[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chzologotimesfour.jpg]]

->''"And wherever he found Man breaking or cutting or hurting the wood that was his Soul to be made into their constructions, he would strike down with great vengeance upon those who wronged him, and they would know the name of the King."''
-->-- '''Excerpt of "The Book of Victims"''', ''Trilby's Notes''

The ''Chzo Mythos'', also known as the ''John [=DeFoe=] Tetralogy'' or the ''Trilby Tetralogy'', are a series of horror-themed [[FreewareGame freeware]] [[AdventureGame adventure games]] by [[Creator/BenCroshaw Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw]]. [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation Yes, that one.]] First released in 2003, the first game follows a GentlemanThief named Trilby as he tries to burgle an old country manor, only to end up trapped inside with a bunch of other people and a lurking, homicidal being. The following games jump around in space and time (though Trilby shows up again), but all end up having some link to the secret of [=DeFoe=] Manor.

The four games are, in order of creation, ''5 Days A Stranger'', ''7 Days A Skeptic'', ''Trilby's Notes'' and ''6 Days A Sacrifice'' (in chronological order of events: ''5 Days'', ''Notes'', ''6 Days'', ''7 Days'', though it makes more sense if you play ''7 Days'' before ''6 Days''). There is also a [[GaidenGame tie-in game]] titled ''[[VideoGame/TheArtOfTheft Trilby: The Art of Theft]]'', which shares the hero and PlayerCharacter with half of the other games, but isn't connected to any of them with regard to subject matter. Trilby and Chzo also feature in the (mostly unrelated) Lovecraftian SurvivalHorror game ''VideoGame/TheConsumingShadow'', the former as the supervisor and main contact at the Ministry, and the latter as one of the possible Ancients.

Some InteractiveFiction by the name of ''the Countdown Trilogy'' and a tie-in short story called ''[[http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/features/expedition.htm The Expedition]]'', which expands upon the background of the universe and some of the lesser, yet still important, events within the storyline also exists.

With their old-school graphics, the games nevertheless manage to be surprisingly suspenseful. Can be found [[http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/games.htm here]], along with some of Yahtzee's other games. Special editions with useful author commentary, extra scenes and some other stuff were formerly available as donationware, but [[http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/donate.htm are free to download now]].
----
!!The games use it hurts it hurts it hurts:
* AbsentMindedProfessor: Abed Chahal is one of these. Trilby pretty cleverly uses this to convince Abed that they were already acquaintances.
* AbsurdlySharpBlade:
** The Welder's machete. Weapon aficionados would know better that machetes can't go through muscle, bone and sinew THAT easily. Would be justified considering who wields it, until you realize that [[spoiler: said being is also a [[BodySurf Body Surfer]], so some host's limitations should be in effect.]]
** Cabadath's staff. According to what Yahtzee's design and fanarts renditions of him (accepted and approved by the author, as well) would describe, the staff [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090714043717/chzo/images/b/bc/Tallman.PNG was supposed to come out as four, short-bladed scythes mashed into one misleading package]]. Note that Cabadath is just as willing to use the tip as the blades!
* AbusiveParents: Sir Roderick [=DeFoe=] [[spoiler:chained his disabled son to a wall in his basement for the boy's entire life.]]
* ActionSurvivor: While Trilby is a straight up action hero in ''5 Days A Stranger'', his return in ''Trilby's Notes'' dials back his skill and his courage to the point that he becomes closer to this trope. Somerset in ''7 Days A Skeptic'' and Theo [=DaCabe=] in ''6 Days A Sacrifice'' fit even better, being people with no fighting skills out of their depth against an enemy they know nothing about.
* AllThereInTheScript: Trilby's true name, [[spoiler: Malcolm]] was never revealed in any of the games, but is revealed in the commentary of ''7 Days''.
* AlmightyIdiot:
** John [=DeFoe=]. [[spoiler: Chzo's influence leaves him with a warped and destroyed mind even from birth.]]
** It's implied by a tie-in short story that ''Chzo'' is actually barely-sentient, acting purely on instinct - it's just that the sheer magnitude of its magic power causes those instincts to manifest as clever-looking schemes in the outside world.
* AnachronismStew: ''5 Days'' makes references to ''Series/BigBrother''. The problem with that is ''5 Days'' is later revealed to have taken place in 1993 while ''Big Brother'' debuted in 2000.
* AndIMustScream
** [[spoiler: The Trilby clone, and in a way, Theo [=DaCabe=], and Cabadath.]]
** [[spoiler:The unfortunate soldier from ''The Expedition'' deserves a special mention. Mainly because he fleshes out just what horrible fate awaits Chzo's prisoners. By carving it into the walls of his cell with a sharpened button before moving on to his own flesh.]]
** Chzo is suggested to be this. He's the LastOfHisKind, he's immortal but can't move or exist outside of a certain area, and all he can do is feel and cause pain.
* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: At the end of ''6 Days A Sacrifice'', [[spoiler: the hero, Theo [=DaCabe=], is turned into yet another one of Chzo's [[EldritchAbomination weird-ass]] minions.]]
* ApathyKilledTheCat:
** Nobody bothers checking why [[spoiler: Malcolm looks a lot younger than a 65 year old.]]
** At the beginning of the game, when they're considering the possibility of first contact, Angela mentions hoping not, her only justification? That they'd have to update the records.
* AnyoneCanDie: Anyone who isn't Chzo or the player character is liable to die at any point in a game, and even said player characters may die in the epilogue or a later game. ''5 Days A Stranger'' has the best survival rate, but those survivors then face further misfortune when some return in ''Trilby's Notes''.
* ApocalypticLog: The text parser and narration of ''Trilby's Notes'' is intended to be interpreted as Trilby writing down a report of the incident. ''The Expedition'' qualifies as well, as do the diary entries Trilby finds in the dark hotel.
* ArcWelding: The first two games are relatively standalone, but ''Trilby's Notes'' added significance to the "July 28th" date which caused them to retroactively fit into a bigger narrative than what had started.
* ArcWords:
** [[DeadlyEuphemism "... and X knew the Name of the King"]].
** it hurts ''[[spoiler:[[MadnessMantra it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts]]]]''
** Also an arc ''date'': Most of the important events in the timeline occur on July 28th, as [[spoiler: that's the one day of the year Chzo can look in on the world of Technology, and the Tall Man can travel to it to exact vengeance on those who harm the wood of his soul.]]
* ArtifactTitle: The characterization of the PlayerCharacter of ''7 Days A Skeptic'' changed drastically from its initial conception. As a result, the character is quite possibly the ''least'' skeptical character on the ship, making the title a bit of a misnomer.
* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: Sir Clarence's apparent murder-suicide is disputed by his lawyer, who says "The last I saw Sir Clarence he was infinitely content. He would have never committed such an act. [[GoodbyeCruelWorld Plus there was no suicide note]]". None of this evidence rules out a suicide at all. It's very common for people who are having suicidal thoughts to put on a [[StepfordSmiler happy facade]] in order to not hurt the people around them, out of shame, or out of fear they may be prevented from ending their life. In addition, many people who decide to attempt suicide experience a sudden genuine improvement in mood, as they feel that they have an escape and their unhappiness may finally come to an end. Also, less than half of real life suicides are accompanied by a note.
* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Most notably the gravity issue in ''7 Days,'' in which player are able to walk around normally on the floor of a spaceship in deep space.
* AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler:Malcolm Somerset, after becoming the Caretaker.]] Now he exists as an agent of destiny beyond the concept of linear time.
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Theo's first victim as The New Prince is The Arrogant Man, the former Prince.]]
* AsYouKnow: In ''7 Days'', the captain explains quite a bit of ship protocol that your character should already know. [[spoiler: Though it makes sense when you discover your character is pretending to be someone else]].
* AwesomeYetImpractical: The four-bladed staff wielded by the Tall Man wouldn't be an effective weapon in real life, having four short blades on top arranged perpendicular to one another with the sharp edges facing upwards, thus making it ineffective as both a slashing or stabbing weapon. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that he's the avatar for a god who feeds on suffering, and thus is more concerned with inflicting massive amounts of pain rather than simply killing. And, well, when its user can FlashStep, has SuperStrength and [[spoiler:is an unkillable lich who cannot take damage by conventional means]], he doesn't ''need'' a weapon for self-defense...
* BadassNormal: Trilby. [[spoiler:Who else has pulled a rug out from under the Welder? Or kicked the Tall Man in the face?]]
* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Chzo ultimately gets what he wants: a new avatar to send into the world.]]
* BigBad: In the first and second games, the main villain is the vengeful spirit of John [=DeFoe=], while in the third game, the primary antagonist is the Tall Man. The last game has them as a BigBadDuumvirate.
* BittersweetEnding: At the end of the final installment, it eventually turns out that [[spoiler: Chzo actually ''can't'' get into the non-magic universe]], most of the Order of Blessed Agonies is put under police investigation after they nuked the English countryside, the Tall Man is [[spoiler: killed or permanently incapacitated by his replacement]], and John [=DeFoe=] is reduced to a mindless, bodiless soul trapped in an idol in space which we know will float around harmlessly for two centuries and eventually be destroyed for good (albeit after killing a handful more people, but it certainly could have gone a lot worse). ''Most'' of the threats to humanity are thus neutralised. The world survives, and we've seen that the human race is still doing pretty well a couple of centuries on, too. Trilby - the nearest thing the series has to a main hero - is mentioned to have lived long enough to die from old age and been immortalised as a figure of legend after a successful career. [[spoiler:Malcolm Somerset]] eventually escapes his wrongful imprisonment and lives on [[spoiler: as the immortal Caretaker]]. So far as we can tell, Jim and Siobhan from the previous games also lived out their natural lifespans without going insane (even although the last we'd heard from Jim he'd dropped out of school). But literally every other major character in the series gets murdered or worse. [[spoiler: The last surviving Trilby clone]] gets tortured inside Chzo for some time before being put out of his misery. Theo [=DaCabe=] gets [[spoiler: blown up and brainwashed into the New Prince]]. And there's still one big threat out there in the form of [[spoiler: the New Prince, who can move between the worlds and wants nothing more that to keep Chzo - a being that lives on the pain of others - alive.]]
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Barry in ''7 Days A Skeptic''. Doubles as {{Retirony}}.
* BlackMagic: Subverted, since [[spoiler:you're required to use it to get a relatively happy ending in ''5 Days'', and nobody goes insane from using it]].
* TheBlank: The Tall Man, a being which has no face.
* BreakTheHaughty: What Chzo intended when it [[spoiler: turned Cabadath into the Tall Man. Since Cabadath's soul was sealed within a tree, and years of torture, both by insanity from having a soul sealed in a tree, and the wood being cut and used for several other things, it's safe to say that it succeeded. Especially with how Cabadath went from looking like an old man, to a tall, skinny blank]].
* BreatherEpisode: The humorous short novel ''Trilby and the ghost''.
* BrickJoke: At the beginning of ''5 Days'', Trilby, [[BadassInANiceSuit wearing a three piece suit]] along with a [[TheBlank smooth, featureless mask]], runs into AJ, an intelligence agent [[spoiler: for the Ministry of Occultism]], upon breaking into the manor. AJ seems to recognize him and flees, later to be found dead in the swimming pool. In ''Trilby's Notes'', [[spoiler: we are introduced to the Tall Man, who is wearing a [[BadassInANiceSuit black trenchcoat and ruffled shirt]] and has a [[TheBlank smooth, grey, featureless face]].]]
* CannibalLarder: Once the protagonist gains access to [[spoiler: Taylor's]] room in ''7 Days'', he discovers that it's an abattoir filled with the mutilated parts of the other crewmembers. Not a straight example of this trope, as the other crewmembers haven't been butchered to be eaten: instead, [[spoiler: Taylor]] is using them [[MixAndMatchMan to construct a new body for]] [[BigBad John DeFoe]].
* CatapultNightmare: The protagonist wakes and suddenly jumps up about three times in ''5 Days A Stranger'', twice in ''7 Days A Skeptic'', and is scripted to happen twice in ''6 Days A Sacrifice'', but it also happens if you die -- your death inexplicably becomes a dream, and you just wake up quickly in your bed with a minor [[ScareChord scare note.]]
* ChekhovsGun:
** Played straight and literally in ''5 Days'', in which a gun on the wall (one of the first things the player is likely to see and try to pick up) turns out to be part of the final puzzle.
** In ''6 Days A Sacrifice'', talk to the cultist and ask him about the Order. Read closely when they're talking about [[spoiler: the three Blessed Agonies - and realize your character goes through all three of them during the span of the game.]]
** The [[spoiler: radio masts]] in ''7 Days''.
* ChurchOfHappyology: Optimology, [[spoiler:which is a front for the Chzo-worshiping Order of Blessed Agonies to boot.]]
* ClosedCircle: All the games have some form of it, isolating the cast from outside help. ''Trilby's Notes'' has a literal one, where walking to one side only returns you where you started.
* CoatHatMask: Trilby, in ''5 Days''. He only wears the mask until you leave the first room, but retains the coat and hat for the entire game.
* CoincidentalBroadcast: In ''5 Days'', Trilby can turn on the television just in time to see a news segment about the mansion he is trapped in.
