History VisualNovel / Snatcher

* {{Bowdlerise}}: The first three versions of the game, released only in Japan for the NEC PC-8801, [=MSX2=], and [[UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 PC Engine]] Super CD-ROM[[superscript:2]], are totally uncensored. The game was subsequently ported to three more consoles (Sega CD, Sony UsefulNotes/PlayStation and Sega Saturn), all of which were toned down in various ways.
** By far the biggest difference between the Sega CD version (the sole English version) and the Japanese versions is the staggering amount of sexual harassment available to the player. Whenever Gillian encounters a woman in the Japanese versions of ''Snatcher'', the player is variously given the choice to ogle their breasts, grope them, expose Gillian's genitalia to them, "snatch" their underwear, ''sniff'' their underwear, and so on. Gillian makes it clear that, even though he's racing to save these women from the Snatcher menace, he can still make time for some ''real'' action on the side. (In other words, Gillian behaves like a textbook ChivalrousPervert.) Almost all of this is gone from the Sega CD version, where Gillian instead comes off more like a bumbling HandsomeLech.

* PetTheDog: Getting hit during [[spoiler:the Insector battle at the abandoned factory]] will trigger what nearly amounts to a subplot about Gillian's physical condition. First, Metal will patch Gillian up by injecting him with nanomachines. Then, the Chief will ask Gillian if he feels alright. Then Mika checks in. Gillian never complains about his injuries, and assures his fellow [=JUNKERs=] that he's fine. At this point, the player can go to Gillian's apartment to use the restroom. If this is done, Metal will subsequently panic [[spoiler: because he forgot to take Gillian's nanomachines out first.]]
** All of this dialog is completely optional and never appears if the player makes it through [[spoiler:the Insector battle]] unscathed.

* MasterOfDisguise: Subverted and then lampshaded. [[spoiler:Napoleon]] is ''almost'' one of these, but ultimately just wants to amuse himself. [[spoiler:Besides being a JUNKER informant, he works nights as the doorman at Outer Heaven while wearing a werewolf mask. His outgoing videophone message features a picture of himself wearing said mask, so he's clearly not ''that'' interested in hiding his identity. That, combined with his distinctive sneezing both in and out of disguise, makes it easy for Gillian to figure out that Napoleon was Outer Heaven's doorman all along. (The game helps to telegraph this in advance, when Napoleon shows up for his second meeting with Gillian in a Santa outfit, armed with packs of promotional freebie tissues.]]

** The shot of [[spoiler:Cunningham's maggot-eaten corpse in the Queens Hospital basement]] remains untouched in all versions except the PlayStation version, where it's clumsily covered up with a mosaic effect.

* BountyHunter: With the rise of Snatcher activities and how understaffed JUNKER tends to be, bounty hunters are encouraged to help JUNKER out and rewarded for their efforts. [[spoiler:Random Hajile]] claims to be one, though the reveal that he's actually unregistered casts some initial suspicion on him.

** The shot of [[spoiler:Cunningham's maggot-eaten corpse in the Queens Hospital basement]] remains untouched in all versions except the Playstation version, where it's clumsily covered up with a mosaic effect.

** Trying to look up Gillian or Jamie's personal files in JORDAN won't work, and will make Gillian audibly frustrated. Metal comments that nobody within JUNKER HQ actually possesses the security clearance to view the files. Nevertheless, Metal doesn't mind hinting that he himself knows everything, but won't talk. [[spoiler:Metal finally spills everything he knows at the beginning of Act 3, after Gillian becomes [[BotheringByTheBook the highest-ranking JUNKER by default.]]]]

** Played straight in the 32-bit versions of the game. Gillian's apartment looks quite bleak indeed in the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn and UsefulNotes/PlayStation versions of ''Snatcher''.

* MasterOfDisguise: Subverted and then lampshaded. [[spoiler:Napoleon]] is ''almost'' one of these, but ultimately just wants to amuse himself. [[spoiler:Besides being a JUNKER informant, he works nights as the doorman at Outer Heaven, wearing a werewolf mask. His outgoing videophone message features a picture of himself wearing said mask, so he's clearly not ''that'' interested in hiding his identity. That, combined with his distinctive sneezing both in and out of disguise, makes it easy for Gillian to figure out that Napoleon was Outer Heaven's doorman all along.]]

* OffModel: There's a subtle, but notable visual oversight in the home console versions of ''Snatcher'' that wasn't present in the original 8-bit home computer releases. [[spoiler:Upon discovering Cunningham's decaying corpse in Queens Hospital's morgue, the 8-bit versions show the skull with almost all of its teeth removed. [[TruthInTelevision Removing teeth post-mortem is a common real-life way of making it harder to identify a body,]] and fits right in with the Snatchers' MO. However, in the 16- and 32-bit versions, Cunningham's teeth are all still present.]]

