Video Game / Sands of Destruction

Sands of Destruction is a Nintendo DS game developed by Imageepoch and published by Sega. It was released in Japan in 2008 as World Destruction: Michibi Kareshi Ishi, with a North American release in January 12th, 2010. It was also adapted into an anime, Sands of Destruction, which aired in 2008 and similarly had a North American release in early 2010. A manga was released in 2009, and there was an online Audio Play which ran around the same time as the anime. These were only released in Japan; however, there is an English Scanlation of the manga available.

The setting is a fictional world, where animals and human-animal hybrids reign supreme, and humans are considered second-class citizens.

Meet the World Annihilation Front (World Destruction Committee in Japan and in Funimation's subtitled version), who consider this world so corrupt that the only way to save it is to destroy it. A human member of the Front is the main 'heroine', Morte Asherah, who has a nasty attitude, a massive sword and a goal of (what else) to destroy the world with the powers of something known as the "Destruct". Along the way, she picks up Kyrie Illunis, a mild-mannered human with the power to destroy the world, but no desire to do so, and Taupy Toplan, a small bear creature on the scale of a teddy. (Just don't call him a stuffed animal). Kyrie and Taupy, unlike Morte, have no desire to destroy the world, but they are guilty by association and hunted as part of the collective "World Annihilation Front." Latecomers include a dragonkin who can see the future and a guy in an awesome green longcoat who grew up with Morte.

The World Salvation Committee consists of one highly intellectual (but not necessarily intelligent) wolfman with an intense sense of honor, his fellow wolfman rival who looks down on him for being a half-breed, an eagle-man with an ego, and several hundred Faceless Goons.

This series has a Character Sheet right here. Read at your own risk for spoilers for those who haven't watched the anime, read the manga, or played the game. For a game with a similar premise but higher on the Surreal Horror, see OFF.

Sands of Destruction provides examples of the following tropes:

• Action Commands: The game requires you to press a sequence of five buttons in order to execute a Limit Break. The faster you press the buttons, the stronger your attack will be. Normally, the sequence will be of different buttons, but if you equip an accessory with the Guidance trait, you'll only have to press X repeatedly. This would be more useful if the game penalized you for pressing the wrong button, but you can just mash all four DS buttons at once and the game will only register the correct ones.
• Action Girl: Morte is gung-ho about fighting. Rhi'a is less intense in her enthusiasm, but no less capable of taking care of herself when she needs to.
• Action Girlfriend: Morte to Kyrie, after she realizes her feelings about halfway through the game.
• Act of True Love: Kyrie asks Naja to kill him so he can't destroy the world specifically so Morte will be safe. Morte struggles to find the entrance to, and then get to the top of, the Temple of Light because she finally realized her feelings toward him were more than a mere desire to see him end the world. The rest of the Front helps because they consider Kyrie a personal friend and unequivocally the nicest guy they've ever met.
• Action Prologue: The game opens with you controlling Naja as he and Rajiv fight off Morte in Viteaux. It then cuts to Kyrie going about his normal business in Barni, picking up vegetables and hunting for sandcaps to cook (which naturally turns into fighting a sandwhale).
• Affably Evil: Lacertus Rex is very polite to the heroes, even when revealed as the Big Bad.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When Porcus Rex threatens to eat a boy, Kyrie suggests he just beg for mercy. He then says that, if it'll help, he'll beg for the boy's life, too. Everyone else is convinced Kyrie is either insane, stupid, or both.
• All Swords Are the Same: Naturally, given the sprite-based nature of the game. This is true even for Morte's BFS and its replacements: while it's plausible that a single sword could have such an unusual design, it's also possible to equip her with random greatswords dropped from enemies. When the enemies held them, they looked like rather large, but straight and fairly generic swords. As soon as she grabs it, it somehow morphs to her signature dual-ended scimitar shape.
• All the Worlds Are a Stage: The Depths of Memories has you revisit each location you encountered along your adventure.
• Alternate Timeline: As Kyrie began researching the Destruct Code's history, he noted how it extends to the beginning of creation, when the gods were given a choice: either to allow humans to rule over beasts, or vice versa. The gods for that world gave that power to beasts, which gives an interesting perspective flip when you think about it.
• Alternative Foreign Theme Song: The Japanese game opens with "Crash" by AAA,^note They also did the Anime Theme Song "Zero" (which was unchanged, even in the English dub), and the two were released on the same album while the English game opens with "Time's Arm" performed by Czech Philharmonic Collegium. The words are not in English, however, they're in Latin, making it also a Foreign Language Theme.
• Amazing Technicolor Battlefield: The Primal Cataract contains a chunk of rock for each of the seven colors of the rainbow. When you finally reach the end to fight Lacertus Rex - the real one - it has a flowing, twirling rainbow.
• Ambidextrous Sprite: Anyone with Fashionable Asymmetry is fully flippable, such as Kyrie's single glove and Taupy's eyepatch.
• Ambition Is Evil: Subverted. Despite Pictis Rex's motive to hold the peace talks, he was actually very reasonable, and he would have helped end the conflicts between Beastmen and humans peacefully. Unfortunately, someone else had other ideas...
  • Player straight with Lacertus Rex, who aims to become a god and make the world in his own image.
• American Kirby Is Hardcore: A weird case where the hardcore was too much for the demographic. If they kept the hardcore, it would have kept the general theme of the game. Why they didn't keep the hardcore for the American release is anyone's guess. See the YMMV page for details.
• And the Rest: After Kyrie is resurrected at the Temple of Light, he's overjoyed to see Morte and the fact that she's gone through such trouble to find him again. It takes a few moments before he realizes the rest of the team is there, too, and then he thanks them as a group.
• And This Is for...: Later, Kyrie's post-Limit Break Pre-Mortem One-Liner changes to "That one's for Morte!" Rather odd, considering she may be perfectly unharmed or not even in the active party.
• Anger Born of Worry: After traveling to the Temple of Light to visit the Crimson Sun, Morte is at first overjoyed to see Kyrie, but soon switches to screaming at him.
  Morte: Did I ask you to die for me!?
• Anguished Declaration of Love: Kyrie makes two to Morte:
  • First, after seeking out Elephas Rex to cure Morte of the curse Serpens Rex put on her, he exclaims how much she means to him while crying Tears of Joy. Unfortunately, Elephas Rex walks in before she properly responds.
  • Second, in the Valley of Dragons, as he lies dying in her arms from Naja sticking his claws straight through his chest, he tells her again that he loves her. Unfortunately, Morte was once again too preoccupied to properly respond.
• Anti Anti Christ: Kyrie was supposed to be the one to end the world. Unfortunately, he's really not into the whole doom-and-death thing.
• Anti-Frustration Features: In the Cave of Memories, you must visit the rooms containing Kyrie's memories of the adventure in reverse order that they happened. If you mess up, Kyrie will helpfully remind you what he did before and where you should go next.
• Anyone Can Die: Up to and including Kyrie, but he revives.
• Apathetic Citizens Played very straight by the [NPCs]. Let us count the ways:
  • Your hero Kyrie is a Person of Mass Destruction who was jailed for accidentally killing a beastlord and turning his whole village to sand, and his Love Interest Morte is the Crimson Plague, feared Beastslayer, and supposedly one of the most notorious members of the World Annihilation Front (and definitely carrier of a BFS that no one ever asks her to please leave outside). Most people don't even blink when you walk into town - not just the humans, who might believe you're there to liberate them from feral rule, but even most of the ferals don't seem to care (including if you walk into a feral-only portion of a city; the most reaction you'll get is a casual, "Oh dear, how did you get in here? This is no place for humans," not even a threat to call the guards if you don't leave).
  • When people start noticing that the world may actually be ending, their reactions are pretty low-key, too - a couple say they're scared but still roam around the city as usual, though some question if such a thing is even possible.
  • The best for the game has to be in the city of Viteaux, however, when Porcus Rex threatens to eat a child for accidentally running into him; the crowd of onlookers definitely feels sorry for the kid, but doesn't dare intervene or even raise an objection. Even his companions point out to Kyrie that this is simply the way things are (luckily for that kid, though, Kyrie is an All-Loving Hero and refuses to accept the status quo).
• Apocalypse How: Kyrie accidentally causes two Class 0s: once at the start of the game when he destroys Barni, and again at the Sky Gaol during the peace talks. If his powers ever fully activate, he's capable of causing a Class 6, turning the entire world and everything on it to sand.