* ContinuityNod:
** One of the more subtle instances occurs when Trilby opens the safe in ''Trilby's Notes''. [[spoiler: Finding it empty, he comments "Just for once I'd like to open a safe that contains something" - a nod back to ''5 Days'', where the safe he opened was also empty.]]
** [[WordofGod Pretty much all characters across the series who share a surname are related]]. Yahtzee once described it as [[SelfDeprecation a descendant fetish]].
** Actively a plot point in ''6 Days'' since [[spoiler: Samantha Harty's death triggers the memory of Philip Harty's death from ''5 Days'', which is the key to getting the Trilby clone to cooperate with you.]]
* ContrivedCoincidence: In ''Notes''. During one of the flashbacks Trilby notices crates labelled O'Malley Shipping, and earlier in the game he meets a woman named O'Malley, and, by coincidence, they happen to be in the same family line.
* ControllableHelplessness: In the climax of ''Trilby's Notes'', Trilby is unable to move, only alive by his own resolve, and being used for a summoning ritual. [[spoiler:The solution is to enter the command "die" in the text parser and deprive the cult of a living sacrifice.]]
* TheCorpseStopsHere: In both ''5 Days'' and ''7 Days'' the player character is suspected at one point of being the killer. However in the latter case, ''6 Days'' suggests that [[spoiler:the character did in fact carry out the murders, having been possessed by the Welder.]]
* CosmicHorrorReveal: The saga does this at the midway point: The first two games were straight [[SlasherMovie slasher]] horror stories with the single central antagonist, but starting with ''Trilby's Notes'' the series' focus shifts to the CosmicHorror possessing the previous games' antagonist, the titular elemental god of pain. (This is because Yahtzee was making up more story elements as he went along.)
* CosmicHorrorStory: The last two games belong to this genre, with a pain god from another dimension being introduced as the GreaterScopeVillain.
* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: CPR does not help stab wounds! [[spoiler: Unless you're given the replacement life force of your clone from the future.]]
* CruelTwistEnding: The end of ''7 Days''. [[spoiler:"Dr Jonathan Somerset", the PlayerCharacter, turns out to be an impostor who killed the real Dr Somerset (who we later discover is his own father) and was using his identity. Oh, and he gets arrested for 6 murders, out of which he committed only 1 ([[SanitySlippage maybe]])]].
* DarkWorld: ''Trilby's Notes'' has this as a game mechanic, with Trilby moving between the normal world and a horrific reflection of it in the Ethereal Realm. ''6 Days'' has something similar, but the shift is gradual and irreversible.
* DeadGuyPuppet: A horrific version occurs [[spoiler:at the end of ''Trilby's Notes'' when Lenkmann is killed and basically turned into a literal mouthpiece for Cabadath to communicate with. His corpse is last seen in ''6 Days'', as Cabadath doesn't need it anymore.]]
* DeathAsGameMechanic: In ''Trilby's Notes'' [[spoiler:the "die" command, normally just a PressXToDie feature, must be entered during the final scene of gameplay right when a mortally-wounded Trilby is about to be sacrificed in a ritual, which foils the villain's plan because the ritual requires the sacrifice to be alive. The game will also warn you with a "Not yet" if you enter the command too early in the scene, hinting that you must do so later]].
* DeathByOriginStory: Sir Roderick [=DeFoe=], Matthew's father, who was [[spoiler: murdered by his other son, John [=DeFoe=]]].
* DeathEqualsRedemption:
** Happens to [[spoiler: William]] at the end of ''7 Days''
** Also to [[spoiler: Malcolm]] in ''6 Days'', though neither the "guilt" part nor the "death" one are straightforward.
* DeathIsTheOnlyOption: [[spoiler:At the end of ''Trilby's Notes'', the villain needs Trilby alive in order to complete his ritual. Fortunately, Trilby is already fatally wounded by this point, and you can simply type "die" to thwart the villain's plans. Even more fortunately, Trilby is subsequently revived by a mysterious benefactor.]]
* DemonicPossession: The vengeful spirit of John [=DeFoe=] can possess anyone who touches [[ArtifactOfDoom the African idol]] that was used to kill him with their bare hands.
* DepravedHomosexual: Jack Frehorn, though notable in that his depravity only began [[spoiler:when he was tricked into murdering his lover, Wilbur]].
* DeusExMachina:
** Frehorn's blade and by extension, The Caretaker [[spoiler:Malcolm]].
** Trilby's car in ''5 Days''.
* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:The New Prince inflicts this upon his predecessor, Cabadath.]]
* DistantSequel: This happens twice.
** ''5 Days A Stranger'' takes place in the 1990s, ending with the death of multiple characters and the assumed defeat of John [=DeFoe=]. ''7 Days A Skeptic'' takes place in 2385, aboard a spaceship, with only loose connections to the original game -- otherwise, it's a new cast of characters being terrorized, once again, by John [=DeFoe=].
** ''Trilby's Notes'' is set only a few years after the events of ''5 Days'', bringing the series back to a focused, overarching plot. Although ''6 Days A Sacrifice'' follows this overarching plot trend, and even adds some meaning to the events of ''7 Days'', it also takes place in 2189.
* DownerEnding: ''7 Days'' has one. After killing the mixmatched body, [[spoiler: Malcolm is arrested for six murders, [[TomatoInTheMirror only one of which he actually committed.]] Possibly averted in ''6 Days'', which implies that he may have committed the murders while possessed.]]
* TheDragon:
** Cabadath, The Prince. [[spoiler: Followed by the New Prince]]
** [[spoiler: DragonWithAnAgenda]]: The Prince spends the entire series [[spoiler: futilely trying to keep Chzo from replacing him. Ironically enough, the Prince's defiance of Chzo's will turns out to be the key factor in Chzo's final decision to replace him.]]
* DreamSequence:
** Several occur in ''5 Days'', mostly involving Trilby murdering everyone in the mansion.
** Every time you "[[DeathIsCheap die]]" in ''6 Days'', the game cuts to Theo [[CatapultNightmare waking up]]. [[spoiler:Granted, he is chosen by two different parties (with access to RealityWarper powers) to die in '' a very specific way'', so death by any other form cannot go through.]]
* DualWorldGameplay: Going between a real world and a DarkWorld is used in ''Trilby's Notes''. The player can switch at will for most of the game and many doors can only be opened by unlocking them in the world.
* EldritchAbomination: Chzo, a pain elemental from another dimension that causes most mortals to go insane just from interacting with him.
* EasterEgg: Try playing and completing the games on Yahtzee's birthday, [[spoiler: May 24th]].
* EmptyRoomPsych:
** The recreational room in ''7 Days'', which serves no useful purpose.
** [[spoiler:The entire first floor of hotel rooms in ''Trilby's Notes''. There is never any reason to go there, as none of the characters are staying in rooms on that floor.]]
