Good Ol' Magic/Tropes

Good Ol' Magic is an American fantasy-supernatural-comedy magical girl video game series created by Stella McDonnell, being developed by Traveller's Tales (most installments), (The Masked Crusader only) and  (World of Wonder only) and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment since October 5th, 2006.

Tropes

 * Abusive Parents:
 * Maria's parents were this to her.
 * Lily was sold by her parents when she was young.
 * Action Girl: Charlotte, Maria and Lily.
 * Actor Allusion:
 * Rodger Bumpass voices a character who works for a character voiced by Clancy Brown as they have a rather conflictive relationship, a situation already seen on SpongeBob SquarePants, where they are Squidward and Mr. Krabs, respectively.
 * Shada apparently shows some gothic tendencies like the way she talks and her nihilistic behavior. This might be a reference to her voice actress' role as Gwen in the Total Drama series.
 * Adorkable:
 * Charlotte.
 * Lily post-redemption.
 * Alan Smithee: Stella was so embarrassed with the final result of Cleo Unleashed, especially since it was the game she had least involvement with, that she signed the game under the pseudonym TBD.
 * All Love Is Unrequited: applies to Ryous.
 * Alpha Bitch: Willow.
 * Animated Adaption: the series got an animated television adaption between 2009 and 2013.
 * Animesque: Stella was inspired by Sailor Moon to create an anime-like artstyle for the characters, while still retaining some cartoonish traits for them.
 * Anything That Moves: Maria likes anyone as long they are a girl and can speak.
 * Arch-Enemy: the Iron Emperor to Charlotte and Lily.
 * Author Avatar:
 * Charlotte's mom is essentially a caricature of Stella if she was a bit older and more [ideas].
 * Another example was seen in the TV series with the Seer, who not only resembled Stella, but was also voiced by her as well.
 * Badass Adorable: Charlotte.
 * Badass Gay: TBD
 * Berserk Button:
 * Charlotte will be really mad whenever someone talks bad stuff about her father.
 * Maria gets pissed whenever she is mocked.
 * The Iron Emperor gets ticked whenever someone claims to be better than him.
 * Betty and Veronica:
 * William's Betty to Maria's Veronica.
 * In the Maria game, Francine was reluctantly the Veronica to Charlotte's Betty.
 * Bi the Way: it's stated that Charlotte and Maria like both genders as Charlotte has no preference and Maria has a preference for women.
 * Big Bad: the Iron Emperor. Before his reveal, Darklia filled that role.
 * Big Damn Movie: TBD
 * Book Dumb: TBD
 * Butt-Monkey: Griffinface.
 * Cloudcuckooland: TBD
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Griffinface.
 * Combat Sadomasochist: the Iron Emperor falls into this.
 * Continuity Reboot: both World of Wonder, the CGI film adaption and Good Ol' Magix! are set as such.
 * Corrupt the Cutie: Charlotte when turned into Supreme Charlotte.
 * Cute Witch: Charlotte, Maria and Lily both before and after her redemption.
 * Dark and Troubled Past:
 * Maria was raised by mobsters to become a mobster.
 * Lily was abused and tormented into becoming Darklia.
 * It is rumored in the world that Charlotte's ancestor was a feared witch.
 * Darker and Edgier: the series sometimes.
 * Played straight with Deeper Down, Dead Never Dies and some spin-off media.
 * Dark Magical Girl: Lily pre-redeemal and Misery.
 * Dark Mistress: Luna.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Maria has her moments.
 * Decoy Damsel: also Luna.
 * Depending on the Writer:
 * [Charlotte]
 * [Maria]
 * [Lily]
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Charlotte has achieved to defeat Lick in Deeper Down, probably the most powerful villain she ever faced.
 * Disappeared Dad: Charlotte's dad was killed by Necromus when she was a little girl.
 * Disc-One Final Boss: Darklia only served as an antagonist for the first three games and the TV series as she was actually working for someone bigger, later revealed as the Iron Emperor.
 * Dumb Blonde: Charlotte isn't known for her intelligence.
 * Dumbass Has a Point: during a particularly surreal moment, the prankster Ryous managed to make Darklia question her whole ideology for a few seconds just with one word: "why?".
 * Enemy Mine: Charlotte and Darklia are forced to fight together in Rise of the Dragon due to Shada's rather TBD nature and being a menace to both of them.
 * Eventually, Darklia left the dark side and became Charlotte's second best friend.
 * Expanded Universe: the series has this.
 * Evil Laugh: Darklia.
 * Evil Twin: Phanto.
 * Fiery Redhead: Maria since she has tomboyish traits and is sometimes feisty.
 * Five-Man Band:
 * The Leader: Charlotte.
 * The Lancer: Maria.
 * The Smart Guy: William.
 * The Big Guy: Wendy.
 * The Chick: Carrie.
 * Sixth Ranger: Lily after her redeemal.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: this series does it a lot.
