History VisualNovel / ZeroEscape

** [[spoiler:Akane Kurashiki]] is the one who takes on the identity of Zero and is the one responsible for the current Nonary Game, while [[spoiler:Santa/Aoi Kurashiki is the one who provides the means to create it in the first place. The latter is plotting revenge on Cradle Pharmaceuticals for ruining her childhood nine years ago.]]

** [[spoiler:[[TomatoInTheMirror The 67-year old Sigma]]/Zero Sr.]] is working with [[an older [[HijackedByGanon Akane Kurashiki]] as part of the plan to save the world from the Radical-6 virus, and the Ambidex Game was necessary to send the 22-year old Sigma and Phi back in time.]]

* TheArtifact: [[ArcNumber 9]]. While it may be the number that defines the first two games, [[spoiler:five of the participants (the ones besides those five that are excluded among the count including [[{{Irony}} "the 9th Man"]]) have nothing to do with ''Akane's motives'' for setting up the second Nonary Game revolving around the first Nonary Game that the BigBadEnsemble is involved in]] during the first game, meaning remaining people who set up the game are not truly relevant to the "9" participants who are clueless to said motives, and the second game has [[spoiler:two government agents infiltrating the 9 participants alongside a fanatical terrorist, therefore meaning they're not real participants either.]]

* TheArtifact: [[ArcNumber 9]]. While it may be the number that defines the first two games, [[spoiler:five of the participants (the ones being excluded among the count including [[{{Irony}} "the 9th Man"]]) have nothing to do with ''Akane's motives'' for setting up the second Nonary Game revolving around the first Nonary Game that the BigBadEnsemble is involved in]] during the first game, meaning remaining people who set up the game are not truly relevant to the "9" participants who are clueless to said motives, and the second game has [[spoiler:two government agents infiltrating the 9 participants alongside a fanatical terrorist, therefore meaning they're not real participants either.]]

* TheArtifact: [[ArcNumber 9]]. While it may be the number that defines the first two games, [[spoiler:five of the participants (excluding [[{{Irony}} "the 9th Man"]]) have nothing to do with ''Akane's motives'' for setting up the second Nonary Game revolving around the first Nonary Game that the BigBadEnsemble is involved in]] during the first game, meaning remaining people who set up the game are not truly relevant to the "9" participants who are clueless to said motives, and the second game has [[spoiler:two government agents infiltrating the 9 participants alongside a fanatical terrorist, therefore meaning they're not real participants either.]]

* AllThereInTheManual: Uchikoshi has held a Q&A session for each game so far. Downplayed, though, as he's also stated that [[DeathOfTheAuthor people should come to their own conclusions about what isn't in the game]], considering people having questions to be a failure on his part.
* AntiVillain: Every Zero, surprisingly enough. [[spoiler:Akane was trying to save her own life as well as take revenge on the people who murdered her. In ''VLR'', all three of them (mainly Akane and Sigma) are trying to save the entirety of humanity. In ''ZTD'', Delta is trying to cause his own birth and save humanity without killing three quarters of it (if he wasn't lying about the latter in the first place).]] They just... keep having to abduct people and force them into deadly games to do these things. This is played with too, however, with some characters finding [[spoiler:Akane's actions in ''VLR'']] to be selfish and unnecessary. [[spoiler:Delta]] may even count as a dark parody or self-deconstruction, as he goes to a great deal of effort to describe his complex motivations, but the characters aren't satisfied by it and are quick to point out his crimes.
* AnyoneCanDie: This series revels in [[TheManyDeathsOfYou how many different ways]] it can kill its characters. Absolutely no one is safe, [[spoiler:and due to the nature of the games, ''everyone dies at least once, including the BigBad''... but at the same time, almost everyone ''survives'' in parallel timelines, often due to the actions of their doomed alternate selves.]]

* MoreDespicableMinion: The BigBad of the first two games can be seen as this to the BigBad of the third game, in the sense that [[spoiler:Hongou and Dio/Left are {{Hate Sink}}s but make no attempt to justify anything they do in a ''believable'' way, with them simply doing things ForTheEvulz. They take things to extremes and have no real issue with directly harming the players in their games, even if they possibly have nothing to gain from it besides being HatedByAll]]. We find out in said third game that [[spoiler:these two work for Brother/Delta, leader of Free the Soul, and are committing to his goal of spreading Radical-6 around the world. Despite this, Hongou and Dio/Left are clearly designed specifically to be hated and really don't gain anything from what they do besides being hated by the player. Delta can be understood at least ''slightly'' in comparison to the two of them regarding extremism, but Hongou and Dio/Left seem to both take pleasure out of other people's misery for the sole purpose of being amused.]]

* MoreDespicableMinion: The BigBad of the first two games can be seen as this to the BigBad of the third game, in the sense that [[spoiler:Hongou and Dio/Left are {{Hate Sink}}s but make no attempt to justify anything they do in a ''believable'' way, with them simply doing things ForTheEvulz. They take things to extremes and have no real issue with directly harming the players in their games, even if they possibly have nothing to gain from it besides being HatedByAll]]. We find out in said third game that [[spoiler:these two work for Brother/Delta, leader of Free the Soul, and are committing to his goal of spreading Radical-6 around the world. Despite this, Hongou and Dio/Left are clearly designed specifically to be hated and really don't gain anything from what they do besides being hated by the player. Delta can be understood at least ''slightly'' in comparison to the two of them regarding extremism, but Houngou and Dio/Left seem to both take pleasure out of other people's misery for the sole purpose of being amused.]]

* PointAndClickGame: During the room escape fragments, you pick up several items, combine them and use them in different ways and in different parts of the room to unlock the exit door or trigger a cutscene. In the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS and UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS versions, you can use your stylus to interact with the environment.

* RippleEffectProofMemory: [[spoiler:Becomes much more prevalent in ''VLR'' and ''ZTD'', where characters are explicitly included in the deadly games to train their ability to retain their cognizance across multiple timelines, using information gleaned in one reality to assist them in others. Sean, being a robot whose primary programming is housed within a quantum computer which is observiing multiple realities, similarly has this trait.]]

* ButtMonkey: Considering everything happens because [[spoiler:a snail led a girl into being killed and a FraneUp leading to Akane Kurashiki getting orphaned and picked for Gentarou Hongou's Nonary Game]], everyone in this franchise is ''horrifically'' unlucky in getting involved in the following events.

* ButtMonkey: Considering everything happens because [[spoiler:a snail led a girl into being killed and a FraneUp leading to Akame Kurashiki getting orphaned and picked for Gentarou Hongou's Nonary Game]], everyone in this franchise is ''horrifically'' unlucky in getting involved in the following events.