The Lion of Ivalice

The Lion of Ivalice is a Final Fantasy Tactics For Want of a Nail fanfiction that alters a key decision in Ramza Beoulve's life: after the events of Fort Ziekden and the deaths of Teta and (supposedly) Delita, he turns down the canon offer of becoming a mercenary and sneaks into the Bethla Garrison instead. Orlandu catches on quickly, and is rather skeptical as to why he wants to join the Southern Sky, suspecting him of being a spy of sorts. Ramza, however, makes it clear he holds more honor as a Beoulve than his brothers, and has no one else to turn to. Seeing Balbanes in him, Orlandu agrees to take him in as a soldier of the Southern Sky.

From there, the plot of the story takes a very different turn from the original game, but the verdict is still the same; Ramza uncovers the Lucavi plot and works to stop it. Things, however, aren't as easy as they seem, because the Lucavi quickly learn not to pull any punches when dealing with their enemies. The character dynamics and interactions are also noticeably different than in canon, yet still fit in with the characters as they were originally envisioned - and with how the storyline evolves - rather plausibly. The main pairing is Ramza/Meliadoul, with many other Beta Couple pairings by the side for measure.

The story is split into three arcs, which effectively comprise the traditional Three Act Structure:

• Part One: The Southern Sky (Chapters 1-13)
• Part Two: The Great Divide (Chapters 14-29)
• Part Three: The Rising Abyss (Chapters 30-40)

This story is written by a very talented ObsidianDawn.

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See Final Fantasy Tactics for tropes surrounding the original game and story.

Tropes listed in The Lion of Ivalice:

• Adaptation Distillation: While certain story elements are expanded upon, the author doesn't go overboard in either description or character explanation, simply opting for the crucial storytelling elements. This is why the battles, conflicts and relationships are streamlined whilst still being plausible, making for a tight yet still-compelling read.
  • The battles are a load more streamlined than in canon. For instance, there's less overuse of magic by the Lucavi to focus instead on their individual skills and strengths and the unique strategies required to defeat them. And while the events of the plot follow elements of canon almost symmetrically, they're more compressed so that the repetitive re-matches against certain enemies and the pointless squabble fights either don't happen or are extremely brief rather than dragged out into genuine tactical conflicts.
• Adaptation Expansion: The opening battle of the War of the Lions, the Siege of Lesalia, had a single paragraph written about it in the game. This story has an entire chapter devoted to it.
  • The Lucavi are given somewhat of a greater spotlight, letting their motives and individual traits develop a little more. See also Ascended Extra for the characters who recieve more development thanks to the plot.
• Aloof Ally: Wiegraf.
• An Arm and a Leg: Wiegraf, who loses his left arm in Chapter 35 in a fight against Velius.
• Anticlimax Boss: Despite facing the heroes as a Dual Boss, Adramelk & Queklain are taken down with almost pathetic ease.
  • Same deal with Zalera, who gets one-shotted by Worker 8's Chest Blaster. In this continuity, though, justified in that Worker 8 seems to be a war machine specifically built and armed to destroy Lucavi by its long-dead creators.
• Anti-Hero: Ramza has slight shades of this, leaning into Type II territory due to both his Dark Knight training and the massive breaking the story's putting him through. Gafgarion started as a Type IV but has since shifted to Type III (and may be heading towards Type II). Meanwhile, Wiegraf & Delita start as a Type IV & III respectively, before sliding upwards by one level each.
• Anti-Villain: Wiegraf, just like in canon although more emphasised, particularly when he keeps his word in letting Alicia and Lavian go in exchange for Ovelia's co-operation. Delita is more definitely this regarding his actions, as is Agrias. All three eventually Heel Face Turn, deciding to focus their energies fighting the true enemy.
• Anyone Can Die
• Apocalypse How: With Altima's revival, a Class 0 has already occurred as the entire province of Lionel has sunk under the sea.
• Ascended Extra: Technically all those that weren't playable in the game: Izlude, Alma, Olan, Valmafra, Gafgarion, Celia and Lede & The Lionsguard, Zalbag, Wiegraf, Delita.
  • Those are the good guys. Bad guys include Rudvich, Duke Barinten, and Balk & Rofel of the Templar Knights. They are all Lucavi hosts.
