So Long and Thanks For All the Gear: Difference between revisions

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* ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' zigzags this in one notable example. When {{spoiler|Gafgarion betrays your party}}, after the battle his gear is dumped back into your inventory, thus being a straight inversion in this case. However, you can make the fight against him ''laughably easy'' if you remove all his gear just before said battle, since without it he is ''hilariously useless''. Bonus points if you removed all of his abilities barring his default {{spoiler|Dark Sword}} skill set, which ''he can't use without the sword you just took from him'', thus reducing him to only using punches which, as everyone knows, are pathetically weak for any class besides a Monk. Sadly, he gets even better gear in his subsequent encounters, which obviously make them [[That One Boss|a lot harder]].
* ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' zigzags this in one notable example. When {{spoiler|Gafgarion betrays your party}}, after the battle his gear is dumped back into your inventory, thus being a straight inversion in this case. However, you can make the fight against him ''laughably easy'' if you remove all his gear just before said battle, since without it he is ''hilariously useless''. Bonus points if you removed all of his abilities barring his default {{spoiler|Dark Sword}} skill set, which ''he can't use without the sword you just took from him'', thus reducing him to only using punches which, as everyone knows, are pathetically weak for any class besides a Monk. Sadly, he gets even better gear in his subsequent encounters, which obviously make them [[That One Boss|a lot harder]].
** It's also possible to invert this with the 'invite' skill. You can recruit nearly '''anyone''' into your group, steal their gear, and dump them.
** It's also possible to invert this with the 'invite' skill. You can recruit nearly '''anyone''' into your group, steal their gear, and dump them.
* ''[[Earthbound]]'' provides at least some acknowledgment of this. If one of your party members is kidnapped / goes on a [[Vision Quest]] / discovers True Love / returns to their home planet while holding a key item (such as the Pencil Eraser) then said item will be delivered to Ness's sister's item storage, so you aren't left locked out of certain areas. In some places, if you know a party member is about to leave, this can be useful to help save inventory space.
* ''[[EarthBound]]'' provides at least some acknowledgment of this. If one of your party members is kidnapped / goes on a [[Vision Quest]] / discovers True Love / returns to their home planet while holding a key item (such as the Pencil Eraser) then said item will be delivered to Ness's sister's item storage, so you aren't left locked out of certain areas. In some places, if you know a party member is about to leave, this can be useful to help save inventory space.
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'' returns items equipped by 'specific area' party members, but also unequips all abilities activated on a party member if they are removed and returned (making some boss battles a lot harder until you realize that). The game also makes use of this to add dramatic tension: {{spoiler|It is also done after the scene when Goofy is seriously knocked out and isn't selectable in the party for a period of time, feeding the temporary but dramatic insinuation he actually ''died''. Of course, we know that Disney's [[Like You Would Really Do It|not crazy enough to do that]], but it was still pretty convincing.}}
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'' returns items equipped by 'specific area' party members, but also unequips all abilities activated on a party member if they are removed and returned (making some boss battles a lot harder until you realize that). The game also makes use of this to add dramatic tension: {{spoiler|It is also done after the scene when Goofy is seriously knocked out and isn't selectable in the party for a period of time, feeding the temporary but dramatic insinuation he actually ''died''. Of course, we know that Disney's [[Like You Would Really Do It|not crazy enough to do that]], but it was still pretty convincing.}}
** {{spoiler|[[Badass Longcoat|King Mickey]] [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|seemed to think]] they'd be crazy enough to do so.}}
** {{spoiler|[[Badass Longcoat|King Mickey]] [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|seemed to think]] they'd be crazy enough to do so.}}
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* Used {{spoiler|and then inverted at the end}} in ''[[The World Ends With You]]'', due to Neku {{spoiler|getting a different partner at the start of each week}}. You ''can'' buy some of the clothes again if you want them that desperately. Thankfully, the first time it happens, it's not too much of a loss: {{spoiler|female equipment is useless to Neku and his other two partners after Shiki}} unless you ''really'' powerlevel Bravery. And most of that first person's equipment is likely to be {{spoiler|Shiki-specific}}, anyway. The loss of the money stings a bit, though.
