Lunar: Eternal Blue

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As good as the first.

In the Darkest Hour, Hope Springs Eternal.

The second installment in the Game Arts-developed Lunar series of console role-playing games... not remade as much as the first, but still existing in multiple versions. The titles are:

• Lunar: Eternal Blue (no numeral) for Sega CD, English version released by Working Designs.
• Lunar 2: Eternal Blue for the Sega Saturn and its Updated Rerelease on PlayStation, Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete, English version released by Working Designs.

Lunar: Eternal Blue takes place a thousand years after Lunar: The Silver Star, and centers on a teenaged treasure hunter named Hiro, who is fascinated by the Lunar world's epic past (in short, the events of Lunar: The Silver Star). While exploring a ruin, he meets Lucia, a Mysterious Waif with vast magical powers who immediately announces that the world is "in grave danger". As if to prove her point, the Big Bad shows up and puts a curse on Lucia, depowering her. In response, Hiro takes it upon himself to help Lucia carry out her mission to meet with the Goddess Althena, who can set the world to rights. The trouble is that Althena's far-reaching religious organization thinks that Lucia herself is the threat to the world, and attempts to stop them at every turn.

Yes, it's a Corrupt Church plot... that well-worn trope which drives the storyline of many a late 90's Eastern RPG. But when Lunar: Eternal Blue debuted in 1995, the corrupt church plot was new to video gaming... in fact, Lunar: Eternal Blue may have even been the pioneer. Be that as it may, the fact that the game held up well enough for a remake is testament to Lunar: Eternal Blue's other strengths: the fun characters, the entertaining, humor-laden writing, and the fantastic soundtrack. The remake, released in the twilight of the PS1 era, is notable for: being the only remake of Lunar: Eternal Blue, (unlike Lunar: The Silver Star which developers can't seem to leave alone) and having a lot more in common with its Sega CD original than its counterpart, Lunar Silver Star Story Complete, does.

Sample our character sheet!

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Tropes used in Lunar: Eternal Blue include:

• Accidental Pervert: Hiro, when he comes across Lucia while she's bathing and then runs for cover... after a moment of gawking. In Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete, Lucia (inadvertently) turns the tables and walks in on Hiro, not getting what the big deal is.
• Actual Pacifist: Jean, when she is first introduced in the remake. She hates her violent past so much, she is reluctant to fight even to save her friends. Not so in the original version, where she doesn't seem to mind re-purposing her dancing ability for combat at all.
• Adventurer Archaeologist: This is Hiro's "profession" at the beginning of the game; the introduction even features a long Death Course complete with a rolling boulder chase.
• Ambiguously Brown: Jean, one of many things employed to make her seem foreign and exotic.
• The Atoner: White Knight Leo, Ghaleon and Master Lunn.
• Big "Shut Up!": Jean gets one in a confrontation with her old master, followed up by a Kiai and delivering a kick to his face.
• Bittersweet Ending: In the "first" ending, Lucia returns to the Blue Star alone to continue her vigil in ensuring it becomes inhabitable again. The Epilogue is frankly not that much better: Hiro finds a way to the Blue Star to join her, but it seems almost certain that he will never return to Lunar to see any of his friends again, and that Lucia and he will be alone for the rest of his lifetime. As far as he's concerned, it's worth it.
• But Now I Must Go: Lucia. Hiro finds a way to go with her in the Playable Epilogue.
• Captain Ersatz: Encountering a giant bird pack animal called a chocobo chuckaboo.
• Character Development: As well as Lucia, there's Ghaleon, who deliberately invokes all sorts of Evil Overlord tropes before finally demonstrating that Alex and Hiro renewed his faith in humanity and the Power of Friendship.
• Childhood Marriage Promise: Sort of. Ramus once got Lemina to agree to a bet: if he can revive the family business before she revives the Magic Guild of Vane, she has to marry him (what Lemina gets if she wins isn't mentioned). When it looks like Ramus's store is actually starting to recover, Lemina is not exactly happy with the prospect of Ramus trying to get her to go through with it...
• Chivalrous Pervert: Ronfar tries peeping at Lucia when she's trying out new clothes, and Hiro tries to stop him only to get clobbered along with him by the girls. In the remake, at least. In the original version, he was just trying to get his share of the view (Lucia, meanwhile, has no idea why the other girls are angry).
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Ruby is possessive of Hiro and views Lucia as a rival for his affection early in the game.
• Clipped-Wing Angel: The fight against Zophar's final form is unloseable.
• Corrupt Church: Althena's Chosen (a.k.a. Althena's Cult in the Sega CD version). Its members are more interested in personal gain than anything else, but the organization is widely tolerated (albeit with a lot of grumbling). The Chosen turn out to be agents of Big Bad Zophar, though it appears the lower-ranked members are unaware of this.
• Creepy Cathedral: Pentagulia, the headquarters of Althena's Chosen, is a sort of combination town/cathedral which comes with an assortment of Ominous Pipe Organ BGM.
• Crutch Character: Lucia, early on.
• Dance Battler: Jean, until she switches to martial arts. She still keeps her dance moves though.
• Dangerously Genre Savvy: Mere ham-tastic card carrying villainy is not enough for Ghaleon. He takes it to the next level by hanging many a lampshade and anticipating how other characters will behave. The fact that he's seen it from both sides probably helps.

