Grace: I knew joining the Bureau would involve traveling, but Luzaguay wasn't quite in my top ten places to visit.
The Bureau arrives to Luzaguay after learning in the previous case that SOMBRA sent instructions to the killer from there. After a few unsuccessful talks with the uncooperative citizens of the country, Carmen and the player decide to pay a visit to President Adolfo Herrera to interrogate him instead, only to find his lifeless body shot in the head at his office.
Tropes:
- Apathetic Citizens: The citizens of Luzaguay you encounter in the street couldn't care less about the Bureau's affairs in the country, fearing that they might be "silenced" if the government catches them saying too much.
- Asshole Victim: The victim was a fascist dictator working for SOMBRA who made his people's lives miserable for no reason other than wanting to stay in absolute power. Every suspect is absolutely thrilled whenever you inform them about his death, and with good reason.
- Banana Republic: The case takes place in the Sovereign Democracy of Luzaguay, a fictional dictatorial country located where Easter Island
would be in real life. - Big Damn Reunion: During the Additional Investigation, Carmen and you reunite Eva Reyes with her little sister Constanza after their separation due to Adolfo's militia.
- Boom, Headshot!: How the victim was killed, courtesy of a Sniper Rifle.
- Continuity Nod: Elliot suggests Sanjay listen to The Lone Roses, the boy band featured in Killing Me Softly. Sanjay then claims Elliot is a fan of Vanna Alabama.
- The Coup: Valentina killed the president because she was aiming to seize the power from him and make of Luzaguay a better place for everyone. She even decided to film a video message announcing she was the new president before the president was killed, which got him in trouble when Carmen and the player found it.
- The Dictatorship: What Luzaguay is: people who try to defy the government are "silenced" by the president's militia, everyone is forced to take drugs whose withdrawal symptoms are deadly, and old citizens are sidelined and left to die in favor of younger ones without any other option.
- Emergency Presidential Address: Valentina had one recorded before President Herrera was killed, claiming that she was the new president due to him not being available anymore.
- Explosive Results: In Chapter 1, Lars accidentally makes a component explode in his laboratory with Sanjay near, which infuriates Carmen.
- Fantastic Drug: One of the killer's traits is that they consume Gabalium, a drug used by the Luzaguayan government to control its citizens by making them overly dependent on it. If they refuse to obey or get too old to be of any use, they get deprived of Gabalium, whose withdrawal symptoms are lethal.
- Felony Misdemeanor: Parodied. When Lars explains to his daughters that their mom won't be coming home anymore due to doing something bad, May asks if they can put June in prison too for eating all the ice cream.
- Foreshadowing: During the Additional Investigation, Michelle seems to be overly distracted with her cellphone, to the point Elliot assumes she doesn't care about his analysis results. Then in Case 48, we learn that Michelle was being stalked and harassed by Ignacio Muñoz with suggestive text messages.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Francisco explains how Adolfo used to be a regular man with ambitions for a better future until SOMBRA offered to fund his political campaing in exchange of him adopting their policies, and soon everything turned into a dictatorship once he won the election.
- The Generalissimo: As the supreme leader of a dictatorial Banana Republic with its own militia, Adolfo Herrera definitely qualified as this.
- Glorious Leader: Everyone is required to call Adolfo their "Beloved Leader" and show nothing but appreciation and support for him. The alternative? Meet his militia.
- Heel Realization: During her arrest, Valentina makes it clear that she was convinced Luzaguay was a prosperous nation that just wanted the best for its younger citizens at the expense of sidelining old ones who weren't of any more use. However, once she was forced to witness her mother's health decay and eventual death due to those rules, she understood the pain and grief people in Luzaguay went through, which made her realize what kind of dystopia the government was running and attempted to seize the power so she could overthrow those laws.
- Hostage Situation: In Chapter 3, Sebastian takes Pedro hostage when the latter attempts to form an alliance with him, believing that the militia was trying to eradicate his resistance.
- The Infiltration: Elliot discovers that President Herrera had a programmed meeting with a SOMBRA agent in Machu Picchu, so the Bureau decides to travel there at the end of the case to intercept said agent.
- Living Emotional Crutch: Jack has become this for Lars in the wake of his wife's arrest.Lars: You too, bro. You're the only thing that's keeping me going. I'll speak to you later!
Sorry, <Player's Name>. That was Jack. He's been a life-saver recently! - Missing Child: Constanza Reyes, a 10-year-old child, was kidnapped and brought to the city by the Luzaguayan militia when they raided the resistance's camp, and her sister Eva has been trying to find her ever since.
- The Mole: Francisco, the president's butler, has been acting as a informant for Sebastian's resistance ever since he got tired of Herrera's oppressive regime.
