History VideoGame / Shardlight

* BloodKnight: As the final showdown approaches [[spoiler:Danton]] gives worrying signs of this, first with needless brutality and aggression and then with [[spoiler:all the talk about justice and freedom for the people suddenly being displaced by rhethoric about taking the villain's place and tearing down his government]]. Indeed, if one of the two non-ideal endings is selected, [[spoiler:Danton just goes on fighting and shedding blood -- she admits the possibility of future diplomacy, but more like an afterthought]].

--> "The gameplay and story itself is very compelling, but suffers badly from violent swings in tone between wacky hijinx (having a friendly crow harrass a guard to sneak by him,) to ultra-violence (ultimately escaping by causing an unmaintained HVAC unit to fall on said guard, pulverising his skull in a mass of blood.)"

* TheBadGuyWins: If Amy [[spoiler: spares Tiberius and kills Danton]], the rebellion will be crushed once and for all and Tiberius will have [[KarmaHoudini gotten away with everything he did]]. Slightly [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]], as Tiberius' HeelRealization means that things won't be as bad as they were before, but even so.
* BloodKnight: As the final showdown approaches [[spoiler: Danton]] gives worrying signs of this, first with needless brutality and aggression and then with [[spoiler: all the talk about justice and freedom for the people suddenly being displaced by rhethoric about taking the villain's place and tearing down his government]]. Indeed, if one of the two non-ideal endings is selected, [[spoiler: Danton just goes on fighting and shedding blood -- she admits the possibility of future diplomacy, but more like an afterthought]].

** The real example of this trope, though, is [[spoiler: the Reaper himself. He's the traditional skeleton in a black cloak, has an army of ravens, and is associated with death... and he's actually a disguise invented by Dr. Edwin Aquino, a scientist working on a cure for Green Lung and probably the closest thing to a BigGood left in this world.]]

* DrivenToMadness: [[spoiler: Tiberius]] lost his family when the bombs fell, and it somewhat broke his grip on reality. Though he remains mostly lucid he's [[spoiler: put the fetus of his unborn son in a jar and talks to it as if it were a grown child, even going so far as to educate "him" in science. To be clear, the fetus is just that -- it's never shown as even remotely sentient, nor even biologically alive]].

* FaceHeelTurn: A [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] version in one of the endings. [[spoiler: If Amy choose to side with Tiberius, she will have ensured he and the Aristocracy will have complete control, breaking her promises to everyone she befriended on her journey. This is downplayed because Tiberius does keep his word by distributing a cure for Green Lung, but Amy is still rewarded for siding with the man who had her friends killed.]]
* FacialCompositeFailure: [[spoiler: The sketch of Amy on her WantedPoster depicts her with a protruding brow ridge. She complains aloud that it doesn't even look like her.]]
* FindTheCure: Amy has Green Lung. Her illness drives her motivation to find a possible cure. [[spoiler: After Aquino successfully makes one, she's no longer this.]]
* FullCircleRevolution: Invoked and defied; [[spoiler: Danton's ultimate scheme is to take up Tiberius' mask and become the new leader of the Aristocracy... so she can drive them off a cliff with crazy orders and give the rest of the population enough motivation to complete her uprising. And after hearing this scheme, Amy can kill her and Tiberius, ending the revolution and instating leaders who aren't extremists.]]
* GovernmentConspiracy: [[spoiler: The Aristocracy's been hoarding vaccine for decades and could give it to ''everybody'', but they don't because the leadership believes that to do so would ruin any semblance of order, and the newfound prosperity would cause another attack to the country]].

* HeelRealization: [[spoiler: Tiberius became somewhat-saner after his TraumaCongaLine from having seen the jar containing his unborn son's preserved fetus smashed in his duel against Danton along with the uprising caused by the vaccine-hoarding measure if Amy chose to spare him.]]

* KarmaHoudini: In the ending where Amy [[spoiler: sides with him, Tiberius will go unpunished for everything he has done and all the people he has killed (both via the guards and the people he let die or Green Lung). He even becomes a VillainWithGoodPublicity when the people credit him for curing Green Lung]].

** [[spoiler: Danton plans on doing this to Tiberius so she can bring down the Aristocracy from the inside. She'll do just that if you kill Tiberius at the end.]]
** [[spoiler: If you kill both Tiberius and Danton, Amy will be the one who takes on the Tiberius persona.]]
* LaResistance: Turns out that there is one, simply known as "The Rebellion", and [[spoiler: Danton is their leader]].
* LastSecondEndingChoice: Two minutes before the credits roll, [[spoiler: you choose to kill Tiberius, Danton, or both and get an ending based on your choice]].
* MercyKill: Given to the technician, [[spoiler: Milton]], right at the beginning of the game. [[spoiler: Optionally given to Denby as a way of sparing him from being tortured further]].