    • Kletian of the Templars as well. Without being a Lucavi host, to boot! And out of all the Lucavi, Velius manifests in the mortal realm without a host body. But this is probably because the Gates of Hell were opened at Murond.
  • Izlude especially counts. In the game, he was a minor supporting character who died in the same Chapter he was introduced; here, he's Ramza's most constant friend and companion, and the third most-important character after Ramza and Meliadoul. When Mel was put out of action, he essentially earned Deuteragonist status. Heck, the author hadn't even planned for him to be a permanent fixture of Ramza's Five-Man Band at first!
• The Atoner: Agrias & Delita, after a Heel Face Turn; also Wiegraf, even though his demeanour might suggest otherwise. Gafgarion's loyalty to Ramza is also all about this.
• Babies Ever After: Zalbag and Agrias Beoulve
• Back From the Dead: Izlude in Chapter 24, thanks to Mel's Deal with the Devil.
• Badass Crew: The Knight Blades
• The Bad Guy Wins: Chapter 13, where Ramza fails to stop Delita from releasing the waters of the Bethla Sluice, drowning most of the Northern Sky forces. This is in stark contrast to the game, where opening the sluice prevented a massacre.. It counts even more when you realise that this probably resulted in enough blood being spilled for the Lucavi to bring back Ajora/Altima without any complications - hence why Hashmal is still around instead of sacrificing himself, and why events actually happen much more quickly than in canon.
• Bash Brothers: Ramza and Izlude
• Battle Couple: Agrias and Zalbag.
• Beta Couple: Izlude/Alma, Delita/Ovelia & Zalbag/Agrias
• Berserk Button: If you so much threaten or endanger Ramza's sister and/or lover's life, lie or not, consider yourself an almost dead man.
• BFG: The Peacemaker
• Bi the Way: Celia and Lede are heavily suggested to be this, as they both shared a past relationship with Valmafra.
• Big Badass Battle Sequence: The Siege of Lesalia and all of Part 3, The Rising Abyss
• Big Brother Mentor: Ramza, to Izlude.
• Big Damn Heroes: In the end, it was Rattletrap who saved them.
• Bittersweet Ending: So now Altima and her 12 Lucavi generals have been slain AND sealed back into hell, Ivalice still stands, and Delita, now king, has given the country a democratic reform with the commoners able to vote for their representatives to speak issues alongside the nobility. The only downsides is that a good deal of Lucavi escaped beyond Ivalice and some of their friends, including Ramza, are dead.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: However, given the determination that everyone made in the war, all of them, including the countrymen, seem to get off a lot better than canon. Not to mention nearly a dozen characters that normally died in the game survived though this. Ramza as well, or so it is implied.
• Bodyguard Babes: Celia and Lede take these roles for Mustadio when he's piloting the Valefor in the final battle.
• Boss Battle: All the Lucavi fit at least one video-game boss trope:
  • Climax Boss: Mateus
  • Damage Sponge Boss: Zodiark, Exodus round 2
  • Dual Boss: Adramelk & Queklain
  • Duel Boss: Velius, Hashmal, Shemhazai (sorta)
  • Final Boss: Altima (her second form anyway)
  • Flunky Boss: Shemhazai again
  • Sequential Boss: Velius, Exodus, and Famfrit all at once
  • Teleport Spammer: Altima
  • Wake Up Call Boss: Zeromus
  • Warmup Boss: Chaos
  • Zero Effort Boss: Zalera (no, I kid you not).
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Happened to Rafa and Malak after Barinten was possessed by Zeromus.
• Break the Cutie: Meliadoul, who heard her (possessed) father call her "and her mother a tramp in one sentence, and then tells her she is a disgrace." Ramza nearly had to drag her distraught self out of there alive. If that wasn't bad enough, she arrives back to Orbonne Monastery to see her brother dead, still not recovering from the bitter words her father said. What happens next leads to the Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds entry below.
  • Ramza himself counts; just think about it. His foster siblings (presumably) both die at Ziekden and it's his brothers' faults. He finds belonging and friends at the Southern Sky only to discover much later that not only is Delita alive, but he's become ruthless enough to massacre the Northern Sky for his own ambitions. He has to kill his demon-possessed elder brother. Many people he's considered friends or allies are either against him or in danger because of him. He's in love with a woman who's psyche has become fragile due to her beliefs being tested, and he ends up losing her to the Lucavi when her brother is temporarily killed, followed by losing his beloved sister. To top all that off, his desire to learn Dark Knight training has twice pushed him to the brink of cold-blooded murder and yet it's a key element of his strength. I'd say all that definitely qualifies as somewhat 'broken'.
