History Videogame / DarkParables

* RvilCostumeSwitch: Amelia's clothing turn black after she descend into path of evil. [[spoiler:It returns white again when she appears as a spirit at the end of the game.]]

** TheArcher[=/=]TheChick: Ruth, possibly the youngest
** TheBigGuy[=/=]SixthRanger: Raphael

** StaffChick: [[spoiler:Briar Rose]]

* DistantFinale: The final scene is stated to take place fifteen years after the events of the game, and depicts two golden-haired children holding hands and looking at a statue of [[spoiler:Geppetto and Amelia. It is possible, though not stated, that these are Pinocchio's children.]]

* GirlInTheTower: The Godmother has Katherine imprisoned in a castle tower for a large portion of the game.

* TrueBlueFemininity: Katherine, and also Ella Bloom, the "First Cinderella".

* MistakenIdentity: The Godmother thinks that Cyrilla is the final Cinderella, but it's really her stepsister Katherine.

** However, the game also leaves the player asking this question. We never do find out what happened to the little girl seen in the opening animation when the Wolf Queen first appears.

* ContinuityNod: Each game contains a few hints or references concerning what will happen in the next game in the series, and each of the later games contain references to things which happened in previous installments. This also includes the bonus game in each collector's edition, as they contain extra information about characters or circumstances. If it seems important to the overarching storyline, it will almost certainly be appearing or at least mentioned again.

* DismantledMacGuffin: Just about every item you need to progress through the games is broken up into fragments which you must reassemble by solving the hidden object scenes in which they've been scattered.

* FlowerMotifs: Flowers, particularly roses, are a recurring image throughout this series:

** Obtaining a rose, a tulip and a lily in the fifth game helps you open a passage that had previously been blocked. There's also a wooden rose--described as a "wooden flower"--that helps you solve another puzzle.

* NewGamePlus: Finishing the basic mode of each of the first two games unlocks a second 'hard mode,' which follows the same storyline but grants the player access to {{bonus material}}. Later games avert the trope.

* SequelHook: Each game ends with a tantalizing glimpse of the next one in the series.

* CallBack: Princess Ivy is Princess Briar Rose's sister, and thanks the detective for helping her in the first game.

* TapOnTheHead: When the detective is caught observing the Snow Queen's attack on Gerda, her beastly henchman delivers one of these, and the detective wakes up in prison.

* BittersweetEnding: The sisterhood prevails and stops the Wolf Queen's plans, but [[spoiler: she and Raphael die together after confessing their love.]]

* {{Mission From God}}dess: Each of the Godmothers was one one of these during her lifetime, being commissioned by the Maiden Goddess to find and assist Cinderellas.

* AnotherDimension: Fully half of the game takes place in the Mirror World, a parallel universe accessed through mirrors. It's unclear whether this is the same place as the "Fairy Tale Land" seen in ''Red Riding Hood Sisters'', or if there are multiple dimensions; either is possible.

The fifth game in the series, ''[[http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/22782/dark-parables-the-final-cinderella-ce/index.html The Final Cinderella]]'', takes place in the Matese Mountains of southern Italy, to which the detective has been summoned following reports of young women being turned into glass statues and sightings of an evil individual known as "the Godmother." The Godmother is said to be searching for a girl known as 'the final Cinderella.' Katherine, the stepsister of the latest victim, asks the detective for help, but the Godmother appears and captures Katherine. The detective must find out what the Godmother is doing, uncover the even more sinister plot beneath hers, and save the world once again.

** The third, fourth, and fifth games add the second optional challenge of finding all of the parable gems/pieces, which enable the player to read extra stories that expand on the background of the events of the game. There are five such parables in the main games, with anywhere from three to six gems to be found for each, and a sixth in each bonus game. The fifth game adds a ''third'' optional challenge - finding all of the additional tokens which will unlock four bonus stories.

** Averted by the fourth game, in which just about everyone the detective meets is mentioned by name.

* DamselInDistress: Marie, the chancellor's daughter, along with her servant as the male version

* RescueRomance: As revealed in ''The Final Cinderella'''s parables, the Frog Prince fell for Agnes when she rescued him in his frog form from being eaten by a snake.

