Line #42 VisualNovel/Ascension2013


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tumblr_inline_mxyryjiigv1qgbb9w.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:From left to right: [[NiceGuy Kole]], [[WhiteMagicianGirl Sky]], [[CheerfulChild Seena]], [[TallDarkAndHandsome Zander]], [[ActionGirl Aida]], [[TheStoic Faelern]], [[TeamMom Tillie]], [[ChivalrousPervert Jace]], and [[TheMedic Kyra]].]]
3	''Ascension'' was a free visual novel made by Roman Alkan, A.K.A. Rinmaru (now of the company [=LarkyLabs=]). The story takes place in a world called Arunia that is populated with 7 different races. The main protagonist, Aida, and her best friend of six years, Sky, are investigating what Sky's mother's journals hold when they encounter some new friends and a 23 year old secret.
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5	A manga adaptation was drawn by [[http://princeofredroses.deviantart.com/ [=PrinceOfRedRoses=]]], aka Kei, and hosted on the [=ImpQueen=] website.
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7	In 2018, Rinmaru briefly removed the games and the manga from the internet due to harassing messages she had been receiving from younger fans. She also dropped the fourth chapter she was working on, "Echoes in the Dark", and has no plans to continue any development on the series. The games ''were'' reinstated on [=RinmaruGames=], but only until the shutdown of Adobe Flash in December 2020 and the subsequent shuttering of the [=RinmaruGames=] website. They can no longer be played.
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9	Not to be confused with ''Series/AscensionMiniseries'' or especially fellow visual novel ''VisualNovel/Ascension2021''.
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12	!!Ascension contains examples of:
13	* ActionGirl: Aida most prominently, but Tillie and Sky have their moments.
14	* AndYourRewardIsClothes: For exploring the world. There are also several outfits available for purchase throughout all three chapters.
15	* AngerBornOfWorry: Sky goes so far as to attack [[spoiler: Aida]] in Chapter 2 because she believed [[spoiler:she was dead while in hiding on Sundrop Island.]]
16	* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Any of the 3 love interests Aida chooses in Chapter 2 will do this when they believe [[spoiler:Aida is going to die.]]
17	* ArousedByTheirVoice: It is revealed that all Kaleiks have heavenly voices, and MonochromaticEyes.
18	* ArtEvolution: Each chapter gets progressively more polished, with better spelling, grammar, and UI, as well as additional features like the inventory screen, relationship and mood indicators for companions, and the varieties of choices for Aida's dialogues.
19	* BadassArmy: The Eagles and the Silver Order. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] by the Knight Order who were manipulated by the Eagles and masssacred.
20	* BadassCrew: Aida's team. The Eagles also count.
21	* BarBrawl: In the first chapter, [[AntiHero Aida and Sky]] fake a bar brawl to get the other customers riled up, providing them with a distraction to steal their money.
22	* BelligerentSexualTension: Aida and Jace's romance has shades of this early in the story.
23	* BetaCouple: Tillie and Airdan; they begin a relationship [[OffscreenRomance off-screen]] and get married in Chapter 3. Also, in Chapter 3, [[spoiler: Sky and Diego]].
24	* BlondeBrunetteRedhead:
25	** Aida's friends in chapter two, Seena (blonde), Sky (brunette), and Tillie (redhead). Also, Aida herself as the blonde (technically, white hair) with Tillie and Sky.
26	** Aida's love interests also count: Jace, Faelern (blonde), Zander (brunette), and Kole (redhead).
27	* BodyHorror: The Silver Order's weapons are made from the [[spoiler: molten, petrified flesh of unwanted Valondian civilians]], they burn the flesh they touch, and being wounded by one of these will [[spoiler: turn you into metal]].
28	* CombatPragmatist: Aida and Sky, mainly because they're thieves at the beginning of the game.
29	* ClusterBleepBomb: This happens in Chapter 1 when [[spoiler: Aida and Jace are imprisoned in the Eagles Hideout.]]
30	* ColdBloodedTorture: Aida is subjected to this in the third chapter when [[spoiler: she is captured by Kael]].
31	* DangerDeadpan: During ''every'' battle scene, there is a good amount of this in play.