* MortonsFork: When Denby [[spoiler: is being tortured you can MercyKill him by shooting an arrow into his heart. If you try to save him by shooting the man torturing him, the guard next to them will kill Denby with his bayonet. If you shoot the guard, the man doing the torturing will pull out a knife and kill Denby. These are your only options, and there is no way to save Denby]].

* OmnicidalNeutral: Amy can choose to embrace this at the end of the game [[spoiler: by killing Tiberius and then backstabbing Dalton for good measure. Since they're both extremists, this can be considered a good thing]].
* PrematurelyGreyHaired: [[spoiler: Jess is one of the few people who has had an encounter with the mysterious Reaper and lived to tell the tale. The encounter was so terrifying that her hair turned white over night.]]
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: [[spoiler: Danton]] is arguably the personification of this trope to the point.
** Somewhat foreshadowed by the fact [[spoiler: her]] name is a very obvious reference to [[spoiler: Georges Danton, one of the French Revolutionaries. Who, coincidentally, ended up being executed by another faction of French Revolutionaries]].

* TakeAThirdOption: The ending. [[spoiler: Tiberius and Danton fight and, being mostly matched in skill, it comes to Amy to choose whom of the two to kill and how to end the game. But Amy can take the option to kill both -- which in fact gives the best ending]].
* TragicKeepsake: The Quicksilver, an old model car Amy and her father spent their time tinkering with before he passed away. In the story's present time, it's held up in Amy's garage gathering dust due to being unable to find the proper components for such a model. [[spoiler: During her hallucinogenic trip in the Acolytes of the Reaper, Amy reveals her guilt of never finishing, believing it would let her father down. He (or, a hallucination of him) quickly shuts that down.]]
* TrustPassword: Members of LaResistance identify each other and their collaborators with the phrase "[[spoiler: I'd have / I've got the perfect life.]]"
* WantedPoster: [[spoiler: Posters of Amy goes up in the market district after she manages to evade capture by Tiberius' guards.]]

* TheBadGuyWins: If Amy [[spoiler:spares Tiberius and kills Danton]], the rebellion will be crushed once and for all and Tiberius will have [[KarmaHoudini gotten away with everything he did]]. Slightly [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]], as Tiberius' HeelRealization means that things won't be as bad as they were before, but even so.
* BloodKnight: As the final showdown approaches [[spoiler:Danton]] gives worrying signs of this, first with needless brutality and aggression and then with [[spoiler:all the talk about justice and freedom for the people suddenly being displaced by rhethoric about taking the villain's place and tearing down his government]]. Indeed, if one of the two non-ideal endings is selected, [[spoiler:Danton just goes on fighting and shedding blood - she admits the possibility of future diplomacy, but more like an afterthought]].

** The real example of this trope, though, is [[spoiler: the Reaper himself. He's the traditional skeleton in a black cloak, has an army of ravens, and is associated with death...and he's actually a disguise invented by Dr. Edwin Aquino, a scientist working on a cure for Green Lung and probably the closest thing to a BigGood left in this world.]]

* DrivenToMadness: [[spoiler:Tiberius]] lost his family when the bombs fell, and it somewhat broke his grip on reality. Though he remains mostly lucid he's [[spoiler:put the fetus of his unborn son in a jar and talks to it as if it were a grown child, even going so far as to educate "him" in science. To be clear, the fetus is just that - it's never shown as even remotely sentient, nor even biologically alive]].

* FaceHeelTurn: A [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] version in one of the endings. [[spoiler:If Amy choose to side with Tiberius, she will have ensured he and the Aristocracy will have complete control, breaking her promises to everyone she befriended on her journey. This is downplayed because Tiberius does keep his word by distributing a cure for Green Lung, but Amy is still rewarded for siding with the man who had her friends killed.]]
* FacialCompositeFailure: [[spoiler:The sketch of Amy on her WantedPoster depicts her with a protruding brow ridge. She complains aloud that it doesn't even look like her.]]
* FindTheCure: Amy has Green Lung. Her illness drives her motivation to find a possible cure. [[spoiler:After Aquino successfully makes one, she's no longer this.]]
* FullCircleRevolution: Invoked and defied; [[spoiler:Danton's ultimate scheme is to take up Tiberius' mask and become the new leader of the Aristocracy... so she can drive them off a cliff with crazy orders and give the rest of the population enough motivation to complete her uprising. And after hearing this scheme, Amy can kill her and Tiberius, ending the revolution and instating leaders who aren't extremists.]]
* GovernmentConspiracy: [[spoiler:The Aristocracy's been hoarding vaccine for decades and could give it to ''everybody'', but they don't because the leadership believes that to do so would ruin any semblance of order, and the newfound prosperity would cause another attack to the country]].

