History Videogame / DarkParables

* HypnotizeThePrincess: What Belladonna does to Rapunzel.

* StrongfamilyResemblance: [[spoiler:The Sky King almost immediately acknowledges Emma as his descendant, and effectively makes her his daughter, because she's a dead ringer for his long-lost wife, and has the magic beans that said wife took with her when she fled the Sky Kingdom.]]

(( Gwyn physically takes a great deal after his father, the Frog Prince.

* TheProphecy: Not long after Nuada was born, a prophecy was made during the full moon: "The one with dragon blood must meet with the one descended from a cursed bloodline saved by love, a bloodline that has been touched by both immortality and death, and by plants and animals. Their union will bring renewal to the clan". [[spoiler:it will eventually be fulfiled through his marriage to Princess Wanda and the birth of their daughter, Brigid.]]

* ShoutOut: The bonus game throws in a few references to "The Tale of the Bamboo-cutter" - Nuada brings the tale briefly up when first meeting Wanda and some her wedding gifts include a coat made out of fire-rat fur and a twig silver twig (referring to two of the presents Kaguya demanded from her suitors).

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:Although the Royal Advisor was caught in the blast that destroyed the Grak Kingdom Palace, her body was never found. Perhaps she is still out there somewhere ...]]

*** To balance that DifficultySpike, however, they've also added another new feature. Once you've completed the game, the bonus features menu on the start screen will allow you to return to the relevant scenes in the game to acquire any collectibles or parable tokens you missed during gameplay, rather than requiring you to start a new game.

* BadassNormal: The Fairytale Detective.

* BraggingRightsReward: The unlockable achievements starting in the seventh game, which serve no other purpose.
** Completing the games on any difficulty level higher than Easy could also count as this, as there is no particular bonus or reward given for doing so.

** Averted slightly in ''Ballad of Rapunzel,'' which does give you the option to select which of three magical artifacts will be used. Each artifact is tied to one of the MultipleEndings; unfortunately, two of them are ''bad'' endings, so if you want the characters to have their happy ending, your only real choice is [[spoiler:to use the sword]].
* CallBack[=/=]ContinuityNod[=/=]{{Foreshadowing}}: Almost every game contains a few hints or references concerning what will happen in the next game in the series, and each of the later games contain references to things which happened in previous installments. This also includes the bonus game in each collector's edition, as they contain extra information about characters or circumstances. If it seems important to the overarching storyline, it will almost certainly be appearing or at least mentioned again.
* CanonWelding: All {{fairy tale}}s are true, as noted above - and they all take place in the same reality. The majority of them are actually chapters in the same story, with characters from one fairy tale appearing in another. In fact, some of the characters from different stories are actually the ''same person''.
* ComicBookTime: The games seem to be using something like this. Very few characters have been shown to age at all (though [[TheAgeless some]] have that {{hand wave}}d by immortality), and no specific dates have been given for any of the games. The only thing we know for sure is that ''Ballad of Rapunzel'' is set ten years after ''Rise of the Snow Queen,'' and ''Dire Tree'' is set "a few years" after ''Ballad.''
** It may be a case of YearInsideHourOutside and/or NarniaTime, since it hasn't been formally confirmed that the passage of time in the fairy tale kingdoms happens at the same rate as the passage of time in the real world. Ten years for Gerda, who lives in the Snowfall Kingdom, could equate to a much shorter period of time for the detective, who is from our world.

* EverythingsSparklyWithJewelry: Seeing as these are fairy tale princess-related games, there are a ''lot'' of sparkly shiny objects - tiaras, scepters, jewels, carriages, you name it.
** Even some of the more common tools, like hammers and axes, are GemEncrusted.

* FairytaleMotifs: Of course.

** GodOfEvil: The thirteenth game introduces the first male deity, the Shadow God, who embodies this trope. [[spoiler:The parables reveal that he was originally a neutral god of the balance between darkness and light, but became corrupted by exposure to humans and the temptation to devour their souls. To judge by the bonus chapter, he resumes his neutrality after his HeelFaceTurn.]]
** GodOfGood: The Sun, Moon, and Maiden Goddesses are depicted this way, with the Moon Goddess being particularly attached to the detective. ''Requiem'' confirms that they are sisters and implies that they form some sort of trinity.
** NatureSpirit: The two deities introduced thus far who have names beyond their titles are Flora, the goddess of balance in nature, and Thalassa, the Sea Goddess; both are described as being of neutral disposition and a FriendToAllLivingThings. Flora is a TrueNeutral figure who can occasionally be persuaded to lean toward NeutralGood, while Thalassa is very LawfulNeutral.

