Line #54 VisualNovel/ShikkokuNoSharnoth


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3	[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tvtropes-shikkoku-no-sharnoth_4160.jpg]]
4	[[caption-width-right:256:Come here... that is, if you still haven't given up.]]
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6	The third entry in the Liarsoft's ''What a Beautiful...'' series of {{Steampunk}} {{Visual Novel}}s, which includes ''VisualNovel/SekienNoInganock'', ''Shikkoku no Sharnoth'' takes place in an alternate reality Victorian Era London. Before the current young generation was born, England made contact with the advanced society known as Kadath and began trading Engine Machine technology. This technology has allowed England to become the dominant world superpower and appears to have allowed Queen Victoria to live years past when she would have died in our world.
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8	Our protagonist, [[Creator/AgathaChristie Mary Clarissa Christie]] is currently attending university with her friends Creator/CharlotteBronte and [[Creator/AugustDerleth Angelica Derleth]], happily spending their days as normal students. Only... Charlie has been a little off lately. When Mary tries to find out what is bothering her, she finds herself thrown into a dark version of London with no one in it. No one in it but her and the monster that wants to take her eye, that is. Eventually, she is saved by a strange man in black and swears a contract with him in order to return to her normal everyday life.
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10	''Shikkoku no Sharnoth'' contains multiple references to ''Sekien no Inganock'' and is crammed full of figures from around the Victorian Era, whether they were alive then, or not. We're looking at you, Heinz Heger and Charlotte Brontë. We're pointedly overlooking you, George Lestrade and Literature/SherlockHolmes.
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12	----
13	!!Tropes found in this visual novel:
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15	* ActionSurvivor: Mary. Outrunning {{Eldritch Abomination}}s on a regular basis has to count for ''something''.
16	* AllCrimesAreEqual: In Kadath territories, any law breaker is punished with death. No exceptions for the severity of the crime or the status of the one who committed it.
17	* [[AllTakeAndNoGive All Give and No Take]]: Howard gives and gives for Angie and expects nothing in return. He’s absolutely head over heels for her. She loves him back, but all gestures are definitely one sided.
18	* AlmostDeadGuy: [[spoiler:Moran survives just long enough to tell Mary where Charlie is.]]
19	* AmbiguouslyEvil: M. Never displays any sympathy and very rarely even any emotion, but he gets rid of the Metacreatures. Probably not doing it for the sake of mankind when considering he’s the only one with an actual EvilLaugh. [[spoiler:Heinz and Moriarty qualify as well.]]
20	* ArcWords: A few examples. 'Thus, I deny tomorrow,' a statement spoken by the screams that Mary finds. 'Have you given up yet?' asked by M and multiple characters (everyone that is not Mary, really) saying 'I have already given up.'
21	* AnachronismStew: In regards to the cast rather than styles or technology. Sherlock Holmes, Queen Victoria, Charlotte Brontë, Bram Stoker, Baron Munchhausen (though an obvious pseudonym, no one mentions it), Josef Čapek, Heinz Heger and more all at the same time. While many of them were certainly alive at the same time (and not being stuck to fiction) the ages don’t work at all and Heinz Heger and Charlotte Brontë were separated by over half a century.
22	%%* AntiHero: M.
23	* BetterAsFriends: [[spoiler:So Henry says about her and Bram but after talking to Mary she intends to confess.]]
24	%%* {{Bifauxnen}}: Moran and Henry.
25	* BigBad: Baron Munchhausen. [[spoiler:Though it could alternately be viewed as being either M or Moriarty depending on how you look at it.]]
26	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Charlotte has woken up, but Moran and many others have died, M's condition is unknown, and the sky hasn't returned to its original state. The [[http://amaterasu.tindabox.net/webnovel/shar_webnovel.html webnovel]] epilogue makes the ending more sweet than bitter, as Mary and M reunite, and Moran is revealed to be alive, albeit in a new body.]]
27	%%* BrokenBird: [[spoiler: '''Moran'''.]]
