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None
Changed line(s) 23 (click to see context) from:
* CrapsackWorld: [[spoiler:Schools are nothing more than factories which force-feed children whatever knowledge the government wants them to know, with any disidents turned into raw material for said factories, and hospitals serve no real purpose other than ensuring the rich and famous live forever by literally feeding off others. The worst part? The public is implied to know all this and don't care.]]
to:
* CrapsackWorld: [[spoiler:Schools are nothing more than factories which force-feed children whatever knowledge the government wants them to know, with any disidents turned into raw material for said factories, and hospitals serve no real purpose other than ensuring the rich and famous live forever by literally feeding off others.others and turning people into giant parasites. The worst part? The public is implied to know all this and don't care.]]
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None
* BigBad: Collectively, TheConspiracy controlling the world [[spoiler:of the Bleeding Earth]], which oppresses and kills adults and children alike to benefit the rich and powerful, is the main enemy of the protagonist, who [[spoiler:is the Queen of Venus they are trying to keep dormant to use her body for their plans]].
Changed line(s) 23,25 (click to see context) from:
* TheConspiracy:
** The protagonist built the Psychopomp because she belived she was the target of one by ''everyone'', and wanted to read their minds to see what they were hiding. [[spoiler:It's implied that her world's reality was specifically hidden from her and her alone by an actual conspiracy to prevent her powers as the Queen of Venus from awakening.]]
** [[spoiler:The epilogue also confirms all knowledge regarding a twin Earth, along with the the true nature of the stellar phenomenon known as the Caldman Four, is being suppressed in order to maintain the conspiracy - as well as to allow the conspirators to hide in plain sight.]]
** The protagonist built the Psychopomp because she belived she was the target of one by ''everyone'', and wanted to read their minds to see what they were hiding. [[spoiler:It's implied that her world's reality was specifically hidden from her and her alone by an actual conspiracy to prevent her powers as the Queen of Venus from awakening.]]
** [[spoiler:The epilogue also confirms all knowledge regarding a twin Earth, along with the the true nature of the stellar phenomenon known as the Caldman Four, is being suppressed in order to maintain the conspiracy - as well as to allow the conspirators to hide in plain sight.]]
to:
* TheConspiracy:
**TheConspiracy: The protagonist built the Psychopomp because she belived believes she was the target of one by ''everyone'', and wanted to read their minds to see what they were hiding. [[spoiler:It's implied that her world's reality was specifically hidden from her and her alone by an actual conspiracy to prevent her powers as the Queen of Venus from awakening.]]
** [[spoiler:The The epilogue also confirms all knowledge regarding a twin Earth, along with the the true nature of the stellar phenomenon known as the Caldman Four, is being suppressed in order to maintain the conspiracy - as well as to allow the conspirators to hide in plain sight.]]
**
** [[spoiler:The
Changed line(s) 28 (click to see context) from:
* CrypticConversation: [[spoiler: You get to listen in on one via a call between two entities in a transient location, with the speakers represented as eyes. You're only able to witness this call because [[IsThisThingStillOn their line is unsecured]].]]
to:
* CrypticConversation: [[spoiler: You get to listen in on one via a call between two entities conspirators in a transient location, with the speakers represented as eyes. You're only able to witness this call because [[IsThisThingStillOn their line is unsecured]].]]
Changed line(s) 42 (click to see context) from:
* LastEpisodeNewCharacter: [[spoiler:The PlayableEpilogue has you play as the King of Mercury, who has a Psychopomp-like device of his own.]]
to:
* LastEpisodeNewCharacter: [[spoiler:The PlayableEpilogue has you briefly play as the King of Mercury, who has a Psychopomp-like device of his own.]]
Changed line(s) 51 (click to see context) from:
* PlayableEpilogue: [[spoiler:If you load your save after you've completed the game, you gain access to a forbidden location, as well as brief segment where you [[LastEpisodeNewCharacter play as the King of Mercury]], who's on the other Earth alluded to in a secret note.]]
to:
* PlayableEpilogue: [[spoiler:If you load your save after you've completed the game, you gain access to a forbidden location, location (a library) that reveals the existence of the Caldman Four space phenomenon, as well as brief segment where you [[LastEpisodeNewCharacter play as the King of Mercury]], who's on the other Earth alluded to in a secret note.]]
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Corrected name of stellar phenomenon mentioned in spoilers.