** VagueAge: Along with knowing practically nothing else about her, we don't know how old the detective is, but we can make an educated estimate. There is no clear indication of how far apart the games take place, only the order of events. Thus far, the only attempt at dating the games is confirmation that ''Rise of the Snow Queen'' takes place ten years before ''Ballad of Rapunzel'', and ''Dire Tree'' is stated to take place a few years later. It can be approximated, therefore, that the series has been happening for roughly fifteen to twenty years in-universe. Licensed private investigators must be at least 21 years old in most jurisdictions, so by the time of ''Dire Tree'' the detective has to be close to 40, if not older.

* FlowerMotifs: As the series has progressed, it has started to ease away from using these, but the first several games feature flowers (especially roses) quite heavily.
** Each Guardian chosen by the goddess Flora has an individual flower motif to go with their powers, such as Briar Rose and her Thorned Rose, Ross Red and his Fiera Rosa, and Belladonna and her Deadly Nightbloom.
* GottaCatchEmAll: Several of the puzzles require you to find all the parts of a collection, such as the six plant potions in ''Exiled Prince'', in order to solve them.
** In ''Ballad of Rapunzel,'' collecting the entirely optional flower stones is the only way to [[spoiler:get the good ending]].
* HappilyEverAfter: What's missing from these fairy tales.

* NewGamePlus: Finishing the basic mode of each of the first two games unlocks a second 'hard mode,' which follows the same storyline but with a higher difficulty level; playing this grants the player access to {{bonus material}}. Later games avert the trope, replacing the 'hard mode' with bonus chapters.

* SceneryPorn: These games are ''gorgeous''.

* SolarAndLunar: Sun and moon emblems are a recurring motif. Barsia reveres the Sun Goddess; Olesia reveres the Moon Goddess. The division dates back to the deities' battle over the fallen star.

In addition to the main series, Blue Tea Games has released a {{Freemium}} game for [=iOS=] devices called ''Fable Age.'' The player controls a team of four fairy tale characters in a turn-based strategy RPG of ElementalRockPaperScissors, which progresses through 23 "books" on a quest to rescue KingArthur. While not directly part of the ''Dark Parables'' canon, it is loosely connected. ''Curse of Briar Rose'' and ''The Exiled Prince'' are two of the books through which the player must battle, featuring artwork from the corresponding ''Dark Parables'' games on their covers, and Princess Briar Rose and the titular Exiled Prince may join the team as {{Optional Party Member}}s during parts of their respective quests.

* SeriesResemblance: You'd be forgiven for thinking that this game series was inspired by the television show ''Series/OnceUponATime'', what with all the characters from different fairy tales interacting with each other. But the first ''Dark Parables'' game debuted more than a year before the show did.
** However, WordOfGod confirmed that the games ''were'' inspired by the {{comic book}} series ''{{ComicBook/Fables}}''.

* CinderellaCircumstances[=/=]CinderellaPlot: As might be expected, given the title. Once all of the requisite parable tokens are collected, it's revealed that Katherine and Cyrilla have been orphaned and left in the care of an EvilUncle who forces them to work as unpaid domestic servants.

** And of course, the other Cinderellas were rescued by their princes from their respective CinderellaCircumstances. Bianca Pace and her prince had a duel game. In the bonus game, Shan's prince rescues her and turns her back into a human.

* HundredPercentCompletion: You pretty much can't fail at these games, if you try long enough, but the first seven games include the optional challenge of finding all twenty of the cursed objects, which will speed up the recharge time on your hint button. A second challenge is added starting with the third game; see All There in the Parables, below.

* [[AllThereInTheManual All There in the Parables]]: From the third game onward, you'll collect tokens which, when you have all of each kind, will explain how things got to be the way they are. There are five such parables in each main game, with anywhere from three to six pieces to be found for each, and a sixth (and sometimes a seventh) in each bonus game.

