History VideoGame / CriminalCase

** '''World Edition''':
** '''Mysteries of the Past''': The Flying Squad work to dismantle police corruption in the Concordia PD, prevent (and then stop) a war between Irish and Italian gangs, and investigate the wealthy - but corrupt - Rochester family, with the help of a district attorney very willing to bring justice to the city.

** Autopsies of the victims' bodies and lab analysis of clues lasts for 3 to 12 hours, although the player can use Cash to speed up the process (1 Cash per 30 minutes of remaining time).

* MythArc:

** '''Supernatural Hunters''': The Demon Queen, who wants to destroy the world.

** ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' = ''Fletris''

* TheCoroner: Each PD the Player works in has a Chief Medical Examiner whose role is to perform autopsies on the dead bodies. Grimsborough has Nathan Pandit, Pacific Bay has Roxie Sparks, World Edition has Angela Douglas [[spoiler:(until her arrest and subsequent replacement by Grace Delaney)]], Mysteries of the Past has Richard Wells, and The Conspiracy has Martine Meunier.

* EatenAlive: A couple of the murder victims died due to being fed to wildlife by their murderers. Aaliyah Banks from Case 38 was half eaten by piranhas, Roland Vane from Case 50 was crushed to death then almost eaten by a giant boa, Jimmy "Ice P" Lewis from the first Pacific Bay case was fed to a shark, while Nora Lewis of Case 64 (or Case 8 Pacific Bay) died after being ingested by a giant man-eating ''plant''.

** Barbara Pickley from Pacific Bay Case 4 is more unusual. She's a man-hating feminist who only had a son. She loves but despises him, lets him grow up to be a manchild (because she doesn't think men can be more than that), and lavishes all her attention on her daughter-in-law Susan. She introduces Susan to feminism, and [[spoiler:murders her after she deviates from her narrow definition of it.]]

* GadgeteerGenius: The [=LEAs=] the player character works with every season usually have one tech expert for each. Grimsborough has Alex Turner, Pacific Bay has Hannah Choi, World Edition has Elliot Clayton, and The Conspiracy has Cathy Turner. Mysteries of the Past doesn't have a tech expert, though Charles Dupont's role as an inventor means he qualifies for this trope.
* AGodAmI: The BigBad of each season have a disturbing obsession with godhood, apparently.
** The leader of The Crimson Order claims to be the god of Grimsborough. During his trial, he angrily declares that they should be worshiping him instead of locking him away.

** There is a non-BigBad example in ''World Edition''. [[spoiler:Ayush Patil]] believed that it was his calling to do something about the overpopulation of India, [[spoiler:so he stole a deadly virus from a lab and unleashed it onto the public.]] When he's arrested, he smiles and continues to insist that a new era is born thanks to him.

** In Case 21 of Grimsborough, all that's left of [[spoiler:Rachel Priest]] is [[spoiler:her skinless, headless body and pieces of her skull broken by her killer]]. And you're told [[spoiler:her bones teared her skin open as she died.]]
** Case 48 of ''Pacific Bay'' is the most gruesome example. [[spoiler:The victim was sawed up and her body was placed in three blenders. By the time you find her, only her head and one of her hands and feet are intact. The rest has essentially been turned into a smoothie.]]

** The Rocket Cow Killer from Fairview targets parents who have strained relationships with their children by giving them Poisoned Rocket Cow to drink.

*** '''Ocean Shores''' encompasses the first five cases of Pacific Bay, and has no centralized plot and mostly deals with an introduction to the new team members, and briefly establishes their personalities.

*** '''Jazz Town''' covers Cases 18 to 24, and deals with two distinct plot -- one involving a man-made hurricane which has destroyed a large portion of the district and threatens to strike a second time and completely annihilate the town, and another involving the renewed activities of a SerialKiller called the Puppeteer -- who had, in the past, murdered Yann Touissant's parents.
*** '''White Peaks''', which covers Cases 25 to 30, is the home town of Amy Young and focuses on her family, her past and her CharacterDevelopment as she and the player character tries to uncover the mysterious UrbanLegend of the Night Walker.

*** '''Europe''' deals with a secret organization and Europe being in a big crisis, which is believed to be the cult [[spoiler:Brother Klaus]] belongs to.

*** In '''South Asia''', an unethical pharmaceutical company owned by SOMBRA have been taking advantage of the recent Earthquake and plagues to consolidate their power.

*** In returning to '''Africa''', the entire Bureau almost got killed by an act of sabotage, and the culprit responsible is [[TheMole someone inside the Bureau]].

*** The Grimsborough PD are seeking the identity of Fornax in '''Spring Fields''', an Ad Astra member who is in on DreamLife's plans and may have received a shipment of the drugs they were synthesizing two districts prior.

*** After losing the auction at Tortuga, Ammon Bast travels to '''Medieval Asia''' to manipulate both Mongol and Chinese empires into war and seize the outcome of this conflict to ascend the Ptolemy Dynasty to power. The team follows Ammon to prevent the success of his buckup plan.

*** ''Fantasy''', covering Cases 1 to 5, has Carrie and the player settle into their new jobs while looking for the former's long lost brother. Meanwhile, the famous fashion brand Choir is set to open their fashion house soon.

** Case 12 of World Edition, ''[[UpToEleven and how]]''. [[spoiler:After Ambassador's Stern's son is kidnapped, he is taken to war-torn Iraq where the player and Carmen find a nomadic tribe leader dead by The Sword's hands. After finding Andrew Stern, things start going downhill for the team; Jack is incapacitated by Asal Hawaa, Dupont is poisoned by The Sword, Benjamin Scott turns extremist briefly, and Marina is accidentally taken hostage by Jonah Karam. When the team finally find out who The Sword is, he tries to kill Carmen and the player too...until Jonah saves them by shooting him in the head. Jonah is awarded a place in the Bureau for his merits by none other than ''Chief Ripley, who faked her own death to manipulate SOMBRA''. And it all ends with Marina's mother sending the team a secret video to come to Russia.]] The JustForFun.HolyShitQuotient in this episode is through the roof.

%%* LockedRoomMystery: Case 25 is this.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/criminal_case.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The main cast in Season 1, left to right: Alex Turner, Nathan Pandit, Chief Samuel King, Agent David Jones, Grace Delaney, and Officer Ramirez.]]

!!Tropes about the series

** '''Grimsborough''': [[spoiler:Milton Grimmes]].
** '''Pacific Bay''': [[spoiler:Albert Tesla]].
** '''World Edition''': [[spoiler:Hector Montoya aka]] El Rey, the leader of SOMBRA.

*** '''Jealously''', '''Separation'', and '''Engagement''' all share the story arc covering Cases 14 to 17, where Antoine continues his plans despite being put behind bars, and a wedding is set to unfold...

* ArcVillain: The cases in each district are often interconnected by a single theme, with one person being responsible for most -- if not all -- of the district's murders.
** Grimsborough:
*** '''Industrial Area:''' Tossed up between [[BigBadEnsemble Tony Marconi and Salvador Cordero]], the leaders of the Italian mafia and the Vipers gang, respectively. [[spoiler:Marconi wins when he [[KillTheSonOfABitch murders Cordero for attacking Ginger]], only to be jailed for twenty years to life.]]
*** '''Financial Center:''' Alden Greene, a CorruptCorporateExecutive whose company Greene Holdings has a stranglehold on the district [[spoiler:and funds General James Marsh's experiments that [[SuperSoldier turns soldiers into killing machines]].]]
*** '''Historical Center:''' No particular main villain for the arc itself. [[spoiler:At least not for the main murder investigations. The Additional Investigations, though, have an overarching theme of poisons being laid out for dogs--with "Dog Eat Dog" establishing local [[EvilOldFolks old lady]] [[GloryHound Margaret Littlewood]] as the villain in question.]]
*** '''University:''' The Rorschach Reaper [[spoiler:A.K.A. Tess Goodwin]], a SerialKiller who hypnotizes certain students into killing their friends or relatives they hold a grudge against.
*** '''Maple Heights:''' Adam Bentley, just a wannabe socialite who is rejected for being nowhere near as rich as Maple Heights wants to be. [[spoiler: When he discovers the Crimson Order's illegal goldmine and blackmailed them for money to keep quiet, Serena Johnson orders Chief King to assassinate him.]]
*** '''Airport:''' [[spoiler:Milton Grimmes,]] leader of the Crimson Order.
** Pacific Bay:
*** '''Ocean Shore:''' [[spoiler:Derek Stone, Frank's arch rival.]]
*** '''Bayou Bleu:''' [[spoiler:Erikah Mabayo,]] a SerialKiller who had murdered several prostitutes [[spoiler:who works under her,]] and had started the voodoo craze in the district to oppress the people with fear.
*** '''Inner City:''' A BigBadEnsemble between Nikolai Kamarov, Sue Xiong, and Fredo Mancini, leaders of the Russians, Chinese, and the anarchist Inner Chaos gang, respectively. [[spoiler:And then there's BackAlleyDoctor Mark [=McKenzie=], who's responsible for stealing organs from the murder victims, acting under the orders of the true villain, [[StarCrossedLovers Nikolai's and Sue's]] BastardBastard [[LukeYouAreMyFather son]] Rupert Snow.]]
*** '''Jazz Town:''' [[BigBadEnsemble TWO of them]]: [[spoiler:Veronica Blade and Freddie Alonzo,]] the former responsible for creating the hurricanes that destroyed the district and thus is pretty much caused all the tragedy therein; the latter is the true identity of The Puppeteer, a SerialKiller who murdered Yann's parents in the past and is the main villain of the Additional Investigations.
*** '''White Peaks:''' [[spoiler:Amy's older brother, Duncan Young, also know as]] the Night Walker, an monster born of urban legends who is responsible for a number of kidnappings and murders, and indirectly causes the death of several others.
*** '''Ivywood Hills:''' [[spoiler:Holly Hopper,]] the Utopians' leader, is the mastermind behind the cult's plan to brainwash the entire population of Ivywood Hills, if not the whole Pacific Bay, during the Awards Ceremony, [[spoiler:and is directly responsible in the brainwashing of Chief Marquez]]. [[spoiler:However, her plans are hijacked by [[FemmeFatale Velma Bannister]], who plans to brainwash Pacific Bay into [[AGodAmI worshipping her forever]].]]
*** '''Rhine Canyon:''' [[spoiler:General Freeman,]] a xenophobe who keeps trying to prevent several people, including Colonel Spangler, from helping Randolph [[spoiler:(an actual alien)]] return to his home [[spoiler:planet.]] Like the previous ArcVillain, he didn't actually commit any murder.
*** '''Innovation Valley:''' [[spoiler:[=Aphro-Dyte=]]] who tried to get the robots to revolt against humans, and nearly succeeded.
*** '''Paradise City:''' [[spoiler:Karen Knight, with some help from Frank, who was the mastermind behind]] Louis de Rico, who's the leader of the heist team planning to rob the Mennagio Casino. This one didn't commit a murder [[spoiler:unless you count Frank.]]
*** '''The Wastes:''' The ending of the previous district has the perpetrators on the run, implying that they will be the villains again, [[spoiler:but it's actually Albert Tesla, the founder of Pacific Bay, who manipulated Frank and Karen Knight to put his plans into motion.]]
** World Edition:
*** '''Europe:''' [[spoiler:Archibald Gilchrist,]] the leader of Prometheans, a Ku Klux Klan-like cult [[spoiler:and SOMBRA branch]] who intends to push for the unification of Europe's nations and take over.
*** '''Sahara Region:''' The Sword [[spoiler:A.K.A. Omar Bahir]], the assassin [[spoiler:responsible for Chief Ripley's murder]], then sows seeds of hatred against the foriegners in the hearts of locals, and supports rebels under orders from SOMBRA.
*** '''Eurasia:''' A SOMBRA spy that has infiltrated the Russian Space Agency, COSMORUS, in order to launch a satellite that could potentially breach every global communication devices, and bring the world to ruin. [[spoiler:The spy is in fact the head of COSMORUS herself, Natasha Romanova]].
*** '''South Asia:''' [[spoiler:The NGO worker Warren Goodfellow is]] the one who was ordered to besmirch guru Om Padmasana's name, and thus delay The Bureau in its investigations against SOMBRA.
*** '''East Asia:''' the Head Hunter [[DevilInPlainSight Ronin Ozawa]] (who the previous ArcVillain [[TheManBehindTheMan answers to]]) who is on a mission on child trafficking, [[BigBadDuumvirate and]] [[spoiler:Obaasan]], the one in charge of brainwashing the kidnapped children.
*** '''Oceania:''' Dr. Marshall Metcalf, a blue-skinned scientist who heads a breeding program for the orphans captured by SOMBRA, known as the Next Level program. [[spoiler:Ironically, he becomes the victim of the region finale rather than the killer.]]
*** '''Africa:''' [[BigBadDuumvirate TWO of them]]. One is [[spoiler:Lavinia De Brills]], the heiress of De Brills Diamonds, who smuggled her own diamonds to SOMBRA. The other is the SOMBRA mole within the Bureau, who [[spoiler:murders the former since Lavinia knows who she is: Angela Douglas.]]
*** '''South America:''' El Rey [[spoiler:A.K.A. Arsenio Castillo]], the [[spoiler:founder and former]] leader of SOMBRA.
*** '''North America:''' [[spoiler:Hector Montoya,]] El Rey's successor. [[spoiler:Upon his arrest, Sarah Bennett, the Vice President of the United States, continues his goal.]]
** ''Mysteries of the Past''
*** '''New Haven:''' [[spoiler:Edward Whimple, the trafficking of Irish immigrants into slavery being his brainchild.]]
*** '''Elysium Fields:''' Mr. Alastor [[spoiler:A.K.A. Archie Rochester]], orchestrating several parties and manipulating the murderers behind each one, all to woo the apple of his eye: Giulietta Capecchi.
*** '''Century Mile:''' [[spoiler:Eleanor Halstead,]] the industrial saboteur that tampered with several inventions throughout the World Exhibition. [[spoiler:And then she reveals she was merely [[TheManBehindTheMan under the pay]] of Stanley Spark and Finley Flanagan so the former can win the fair.]]
*** '''Sinner's End:''' [[BigBadDuumvirate Finley and Fiona Flanagan]], a BrotherSisterTeam of mobsters who run the illegal activities in the district, [[BigBadEnsemble and]] the Scarlet Slayer, a SerialKiller who preys on prostitutes. [[spoiler:The Scarlet Slayer is revealed to be Fiona, who is then killed by her own brother.]]
*** '''Coyote Gorge:''' Vittorio Capecchi, the leader of the Italian mob, who essentially runs the district.
*** '''Crimson Banks:''' Franca Capecchi, wife of Vittorio, who sought revenge on the Irish for [[spoiler:his death.]]
*** '''Wolf Street:''' The BigBadDuumvirate of [[spoiler:Larry Rochester and Sandra Hwang,]] the man behind the Concordia Telephone Company scam and the CorruptPolitician that covered his tracks and other shady dealings made by his family, respectively. [[spoiler:Until Sandra betrays Rochester and he killed her in retaliation.]]
*** '''Grim Chapel:''' "The Devil" [[spoiler:A.K.A. William Oland,]] who helps prospective murderers into making their crimes look like freak accidents. [[spoiler:He's a DiscOneFinalBoss for the arc itself, with his wife Sylvia May taking over, and the plot sheds some light on the dark secrets of Gryphon Sanctuary.]]
*** '''Ivory Hill:''' A BigBadDuumvirate between [[CorruptPolitician Malcolm Rochester]] and his uncle, [[EvilOldFolks Horatio Rochester]], who plan to turn Concordia into a republic dominated by their clan. [[spoiler:Malcom also bribes Thaddeus Mulroney, the new Concordian Police Department commissioner, to release Eleanor Hasteald from prison, ordering her to murder then deputy mayor Justin Lawson so that he will not interfere. Horatio reveals himself as responsible for the actions of Willaim and Sylvia in the previous district, as well as using his illegitimate daughter as an UnwittingPawn against the Flying Squad and having influenced the Italo-Irish gang war to benefit from his partnership with Vittorio.]] In the district finale, [[spoiler:with the arrest of both Rochester and the resignation of the commissioner, Eleanor Halstead [[DragonAscendant is still free]]. [[DragonWithAnAgenda Her plans, however, are different]] from Rochester's - [[DragonInChief she even mocks them after they lose their power]] - and she kills Mayor Castletown for personal reasons.]]
*** '''Capitol Peak:''' After spending a majority of ''Mysteries of the Past'' as a steadfast ally to the Flying Squad, [[spoiler:Mayor Justin Lawson]] is apparently JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope by taking a [[KnightTemplar militant approach]] to stopping crime in Concordia. Surprisingly, [[spoiler:he doesn't show up (at least until the finale), and for most of the arc the Squad is instead directly opposed by the head of the Justice Corps and the new judge [[CoDragons Inspector Jaubert and Dora Umbright]], respectively.]]
** The Conspiracy
*** '''Fairview:''' The [[SerialKiller Rocket Cow Killer]] [[spoiler:A.K.A. Rosamund Wilcox, the principal of Fairview High School]], who targets parents caught arguing with their teenage children by giving them poisoned Rocket Cow to drink.
*** '''Money Mile:''' Meera Kat, a performance artist using the Grimsborough earthquake and its victims for her performance art. [[spoiler:Christian Bateman shows himself equally wicked when he kills Meera at the district finale, simply because she rejected his advances.]]
*** '''The Greens:''' Rozetta Pierre, founder of [=DreamLife=]. [[spoiler:Starts to shape up as the villain of the season after Misty Grove.]]
*** '''Old Town:''' Steven Crowe, another returning character from Season 1 who now leads cult group The Higher Truth. [[spoiler:Except he's merely an UnwittingPawn to the true mastermind behind the cult, Grayson Rosewater. Greyson is a [=DreamLife=] agent infiltrating The Higher Truth to use the cult donations money for Rozetta's projects.]]
*** '''Maple Heights:''' [[spoiler:Ernest Emerson,]] the one who unleashed the demon fish in the first place.
*** '''Misty Grove:''' Rozetta Pierre. [[spoiler:Creating a drug to control the minds of the people of Grimsborough, conducting experiments with the meteorite that caused the earthquake and consequently the appearance of demon fish and blackmailing Tony Marconi to work for her were some of her actions so far.]]
*** '''University:''' Ad Astra, a sorority group started by Rozetta Pierre in her college years and revived with a new formation just a year ago, who believe in Rozetta's view on selective superiority. [[spoiler:Turns out to be a BigBadDuumvirate of all five new generation Ad Astra members [[DragonInChief Polly O'Brien]], [[TheLeader Dorothy Kix]], [[TheBrute Courtney Guerrera]], [[TheEvilGenius Lucius Roth]] and [[TheDarkChick Azeeb Patel]].]]
*** '''Spring Fields:''' [[spoiler:[=AgriMeadow=] CEO Julia Brine]], codename Fornax, one of the original Ad Astra members, who is also behind the burning of the corn fields [[spoiler:to replant with Protozane infused corn.]] It doesn't take long for [[spoiler:her to be arrested, at the same time that Christian Bateman, codenamed]] Orion, [[spoiler:is released from prison and]] reveals himself as the third Ad Astran. [[spoiler:Soon after, he - with the help of Mayor Joe Warren - pays Mia Loukas' boyfriend to kill the player with a bomb to prevent the investigation against the original Ad Astra, of which Warren is also a part.]]
*** '''Airport''': [[spoiler:Louis Leroux is unmasked as the fifth and final Ad Astran, using his job as a reporter to provide false information and hide Ad Astra's schemes. In the meantime, the real leader of Ad Astra decides to eliminate them because they are a threat to her plans, even causing a [[BigBlackout blackout]] to delay them and soon after ordering Leroux's death because [[HeKnowsTooMuch he was the first to discover her plans]].]] .
*** '''Newmark''': [[spoiler:Denise Daniels, Ad Astra's real leader, who also happens to be [[EvilMatriarch Rozetta's mother]]. The entire conspiracy involving [=DreamLife=] and Ad Astra was part of her plan to create a new humanoid species - [[ArtificialHuman the neohumans]] - controlled by her. All of this to be [[TheStarscream usurped in by Otto Kessel]], a neo-human whom she disguised as her assistant who developed [[GrewBeyondTheirProgramming self-consciousness]].]]
** Travel in Time
*** '''Ancient Times''': Octavian in his campaign to destroy Egypt and keep the power of the Roman Republic.
*** '''The 1960s''': [[spoiler:After their time machine was sabotaged by Ammon Bast, T.I.M.E. remains in the 1960s in the midst of the Cold War, where US congressman Graham Winslow kills Soviet ambassador Lev Romanov to kickstart an armed conflict between the Soviet Union and USA so that the USA could wipe out the Soviet Union immediately.]]
*** '''Renaissance''': The Spanish Inquisition, who not only terrorize Europe with their violent methods but also have Leonardo Da Vinci imprisoned. [[spoiler:The final case of the district has the Grand Inquisitor, Cardinal Cisneros, found guilty of murder.]]
*** '''Altered Present''': [[spoiler:The Ptolemy Dynasty - led by Pharaoh Ramses XLIII and Queen Shabaka - responsible for altering the timeline to make Egypt a global superpower. Particularly, [[EvilAllAlong Nebet is revealed to really be Princess Nefertiti]], daughter of the Ptolemian leaders, who had been helping Ammon Bast and disguised herself as a FishOutOfTemporalWater to spy on the team.]]
*** '''Age of Sail''': Ammon Bast, who is changing history in the Age of Sail to seize trade routes for Egypt, and pursues the team when he catches wind of their plans.
*** '''Medieval Asia''': Ammon Bast, who travels to the Mongol Empire with a shipment of firearms to help Ogedei Khan prepare for Mongolia's conquest of China prematurely, after failing to win the trade routes needed to alter history in his favor.
*** '''The End''': [[spoiler:The past versions of Nefertiti and]] Ammon Bast.
** Supernatural Investigations
*** '''West''': [[spoiler:Eric Zwart]], the vampire who kidnaps Mina Reynolds and schems to use her to make an invincibility elixir.
*** '''Southwest''': [[spoiler:The ghost of Abigal Riley]], a woman sacrificed in a occult ritual [[spoiler:to summon a demon]] five years ago, who possesses and drives five natural resource workers to murder.
*** '''Rockies''': The demon [[spoiler:summoned during the ritual]], who has been killing livestock and leaving high amounts of sulfur in their cadavers, as well a werewolf who possibly maintains an alliance with a demon. [[spoiler:Arthur Darkwood reveals himself as the demon who works together with the alpha werewolf, Annette Strong. However, [[AmbiguouslyEvil he is not the demon summoned during the ritual]]. In fact, he and Annette are helping the team and pitting themselves against the demon invoked during the ritual and who was killing the livestock: [[EvilAllAlong Zeke Davis himself]].]]
*** '''Midwest''': [[spoiler:Morgana Blackhawk]], the witch responsible for stealing several children around the Midwest, [[spoiler:to eat them for power]].
*** '''East''': [[spoiler:Like Zeke Davis, [[EvilAllAlong Reggie Pratt reveals himself as a demon in disguise]], being responsible for [[MindRape invading Gwen's mind]] in the previous district, as well as [[DrivenToSuicide inducing Theresa Rosenthal to commit suicide]] after doing the same to her while seeking information about the final key to freeing the demon queen. Finally, he frees the queen himself after finding the key.]]
*** '''South''': The Demon Queen, who has been freed and now plans to destroy the world once and for all during a planet alignment.
** City of Romance:
*** '''Fantasy''': No main villain, as the arc focuses on finding Carrie's brother.
*** '''Attraction''': Antoine Macaroon, the ringleader of the animal smuggling ring.
*** '''Obsession''': [[spoiler: Melodie Laurence]], the creator of the hearts feature on Luvver which people obsess over and match them with incompatible people.
*** '''Jealously''', '''Separation'', and '''Engagement'': [[spoiler: Eleonora Macaroon]], who turns out to be EvilAllAlong and was working with Samy and Antoine in a scheme to make the latter president of France.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Seasons in the game]]

