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Moving from YMMV.
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* AnyoneCanDie - [[spoiler:Actually, ''KillEmAll!'']]
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* BiTheWay - [[spoiler: Some players interpret Heat this way because of how he calls Seraph "cute" when you talk to him at The Sun.]]
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Dead Little Sister was renamed. Check to see if the example actually fits before readding.
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** [[spoiler:Heat O'Brien]] saw [[spoiler:Sera]] as more of a sister as [[spoiler:[[DeadLittleSister he lost his little sister to Cuvier Syndrome some years ago]]]].
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** [[spoiler:Heat O'Brien]] saw [[spoiler:Sera]] as more of a sister as [[spoiler:[[DeadLittleSister he [[spoiler:he lost his little sister to Cuvier Syndrome some years ago]]]].ago]].
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* {{Bonus Boss}} - Several. Killing the ones in the first game nets you a bonus in the sequel. The first game's strongest enemy, [[spoiler: the Demi-fiend (from ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Nocturne]]'')]], is probably the hardest BonusBoss ever to appear in a RPG, although a GameFAQs poster called Red Star found [[ArtificialStupidity a weakness]] that makes the fight easier. "Easier", in this case, means that after you've managed to do enough LevelGrinding and farming of [[RandomlyDrops randomly dropped]] stat boosting items to hit the statistic {{cap}}s, you might actually be able to win the fight on your third try instead of your thirtieth. Satan, in the second game, manages to be almost as difficult.
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* {{Bonus Boss}} - Several. Killing the ones in the first game nets you a bonus in the sequel. The first game's strongest enemy, [[spoiler: the Demi-fiend (from ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Nocturne]]'')]], is probably the hardest BonusBoss ever to appear in a RPG, although a GameFAQs poster called Red Star found [[ArtificialStupidity a weakness]] that makes the fight easier. "Easier", in this case, means that after you've managed to do enough LevelGrinding and farming of [[RandomlyDrops randomly dropped]] stat boosting items to hit the statistic {{cap}}s, {{cap}}s (though hitting the max luck stat actually makes the battle HARDER), you might actually be able to win the fight on your third try instead of your thirtieth.thirtieth (with each try lasting more than 1 hour). Satan, in the second game, manages to be almost as difficult.
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** He doesn't use Megidolaon if you don't use any skill or items that counters or protect against his ice attacks. But getting hit by Megidolaon spam is better than getting your party frozen all the time...
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** He doesn't use Megidolaon if you don't use any skill or items that counters or protect against his ice attacks. But getting hit by Megidolaon spam is better than getting your party frozen all the time... unless you are playing in Hard mode and you aren't overleveled (in that case Megidolaon spam means certain death).
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** He doesn't use Megidolaon if you don't use any skill or items that counters or protect against his ice attacks. But getting hit by Megidolaon spam is better than getting your party frozen all the time...
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* PowerUpgradingDeformation: Those exposed to the demon virus.
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* Fred - The TagalongKid. Has black hair. The son of the previous leader of the local resistance movement. His duty now is mostly bugging Roland to sober up and do his job properly.
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* Fred - The TagalongKid. Has black hair. The son of the previous leader of the local resistance movement. His duty now is mostly bugging Roland to sober up and do his job properly.
properly. Not playable.
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* {{Biodata}}: Everything is made up of Data [[spoiler: and said data travels back and forth between the son which is how reincarnation is possible. This is also why people are able to become demons via the Atma Virus, as a human's data also has the code for the demon data that exist inside them]].
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* {{Biodata}}: Everything is made up of Data [[spoiler: and said data travels back and forth between Earth and the son Sun, which is how reincarnation is possible. This is also why people are able to become demons via the Atma Virus, as Virus: a human's data also has the code for the demon data that exist inside them]].
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* {{Biodata}}: Everything is made up of Data [[spoiler: and said data travels back and forth between the son which is how reincarnation is possible. This is also why people are able to become demons via the Atma Virus, as a human's data also has the code for the demon data that exist inside them]].
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* {{Foreshadowing}} - The story of the two princes and princess in the amusement park in the first game, particularly the scrambled parts that call into doubt the real motivations of the "Good Prince" and "Evil Prince." [[spoiler:In their previous lives, Heat was the only one who genuinely cared about Sera, while Serph and the others were just manipulating her.]]
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* {{Foreshadowing}} - The story of the two princes and princess in the amusement park in the first game, particularly the scrambled parts that call into doubt the real motivations of the "Good Prince" and "Evil Prince." [[spoiler:In their previous lives, Heat was the only one who genuinely cared about Sera, while Serph and the others were just manipulating her.]]]] Interestingly, it's not until the second game that it becomes relevant.
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Game makes it pretty clear that only Seraph became enlightened and that it along with the other Seraph were going to witness many realities and would soon be joined by others.
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** [[spoiler:What happens to the Embryon]] at the end, [[spoiler:though the game leaves it deliberately unclear as to why. It could be that Seraph's enlightenment was incomplete because se still wished to be with hir comrades. It could be that Seraph's enlightenment encompasses reincarnating back onto Earth in the tradition of the bodhisatvas, who renounce enlightenment until they have managed to assist everyone else in achieving enlightenment as well. It could be that Sera and Serph had to return, since they never managed to reach Enlightenment as individuals; only their composite Seraph does]].
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** [[spoiler:What happens to the Embryon]] at the end, [[spoiler:though the game leaves it deliberately unclear as to why. It could be that Seraph's [[spoiler:as they did not achieve enlightenment was incomplete because se still wished to be with hir comrades. It could be that Seraph's enlightenment encompasses reincarnating back onto Earth in the tradition of the bodhisatvas, who renounce enlightenment until they have managed to assist everyone else in achieving enlightenment as well. It could be that themselves. The same goes for Sera and Serph had to return, since they never managed to reach Enlightenment as individuals; only their composite who reincarnate while Seraph does]].does not, as they did not achieve it as individuals]].
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* WhamLine: The first game is full of them but the most notable one is delivered by Lupa and then you realise that there is something seriously of about the Junkyard.
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* WhamLine: The first game is full of them them, but the most notable one is delivered by Lupa and then you realise that there is something seriously of off about the Junkyard.
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* WhamLine: The first game is full of them but the most notable one is delivered by Lupa and then you realise that there is something seriously of about the Junkyard.
-->'''Lupa''': [[spoiler:Have you ever seen a child here in the Junkyard?]]
-->'''Lupa''': [[spoiler:Have you ever seen a child here in the Junkyard?]]
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Fixed a few things...
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* BadassAdorable - [[spoiler:Jack Frost.]] Justified in that [[spoiler:he's the [[Atlus Atlus]] mascot]], but spamming Megidolaon and [[spoiler:his [[BreathWeapon Breath]] attack]] with all that massive damage piling up, makes for [[AwesomeBosses/ShinMegamiTensei one hell of a fight.]]
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* BadassAdorable - [[spoiler:Jack Frost.]] Justified in that [[spoiler:he's the [[Atlus Atlus]] Atlus mascot]], but spamming Megidolaon and [[spoiler:his [[BreathWeapon Breath]] attack]] with all that massive damage piling up, makes for [[AwesomeBosses/ShinMegamiTensei one hell of a fight.]]
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Jack Frost FTW
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* BadassAdorable - [[spoiler:Jack Frost.]] Justified in that [[spoiler:he's the [[Atlus Atlus]] mascot]], but spamming Megidolaon and [[spoiler:his [[BreathWeapon Breath]] attack]] with all that massive damage piling up, makes for [[AwesomeBosses/ShinMegamiTensei one hell of a fight.]]
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His hair, it be shiny. Arr...
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* Serph - TheHero. Has grey hair. The [[HeroicMime silent]] main character. [[InformedAbility Praised for his level-headed thinking and extraordinary leadership ability]] though his devotion to his tribe is more readily apparent. His demon form is Varna.
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* Serph - TheHero. Has grey silver hair. The [[HeroicMime silent]] main character. [[InformedAbility Praised for his level-headed thinking and extraordinary leadership ability]] though his devotion to his tribe is more readily apparent. His demon form is Varna.
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** Roland? Shouldn't [[KirkThornton you]] be [[{{Gungrave}} fighting techno-zombies and mutants in order to protect a little girl?]] [[KingdomHearts Or trying to get your heart back?]] [[{{Catherine}} Or giving nightmares to the cheating patrons at your bar?]] [[{{TalesOfTheAbyss}} Or preventing the use of fomicry?]]
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** Roland? Shouldn't [[KirkThornton you]] be [[{{Gungrave}} fighting techno-zombies and mutants in order to protect a little girl?]] [[KingdomHearts Or trying to get your heart back?]] [[{{Catherine}} Or giving nightmares to the cheating patrons at your bar?]] [[{{TalesOfTheAbyss}} [[VideoGame/{{TalesOfTheAbyss}} Or preventing the use of fomicry?]]
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* LipLock: Even though the [[YuriLowenthal voice]] [[WendeeLee actors]] [[CrispinFreeman are]] [[DaveWittenberg very]] [[SteveBlum experienced]] [[AmandaWinnLee in voicing]] [[MaryElizabethMcGlynn foreign]] [[BobPapenbrook animation]], the dialogue has as much awkward pauses and speed variations as other examples in this page; the care put into the lip matching with the Japanese dialogue certainly doesn't help. It's less noticeable when the characters are in their demon forms, but the rest of the time.... yeah.
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* LipLock: Even though the [[YuriLowenthal voice]] [[WendeeLee actors]] [[CrispinFreeman [[Creator/CrispinFreeman are]] [[DaveWittenberg very]] [[SteveBlum experienced]] [[AmandaWinnLee in voicing]] [[MaryElizabethMcGlynn foreign]] [[BobPapenbrook animation]], the dialogue has as much awkward pauses and speed variations as other examples in this page; the care put into the lip matching with the Japanese dialogue certainly doesn't help. It's less noticeable when the characters are in their demon forms, but the rest of the time.... yeah.