Changed line(s) 25 (click to see context) from:
** [[spoiler:The epilogue also confirms all knowledge regarding a twin Earth, along with the the true nature of the stellar phenomenon known as the Caldwell Four, is being suppressed in order to maintain the conspiracy - as well as to allow the conspirators to hide in plain sight.]]
to:
** [[spoiler:The epilogue also confirms all knowledge regarding a twin Earth, along with the the true nature of the stellar phenomenon known as the Caldwell Caldman Four, is being suppressed in order to maintain the conspiracy - as well as to allow the conspirators to hide in plain sight.]]
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Clarified who's talking to whom in second Ambiguous Situation example.
Changed line(s) 18 (click to see context) from:
** [[spoiler:Which Earth is the main player protagonist from? Is she from the same Earth as the King of Mercury? Or is she from the Bleeding Earth, which would make her the "terrible threat" the King of All Dogs tells the King about?]]
to:
** [[spoiler:Which Earth is the main player protagonist from? Is she from the same Earth as the King of Mercury? Or is she from the Bleeding Earth, which would make her the "terrible threat" the King of All Dogs tells the King of Mercury about?]]
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Clarified Entertainingly Wrong example.
Changed line(s) 32 (click to see context) from:
* EntertaininglyWrong: [[spoiler: Not everyone has special powers - only a select few. The protagonist, along with the members of TheConspiracy, just so happens to be one of them - and said powers are deliberately being suppressed ''by'' the conspirators until the end of the game, by which point the protagonist is beyond their control.]]
to:
* EntertaininglyWrong: [[spoiler: Not The protagonist's journey begins because she believes everyone has special powers - powers. In reality, only a select few.few have special powers. The protagonist, along with the members of TheConspiracy, just so happens to be one of them - and said powers are deliberately being suppressed ''by'' the conspirators until the end of the game, by which point the protagonist is beyond their control.]]
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Removed Word Of God from main article.
Changed line(s) 17 (click to see context) from:
** Given the protagonist's [[SanitySlippage clearly-broken mental state]], much of what is shown and heard in the game - not to mention the plot itself - is real or merely a product of the protagonist's delusions. [[spoiler:Though it takes a bit of sifting through WordOfGod scattered through Steam and the official Fading Club Twitter and Discord, the basic plot is very real, the labrynths and everything in them are real, and the protagonist really did ascend into godhood as C'venash Vishneri, the Queen of Venus.]]
to:
** Given the protagonist's [[SanitySlippage clearly-broken mental state]], much of what is shown and heard in the game - not to mention the plot itself - is real or merely a product of the protagonist's delusions. [[spoiler:Though it takes a bit of sifting through WordOfGod official information scattered through Steam and the official Fading Club Twitter and Discord, the basic plot is very real, the labrynths and everything in them are real, and the protagonist really did ascend into godhood as C'venash Vishneri, the Queen of Venus.]]
Changed line(s) 47 (click to see context) from:
* NoNameGiven: [[spoiler:The game never gives you the main protagonist's or the PlayableEpilogue's [[LastEpisodeNewCharacter protagonist's]] names - [[{{Subverted|Trope}} unless]] if you do enough out-of-game research. [[https://steamcommunity.com/app/2771670/discussions/0/4201364375107141333/#c4201364375108005796 Based on a hint]] from WordOfGod, it turns out the document that's out in the open in the Children's Hospital labyrinth which discusses the discovery of C'venesh Vishneri, the Queen of Venus, and Crusnr Colven, the King of Mercury, is actually about the main player protagonist and the PlayableEpilogue's protagonist, respectively.]]
to:
* NoNameGiven: [[spoiler:The game never gives you the main protagonist's or the PlayableEpilogue's [[LastEpisodeNewCharacter protagonist's]] names - [[{{Subverted|Trope}} unless]] if you do enough out-of-game research. [[https://steamcommunity.com/app/2771670/discussions/0/4201364375107141333/#c4201364375108005796 Based on a hint]] from WordOfGod, an official hint]], it turns out the document that's out in the open in the Children's Hospital labyrinth which discusses the discovery of C'venesh Vishneri, the Queen of Venus, and Crusnr Colven, the King of Mercury, is actually about the main player protagonist and the PlayableEpilogue's protagonist, respectively.]]