28	* ByronicHero: M. Intelligent and sophisticated, but self-centered? Check. Dark and brooding? Check. Jaded by a DarkAndTroubledPast? Check. Incredibly handsome? '''CHECK.'''
29	* [[CantHoldHisLiquor Can't Hold Her Liquor]]: Mary, as well as Angie.
30	* ChickMagnet: Just about every woman who comes across M expresses some level of interest, ranging from intrigue to flat-out adoration apart from Mary and Charlie. Mary seems slightly repulsed, though interested and Charlie is mostly indifferent. Mary herself is sort of questionable given the ship tease.
31	* ContinuityNod: Passing reference is made to Thoth, a character alluded to in ''VisualNovel/SekienNoInganock.'' Mary’s eye changing to gold is also very similar as what happened to Ati. David, a minor character, is referenced in passing.
32	* CoolBigSis: Charlie, normally. But she’s been a little off lately. [[spoiler:Subverted near the end, and actually inverted when they were small children.]]
33	%%* CreepyChild: Banshee.
34	* DelayedReaction: Angie greets Viola Baskerville, an in-universe celebrity of sorts after the Hound of the Baskerville case, in an exceedingly friendly and familiar manner. Which is good, because Viola just wants to be friends. A few minutes later, Angie realizes who she’s been talking to, but subverts the expectation by continuing to treat her exactly the same.
35	* {{Determinator}}: PluckyGirl: Mary. Pretty much one of her defining characteristics, along with being a MessianicArchetype.
36	* DoomedAppointment: [[spoiler:Bram never makes it to Henry to hear her confession.]]
37	%%* DidYouJustRomanceCthulhu
38	* EarnYourHappyEnding: The story is very dark, Mary has to flee from horrific [[EldritchAbomination monsters]] and several characters lose their lives. But the the story ends very happily for Mary and her friends. [[spoiler: Charlie wakes up; she goes to Kadath to recover, but Mary plans to visit her in the spring, along with her aloof mother. Mary publishes her picture book and though not many copies were sold, she receives several fan letters from the people who read it. Elly is doing fine and plans to become a pilot. Howard is saving up to buy a gurney that can carry four people so that Angie, Mary, Charlie and him can go on picnics. And M is alive, in some form.]]
39	** The Epilogue makes it even happier [[spoiler: with Moran being alive in a different body and Mary meeting with M.]]
40	%%* EldritchAbomination: All of the Metacreatures, [[spoiler:as well as M's true form.]]
41	* EmbarrassingNickname: Charlie loves to call Mary Kitty, which Mary does not enjoy. She likes it even less when M starts doing the same.
42	* EmotionlessGirl: [[spoiler: Subverted. Moran desperately ''tries'' to be this, but fails.]]
43	* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: [[spoiler:Baron attempts to merge London and the world into Sharnoth.]]
44	%%* EvilLaugh: M.
45	%%* EyepatchOfPower: Worn by M.
46	* FuroScene: [[spoiler:It's treatment for vampirism.]] There’s also an earlier example where Angie and Mary take a bath together despite the tiny size of Mary's bathroom.
47	* GambitPileup: Sherlock, Mary, M, Baron, Heinz, the Research Group, Society, Diogenes, TheIlluminati, RAF, [[spoiler:Charlotte, Moriarty, the Queen…]]
48	* GenderFlip: Meet [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Colonel Sebastian Moran]], currently serving as the local {{robot girl}}. And Henry Irving is apparently Henrietta Irving. And August Derleth is now a very small girl.
49	* TheGhost: [[spoiler:Moriarty, Watson, Queen Victoria and Mycroft Holmes, though it is implied for some time that M is Moriarty. In the end, Moriarty turns out to be the old professor that people have been meeting in ways that break the stories' continuity.]]
50	* GracefulLadiesLikePurple: The aptly named Viola Baskerville. She not only dresses in purple, she dyes her hair lavender too.