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** Cielo actually was intended to be like this all the time. His bizarre stat point distribution is intended to work with immunities to individual ailments (this requires you to realize all enemies in a given area tend to specializa in the same ailment) and the Press Turn system to cheat enemies out of their turns. Nobody reasoned how on earth this was supposed to work, so Atlus gave him one or two extra levels in badass in the second game to help clarify how Cielo was meant to be played.
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* BossBonanza: The final dungeons of both games had five to ten bosses and/or sub-bosses within them.
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A {{Spinoff}} of the ''Franchise/{{Shin Megami Tensei}}'' JRPG series, [[OneGameForThePriceOfTwo divided into two parts]]. Developed by {{Atlus}}, the first game was released in Japan in 2004 with the second following in 2005.
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A {{Spinoff}} of the ''Franchise/{{Shin Megami Tensei}}'' JRPG series, series for the PlayStation2, [[OneGameForThePriceOfTwo divided into two parts]]. Developed by {{Atlus}}, the first game was released in Japan in 2004 with the second following in 2005.
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* {{Sentai}}: The Embryon are often seen as this. Particularly, PowerRangersRPM, with Serph to Scott, Heat to Dillon, Gale to Flynn, Cielo to Ziggy, and Argilla to Summer.
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* {{Sentai}}: The Embryon are often seen as this. Particularly, PowerRangersRPM, Particularly ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'', with Serph to Scott, Heat to Dillon, Gale to Flynn, Cielo to Ziggy, and Argilla to Summer.
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* [[spoiler:DyingMomentOfAwesome: The entire cast in 2.]]
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* [[spoiler:DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler: DwindlingParty: During the second half of 2]].
* [[spoiler: DyingMomentOfAwesome: The entire cast in 2.]]
* [[spoiler: DyingMomentOfAwesome: The entire cast in 2.]]
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** A bit more minor but [[spoiler:a skill you can obtain in the first game is named "Black Sun", hinting of the situation in the second game.]]
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--> ''We know only the ways of the [[Junkyard. In order to live, we kill, devour, and destroy. if you do not wish to die, I suggest that you leave.''
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--> ''We know only the ways of the [[Junkyard.Junkyard. In order to live, we kill, devour, and destroy. if you do not wish to die, I suggest that you leave.''
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* BadassBoast - Gale has this to say to a group of low-level Mooks at the begining of DDS2:
--> ''I would not advise fighting aginst the [[BadassCrew Embryon]] with such a small number...
--> ''We know only the ways of the [[Junkyard. In order to live, we kill, devour, and destroy. if you do not wish to die, I suggest that you leave.''
--> ''I would not advise fighting aginst the [[BadassCrew Embryon]] with such a small number...
--> ''We know only the ways of the [[Junkyard. In order to live, we kill, devour, and destroy. if you do not wish to die, I suggest that you leave.''
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* [[spoiler:DyingMomentOfAwesome: The entire cast in 2.]]
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Added the Serious Business trope. It Makes Sense In Context.
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* {{Serious Business}} - The motto of Johnny the Mad-Mart Express owner in the second game. {{Justified| Trope}}, in that he usually appears where there are ''enemies everywhere'', and ''someone'' has to deliver the items...
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* BeehiveBarrier: Whenever an attack is reflected, whether it be physical or magical.
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DigitalDevilSaga.jpg]]
->''Rend...''\\
''Slaughter...''\\
''Devour your enemies!''\\
''There is no other way to survive. You cannot escape your hunger, Warriors of Purgatory!''
A {{Spinoff}} of the ''Franchise/{{Shin Megami Tensei}}'' JRPG series, [[OneGameForThePriceOfTwo divided into two parts]]. Developed by {{Atlus}}, the first game was released in Japan in 2004 with the second following in 2005.
All is not well in the realm of the Junkyard, [[AfterTheEnd a wartorn land living under blackened skies and perpetual rain]]. An endless war is being fought between six Tribes struggling for dominance over the Junkyard. The Karma Temple, a neutral party that moderates the war, has decreed that [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne the Tribe who defeats all the others]] to control every sector of the Junkyard shall be awarded the ultimate prize: the right to ascend to Nirvana, [[{{Utopia}} a mythical paradise]] [[{{There Will Be Cake}} free of war or strife]].
The Embryon Tribe, led by the [[SilentProtagonist calm and silent]] Serph, is locked in a stalemate with the nearby Vanguards Tribe. During one of their skirmishes, they encounter a mysterious egg-shaped relic that neither side can identify. A transmission from the Karma Temple orders both sides to destroy it. Before they can act, the relic explodes, sending out beams of light that pierce the bodies of the combatants and [[TheVirus transform them into bloodthirsty demons]]. Regaining their senses and awakening to a bloodbath, Serph and the Embryon investigate the crater left by the relic and [[GirlInABox discover a young girl]] with black hair and no identifying Tag Ring.
Soon afterwards, the Karma Temple issue a new decree: that the Tribes must use their new-found demonic power- known as "Atma"- to break the stalemate of the Junkyard and devour their competition. They also add a new condition: that the winning Tribe must capture and present the black-haired girl to the Karma Temple in order to be allowed into Nirvana. But demonic strength was not the only thing granted to the inhabitants of the Junkyard; they have also awakened a new power called "emotion".
The members of the Embryon are:
* Serph - TheHero. Has grey hair. The [[HeroicMime silent]] main character. [[InformedAbility Praised for his level-headed thinking and extraordinary leadership ability]] though his devotion to his tribe is more readily apparent. His demon form is Varna.
* Heat - TheLancer. Has [[FieryRedhead red hair.]] Serph's second in command who doesn't seem to mind [[ImAHumanitarian his newfound cannibalistic tendencies]]. Has [[HotBlooded anger management issues]] and an attraction to Sera. As time goes on he grows more dissatisfied with Serph's leadership of the Embryon and the fact that Sera is in love with Serph. His demon form is Agni.
* Argilla - TheChick. [[RoseHairedGirl Has pink hair]]. An [[FriendlySniper ace sniper]] who finds it [[IJustWantToBeNormal extremely hard to deal with her new demonic form,]] specifically its upkeep requirement. Later develops a flirtatious streak. Her demon form is Prithivi.
* Gale - TheSmartGuy. Has green hair. An [[TheStoic emotionless]] [[TheSmartGuy tactician]] who doesn't seem to have much in common with the rest of the Embryon. [[TheSpock Believes in following logic over emotion]]. His demon form is Vayu.
* Cielo - TheFool. Has [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair blue hair]]. Inexplicably gains a [[AccentTropes thick Jamaican accent]] when his emotions awaken. Often considered TheLoad in the first game due to his weakness to ailment attacks and mediocre stats. [[TookALevelInBadass Gets better in the second game]]. [[ThePowerOfFriendship Prone to friendship speeches]]. His demon form is Dyaus.
* Sera - The MysteriousWaif. Has black hair. Has [[LaserGuidedAmnesia amnesia]]. Can [[MagicMusic sing a song that suppresses the demonic instincts of those who hear it]]. Has PsychicPowers. In the second game, [[spoiler:she can transform into Varnani]].
The second game follows directly from the events of the first. [[spoiler:The Embryon have triumphed and ascended to Nirvana. [[TheCakeIsALie However, what they find there is not paradise]], but a new hell in which the rays of a blackened sun have turned the entire population of the world into stone statues. The only survivors are those who live underground or under the thumb of the Karma Society. To make things worse, Sera is their prisoner and Heat has turned SixthRangerTraitor on you.]] Fortunately, two new members join the Embryon:
* Roland - TheSixthRanger. Has platinum hair. A [[GenreSavvy classically trained]] author who [[DrowningMySorrows drinks to escape]] his responsibilities as leader of the [[LaResistance local underground resistance movement]]. [[spoiler:Injects himself with the demon virus so that he can fight alongside the Embryon against the Karma Society]]. His demon form is [[ShockAndAwe Indra]].
* Fred - The TagalongKid. Has black hair. The son of the previous leader of the local resistance movement. His duty now is mostly bugging Roland to sober up and do his job properly.
The two games are mostly dungeon crawlers with bits of plot driving the action in-between. The combat system marks the return of the Press Turn system from ''ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne''. Each character can set up to eight skills, and unlike ''Nocturne'' any skill that has been learned is retained permanently. Skills are learned by buying "Mantra" from Karma Terminals and earning enough Atma Points to complete them. By learning one Mantra, advanced Mantra of that type are unlocked. Hunt skills can be used to greatly increase the amount of Atma Points harvested from an enemy at the risk of developing a stomachache and gaining none.
[[OldSaveBonus A save game from ''Digital Devil Saga'' can be carried over to ''Digital Devil Saga 2'' to gain additional bonuses.]]
[[Characters/DigitalDevilSaga The character sheet can be found here]]
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!!This game provides examples of:
* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer - Admittedly [=DDS1=] at least doesn't need to give any reasons as to why they ''shouldn't'' be huge, [[spoiler:since the entire world is a virtual reality,]] but the ones in [=DDS2=] make no sense.
* AfterTheEnd - [[spoiler:In [=DDS2=], we find out that most of humanity was killed off five years ago, when God started turning everyone human who was touched by the sun into stone. The Junkyard also seems to be built on the ruins of a dead civilization, although that turns out to be false.]]
* AGodAmI - [[spoiler:Serph Sheffield's master plan was to gain God's power, but hoo boy did that backfire. Horribly.]]
* AmnesiacDissonance - [[spoiler:Serph]], when he discovers that his prior incarnation was [[ManipulativeBastard an asshole]].