• Came Back Wrong: Izlude was revived, sure, and evidently gotten stronger too, but Shemhazai didn't mention her deal of reviving him included 'company'. An example of Type III of this trope, which would have led to Izlude killing Ramza if not for the now holy Taurus stone, purified of its iconic demon, banishing the new one away.
• Cerebus Syndrome: The story gets gradually darker as the plot continues. The first two parts have major climaxes, but things generally cool off a little afterwards... until Part Three, that is.
• Character Development: Protagonists aside - and they get plenty of growth, of course - a number of characters with rather predictable personalities were given more depth than they had in canon (see Alternate Character Interpretation). Ruvelia, for example, is a Broken Bird who ended up in a loveless marriage and grew resentful of both her position and of her former lover Cid, who refused to fight for their relationship. Gafgarion is a Death Seeker plagued by guilt for causing the death of a young Dark Knight named Cerra, who was like a daughter to him. Not to mention Olan, Valmafra, Mustadio's... the list goes on.
• Chick Magnet: Mustadio. The twins ping on him a lot and Rafa also shows some 'interest', much to Malak's dismay.
• Cool Airship: "Welcome to the Valefor."
• Cool Sword: The Shadow Sword, last Touten blade in Ivalice. Other swords include TG Cid's Excalibur and Elmdore's Masamune.
• Continuity Nod: All the new Lucavi not shown in the game? They are the Scions of Darkness from Final Fantasy XII.
  • Gafgarion's hometown is called Raithwall, named after the legendary Dynast-King in Final Fantasy XII. Word of God though states that it is not the same place as the Tomb of Raithwall dungeon in that game.
  • There have been several hints that the Lucavi's incredible magic and abilities are a result of them being able to manipulate and control the Dark.
• Creepy Twins: Celia and Lede, from time to time.
• Darker and Edgier: "Part Three: The Rising Abyss"
• Dark Is Not Evil: Dark Knights. A whole town of them.
  • Ramza as well - despite coming close to snapping twice, he's so far managed to keep the darker urges that come with training in the class well-checked. For now, anyway...
• A Day in the Limelight: Several "side quest chapters" in Part Two, which focus entirely on groups outside of the central characters but still serve to develop the plot: Chapter 19 focuses on Olan's group, but also on Mustadio; Chapter 20 focuses on Gafgarion and Cid; Chapter 21 focuses on Agrias and Zalbag.
• Dead Little Sister: Besides the already-canon aspect of Teta and Miluda being this for Delita and Wiegraf respectively, we are also given Cerra - the younger sister of Dark Knight Cecil - who died during the Lions War. In a more roundabout sense, both Ramza and Izlude's sister's are Demon-Possessed which - if Ajora is to be believed - will result in Cessation of Existence if not reversed in time. Ouch.
  • And now we have Rafa becoming this to Malak. The author seems to be telling us something very strong about this trope.
• Deal with the Devil: The Lucavi's modus operandi, of course. Also, Meliadoul makes one to bring back Izlude, just like Rafa in canon. Unlike Rafa, Mel ends up being possessed by the Lucavi demon Shemhazai.
• Death by Adaptation: Read the Killed Off for Real entry for specifics.
• Death Seeker: Gafgarion, for reasons connected to his past revealed in Chapter 20.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Having bested Gafgarion and later Wiegraf in a one-on-one duel, Ramza instead forces the loser to help him. Gafgarion teaches him Dark Sword techniques and helps him rescue Mel, Wiegraf leads them to the city of Murond. He gets much less trust and leeway than Gafgarion did.
• Demoted to Extra: Rafa and Malak get relatively minor roles compared to the others, and Mustadio almost fell in with them. Beowulf and Reis also suffer, but they're secret characters anyway. Heresy Examiner Zalmour Rusnada (whom Ramza fought twice in the game) got mentioned in one sentence, and never appeared proper in the story. The non-FFT cameos, Cloud, Balthier and Luso, are COMPLETELY absent.
