Eternal Darkness: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''"MAY THE RATS EAT YOUR EYES! I am now lost to your cause!! The Darkness comes! IT WILL DAMN US ALL!"''|'''Maximillian Roivas'''}}
''Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem'' is a title for the [[Nintendo]] [[Game Cube]] (yes, THAT Nintendo) released in 2002, developed by Silicon Knights (but published, and owned, by Nintendo themselves!). The game's genre is classified as psychological horror, and it's influenced by and gives many nods to the works of [[H.P. Lovecraft]], [[Edgar Allan Poe]], [[Alfred Hitchcock]], [[Stephen King]]
The story focuses on Alexandra Roivas, a student at the University of Washington who is completing her graduate degree in abstract mathematics and number theory. An early morning call from a detective brings her rushing to her grandfather's Rhode Island mansion, to identify his body after his grisly and baffling murder. The detective is at a loss, as the house showed no signs of break in and the old man had no known enemies. Two weeks after the crime scene has been cleaned up, and the investigation has hit multiple dead ends, Alex is still in the mansion, alone, having resolved herself to figuring out the mystery behind her grandfather's murder.▼
▲''Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem'' is a title for the [[Nintendo]] [[Game Cube]] (yes, THAT Nintendo) released in 2002, developed by Silicon Knights (but published, and owned, by Nintendo themselves!). The game's genre is classified as psychological horror, and it's influenced by and gives many nods to the works of [[H.P. Lovecraft]], [[Edgar Allan Poe]], [[Alfred Hitchcock]], [[Stephen King]], and other similar authors, making it something akin to ''[[Resident Evil]]'' meets ''Call of Cthulhu''.
Her explorations lead her to a hidden book called the ''[[Tome of Eldritch Lore|Tome of Eternal Darkness]]'', which contains the stories of many people throughout history who were involved in both the unlocking and the fighting against several [[Eldritch Abomination|otherworldly gods]]. As Alex reads the ''Tome of Eternal Darkness'', she is imparted with the knowledge these long dead people have achieved, as well as arcane magic their own explorations have unleashed. The more she reads of these events, the looser her grip on both reality and sanity gets, but Alex is determined to be the last link in the story, stopping these evil forces once and for all.▼
▲The story focuses on Alexandra Roivas, a student at the University of Washington who is completing her graduate degree in abstract mathematics and number theory. An early morning call from a detective brings her rushing to her grandfather's Rhode Island mansion, to identify his body after his grisly and baffling murder. The detective is at a loss, as the house showed no signs of break in and the old man had no known enemies. Two weeks after the crime scene has been cleaned up and the investigation has hit multiple dead ends, Alex is still in the mansion, alone, having resolved herself to figuring out the mystery behind her grandfather's murder.
''Eternal Darkness'' is unique within the horror game genre, and brought several things to the table that no game had before. A versatile magic system allows the player to create new spells using runes (actually closer to sigils or glyphs, as the symbols in the game represent words while real runes are single letters) in a system much like grammatically creating new sentences. The game also included a sanity system
▲Her explorations lead her to a hidden book called the ''[[Tome of Eldritch Lore|Tome of Eternal Darkness]]'', which contains the stories of many people throughout history who were involved in both the unlocking and the fighting against several [[Eldritch Abomination|otherworldly gods]]. As Alex reads the ''Tome'', she is imparted with the knowledge these long dead people have achieved, as well as arcane magic their own explorations have unleashed. The more she reads of these events, the looser her grip on both reality and sanity gets, but Alex is determined to be the last link in the story, stopping these evil forces once and for all.
As you can see, this isn't the type of game you want to play at midnight with the lights off in an empty house. [[Nightmare Fetishist|Unless you're into that kind of thing
▲''Eternal Darkness'' is unique within the horror game genre, and brought several things to the table that no game had before. A versatile magic system allows the player to create new spells using runes (actually closer to sigils or glyphs, as the symbols in the game represent words while real runes are single letters) in a system much like grammatically creating new sentences. The game also included a sanity system; in addition to health and magic meters, a sanity meter would drop every time an undead creature saw you. You could regain sanity by decisively finishing the creatures off, though the recovered amount would always be less than that taken away in the initial shock. The lower the player's sanity dropped, the more random hallucinations a player would experience in game. These hallucinations ranged from [[Interface Screw|hardware tricks]] such as the controller ceasing to work in a room full of enemies, the video signal cutting out, audio volume changing on its own, and fake memory card deletions, to more devious hallucinations such as body parts exploding during unsuccessful magic casting, screaming voices and bleeding walls, random paintings turning from idyllic scenes to hellish environments, statues and busts watching the player as they walk by them, books spontaneously flying from one bookshelf to another, footsteps that follow your character, and telephone calls and haunting visitations from dead family members.