* [[AWizardDidIt The Godmothers Did It]]: The only way to explain a few things in the game, which otherwise would make no sense at all, is to ascribe them to the magical workings of Briar Rose's fairy godmothers. Probably the best example is the {{Bizarrchitecture}} entry above. Some things become more comprehensible when the player continues exploring the series and learns more about the characters; but for a first-time player who has little understanding of this universe, it's just simplest to default to this explanation for anything they don't get.

* TheUnfavorite: Curiously, this is vaguely hinted at in the collector's edition bonus material. A doll found in a cabinet is identified as "Sister Ivy - the Forgotten Princess." There is literally no other mention of Briar Rose's sister in the entire game, suggesting this trope. However...
** ShooTheDog: The ''Dark Parables'' wiki reveals that it was actually a case of this. Ivy is the younger of the two princesses, and when she was born, her parents were afraid that the Evil Godmother might do something to her as she had done to Briar Rose. At some point in her childhood, Ivy was sent away to Germany, and all evidence of her existence - except that doll - was removed from the castle. Presumably she and Briar Rose kept in contact nonetheless, given how much they clearly loved one another. The second game brings Ivy into focus and spells out more of her story, and still more details about both her and her sister are revealed in the seventh game.

* FriendlyGhost: Princess Ivy. She even tells the detective her backstory and gives hints as to do next.

* {{Immortality}}[=/=]ImmortalityHurts[=/=]WhoWantsToLiveForever: [[spoiler:The Frog Prince's ''real'' curse.]]
** [[spoiler:But not his original one. His original curse is what transferred Ivy's immortality to him. He seems to have been happy with his other four wives, though the game doesn't state how he felt about living as a frog in between marriages. It's not until Snow White leaves him and he is unable to touch anyone ever again that his immortality seems to have really gotten to him; it's downright dangerous to friendships and makes romantic relationships impossible when the people you touch, even accidentally, become frogs. He's become incredibly bitter as a result of having to live centuries with no human contact, and his experiments on people he's turned into frogs may be a sign of SanitySlippage. It's a wonder the guy didn't GoMadFromTheIsolation.]]

* [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse What Happened to the Frogs?]]: [[spoiler: While Marie and her bodyguard are rescued and returned to human at the end of the game, the very beginning of the game hints that the red-eyed frogs the detective sees were also victims of James's curse (he has the same red eyes when he uses his powers). When James dies, Princess Ivy tells the detective that all of the frogs have now been transformed back to humans. She then provides the item necessary to free Marie and her bodyguard.]]

* [[IJustWantToBeSpecial I Just Want To Be The Elder Sister]]: [[spoiler: Eldra's entire motivation for obtaining the Wolf King's talisman is to prove that she deserves to be the Elder Sister instead of Teresa.]]

* BigBad: The Godmother
** BiggerBad: [[spoiler: A revived Geppetto, hell-bent on revenge after being resurrected.]]

** WickedWitch

* GirlInTheTower: The Godmother has Katherine imprisoned in a castle tower for a large portion of the game.

* [[LastOfHisKind Last Of Her Kind]]: Katherine and the Godmother both. Because the Maiden Goddess refuses to select any more Godmothers, Amelia is the last. And because there will be no more Godmothers to aid them, there will likewise be no more officially designated Cinderellas - hence the title of the game.
* LegacyCharacter: The Godmother is one of many {{Fairy Godmother}}s chosen by the Maiden Goddess. [[spoiler: Amelia is also the last Godmother, because after watching Amelia's grief over Geppetto's death drive her to evil, the Maiden Goddess swore to never choose another Godmother.]]

* {{Mission From God}}dess: Each of the Godmothers was on one of these during her lifetime, being commissioned by the Maiden Goddess to find and assist Cinderellas.
* MistakenIdentity: The Godmother thinks that Cyrilla is the final Cinderella, but it's really her stepsister Katherine. [[spoiler: When Cyrilla is freed, she begs the Detective to save Katherine before fleeing to safety.]]
** [[spoiler:This is explained in the bonus content stories. Cyrilla and Katherine's uncle found the magical dresses and shoes they were to wear to the ball and decided he wanted to sell them. However, the ladies were able to retrieve one of the dresses, which is the one Cyrilla was wearing. So that Katherine could also go to the ball, the two ladies designed and made a gown for her to wear; it's noticeably less fancy than Cyrilla's and Amelia would have recognized it wasn't her handiwork.]]

