History VideoGame / GearsOfWar

At E3 2018, The Coalition revealed three new games: ''Gears Pop'', ''VideoGame/GearsTactics'' and ''Gears 5''. The first one will be a mobile game where players will battle the Locust as the series' characters in Toys/FunkoPop form, the second is a PC release that will focus on epic cover-based battles that the series is known for and the final one is a direct sequel to ''Gears of War 4''. It will star Kait Diaz as the PlayerCharacter rather than JD Fenix and will focus on Kait's personal quest to discover her family's connection to the Locust Horde and promises to take the series “back to where it all began”. All three games were released in 2019, with ''Gears 5'' releasing on September 10th, 2019.

At E3 2018, The Coalition revealed three new games: ''Gears Pop'', ''VideoGame/GearsTactics'' and ''Gears 5''. The first one will be a mobile game where players will battle the Locust as the series' characters in Toys/FunkoPop form, the second is a PC release that will focus on epic cover-based battles that the series is known for and the final one is a direct sequel to ''Gears of War 4''. It will star Kait Diaz as the PlayerCharacter rather than JD Fenix and will focus on Kait's personal quest to discover her family's connection to the Locust Horde and promises to take the series “back to where it all began”. All three games are set to be released in 2019, with ''Gears 5'' releasing on September 10th, 2019.

* TropeCodifier: ''Gears of War'' didn't invent cover-based shooters (that honor goes to the [=PS2=] games ''Kill.Switch'' and ''Win Back''), but it unquestionly took the gameplay mechanic from the realm of obscure Japanese widget to mainstream Hollywood blockbuster.

''Gears of War'' (also known as just ''Gears'') is a ThirdPersonShooter video game franchise previously developed by Creator/EpicGames and currently developed by Creator/TheCoalition and published by Creator/XboxGameStudios. By WordOfGod, gameplay emphasizes tactical maneuvers rather than MoreDakka, and is the recent TropeCodifier for TakeCover-style gameplay, forcing you to shoot carefully and outflank as much as you can (though RegeneratingHealth makes it a little easier). There isn't a jump button and everything is angled towards making the combat as personal and violent as possible (the main gun used has a chainsaw built into the grip, called the [[ChainsawGood chainsaw]] [[BayonetYa bayonet]]). You can give your squadmates orders, but if one them goes down, you have to pick them up and get them back on their feet. Finally, there is an [[PerfectReloadCommand Active Reload]] system that buffs your damage output if you hit the right timing window but jams your gun if you mess up.

''Gears of War'' (also known as just ''Gears'') is a ThirdPersonShooter video game franchise previously developed by Creator/EpicGames and currently developed by Creator/TheCoalition and published by Creator/XboxGameStudios. By WordOfGod, gameplay emphasizes tactical maneuvers rather than MoreDakka, and is the recent TropeCodifier for TakeCover-style gameplay, forcing you to shoot carefully and outflank as much as you can (though RegeneratingHealth makes it a little easier). There isn't a jump button and everything is angled towards making the combat as personal and violent as possible (the main gun used has a chainsaw built into the grip, called the [[ChainsawGood chainsaw]] [[BayonetYa bayonet]]). You can give your squadmates orders, but if one them goes down, you have to pick them up and get them back on their feet. Finally, there is an [[ActionCommands Active Reload]] system that buffs your damage output if you hit the right timing window but jams your gun if you mess up.

* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: With the previously mentioned meat shields and with the Mauler's indestructible Boomshields (that also double as roadblocks for larger enemies in Horde Mode). A Boomshield will actually protect you from ''a charging Berserker'' in the third game, although the recoil makes you drop it.

* OneHitPolykill : the One shot will easily kill any number of enemies in a single file line (there is even an award for it). The torque-bow can achieve this too if the player lands a headshot on an already low health opponent which will result in the explosive arrow turning their head into pulp without detonating, continuing in its trajectory and sticking into the next target exploding as intended killing it (bonus points for doing it to an Armored Kantus while he roars)

%%* Five ManBand
%%** TheHero - Marcus
%%** TheLancer - Dom, Jace [[spoiler:after Dom's death]].
%%** TheBigGuy - Cole, Clayton in ''Gears of War 3'' at times. Some Stranded even refer to Cole as "the big guy," during one mission.
%%** TheSmartGuy - Baird, who lampshades this by explicitly identifying himself as "the smart guy".
%%** TheChick - Anthony and Benjamin in their respective games, Samantha and Anya in ''Gears of War 3''.
%%** TeamPet - Jack
%%** Done again with a different band in "RAAM's Shadow":
%%*** TheHero - Michael Barrick
%%*** TheLancer - Jace
%%*** TheBigGuy - Tai
%%*** TheSmartGuy - Minh Young Kim
%%*** TheChick - Valera
%%*** Team Pet - Jack

** ''Gears of War 5'' includes an achievement entitled "I was born in a Crossfire Hurricane." Crossfire Hurricane was the codename for the FBI investigation into then-candidate Donald Trump.

** Joseph Kosinski's famous commercial for the original game where scenes of carnage are set to Gary Jules's cover of "Mad World".

* ChainsawGood: The Lancer assault rifle, with the aforementioned chainsaw bayonet. Not to be outdone, Skorge in ''Gears of War 2'' wields a staff with chainsaws on both ends. The canon reason for this is the natural toughness of Locust hides led to bayonets being worthless. The RealLife reason is Cliff Blezinski had always had a dream of a gun with a chainsaw on it. ''Gears 4'' takes things a step further by introducing a new gun that ''rapid-fires buzzsaws''.

* AnyoneCanDie: The games make an effort to introduce major characters and have them die along the way, as this is an unrelenting war. It was invoked by Cliff Bleszinski regarding ''Gears of War 3'', as being the final game all bets were off and even the core characters were at risk.

* CopyProtection: Cliff Bleszinski has stated with no small amount of vitriol that piracy of ''Gears of War'' stopped any chance of ''Gears of War 2'' on the PC.

