The Trapped Trilogy

The Trapped Trilogy is an Adventure Game series by Patrick Majewski (Godlimations). It consists of three installments: Trapped, Pursuit and Escape.

Trapped focuses on an unnamed protagonist who wakes up afflicted with Easy Amnesia. Trapped in a bathroom, he tries to figure out who he is, where he is, and how to get out.

Pursuit shifts focus to Dialla Reineheart and her partner, Mickey Lee, as they attempt to pursue the Armor Gamsees, a supposedly notorious gang led by crime lord Dan McNeely.

Escape follows Dialla as she attempts to escape capture and put an end to everything once and for all.

Apparently, a fourth game, entitled Stranded, is in the works. This will shift focus to Dan as he finds himself stranded on an island, with something evil lurking in the background.

The games are notable for having been featured on Retsupurae.

Not to be confused with the Trapped Series

Tropes used in The Trapped Trilogy include:

A God Am I: McNeely seems to be trying at this with the Inorgamzics.
Aerith and Bob: On one side, we have ordinary names like Dan and Mickey, and on the other we have names like Dialla.
Amnesiac Dissonance: Dialla used to be the leader of Armor Gamsees. McNeely also didn't seem so bad when he had amnesia, but he apparently had no trouble going back to being over-the-top evil once he got his memories back.
Amnesiacs Are Innocent: See above.
Animesque
Art Shift: Repeatedly, sometimes even during the same cutscene.
As the Good Book Says...: "Greunbaum" reads briefly from a bible he finds in Trapped.
- A bible comes into play (complete with shoehorned in bible quote) at least once per game. It feels very much like the series is just fulfilling some kind of bare minimum quota in order to count as a Christian game.
Attempted Rape: Jason to Dialla in Escape. It also happens in the other games.
Beard of Evil: McNeely grows one in the second game.
Blond Guys Are Evil: Jason's the only blond in the story and he turns out to be a rapist.
Boom! Headshot!: In the shotgun duel with Merik in Escape, headshots lower his health more, allowing you to kill him faster.
Card-Carrying Villain: Literally. Members of Armor Gamsees have personalized ID Cards that also function as keycards.
Captain Ersatz: In the second and third games, Dan bears a striking resemblance to Gendo Ikari.
Contrived Coincidence: The blow torch.
- How about two very valuable gold coins you find in a prison cell?!
Dark Is Evil: Most bad guys tend to wear black. Merik seems to be an exception to this. Also, Mickey Lee, if you consider his past connection with the Armor Gamsees.
The Dev Team Thinks of Everything: If you don't pick up the bible in the first game, you get shot, and it tells you to go back and try again.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: How could I forget my banana?
The Dragon: Merik to McNeely in Escape.
Everyone Is Related: With one very minor exception, every character in the entire series is a member of the Armor Gamsees.
Evil Laugh: Dan McNeely indulges in one at the end of Trapped.
Fake Memories: Inorgamzics is said to have this as a side effect for those who take it.
Faux Action Girl: Dialla. She's supposed to be a detective/officer (of some sort) and yet proves to be weak (except in certain unrealistic cases) and incompetent.
Fiction Identity Postulate: There's a website dedicated to making a movie of it. Notably, it attempts to explain most of the Egregious plot twists, like Dialla being the leader of Armor Gamesees.
Fingore: In the first game with the severed finger in your wallet. Subverted in that it's a prosthetic.
Flat Character: All of the characters could be considered this to an extent. Mickey Lee is just the most obvious one.
For the Evulz: Seems to be the reason McNeely does anything evil. Especially since he decides to have Mickey Lee's dead body tossed in the cell with Dialla (after she didn't accept McNeely's invitation to join their gang) and walks away laughing cruelly. There's no logical reason for doing something like this since, if he really wanted that person on his side, tossing the dead corpse of a partner and friend is not a way to endear somebody to you...
Gainax Ending
Grey and Black Morality: Everybody in the series kills at least one person. Kinda killing the point of this being a game about religion.
Guide Dang It: All three games are guilty of this, though Pursuit is the biggest offender with its infamous "banana-knife-rope-glue" puzzle.
Hey, It's That Voice!: Edwyn Tiong as McNeely and Kira Buckland as Dialla--for the amateur voice acting and flash animating community. Edwyn especially is in a lot of stuff and has an instantly recognizable voice. Kira is also a professional voice actress.
Adventure Narrator Syndrome
Idiot Ball: Both Dialla and "Greunbaum" in the same scene.
Important Haircut: Dialla's hair changes between Pursuit and Escape. This is explained a bit by saying Jason cut it off.
- actually, it never explained how the hell he managed to cut her hair or get the hair.
Insane Troll Logic: The first game has a wallet on the floor with a severed finger in it that you must set on fire with a match to reveal a lockpick inside the finger. It only goes downhill from there.
It's a Wonderful Failure: Failing to escape the room in 'Trapped when the guards are about to break in results in a funny conversation with Dialla, and a funny message telling you to try the door.
Large Ham: McNeely treads into this.
Let's Play: Retsupurae actually makes it enjoyable to watch.
Milking the Giant Cow: Dan.

slowbeef: You ever hear of over-animation?

