Video Game / Książę i Tchórz

You wanted to be a prince, and now you want to go to Hell.

Arivald: Hello there, young man. Who are you, a grave robber?

Galador: No way! I'm... Ugh, it's not that easy to explain, because, you know...

Arivald: Oh. And I always thought that's the easiest question in the world.

In a medieval fantasy world, a lazy yet cunning young man spends his days by visiting a tavern, listening to bards and dreaming about being a hero. One day, his dreams come true when a demon appears before him and suggests him to sign a contract to become a prince. Thrilled by the possibilities, the young man does so, and his soul gets immediately transferred to the body of a local prince named Galador... who was just preparing for a fight with a Black Knight twice his size.

Obviously, this was not what newly-minted "Galador" expected. And he does exactly what everyone else would do in such a situation: runs away.

Now, with the King being enraged at his own son up to denudifying him from all political rights, Galador, hiding at the local graveyard and not knowing where to go and what to do next, decides to Set Right What Once Went Wrong. After a series of circumstances, he convinces the local gravedigger to revive some dead soul for help, and, eventually, from his thousand-year-old grave, emerges Arivald, a powerful wizard and a hopeless alcoholic. Even though Arivald's mind is centered mostly on the bottle, he helps Galador out and reveals him the only way to solve his problem with the demon: he must go to Hell. Literally.

Książę i Tchórz (The Prince and the Coward) is a Polish point-and-click Adventure Game by Metropolis Software released in 1998. At Poland's then-spurting video game market, it became a huge success and for some time, held the title of the best Polish game. It uses the SCUMM engine, and its aesthetics are very similar to The Curse of Monkey Island, yet filled with specific Polish-coloured humour and a huge amount of snark. It was officially translated into German by the title Galador: Der Fluch des Prinzen. Later, the German version was semi-officially localized in Russia, with a lot of technical mistakes, mistranslations and bizarre dub voices. Nevertheless, memories of this game still travel across Russia, Germany and Poland, but nowhere else: it was neither translated into English nor ever re-released and, therefore, remains one of the most obscure games...

... until GOG.com released it in November 2021, not only clearing the old translations, but also adding English version.

---

This game provides examples of:

• The Alcoholic: Arivald's whole life is heavily associated with beer. He constantly remarks about beer in his narration, tells stories about previous drinking experience when revived, and for the most of the plot, drinks in the tavern without end. And he does not like when he's interrupted without reason. In the Russian dub, he's given a ridiculously drunken voice.
  Arivald: Between cold beer and a lovely conversation with you, what would you think I'd choose?
• Anti-Hero: Galador's new body may be of a heroic prince, yet his soul is of an original poor and uneducated, yet cunning and creative bloke who just wanted to get famous without too much of a fuss. And now he's just trying to set everything right.
• Ancient Tomb: On his quest, Galador visits one, guarded by the ghosts of warriors fallen there and who are nothing but illusion to scare gravediggers away. A mighty warrior is buried there, whose skeleton still holds a magical knuckleduster in his hand and will surely share it if asked properly.
• Apothecary Alligator: A variety is in the Alchemist's shop: instead of an alligator, the Alchemist has a living lizard in a cage.
• Attack Reflector: To defeat the gargoyle in the Fjord Castle, Galador will have to have the Homunculus to cover its eyes and to reflect its fiery breath back to the gargoyle with a mirror.
• Ask a Stupid Question...: With the overall snarky nature of the game, there are some moments when the other characters outsnark the protagonist asking them questions.
  • The monk from the tavern, trying to get fat for travelling to the country where mostly fat people live and for blending with the locals, is definitely ready for every situation:
    Galador: What if in the country you'll have to visit all people are twice shorter?
    Monk: Then I'll attach wheels to my knees.
    Galador: And if they're twice taller?
    Monk: Then I'll be walking on stilts.
    Galador: And if they're twice dumber?
    Monk: Then I'll send you instead of going myself.
  • The Dwarf clearly describes the logical solution on fighting a dragon.
    Galador: Say, you're the strongest lad here, so I have a question for you. How to defeat a dragon?
    Dwarf: You probably want to know how YOU can defeat a dragon, eh? Well, there's a very easy way to do it. Take ten dwarves strong as me, show them where the dragon lives, and hide somewhere while they fight.
    Galador: Very funny. You dwarves are so sublime in your sense of humour.
    Dwarf: I'm not joking. Human against dragon, that's ridiculous!
• Back from the Dead: In the beginning of the game, Arivald is brought back from the dead by the gravedigger goblin. In the epilogue, both Galador and Shandria are brought back from Hell after their problems are solved.
• Badass Bookworm: Arivald, the powerful wizard, is always eager to immerse into an interesting book. He is not that eager when it comes to a decision between a drink and a book, but when Arivald and Galador finally get to Silmanion, they acquire a spell book and, instead of resuming his drinking, Arivald decides to stay there and to keep reading the book.
• The Bard: One of them is sitting at the tavern writing his poetry. By tricking him, Galador can acquire some useful tools to help him on his journey.
• Bargain with Heaven: At one point of the game, you'll encounter an ancient god named Zandahan. Since he's slowly dying, Galador can offer him a deal, that is, to remove the gravedigger's curse on your items in exchange for Elixir of Immortality.
• Berserk Button: Some of the characters have one, such as:
  • Trying to get Masked Lady to remove her mask.
  • Stealing from the goblin gravedigger.
  • The butcher from the future really, really hates when someone interferes with his work.
  • Doubting the imprisoned criminal's professionalism.
• Big Eater: A monk in the tavern just keeps sitting there and eating. Justified, since he's about to travel as a missionary to an abroad country where people are mostly obese due to eating a lot, and slim people are considered alien and are disrespected there.
