History Fridge / DeadRising

* Cletus Samson and Steven Chapman have been held up in their stores for God knows how long and have clearly developed paranoia from it.
** Cletus is operating under the belief that everyone is after his guns and since there's no law enforcement anymore, he can't and won't take any chances with simply handing over his guns to complete strangers and hoping they won't betray him.
** Steven, on the other hand, is encountered on Day 2 and appears to be suffering from isolation and sleep deprivation as he's also been defending his stock from other survivors and has gotten so paranoid that he shot David Bailey under the belief that he was a vandal. While vandalism appears to be an odd choice of words, it makes sense considering that the doors are made of glass, food can be destroyed, and medicine is few and can be destroyed with either bats or guns. To Steven, his supplies are essential and if someone breaks the door, the zombies will get in.

*** Carlito was trying to ensure the media would see the horror of the ZombieApocalypse up close, the way he experienced it in Santa Cabeza. Since the StrawmanNewsMedia was evidently keeping mum on the outbreak at the behest of the government, Carlito had to rely on "freelance" journalists like Frank, who he hoped weren't tainted with the corruption as their Big Media counterparts. Carlito turns on Frank after he finds him helping [[CIAEvilFBIGood Brad]], as he is convinced Frank is lost to the same lies and deceit as the rest of the media - which only gets worse during his VillainousBreakdown, when Frank keeps foiling him at every turn.

* As people have pointed out, the ''VideoGame/DeadRising'' games have made a point of being {{Anvilicious}} about mass consumption in the United States, and how some of the [[TooDumbToLive Survivors]] [[NotSoDifferent are just as mindless as the zombies]]. But when you consider the original ''VideoGame/DeadRising'' to be ''Film/DawnOfTheDead1978'', [[TheMovie The Video Game]], it's less preachy than it is another ShoutOut to the message of its inspiration—after all, it was George Romero's idea to make a not-so-subtle analogy between zombies and mall walkers in the first place.

** His 'limp' could also simply be a staggered walk, because that camera is hanging from his neck by a strap. If he ran normally, it'd flail about and might get damaged, or even clock Frank in the face. His walk keeps his center of balance on the camera, so it doesn't swing wildly. His priority is to keep his camera safe at all times, as you'll notice when he jumped from the helicopter, he landed in a painful way because he only used one hand to catch his fall, using the other to protect his camera.
* [[spoiler: Carlito reveals that his entire motivation revolved around the fact that Santa Cabeza was destroyed in a cover up just because of an experiment to make more meat products. The person who captured him late in the game ''[[DeathByIrony was a butcher]]''.]]
* The leader of the cultists, Sean, dies [[spoiler: by getting stabbed in the eye.]] The cult Sean leads is called True Eye, making this a KarmicDeath.
* In Dead Rising 2, the in-mall gun store has military grade sniper rifles, body armor, and ''grenades'' in stock. How could they possibly ever sell these things, in a very public setting no less, without getting shut down? Because this is a world where not only do zombies exist, they occasionally destroy entire cities. ''Of course'' weapon restriction laws are going to be lightened, if not abolished in full.
* In ''Off The Record'', [[spoiler: Chuck Greene replaces Leon as the slicecycle riding psychopath.]] At first you may be wondering, [[spoiler: where'd Leon go? But right before the fight, Chuck tells you that he's been dealing with "nutbars" all day... so it's likely that Chuck killed him.]]
** According to the loading screens, Leon was still alive. He was in hospital after an accident, Chuck stole the limelight however.
* A bizarre, certainly unintentional one... the lyrics to the end credits song of ''Dead Rising'', "Justified", probably meant to talk about Carlito, also fit surprisingly well for the character of [[spoiler: Stacey [=/=] Agent S]] in ''Off the Record'', especially if you find a (completely cracked) way to composite the two different versions of the character from both games so that [[spoiler: she's both sidekick and villain]].
** Hell, "Justified" might as well be the RealSongThemeTune for all the still-human characters you find in-game: not just Carlito and [[spoiler: Stacey]], but all the other [[AxCrazy Psychos]], [[ActionSurvivor Survivors]], and even the PlayerCharacter - no matter if they act as [[BadassBystander heroic]], [[ForTheEvulz evil]], [[TooDumbToLive or just plain stupid]], they all feel [[TitleDrop Justified]] in their actions.

