History VideoGame / TheyBleedPixels

* CatSmile: After she finishes transforming, the girl has this expression on her face.

* PerpetualFrowner: As a human, the protagonist only smiles once, [[spoiler:at the very end]]. However, she acquires a CatSmile [[EvilFeelsGood every time she transforms]].

* TheCorruption: The Book of Claws seems to cause this rather than TheVirus.

* LauncherMove: Tapping the attack button while standing still will kick enemies away from you, whereas holding down the button will send enemies upwards where they can be juggled or stabbed repeatedly in mid-air.
* {{Mayincatec}}: Ruins in this aesthetic can be seen in the background of The Fourth Dream: Chapter 1.

* TechnicolorMagic: The little girl's counterpart is purple.

* SupernaturalIsPurple: The little girl's counterpart is purple.
* [[TalkToTheFist Talk to The Claw]]: [[spoiler:The protagonist does this to the headmaster at the end.]]

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: The game contains unlockable "guest levels" created by different indie game developers. They include:
** "Seraphs Bleed Stardust", based on ''Seraph'' by Alex Bethke.
** "exp 0.666..." based on ''Exp. Magazine'' by Mathew Kumar.
** "They Bleed Ponycorns", based on ''VideoGame/SissysMagicalPonycornAdventure'' by Ryan and Cassie Creighton. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhIPo8jeZI8 It must be seen to be believed.]]
** And "All Hallow's Eve", a Halloween themed level that changes up the gameplay the most by making you kill enemies with traps in specific ways to receive candy.

* HairDecorations: Cutscenes show the protagonist as wearing a little red bow in her hair. It's probably not coincidental that the pixel art seen in gameplay makes this look like devil horns.

* AdvancingWallOfDoom: Expect to spend a ''lot'' of the late-game running from sawblades. Hell, the first half of The Final Dream: The End is almost entirely composed of these sequences. [[RiseToTheChallenge: Sometimes vertically, most notably in the beginning of The Fourth Dream: Chapter 3]].

* ArcSymbol: A stylized claw, which appears on the Book Of Claws itself, the shape of the [[spoiler: Headmaster]]'s knife, several places in and around the Academy, on every Save Sigil, and countless times in the background scenery and the shape of various levels.

* AwesomenessMeter: The game has a combo meter that builds on how creative you slay your enemies, and resets if you don't do damage for a short time.

* BloodyBowelsOfHell: [[spoiler: The Final Dream: The End]].
* BodyHorror: Every time the girl wakes up, her hands are further transformed into the demonic claws she fights with in her dreams- purple, tipped with sharp nails, and drenched with blood.

* DoubleJump: The protagonist is able of jumping in mid-air, allowing her to high places and maneuver intricate obstacles.
* EasyModeMockery: The Crimson Update adds a Novice difficulty with shorter and easier levels, but comes at the expense of removing pages, not tracking high scores or best time, restricting which badges can be unlocked, and lock players out of the final level.
* TheEndOrIsIt: [[spoiler: The headmaster's dead, but the books are still around.]]

* EvilIsVisceral: The final level [[spoiler: appears to be [[WombLevel organic]] and the PostfinalBoss is a giant heart]].

* HeartbeatSoundtrack: At the end of The Final Dream: The End the level music fades out and is replaced by the sound of a heartbeat as [[spoiler:you're taken up to the heart, and it gets faster the more you stab it]].

* IronicHell: The backgrounds reflect what the heroine has most recently attempted to rid herself of the Book of Claws, such as the bottom of the ocean or a lake of fire.

* LovecraftLite: Make no mistake -- this is not a CosmicHorrorStory, or even that much of a horror ''game''. [[spoiler:[[EarnYourHappyEnding You win, and manage to destroy the Book and the guy using it to make monstrous servants]], after all, [[TheEndOrIsIt though it wasn't the only one of its kind]].]]

* MooksButNoBosses: Instead of bosses, the game ends each chapter with a gauntlet of regular enemies and platforming hazards, getting longer and more complicated further on (the earlier ones introduce a new type of enemy). [[spoiler:There is technically the heart at the end of The Final Dream: The End, but it [[StationaryBoss can't move]], defend itself, or hurt you, [[ZeroEffortBoss there's no way to lose against it]], and it dies in five hits. The real final challenge is the waves of enemies you face just before it]].

* PaintingTheMedium: [[spoiler:Attacking [[PostfinalBoss the heart]]]] causes the screen to shake with each hit.

* SinisterSilhouettes: A figure in a bowler hat, wielding a claw-shaped knife, appears behind the protagonist at the end of every dream. The observant player will notice that [[spoiler:there's a painting of a man in a bowler hat on a wall in the school.]]