* ApocalypseHow - [[spoiler: The events of the series are kicked into motion by a Planetary-scale Civilization Disruption. Brahma attempts a Planetary/Physical Annihilation Apocalypse in Digital Devil Saga 2.]]
* ArbitraryHeadCountLimit - No, we never get any rationale for why you can only have three people in your party. Presumably the remaining two plus whatever hang-ons you currently have are hanging in the back, scarfing the leftovers.
* ArcWords - In the first game, "I am Colonel Beck." [[spoiler:Pretty much explains ''exactly'' [[{{Reincarnation}} what the hell]] [[AmnesiacDissonance is going on]].]]
* ArtificialHuman - [[spoiler:Everyone in the Junkyard]].
* BagOfSpilling - Between the first and second games. Justified in that [[spoiler:the Embryon are transformed from computer data into real, flesh and bone bodies.]]
* BarrierChangeBoss - [[spoiler:Abaddon]] in the second game.
* {{Blessed With Suck}} - The Atma virus grants one the power to morph into a powerful demon, capable of using magic and physical feats. The price one pays is that one must devour other people and demons, but one can never be fully satiated. If a person goes for a prolonged period of time without feeding, he/she becomes a demon permanently, insane and attacks anything and anyone.
* {{Bonus Boss}} - Several. Killing the ones in the first game nets you a bonus in the sequel. The first game's strongest enemy, [[spoiler: the Demi-fiend (from ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Nocturne]]'')]], is probably the hardest BonusBoss ever to appear in a RPG, although a GameFAQs poster called Red Star found [[ArtificialStupidity a weakness]] that makes the fight easier. "Easier", in this case, means that after you've managed to do enough LevelGrinding and farming of [[RandomlyDrops randomly dropped]] stat boosting items to hit the statistic {{cap}}s, you might actually be able to win the fight on your third try instead of your thirtieth. Satan, in the second game, manages to be almost as difficult.
** To add insult to injury on an extremely hard fight, the battle music is [[spoiler: the ''regular Nocturne battle theme'', meaning you are nothing more than a ''random encounter'' to him.]]
*** This is further exemplified by [[spoiler: the set of demons he uses and his attacks. Javelin Rain, Heat Wave, Xeros-Beat and the absolute overkill that is [[ThatOneAttack Gaea's Rage]] are actually MEDIOCRE attacks in Nocturne. If he WAS actually concerned about you, he'd be using high-level demons like Metatron, Shiva, Daishoujou and Beelzebub, as well as whipping out attacks like Spiral Viper, Deadly Fury, and Freikugel. Even with maxed out stats he would have wiped the floor with you if he actually WAS trying, even without Death Flies.]]
*** The one sure thing we can take away from all this is that in MegaTen, AnyoneCanDie.
* BossRush: One sidequest pits you against the 4 archangels in an abandoned research facility. The last fight in the quest has you fight Uriel, Raphael and Gabriel again before you face Michael.
* {{Boring But Practical}} - Hunt skills. They do double damage (quad if you land a critical hit) on frightened enemies and are not affected by null/repel physical.
* CannibalismSuperpower
* CharacterDevelopment - Quite visible throughout both games, but most especially in the first. The characters start off emotional blank slates, awaken to a single powerful emotion, and develop from there. Argilla goes from initial horror and disgust about her situation to grudging acceptance to eventually being quite at peace with herself. Gale takes the longest to emotionally awaken since he's a calm tactician, but by the end he's grown far beyond what he once was.
--> '''Cielo''': What happened to "I do not comprehend?" [Gale's Spock catchphrase]
--> '''Gale''': Some things cannot be comprehended, only felt.
* {{Chest Monster}} - Besides the regular kind there is also one door in the second game that looks like a Save Room, but is actually a trap set by the enemies. Instead of a save point you find an unavoidable battle against 2 waves of baddies... Did I mention that you were probably half dead at this point to begin with?
** It's not as deceptive as you think--it's the only other door in the room it's found in.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder - [[spoiler: Bat]], who manages to be a major JerkAss while constantly changing loyalties. He eventually gets what he deserves, though.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow - Everyone in the junkyard. Actually a plot point, as their eyes only start matching their brightly-coloured hair after their emotions awaken. Before that, they're all a uniform flat gray.
** Which leads to fridge brilliance. Serph's eyes AND hair are both grey. He has no real emotions since [[spoiler:Sera didn't know his personality.]]
* CutscenePowerToTheMax - Cielo's "plot lasers", which never actually appear as a useable move outside of cutscenes. He even [[LampshadeHanging Lampshades]] it during the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon of the second game.
* DarkReprise - The music when fighting [[spoiler:Heat]] and some other bosses in Digital Devil Saga 2 is called Hunting - Betrayal, which is a reprise of the regular battle theme from the first game.
* {{Demonic Possession}} - This happens when the personality of the Atma Avatar overpowers the personality of the human. Examples include Beelzebub, Metatron, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Michael and Satan. Especially heart-wrenching in the case of Metatron because the human who transforms into Metatron was desperately searching for his girlfriend and tried to fight Metatron's influence [[spoiler:unsuccessfully]].
* {{Did Not Get The Girl}} - [[spoiler:Heat. The real Heat O'Brien even gets shot in the back and dies due to this.]]
** [[spoiler:Heat O'Brien]] saw [[spoiler:Sera]] as more of a sister as [[spoiler:[[DeadLittleSister he lost his little sister to Cuvier Syndrome some years ago]]]].
* DoAndroidsDream - in the second game
* DomedHometown - Most of the second game takes place in a complex under a dome. They need the dome because something happened to the Sun and its light now turns people to stone.
* DoomedHometown - [[spoiler:The entire world in the first game.]]
* TheDragon - [[spoiler:Varin Omega]] in the first game, Meganada in the second.
* [[spoiler: EarnYourHappyEnding]]
* EleventhHourRanger: [[spoiler:Heat]]
* {{Eleventh Hour Superpower}} - [[spoiler: In the sequel, Serph and Sera merge on their journey to the Sun, becoming the androgynous being, Seraph. Keeping with Hindu overtones, Seraph's demon form is Ardhanarishvara, or Ardha for short.]]
* {{Evil Feels Good}} - Somewhat. Heat's expression when he transforms the first time.
* FalseMemories - A horrific part of the DemonicPossession above. A lot of {{Shout Out}}s to ''ShinMegamiTenseiII'' confirm it.
* FiveManBand - ZigZagged. Serph and Argilla are definite, but the rest switch between the other three positions.
** TheHero: Serph
** TheLancer: Heat
** TheSmartGuy: Gale
** TheBigGuy: Cielo
** TheChick: Argilla
* {{Foreshadowing}} - The story of the two princes and princess in the amusement park in the first game, particularly the scrambled parts that call into doubt the real motivations of the "Good Prince" and "Evil Prince." [[spoiler:In their previous lives, Heat was the only one who genuinely cared about Sera, while Serph and the others were just manipulating her.]]
* {{Funetik Aksent}} - Cielo, whenever he says anything too Rastafarian.
** Justified because [[spoiler: the person he was based off of was a child from the Caribbean that Sera met during the initial experiments.]]
* GainaxEnding: Both games, although the beginning of the second game explains what happened in the ending of first one.
* {{Gamebreaker}} - The Null Attack skill nulls ''everything'' except Almighty attacks. This makes you effectively invincible for 90% of the game as only the last two dungeons have random encounters that make use of almighty attacks and none of the storyline bosses use almighty as their main form of attack. It won't help you against the bonus bosses though since they just love their powerful unique almighty attacks and the [[spoiler:Demi-Fiend]] will rip you to shreds on his first turn if you dare to have immunities equipped.
* {{God}}: Technically, [[spoiler: [[HinduMythology Brahman]]]]
* GodIsEvil: [[spoiler:Brahman isn't evil, he's just really, ''really'' pissed off at humanity.]]
* GoldfishPoopGang: The Tribhvana.
-->'''Cielo''': [[LampshadeHanging Sheesh, where do they find dese guys?]]
* GreenLanternRing - Sera's very vaguely-defined psychic powers.
* GuideDangIt: To get [[spoiler: Heat]] in [=DDS2=], you have to make specific dialog choices over ''both'' games. Also, where to get the red key in the first game (an optional area that floods every now and then).
* HalfHumanHybrid - "Berserk Form" in ''Digital Devil Saga 2''.
* [[spoiler: {{Hermaphrodite}}]] - You know what Sera's mother and father have in common? [[spoiler: They're both Jenna Angel.]]
** [[spoiler: Sera and Serph]] also become one towards the end of the second game. [[spoiler: Like mother/father, like daughter/son?]]
* {{Heroic Mime}} - Serph. Lampshaded by Heat, who criticizes him for not speaking up enough.
** Not only is it Lampshaded by Heat "You know this wouldn't happen if you'd just speak up more", it's also done by Gale in the second game "It's ok, you don't have to say anything" (funny because [=DDS2=] is the game where we actually do get to hear Serph talk)
* HealingCheckpoint: Large Karma Terminals do this. Small ones normally don't, but some Small Terminals might have a Life Terminal next to them to do the same job. (Small Terminals can also transport you to a large one if you need healing enough that you're willing to walk back.)
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:All main characters die in the most badass and heart crushing way. By the end of the game, you won't have any tears anymore.]]
* HeyItsThatVoice: Sera [[WendeeLee would like to tell you she is]] [[{{Disgaea}} a being of solitude.]] Heat forgets to [[{{Hellsing}} release his Cromwell restrictions]]. Serph got [[{{Persona4}} kicked in the 'nads]] and [[{{Persona3}} prevented the Fall]]. Argilla didn't really want to [[{{Persona4}} inherit an inn]] and [[{{Persona2}} doesn't seem to be best friends with an intrepid reporter]]. Angel used to work in [[{{GhostInTheShell}} Section 9]].
