History VideoGame / YuppiePsycho

* AndIMustScream: Those caught in the witch's curse at endgame. [[spoiler:Particularly Brian if he loses all five of his senses in the endgame.]]
** Inferred with [[spoiler:Rei after Domori used her magic to switch their bodies and then disappeared. Domori is mute and cannot speak, thus Rei in her body was unable to tell anyone what had happened or who she was before they burned her alive.]]
* AnimalMotifs: Certain key characters are associated with different animals. Hugo is associated with Frogs, Corvo is associated with raven (His name means "raven" in Italian), Sintra has a subtle snake theme, among others. [[spoiler:Brian doesn't have an animal motif, notably. Instead, he's associated with [[BigRedDevil The Devil]], donning the Devil costume to get into the 9th floor Gallery, as well as having his reflection change to this if you show Witch paper to the 5th floor washroom mirrors. This is especially weird since the Devil is the one who supposedly built the Sintra androids, with one head even referring to him as "Daddy" when he appears in front of her.]]

* BigBad: The Witch, of course, whose magical influence is turning the company into her personal menagerie. [[spoiler: As things progress, however, it becomes clear that it was the Witch's familiar, the Snake, who's really causing the problems in the company, and that the Witch is actually innocent.]]
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: Mr. Marshall, the head of Sintracorp employees' labor union, saves Brian just as the Witch is about to kill him in the elevator]].
* BittersweetEnding: The "Goodbye" Ending in the DLC is the most obvious example. [[spoiler:Brian, while possessed by Mr Devil, kills the Witch (Domori in Rei's body) despite the Snake pleading for her life. This frees the employees from the curse, many of whom are excited to actually see the outside world again. He and Sintra say goodbye as she steps into an ocean in the Sintranet, and the network shuts down.]]

* ConMan: Hugo. [[spoiler:It turns out that's not even his real name]].

* TheDeterminator: Brian. It's his first day at a job he knew nothing about coming in, and he makes it quite clear he doesn't want to be there. But as time goes on, he seems to be the main person if not the only one willing or able to try to continue to deal with the Witch. His co-workers are limited help and even Sintra stops caring at some point. Then at the endgame, everything goes wrong and he's given the opportunity to escape. The way to the GoldenEnding is [[spoiler:for him to keep trying regardless, and an interesting discussion takes place that even questions what drives him]].

* DrivenToSuicide: Sosa mentions that many people jump off the roof to escape the building, unable to handle the stress of the place in addition to the monsters within. [[spoiler:This becomes Hugo's fate in the main story path if you manage to thoroughly humiliate him by not only re-instating Rei as the CEO of Sintracorp, but also swiping the Athame Dagger from beneath his very nose]].

* EarnYourBadEnding: The Executive Edition introduces three new endings you can only get if you travel through the security side quest and learn some secrets about Hugo. To even get there in the first place, you have to complete Chapman’s side quest to get him promoted. But by taking this route, [[spoiler:you make a deal with the devil, kill Domori while possessed, and fail to save either of the Sintra sisters]].
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Sure, you can leave without completing your job. But the only way to get to a good ending is to keep at it. [[spoiler:The GoldenEnding takes it a step further, requiring the completion of a side quest to rescue all of Brian's coworkers before actually facing off with the Witch.]]
* EasyLevelTrick: Once the lategame starts, the player is mostly free to complete two separate objectives, as well as one optional one: [[spoiler:finding Hugo, rebuilding Sintra, and finding your friends. While rebuilding Sintra is straightforward, and Hugo is found in the top floor executive suite, one can make the optional task of locating your friends much easier by swiping Athame from under Hugo's watch by sneaking into his office and distracting him long enough to take it. Using the Athame instead of the plastic knife makes it so that you don't need to guess who is who when freeing a bound soul, allowing the player to complete the sidequest much quicker and easier.]]
** [[spoiler:The Forest Goblin offers special contracts if you bring him products that feature barcodes. These contracts will make you immune to poisonous gas and let you breathe underwater, making what would be the two most difficult levels of the game to navigate (one of which being the endgame) much easier.]]

