History VideoGame / HiddenCity

* TheDictatorship: The Upper City is a rare, benevolent version of a military/law enforcement dictatorship. Mr. Black, the Head of the Security Service, seems to hold all the regulatory power without having to answer to anyone. As the de facto leader of Upper City, Mr. Black imposes a harsh curfew on the area (a policy known as the Law of Black) and keeps most of the city's anti-fog crystal supplies in the possession of the Security Services, thus allowing him to to control who will be granted its protection. He had also forcibly evicted people and sealed off entire areas he suspects to be affected by the fog, and keeps close tabs on all the citizens. Of course, many people aren't happy with his rule and some have even formed a Resistance to overthrow him. However, Black is GoodIsNotNice, and he does genuinely want to keep the people in his city safe (even if his decisions aren't always effective and he's too proud and stubborn to listen to others), and the game is mostly on his side when threats to his power arise.

** The Peacock Lady is an Indian Princess who was arranged to be married to a British Minister. Instead, she fell in love with one of her fiance's subordinates and attempted to elope with him.
** Nora Dunn mentions that her marriage to Douglas was arranged by her parents for money. It is later revealed that the wedding between her daughter Mirel and Abner Old was similarly arraged by Douglas.

* IJustWantToBeBeautiful: In the "Dancing with Ghostsr" case, the Detective finds a diary entry from the Mistress of the Manor that reveals that she [[UglyAllAlong used to be ugly]], and she wants beauty so much that she made a DealWithTheDevil to gain her current looks and sacrificed numerous souls to keep it.

* TrueMeaningOfChristmas: The theme of the "What's in the Heart of Christmas?" case. Ms. Izzy, the City's newly appointed Santa Claus, tries to "modernize" the celebration by using the latest technology to create and deliver gifts as quickly and efficiently as possible, without really considering what the people really want or need. Unsurprisingly, most of the citizens were not satisfied by Izzy's gifts, and with Adeline's help, the new Santa comes to the realization that Christmas is about the joy and warmth of tradition and spending time together with loved ones, and not just about getting presents.

* SplitPersonality: In “The Outlaw” case, an inventor in the Upper City named Adam Kinde is accused of using his inventions to direct fog for nefarious purposes. It’s revealed that [[spoiler: he actually had an EnemyWithin named Arcane, which Adam knew only as “Friend”. In the end, the evil personality is expelled from Adam and trapped in a Soul Vault.]]

* LivingLegend: The mysterious Order of the Five, of which the Collector and the Architect is a member, seems to have an almost mythical status among the citizens of the City of Shadows, as their creations have {{reality warp|er}}ing capacity. The Architect is particularly revered in the Upper City, as she had single-handedly rebuilt the region from destruction that resulted from a devastating earthquake several years ago. Rayden and, especially, Alicia idolize her very much.

* ThePowerOfLove: Discussed by an overjoyed Fabien when his beloved Angelique retains her sentience even after [[spoiler:she gave up her soul to restore Anna's]]. He claims that this is due to the power of his love giving her true life, although this is subverted as Angelique's continued sentience was caused by the fog's magic rather than Faebien's love.

** And in the “Secrets of the Order of Five”, [[spoiler: we learn that the real name of Avocado, a mysterious antagonist to Mr. Black and others in the Upper City, is Sebastian Broderick.]]

* UglyAllAlong: The Mistress of the Manor, a beautiful practitioner of dark magic, confesses in her diaries that she was born with an ugly face, and that she made a DealWithTheDevil to gain beauty in exchange of human souls. It is implied that she used the gorgon magic to petrify all the guests during her Centennial Party to sacrifice them to the devil to retain her looks. Her real appearance has not been revealed to us however,

* MagicVersusScience: The "Secrets of the Flamesite" case has Mr. Black and the player investigate a fire incident at an infamous flame site, which Black believes is arson. There, they meet a paranormal investigator hired by the homeowner, who insists that the fire was caused by mystical means. [[spoiler: Although the paranormal investigator is revealed to be a descendant of the people who originally built the house and was trying to regain her ancestral home, she wasn’t behind the fire and the fire was caused by magical means.]]

* MagicVersusScience: The "Secrets of the Flamesite" case has Mr. Black and the player investigate a fire incident at an infamous flame site, which Black believes is arson. There, they meet a paranormal investigator hired by the homeowner, who insists that the fire was caused by mystical means.

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: The Cardsharp is a notoriously greedy gambler who frequently gets himself and others in trouble with his numerous (sometimes poorly thought-out) money-making schemes. Martha and Isabelle frequently complain about him and say that he needs to be locked away like many the demons and anomalies they regularly banish, and the Detective treats him as a prime suspect whenever some funny business is going on. Yet despite their obvious distaste towards the Cardsharp, they'd always come to his rescue whenever he does find himself in harm's way, and gives him their full support when for his less questionable endeavours.

* ActionGirl: The Huntress is a monster expert who teaches the player on how to fight and defeat monsters. Kira Woodville is a competent Security Service agent who is sent as Rayden Storke's bodyguard. Violet is the head of the Octopus division of the Security Service that specialize in "eliminating unwanted situations" [[spoiler: until her ambition drives her to [[AmbitionIsEvil align with the Shadow Cult]], turning her into a DarkActionGirl.]]

