Tropedia

  • Before making a single edit, Tropedia EXPECTS our site policy and manual of style to be followed. Failure to do so may result in deletion of contributions and blocks of users who refuse to learn to do so. Our policies can be reviewed here.
  • All images MUST now have proper attribution, those who neglect to assign at least the "fair use" licensing to an image may have it deleted. All new pages should use the preloadable templates feature on the edit page to add the appropriate basic page markup. Pages that don't do this will be subject to deletion, with or without explanation.
  • All new trope pages will be made with the "Trope Workshop" found on the "Troper Tools" menu and worked on until they have at least three examples. The Trope workshop specific templates can then be removed and it will be regarded as a regular trope page after being moved to the Main namespace. THIS SHOULD BE WORKING NOW, REPORT ANY ISSUES TO Janna2000, SelfCloak or RRabbit42. DON'T MAKE PAGES MANUALLY UNLESS A TEMPLATE IS BROKEN, AND REPORT IT THAT IS THE CASE. PAGES WILL BE DELETED OTHERWISE IF THEY ARE MISSING BASIC MARKUP.

READ MORE

Tropedia
Register
Advertisement
Farm-Fresh balanceYMMVTransmit blueRadarWikEd fancyquotesQuotes • (Emoticon happyFunnyHeartHeartwarmingSilk award star gold 3Awesome) • RefridgeratorFridgeGroupCharactersScript editFanfic RecsSkull0Nightmare FuelRsz 1rsz 2rsz 1shout-out iconShout OutMagnifierPlotGota iconoTear JerkerBug-silkHeadscratchersHelpTriviaWMGFilmRoll-smallRecapRainbowHo YayPhoto linkImage LinksNyan-Cat-OriginalMemesHaiku-wide-iconHaikuLaconicLibrary science symbol SourceSetting
File:Suikoden-4 3814.jpg

Set over 150 years before the events of the first Suikoden, Suikoden IV takes place in the ocean far south of the Scarlet Moon Empire, revolving around the islands that would come to be known as the Island Nations following the events of this game. It tells the tale of Lazlo, a recent graduate of the Gaien Marine Knights Academy on the nation's island colony of Razril. He gets snared in a deadly chain of events involving the Rune of Punishment, one of the most dangerous of the 27 True Runes, and winds up wrongfully accused of murder and exiled. From there, he is drawn into the resistance movement as the islands are attacked by the aggressive Kooluk Empire.

Visit the character sheet here!


Suikoden IV provides examples of:[]