** Roland? Shouldn't [[KirkThornton you]] be [[{{Gungrave}} fighting techno-zombies and mutants in order to protect a little girl?]] [[KingdomHearts Or trying to get your heart back?]] [[{{Catherine}} Or giving nightmares to the cheating patrons at your bar?]] [[{{TalesOfTheAbyss}} Or preventing the use of fomicry?]]
** Cielo is also known for [[VideoGame/{{Persona 4}} making bear puns]] and [[{{Persona 2}} wondering if the penal code applies to demons]], though given the Jamaican accent it can be hard to tell.
** Jinana [[MetalGearSolid3 developed CQC with Naked Snake.]]
* {{Hoist By His Own Petard}} - [[spoiler:Bat.]]
** [[spoiler:The real Serph Sheffield, too.]]
** [[spoiler: Margot Cuvier in regards to how she treats Sera and Heat.]]
* {{Horror Hunger}}: A side-effect of the Atma Virus. Infected have the choice between indulging in cannibalism on a regular basis or turning into mindless raving monsters.
* HumanResources - The Meat factories in the sequel produce food for the demonised inhabitants of the world by grinding up the people who aren't deemed worthy enough to live there.
* {{Im A Humanitarian}} - You ''devour your opponents alive''.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: This happens to a lot of characters: Heat gets stabbed by Bat, [[spoiler: Serph gets stabbed by Heat, Gale and Angel impale each other, Cielo getting impaled by a piece of air plane wreckage]] . . . and then there's Chernobog who impales ''himself'' during certain attacks.
* {{Incredibly Lame Pun}} - The skeletons in the theme park dungeon of Coordinate 136 are quite fond of these.
-->'''Skeleton''': I'm sure you've already figured out that you're boned...\\
'''Skeleton''': Tired of falling yet? Aww, I'm just ribbin' ya.
* [[spoiler: INeedYouStronger: Roland reveals in the first game that the tribes of the Junkyard were forced to kill each other and ascend to Nirvana because the winning tribe's data would be copied and programmed into microchips.]]
* KillEmAll - [[spoiler: Twice! Nothing is left of the Junkyard at the end of the first game, and, by the end of the second, every last member of the Embryon is dead--the last dungeon is inside the sun, after everyone's been killed! Good thing reincarnation is a very real thing in this particular series...]]
* LaResistance - The Underground City residents in the sequel. They call themselves the "Lokapala" (Guardians of the Gods)
* LateArrivalSpoiler: The [[spoiler:fact that the first game is in a computer]] is pretty blatant by the name of the upcoming cellphone prequel [[spoiler:Test Server]].
* LethalJokeCharacter: Cielo and Null Sleep. In the first game, Cielo's absymal stats and weakness to ailment attacks make him TheLoad. Null Sleep is a skill that causes you to automatically dodge any attack, but only if you're under the Sleep ailment: a skill so conditional that it's a waste of a skill slot. The two intersect if you choose to fight BonusBoss [[spoiler:Demi-Fiend]], where Null Sleep is ''required'' to avoid defeat and Cielo's weakness makes him the best candidate to use it.
* LevelGrinding - Has a minor form, Skill Grinding. Certain dungeons are made easier if the party has the right skills equipped, and you may have to grind to get them. The Karma Temple at the end of the first Digital Devil Saga '''requires''' certain skills to avoid the combination death the random encounters throw at you.
* LipLock: Even though the [[YuriLowenthal voice]] [[WendeeLee actors]] [[CrispinFreeman are]] [[DaveWittenberg very]] [[SteveBlum experienced]] [[AmandaWinnLee in voicing]] [[MaryElizabethMcGlynn foreign]] [[BobPapenbrook animation]], the dialogue has as much awkward pauses and speed variations as other examples in this page; the care put into the lip matching with the Japanese dialogue certainly doesn't help. It's less noticeable when the characters are in their demon forms, but the rest of the time.... yeah.
* LuckBasedMission - Beating each game's ultimate BonusBoss takes a good deal of luck, even at [[{{Cap}} level 99 and maxed stats]]. Ironically, the BonusBoss in the first game is easier if you have a low Luck stat in one character (Cielo).
* MagicalNativeAmerican - The Wolves Tribe.
* ManipulativeBastard - [[spoiler:Serph Sheffield]] from the second game is the epitome of this trope.
* MeaningfulName - Pretty much everyone, though some are more obvious (Angel, Gale, Heat, Serph) than others [[BilingualBonus (Argilla is Italian for "clay," and Cielo is Spanish for "sky")]].
** Doubly so for Serph. Not only is his name pronounced like "surf" (his affinity is with water/ice), see the spoiler for TheMessiah below for a second meaning.
** "Bat" in the first game is the name of the human whose demon form is Camazotz, a giant bat. This probably sounded a little cooler and less literal to the developers since English wasn't their primary language.
** Subverted for [[spoiler: Seraph who isn't associated with Expel-type attacks.]]
* TheMessiah - Sera. Even more so after [[spoiler:she fuses with Serph to become the not-so-subtly-named Seraph]].
* {{Mysterious Waif}} - Sera.
* MythologyGag: In the second game, the four angel [[BonusBoss bonus bosses]] talk about building a thousand year old kingdom, and think that ''their God'' was the one who turned humans into stone statues - just like in ShinMegamiTenseiII.
* {{Naked On Arrival}} - Sera - ''twice''.
* {{Nintendo Hard}} - Although the games are relatively easy compared to many other Megaten games, they're still harder than most [=JRPGs=]. (On the other hand, the two {{Bonus Boss}}es noted above are insane even by Megaten standards.)
* {{Oh Crap}} - Mick the Slug.
** Might happen for the player when the Security sytem core activates the apply named [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin genocide mode]].
** An in-universe example, the scientists' and Madame's reactions to [[spoiler: God absorbing the Earth's data.]]
* OneGameForThePriceOfTwo - The two games each contain only half the story, and are not intended to stand alone. Fortunately, each volume contains enough content and the thematic division is strong enough that it doesn't seem like a mere [[RevenueEnhancingDevices Revenue Enhancing Device]]. Taken together, you're pretty sure to get some 140+ hours out of the games.
** There are also a significant number of changes to the gameplay system: a new character advancement system and the ability to equip Rings, to name two. Oh, and Cielo is no longer TheLoad.
* OptionalPartyMember - [[spoiler:Heat]] can be recruited for the final dungeon in ''Digital Devil Saga 2'' [[GuideDangIt if you have fulfilled certain prerequisites over both games]].
* OrderVersusChaos - Margot Cuvier versus Jenna Angel, respectively.
* {{Painful Transformation}} - When the Junkyard inhabitants go berserk after being infected with Atma at the beginning.
* PersonalityPowers - Most notably between Serph (ice) and Heat (fire). The fact that they oppose each other on ElementalRockPaperScissors is not coincidental. Most important in-game relationships play with ElementalRockPaperScissors at least a little.
** Half-subverted in that teaching a character mantras from his ''opposing'' element is actually more effective, as attack spells and resist spells tend to come bundled.
* PetalPower: The physical special ability, "Sakura Rage".
* PigeonholedVoiceActor - Crispin Freeman provides the voice of Heat, and Steve Blum is the voice of Gale in the games' US release.
** Also, Yuri Lowenthal is Serph and Schrodinger, Dave Wittenberg is Cielo, Amanda Winn-Lee is Argilla and Wendee Lee is Sera. Pretty much all of them are seasoned MegaTen voices, most notably Yuri and Dave.
* PlayedForDrama - [[spoiler:A lot of the things you take for granted because DDS is a videogame]]; for instance, [[spoiler:the Junkyard's complete lack of backstory]] form plot elements.
* PopQuiz - Hosted by Jack Frost in ''Digital Devil Saga 2''; there's a BraggingRightsReward in it for you if you answer all one hundred questions correctly and beat a BonusBoss.
* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo: See BonusBoss, above.
* {{Quirky Miniboss Squad}} - Subverted. You fight the Tribhvana a few times, and each time, they run off. Then you run into one of them alone... [[spoiler:with blood dripping out of his mouth, patting his stomach ominously. Turns out he killed and ate the other two members to gain their powers.]]
* PreAsskickingOneLiner: Heat has a few of this. "I'll tear you apart, you fat freak!"
** Occasionally, your party members will get one before taking on some enemies.
** [[spoiler: Angel gets an epic one when some Karma Society soldiers attempt to arrest her for treason.]]
* PowerTattoo - The ability to transform into a demon is marked through a tattoo on the user's skin. In the picture above, Serph's is on his left cheek, Argilla's is above her breasts. These glow when the user transforms.
** Pity the woman who has her tattoo on her butt cheek.
* RedOniBlueOni - Heat and Serph respectively, although Serph being a HeroicMime makes his personality ''mostly'' implied. Their PersonalityPowers support this.
* {{Reincarnation}} - [[spoiler:Almost every member of the Junkyard was once a person in the real world. It's arguable as to whether most of your main party members are reincarnations, or newly created souls modeled after formerly living people in the real world.]] Made even more confusing by [[spoiler:Lupa, whose real-life analogue was Fred's dad and the former leader of Lokapala, who died ''after'' the Junkyard was apparently created. How would Sera have even known about him, anyway?]]
** [[spoiler:What happens to the Embryon]] at the end, [[spoiler:though the game leaves it deliberately unclear as to why. It could be that Seraph's enlightenment was incomplete because se still wished to be with hir comrades. It could be that Seraph's enlightenment encompasses reincarnating back onto Earth in the tradition of the bodhisatvas, who renounce enlightenment until they have managed to assist everyone else in achieving enlightenment as well. It could be that Sera and Serph had to return, since they never managed to reach Enlightenment as individuals; only their composite Seraph does]].
