History Videogame / WolfensteinTheNewOrder

* RetroUpgrade: In the fourteen years between 1946 and 1960, the Luger and the [=STG44=] get modernised. The Luger is more notable in this regard, as it was first designed in 1898, yet by 1960, it's been upgraded into a Nazi version of the [[Film/RoboCop1987 Auto-9]].

** Ubersoldaten armor pieces fall off the same way they did in Return to Castle Wolfenstein, except now, you can pick them up.

* ObviousBeta: Came out with a massive Day One patch, and the PC version still had a lot of problems running on AMD graphic cards. Has the same texture pop-in problems ''Videogame/{{Rage}}'' had (though not quite as glaringly obvious as Rage was), an issue with the Tech 5 engine that's never been solved by Id almost three years after the earlier game came out, and framerate is often uneven. That's on top of there being a glitch in Chapter 14 where some collectibles disappear if you reload a post-death checkpoint. A little tinkering with the graphical options (a few effects do not improve the visuals much while being resource hogs, and texture problems are reduced by setting an higher FOV) makes things good even on mid-range systems, and said glitch repairs itself if you reload a checkpoint while still alive, although it's still evident the PC version wasn't tested enough before release.

NotSoDifferentRemark: PlayedForLaughs in the journal entry regarding your fight against the London Monitor.
--->'''Entry:''' Okay. Huge robot. Bent on destruction. We're not so different you [[PersonOfMassDestruction and I]].

* AlasPoorVillain: Downplayed, but [[spoiler: Bubi's]] death provides [[spoiler: Frau Engel]] with her only vaguely sympathetic or humanizing moment in the entire series.

* AnachronismStew: The reveal trailer featured an extended "overture" for Music/JimiHendrix's cover of "All Along The Watchtower", which, assuming it would even be written in this alternate history, was not even recorded in the real world until 1967; after the prologue, the game starts in 1960. [[spoiler: Given that J could not and would not go the way of Nazification like the Beatles, and outright dies if he appears, it most certainly will never be performed.]]

** The Guard Robots are very similar to the Riot Guard mech suits from ''Escape from Butcher Bay'' (which was also made by the same dev team). They're virtually immune to small arms fire (although sufficient gunfire to their robot eye does eventually bring them down), but [[spoiler: they have a weak point on their back which can be destroyed with a single bullet, causing them to shut down and explode]].
** The ''Baltisches Auge'' (''Baltic Eye'') and the London Monitor can only be harmed by [[spoiler: shooting them in the eye]].

* BattleAmongstTheFlames: [[spoiler: The second part of the final battle with Deathshead has you fighting him in a basement filled with fire. The fire gets stronger the more you damage Deathshead.]]
* BattleInTheRain: [[spoiler: The final battle against the Prototype Robot that has the brain of either Fergus Reid or Private Wyatt as well as Deathshead.]]

** Set Roth, being voiced by an Israeli actor, speaks genuine Yiddish and Hebrew. For example, the code rhyme he uses [[spoiler: to open the Da'at Yichud vault]] can be translated as "4-6-3-8, I face the gate". He refers to B.J. as "Shimshon" - which is the Hebrew pronunciation of Samson, a Biblical figure known for his great strength, defender of the Israelis and destroyer of all those who threatened them. [[spoiler:Samson died collapsing a fortress full of his enemies while he was still inside.]]

** Bombate averts this trope by not only [[spoiler: surviving the whole game]], but also surviving being shot multiple times by Frau Engel during the escape from Camp Belica.

* BolivianArmyEnding: [[spoiler: The game ends with Blazkowicz wounded by Deathshead's grenade and ordering the Resistance to drop the bomb on Deathshead's compound, with him still on top of it.]]

** The [[EasterEgg secret]] nightmare level is [[spoiler: a port of the first level of VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D, complete with 16-bit textures and enemy sprites.]]

* ChekhovsGun: The shrapnel embedded in B.J's skull, [[spoiler: or more specifically the damage to his brain caused by said shrapnel, is implied to be the reason B.J. is able to shake off the massive sedative Bubi shoots him up with.]]
* ClarkesThirdLaw: [[spoiler: Set explains that Da'at Yichud's real technology, not just the Nazi's reverse-engineered imitations, will seem like magic.]]