  • All There in the Manual - A lot of important details about the plot only come out if the player makes sure to talk to everyone as much as possible, and even then, a great deal was left out. Enter the sequel...
  • And Your Reward Is Clothes - Oddly enough, the clothes you find? Are for Snowe.
  • Aristocrats Are Evil - Vincent Vingerhut and Schtoltenheim Reinbach II. Their sons aren't quite as bad.
  • Badass Family - Lino En Kuldes and his daughter, Flare. And Lazlo, as he's Flare's brother. Or at least heavily hinted. With all the subtly of a brick to the head.
  • Blessed with Suck - The Rune of Punishment.
    • To explain in detail, as a True Rune, it desperately wants its massive power to be used. It will do its best to put the host in situations where the power has to be used. And it has the power of pure destruction. But it gets worse. The Rune of Punishment also drains the life force of its host. For in-battle usage, that means it drains some of Lazlo's HP every time one of its spells is cast. For the wider-scale plot-based uses, he tends to be put into a coma for a while. And eventually, it'll drain enough that the host dies. The Rune of Punishment does halt the aging process like other True Runes, but its previous hosts have never lived long enough for that to matter. In the good ending, Lazlo is able to get the Rune to switch from "judgment" to "forgiveness", allowing him to survive. In his Suikoden Tactics guest appearance, it's revealed that this makes the Rune of Punishment completely broken, it now heals him with every use instead of draining him.
  • Boss in Mook Clothing - Leviathan, which is encountered randomly in the world map.
  • Butt Monkey - Snowe. Not played for laughs.
  • But Thou Must! - Subverting this a couple of times leads to a few Bad Endings.
    • Also used in the final dungeon, when Eleanor insists that she and Lino lead a party into El-Eal to take out Cray. Lino is optional to take; refusing Eleanor prompts her to lock Lazlo in his bedroom until after her events are played out.
  • Can't Drop the Hero: Averted in the first stage of the final dungeon, where, although Eleanor is directly controlled on the field, your party can be anyone else from the army.
  • Catgirl - Played with by Noah, who has cat ears and huge cat paws... which may or may not be a headband and gloves, though she insists she's a Nay-Kobold.
    • Given that she clearly doesn't look anything like a Nay-Kobold, clearly she's an eccentric human girl who wants to be a catgirl.
    • She also explicitly states when you recruit her you're an idiot for believing she is a Nay-Kobold (even though you have to have the Idiot Ball to recruit her...)
  • Character Development - Snowe's character arc is given the most attention in the game, mirroring your Silent Protagonist's own — and since Lazlo doesn't emote much, that makes him more or less the main focus by default.
  • Chest Monster - Golden Hairballs and Angel Hairballs.
  • Clingy MacGuffin - The Rune of Punishment, as is typical of a True Rune, is very hard to get rid of. Graham Cray managed to do it in the past, but that ended badly.
  • Cool Ship - Your headquarters. A massive, multi-leveled ship with more than enough space to give most of your important Stars individual rooms, as well as hold a roomy lounge/inn/bar where all your MiniGames go, Suikoden's equivalent to a strip mall, a blacksmith, two hot-spring style baths, a training hall, a specially designed room for the mermaids...
  • Continuity Nod: The Hero's weapon is named after Riou's from Suikoden II. Or is it the other way around?
  • Crowning Music of Awesome: La Mer, the Opening theme.
  • Dark-Skinned Blond - Jewel, Axel, and other natives of Na-Nal.
  • Defeat Means Friendship - Helmut is a textbook example; Snowe subverts this.
  • Dem Bones - Skeleton enemies.
  • The Dev Team Thinks of Everything - One feature (for some reason only available in a New Game+) is the ability to switch your onscreen character to someone besides the hero. If you go into first person mode with a variety of different people, you'll notice that this isn't just cosmetic; the perspective actually changes to match the height of the character. It's a susprising amount of effort for a feature most players will never notice.
  • Dirty Coward - Snowe.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending - Kind of important for Lazlo, as only by gathering all the Stars of Destiny can he avert his Plotline Death.
  • Emotionless Girl - Mizuki, Paula.
  • Mr. Fanservice: Lazlo, surprisingly, has quite a few girls giggling over him. There's Rita, Rene and Noah, and then there's his self-appointed bodyguards Millay, Gretchen and Helga.
    • And when asked what she thinks of Lazlo, Millay apparently has some Bodyguard Crush.
  • Cute Kitten - The Nay-Kobolds - feline counterparts to the usual canine Kobolds.
