History Characters / TheFallOfTheHouseOfUsher2023

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Vic genuinely does love Alessandra and is heartbroken when she leaves her. [[spoiler:Her AccidentalMurder of her causes Vic to have a total mental breakdown.]]

* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: Averted: despite "Murder In The Rue Morgue" making it seem as though [[spoiler:he brutally killed Pluto, his boyfriend's cat in a drug-induced fugue]], WordOfGod [[https://www.tumblr.com/flanaganfilm/731163531113889792/hi-im-a-big-fan-of-your-work-sorry-if-this-is-a?source=share&ref=_tumblr confirms]] that [[spoiler:Leo never actually hurt Pluto, and that the corpse of the cat that he saw was a hallucination.]]

* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: Averted: despite "Murder In The Rue Morgue" making it seem as though [[spoiler:he brutally killed Pluto, his boyfriend's cat in a drug-induced fugue]], WordOfGod [[https://www.tumblr.com/flanaganfilm/731163531113889792/hi-im-a-big-fan-of-your-work-sorry-if-this-is-a?source=share&ref=_tumblr confirms]] that [[spoiler:Leo never actually hurt Pluto, and that the corpse of the cat that he saw was a hallucination caused by Verna, meant to destabilize him.]]

* DeadPetSketch: Played for horror. To the best of his knowledge (WordOfGod says that the act was a [[spoiler:Verna-induced hallucination]], and that the real Pluto is fine) he accidentally kills Julius' cat while high, and gets a replacement lookalike from Verna (who is out to kill him). The new cat torments him until he [[spoiler:falls to his death trying to get to it.]]

* DidntThinkThisThrough: When he uses the old factory for his party/orgy, he hooks up the water (which had been shut off) to the old tanks on the roof. Unfortunately, he apparently wasn't listening to the meeting that noted that the factory had been leaking toxins into the groundwater, and that [[spoiler: the water tanks on the roof were so full of chemicals that they were basically acid: when they turn on the water during the party, it turns out to be corrosive, horrifically killing everyone in attendance except the wait staff (who slip out before the sprinklers turn on) and Morella.]]

* PowerfulPeopleAreSubs: Downplayed, but there's a submissive element in Tam's kink for watching women who look like her having sex with her husband. She is also the brains behind a lifestyle brand and the eldest daughter of a big timeCEO.

* TheHedonist: All of Roderick's children use the family money mostly to live lives of easy comfort and pleasure. A good deal of the Ushers are also quite promiscuous in a rather twisted way: Roderick had six children born through five women, most of them illegitimate; Tamerlane has a cuckqueen fetish; Camille made her assistants {{Sex Slave}}s in all but name; Napoleon regularly cheats on his boyfriend with boys and girls; Prospero meanwhile has constant drug fueled orgies.

* FetishesAreWeird: To show that she's a maladjusted person, nearly every scene in her house demonstrates that she has a cuckqueen fetish. She hires prostitutes who resemble her to have sex with her husband. [[DownplayedTrope That said,]] rather than suggesting she's maladjusted ''because'' of her fetish, it seems to be more due to what her fetish says about her--namely, that she is so full of self-doubt and self-loathing that she finds the indirect intimacy of a cuckoldry scenario more comfortable to engage in than ''actual'' intimacy.

* FreudianExecuse: She had the same crappy childhood as her brother, and then faced sexism and harassment as a woman working in male-dominated fields in the 70s/80s. Even Annabel Lee, who does not like her sister-in-law (the feeling's mutual), is horrified and concerned upon hearing of what she's had to deal with. Her ruthless, cold, and ambitious personality came at least partially out of a desire to escape her circumstances.

* AdaptationalJobChange: Auguste Dupin was an AmateurSleuth in his initial depictions, whereas here he's an Assistant United States Attorney.

* {{Foil}}: To Roderick Usher. Both are men who have dedicated their lives to create a "better world." However, Roderick has betrayed any sense of integrity that he had to climb to the top, whereas Auguste stuck by his morals for most of his life. [[spoiler:The similarities extend to their personal lives as well, as it was revealed in the finale that August has children and grandchildren of his own. However, whereas Roderick emotionally abused and manipulated his progeny, save for Lenore, August truly loves and appreciates all of his offspring and how they have enriched his life; when he visits the graves of the Usher family to make his final farewell to Roderick, his parting shot is a reflection that "I'm the richest man in the world, you know that?"]]

* {{Hypocrite}}: Roderick points out that Dupin doesn't really have a right to judge him for his subpar parenting when he's neglected his own family in favor of his crusade to bring the Ushers to justice. That said, Dupin's criticisms are [[HypocriteHasAPoint dead-on]].
* LaserGuidedKarma: Of the positive variety. After [[spoiler: Roderick ruins his case against Fortunato]], he's fired but his career ultimately recovers and he becomes a big time prosecutor. He may not command the vast monetary wealth that Roderick has, he does eventually get a position that pays enough for him and his family to live comfortably. And that's the other part of his ultimate victory over Roderick: He finds a husband and starts a family, and all signs point to them having a loving relationship. In the end, [[spoiler: Auguste has the last laugh, as he outlives Roderick and refuses to grant his DyingWish of revealing his story to the public. His parting words to Roderick are said over his and the other Ushers' graves: He's the richest man in the world, and he's going to go home and spend time with his family.]] It's telling that he has several close encounters with [[spoiler: Verna, but she never shows a hint of interest in giving him a deal. He would never accept one.]] Auguste's character can be read as an illustration of how the best revenge is a life well-lived.

* RaceLift: Dupin is often illustrated as being a white French man in popular media. Here, he's played by the African-American Creator/CarlLumbly.

* IntriguedByHumanity: She admits to Arthur (and, more opaquely, to Camille) that her main reason for "going topside" and involving herself in humanity's affairs is that she finds them interesting in their ambitions and reckless cruelty. That, and [[ItAmusedMe they're so profoundly entertaining.]]

* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler: Vic's self-inflicted stab wound seems to cut through her SanitySlippage, and her last words are calling out to Roderick, pained and confused.]]

* SelfDisposingVillain: [[spoiler:While all of the Ushers are somewhat responsible for their own downfall, Vic is notable in that she's responsible for all of it. While Verna helps, Vic's VillainousBreakdown is caused entirely by her AccidentalMurder of Alessandra and her subsequent guilt over it.]]

* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: It is hard to pinpoint exactly how much is the result of [[spoiler:Verna's influence]], but the SanitySlippage the Usher half-siblings undergo from the mounting stress of getting picked off one by one messes something fierce with their grasp on reality (which arguably was already somewhat tenious in some cases). All of them start to hallucinate, while Tamerlane and Victorine end up expiricing straight up dissociative episodes.

* TheLostLenore: Averted. She may share the name "Lenore", but she doesn't fulfill this role to anyone. Not because [[spoiler:she doesn't die, because she's been DeadAllAlong]], but because she's the protagonist's granddaughter instead of his lost love.

--> '''Verna''': Camille L'Espanye was ''very'' good at what she did.

* InspirationalMartyr: [[spoiler: Downplayed. While Lenore's death will likely be ruled as due to natural causes, Verna foresees that Morelle will create the Lenore Foundation to honor the girl's memory, saving millions of lives in the following years.]]

* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: Despite ostensibly being a well-intentioned doctor-scientist, she willing to cut up test chimpanzees and fudge the chimp numbers to hide her failures. Verna holds her chimpanzee testing as a mark against the Ushers while [[spoiler:killing Camille]].

* RaceLift: Dupin is often illustrated as being a white French man in popular media. Here, he's played by the African-American Creator/CarlLumbly.

* PetTheDog