The creators of the game have noted on multiple occasions that they'd like to make a sequel (or several), but there was no news on that front for some time now. In late October 2011, the studio layed off the majority of its staff, claimed to be part of an attempt at [http://gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=165302 "refocusing and returning to its roots, working on one of its most requested titles for the next generation."]
▲As you can see, this isn't the type of game you want to play at midnight with the lights off in an empty house. [[Nightmare Fetishist|Unless you're into that kind of thing.]]
Has a [[Eternal Darkness/Characters|character page]] now. Help it along.▼
▲The creators of the game have noted on multiple occasions that they'd like to make a sequel (or several), but there was no news on that front for some time now. In late October 2011, the studio layed off the majority of its staff, claimed to be part of an attempt at [http://gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=165302 "refocusing and returning to its roots, working on one of its most requested titles for the next generation."].
▲Has a [[Eternal Darkness/Characters|character page]] now. Help it along.
{{tropelist}}
* [[The Abridged Series]]: Has one on Gamefaqs, it's funny at moments.
* [[Action Bomb]]: Blue zombies sing and explode if you [[Removing the Head or Destroying the Brain|don't remove their heads]]. One singing makes them all sing and explode and the more there are, [[Disaster Dominoes|the bigger each explosion will be
* [[Alternate History]]: Maybe. Though his death is a mystery even today, Charlemagne the Frank was assassinated (
* [[Anachronic Order]]: There is a bit of an order to the chapters: while they do tend to jump around a lot, all the chapters that take place in the same location happen in the correct chronological order. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] when you consider that {{spoiler|Mantorok can manipulate time. Every person got the book with the spells that they would need when they needed it in order to further his [[Gambit Roulette]]
* [[Anachronism Stew]]: Generally averted (see [[Shown Their Work]] below), but the cathedral in Amiens wasn't built until the 1200s in real life, some four centuries after Anthony's chapter. On the other hand, Anthony only explored the "old tower" and the catacombs, nor was Oublie Cathedral mentioned by name, so it's possible that [[Averted Trope|nothing else had been built in that time period
* [[Ancient Conspiracy]]
* [[And I Must Scream]]: Mantorok's binding to the temple qualifies, as does Anthony being trapped despairing in an empty chamber under an unrelenting zombifying curse is ended after a few centuries by Paul. There's also Roberto Bianchi, a Venetian architect who gets buried alive in what Pious refers to as "the Pillar of Flesh" (a monolith made of concrete and dead bodies) until his spirit is released over 500 years later; Ellia, a Cambodian slave girl cursed to guard Mantorok's heart for more than ''800'' years as a rotting corpse; and Karim, a Persian man cursed to spend a whopping '''900 years''' guarding another of the ancient artifacts as a disembodied spirit. Also, the floor of the mysterious room where each character finds the Tome of Eternal Darkness (seen [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37Z2BukUf8w#t=2m50s here]). Just... just look at it!
* [[And Now for Someone Completely Different]]: Happens every chapter.
* [[Another Man's Terror]]: Given the survival rate of Tome readers, the player experiences a lot of this.
* [[Apocalypse How]]: Dominance by any of the three Ancients will result in a Class 4; Mantorok's dominance would have an uncertain future. Seems that Mantorok has always dominated.
* [[Arc Number]]: The number 333 shows up in several places. [[Number of the Beast|Halved, of course]].▼
▲* [[Arc Number]]: The number 333 shows up in several places.
* [[Artifact of Doom]]: The Ancients' essences.
* [[Bag of Holding]]: The description for the Tome of Eternal Darkness states it has such properties and easily explains how the characters carry around all the crap they find. This doesn't explain how Edward can carry around a saber and
* [[Beat Them At Their Own Game]]
* [[Bedlam House]]: The Jefferson & Coombs Sanitarium, where Max spends the remainder of his life.
* [[Beneath the Earth]]: Ehn'gha.
* [[BFG]]: One of the guns in Edward Roivas' gun case is an elephant gun. [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|You can imagine what it was used for
* [[BFS]]:
** Karim's Ram Dao certainly fits into this category. Like the Elephant Gun described above, it is wickedly destructive. A 'head shot' will destroy a standard target's entire upper body, and properly enchanted, it will slay a Horror in a couple hits, again leaving just a pair of legs to fall comically to the ground.
** The Two-Handed Sword used by Anthony, Paul and Peter can take down a Horror in a few swings, and it's insanely good compared to the weak melee weapons the former two get earlier (a scramasax and a mace, respectively).
* [[Bilingual Bonus]]: "Oublié" is French for "Forgotten".
* [[Blinding Camera Flash]]: Peter Jacob has a flash pan with a limited amount of powder which he can use to stun enemies (which is good, since you don't really start off with any particularly powerful weapons in that chapter).