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General clarification on work content
Changed line(s) 4,5 (click to see context) from:
''Psychopomp'' is a [[DungeonCrawling dungeon-crawler]] PC game released in 2024 by Fading Club. The game has a simple premise: every government building has a labyrinth underneath it, and your none-too-stable ConspiracyTheorist protagonist is going to explore all of them with nothing more than a hammer and the cover of night.
to:
''Psychopomp'' is a [[DungeonCrawling dungeon-crawler]] DungeonCrawling ActionAdventure PC game released in 2024 by Fading Club. The game has a simple premise: every government building has a labyrinth underneath it, and your none-too-stable ConspiracyTheorist protagonist is going to explore all of them with nothing more than a hammer and the cover of night.
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Spelling/grammar fix(es), Added example(s)
Changed line(s) 8,9 (click to see context) from:
Your protagonist, introduced as [[HeroicBSOD clearly suffering a nervous breakdown]], has had enough of people keeping their secret powers from her. Thus, she constructs the [[ElectronicTelepathy Machine that Lets Me Read People's Thoughts When I Want To]], or "[[NonIndicativeName Psychopomp]]" for short. While the helmet doesn't let her read minds, it does something far more important - it reveals the part of the world deliberately hidden from her, a world filled with monsters and other strange creatures, a world where every government building has an underground labyrinth. Determined to see what else has been hidden from her, and why, the protagonist sets off in the dead of night to discover the truth...assuming she hasn't lost her sanity.
to:
Your protagonist, introduced as [[HeroicBSOD clearly suffering a nervous breakdown]], has had enough of people keeping their secret powers from her. Thus, she constructs the [[ElectronicTelepathy Machine that Lets Me Read People's Thoughts When I Want To]], or "[[NonIndicativeName Psychopomp]]" for short. While the helmet doesn't let her read minds, it does something far more important - it reveals the part of the world deliberately hidden from her, a world filled with monsters and other strange creatures, a world where every government building has an underground labyrinth. Determined to see what else has been hidden from her, and why, the protagonist sets off in the dead of night to discover the truth...assuming [[SanitySlippage she hasn't lost her sanity.
sanity]].
Changed line(s) 17 (click to see context) from:
** Given the protagonist's clearly-broken mental state, much of what is shown and heard in the game - not to mention the plot itself - is real or merely a product of the protagonist's delusions. [[spoiler:Though it takes a bit of sifting through WordOfGod scattered through Steam and the official Fading Club Twitter and Discord, the basic plot is very real, the labrynths and everything in them are real, and the protagonist really did ascend into godhood as C'venash Vishneri, the Queen of Venus.]]
to:
** Given the protagonist's [[SanitySlippage clearly-broken mental state, state]], much of what is shown and heard in the game - not to mention the plot itself - is real or merely a product of the protagonist's delusions. [[spoiler:Though it takes a bit of sifting through WordOfGod scattered through Steam and the official Fading Club Twitter and Discord, the basic plot is very real, the labrynths and everything in them are real, and the protagonist really did ascend into godhood as C'venash Vishneri, the Queen of Venus.]]
Changed line(s) 39 (click to see context) from:
* HeroicBSOD: The protagonist having one, spurred by the obsessive belief that everyone is hiding ''something'' from her, kicks off the events of the game.
to:
* HeroicBSOD: The protagonist having one, spurred by the obsessive belief that everyone is hiding ''something'' their secret powers from her, kicks off the events of the game.game.
* HiddenElfVillage: [[spoiler: One of the transient locations is the local Thrait village, where the inhabitants live in wooden and cloth tents within the confines of what appears to be a sewer.]]
* HiddenElfVillage: [[spoiler: One of the transient locations is the local Thrait village, where the inhabitants live in wooden and cloth tents within the confines of what appears to be a sewer.]]
Changed line(s) 41 (click to see context) from:
* LastEpisodeNewCharacter: [[spoiler:The PlayableEpilogue has you play as the King of Mercury, who has a Psycopomp-like device of his own.]]
to:
* LastEpisodeNewCharacter: [[spoiler:The PlayableEpilogue has you play as the King of Mercury, who has a Psycopomp-like Psychopomp-like device of his own.]]
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* SchmuckBait: One of the sentient meat chunks in the Waste Management labyrinth is keeping watch over a key, and if you talk to her, she says she'll explode if someone takes it. She isn't kidding - she'll literally explode if you take the key without killing her first, with the blast either killing you or, if you have full health, brining you down to your final hitpoint.
to:
* SanitySlippage: The protagonist's HeroicBSOD at the game's beginning, combined by the revelations provided by the Psychopomp and her natural ConspiracyTheorist nature, have clearly eroded her sanity, as demonstrated by the strange monologues and 'Real-World Tips' she gives.