** Once you use the Witch paper for ''anything'', and keep in mind these things are everywhere, your soul becomes bound to the company and keeps you inside the building forever. One of the first things Brian does as part of his initiation is use Witch paper to bind his soul to the building, thus trapping him there until he's legally let go. Which, considering there's no bosses ''and'' no CEO, is never. [[ButThouMust Unless he completes his contract...]]
** The first three floors are somewhat normal. The canteen on the first floor is normal, and the second floor residences are okay as well, but poorly-lit, packed with wandering workers, has a a strange initiation ceremony to be promoted, [[spoiler: and contains a massive pool of poisonous gas.]] Floor three is security and I.T, which are both normal.
** Floors four through six are where it gets weird. Floor four is the Hive, the basic work area for normal employees, but the place has completely deteriorated and is rotting. The lights are off, the workers have become feral husks of their former selves, Human Resources is ''literally staffed by monsters'' and [[spoiler: there's a roaming monstrous printer called the Dot Matrix that kills anything that moves.]] Most of the floor is also covered in a toxic gas [[spoiler: coming from the pool in the second floor.]] The fifth floor is a normal office space for higher-up employees and serves as your HubLevel, but contains a coworker who went mad and locked himself in Office D, where he went crazy and killed everyone. Floor six is off-limits.

** There's a very specific noise [[spoiler:Hugo makes whenever he appears wearing the Frog mask]], which indicates when he's fixing to do something horrible to try to sabotage you. [[spoiler:Or in the endgame, when he's nearby so you can try to avoid being seen]].

** There's an even deeper EasterEgg version of this. After getting ''all'' of the endings, [[spoiler:a new saved game will appear, apparently dated from 1972. If you load it, you'll see a brief scene that seems to show what happened to the souls of Xiu Yang, João Sintra, and Rei Sintra. If you load it a ''second'' time, you'll be attacked by one of the baby carriages from the Sintra house and dumped back to the main menu]].

** '''[[NonStandardGameOver Fired]]:''' Brian accepts [[spoiler:Hugo's dismissal letter. He leaves on the ride home, but has a vision of Rei's bell accessories as he falls asleep]].

* SurvivalHorror: The game is one of these, and is decidedly more oldschool about it. The game borrows heavily from ''Videogame/ResidentEvil'' in both layout and design, even taking the SaveToken mechanic straight from that game. Despite this, the game modernizes some aspects to ease up on backtracking: there are no item boxes (because Brian carries everything in his suitcase), and checkpoints are fairly plentiful. There's also no weaponry, though there are items that can temporarily distract certain bosses.

Today is Brian Pasternack's first day on the job at Sintracorp, one of the world's most prestigious and respected [[MegaCorp MegaCorps]]. Brian is quite a tad nervous, especially since his status as a Class G means that he's not exactly "wealthy" or "sophisticated" like the others at the company. But that's okay - with some help from his coworkers and a little bit of determination, Brian can easily tackle his first day on the job.

* BenevolentAI: Sintra. She serves as a task giver and offers guidance and information on what Brian needs to do next.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: [[spoiler:Hugo. There's a good reason everyone in the company hates him.]]

* ConMan: Hugo. [[spoiler:It turns out that's not even his real name.]]
* CooldownHug: What Brian gives to [[spoiler:Sintra/Rei after bringing her back to life and she starts to glitch uncontrollably from the trauma of her memories.]]

* CrystalPrison: [[spoiler:The actual witch, Domori is sealed in one of these by her snake familiar.]]
* DarkestHour: [[spoiler:The aftermath of Hugo's surprise party. The Witch now knows Brian is a Hunter, all of his friends have been taken by the Witch, Hugo is revealed to be in league with the Witch, Sintra is dead, Brian still hasn't found the Dagger (the only weapon that can hurt the Witch), and if you haven't completed the A.M. sidequest before the party, you still have no leads on the Witch's identity. Thankfully, the key Doshi gave Brian to the I.T. department's back room gives him the leads he needs to get his mission back on track.]]

* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:The aftermath of Hugo's surprise party. With your mission all but failed, loads of people murdered right in front of you, and all of your friends taken by the Witch and presumably dead or enthralled, and Hugo declared the new CEO who will certainly continue to enable the Witch's Curse, Brian gets the opportunity to [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere end his mission and flee to safety.]] Taking the opportunity nets you one of the MultipleEndings.]]
* TheDeterminator: Brian. It's his first day at a job he knew nothing about coming in, and he makes it quite clear he doesn't want to be there. But as time goes on, he seems to be the main person if not the only one willing or able to try to continue to deal with the Witch. His co-workers are limited help and even Sintra stops caring at some point. Then at the endgame, everything goes wrong and he's given the opportunity to escape. The way to the GoldenEnding is [[spoiler:for him to keep trying regardless, and an interesting discussion takes place that even questions what drives him.]]
* DisproportionateRetribution: After Brian manages to [[spoiler:steal the Athame]] and kickstart the alternate route, Hugo [[spoiler:steals the Athame back, leaves Brian and Kate unconscious and poisoned in the Witch's room despite Kate not being the one he was angry with, and even breaks Brian's glasses on top of everything else. All because of Brian "sabotaging his plans...and his birthday".]]

* DrivenToSuicide: Sosa mentions that many people jump off the roof to escape the building, unable to handle the stress of the place in addition to the monsters within. [[spoiler:This becomes Hugo's fate in the main story path if you manage to thoroughly humiliate him by not only re-instating Rei as the CEO of Sintracorp, but also swiping the Athame Dagger from beneath his very nose.]]

* EarnYourBadEnding: The Executive Edition introduces three new endings you can only get if you travel through the security side quest and learn some secrets about Hugo. But to even get there in the first place, you have to complete Chapman’s side quest to get him promoted. But by taking this route, [[spoiler:you make a deal with the devil, kill Domori while possessed, and fail to save either of the Sintra sisters.]]

** Once you use the Witch paper for ''anything'', and keep in mind these things are everywhere, your soul becomes bound to the company and keeps you inside the building forever. One of the first things Brian does as part of his initiation is use Witch paper to bind his soul to the building, thus trapping him there until he's legally let go. Which, considering there's no bosses AND no CEO, is never. [[ButThouMust Unless he completes his contract...]]

* EntitledBastard: Chapman believing that due to his wealth and money that he deserves everything.
* EyeScream: [[spoiler:Sosa]] at the Birthday Party. And then later [[spoiler:Brian if the player chooses to let one of the snakes bite his eyes during the Endgame.]]
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:One of the endings added in the new story path has Brian become the new Sintracorp CEO.]]
* FalseFriend: [[spoiler:Hugo is a self-serving {{Jerkass}} who wants to become the new CEO, and will attempt to kill anyone who gets in his way.]]
* FatBastard: Hugo is fat and [[spoiler:willing to do whatever it takes to become the CEO of Sintracorp, including allying with the Witch and killing anyone who gets in his way.]]
* FirstDayFromHell: It's literally Brian's first day and he's subjected to creepy happenings, trauma, and a near death experience before he even learns what his job is supposed to be! [[spoiler:His job turns out to be to kill the Witch responsible for the aforementioned events and everything else going wrong in the company.]]

** After getting the [[spoiler:Hexenhammer to Sintra]], she informs you that any woman can be a witch, since one of their powers is the ability to swap bodies with someone. [[spoiler:Which just happens to be what happened with Rei Sintra.]]
** During Brian's trip through the Hive, he's forced to head into Human Resources. While there, he outwits a mysterious talking mouth embedded in the wall into giving him a photograph, and a while later remarks that it's like he was talking directly to the Witch. [[spoiler:As it turns out, he likely was. The Mouth has the same green forked tongue that the Snake has, as well as the same whispering voice.]]
** It seems silly at first, but at the motivational meeting, Col. Dumont tells a story about an encounter with the Witch and then warns you to work hard and to especially not be loitering in the Canteen lest she catch you. [[spoiler:Hugo's Birthday Party is in the Canteen, and guess what happens to everyone there?]]
** One of Corvo's notes to his companions references a "tadpole" whom has been helping him in attempting to hunt down the Witch. [[spoiler:There's only one person running around the building in a frog mask.]]

** In the cutscene where AM explains the Witch's backstory you can see [[spoiler:Domori's eyes turn from red to the same shade of green as Rei's eyes when Rei disappears, hinting at the fact that it's actually Rei's soul in there.]]
* FromNobodyToNightmare: [[spoiler:Hugo, who went from being a nameless R-class janitor to becoming the Witch's [[TheDragon right hand man]] and Sintracorp CEO]].

