History VideoGame / TheSuffering

** Blackmore in the second game, Dr. Killjoy in both. Though whether or not Killjoy is evil or just crazy is a matter up to debate...

* AffablyEvil: Blackmore in the second game, Dr. Killjoy in both. Though whether or not Killjoy is evil or just crazy is a matter up to debate...

--> '''Blackmore: Many people who hear the name Blackmore think I look like you, because I AM you.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Torque was barefoot in the first game, having taken off his shoes shortly after entering his cell.

*** The phone mechanic returns in ''Ties That Bind'', and more than half of Blackmore's lines through them are lyrics to various heavy metal songs.
The Slayers bear strong resemblance to the Cenobites from ''Franchise/{{Hellraiser}}'', and the Mainliners aren't far behind them.

* AbominableAuditorium: Early in ''Ties That Bind,'' Torque is led into the Grand Theater, a derelict cinema in the slums of Baltimore. It was obviously in pretty bad shape even before the Malefactors took over the city: the place is littered with rubbish, the seats have been removed from the theater itself, and it's obviously been converted into a den for homeless drug addicts - most of whom have been butchered in the last few hours. Dr Killjoy uses this place as a briefing room for Torque, keeping it relatively safe... up until Blackmore appears and sends in the Malefactors to make Torque manifest his rage form again.

---> '''Correctional Officer''': I have seen the unspeakable, and I won't be at its mercy any [[DriventoSuicide more]].

** The premise of the game is one big metaphor for [[HadToComeToPrisonToBeACrook criminal recidivism]], especially Torque chooses the good morality choices.
*** [[spoiler: If the player chooses the "good" choices, Torque is revealed to have been framed and his rescuer tells him that he has a chance of a retrial so he can clear his name because the prosecutor is being indicted. If the player gets the bad ending, Torque becomes a monster who kills his rescuer before running away into the woods.]]
*** [[spoiler: Horace Gauge, one of the ghosts of Carnate Island, blames the justice system for his wife's death because they chose to send him to a prison full of people who were far worse than him, rather than help rehabilitate him (even stating that he was imprisoned over an assault charge that was implied to have been done in self-defense given how much he insists that he would kill a man out of love for his wife). The failure of the justice system caused him to snap from fear and believe his wife will die without his protection.]]
----> '''Horace Gauge''': I can't even remember what I was in here for, beatin' up some guy, whatever. I got screwed by the system. Fuck 'em, they fucked my life, they're as responsible for my old lady's dyin' as I am. Nobody wants the whole story, just lock 'em up, throw away the key, see ya next life. I just wanted to keep her safe. I couldn't protect her while I was on the inside.
*** [[spoiler: The release of the Malefactors is a visual metaphor for this, as they were released when a person of true moral conflict comes into a place of pure evil, which includes sending an innocent man to an extremely dangerous, maximum-security prison called Abbott State Penitentiary.]]

* GameBreakingBug: The Final Boss in Ties that Bind requires insanity mode to damage, there's a bug where the game will fail to respawn enemies mid-fight, not allowing you to actually beat him.

** It's implied that any place that has enough evil in its past can become this sort of malevolent Genius Loci, and begin spawning Malefactors representing the sins that brought it to this state. It's further implied that everywhere actually has enough evil for this — you just have to look to discover it.

** The Head C.O. and Ernesto are two noteworthy examples as they become Torque's allies out of necessity rather than liking you personally, but they can develop a grudging respect towards you if you help them. With all the monsters infesting the island, even they know they can't be picky with their allies.

** In the first game, Torque can dual wield revolvers, the manual lampshades the impracticality of it by pointing out that while doing this may look cool, it makes you less accurate. That said, some things are big enough that you don't need good aim.
** ''Ties That Bind'', expands Torque's arsenal and gives him more firearms to dual wield (mostly small arms or handgun-sized guns). Torque even has a unique pickup animations when picking up a similar gun to the one he already had.

* KarmaMeter: Torque always carries a photograph of his family with him. How filthy or clean the photograph is serves as your guide on whether or not you actually killed them.

* KnightTemplar: Hargrave in the first game. He considers everything that's happening around him as the sign of the endtimes, and that he is a beacon of justice to pass judgment upon all prisoners.

