Line #141 VideoGame/HauntingGround


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5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hauntingground1.png]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil4 Hey... it's that dog!]]]]
7
8	->'''Fiona Belli:''' Why are you after me? What do you want?
9	->'''Daniella:''' Azoth...
10	->'''Fiona Belli:''' Azoth?
11	->'''Daniella:''' Azoth... Essence of life... of life... of wo... wo... woman... Woman!
12
13	''Haunting Ground'' (aka ''Demento'') is a lesser-known adventure-[[HorrorVideoGames horror]] game released by [[Creator/{{Capcom}} Capcom]].
14
15	Fiona Belli is a young woman who was involved in a unfortunate car accident. She later awakens in a castle and has no idea how she got there. Her main objective is to get the hell out, but the sinister residents of the castle have different plans for our heroine...
16
17	The gameplay revolves much more on evading enemies and hiding than combat, as Fiona's fighting abilities (she can kick opponents, but it's ''very'' weak) are extremely limited (mainly as a throwback to the ''VideoGame/ClockTower'' games, of which this game was to be the fifth installment, but was changed during production). Her health is measured by how calm she is--checking the wrong object or prolonged chases by enemies can cause her to be overcome with fear and panic, which is portrayed in the form of a [[InterfaceScrew blurry, distorted screen and problems controlling her]]. She eventually runs into an ally in [[CanineCompanion the form of a dog named Hewie]], who can be commanded to attack enemies, fetch items, or follow Fiona. The game has an [[RelationshipValues unseen friendship meter]] of sorts -- Fiona ''can'' either protect the dog or literally KickTheDog -- but abuse will make Hewie become distant from Fiona, causing him to ignore her commands or be slower to respond when Fiona becomes panicked.
18
19	----
20	!!This game provides examples of:
21
22	* AlasPoorVillain:
23	** For all her AxCrazy tendencies and desire to kill Fiona, it's pretty easy to feel sorry for Daniella when she dies. She only wanted to be complete.
24	** Same goes for Debilitas, should the player not drop the chandelier onto him and opt to defeat him the old-fashioned way. Fiona feels guilty for killing him in self-defense, considering that Debilitas only wanted to play with her, [[AndCallHimGeorge not realizing how dangerous he was]]. [[spoiler:In fact, getting the best ending requires that he survives.]]
25	* AndCallHimGeorge: Debilitas thinks Fiona is a big doll for him to play with. Should she be killed by him, Debilitas apparently hugs Fiona's corpse hard enough to break her apart.
26	* AndroclesLion:
27	** Fiona frees Hewie near the beginning of the game, after he's been tied up. Hewie returns by fending off Debilitas a few minutes later, and subsequently accompanies Fiona through the rest of the game.
28	** After finishing the game once, sparing Debilitas is required in order to achieve a special ending that lets you bypass about half the game.
29	* AndYourRewardIsClothes: "Under the Scalpel", "Fiona B", "Fiona the Frog", "Texas Cowgirl", "Illegal in Some States"... Even Hewie gets a different fur color scheme as well as one that makes him look like a [[BraggingRightsReward stuffed animal (which grants him invincibility)]].
30	* AntiFrustrationFeatures: Certain puzzle rooms prevent stalkers from entering them until the puzzle is solved. That way, you can just focus on the puzzle instead of needing to worry about the stalker attacking you.
31	* AppliedPhlebotinum: Azoth, which in UsefulNotes/{{alchemy}} is pretty much a cure-all that can restore youth, ensure long life, cure any injuries, and so on. [[spoiler:Turns out Fiona's body is full of it, which is why everyone except Debilitas is hunting her.]]
32	* ArtificialHuman:
33	** Daniella[[spoiler:, or so we're led to believe]]. Some of the levels also have failed homunculi standing around in various places doing strange things.
34	** In truth, everyone in the castle but Fiona are all artificial creations, just on different levels.
35	* ArtificialBrilliance: Under normal circumstances, {{Artificial Stupidity}} is in effect during the game as mentioned below, particularly the point regarding enemies ignoring Hewie while searching for Fiona... until Hard Mode kicks in and, now that Hewie is no longer as safe, some of the stalkers will more actively choose to attack him in an attempt to force the player out of hiding to redirect their attention back to Fiona. Hewie CAN dodge attacks, but it should never be relied upon in these cases.
36	* ArtificialStupidity: Applies to the stalkers during the game's chase sequences whenever Fiona is hiding.
37	** You'd think they'd be able to tell where she is based on Hewie's proximity to her, [[LoyalAnimalCompanion because he's never far from her side]]. Nor does it ever occur to them to [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim simply kill Hewie]], which would leave Fiona without any protection. Instead, they ignore him, even when he's barking at them and fiercely guarding Fiona's position. They simply walk past as they continue to roam the halls looking for her.
38	*** Sometimes they will actually go after Hewie, but it's pretty rare. In most cases, they either ignore him entirely or only briefly try to attack him before continuing to search for Fiona.
39	** Another example is whenever Fiona's hiding under a bed. From certain vantage points in the room, she should be directly in the stalkers' line of sight. Yet they never notice her, even when she's only a few feet away. Not to mention, if someone goes into a bedroom to hide, looking underneath the bed is one of the first things any stalker would do.
40	* AwesomeButImpractical: It's possible to knock out the stalkers during chase sequences, with some being easier than others [[spoiler:(Lorenzo being the easiest in his old man form)]], and the reward for doing so is often medallions for crafting rarer items, including exceptionally rare equipment for Fiona, or sometimes said rare equipment all by itself. However, most of them are difficult to fight and require knowing when and where to have Hewie attack, when to have him press on his attacks, and when to have him let go and fall back. All the while, Fiona's panic is rising, and any hits sustained over the course of the fight will kill either her or Hewie (the latter only on Hard Mode) if not treated.