* Used {{spoiler|and then inverted at the end}} in ''[[The World Ends With You]]'', due to Neku {{spoiler|getting a different partner at the start of each week}}. You ''can'' buy some of the clothes again if you want them that desperately. Thankfully, the first time it happens, it's not too much of a loss: {{spoiler|female equipment is useless to Neku and his other two partners after Shiki}} unless you ''really'' powerlevel Bravery. And most of that first person's equipment is likely to be {{spoiler|Shiki-specific}}, anyway. The loss of the money stings a bit, though.
* Rather realistically inverted in the ''[[Siege of Avalon]]'' anthology, where most party members have at least some equipment that cannot be unequipped, but can be taken from them if they die. (Naturally, you don't want the new kid taking the armor that's served you well for months of siege, even if he is the war hero's younger brother.) Unfortunately, it's mostly just standard mid-level armor with a distinct coloration (rare, but not unique) or even non-unique, non-enchanted, basic clothing, and it also means that you can't upgrade their armor at any point. And you'll want to. However, all but one of them will only die (permanently; every death [[Killed Off for Real|is real]]) if you're badly outnumbered and you don't or can't heal them in time to save them, or get a magician in your party and set him to do it for you.
* Rather realistically inverted in the ''[[Siege of Avalon]]'' anthology, where most party members have at least some equipment that cannot be unequipped, but can be taken from them if they die. (Naturally, you don't want the new kid taking the armor that's served you well for months of siege, even if he is the war hero's younger brother.) Unfortunately, it's mostly just standard mid-level armor with a distinct coloration (rare, but not unique) or even non-unique, non-enchanted, basic clothing, and it also means that you can't upgrade their armor at any point. And you'll want to. However, all but one of them will only die (permanently; every death [[Killed Off for Real|is real]]) if you're badly outnumbered and you don't or can't heal them in time to save them, or get a magician in your party and set him to do it for you.
* Played obnoxiously straight in the ''[[Gold Box]]'' series of ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]] CRPGs''. [[NPC]]s who left the party would lose any equipment, weapons, armour, gold and even experience that they'd gained while with the party. Particularly notable in ''Dark Queen of Krynn'' where several [[NPC]]s would leave and rejoin the party at several stages, each time resetting to the same default stats and gear they started with.
* Played obnoxiously straight in the ''[[Gold Box]]'' series of ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]] CRPGs''. [[NPC]]s who left the party would lose any equipment, weapons, armour, gold and even experience that they'd gained while with the party. Particularly notable in ''Dark Queen of Krynn'' where several [[NPC]]s would leave and rejoin the party at several stages, each time resetting to the same default stats and gear they started with.
* Rather strangely done in ''[[Live a Live]]'' due to the fact that the Final Chapter only uses the main characters from each chapter. Not stripping Taro of his item-gained specials before completing Akira's chapter means you lose some equipment for Cube later on.
* Rather strangely done in ''[[Live a Live]]'' due to the fact that the Final Chapter only uses the main characters from each chapter. Not stripping Taro of his item-gained specials before completing Akira's chapter means you lose some equipment for Cube later on.
* When someone dies in Interplay's ''Lord of the Rings'', you are instantly given the task of transferring inventory to another party member. If your inventory is already full, that stuff is gone. If the One Ring is gone, you're screwed, and the game ends.
* When someone dies in Interplay's ''Lord of the Rings'', you are instantly given the task of transferring inventory to another party member. If your inventory is already full, that stuff is gone. If the One Ring is gone, you're screwed, and the game ends.
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* Krobelus in ''[[Summoner]] 2''. Luckily he's not allowed any armour in the first place, but he has other equipment. Make sure you have a wooden staff in the inventory that you can replace his rod with, because you aren't allowed to just take his weapon.
* Krobelus in ''[[Summoner]] 2''. Luckily he's not allowed any armour in the first place, but he has other equipment. Make sure you have a wooden staff in the inventory that you can replace his rod with, because you aren't allowed to just take his weapon.
* Can be done in ''[[Pokémon]]'' games, although it generally has to be on purpose; by releasing a Pokémon holding an item. However, accidents are possible if, say, you actually raised that Shuckle in GSC and gave it a held item before returning it. Or traded that Spearow you were raising in FRLG for Farfetch'd on an impulse trade. Still not very likely, as useful items like the Master Ball or one-of-a-kind TMs have no reason to be given to your Pokémon in the first place, unless you're abusing the Pokémon/item duplication [[Good Bad Bugs|glitch]], in which case this is a moot point. Alternately, though, people do sometimes trade items like Master Balls to friends by giving them to mons to hold during trade, and you can be screwed if you forget to remove said item before trading the mon yourself or trade it by mistake.