* [[Blipvert]]: Happens every time a character, from
* [[Blow Gun]]: You can get one in the second chapter. It poisons enemies, but does very little damage either way and has limited ammo. If you use it to [[Cherry Tapping]] some zombies to death in order to save a particular NPC, however, you can get your sword (which just broke) repaired and then upgrade it to [[Dual-Wielding]] with what would have otherwise been the replacement.
* [[Body Horror]]: Bonethieves, inducing both nightmares and paranoia.
* [[Book Ends]]: {{spoiler|"To think that once I could not see beyond the veil of reality, to see those who dwell behind... I was once a fool".}}
* [[Bragging Rights Reward]]: Eternal Mode, unlocked with [[100% Completion]], gives you invincibility and infinite ammo. Since you've already beaten the game three times just to get it, there's really no use for it unless you care to play the game again for kicks.
* [[Breakable Weapons]]: Happens often with minor items needed to solve puzzles, and only once with an actual weapon. The first magic spell you learn is one that fixes broken items
* [[Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu]]: It takes several punches and several broken arms before any dents are noticed.
* [[Buffy-Speak]]: The Bankorok (protect) rune is referred to as 'the squiggly circle thing
* [[Buried Alive]]: The Pillar of Flesh in Persia and Roberto Bianchi's demise within. One of the hallucinations has the character sink into the ground.
* [[Burn the Witch]]: How the Roivas family was largely treated after immigrating to America from the Mediterranean region.
* [[The Butler Did It]]: Inverted in Maximillian's story.▼
* [[But Thou Must!]]:
** You'll be asked several times to make a choice, such as "Do you want to read this [[Tome of Eldritch Lore|book]]?", "Should you turn this wheel?" or "Do you want to go through the door?". Every single one needs to be answered with a hearty "Yes" to continue with the story. It's here so that you have a chance to stop yourself from mindlessly rushing onwards with the plot before you're ready.
** "Should [Character] claim the Tome of Eternal Darkness?" No. No, he really shouldn't, especially considering what happened to everyone else who did it. But since your other option is to wander around the mausoleum of creepy statues suspended in a void of blackness with a floor that has a habit of screaming, you might as well.
** Also happens if you try to leave an area (e.g. Oublié Cathedral). You'll get a message telling you why your character can't or won't leave.
* [[Camera Abuse]]: Sometimes
▲* [[The Butler Did It]]: Inverted in Maximillian's story.
* [[The Chosen One]]:
▲* [[Camera Abuse]]: Sometimes, when someone has low sanity and is carrying a gun, he will randomly fire it. Once in a blue moon, he will turn to face you and then fire his gun, putting a "bullet-hole" in the "screen."
*
** Played generally straight with {{spoiler|
* [[Cognizant Limbs]]: Averted slightly in that you can specifically target the head or arms of ''all'' enemies, and only two of 26 enemy types generally bother regrowing lost limbs.
* [[Collector of the Strange]]: The Roivases. A hidden chamber inside their mansion houses the Tome, as well as portraits and artifacts taken from each location significant to the Ancients and Pious.
* [[Color-Coded for Your Convenience]]: {{color|red|Chattur'gha}}, {{color|blue|Ulyaoth}}, {{color|green|Xel'lotath}}
* [[Combined Energy Attack]]/[[Gondor Calls for Aid]]: It's kind of a combination of the two. In the final battle, {{spoiler|the ghosts of everyone who died while possessing the Tome of Eternal Darkness appears. Each one gets to strike a blow against Pious' artifact.}}▼
* [[Corrupt Church]]: Oublié Cathedral.
* [[Cosmic Horror Story]]: A few deviations on what's expected from the genre but still fits in neatly.
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* [[Curiosity Killed the Cast]]: Pious sets off the entire chain of events when investigating some voices calling to him.
* [[Dark World]]: The Trapper Dimension. Thankfully, it's really simple to escape, and even a boon to savvy players.
* [[Dashed Plotline]]: The game consists of various people (recorded in the ''Tome of Eternal Darkness'') who've fought against the Ancients at different points in history with... varying success.
* [[Dead Man Writing]]: Edward.
* [[Deflector Shields]]: The "Damage Field" spell
* [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything]]: In Edward Roivas' chapter, the portraits of the Roivas family and the dialogues of the servants change as Edward's sanity gets lower; however, at that point of the chapter, the only way to lower your sanity enough to see these effects is by summoning more enemies and then fighting them, which you probably didn't think to do until now.
* [[Divide and Conquer]]: The "Bind" spell.
