History VideoGame / GadgetPastAsFuture

* HumanoidAbomination: Slowslop is very much this. He orchestrated the scientists' pursuit into building the Empire's xenium-based technology, and collected clusters of Xenium for his own ends. At one point, Louis looks at an old photograph from his childhood with Slowslop in it and notes that he hasn't aged a day for the few decades that he's known Slowslop. [[spoiler: When Louis and Elena frame him for murdering Orlovsky, he ''[[SpontaneousHumanCombustion explodes]]'' under the Sensorama's rays, disintegrating several guards and leaving nothing but another Xenium shard behind.]]

* MoralityPet: In contrast to Orlovsky's perverted desire to wed Elena, Slowslop's affection for her seems more noble, and born out of genuinely seeing her as a remarkable human being. He regretted letting Orlovsky attempt to propose to Elena years ago, and ever since then he has endeavored to keep her out of danger and Orlovsky's reach. However, it is possibly hinted throughout the book that Slowslop's feelings for Elena are not out of fatherly affection, but that he may [[NotSoAboveItAll also harbor similar desires to Orlovsky]], such as a scene where he projects his consciousness into a book Elena is reading which he seems ''too'' pleased about. If that is meant to be the case, then at least Slowslop [[EvenEvilHasStandards doesn't try taking advantage of her]]. Elena, for her part, regards Slowslop with dread, seeing him as nothing more than Orlovsky's right-hand man. [[spoiler: Near the end, after Slowslop caught Elena killing Orlovsky (or maybe Louis did it throught MentalTimeTravel, it's hard to tell), he takes the blame for the assassination to allow her to escape the Earth on the Ark, and he willingly subjects himself to the Sensorama knowing it will kill him.]]

** It's heavily implied Slowslop may have the same color of eyes, or at least some type of supernatural eyes, because he tries to make sure absolutely no one sees him without his sunglasses on, and he definitely has ''some'' connection to the boy and the Xenium, although whether he is one of them or some other species of HumanoidAbomination is never stated for sure.

* HiddenEyes: Most of the time, Slowslop's eyes are covered up by his sunglasses, but for the few times you can see his eyes beneath, either from close-ups of him or an image in the art book depicting him wearing a gas mask without his shades, the area where they should be are just shadowy recesses in his face.

* AerithAndBob: Relatively ordinary, if uncommon names like Constantine Wallace and Charles Reif are in the same game as characters named Theodore Slowslop and Horselover Frost, the later possibly being a ShoutOut to a character created by Creator/PhilipKDick called [[Literature/{{Valis}} Horselover Fat]].

* MindScrewdriver: The art book ''Inside Out with Gadget'' expands on the context for a lot of the weird imagery seen later in ''Past As Future'' such as explaining the boy being seen in the hospital and where the ores that power the titular gadgets came from, but whether it was intended to be a prequel that's supposed to completely explain ''Past As Future'' or was simply another variation on the game's story like ''The Third Force'' is unclear, especially since some plot points in the art book [[spoiler: such as Horselover Frost being an InventedIndividual and Orlovsky eventually being assassinated]] aren't brought up at all in the later game. ''Inside Out with Gadget'' can have a lot of MindScrew in itself because of it's fragmented storytelling, but fortunately, the inside of the cover for the Laserdisc version of ''Gadget Trips: Mindscapes'' (which is essentially just an AnimatedAdaptation of the art book) includes a full summary of the movie/book's plot, even vaguely explaining the GainaxEnding.

* FeaturelessProtagonist: Nothing whatsoever is revealed about the player character, other than that they're a secret agent working for Slowslop. (Although this is probably just what they've been brainwashed into believing by the sensorama). The tie-in material, though, offers his name as: "Louis Hausmann", and his blue eyes as seen throughout the movie ''Mindscapes'' can be seen on the title screen, which is the closest he comes to physically being seen in the game.

