Line #124 VideoGame/GuiltyParty


1	[[quoteright:213:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Guilty_Party_Boxart_8956.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:213:Our heroes, from left to right: Phoebe, Butch, Kid Riddle, Charlotte, Ling Ling, and Max]]
3
4	-->''You've got to find the guilty party before the guilty party finds you!''
5
6	''Creator/{{Disney}} Guilty Party'' is a game for the Platform/NintendoWii produced by Disney Interactive and developed by Wideload Entertainment. Despite the "Disney" in the full title, it is, like ''{{VideoGame/Spectrobes}},'' a wholly original property not connected to any other Disney product. Like a great many other games with "[[VideoGame/MarioParty Party]]" in the title, it is primarily designed as a multiplayer game, and there are quite a few {{Mini Game}}s. Unlike other games of its genre, though, the mini-games are less the point of the endeavor than a means to an end. The primary gameplay is a mystery game, like a digital ''TabletopGame/{{Clue}}.''
7
8	The Dickens Detective Agency is a world-famous group of related sleuths, lead by their patriarch, Dorian "The Commodore" Dickens. He is retiring from the business, but he'll still be around the Dickens family manor to dispense sage advice. Suddenly, disaster strikes when his archnemesis, the nefarious Mr. Valentine, kidnaps Dorian's wife Olivia. Now it's up to the six active Dickens sleuths to track down their mother/grandma/aunt and put a stop to Mr. Valentine's plans!
9
10	They are:
11	* '''Max Dickens:''' [[TheHero The leader of the group]] is a classic film noir-style fedora-and-trenchcoat detective, and the son of Mr. Dickens himself. While not the [[GeniusDitz brightest spark]] (perhaps due to the fact that he'd rather be an actor), he's been studying under his father long enough to know the ropes.
12	* '''Phoebe Dickens:''' [[TheLancer Max's sister]] is his opposite in many ways -- much more shrewd, much more tactful, and took to the family business like a fish to water. She is often exasperated with her kin, from her overly-jokey brother to her over-the-top son. Leave it to her to [[DeadpanSnarker snark]] the family.
13	* '''Charlotte Dickens-Johnson:''' This [[LittleOldLadyInvestigates sweet little old lady]] is definitely the [[TheHeart heart of the group,]] keeping the others in line with her [[TeamMom matronly ways.]] However, despite her outer sweetness, she's a [[CoolOldLady raging firebrand]] who knows kung-fu and probably a number of other dangerous self-defense techniques. She's Dorian's sister and Butch's wife.
14	* '''Ling-Ling Johnson:''' [[TheSmartGuy The brains of the operation]], who bears more than a passing resemblance to Literature/NancyDrew. While [[AsianAndNerdy her intellectual mettle is formidable,]] she's one of the most upbeat members of the family and tackles situations with an unstoppable perkiness. While not of blood relation to the family, she is the adopted daughter of Butch and Charlotte.
15	* '''Butch Johnson:''' [[TheBigGuy Huge, imposing,]] and the very picture of the ScaryBlackMan, the Film/{{Shaft}}-like Butch is actually a GentleGiant with a high-pitched voice and a friendly smile for everyone. While he used to solve problems with his brawn, now he prefers to use his brain. A lesson in not judging books by their covers to be certain. Married to Charlotte.
16	* '''Rudyard "Kid Riddle" Dickens:''' Loud, brash, and breathlessly wrapped up in his superhero persona, Kid Riddle seems to [[TagAlongKid tag along]] mostly because nobody (not even his mom, Phoebe) could stop him. However, his determination is off the charts, and even if he is a bit odd, he is certainly enthusiastic. And let's be honest -- would you want to be called "Rudyard?"
17	----
18	!!This game contains examples of:
19	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Mr. Valentine seems to be well-liked by many of the womenfolk, despite the fact that logically, given his history, he'd have to be around 60. [[spoiler:Doubles as retroactive LesYay.]]
20	* AmbiguouslyBrown: Nurse Dolly.
21	* AnachronismStew: "A coal-burning bullet train. ''That's'' progress."
22	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Most of the crime lists in the suspect's dossiers look like this, quite literally, often listing charges such as "Grand theft auto, embezzlement, and singing off-key."
23	* AsianAndNerdy: Ling Ling.
24	* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler:The Commodore's plan to show his relatives that they could take over for him if they wanted to and reveal his wife's true identity as Mr. Valentine.]]