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* [[Early Bird Boss]]: The first Horror fought by a kill-able PC is encountered before any of the spells that make Horrors easy to deal with (shield and dominant alignment/Mantorok enchant), and the character's only non-limited weapon (the limited throwing weapon isn't much better due to the small room it is fought in) has range that makes hitting its head tricky and stands a good chance of killing the player. Even later Horrors encountered before getting those spells in the same level are easier due to a much better weapon being acquired.
* [[Eldritch Abomination]]
* [[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors]]: Three meters
* [[The End of the World as We Know It]]
▲** The game may actually [[Subverted Trope|subvert]] this trope, because although Mantorok seems to be dark and evil, he's portrayed as the opposite in-game, most notably in murals at Angkor Thom. The natives viewed him [[God Is Good|as a gracious and good fertility god, and loved him]]. In addition, he, unlike the [[Sealed Evil in a Can|other Ancients]], actually had a physical manifestation on this plane of existence for an unknown thousand of years, without ever harming the human race, which is {{spoiler|better than what it's shown that the others would do by far.}}
* [[Everything Fades]]
* [[Evil Versus Evil]]: To defeat an ancient, you have to summon another ancient that has an advantage against it. Of course, summoning a great evil to destroy a great evil doesn't exactly solve the problem facing humanity.
* [[Evolving Attack]]: Once you pick up the Pargon ("Power") rune and 5/7 point Circles of Power, you can manually boost the ''oomph'' of any given magic spell by just loading it down with Pargons, at the obvious cost of it taking more MP and time to cast. Moreover, since the bad guys use the same magic system the heroes do, {{spoiler|Pious starts throwing down 9-point spells that consist of three ordinary runes and ''six'' Pargons
* [[Finishing Move]]: Performing this on an enemy revitalizes your Sanity meter
* [[Flashback Cut]]: Anybody who claims the ''Tome of Eternal Darkness'' spontaneously experiences quick moments in the histories of previous and future owners.
* [[Flash Forward]]: Due to the game's [[Anachronic Order]], the aforementioned [[Flashback Cut]] is sometimes about a character from the chronological future. May lead to moments of [[Fridge Logic]]. For example, Michael Edwards' chapter comes just after Edward Roivas', the last page of which representing his murder 48 years later. Michael sees this, then meets Roivas shortly before his death, and he won't warn him.
* [[Flip Personality]]: One of the gods has two personalities that act like this.
* [[Foreshadowing]]: Max has a sanity effect where he's stuck in an enclosed space: an asylum room. Guess where he ends up later.
* [[Functional Magic]]
* [[Gambit Roulette]]: Spanning millennia {{spoiler|and three different timestreams. You need to see the best ending to learn this
* [[Game Level]]
* [[Get Back Here Boss]]: It takes a while of chasing the thing around before you actually get to ''fight'' the vampire in Edward's chapter.
* [[Giant Mook]]: Horrors, which are pretty damn... [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|horrific
* [[Go Mad from the Revelation]]: Inverted in that looking at monsters has no ill effects, it's when [[Glowing Eyes of Doom|they discover you]] that it goes to crap, your sanity can be drained if you never even look at one. Also, Maximilian's sanity was already suspect before he discovered plotting bone thieves.
▲*
* [[Good Morning, Crono]]: Although Alex starts the game fighting an infinite number of zombies in a nightmare before she actually gets around to waking up.
* [[Gross Up Close-Up]]: The infamous bathtub scene. Also several of the corpses of NPCs, particularly when Bonethieves are involved.
* [[Guest Star Party Member]]: With 11 guest stars. Since this isn't an RPG, there's no party involved, but the game hits most portions of the trope regardless.
* [[Guide Dang It]]: The [[Lost Forever]] items, especially the Mantorok rune, which is ''incredibly'' easy to miss.
* [[Guns Are Worthless]]:
*
* [[He Who Must Not Be Seen]]: The fifth, yellow Ancient, responsible for the damage floors in Ehn'gha and the Forbidden City, as well as the magic affecting Anthony's curse. Denis Dyack later [[Word of God|confirmed]] his existence.▼
* [[Healing Potion]]:
** Peter can find Magickal Elixirs which restore his [[Mana Meter]].
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** Paul has a limited-use meditation rod that can be used to completely restore his sanity.
* [[Hearing Voices]]
▲* [[He Who Must Not Be Seen]]: The fifth, yellow Ancient, responsible for the damage floors in Ehn'gha and the Forbidden City, as well as the magic affecting Anthony's curse. Denis Dyack later [[Word of God|confirmed]] his existence.
* [[Hoist by His Own Petard]]:
** The giant stakes with which Pious skewered Mantorok were fueled by magic of Mantorok's own alignment.
** The Black Guardian. [[Nigh Invulnerable]]. Nothing usually even phases it, only bothers. It also recharges periodically. The solution? When it's recharging, [[Toxic Phlebotinum|add to the energy the element it is weak to]].
