History NightmareFuel / DevilMayCry1

* Nobodies. Freaky humanoid... ''things'' that crawl on all fours and throw EXPLODING EYEBALLS at Dante, all the while laughing and howling like monkeys. And if one dons a mask, the Nobody grows twice its size and can siphon Dante's Devil Trigger gauge by... some kind of ritual dancing. Not to mention you first encounter them in the Mirrored Castle, which is saturated with red, with the camera tilted slightly and the screen mostly blurry and surreal. If Dante gets grabbed by a giant Nobody when his health is critical, the enemy '''snaps Dante's neck'''. Complete with a clearly audible *crack!* sound.
* If you're afraid of bugs, then the Beelzebub enemies will certainly terrify you. They're giant-sized flies said to be possessed by demons, and the blue ones constantly spit and drool what looks like maggots from their mouths, which, if they touch Dante, will prevent him from using any ranged weapons for a while (apparently described as an "evil power" rather than actually being maggots). The green ones can catch you off-guard due to letting the blues distract you, and if they sneak up on you with your back turned, they'll force you down and gore you while they try to ''snap you in half, backwards''. If they do it while your health is in the red, ''Dante actually does get snapped in half at the last second of the animation''. It's as scary as it is cringe-inducing.

* Nightmare. ''It'' pretty much exemplifies the idea of an EldritchAbomination, as the enemy file says it's unclear whether or not the thing is even alive or just some repulsive weapon. In addition to being [[ThatOneBoss incredibly difficult to fight]], it's freaky as hell, looking like something right out of a Giger painting. It is capable of sudden rapid movements, including shooting giant spear-like appendages out of its body at you. In its normal state, it is a sickly mound of goo, filled with half digested corpses of its previous victims, and it constantly tries to trap you in a literal nightmare world.

* The first game is the only one with [[TheManyDeathsOfYou fatalities]] (Dante's vitality meter must be completely red for these to happen), and all of them horrifying to watch. As mentioned above, Phantom will grab and [[EatenAlive devour Dante alive]]. Giant Nobodies will snap his neck. Sin Scythes will [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impale Dante]] and swing him around like a flag before tossing him to the ground. Shadows in their [[TakingYouWithMe red state]] will swallow Dante, bash him around and explode, leaving no trace of him left apart from his sword landing in the ground. Beelzebubs will, if allowed to, gore him and pull him backward far enough to ''snap his spine backward''. Blades/Frosts impale him in the chest, kick him down, then ram their claws into his face. Death Scythe will throw Dante into the air, and then use his scythes to [[GoryDiscretionShot cut him to ribbons off screen]]. Even the most common Marionette enemy will latch onto Dante and gash at his head and neck even after he falls down dead, while a Fetish will peck his face off, then knock him down and roast his upper body with their flame breath.

* The early enemies in the game are quite creepy. Marionettes are giant puppets possessed by evil spirits, wielding sharp hand-blades or shotguns. Bloody Mari have their clothing dyed with human blood. Sin Scissors have the ability to phase out of walls and pictures and have a really disturbing laugh which persists for a while even after their death, all for an added ParanoiaFuel. If you read the manual, it says that the Sin Scissors like to ''decapitate humans while they're still alive''.

* The MirrorWorld is a distorted version of the real world wherein everything on the screen moves around slowly like a ripple on a water's surface, the sky is visibly red, and the background music becomes more eerie. Even the minor details are creepy, such as the engraved faces in the courtyard's walls having a GhostlyGape. What worse, it's also where you encounter the Nobodies for the first time.

* The first game is the only one with [[TheManyDeathsOfYou fatalities]] (Dante's vitality meter must be completely red for these to happen), and all of them horrifying to watch. As mentioned above, Phantom will grab and [[EatenAlive devour Dante alive]]. Giant Nobodies will snap his neck. Sin Scythes will [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impale Dante]] and swing him around like a flag before tossing him to the ground. Shadows in their [[TakingYouWithMe red state]] will swallow Dante, bash him around and explode, leaving no trace of him left apart from his sword landing in the ground. Beelzebubs will, if allowed to, gore him and pull him backward far enough to ''snap his spine backward''. Blades/Frosts impale him in the chest, kick him down, them ram their claws into his face. Death Scythe will throw Dante into the air, and then use his scythes to [[GoryDiscretionShot cut him to ribbons off screen]]. Even the most common Marionette enemy will latch onto Dante and gash at his head and neck even after he falls down dead, while a Fetish will peck his face off, then knock him down and roast his upper body with their flame breath.