"If there is a god of destiny, he is fond of plot twists... and so am I."

• Defeat Equals Friendship: All of Zophar's flunkies realize the error of their ways after they are defeated, except for the fake Althena, Ghaleon because he was secretly helping the heroes all along, and Leo who he pretty much becomes an ally before you beat him.
• Defeat Means Playable: It takes a while for the payoff, but Leo. He needs to have his Heroic BSOD first.
  • Hiro invokes this with Ghaleon with the apparent intent of taking him on as a Sixth Ranger, but it's not to be. Zophar's power is keeping him alive, and Ghaleon re-dies soon after betraying Zophar.
• Did Not Get the Girl: In the first ending, Lucia returns to the Blue Star and leaves Hiro behind. In the Epilogue, Hiro finds a way to go to her.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: The defeat of Zophar by Hiro, Ronfar, Jean, Lemina, Leo, Lucia and Ruby.
• Distaff Counterpart: Story-wise, female Ruby plays much the same role in Lunar: Eternal Blue as male Nall does in Lunar: The Silver Star.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Ghaleon, to the point of Reverse Mole.
• The Dulcinea Effect: Hiro's devotion to Lucia. So much so, in fact, that the The Grand List of Console Role Playing Game Cliches calls this trope the Hiro Rule.
• Easter Egg: Working Designs were fans of this trope.
  • When fighting the game's first boss, the Guardian, it is possible for Hiro and Gwyn to faint in positions that will block the Guardian's movement and prevent him from reaching Lucia (who cannot attack in this battle). In this unlikely event, Ruby will swoop down and use her fire-breath on the Guardian, destroying it in one hit. Not only a very cool bug fix, but also a bit of Foreshadowing.
  • Ruby serves as the cursor in the game's menus, flying to the different choices when a directional button is pressed. Press left and right rapidly in the inventory screen, and the Ruby cursor will eventually become dizzy.
• Eldritch Abomination: Zophar, who spends most of the game as an Obviously Evil voice. When first seen, he seems to be some kind of giant stone cuttlefish monster, taller than the sky, with dragon tentacles and a face. The relationship between this form, the much more compact "lair" that he made for himself, and the bizarrely feminine humanoids fought to "kill" him is never elaborated upon.
• Element Number Six: Lucia favors a sort of non-elemental Star-themed magic that blows away enemies of all elements indiscriminately despite carefully laying out a five-element system (especially in the remake).
  • Justified in that she can directly access the magic that created the world.
• Emotionless Girl: Lucia, though she feels more as time passes.
• Enemy of My Enemy: Why Zophar brought Ghaleon back from the dead: Zophar evidently assumed that since Ghaleon opposed Althena before, he'd be up for a grudge match. He's so very wrong.
• Expy:A handful of characters appear to be simply re-tooled versions of characters from Lunar: The Silver Star.
  • Combine the Mr. Vice Guy aspect of Kyle with the gameplay role of Jessica and who do you get? Ronfar.
  • Averted to some degree: Lemina is a veritable Palette Swap of Mia and has the same Elemental Powers, but couldn't be more unlike Mia personality-wise. Lemina is an extremely pushy extrovert, while Mia was an extremely polite introvert.
  • At the other end of the spectrum, there's Ramus, the descendant of the first game's Ramus, who is a perfect replica of his ancestor. The Grand List named a line item for him too.
• Fake Difficulty: When they localized the Sega CD version of Lunar: Eternal Blue, Working Designs added in a feature that forced players to pay a certain amount of XP earned from battle to save the game. This feature was left out of the Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete on the Playstation, and Working Designs acknowledged in the official strategy guide for the game that "it was much more annoying than challenging."