* SchmuckBait: One of the sentient meat chunks in the Waste Management labyrinth is keeping watch over a key, and if you talk to her, she says she'll explode if someone takes it. She isn't kidding - she'll literally explode if you take the key without killing her first, with the blast either killing you or, if you have full health,brining bringing you down to your final hitpoint.
* SchmuckBait: One of the sentient meat chunks in the Waste Management labyrinth is keeping watch over a key, and if you talk to her, she says she'll explode if someone takes it. She isn't kidding - she'll literally explode if you take the key without killing her first, with the blast either killing you or, if you have full health,
Changed line(s) 55 (click to see context) from:
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: The player can kill any peaceful [=NPCs=] at will, from the little girl in the game's tutorial level to the peaceful Thrait scattered throughout the game.
to:
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: The player can kill any peaceful [=NPCs=] at will, from the little girl in the game's tutorial level to the peaceful Thrait scattered throughout the game.game.
* ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption: [[spoiler: Killing is almost always the only way to progress the plot. Whether it's because the plot-relevant characters explicitly request it, an [=NPC=] has a key you need, or simply because the plot-relevant characters in question are rich and famous assholes being kept alive through nonconsensually draining the life out of those lesser than them, violence truly is the only option. The only subversions are at the Center of the Earth, where the player character, as part of her powers as the Queen of Venus awakening, sprouts the life-seed found there, ending the game, and during the PlayableEpilogue, where all progression can only be achieved non-violently.]]
* ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption: [[spoiler: Killing is almost always the only way to progress the plot. Whether it's because the plot-relevant characters explicitly request it, an [=NPC=] has a key you need, or simply because the plot-relevant characters in question are rich and famous assholes being kept alive through nonconsensually draining the life out of those lesser than them, violence truly is the only option. The only subversions are at the Center of the Earth, where the player character, as part of her powers as the Queen of Venus awakening, sprouts the life-seed found there, ending the game, and during the PlayableEpilogue, where all progression can only be achieved non-violently.]]
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Added example(s), Added image
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:600:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/psychopomp_cover.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:600:[[CoversAlwaysLie The most peaceful the player protagonist will ever look.]]]]
[[caption-width-right:600:[[CoversAlwaysLie The most peaceful the player protagonist will ever look.]]]]
Added DiffLines:
* CoversAlwaysLie: The official cover art on Steam (and this very article) shows the player protagonist as far more composed and contemplative than she ''ever'' is in-game. Thankfully, the game's screenshots and trailer are accurate to how she really is.
Added DiffLines:
* NeverTrustATrailer: {{Averted|Trope}}. Unlike the cover art, the trailer accurately showcases the game and its protagonist.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Created initial page.
Added DiffLines:
''Psychopomp'' is a [[DungeonCrawling dungeon-crawler]] PC game released in 2024 by Fading Club. The game has a simple premise: every government building has a labyrinth underneath it, and your none-too-stable ConspiracyTheorist protagonist is going to explore all of them with nothing more than a hammer and the cover of night.
Well...OK, there's more to it than that.
Your protagonist, introduced as [[HeroicBSOD clearly suffering a nervous breakdown]], has had enough of people keeping their secret powers from her. Thus, she constructs the [[ElectronicTelepathy Machine that Lets Me Read People's Thoughts When I Want To]], or "[[NonIndicativeName Psychopomp]]" for short. While the helmet doesn't let her read minds, it does something far more important - it reveals the part of the world deliberately hidden from her, a world filled with monsters and other strange creatures, a world where every government building has an underground labyrinth. Determined to see what else has been hidden from her, and why, the protagonist sets off in the dead of night to discover the truth...assuming she hasn't lost her sanity.
----
!!''Psychopomp'' provides examples of the following tropes:
* TheAllSolvingHammer: Almost literally. The protagonist needs to break into a government building in the dead of night to explore its labryinth? She uses her hammer. Needs to convince some uncooperative [=NPCs=] into letting her use a plot-critical switch? She uses her hammer. Acquire a key for a door from an [=NPC=]? Hammer.
* AlienSky:
** The Moon is shown to be ''bleeding'' from a particular vantage point in the Children's Hospital labyrinth. [[spoiler:This is because it's a part of the Bleeding Earth.]]
** [[spoiler:A bleeding version of the Earth is visible ''from'' the Earth the King of Mercury is on, explicitly called the Bleeding Earth by the King of All Dogs.]]