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter - Nasty effects aside, it's hard not to admit that the bat form looks really cute, especially when compared to the rest of the game.
* ScienceIsBad
* {{Sci Fi Writers Have No Sense Of Scale}} - Averted. If you know your metric prefixes, you know that 945.56 zettabytes per second is a huge amount of data transferred per unit time. For comparison, Wikipedia says that the rate of data generation worldwide is about one zettabyte per year. [[spoiler:In DDS, everything is made of data, so when that much data from Earth is uploaded to the Sun, the results are... not good.]]
* {{Shoot The Dog}} - Quite a few, but most notably [[spoiler:Jinana]] and literally [[spoiler:Lupa]].
* ShoutOut -If you talk to the prisoners in the Human Resources prison/factory one of them says "If you devour me I'll become more powerful than your digestive system can ever imagine"
** After defeating the Brutes, if you return to Manipura and speak to a Maribel inside a building, he informs you that "Sometimes [[LinkinPark you try so hard, and get so far... but in the end, that doesn't always matter]]." Strangely, ItMakesSenseInContext (he's talking about buying concert tickets).
** Co-ordinate 136 consists of [[{{Disney}} Destiny Land's Mystery Castle]], and has a fairy named [[PeterPan Twinklebell]] who says that [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime she'll be your navigator]].
* SkirtOverSlacks - Both Argilla and Sera wear shorts under their skirts. They ''are'' soldiers, after all.
* SchrodingersCat - Literally; there's a cat named Schrodinger [[spoiler: who is apparently Seraph from the future, helping guide his past self to enlightenment. [[MindScrew Or something]]]]
* {{Sentai}}: The Embryon are often seen as this. Particularly, PowerRangersRPM, with Serph to Scott, Heat to Dillon, Gale to Flynn, Cielo to Ziggy, and Argilla to Summer.
* SmugSnake - Bat in the first game.
* SoLongAndThanksForAllTheGear - Inverted, characters who leave will master their currently equipped skills if they leave the party, no matter how long it would normally take.
* SomethingCompletelyDifferent - Most of the Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei series is about collecting demons (or in the case of the ''VideoGame/{{Persona}}'' series, collecting Personas). ''Digital Devil Saga'' bucks the trend by having your protagonists be demons themselves, and instead of collecting enemies to get new abilities, you simply destroy them to level up. It's oddly much more like a conventional console RPG in this manner (though the subject matter is ''anything'' but conventional).
* SocialDarwinist - Jenna Angel
* StatisticallySpeaking: Heat leans to higher strength, and is able to throw around people single handedly and break stone walls in a single punch (while untransformed) in cutscenes.
** TheWorfEffect: One boss ''shrugs off a blow to the face'' from Heat and then ''grabs his fist''.
** Though in one scene he claims he is stronger than Serph, even if Serphs strength stats is higher.
* {{Super Power Lottery}} - The Atma Virus grants you the ability to turn into a demon but you have no control over what demon form you get. Results range from gigantic nigh-invulnerable golden dragons to pathetic amorphous blobs.
* TakenForGranite - ''Sunlight'' turns every normal human to stone in the sequel. Very few humans escaped petrification and those so affected are irreversibly dead, due to them being turned into extremely crumbly statues. Yes, it's just as creepy as it sounds.
* TerribleTrio - The Tribhvana in ''Digital Devil Saga 2''.
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt - [[spoiler:The Junkyard ends in the first one, and they end up in the half-dead real world and have to save it once Sera accidentally convinces God to end that too]]
* TheFourGods - {{Bonus Boss}}es in the first game, along with Huang Long.
* {{The Omniscient Council Of Vagueness}} - The Karma Temple in the original game, and the Karma Society in the sequel.
* {{The Very Definitely Final Dungeon}} - In the first game, the Karma Temple. In the second, [[spoiler:The Sun]]. Both of these are absurdly long and easily dwarf the final dungeon of these game's direct predecessors, ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne. Hell, they may even be longer than the entire rest of their respective games.
* ThereWillBeCake: Nirvana
** [[spoiler: TheCakeIsALie: Nirvana exists, but it's far from the paradise the Embryon imagined.]]
* TomatoInTheMirror
* TookALevelInBadass - Cielo in the second game. His weakness to ailments was toned down, making him much more useful, and he gets some pretty great scenes [[spoiler:such as taking down three fighter jets with his body. Of course, it's a HeroicSacrifice.]]
** [[spoiler: Sera too. When Serph is presumed dead, she literally becomes his DistaffCounterpart and assumes leadership of the Embryon, until Serph returns.]]
* TrueCompanions
* UnexpectedShmupLevel: In the second game there is a bonus minigame where one can play through 3 shmup levels with Cielo featuring Beelzebub as the final boss.
* VillainousBreakdown - [[spoiler:Jenna has one when Gale accuses her of betraying David's ideals.]]
** [[spoiler: Madame when she finds out her actions were responsible for endangering the world.]]
* WaifProphet - Sera
* {{What Is This Thing You Call Love}} - The members of the Embryon (particularly Heat) struggle to make sense of why they feel anger, remorse, and affection towards themselves and each other after gaining their Atma.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Presumably [[spoiler: Jinana and Lupa are reincarnated]], but it's left pretty uncertain as to just exactly what happened.
* [[WhatTheHellHero What The Hell Villain]] - Close to the end of [=DDS2=], [[spoiler:Gale, who is created from the solar data of Jenna's former lover David, calls Jenna on her actions, reminding Jenna of the promises Jenna made to David to help mankind. Jenna does not take this well.]]
* {{Whip It Good}} - Argilla's avatar, Prithivi.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity - The Demon Virus tends to have this effect on people.
* {{Woobie Destroyer of Worlds}} - [[spoiler:Sera.]] Accidentally.
* WhiteHairedPrettyBoy - Serph qualifies only for hair and looks;[[spoiler:the human from whom he was created on the other hand...]]
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair - In an interesting take on this trope, everyone in the Junkyard has an improbable [[HairColors hair colour]] except for Sera, whose black hair is utterly alien to the inhabitants – it's even Lampshaded near the start of the first game, when the various Tribes are ordered to locate "the black-haired girl". Those who are [[spoiler:living in the real world]], such as Roland and Fred, have more realistic hair colours.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: [[spoiler: Sera suffers from RapidAging as a result of the repeated use of her [[GreenLanternRing "Cyber Shaman" powers]]. This gets to the point she cannot survive for too long without the sustaining fluids from the EGG.]]
----
->''Rend...''\\
''Slaughter...''\\
''Devour your enemies!''\\
''There is no other way to survive. You cannot escape your hunger, Warriors of Purgatory!''
A {{Spinoff}} of the ''Franchise/{{Shin Megami Tensei}}'' JRPG series, [[OneGameForThePriceOfTwo divided into two parts]]. Developed by {{Atlus}}, the first game was released in Japan in 2004 with the second following in 2005.
All is not well in the realm of the Junkyard, [[AfterTheEnd a wartorn land living under blackened skies and perpetual rain]]. An endless war is being fought between six Tribes struggling for dominance over the Junkyard. The Karma Temple, a neutral party that moderates the war, has decreed that [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne the Tribe who defeats all the others]] to control every sector of the Junkyard shall be awarded the ultimate prize: the right to ascend to Nirvana, [[{{Utopia}} a mythical paradise]] [[{{There Will Be Cake}} free of war or strife]].
The Embryon Tribe, led by the [[SilentProtagonist calm and silent]] Serph, is locked in a stalemate with the nearby Vanguards Tribe. During one of their skirmishes, they encounter a mysterious egg-shaped relic that neither side can identify. A transmission from the Karma Temple orders both sides to destroy it. Before they can act, the relic explodes, sending out beams of light that pierce the bodies of the combatants and [[TheVirus transform them into bloodthirsty demons]]. Regaining their senses and awakening to a bloodbath, Serph and the Embryon investigate the crater left by the relic and [[GirlInABox discover a young girl]] with black hair and no identifying Tag Ring.
Soon afterwards, the Karma Temple issue a new decree: that the Tribes must use their new-found demonic power- known as "Atma"- to break the stalemate of the Junkyard and devour their competition. They also add a new condition: that the winning Tribe must capture and present the black-haired girl to the Karma Temple in order to be allowed into Nirvana. But demonic strength was not the only thing granted to the inhabitants of the Junkyard; they have also awakened a new power called "emotion".
The members of the Embryon are:
* Serph - TheHero. Has grey hair. The [[HeroicMime silent]] main character. [[InformedAbility Praised for his level-headed thinking and extraordinary leadership ability]] though his devotion to his tribe is more readily apparent. His demon form is Varna.
* Heat - TheLancer. Has [[FieryRedhead red hair.]] Serph's second in command who doesn't seem to mind [[ImAHumanitarian his newfound cannibalistic tendencies]]. Has [[HotBlooded anger management issues]] and an attraction to Sera. As time goes on he grows more dissatisfied with Serph's leadership of the Embryon and the fact that Sera is in love with Serph. His demon form is Agni.
* Argilla - TheChick. [[RoseHairedGirl Has pink hair]]. An [[FriendlySniper ace sniper]] who finds it [[IJustWantToBeNormal extremely hard to deal with her new demonic form,]] specifically its upkeep requirement. Later develops a flirtatious streak. Her demon form is Prithivi.
* Gale - TheSmartGuy. Has green hair. An [[TheStoic emotionless]] [[TheSmartGuy tactician]] who doesn't seem to have much in common with the rest of the Embryon. [[TheSpock Believes in following logic over emotion]]. His demon form is Vayu.