* GoldenEnding: [[spoiler:Saving all your work friends from the Witch and getting Rei back as the head of the company results in a positive ending for everyone - except Hugo, who is DrivenToSuicide. However, he's been such an utter monster that it's unlikely anyone will mourn his demise.]]
* GrandTheftMe: [[spoiler:It turns out this is what happened to the missing Rei Sintra when Domori used her power to swap their bodies. This resulted in the tragedy of the Sintra family as "Rei" went missing and "Domori" was blamed and eventually killed after things started going wrong.]]
* GuideDangIt: It can be difficult to find out puzzle solutions without looking some of them up. For example, in order to gain access to [[spoiler:the Sintra family crypt]] you need [[spoiler:sleeping pills, which are only given out from one of your co-workers on the fifth floor, in a room you may not visit much.]]
** In Chapman's side quest, you have to take the promotion test for him, but as Chapman tells you, they don't tell you the rules other than that you will be disqualified if you leave the circle for more than 3 seconds. It then leaves you to try to avoid damage from the workers with boxes for heads coming at you one at a time. [[spoiler:The actual goal is to touch five of the smiling boxhead workers while avoiding the angry ones.]]
* HistoryRepeats: [[spoiler:In one of the Executive Edition endings, Brian becomes the CEO of Sintracorp. After a brief downturn for the company, the stock price begins to skyrocket. After the credits, it's shown that Brian has adopted a girl who appears to be a witch like Domori, and has an ominous snake talisman around her neck...]]

* IChooseToStay: [[spoiler:Kate, if she's rescued at the end, decides to keep working at Sintracorp. Brian too, if he chooses to go with her to the rooftop.]]
* InsideAComputerSystem: Sintranet.

* MysticalWhiteHair: [[spoiler:Domori has this, and she's the witch.]]
* NiceGirl: Kate.

** [[spoiler:Once the events of the birthday party take place. It will be impossible to backtrack and obtain items or videos that were missed. The elevator is unusable. The 4th, 7th, and 8th floors are blocked off from the emergency staircase (the two latter are still accessible using a DoorToBefore if you previously unlocked them, not so much for the former). Almost all coworkers are dead or missing. The stores manned by Inay and Mappy will be gone, though it is still possible to use the food dispensers and machines in the canteen. Chapman's side quest of getting him promoted will no longer be available, meaning you won't get the cigarette carton (and thus the reckless contract) if you miss it. And if you don't have at least 3 boxes to reach the vent in Brian's office, you will be unable to rescue Sosa. The party event will happen automatically when you get on the elevator after checking the Sintra family tomb, so make sure to do everything before then.]]
** [[spoiler:If you've taken the alternate story path and the party gets cancelled, you'll only be able to go to floor 2, and you'll be unable to return once you get there. This will happen right after you steal the Athame dagger from Office F in the 5th floor.]]
* PersonalHorror: Brian. He just has an all around very bad first day.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: The Witch [[spoiler:and technically Domori.]]

* PointOfNoReturn: [[spoiler:Once you put Sintra back together and have her lead you to the witch.]]

** Also literally with the Marketing Team. [[spoiler:You have to get them back to their designated area, but you have to give each one a specific slogan to convince them to follow you. Choosing the wrong one will cause them to attack you.]]
* RedEyesTakeWarning: [[spoiler:Slight subversion, as while she's not truly evil, Domori's eyes are red and are shown to remain as such even when she's in Rei's body.]]
** [[spoiler:In addition, while it's difficult to tell due to the red filter, the body swap is hinted at as Domori's eyes are shown to change to green in AM's flashback. First in the picture after Rei disappears, they're shown turning green. Then in the next images when it shows "Domori" being hysterical (actually due to the body swap rather than "Rei" going missing) and later being killed.]]
* RedHerring: One of the initial clues about the Witch's identity is that she must be female and several different people hint that she may be one of Brian's coworkers. There is even a photo Brian has to get that is claimed to be of Her. [[spoiler:The true evil is actually Domori's snake familiar who previously appeared as a necklace around Domori's neck. Other than the picture and A.M.'s flashback, there is no indicator of her and nothing that suggests this could be the case before the big reveal.]]