* [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse What Happened to the Glass Maidens?]]: [[spoiler: While Cyrilla is returned to human form, it is never shown what became of the other Glass Maidens that fell victim to Godmother's cursed dresses. Hopefully they're revived as well, but we don't know for sure.]]

* ContinuityNod: Jack has pictures of himself and Emma with Raphael in his home.

* [[JanitorImpersonationInfiltration Fairy Impersonation Infiltration]]: Seen in the bonus chapter. In order to get to the Hidden Grove where the fairies live, the Sky Queen disguises Tom Thumb as a fairy in order to get past the fairies' gate security system.

* [[spoiler:GenerationXerox[=/=][[IdenticalGrandson Identical Granddaughter]]: The Sky King almost immediately acknowledges Emma as his descendant, and effectively makes her his daughter, because she's a dead ringer for his long-lost wife, and has the magic beans that said wife took with her when she fled the Sky Kingdom.]]

* [[spoiler:ImpoverishedPatrician: The Sky Kingdom was broke before Rumpelstiltskin appeared to offer his help, for a price...]]

* [[ProdigalHero Prodigal Sister]]: [[spoiler: After the fall of the Sky Kingdom, Emma rejoins the Red Riding Hood Sisters.]]

* [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks Throwing Your Axe Always Works]]: Jack has an enchanted axe which functions somewhat like a boomerang, and he uses it more than once in this manner to save and protect the detective.

** GoldenEnding: [[spoiler:The sword ending is the only one where both princesses are alive and freed from their imprisonment.]]

** HypnoTrinket: The [[spoiler:flower crown]] we see Rapunzel wearing through most of the game.
* IOweYouMyLife: [[spoiler: Prince Gwyn says this to Gerda in the bonus chapter.]]

** JerkassWoobie: In Ross's defense, he's been trying to reunite with his beloved Rapunzel for who knows how many hundreds of years - it's not really clarified just how long ago Floralia was destroyed. All things considered, it's entirely possible that the strain of the situation has frayed his nerves. He does come around once he realizes the detective is a valuable ally, and grows protective of her.

* [[SheIsAllGrownUp They Are All Grown Up]]: Kai, Gerda, and [[spoiler:Snow White's son, Gwyn]] return from ''Rise of the Snow Queen'' as teenagers, though only Kai and Gerda appear in the main game.

** MisplacedRetribution: Unusually for the trope, she also inflicts collateral damage - in this case, [[spoiler:turning Alexandros's daughters into mermaids despite their innocence in the matter. Perhaps said innocence is why she provided them with the CurseEscapeClause of the orbs, and allowed them to stay pretty in the meantime.]]

* [[SheIsAllGrownUp He Is All Grown Up]]: Pinocchio returns from ''The Final Cinderella'' as a young man.

* [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Spell My Name With An "H"]]: This game indicates that the series isn't quite sure whether the mermaid who joined the Red Riding Hood Sisters is Teresa or Theresa.

* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Neither the king nor the princesses are particularly pleased with the circumstances which have been forced upon them. The king's SanitySlippage due to living forever probably didn't help any.
** However, breaking the curse and removing their immortality and mermaid forms caused other problems; see YouCantGoHomeAgain.

** MechanicalHorse: In the parable which gives Sir Ewan's backstory, it's revealed that he made one of these in his younger days at the request of a noble duke, but his work was sabotaged by the duke's rival. Sir Ewan was WronglyAccused of trying to kill the duke, and had to go into voluntary exile to escape retaliation.

* {{Mission From God}}desses: The detective is directed by both the Sun and Moon Goddesses to prevent the war between Barsia and Olesia.

* [[spoiler:KillTheGod: The Black Swan hides the magic seed in an attempt to stop the Swan Princess from doing this to Flora.]]

* {{Mission From God}}dess: From the end of chapter two onward, the plot shifts into one of these. [[spoiler:More accurately, it's a Mission For Goddess, as the detective, Odile, and Ross Red join forces to try to stop the Swan Princess and restore the murdered Flora.]]