* ''City of Romance'' (2020): The final season of the game, the player joins the Parisian Police Squad to solve crime around Paris, the titular city of romance. The region features six districts based around romantic themes - Fantasy, Attraction, Obsession, Jealousy, Separation, and Engagement.
[[/folder]]

!!Tropes:

[[folder:In General]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Supernatural Investigations'' arc]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''City of Romance'' arc]]
* AbortedArc: Lea Bonnet, the beat cop, was likely intended to have some sort of storyline arc, given that she's an {{Expy}} of Season 5's beat cop Mia Loukas. Unfortunately, due to the season being cut short, she is simply a minor character.
* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: Hugo and many of the PPD members are quite happy to learn [[spoiler:that their enemy, Antoine Macaron]] is dead, but that doesn't relinquish them of their duties to investigate the murder and arrest the perpetrator.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: Eleonora Macaron is revealed to be this in the final case after she is found to be the killer. It turns out her friendliness towards the player and PPS, and her romance with Cody, were all a facade from the beginning as she was completely loyal to her father and masterminded a plot to undermine the French President so Antoine could easily take the presidency. She hired Samy to help defame the president, and later killed him after he decided to run for president himself after Antoine's death. After her arrest, Carrie cannot express enough her gratitude that Cody didn't end up marrying her.]]
* TheBusCameBack: Several characters from The Conspiracy have made surprise returns.
** Martine Meunier makes a return in Case 2 as a suspect.
** Several other suspects from Season 5, including Harper Stone and Tamu Wanjiku, and Charity and Mercy from Season 7 return as suspects in cases.
** Jackson Peacock from the first case of The Conspiracy came back as a victim in case 7.
** Willem Nieuwoudt makes a return as a Quasi-suepect in Case 9, even bringing a call back of the events in Season 3.
** David Jones makes a return in case 13 as a suspect.
** Jean Connerie from Season 3 reappears in flashback footage in case 15.
** In the finale, Amy, Jack, Amir, Jasper, Gwen and Pierce all make a return to thank you for all the memories they shared with you.
* ContinuityNod:
** Charity and Mercy state that their new job beats living in the asylum from Case 9 in ''Supernatural Investigations''.
** Jones references the plot of ''The Conspiracy'' by mentioning the demon fish and Ad Astra, as well as his late girlfriend Zoe. He also maintains the eye patch he gained in the final case.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Howard Stacy fits this role as he undergoes some pretty shady dealings in order to keep his company alive. He even resorts to murder in order to protect his company which becomes his undoing.
* DatingServiceDisaster: Luvver, a FictionalCounterpart to Tinder starts off having an extremely addictive hearts feature. It turns out that Luvver's sociologist had not only designed the feature, but had also rigged the algorithms to set attractive people up for failure out of spite. And right after the team convince the founder to remove the hearts feature, they discover that Luvver has hacked phones and established fake profiles of various people.
* DepravedBisexual: Melodie Laurence has always been unable to get a successful date with any man or woman she meets. As a result, she forms a disdain towards attractive people, causing a serious SanitySlippage and desire to make their lives as miserable as possible by generating a dating app that matches people with someone incompatible with them.]
* FinaleSeason: Of the game.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Noemie Leprince is full of genuine regret when she learns that she murdered Celeste, only thinking the pill ahe slipped would make her sick. Despite her not guilty pleas that it was Antonie who blackmailed her into doing it, it doesn't aave her from going to jail and her career ending anyway.
* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: In the beginning chapter 2, Carrie talks about her failed attempt at speaking French. Her "Merci beaucoup" ended up coming out as [[ThatCameOutWrong "Mur-see boe-koo" which means "nice butt"]].
* PetHeir: Famous fashion designer Charles Pilsnerfeld loves his cat Chouquette so much that he intends to leave his entire company to his cat. [[spoiler:This led to him being murdered by his long-time business collaborator, who wanted to inherit the company. Although, unfortunately for Simone, Charles has already revised his will to leave his fortune to his cat before she completed the deed.]]
* PopGoesTheHuman: Céleste Alouest's murder involves her stomach exploding, much to everyone's horror.
* OutrankingYourJob: For some reason, the PPD's High Commissioner also serves as a Profiler (typically a distinct role in the previous teams), while the Chief of Police (who is the High Commissioner's son) can also perform analyses on clues found in the crime scenes. Both have been directly involved in field investigations on certain occasions, which is certainly beneath their pay grade. Lampshaded by one of the suspects.
--> '''Antoine Macaron:''' ''"Is that really you, Chief Delacroix? I thought you were too high and mighty these days to be treading the streets like a beat cop!"''
* TrueCompanions: Everyone in the Parisian Police Squad are all really close and supportive of each other through the season and constantly refer to each other as a family. They even welcome Carrie and the player to their family after they join and successfully solve their first case. They are also welcomining of David Jones when he makes his first appearance in the season.
* WrapItUp: Due to the financial troubles Pretty Simple face during the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, the developers decide to end the series, and the planned 30 cases of the 8th (and now final) season is cut down to just 17, with the last four districts of the city only given 1-2 cases instead of the usual 5.
[[/folder]]

* ''Supernatural Investigations'' (2019): Returning to the present day, the player joins the Supernatural Hunters, a team dedicated to solving crimes regarding the supernatural. The season takes place across the United States and features six regions - The West, the Southwest, the Rockies, the Midwest, the East, and the South.

[[folder:''Travel in Time'' arc]]

[[folder:''Supernatural Investigations'' arc]]
* AccidentalMurder:
** In Case 1, [[spoiler:DJ Blood's killing of Lucy Winters turns out to be completely accidental - He intended to convert her so she should stop stalking him, but ended up drinking too much of her blood.]]
** Case 18's murder [[spoiler:was the result of an altercation between the victim and the killer, after the killer refused the victim's suicide ritual.]]
* TheAggressiveDrugDealer: Inverted with Martin Fuller, a drug dealer encountered twice in the Midwest. He's willing to co-operate with the team, and actually helps them during their investigation into the disappearance of various children in that arc.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Eric Zwart receives this treatment from Dr. Aculus due to only being 98 years old, when the rest of his convent is at least more than twice his age. [[spoiler:It's what compells him to seek invincibility and murder Aculus.]]
* AnyoneCanDie: Much like ''The Conspiracy'' before it, the season doesn't shy away from killing off established characters early on.
** Dr. Aculus, the vampire convent leader and seemingly plot-relevant character, gets killed off as early as the fifth case.
** Marigold Carson, a suspect in Case 2, returns six cases later as the victim of Case 8.
** Case 22 and 23 have two in a row - Ronnie Hawk, who hadn't appeared after Case 10, and [[spoiler:Agnes Leek]], a plot-relevant character in the previous arc indirectly responsible for [[spoiler:Zeke Davis' summoning]].
** Taken UpToEleven with the South arc, where recurring characters such as [[spoiler:Bucky Johnson, Dolores Harper, and Roxanne Vega]] meet their end.
** The last case of the season [[spoiler:kills off both of the season's recurring regulars, Arthur Darkwood and George Mathison.]]
* ArcNumber: The number 25 pops up quite often in the conflicts the team gets mixed into this season.
* BedlamHouse: The setting of Case 9 is a run-down asylum [[MadDoctor whose resident doctor subjected many of her patients to cruel, often fatal experimentation]]. [[spoiler:One of her experiments, an artificial human created from patients who died under her care, ends up realizing her insanity and ends up killing her]].
* CreepyDoll: Case 8 has the Island of the Dolls visited as a crime scene. [[spoiler:In fact, the killer of the case actually turns out to be this.]]
* CuteWitch: Belinda and Avery Mitchell fit this trope well.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Fitting for a season about hunting the supernatural, ''Supernatural Invesigations'' is this compared to the LighterAndSofter tone of ''Travel In Time'', with killers ranging from rogue vampires to even demons. In addition, [[AnyoneCanDie recurring characters are also killed off]] throughout, with a seemingly plot-important character being killed off in the fifth case of the season.
* DemonicPossession: The Southwest arc revolves around a spirit who possesses various people, all of whom work in natural resources, and then driving them to murder. [[spoiler:The spirit turns out to be a woman called Abigail Riley, who was sacrificed by her friends as part of a demon's offer]].
* FiveSecondForeshadowing: In Case 30, [[spoiler:Maetheron]]'s height and weight are the same as [[spoiler:George Mathison]], right before [[spoiler:he reveals he's the same person]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** Felix's comments about artifacts, such as one in the Louvre, being stolen earlier in the season? [[spoiler:Turns out that they're actually the keys being sought out by the demon queen's supporters to free her.]]
** Hope wondering who her parents are, and the fact that not even Santa Claus knows. [[spoiler:Hope didn't have biological parents; she had been created by her guardian, the demon Rathimael.]]
** The death of Lily Arrow 25 years prior to the series. That happened at around the same time as [[spoiler:the Demon Queen and her supporters being defeated, and Rathimael sealing the Queen away. As it turns out, the Queen is none other than Lily herself.]]
* ForWantOfANail: Had Lucy Winters not been killed accidentally, [[spoiler:Eric Zwart]] wouldn't have gone crazy, and the plotline of the West would likely not have happened.
* GreatOffscreenWar: Critical to the MythArc of this season [[spoiler:is a civil war that occurred in hell, in which the Demon Queen was usurped by rebels and getting imprisoned. The queen's supporters have resurfaced, going after artifacts that act as the keys to her seal.]]
* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
** [[spoiler:Almost everyone involved in the ritual that cost Abigail Riley's life ends up being possessed by her and then thrown in jail for murder. The sole exception is R.J. Fielding, who is instead lured to his death by Riley's lover.]]
** In Case 16, [[spoiler:Dan Kelly ends up killed by the golem he created to replace the wife he murdered.]]
** [[spoiler: Morgana Blackhawk's plan to kidnap kids to eat them on Walpurgis Night is what causes her to lose her powers after said kids are able to break free thanks to Felix]].
* HumansAreBastards: While supernatural creatures are considered dangerous, throughout the season the team encounters situations where normal humans are depraved and malicious enough to do just as much, if not more damage than the creatures and spirits do. Many of the supernatural beings lampshade this, as not many Hunters are pacifists like the main team and just kill any supernatural creature, good or bad, which taints their view on humanity.
* InterfaceSpoiler: Hope's suspect bio lists her as 25 years old. [[spoiler:This gives away the fact that she's linked with Bob Nelson during the fifth district.]]
* ItWasWithYouAllAlong: The Hunters comb the East coast [[spoiler:trying to trace Rathimael's past to find the final key he made to the demon queen's prison. While Rathimael was a long-PosthumousCharacter, it was revealed in that district's finale that the final key is the Hunters' tech expert, Hope Newman.]]
* MurderTheHypotenuse: [[spoiler:Case 21's killer, Muriel Cove, had a crush on sorority president Vanessa Sadler and decided to murder her boyfriend, Eric Prynce after the Kraken had turned her into a human.]]
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: Demons play a large part in the plotline. They are summoned from the Netherworld, which has been torn by a civil war and lack of resources, disguise as humans, and owe their powers from their imprisoned queen. In addition, [[spoiler:demons slide between DarkIsNotEvil, as shown by [[BigGood Arthur Darkwood]] and DarkIsEvil, such as [[BitchInSheepsClothing Zeke Davis]].]]
* ProductPlacement: One of the clues in Case 27 is that the killer plays a game called Criminal Chase. Apparently the murders in said game are even more gruesome than the ones the hunters deal with.
* SlidingScaleOfVampireFriendliness: For the most part, most of the vampires encountered are rather affable, such as both Dr. Aculus and Pierce Cromwell, [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys the latter even briefly dating Gwen]]. Even [[{{Manchild}} Bathsheba]] is relatively peaceful despite her deranged mindset. Meanwhile, [[spoiler:Eric Zwart]] turns out to be the ArcVillain of the West, but his actions were more or less driven by [[spoiler:being rejected by Aculus]].
* StepfordSmiler: The victim of Case 16, Dan Kelly, but more so his wife Alice. [[spoiler:Invoked, because it turns out that Alice is actually a replicated golem created after she was killed for not being submissive enough for him.]]
* SurpriseSantaEncounter: Case 11 reveals that Santa is in fact real, and is well aware of the Supernatural Hunters and what they do.
* VanHelsingHateCrimes: While the Supernatural Hunters are a pacifistic team, its made clear throughout the season that several other hunters think nothing of the supernatural creates they hunt.
** In particular, Ruth Wu is willing to go as far as threatening Priya's life for simply being a werewolf, [[spoiler:and gets murdered later for having killed an innocent cub]].
** Gwen's mother, Dolores, disowns her for not sharing her extremist views, while also attempting to indoctrinate her other children, [[spoiler:[[HeWhoFightsMonsters despite the fact that she is really a witch]].]]
* WhamEpisode:
** Case 23: [[spoiler:after finding the ring of Rathimael, Hope is weirdly interested in it and tries to steal it from the team. When Jacob and the player confront her, she gives the ring back and angrily quits the team, a sudden turn for a case that isn't even a district finale.]]
** Case 25: [[spoiler:The demons trying to free their queen seems to be a ForegoneConclusion, but the real wham? The final key the Hunters have been looking for this whole time...is Hope Newman. And that's not even getting to the identity of the queen herself...]]
** Case 27: [[spoiler: It is revealed that Falcon had been in cahoots with Rathimael to seal the Demon Queen away, and the two had masterminded Lily's murder. As it turns out, Lily was actually a fairy, and the only being who could be an appropriate vessel for the queen. After learning this, Chief Arrow suddenly drives off, leaving the team to chase him down before he does anything reckless.]]
* WhamShot: The ending scene of Case 25: The demon queen reveals herself, [[spoiler:and it's Lily Arrow, Chief Jacob's thought-deceased wife.]]
* WickedWitch: Despite being rather attractive, Morgana Blackhawk counts. [[spoiler:She's completely willing to [[ImAHumanitarian kidnap and eat children]], [[DealWithTheDevil collaborate with demons]], or [[CainAndAbel have her sister eliminated]] for the sake of consolidating her own power.]] Her profile description in Case 28 is this.
[[/folder]]

* ''Travel in Time'' (2019): The player is taken to the year 2029 by a future version of Jack Archer, where they join the Temporal Crimes Division, who protect history from disturbances caused by time travel before getting stuck through different time periods. The season features seven time periods - Ancient Times (set from 47 BCE to 37 BCE), The 1960s, the Renaissance, the Altered Present, the Age of Sail, Medieval Asia, and The End.

