History YMMV / ReturnOfTheObraDinn

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Leonid Volkov. While others praise him for being somewhat heroic during the beast attacks, others note that his unprovoked assault on the crew while they were trying to flee was crossing the line.

** Lars Linde tried to join Alexander Booth, Nathan Peters, and Duncan [=McKay=] as they tried to abandon ship, but in his death scene he's holding a knife in his left hand, raising many questions about his character. Did he intend to use it to threaten the other escapees, or did he pull it out in self-defense when Nathan attacked him? Whatever the case, it raises the possibility that Linde might not be a good guy. Was the death of Samuel Peters really an accident, as Linde and Booth insist, or did Linde [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident sabotage the ropes and make the cargo fall on Samuel]], meaning that Nathan was telling the truth all along?

** Fourth Mate John Davies -- was he planning on committing mutiny? When the gunner's mate brings the idea up, he only asks if Wiater has a plan and doesn't actually agree to anything. He also attempts to stop Wiater from killing Lanke.

** A gross BlackComedy example with Edward Spratt, who ends up getting crushed to death while in the process of using the toilet. The accompanying sounds are... unpleasant. What really seals it is the "WTF" expression of the man in the adjacent room, who heard the entire thing.

** On both occasions where we hear the surgeon giving his medical opinion, he's somewhat optimistic (apart from the aforementioned leg incident, he gives another patient laudanum and says he will monitor him.[[note]]Not exactly great, but the patient sounds stable, at least.[[/note]]) In addition, his reaction to seeing someone impaled to the wall with multiple spikes is to calmly state "Don't move. I'll get you down." [[InstantlyProvenWrong Every time, the person in question dies immediately afterwards.]] Whoops.

** Are the terrible beasts as evil and monstrous as they seem or the aggrieved party trying to get their property and imprisoned companions back? In addition, how smart is the Kraken? It acts much more cunning than your average animal: Stealthily killing Spratt, taking the time to knock the rowboat with Duncan, Nathan, and Alexander into the sea, and it's smart enough to knock over the rigging and the cannons. Is this an intelligent move, or is he merely being directed by the mermaids?

** Are the terrible beasts as evil and monstrous as they seem or the aggrieved party trying to get their property and imprisoned companions back?

** Those who know their history would notice that, in the final report, Captain Witterel's suicide got his estate forfeited to the Crown. During the 1800s, when the game takes place, suicide was a felony crime in England that would result in the suicide's possessions being forfeited to the Crown. On the other hand, those who catch on early on are left with a specific DrivingQuestion: "What happened that was so bad that it left Captain Witterel [[DrivenToSuicide so utterly broken that he would kill himself]], [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome regardless of the consequences]]?"

** Lars Linde tried to join Alexander Booth, Nathan Peters, and Duncan [=McKay=] as they tried to abandon ship, but in his death scene he's holding a knife in his left hand, raising many questions about his character. Did he intend to use it to threaten the other escapees, or did he pull it out in self-defense when Nathan attacked him? Whatever the case, it raises the possibility that Linde might not be a good guy. Was the death of Samuel Peters really an accident, as Linde and Booth insist, or did Linde sabotage the ropes and make the cargo fall on Samuel, meaning that Nathan was telling the truth all along?

** The beginning of the "Bargain" chapter (or rather, [[BackToFront the end]]). Henry Evans is heard doing ''something''... and then the flashback starts and that "something" is ''shooting a monkey''. ItMakesSenseInContext.

** Lars Linde tried to join Alexander Booth, Nathan Peters, and Duncan [=McKay=] as they tried to abandon ship, but he was holding a knife in his left hand, raising many questions about his character. Was the death of Samuel Peters really an accident, as Linde and Booth insist, or did Linde sabotage the ropes and make the cargo fall on Samuel, meaning that Nathan was telling the truth all along? Why was Linde holding a knife? Whatever the case, it raises the possibility that Linde might not be a good guy.

** In The End chapter, why was First Mate William Hoscut trying to recover the shells from the captain? Was it to accomplish a mutiny and have something that could be traded for gold and supplies like the gunner's mate's plan? Or was it to toss them overboard in an attempt to placate the beasts? Were the shells his only motive, or were there others that he didn't bring up with Brennan and Walker, such as the fact that his sister Abigail was killed on the voyage. Did he know she was dead, did he simply assume it because of the violence on the ship, and in either case, did he blame Robert for it?
** Fourth Mate John Davies -- was he planning on committing mutiny? When the gunner's mate brings the idea up, he only asks if Wiater has a plan, and doesn't actually agree to anything. He also attempts to stop Wiater from killing Lanke.
** Are the terrible beasts as evil and monstrous as they seem, or the aggrieved party trying to get their property and imprisoned companions back?