 * Stella confirmed that those "embarassing" films done by Lola Redthorn earlier in her career were actually porn.
 * For obvious reasons, this wasn't included in the TV series due to airing on a kids' channel.
 * Girl-on-Girl Is Hot: several guys think that Charlotte and Maria's relationship is this.
 * Heel-Face Turn: Darklia does this.
 * Horny Devils: several of them appeared.
 * Hot Witch: Charlotte.
 * Hypocritical Humor:
 * In The Masked Crusader spin-off game, he has this interaction with a fairy: "You're gonna need to try better to seduce me!", "Oh, I'm not trying to date you", "Why not? Is there something wrong with me?".
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: although William has a crush on Charlotte, he doesn't mind if she stays with Maria, since as long she's happy, he's happy as well.
 * Ignorant Minion: Griffinface was this.
 * Interspecies Romance: despite their humanoid appearance, Face Paints differ from humans in some aspects, making Charlotte (a Face Paint) and Maria (a human) an example of this trope.
 * Kid Hero: Charlotte, Maria, Lily post-redeemal and William, although they're actually Teenage Heroes.
 * Knight of Cerberus: the Iron Emperor.
 * Jerkass: Willow.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Willow... again.
 * Large Ham: TBD
 * Lesbian Jock: Maria.
 * Likes Older Women: also Maria.
 * Lingerie Scene: TBD
 * Lovable Alpha Bitch: Willow, depending of the occasion.
 * Love Triangle: Maria likes Charlotte, William likes Charlotte and Lily likes William.
 * Made of Evil: Shada is this.
 * Magic Knight: William.
 * Magical Girl: Charlotte herself.
 * Mistaken for Gay: not necessarily in-universe, but some fans thought at first that Stella was a lesbian, even if she already gave interviews while she was in charge of Tales from the Mystic Woods.
 * Moral Event Horizon: The Iron Emperor psychologically tortured Lily Jade into Darklia and caused the genocide of a race mainly for fun.
 * Ms. Fanservice:
 * Charlotte herself since she usually TBD.
 * Maria as well due to TBD.
 * Lily both before and after her redemption thanks to her TBD.
 * No Celebrities Were Harmed:
 * Lizard Minelli is a pun with Liza Minelli.
 * Vinnie Leatherface is a parody of David Letterman.
 * Not Allowed to Grow Up: everyone in the series remain the same age as they were in the beginning.
 * Odd Couple: Charlotte and Maria since Charlotte is quite girly and Maria is more tomboyish.
 * Official Couple: once again, Charlotte and Maria.
 * Oh, Crap!: TBD
 * Pen Name: to avoid legal issues with Warner Bros., Stella wrote her adult fanfiction works under the pseudonym Mark Rodriguez.
 * Prequel: there were three prequel works: Good Ol' Magic Online (featuring a teenage version of Charlotte's parents), The Prince of Iron (focusing on the rise of the Iron Emperor) and The Shadow Warrior (with features a slighty younger version of the Masked Crusader).
 * Punny Name: TBD
 * Putting the "Pal" in Principal: Tattoous.
 * Race Lift: Lily/Darklia has been confirmed to be changed to be half-caucasian, half-African rather than plain Caucasian in the film, mainly due to her actor.
 * Red Herring: TBD
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Maria's red oni to Charlotte's blue oni.
 * Schoolgirl Lesbians: Charlotte and Maria.
 * Shifted to CGI: a CGI reboot/reimagining of the series will premiere in 2020.
 * Ship Tease:
 * [Charlotte and Maria until the end of the first game]
 * [Lily and William]
 * Son of a Whore: in The Prince of Iron, it's revealed the Iron Emperor's mother was a prostitute. Things don't get much better from there...
 * Straight Gay:
 * Both Charlotte and Maria are dating each other, yet they don't show any sign of stereotypical lesbian traits.
 * [Daisuke]
 * Super Mode: TBD
 * Tell Me About My Father: TBD
 * The Anime of the Game: [GOMagix!]
 * The Ditz: TBD
 * The Man Behind the Man: Darklia is set up as Charlotte's arch-enemy for a good chunk of the series until it's revealed that there's someone above her.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Maria's tomboy to Charlotte's girly girl.
 * Tournament Arc: the plot of Combat Champions.
 * Tragic Villain: TBD
 * True Final Boss: a good chunk of the series has the Iron Emperor as the true final boss of the game.
 * Vilainesses Want Heroes: TBD
 * Villainous Crush: Lily had one on William while as Darkila and she still does have it after her redeemal.
 * Wicked Witch: Darklia and Misery.
 * What Does She See in Him?: several people ask why did Maria have to hook up with Charlotte, despite their different personalities.
 * Widow Woman: Kaity raised Charlotte by herself since Arthur was killed by Necromus when she was four.
 * You Killed My Father: Charlotte and Necromus.
 * You Killed My Father: Charlotte and Necromus.