** The Enchanted Gladius. Implied to be the same weapon which {{spoiler|Pious used in the first chapter}}, and you use it to send him to Hell.
* [[Hollywood Torches]]: Six characters get access to a torch as a weapon. They come lit, never run out of fuel, and (except in Lindsey's case), they're usually redundant in terms of lighting the general area. ''Incredibly'' useful for [[Kill It with Fire|igniting Xel'lotath's and Mantorok's zombies]]
* [[Hub Level]]: The Roivas mansion in Alex's time. It's more like a regular level in some chapters, particularly Maximilian's.
* [[Idle Animation]]: One of gaming's most versatile examples. The different characters all idle in different ways, and the idle method changes depending on what weapon they're currently equipped with, if any. Even if characters share a weapon (Alex and Pious both wield a Gladius, for instance), they'll toy with them in separate ways.
* [[Infinity+1 Element]]: Mantorok's spells.
* [[Infinity+1 Sword]]: The Enchanted Gladius, which can be ''[[Throwing Your Sword Always Works|thrown]]''.
▲** [[Infinity-1 Sword]]: The double edged sword, if obtained by Anthony, is usable by 2 other characters who have a very painful time without it (Peter Jacob notably has ''no'' other melee weapon able to finish off something, though given his repertoire of magickal spells and his large mana pool, to say nothing of his BFG and large supply of ammo, he might not need one).
* [[Instant Runes]]
* [[Interface Screw]]: Ten of the 37 potential hallucinations caused by a low Sanity meter mess directly with the player (instead of their player character), ranging from a subtle bug crawling around on the game screen to a sudden Game Over message promising a sequel.▼
* [[Item Crafting]]: With magic instead of items.
* [[Item Get]]: Taken [[Up to Eleven]], as each location has its own fanfare music.
▲* [[Interface Screw]]: Ten of the 37 potential hallucinations caused by a low Sanity meter mess directly with the player (instead of their player character), ranging from a subtle bug crawling around on the game screen to a sudden [[Game Over]] message promising a sequel.
* [[I've Never Seen Anything Like This Before]]
* [[Jack of All Stats]]: Alex, Anthony
** Alex has a fairly large magick meter and her MP regenerates twice as fast as all other characters.
** Anthony has an [[Extra Life]] if his health is totally depleted.
** Lindsey has the largest sanity meter in the game.
* [[Kill It with Fire]]: The Mantorok and Xel'lotath zombies. Also the oil fires in Michael's chapter, which he attempts to snuff out using "80% nitroglycerin-grade dynamite."▼
* [[Killed Off for Real]]: Every character that isn't from the 20th century, plus Edward Roivas. Though this doesn't stop them from [[Spirit Advisor|helping out]] [[Unfinished Business|on occasion]].
▲* [[Kill It with Fire]]: The Mantorok and Xel'lotath zombies. Also the oil fires in Michael's chapter, which he attempts to snuff out using "80% nitroglycerin-grade dynamite
* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: A magick attack scroll, hanging on a wall:
{{quote|"Peter has acquired the "Magickal Attack" Spell Scroll! Why would it be here, of all places? Here, in this corridor?"}}
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{{quote|'''Pious''': "I am the scourge of God, appointed to chastise you, since no one knows the remedy for your iniquity except me. You are wicked, but I am more wicked than you. So be '''SILENT!'''"}}
* [[Late to the Party]]
* [[Law of Inverse Recoil]]: [[Averted Trope|Averted]]. Don't spend enough time bracing yourself, and the Elephant Gun will knock Edward flat on his ass.
* [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall]]: Alex, at the end of the Ulyaoth path
* [[Life Meter]]
* [[Lock and Key Puzzle]]
* [[Losing Your Head]]: One of the sanity effects is your character's head spontaneously falling off. Can lead to an [[Alas, Poor Yorick]] if the player picks up the head: it starts reciting ''[[Hamlet]]''.
* [[Lost Forever]]: Three items that never appear again if you miss them in the chapter they're each found in. Getting all three is required to receive the [[Infinity+1 Sword]], which is ''also'' hidden and [[Lost Forever]] if you miss it. The Mantorok alignment rune (the "Nuke" option in the [[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors]] triangle) is also hidden in one chapter around the middle of the game, and inaccessible if you miss it. Finally, Anthony and Paul's Two-Edged Sword and Edward's Elephant Gun are [[Lost Forever]] if you neglect to save NPCs who provide access to them.
* [[Mad Libs Dialogue]]: 'Kneel before my master <<INSERT NAME HERE>>!' Doesn't happen much
* [[Magick]]: Because just spelling it as "magic" is apparently too lighthearted for a game with [[Eldritch Abomination
* [[Mana Meter]]
* [[Masquerade]]
* [[Meaningful Echo]]: "To think, that once I could not see beyond the veil of our reality, to see those who dwell behind."