** The corpses remaining on the Obra Dinn are in much better shape than four years at sea would indicate, especially corpses such as Edward Spratt's (who is just a few loose bones on the bow of the ship, but the fact that they are even there at all is a miracle). Was it pure chance? Did the sea creatures ensure the bones remained so that other humans would understand. Was it part of the promise made to the Captain? Or did the magic of the Memento Mortem ensure they remained.

** The three midshipmen (Peter Milroy, Thomas Lanke and Charles Hershtik) get a lot of love due to the heroism they show despite their young age, and their camaraderie with each other.
** Third mate Martin Perrot is considered by most to be one of the better people on the Obra Dinn. His acts of bravery and his constant presence in dramatic events, such as the kraken attack, as well as his death at the hands of a beast he was trying to free, have earned the favor of many players. This even is shown in universe, in that Martin Perrot's estate is given the most money by the East India Company.

** Third Mate Martin Perrot is considered by most to be one of the better people on the Obra Dinn. His acts of bravery and his constant presence in dramatic events, such as the kraken attack, as well as his death at the hands of a beast he was trying to free, have earned the favor of many players. This even is shown in universe, in that Martin Perrot's estate is given the most money by the East India Company.

** The Investigator hears a variety of languages over the course of the investigation, including, but not limited to: Russian, Swedish, Indian, Hokkien, and Mandarin. Is the Investigator an {{Omniglot}}, or is this a power granted by the Memento Mortem?

* MemeticPsychopath: Thanks to the "Captain Did It" achievement, which is obtained by pinning every death in the game to Captain Robert Witterel (the deaths he does commit: Hoscut's, Brennan's and Thompson's, can be correct or incorrect -- and most importantly, were done in ''[[KillingInSelfDefense self-defense]]'' -- but everyone else being incorrect), many players have made jokes about him being a mass murderer. The most common version of the joke features him as an axe murderer, as no characters ever die by axing and it's listed near the top of the "cause of death" list, but some have instead joked about him cannibalizing the crew.

** The Memento Mortem. It's definitely a magic trinket, but is revealing the time of death for a corpse (even a corpse that only can be found within a scene shown by the Mortem) its only power? How did Henry get this trinket in the first place? He's clearly aware of its power, but did he ever use it in his field?

** The Memento Mortem? A magic trinket to be sure, but what else is there to know about it? The magic shells glow when using the device, is the pocketwatch connected to the shells or is that just the shells's own power? Did Henry use the Memento Mortem for anything other than setting up the epilogue chapter by shooting his monkey?

** In The End chapter, why was First Mate William Hoscut trying to recover the shells from the captain? Was it to accomplish a mutiny and have something that could be traded for gold and supplies like the gunner's mate's plan? Or was it to toss them overboard in an attempt to placate the beasts?

* MemeticPsychopath: Thanks to the "Captain Did It" achievement, which is obtained by pinning every death in the game to Captain Robert Witterel (the deaths he does commit: Hoscut's, Brennan's and Thompson's, can be correct or incorrect, but everyone else being incorrect), many players have made jokes about him being a mass murderer. The most common version of the joke features him as an axe murderer, as no characters ever die by axing and it's listed near the top of the "cause of death" list, but some have instead joked about him cannibalizing the crew.

* MemeticPsychopath: Thanks to the "Captain Did It" achievement, which is obtained by incorrectly pinning every death in the game to Captain Robert Witterel, many players have made jokes about him being a mass murderer. The most common version of the joke features him as an axe murderer, as no characters ever die by axing and it's listed near the top of the "cause of death" list, but some have instead joked about him cannibalizing the crew.

** Using Chinese sailors as the Formosan translators is an underrated genius work. On the one hand, most of the people living in Formosa are settlers from Minnan region (a southeastern region of China), specifically Fujian Province, hence they speak Chinese like the sailors do. On the other hand, the Formosans speak the Hokkien dialect, while the Chinese sailors are suggested to speak something akin to Cantonese. As a result, the Chinese sailors could understand the gist of the Formosans' speech, but they couldn't comprehend the speech enough to be the excellent translators.

** The Memento Mortem? A magic trinket to be sure, but is it something that works for anyone at anytime, or are their special conditions to use it? Is it connected to the sea creatures and/or the magic shells? How much of its usage is the trinket's own magic and how much of it is the Investigator's own skills?

* TheUntwist: As a rule, the game doesn't try to deceive you by dropping misleading hints: Any clue--even a seemingly minuscule one--that serves as a decent identifier usually also is one (which, given the sheer numbers of people you have to identify, is a blessing). People who wear similar uniforms also hold the same positions; stewards generally accompany their respective mates; the only sailors climbing along the rigging are topmen; women who are a Mrs wear wedding rings; and so on. The problem is rather picking up those clues in the first place, since many of them are pretty inconspicuous.

* ThatOneLevel: