History Main / ParasiteEve

[[quoteright:108:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aya-psvg.png

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aya-psvg.png
[[caption-width:108: Aya Brea, as she appears in the original video game at Carnegie Hall]]

* ''Game/ParasiteEve'' - an Eastern RPG / SurvivalHorror sequel to the novel

* ''Game/{{The 3rd Birthday}}'' - the third gam in the series

''ParasiteEve'' is a science fiction/romance-y book written by Hideaki Sena that was published in 1995. It was adapted into a movie and strangely, both ''have'' been released in America, the movie in 2001 by ADVFilms and the novel in 2005 by {{Vertical}}. In it, Kiyomi Nagishima, wife of Toshiaki Nagishima, crashes her car. Kiyomi survives but is brain dead. Toshiaki and Kiyomi's doctor transplant her kidneys into the teenage girl Mariko Anzai as an organ donation. What they didn't know was, Kiyomi's mitochondria had undergone an evolution, granting them special powers and a will of their own. Toshiaki is compelled to culture Kiyomi's liver cells, which he reffers to as Eve, and the mitochondria in Mariko's new kidney start transforming her into something suitable for giving birth to the next step on the evolutionary ladder. The story then goes rather haywire as Eve takes on a form of her own, kidnaps Mariko, starts setting people on fire, and * ahem* [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean acquires a sperm sample from Toshiaki]] to create the Ultimate Being.

Oh, [[AdaptationDisplacement did you come here for the video games?]] Well, we didn't forget about you.

In 1998, [[SquareEnix Squaresoft]] released a video game called ''ParasiteEve'', a sequel to the book. It was unique among [[RolePlayingGame RPG]]s available at the time because of its blend of [[RolePlayingGame RPG]], ActionAdventure and the then still new genre SurvivalHorror.

The story revolves around Aya Brea, a New York City police officer whose mother and sister were killed in a car accident when she was a child. While Aya was attending an opera performed at Carnegie Hall on Christmas Eve in 1997, all hell breaks loose when both the actors and the audience burst into flames. The only survivors are Aya, her date (who runs away never to be seen again after the fire), and the lead actress, Melissa, who just so happens to be harboring a primordial horror inside her body known as Mitochondria Eve. Aya discovers that contact with [=Melissa/Eve=] has granted her strange powers, called "Parasite Energy", and so she teams up with Daniel Dollis (her partner) and Kunihiko Maeda (a Japanese scientist and MrExposition for the novel's events) to figure out Eve's motives and stop the strange mutations sweeping across Manhattan.

Another sequel (also on the [=PS1=]) features an interface closer to ''ResidentEvil'', being more of a SurvivalHorror game with RPGElements than vice-versa. The plot has Aya as an agent for an FBI group whose assignment is to destroy mitochondrial creatures, which turn out to have been created from her own cells by a NietzscheWannabe cult.

The third game was originally announced for Japanese cellphones but has since been changed to a PSP game; it got a December 2010 release in Japan and is getting a March 2011 release everywhere else. ''The 3rd Birthday'' apparently involves time travel. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome And Aya in a wedding dress shooting things]], [[NeverTrustATrailer if the promos are to be believed.]] Speculation is that the game is not billed as "Parasite Eve" because Squeenix doesn't want to pay to keep using the license, which should really matter only for the title and nothing else. [[{{Chuck}} Yvonne]] [[MassEffect2 Strahovski]] and JensenAckles have been announced to provide the voices for Aya Brea and Kyle Madigan respectively for the English version.

The total references to that novel in the games can't be more than the paragraph we've managed to dedicate to it, unfortunately. So yeah...

The [[Characters/ParasiteEve character sheet]] is up and running, and (for now) generally revolves around the games' characters. Data on the novel would be greatly appreciated.
----
!!The novel provide examples of:
* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Kiyomi's]] almost literal description whe Eve took over her body.
* ArmorPiercingSlap: Male example with Mariko's dad.
* AuthorAvatar: The author, Hideaki Seha is a Ph.D. in Pharmacology, so is the main character.
* BodyHorror: Full stop.
* ChekhovsLecture: The lecture about mitochondria.
* ChekhovsGun: The sounds Mariko dream/hallucinate and the comic book mentioned earlier.
* DescriptionPorn: See ShownTheirWork.
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Mariko.
* FetishFuel: Sweet god, the sex scenes. Other fetishes like transformation, sex change, guro, etc. are also seen.
* GoMadFromTheRevelation : Inverted with [[spoiler:Toshiaki]], who go ''sane'' from the revelation just before his first MyGodWhatHaveIDone.
* GrandTheftMe: When Eve took control of [[spoiler:Kiyomi]].
* HugeSchoolgirl: Asakura's childhood complex.
* {{Meganekko}}: Asakura
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Done twice with the same character in something little less than 20 pages. Also done with a minor character a bit earlier.
* SheCleansUpNicely: Asakura, [[spoiler:but actually because she is under Eve's influence]].
* ShownTheirWork: Oh god, where to start? The novel actually have a glossary with the difficult terms and a bibliography for all the medical description on transplants, rejection, antibiotics, dialysis, the psychology of organ replacement patients, and hospital stuff in general. The novel could be classified as Medical Porn.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Kiyomi's childhood friend and her.
* WeaksauceWeakness: The Ultimate Being weakness is [[spoiler:her/his dad normal vanilla mitochondria]].
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse?: Adverted with [[spoiler:Eve-2, Eve-3 and other Eve cultures]]. Played straight with Kiyomi's childhood friend.