41	* AxCrazy: [[spoiler:Daniella and Riccardo, the latter of whom carries a gun and is ''very'' trigger-happy. The former is prone to random bouts of screaming and maniacal giggling, and getting killed by her results in Daniella tearing out Fiona's uterus.]]
42	* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:A subversion in the worst ending, where Fiona becomes brainwashed and pregnant with her captor's child.]]
43	* BackStab: If you order Hewie to attack while the enemy is turned away from him, he will jump onto their back and bite their neck. This is more effective than his standard attack, and prevents the enemy from retaliating.
44	* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: Fiona first finds Hewie chained to a tree by a wire digging into his neck and is appalled at how anyone could do such a thing. After rescuing him, she has to continue to keep him safe from the stalkers (who absolutely ''will'' attack him if given the chance) while also relying on him as her main means of defense. Ironically, Fiona herself falls under this trope [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential if the player is going for Ending D]].
45	* BecomeARealBoy: Daniella [[spoiler:believes that she]] is a homunculus, and wants to become "complete." Problem is, she thinks that the way to do that is to kill Fiona and tear out her uterus.
46	* BigNo:
47	** Fiona, [[CatapultNightmare waking up from a nightmare/flashback]] to the car crash.
48	** Fiona also does this during some of her [[HaveANiceDeath terrible deaths]], like the one involving [[spoiler:hiding in an iron maiden from Daniella, who figures it out and calmly locks her inside before ''activating it'', with Fiona pleading for her life right up to the end]].
49	** Fiona does this yet again when [[spoiler:Lorenzo's true intentions are revealed]] and in the worst ending upon learning [[spoiler:Riccardo has kidnapped and is going to impregnate her]].
50	* BishonenLine:
51	** [[spoiler:When Fiona first encounters Lorenzo, he's a creepy, shriveled up old man. However, once he gives himself a dose of Azoth, he reverts to a decent but still unremarkable middle-aged man -- basically her father with nice hair -- before immediately turning into his handsome, muscular, younger self, and is much more deadly now because he can hurl spells at Fiona. Then this is subverted when he falls into a lava pool and becomes a [[ClippedWingAngel flaming skeleton]] armed with a TouchOfDeath.]]
52	** This is applicable to the game's villainous cast overall. The last couple of stalkers are much more mundane than the initial threat, yet are explicitly more dangerous.
53	* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The Escher-esque stairwell room. [[spoiler:Not to mention the House of Truth, especially while you're being chased by young Lorenzo for the first time, during which there is a large corridor that goes in circles with seemingly no end.]]
54	* BossAlteringConsequence:
55	** If you lure Debilitas into the Music Room, you can temporarily incapacitate him by pushing a bookshelf on top of him.
56	** You can trick Debilitas into falling through a collapsing floor by throwing one of his dolls on top of it. However, if you walk onto the floor, then Fiona will fall through instead.
57	** At one point, you can use Hewie to attempt to knock Debilitas off a balcony, but whether Hewie succeeds or not depends on whether he is at full health, and if Hewie isn't even close by at the time, then Debilitas will just knock Fiona out.
58	** You can order Hewie to hide in a hole and he will attack Debilitas if he comes close by.
59	** There are two ways of defeating Debilitas during his final encounter. One is done by using normal attacks, which will kill him. The other is by bringing down the chandelier on top of him, which will instead cause him to cease being a threat to Fiona, leading to getting the best ending.
60	** Daniella is normally equipped with a large glass shard, but if you interact with her while she's tending the fireplace, she will replace that glass shard with a hot fire poker, making her stronger and faster.
61	** Daniella hates looking at herself in the mirror, and if she comes across one while chasing you, she will be temporarily distracted by it and [[RageAgainstTheReflection shatter the mirror]].
62	** In the Medical Room, there are two jars of acid that can be used against either Daniella or [[spoiler:Riccardo]]: sulphuric acid and acetic acid. Sulphuric acid will burn and temporarily incapacitate them, but acetic acid will do nothing.
63	* BossRemix: The first three boss themes are the same song, just with that particular stalker's leitmotif mixed in.
64	* BraggingRightsReward: Stuffed Hewie. Besides making Hewie even more of a BadassAdorable, it also makes him totally invincible. To get it, you have to beat the game on Hard Mode.
65	* BreakTheCutie: Poor Fiona is subjected to this a lot throughout the game. Not only does she have to escape from a lot of crazy stalkers who want her dead, she's also got to escape from a creepy pervert who wants to get her pregnant.
66	* BreakingTheFourthWall:
67	-->'''Fiona''': Why in the world is there a chair here? turns to camera This is just a [[MediumAwareness normal chair]], right?
68	* BreedingSlave: [[spoiler:Riccardo's plan for Fiona. In the worst ending, he gets what he wants.]]
69	* CanineCompanion: Hewie, of course. The core of the gameplay and much of the story centers on protagonist Fiona and the German Shepard she rescues named Hewie. He's your first and often last line of defense against stalkers, a frequent collaborator when it comes to solving puzzles, and [[CutscenePowerToTheMax selectively hyper-competent when it comes to acrobatics and felling Fiona's enemies]].
70	* CaptainErsatz: A lot of examples between this game and ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', two 2005 survival horror games developed by Capcom. Fiona and Debilitas look similar to Ashley and the Gigantes, respectively. Belli Castle borrows heavily from Salazar's castle as well, and a white German Shepard shows up in both games. See CrossOver below.
71	* CaptainObvious: Fiona. "A woman with wings protruding out of her back. An angel, perhaps?"
72	** Humorously lampshaded in another of her comments.
73	---> "Not to state the obvious, but this looks like the castle study."
