Line #292 VideoGame/PoliceQuest


1	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
2	[[quoteright:830:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pq_collection_eu.jpg]]
3	%%[[caption-width-right:830:some caption text]]
4
5	''Police Quest'' is a series of {{adventure game}}s developed and published by Creator/{{Sierra}}. ''Police Quest 1-3'' were produced by Jim Walls, a retired California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer, and the situations Bonds encountered were true-to-reality, following police procedures to the letter. If you stepped out of line during a bust, the judge would toss your case out of court. If you went crazy with your gun, or didn't properly care for your vehicle, that was it -- game over.
6
7	Similar to an interactive PoliceProcedural, the first three games had players take the role of Sonny Bonds, a police officer in the city of Lytton, California.
8
9	Reporting for his shift at the beginning of the first game, Bonds soon becomes aware of a drug ring operating in Lytton -- masterminded by one man, Jessie Bains. Known as the Death Angel, Bains is aggressively moving in on the territory of Lytton's local dealers, and things are getting messy. Enlisting the help of a local HookerWithAHeartOfGold named Marie, Bonds is assigned to an elaborate sting operation that ends with Bains behind bars and Sonny and Marie returning to day-in, day-out normality.
10
11	This doesn't last, however, because in the second game, Bains escapes from prison, capturing (and later killing) a prison guard in the process and making it deadly clear that he ''will'' kill anyone that helped put him in. As the bodies start to pile up, Bonds, promoted to homicide detective, discovers Bains has targeted Marie (now a ''retired'' HookerWithAHeartOfGold, and Sonny's girlfriend). Proceeding into the latter stages of the game, Bonds tracks Bains to his hideout, saves Marie, and (eventually) proposes to her.
12
13	Several years later, Sonny and Marie are happily married, but there's more trouble to come from the Bains family. The Death Angel's brother has sworn revenge, and it's up to Sonny, now a Detective Sergeant, to protect his beloved Lytton, which has grown into a city. This one pulls out all the stops, with situations ranging from dirty cops to sexual assault. (Strangely enough, the revenge plot ends up being an ''afterthought''.)
14
15	Starting with ''Police Quest: Open Season'' (non-officially known as PQIV), the series came under the helm of Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Chief Darryl F. Gates (Walls having moved on by that point). ''Open Season'' was the last to focus on a specific, named detective -- this time, LAPD Homicide Detective John Carey. Working from Parker Center, the player now has to cope with much more violent, graphic crimes. The player is introduced to Carey on the first screen, with a dead cop in an alley by a dumpster -- a dumpster which, when opened so the Criminal Investigative Division can photograph it, reveals the body of a six-year-old boy.
16
17	'''Individual Games:''' (Kindly add tropes exclusive to these works only to their pages)
18	[[index]]
19	* ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest1InPursuitOfTheDeathAngel''
20	* ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest2TheVengeance''
21	* ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest3TheKindred''
22	* ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest4OpenSeason''
23	[[/index]]
24
25	Jim Walls later moved on to Tsunami Games where he produced the SpiritualSuccessor, ''VideoGame/BlueForce''. Decades later he started a Kickstarter for the ''Police Quest''-like game, ''[[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/precinctgame/precinct Precinct,]]'' however, it was cancelled due to lack of funding. He did say in recent interviews that he still wants to get the game produced in some way in the future.
26	-----
27
28	!!This series contains these common tropes:
29
30	* TheEighties: Very much evident in the first three games:
31	** The first game references the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crack_epidemic_in_the_United_States crack epidemic]] of the period, with Sonny drawn into the war on cocaine traffickers. Conflating it with a Satanic cult in ''III'' is also very much a part of media of the day.
32	** While less clear in the first game, the more detailed graphics in ''II'', and especially the move to VGA in ''III'', show very 80s fashions and clothing. All of the car models are 80s or earlier vehicles, the lack of cell phones (such as usage of a pay phone in the first game, or people leaving Sonny messages in his desk inbox when he's not in his office), the continued use of {{revolvers\|AreJustBetter}} by the police, and other examples of technology such as the rudimentary computers greatly affect the plot and gameplay.
33	** The driving rock soundtracks in ''II'' and '''III''' have a synth rock sound right from the mid and late 80s.
34	* EightiesHair: Less noticeable in the first game, though Jack is clearly sporting a very 80s pornstache, but by ''II'' the graphics are more detailed and 80s Hair abounds, while Keith inherits Jack's 'stache. Marie sports a ''very'' 80s perm in ''III'' (even though the 90s have arrived by then).
35	* AbortedArc: Pretty much every location, plotline, and character from the first game is dropped for the second, except for Marie and Bains.
36	** Dooley is still around, having been promoted from Sergeant to Lieutenant, and he is now running the narcotics division. Another character from the first game appears in the second [[spoiler: before he gets killed.]]
37	** The Gremlin arc from the first game is also wrapped up in the second, albeit only if you read the relevant file in the computer, which reveals that [[spoiler: Sonny's former Narcotics partner, Laura Watts, was the Gremlin, as it shows up as a reprimand in her file]].