!!The Videogames Provide Examples Of:
* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Not just that but it's only ever a few inches deep. Even more grating since the games take place in New York City.
* AdaptationDisplacement: You mean there was a ''movie?'' And - gasp - a '''''book'''''?
* AnimeAnatomy: Eve's last couple of forms ([[spoiler:and the Ultimate Being's third]]) sport a distinct lack of auxiliary sexual characteristics. Whether to chalk it up to maintaining a rating below Adults Only or to the [=PS1=]'s limited rendering capability is a toss-up.
** Close-up analysis of [=PE2=]'s "Stranger" [=NMCs=] indicates that nipples may just be considered a disadvantageous evolutionary feature. This may, of course, be due to the fact that the "Suckler" [=NMCs=] [[YourHeadASplode detonate their own craniums]] as a self-defense mechanism, making breastfeeding quite the chore.
* AtTheOperaTonight: The audience shall [[IncendiaryExponent burst into flames]]!
** And later, it'll [[ImMelting melt]] and merge into a giant blob.
* BadassAbnormal: (Aya and Eve.)
* BadassArmy: (Just LOOK at some the stuff the Navy does in 1, and the Marines in 2)
* BadassNormal: (Daniel in [=PE1=], Rupert in [=PE2=])
* BagOfSpilling: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]]. Aya [[WhoWantsToLiveForever doesn't want to live forever]], but her mitochondira [[OlderThanTheyLook maintain her body at twenty]]; this freaks her out so much that she can't use her powers effectively without a damned good excuse - like being caught in another mitochondria-based conspiracy. And her guns? Justifiable as being considered police property and therefore returned to her old precinct after she left.
* {{BFG}}: The Hypervelocity Rail Cannon, in the sequel (an unlockable weapon).
* {{BFS}}: The unlockable [[FinalFantasyVIII Gunblade]] in the sequel as well, which operates in the same fashion from its original game and is possibly stronger than the Hypervelocity Rail Cannon when loaded with R. Slug ammo.
* BigApplesauce: For a JRPG, this is a rather interesting setting.
* BizarreHumanBiology: The protagonist Aya possesses a more benign/passive form of the "evolved" strain of mitochondria serving as the franchise' BigBad, which are not only ''a self-aware HiveMind'' that can [[BodySnatcher hijack their "hosts"]] and act like TheVirus, they possess actual ''superpowers'', which include [[PlayingWithFire spontaneous combustion]] and BodyHorror transformations!
* BlackBestFriend: Daniel in the first, Rupert in the second, both {{Badass Normal}}s when they need to be.
* BloodierAndGorier: While the first games had a certain amount of blood and gore (mostly during the mitochondria transformations), ''The 3rd Birthday'' appears to be ramping that up.
* BodyArmorAsHitPoints: In 2.
* BodyHorror: You are fighting sentient '''''Mitochondria''''' for gods sake.
* BodySurf: A major gameplay feature of ''The 3rd Birthday''. Aya is projecting herself to the battlefield via a machine called the Overdive system; she's lending her powers and mind to the soldiers she takes over and hopping from body to body is how she obtains new weapons or how to move around otherwise-impassable terrain. Trying to use Overdive on monsters doesn't allow you to take them over; however, it does damage them, in a variant on TeleFrag.
** It's also how [[spoiler: Eve accidently sets into motion the events in the game.]]
* BonusDungeon: Climb the Chrysler Building.
** The enemies certainly wouldn't be out of place among the LegionsOfHell, but the Chrysler building itself isn't very hellish. The Chrysler building is more creepy than anything else, especially with its level design and the fact that no {{Eldritch Abomination}}s are in plain view, like every other area in the game. A few bloodstains here and there, but after the BodyHorror that Aya encounters everywhere else in the game, it's fairly tame. Just dissonant. [[spoiler: Now, the last level of the Chrysler? [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel That qualifies.]] Sweet Jesus does it qualify.]]
* ButNotTooForeign: Aya is half Japanese.
* CastFromHitPoints: In game 2, the Berserker status increases Aya's weapon power and levels up her parasite powers, but at the cost of chipping away at her HP.
* TheCavalry: The US military eventually intervenes in both games - somewhat more competently in the second.
* ChekhovsGun: Maeda's handgun from the first game.
* [[ChekhovsGun Chekhovs Kill Sat]]: The orbital Hypervelocity Gun shown in the second game's opening cinematic.
* Chickification: Aya apparently undergoes this in ''The 3rd Birthday''. [[spoiler: Although to be fair, she's really Eve.]]
* CloningBlues: (in Parasite Eve 2.)
* ClothingDamage: In ''The 3rd Birthday'' the more Aya is damaged, the more her clothes will rip and fall off. This eventually cuts off when Aya's shirt and pants are essentially reduced to her bra and underwear.
* CollisionDamage: Done in the first game where simply ''brushing against'' enemies inflicts ScratchDamage on Aya.
* ContinuityNod: Aya's mother's name is Mariko, the same as the girl who received Kiyomi's kidney in the novel.
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: What may or may not be intentional humour shows up subtly in odd places. Try examining the specimen cages in the underground lab in [=PE2=]. One of the text popups, for a cage containing a monkey that has ''chewed its own fingers off'', reads something like: "This is a very disturbed monkey."
** "I don't suppose I'll be fighting any [[FinalFantasy giant cactus creatures]]?"
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGWa4Zm0YDA Primal Eyes]], full stop. Also, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9YlshCRwxM Kyrie]].
* CursedWithAwesome: Aya's mitochrondrial powers seem to be lacking the villainous insanity and BodyHorror that other people in this series go through--she received the "special" mitochondria when she was still a child, and unlike Melissa, Aya's mitochondria evolved to the point where they are symbiotic with her body and work with her instead of taking outright control. However, they also keep her body younger than she really is, since a youthful host is advantageous.
-->'''Aya''': I saw a movie once [[{{Highlander}} about a man from medieval times who was still young in the present day]]... [[WhoWantsToLiveForever I don't want that]]... [[IJustWantToBeNormal I just want one, normal life]]...
* DepletedPhlebotinumShells: See EleventhHourSuperpower for their appearance in 1; they return as a NewGamePlus bonus (or [[MultipleEndings Bad Ending]] crutch) in 2.
* DeadpanSnarker: Aya in the second game, mostly when you have her examine something several times. "Do I have to look in there again?" is her comment if you keep trying to make her look into a dirty toilet.
* DidIMentionItsChristmas: This is a great example of getting to watch the good people of Manhattan celebrate Xmas 1996 through spontaneous combustion and mass melting.