* ConcealmentEqualsCover: Largely averted in both gameplay and cutscenes. Concrete barriers and pillars (the most common cover) can be gradually destroyed by gunfire, and destroyed outright with explosives. On the cutscene side, [[spoiler: Tekla]] is killed during [[spoiler: the raid on Kreisau Circle HQ when a soldier shoots her through a wall]].

** [[spoiler:Deathshead]] pilots a giant suit of armor with four chainguns, very reminiscent of the one Hitler had in ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D''. He even uses Hitler's line, "Die, Allied schweinhund!". This boss is listed as [[spoiler: Mecha Deathshead]], just like the fan nickname Mecha Hitler for the ''Wolfenstein 3D'' boss. It's also pitch-black and piloted by a high-ranking Nazi official, just like the Death Knight in Spear of Destiny.

* DisabilityImmunity: [[spoiler: The shrapnel embedded in Blazkowicz's head ends up saving his life near the end of the game when Bubi injects him with a tranquilizer. The reason he wasn't paralyzed was because the connections in his nervous stem were screwed up and the poison wasn't able to block the signals in his brain, hence why Bubi blurts out, "There must be something very wrong with your cerebral cortex!"]]

** The German-language newspaper clippings never use the term "Führer", but rather "Staatsoberhaupt" (Head of State). Also, this individual is never referred to by name. In the [[spoiler: moon base]] one of the collectibles is a [[spoiler: golden impression resembling Hitler that might be his death mask]].

* DramaticThunder: [[spoiler: The final battle against Deathshead is this. Deathshead even says that he gets his shield from the storm.]]
-->'''[[spoiler: Deathshead]]:''' You attempt to weaken me. But my shield draws its power from the storm itself. [[BlasphemousBoast I channel from Asgard!]]

** In both timelines, the resistance portion of the game starts off with [[spoiler: Bobby driving a CarBomb directly into one of the most fortified buildings in London to give B.J. an opening to enter]], and near the end [[spoiler: Klaus rams his car off the bridge to ''squish'' a pair of Nazi soldiers before being shot to death in the passenger seat, triggering Max Haas' BerserkButton]].

** From the villains' side, [[spoiler: Deathshead himself.]] After being defeated, [[spoiler: he takes out a cocked grenade, with Blazkowicz at point blank range and blows them both up. It's only that B.J. is MadeOfIron that he survived the initial blast.]]

** [[spoiler: Deathshead will taunt you during the final battle as you blow up zeppelins providing him with a force field by remarking that they were full of men who had wives and children. His tone is, however, more mocking than condemning.]]

** [[spoiler: Frau Engel becomes a victim of this after Herr Faust, Camp Belica's robot guard, is reprogrammed to see her as an enemy, severely maiming the entire lower half of her face in the ensuing struggle. While surgeons do manage to put her face back together, she's still severely scarred]].

*** In addition to that, whenever the BJ takes damage during a [[ControllableHelplessness "playable cutscene"]] such as [[spoiler: when he's captured and stabbed repeatedly]], his health drops a corresponding amount.
*** The story also makes measures to acknowledge BJ's injuries; a guard comments on the amount of shrapnel in his body during an X-ray scan. The sequel [[spoiler: takes it even further; BJ is at first wheel-chair bound from his injuries, and later uses a powered exoskeleton so he can walk and fight again]]

* HandicappedBadass: Back in the 2009 installment, [[spoiler: Caroline Becker]] got her pelvis shattered along with six vertebrae, paralyzing her below the waist. She's wheelchair-bound by 1960. This hasn't stopped [[ActionGirl her from kicking ass]]. She pilots helicopters, hang glides into a heavily guarded Nazi airbase, and towards the end, [[spoiler: she gets whats essentially a Da'at Yichud Iron Man suit and starts throwing down]].

