History VideoGame / ReturnToMonkeyIsland

** Apple Bob the ghost pirate from ''Secret'' is back as part of [=LeChuck=]'s crew (now on permanent yardarm hanger duty).

* CuttingOffTheBranches: While the game follows in the footsteps of ''Escape'' by confirming that Guybrush accidentally sinking the ''Sea Monkey'' canonically took place in the first game, it also seemingly confirms that Guybrush did in fact not destroy Apple Bob with the voodoo root beer, which was another optional thing you could do in that game.

* MakeAnExampleOfThem: PlayedForLaughs with Apple Bob, where it's his job to be tied and hung from the yardarm to demonstrate what happens to those who fail [=LeChuck=]. Besides being very bored, he doesn't mind and actually gets offended when he suspects Guybrush asking to cover his shift is secretly a ploy to steal his job.

** PlayedForLaughs with Apple Bob, who has done nothing wrong (not recently, at least), but his job is to be tied up and hung upside down to show what happens to anyone who fails [=LeChuck=].

** From MI2: The game is told as an in-universe story and involves Guybrush and [=LeChuck=] on the hunt for an mysterious treasure. [[spoiler:Said treasure leads to an ambiguous carnival themed ending.]]

** Guybrush at one point sings the opening lyrics to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride's song, "A Pirate's Life For Me." This is the first Monkey Island game made since LucasArts and the Monkey Island IP was acquired by Disney, bringing MI and PotC under the same corporate umbrella, allowing such a clear shout-out to be made.

** The Scumm Bar cook's kitchen is still littered with hunks of meat, conspicuous stains, and other, less identifiable things. He reacts in terror at the idea of the health inspector coming by, and keeps a forged inspection certificate on the wall, shored up with gold star stickers. The bubbling pot of soup on the stove smells just like Guybrush remembers from ''Secret'', and might well be the same exact stew. He goes into a flurry of activity trying to make [[UnsatisfiableCustomer the nightmare customer]] every dish in the cookbook you find for him, but the Bar burns down before you get to find out how he did. ** [=LeChuck's=] cook Putra is no slouch either, with Guybrush listing the whole kitchen as a sanitary violation, but given she's a zombie and there's only one (two with Guybrush) living person on board, she doesn't have to worry about killing people with what she cooks.

* BlamedForBeingRailroaded: Elaine calls you out on a dozen bad things you did during the game, but [[CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption there is only one way to solve the puzzles]] apart from minor, inconsequential details.

* NinjaRun: Lila, being Asian coded with her robes and skin tone, does one going after LeChuck in the final chapter.

** There's a ship at sea that's self isolating because they've got [[ComicallyMissingThePoint scurvy]]. The pirates on this ship are wearing {{Tinfoil Hat}}s, and they won't accept limes as a potential remedy because the reasoning is [[ConspiracyTheorist scientific]]. After getting a marketing makeover you offer the remedy again and they double check if there's no science involved. The game was developed during the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic.

* TooDumbToLive: At one point, LeChuck promises his crew free grog as there is cause for celebration, and they all throw their respective headgear into the air, or the closest thing. [[spoiler: Guybrush, disguised thanks to a magical eyepatch, throws his disguise into the air as well, revealing himself to the crew and most importantly, his arch-nemesis.]]

* WasItReallyWorthIt: Elaine directly asks Guybrush after learning of all the chaos he's been causing in his search of the Secret of Monkey Island, because at this point she just doesn't know what the Secret could possibly be that would make all of it worth it. Guybrush doesn't quite seem to know either, but he's still going anyway. [[spoiler:In the ending, he has the option to fully agree that it wasn't worth it.]]

** TwistEnding aside; Trent and Madison are implied to have died offscreen, and Lila runs after LeChuck for a final confrontation. We never see what happens / happened.

* BroadStrokes: While the events of ''VideoGame/{{Escape from Monkey Island}}'' are mentioned in the scrapbook and in some of the dialogue, some details have been ignored. Escape had revealed that [[spoiler:Herman Toothrot was actually Elaine's grandfather, H.T. Marley,]] but none of the characters acknowledge this in ''Return''.

* EntertaininglyWrong: The Museum of Pirate Lore is filled to the brim with pirate artifacts... but where the curator claims them to be historical pieces from all over the Carribean, Guybrush immediately recognizes them as [[ContinuityNod leftovers from his own past shenanigans]]. He is really miffed that an exhibit that is for all intents and purposes dedicated to him [[DudeWheresMyRespect doesn't mention his name a single time]], and the curator won't listen to him because Guybrush's claims contradict the research done (by an unpaid intern) and "eyewitnesses often have faulty memory".