* LethalJokeItem: The first game has the hidden weapon, the Gonzogun. Its a chicken (and a shoutout to ''The Muppets'') It shoots eggs out its rear. Its also ridiculously broken, able to take down most enemies in one or two shots. Only downside is the incredibly limited ammo.
* LovecraftLite: [[HumanoidAbomination Eldritch embodiments of man's inhumanity to man]] wrecking havoc on the darkest, most horror-ridden structures and settlements of man? Check. The opportunity to lay waste to them with machine guns and grenades? Check.
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:It's implied that Dr. Killjoy is in someway related to Torque, as he mentions knowing Torque's mother. There's also a painting of Killjoy in the Asylum where Killjoy is the spitting image of Torque.]]
* MadDoctor: Dr. Killjoy has an absolutely abysmal patient survival rate, and has... questionable... methods at his disposal. Subverted, however, in that Killjoy has only your best interests at heart and genuinely wants you to be cured. He even scolds you if you make evil decisions.

** Dr. Killjoy, Horace, and Hermes are all definitely real. It's more ambiguous whether Torque brought the ghosts of his family with him to Carnate, or if their appearance is Torque working through his grief...and possible guilt.

** [[spoiler:In the Good Ending, the guy who comes to rescue Torque from the island tells him the prosecutor at his trial for triple murder was found to be corrupt and that said prosecutor's cases were going to be up for review]].

** In the first game, there's a shower room where you can notice a bar of soap on the floor... With some blood.

* TooDumbToLive: The Coast Guardsman who comes to rescue Torque at the end of the first game. Despite being sent to rescue inmates from the worst prison in America, he isn't armed and doesn't have any police backup, apparently just hoping his threat that the police are waiting on the mainland will be enough to hold off murderers and rapists. In the neutral ending, he even let's Torque stand behind him, with the heavily armed Torque immediately knocking him out and stealing his boat to escape the authorities.

* WhiteShirtOfDeath: Torque's [[MeaningfulName wife-beater]] gets completely saturated in blood. Rarely his own. It even spontaneously cleans itself after a half-minute of non-violence. Which is rare.

** The premise of the game is one big metaphor for [[HadToComeToPrisonToBeACrook criminal recidivism]], especially Torgue chooses the good morality choices.
*** [[spoiler: If the player chooses the "good" choices, Torgue is revealed to have been framed and his rescuer tells him that he has a chance of a retrial so he can clear his name because the prosecutor is being indicted. If the player gets the bad ending, Torgue becomes a monster who kills his rescuer before running away into the woods.]]

* AnAxeToGrind: Torque can find an axe to replace his shiv in the first game. It does three times the damage and knocks down whatever it hits, in addition to significant knockback on the smaller enemies. As a tradeoff, it swings slower, preventing you from just charging in like with the shiv. As long as you can time your first hit right, though, its knockdown effect will instantly paralyze anything it hits. Each hit counts as another knockdown, so anything hit by it is staying down until they die or you stop. The rat-filled slavers are immune to both the knockback and the knockdown, but it stuns them and kills them in three hits anyway. The only things that are not vulnerable to it are the Infernas (can't be knocked down and on fire), exploding rats (too small and fast), and bosses.

** You have the option to do this once in the first game. Doing so nets you good points on the KarmaMeter.

* ArcVillain: The game has various antagonistic characters for certain sections of the game, such as Dr. Killjoy, Hermes, and Hargrave.

** The premise of the game is one big metaphor for [[HadToComeToPrisonToBeACrook criminal recidivism]], especially Torgue chooses the good morality choices. [[spoiler: If the player chooses the "good" ending, Torgue is revealed to have been framed and his rescuer tells him that he has a chance of a retrial so he can clear his name. Horace Gauge, one of the ghosts of Carnate Island, blames the justice system for his wife's death because they chose to send him to a prison full of people who were far worse than him, rather than help rehabilitate him (even stating that he was imprisoned over an assault charge that was presumably done in self-defense). The failure of the justice system caused him to snap from fear and believe his wife will die without his protection. The release of the Malefactors is a visual metaphor for this, as they were released when a person of true moral conflict comes into a place of pure evil, which includes sending an innocent man to an extremely dangerous, maximum-security prison called Abbott State Penitentiary.]]
---> '''Horace Gauge''': I can't even remember what I was in here for, beatin' up some guy, whatever. I got screwed by the system. Fuck 'em, they fucked my life, they're as responsible for my old lady's dyin' as I am. Nobody wants the whole story, just lock 'em up, throw away the key, see ya next life. I just wanted to keep her safe. I couldn't protect her while I was on the inside.