* ColdBloodedTorture: At one point in ''Inside Out With Gadget'', Slowslop orders one of the scientists, Charles Reif, to be kept in one of the rooms in the West End Hotel where he is isolated, beaten, and starved for three months so that he will create a new version of the Sensorama that will brainwash dissidents. After it is done, Reif writes to Frost about his [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regret in his part]], but that his will was so broken by the experience he can't even bring himself to commit suicide.

* FeaturelessProtagonist: Nothing whatsoever is revealed about the player character, other than that they're a secret agent working for Slowslop. (Although this is probably just what they've been brainwashed into believing by the sensorama). The tie-in material, though, offers their name as: "Louis Hausmann".

* HumanoidAbomination: Slowslop is very much this. He orchestrated the scientists' pursuit into building the Empire's xenium-based technology, and collected clusters of Xenium for his own ends. [[spoiler: When Louis and Elena frame him for murdering Orlovsky, he ''[[SpontaneousHumanCombustion explodes]]'' under the Sensorama's rays, disintegrating several guards and leaving nothing but another Xenium shard behind.]]

* ShadowDictator: Paulo Orlovsky, who views the scientists as terrorists and tries to suppress the news of the incoming comet. He also has a [[PsychoticSmirk creepy smirk]] whenever you see him.

* PosthumousCharacter: Possibly, assuming ''Inside Out With Gadget'' is supposed to tie directly into ''Past As Future.'' [[spoiler: Although the dictator Paulo Orlovsky is spoken of as if he's still alive, the art book has him found dead in a bathroom of the hotel before the events of the game, meaning his few appearances in the game are likely flashbacks, and him being referred to in the present tense could indicate the Empire's government not wanting news of his death to go public, though no mention is made of any murder in the game itself. In a different scenario than Marc Laidlaw's book, Slowslop is accused of being the murderer and is put before the Sensorama, and unlike that book he does not die, being eventually let go, but since Louis Hausmann doesn't seem to have anything to do with it in this case, Slowslop is the most likely culprit.]]

* PosthumousCharacter: Possibly, assuming ''Inside Out With Gadget'' is supposed to tie directly into ''Past As Future.'' [[spoiler: Although the dictator Paulo Orlovsky is spoken of as if he's still alive, the art book has him found dead in a bathroom of the hotel before the events of the game, meaning his few appearances in the game are likely flashbacks, and him being referred to in the present tense could indicate the Empire's government not wanting news of his death to go public, though no mention is made of any murder in the game itself. In a different scenario than Marc Laidlaw's book, Slowslop is accused of being the murderer and is put before the Sensorama, though unlike that book he does not die and is eventually let go, but since neither Louis Hausmann doesn't seem to have anything to do with it in this case, Slowslop is the most likely culprit.]]

The series went into dormancy for over ten years until a port for the iPhone and iPad was released in 2011 called ''iGadget'' that touted the involvement of Haruhiko Shono and appears to have been a simple graphical update while keeping the rest of the game intact; however, for reasons unknown the ports were taken down shortly afterwards and are now lost media, leaving only a promo trailer on Youtube and a few screenshots that have survived on internet archives as evidence of their existence (as of this writing). Fortunately, the original two games can still be emulated, and the tie-in media can still be found.

* MoralityPet: In contrast to Orlovsky's perverted desire to wed Elena, Slowslop's affection for her seems more noble, and born out of genuinely seeing her as a remarkable human being. He regretted letting Orlovsky attempt to propose to Elena years ago, and ever since then he has endeavored to keep her out of danger and Orlovsky's reach. However, it is possibly hinted throughout the book that Slowslop's feelings for Elena are perhaps not out of fatherly affection, but that he may [[NotSoAboveItAll also harbor similar desires to Orlovsky]], such as a scene where he projects his consciousness into a book Elena is reading which he seems ''too'' pleased about. If that is meant to be the case, then at least Slowslop [[EvenEvilHasStandards doesn't try taking advantage of her]]. Elena, for her part, regards Slowslop with dread, seeing him as nothing more than Orlovsky's right-hand man. [[spoiler: Near the end, after Slowslop caught Elena killing Orlovsky, he takes the blame for the assassination to allow her to escape the Earth on the Ark, and he willingly subjects himself to the Sensorama knowing it will kill him.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Louis and Elena fly the Ark to the Republic's tower and flee Earth on the big spaceship with the scientists, but everyone else perishes when the comet hits.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Louis and Elena fly the Ark to the big spaceship and flee Earth with the scientists, but everyone else perishes when the comet hits.]]

