History VideoGame / LostArk

* TheBeard: To make Jederico's fangirls leave him alone, the player character claims to be dating him. He goes along with it because he doesn't want the temptation of real pretty ladies throwing themselves at him given his implied vow of chastity.

* TwentyFourHourArmor: It's hard to tell that Thar is a Human rather than a Sylvain, which Vern is primarily comprised of, because you never see him so much as take his helmet off, even in his Rapport questline.

* HundredPercentCompletion: Tracked in many, many forms.

* AbortedArc: The assassination attempt on Armen immediately after the prologue goes completely unexplained and the identity and motives of the assassins are never revealed. Though giving the later events of the Rethramis arc, its likely they were hired by Kharmine.
** A later pair of side quests suggests that a holy sect has been planning to assassinate him as well as other leader figures.

* If you don't do your Chaos Dungeons or Guardian fights for the day, you get ten Rested Experience per skipped encounter. Twenty Rested Experience doubles your loot. If you skip doing them for the day, the next day you will get double loot for the first run and normal loot for the second. If you have a lot of characters to take care of, you can actually get 2/3 the loot for 1/3 the work[[note]]Skip doing any Chaos Dungeons or Guardians for two days. On the third day, you'll have forty Rested Experience for each, meaning four runs worth of loot over three days while only actually ''doing'' two runs.[[/note]], which is how many players opt to play their alts.

* TheArchmage: Very few mages get to wear this title with the two most commonly named being Enviska and Ealyn. Enviska has been dead for centuries or more and is a culture hero while Ealyn is not only a nearly unrivaled mage, but also a pioneer in magick research. When contact reopens between Rohendel and Vern, Rohendel mages are a bit embarrassed to find Vern much more advanced than they are under Ealyn's guidance.
* AsianFoxSpirit

* AwesomeButImpractical

* CallASmeerpARabbit

* TheChainsOfCommanding
** While Azena's personally is naturally rather arrogant, most of her coldness comes from the responsibilities of her position. A key example is the exile of the surviving Xeneelan researchers to Vern: While she secretly didn't blame them, she had to send them away to keep them safe from the other Sylvains, so she banished them from ever returning and cut all contact immediately. In private, she assumes they all hate her and stresses the hell out when you secretly bring her to meet Ealyn in Vern. Ealyn actually understands and still cherishes her, which lets Azena relax and talk to her old friend briefly.

* DestructiveSavior: The land of Shushire is not naturally so cold. It was actually frozen by Sirius in order to seal away the flame demons who were rampaging there.
* DifficultButAwesome: Players sometimes hesitate to bring classes like Arcanist or Gunslinger/Deadeye because they have questionable reputations at best: Arcanist is a partially luck dependent class and the latter two have the unfortunate combination of extremely low durability on top of animation locks that can leave them very vulnerable on top of a complex ability rotation. Deadeyes in particular generally have to fight ''very'' close to the boss despite using guns. However, in the hands of a skilled player, they can be extremely effective. Gunslingers in particular are one of the most desirable classes to bring for fights like Kakul Saydon... provided they can keep themselves alive.

* TheDogBitesBack: Ephernia is mind controlled by Brelshaza before the player arrives in Rohendel and is stopped as part of the story. When she reveals her scheme, he is ''pissed'' and returns during her boss fight with the implication you would not have been able to beat her without his assistance.

* EnigmaticMinion

* FantasticRacism: Despite being an intelligent species, goblins are typically treated like any other mindless monster. This does have SOME basis however: They're often pretty aggressive and are also more vulnerable to magic induced insanity than humans, which makes them even more likely to attack people. It's implied that they and other races like orcs were created by the demons directly or indirectly and thus are very easily manipulated by them.

* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: South Vern Neria's rapport quest line has the two of you track down a serial killer who turns out to be a victim of heavy child abuse. Neria is unimpressed, however, because she's still the one who chose to poison random strangers.
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: During the questlines for a region your character class is originally from, some characters will recognize you from your past deeds in your backstory. For example, in the Anikka arc, the Female Martial Artist's status as the Yeon Clan's Grand Master is acknowledged several times, and Hodon is eager for his rematch against her in the tournament.

* HowUnscientific: During Shana's rapport quest you get a flashback to explain what happened on the ship she came to Punika on. Apparently, the ship was attacked by pirates and after everyone else was killed, [[TraumaticAwakening Shana suddenly manifested psychic powers]], threw all the pirates back onto their ship and then threw the entire pirate ship into the ocean, sinking it. Nobody else in the series has demonstrated any kind of psychic powers. While it probably could be done with magic, this incident was clearly some kind of telekinesis. This incident is never addressed with the characters more focused on finding out if Shana's dad is still alive.