  • The monster guests-turned-party-members are also MIA: Boco the Chocobo was replaced by an original Black Chocobo named Atro. The Reaver Byblos doesn't show up either, but considering the fact that only TWO Tactics fanfics have ever remembered Byblos exists (which were back in 2002 and 2005), the odds of it appearing were never good in the first place.
  • On the villains' side, aside from Larg and Goltanna appearing less than in canon and both being killed in Part One, Cardinal Draclau & Dycedarg Beoulve are even less important here. Both face Ramza's group in a Dual Boss fight - as Lucavi - and die without much fanfare (heck, Dycedarg/Adramelk is singlehandedly defeated by Ramza).
    • In-universe when Vormav/Hashmal pretty much gets kicked to the curb by Shemhazai. In more ways than one.
  • Somewhat averted with Mustadio, however - he was intended to be this, but makes a few key appearances starting Chapter 19 which give him a significant role. So although he's... well, still Demoted to Extra compared to the original game, for the author he's... an Ascended Extra.
• Distressed Damsel: Meliadoul for a while, not to mention Ovelia and Alma.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Rafa. In fairness, it did illustrate the way death in war happens very suddenly, plus it motivated Valmafra - who'd not done that much until then - to Take a Level In Badass and kill the murderer, Kletian.
• Dual Boss: Non-game example: Adramelk and Queklain.
  • Unfortunately, the fight was over rather quickly (narrative-wise) and as a result, it feels rather like an Anticlimax Boss.
• Duel Boss: Gafgarion and Wiegraf, just like in canon. Also kind of seen in "Ramza versus Dycedarg/Adramelk".
  • Two others in Chapter 35: Valmafra vs Kletian and Wiegraf vs Velius.
• Dying as Yourself: Besrodio Bunanza in Chapter 37. See I Cannot Self-Terminate below.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: Rattletrap, after somehow surviving an entire airship crashing on him, goes out his way to fight the remaining Lucavi. When he was at his weakest, he self-destructed himself to kill Famfrit and cripple Velius enough for Delita to strike the killing blow.
• Easily Forgiven: Averted hard on two different accounts. The first count is with Wiegraf, who attacked the Orbonne Monastery while Ramza was away, killed Izlude and kidnapped Alma. This drives Meliadoul further down to instability, as she willingly gives herself up to Shemhazai to resurrect her brother. Ramza then fights and defeats Wiegraf, and even when offered the chance to kill him, he refuses and makes him guide them to where the other Lucavi are. Even when Wiegraf saves Ramza's life later, its clear to both of them they can't forgive the other, both the cause of losing the other's loved ones, but decide they have to work together to stop the Lucavi.
  • The second is with Delita, who worked rather closely with the Galbados Church's goals and like canon, was willing to ignore it after being made king; even when queen Oveila gets kidnapped by them. He also makes it clear that he would do anything to reach that goal. He even opened the floodgate that accumulated enough blood to reawaken Ajora despite knowing the Church being behind this as well as working with them. It takes Zalbag and Agrias scolding him to travel with them; after the failed infiltration of Murond City, he openly admits to Ramza this wouldn't have happened if he'd trusted him before and hadn't been ignorant of the Lucavi plot. Izlude threatens him in a similar way as Ramza did towards Wiegraf, and reminds him they're only doing this for their leader, not him.
    • Concerning Delita, he (quite understandably) holds a grudge against Zalbag for the events at Ziekden.
• Eleventh-Hour Superpower: Ramza bonding with Pashtarot in the climatic final battle with Altima
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Morrigan and Ajora, past lovers and the original vessels of Shemhazai and Altima respectively.
• Evil Tower of Ominousness: One of these is constructed by the Lucavi by Bethla Garrison, ostensibly to serve as the center of their invasion.
• Face Heel Turn: Agrias in part one, joining forces with Delita. She goes back on it later.
• Failure Knight: Agrias, when Wiegraf kidnaps Ovelia while she's under the Lionsguard's protection.
• Five-Bad Band: The Lucavi involved in the final battle:
  • The Big Bad - Altima
  • The Dragon - Shemhazai
  • The Evil Genius - Velius
  • The Brutes - Exodus and Famfrit
  • The Sixth Ranger - Hashmal
• Five-Man Band: In flux based on the characters' roles and actions...