51	* GracefulLoser: [[spoiler:Moriarty is completely satisfied with the results of the plot. Interestingly enough, the only mild objection he states is that Holmes is supposed to finish him at the waterfall, not here. [[EpilepticTrees Meaning he knows the way the future is supposed to go]].]]
52	%%* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Multiple.
53	* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: [[spoiler:Heinz Heger is based on a real-life holocaust survivor. Given that the séance granted glimpses of the future and his later monologues, it appears he was trying to stop Hitler's rise to power.]]
54	* HumanoidAbomination: [[spoiler:M as seen from the perspective of Bram Stoker. Also Baron. Fitting, really.]]
55	* HumanResources: Metacreatures require a corpse to use as a host or foundation.
56	* IgnoredEpiphany: [[spoiler:Denny learns that Viola hasn't forgotten him at all, but he's basically too insane to just ''stop'' anymore.]]
57	%%* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Moran and [[spoiler: Charlotte.]]
58	%%* {{Jerkass}}: O’Neal.
59	%%* LiteralSplitPersonality: [[spoiler:Baron and M.]]
60	%%* LivingMacguffin: Charlie.
61	%%* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Angie.
62	%%* LonelyAtTheTop: [[spoiler: The King of Sharnoth.]]
63	* LotusEaterMachine: [[spoiler:M puts Mary into one after her sword fight. It appears to be based in part off the story she was writing, and things get disturbing around the point when she realizes what is going on. M interprets this as giving her a gift, but she doesn't want it.]]
64	* LoveMakesYouCrazy: [[spoiler:Čapek, Denny and Charlie. For Charlie, it's left open to interpret what kind of love it is, though.]]
65	* LoveMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler:Čapek and Denny/Churchill. Bram looks like he might qualify at first, but then it's revealed that it's not possible for the host to stop the Metacreature. He doesn't really want to chase Mary.]]
66	* LoveMartyr
67	** [[spoiler:Jane for M in her backstory. She didn't really realize what kind of person he was and had a girlish devotion. M, for his part, simply didn't reject her being near him.]]
68	** Moran for M. She unquestioningly obeys him, despite knowing he will never return her feelings.
69	* LovecraftLite: The monsters are {{eldritch abomination}}s, [[DoingInTheScientist the supertech is actually supernatural]] and attracts said monsters as one of its unpleasant side-effects, and Lovecraft references abound [[spoiler:including M being Outer God Nyarlathotep. However, the situation is resolved, humanity doesn't seem to be doomed to madness and death, and M is an AntiHero whose acts indirectly benefit humanity. Maybe.]]
70	* MacGuffin: Mary's golden eye is greatly desired by certain parties for reasons that are not initially clear. She is understandably reluctant to give it up.
71	* MadLove: M doesn't reciprocate the affections bestowed upon him, but he does not react or involve himself. He simply does not outright reject his suitors. Despite the clear lack of interest, multiple women are intensely devoted.
72	* MagicalEye: Mary's golden eye has the ability to see the truth and enhance understanding. It's not clear what else it can do besides that, but everyone desires it immensely. [[spoiler:Charlie gains a golden eye as well near the end, though her eye turns back to normal, unlike Mary.]]
73	* MagicIsAMonsterMagnet: The use of Engine technology appears to cause magic mutations, which in turn attract Metacreatures.
74	* {{Magitek}}: Engine technology, unknown to its users in London, is more than pure science.
75	* MarkOfTheSupernatural: Mary's eye turned to gold before the story started. It gives her some level of magical ability, but only of a very functional sort: She can tell when people are lying, has a strong knack for languages and has an eerily good intuition. In the hands of someone else, however, it could possibly grant their wish.
76	%%* MaskOfPower: Baron Munchhausen's mask.
77	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Upon finding out that whenever [[spoiler:she helps M destroy a Metacreature, its human host is most likely killed too, Mary nearly suffers a HeroicBSOD.]] It's only thanks to [[spoiler:Mary's determination to save Charlie]] that she doesn't.
78	%%* {{Necromantic}}: Čapek.