* AmbiguousSituation:
** Given the protagonist's clearly-broken mental state, much of what is shown and heard in the game - not to mention the plot itself - is real or merely a product of the protagonist's delusions. [[spoiler:Though it takes a bit of sifting through WordOfGod scattered through Steam and the official Fading Club Twitter and Discord, the basic plot is very real, the labrynths and everything in them are real, and the protagonist really did ascend into godhood as C'venash Vishneri, the Queen of Venus.]]
** [[spoiler:Which Earth is the main player protagonist from? Is she from the same Earth as the King of Mercury? Or is she from the Bleeding Earth, which would make her the "terrible threat" the King of All Dogs tells the King about?]]
* ApatheticCitizens: [[spoiler:Implied, given it's TheConspiracy, ''not'' the general populace, who were preventing the protagonist from seeing the world as it truly is, and yet no-one sees fit to stop the murder of dissenting children at schools or hospitals from literally feeding off its patients to keep their rich and famous clients alive forever.]]
* BloodFromTheMouth: The protagonist, as shown by the ExpressiveHealthBar, increasingly bleeds more and more from the mouth as her health drops.
* CigaretteOfAnxiety: The protagonist smokes one in the opening as she suffers her nervous breakdown.
* CrapsackWorld: [[spoiler:Schools are nothing more than factories which force-feed children whatever knowledge the government wants them to know, with any disidents turned into raw material for said factories, and hospitals serve no real purpose other than ensuring the rich and famous live forever by literally feeding off others. The worst part? The public is implied to know all this and don't care.]]
* TheConspiracy:
** The protagonist built the Psychopomp because she belived she was the target of one by ''everyone'', and wanted to read their minds to see what they were hiding. [[spoiler:It's implied that her world's reality was specifically hidden from her and her alone by an actual conspiracy to prevent her powers as the Queen of Venus from awakening.]]
** [[spoiler:The epilogue also confirms all knowledge regarding a twin Earth, along with the the true nature of the stellar phenomenon known as the Caldwell Four, is being suppressed in order to maintain the conspiracy - as well as to allow the conspirators to hide in plain sight.]]
* ConspiracyTheorist: As shown through various loading screen 'tips' labeled "Real-World Tips" as well as in-game monologues, the protagonist clearly believes in some ''bizarre'' things, such as the backside of all government schools being required to have 30 rows of teeth sourced from kaiju. [[spoiler:It doesn't help there's an actual conspiracy against her to prevent her from accessing her full power as the Queen of Venus.]]
* CrypticConversation: [[spoiler: You get to listen in on one via a call between two entities in a transient location, with the speakers represented as eyes. You're only able to witness this call because [[IsThisThingStillOn their line is unsecured]].]]
* DeityOfHumanOrigin: [[spoiler: The main protagonist is actually the Queen of Venus, and her powers awaken at the end of the game. The PlayableEpilogue's [[LastEpisodeNewCharacter protagonist]] is implied to be this as well, given the King of Mercury, in both description and symbology, has been associated with the Queen all game, and given the epilogue's protagonist is male.]]
* DoItYourselfThemeTune: [[spoiler: The game's creator sings the post-credits version of the title theme.]]
* ElectronicTelepathy: The intended purpose of the Psychopomp. Subverted in that the helmet instead lets the protagonist see the world's true nature. [[spoiler:The protagonist is implied to get actual telepathy once her powers as the Queen of Venus awaken at the Center of the Earth.]]
* EntertaininglyWrong: [[spoiler: Not everyone has special powers - only a select few. The protagonist, along with the members of TheConspiracy, just so happens to be one of them - and said powers are deliberately being suppressed ''by'' the conspirators until the end of the game, by which point the protagonist is beyond their control.]]
* EvolvingTitleScreen: In a minor example, [[spoiler:once the game is beaten, whenever you're at the title screen, the protagonist will sing along to the title song.]]
* ExpressiveHealthBar: In addition to a traditional health bar and an exact listing of your HP in your inventory, the protagonist's portrait is used to visualize your current health. Notably, if your health gets too low, ''the protagonist'' ''[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness stops smiling]].''
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** A mural of a humanoid moth which closely resembles the protagonist is seen in a temple hidden off the main path in the Waste Management's labyrinth. [[spoiler:The protagonist becomes such a being at the game's end.]]
** [[spoiler:A hidden note in the Waste Management labyrinth documents a researcher's frustration at their superior's refusal to even acknowledge her findings that there is a ''second Earth'' orbiting nearby. As it happens, the PlayableEpilogue takes place on this second Earth.]]