** Pay attention to the walls of the courtyard in the Mirror World. In reality, there are a few windows and other indentations on the walls, a few holes here in there. In the Mirror, all of it is replaced with ''etchings of screaming faces''.

* Even the normal castle music [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8rdHz2wZw can be unnerving]], with the gothic design adding to the soundtrack as you explore the empty rooms... Well, [[PerversePuppet empty at first]].
** How about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irfjUv95aE4 the song that plays when you traverse the ancient castle at night?]] The battle theme doesn't even play when encountering an enemy, and the music doesn't change either when you go to a statue. It's just this song constantly playing until you get to the boss fights with Nightmare and Nelo Angelo. It's really unnerving...

** What's even scarier is some the original concept art for enemies that never made it in to the final game (which you can find in the Vault gallery menu from the ''[[UpdatedRerelease HD Collection]]''). The prototype designs for the demons look more like lab experiments gone wrong from ''Franchise/ResidentEvil''. The Blades look like demonic Hunter βs, and the concept art for the Shadow looks like a rotting, decayed, panther/tiger hybrid. Even the concept work for the Marionettes are creepy. One artwork has the marionettes look more like dried out, rotting corpses, all hanging from nooses on the ceiling; implying that the marionettes were not puppets made of wood possessed by demon spirits, but [[WasOnceAMan were once humans]] now possessed by demons.
** This is actually a justified nightmare fuel in a meta sense. Production-wise, ''DMC'' was essentially a prototype for what would later become ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', so it makes a certain degree of sense that the original concepts resemble more of the Umbrella Corporation's disgusting creations.

** What's even scarier is some the original concept art for enemies that never made it in to the final game (which you can find in the vault for the HD collection). The prototype designs for the demons look more like lab experiments gone wrong from ''Franchise/ResidentEvil''. The Blades look like demonic Hunter βs', and the concept art for the Shadow looks like a rotting, decayed, panther/tiger hybrid. Even the concept work for the Marionettes are creepy. One artwork has the marionettes look more like dried out, rotting corpses, all hanging from nooses on the ceiling; implying that the marionettes were not puppets made of wood possessed by demon spirits, but [[WasOnceAMan were once humans]] now possessed by demons.

* The early enemies in the game are quite creepy. Marionettes are giant puppets possessed by evil spirits, wielding sharp hand-blades or shotguns. Bloody Mari have their clothing dyed with human blood. Sin Scissors have the ability to phase out of walls and pictures and have a really disturbing laugh. If you read the manual, it says that the Sin Scissors like to ''decapitate humans while they're still alive''.

* Nobodies. Freaky humanoid... ''things'' that crawl on all fours and throw EXPLODING EYEBALLS at Dante, all the while laughing and howling like monkeys. And if one dons a mask, the Nobody grows twice its size and can siphon Dante's magic (Devil Trigger) by... some kind of ritual dancing. Not to mention you first encounter them in the Mirrored Castle, which is saturated with red, with the camera tilted slightly and the screen mostly blurry and surreal. If Dante gets grabbed by a giant Nobody when his health is critical, the enemy '''snaps Dante's neck'''. Complete with a clearly audible *crack!* sound.
* If you're afraid of bugs, then the Beelzebub enemies will certainly terrify you. They're giant-sized flies said to be possessed by demons, and the blue ones constantly spit and drool what looks like maggots from their mouths, which, if they touch Dante, will prevent him from using any ranged weapons for a while (apparently described as an "evil power" rather than actually being maggots). The green ones can catch you off-guard due to letting the blues distract you, and if you sneak up on you with your back turned, they'll force you down and gore you while they try to ''snap you in half, backwards''. If they do it while your health is in the red, ''Dante actually does get snapped in half at the last second of the animation''. It's as scary as it is cringe-inducing.