• Apocalypse Maiden: Kyrie can't control his powers of destruction; when that pesky voice starts talking, his body acts of its own accord and obliterates everything around him. When he decides he's too much of a danger to continue living, he asks Naja to kill him.
• Apocalypse Wow: Kyrie's destructive powers are shown twice in all their sand-inducing glory.
• Arbitrary Head Count Limit: You're limited to only three people in battle at once; the rest are Lazy Backup.
• Arbitrary Gun Power: Rhi'a's guns are roughly equal in power to the equipment available to other characters at that point in time. This is true even of Agan; while whips may be painful, they are generally not lethal except by Death of a Thousand Cuts.
• Arc Words: Acta est fabula, the Desruct Code.
• The Ark: The Very Definitively Final Dungeon houses the DNA of all creatures and plant life. It was stored so that in the event of the world being destroyed or suffering some other cataclysmal event, it could be recreated again.
• Armor of Invincibility: Kyrie may get the Crimson Gear, assuming you revisited Barni before he died, then revisited Barni again after he was resurrected. If not, it's gone and you get the Crimson Robe as a consolation prize. Both are stronger than any other armor he can obtain, but the Gear nullifies all elements as well as having a higher defensive value.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Elephas Rex eventually points out to Kyrie that if Morte succeeds in destroying the world, they won't be able to be together. He leaves him to figure out for himself exactly what he should do and whether he should continue assisting the World Annihilation Front.
• Ax-Crazy: The first lines out of Morte's mouth are about killing people and blowing up the world...so naturally, the protagonist finds this really hot. Of course, Kyrie actually has a reason for agreeing with her, even if he doesn't know it. However, she's never shown touching an innocent, and it can be inferred that all of the rumors about her are just Beastmen propaganda.
• Back from the Dead: Kyrie dies and is revived about halfway through the game. Lacertus Rex is fought twice and at first the characters believe it to be this trope, but the first time was Actually a Doombot; he's also the one behind the Boss Rush automatons inhabiting the Primal Cataract.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: When facing down the World Salvation Committee, Morte and Agan circle with their backs to each other. None of the other team members pair up with someone to watch their backs; presumably they do because they're familiar with each other's fighting styles due to having been in the Golden Lions together.
• Badass Adorable: Taupy. He can (and will, if the price is right) kick your ass up and down the street with his bear hands, but just try resisting the urge to hug him.
• Badass Longcoat: Morte is, and Agan WISHES he was one of these. Well, at least he's got a nice hat.
• Bad Moon Rising: Morte's super-powered Limit Break has her jumping in front of a red crescent moon before delivering maximum pain.
• Battle Aura: Rhi'a has one when she transforms; it's a light purple dragon, of course. Kyrie gains a golden lion aura after the Crimson Sun resurrects him.
• Battle Couple: Kyrie and Morte become one about halfway through the game.
• Bears Are Bad News: Subverted. Taupy is one of the strongest characters... Which, really, just means that the trope applies to your opponents.
• Beast Man: Subverted in that most ferals look human. Played straight with the beastlords, as well as Crimson Sun (who is technically the embodiment of Light/Fire, but come on, he's a giant lion-man.)
  • However, it's implied that most ferals do have a transformation form, not just the beastlords.
• Big Bad: Lacertus Rex is the one controlling the tyrannical beastlords, and manipulates everyone (yes, everyone) in order to become a god and remake the world in his own image.
• Black-and-Grey Morality: Sure, some of the beastlords (Keyword some- Felis and Ursa Rex are all nice. Elephas Rex is also shown not to be that crazy, Pistris Rex just wants a better spot on the council) are downright evil, but the party is trying to destroy the world. They even wind up fighting God. Granted, said god is trying to get Kyrie to destroy the world, while Kyrie just wants to make a new one, but still.
• Black and White Magic: Blood Skills and Life Skills, respectively. Everyone has access to both, though what their specific skills do within the categories varies.
• Blessed with Suck: Kyrie has the power to turn everything (yes, everything) in a large area into sand.
• Blood Knight: Morte is the only member of the Front who seems to enjoy fighting.
• Bomb-Throwing Anarchists: The introduction makes Morte and the World Annihilation Front seem like this, but as their name implies, they're not just interested in toppling evil governments; they want to end the world. That doesn't stop various characters from calling them anarchists, though.
• Bonus Boss: Dark Kyrie, a doppelganger atop the Temple of Darkness.
• Boss in Mook Clothing: The Desert King, a breed of large, vicious sand whale randomly encountered only during Agan's Rite of Ascension. You're playing as Agan alone, which makes it difficult enough, but it can turn you to stone and nullifies fleeing (even including Agan's Quip), in addition to being tough and hitting just as hard as it takes.
• Boss Rush: The Primal Cataract is populated by mechanical reconstructions of the various beastlords you've fought. They're Random Encounters, though, so you probably won't encounter them in order and will almost definitely encounter them more than once.
• Boy Meets Girl: Kyrie and Morte, of sorts, when he first meets her in the Sky Gaol. She doesn't feel the same way he does for her at first... until he dies. Then he got better. In the ending, when they remake the world into a better place, the two share a kiss, and recite the words that creates the new world. The last scene shows the two of them side-by-side looking out at the blue ocean, with the delightful heart emotes over both their heads.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Morte ends up this way briefly, under the mind control of a certain Beastlord. The ensuing fight will net you a Non-Standard Game Over if you accidentally kill your companion.
• Came Back Strong: Kyrie is both mentally and physically stronger after he comes Back from the Dead.
• Character Check: After Morte spends several minutes in deredere mode, she quickly snaps back to her usual tough self. Agan points out that this is the feared Beastslayer they're talking about; no one should expect her to get all sappy.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Morte, big time. After realizing her feelings for Kyrie, she goes through a brief period where she shouts at anyone who'll listen that she's doing what she's doing because she loves him, but when she finally finds Kyrie to tell him, the closest she gets is to say that the Front is his home now and if he wants to be there, he shouldn't leave again. Kyrie understands, and responds with a simple, "I'm home, Morte."
• Can't Drop the Hero: For most of the game, though Kyrie is later dropped from the party after he asks Naja to kill him to save the world. At this point, Morte becomes undroppable, whereas previously she could be switched out at will. After Kyrie returns, he's undroppable again and Morte returns to her previously-switchable role.
• Catchphrase: These are an actual gameplay feature. As you progress through the game, each playable character gains "Quips", which they can equip up to four of at a time. When a Quip is triggered (by things like taking damage, killing an enemy, or even just starting a battle), they provide a bonus of some sort to your characters.
• Character Portrait: Named characters have them; random villagers don't. Beastlords also lose their portrait when they transform.
• Chain of Deals: A couple:
  • When you visit the Sky Gaol for the second time, several of the prisoners ask you to pass letters and packages between then (why none of them ask you to go find the guard with the keys is never mentioned). Completing the chain nets you a few good items.
  • Talking to certain beastwomen in various towns around the world will have them comment on Morte's good fashion sense and gift her with a gaudy piece of armor. When you find the next woman, she'll take the last piece from your inventory and give you a new one more outlandish than the last.
• Chekhov's Gunman: When you first enter Lyse, you can Talk to Everyone, but there's no hint that one of the NPCs will later be important. After you've discovered that the Tower of Light is inaccessible, return to the woman standing near the bridge between the town and the temple and she'll give you the book required to enter.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Rhi'a, at times.
• Cold Equation: A desperate and depressed Kyrie decides that if Naja kills him, Morte and the others will be able to continue to live because he can't destroy the world if he's dead.
• Conflicting Loyalty: Kyrie promises Morte that he'll help her end the world if that's what she wants, but after Elephas Rex points out that he can't be with her if the world is destroyed, Kyrie begins to feel an internal conflict between his desire to keep his promise and his desire to keep Morte safe.
• Continue Your Mission, Dammit!: At certain points in the plot, you'll be locked into moving along a certain path. Attempts to take other paths will result in one of your party members scolding you that this is not a time for detours. When the plot calms down, you can come back and poke around to your heart's content.
• Covers Always Lie: The American box art makes it seem like Kyrie is the one out to destroy the world and Morte is some sort of pensive Apocalypse Maiden. The reality is quite the opposite.
• Cult Soundtrack: Yasunori Mitsuda wrote the music for the game. While people may bicker about the game's other qualities, nobody disses the soundtrack.
• Cradling Your Kill: In a flashback, it's revealed that Taupy held his best friend in his arms after defeating him in a duel.
• Deathbringer the Adorable: The World Annihilation Front members are actually pretty affable folks for the most part, and apart from a few alarmists, most of the folks they encounter along the way don't have any problem with helping them even knowing who they are.