  • Part One - The Southern Sky
    • The Hero - Ramza
    • Number Two - Izlude
    • The Lancer - Meliadoul
    • The Chick - Alma
    • The Smart Guy - Olan
    • The Mentor - Cid
    • The Sixth Ranger - Gafgarion and Valmafra
    • Guest Star Party Member - Mustadio, Delita and Agrias
  • Part Two - The Great Divide
    • The Hero - Ramza
    • The Lancer - Meliadoul
    • The Chick - Alma and Ovelia
    • Tagalong Kid - Izlude
    • The Big Guy - Cid
    • The Smart Guy - Olan & Valmafra
    • The Mentor - Gafgarion
    • Mission Control - Zalbag
    • The Sixth Ranger - Beowulf & Reis; Mustadio, Agrias, Delita
    • Guest Star Party Member - Celia & Lede; Lavian & Alicia; Wiegraf
    • Team Pet - Rattletrap
  • Part Three - The Rising Abyss
    • Big Good - Ramza
    • Mission Control - Delita
    • The Hero - Izlude
    • The Lancer - Mustadio
    • Supporting Leader - Zalbag, Beowulf, Agrias
    • The Big Guy - Rattletrap, Gafgarion, Olan
    • The Chick - Ovelia, Reis, Ruvelia
    • The Smart Girl - Valmafra, Celia & Lede
    • Neutral Female - Ruvelia
    • The Sixth Ranger - Rafa, Malak, Wiegraf
• Flash Step: How Ramza, Celia and Lede used the Teleport skill when confronting Elmdore and his samurai.
  • Taken a step further with Altima's Teleport Spam.
• Foreshadowing: Elmdore calls out Ramza for being the one to endanger Bervenia and Meliadoul, saying it was all his fault they got injured or killed. Ironically, Mel also calls out on him that Izlude died because of his faith in him. She then is lost from him, giving herself to Shemhazai in order to resurrect Izlude.
  • Also related to Izlude's brief death is Mel's threat in her first meeting with Ramza. "I just want you to know that if you endanger (Izlude) in any way, it will be me you have to answer to." Shemhazai made sure that would come to pass.
• Genre Savvy: After losing a duel with Ramza, the Aries stone calls out to Wiegraf. Instead of just listening to the stone convince him to take over his body, Ramza slaps the stone away when it's in view. Justified that unlike the original scene in the game, Ramza has seen AND killed enough of the Lucavi to know how they work.
  • Another example involving the Holy Stones is Mel's possession by Shemhazai. Ramza caught on immediately when he heard Meliadoul speaking, but was unable to get to her in time.
• Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!!: Executed in a unique case by Delita; he drew his sword and tried to behead Ramza after he couldn't talk him out of his Heroic BSOD. When he questions his actions of this, Delita 'believed' he wanted to die before the impending invasion took over the rest of Ivalice, but merely proved he still has some fight in him left by parrying him.

"Stop drowning in remorse. You're still alive, and you still have the chance to set things right. We both do." Delita said, sighing.

• Golem: Construct 8, renamed Rattletrap by Mustadio.
• Gotta Catch Em All: The Zodiac Stones of course.
• The Gunslinger / Guns Akimbo: Celia and Lede when facing Elmdore
• The Heavy: Vormav/Hashmal until Chapter 24, where Meliadoul/Morrigan/Shemhazai takes over.
• Heel Face Turn: Rafa and Malak after being freed from the aforementioned Demonic Possession, but also Gafgarion, Agrias, Delita and Wiegraf.
• The Hero Dies: Ramza in Chapter 28. THANK GOD it was just a joke.
• Heroic BSOD: Meliadoul has one in Chapter 23; coupled with her beliefs being shattered much earlier and her brother's death in the chapter immediately after, it leads to her making the monumentally stupid decision to give herself to Shemhazai in exchange for her brother. Things just get worse after that.
  • Ramza has a big one in Chapter 29, what with his sister now being possessed by Ajora/Altima and the world literally starting to go to hell.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Master Daravon, the teacher of the Dorter academy, in Chapter 23.
  • Followed by Lavian and Alicia, Agrias's knights, in Chapter 29.
  • And then Rattletrap, saving Celia & Lede's lives somewhere between Chapters 36 & 37. Only he wasn't quite dead yet...
