History VideoGame / DeathsDoor

* DropTheHammer: The Thunder Hammer.

* BossSubtitles: All notable bosses have these. The first couple play it straight, but the Frog King goes [[UpToEleven overboard until it hits the character limit]]. The third Giant Soul [[SubvertedTrope subverts this again]] after that, and just calls her "BETTY"

* GuideDangIt:
** A number of secrets are hidden behind panels you can open with your dive attack. Except the game never explains that you even ''have'' a dive attack, and the panels definitely don't look like anything you would perform a dive attack on. Your only hint is that they're all near ledges you can fall off of. Several of Jefferson's hints refer to them as "sewer grates", without any further explanation, even though they look nothing like anything related to a sewer.
** The seeds and plant pots seem to just be a convenient way to replenish your health but it's actually required to find and plant every single one to unlock the secret ending. Players who saved up seeds for a rainy day are in for a rude awakening when they realise they need to track down every pot they walked past with a full health bar.

** In the postgame you can obtain a special trowel that glows in the presence of seeds.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: in early [[https://www.tumblr.com/braverobynart/699889554451234816/some-of-the-first-work-i-did-for-deaths-door-a-few concept art]], Jefferson the Squid was revealed to have a Toys/TeddyBear in his tank, which he [[CuteMonster cuddles with at night]]. Although this is not shown in the final game, the "Ink-Stained Teddy Bear" is among the "Shiny Things" (i.e. collectibles) the player can uncover during their quest. Lore text reveals that "''Covered in ink stains and small circular blotches, it nevertheless appears well-loved''".

* AlasPoorVillain: All the bosses get a pretty sad sendoff. [[spoiler: The Urn Witch's]] eulogy is liable to catch the player particularly off-guard, as the game up to this point has been a fairly light-hearted affair. [[spoiler:The Last Lord of Doors']] is also pretty tragic - [[spoiler: his predecessor was not a good parental figure, and his motivation for wanting to live is completely understandable]], even if his methods were monstrous.

* DontFearTheReaper: The crow's job is to go and reap errant souls, but everyone besides the bosses understand it just has a job to do and don't fault it for anything. Most of the time they're actually quite friendly and helpful to the crow on its quest. [[spoiler: Death themself is a rather mellow person as well, and actually started the whole thing with the doors as a means to take a break from the general depression of their job. It's only when the Last Lord of Doors tried cheating them that things started to go wrong]].

** Betty's attacks are a clear reference to [[spoiler: the Yeti, and the description of her Giant Soul all but spells outs that she's its descendent.]]

* HeelRealization: [[spoiler:The Lord of Doors']] last words are to ask the Crow for forgiveness, but even before the start of their fight, he seems to come to a realization about his behavior, stating that his past actions were "not entirely moral... perhaps not even justifiable." He still refuses to go down without a fight.

* HughMann: Jefferson, a squid who is using a drowned sailor's corpse to pass off as a human selling soup. No one seems to notice or care. He is well-meaning though, and gives you tips on where to find secrets. [[spoiler:In the post-game he can take you for a ride and lead you to one of the Truth tablets.]]

** All three of the Giant Souls seek a means to permanently cheat death, be it turning their loved one's heads into urns or devouring other souls before they can be reaped.

* NoNameGiven: The Lord of Doors is distinct from his predecessors in that he has no given name, even though the Lords who came before him did. [[spoiler:The previous Lord of Doors neglected to give them one, being an immensely logical and unemotional being who only fixated on what needed to be done. This played a large role in the Last Lord of Doors turning to evil.]]

* UriahGambit: [[spoiler:It is revealed that ever since the Last Lord of Doors locked up Death in its own door and made the world stagnant through other beings who followed suit, he's sent many crows of the Reaping Commission to reap errant souls in other islands where the battles would be fierce. Once he heard reports that the crows they sent to fight were either killed or disappearing, the Last Lord of Doors ordered the remaining members of the Reaping Commission to seal off all the remaining doors, unwittingly trapping their own comrades in foreign islands and leaving them to their fates. The Last Lord's reign of terror would continue for an unknown period of time... until [[PlayerCharacter one certain crow]] was chosen for the job of the Reaper to go out and find a certain soul to obtain, thus kick-starting the plot.]]

* WhereItAllBegan: [[spoiler:Once you finally catch up with the Lord of Doors, your final confrontation with him takes place in the Hall of Doors, where he absorbs all of the souls kept in the Soul Vault and takes you on man-to-crow.]]
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: [[spoiler:The Last Lord of Doors wanted to achieve immortality, so he imprisoned Death in its own door to obtain eternal life; this impacted many others, including the Grey Crow, the Witch of Urns, the Frog King, Betty, and Steadhone the Gravedigger (the latter being kind and benevolent in giving the dead their decent funerals). However, since these beings live in this way, they live on past their expiration dates that their souls and bodies become [[FateWorseThanDeath consumed by their own evil and corruption]]; and it is up to the Reaper to free their souls from their terrible fates.]]

