History YMMV / DestroyAllHumans

* UncannyValley: Due to the limitations of the games prior to moving to a next-gen console, the first two games suffer from characters faces not changing outside of cutscenes. It can be a bit unnerving to see someone's corpse smiling or staring into oblivion...

* ''YMMV/DestroyAllHumans1''

!!YMMV for the first game and the series as a whole:

* AcceptableTargets: Conspiracy theorists. If the first game is anything to prove by, they're either over-paranoid rednecks who think everyone is there to conspire against them, vapid {{Nerd}}s who are desperate to get ahead in life yet don't seem to realize their obsessions lead them away from women or blue-collar jobs, or homeless protesters.

* DuelingWorks: ''Destroy All Humans!'' came out the same year as ''VideoGame/StubbsTheZombie'', and both star a VillainProtagonist hunting human brains and are faced with authoritarian organizations who are (debatably) just as bad -- even trying to replicate the protagonist's powers in humans -- in a fictionalized [[TheFifties 1950's America]], a lot of the humor either coming from the carnage the protagonist causes or mocking the Cold War mindset of the time. The only real difference is that ''Stubbs'' is about [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombies]] and ''Destroy All Humans!'' is about [[TheGreys Roswell Aliens]].

* EvilIsSexy: Silhouette, the main antagonist of the first game, especially due to [[spoiler:her SpyCatsuit. The remake adds onto this by giving her a CleavageWindow.]]
* GameBreaker: Brain extracting in the remake. This time around, you have no concentration meter stopping you from killing tougher enemies this way (letting you simply pop heads on living foes whenever you want), and you’re able to upgrade it so that extracting one brain causes the effect to transfer to one or multiple other humans in the immediate vicinity. The first upgrade becomes available for purchase pretty early on in the game. The final upgrade causes them to start attacking their own allies before dying. Meaning that it’s entirely possible to take down an entire group of enemies without firing a single shot, and get a boatload of DNA doing it, and as a bonus, collecting brains now replenishes Crypto's shields. Considering the increased enemy count in the remake leads to alert levels going up very quickly and Crypto frequently getting shot from five directions at once, this can be an absolute life-saver in later missions.
* GeniusBonus: A few of the rural pedestrians refer to a Dr. Kinsey in their more provocative thoughts. Alfred Kinsey was a sexologist whose works provoked significant controversy in the 1950s, but is now widely considered a major influence in the study of human sexuality.

* GoddamnedBats:
** SAM missile launchers in the first and second games. In the first game, they launch a single missile that is difficult to dodge and does a ton of damage to your saucer. Not to mention, they spawn in the ''worst'' of times during missions that are already difficult to begin with, such as during "It's a Wonderful Armageddon". The damage is toned down in the second game, and the tracking is made less potent, but now they launch ''three'' missiles at once, and they're now ''mobile''. Add to the fact that on high alert levels, they show up everywhere and can now move, and you will be swooping, ducking, weaving, and dodging to avoid the buggers, as they will fill the sky '''very''' quickly. And to top it all off, there is a graphical bug on the [=PS2=] version of the second game which removes the exhaust contrail on occasion, meaning you won't see the rockets until it's too late.
** The soldiers in the first game can easily become this. Their rifles aren't as strong as the shotguns used by the police force and anything Majestic agents use, but a single shot can still cause a lot of damage to Crypto, they soak up more damage than most human enemies, and they're deployed in groups. What makes it worse is the fact that Capitol City replaces the police force with army soldiers and Majestic agents, making it near impossible to harvest DNA within the city.
** Tanks become this in the remake. On foot, getting shot by a tank no longer means Crypto loses half his shields, and they're easier to destroy with his new upgrades. However, they still pack a decent punch and are an absolute nuisance to deal with, given that the game will happily spawn more of them than it did in the original.

* ItWasHisSled: The fact that [[spoiler:Silhouette from the first game [[SamusIsAGirl is actually a woman]].]]
* MemeticMutation: The use of Rammstein's "[[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic Ich Will]]" in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHMDrhBREXU the remake reveal]] trailer led to the fanbase using the song's "'''Ich Will'''!" (meaning "I want!") as a enthusiastic answer to everything related to the game (e.g "Destroy all humans? '''ICH WILL!'''").

* ScrappyMechanic:
** Crypto's jetpack in the first game. What seems like a useful feature (Crypto's only way to travel distances and to reach platforms) is left underwhelming by the fact that it only lasts for around three seconds before the battery level drops, causing the jetpack to stutter. This can cause Crypto to lose health if he lands on a high structure without button mashing, and in several situations it is difficult to maneuver due to sentry guns, EMP mines and S-A-M launchers. Even worse is the fact that it cannot be upgraded. Thankfully, the jetpack does not have a charge level in the next games and is able to be upgraded.
** The fact you cannot use weapons at all in a body-snatched form is rather disappointing. On the bright side, however, it makes PK a little easier to use.