* LivingBattery: Late into the novel, Elena reveals that every ounce of Xenium ore is sentient to a degree, including the incoming comet.

* TheReveal: ''Invention, Travel, and Adventure'' and ''Past as Future'' tell mostly the same story, with the latter expanding on the story with added dialogue and more cutscenes that turn the MindScrew up to Eleven, but there is one key difference in the ending: [[spoiler: In a rare actual explanation for what goes on, ''Invention, Travel and Adventure'' has Slowslop outright state to the player that he was the boy who switched suitcases with them and has appeared throughout the game in order to get the player to cooperate, and afterwards Slowslop transforms into the boy and disappears. ''Past as Future'' removes this scene and leaves both the boy and Slowslop's true identity a mystery, although players could still potentially speculate that they are one and the same if they wish. Since no future ''Gadget'' media draws such a direct connection between Slowslop and the boy (though ''The Third Force'' has them know what the other really is), one must wonder if the writers removed the twist specifically because it revealed too much outright.]]

* MoralityPet: In contrast to Orlovsky's perverted desire to wed Elena, Slowslop's affection for her seems more noble, and born out of genuinely seeing her as a remarkable human being. He regretted letting Orlovsky attempt to propose to Elena years ago, and ever since then he has endeavored to keep her out of danger and Orlovsky's reach. However, it is possibly hinted throughout the book that Slowslop's feelings for Elena are perhaps not out of fatherly affection, but that he may [[NotSoAboveItAll also harbor similar desires to Orlovsky]], such as a scene where he projects his consciousness into a book Elena is reading which he seems ''too'' pleased about. If that is meant to be the case, then at least Slowslop [[EvenEvilHasStandards doesn't try taking advantage of her]]. Elena, for her part, regards Slowslop with dread, seeing him as nothing more than Orlovsky's right-hand man. [[spoiler: Near the end, after Slowslop caught Elena killing Orlovsky, he takes the blame for the assassination to allow Elena to escape the Earth on the Ark, and he willingly subjects himself to the Sensorama knowing it will kill him, hoping he gave Elena a chance at survival.]]

* MoralityPet: In contrast to Orlovsky's perverted desire to wed Elena, Slowslop's affection for her seems more noble, and born out of genuinely seeing her as a remarkable human being. He regretted letting Orlovsky attempt to propose Elena years ago, and ever since then he has endeavored to keep her out of danger and Orlovsky's reach. However, it is possibly hinted throughout the book that Slowslop's feelings for Elena are perhaps not out of fatherly affection, but that he may [[NotSoAboveItAll also harbor similar desires to Orlovsky]], such as a scene where he projects his consciousness into a book Elena is reading which he seems ''too'' pleased about. If that is meant to be the case, then at least Slowslop [[EvenEvilHasStandards doesn't try taking advantage of her]]. Elena, for her part, regards Slowslop with dread, seeing him as nothing more than Orlovsky's right-hand man. [[spoiler: Near the end, after Slowslop caught Elena killing Orlovsky, he takes the blame for the assassination to allow Elena to escape the Earth on the Ark, and he willingly subjects himself to the Sensorama knowing it will kill him, hoping he gave Elena a chance at survival.]]

* AstralProjection: In one scene, Slowslop grabs onto a piece of raw Xenium and effortlessly moves through a wall, allowing him to listen in on Orlovsky in his room next door. [[spoiler: The boy is heavily implied to be capable of this as well, and doesn't stop appearing until Slowslop gives him his own Xenium shard.]]