  • He himself doesn't even look like a Fat Slob or some other typical character he strives to become, due to him constantly working for food:
    Galador: Such a humble person dines in an expensive tavern, how's that possible?
    Monk: Don't worry, my son, I gave a poverty vow, not a starvation vow. I do small work here and they give me food for that. Then again, it gives me a problem... To eat more, I have to work more. And to work more, I have to eat more. The more I work, the thinner I become. That's one vicious circle.
• Blind Mistake: Princess Sheila is extremely short-sighted, so much that when Galador comes into her bedroom transformed into a bear, she immediately considers him to be her brother, just a bit... unusual. A bit grown-up, hairy and with mustache. Then, although she considered him way too unkempt, he manages to convince her to kiss him just by putting one of her ribbons on himself.
  Galador: growls in his bear form
  Sheila: And your voice got lower as well. That's so wonderful. You've become a man!
• Brawn Hilda: The Bard is married on one of these, and even though he gets Henpecked Husband treatment, they are happily married.
• Break Them by Talking: Even though the prisoner in a pillory insists that he's absolutely innocent, Galador can find the truth in a very easy way — doubt that he can even perform something criminal:
  Galador: To be honest, you look like a man who wouldn't even hurt a fly. No offence, but it looks that you're more likely to get robbed yourself than to rob someone.
  Prisoner: Let's not exaggerate! I'm not that weak.
  Galador: Look at your hands, they're too rough. These are not the hands of a thief.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Aside from No Fourth Wall in the prologue and epilogue, when Arivald tells the story directly to the player, there is one ambiguous line in the plot he says when Galador tries to ask help from him without direct reason:
  Arivald: Miracles do happen, and you might be able to finish the game without looking for a solution.
• Brick Joke: A dilapidated poster in the tavern mentions a reward for finding a girl named Shandria; the poster also contains a picture of her, but it's all faded and barely recognizable. When Galador finally gets to check out the Masked Lady, who is chained in the dragon's lair, he remarks that he have seen someone very similar somewhere. Towards the end of the game, it is finally revealed that the Masked Lady was actually Shandria all along, and she just used her mask to escape from her overly protective father.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Arivald is a very powerful wizard, yet he is way too fond of binge-drinking. He spends most of the plot in a tavern drinking without end, even when brought some interesting magical artifacts: he just checks them out for some time and then resumes his way to the tipsy town.
  Galador: I see you put the book away. That's it, studies are over?
  Arivald: Science is eternal, but beer fizzles out.
• Bubblegloop Swamp: Near Silmanion, there's a swamp that's so disgustingly stinky that Galador refuses to come closer. The only way to finally reach it is to drink some Elixir of Speed and do your business quickly.
• The Bully:
  • The Dwarf at the tavern decided to be one due to lack of demand for his battle capabilities, and the first time Galador encounters him, he forces him out of the tavern. Yet apparently, he's not actually an evil person inside, if the Necromancer's amulet and the Big Eater monk to be believed.
    Monk: Poor creature. He's a great warrior, but just cannot go out and test his might. That's why he provokes others for a living. Yet deep inside, he's just a big baby. He just likes shiny things, like any dwarf does.
  • Later, Galador manages to warm him up by giving him a ruby. And then, later on the plot, we realize that his beer stein is not just a mere tool for him, which hints on his emotional inner self.
• Candlelit Ritual: Sinners in Hell are sorted into cells by sin heaviness with a magical circle and three different candles. This ritual is performed by a distributor demon, and later, Galador can perform it as well by removing the demon from the scene.
• Carry a Big Stick:
  • The door to Hell is guarded by a demon with a club. Apparently, he has way too much confidence in his club, because when Galador disarms him, he retreats.
    Galador: That's one brave demon.
  • Later, the distributor demon can be seen brandishing a club. And then Galador gets one for himself to knock out the same demon.
• Coins for the Dead: The Soul Ferryman would only take those dead people who have coins under their tongues. Since both Galador and the Masked Lady need to go to Hell, they have to search for specific coins. Later they get the goblin gravedigger a pet rat, the one he dreamed about, and sell it to him for two such coins.
• Companion Cube: The Dwarf absolutely adores his beer stein. When Galador and the Masked Lady steal it, he gets so upset he just sits at the table and cries without end. And starts smooching his stein all over when it's returned.
• Consummate Professional: Two of the characters demonstrate this trait very significantly, with the first being the herb merchant ranting about royal cooks not using some mysterious "wolf mushroom sauce" while making some particular dish, and the second one being the unknown old man visiting the Alchemist's shop later on the plot, who immediately feels the presence of Galador's amulet (the one he took from the grave at the beginning of the plot) and starts questioning him.
• Consummate Liar: Galador lies without even breaking a stride to acquire whatever he needs. At least he's not openly malicious and just wants to fix all those things up.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: In Hell, punishment is delivered by sending people into virtual reality chambers.
  • The solitary Chamber of Light Sins contains only a fireplace, a bench for two, a wall decoration and a rug.
    Galador: That bench is for two, but the chamber is solitary. Boredom, depression, despair... And that's just for light sins!
  • What happens in the Chamber of Grave Sins, where there's literally nothing inside, aside for some shackles, is better not to think about.
  • The VIP Lounge is reserved for people who committed the worst possible sins, and differs from the other ones drastically. See below for Maximum Fun Chamber.
    Galador: A big sign saying "VIP Lounge". There's a little addendum here... "Beta Version".
• Cowardly Lion: Later on his journey, Galador grows from a Combat Pragmatist coward to, well, still a coward, but who's not afraid of bravery. He gets to bargain with an Ancient God, then with the Sun, save his Damsel in Distress three times in a row, punch a dragon in the face, try to trick Lucifer's guards and then assault them (unsuccessfully).
