History VideoGame / SuikodenIV

* BeastMan: [[IncrediblyLamePun Nay-Kobolds]].

* ObviousBeta: ''Suikoden IV'' has shades of this.
** The game is shorter than ''[[Videogame/SuikodenI Suikoden I]]'' and it has about four dungeons. During battles [[MovesetClone every character that shared a weapon type had the same attack animation]].
** There is also problems during the cutscenes: the screen blinks whenever the angle changes or you answer a question. After the destruction of [[spoiler:Iluya]], the scene changes to a meeting of the antagonists in Fort El-Eal, discussing [[spoiler:they successful nuke]]...with the calm "Headquarters Ship" theme song as background music.
** Another error with cutscenes happens after Glen receives the [[spoiler:Rune of Punishment]] and Snowe asks the hero to bring medicine to the commander's room. When talking to Glen, choosing the second option ("I bought some medicine...") will cause Glen's character model to change back to his healthy looking one and his left hand will not have the [[spoiler:Rune of Punishment]].

* DarkSkinnedBlond: Jewel, Axel, and other natives of Na-Nal.

* {{Meganekko}}: Rene, a treasure hunter who's just in it for the joy of discovery and lets you keep any treasures you find during her MiniGame.

* BlessedWithSuck: The Rune of Punishment.
** To go into detail, as a True Rune, it desperately ''wants'' its massive power to be used. It will do its best to put the host in situations where the power ''has'' to be used. And it has the power of ''pure destruction''. But it gets worse. The Rune of Punishment also drains the life force of its host. For in-battle usage, that means it drains some of Lazlo's HP every time one of its spells is cast. For the wider-scale plot-based uses, he tends to be put into a coma for a while. And eventually, it'll drain enough that the host dies. The Rune of Punishment does [[TheAgeless halt the aging process]] like other True Runes, but its previous hosts have never lived long enough for that to matter. The host could try to just not use the Rune of Punihsment's power at all to avoid this curse, but the Rune won't let them get away with that. True Runes can manipulate fate to some unspecified degree, and the Rune of Punishment makes its host a DoomMagnet specifically to force them into situations where they have to either use it or die. If they're able to hold onto their sanity and have enough willpower to still not use it, [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt whoever kills them becomes the new host]].[[note]]It's not specified what would happen if the Rune of Punishment's bearer was killed by the bearer of one of the other 26 True Runes, since a single person can only bear one of them at a time.[[/note]] [[spoiler:In the [[MultipleEndings good ending]], Lazlo is able to get the Rune to switch from its "judgment" phase to its "forgiveness" phase, allowing him to survive. In his ''VideoGame/SuikodenTactics'' guest appearance, it's revealed that this makes the Rune of Punishment completely broken, it now ''heals'' him with every use instead of draining him.]]

** Also used in the final dungeon, when [[spoiler: Eleanor insists that she and Lino lead a party into El-Eal to take out Cray. Lino is optional to take; refusing Eleanor prompts her to lock Lazlo in his bedroom until after her events are played out.]]

** Arguably, one could say that this game nearly "killed" the franchise as well. It's debatable as to if ''[[VideoGame/SuikodenTactics Suikoden Tactics/Rhapsodia]]'', ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'', and ''VideoGame/SuikodenTierkreis'' have revived it to its former glory or not.

* HighlyVisibleNinja: Arguable; Akaghi and Mizuki boast some striking designs, but don't ''appear'' to be aiming to get noticed...

* MinorInjuryOverreaction: "Ow, my arm!"
** In case you're wondering, a fall where he hurts his arm causes the character to ''abandon the ship he is commanding, along with the crew, who are all his friends, to a bloodthirsty, unstoppable pirate''.
*** Though it's rather likely that the character in question, who had been promoted beyond his competence due to political connections and had never seen serious combat before, simply panicked and used the arm as an excuse.
* MrFanservice: Lazlo, surprisingly, has quite a few girls giggling over him. There's Rita, Rene, and Noah, and then there's his self-appointed bodyguards Millay, Gretchen, and Helga.
** And when asked what she thinks of Lazlo, Millay apparently has some BodyguardCrush.
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: Helmut and Troy.

* ObviousBeta: ''Suikoden IV'' has shades of this, mainly: the game is shorter than ''Videogame/SuikodenI'' and it has about four dungeons. During battles [[MovesetClone every character that shared a weapon type had the same attack animation]].
** There is also problems during the cutscenes: the screen blinks whenever the angle changes or you answer a question. After the destruction of [[spoiler:Iluya]], the scene changes to a meeting of the antagonists in Fort El-Eal, discussing [[spoiler:they successful nuke]]...with the "Headquarters Ship" theme song as background music.

* OlderThanTheyLook: [spoiler: Ted is well over a century old by the time of this game yet has the physical appearance of a young teenager.]
** To a lesser extent, Cheipoo. He has a childish sounding voice, and has been mistaken in-game for a child, yet is 19 years old.

* PrettyInMink: Ameria
* TheQuisling: [[spoiler: Snowe, who trades vital information, the dissolution of Razril's chapter of the Knights of Gaien, and the use of their island as a hub for the Kooluk's ongoing invasion in exchange for Razril's safety. In exchange, the Kooluk give him a false title and duties, distracting him from how Razril suffers under their control... leading to his immense surprise when the citizens [[TheDogBitesBack turn on him]].]]

* WellDoneSonGuy: Snowe. His sword's even called the ''Daddy Blade,'' for pity's sake.
** CharacterDevelopment: With enough sharpening it becomes ''My Blade.''

** You must also take care to use more heroic and/or compassionate answers when the in-game dialogue prompts ypu to get the True Good ending.

** To go into detail, as a True Rune, it desperately ''wants'' its massive power to be used. It will do its best to put the host in situations where the power ''has'' to be used. And it has the power of ''pure destruction''. But it gets worse. The Rune of Punishment also drains the life force of its host. For in-battle usage, that means it drains some of Lazlo's HP every time one of its spells is cast. For the wider-scale plot-based uses, he tends to be put into a coma for a while. And eventually, it'll drain enough that the host dies. The Rune of Punishment does [[TheAgeless halt the aging process]] like other True Runes, but its previous hosts have never lived long enough for that to matter. [[spoiler:In the [[MultipleEndings good ending]], Lazlo is able to get the Rune to switch from its "judgment" phase to its "forgiveness" phase, allowing him to survive. In his ''VideoGame/SuikodenTactics'' guest appearance, it's revealed that this makes the Rune of Punishment completely broken, it now ''heals'' him with every use instead of draining him.]]

Visit the character sheet [[Characters/SuikodenIV here!]]

** [[FridgeHorror And if she messes up the teleportation that time?]] It's not uncommon knowledge Viki could very well, I dunno, sneeze and send the ships to the Grasslands or something. Or over a town.