74	** This actually makes sense in context as Fiona has just come out of a car crash, is VERY stressed, and in an unfamiliar place. Her "Captain Obvious" tendencies come off more as trying to slowly make sense of her surroundings in light of how freaked and stressed out she is.
75	* CloneAngst: [[spoiler:Riccardo and Fiona's father, Ugo. They're both {{Artificial Human}}s to some degree, and the toll it's taken on Riccardo's sanity is on full display once he becomes a homicidal maniac who is out for Fiona.]]
76	* CommonMarySueTraits: Fiona is a {{Deconstruction}} of these. She's TheChosenOne ([[LiquidAssets kinda]]), heir to a BigFancyCastle (built on DeathTrap-filled ChaosArchitecture), [[AndCallHimGeorge everyone]] [[IJustWantToBeYou she meets]] [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty wants her]], she's [[LukeIAmYourFather a close relative]] of [[spoiler:''two'' major villains]], and she's a FriendToAllLivingThings (complete with CanineCompanion Hewie).
77	* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: During normal gameplay, the castle's main gate is locked, forcing Fiona to solve her way through the castle in order to escape. But with a NewGamePlus file, it's possible to get the key, which [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere circumvents most of the game by allowing Fiona to leave the castle early]] (Ending C).
78	* CreepyHousekeeper: Daniella is a maid, and an [[spoiler:apparent]] ArtificialHuman who wants Fiona's Azoth in order to become "complete." She speaks in a monotone and has stiff, robotic movements... until she goes manic.
79	* CreepyUncle: [[spoiler:Riccardo.]]
80	* CrossOver: A white German Shepherd also appears in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''.
81	* CursedWithAwesome: In Panic Mode, Fiona runs much faster than she does normally, at the expense of becoming a OneHitPointWonder and barely responding to the player's controls.
82	* CutsceneIncompetence: An affliction ''everyone'' (aside from [[CutscenePowerToTheMax Hewie]]) suffers throughout the game. Fiona can trigger death traps that are patently obvious to everyone but her. The bad guys don't just attack her when she's vulnerable, either, giving her time to collect herself and escape. And on and on it goes.
83	* DefeatMeansFriendship: If you [[spoiler:incapacitate rather than kill Debilitas during his boss fight, he sees Fiona as a sort of holy figure and will leave her alone, even allowing her to escape Belli Castle in one of the endings]].
84	* DevelopersForesight:
85	** The final boss can't be hidden from under normal circumstances; it's RunOrDie. However, if you possess a special item that makes you invisible and manage to tuck yourself away in the one corner out of his line of sight ''just'' long enough to turn invisible, the final boss has unique lines recorded suggesting you're hiding from him, just like every other stalker.
86	** On a very obscure note: Stalkers are not permitted to enter certain puzzle rooms until the puzzle is finished as an anti-frustration mechanic; engage a stalker, enter said room, and they will be waiting outside unless the player waits long enough in the room for them to despawn. With stronger boots equipped or Fiona using her gun from her cowgirl costume, one could theoretically easily loop a stalker between rooms and repeatedly knock them out for an infinite amount of items and grade points. If a stalker is wedged between rooms like this, however, their health values are raised to infinite, meaning they will never be downed no matter how much the player hurts them.
87	* DogWalksYou: How you safely get across a couple of booby traps, thanks to Hewie guiding Fiona to safety.
88	* DungeonBypass: NewGamePlus gives a way for Fiona to just leave the castle [[spoiler:without having to confront Daniella, Riccardo or Lorenzo]]. Amusingly, it basically boils down to convincing the gardener to lend you the spare front door key.
89	* EarnYourBadEnding: [[spoiler:Ironically, the worst ending is almost harder to get than the best. To trigger it, one must have the worst possible relationship level with Hewie (i.e. he utterly hates Fiona and attacks her on sight) immediately before you enter the Chaos Forest. However, because Hewie is required for the area's main puzzle (the start of it anyway), you have to finish the puzzle with at least a neutral relationship with him (so he'll actually do the puzzle for you); then you have to halt your progress and attack or poison Hewie until his relationship hits rock bottom. In other words, getting the bad ending requires you to ''[[VideoGameCrueltyPotential intentionally]]'' [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential abuse him.]]]]
90	* EmotionlessGirl: Daniella. [[spoiler:Until she starts craving Fiona's Azoth, anyway. Then she goes full AxCrazy.]]
91	* EverybodyLives: [[spoiler:Ending C. Yes, even the really vile ones.]]
92	* EveryoneIsRelated: [[spoiler:Let's see: Lorenzo is Fiona's grandfather, as her father Ugo is a clone he created. Lorenzo also made Riccardo, so he is Ugo's brother and Fiona's uncle, and Debilitas is the fruit of Riccardo's attempt at creating life via the alchemical process. The only exception is Daniella, who is actually a normal human Lorenzo kidnapped as a child.]]
93	* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Springing traps usually means instant (and gruesome) death for Fiona.
94	* EvilDetectingDog: This is actually a core mechanic of the gameplay. If Hewie starts growling or even outright barking, then you better be on your toes in the area or booking it to the nearest hiding place. Another aspect of this is that several booby-trapped hallways require you to send Hewie ahead of Fiona [[DogWalksYou to sniff out the safe path that won't get her killed]].
95	* EvilLaugh: All the stalkers have one.
96	* FaintInShock: Fiona. She's a little too susceptible to it for her own good at times.
97	** Upon first discovering that [[spoiler:both her parents have died in the car crash and that she's now the sole surviving heir to Belli Castle]], she passes out long enough to let Riccardo move her into her bed. She relives [[spoiler:the car crash]] in the form of a nightmare as she gradually comes out of unconsciousness right before waking up.