• Death World: The game goes to great lengths to show just how terrible everything is, and why the World Annihilation Front feels so justified in their goals.
• Defend Command: An option, though it's largely useless unless you're just wanting to get a specific character to be able to take a turn (e.g. to see their Limit Break) and the ones before them keep killing all the enemies before it comes up.
• Deity of Human Origin: At the end of the game, Kyrie Illunis may be considered to be this, as he kills the old Creator of the world and remakes it into a better place. Of course, he was Not Quite Human to begin with: the Creator was his mom and he was the soulless Destruct contained in a human form. It just so happens that everyone being nice to him and showing him love caused him to grow his own soul and become human - though he still had ridiculous power due to his origins as the Destruct.
• Desert Punk: Seems to fall here, as while the color palette is brighter and machinery is less important than your typical punk fare, the world's oceans are made of sand and our heroes are essentially swashbuckling wanderers (despite Morte claiming she's out to end the world, the team actually seems to do a whole lot more good than harm wherever they show up). Punk machinery comes up more often later as the Science Fantasy becomes more blended; Lacertus Rex's clock tower in Galoa is full of exposed gears and automatons, he's capable of creating perfectly lifelike mechanical copies of himself or other Ferals, and the final boss is essentially a machine-fused angel.
• Deus ex Machina: When exactly did Kyrie get that Super Mode? It's implied that Crimson Sun merged with him when he was resurrected but isn't said outright and it only when a player goes to customize his moves or enters battle to an awesome new battle theme.
  • He got it when you resurrected him and he accepted his identity as the Destruct. Notice that in his profile, his race changes from 'Human' to 'Destruct' to reflect this.
  • Also quite literal with The Creator, which appears to be a machine.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Kyrie dies in Morte's arms when Naja kills him in the Valley of Dragons. Pietà Plagiarism is involved, especially given that he explicitly sacrificed himself for her.
• Dinosaurs Are Dragons: Rhi'a's personal quest has you freeing her ancestor from a curse that's keeping him a zombie. Naturally, this ancient dragon bears a striking resemblance to a T-rex, as do some of the Random Encounters around the Dragonkin Ruins of the current day. Rhi'a's grandfather appearing as a skeleton is also likely meant to bring fossils to mind.
• Disappears into Light: Kyrie does when he dies. You later encounter him again as a glowing ball of light, which is apparently what the Destruct looks like when not in a human body. It's still very obviously Kyrie, though, refusing to obey the Crimson Sun's orders to go back and destroy the world and then flashing with excitement when Morte speaks to him.
• Disc-One Final Dungeon: The Primal Cataract, where Lacertus Rex is fought. It leads to the real final dungeon, the Ark, where the Creator lies.
• Discretion Shot:
  • Battle Discretion Shot: Played for Laughs atop the Tower of Light. Morte beats and berates Kyrie for deciding to die so that the world - and, more importantly to him, she - couldn't be destroyed, but the camera just cuts to a Reaction Shot from the rest of the team.
  • Gory Discretion Shot: In the Sky Gaol, when Morte kills Rajiv, the camera follows the rest of the party while they leave the room. It's implied that she took her time.
  • Shadow Discretion Shot: In the Valley of the Dragons, when Naja kills Kyrie, we see the silhouette, but Naja's claw is quite clearly going through Kyrie's chest.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Porcus Rex attempts to eat a child just because he ran into him.
• Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: When Morte's Anger Born of Worry leads her to punch Kyrie, the rest of the team simply laughs and says he's lucky she didn't pull her BFS on him, despite the fact that it's been established that Morte is not someone you want to make angry. As Kyrie is a Nice Guy, he just lets her get it out of her system. Refreshingly, however, she only does this once in the whole game instead of turning it into a Running Gag; the rest of the time, she's quite gentle with him (though at least half the team likely wishes it did become a running gag instead, as they feel they should Get a Room! for their sweet talk).
• Dragged into Drag: Apparently how characters feel about being equipped with accessories meant for the opposite gender: they'll wear them, but their morale will take a hit and you'll start your turn in battle with fewer moves. Of course, the gender of some accessories seems pretty arbitrary: earrings are all for girls, but Naja and Agan are both shown to wear them in their portraits (and they seem to be very similar in style to the girls' earrings). Likewise, bangles are for boys, but Morte seems to be wearing some sort of bracelet on her right wrist (and it's not so different in style from Kyrie's). Confusingly, Taupy's preferences for equipment tend to follow the girls, yet he's never shown to be a Wholesome Crossdresser and is definitely not effeminate.
• Dramatic Wind: Blows during your Victory Pose.
• The Dulcinea Effect: Kyrie is ecstatic when Morte decides to drag him around the world in order to convince him it's an awful place mere moments after breaking him out of the Sky Gaol and soon promises to help her in whatever she needs, including ending the world. He's obviously not thinking clearly at that moment.
• Dull Surprise: The game normally has emotive voices and at least gets its character sprites Going Through the Motions as they talk. However, at the end of the game, Kyrie proclaims that he won't destroy the world because he has people he loves now, and they love him. Morte's text response has an exclamation point and her sprite animation seems embarrassed, but her face portrait is neutral rather than lovestruck and her voice is about the same as one you'd use to ask him to pass the salt at dinner.

• Earn Your Happy Ending: Kyrie goes through much angst over his Destruct powers and the accidental carnage he causes, dies and is brought back to life, and is forced to fight and kill his mother, the Creator of the world, but is eventually able to master his powers and be with Morte in a new, better world they create together.
• Easily Forgiven: Naja requests forgiveness for killing Kyrie and to join the team; he is allowed to do so and only Agan is even slightly suspicious of him (despite forgiveness not being her first instinct, Morte decides to do what Kyrie would do and forgive him).

• Empty Room Psych: The library in Galoa has a back portion that's normally blocked by the librarian, who moves late in the game. When you get back there, you can find a completely empty room. It does nothing. There's nothing to be taken from it. It's just...there.
• Enemy Without: One Bonus Boss is a manifestation of Kyrie's doubts and fears, a side effect of when he grew a soul and became human, then decided to give that up to try and save the world from himself.
• Equipment Spoiler: You can occasionally find guns before Rhi'a decides to join your team, and throwing blade wheels before you pick up Naja Gref.

• Everyone Has Standards: Morte has a loud personality and bright pink wardrobe to match, but eventually the Serial Escalation of the dresses the Feral women want to trade with her gets to be too much. The final one really gives her pause because it's see-through, but she does eventually decide to wear it - "a dress is a dress", after all.
• Evil Overlord: Downplayed with Lacertus Rex, who technically isn’t in charge of the world but is able to manipulate the other Beastlords and the party into doing their bidding.
• Evil Plan: Lacertus Rex has one going. He runs the World Annihilation Front so he can gain power over the Destruct and become the creator of a new world.
  • This backfire spectacularly when Morte pulls a You Have Outlived Your Usefulness on him.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The World Annihilation Front wants to end the world. The World Salvation Committee wants to prevent this.
• The Extremist Was Right: Morte wants to end the world...and the world agrees. That's why the Sand Sea is growing and Kyrie's destructive powers have awakened. Subverted in the end, though, when it turns out remaking the world is better than outright destroying it.
• Facial Composite Failure: The bounty posters of your group are naturally exaggerated caricatures, and seemingly can't even decide on what they want to caricature.
• Fantastic Racism:
  • Exceptions going to Rana Rex, right? Working children to death and then using them as fertilizer is not cool.
  • Even though this is Morte's primary motivation for wanting to destroy the world, for every city where humans are openly bullied, it seems like there's another where they live more or less as equals. Morte's hometown even has a human chief with a laid-back feral population.
    • In the anime, at least. In the game, Morte just seems to want to destroy the world for the sake of it. The crappiness of it is just her best argument.
• Fastball Special: Taupy's special finishing move was summoning Muffy, being picked up, spin for momentum and thrown at the enemies.
• The Fellowship Has Ended: The epilogue shows the main characters doing different things in different parts of the world, each apparently on their own. Except for Kyrie and Morte, who are now a couple looking out over the new water-filled sea.
• Feminist Fantasy: While the overall cast gender ratio is heavily skewed in favor of males, the females who do appear all take an active, important role.