38	** Keith, on the other hand, [[AscendedExtra is a minor character in the first game and becomes your partner in the second]].
39	** PQIV has [[spoiler: the murder case of Bobby Washington and the supremacist couple. See AntiClimax in the Police Quest IV section.]]
40	* AllThereInTheManual: The manual and all other materials that are included with new copies of the game are what you need in order to find your way around. These include hints, tips and strategies of progressing in the game, including a reference sheet to teach you poker. [[GuideDangIt Either that, or you could consult a guide instead.]]
41	* ArtShift: PQI was a graphic text adventure that was quirky in its own right. PQII went for a style akin to a BuddyCopShow. Japan got a more [[http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/policequest/policequest.htm manga-inspired]] PQII. PQIII and the remake of I went for a more realistic look, especially, in PQIII, to highlight how depressing it gets when the story kicks off. PQIV, especially with the change in designers AND since Sierra was experimenting with other [=FMV=] games like {{VideoGame/Phantasmagoria}}, utilized digitized graphics to make the game look even more realistic, darker, and more depressing (though it ended up being almost as silly as PQI and II in some scenes).
42	* ArtisticLicenseLawEnforcement: Zigzagged in the ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest'' series. The first three games are meant to have you [[ByTheBookCop follow proper police procedure]] as listed in the manual such as arrest procedures, when to use your sidearm, gathering evidence and so on. Yet the hero Sonny Bonds is [[TheMainCharactersDoEverything shown doing tasks that would usually be handled by specialized investigators or officers]]. In the third game, Bonds even goes first into a crack house after the SWAT team breaks the door down and then waits outside.
43	* ByTheBookCop: Enforced. Half the puzzles in the games consist of knowing the proper police procedure and following it. Though they do get gradually less strict compared to the original graphic text adventure, the spirit of "you have to do this by the book" is present throughout the series. The most prevalent example of this is the traffic stops in the first game: you ''can'' let the sexy woman in the red convertible go without a ticket for running a red light, but you won't get any points that way. And you ''can't'' arrest the obviously incredibly drunk man until you ''prove'' that he's drunk with the proper test.
44	* ChekhovsGun:
45	** In PQI-IV, your handgun. It does not have much use other than helping to uphold the peace (in the first game, you can put it in the gun locker at the jail and ''leave it there'' for the rest of the game), and is generally used more as an AppealToForce. The gun gets the most use in the second game [[spoiler: which is also the only time that Bonds shoots to kill]]. Justified in that you are an officer, and cannot unjustifiably go around and shoot people, even if they are about to assault you with a melee weapon or otherwise.[[labelnote: note]]In real life, depending on state laws, officers can use lethal force, even if the public may deem it as unnecessary. Usually justified if the officer's life, or the life of others, are at stake. In the context of this game, it aims for non-violent solutions when it seems plausible.[[/labelnote]]
46	** In PQIII, after getting a new computer access card, Mike will lament about a tracking device that hasn't been returned. You'll need to get one yourself to track a car you will have to chase.
47	** In PQIV, there is a bulletproof vest, which the first victim's wife had packaged away and will give you later on. A gun fight happens later in the game where putting on the vest will absorb one bullet, giving you a free hit-point.
48	*** Also, when you look inside the trunk of John's car in the beginning of the game, you will notice the shotgun there that you cannot carry with you. You use it in the same scene where you can put on the armor.
49	* CityOfAdventure: Lytton, the location used in the first three games. Its described variously as being a relatively small city, whose crime rate is only ''just'' beginning to catch up with that of bigger ones... but on the same token, it certainly seems to have more criminal activity than is typical for a town of its size.
50	** Though the fourth game sets it in the non-fictional city of Los Angeles, California.
51	* CopyProtection: Progressing in the game requires one to have the [[AllThereInTheManual instruction booklet for suggestions and what to do in certain situations.]] (Nowadays, all you need [[GuideDangIt is a walkthrough you can find on gamefaqs.]])
52	** PQII has a more straight forward means. Every time you start the game, it will ask you to identify the person on a mug shot. The names to accompany these mugshots are found in the manual (and in the files in the cabinet which is in the Homicide room).
53	* TheCoroner: PQII and III have Leon. While he possesses a sick sense of humor, he is said to be good at his job. He is given a lot more screen time in PQIII, highlighting his quirkier qualities.
54	** PQIV has Sam Nobles, of the [[TheStoic mostly stoic type]], and his assistant, Russell Marks, the [[BlackComedy dark comedian type]].
55	* CowboyCop: By halfway into each game, including PQIV, the game starts focusing less on procedure and more on RuleOfCool, and requires you to do things a little out of what a normal officer would. Not that we're complaining, as the games still attempt at playing the ByTheBookCop to its effect, while providing some memorable scenes in the process (such as the terrorist hijacking scene in PQII, and the raid in PQIII).
56	** It tends to be justified or handwaved as well: in the first game, for example, the shift comes when you transfer to the Narcotics division, which still plays by the book, but also uses undercover and sting operations, unlike the patrol division. Generally, when the game switches to more of a ''proactive'' policing role (investigation and so on), rather than a ''reactive'' role (patrolling and response), that's when the rules get a little less constraining.