* TearJerker: The scene in the first game where Crypto [[spoiler:stumbles across the dissected cadaver of Crypto-136]] can be surprisingly poignant, especially as [[NotSoStoic it's the first time he's seen getting upset about anything]]. Made even more so by the fact that when seeing this, he asks how such "intelligent creatures" could do something so disgusting. Keep in mind up to this point in the game, he's referred to humans as filthy or stupid hairless monkeys. [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness This isn't Crypto being his usual rude and aggressive self.]] This is what he genuinely thought of humanity before witnessing that. Even Pox is unusually subdued in the dialogue afterwards.
* ThatOneAchievement: Out of the remake's achievements, there's "Ace of Space," awarded for getting 3 stars in every single challenge. While the challenges come in 4 varieties that follow the same formulas for all areas, some of them have requirements that are just downright difficult; abduction challenges are among the more notorious for requiring a fast trigger finger on PK, while the races for Union Town and Capitol City are ''unforgiving'' in the amount of precision they demand if you want that elusive third star, especially with the Capitol City race requiring some very tricky platforming.
* ThatOneAttack: In the remake of the first game, Silhouette gets a special attack that locks two purple targeting lasers on Crypto while hovering in the air before releasing a swarm of purple {{Super Persistent Missile}}s. If even one of them hits, it reduces Crypto's shields to two bars, [[InterfaceScrew jumbles his HUD]], and, worst of all, messes up his movement controls for an agonizingly long time, making it nearly impossible to get him to safety before Silhouette blasts him apart with some basic shots. This attack can also coincide with the regular battlefield-covering environmental hazard unleashed by the downed Roboprez, which is an almost certain death sentence unless you were lucky enough to be hit near a piece of viable cover. The missiles can be dodged with a bit of luck, and the attack itself can be interrupted with even more luck, but it's still one of the most dangerous things Crypto has to face in the entire game. This one attack was enough to turn Silhouette into yet another example of ThatOneBoss for some.
* ThatOneBoss:
** In the remake of the original game, Silhouette graduates to this status thanks to an expanded arsenal of attacks, and one of them in particular. Check out her ThatOneAttack entry above for details.
* ThatOneLevel: A lot of missions can end up in this state, especially if Crypto doesn't have essential upgrades or Gene Blends.
** "Foreign Correspondent." As if the first part being a StealthBasedMission requiring you to sneak past an assload of Majestic agents (who can forcibly remove your Holobob disguise) wasn't frustrating enough, the second part requires you to escort a fragile human NPC all the way back to your saucer. [[ArtificialStupidity One whose AI is not smart enough to stop him from crossing the street in front of traffic.]] Thankfully, the mission was toned down in the remake, with the stealth component of the first half being made optional and the escort section being made much shorter (combined with the NPC now being FriendlyFireproof).
** "Duck and Cover!" If being an EscortMission wasn't annoying enough, you're escorting a ''nuclear bomb''. You have to defend it against waves of gun-toting soldier and Majestic agents [[TooDumbToLive who don't seem to realize that shooting at it is a bad idea]]. Not only that, but the driver only stops when Crypto is standing in-front of it, meaning that he'll just drive right into obstacles, including frustratingly inconspicuous landmines, unless Crypto destroys or moves the obstacles out of the way. And if you thought this mission was bad in the original, it's become downright ''ruthless'' in the remake. The bomb truck moves more quickly, giving you less time to remove hazards from its path, said hazards destroy it ''extremely'' quickly, and all the while, soldiers will frequently spawn in groups and often ignore Crypto entirely to focus on the truck, to say nothing of the ones with bazookas that hide off the side of the road to take potshots at the truck. And the checkpoint system does not work in your favor here, since the truck's health is saved at each checkpoint.
** "The Lone Gunman" can be extremely tedious due to the swarms of Majestic agents and power-suit mech machines you have to fight off, all while reaching President Huffman's booth. Not to mention how you'll likely need the final Psychokinesis for an extended Holobob capacity, as well as bypassing the Majestic agents who can see past your disguise.
* ThatOneSidequest:
** "The Great Cow Race" from the first game. What ''sounds'' like an easy mission that one could breeze through in under a minute ("just beat the cows to the finish line; it should be easy using your jetpack") turns out to be a strong contender for the most frustrating mission in the entire game. Aside from the fact that the game's jetpack is notoriously terrible and unable to be upgraded, there's also the fact that the mission causes tons of anti-air turrets to spawn, which means that using your jetpack at all during the mission guarantees that you'll quickly have to endure a hailstorm of bullets that can turn you into alien mince meat unless you get back to the ground and stay there. The mission is damn near impossible to do without enabling the "Bulletproof Crypto" and "Ammo-A-Plenty" cheat codes.
** Finding all the probes in the first game. Made worse by the fact that the game gives absolutely ''no'' hints whatsoever for finding them. This is mitigated in the remake, where drones are easier to spot due to the areas they're in being easier to see and due to the updated map.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:
** Many people claim that the changes in ''Big Willy Unleashed'' and ''Path of the Furon'' made them suck, and that they weren't nearly as good as the first two. This is also mostly blamed on the two developers who picked up the series after Pandemic was bought out by EA.
** The remake of the first game maps the PK controls over the whole controller instead of using the labelled mini-menus from the original game in an attempt to blend Crypto's powers with the gunplay instead of only being able to use one at a time. As a result, however, abilities such as psychokinesis and hypnosis have also been simplified or overcomplicated, which can disorient veteran players. One of the most common points of contention with the remake is that PK felt considerably dumbed down, useful only as an offensive weapon for either throwing enemies or throwing things ''at'' enemies.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
** Silhouette, the BigBad of the original game, gets barely any screen time compared to later antagonists (in fact, Crypto only meets Silhouette during the ''very last mission''), making the [[spoiler:[[SamusIsAGirl twist]] involving her]] have much less impact. What's more, Silhouette is a [[ThatOneBoss highly credible boss fight]] who can take on Crypto in unarmed combat, and [[spoiler:her ridiculously sexist thoughts]] when scanned manage to [[CrossesTheLineTwice cross the line from offensive back to funny]].
** A location example: Union Town. The map's gritty industrial atmosphere offers a noticeable contrast with the DownOnTheFarm feel of Rockwell and the bright StepfordSuburbia of Santa Modesta. One could imagine dealing with GreaserDelinquents, TheMafia, {{Hardboiled Detective}}s, actual communists, and more. And yet, only two missions took place in Union Town, one of which involved recovering your gear and your saucer after getting shot down and the other of which was the BossBattle against Armquist, both of which took place in areas of the map largely separate from the rest.