  • Evil Plan: It seems like the Cray Trading Company wants to take over the Islands but the Big Bad has something else in mind. Graham Cray orchestrated the entire Kooluk invasion in order to get his hands on the Rune of Punishment again. He's notably surprised and upset when the Rune sticks with Lazlo at the end of the game.
  • Fantastic Racism - Goes both ways between the human and elven natives of Na-Nal. Both sides claim the island belongs to them; the Kooluk's entry into the equation just makes things worse.
  • Fishing Minigame - Naturally; you can also throw a net off the back of the boat and snag items (and an ally) that way.
  • Flying Seafood Special - Plenty of the enmies out in the sea.
  • Four Is Death - This is the fourth Suikoden game. Guess what kind of side effects the Hero gets from his True Rune when used too much. Unless staved off by collecting 108 stars of course.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation - See Mass Teleportation. Can you imagine how broken it would be in the middle of a naval battle to suddenly teleport your ships behind the enemy and out of their guns' line of fire? In out-of-battle use of Viki's teleportation, it's made very clear that this is well within her ability, yet nobody ever thinks of it.
  • Genki Girl - Jewel, Mitsuba, Rita, Noah, Wendel...
  • Giant Enemy Crab - The "Master" of the deserted island.
  • Giant Space Flea From Nowhere - The Final Boss feels like this, even if you've been carefully piecing together the plot: WTF Giant Magic Tree of Death?
  • Golem - Boss of the Ruins of Obel.
  • Guide Dang It - The Deserted Island where your characters end up near the beginning of the game is home to two recruitable characters later on. Good luck finding it again without help. Even the official guide doesn't say where it is! It's near the exact center of the map, northwest of Mordo Island.
  • Heel Realization - Snowe's takes the bulk of the game to come about; he appears to honestly think he's doing the right thing until he's greeted by an angry mob, and even then, he thinks he's just following Lazlo's lead when he gets his own band of pirates.
  • Her Codename Was Mary Sue: The Rose Swordsman from the story published in Perrault's newspaper after Reinbach and Micky join.
  • Hidden Elf Village - A literal one on Na-Nal; the elves living there don't take too kindly to the chief of Na-Nal striking a deal with the Kooluk...
  • Highly-Visible Ninja - Arguable; Akaghi and Mizuki boast some striking designs, but don't appear to be aiming to get noticed...
  • Ho Yay - Aldo, to Ted. This got him killed and his soul sucked into Soul Eater.
  • I Did What I Had to Do - Snowe, after getting attacked by an angry mob of citizens blaming him for selling out Razril.
  • Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain - Snowe has elements of this, but...
  • Intrepid Merchant - Chiepoo. He even attempts to sell Lazlo something during a bath once.
  • Jigsaw Puzzle Plot - The bare bones of the plot are presented to the player, yet plenty of important details require careful hunting, grilling every NPC, receiving and reading various notes in the comment box, tracking down Old Books to read...
    • In fact, it's possible that, unless you're previously informed, you won't even know the game is set before the original Suikoden until you come across Ted. Even then you might not know that it's 150 years before...
  • Light Is Not Good - Angel Hairballs.
  • Mass Teleportation - Viki in other games of the series is used only to teleport your active party around. This time, when she teleports you, she brings the whole fleet with her. A fleet that always includes one huge battleship and up to four smaller ships depending on how well you perform in the naval battles. She does this an unlimited amount of times, with no MP cost.
  • Meganekko - Rene, a treasure hunter who's just in it for the joy of discovery and lets you keep any treasures you find during her Mini Game.
  • Mini Game - A few, the most notable being Mahjongg Rita-pon.
  • Minor Injury Overreaction - "Ow, my arm!"
    • In case you're wondering, a fall where he hurts his arm causes the character to abandon the ship he is commanding, along with the crew, who are all his friends, to a bloodthirsty, unstoppable pirate.
      • Though it's rather likely that the character in question, who had been promoted beyond his competence due to political connections and had never seen serious combat before, simply panicked and used the arm as an excuse.
  • My Country, Right or Wrong - Helmut and Troy.
  • New Game+ - You get to keep your money and items except for a few artifacts, and, best of all, you can now skip the CG scenes by pressing the triangle button.
  • Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot - The Unicorn Zombies in the Ruins of Obel.