Trivia

 * Adored by the Network: TBD
 * Banned in China:
 * Due to the portrayal of a same-sex couple, several US states and conservative groups threatened to ban it or move a lawsuit against Warner Bros. for allegedly being an affront to traditional family values.
 * The game series was banned on several countries where LGBT rights are a crime as well for similar reasons.
 * Cash Cow Franchise: TBD
 * Creator's Favorite: in an interview, Stella revealed she loved the character of Charlotte.
 * Creator's Pest: in another interview, Stella revealed she despised creating Griffinface.
 * Dawson Casting: given the fact all teenage characters in the series are voiced by adult voice actors, this was inevitable.
 * As a comparisation, by the time the first game was launched, Cathy Cavadini (Charlotte) and Elizabeth Daily (Darklia) were both 45 years old.
 * Executive Meddling:
 * Warner Bros.' executives were initially unsure about pairing Charlotte with Maria and suggested William to be paired with her instead or simply make them single. However, Stella threatened to quit the project or pitch it to another company if they didn't accept her conditions, claiming that it would ruin her idea of showing that LGBT people are as normal as like straight people, even if they have a different sexual orientation.
 * According to her, Warner Bros.' executives feared that Moral Guardians would promote a boycott against such project due to allegedly promoting values that go against traditional family values.
 * Griffinface was the product of this. Stella originally envisioned Darklia to work alone, but Warner Bros. wanted a comic relief sidekick to please the kids. Despite fighting against such idea, she reluctantly accepted it, even if she regretted such decision.
 * God Does Not Own This World: despite Stella McDonnell creating most of the series' characters and its concepts, Good Ol' Magic is a trademark of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved.
 * No Export for You: TBD
 * Old Shame: aside from creating Griffinface, Stella admits it wasn't that much of a good idea making William being rather fond of Charlotte, often seen as a result of Executive Meddling as she felt it rather forced and cliché and she prefers them to be just friends, but she doesn't mind the fans who actually like them together.
 * That was also one of the reasons she increased the interactions between him and Lily (both as Darklia and post-redeemal) as a way to make fans rooting for the canon shipping (Charlotte/Maria) and eventually embracing an alternative for him as she admits she's rather fond of pairing heroes with villains.
 * Playing Against Type:
 * Cathy Cavadini went from voicing the intelligent and sometimes bossy Blossom on The Powerpuff Girls to voicing the girly and optimistic Charlotte in this series, leading to some people joking about it.
 * Andrea Baker, better known for voicing the girlish, boy-obsessed and rather ditzy Clover on Totally Spies!, voices the tomboyish and feisty Maria in this series.
 * [NetherRealm in the Caped Crusader spin-off]
 * Relationship Voice Actor:
 * Cathy Cavadini and Elizabeth Daily went from sisters (Blossom and Buttercup on The Powerpuff Girls) to arch-enemies and then close friends (Charlotte and Lily/Darklia).
 * Andrea Baker (Maria) and Jennifer Hale (Kaity) previously worked together on Totally Spies! as Clover and Sam (and Mandy), respectively.
 * In the Maria game, Katie Leigh (Alex on the first two seasons of the aforementioned show) has a supporting voice role as Francine.
 * Clancy Brown (Tattoous) and Mark Hamill (Necromus) were once Superman and Batman's arch-enemies Lex Luthor and the Joker, respectively. Now, the first one is a mentor to the protagonist and the second one is... well, an evil wizard.
 * Rule 34 - Creator Reactions:
 * Stella McDonnell is aware of the adult fanfiction and fanart involving her characters and once actually held a contest for fanfiction to be an alternate world or something like that.
 * She even drew some adult art of Charlotte/Maria and Lily/William, her two personal ships and other adult art and fanfiction related to the series.
 * On the other side, Warner Bros. wasn't happy about this and threatened legal action by trying to take down some of those adult fanworks for copyright infringement.
 * The Danza: Will Friedle as William Doxx.
 * The Other Darrin:
 * [CGI film series]
 * In Good Ol' Magix!, the entire English voice cast was replace by an anime dubbing cast, given the fact it was originally produced in Japan.
 * However, that doesn't happen in non-English versions as they kept their respective languages voice actors on it.
 * What Could Have Been: Stella toyed with several concepts including making Maria as a twist villain, involve no technology at all, Darklia staying evil, TBD. If Maria was to be evil, Charlotte would most likely either end up with William instead or end up single.
 * Word of Gay: while not explicit on it, Stella has confirmed on DeviantArt that Daisuke is homosexual.
 * What Could Have Been: Stella toyed with several concepts including making Maria as a twist villain, involve no technology at all, Darklia staying evil, TBD. If Maria was to be evil, Charlotte would most likely either end up with William instead or end up single.
 * Word of Gay: while not explicit on it, Stella has confirmed on DeviantArt that Daisuke is homosexual.