* {{Woolseyism}}: The Japanese dub, somewhat, in terms of humor. Since most of the humor of the game is based mainly on American clichés of the sci-fi genre, especially from the AlienInvasion genre, and most of the jokes are very obscure for non-American players, the Japanese version went to almost the GagDub territory. While the plot is still the same, the characterizations of almost everyone are somewhat different from the original English version. This is more notable with Crypto, since while in the English version he had a deep voice, in the Japanese dub he sounds like WesternAnimation/BugsBunny mixed with a JapaneseDelinquent. This is even more hilarious if you take into account Crypto is in fact voiced [[Creator/KappeiYamaguchi the same voice actor who officially dubs Bugs in Japan]]. You can see a clip of that dub [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVJPrsNmsWo here at 4:28.]]

** "Foreign Correspondent". As if the first part being a StealthBasedMission requiring you to sneak past an assload of Majestic agents (who can forcibly remove your Holobob disguise) wasn't frustrating enough, the second part requires you to escort a fragile human NPC all the way back to your saucer. [[ArtificialStupidity One whose AI is not smart enough to stop him from crossing the street in front of traffic.]] Thankfully, the mission was toned down in the remake, with the stealth component of the first half being made optional and the escort section being made much shorter (combined with the NPC now being FriendlyFireproof).
** "Duck and Cover!" from the first game. If being an EscortMission wasn't annoying enough, you're escorting a ''nuclear bomb''. You have to defend it against waves of gun-toting soldier and Majestic agents [[TooDumbToLive who don't seem to realize that shooting at it is a bad idea]]. Not only that, but the driver only stops when Crypto is standing in-front of it, meaning that he'll just drive right into obstacles, including frustratingly inconspicuous landmines, unless Crypto destroys or moves the obstacles out of the way. And if you thought this mission was bad in the original, it's become downright ''ruthless'' in the remake. The bomb truck moves more quickly, giving you less time to remove hazards from its path, said hazards destroy it ''extremely'' quickly, and all the while, soldiers will frequently spawn in groups and often ignore Crypto entirely to focus on the truck, to say nothing of the ones with bazookas that hide off the side of the road to take potshots at the truck. And the checkpoint system does not work in your favor here, since the truck's health is saved at each checkpoint.
** In the first game, "The Lone Gunman" can be extremely tedious due to the swarms of Majestic agents and power-suit mech machines you have to fight off, all while reaching President Huffman's booth. Not to mention how you'll likely need the final Psychokinesis for an extended Holobob capacity, as well as bypassing the Majestic agents who can see past your disguise.

** Silhouette, the BigBad of the original game, gets barely any screen time compared to later antagonists, making the [[spoiler:[[SamusIsAGirl twist]] involving her]] have much less impact. What's more, Silhouette is a [[ThatOneBoss highly credible boss fight]] who can take on Crypto in unarmed combat, and [[spoiler:her ridiculously sexist thoughts]] when scanned manage to [[CrossesTheLineTwice cross the line from offensive back to funny]].

** "Duck and Cover!" from the first game. If being an EscortMission wasn't annoying enough, you're escorting a ''nuclear bomb''. You have to defend it against waves of gun-toting soldier and Majestic agents [[TooDumbToLive who don't seem to realize that shooting at it is a bad idea]]. Not only that, but the driver only stops when Crypto is standing in-front of it, meaning that he'll just drive right into obstacles, including frustratingly inconspicuous landmines, unless Crypto destroy or move the obstacles out of the way.

** EMP mines in the first game emit an EMP pulse that disables your weapons and jetpack, making it difficult to fight back against enemies (which, in the places where these show up, will usually be Majestic agents). Of course, Psychokinesis is still on the table, but it's not the best thing ever for fighting off swarms of enemies, and in later areas you encounter PSI Mutants, which can ''disable your PK abilities''. Pray that you never encounter an EMP mine and a Mutant in the same place.
* DesignatedHero: Subverted with Crypto and Orthopox. While they are not pleasant people and are responsible for committing several acts of murder (including the ''[[UpToEleven President of the United States]]''), their invasion of Earth is done to save their species from extinction rather than destruction, and they don't advocate for destroying Earth completely as this would remove all traces of Furon DNA. The second game expands on this by [[EvenEvilHasStandards having Crypto be disgusted]] by [[spoiler:the Blisks' plan to water-lodge Earth for themselves]] and start becoming accustomed to human culture, even admitting he doesn't hate all humans. In addition, a lot of Crypto's enemies turn out to be MirroringFactions (Majestic want total world domination while using the Furons' technology to do so, while [[spoiler:the Blisk want to literally destroy all humans]]), which justifies his invasion somewhat.

* GameBreaker: Brain extracting in the remake. This time around, you’re able to upgrade it so that extracting one brain causes the effect to transfer to one or multiple other humans in the immediate vicinity. The first upgrade becomes available for purchase pretty early on in the game. The final upgrade causes them to start attacking their own allies before dying. Meaning that it’s entirely possible to take down an entire group of enemies without firing a single shot, and get a boatload of DNA doing it.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Despite being set in TheFifties, the game contains a lot of jokes about UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush and the [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror Iraq War]], most of which are fairly incomprehensible to anyone who doesn't remember what US politics was like in the year before and after the invasion of Iraq.

