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4[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/psychonauts_cover_7.png]]
5[[caption-width-right:320:[[TagLine A psychic odyssey through the minds of misfits, monsters, and madmen.]]]]
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7->''"You shall engage the enemy in his own mentality! You shall chase his dreams! You shall fight his demons! You shall live his '''nightmares'''. And those of you who fight well, you will find yourselves on the path to becoming international secret agents -- in other words... '''Psychonauts'''! The rest of you... will '''die'''!"''
8-->-- '''Coach Oleander''', [[MundaneMadeAwesome addressing a group of children around a campfire.]]
9
10''Psychonauts'' is a 2005 ActionAdventure game, and the debut title for Creator/DoubleFine Productions, headed by former Creator/LucasArts employee Creator/TimSchafer. It's the story of a young psychic prodigy named Razputin Aquato ("Raz" for short) who runs away from his home in the circus (an inversion of the usual [[TheRunaway run away to]] [[CircusBrat the circus trope]]) to sneak into Whispering Rock, a government training camp for child psychics like himself.
11
12Raz is quickly caught by the camp's leaders, but he's allowed to stay for a while until his psychic-hating dad will come to take him home again. During his one day of training, he discovers that something horrible is going on: someone is stealing the brains of his fellow campers, leaving them mindless zombies obsessed with ''teeeeeveeeee'' and hacky-sacking. As he tracks the brain-stealing scheme to the source, he hones his powers, and encounters a variety of [[EccentricTownsfolk eccentric]] and downright crazy characters. Raz finds himself forced to literally [[BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind get into their heads]] and fight his way through their memories and mental disorders in order to save the world.
13
14The platforming aspect of ''Psychonauts'' is often made of {{Bizarrchitecture}}, and some levels -- especially the notorious final one -- are NintendoHard. Luckily, DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: even if Raz loses all of his lives inside someone's mind, the items and events he has already unlocked won't have to be found again.
15
16The game is especially notable for its level of detail. Every line of dialogue in ''Psychonauts'' is voiced, and every single character has elaborate voiced reactions to virtually [[DevelopersForesight every item, ability or situation that Raz can show them]]. (This is even true for characters who aren't actually around when certain items or abilities are available: hacking the game reveals that the game data has scripted reactions for these things regardless.) Additionally, the majority of characters have their own separate plot lines and interactions, many optional cut scenes, and long, hidden conversations that can be overheard by Raz.
17
18Double Fine and Schafer had interest in making follow-ups to ''Psychonauts'' for a long time, and these started being realized over a decade after the original's release. ''VideoGame/Psychonauts2'' was announced at the 2015 Game Awards, and was released in 2021. Funding was partially provided by fan donations through [[https://www.fig.co/campaigns/psychonauts-2 Fig]], as well as Double Fine itself and Starbreeze Studios. In addition, a VR game called ''VideoGame/PsychonautsInTheRhombusOfRuin'' was released on February 21, 2017 for PSVR; a year later it was released for Steam and Oculus VR. The game ran into financial difficulties again, and Microsoft purchased the studio; Schafer stated that had Microsoft not purchase the studio, the game would have been reduced in scope.
19
20* ''VideoGame/PsychonautsInTheRhombusOfRuin'': Picks up immediately after the first game left off, concerning the kidnapping of Truman Zanotto (Grand Head of the Psychonauts, and Lili's father).
21* ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts 2}}'': Raz officially becomes a Psychonaut, but quickly realizes it isn't the perfect place he expected... not when [[TheMole a mole]] hiding within the organization is threatening to revive a long-dead psychic villain.
22
23----
24!!This game provides examples of:
25[[foldercontrol]]
26
27[[folder:A-C]]
28* AbandonedHospital: Thorney Towers Home for the Disturbed is an abandoned ''mental'' hospital. Its history is actually quite interesting if you're [[OverlyLongGag willing to hear the whole thing]].
29* AbilityDepletionPenalty: If you deplete either your Invisibility or Shield abilities then there is a slightly longer delay before they start to regenerate than if you had stopped just before.
30* AbominableAuditorium: Gloria Von Gouton's MentalWorld is "Gloria's Theater", a stage trying to put on a play about Gloria's life. However, the play is constantly being sabotaged by The Phantom, and endlessly heckled by Jasper Rolls, Gloria's inner Caustic Critic. Plus, there's the Manual Mood Override, a light that can switch the play between being upbeat and happy, and dark and dangerous.
31* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: It's a mental representation of deeply buried (and rather painful) memories of the place where the owner of that particular headspace found and lost the love of his life, includes one high school locker room to boot.
