Optional Party Member: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Super-secret character mentioned directly in the manual and [[Equipment Spoiler|whose weapon of choice is conspicuously for sale]] before you have a [[Player Party|party]] member who can use it. They aren't required to stay in the party, but may temporarily join you. If you really want them back, some games will let you hunt them down again, often by [[Guide Dang It|some non-intuitive and convoluted means]].

The biggest problem with these characters is getting them can happen very late in the game. Although most games are kind enough have them [[Leaked Experience|near the same level as your characters]], special skills or weapons that need to be built up are going to take a long time to get. In addition, since they're optional, the majority of the plot can't assume you have them. Thus they'll have less impact.

 

 

Many Strategy RPGs will use this trope a lot, as in fact the story will often be written with the thought of how the party member may be permanently killed off at any moment in the story. Most of the time it is when they are not mandatory, but there are exceptions.

 

== Fighting Game ==

 

 

*** It's not unheard of to go the entire game without ever seeing Roger at all. His introduction and event chain kick off at a certain cabin in the woods which is easy to bypass the first time you visit. Complete the quest in the woods without ever visiting that cabin and his appearance will disappear completely. No outside dialogue will ever point to him, and for the rest of the game you'll wonder in mystery who this entire class of unequipable weapons in all the shops you find is meant for.

* Yuffie and Vincent in ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' were subject to this trope, and did not appear in the closing FMV of the game. This was eventually [[Justified Trope|explained]] in the spinoff game ''[[Dirge of Cerberus]]''.

* Mog, Umaro, and Gogo are optional characters in ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]''; you also could try to defeat the last half of the game without picking up the majority of the characters you had in the first half. (In fact, it's technically possible with only ''three'' of them!)

** Mog less so than Umaro or Gogo, since Mog appears and fights with you at the beginning of the game.

** You can optionally recruit Shadow at certain points in the first half of the game, but he'd always leave your party sooner or later, sometimes even randomly after a battle. He does join your party for two plot-related events though. In the second half of the game {{spoiler|he can only be found again if you waited for him on the [[Floating Continent]]. If you did, you can recruit him permanently from that point forward.}}

** And recommended. [[That One Boss|Gizamaluke]] is easier with Quina helping you, and he's still a pain even then.

* [[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]] had Ms. Mowz as an unlockable character if you solved her trouble. She joins you permanently.

** Easy in a physical sense, but the endless whining of another recruited character makes it just as easy to avoid them out of spite. Not avoiding Cream to peeve Amy, mind, but avoiding Omega to peeve Shadow. What makes it even worse is that Shadow is supposed to be almost emotionless.

*** They're worth it though: Cream is a better healer than Tails (and the most important character to equip with the Chao that automates POW moves), while Omega is an offensive powerhouse and [[Knights of the Old Republic|talks like HK-47]].

* ''[[Dragon Quest VI]]'' has a couple of these. The first one is Amos, who is cursed to become a monster every night; if you can get him a special seed, he can control the transformation and joins you. Additionally, if you have the Beastmaster class, you can actually recruit some of the monsters you come across and make them join you as permanent party members, who all have their own unique ability sets. This is removed in the [[Updated Rerelease|remake]], but in its place, several types of [[Mascot Mook|Slimes]] can be recruited. Finally, in both versions, {{spoiler|Lizzie the Hackasaurus is available after Terry is recruited, and unlike the other monster units, she has plot significance and in the remake, proper Party Chat dialog.}}

** A number of characters in ''[[Dragon Quest V]]'' (capturable monsters, human allies, etc)

* ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'' has Ignus and Vhailor, both true Optional Party Members, and a [[Secret Character]], Nordom.

* ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]''. Most of the party members are mandatory and probably few people actually go through without getting them all, but Juhani can be killed on your first encounter, HK-47 does not need to be purchased and in the sequel, you do not have to repair him. Also in the sequel, there are two pairs of characters who are interchangeable, depending on your gender and alignment.

* Many of the characters in ''[[Dragon Age]]: Origins'' can be considered optional. Some can simply be avoided or refused entry into your party. The most notable example is {{spoiler|Loghain}} in that accepting him will actually ''cost'' you one of your teammates.

** There is a [[Guide Dang It]] moment when you first get to Lothering, though. You can miss Leliana and Sten entirely if you don't thoroughly explore the town first.