[[folder:''The Conspiracy'' arc]]

[[folder:''Travel in Time'' arc]]

** One of the clues in Case 6, found under a pile of flowers dedicated to the victim, is a paragraph from a book where the protagonist comes to terms with committing this, which is written by the killer. [[spoiler:This later turns out to be true; the killer, a local military general accidentally killed the victim after trying to protect them in what was a PTSD-induced episode.]]
** While Case 21's killer attempted to remove evidence of murder, they [[spoiler:were simply trying to give the victim a shave, but due to the boat rattling and the victim being inebriated, the victim's neck accidentally hit off the blade and killed him.]]
** In Case 24, the victim had been hit over the head with a bottle, [[spoiler:though it turns out that the killer had only done so to try and scare him away, and had no idea it would kill him.]]
* AllForNothing: [[spoiler:Case 30 reveals that, despite all the trouble the Temporal Crimes Division went through to try fix the timeline, both their and the Ptolemy Dynasty's mere presence in the past would irreversibly destroy the timeline. Even their last hope of going back to 47 [=BCE=] to arrest Nefertiti and Ammon, the last point where history was intact, could have created another paradox if they came into contact with themselves when they were investigating Julius Caesar's murder.]]
* AnachronismStew:
** Kushari appears as a profile clue in the first case in Ancient Egypt and has a minor appearance during the Age of Sail, even though Kushari wasn't invented until the 19th Century.
** In Case 4, one of the clues is that the killer eats tzatziki, a yogurt sauce of Ottoman origin dating from the 14th century, even though the case takes place during Ancient Greece.
** Nebet has a golden streak in her hair. While hair dye did exist in Ancient Egypt, it was extremely primitive and usually only came out in black. [[spoiler:Although considering Nebet is really a princess from an altered version of 2029, it may have been intentional.]]
* BadPresent: The fourth district of the season takes place in the Altered Present, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin 2029 but heavily changed as]] [[ForWantOfANail the result of numerous alterations in history starting with Caesar's premature murder]]. In this case, [[spoiler:[[EgyptIsStillAncient Ancient Egypt]] has conquered the city of New York, which has become a {{Dystopia}} ruled by the Ptolemy Dynasty, a family descended from Cleopatra and Mark Antony. In addition, time travel is hidden from the government and the Temporal Crimes Divisions are wanted criminals.]]
* BaitAndSwitchAccusation: In Case 29, Jack is swift to arrest Buyantu, a Mongolian monk in Japan, for being the shogun's killer after finding an assassination order on a prayer wheel. [[spoiler:It turns out that it's actually Oume, the teahouse owner, who had attempted to assassinate the shogun, although her plan failed in the end.]]
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Right as Ammon is about to kill Amy and the player while stranded on an island, UsefulNotes/MaryRead steps in and evacuates the team.]]
* TheBusCameBack: Amy Young and Jack Archer return as the team co-ordinator and partner, respectively, and Marina Romanova reappears, reprising her role as TheProfiler.
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Much like ''Mysteries Of The Past'', several examples of this are seen within the season.
** Homosexuality is seen as an undesirable trait.
*** In Ancient Rome, [[AdaptationalSexuality Brutus]] was on the risk of being outed by a political opponent.
*** The first victim in the 1960s is a gay man who faced disownment from his father, while the second victim of the 1960s got into a physical alteration with a bartender who suspected him of being gay.
*** In Case 14, the killer, [[spoiler:Serap]], is in a secret affair with Roxalena, and her motive for murder was to protect her.
*** In Case 24, [[spoiler:Jorge de la Cruz]] had developed romantic feelings for the victim which were reciprocated, but homosexuality was heavily disapproved of during the Age of Sail. [[spoiler:When the victim tried to start a relationship with Jorge, the latter is frightened and tries hitting him with a bottle to scare him off, but ends up killing him by accident.]]
** As TheSixties arc revolves around the RedScare, anti-Soviet sentiment also pops up. In Case 8, [[DisproportionateRetribution a suspect accused the victim of being a communist for simply drinking vodka]], and in the final case, [[spoiler:a Soviet ambassador is killed by a senator in the hopes of provoking war with the Soviet Union.]]
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: In [[spoiler:the final case of the Altered Present]], a hologram shows [[spoiler: Ramses XLIII]] sweet-talking [[TheMole Ravi]], who claims he'd do anything to prove his loyalty to him. Later on, [[spoiler:Shabaka claims that Ramses would send her and Nefertiti out to do errands so he could have flings with the slaves.]] One has to wonder [[spoiler:[[SleepingWithTheBoss how Ravi got Ramses off his back]].]]
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:In the season finale, after being stranded in time for several months and having to deal with being fugitives, being stuck in a wrong present, preventing at least 3 destructive wars from happening, and being betrayed by a FalseFriend, all the original members of the team manage to survive and return to New York in 2029, where Chief Scott is alive, the timeline is intact as if nothing happened, and the team celebrates with a BBQ.]]
* EgyptIsStillAncient: [[spoiler:New Cairo and the Altered Present take heavy influence from Ancient Egypt. Justified in the sense that New Cairo is the result of several alterations to history that gave Egypt an upper-hand, even in scenarios where they were the under-dog..]]
* FireForgedFriends: The main team becomes this as the season progresses. They weren't particularly close in the beginning, and had even started getting sick of each other in Case 12 after being stranded for so long. However, the hardships they go through for the rest of the season [[spoiler:like Nebet's betrayal, being stuck and constantly hunted down in the Altered Present, getting lost at sea and having to prevent an all-out war between two nations]] brings them much closer than they could've imagined.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: The chapter art of the Renaissance is a parody of "The Last Supper", with [[spoiler:Nebet]] being depicted as Judas. Guess who turns out to be [[spoiler:this season's traitor]].
* ForWantOfANail: The Temporal Crimes Division's main role is to prevent these from happening, as time travel is a fairly recent invention in-canon and also attracts rogue time travelers. The plotline is actually kicked off by Julius Caesar being murdered by a rogue time traveler, which, [[spoiler:alongside various other anomalies in time, leads to the present becoming an Egyptian {{Dystopia}}.]]
* TheFuture: The arc is set in 2029, a decade after the events of ''The Conspiracy''.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter:
** Case 1 revolves around the murder of UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar three years before his actual death, with UsefulNotes/MarcusJuniusBrutus and UsefulNotes/CleopatraVII appear as suspects. During the Ancient Times arc, Mark Antony and UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} also appear, with Antony ultimately being a victim.
** Case 11 features UsefulNotes/CatherineOfAragon as the victim with both UsefulNotes/HenryVIII and UsefulNotes/AnneBoleyn appearing as suspects.
** Creator/LeonardoDaVinci plays a large role in the Renaissance arc, assisting the team in fixing the ship.
** Age of Sail has Captain Schadrach and Mary Read as major characters who help the team, while UsefulNotes/{{Blackbeard}} appears as a case victim.
** Medieval Asia has Ogodei Khan (Genghis Khan's son) be sought after by both the team and Ammon Bast, while they also encounter general Subutai and his wives.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: UsefulNotes/MarcusJuniusBrutus is the son of UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar and was only angered by the fact the latter had disowned him. Justified since the game starts off with Caesar being murdered by a T.I.M.E. agent three years before his actual death, so Brutus never conspired to murder him.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade:
** UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} is not only a ManipulativeBastard and [[SmugSnake egotistical]], but actually attempts to destroy Egypt rather than conquering it after Caesar's death. Luckily Jack and the player manage to trick him into giving up.
** Cisneros [[spoiler:has UsefulNotes/LeonardoDaVinci arrested in Case 12 and turns out to be the killer of UsefulNotes/HenryVIII's wife, Lady Fiore, in Case 15]], which is justified in the sense that [[spoiler:both of these events, particularly Henry's marriage, were the results of alterations in time]].
* LaResistance: The team allies with one in the Altered Present after [[spoiler:solving Chief Scott's murder]]. Among their notable members are IronLady Isabelle Huxley, [[TheMole palace porter]] Ravi Jabari, and historian Sirius Atwood, who turns out to be [[spoiler:[[TheLostLenore Orlando's deceased husband from the original timeline]].]]
* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: The previous 5 seasons have always lasted between 56 to 60 cases. Travel in Time, and now Supernatural Investigations, only lasts for 30.[[note]][[spoiler: actually 31 in Travel in Time's case]].[[/note]]
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Case 12's victim, a Spanish Inquisition executioner, was brutally tortured and killed [[spoiler:after his maiden found out he had executed her father for rejecting him]]. Rather than hand them over to the Inquisition, Jack convinces the cardinal to simply excommunicate and banish the killer.
* RunningGag:
** Jack's fear of aging is the butt of several jokes from Theo.
** Janis using the morgue's crematorium to bake cookies and offering them to the player and their partner.
** [[{{Cockfight}} Both Kai and Theo pine for the attention of Zara]]. This results in several ShipTease moments such as Zara kissing Kai after he recovers from sickness, and then a potential threesome between all three. The conflict ends with them forming a three way relationship.
* SickEpisode:
** Case 4 revolves around Kai falling sick with only an Ancient Greek doctor knowing how to solve his illness. Unfortunately, said doctor is accused of murder during the case, halting Kai from being cured until the actual killer is found.
** Case 24 kicks off with [[BodyHorror Zara's skin becoming blue and scaly]] after finding Blackbeard's treasure, resulting in the team having to seek the help of a witch doctor.
* WhamEpisode: Case 17 of ''Travel in Time'', where it's revealed that [[spoiler:Nebet had never been Cleopatra's slave, but a princess of the Ptolemy dynasty in the Altered timeline, and she had been working against the team this whole time. This case also has Orlando's husband (who had died in the original timeline) make a surprise appearance after being casually mentioned in a few past cases.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Supernatural Investigations'' arc]]
* AccidentalMurder:

* ''Mysteries of the Past'' (2016):
* ''The Conspiracy'' (2018): The player character returns to Grimsborough and its police department and reunites with Jones and meets other friends old and new. The story details the mystery surrounding a meteorite crash that took place a year before the story, and Dreamlife, a shady technology company established after the crash. The restructured Grimsborough features ten districts - Fairview, Money Mile (Financial Center), The Greens (Industrial Area), Old Town (Historical Center), Maple Heights, Misty Grove, the University district, Spring Fields, the Airport district, and Newmark.

* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:''The Conspiracy'' does not shy away from killing established characters early on in the season, and even characters who return from previous seasons or recently introduced characters can become victims. For example, Nathan Pandit, Martha Price and Tony Marconi, all of whom are major characters from Season 1, end up becoming victims as early as the first case of the game.]] The biggest example is [[spoiler:lab chief Rupert Winchester's death in Case 32, which comes during ''the second case in the district''.]]
** Taken UpToEleven [[spoiler:in the last two cases of the season, where aside from the murder victims, many characters get killed off at certain points of the story without warning. The last three Ad Astrans, Martin Davenport, Otto Kessel and even weapons expert Rita are all victims of this.]]
* BackForTheDead:
** [[spoiler:Nathan Pandit, GPD's ex-coroner, is the victim in the very first case, before he can even have a reunion with the player and Jones.]]
** [[spoiler:Edward Ramis]] is the victim in Case 6 and has no appearances in Season 5 before his death
** [[spoiler:Ash Bison, who was introduced in the first case of Season 1]], is also killed, in Case 14.
** [[spoiler:Martha Price, the mayoral candidate from Season 1's Maple Heights, appears as a suspect in one case and is then the victim of Case 30.]]
** [[spoiler:Tony Marconi ends up being murdered in Case 36.]]
** [[spoiler:Zoe Kusama is killed in Case 52, 18 cases after she was last seen.]]
* BigBlackout: Case 50 involves one caused by an EMP, [[spoiler:done under Ad Astra orders.]] In addition, the murder takes place around a power plant and the victim is a power plant manager.
* TheBusCameBack: The Grimsborough police team (sans Grace) and many of the recurring characters from Season 1.
* CurseCutShort: Gloria cuts off Jones when she learns [[spoiler:Marconi has been released for good behavior.]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: The plot of ''The Conspiracy'' is this to the previous four seasons, with a villainous organization whose deeds could give The Crimson Order and SOMBRA a run for their money. [[spoiler:And unlike the previous four seasons, absolutely ''no'' character is safe, as anyone can become a murder victim and[=/=]or villain -including returning characters from other seasons, recently introduced characters and even a main character ''halfway through the season.'']] The story also keeps reminding the player just how much of a crapsack world the characters are surrounded by, with themes such as mental illness, [[spoiler:human experimentation]], mind control and loss of loved ones being far more prominent than they were in previous seasons.
* {{Deconstruction}}: In Case 34, the police force's usual BlackAndWhiteMorality view on murder is challenged when [[spoiler:Zoe Kusama, Jones's kind and mellow girlfriend, is arrested for the murder of Dr. Ernesto Vega. Up to this point, the main characters believed that nothing justifies murder and that it is a crime that can't ever be forgiven no matter what the circumstances. However, when Zoe is convicted, a shocked Jones asked her why she would commit murder, and she tells of how she was experimented on for a year by the victim and it was her built-up rage that caused her to lash out and kill him by accident. Jones is taken aback by this, and though Zoe is arrested and put into custody, he can't bring himself to give his usual "nothing justifies murder" speech and is willing to forgive her, understanding that the circumstances of the crime make her a SympatheticMurderer.]]
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:Rita, the team's military-trained weapons expert, takes the overpowered, lethal Berzelium serum and manages to destroy most of Otto Kessel's neohuman army before her powers cause her to explode, taking all of the neohumans with her.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** Zoe's plot arc revolving her amnesia (in particular, remembering who Marconi was) [[spoiler:is later revealed to be the result of Dreamlife kidnapping and experimenting on her.]]
** In addition, Marconi's involvement protecting the dome. [[spoiler:He's later killed during the final case around the dome.]]
** During Spring Fields, rookie cop Mia asks various times if she can borrow your car. [[spoiler:In the end of the district, she's later [[ExternalCombustion blown up in your own car]].]]
** Louis Leroux, a recurring character, is quite involved in the main plot of the story-mostly pertaining to the truth about the meteorite and being Zoe Kusama's friend. [[spoiler:However, Jones and the rest of the Grimsborough PD always detect something fishy with him. Not only is he a member of Ad Astra and Rozetta's ally, but he had been keeping tabs on Zoe after she was experimented on.]]
* HeIsAllGrownUp: [[spoiler:Julian Ramis]], a 12-year-old boy from Season 1's Case 18, returns in Case 5 as an 18-year-old.
* IKnowYouKnowIKnow: This is part of [[spoiler:Rupert Winchester's plan to disguise as Mortimer Pickering result in his]] death in Case 32; [[spoiler:The killer, Dr. Kelly, had dated the real Pickering in Oxford, and was shocked that "Pickering" didn't know who she was. When he kept cancelling therapy sessions from her, she put two and two together and realized that it was Rupert playing a prank.]]
* MundaneSolution: A recurring criminal gains the power to produce toxic case gas from her fingers that can knock people out in an instant. How do the police contain her? With standard gas masks. She even complains how she got superpowers that are so easily countered when she's arrested.
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: Meera Kat, an important character in the Money Mile district. She sees nothing wrong with exploiting natural disaster and death for art, and shows no remorse for any suffering she causes in the process. She freaks out the Grimsborough PD with her excitement over such events, and [[TheProfiler Gabriel]] becomes convinced that she's a danger to society because of it. [[spoiler:She's killed by psychopath Christian Bateman when he lowers the cage she's in into a pool of lava, so she's also an AssholeVictim as her suffering actually thrills him, so it's LaserGuidedKarma as well.]]
** Christian Bateman, especially after [[spoiler:his release from prison.]] Although he appears to be a relatively normal and affable businessman, he revels in the pain he can cause others and even himself, to the point where his "release" is eating extra hot food and having fantasies about torturing women. What makes this creepy is the way he carries himself-he not only speaks about this as if it's completely normal, but is fully convinced that he's the most sane person in Grimsborough. [[spoiler:When he moves back in with his mother, he becomes a full-blown ManChild who still refers to her as "Mommy", but still has fantasies of pain and torture, this time approaching them with childish glee.]]
* WhamEpisode: ''The Conspiracy'' could give ''World Edition'' a run for its money with how many it has:
** Case 1: When the player comes back to Grimsborough, [[spoiler:the first murder they have to solve there is ''Nathan's'', on the day they were supposed to reunite with him no less.]] The episode also reveals that a satellite fell to Grimsborough a year before the events of ''The Conspiracy'', with some heavily guarded secrets behind it.
** Case 5: [[spoiler:Julian Ramis]] returns, making him the second character from past seasons to reappear and beginning a trend of bringing back old suspects that will last throughout this season.
** Case 6: [[spoiler:Edward Ramis, another returning character is killed, the first signal that no one is safe during the events of ''The Conspiracy'', even characters from previous seasons]]. Also, an earthquake hits Grimsborough, which causes massive damage througout the city and unearths an ancient civilization that will play an important role in later districts.
** Case 12: [[spoiler:Zoe Kusama, revealed to be Jones's girlfriend in an earlier case, is found with amnesia, with Tony Marconi being the only person she can recognize. Marconi is revealed to be running a business in The Greens, which prompts the team to investigate further into the titular conspiracy.]]
** Case 15: Tony Marconi's business was revealed to be hired by a company called DreamLife, which is guarding the satellite that fell to Grimsborough a year ago. He mentions to the team that DreamLife is up to no good, and the team often find themselves crossing paths with the company many times in the future.
** Case 19: A cult called The Higher Truth is discovered, whom believe the satellite to be their savior that fell from the sky. It's being lead by [[spoiler:Steven Crowe, yet another returning character]].
** Case 25: After disbanding The Higher Truth, the team goes to Maple Heights to tighten security measures, only to find the area deeply flooded. In the midst of the floods, the team finds some strange "Demon Fish", which came from the lost city of Xerda and were feared by the locals there.
** Case 26: The Demon Fish are revealed to be highly venomous, and start causing severe and even fatal bites to whomever they come into contact with. It's also revealed that someone released them on purpose, having blown up a Xerdan cave to allow them to escape into the flood waters.
** Case 28: Midway through the case, [[spoiler:Martine is bitten by a Demon Fish and is nearly killed, forcing Rupert to work quickly to find a cure for the venom.]]
** Case 30: [[spoiler:The mayor, Martha Price, is assassinated, which puts Grimsborough in chaos when the news breaks out.]] After the killer is caught, Rupert switches places with fellow scientist Mortimer Pickering in order to spy on DreamLife, which leads the team into their next district, Misty Grove.
** Case 32: [[spoiler:Rupert's cover is blown and he is murdered, with Jasper being a suspect in the investigation. This establishes just how ruthless Dreamlife is under the dome, and that from now on no character is safe. However, Rupert manages to acquire an access card that allows the Grimsborough PD to infiltrate the dome.]]
** Case 33: [[spoiler:Barb Bellamy is murdered, and Dreamlife CEO Rozetta Pierre loses all affability as she attempts to pin the murder on Jones throughout the case. Later on, Amir is promoted to lab chief and Mortimer Pickering begins to help analyze clues in the lab, as he vowed to help take Dreamlife down after they killed Rupert.]]
** Case 34: [[spoiler:Dr. Ernesto Vega]] is killed, and the killer [[spoiler:is Zoe Kusama, who remembers everything about the experiments performed on her by Dr. Vega-including the fact that everyone who went under the dome was killed by the experiments. The team then launch an investigation on what Dreamlife is researching, revealing that they intend to create a drug called Protozane and release it to the public.]]
** Case 35: The murder of this case [[spoiler:turned out to be the result of Dreamlife scientists sedating the killer with Protozane, the drug found in the previous case. Besides turning patients into submissive subjects, Protozane was proven to have killed the people being experimented on under the dome and caused Zoe's amnesia. Also, it turns out Dreamlife's experiments on the meteorite had caused the earthquake in Money Mile and the floods in Maple Heights, finally giving Judge Powell the evidence she needs to warrant the shutdown of Dreamlife.]]
** Case 36: [[spoiler:Tony Marconi, who had been important since the beginning of Grimsborough]] is killed, and the team learns more about him than they knew when he was alive. On top of that, [[spoiler:our oldest partner, Jones]] is a suspect in this case, and the events of Misty Grove drive him to [[spoiler:nearly leave the Grimsborough PD.]] Rozetta and her team are safely behind bars, but it's still unclear what drove her to want to suppress the population of Grimsborough in the first place, leading the team to try and uncover her past at the University.
** Case 38: After finding nothing but false information about Rozetta in the previous case, the Grimsborough PD finally gets a break in investigating Rozetta's past when they discover Ad Astra, a secret society she had been a part of during her University years. Although nothing else is revealed, there's a very suspicious aura surrounding the group that prompts the main cast to look into it further.
** Case 39: The team discover that Ad Astra had re-established itself right after the meteorite hit Grimsborough. However, the group's true nature is still kept secretive, with one of its members refusing to comment.
** Case 40: The team discovers a hidden manuscript written by Rozetta while studying philosophy, detailing the motives of the group. [[spoiler:It turns out that her entire motives for founding Dreamlife were a result of her believing in a selective concept similar to illusory superiority.]]
** Case 41: After receiving a tip-off from a prisoner, the team discover that Rozetta had recently met up with a fellow Ad Astra member, [[spoiler:Azeeb Patel]], and [[spoiler:gave him the task to get rid off her old philosophy teacher, Kevin Charles]].
** Case 42: [[spoiler:Kevin Charles is murdered, and in a surprise turn of events, his murder is revealed to have been planned and committed by all five current Ad Astra members.]] The team then discover that [[spoiler:Rozetta's motivations for having Charles murdered was because [[HeKnowsTooMuch he knew the identity of all original Ad Astra members]].]] After the only evidence of [[spoiler:the original Ad Astra members is found destroyed]], the team decide to investigate Spring Fields in search of [[spoiler:Fornax, the only other known member besides Rozetta.]]
** Case 43: [[spoiler:The team discover that Fornax had bribed the killer of the case to burn down the corn fields. After finding the bribe, they discover that Fornax is a member of one of Grimsborough's two food companies, [=GrimFoods=] or [=AgriMeadows=], and decide to investigate the cattle fair to find both.]]
** Case 44: [[spoiler:It is discovered that Fornax may be part of [=AgriMeadow=], headed by Julia Brine. It is also discovered that [=AgriMeadows=] planned the burning of the corn fields as they planned to sell corn seedlings at a lower price, prompting the team to interrogate Brine yet again.]]
** Case 45: [[spoiler:It is revealed that Fornax is actually Julia Brine. Brine had been behind the burning of the crop fields so she could sell Protozane-filled corn seedlings to the farmers, in a much more discreet way to control the population. In addition, the codenames of the other three Ad Astra members are revealed - Perseus, Orion, and Cassiopeia.]]
** Case 46: After solving the murder, the team discovers [[spoiler:the identity of another Ad Astra member. Christian Bateman, who was convicted of murder five districts ago, is Orion and the one providing Julia Brine with the funding she needed to build AgriMeadows. However, when the team goes to the prison to ask him what he knows, it turns out that he was released due to the prison deeming that his mental state made him not responsible for murder.]]
** Case 47: The team finds [[spoiler:Christian]], who refuses to tell them anything about what Ad Astra is planning next. [[spoiler:However, he lets slip that they have a "Plan Supernova" meant to deal a devastating blow to the Grimsborough PD's efforts, and before the team can figure out what this plan is, an explosion takes place right next to the police station and the case just ends there.]]
** Case 48: [[spoiler:The bombing in the previous case turns out to have killed Mia Loukas, the beat cop who's been giving new leads to the player since Maple Heights. It's revealed that Mia wasn't the intended target of the bomb, but the player was-and the hit was ordered by ''Mayor Joe Warren'', who is unmasked as yet another member of Ad Astra. The team plan to intercept Mayor Warren as he returns from a business trip, prompting them to investigate the organization further in the Airport district.]]
** Case 50: After finding nothing that could [[spoiler:take down Mayor Warren]], the team is engulfed in [[BigBlackout a blackout]]. After solving the murder, it's discovered that [[spoiler:Ad Astra was behind it, and that they're venturing into human enhancement.]] They decide to return to the dome to find new leads on Ad Astra and the meteor.
** Case 51: It's discovered that [[spoiler:Ad Astra's human enhancement involves making them [[NighInvulneraility completely invincible]].]] Given that [[spoiler:Zoe Kusama]] may have possibly been tested on, Jones and the player decide to go to the psychiatric hospital to talk to [[spoiler:her]].
** Case 52: [[spoiler:Zoe is found murdered, and shockingly, the killer turns out to be her friend, Louis Leroux.]] Right after the killer is arrested, [[spoiler:Jones tries to commit suicide, and only survives due to the player's quick thinking. The team also learns from Louis that Zoe had suddenly developed telekinesis-a side effect of the Berzelium that had been tested on her, and probably what Ad Astra had wanted to use for Plan Supernova. The team then decides to investigate Louis's workplace to make sure he isn't hiding any more secrets.]]
** Case 53: After solving the murder of [[spoiler:Savannah Blake]], the player discovers the identity of the fifth Ad Astran: [[spoiler:It's Louis Leroux, who not only covered up the truth about the meteorite with his broadcasts, but also conspired to kill Zoe on more than one occasion since she escaped the dome. When questioned about Plan Supernova, he freaks out, telling the player to stay out of it. Before the player can interrogate him again, Cathy informs the team that he had suddenly died.]]
** Case 54: [[spoiler:Louis' death is discovered to have been ordered by the [[TheManBehindTheMan real Ad Astra]] leader, claiming that said leader wanted them death because [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness they had outlived their usefulness]].]] When trying to get more information, [[spoiler:Rozetta and Julia escape with the use of superpowers gained by Berzelium, and kidnap Jake and Carter Hayes to convince them that the Ad Astran leader is their real enemy. The team them go to Newmark to search for Jake and Carter.]]
** Case 55: [[spoiler:Jake is found dead in a construction site, while Carter and the Ad Astra members are missing. After the team arrest the two accomplices to the kidnapping, they find out that not only is the leader of Ad Astra [[EvilMatriarch Rozetta's mother]], but that [=S.A.R.A.=] chief Denise Daniels is looking for them, as well.]]
** Case 56: After wrapping up a murder in [=S.A.R.A.=]'s HQ, it's discovered that [[spoiler:not only is Denise Daniels the real mastermind behind Ad Astra, but also [[[EvilMatriarch Rozetta's estranged mother]], but before anything else can be found out, Denise runs away, leaving nothing behind.]] The team then find out that [[spoiler:Christian is planning to get the Ad Astrans out of Grimsborough by air]], leading to their next port of call.
** Case 57: [[spoiler:Christian is found dead, with Julia and Joe being brought back into custody and Rozetta still in hiding. However, it's later revealed that Christian's death was actually a MercyKill done by Joe, as Christian had been driven crazy and ill by the Berzelium superpowers. After sentencing Christian, Rozetta reveals that Louis had discovered a secret lab owned by Denise that not even the Ad Astrans could justify.]]
** Case 58: The team discover [[spoiler:the laboratory, only to discover that Denise, alongside the case's victim, had been creating a completely invincible and extremely resilient species of humans within the lab. However, the real kicker is that not only was Denise behind the activity behind [=DreamLife=], but that she intends to destroy Grimsborough with a repeat of the same earthquake from earlier in the plotline to create a new world order. The team then rush back to the [=S.A.R.A.=] headquarters to stop the catastrophe.]]
** Case 59: The team find [[spoiler:Jon Benson]] killed by [[spoiler:Martin Davenport, S.A.R.A.'s lawyer, who had taken a piece of the meteorite's core for Denise to start the earthquake with. Although the team manage to stop the earthquake, they don't stop Denise from killing Martin and unleashing her neohumans on Grimsborough. With the city on the brink of destruction, Joe Warren and Julia Brine volunteer to defend the city against Denise's army, and Rozetta joins them after the team finally finds her. As they go into battle however, the Ad Astrans realize too late that the neohumans are immune to their powers, and Denise shoots and kills Rozetta before Julia and Joe are caught in an explosion, and the case ends on a cliffhanger.]]
** Case 60: [[spoiler:Julia is revealed to have died from the explosion, and shortly after, the team finds Denise's severed head in front of city hall. The team has to solve the case as the neohumans run amok around the city, controlled by Denise's killer, and Jones is nearly killed by a blast near the destroyed dome. The killer is found to be Otto Kessel-who reveals himself to be one of Denise's neohumans, disguised as her assistant, who killed her after he could no longer take her abuse. He runs off to lead the army under his control, and Amir ends up creating a superhuman serum that could stop him, but kill whoever takes it. Joe Warren, who had been badly injured by the prior explosion and his powers, dies before he can take the new serum, forcing Rita to do so and sacrifice herself to save Grimsborough. Five months afterwards, while the team still mourns Rita's death, they celebrate Jasper and Amir's wedding...where Jack archer from 10 years in the future picks up the player, saying that his team needs their help.]]

* ''Mysteries of the Past'' (2016): Following SOMBRA's defeat, Armand Dupont gives his Bureau colleagues [[NestedStory the journal of his grandfather Charles]], detailing the adventures he had in the city of Concordia, as a member of the Flying Squad, with a detective that looks just like the player. The Flying Squad deal with the rise of gang warfare and the corruption plaguing the police force. The story takes place in the 19th Century around ten districts - New Haven, Elysium Hills, Century Mile, Sinner's End, Coyote Gorge, Crimson Banks, Wolf Street, Grim Chapel, Ivory Hill, and Capitol Peak.

[[folder:''World Edition'' arc]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Mysteries of the Past'' arc]]
* AdvertisedExtra: One wonders why Lady Highmore is on the preview images for the arc, as she appears as a suspect in two cases in Elysium Fields and made minor appearances afterwards. This is especially unusual since she's occupying the place usually taken by the chief of police of the season.
* AliceAllusion: One of the suspects in Case 45 is Alice Riddel, a young girl who carries around a white rabbit, sees delusions of fantastic creatures, and often invites the Player to have a tea party with her.
* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Rochester family, a prominent and corrupt family in Concordia, has witnessed infighting within. There are few WhiteSheep among them, such as Leopold, Rockley, Bernadine, and [[spoiler:Viola]].
* BluffingTheMurderer: In Case 13, Madeline got the killer to confess by saying that the note they sent to the victim revealed their fear of heights. The accused sealed their fate when they denied writing such a thing on said note.
* CallForward: In chapter 11, we meet several minor characters who mention that they are going to board the ''Gigantic'' ship--which, as we already know from the Pacific Bay Arc, is going to sink.
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Despite Concordia being mostly a PoliticallyCorrectHistory, the game does make several attempts to show a different set cultural values prevalent in the late Victorian Era, such as mentioning the taboos of living together before marriage, bearing a child out of wedlock, etc.
* DirtyCop: The Concordian Police Department is filled with some of these, which leads to the inception of the Concordian Flying Squad as the InternalAffairs to investigate them.
* EnemyMine: BountyHunter Catastrophe Joan has a bitter history with Rose, who is formerly a bounty hunter herself. But the two made amends in order to bring down [[spoiler:Vittorio Cappecchi and his goons when the latter challenged the Flying Squad to a shoot-out]].
* InternalAffairs: The MythArc set-up for Season 4. Rumours of the possible corruption within the Concordian Police Force have led to the inception of the Flying Squad.
* InVinoVeritas: The reason for Anna Jewell's death in "Get off Your High Horse" (Case 40). [[spoiler:Anna knew "Princess Eliza Rheinberg of Splichtenstein" had really been Eliza Fairfax, a poor flower girl from when both were childhood friends. Later in life Eliza took on her Princess Persona. Anna recognized Eliza at a soiree, however, and Anna began talking more when she got drunk. Afraid [[HeKnowsTooMuch Anna would expose her]] Eliza initially tried to talk to Anna in the stables, but her temper got the better of her, causing her to bash her one-time childhood friend's head in with a stirrup.]]
* JackTheRipoff: The Scarlet Slayer has several similarities with the infamous UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper. Both killers were active during the late Victorian era, primarily targeted female prostitutes, and killed their victims in areas of poverty and corruption.
* KarmaHoudini: Mr. Alastor spent the entire Elysium Fields arc setting up proxy-murders in order to impress [[spoiler:Giuletta Capecchi]]. After his scheme is discovered, he... gets away with all of it because he technically didn't kill anyone and couldn't be convicted by law.
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: "Mr. Alastor" eventually ends up being the victim [[spoiler:in case #51, "Tipping the Scales", as his father had tried to double-cross Archie's murderer by not intending to honor promises to the murderer made in return for supporting turning Concordia into a family city-state.]]
* LoonyFan: The killer of Case 55 killed [[spoiler:Judge Takakura]] for criticizing Justin Lawson, whom she idolized.
* NestedStory: The plot of Season 4 is derived from the memoirs of Charles Dupont, the great-grandfather of Armand Dupont.
* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Despite being set in the late 19th Century - early 20th Century in the USA, the cast of the fourth season is somehow more ''diverse'' than most of the other seasons, which are set in modern times. There is a distinct lack of prejudice against people of colour and/or different sexuality, and the Concordian Flying Squad alone features 2 black characters (Isaac and Violet), 1 Asian (Rose), a lesbian (Evie), and later joined by 1 Latino (Diego). And that's not counting the city officials, which features a black mayor, an Asian deputy mayor and an Asian judge. By contrast, the Grimsborough PD initially has two non-whites--Nathan (black) and Ramirez (Hispanic); the Pacific Bay team has 3--Chief Marquez (Hispanic), Yann (black) and Hannah (Asian, and also a lesbian); The Bureau has 2 non-whites at first--Angela (Asian) and Carmen (Hispanic), although they are later joined by Jonah Karam (black) and Michelle (AmbiguouslyBrown).
* SelfOffense: The violent gang war taking place in Crimson Bank eventually caused one street kid to accidentally kill another when the former thought he was being attacked by a gang member.
* ShaggyDogStory: The conclusion of the Ivory Hill arc ends with this. The Flying Squad had spent the entire 6 cases trying to stop [[spoiler:the Rochesters]] from rising to power and enacting a bill that would end free press. They managed to dismantle [[spoiler:the family's power and influence over Concordia]], only for the bill to be enacted anyway when [[spoiler:Justin Lawson becomes the Mayor]].
* TakingTheHeat: [[spoiler:Leopold Rochester]] allows himself to be arrested for [[spoiler:endorsing investment bonds in a company that doesn't exist]] even though he's not actually involved in the scam. [[spoiler:Larry was the one behind the fake company and Leopold endorsed it, believing that his wayward son had finally made use of his life. When the player revealed the truth, Leopold took the fall in order to protect Larry from being arrested.]]
[[/folder]]

* ''World Edition'' (also known as ''Save the World'', 2015): The player is invited by Jack Archer to join The Bureau, an International Law Enforcement agency that deals with various crimes from all over the world. The Bureau discover the existence of SOMBRA, a NebulousEvilOrganization with global cells, and are tasked with dismantling them. The season shifts to a world tour premise, taking place in nine regions - Europe, the Sahara, Eurasia, South Asia, East Asia, Oceania, Africa, South America, and North America.