  • The game may place the player in the shoes of Kyrie Illunis, but he's often out-shined by his Love Interest and Supporting Leader, Morte Asherah. She's the one in charge of directing the team in where they'll go and what they'll kill, and is generally a very tough Dark Action Girl (who happens to like flashy pink dresses). You Can't Drop the Hero in this game, and it's notable that, while that's usually Kyrie, there's a chunk where it's Morte due to him being dead and her seeking to revive him because she just realized that she loves him for more than his useful powers. Even when Kyrie manages to grow as a character and Morte decides to turn from some of her Omnicidal Maniac ways, it's only so they can become a Battle Couple, not so their roles can be reversed to "traditional" male lead and female support (unlike the later manga adaptation, which is much less feminist-friendly). The game is keen to point out that the reason Kyrie is successful in trying to Screw Destiny is due to The Power of Love, not Heroic Resolve. The Japanese subtitle, translated as Guided Wills, makes the interplay of the two leads clear: Kyrie may be The Hero, but he's not the guy in charge; Morte may be the actual leader and a bit Ax-Crazy, but she's heavily influenced by Kyrie's All-Loving Hero tendencies.
  • Agan is due to inherit the title of Chief from his mom, who gained the title after her husband was killed, and no one comments on it or suggests he needs to hurry up and claim his "proper" role or that she's doing an inferior job; their leader is simply anyone who has passed the Rite of Ascension. The Bacchitav Caravan is a pretty egalitarian place overall, one of the few locations where humans and beastmen of either gender are treated equally (possibly because life on the Sand Sea is tough and they all Had to Be Sharp; as long as they're capable of pulling their own weight and contributing to the Sand Tribe, race and gender are pretty immaterial).
  • Rhi'a is treated with great respect as a Dragonkin, in addition to being quite capable as The Gunslinger; the fact that she resembles a fifteen-year-old girl is a moot point.
  • Serpens Rex is a powerful sorceress, notable for being able to brainwash Morte, who later utterly avoids the tricky mental spell used by Noctua Rex (a male owl, though it's possible it's due to the type of spell, not the skill of the caster).
  • The final boss, the Creator of the world, is also female.
• Fighting Your Friend: Serpens Rex hypnotizes Morte into fighting you alongside her. Don't kill your Brainwashed and Crazy teammate, or you'll get a Non-Standard Game Over.
• Final Speech: Kyrie lasts an awful long time for someone who was Impaled with Extreme Prejudice.
• Firing One-Handed: Rhi'a in the opening movie. When she chains her flurry attacks, she fires with one hand, then the other, then both at once.
• First-Episode Twist: The anime takes its sweet time telling us that Kyrie has the power to turn everything to sand, holding out until the very end. The game actually kicks off its plot with him losing control of said power and makes no secret about the fact that he's capable of destroying the world even if he really doesn't want to.
• Flat Character: There's a reason she's called Morte. Lampshaded near the end. All the other characters are forced to undergo a flashback which tells their reason to go against the world, and she complains that nothing is happening to her. Even when she eventually changes her mind about destroying the world, she's still extremely brash and ready to rush in blade-first instead of stopping to talk it out - her goal may have changed, but her personality is quite the same.
• For Doom the Bell Tolls: An ominous bell rings out as Kyrie's Destruct powers activate.
• Foreign Language Theme: The English opening "Time's Arm" is in Latin, mostly because this game loves its Gratuitous Latin.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend:
  • The entirety of Barni Village becomes one for Kyrie. Apart from one passing mention several hours after the fact, he never even reflects on the matter, though it's somewhat implied that he was deep in denial (and when it finally hits him that he's really the one responsible and that he can't be rid of these powers, he decides suicide is the best option).
  • Elephas Rex eventually becomes one for Rhi'a when his views come into opposition with the Front's new goal. Even though it's established that she highly respects him, after his death she never comments on it again. Of course, given her Psychic Powers, she likely knew how he would die long before it ever happened, and given that she's 300 in a world of human-length lifespans, she's likely seen a lot of death.
• Gender-Restricted Gear: Clothes and armor are occasionally strictly gendered, though a lot are One Size Fits All (except Taupy). This is despite the fact that the boys are slim Bishounen and there's as much of a height difference between Kyrie and Naja as there is between Kyrie and Morte (and she's physically stronger than him, so it's not a question of if the armor is simply too heavy). Accessories can be worn by anyone, but characters may feel they've been Dragged into Drag and start the battle with lower morale if wearing the "wrong" accessory.
• Get a Room!: Agan is at least mildly annoyed by how open Morte and Kyrie are in their affection for each other. Naja agrees with him. Surprisingly, no one says anything about Taupy and Muffy, though they're even more shameless.
• Get on the Boat: You're first limited to wherever Felis Rex decides to drop you off using his cruise ship (which means running errands for him, naturally). After you rescue Agan, you'll have your own ship, though it'll be a few more plot points before you're allowed to sail anywhere and your Cool Ship becomes the Global Airship in function (it's still an entirely normal boat, same as when you started, but the plot has seen fit to allow exploration).
• Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Serpens Rex. She pops up in the middle of the desert sandsea, traps you in a literal Mirror Universe, scatters the party, then hypnotizes Morte into fighting you. The Final Boss also counts, as the story was largely fantasy for the most part, then suddenly took a hard left into sci-fi at the end.
• Godhood Seeker: Lacertus Rex tries to pull this off.
• Going Through the Motions: Every time a character speaks, he/she display one gesture specific to him/herself, such as Agan fixing his hat or Rhi'a rocking back and forth on her heels. Every. Single. Time.
• Gory Deadly Overkill Title of Fatal Death
• Gratuitous Latin: Latin everywhere in this game. As previously mentioned, there is the song "Time's Arm." The Arc Words translate to "the play is over." Nearly all of the Beastlords' titles combine the Latin words for their species followed by Rex (King); and even the last boss spouts several lines in Latin before finally dying.
• Grim Up North: The northern Winter Continent of Garragis is cold and largely uninhabited except for monsters and the ruins of the Dragonkin. However, the Fantasy World Map shows it to be about the same latitude as the temperate Autumn Continent of Tanner.
• Guide Dang It!: The Temple of Light is initially locked. To get inside, you must first trigger a conversation with your companions by using the teleport pads a couple times - which you'll likely eventually do just out of frustration, but there's no indication that's required. During the conversation, Taupy says you should return to the beginning and start over. Does that mean returning to the entrance of the temple grounds and running along the path again? Nope! You're supposed to go back to the town outside the temple and speak to one random lady who's just standing around looking like any other filler NPC and get her to give you a book. Even if you Talk to Everyone the first time you enter town, nothing in her initial conversation will tip you off that you'll need to speak to her again later. Yeah, good luck figuring that out on your own. Once you have the book you need, the actual path you need to follow is as much an exercise in Trial-and-Error Gameplay as it is memory and planning. Morte becomes increasingly frustrated with each new twist, and by the end of that quest, you're likely to feel for her.
• The Gunslinger: Rhi'a.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Naja from the Salvation Committee. Despite being a reasonable person, some of his colleagues don't exactly refrain from showing their racism in regards to his parentage.
• Happily Married: The game's two couples both fit this trope to a degree.
  • First there's Taupy and his wife/live-in girlfriend Muffy. While she's largely a Satellite Love Interest, it's clear they love each other and that their situation works for them; any time Taupy is home, he and Muffy are shamelessly affectionate.
  • About halfway through, Kyrie and Morte become an Official Couple. Agan seems to think they're Sickeningly Sweethearts, but he's the Butt-Monkey and The Complainer Is Always Wrong; they're actually less schmoopy than Taupy and Muffy. While they're still teenagers (and thus unmarried), they have none of the drama or jealousy typically associated with teen romance, and the ending implies that they'll continue to stay together.
• Healer Signs On Early: Everybody gets healing abilities, but your main man Kyrie has nothing but various healing abilities at the start.
• Hearing Voices: Kyrie hears an ominous voice telling him to "awaken and destroy" and saying acta est fabula every time his destructive powers activate, though no one else hears the voice. He also hears a bell; while he's the only one who hears it the first time, his soon-to-be accidental victims also hear it the second time.
• Heel–Face Turn: Naja. After he kills The Hero.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: Averted; our protagonist Kyrie is a knife user and the only sword-wielder of any sort in the group is Morte, with a BFS scimitar. Played straight after Kyrie Awakens; he trades his pair of knives for a single, standard sword.
• Heroic BSoD: Morte has one after Kyrie is killed. She refuses to eat anything for three days, apparently just sitting on her bed and staring off into space. She finally snaps out of it when the Front sends new orders suggesting a way to resurrect Kyrie.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Kyrie Illunis eventually decides to sacrifice himself to save the rest of the team and the world, as he has no control of his powers but at least can't kill anyone if he's dead himself. Luckily he gets better.