* OurOrcsAreDifferent: Cliff Bleszinski once said in an interview that the inspiration for the Locust Horde came from [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings the Uruk-hai.]] He explains this by saying that the Uruk-hai tend to be smarter and tougher than regular orcs. As such, he designed the Locust to be smarter than the usual average bunch of "horde" monsters in other settings, via taking cover, not rushing into COG fire, etc.

** In ''Gears of War 4'', the Scions take over as the GiantMooks, and call their attacks much like Boomers used to, though they're slightly more eloquent: "Firing!" for Boomshot-wielders, "Suppressing!" for Mulcher-wielders, "Launching!" for Dropshot-wielders, and "Shredding!" for Buzzkill-wielders.

* DeletedScene: In the first game fans expressed disappointment that you never got to fight a Brumak, as one showed up dramatically after visiting the Fenix estate and was never seen again. There was intended to be a foot battle against one shortly afterwards before boarding the train in the final act, but was cut for lack of development time. The battle did happen in the PC version of the game, released a year later, and included in the Ultimate Edition. In Gears 2 there was line that suggests a divergent path option would be available, but nothing came of it. It was another sequence that was cut for time and later ''released'' as a deleted scene in DLC, where the two have the option of DressingAsTheEnemy to sneak around a checkpoint for a bit of gameplay variation.

* FollowTheLeader: ''Gears of War'' inspired a wave of third-person shooters and/or TakeCover games that is still ongoing, like ''VideoGame/ArmyOfTwo'', ''Franchise/MassEffect'' and ''VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron''. Similarly, it's also almost unthinkable these days to play a shooter without a "Horde"-inspired 'endless waves of enemies' mode.

* RobotBuddy: Delta Squad has a floating robot following them called JACK (that frequently utilizes a cloaking device to avoid damage from their firefights), in reference to the phrase "[[MeaningfulName Jack-of-all-trades]]". Some wonder if it's something of an {{Expy}} of [[StarWars R2-D2]], claiming to see some scenes which indicate emotion, such as waving its arms as if it's frightened. In the third game, JACK even gets an electrical self-defense mechanism.

** The "active reload" mechanic within the game consists of a minigame while reloading: press the reload button within a specific and small window of time and the weapon will reload faster. Press it within an even smaller, more specific window will give the weapon a temporary stat bonus (increased range, firing rate, damage...) and reloads the weapon instantly if pressed correctly. However, missing it causes the weapon to jam and ends up taking much longer to reload. This minigame is never explained, not even {{HandWave}}d, and is quite obviously just there to make reloading more fun.

** The Kantus has the same ability and trademark pose as VideoGame/{{Doom}}'s Arch-ville.

The game is bringing back some of the horror and suspense elements of ''Gears 1'', rifles such as the Hammerburst and Lancer now have stocks, and the latter has an attached flashlight to assist in navigating through dark areas ([[BrickJoke looks like Dom got his wish]]). Also, the Gnasher now has a rack of shotgun shells on it, [[RuleOfCool which serves no purpose other than looking cool]]. New weapons include the Dropshot[[note]]A replacement for the Digger Launcher that fires a drill that flies above the ground in a straight line for as long as you hold the trigger. Letting go of the trigger causes it to fall to the ground and explode.[[/note]], the Buzzkill[[note]]A heavy weapon that rapidly launches buzzsaws that can bounce off walls, but can also kill the user.[[/note]], and the [=DeeBee=] arsenal: the Enforcer SMG, the Tri-Shot[[note]]A gatling gun whose firing rate slows down the longer it is fired, but boasts superior accuracy and damage than the Mulcher.[[/note]], the RL-4 Salvo[[note]]A heavy weapon that fires volleys of rockets that are difficult to aim and can also kill the user.[[/note]], the Overkill shotgun[[note]]Fires one shot when you press the trigger and another when you release it.[[/note]], and the Embar sniper rifle[[note]]Semi-auto, but lacks a scope (since robots don't need one). It also seemingly must be charged to get an accurate shot.[[/note]]. There is also the new ability to [[YouWillNotEvadeMe grab an enemy from across a piece of cover and pull them over to your side]], then stab them to death with a knife. The knife can also be used after a vault kick. It's also now possible to quickly vault over cover in the middle of a roadie run by tapping B as you approach it.

Watch the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3f8VgQ_dqk trailer]].

Also, check out the gameplay launch [[https://youtu.be/ji2aU4EdQww trailer]].

* AdaptationalBadass: In a variation, each succeeding Carmine in each game is more badass than the previous one, or at least lives longer. [[spoiler: Clayton Carmine goes so far as to survive the entire game]]!

* AIIsACrapshoot: Niles Samson's "semi-sentient security program", which is a ''little'' bit obsessed with cleaning up "filth"., though it doesn't seem to actively attempt to kill you, and even makes an effort to protect you by advising you not to mess around with the main computers, which [[spoiler: wakes the Sires. NiceJobBreakingItHero]].

** Clayton Carmine can also say some kills are for [[spoiler: his brothers Anthony and Benjamin.]]

* ApocalypseHow: Class 2 in the backstory. All major civilization is knocked out besides the COG and a few pockets of stranded civilians living in the ruins of cities. ''Gears of War 3'' indicates that things are coming dangerously close to a Class 3. [[spoiler: Firing Adam Fenix's superweapon at the end pushes it close to a Class 4, though some humans remain]].

** In the third game, [[spoiler: during the fight with the Lambent Beserker]] at the point where it starts leaking Imulsion, the first thing Marcus says is to avoid said Imulsion. Your AI teammates will ignore this piece of advice and spend the rest of the fight walking into the Imulsion and screaming for help. Especially frustrating on Insane difficulty.

** [[spoiler:Adam Fenix]] is revealed to be like this, since he was the driving force of the Hammer of Dawn, which is what the COG used to scorch their own cities. [[spoiler: Of course, he still ends up committing genocide in his attempts to atone, but he makes it very clear there was just wasn't enough time...]]

