History VideoGame / ThreeTheHardWay

* WhiteHairBlackHeart: The BigBad, Duke Greene, and an unrelated villainess, Baroness Hasselle, have white hair. They may also qualify as MysticalWhiteHair as they also possess magical powers.
[[spoiler:Iva of the Govan/Clio the Maledictor"]]).

* AerithAndBob: To an extent. We have people with names like Vance, North and Fayette, as well as Lauren, Holly and Anderson. [[spoiler:Though in Anderson's case, it's probably not his real name.]]

* AmbiguouslyHuman: All the Kaibutsu Lords have human appearance. Vance also remarked on the possibility of Kanna and Anderson being this.

* CuteGhostGirl: Lucama, who haunts Fairmont Tower.

* MysticalWhiteHair: Marion, the 500-year old hermit who taught Fayette her healing magic, and Iva, who claimed to be a member of the Govan. [[spoiler:Both of them overlaps with WhiteHairBlackHeart as Iva is revealed to be a Kaibutsu Lord, and Marion is TheManBehindTheMan who orchestrated the First Kaibutstu War]].

* RedBaron: All the Kaibutsu Lords have this: Orrum the "Ravager", Teachy the "Discordian", Clio the "Maledictor", etc.

* WhiteMage: Fayette learns primarily healing magic. She only has one attack skill, the Mystical Hallation, if she equips the Blenheim (which is only equipable if you encounter [[spoiler:Iva of the Govan/Clio the Maledictor"]]).

* TheAlcoholic: Whitaker is almost never sober, much to Gastonia's annoyance.
* AlmightyJanitor: Whitaker is ranked lower than Gastonia despite being stronger than her. Justified because he's an irresponsible drunk.

* OverprotectiveDad: Clifton is an overprotective uncle to Holly. He disapproves her involvement in the quest, and repeatedly attempts to get her leave because he thinks it's too dangerous for her.

* ActionGirl:
** Gastonia, the Captain of the Beaufort Army, and is one of Duke Winston's best soldiers.
** Tatum, the self-proclaimed Queen of Kershaw, and leads an army of bandits to cause trouble in Durham Valley.
** Roper, the Captain of the Dillon army, who is only second to General Orrum in terms of strength.

* AnAxToGrind[=/=]CarryABigStick: [[TheBigGuy Anderson's]] weapon of choice.

* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Duke Greene]] was killed in the second arc, but later returns just before the FinalBattle by [[spoiler:[[GrandTheftMe possessing Duke Winston]].]]
* BaldOfEvil: General Orrum, [[TheDragon Duke Greene's right-hand man]]
* BelligerentSexualTension: Vance and Fayette bickers all the time, but over the course of the game, grows to care for each other. Not that either of them would admit it, of course.

* DamselInDistress: Fayette got kidnapped twice by Duke Greene. Each time, Vance and the others have to bail her out.
* DarkSkinnedBlond: Fayette, Roper and Myrtle, although Roper and Myrtle's hair is white rather than actual blonde.

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:Duke Salem of Burlington]], courtesy to Ramseur.

* EmbarrassingNickname:
** Vance's mother calls him "Vancie", much to his annoyance.
** Subverted with Clifton. He does not appreciate having Vance call him "Cliffy", but he certainly doesn't mind Holly referring him as such.
* EnfantTerrible: The seventh Kaibutsu Lord, [[spoiler:Elko the Perjurer]] takes the form of a child.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: If his final speech is to be believed, Duke Greene does care for his sister, Roper and his lover Castallia.
* TheFightingNarcissist: Vance enjoys talking about his "natural talent and good looks".
* FightsLikeANormal: Implied to be the case with [[spoiler:Anderson]], who primarily fights using normal combat skills despite having the ability to [[OneManArmy take down an entire batallion in a single strike]].
* FourEyesZeroSoul: The bespectacled Duke Greene is also a ruthless psychopath who had betrayed, killed, and destroyed cities for the sake of his ideals.
* FreudianExcuse: [[spoiler:Greene's family was murdered by the Cult of Zebulun, and he was later influenced by Orrum to become the lunatic he is now.]]
* TheGadfly: Manteo, a self-proclaimed Trickster, who'd frequently pop up before the heroes to mess with them.

