History VideoGame / Morpheus

* BravingTheBlizzard: Matthew Holmes ends up doing this in the introduction while trying to find his father, knowing he might die from hypothermia soon. Then the storm lets up, ''Herculania'' finally appears.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: Jan's family is this. His mother Belle, and supposed father Leo cared only for their own selfish interests, leaving Jan to be bullied by his caretaker and roommate at the Goodman Home for Boys. Even Claire Moon, one of the few nicest members, had to cope with both polio and Belle's overbearing personality. [[Spoiler: Because of all this, Jan decided to [[AssholeVictim use them as fuel for his machine]], to heal Claire's disease in turn.]]

* AbusiveParents: Jan's family is ''chock full'' of abusive members. Even his caretaker and roommate weren't any better.

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: John Mahlerbe]] hung himself from the deck, in despair from the ramifications behind helping Jan.

* GoodiesInTheToilet: The key to Billy Mexler's locker in the ship's mud room turns up in a toilet...''after'' you see him throwing up into it.

* VomitDiscretionShot: Billy gets seasick and yacks into a toilet - and keeps dragging on his cigar while he's at it, but the camera angle and bluescreen overlay show no actual puke taking place.

* KickTheDog: Jan received this to no end during his lifetime, and Leo demonstrates this by coaxing Belle's dog into jumping overboard, all because it wouldn't stop biting his leg.

* MoralEventHorizon: When Jan decides to [[spoiler: subdue the ship's passengers to power the Neurographicon, showing no qualms about their lives whatsoever, and fully aware that the machine will [[GottaKillThemAll kill them]] since he won't revive them.]]

* GottaKillEmAll: Jan set about returning the guests to the Neurographicon, effectively rendering them dead without a revival period, and he roped Dr. Mahlerbe into helping him do it. By the time they were finished, J.C. Pharris found out.

* DreamLand: What you enter when using the Neurographicon.

* FeaturelessProtagonist: Matthew Holmes appears in person during the introductory cutscene, just barely holding together from the arctic cold. When the gameplay kicks in, he still speaks on occasion, but we never see his body.

* MysteriousAntarctica: Like in ''VideoGame/{{Penumbra}}'', the game takes place in Northern Greenland, as Jan had hijacked the ship into going there when J.C. Pharris had tried to turn it towards New York instead. The minute it ran aground, Pharris set out to find [[spoiler: Matthew's father]] in search of help.

* HowWeGotHere: A set of kinetoscopes in the ship's lobby describe the ship, its passengers, the neruographicon, and its inspiration. There's also a movie theater with a short newsreel from the time the ship set sail, including mention of [[spoiler: your father's expedition to cross the North Pole by hot-air balloon.]]

* PoweredByAForsakenChild: The Neurographicon gets its power from the death-like trances its subjects are placed in after receiving their blood samples. This power is then used to heal another person, and controlled by a final one. Ideally, it's designed to revive the subjects after use, but...[[spoiler: Jan]] had other motives.

* TheRoaringTwenties: The events on the ship happened in late 1928, though the game is set about 30 years later.

* VoiceoverLetter: Every journal or document in the game is narrated by the author.

* SchizoTech: ''Herculania'' is run by both solar and ''uranium'' power. And it's from 1928.

* GottaKillEmAll: In a twisted sense. Jan set about knocking out each of the guests and stuffing them into the Neurographicon so he could try healing Claire again, and he roped Dr. Mahlerbe into helping him do it. By the time they were finished, J.C. Pharris found out.

* ShellGame: Leo loses some cash when Billy challenges him to a shell game, played with cards.

* ArabianNightsDays: Belle Swan's dream world, based on the fact that she's an exotic dancer. However, during her first trial with the Neurogaphicon, she noticed that [[AndIMustScream she wasn't able to wake herself up]], at least until Jan turned it off himself.

* BodyHorror: [[spoiler: Reading John Mahlerbe's journal reveals that Jan's hideous deformities stem from the various herbal treatments he gave Jan while in the Goodman Home for Boys, many of them causing great pain as a side effect. To make things worse, John himself admits [[PlayingWithNeedles he really didn't know the pharmacology of what he was administering]]. And yet his ethics were still employed on ''Herculania.'']]

* BodyHorror: [[spoiler: Reading John Mahlerbe's journal reveals that Jan's hideous deformities stem from the various herbal treatments he gave Jan while in the Goodman Home for Boys, many of them causing great pain as a side effect. To make things worse, John himself admits he really didn't know the pharmacology of what he was administering. And yet his ethics were still employed on ''Herculania.'']]