History VideoGame / TheCave

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: The punishment for thieves on the Gift Shop "usually involves beatings and [[CrowningMomentOfFunny reading poetry]]."

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:The Scientist, Monk and Adventurer are actually rewarded for their misdeeds if you take the dark path with them.]]

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Intended as part of the story in many cases. The game is quick, though, to hit you with...
* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: Oh yes, [[PlayerPunch and how]]... [[spoiler: [[KarmaHoudini Some]] [[KarmicDeath of]] [[DrivenToSuicide the]] endings are [[TearJerker rather sad]] too. [[YouBastard You cruel, cruel person]].]]

* SchrodingersPlayerCharacter: Semi-averted; there is an area in the Cave specific to every character that you can enter the cave with, regardless of your party, but you will only be able (and forced) to enter the ones pertaining to the characters in your party. If you reach an area but don't have the character in your party, you can't go inside and another path will be available to bypass it.
* SecretTestOfCharacter: [[spoiler:While each character does horrible things in the Cave in order to benefit themselves, in the end, they are allowed the option of giving back what they seemed to so desperately seek.]]

* BeneathTheEarth
* BlackComedy

* CharacterTitle
* CreepyTwins

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:The bad ending for the Twins.]]

* IfICantHaveYou: [[spoiler:The bad ending for the Hillbilly is an...extreme example.]]

* LemonyNarrator: The Cave itself narrates the story, but .

* [[spoiler:MyGreatestFailure: All characters effectively go through this in their paths. Whether they ''view'' them as failures or successes is up to the player. Or maybe they didn't *really* do those bad things in the real world if you get their good ending. It's a little ambiguous.]]
* NoodleIncident: While exploring the cave, you find out about previous adventurers, such as a pirate, a robot, a clown, and Isaac Newton, and never hear about them again.
** [[spoiler: The trinkets to pass the gift shop are the objects of desire of characters who earned the bad ending. Makes you wonder about who wanted the Cursed Guitar, the Jeweled Skull, and the Thespian Award Statue that are the default trinkets if no one has earned the bad ending yet. To say nothing of the stories behind the Miner, the Huntress, and the Hermit, who, by their positions in the endgame, are also implied to be Cave sojourners.]]
*** [[spoiler: It's implied that it was the pirate, the clown and the robot who were the previous party and are found dead later.]]

* PostEndGameContent: [[spoiler:During the intro, the characters are required to fetch three treasures for the gift shop, which are a Cursed Guitar, a Jeweled Skull, and a Thespian Award Statue by default. Completing the game with one or more bad endings will replace said treasures (and their surrounding themed display and skeleton) with those of now-deceased characters.]]
* [[spoiler:RedemptionEarnsLife]]

* SevenDeadlySins: Each character represents one of these in one way or another. For example:

** Gluttony: [[spoiler:The Adventurer, who wants to keep all the glory of her and her friends' discoveries for herself.]]
** Greed: [[spoiler:The Scientist, who was driven to use her intellect for destructive purposes by the promise of money.]]

** Pride: [[spoiler:The Monk, whose unwillingness to accept his own failures causes him to lash out against his master and his fellow monks.]]

** Wrath: [[spoiler:The Twins, who violently rebel against their uptight parents with {{Deadly Prank}}s.]]
*** YMMV on which character corresponds to which sin. [[spoiler: For example, one could argue that the Monk is Wrath, as his rage and frustration with failure drive him to murder the other, more successful monks and the Twins are Pride, believing they don't need their parents.]]
*** It's possible to interpret [[spoiler: The Adventurer as Pride (wanting all the fame), the Monk being Wrath for previously-stated reasons, and the Twins for being Gluttony (their parents spoil them with many gifts, and yet they still want more).]]
*** Another possibility is [[spoiler:the Adventurer as Greed, as she wanted all of the loot and glory to herself, and the Scientist as Gluttony, due to having already received a massive grant for her previous work and is being paid even more to weaponize her work.]]

* SweetAndSourGrapes: [[spoiler:If you make the characters give up that which they desire most, they invariably get a happier ending and little rewards for doing the right thing (particularly in the case of the hillbilly, who find love with a nice girl.]]

* VillainProtagonist: Almost all of the player characters, as it's quickly revealed that they all have selfish motives to do some very terribly things.

* AltumVidetur[=/=]{{Leitmotif}}[=/=]OminousLatinChanting: The Cave's main theme features a latin chant of ''Damus te:'' "We give you."