25	* BattleCouple: Butch and Charlotte first met during a case, and they used their combined kung-fu powers to fight off a horde of bad guys. [[LoveAtFirstSight That pretty much sealed the deal there.]]
26	* BigEater: Max; he inherited the trait from his father.
27	* BrawnHilda: The opera singer, natch.
28	* BrotherSisterTeam: Max and Phoebe, on those occasions they feel like working together. Dorian and Charlotte, too.
29	* TheButlerDidIt: The very first tutorial level. But of course.
30	* CallingCard: Mr. Valentine's poetic Valentine's notes.
31	* ChubbyChaser: In Chapter 6, one of the most important clues you get about the murdered ([[NeverSayDie ?]]) Tooty is that he's a bit of a chubby chaser. [[spoiler:So no matter how much she adores him, the beautiful thin starlet probably ''wasn't'' his ex-girlfriend...]]
32	* CloudCuckoolander: Max is very rarely with it. Kid Riddle too.
33	* CollectorOfTheStrange: The judge and her love of [[spoiler:egg-shaped objects.]]
34	* CoolMask: Mr. Valentine's mask is a full head sock with a top hat attached.
35	* CoolOldLady: Charlotte -- knows martial arts, loves rock climbing, and still enjoys a nice cup of tea.
36	* DamselInDistress: Olvia's kidnapping sets off the plot. [[spoiler:It's subverted when it turns out she faked it, and even her husband knew about that.]]
37	* DeadpanSnarker: Phoebe has little tolerance for the rest of her family's insanity. Too bad ItRunsInTheFamily.
38	* DancePartyEnding
39	* DisappearedDad: It's not clear where Rudy/Kid Riddle's dad is, other than he's "absentee." It's quite possible that Phoebe's former husband/boyfriend finally realized how insane the family he was getting into was, and wisely split.
40	* DoNotCallMePaul: Rudyard wants to be called "Kid Riddle".
41	* EasilyForgiven: ''Every'' suspect, but especially [[spoiler:Olivia. The top criminal mastermind in the world for the past several decades? Well, it's our anniversary, so... maybe we'll cart you off to the authorities another day.]]
42	* EmbarrassingFirstName: "Rudyard." However, Kid Riddle lets his grandma get away with calling him "Rudy."
43	* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Max threatens a crook word-for-word: "[[PunctuatedForEmphasis WHERE'S. MY.]] '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis MOMMY?!]]'''"
44	* EvilLaugh: Mr. Valentine prefixes each of his nefarious deeds with one. [[spoiler:Pretty impressive, Olivia.]]
45	* EvilRedhead: [[spoiler:Olivia, the redhead matriarch of the family, becomes Mr. Valentine. Yet she does it not out of malice or greed, but because being her husband's nemesis would get her involved in the family business in some way.]]
46	* FashionableAsymmetry: Mr. Valentine is so evil, he doesn't ''need'' depth perception. Of course his mask has only one eye!
47	* {{Fiction 500}}: The Dickenses must be pretty high up there. Olivia even says, "I'd have the money to buy a hundred zeppelins if we didn't spend so much on [[TrademarkFavoriteFood pudding...]]"
48	* LeFilmArtistique: Naturally, what Director Lester Noogie makes.
49	* FiveTokenBand: We've got an even mix of genders on our team, one really young character, one older character, one black guy, one Asian girl, and a more "typical" man and woman.
50	* ForgottenAnniversary: [[spoiler:Olivia is not happy with Dorian's forgetfulness. Not happy '''at all.''']]
51	* ForTheEvulz: [[spoiler:General Mission]]'s reason for helping Mr. Valentine: "For the fun of being evil!"
52	* FrenchMaid: One works for the family.
53	* FreudianExcuse: [[spoiler:Olivia couldn't stand watching her entire family go off to trot the globe as famous detectives, so she found her... ''own'' way of getting involved in their personal lives.]]
54	* GadgeteerGenius: Ling Ling, who even invented the Dickens trademark portable lie detectors.
55	* GeniusBruiser: Butch can stil put his muscles to use when he needs to.
56	* GeniusDitz: Max's grip on reality is somewhat tenuous, but he's got it where it counts.
57	* GenkiGirl: Ling-Ling acts all but hyper excited a lot of the time.
