Line #10 NightmareFuel/FinalFantasyIV


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Amano_Trap_Door_1592.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:320: Pictured: the [[ChestMonster Trap Door]], [[OhCrap the only enemy in the game that is...]] well, ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a simple door]]''. Artwork by Creator/YoshitakaAmano, hence the (added) scariness.]]
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5	Given that ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' is the first game in the series to get its own NF page, we think it's safe to say this is exactly where shit hit the fan. VideoGame/FinalFantasyV is a LighterAndSofter sequel, but it has its own [[NightmareFuel/FinalFantasyV fair share of frights]].
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7	'''As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
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10	* When Rydia summons Titan and causes the earthquake that separates Cecil from Kain, this is already a fairly emotional moment given they accidentally torched her village and killed her mother. When the DS version added voice acting to this scene, however, Rydia screams at them while fleeing in an absolutely ''bloodcurdling'' and near-primal rage before Titan tears everything to shreds.
11	-->'''Rydia:''' Leave me alone! '''''I HATE YOU!!'''''
12	* What happens with Rydia after Fabul is also surprisingly frightening, especially if you're a kid roughly as old as Rydia herself and playing the game spoilerless for the first time. The game actually does a fairly decent job maintaining the illusion that Rydia is gone - she's out of the party for longer than almost anyone else (four whole dungeons and all the content in between them and after Zot) and Edward at one point says he saw her be ''swallowed'' by Leviathan. Even in the SNES version, it is abundantly clear what all the adults think happened to their token child and they're all very shaken by it. Especially once you get to Troia, you're probably resigned to Rydia being dead forever (unless you're savvy enough to realize they wouldn't get rid of her so soon).
13	* Trap Doors. There's a whole dungeon with doors that cause difficult monster battles, although some will open without resistance. Still, a giant door with teeth whose only moves are to target a party member and [[OneHitKill kill them]] is kind of disturbing. At least in some types of the game (including After Years) they're vulnerable to Stop.
14	** From the DS version, after the first Trap Door dies, if you read Kain's thoughts:
15	-->'''Kain:''' ''Please'' tell me not all of the doors are like that!
16	** At least in that version, ''they are''.
17	** Several of those Trap Doors have absolutely nothing behind them, just an {{empty room\|Psych}}.
18	* [[CreepyDoll Calcabrina]]. From the mere knowledge of the fact that you're fighting possessed dolls, to them cheerily telling your heroes that they are out for their blood (paraphrased oh so slightly), to their general appearance and movement, to the incredibly apt sound of their theme music. The DS version just takes it up one more notch. Even worse once they fuse into one giant doll...
19	* Edge reunites with his lost parents in the Tower of Babil. Everything seemed fine, until they ask Edge to come with them, “To Hell!” Then they turn into grotesque monsters right before him.
20	* Zeromus is pretty scary. It's basically a dark elf with so much hatred that it can continue to live on as a grotesque monster after it dies. Even more so in the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS version, with a terrifying voiced performance.
21	-->'''Zeromus:''' I am the wellspring of darkness, fueled by Zemus' unbridled hate! I am he who is called Zeromus! '''I am he who knows naught but''' '''''HATE!'''''
22	%%* The Evil Masks/Wicked Masks you encounter during the final stretch of the final dungeon before fighting Zeromus were only made more horrifying in the DS version.
23	* [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Kainazzo/Cagnazzo]], particularly in the DS version, where he is disturbingly jittery, and... legs just should not bend that way.
24	* Evil Wall/Demon Wall. You get the last Dark Crystal, start to walk away, and all of the sudden, a grotesque demon partially emerges from the wall behind you and starts closing in! It doesn't help that it is a timed boss and once it reaches a certain point, it starts to kill off your party one by one. Not to mention [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDe-v2OCINU the music]], which really gets across the message that you have to finish it quickly, or bad stuff will go down.
25	* Rydia's DisneyDeath, which involves her falling off a ship and Yang failed to save her. Keep in mind that [[HarmfulToMinors she was only a seven-year-old child at that time]].
26	* The Count spell, also known as Doom. While the game is full of unique spells with fantastic special effects and bizarre results, Count/Doom is especially nefarious: Its nightmarish animation shows a Grim Reaper rising from the inflicted character (which is also used in Death's animation) as a countdown appears over their head, killing them instantly once it reaches 0. There's absolutely ''nothing'' in the game quite like this spell, and the only enemies that can use it are found in two rooms midway through the final dungeon (and one of them uses it on your ENTIRE PARTY), so running into it is sure to incite panic in players. To top it all off, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1knln-M-wSg&t=5m25s the sound it makes]] sounds ''[[UncannyValley a bit too human]]'' to be in this 16-bit game that otherwise uses no audio samples.
27	* And last but not least, the final boss of the game; Zeromus. The end result of Zemus being forced to remain unmoving, but conscious, for years on end after suggesting genocide upon humanity. He had many years to stew in his hatred for those who had consigned him to this fate, and after finally being struck down, all the hatred and anger in his body erupted forth and congealed into a new form. At first, he appears to merely be a floating specter resembling a hairy troll, but after having the light of a Crystal shone upon him by Cecil, his true form spills forth into a mountain of sinew, chitin and bone with starry blue boils and a silhouette that is at once [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm completely unreadable but uniquely unmistakable]] in most versions of the game.
28	--> '''Zeromus''': I AM THE WELLSPRING OF DARKNESS, FED BY ZEMUS'S UNBRIDLED HATRED... I AM HE WHO IS CALLED ZEROMUS... I AM HE WHO KNOWS NAUGHT BUT '''HATE!'''
29	* Honestly, despite the relatively happy ending and the fact that of the whole main cast despite countless fake out deaths only one of them actually dies, if you stop to think about it Zemus/Golbez's little invasion devastated the entire world. Of the 4 leading Kingdoms, 3 of them had their monarchs killed (King Baron, Edward's father, and Edge's parents) and the last one, King Fabul though he lived was so badly injured he had to step down. That means every major nation was so badly devastated by the acts they needed to go through regime change to survive, and who knows how many other innocent people like Anna were killed in the crossfire. It's probably a miracle the world didn't descend into total anarchy even after Zeromus was stopped.

Context NightmareFuel / FinalFantasyIV