57	** In PQIV, the Lieutenant, and even Hal Bottoms, actively discourage John from invoking this trope, even though it is practically required to progress.
58	* CreatorCameo: Jim Walls appears in PQII whenever you have a [[GameOverMan game over to inform you as to why you didn't do so well.]]
59	** He makes a more frequent appearance in PQIII as the narrator.
60	** PQII gives you the option to contact Al Lowe, another creator from Sierra. He detects Sonny as a potential customer and advertises ''Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking For Love In Several Wrong Places''. You can even tell him if it's good or bad, and he'll respond accordingly. He also informs you that he is working on a third game, which had been finished since then.
61	--> '''Al Lowe''': If this sounds like a promo, it is. But then [[PaintingTheFourthWall why else did you call me?]]
62	** Darryl Gates appears on one of the floors in Parker Centre in 4. He's also an adviser for the player in ''SWAT 2''.
63	* DarkerAndEdgier: For Sierra's adventures as a whole. While not without moments of levity, it's still much more serious and deals with darker themes[[note]]even the first game features multiple graphically-described murders, [[spoiler:and Jack's daughter dies from a drug overdose]][[/note]] than the whimsical ''VideoGame/KingsQuest'' and often affectionally parodic ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory''. To say nothing of the outright comedies like ''Videogame/SpaceQuest'' and ''Videogame/LeisureSuitLarry''.
64	** Each game gets progressively more serious, including the VGA remake of PQI, released around the same time as PQIII. Despite this, ''Police Quest IV: Open Season'' manages to top them all in its portrayal of truly sick criminals, not to mention having even more darker themes than the third game.
65	* DeadpanSnarker: The narrator of the Police Quest games shows shades of this, though he snarks a little less with each installment, and hardly does it at all in PQIV (due to it being much more dark - see DarkerAndEdgier above).
66	** The Narrator in IV does get quite snarky if you do things like clicking the notepad on your car in the first scene("There's no need to record the fact that you drove your car here") or the putty knife on random objects("Feeling handy? Like Mr Fix-it Carey?") or the plastic bags on Lucky Mini Mart shelves("Are you shopping detective? Get back to work")
67	--> PQI: Great. Another chapter in your life of big-time crime stopping -- parking space hogging!
68	** Dr. Aimes, the police psychiatrist from PQIII:
69	--> "Lovely. I get to peer into the mind of yet another scumbag."
70	* DependingOnTheWriter: Sonny Bonds's height, weight, hired date, badge number, and even birth date has been changing with each game. There are many other variables, and [[ContinuityDrift who knows who is correct on this.]]
71	** As of Police Quest: SWAT 2, Sonny was 41, which means he was born around 1958.
72	** The dates in the original game aren't even consistent with the current year, jumping between 1983 and 1987.
73	* DevelopersForesight: You can visit any location and interact with some people earlier than the plot dictates.
74	** In PQII, you can contact Al Lowe (see CreatorCameo) and Sierra hotline numbers (see BreakingTheFourthWall in the PQII section).
75	** Using the computer to search for swear words yields some hilarious results.
76	* DigitizedSprites: The third and fourth games, as well as the remake of the first, used this technique with video-captured actors, as did most of Sierra's games around the same time. The artists left the sprites largely untouched to give the game a more realistic look.
77	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Can happen a lot in the game, often resulting in missed opportunities to earn more points, or getting a game over. Examples include failing to look up license plate information before making a stop in the third game (lost extra points) and using either the lighter or pesticide, not both, in the fourth game (game over).
78	* DrivesLikeCrazy: The people of Lytton. Failing to look both ways, press the button at the crosswalk, or approach a vehicle automatically results in you getting run over. There are also traffic violations and even a stolen vehicle you will have to contend with.
79	** You can drive like crazy yourself in the original game, as long as you can manage your speed and turns well enough (making it that much easier to speedrun). Also possible with the remake and PQIII, where you can choose to drive really fast. You just have to be quick to stop when you have to and get in the right speed for turning. It helps to have a map.
80	* DrugsAreBad: A common thing to see in these games.
81	** Jesse Bains is a drug smuggler who also likes to murder people. Naturally, the police wants him off the streets.
82	*** So is his brother in the third game, though a lot more low-class by comparison, down to having his own crack house.
83	** In PQIV, You are dealing with a gang who likes to run drug deals as well, [[spoiler: though unlike the previous three games, this isn't the central focus of the plot.]]
84	*** While not a central theme, in IV in South Central you can see a DARE billboard in the background( put there at the request of Darryl Gates) as clicking Hickman's medication on certain characters gets an anti drug response (Richard Marx say "I just say no" Barbie Can say "oh no no no no" and the Ragin Records owner says he can't take drugs because it messes him up and could hurt his business).
85	* EarnYourHappyEnding: Sonny Bonds suffers quite the emotional turmoil across the first three games, but each one gives him a genuinely happy ending.