* Carlito and Isabela being the faces for the [[spoiler:3 Day Survivor]] and [[spoiler:5 Day Survivor]] achievements respectively. On the surface it's just putting two vital characters' faces on to represent two hard-to-get accomplishments. But thinking about it, [[spoiler:the Keyes siblings ''are'' survivors, specifically of the Santa Cabeza incident. Furthermore, Isabela outlasts Carlito—while he dies in the process of the first game, she survives and even ends up becoming a lead scientist into cures for zombification as revealed by future installments—so it makes sense that she has the longer trophy.]]
* Ending S being the "best" ending vs. Ending A being the canon ending in the main ''VideoGame/DeadRising2''. The game is played from Chuck Greene's POV, what with him being the main character, and ending S is [[spoiler:the only ending in which he, Stacey, and Katey all get to go home together]]. So it only makes sense that this would be the best ending. However, in the process of making this happen [[spoiler:he is forced to grab and retrieve a bunch of Phenotrans items lying around, which could mean the amount of evidence against them is reduced by some significant amount, in order to save them from the massively UngratefulBastard he saved from turning into a zombie]]. Ending S essentially requires that you bury a vital plot point for future installments of the series to expand on [[spoiler:by letting Phenotrans get away with their crimes]] in order to give Chuck Greene his happy ending. Ending A, on the other hand, [[spoiler:doesn't give Chuck his happy ending with Katey and Stacey. However, it's still a good ending, as the two girls escape safely. Furthermore, it becomes the lead-up to ''Case West'', where Chuck ends up teaming with Frank West to gather significant evidence against Phenotrans, in the process discovering very real possibility of a lifelong/permanent cure for zombification as well as its link to the {{high heel face turn}}ed SpicyLatina from the first ''Dead Rising''. Not to mention Marian Mallon's threat of another harvest, which ranks under possible {{foreshadowing}} for ''VideoGame/DeadRising3''.]] In essence, Ending S may be the ideal outcome for Chuck on a personal level, but it quietly lets the story recede, whereas Ending A [[spoiler:plus ''Case West'']] fundamentally continues the story.

* The most well known piece of GameplayAndStorySegregation in this game is the fact that even if you theoretically manage to go the entire game without being bitten by a zombie, [[spoiler: Frank still ends up infected at the end of the game. However, there’s one spot in the story where he could still get infected without being bitten: Carlito’s bombs, which are carrying the zombie larvae and explode ''five feet away from him''. The explosion may not have been strong enough to blow up the mall thanks to Frank getting them out of the tunnels, but if the explosion is still strong enough to send him flying it could definitely still infect him. Not only that, but there’s less than a day between the bombs and the end of the game, so the virus would spend that time incubating before Frank finally passes out from it on the helipad.]]

* If the Credits are any consideration [[spoiler: the zombies marching means that they're going on to the ''rest'' of the world, all because one guy beat a general and his soldiers]].
** Looking back after having played [=DR2=] and Case West, this seems even more disturbing. With [[spoiler: Phenotrans's plan to continue causing outbreaks in order to allow more Zombrex production "for the sake of the important Infected people of the world,"]] this looks more like the inevitability of the future, with the zombies continuing to thrive, continuing to "live" in this world as [[spoiler: Phenotrans' personal army and meal ticket.]]
* The music in the game often relates to the boss in subtle ways, most obvious in the End Credits, [[spoiler: "Justified", if one is to look at it, everyone in the game thought their actions were justified, psychopath or not, even the Complete Monsters think they have some justification for their actions]].

* In ''VideoGame/DeadRising'', you learn at the end of the game that [[spoiler: you're infected, and that no matter what you will do, you will become a zombie eventually. No one knows when.]] At the beginning of ''VideoGame/DeadRising2'', you learn that Las Vegas was destroyed and that Fortune City was the pre-planned remake of it. I wonder how Las Vegas was infected....
** It's even worse, but not for that reason. Frank West (the infected player character from the first game) is still alive and kicking thanks to a drug called Zombrex. [[spoiler: The problem is, to make the drug requires wasp queens that spread the virus initially. But they can't be made without zombies, and with so many infected people in all manner of positions and places, a constant supply is needed. So the Las Vegas and Fortune City outbreak is caused to help keep supplies up by the government, who willingly sacrifice entire cities to help make the drug. However, in Case West, it is revealed the company making Zombrex already have a complete cure. However, the owner of the company is content with keeping people desperate enough to buy Zombrex at bank-breaking prices to increase stock prices. Even worse, thanks to your work at the facility when you investigate the Fortune City outbreak, it hasn't been harvested properly, so not only is another harvest due and every life lost there for nothing, but the two protagonists both need Zombrex. One has a daughter who is infected, the other is Frank...]]

* [[{{MalevolentArchitecture}} Willamette Parkview Mall]] is built around a small public park, but only has three ports of entry; the ''Entrance Plaza'', maintenance room, and [[spoiler: the hidden underground path to the army base next door where experimental tanks are tested out on massive numbers of zombies.]]

** Looking back after having played DR2 and Case West, this seems even more disturbing. With [[spoiler: Phenotrans's plan to continue causing outbreaks in order to allow more Zombrex production "for the sake of the important Infected people of the world,"]] this looks more like the inevitability of the future, with the zombies continuing to thrive, continuing to "live" in this world as [[spoiler: Phenotrans' personal army and meal ticket.]]