Mood Whiplash: The {relatively} serious plot contrasts heavily with the ludicrousness of the puzzles.
Moon Logic Puzzle: Need to open a locked door? Burn the artificial finger you found! Want to catch a fish? Make a fishing rod out of a rope, knife, and banana! Looking for evidence? Open an alcove on a wall, stick a lamp in the alcove and turn it on, hang a picture with a pinhole in it over the alcove and tap on the wall where the light shines to find evidence!!
- One of the reviews for the second game provides the page quote.
Mundane Utility: Found two very old, probably valuable coins in your cell? Use one to unscrew a toilet lid and the other one to stop up a drain.
Off-Model: Dialla's eyes changing color from Trapped to Pursuit, for one.
- Why are they pulsating? Why are they fucking pulsating?
Pocket Protector: The bible "Greunbaum" carries in Trapped.

"I've heard about the Word saving people's lives, and this has me all but convinced."

Recurring Riff: That 4 note motif when often plays when something happens.
The Reveal: "Greunbaum" being McNeely (didn't see that coming, did 'ya?) in Trapped. Dialla being the actual leader of Armor Gamsees in Escape.
Redemption Equals Death: A possible interpretation of Mickey Lee's death since we find out later that he was a member of Armor Gamsees. Though, considering that things seemed to be tacked on as the story went on, it doesn't seem right to give the writer that much credit.
Rule of Cool: At the end of Pursuit, Dan makes his appearance in the sewer in a Slick Black Suit Complete with a pair of Sunglasses. (You know, to see in a dark sewer.)
Sequel Hook The ending of Escape post credits shows Dan lighting a match in the safe.
- Well Now, This seems familiar...
Solve the Soup Cans: An infamous offender.
Some Dexterity Required: The interface is rather pain when it comes to combining items.
Smug Snake: McNeely, especially with the sneering tone he's voiced with.
- This gets lampshaded in Godlimation's later game Amea, where McNeely is briefly mentioned in the end and dubbed by the characters "A real snake" and a "Smug bastard".
Title Drop: Done twice, in Trapped and Escape.

"Greunbaum": "Where am I? Why am I here? I can't remember... Who am I? And why do I feel so... Trapped?"

Tomato in the Mirror: Done twice.
Too Dumb to Live: Mickey Lee. Going down into a sewer--which is acting as a base for a dangerous gang (and knowing that)--unarmed and alone. Yeah.
- Also, McNeely shoots Jason by offering him Inorgamzics to distract him.

McNeely: You'd think he would've noticed the gun in my other hand.

Tuckerization: Dan McNeely and Armor Gamsees are named after, well... Dan McNeely, founder of Armor Games, the site where the games are hosted.
Unexpected Gameplay Change/Unexpected Shmup Level: The shooting sections of Trapped and Escape.
Violation of Common Sense: The fishing rod among with other things.
Voodoo Shark: Dialla being the leader of the Armor Gamsees doesn't explain anything, and somehow manages to screw up the earlier story.
We Can Rule Together: McNeely to Dialla in Escape.
Where the Hell Is Springfield?: The story takes place in an unnamed city. The only thing that seems to be named as far as location is concerned is Greunbaum's mansion in Trapped. It's not even clear if that mansion is located in the same city we see in Pursuit and Escape--which kind of makes it jarring for the player.
Worst News Judgement Ever: At the end of Trapped, we see a newspaper with the headline "WANTED CRIMINAL: DAN MCNEELY. SERIAL KILLER LARGE REWARD". A smaller headline reads "More exciting news! Jesus has returned!". That's right: not even in a Christian game is the Second Coming of Christ the main headline!
- Makes a lot of sense when you realize that with Christ coming back is not in and of itself dangerous, whereas an at-large serial killer is relatively likely to kill you for no reason. And I'm sure Christ would agree that saving lives takes priority over preaching.
Wicked Cultured: Not so much the character as the voice actor: Tiong has a way of making McNeely sound like this.
- Tiong has a way of making anyone sound like this.