* TearJerker: * The scene in the first game where Crypto [[spoiler:stumbles across the dissected cadaver of Crypto-136]] can be surprisingly poignant, especially as [[NotSoStoic it's the first time he's seen getting upset about anything]]. Made even more so by the fact that when seeing this, he asks how such "intelligent creatures" could do something so disgusting. Keep in mind up to this point in the game, he's referred to humans as filthy or stupid hairless monkeys. [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness This isn't Crypto being his usual rude and aggressive self.]] This is what he genuinely thought of humanity before witnessing that. Even Pox is unusually subdued in the dialogue afterwards.

** The remake of the first game maps the PK controls over the whole controller instead of using the labelled mini-menus from the original game in an attempt to blend Crypto's powers with the gunplay instead of only being able to use one at a time. As a result, however, abilities such as psychokinesis and hypnosis have also been simplified or overcomplicated, which can disorient veteran players.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Silhouette, the BigBad of the original game, gets barely any screen time compared to later antagonists, making the [[spoiler:[[SamusIsAGirl twist]] involving her]] have much less impact. What's more, Silhouette is a [[ThatOneBoss highly credible boss fight]] who can take on Crypto in unarmed combat, and [[spoiler:her ridiculously sexist thoughts]] when scanned manage to [[CrossesTheLineTwice cross the line from offensive back to funny.]]

* CaptainObviousReveal: Silhouette, the BigBad of the first game, [[SamusIsAGirl being a woman]]. There were a lot of hints, and if you read the thoughts of the Majestic agents, they blatantly state it and then try to cover it up:
-->'''Majestic Agent:''' Why does Silhouette give me these jobs? Was it because I hit on her at the Christmas party...? Oh, wait, no one's supposed to know Silhouette's a chick. Scratch that thought.

* AcceptableProfessionalTargets:
** The police forces seen in the games are primarily DirtyCops who hate their job, mixed with borderline criminal behavior and a love of excessive force. This is clearly exemplified with the Shen Long police chief in Path of the Furon, clearly inspired by infamous Hong Kong police chief Lui Lok. Averted, however, by the Albion and Takoshima cops - they have their eccentricities and occasional moments of gameplay-mandated excessive force, but they seem largely free of any brutal or corrupt tendencies.
** The Takoshima Defense Force in the second game makes heavy mockery of the Imperial Japanese army, including reminding the player that Japan still has an in-name army.

** The game makes heavy mockery of both communists and conservatives - Communists being seen as humorous, dim, vodka-drinking men with a heavy dislike of the "decadent capitalists" who live in the USA, yet secretly hate their government, while conservatives are depicted as overly paranoiac {{Stepford Smiler}}s with a fear of everything foreign due to a RedScare. These make up a major part of the plotline for the first game, and then a minor fraction of the second game, with the revelation that [[spoiler:the Soviet Union was formed by an alien race who intruded Russia during the late 1900s and kickstarted the October Revolution]].
** Compared to the latter three, democrats are a downplayed example, as they're usually only referenced by quotes said by pedestrians. Bay City's hippie pedestrians in the second game count, as described above.
** The UK version of the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, and UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher (whom is called a "[[TakeThat hooker]]" by one pedestrian, and a "middle aged matron with terrifying hair" by another) get this treatment in Albion.
** Emperor Meningitis is a parody of stereotypical depictions of UsefulNotes/RichardNixon.
* AcceptableTargets:
** The hippies in Bay City are depicted and thought of as pot-smoking, self-righteous liberals who attempt to disdain from the "bourgeois" influence of the city, yet [[BourgeoisBohemian are ironically this]] [[{{Hypocrite}} themselves]]. The Albion hippies are more of a downplayed example, since they're shown as fashion-absorbed rich kids and part-time prostitutes.
** The "squares" in both cities, however, also receive a fair amount of mocking - for being overly judgmental and illiberal on one end to being repressed and in self-denial about their own desires on the other. Bay City's fathers and businessmen are an extreme example. Scan them, and they may display a racist or war-hungry disposition on the one hand, or a rather dark and addictive personality on the other.
** Conspiracy theorists. If the first game is anything to prove by, they're either over-paranoid rednecks who think everyone is there to conspire against them, vapid {{Nerd}}s who are desperate to get ahead in life yet don't seem to realize their obsessions lead them away from women or blue-collar jobs, or homeless protesters.
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Did Crypto ever really care about Natalya, or was his fondness for her purely sexual? Some of their interactions suggest the former, while [[spoiler: the ending, her phone call in Big Willy Unleashed!, and casually brushing her death off in the next game]] suggests the latter.
** Did Armquist actually, genuinely believe Crypto was a communist? Or was he merely using an analogy and knew full well that Crypto was an alien?

** Oranchov[[spoiler:'s Blisk mutant form]] might give you some trouble, since it comes early in the game. Unless you use the Anal Probe (which you find mere moments before the fight) to [[spoiler: turn him human again.]] He's about as squishy as any KGB Agent.
** Played unfortunate straight in Path of the Furon, in which most of the bosses feel unfinished, some are mostly immobile. Especially if you have an [[MoreDakka upgraded Ion Detonator]], except for [[spoiler: Henri Crousteau]].

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-1Q86252hg The Remake Reveal trailer]] has Crypto making his attack on Earth to the tune of "Ich Will" by ''Music/{{Rammstein}}'' to great success.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl8fokvSrTw Destroy All Humans! 2 - Reprobed]] continues having Rammstein playing, this time, it's "Amerika."