• Fan Disservice: Borgan's Bromide. Let us never speak of it again.
• Fashion Shop Fashion Show: Lucia gets put through a short one by the other female members of the party.
• Five-Bad Band: Played straight.
  • The Big Bad: Zophar.
  • The Dragon: Ghaleon.
  • The Brute: Master Lunn.
  • The Evil Genius: Borgan. Not really genius compared to other examples of this character trope, but the closest one that this game offers.
  • The Dark Chick: Mauri (when she is under the influence of Zophar).
  • Sixth Ranger Traitor: Leo.
• Five-Man Band:
  • The Hero: Hiro.
  • The Chick: Lucia.
  • The Lancer: Ronfar.
  • The Smart Guy: Lemina.
  • The Big Guy: Jean.
  • Team Pet: Ruby.
  • The Sixth Ranger: Leo After defeating Ghaleon, it's clear the party expects him to become another one.
• The Gambler: Ronfar, who swears by his dice... even to the point of having attacks that involve rolling them.
• Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: Some of the bosses seem to exist just so there can be a boss fight at the end of the dungeon. Of particular note is the Sega CD version's "Phantom Sentry" that shows up out of nowhere (there's no indication whatsoever that a boss fight is imminent), looks like a gun-slinging samurai (in a setting that otherwise completely lacks firearms), and makes cryptic comments to Lucia before vanishing, never to be seen again... Until the Epilogue, in which he returns and actually becomes important to the plot.
• Handsome Lech: Ronfar. He's a notorious womanizer, which wears on the nerves of his fellow party members.
• Have You Seen My God?: Something is up with the Goddess Althena, and Lucia has to reach her in order to solve the mystery.
• Heel Face Turn: Apparently, being dead for a thousand years gave Ghaleon a lot of time to reconsider his past actions. So when he's resurrected as Zophar's Dragon, he immediately begins subverting the Big Bad's plot. First subtly, and then overtly despite knowing he's guaranteed to die again as a result.
  • In the Sega-CD version, he's pretty explicitly playing both sides up until the last moment, going so far as to kill the main character to try to goad Lucia into giving him the secret to an actual resurrection.
  • Leo. He really does want to do good, but discovers that sometimes the law stands in the way of doing the right thing. Thus, he ends up in the Heel Face Revolving Door... at least until he realizes how he's been duped and joins Hiro's side for good late in the game.
• Heel Realization: White Knight Leo. This is the reason why he flip-flops between Heel and Face. By the time he's mostly sided with Hiro, he's had to accept that the Althena he served was a fake goddess, put into position by the real dark god Zophar, and that the woman he's been trying to slay, Lucia "the destroyer", was actually carrying out the will of the real goddess Althena by trying to protect the world from Zophar. It's a tough pill to swallow.
• Heroic BSOD: White Knight Leo, who, after finding out that he's a servant for Zophar, has one that lasts until the final act of the game, at which point he becomes permanently playable.
• Heroic Second Wind: The entire party during the fight with Ghaleon.
• Hilarious Outtakes: In the Playstation remake, as before, your reward for watching the entire credits roll is these. Of particular note is Jean's VA commenting on her character's Stripperrific outfits and Ghaleon hamming it up to extreme levels.
• Humanity Ensues: Nall. Ruby also had a human form drawn in the artbook, whether this was ever planned to be implemented in the plot at all is anyone's guess. Also Lucia, who is apparently a goddess who learns to be "human".
• Humanity Is Infectious: Lucia slowly learns human behaviors as the game proceeds, developing empathy toward her companions. Even the Big Bad knows this trope... since it's the cornerstone of his Batman Gambit to take advantage of Lucia via a "Friend or Idol?" Decision scenario.
