History TabletopGame / Clue

* AnAxeToGrind: Several versions feature an axe as a weapon.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: the comic miniseries - and how! Upton, Mr. Boddy's butler, breaks it on the first page of the first issue with the first spoken line, addressed to the reader. He then demolishes it by telling the reader not to judge the other characters too harshly: "It's not like they know they're in a comic book. Much less a murder-mystery one!" He then [[UpToEleven crushes the rubble of the wall]] by repeatedly leaning ''outside the frame'' to argue with the Editor of the Comic book! [[spoiler: In the final scenes, the remains of the Fourth Wall are ''atomised'' when as part of the grand conspiracy, Upton [[ExactWords eliminates all witnesses]] including the editor, artist, letterer and writer of the comic book... and the last frame shows him ''coming for the reader''.]]

Created in 1949 in Britain, ''Cluedo'' (''Clue'' in North America) is ''the'' iconic mystery board game. Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in North America) has been murdered in his own mansion and the six people that were present are now considered suspects. Players take the role of any of the six suspects and receive cards containing illustrations of the suspects, the rooms or the weapons. One card of each category is placed in an envelope. To play, the suspects must enter a room in the mansion and make a suggestion such as, "It was '''Mrs. Peacock''' in the '''kitchen''' with the '''candlestick!'''" A different player can reveal a card that matches the suggestion to disprove it. To win the game, a player must make an accusation that matches all three cards contained in the envelope. If the accusation is wrong, the player must sit out for the rest of the game. Note that a player can accuse their own character if they believes themself to be the murderer. [[FridgeLogic It doesn't make much sense if you think about it,]] though [[TheKillerInMe they could have had amnesia]]. Another way to look at it is they actually [[TheBadGuyWins get away with the murder and escape]].

Created in 1949 in Britain, ''Cluedo'' (''Clue'' in North America) is ''the'' iconic mystery board game. Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in North America) has been murdered in his own mansion and the six people that were present are now considered suspects. Players take the role of any of the six suspects and receive cards containing illustrations of the suspects, the rooms or the weapons. One card of each category is placed in an envelope. To play, the suspects must enter a room in the mansion and make a suggestion such as, "It was '''Mrs. Peacock''' in the '''kitchen''' with the '''candlestick!'''" A different player can reveal a card that matches the suggestion to disprove it. To win the game, a player must make an accusation that matches all three cards contained in the envelope. If the accusation is wrong, the player must sit out for the rest of the game. Note that a player can accuse his own character if he believes himself to be the murderer. [[FridgeLogic It doesn't make much sense if you think about it,]] though [[TheKillerInMe they could have had amnesia]]. Another way to look at it is they actually [[TheBadGuyWins get away with the murder and escape]].

* BreakingTheFourthWall: the comic miniseries - and how! Upton, Mr Boddy's butler, breaks it on the first page of the first issue with the first spoken line, addressed to the reader. He then demolishes it by telling the reader not to judge the other characters too harshly: "It's not like they know they're in a comic book. Much less a murder-mystery one!" He then [[UpToEleven crushes the rubble of the wall]] by repeatedly leaning ''outside the frame'' to argue with the Editor of the Comic book! [[spoiler: In the final scenes, the remains of the Fourth Wall are ''atomised'' when as part of the grand conspiracy, Upton [[ExactWords eliminates all witnesses]] including the editor, artist, letterer and writer of the comic book... and the last frame shows him ''coming for the reader''.]]

* KnifeNut: Possibly. It is one of the ways Mr. Boddy could be killed off.

''[[DescribeTopicHere I think Professor Plum Described Clue Here, in the office, with the laptop!]]''

The popularity of the game has caused it to be remade into a plethora of different locations and decades over the years. See ThemedStockBoardGame. It was popular enough to have its own [[Film/{{Clue}} film]], [[Literature/{{Clue}} book series]] (each chapter therein involves Mr. Reginald Boddy and his color-coded guests participating in some activity or another, which would form the basis of a puzzle for the reader to solve, and the final story always involves Mr. Boddy's murder), video game adaptations, [[TabletopGame/ClueVCRMysteryGame a VCR game]], a game show, and a TeenDrama [[{{Series/Clue}} miniseries]] on Creator/TheHub. The film itself (starring Creator/TimCurry) is considered a cult classic. There is even an unofficial inversion of the game, ''Kill Doctor Lucky''. Most recently, a [[http://comicsalliance.com/idw-hasbro-clue-allor-daniel-eccc-17/ comic book adaptation was announced for June 2017]] from Hasbro partner Creator/IDWPublishing (though like fellow game-based comic ''ComicBook/DungeonsAndDragons'', it's not part of the ComicBook/HasbroComicUniverse).

The popularity of the game has caused it to be remade into a plethora of different locations and decades over the years. See ThemedStockBoardGame. It was popular enough to have its own [[Film/{{Clue}} film]], [[Literature/{{Clue}} book series]] (each chapter therein involves Mr. Reginald Boddy and his color-coded guests participating in some activity or another, which would form the basis of a puzzle for the reader to solve, and the final story always involves Mr. Boddy's murder), video game adaptations, a game show, and a TeenDrama [[{{Series/Clue}} miniseries]] on Creator/TheHub. The film itself (starring Creator/TimCurry) is considered a cult classic. There is even an unofficial inversion of the game, ''Kill Doctor Lucky''. Most recently, a [[http://comicsalliance.com/idw-hasbro-clue-allor-daniel-eccc-17/ comic book adaptation was announced for June 2017]] from Hasbro partner Creator/IDWPublishing (though like fellow game-based comic ''ComicBook/DungeonsAndDragons'', it's not part of the ComicBook/HasbroComicUniverse).