98	** When she learns that [[spoiler:Riccardo and her father Ugo are clones (and that Riccardo killed her father)]], Fiona is completely unable to process this and sinks into a dead faint. This time she stays out cold throughout. If the game has been completed once before, a secret cutscene will play immediately after this, showing [[spoiler:Fiona laid out on a laboratory table [[UndressingTheUnconscious in a different outfit]] and Riccardo testing her fertility by inserting a rod into her. He apparently does not even need to sedate or restrain her at any point during this, as she remains utterly passed out from the shock from before]]. She wakes up much later, already having been moved back into her jail cell.
99	*** If the player has already triggered the worst ending, then this second faint is [[spoiler:what gives Riccardo the opportunity to capture Fiona and make her his BreedingSlave outright]].
100	* FamilialCannibalismSurprise: Given the implication that [[spoiler:Daniella is cooking the remains of Fiona's mother, Ayla, at the beginning of the game]], this is likely why Fiona feels sick after dinner.
101	* {{Fanservice}}: The sheet from the beginning of the game is quite modest compared to some of Fiona's outfits, not to mention her miniskirt and large breasts. Several parts of the game use camera angles to give the player a voyeuristic view of her (or to simulate a stalker's point of view), particularly when she's getting dressed in the aforementioned miniskirt and blouse. Fiona even addresses how "tight" her new outfit feels, especially "in the chest area."
102	** FanDisservice: However, despite being attractive and wearing moderately revealing clothing, the creepy sexual nature of the stalkers can put a damper on things. It's hard to appreciate how attractive Fiona is when you're desperately trying to stop her from getting torn apart by a giant, mentally handicapped man, having her uterus torn out by an AxCrazy woman who's convinced she is incomplete, raped [[spoiler:by a clone of her father]], and being stalked by [[spoiler:an old man - technically her grandfather - who wants to steal her life force]].
103	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
104	** If one enters the Castle Guestroom and examines the mirror in the corner, Fiona will say she could freshen up if it weren't smashed, foreshadowing [[spoiler:Daniella's hatred of her own reflection [[FreakOut and how she reacts when confronted with it]]]].
105	** In the operating theater in the Old Mansion, Fiona will look at the operating table and exclaim that it's filthy, [[TemptingFate and nothing could make her lie on it]]. [[spoiler:This is where Riccardo performs an ovulation test on her after she faints in the forest.]]
106	** Fiona's first encounter with Lorenzo, who can be heard whispering her name from behind a wall with holes in it. As Fiona reaches her arm into a hole to investigate, he gives her an unnecessary scare by grabbing her hand and hastily passing a note to her in order to help her escape. One would think that Lorenzo could at least try to be more reassuring and careful towards a captive he wants to help rescue. [[spoiler:This is a hint that Lorenzo is not to be trusted, as he is more concerned about Fiona's Azoth than Fiona herself.]]
107	* FootFocus: Many of the game's cutscenes focus directly on Fiona's feet. The altered version of her default outfit makes them bare.
108	* ForWantOfANail: [[spoiler:Things are a lot simpler for Fiona in Ending C, where she gets a key to the castle gate much earlier than normal and escapes within the first quarter of the game.]]
109	* FriendlyEnemy: Even after she's decided to tear out her Azoth, Daniella is such a dutiful maid that she'll be too busy cleaning to bother Fiona from time to time. Fiona even gets a useful item by talking to her during one such break from chasing her. However, this could be an example of Daniella having a split personality.
110	* FixedCamera: Used very effectively, as they can sometimes hide a stalker from the player's sight until they [[JumpScare accidentally run into them from off-screen]].
111	* GigglingVillain: Daniella does tons of giggling after she goes full AxCrazy.
112	* GirlWithPsychoWeapon: Daniella. She chases you with either a shard of glass or a hot fire poker.
113	* GivenNameReveal: Paying attention to in-game notes will inform the player that they are in the castle of the [[MadScientist mad alchemist]] Aurelius Belli, and that someone named Lorenzo is trying to help Fiona survive. [[spoiler:The FinalBoss gives his full name as Aurelius Lorenzo Belli, revealing himself to be both of the above at once.]]
114	* {{Golem}}: Fiona comes across a couple of them during her journey in the castle. One of them is blocking a door and requires you to insert a keyplate inscribed with "EMETH" to move it out of the way. As an added GeniusBonus for those familiar with the golem myth, you can use the word "METH" to make it crumble instead -- and get an item as a reward.
115	* GoMadFromTheRevelation: [[spoiler:Fiona in the worst ending. Being raped is what mostly contributes.]]
116	* GoryDiscretionShot: None of the death traps directly show Fiona being killed. The most graphic depiction of violence in the whole game is Debilitas chopping a slab of meat in the beginning.
117	** The Game Over scenes also make use of this to a very unnerving degree, as horrible things are implied to be done to poor Fiona's corpse, while the screen shows nothing but the words [[PretentiousLatinMotto "Acta Est Fabula."]]
118	* GuideDangIt:
119	** The alchemy machine. It's very random what you get, depending on the colors you land on, and even then there's no real clue what you've made until you've made them. In some ways, this is also the only way to get some of the rarest equipment for Fiona, but good luck figuring out the specific colors/patterns with the right medallion to create them.
120	** By the same extension, the alchemical medicines. Unless you test them and risk their effects or waste the potentially beneficial ones at unnecessary moments, you've no idea what they're going to do to you or Hewie otherwise. Most of them serve as effective replacements for the standard items you normally pick up, but some are harmful, with effects such as draining either yours or Hewie's stamina, enraging Hewie for a while, or increasing Fiona's panic.
121	* GunsDoNotWorkThatWay: [[spoiler:Riccardo's pistol is a flintlock so it should only be able to fire one shot, necessitating a lengthy reload time. Instead, Riccardo fires it like a semiautomatic handgun.]]