* HiddenPurposeTest: Played with in the "Night Train" sequence. While Frau Engel does specifically warn B.J. not to grab for her pistol while taking the picture test, [[spoiler: the ''only'' point of the test was to see if he would try anyway. Although the fact said pistol is still fully loaded and ready to fire indicates Engel wasn't really taking the test that seriously, as shown by her startled expression before you shoot her in the face.]]
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: J, one of the main characters in Wyatt's timeline, is heavily implied to be [[spoiler: Music/JimiHendrix]]. Note, however, that the historical one [[spoiler: was born in 1942 and the one in the game seems significantly older than 18]].

** B.J. is already MadeOfIron considering all the many crashes he survives, but he seems to have a bizarre immunity to knife wounds in particular. Such as when [[spoiler: The Knife tortures him or when Bubi injects him with a tranquilizer and stabs him in the chest]], he is barely affected and keeps on trucking.

** The first man to walk on the moon has the surname "Armstark". Try to guess what that translates to. [[spoiler: Give up? It's Armstrong.]]

* {{Irony}}: [[StupidJetpackHitler All those crazy inventions the Nazis used to win the war and conquer the globe?]] [[spoiler: They were developed from stolen technology created by an ancient, super-advanced and ''Jewish'' techno-religious sect.]]
** It actually goes further than that: one of the fundamental beliefs of Nazi racist philosophy was that the Aryan race was endowed with ''creativity'', the ability and will to help culture and technology progress. Other races could, at best, hope to enjoy the fruits of the Aryan's intellectual accomplishments, and the very lowest on the racial hierarchy - the Jews - are no more than cultural parasites who do so while lessening them. Meanwhile, in the game, the Nazis owe almost all of their technological superiority to [[spoiler: advancements made by ''Jews'', for a high, moral purpose, which they themselves ''stole'' and while ''lessening'' it immeasurably, turned it into a tool of death and oppression.]]

** [[spoiler: Near the end of the game, Bubi ambushes and stabs you with a tranquilizer as you climb up a short ladder.]]
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Frau Engel is in Berlin when the resistance attacks Deathshead's compound, and thus survives. She's clearly traumatized by Bubi's death, however.]]
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: [[spoiler: After seventeen years in-universe and thirteen years in real life, B.J. finally gets to kill Deathshead, although he may or may not have sacrificed his life to do it and technically Deathshead commits suicide rather than B.J. actually finishing him off.]]

* MadeOfIron: Over the course of the game, B.J. survives several explosions and crashes and gets stabbed ''multiple'' times by the likes of The Knife and Bubi; all of this only slightly inconveniences him. Even at the end [[spoiler: he's largely intact after a point-blank grenade explosion that was enough to reduce Deathshead to gibs.]] Max also gets an honorable mention for [[spoiler: continuing to fight on like nothing happened ever after being shot several times by Nazi stormtroopers.]]

* ManInTheIronMask: Seems to be used for particularly rowdy Resistance fighters and political prisoners at Eisenwald Prison, as you find [[spoiler: the 1946 Survivor]] and four other prisoners entombed in full iron helmets that are also chained to the wall.

** In the prologue mission, Fergus Reid hopes there aren't "Nazi mutant fuckin' frankensteins" - likely referencing a certain enemy from ''Wolfenstein 3D'' or ''Return to Castle Wolfenstein'', where Deathshead built the horrifying and mutated Lopers and proto-Ubersoldaten. [[spoiler: Although given that they do run into Deathshead's latest experiments in the same level, this might be closer to foreshadowing...]]

* NeglectfulPrecursors: It seems like the Nazis got their war-winning tech on account of this at first, but it turns out [[spoiler: Da'at Yichud were perfectly willing to break their vow of secrecy and were in the process of giving their technology to the Allies so they could catch up once the Nazis stole it, but the Nazis were too fast for it to be of any help.]]

* [[spoiler: NoEnding: The game ends with a heavily wounded Blazkowicz giving the order to nuke Deathshead's compound... then it cuts to black.]]

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Bubi inadvertently saves your bacon at least twice; [[spoiler: at the train his come-ons distract Engel long enough for B.J. to make his exit (if you wait around, her guards will warn you to flee while she's preoccupied before she comes up with another "game" to play), and in the concentration camp he has B.J. pulled aside for work detail because he looks familiar (Engel wanted to just liquidate him, reasoning that his large size meant he'd use up too much food).]]