* EnclosedSpace: All the games take place almost entirely inside a single structure. It's perhaps creepiest in ''Trilby's Notes'', as while you can go outside, all roads lead back to the hotel.
* EvilIsNotAToy: Everything started when a druid named Cabadath made the [[TooDumbToLive unbelievably stupid decision]] to summon [[EldritchAbomination Chzo]] to the Realm of Technology so that he could use Chzo to destroy his enemies.
* ExpendableClone: In ''6 Days a Sacrifice'' [[spoiler:Theo must enlist the aid of three Trilby clones to explore (the vision of) the [=DeFoe=] Manor. Every time Theo enters any room other than the foyer, the Tall Man will appear and break a Trilby's neck. Entering those rooms without a Trilby will lead to Theo being killed, sending him back to his bed and forcing him to enter the Manor again. Opening the foyer entrance doors replenishes the Trilby clones and can be done as many times as you like until this part of the game is completed]].
* EyeScream: Happens to William on the final day of ''7 Days''.
* AFateWorseThanDeath: The name of the game for [[spoiler: Cabadath, Theo, Trilby... At least Trilby eventually gets put out of his misery when the man in the red robe comes by and [[MercyKill kills him]]. Also, it ''probably'' isn't really Trilby, but a clone - most likely the one that set fire to the remains of DeFoe Manor inside the Hub. Probably.]]
** Also [[spoiler:the expedition members, including the narrator]] in "The Expedition".
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Happens three times in Chzo Mythos; chronologically, the first is [[spoiler:Cabadath becoming the Prince]], then [[spoiler:John [=DeFoe=], on his death]], and finally [[spoiler:Theo [=DaCabe=] becoming the New Prince]].
* GaidenGame: ''VideoGame/TheArtOfTheft''. It has Trilby as the protagonist, but is a different genre than the other games (stealth-based platformer rather than adventure game), and the plot has nothing to do with the Chzo Mythos.
* GambitRoulette: While it's unclear exactly how intentional it is, there is a great deal of information implying that Chzo is running a giant Gambit Roulette spanning hundreds of years and requiring three different generations of characters.
* GeneticMemory: [[spoiler:The Trilby clones, to a degree. Their memories are only jogged by Cabadath and Samantha's ID card, respectively, and they [[RedShirtArmy clearly]] haven't inherited the [[BadassNormal original's abilities]].]]
* GenreShift: The series goes from fairly conventional (but good) horror, to [[RecycledINSPACE SPACE horror]], to [[CosmicHorrorStory Cosmic Horror]]. ''Trilby: The Art of Theft'' [[GaidenGame is a completely different type of game altogether]], being a {{platformer}}/StealthBasedGame.
* GentlemanThief: Trilby. Given the reason for his moniker, he also counts as a [[ClassyCatBurglar Classic Hat Burglar]].
* GoryDiscretionShot: In ''Trilby's Notes'', we never see what the Tall Man does to [[spoiler: Lenkmann]], we just hear [[spoiler: Lenkmann's]] terrified pleading, followed by a ripping noise.
* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: The Ministry of Occultism. The Special Talent Project could be described as this, although WordOfGod states it is "hired out" to various government agencies. [[invoked]]
* GreaterScopeVillain: Chzo is the real villain in the series, but is rarely confronted or seen. The more direct threats are the Welder and the Tall Man.
* HappinessInSlavery: Some of [[spoiler: Theo's dialogue after becoming the New Prince]] implies this.
->[[spoiler: (when examining Chzo) my king. protect him always.]]
* HearingVoices: The soundtrack for the Dark Hotel in ''Trilby's Notes''.
* HellHotel: The setting of ''Trilby's Notes'', and that's just the ''normal'' hotel.
* HilariousOuttakes: ''7 Days'' offers some really funny ones.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: The special edition of ''6 Days'' reveals this to be the case with [[spoiler:Cabadath/the Tall Man. Chzo's big plan was to replace him with someone superior, and he knew it. His final thought was likely that of poor John [=DeFoe=], whose death (at the hands of a father who hated him and had another son he loved) he took advantage of: '''FATHER WHY''']]
** In the final scene of ''Trilby's Notes'', Trilby asks Lenkmann [[spoiler:why he thinks he can complete the ritual to summon the Tall Man before Trilby bleeds to death. Lenkmann responds by saying that a man like Trilby would only die on his own terms. A couple minutes later, Trilby does die on his own terms. Before the ritual is completed. As a result, Lenkmann is killed]].
* IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten: Delia Reneaux, the main character in the second part of Countdown series, is asked to kill her ex-boyfriend, Jason, in order to [[spoiler:suffer the Blessed Agony of the Soul and become a fully accepted member of the Order of Blessed Agonies.]] This is literally the first action you're forced to perform in that episode, and [[spoiler:Delia regrets it almost immediately.]]
* ImprovisedImprisonment: In ''5 Days a Stranger'', Trilby is caught attacking someone and so is locked up in the shed with Simone as his guard. However, he has no memory of doing these things beyond a nightmare or two, and the player has to navigate some {{Dialogue Tree}}s and successfully trick Simone into letting them go.
* ItsUpToYou:
** In ''7 Days A Skeptic'', your role is supposedly ship's counselor and yet you end up running around doing everything, including tasks that should be someone else's responsibility. This is most glaringly apparent with Adam, the engineer, who seems to have no qualms at all in leaving someone far less qualified to take care of things he should be doing. Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in that Adam was scared out of his wits.
** In ''6 Days A Sacrifice'', you are sent to run around finding guns or looking for vital objects despite nursing some rather severe injuries following a nice little fall down an elevator shaft. Yahtzee both [[JustifiedTrope justifies]] and [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this in the ''6 Days'' special edition commentary by pointing out how dull the game would be if the player character could only sit around doing nothing.
* TheKillerInMe:
** [[spoiler:In ''5 Days'', Trilby gets possessed and ends up killing a fellow prisoner. There was foreshadowing earlier in the game]].
** [[spoiler:Actively a plot point in ''6 Days'', as it foreshadows Theo [=DaCabe=]'s eventual destiny.]]
* KleptomaniacHero:
** Barely [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in ''5 Days,'' because you ''expect'' a thief to steal things, but you can still only take things which are relevant to the plot, even in the early part where you'd think he'd at least grab anything of value while he was looking for the way out. Still justified though in that based on some of the comments made by Trilby, there isn't really anything worth stealing.
** Lampshaded in ''Notes'': if you tell him to steal a painting, he reminds you he's no longer a thief. He still has no problem stealing plot-relevant items, though.
* LeftHanging: How did Trilby's car end up in the backyard or Serena's hand go from a closed storage area, down a floor, through a grate, out a maintenace shaft, and into a food dispenser, while leaving sizable blood stains almost exclusively on the walls?
