History VideoGame / Gungrave

* BigBad: [[spoiler:Harry]] in the first game and anime; [[spoiler:Garino]] in ''Overdose''; [[spoiler:Who-Knows-Who]].

* BulletproofHumanShield: A new mechanic introduced in ''G.O.R.E'' is the ability for Grave (or Bunji) to pull a human enemy and use him as a human shield. While the grabbed enemy can be used to soak up damage in front of the player to allow their own shield to recover, the trade off is reduced firepower while holding the enemy.

* CelShading: The first game's graphics used cel shading to capture the feeling of playing in a mafia-centric anime. ''O.D.'' however foregoes cel shading while retaining the anime artstyle of the predecessor, then ''G.O.R.E'' foregoes the anime artstyle altogether for more a realistic art direction similarly to ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'', but Iggymob would eventually add an optional cel shading graphics filter in response to the critical reception of the game's realistic direction received.

* CriticalAnnoyance: In ''O.D.'', when the player is in critical health, the game will flash an "EMERGENCY!" warning on the screen. In ''G.O.R.E'', the game screen will pulsate red with blood splatters around the corners of the screen and an alarm sound.

* GenreThrowback: ''Gungrave G.O.R.E'' was made as a throwback to the arcadey third-person shooters of its predecessors after its 14-year stint and two VR spin-offs. The original version primarily takes cues from the first game, while the Switch version's ''Ultimate Enhanced Edition'' leans closer to ''O.D.''[='=]s gameplay with its faster gameplay and extra playable characters as DLC.

* IdiosyncraticComboLevels: Featured in the original version of ''Gungrave G.O.R.E''. As the player racks up high Beat combos, players are greeted with an accolade phrase on the HUD such as "Reaper", "Massacre", and "G.O.R.E". The Switch version however replaced these accolades with counter for their Full-Break Level instead.

* ViceCity: Part of the setting of ''Gungrave G.O.R.E'' takes place in massive a South-East Asian city called Scumland, and the place has been run down by the inhabitants' addiction to SEED and overran by the Raven Clan and their mafia henchmen.

** In the original version of ''G.O.R.E'', clearing all stages on Hard difficulty unlocks Grave's classic look from the first game and his ''O.D.'' appearance. In the Switch version, these rewards get swapped Death Ronin costume that was DLC from the original version since the classic and ''O.D.'' costumes became paid DLC.

* {{BFG}}: The coffin and the Center Head.

* BigBad: [[spoiler:Harry]] in the first game and anime; [[spoiler:Garino]] in Overdose.

** In the original version of ''G.O.R.E'', clearing all stages on Hard difficulty unlocks Grave's classic look from the first game. In the Switch version, it gets swapped with the Death Ronin DLC costume from the original version since the classic Grave costume became paid DLC in the former.

** Subverted in ''O.D.''. While charging powershots as grave, his Cerberus guns glow in a golden color while holding the charge.
** In ''Gungrave G.O.R.E'', clearing the game on Easy/Casual difficulty unlocks the Golden Cerberus, which gives Grave faster rate-of-fire and increased damage output when wielding them. The Switch version however gives players the ability to toggle the Golden Cerberus's enhancements independently from the guns themselves, allowing one to keep the appearance of the guns from one costume set without wielding the Golden Cerberus for its buffs and vice-versa.

* {{Bowdlerised}}: The ''Ultimate Enhanced Edition'' of ''G.O.R.E'' ironically removes all gore from the game despite having an ESRB rating of M in North America and CERO rating of C in Japan. Though not for censorship reasons but rather gameplay performance on the Switch's weaker hardware. The pre-rendered cutscenes also had all depictions of graphic violence and blood were heavily edited or removed (although a few scenes with red blood were left untouched), and voice lines from the mafia enemies using the F-word also were cut.

* CheckpointStarvation: Mostly averted in the first game is fairly generous with mid-stage checkpoints, however, ''O.D.'' has them far less frequently. It also averted in ''G.O.R.E'' outside of playing under the game's G.O.R.E difficulty, which removes checkpoints entirely in addition to making enemies and bosses even stronger than Hard mode, meaning dying at any point means starting the stage all over.

* CombinedEnergyAttack: [[spoiler:Grave, Billy, and Juji combining their powers for a Triple Final Demolition Shot to finally finish off Garino in ''O.D.'']].

* GenreThrowback: ''Gungrave G.O.R.E'' was made as a throwback to the arcadey third-person shooters of its predecessors after its 14-year stint and two VR spin-offs. The original version primarily takes cues from the first game, while the Switch version's ''Ultimate Enhanced Edition'' leans closer to ''O.D.''[='=]s gameplay with extra playable characters as DLC.

* PreRenderedGraphics: Throughout the non-VR games, the series feature some FMV cinematics that are animated by an animation studio. The first two games were animated by Ikusabune while ''G.O.R.E'' was animated by DIGIC Pictures.