* {{Futureshadowing}}: An automated PSA found in the [[spoiler:"Dad's Bad Place" transient location]] describes a giant, human-like flying insect which can read your thoughts emerging from the earth at dawn, [[spoiler:which exactly describes the protagonist after her powers as the Queen of Venus awaken.]]
* HeroicBSOD: The protagonist having one, spurred by the obsessive belief that everyone is hiding ''something'' from her, kicks off the events of the game.
* IsThisThingStillOn: At the end of the CrypticConversation in the transient location, one of the speakers realizes their line of communication may be unsecure and asks the other speaker. The other speakers replies it doesn't matter.
* LastEpisodeNewCharacter: [[spoiler:The PlayableEpilogue has you play as the King of Mercury, who has a Psycopomp-like device of his own.]]
* LudicrousGibs: Everyone you can kill with the protagonist's hammer explodes into bloody gibs when killed. ''[[{{Exaggerated|Trope}} This even extends to false walls when destroyed.]]''
* MadEye: More like Mad ''Eyes'', the protagonist's irises are, effectively, frozen at a ''huge'' size compared to the rest of her eye ever since her nervous breakdown. Not helped by the bizarre truths she witnesses thanks to the Psychopomp.
* NonIndicativeName: The "Machine that Lets Me Read People's Thoughts When I Want To"'s shorthand name, Psychopomp. Not only does "psychopomp" have nothing to do with telepathy, but it doesn't even work as an acronym since the helmet's full name doesn't contain all the letters required to ''spell'' "psychopomp"!
* NoNameGiven: [[spoiler:The game never gives you the main protagonist's or the PlayableEpilogue's [[LastEpisodeNewCharacter protagonist's]] names - [[{{Subverted|Trope}} unless]] if you do enough out-of-game research. [[https://steamcommunity.com/app/2771670/discussions/0/4201364375107141333/#c4201364375108005796 Based on a hint]] from WordOfGod, it turns out the document that's out in the open in the Children's Hospital labyrinth which discusses the discovery of C'venesh Vishneri, the Queen of Venus, and Crusnr Colven, the King of Mercury, is actually about the main player protagonist and the PlayableEpilogue's protagonist, respectively.]]
* OneHitPointWonder: All non-hostile [=NPCs=] and secret walls explode into LudicrousGibs when struck by the protagonist's hammer. Actual enemies require multiple hits.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When the protagonist's [[ExpressiveHealthBar portrait]] loses her [[PerpetualSmiler constant smile]], that's your cue to find and use a health syringe before you die.
* PerpetualSmiler: Once she puts on the Psychopomp, the protagonist only ever stops smiling when she's down to her [[ExpressiveHealthBar final hitpoint]].
* PlayableEpilogue: [[spoiler:If you load your save after you've completed the game, you gain access to a forbidden location, as well as brief segment where you [[LastEpisodeNewCharacter play as the King of Mercury]], who's on the other Earth alluded to in a secret note.]]
* SchmuckBait: One of the sentient meat chunks in the Waste Management labyrinth is keeping watch over a key, and if you talk to her, she says she'll explode if someone takes it. She isn't kidding - she'll literally explode if you take the key without killing her first, with the blast either killing you or, if you have full health, brining you down to your final hitpoint.
* TitleDrop: The shorthand for the protagonist's helmet, Psychopomp. Also doubles as NonIndicativeName.
* TransformationSequence: The protagonist sprouts moth wings when her powers as the Queen of Venus awaken.
* TheUnmasquedWorld: [[spoiler:One of the main protagonist's goals upon awakening her powers as the Queen of Venus. What this masquerade ''is'' remains unknown to the player.]]
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: The player can kill any peaceful [=NPCs=] at will, from the little girl in the game's tutorial level to the peaceful Thrait scattered throughout the game.
Well...OK, there's more to it than that.
Your protagonist, introduced as [[HeroicBSOD clearly suffering a nervous breakdown]], has had enough of people keeping their secret powers from her. Thus, she constructs the [[ElectronicTelepathy Machine that Lets Me Read People's Thoughts When I Want To]], or "[[NonIndicativeName Psychopomp]]" for short. While the helmet doesn't let her read minds, it does something far more important - it reveals the part of the world deliberately hidden from her, a world filled with monsters and other strange creatures, a world where every government building has an underground labyrinth. Determined to see what else has been hidden from her, and why, the protagonist sets off in the dead of night to discover the truth...assuming she hasn't lost her sanity.
