#Except Rhythm Thief does it 100x more emotionally and weaves it into the story?

[101flavoursofweird]

Rating the Parents of Rhythm Thief

I don’t know if I’ve talked about this before but parenting is such a key theme in Rhythm Thief.  

SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE GAME AND THE BONUS EPISODES FOLLOWING THE GAME

Raphael, dog parent to Fondue

Raphael meets the cowardly Fondue (or “dog” as he’s called then) a year after his father disappeared. Raphael looks after Fondue for a few days, trying to find him a new owner, but he almost has to leave Fondue. He tells Fondue that he has his first job as Phantom R coming up and if he can’t pull it off, he won’t be coming back. So... Raphael was planning to leave his home if he failed. (Maybe he was going to search for his father...) 

Raphael is shocked when Fondue saves him from the police and lets him stay at his apartment. (Even though Raphael’s apartment doesn’t allow pets...) Raphael knows first-hand what it’s like to be abandoned. Thankfully, Fondue doesn’t suffer the same fate! Raphael becomes a parent dog owner, he gains a partner in Fondue and neither of them lose their home. 

9/10 (But Raphael’s still a kid himself)

Jean-François, former guardian to Marie

Marie has Jean-François acting (literally) as her guardian. J.F. acts worried when he hears Marie was attacked- by the organisation he works with. At the Opera House, he hopes Duchess Elizabeth will confirm Marie is her daughter. When Elizabeth denies this, Marie is so distraught and she runs off. J.F. just stands there like a lemon and he doesn’t go looking for her, even when Marie doesn’t come home afterwards. He helps kidnap Marie and then shoots Raphael on the Eiffel Tower. It’s revealed that J.F. was using Marie all along to get to the treasure. Later, when Raphael confronts him about breaking Marie’s heart, J.F. announces that it was worth it as long as he can achieve his ambitions. Also, tried to kill Raphael twice. Worst Parent Award by far goes to Jean-François.

-100/10 (Go away, evil British man pretending to be French!)

Duchess Elizabeth, Marie’s mother

In her diary, Elizabeth writes that the best day of her life was the day Marie was born. Unfortunately, Jean-François discovered Marie’s true heritage. Fearing for Marie’s safety and the Dragon Crown’s resurrection, Elizabeth gave Marie to the convent when Marie was an infant. Elizabeth also left her with the music for Moon Princess... which miiight have helped Jean-François to identify Marie. Whoops. Elizabeth must have been feeling sentimental and wanted to give Marie something to remember her by. Elizabeth doesn’t acknowledge Marie at the Paris Opera, but we can see how affected she is when Marie plays Moon Princess. 

That scene when she turns her back on Marie and walks away must have felt  very familiar to Raphael. Elizabeth has to pretend she has no interest in Marie so J.F. will leave them both alone. Elizabeth demands to know what J.F. would want, theoretically speaking, if he had found her daughter. “Money? Honor?” 

Later, when Napoleon threatens Elizabeth’s life in front of Marie, Napoleon reveals that Elizabeth has been lying in order to protect Marie. (Even the evil emperor recognises this!) Elizabeth tries to keep the act up, insisting that she is nothing but a stranger to Marie. Marie decides to save her and plays the song anyway after hearing Elizabeth call her name in distress. 

Then, above the Hanging Gardens, Elizabeth takes a literal bullet for Marie. Elizabeth reveals the truth to Marie and she calls Marie ‘Ma chère, Marie’ before passing out.  

Fortunately, the pendant Elizabeth wore with young Marie’s picture saved her from the bullet. Raphael remarks that Elizabeth was Marie’s guardian angel. 

After the Chevaliers have been defeated, in the final scene of the game, Elizabeth can be seen peacefully listening to Marie’s music at the opera house. In Marie’s bonus episode, she watches Marie at her examination to enter the conservatoire. She’s glad to hear Marie’s laughter and she encourages her to enjoy herself. She tells Marie to “play like you were playing for him”- Elizabeth approves of her future son in law. 