• Cursed Item: When the gravedigger goblin realizes that Galador yanked some valuable items away from his nose, he curses them out of anger. Later, people would refuse to accept them, feeling as they have something evil inside.
• Damsel in Distress: The Masked Lady, even she really wants to be a hero. Distress seem to like her: not only Galador has to free her, right after she's freed, she gets in trouble, and then, later, again.
• Dark Is Evil:
  • In the world of the game, otherworldly evil beings are Weakened by the Light. That's why the Fjord Castle is the only place where the local baddies can thrive, since Lord Sun is so disgusted by the place he never shines there.
  • In Hell, this gets averted, since all demons Galador meets are an Amazing Technicolor Population. Nevertheless, Galador tries to play this trope straight by making a black demon suit so he could use it as a disguise: he dips a red bodysuit into a cauldron of boiling tar, thus painting it black, and attaches horns to the hood of the suit. The demons, however, are almost convinced.
• Deadpan Snarker: There are a lot of them here: Galador, Arivald, the Hermit, merchants, almost everyone, to the point that snarky comments are the game's main source of humour. Galador, as the protagonist, gets to comment on almost every object, with the most interesting objects getting more snark.
• Deal with the Devil: Galador getting involved into one kickstarts the whole plot.
• Delivery Guy Infiltration: Inverted: Galador puts on a veil and pretends to be the poisoner woman, then the witch comes to him and sells him a poison, not realizing the fact that she's dealing with a wrong person.
• Diagonal Cut: To bypass the Hell guard, Galador drinks some of the Elixir of Speed, turns his dagger into a sword and performs a spectacular spin around the guard. When immediately after that the guard tries to threaten Galador with his club, it falls apart in slices, making him run away in shock.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Yes, that's right, Galador gets to punch a huge fire-breathing dragon in the face. Originally, as the Dwarf remarks, it would be useless due to Galador being weak and the dragon having very sturdy skin. Only after Galador enhances his strength both with the magical knuckleduster and with the Troll's Power spell, he punches the dragon... just for the said dragon to utter "I'm sorry" and to go away.
• Dirty Coward: At the beginning of his quest, Galador begins as an utter coward. Only later, he grows some spine and begins to act like a hero of sorts, but right after he is transported into a body of a prince, he realizes that he's about to engage into a duel with a Black Knight, and...
  Arivald (narrating): Well, what had he left to do? He did exactly what would all of us would do after suddenly appearing right in front of a Black Knight twice your size. He ran away!
• Distracted by the Sexy: When the Masked Lady finally emoves her mask and reveals her identity, Galador can't take his eyes from her. Right after that, she flirts a bit with one of the demons who guard Lucifer's throne room (possibly to distract him from the fact that Galador's demon disguise is not quite perfect).
  Shandria: I'm not that little girl Daddy considers me to be.
  Galador: I can see that...
• Domino Mask: The Masked Lady wears one. Apparently, this is enough to conceal her identity completely.
• Doomed Hometown: When Galador needs help with defeating the dragon, Arivald finally gets some guts to leave the bottle away and leads him to his hometown, Silmanion, who once was a famous centre of wizardry and magical education. Too bad it was a thousand years ago, and it appears that Silmanion was abandoned for a long time ago and is in ruins now.
  Arivald: Ummm... well... years do pass.
• Dramatic Thunder: When Arivald is narrating the prologue, he mentions that when main character signs the contract with the Devil, a thunder strikes, after which he becomes Galador. It comes later as Book Ends in the end of the game, when the thunder strikes after Lucifer announces that the protagonists are as guilty as the demon who tricked them both.
• Dramatic Unmask: Before visiting Lucifer, the Masked Lady finally decides to remove her mask so that the guards won't recognize her and so that Lucifer would be able to recognize her. Now consider the fact that she spent almost the whole plot wearing her mask and refusing to even talk about it.
• Dressing as the Enemy:
  • Convincing the Masked Lady to remove her mask and put the poisoner's veil would be impossible. Therefore, Galador would have to impersonate the poisoner woman himself; since he would have to say only one line and buy the poison from the client, this presents not a single problem.
  • Later, Galador tries to visit Lucifer and makes himself a demon suit. This time, his disguise is not that convincing:
    Lucifer's Guard: Listen, maybe you're a demon after all, but if something goes wrong, Lucifer would make angels out of us. Grow up a bit and then return.
• Driven to Suicide: Basically, throughout a significant part of the plot, Galador and the Masked Lady are trying to kill themselves properly, so that they could go to Hell and find the one who was the reason behind their misadventures.
• Elixir of Life: At one point, Galador finds a flask of one. The interesting part is that he finds it in Arivald's grave. Probably the man just wanted to take a rest from his adventures.
• Fake Food: Lost of tasty-looking food made of completely inedible painted materials adorn the VIP Lounge of Hell, making it different from the other ones (probably because it's still in a beta version). One of the pieces is a huge roasted fowl made of stone; using the fact that he gets teleported back in a few seconds after entering the room, Galador can grab on one of the fowl's legs and return back to the hub with a heavy and dangerous club in his hand.
• The Ferryman: When Galador and the Masked Lady put coins under their tongues and poison themselves, at night, the Soul Ferryman comes on a boat to collect their bodies and to deliver them to Hell. After a bit of thinking, one would wonder why did he took their bodies and not just souls, when the bodies are supposed to stay at the mortal world. There are graveyards there.
• Fire and Brimstone Hell: Although the local Hell fits the typical picture, it looks more like a system of caves filled with lava and boiling water, and still follows about the same level of technical advancement that is up there in the mortal world.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: At one point, Galador needs garlic. The problem is, it suddenly disappeared from the market and became a rarity, so Arivald sends Galador to the place when garlic is common... to the future!