• Hey, That's My Line!: When Agan picks up Morte and Kyrie from the Sky Gaol, she encourages them to hurry up and get on the Sea Gail with a standard "All aboard!" Agan complains that he's the one who's supposed to say that.
• Highly-Conspicuous Uniform: The game only introduces us to two members of the World Annihilation Front (your Token Evil Teammate/Love Interest, Morte, and the leader of the Front, Lacertus Rex), and we aren't even told if they have a uniform, but Morte's outfit is hot pink. Gameplay and Story Integration has her personal outfits equipped with the trait "War Paint", which makes the enemy more likely to target her. As her stats don't lend her to being a tank (she can dish hits, but can't take them), this means she's likely to die in combat. A lot - luckily Kyrie gets a revive move. Their opponents, the World Salvation Committee, wear pale blue and white uniforms in a world that's largely desert (including the ocean). The one place their uniforms might provide some camouflage, the Winter Isle, is the one place you'll never encounter them.
• Hitchhiker Heroes: Once you get control of The Hero Kyrie, he meets his Love Interest, Morte. As she hopes to use his status as a Person of Mass Destruction to cause The End of the World as We Know It and he's just fallen in Love at First Sight, the two agree to become a team and journey across the world - she to convince him to want to use his powers (as he's not keen on the idea of world destruction), and him because...hey, the pretty girl asked. They soon meet Taupy, a bounty hunter who is first paid to keep tabs on them for Felis Rex, but eventually decides to join the group because Kyrie is a Nice Guy and that's a very strange thing (especially if he's capable of ending the world as Morte thinks he is). Morte suggests they seek out her old friend Agan to use his ship (since hers got wrecked somehow), but it turns into a Recruitment by Rescue when they discover he's been captured and is undergoing some Cold-Blooded Torture due to the Fantastic Racism that humans and beastmen have against each other. He's reluctant to get involved in any of Morte's craziness, but eventually decides it's better to keep an eye on them - and because Kyrie's nice to the point of insanity. Later, Rhi'a - the dragonkin who's been hanging around with Felis Rex - decides to join because she, too, is curious about Kyrie (especially since she's aware of his destiny and didn't expect the Destruct to have emotions at all, much less to be kind and polite), and because she thinks it's the thing to do, even if dragons are supposed to be strictly observers of the fate of the world, not participants in it. This seems to make a full roster, but The Sixth Ranger Naja, the guy you controlled briefly in the beginning, decides to join the team just after the mid-point of the game, once again because Kyrie is so strangely nice to everyone and he can't believe he asked him to kill him in order to prevent himself from losing control of his powers and ending the world. Furthermore, he has a hard time accepting that someone could be resurrected after he stabbed them in the chest, but if anyone deserves a second chance, it's Kyrie. It's not a Debut Queue because there's plenty of other plot going on between character collections.
• Honorable Elephant: Hospital administrator Elephas Rex refuses to turn away patients.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Gender inverted by Taupy and Muffy.
  • Taupy's a gruff, one-eyed, no-nonsense bounty hunter who looks like an adorable teddy bear less than half as tall as most of the rest of the cast. Muffy also looks like an adorable teddy bear, albeit one that is at least twenty feet tall.
• Human Resources: Lacertus Rex wants to use humans as the base material for a new world where he's a god. He also requires Kyrie's powers, both to break down the present world in a timely manner and to rebuild the new one; whether or not such a thing would require "harvesting" Kyrie's powers or simply taking control of him isn't stated.
• I Cannot Self-Terminate: When Kyrie decides he's too dangerous to continue living, he asks Naja to kill him rather than considering a way to do it by himself. After he's resurrected, he apologizes for making such a cruel, selfish request without thinking of how guilty Naja might feel.
• I Can't Believe I'm Saying This:
  • At one point, Naja eventually notes that Morte has ceased to surprise him with her bombastic behavior and comments that he can't believe himself.
  • Every time Morte says something remotely feminine, Agan snarks that he can't believe she just said that. Apparently he still sees her as One of the Guys, hot pink miniskirt and all.
• I Have Many Names: The game's wanted posters have nicknames for your characters that change over the course of the game. Most are fairly absurd, but given that the wanted posters are overall horrible caricatures, it's not so surprising that their names are equally unfitting^note Nice Guy Kyrie starts off known as The Butcher because he's a Psycho Knife Nut, but really, the only thing he wants to butcher is a steak - and likely a tofu steak at that. Morte (probably the only one to deserve her nicknames) overhears a couple of ferals discussing her various names - Beastslayer, Scarlet Plague - and finds the idea hilariously entertaining until they get to "Lady Death", which she finds lame.
• I'm a Humanitarian: In the original version, before the executives told the writers to tone it down, the beastmen didn't just rule over humans, they ate them. Porcus Rex threatens to eat a human boy, and perhaps implies he does so routinely, but is stopped before he can even decided how he wants to cook him.
• Infinity -1 Sword: The Zephyr Blade is Morte's second-strongest weapon in the game and is available as soon as you find 20 Green Ore and can give it to the smith on the Bacchitav Caravan. If you feel like farming Green Anima in the Undercroft, you could potentially have that sword for nearly the entire game.
• Infinity +1 Sword: Every character has one:
  • Kyrie gets the Destruct Blade after defeating his shadowy doppelganger, which requires returning to the Temple of Light after it's turned dark, finding yet another way in, and then chasing the shadow down.
  • Morte gets a giant sword called Infini, so heavy that most men can't even lift it, much less wield it effectively. Randomly visiting Agi Wharfs will have Felis Rex show up to offer it to her if she can get him the Divine Ear Pick.
  • Taupy gets the Friend's Gloves by defeating three fellow bounty hunters and taking their gloves, then accidentally being confronted by Muffy, who already knew who killed Ace and was no longer angry.
  • Agan gets the Ganza Whip for completing the Sand Tribe's ceremonial quest.
  • Rhi'a gets Omega, a pair of guns, for revisiting the Tower of Wind after her scene in the Depths of Memories.
  • Naja gets the Silverwolf Fang, an ancestral weapon from his tribe, after searching the Tower of Earth and fighting off looters.
• It Was a Gift:
  • Averted by Morte. While her first sword, the Nameless Blade, was given to her by the local blacksmith of the Bacchitav Caravan, she shows no particular attachment to it and is equally happy with any sword; she cares more about the strength of the weapon than where she got it. The blacksmith himself considers it to be an Old Shame and desperately wishes to replace it (which grants you her Infinity -1 Sword if you take him up on his offer), but not because being stuck with an inferior weapon could be dangerous to a fellow Sand Tribe member; he's just worried someone will trace it back to him and think his skills are still as poor as when he forged it. She also has no problems trading in clothes which were given to her by Feral women, though as she had no prior relationship to them, it's not quite as odd.
  • Played straight by most other characters and various weapons and armor they receive; they're obviously happy to have items of sentimental value as well as practical power. Luckily, the two coincide more often than not.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Kyrie is clearly smitten with Morte, but her interest in him is more pragmatic at first. He eventually decides he wants her to live safely more than he wants to be with her, and asks Naja to kill him so he can't lose control of his powers and accidentally kill her or destroy the world. She doesn't take it so well.
• Just Before the End: Morte points out that the world is already well on its way to the end with the ever-expanding Sand Sea, earthquakes, and whatever else the environment can think of to throw at them. She's just here to give it a kick in the pants and hurry it along.
• Justified Title: The Japanese title is World Destruction. Guess what the World Destruction Committee is out to do?
• Kiss-Kiss-Slap: Morte's first reaction to seeing Kyrie again atop the Temple of Light is utter joy, but she quickly shifts to berating him for deciding suicide was the best option. The camera cuts away to a Reaction Shot of the rest of the team watching her punch him and commenting that he's lucky she didn't pull her sword.
• Larynx Dissonance: Taupy, as mentioned above, is an adorable teddy bear-like feral...with a gruff, badass voice.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler:
  • The Japanese boxart◊ shows all the main characters lined up, facing the same direction as if they are a team, despite Naja being antagonistic. Naturally, he makes a Heel–Face Turn - or, given the Villain Protagonist nature of the game, perhaps that'd be a Face–Heel Turn.
  • If you've got the sound track, don't read the song titles until you've played the game. One is titled "Kyrie's Death" and spoils the mid-game Plotline Death. As it's an instrumental, though, just listening to the song itself won't actually spoil you.