32* AbusiveParents:
33** Raz thinks there's a pretty solid chance his dad's endless training was an attempt to distract him from his budding psychic powers, if not actually kill him; and further, that his dad hated him for those exact same psychic powers, even though he had psychic powers himself. [[spoiler: The actual situation was ''much'' more complicated. Raz's father actually loves his son deeply, and the training was to teach him control so that his powers would be more effective, and to give him something to rely on aside from said powers. And he doesn't hate psychics in general; just the ones who cursed his family. A lot of the level progression is done through trapeze and tightropes so it seems that his dad's training actually helped him save the day several times over. That being said, Augustus' biggest failing when it came to his parenting was actually bothering to ''explain'' [[PoorCommunicationKills to Raz that he didn't hate him, and the purpose behind his training.]] It also didn't exactly help that in Raz' memory, Augustus ''did'' engage in some cruel behavior, like ripping up Raz' pamphlet.]]
34** This also appears to be the case with [[spoiler:The Butcher, who chopped up Oleander's pet rabbits and claimed they were only good for meat. However, given Razputin's history with his father and the fact that Oleander's image of The Butcher has been twisted over the years into a tremendous, ''cannibalistic'' madman (and Oleander's memory of him is the only information we get), it's ambiguous whether he was as bad as it seems.]]
35** Gloria's mother, a budding actress, [[spoiler:abandoned her daughter at an extremely harsh boarding school for years on end since she, quote, "[had] a career and a boyfriend to worry about."]] Granted, it is implied that said boyfriend actually manipulated her into making this decision, but that only makes her actions marginally better at best.
36** According to one of his comments on [[http://www.doublefine.com/campster/Elton.htm Elton's Campster page,]] it seems that Clem's father isn't that fond of him.
37-->''"No, I'm terrible at canoeing. My dad says I'm a total idiot when it comes to canoeing. And most other things. He said he'd rather ride a seal into a pool of sharks than ride in a canoe into a lake with me. Sometimes I wonder if he's right--if I am too stupid for this world."''
38* AcademyOfAdventure: Well, summer camp, anyway.
39* AcidTripDimension: Every MentalWorld, though some are more trippy than others.
40* ActionBomb: Personal Demons explode if they get close, damaging Raz. The Confusion Rats in the upper floors of Thorney Towers explode into Confusion gas, damaging ''and'' disorienting Raz.
41* ActuallyPrettyFunny:
42-->'''Kochamara''': I've got the brain of a little girl back in my lab that's strong enough to power a whole army of psycho-blaster death tanks!\
43'''Raz''': ''(starts laughing uncontrollably)''\
44'''Kochamara''': What?\
45'''Raz''': You've got the brain of a ''little girl''?\
46'''Kochamara''': I ''said'', "in my lab!"\
47'''Raz''': I think you've got the muscles of a little girl too!\
48'''Kochamara''': ''(groan)'' ...Good one.
49* AdultsAreUseless: Averted in exactly the sort of setting you'd expect it to be played straight. As noted below, most adults are actually {{Bunny Ears Lawyer}}s. Even though the adults do the ass-kicking later in the game, Sasha [[NotNowKiddo ignored Raz]] when he tried to [[spoiler: tell him about Oleander's psychic death tanks]] because he and the other teachers were in a hurry due to an emergency Psychonaut meeting...[[spoiler: which turned out to be a trap laid by Oleander to kidnap the teachers so that they wouldn't interfere with his plans.]]
50* AdvancingBossOfDoom: The lungfish will make her way towards Raz in auto-scrolling segments.
51* AdvancingWallOfDoom: A notoriously difficult one in the Meat Circus, as segments of the level have rising water that will kill Raz if it catches up with him.
52* AlienGeometries: The Milkman Conspiracy looks about as twisted and confusing as you'd expect the mind of a paranoid schizophrenic to look.
53* AllThereInTheManual: The supporting characters have expanded backstories and personalities on [[http://www.doublefine.com/campster/index.htm "Campster"]] and the [[http://www.doublefine.com/Psycho-pedia/ official wiki]].
54* AlmightyJanitor: Subverted by Ford Cruller; he plays the parts of all the menial tasks around camp (janitor, burger flipper, ranger, etc.), but he's actually [[spoiler:one of the most powerful and respected psychics in the world. The problem is, due to an accident in his past, he can only remember who he is when he's down in his lab. Everywhere else, he thinks he's just another average Joe.]]