• Flawed Prototype: The VIP Lounge in Hell is still in its beta version, and, apparently, the local demon technicians were so busy tailoring it to worst possible human sins they did not have enough time to calibrate its teleporting magic. This is why every time a person teleports out of the VIP Lounge back into the Hub, he/she appears not in the magical circle, but on a spot not far away from it. Luckily for Galador, this spot is behind the distributor demon's back.
• Forced Transformation: Throughout the plot, Galador acquires a reverse-theme spell of transforming into an animal; it transforms a person into an animal based on their personality and characteristics... interpreted backwards. As Arivald notes, it would transform a strong and menacing man into a mouse. When later, Galador asks Arivald to use the spell to transform him into anything and to take him into the Garrahan Castle in a disguise, he gets transformed into a bear.
  Arivald: A bear? Well, not bad. I thought you'd transform into a lion.
• Friend in the Black Market: Galador gets into personal business with the Southern merchant and almost gets drawn into the Merchants' Guild, but then defies the trope and decides not to give him the magical golden knuckleduster he found as an entrance fee, since raw strength would be or a much more use than a friend in the black market.
• Friendly Shopkeeper: Four of them participate in the plot in some way in the original timeline, and two more in the future. We get to know two gamblers who sell bizarre things of all over the world, an obese rich Social Darwinist from the south, and a cook who sells herbs and recipes and really wishes to get some garlic. In the future, Galador meets The Brute managing a butcher store and a Good Samaritan greengrocer; Galador manipulates both of them, with the butcher getting provoked and nearly murdering Galador in a fit of rage in process, and the greengrocer getting tricked for free garlic.
• The Future Is Shocking: Ever since Galador appears in the future, he keeps getting amazed by everything around him.
  Galador, returning back from the future: I've seen such things... You won't even see these in a dream!
• The Gadfly: Galador would mess with other people's lives and would not even bat an eye. At least he doesn't go way too far, like with that one-sided dialogue with a butcher from the future, who cannot understand his language, but doesn't like when people talk when he's doing his job:
  Galador: What a strange world. They even managed to tame an animal like you.
  • It's implied that he founds genuine joy in being a Troll:
    Galador: Ha ha! I'll keep telling you things, and you won't even understand what I'm saying!
  • Later, Galador deliberately trolls the Dwarf to lure him our of the tavern and provoke him into a fight, while the Masked Lady steals his beer stein:
    Galador: Dwarves are so funny. I once had a dwarf friend, you slap his beard and moths keep flying out of it!
• Gibberish of Love: When at the end of the game, the Masked Lady finally removes her mask to go and show her true face to the Lucifer and is revealed to be Shandria, the princess from the Southern country, Galador gets dumbstuck by her looks:
  Galador: Now I don't get it at all. You're beautiful. You're... beautiful! You're...
  Shandria: Beautiful. That's why I was wearing it.
• The Ghost: Several characters are mentioned in the plot, but are nowhere to be seen. The most prominent of them, however, is the Necromancer: we only get to see his room, still full of mysterious magical and ritual objects, yet the door of the room is severely broken from the outside, items are scattered through the floor and there are some suspicious red drops on the floor from just near the door and leading out. What did even happen with the Necromancer, is not actually specified. Due to some angry Sun-hating notes in his diary, it might be possible that he was exactly the one who succumbed the Fjord Castle into eternal darkness and undead infestation by performing some dark ritual... that, and due to a skeleton near the stairs to his room, which could easily have once belonged to him.
• Gods Need Prayer Badly: Zandahan is barely holding there. All his believers are either dead or have lost interest in him, and thus, he's rapidly losing his powers and is at the brink of his life. Since he still has some of his divine powers, Galador can use this situation to his own benefit.
• Good-Guy Bar: The city tavern is this. Most of the people who visit it throughout the plot are either benevolent or harmless or at least misunderstood.
• Gory Discretion Shot: When Galador decides to free the yellow bird that Bard keeps in a cage, it flies outside and sits on the Bard's nightcap that partially hangs from the window. Since Galador needs that nightcap, he has to use someone's help to yank it from the window. He does so by provoking the local sleeping cat by imitating bird's whistle. After the cat wakes up, Galador decides he's not going to watch the scene and goes inside the Bard's house. When he comes out, the bird is nowhere to be seen, the nightcap has fallen down, and the cat meows happily and spits out a little yellow feather.
• Grand Theft Me: Basically, the whole plot is about Galador realizing he's not ready to be the Prince and trying to reclaim his original body.
• Guide Dang It!: One of the puzzles requires from Galador to steal a slipper from a beggar while he's busy playing with his toes. Good luck to even realise it's a separate item and not just idle animation of a character. And if this wasn't enough, you are supposed to give said slipper to one of the merchants to gain access to a new location. It's the puzzle that probably everyone ever playing the game still remembers as their "I got hopelessly stuck" moment.
• Guile Hero: Galador is physically frail (at least in his new body), yet he keeps acquiring most of his goals by stealing possessions and deceiving people.
• Happily Married: The Bard and his wife. Though it gets Double Subverted in Arivald's closing narration: apparently, they eventually broke up, but then got Happily Married once again, as the Bard got married to a princess and his former wife got married to a rich merchant.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: Even though Galador is barely a hero, for the only time he gets into an (non-lethal) armed conflict with someone, he brandishes a sword, which he temporarily made from his dagger by using an Expansion Spell on it.
• The Hermit: Galador finds one on his journey relatively early. He is a very self-conscious man and is constantly trying to fight his overwhelming thoughts and personal demons, and for such, he left the town to live in a shack in the forest. Even so, he still gets a firm grip on the real world and all his surroundings.
