History NightmareFuel / DarkestDungeon

* During the course of the game, as you beat different missions in different locations, you increase the gauge at the top of their display. Gameplay-wise, this serves as an obstacle for the player, with that location's boss encounters only available after a certain level has been reached. Plot-wise? This serves to show that your heroes adapt to that location, slowly learning about it's denizens and hazards, and so do you. The Nightmare Fuel comes into play once you apply that to Darkest Dungeon itself. Sure, the meter itself is still present, but even after you enter this most challenging, nightmare-inducing location and face all horrific things present, even after you put to the temporary rest the worst eldritch monstrosity responsible for this nightmare no less than your Ancestor is, what does the meter show? ''ZERO.'' And not only does your level not increase, ''the meter itself doesn't even begin to fill up. '' That means that even after everything you've gone through, the sheer trauma and inconceivable nature of the Dungeon didn't allow you to understand it or adapt to it. And since you permanently get locked out of there (unless using mods), ''you never will'', that's how hopeless the situation is.

* During the course of the game, as you beat different missions in different locations, you increase the gauge at the top of their display. Gameplay-wise, this serves as an obstacle for the player, with that location's boss encounters only available after a certain level has been reached. Plot-wise? This serves to show that your heroes adapt to that location, slowly learning about it's denizens and hazards, and so do you. The Nightmare Fuel comes into play once you apply that to Darkest Dungeon itself. Sure, the meter itself is still present, But even after you enter this most challenging, nightmare-inducing location and face all horrific things you can see, even after you put to the temporary rest the worst eldritch monstrosity responsible for this nightmare no less than your Ancestor is, what does the meter show? ''ZERO.'' And not only does your level not increase, ''the meter itself doesn't even begin to fill up. '' That means that even after everything you've gone through, the sheer trauma and inconceivable nature of the Dungeon didn't allow you to understand it or adapt to it. And since you permanently get locked out of there (unless using mods), ''you never will'', that's how hopeless the situation is.

* During the course of the game, as you beat different missions in different locations, you increase the gauge at the top of their display. Gameplay-wise, this serves as an obstacle for the player, with that location's boss encounters only available after a certain level has been reached. Plot-wise? This serves to show that your heroes adapt to that location, slowly learning about it's denizens and hazards, and so do you. The Nightmare Fuel comes into play once you apply that to Darkest Dungeon itself. Sure, the meter itself is still present, But even after you enter this most challenging, nightmare-inducing location and face all horrific things you can see, even after you put to the temporary rest the worst eldritch monstrosity responsible for this nightmare no less than your Ancestor is, what does the meter show? ''ZERO'' And not only does your level not increase, ''the meter itself doesn't even begin to fill up. '' That means that even after everything you've gone through, the sheer trauma and inconceivable nature of the Dungeon didn't allow you to understand it or adapt to it. And since you permanently get locked out of there (unless using mods), ''you never will'', that's how hopeless the situation is.

** Then there's the dungeon itself. At first, it's a dark red, vaguely Gothic setting. The only clues you get to its true nature are the ascended cultists who briefly turn eldritch when attacking and the eldritch priests who are actually horrifying abominations under their cloaks. Then you go into the second mission and ''surprise!'' The whole thing is covered in terrifying fleshy growths full of eyes and mouths while the Ancestor yells on about it being "madness made flesh". The third mission? The dungeon is '''alive!''' Literally a horrifying body with undulating organs in the background and antibodies trying to kick you out like you're an infection. The final mission? [[NothingIsScarier Nothing.]] Just empty space with a few glimpses of the Ancestor lamenting about his mistakes before the horrifying FinalBoss.

** There’s a weird {{uncanny valley}} element to this area as well. The background shows a world recognizable enough to know what it was before, but also radically different to where the rules of reality no longer apply as they’re understood. The farmhands also reflect this: All their attacks? They’re pantomiming their jobs before the corruption. This is most visible with the farmhands with their ‘seed sowing’ and basic attacks (same actions as digging a trench). It's as if daily life is still happening, though corrupted. This could mean anything between a reflection of The Sleeper’s interpretation of the world, or worse, all the enemies are incomplete conversions, trying to make sense of things while only ‘half existing’.

** The Formless Flesh takes this UpToEleven because its name is [[MeaningfulName rather indicative of what exactly it is]] and seeing exposed spines, pig faces with jaws like a shark, and multiple eyes and living hearts is probably the most horrifying thing you will find in this game. The stubby little legs atop one of its forms makes it clear that one of its attacks involves firing a [[NestedMouths fanged tentacle out of what used to be an anus]]. And it doesn't just stop at its visage: it can, thanks to random chance, transform into two heads and two butts, a composition not only intimidatingly large in size, but also exceptionally heavy-hitting both in straight damage and DamageOverTime.

