History VideoGame / SwordOfPaladin

* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:Augustus spends most of the game as an AxCrazy vessel for Ragnarek. Once he turns into a Royal Gem and is freed from Ragnarek's influence, he returns to his benevolent personality, helps Nade and Alex defeat Ragnarek, and passes on with the other Royal Gem souls.]]

* ThePaladin: After becoming a Paladin, Nade gains mid-level healing magic and a sword that deals light elemental damage. He can also learn various skills by obtaining the souls of ancient Paladins, most of which are support skills.

''Sword of Paladin'' is an UsefulNotes/RPGMaker MV game developed by Paladin Works. It was originally a series of games, but the developer eventually remade the series into a single game, ''Sword of Paladin RE'', and released it onto Steam in June 2021.

* YinYangBomb: The Flotsam jewel requires an Oricalcum to be infused with equally powerful light and dark magic. [[spoiler:In the true ending, Nade and Zechs have to duel each other in order to generate the light and dark power needed for the Flotsam.]]

* YinYangBomb: The Flotsam jewel requires an Oricalcon to be infused with equally powerful light and dark magic. [[spoiler:In the true ending, Nade and Zechs have to duel each other in order to generate the light and dark power needed for the Flotsam.]]

** In a postgame event, Nade tells Alex that he may have to sacrifice himself in the battle with [[spoiler:Anguis. Alex is angry enough to challenge Nade to a duel and make the latter promise to come back alive.]]

** Alex calls out Nade when the latter gives on up being the Paladin [[spoiler:after Augustus breaks his sword and Emilia sacrifices herself.]]

* VillainTakesAnInterest: [[spoiler:Anguis is a SocialDarwinist who believes he can only survive by killing and stealing from others. He is baffled when Nade, who he acknowledges as strong, refuses to steal Dragoon Grace's Flotsam out of concern for the hibernating citizens. This causes him to harbor doubts about his darwinist mindset and take interest in Nade's altruism. When he and Nade teleport to another dimension, he states that he wants to use his final moments both to fight Nade and try to learn the latter's mindset.]]

* TheUnReveal: In both the false and true entrance of the Paladin Mountain, the statue of the twelfth Paladin has their name scratched out, making it seem like their name will eventually be revealed during the quest to collect all the Paladin souls. [[spoiler:Augustus destroys the twelfth Paladin's soul and Nade has to use his own soul to substitute for the twelfth, so the player never learns the identity of that Paladin.]]

* TrueFinalBoss: If the player obtains all twelve Satan Gems and masters all the Paladin skills, [[spoiler:they give the gems to Zechs and beat the FinalBoss again. This unlocks a postgame duel with Zechs, who now surpasses Nade's Master Paladin form.]]

* TrialAndErrorGameplay: The duel system requires the player to figure out which dialogue line corresponds to which type of action. In later duels, players will have to memorize facial expressions too.

* ToBeLawfulOrGood: This is briefly discussed when Captain Eagle offers to team up with the party. Chris and Miguel are hesitant to team up with outlaws, but Nade is open to this idea, since they need a ship to reach the next dungeon and he already discerned that Eagle is trustworthy. This establishes that despite being a straight-laced knight, Nade will choose good over the law.

** Durandal's soul allows Nade to stop time in battle, giving him three actions before time flows again. In the postgame, Nade learns an upgraded version that gives him five turns.

* SwordAndFist: The Bluegale style makes use of both swordplay and pugilist techniques. [[spoiler:This is because Jin trained under Emilia in order to supplement his mediocre swordsmanship.]]

** Zechs is a downplayed example due to being a less personal rival to Nade compared to Alex. He's presented as a morally gray figure and an arrogant BloodKnight who refuses to work with Asgard due to historical grudges between the nations, but he's also a reasonable ruler to Vanaheim. He has a strong desire to one-up Nade in order to prove that the Dark Knight is stronger than the Paladin, but he has enough honor to give up his country's Paladin soul, since he wants to fight Nade at his best. [[spoiler:Despite [[HeelFaceTurn forming an alliance with Asgard]], he still wants a rematch with Nade and gets his wish in the TrueFinalBoss fight, where he surpasses Nade's current power and forces the latter to push his limits once more. Unlike most examples, he never uses any questionable power-ups, since his [[DarkIsNotEvil darkness is not corrupt]] like Miasma and is in fact necessary to purify the Satan Gems of their Miasma]].

* SamusIsAGirl: The legendary Hero King, Charlemagne, [[spoiler:is actually Cecilia Charlemagne, the woman in charge of admistering Paladin trials.]]

** Players are expected to farm monster ingredients to synthesize Skill Gems, but there's a very low chance for the monsters to just drop the Skill Gems that they're associated with.

* PurposelyOverpowered: As a Paladin, Nade has very high stat growths and a LimitBreak that is statistically powerful enough to wipe out a pack of early game bosses. He also deals light-elemental damage with his physical attacks, which the majority of enemies are weak to. As a result, the second half of Chapter 1 is easier than the first half. Unfortunately, he gets nerfed in Chapter 2, [[spoiler:since he has to expend his Paladin power to preserve Sophie's fatally wounded body]]. Even then, he keeps learning new skills and regains his stats with each Paladin soul he absorbs, giving him a lot of utility.

* NobleDemon: Zechs knows that Nade has yet to reach the height of his power as a Paladin, so right before their duel, he gives up Gram's Paladin Soul to Nade in order to slightly even the playing field.

* MoralityPet:
** Captain Eagle admits he was tempted to steal from the innocent in order to survive as a pirate, but refrains from doing so because he wants to be a good influence on Will.
** [[spoiler:After Curtis Drake kills all of the Eagle Pirates and leaves Will on the verge of death, Red Rose pulls a HeelFaceTurn in order to save Will's life and give him immortality, fulfilling her promise to Captain Eagle that she would protect Will.]]

* LoopholeAbuse: Nade needs all twelve Paladin Souls to maximize his power as a Paladin. [[spoiler:When Augustus destroys one of the Paladin Souls, Cecilia Charlemagne advises Nade to use his own soul as the twelth.]]

** After becoming a Paladin, Nade goes from being a well-balanced physical attacker to having ridiculously high stat growths and better locked equipment. His {{limit break}}s are strong enough to rip through most bosses' HP bars with ease and he can move before most enemies, even on the highest difficulty.
** Among the non-Paladin characters, Lena has high physical stats and high speed. This makes her a force to be reckoned with in terms of AOE damage and gives her utility in case the player builds her as a support caster.