** This is actually a justified nightmare fuel in a production sense. Production-wise, DMC was essentially a prototype for what would later become ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil4 Resident Evil 4]]'', so it makes a certain degree of sense that the original concepts resemble more of the Umbrella Corporation's disgusting creations.

** The moment night falls and you come back out to the open courtyard, both before and after heading into the Colosseum. The previous ambient music and wind sounds are gone, replaced by the sounds of crickets... And several animalistic growls and noises. Stock sounds, surely, but in particular comes a noise that sounds close to that of a monkey... Which sounds eerily like evil laughter. And since the island doesn't show any signs of life except for Dante himself and the demons, [[FridgeHorror are those truly animals you're hearing]]?
** The castle at night. The layouts of several rooms have changed and everything is now dark and dead silent, save for [[BackgroundMusicOverride that one music track that continuously plays in the background]], and the occasional presence of a demon. Aside from that and the bosses you fight, the entire place is now openly hostile against you, as opposed to only overrun by the enemies.

** [[FridgeHorror Fridge Horror]] settles in when you realize that, at some point, this island was filled with humans keeping the place up and running... By the time Dante arrives, any traces of human activity are gone, not even bloodstains or bodies are left behind except for maybe one or two, outside of the castle at best. Naturally, the demons very likely killed everyone on the land, but what then? Given how demons in fiction tend to act, [[ImAHumanitarian well]]...

* The first game is the only one with [[TheManyDeathsOfYou fatalities]] (Dante's vitality meter must be completely red for these to happen), and all of them horrifying to watch. As mentioned above, Phantom will grab and [[EatenAlive devour Dante alive]]. Giant Nobodies will snap his neck. Sin Scythes will [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impale Dante]] and swing him around like a flag before tossing him to the ground. Shadows in their [[TakingYouWithMe red state]] will swallow Dante, bash him around and explode, leaving no trace of him left. Blades will dogpile Dante and slash and [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beat him to death]]. Death Scythe will throw Dante into the air, and then use his scythes to [[GoryDiscretionShot cut him to ribbons off screen]]. Even the most common Marionette enemy will latch onto Dante and gash at his head and neck even after he falls down dead.

* The entirety of Mallet Island gives off this unrelenting vibe of a nightmarish location when you examine the libraries and documents early on in the game. Crops and plantations were irregularly reaped, with winter crops coming in the summer and vice-versa, a book detailing how, at night, the statue of [[spoiler:Mundus]] at the main hall would suddenly vanish, and not to mention the alarming number of executions and incarcerations that took place at the castle itself. There's even a library book Dante can examine that says the castle grounds went through excessive renovations and reformed, with the author even asking if the builders and residents were possessed by evil spirits.

* The first game is the only one with [[TheManyDeathsOfYou fatalities]] (Dante's vitality meter must be completely red for these to happen), and all of them horrifying to watch. As mentioned above, Phantom will grab and [[EatenAlive devour Dante alive]]. Giant Nobodies will snap his neck. Sin Scythes will [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impale Dante]] and swing him around like a flag before tossing him to the ground. Shadows in their [[TakingYouWithMe red state]] will swallow Dante, bash him around and explode, leaving no trace of him left. Blades will dogpile Dante and slash and [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beat him to death]]. Death Scythe will throw Dante into the air, and then use his scythes to [[GoryDiscretionShot cut him to ribbons off screen]]. Even the most common Marionette enemy will latch onto Dante and gash at his head and neck even after he falls down dead.

** What's even scarier is some the original concept art for enemies that never made it in to the final game (which you can find in the vault for the HD collection). The prototype designs for the demons look more like lab experiments gone wrong from ''Resident Evil''. The Blades look like demonic Hunter βs', and the concept art for the Shadow looks like a rotting, decayed, panther/tiger hybrid. Even the concept work for the Marionettes are creepy. One artwork has the marionettes look more like dried out, rotting corpses, all hanging from nooses on the ceiling; implying that the marionettes were not puppets made of wood possessed by demon spirits, but [[WasOnceAMan were once humans]] now possessed by demons.