* AbortedArc: Several character dialogues seemingly set up certain plot lines, which never goes anywhere.
** In the very first chapter, Marina criticises Jack's mommy issues when the latter tries to flirt with her, which might tie into Jack's MysteriousPast. Not only is Jack's backstory never established, the Eurasia arc shows that ''Marina'' is the one with issues with her mother.
** Likewise, when the party meets Lily Karam in Chapter 41, her cold and standoffish behaviour can seem quite troubling, especially compared to how friendly she had seemed in chapter 39. When she tells the player that she's heading to Brazil, it is hinted that she may have a larger role to play in the story. However, when the team did go to Brazil in Chapter 47, Lily is nowhere to be found, and her story arc never continues.
** One could consider the season [[spoiler:has turned into this. After finishing the final case in Mysteries of The Past, the player goes straight back to Grimsborough with ''no goodbye at all'' to the ''World Edition'' team. It's not even stated why or how the player has come back to Grimsborough.]] One can hope the developers will explain as the season continues.
* AnimeHair: Suzuki Sakura. Just look at her [[http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/criminal-case-grimsborough/images/f/f0/SSakuraWorldEdition.png/revision/latest?cb=20160429174455 hair]] and notice how it stands out from any other character, let alone suspect.
* ArcWords: In East Asia, many characters say "The weak die." [[spoiler:It is a MadnessMantra said by those brainwashed by SOMBRA.]]
* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Many of the scenes in Case 43 feature polar bears, one also has a husky. The case is set in Antarctica, where neither of those species exist.
* ArtisticLicenseGeography: The South Asian cases make you hop around New Delhi, Agra, and Shimla like it's nothing, and even had a kid offering elephant rides from one place to another, even though these areas are hundreds of kilometers away from each other and would need nothing short of a plane to quickly travel around the place.
* BlessedWithSuck: A position in the Bureau is shown to be like this. Everyone else knows them as the highest authority worldwide, with Jack implying that people have actually killed for a job there. Throughout ''World Edition'', it's shown that being in the Bureau can be very life-threatening, as the members have to investigate under even the most treacherous circumstances (i.e. natural disasters, wars, epidemics) while the criminal organization they're trying to investigate is constantly toying with them. They also have almost no time to take breaks, due to the safety of the entire Earth being in their hands.
* BritishStuffiness: The first suspect we encounter in Season 3's first case is a banker who is well acquainted with the murder victim. When Jack demands why he doesn't seem fazed by the victim's death, he explained that his British stiff upper lip dictates that he don't fuss over something as trivial as ''murder'', unlike Americans.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: The Bureau's members have strange and distracting quirks, but they were all recruited to be in the world's top police forces. This is often {{Lampshaded}} by Chief Ripley and Jack early on.
* TheBusCameBack: North America has several suspects from past regions return unexpectedly, which coincides with [[spoiler:the new El Rey]] being someone The Bureau's met before.
* TheComicallySerious: Several members of the main cast, with the most prominent being Judge Adaku, Elliot, Carmen, Jonah, Dupont, and Michelle.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: After she mentioned about leaving for Brazil at the end of Chapter 41, Lily is never seen or ever mentioned again by the characters.
* DarkSkinnedBlonde: Lily Karam, Jonah's [[spoiler:half-sister]].
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''World Edition'' is certainly this compared to the other two seasons. It begins with the player being told quite bluntly that the world is in danger, and that several areas in Europe have been defiled because of suspected foul play. Many of the murders in this season are connected to an organization bent on world chaos rather than personal reasons, and said organization ''DOES NOT'' hesitate to directly attack the Bureau at every opportunity. In addition, the Bureau also helps countries during natural disasters, and are sometimes caught in the middle of one themselves. As a result, the main characters are more exposed to danger than ever before and so far, more than half of the Bureau members have been seriously injured while doing their jobs.
** East Asia is looking to be this compared to the other regions, with children being hurt and disappearing as well as Lars and Angela fearing for the safety of their own daughters.
* FakingTheDead: Case 12 reveals that [[spoiler:Chief Ripley]] is still alive, and that [[spoiler:she was only pretending to be dead to trap The Sword]].
* FracturedFairyTale: Case 14 has a parody of Don Bluth's Anastasia, and features the titular Duchess trying to prove her identity [[spoiler:which turns out to be a delusion she invented to cope with her past. After learning the truth, she is saddened but thanks the Bureau for helping her.]]
* FriendToAllChildren: All of the Bureau's personnel are shown to be kind and helpful towards the children they meet, particularly during East Asia's child crisis.
* LovableAlphaBitch: Arsha Raju is a sharp-tongued Bollywood star who doesn't even bother remembering the Bureau or anyone she works with most of the time. However, when the player visits her in the Additional Investigation of Bollywood, she's shown to be much nicer than she lets on, such as giving a signed photo to a street boy and inviting Dupont to play in the Cricket Gala. She's also grateful to them for fixing one of her dresses.
** East Asia has a male version, K-pop star [=SILVERee=]. He has a ditzy and snobbish demeanor, but can be surprisingly down to earth when it's needed-[[spoiler:like when he helps the player recover the memories of children who have been brainwashed by SOMBRA.]]
* MistakenNationality: While speaking to The Bureau's Historian, Armand Dupont, Jack assumed that he was French, especially due to his [[FrenchJerk pompous behaviour]] and use of [[GratuitousFrench French phrases]]. Armand angrily corrects him that he's from Switzerland.
* MsFanservice: One of the suspects in case 7, Asal Hawaa, is a very pretty and very scantily dressed BellyDancer who makes her first appearance giving the player a sexy dance. Unsurprisingly, Jack is more than happy to interrogate her.
* MultinationalTeam: The player's main team in the Bureau has characters from the US, UK, South Korea, Australia, Switzerland, and Russia. While Ingrid's origin is unknown, her surname implies that she's Nordic (her first and last names are of Scandinavian origin, and her necklace has a snowflake, a symbol often associated with Nordic or Scandinavian culture). Later on, the team gains Jonah Karam and [[spoiler:Michelle Zuria]], who are from South Africa and Singapore, respectively.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The only reason SOMBRA was able to become so powerful was because [[spoiler:Chief Ripley, as well as the CIA, have funded them]]. However, [[spoiler:CIA's reasons for funding SOMBRA, to infiltrate smaller countries to gain control of their oil]], are not exactly seen in a heroic light.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Eccentric wildlife maniac Vadim Efremov [[spoiler:turns out to be a MGB field agent.]]
* OppositesAttract: Lars and Angela Douglas, the Forensic Expert and Coroner of The Bureau. In their character profiles, Lars is described as a laidback joker, while Angela is described to be organized and perfectionist.
* {{Otaku}}: Yelena Tereshkova is a space-obsessed loony who can't seem to say anything outside wanting to go to space and whining about being rejected as an astronaut. Her obsession allowed her to be manipulated [[spoiler:by Natasha into murdering someone]] with the promise of finally going to space.
* PandaingToTheAudience: The second case of East Asia has the team visit a panda preserve to look for clues, and they run into some real pandas during the investigation. However, this is subverted when [[BearsAreBadNews a panda tries to eat one of the suspects after being annoyed by him.]]
* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: While in Germany, the player met a nudist who was also a [[FanDisservice fat, balding old man]]. Naturally, the first thing Carmen did was tell him to wear some pants on.
* PoorCommunicationKills: ''And how.'' [[spoiler:The Bureau was solely founded for the purpose of eliminating SOMBRA, and Chief Ripley refused to tell anyone about that, not even Ingrid. She did discuss her plans with the head of Mossad, who only pressed for her to keep her secret hidden. This even extends to the Bureau's interactions with Asal, who also had no idea of that discussion and honestly thought that searching for SOMBRA was just a game. When the truth is revealed, the Bureau is able to communicate more clearly with Asal, and all of the team members are upset with the Chief for hiding so many things from them. Elliot even laments that Michelle might still be alive had they known the truth all along.]]
* PuttingOnTheReich: In one case involving SOMBRA, ChildSoldier recruits are ordered to wear red armbands.
* PutOnABus: The whole team. Unlike previous seasons, there's no sendoff from the past police force to the next one. The player comes back to the present and is immediately thrown into Grimsborough, while the player has no idea of the fates of the World Edition team or how they were called back.
** Jack and Marina later return in ''Travel In Time'' three seasons later, and while he doesn't appear, there's a few mentions of Jonah by Marina.
* RapeAndRevenge: Case 7 turns out to be this. The victim raped his ex-fiancée[[spoiler:, who killed him in retaliation so he won't do the same thing to other women]].
* RelativeError: When Marina digs through Jonah's history and finds another woman in a photo with him who has the same last name as him, she explodes and thought the woman was Jonah's wife. [[spoiler:When the woman is revealed to be Jonah's half-sister though, she's clearly embarrassed about her outburst.]]
* RememberTheNewGuy: ''World Edition'' has many cases of this, due to many non-Bureau characters appearing outside of the region they debuted in.
* RoyalWe: The player gets to meet the Queen of England in Case 1, and she speaks of herself using "we" or "us", even when talking to her own family.
* RuleOfSymbolism: Case 21's victim, the patient zero of a plague killing hundreds in Bangalore, was found in a temple of Shiva, the destroyer within the Hindu trinity. [[spoiler:The killer believed killing millions will solve the world's overpopulation problem and usher a new era.]]
* TheRunaway: Benjamin Scott is the Circus Runaway type, who believes he's entitled to prance around in the exotic Sahara region because his parents embarrass him, not bothering to consider how worried they are about him and how much trouble he's causing the Bureau by getting involved in various murder cases.
* SheCleansUpNicely: [[spoiler:Agrafena Raskolnikova, a Russian young woman who went from a slightly messed up-looking rights activist into a clean and neat-looking Senior Assistant of Unified Nations.]] Lampshaded by Carmen.
* ShipperOnDeck: In North America, the other Bureau members playfully tease Jack and Lars about being together, despite their repeated denial. Even Asal wishes Jack "Good luck with Lars" in her last appearance.
* ShooOutTheClowns: Case 21 was chock full of NightmareFuel from the beginning, but the case truly takes a dark turn when [[spoiler:Lars falls deathly ill.]]
* ShootTheShaggyDog: A sub-plot in the East Asia arc involves Tsukada Chieko's search for her long lost brother, who was taken in by SOMBRA. In the final chapter of the district, she finally found him, as the murder victim, that is.
* TheSocialDarwinist: SOMBRA's motto is "The smart rule, the strong command, the fast work, the weak die."
* SugarAndIcePersonality: Ambassador Stern from case 7 is a rather extreme example. She's very harsh when talking with Jack and the player, but immediately does a 180 degree and turns into a sweet DotingParent when her son is around.
* SurroundedByIdiots: The other characters' dialogue occasionally implies that the PlayerCharacter sometimes has this feeling towards their Bureau colleagues.
* ThirdPersonPerson: One of the suspects in the first case, Count Rupert, refers to himself as "one".
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: The murder victim of Case 5, Father Pietro Agnelli, is fondly remembered by all as a very kind and saintly man. The ones who openly show distaste towards him are the maliciously ambitious Cardinal Salieri (who is the second-in-line after Agnelli as the Pope's successor), and those who disagree with his political views. Indeed, he was murdered for political reasons rather than someone actually having a personal grudge on him.
** To a lesser extent, the victim of Case 19. Although she did some questionable things to help the earthquake victims of India (such as stealing and selling valuables to get medicine), her heart was ultimately in the right place and [[spoiler:her killer had murdered her because she disagreed with forcing victims to pay for treatment in a disaster.]]
* TrueCompanions: ''World Edition'' puts a ''lot'' of focus on how the main characters interact with each other and their relationships. [[spoiler:This only adds to the devastation of discovering a traitor in the Bureau.]]
* UpperClassTwit: Poo-pert -- er, Rupert -- is a member of the British royal family who seems to think that this automatically makes him better than anyone else. He tries to get Jack and the player character arrested for not respecting him (i.e. treating him as a murder suspect, which he is), and persists on continuing the arrest even after they solved the crime. Thankfully the Queen is more a ReasonableAuthorityFigure and quickly dropped the charges.
* VolcanoLair: SOMBRA has one of these on their island in Case 36.
* WeAreEverywhere: SOMBRA. Think the criminal organizations from previous seasons are bad enough? They are just in America (as far as the game tells), SOMBRA is ''global''. [[spoiler:They can even be one of your close friends in the Bureau.]]
* WeHardlyKnewYe: [[spoiler:Chief Ripley]] died after just six cases into the season. This is perhaps the shortest-lived team member we've ever had. [[spoiler:Her death was later revealed to be [[FakingTheDead faked]] in case 12.]]
* WesternTerrorists: The Promethians of the Europe arc are a centuries-old terrorist organization seeking to dominate Europe into one country, starting with an attempt to blow up many of Europe's famous landmarks. [[spoiler:They're also in league with SOMBRA, the antagonists of the entire season.]]
* WhamEpisode: Considering ''World Edition'' is much DarkerAndEdgier than the previous seasons, it has several of these:
** Case 6: [[spoiler:Just when the team thinks that they've straightened things out in Europe, Chief Ripley is shot with a poison dart and seemingly killed, forcing the team to start their quest around the world.]]
** Case 9: It's revealed that instead of defeating individual district villains like previous seasons, this season will focus on a global organization called SOMBRA, and that they'd already had a run-in with them via the Promethians.
** Case 12: [[spoiler:The suspects in this case put several Bureau members' lives at great risk, especially the villain. For the first time ever, a suspect becomes an official member of the main police force, and Chief Ripley is revealed to have faked her death to trick The Sword.]]
** Case 21: [[spoiler:Lars nearly dies in the line of duty, and the case's killer is an OmnicidalManiac who unleashed a plague on thousands of innocents because he wanted to play god. This is normally what would be expected for a district finale, but it happens midway through this particular district.]] This shifts the tone for later cases, hammering in the point that the Bureau members are in constant danger just for doing their jobs.
** Case 25: SOMBRA is on the move again, and this time [[spoiler:they're targeting ''orphaned children'' to further their sick plans.]]
** Case 30: [[spoiler:A SOMBRA agent kills a child with their own hands, and the Bureau discovers that the orphans who survived SOMBRA's plans for them are taken to "The Next Level" as teenagers. Also, Carmen becomes the legal guardian of Sanjay Korrapati, causing him to start traveling with the Bureau as well.]]
** Case 32: [[spoiler:The team catches a SOMBRA agent two episodes into the Oceania district, and said SOMBRA agent doesn't hesitate to take Elliot hostage, then badly injure him and Jack. On their mission to save Elliot, the player uncovers what SOMBRA is doing with the "Next Level" recruits: brainwashing and experimenting on them against their will.]]
** Case 37: [[spoiler:The entire Bureau is nearly killed in a plane crash even before the case begins, and the reason was an act of sabotage-by [[TheMole someone within the Bureau]]]].
** Case 42: [[spoiler:The SOMBRA mole is revealed to be ''Angela'', and the player only finds out after the morale of the team had been thoroughly broken, especially Lars's. Also, Michelle Zuria is officially accepted into the Bureau, and becomes the player's third partner for this season.]]
** Case 43: [[spoiler:Grace returns]] as a new member of the Bureau.
** Case 44: [[spoiler:Lars is still in a broken state from Angela's betrayal, and threatens to kill himself midway through the case. When digging through the history of SOMBRA, the team finds the name "El Rey", who is rumored to be the one who started SOMBRA in the first place.]]
** Case 46: Asal returns, and [[spoiler:Lars tries to arrest her in his still-broken state.]] Later, she reveals that Mossad had given her a new assignment: [[spoiler:to chase down El Rey before the Bureau does.]]
** Case 48: [[spoiler:Michelle is suddenly killed by El Rey, who reveals that SOMBRA has a new leader now, and that they'll soon step out of the shadows. He also reveals that the new leader is someone that the team's already met.]]
** Case 53: US officials are completely oblivious to the problems caused by SOMBRA, so the Bureau seeks proof through [[spoiler:taking down the hijackced SOMBRA satellite that had been helping them since Eurasia. As soon as it enters the Earth's atmosphere, it gets re-hacked by SOMBRA, rendering it unusable by the Bureau.]]
** Case 54: After crashing the satellite, the team arrives at the scene to find [[spoiler:Jean Connerie]] dead, and the killer turned out to be [[spoiler:former Bureau ally Anya Ivanova, who also attempted to kill Asal to prove her worth to SOMBRA.]]
** Case 55: [[spoiler:El Rey's successor]] is found and arrested, but [[spoiler:he reveals that SOMBRA had been created by Chief Ripley, who confirms that he's telling the truth. During her days as a CIA agent, the Chief had made a deal with SOMBRA (who were still a band of intellectuals at the time) in order to allow the US to invade smaller nations for oil. The US kept using SOMBRA for this purpose until one day, they turned on the organization and ran it into the ground. When SOMBRA resurfaced as an evil cult, Agent Ripley created the Bureau in the hopes that they'll be able to stop it once and for all.]] ''No one'' knew about this except for the Chief, [[spoiler:El Rey and the head of Mossad, who refused to allow Ripley to tell anything to her team. Apparently he also refused to say anything to his own agents, leading Asal to believe that the hunt for SOMBRA was just some game, clearing up her conflicts with the Bureau. Before anyone could ask her anything else, Chief Ripley steps down from her position and disappears from the Bureau. Then the President of the US is kidnapped...]]
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: The CIA tries to invoke this on [[spoiler:SOMBRA]], by using them as means to infiltrate other countries, and attempting to shut them down after they are no longer useful. However, it didn't work. By the time the CIA realizes [[spoiler:how dangerous SOMBRA is]], the latter have gained enough resources to slip into the shadows [[spoiler:and wreak havoc from behind the scenes.]]

* ''Pacific Bay'' (2014): The player moves to the Pacific Bay Police Department, where they work with two different partners -- Detective Frank Knight and Officer Amy Young -- to assist the Pacific Bay Police Department in managing the rising crime rate in the city. Pacific Bay has ten districts, all based on a mixture of US states - Ocean Shore (Florida, primarily Miami), Bayou Bleu (Louisiana), Inner City (New Work), Jazz Town (Louisiana, primarily New Orleans), White Peaks (Colorado), Ivywood (Los Angeles, California), Rhine Canyon (Arizona), Innovation Valley (Silicon Valley), Paradise City (Las Vegas, Nevada), and The Wastes.