• Humans Are Special: This appears trope appears again and again, starting with Lucia's amazement that Ronfar was able to overcome Zophar's curse, and culminating in the "power of humanity"... which effectively means that all of the player characters are Determinators. Even Ghaleon, whose motivation in the Silver Star Story was the belief that humans needed a god, now believes in this.
• Identical Grandson: This game's Ramus is a descendant of the Ramus in the first game.
• If It Swims, It Flies: In the games, the Dragonship Destiny can only travel by land and sea. However, in the Childhood's End manga, the Dragonship Destiny somehow gains the ability to fly as well. Leo explains it as being possible through sheer righteousness and willpower.
• Infallible Babble: Ruby takes any and every opportunity to remind people that she is not a cat, she is a baby Red Dragon.
• Innocent Fanservice Girl: Lucia is ignorant of nudity taboos. Crowning Moment of Funny when she walks in on Hiro while he's soaking in a hot spring.
• Inspector Javert: White Knight Leo has a reputation for single-mindedness where his duty is concerned. He proves that it's well earned by turning the first half of the game into a Stern Chase.
• Karma Houdini: Master Lunn and Borgan are too Easily Forgiven. Subverted by Ghaleon, the game's only atoner for whom Redemption Equals Death.
• Kawaisa: There is a bromide of Nall where he and Ruby are asleep and dreaming of the same thing: fish. It's unbelievably cute.
• Kissing Discretion Shot: Right before the final credits when Hiro is leaning in for a kiss, the camera starts pulling up and away. We do get to see their lips meet, but only for a split-second...
• Knight in Shining Armor: Also, this is what White Knight Leo thinks he is...
  • Don't forget Mystere!
• Large Ham: Ghaleon is at least as hammy as before, if not more so.
  • And Zophar matches him, ham for ham.
  • Don't forget Mystere!
• Late Arrival Spoiler: There is a book, which the player has access to within few minutes into the second game, that outlines the plot of the first game. It's also hard to look into the game at all without finding out about Ghaleon.
• Magic Dance: Jean's special attacks.
• Mayfly-December Romance: Something of a theme. Especially now that she has Althena's divine spark, Lucia is probably immortal and will in all likelihood greatly outlive Hiro; it's inferred that this is one of the reasons she returns to the Blue Star, as she is hesitant to watch him grow old and die (and she can't just make him immortal or resurrect him; remember: "there can be no new life without the destruction of the old"). Hiro goes to her anyway.
  • This is part of the reason all versions of Lunar: The Silver Star happened in the first place: Althena could not bear to watch another Dragonmaster age and perish while she persisted eternally, and so chose mortality of her own free will and lived out the end of her life with Alex.
  • Also applies, after a fashion, to the dragons and any human they know, lovers or otherwise. Nall outlived all of his original close friends by a millennium; in Lunar: Eternal Blue, Ruby finds the concept that she'll almost certainly live to the point that Hiro could be practically forgotten a very, very hard pill to swallow.
• Miser Advisor: Lemina, and how!
• Naked on Arrival/Naked First Impression: Lucia, being an Emotionless Girl, has a lot of these scenes and takes a long time to figure out what the big deal is about Hiro seeing her naked. By the time she gets it, she's not pleased.
• Names to Know in Anime: The Japanese version of Lunar: Eternal Blue is a roster of top seiyuu talent of the 90's.
  • Hiro: Hikaru Midorikawa a.k.a. that other Heero.
  • Lucia: Chisa Yokoyama.
  • Ronfar: Ryotaro Okiayu.
  • Jean: Aya Hisakawa.
  • Lemina: Megumi Hayashibara a.k.a. heroine of everything.
  • Nall: Rica Matsumoto.
• Narrator: At the beginning of Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete, Ghaleon (for some reason) opens the story by talking about the history of Althena, Lunar and the Blue Star.
• No Social Skills: Lucia.