* HundredPercentCompletion: Tracked in many, many forms.
** First, there's the Adventurer Tome. This tracks your basic progress in the game as well as the important sidequests, relationships and hidden objectives in various areas.
** Next, there are various types of collectables from Mokoko Seeds to Giant's Hearts. These are tracked in a separate category, though interestingly at the moment 100% completion is not actually possible for some: Several islands such as Vairgrys' Lair do not really offer Island Souls despite the same saying they do and Masterpiece 51 is simply not in the game even though 52 is.
** Cards are tracked in yet another section. You actually need multiple copies of each card to complete this section because each card is in at least one Book and when you have all the cards in a Book you get a special set bonus even if you don't equip said cards. Then if you max those cards by getting more copies, you get better bonuses.
* HypeBacklash: InUniverse, when you consume the Punika cooking item Steamed Papu Crab text pops up expressing bafflement that anyone would eat something so chewy or with such a weird smell. The crab's meat is otherwise praised for its texture and the mild fruity smell that comes from the crab's diet. But this seems to be another case of SoBadItsGood for food reviewer Amalone because he still gave it five stars.

-->'''Thirain''': Is this all just a ''game'' to you, Demon?!
-->'''Kharmine''': *Chuckle* ''[[BluntYes Yes]].''

* TwentyFourHourArmor: It's hard to tell that Thar is a Human rather than a Sylvain, which Vern is primarily comprised of, because you never see him so much as take his helmet off, even in his Rapport questline.
* UncertainDoom: One Anikka competitor is a shape shifting fox who has been killing humans as part of a ritual to eventually become human herself. She's defeated without much fuss in the arena, but simply collapses to the ground and is never heard from or mentioned again. It's typically frowned upon to kill people during a friendly martial arts competition so it's at least possible, if unlikely, that she's still alive.

* UnreliableExpositor: Early game records say the Lazenith were punished by the gods for stealing the Arks to save the world from the Demons before or during the Chain War. A later offhanded remark by Nineveh says they were punished for stealing the Arks to destroy the Haals who were trying to rebel against the Heavens. The only way for both of these to be true would be if Haals and Demons were the same thing, but there isn't much in the way of textual support for this idea. The origins and nature of demons is so vague that it's hard to say what little information we have is trustworthy.
* UpliftedAnimal: Totopia is an island full of animals that were taught to speak by Nineveh. She left a magic rod in the lake that allows animals that move there to learn speech as well. It's subverted to an extent, though, because the animals don't really seem to be much smarter than normal animals, they can just express themselves through speech.

* WhamEpisode: Lostwind Cliff. [[spoiler:The murderous crimes of Executor Solas and his warrior priests send Armen [[DespairEventHorizon over the edge]], succumbing fully to his inner Delain rage and slaughtering Solas and his retinue. Afterwards, despite Thirain and the protagonist's pleading, he accepts Kharmine's proposal to come to the Demon Realm, believing that he has no place with humanity after what he did.]]

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Halfway through Shushire, [[spoiler:Vrad, defeated and facing execution for his crimes, tries to summon Akkan in a final attempt to escape. Akkan simply laughs at him and declares he has no further use for the slavemaster before having his Plague Demons eat him alive]].

* ClutchCharacter: Demonic Impulse Shadow Hunters perform very well from the range of about 1370-1460 and require little investment for gems, but start to steeply fall off after that as character strength grows more dependent on Tripods, which are upgrades for your skills that attach to your gear. Since tripods don't exist for DI, this means they lack the boosts that can up to double the effectiveness of other class's skills. The class remains very popular among many, but the damage ends up comparable to tank characters like Gunlancers when before they were top contenders.

* AwesomeButImpractical: In the current build, Machinists are popular for their cool design, high mobility and defenses. Unfortunately, their damage turns out to be ''really'' bad, leaving many players unwilling to continue playing them.
* TheBeard: To make Jederico's fangirls leave him alone, the player character claims to be dating him. He goes along with it because he doesn't want the temptation of real pretty ladies throwing themselves at him given his presumed vow of chastity.

* CripplingOverspecialization: While there are eight ships in the game, by the time players reach the latter stages they typically abandon most of them. Six ships are specialists and two, the Estoque and Astray, are generalists. The specialists will have one kind of hazard they excel at, one they're okay at and suck at most of the rest. All ships take about the same amount of effort and resources to max out, so most players find it more convenient to just max out the generalist ships since they can do pretty well everywhere. The only specialist ships that see use are the Eibern's Wound and the Tragon. The Tragon is the best ship for the most popular sailing coop and the Eibern's Wound gives buffs for the weekly ghost ship bosses. There's little point in building ships like the Brahms to resist less dangerous weather conditions when it comes at the cost of being unable to handle anything else.

** While [[TheHeavy Kharmine]] outwardly professes loyalty to Kazeros like all other Demons, its clear as early as Rethramis that he has his own agenda at work, and it involves the Arks.
** After his first defeat Kakul Saydon seems to have gone off on his own both to recover and to pursue some agenda of his own. What he's after is not very clear, but is most likely simply causing mayhem and chaos. He even considers going after Kazeros himself before deciding to aim bigger.

* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Avele is very popular with both men and women and her schedule is basically jam packed with various dates after work. However, while she's pretty good at flirting, her insensitivity tends to bite her in the ass, which ruins a date with another girl when she brings the player character along.

* FantasticRacism: Despite being an intelligent species, goblins are typically treated like any other mindless monster. This does have SOME basis however: They're often pretty aggressive and are also more vulnerable to magic induced insanity than humans, which makes them even more likely to attack people.

* {{Troll}}: Kharmine truly revels in getting under the protagonists' skins.

* AmnesiacDissonance: The amnesiac doctor Seville, now known as Orne, has disturbing memory fragments he does not wish to think about. Apart from his former self's fanaticism, he also had an unnerving amount of knowledge of how to make explosives and how to open up a man's ribcage, though at least this appears to be for medical reasons.

* LegacyCharacter: Each major city has a tavern run by a woman named after Neria, who was a major ally to the Sidereals during the Chain War.

* LightIsNotGood: For all their talk of being the "chosen servants" of [[TopGod Regulus]], in practice the Holy Sacrian Empire leaves a ''lot'' to be desired. Executor Solas is a HangingJudge and his chapter is basically a bunch of murderous thugs, while the Feiton chapter have essentially placed the region under martial law [[spoiler:and abduct children, explicitly to interrogate and torture them for their perceived role in the Chaos Gates appearing. Though thankfully, the Feiton chapter eventually undergoes a HeelFaceTurn.]]

* SchizoTech: Arthetine never got the memo that this was meant to be a swords and magic fantasy world and instead showed up with power armor, monorails and broadcasting systems.

** Guardian Luen is another incredibly powerful Guardian, but even during the Chain War he remained completely neutral as he considers himself to be simply an observer. He does have a personal fondness for Nineveh, however, so he'll usually tell her what he knows. When he instead basically tells her she can't meet Vairgrys, she's rather startled.

* AndManGrewProud: The current world is set after at least two massive wars in the past and the seeming extermination of the Haal race for trying to rise up against the gods. There are ingame hints that they may have succeeded in some form. In fact, going by what Nineveh mentions in passing either records in the game regarding Lazenith are inaccurate or Demons may be what remains of the Haals.

* If you don't do your Chaos Dungeons or Guardian fights for the day, you get 10 rested exp per skipped encounter. 20 rested exp doubles your loot, meaning if you skip doing them for the day the next day you will get double loot for the first run and normal loot for the second. So if you have a lot of characters to take care of, you can actually get 2/3 the loot for 1/3 the work[[note]]Skip doing any Chaos Dungeons or Guardians for two days and on the third day you'll have 40 rested exp for each, meaning four runs worth of loot over three days while only actually ''doing'' two runs.[[/note]], which is how many players opt to play their alts.

* WorfHadTheFlu: Brelshaza is beaten for the first time by the adventurer at the end of the Rohendel line, but only with heavy support from Ephernia. She also escapes without seeming to be in too great of danger and eventually returns as the fourth and, so far, most difficult legion raid.
* UnseenEvil: The Demon leader Kazeros doesn't properly appear due to being sealed within the red moon; when he first speaks to his Legion Commanders, the only indications of his presence other than his voice are a sudden darkening of the screen and a strong wind forming.

* MonsterClown: The Mayhem Legion are an entire faction of circus-themed demons, with thei basic Mooks simply named Clown. They're stated to sustain themselves on fear and misery, and rituals allow humans to turn into them.

** While Azena's personally is naturally rather arrogant, most of her coldness comes from the responsibilities of her position. A key example is the exile of the surviving Xeneelan researchers to Vern: While she secretly didn't blame them, she had to send them away to keep them safe, banished them from ever returning and cut all contact immediately. In private, she assumed they all hated her and stresses the hell out when you secretly bring her to meet Ealyn in Vern. Ealyn actually understands and still cherishes her, which lets Azena relax and talk to her old friend briefly.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: It takes a ''lot'' of effort, but you can actually befriend Mari despite her anger and sorrow over Krause's death, making her a Rapport NPC.

* DyingAsYourself: Implied with one character on Anguished Isle. One militia member was sent to investigate the island and ran into Stella. She passes information to the player before vanishing. As the player heads through the island's dungeon, they run into and kill a number of Mayhem demons that were corrupted from normal people. After killing Stella, you can enter a secret area at the back and find said militia member simply cowering at the back as she uses every ounce of restraint to keep from going mad like the rest. One hit is all it takes to let her die in peace, after which you pass on the news to her superior.

** The Assassin's status as a [[HalfHumanHybrid Delain]] is acknowledged in several instances, such as after the first time Armen uses his powers to save Varut in Prideholme.