• Hero-Killer: Marquis Elmdore managed to literally pull this trope off by - to the shock of many readers - killing off Orlandu of all people. Wow!
• Humble Hero: Ramza, of course, but ObsidianDawn makes it a clear point that he doesn't fight for himself and doesn't let his own pride of power get to him. Hence the reason why he would accept Pashtarot, a Scion of LIGHT, to help him defeat Altima after almost beaten to death on his own.
• I Cannot Self-Terminate: Besrodio Bunanza, as seen in Chapter 37. He begged his son Mustadio to kill him in his moment of clarity, before the demons possessed him again.
• Invincible Hero: The author works really hard to avert this with Ramza, who everyone knows can be an unstoppable fighter, especially after his Dark Knight training. A few signs of this are when he blacks out after the fight against Adramelk and later is worn out in his fight against Elmdore, but if not for Wiegraf reclaiming his confiscated sword and Zalbag's group showing up when they did, Zodiark could have very well killed Ramza.
• It Got Worse: The revival of Altima and calling of a thousand demons from the City of Murond gradually grows big enough to try and conquer the country of Ivalice. The Tower on top of Bethla Garrison opening a LARGER portal for MORE demons to show up would be enough to take over the entire WORLD.
• Kick the Dog: A rather brutal one by Vormav, who insults Mel and her mother in the span of two sentences and breaks her spirit.
  • Bonus points qualify if you go by the theory that it was actually a Batman Gambit to weaken her resolve so that, when Izlude was killed by Wiegraf, she'd break completely and offer herself to Shemhazai, advancing the Lucavi's plans further.
• Killed Off for Real: Master Daravon; Lavian & Alicia; "Thunder God" Cid Orlandu; Rafa Galthana; Besrodio Bunanza (Mustadio's father); and Rattletrap. Ramza looks to have also died, but his final fate is ambiguous.
• Kill It with Fire: Celia and Lede's suggestion towards Construct 8/Rattletrap.
• Knight of Cerebus: Zeromus, possessing Duke Barinten, is the first Lucavi who in battle is shown to be a deadly-serious threat, almost killing Zalbag (who was being aided by Agrias, another seasoned warrior). A more lasting example is Shemhazai/Morrigan, who plunges the story - previously moderate in tone - into definite Darker and Edgier territory.
• The Legions of Hell: As of Chapter 29.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Meliadoul.
• My Greatest Failure: Gafgarion is haunted by his failure to protect Cerra, a young Dark Knight who was his most gifted student and surrogate daughter, from the Ordallian forces - something her brother, the Dark Knight Cecil, never forgave him for. Cid even notes this to be a key foundation of his Death Seeker nature.
  • Zalbag comes to see his actions at Ziekden as this, condemning himself for choosing the Beolve name and his pride over the life of his foster sister Teta.
• My Nayme Is: Valmafra. Everyone else has their names faithful to the Play Station version. ObsidianDawn made this change because he liked the War of the Lions port version of the name, as opposed to Balmafula.
• Nietzsche Wannabe: Ramza notices that most Lucavi like to talk with an air of mystery, and the most evident of them is Elidibus/Zodiark. He was merely pondering on thoughts "humans wouldn't understand" until Morrigan talked him to fighting for the Lucavi.
• No Name Given: Subverted: Chaos, the first Lucavi, never verbally introduced himself or was given a name other than his host Rudvich, yet all the other Lucavi afterward were named and mentioned. Justified that this was when Obsidian was set on using original Lucavi for the other half of the Zodiac Stones (Chaos was aligned to Taurus, which had no Lucavi representative in the game) and eventually went with the suggestion to use the FFXII espers to fill in the blanks, and was eventually called Chaos by the fans. The fact that Adramelk and Queklain were the last Lucavi seen until Part 2, and the author has taken some creative liberties with some of them, like Zodiark, doesn't hurt.
  • Double subverted when Morrigan reveals his name to Izlude and his role in the story; to kill Ramza and take over Izlude's body.
• Not Quite Dead: Rattletrap didn't die from the airship's collapse after all.
  • But the golem DID die when exploding itself the very next chapter.
• Number Two: Agrias becomes this to Delita.