* AlasPoorVillain: All the bosses get a pretty sad sendoff. [[spoiler: The Urn Witch's]] eulogy is liable to catch the player particularly off-guard, as the game up to this point has been a fairly light-hearted affair. [[spoiler:The Last Lord of Doors']] is also pretty tragic - [[spoiler:their predecessor was not a good parental figure, and their motivation for wanting to live is completely understandable]], even if their methods were monstrous.

* HeelRealization: [[spoiler:The Lord of Doors']] last words are to ask the Crow for forgiveness, but even before the start of their fight, they seem to come to a realization about their behavior, stating that their past actions were "not entirely moral... perhaps not even justifiable." They still refuse to go down without a fight.

* NoNameGiven: The Lord of Doors is distinct from their predecessors in that they have no given name, even though the ones who came before them did. [[spoiler:The previous Lord of Doors neglected to give them one, being an immensely logical and unemotional being who only fixated on what needed to be done. This played a large role in the Last Lord of Doors turning to evil.]]

* UriahGambit: [[spoiler:It is revealed that ever since the Last Lord of Doors locked up Death in its own door and made the world stagnant through other beings who followed suit, the Last Lord of Doors sent many crows of the Reaping Commission to reap errant souls in other islands where said Lord knew the battles would be fierce. Once they heard reports that the crows they sent to fight were either killed or disappearing, the Last Lord of Doors ordered the remaining members of the Reaping Commission to seal off all the remaining doors, unwittingly trapping their own comrades in foreign islands and leaving them to be killed off. The Last Lord's reign of terror would continue for an unknown period of time... until [[PlayerCharacter one certain crow]] was chosen for the job of the Reaper to go out and find a certain soul to obtain, thus kick-starting the plot.]]

* WhereItAllBegan: [[spoiler:Once you finally catch up with the Lord of Doors, your final confrontation with them takes place in the Hall of Doors, where they absorb all of the souls kept in the Soul Vault and take you on human-to-crow.]]
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: [[spoiler:The Last Lord of Doors wanted to achieve immortality, so they imprisoned Death in its own door so they could get eternal life, as well as many others who followed suit, including the Grey Crow, the Witch of Urns, the Frog King, Betty, and Steadhone the Gravedigger (the latter being kind and benevolent in giving the dead their decent funerals). However, since these beings live in this way, they live on past their expiration dates that their souls and bodies become [[FateWorseThanDeath consumed by their own evil and corruption]]; and it is up to the Reaper itself to free their souls from their terrible fates.]]

* MoodWhiplash: hoo boy. Cutesy graphics, often surreal sense of humor, [[spoiler: frequently tragic and sympathetic bosses, and some pretty heavy existentialist themes]]. Somehow, it all works.

* YourDaysAreNumbered: Reapers working for the Commission are immortal as long as they are not actively pursuing an assignment. While they ''are'' on the job, they're mortal, and they can age and die... so when the Crow's target is stolen by somebody else, they have quite a conundrum on their feathers. Their primary motivation for much of the plot is getting it back. [[spoiler:Going by what Death says at the end of the game, it's entirely possible that they never were immortal, and that the Reaping Commission was lying all along.]]
** [[spoiler:Every Lord of Doors is told the day they are created exactly how long they have to live, down to the day of their death. This motivates the last Lord of Doors to betray Death and abandon their duties in order to pursue immortality, even though they know they will ultimately fail.]]

* GuideDangIt: A number of secrets are hidden behind panels you can open with your dive attack. Except the game never explains that you even ''have'' a dive attack, and the panels definitely don't look like anything you would perform a dive attack on. Your only hint is that they're all near ledges you can fall off of.

* ImmortalitySeeker: All three of the Giant Souls seek a means to permanently cheat death, be it turning their loved one's heads into urns or devouring other souls before they can be reaped. [[spoiler:The first Lord of Doors requested immortality as the price in their bargain with Death, but when Death told them that was impossible they settled for extremely long life instead. The last Lord of Doors, though, decided to try and imprison Death and thus gain immortality that way.]]

* DeterminedDefeatist: [[spoiler:The Lord of Doors was told the day they were created exactly what day they would die. This means they know the Crow is going to win, but they still go down swinging.]]

* DoNotGoGentle: [[spoiler:The Last Lord of Doors]] has known since they were created exactly what day they would die. This means they almost certainly know they can't defeat the Crow, but they still go down swinging.

* AlasPoorVillain: All the bosses get a pretty sad sendoff. [[spoiler: The Urn Witch's]] eulogy is liable to catch the player particularly off-guard, as the game up to this point has been a fairly light-hearted affair. [[spoiler:The Last Lord of Doors]] is also pretty tragic - [[spoiler:his predecessor was not a good father figure, and his motivation for wanting to live is completely understandable]], even if his methods were monstrous.