* Can be done in ''[[Pokémon]]'' games, although it generally has to be on purpose; by releasing a Pokémon holding an item. However, accidents are possible if, say, you actually raised that Shuckle in GSC and gave it a held item before returning it. Or traded that Spearow you were raising in FRLG for Farfetch'd on an impulse trade. Still not very likely, as useful items like the Master Ball or one-of-a-kind TMs have no reason to be given to your Pokémon in the first place, unless you're abusing the Pokémon/item duplication [[Good Bad Bugs|glitch]], in which case this is a moot point. Alternately, though, people do sometimes trade items like Master Balls to friends by giving them to mons to hold during trade, and you can be screwed if you forget to remove said item before trading the mon yourself or trade it by mistake.
* Can rarely occur in ''[[Saga Frontier]]'', although most of the time, the character can be re-recruited.
* Can rarely occur in ''[[SaGa Frontier]]'', although most of the time, the character can be re-recruited.
* ''[[Grandia]]'':
* ''[[Grandia]]'':
** In ''[[Grandia II]]'' one member of your party dies, which appears to be a Wutai Thief moment when it comes to the coins spent on his abilities. However, the designers were nice enough to plan ahead, as there's an item that gives you all his Skill coins back.
** In ''[[Grandia II]]'' one member of your party dies, which appears to be a Wutai Thief moment when it comes to the coins spent on his abilities. However, the designers were nice enough to plan ahead, as there's an item that gives you all his Skill coins back.
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** Then there's the part in one of the later chapters where {{spoiler|Jennifer}} leaves the team {{spoiler|(and gets subsequently [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] by Kurtis)}}—you lose any equipment you had on {{spoiler|her}} until {{spoiler|Kurtis does a [[Heel Face Turn]] [[Redemption Equals Death|and commits his]] [[Heroic Sacrifice]]}}, bringing her back to the team (equipment intact, thankfully).
** Then there's the part in one of the later chapters where {{spoiler|Jennifer}} leaves the team {{spoiler|(and gets subsequently [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] by Kurtis)}}—you lose any equipment you had on {{spoiler|her}} until {{spoiler|Kurtis does a [[Heel Face Turn]] [[Redemption Equals Death|and commits his]] [[Heroic Sacrifice]]}}, bringing her back to the team (equipment intact, thankfully).
** Additionally, {{spoiler|[[Magikarp Power|Flonne]] }}is taken out of commission for the final boss fight via {{spoiler|getting turned into a flower}}. She'll come back with her stuff on a [[New Game+]], of course, but the stuff on her, which is likely to be good stuff, since she's one of the best story characters in the game, is locked away from you until then.
** Additionally, {{spoiler|[[Magikarp Power|Flonne]] }}is taken out of commission for the final boss fight via {{spoiler|getting turned into a flower}}. She'll come back with her stuff on a [[New Game+]], of course, but the stuff on her, which is likely to be good stuff, since she's one of the best story characters in the game, is locked away from you until then.
** After beating the aforementioned final boss, if you choose to start in [[Another Side Another Story|Etna Mode]] instead of a traditional [[New Game+]], {{spoiler|Laharl will die in the opening cutscene}}, leaving you without ''his'' equipment, as well. Etna Mode is significantly more difficult than the normal story, and you probably ''needed'' him fully equipped to handle the final boss without access to {{spoiler|Flonne}}, making it nothing short of annoying.
** After beating the aforementioned final boss, if you choose to start in [[Another Side, Another Story|Etna Mode]] instead of a traditional [[New Game+]], {{spoiler|Laharl will die in the opening cutscene}}, leaving you without ''his'' equipment, as well. Etna Mode is significantly more difficult than the normal story, and you probably ''needed'' him fully equipped to handle the final boss without access to {{spoiler|Flonne}}, making it nothing short of annoying.
* Every single team member in ''[[Odium]]'', since they all leave without warning. Especially ridiculous when one of your teammates departs through {{spoiler|dying an unavoidable death on the street. You'd think you could just collect the stuff off the teammate's corpse, but no dice}}.
* Every single team member in ''[[Odium]]'', since they all leave without warning. Especially ridiculous when one of your teammates departs through {{spoiler|dying an unavoidable death on the street. You'd think you could just collect the stuff off the teammate's corpse, but no dice}}.