Ruby: "I mean you shouldn't get too close to Hiro, because you'd be setting yourself up for a fall." Lucia: "Now I understand. You mean that Hiro tends to trip people who get too close. I will remember to walk several paces behind him in the future."

• Oh Crap: Ronfar sees a bunch of kids who previously pelted him with pinecones, and threatens to "introduce them to his belt." The group rounds the corner to see a massive cannonball on an oversized sling, armed and ready. This is his exact reaction.
• Omnicidal Maniac: Zophar.

Zophar: "It's time to destroy... everything..."

• One-Hit-Point Wonder: Lucia for a time, after she gets depowered by Zophar. She also loses the ability to attack, and runs away at any chance she gets.
• Oral Fixation Fixation: Ronfar.
• Playable Epilogue: Hmm... Bonus Dungeons!
• Power Fist: Jean's weapon of choice after her costume change.
• Rapunzel Hair: The fake Althena has dark, curly hair that reaches the floor.
• Redemption Equals Death: Ghaleon. Well, re-death in his case. An interesting example, sort of a combination of Heroic Sacrifice and a Double Subversion of Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves. At the same time.
• Restraining Bolt: Ghaleon is only kept alive by Zophar's power meaning Zophar can kill him at any time, just by no longer supplying it. While that would work with a case of Ambition Is Evil, it's not a big deal to a type IV Anti-Hero who didn't mind dying once he'd achieved his goal the first time around.
• Retcon: Seemingly averted, as Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete ignored several of the new plot points introduced in Silver Star Story such as Luna being the only time Althena ever incarnated as a human.
  • Not really, if Lunar: Dragon Song is to be believed. The pink-haired Lucia was said to be (iirc) Althena's first incarnation.
• Reverse Mole: Ghaleon. Interestingly, in the original version of the first game, which this follows from, Nash pulled this on him, which is probably part of why he's so Genre Savvy about it.
• Secret Identity: When forced to break his vows, Leo becomes The Amazing Mystere! to correct things. He apparently doesn't realize that his Paper-Thin Disguise doesn't fool the heroes.
• Sequel Hook: Lunar: Eternal Blue has a fair number of these, what with the revelations that there's a lot more backstory to the game than initially suggested and a lot of it is unexplored, Hiro going to live with Lucia, and then there's the matter of that big fortress on the Blue Star, which would sure make a lovely dungeon, wouldn't it. Lunar 3 was in various stages of development in the late 90's and very early 2000's, but then stalled out over legal disputes between management members. The hooks have been left dangling for over a decade in some cases, now.
• Series Continuity Error: In the remake. Vane and the Grindery are not where they were left at the end of Silver Star Story/Harmony, but remain in the spots they occupy at the end of Lunar: The Silver Star.
• Stay with the Aliens: Sort of, depending on how you define "alien". Hiro travels to the Blue Star to be with Lucia in the Playable Epilogue.
• Stealth Mentor: Ghaleon.
• Steven Ulysses Perhero: The name of the hero in Lunar: Eternal Blue? Hiro.
• The Stinger: The "Epilogue" mode.
• Teach Her Anger: This trope is Jean's backstory in a nutshell. She was kidnapped by a cult of assassins, where an Evil Mentor taught her to fight, to feel nothing but anger, and to channel her rage into a killing instinct. Eventually, she realized what an awful thing she had learned, and was so dead-set against following her master's teachings anymore that she turned into a pacifist. In fact, when Hiro meets her, she is ashamed after she loses control and opens a can of whoopass on a monster to save her new friends. Over the course of the game, she becomes more of a Martial Pacifist as she learns that she can use her strength to help people, not to kill.
• A Twinkle in the Sky: In a gag sequence, the girls Megaton Punch Ronfar and Hiro for spying on Lucia while she's changing, resulting in one of these.
• Unwitting Pawn: Hiro's party to certain degree. Zophar allowed Hiro's party to humanize Lucia enough so that she could not bring herself to cast the ultimate spell on Zophar, which would have destroyed Lunar as well. Zophar took advantage of this and captured Lucia, stealing her power to make himself even stronger.
• Verbal Tic: Lemina loves to prefix words with "mega-" for emphasis.
• Villainous Glutton: Borgan.
• We Are as Mayflies: In Lunar: Eternal Blue, Nall has been alive for the past thousand years, long after his friends from the first game are dead and gone. This is a major cornerstone for his friendship with Ruby, who has to come to terms that she'll long outlive her non-dragon friends too...
• Wham! Episode: Midgame wham: the Althena Church is obviously corrupt, but it turns out to be the front for Zophar's world domination efforts. And it's effectively succeeded already. Lategame wham: Lucia is a destroyer after all, though unintentionally. If she uses Althena's power to destroy Zophar, it will un-create the world.
  • The first ending, in which Lucia decides to go back to the Blue Star and leave Hiro behind.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Caldor Isle, a major location in the first game. You visit a ton of areas from Lunar: The Silver Star, but never Caldor Isle. The place is barely even mentioned, which seems odd given how historically important it is.
  • Given that it's a thousand years later, and geography can change quite a bit in that amount of time, Caldor is highly likely gone by now. Especially seeing as the world maps no longer match up very well at all, and the area that roughly corresponds to where it used to be seems to be one massive glacier now.
• What Is This Thing You Call Love?: In essence, Lucia's Character Development is learning it (among other things).
• What The Hell, Heroine?: In the middle of the game, Lucia briefly abandons the group after they agree to save a village from a snowstorm, saying that Zophar was far more important to deal with than a dying town. Just before you come across the boss that caused the storm, she comes back and heals the party from being frozen to death, saying that she felt worried for her friends.
  • Shortly afterward, Lemina attempts to charge the village's inhabitants for getting rid of the monster. The other party members don't let her.
• Zeroth Law Rebellion: The raison d'etre for Mystere! When Leo finds that being Lawful Good isn't all it's cracked up to be, he whips up a paper thin superhero disguise to "anonymously" do the right thing.