* HeelRealization: [[spoiler:Tiberius became somewhat-saner after his TraumaCongaLine from having seen the jar containing his unborn son's preserved fetus smashed in his duel against Danton along with the uprising caused by the vaccine-hoarding measure if Amy chose to spare him.]]

* KarmaHoudini: In the ending where Amy [[spoiler:sides with him, Tiberius will go unpunished for everything he has done and all the people he has killed (both via the guards and the people he let die or Green Lung). He even becomes a VillainWithGoodPublicity when the people credit him for curing Green Lung]].

** [[spoiler:Danton plans on doing this to Tiberius so she can bring down the Aristocracy from the inside. She'll do just that if you kill Tiberius at the end.]]
** [[spoiler:If you kill both Tiberius and Danton, Amy will be the one who takes on the Tiberius persona.]]
* LaResistance: Turns out that there is one, simply known as "The Rebellion", and [[spoiler:Danton is their leader]].
* LastSecondEndingChoice: Two minutes before the credits roll, [[spoiler:you choose to kill Tiberius, Danton, or both and get an ending based on your choice]].
* MercyKill: Given to the technician, [[spoiler:Milton]], right at the beginning of the game. [[spoiler:Optionally given to Denby as a way of sparing him from being tortured further]].

* MortonsFork: When Denby [[spoiler:is being tortured you can MercyKill him by shooting an arrow into his heart. If you try to save him by shooting the man torturing him, the guard next to them will kill Denby with his bayonet. If you shoot the guard, the man doing the torturing will pull out a knife and kill Denby. These are your only options, and there is no way to save Denby]].

* OmnicidalNeutral: Amy can choose to embrace this at the end of the game [[spoiler:by killing Tiberius and then backstabbing Dalton for good measure. Since they're both extremists, this can be considered a good thing]].
* PrematurelyGreyHaired: [[spoiler:Jess is one of the few people who has had an encounter with the mysterious Reaper and lived to tell the tale. The encounter was so terrifying that her hair turned white over night.]]
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: [[spoiler:Danton]] is arguably the personification of this trope to the point.
** Somewhat foreshadowed by the fact [[spoiler:her]] name is a very obvious reference to [[spoiler:Georges Danton, one of the French Revolutionaries. Who, coincidentally, ended up being executed by another faction of French Revolutionaries]].

* TakeAThirdOption: The ending. [[spoiler:Tiberius and Danton fight and, being mostly matched in skill, it comes to Amy to choose whom of the two to kill and how to end the game. But Amy can take the option to kill both -- which in fact gives the best ending]].
* TragicKeepsake: The Quicksilver, an old model car Amy and her father spent their time tinkering with before he passed away. In the story's present time, it's held up in Amy's garage gathering dust due to being unable to find the proper components for such a model. [[spoiler:During her hallucinogenic trip in the Acolytes of the Reaper, Amy reveals her guilt of never finishing, believing it would let her father down. He (or, a hallucination of him) quickly shuts that down.]]
* TrustPassword: Members of LaResistance identify each other and their collaborators with the phrase "[[spoiler:I'd have/I've got the perfect life.]]"
* WantedPoster: [[spoiler:Posters of Amy goes up in the market district after she manages to evade capture by Tiberius' guards.]]

* DarkIsNotEvil: The Acolytes of the Reaper are a death cult who wear black top hats, but they are peaceful and don't encourage suicide or death by unnatural means. Every person you meet affiliated with them is friendly and kind.
** The real example of this trope, though, is [[spoiler: the Reaper himself. He's the traditional skeleton in a black cloak and is associated with death...and he's actually a disguise invented by Dr. Edwin Aquino, a scientist working on a cure for Green Lung and probably the closest thing to a BigGood left in this world.]]

* DarkIsNotEvil: The Acolytes of the Reaper are a death cult, but they are peaceful and don't encourage suicide or death by unnatural means. Every person you meet affiliated with them is friendly and kind.