* BeardOfSorrow: The new beard Dom's sporting in ''Gears of War 3'' is this. In the "Ashes to Ashes" trailer, the way he just lies back and waits for the Drone to finish him off shows he doesn't give a shit about anything anymore since [[spoiler: having to MercyKill his wife Maria]]. Overlaps with DeathSeeker.

** [[spoiler: and in 4 their mutated form, the Swarm, are a literal HiveMind]]

* BigNO: The major one in the entire series is [[spoiler: the one Marcus gives when he realizes that Dom's rescue of Delta Squad from the Lambent horde will [[HeroicSacrifice end in Dom's death.]]]]

* BittersweetEnding: The second and third games feature victory and ultimately survival, but at a great cost. [[spoiler: Myrrah is dead, the Lambent are destroyed for good, and the last stand of organized Locust falls, yet Marcus has lost his best friend Dom and his father Adam Fenix in the struggle.]] Not to mention that most of humanity is gone, what's left already has limited resources, and the vast majority of the planet's surface was destroyed and is largely unusable. Cynically lampshaded by him in the (chronologically) final game's [[spoiler: final line of dialogue:]]

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Although subverted and never stated outright, Marcus is seemingly paranoid of this in the first game. Every time he orders Delta Squad to split up, he never tells Cole to come with him. By the second game he appears to be over this and does have Cole come with him. [[spoiler: In fact, Cole, Jace Stratton and Samantha, all dark-skinned people, make it out of the trilogy alive. Dom doesn't]].

** She's even worse in the final chapter, where [[spoiler: after having her Tempest killed and surviving Adam Fenix's weapon, she has the gall to start mouthing off to a VERY pissed off Delta Squad, deriding Adam for thinking he had all the answers and "nothing but clever ways to kill". Unsurprisingly, the second she's up in Marcus' face, he guts her with Dom's knife and kills her when she had a pretty good opportunity to escape]].

** The opening of ''Gears of War 3'' is very similar to the opening scene of ''Gears of War'', only Dom's role is filled by Anya instead and there are Lambent Polyps instead of Locust Wretches. [[spoiler: It turns out this is simply a FlashbackNightmare]].
** In another case, spanning outside of the games, the original advertisement for ''Gears of War'' features [[Film/DonnieDarko Gary Jules' cover of]] "[[Music/TearsForFears Mad World]]". Fast forward several years to ''Gears of War 3'' and an instrumental version of the song plays [[spoiler: during Dom's HeroicSacrifice]].

* TheBusCameBack: After appearing briefly in ''Gears of War 2'' to introduce a bunch of new mysteries regarding the backstory of the ''Gears'' world that were never addressed again in the games, [[spoiler: the Niles A.I.]] returns in ''Gears of War 5'' to finally give the big reveal regarding the origins of the Locust that was AllThereInTheManual for some time but never directly stated in the games themselves.

* CanonImmigrant: Jace was an ExpandedUniverse character who got an audio cameo in ''Gears of War 2'' and apperances in the graphic novels. He shows up as part of Delta Squad in ''Gears of War 3''. Likewise Samantha and Bernie first appeared in the novels, and are fully playable in the ''Gears of War 3'' campaign. In a variation, Michael Barrick, [[spoiler: who was KilledOffForReal in the comics]], is available via DownloadableContent. Alex Brand is also going to be a skin in ''Gears of War Judgment''.

* ClippedWingAngel: The final boss of ''Gears of War 2'' is [[spoiler: a regular Brumak who walks into Imulsion and mutates into a massive Lovecraftian Lambent Brumak]]. It's basically a giant tree that stands still in one spot, and lasts all of 2 or 3 seconds as you vaporize it with the Hammer of Dawn.

*** MissionControl - Switches up depending on who is out in the action. Anya, Bernie, Baird, Dizzy and [[spoiler: Adam Fenix]] all take on this role.

** Skorge is a fairly tough boss ''only'' because he's unaffected by any form of attack other than a chainsaw duel. It's certainly there to show off the new chainsaw duel feature but it comes across as a frustrating GameplayAndStorySegregation. It's not a terribly difficult fight otherwise, unless you're [[spoiler: bad at dodging falling pillars, ink grenades, and Tickers]]. The pillars don't just fall in a straight line: you have to run to the other side of the hall, because these things will ''alter the direction of its fall to the point that it will somehow fall completely horizontally from a vertical position to kill you''.

*** Clayton himself is one towards his brothers. [[spoiler: During the trek at Hanover, he gets shot in the helmet by a sniper rifle, but survives unlike Anthony; ironically, he tells the shooter he's lucky that he wears a helmet. Later, he seemingly dies in a Raven crash similar to Benjamin's but survives]].

** Dom wears a combat knife on his armor during all three campaigns. It isn't used until [[spoiler: Mercy, when Dom lets Marcus borrow it to un-jam a lever. Marcus stabs Myrrah with it in the final scene of ''Gears of War 3'', saying it was for Dom, and everyone else she killed]].

* CrapsackWorld: Sera is reduced to a total hellhole in the aftermath of the Human-Locust War; the planet's surface has been scorched to cinders and its water sources contaminated by orbital Hammer of Dawn bombardment, nerve gas killed whatever the satellites didn't, fallout from the end of ''Gears of War'' causes terminal respiratory illness in the survivors, all the human cities have been destroyed, and according to the official tie-in novels, [[spoiler: 99% of the human population was killed in the war]]. Becomes a WorldHalfFull at the end of Gears Of War 3 though. [[spoiler: The Locust and Lambent are all dead, the parasite in Imulsion is destroyed, and the world actually has a ''future'' now, as it is implied that humanity can now recover.]]

* DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler: Adam Fenix makes one with Queen Myrrah before the events of the trilogy. Myrrah promised Adam that she would not invade Sera should he find a way to destroy the Lambent. He fails to do so, thus Myrrah is forced to kick-start the Human-Locust War.]]