YMMV

 * Abandon Shipping: when his design was finally revealed, many fans correctly speculated that the Iron Emperor was possibly related to Darklia, with many shipping them before the game even came out. They quickly realized their mistake.
 * Acceptable Targets: TBD
 * Accidental Innuendo: TBD
 * Alternative Character Interpretation: TBD
 * Americans Hate Tingle: while it was praised in most countries, it was despised in conturies where LGBT rights are a crime. This was possibly the reason that led Warner Bros. to release an edited version for those countries where any LGBT allusion was cut off or replaced.
 * Ironically, while still having strict limitations about LGBT rights, it has a pretty reasonable fanbase in Russia.
 * Awesome Art: the series' art style, influenced by both Western and Japanese styles, has been praised for its design.
 * Base-Breaking Character:
 * Charlotte herself is an example. While most fans agree that she has her flaws and she is a positive role model, some consider her rather immature and sometimes even annoying.
 * Her sexuality is also a major source of controversy. While most fans praise Stella's courage to come out, some would prefer that she TBD.
 * Broken Base:
 * The fact that the main character is in a same-sex relationship with her best friend wasn't well-received by some conservative people and groups due to allegedly following an LGBT agenda.
 * The fanbase of GoM is rather toxic, as SJWs who are fans of it are known for TBD, making them negatively compared to those of the Steven Universe fanbase.
 * Cargo Ship:
 * Charlotte and her jacket.
 * Maria and her True Power totem.
 * Complete Monster:
 * The Iron Emperor, since he exterminated an entire race and tortured Lily into becoming Darklia. It's also heavily implied that he did the same to Misery.
 * Necromus, since he killed Charlotte's father and tried to use his dark magic to take over the world.
 * Crack Pairing:
 * A fairly popular crack pairing is William/Daisuke, which was spawned forth from what is now known by shippers as the "fistbump scene", where many fans claim that Daisuke was admitting to William that he had a crush on him.
 * There's also Maria/William, having a good chunk of fans.
 * Crossover Ship: there are plenty. For example:
 * Charlotte/Collin seems to be pretty popular due to them both being extremely popular amongst family-friendly WB Games titles.
 * Charlotte/Kitrina is rather popular as well. So does Maria/Gayle.
 * [Charlotte/Cassie Cage, might overlap as Crack Pairing]
 * Designated Hero: Charlotte and, at some extent, Maria.
 * Designated Monkey: Charlotte often suffers from this.
 * Designated Villain: TBD
 * Draco in Leather Pants: TBD
 * Fan-Preferred Couple:
 * While the canonical pairing Charlotte/Maria is the most popular pairing within the fanbase, some fans are more favorable to either Charlotte/Lily, Charlotte/William or Maria/Willow.
 * William/Lily also gained a strong following due to her TBD crush on him while ad Darklia and TBD.
 * Fandom Rivalry:
 * Some Sabrina the Teenage Witch fans see the series as a blatant rip-off of it since both focus in a blonde witchgirl with an animal companion who try to learn how to become a powerful witch while facing a series of challenges and TBD.
 * [CtSB]
 * How the fanbases of GoM and Howler interact is a mixed bag. While most fans of GoM do enjoy Howler and vice versa, some fans of both of those games dislike each other.
 * [Harry Potter]
 * [Veronica at some extent]
 * [SU at some extent because toxic SJW fanbase]