86	** Same for John Carey when he's able to take down the serial killer.
87	* EdutainmentGame: Police Quest I (the original game) is said to have been used to help train newer police officers in using proper police procedure. See ShownTheirWork below.
88	** Heck, the reference material included with both versions of PQI teaches you how to play poker. It has a reference of winning cards by rank, teaches you basic terms, and how the game is played specifically.
89	* EverythingTryingToKillYou: As a lot of {{Creator/Sierra}}'s games, this is the case. A particularly egregious example: If you forget to inspect your squad car properly, you get a flat tire. This is game-ending, as, instead of being on patrol and seeing all the plot-critical elements, you're stuck waiting for a tow truck.
90	* FasterThanLightTravel: In PQI thru IV, you have the option to adjust the game speed, which also decides how fast the character can move. The strange and hilarious part about this is that not every element will follow suit. For example, in PQIII, the speed will affect how fast Sonny moves, but everyone else will move normally.
91	* GameOverMan: Jim Walls in PQII and III will personally offer his insight on any game over you accomplish, [[NonStandardGameOver with a few exceptions.]]
92	** The remake of PQI added a laughing skull in most of the game over scenes.
93	* GenreShift: In chronological order...
94	** TextParser: A graphical example: PQI and II.
95	** PointAndClickGame: PQIII: The Kindred, the remake of I and IV crossed with being a FullMotionVideo game.
96	* GuideDangIt: ''Open Season'' had several of these. Without the proper documentation provided with the games, you'll end up saying this as well.
97	* HaveANiceDeath: The game, or Jim Walls, will inform you how you screwed up, usually followed by what happens next.
98	* HideYourChildren: There are no children anywhere in Lytton. According to the newspaper reference material provided with Police Quest VGA remake, there is a program in place to keep the children protected, which may explain why you almost never see them in the games, with the one exception in PQIII, and averted in PQIV since it takes place in Los Angeles and makes the material irrelevant to that.
99	* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Marie Wilkans, a friend of Sonny's from high school, who agrees to help out with an investigation, and later becomes his girlfriend [[spoiler: and his wife]].
100	* HotPursuit: Happens in PQI and III a couple of times, including a fast speed one in III. You have the option to do it in II also.
101	* IdiotBall: There are plenty of moments where this can be invoked, and you don't need to be a police officer to say "What an idiot!" to yourself.
102	** For example, in PQI, try firing your gun while it's holstered, or leaving the gun locker open while your gun was in it. In PQII, try approaching airport security with your gun drawn, or shooting in the firing range without ear protection.
103	** A rather funny one in PQIII where you approach a car you pulled over from the driver side, instead of taking the safe route and approach the vehicle from the passenger side. And yes, this can happen even [[ApatheticCitizens after a pursuit that ends with the evader getting in a crash]].
104	** This has been downplayed with PQIV, but there are still some moments you can invoke, such sexually harassing a female officer by touching her, disregarding the many warnings she gives you for doing it repeatedly, or simply drawing your gun when it isn't necessary (although every time this is done, you will get a warning from the narrator before the game allows you to do this).
105	** In PQII, Marie clinches onto this when [[spoiler: you go rescue her by screaming how relieved she is for being rescued... then Bains enters the room. The solution is to tell her to calm down before unbinding her]]. {{Justified\|Trope}} because [[spoiler: she's spent the last two days in the clutches of a man that she knows is going to kill her, and she gets overly emotional when Sonny shows up literally out the blue]].
106	* ImprobableInfantSurvival: There are almost no children present in Police Quests I thru III. In the first game though, Jack mentioned his teenage daughter named Kathy who [[spoiler: has been using drugs she bought from a suspect in high school. Later in the game, Sgt Dooley informs you that she eventually died from an overdose.]] The suspect, also a teenager, looks exactly the same as any adult.
107	* ItsPersonal: In every Police Quest game before the SWAT games.
108	** PQI has this to a certain degree. During the briefing of the sting operation, Sgt Dooley informs Sonny that [[spoiler: Jack's daughter had died due to an overdose from the same drugs that Bains has been selling.]] The narrator cements this after you get the news.
109	** PQII has this as Jessie Bains's motivation for [[spoiler: murdering the people involved in his case, and kidnapping Marie.]] Naturally, Sonny takes this personally too.
110	** PQIII has Bains's brother, who decided to [[spoiler: assault Marie, resulting in her being comatose.]] Sonny, naturally, swears revenge, and is a little more aggressive about it in the game.
111	--> "I will get that bastard, [[spoiler: Marie]]. I SWEAR IT!"
112	** PQIV has John Carey wanting to find out who murdered his friend in the beginning of the game.
113	* {{Jerkass}}: A lot of the offenders are not nice people. The only ones who seem nice are in Police Quest III: The drunk driver who is hilariously cooperative, and the horny man who is in a rush to get with his date to the point that he politely asks to get his ticket done and over with.
114	** One particular example is a Latino man who was driving slowly in the left lane. Despite obstructing traffic, he refuses to accept responsibility and decides to fight the ticket in court. Thankfully, Sonny's patrol car has a speedometer calibration chart, which is enough to make the judge find in favor of the police department.