55** The Milkman. [[ItMakesSenseInContext His milk is delicious]].
56* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: A lot of the characters have outright bizarre skin tones such as blue (Loboto, Bobby), green (Sasha, Phoebe) or even purple (Edgar, Benny). This is justified for the mental constructs like Napoleon Bonaparte and Dingo Inflagrante, but the aforementioned are all from the physical world. Even Raz himself has a rather unnatural yellowish look.
57* AmbiguousTimePeriod: The kids talk and act like relatively modern-day kids, but they make references to media and cultural phenomenon from all over the place. The fact that they're all psychic and can, therefore, see things in the future and past, only serves to make it ''more'' ambiguous. And if you thought the surprisingly-detailed timeline of Whispering Rock's history you can read in the parking lot will help you, trust us, [[WritersCannotDoMath it won't]].
58* AndIMustScream:
59** [[spoiler:The disembodied brains are still fully conscious, as shown in the pre-Meat Circus scene]]. Though if [[spoiler:Sasha and Milla]]'s dialogue is any indication, the stuff they're in kind of sedates you so you don't realize that.
60** Regardless of how [[spoiler:misguided it ends up being]], Raz's personal hell inside the Meat Circus is still undeniably horrifying: being forced to perform a nightmarishly painful and difficult task which ''will'' kill you if you fail, while [[spoiler:your own father]] mocks and berates you the entire way, trying to trip you up in the hopes that you will die.
61* AndThenISaid: Used when Raz brings the re-brained kids up to speed of what has been going on. For most of them you can easily figure out the context, but Misha's leaves you wondering what the hell they were just talking about:
62-->'''Raz:''' Good question. But I didn't taste it, so I can't be sure.
63* AndTheAdventureContinues: The game ends with Raz [[spoiler: being recruited by the Psychonauts, who have just received word that [[VideoGame/PsychonautsInTheRhombusOfRuin Truman Zanotto, the Grand Head of the Psychonauts, has been kidnapped.]]]]
64* AntiClimacticParent: Raz doesn't talk about his father that often, but when he does, [[AbusiveParents it's never pleasant]]. Raz even remarks somewhat offhandedly that his father may actually be housing plans to [[OffingTheOffspring get him killed]]. [[spoiler:In reality, his father is actually a very caring person, who would have gotten along much better with his son if it weren't for a [[PoorCommunicationKills severe communication barrier between them]].]]
65* AntiFrustrationFeatures:
66** Since the 2011 Platform/{{Steam}} patch, you no longer lose lives if [[spoiler:Olly gets caught during the EscortMission or if you drown during the rising water part of the Meat Circus]]. It's still possibly the hardest part in the game. This also appears to be the case in the Platform/XboxOne port.
67** If you had any unredeemed brains, cobwebs, etc. before the PointOfNoReturn, there is an NPC at that point who can redeem them all at once for you.
68** Speaking of the PointOfNoReturn, the game automatically creates a separate autosave just before you cross it, so that you can go back and get any missed collectables without having to restart the entire game.
69* ApocalypticLog: Literally; Whispering Rock has its history written out on the rings of a cut-down tree. While it's not this trope in the traditional sense, it still recounts the town's gradual descent into insanity due to the Psitanium deposit, ultimately leading to the place being shut down permanently and replaced with the camp.
70* ArcVillain: The mental worlds of the various Thorney Tower residents have their own antagonists and problems, generally unrelated to [[spoiler:Oleander]] and Loboto's plans.
71** Black Velvetopia has El Odio, who bothers Raz and Edgar frequently throughout the level, as well as plaguing Edgar's mind. [[spoiler:At least until the final stretch, where it's revealed El Odio is his pent up anger, and Dingo and Lampita take over after it becomes clear they're the main cause of his suffering.]]
72** While Crispin Whitehead played a part in Fred's mental state, Waterloo World's antagonist is the genetic memory of Napoleon Bonaparte, who's constantly playing against Fred in a game of Waterloo-O until he wins.
73** The Phantom/[[spoiler:Jasper Rolls]] in Gloria's Theater, who sabotages the play and causes particular grief for Bonita.
74* ArcWords: "Eggs" are a metaphor for brains in both ''1'' and ''2''.
75* ArmlessBiped: The knife throwers in the Meat Circus. They use their feet instead.
76* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: [[spoiler:Oleander's shortness led to him not being allowed in the Army. Or the Navy. Or the Air Force. Or cooking school.]]
77** Also in the Gloria's Theater level -- you're warned about messing with the [[MoodWhiplash mood lighting]], and the possible results -- utter chaos, etc. ending with "...or worse: ''{{Improv}}''."