  • Old Save Bonus - The lack of one enraged the fandom, despite how the timeline would've rendered it impractical anyway...
  • Petting Zoo People - Nay-Kobolds.
  • Pirate Booty - Found through a digging Mini Game.
  • Pretty in Mink - Ameria
  • The Quisling - Snowe, who trades vital information, the dissolution of Razril's chapter of the Knights of Gaien, and the use of their island as a hub for the Kooluk's ongoing invasion in exchange for Razril's safety. In exchange, the Kooluk give him a false title and duties, distracting him from how Razril suffers under their control... Leading to his immense surprise when the citizens turn on him.
    • Another example is the chief of Na-Nal, who makes his own alliance with the Kooluk and openly mocks Lazlo and Lino for trying to fight back. It doesn't end well.
  • Random Encounters - Oh very much so. The rate's just a liiiittle bit high in this incarnation, and it hurts.
    • Fortunately, you get Viki later on to the point that you can just use her warping abilities. Except for those few times when she won't let you teleport due to story reasons.
  • Rebellious Princess - Flare, though her rebellion is aimed towards the enemy forces rather than her father.
    • Millay is a straighter example, though not royalty. Her parents tried to force her into an Arranged Marriage with Middleport's heir — who's twice her age — and when she fled, the local lord sent his Mooks after her. Ironically, Schtoltenheim Reinbach III didn't even know about said arrangements until he helps Lazlo save her, and seems rather horrified by the thought himself.
  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old - Ted, in a sort of Early-Bird Cameo. Kinda.
  • Rodents of Unusual Size - Killer Rodents.
  • Run, Don't Walk - Default is running; you can walk by using the + directional pad and run faster by holding the R1 button.
  • Running Gag - Schtoltenheim Reinbach III appears in person this time around. As do the fictionalized accounts of his life that will make him famous to future generations.
  • The Scapegoat - Lazlo; at one point, Katarina acknowledges that she suspected he wasn't to blame, but wanted to see someone pay for Glen's death.
  • Smug Snake - Vincent Vingerhut, Snowe's father. The richest man on Razril, he took advantage of Razril's growing budget issues as Gaien scaled back its navy to subtly buy out the local branch of knights — something Commander Glen resents, yet can't do anything about or he'll lose his funding. In the game proper, he takes advantage of Glen's Plotline Death to frame Lazlo and have him exiled, then instills his son as the new commander... then hides out in his mansion when things get rough, only emerging to try and drive Lazlo off after The Alliance liberates Razril from the Kooluk.
  • Spirited Competitor - Mitsuba, a Teenage Con Woman who doesn't mind getting beat when she gets recruited afterwards.
  • Start of Darkness - Graham Cray has a surprisingly tragic one: He had the Rune of Punishment once, and cut off his hand to escape the curse — then it jumped to his son. Then his village was attacked by his own superiors in the Scarlet Moon Kingdom, and his son died using the rune to stop them.
  • The Strategist - Eleanor Silverberg, who doubles as Lady Drunk.
  • Stripperific - Jeane's outfit this time around is... well. There was a joke theory in fandom that, since she was steadily losing clothes in each game, IV's position on the timeline meant we'd see her in full heavy robes. Didn't happen.
  • The Stoic - Lazlo, who combines this with Heroic Mime.
  • Weapon of Mass Destruction - The massive Rune Cannon at El-Eal.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy - Snowe. His sword's even called the Daddy Blade, for pity's sake.
  • What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic - At the early part of the game, when Snowe gives Lazlo the chance to be the one to light the torches in the festival.
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy - Snowe, Helmut and Axel all have elements of this — but Snowe's also The Scrappy, Helmut's just doing his job, and Axel's a smug Jerkass.
  • Xanatos Gambit - Happens on Na-Nal. After you injure a few Kooluk soldiers while trying to liberate Na-Nal, their Chief reveals he sold the island out, mocks you for fighting, then forces you to steal an elven remedy from the local Hidden Elf Village, just to piss them off, rub your team's noses in your 'helplessness', and suck up to the Kooluk by helping them heal their men. However, the elven elder predicted he'd do this, and replaced the remedy with poison — so the chief accidentally kills the injured soldiers, and the enraged Kooluk start massacring civilians left and right.
    • In short the planner is The elven elder. If the humans don't bother them then great, but if they do all they'll get is poison for the invaders.
Advertisement