** [[spoiler:The horrible croaking sound of your workmates' bound souls, which is incredibly loud and is meant to help you find them.]]
** There's a very specific noise [[spoiler:Hugo makes whenever he appears wearing the Frog mask]], which indicates when he's fixing to do something horrible to try to sabotage you. [[spoiler:Or in the endgame, when he's nearby so you can try to avoid being seen.]]

* UnfazedEveryman: Kate. Like Brian, Kate is also starting her first day. But while Brian is quite understandably panicking at all the strangeness in Sintracorp, Kate is fully aware of how abnormal things are but has found ways to manage and keep working. [[spoiler:Despite the circumstances, even after she's rescued in the GoldenEnding, she still chooses to continue working there and doesn't seem at all traumatized from the experience.]]
* VillainousUnderdog: Hugo, who supposedly originated from Class R where they are given numbers instead of names.
* WhamEpisode: [[spoiler:Hugo's Birthday, where he reveals Brian's existence as a Witch Hunter, immediately drawing her to Brian in an attempt to kill him. She also takes your work friends hostage here, bandaging their souls up and requiring you to hunt them down to save them.]]

* WhenYouComingHomeDad: In the Executive Edition, it's made clear that [[spoiler:both Rei and Domori suffered from their father's focus on the company.]]

* YoungAndInCharge: [[spoiler:If you decide to finish Brian's job, it'll end with a revived Rei Sintra as the CEO of Sintracorp despite being only 11 years old.]]

** Inferred with [[spoiler: Rei after Domori used her magic to switch their bodies and then disappeared. Domori is mute and cannot speak, thus Rei in her body was unable to tell anyone what had happened or who she was before they burned her alive.]]
* AnimalMotifs: Certain key characters are associated with different animals. Hugo is associated with Frogs, Corvo is associated with raven (His name means "raven" in Italian), Sintra has a subtle snake theme, among others. [[spoiler: Brian doesn't have an animal motif, notably. Instead, he's associated with [[BigRedDevil The Devil]], donning the Devil costume to get into the 9th floor Gallery, as well as having his reflection change to this if you show Witch paper to the 5th floor washroom mirrors. This is especially weird since the Devil is the one who supposedly built the Sintra androids, with one head even referring to him as "Daddy" when he appears in front of her.]]
* BackFromTheDead: A rather complicated version with [[spoiler:Rei Sintra. Due to Domori's familiar switching Domori and Rei's bodies and then placing Domori in Rei's body in a crystal, Rei's body never died. The Sintra family then killed Rei's consciousness in Domori's body due to Domori's magic going crazy and killed her to protect their company. The family then made an Ai based on Rei's memories named Sintra. Brian is able to revive Rei's memories in Sintra and later frees Domori who later gives Rei her body back, fully reviving her.]]

* CatGirl: [[spoiler: Domori is this as well as being a witch, which is why she was kept hidden from others.]]

* ChekhovsGun: After retrieving the [[spoiler: Hexenhammer]], mention is made of a [[MacGuffin special weapon]] that can kill the Witch and ward her off from whomever has it.
** Additionally, during the preparations for Hugo's birthday party, there is a brief discussion in which you get the first names of most of your named coworkers that you didn't already know- namely Rostov, Sosa, Chapman and Malone. You get Doshi's first name later, after [[spoiler: the Witch attacks the party.]] In the endgame,[[spoiler: when finding and rescuing your friends after the Witch captures them, if you use the plastic knife rather than the Athame, you will need to refer to each of your friends by their first name when they ask you who they are.]]
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: [[spoiler: Hugo. There's a good reason everyone in the company hates him.]]

* ConMan: Hugo. [[spoiler: It turns out that's not even his real name.]]
* CooldownHug: What Brian gives to [[spoiler: Sintra/Rei after bringing her back to life and she starts to glitch uncontrollably from the trauma of her memories.]]

** Sosa, despite being a gaunt and strange-looking weirdo, is one of Brian's genuine friends within the company. She's cooperative, helpful, and very much wants to see Brian make it through the day. Her NiceGirl nature is so strong that [[spoiler: Brian admits he's a Witch Hunter to her fairly quickly, to which she immediately nominates herself as his assistant (partially because he needs the help, partially because she's interested in the paranormal).]]