• Power Fist: Ramza sports one in Part 3, based on Rattletrap's technology
• Private Military Contractors: The Glabados Church has shades of this in the story, as they hire out their Templar Knights to secular armies for additional training and experience. This is how Ramza gets to know Izlude.
• Quirky Miniboss Squad: The Lucavi seem to be this at the start, since the first few who appear aren't too big of a challenge, and Zalera dies ridiculously quickly at the hands of Rattletrap (though to be fair, the author considers him a weak Lucavi anyway). The ones that follow subvert this, however.
• Redemption Earns Life: Pointed out concerning Wiegraf Folles.
• Relationship Upgrade: It is implied that Ramza and Mel had a LOT of alone time between Parts 1 and 2, and in "The Resistance", Ramza finds himself in bed with her after giving her a thoughtful birthday present.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: As the Queen of Ivalice, Ovelia ascends to this trope during the final battle by secretly joining the Healers' ranks to help wounded soldiers. Delita is only Regent of Ivalice - and not yet King - so he doesn't doesn't quite count, but he's getting there too.
• Sacrificial Lion: By Word of God, Lavian and Alicia dying in Chapter 29 invokes this trope.
• Self-Made Orphan: Mustadio, though in this case it really wasn't his choice.
• Sequence Breaking: Many of the events from Canon do take place, but in a very different order and context. Parts 1 & 2 are based on Chapters 2-4 from the game, with Part 3 diverging into a completely different plot.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right: Ramza's main motivation for joining the Southern Sky. He eventually fought against the Southern Sky too after Delita takes over, still with ideal beliefs.
• Shout-Out / Mythology Gag: The common name gag of Biggs and Wedge. Two of the knights were named as such in Chapter 7.
  • Also Cecil the Dark Knight in Chapter 20. Shadow, Ramza's sword, was also a weapon wielded by Cecil.
  • The airship which appears in Chapter 19 is dubbed "The Valefor".
  • And Mustadio's new one in the Epilogue is called The Ixion.
• Sliding Scale of Villain Effectiveness: Credible, at first. It starts to rise towards High in the second half of Part Two, and becomes firmly stuck there when Shemhazai shows up.
• Spared by the Fanfiction: A lot more than you would expect: Izlude, Zalbag, Gafgarion, Olan, Celia, Lede, Wiegraf, Ovelia... even some of the minor characters like Simon and Aliste.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Cid and Ruvelia became this when Ruvelia became Queen, but were finally reunited after many years and, putting aside their old resentment, re-establish their old bonds. Then Cid is Killed Off for Real.
• Sure Why Not: The author had first been planning to use original Lucavi to fill in for the other Zodiac stone demons until a few readers reminded him about FFXII's Espers. Good thing too, as it turns out all of them, in particular Shemhazai perfectly fit the roles that otherwise would have gone to OCs.
  • Regarding the above: Shemhazai is an incredibly fortuitous fit because one, she is the only female Esper besides Ultima, and two, she is aligned with the Sagittarius sign. Both these factors combine to make her the perfect being to possess Meliadoul: namely, because Meliadoul is a woman, and in a stroke of pure luck, she is also the holder of the Sagittarius stone!!
  • The same for the Three Act Structure - originally, Chapter 24 was the final segment of "Part Two", but after some recommendation and thought the author decided that Chapter 29 was a better cut-off point. Of course, it helps that "Part Three" in particular grew in the telling, battles being expanded on and divided into multiple chapters contrary to the author's initial intentions.
• Take Up My Sword: Gafgarion takes Excalibur by Cid's approval, in his dying moments.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Ramza and Wiegraf. Well, more like Everyone and Wiegraf, but Ramza's the one most commonly seen. Justified on both sides: Ramza killed Wiegraf's sister, and Wiegraf's actions indirectly led to Ramza and Izlude losing their sisters & lovers, and hastened the rise of Altima. In the end, though the most personal parties can't outright forgive each other anytime soon, they've all reached an understanding, especially following Wiegraf's actions protecting Ovelia; Meliadoul in particular won't hold Wiegraf accountable, having also experienced a similar fall into darkness.
• Those Two Girls: Lavian & Alicia, as well as Celia & Lede.
• Time Skip: A few months pass between Chapters 13 and 14 (or more appropriately, between the end of Part 1 and the start of Part 2). A good chunk of Ramza and Meliadoul's relationship development occurs during this "offscreen" period.