• Lazy Backup: Everyone follows you around and is present for all of the plot, but only three may fight at once. The rest apparently just stand there even when their teammates are getting whaled on.
• Leaked Experience: Your Lazy Backup gets between 1/3 and 1/2 the experience of your active party. There's an item which allows you to give one person on the bench a full complement of experience (but no Customization Points), but no one likes to wear it.
• Lethal Chef: Kyrie's special skills involve the use of food to attack. But also to heal.
• Let's Split Up, Gang!: In Mechto, Kyrie and Morte sneak up on Aquilla Rex while Taupy, Naja, and Rhi'a keep the rest of the World Salvation Committee busy.
• Limit Break: All characters have a Super Move Portrait Attack which hits for massive damage, plus a Blood Skill and a Life Skill that are only available after filling a critical hit gauge during battle.
• Love Epiphany: It takes Kyrie dying in her arms for Morte to realize she's fallen in love with him.
• Love Makes You Dumb: Kyrie, she may be pretty and you may have just fallen in Love at First Sight, but Morte is trying to destroy the world! What makes you think it's a good idea to hang around and help her? It takes Elephas Rex to point out to him that, if she's successful, they won't be able to be together on account of that whole "being dead" thing.
• Love at First Sight: Quite literal emphasis on the "sight" part: when Kyrie first meets Morte in the Sky Gaol, we're shown her from his point of view, with her face in shadows. At this point, he's just freaked out and concerned about making the Ferals angry for breaking out of jail. After they escape, he quickly changes his mind and decides to help her - just after they get out on the open Sand Sea, where the sun is shining and he can see her face.
• Love Redeems: Kyrie's love for Morte eventually convinces her to turn from her Omnicidal Maniac tendencies, and her love for him allows him to resist the Destruct Code's orders to destroy the world.
• Luck-Based Mission: What battles inevitably turn into, thanks to the combat system's method of giving you or your enemies another attack based on getting a critical hit. You can steamroll a boss in one playthrough, or just never get a turn in another.
  • This isn't the case if you activate the Game-Breaker powers from flurry attacks though. Of course, if a boss manages to get the first turn in a battle, it can still steamroll over you.
• MacGuffin Delivery Service: Lacertus Rex allows the World Destruction Committee to rescue Kyrie and kill the Primal Lords which are key to unlocking his power, then demands that they hand him over so he can be used to create a world where Lacertus Rex is the supreme ruler. Considering they just went to the trouble of resurrecting Kyrie, this plan naturally doesn't go over very well.
• Magikarp Power: Flurry attacks are rather weak (though accurate) at the beginning of the game when compared to blow attacks (more damage and less accurate, but this can easily be compensated for). However, once you reach lvl 20 (which isn't very far into the game, even without grinding, which is also fairly easy to do) you get the option of further improving all your attacks, giving them certain bonuses when doing so. Blow attacks can get some decent powerups from this, but flurry attacks get the option to chain which is more or less a Game-Breaker.
• Manual Leader, A.I. Party: The tutorial section that allows you to control Naja has you fighting alongside the computer-controlled Rajiv; the rest of the game lets you control all the characters in your party. It's unclear if he's controlled by the AI simply to avoid overwhelming the new players or because Naja later joins the Front and becomes permanently playable, whereas Rajiv is summarily killed off about a third of the way in.
• Meaningful Name: Kyrie means 'Lord' in Greek, Morte means 'Death' in many Latin-derived languages.
• Mechanically Unusual Class: Averted by Rhi'a. Despite being a flying gun-wielder, she plays just like any other character, even when it doesn't make sense.^note For example, no one can chain Air Flurries because they can't stay in the air that long. Makes sense for grounded melee characters, but she flies and attacks targets at range. She should have zero trouble hitting a fellow flier.
• Milholland Relationship Moment: Muffy knew all along.
• Mirror Universe: Literally, in the case of Serpens Rex's crazy mirror dimension.
• Moment Killer: Elephas Rex walks in just after Kyrie admits to Morte that he cares for her and isn't sure what he'd do without her. Instead of continuing their conversation with an audience, she takes the opportunity to change the subject.
• Money Spider: Naturally. Kill stuff, get gold. Doesn't matter what you killed.
• Mood Whiplash: On paper, the story looks like pretty serious stuff, and the original draft by writer Masato Kato was apparently even darker and more violent. As it turns out, the higher-ups insisted on marketing the game to a younger demographic, and so they settled on the worst solution possible: keep the same basic story points, but pack each and every scene with lame, anime-cliche humor and have the game's position on the Sliding Scale of Silliness vs. Seriousness go haywire.
• More Dakka: Rhi'a if you chain her Flurry attacks, and Agan's Special Attack.
• Mother Nature, Father Science: Averted by the final boss. Mother Nature is science.
• Motivational Lie: When confronting Aquilla Rex, Rhi'a tells Kyrie she's seen a vision in which everyone survives the fight; she admits she saw no such thing as soon as he's out of earshot. When everyone does survive, Kyrie apologizes for doubting her.
• MST3K Mantra: A couple characters question things like how the World Annihilation Front is able to find its members anywhere and everywhere and rain down notes with their instructions even when indoors. Morte tells them to stop worrying about such things.
• My Friends... and Zoidberg: Agan is usually the Zoidberg. For example, when he first introduces himself, the Ferals have never even heard of him, despite the fact that he's the Golden Lions' second. One of them eventually remembers that he saw Agan's name scrawled at the bottom of one of Morte's wanted posters as a known associate; he thought the single-digit bounty was a joke. Such treatment continues, off and on, at various points throughout the game. The poor guy never catches a break.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Morte Asherah, in account that "Morte" is the Latin word for "Death". Her nicknames "Scarlet Plague", "Beastslayer", and "Lady Death" also count. Kyrie ends up nicknamed "Destruct", but anyone who meets him immediately decides that it doesn't suit him at all.
• New Eden: The game ends with the world remade by Kyrie's powers - the sea is now water, humans and ferals apparently get along, and the new world looks pristine.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Villain Protagonist Morte would like to figure out a way to get Kyrie to fulfill his destiny and destroy the world. Turns out, hanging around with her is exactly what he needs to get control of his powers and avoid destroying the world.
• Ninja Zombie Pirate Robot: Taupy is a teddybear-sized bear with a gruff voice, a bandanna and an eyepatch who fights enemies with martial arts.
• Non-Standard Game Over: Don't kill Brainwashed and Crazy Morte during that one boss fight. This means not using your Limit Break, as it will hit all opponents and the Beastlord is much tougher than your companion.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Agan tells Kyrie he's more like Morte than he realizes; despite the fact that she's much more enthusiastic about the World Annihilation Front's goals than he is, they're both exceptionally stubborn. This cheers Kyrie up.

• One Size Fits All: Most armor falls here, though some are Gender-Restricted Gear.
• One-Winged Angel: All the beastlords pull this (the ones you fight, anyway).
  • The Creator does this after you defeat her human form.
• Our Souls Are Different: You can be created without one, but if enough people show you love and affection, you'll develop one all on your own.
• The Outside World: Kyrie was pretty sheltered in Barni and grew up believing the world was a fairly nice place and that it was natural for Ferals to rule humans because they were so benevolent, like Ursa Rex was. Morte quickly disabuses him of such naivete, and even offers to travel the world with him to prove how much it needs to be destroyed.
• Patchwork Map: The Autumn and Winter continents are about the same latitude, separated only by an expanse of Sand Sea, though one is very temperate and inhabitable while the other is icy and foreboding. Likewise, the southern half of the map is taken up by the tropical jungles on the Summer Isle and the temperate plains of the Spring Isle.
• Party in My Pocket: You'll only ever see the character you're controlling (normally Kyrie, but Morte for a portion of the plot), but everyone else will show up for cutscenes.
• Party of Representatives: You've got both humans and beastmen in your party, as well as a dragonkin and later a half-feral. However, two of your humans are nomadic and largely accepting Sand Tribe members, and the third is extremely naive about the world; there's no "average" human who hates or fears ferals among them. Taupy, meanwhile, is no feral apologist; he sees the Fantastic Racism against humans as being as vile as the humans see it. So, while there's the potential for a conflict of ideologies, there rarely is; the biggest conflict is actually simply questioning why they're helping Morte when they don't actually wish to destroy the world like she does.
• Party Scattering: Serpens Rex scatters the party in a Mirror Dimension and hypnotizes Morte into fighting you alongside her. Kyrie has to find everyone before they can leave.
