as she (thinks she) is about to die, she says, "Taizo..."
  1. ↑ To be fair, that example actually first occurred in Mr. Driller, the Spin Offspring of Dig Dug.
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