  Galador: That's a nice place. And far from big city noise, too.
  Hermit: Yet close to ants, earwigs, mosquitoes, hornets, flies, moths, bark beetles, larvae, parasitic worms...
  Galador: All right, all right, I got it.
  Hermit: ...and I haven't even mentioned wild animals, winter colds, spring floods, and all that itch because of...
  Galador: I GOT IT!
• Holy Burns Evil: One of the goals of Galador visiting the future is to get some holy water to kill the Vampire Lord. He gets it in a local church.
• I Fought the Law and the Law Won: Exploited: the Masked Lady convinces Galador to try and fight Lucifer's guards, and ultimately he gets knocked out and thrown him into her jail cell, so she could ask him to perform a Prison Break. Because Galador is not that physically strong, and the guards are huge muscular demons, this proves to be not that hard.
• Informed Conversation: Instead of showing, Arivald narrates that some of the lengthy conversations happened. This include Galador telling his story to Arivald, then to Lucifer, and the scene when the Bard recites a passionate poem to his wife to make up with her.
• Instant Expert: Subverted: even though at one point Galador gets a self-playing lute, he can't make a single musical sound out of it. Even with that, Lord Sun is pleased by his playing, since he hasn't heard any better for an eternity.
• It Can Think: Throughout most of Galador's preparation to fight the dragon, he didn't think that the dragon can actually speak. Well, Galador tried, anyway; apparently, the dragon did not want to respond.
• Jerkass Woobie: The Masked Lady indeed acts like a huge stubborn jerk, wishing to be an independent Action Girl while being physically weak and prone to getting into trouble. Yet since the troubles keep troubling her from the beginning, one might feel some sympathy.
  • After a conversation in the dragon's lair, it is revealed that the Masked Lady spent two years locked behind the magic wall due to the mistake in Hell and some unclean affairs of one demon who appears to be the same one that tricked Galador in swapping bodies with the prince.
  Masked Lady: Two years ago, I was kidnapped by a demon. In Hell, it was found out to be a mistake. However, instead of letting me go, that damn servant of Lucifer, he gave me as a gift to the Vampire Lord. He owed him some affair.
  Galador: So you spent two years in the castle?!
  Masked Lady: That's right.
  Galador: Well, that explains your bad humour.
• Just Like Robin Hood: Inverted with Galador, who, at one point, steals a slipper from the poor lazy beggar and gives it to the rich Southern merchant; he has no particular beef against anyone of them and just does it to earn some special trust from the Social Darwinist merchant and to get some interesting information.
• Kleptomaniac Hero: Oh, where to begin? Galador's fingers are permanently sticky and he steals everything interesting that's not bolted down. Even though he's in a body of the prince, he still retains his original ego's manners. This may be justified, since for the most of the game, he's dedicated to go to Hell, and good samaritans are not expected to end there.
• Lady and Knight: Subverted and then subverted again with the Masked Lady and Galador. Even though the latter is barely a knight and, in his new body, is physically not much better than her, he still gets to save her thrice due to the help of Arivald, his wits and, in the latter case, his actual physical strength.
• Language Drift: When Galador is teleported into the future, he realizes that everybody around him speaks some strange language and that he's unable to communicate with them; he is forced to use hand gestures and pantomime. And all visible written text looks like distorted English. Galador later exploits this to insult the not-so-bright butcher in his shop. However, it gets subverted, since eventually the butcher still gets angry due to some strangely-clothed fool repeatedly interfering with his work.
• Laser-Guided Karma: The Masked Lady suffers twice throughout the plot for refusing to be a proper Damsel in Distress. First, she dismisses all Galador's troubles and efforts he went through to free her from behind the vampire lord's magical wall and just walks away; just as she tries to leave the Fjord Castle, a dragon captures her. Later, when Galador and the Masked Lady arrive to Hell, she decides that she no longer needs Galador and walks away again; pretty soon, Lucifer's guards seize her and throw into the cell.
• Lazy Bum: There is a lazy beggar in a town lying at the street, who just couldn't care less about the world around him.
  Galador: How could you even fall that low...
  Beggar: It's not that hard. You have to drink heavily, skip your job, disrespect your boss and clients, harass their wives...
  Galador: Ehhh...
  Beggar: ...Stay in your bed for days, do not wash, do not cut or comb your hair, wear the same underwear for weeks straight... blow your nose at people and puff in their face when they don't brush their teeth... piece of cake!
• Literal-Minded: Homunculus, with his straightforward way of thinking, shows some of this trait upon bidding farewell to Galador at the cliff at Lord Sun's residence.
  Homunculus: Now that I've helped you three times, it's time for me to set off. See you!
  Homunculus jumps off the cliff
  Galador: Some people just take things way too literally.
• Living Prop: Lord Sun's two concubines just exist to cool him down with fans. This makes them disturbingly stand out from other human (or human-looking) characters, since they just stand there and do not speak a word, let alone give a snarky comment on the situation. Even the Necromancer's amulet does not work on them.
• Locked in a Room: Towards the end of the game, Galador and the Masked Lady end up being locked in the same room... with the Masked Lady basically tricking Galador to end up being thrown into her cell so that he would be able to break the weak section of the wall and free her. After he does so, they end up in the Chamber of Grave Sins, and basically locked in another room. They do however manage to teleport from there, by hugging tightly so that the room recognizes them as one entity. The Masked Lady was not pleased at all.
• Magic Kiss: Here, it is not exactly the kiss that's magical: the spell that turned Galador into a bear is cancelled after Sheila kisses him.
• Magic Mirror: Galador and Arivald sneak into the Garrahan Castle so that Galador would be able to steal one to help him surpass the Fjord Castle's guards. Apparently, the mirror proves to be sturdy enough to deflect the gargoyle's breath back at its face.
