Detroit: Become Human

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Detroit: Become Human is an adventure game developed by Quantic Dream and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4, released worldwide on 25 May 2018.

The game takes place in 2038, where androids are commonplace and serve humans. The plot revolves around three androids: Kara, who escapes the home she was serving in to explore her newfound sentience and protect a young girl; Connor, whose job it is to hunt down deviant androids; and Markus, who devotes himself to releasing the androids from servitude.

Detroit: Become Human was derived from the 2012 tech demo Kara.

Tropes used in Detroit: Become Human include:
  • Abusive Parents: Todd, Kara's owner, abuses his daughter Alice.
  • Alien Blood: Thirium (people call it "blue blood") is what powers androids.
  • Crap Saccharine World: On the surface, the Detroit of 2038 seems to have fully recovered from its current-day malaise thanks to being at the heart of android development. On the other hand, unemployment is high and there are many homeless people angry at how androids had taken their jobs.
  • Diegetic Interface: The androids' Stat-O-Vision.
  • Epic Rocking: Many songs in the game's soundtrack: "Kara Main Theme" (6:54) by Philip Sheppard, "The Revolution Is Starting" (7:19) by John Paesano, "Kamski" (7:42) and "Connor Main Theme" (8:54) by Nima Fakhrara.
  • Fantastic Racism: Androids are called as objects by most people.
  • Ink Suit Actor: As expected from Quantic Dream. For instance, Kara looks just like her voice/motion capture actress Valorie Curry. Connor, meanwhile, closely resembles a very stoic Bryan Dechart.
  • "It" Is Dehumanizing: Androids are mainly referred to as "it," highlighting how people don't see them as equal.
  • History Repeats: Depending on the choices, the story can mirror Martin Luther King's drive for equal rights. Or in one ending, lead to the revival of concentration camps straight out of Dachau, with androids being exterminated en masse.
  • Humans Are the Real Monsters: Humans generally abuse and berate androids.
  • Just a Machine: Humans generally see androids as either nothing more than machines or a potential threat waiting to happen. Depending on the choices, those sentiments are either taken to their logical conclusion or start to get averted altogether.
  • Killed Off for Real: Depending on the player's choices, any of the three main characters can die and the story will keep going.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: The president looks a lot like Hillary Clinton.
  • Offing the Offspring: Depending on the choice taken, Todd kills her daughter by breaking her spine.
  • Self-Made Orphan: Depending on the choices, Alice shoots her own father.
  • Shrinking Violet: Alice keeps to herself, hiding from her father and Kara when they are here.
  • The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Depending on the choices.
  • Uncanny Valley:
    • Androids don't quite look like humans.
    • One of the magazines mentions android functions, like bleeding blue blood and talking instead of wireless communication, that were designed to avert the trope.