History VideoGame / ProfessorLaytonAndTheLastSpecter

** The one in the hat is actually dismissed because he is too tall to fit into the armor.

* ConvictionByContradiction: One puzzle is about figuring out which of four teens wore a harness and dented the helmet. One of them is dismissed as a suspect because he wears a hat, and thus could not get into the harness. The guilty teen is the one covering a bump on his head.

* ChekhovsLocation: You can check up the steam car factory and learn about some of its background very early on, but its importance to the storyline is only made clear later.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

Known as ''Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call'' in the UK and ''Professor Layton and the Specter's Flute'' in Japan, this is the fourth game in the ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' WidgetSeries, and the first in the prequel trilogy.

* OverTheShoulderCarry: [[spoiler: Jakes does this to Arianna when he "arrests" her as the supposed mastermind behind the Specter's rampages throughout the town, which makes it even more obvious that this is essentially a kidnapping, not a sincere effort at upholding the law.]]

* AndYourRewardIsClothes: Many quests.
* AndYourRewardIsInteriorDecorating: Many other quests.

* RegionalBonus: Both played slightly straight (for North America) and horribly inverted (for Europe). Though the game was included with the Japanese version, ''Professor Layton's London Life'' required clearing the game to play; it's unlocked from the very start in the North American version. However, the game is [[NoExportForYou completely removed from the European version]] - even the English-speaking ones, for, you know, the ''people who actually live in London.''
** The game is, however, included in the Australian release, just like the American one.

* AsYouKnow: In the department store, the receptionist explains that the floor numbers follow the English system of the bottom being the "Ground Floor" and the "First Floor" being the next one up; and that this is different from America where the bottom one is the "First Floor". She then wonders why she's telling you this, as everyone in Little London is English anyway. Oddly, she refers to it as an elevator in this speech, rather than a lift.
** This is especially and cruelly ironic considering that ''London Life'' was replaced by multi-lingual support in the EU release (yay...), thus making US/JP import of the main game the only way any Brits could actually actually play ''London Life.''
* BackdoorPilot: ''London Life'' is really this to Creator/Level5's upcoming ''Fantasy Life'', which, based on the descriptions thus far, will play almost identically.

* CoolPet: Like the parrot in ''Unwound Future'', the fish you get happens to be a Misthallery-exclusive species and shows you the way to hint coins. [[spoiler:There's also Luke's mouse companion Toppy, and the Barde kids have ''a freaking dinosaur''.]]

* IllGirl: Arianna suffers from SoapOperaDisease and doesn't have long to live. [[spoiler:After discovering the majestic Golden Garden, her illness ceases to exist one year later, thanks to the unpolluted air that was sealed inside.]]

* StreetSmart: The children populating the market. [[spoiler:It's taken UpToEleven once Layton finds out they also run a BlackMarket]].

* VendorTrash: Bruno will buy anything (except items vital to completing the main storyline) that you don't want to keep, including picked flowers and caught fish. Conversely, many of the 'worthless' items he sells - such as the Broken Compass - are actually sought by other characters and form the basis of quests. Laurel, another shopkeeper, won't buy things from you but sells a few other 'worthless' items that you also need to buy for quests.

* {{Expy}}: Jakes's son slightly resembles [[TheSimpsons Homer Simpson]], except a bit fatter...

* CityOfCanals: Misthallery itself.

* DirtyOldMan: Clarence qualifies for this.

* TheFagin: [[spoiler: Crow is sort of one, except he's the same age as the rest of the kids.]]

* FatBastard: Jakes and his son.

* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: All right, [[spoiler: Arianna]], let's hear the truth about what's going o-wait a minute, [[spoiler: why is there a dinosaur in your lake?!]]

* {{Heartwarming Orphan}}s: Arianna and Tony. A flashback shows Arianna being devastated by their father's death.

* LaughingMad: [[spoiler: Jakes]] pulls this out rather fast after meeting him. Also Brock, who you meet early-game after his house blows up.

* ScoobyDoobyDoors: The Black Raven pulls this off while being chased through the marketplace alleys, much to Layton's consternation. [[spoiler: Justified, as it's later revealed that there were multiple Black Ravens present.]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** One optional conversation with townsfolk has him commenting that "when you assume, bad things happen to you and me", a cleaned-up version of a mildly crude pun.[[note]]The normal pun is that when you assume, you make an ''ass'' out of ''u'' and ''me''.[[/note]]
** Emmy eyes Aunt Taffy's candy for much of the game, to the point that Taffy accuses her of [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything unwrapping her candy]] [[EatingTheEyeCandy with her eyes]].

** That [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime flute]] looks rather familiar as well... [[note]]When compared to Saria's Ocarina, not the actual Ocarina of Time itself.[[/note]]

* MacGuffin: The Specter's Flute. [[spoiler:It doubles up as a MementoMacGuffin that Arianna's father left behind after getting it from the BlackMarket.]]