* The secret missions can be both awesome and frustrating, but then you get to Secret Mission 7 in the sunken ship after it reaches its destination. A secret mission where, from the moment you hit "Mission Start", [[JumpScare EIGHT BLADES SWIMMING RIGHT TOWARDS YOU!]] To add more to the creepy factor, the whole level is submerged in dark water. Anyone with a fear of alligators or thalassophobia (fear of deep water bodies) will have a good reason not to sleep at night.

* The secret missions can be both awesome and frustrating, but then you get to Secret Mission 7 in the sunken ship after it reaches its destination. A secret mission where, from the moment you hit "Mission Start", [[JumpScare EIGHT BLADES SWIMMING RIGHT TOWARDS YOU!]] To add more to the creepy factor, the whole level is submerged in dark water. Anyone with a fear of alligators or thalassophobia (fear of deep water bodies) will have a good reason not to sleep at night.]]

* The secret missions are awesome and frustrating, but then you get to the secret mission 7 in the sunken ship. Where the player has [[spoiler: EIGHT FUCKING BLADE LIZARDS SWIMMING RIGHT TOWARDS YOU! To add more to the creepy factor, the whole level is submerged in water. Anyone with a fear of alligators or thalassophobia (fear of deep water bodies) will have a good reason not to sleep at night.]]
* Nobodies. Freaky humanoid... ''things'' that crawl on all fours and throw EXPLODING EYEBALLS at Dante, all the while laughing and howling like monkeys. And if one dons a mask, the Nobody grows twice its size and can siphon Dante's magic (Devil Trigger) by... some kind of ritual dancing. Not to mention you first encounter them is in the Mirrored Castle, which is saturated with red, with the camera tilted slightly and the screen mostly blurry and surreal. If Dante gets grabbed by a giant Nobody when his health is critical, the enemy '''snaps Dante's neck'''. Complete with a clearly audible *crack!* sound.
** The Mirrored Castle itself is pretty damn freaky, with the odd camera angles, the blurry look to everything, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtReu3bf2lk that damn music]].

** Even the normal castle music [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8rdHz2wZw is unnerving]] with the gothic design adding to the soundtrack as you explore the empty rooms... Well, [[PerversePuppet empty at first]].

* Even the early enemies in the game are quite creepy. Marionettes are giant puppets possessed by evil spirits, wielding sharp hand-blades or shotguns. Bloody Mari have their clothing dyed with human blood. Sin Scissors have the ability to phase out of walls and pictures and have a really disturbing laugh. If you read the manual, it says that the Sin Scissors like to ''decapitate humans while they're still alive''.

* [[BigBad Mundus himself]]. When players reach him, he has the appearance of a cherubic-looking statue (of course, this is [[FauxSymbolism allegory]] for {{Satan}} before his fall from paradise). Ok, no problem here. Then, he reveals his true form, where the statue appears significantly older with a visible, gaping wound in his stomach. Ugly? Yes, but still not terrifying. When Dante defeats "the Lord of Darkness" and tries to escape Mallet Island, [[ClippedWingAngel Mundus]] [[LoadBearingBoss comes back]]. His appearance by this point is ''truly'' the stuff that nightmares are made of. His marble shell begins to crumble away, revealing [[BlobMonster a writhing mass of]] ''[[{{Squick}} flesh]]''. His face is nothing more than a featureless mound with three eyeballs lazily dangling from their stalks. The fact that [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever he takes up a sizable chunk of the screen]] and [[AdvancingBossOfDoom is slowly crawling towards you]] [[TakingYouWithMe in his fanatical quest to take down Dante with him]] only adds to the terror.
** And you don't even ''kill'' him. The best Dante can do is ([[HistoryRepeats much like his father]]) [[SealedEvilInACan seal him away]] with Trish's help. Dante may have been joking when he told Mundus to give his regards to his son, but what if Mundus ''returns''?