* Cielo - TheFool. Has [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair blue hair]]. Inexplicably gains a [[AccentTropes thick Jamaican accent]] when his emotions awaken. Often considered TheLoad in the first game due to his weakness to ailment attacks and mediocre stats. [[TookALevelInBadass Gets better in the second game]]. [[ThePowerOfFriendship Prone to friendship speeches]]. His demon form is Dyaus.
* Sera - The MysteriousWaif. Has black hair. Has [[LaserGuidedAmnesia amnesia]]. Can [[MagicMusic sing a song that suppresses the demonic instincts of those who hear it]]. Has PsychicPowers. In the second game, [[spoiler:she can transform into Varnani]].
The second game follows directly from the events of the first. [[spoiler:The Embryon have triumphed and ascended to Nirvana. [[TheCakeIsALie However, what they find there is not paradise]], but a new hell in which the rays of a blackened sun have turned the entire population of the world into stone statues. The only survivors are those who live underground or under the thumb of the Karma Society. To make things worse, Sera is their prisoner and Heat has turned SixthRangerTraitor on you.]] Fortunately, two new members join the Embryon:
* Roland - TheSixthRanger. Has platinum hair. A [[GenreSavvy classically trained]] author who [[DrowningMySorrows drinks to escape]] his responsibilities as leader of the [[LaResistance local underground resistance movement]]. [[spoiler:Injects himself with the demon virus so that he can fight alongside the Embryon against the Karma Society]]. His demon form is [[ShockAndAwe Indra]].
* Fred - The TagalongKid. Has black hair. The son of the previous leader of the local resistance movement. His duty now is mostly bugging Roland to sober up and do his job properly.
The two games are mostly dungeon crawlers with bits of plot driving the action in-between. The combat system marks the return of the Press Turn system from ''ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne''. Each character can set up to eight skills, and unlike ''Nocturne'' any skill that has been learned is retained permanently. Skills are learned by buying "Mantra" from Karma Terminals and earning enough Atma Points to complete them. By learning one Mantra, advanced Mantra of that type are unlocked. Hunt skills can be used to greatly increase the amount of Atma Points harvested from an enemy at the risk of developing a stomachache and gaining none.
[[OldSaveBonus A save game from ''Digital Devil Saga'' can be carried over to ''Digital Devil Saga 2'' to gain additional bonuses.]]
[[Characters/DigitalDevilSaga The character sheet can be found here]]
-------
!!This game provides examples of:
* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer - Admittedly [=DDS1=] at least doesn't need to give any reasons as to why they ''shouldn't'' be huge, [[spoiler:since the entire world is a virtual reality,]] but the ones in [=DDS2=] make no sense.
* AfterTheEnd - [[spoiler:In [=DDS2=], we find out that most of humanity was killed off five years ago, when God started turning everyone human who was touched by the sun into stone. The Junkyard also seems to be built on the ruins of a dead civilization, although that turns out to be false.]]
* AGodAmI - [[spoiler:Serph Sheffield's master plan was to gain God's power, but hoo boy did that backfire. Horribly.]]
* AmnesiacDissonance - [[spoiler:Serph]], when he discovers that his prior incarnation was [[ManipulativeBastard an asshole]].
* ApocalypseHow - [[spoiler: The events of the series are kicked into motion by a Planetary-scale Civilization Disruption. Brahma attempts a Planetary/Physical Annihilation Apocalypse in Digital Devil Saga 2.]]
* ArbitraryHeadCountLimit - No, we never get any rationale for why you can only have three people in your party. Presumably the remaining two plus whatever hang-ons you currently have are hanging in the back, scarfing the leftovers.
* ArcWords - In the first game, "I am Colonel Beck." [[spoiler:Pretty much explains ''exactly'' [[{{Reincarnation}} what the hell]] [[AmnesiacDissonance is going on]].]]
* ArtificialHuman - [[spoiler:Everyone in the Junkyard]].
* BagOfSpilling - Between the first and second games. Justified in that [[spoiler:the Embryon are transformed from computer data into real, flesh and bone bodies.]]
* BarrierChangeBoss - [[spoiler:Abaddon]] in the second game.
* {{Blessed With Suck}} - The Atma virus grants one the power to morph into a powerful demon, capable of using magic and physical feats. The price one pays is that one must devour other people and demons, but one can never be fully satiated. If a person goes for a prolonged period of time without feeding, he/she becomes a demon permanently, insane and attacks anything and anyone.
* {{Bonus Boss}} - Several. Killing the ones in the first game nets you a bonus in the sequel. The first game's strongest enemy, [[spoiler: the Demi-fiend (from ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Nocturne]]'')]], is probably the hardest BonusBoss ever to appear in a RPG, although a GameFAQs poster called Red Star found [[ArtificialStupidity a weakness]] that makes the fight easier. "Easier", in this case, means that after you've managed to do enough LevelGrinding and farming of [[RandomlyDrops randomly dropped]] stat boosting items to hit the statistic {{cap}}s, you might actually be able to win the fight on your third try instead of your thirtieth. Satan, in the second game, manages to be almost as difficult.
** To add insult to injury on an extremely hard fight, the battle music is [[spoiler: the ''regular Nocturne battle theme'', meaning you are nothing more than a ''random encounter'' to him.]]
*** This is further exemplified by [[spoiler: the set of demons he uses and his attacks. Javelin Rain, Heat Wave, Xeros-Beat and the absolute overkill that is [[ThatOneAttack Gaea's Rage]] are actually MEDIOCRE attacks in Nocturne. If he WAS actually concerned about you, he'd be using high-level demons like Metatron, Shiva, Daishoujou and Beelzebub, as well as whipping out attacks like Spiral Viper, Deadly Fury, and Freikugel. Even with maxed out stats he would have wiped the floor with you if he actually WAS trying, even without Death Flies.]]
*** The one sure thing we can take away from all this is that in MegaTen, AnyoneCanDie.
* BossRush: One sidequest pits you against the 4 archangels in an abandoned research facility. The last fight in the quest has you fight Uriel, Raphael and Gabriel again before you face Michael.
* {{Boring But Practical}} - Hunt skills. They do double damage (quad if you land a critical hit) on frightened enemies and are not affected by null/repel physical.
* CannibalismSuperpower
* CharacterDevelopment - Quite visible throughout both games, but most especially in the first. The characters start off emotional blank slates, awaken to a single powerful emotion, and develop from there. Argilla goes from initial horror and disgust about her situation to grudging acceptance to eventually being quite at peace with herself. Gale takes the longest to emotionally awaken since he's a calm tactician, but by the end he's grown far beyond what he once was.
--> '''Cielo''': What happened to "I do not comprehend?" [Gale's Spock catchphrase]
--> '''Gale''': Some things cannot be comprehended, only felt.
* {{Chest Monster}} - Besides the regular kind there is also one door in the second game that looks like a Save Room, but is actually a trap set by the enemies. Instead of a save point you find an unavoidable battle against 2 waves of baddies... Did I mention that you were probably half dead at this point to begin with?
** It's not as deceptive as you think--it's the only other door in the room it's found in.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder - [[spoiler: Bat]], who manages to be a major JerkAss while constantly changing loyalties. He eventually gets what he deserves, though.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow - Everyone in the junkyard. Actually a plot point, as their eyes only start matching their brightly-coloured hair after their emotions awaken. Before that, they're all a uniform flat gray.
** Which leads to fridge brilliance. Serph's eyes AND hair are both grey. He has no real emotions since [[spoiler:Sera didn't know his personality.]]
* CutscenePowerToTheMax - Cielo's "plot lasers", which never actually appear as a useable move outside of cutscenes. He even [[LampshadeHanging Lampshades]] it during the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon of the second game.
* DarkReprise - The music when fighting [[spoiler:Heat]] and some other bosses in Digital Devil Saga 2 is called Hunting - Betrayal, which is a reprise of the regular battle theme from the first game.
* {{Demonic Possession}} - This happens when the personality of the Atma Avatar overpowers the personality of the human. Examples include Beelzebub, Metatron, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Michael and Satan. Especially heart-wrenching in the case of Metatron because the human who transforms into Metatron was desperately searching for his girlfriend and tried to fight Metatron's influence [[spoiler:unsuccessfully]].
* {{Did Not Get The Girl}} - [[spoiler:Heat. The real Heat O'Brien even gets shot in the back and dies due to this.]]
** [[spoiler:Heat O'Brien]] saw [[spoiler:Sera]] as more of a sister as [[spoiler:[[DeadLittleSister he lost his little sister to Cuvier Syndrome some years ago]]]].
* DoAndroidsDream - in the second game
* DomedHometown - Most of the second game takes place in a complex under a dome. They need the dome because something happened to the Sun and its light now turns people to stone.
* DoomedHometown - [[spoiler:The entire world in the first game.]]
* TheDragon - [[spoiler:Varin Omega]] in the first game, Meganada in the second.
* [[spoiler: EarnYourHappyEnding]]
* EleventhHourRanger: [[spoiler:Heat]]
* {{Eleventh Hour Superpower}} - [[spoiler: In the sequel, Serph and Sera merge on their journey to the Sun, becoming the androgynous being, Seraph. Keeping with Hindu overtones, Seraph's demon form is Ardhanarishvara, or Ardha for short.]]
* {{Evil Feels Good}} - Somewhat. Heat's expression when he transforms the first time.
* FalseMemories - A horrific part of the DemonicPossession above. A lot of {{Shout Out}}s to ''ShinMegamiTenseiII'' confirm it.
* FiveManBand - ZigZagged. Serph and Argilla are definite, but the rest switch between the other three positions.