122	* HaplesslyHiding: Fiona can hide from her pursuers in several spots, but if she's used a particular place too often or they're close enough to sense her entering it, they will catch her. Usually this just means that Fiona is discovered and attacked, but if she is caught in an iron maiden, Daniella will kill her with it.
123	* HealThyself: Fiona can calm down her panic and pick up her stamina by using lavender and chamomile respectively. She can also completely restore both at the same time by drinking tap water, provided nobody's around. Hewie, on the other hand, can be fed beef and chicken jerky. They can both also be healed with items crafted through alchemy.
124	* HeroicDog: Hewie. After [[AndroclesLion being saved from a grisly fate by Fiona]], Hewie becomes a stalwart protector. He attacks enemies, helps her through puzzles, and is invaluable in getting her out of the hell she finds herself in alive.
125	* HollerButton: Mainly used to give commands to Hewie. "Come on!", "Hewie", "Good boy!", "HEWIE!!" and "Help!!" are likely what will be heard the most.
126	* IdiotBall: While being chased by [[spoiler:flaming Lorenzo, who is a OneHitKill]], a statue falls on Fiona. You would expect her to let it fall after steadying her balance, but no, she takes the time to thoughtfully push it back into place.
127	* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: Riccardo invokes this multiple times on Fiona. [[spoiler:In the worst ending, it sticks.]]
128	* ImAHumanitarian: [[spoiler:It's implied that Daniella is cooking the remains of Fiona's mother at the beginning of the game. The food is first identified as looking similar to angel hair pasta, but a later inspection reveals that it is in fact human hair.]]
129	* ImmodestOrgasm: Daniella. [[spoiler:At least, that's how it seems if she kills Fiona.]]
130	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice:
131	** [[spoiler:Daniella gets impaled by a massive shard of glass.]]
132	** Also [[spoiler:Fiona if Daniella catches her in the iron maiden]].
133	** If Fiona fails to escape Daniella's grab, she'll jerk her forward onto the glass shard/poker, running her through.
134	* IncestSubtext: [[spoiler:Riccardo]], who is practically Fiona's uncle, wants to impregnate her. [[spoiler:And succeeds at that in the worst ending.]]
135	** There's also a lot of this with [[spoiler:Lorenzo]], Fiona's grandfather.
136	* InconvenientlyPlacedConveyorBelt: In one of the final boss fights, which doubles as both a DeathTrap and the only means to defeat the boss.
137	* IndecipherableLyrics: "Endless Zero" has barely audible, whisper-y vocals which may or may not be [[{{Scatting}} just random gibberish]].
138	* InformedEquipment: Curiously, the boots are the only accessory items that do not appear on Fiona's game model, in contrast to her earrings and choker.
139	** Counts doubly so if she has boots equipped but is wearing an outfit that keeps her barefoot.
140	* InterfaceScrew: Panic Mode. The screen goes blurry, everything turns monochrome, the audio fills with static and Fiona runs around in [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a panic]]. Not to mention, she's a OneHitPointWonder in this mode. The only saving grace is that she's much faster, but the player can barely control her.
141	** This even applies to commands for Hewie, as all Fiona can shout is a panicked "HELP!", which may or may not be responded to favorably. It depends HEAVILY on your relationship with Hewie if he does anything useful to give you enough time to calm down.
142	* IronMaiden: One of your potential hiding places for Fiona during the second portion of the game is inside an iron maiden. [[spoiler:If Daniella finds her, she'll pull a lever and [[TheManyDeathsOfYou Fiona is impaled.]]]]
143	* ItemCrafting: The alchemist's quarters has a machine in which Fiona can refine medallions into items for her and Hewie, though some items can actually hurt them instead of help.
144	* ItsQuietTooQuiet: An inversion of its [[VideoGame/ClockTower predecessor]], which had the game played in silence and music only played in specific rooms or during chase sequences, ''Haunting Ground'' has music all throughout the various stages of the castle. Rather, it cuts to dead silence at various points when a stalker or other enemy is nearby. So while the music plays normally, silence serves as a sign you'd better be cautious or else...
145	* IWasQuiteALooker: Lorenzo, who [[spoiler:temporarily restores his youth with Azoth]].
146	* JigglePhysics: Fiona's breasts bounce very visibly throughout the game, almost to an absurd degree.
147	* KickTheDog: All of the stalkers are [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals more than willing to harm or kill Hewie]]. He is shot by [[spoiler:Riccardo]] in the Chaos Forest, but Fiona fortunately comes to his aid. [[spoiler:In Ending D, however, he ''will'' die. Said ending is earned by having the worst possible relationship with Hewie, which includes abusing (and literally kicking) him.]]
148	* KillTheCutie: Fiona Belli is a beautiful 18-year-old girl. Her enemies, however, seek to kill her in extremely brutal ways, and as Fiona is frail, has no fighting skills and no weapon, they can easily kill her in a fight. She can die in all sorts of ways, including being crushed via a bear hug, stabbed, shot, etc.
149	* KillItWithFire: [[spoiler:Fiona, with Hewie's help, drops Lorenzo into a pit of lava. He emerges as a [[ManOnFire flaming skeleton]], but finally succumbs to the flames after Fiona evades him long enough.]]
150	* LaughingMad: Daniella does this in spades after finally going AxCrazy. [[spoiler:Also poor Fiona in the worst ending, after she becomes a breeding slave for Riccardo.]]
151	* LegacyCharacter: The title of Aurelius Belli, and [[LegacyImmortality their legacy as an immortal alchemist]], is this if the graveyard in the Old Mansion is anything to go by. Lorenzo, Riccardo, and (if you collect all of the collectibles and [[spoiler:read the final entry of Fiona's diary]]) [[spoiler:Fiona herself]] will all lay claim to the name.