• Penultimate Weapon: Kyrie gets the Hand of the Sun, which he receives when he's resurrected by the Crimson Sun.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Kyrie's status as one is what catches Morte's attention and kickstarts the plot.
• Pitbull Dates Puppy: Morte is a tough Action Girl who's normally Oblivious to Love and a bit of an Omnicidal Maniac. Kyrie is an All-Loving Hero and consumate Nice Guy. Somehow they make it work.
• Pipe Maze: The sewers of the Botanical Gardens are a twisting mess of waterworks.
• Please Kill Me if It Satisfies You: Taupy tells Muffy that it's time for her to have her revenge on him for killing her brother in a duel-by-proxy. He doesn't specifically state that she can kill him, but the rest of the party's reactions would suggest they know that's what he intended. She doesn't, of course. She already knew and had come to terms with what had happened.
• Plotline Death: While your party members can die at any point and is revived after the battle, Kyrie will die in a cutscene midgame and does not automatically hop up when it's over.
• Plot Tunnel: You'll have to walk down one just after the midpoint of the game. Until you visit Galoa and make your way through the clock tower, then visit Lyse and find a way to the top of the Temple of Light, you're not allowed to do anything else. Morte is a bit too single-minded to go off poking at random things in the world.
• Powers in the First Episode: In contrast to the anime, the discovery of Kyrie's powers is what starts the plot here; it's just that he can't use them on command (and wouldn't want to if he could).
• The Power of Love: It can make you grow a soul and allows Kyrie to refuse to follow the Destruct Code.
• Precision F-Strike: "Mild language" is listed as one of the reasons for the game's T rating, but you can actually count the number of times anyone swears on one hand.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: After activating their Limit Break, each character has a line which plays before the enemies tally up which of them are now dead and which are just missing a large chunk of their health bar.
• Present Absence: Kyrie gets one about halfway through the game. While he's currently dead (or, more specifically, a ball of light), Morte still acts the way she knows he would. Of course, considering the Front is trying to resurrect him, he also becomes the driving force of the plot for this time.
• Prolonged Prologue: It takes quite a bit of time before you even get control of your protagonist. After that, it takes quite a bit of time before the world opens up for free exploration.
• Pun-Based Title:
  • The Japanese subtitle Michibikareshi Ishi is translated as "Guided Wills", but the verb conjucation -kareshi is rather irregular. This is because kareshi is also the Japanese word for "boyfriend", making it clear that Kyrie's will is being guided by Morte. And, when he actually does become her boyfriend, he asserts a strong pull on her as well, turning her intent from destroying the world to simply fixing it.
  • The English title Sands of Destruction clearly refers to Kyrie's power to turn everything to sand.
• Random Encounters
• Reasonable Authority Figure: As far as Beastlords go, Ursa Rex was evidently a fair and just ruler, who had no problem with humans, and Elephas Rex treats both humans and ferals equally at his hospital. Felis Rex may be a blackmailer, but he's overall fairly reasonable as well.
• Resurrected Romance: Kyrie and Morte don't get together until after he comes Back from the Dead, because it took him dying in her arms for her to realize he meant something to her.
• Right Behind Me: A couple of prison guards comment on Morte and how scarily psychotic she is as she's walking up behind them. In an Inverted Trope, she loves the things they're saying about her.
• Sand Is Water: The Sand Sea is exactly like every sea on Earth - it's big, everybody sails on it, it's full of whales and jellyfish - except that it's made of sand.
• Sanity Strengthening: Morte is clearly nuts at the opening of the game^note likely bipolar-manic. Kyrie is basically walking, talking lithium for her. He's not exactly a Living Emotional Crutch, but traveling with him definitely helps her sanity; by the end of the game, she seems almost normal.
• The Savage South: Summer Continent appears to be an expy of Africa, complete with deserts and savannah and a large jungle in the middle. The biggest sign of civilization is the complex operated by Elephas Rex, and travelers who fail to take precautions usually collapse from heat exhaustion before they reach it.
• Scenery Porn: For a world that's supposedly well on its way to the end, the place is pretty. The larger 256MB DS card is earning its keep with the backgrounds.
• Schizo Tech: Farming is apparently still done by hand and Rhi'a's guns are the exception rather than the rule for favored weapons, but Sand Skiffs are essentially hovercraft with internal combustion engines. Nobody really blinks at the futuristic tech found inside the Ark, either.
• Science Fantasy: Where the story eventually lands. It starts out seeming to be a light fantasy, as while a couple of characters have skills that could be considered spells (and then there's the matter of the Ferals), most of them are functionally equivalent to the real world. Then you add some modern tech, like engines. Then more fantasy as you add the Primal Lords and the way Beastlords can transform. Then you add futuristic sci-fi at the end, when they visit the Ark, which is basically a space ship full of DNA popsicles.
• Screw Destiny: Kyrie does not want to destroy the world. Just remake it into a better one.
• Sea of Sand: There is a literal ocean named the "Sand Sea". Unusually, it seems to be treated more like an actual ocean rather than a colossal desert, seemingly requiring specialized equipment to traverse it, there are even Sand Whales that live beneath the sands.
• Secret Level: Some time after the Temple of Light turns dark, you can return to the area to complete another set of puzzles and fight a Bonus Boss.
• Seeks Another's Resurrection: After Kyrie asks Naja to kill him so he can't destroy the world, Morte sets out to revive him.
• Senseless Sacrifice: Kyrie eventually decides his death would mean the world would be saved. Unfortunately, the Destruct has numerous backups in place to ensure the system works, including a method of resurrection in case of premature death.
• Shadow Archetype: Dark Kyrie is one for Kyrie, though you may not find him during the course of the game, as he's a Bonus Boss. He's a manifestations of Kyrie's doubts and fears, a side effect of when he grew a soul and became human, then decided to give that up to try and save the world from himself - apparently the part of himself that he rejected in order to be able to make a heroic sacrifice also rejected the idea that suicide would save people and so got himself his own body.
• Shoot the Dog: Naja eventually kills Kyrie at his request because they both believe that it will save the world. Nope. There are backups to ensure the Destruct continues to exist.
• Shout-Out: Bits and pieces scattered through quips and lines.
  Agan: Exit, stage left!
  
  Taupy: Here's looking at you, girl.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: Agan and Naja accuse Kyrie and Morte of being this, though they're actually pretty low-key in their affection. Taupy and Muffy are much more blatant, but no one ever complains about them (being size-mismatched live stuffed animals apparently gives you license to be teeth-achingly cute).
• Single Tear: Morte cries one atop the Tower of Light when Kyrie comes back to life. Immediately afterwords, she switches back to her usual tough demeanor.
• Sliding Scale of Antagonist Vileness: The beastlords. We have Elephas Rex on one end, who will treat any and all patients who come to him, including Morte, down through Felis Rex, who is a nice guy, but still blackmails you into running errands for him, to Noctua Rex, who traps you in your memories and tries to kill you, but is trying to save the world, to the Jerkass Aqulia Rex down to Porcus Rex and Rana Rex, who eat random humans and use humans for fertilizer, respectively, and finally we have Lacertus Rex, who wants to use all of humanity as raw material for a new world where he is God.
• Sliding Scale of Shiny Versus Gritty: Despite being titled Sands of Destruction, the game is far over on the shiny end of the scale.
• Smart Ball: Morte is normally the type to suggest blowing stuff up first and not asking any questions later, but she gets to hold the Smart Ball for a bit atop the Tower of Light and declares that instead of destroying the world, she and Kyrie will use his power to recreate it. Apparently she was actually paying attention when Lacertus Rex was babbling at the team, as everyone else dismisses the idea at first.
• Soundtrack Dissonance: The song which plays during Kyrie's Dying Declaration of Love starts off melancholy but becomes oddly hopeful, considering the whole dying part and all, especially as he doesn't get a real answer as to whether or not the feeling is mutual.
• So What Do We Do Now?: Morte has a brief moment soon after busting Kyrie of out the Sky Gaol at the start of the game. She expected he'd just end the world then, bam, and she didn't bother to think of what she'd have to do if he couldn't or wouldn't turn everything around him to sand again. She decides that getting out of the Gaol should be their first goal, followed by waiting for new orders from the Front.
• Space Compression: Continents are quite small; even with the Random Encounters, it still takes less than an hour to walk across most of them.
• Spin Attack: Most Limit Break attacks and several regular attacks involve at least a modicum of spinning.
• Sprite/Polygon Mix: Intentionally invoked to make the game resemble Xenogears, as it was developed by the same people.
• Staff of Authority: Ursa Rex had one. It somehow miraculously survived Kyrie's first bout of Power Incontinence and was taken by Lupus Rex; Felix Rex would like you to retrieve it for him.