* HeadbuttingHeroes[=/=]WithFriendsLikeThese: Despite working under the same employer, Vance and Clifton don't get along at all. Vance would find every opportunity to insult/derail Clifton, while the latter would issue death threats.

* HighHeelFaceTurn: Roper is the only female officer in the Dillon army and is the first to defect from Duke Greene's cause. Even if the player didn't manage to recruit her, she could never be fought as an enemy boss.
* HopelessBossFight: Occurs ''twice'', against the same Bosses at that (Benson and Mauldin), during the first journey to Durham Valley. Unlike most examples, however, you must wait for the enemy to use a certain technique on the heroes for the story to move on. If the party dies before that point, it will end with a standard Game Over.

* ItsPersonal: Vance, against Benson and Mauldin (''especially'' Benson) after his encounter and defeat in Pittsboro Desert.
* LightningBruiser: Anderson. Not only does he has the highest HP, base attack and defence among all the playable characters, his agility is above-average and his weapons can sometimes stun enemies. One of his most powerful weapon, the Zanbattou, can dish out damage to the entire enemy party, making it possible to end the normal battles in a single turn.
* LikeFatherLikeSon: Vance's father is as much a jerk as his son. Lampshaded by the Duchess when Vance decided to visit home during his travels.
* LongLostRelative: So [[spoiler:Duke Greene's]] family was brutally massacred in front of a tower. If that BackStory sounds familiar, that's because [[spoiler:Lucama, the ghost girl that haunts the tower]] is his sister.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Vance is a greedy, lazy jerk, but he definitely cares for his friends.
* KillerRabbit: [[spoiler:Manteo's]] true form looks like an actual rabbit - but being a Kaibutsu Lord, is still very powerful, and quite a pain to fight against.
* KnightTemplar: Duke Greene thoroughly believes that what he's doing is "cleansing the world from evil".
* LovableRogue: Holly who despite being a criminal is amiable enough to befriend North.
* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:Marion]] is pretty much the one who orchestrated all the events in the story, [[spoiler:including the first Kaibutsu War 65 years prior]].

* MysteriousPast: It is heavily hinted that [[spoiler:Anderson]] was once a Kaibutsu Lord, but the full details of his BackStory are never revealed.
* MysticalWaif: Kanna definitely qualifies. She's a [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld centuries old]] alchemist who belongs to the [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness mysterious order called the Govan]]. She's quiet, soft-spoken, and enigmatic to the point that several characters considers her "weird"; and while her alchemical items can utterly decimate bosses, she's otherwise useless in normal battles.

* RedHeadedHero: North, who has red hair, and is much more heroic than Vance.

* SheCleansUpNicely: Although it's not apparent from her faceset, Tatum became this during the Beauty Pageant sidequest. [[spoiler:Even ''Manteo'' become speechless at the sight of her.]]
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: Vance would adamantly deny that Duchess Fayette is his girlfriend. Surprisingly, he does not seem to mind when the Severn pixie called him Roper's boyfriend.
* ShootTheDog: King Carolus ordered [[spoiler:Anderson to kill him]] if the conference with the dukes failed.
* SiblingYinYang: Roper and her older sister Myrtle. The former is a NiceGirl who dedicatedly serves under Duke Greene's army. The latter is an irresponsible gambler who openly expresses disdain towards the Duke.
* TheStoic: Vance describes Anderson as being "as cold as ice".

* TraumaCongaLine: North experienced this between the second and third arcs. [[spoiler:First, he is captured by pirates, forcing him to be separated from his fiancée. He then escaped, but just as he was returning home, Duke Greene blew up the town, killing everyone, including North's fiancée. Swearing revenge, North returned to his martial arts school to train, but right after he learnt his final techniques, Orrum showed up and killed North's master (whom North considers a [[ParentalSubstitute father figure]]). North returned to Somerset to hunt Orrum down and came back just in time to witness Orrum murder his real father and get away with it.]]

* WhyCantIHateYou: Roper to Duke Greene, even after the latter destroyed her village and murdered her sister.

* AnAxToGrind[=/=]DropTheHammer: Anderson's weapon of choice.