* LetThePastBurn: At the end of ''5 Days A Stranger'', the mansion [[spoiler:as well as the recently re-animated body of the then-unnamed [=DeFoe=] child]] is burnt down, freeing those that had been trapped within. [[spoiler:Except for AJ and Philip Harty, who were dead before the fire started.]]
* LockedDoor: Quite frequent, and jammed glass windows as well.
* LookBehindYou: Somerset warns Angela that the killer is behind her, and, believing Somerset to be the killer, she ignores him. [[spoiler:He wasn't lying.]]
* LoopholeAbuse: Being killed by Frehorn's Blade turns you into a powerful spirit, but also makes you subservient to the one who killed you. Theoretically, a loophole exists where you can kill yourself with the blade and become a powerful spirit subservient to yourself, thus eliminating the downside, but nobody has been brave enough to try it to see if it actually works. [[spoiler:Until Malcolm Somerset, who becomes the Caretaker as a result]].
* MadnessMantra: "it hurts", used by those who have been driven insane by Chzo.
* MaternalDeathBlameTheChild: Sir Roderick blames John for the death of his wife, causing him to lock him away for 15 years until he decides to end it by killing him.
* MeaningfulName:
** [[spoiler:Theo [=DaCabe=]'s name, if rearranged, is phonetically very similar to Cabadath, aka The Tall Man, hinting at Theo's eventual fate as his replacement. What's more, his full name is Theodore, which mean "loved by God".]]
** Plenty of meaningful surnames. It comes most into play in ''6 Days'' as [[spoiler: the combination of the name "Harty" and "dead" triggers a response in the Trilby clone you are trying to get on-side]], but Yahtzee seems to be fond of descendants/ancestors: see Chahal (Barry in ''7 Days'', Abed in ''Notes'') and Taylor (Simone in ''5 Days'', William in ''7 Days''). It is also implied in the SE commentary for ''Notes'' that the Somerset in ''Notes'' may be a long-distant ancestor of the Somerset in ''7 Days'' - he reveals that [[spoiler:he had originally planned to keep Owen Somerset alive, leading to a theme of "Somersets always survive", but changed his mind further down the line]].
** Cabadath is also known as "The Arrogant Man" in the Order's holy writings. [[spoiler:Much of the plot is driven by the fact that he's trying to prevent his god from replacing him; efforts which, ultimately, are what cause said god to decide to replace him]].
** Lenkmann in ''Trilby's Notes'': "link-man". [[spoiler:At the start, this may seem to refer to his being Trilby's contact with the Ministry of Occultism. However, it turns out to refer to the fact that he's trying to recruit Trilby to the Order of Blessed Agonies.]] Also, Lenkmann in German means "steering man". Fittingly, he steers Trilby through his quest in the Clanbronwyn Hotel.
* MercyKill:
** In ''6 Days'', [[spoiler: the Caretaker]] does this to [[spoiler: the Trilby clone]]. The purpose is not only to save the victim from an eternity of suffering, but also to [[spoiler: take his life-force and use it to revive the real Trilby when he is dying at the end of ''Trilby's Notes''.]]
** When Chzo reached into the Realm of Technology and took Cabadath, Cabadath begged his friend Galdn to kill him. [[spoiler:Galdn was terrified and ran, and Cabadath ended up in immortal slavery to Chzo.]]
* MindScrew: ''6 Days a Sacrifice'', in its effort to tie together the previous three games, includes such bizarre events as a character suddenly reappearing after their on-screen death, multiple realities blending together, characters unexpectedly finding themselves in locations from the distant past or future, the protagonist Theo abruptly waking up in bed every time he dies, and a mystery man who appears out of thin air to discuss fate and refuses to give Theo a straight answer. The plot centers on Theo trying to make sense of everything that's happening, while trying to survive someone--or something--that's out to kill him and his allies.
* MindScrewdriver: The ''6 Days'' Special Edition's commentary and extra content explain Chzo and the Tall Man's behavior throughout the entire series, which is otherwise obtuse. [[spoiler:Chzo's plan, which the Tall Man knew about and tried to thwart from at least ''Trilby's Notes'' onward, was simply to make a better prince. His own existence as the original Prince may have been part of the plan from the start.]]
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Who names a space ship the [[Myth/{{Faust}} Mephistopheles]]?
* NeckSnap: There's one in ''7 Days'' which manages to transcend the graphics to be horrific purely on the merit of the sound effect. Necksnaps also show up in ''6 Days'', [[spoiler: where the Tall Man uses this method to dispatch the Trilby Clones in the late stages of the game. His reason for doing so is because it's a relatively painless death. He's trying to operate under Chzo's radar by this point, and Chzo would be alerted to his actions if pain were involved.]]
* NeverGivenAName: The wraith that haunts [=DeFoe=] Manor was never given a name in life, due to having been locked in the basement by his abusive father from the day he was born. The characters across the games, as a result, refer to him by a variety of names, with the most enduring being Trilby's "John [=DeFoe=]".
* NoNameGiven:
** Trilby claims he doesn't have one anymore; trilby's the type of a hat he wears, and "as a name, it suffices". Yahtzee gives it away in the ''7 Days'' SE commentary. [[spoiler:Turns out his real name is the same as "John Somerset"'s.]]
** Also, there's AJ, whose real name is never stated. The extra materials of the special edition of ''6 Days'' confirm it's Andrew Jarvis.
* NonIndicativeName: ''7 Days A Skeptic'' is actually eight days long. Whoops. [[note]]Starts on Sunday, day one...then goes Monday (day two), Tuesday (day three), Wednesday (day four), Thursday (day five), Friday (day six), Saturday (day seven), then back to Sunday again for day eight.[[/note]] Yahtzee addressed this by stating that the first part of the game does not count as a day, since it does not have an intro like the others and should just be seen as a "Day 0". On top of that, the PlayerCharacter is the least skeptical one on the crew.
** In addition, ''6 Days A Sacrifice'' takes place over the course of five days. [[spoiler:The sixth day (fifth chronologically) takes place 200 years in the future.]]
* NonLethalKO: In ''6 Days'', anything that would have given you a Game Over in previous games (i.e. [[spoiler: any time you get caught by John [=DeFoe=] or [=DeFoe=]-possessed Janine]]) now instead has Theo simply wake up in the sleeping quarters, ready to pick up right from where you left off.
* NoOSHACompliance: The ship's escape pods in ''7 Days'' take several hours of automated preparation to use. I'm going to repeat that. ''The devices which are intended to be used in case of dire emergency cannot be used until several hours after they're activated''. While their ship, the Mephistopheles, is an old vessel by the game's age standards, so there's a lot of design flaws [[spoiler:which John [=DeFoe's=] spirit uses against the crew in full effect]], the fact that this was greenlit even by last year's code is really jarring.