* WhosLaughingNow: In the “High Stakes Game” case, a gambler named Master F. not only lured Cardsharp into the Mystical Tournament in order to get Cardsharp’s lucky clover amulet, he had earlier gotten the talents of a group of four players named the Fantastic Four, killing the four as a result since a gambler dies quickly after losing their gifts. During the investigation, the player discovered that Master F. had once been a very unlucky player and bitterly resented those who laughed at him whenever he lost. Ultimately, Master F. decided to become the best and greatest gambler by obtaining the talents of the Fantastic Four and Cardsharp in order to get back at those who laughed at him.

* WhosLaughingNow: In the “High Stakes Game” case, a gambler named Master F. not only lured Cardsharp into the Mystical Tournament in order to get Cardsharp’s lucky clover amulet, he had earlier gotten the talents of a group of four players named the Fantastic Four, killing the four as a result since a gambler dies quickly after losing their gifts. During the investigation, the player discovered that Master F. had once been a very unlucky player and bitterly resented those who laughed at him whenever he lost. Ultimately, Master F. decided to become the best and greatest gambler by obtaining the talents of the Fantastic Four and Cardsharp in order to see the reactions of those who laughed at him.

* WhosLaughingNow: In the “High Stakes Game” case, a gambler named Master F. not only lured Cardsharp into the Mystical Tournament in order to get Cardsharp’s lucky clover amulet, he had earlier gotten the talents of a group of four players named the Fantastic Four, killing the four as a result since a gambler dies quickly after losing their gifts. During the investigation, the player discovered that Master F. had once been a very unlucky player and bitterly resented those who laughed at him whenever he lost. Ultimately, Master F. decided to become the best and greatest gambler by obtaining the talents of the Fantastic Four and Cardsharp in order to see the reactions of those who laughed at him.
* WolverinePublicity: The game often uses the character artworks of extremely minor characters as their app icon/thumbnail and social media accounts' profile picture. For example, the Dancer (depicted in the current page image) only appears in the "Dancing with Ghosts" case, and even then she only shows up twice at the very beginning and the end of the case to give exposition about herself before disappearing from the City for good.

* WhosLaughingNow: In the “High Stakes Game” case, a gambler named Master F. not only lured Cardsharp into the Mystical Tournament in order to get Cardsharp’s lucky clover amulet, he had earlier gotten the talents of a group of four players named the Fantastic Four, killing the four as a result since a gambler dies quickly after losing their gifts. During the investigation, the player discovers that Master F. had once been a very unlucky player and bitterly resented those who laughed at him whenever he lost. Ultimately, Master F. decides to become the best gambler by obtaining the talents of the Fantastic Four and Cardsharp in order to see the reactions of those who laughed at him.

* ImpoverishedPatrician: The Mistress of the Manor was born to a noble family but [[RichesToRags fell into poverty]] after a fire burned all her family's fortune. The Mistress decided to return to her former life of luxury by marrying a rich man, and to do this she attended many distinguished balls in hopes of securing a husband. Evidently, she still has enough status to be invited to those balls despite her lack of wealth. Unfortunately, [[UglyAllAlong wasn’t pretty enough to attract a rich man]], hence her DealWithTheDevil.

* IJustWantToBeBeautiful: In the "Dancing with Ghosts" case, the Detective finds a diary entry from the Mistress of the Manor that reveals that she [[UglyAllAlong used to be ugly]], and she wants beauty so much that she made a DealWithTheDevil to gain her current looks and sacrificed numerous souls to keep it.
* ImpoverishedPatrician: The Mistress of the Manor was born to a noble family but [[RichesToRags fell into poverty]] after a fire burned all her family's fortune. The Mistress decided to return to her former life of luxury by marrying a rich man, and to do this she attended many distinguished balls in hopes of securing a husband. Evidently, she still have enough of a status to be invited to those balls despite her lack of wealth.

* ActionGirl: The Huntress is a monster expert who teaches the player on how to fight and defeat monsters. Kira Woodville is a competent Security Service agent who is sent as Rayden Storke's bodyguard. Violet is the head of the Octopus division of the Security Service that specialize in "eliminating unwanted situations" [[spoiler: until her ambition drives her to [[AmbitionIsEvil align with the Shadow Cult, turning her into a DarkActionGirl.]]

* ActionGirl: The Huntress is a monster expert who teaches the player on how to fight and defeat monsters. Kira Woodville is a competent Security Service agent who is sent as Rayden Storke's bodyguard. Violet is the head of the Octopus division of the Security Service that specialize in "eliminating unwanted situations".

* GoodPolicingEvilPolicing: The Security Service, which is led by Mr. Black, is embroiled in a conflict against the Octopus Division, which is led by Violet. The Octopus Division used to be a special branch of the Security Service whose task is to "eliminate unwanted situations", but at some point Violet and the rest of the Octopus Division decide to betray the law and join the evil Shadow Cult in their bid for more power. The two sides haven't engaged in an open conflict yet, since the citizens are unaware of the Octopus Division's FaceHeelTurn, but the two sides would use other methods to try and dismantle the other's influence over the City.