* CyberPunk: The game has very light shades of this, as the outside world is implied to be a sort of corporate-run {{Dystopia}}. Android technology has advanced incredibly far along in this timeline, and people are marked by their Class, with different classes being given benefits over others. It mixes this with Western supernatural influences [[spoiler: and later Eastern ones]] for a very strange atmosphere.

* DarkestHour: [[spoiler: The aftermath of Hugo's surprise party. The Witch now knows Brian is a Hunter, all of his friends have been taken by the Witch, Hugo is revealed to be in league with the Witch, Sintra is dead, Brian still hasn't found the Dagger (the only weapon that can hurt the Witch), and if you haven't completed the A.M. sidequest before the party, you still have no leads on the Witch's identity. Thankfully, the key Doshi gave Brian to the I.T. department's back room gives him the leads he needs to get his mission back on track.]]
* DeadPersonImpersonation: [[spoiler: Hugo got his identity by looting the ID card of a dead employee that had a physical resemblance to him.]]
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler: The aftermath of Hugo's surprise party. With your mission all but failed, loads of people murdered right in front of you, and all of your friends taken by the Witch and presumably dead or enthralled, and Hugo declared the new CEO who will certainly continue to enable the Witch's Curse, Brian gets the opportunity to [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere end his mission and flee to safety.]] Taking the opportunity nets you one of the MultipleEndings.]]
* TheDeterminator: Brian. It's his first day at a job he knew nothing about coming in, and he makes it quite clear he doesn't want to be there. But as time goes on, he seems to be the main person if not the only one willing or able to try to continue to deal with the Witch. His co-workers are limited help and even Sintra stops caring at some point. Then at the endgame, everything goes wrong and he's given the opportunity to escape. The way to the GoldenEnding is [[spoiler: for him to keep trying regardless, and an interesting discussion takes place that even questions what drives him.]]

* DrivenToSuicide: Sosa mentions that many people jump off the roof to escape the building, unable to handle the stress of the place in addition to the monsters within. [[spoiler: This becomes Hugo's fate in the main story path if you manage to thoroughly humiliate him by not only re-instating Rei as the CEO of Sintracorp, but also swiping the Athame Dagger from beneath his very nose.]]

* EarnYourBadEnding: The Executive Edition introduces three new endings you can only get if you travel through the security side quest and learn some secrets about Hugo. But to even get there in the first place, you have to complete Chapman’s side quest to get him promoted. But by taking this route, [[spoiler: you make a deal with the devil, kill Domori while possessed, and fail to save either of the Sintra sisters.]]
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Sure, you can leave without completing your job. But the only way to get to a good ending is to keep at it. [[spoiler: The GoldenEnding takes it a step further, requiring the completion of a side quest to rescue all of Brian's coworkers before actually facing off with the Witch.]]
* EasyLevelTrick: Once the lategame starts, the player is mostly free to complete two separate objectives, as well as one optional one:[[spoiler: finding Hugo, rebuilding Sintra, and finding your friends. While rebuilding Sintra is straightforward, and Hugo is found in the top floor executive suite, one can make the optional task of locating your friends much easier by swiping Athame from under Hugo's watch by sneaking into his office and distracting him long enough to take it. Using Athame instead of the plastic knife makes it so that you don't need to guess who is who when freeing a bound soul, allowing the player to complete the sidequest much quicker and easier.]]
** [[spoiler: The Forest Goblin offers special contracts if you bring him products that feature barcodes. These contracts will make you immune to poisonous gas and let you breathe underwater, making what would be the two most difficult levels of the game to navigate (one of which being the endgame) MUCH easier.]]

** Floor seven through ten are incredibly strange. Floor seven is a library and archive room, replete with massive shelves of books. Floor eight is a garden ''in-doors'', being a park-like area that also contains the bodies of the Sintra family. Floor nine is the "Executive Suite", locked to all lower class employees. This is because it's a [[spoiler: downright horrific art gallery of extremely disturbing works of art by real-life surreal-horror artist Suguru Tanaka. It's staffed by two monstrous Receptionists with no faces, and contains the severed head of the first Sintra android. Mr. Spader spends most of his time there, but he's an okay guy.]] Floor ten is the CEO's office, which has been vacant for years.