* CuteGhostGirl: Lucama, who haunts Fairmont Lighthouse.

* EmbarrassingNickname: Vance's mother calls him "Vancie", much to his annoyance.

* WhiteHairBlackHeart: The BigBad, Duke Greene, and an unrelated vilainess, Baroness Hasselle, have white hair. They may also qualify as MysticalWhiteHair as they also possess magical powers.

* HeelFaceTurn: If Roper is present when the party tries to confront Orrum, she will convince Dunn to betray Orrum. Although he never left the army, he was determined to use his promotion free Dillon from Duke Greene's influence.
* HeadbuttingHeroes[=/=]WithFriendsLikeThese: Despite working under the same employer, Vance and Clifton don't get along at all. At one point, this was discussed by Kanna.

* ActionGirl: Captain Roper of Dillon, second only to General Orrum in terms of strength. The Bandit Queen, Tatum, may also count.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Duke Greene is finally defeated, but not before he annihilated several towns.]]

* CuteGhostGirl: Lucana, who haunts Fairmont Lighthouse.
* CutscenePowerToTheMax: A justified example with Kanna. The first time she appears in the game, she managed to wipe out entire armies, but when she becomes playable, she is practically useless in battle - having low HP/MP, very weak attack that uses up MP and doesn't have any worthwhile skills. When Vance lampshades this, she explains that her "powers" are derived from Alchemy, and the one she demonstrated in the cutscene was her most powerful spell, which would be very difficult to recreate because of the rare ingredients it requires.

* FightsLikeANormal: Implied to be the case with [[spoiler:Anderson]]. He
* FourEyesZeroSoul: Duke Greene

* TheGadfly: Manteo the Trickster.

* KnightTemplar: Duke Greene thoroughly believes that what he's doing is "cleansing the world of evil".
* LovableRogue: Holly, the self-proclaimed World Famous Thief.

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Most of The Govan members, such as Kanna and Marion, are centuries old - they are implied to be immortal. The Kaibutsu Lords does not appear age either.

* WhiteHairBlackHeart: Both Duke Greene, the BigBad, and Baroness Haselle, an unrelated villainess, have white hair. They may also qualify as MysticalWhiteHair as they also possess magical powers.

* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Duke Greene was killed in the second arc, but later returns for the FinalBattle by [[GrandTheftMe possessing Duke Winston]].]]

* BelligerentSexualTension: Between Vance and Fayette. Not that either of them would admit it, of course.

* FightsLikeANormal: Implied to be the case with [[spoiler:Anderson]].

* MysticalWhiteHair: Iva of the Govan. Marion might also qualify, but her hair is pale blue rather than white

* [[OverprotectiveDad Overprotective Uncle]]: [[spoiler:Clifton]] to Holly.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Kanna, Marion, the Kaibutsu Lords [[spoiler:and possibly Anderson]].

* ShootTheDog: [[spoiler:King Carolus orders Anderson to kill him if the conference with the dukes failed.]]

* WhiteHairBlackHeart: Duke Greene and Baroness Haselle. Both may qualify for MysticalWhiteHair as well.

* BaldOfEvil: General Orrum

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Benson and Mauldin

* KillerRabbit: [[spoiler:Manteo's]] true form.

* AlchemyIsMagic: Alchemy is definitely treated as magic, to the extent that Kanna's alcehmical items is actually referred as "spells". And having the knowledge of alchemy allowed Duke Greene to build a giant PowerCystal that can annihilate entire cities at will.

* CutscenePowerToTheMax: A justified example with Kanna. The first time she appears in the game, she managed to wipe out entire armies, but when she becomes playable, she had very poor stats, especially when compared to the likes of Anderson. When Vance lampshades this, she explains that her "powers" are derived from Alchemy, and the one she demonstrated in the cutscene was her most powerful spell, which would be very difficult to recreate because of the rare ingredients it requires.

''Three The Hard Way'' is a popular RPG Maker 2000 game made by [[http://rpgmaker.net/users/iishenron/ iishenron]].It was released in 2003, and was very well-received by most gaming communities across the internet.