115	** The first person you pull over in the series is a beautiful woman who's only too eager to show some skin and make promises to get out of a ticket. The ''second'' you insist on writing her a ticket, she becomes ''incredibly'' abusive. Lampshaded in the VGA game, where the narration points out that you're just doing your job, trying to keep the streets safe for everyone, and ''boy'' does everyone take it out on you.
116	* KarmaHoudini: Among The Gremlin's pranks was spraying a memo to Sgt. Dooley with mace. When he read it, the effect was pretty much the same as if he got sprayed in the eyes with the stuff. Fast forward to the second game, and a computer search through the personnel files reveals not only the identity of the culprit, but that the individual was punished by being given a written reprimand and being forced to write an apology to Dooley. And after that, [[spoiler: Laura]] was able to retire at the age of forty.
117	** In PQIII, you can review files on [[spoiler: Pat Morales, and even a psychiatrist's personnel file on her to reveal that she has a slew of cases on her before the game started. To begin with: she has tampered with evidence and gone against protocol several times, leading to a prior investigation by Internal Affairs, but she was left untouched due to lack of evidence. Sonny can find actual evidence to finally have something done about her.]]
118	* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: In the first game, [[spoiler: Donald Colby got away with several drug deals harming high school students, including one that got Jack Cobb's daughter killed by overdose, after Donald testified against Bains in exchange for a suspended sentence]]. In the second game, however, [[spoiler: Donald's warranty expired after Bains murders him]].
119	* KnowWhenToFoldEm:
120	** In PQIII, after [[spoiler: gunning down a couple of Bains' men, he'll surrender himself without putting up a fight.]]
121	** In PQII, there is a mugger who will go after Sonny. Just call Keith on the two-way radio (or show the mugger your badge, or your ''gun''), and he'll high-tail it. It doesn't take Keith long to catch him though (but only if you use the radio[[labelnote:*]]The intent of the scene is to remove Keith (your partner and only backup) from the final confrontation with Bains[[/labelnote]]).
122	** In the first game, the customer of a drug dealer will surrender immediately the moment you order him to freeze and come out with a gun, while the dealer runs (though if you keep Laura informed, she'll intercept him as the game requires). The remake, however, subverts this as the customer does make an attempt to escape, but gets held up when Sonny gets closer and orders him to freeze once again.
123	* LastLousyPoint: There are a lot of easily-missed pieces of evidence that aren't required to win, but are needed for OneHundredPercentCompletion.
124	** In the first game, failing to check the VIN on the blue Cadillac will lock you out of 100% completion.
125	** The second game has a couple: failing to find the bomb-making guide, failing to read the mugger's rights (even though your partner has already done that), failing to closely examine the note you find on Marie's door, and, the most easily missed, not checking the bulletin board at the beginning of the game to discover you're behind on your shooting scores.
126	* LookBothWays: You can walk towards the middle of the street in PQII, resulting in Sonny getting run over. You can also do this at the crosswalk at the airport without pressing the button with predictable results. In PQIII, ''never'' approach a stopped car from the driver's side. This gets hilarious as you'll be run down by ''the same car every time''.
127	* LawmanBaton: In PQI, you need to check the inside of your patrol car to find your PR-24 nightstick. Use of the PR-24 is the correct way to deal with the biker gang in Wino Willy's.
128	* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: Throughout the series Bonds handles loads of tasks which should be done by a specialized investigator or officer. Probably the biggest example of this is near the end of the third game, where you call in a SWAT team to help in taking on a group of criminals who have barricaded themselves in a crack house. All the SWAT do is plow down the door with their motorized ram, and ''Bonds proceeds to enter the house by himself while SWAT waits outside''.
129	* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot:
130	** PQI's plot starts with an investigation of what seems to be an accident. It doesn't take much investigating to find out that the driver was shot, though, and his death and the police's subsequent investigation ends up uncovering and destroying a burgeoning drug empire. {{Downplayed}} in that the police already knew about the drug empire, but didn't have any information on who was behind it. The accident gives them a link to follow when they discovered the deceased man was targeted because of his connection to (and betrayal of) the kingpin.
131	** PQIII has a scene of Marie getting attacked by a couple of thugs, and investigation reveals that one of them was Jessie Bains' brother. More importantly, the investigation into the attack leads Bonds to uncover another (much less upscale) burgeoning drug empire, as well as [[spoiler: a seriously CorruptCop]].
132	** PQIV starts off with John solving a murder case of a fellow police officer and a child. After a shootout that eventually exposed the child murderer, it turns out that they had nothing to do with the officer's murder. John later learns [[spoiler: and pieces together that it was committed by a demented, mentally deranged serial killer.]]
133	* MoralityPet: Marie becomes one for Sonny in PQII and PQIII. [[spoiler: Although this is surprisingly subverted, considering that even though Sonny rescued Marie from Bains (who had murdered his fellow officers and witnesses at that point), he only killed Bains in self-defense. Again in III where Marie got put in a coma by Bains's thugs, and yet the most aggressive he got was eyeing at a potential suspect, and charging into a crack house alone, and even then all his kills were in self-defense.]]