58	* GentleGiant: Butch was once a more typical BigGuy, but he's mellowed out a lot since marrying into the Dickens family.
59	* GroinAttack: Not shown on-screen, but quite implicit when Charlotte attempts the -- ahem -- Monkey Steals The Peach technique on the family [[TheButlerDidIt butler]].
60	* HappilyAdopted: Ling Ling was adopted when she was only a few days old, and loves her parents through and through.
61	* HappilyMarried: Commodore Dickens and Olivia, and Butch and Charlotte are couples that have been married for years.
62	--->'''Butch:''' Woman, I '''''love''''' you.
63	* HonoraryUncle: Strictly speaking, Dorian and Olivia would be Ling Ling's aunt and uncle. However, she refers to them as "Grandma" and "Grandpa" nonetheless.
64	* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Butch is a 7-foot-odd ScaryBlackMan while his wife Charlotte is a MiniatureSeniorCitizen.
65	* ImpossibleHourglassFigure: Olivia and Carlotta are very curvy women.
66	* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: Well, In Case You Forgot Who Owns The Intellectual Property, since Wideload developed the game.
67	* IncrediblyLamePun: "OH, HUGH THE MANATEE!"
68	* ItRunsInTheFamily: Judging from the look of things, it runs in about four ''different'' families. What is "it," anyway? Deductive reasoning, business sense, probably insanity.
69	* JokerImmunity: A rather unusual case: [[spoiler:Even after beating Story Mode, Mr. Valentine is still the main antagonist. Presumably, Olivia is just doing this now to keep her family on their toes.]]
70	--> '''Rudy:''' Uncle Max! Who's gonna be our arch-nemesis now that we've captured Mr. Valentine?
71	--> '''Max:''' Don't. Care.
72	* {{Keet}}: Many characters are grateful when Phoebe just stoppers up Rudy.
73	* KidDetective: Kid Riddles, naturally. Ling-Ling's more in the teenager zone, though.
74	* LadyInRed: Carlotta is a sultry starlet in a slinky, red dress that shows off her figure.
75	* LittleOldLadyInvestigates: Charlotte echos this.
76	* LivingWithTheVillain: [[spoiler:Dorian is actually well aware that his wife is Mr. Valentine, but he let her think he didn't know so he could trick his relatives into exposing her to boost their confidence... no, it doesn't make a lot of sense.]]
77	* MadScientist: Dr. Morgan Harvest, implicitly.
78	* MalevolentMaskedMan: Mr. Valentine. His mask only has one eye!
79	* MayDecemberRomance: Butch and Charlotte. Charlotte's probably about 60, while Butch is probably about 40 or so. He's also [[HugeGuyTinyGirl about five feet taller than her.]] They don't care.
80	* MeaningfulName: [[spoiler:Mr. Valentine's name comes from the fact that Olivia and Dorian's anniversary is, indeed, Valentine's Day.]]
81	* MiniatureSeniorCitizens: Charlotte is by far the most diminutive member of the cast -- and is also dwarfed by her husband, Butch.
82	* MotiveRant: In mystery fashion, each chapter ends with one.
83	* MurderTheHypotenuse: What was ''supposed'' to happen in [[spoiler:Chapter 6.]] It got mucked up.
84	* NeverSayDie: Tooty the flautist from Chapter 6 was out-and-out ''murdered,'' but they never come out and say it. Then again... [[spoiler:when two of the suspects get ''hit by a falling anchor'' at the end of the chapter, they're only knocked unconscious. So maybe he survived after all.]]
85	* NintendoHard: The later levels of the story mode (in particular, stages 6 and 7) are downright ''evil.'' In addition to plenty of red herrings, there are numerous clues that really require you to ''think'' about them to understand what they mean. The final stage also has Mr. Valentine screwing you up almost every turn, [[spoiler:though finding the culprit is much easier because it becomes quite obvious -- from a story perspective -- who it has to be.]]
86	* NoAccountingForTaste: Dorian and Olivia can verge into this at times. [[spoiler:And he still loves her, despite her being, admittedly, a criminial mastermind and his archnemesis.]]