78** In the Meat Circus level, [[spoiler: Raz's father, confronted with Raz's mental image of him, explains that he ''doesn't'' hate psychics or seeing his son happy]], and also that [[spoiler:he has more hair than that.]]
79* ArousedByTheirVoice: In the underground cart that works as a quick-travel device, you'll be greeted by a deliberately erotic computerized female voice that will ask him where he wants to go. If the player does not want to go anywhere, Raz will humorously answer that he just dropped by to listen to her voice.
80* ArtCourse: Black Velvetopia is a level set in the mind of OneTrackMindedArtist Edgar Teglee. The entire level is designed like a bright-neon black velvet painting of a Mexican town, with Raz's design refitted to accompany this.
81* ArtificialBrilliance: If you try to use your shield to block Kochamara's attacks (such as his Mighty Ram) prematurely, he'll hold off and wait for you to lower it before launching the attack as normal.
82* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: Played for laughs in Lungfishopolis, where the navy includes what would normally be in different branches of the military, such as tanks and airplanes.
83* AstralProjection: The Psycho-Portal projects one's mental image into the mind of another.
84* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMs5-6haCZ4 In Lungfishopolis, Raz becomes GOGGALOR!]] Lungfishopolis is a giant spoof of {{Kaiju}} films, right down to the bad English dubbing.
85** Also appears at some sizes in Waterloo World, although you can't destroy things.
86** [[spoiler: Building up enough psychic charge to create a giant astral projection of yourself is how you beat the FinalBoss.]]
87* AvoidTheDreadedGRating: Most of the game is actually pretty clean, just subversive and creepy, and/or dealing with extremely mature topics. A lot of its weirdness can't really be "rated against" anything due to the themes of the game. As such, it features a few cusses like "ass", as well as fair bit of blood (The Meat Circus is particuarly blood-curdling by early 2000's standards), as to bump the rating up so kids would be less tempted to play it.
88* BadBadActing: The actors in Gloria Von Gouten's mind deliver their lines loudly and over-enunciate every word.
89* {{Bathos}}: "The Milkman Conspiracy" level is loaded with this. Almost everyone you meet is a secret agent in some sort of PaperThinDisguise (actually, ''no'' disguise; they're simply holding different objects: stop signs for a "road crew worker," hedge trimmers for a gardening husband/father, etc.) and the things they say to maintain the facade are usually PlayedForLaughs. Every once in a while, however, you'll hear them spout a line that would be pretty pathetic, even devastating, in other circumstances. "Over time, my husband will desire me less, sexually," says the rolling pin-toting "housewife." "Why, God? Why?" says the "grieving widow." It all stays relatively light, given the amusing context, but the tragedy subtext is there and it's fairly difficult to miss.
90* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: Rather the point of the game.
91* BearsAreBadNews: On the outskirts of camp, Raz can find ''telekinetic'' bears, who won't hesitate to claw you up with telekinetic claws.
92* BedlamHouse: The Asylum Climb. Though it is an ''abandoned'' asylum for the most part and unlike most other BedlamHouse, the real dangers aren't the patients but the management.
93* BelligerentSexualTension: Between Raz and Lili in the beginning, sort of. They eventually warm up to each other, however.
94* BerserkButton: An actual button you receive early in the game. Show it to Elka Doom repeatedly.
95--> '''Raz:''' Hey look at this button I found on Nils' bunk. It looks like it came off a girl's dress!
96--> '''Elka:''' ''(loud gasp)'' ...[[BlatantLies I don't care]].
97--> '''Raz:''' Looks like it was pulled off by force!
98--> '''Elka:''' ''I don't care.''
99--> '''Raz:''' It's got little ''teeth marks'' on it...
100--> '''Elka:''' [[RuleOfThree RAZ, GET THAT THING OUT OF MY FACE BEFORE I SHOVE IT IN YOUR EYE SOCKET AND SEW IT TO YOUR BRAIN!]]
101* BigBad: [[spoiler: Coach Oleander is the story's true antagonist, not Doctor Loboto.]]
102* BigShutUp: Raz can say "Shut up!" "Shut up!" "Shut up!" to the cheerleaders urging him on to victory in the Punching Game in Basic Braining in the same rhythm as their cheers.
103* BindleStick: Raz is seen with one in a memory reel flashback, even though he already has a backpack. It's a visual cue to let you know he's a runaway at that point.
104* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The asylum receives a strange orientation as you approach the top, with the crooked construction. Psychic worlds (especially for the Asylum residents) also have unusual construction.