  • Another occurs between Chapter 29 and Chapter 30. Not as long as the aforementioned skip, but long enough for Lionel Province to sink underwater and an army of demons to begin their invasion of Ivalice.
    • A minor one also happens between Chapters 8 and 9, where Ramza has just bested Gafgarion and Mel is suddenly captured. All the time between that is Ramza finding his sister, training under Gaff, and saving Mel with her brother.
• Tranquil Fury: Ramza towards Wiegraf, who believed it would finally be his chance to extract his revenge for Miluda's death. He was dead wrong.
• True Companions: Ramza and all his companions, made noted in Chapter 30. Except Wiegraf.
• Twin Threesome Fantasy: Valmafra heavily implied that she was in a past relationship with Celia and Lede.
  • Now it seems they're trying their luck on Mustadio.
• Victorious Childhood Friend: Zalbag to Agrias: she recounts an incident to him in which they had met at Igros as children and involved him falling off a chocobo. Their relationship is pretty well solidified after this.
• We Can Rule Together: Wiegraf gets an offer from Velius to join the Lucavi: they would give him the satisfaction of crushing the nobles that denied his rights before, as well as bringing his sister back. Wiegraf knows it is just a lie, and fights him.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Delita of course, except here he's also joined by Agrias. Both Heel Face Turn later on.
• Western Zodiac: Like the game, but able to go above and beyond showing demons representing all 13 (including Serpentarius). Also Pashtarot the Knight Star for Cancer's light half.
• Wham Chapter: Rather fittingly, Chapter 29. To elaborate: Ramza fails to prevent Ajora being resurrected in Alma's body; Lavian and Alicia pull a Heroic Sacrifice via You Shall Not Pass to buy everyone more time; and with Ajora rising, Murond sinks into the sea, followed by the Legions of Hell being allowed entrance into Ivalice.
  • Also Chapter 24: Wiegraf has killed Izlude and kidnapped Alma, and in a fit of grief Meliadoul surrenders herself to Shemhazai in exchange for her brother's life restored.
• What Could Have Been: In the AN of Chapter 35, the author mentioned that among the plans which changed, he'd originally intended for Izlude to return to the Templars during Part 1 or 2, and end up paired with Wiegraf just like in canon (with unspecified plot differences as well). Instead, Izlude ended up being a key member of Ramza's Five-Man Band.
  • Word of Me: Here's a little more on that. After the Hokuten were slaughtered at Bethla, Izlude and Ramza were both originally intended to go to the Templars for aid. This arc was changed early on due to it seeming out of character for the more independent Ramza of the story, though it would have been interesting to see how it played out, especially with Wiegraf within the ranks as well.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Mustadio reflects on this a couple of times regarding Rattletrap, being astonished at how sentient and independant-minded a human-made machine can be. After his (first) Heroic Sacrifice, Celia and Lede sombrely honour Rattletrap.
• Where Are They Now? Epilogue
• Where It All Began: Igros Castle and Bethla Garrison. The former is where Ramza and Delita started their days as Hokuten soldiers before the fanfic starts, and note how they never thought of being back when the Lucavi start invading in the beginning of Part 3. Meanwhile, Bethla Garrison is where Ramza relocates after Ziekden and has plenty of fond memories of fighting with his men, his friends, and the people he grew to love and trust. When he finally re-enters via sneaking for the fist time since the climax of 'Southern Sky', he couldn't help to think back on those memories and smile. Giving him all the more reason to drive the remain Lucavi back and to save his home.
• Woman in Black: Meliadoul, as Gaff's third apprentice in the epilogue.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Meliadoul, giving herself to save Izlude, unleashes Morrigan/Shemhazai upon the world, and she proves to be a bigger threat than Hashmal!
• The Worf Effect: How else can you view Elmdore killing Thunder God Cid of all people?
• Yin-Yang Bomb: Wielding Excalibur after Cid's death, Gafgarion combines his natural Dark Knight abilities with the sword's Holy Hand Grenade powers, giving it the power needed to shatter Elmdore's Masamune.
• You Shall Not Pass: Lavian and Alicia pull this in Chapter 29 to buy everyone else time.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Morrigan does this to Hashmal for not only failing to kill Izlude, but also for having the gall to order her to help him out.