* [[Meaningful Name]]:
*
** Knowing the way that Pious gets around, it wouldn't be surprising if [[Wild Mass Guessing|some or all of the twelve popes who have taken the name "Pius" were the same person]].
* [[Mind Screw]]
* [[Mook Bouncer]]: Trappers, but they're blind and can usually be crept around.
* [[Mook Maker]]: [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]], as the ''player character'' gains the ability to create mooks by the halfway point just like the bosses. Mooks the player creates will still have to be killed after control over them is released though.
* [[Multiple Endings]]: One standard ending with three distinct variations and one secret ending that you have to defeat the game
* [[The Multiverse]]: After you beat the game
* [[Mundane Utility]]: Enchanted weapons glow, making the torch redundant except for killing the 2 types of zombies weak to fire. This [[Gameplay and Story Segregation|doesn't stop Alexandra from needing to reset the circuit breaker to look around a dark room though]].
* [[My Death Is Just the Beginning]]: [[Trope Namer]].
* [[Mysterious Backer]]: Mantarok. Sure, it's the only one of the ancients who isn't planning to enter the world and run amok, is activally opposing the others and even spent some time serving as a small village's personal fertility god. On the other hand, it's hardly in a position to oppose humanity and after masterminding the destruction of the other three ancients, who knows what it's planning...
* [[New Game+]]: Required to get the [[Multiple Endings|best ending]], but severely limited
* [[Nothing Is Scarier]]:
*
* [[Not Using the Z Word]]: Inverted. Pious and his minions refer to humans as "flesh and bone", thereby objectifying them as resources to be used.▼
** When your sanity is low, sometimes you might try to open a door only to hear the "locked" sound with no message saying that the door is locked
▲* [[Nothing Is Scarier]]: Wandering around the Roivas mansion as Alex between chapters is quite creepy, even though (outside of one instance) nothing tries to attack her until close to the end of the game. The fact that [[Suspicious Videogame Generosity|she finds weapons right from the beginning, as well as finding better weapons several times]], and that Maximilian's chapter takes place in the same house leads the player to expect to be attacked at every turn.
▲** When your sanity is low, sometimes you might try to open a door only to hear the "locked" sound with no message saying that the door is locked; usually, this happens when a Sanity effect is about to occur, but sometimes you just have to wait a few seconds and then try again to open the door. In other words, there is a Sanity effect where all the doors to the room are locked, but ''nothing else happens,'' not even the flash of light or the cry of "This isn't really happening!"
** Lampshaded by Maximilian Roivas in his diary: "I have learned to fear nothing, although it is nothing that I most fear."
▲* [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall]]: Alex, at the end of the Ulyaoth path; after {{spoiler|summoning Xel'lotath}}, she feels that a hole has opened in her mind, and she has a sense of her "strong ally", but doesn't know who it is.
* [[Notice This]]: A combination of the characters focusing their attention on collectible objects, and the objects in question faintly glowing.
▲* [[Not Using the Z Word]]: Inverted. Pious and his minions refer to humans as "flesh and bone", thereby objectifying them as resources to be used.
* [[Oh Crap]]: Peter has a shot of this kind when he realizes that {{spoiler|the Black Guardian is shrinking his barriers during their fight}}.▼
* [[Oh Crap]]:
▲*
** Edwin Lindsey gets one too, when he shoots Paul Augustine in the chest and doesn't even slow him down.
* [[Ominous Latin Chanting]]: Heard among the background music for the Forbidden City, and also used in the holy-choir variety whenever an object is collected in Oublié Cathedral.
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* [[Poor Predictable Rock]]: 90% of enemies you fight are aligned with one particular [[Eldritch Abomination]] of three, so once you gain access to magic spells of the alignment that beats it in [[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors]], instant buttkicking commences.
* [[Powers That Be]]
* [[Power Trio]]: The unholy trinity of Chattur'gah, Xel'lotath
* [[Punctuation Shaker]]: Chattur'gha, Xel'lotath and Ehn'gha.
* [[Quad Damage]]
* [[Ragnarok Proofing]]: Justified:
* [[Rainbow Speak]]: Done in the game's text when talking about {{color|gold|key words}} in general, or items of interest relating to {{color|red|Chattur'gha}}, {{color|blue|Ulyaoth}}, {{color|green|Xel'lotath}}
* [[Rare Guns]]: Elephant Gun and OICW, anyone?
* [[Reckless Gun Usage]]:
*
** If Dr. Edwin Lindsey's sanity is low, there's a chance he'll target his own foot when you aim.
** If Peter Jacob or Alex Roivas' sanity is low, there's a chance that they might [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|aim their gun at the Fourth Wall]] and put a bullet hole in it.