105* BlackBugRoom: Many of them. The most noteworthy example would probably be the one hidden in [[spoiler:Milla's mind]], as she's [[HiddenDepths probably the only character you]] ''[[HiddenDepths wouldn't]]'' [[HiddenDepths expect to have one]], and it's among the worst. WordOfGod is that this is how a ''healthy'' mind is meant to work, compartmentalizing and managing tragic experiences rather than letting them taint everything.
106** The Meat Circus is basically a Frankenstein mishmash of two different character's Black Bug Rooms. Needless to say, it's a pretty unpleasant place.
107* BlackComedy: All over, but Waterloo World most obviously.
108-->'''Peasant:''' Hurl my innocent bones into the cruel machine of war. I'm ready!
109* BlatantLies: Anything the G-Men say in the Milkman Conspiracy.
110* BoardingSchoolOfHorrors: Hagatha Home For Girls, a boarding school in Gloria's backstory. According to "Gloria's Cruel Training", the matriarch of the school whipped the children during recitals, film watching and the plays they performed.
111* BodyHorror: The Meat Circus. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin It's a circus made out of meat]], and yes, its just as macabre as it sounds.
112* BoringButPractical: The basic PSI blast tends to make quick work of enemies, has plenty of ammo, and the upgrades for it chain to other enemies, making it surprisingly good at crowd-clearing.
113* BossRush: Again, the Meat Circus. [[spoiler:First you fight Oleander's dad. Then you race Raz's nightmare dad. Then you have to fight Oleander's dad again, and his arms are on fire, and you have to dodge Raz's dad's flying flaming fireballs and use them to defeat the other dad. Then both dads merge into a monster dad. And then you finally win once Raz's real dad shows up!]]
114* BrainInAJar: Which you can collect and [[spoiler:return to their proper owners]]. There's even a brief moment in which you ''play'' as one of these, no jar included.
115* BrainTheft: There is a pepper-like compound simply referred to as "Super-Sneezing Powder" that can cause people to literally sneeze their brains out if inhaled. This is the primary tool Dr. Loboto uses to steal the brains off all of the PsychicChildren so that he can create Psychic Death-Tanks and conquer the world with them.
116* BrainWashed:
117** Fred Bonaparte was originally Thorney Towers' orderly, and probably the most sane person in the entire asylum. Then [[TheCorruptor Crispin Whytehead]] started playing Waterloo-O with him. Crispin played against Fred and won so much that his self doubts resulted in his self-loathing manifesting as the genetic memory of his great great great grandpa, Napoleon Bonaparte himself. This was all so Crispin could steal his position as orderly.
118** Another example of this trope can be found in [[ConspiracyTheorist Boyd Cooper]]. Boyd already had a few mental problems, namely [[PlayingWithFire pyromania]] and a lack of self control. However, his skill at [[spoiler:crafting explosives lead to Oleander implanting a Manchurian Agent called "The Milkman" into his mind.]] Now Boyd can't stop trying to figure out who and what The Milkman really is. [[spoiler:Ultimately, he gets fully brainwashed into becoming The Milkman after Raz [[NiceJobBreakingItHero frees him]], only becoming Boyd again once The Milkman's final delivery is finished.]]
119* BreadEggsMilkSquick: In the Milkman Conspiracy level, the agents you meet throughout attempt to disguise themselves as, among other things, road workers, widows, and ''assassins.''
120** There's also the Rainbow Squirts Pledge of Purpose:
121-->'''Rainbow Squirts''': To promote niceness. To make the world prettier. To share candy with everyone. [[spoiler: To obfuscate the true nature of the Milkman. To protect the Milkman at all costs. To destroy all who would harm the Milkman, or threaten to reveal his secret objective.]]
122* BreatherEpisode: Waterloo World. The puzzles are much simpler and more straightforward than those in the other inmates' minds, and it is the only non-tutorial mental world without a boss battle.
123* BrickJoke:
124** At the beginning of the Waterloo World level, the carpenter you need to recruit will not come out of his house because he is afraid of a burglar on his roof. Near the end of the level, a peasant you recruit wants to use the musket you give him to "rob that stupid carpenter", whose house he has been trying to break into for days.
125** When Raz first meets Ford Cruller in his sanctuary, he asks him if he has a jet hidden around the sanctuary somewhere. [[spoiler:In the final cutscene, with Ford being rendered incapable of teleporting everyone to the HQ, Oleander says they'd have to take the jet. Cue jet.]]
