History VideoGame / AmericanArcadia

* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Arcadia security fields a flying taser-drone that is capable of detecting Trevor when visibility is poor, flying fast enough for him to be unable to outrun it, and incapacitating him instantly with no chance to fight back. But the drone only ever gets sent in if the player screws up a gameplay challenge, and as such most of the game is Trevor being (unsuccessfully) chased by human {{Mook}}s who can't take him down with anything but their own two hands. The ending [[spoiler:implies that this is all on purpose, as part of the ploy to get Trevor to escape Arcadia and pilot the new spinoff show]].

* WhamLine: When Angela [[spoiler:discovers that Trevor gained a sudden influx of viewers when he goes to the Arcadia Spire]] in the final stretch of the game, [[spoiler:she decides to track down Number Six's location for answers. When she gets Number Six's exact location, [[OhCrap it quickly dawns on her]] on who exactly she's been talking to the whole time.]]
-->'''Angela:''' [[spoiler:Number Six is INSIDE ARCADIA?!?]]

* GoshDangItToHeck: Trevor prefers terms such as "horrible person," in contrast to Angela's [[SirSwearsalot potty mouth]]... [[spoiler:making his PrecisionFBomb at the end of the game all the more significant.]]

* WrongGenreSavvy: When Marcus Jarvet is held at gunpoint by Trevor in their first chase, he invokes YouWouldntShootMe. It works as Trevor simply throws away the gun in his direction. Marcus repeats this tactic [[spoiler: against Angela, but she actually fires her taser at him. When it's revealed that "Marcus" is actually an actor, it's fitting that he expected the encounter to follow the usual tropes like last time..]]

** Another agent calls Trevor "the stapler guy from ''Film/OfficeSpace.''

* RedOniBlueOni: Angela has a red streak in her hair and is a passionate activist. Trevor wears a blue argyle sweater-vest and is an average NiceGuy who normally keeps his head down, and thus feels in over his head once he's swept up in the action.

* YouWillBeBeethoven: [[spoiler:Vivian Walton and Marcus Javert are the names taken up by Emily Garland and Terry Robinson. While the latter is an actor who got the part as Marcus, the former was one of the six that escape Arcadia but wanted to go back after a few years and got the role as Vivian because the previous face of the company died.]]

** "Even my grandpa could make that jump!" Initially said by Angela, [[spoiler: but eventually adopted by Trevor as his increasingly hectic escape and subsequent reverse-brainwashing gives him more determination and self-confidence.]]

* YouWouldntShootMe: Trevor grabs Marcus's taser gun and threatens to shoot him, only for Marcus to say Trevor doesn't have it in him to pull the trigger. Sure enough, Trevor instead throws the gun at Marcus and runs away. [[spoiler:When Marcus gives the same speech to Angela, she tases him mid-word]].

* CaptainErsatz: For an InUniverse example, one American Arcadia viewer may compare Trevor to [[Franchise/TheSimpsons Ned Flanders]]. The visual similarities are clear enough, for both of them are [[DorkInASweater mild-mannered, bespectacled, sweater-wearing dorks]] from UsefulNotes/TheSeventies that [[BewareTheNiceOnes can cause a ton of damage when sufficiently pissed off]].

* TheEveryman: Trevor enjoys his unchanging life of being an office worker, and it's the main reason why he's involved in the plot. Because there isn't any excitement in his life, the audience doesn't see him as interesting, making Trevor the least popular character in the show and the next person in line to be killed off.

* TheMenInBlack: The security of American Arcadia work like this. The travel agents are dressed and somewhat act like Men in Black, but Interceptors resemble sci-fi police officers and are never seen by the general public and most of American Arcadia's staff. The two have similar roles as they both deal with people within Arcadia, albeit differently. Marcus Javert, the Chief of Security is dressed like a typical Men in Black, only he wears a longcoat in place of a suit and his tie and pants are red and blue, respectively.

** One that's not acknowledged by the characters: the leader of breakout is called "Number 6", a reference to [[Series/ThePrisoner1967 another work about a man trying to escape from a pleasant prison]].

* ComicBookFantasyCasting: The posters for some of the fictional movies are attributed to a lot of real-world talent. For example "The Castle Keep" alone credits Creator/ChristopherLee, Creator/NeilGaiman and Creator/StevenSpielberg as being part of its production.

* NegatedMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:When realizing he's the top viewed feed in Arcadia, Trevor starts giving a rousing speech to the audience about how the people of Arcadia don't just exist for their amusement. The climax of his speech is interrupted by an ad break, leaving Trevor fuming.]]

** Angela needs to steal the identity of someone whose name sorts out to be alphabetically late; she ends up using that of a coworker named Z.W. whom she dubs "[[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 Zazu]] [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Waluigi]]".

* SmallRoleBigImpact: Gus only showed up at the beginning of the game for a single scene, after that he won the Edge Travel Grant and was never seen again. But his disappearance was the very thing that allowed Angela to get Trevor's attention and get him to safety. [[spoiler:And if later in the story is to be believed, he's actually still alive and was never in any danger to begin with.]]

* ComicBookFantasyCasting: The posters for some of the fictional movies are attributed to a lot of real-world talent. For example "The Castle Keep" alone credits Creator/ChristopherLee, Creator/NeilGaiman and Creator/StevenSpielberg as being part of it's production.

* EarWorm: "Don't Be A Fool", both in-universe (to Trevor's unceasing frustration) and out of it.

* NiceCharacterMeanActor: Vivian Walton is a very pleasant in announcing the winners of the Edge Travel Grant on camera. Behind the scenes, she doesn't hesitate to insult Trevor when preparing to announce him as a winner and Angela can bring up how being an ass is typical behavior of her. [[spoiler:Downplayed with her reveal of the "Escape from Arcadia" spinoff project and her motive for doing so (see GildedCage above), she's a manipulative sellout but not a murderer.]]