* DoubleAgent: [[spoiler:Kyle Madigan, a PrivateInvestigator from the second game, is actually a government agent sent to infiltrate the Ark organization, which in turn sends him to gain Aya's trust and manipulate her.]]
* EleventhHourSuperpower: The final boss fight [[spoiler: is largely a cutscene, as bullets laced with Aya's cells are brutal anathema to the FinalBoss.]]
* EldritchAbomination: Many, if not ''all'' enemies in the series tend to be this, but the ones in ''"The 3rd Birthday"'' take the cake. ''ESPECIALLY'' the boss enemies. They're not called "The Twisted" for nothing; they warp out of holes in the space-time continuum and have nearly-impossible shapes.
* EliteTweak: Tools and Super Tools in the first game offer all sorts of weapon and armor customization possibilities...if you're willing to put up with their rarity and the regular Tools' destruction of donor equipment.
* EscortMission: [=PE2=]'s Kyle Madigan is one of those few escortees that can actually hold his own in a firefight (and often comes with some sort of [[ReallyBigGun overpowered firearm or another]] to offset being unable to heal). [[spoiler:[[ScrappyLevel Wish I could say the same of the Eve clone, though...]]]]
** [[spoiler: You really just have to [[GuideDangIt walk instead of running]], and wait a second between every other step until she starts walking.]]
* FanDisservice: When Eve tries to [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean "retrive"]] Toshiyaki's semen, she's missing nipples.
* FanService: [=PE2=] features a cutscene of Aya showering, for no good reason [[FetishFuel besides the obvious]].
** A lot of promotional artwork for both games feature Aya wearing a denim or leather jacket with nothing underneath for the same reason.
** Not to mention some official artwork of a [[LesYay seemingly-naked Eve biting a seemingly-naked Aya's ear]], though [[YourMilageMayVary the fact that]] [[FanDisservice Eve has a large mutated claw]] [[NightmareFetishist may ruin it for some]]
** Aya's damage in ''The 3rd Birthday'' is measured by clothing damage.
* FightWoosh: A quick inversion of colors, accompanied by a heartbeat sound effect in both games.
* TheFilmOfTheBook: The movie adaptation of the novel, natch. And we're also pretty sure The Video Game Of The Book steers clear of TheProblemWithLicensedGames.
* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler:In the normal ending, while attending an opera with her friends, something...happens with the mitochondria in Aya's cells. It has an effect on the people around her, causing the eyes of everyone in the audience to glow.]] WordOfGod marks it CanonDisContinuity, and the game's "best" ending is used for canon purposes instead.
* GameBreaker: The Super Toolkit available in the first game's NewGamePlus, although the upgrades are still limited by the attribute "donor" items and the upgrade capacity of the target. And whether you collected all of the Rare Trading Cards for it; miss a few and you'll be awarded a lesser version that destroys donor items.
* GlobalCurrency: Bounty Points (BP) in [=PE2=] are used primarily by the FBI's [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction MIST]] unit, which gives them more goodies according to the number of monsters they kill (tracked by special contact lenses). However, they're also applicable to Dryfield's landlord Gary Douglas (justified, as the FBI said they would reimburse him for allowing Aya to use BP to buy stuff from his WallOfWeapons), the [[spoiler:Neo-Ark Armory (A ChekhovsGun lampshaded by Aya when her contact lens registers on the machine - Her boss is part of the conspiracy!)]], and soldiers operating out of the back of Army supply trucks (handwavable for the same reason as Douglas, since they're with the military).
* GuideDangIt: About one-fifth of [=PE2=]'s gameplay. Of course, after a few repeat playthroughs, you'll be too strong to care.
* HailfirePeaks: The second game has a number of different artificial environments right next to each other, including a jungle and a desert.
* HereComesTheScience: Instead of toothpaste, it sells endosymbiosis, but the principle is the same.
* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: The series is more or less chock full of it. Here's some of the really horrifying bits:
** The mutation sequences.
** The opening scene at Carnegie Hall.
** ''Anyone'' who combusted in the movie, ''especially'' the nurse.
** The scene with Eve at Central Park.
** The scene in the Rehearsal Room with Melissa.
** Fighter jets getting blasted by the giant orange mass. For that matter, Eve turning one of the pilots into goo.
** So, you have to fight a ''giant'' EldritchAbomination inside... ''another'' EldritchAbomination, while floating around in what seems to be rather beautiful sphere. You shoot at it... a LOT, and this thing slowly approaches you without twitching. When near you, it paralyzes you with its FrickinLaserBeams, catches you with its tentacles and ''eats'' you ''whole''. Your only hope of survival is to [[BodySurf transfer to another body]]. From there the whole pattern begins anow, all while you have to witness how the monster eats your former body, gallons of blood and the sound of bones being crunched included. Well, THAT's ''The 3rd Birthday''. Oh, the horror...
*** It doesn't help either that Aya's expression at the sight of this thing is blank horror...
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Number Nine is eaten by the very giant monster he was breeding, after finishing his JustBetweenYouAndMe speech and [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim getting shot]] by Kyle.]]
* HyperspaceArsenal: Zig-zagged with in the second: In battle, Aya does ''not'' have access to her entire inventory, just what she has equipped to her belt pouches on her body armor, which is fair. However, one item still takes up the same amount of slots whether it's a can of coca-cola, a bunch of bullets, or a grenade launcher.
** On a similar note, it's hard to believe that Aya can not only fit a gun under the dress pictured above (at least her badge has the VictoriasSecretCompartment to work with), but get it into Carnegie Hall with nary an eye batted. {{Hammerspace}} may also be at work here.
** Possibly justified. She could have a gun pouch strapped to the inside of her leg, though that does make one wonder how the hell she walks normally. Also, if that's true, she's obviously a little CrazyPrepared.
*** Not even close. New Game EX mode, I had her going to the opera with a Heckler & Koch G3 rifle. It's a little more than one metre long. Aya's height? 1.6m. Granted, it's fun to roam around the opera house in that little black dress and hauling a rifle considered one notch above 'assault'.
*** And in PE2 she had to lug around a wooden board, which should be more than 2 meters long, judging by the hole on the bridge which she needed to cross. You can't justify that without resorting to {{Hammerspace}}. Ever.
** Played literally straight in ''The 3rd Birthday'', where Aya's gun vanishes in a flash of light whenever she switches to another one. Of course, this is because she's using a form of time travel.