• Status Effects: Namely, Poison and Paralyze (Stun). There's also Seal, though not many enemies can inflict it.
• Story to Gameplay Ratio: 20-30 hours of gameplay, compared to about 3-4 hours of cutscenes. Many of those tend towards the front of the game.
• Suspicious Videogame Generosity: Any healing points found inside the dungeon, after the party has traveled deep enough. Suspicious enough, due to the game allowing you to save anywhere.
• Swamps Are Evil: Upon arriving in Fallenmire, Kyrie discovers, to much to his horror, that there are skeletons floating around the wetlands. Taupi explains that the ferals forced their humans slaves to work to their graves on a nearby mine without caring about the dangers of mining in such a hazardous area. It's also the only place that grows the Silvervine that Felis Rex wants.
• Tears of Joy:
  • Kyrie is overcome with happiness when Elephas Rex manages to save Morte from a curse and makes an Anguished Declaration of Personal Importance through them. He even notes how silly it is of him to start crying at a time like this, though Morte doesn't rib him for it, surprisingly.
  • Morte cries a Single Tear atop the Tower of Light when Kyrie comes back to life.
• Tech Points: Called Customization Points (CP). You use them to upgrade your attacks' power and accuracy or mana cost, unlock new attacks, and chain your flurries.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: When Naja joins the group, Agan is more than a little distrustful of him. They eventually do find a common ground, though: annoyance with Kyrie and Morte's shameless PDA.
• That's an Order!: The leader of the World Annihilation Front insists Morte leave the Destruct (Kyrie) with him, as he wishes to use his powers himself. Morte is not amused.
  Leader: Now, as your leader, I command you: leave the Destruct here and begone!
  Morte: Why should I?
  Leader: I gave you an order.
  Morte: And you expect me to follow it? Ha. You're dumber than I thought.
• That Wasn't a Request: What the Front leader's actions amount to for the rest of the team, as only Morte ever really claimed membership.
• This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Some characters' personal quests, such as Agan's and Taupy's, are set up such that they are the only one allowed to fight. The other characters merely hang back and cheer them on, even if that means they get trounced a time or two.
• Took a Level in Badass: Kyrie, after being resurrected, in combat anyways. He's still a whiny bitch otherwise.
  • A more confident somewhat less whiny bitch, whose (rather hilarious) reaction to an order to destroy the world is a flat "No" which leaves The Creator speechless.
• Transformation Sequence: All the beastlords before battle, as well as Rajiv's, Naja's, and Rhi'a's Special Attacks. And Kyrie at the start of each fight, after his awakening as the Destruct.
• Treacherous Spirit Chase: If you return to the Temple of Light after it's darkened, Kyrie will spot a person who he claims looks just like him and insist on chasing after him. At first no one else believes him, but eventually they decide it does look a lot like there's a second Kyrie out there. When you finally catch up, he's a Bonus Boss.
• Useless Useful Spell: Kyrie's Porta Clausa. It negates all damage for three turns! Sounds like an awesome way to turn your party into an invincible killing machine, yeah? Well, no, it also negates damage done to your enemies, so in practice it just makes the battle three turns longer. The only way it would be useful is if you needed to heal the entire party and needed a few turns to do that, but Kyrie has another Life Skill that heals everyone, dispels all status effects, and revives all fallen members in one go.
• Utility Party Member: Agan has a Quip which allows the party to escape from battle quickly, another which increases the amount of gold earned, and is the only character who likes to wear the accessories which double the amount of gold gotten from battle. While he's only a mid-tier character in terms of battle ability, if you're looking for more gold (or just annoyed with how long it takes to escape Random Encounters), you're likely to keep him in.
• The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: The Primal Cataract appears to be one; Agan claims sailors avoid it because no one who goes in has ever come out again. Then subverted, as not only is it possible to leave the Cataract, but it's not even the final dungeon - just the gateway to the real final dungeon, the Ark.
• Victory Pose: Morte jumps up and down while punching the air. Most other characters simply stand in place, satisfied that they've won, though Taupy does turn his back to the camera.
• Villain Shoes: You control Naja during the Action Prologue; after you get control of The Hero Kyrie, though, Naja becomes an antagonist dead-set on preventing Kyrie's Love Interest Morte from using his powers to end the world (Kyrie himself isn't big on wanting to end the world, either, but definitely does want to help Morte and that's what she wants). Of course, given the game's playing with Black-and-Grey Morality and Villain Protagonist, it's hard to say controlling Naja actually counts as "villain" shoes. There's also a segment later in the game where you lose Kyrie and take control of Morte in his place, but by that point she's reconsidered destroying the world and decided she'd rather try to fix it instead.
• Violence is the Only Option: Actually averted; the peace talks don't turn into a fight. But they do go sideways, as Kyrie's powers activate again, killing Pistris Rex, Karna, and anyone else unfortunate enough to have been inside the Sky Gaol. There just isn't a fight because there's no one there left to fight.
• Violence Really Is the Answer: Kyrie doesn't like to fight, but every time he comes up against a Beastlord, they're so unreasonable that his only option is a fight. While the townspeople may talk about fearing retribution, it never comes, and their lives seem to be much better without tyrants walking around trying to eat them or turn them into fertilizer.
• Visual Initiative Queue: It's constantly changing its order, though, so you probably won't be looking at it very much.
• Weird World, Weird Food: Because the world is a vast desert with similar properties to an ocean, the people casually eat things like sand whale and sand squid.
• Welcome to Corneria: Somewhat averted. While NPCs only ever have one thing at a time to say to you, they do gradually change what they say over the course of the story. If you kill a beastlord who lives in a town, they will comment on it - some gleeful, some fearing retribution, some rather detached and unemotional. If you come back after advancing the plot further, some of them may even change what they say again, going from commenting on just the local problems to world issues like destroyed Primal Lords.^note They're technically just turned into eggs, but as far as the man on the street knows, they may as well be dead. However, only certain people do this; others will continue to say the same line endlessly.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Morte, a member of the World Annihilation Front, intends to "destroy this meaningless world." Hey, it'll end the Fantastic Racism!
• We Were Your Team: After Kyrie commits suicide-by-Naja, the rest of the team wonders what they will do and contemplates splitting up, as their original reason for sticking together is gone (despite the fact that they're now considered wanted members of the World Annihilation Front - whether or not they personality have any desire whatsoever to destroy the world - and it might be a little difficult to reintegrate into society). Luckily for them, the plot moves on before they actually split up and they don't have to spend time Putting the Band Back Together.
• What Would X Do?: After killing Kyrie at his request and learning of plans to resurrect him, Naja asks to join the Front. Everyone bickers about it until Morte decides to do what she knows Kyrie would do, even though he isn't there at the moment.
• Where I Was Born and Razed: A variation of it happened to Barni, Kyrie's home village. The awakening of his Destruct power turned almost everything, including people, to sand.
• World-Healing Wave: At the end of the game, Kyrie and Morte use his powers as the Destruct to reform the world, turning the Sand Sea to water and eliminating racism.
• World-Wrecking Wave: Morte expects that killing the Primal Lords will have this effect, suggesting that after they kill the Azure Sea, water will be uncontrolled, resulting in storms and floods everywhere. In fact, it's the exact opposite effect, though still unpleasant: because the Azure Sea merely reverted to an egg form instead of ceasing to exist, water became even more scarce, resulting in the canals of Viteaux drying up and presumably producing a drought over the rest of the world as well.
• Xanatos Gambit: Looking closely at the events that lead to Kyrie's joining the Front, which began with the Front leader announcing this to the world, when Lacertus Rex reveals himself as the one in charge of the World Destruction Front, having done so just to get his followers to bring him the Destruct and to use its power for the sake of creating a new world in his image, iyou realize that even if Morte hadn't managed to bust Kyrie out of Beastmen custody, he would have been ''more'' than capable of getting to Kyrie himself.
• You Could Have Used Your Powers for Good!: Naja says this to Lacertus Rex, pointing out that he has the knowledge to solve every ill plaguing the world and yet has chosen to try to enslave it.
• Your Favorite: Agan attempts to get Heroic BSoD'd Morte to eat by offering her sandwhale bacon sandwiches. He knows it's serious when she refuses to so much as look at him.
• Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: The World Salvation Committee lumps the World Annihilation Front and the Golden Lions together under the heading of terrorists. While you could certainly argue that the former are, the later see themselves as freeing humans from Fantastic Racism and are somewhat offended at the association.