History VideoGame / Bastion

** The Breakers: [[ArcherArchetype Elite archers]] and {{courier}}s who brought messages back from the war or untamed regions. The [[TheStraightAndArrowPath Breaker's Bow]] is their weapon.

* AnAesop: While it's not explicit, and the game ultimately lets the player make their own decision and draw their own conclusion about the results, there's a definite theme of "worry about the future, not the past".
-->'''Rucks''': Nothing good ever came out of the past, except history.

** The [[DropTheHammer Cael Hammer]] has poor range and damage is cut in half unless you're standing still, but if used correctly, it has the highest raw damage potential damage of any weapon in the game.

* DropTheHammer: The Cael Hammer is the first weapon found and the Kid's in-universe weapon. It does more damage, hit for hit, than anything but the Mortar and Calamity Cannon. With the right upgrades, it'll do more damage than either (provided you [[DifficultButAwesome use it properly]]).

** The Masons: Builders and defenders of the Rippling Walls. The [[DropTheHammer Cael Hammer]] is their weapon. (The Kid was a Mason, and he still uses their hammer as his weapon.)

* GutturalGrowler: Rucks.

''Bastion'' is an ActionAdventure game developed by Creator/SupergiantGames and published by Creator/WarnerBros for [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]], [[UsefulNotes/{{Macintosh}} Mac OS X]], UsefulNotes/{{Linux}}, UsefulNotes/{{Xbox 360}} and UsefulNotes/{{iOS|Games}}, and was the first game released for the [[UsefulNotes/XboxLiveArcade Xbox Summer of Arcade 2011]] event. It has also been released on UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch.

** Unique to the UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} version, once you've rebuilt the Arsenal in NewGamePlus, check out the skills list. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-c26R80OmQ One of them]] summons an [[VideoGame/{{Portal}} Aperture turret]]. [[spoiler:There's a hidden achievement for killing a lot of enemies with one turret.]]

* CentralTheme: [[spoiler: Regret, and the consequences of clinging to the past.]]

* DelayedNarratorIntroduction: Rucks begins narrating from the beginning of the game, but doesn't appear in person until the Kid makes it to the Bastion (and doesn't reveal his name until Zulf shows up). This avoids the trope's usual FridgeLogic, as it's implied he has been [[spoiler: hearing about the Kid's travels whenever he returns to the Bastion]] (as evidenced when [[spoiler: he ''can't'' tell what the Kid's doing in the final level and assumes he's having some sort of final showdown with Zulf]]).

* DramaticIrony: If the player goes with [[spoiler: the Restoration Ending]], Rucks says this:
--> Might be we'll [[spoiler: forget everything you've done, and each other,]] but after all we've been through, [[TemptingFate I find that hard to believe]].

** Rucks also drops subtle indications that the Bastion's [[spoiler: restoration function has been tried many times]] with lines such as [[spoiler: "Seems like [[GroundhogDayLoop this story's been told a thousand times]]"]] and the previously mentioned bookends.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.
* GodIsDispleased: It's heavily implied that the Gods turned on Caelondia. Trying to invoke them from their idols makes things harder (essentially serving as a challenge mode) by doing things like making enemies regenerate health or deal more damage. It's implied this is because Caelondia (unlike the Ura) had stopped treating them respectfully. [[spoiler: Whether they're also pissed off that the Caelondians blew themselves up with a DoomsdayDevice, or they had a hand in making it backfire in the first place is left ambiguous.]] Downplayed in that the harder settings also give the player more experience and fragments, implying that they might simply be demanding penance rather than abandoning [[PlayerCharacter the Kid]] completely.
** This is further expanded in a bonus song on the soundtrack, ''The Pantheon (Ain't Gonna Catch You)''. The implication is less that the gods are gone or angry, and more that they don't see any need to save people from their own sins. The Calamity is [[spoiler: Caelondia's]] fault, and they're going to have to deal with it.

* MookHorrorShow: The narrator accurately describes the fear your enemies are feeling when you [[spoiler: tear your way through the Ura fortress]], noting they didn't think you'd be this strong.

* NewGamePlus: Doing so not only lets you retain your progress, but unlocks the remaining idols. [[spoiler: Story-wise, it's actually a direct continuation of the Restoration ending, where the ResetButton was unable to prevent the Calamity from happening again.]]

* AlienSky: Played with, in that you're standing on part of it - the Calamity scattered the lands everywhere, including up and down.