* NamedWeapon: The Shattering Sword

* NonHumanSidekick: The game opens with the detective riding a horse, whom she later identifies as "my trusty mare."

* [[HeWhoMustNotBeNamed She Who Must Not Be Named]]: One of the parables reveals that after Princess Odette's exile from the Swan Kingdom, it was all but forbidden to say her name.

* StrongFamilyResemblance: Gwyn physically takes a great deal after his father, the Frog Prince.

* [[SheIsAllGrownUp They Are All Grown Up]]: Kai, Gerda and Gwyn return from ''Ballad of Rapunzel'' and "The Thumbelina Curse" as young adults.

* TheLostLenore: [[spoiler: Princess Wanda was this for both King Henryk and Nuada. King Henryk filled his palace with portraits and statues of her while Nuada commissioned a beautiful grave for her in a break with Daemon Evoker tradition.]]
* TheManBehindTheMan: The Royal Advisor for King Henryk [[spoiler:and Mercy.]]
* TheProphecy: Not long after Nuada was born, a prophecy was made during the full moon: "The one with dragon blood must meet with the one descended from a cursed bloodline saved by love, a bloodline that has been touched by both immortality and death, and by plants and animals. Their union will bring renewal to the clan". [[spoiler:it will eventually be fulfiled through his marriage to Princess Wanda and the birth of their daughter, Brigid.]]

* The first game, '''[[http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/7719/dark-parables-curse-of-briar-roseindex.html Curse of Briar Rose]]''', takes the story of Literature/SleepingBeauty and transports it to modern Scotland, where an abandoned castle has a massive briar plant growing underneath it which threatens to engulf the nearby community. According to legend, Princess Briar Rose still sleeps in the heart of the castle, and in order to stop the plant and save the locals, you must break her enchantment and set her free.

* The fifth game in the series, '''[[http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/22782/dark-parables-the-final-cinderella-ce/index.html The Final Cinderella]]''', takes place in the Matese Mountains of southern Italy, to which the detective has been summoned following reports of young women being turned into glass statues and sightings of an evil individual known as "the Godmother." The Godmother is said to be searching for a girl known as 'the final Literature/{{Cinderella}}.' Katherine, the stepsister of the latest victim, asks the detective for help, but the Godmother appears and captures Katherine. The detective must find out what the Godmother is doing, uncover the even more sinister plot beneath hers, and save the world once again.

* The sixth game, '''[[http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/26021/dark-parables-jack-and-the-sky-kingdom-ce/index.html Jack and the Sky Kingdom]]''', takes place in Alblasserwaard, South Holland, where the legendary Sky Kingdom manifested one day and immediately starting breaking up into pieces over the town. The detective is summoned to figure out the reason for the destruction and must seek help from [[Literature/JackAndTheBeanstalk Jack]], a legendary treasure hunter, to infiltrate the Sky Kingdom and find out what's happening to it - and why.

* The ninth game, '''[[http://www.bigfishgames.com/games/11169/dark-parables-queen-of-sands-ce The Queen of Sands]]''', now released solely by Eipix[[note]][[http://forums.bigfishgames.com/posts/list/313906.page Blue Tea opted to drop the series]] in favor of mobile development and sold the series to Eipix[[/note]], takes the detective to the village of Montafleur in Provence, France, where shadowy purple mists have taken over the village. The detective once again joins forces with her old friends the Red Riding Hood Sisters, who are on the trail of a mysterious beast that's been sighted near the village. What do the two developments have in common, and how can they set things right? This game is based on Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast, as well as TheSandman

* The tenth game, '''[[http://www.bigfishgames.com/games/11322/dark-parables-goldilocks-and-fallen-star-ce/ Goldilocks and the Fallen Star]]''', takes the detective to the fictional country of Barsia. Long ago, a star fell to earth, and when the Sun Goddess and the Moon Goddess could not agree which of them should have it, they split it apart. Legend says that if anyone should put it back together, the star will grant them one powerful wish. Now, a strange artifact has surfaced, and Barsia is threatened by mechanical stags from their neighbor and longtime rival, Olesia. Queen Valla declares that she will go to war to protect her people; she's supported in this by her sister, [[Literature/{{Goldilocks}} Princess Leda]], who has the golden touch. But when Jack (from ''Sky Kingdom'') appears, he warns the detective that the problems run much deeper than she can possibly imagine.