• Maximum Fun Chamber: The VIP Lounge of Hell may sound nice, however, being the place for the worst possible sinners in the world, the name could even be intentionally ironic. Inside, there's a rich interior, dishes with exquisite-looking food, and a big comfy-looking bed with a not fully clothed lady on it. However, the food appears to be fake, the bed appears to be cold and hard, and the lady is but an illusion and disappears whenever one comes too close. And the sinner is supposed to be kept there for eternity, eternally hungry, lusting and probably not even having a chance to sleep properly, watching everything around being fake. And it's better not think that this room may be a virtual Mind Rape as well.
  • This might be due to humans eventually becoming more and more evil in that world, and due to the Hell authorities not yet fully understanding how to deal with the recent atrocities of them; that's why they are still tailoring the Lounge to specifically torture them both in virtual and real way, pressing the specific fears.
• Medieval European Fantasy: For most of the game, the plot takes place in such a world. At one point, however, Galador is sent into a future that looks like real-life Europe in the 60-70's.
• Mini-Game: On his journey, Galador gets to spin the slot machine, throw rocks with incredibly imprecise aim, and, optionally, to play Clip-Clap with the bartender for money. The rules of the latter was not easy to figure out for a lot of people who played the game, and the money earned are not exactly needed for the plot.
• Mistaken for Cheating: A recent romantic poem written by the Bard and secretly delivered to his wife makes her so mad she yells at her husband and tries to kick him out, even though the Bard keeps telling Galador that this is purely a work of fiction, and lately tells his wife that this poem is about her. Apparently, this proves to be true, since pretty soon they make up.
• Mysterious Veil: Later in the plot, an unknown veil-concealed woman can be seen at the Bard's table. Galador can deceive her and then use her veil to impersonate her to take her place.
• Mysterious Woman: Four of the women in the plot are mysterious.
  • The woman with the shawl from the future; downplayed, since she's mysterious only due to Galador not understanding local language she speaks.
  • Then we have the mysterious veil-clad woman in the tavern who wants to buy some poison... uhm, for rats, as she states:
    Poisoner Woman: Do you have high doses? Enough to kill someone, well, of a human size.
    Galador: Are we still talking about rat poison?
    Poisoner Woman: For really, really big rats.
  • Later, she drops her veil at the tavern door. Galador decides that she was a local and no one would ever find her blended into the surroundings.
  • Then the stuttery witch who sells Galador, dressed in veil and impersonating the above-mentioned poisoner woman, some poison. Neither Galador knows her personally, nor Arivald narrates anything about her.
  • And lastly, the Masked Lady, aka Shandria.
• Narrator: Arivald himself. The game is actually a story told by him, and it begins with a narrative prologue and ends with the epilogue in the same style. Occasionally, Arivald narrates some of the events of the game as well.
• Non-Human Sidekick: Homunculus for Galador. Downplayed, since Homunculus is less of a sidekick and more of a living handy tool/ancient language translator, and after fulfilling Galador's wishes, he sets off minding his own business.
• NPC Roadblock: When the heroes arrive to Hell, a demon guard is not going to let them pass. Even though the Masked Lady slips by, it's not possible for Galador without underhanded tactics. Where should he spend his remaining days in Hell if he's not allowed inside, was never explained.
• Oh, Crap!: The main character's soul is moved into the Prince's body right at the moment the Prince was preparing for a fight with a Black Knight. Cue newly-minted Galador realizing what he has gotten into and running away. Then Galador gets in such a state when the butcher in the future gets fed up with his annoying talks and starts threatening him with an axe.
  Galador: Arivald!! This has gone way too far! Take me back!!
• Ominous Pipe Organ: The last area in the game has this, played by a demon as a background music. This area is the only one in the game where there's a visible source of the background music.
• 1-Dimensional Thinking: Homunculus appears to think so. When first met, he sits in a dusty glass jar in the Alchemist's shop and is constantly rubbing the glass. Why does he do that?
  Alchemist: This vessel is all dusty outside, but he keeps thinking that the dust is inside. And he's still trying to wipe it away!
  • Gets a bit funny when Alchemist mentions him once slipping the Homunculus a piece of parchment with the words "Turn me over" written on each side.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: We never learn the real name of the bloke who decided to become Prince Galador. In his opening narration, Arivald gives a very ambiguous remark on his name of choice, giving some vague hints on himself:
  Arivald: His real name was quite plebeian, and no one would remember it at all. I'd better tell you the name under which he went down in history. Just like in my own case, let's call him the name he wished to be called.
• Our Gargoyles Rock: A gargoyle can be found at the gates of the Fjord Castle. It's alive and is not going to let anyone trespass, though.
• Perfect Poison: Here, it's quite zig-zagged. Galador, posing as the poisoner woman, obtains a set of vials with poison to commit double suicide with the Masked Lady and to go to Hell. Even though the actual poisoner lady was imagining her target, the bartender, coughing and choking, both Galador and the Masked Lady just collapse quickly, effectively, cleanly and with no Body Horror. However, this is outright justified by the stuttery witch who sells the poison to Galador:
  Witch: Li-li-li-little d-d-dose won't be e-e-enough. It-it-it will only c-c-cause lethargy c-c-close to de-de-death. To kill, use the-the-the whole vi-vi-vi-vial.
  • And yes, Galador and the Masked Lady took a lethal dose of poison each and were not just in a deep state of sleep. The Masked Lady outright states that the Soul Ferryman feels the presence of living souls a mile away.
• Playing Sick: To convince the greengrocer from the future to give him some garlic for free, Galador puts on a shawl and pretends that he has a cold. Luckily, the shopkeeper appears to be a generous and kind enough person.