* BladeOnAStick: The Brusher's Pike. The ''guan-dao''-style weapon used by many Ura soldiers also counts.

* BoringButPractical: Some of the less-flashy weapons, like the Brusher's Pike (a simple BladeOnAStick compared to the AutomaticCrossbow, MacheteMayhem, {{BFG}}, GrenadeLauncher, etc), are still the most useful.

** The Brushers: Frontiersmen who performed recon in unfriendly territory. The [[BladeOnAStick Brusher's Pike]] is their weapon.

Two: ah... forget about two.\\

* DropTheHammer: The Cael Hammer is the first weapon found and the Kid's in-universe WeaponOfChoice. It does more damage, hit for hit, than anything but the Mortar and Calamity Cannon. With the right upgrades, it'll do more damage than either (provided you [[DifficultButAwesome use it properly]]).

** The Fang Repeater and War Machete combination is said to be the [[WeaponOfChoice favoured weapons]] of the Ura hunters during the Ura-Caelondian war.

* TheOrder: Caelondia operates on a guild system, each with their own purpose and WeaponOfChoice:
** The Masons: Builders and defenders of the Rippling Walls. The [[DropTheHammer Cael Hammer]] is their weapon. (The Kid was a Mason, and he still uses their hammer as his WeaponOfChoice.)

* WeaponOfChoice: Each Caelondian guild had one; a weapon's Vigil is named for its associated guild. The Kid's, as a Mason, is the Cael Hammer (though the player can choose any weapon loadout they want).

* IllGirl: The Kid's mom, who was constantly ill with some sort of disease. She succumbed to it while the Kid was on-duty at the Rippling Walls.

* AdultFear: The overriding theme of the game is loneliness and regret. Loneliness caused by being [[TheAloner the only survivor of a disaster]], having [[ParentalAbandonment lost your entire family]], or [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer being ostracized for being different]]; regret from [[MyGreatestFailure a personal failing]], parting from loved ones [[PartingWordsRegret on acrimonious terms]], or simply [[IShouldHaveBeenBetter feeling that you should have done more]]... things that are far more close to home than the game's fantasy-apocalypse setting would suggest. Of course, ''Bastion'' is [[AWorldHalfFull ultimately optimistic]], so it's probably more fair to say that the overriding theme is ''overcoming'' loneliness and regret.

!!The kid reads the list of tropes used in the game:

* AnimalMotifs: The image of Pyth, the Wakeful Bull, god of Order and Commotion, decorates the city walls, Kid's Bullhead Shield and many places.
* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The final level of the Stranger's Dream, if played with idols on, will not apply their effects to the [[spoiler:Ura]] boss. If it did, that level would be downright unbeatable. If you die with idols invoked, the game also gives you to option to turn them off for the next run without having to return to the Bastion to do so.
* AntiVillain: ''All'' of the game's enemies -- from the windbags, to the various types of wild creatures, to [[spoiler:the Ura]] -- are portrayed sympathetically. [[spoiler:Zulf in particular is very sympathetic - he learned first-hand that the Calamity was caused by the Caels trying to wipe the Ura out.]]
* ApocalypseHow: The Calamity causes regional physical annihilation, at minimum. The city of Caelondia and surrounding areas are left as nothing but disconnected bits of land floating over an infinite void. We're not shown exactly how far the destruction extends, though it certainly hasn't covered the planet and most of the Wilds are slowly recovering. Given the {{Magitek}} nature of the Calamity, and the fact that the ending reveals that [[spoiler:the Bastion's "{{Res|etButton}}toration" function is unable to prevent it]], it may even extend all the way to metaphysical annihilation, as well.

* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: In Jawson's Bog, The Kid gets dosed with some kind of plant toxin that causes him to take a nasty trip through his own head, where the maps are twisted versions of old areas and the rehashes of Rucks' narration grows [[MissionControlIsOffItsMeds increasingly hostile and fragmented]].

* BoozeBasedBuff: Every time The Kid levels up, he can equip another drink in the Distillery, which offers a selection of alcohols that can do everything from increasing damage or critical chance to shooting spikes out of The Kid's body when he's hit. It's noted in-game that the only spirits Caelondia allows are those that are beneficial, and some of the alcohols are borderline illegal.

* CollisionDamage: One of the idols causes this. Otherwise doesn't apply unless it's part of an enemy's attack.