** Yahtzee addresses this in his playthrough, and says he probably should have just called it a shuttle.
* NothingIsScarier: Much of the tension in ''Trilby's Notes'' comes from just how empty and [[QuieterThanSilence utterly silent]] the normal hotel is.
* OddNameOut: ''Trilby's Notes'', although it ''is'' different from the other three games in a few key ways.
* OldDarkHouse: ''5 Days A Stranger'' takes place in one.
* ParasolOfPain: Trilby's grapple hook/taser/umbrella - the [[PunnyName grolly]].
* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish:
** The captain's override code in ''7 Days a Skeptic'' [[spoiler:is Barry's birthday. At least the game forces the player to do some digging to figure out just what day that is]].
** The code to open the safe in ''6 Days a Sacrifice'' [[spoiler:turns out to be the word "OPEN"]].
* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Most of the crew in ''7 Days'' rely on the counselor to do everything.
* PlotHole: AJ's death in the first game happens before anyone [[spoiler:touches the wooden idol]]. When asked how AJ died before the murders could conceivably have happened in Quovak's playthrough of the game, [[WordOfGod Yahtzee]] admitted that he didn't have any clue how or why it happened either. [[invoked]]
* PowerFloats: [[spoiler: The New Prince, Theo [=DaCabe=],]] seems to float everywhere, despite the fact that his predecessor did no such thing.
* PressXToDie: At any point in ''Trilby's Notes'', the player can enter the command "die" to have Trilby die immediately. [[spoiler:Exploited in the endgame puzzle: with Trilby on the verge of death in a ritual that requires a living sacrifice, the player must enter the "die" command just as Trilby is about to be killed, causing him to let go of his last remaining thread and die, which thwarts the villain's plan.]]
* {{Psychometry}}: ''Trilby's Notes'' gives Trilby this power, allowing him to view the history of the Tall Man in service to Chzo by touching old artifacts. It seems to have been granted to him by Chzo itself as part of its plan.
* PureMagicBeing: Chzo. [[spoiler: It can't even survive in our relatively mundane dimension.]]
* PutOnABus: Jim, possibly literally - after [[spoiler: Simone's death]] in ''Notes'', Trilby advises him to go into hiding. This is the last we ever hear of him. Extra material states, however, that the Ministry of Occultism has placed interest in him and possibly will be a future member.
* RailingKill: In ''7 Days'', the means of getting rid of [[spoiler:the possessed starship captain]].
* RandomEvent: The hallucinations in ''Trilby's Notes''. Chances are you will run into at least one or two over the course of the game, but which ones and where you are when they happen are random: the game is coded so that every time you take a pill, there is a chance that a random hallucination will trigger two screens later. Granted, it is possible to take advantage of that fact by trying to trigger them on purpose, but chances are it'll take several pills and a lot of patience to trigger them all.
* RealityWarper: [[spoiler:Malcolm Somerset as the Caretaker (but only on [[BecauseDestinySaysSo Destiny's]] orders).]] Also, [[spoiler:the Tall Man and the Welder somewhat (given that he has no problem handing out oddly prophetic dreams).]]
* RecycledInSPACE: ''7 Days A Skeptic'' is mostly ''5 Days A Stranger'' inside a spaceship.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Delia Reneaux again. She dies in a car crash at the end of Countdown 2, trying to escape from the cult.]]
* ReligionOfEvil: [[spoiler:The Order of Blessed Agonies, whose members worship [[EldritchAbomination Chzo]], a pain elemental.]]
* {{Retcon}}:
** The [=DeFoe=] twins' birth was changed to a month later to match the July 28th significance.
** The letter in ''7 Days'' describes things ''very'' differently than how they happen in ''Trilby's Notes''.
** At the beginning, ''5 Days'' and later ''7 Days'' were going to be stand-alone games. When Yahtzee had the idea of Chzo, he had to work it out this way. ''6 Days'' is basically a gigantic Retcon to put the whole series together.
* {{Retirony}}: [[spoiler:''7 Days'' was to be Captain Barry Chahal's last mission before retirement.]]
* RidiculouslyAverageGuy: Theo [=DaCabe=]. Unlike his fellow protagonists, he's just an ordinary building inspector that happened to show up on the wrong day.
* RidiculouslyLonglivedFamilyName: Almost every character who has a last name has an ancestor or descendant (or both) in the form of another character. And in each and every case, these characters all share the same last name, despite being separated by up to five centuries.
* RoomFullOfCrazy: Trust Galdn to describe it - "Cabadath, what is this madness?"
* RuleOfThree:
** ''Notes'' gives us the trio of Body, Mind and Soul. The most obvious way this is used is with [[spoiler:John [=DeFoe=] (the Bridgekeeper)]] but there are other more subtle uses of a Body/Mind/Soul trio that the "Special Edition" highlights. Firstly, the three main characters at the hotel form such a trio (Trilby as the Body, Abed as the Mind and Siobhan as the Soul). Secondly, the three pictures in the Dark World's bar (the Tall Man, blank and broken) sum up the three elements of the Prince. Finally, if you [[spoiler: ask Lenkmann about the ritual after Trilby's been stabbed, he will offer the first explanation about the Blessed Agonies, with Trilby as Body, Lenkmann himself as the Mind and Siobhan sufficing for Soul mainly on account that no-one else is left.]]
** ''6 Days'' adds to the above with a Past/Present/Future trio and, specifically, how the two events in ''5 Days'' (Past) and ''7 Days'' (Future) created ripples across the timeline that collide in the Present in which ''6 Days'' takes place (the colors used for the illustrations in the end credits for ''6 Days'' reinforce this trio, with the ''5 Days''/Past pictures in red, the ''6 Days''/Present pictures in blue, and the ''7 Days''/Future pictures in green). It also expands a little more on the Blessed Agonies and in the Special Edition, Yahtzee suggests that Canning, Samantha and Janine were abandoned alive in order to provide Blessed Agonies to tempt Chzo.
** Also features in ''5 Days'', though in less meaningful ways (at least at the time the game was made) - both with the body-finder device, which comprises of three components ([[spoiler: stick + string + possession belonging to the dead person in question]]), and in the final puzzle with the welding gear, knife, and [[spoiler:remains of John [=DeFoe=]]]. There's also the fact that of the five in the house, three survive and it is only by bringing together all three that you can [[spoiler:avoid getting killed by the now quasi-mortal [=DeFoe=] and get the true ending]].
** Indeed, John [=DeFoe=]'s attire is, in itself, part of the Rule: a mask, an apron, and a knife.
** Also, the series as a whole has three protagonists: Trilby, [[spoiler:Malcolm Somerset]] and Theo [=DaCabe=]. The end of the credits in ''6 Days'' shows three illustrations alongside the "The End" text, one for each of them.