* DemotedToExtra: As of ''Gears of War 4'', this is what happens to Marcus. After being the PlayerCharacter for three straight games, his son JD takes over as the main character for this installment. This also happens to most of the previous cast as well. Hoffman is only seen during the speech given in the prologue, [[spoiler: Baird, Cole and Sam]] only show up at the end of the campaign for all of two chapters and other survivors of the trilogy like Dizzy, Bernie, Jace and Clayton Carmine aren't even mentioned at all.

* DoAnythingRobot: JACK is a much more subtle version. It's equipped with various devices for communications and repairs but is primarily used to burn the locks off doors and hacking terminals. [[spoiler: In ''Gears of War 3'', Baird gives it an upgrade late in the game allowing it to shock and stun enemies]].

* DressingAsTheEnemy: Subverted. Marcus briefly mentions doing this to sneak into the Nexus in ''Gears of War 2'', but he and Dom decide to go in guns blazing instead [[spoiler: as revenge for Maria]]. Can be played straight in the "Deleted Scene" DLC if you can take the sneaky option.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Tai Kaliso was captured by the Locust in ''Gears of War 2''. When he's found, we see him covered in large cuts and wounds. Marcus hands him a shotgun to arm himself so they can move on, but Tai shoots himself in the head with it]]. [[GoryDiscretionShot The damage is not seen]].

* EldritchAbomination: The Lambent, especially the Lambent Brumak and Drudges. For Druges if they take too much damage but do not die, they will either mutate into three different forms ([[spoiler: Mutation 1 is when its head surges upwards as its neck elongates, forming a thick serpent-like appendage. The head itself mutates into a gaping triangular mouth, which could spray a stream of Imulsion at close-medium range, causing significant damage to enemies. Even when it is killed, the head would continue to function, acting like a snake-like predator on the hunt for enemies (hence the term "Headsnake").; Mutation 2 is when its arms mutate into grotesque, over-elongated limbs with giant claws.; Mutation 3 is when its legs grow in length and fused together to form a trunk, which placed the upper body on an high pedestal above the battle.)]].

** The Locust Queen Myrrah, [[spoiler: up until 75% of the second game, that is]].
** The Carmines play the straighter example: each bear a striking family resemblance... considering their tendency to wear helmets. The third game actively teases us with it: [[spoiler: the final scene actually shows Clayton picking up his helmet, dusting it off, and putting it on... ''without showing his face'']].

* FaceRevealingTurn: In ''Gears of War 3'', the group enters Mercy, which is mysteriously desolate and the sole survivor they find is quickly killed by unseen monsters. Eventually in the sewers, they find a sobbing woman, and when Marcus approaches [[spoiler: she turns and screams, revealed to be a Lambent human]], [[FromBadToWorse setting the level]] as a ZombieApocalypse.

%%** TheLancer - Dom, Jace [[spoiler: after Dom's death]].

** [[spoiler: In ''Gears of War 3'', a shot of Adam from behind in his lab zooms out and lingers on a vial of Imulsion and a syringe behind him before the game returns to Delta Squad. Adam states later he had to inject himself with Imulsion in the creation of his superweapon, and knows fully well that activating it will kill him]].
** [[spoiler: In ''Gears of War 3'', an early level features Marcus in a dream defending his father. Take a look at everyone in that dream. Two are already dead, two will die, and two will survive. Have fun guessing.]]
** Kait's opening scene explaining the nature of cocoons to JD plays into what the Swarm and their relationship with the pods. [[spoiler: Specifically, an organism trying to survive that ends up growing claws to slash their way out hedges into humans being mutated into Swarm.]]

** After learning about [[spoiler: what happened to the Locust]] during the TimeSkip to ''Gears 4'', Myrrah's last words to Marcus about how "your father always thought he had all the answers, but he had none!" seem a lot more ominous and foreshadow that [[spoiler: the Anti-Imulsion weapon may not have the desired effect on the Locust that Adam planned for]]. Indeed, as the new cast discovers the Swarm, they also discover that [[spoiler: the Locust never died and the Anti-Imulsion weapon actually just put them into a 25 year long state of hibernation that mutated them into the more powerful Scions, making them significantly stronger than their past selves]].

* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: An interesting example of this can be found in the first Gears of War and also doubles as FridgeBrilliance. Normally, Marcus (technically, the player) is able to give orders to the rest of Delta Squad and change their behavior by making them more aggressive or having them battle more conservatively by hanging back. However, you cannot give orders for the entire first act because Marcus is only a part of Delta Squad as a Private while Liutenant Minh Young Kim is the current leader. It's only until [[spoiler: Minh is killed by General RAAM towards the end of the act]] that Marcus gets promoted to Sergeant and becomes the leader of Delta Squad, allowing you to give orders for the rest of the game.

** In the campaign for ''Gears 3'', [[spoiler: Clayton Carmine gets shot in the head with a Longshot round and is completely unharmed afterwards.]] This is most certainly not the case for players if they receive such a fate in gameplay, multiplayer or campaign.

* GreenRocks: Imulsion. Originally not that bad, but ''Gears of War 2'' starts to elevate it to this status pretty quickly [[spoiler: as it's implied that not only does Imulsion turn living beings into explosive versions of themselves, they mutate them. ''Gears of War 3'' further implies that Imulsion overexposure and mutations forced the Locust to invade the surface, starting the war]]. It also acts as a super-fuel and is used in the construction of death rays from space, though as it turns out it isn't a mysterious magical substance. [[spoiler: It's a parasite and the mutations are its primary purpose.]] The fact that it can be used as a super fuel is just incidental.

* GuestStarPartyMember: Marcus fulfills this role to his son's squad in ''Gears'' 4 [[spoiler: until he is captured by a Snatcher. He re-joins the squad after he is rescued]]. At the end of the campaign, [[spoiler: Baird, Cole and Sam]] are called in by Marcus and provide support from a King Raven while you fight to rescue Reyna from the Swarm.