* IJustWantToBeNormal: Aya's stock flavor of angst throughout the first game.
** Coupled with IAmAMonster when Aya freaks out about becoming Eve in the first game and saying how her powers can scare people in the second game.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: The Super Tool Kit in the first, and the Hypervelocity Gun and Gunblade from the second.
** To clarify, the Super Tool Kit ITSELF is not an InfinityPlusOneSword, but rather whatever you upgrade using it, since it allows you to limitlessly pull off the bonus points and attributes from all of your other equipment and consolidate them on the weapon and armor of your choice, thus allowing you to ''make'' an InfinityPlusOneSword.
* InterfaceScrew: Result of the Confusion status ailment, which makes Aya move in random directions.
* InventoryManagementPuzzle: Limit 50 items on Aya's person at any given time, from the gun and armor she's currently wearing to individual trading cards to bits of junk found on the ground to Maeda's damnable trinkets. Wayne only has external storage space for 128 items apiece (equipment and non-equipment), which gets somewhat frustrating when half the weapons and armors are one-time pickups from the Chrysler Building.
** ItGotWorse: 20 items max in [=PE2=], limited external storage besides, and you can only use stuff that you've loaded onto your current armor beforehand in battle. At least key items no longer counting towards this total helps buffer needing to carry around multiple ammo types.
* InnerMonologue: In [=PE2=], examining objects multiple times often reveals quite a lot of Aya's inner thoughts, some of which are actually pretty insightful.
* InvisiblePresident: The President in [=PE2=] is either viewed from behind his seat, or obscured by the HolyBacklight from the Oval Office's window.
* ItsUpToYou: Justified. As Aya is the only person unaffected by Eve's aura (which causes everybody else to burst into flame), the military gives her the task of [[spoiler:[[NukeEm personally delivering a tactical nuclear warhead]] to Liberty Island, where Eve is giving birth.]] This doesn't stop them from sending a [[RedShirtArmy squadron of helicopter gunships]] to [[TakingTheBullet Take The Bullet]] from the random combustions that await as Aya closes the gap toward her destination, though..
** Give them credit. It was an INTENTIONAL HeroicSacrifice to make the job possible, and considering not one of them chickened out, it was pretty Badass.
** And in ''The 3rd Birthday,'' she's the only one able to use the Overdive system thanks to her unique biology.
* {{Jerkass}}: Dr. Hans Klamp is a total snob to Aya and Daniel in the beginning of the game and dodges their questions while acting all high and mighty. Even when Daniel later on finds his ex-wife and son's name on Klamp's computer and threatens to kick his ass, Klamp coldly tells him and Aya to leave. He has his reasons; [[spoiler: he's actually helping Eve give birth to the Ultimate Being, which becomes the final boss of the game.]]
* KarmicDeath: Maeda's introduction sees him accosted by a racist-sounding cop for his difficulty with English. Said cop gets his cells lit on fire five seconds after telling him to "go back to [his] own country."
** [[spoiler: Klamp]]'s death subverts this, since he up and '''embraces''' it, also there is the slight chance he was hoping to merge with Eve instead, which would avert this trope, as he would've have become part of her being, thus biologically would still be alive.
* KillSat: The "SDI Project - Hypervelocity Gun", as shown in the opening credits of the second game.
* SugarWiki/TheLittleBlackDress: When at the opera.
* LoadBearingBoss: So you've [[spoiler: finally shot the Ultimate Being to death with half a magazine of Maeda's special bullets...]] But wait! [[spoiler: Not only is it still alive, but now A) you're in standard navigation mode, B) you have to escape the ship because it has a TouchOfDeath, and C) it automatically kills you if you forget to overload the boiler on your way out]].
* MentalTimeTravel: The apparent function of the Overdive system in ''The 3rd Birthday.'' [[spoiler: Which accidently creates the Twisted.]]
* MetalSlime: The Chrysler Building's squirrels. Cute? Maybe, by NMC standards. Valuable? Definitely, dropping a Medicine 4 or Revive most every time. Annoying? Hell yes, as you have to kill them before they either escape or hit you with a nigh-unavoidable machine spray laser that causes [[InterfaceScrew Confusion]], ''then'' escape.
** [=PE2=]'s Bounty and Nightmare Modes turn the Golems and other EliteMooks into ''scripted'' versions of these, [[DemonicSpiders without the running away part]].
* MoreDakka: Machine Guns in the original game usually had attachments that let this be effective on all your firearm types. Then there's [=PE2=] and the 100-bullet full-auto pistol (among less readily available conventional machine guns)...
* MysteriousWaif: The Eve from the second game, [[spoiler:Aya's clone]], who doesn't talk until near the end. [[spoiler:Aya ends up adopting her as a sister afterward.]]
* NewGamePlus: Finish the game and you can unlock the "New Game Ex". Done more extravagantly in the sequel where you can literally buy back your powers from the previous cleared game (seriously, they're little blood vials with the mitochondria tied to each power), get stronger guns early, or [[SelfImposedChallenge play on different modes that change Aya's statistics and/or enemies]].