126** During The Milkman Conspiracy, one of the questions Raz gets asked, if caught by the G-Men, is "what is the purpose of the goggles?" Later on, [[spoiler:when the Den Mother claims she'll jab his eyes out, he proudly exclaims that preventing something like that that is the purpose of the goggles]].
127* BrokenLeverOfDoom: Sasha Nein's training stage only begins for real when Raz manages to break off the lever on the TrainingDummy-spawning machine, sending it into complete overdrive, so the two of them have to work together to get the literal horde of enemies under control.
128* BrutishBulls: El Odio, a creature who is seen tormenting the mental landscapes of an artist named Edgar Teglee (and, incidentally, [[CorridorCubbyholeRun the player]]), is a gigantic, neon-pink bull with a strangely human face and boots on his hooves who mindlessly rampages across Black Velvetopia's streets. He is also apparently completely invincible unless you face him in a bullfight. As it turns out, [[spoiler:[[TomatoSurprise the bull actually ''is'' Edgar]], and his constant rampaging represents the anger he refuses to let go of after a tragic series of events back in high school]]. Naturally, Raz has to help him.
129* BullfightBoss: Literally. You dodge the bull and impale it with banderillas once it stops. [[spoiler: Though when it turns out that the bull is actually the owner of the headspace the level takes place in, it becomes a ''[[InvertedTrope matador]]''-fight boss where you have to protect the bull. But you win by convincing the matador that he's actually a bull, and repeating the same tactics you already used, causing a DoubleSubversion.]]
130* BungledSuicide: Crystal and Clem tried cyanide, and later jumping off the roof of the lodge. Neither worked.
131* BunnyEarsLawyer: Practically every adult Psychonaut in the game does this to some degree. Sasha can't ''ask'' you to participate in his off-the-books advanced training, but he can give you everything you need to figure out where it's being done and join on your own accord. He also can't give you marksmanship training without a learner’s permit, but he can remind you that Agent Cruller can give them out even if he ''definitely wouldn't''.
132* TheButcher: [[spoiler:Oleander's father]], or at least, the version of him that we see [[spoiler:in his son's mind]].
133* ButHeSoundsHandsome: When you accuse [[spoiler:Jasper]] of being the Phantom:
134-->"WHAT? How dare you accuse me of being the rugged and romantic scoundrel that has thrilled and terrified audiences for years?"
135* ButThouMust: Parodied. Trying to tell Ford you're not ready [[spoiler: only results in him [[DopeSlap slapping Raz upside the head]] and saying: "How about now?"]]
136* BystanderSyndrome: When you save the kids, most of them have better things to do than help you save the world from a battalion of killer psychic death tanks [[spoiler: powered by the stolen brains of their fellow campmates]]. Like make out. Though at least five do try to do something that could be construed as help (one radios for help, but since she's calling aliens that's likely gonna be a bust and it turns out [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere she sees Earth is doomed and she's just trying to get a ride out anyways]]. Two others sabotage the coach's car, which, while useful as a backup plan, does nothing to help you right now. The last two volunteer to guard the cabins, which would be useful if not for the fact that all the others are spread around the camp and it doesn't address the killer psychic tanks that are going to be unleashed).
137* CallAHitPointASmeerp: Raz's HP is referred to as his Mental Health and his lives are Astral Projection Layers.
138* CallingYourAttacks: Parodied with [[{{Kaiju}} Kochamara]].
139** "Overly Intricate ...''Combination!''"
140** "Hard-to-Avoid ...''Area Attack!''"
141* CameraAbuse: Raz fires at the screen at the end of cutscenes after learning an offensive psychic power.
142* CameraLockOn: Raz can do this, and it's useful for aiming projectile attacks. It also allows him to strafe around enemies and side-jump to dodge.
143* CaninesGamblingInACardGame: After Razputin cures Edgar Teglee of his psychosis, Edgar creates his own painting of the anthropomorphic dogs that populate his mind playing a game of poker. Should you enter his mind after clearing it, you will find him playing that very same game with the dogs.
144--> '''Edgar''': Ah, you see, the poor dumb beasts have no thumbs, so I ask you... how are they holding their cards? ...It should be impossible, and yet somehow they go on... playing the game. In the end, Razputin, aren't we all just Art/{{dogs playing poker}}?
145* CastOfSnowflakes: Nearly every character, whether major or minor, has a unique character design that makes them unlikely to be mistaken for any other.
146* CharacterBlog: During the game's development, Friendster-parody profiles for all of the campers (besides Raz) were created to work out their personalities. They can be found and read [[https://assets.doublefine.com/archive/website/campster/index.htm here.]]