* The eleventh game, '''[[http://www.bigfishgames.com/games/11522/dark-parables-swan-princess-and-dire-tree-ce/ The Swan Princess and the Dire Tree]],''' brings the adventure to Dire Island, where the noble Swan Guard is sworn to protect the goddess Flora, who oversees balance in nature. The Black Swan, once the most trusted member of the cadre, has stolen a magical seed which is critical to the goddess's well-being, and Dire Island is slowly being sundered by massive cracks in the ground. Aided by the Literature/TheBraveLittleTailor, the detective must recover the seed and bring the perpetrator to justice. But as usual, all is not what it seems, and a surprise reunion with a prior acquaintance makes that all too clear.

* The thirteenth game, '''[[http://www.bigfishgames.com/games/11717/dark-parables-requiem-for-forgotten-shadow-ce/ Requiem for the Forgotten Shadow]],''' brings the detective to the ancient duchy of Anaben, at the foot of the Alps, where a strange plague has been assailing its residents. A cloaked figure uses a magic candle to steal people's shadows, leaving them ill and muttering nonsense. At the same time, a mysterious brotherhood is gathering with evil intent, and the detective needs to find out just how these facts are connected. The backstory of the game features "Literature/TheShadow," one of Creator/HansChristianAndersen's more obscure tales.

* Beginning with the fourteenth game, control of the series has returned to Blue Tea Games. '''[[https://www.bigfishgames.com/games/14204/dark-parables-return-of-the-salt-princess-ce/ Return of the Salt Princess]]''', brings the detective to an old town located beneath the ruins of the Grak Kingdom, which has been rapidly turning into salt in the past few days. At the same time, a mysterious girl has been sighted in the old town, a girl that looks suspiciously similar to the princess of the Grak Kingdom who went missing more than 100 years ago. The story of this game features The Princess who loved her Father like Salt.

* Following the fifteenth game, is '''[[https://www.bigfishgames.com/games/15080/dark-parables-match-girls-lost-paradise-ce/?pc The Match Girl's Lost Paradise]]''', a game that is once again made under the cooperation of Eipix. This case brings the detective to Funen, Denmark, to investigate a series of disappearances involving blue flames and magical matches. The only common clue behind the incidents is the appearance of a match girl at each crime scene. You set out to track down the girl, but what you discover is a dark mystery that defies imagination. The story of this game features Literature/TheLittleMatchGirl.

* The sixteenth game of the series is '''[[https://www.bigfishgames.com/games/15218/dark-parables-portrait-stained-princess-ce/?pc Portrait of the Stained Princess]]''', a case that will bring the detective to Spain in order to investigate the disappearance of an apprentice painter after he and another went to find the legendary painting "Princess With a Duckling," only for it come to life under the moonlight. This game is based on Literature/TheUglyDuckling.

** Averted slightly in ''Little Mermaid,'' where the detective's voice is heard for the first time. She gasps on a few occasions when she's knocked to the ground by other characters.

* AndIMustScream: Three maidens are turned into glass statues on the night of the ball in the prologue; the detective later discovers that this has happened to many other girls over the years.

* TheAtoner: Pinocchio helps the detective after [[spoiler:confessing that he's been forced to hunt down Cinderellas by his mother because his heart can detect them.]]

* ContinuityNod: The detective can find a sewing room with red cloaks in it. [[spoiler:Amelia's magic permitted her to enchant clothing she made, and she made the cloaks for the Red Riding Hood Sisters.]] Prince James's wife who was a Cinderella is also named and given a backstory in this game.

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Pinocchio knows that destroying the tree from which he was created will end his life, but he tells the detective to do it anyway to save Katherine, whose soul is trapped inside.]]

* InterdimensionalTravelDevice: Mostly done with mirrors, but toward the endgame, the detective and Pinocchio make their way to the Mirror World using the original Cinderella's pumpkin coach.
* KnockoutGas: The Godmother [[spoiler:creates a puppet version of Katherine, who]] uses this on the detective.