* LethalChef: The Scumm Bar cook's kitchen is still littered with hunks of meat, conspicuous stains, and other, less identifiable things. He reacts in terror at the idea of the health inspector coming by, and keeps a forged inspection certificate on the wall, shored up with gold star stickers. The bubbling pot of soup on the stove smells just like Guybrush remembers from ''Secret'', and might well be the same exact stew. He goes into a flurry of activity trying to make [[UnsatisfiableCustomer the nightmare customer]] every dish in the cookbook you find for him, but the Bar burns down before you get to find out how he did.

** There's a ship at sea that's self isolating because they've got [[ComicallyMissingThePoint scurvy]]. The pirates on this ship are wearing [[TinfoilHat Tinfoil Hats]], and they won't accept limes as a potential remedy because the reasoning is [[ConspiracyTheorist scientific]]. After getting a marketing makeover you offer the remedy again and they double check if there's no science involved. The game was developed during the [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic Covid19 pandemic]].

* LatinIsMagic: Dark magic involves a whole lot of latin incantations.

** There's a ship at sea that's self isolating because they've got [[ComicallyMissingThePoint scurvy]]. They won't accept a potential remedy because the reasoning is [[ConspiracyTheorist scientific]]. After getting a marketing makeover you offer the remedy again and they double check if there's no science involved. The game was developed during the [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic Covid19 pandemic]].

* ShaggyDogStory: Throughout Chapter 4, Elaine is confronted (and experiences) the results of Guybrush's adventuring throughout the game. Wildlife ruined, months of her own work undone, untold damages to society. She talks to him about it but doesn't even sound angry and this leads nowhere.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: TwistEnding aside; Trent and Madison are implied to have died offscreen, and Lila runs after LeChuck for a final confrontation. We never see what happens / happened.

** As the story goes on, Guybrush is willing to resort to more and more extreme methods and the destruction his antics cause isn't glossed over for once. [[spoiler:What lesson Guybrush takes from all this is up to player choice and interpretation of the MindScrew ending]]

* EntertaininglyWrong: The Museum of Piracy is filled to the brim with pirate artifacts... but where the curator claims them to be historical pieces from all over the Carribean, Guybrush immediately recognizes them as [[ContinuityNod leftovers from his own past shenanigans]]. He is really miffed that an exhibit that is for all intents and purposes dedicated to him [[DudeWheresMyRespect doesn't mention his name a single time]], and the curator won't listen to him because Guybrush's claims contradict the research done (by an unpaid intern) and "eyewitnesses often have faulty memory".

* BlazingInfernoHellfireSauce: The demon pepper, which is apparently a cocktail of every ultra-hot pepper known to man. It's out of stock for most of the early game, and you much later need some to [[spoiler:cheat in an EatingContest]]. Then there's the Scorched Alaska, which is a dessert from lieral Hell made of meringue and ''actual red-hot embers''.

* MacGuffin: One of the most famous [=MacGuffin=]s of them all, the fabled Secret of Monkey Island, and Guybrush finally deciding to discover what it is, forms the impetus for the plot. In true [=MacGuffin=] manner, what the secret is doesn't even matter. [[spoiler:Something Guybrush's son catches on, realizing his dad made up the ending. Guybrush is offered various choices to tell his son what the treasure really was: "A pile of gold jewels" (implied to be an answer he picks because that'd please his son), "The friends we made along the way" (trying to teach his son about the nature of storytelling), that Elaine was right about it not been worth knowing or "It's how it really happened". The final option however lampshades the trope: "there's no answer" (That ultimately it doesn't matter what the secret is because it's how each person reacts to it that matters).]]

** As the story goes on, Guybrush is willing to resort to more and more extreme methods and the descrution his antics cause isn't glossed over for once. [[spoiler:What lesson Guybrush takes from all this is up to player choice and interpretation of the MindScrew ending]]

* DevelopersForesight: If you give a character an item they want before they've asked for it, they will usually comment on it. For example, if you [[spoiler:give he cookbook to the SCUMM Bar cook, he'll wonder aloud how you knew he needed it.]]

* DeveloperForesight: If you give a character an item they want before they've asked for it, they will usually comment on it. For example, if you [[spoiler:give he cookbook to the SCUMM Bar cook, he'll wonder aloud how you knew he needed it.]]