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler: Everything in The 3rd Birthday happened because Eve Overdrived into Aya to try to save her when she was nearly shot to death. The result was basically Parasite Eve 1 confusingly crossed with Quantum Leap, with Eve confusing herself with the now dead Aya and creating a stable time loop.]]
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: The Golems from the second game, cyborg zombie SuperSoldier EliteMooks with ape-like qualities, some types of which have [[InvisibilityCloak optical stealth]], ninja-esque speeds, the ability to cause StandardStatusEffects, lay sneak attacks, some have grenade launchers and others have light-saber-esque weapon. [[spoiler: The [[TheCavalry US Army]] makes quick work of them, though, as soon as they are caught in broad daylight.]]
* NoBodyLeftBehind: The monsters in [=PE2=] all melt when they die, but the cyborg Golems ''do not.'' Not even if you change rooms and come back later, which is especially surprising for a Playstation One game.
* NonActionGuy: Pierce Carradine from the second game, MIST's PlayfulHacker, who gets himself into trouble while trying to help Aya out. Whether he survives or not [[MultipleEndings depends on the player's actions.]] And [[GuideDangIt whether you have a damn clue how to take those actions.]]
* NotUsingTheZedWord in [=PE2=] (for clones).
* NukeEm: The government resorts to this in both games. Even though the soldiers in the second were actually quite successful in containing the threat, the President still decides (albeit hesitantly) to go ahead with it, [[spoiler:while his troops are still ''on site'']].
--> '''General''': "[[spoiler:They'll be buried in Arlington. Proud heroes of the country.]]"
* OlderThanTheyLook: Despite being in her late 20's, Aya remarks (while looking in a mirror) that she looks like a college kid, due to her mitochondria keeping her physically young.
-->'''Aya''': "A young host is a useful host, after all."
** She's not very happy about this.
-->'''Aya''': I saw a movie once [[{{Highlander}} about a man from medieval times who was still young in the present day]]... [[WhoWantsToLiveForever I don't want that]]... [[IJustWantToBeNormal I just want one, normal life]]...
** Motomu Toriyama, the scenario director for The 3rd Birthday, stated that in that game Aya will chronologically be in her late thirties, but still look like she's in her early twenties. The reason? Aside from that mitochondria excuse you'd learn about if you checked ''one single mirror'' in Parasite Eve 2, ChristmasCake apparently can't be cool. [[spoiler: And there's also the fact that you're really playing Eve, but that's really just accidently Fridge Brilliance.]]
* OutOfClothesExperience: How Aya[[spoiler:/Eve]] appears in ''The 3rd Birthday'' when between bodies. Naturally, AnimeAnatomy is used.
* ParanoiaFuel: Your mitochondria hate you. You have mitochondria in ''every cell'' in your body.
* PsychicPowers: Sort of. The "awakened" mitochondria in Aya's body allow her access to Parasite Energy, and when invoked she can heal herself, create a protective barrier, and cure status ailments. Her more potent abilities are a concentrated energy ray and a berserker rage that allows her to attack all enemies onscreen multiple times. In the sequel, she loses most of her original powers, and they're replaced by different ones.
** Hell, at that point, it's become FunctionalMagic. [=PE2=] even goes out of its way to measure your capacity for it in MP.
*** And by The 3rd Birthday, mitochondria apparently are so magical that they can transfer minds and travel through time. [[spoiler: Which is how the events in the game got started.]]
* PimpedOutDress: The wedding dress in the trailers for the third game.
* PixelHunt: Annoying in the first game where most good weapons and items are not in a box and have to be found by mashing X at random pieces of scenery (We're looking at you, Soho). The sequel eases this a bit, but not by much.
** Made more aggravating by the fact that on a real PSX, the low resolution of [=TVs=] makes this worse. [=PS1=] emulators can heighten the contrast and increase the resolution to the point of making this much less severe.
* ProductPlacement: In the sequel, Aya can drink cans of Coca-Cola to recover her HP and MP. A magnet (in the shape of a Coke bottle cap) is needed for a puzzle. Prominent Coke vending machines are placed throughout the game as well.
* RareGuns: Though [[AKA47 never referred to with a manufacturer's name]], all the basic model numbers are accurate to real-life firearms (the textures considerably less so, at least until [=PE2=]), and a keen eye turned to [=PE1=]'s roster can spot everything from the trusty Colt [=M1911A1=] to the (normally disposable) [=AT4=] rocket launcher...[[MarySue to the fucking]] [[InfinityPlusOneSword Deagle.]]
* RodentsOfUnusualSize: If you could stomache calling one of the more common enemies a rodent anymore.
* SavePoint: Aya uses telephones to contact [=NYPD/MIST=] headquarters to save her progress.
* SelfImposedChallenge: The nature of several NewGamePlus modes in 2.