* The swines, because they treat humans the same way we would pigs. Taking a closer look at the leather on the swine drummer's drum: you can see some poor guy's face on it; and the dinner carts clearly have an arm sticking out of them.
* The ancestor's own memoirs are quite a terrifying account into his life. And yet the unimaginably monstrous deeds he casually and calmly accounts to are only half of the horror. The other half being, just what was it that he found that could cause even ''him'' [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone to flee and atone?]] Also the fact that most of the monsters he created used to be people, and how he twisted them beyond repair for his own purposes, without remorse (at the time anyway).

** He has collected the [[AndIMustScream still living]] heads of a Vestal, a Highwayman, and a Man at arms.

* After completing at least one floor of the Darkest Dungeon itself.

** Heroes on low stress in the Hamlet will proclaim themselves ready for anything. Upon returning from their foray into The Darkest Dungeon, they make it clear just how shattered they are from merely ''glimpsing'' the true horrors it holds, even at 0 stress. Repeated encounters with {{Sea Monster}}s, fungal Zombies, TheUndead, PigMan societies running on pure NauseaFuel, and vampires — none of it made these hardened heroes crack; but after one foray into The Darkest Dungeon, they are right on the path to cross the DespairEventHorizon and GoMadFromTheRevelation.

"I would rest these bones in a cool, dark grave."\\

* The Swine. Not so much for themselves (they're no worse than any of the other enemies, as cold a comfort as that may be), but for their type, and its implications. They were created by the Ancestor's marginally successful attempts to summon outer things into pig flesh. So in a game with the classifications Human, Beast, Unholy, and Eldritch, what would you expect them to be? How about Beast/[[HumansAreCthulhu Human]]?

* The DLC's final boss, the Countess, is no slacker in this department. She usually attacks by implanting mosquito hives in your heroes' bodies with [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong a very long, grotesque tongue]]. Then, once she decides she really needs to get rough, she transforms into a gigantic mosquito-like beast that's far more monstrous than any other Bloodsucker seen in the Courtyard. The cherry on top is that she also brings InterplayOfSexAndViolence to the table: all of her attacks' names are horrific {{Double Entendre}}s, even as she's mauling you in her mosquito-queen form. One of the worst aspects of the Countess? She is a (literal) GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere in terms of ''Darkest Dungeon'' lore; the lore of every other area has at least some explanation of where they came from (Usually from the Ancestor doing questionable things). The Countess is the MonsterProgenitor of all the Crimson Court creatures, but The Ancestor didn't summon her, or make a deal with her, nor created her in an experiment, she just turned up to a party one night and attacked him.
** Actually, the Ancestor attacked the Countess, not the other way around. [[MuggingTheMonster He still had no idea what he was getting himself into…]]
* The Fanatic is horrifying in his own way.
** His presence is announced via a town event, and you can even see him in town standing in front of the Ancestor's Memoirs. He doesn't really do much at first, but the real terror comes in when you start an expedition... and instead of the usual loading screen of the selected dungeon, it's his ugly, scarred mug giving you a manic grin while the Ancestor describes him. He makes the Flagellant look like a sane person, given that he's out to purge the vampires by burning them at the stake, whether or not they're actually innocent.

* In general, the Color of Madness DLC lessens the EvilIsVisceral depiction in favor of the unsettling effects of things that are inherently ''unnatural''. Most prominent are the AlienGeometry aesthetic of the DLC, with the omnipresent crystals that have invaded the population and in fact ''pulse as if they were alive'', but also the horrifying TimeyWimeyBall aspect, as your party is effectively stuck in a time loop because of the EldritchLocation that is the Farmstead. It is primarily an excuse for the endless marathons, but it's also quite unsettling to see the party trying to approach the windmill time and time again, fighting through hordes of monsters and fighting bosses only to be sent back at square one, with the damage you've accumulated that way. There is literally ''no hope'' for you to defeat The Sleeper.
* There’s a weird {{uncanny valley}} element to this area. The background shows a world recognizable enough to know what it was before, but also radically different to where the rules of reality no longer apply as they’re understood. The farm hands also reflect this. All their attacks? They’re pantomiming their jobs before the corruption. This is most visible with the farmhands with their ‘seed sowing’ and basic attacks (same actions as digging a trench). It's as if daily life is still happening, though corrupted. This could mean anything between a reflection of The Sleeper’s interpretation of the world, or worse, all the enemies are incomplete conversions, trying to make sense of things while only ‘half existing’.

** You might think you're free to wail on the pyre to free your friend, much like the Hag and her cauldron, but this comes at a cost: Destroy it, and you end up enraging him and having him use a party-wide stress and health damage attack on every first action he takes. This means you have a choice - rush to free a party member and risk taking mounting damage and stress? Or focus on the Fanatic while letting your friend suffer the fate of countless innocents he's put to the torch?