[[folder:''Pacific Bay'' arc]]
* AndroidsArePeopleToo: This is the main focus of Innovation Valley, where robots are gaining conscience, becoming suspects [[spoiler:and killers]], agitating for more rights without any concern for humans, and [[spoiler:one of them planning to subjugate, then exterminate, humanity with nanobots]].
* BackForTheDead:
** Inverted with [[spoiler:Shelly Dulard]], who came back from a district-long absence, then turned out to be the murderer in the same case that she returned in.
** Played straight with David Rosenberg, an inventor from Innovation Valley who later ended up as the first victim in The Wastes.
** Both [[spoiler:Alden Greene and Bobby Prince]] invert this then play it straight. [[spoiler:The former]] returns as an UnexpectedCharacter after being put away (supposedly for good), and was discovered to be the case's killer right after his return. Before the player could arrest him though, [[spoiler:Frank]] shot him dead. [[spoiler:The latter]] killed [[spoiler:Frank]] in the next case and was shot dead by [[spoiler:Amy]] after he was revealed to be the killer.
* BaitAndSwitchBoss: In Inner City, it seems that Fredo Mancini, Inner Chaos' leader, will be involved in the final case of the district. [[spoiler:He turns out to be the killer of the penultimate case of the district. And he's killed by Hannah.]].
* TheBigDamnKiss: Between [[spoiler:Russell and Amy]], in Case 56's finale. With animation and everything.
* BrainUploading: The BigBad's ultimate plan is to build a digital Utopia where everyone's consciousness is built around a computer, and everyone would be subject to his rule.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: The Utopian cult, who runs a brainwashing conspiracy, could make their victims do outrageous things. This can go from pretty harmless stuffs like stealing and destroying a movie script to actually kidnapping a team member and holding them at gunpoint.
* BreadEggsBreadedEggs: After solving Case 22, Frank will say that he's going to either get a beer or go to bed... or perhaps he'll have a beer in bed.
* TheBusCameBack: All (except one, who happens to be Season 2's BigBad) characters that get involved in the Wastes' chapters are returning characters (including [[spoiler:one from ''Grimsborough'']]). The characters in the final case of the Wastes (and therefore, of Season 2) are all ''previously indicted killers'', even.
* ChurchOfHappyology: The Ivywood Hills is run by a cult (that is very obviously based on Scientology) called "The Utopians" who promises aspiring celebrities a life of eternal youth and fame for a fee. They are also responsible for more heinous activities such as brainwashing.
* ConjoinedTwins: One (Two?) of the suspects in Case 52 are a pair of conjoined twins.
* CrapsaccharineWorld: Unlike Grimsborough, Pacific Bay appears to be a generally peaceful place with many beautiful tourist attractions, but also hides many deadly conflicts and dark secrets, such as the fake voodoo craze in Bayou Bleu, the Chinese-Russian conflict and anarchy in Inner City, the [[spoiler:man-made]] hurricanes and SerialKiller in Jazz Town, the Night Walker UrbanLegend of White Peaks, the [[ChurchOfHappyology Utopian cult]] in Ivywood, the [[spoiler:Alien conspiracy]] in Rhine Canyon, the robot uprising in Innovation Valley, and ultimately the [[spoiler:digital Utopia that the BigBad intended to build after destroying Pacific Bay]].
* CureYourGays: Case 22's victim attempted to do this to his own son by sending him to military camp.
* DeadGuyPuppet: The Puppeteer's MO involves dismembering parents caught arguing with their 14-year-old children and hanging them like marionettes. [[spoiler:He [[SelfMadeOrphan did this to his own parents]], who were his first victims.]]
* DecompositeCharacter: Both of the players' new partners seem to reflect many from their predecessor, Jones. Jones's more "innocent" side is projected in Amy, the naive idealist who is always praising everything the player character does. His "wild" side manifests in Frank, a bumbling, skirt-chasing BigEater who constantly gets into trouble with the Chief.
* DistinguishingMark: Luz Lucha, a suspect in Case 33, is revealed to have a skull-shaped birthmark on her forehead, which is why she wears a mask throughout most of her entire appearances in the case.
* DreamTellsYouToWakeUp: Ata the end of the last episode. [[spoiler:Tesla, an evil A.I., is plotting to install everyone's mind inside a virtual reality and destroy all Pacific Bay in the real world. Frank has been the last victim, and Karen died in an earlier episode, but their minds (and their late children) had been uploaded to the virtual reality. The Agent and Amy have the means to destroy Tesla and his virtual world, but that would mean "killing" Frank a second time. What does Frank say? Do it. Kill Tesla, end all this. The Knight family accepts that they are all dead, and that their existence within a virtual reality is meaningless.]]
* FanDisservice: Briefly played in Case 14, ''Spineless'', where the player character found a picture of Shelly Dulard, who is fat and not at all pretty, in a sexy/seductive pose. Lampshaded by Frank Knight.
--> '''Frank:''' Yikes, this can't be unseen!
* FatBitch: Shelly Dulard is an overweight woman who is unfriendly and constantly makes insulting remarks towards "skinny girls" like Amy.
* FatSlob: Roberto Vasquez was implied to be this in his first appearance when his {{jerkass}} brother is killed. Seems to be averted in his later appearances, though, as he's mostly seen as normal fat guy.
* FictionalCounterpart: The districts in Pacific Bay are based on various locations in the United States.
** Ocean Shore's general mood reflects on real life California and New Jersey with its reality shows, night scene, and more.
** Bayou Blue is quite obviously one to traditional voodoo magic in the bayous of Louisiana.
** Inner City features many festivals and cultures, referencing real life New York City.
** Jazz Town and its hurricane are one to New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina, respective.
** White Peaks is one to Colorado's mountains.
** Ivywood Hills is an obvious one to Hollywood.
** Rhine Canyon and the allusions to aliens is one to the legend of Area 51.
** Innovation Valley is a stand in for Silicon Valley.
** Paradise City is for Las Vegas.
** The Wastes is based on the Nevada Test Site.
* FiveManBand: The members of the heist on the Mennagio Casino in Paradise City:
** TheLeader: Louis de Rico, the leader of the heist.
** TheDragon: Danny Moto, Louis's second-in-command and the one whose plans ensured the heist's success.
** EvilGenius: Shared between Danny Moto and Freddy Gomez; the former's plans ensured the heist's success while the latter used glass eyes to bypass the casino's biometric security system.
** TheBrute: Papa Quansah, who blew up the casino's vault with dynamite.
** DarkChick: Jezebel Lopez, who distracted the casino's guards.
** SixthRangerTraitor: [[spoiler:Frank Knight, who killed Danny to prevent the revelation of the heist's [[GreaterScopeVillain "sixth man"]] A.K.A Karen Knight]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** Dinah Cooper, a cabaret dancer from Jazz Town, has a rather tenuous relationship with her 14-year-old son Louie. At the same time, a serial killer known as the Puppeteer reemerges after 10 years and is known to kill parents caught arguing with their 14-year-old children. [[spoiler:Guess who becomes the Puppeteer's last victim before their eventual arrest.]]
** When we meet [[spoiler:Amy and Duncan's mother -- Miriam Young]], Frank wonders how a such a harpy can raise two decent kids without one of them ending up as a sociopath. In the very next case, it was revealed that [[spoiler:Duncan is the Night Walker, after all]].
** In Case 7, Frank drops a line that foreshadows [[spoiler:his betrayal of the Pacific Bay PD and eventual death at the end of the season]]:
--> '''Frank:''' What the hell, <player>... What's happened to Harvey?! Stay in the force long enough and it feels like [[spoiler:you've just got a choice between dying a hero or becoming a monster!]]
* GoldDigger: Carly Lewis, the wife of the first PB victim, is a pretty blatant one. When she was informed of her celebrity husband's death, the only thing she cares about is how he would no longer be able to buy her expensive new things. And when Amy tried to console her by saying she shouldn't be taking the loss too badly, she immediately tried to capitalize on his death by hosting a grand season finale of their reality show.
* GotVolunteered: When the Pacific Bay police station was attacked by looters in Case 22, Chief Marquez asked for a volunteer to assess the station's damage. Roxie and Hannah immediately nominates Frank for the task without his consent.
* HiddenHeartOfGold: The aggressive roller derby skater, Mona Middlefinger, is secretly a NiceGirl who volunteers in hospitals to entertain sick kids, and donates money to charities. When confronted by the player about this, she makes them promise not to tell anyone about this fact, because she needs to keep her reputation as a strong, ruthless derby girl.
* HollywoodVoodoo: Bayou Bleu is full of this because of a local voodoo craze. [[spoiler:All the voodoo is fake, and it was used by a "priestess" to conceal the [[SerialKiller serial murders]] she committed.]]
* HouseHusband: One of the suspects in Case 36 (who happens to be the victim's husband) had to leave his job to raise his child by himself because his wife is a very busy movie director.
* IJustWantToBeBeautiful: Velma Bannister is a beautiful FemmeFatale who is used to charming her ways to get what she wants. When she realized that her sex appeal is only going to fade as she gets older, she decided to [[spoiler:usurp the Utopians' brainwashing plans and use her own brainwash tape]] to ensure that everyone in Ivywood will worship her beauty forever.
* ImAHumanitarian: The killer in Case 28 roasted the victim alive over a pit of lava and then cannibalized him.
* IrishPriest: The murder victim of ''Spineless'' is the local priest of Inner City and a member of the Irish community residing in that district.
* ItsAllMyFault: Tiffany Dunn, a drug addict from Case 42, was a teen prodigy who blamed herself for her parents' deaths in a car accident when she stayed after school one day and they came to pick her up.
* TheManBehindTheMan: The casino heist in Paradise City was supposedly led by Louis de Rico, but after his death it was revealed that the true mastermind behind the operation was [[spoiler:Karen Knight, who intended to steal plutonium from the casino's vault through the heist]]. Then, it was further revealed that [[spoiler:Karen herself was being manipulated by Albert Tesla, who ordered her to get the plutonium to power up his computer, in exchange for Karen's daughter, who is currently in a coma]].
* PrettyBoy: The two figure skaters introduced in ''Hearts of Ice'': Juan Rodrigo Vasquez and Dimitrios Moustaki. Every woman featured in the case seemed to be gawking at their attractiveness, and even Roxie forgoes her usual wisecracking during her autopsy on Juan Rodrigo's body to bemoan about what a waste it was to have such a beautiful young thing murdered.
* PsychopathicManchild: The Puppeteer believed that children should be free and that parents who hinder their freedom only get their joy from restricting their children and therefore must be killed.
* RealityEnsues: In Case 8, Hannah hacked the computers of a nearby military base and was subsequently detained by Colonel Spangler. Fortunately, she was released because of Chief Marquez's intervention.
* RecycledInSpace: An InUniverse example. A film producer in Case 31 wanted to make a TV show featuring the player character's investigations called "Criminal Space", where the investigations will be set in space.
* RichSuitorPoorSuitor: Played in Case 37, where the murder victim is a poor artist trying to pursue romance with an actress, who is already engaged to a wealthy but possessive movie producer. Unlike most examples, however, the actress decided that she loves her glamorous lifestyle (and, by extension, her rich fiance) more than she does the poor suitor [[spoiler:and she killed him to cut off her ties with him]].
* SelfMadeOrphan: [[spoiler:[[SerialKiller The Puppeteer]]'s first murder was that of their parents.]]
* ShaggyDogStory: The murderer in Case 7 of Pacific Bay killed a bank representative to stop her from demolishing the local theme park [[spoiler:only to have the owner of the theme park sell it to the bank anyway, after his arrest]].
* SkipToTheEnd: In Case 8, Frank asked Honorable Dante to sentence the killer after the latter rambled about his fondness for plants.
* StarCrossedLovers: The ongoing conflict between the Chinese and Russian communities in the Inner City makes it virtually impossible for any relationship between a Chinese and a Russian to work out.
** In the first case of the district, ''Heartless'' a Russian man eloped with a Chinese woman, and the girl ended up being murdered [[spoiler:by her husband's sister, who refused to let Chinese blood get mixed into her heritage]].
** Apparently [[spoiler:the leader of the Russians, Nikolai Kamarov, and the leader of the Chinese, Sue Xiong]], used to be lovers and even had a child together, but the peer pressure from their families and friends causes them to part ways and abandon their son.
* StrongFamilyResemblance:
** Amy's mother, Miriam Young, is just like an older version of Amy (right down to the [[HereditaryHairstyle hair]]) -- if Amy also happens to be a bespectacled, sour harpy that is.
** Likewise, Russell looks very similar to his father, Jupiter.
* SuddenlyShouting: In case 8 of Pacific Bay, the player character is implied to lose their patience and yell at Frank when he's reluctant to help with a clue.
--> '''Frank:''' Alright, alright, I'll help out, don't yell! That bag looks pretty straightforward, let's have a look inside.
* TrophyWife: Hubert Bannister is an old, balding cripple who is nonetheless a very well-respected and influential member of the Utopians. He is married to a 27-year-old FemmeFatale who is about the same age as (or perhaps even younger than) his daughter.
* UnexpectedCharacter: After being sentenced with a life imprisonment without a possibility of parole, you'd think that [[spoiler:Alden Greene]] would finally disappear for good, [[spoiler:especially since this is not the first time he managed to bail out from prison]]. But no, he had to come all the way from [[spoiler:Grimsborough]] to once again disrupt the player character's life.
* {{Unishment}}: Case 47's killer was overjoyed to receive a job in prison even though it was the worst job there was, so his sentence was increased to 40 years.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Amy and Russell quite obviously have feelings towards one another: they constantly praise each other's works, and get exceedingly worried whenever the other is in trouble (in Case 36 Amy freaks out when Russell went missing, while Russell gets uncharacteristically infuriated when [[spoiler:the Utopians brainwashed Amy]] in case 38). However, aside from their occasional flirtings, nothing explicit ever happens between the two. [[spoiler:Until Chapter 56, that is]].
* {{Yandere}}: By the time Case 59 rolls around, [[spoiler:Bobby Prince]] has degenerated into one of these. He was willing to commit murder so that he could be with Amy, and when she tells him that she already has a boyfriend, he [[IfICantHaveYou threatened to shoot her]].
[[/folder]]

* ''Grimsborough'' (2012): The player begins the game as rookie police officer in the [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Grimsborough]] Police Department, partnered with a detective named David Jones to solve all sorts of gruesome murders in the city. Along the way, you and Jones have to contend with various quirky, shady, and outright bizarre characters, including the bumbling beat cop Ramirez, the mob boss Tony Marconi, and the business mogul Alden Greene. Grimsborough is divded into six districts - The Industrial Area, the Financial Center, the Historical Center, the Grimsborough University, Maple Heights, and the Airport.