* SanitySlippage: In ''6 Days A Sacrifice'', as you go deeper and deeper into [[spoiler: [=DeFoe=] Manor]], the look-at-info of the doors changes. It goes from ''"I think it's a door, but I can't think straight. Being in this place feels like having huge weights on my head."'', to ''"It's a... I think it's a... it hurts..."'', then to a simple ''"it hurts"''.
* SanDimasTime: The events of ''5 Days A Stranger'', ''7 Days A Skeptic'' and ''6 Days A Sacrifice'' all take place at once, despite being separated by several hundred years. This is explained as Chzo perceiving time as nonlinear, and the events of the games sending ripples throughout time.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Galdn does this Cabadath, but very politely, and with damn good reason. It's hard to blame him [[spoiler:after seeing [[EldritchAbomination Chzo]] appear in the rift and grab Cabadath by the legs]].
* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: ''7 Days'' revolves around a locker found floating in space in a distant galaxy. For one, finding anything this small in an entire galaxy is so mind-bogglingly unlikely that it can only be expressed with large numbers of exponents. The locker was also launched several hundred years ago with no method of propulsion, somehow traveling millions of lightyears since then. Lampshaded when one of the crew notes the extreme unlikelihood that a small locker floating around for only 400 years would end up in a completely different galaxy. The contents of the locker being supernatural in nature [[AWizardDidIt may be the only real explanation]].
* SecretTestOfCharacter: The added dialogue in the special edition of ''6 Days'' reveals that the entire series was a SecretTestOfCharacter for [[spoiler: Cabadath aka the Tall Man engineered by Chzo. He failed it.]]
* SentIntoHiding: Roderick [=DeFoe=] left his mentally handicapped son John in a secret cellar behind the kitchen, often beating and neglecting him [[MaternalDeathBlameTheChild out of hatred for him "killing" his mother during birth.]] Not even his other son and John's twin brother, Matthew, knew about this for much of his life. When Matthew did find out, Roderick tried to convince him that there never was a boy behind the kitchen.
* SexSignalsDeath: In ''6 Days a Sacrifice'' [[spoiler:Theo and Janine, tired and terrified by recent events, hop into bed together in the sleeping quarters and have sex. Shortly afterward, John [=DeFoe=] possesses Janine and attacks Theo, which leads to her death. When Theo encounters the Caretaker afterward, the latter tells Theo that Janine was "tainted" by their encounter, which "weakened her defenses" and allowed [=DeFoe=] to fully take over her mind]].
* ShamefulSourceOfKnowledge: There are a lot of culprits of this throughout the series but special mentions go to Adam in ''7 Days'', who [[spoiler: chooses not to let anyone know about the letter in the locker warning of the dangers of keeping said locker]] and Samantha in ''6 Days'', who decides that [[spoiler: preserving her integrity is far more important than explaining what she knows of the cult, the complex and in particular the Trilby clones.]]
* ShoutOut:
** Given the many parallels between ''7 Days'' and ''Film/EventHorizon'', [[spoiler: William tearing out his own eyes]] seems like it may be a homage. Yahtzee confirms this in the [[http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/7days/7days_sol.txt walkthrough]] he made for the game.
** A bloodthirsty, mute, masked person goes around killing anyone in earshot with a machete. [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Sure you don't remember anything familiar?]]
*** There are also shout outs to that movie in the first game, [[spoiler:in the form of the player walking into some horrible situation only to realize it was a hallucination or dream.]]
*** In another shout-out to slasher movies, the music in ''7 Days'' that plays [[spoiler:after William dies and you have to fight John [=DeFoe=] on your own]] is strikingly similar to the main theme of ''Film/Halloween1978''.
** Somerset in ''7 Days'' cites regulation code [[Franchise/StarTrek 1701.]]
** Jim namedrops Treasure Island and Terry Pratchett in ''5 Days''. In his LetsPlay, Quovak complains that there's no real significance to the ShoutOut, it's just there; Yahtzee admits that he never intended any deeper meaning, younger-him just thought it would be clever to drop it out of the blue, and were he making the game today he wouldn't have been quite so injudicious about it.
** The ship scene in ''Trilby's Notes'' is an obvious parallel to the ship scene of Film/{{Nosferatu}}.
** The space ship in ''7 Days'' is the [[Myth/{{Faust}} Mephistopheles]].
** When Philip is called a thief, he retorts that he is a [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI treasure hunter]].
** Shifting between the regular and horrifically distorted versions of reality in ''Trilby's Notes'' is a clear nod to ''Franchise/SilentHill''.
** The same game has several to ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'': being plagued by random hallucinations meant to take you off guard, while exploring the influence of a great evil throughout history through the eyes of several people in different time periods. Said evil even has a Lich in his service in the form of the Tall Man, similar to Pius Augustus becoming an undead servant to the Ancients.
* SolveTheSoupCans: Some puzzles are definitely of this sort.
* SpareAMessenger: [[spoiler:After a man cuts down his tree, the Tall Man kills him, but lets his son live to spread the word.]]
* SpearCarrier: The unnamed main character in Countdown 3.
* StableTimeLoop:
** In ''6 Days'', a seemingly supernatural bald man in a red robe appears and helps the characters out. It is revealed that this character is none other than [[spoiler:the Somerset from ''7 Days'', revealed to be the son of the real Dr Somerset, in a mental asylum for the ''7 Days'' murders. He kills himself with a ritual knife, which ends up turning him into the bald robed man. After the ending scenes of ''6 Days'', taking place 196 years before ''7 Days'', he goes to urge his younger self to kill his father, thus triggering the events that got him thrown into jail in the first place.]]
** In the Special Edition of ''Notes'', the scene where Trilby is [[spoiler:brought back to life]] is expanded on, with [[spoiler:the Caretaker talking to a resistant Trilby and telling him he has no choice but to return, on account of the events that have already taken place in the future requiring Trilby to still be alive.]]
* StoryToGameplayRatio: Although the games are very heavy on story, one instance where gameplay was prioritized over story is [[spoiler:the "find the bodies" puzzle in ''5 Days'']].
* StrawVulcan:
** The helmsman and first officer in ''7 Days A Skeptic'' are indoctrinated in the ways of "logic", but it's more along the lines of an irrationally extreme version of Occam's Razor than logic. They refuse to even ''investigate'' any leads that don't have an obvious rational explanation.
** The first officer then arrests the [[spoiler: [[PlayerCharacter sole investigator]]]] on the grounds that it was "awfully suspicious" that he discovered all the bodies. She refuses to listen to him, even when [[spoiler: she was given the "LookBehindYou" warning just before her death.]] She had also ordered him to investigate.