 * [StH for similar reasons]
 * [She-Ra for similar reasons]
 * Fanfic Fuel: alongside CtSB, it's probably one of the WBIE franchises with most fanfics available online.
 * Fanon Discontinuity: [Cleo Unleashed]
 * Foe Yay Shipping:
 * Misery constantly mocks and tries to put Lily down and Lily does the same in return. Clearly, they don't like each other. Or do they...?
 * Fountain of Memes: TBD
 * Franchise Original Sin: Cleo Unleashed is often considered this.
 * Friendly Fandoms:
 * The series' fanbase has a good relationship with The Dinosaur Princess as both Stella and María are good friends and María inspired her to TBD.
 * [CtSB, helped by Stella's close bond with Oscar's wife and now that her husband manages the series]
 * [TMW]
 * [Howler]
 * [Veronica]
 * GoM fans like The Sea Legend and vice-versa due to TBD
 * [Fluke]
 * The series' fanbase has an odd relationship with Mark: Time Janitor, since both creators are married to each other in real life.
 * [non-SJW SU fans]
 * The Totally Spies! and The Powerpuff Girls fandoms are in good terms with the GOM one, especially since Maria is also Clover and Charlotte's mom is Sam and Mandy, as well as Ms. Keane, Princess Morbucks and Sedusa on the other side, while Charlotte is Blossom and Lily is Buttercup.
 * [MLP]
 * [StFoE]
 * [non-conflictive Archie/Sabrina fans]
 * Germans Love David Hasselhoff: outside the United States and Canada, the series has a large fanbase in Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom and Ireland, France and Germany.
 * Growing the Beard: although the series had a solid start, many believe that [Wrath of Necromus or Rise of the Dragon] was the moment it became more astonishing.
 * Ho Yay Shipping:
 * The main couple itself.
 * See Foe Yay Shipping.
 * See Crack Pairing.
 * Idiosyncratic Ship Naming:
 * Paincest (Charlotte/Carrie).
 * Jaxcest (Maria/Bonnie).
 * Incest Yay Shipping: Charlotte/Carrie and Maria/Bonnie are both rather common, although their different relationships with each other.
 * Internet Backdraft: there are so many rumors and theories of what the Iron Emperor's real name is. We suggest you don't ask about any of them...
 * Jerkass Woobie: TBD
 * Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Charlotte, Maria, Lily and William are paired with a lot of characters by the series' fandom.
 * LGBT Fanbase: given the fact Charlotte and Maria are the series' main couple, the series has achieved this thanks to the positive and healthy portrayal of both characters rather than resorting to a stereotypical portrayal.
 * Memetic Badass: TBD
 * Memetic Molester: TBD
 * Memetic Mutation:
 * "Stop being logical!" became a meme. In context, it was said by Maria to Kim Baxter, who claimed that something was "the only logical conclusion". The characters didn't pay attention to the line but fans of the series couldn't ignore its obvious stupidity on Maria's part.
 * [Jacksepticeye gameplay]
 * Mis-blamed: Stella was rather bashed by fans that believed she was responsible for the script of Cleo Unleashed, which soon led to her tweeting that she was barely involved with it at all, therefore she wasn't responsible for it.
 * One True Threesome: the most common examples in the series' fandom are Charlotte/Maria/Lily, Charlotte/Maria/William and Charlotte/Lily/William.
 * Some fans go further and support Charlotte/Maria/Lily/William.
 * Only the Creator Does It Right: [related to her limited involvement in Cleo Unleashed]
 * Ron the Death Eater: several fanfictions use this trope.