* DirectorsCut: ''Snatcher [=CD-ROMantic=]'', a version of the game developed for the [[UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 PC Engine]] Super CD-ROM[[superscript:2]] and released only in Japan in 1992, is this. All other versions of ''Snatcher'' are either incomplete (the original 8-bit versions), or censored (the three subsequent versions). Fortunately, the overseas Sega/Mega CD version from 1994 was derived from ''[=CD-ROMantic=]'', and despite some minor [[{{Bowdlerise}} bowdlerizations]], it's a faithful port that doesn't compromise the game's intergrity as much as the subsequent 32-bit versions of ''Snatcher''.

* AudibleGleam: Happens in ''Snatcher [=CD-ROMantic=]'' when Gillian picks up his blaster for the first time.

* BigApplesauce: Neo Kobe is considered a melting pot of various races, like real-life New York. This would explain why some of the Asian characters (eg. [[spoiler:Napoleon]], or the food vendors) sound more American than Japanese.

* OffModel: There's a subtle, but notable visual oversight in the home console versions of ''Snatcher'' that wasn't present in the original 8-bit home computer releases. [[spoiler:Upon discovering Cunningham's decaying corpse in Queens Hospital's morgue, the 8-bit versions show the skull with almost all of its teeth removed. [[TruthInTelevision Removing teeth post-mortem is a common real-life way of making it harder to identify a body,]] and fits right in with the Snatchers' MO. However, in the Sega CD version, Cunningham's teeth are all still present.]]

* HandWave: Despite the game's verbosity, especially for its era, the actual ''mechanics'' of a "snatch" are never fully explained. In fairness, these details would have no bearing on the plot, but it's still surprising considering how intricate the storyline becomes by the end. Is the target abducted, and then killed at [[spoiler:Queens Hospital, the location of their morgue]]? Are they always abducted in public? We learn that [[spoiler:Outer Heaven]] is a popular location for snatching, but how does this work? An abduction from such a place certainly is plausible, but certainly not an outright murder on the spot? How exactly are targets murdered? [[spoiler:(Snatchers not only have SuperStrength, they can also shoot [[BreathWeapon lasers out of their mouths.]])]] Who brings the bodies back to [[spoiler:Queens Hospital's morgue]]? (The target's own Snatcher?) Although certain presumptions can be made, these questions are all technically left unanswered by the game's end.

* OffModel: There's a subtle, but notable visual oversight in the Sega CD version that wasn't present in the original 8-bit releases. [[spoiler:Upon discovering Cunningham's decaying corpse in Queens Hospital's morgue, the 8-bit versions show the skull with almost all of its teeth removed. [[TruthInTelevision Removing teeth post-mortem is a common real-life way of making it harder to identify a body,]] and fits right in with the Snatchers' MO. However, in the Sega CD version, Cunningham's teeth are all still present.]]
** [[spoiler:Metal Gear still comments on how the bodies in the morgue can't be identified via their teeth in the Sega CD version, seemingly emphasizing the blooper, but he then HandWave{{s}} the graphical error by stating that the teeth have been "deliberately misaligned" in order to prevent identification.]]

* OlderThanTheyLook: [[spoiler:Taken UpToEleven as one of the major bombshells of the plot. If you do the numbers, Gillian is actually 79 years old, and Jamie is 77.[[note]]The actual dates, per the Japanese versions of the game: Gillian and Jamie are "estimated" to be 31 and 29 during the game's events in December 2042. They were recovered three years earlier in 2039, when they would have been "estimated" to be 28 and 26. We learn that their recovery happened immediately following several decades of cryogenic stasis, which began in 1991 after the Catastrophe and would have left their apparent ages untouched. Therefore, their true ages can be calculated by taking their ages in 1991 (28 and 26) and adding 48 years of stasis (1991 to 2039), plus three more years of time before the game itself begins. (Add five years to all of these dates for the Sega CD version.)[[/note]] Both of them have spent the majority of their lives in cryogenic stasis, and therefore still look like thirty-somethings. This is revealed by Metal at the start of Act 3, and expounded upon by Elijah Modnar later in the Act. Therefore, this means that Gillian and Jamie were born in 1963 and 1965, respectively (or 1968 and 1970 in the Sega CD version). Elijah spent only ten years in stasis, and the difference is plainly obvious.]]

* SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou: [[spoiler:The original computer versions from 1988 end with a shot of Gillian aiming and shooting his gun towards the screen.]]
* SecretUndergroundPassage: [[spoiler:The hidden tunnel to the 'real' Queens Hospital.]]

-->[[spoiler:'''Gillian:''' I'm going to need to check out your towel...]]\\
[[spoiler:'''Katrina:''' Don't you ever quit?! I know what you have in mind!]]

* FlashbackEffects: [[spoiler:Elijah Modnar's]] flashbacks are shown in a blood-red negative exposure, to emphasize the bitterness and anger he felt at the time.
* ForcedOrgasm: PlayedForLaughs. When Metal Gear, Gillian's RobotBuddy, unknowingly plays a porn video in its system, it ends having some sort of involuntary orgasm on the spot, with Metal's CharacterPortrait floating up the screen and [[TheImmodestOrgasm shaking while moaning]] until [[PostCoitalCollapse coming sharply back down slowly with a relaxed voice]].

** [[spoiler:This does create a minor continuity issue during the flashbacks, where young Elijah still resembles his elderly self in ''Snatcher CD-[=ROMantic=]''. In the Sega CD version, the resemblance is mostly gone.]]

** Taken UpToEleven in the 32-bit versions of the game. Gillian's apartment looks ''incredibly'' bleak in the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn and UsefulNotes/PlayStation versions of ''Snatcher''.

* UniqueEnemy: Subverted in the Sega CD version. [[spoiler:In the Japanese versions of ''Snatcher'', Gillian only fights the Insectors one time, at the abandoned factory in Act 1. The Sega CD port throws in two more Insector battles; one each for Acts 2 and 3.]]

%%* BadassMustache: Benson Cunningham.

%%* BigBad / OrcusOnHisThrone: [[spoiler: Elijah Modnar.]]

-->[[spoiler:'''Gillian:''' I'm going to need to check out your towel...]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Katrina:''' Don't you ever quit?! I know what you have in mind!]]

* FantasticDrug: Liquid Sky.

* FortuneTeller: In an optional scene, Gillian and Metal meet a fortune teller in Alton Plaza. [[spoiler:Subverted. She's actually just a hacker who scans Gillian's retinal patterns and pulls up his personal info.]]

%%* HostageSpiritLink: A game ending one.

* KlingonPromotion: More or less on Gillian's part. [[spoiler:In Act 3, Metal points out that Gillian is now the highest ranking authority JUNKER has... Having killed a Snatcher posing as Chief Cunningham, the real one being dead for a few months.]]

On June 6, 1996,[[note]]1991 in the original Japanese version[[/note]] a massive explosion takes place at a government research lab near UsefulNotes/{{Moscow}}. The accident causes a deadly artificial virus (known as [[SyntheticPlague Lucifer-Alpha]]) to be released into the atmosphere, resulting in the infection and subsequent death of 80% of those living in Eastern Europe and Eurasia––[[WorldWreckingWave half of the world's population.]] This tragedy––the greatest loss of human life in history––later becomes known as "The Catastrophe."

Fifty years later, sophisticated bioroid robots, colloquially known as "Snatchers," begin appearing in the artificial island city of [[NewNeoCity Neo Kobe]] off the [[UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} Japanese coast]]. One by one, [[KillerRobot these beings start killing off the city's population,]] and with the help of their advanced artificial skin, are able to seamlessly [[KillAndReplace replace their victims]] in society at large. Nobody knows exactly where Snatchers come from or what they ultimately seek to accomplish. Gillian Seed, an amnesiac who was discovered in Siberia by the Russian military three years before the story begins, is convinced that his past is somehow linked to the Snatchers. [[DesperatelySeekingAPurposeInLife With his marriage in crisis and his memories all but vanished,]] Gillian arrives in Neo Kobe City in December 2047[[note]]''née'' 2042[[/note]] to put a stop to the Snatcher menace, learn the truth behind their invasion, and hopefully, uncover his ''own'' past as well.

* MasterOfDisguise: Lampshaded. [[spoiler:Napoleon]] is ''almost'' one of these, but ultimately just wants to amuse himself. [[spoiler:Besides being a JUNKER informant, he works nights as the doorman at Outer Heaven, wearing a werewolf mask. His outgoing videophone message features a picture of himself wearing said mask, so he's clearly not ''that'' interested in hiding his identity. That, combined with his distinctive sneezing both in and out of disguise, makes it easy for Gillian to figure out that Napoleon was Outer Heaven's doorman all along.]]

* LighterAndSofter: SD Snatcher, a super deformed version of the MSX game, plays this totally straight.