----
!!''Psychopomp'' provides examples of the following tropes:
* TheAllSolvingHammer: Almost literally. The protagonist needs to break into a government building in the dead of night to explore its labryinth? She uses her hammer. Needs to convince some uncooperative [=NPCs=] into letting her use a plot-critical switch? She uses her hammer. Acquire a key for a door from an [=NPC=]? Hammer.
* AlienSky:
** The Moon is shown to be ''bleeding'' from a particular vantage point in the Children's Hospital labyrinth. [[spoiler:This is because it's a part of the Bleeding Earth.]]
** [[spoiler:A bleeding version of the Earth is visible ''from'' the Earth the King of Mercury is on, explicitly called the Bleeding Earth by the King of All Dogs.]]
* AmbiguousSituation:
** Given the protagonist's clearly-broken mental state, much of what is shown and heard in the game - not to mention the plot itself - is real or merely a product of the protagonist's delusions. [[spoiler:Though it takes a bit of sifting through WordOfGod scattered through Steam and the official Fading Club Twitter and Discord, the basic plot is very real, the labrynths and everything in them are real, and the protagonist really did ascend into godhood as C'venash Vishneri, the Queen of Venus.]]
** [[spoiler:Which Earth is the main player protagonist from? Is she from the same Earth as the King of Mercury? Or is she from the Bleeding Earth, which would make her the "terrible threat" the King of All Dogs tells the King about?]]
* ApatheticCitizens: [[spoiler:Implied, given it's TheConspiracy, ''not'' the general populace, who were preventing the protagonist from seeing the world as it truly is, and yet no-one sees fit to stop the murder of dissenting children at schools or hospitals from literally feeding off its patients to keep their rich and famous clients alive forever.]]
* BloodFromTheMouth: The protagonist, as shown by the ExpressiveHealthBar, increasingly bleeds more and more from the mouth as her health drops.
* CigaretteOfAnxiety: The protagonist smokes one in the opening as she suffers her nervous breakdown.
* CrapsackWorld: [[spoiler:Schools are nothing more than factories which force-feed children whatever knowledge the government wants them to know, with any disidents turned into raw material for said factories, and hospitals serve no real purpose other than ensuring the rich and famous live forever by literally feeding off others. The worst part? The public is implied to know all this and don't care.]]
* TheConspiracy:
** The protagonist built the Psychopomp because she belived she was the target of one by ''everyone'', and wanted to read their minds to see what they were hiding. [[spoiler:It's implied that her world's reality was specifically hidden from her and her alone by an actual conspiracy to prevent her powers as the Queen of Venus from awakening.]]
** [[spoiler:The epilogue also confirms all knowledge regarding a twin Earth, along with the the true nature of the stellar phenomenon known as the Caldwell Four, is being suppressed in order to maintain the conspiracy - as well as to allow the conspirators to hide in plain sight.]]
* ConspiracyTheorist: As shown through various loading screen 'tips' labeled "Real-World Tips" as well as in-game monologues, the protagonist clearly believes in some ''bizarre'' things, such as the backside of all government schools being required to have 30 rows of teeth sourced from kaiju. [[spoiler:It doesn't help there's an actual conspiracy against her to prevent her from accessing her full power as the Queen of Venus.]]
* CrypticConversation: [[spoiler: You get to listen in on one via a call between two entities in a transient location, with the speakers represented as eyes. You're only able to witness this call because [[IsThisThingStillOn their line is unsecured]].]]
* DeityOfHumanOrigin: [[spoiler: The main protagonist is actually the Queen of Venus, and her powers awaken at the end of the game. The PlayableEpilogue's [[LastEpisodeNewCharacter protagonist]] is implied to be this as well, given the King of Mercury, in both description and symbology, has been associated with the Queen all game, and given the epilogue's protagonist is male.]]
* DoItYourselfThemeTune: [[spoiler: The game's creator sings the post-credits version of the title theme.]]
* ElectronicTelepathy: The intended purpose of the Psychopomp. Subverted in that the helmet instead lets the protagonist see the world's true nature. [[spoiler:The protagonist is implied to get actual telepathy once her powers as the Queen of Venus awaken at the Center of the Earth.]]
* EntertaininglyWrong: [[spoiler: Not everyone has special powers - only a select few. The protagonist, along with the members of TheConspiracy, just so happens to be one of them - and said powers are deliberately being suppressed ''by'' the conspirators until the end of the game, by which point the protagonist is beyond their control.]]
* EvolvingTitleScreen: In a minor example, [[spoiler:once the game is beaten, whenever you're at the title screen, the protagonist will sing along to the title song.]]