[[folder:''Grimsborough'' arc]]
* AbhorrentAdmirer: [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130603194847/criminal-case-grimsborough/images/3/36/LH.png Lydia Holly]] is this to Jones during one of Case 8's side-quests, where she requests that you find her binoculars that she'd accidentally dropped in the alleyway, and that she now wants a "handsome policeman" to retrieve for her, hence her calling the two of you.
--> '''Jones:''' ''(nervously)'' (player's name) and I will find them fast. Like, ''really, really fast'', right, (player's name)?
* AGodAmI: Milton Grimmes declares himself "Grimsborough's God" when he becomes exposed as the leader of [[AncientConspiracy The Crimson Order]]:
--> '''Milton Grimmes:''' Gold has given the Crimson Order unlimited power! As its leader, I get to choose who lives and who dies in this town. I am Grimsborough's God!
* AlasPoorVillain: Of all people, [[spoiler:The Rorschach Reaper]] somewhat gets this treatment. It's a complicated example, too, as she can also be seen as AssholeVictim given that she's a SerialKiller. But after the team discovered why she's killed, [[spoiler:that she attempted to seek the truth about her ancestor's death and indirectly exposed the Crimson Order who responsible for said ancestor's death]], she becomes less of an asshole. Even her sister who initially openly hated her for being a killer later admits that she does feel sad over her death.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Rose Cassidy paid no mind to Big Baby's love confession, since she was already in love with Chad Whickman. [[spoiler:Trixie]] was also murdered because she rejected an admirer.
* AmoralAttorney: At the end of Case 15, one of these, Gerald Young, comes forward to represent the killer and appeal the sentence, arguing that the case against his client has irregularities. Fortunately, Judge Hall throws out the appeal and upholds the killer's sentence.
* AndIMustScream: The victims in Cases 19 and 32 were both unconscious at the time they were put into the situations that resulted in their deaths. Case 19's victim was buried in concrete, which got into her airway and filled her throat while it was being poured into the pit where she was later found; Case 32's victim was put near an anthill and the ants got into her nose and mouth and constricted her breathing.
* AnimalMotif: Guess what the Vipers' motif is.
* ArcWords: "The right thing," during the University arc.
* ArmouredClosetGay: The murderer in Case #40 is willing to kill just to make sure that her lesbian relationship remains hidden
* ArtisticLicenseLaw: Even after being sentenced to life imprisonment at the end of Case 21, [[spoiler:Alden Greene]] is somehow able to post bail and appear as a suspect in a later case in the Maple Heights arc. Bail is only payable ''before'' the defendant's trial begins, and then it's only a guarantee that the defendant will actually show up for the trial; once sentence has been passed, bail is irrelevant, and if the sentence is a custodial one (i.e. one that includes jail time), the defendant can't pay bail to be released from prison. In this particular case, it's probably to show that the individual is just ''that much'' [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney monied]] and [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections well-connected]].
* BagOfHolding: In Case 3, you and Jones have to search the victim's book-bag for clues. The bag, which itself counts as a hidden-items crime scene, contains all manner of stuff, although admittedly only three sections of the bag are shown open. The items include: a sheriff's badge, a bar of chocolate, a spray-paint can, a six-sided die, a pen, a coin, a knife, a wad of cash, an envelope, a lollipop, a toothbrush, a baseball, a pair of scissors, a hamburger, a cellular phone, a paint-tube, a spoon, a bottle, a table-tennis racket, a letter-opener, a knuckle-duster, a pack of chewing gum, a purse with cosmetics, a watch, a notebook, a wrench...you know what, just look [[http://images.wikia.com/criminal-case-grimsborough/images/1/18/Criminal-Case-Jennifers-Backpack.jpg here]].
* TheBartender: Alice August is the barmaid for Tony Marconi's nightclub in Case 8.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Jones remarked that the victim of Case 43 still looks "dashingly handsome" even after being cut in half.
* BeautyMark: Ginger the prostitute has one on the left side of her face, just near her mouth.
* BerserkButton:
** The Greene Bank, and its owner Alden Greene, act as this for Shaun Crosby in Case 13, because they reportedly increased the interest on the loans that were made out by individuals in his father's market district when the residents refused to accept a buyout from the bank. One bank employee recalls that Shaun once flung a garbage can through one of their windows in a rage over the matter.
** Do not, under ''any'' circumstances, eat food over any of librarian Constance Bell's books, or even worse, LEAVE FOOD STAINS ON THEM, if you want to keep her from going ballistic.
* BigBad: [[spoiler:Milton Grimmes]], the leader of the Crimson Order, controls Grimsborough from behind the shadows and their illicit activities are responsible for most of the deaths the player had to investigate throughout the first season.
* BlackmailBackfire: Adam Bentley was trying to live as a Maple Heights socialite, but he wasn't old money and was running out of cash and connections. Then he discovered [[spoiler:The Crimson Order]]'s illegal gold mining operation and tried to blackmail them to pay him to keep quiet. [[spoiler:The Order]] forced [[spoiler:Chief King]] to execute him instead.
* BloodSplatteredInnocents: The victim of Case 41 was killed using an exploding tiara while being crowned Prom Queen, and her blood splashed all over her boyfriend, who was the prom king.
* BodyHorror: In Case 21. [[spoiler:Rachel was injected with an experimental SuperSoldier serum, which caused her bones to grow to exponential size. However, since the serum was intended for men, it caused her body to be torn apart from the inside]].
* BodyInABreadbox: Corpses can be found in some...weird places. As an early example, Case 3's victim was found hanging on a hook in a butcher's warehouse.
* BoomHeadshot: Case 51's victim got a bullet right between the eyes.
* BreakTheCutie: Sarah Mills, an 8-years-old girl from Case #40. First, her nanny is murdered. Then, we've also found out [[AbusiveParents her parents are emotionally abusive]]. For starter, her mother [[FelonyMisdemeanor can get easily mad]] for her freaking Toys/TeddyBear doll. She gets better in the end, though.
* BrokenPedestal: Case 6's victim was a known member of the Grimsborough PD, whom the team later finds out to have been corrupt. His partner, and apparently former mentee, had looked up to him, [[spoiler:but ended up accidentally killing him after the victim refused to change his ways]].
* CaptainErsatz: Kevin Parker, the comic book store owner, of [[spoiler:Jeff "Comic Book Guy" Albertson from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'']].
* CasanovaWannabe: Joey Manzano, according to club owner Nina Hunt.
--> '''Nina:''' He spent the night using my waitresses' notepads to give his number to women!
* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:The inkblot test]] which appears several time as an inconspicuous non-clue in various crime scenes of the University District is later revealed to be a part of the Roscharch Reaper's MO.
* ConsummateLiar: Mikhail Levin. Jones tried to interrogate him using a lie detector, and asked hundreds of questions, but only managed to get 2 straight answers from him.
--> '''Jones:''' I'll give him this: he sure knows how to lie!
* TheCorrupter: The Rorschach Reaper uses hypnosis and [[BreakThemByTalking psychologically-specific speeches]] on selected targets and prompts them to murder people they've got a particular beef with. However, the Reaper later claims that this is MoreThanMindControl, since the affected parties in question always had it in them to murder. The Reaper also manages to do this with Jones in an attempt to kill your player character.
* CrapsackWorld: Every level you play has a murder as the main mystery for you to solve. Plus there's a lot of gang warfare and mob rivalry going on in Grimsborough, at least one DirtyCop has affected the Grimsborough P.D., and the rich care more about their money and status than about the feelings or welfare of others.
* CrazyHomelessPeople: Linda Lovara. She's a fundamentalist Christian, she lives in an abandoned car park, she's known to get violent when high on a mixture of alcohol and prescription pills, she had a therapist who encouraged her craziness...
%%* CutAndPasteNote: One of these was sent to Case 10's victim the day before his murder.
* CutHimselfShaving: In Case 5, Dimitri Balanchine gives exactly this explanation for the scars on the side of his face when you and Jones question him in relation to the case.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Elvira Milton, the gothic girl from Case #26. She is the friendliest and most cooperative suspect in said case. She's also appreciative on Alex Turner's fanboying her grandfather.
* DeanBitterman: Donna Walker, the dean of Grimsborough University, is revealed to have a special hatred for the members of the school's Psi Sigma Gamma sorority, including its president Madison Springer, all of whom she classes as narcissists and opportunists who only exist to crush others and be congratulated for it; in Madison's case, Ms. Walker gave her multiple notices for sneaking out of the dorm at night. As it turns out, Ms. Walker's hatred stems from an incident in her past, back when she was a student at the university--she was the victim of hazing by the members of the sorority at the time, which consisted of forcing her to drink excessive amounts of alcohol that resulted in her being in a coma for four days. What especially angered her was that the dean at the time did nothing to punish the sorority members for the incident.
* DeathFromAbove: Case 22's victim, a stage actor, had a sandbag dropped on his head. Case 28's victim died a similar death, only in his case the item was a chandelier.
* DelayedOhCrap: Jones has one in Case 13, when you and he find a bomb hidden in a car trunk.
--> '''Jones:''' Here it is! We found the bomb, we...HOLY SH*T, we found the bomb!
* DeadGuyOnDisplay: How several of the victims' bodies are found, but Cases 14, 24 and 36 in particular play it very straight--Case 14's victim is put on display in her clothing store and another character mistakes her for a realistic mannequin; Case 24's victim was cut open, stuffed, and put on display in a museum; and Case 36's victim was [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice run through with a pitchfork]] and then disguised as a scarecrow.
* DiesWideOpen: Case 51's victim, who was shot in the head, has his eyes open when he's presented in his body-bag.
* DirtyCop: Case 6's victim, Ed Dunkin, is known to visit hookers and bet on dogfights, among other things.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Case 12's victim, a stockbroker, constantly bragged about a new deal he'd made with the wealthy Alden Greene. His rival's response? Disembowel him and hang him up on display.
** Also, Case 39's killer killed the victim just because he was cheating on his test.
* {{Dominatrix}}: Jezabela, who runs the eponymous "Jezabela's Dungeon" and who even wields a riding crop in her avatar picture. She's also implied to have had some...[[NoodleIncident kinky]] [[AllWomenAreDomsAllMenAreSubs history]] with Jones, which he's not too eager to delve into.
* TheDon:
** Anton Levin, the victim in Case 5, was the head of [[TheMafiya the local Russian mafiya]].
** There's also Tony Marconi, the leader of a Mafia group, whom the police never managed to arrest until the Player Character comes along.
* DownInTheDumps: One case has you visiting a suspect in the local slum district, while a few others force you to scrounge through the sewers for clues.
* DuelingHackers: A non-malicious one occurs in Case 33, in which Alex tried to hack into a suspect's online profile, only to be counter-hacked by The @rtist. The latter reveals that she was only trying to get the police's attention so that she could assist the team.
* DysfunctionalFamily: Jones comes to see the Greene family as this in Case 15, as they don't seem to be particularly affected by the murder of their matriarch, and are more concerned about the possible scandal her death may cause.
--> '''Jones:''' Okay, seriously, what is WRONG with the Greene family? They all sound like cold-hearted monsters!
** The Mills family from Case 40 is also this. Both parents are struggling with marital problems and act emotionally abusive towards their daughter Sarah, who looks up to her au pair. They get better in the Additional Investigation.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Jones is the sole partner of the entire season, [[ADayInTheLimelight with Alex and Grace replacing him in Case 37 and 48 respectively]]. From Season 2 onward, there are two partners each.
** Characters tend to swear several times, although usually censored, which would eventually become non-existent after Season 2.
** Up until the Airport district, none of the Additional Investigations seem to have much bearing on the plot; they mostly revolve around checking up on the other suspects, usually to help them find an item they are missing or catch them doing something shady. Even plot-lines such as Alden Greene's activity and the Rorschach test murders are relegated to the main case rather than the [=AI=]. Contrast this with the latter half of Season 2 and Season 3 onwards, where the [=AI=] tends to focus on either the underlying plot of the season or on [[ArcVillain the villains of the district]].
*** In addition, [=AI=] photos tend to show pictures of the suspects interrogated in them, which would slowly be phased out with artwork during Season 3 and beyond.
** Suspect interrogations are generally much shorter and nowhere near as detailed as later seasons, with Jones often judging the suspects' characters after grilling them.
** In stark contrast to later seasons, there are very little [=LGBT=] characters beyond minor suspects, with same-sex relationships being shown in a negative light. For example, both Case 8 and 40 [[spoiler:have lesbians as the killers, the former being a PsychoLesbian who killed a straight woman she had feelings for, while the latter killed her lover to keep their tryst a secret.]]
** A few of the earlier cases of the season have a suspect's profile clues being found out in Chapter 1. This was later changed so profile clues are relegated to Chapters 2 and 3.
* EccentricMillionaire: Archibald Ashworth from Maple Heights is a weird old patriarch who loves his bees more than anything else. When told that his grandson had been brutally murdered, Archibald's reaction was very nonchalant, and even ''glad'' that there's less of his greedy relatives trying to fight over his riches; but when one of his bees died, he went completely berserk.
* EnergyWeapon: Case 48's victim was shot through the ribs with a hair-removal laser.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** Although Tony Marconi is a mob boss, and is suspected in orchestrating a number of crimes, in Case 8 he flatly tells Jones that he would never beat a defenseless woman to death with a hammer, especially if she was one of his strippers and was profitable to him. [[spoiler:This becomes his motive in killing Salvador Cordero, who was caught attacking Ginger, a hooker who works for Marconi.]]
--> '''Marconi:''' You don't hit women. You just don't...
** Troy Cassidy, the leader of the Skulls, makes it clear to the police in Case 9 that, although Chad Whickman was a former Viper, he wouldn't have killed Chad since he knew his sister Rose was in love with the victim.
--> '''Troy:''' I'd never hurt my lil' sista like that. Family before honor, that's the Skulls way.
* EvilRedhead: Well, Bulldog's got red hair, and drug dealers aren't normally classed as law-abiding citizens...
* EvilutionaryBiologist: Kelly Speltz, one of the suspects in Case 21. She's been known to perform illegal experiments on animals which she claims will [[UltimateLifeForm make humanity better than it is now]] [[spoiler:and she also created the serum that killed Rachel Priest]].
--> '''Speltz:''' People don't recognize my genius often enough. They call my work inhumane and try to have me shut down. Such as that rotten reporter, Rachel Priest. She even tried to have me stop experimenting on animals! I don't even know what she's talking about! My latest guard dog has survived every single experiment so far. No, people like Rachel don't realize I'm doing the work of God: I'm trying to create a new better, stronger humanity!
* EyeScream: Freddy Stewart, the victim in Case 18, was shot in the left eye with a crossbow.
* FatBastard: Odell Toole is the heaviest killer in the game.[[note]] Technically, Per-Sephone is. She's 82 pounds heavier than Odell. However, Per-Sephone is a robot who is made entirely out of metal so... [[/note]] Weighing in at 298 pounds.
* FingerInTheMail:
** In Case 3, Jennifer Carter's heart was cut out, packaged and given to her mother [[{{Squick}} in a parcel of meat she'd bought]].
--> '''Mrs. Carter:''' ''(in hysterics)'' They gave me my daughter's heart so I would EAT it!!!
** Case 20 kicks off when you and Jones receive a severed finger in a package.
* FishingForSole: In Case 43, the unfortunate Jones discovers the victim this way.
* FlatCharacter: Rosa Wolfe, the victim in Case 1's JustifiedTutorial, and Matt Barry, her killer. The only thing we know about either of them is that Matt is a football player, but other than that, nothing.
* ForeignCussword: In "A Russian Case", Anton's son Mikhail called his late father a "svoloch", which is Russian for "bastard".
* {{Frameup}}: Colin Stokes, the StalkerWithACrush in Case 8, accuses you and Jones of "planting" Trixie Velvet's necklace in his studio to set him up as the one responsible for her murder.
* FromNobodyToNightmare:
** Case 14's killer deliberately sought to invoke this, since he wanted to be remembered as more than just an ordinary guy.
--> "Oh, here comes [[spoiler:Odell with his cleaning trolley]], haha, he's so poor." [[WhosLaughingNow Now look who's laughing!]]
** Adam Bentley, an uprising {{socialite}} whose background is completely unknown, and has befriended several rich and powerful individuals, most of whom ended up dead. Chief King is particularly wary of him, especially since he's starting to get a little too close to the mayor.
--> '''Chief King:''' This conman has managed to fool the mayor! A perfect stranger of whom we know virtually nothing about has been gravitating around the most important person in this town!
*** Later subverted, as it turns out that Adam is just a former FosterKid who changed his identity to fit in the glamorous community of Maple Heights, and nobody there actually takes him seriously.
* FrozenFace: Case 33's victim was found with [[http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130920202354/criminal-case-grimsborough/images/4/4e/Olly%27s_Body2.png a hideous grin on his face]].
* FryingPanOfDoom: Ramirez' frying pan is much more useful than his gun. He even saved the Player Character's life ''twice'' with it. [[spoiler:The first one he used to knock out a mind-controlled Jones, the second one he used to distract the ''Crimson Order's Leader'']].
* FullNameUltimatum: We learn Jones' middle name (Jeremiah) in case 35, thanks to a furious Grace who's angry at him because her fiance is a suspect in the case.
* GangOfHats: The Vipers and the Skulls. The former gang's members all wear blue and have tattoos of a snake somewhere on their person; the latter gang's members all wear red and carry tattoos of a flaming skull.
* GeniusBruiser: Chad Baker, a recurring character in the University arc, is introduced as a quarterback understudy for Grimsborough's local football team, the Quails. He's also revealed to be a student at Grimsborough University, and is knowledgeable in electronics.
* GeographicFlexibility: It's never stated where exactly Grimsborough is supposed to be, but it's got all manner of elements that are just convenient for whatever the plot of a given case requires. For example, one case in the Maple Heights arc has a bridge as one of the scenes with hidden items to find; the bridge itself is a clear expy of the Golden Gate Bridge, which would mean Grimsborough is a stand-in for San Francisco, or is at least located somewhere in the state of California. On the other hand, Grimsborough has only one university to its name, whereas San Franciso proper has several such institutes of learning. As well, the design for Grimsborough's City Hall (seen only in cutscenes) is clearly based on the White House, which is located in Washington, DC, and Grimsborough has an Amish community that's introduced during Case 36, but California's not on the list of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_Amish_population U.S. states with significant Amish populations]].
* GoingForTheBigScoop: Rachel Priest is at this for most of the Financial Center arc, digging around to find any major dirt on Alden Greene.
* GrievousBottleyHarm: The victim in Case 11 had his skull cracked when a bottle was smashed over his head.
* HarmfulToMinors: [[http://criminalcasegame.wikia.com/wiki/Isaac_Hersberger Isaac Hersberger]], an 8-years-old Amish boy, witnessed the whole murder in Case #36. It's even worse when you found who the murderer is.
* HauntedHouse: Hector Fernandez's house, in Case 28, was purported to be one of these after his infant son died under mysterious circumstances there. [[spoiler:It was a lie he made up to cover up his negligence, and his wife didn't take it well when she found out]].
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Troy Cassidy]] quits gang life to become an inventor, after you return a motorcycle blueprint to him during a side-quest in Case 11.
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Ginger, a prostitute in Tony Marconi's employ and an old friend of Jones's.
* HumansAreBastards: The Rorschach Reaper believes this, even expounding on this after finally being caught and put on trial.
--> '''Rorschach Reaper:''' A murderer sleeps in every one of us, your honor!
* {{Hypocrite}}: The murderer in Case #36, an Amish citizen, claimed that murdering people is against the Amish rules.
* HypocriticalHeartwarming: During one side-quest, a former suspect rages about how Officer Ramirez misplaced some information on the location of the hospital where his wife is expected to be giving birth. Jones tears into the man immediately, telling him to be careful how he talks about Ramirez because the beat cop is an essential part of the force...despite how Jones himself has insulted Ramirez's incompetence multiple times before.
--> '''Jones:''' ''(chagrined)'' [[LampshadeHanging I can't believe I just took Ramirez's defense]]. Oh, stop laughing, (player's name)!
* HypocriticalHumor: One suspect in Case 53 complained about her ex-husband's bad breath. After the conversation, Jones complained that she too has bad breath.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: The killer's MotiveRant in Case 38 includes this, word for word. So does the killer's explanation to Judge Hall in Case 42.
* IHaveNoSon: Anton Levin, the victim in Case 5, did not have a good relationship with his son Mikhail; so much so, in fact, that he had already disowned the younger man prior to the start of the case. However, when interrogated, Mikhail claims that he didn't care about being disowned, since he had already come to hate his father anyway.
* INeverSaidItWasPoison: Jones gets Case 10's murderer to incriminate himself this way.
--> '''Jones:''' You're under arrest for the murder of Alan Cardwell!
--> '''Killer:''' Based on what, exactly? You've got nothing against me!
--> '''Jones:''' I bet you won't look so smug when we show the court the fingerprints we found on the murder weapon.
--> '''Killer:''' You lie! There weren't any prints on that candlestick.
--> '''Jones:''' Good job, you caught my bluff. But how did you know the murder weapon was a candlestick? Nobody but us knew that fact.
--> '''Killer:''' ... ''[[OhCrap (starts sweating profusely)]]''
* IReadItForTheArticles: In Case 8, Jones uses a variation of this as his excuse for how he knows the murder victim was a stripper at Marconi's night-club.
--> '''Jones:''' What? I used to go there for the music!
* IdenticalGrandson: When the Crimson Order's existence became known, we are introduced to several minor characters who were involved in the organizations' activities during their first establishment 400 years ago, and most of them looks exactly the same as their descendants, but with differing outfits. For example, one of the suspects in Case 54, [[http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/criminal-case-grimsborough/images/a/aa/KDeHaanGrimsborough.png/revision/latest?cb=20160802053128 Kirk De Haan]] is just a modern version of his ancestor, [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140227034859/criminal-case-grimsborough/images/5/57/GeertDeHaan.png Geert De Haan]], in a suit and cowboy hat.
* IdiotBall: Ramirez frequently mishandles evidence due to his bumbling attitude and general clumsiness, much to Jones' exasperation.
* ImAHumanitarian: Case 20's killer admits to having ate the victim's liver after torturing and killing him.
--> '''Killer:''' There is nothing like human liver to enhance the taste of caviar...
* IronicEcho: Madison Springer compared the Prom Ball to a gum bubble. [[spoiler:Shortly after she was crowned Prom Queen, [[YourHeadAsplode her head exploded]] when a bomb rigged to her tiara detonated.]]
--> '''Madison Springer:''' This competition, it's all just like... [[spoiler:(blows a gum bubble and pops it) a gum bubble! Inflated one moment, and blown to smithereens the next!]]
* JustifiedTutorial: The game's first case serves as this, with Jones as the tutor.
* TheInformant: Bart Williams. Jones has little tolerance or patience for him, but his information is always valuable.
* IronicEpisodeTitle: Case 53 is titled "Burying the Hatchet". [[spoiler:The victim was killed by an Aloki Indian who sought to avenge her ex-husband's ancestor, whose betrothed was stolen by the victim's ancestor.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe: What Case 8's MotiveRant basically boils down to, when the reason for Trixie's murder is revealed.
--> '''Killer:''' I got...I got so ANGRY, you know? How could she lie to me? How could she REJECT me?!
* ItsUpToYou: Deliberately invoked by Jones concerning you, several times, when he presses you to investigate certain crime scenes that he'd rather not get involved with himself (though he winds up accompanying you anyway). Played for comedy a lot of times, such as when you have to investigate a sewer to find critical clues to aid your investigation.