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WZP-5T-cnU&list=PLO4jlmGoc6uDtLZdwrOnMeI-_Cu467AIP&index=43 Who wants some Free Love?]]
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Natalya Ivavona. Whether or not she was a decent female companion for Crypto or a mere ReluctantFanserviceGirl made for pure lust for Crypto is of large debate to many people. It doesn't help that many people accuse her for the RomanticPlotTumor of the second game, despite Crypto mostly being responsible for hitting on her.
* BestBossEver: The well remembered fight with Kojira. You're an alien invader fighting a Godzilla {{Expy}} across the streets of [[ThirtySecondsOverTokyo Not!Tokyo]]; need we say more?
* BreatherLevel: Most of the Ruin Lives missions are this. They usually follow simple objectives and don't involve killing off or defending a character from enemies.

** In the second game, scanning Ponsonby's mind reveals [[spoiler: he's the head of the British Majestic organisation.]]
* CargoShip: One of the "Ruin Lives" missions in the second game involves destroying a Takoshimese businessman's beloved "New Car-san".

* CriticalResearchFailure: There are several references to Emperor Hirohito being in control of Japan in the second game, despite the fact Japan became a democratic country after World War II. Takoshima's defense force also acts like a major army, despite the fact that Japan prevents its defense forces from becoming full military units.
* CrossesTheLineTwice: The "Ruin Lives" missions. Where you [[KickTheDog screw over people]] [[ForTheEvulz just for the hell of it]]. With hilarious results.

* DesignatedHero: Subverted with Crypto and Orthopox. While they are not pleasant people and are responsible for committing several acts of murder (including the ''[[UpToEleven President of the United States]]''), their invasion of Earth is done to save their species from extinction rather than destruction, and they don't advocate for destroying Earth completely as this would remove all traces of Furon DNA. The second game expands on this by [[EvenEvilHasStandards having Crypto be disgusted by the Blisks' plan to water-lodge Earth for themselves]] and start becoming accustomed to human culture, even admitting he doesn't hate all humans. In addition, a lot of Crypto's enemies turn out to be MirroringFactions (Majestic want total world domination while using the Furons' technology to do so, while the Blisk want to literally destroy all humans), which justifies his invasion somewhat.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: It's arguable that Pox is more popular than Crypto. Though considering who voices him (Creator/RichardStevenHorvitz, best known as the voice of ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim''), it's not hard to believe.

* EvilIsSexy: Silhouette, the main antagonist of the first game, especially due to her tight catsuit. The remake adds onto this by giving her a CleavageWindow.

* GoodBadBugs: It's possible to use flat objects and "surf" on them with psychokinesis, propelling you on the ground. This is only really possible with large objects, such as the Santa Modesta sign. In the Remake, pretty much any flat surface that's movable can use used to surf.

** SAM missile launchers in the first and second game. In the first game, they launch a single missile that is difficult to dodge and does a crap ton of damage to your saucer. Not to mention, they spawn in the ''worst'' of times during already difficult to begin with missions, such as during "It's a Wonderful Armageddon". The damage is toned down in the second game, and the tracking is made less potent, but now they launch '''THREE''' missiles at once, and they're now ''mobile''. Add to the fact that on high alert levels, they show up everywhere and can now move, and you will be swooping, ducking, weaving and dodging to avoid the buggers, as they will fill the sky '''very''' quickly. And to top it all off, there is a graphical bug on the [=PS2=] version of the second game, which removes the exhaust contrail on occasion, meaning you won't see the rockets until it's too late.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** The secret commentary of the first game found in the second game feature both Crypto and Pox talking very fondly of the possibilities of a third game. This becomes rather harsh considering how the canonical third game, ''Path of the Furon'', nearly killed the series.
** This exchange from ''Destroy All Humans 2'' becomes a bit less amusing and a lot more ironic in light of developer Pandemic's acquisition by EA, which resulted in them becoming one of a number of companies EA ruthlessly acquired and shut down, laying off 1,500 of their employees:
--->'''KGB Agent:''' The worker's revolution is inevitable!\\
'''Crypto:''' ''Riiiight.'' You don't know much about capitalism, do you, Ivan?\\
'''KGB Agent:''' I know corporations fatten themselves on the toil of the American worker, even as they pull the strings of the American government!\\
'''Crypto:''' Exactly! You can't beat that kinda' muscle!
* HeartwarmingInHindsight: By the end of the third game, Crypto and Pox part ways from each other on good terms, with Crypto promising that they’ll meet again in 10 years. Path of the Furon came out in 2009 in the EU, with the remake of the first game being announced in 2019. Looks like Crypto kept his promise in a way after all.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** Crypto constantly getting [[RedScare accused of being a commie and martian]] in the first game was funny enough, but then the second game reveals that [[spoiler:the Bolshevik party did indeed consist of martians in this world]].
** The [[spoiler:Blisk MasterPlan for the planet]] was to [[spoiler:water-lodge Earth to make it their haven]], since Mars had become a barren wasteland [[spoiler:during the Martian War]]. In 2015, scientists discovered that there is actually water on Mars.
** In ''Path of the Furon'', Crypto bemoans the idea of making his casino more family-friendly, saying he hates children because they're 'too smart to gamble'. Come the lootbox fiasco brought to the spotlight in gaming roughly a decade later, in which one of the main criticisms against LootBoxes was the real possibility of goading children playing games with these mechanics into gambling.
* InkSuitActor: Compare [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/destroy-all-humans/images/b/b9/Ponsonby.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120131173528 Ponsonby]] to his voice actor Creator/AnthonyHead. It seems it was a deliberate part on Pandemic's side.
* ItsEasySoItSucks: Part of the reason ''Big Willy Unleashed'' and ''Path of the Furon'' failed was due to their lack of difficulty and the buff of several weapons in the game, making DNA collecting very easy.

* OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight: Pandemic Studios did the first two games in the series, which were well-recived. Locomotive Games did ''Big Willy Unleashed'', while Sandblast Games did ''Path of the Furon'', and as the {{Sequelitis}} entry below can attest to, neither developer have managed to live up to Pandemic's initial entries.
* PortingDisaster:
** The reason the [=PS2=] and PSP versions of ''Big Willy Unleashed'', and exporting the PAL-only [=PS3=] version of Path of the Furon were both cancelled.
** The [=PS4=] port of the first game is loaded with graphical glitches that weren't present in the original, and it has an annoying tendency to crash and/or freeze at the most inopportune of times.
** Downplayed with the second game, which is marginally smoother but sometimes also crashes at times and still maintains a majority of glitches found in the original.

* ReplacementScrappy:
** The Nexos from ''Path of the Furon'' to the Blisk. They look similar and even have a similar reveal (complete with OhCrap moment from Pox), but don't nearly leave the same impact.
** Veronica Stone from the same game also counts. She is often viewed by the fandom as just being filler to replace Natalya, and unlike Natalya at least actually helping Crypto in the game, Veronica is merely there to get new things to broadcast and for eye-candy.
* RetroactiveRecognition: Mikey Molinari in ''Path of the Furon'' is played by Creator/RickPasqualone, just two years before he would become known for voicing Vito Scaletta from ''VideoGame/MafiaII''.
* RomanticPlotTumor: Natalya and Crypto. By the time ''Destroy All Humans! 2'' rolls around, Crypto seems to have a desire to make out with anything female. This is worsened by Natalya, as Crypto falls madly in love with her. And so, as a result, Crypto spends almost the entirety of the first half of the game trying to have sex with Natalya, not even caring about what his enemies are up to during the first half.

** Non-mission obtained Furotech Cells in the second game. Most of them are scattered either in easy rooftop locations in a group clutter, or either in extremely difficult locations (e.g. on top of an arch in Albion). Even worse, if you destroy a building in one city, that renders a cell unable to be obtained unless you leave the area, sometimes even ''permanently'' unobtainable (e.g. after destroying the Soviet Embassy during one of the final Albion side missions).

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: While the story and characters can be debated, ''Destroy All Humans! 2'' expanded and improved on the first game's features, and brought just enough new stuff to the table.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The "Free Love" song from the second game sounds very similar to "[[Music/JimiHendrix Purple Haze]]".
* TearJerker:
** The scene in the first game where Crypto [[spoiler:stumbles across the dissected cadaver of Crypto-136]] can be surprisingly poignant, especially as [[NotSoStoic it's the first time he's seen getting upset about anything]]. Made even more so by the fact that when seeing this, he asks how such "intelligent creatures" could do something so disgusting. Keep in mind up to this point in the game, he's referred to humans as filthy or stupid hairless monkeys. [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness This isn't Crypto being his usual rude and aggressive self.]] This is what he genuinely thought of humanity before witnessing that. Even Pox is unusually subdued in the dialogue afterwards.
** One "Ruins Lives" mission in Albion involves Eddie, a man Crypto meets, who has heard of his wife's friend getting a sex change, but tells Crypto to go away after he doesn't understand him. After reading his mind, Crypto finds out he is secretly interested in getting a sex change himself (although he does love his wife). When Crypto body-snatches him, he calls his wife on the phone, who seems to be appalled at Eddie for wanting this, and then meets him at home. The newspaper at the end of the mission reveals [[spoiler:Eddie got the sex change, only to discover his wife left him in the end]].
** When Henri Crousteau, a character easily dismissed as a FrenchJerk (and ThatOneBoss to boot) is defeated, he [[HeelRealization realises the truth that led him to do what he did]] and sincerely apologises to Crypto [[spoiler:before dying.]]
* ThatOneAttack: In the remake of the first game, Silhouette was given a special attack where she hovers in the air and locks two purple targeting lasers on Crypto before releasing a swarm of purple {{Super Persistent Missile}}s. If even one of them hits, it reduces Crypto's shields to two bars, [[InterfaceScrew jumbles his HUD]] and, worst of all, messes up his movement controls for an agonizingly long time, making it nearly impossible to get him to safety before Silhouette blasts him apart with some basic shots. This attack can also coincide with the regular battlefield-covering environmental hazard unleashed by the downed Roboprez, which is an almost certain death sentence unless you were lucky enough to be hit near a piece of viable cover. The missiles can be dodged with a bit of luck, and the attack itself can be interrupted with even more luck, but it's still one of the most dangerous things Crypto has to face in the entire game. This one attack was enough to turn Silhouette into yet another example of ThatOneBoss for some.

** Kojira can become extremely frustrating to beat at first. This is due to her ability to demolish buildings to regain health coupled with the fact that her upper body is nearly impervious to Crypto's attacks. Not to mention her attacks can wipe out Crypto's health bars very quickly.
** Crusteau in ''Path of the Furon''. He can empty Crypto's maximally-upgraded health bar in exactly two hits, and whittling down ''his'' health bar with the few weapons you have that can hurt him takes ''forever''.
** In the remake of the original game, Silhouette graduates to this status thanks to her expanded arsenal of attacks, and one of them in particular. Check out her ThatOneAttack entry above for details.