* EyeScream: [[spoiler: Sosa]] at the Birthday Party. And then later [[spoiler: Brian if the player chooses to let one of the snakes bite his eyes during the Endgame.]]
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: One of the endings added in the new story path has Brian become the new Sintracorp CEO.]]
* FalseFriend: [[spoiler: Hugo is a self-serving {{Jerkass}} who wants to become the new CEO, and will attempt to kill anyone who gets in his way.]]
* FatBastard: Hugo is fat and [[spoiler: and is willing to do whatever it takes to become the CEO of Sintracorp, including allying with the Witch and killing anyone who gets in his way.]]
* FirstDayFromHell: It's literally Brian's first day and he's subjected to creepy happenings, trauma, and a near death experience before he even learns what his job is supposed to be! [[spoiler: His job turns out to be to kill the Witch responsible for the aforementioned events and everything else going wrong in the company.]]
* ForeShadowing:

** During Brian's trip through the Hive, he's forced to head into Human Resources. While there, he outwits a mysterious talking mouth embedded in the wall into giving him a photograph, and a while later remarks that it's like he was talking directly to the Witch. [[spoiler: As it turns out, he likely was. The Mouth has the same green forked tongue that the Snake has, as well as the same whispering voice.]]

** One of Corvo's notes to his companions references a "tadpole" whom has been helping him in attempting to hunt down the Witch. [[spoiler: There's only one person running around the building in a frog mask.]]
** The [[MacGuffin Athame]] is a weapon mentioned to be one of the only things capable of killing the Witch. It is also specifically noted to be capable of warding Witches away from whoever has it. [[spoiler: It's also specifically noted that there are no bosses as the Witch will take out anyone next in line to take over as well as anyone who has been in the company long enough. Yet somehow Hugo is set to become the next CEO due to seniority at the company...]]
** In the cutscene where AM explains the Witch's backstory you can see [[spoiler: Domori's eyes turn from red to the same shade of green as Rei's eyes when Rei disappears, hinting at the fact that it's actually Rei's soul in there.]]
* FromNobodyToNightmare: [[spoiler: Hugo, who went from being a nameless R-class janitor to becoming the Witch's [[TheDragon right hand man]] and Sintracorp CEO]].

* GoldenEnding: [[spoiler: Saving all your work friends from the Witch and getting Rei back as the head of the company results in a positive ending for everyone - except Hugo, who is DrivenToSuicide. However, he's been such an utter monster that it's unlikely anyone will mourn his demise.]]
* GrandTheftMe: [[spoiler: It turns out this is what happened to the missing Rei Sintra when Domori used her power to swap their bodies. This resulted in the tragedy of the Sintra family as "Rei" went missing and "Domori" was blamed and eventually killed after things started going wrong.]]
* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler: If the Snake is the main threat, then Hugo is either this or TheDragon. While Hugo doesn't answer directly to the Witch, he takes advantage of the awful situation the company finds itself in to position himself as the new CEO.]]
* GuideDangIt: It can be difficult to find out puzzle solutions without looking some of them up. For example, in order to gain access to [[spoiler: the Sintra family crypt]] you need [[spoiler: sleeping pills, which are only given out from one of your co-workers on the fifth floor, in a room you may not visit much.]]
** [[spoiler: It's one of the points of Chapman's side quest. You have to take the promotion test for him, but as he himself states, they don't tell you the rules other than that you will be disqualified if you leave the circle for more than 3 seconds. It then leaves you to try to avoid damage from the workers with boxes for heads coming at you one at a time. The actual goal is to touch five of the smiling boxhead workers while avoiding the angry ones.]]
* HistoryRepeats: [[spoiler: In one of the Executive Edition endings, Brian becomes the CEO of Sintracorp. After a brief downturn for the company, the stock price begins to skyrocket. After the credits, it's shown that Brian has adopted a girl who appears to be a witch like Domori, and has an ominous snake talisman around her neck...]]

* {{Jerkass}}: Chapman. [[spoiler: Though he does TakeALevelInKindness if Brian saves him.]]

* LivingMotionDetector: The Dot Matrix. [[spoiler: A few people will give warnings ahead of time that trying to run when one of those things is around is a very bad idea.]]