*** However, you can refuse to free Sten from his cage, and you quite possibly will since he is painted as a [[Complete Monster]]. If you do this then you cannot change your mind so he is stuck in there permanently.

** In ''[[Expansion Pack|Awakening]]'', you can wind up without any party members by {{spoiler|giving Anders to the templars, refusing to let Oghren and Justice join the Wardens, ordering Nathaniel to be hanged, killing Velanna and refusing to let Sigrun accompany you into Kal Hirol.}}

* The SEBEC route of ''[[Persona]]'' only allows you to take one optional party member out of an available four ([[Ted Baxter|Brown]], [[Ditzy Genius|Elly]], [[Valley Girl|Ayase]] or [[Guide Dang It|Reiji]]), while the Snow Queen route lets you take two out of three (Brown, Elly and [[The White Prince|Nanjo]]). This means you'd have to play the game ''fourteen'' times to see all the different characters and interactions in every ending. Hey, they had to put [[Replay Value]] in there somehow!

* In ''[[Mass Effect]]'' it's not necessary to recruit both Wrex and Garrus, as the player can proceed with the game after recruiting one and leave the other behind. Similarly, in the sequel the player can progress to the endgame after recruiting Tali, Thane or Samara, skipping the other two characters entirely, and it's possible to either sell Legion to Cerberus and/or not wake Grunt from his tank. That's not counting DLC characters Zaeed and Kasumi.

** The interesting result of all these shenanigans is that there are only three characters who actually can be recruited in all three games, and with careful maneuvering you can actually set it up so that [[Revolving Door Casting|none of them are with you from start to finish]]. In fact, you can play the series with certain characters simply not appearing at all (Samara, Thane and Wrex are good candidates). And again, [[Serial Escalation|this is before DLC kicks in]].

* Einherjar in ''[[Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria]]'' (not sure about the other games) are entirely optional. Although you do get some stat growth items for leveling them up and releasing them from the party.

** The original ''[[Valkyrie Profile]]'' only has two party members that you must recruit, {{spoiler|Arngrim and Jelanda}}, both of which you get in the prologue. Recruiting anyone past this point is optional. Due to how the game is set up, you need to recruit at least a couple people to send to Valhalla to not get the C-ending, which is effectively a game over for failing your mission. The A-Ending does require you also recruit {{spoiler|Mystina and Lucian}} because both characters are involved in this ending.

* Bleu/Deis of ''[[Breath of Fire II]]''

* There are three in [[Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne]]; Black Frost, Dante, and Samael. Black Frost can be recruited a while after you defeat him as an [[Bonus Boss|optional boss]], Dante automatically joins you in the Fifth Kalpa (which is entirely optional, but unavoidable if you're going for the {{spoiler|True Demon Ending}}), and Samael will only join you if you chose to side with Shijima.

* [[The Last Remnant]] union system is made of this trope. You have 49 'unique' leaders, each with their own voice acting and backstory (8 of whom are important to the storyline). On top of this are 118 'ordinary' leaders and over 200 common soldiers that can be hired. Every single one has a unique combination of stats, weapons and fighting styles: all this for a game where you can have a maximum of 6 leaders and 12 soldiers in your party. The main character Rush is the only one who has to stay in the party; everyone else eventually becomes optional.

* In [[MOTHER 1]], it's possible to not recruit Teddy. [[Nintendo Hard|Have fun with that]].

* {{spoiler|Death's Hand}} from [[Jade Empire]]. {{spoiler|After he is defeated, [[Player Character|the Spirit Monk]] has the option to bind his soul, thus gaining him as a party member.}}

* Every. EVERY. Pokémon. Well, except your starter.

* In ''[[Wizardry]] 8'' most "RPC" ([[Guest Star Party Member|removable PC]]) are optional extras.

 

 

== Turn Based Strategy ==

** Also Luso from ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics A2]]'' is added in the PSP version, but unlike Balthier, he's mandatory.

** Likewise, in [[Battle Moon Wars]], you can unlock Sacchin in Takumi's route, {{spoiler|kill her with Shiki two out of three times she appears}}, and Mech-Hisui in Haruna's route, {{spoiler|get a combined total of 50 kills with Hisui and Kohaku.}}

** In ''[[Super Robot Wars Compact]]'', {{spoiler|Shin Getter}} is unlockable if you reach Scenario 28 under 250 turns.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Player Party]]

[[Category:Video Game Characters]]