 * Portmanteau Ship Naming:
 * Charia (Charlotte/Maria).
 * Charklia/Charlily (Charlotte/Lily).
 * Willotte (Charlotte/William).
 * Darkliam/Wilily (William/Lily).
 * Marillow (Maria/Willow).
 * Ship Mates: Charlotte/Maria shippers tend to ship William/Lily as well since TBD.
 * Ship-to-Ship Combat: despite Charlotte and Maria being the official couple, some GOM fans believe it would be better if Charlotte was with William or even Lily.
 * So Okay, It's Average: [Cleo Unleashed]
 * The Scrappy: Griffinface is rather hated by several fans for being an annoying comic relief rather than TBD.
 * The Woobie:
 * Sometimes Charlotte. She lost her father at a young age, she is constantly battling dangerous threats and TBD. How to not feel pity of her?
 * Even Maria suffers from this. Her parents were crooks, she was overshadowed her sister, TBD.
 * And of course, there's Lily, since TBD.
 * They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: some fans consider Cleo Unleashed as the weakest installment in the series. Several of those fans consider it had potential at the beginning, but it suffered from weak and rushed writing and Cleo's potential being awfully wasted, with the best part to most fans being the Iron Emperor fight at the post-game. However, fans consider Cleo's design rather cute and her voice pretty cool.
 * Some fanfictions try to redeem her by either make her more sadistic or a more tragic villain.
 * Win Back the Crowd: [Deeper Down after the mixed reception of Cleo Unleashed]
 * Write Who You Know: Charlotte's mother is visually based on Stella herself and her deceased father is visually based on Stella's husband Ryan Curcwald.
 * What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: even if the series is mainly oriented for kids and teenagers, some moments on its installments aren't that family-friendly due to their rather darker and more violent nature. Deeper Down would later become the first main installment to be T-rated.
 * WTH, Casting Agency?: [related to NetherRealm developing the Masked Crudader spin-off game]
 * X Meets Y: Sabrina the Teenage Witch meets Sailor Moon meets Cardcaptor Sakura meets Harry Potter.
 * And of course, there's Lily, since TBD.
 * They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: some fans consider Cleo Unleashed as the weakest installment in the series. Several of those fans consider it had potential at the beginning, but it suffered from weak and rushed writing and Cleo's potential being awfully wasted, with the best part to most fans being the Iron Emperor fight at the post-game. However, fans consider Cleo's design rather cute and her voice pretty cool.
 * Some fanfictions try to redeem her by either make her more sadistic or a more tragic villain.
 * Win Back the Crowd: [Deeper Down after the mixed reception of Cleo Unleashed]
 * Write Who You Know: Charlotte's mother is visually based on Stella herself and her deceased father is visually based on Stella's husband Ryan Curcwald.
 * What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: even if the series is mainly oriented for kids and teenagers, some moments on its installments aren't that family-friendly due to their rather darker and more violent nature. Deeper Down would later become the first main installment to be T-rated.
 * WTH, Casting Agency?: [related to NetherRealm developing the Masked Crudader spin-off game]
 * X Meets Y: Sabrina the Teenage Witch meets Sailor Moon meets Cardcaptor Sakura meets Harry Potter.