* MagicMirror: Before blocking the entrance to the palace, the Snow Queen's henchman informs the detective that "the mirror foretold your arrival." It turns out that there are two mirrors, the Truth Mirror and the False Mirror; it was the False Nirror which did the foretelling, as the Truth Mirror never appears in this game.

** The incident becomes at least partially un-noodleized in the fourth game, where it's revealed [[spoiler:that he was attacked by a mist wolf, and only the intervention of Literature/RedRidingHood prevented him from being killed outright. A snow-covered statue of him is kept by the sisterhood's Moon Shrine]].

* BalefulPolymorph[=/=]InvoluntaryShapeshifting: According to the Cinderella Stories, the third Cinderella, Shan, was transformed into a nine-tailed fox by her jealous stepsister. Her {{backstory}} is shown in the bonus game of the collector's edition. [[spoiler:Chi is really a spider witch and was plotting to steal Shan's fiance for immortality purposes.]]

* TheChosenOne: [[spoiler: Katherine]]

* DistantFinale: The final scene is stated to take place fifteen years after the events of the game, and depicts two golden-haired children holding hands and looking at a statue of [[spoiler:Geppetto and Amelia. It is possible, though not stated, that these are Pinocchio's children.]]

* GottaCatchEmAll: In addition to the cursed objects and parable gems as in prior games, this game adds another extra challenge of finding the outfits for four dolls of previous Cinderellas, and then finding the dolls to dress them. Completing each will allow you to unlock the Cinderella Stories; these tell the {{backstory}} of each of the first four Cinderellas, including the one who married the Frog Prince.

* [[LastOfHisKind Last Of Her Kind]]: Katherine and the Godmother both. Because the Maiden Goddess refuses to select any more Godmothers, Amelia is the last. And because there will be no more Godmothers to aid them, there will likewise be no more officially designated Cinderellas.
* LegacyCharacter: The Godmother is one of many {{Fairy Godmother}}s chosen by the Maiden Goddess. [[spoiler: She gave up being a godmother when she fell in love with Geppetto. Amelia is also the last Godmother as after watching Amelia's grief drive her to evil, the Maiden Goddess swore to never choose another Godmother.]]

* LoveMakesYouEvil: According to the intro, the Godmother captured various possible "Cinderellas" in an attempt to resurrect her husband. [[spoiler: She succeeds, but it horribly backfires on her.]]

** It is unclear whether the Maiden Goddess and the Moon Goddess mentioned in previous games are the same deity. However, the detective discovers that Geppetto (who was married to the last Godmother) helped to construct the headquarters of the Red Riding Hood Sisters seen in the previous game. This sprawling lair includes a shrine to the Moon Goddess, so there is a strong possibility that they are the same.

* VisualPun: The detective uncovers a hidden balcony, where a table is set with a still-warm tea service. The tea is blue, for Blue Tea Games.

The fifth game in the series, ''[[http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/22782/dark-parables-the-final-cinderella-ce/index.html The Final Cinderella]]'', takes place in the Matese Mountains of southern Italy, after reports of young women turning into glass and sightings of an Evil Godmother looking for the legendary "Cinderella" surface. Katherine, the stepsister of the latest victim, asks the detective for help, but the Evil Godmother appears and kidnaps Katherine. Once it's clear that a much more sinister plot appears, it's up to the detective stop the Godmother's plans.

[[spoiler: A sixth game is revealed, this time centering on Literature/JackAndTheBeanstalk.]]

** The third and fourth games add the second optional challenge of finding all of the parable gems/pieces, which enable the player to read extra stories that expand on the background of the events of the game. There are five such parables in the main games, with anywhere from three to six gems to be found for each, and a sixth in each bonus game.

* [[AllThereInTheManual All There in the Parables]]: Throughout the third and fourth games, you'll collect tokens which, when you have all of each kind, will explain how things got to be the way they are. The third game's tokens are called parable gems, and take the form of small portraits with jeweled frames; the tokens in the fourth game look like small dolls.

** The Godmother's castle isn't ''precisely'' haunted--but given the Godmother's ultimate ambition, plus the people who should be alive but aren't and the things that shouldn't be alive but are, it, like the castle in the third game, might as well be.

* LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition: Each game is available in a VanillaEdition and also one of these. The collector's editions of the first two include bonus games which must be completed in order to unlock the bonus content, such as wallpapers and music. The bonus game in ''Exiled Prince'' provides some of the BackStory for ''Rise of the Snow Queen'', while the bonus game in ''Rise of the Snow Queen'' is actually the BackStory to one of the parables present in that game. The bonus game in ''Red Riding Hood Sisters'' gives the BackStory for the Mist Kingdom, which is visited in the course of the main game.

* PosthumousCharacter: In the original, pretty much everyone from the Literature/SleepingBeauty story except for Briar Rose herself and the evil godmother. In the second game, [[spoiler:four of the Frog Prince's five princess brides]]. In the third game, Literature/SnowWhite's stepmother, and also [[spoiler:the Frog Prince]]. In the fourth, Grandmother, the original Red Riding Hood, the original Huntsman, the Greedy King, and the Wolf King. And in the fifth game, [[spoiler:the Godmother's husband, Gepetto, and, eventually, the Godmother herself]].

* HappilyMarried: The Frog Prince and Princess Ivy, and as revealed in ''The Final Cinderella'', he and Princess Agnes as well.

** TheArcher[=/=]TheChick: Ruth, possibly the youngest.

** TheSmartGuy[=/=]SixthRanger[=/=]GuestStarPartyMember: The detective, arguably

** TheBigGuy: Raphael.
** TheLancer[=/=] Eldra [[spoiler:pre her FaceHeelTurn]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: The meeting room in the sisters' treehouse has an medallion of Eldra and Teresa with their preferred weapons and one of the puzzles displays gauntlet claws as a weapon. [[spoiler: Eldra is the sister who uses the gauntlet claws, hinting that the FaceHeelTurn of her being the Wolf Queen.]]

* [[spoiler: [[IJustWantToBeSpecial I Just Want to be The Elder Sister]]: Eldra's entire motivation for obtaining the Wolf King's talisman is to prove that she was capable to being the Elder Sister instead of Teresa.]]

* KlingonPromotion: [[spoiler: Eldra]] became the Wolf Queen because she killed the Wolf King by herself and seized his magic talisman for her own.

* MacGuffinDeliveryService: The Wolf Queen needs the Moon Essence, which is concealed inside of a shrine to the moon goddess, but has no way to get it until [[UnwittingPawn the detective]] does all the legwork.

* BalefulPolymorph: In the bonus story, Shan was transformed into a nine-tailed fox by her jealous stepsister Chi. [[spoiler: Chi is really a spider witch and was plotting to steal Shan's fiance for immortality purposes.]]

* [[spoiler: CameBackWrong: Geppetto is revived into one of his puppets, but he's now bloodthirsty and hell-bent on enacting a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the world.]]
* DistressedDamsel: Katherine, the "Final Cinderella".

** "Cinderella" is really a code name given to young women that are pure of heart. The Cinderella that married the Frog Prince from the second game is revealed to be named Agnes and she was the second "Cinderella".
* LoveMakesYouEvil: According to the intro, the Godmother captured various "Cinderellas" in an attempt to resurrect her husband. [[spoiler: She succeeds, but it horribly backfires on her.]]
* MissingMom: [[spoiler: Godmother, who's really Pinocchio's mother Amelia, abandoned him and blames him for Geppetto's death. She would later coerce Pinocchio into helping her kidnap "Cinderellas" so she can revive Geppetto.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Geppetto, after being cured by the Magic Glass Wand. He and Amelia then use their remaining spirit magic to turn Pinocchio into a real boy.]]

* TakenForGranite: When the clock strucks at midnight, the "chosen Cinderella" will turn to glass.
* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler: Geppetto and Amelia's spirits are restored to their previous selves by the Magic Glass Wand and they use their remaining energy to save their son Pinocchio.]]
* TrueBlueFemininity: Katherine, and Ella Bloom, the "First Cinderella".

* BalefulPolymorph: Shan was transformed into a nine-tailed fox by her jealous stepsister Chi. [[spoiler: Chi is really a spider demon and was plotting to steal Shan's fiance for immortality purposes.]]