- Nervous Wreck: Francisco Ramirez, Adolfo's butler, is shown to be constantly nervous and in the brink of collapse whenever you interrogate him. Later, you learn it's because he's acting as The Mole for the resistance base, and he's far more relaxed when you speak to him during the Additional Investigation after both the president and the vice-president have been taken out of the picture.
- People's Republic of Tyranny: Despite its inspiring name, the Sovereign Democracy of Luzaguay is far from sovereign or a democracy, as the country is a fascist dictatorship being controlled by SOMBRA from the shadows.
- President Evil: President Adolfo Herrera is a dictator with ties to SOMBRA.
- President for Life: Adolfo Herrera had been president for the last 30 years, likely because SOMBRA kept financing his electoral campaign with massive amounts of money that guaranteed he would win the election.
- Puppet State: What Luzaguay is revealed to be, as the country is actually being controlled by SOMBRA which, despite not being a country itself, is powerful enough to probably count as one.
- The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Sebastian, the leader of the resistance, planned to detonate a bomb in the City Hall to take out President Herrera, which would've caused hundreds of casualties and collateral damage. Fortunately, you inform him about Herrera's death before he can enact his plan.
- Regime Change: At the end of the case, it's implied that, with the president dead and the vice-president incarcerated, Luzaguay can go back to being a democracy that won't be controlled by SOMBRA anymore, though of course there's a lot of work to be done before that can be accomplished.
- La Résistance: One is established in the outskirts of the city against the dictatorship that is Luzaguay, being led by Sebastian Morales.
- Rivals Team Up: After being liberated by Sebastian, Pedro claims that he just wanted to talk to him and offer an alliance between his militia and Sebastian's resistance to establish a new order now that Herrera's dead. Whether Sebastian decides to accept said alliance is made unclear by the end, however.
- Shadow Dictator: SOMBRA is actually the one mandating what happens in Luzaguay, as President Adolfo Herrera was an agent of them. When Elliot inspects Herrera's tablet, he learns Luzaguay is SOMBRA's first and only attempt at seizing control of a country, and once he's taken out of the picture, SOMBRA loses its power over it.Carmen: So the Luzaguayan government is backed by SOMBRA?! That explains the atmosphere of oppression!
We haven't seen any overt signs of SOMBRA... which means they must be operating from the shadows. - Shout-Out
- The victim, Adolfo Herrera, is named after Adolf Hitler, physically resembles Josef Stalin, dresses like Augusto Pinochet, and his "affectionate" alias of "Beloved Leader" seems to nod to "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il.
- Sebastian Morales is a parody of Che Guevara.
- The case is set in the fictional country of the Sovreign Democracy of Luzaguay, which:
- Is similar in name to two other South American countries, Paraguay and Uruguay.
- Has a similar full name to and is run like North Korea.
- Uses a mandatory drug to keep its people controlled.
- Features moais, the iconic statues of Rapa Nui.
- Has parts of French, Latin and Esperanto in its constitution.
- State Sec: Los Patriotas, a militia group used by President Herrera to "silence" anyone who opposes his regime. Pedro Torres, its leader, appears to be entirely loyal to the president, though you later discover Herrera wanted to dissolve them.Carmen: And how do "Los Patriotas" deal with people who commit treason?
Pedro: We have a mandate from the government to do whatever's necessary... The kind of stuff the army can't be seen doing! - Unmanly Secret: When Sanjay reveals he saw Elliot listening to Vanna Alabama, Elliot appears to be completely embarrassed about that fact.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: Valentina was convinced that President Herrera and his regime were helping Luzaguay make a better country even if that meant leaving old people to die when they weren't of any use anymore. Once she had a Heel Realization, she understood that, in the end, utopia did not justify the means, and killed Herrera to seize the power.
- Vice President Who?: Vice-President Valentina Silva was so unimportant to SOMBRA she didn't even know the country was being controlled by them
- Villain with Good Publicity: Subverted. At first, it appears everyone in the country loved President Herrera, but it's later discovered people were forced to love him or else they would get "silenced" by the State Sec.
- We Used to Be Friends: Adolfo and Francisco were good friends even after Adolfo became president, since Francisco was blinded by patriotism and being a military leader to realize there was a dictatorship going on around him. However, once Francisco got old and was forced to retire, Adolfo made him his butler and treated him like every other disposable citizen.
- Who Murdered the Asshole: None of your suspects liked President Herrera. While this is understandable with the members of La Résistance, even Herrera's lackeys admit being tired of him when you interrogate them, and the killer ends up being his second-in-command.
- I Will Find You: Eva Reyes wants to find her little sister no matter what, and you help her accomplish it during the Additional Investigation.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Due to Luzaguay being controlled by SOMBRA (whose ideologies basically entail lots of Social Darwinism), anyone deemed to weak or old to keep working is sidelined and left to die in case they get sick, as the government prioritizes medicines and aid for young and healthy people.
