History VideoGame / ShadowHearts

** They may sound like this trope, but all are actually Judeo-European names.
*** Koudelka plays it pretty straight though.

* HotChickWithASword: Karin.

* HotAmazon: Shania.

** A fat man in the third game mentions how rich he is...in 1929. Ouch.

* PrisonerOfZendaExit: The BigBad attempts this during the end of the first game's first act, but his grand exit gets held up by a quite undignified piece of debris to the back of the head.

** You can also name your teams in ''Covenant''. Cue people naming their teams stuff like "Team Fortress" and "[[HomestarRunner Girl Squad]]".

* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: In ''SH1'' you end up fighting Dehuai twice. In the spoils for the first battle, you end up getting his staff that you can equip on Zhuzhen. In the second battle, Dehuai is depicted without his staff.

* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: During the ending of Covenant, [[spoiler:the party is stuck in the Field of Takamagahara, a realm beyond time and space. Just before he dies, Kato tells the party that if they want to escape, they must pray fervently to return to the world that their hearts wish for. The only catch is that they cannot return to the immediate present. And so, the party prays together for one last time, and Yuri watches his {{Nakama}} fade away. Yuri's fate depends on what choice you made before the last two battles of the game.]]

* IKnowMortalKombat: Karin learns new sword techniques by reading pages of [[Creator/RichardWagner Wanger's]] ''DerRingDesNibelungen.''

The first two games star [[ButNotTooForeign Yuri Volte Hyuga]], part GenreSavvy {{Badass}} IneffectualLoner and part [[TheFool goofy]] IdiotHero ButtMonkey who just can't get a break. He also happens to be a Harmonixer, which means that he can fuse with the souls of the {{Cosmic Horror}}s that he defeats and turn into various [[SuperpoweredEvilSide superpowered monsters]]. He would rather just coast through life beating up anyone stupid enough to give him lip, except in '''''Shadow Hearts''''' [[SpiritAdvisor there's a voice in his head that tells him to do stuff]] and isn't too appreciative if Yuri fails to fall in line. This leads him to rescue a young cleric named Alice Elliot, who the BigBad needs to power his DoomsdayDevice, and the plot leads on from there.

* {{Affably Evil}}: [[spoiler: Albert Simon]] the {{big bad}} of the first game, is quite a cordial fellow aside from his motives. He harbors no malice toward the heroes, even after they defeat him -- he sees the whole conflict as nothing more than an honest difference of opinion.
** The villain of part 2, [[spoiler: Kato]], is also like this. He and Yuri fight to the death, but even then, he considers Yuri his friend.

** You actually need to look in the library and look at certain key items to do some side quests. Quizzes, anyone?

** Except for a certain special item to be found in Dehuai's tower, which gives Yuri a little heart over his head.

* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: You can only ever have three party members at one time in ''Shadow Hearts'' and four in ''Covenant'' and ''New World''.

* AwesomeYetPractical: Many of those flashy moves that hit lots of times - as well as the Melt Crest. Wind Magic can hit both mid and high levels with many hits, making them useful for getting bonuses.
* AwesomeButImpractical: If you use the NewGamePlus in ''Covenant'', you have access to the Seraphic Fusion ''at the very start'' - and Anastasia comes with ''all of her abilities''. This should include Power Cannon and Euthanasia. However; using the powerful fusions at the first boss fight will drain your SP quickly, and using many of these ultra-powerful abilities normally restricted to the end of the game will drain your MP.

** Played for laughs when Johnny first meets Shania. Follow the arrow.

* {{Boss Rush}}: Some of the Pit Fight missions revolve around this. The first game has you fight them normally...but with only one character. The latter two will give you a random limit of party members, but with certain conditions.

* CatFolk: The first village in ''Shadow Hearts'' is filled with demonic versions of these. However they ''can'' appear human to lure unsuspecting visitors in.

* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: During the ending of Covenant, [[spoiler:the party is stuck in the Field of Takamagahara, a realm beyond time and space. Just before he dies, Kato tells the party that if they want to escape, they must pray fervently to return to the world that their hearts wish for. The only catch is that they cannot return to the immediate present. And so, the party prays together for one last time, and Yuri watches his {{Nakama}} fade away. Yuri's fate depends on what choice you made before the last two battles of the game.]]

* CombinationAttack: Introduced in ''Covenant''. The player must issue the "combo" command to have a party member join up with another. All four members can link attacks together, to rack up an insane amount of hits and damage to the enemy. The fourth character, if he or she has enough MP, gets to use a sort of finishing move called Combo Magic, based upon the elemental alignments of the characters participating in battle.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: When Garan attempts to scare the party in ''Covenant'', they're actually more interested on how he's levitating, rather than what he's saying - or that he's trapped them in ''purgatory'' and ''hell''.

* CrapsackWorld / CrapSaccharineWorld: The first two games definitely makes the world out to be like this. It becomes especially crapsaccharine around ''Covenant''.

** [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade Not really]]: real life Rasputin was more of a misblamed scapegoat than a devil, although he did look creepy, and he ''was'' working his way into the Tsar's inner circle. (Chances are, though, even ''if'' he wasn't assassinated the rebellions would have still happened.)
* DidNotGettheGuy: Poor Karin doesn't ever get to really be with Yuri. [[spoiler: Then again given that she's actually his time travelling mother, then that's probably a ''good'' thing.]] Doesn't make it any less heartbreaking to watch.
* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: These heroes are ''not'' impressed by abominations from beyond the veil, and aren't shy about sharing this.

* DistressedDamsel: Alice in ''Shadow Hearts'' is this throughout parts of the game, Somewhat justified because she is physically ''very'' weak and of quite a delicate nature.

* {{The Dragon}}: Nicholai in ''Covenant'' and Killer in ''From The New World''.

* {{Eldritch Abomination}}: Meta-god in the first game. Amon, Asmodeus, and Astaroth, the "three gods of destruction" in Covenant, arguably. LOTS of them in From the New World.

* EmptyShell: [[spoiler: Get the bad ending in ''Covenant'' and Yuri becomes this.]]
* EnemyScan: Anastasia does this by [[FirstPersonSnapshooter taking photos of the enemies]], and [[MegaManning sometimes learns their abilities]]. In ''From The New World'', Johnny inherits her camera and ability.

* {{Fanservice}}: All the female party members tend to wear either close fitting or revealing clothes, even ''Alice'' who bears very little flesh happens to wear a skirt that's so short it barely covers her backside. Said females also get panty shots during battle, and you can even equip them with items that ''change the colour of them''. Averted with Anastasia, who is clearly underage.

* FiveManBand:

*** TheChick: Curvy Hilda.

*** TheBigGuy: Natan and/or Frank.

** In ''Covenant'', when Anastasia is telling the group about her troubles concerning her family, you can see Yuri dancing with Blanca in the background.

* GenreShift: Kouldelka was described as a Survival Horror-RPG mix. ''ShadowHearts'' was an RPG with a horror-inspired setting. ''Covenant'' begins like something that wouldn't be out of place in a horror game...but then shifts to a more light-hearted setting. ''From the New world'' still keeps true to its macrabe roots; but could probably be officially called a comedy.

*** This is also a bit of a CallBack to a sequence in the first ''ShadowHearts'' game, in which Alice is "interrogated" by Dehuai. If you repeatedly pick the options where Alice hits on him, you unlock a dungeon. This at ''least'' is a bit more...well intuitive since maybe you'd think it's ''fun'' to see what Dehuai would say to Alice when she says "You're so hot".
* GunsAkimbo: A fighting style employed by Natan, TheStoic BadAss MagicalNativeAmerican ProudWarriorRaceGuy from ''New World''.