** "I Left My Parts in San Fran.. Er, Bay City", a side mission unlocked extremely early in the second game, is known for being extremely difficult. The goal is to defend Coit Tower in your saucer against military tanks while Pox tries contacting a Furon general. However, the game spawns an infinite number of tanks until Pox has finished the call, and due to splash damage, it is fairly easy to end up damaging Coit Tower. In addition, the sidequest is unlocked at a point where Crypto likely hasn't upgraded his saucer weaponry and is considerably vulnerable to tanks. This can, however, be cheated by disguising as a soldier and spamming the "Call in the All Clear" which jumps the conversation Pox has considerably each time.
** Natalya's escort missions are generally amongst the most loathed missions in the game for their tediousness. However, "From Russia With Guns" is, hands down, regarded as one of the worst escort missions in the game. What doesn't sound like such a chore in theory (get Natalya to Soho while killing KGB agents trying to stop her) actually is one. While Natalya is a decent shooter, you have to make sure to not stop a few centimeters away from her or else she will not follow Crypto. It doesn't go without mentioning that Crypto is a no-show for the EliteMooks, who have machine guns and EMP mines of all things to try and gun him and Natalya down. And once you reach Soho, you have to go all the way to Canal Side, despite the fact that from where Crypto and Natalya, Canal Side was just north of where they were. The Saucer part where you have to escort Natalya's car to Canal Side while avoiding tanks of all things is extremely painful, as Natalya's car can stop even with barriers removed or in front of enemy tanks. And your reward for all that stress? A measly seven Furotech Cells and the Meteor Gun, thankfully.
** The Kojira Kaiju boss battle can become this. The area the mission takes place in, Takoshima City, has several buildings that allow for Kojira to regenerate her health, which can only be prevented if they are destroyed before she gets to them. Kojira herself is also fairly bulky, being able to withstand most saucer weaponry aside from the Sonic Boom, fast enough to dodge attacks, and can easily lower Crypto's health within seconds. Not to mention that the soldiers tackling her can turn their attention to Crypto, which can further damage him.
** The first Arkvoodle Cult mission in Takoshima, "Takoshima Rumble", has the same premise as an earlier mission in Bay City, where you have to defend the tents from being destroyed by armed forces in the city. In contrast to the earlier mission, this one falls into this due to two factors. For starters, some of the enemies have a tendency of spawning right in front of a tent, allowing for it to be turned to rubble if Crypto doesn't stop them quickly. This is especially tedious with enemies such as the Black Ninjas, the KGB, and the military, [[DemonicSpiders who can destroy the tents in only a few attacks]]. However, the most glaring part of the mission is because of a glitch in the game where the timer disappears and is then set to ''10'' minutes.
** The only sidequest and the final mission on Solaris, "Lights Out For Lobsters", involves eliminating the Blisk for good. Given that the Blisk are already tanks even with the upgrades to combat them, this mission can be fairly tedious and time-consuming. The most frustrating part is that the final segment forces Crypto to kill ''39 Blisk'' all in a uranium mine. Said uranium mine is rather cramped, which can result in Crypto being ganged up upon or accidentally setting off a mine.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Many people claim that the changes in ''Big Willy Unleashed'' and ''Path of the Furon'' made them suck, and that they weren't nearly as good as the first two. This is also mostly blamed on the two developers who picked up the series after Pandemic was bought out by EA.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
** Silhouette, the BigBad of the original game, gets barely any screen time compared to later antagonists, making the [[spoiler:[[SamusIsAGirl twist]] involving them]] have much less impact. Not to mention [[spoiler:she]] can take on Crypto in unarmed combat, and [[spoiler:her]] ridiculously sexist thoughts when scanned manage to [[CrossesTheLineTwice cross the line from offensive back to funny.]]
** If you didn't hate Natalya, her [[spoiler: clone suffering an off-screen death which is brushed over in Path of the Furon]] can seem rather anti-climactic.
* UncannyValley:
** Due to the limitations of the games prior to moving to a next-gen console, the first two games suffer from characters faces not changing outside of cutscenes. It can be a bit unnerving to see someone's corpse smiling or staring into oblivion...
** ''Big Willy Unleashed'' - most character's mouths '''don't move at all''' and remain expressionless. The Corncob King is one example.
* {{Woolseyism}}: The Japanese dub, somewhat, in terms of humor: Since most of the humor of the game is based mainly on American cliches of the sci-fi genre, especially from the AlienInvasion genre, and most of the jokes are very obscure for non-American players, the Japanese version went to almost the GagDub territory. While the plot is still the same, the characterizations of almost everyone are somewhat different from the original English version. This is more notable with Crypto, since while in the English version he had a deep voice, in the Japanese dub he sounds like WesternAnimation/BugsBunny mixed with a JapaneseDelinquent. This is even more hilarious if you take into account Crypto is in fact voiced [[Creator/KappeiYamaguchi the same voice actor who officially dubs Bugs in Japan]]. You can see a clip of that dub [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVJPrsNmsWo here at 4:28]].

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl8fokvSrTw Destroy All Humans! 2 - Reprobed]] had the trailer music be "Amerika" by ''Music/{{Rammstein}}, which is very fitting.

* DesignatedHero: Subverted with Crypto and Orthopox. While they are not pleasant people and are responsible for committing several acts of murder (including the ''[[UpToEleven President of the United States]]''), their invasion of Earth is done to save their species from extinction rather than destruction, and they don't advocate for destroying Earth completely as this would remove all traces of Furon DNA. The second game expands on this by [[EvenEvilHasStandards having Crypto be disgusted by the Blisks' plan to water-lodge Earth for themselves]] and start becoming accustomed to human culture, even admitting he doesn't hate all humans. In addition, a lot of Crypto's enemies turn out to be NotSoDifferent (Majestic want total world domination while using the Furons' technology to do so, while the Blisk want to literally destroy all humans), which justifies his invasion somewhat.

