History VideoGame / TheVanishingOfEthanCarter

* AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent: All of the side-quests qualify but the best example is probably the one in the mine; a surprise stealth horror section, complete with an ImplacableMan enemy and a NonStandardGameOver should he catch you. Amusingly, [[AmnesiaTheDarkDescent Frictional Games]] gets a ShoutOut in the credits.

* YourMindMakesItReal: [[spoiler: Although not really.]]

* BondVillainStupidity: For people who really want Ethan dead, the Carters have trouble using more efficient methods and instead try to use some death traps like [[spoiler: tying him to railway tracks and sealing him in a crypt with brick an mortar]]. Can be justified by how [[spoiler: the Sleeper is woken by suffering, thus the desire to give Ethan a painful death, and the fact that it's all in Ethan's head anyway]].

** The main plot makes frequent allusions to something called "The Sleeping One", an entity that appears to have enthralled the gist of Ethan's family, who know wish to turn him into a sacrifice.

* GuideDangIt: An optional Easter Egg involving a sniper rifle. It's not mentioned or implied it exists anywhere in the game and you would have to be the world's best guesser to figure it out without help. [[spoiler: it involves {{PixelHunt finding a pinecone}} near the woods where you chase the astronaut, and the pinecone turns into a grenade. Then you throw it off the bridge at a specific spot and find the body of a scuba diver below the dam. Near him is a sniper rifle. After you pick it up the diver's body {{MindScrew turns into a piece of driftwood}}.]]

* [[spoiler:DownerEnding]]: [[NoEnding Arguably]]. [[spoiler:The game has an open-ended structure, but the end of the game has Ethan locked inside the burning building.]] It is not clear what happens afterwards.

* [[spoiler:DyingDream]]

* BrickJoke: All of the clocks in the town are stuck at 7:00. In the post-game, the clocks move to 7:04, [[spoiler:the same as Ethan's digital clock]].

* [[spoiler:DownerEnding]]

* EvilMatriarch: Missy, Ethan's mother, is the one most hell-bent on sacrificing Ethan to The Sleeping One.

* TomatoInTheMirror: The end reveals that Paul Prospero [[spoiler: is Ethan's last story, conjured by the latter to solve the mystery of his own death.]]

* NeedsMoreLove

* DrivenToSuicide: When cornered by an axe-wielding Travis, [[spoiler: Dale, Ethan's father ]], kills himself with a pair of scissors to avoid falling under the The Sleeping One's thrall, and make him stronger.

* {{Gorn}}: Ethan's [[spoiler:older brother Travis]] gets both of his legs graphically severed by a rail-car.

* ButThouMust: Ethan's story missions are presented as optional and a fair share of them are very easy to miss unless you explore thoroughly, but the game won't let you access the ending until you've completed all of them.
* DrivenToSuicide: When cornered by axe-wielding Travis, [[spoiler: Dale, Ethan's father ]], kills himself with a pair of scissors to avoid falling under the The Sleeping One's thrall, and make him stronger.

The vanishing of Ethan Carter is a videogame centered around detective [[AlliterativeName Paul Prospero]] trying to find a missing boy.

* {{Gorn}}: Ethan's older brother Travis gets both of his legs graphically severed by a rail-car.

** The main plot makes frequent allusions to something called "The Sleeping One", an entity that appears to have enthalled the gist of Ethan's family, who know wish to turn him into a sacrifice.

The vanishing of Ethan Carter is a videogame centered around detective [[AlliterativeName Paul Prospero]] trying to find a missing boy.

The vanishing of Ethan Carter is a videogame centered around a detective trying to find a missing boy.