* CriticalStatusBuff: The Werewhiskey tonic raises critical chance to 100% whenever The Kid drops below 33% health. With the right equipment, nothing will survive for long.

** Invoking the sloth effect god can easily turn any encounter into this, especially against faster enemies or those with a longer reach. Hammer-wielding gasbags are practically instant death if they catch you, as are the tiny Peckers.

** He also has quotes for just about everything you do. For instance, if you stick around in the first area and break pieces of the destructible environment, Rucks will notice. If you use your dodge roll to speed across a collapsing floor (since it's faster than walking), Rucks will notice. If you fall of a certain platform during a RailShooter section, Rucks will count the number of times you fell off. Hell, if you fall off in any area, he'll say a line in context with that area.

* DieChairDie: There's plenty of debris lying around to smash, some of which grant you fragments when destroyed. The narrator will comment if you spend a lot of time on it. The Challenge for the Cael Hammer actually makes this a gameplay mechanic; it requires you to smash a whole bunch of junk within a time limit.

* TheDreaded: The Kid becomes this for [[spoiler:the Ura]]. From their perspective, after a failed revenge strike against those they've been told were responsible for The Calamity, ''one'' person chases them down to what remains of their homeland and slaughters countless numbers of them along the way. No matter how many troops they throw at him, he just drops them and keeps rolling. This [[spoiler:warps into WorthyOpponent if you try to save Zulf]] in the final level.
* DreamSequence: The Kid falls into this just as he reaches the Shard in Jawson's Bog, with him replaying some previous portions of the game. This also overlaps with MindScrew as Rucks' narration of him paints all situations in a negative light, such as calling the Kid a thief, turning Zulf into a Gastfella and Zia screaming at the end.

* DrowningMySorrows[=/=]INeedAFreakingDrink: Implied. BoozeBasedBuff aside, it's perhaps significant that, in the [[AfterTheEnd post-Calamity mess that is the world]], one of the first buildings that can be added to the Bastion is the Distillery. Getting a drink is apparently a top priority for our hero. And it's interesting to note that as The Kid levels up, which means he has dealt with/will be dealing with yet more crap, he's drinking more and more.
* DualWielding: The pistols.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: And boy do you work for it, Kid. The other characters even recognize this and give The Kid the honors of the final choice in the game.

* EquipmentUpgrade: Weapon upgrades can be bought after finding the right amount of the relevant collectable for that weapon (which follow a "Something [adjective]" naming pattern). Each weapon has five stages with two upgrades that the player can switch between after unlocking that stage.

* EverybodysDeadDave: The game ticks off an impressive list of Caelondia's inhabitants as you come upon their incinerated corpses. Each time, Rucks gives a brief exposition usually ending with the words "...didn't make it".

* FantasyPantheon: The Caelondians and Ura both worship the same pantheon of gods, the Ura more devoutly than the Caelondians (who stopped fearing them to the point that they made plushies out of Pyth). There is a little bit of flavor information given on each one in the Shrine, and a little more in [[BrutalBonusLevel The Stranger's Dream]]. Interestingly, each god represents two different aspects, most of them being diametrically opposed, to show two different sides of the same concept. They also play into the difficulty system, as you can invoke the gods in the Shrine, who will change some aspect of the difficulty (e.g. enemies will be faster, won't drop health tonics, etc.) while giving you an increase in experience gained and fragments dropped. They are as follows:

** A subtle one is Rucks' line at the end of the Kid's Dream. He says he would like to think he will never forget everything the Kid has done, but the way he says it make it seem like there's a "but..." at the end.

* GodIsDispleased: It's heavily implied that the Gods turned on Caelondia. Trying to invoke them from their idols makes things harder (essentially serving as a challenge mode) by doing things like making enemies regenerate health or deal more damage. It's implied this is because Caelondia (unlike the Ura) had stopped treating them respectfully. [[spoiler: Whether they're also pissed off that the Caelondians blew themselves up with a DoomsdayDevice, or they had a hand in making it backfire in the first place is left ambiguous.]] Downplayed in that the harder settings also give the player more experience and fragments, implying that they might simply be demanding penance rather than abandoning [[PlayerCharacter The Kid]] completely.

* HeelFaceTurn: Some monsters (with hearts over their head to indicate allegiance) will help defend you, though this can equally be a trick and they turn hostile after a certain point. One Secret Skill will even call Squirts to your aid. [[spoiler:Zulf does one as well, if you choose to rescue him in the final level]].