152	* {{Leitmotif}}: Each stalker has distinctive chase music which goes through tempo and volume shifts depending on how close to you they are. It also gets remixed for their boss battle. In cutscenes, Hewie gets a theme of his own in the form of a soft, music box-like tune. Fiona is the only character without one, except maybe "Endless Zero."
153	* LethalJokeCharacter: Stuffed Hewie. Besides making him look like a walking cotton-filled toy, it also makes him invincible.
154	* LickingTheBlade: Daniella does this with a big shard of glass (or a fire poker, if she's optionally traded in the glass shard).
155	* LightAndMirrorsPuzzle: [[spoiler:Lorenzo tests Fiona in a labyrinth of color-coded doors. Take the wrong door out and it's back to the beginning of the maze.]]
156	* LoadBearingBoss: [[spoiler:Beating Lorenzo causes the section of the castle you're in to collapse. There's no time limit while Fiona escapes; however, she still needs to be quick, because being touched by Lorenzo's flaming form will kill her in one hit.]]
157	* LockingMacGyverInTheStoreCupboard: The entire game can be seen as an extended version of this, as Fiona can easily find or make everything she needs to [[spoiler:defeat her pursuers and escape the castle]].
158	* LongLostRelative: [[spoiler:Riccardo and Lorenzo]] for Fiona.
159	* MadScientist: Two mad alchemists, who want eternal life through human sacrifice and horrific experimentation. Close enough.
160	* MagicalAccessory: Fiona may equip a choker, a pair of earrings and a pair of boots. The majority of these improve stamina, reduce panic and improve strength in combat respectively, but there are three odd ones out: the Obsidian Choker throws Luminescents off her trail, the Fairy Earrings make her invisible if she stays still, and the Feather Boots make her footfalls softer.
161	* MagicalMysteryDoors: Invoked when [[spoiler:Lorenzo tests Fiona in a labyrinth of color-coded doors. Choose the wrong one and it's back to the beginning of the maze.]]
162	* ManOnFire: [[spoiler:Lorenzo, during the game's final chase sequence. After Fiona and Hewie manage to drop him into a pit of lava, he isn't quite dead yet, and tries one last time to catch Fiona. Getting touched by Lorenzo in this state is a OneHitKill.]]
163	* MeaningfulName:
164	** "Debilitas" is Latin for "weakness" or "illness."
165	** Daniella is the female equivalent of "Daniel", a Biblical Hebrew name. Her faithfulness towards her master [[spoiler:Lorenzo]] suggests that her name is meant to invoke Daniel's faithfulness to God. Alternatively, Daniel is also the name of a FallenAngel in the Book of Enoch, which is rather fitting. [[spoiler:According to WordOfGod, she lost her freedom as a girl when she was kidnapped by Lorenzo.]]
166	** Fiona means "white, fair."
167	** Hewie and Ugo are the diminutive and the Italian variant, respectively, of "Hugh", meaning "heart, mind, spirit."
168	** Riccardo means "powerful, strong ruler." Rather fitting considering Riccardo's numerous attempts to assert his dominance over multiple characters in the game.
169	** [[spoiler:Lorenzo is Italian for "someone from Laurentum." This ancient city's name may have been derived from the Latin word "laurus", which means laurel, "a symbol of wisdom and accomplishment." These terms likely relate Lorenzo's ancestry and his own accomplishments as a master alchemist. Might also be a reference to Saint Lawrence who was burnt to death.]]
170	* ModestyBedsheet: At first, it's the only "clothing" Fiona has. She eventually gets some more thanks to Daniella.
171	* MultipleEndings: Usually depends on how well you treated Hewie for most of the game. Another major contributor is whether you [[spoiler:kill Debilitas or let him live]]. There's also an ending on NewGamePlus in which you can find a way to say "ScrewThisImOuttaHere" and end the game early.
172	* MusicalSpoiler:
173	** The music becomes chaotic when Fiona runs into stalkers. When she successfully evades one (usually by hiding), the music returns to normal.
174	** When a stalker is in an area adjacent to the player, the ambient noise is replaced with dead silence. This is actually an incredibly useful lifesaver, as the game will falsely tell you it's safe to leave a hiding spot, only for the stalker to decide to waltz back in. The player will need to rely on the return of the ambient music to know when the coast is truly clear.
175	* MysteriousInformant: Some guy named Lorenzo keeps slipping Fiona various notes over the course of the game. [[spoiler:He turns out to be the BigBad, who's only trying to help her get away from his insane lackeys so he can have her Azoth for himself.]]
176	* NeverTrustATitle: Only the western one, since there are no ghosts in this game.
177	* NewGamePlus:
178	** Beating the game unlocks an additional Hard Mode, with stronger (and palette swapped) versions of the stalkers, more enemies scattered around the castle, a bonus mode where you play as Hewie, and a few additional cutscenes which fill in some extra plot details.
179	** The ability to change outfits and exchange key-plates for equipment is added to the Alchemy Room in both modes after beating the game once.
180	** You can find a copy of the castle gate key after [[spoiler:beating Debilitas non-lethally, allowing Fiona to leave the castle early and unlock Ending C.]]
181	* NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine: While Riccardo and Lorenzo need Fiona to be healthy and well-fed, Daniella (who is doing all the chores and cooking) might not necessarily feel the same, or she just doesn't see feeding Fiona [[spoiler:[[FamilialCannibalismSurprise her own parents]]]] as anything wrong. Fiona ends up with nausea after a single bite.
182	* NonHumanSidekick: Hewie, who doubles as a PetInterface.
183	* NonStandardGameOver: "Acta Est Fabula" shows up on the screen rather than the traditional GameOver whenever Fiona gets killed. Death by booby traps come with a special cutscene, where Fiona's gruesome fate is made pretty explicit as well. You also lose automatically if Hewie dies ([[AntiFrustrationFeatures which, fortunately, can only happen on Hard Mode]]).