* MistakenIdentity: The Godmother thinks that Cyrilla is the final Cinderella, but it's really her stepsister Katherine. [[spoiler: When Cyrilla is freed, she begs the detective to save Katherine before fleeing to safety.]]

* ProductionForeshadowing: In Geppetto's workshop, the detective may notice and comment on a sketch of the nursery rhyme characters of the Crooked Man and the Crooked Cat. Some players were left puzzled by this, since the drawing has nothing to do with the game. It was later revealed (via the company's Facebook) to be this trope for a new game from Blue Tea Games, ''Videogame/{{Cursery}},'' a dark take on nursery rhymes which debuted in November 2013.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:The Godmother dies immediately after doing a HeelFaceTurn and begging the detective to stop Geppetto.]]

* SecondaryCharacterTitle: The detective knows going in that there's an important figure in this story who is known as the 'Final Cinderella.' What she doesn't know is who that really is, or why she's called such.
* StupidityIsTheOnlyOption: In the Forbidden Grove, it becomes increasingly obvious that [[spoiler:the Katherine imprisoned in the tree, who tells you to find glass slippers, is not the real one. (Listen to her voice - it grows progressively more sinister.) Sure enough, it's a puppet copy of Katherine created by the Godmother to fool the detective.]] [[ButThouMust You have no choice but to play along]] in order to progress the story.
* TakeYourTime: The detective has ten minutes to get past a magical barrier in order to stop the Godmother from hijacking Katherine's soul. You are not actually on any sort of time limit; however, the detective does urge you to hurry, noting things like "Katherine just screamed in pain."
* TakenForGranite: Maidens who wear the Godmother's enchanted clothes but are not actually the Cinderella she's seeking will turn into glass statues at midnight. As the detective discovers, this has been the fate of many girls over the years.

* VisualPun: The detective uncovers a hidden balcony, where a table is set with a still-warm tea service. The tea is blue, for Blue Tea Games.

* CinderellaCircumstances: As might be expected, given the title. Once all of the requisite parable tokens are collected, it's revealed that Katherine and Cyrilla have been orphaned and left in the care of an EvilUncle who forces them to work as unpaid domestic servants.
* CinderellaPlot: Katherine is ''The Final Cinderella'' of the title. A small side story within the game explains that after their parents' deaths, she and her stepsister Cyrilla were left in the care of an EvilUncle who forced them to basically work as unpaid domestic servants.

* KarmaHoudini: [[sooiler:Despite the many souls who perished to power her Garden, Giselle is allowed to be with reunited with her beloved adoptive grandmother as said Garden crumbles.]]

* KarmaHoudini: Despite the many souls who perished to power her Garden, Giselle is allowed to be with reunited with her beloved adoptive grandmother as said Garden crumbles.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:It is mentioned in "The Second Prince's Revenge" parable that Julian's brothers, Leonard and Hugh, left to continue their search for a way to bring back their father. Their current whereabouts are unknown but if they find out what happened to their brother, the Detective better watch her back.]]

** ''Curse of Briar Rose'' is especially different from the other games; it has the fewest cutscenes and the most chapters of any game in the series, with many of the chapters being extremely short. While other games in the series have elaborate shrines dedicated to various members of the FantasyPantheon, this game has an AmbiguouslyChristian chapel (it has a small cross and angel statuary), suggesting that the religion of the game world was established later. It's also the game with the smallest cast; the only [=NPCs=] the detective encounters are Briar Rose herself and the ghost of the Evil Godmother.

* JigsawPuzzlePlot: The series has, over time, evolved into this. ''Curse of Briar Rose'' is extremely straightforward and, except for the fact that she tells the detective about the Frog Prince, leaves no major plot threads hanging. But as the subsequent games unfold, the increasingly complex storyline begins to weave itself together and slowly show connections where the player never knew about them.

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: The detective encounters many characters who possess RoyalBlood, and almost all of them are very proactive (for good or ill). The ones who aren't are usually under some kind of curse or enchantment, and releasing them from it brings them back to this trope.

* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The castle has symptoms of this. In particular, there's the fact that Briar Rose is sleeping in a tower... which can only be accessed by going down into a room hidden ''underneath'' the royal cemetery.