WMG
These are fan theories for GOM.
 * Charlotte and Maria are either Kitrina and Gayle's descendants or their long-lost relatives.
 * The first one would be impossible since TDP, despite its environment, is set in present day.
 * Good Ol' Magic, The Dinosaur Princess, The Mystic Woods, and The Sea Legend are all set in the same universe.
 * There are several theories about the Iron Emperor's identity. Some of them include:
 * Thaddeus.
 * William's father. There is no real evidence for this one other than the fact he is never brought up in either the main games or spin-off media.
 * A very popular theory is that the Iron Emperor is Chancellor Arcanus. This was even addressed by the Good Ol' Magic team themselves in a short April Fools animation on the series' official YouTube channel.
 * A story writer for the games randomly joked about Charlotte's mother being the Emperor somewhat, actually sparking a theory.
 * A popular theory is the Emperor is a figure related to Tattoous.
 * A lesser known theory is that the Emperor is Lily's father.
 * The craziest and least believable is someone who is the world's counterpart to the game's creator, Stella McDonnell.
 * Maria never left her family and is a mole in the Tattoous Academy.
 * Lily is still Darklia and she's acting undercover to TBD.
 * Maria never left her family and is a mole in the Tattoous Academy.
 * Lily is still Darklia and she's acting undercover to TBD.

Tear Jerker

 * In Wrath of Necromus, it was revealed that Arthur Painex, Charlotte's father, was murdered by a mad wizard. His final words before he was killed? "I want to see my daughter".

Nightmare Fuel

 * Deeper Down is the primary example of this, mainly due to its darker plot and horrifying boss fights.
 * The main antagonist of Deeper Down, Lick, is only ever presented as a white glowing ball that has demonic whispers echoing out of it. At the end of the game, it's revealed these whispers are the thoughts of the Deeper Down residence. Which makes for a nice case of Fridge Horror when you realize some of the whispers were "help me", "no more", and "why have you forsaken us?"
 * Phanto's death scene is a truly horrific sight, as Charlotte takes off the mask, revealing her own face staring back. Phanto then places her hand on Charlotte's cheek before a distorted laugh escapes their lips and their skin cracks as they shatter like glass.
 * The entire Behemoth fight is terrifying. A gigantic decaying Iron Emperor crawls his way up the tower and the only times you get to see what his face looks like is when lightning strikes behind him.

Ho Yay

 * Given the fact that the main couple in the series is a same-sex couple, there are several moments where they make jokes about it.