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* [[Sacrificial Lion]]: Not in short supply. Sometimes averted/subverted as people like Ellia and Karim manage to make a difference even after they're technically dead, but in cases like Anthony's or Paul's, it's played pretty damn straight.
* [[Safecracking]]
* [[Sanity Meter]]: [[Trope Namer]], and [[Trope Codifier]] for video game uses of it. Nintendo even [[Serious Business|filed a patent for its implementation]]. In game, it acts as shield for your health, once it's gone enemies start damaging just by looking your way, literal death glares?
* [[Sanity Slippage]]: Pretty much the entire point of the game, and a significant portion of the gameplay as well due to the [[Sanity Meter]] above.
* [[Say My Name]]:
** "Charlemaaaagne..."
** Also, any time you cast a spell, the name of the runes are chanted, including the name of the Ancient. The Forbidden City and Black Guardian have a habit of beckoning to Chosen, as well.
* [[Sdrawkcab Name]]: The Roivas family.
* [[Sealed Badass in a Can]]: Mantorok, after Pious binds him. Mantorok is also ambiguously [[Sealed Evil in a Can]]. Aside from {{spoiler|getting revenge on the other Ancients}}, not much light is shed on his motives, especially in regards to humanity.
* [[Secondary Fire]]: Mike's OICW doubles as a grenade launcher. It can also be set to fire single shot, burst
▲* [[Secondary Fire]]: Mike's OICW doubles as a grenade launcher. It can also be set to fire single shot, burst, or full auto. Many other guns have alternate fires as well, usually limited to single/double-barrel, however.
* [[Sequel Hook]]: The game has some, including a [[Sequel Snark|fake one]] triggered by having low Sanity.
* [[Set Piece Puzzle]]
* [[Shape Shifter]]: Pious; Mantorok is thought to be one of these by Lindsey.
* [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog]]: With very few exceptions, every individual chapter is one of these, though subverted when considered the entire game, since the majority of the chapters accomplish something that eventually helps to defeat the Ancient.
* [[Shotguns Are Just Better]]: Averted, but not by much. As far as projectile weapons go they're
* [[Shout-Out]]:
** Among the books in the Roivas mansion's library are the works of [[Edgar Allan Poe]] and [[H.P. Lovecraft]]. At the end of his chapter, Max is put in the Jefferson Coombs Sanitarium, a shoutout to Lovecraft actor Jeffrey Combs. Also, the detective in the beginning is named Inspector Legrasse, a reference to one of the protagonists in [[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]].
** Michael must construct a Staff of Ra and use it to reflect light through a center gemstone to aim a laser-like beam of light onto a scale model of a city. Just like [[Indiana Jones]] did in ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]''.
** What does Maximilian Roivas say when you select the Chattur'gha Horror out of his autopsy notes? [[Heart of Darkness|"Oh, the Horror
** The fact the Fifth Ancient(yellow) remains nameless is itself a shout out to
** Edwin Lindsey's
* [[Shown Their Work]]: Silicon Knights spent a ridiculous amount of time to make the game fit in with real-life history as closely as possible; all weapons are era-appropriate, and most chapters coincide with major historical events.
* [[Sinister Scraping Sound]]
* [[Smashing Hallway Traps of Doom]]
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* [[Sorting Algorithm of Weapon Effectiveness]]: With [[Magick]]. Averted in that you can discover useful combat spells far earlier than the game gives you the scrolls for them, by experimenting with rune combinations.
* [[Spinventory]]: Mostly just used to examine items closer in an aesthetic sense.
* [[Sprint Meter]]: Hidden from the eyes of the player, but it's there. Characters will start to stagger and gasp for breath eventually, and they must walk or stop and catch their breath before they can resume. It varies from character to character. Micheal Edwards, a firefighter, can run for long distances without needing a break while Maximillian Roivas, an overweight physician, can only jog for a short period before he starts breathing heavily.
* [[Squishy Wizard]]:
* [[Squishy Wizard]]: Paul Luther, a Franciscan monk gone to Oublié Cathedral to see the Hand of Jude (actually the artifact of one of the Ancients). He has some of the lowest HP in the game and isn't particularly athletic but can hold his own in combat. Peter Jacob is in better shape than Paul, but his health isn't much better, his covering WWI has [[Sanity Meter|left his brain a bit broken]], and if he finds the Two-Edged Sword, he has the same problem Anthony had with it that Paul didn't - it's heavy and difficult for a scrawny guy to wield. He has among the very best capacity for magic of the Twelve though, necessary for a [[Wizard Duel]] at his chapter's end. He even finds a unique item for the fight that instantly replenishes his entire mana meter. Edward Roivas has the smallest possible health bar, but he's got large sanity and magick meters in exchange -- magick which can be put to use enchanting his [[BFG|Elephant Gun]].▼
** Paul Luther, a Franciscan monk gone to Oublié Cathedral to see the Hand of Jude (actually the artifact of one of the Ancients). He has some of the lowest HP in the game and isn't particularly athletic but can hold his own in combat.
