Wicked Lawless Love is a Romance Game Visual Novel by Voltage Entertainment USA, released through their Lovestruck app for iOS and Android devices. It debuted as a pilot in January 2020 with two available routes, and was confirmed for a full series in late February.
The story takes place on an alternate world, in a setting not unlike the American Old West. The heroine, an outlaw from the big city of New Amster, has fled west into the remote reaches of the Sono Territory, home to the town of Wisp Willow.
Out on the frontier, there's much to discover. A world of the supernatural living right under humanity's nose. The Ward, a secretive organization that tasks itself with the watching of said Otherworld. Her own true nature, the key to the streak of bad luck that follows her everywhere.
And in the midst of it all, a romance that pulls her deeper into the world of the unknown.
Contains examples of:
- Affectionate Nickname:
- Fiona often calls Cecelia "Cece".
- Nathan sometimes calls Fiona "Fi".
- On Nathan's route, the heroine takes to calling him "Nate".
- On Fiona's route, she and the heroine develop various pet names for each other, many of which start off facetiously. Fiona calls the heroine "darling complication", "my treasure", and "my pearl". The heroine, in turn, calls her things like "horrible goblin" and "imp".
- Diana calls Sunmok (her late wife) "Sunny".
- After Action Patch Up: In Cecelia's first episode, the heroine is grazed by a bullet on her arm. The next episode, there's a heart option to let Cecelia help redress the wound.
- Alien Sky: There are mentions of multiple moons and suns.
- "Awkward Silence" Entrance: The Wisp Willow townsfolk are respectful yet wary of Cecelia. In her first season, the heroine enters the saloon with her, and everyone freezes. Only once she takes a seat do they relax.Liquor drips halfway to people's lips, and the last bad chord of the piano fades beneath the very obvious sound of us walking to the bar.
- Boy Meets Ghoul: The living heroine's choices of love interests include two traditionally undead creatures, a ghost and a vampire, though in this case the vampire is also living.
- Chevalier vs. Rogue: Cecelia is an officer of the law, and the heroine an outlaw, which complicates their relationship and causes conflict between them.(A thief and a Warden, a flint and tinder—good for a conflagration, but not much else.)
- Critical Staffing Shortage: The Ward's Sono Territory chapter is heavily short-staffed. There's the region captain (Kellan), there's Cecelia's team (four members including her at the start of the series), and that's it for the entire territory.
- Demon Lords and Archdevils: There are mentions of demon lords and courts.
- Evil Poacher: Nathan's first season involves tangling with a band of poachers who are after a herd of trihorns.
- The Exit Is That Way: In Nathan's second season, after an argument with the heroine, he turns to exit the saloon, only to turn the wrong way, as the heroine points out.
- Faceless Masses: Crowds and generic characters are depicted as blurry and faceless.
- Fake-Out Make-Out: In Fiona's first episode she does this with the heroine to distract a train conductor from the fact neither of them have tickets.
- Falling Chandelier of Doom: In Cecelia's first episode, there's a saloon shootout with a pair of bandits; she shoots down the chandelier, bringing it down on top of them.
- Food Slap: Early in Nathan's route, there's a heart option to throw a drink in his face.
- Game Face: Each of the Wardens has a more supernatural-appearing form.
- Nathan's ghost form is smoky and glowy.
- Sascha's demon form has horns and orange eyes.
- Fiona, a mystic, gets glowing lines on her face, glowing eyes, and a third eye.
- Cecelia, a vampire, gets black-and-red eyes and markings on her face and hands.
- Ghostly Chill: Ghosts are associated with unnatural chill. Nathan is sometimes noted to be cold to the touch, and Sunmok's ghost makes her surroundings freezing.
- Guns Akimbo: The game's cover art shows Nathan wielding a pair of pistols.
- Hates Being Called Cute: Enzo, the heroine’s familiar, is not a fan of being called cute or adorable.