* DoomedHometown: Edinburgh is apparently where the paranormal detective agency is headquartered. The opening recording from MissionControl explicitly warns the detective that if the situation is not resolved within seven days, the briars will completely engulf and destroy "our city."

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Serefina and Mercy respectfully, despite the former being the older of the two.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the Dragon Fort, there is an old crib pushed to the back containing a dragon plushie. [[spoiler:It's Brigid's, as she was kidnapped form her home at a young age and raised as the daughter of the king, who order the royal adviser to turn her Daemon - a small dragon - into more manageable dragonflies.]]

* LastRequest: [[spoiler:As she lay dying and in the false belief that her husband had died, Wanda asked her former betrothed King Henryk to raise her daughter, Brigid, as his own. He agreed.]]

* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: [[spoiler: Mercy is killed by the combination of a bomb made with her sister' heart - who she personally killed, and the fire of a dragon - whose owner she manipulated and trapped for years.]]

* TheLostLenore: [[spoiler: Princess Wanda was this for both King Henryk (her formerly betrothed) and Nuada (her husband). King Henryk filled his palace with portraits and statues of her while Nuada commissioned a beautiful grave for her in a break with Daemon Evoker tradition.]]

* TheProphecy: Not long after Nuada was born, a prophecy was made during the full moon: "The one with dragon blood must meet with the one descended from a cursed bloodline saved by love, a bloodline that has been touched by both immortality and death, and by plants and animals. Their union will bring renewal to the clan".

* FoolishSiblingResponsible Sibling: Serefina and Mercy respectfully, despite the former being the older of the two.

* FoolishSibling,Responsible Sibling: Serefina and Mercy respectfully, despite the former being the older of the two.

* FoolishSibling, Responsible Sibling: Serefina and Mercy respectfully, despite the former being the older of the two.

* ArtificialHuman: [[spoiler: Serafina and Mercy are really dolls created by the Royal Advisor.]]

* TheLostLenore: Princess Wanda was this for both King Henryk (her formerly betrothed) and Nuada (her husband). King Henryk filled his palace with portraits and statues of her while Nuada built a beautiful grave for her in a break with Daemon Evoker tradition.

* LastRequest: [[spoiler:As she lay dying and in the false belief that her husband had died, Wanda asked her former betrothed King Henryk to raise her daughter, Brigid, as his own. He accepted.]]

* AnimalMotif: A lot for this one, but Frogs, Dragonflies, and Dragons are the most prominent.
* ArrangedMarriage: Princess Wanda was intended to marry King Henryk of the Grak Kingdom. [[spoiler:She didn't go through with the wedding as she was in love with Nuada.]]
* ArtificialHuman: [[spoiler: Serafina and Mercy]]

* DoomedByCanon: Almost Everyone in the Bonus Chapter is this.
* ElementalPowers: Serafina uses Fire while Mercy uses Ice.
* ElementalRivalry: The Sisters Serafina and Mercy are this in terms of powers.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In one of the areas, there is an old crib pushed to the back containing a dragon plushie. [[spoiler:It's Brigid's, as she was kidnapped form her home at a young age and raised as the daughter of the king, who order the royal adviser to turn her Daemon - a small dragon - into more manageable dragonflies.]]

* HappilyMarried: [[spoiler: Princess Wanda and Nuada were this.]]

* LastRequest: [[spoiler:Before she died, Wanda asked her former betrothed King Henryk to raise her daughter, Brigid, as his own. He accepted.]]
* MeaningfulName: Serafina and Mercy. [[spoiler: Their names are derived from the elements serving as base in their creation - Sulfur and Mercury.]] Additionally, Seraphim are a group of angels, with their name in Hebrew meaning 'The Burning Ones'.

* SiblingYinYang: Serafina is a HotBlooded fire magician, while Mercy is constantly calm and collected ice user.

* TimeSkip: After their first meeting, the Bonus Chapter skips several days to the night before Princess Wanda's wedding day.

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Brigid and her mother seem to play this straight. [[spoiler:Subverted heavily with Mercy, who unlike her name, is [[IronicName Merciless]].

[[caption-width-right:350:Repunzel, The Princess of Floralia]]

* MagicMirror: In Giselle's Garden is the False Mirror.