134	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Jessie Bains, the ''Death Angel!'' He lives up to his name quite often according to news reports. And he fails to disappoint in PQII.
135	* NonstandardGameOver: In PQII, the only time Sonny doesn't go crazy from randomly firing a gun is when he shoots at a shaking bush at the Cotton Cove. This gives Sonny a game over, because he had not ascertained it really was Bains (who it was), and it could have been a little boy playing for all he knew.
136	** In PQIII, if you take the key from a fellow officer's purse, and she returns to find it missing, the game ends with a unique game over screen.
137	---> "BUSTED! You died of embarrassment!"
138	** In the same game, staying in a woman's locker room long enough has Morales catching you inside, giving you a similar game over screen.
139	---> "Breaking and entering doesn't look good on a policeman's record, Sonny!"
140	** In PQIV, if you investigate a certain suspect's apartment without checking under the door, a dog will jump out to kill the player. Instead of the normal game over music and regular dark fade, there is a red fade that happens almost immediately, and the game over tune is replaced by the sound of Carey getting mauled by that dog.
141	** Walking out of the locker room wearing only your towel in the first game will cause Laura to walk past and [[AllWomenAreLustful pass comment]]. It's also possible to strip off at any point during the game and cause an instant game over.
142	* ObnoxiousEntitledHousewife: ''Open Season'' has Rosa Garcia. When her son, officer Rene Garcia, dies, she complains to detective John Carey about how useful he was, was saving himself for a good girl, and is mad that some pervert killed him and exposed his body. She even demands that the detective finds the person responsible and punishes him and insinuates that he doesn't understand the weight of the situation because he doesn't have a son. Additionally, she is mentioned to have been giving the Lieutenant an earful beforehand and Carey's partner Hal Bottoms calls her one tough bitch.
143	* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: Some parts of the game require you to have [[AllThereInTheManual your user manual handy.]] Failure to pass these parts may have the game remind you to have your manual.
144	* PlaylistSoundtrack: ''Open Season'' has two music tracks playing in the Bitty Kitty Club that switch one after the other - a happy dance-oriented one and one that's still upbeat and more like rock.
145	* PoliceBrutality: [[AvertedTrope Yeah, no.]] Invoking this trope yourself is a quick way to get yourself a GameOver. In each game, you have to go by the book and use the right amount of force each situation calls for. Not that it'll stop the criminals you're arresting from (wrongly) accusing you of this.
146	* PolicePig: Many antagonistic characters throughout the series call Sonny Bonds or the Lytton police in general pigs. Tawnee V. Helmut in the first game's remake even mocks the protagonist with several things associated with pigs (a sty, rolling in mud, and oinking) after receiving a ticket. Conversely, in the fourth game only Yo Money references those animals, calling Dennis Walker "a boil on a pig's butt", which is not meant to disparage the new protagonist John Carey and he immediately apologizes for any potential insult from that line.
147	* PygmalionPlot: Not ''exactly'' an example of the trope being played straight, but close. In the first game, Marie is a hooker who's in love with Sonny. In the second game, Sonny has "helped her turn her life around" by somehow convincing her to give up prostitution and (presumably) get a legal job. While Sonny was clearly attracted to her in the first game, he doesn't enter into a serious relationship with her until after he's changed her. Perhaps justified, since it wasn't the safest line of work and he probably didn't want to have to worry about her getting arrested all the time, not to mention he would have lost his badge for compromising his integrity.
148	* RankUp: Sonny goes from patrol officer to detective in the first game, whether he applies for the promotion or not. In the intro for ''Police Quest III'', he gets promoted to Sergeant. Other characters get off-screen promotions between games as well; Dooley was a uniformed sergeant in the first game and is a Detective Lieutenant in the second (though he loses his private office).
149	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: '''YOU''', as Sonny Bonds!
150	** And, by extention, [[spoiler: most of]] the police force, obviously.
151	** The judges in the first and third games as well.
152	*** PQI: As long as you have the evidence to prove Taselli and Hoffman are the same person, she/he will provide a warrant to keep him in jail. [[spoiler: He'll escape anyway, unfortunately.]]
153	*** PQIII: She is more down the earth with Sonny, and is willing to grant Sonny's request to [[spoiler: send in a motorized ram to bust down a door of a crack house, and a SWAT team who'd accompany him later.]]
154	* RedHerring: There are some events that can happen during the story that have nothing to do with the overall plot (such as a terrorist hijacking in PQII, and the speeder in the PQI remake), other than the fact that these offenders had the misfortune of being caught by Sonny Bonds.
155	** PQIV is worse than PQII about this. Mainly that the [[spoiler: murder of Bobby Washington]] and the [[spoiler: attempted murder on John by the white supremacist couple]] have ''nothing'' to do with the main story other than having bodies pile up during the time.