32	* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: Necromancy, the Black Magic, is [[ImpliedTrope implied]] to be this, and in the first chapter, if you discuss it with the librarian, she implies that to bring one back to life, you must take the life of another. Either way, practicing necromancy is a crime punishable by death in the ''Ascension'' verse. [[spoiler: If Aida romanced Zander in Chapter 1, it's revealed he dabbled in necromancy to try and bring Aida back due to believing she was dead. Tillie, believing he actually did it, will slap him across the face, whilst Aida herself is shocked and can potentially break up with him over it]].
33	* DeadpanSnarker: Aida has shades of this. Zander too, especially with [[TheDitz Jace]], [[DefrostingIceKing Faelern]], and [[PlatonicLifePartners Tillie]].
34	* DisproportionateRetribution: Seena's tribe exiled her from her clan for rightfully slapping a kid ''insulting her father''.
35	* DrinkingContest: One occurs in the third chapter. If you win, you get a pair of blue earrings.
36	* ElementalPowers: It is revealed by Sky that humans can learn magic by training to become an Alchemist, but they are limited to one elemental power to use.
37	* ElvesVersusDwarves[=/=]SlobsVersusSnobs:
38	** During the party scene in the beginning of the third chapter, when you speak with Tillie, she alludes to this sort of thing, with Moon elves hiring dwarves to mine for them in Ildis. Tillie and Zander actually get on very well, though Zander's parents aren't impressed by him palling around with a dwarf.
39	** Ildisian society still enforces this, with Tillie telling Aida that the Moon elves still see dwarves as "dirty miners from Doregon" despite having lived in Ildis for generations. Aida protests the idea.
40	* EmotionlessGirl: Female Nobles are this, while female Moon elves try to be this.
41	* EvilTwin: [[spoiler:Kael, [[TheHeroine Aida's]] twin brother.]]
42	* EvilUncle: Inverted with Aida's uncle, who [[spoiler: helps Aida defeat Kael]] in Chapter 3.
43	* FacelessMooks: The Eagles thugs usually have their faces concealed by hoods, with no discernable features.
44	* {{Fanservice}}: Many of Aida's outfits are this, featuring corsets and bared midriffs. Jace walks around half shirtless, whilst all Faelern wears is leather pants and some straps across his chest. Tillie's outfit in Chapter 2 shows a ''lot'' of cleavage.
45	* FanservicePack: Zander and especially Tillie both get a lot more attractive in Chapter 2, wearing more revealing outfits.
46	* FantasticRacism: The Moon elves show this towards dwarves and Lith. It is implied that young Lith are taken in as [[MadeASlave slaves]] by Moon elves.
47	* FantasyWorldMap: Shows up in the loading pages when the team or Aida is travelling.
48	* FeministFantasy: The central protagonist is Aida, a snarky, asskicking thief-turned-hero who is unapologetic about any of this. Other major characters include Sky and Tillie; although Sky spends a lot of the first chapter as rather timid and ProneToTears, she's still quite brave and loyal, and later takes some serious levels in badass to become a powerful magic user. Tillie is a very intelligent alchemist who defied dwarf stereotypes to follow her passion and aspires to open a magic school. There are also numerous supporting or minor badass and strong-minded female characters.
49	* [[FirstGirlWins First Guy Wins]]: If you choose to romance Zander, who is the first romantic interest that Aida meets.
50	* GoodScarsEvilScars: Aida has a single, diagonal scar on her stomach from [[spoiler:Kael's]] attempt to kill her.
51	* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Sky and Aida.
52	* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: During the third chapter, the player meets some male prostitutes in The Silk.
53	* InhumanEmotion: Zander is prone to this as he is a mage, and they are known have 10 times greater emotions than other people.
54	* ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies: Aida spends a good part of the second chapter avoiding her TrueCompanions and would've never met up with them again if she hadn't run into Zander while in Taran because she believes she's being hunted by the Eagles and doesn't want to endanger her friends. Zander calls Aida out on this.
55	--> '''Zander''': To avoid the pain of losing anyone you care about...You made us suffer instead.
56	* LadyLand: '''Adeshia'''. Thanks to mythology about a man having cursed Adeshia, Adeshia is not very male-friendly. Many men are sold into prostitution at The Silk, which is owned by a woman. In ''Ascension: Echoes in the Dark'', there is even a small group fighting for men's rights, similar to feminism in the real world.
57	* LongHairedPrettyBoy: Many of the Ascension-verse males are this, including Zander, Faelern, Victor and Kole.
58	* LuminescentBlush: Often with the protagonists, especially Zander and Aida.
59	* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler: Synius is the one who controls King Kael.]]