* A late-game mission takes place in the Underworld. It's a sickeningly creepy WombLevel, complete with life-sucking tendrils coming out of the walls, pulsating tissue walls you have to hack through, and visibly beating "organs". During the timed final mission of the game, if you let the countdown get to zero, the screen fades to white, an explosion sounds, and you get treated to Dante's bloodcurdling death scream.
** There's something very unnerving and off about the fact that upon reaching the ''heart'' of the Underworld and opening it's door, it suddenly goes from WombLevel to... pristine white cathedral, complete with glorious and heroic-sounding organ playing in the background. Truly, Hell is a WorldOfChaos...

* Nobodies. Freaky humanoid...''things'' that crawl on all fours and throw EXPLODING EYEBALLS at Dante, all the while laughing and howling like monkeys. And if one dons a mask, the Nobody grows twice its size and can siphon Dante's magic (Devil Trigger) by... some kind of ritual dancing. Not to mention you first encounter them is in the Mirrored Castle, which is saturated with red, with the camera tilted slightly and the screen mostly blurry and surreal. If Dante gets grabbed by a giant Nobody when his health is critical, the enemy '''snaps Dante's neck'''. Complete with a clearly audible *crack!* sound.

* The entirety of Mallet Island gives off this unrelenting vibe of a nightmarish location when you examine the libraries and documents early on in the game. Crops and plantations were irregularly reaped, with Winter crops coming in the Summer and vice-versa, a book detailing how, at night, the statue of [[spoiler:Mundus]] at the main hall would suddenly vanish, and not to mention the alarming number of executions and incarcerations that took place at the castle itself. There's even a library book Dante can examine that says the castle grounds went through excessive renovations and reformed, with the author even asking if the builders and residents were possessed by evil spirits.

** The castle at night. The layouts of several rooms have changed and everything is now dark and dead silent, save for [[BackgroundMusicOverride that one music that continuously plays in the background]], and the occasional presence of a demon. Aside from that and the bosses you fight, the entire place is now openly hostile against you, as opposed to only overrun by the enemies.

** [[FridgeHorror Fridge Horror]] settles in when you realize that, at some point, this island was filled with humans keeping the place up and running... By the time Dante arrives, any traces of human activity are just gone, not even bloodstains or bodies are left behind except for maybe one or two, outside of the castle at best. Naturally, the demons very likely killed everyone on the land, but what then? Given how demons in fiction tend to act, [[ImAHumanitarian well]]...

* Nobodies. Freaky humanoid...''things'' that crawl on all fours, throw EXPLODING EYEBALLS at Dante, all the while laughing and howling like monkeys. And if one dons a mask, the Nobody grows twice its size and can siphon Dante's magic (Devil Trigger) by...some kind of ritual dancing. Not to mention you first encounter them in the Mirrored Castle, which is saturated with red, with the camera tilted slightly and the screen mostly blurry and surreal. If Dante gets grabbed by a Giant Nobody when his health is critical, the enemy '''snaps Dante's neck'''. Complete with a clearly audible *crack!* sound.

** Even the normal Castle music [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF8rdHz2wZw is unnerving]] with the goth design adding to the soundtrack as you explore the empty rooms...well [[PerversePuppet empty at first]].

** Read the file on Nightmare's "trap" move. The world that Dante/the player is sucked into is "a representation of the trauma that rests deep within Dante's subconscious" -- the loss of his beloved mother and his brother.

** There's something very unnerving and off about the fact that upon reaching the ''heart'' of the Underworld and opening it's door, it suddenly goes from WombLevel to... pristine white cathedral,complete with glorious and heroic-sounding organ playing in the background.Truly, Hell is a WorldOfChaos ....

* The first game is the only one with [[TheManyDeathsOfYou fatalities]] (Dante's vitality meter must be completely red for these to happen), all of them horrifying to watch. As mentioned above, Phantom will grab and [[EatenAlive devour Dante alive]]; Giant Nobodies will snap his neck. Sin Scythes will [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impale Dante]], swing him around like a flag before tossing him to the ground. Shadows in their [[TakingYouWithMe red state]] will swallow Dante, bash him around and explode, leaving no trace of him left. Blades will dogpile Dante and slash and [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beat him to death]]. Death Scythe will throw Dante into the air, and then use his scythes to [[GoryDiscretionShot cut him to ribbons off screen]]. Even the most common Marionette enemy will latch onto Dante and gash at his head and neck even after he falls down dead.