• The Power of the Sun: Galador gets to meet either Lord Sun, who is either the Sun as an Anthropomorphic Personification or the Sun deity in person (Arivald gives no clear description on who he actually is). Apparently, he's disgusted with the Fjord Castle, and this is why he never looks there. After a bit of convincing, he does light the inner yard of the castle up, thus killing all of the undead guards of the Vampire Lord.
• Really 700 Years Old: No one actually knows how old is Arivald. What is for sure is that he died a thousand years before the plot starts, and, technically, now he's more than a 1000 years old. If the gravedigger goblin is to be believed, he can be even older:
  Goblin: You humans are all crazy. You only live for two hundred years tops, and yet you keep throwing these years away! Always on the run, always in a hurry, can't set somewhere peacefully for about a hundred years!
  Galador: Hundred years?! Oh, I see. Probably you're one of those long-living beings. You're probably at least a thousand years old!
  Goblin: When I was born, people still were hairy, jumping from tree to tree, leaning on their tails and calling bananas yoop-yoop! Yes, that was ages ago.
• Galador also gets to meet other extremely ancient characters such as Zandahan, Lord Sun and, eventually, Lucifer.
• Seers: Even though the Hermit looks like your typical hippie, he apparently has some seeing talents, since in the middle of the plot, he helps Galador to locate the Dragon's cave. Probably, mushrooms growing in his hut are not exactly harmless. If Galador manages to win five coins in Clip-Clap minigame, he can give those to the Hermit and get some prophecy, which (almost) accurately depicts the further events of the plot. The kick is that nothing hints on this option, but it is not an option to overlook, since due to Moon Logic Puzzle nature of some parts of the game, this might help Galador to resolve some of the most tricky moments.
• Situational Sword: In the Necromancer's diary, the last page is apparently missing. Later, Galador finds it in the Vampire Lord's coffin, and it appears to contain the Expansion spell, which can be used to increase the size of any object for a very brief moment. It is used exactly in two different ways throughout the plot: to turn Galador's dagger into a sword (two times) and to turn the Big Eater monk, who is eating in a tavern, fat, so that the rope he uses as a belt comes off and Galador can quickly snatch it.
• Shattering the Illusion: The ancient warrior's barrow is guarded by illusory ghosts. The only way of bypassing them is keeping clicking your mouse forward, not letting Galador run away until the ghosts disappear.
• Shout-Out: At the beginning of the game, Galador digs a wolf head-shaped amulet out of the grave. Later on the plot, another character, and old magical-looking man visiting the familiar alchemist's workshop, feels its presence, makes a hand gesture of Galador and then gets angry that he did not recognize the Sign. To blurt our the reference even further, he outright calls it a witcher's amulet and utters a vaguely familiar name:
  Old Man: From whom did you stole this amulet? Where did you get it?! Answer right now!
  Galador: ...Well, I don't need it anymore. I just found it lying around, but I don't know anything about it. Take it if you need it so.
  Old Man: Hm. Maybe I reacted too violently. From that time onwards, Blaviken's quickly getting nervous.
• Small Name, Big Ego:
  • That one dwarf drinking at the tavern. Even though he tries to look tough (and has the muscle power to prove it) and menacing, he is actually a nice bloke and is mostly harmless. In the epilogue, he gets to compete in the drinking contest and, as Arivald remarks, fails miserably, which blows his fire a bit out.
    Arivald: Silly one, it's like he never knew that beer is only for adults.
  • Zandahan is one at the moment of the plot. Even though he is an Ancient God, he is still dependent on prayers and belief in him and, due to his believers are long gone, he is slowly dying and is mostly harmless. However, he still has his original ego of an ancient god. When Galador offers him to save his life for the cost of removing the curse from his pilfered items, he becomes incredibly mad:
  Zandahan: You... you... you... you pitiful, puny little human! You dare to... bargain with me?! Or, maybe, you dare to come to that mean idea that you can blackmail a god? Now, in a moment, you shall learn what a divine anger is! GET READY!!!
  nothing happens for several seconds
  Zandahan: Damn it, I've gotten so weak these days. All right... let this be a deal.
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: Happens in the first encounter with the Masked Lady in Hell, when she gets thrown into a prison.
  Galador: What you need is common sense in your head, not just confidence.
  Masked Lady: Oh no, my dear, did you think I would reproach you now too? "My strong and wise hero, saviour of mine".
  Galador: Keep talking, you're doing it nice.
• Solve the Soup Cans: Throughout the plot, Galador will have to spin the slot machine to open up the treasure chest and to solve the bizarre and almost hintless stone tablet puzzle involving Lord Sun.
• Spell Book:
  • Galador finds one early on his quest, but eventually it gets subverted, since the book appears to be not about magic, but about extinct animals and long-disappeared places and cultures. Played straight later, when Galador actually finds the "Book of Grey Magic", which helps him to get to the Lord Sun, and then together with Arivald, they find another spell book that helps Galador to gain some additional magic for solving one situation.
  • There's one magical book in the Alchemist's shop; it is not clear if that's a spell book or not, but it's apparently ancient and either cursed or imbued with magic so much that the Alchemist has to turn over its pages by chanting spells.
    Alchemist: This book is older than our kingdom. Those pages are made of human skin, and the text is written with a demon's fang using blood as ink. If you try to touch the pages, your hand would go up in flames!
• Stock Punishment: In the town, a man can be met at the square, locked in a pillory. Even though he insists he's innocent, there's still a way to crack him open and learn the truth.
• Super-Strength: First with the magical golden knuckleduster, which helps Galador to use the old stuck lever freely. Yet, even this is not enough later on the journey when Galador has to defeat the dragon, so Arivald helps him with a Troll's Power spell to boost it even further. Sadly enough, later he has no other use for this power.