** A villainous example is Ulyaoth, who is ''literally'' squishy; he looks like a jellyfish.▼
▲*
* [[Staggered Zoom]]: A sanity effect.
* [[Standard Status Effects]]
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* [[Stop Helping Me!]]: Given all the numerous times a visual depiction of each Ancient's dominance over each other is shown, you will ''never'' find yourself forgetting how the [[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors]] works. You also need to sit through all the tutorials regardless of whether or not you've finished the game.
* [[Stupidity Is the Only Option]]: "Should Paul claim the [[Tome of Eldritch Lore|Tome of Eternal Darkness]]?" Paul is a Franciscan monk? No, he really shouldn't claim an evil book of sorcery bound in human skin and found in an extradimensional mausoleum where the floor is made of the screaming souls of the damned.
* [[Summon Bigger Fish]]: This trope constitutes much of the gameplay in the final level. {{spoiler|Naturally, this leaves one of the Eldritch Abominations wandering around unopposed, so the ghost of Alex's grandfather has to subsequently [[Sealed Evil in a Can|bind]] the Bigger Fish
* [[Sundial Waypoint]]: Twice, the first as mentioned in [[Shout-Out]], the second in Alex's endgame chapter.
* [[Suspicious Videogame Generosity]]: Just before Peter's duel with the black guardian, you encounter a door and receive a message telling you that absolute evil lurks on the other side of this door, gnawing away at your very soul. It then goes on to ask you, very innocently, if you would like to save your progress.
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{{quote|'''Chandra''': "Without your sacrifice, the world will fall into eternal darkness!"}}
* [[Tome of Eldritch Lore]]
* [[Took a Level in Badass]]: All of the characters once they find good weaponry and the ''Tome of Eternal Darkness''.
* [[Translation Convention]]: Pious and Anthony's chapters start with characters communicating in Latin, which then seamlessly transitions to English mid-dialogue. Curiously, the only chapters to do so
* [[Turn of the Millennium]]: Alex's chapter (and by proxy, [[The Present Day]] for the game in general), although the specific date isn't given.
* [[Undead Child]]: An interpretation of the really small zombies.
* [[Universal Ammunition]]: Averted. You have or find ammo for individual weapons. If you run out of ammo for your main weapon, you have to switch to your backup.
* [[Upgrade Artifact]]: The Circles of Power, always found in Oublié Cathedral.
* [[Use Item]]
* [[Useless Useful Spell]]: You can use the 'Restore' and 'Self' runes in combination with one of the three Elder God runes to restore your health, sanity
* [[Victory Is Boring]]: Eternal Mode. Yeah, it's awesome that you get infinite health and infinite ammo and [[Rule of Funny|Bonethieves can inhabit your body with no ill effects]], but... The Sanity Meter is infinite
* [[Video Game Cruelty Potential]]: Rats scurry around in some areas. If you have a firearm, you can shoot them with no ill effect. Kill a ''human'', though, and [[Video Game Cruelty Punishment|you suffer a huge drop in sanity]].
* [[Voice of the Legion]]: The green black guardian.
* [[Walking Wasteland]]: The Ancients' essences, particularly Mantorok's, are mentioned in the text as corroding the very air around them, needing a cloth to be handled. Also, Ehn'gha seems to have some sort of sphere of influence on the Roivas mansion, as the house staff frequently comments that the building never gets clean no matter how hard their attempts to work.
* [[When the Planets Align]]: Right there in the cover art. You're also given short [[Full Motion Video|FMVs]] between chapters of the planets' progress in making this happen.
* [[A Winner Is You]]: Subverted. At the end of a chapter, the game will abruptly throw a static "[[To Be Continued]]" image at you and demand that you buy the nonexistent sequel if you want any sort of proper conclusion. Lucky for you, it's just a hallucination, a [[Shout-Out]] to the infamously [[Cosmic Deadline|abrupt]] ending of ''[[Legacy of Kain]]: Soul Reaver''.
* [[With This Herring]]: Averted for the most part
▲* [[With This Herring]]: Averted for the most part; few of the characters are warriors or are expecting to be attacked, and the ones that do ''are'' armed. Some of them heavily.
* [[Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe]]: Pious Augustus is fond of it.
{{quote|'''Pious''': "[[You Fool!|Fool!]] [[Evil Is Hammy|I spit at thee!]] [[Title Drop|The darkness shall be eternal!]]"}}
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