History VideoGame / Prototype

** The game won't let you start some of the earlier missions if you don't have certain abilities bought yet.

* BadassNormal: [[TheDragon Specialist Cross]], who can kill [[EliteMooks Hunters]] in hand-to-hand and can even hold his own in a mano-a-mano fight against a moderately powered-up Alex (and even manages to render him unconscious in the after-fight cutscene by exploiting Alex's paralyzing flashbacks); [[spoiler:Actually, we learn in the end that he is PARIAH, the son of Elisabeth Greene, that is a Runner (explained by him saying he would consume Alex), like Mercer, and transforms into a Supreme Hunter for the game's last boss]]. All of Blackwatch gets an honorable mention. Even when in your grasp and helpless, they will often still show bravado.

* CrazyPrepared: Captain Cross. With only his BadassNormal abilities (and his [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Crazy Preparedness]]), he took on [[PersonOfMassDestruction Alex Mercer]] and ''didn't die''. [[spoiler: Again, he's actually a Runner like Mercer.]]

* BadassNormal: [[TheDragon Specialist Cross]], who can kill [[EliteMooks Hunters]] in hand-to-hand and can even hold his own in a mano-a-mano fight against a moderately powered-up Alex (and even manages to render him unconscious in the after-fight cutscene by exploiting Alex's paralyzing flashbacks); [[spoiler:Actually, we learn in the end that he is PARIAH, the son of Elisabeth Greene, that is a Runner, like Mercer, and transforms into a Supreme Hunter for the game's last boss]]. All of Blackwatch gets an honorable mention. Even when in your grasp and helpless, they will often still show bravado.

* CrazyPrepared: Captain Cross. With only his BadassNormal abilities (and his [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Crazy Preparedness]]), he took on [[PersonOfMassDestruction Alex Mercer]] and ''didn't die''.

* BadassNormal: [[TheDragon Specialist Cross]], who can kill [[EliteMooks Hunters]] in hand-to-hand and can even hold his own in a mano-a-mano fight against a moderately powered-up Alex (and even manages to render him unconscious in the after-fight cutscene by exploiting Alex's paralyzing flashbacks). All of Blackwatch gets an honorable mention. Even when in your grasp and helpless, they will often still show bravado.

''Film/TheThing'' [[XMeetsY meets]] ''{{Kirby}}'' meets ''TheIncredibleHulkUltimateDestruction'' meets ''{{Crackdown}}''.

* CarFu: Entirely possible, if you decide to use them.

* BlackHelicopter: The military uses nothing but these.

* BlackAndGreyMorality: Hoo boy.

* BackStab: The Stealth Consume upgrade.

** The Groundspike special attack of the Claw power. It's fairly powerful and has near-perfect accuracy. However, it has a very limited range (around the length of four cars) and a huge cool-down time. At maximum distance, it takes about three seconds for the attack to hit, and another two for Alex to retract the spikes, during which you're completely immobilized. Expect your enemies to capitalize on this. The net result is that using this attack will likely be more damaging to you than to your enemies -- much more than if you'd just used conventional attacks.
* AwesomeYetPractical: The Muscle Mass power, full stop. It doubles the power of all your attacks and special moves, save for Devastators. Once you get it upgraded, you will tear through helicopters, Hunters, and Super Soldiers like a man possessed.
** Tanks or helicopters are the best way to deal out heavy damage, rather than relying on your extensive array of awesome powers. This is especially true when attacking buildings. Only the Groundspike Graveyard is more effective, and that eats up Critical Mass health.
** The Whipfist. Long range, decent damage, it can grab at a distance (for skyjacking or getting [[ImAHumanitarian food]] at a distance), and it can stun or knockdown opponents as large as Hunters. Military bases are pathetically easy to clear out with this weapon.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Oh, so very, ''very'' much when [[spoiler:the real Alex Mercer released the Blacklight virus into Penn Station]], which was full of innocent people, and quite possibly doomed all of Manhattan or ''worse'' -- and did so with full knowledge of the ramifications of [[spoiler:his]] actions. The reason? [[ItsAllAboutMe Pure spite]]; first because [[spoiler:GENTEK didn't keep him in the loop about what was being done with his research, and then because [[TakingYouWithMe he knew that he was going to be killed anyway]]]].

** Also a successor to the [[SpiderMan Ultimate Spider-Man]] game, in a way. The two were developed by the same people, and it's impossible to not notice the similarities if you've played the other one. Alex's running animation is ''identical'' to Spider-Man's. His charged jump is ''identical'' to Venom's superjump. His throw is ''identical'' to Venom's throw. Finally, his tentacle attacks are ''identical'' to Venom's tentacle attacks... except for some of the Devastator moves, which are identical to Carnage's attacks.

* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:Elizabeth Greene]] has one. In a partial subversion, it isn't [[spoiler:her]] true form -- it's more akin to {{Lovecraftian|Superpower}} PowerArmor ([[spoiler:she falls out in human form]] after you defeat it). During the fight, if you closely at the thing's "mouth" during the battle, you can see [[spoiler:Greene]] inside (covered with a skin flap to obscure [[spoiler:her]] features, but still visible). Once you get the Armor ability, you can pull this off too, You become MadeOfIron and can turn your hands into a BFS, [[DropTheHammer clubs]], a [[CombatTentacles whip]], and once your health gets maxed out, you get a couple {{LimitBreak}}s.

* DamnYouMuscleMemory: Step 1 -- Play a rousing run of ''Left4Dead''. Step 2 -- Pop on Prototype and infiltrate a base. Step 3 -- Almost blow your cover when you hear ''one damn trumpet note'' and punch the guy you're about to eat.

* WritersCantDoMath: Many of the ages don't match up with the timelines.

* WritersCannotDoMath: Many of the time lines do not match up with some of the characters ages. [[spoiler: This makes many people to believe that Alex Mercer, not the Blacklight virus, but the man himself, was Elizabeth Greene's son.]]

* VideogameDashing: The [[BeyondTheImpossible Air Dash]] and [[UpToEleven its upgrades]]. Charging up attacks also amplify the extent in which Alex will lunge towards his target.

* WritersCannotDoMath: Many of the time lines do not match up with some of the characters ages.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:What happened to Dana and Ragland?]]

* EvilVersusEvil: On one front, you have the protagonist: a shapeshifting, [[ImAHumanitarian man-eating]], sociopathic (at first anyway), NighInvulnerable viral monster on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. On a second front, you have [[EvilArmy Blackwatch]], the black ops organization responsible for creating the viral menace in the first place and which cares more about covering things up than about actually saving anybody, [[spoiler:to the point where they're willing to ''nuke'' the city to erase the evidence]]. On a ''[[MeleeATrois third]]'' front, you have Elizabeth Greene, an utterly batshit insane mutant [[spoiler:that turns herself into a Kaiju-scale monster]]. And on a ''fourth'' front ,you have [[spoiler:the [[DragonAscendant Supreme Hunter]]]], who uses a XanatosGambit so it can [[spoiler:try to eat the protagonist to increase its own powers so that it can survive the nuclear destruction of the city and fake its own death to avoid pursuit]].

But '''never''' [[DuelingGames confuse it]] with ''{{inFAMOUS}}'' -- the [[FandomRivalry fans sure don't]].

** Just try going from ''Prototype'' to ''{{InFAMOUS}}'' (or vice versa) without screwing up the controls.

* HeroicSociopath: In [[{{Infamous}} other]] [[{{Fable}} games]], killing dozens of people to empower yourself would be a defining moment for a character, a choice that the entire game leads to. [[ButForMeItWasTuesday For Alex Mercer, it's just another Tuesday]].