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome:
** [[spoiler:Simone]] survives the events of ''5 Days'', but a time capsule letter in the distant-future ''7 Days'' reveals that the character was actually killed very shortly afterward. ''Trilby's Notes'' goes back and is set a few years after ''5 Days'', and its prologue/tutorial ends with the discovery of the character's body.
** Also, to the great shock of the player, the very first puzzle of ''6 Days'' results in [[spoiler:the very gory death of an inexplicably present Trilby.]]
* SummoningRitual: In the backstory, Cabadath performs one in an attempt to call Chzo into the human plane to fight off the Roman invaders. ''Trilby's Notes'' and ''6 Days A Sacrifice'' have the plot culminate in two attempted rituals.
* SuperStrength: The Tall Man can, among other things, gut people alive with his ''bare hands''.
* TenLittleMurderVictims: The premise of all four games, to a certain extent, but since they have the largest casts ''5 Days A Stranger'' and ''7 Days A Skeptic'' fit it best. In the former, you're locked in a manor; in the latter, you are on a spaceship, which obviously prevents you from leaving it, save adrift in a vacuum.
* ThatWasTheLastEntry:
** Both Roderick and Matthew [=DeFoe=]'s diaries. Also the diary in ''Trilby's Notes'', which ends with the ArcWords "it hurts."
** Dying in ''Notes'' gets you a NonStandardGameOver in this form.
* ThereWasADoor: Trying to climb through a window on the ground level from the backyard in ''5 Days'' results in Trilby remarking that "[t]here's a perfectly serviceable door."
* TheMetricSystemIsHereToStay: Strangely Averted in ''7 Days''. At one point an object is described in Yards instead of Meters, despite the game taking place in the 24th century on a spaceship capable of intergalactic travel.
* TitleThemeDrop: In ''7 Days'', the title theme returns at the start of the final day, where you are [[spoiler:hiding in the maintenance shaft, the rest of the crew murdered save for the ship's doctor who on the previous day was all set to butcher you for body parts]]. It continues to play over [[spoiler:the ensuing conversation between you and William]], echoing the opening segment of the game.
* TokenMinority: All the games bar ''6 Days'' have at least one.
** ''5 Days'': Simone is the only female in a cast of five
** ''7 Days'': Barry Chahal is the only non-white character
** ''Trilby's Notes'': Abed Chahal is the only non-white present-time character. Siobhan is the only significant female character, past or present (all of the flashbacks are male-centric), though the hotel clerk is female and [[spoiler:Simone]] features briefly, though never alive.
* TooDumbToLive:
** Imagine this: you're trapped on a spaceship with a psychotic murderer. Half the crew is dead. You've just gained access to the escape pods. What do you do? If your first guess is to [[spoiler:have all the survivors go take a nap in separate rooms]], you should be in this story.
** Almost everybody in the series is TooDumbToLive except Chzo. Most of them do end up dying or suffering a FateWorseThanDeath.
* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: [[spoiler:Chzo can't actually even ''enter'' the Realm of Technology, or he would die.]]
* TragicMonster: John [=DeFoe=] and Cabadath both. John was [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil tortured]] and [[KickTheDog abused]] from day one. Cabadath made a mistake while trying to save his people from the Roman invaders.
* TwoPartTrilogy: Despite ostensibly being one continuous story, ''5 Days A Stranger'' and ''7 Days A Skeptic'' contain no references to either Chzo or Cabadath, and work well enough as a self-contained story. It's not until ''Trilby's Notes'' that the connections between these stories start revealing themselves.
* UndeadAuthor: "The Expedition" has a particularly nasty example. The story is being told in the first person by the protagonist, which means that he's going to make it out of the Ethereal Realm no matter what else happens, right? [[spoiler:Except it turns out that in the end he is trapped by Chzo, watching his fellow expedition members getting tortured, carving his story into the walls of his cell. And once he runs out of room there, he is so far gone from sanity that he keeps going on his own skin.]]
* {{Understatement}}: The intro to ''The Expedition''. "Warning: LONG. Also not funny. [[SnicketWarningLabel One wonders why you'd want to read it at all]]. Oh well."
* UnusualEuphemism: "[They will know / They knew] the name of the King" is a recurring expression most often used when a character dies. WordOfGod states that it doesn't actually refer to death, but someone undergoing one of the "Blessed Agonies" [[InitiationCeremony required for initiation]] into [[ReligionOfEvil The Order]]. It just so happens that "endure immense physical pain" is the most common one, which often results in their death immediately after.
* UnwittingPawn: ''Everyone''. Except Chzo, of course. And assuming the AlmightyIdiot assessment in "The Expedition" is correct, Chzo may even be an ''unwitting mastermind''.
* VillainProtagonist: Jack Frehorn is the protagonist of ''Countdown 1'', showing how he becomes the prophet of the Order.
* WeightAndSwitch: The crux of the main puzzle in ''Countdown 2'' - Frehorn's Blade is on a pedestal, and if you attempt to pick it up, Delia will notice the blade is on a weighted security stand and will back off. You need to acquire a similar-sized and weighted knife from the kitchen to replace it. This is once of the instances where the ploy actually works.
* WhamLine: In ''7 Days A Skeptic'': "[[spoiler:Dr. Jonathan Somerset is 65 years old. More to the point, he's dead. He was killed six months ago by an unknown assailant. We only discovered last week that [[PlayerCharacter an individual]] [[KillAndReplace was using his identity]].]]"
* WhiteMagic: Several times in ''5 Days A Stranger''.
* WindowLove: Used oddly in ''6 Days A Sacrifice''. [=DaCabe=] does the rare "through an opaque wall" variation, trying to reach Janine. [[spoiler:She's actually ''inside'' the wall, dead.]]
* YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm:
** Try looking at the doors in [[spoiler:[=DeFoe=] Manor]] in ''6 Days A Sacrifice.'' This is actually a callback to two running gags - Trilby's issue with the doors in ''5 Days'', and the aforementioned ArcWords in ''Notes''.
-->'''Theo''': It's a... I think it's a... it hurts...
** Theo has a similar reaction to the glowing pickaxe, noticing that looking at it gives him the impression that it is more an idea of a pickaxe than a tangible, physical object, and that thought alone makes his head hurt.
* YouCantFightFate: Quite literally, as fate creates an avatar to ensure things go as planned.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness:
** [[spoiler:"And the Arrogant Man knew the name of the King."]]
** Happens to Will at the end of ''7 Days'', except for the [[EyeScream eyes]]
* YouShouldntKnowThisAlready: In ''7 Days'', entering the Captain's password before getting the clue on what it is, causes the computer to reply "This isn't the Olympics, cully. Cheaters don't prosper".
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[--it hurts--]
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