The Stanley Parable: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''Narrator''': This is the story of a man named Stanley.}}

 

 

 

* {{spoiler|Doesn't really matter though, in the end. The tropes are still here}}.

 

{{tropelist}}

* [[Adult Fear]]: Some endings make you question your own life, and not just the gaming. Are you as confined as Stanley?

* [[Bittersweet Ending]]/[[Downer Ending]]: Some of the endings fit into the former or latter, mostly because your attempt to establish your own freedom ends up with you dead, or worse.

* [[Book Ends]]: The "Narrator" and "Pawn" ending.

* [[Ironic Hell]]: Being stuck in an empty room with no stimuli, no way out.

* [[Jerkass Gods]]: The Narrator will not only blow you up, but will add an extra minute to the countdown mid-way through, just because he's enjoying watching you squirm.

* [[Lemony Narrator]]: Particularly if you do the opposite of what it says you will do.

* [[Mind Control]]: Stanley's boss has been keeping a machine that controls the emotions of his workers.

** Narrator: Stanley follows all of the Narrator's directions, making his way to the machine that's controlling him. He shuts it off, and steps out into the world. The Narrator says that without anyone to tell him what to do, [[Arc Words|Stanley was happy]].

** Tragedy: Stanley follows the Narrator's directions up until the very end, where instead of turning off the machine, he turns the power to full. The Narrator gives Stanley [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]], telling him that all he had to do was follow his instructions. After taunting him with a timer and buttons placed around the room, the Narrator reveals that it's all futile, and kills Stanley. The game's creator noticed, during testing, this was the most commonly achieved ending for first time players.

** Mariella: Stanley takes the wrong direction on the stairs, and ends up running through an endless loop of rooms, where he slowly becomes aware of the [[Fourth Wall]] elements of the game. It drives him mad and he dies, at which point the perspective moves outside his body, and the Narrator begins to talk about the woman who'd just seen Stanley drop dead in front of her.

** Freedom: defying the Narrator at every turn, Stanley gets him fed up enough that the Narrator lets him step into a room filled with blank wall and skybox textures, then drops him in a ''Half-Life 2'' level to let him see what it feels like to have a level not meant for him at all. Finding a tiny crack, Stanley crawls out of the level, and explores his office building on his own, without the Narrator. Then, the Narrator comes back briefly, says that he hopes the story Stanley made up for what he was doing was satisfying, reminds him that he'll be there at the end to tie things up, and warns him that he was happy to sit back this time, but only this time.

* [[Nothing Is Scarier]]: The game as a whole, but especially the normally bustling ''Half-Life 2'' map you can get dumped in.

* [[Oh Crap]]: Some of the voiceovers can be startling, the [[Dissonant Serenity|measured tones]] only making things worse.

{{quote|"Stanley decided to punish himself."}}

* [[Post Modernism]]: So very much.

* [[Railroading]]: The Narrator makes sure to nudge Stanley in the proper direction if he dawdles in a room a bit too long. Aggressively so.

* [[Tyop on the Cover]]: In the demo, the signs and the text above the doorway leading to the "demonstration" read "THE STANLEY PARABLE [[Our Demons Are Different|DEMON'''ST'''ATION]]". The authors [http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1p095a/we_are_the_designers_and_narrator_of_the_stanley/ccxf8cf revealed in the Reddit AMA] that the typo was unintentional, but they decided to [[Throw It In]].

* [[Unreliable Narrator]]: You can ''make'' the Narrator this or not depending on your actions. He tends to not be amused.

* [[Villainous Breakdown]]: While probably not fitting the terminology of "villain", the Narrator gets progressively more and more antagonistic as you walk through the game without following the pre-determined story.

* [[Voice with an Internet Connection|Voice With The Level Editor]]

 

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