* Color of Madness enemies have been through the wringer even by Darkest Dungeon standards. Farmhands are messes of ossified flesh, full of glowing gaps; the largest is pretty deep into the torso and reveals that they're basically hollow. Foremen are floating monsters with skull-like faces and a left arm that's in multiple pieces hovering in formation. The bosses are slated to be even worse. And all of this because the harvest failed and the Ancestor was asked to help.
* In general, the Color of Madness DLC lessens the EvilIsVisceral depiction in favor of the unsettling effects of things that are inherently ''unnatural''. Most prominent are the AlienGeometry aesthetic of the DLC, with the omnipresent crystals that have invaded the population and in fact ''pulse as if they were alive'', but also the horrifying TimeyWimeyBall aspect, as your party is effectively stuck in a timeloop because of the EldritchLocation that is the Farmstead. It is primarily an excuse for the endless marathons, but it's also quite unsettling to see the party trying to approach the windmill time and time again, fighting through horde of monsters and fighting bosses only to be sent back at square one, with the damage you've accumulated that way. There is literally ''no hope'' for you to defeat The Sleeper.
* There’s a weird uncanny valley element to this area. The background shows a world recognizable enough to know what it was before, but also radically different to where the rules of reality no longer apply as they’re understood. The farm hands also reflect this. All their attacks? They’re pantomiming their jobs before the corruption. This is most visible with the farmhands with their ‘seed sowing’ and basic attacks (same actions as digging a trench). It's as if daily life is still happening, though corrupted. This could mean anything between a reflection of The Sleeper’s interpretation of the world, or worse, all the enemies are incomplete conversions, trying to make sense of things while only ‘half existing.’
* The trailer for the sequel sets a terrifying tone ''right'' off the bat, showing us a ''frozen literal mountain of flesh''. Whatever awaits us in Darkest Dungeon 2, there's no doubt it's going to be just as bad, or downright ''worse'' than the horrors we've already seen.

* Watching the Hag throw one of your favourite heroes into her pot, and having to watch them being slowly cooked alive, deals heavy stress damage to the player. Likewise, the Fanatic can pick one of your heroes to be burned at the stake. Unlike the Hag example, however, your character is shoved in a sack, adding a certain claustrophobia element, visibly struggling whilst being engulfed in searing flames, and to top it all off, [[HellIsThatNoise audibly screaming in agony]]. Furthermore, the background when fighting this bastard is filled with those who have suffered a similar fate, each clearly occupied sack perfectly still.
* The intensifying background noise as torchlight fades. The squealing of the swines in the Warrens takes the cake, although the roaring of the monsters in the Weald and the Cove or the hissing of the undead in the Ruins are not that much comforting.

** The fungal artillery are piles of mushrooms that have grown into human corpses, forcing them to walk around and spewing blight-filled fumes at their enemies. Fungal Scratchers are parasite zombies with irregularly-grown fungi for heads. Swine Wretches are horrendously deformed creatures with human skulls somehow attached to their chests. Ectoplasms, huge chunks of slime with human skeletons inside; just imagine how those poor bastards were melted inside them...

* The social dynamics of the Crimson Court are nothing short of awful. The blood suckers standing in the background? They are watching you kill their friends for their own entertainment. The wizened hag? A junky expelled from the aristocrats.

** There’s a third ‘causality’ possibility: if Dismas is still alive in YOUR reality, that means the head you have is from a Dismas already dead in another reality. This would imply The Collector exists across infinite realities, and exists in all those realities. Killing him in your reality is temporary because he still exists in others, and all of them.

* The Brigand Pounder, while not as horrifying as the other terrors of the dungeons, is a reminder that unlike other games where bandits are cannon fodder, these are a whole different story. These bandits have enough money to equip themselves with heavy artillery and a series of macabre trophies, and limitless reinforcements who will gladly throw their lives away to ensure the cannon can kill your party.

* The horrific implications of the ending. While you were able to put down the Heart of Darkness, it is implied that this is only a temporary defeat, and that [[WhenThePlanetsAlign when the stars are right, the horror that sleeps within the earth will awaken and hatch from the egg that we call the world and bring an end to humanity, and what it will do from there on is not mentioned. All you can do is delay it again and again so that humanity can live a short while longer, leaving no doubt that ''Darkest Dungeon'' is a CosmicHorrorStory.

* The horrific implications of the ending. While you were able to put down the Heart of Darkness, it is implied that this is only a temporary defeat, and that [[WhenThePlanetsAlign when the stars are right, the horror that sleeps within the earth will awaken and hatch from the egg that we call the world and bring an end to humanity, and what it will do from there on is not mentioned. All you can do is delay it again and again so that humanity can live a short while longer, leaving no doubt that ''DarkestDungeon'' is a CosmicHorrorStory.