60	* MoodWhiplash: During the ship scene of the third chapter, Aida goes from brawling with stray pirates to watching on the sidelines as Captain Nina chides the pirates and settles for a date with a pirate [[spoiler: revealed to be her estranged, on-off ''husband'']]. The music even changes during this scene.
61	* MysticalWhiteHair: Aida has this due to her Noble heritage, which makes them stand out (to the point where in the first chapter Aida has to obtain a cloak to hide her hair and make herself less noticeable).
62	* NoodleIncident: For some reason, the events that happened in a place called "Appletown" are never fully explained, and Aida and Sky reportedly laugh whenever it is mentioned.
63	* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: All nobles who try to open the gates are killed. Aida survives.
64	* NoWomansLand:
65	** Ildis, as folk believe that women [[HystericalWoman cannot control their emotions]], and they either become subservient to men, or the more outspoken ones are objects of lust.
66	** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in Adeshia, where the men are looked down upon, and even sold into sex slavery.
67	* OfficialCouple: Played with, as Aida can choose between a few different love interests (or none at all if the player prefers) and none of them are mandated by canon. Her options include Zander, Jace, Faelern and Kole (although Zander seems to be [[FanPreferredCouple the most popular choice]]).
68	%%* OurElvesAreDifferent: The Moon and Sun elves.
69	* {{Polyamory}}: Justified in Adeshia, as Adeshian people believe that people need great deals of affection and emotional support due to the strain of poverty.
70	* PoorCommunicationKills: [[spoiler: Diego and the Eagles ambush Aida in the temple on Valond Mountain in the second chapter because he believes that she wants to take control of the Silver Army for herself. She's actually there to stop them, same as the Eagles.]]
71	* RagtagBunchOfMisfits[=/=]TrueCompanions: Aida and company.
72	* ReallyRoyaltyReveal: [[spoiler: Aida]] is revealed to be the Crown Princess of [[spoiler: Valond at the end of Chapter 2]]. Subverted in that [[spoiler: Aida decides that she doesn't want to reign over Valond, and wishes to live for herself and her TrueCompanions]].
73	* SecondLove: Possible if you romance one guy in one chapter, then break it off and romance another in the next.
74	* ShaggyDogStory: The third chapter's plot includes [[spoiler: rescuing Victor from King Kael]]. [[spoiler: He dies by Aida's hand]].
75	* ShirtlessScene: Often, including WalkingShirtlessScene characters Faelern and Victor. Also, [[spoiler: Zander]] if you speak with him during the first scene of the third chapter and [[spoiler: use the "Cunning" option]]. There was much {{Squee}}-ing.
76	%%* StandardFantasyRaces: The work features Humans, Moon elves, Sun elves and Dwarves, as well as Lith, Kaleiks and Nobles.
77	* StepfordSuburbia: [[spoiler: Valond, where the homeless and such are hidden away in dungeons, courtesy of King Kael.]]
78	* TheStoic: The Nobles and most Moon elves are this.
79	* StrongFamilyResemblance: Aida bears a striking similarity to [[spoiler: her mother, Queen Kathleen.]]
80	* SuperDeformed: Plenty of this in the manga.
81	* TrainingFromHell: If you speak to the librarian, Rin, in the first chapter about mages, she reveals that mages are starved, have induced nightmares,and such for months until they can use their magic without the risk of PowerIncontinence. It's [[ImpliedTrope implied]] that many mages are DrivenToSuicide from it.
82	* WalkingShirtlessScene: Faelern and Victor.
83	* WhamEpisode:
84	** [[spoiler: Aida's dream in chapter 2 which reveals that the Old Kingdom was a prison, and that the old kings ordered the nobles to slaughter everyone for taking part in an uprising against them.]]
85	** Also earlier in chapter 2, Malvin (the old bearded guy on Sundrop Island) revealing that [[spoiler: the opening of the gates will allow the nobles from the Old Kingdom to escape and carry out their orders of mass murder. And it's Aida's fault.]]
86	* WhiteHairBlackHeart: Most Nobles are emotionless "perfect soldiers". Kael in particular stands out.
87	* WorldBuilding: Very intricately developed, from differing views on sexuality, to various different types of magic and views regarding magic, to seven different races of people, to a rich history of Arunia's lands.
88	* YouAreNotAlone: Aida is constantly being reminded of this throughout the chapters, especially the second one.

Context VisualNovel / Ascension2013