79	* NoRomanticResolution: In the end, [[spoiler:Mary never does fall in love. Probably. Depending on how you look at it, it may instead be a case of MaybeEverAfter.]]
80	%%* NotSoStoic: [[spoiler: Oh, ''Moran''.]]
81	* ObviouslyEvil: Subverted. The sunken-eyed, hunched Čapek is more sympathetic than he appears.
82	* TheOjou: The girls at the university are all well-to-do ladies.
83	* OlderThanTheyLook: Angie is a university student and should thus at least be around 20 or so, but looks much more like a little girl than other students her age.
84	%%* OminousOperaCape: Worn by Bram Stoker.
85	* OneSteveLimit: Played with. There's Henry, short for Henrietta, and Henri, probably also short for Henrietta.
86	%%* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: M.
87	* ParentalAbandonment: Mary's father died when she was little and her mother moved to a university in Kadath. [[spoiler:And it's questionable whether her mother really loves her anyway.]]
88	%%* PinkMeansFeminine: Angelica's dress and hat are pink.
89	* PluckyGirl: Mary. Though she seems quite unwilling to involve herself in trouble, she's a much braver and willing to leap into action than she appears. The minigame is even based on keeping her mental strength high.
90	* PrettyInMink: The white fur puffball on Charlotte's collar.
91	* RidiculouslyHumanRobot: Moran. Kinda-sorta-justified as [[spoiler: she started out as a human]].
92	* RobotGirl: Moran.
93	* ScienceDestroysMagic: The dark kingdom disappeared as the light of human civilization grew. Its fantasy denizens eventually all left until only the king was left alone in his black, empty kingdom.
94	* ShipTease: M and Mary, despite the fact that Mary fails to understand him and grows to loathe him as the story goes on. [[spoiler:She chooses to save him in the end, but never appears to actually fall in love with him.]]
95	%%* {{Steampunk}}
96	%%* TheStoic: M.
97	%%* SwordOfPlotAdvancement: [[spoiler:The Black Sword that Mary learns to pull out in Sharnoth.]]
98	* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Mary is not exactly a big fan of M or his methods. In fact, she appears to outright hate him more as the story goes on.
99	%%* ThirdPersonPerson: Angie.
100	%%* TwiceShy: [[spoiler:Henry and Bram.]]
101	* TheUnreveal: [[spoiler:Jane Doe's real name is not revealed.]]
102	* UnrequitedLove: People who become attracted to M tend to have poor luck.
103	* UnwittingPawn: From the beginning, it’s clear that whatever Mary is doing is furthering the agenda of someone called Baron Munchhausen.
104	* VerbalTic: Moran confirms or denies information or inquiries with 'Yes. No.' or 'No. Yes.'
105	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Several points lack proper resolution [[spoiler:such as an explanation of Heinz, who Funnel is and more. The webnovel epilogue doesn't answer most of them either.]]
106	** It is never revealed what happened to [[spoiler: Henry after Bram's death]], and we don't hear from Viola after she goes back home.
107	* WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove: M is "interested" by Mary, but [[spoiler:his emotions have burned out through isolation]] which makes everything kind of weird. [[spoiler:The lotus eater machine scene he tries to give her as a gift of sorts is perhaps the worst part.]]
108	* WhenSheSmiles: Averted. Moran smiles only twice, but [[spoiler: at entirely inappropriate times, when she has sustained major injuries or is on the verge of death, and it doesn't comfort Mary at all.]]
109	* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Where is Kadath, anyway? It’s described as though it’s an alternate dimension with its own sky, but to get there you go north. If it was in the same world as Earth, then shouldn’t London have had gray skies for a much longer period?
110	** Averted in the webnovel epilogue, where it's mentioned that Kadath is reached through a portal in the arctic.
111	%%* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Elly is this trope in a nutshell.
112	* {{Yandere}}: [[spoiler:Charlie has a major fixation on Mary. She wished for Sharnoth to descend so that ‘tomorrow’ would never come and she would never have to be separated from her.]]

Context VisualNovel / ShikkokuNoSharnoth