* CriticalResearchFailure:
** One pedestrian in Albion's scan thoughts is "My mind says BBC 1, but my body says Channel 4" when scanned. While Channel 4 is a real life channel in the United Kingdom, it only started broadcasting in 1982, 13 years after 1969 (the second game's setting).
** One Urban Female in the first game makes a reference to Creator/AudreyHepburn and her role in BreakfastAtTiffanys, which came out two years (1961) after the game's setting.
** There are several references to Emperor Hirohito being in control of Japan in the second game, despite the fact Japan became a democratic country after World War II. Takoshima's defense force also acts like a major army, despite the fact that Japan prevents its defense forces from becoming full military units.

** If there's one thing every police force in the games show, it's that they're DirtyCops who hate their job. Sometimes it even crosses into borderline criminal behavior and a love of excessive force, which is clearly shown with the Shen Long police chief in Path of the Furon. Averted, however, by the Albion and Takoshima cops - they have their eccentricities and occasional moments of gameplay-mandated excessive force, but they seem largely free of any brutal or corrupt tendencies.
** The Takoshima Defense Force in the second game makes heavy mockery of the Imperial Japanese army, to the point where they remind you that yes, Japan still has an in-name army.

** The game makes heavy mockery of communists and conservatives - Communists being seen as humorous, dim, vodka-drinking men with a heavy dislike of the "decadent capitalists" who live in the USA, yet secretly hate their government, while conservatives are depicted as overly paranoiac {{Stepford Smiler}}s with a fear of everything foreign due to a RedScare. These make up a major part of the plotline for the first game, and then a minor fraction of the second game, with the revelation that [[spoiler:the Soviet Union was formed by an alien race who intruded Russia during the late 1900s and kickstarted the October Revolution]].

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Natalya Ivavona. Whether or not she was a decent female companion for Crypto or a mere ReluctantFanserviceGirl made for pure lust for Crypto is of large debate to many people. It doesn't help that many people think that she is often blamed for the RomanticPlotTumor of the second game, despite Crypto mostly being responsible for hitting on her.

* EvilIsSexy: Silhouette, the main antagonist of the first game.

* AntiClimaxBoss: An irritating number of examples, though some are more because you can become rather overpowered over the course of the game (Meteor Gun, anyone?)

** Played horribly straight in Path of the Furon, in which some of the bosses barely even move, and especially if you have an [[MoreDakka upgraded Ion Detonator]], except for [[spoiler: Henri Crousteau]].

* HarsherInHindsight: The secret commentary of the first game found in the second game feature both Crypto and Pox talking very fondly of the possibilities of a third game. This becomes rather harsh considering how disastrous Path of the Furon was.

** Most of the KGB mooks in the second game are voiced by Creator/FredTatasciore. [[WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil That wouldn't be the only time he'd voice an aggressive Russian]].
** The [[spoiler:Blisk MasterPlan for the planet]] was to [[spoiler:water-lodge Earth to make it their haven]], since Mars became a barren wasteland [[spoiler:during the Martian War]]. Come 2015, and it has been confirmed that there is actually water on Mars.
** The hippies in Albion Crypto can come across are voiced by Creator/RobinAtkinDownes, who would become one of the voice options for The Boss in ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'', a game which involves fighting aliens and is widely thought of as being similar to this series.
** In ''Path of the Furon'', Crypto bemoans the idea of making his casino more family friendly, saying he hates children because they're 'too smart to gamble'. Come the lootbox fiasco brought to the spotlight in gaming roughly a decade later in which one of the main criticisms against LootBoxes was the real possibility of goading children playing games with these mechanics into paying large amounts of money for a chance to randomly get what they want in exchange of the gamble.

** The hippies in Bay City are depicted as pot-smoking, self-righteous liberals who attempt to disdain from the "bourgeois" influence of the city, yet [[BourgeoisBohemian are ironically this]] [[{{Hypocrite}} themselves]]. The Albion hippies are more of a downplayed example, although they are shown as fashion-absorbed rich kids and part-time prostitutes.

** The hippies in Albion Crypto can come across are voiced by Creator/RobinAtkinDownes, which becomes funnier with the fact that Downes later did one of the voice options for The Boss in ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'', a game which involves fighting aliens.

** Finding all the probes in the first game. Made worse by the fact that the game gives absolutely ''no'' hints whatsoever for finding them. This is mitigated in the remake, where drones are easier to spot due to the areas they're in being easier to see.

** The series is a pastiche of 50s AlienInvasion [[BMovie BMovies]] such as ''Film/Plan9FromOuterSpace'' and ''Film/TeenagersFromOuterSpace'' with even the option to view those films.

** The series is a pastiche of 50s AlienInvasion BMovies such as ''Film/Plan9FromOuterSpace'' and ''Film/TeenagersFromOuterSpace'' with even the option to view those films.
** It could also be seen as an ''Series/InvaderZim'' game in terms of tone, humour and even Richard Horvitz voicing ExpositionFairy Pox.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: While the story and characters can be debated, Destroy All Humans! 2 expanded and improved on the first game's features, and brought just enough new stuff to the table.

* MagnificentBastard: [[spoiler:The Master]], TheChessmaster behind the plot of ''Path of the Furon''.

* GameBreaker: Brain extracting in the remake. This time around, you’re able to upgrade it so that extracting one brain causes the effect to transfer to one or multiple other humans in the immediate vicinity. The final upgrade causes them to start attacking their own allies before dying. Meaning that it’s entirely possible to take down an entire group of enemies without firing a single shot, and get a boatload of DNA doing it.