History VideoGame / FatalFrame

* KickTheSonOfABitch: No matter what the ritual was meant to hold back, upon reaching the last truths about what originally went on, nobody will feel sorry for the initial targets.

Taking place in [[TheEighties 1980s]] Japan, the ''Fatal Frame'' series explores a territory that surprisingly few survival horror games approach: [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghosts]]. Each game takes place in a haunted locale that had been victim to a supernatural disaster in the recent past, with the protagonists visiting the area due to a desire to investigate the history or because they themselves are linked to it in some way. Their only source of defense against the copious amounts of spirits haunting the mountains and abandoned homes being explored is the Camera Obscura, an occult item created in the 1800s that uses special film that grants it the ability to exorcise and pacify violent spirits. Of course, you can't just take a picture of them from across the room, as to deal maximum damage to a ghost, the player must let them get as close as possible before getting a photo.

* ''VideoGame/FatalFrameII: Crimson Butterfly'' -- ([=PS2=], Xbox; 2003)
** ''[[VideoGameRemake Deep Crimson Butterfly]]'' -- (Wii; 2012) [[superscript:Japan and Europe only]]

* ''Zero: The Novel'' (2002)
* ''Fatal Frame: A Curse Affecting Only Girls'' (2014) -- The basis of the live-action movie.

* ''Zero 3: Comic Anthology'' (2005)
* ''Zero: Shadow Priestess'' (2014-2017)

* ''Fatal Frame''[[note]]''Gekijōban Rei ~Zero~'' in Japan[[/note]] (2014) -- Features cameos of ''Manga/TheKurosagiCorpseDeliveryService'' characters.

* ActionSurvivor: All of the playable characters.

* AssholeVictim: Most of the people involved with the rituals, with very few exceptions.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: Most of the large, notable families connected to the rituals.

** The Doll Room in the first game.
** The dolls of the Kiryu House in ''Crimson Butterfly'', especially some that look almost exactly like Akane and Azami Kiryu.

** Downplayed with Miya and played straight with Watashi in ''Mask of the Lunar Eclipse''.

* DeadlyLunge: Ghosts do this to harm the player.

* GhostlyChill: Used throughout the series, indicating that a place is haunted.

* {{Hellgate}}: Most games have one nearby that needs to be sealed or unspeakable terror is unleashed.

* ImplacableMan: All of the [[BigBad Big Bads]] and [[TheDragon Dragons]] cannot be defeated, until the final encounter with them.

* JacobMarleyApparel: Expect at least one ghost to look like this.

* MagicalCamera: The Camera Obscura.

* MenacingMask

** ''[[VideoGame/{{FatalFrameMaskOfTheLunarEclipse}} Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse]]'': Masks are one of the prominent motifs of the game. Some instances include:

* {{Miko}}: Several of the shrine maidens in the games.

* SensorSuspense: Occurs when hunting for hidden ghosts.

* SpookyPhotographs: The core element of the series.
* StringyhairedGhostGirl: Being a series about ghosts in Japan, several ghosts appear like this.

* TooDumbToLive: Entire villages are guilty of this because they choose to build their village near a local hellgate, and prefer to perform human sacrifices to appease it and prevent a disaster to happen that would only reach the immediate, surrounding area. Instead of doing the sensible thing and not building their homes there or simply moving further away. This is largely [[invoked]] ValuesDissonance to Western players, but it's an infuriatingly simple solution that makes it difficult to pity the dead people.

* VirginSacrifice: Majority of the rituals required one.

* ''VideoGame/FatalFrameI'' -- (UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}}; 2001)

* ''VideoGame/FatalFrameMaskOfTheLunarEclipse'' -- (UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}; 2008) (UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/PlayStation5, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS, UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}; 2023)
* ''VideoGame/FatalFrameMaidenOfBlackWater'' -- (UsefulNotes/WiiU; 2014) (Switch, [=PS4=], [=PS5=], XBO, XBXS, Steam; 2021)

* ''VideoGame/SpiritCameraTheCursedMemoir'' -- (UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS; 2012)

* GirlyRun: Several of the female protagonists run slowly and with delicate gestures.

** Attempting to complete the Ghost List or sidequests without one nearby is incredibly difficult. Not only do several ghosts only appear upon completing sidequests or going in the opposite direction of where the plot demands, some ghosts don't appear unless it's a [[NewGamePlus consecutive]] playthrough and a certain camera function is activated.

* PlotlineDeath: [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/FatalFrameI Mafuyu Hinasaki]], [[VideoGame/FatalFrameII Mayu Amakura]], and [[VideoGame/FatalFrameIV Madoka Tsukimori]]]] are the canonical deaths.

* ''VideoGame/FatalFrameMaidenOfBlackWater'' -- (UsefulNotes/WiiU; 2014) (UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/PlayStation5, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS, UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}; 2021)

** Shigeto Haibara, director of the Haibara Hospital, wore a golden/yellow mask with a pained expression during the failed ritual (in the game's backstory).
** Souya Yomotsuki, protagonist Ruka Minazuki's father, [[spoiler: also becomes a ghost after the failed ritual.]] When he is encountered through the game, he is seen with a scary mask and attacks with masks.
** Finally, the method to create the titular "Mask of the Lunar Eclipse": [[spoiler: among other things, it involves removing the face of a person who has Bloomed (an in-game physical condition that affects the face).]]

* GenderRestrictedAbility: Women are more likely to possess a powerful sixth sense.

* ''VideoGame/FatalFrameMaskOfTheLunarEclipse'' -- (UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}; 2008) [[superscript:Japan only]]