* ApronMatron: Mrs. White, who works as Boddy's maid in most versions.

* ColorfulThemeNaming: Every suspect is named after their token color (peacocks are blue, scarlet is a shade of red, and so on), which also applies to Dr. Black in the British version. Depending on what version you're playing, there may be various characters added in besides the main six, such as Emily Peach or Graham Slate-Grey.

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: A North American version made Rev. Green an oil tycoon, making his name into a subtle pun on his wealth.

** For April Fool's Day 2015, [=ThinkGeek=] created a mock-up for a fake ''Series/GameOfThrones'' version, with ''35 possible suspects and weapons''.

* AdaptedOut: Licensed versions that have the player characters as a separate group from the suspects must necessarily jettison the game mechanic allowing players to pull each other around the board by making suggestions.

* DetectiveMole: It's possible for one of the players to be the murderer. Strangely, they won't know it and still win by finding evidence to convict themselves.

* DubNameChange: Well, more like "Localization Name Change". A few different characters and other elements had their names changed between different versions, particularly between the UK and US version(s): Murder victim Dr. Black became Mr. Boddy; his home, Tudor House, became Boddy Manor; Reverend Green became ''Mr.'' Green; the Spanner and Dagger became the Wrench and Knife, etc.

* EvilOldFolks: Some versions depict Mrs. Peacock as a decrepit hag.

* GhostlyGoals: The early 2000's computer version (d tributed in boxes of cereal) had the Murderer, Location, and Weapon cards secreted away by Mr. Boddy's ghost (a pair of hands glowing with blue fire).

** ImprovisedWeapon: However, in a pinch, they ''can'' inflict enough blunt force trauma to kill a person.

* ThemedStockBoardGame: Many iterations of Clue were made based on popular franchises, including ''Series/TheOfficeUS'', ''Series/TwentyFour'', ''Literature/HarryPotter'', ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarepants'', Franchise/ScoobyDoo, Creator/AlfredHitchcock, Franchise/SherlockHolmes, ''Ride/TheTwilightZoneTowerOfTerror'', ''Franchise/TheHauntedMansion'' and ''Series/TheGoldenGirls''.

* WhatDidIDoLastNight: ''Clue: Lost in Vegas'' is a tongue-in-cheek version of the game that swaps out a murder mystery with an attempt to track down a missing friend after a wild night in Las Vegas.

* GhostlyGoals: The early 2000's computer version (distributed in boxes of cereal) had the Murderer, Location, and Weapon cards secreted away by Mr. Boddy's ghost (a pair of hands glowing with blue fire).

* ColorfulThemeNaming: Every suspect is named for the color of his or her token.

* MeaningfulName: The six suspects have their last names associated with the color they're wearing (peacocks are blue, scarlet is a shade of red, and so on). And of course, there's [[PunnyName Mr. Boddy]]. The British victim, Dr. Black, is sometimes illustrated as wearing black. Depending on what version you're playing, there may be various characters added in besides the main six, such as Emily Peach or Graham Slate-Grey.

[[caption-width-right:320: Five of the six suspects on the 1997 release of the American game. [[note]]From left to right: Mr. Green, Mrs. Peacock, Colonel Mustard, Miss Scarlet, and Professor Plum. Not shown: Mrs. White. [[/note]]]]

* CorruptChurch: Reverend Green (the implications of this don't sit well for American audiences, supposedly, which is why he's turned into a CorruptCorporateExecutive "Mr. Green").
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The North American version made Mr. Green an oil tycoon, making his name into a subtle pun on his wealth.

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: It is possible for a player to accuse themself; this is obviously to prevent the game from becoming unwinnable for that player. This is lampshaded rather humorously in the Sega Genesis version.
--> '''Mr. Green:''' I won! I won! I'm on my way to prison, but I won!

** ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': Who betrayed Sheldon in some nerd related way and where?

** Many editions have Miss Scarlett/Scarlet in a seductive pose or expression, playing off of the phrase "scarlet woman."

** In some later editions, Mr. Green is black.

* ShesAManInJapan: A few characters change sex in [[http://www.cluedofan.com/foreign.htm foreign versions]]. A particularly major example is Chile's. Colonel Mustard and Professor Plum are female, and Mrs. White and Miss Peacock are males.

* DetectiveMole: It's possible for one of the players to be the murderer. Strangely, they won't know it and still win by finding evidence to convict themself.

** ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'': Which member of the Scooby-Doo cast ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Mrs. White]])[[note]]The main cast of Scooby-Doo only contains five members ([[TheScrappy Not including Scrappy-Doo]]), Mrs. White is included to retain the six "suspect" formula of the base game.[[/note]] was kidnapped by a Scooby-Doo monster and where?

** Many editions have Miss Scarlett in a seductive pose or expression, playing off of the phrase "scarlet woman."

--> '''Miss Scarlett:''' I win! I win! I'm going to jail... but I won!