Trials of Mana/YMMV

Alas, Poor Villain: Bill and Ben, Lugar (though he gets better), the Darkshine Knight, and arguably Bigieu if the Dark Prince doesn't become the Big Bad.
- Bigieu actually fits this trope regardless of which path you choose.
- Arguably every secondary villain except for Deathjester.
Bittersweet Ending: No matter who the Big Bad ends up being, he always murders the Mana Goddess before you defeat him, and while the Fairy becomes the new Goddess, its stated it will be a thousand years before Mana fully returns to the world. On the plus side, the world is saved, and each of the heroes make peace with their respective troubles. (Angela and Kevin make peace with their parents, for example)
Cliché Storm: In the nicest possible way.
Complete Monster: All three possible Big Bads. Their Dragons qualify as well, to varying extents.
Crowning Moment of Funny: Trying to enter Duran's house with both Duran and Angela in the party grants you the following conversation (along these lines):

Duran: Let's skip this one house, it's mine. I promised not to return until I defeated Koren.
Angela: Aw, I wanted to see your room. But if you're hiding anything, like your porn collection, I understand.

- Infiltrating the Corobokkle Village with Hawk.

Hawk: I'm Hawk, but everyone calls me Papa Smurf!

- Strangely enough, there's an X-rated magazine in Forcena's library.
Crowning Music of Awesome/Hiroki Kikuta: Any of the many, many boss themes
Demonic Spiders: Near the end of the game there are a number of enemies that are essentially the mook version of some of the playable characters' final classes, and each of them can utilize the tech that the player class has. For example, the Nightblade can use Split-Image Slice (like Hawk's Nightblade class), and the Bloody Wolf can use Suzaku Sky Dance (like Kevin's Dervish class). These techniques are full-screen and can easily wipe out the entire party if they are at low health.
- Others include the aptly named Death Machines and nigh unbeatable packs of multi-healing Silver Wolves.
Fan-Preferred Couple: Even though Hawk already has a "girlfriend," many fans prefer to ship him with Lise. Their stories are related to each other and it doesn't help that the game put in some minor tease in there.
Flat Character: Jagan and the Dragon Emperor are easily the least developed villains in the game. Although, really, all of the arch-Big Bads suffer from this to a fairly large degree, due to being in the background for so long.
Fridge Brilliance: The scene with Lugar and the defeated Altenan sorceresses is a good clue about the types of attacks you want to avoid using when you fight him.
- Also, putting the final classes in context with the back-stories of each character really increases their significance. In most cases, the Light classes are more based on duty and/or idealized versions of certain figures in their lives, while the Dark classes are more based on obsession and/or the actual current situation of said figures.
  - For example, Duran's Light final classes, Paladin and Lord, seem to be based on his father Loki as a Knight of Gold. His Dark classes, Sword Master and Duelist, reflect the current situation of his father actually being the Darkshine Knight.
  - Carlie might even be a case of Break and then Corrupt the Cutie if she goes dark. Think about it, she's so madly in love with Heath, who is Brainwashed and Crazy thanks to the Masked Mage that she would walk down the same path as him WILLINGLY just to be with him.
  - Kevin's duality is more based on his human side with his Light classes, or his beastman side with his Dark classes.
  - Hawk's classes take a different spin of this trend: keep in mind that the Desert of Scorching Heat was once a huge forest: the Wanderer and Rogue recall that time, while the Ninja Master and Nightblade reflect the reality of things.
  - Angela's Light classes seem to reflect a desire to emulate her mother, while her Dark classes are more based on her pursuit of magical ability.
  - Lise's Light classes seem to be based on her motherly instincts, while her Dark classes may be more based on her role as warrior princess.
Game Breaker: Accessing the menu while charging up a spell will make the spell charge when you are in the menu and the game is paused, meaning you can technically rapid-fire all of your spells without worrying about being interrupted. Also, pretty much everything Kevin does.
- Arguably using Hawk and Kevin in the same team since they have double attacks. Oh their FIRST skill (green bar) can be STRONGER than their last (red bar) when buffed with elements and Power Ups. If you picked their "darkest" classes (Nightblade for Hawk and Death Hand for Kevin) they tear even bosses apart.
  - Add some more pain if you lower the enemy's defenses.
- The enemies charge their spells while you're in the menu too, so it's not completely game breaking.
- Stat-down spells can become this. THEY STACK.
- Counter Magic / Matango Oils render most of Koren's spells useless. It's only a game breaker in that one fight but it's still fun.
- There are some who consider Byzel's black market a Game Breaker itself, as the items purchasable potentially render many classes almost entirely redundant.
Goddamned Bats: Those freaking Porobin Hoods. Dart!!!
- While Silver Wolves aren't terribly dangerous on their own, they just love to spam Heal Light, and also have a move that severely reduces your attack power. If you don't have a way to boost it back up and/or lower their defense, you're going to be fighting them for a long time. Or not, if there are Bloody Wolves around too.
Good Bad Bugs: Some of the Standard Status Effects (specifically: Poison, Moogle, Chibikko (shrink), Petrification, and Silence) don't stack with one another - the most recent one takes precedence. During the course of the plot, you get an item called the Chibikko Hammer, which either inflicts or cures the Chibikko status on your party. So, if a party member gets hit with one of the other statuses, two hits from the hammer (once to Chibikko them, and once to cure it) will get rid of it without having to use any status curing items or spells.
- It's not clear whether it's intentional or not, but the Evil Shaman's AntiMagic spell will, in addition to dispelling status buffs, cause enemies that absorb certain elements to no longer do just that.
High Octane Nightmare Fuel: The God-Beasts, but especially the final one you face, God-Beast of Darkness Zable-Fahr.
Magnificent Bastard: The Beast King.
That One Boss: Bill and Ben, Lugar, Zable Fahr. and Darkshine Knight all qualify.
- Not helped by the fact that all of the above have a tendency to counter any spell or high level technique with their own specials.
That One Level: Moonreading Tower. It doesn't help that the boss of it is pretty damn hard too.

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