** You can also name your teams in ''Covenant''. Cue people naming their teams stuff like "Team Fortress" and "[[HomestarRunner Girl Squad]]".
* HeyItsThatVoice: ''Covenant'' has a ''lot'' of well-known voice actors who do a ''very'' good job in this game. Examples include:

** ''Covenant'''s narrator and Tsar nicolas are even voiced by [[KingdomHearts Ansem, Seeker of Darkness]].
** Would you believe that [[TalesOfTheAbyss Princess Natalia]] is actually Princess Anastasia Romanov? And that Anastasia is also [[{{Naruto}} Naruto and Hinata Hyuga]]?
** Kurando and Blanca are voiced by RichardCansino - It's ''quite'' appropriate given that Kurando is a swordsman...and that RichardCansino also voiced [[RurouniKenshin Himura Kenshin]].
** Kato is even [[DigimonAdventure02 Oikawa]], and [[TalesOfVesperia Duke]]. Which is quite hilarious when you consider what role the latter played in the game.
** You probably won't believe this...but [[NarutoShippuden The Nine-Tailed Fox]] and [[StarOcean Jie Revorse]] are in this game. Wanna know who Paul St. Peter voices? Come on...guess. Sorry, the answer was Joachim - Yes, ''you read right''.
** And Karin Koenig? Voiced by KariWahlgren.

*** His [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity Plus One Sword]] is a giant kebab!

** Also Alice in the first game, who whacks enemies with a book. Then again, compared to the others, that's normal. (The game has a bit of a DarkerAndEdgier feel to it; the silly weapon users are a sign that this isn't a DarkerAndEdgier game.)
*** And consider that one of her books is made with ''the flesh of a saint''. [[NauseaFuel EW.]]
** Halley also attacks with a Slingshot - Not that improbable, especially since it's actually something that a kid his age would have.

**** Actually averted. If you get to Rank One, you're already have fought the boss.
* IKnowMortalKombat: Karin learns new sword techniques by reading pages of [[RichardWagner Wanger's]] ''DerRingDesNibelungen.''

* {{Keep Circulating the Tapes}}: The first game went out of print fairly quickly, and had a relatively low print run to begin with. This led fans to have to resort to scouring eBay to obtain a copy. The sequel seemed doomed to the same fate, but the trope was averted when the publisher recognized it had a cult hit on its hands and re-released both titles.

* LargeHam: Joachim. This seems to be a requirement for being a pro wrestler in the world of ''Shadow Hearts''.

** Frank the {{highly visible ninja}} is the {{large ham}} of the party in ''From The New World''.
* LaserBlade: Johnny has one in ''From The New World''.
* LetsSplitUpGang: In Covenant, the party has to explore a battleship in order to find a certain girl. The party splits with one group being led by Yuri and the other being led by Kurando and Blanca. Both groups have to work apart to get through the ship, pushing switches to open doors on the other part of the ship. You're...not going to enjoy it.
* LighterAndSofter: The later two games compared to the first two. ''From The New World'' is ''especially'' LighterAndSofter compared to the first two. ''Covenant'' is rather dark for the first couple hours and then starts to embrace its sense of humour.
** Part of the reason the series has a Fanbase of course is that even the lighter and softer games retain their dark parts - In one scene of ''From the New World'', you see Frank ham it up and attack with some of the most improbable weapons ever, and then in the next, witness malice take over an unwilling woman alive and are forced to fight her.
** To sum things up: in the first game, the silliest thing around was probably Margarete and her gadgets, unless you poke around. By the third game, one of your party members is a Polish immigrant ninja who learned his ninjutsu in the jungles of South America, works for the CIA and is constantly berated by his master, a giant talking cat movie star who serves as Al Capone's second-in-command, and a mexican singer with firearms inside his guitar.

** Further used in the third game, where Lady's main attacks consist of shooting waves of red light that annihilate nearly everyone, and even the main characters take serious damage from it. Lady herself may be Non-element, but her attacks and design evoke light imagery.

* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: Inverted; it's the ''mages'' who are linear and the ''warriors'' who are quadratic. It's possible to beat the game using only melees and just giving crests to whoever can use them since ''anyone'' can be a mage. However; mages are still useful because they can buff, and unlike melee attacks, can actually hit multiple enemies at once.
** In ''From the New World'', abilities can get ''ridiculous'' with how powerful they are, though. Especially if you set up a combo with them and rack up the bonus damage. Boom.

* LoveAtFirstSight: Anastasia upon meeting Kurando. He doesn't reciprocate, but is far too polite to let her down gently. However, he seems to have warmed up to her by the ending.

* LowFantasy: ShadowHearts is unique from most JRPG titles in that it takes place in the real world, even getting involved with real-life people and events.

** Whoever got [[CameBackWrong resurrected]] by the Emigre Menuscript is better off killed, except [[spoiler:Johnny]].

** To explain, the first game is 10 battles, back to back, with one character against old and remixed enemies. (Even bosses, and you gain EXP.) There's two, with the last one having different prizes for the characters who finish. The last two games have 'trials', where take a party and kill enemies to what the trial giver wants. There's only one, and you unlock trials the further you go into the game. (Doing some of the sidequests will yield you more trials.)

* MythologyGag: There is a girl named Jeanne in the french town of Domremy...DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything? Hint: [[spoiler: Jeanne d'Arc...aka ''Joan of Arc''. Who also was from Domremy.]]

* PowersAsPrograms: Crest Magic in Covenant. However, {{Hilarity Ensues}} when the party realizes that Yuri is too stupid to recall spells.

* ReverseCerebusSyndrome: The series has been getting more zany and light-hearted with each new installment.
** CerebusRollerCoaster: They still do have their serious moments.

** Roger Bacon has two. Naming him, and getting him perverted magazines.

* ShootingGallery: ''Covenant''.

** Specifically, all of Lucia's special effects have a random chance of being "reversed". That means that the fantastic ability to kill all enemies in one hit may instead hit your own party and cause instant game over. Cards with yellow sparks double the effect, but can also be reversed. Lucia's special accessory gives the effect to give the cards the double effect, but you can still draw a reverse card...

** Not to mention the usual case - nobody ever bats an eye at your party members. Obviously one expects people to notice [[LargeHam Joachim]], [[McNinja Frank]], [[{{Stripperiffic}} Lucia, Shania]], or [[MegaNeko M]][[TheAlcoholic a]][[TheLadette o]] to be a tad conspicuous. But this gets [[FridgeLogic a different kind of weird]] when you have part-Japanese Yuri walking around China not too long after [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Sino-Japanese_War this]], or German Karin and Russian Anastasia prancing right across faction lines in the middle of {{World War One}}
*** Anastasia actually mentions this and [[spoiler: Gives Karin a fake identity, Karin.]]

* ViolationOfCommonSense: Want to get Yuri the most powerful spells of his level three fusions? He needs to go berserk. This is something you typically want to ''avoid''.
** Hey, torture scenes. Want to get a weapon for them? Pick ''all'' of the options that involve your character getting hurt. The closest the first ''ShadowHearts'' game has to a torture scene is the option for Alice to hit on Dehuai instead. This unlocks an optional dungeon. Thankfully this isn't as much of a ViolationOfCommonSense given that no harm really comes to Alice if she hits on Dehuai and a mischievious player can see what'd happen if they hit all those options and find a dungeon opened up, but picking an option where the character is zapped or poked with a sword? Yeah.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Early trailers of ''ShadowHearts Covenant'' actually showed a beta...in which Yuri was actually nowhere to be seen in the party. But the harmonixer was still there...who was this Harmonixer? ''Nicolai'' - Kind of odd considering what his role in the final version was.

** And this actually makes [[FridgeBrilliance a bit of sense]], since Anastasia, Alice, and Johnny have the least amount of SP - Alice is quite delicate, Anastasia is a little girl, and Johnny got his start watching a man being eaten. Even Halley, who's younger than Alice, has some SP to spare - and this makes sense when you consider that he's probably been ''quite'' jaded and toughened after what ''he's'' gone through. [[hottip:Shadow Hearts Spoilers: Let's see, he's Koudelka's son and inherited her psychic powers - when he was young, he watched his own mother get taken away to a mental "hospital" and left on the streets, with almost ''no'' training of his own psychic powers]].