* ExpressiveHealthBar: In addition to a traditional health bar and an exact listing of your HP in your inventory, the protagonist's portrait is used to visualize your current health. Notably, if your health gets too low, ''the protagonist'' ''[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness stops smiling]].''
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** A mural of a humanoid moth which closely resembles the protagonist is seen in a temple hidden off the main path in the Waste Management's labyrinth. [[spoiler:The protagonist becomes such a being at the game's end.]]
** [[spoiler:A hidden note in the Waste Management labyrinth documents a researcher's frustration at their superior's refusal to even acknowledge her findings that there is a ''second Earth'' orbiting nearby. As it happens, the PlayableEpilogue takes place on this second Earth.]]
* {{Futureshadowing}}: An automated PSA found in the [[spoiler:"Dad's Bad Place" transient location]] describes a giant, human-like flying insect which can read your thoughts emerging from the earth at dawn, [[spoiler:which exactly describes the protagonist after her powers as the Queen of Venus awaken.]]
* HeroicBSOD: The protagonist having one, spurred by the obsessive belief that everyone is hiding ''something'' from her, kicks off the events of the game.
* IsThisThingStillOn: At the end of the CrypticConversation in the transient location, one of the speakers realizes their line of communication may be unsecure and asks the other speaker. The other speakers replies it doesn't matter.
* LastEpisodeNewCharacter: [[spoiler:The PlayableEpilogue has you play as the King of Mercury, who has a Psycopomp-like device of his own.]]
* LudicrousGibs: Everyone you can kill with the protagonist's hammer explodes into bloody gibs when killed. ''[[{{Exaggerated|Trope}} This even extends to false walls when destroyed.]]''
* MadEye: More like Mad ''Eyes'', the protagonist's irises are, effectively, frozen at a ''huge'' size compared to the rest of her eye ever since her nervous breakdown. Not helped by the bizarre truths she witnesses thanks to the Psychopomp.
* NonIndicativeName: The "Machine that Lets Me Read People's Thoughts When I Want To"'s shorthand name, Psychopomp. Not only does "psychopomp" have nothing to do with telepathy, but it doesn't even work as an acronym since the helmet's full name doesn't contain all the letters required to ''spell'' "psychopomp"!
* NoNameGiven: [[spoiler:The game never gives you the main protagonist's or the PlayableEpilogue's [[LastEpisodeNewCharacter protagonist's]] names - [[{{Subverted|Trope}} unless]] if you do enough out-of-game research. [[https://steamcommunity.com/app/2771670/discussions/0/4201364375107141333/#c4201364375108005796 Based on a hint]] from WordOfGod, it turns out the document that's out in the open in the Children's Hospital labyrinth which discusses the discovery of C'venesh Vishneri, the Queen of Venus, and Crusnr Colven, the King of Mercury, is actually about the main player protagonist and the PlayableEpilogue's protagonist, respectively.]]
* OneHitPointWonder: All non-hostile [=NPCs=] and secret walls explode into LudicrousGibs when struck by the protagonist's hammer. Actual enemies require multiple hits.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When the protagonist's [[ExpressiveHealthBar portrait]] loses her [[PerpetualSmiler constant smile]], that's your cue to find and use a health syringe before you die.
* PerpetualSmiler: Once she puts on the Psychopomp, the protagonist only ever stops smiling when she's down to her [[ExpressiveHealthBar final hitpoint]].
* PlayableEpilogue: [[spoiler:If you load your save after you've completed the game, you gain access to a forbidden location, as well as brief segment where you [[LastEpisodeNewCharacter play as the King of Mercury]], who's on the other Earth alluded to in a secret note.]]
* SchmuckBait: One of the sentient meat chunks in the Waste Management labyrinth is keeping watch over a key, and if you talk to her, she says she'll explode if someone takes it. She isn't kidding - she'll literally explode if you take the key without killing her first, with the blast either killing you or, if you have full health, brining you down to your final hitpoint.
* TitleDrop: The shorthand for the protagonist's helmet, Psychopomp. Also doubles as NonIndicativeName.
* TransformationSequence: The protagonist sprouts moth wings when her powers as the Queen of Venus awaken.
* TheUnmasquedWorld: [[spoiler:One of the main protagonist's goals upon awakening her powers as the Queen of Venus. What this masquerade ''is'' remains unknown to the player.]]
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: The player can kill any peaceful [=NPCs=] at will, from the little girl in the game's tutorial level to the peaceful Thrait scattered throughout the game.