* ShootingGallery: The target range in P.E. 2's MIST HQ, which also acts as a short tutorial on fighting.
* ShoutOut: In Dryfield's bar (in the sequel), there's an "Einhander" pinball machine (referring to an early Playstation shooter that Square produced). Another is the "Gunblade" from FinalFantasyVIII, which is an unlockable weapon.
** The first game had a Chocobo banner hanging in front of the Museum of Natural History (and a stuffed Chocobo just before the [[BossRush Back To Back Bosses]]).
** A completely different game series gets a nod in one of [=PE2's=] {{Escort Mission}}s: try going through the wrong door enough times with Kyle in tow and he'll warn that you might be eaten by a [[{{Zork}} Grue]].
*** In a nod to the distinguished competition, Gary Douglas has a [[ResidentEvil Duralumin-reinforced]] chest in his trailer.
** Aya lampshades her boss' nickname being taken from "Hal" the [[AIIsACrapShoot psycho computer]] from ''[[TwoThousandOne 2001]]''. [[spoiler:It turns out to be quite [[MeaningfulName meaningful]] when he's revealed to be TheMole.]]
** In [=PE2=], there's a Shout Out to Wizards of the Coast in the Game Room in the well. If prompted long enough, Aya will comment that Pierce keeps going on about "Whotsee" (WOTC obviously being the company's acronym) and "[[DungeonsAndDragons Caves & Creatures]]".
* ShowerScene: Aya in [=PE2=].
** Upgraded to softcore porn in ''The 3rd Birthday'', also with Aya[[spoiler:'s body, which is inhabited by the questionably young Eve.]]
* SpoilerOpening: The opening cinematic of the second game shows parts of the CutScene where [[spoiler:the US military storms the Ark facility and easily dispatches the EliteMooks that you've had difficulty killing upon their release]], not to mention [[spoiler:the big KillSat scene just before the final bosses]].
* SpritePolygonMix: Of the "Polygons on Bitmap Background" sort.
* SoundtrackDissonance: The TrueFinalBoss fight with [[spoiler:Maya Eve]] atop the Chrysler Building in the first game's NewGamePlus.
** Considered by most fans to be [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvYopYxUEL4&fmt=18 the most beautiful track in the game]] (skip to 2:30. Warning: True Ending spoiler), it is also extremely fitting for the game's tragic final battle.
* SuperMode: "Liberation", formerly a spell that wiped out nearly everything in the original installment, returns in ''The 3rd Birthday'' as a meter that fills up as you take or receive damage. Activating it causes Aya to FlashStep instead of dodge-roll, makes her invulnerable to damage, and makes her weapons do much more damage.
* [[TearsOfBlood Tears Of Mitochondrial Goo]]: The ''Statue of Liberty'', just before [[spoiler: the reconstituted and nuked cells of the Central Park patrons knock it over]].
* TechDemoGame: ''Parasite Eve'' was, by and large, a tech demo for the graphics engine that would later fuel ''FinalFantasyVIII''. Luckily, it still managed to be a decent game in its own right.
* TimeyWimeyBall: ''The 3rd Birthday'' involves Aya[[spoiler:/Eve]] using a machine that projects her into the past via a BodySurf system, and the Twisted monsters themselves appear to be invaders from another time and place due to the way they emerge from warping holes in the space-time continuum. Just to mess with your head further, Aya's[[spoiler:Eve's]] memories have been damaged and she's flashing back continually.
* TransformationTrauma: The entire point of the series, and lovingly rendered in cutscene after cutscene of people and animals being traumatically mutated or set on fire by the mitochondria in their bodies.
* TrueFinalBoss: [[spoiler: The original Eve (A.K.A Maya) in the first game]].
* TreacherousAdvisor: [[spoiler:Aya's boss in the second game, Eric Baldwin]].
* UndergroundMonkey: The majority of the Chrysler Building monsters.
* UniversalAmmunition: In the first game, the only weapon that doesn't share ammo is the rocket launcher. So, is your 7.62x51mm battle rifle running low on ammo? Just borrow a few rounds from your 9mm service automatic and your 40mm grenade launcher. Especially since what normally are considered ammo properties are attached to the guns..and transferable..
* WasOnceAMan: Most of the monsters in the first game are mutated animals. Most of the monsters in the second game, however, are mutated humans.
** Implied to be the origin of The Twisted in ''The 3rd Birthday,'' since the starting tutorial enemies have very human-like legs sticking out of twisted blobs of biomatter. [[spoiler: In the end, almost confirmed. Replace Aya's mental fragments drifting through space/time with mitochondria and it makes much more sense.]]
* WeCanRuleTogether: Eve's stock offer to Aya throughout the first game...until she discovered Aya was the ultimate subversion of herself, where that pretty much ceased.
* YouAreNumberSix: The BigBad of of [=PE2=] is a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Gunblade-slinging rooftop-hopping ape-like zombie cyborg supersoldier]] called Number ''Nine''.
* YouFailBiologyForever: In real life, the mitochondrion is merely a cell's [[PowerSource energy supply]] and posesses absolutely ''NO'' intelligence, let alone free will.
----
<<|{{Literature}}|>>
<<|ActionRPG|>>
<<|EasternRPG|>>
<<|SurvivalHorror|>>

* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: The Golems from the second game, cyborg zombie SuperSoldier EliteMooks with ape-like qualities, some types of which have [[InvisibilityCloak optical stealth]], ninja-esque speeds, the ability to cause StandardStatusEffects, and lay sneak attacks. [[spoiler: The [[TheCavalry US Army]] makes quick work of them, though.]]

The third game was originally announced for Japanese cellphones but has since been changed to a PSP game; it's not out yet as of 2010. ''The 3rd Birthday'' apparently involves time travel. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome And Aya in a wedding dress shooting things]], [[NeverTrustATrailer if the promos are to be believed.]] Speculation is that the game is not billed as "Parasite Eve" because Squeenix doesn't want to pay to keep using the license, which should really matter only for the title and nothing else.

* YouFailBiologyForever: The whole mitochondria is sentient and spontaneous combustion stuff. [[spoiler:OrIsIt?]]

* YouFailBiologyForever: Mitochondia are ''sentient''. And are only kept in line by the slavedriver-like cell nucleus. Also, with a bit of GhostInTheMachine, the cell nuclei are the "real you"; if it loses control, your personality is subsumed by the evil mitochondria. Mitochondria Eve, by the way, is real -- though the term refers to the common genetic maternal ancestor of all living humans, not to a primordial monster that has been subjugated in human cells for eons. And then, there's the whole idea that human mitochondria are an ''independent parasitic organism''.
** Mitochondria ''did'' originate as independent organisms. They even have their own DNA. Of course they were microscopic bacteria-like organisms, not a [[HiveMind single creature made up of all the mitochondria working together]].
*** A major story element of the game is a sort of battle between good and evil sentient mitochondria. To illustrate this, a great deal of time is spent on the events of the book - a previous and analogous incident in Japan where a super-baby wreaked havoc, but died because the mitochondria from its mother and father weren't of the same ilk. The kicker is twofold. 1: Mitochondria are passed maternally. The mitochondria in sperm are just a one-shot energy source for ramming against the egg and fertilizing it, and if they actually get integrated into the developed fetus at the trace amounts specified, it's almost always as a disorder. [[spoiler: 2: Given that it was his own sperm he sought to so alter, this means Doctor Klamp spent all his time, effort and grant money... on pr0n.]]
** There's also the fact that there is no possible way that mitochondria can actually make people spontaneously burst into flames or make you shoot lightning bolts. The oxidative process that your body uses to create energy requires ''fuel'' first of all, usually in the form of glucose. And then there's the fact that the energy released from that glucose is stored chemically in other compounds used to run energy-requiring processes in the cell itself. Some of that energy ''is'' lost as heat, but not to the degree required for spontaneous combustion.
** So in short, MITOCHONDRIA DO NOT WORK THAT WAY!
*** With ''The 3rd Birthday'' [[SerialNumbersFiledOff basically filing off the serial numbers]] because Square Enix lost the rights to the original novel, people have complained about the shift from the previous psuedo-science to Quantum Leap-style pseudo-science because of it's lack of scientific basis. But to be fair, [[spoiler: the story suddenly makes a lot more sense if you just make mitochondria slightly more magical than they were before. Then it becomes Parasite Eve 1 crossed with NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors.]]

* GlobalCurrency: Bounty Points (BP) in [=PE2=] are used primarily by the FBI's [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction MIST]] unit, which gives them more goodies according to the number of monsters they kill (tracked by special contact lenses). However, they're also applicable to Dryfield's landlord Gary Douglas (justified, as the FBI said they would reimburse him for allowing Aya to use BP to buy stuff from his WallOfWeapons), the [[spoiler:Neo-Ark Armory (A ChekovsGun lampshaded by Aya when her contact lens registers on the machine - Her boss is part of the conspiracy!)]], and soldiers operating out of the back of Army supply trucks (handwavable for the same reason as Douglas, since they're with the military).

* BagOfSpilling: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]]. Aya [[WhoWantsToLiveForever doesn't want to live forever]], but her mitochondira [[OlderThanTheyLook maintain her body at twenty]]; this freaks her out so much that she can't use her powers effectively without a damned good excuse - like being caught in another mitochondria-based conspiracy.
** She never explains [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse what happened to her]] {{BFG}}s, though...
*** She's a cop, they're considered issued. She would have to return them to the station. Doesn't explain the ones she finds in the treasure boxes, but it's as good an explanation as we can expect.

* BloodierAndGorier: [[OrSoIHeard As far as this troper recalls]], there wasn't much blood in the first two games (maybe due to hardware limitations). ''The 3rd Birthday'', however, presents you cutscenes with ''gallones'' of blood spilled by poor civilians who get slaughtered by [[EldritchAbomination monsters which have to be seen to be believed. Words cannot describe them.]] And all this already happens pretty much from the ''beginning of the game''. [[ItGotWorse From there on it only gets worse...]] [[UpToEleven and worse...]] [[BeyondTheImpossible and ''worse''...]]

* ClothingDamage: According to the Devs, in The 3rd Birthday the more Aya is damaged, the more her clothes will rip and fall off. No official word on just how far this can go, though judging by the series' history with fanservice it seems likely that poor Aya won't be wearing much if she takes too much damage.
** A new screenshot shows Aya reduced to tatters of a shirt and no pants at all. And it STILL isn't confirmed if that's as far as it can go or not.

* ContinuityNod: [[spoiler: Aya's mother's name is Mariko, the same as the girl who received Kiyomi's kidney in the novel.]]
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: What may or may not be intentional humour shows up subtly in odd places. Try examining the specimen cages in the underground lab in [=PE2=]. One of the text popups, for a cage containing a monkey that has ''chewed its own fingers off'', reads something like: "This is a very disturbed monkey." Okay, YMMV.

** It's recently been revealed that, in The 3rd Birthday, the damage Aya has taken is measured through ClothingDamage.

* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler:While attending an opera with her friends, something...happens with the mitochondria in Aya's cells. It has an effect on the people around her, causing the eyes of everyone in the audience to glow. What this is supposed to mean is never explained, and the sequel does not even try to address it.]]
** WordOfGod marks it CanonDisContinuity.
** If you want to be charitable and still accept it happened, you could just write it off as a stock survival horror movie cliche scene, seeing how the scene was clearly referencing "what happened to Eve could potentially happen to all of us". Still kinda silly they had everyone's eyes glow. The BodyHorror scene where they zoom inside Aya's eye and show us the mitochondria was probably enough. More than likely a CutscenePowerToTheMax gone wrong example, really.

* GuideDangIt (About one-fifth of [=PE2=]'s gameplay. Of course, after a few repeat playthroughs, you'll be too strong to care.)

** So, you have to fight a ''giant'' EldritchAbomination inside... ''another'' EldritchAbomination, while floating around in what seems to be rather beautiful sphere. You shoot at it... a LOT, and this thing slowly approaches you without twitching. When near you, it paralyzes you with its FrickinLaserBeams, catches you with its tentacles and ''eats'' you ''whole''. Your only hope of survival is to [[BodySurf transfer to another body]]. From there the whole pattern begins anow, all while you have to witness how the monster eats your former body, gallones of blood and the sound of bones being crunched included. Well, THAT's ''The 3rd Birthday''. Oh, the horror...

* MissingMom: We never DO get to see Lorraine Dollis. [[spoiler: Unless we count her cells being part of the Ultimate Being's mobile fetus, that is.]]

*** And by The 3rd Birthday, mitochondria apparently are so magical that they can transfur minds and travel through time. [[spoiler: Which is how the events in the game got started.]]