156	* {{Retcon}}: The PQI VGA remake was released in 1992, a year after the third game. Woody Roberts (the bartender in the first game) appears in PQII [[spoiler: as a dead man inside a trunk.]] However, the remake changed the character's name and gender. There are no updates to PQII that reflect this change.
157	* SchmuckBait: In PQI, after you arrest the drug pushers, you get a prompt saying it would be a good idea to question them before you take them to jail. Doing so without reading their Miranda rights first (which you are NOT prompted to do) will net you a game over. However, if you choose not to question them, the game will continue (but you get fewer points).
158	** Players who read [[AllThereInTheManual the manual]] and remember proper procedure for questioning suspects won't fall into the trap, of course.
159	** PQII has you riding in the plane where the Captain asks everyone to put on their seat belts. Wanna see how serious they are about that?
160	*** "Remember, no partaking of the spirits" (he means alcoholic drinks, and yes, you have the option to drink them, and get drunk too).
161	** Sonny can conduct a briefing in PQIII. He'll finish by reminding his fellow officers to "think about making right hand approaches on your car stops." You will make a few stops later, and make him go against his word, if you want.
162	* ScoringPoints: As per adventure games, PQI through IV have a point system where you can accumulate points for performing certain actions, and how many points you can get determines how correctly you handle a situation or perform an action. In some cases, you can even lose points.
163	* SerialKiller: PQIII and PQIV have them.
164	* ShownTheirWork: The manual for each game includes pages full of comprehensive knowledge on crime information, procedure, radio codes, and so on, even if not all of it is relevant for that specific game. The first game was even used as a simulator for-up-and coming police officers. It helps that the lead designer will happen to be a retired police officer, either Jim Walls or Daryl F. Gates.
165	* ShoutOut:
166	** In the original version of the first game, when you pull someone over, one of the locations you could end up is the disco from ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry''. The narrator even mentions it is a leftover from another Sierra game.
167	*** The Lytton Tribune has an article on the [[VideoGame/KingsQuest the Kingdom of Daventry, and even states a dragon and gnome as actual creatures.]]
168	*** A dealer you have to arrest will utter the line: "Up yours, Dick Tracy!"
169	*** In the jail, you'll meet Bonecrusher Gajarian, a software pirate who looks exactly like the pimp in - again - ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry''.
170	** Larry himself is sitting around the airport in the second game. You can talk to him.
171	*** Also, going crazy (by just firing your gun when it isn't necessary) shows [[VideoGame/KingsQuest King Graham]] and mentions the plot device from Kings Quest IV.
172	--> "KING NEAR DEATH!"
173	** In PQIV, the vehicle tow front desk guy will tell you to let Beavis know that Butthead sent ya. Notice how both of them love to laugh.
174	--> '''John''': Uhhhhh, Beavis, I was told to tell you that Butthead sent me?"
175	--> '''"Beavis"''': Ehh? Ah ha ha ha!
176	*** And later:
177	--> "Hahahaha, tell him Bucket said [[Series/HawaiiFiveO 'book em Danno.']] Ahhahahaha"
178	** "He looks like Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers."
179	** One game over in the PQI remake (specifically, shooting the biker) will have Sonny spend the rest of his life as an "[[Series/MarriedWithChildren alcoholic shoe salesman]]".
180	* SmoochOfVictory:
181	** In PQI original, [[spoiler:Marie will kiss Sonny in front of city hall in the ending.]]
182	** Again when you [[spoiler: save [[DamselInDistress Marie]] from Bains in the second game.]]
183	* SorryOciffer: In the first and third games, you pull over a drunk man who is a textbook example of this trope, "ociffer" and all. Though he can become hostile in the first game if you give him the chance, the one in PQIII will be hilariously cooperative.
184	* StopOrIWillShoot: Played straight, but read your manual carefully and follow procedure exactly, or you're done. Yes, procedure contains "stop or I will shoot", but that's not all there is to it.
185	** One pivotal scene in the first game has you pulling over a known violent suspect, wanted in at least two murders. The procedure here is actually ''very'' involved: you have to call for backup, wait for him to arrive and - critically - get into position, order the suspect out of the car, order him to get on the ground (twice, the first time he ignores you and he ''will'' shoot you if you don't order him again; you can skip this requirement by using the right command[[note]]"Get out of the car with your hands up" instead of "Get out of the car" will make him note that there are guns on him and put his hands up as soon as he gets out of the car[[/note]]), ''and'' search him after you handcuff him. Fail to do ''any'' of this, and you're a dead man. Oh, and don't forget to read him his rights.
186	* SuperDrowningSkills
187	** In PQI, you can fall into a river and flow away, drowning soon after.
188	** PQII has a few instances where you can fall into a river, a lake, or even a sewer and drown. The river death can be avoided by calling in a dive team (see OxygenMeter in the Police Quest II section), and the sewer is justified since it is sewer sludge you are submerging into.
189	** PQIII gives you the option to wrestle a crazy man in a lake. Doing so has him forcing this trope down your throat.