  • The Dwarf, who's sitting in a tavern, also has immense strength, and, if he's to be believed, group of ones like him can defeat a dragon easily. When Galador provokes the Dwarf and he forces Galador into a fight, after a while, Galador gets punched across the street in one hit.
• Tampering with Food and Drink: Apparently, the mysterious woman really wants to poison the bartender. Galador and the Masked Lady decide to sell her something that would pass as poison to get some money and to move her away from the stage, steal the half-empty beer stein from the Dwarf and fill it to the brim with swamp water from Silmanion. To convince the woman that this is a genuine poison, they return the stein to the Dwarf sitting at the same bar. With unpleasant results.
• Tap on the Head: Happens in Hell twice, both performed by Galador and to Galador:
  • When Galador teleports away from the VIP Lounge with a piece of fake meat, it malfunctions, making him appear behind the distributor demon's back. What else is there to do if you're behind the local authority's back, there's a heavy object in your hand and you want to take control over the situation?
  • Later, Galador tries to force his way to the door to Lucifer's room off-screen and gets knocked out as a result.
• Telefrag: When Galador knocks out the distributor demon and blows out a candle to send him to the VIP Lounge, he is teleported there... yet his horns are left behind.
• Telepathy: The Talisman of the Necromancer allows Galador to read thoughts. This can provide some funny or interesting little details about almost all other characters, and one time it becomes important for the plot, revealing that the goblin gravedigger dreams about getting a pet rat.
• Three Wishes: Homunculus offers to help Galador three times for rescuing him from the jar. Galador chooses so, with Homunculus helping him to decipher the runes at Zandahan's altar, to block the eyes of the Fjord Castle's gargoyle and to translate the Lord Sun's stone tablet.
• Torture Cellar: Galador gets to visit one in Hell, yet not as a tortured soul, but as a trespasser: the cellar has a big locked door, and he will have to blow it up, because... well, just because he has a personal business and he has to finish it. Luckily, the appliances inside are not guarded by any torturer demon, and he starts making a demon disguise.
• Tsundere: The Masked Lady spends almost all game in "tsun" mode, and goes up to "dere" only in the epilogue. Apparently, solving her own unfinished problem took quite a load from her character.
  • Just to compliment the Masked Lady's tsundere status, she wears thigh-high boots.
  • Even more, the Dwarf, who, in his first scene, rudely forces Galador out of the tavern, and in his last scene, gets incredibly happy when his beer stein is returned.
• Ungrateful Bitch: The Masked Lady initially gives absolutely no gratitude to Galador for saving her from imprisonment from the Fjord Castle:
  Galador: Hi there. I hope now we can talk for a bit more.
  The Masked Lady ignores him, and when Galador tries to stop her, socks him in the gut and goes away
  Galador: Is this how you're supposed to treat your hero and a saviour? There's no place for love and justice in this cruel, cruel world.
  • Appropriately, after she gets out of the castle, she gets caught by the dragon. When Galador comes to her rescue for the second time, her haughty side have apparently withered for a bit... but only for a bit.
    Galador: Wow, what do we have here? Strong iron shackles. Beautiful girl, completely helpless. What if I...?
    Masked Lady: You keep looking at me like this, and I'll kick you in the—
    Galador: All right, all right, I was just kidding!
  • Even later, throughout the game, she gives next to no credit to Galador even when he helps her here and there. Yet at the final scene of the game, a dialogue occurs that hints on her being Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
    Protagonist: You remember how often I was saving you from trouble?
    Shandria: I remember. Thank you.
    Protagonist: And do you remember us being there, in that chamber in Hell?
    Shandria: I do. That said... I was afraid you'll try to kiss me.
• Unperson: The King is so mad at the Prince that he denudes him of all political rights, outright orders to exclude his name from all books and to forget his name. This was the obvious reason why Galador could not do anything he wishes with a prince status.
• The Unreveal: In his closing narration, Arivald mentions that no one actually found out who was that veil-clad poisoner lady. What he mentions is that pretty soon after Galador's adventure ended, one citizen ended up missing for some mysterious reasons. Given that Galador can use the Necromancer's amulet on the poisoner lady to read her thoughts, the missing citizen was likely to be the bartender. The reasons to poison that person, again, are not revealed.
• Vampire Monarch: Galador encounters one in the Fjord Castle after Lord Sun lightens up the inner yard. Since Galador visits the castle in the daytime, the local Vampire Lord can be found waiting for the night in the left outbuiding of the castle, sleeping in his coffin and guarding the Masked Lady. It should be noted that despite Galador's obvious fear of waking him up, he still sleeps through the whole Galador and the Masked Lady's talk.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: Playing the trope Book Ends literally, Arivald narrates the epilogue of the story in a similar way that he narrates the prologue. He briefly, and with a bit of Lemony Narrator flair, describes everything that happened to almost every character in the plot after Galador and Shandria's adventure ends.
• Wooden Stake: No, it won't be enough for Galador just to attack the Vampire Lord himself with a mere stake. Arivald suggests powering it up, and (after a brief visit into the future), Galador successfully prepares an appropriate weapon: a wooden sharpened cross (tied with the Bard's nightcap), dipped in holy water and rubbed with garlic. Which, right before Galador delivers it into the Vampire Lord's chest, even glows and buzzes for a bit.
• World of Snark: Almost every single character in the game is never at loss for a snarky comment on the situation. It would be easier to count the ones who don't snark.
• You Have to Burn the Web: Played more realistically than usually. A web blocks the way in the dragon's lair, and to bypass it, Galador should spray it with perfume and explode it by hitting his dagger against the nearest rock, making a spark.
• Your Heart's Desire: Galador wished to be a prince, and, well, he was made one. That he will have to be responsible for numerous things, is what he did not consider.

---