184	* OffscreenTeleportation: Most of the stalkers are guilty of this, but Daniella in particular pops into existence in certain rooms. There's one she'll always appear in, no matter where you saw her last. Fortunately, her kill switch is set to "off" if you encounter her here; she's too busy cleaning to do anything else.
185	* OhCrap: Quite a few, but the fire poker scene (Daniella) and the explosives scene ([[spoiler:Lorenzo]]) are the first to come to mind.
186	** The game invokes this on the player as well. You can be exploring the castle, trying to figure out how to progress or searching for a specific item or returning to a room with said specific item... and suddenly the music cuts out, it's dead silent, and Hewie starts growling...
187	* OneHitKill: As mentioned below, Panic Mode means this can happen to Fiona, but each stalker also has a couple moves that can do this:
188	** Debilitas raises both fists above his head and brings them down, or gets on top of Fiona and crushes her neck.
189	** Daniella raises her weapon over her head and bring it down on Fiona, or gets on top of her and uses it to slash her throat.
190	** [[spoiler:Riccardo]] performs a headshot, or stands over Fiona and shoots her in the back (note: being too close at any time when he fires his gun will often kill instantly, even his scatter shots). In the Water Tower, he gets on top of Fiona and repeatedly bashes her head against the ground.
191	** [[spoiler:Old Lorenzo]] pulls Fiona down and gets on top of her.
192	** [[spoiler:Young Lorenzo]] uses highly damaging punches imbued with blue flames.
193	** [[spoiler:[[ManOnFire Flaming Lorenzo]]]] instantly sets Fiona on fire if she's caught during the game's final chase sequence.
194	* OneHitPointWonder:
195	** Getting caught by enemies while in Panic Mode reduces Fiona to this. While she's much faster, any hit from anything will kill her.
196	** One of the game's easiest boss battles is this because [[spoiler:Riccardo only needs to take one specifically-executed hit from Hewie]].
197	* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:Lorenzo is fought as the final boss in many forms before he goes down. It's not until he is set on fire and forced to waddle around as a flaming skeleton that he finally dies for good.]]
198	* PetTheDog: Fiona does this to Hewie when praising him, as well as in certain cutscenes. If Hewie is badly injured, Fiona can stroke him comfortingly to get him back on his feet.
199	* PortraitPaintingPeephole: Fiona is spied on by [[spoiler:Lorenzo]] through a painting while she changes early on.
200	* PrecisionFStrike: Fiona swears exactly once, at the end of the game, if you inspect the corpse of the FinalBoss.
201	--> "This time... you really are dead. You bastard."
202	* PretentiousLatinMotto:
203	** All the endings are titled in Latin, and also the game over screen -- "Acta est Fabula" -- meaning "The drama is over" or "The drama has been acted out."
204	** The title of the game in Japan is "Demento."
205	* PsychopathicManchild: Subverted with Debilitas; he ''is'' a dangerous ManChild, but only because he is too naïve and mentally disabled to understand his idea of playing with Fiona is a bad thing.
206	* PuzzleBoss: Most, if not all, of the bosses are like this, seeing as how your only "weapons" are stun bombs and Hewie's attacks.
207	* RageAgainstTheReflection: The otherwise eerily collected (if murderous) Daniella goes berserk whenever she sees her own reflection. The player can use mirrors to distract and evade her when being chased, and [[spoiler:this is also how she is defeated]].
208	* RainbowSpeak: The game uses colored text to create hints when Fiona examines objects.
209	* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: [[spoiler:What Riccardo intends to do to Fiona. He succeeds in the worst ending, in which Fiona loses her mind and becomes a breeding slave.]]
210	* RedHerring: The Water Tower has two items that have no use anywhere in the game: the Silver Disk and the Bronze Statue, [[AllThereInTheManual and the official strategy guide mentions that they're placed to confuse players]]. This is most likely because Lorenzo's note tells you to find a special item to escape this area, and there's three items you can collect here (the Wooden Bridge is the right item).
211	* RelationshipValues: Fiona can praise or scold Hewie, and too much abuse can cause the dog to be totally apathetic toward Fiona. He may even attack her. On Hard difficulty, Hewie can be killed off completely, giving you a Game Over.
212	* SayMyName: ''The entire cast'' to Fiona. Hewie's comments on Hard Mode reveal that's probably what he's ''barking'' half the time.
213	* SceneryPorn: Belli Castle has some sweet interior design going on.
214	* SchmuckBait: [[spoiler: Daniella can be spoken to in a few key moments during her section of the game if she's cleaning, and she generally won't bother you at all when you do. At one point doing so even grants you an item that helps with solving a puzzle. But if you speak to her in a small room where she's tending to a fireplace, you'll trigger a cutscene where she brandishes the fire poker she was using, and will immediately start chasing you afterward with better stats, a new attack, a quicker movement speed, and a more dangerous weapon. All of these improvements stick with her for the remainder of that playthrough.]]
215	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: One of the endings in NewGamePlus is [[spoiler:getting the gardener's key and walking out the front door]]. It's [[CatharsisFactor extremely satisfying]] after beating the game once.
216	* ShoutOut:
217	** The tower in the middle of the lake is a direct shout out to the ''VideoGame/ClockTower'' series, to which this game was originally intended as a successor.
218	*** [[spoiler:Debilitas]] pruning the bushes with huge gardening shears in Ending A is probably a shout-out to Bobby Barrows, the Scissorman from the first game.
219	** The first half of [[spoiler:Daniella's death scene]] appears to be a rather twisted one to ''Film/EdwardScissorhands''.
