Threads of Fate

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An Action RPG by Square (now Square Enix) for the PlayStation, which was released as Dewprism in Japan. The player can choose to follow the adventures of Rue or Mint as they quest for a powerful artifact, known as the Dewprism, that can reshape reality.

Rue has been living with Claire, a friend he loves as a sister, since she rescued him years ago. When she is killed shielding him from the "Arm of Death", he vows to find the Dewprism in order to bring her back. Rue's story is more serious with truly exceptional writing.

Mint is a princess horrified to learn she's been passed over in the line of succession for her younger sister. Enraged, she vows to find the Dewprism and take back what is rightfully hers, and then some. In fact, nothing less will do than rulership over the whole world. Mint serves as comedic relief and a selfish foil for Rue's selflessness. Her quest is generally believed to be less powerfully written, but more fun.

It was adapted into a manga. As usual, it's only in Japanese.

Tropes used in Threads of Fate include:

• Alas, Poor Villain: The three Masters in both stories. Doll Master in Rue's story.

"... Brother... Thanks, Rue... Best thing I've heard in a hundred years..."

• Amplifier Artifact: The relics.
• An Axe to Grind: Rue.
• And the Adventure Continues...: The extended ending after completing both stories.
• Apocalyptic Log: Mint finds a journal of a man who hid an item in a monster and, apparently, died as a result. Her response? "What an idiot."
• Artificial Human: Rue, Prima Doll and Ruecian a.k.a. Doll Master. Also Ruenis, and there are implied to be many more....
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: The fate of some of the Magicians.
• Badass Bookworm: Played straight and averted with Duke: he gains his fighting techniques by reading epics... though his reading romantic novels doesn't help with his social clumsiness.
• Baleful Polymorph: Maya can turn Mint into a pumpkin during their fight, and does so on one of the credits' segments.
• Big Bad: Valen.
• The Blacksmith: Rod, the red-haired chiseled traveler with the short vest and Nice Hat. Serves as an optional opponent who gets harder every time he fights you, upgrades both your weapon AND his own, has a wolf named Johnny Wolf who also fights alongside him and has built his own Cool Ship.
• Booby Trap: Trap Master's preferred combat method.
• Cool Ship: Rod's Pulsar-inferno Typhoon Omega (it's not a Pinto).
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose In Life: The reason Rod became a traveling blacksmith/warrior. While he's good at both, neither is what he desires.
• Ditto Fighter: Rue can take the form of most normal monsters encountered in the game.
• The Ditz: Elena. Oh so much. Constantly calls Rue "Polly" after his transforming into a pollywog to save her.
• Does Not Like Spam: Mint and pumpkins.
• Drop the Hammer: Rod's third weapon, with blades that rotate to generate a small tornado.
• Dynamic Entry: Mint is fond of making these.
• Eleventh-Hour Superpower: Both characters get one for the final battle. Rue gains the ability to guard attacks and Mint is given the Cosmos spell type. When combined with Gold Magic (only Gold and Cosmos combine) she can cast the Valiant spell.
• Eyes Always Shut: Psycho Master. When not using his full power.
• Genki Girl: Mint.
• Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: There is a scene in both character's storylines where the Prima Doll has a temporary breakdown about soon fulfilling his purpose and afterward being considered worthless. Rue calmly talks him out of his slump. Mint slaps him and goes off on a rage about how pathetic he sounds.
• Girlish Pigtails: Mint, who is very childish.
• The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Mint and Maya.
• A God Am I: Valen.
• Grand Theft Me: Attempted by Valen to Claire and Rue.
• Happily Adopted: Prima Doll is adopted by Klaus' family at the end of either story.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Doll Master in Rue's path.
• Hot-Blooded: Duke, due to his obsession with romantic novels and epics.
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Mint, in Rue's story.
• It's All Upstairs From Here: The Tower of Maya.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Mint. Small but it's there.
• Level Grinding: To get past 3 blocks of ice you may have to grind. Other than that there's virtually none.
• Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards: Rue starts out marginally stronger than Mint, but has a limited number of transformations that aren't particularly powerful and his only character wise enhancements are increase in stats. Mint, on the other hand, gains access to wide ranges of spell types such as healing, barriers, and magic waves. And the way MP works in the game, most of it can be recovered within ten seconds. By the end of their respective storylines, Mint grossly overpowers Rue gameplay wise.
• Load-Bearing Boss: Valen.
• MacGuffin: The Dewprism.
• Magic Knight: Mint, who prides herself on her melee skills with special mention of her dropkick.
• Mega Manning: Mint absorbs the power of the Book of Cosmos, gaining its energy attack.
• Mega Neko: You'll know it when you see it.
• Multiple Endings: A given since it has two playable characters.
• Necromantic: Rue, a heroic version of it. In his story, he succeeds without any negative consequences.
• Nice Hat: Rue and Rod. Rue's hat also hides his more uncanny features (such as the gem embedded in his forehead) so he can pass as a human.
• Ominous Floating Castle: Valen's Fortress.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Wylaf, the cool old dragon who's nice to humans, and even helps out Rue and Mint a little throughout the game.
• Princess Curls: Fancy Mel.
• Psychic Powers: Psycho Master. Mainly uses telekinesis in battle.
• Reality Warper: Most of the Magicians, as evident in Fancy Mel's atelier and Valen's tower.
• Red Right Hand: Claire's killer, Ruecian the Doll Master. It's black, actually... and HUGE.
• Redundant Researcher: Averted. Although Mint and Rue aid Klaus, he's the one who cracks the mysteries.
• Rings of Death: Mint's weapon of choice.
• The Rival: Duke and Belle to Rue and Mint, respectively. Most of the time.
• Rose-Haired Girl: Elena.
• Saintly Church: The church in the town gladly gives you aid if you give a donation, and lets you heal your wounds, no questions asked.
• Sequel Hook: The extension to Rue's ending unlocked after completing both stories.
• Spiky Hair: Trap Master.
• Sticks to the Back: Both character's weapons, although Rue's giant axe is more noticeable.
• Stronger Sibling: Mint's sister, Maya, especially after obtaining the Relic. She took advantage of the power gap to kick Mint out of the kingdom.
• Sugar Bowl: Fancy Mel's atelier.
• Take Over the World: Mint's primary motivation, played for laughs, as the narrative never gives the players reason to actually believe she's capable of doing so.
• Ted Baxter: Most of the villains, especially Duke. Mint and some of the friendly NPCs are like this too.
• Theme Naming: Most dolls have their specialty preceding "doll" as their names.
• Those Two Guys: The bandits, Blood and Smokey.
• Tick Tock Tune: Slow track example: Mint's Scheme 2.
• Tomato in the Mirror: Rue is one of the Dolls of Valen, another of which is the primary antagonist of the game (though Rue was already aware that he was not human).
• Tsundere: Belle, especially towards Duke.
• Unexpected Gameplay Change: Fancy Mel's platforming games.
• Villain Protagonist, Mint, in her story.
• Visible Silence: Rue's response to Fancy Mel is 76 periods followed by "am I dreaming?"
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Mode Master's method of attack is mainly this. Rue can morph into monsters after gaining the slain enemy's coin.
• White-Haired Pretty Boy: Rue is a heroic version, though his Nice Hat tends to distract attention away from this. Valen and Doll Master are white-haired but neither one is pretty by any sense of the word. Ruenis seems to be a civilian version.
• Why Did It Have To Be Pumpkins?: Mint.