* HubUnderAttack: [[spoiler:Near the end of the game the Bastion comes under attack from the Ura survivors of the Calamity, who are led there by Zulf after he undergoes a FaceHeelTurn. The player is actually deposited outside of the stage when trying to return, and has to find another way after the Ura block the way; if they're too slow, the various hub pets they have collected during the game can potentially be killed while trying to defend the Bastion.]]

* ImprobableWeaponUser: The Kid can make use of flame spitting bellows, naval artillery and a battering ram amongst more ordinary choices.

** One level puts you in the middle of a bunch of tall plants, obscuring your view of The Kid and the enemies. Mercifully, there aren't that many enemies to kill, and the particular section is fairly short.

* JerkassGods: Invoking the gods actually ''penalize'' the Kid, by making combat more difficult... though he does get boosted XP and fragment rewards in exchange, so maybe they just want him to prove his worth.
* KillItWithFire: The Fire Bellows weapon and the fire-breathing Security turret.
* KingMook: Several appear as bosses in certain areas. They also show up in the Who Knows Where.

* MineralMacGuffin: The Cores and The Shards are pretty much archetypal examples of this.

* ShatteredWorld: The Calamity cut off entire parts of the Bastion from each other. The Kid uses the skyway to reach them.

** You don't have to kill [[spoiler:Queen Anne]], unless you want the points for upgrades. The skyway can be used as soon as you grab the shard. The same goes for the two boss plant monsters in the [[spoiler:animal Bastion]].

* SoundtrackDissonance: As soon as it really starts to get tough in The Stranger's Dream, the peaceful "In Case of Trouble" (which usually plays at the Bastion) starts to play.

* SpinAttack: ''Lots'' of them. At least three weapons have some form of spinning attack as a special move, with the Fire Bellows having ''two''. The hammer gasbags exclusively spin to attack.

** If you keep "talking to" the Squirt in the Bastion (making it spin), it will do nothing and narrow its eyes at you, then Rucks will tell you "C'mon, give the little tyke a break".

* TheStoryThatNeverWas: The game has two endings. One is to leave the broken land and the other is to reset to before the calamity, without knowing if it will repeat or not. It's heavily hinted that it does indeed repeat (serving as an InUniverse explanation for a NewGamePlus).

%% StupidSexyFlanders is only for in-universe use.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: The Ura really don't think much of The Kid... until he makes it to Zulten's Hollow.

* TheUnfought: [[spoiler:Zulf.]] Made somewhat humorous by the fact that immediately after you figure out there won't be such a fight, Rucks starts talking about how The Kid must be having a final showdown with him right about now.

* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: The Tazal Terminals. Its image on the level select screen is twice the size of all the rest and when selected prompts with a "[[PointOfNoReturn there is no turning back]]" message.

* TheWildWest: The game invokes the mood of the west, with the characters' accents and a majority of the sound track.

* {{Wutai}}: The Ura nation has some Asian influences - namely in their clothing and weapon design, though they take more inspiration from the tribes that fought against (and sacked) Rome.
* YouAreNotAlone: Rucks does what he can to offer moral support to The Kid, though his narration often has him wishing he could do more.
* YouBastard: Rucks delivers a very mild one of these to both himself and The Kid, pondering how they're destroying the homes of creatures who are just trying to survive, same as them. But he goes on to say the Bastion will repair everything regardless, so the ends justify the means.

* NoSell: Having Garmuth invoked means enemies will occasionally block attacks. Having Olak invoked means they'll occasionally do this ''and'' turn invincible for a brief period of time
* NotSoDifferent: The Caelondians and the Ura, especially after the Calamity.
-->''They lost everything, didn't they? And they just keep on fighting like that's gonna bring it all back.''
** There's also a level where you fight wild beasts at their home base on a mountain, which Rucks calls their own "Bastion."

* HealingFactor: Every enemy in the game, if you invoke Micia.

* {{Mondegreen}}: An interesting spoken case; near the end of the game, many players misheard the line "you made it" as "Veda", which they assumed was The Kid's name. According to WordOfGod from creator Greg Kasavin, his name is [[http://i54.tinypic.com/2gy7qww.png never mentioned]].

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: A bird enemy is referred to as "Peckers", which at first seems like just an unfortunate choice... but then Rucks drops lines like:
-->''Not really the time for Pecker hunting, but the Kid just can't help himself.''