** Sadly, ''Gears of War 3'' has [[spoiler: ''Dom'']] of all people pulling one of these at the end of [[spoiler: Act 3 to save Marcus, Anya, Sam, Dizzy and Jace from the never ending hordes of [[TheVirus Lambent]]. Adam Fenix dies not long after reuniting with his son by using himself as a test subject in his quest to eliminate Imulsion, then activating a world-affecting bomb that he knows will kill him as well as all Lambent and Locust]].

* HijackingCthulhu: In 2, Delta rides [[spoiler:a pair of Reavers]], followed by [[spoiler: a Brumak]].

** It improves slightly in Gears of War Ultimate Edition, as everyone places more accurate fire on their targets. Kim in particular is shown taking down several Locust with well placed shots, one by one in a matter of seconds. [[spoiler: Not that it saves him.]]

* IncurableCoughOfDeath: Rustlung, which seemed pretty pointless in ''Gears of War 2''[[spoiler: until it turned out to be the first step towards Lambency in humans in ''Gears of War 3''.]]

* JigsawPuzzlePlot: ''Gears of War 2'' has a major case of this, introducing multiple unexplained plot elements (the secret COG experiments creating the Sires, a lot of what the Locust Queen was yammering about, [[spoiler: Adam Fenix being alive and ticked off you sunk Jacinto]], etc.) that are not resolved. Most of these are covered in ''Gears of War 3'', and the remaining questions were addressed in ''The Slab'', where it turned out [[spoiler:the Sires were Lambent humans from 100 years ago, and the Locust were their descendants.]] See [[http://forums.epicgames.com/threads/890098-Origins-of-the-Locust-A-study-of-the-Lambent-the-Sires-the-Locust-and-Myrrah here]] for more information.

* KickTheDog: Particularly [[spoiler:[[DrivenToSuicide Tai]] and [[MercyKill Maria]]]] in the second game. It gets worse in ''Gears of War 3'' with [[spoiler: Dom's death]].

* MadeOfExplodium: All Lambent creatures explode when killed with varying degrees of force, [[spoiler: which is used by the team when they needed a big bomb and there was a Lambent Brumak in front of them]]. Regular drones don't harm you much, drudges sometimes run ''after'' you when about to explode, wretches are like grenades, Grunkers and Lambent Berzerkers look like a tactical nuke.

** Other characters in this mold include [[spoiler: Kim and Tai]].
** Tragically, [[spoiler: Dom]] of all people manages to end up becoming the biggest example of this in the series. The players have gotten to know him across the entire series, playing as him in co-op and getting to see how much of a loyal, selfless and NiceGuy he is. Although the AnyoneCanDie trope was invoked in ''Gears of War 3'', absolutely no one was expecting [[spoiler: Dom to be the only Delta Squad member to die]]. Even though he went out in a DyingMomentOfAwesome combined with HeroicSacrifice, it's safe to say that [[spoiler: Dom's death]] brought [[PlayerPunch tears to the entire fan base]].
* MayorOfAGhostTown: [[spoiler: Griffin, after your trip to Char.]]

** ''Gears of War'' 4 basically has the Outsiders vs. the [=DeeBees=] vs. the Swarm. However, there is only one area in the campaign where [=DeeBees=] and Swarm are encountered together and they will shoot each other just as much as they will shoot you. Strangely enough, these two will not attack each other at all in Horde; possibly due to a programming oversight or maybe some clever FridgeBrilliance. The Swarm only attack humans because [[spoiler: they can't exactly reproduce by sticking robots in their pods]] and the [=DeeBees=] only attack humans because they are specifically programmed to pacify Outsiders since they, for most of the campaign, are unaware of the Swarm's existence and actions.

** When you fight the [[spoiler: Lambent humans]] in Mercy, some can be clearly heard screaming "Kill me!" when they attack you.
** [[spoiler: Kait to her mother in Gears 4]]

* MissionControl: Features prominently in both games. Normally, Anya's the one providing intel, advice, orders and even [[UnresolvedSexualTension comfort]]; there are times where other characters take on the role, though they are distinctly lacking the comfort aspect. Delta Squad loses contact with MissionControl a depressing number of times throughout both games, though. In ''Gears of War 3'', a variety of characters take on the role, from Anya to Dizzy to [[spoiler: Adam Fenix]].

*** ''Gears of War 3'' feature [[spoiler:Lambent Stalks that sprout from the ground, changing the landscape but also depositing any number and multiple types of Lambent Locust in your path]] while also doing away with Emergence Holes, presumably because the Locust have [[spoiler: lost control of the underground to the Lambent]].

*** If you can manage to get through a round of Gridlock without anyone destroying one of the ash people, the next round will begin with an instrumental version of Gary Jules' cover of "[[Music/TearsForFears Mad World]]", the same song used for the ''Gears of War'' commercial. [[spoiler: It's also the music that plays during Dom's HeroicSacrifice]].

* NeverTrustATrailer: The "Ashes to Ashes" trailer showed Delta Squad fighting in Char [[spoiler: completely intact. In the actual game, Dom dies before you visit Char]].

** Something bad happens to a Carmine in each game. [[spoiler: Clayton actually walks it off, though.]]

** Technically a squad of four, but just two of the squad still ended up practically ''single-handedly deploying the destruction of the enemy'', [[spoiler: twice]], barring the occasional need for transportation (although they end up transporting themselves more often then not).

** [[spoiler: The Imulsion turns the Brumak you've hijacked into a Lambent Brumak, which serves as the final boss for ''Gears of War 2'']].

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: [[spoiler: Formers, who show up in Act 3, are ''Lambent humans'', who act similar to stereotypical zombie fashion. It doesn't help that all they seem to be focused on is attacking the living and that one guy even seems to have been eaten alive. [[{{Redshirt}} Poor bastard]]]].