147* ChekhovsGun: Pretty much everything seen inside the Brain Tumbler. [[spoiler:The whole area from the bathtub onward foreshadows Thorney Towers Asylum. The bathtub itself has "Oblongata" written on the side, the name of the lake next to the camp, past it is a tower covered in thorns, and on the floor around the tower are figments shaped like bottles of milk, flowers, a Napoleon hat, and a purple bull. And then there's The World Shall Taste My Eggs!, a bizarre memory vault that explains itself very shortly after finding it]].
148** Also [[spoiler:the rabbits which can be seen in Coach Oleander's obstacle course. No matter how much you prod them, they won't run or hide from the pillbox and keep getting mowed down. Further, you are led to the Guns listed above by another rabbit.]]
149*** Use Clairvoyance on those same rabbits. [[spoiler:To them you look like a butcher.]]
150*** Not to mention [[spoiler:the meat plant in the obstacle course which Raz and Lili both mention they saw in their dreams (and the brain tumbler does indeed have meat scattered all over), in addition to figments shaped like butcher knives.]]
151** Lili's cold becomes plot-relevant later on as [[spoiler:it renders her immune to the sneezing powder and delays her de-braining operation.]]
152** Raz's armored mind comes back up during [[spoiler: Meat Circus when his dad struggles to break through to communicate with him. If it wasn't so protected, the entire level might not have happened. Of course, this might also have meant that Oleander would still be evil at the end.]]
153* ChildProdigy: Raz was able to master all the PsychicPowers, [[spoiler: cure four mentally ill asylum inmates, gather all the campers’ Brains and rebrain them, befriend a sea monster despite his GypsyCurse, rescue a girl before she became brainless, [[AdultsAreUseless rescued the teachers from the same fate]]]], facing very creepy images over the course of his adventure, and still remained calm. Over the course of one day. At age ten. If this kid isn't badass, then what is he?
154** Even before receiving any training, Raz has defenses fully-trained Psychonauts cannot penetrate, can DoubleJump, and perform acrobatics like nobody's business. The latter due to his father's TrainingFromHell.
155* ChildrenAreInnocent:
156** Mostly averted. There's twenty-one Elementary age kids attending Whispering Rock, and just about all of them, including Raz himself, have some understanding adult things like sex, drugs, and/or alcohol. Kids can be found making out all over the place (though we can assume that's as heated as it gets), and one boy casually mentions that his parents let him watch R-rated movies. Justified, however, as many of these kids grew up in less-than-ideal living conditions and several have moderate at best hold on their sanity, and the fact that they are all psychic grants them all the ability to, uh, ''poke around''. [[spoiler: Dogen has killed at least one person by detonating them with his mind, and the cheerleaders even try to commit suicide! These kids are seriously messed up.]]
157** That said, there are a number of played-straight examples. Most notably in the case of Raz, who [[spoiler:believes that [[FantasticRacism his father hates psychics]] and, consequently, [[AbusiveParents him]]. Upon entering the Meat Circus, the mental landscape that represents his own mind, we find Raz's personal perception of his father: a sadistic, CardCarryingVillain who is hellbent on making sure his son drowns. This isn't even close to the truth; [[DeconstructedTrope Raz just interpreted his father's actions incorrectly due to being a realistically impressionable ten-year-old]].]]
158* CircusBrat: In a subversion, Raz ran away ''from'' the circus. His family are travelling acrobats.
159* CircusOfFear: The Meat Circus, [[spoiler:which serves as the final level, a combination of Raz and Coach Oleander's formative traumas -- Raz's life in the circus, and Oleander's upbringing by a stern butcher.]] The combination of high-wires, trapezes, and flaming hoops with raw meat and severed bones sprouting like MeatMoss is rather [[BloodyBowelsOfHell hellish]] even without the distortions of the nightmare world.
160* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}:
161** A somewhat mild case with camper Chloe, who believes herself to be an alien from outer space and in contact with a deep space armada. She likes to wear a space helmet and spends most of her time tinkering with gadgets she thinks will be useful to her alien brethren, but is surprisingly lucid and grounded despite her obsession.
162** Dogen has a rather spacy affect and can seem a little slow, distracted by hearing the voices of woodland creatures. He also seems rather young for his age, at least if all the campers are within a year or two of each other -- breaking out crying when Raz first appears at the campfire reception, and again when he gets stuck in front of a minefield in Basic Braining. He also wears a tinfoil hat, but it wasn't his idea -- it was suggested as a way for him to avoid accidentally [[YourHeadASplode exploding anyone else's head]] again.