** The sequel confirms that [[spoiler: B.J did survive, but it seems he's been crippled and now requires the PowerArmor to move.]]

* OlderThanTheyLook: B.J. doesn't seem to have aged much if at all in the fourteen years between the prologue and the main game, which is kind of silly when you notice that he didn't experience any atrophy for his ([[TheBigGuy considerable]]) muscles. In contrast, [[spoiler: Caroline Becker]] clearly looks much older than when we last saw her.

* OrcusOnHisThrone: The game is heavy with Deathshead's presence; his image appears on the loading screen for every single level, and pre-recorded speeches by him are being broadcast throughout the game in Nazi facilities. However, he only personally appears in the game's first and last levels, and isn't directly involved in the game's plot at all until the finale. Justified in that the war is long over and he's busy creating weaponry to help subjugate the world; [[spoiler: by the time the resurgent Resistance's actions become public enough to get his attention, they're already knocking on his front door with a nuclear submarine.]]

* PointOfDivergence: While at first glance the point where the timeline veers off would seems to be when the Nazis managed to get their ''wunderwaffes'' together. [[spoiler: However, the ''actual'' point of divergence would be the creation of the Da'at Yichud, whose advanced technology was stolen by the Nazis, leading to their victory.]]

* RepressiveButEfficient: The Nazis have built vast super-cities, a giant bridge between Europe and Africa, and even established a base on the moon. By ''1960''. Even the widespread sickness from super-concrete mold, which you'd expect to be the sort of quality control issue that would occur in a totalitarian system where you can be executed for demanding accountability from those who control the means of production, turns out to be the work of external sabotage rather than incompetence. Granted, much of the technology that makes their civilization so advanced [[spoiler: was stolen from a hidden sect of Jewish scientist-monks whose scientific knowledge was several generations ahead of everyone else]].

* SchizoTech: A minor and possibly justified version of this occurs, since [[spoiler: all Nazi technology is reverse-engineered from Da'at Yichud]], meaning it doesn't have to follow a logical progression.

* SequelHook: [[spoiler: At the end of the credits, a helicopter's rotors can be heard, suggesting that Set, Anya, Bombate, and the rest of the escaping prisoners may have picked up B.J. before the base got nuked. Even if he doesn't live he clearly seems to be of the mind to wish to pass the torch to Anya, based on his final thoughts (and the fact that she's secretly a stone-cold Nazi-killing machine herself, just more indirectly than B.J.)]]
** The sequel's trailer reveals that [[spoiler: B.J. isn't passing the torch - he intends to fight the Nazis himself [[BabiesEverAfter so that he, Anya, and their incoming twins]] have a safe place to live]].
* SerialKiller: "Ramona"/[[spoiler: Anya]], who was responsible for murdering dozens of Nazi soldiers in Poland during and after the war in increasingly violent and grotesque ways.
* ShellShockedVeteran: B.J. Blazkowicz has elements of this throughout the game. The [[spoiler: VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D]] flashback level, for example, seems like a fun little shout-out at first. However, B.J.'s narration that he's done so much killing and will keep killing until he dies reveals it to be a sign of his psychological trauma.

** Many of the cutscenes are reminiscent of the works of Creator/QuentinTarantino, which makes sense considering it is close in tone to ''Film/InglouriousBasterds''. Specifically, the train scene with Frau Engel parallels the mounting tension and dialogue-based suspense of the infamous milk scene from the previously mentioned film. Also, when B.J. first discovers the [[spoiler: Da'at Yichud technology]] at the London Nautica, the cutscene goes to split screen and features over-the-top typography as B.J. spells out the words on a piece of parchment. Finally, the game also has the tendency to cut abruptly to flashbacks (think Hugo Stiglitz from ''Inglourious Basterds'' or the whipping scene from ''Film/DjangoUnchained'').