** TheHero: Serph
** TheLancer: Heat
** TheSmartGuy: Gale
** TheBigGuy: Cielo
** TheChick: Argilla
* {{Foreshadowing}} - The story of the two princes and princess in the amusement park in the first game, particularly the scrambled parts that call into doubt the real motivations of the "Good Prince" and "Evil Prince." [[spoiler:In their previous lives, Heat was the only one who genuinely cared about Sera, while Serph and the others were just manipulating her.]]
* {{Funetik Aksent}} - Cielo, whenever he says anything too Rastafarian.
** Justified because [[spoiler: the person he was based off of was a child from the Caribbean that Sera met during the initial experiments.]]
* GainaxEnding: Both games, although the beginning of the second game explains what happened in the ending of first one.
* {{Gamebreaker}} - The Null Attack skill nulls ''everything'' except Almighty attacks. This makes you effectively invincible for 90% of the game as only the last two dungeons have random encounters that make use of almighty attacks and none of the storyline bosses use almighty as their main form of attack. It won't help you against the bonus bosses though since they just love their powerful unique almighty attacks and the [[spoiler:Demi-Fiend]] will rip you to shreds on his first turn if you dare to have immunities equipped.
* {{God}}: Technically, [[spoiler: [[HinduMythology Brahman]]]]
* GodIsEvil: [[spoiler:Brahman isn't evil, he's just really, ''really'' pissed off at humanity.]]
* GoldfishPoopGang: The Tribhvana.
-->'''Cielo''': [[LampshadeHanging Sheesh, where do they find dese guys?]]
* GreenLanternRing - Sera's very vaguely-defined psychic powers.
* GuideDangIt: To get [[spoiler: Heat]] in [=DDS2=], you have to make specific dialog choices over ''both'' games. Also, where to get the red key in the first game (an optional area that floods every now and then).
* HalfHumanHybrid - "Berserk Form" in ''Digital Devil Saga 2''.
* [[spoiler: {{Hermaphrodite}}]] - You know what Sera's mother and father have in common? [[spoiler: They're both Jenna Angel.]]
** [[spoiler: Sera and Serph]] also become one towards the end of the second game. [[spoiler: Like mother/father, like daughter/son?]]
* {{Heroic Mime}} - Serph. Lampshaded by Heat, who criticizes him for not speaking up enough.
** Not only is it Lampshaded by Heat "You know this wouldn't happen if you'd just speak up more", it's also done by Gale in the second game "It's ok, you don't have to say anything" (funny because [=DDS2=] is the game where we actually do get to hear Serph talk)
* HealingCheckpoint: Large Karma Terminals do this. Small ones normally don't, but some Small Terminals might have a Life Terminal next to them to do the same job. (Small Terminals can also transport you to a large one if you need healing enough that you're willing to walk back.)
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:All main characters die in the most badass and heart crushing way. By the end of the game, you won't have any tears anymore.]]
* HeyItsThatVoice: Sera [[WendeeLee would like to tell you she is]] [[{{Disgaea}} a being of solitude.]] Heat forgets to [[{{Hellsing}} release his Cromwell restrictions]]. Serph got [[{{Persona4}} kicked in the 'nads]] and [[{{Persona3}} prevented the Fall]]. Argilla didn't really want to [[{{Persona4}} inherit an inn]] and [[{{Persona2}} doesn't seem to be best friends with an intrepid reporter]]. Angel used to work in [[{{GhostInTheShell}} Section 9]].
** Roland? Shouldn't [[KirkThornton you]] be [[{{Gungrave}} fighting techno-zombies and mutants in order to protect a little girl?]] [[KingdomHearts Or trying to get your heart back?]] [[{{Catherine}} Or giving nightmares to the cheating patrons at your bar?]] [[{{TalesOfTheAbyss}} Or preventing the use of fomicry?]]
** Cielo is also known for [[VideoGame/{{Persona 4}} making bear puns]] and [[{{Persona 2}} wondering if the penal code applies to demons]], though given the Jamaican accent it can be hard to tell.
** Jinana [[MetalGearSolid3 developed CQC with Naked Snake.]]
* {{Hoist By His Own Petard}} - [[spoiler:Bat.]]
** [[spoiler:The real Serph Sheffield, too.]]
** [[spoiler: Margot Cuvier in regards to how she treats Sera and Heat.]]
* {{Horror Hunger}}: A side-effect of the Atma Virus. Infected have the choice between indulging in cannibalism on a regular basis or turning into mindless raving monsters.
* HumanResources - The Meat factories in the sequel produce food for the demonised inhabitants of the world by grinding up the people who aren't deemed worthy enough to live there.
* {{Im A Humanitarian}} - You ''devour your opponents alive''.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: This happens to a lot of characters: Heat gets stabbed by Bat, [[spoiler: Serph gets stabbed by Heat, Gale and Angel impale each other, Cielo getting impaled by a piece of air plane wreckage]] . . . and then there's Chernobog who impales ''himself'' during certain attacks.
* {{Incredibly Lame Pun}} - The skeletons in the theme park dungeon of Coordinate 136 are quite fond of these.
-->'''Skeleton''': I'm sure you've already figured out that you're boned...\\
'''Skeleton''': Tired of falling yet? Aww, I'm just ribbin' ya.
* [[spoiler: INeedYouStronger: Roland reveals in the first game that the tribes of the Junkyard were forced to kill each other and ascend to Nirvana because the winning tribe's data would be copied and programmed into microchips.]]
* KillEmAll - [[spoiler: Twice! Nothing is left of the Junkyard at the end of the first game, and, by the end of the second, every last member of the Embryon is dead--the last dungeon is inside the sun, after everyone's been killed! Good thing reincarnation is a very real thing in this particular series...]]
* LaResistance - The Underground City residents in the sequel. They call themselves the "Lokapala" (Guardians of the Gods)
* LateArrivalSpoiler: The [[spoiler:fact that the first game is in a computer]] is pretty blatant by the name of the upcoming cellphone prequel [[spoiler:Test Server]].
* LethalJokeCharacter: Cielo and Null Sleep. In the first game, Cielo's absymal stats and weakness to ailment attacks make him TheLoad. Null Sleep is a skill that causes you to automatically dodge any attack, but only if you're under the Sleep ailment: a skill so conditional that it's a waste of a skill slot. The two intersect if you choose to fight BonusBoss [[spoiler:Demi-Fiend]], where Null Sleep is ''required'' to avoid defeat and Cielo's weakness makes him the best candidate to use it.
* LevelGrinding - Has a minor form, Skill Grinding. Certain dungeons are made easier if the party has the right skills equipped, and you may have to grind to get them. The Karma Temple at the end of the first Digital Devil Saga '''requires''' certain skills to avoid the combination death the random encounters throw at you.
* LipLock: Even though the [[YuriLowenthal voice]] [[WendeeLee actors]] [[CrispinFreeman are]] [[DaveWittenberg very]] [[SteveBlum experienced]] [[AmandaWinnLee in voicing]] [[MaryElizabethMcGlynn foreign]] [[BobPapenbrook animation]], the dialogue has as much awkward pauses and speed variations as other examples in this page; the care put into the lip matching with the Japanese dialogue certainly doesn't help. It's less noticeable when the characters are in their demon forms, but the rest of the time.... yeah.
* LuckBasedMission - Beating each game's ultimate BonusBoss takes a good deal of luck, even at [[{{Cap}} level 99 and maxed stats]]. Ironically, the BonusBoss in the first game is easier if you have a low Luck stat in one character (Cielo).
* MagicalNativeAmerican - The Wolves Tribe.
* ManipulativeBastard - [[spoiler:Serph Sheffield]] from the second game is the epitome of this trope.
* MeaningfulName - Pretty much everyone, though some are more obvious (Angel, Gale, Heat, Serph) than others [[BilingualBonus (Argilla is Italian for "clay," and Cielo is Spanish for "sky")]].
** Doubly so for Serph. Not only is his name pronounced like "surf" (his affinity is with water/ice), see the spoiler for TheMessiah below for a second meaning.
** "Bat" in the first game is the name of the human whose demon form is Camazotz, a giant bat. This probably sounded a little cooler and less literal to the developers since English wasn't their primary language.
** Subverted for [[spoiler: Seraph who isn't associated with Expel-type attacks.]]
* TheMessiah - Sera. Even more so after [[spoiler:she fuses with Serph to become the not-so-subtly-named Seraph]].
* {{Mysterious Waif}} - Sera.
* MythologyGag: In the second game, the four angel [[BonusBoss bonus bosses]] talk about building a thousand year old kingdom, and think that ''their God'' was the one who turned humans into stone statues - just like in ShinMegamiTenseiII.
* {{Naked On Arrival}} - Sera - ''twice''.
* {{Nintendo Hard}} - Although the games are relatively easy compared to many other Megaten games, they're still harder than most [=JRPGs=]. (On the other hand, the two {{Bonus Boss}}es noted above are insane even by Megaten standards.)
* {{Oh Crap}} - Mick the Slug.
** Might happen for the player when the Security sytem core activates the apply named [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin genocide mode]].
** An in-universe example, the scientists' and Madame's reactions to [[spoiler: God absorbing the Earth's data.]]
* OneGameForThePriceOfTwo - The two games each contain only half the story, and are not intended to stand alone. Fortunately, each volume contains enough content and the thematic division is strong enough that it doesn't seem like a mere [[RevenueEnhancingDevices Revenue Enhancing Device]]. Taken together, you're pretty sure to get some 140+ hours out of the games.
** There are also a significant number of changes to the gameplay system: a new character advancement system and the ability to equip Rings, to name two. Oh, and Cielo is no longer TheLoad.
* OptionalPartyMember - [[spoiler:Heat]] can be recruited for the final dungeon in ''Digital Devil Saga 2'' [[GuideDangIt if you have fulfilled certain prerequisites over both games]].