220	* ShownTheirWork: Quite a bit of alchemy lore appears in this game, in addition to the myth about the golem (complete with "METH" making it crumble) and other things show that there was more than a passing interest in referring to it here.
221	* SoftGlass: Daniella smashes a window with her forehead pretty effortlessly; later on averted in a spectacularly over-the-top fashion when [[spoiler:she [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice gets impaled by a massive shard of glass]]]].
222	* SolveTheSoupCans: Why does a castle have a LightAndMirrorsPuzzle room, especially one used by mad scientists and perverted alchemists? No in-universe explanation; it's just there so the player will get a puzzle to solve.
223	* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: Dumb brute who doesn't really understand that he's hurting Fiona --> Crazy maniac trying to eviscerate Fiona to complete herself --> Evil but entirely lucid StalkerWithATestTube who wants to turn Fiona into an incubator --> EvilOldFolks --> [[spoiler:Rejuvenated alchemist trying to kill Fiona to permanently rejuvenate himself --> Horrifying flaming skeleton that can kill you in one hit]].
224	* SpiritualSuccessor: The game initially started development as a continuation of the ''VideoGame/ClockTower'' series, and even though it ended up becoming its own independent title, it still shares similar gameplay mechanics and Creator/DarioArgento influences with the series that inspired it.
225	* SplitPersonality: Daniella. One minute, she will be chasing Fiona like a crazed maniac; the next she will be diligently cleaning like an ordinary maid.
226	* SpyCam: [[spoiler:Fiona finds a film reel which reveals Lorenzo has been recording her journey through the castle with hidden cameras. There's even one inside ''the mummy'' on the sofa in the Old Mansion.]]
227	* StalkerWithATestTube: While it's true that Riccardo desperately wants to get between Fiona's legs, it's her [[spoiler:uterus]] that he wants, rather than her body. Raping her is simply a means to an end for him to [[spoiler:perpetuate his own existence]].
228	* {{Stripperific}}: Each of the following three unlockable costumes:
229	** "Illegal In Some States" is a black leather {{dominatrix}} outfit that comes with thigh high boots and a riding crop.
230	** "Texas Cowgirl" is actually a blue bikini worn with leather chaps, gloves, cowboy boots and a matching hat. So you still get to see plenty of skin, including her midriff, while wearing it.
231	** "Under the Scalpel" is earned simply by beating the game and is the most risque costume that she gets. It's short, skin-tight, has [[SexyBacklessOutfit a low-cut back]], shows plenty of leg, and leaves her barefoot. Guess which costume most [=YouTubers=] pick for their video walkthroughs?
232	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
233	** In an interesting, meta case of {{Genre Savvy}}, the game's claims of "Coast Clear" when an enemy leaves the room you're hiding in is {{Exactly What It Says On The Tin}} in that the enemy is no longer in the room, but that doesn't mean it's safe to leave your hiding spot as they could be just outside the current room or on their way back. It's only safe when the music returns to normal, though you could leave if you're intending on booking it to another spot opposite of where your pursuer went.
234	** Fiona isn't an alchemist, so as a result, she (and by extension you, the player) doesn't know what the alchemical medicines do upon their creation in the Alchemist's Room. It's only when she uses them on either herself or Hewie that she learns their effects.
235	* TearsOfBlood: [[spoiler:Daniella]] cries them before their boss fight.
236	* ThemeSongReveal: The deciphered lyrics of "Endless Zero" reveal Ayla's fear of the castle, a conversation between her and Ugo, her thirst for immortality and their fear of Fiona's future.
237	* TookALevelInBadass: Fiona is shown to be very [[DamselInDistress timid in almost every cutscene in the game]], generally has to rely on Hewie's help to fight off her adversaries, and enters Panic Mode very easily when under stress. After [[spoiler:Riccardo almost kills Hewie in the forest]], Fiona's confidence and courage starts to rise. It's even reflected in-game as she slowly overcomes her panic mechanic, to the point where she no longer panics [[spoiler:as she escapes Lorenzo for the last time]]. Her line when she inspects [[spoiler:Lorenzo's dead and charred body]] highlights just how much she has changed:
238	--> ''This time... you [[KilledOffForReal really are dead]]. [[spoiler:[[PrecisionFStrike You bastard.]]]]''
239	* UndressingTheUnconscious: Happens to Fiona twice. This is why she starts the game in nothing but a bedsheet, and when she is imprisoned in the Water Tower as well.
240	* ViewersAreGeniuses: A ''lot'' of this game will fly over your head if you aren't at least partially familiar with the mythos surrounding alchemy -- in particular, what Azoth is beyond some poorly-defined in-game MacGuffin the villains all seem to want; however, this could be argued to be intentional as Fiona’s confusion about what Azoth is and what the villains are talking about are likely to match the players confusion thus putting us more in Fiona’s shoes.
241	* VideoGameCaringPotential: Hewie serves as your main weapon rather than an escort that needs your constant protection, but you still need to [[RelationshipValues take good care of him]]. He can get hurt, and those whimpers ''will'' break your heart.
242	* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: On the other hand, beating Hewie, letting your stalkers beat Hewie, feeding him items that lower his stamina, and allowing his health to become critical are also entirely possible. It's even required to get the bad ending.
243	* ViolationOfCommonSense: One of your hiding places during the second portion of the game is a fully functioning iron maiden. Subverted in that [[spoiler:if Daniella finds you, she'll [[TheManyDeathsOfYou activate it]].]]
244	* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: It's not clear where the game takes place, but many people assume it to be somewhere in Italy due to some character names and the heavy use of Latin.
245	* WouldHitAGirl: Assuming that any of the male stalkers would take it easy on poor petite Fiona isn't a good idea. Also applies to Hewie, as he will ferociously bite Daniella and even attack Fiona if abused enough.

Context VideoGame / HauntingGround