** A literary allusion occurs in the last mission when [[spoiler: a wounded Blazkowicz]] partially quotes Emma Lazarus' poem "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Colossus The New Colossus]]" in his final inner monologue of the game. The poem was famously inscribed on a plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty, and coupled with the image of Anya holding up a light to guide [[spoiler: the prisoners escaping from Deathshead's compound]] serves as a rather touching homage to the concept of freedom in an otherwise overwhelmingly oppressive world.

* StayInTheKitchen: The Nazi regime in ''New Order'' has elements of this, as indicated by various background conversations and documents. Truth in Television, the real Nazis were highly socially reactionary.[[note]](Though not used as a term by the Nazi's themselves, Wilhelm II's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder,_K%C3%BCche,_Kirche "Kinder, Küche, Kirche"]] or [[GratuitousGerman "Children, Kitchen, and Church"]] philosophy was very much encouraged.)[[/note]] Frau Engel is an exception, but her high ranking position was cemented through her ability to effectively run a concentration camp and [[spoiler: the fact that she's the only person to survive B.J.'s wrath]], and eavesdropping on a conversation she has with Bubi states she thinks women should stay feminine, and boasts of having done her mother's duty for Germany. This is in contrast to the previous ''Wolfenstein'' games, which had an entire organization of high-ranking females known as the Elite Guard ordering the lower ranking Nazis around. This trope may account for the lack of Nazi dominatrix officers running around in black latex (in addition to possibly clashing with the game's darker, less sensationalist tone).

* TheStinger: [[spoiler: At the very end of the credits, a helicopter is heard approaching.]]

* StupidJetpackHitler: Taken to its logical extreme. The Nazis have access to MechaMooks, developed [[NukeEm the atomic bomb]] [[TheBadGuyWins before the Allies]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheSpaceRace have landed on the Moon]]. It seems like dropping all the {{Ghostapo}} nonsense and letting [[FlatEarthAtheist Deathshead]] [[MadScientist do his thing]] counted for something in the end. Ironically, most of this tech was reverse engineered from [[spoiler: Jewish]] sources.

* SuicideAttack: At the London Nautica, [[spoiler: Bobby Bram]] does this with a car bomb to blow a path open for B.J..

* TakeAThirdOption: When Deathshead tells you to choose who to disect, you can refuse to choose... [[spoiler: which leads to having your head crushed in by the super soldier holding you down, along with Fergus, Wyatt, and Prendergast, ending the game]].

-->[[spoiler: '''Deathshead''']]: So... gullible.

[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wolfenstein_the_new_order.png]]
[[caption-width-right:260:''Es gibt ein Haus in Neu-Berlin...'']]

* ArtisticLicenseEngineering: The design of the Gibraltar bridge in game appears to be a beam or cable stay design, which is simply infeasible for a crossing in the area. The Strait of Gibraltar may only about 9 miles or 14 kilometers wide at its narrowest point, but it also varies from 300 to 900 meters (almost 1,000 to 3,000 feet) deep. Building just of the pillars would be an even greater engineering challenge than the bridge itself.

* PillowSilencer: During the TimeSkip cutscene, a Nazi stormtrooper executes BJ's fellow patient at the sanatorium by putting a pillow onto his face and shooting him through it. It's unclear why he even bothers with it, though, since the sanatorium is being officially purged, anyway. Though it's probably because since gunshots in enclosed spaces are ''loud''. [[PragmaticVillainy He was probably just doing it for his own ears' sake]].

Check the [[Characters/{{Wolfenstein}} character sheet]]. Not to be confused with [[Music/NewOrder the seminal British indie band]] or [[VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysofEurope the Hearts of Iron IV mod with a similar concept]]

* LampshadeHanging: The fact that Blazkowicz looks every bit the part of the Aryan MasterRace is noted on a couple of occasions, notably during the NotSoDifferent scene.

* NotSoDifferent: J explains that he has little sympathy for the fall of America as an institution because of the racism of the time period, noting that from his point of view, the white American government and its enforcers were essentially Nazis before the actual Nazis came into power. Blazkowicz [[BerserkButton does not appreciate the comparison.]]
** PlayedForLaughs in the journal entry regarding your fight against the London Monitor.