190	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
191	** PQII ends with [[spoiler: a shoot-out against Jessie Bains. What follows is Sonny's leave of absence for three days as Internal Affairs reviews if his actions were in self-defense. Thankfully it was deemed to be so, and they decided to award Sonny by giving him a two week vacation with pay for the trouble.]]
192	** PQIII took some liberties as to how the end scene is played off, and then once you complete that scene correctly, the narrator (Jim Walls) then informs you that "All that's left to fight is the paperwork." Not that Sonny minded, considering what he had to go through at the time.
193	*** Sonny notices in one part of the third game that his wife is receiving improper medical care on one of the machines in the hospital. Whereas just about any other game in the genre would expect you to fiddle with the dials on your own, the correct solution here is for Sonny to bring this to the attention of the hospital staff who know how the machines work and let ''them'' fix it.
194	* SymbolSwearing: The non-voiced games use symbols to censor swear words. This becomes less relied on in PQIII, and is averted in PQIV, where they simply minimize the swearing and use it sparingly, or even [[GoshDangItToHeck just use other words.]]
195	* ToiletHumor: In the first and second games, you can talk to some cops who are on the toilet while in the locker room. Their responses range for sardonic to annoyed and can all be summed up as "I'm having a hard time in here, so leave me alone" and the second game allows the player to use the toilet. Averted in the third game and the VGA remake of the first game.
196	** The third game actually lampshades the fact that the player is probably expecting some kind of toilet humor, by including a toilet that can be interacted with, but not actually used for the purpose for which it was designed. Continued interaction will lead to the game basically telling you to stop obsessing over toilets.
197	* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: Certain mistakes can prevent you from completing the game normally, such as not adjusting your sights in PQII (hope you saved beforehand!) and not investigating Marie's hospital bed for a discrepancy in medicine dosage [[spoiler: or getting internal affairs involved]] in PQIII.
198	* VideoGameCaringPotential: In PQII, you can learn about a fellow officer's drug problem and talk to him about it, resolving in him swearing off of them for good.
199	** In PQI, after hearing about [[spoiler: Kathy's demise, you can call Jack's family to offer them your condolences.]]
200	** A subversion in PQIII. You are required to give a homeless woman a lunch bag, only it's someone else's bag.
201	* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: There are several situations where you can shoot a criminal. In almost all of them, that is the wrong response and will get you a GameOver. The few exceptions to this rule appear in the second and third games. In two cases in the 2nd game, Sonny will be [[spoiler:ambushed by a gun wielding Jessie Bains]] and must return fire in self defense. In the third game, Sonny is storming the hideout of drug runners and several armed suspects jump out from behind cover, and the correct response is to shoot them.
202	** Lampshaded in the remake of the first game if you decide to shoot the biker in Wino Willy's.
203	-->''"You pull out your revolver and shoot the unarmed biker right between the eyes. (No, we're not going to reward your violence with animation of blood and brains hitting the back wall.)"''
204	* ViolationOfCommonSense: You can fire your gun without drawing it first, with predictable results. On the other hand, in PQI you can leave your gun at the jail locker for the entire game and proceed unarmed.
205	* WaitingPuzzle: Some instances in the series requires you to wait to progress. Remember, this is a Sierra adventure game, and there are parts where waiting can give you a game over, render the games unwinnable, or (at best) [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking losing the chance to earn extra points]]...
206	** PQII did avert this for the motel raid, where an officer brings Sonny a search warrant moments after it is requested via radio, and backup will arrive the moment you leave your car after calling for it.
207	* WhatTheHellPlayer:
208	** Some of the game over screens will warrant this at you, mainly for excessive force or mishandling a situation, like shooting an unarmed man who's only crime is acting like a maniac, or trying to take up going into a fist fight.
209	** In PQI VGA, if you lose a card game [[SchmuckBait (which you can invoke automatically if you want, that is ''don't play but lose anyway'')]], and the chief will have a word with you before sending you to the game over screen.
210	** Also, if you don't report in at the station in PQII, or even if you play normally while driving your personal car instead of the unmarked police sedan, a patrol car will stop you and order you back, earning you a word with the head of Homicide. Thankfully, the game does not end there - unless you had already done it before.
211	** If you try to pull out your gun on anyone where it isn't called for, the narrator will naturally call you out for it. You can pull it out after the second time, but you are then given a game over.
212	** Strangely, if you sexually harass a female cop, she will firmly inform you that you are committing sexual harassment and order you to cease immediately. The strange part is that she will give you about ''five warnings'' before finally netting you the game over screen, AND how she seemed to have been ''under''-reacting.
213	** Your fellow officer in PQIII will give this to you for not siding with her (which you are required to not do, since at that moment she wants to arrest a pregnant woman who is about to give birth). [[spoiler: Turns out the officer was trying to get you fired.]]
214	* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: As a cop, just shooting anybody (even if there is that smallest justification to doing so, at least for this franchise's context) is an easy way to lose your career, and by extension, the game. You're only allowed to do this if they have a gun, otherwise you must disarm the suspect or use your nightstick.
215	* WretchedHive: In the first game, Lytton is turning into one.

Context VideoGame / PoliceQuest