* PlayingWithSyringes: Niles Samson and New Hope. The notes and recordings in the research facility during ''Gears of War 2'' and ''The Slab'' show that [[spoiler: the COG accidentally created the Locust while trying to find a cure for Lambency 100 years ago]].

** In spades with ''Gears of War 3''; [[spoiler: sure, the Locust and Lambent are finally gone, but the vast majority of humanity is dead, their cities destroyed and ruined and their primary source of energy used to build them up in the first place no longer exists because it was mutating beyond its control. The future is going to be very, very hard, but at least there IS a future for humanity]].

** Gears of War 4 [[spoiler: starts with the ''players themselves'' at the receiving end of this trope, and it is certainly NOT played for laughs.]]

* RuleOfThree: Three named characters ''that are seen in combat''[[note]] to count out [[spoiler: Maria, Prescott, and Adam Fenix]][[/note]] die in each installment except ''3''; [[spoiler: two allies, one enemy]].
** ''1'': [[spoiler: Anthony Carmine, Lieutenant Kim, RAAM]].
** ''2'': [[spoiler: Tai Kaliso, Ben Carmine, Skorge]].
** ''3'': [[spoiler: Dom, Queen Myrrah]].
** ''4'': [[spoiler: Gary Carmine, The Speaker, Reyna]].

* SenselessSacrifice: In ''Gears of War 3'', going to Mercy costs Delta Squad time and [[spoiler: Dom]] in their quest to acquire fuel to reach Azura. [[spoiler: They end up not even getting the fuel they went there for since Dom blew it all up to save them. In the cutscene, it seemed that Delta still had ammo for their weapons, so Dom could have jumped over to them and they all could have concentrated fire on the tanks to make an escape without him dying]]. Not to undermine [[spoiler: Dom's HeroicSacrifice]], but it could have been avoided.

* SequelHook: The ending narration of the first game is a bona-fide hook. Wait until the end of the credits of the second game for another sequel hook. [[spoiler: The data disk Adam gives to Baird is possibly another hook on the LeftHanging segments for ''Gears of War 3'']].
** The end of the "Aftermath" campaign from ''Gears of War: Judgement'' [[spoiler: seems to imply that COG soldiers have been kidnapping people for unspecified reasons.]]

** [[spoiler: ...That although humanity has been steadily rebuilding, the loss of Imulsion, which was the miracle fuel that built up civilization before the Locust War, has led to a fuel crisis and the COG has now become a full-blown dictatorship to prevent the extinction of humanity. Those who did not accept the COG's absolute authority have resorted to living outside the COG's walls ala [[Manga/AttackOnTitan Attack On Titan]] in Outsider villages and resort to stealing from the COG to survive. We also find out that Adam's weapon didn't kill the Locust after all; it simply put them into a cryogenic state that mutated them into the much more powerful [[GiantMook Scions]]. The new Swarm faction are also hellbent on repopulating the Horde by abducting the human race to turn them to their ranks. ''4'' ends up dangerously close to making the story a case of ShootTheShaggyDog if not for the SequelHook at the end]].

** Fairly blatantly used in ''2.'' While talking about Skorge, Marcus states he "makes RAAM look like a Goddamn pushover". Somewhat justified by [[spoiler: linking the emergence of a "GIANT WORM!!!" to the Lightmass Bomb]].

** Brought back in ''3.'' While Marcus and Baird are now getting along, there is considerable friction between Baird and Sam in the first Acts, with them throwing all sorts of sarcastic quips at each other. The nature of their rivalry is implied to stem from Sam trying to be Dom's new LoveInterest. [[spoiler: They ease up considerably after Dom's HeroicSacrifice.]]
*** [[spoiler: By ''4'', Sam and Baird are an actual couple]]

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: In ''Gears of War 3'', Myrrah calls out on humanity being a bunch of genocidal monsters, just like how they view the Locust. It almost sounds [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocritical]], considering Emergence Day, [[spoiler: until you realize Myrrah had no choice because of the Lambent]].
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: ''Gears Of War 2'' allows characters to use mortars, miniguns and a multitude of over-the-top weaponry to kill mere infantry. Not to mention multiple characters can chainsaw a single enemy at the same time. That's not counting the ludicrous amount of overkill inherent to [[spoiler: using a Brumak]] against hapless Locust.

** Delivered straight by Marcus [[spoiler: when he guts Myrrah in ''Gears of War 3'']]:
--> '''Marcus''': "[[spoiler: You feel that? That's from Dom... and everyone else you killed you bitch!]]"

** After [[spoiler: having her entire army wiped from the face of the planet]] and [[spoiler: finding herself in the company of the bereaved Delta Squad, Myrrah takes the opportunity to gloat about their losses. It doesn't go so well]].

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler: In Gears 5, Myrrah's husband decided to spare his daughter the horrific fate that her mother went through. Unfortunately for him, Myrrah reacted in the exact opposite way. Enraged at the loss of her one family member, she led the Locust in an uprising before taking them underground. Myyrah then proceeded to launch a genocidal war against humanity several decades later before the Locust evolved into the Swarm and finish what they started. Myrrah's husband's good act of trying to save his daughter nearly got all of humanity wiped out.]]

* VehicularAssault: Although they're technically more of a mount, all the [[spoiler: non-Lambent]] Brumak fights go this way. Likewise on the various occasions that Delta has to fight Reavers on foot.

* WeHaveReserves: The Locust Horde is described this way in supplementary material, being willing to sacrifice a hundred Drones just to kill one Gear. This is less so in ''Gears of War 2'', where the Locust military exhibits some self-preservationist behavior, e.g. retreating and falling back, but only when on the receiving end of bad mojo, like [[spoiler: being chased by a goddamn ''Brumak'']] or the Lambent Locust, which is justified since overexposure to Imulsion would turn them into Lambent.

** Don't buy the third game if you expect any sort of explanation for the [[spoiler: Sires]]. [[spoiler:They are explained in Gears 5.]]