* WhereItAllBegan: [[spoiler:Once you finally catch up with the Lord of Doors, your final confrontation with him takes place in the Hall of Doors, where he absorbs all of the souls kept in the Soul Vault and takes you on man-to-crow.]]

* DeterminedDefeatist: [[spoiler:The Lord of Doors was told the day he was created exactly what day he would die. This means he knows the Crow is going to win, but he still goes down swinging]].

* DoNotGoGentle: [[spoiler:The Last Lord of Doors]] has known since he was created exactly what day he would die. This means he almost certainly knows he can't defeat the Crow, but he still goes down swinging.

* HeelRealization: [[spoiler:The Lord of Doors]] last words are to ask the Crow for forgiveness, but even before the start of his fight, he seems to come to a realization about his behavior, stating that his past actions were "not entirely moral... perhaps not even justifiable." He still refuses to go down without a fight.

* NoNameGiven: The Lord of Doors is distinct from his predecessors in that he has no given name, even though the ones who came before him did. [[spoiler:The previous Lord of Doors neglected to give him one, being an immensely logical and unemotional being who only fixated on what needed to be done. This played a large role in the Last Lord of Doors turning to evil]].

* OddlySmallOrganization: The Reaping Commission employs approximately six crows in total, despite apparently being responsible for reaping the souls of every living creature when their time to die comes. They don't even bother kicking out the highly-suspicious hobo who hangs around the place chuckling ominously at passers by. Furthermore, only two of the six crows in question are actively working as Reapers. It's made apparent that the organization used to be ''much'' larger, and that new souls to reap have trickled to a virtual halt in recent years. [[spoiler:This turns out to be a plot point - most of the former Reapers have long-since deserted the Reaping Commission, and many more of them were abandoned and left to die years ago by the Last Lord of Doors]].

* VisualPun: Steadhone the Gravekeeper is wearing a tombstone on top of his head. A ''headstone'', if you will.

* WhereItAllBegan: [[spoiler:Once you finally catch up with the Lord of Doors, your final confrontation with him takes place in the Hall of Doors, where he absorbs all of the souls kept in the Soul Vault and takes you on man-to-crow]].

* YourDaysAreNumbered: Reapers working for the Commission are immortal as long as they are not actively pursuing an assignment. While they ''are'' on the job, they're mortal, and they can age and die... so when the Crow's target is stolen by somebody else, they have quite a conundrum on their feathers. Their primary motivation for much of the plot is getting it back. [[spoiler:Going by what Death says at the end of the game, it's entirely possible that they never were immortal, and that the Reaping Commission was lying all along]].
** [[spoiler:Every Lord of Doors is told the day they are created exactly how long they have to live, down to the day of their death. This motivates the last Lord of Doors to betray Death and abandon his duties in order to pursue immortality, even though he knows he will ultimately fail]].

** On completing the game areas that have still have hidden collectables to unlock are highlighted.

* HeelRealization: [[spoiler:The Lord of Doors]] last words are to ask the Crow for forgiveness, but even before the start of his fight, he seems to come to a realization about his behavior, stating that his past actions were "not entirely moral.. perhaps not even justifiable." He still refuses to go down without a fight.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Vaga is a weird hobo who's bumming around the Hall of Doors. His hobbies include chuckling at people, throwing seeds at the Security Chief, and wearing newspapers on his head. As the Crow explores more of the abandoned offices around the Reaping Commission, [[spoiler:his comments become more and more pointed regarding the Commission's motives, culminating in finding a journal that ends with his trademark "Heh, heh, heh.."]] After you obtain the Hookshot, he pointedly suggests the Crow explore the Mountain, where they discover [[spoiler:Vaga is the leader of the Free Crows, a group of Crows who have rebelled against the Reaping Commission]].

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:Death]] takes one look at [[spoiler:the newly-corrupted Gray Crow]] and instantly teleports away, leaving the Crow to face them alone.

* ThievingMagpie: The Crow has a habit of "collecting" random bits and baubles they happen across in their adventures. They keep their collection on their desk in the Hall of Doors. Some of these are unambiguously personal property of other characters.. albeit other characters who are due to find themselves on the business end of the Crow's sword.

* YourDaysAreNumbered: Reapers working for the Commission are immortal as long as they are not actively pursuing an assignment. While they ''are'' on the job, they're mortal, and they can age and die.. so when the Crow's target is stolen by somebody else, they have quite a conundrum on their feathers. Their primary motivation for much of the plot is getting it back. [[spoiler:Going by what Death says at the end of the game, it's entirely possible that they never were immortal, and that the Reaping Commission was lying all along]].