** The premise of the game is one big metaphor for [[HadToComeToPrisonToBeACrook criminal recidivism]], especially Torgue chooses the good morality choices. [[spoiler: If the player chooses the "good" ending, Torgue is revealed to have been framed and his rescuer tells him that he has a chance of a retrial so he can clear his name. Horace Gauge, one of the ghosts of Carnate Island, blames the justice system for his girlfriend's death because they chose to send him to a prison full of people who were far worse than him, rather than help rehabilitate him (even stating that he was imprisoned over an assault charge that was presumably done in self-defense). The failure of the justice system caused him to snap from fear and believe his girlfriend will die without his protection. The release of the Malefactors is a visual metaphor for this, as they were released when a person of true moral conflict comes into a place of pure evil, which includes sending an innocent man to an extremely dangerous, maximum-security prison called Abbott State Penitentiary.]]

* ClusterFBomb: The first game uses all SevenDirtyWords '''''[[UpToEleven in the opening cutscene.]]''''' And it only gets ''more'' profane from there!

* CosmicHorrorStory: Dialogue from a CO in the first game invokes this, as he details how desperately he tried to search for any sort of answer as to what's happening but ultimately finds [[TheUnReveal nothing]]. He ultimately blows his head off, the gunshot corresponding to that of the in-game shotgun. Torque later finds a CO with his head missing, next to a radio and a shotgun, implying this to be the same guard.

* CosmicHorrorStory: Dialogue from a CO in the first game invokes this, as he details how desperately he tried to search for any sort of answer as to what's happening but ultimately finds [[TheUnReveal nothing]]. He ultimately blows his head off, the gunshot corresponding to that of the in-game shotgun. Torque later finds a CO with his head blown off, next to a radio and a shotgun, implying this to be the same guard.

** In the first game, Torque can dual wield the revolvers, the manual lampshades the impracticality of it while doing this may look cool, it makes you less accurate. That said, some things are big enough that you don't need good aim.
** The sequel gives Torque more firearms to dual wield (mostly handgun or small arms-sized guns), Torque even has a unique pickup animation where he looks at his newly acquired extra gun before pulling out the one he already had. Looking fondly at his extra firepower before going back to his idle stance.

* GunsAkimbo: Lampshaded. The manual mentions that while doing this may look cool, it makes you less accurate. That said, some things are big enough that you don't need good aim.

** The Burrower represents being burried alive.

* SinisterShiv: Torque's first weapon in the first game is a shiv which he grabbed from the corpse of a fellow inmate, very fitting considering the setting.

* SouthernFriedGenius: Clem in the first game. Not only did he write documents on all the Malefactors, but you can tell from the get-go he's a right-up smarty-pants. [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness "Feast upon petroleum, troglodyte!"]]

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: The Slayers bear strong resemblance to the Cenobites from ''Franchise/{{Hellraiser}}'', and the Mainliners aren't far behind them.

* LeftHanging: [[spoiler:Dr. Killjoy reveals near the end of the second game that he knew Torque's mother, but this isn't followed up on. It's also implied that there's something special about Ranse Truman, but we don't find out what.]]

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: It's not quite clear whether or not Torque actually transforms into a creature while in berserk mode. Dr. Killjoy's analysis in the first game says that he doesn't, it's merely a combination of Torque's rage and imagination. However, NPC comments in both games imply that Torque really does transform into ''something''.

* ShoutOut: Usually, picking up a phone when it's not ringing does nothing. If you happen to pick up one phone late in the game, though, a girl informs you that [[Literature/TheRing you will die in seven days.]]

* SurvivalHorror: Very much so, although its action elements are strong too, making for a highly cathartic gameplay experience.
** One of the developers has argued that it's "action horror," lacking survival horror's "[[http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2110/postmortem_the_game_design_of_.php long cut-scenes, frail central characters, clumsy controls, fixed camera angles, and sparse ammo]]."