8/10 (Guardian angel)

Inspector Vergier, Charlie’s father

In Vergier’s first scene, we see him sending in an army of roller-skating police officers to arrest Phantom R. Vergier takes his work very seriously.

At Paris Constabulary HQ, Raphael overhears Vergier talking to another officer about how he hasn’t been home in days. Apparently, Vergier has been on a certain case since his wife died. The other officer basically tells him, “GO HOME TO YOUR KID”. 

At the Paris Opera, Raphael again overhears Vergier talking to his colleague. Vergier asks if Charlie has turned up yet. He knows about Charlie’s mission to hunt down Phantom R, but he considers her efforts an impediment to their investigation. Raphael picks up a family photo that Vergier dropped and decides to hang on to it. During his second fight with Charlie, Raph comments that Charlie is just like her father. Charlie snaps at him to “LEAVE HER FATHER OUT OF THIS!” (It’s not like she’s trying to prove her worth or anything- what gave you that idea?)

Raphael goes looking for Charlie after Marie gets captured. He talks to Vergier’s friend from university and learns that Charlie and Vergier just had some sort of argument. Also, the friend comments that Charlie is about Raphael’s age. So... Charlie’s 16-18, maybe. It’s not unheard of for a parent to leave a 16-18 home alone, but Charlie was left at home for DAYS??? Raphael finds Charlie at a cafe and asks her to return the photo to Vergier. Charlier huffs that she doesn’t want to see her father again, but then she reads the message her mother left on the photo. 

During the battle below the Hanging Gardens, Charlie saves her father from a bunch of Chevaliers. He acknowledges that he protects Paris in memory of Charlie’s mother. Charlie reminds him that there’s no time like the present, and she announces that she’ll help him save the city. Vergier doesn’t refuse her offer. 

In the final scene, Vergier and Charlie can be seen pursing Phantom R together.

Raphael’s trying to be polite and keep his voice down but these two are having a shouting match the middle of Marie’s performance!

There’s also Charlie’s bonus episode, where they fight off the last remnants (?) of the Chevaliers. Vergier announces that the case he was working on is officially closed. He’s realised that no matter how much he warns Charlie to stay away, she wouldn’t listen. He just asks her to stay where he can keep an eye on her. 

7/10 (Some character development but please don’t forget to feed your child)

Isaac, Raphael’s father 

Obviously, you’ve got Raphael and Isaac. The first chapter opens with dialogue of Raphael crying as Isaac leaves him. He left three years ago... when Raphael was fifteen. Raphael’s mother previously died in an accident, so Raphael was orphaned.

Raphael became Phantom R and chased after the mark his father left for him on the coin. 

Raphael reveals to Marie that his father was an artist but he never got a big break. Isaac became a forgery artists, swapping his fake art pieces with their authentic counterparts. Raphael tries to fix his father’s crimes and hunt for the mark by returning the real art pieces.  

Raphael thinks that he sees Isaac beneath Les Invalides and at the Palace of Versailles. He’s distressed and frustrated when he loses Isaac in the crowd. Isaac was in a hurry to escape...

During his final battle with Jean-François, Raphael learns that Isaac has been working with J.F. and the Chevaliers. Isaac made forgeries for J.F.’s organisation when Raphael was young and sickly. Raphael insists that he made those forgeries to pay the doctors. So, it does seem that Isaac initially joined the organisation for Raphael’s sake, but his intentions became warped over the years. 

Raphael couldn’t believe that his father would fall in with the Chevaliers and Elizabeth was close friends with Isaac... once. Isaac couldn’t have shown any obvious signs of going to the dark side years ago. 

In his final scene, Isaac discusses with the seemingly real emperor Napoleon that he wants to begin the next phase of their plan. He quietly warns Raphael to be ready for whatever that is. 

2/10 (Too bad we didn’t get a sequel to learn about his true motivations)

Bonus Points:

Alfred the Butler

He will fight you if you threaten the Duchess or her daughter. He almost died trying to defend Elizabeth. He also encourages Marie, though he gets nervous for her too.