* Averted quite nicely in the ''[[Jagged Alliance]]'' series: mercs whose contract is up will leave behind their equipment. In fact, one of the strategies in ''Jagged Alliance 2'' involves creating an IMP merc (widely considered to be your chance to make an [[Author Avatar]], and will stay on the party permanently), hiring one of the super-expensive mercs for one day with their equipment, taking the first two towns, and then—when the AIM merc's contract is up—equipping his assault rifle and expensive gear on your IMP merc.
* Averted quite nicely in the ''[[Jagged Alliance]]'' series: mercs whose contract is up will leave behind their equipment. In fact, one of the strategies in ''Jagged Alliance 2'' involves creating an IMP merc (widely considered to be your chance to make an [[Author Avatar]], and will stay on the party permanently), hiring one of the super-expensive mercs for one day with their equipment, taking the first two towns, and then—when the AIM merc's contract is up—equipping his assault rifle and expensive gear on your IMP merc.
* The [[Warhammer 40000]] turn-based game ''Chaos Gate'' has this on one level. Enemies will teleport in, grab a random team member and then whisk him away, [[Lost Forever|never to be seen again]]. Hope you didn't have any rare/unique wargear on him
* The [[Warhammer 40,000]] turn-based game ''Chaos Gate'' has this on one level. Enemies will teleport in, grab a random team member and then whisk him away, [[Lost Forever|never to be seen again]]. Hope you didn't have any rare/unique wargear on him
* The ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' series tends to do this, especially with storyline deaths. A very early one occurs in ''[[Super Robot Wars 3]]'' where [[Zeta Gundam|Reccoa]] disappears to go spy on the bad guys and takes the Mobile Suit you put her in with you. Here's hoping you shoved her into a mook unit before hand and not one of your special Gundams.
* The ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' series tends to do this, especially with storyline deaths. A very early one occurs in ''[[Super Robot Wars 3]]'' where [[Zeta Gundam|Reccoa]] disappears to go spy on the bad guys and takes the Mobile Suit you put her in with you. Here's hoping you shoved her into a mook unit before hand and not one of your special Gundams.
** A stupid one happens in ''[[Super Robot Wars Alpha]] 3'' - if you chose to start with Touya's route, you get to play out the beginning of the second half of ''[[GaoGaiGar]]''. Sadly, because of this, when [[GaoGaiGar]] gets wrecked, it (and Guy) go through a [[Ten-Minute Retirement]] and all of [[GaoGaiGar]]'s upgrades are rendered moot.
** A stupid one happens in ''[[Super Robot Wars Alpha]] 3'' - if you chose to start with Touya's route, you get to play out the beginning of the second half of ''[[GaoGaiGar]]''. Sadly, because of this, when [[GaoGaiGar]] gets wrecked, it (and Guy) go through a [[Ten-Minute Retirement]] and all of [[GaoGaiGar]]'s upgrades are rendered moot.
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== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* This can happen in most role playing games. Whether you're buying the NPC decker some new gear to help you in [[Shadowrun]], giving a magical sword to a companion in [[Dungeons and Dragons]], or working your money and black market ties to get your trusty ghoul bodyguard an SMG and some shooting classes in [[Vampire: The Masquerade]], there's a chance that character will leave the game. They may die with the gear beyond salvage, be bought out or turned by your enemies, become a [[Damsel in Distress]], have been [[The Mole]] all along, or just decide they've had it with you being a [[Jerkass]] (as so many players are.) When that NPC was entrusted with essential equipment, this can become a great complication for a fun night of gaming (either saving the NPC, winning them back, or at least getting back the goods) or a reason to grumble at the player who angered the party's allies until they just stormed off.
* This can happen in most role playing games. Whether you're buying the NPC decker some new gear to help you in [[Shadowrun]], giving a magical sword to a companion in [[Dungeons & Dragons]], or working your money and black market ties to get your trusty ghoul bodyguard an SMG and some shooting classes in [[Vampire: The Masquerade]], there's a chance that character will leave the game. They may die with the gear beyond salvage, be bought out or turned by your enemies, become a [[Damsel in Distress]], have been [[The Mole]] all along, or just decide they've had it with you being a [[Jerkass]] (as so many players are.) When that NPC was entrusted with essential equipment, this can become a great complication for a fun night of gaming (either saving the NPC, winning them back, or at least getting back the goods) or a reason to grumble at the player who angered the party's allies until they just stormed off.


{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
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