** Also, his teacher? The actual Great Gama! [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gama]]

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: One is a [[ImprobableWeaponUser Improbable Weapon-Using]] LargeHam wannabe-superhero trained as a [[ProfessionalWrestling pro wrestler]]. One is a GenreSavvy ElegantGothicLolita MagicalGirl. [[PlainName And one is called Keith.]]

* FridgeBrilliance: Halley has ESP abilities in ''Shadow Hearts'' - they're nice, but suck a lot of his MP out. This actually makes sense when you consider he's not had that much time to ''train'' his abilities and that they sometimes pop up when he is having a tantrum. (He even shouts, "Gah! I hate you! I hate you!" when using his psychic powers.)
** The Sanity Points. Vampires always have high SP because they're used to seeing supernatural creatures on a day-to-day basis. People like Alice, Halley, Karin, and Anastasia who have low SP aren't so they're getting used to seeing these monsters. They also grow as they level up; as the character of course gets more and more desensitized to the existence of monsters, so it quite ''literally'' takes more to drive them insane. The Harmonixers always have high SP because, well, that power threatens to drive them insane so they have to get used to it.
** Anastasia's SummonMagic operates through a camera and pictures; and she can't use the SummonMagic until she attains the proper picture. This is actually FridgeBrilliance because some people used to believe that cameras would steal your soul.

* HoYay: Joachim

* {{Your Money Is No Good Here}}: Pierre Magimel's dressmaking business in Covenant. You can only pay him to make Cornelia's dresses by giving him "Stud Cards", basically trading cards depicting hot male models.
** Combine this with the above entry, and you get [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/10/04/ this]]
** Cat Coins in ''From The New World''. Apparently, cats accepting human money is not "right".

* TheVirus: Malice. Portrayed in the first game as the lingering (and quite vengeful) hatred of the [[CosmicHorror Cosmic Horrors]] that Yuri has defeated and absorbed, portrayed in the second game as a HatePlague formed from the accumulation of all negative emotions, and portrayed in the third game as a malevolent, living force that can actively infect people, granting them powers such as [[UnexplainedRecovery resuscitation from death]] and [[OneWingedAngel transformation into a convenient Boss Form]], with a dose of BrainwashedAndCrazy thrown in for free.

* TheVirus: Malice. Portrayed in the first game as the lingering (and quite vengeful) hatred of the [[CosmicHorror Cosmic Horrors]] that Yuri has defeated and absorbed, portrayed in the second game as a HatePlague formed from the accumulation of all negative emotions, and portrayed in the third game as a malevolent, living force that can actively infect people, granting them powers such as [[IGotBetter resuscitation from death]] and [[OneWingedAngel transformation into a convenient Boss Form]], with a dose of BrainwashedAndCrazy thrown in for free.

* EnemyScan: Anastasia does this by [[AmateurPhotographer taking photos of the enemies]], and [[MegaManning sometimes learns their abilities]]. In ''From The New World'', Johnny inherits her camera and ability.

* AmateurPhotographer: Anastasia in ''Covenant''. Johnny Garland in ''From The New World'' actually inherits the camera she used.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Upon seeing Andre, the enormous pink kitten Lucia unleashes upon the party, Yuri observes, "That's one giant pussy!" (The game is rated T, by the way.) There was also an old woman willing to pose nude for photos, the ''entire'' Man Festival, and Yuri says "shit" in a whole ton of cutscenes.
** YMMV about the "shit" bit - it's rated "T".

** Shadow Hearts: A man who can fuse his soul with demons, a cute exorcist, a Taoist mage, Mata Hari (yes, that one), a fencing vampire, and an ESPer.

* RapeIsFunnyWhenItISMaleOnMale: Poor Joachim... and poor Yuri for having to watch it.

* SexyBack: Karin.