87	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed[=/=]LawyerFriendlyCameo: Each sleuth is roughly analgous to a famous detective character:
88	** The Commodore: Franchise/SherlockHolmes
89	** Max: [[Film/TheMalteseFalcon1941 Sam Spade]]
90	** Phoebe: [[Series/TheXFiles Agent Scully]]
91	** Charlotte: Literature/MissMarple
92	** Ling Ling: Literature/NancyDrew
93	** Butch: Film/{{Shaft}}
94	** Kid Riddle: (A far more manic) Literature/EncyclopediaBrown
95	* NoIndoorVoice: General Ed Mission explicitly has "using the indoor voice" as one of his dislikes.
96	* NonLethalKO: [[spoiler:An ''anchor'' falling -- and creating a huge rut in a stage -- is somehow not enough to do more than knock out a pair of suspects.]]
97	* NoodleIncident: The Commodore does not like to divulge where he got the title.
98	* OminousLatinChanting: The Opera House, appropriately, has very ominous and mysterious-sounding chanting in its music.
99	* OnlySaneMan: Phoebe is the only one who really knows how nuts her family is.
100	* ThePerryMasonMethod: The game {{Hand Wave}}s it by saying that the suspects want you to "impress" them before they talk. Still, a good portion of the interrogations involve flagrant nose-pinching.
101	* PinkMeansFeminine: Ling Ling's pink dress and hair band.
102	* PrettyInMink: Olivia, being a wealthy matriarch, wears a long, white fur coat.
103	* PungeonMaster: Max really needs better comedic timing.
104	* PunnyName: Pretty much every suspect. "Dr. Morgan Harvest" is one of the more blatant ones.
105	** Hugh The Manatee is a StealthPun name. It becomes clear after he saves you from an exploding zeppelin.
106	* RainbowSpeak: Indicates things you can check with your lie detector. [[color:blue:Blue]] is undetected, [[color:green:Green]] is true, and [[color:red:Red]] is false.
107	* SamusIsAGirl: [[spoiler:Mr. Valentine ain't a "Mr". It's Olivia in disguise.]]
108	* ScaryBlackMan: Butch, but by appearance only. Also, the Seargeant, more straightforwardly.
109	* StealthPun: The All-Play minigame on the Train has Mr. Valentine releasing snakes into the luggage compartment. This is unremarked upon. [[spoiler:...[[Film/SnakesOnAPlane Snakes On a Train.]]]]
110	* StrangelyEffectiveDisguise: In the Ship level in Story Mode, General Ed Mission dresses up as a captain and calls himself "Mort Sherman." [[spoiler:Nobody realizes it's him until Kid Riddle takes off his hat, but the second they see him in his general's cap, it's obvious to them. Somehow.]]
111	* TagAlongKid: Rudy, AKA "Kid Riddle."
112	* TalkingAnimal: It's the Three Manatee Tenors!
113	* TeamDad: Commodore Dickens is the patriarch of the family, and wanted them to join in his business.
114	* TeamMom: Olivia is the matriarch of the family.
115	* TenMinuteRetirement: [[spoiler:Dorian has absolutely no plans to retire. It was just a SecretTestOfCharacter. He then becomes a playable character after story mode is done.]]
116	* ThirdPersonPerson: Schmoot hopes you'll be back soon, he does!
117	* TrademarkFavoriteFood: The Commodore ''loves'' his pudding. [[spoiler:All of Mr. Valentine's golden artifacts end up being pudding related, as well. ''Hmmm...'']]
118	* TrailersAlwaysLie: One trailer features Kid Riddle dramatically shouting, "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY GRANDPA?!" He's actually talking ''to'' his grandfather -- The Commodore just announced his plans to retire.
119	* TrueBlueFemininity: Olivia wears a long, blue evening dress.
120	* VideoGameCaringPotential: In co-op games, you can shake the Wiimote at any time to cheer on your teammates, just because.
121	* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: You can poke suspects while you're interrogating them, taunt your rivals in co-op games, lock them in... You also have taunts on your D-pad.
122	* VocalDissonance: It's so obvious what Butch sounds like! ...Until you actually hear him speak. [[GentleGiant His voice is much closer to his personality than]] [[ScaryBlackMan his appearance.]]
123	* WhatTheHellPlayer: If you decide to spam your taunts or cheers (by repeatedly shaking the Wiimote or pressing the D-pad when it's not your turn), the Commodore will eventually get annoyed, scold you, and then [[VideogameCrueltyPunishment temporarily take them away from you.]]
124	* WickedHeartSymbol: Fittingly for the Valentine's Day theme, Mr. Valentine has hearts as a prominent motif.

Context VideoGame / GuiltyParty