* MergingMistake: What the Witch does to [[spoiler: Col. Dumont and his horse, Dada]].
* MysticalWhiteHair: [[spoiler: Domori has this, and she's the witch.]]

* ThePenIsMightier: Pencils are literally the only way of permanently dealing with the regenerating land mines.

** [[spoiler:Once the events of the birthday party take place. It will be impossible to backtrack and obtain items or videos that were missed. The elevator is unusable. The 4th, 7th, and 8th floors are blocked off from the emergency staircase (the two latter are still accesible using a DoorToBefore if you previously unlocked them, not so much for the former). Almost all coworkers are dead or missing. The stores manned by Inay and Mappy will be gone, though it is still possible to use the food dispensers and machines in the canteen. Chapman's side quest of getting him promoted will no longer be available, meaning you won't get the cigarette carton (and thus the reckless contract) if you miss it. And if you don't have at least 3 boxes to reach the vent in Brian's office, you will be unable to rescue Sosa. The party event will happen automatically when you get on the elevator after checking the Sintra family tomb, so make sure to do everything before then.]]

* PersonOfMassDestruction: The Witch [[spoiler: and technically Domori.]]

* PointOfNoReturn: [[spoiler: Once you put Sintra back together and have her lead you to the witch.]]

** Also literally with the Marketing Team. [[spoiler: You have to get them back to their designated area, but you have to give each one a specific slogan to convince them to follow you. Choosing the wrong one will cause them to attack you.]]
* RedEyesTakeWarning: [[spoiler: Slight subversion, while she's not truly evil, Domori's eyes are red and are shown to remain as such even when she's in Rei's body.]]
** [[spoiler: In addition, while it's difficult to tell due to the red filter, the body swap is hinted at as Domori's eyes are shown to change to green in AM's flashback. First in the picture after Rei disappears, they're shown turning green. Then in the next images when it shows "Domori" being hysterical (actually due to the body swap rather than "Rei" going missing) and later being killed.]]
* RedHerring: One of the initial clues about the Witch's identity is that she must be female and several different people hint that she may be one of Brian's coworkers. There is even a photo Brian has to get that is claimed to be of Her. [[spoiler: The true evil is actually Domori's snake familiar who previously appeared as a necklace around Domori's neck. Other than the picture and A.M.'s flashback, there is no indicator of her and nothing that suggests this could be the case before the big reveal.]]

** [[spoiler: Once you meet Hugo as the new Sintracorp CEO, he will fire you and give you a dismissal letter, which allows you to leave the building]].

* ShrineToTheFallen: There are three altars to A.M. in the building. Donating 5 credits lights the altar [[spoiler: and having all three lit before checking Rei Sintra's grave will allow A.M. to appear and give more information on the Sintra family that wouldn't be revealed otherwise.]]

** [[spoiler: The horrible croaking sound of your workmates' bound souls, which is incredibly loud and is meant to help you find them.]]
** There's a very specific noise [[spoiler: Hugo makes whenever he appears wearing the Frog mask]], which indicates when he's fixing to do something horrible to try to sabotage you. [[spoiler: Or in the endgame, when he's nearby so you can try to avoid being seen.]]

* SuperSpit: The ladies in HR...
* SurvivalHorror: The game is one of these, and is decidedly more oldschool about it. The game borrows heavily from ''Videogame/ResidentEvil'' in both layout and design, even taking the ''you need an item to save'' mechanic straight from that game. Despite this, the game modernizes some aspects to ease up on backtracking - there are no item boxes (because Brian carries everything in his suitcase), and checkpoints are fairly plentiful. There's also no weaponry.

* UnfazedEveryman: Kate. Like Brian, Kate is also starting her first day. But while Brian is quite understandably panicking at all the strangeness in Sintracorp, Kate is fully aware of how abnormal things are but has found ways to manage and keep working. [[spoiler: Despite the circumstances, even after she's rescued in the GoldenEnding, she still chooses to continue working there and doesn't seem at all traumatized from the experience.]]

* WhamEpisode: [[spoiler: Hugo's Birthday, where he reveals Brian's existence as a Witch Hunter, immediately drawing her to Brian in an attempt to kill him. She also takes your work friends hostage here, bandaging their souls up and requiring you to hunt them down to save them.]]
** In the alternate story path [[spoiler: Hugo suddenly cancelling the party]].