* PetTheDog: Getting hit during [[spoiler:the Insector battle at the abandoned factory]] will trigger what nearly amounts to a subplot about Gillian's physical condition. First, Metal will patch Gillian up by injecting him with nanomachines. Then, the Chief will ask Gillian if he feels alright. Then Mika checks in. Gillian never complains about his injuries, and assures his fellow [=JUNKERs=] that he's fine. At this point, the player can go to Gillian's apartment to use the restroom. If this is done, Metal will subsequently panic [[spoiler: because he forgot to take Gillian's nanomachines out first.]] All of this dialog is completely optional and never appears if the player makes it through [[spoiler:the Insector battle]] unscathed.

* PetTheDog: Getting hit during [[the Insector battle at the abandoned factory]] will trigger what nearly amounts to a subplot about Gillian's physical condition. First, Metal will patch Gillian up by injecting him with nanomachines. Then, the Chief will ask Gillian if he feels alright. Then Mika checks in. Gillian never complains about his injuries, and assures his fellow [=JUNKERs=] that he's fine. At this point, the player can go to Gillian's apartment to use the restroom. If this is done, Metal will subsequently panic [[spoiler: because he forgot to take Gillian's nanomachines out first.]] All of this dialog is completely optional and never appears if the player makes it through [[the Insector battle]] unscathed.

* PetTheDog: Getting hit during [[the Insector battle at the abandoned factory]] will trigger what nearly amounts to a subplot about Gillian's injuries. First, Metal will patch Gillian up by injecting him with nanomachines. Then, the Chief will ask Gillian if he feels alright. Then Mika asks. Gillian never complains, and assures his fellow JUNKERs that he's fine. At this point, the player can go to Gillian's apartment to use the restroom. If this is done, Metal will subsequently panic [[spoiler: because he forgot to take Gillian's nanomachines out first.]] All of this dialog is completely optional and never appears if the player makes it through [[the Insector battle]] unscathed.

-->'''[[spoiler:Napoleon]]:''' Being an [[spoiler:informer]] isn't exactly the safest job on the planet, you know. That's why it's important to be a ''master of disguise''––like me.

-->'''[[spoiler:Napoleon]]:''' Being an [[spoiler:informer]] isn't exactly the safest job on the planet, you know. That's why it's important to be a master of disguise––like me.

* MasterOfDisguise: Subverted. [[spoiler:Napoleon]] is ''almost'' capable of being one of these, but not quite. [[spoiler:Besides being a JUNKER informant, he works nights as the doorman at Outer Heaven, wearing a werewolf mask. His outgoing videophone message features a picture of himself wearing said mask, so he's clearly not ''that'' interested in hiding his identity. That, combined with his distinctive sneezing both in and out of disguise, makes it easy for Gillian to figure out that Napoleon was Outer Heaven's doorman all along.]]

* MasterOfDisguise: Subverted. [[spoiler:Napoleon]] is seemingly capable of being one of these, but isn't serious enough to actually commit. [[spoiler:Besides being a JUNKER informant, he works nights as the doorman at Outer Heaven, wearing a werewolf mask. His outgoing videophone message features a picture of himself wearing said mask, so he's clearly not ''that'' interested in hiding his identity. That, combined with his distinctive sneezing both in and out of disguise, makes it easy for Gillian to figure out that Napoleon was Outer Heaven's doorman all along.]]

%%* MasterOfDisguise: [[spoiler:Napoleon.]]

-->[[spoiler:'''Cunningham:''']] JU––JU––JU––JUNKER! You may have stopped me, but it's not over yet!

* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: [[spoiler:Invoked during Cunningham's FinalSpeech, after his termination.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Cunningham:''' JU––JU––JU––JUNKER! You may have stopped me, but it's not over yet!]]

* TwoKeyedLock: Actually a ''three''-keyed lock. [[spoiler:To unlock the rooms in Queens Hospital requires the input of Gillian, Random, and Metal Gear simultaneously]].

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: A demo disc for ''Snatcher [=CD-ROMantic=]'', known as the ''Pilot Disk'', came out in advance of that version of the game in 1992. Among other things (like a playable demo), it includes a lengthy, slickly-produced trailer for the full game, rendered by the [[UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 PC Engine]] in real-time without any FMV. Versions of ''Snatcher'' had been available for years by that point, and the trailer is understandably heavy on spoilers. Unfortunately, ''Snatcher [=CD-ROMantic=]'' was to effectively be a DirectorsCut of the game, featuring a lengthy conclusion to the plot yet unseen by the public. As well as spoiling the ''known'' plot of the game up to that point, the trailer has ''no'' qualms about generously spoiling the '''new''' content as well. (So beware!)