* OrderVersusChaos - Margot Cuvier versus Jenna Angel, respectively.
* {{Painful Transformation}} - When the Junkyard inhabitants go berserk after being infected with Atma at the beginning.
* PersonalityPowers - Most notably between Serph (ice) and Heat (fire). The fact that they oppose each other on ElementalRockPaperScissors is not coincidental. Most important in-game relationships play with ElementalRockPaperScissors at least a little.
** Half-subverted in that teaching a character mantras from his ''opposing'' element is actually more effective, as attack spells and resist spells tend to come bundled.
* PetalPower: The physical special ability, "Sakura Rage".
* PigeonholedVoiceActor - Crispin Freeman provides the voice of Heat, and Steve Blum is the voice of Gale in the games' US release.
** Also, Yuri Lowenthal is Serph and Schrodinger, Dave Wittenberg is Cielo, Amanda Winn-Lee is Argilla and Wendee Lee is Sera. Pretty much all of them are seasoned MegaTen voices, most notably Yuri and Dave.
* PlayedForDrama - [[spoiler:A lot of the things you take for granted because DDS is a videogame]]; for instance, [[spoiler:the Junkyard's complete lack of backstory]] form plot elements.
* PopQuiz - Hosted by Jack Frost in ''Digital Devil Saga 2''; there's a BraggingRightsReward in it for you if you answer all one hundred questions correctly and beat a BonusBoss.
* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo: See BonusBoss, above.
* {{Quirky Miniboss Squad}} - Subverted. You fight the Tribhvana a few times, and each time, they run off. Then you run into one of them alone... [[spoiler:with blood dripping out of his mouth, patting his stomach ominously. Turns out he killed and ate the other two members to gain their powers.]]
* PreAsskickingOneLiner: Heat has a few of this. "I'll tear you apart, you fat freak!"
** Occasionally, your party members will get one before taking on some enemies.
** [[spoiler: Angel gets an epic one when some Karma Society soldiers attempt to arrest her for treason.]]
* PowerTattoo - The ability to transform into a demon is marked through a tattoo on the user's skin. In the picture above, Serph's is on his left cheek, Argilla's is above her breasts. These glow when the user transforms.
** Pity the woman who has her tattoo on her butt cheek.
* RedOniBlueOni - Heat and Serph respectively, although Serph being a HeroicMime makes his personality ''mostly'' implied. Their PersonalityPowers support this.
* {{Reincarnation}} - [[spoiler:Almost every member of the Junkyard was once a person in the real world. It's arguable as to whether most of your main party members are reincarnations, or newly created souls modeled after formerly living people in the real world.]] Made even more confusing by [[spoiler:Lupa, whose real-life analogue was Fred's dad and the former leader of Lokapala, who died ''after'' the Junkyard was apparently created. How would Sera have even known about him, anyway?]]
** [[spoiler:What happens to the Embryon]] at the end, [[spoiler:though the game leaves it deliberately unclear as to why. It could be that Seraph's enlightenment was incomplete because se still wished to be with hir comrades. It could be that Seraph's enlightenment encompasses reincarnating back onto Earth in the tradition of the bodhisatvas, who renounce enlightenment until they have managed to assist everyone else in achieving enlightenment as well. It could be that Sera and Serph had to return, since they never managed to reach Enlightenment as individuals; only their composite Seraph does]].
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter - Nasty effects aside, it's hard not to admit that the bat form looks really cute, especially when compared to the rest of the game.
* ScienceIsBad
* {{Sci Fi Writers Have No Sense Of Scale}} - Averted. If you know your metric prefixes, you know that 945.56 zettabytes per second is a huge amount of data transferred per unit time. For comparison, Wikipedia says that the rate of data generation worldwide is about one zettabyte per year. [[spoiler:In DDS, everything is made of data, so when that much data from Earth is uploaded to the Sun, the results are... not good.]]
* {{Shoot The Dog}} - Quite a few, but most notably [[spoiler:Jinana]] and literally [[spoiler:Lupa]].
* ShoutOut -If you talk to the prisoners in the Human Resources prison/factory one of them says "If you devour me I'll become more powerful than your digestive system can ever imagine"
** After defeating the Brutes, if you return to Manipura and speak to a Maribel inside a building, he informs you that "Sometimes [[LinkinPark you try so hard, and get so far... but in the end, that doesn't always matter]]." Strangely, ItMakesSenseInContext (he's talking about buying concert tickets).
** Co-ordinate 136 consists of [[{{Disney}} Destiny Land's Mystery Castle]], and has a fairy named [[PeterPan Twinklebell]] who says that [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime she'll be your navigator]].
* SkirtOverSlacks - Both Argilla and Sera wear shorts under their skirts. They ''are'' soldiers, after all.
* SchrodingersCat - Literally; there's a cat named Schrodinger [[spoiler: who is apparently Seraph from the future, helping guide his past self to enlightenment. [[MindScrew Or something]]]]
* {{Sentai}}: The Embryon are often seen as this. Particularly, PowerRangersRPM, with Serph to Scott, Heat to Dillon, Gale to Flynn, Cielo to Ziggy, and Argilla to Summer.
* SmugSnake - Bat in the first game.
* SoLongAndThanksForAllTheGear - Inverted, characters who leave will master their currently equipped skills if they leave the party, no matter how long it would normally take.
* SomethingCompletelyDifferent - Most of the Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei series is about collecting demons (or in the case of the ''VideoGame/{{Persona}}'' series, collecting Personas). ''Digital Devil Saga'' bucks the trend by having your protagonists be demons themselves, and instead of collecting enemies to get new abilities, you simply destroy them to level up. It's oddly much more like a conventional console RPG in this manner (though the subject matter is ''anything'' but conventional).
* SocialDarwinist - Jenna Angel
* StatisticallySpeaking: Heat leans to higher strength, and is able to throw around people single handedly and break stone walls in a single punch (while untransformed) in cutscenes.
** TheWorfEffect: One boss ''shrugs off a blow to the face'' from Heat and then ''grabs his fist''.
** Though in one scene he claims he is stronger than Serph, even if Serphs strength stats is higher.
* {{Super Power Lottery}} - The Atma Virus grants you the ability to turn into a demon but you have no control over what demon form you get. Results range from gigantic nigh-invulnerable golden dragons to pathetic amorphous blobs.
* TakenForGranite - ''Sunlight'' turns every normal human to stone in the sequel. Very few humans escaped petrification and those so affected are irreversibly dead, due to them being turned into extremely crumbly statues. Yes, it's just as creepy as it sounds.
* TerribleTrio - The Tribhvana in ''Digital Devil Saga 2''.
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt - [[spoiler:The Junkyard ends in the first one, and they end up in the half-dead real world and have to save it once Sera accidentally convinces God to end that too]]
* TheFourGods - {{Bonus Boss}}es in the first game, along with Huang Long.
* {{The Omniscient Council Of Vagueness}} - The Karma Temple in the original game, and the Karma Society in the sequel.
* {{The Very Definitely Final Dungeon}} - In the first game, the Karma Temple. In the second, [[spoiler:The Sun]]. Both of these are absurdly long and easily dwarf the final dungeon of these game's direct predecessors, ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne. Hell, they may even be longer than the entire rest of their respective games.
* ThereWillBeCake: Nirvana
** [[spoiler: TheCakeIsALie: Nirvana exists, but it's far from the paradise the Embryon imagined.]]
* TomatoInTheMirror
* TookALevelInBadass - Cielo in the second game. His weakness to ailments was toned down, making him much more useful, and he gets some pretty great scenes [[spoiler:such as taking down three fighter jets with his body. Of course, it's a HeroicSacrifice.]]
** [[spoiler: Sera too. When Serph is presumed dead, she literally becomes his DistaffCounterpart and assumes leadership of the Embryon, until Serph returns.]]
* TrueCompanions
* UnexpectedShmupLevel: In the second game there is a bonus minigame where one can play through 3 shmup levels with Cielo featuring Beelzebub as the final boss.
* VillainousBreakdown - [[spoiler:Jenna has one when Gale accuses her of betraying David's ideals.]]
** [[spoiler: Madame when she finds out her actions were responsible for endangering the world.]]
* WaifProphet - Sera
* {{What Is This Thing You Call Love}} - The members of the Embryon (particularly Heat) struggle to make sense of why they feel anger, remorse, and affection towards themselves and each other after gaining their Atma.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Presumably [[spoiler: Jinana and Lupa are reincarnated]], but it's left pretty uncertain as to just exactly what happened.
* [[WhatTheHellHero What The Hell Villain]] - Close to the end of [=DDS2=], [[spoiler:Gale, who is created from the solar data of Jenna's former lover David, calls Jenna on her actions, reminding Jenna of the promises Jenna made to David to help mankind. Jenna does not take this well.]]
* {{Whip It Good}} - Argilla's avatar, Prithivi.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity - The Demon Virus tends to have this effect on people.
* {{Woobie Destroyer of Worlds}} - [[spoiler:Sera.]] Accidentally.
* WhiteHairedPrettyBoy - Serph qualifies only for hair and looks;[[spoiler:the human from whom he was created on the other hand...]]
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair - In an interesting take on this trope, everyone in the Junkyard has an improbable [[HairColors hair colour]] except for Sera, whose black hair is utterly alien to the inhabitants – it's even Lampshaded near the start of the first game, when the various Tribes are ordered to locate "the black-haired girl". Those who are [[spoiler:living in the real world]], such as Roland and Fred, have more realistic hair colours.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: [[spoiler: Sera suffers from RapidAging as a result of the repeated use of her [[GreenLanternRing "Cyber Shaman" powers]]. This gets to the point she cannot survive for too long without the sustaining fluids from the EGG.]]
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