** AllThatGlitters[=/=]SweetAndSourGrapes: You may, however, find that sometimes, you get what you ''need''.
*** FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: Zigzagged. You can get most things you want if you're willing to hurt or kill other people to get them...[[spoiler:But if you are, the best part of you is already dead.]]
* [[spoiler: AChatWithSatan[=/=]LeaveYourQuestTest[=/=]SecretTestOfCharacter: You can attempt to give your characters' objects of Desire back to the gift shop owner, but he will try to dissuade you from doing so [[RuleOfThree three times]], mentioning all the effort and all the people you hurt involved in getting them. Give them back anyway, and you get the good endings.]]

* AntiHero: All of the playable characters, if not downright anti-villians.
** VillainProtagonist

** StupidityIsTheOnlyOption: [[spoiler: The Knight's level leans closer to this trope since, as noted below, the Knight is the only playable character who never ''willingly'' kills anyone.]]

* EveryoneHasASpecialMove
** NighInvulnerability: The Knight
** SuperNotDrowningSkills: The Hillbilly
** FlashStep: The Time-Traveler
** HollywoodHacking: The Scientist
** BuildingSwing: The Adventurer
** SelfDuplication: The Twins
** MindOverMatter: The Monk

* GeniusLoci

* LemonyNarrator: The Cave itself.

* SchrodingersGun/[[SchrodingersPlayerCharacter Player Character]]: Played with. The Cave has the same layout on each playthrough and some areas are mandatory. However, there is an area in the Cave specific to each character but you will only be able (and forced) to enter the ones pertaining to the characters in your party. If you reach an area but don't have the character in your party, you can't go inside and another path will be available to bypass it.
* [[spoiler:SecretTestOfCharacter: While each character does horrible things in the Cave in order to benefit themselves, in the end, they are allowed the option of giving back what they seemed to so desperately seek.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to DoubleFine's other works. The sheer amount of character deaths and BlackComedy would make it stand out even if the game didn't make it easy for players to walk into a BadEnding.

* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: Try bringing various objects to the Gift Shop Clerk during the opening sequence. He's got a unique response for almost everything you can possibly bring him.

* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: The Monk level has the classic puzzle of balancing weights against two urns that don't equal the same weight.
** It is also averted however; as you're given a URL that gives you the solution of the puzzle if you can't be bothered to figure it out for yourself.

** Also WorldWarOne and president [[UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt Franklin D.]] Music/BonJovi.

** The Hermit is [[TheMusicMan Trouble, with a capital T]], which stands for...Hermit?

** There are [[VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland New Grog]] machines littered throughout the Cave. The Cave will try to remember some Sea Shanty, "[[VideoGame/MonkeyIslandLeChucksRevenge 99 bottles of beer on the wall...]]"

** There are [[VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland New Grog]] machines littered throughout the Cave.

** The three treasures from the tutorial area are all Double Fine or LucasArts references: A jeweled skull for [[VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland Guybrush]], a cursed guitar for [[VideoGame/BrutalLegend Eddie Riggs]], and Gloria Von Gouton's acting award from ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}''.

* [[WalkLikeAnEgyptian Walk Like An Adventurer]]

** Also WorldWarOne and president [[UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt Franklin D.]] BonJovi

** A minor one occurs during the Twins' run. The Cave says he wants to make a Mary Poppins reference, but he don't want to get sued....again.

-->'''Store Clerk:''' "I need just three small trinkets to open the Cave. Let me say that number again, ''three''.

* AnimalNemesis: The huntress seems to consider the Crystal Cave Beast this
* AntagonisticOffspring: The Twins [[spoiler:They would've become self-made orphans if their plan had gone as they intended.]]

** If for some reason you leave the crowbar behind before you move on to The Gift Shop, it will respawn at the falling pool.

* BeneathTheEarth.

* BuffySpeak: in the Knight's level every torch on the wall has a different description starting with 'flame', 'flaming torch', etc. It soon falls into this calling one a '[[TimeyWimeyBall flamey-wamey]] [[Series/DoctorWho thing]]' and another a 'ouchy-hot-burny thing'.

* CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: [[spoiler:''Every'' level with an NPC can only be beaten by horribly screwing them over in one way or the other.]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to DoubleFine's other works. The sheer amount of character deaths and BlackComedy would make it stand out even if the game didn't make it easy for players to walk into a BadEnding.
* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: Even The Cave says there can't be any real death; you just teleport back to safe ground in a white mist if you perform a death-worthy action (including [[NotTheFallThatKillsYou falling from a height]]).
* {{Deconstruction}}: Of the zany adventure game Trickster hero. While silly, the generally selfish actions of the protagonists get a lot of people hurt or killed outright [[spoiler: including, in many endings, the protagonists themselves]].

* ElaborateUndergroundBase: The Scientists section is one, complete with a functional Nuclear Missle.

* FutureImperfect: When you travel to the future (possibly 1 million years from now but The Cave has problems with periods of time, so who knows?) the museum has exhibitions on "ancient man" which includes;

** Smurg[[note]]Keys[[/note]]: nobody knows what ancient man uses these devices for but archeologists have discovered that man use to carry reams of these devices on their person and have suggested a religious purpose. Others however have said that it may have been used by boys to add curls to their long hair.
** Ranfusts[[note]]Buckets[[/note]]: no intact example of this device has ever been found but archeologists believed that it was a type of clothing.

* IfICantHaveYou: [[spoiler:The bad ending for the Hillbilly is an... extreme example.]]

* LeetLingo: The scientist must have l33t hacking skills according to The Cave.
* MindScrew: And how. It's very debatable just how much actually happens in the cave and how much is just illusion, not to mention if the events in the character areas are things that have happened, things that will happen, things that are currently happening or just tests of character.
* MultipleEndings: [[spoiler:At the end of the game the shop owner gives each character what what they came for, but if you talk to him several times you can give it back, getting a different ending for each. After deciding for all three, The Cave will comment differently depending on how many took each one.]]

** A minor one occurs during the twins run. The cave says he wants to make a Mary Poppins reference, but he don't want to get sued....again.
* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: the Monk level has the classic puzzle of balancing weights against two urns that don't equal the same weight.

-->'''Store Clerk:''' "I need just three small trinkets to open The Cave. Let me say that number again, ''three''.
* SchrodingersGun/[[SchrodingersPlayerCharacter Player Character]]: Played with. The Cave has the same layout on each playthrough and some areas are mandatory. However, there is an area in the cave specific to each character but you will only be able(and forced) to enter the ones pertaining to the characters in your party. If you reach an area but don't have the character in your party, you can't go inside and another path will be available to bypass it.

** 'Remorse', which requires you to [[spoiler: take the postcard from The Cave's Gift Shop and keep it with you for the entire game.]] Either you keep it with one of your characters at all times, preventing them from using any other items, or else drop it somewhere and risk forgetting about it and [[PointOfNoReturn leaving it behind forever]].

** The Cave Paintings bear a bit of a resemblance in art style to ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' Memory Vaults. [[spoiler: The subjects of those don't get nearly as dark as some of these, though...]]

** There are [[VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland New Grog]] machines littered throughout The Cave.

** The Annoying Hermit on the island resembles [[VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland Herman Toothrot]].

** The Hermit is [[TheMusicMan Trouble, with a capital T]], which stands for... Hermit?

* SpikesOfDoom: Especially prevalent in The Adventurer's section of the cave.
* SpiritualSuccessor: The game shares and updates many gameplay concepts from Gilbert's ''Videogame/ManiacMansion''.
** The Time Travelers Section feels very reminiscent of ''VideoGame/DayOfTheTentacle'', the sequel to ''Maniac Mansion''.

** Which is [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration a major part of the storyline]] in The Adventurer's level.

* TimeyWimeyBall: Due to the strange nature of the Cave, the Time Travelers section is one of these.

* TwoKeyedLock: several puzzles require characters to pull switches/stand on pressure pads to allow other characters to past. Also a literal three-keyed-lock is in the scientist level.

** The Scientist's part has several to ''Film/DrStrangelove''.
*** Including her cave paintings, where one of the other scientists bears so much similarity to Dr. Strangelove that it cannot be a coincidence.

* BuffySpeak: in the Knight's level every torch on the wall has a different description starting with 'flame', 'flaming torch', etc. It soon falls into this calling one a '[[TimeyWimeyBall flamey-wamey]] [[DoctorWho thing]]' and another a 'ouchy-hot-burny thing'.

* LotusEaterMachine: [[spoiler:A probable explanation for everything that happens in The Cave, considering what becomes of characters who get bad endings, as seen in subsequent playthroughs.]]

** Also WorldWarOne and president [[FranklinDRoosevelt Franklin D.]] BonJovi