The game is set in the fictional Kingdom of Durham, where a mysterious group of monsters known as "Kaibutsu" had appeared and ravaged the land. The power of the Kaibutsu were overwhelming, and it seemed that all hope is lost for mankind, until a hero named Carolus defeated the leader of Kaibutsu (who happened to be his sister), saved the nation, and became king. Flash forward 65 years - the king, now weakened by age, had since delegated his political powers to three of his vassal dukes, who unfortunately had vastly different ideas on how to run the kingdom.

From there, the plot becomes increasingly more complex. While the storyline itself, for most part, is quite linear, the player's choices and actions would unlock varying plot and dialogue branches, giving plenty of [[RewatchBonus replay bonuses]].

A non-direct sequel, called ''The Queen's Court'' was announced in 2007, though it seemed to be on-hiatus. According to the creator, the sequel will be a Simulation, rather than a Role-Playing game.

!!''Three The Hard Way'' contains examples of:

* AerithAndBob: To an extent. We have people with names like Vance, North and Fayette, as well as Lauren, Holly and Anderson. [[spoiler:Though in Anderson's case, it's probably not his real name]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Duke Greene is finally defeated, but not before he completely annihilated several towns, and ]]

* FreudianExcuse: [[spoiler: Greene's family was murdered by the Cult of Zebulun, and he was later influenced by Orrum to become the lunatic he is now]]

* HeadbuttingHeroes/WithFriendsLikeThese: Despite working under the same employer, Vance and Clifton don't get along at all. At one point, this was discussed by Kanna.

* InUniverseGameClock: Has a day/night system, each phase lasting for about 3 minutes. Clock stand stills when the characters are indoors, however.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Vance is a greedy, lazy, jerk, but he definitely cares for his friends.

* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:Marion]] is pretty much the one who orchestrate the whole events in the story, [[spoiler:including the first Kaibutsu War 65 years prior.]]

* [[OverprotectiveDad Overprotective Uncle]]: [[spoiler:Clifton]] to Holly

* RedHeadedHero: North, who has red-hair, and is much more heroic than Vance.
* SequelHook: The game ends with not much closure. [[spoiler:North and Kanna discovers the seal of Candor, which throughout the whole game was treated as just a myth. This changes pretty much everything we have come to know of the game's universe. Fayette agreed to become queen against Anderson's warning, then Vance got himself into trouble while investigating a bounty, leaving Fayette alone with the apparently evil noble they were visiting]].
* SheCleansUpNicely: Although it's not apparent from her faceset, Tatum became this during the Beauty Pageant sidequest. [[spoiler:Even ''Manteo'' become speechless at the sight of her]].

* ShootTheDog: [[spoiler: King Carolus orders Anderson to kill him if the conference with the dukes failed]].
* TraumaCongaLine: North experienced this between the 2nd and 3rd arc. [[spoiler: First, he is captured by pirates, forcing him to be separated from his fiancée. He then escaped, but just as he was returning home, Duke Greene blew up the town, killing everyone including his fiancée. Swearing revenge, he returned to his martial arts school to train, but right after he learnt his final techniques, Orrum shows up and killed his master (whom he considers a [[ParentalSubstitute father figure]]). He returned to Somerset to hunt him down and came back just in time to witness Orrum murder his real father and got away with it.]]
* VagueAge: Aside from Holly, who explicitly mentions that she's 23, and Fayette, whose 21st Birthday celebration was a plot point, none of the player characters' exact age are revealed.

* TheFightingNarcissist: Vance enjoys talking about his "natural talent and good looks".

* SequelHook: The game ends with not much closure. [[spoiler:North and Kanna discovers the seal of Candor, which throughout the whole game was treated as just a myth. Fayette agreed to become queen against Anderson's warning, and Vance got himself into trouble while investigating a bounty, leaving Fayette alone with the apparently evil noble they were visiting]].

The game is set in the fictional Kingdom of Durham, where a mysterious group of monsters known as "Kaibutsu" had appeared and ravaged the land. Their power was overwhelming, and it seemed that all hope is lost for mankind, until a hero named Carolus defeated the leader of Kaibutsu (who happened to be his sister), save the nation, and became king. Flash forward 65 years - the king, now weakened by age, had since delegated his political powers to three of his vassal dukes, who unfortunately had vastly different ideas on how to run the kingdom.