** Newspaper clippings in the game claim that the People's Liberation Army fought for the Republic of China. At the time, the PLA was the armed wing of the Communist Party of China, then an insurgency based in Northern China opposing the internationally-recognized ROC. Of course, this may be a case of AlternateHistory, as the war going south may have resulted in the ROC and Communists forming another [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_United_Front United]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_United_Front Front]], or even being forced to completely merge, which would also explain why the Chinese managed to briefly gain ground against the Japanese before the Nazis got involved. This is supported by another newspaper clipping, in which an unnamed Chinese Chairman talks about a united China.

** Newspaper clippings in the game claim that the People's Liberation Army fought for the Republic of China. At the time, the PLA was the armed wing of the Communist Party of China, then an insurgency based in Northern China opposing the internationally-recognized ROC. Of course, this may be a case of AlternateHistory, as the war going south may have resulted in the ROC and Communists forming another [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_United_Front United]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_United_Front Front]], or even being forced to completely merge, which would also explain why the Chinese managed to briefly gain ground against the Japanese before the Nazis got involved.

*** For that matter, the same goes for most of the characters who are not native speakers of English: Klaus wouldn't have had much reason to learn the language in the past unless he did intelligence work, nor would Tekla (who is apparently Russian judging by her accent) be likely to learn it either, whether she lived under a Soviet or a Nazi regime. Then again, they ''do'' work with either Fergus or Wyatt, both of whom are native English speakers, so that may provide an explanation for their fluency.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Newspaper clippings in the Kreisau HQ mention a new type of limestone discovered in Croatia that's perfect for making super concrete. [[spoiler:B.J. eventually heads to a concentration camp there to free Set Roth, who's sabotaging the concrete.]]

** There's also Deathshead's speech to B.J. at the end of the game. He claims that he built a civilization (no mention of using the [[spoiler:Da'at Yichud technology]]) and that B.J. and the resistance are just mindless apes trying to tear it down for the sake of being destructive, and even has the nerve to ask you why "your kind thrives on cowardice and evil."

* OldSchoolDogfight: Between P-51 Mustangs and ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horten_Ho_229 Horten Ho-229s]]'' in the prologue. The P-51s are soon destroyed.

* PunchClockVillain: Though major antagonists like Deathshead and Frau Engel are gleefully vile, most of the ambient chatter of the Nazi mooks you come across show them as ordinary soldiers with everyday concerns and loved ones. One of Engel's guards even warns you to leave quickly before she drags B.J. into another "game". When a German woman wants to report deranged behavior to a nazi soldier, the soldier asks her to report to the office that deals with that and seems more annoyed about the complaint than disgusted about the man spot using his mom lipstick.

* {{AKA47}}: The firearms are simply referred to by generic names. Even the Thompson SMG, Luger and [=StG=] 44 used in the 1946 sections are referred to as generically as possible, though the [=StG=] that shows up in the game ''is'' heavily modified, such as an integrated folding foregrip and a wider profile due to "bullet acceleration tanks". In turn, the 1960 Assault Rifle is a more fictional design, though mating several elements of the Heckler & Koch G3 (most notably the rear sight drum) with the game's version of the [=StG=] (the front sight and charging handle).

** Newspaper clippings in the game claim that the People's Liberation Army fought for the Republic of China. At the time, the PLA was the armed wing of the Communist Party of China, then an insurgency based in Northern China opposing the internationally-recognized ROC.

* ShootTheMedicFirst: [[PlayedWith While not medics]], Commanders are only armed with a pistol, but are able to summon vast amounts of reinforcements, making taking them out quickly - [[OptionalStealth and keeping a low profile they're gone]] - a major gameplay element.

* SurvivorGuilt: Each timeline has a scene in which Fergus/Wyatt vents at B.J. for Blazkowicz choosing to spare them instead of the other. In Wyatt's case,he feels he's gotten friends killed in the years since that Fergus might have saved. In the case of Fergus, he [[DentedIron feels like he and Blazkowicz are too old to keep doing this forever]], and that Wyatt should have been saved to that end.

