RPGs: The classic Doomsday MacGuffin and mysterious character archetypes.

We are gonna go here right away due to the connection with the previous cliche. "The aforementioned mysterious girl will be wearing a pendant that will ultimately prove to be the key to either saving the world or destroying it".

Again, I don't like this one, due to it actually being less common than what it implies. It's been awhile since I played the first two Lunar games, but I don't think either Luna or Lucia even had all-important pendants, they were just important female characters when it came to plot-wise. Lucia just wishes to destroy Zophar and find Althena, who of course was simply Luna from the first game. Lufia from Lufia I is Erim, but had no real pendants to speak of. Shana from Legend of Dragoon is the same way also. Arieta from Growlanser 2 is just simply mysterious, and possessed, as well. Final Fantasy 6's Terra also counts, as does Langrisser 2's Liana. Of course, I initially made this post in August of 2018, so afterwards I found even more ladies with mysterious pendants, those being Skies of Arcadia's Fina, Final Fantasy IX's Dagger, and Star Ocean 2's Rena.

So who usually has the pendants or Macguffins that the villains usually go after? Why, the heroes of course! How exactly did Cless lose his hometown again in Tales of Phantasia? Because the enemy was after his pendant, the one he received from his parents. You would think Mint, the actual female lead, would have one, but not really. Justin from Grandia also has what's known as a Spirit Stone, something you would think Feena would actually possess. These are definitely plot-relevant items, but the heroes have them, not the heroines.

I guess one good example, that unfortunately has a girl who isn't mysterious using it, is Wild Arm's Tear Drop, an apparently family heirloom the demons are after to take over the world. But Cecilia definitely doesn't strike anyone as mysterious overall. The only other female character who has a good example is Sailor Moon, but it's already established in the anime and Usagi herself is definitely not mysterious either.

So yeah, maybe I haven't played enough games which I can easily remember both parts of this cliche actually happening, since most of the time, when this actually happens, it's usually from a non-mysterious female or an actual male who has the world-changing device. The actual mysterious girls are just mysterious by themselves. If there's anything to know about pendants, or other fancy jewelry in RPGs, you're more likely to see them used as accessories for stats and other things, but not necessarily plot-relevant ones.