- Her Boyfriend's Jacket: In Nathan's route, as he and the heroine ride back to town after their first encounter, he gives her his jacket to keep warm in the desert night. She wakes up the next morning in the boarding house, unsure how much of the previous night was real — then she realizes she still has the jacket.
- Interplay of Sex and Violence: In Cecelia's episode 11 heart scene, she and the heroine have a sexually charged sparring session. The heroine manages to get her at knifepoint while dipping her in an embrace, and Cecelia blushes with the heroine's blade at her throat.
- Istanbul (Not Constantinople): Alternate names are used for places. The heroine comes from New Amster, which seems to be the setting's equivalent of New York, and Fiona mentions Guryeo, apparently based on the Korean kingdom Goryeo.
- Just Here for the Free Snacks: Cecelia used to go to balls, but mostly just for the music.
- Keep Away: In one of Nathan's season 1 heart scenes, he and the heroine play a one on one version of keep away. The heroine passes the object from one hand to another to keep it out of his reach.
- Last-Name Basis:
- Nathan is mostly referred to by his last name, Cayde, a notable exception being the heroine on his route.
- Nathan calls Sascha by his last name, Orosco.
- Masquerade: Part of the Ward's duties is maintaining the general populace's ignorance of the supernatural world, aka the Otherworld. Those who know of the Otherworld are referred to as Awakened, while those who don't are called Sleepers.
- Not What It Looks Like: In Nathan's first season, the heroine accidentally summons him while in her bedroom. Donna the boarding house owner hears the resulting commotion and enters to see Nathan standing across from the heroine, who, having just gotten out of bed, is still shirtless. The heroine hurries to assure Donna that the situation is not what it looks like.
- Oh, My Gods!: Characters exclaim "Goddess" instead of "God", and Cecelia uses "Mother Night" on occasion.
- The Order: The Ward is an organization dedicated to keeping the peace between the worlds of the mundane and the supernatural.
- Ouija Board: The logo has a heart-shaped ouija board to represent the Paranormal Romance theme.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Most ghosts in the setting appear as formless mists or echoes of their former selves — spirits stripped down to their essence and devoid of personality. Nathan is an anomaly in that he's retained his mind and appearance as a human and is able to interact with the living world as a solid form. This turns out to be because of the deal he made with Alcaeus after he died.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Contrary to the in-universe mythology about them among Muggles, vampires are not undead, but living, ageless beings. Some are created by turning non-vampires; others, like Cecelia, are born vampires. All vampires feed on blood, are harmed by sunlight, and Must Be Invited in. They also have access to abilities including flight and compulsion.
- Punctuated Pounding: Played for humor in Cecelia's first season, as she takes the time to chastise the heroine in the middle of a fight with bandits.Between punches, she insists on lecturing me.
Cecelia: Not—protocol!! - Silver Has Mystic Powers: Silver can harm supernatural creatures including ghosts and vampires. It is employed both by and against the Ward, such as in the form of Silver Bullets or daggers.
- Smoking Barrel Blowout: In Cecelia's first season, after the heroine fires the first shots of the train depot battle, she blows the smoke away from her gun barrel.
- Surrogate Soliloquy: In Cecelia season 1, when the heroine impulsively skips town. As she rides out alone, she says to her horse Whisper, "Don't tell me it's stupid to try and avoid a vampire at night—I know!" Whisper, being a horse, gives no response.
- Technically-Living Vampire: Vampires in this setting are not undead, but living, ageless beings. Some are created by turning non-vampires; others, like Cecelia, are born vampires.
- Victoria's Secret Compartment: In a heart scene in Nathan's first season, the heroine plays Keep Away with him. At one point uses his sense of modesty against him by sticking the object down her shirt so that he can't grab it without groping her.
- "Wanted!" Poster: A wanted poster of the heroine is seen in the cover image and loading screen. Within the story itself, there are some posters of her around town. She notes with some annoyance that they got her nose wrong.
- Water Source Tampering: The bandits in Cecelia's first season attempt to poison the town water supply with lye, but due to the intervention of the Ward and heroine, they only manage to sabotage the latest shipment on the train.