** Prendergast, the other soldier who escaped with B.J. and Fergus/Wyatt in the prologue doesn't show up again. It's mentioned by Fergus/Wyatt that he initially joined the Kreisau Circle alongside him, [[DroppedABridgeOnHim only to have died later on a mission.]] In the HQ, you can see name tags atop the doors to the various bedrooms, and the one next to BJ and Anya's shared room has Prendergast's name scratched out.

* ContrivedCoincidence: The good guys smuggle B.J. onboard a U-Boat so he can hijack it and bring them to [[spoiler:an underwater Da'at Yichud safekeep.]] He just happens to end up on [[spoiler:the ''Eva's Hammer'', the biggest and baddest U-Boat there is, complete with a ''nuclear cannon''.]]

-->[[spoiler: '''Deathshead''']]: [[FamousLastWords So... gullible.]]

* BlackAndGreyMorality: B.J. and the Kreisau Circle are absolutely ruthless, showing no mercy to any of the soldiers they kill and consistently resort to more and more desperate tactics to simply ensure that their loved ones will survive. The first mission for the Circle starts out with an allied character [[spoiler:[[SuicideAttack suicide-bombing]] a military installation.]] Of course, they are only doing this because of [[FinalSolution the evil the Nazis are capable of]]...

** "[[EasierThanEasy Can I Play, Daddy?]]" - B.J. is shown [[EasyModeMockery wearing a baby bonnet and pacifier]]/

** If you're stupid enough to go for Frau Engel's gold-plated Luger during her "test" in the night train to Berlin, her bodyguards will make mince meat out of you before you get off more than one shot. However, there's a checkpoint right before that scene, and the sheer satisfaction of shooting her in the face, coupled with her utter shock about your audacity, makes it worth trying at least once, assuming you aren't running [[FinalDeath Ironman Mode]].

* AmbiguouslyGay: Caroline's new design has something of a lesbian vibe: no-nonsense haircut, single earring, tattoos. She also has a rather prominent pinup girl poster in her room. However, no mention is made of her sexual or romantic history, so it remains up to the player's interpretation.

* InfantImmortality: Thoroughly averted in a world where the Nazis still dominate.

A standalone {{prequel}} entitled ''[[VideoGame/WolfensteinTheOldBlood Wolfenstein: The Old Blood]]'' was released on May 5, 2015. A sequel, titled ''VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus'', was released on October 27, 2017.

* {{AKA47}}: The firearms are simply referred to by generic names. Even the Thompson SMG, Luger and STG-44 used in the 1946 sections are referred to as generically as possible, though the STG-44 that shows up in the game and beyond 1946 ''is'' a heavily modified and futurized version.
** The 1946 Assault Rifle and Machine gun resemble a STG-44 and MG-42 with embellishments respectively. The 1960 Assault Rifle seems to be based on the Heckler & Koch G3, with elements of the FN FAL.

** A nuclear cannon might sound bizarre but the United States had nuclear artillery shells and put cannon-fired bombs on battleships in the late 50s through the 80s.

* AmericaSavesTheDay: Subverted; [[{{Irony}} Once the Nazis started dropping their own brand of nukes on the US]], it didn't take long for them to surrender, thus guaranteeing the war was over in the Nazis' favour.

* ArmorIsUseless: Takedown is an instant-kill, regardless of how many layers a normal soldier is wearing. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], as B.J. stabs them in their armor's weak points, most commonly the neck. Although, it doesn't work on [[SuperSoldier Supersoldaten]].

* ArtisticLicenseBiology / AcceptableBreaksFromReality: Blazkowicz winds up spending 14 years in a semi-comatose state, aware of his surroundings but unable to move -- realistically, a ''lot'' of his muscle mass would have atrophied over that period of time, and it would take at least months, if not years, for him to actually move on his own again.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: London and Berlin aren't particularly close to each other. At least not close enough that BJ can drive from London to Berlin (though several implied checkpoints) in anything less then a few hours. Yet somehow [[spoiler: BJ manages to reach the rebel HQ in Berlin while Nazi attack (that started when he reached London) is still ongoing]].

