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The Three Trials: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{Video Game Examples Need Sorting}}
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A common trope in Adventure Games where the hero must achieve [[Rule of Three|three]] specific goals in order to advance the plot. Bob may want to fight the dragon and save Alice right now, but the giant lizard safety inspector has made it clear that he must first find a magic shield from the haunted forge, a spray can of dragon repellent from the future, and a helmet in spite of the mad king's ban on headwear. Whether true or not, the hero is almost always given the impression that the tasks may be completed in any order.
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[[These Questions Three]] uses questions in place of challenges. Compare [[Plot Coupon]] and [[Threshold Guardians]].
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▲{{examples}}
* Trope namer, the Three Trials in ''[[The Secret of Monkey Island]]'': Swordplay, thievery and treasure-huntery.
** Done twice in ''[[The Curse of Monkey Island]]''. Find a map, a ship, and a crew in the second act, then a ring, a diamond and hand lotion in the fourth act. Each object demands a lengthy expedition and perilous adventure - yes, even the hand lotion.
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* [[Monty Python and the Holy Grail|"Stop. Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see."]]
* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' has three planets that must be visited to unravel Saren's schemes: Therum, Noveria and Feros. These may be visited in any order, and after two of them are cleared a lead also appears on a fourth planet, Virmire.
* Much of the middle of ''[[Dragon Age]]'' revolves around gaining support for the Grey Wardens by bringing old treaties to various leaders. There are three
** At Redcliffe specifically, you have to 1) save the village's ass, 2) save the lord's son's ass, then 3) save the lord's ass.
* [[Crimson Skies]]: High Road to Revenge has the Three Trials of Soloho - Marksmanship, Courage and Skill.
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* The main quest of ''[[The Elder Scrolls]] III: Morrowind'' can be solved after acquiring three things - the two artifacts the sword Keening and the hammer Sunder and a means of wielding them for more than a second without dying.
** The straightforward path to the third requirement is getting [[A God Am I|Vivec]] to give you the gauntlet Wraithguard; the backdoor method is [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|killing Vivec]], stealing the item, and asking [[Last of His Kind|Yagrum Bagarn]] to fashion the Left Wraithguard (sometimes called the "Backhand"); generally, as the seven minute [[Speed Run]] of ''Morrowind'' proves, the game isn't picky about how you can hold the weapons for any realistic length of time as long as you live through it.
* ''[[Nethack]]'' has many sets of three trials. First you must acquire the Bell of Opening, the Candelabrum of Invocation, and the Book of the Dead; to collect these items, you have to visit and kill special monsters - your role's Quest Nemesis, Vlad the Impaler, and the Wizard of Yendor. Secondly, you must travel to the bottom of the dungeon, find the vibrating square, and perform the three-part Invocation Ritual with these items. Lastly, to complete the over-arcing
* ''[[Turgor]]'' has one of the brothers announce you will be given three trials to determine your worthiness, given one after another. However, the second trial is failed before you even start it.
* In ''[[Quest for Glory III]]'', the rite of manhood for Uhura's tribe involves three contests: spear-throwing, a balance beam "fight", and a footrace (though there are "mini-contests" within the footrace as well).
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* [[Skyward Sword]] has the three first Silent Realms, the three dragons' songs, the first three dungeons set in three provinces...
* ''[[Diablo II]]'' Act 2 and 3 require you to track down three magical artifacts to combine into a weapon that'd open the way to the endboss. Technically there were four items in the third act, but the last one was obtained right next to where you needed to use them.
* Explicitly stated in [[Epic Mickey]], on Mickeyjunk Mountain. The guard will only let you through to meet Oswald if you pass
* In ''[[Lost in Oz]]'', to open Horn's Gate, the heroes must answer three riddles. Selina answers the first two and Alex answers the third.
* In almost every ''[[Xanth]]'' book, someone will go to the Good Magician's castle to get information, where they will have to get past three challenges of varying nature before he will see them.
* The first [[Discworld]] videogame turned this [[Up to Eleven]] with ''five'' items you had to acquire for an NPC in order to assemble a [[Plot Coupon That Does Something]]... And then added a bit of [[Fake Difficulty]] on top of the ridiculous-even-for-its-genre [[Moon Logic Puzzles]] you had to solve to get them by being needlessly cryptic about what said items even ''were''.
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[[Category:Alice and Bob]]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Three Trials, The}}
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