** [[spoiler: The strangeness of the queen, looking much like a human unlike the rest of the Locust, and even surviving the anti-Imulsion and Locust superweapon, is noted by Baird before it happens, and it is never explained]].

** [[spoiler: What's with the disk Adam gives to Baird? One thing's for sure, you won't find out in the same game]]. [[spoiler:Instead the disk is revisited in Gears 5.]]
** [[spoiler: Why the Locust were taking prisoners' in 2 is never explained either]]

** [[spoiler: The NoodleIncident that caused JD and Del to defect from the COG is never elaborated on in 4. It gets a vague mention when the group first meets Marcus and once more before the group descends into the osmium mine and is promptly forgotten about]].

* WorldHealingWave: [[spoiler: Adam Fenix's machine neutralizes the Lambent parasite across the entire world, killing anything infected by it as well, including Adam, Fenix's father.]]

* YankTheDogsChain: Dom's life, especially, is practically ''made'' of this trope - after losing his brother and kids, the only thing that kept him going was the possibility of finding his missing wife, Maria. In ''2'', he does find her - [[spoiler: after she had suffered years of torture, malnutrition, and lobotomization that turned her into a catatonic EmptyShell who does not respond to Dom at all. The only way to save her is via MercyKill, which Dom has to personally deliver.]] ]]

* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: [[spoiler: The Resonator fails. Even after that, the Lightmass Bomb is insufficient to wipe the Locust out. In the sequel, sinking Jacinto isn't enough to stop the persistent creatures permanently]].
* [[spoiler: ZombieApocalypse]]: The Lambent, [[spoiler: more so once the infection is discovered to spread to humans]].

* AteHisGun: General Bardry Salaman, who was unable to live with himself after having helped carry out the Hammer of Dawn counterattack. [[spoiler: At least, that's the cover story that was given for his relocation to Azura.]]

-->'''Dominic Santiago:''' Welcome back to the army, soldier.
-->'''Marcus Fenix:''' Shit.

Released on November 12, 2006, the Locust Horde has been rampaging across the planet for about 14 years. Marcus Fenix was imprisoned for dereliction of duty four years earlier, but was pardoned when the Locust assaulted Jacinto Plateau and invaded the prison. Marcus was reinstated and assigned to Delta Squad alongside Dominic Santiago. His first assignment involves a priority mission to assist another group, Alpha Squad, to deploy a device that would help deliver a final strike against the enemy.

-->'''Marcus Fenix:''' This is it, Dom. This is everything we've been fighting for.
-->'''Dominic Santiago:''' Yeah, well Maria is everything ''I've'' been fighting for.

[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbrHUwZEErk The reveal trailer can be found here.]] Development was being outsourced to Epic's subsidiary studio People Can Fly, the makers of ''VideoGame/{{Painkiller}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Bulletstorm}}''. The gameplay was shifted up, as while TakeCover is still vital the speed of the characters is increased significantly and there is a more vertical factor with the maps. Multiplayer will get another new mode called "[=OverRun=]", a sort of [[JustForFun/XMeetsY Horde-meets-Beast mode-meets regular multiplayer]], where you switch off between player teams of Locust creatures and COG soldiers with an objective goal and uses a class-based system. Horde Mode was technically removed but replaced with a new, related gametype called Survival, which integrates the same class based system as Overrun and introduces vital new objectives to maintain as you hold out for 10 waves.

Announced at E3 2015 with a release date of October 11, 2016, it is the first original work of official ''Gears'' developer, The Coalition.
The game is set 25 years after ''Gears 3''. The main character is James [[DeadGuyJunior Dominic]] "JD" Fenix, the son of Marcus and Anya, who first ran away from home to join the COG against his father's wishes and later went AWOL from the COG after being involved in some kind of NoodleIncident that will apparently be explained in the game. He is joined by his best friend and obvious Dom-{{Expy}} Delmont "Del" Walker, who went AWOL along with him after being involved in the same incident; and Kait Diaz, a young girl who is one of the Outsiders, essentially the new version of Stranded, though it's confirmed that the COG-Outsider relationship will be different from the COG-Stranded one. The campaign will have 2-player co-op, with the second player getting a choice between either Del or Kait. Other confirmed characters are Reyna, Kait's mother and leader of the Outsiders; and Oscar, Kait's uncle, a former Gear, and an expert survivalist (level of [[CrazySurvivalist craziness]] not yet confirmed).

A film adaptation is currently in the works, though plagued with DevelopmentHell, and the third game will be the last to feature Delta Squad. A series of comic books [[ExpandedUniverse expand on the backstory and what happens between the games]], alongside a collection of five novels by noted sci-fi scribe Creator/KarenTraviss.

---> '''Benjamine Carmine''': You know, these helmets have built-in dust filters. If you wore a helmet, you won't have to worry about the dust.

* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: The easiest way to see if someone is going to die? He wears a helmet. [[spoiler:Except Clayton Carmine. His helmet actually ''saves'' him from friendly fire.]]

** In the first game, the achievement for performing 100 grenade stick kills is called [[Machinima/RedVsBlue "Is it a spider?"]]

The enemy faction is the Swarm, a [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute suspiciously Locust-like race]] that has shown up out of the blue and started kidnapping people. The COG will function as secondary antagonists, as they think it's the Outsiders who are kidnapping people and are sending their new MechaMooks, the [=DeeBees=], to deal with the situation. [=DeeBees=] were developed by the COG to maintain order and peace within their walled colonies following the wake of the Locust War, as well as do dangerous jobs such as construction that have a high risk of injury or death [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman so that humans don't have to do them]] and can focus on repopulating. However, the biggest enemy in the game is probably going to be the weather. Adam Fenix's weapon at the end of ''Gears 3'' apparently had the nasty side effect of turning Sera's already-deadly weather UpToEleven, and throughout the game the trio will encounter "wind flares", essentially fire and lightning inside a tornado. The strong winds will even affect the trajectory of bullets and thrown grenades, and the wind flares contain deadly "storm walls", Mother Nature's answer to the Hammer of Dawn. Also, it's been implied that they can happen at ''random'', as well as at predetermined points in the story. Multiplayer, however, seems safe from deadly weather (at least for now).