* JerkJock: Chad Baker comes across this way, especially during Case 38, where he claims not to care about girls who don't care about football. He gets CharacterDevelopment as the arc goes on, though.
* KarmaHoudini: During the bonus investigation part of "A Russian Case", Jones hopes to shut Dimitri Balanchine's restaurant down for food poisoning, [[spoiler:only for the food samples to be clean, with Jones showing resentment that Dimitri's restaurant passed the surprise health inspection]].
* KickTheDog: Vanessa Carter, the victim's mother in Case 3, is already drowning in grief over her daughter's murder when she discovers that her daughter's heart has been packaged together with some meat she'd bought sometime after the killing. The killer intended for her to ''[[{{Squick}} eat her own daughter's heart]]''.
* KillItWithFire: Salvador Cordero, the Vipers' leader, likes to kill people by dousing them in gasoline and setting them on fire. Incidentally, Case 9's murder was the result of the victim, Chad Whickman, being killed exactly this way.
* KilledMidSentence: Happens to Case 41's victim moments after being crowned Prom Queen.
--> '''Victim:''' I can't believe it, it's the happiest day of my lif-- ''(tiara suddenly explodes and [[YourHeadAsplode blows her head off]])''
* TheKillerWasLeftHanded: You make this discovery about the killer in Case 4. Three of that case's suspects are left-handed.
* KindheartedCatLover: Four are shown in Case 8: Lydia Holly, Alice August, Colin Stokes, and--surprisingly--Tony Marconi.
* KingOfTheHomeless: One-tooth Sam, the "mayor" of Cooperville, Grimsborough's shantytown district.
* LivingADoubleLife: Madison Springer, the popular cheerleader and head of the Psi Sigma Gamma Sorority, Madison Springer, is revealed to be an Amish.
* LoopholeAbuse: In Case 11, Marconi files a restraining order forbidding Jones to come near him or his club. What does Jones do? He sends you and Ramirez to Marconi instead, since the terms of the restraining order [[ExactWords only explicitly speak to Jones]].
* LovableAlphaBitch:
** Madison Springer in the University arc started as a stereotypical AlphaBitch with some shades of BitchInSheepsClothing since Jones didn't like her not-so-innocent smile, making her look like a StepfordSmiler as well somehow. However, after we later find out [[spoiler:she was born from an Amish family]], she becomes nicer and Jones admit he shouldn't judge her by her appearance and there's more to her that most people don't know about. [[spoiler:And then [[KillTheCutie she]] [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth died]] in the arc finale]].
** Lola Vallez, a glamoured celebrity in Maple Heights. Most of her bitchiness is also stereotypical of young adult actresses. But she's also kind and cooperative in any investigation she's involved in. She's also appreciative of Ramirez's CelebrityCrush on her, although at first she found him weird and creepy.
* LovableJock: Chad Baker, the Grimsborough University football player from the University arc. He is aloof and stoic, although still cooperative, in his first appearance. In his next appearance, he is more friendly to Jones and the player character. He also genuinely loves Madison, although perhaps because of Madison's [[spoiler:Amish]] lineage, she never admitted that she loved him, too.
* LoveConfession: Big Baby, a member of the Vipers, sent a letter confessing his affection for Rose, the sister of the Skulls' leader Troy Cassidy; however, Rose ignored the letter. [[spoiler:Also, Alice August murdered Trixie for rejecting her confession]].
* LoveTriangle: The motive for several of the murders in the game. [[spoiler:Case 3's victim was sleeping with the killer's boyfriend, and the girlfriend in question [[LoveMakesYouEvil did not]] [[MurderTheHypotenuse take it well]]. Anton Levin was sleeping with and impregnated his son's girlfriend. Case 10's victim, a married man, was killed by one of his mistress's lover's jealous fling]].
* MadBomber: The killer in Case 13 offs the victim with an explosive, then plants a few more around Grimsborough, sending the police force into a panic. One bomb is even deliberately rigged ''not'' to go off when its timer runs out, as a way of taunting the cops [[spoiler:though Alex later discovers that you would've gotten blown up if you HAD tried to disarm that bomb]].
* MagicalComputer: The @rtist is able to halt Alex's hacking into a local online networking site to see the victim's account in Case 33, but only does so because, as explained to the team, the police's software is too obvious on the site's network.
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Case 49's killer attempts this by frightening a horse with an explosive and a beehive in its stall, resulting in the horse rearing up and smashing the victim's skull with its hooves.
* MamaBear: [[spoiler:Gloria Fernandez]] dropped a chandelier on [[spoiler:her husband]] Hector after his negligence caused their child's death a few days earlier.
* TheManBehindTheMan: The Rorschach Reaper manipulated the killers in Cases 32, 35 and 38, but later claims it was MoreThanMindControl.
* MentalTimeTravel: OnceAnEpisode in the Airport arc, the player and Jones use "Aloki magic" to visit certain events in the past that somehow tie into the case.
* MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold: James Savage, a hunter who lives alone with his dog in the woods and is a supporting character during the Historical Center arc. He's considered very creepy by the locals, and he'll chase you off with a shotgun if you come on his property uninvited, but he genuinely cares for animals and is willing to be civil to your player character and Jones.
* TheMobBossIsScarier: Comes up twice so far.
** Ash Bison explains to you and Jones that he would never go against Tony Marconi because people who do end up dead.
** [[spoiler:Susan Huckabee]] killed [[spoiler:her brother Stuart]] in order to protect her family from [[spoiler:The Crimson Order]]. She's given the chance to get a reduced sentence if she'll testify against them, but she flat out refuses because she's more afraid of what [[spoiler:the Order]] will do to her family than she is of a life sentence.
* MockMillionaire: Implied to be the case with Adam Bentley. He's not exactly penniless, but he definitely isn't as rich as the society of Maple Heights require him to be, and is revealed to have owed money from various locals because he couldn't afford the lifestyle.
* MurderByMistake: In Case 17 (The Last Supper), the victim was poisoned by a chef who actually intended to kill a food critic who has ruined her restaurant's business, but the waiter delivered the food to the wrong table.
* MyBelovedSmother: Daniel Taylor, Case 23's victim, had an aunt who, when you and Jones meet her, proves to be...demanding.
--> '''Victoria Taylor:''' Daniel always said he wanted to see the world, to "escape". Escape his duties, more like! My health is troubling me; all I asked was that he be there in case of trouble. But he could never be bothered! He said his "job" is taking up his time. Ha! As if waiting tables at the tea parlor could ever last till 10pm, like last night!
--> '''Jones:''' ''(afterward)'' Well, (player's name), I can't really blame Daniel for wanting to escape his aunt's house! Living with her can't have been easy everyday!
* {{Nerd}}: How Jones classifies Bart Williams and Alex after discovering that both of them obsess over a particular limited-edition doll--sorry, "action figure."
--> '''Jones:''' Nerds...nerds everywhere...
* NerdsAreSexy: Tess Goodwin, one of several recurring characters during the University arc, is this in spades. Compare her [[http://criminal-case-grimsborough.wikia.com/wiki/File:Tess_Case_35.png usual look]] with her look as [[http://criminal-case-grimsborough.wikia.com/wiki/File:Tess_in_37.jpg a cosplayer]] and her appearance for [[http://criminal-case-grimsborough.wikia.com/wiki/File:Tess_Case_41.png the prom]].
* NoodleIncident: Jezabela and Jones are hinted to have some history together...and she ''almost'' blabs about their past as a way of blackmailing him into finding a lost item of hers during one of Case 20's side-quests.
--> '''Jones:''' Jezabela, we're police, not your personal Lost and Found service!
--> '''Jezabela:''' Now, Jones, I've known you to be more...cooperative. Do you remember when--
--> '''Jones:''' ''(a bit too quickly)'' But I guess this time we can make an exception!!!
* NotNowKiddo: [[PoliceAreUseless Ramirez]] is hilariously treated this way by Jones in Case #17, although [[BigEater Jones]] immediately dropped this as soon as Ramirez suggested him to investigate a restaurant.
-->'''Ramirez:''' Hey! I want to brainstorm too! I read the statement of her husband and-\\
'''Jones:''' Ramirez, this is a grown-up discussion. Don't you have some parking tickets to fill?\\
'''Ramirez:''' Hey, I can be useful! I did my own research and the posh resaurant Gabriel and Daisy usually went to for lunch is called "Chez Valentine".\\
'''Jones:''' ...! Chez Valentine! I've always wanted to go there, now at least I've got a reason to take a look at their kitchen!
* NotSoDifferent: In Case 11, Tony Marconi says this of himself and Jones [[spoiler:on being arrested for Salvador Cordero's murder, which he committed [[EvenEvilHasStandards to stop Salvador from raping Ginger]]]]. [[ShutUpHannibal Jones begs to differ]].
--> '''Marconi:''' You know, Jones, you and I, we're alike: we both do whatever it takes to protect our community.
--> '''Jones:''' You've got it all wrong, Marconi: you think you're above the law, and I'm here to remind you the law is above EVERYBODY!
* OnlyBadGuysCallTheirLawyers: In Case 11, Jones tries to argue this after being told that Tony Marconi's lawyers have filed a restraining order against him. [[WhatTheHellHero Chief King isn't having it]].
--> '''Chief King:''' ENOUGH! He's legally allowed to do so and even I understand him: you've let your personal hatred for Marconi dictate your actions and you pushed it too far! Jones, from now on you stay well away from Marconi and his club or you'll be put on leave, you hear?
* OverprotectiveDad: Alcott Milton is this for his granddaughter Elvira, in Case 26.
* PapaWolf: Subverted with One-tooth Sam, the "mayor" of the homeless community Cooperville; when Vipers leader Salvador Cordero attacked one of the girls living in the area, Sam armed himself with a knife and prepared to go and kill the gang leader, but on reaching the Vipers' hangout and seeing Salvador, he lost his nerve and fled (it didn't help that he was already an old man suffering from asthma) When interrogated, he mentioned that no matter how much Sam hated Cordero's mistreatment of one of the girls, he couldn't stoop so low as to kill a man; Jones reminds him that it's the police force's job to bring criminals to justice. One of his fellow street people finds some blood-stained glass and brings it to Jones for evidence.
* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:Tony Marconi killed Salvador Cordero after catching him hitting Ginger. Then after being jailed, Marconi leaves his nightclub for Ginger. As Jones put it, it took a lot of the fun out of finally busting him]].
* PiranhaProblem: The focus of Case 38, as the victim was half-EatenAlive by a school of these. It's quickly determined that it wasn't an accident, as the fish were taken out of a science-project tank and the victim was deliberately cut on her leg to ensure the piranha would attack her.
* PlayingWithSyringes: Case 21's murder weapon is a syringe with a deadly experimental serum, while Case 45's murder weapon is a collagen-filled syringe (the victim was stabbed with ''several'' of these). Kelly Speltz, being an EvilutionaryBiologist, also does this often.
* PoliceAreUseless: Most citizens of Grimsborough don't think too highly of the local police department, especially when it comes to complaints getting addressed quickly. This is mostly caused by Ramirez misfiling the aforementioned reports, or because Jones often gets overly emotional and tactless when dealing with suspects.
* PowerHair: Martha Price, the representative of the Blue Party and Mayor Johnson's political rival, has short blonde hair with her bangs neatly parted in the middle.
* PrisonRape: Jones announces that [[spoiler:Bulldog and Mikhail Levin]] should watch out for this after being arrested and sent to prison.
* PsychoLesbian:
** Averted with [[spoiler:Mrs Jenny Honeycomb]] in "An Elementary Murder". [[spoiler:While she did kill the victim, she only wanted to threaten her into breaking up with her]].
** Played straight in "Beautiful No More". [[spoiler:The murderer killed her victim because she laughed at her when she realised she was her secret admirer.]]
* PsychoPsychologist: Dr. Lawrence Bishop, one of the suspects in Case 7, is revealed to be this, by virtue of being a [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalist Christian]] ''and'' being on the same medication he prescribed to his patients. That he encouraged Linda Lovara's madness while she was his patient really doesn't help his case.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Jones's response to Chad Whickman's (admittedly bad) poetry to his girlfriend Rose.
--> '''Jones:''' "Skulls are red, Vipers are blue, gang war sucks, but I love you so much." ...What. The. Hell is THAT?
* RagsToRiches: Samuel "One-Tooth Sam" Bennett, after a valuable jewel turns up in the sewer which was intended as a present for his late wife. He uses the money to improve his neighborhood of Cooperville and the industrial area.
* ReadingYourRights: Several times, Jones reads the MirandaRights when arresting the case's killer.
* RedHerring: Several cases in the Grimsborough arc can mislead you as to who the killer is:
** In case 1, [[spoiler:of the two suspects, Ash Bison is associated with the Vipers and has a very abrasive personality. But the culprit is actually the other suspect, the football player Matt Barry.]]
** In case 3, [[spoiler:a message from Jennifer's phone casts doubt on Raoul the butcher, and Raphael has a very strong motive to kill Jennifer to avoid their affair being exposed to his girlfriend Trish. But the culprit is actually Trish herself, who killed Jennifer upon discovering the affair.]]
** In case 8, [[spoiler:Colin behaves like a creepy stalker and was obsessed with the victim, making him a very strong suspect in her murder. But the culprit is actually Alice the barmaid, who also had feelings for the victim and killed the victim upon her confession being rejected.]]
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Case 50's victim was eaten by a giant boa.
* RichBitch: In Case 14, mall cleaner Odell Toole describes Lucy Campbell, a clothing store owner and the murder victim, as this. Case 15's victim, Aileen Greene (Alden Greene's daughter-in-law), is also revealed to have behaved this way.
--> '''Odell Toole:''' ''(about Lucy Campbell)'' Lucy owned this shop, and she wouldn't let you forget it. She looked down on a LOT of people, it's no wonder one of them decided to off her.
* SafeSaneAndConsensual: BDSM mistress Jezabela insists her fetish parties operate under this, when you question her in Case 20.
--> '''Jezabela:''' I own a club for adults who enjoy a little domination, but they are not murderers.
* SecretlyWealthy: [[spoiler:One-tooth Sam]], who resides in a homeless district and behaves like a typical hobo, but is revealed to be a millionaire who had renounced his wealth.
* SeriousBusiness: The annual Dog Pageant, which is the subject of the Historic Center story arc, proves to be this for [[spoiler:Margaret Littlewood]], who's willing to commit murder in order to ensure victory in the competition.
* ScaryBlackMan: Biff Wellington, which is kind of necessary for his job as a security officer. In terms of people he considers friends, though, he's a GentleGiant.
* ScaryLibrarian: Constance Bell. She used to browbeat Jones, when he was much younger, over returning library books late or being too loud in the library, and even years after the fact, her use of the FullNameUltimatum is enough to set Jones on edge when you and he go to see her in Case 26. As well, by her own admission, she was trained in voodoo at a young age, and claimed to have set a curse on the case's victim to give him perpetual bad luck until he returned overdue library books. And then there's her BerserkButton about people leaving food stains on books they've borrowed from her--she threatens in a screeching voice to set a curse on the person responsible, prompting Jones to grab you and beat a very hasty retreat.
* RookieRedRanger: Your character gets thrust into this role, ostensibly to help with the growing case-load the Grimsborough police department has to contend with. Fortunately, you are partnered with Jones to help you out and provide support.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Alden Greene. This is also the attitude of the affluent Maple Heights residents, as Case 42's killer alleges.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: General James Marsh, one of the suspects in Case 21, calls in Mayor Johnson to convince you not to keep him on your suspects' list.
--> '''Mayor Johnson:''' You're being horribly misled in thinking that General Marsh is a possible suspect in your murder case. He's just been promoted as head of the army's chemical testing unit! And he hasn't come as far by making any mistakes. I can count on you, can't I, (player's name)? It would be a shame not to have such a powerful man on our side.
--> '''Jones:''' ''(afterward)'' [[LampshadeHanging Is it just me, or is Marsh trying to use his political connections to get off the hook]]?
* ShellShockedVeteran: Shaun Crosby, in Case 13. On being told that his father, the victim of that case and also a war veteran, was killed in an explosion, Shaun's immediate reaction is to panic and ask if they're under attack and if reinforcements are needed. Jones notes that it must be a sign of PTSD.
* SlashedThroat: The victim in case 52 is given a Colombian Necktie.
* SmartPeopleWearGlasses: There are a couple of examples throughout the game of people who are very knowledgeable in their areas of expertise and who wear glasses. One example is Tess Goodwin, a student at Grimsborough University, who majors in psychology.
* SoftGlass: Averted in Case 11, as the victim was murdered by [[GrievousBottleyHarm having a glass bottle smashed over his head, cracking his skull]].
* StalkerWithACrush: Colin Stokes and [[spoiler:Alice August]] are revealed to have been this for Trixie Velvet, Case 8's victim.
* StealthInsult: Ash Bison, the former leader of the Vipers gang, pulls this during Case 1's side-quest, when you and Jones interrogate him about the activities of his organization. Eventually, he offers up information:
--> '''Ash Bison:''' All right, (player's rank), you got me! We've changed leaders recently. The new guy's name is... Keath Myass!
--> '''Jones:''' Great! (player's name), let's go talk to this Keath... Keath My... ''(realizes)'' Oh you little...That's it! (player's name), put this jerk behind bars!
* SteelEarDrums: Averted in Case 13, in which the victim died after being blown up by a bomb; Nathan points out that the perpetrator, as well as anyone less than 30 feet away from the blast, would suffer some hearing loss.
* TheStoner: Tom Hunt and Riley Davies from Cases 15 and 33, respectively.
--> '''Tom Hunt:''' (player's name), why are you all purple? And why do you have wings, such pretty, pretty wings...
* SupremeChef:
** Margaret Littlewood, of whose baking Jones is a fan.
** Also, the killer in Case 17 has to be a very good cook to be able to poison the food without it being noticed by the victim.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Jones gives one in Case 8 when he suggests that you should go back to Marconi's stripper club to find more clues, while insisting that it's certainly not to go see the club's cute barmaid (who happens to be a suspect).
--> '''Jones:''' ''(blushing)'' No, it's not at all to see Alice! I'm sure there's an important clue hidden in this club!
* TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: How the murders in Cases 17, 31 and 42 are committed. In the first two cases, the food was poisoned; in the third case, razor-blades were hidden inside the cake the victim was eating, and the victim only died because he was a BigEater who basically gobbled down his food without chewing properly.
* TattooedCrook: All members of the local Vipers and Skulls gangs have a tattoo of, respectively, a curled-up snake and a flaming skull somewhere on their bodies. Also, Bulldog has a tattoo of the letter B with a spiked collar around it, on his neck.
* TeensAreShort: From Case 18, Ramona Stewart (16 years old) has exactly the same height with Julian Ramis, who is 4 years younger than her.
* TemptingFate: Case 16 starts this way.
--> '''Jones:''' I don't care if a psychopath with a chainsaw runs right past us, I'm not doing anything until we've eaten our hot dogs!
--> ''(cue victim being shoved out of a nearby tower window)''
* TipisAndTotemPoles: The storyline of the "Airport" cases (Cases 52 - 56) make it clear that Grimsborough is in the northeastern US. Search screens dealing with the Aloki tribe contain both Plains eagle-feather bonnets and Northwest Coast totem poles.
* TownWithADarkSecret: During the aftermath of Case 51's, a certain Stuard Huckabee hints that there may be a reason why so many murders take place in Grimsborough. This "dark secret" manifests in the form of a notorious secret society called the Crimson Order. The organization apparently controls Grimsborough's finances through their illicit gold mining, and would kill anyone who stands against them.
* TragicKeepsake: In his back-story, [[spoiler:One-Tooth Sam]] bought his wife an expensive jewel. Some time afterward, she [[IllGirl took sick and died]] despite his efforts to save her, leading him to renounce his wealth and give it all away - but he couldn't bring himself to part with the jewel, so he locked it in a box and hid it in the sewers instead.
* VehicularSabotage: Case 47's killer did this to the victim's plane by pouring fake de-icing fluid into the plane's engine, causing the victim to crash the plane at the site of his own wedding party (on the day of his wedding, no less).
* ViceCity: Grimsborough. Aside from the constancy of [[AlwaysMurder murders always being the main mysteries of each case]], there are several instances of gang violence and frequent conflict among said gangs, mob activity, prostitution, mentally-disturbed residents, drug-dealing, ''a whole community'' of homeless people with their own unofficial mayor, at least one case of [[DirtyCop police corruption]], rampant instances of infidelity, and basic lack of compassion from the richer residents.
* VillainousBreakdown: The Rorschach Reaper completely loses it [[spoiler:when Ramirez knocks Jones unconscious to save the player]].
--> '''Rorschach Reaper:''' WHAT DID YOU DO?! You ruined everything! [[spoiler:(player's name)'s death]] was going to be my masterpiece! YOU DESTROYED MY WORK!
* WeCanRuleTogether: [[spoiler:Alden Greene]] tries this with your player character at the end of Case 21, but it doesn't take.
--> '''Jones:''' Don't try that trick with us, [[spoiler:Alden]]! Unlike some people in this city, (player's rank and name) has moral values!
* WellIntentionedExtremist: During one of Case 41's side-quests, a teacher at Grimsborough University is determined that no more of the school's students are going to be killed...so she submits a safety-measures proposal to the dean that consists of hourly helicopter patrols, cameras in the bathrooms, students being required to carry circulation permits, and a stipulation that notifications of schedule changes are to be given two days beforehand.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: During Case 51, you find evidence that the Red Party and Blue Party are really the same thing and both are being controlled from behind the scenes. You later find out that [[spoiler:The Crimson Order]] is behind everything, and that the Red Party's Howard Johnson is a member - but Martha Price and the Blue Party cease to be mentioned after the end of Case 51, even though logically Martha would be a member as well.
* WhatTheHellHero: Jones gets this twice.
** One side-quest in Case 5 involves figuring out whether the food at Dimitri Balanchine's restaurant is safe for consumption. When test results show that the food is safe, Jones grumbles about how the test result will exempt Balanchine from being prosecuted (since Balanchine has criminal connections). Grace immediately calls him out on this attitude, pointing out that Jones ought to be happy nobody's getting sick as a result of eating Balanchine's food.
--> '''Grace:''' I've got some good news! The food samples you gave me are clean!
--> '''Jones:''' ''(outraged)'' Dammit! I can't believe this obnoxious douchebag is getting out of trouble again!
--> '''Grace:''' ''(frowning)'' Uh...Jones...should you not just be happy people won't get sick after eating there?
--> '''Jones:''' Mmph...I guess you're right.
** In Case 11, Chief King takes Jones to task for allowing his investigation into Tony Marconi to get [[ItsPersonal too personal]], threatening him with suspension if Jones violates the restraining order that's been taken out against him.
* YourHeadAsplode: Case 41's victim got her head blown off after her tiara was rigged to explode.
[[/folder]]

* BlatantLies: When the case starts and you first approach the suspects, many of them will either praise the victim or claim that they did not know him (or knew him just in passing). As the case goes on, we usually find that they ''did'' know the victim and have some grudge against him. This can happen with both killers and innocent suspects.

* TrueCompanions: Everyone in the Parisian Police Squad are all really close and supportive of each other through the season and constantly refer to each other as a family. They even welcome Carrie and the player to their family after their first successful case and David when he makes his first appearance.

* TrueCompanions: Everyone in the Parisian Police Squad are all really close and supportive of each other through the season and constantly refer to each other as a family. They even welcome Carrie, the player to their family when after their first successful case and David when he makes his first appearance.

*** '''Jealously''', '''Engagement''', and '''Seperation''' all share the story arc covering Cases 14 to 17, where Antoine continues his plans despite being put behind bars, and with Cody engaged to Eleanora, there's bound to be some trouble looming over...

* AndThereWereMuchRejoicing: Hugo and many of the PPD members are quite happy to learn [[spoiler:that their enemy, Antoine Macaron]] is dead, but that doesn't relinquish them of their duties to investigate the murder and arrest the perpetrator.