* BadassBoast: Courtesy of Frau Engel
** "For your crime, you will die like vermin. I will hunt you down. At the end of the earth, I will find you. Your skin charred and your fats rendered. Your kind exterminated. In the end, I will feed your flesh to the furnace!"

* BagOfSpilling: Each level resets your inventory, leaving you just a knife and maybe one or two guns. Once you get the Laserkraftwerk, though, it stays with you as B.J.'s signature weapon.

** Klaus gets mad whenever B.J. is inconsiderate of Max. Also goes the other way around, when the non-violent Max [[spoiler: pounds a few Nazis into paste after Klaus is mortally wounded, even after he's been shot himself.]]

** Set Roth, being voiced by an Israeli actor, speaks genuine Yiddish and Hebrew. For example, the code rhyme he uses [[spoiler: to open the Da'at Yichud vault]] can be translated as "4-6-3-8, I face the gate". He refers to B.J. as "Shimshon" - which is the Hebrew pronunciation of Samson, a Biblical figure known for his great strength, defender of the Israelis and destroyer of all those who threatened them.[[spoiler: Samson died collapsing a fortress full of his enemies while he was still inside.]]

*** It's written left to right, while Hebrew is read right to left.
*** Read right to left (with upside down and backwards letters flipped, and fake one removed), the text on screen says קתבוע דאאם, which would sound something like "k'tuvah daam" which is meaningless.
*** From left to right, the letters in the game are:(final mem, alef, an apostrophe (which can be placed at the end of a word to change the pronunciation or signify yiddush origin, but is not found in the middle of hebrew words), alef, dalet, ayin, vav, a backwards bet, a made up letter, an upside down tav, and an upside down and backwards Qof/koof).

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: While Blazkowicz does kill Strasse he is severely wounded and can't walk. He orders his allies to nuke the building anyway.]]

* BoringButPractical: Despite the access with laser weapons, most of the time, you will stick to the Pistols and Assault Rifles during gunfights.

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: All the primary villains avert this. Deathshead recognizes Blazkowicz, both in 1946 and 1960, and [[spoiler: remembers Fergus/Wyatt, being able to find the specimen jar with their brain in just a few seconds on a shelf filled with dozens of samples.]] At Camp Belica Bubi at first finds Blazkowicz familiar, but it takes Frau Engel to recognize him as the man they encountered on the train to Berlin.

* CurbStompBattle: The prologue in a nutshell, as the increasingly desperate Allies struggle to take on a techonlogically advanced Nazi war machine. By 1960, the Third Reich has direct and indirect control over much of the world.

* SadisticChoice: Blazkowicz is forced by Deathshead to choose either Private Wyatt or Fergus to be put to the scalpel, lest he decides to kill both of them (and then B.J.). The one that survives becomes his [[TheLancer Lancer]] in the story while the one who doesn't [[spoiler:has his brain put into a robot at the end]].

* SchrodingersPlayerCharacter: The SadisticChoice described above impacts the game quite a fair bit, and you'll receive different character bonuses depending on whether you choose Fergus or Wyatt. In addition, both timelines have a mutually exclusive character as part of the Kreisau Circle, either J for Wyatt or Tekla for Fergus.

* SurvivalMantra: For when the situation is '''too much''' for even [[OneManArmy William Joseph "B.J." Blazkowicz]] to handle.

* SurvivorGuilt: Each timeline has a scene in which Fergus/Wyatt vents at B.J. for choosing to spare them instead of the other (see SadisticChoice above). In Wyatt's case, it's a double whammy, as he feels he's gotten friends killed in the years since that Fergus might have saved.

* RegeneratingHealth: Played with, in a manner similar to ''VideoGame/EscapeFromButcherBay'' or most of the ''VideoGame/FarCry'' games. B.J. has regenerating health, but it only regenerates up to the nearest multiple of 20, and health packs must be used to raise his health past them, should he suffer enough damage.

->''"While I was gone, they set the world on fire. It wasn't a war anymore: it was a remaking. Some losses are inevitable. Some... unthinkable. Now they've built a new world. Armies of steel and thunder. They're rewriting history. [[BadassBoast But they forgot about me.]]"''