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: ''Gears Of War 3'' introduced the ability for players to “Re-Up”; allow them to reset their multiplayer level back to 1 to gain more exp and get to level 100 again. ''3'' allowed players to do this three times, but ''4'' takes this UpToEleven. Players can Re-up 10 times for a total of 1,000 levels, but those are just the ''regular'' Re-Ups. After those, you unlock the Wings, which allows players to go up ''another'' 1,000 levels with each single level requiring about three times as much exp as a normal level, the only difference being that you’ll get a credit bonus for every level rather than every 5. The Coalition even stated that getting all of this done would require such superhuman determination and grinding that they don’t expect ''anyone'' to reach Wings 10.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Gears of War 2'' carries a darker, more personal story than the last, with various named characters dying, though none of them came from the original game, but were advertised as being in the sequel. ''Gears of War 3'' takes this UpToEleven.

* FakeLongevity: The first game has achievements for 100 multiplayer games with a kill with each weapon and 10,000 multiplayer kills in total. ''Gears of War 2'' takes it to ludicrous extremes with "Party Like It's 1999" for playing that many multiplayer rounds (with or without bots, and with or without even being online) and "Seriously 2.0", which requires ''100,000'' total kills across all game modes. For reference, playing through the campaign once gets you about 1000 kills. The third game takes this UpToEleven, introducing ''several'' longevity awards with absurd requirements: the "Doorman" medal requires you to grind ''opening doors'', which would take dozens if not hundreds of campaign run-throughs to achieve; the "Allfathers" medal requires you to play '''15000''' matches (not rounds, matches) of multiplayer; the Founder ribbon requires you to be the one who founds the first base in Horde 2.0 hundreds of times, and so on. In addition, [[http://kotaku.com/5845476/the-toughest-xbox-360-achievement-you-can-get-we-think this article]] details how "Seriously 3.0" in ''Gears of War 3'' might be the toughest achievement to ever unlock.

* FinishingMove: Characters who've lost their HitPoints will often be incapacitated instead of killed, allowing for a stress relieving curb stomp. The second game introduced unique finishers with individual weapons. The third [[UpToEleven takes it up to eleven]] where you can ''continue'' them to gain more experience as well as giving each weapon an unlockable special execution.

** Cranked UpToEleven in the third game. Lambent foes are MadeOfExplodium, but human soldiers can melee them to death with chainsaw bayonets and shrug off the point-blank KABOOM like it ain't no thang.

* DifficultySpike: The jump from Hardcore to Insane difficulty is ''staggering'' to say the least. It's at this difficulty where the game starts punishing you severely for not being a master of the ''Gears of War'' mechanics. Enemies gain god-like accuracy with weapons while you can be killed in 1 to 3 shots from any weapon. Any melee attack is a OneHitKill and players WILL be rushed by enemies if they camp at their cover for too long. Enemies have almost twice as much health as usual and can only be taken down efficiently with [[ActionCommands Active Reloads]] and [[BoomHeadshot headshots]]. The worst part, however, is there is no going DBNO for you: if you lose all your health, you '''die''' on the spot. The only saving graces are that [[AntiFrustrationFeatures your AI teammates have more health and will not bleed out if they go DBNO, so they can help you get through the campaigns solo]].

* BaldBlackLeaderGuy: Griffin in the third game. Former energy magnate, current ruler of a post-apocalyptic city, always ruthless.

The general story centers on the soldiers of [[TheSquad Delta Squad]] as they fight to save the human inhabitants of the fictional planet Sera from a relentless subterranean enemy known as [[BugWar the Locust Horde]]. The [[FunWithAcronyms Coalition of Ordered Governments]] (COG) is fighting back with their own soldiers they call "Gears". The Locust are relentless, vicious, can pop out of the ground almost anywhere and seem to be numberless, but the COG have superior technology and the capital city of Jacinto is located on a plateau of solid granite, making it the one place the Locust can't tunnel up.

* AdultFear: ''All'' of the named characters have had family and friends, and some of them had children - and they all lost a great many of them on E-Day and during the war that followed.
** Dom's life, especially, is practically ''made'' of this trope - after losing his brother and kids, the only thing that kept him going was the possibility of finding his missing wife, Maria. In ''2'', he does find her - [[spoiler: after she had suffered years of torture, malnutrition, and lobotomization that turned her into a catatonic EmptyShell who does not respond to Dom at all. The only way to save her is via MercyKill, which Dom has to personally deliver.]] Imagine crusading for years to find someone dear to you in the midst of a global warzone, [[spoiler: only to be forced to kill them immediately afterward.]]

* FiveManBand
** TheHero - Marcus
** TheLancer - Dom, Jace [[spoiler: after Dom's death]].
** TheBigGuy - Cole, Clayton in ''Gears of War 3'' at times. Some Stranded even refer to Cole as "the big guy," during one mission.
** TheSmartGuy - Baird, who lampshades this by explicitly identifying himself as "the smart guy".
** TheChick - Anthony and Benjamin in their respective games, Samantha and Anya in ''Gears of War 3''.
** TeamPet - Jack
** Done again with a different band in "RAAM's Shadow":
*** TheHero - Michael Barrick
*** TheLancer - Jace
*** TheBigGuy - Tai
*** TheSmartGuy - Minh Young Kim
*** TheChick - Valera
*** Team Pet - Jack

* DeathWorld: Sera. Even the ''weather'' is trying to kill you. This is eventually given a LampshadeHanging in ''4''.

* BadassBeard: An EasterEgg in ''Gears of War 3'' allows everyone to have a Dom beard, [[GirlsWithMoustaches even Anya]] and [[TheFaceless Clayton Carmine's helmet]].