* RescueRomance: In the Cinderella parables, the Frog Prince fell for Agnes when she rescued him in his frog form from being eaten by a snake.

* HauntedCastle: A recurring theme. Briar Rose sleeps in one in the first game. In the second, the trope is played with because [[spoiler:the Frog Prince is unaware that Princess Ivy is haunting the premises in order to watch over him]]. In the third, the castle isn't ''technically'' haunted (its inhabitants aren't dead), but it might as well be, all things considered. And in the fourth game, the castle of the Wolf Queen, which only appears on certain nights, is effectively ''doing'' the haunting. The castle of Godmother in the fifth game isn't ''precisely'' haunted--but given the Godmother's ultimate ambition, plus the people who should be alive but aren't and the things that shouldn't be alive but are, it, like the castle in the third game, might as well be.

* HauntedCastle: A recurring theme. Briar Rose sleeps in one in the first game. In the second, the trope is played with because [[spoiler:the Frog Prince is unaware that Princess Ivy is haunting the premises in order to watch over him]]. In the third, the castle isn't ''technically'' haunted (its inhabitants aren't dead), but it might as well be, all things considered. And in the fourth game, the castle of the Wolf Queen, which only appears on certain nights, is effectively ''doing'' the haunting.

* PosthumousCharacter: In the original, pretty much everyone from the Literature/SleepingBeauty story except for Briar Rose herself and the evil godmother. In the second game, [[spoiler:four of the Frog Prince's five princess brides]]. In the third game, Literature/SnowWhite's stepmother, and also [[spoiler:the Frog Prince]]. In the fourth, Grandmother, the original Red Riding Hood, the original Huntsman, the Greedy King, and the Wolf King.

* StarCrossedLovers: Cinderella #3, Princess Shan, and her fiance in the bonus story. [[spoiler:Shan's stepsister turns her into a fox because she wanted the prince to herself.]]

The fifth game in the series, ''The Final Cinderella'', takes place in the Matese Mountains of southern Italy, after reports of young women turning into glass and sightings of an Evil Godmother looking for the legendary "Cinderella" surface. Katherine, the stepsister of the latest victim, asks the detective for help, but the Evil Godmother appears and kidnaps Katherine. Once it's clear that a much more sinister plot appears, it's up to the detective stop the Godmother's plans.

* LegacyCharacter: The Godmother is one of many {{FairyGodmother}}s chosen by the Maiden Goddess. [[spoiler: She gave up being a godmother when she fell in love with Geppetto.]]
* LoveMakesYouEvil: According to the intro, the Godmother captured various "Cinderellas" in an attempt to resurrect her lover.

* TrueBlueFemininity: Katherine, and Ella Blues the "First Cinderella".

The fifth game in the series, ''The Final Cinderella'', takes place in Italy, after reports of young women turning into glass and sightings on an Evil Godmother surface. Katherine, the stepsister of the latest victim, asks the detective for help. But the Evil Godmother appears and kidnaps Katherine and once it's clear that a much more sinister plot appears, the detective is joined by Pinocchio on a quest to stop the Godmother's plans.

The fifth game in the series, ''The Final Cinderella'', is slated for release in May 2013.

* [[spoiler: KilledOffForReal: The Godmother dies from injuries inflicted onto her by a possessed Geppetto. Before she died, she begs the detective to stop him. Pinocchio dies as well, as he was made from cursed wood.]]

* MissingMom: [[spoiler: Godmother, who's really Pinocchio's mother, abandoned him and blames him for Geppetto's death. She would later coerce Pinocchio into helping her kidnap "Cinderellas" so she can revive Geppetto.]]
* [[spoiler: RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Geppetto was burned at the stake for the UncannyValley-like appearance of his puppets. When his soul is revived, he embarks on a vengeance spree.]]

* [[spoiler: KilledOffForReal: The Godmother dies from injuries inflicted onto her by a possessed Geppetto. Before she died, she begs the detective to stop him.]]

* DisappearedDad: Geppetto. [[spoiler: He's also the Godmother's lover.]]

* MissingMom: [[spoiler: Godmother, who's really Pinocchio's mother. The poor boy's been coerced into helping her kidnap "Cinderellas" so she can revive Geppetto.]]