* HomoeroticSubtext: In the episode "The Tourist", Maggie repeatedly teases Otaki-san and insists that they go back to London together, sidling up to her. Even Sean says, "You guys are weird."

Please place series-spanning tropes on the main ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' page, and ''London Life''-specific tropes in its respective section at the bottom.

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* AssholeVictim: Downplayed. Evan Barde, Arriana and Tony's father although loving to his children seems to earn the ire of many residents of Misthallery who used to be his tenants by charging them exorbitant rates for rent which made them cheered for his accidental death from a fall which however caused Arriana to develop resentment towards them.

* BigBrotherInstinct: {{Inverted|Trope}} with Tony, who is very protective of his older sister .[[spoiler:He spreads the rumors of the 'calamity witch' by painting a 'witch's mark' on the homes of anyone who speaks ill of Arianna. The homes bearing the mark are then destroyed. This leads the people to believe that speaking ill of the 'calamity witch' will bring ruin upon them. Of course, it also leads Arianna herself to believe that she really is a witch]].

** In the cutscene where [[spoiler:Loosha and the other kids break open the floodgates,]] you hear [[spoiler:the title screen theme from ''Diabolical Box''!]]

* ConvenientlyEmptyBuildings: Thanks to Luke getting messages out to the townspeople through Doland, no one is injured. [[spoiler:But it turns out that Luke wasn't always right and 'Doland' evacuated the people to prevent them from realizing the specter's identity]].
* CoolPet: Like the parrot in ''Unwound Future'', the fish you get happens to be a Misthallery-exclusive species and shows you the way to hint coins. [[spoiler:There's also Luke's mouse companion Toppy, and the Barde kids have ''a freaking dinosaur'']].

* CrossDressingVoice: The Bardes' old gardener sure does have a rather ''feminine'' voice for his age... [[spoiler:It's then justified after Tony takes off the costume]].

** The episodes that are unlocked show little scenes involving daily characters during, before, and after the main story is taken place. If you get all the puzzles you get the last one [[spoiler: which reveals Chelmey's past and why he's so dedicated to his job.]] This is also the only way of seeing [[spoiler:how Emmy and Layton met each other]].

* {{Fangirl}}: Hanna is one for Inspector Groskey. An episode shows that she was completely upset about where her life was going to until Groskey came in attacking a local thug; cue love at first sight.

** In a sort of retroactive (unless you hacked the game, or [[MarthDebutedInSmashBros live in Europe]]) foreshadowing, the Hidden Door in this game that opens with a password from ''Miracle Mask'' includes concept art for ''Eternal Diva''.

* ForgingTheWill: Chief Constable Levin 'Third Eye' Jakes changes Mr Barde's, (the primary landowner of the town), will to leave the majority of Misthallery to Mayor Triton, Barde's only friend, as part of Jakes' plan with Descole to become Mayor and find the [[LandmarkOfLore Golden Garden.]]
* GetOnTheBoat: Bucky is an avid boat owner that takes you anywhere in Misthallery that's close to a river. It's FridgeLogic once you realize his services extend to the old bridges to the town and market that are clearly not very close to the river down below... Lampshaded when Layton and Emmy comment on how unlikely each new location is.

* IllGirl: Arianna suffers from SoapOperaDisease and doesn't have long to live. [[spoiler:After discovering the majestic Golden Garden, her illness ceases to exist one year later thanks to the unpolluted air that was sealed inside.]]

* MagicMusic: The Specter's Flute is said to call the specter to protect the city. However, seeing as how said specter is ''destroying'' the city it's supposed to protect, the music is deadly. [[spoiler:This stills holds true, somewhat. The music helps to calm Loosha so that she doesn't go to fight the "specter" everyone is so afraid of]].

-->Unnhh...braaaaains... Or at least some tea, please.

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** The boxes that pop out when you find a collection looks like [[SuperMarioBros "?" boxes]].

* MarathonLevel: Puzzle 170 is two sliding block puzzles in one. Sliding block puzzles in general take a while, and both of these involve moving not one but two blocks to two goals. There is no intermission between the two, either, and there are no hints for the second half. To say nothing about how both of these would alone be the two most difficult puzzles in the series ''separately''.

* SpeakIllOfTheDead: Barde was never very popular, and when he died the townspeople had no problem with commenting on how he had it coming, right in front of his body and his grieving daughter. Small wonder Arianna became a recluse after that.

* UnexpectedInheritance: For some unknown reason, Barde bequeathed ownership of Misthallery not to his children, but to Clark. [[spoiler: Subverted; Descole had Jakes alter the will as part of his master plan.]]
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Arianna, before her father's death. When she heard the townspeople muttering about how glad they were to be rid of him and how he deserved what he got, she developed a powerful resentment and isolated herself on the family estate.
* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler:Clark's adoration for his family is exploited by Descole and his cronies, and so he remains silent to prevent the bad guys from hurting his family on the spot.]]

* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: The town's called "Little London" in the NA localization. There's also references to the "Tiny Thames", "Reduced Rome", and "Big Britain".

** This is especially and cruelly ironic considering that London Life was replaced by multi-lingual support in the EU release (yay...), thus making US/JP import of the main game the only way any Brits could actually actually play London Life.

%%* CloudCuckooLander: Puzzlette, still.

* FelonyMisdemeanor: Trying to pick the flowers outside the house Puzzlette stands in front of is a harmless example:

%%* FetchQuest
%%* FishingMinigame

* [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice]]: In the main story, [[spoiler:Flora and Lady Dahlia are prepared to sacrifice themselves in order to prevent TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.]] Fortunately, Layton figures out what really needs to be done and stops this from happening - with the player's help, of course.

* LuckBasedMission: Fishing and Flower-Picking. You may find yourself screaming at the game for the amount of Not!fish and hazards that can occur while fishing (such as losing your fish or your line snapping), or for things like getting stung by a bee. If you chose "Child at Heart" for your character trait, it's even worse.

* RainbowSpeak: Most speech appears as white text on a black background. However, if a character speaks to you in [[color:red:red text]], your happiness will drop - and the longer their speech, or the more angry they are, the more it will reduce your happiness. Conversely, if a character speaks to you in [[color:green:green text]], your happiness will be restored. You have absolutely no control over how they will speak to you, and of course each quest can only be resolved in one way. The most you can do to protect yourself is to avoid speaking to members of [[TheFamilyForTheWholeFamily the Family]] except when required to do so by a quest.

* TwentyBearAsses: Several quests, usually those involving fishing or flower picking.

** In the cutscene where [[spoiler:Loosha and the other kids break open the floodgates,]] you hear [[spoiler:the title screen theme from Diabolical Box!]]

* CrossDressingVoice: The Bardes' old gardener SURE does have a rather feminine voice for being quite old... [[spoiler:It's then justified after Tony takes off the costume]].

Please place series-spanning tropes on the main ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' page, and London Life-specific tropes in its respective section at the bottom.

* HundredPercentCompletion: Throughout the game you will build a "collection", little odds and ends you acquire by accomplishing puzzles or just clicking on random hiding places, in a manner reminiscent of the previous games' GottaCatchEmAll minigames. The difference here is that completing your collection of more than 20 items achieves absolutely nothing...except this trope.

* BigBrotherInstinct: {{Inverted|Trope}} with Tony, who is very protective of his older sister [[spoiler:so he spreads the rumors of the 'calamity witch' by painting a 'witch's mark' on the homes of anyone who speaks ill of Arianna. The homes bearing the mark are then destroyed. This leads the people to believe that speaking ill of the 'calamity witch' will bring ruin upon them. Of course, it also leads Arianna herself to believe that she really is a witch]].

* HomoeroticSubtext: In the episode "The Tourist", Maggie repeatedly teases Otaki-san and insists that they go back to London together, sidling up to her. Even Sean says "you guys are weird."

* LatexPerfection: [[spoiler:The scene in which Descole unveils his disguise is actually a cutscene, but staged in such a way that the viewer can't see how the disguise could have been applied. Which some must be curious about, since Descole and Doland have completely different body types.]]

Known as ''Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call'' in the UK and ''Professor Layton and the Specter's Flute'' in Japan, this is the fourth game in the ''Franchise/ProfessorLayton'' WidgetSeries, and the first in the prequel trilogy.

Please place series-spanning tropes on the main ''Franchise/ProfessorLayton'' page, and London Life-specific tropes in its respective section at the bottom.

* ADayInTheLimelight:
** Compared to the other chapters where Professor Layton is the main character, Chapter 6 has you controlling Emmy, who has gone to London to retrieve some information. You later switch back to Luke and Layton to see what they're doing while Emmy is in London.
** The episodes that are unlocked show little scenes involving daily characters during, before, and after the main story is taken place. If you get all the puzzles you get the last one [[spoiler: which reveals Chelmey's past and why he's so dedicated to his job.]] This is also the only way of seeing [[spoiler:how Emmy and Layton met each other]].

* BackdoorPilot: ''London Life'' is really this to {{Level 5}}'s upcoming ''Fantasy Life'', which, based on the descriptions thus far, will play almost identically.

* YouHave48Hours: Jakes gives Layton and Emmy 24 hours to pack up and leave town, then sends some goons to "encourage" them to hurry it up almost immediately afterward. Fortunately, Emmy is more than capable enough to fend them off. [[spoiler:He then has them arrested at the next specter attack]].