* {{Sequelitis}}: ''Parasite Eve 2'' dropped most of the turn based elements and replaced the free running controls with ResidentEvil style "Tank Controls."
** Which is WallBanger worthy, mostly because the first game had idiot proof controls that didn't force you to get used to them. DamnYouMuscleMemory!
** To its credit, though, it ''did'' have greatly improved graphics and the setting was actually pretty neat.

** Why wait for [=PE2=]? The first game had a Chocobo banner hanging in front of the Museum of Natural History (and a stuffed Chocobo just before the [[BossRush Back To Back Bosses]]).

* WeCanRuleTogether: Eve's stock offer to Aya throughout the first game.
** Well, until she discovered Aya was the ultimate subversion of herself, where that pretty much ceased.
* YokoShimomura

**** And here I thought the "Mature Sexual Themes" warning was just the ESRB being unable to split science from sexuality. (Though standard and [[BishonenLine Bishoujo Line]] Eve do have [[MostCommonSuperPower highly evolved knockers]], IfYouKnowWhatIMean.)

*** With ''The 3rd Birthday'' [[SerialNumbersFiledOff basically filing off the serial numbers]] because Square Enix [[strike: doesn't understand that mitochondria aren't copyrighted]] lost the rights to the original novel, [[FanDumb people have complained about the shift from the previous psuedo-science to Quantum Leap-style pseudo-science because of it's lack of scientific basis.]] But to be fair, [[spoiler: the story suddenly makes a lot more sense if you just make mitochondria slightly more magical than they were before. Then it becomes Parasite Eve 1 crossed with NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors.]]

<<|SurvivalHorror|>>

)

* ProductPlacement: In the sequel, Aya can drink cans of Coca-Cola to recover her HP and MP. A magnet (in the shape of a Coke bottle cap) is needed for a puzzle.

* HyperspaceArsenal: Played halfway straight in the first game (see InventoryManagementPuzzle below), [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] with a little FridgeLogic in the second: how can the same Belt Pouch only be big enough to hold either a can of Coca-Cola or an [[ReallyBigGun MM1 Grenade Launcher]]?

* TimeyWimeyBall: ''The 3rd Birthday'' involves Aya[[spoiler:/Eve]] using a machine that projects her into the past via a BodySurf system, and the Twisted monsters themselves appear to be invaders from another time and place due to the way they emerge from warping holes in the space-time continuum. Just to mess with your head further, Aya's memories have been damaged and she's flashing back continually.

** Implied to be the origin of The Twisted in ''The 3rd Birthday,'' since the starting tutorial enemies have very human-like legs sticking out of twisted blobs of biomatter. [[spoiler: In the end, almost confirmed. Replace the quantum leap-y "Aya's fractured consciousness" thing with mitochondria and it becomes Parasite Eve all over again.]]

* MentalTimeTravel: The apparent function of the Overdive system in ''The 3rd Birthday.''

** Motomu Toriyama, the scenario director for The 3rd Birthday, stated that in that game Aya will chronologically be in her late thirties, but still look like she's in her early twenties.
* OutOfClothesExperience: How Aya appears in ''The 3rd Birthday'' when between bodies. Naturally, AnimeAnatomy is used.

* TimeyWimeyBall: ''The 3rd Birthday'' involves Aya using a machine that projects her into the past via a BodySurf system, and the Twisted monsters themselves appear to be invaders from another time and place due to the way they emerge from warping holes in the space-time continuum. Just to mess with your head further, Aya's memories have been damaged and she's flashing back continually.

** Implied, if not yet confirmed, to be the origin of The Twisted in ''The 3rd Birthday,'' since the starting tutorial enemies have very human-like legs sticking out of twisted blobs of biomatter.

''ParasiteEve'' is a science fiction/romance-y book written by Hideaki Sena that was published in 1995. It was adapted into a movie and strangely, both ''have'' been released in America, the movie in 2001 by ADVFilms and the novel in 2005 by {{Vertical}}. In it, Kiyomi Nagishima, wife of Toshiaki Nagishima, crashes her car. Kiyomi survives but is brain dead. Toshiaki and Kiyomi's doctor transplant her kidneys into the teenage girl Mariko Anzai as an organ donation. What they didn't know was, Kiyomi's liver cells had previously been cultured such that the mitochondria within created the personality of Mitochondria Eve, which awakens within Mariko shortly after the transplant and starts transforming her into something suitable for giving birth to the next step on the evolutionary ladder. The story then goes rather haywire as Eve takes over Mariko whole-cloth, starts setting people on fire, and * ahem* [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean acquires a sperm sample from Toshiaki]] to create the Ultimate Being.

* BodySurf: According to the recent E3 2010 preview of The 3rd Birthday, it seems that Aya will be able to do this.

* EldritchAbomination: Many, if not ''all'' enemies in the series tend to be this, but the ones in ''"The 3rd Birthday"'' take the cake. ''ESPECIALLY'' the boss enemies. They're not called "The Twisted" for nothing; they warp out of holes in the space-time continuum and have nearly-impossible shapes.

* BloodierAndGorier: [[OrSoIHeard As far as this troper recalls]], there wasn't much blood in the first two games (maybe due to hardware limitations). ''The 3rd Birthday'', however, presents you cutscenes with ''gallones'' of blood spilled by poor civilians who get slaughtered by [[EldritchAbomination monsters which have to be seen to be believed. Words cannot describe them.]] And all this already happens pretty much from the ''beginning of the game''. [[ItGotWorse From there on it only gets worse...]] [[UpToEleven and worse...]] [[BeyondTheImpossible and ''worse''...]]

* EldritchAbomination: Many, if not ''all'' enemies in the series tend to be this, but the ones in ''"The 3rd Birthday"'' take the cake. ''ESPECIALLY'' the boss enemies. Seriously, those... ''things'' [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel gave this troper a LOT of nightmares...]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Done twice with the same character in something little less than 20 pages.