163* CobwebOfDisuse: Parts of people's minds which haven't been accessed in a long time are blocked by "mental cobwebs" which you need to [[CashGate buy a specific piece of equipment]] to clear. In later levels this is a prerequisite to finish the level.
164* CollectAThonPlatformer: The game is an exploration-heavy platformer with several tiers of [[PickupHierarchy collectibles]], all of which increase the player's rank, coming with added health and new PsychicPowers and thus offering plenty of reason to backtrack.
165* ComesGreatResponsibility: When Raz gets Pyrokinesis:
166-->'''Ford:''' You have to promise to only use your power of Pyrokinesis, only when it's really important, or [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential really, really entertaining.]]
167* TheComicallySerious:
168** Sasha, who can't be made to giggle with the Crow Feather item -- instead, he grumbles about germs.
169** Boyd's G-men subvert the trope by using a stilted monotone to describe activities they are obviously not doing. As with Sasha, they won't giggle with the Crow Feather. However, they display a paper-thin disguise combined with gross incompetence on how they use their items.
170* CompanyCameo: Double Fine's logo can be seen as a figment in the Meat Circus.
171* ConceptArtGallery: Sorting everyone's Emotional Baggage unlocks a "Primal Memories" reel where the player can observe the game's concept art.
172* ConspiracyTheorist: Boyd Cooper. His conspiracies are [[MadLibsDialogue quite entertaining to listen to]].
173* ConstructionCatcalls: Parodied with the G-Men who pretend to be road workers and say this to sell the illusion:
174-->''"Look at that woman's breasts; they're large."''
175* ContrivedCoincidence: PlayedForLaughs in the B-sequence of the climax. [[spoiler:Edgar wraps up a painting to demonstrate his [=OCD=]'s officially cured and rips his chain out of the art studio floor so he can leave - busting a gas pipe in the process. He checks to confirm that the gas is shut off and continues on his merry way... while Gloria spots a valve in the garden and turns the gas back on due to her mistaking it for a sprinkler. Cut back to the studio and Edgar announcing offscreen that he's just "spilled all [his] turpentine and acetone". ''Then'' cut to Fred kicking open a window at the front of the asylum and jumping out to say hello to the molotov-toting PyroManiac standing at the ready by the doors...]]
176* CorridorCubbyholeRun: Most of Black Velvetopia. Curse you, [[BrutishBulls El Odio]]!
177* CreepyMonotone: The G-Men in The Milkman Conspiracy, [[TheComicallySerious hilariously]].
178-->'''G-Man:''' I am a grieving widow. Why, God. Why.
179* CurseCutShort: When Raz insists that he can fight [[spoiler:Coach Oleander]]:
180-->'''Raz:''' Back home I had to clean up after the elephants, so trust me, I know how to take care of this ugly little pile of...[Milla puts Raz and Lili in a protective bubble and floats them away.]
181* CuteAndPsycho: Secretly dysfunctional male/female cheerleading duo, Clem and Crystal. [[spoiler: They are shown early on mixing poison, and when you restore her brains, Crystal tells you they had thrown themselves off the roof "because the poison didn't work!". Please remember, these kids are 10.]]
182[[/folder]]
183
184[[folder:D-F]]
185* DamselInDistress: One major plot point in the game is to save Raz's LoveInterest Lili. That said, Raz isn't doing it just to save Lili; she's imprisoned alongside Milla and Sasha, his adult counselors, and unlike them, and all the other students, ([[spoiler:and later Raz]]), Lili doesn't get debrained at all.
186* DeconstructorFleet: The game barely plays a single trope straight. Essentially its a parody of KidHero, AdultsAreUseless, InsaneEqualsViolent and pokes holes with several aspects of HollywoodPsych and SingleIssuePsychology which it parodies all the time.
187* DecoyBackstory: In "Black Velvetopia", Razputin and the player are shown via memory vaults that Edgar Teglee was a famous painter and husband to Lampita Pasionado. When the bullfighter Dingo Inflagrante commissioned Edgar to paint his picture, Lampita fell in love with him and left Edgar for him. The heartbreak drove Edgar to madness, and now he can't paint anything but bullfights. [[spoiler:Except that isn't how it happened. The real story is that Edgar was the captain of his High School's wrestling team, and his talents got them to the state semi-finals... where his then-girlfriend Lana left him for male cheerleader Dean. Edgar was crushed by his heartbreak, and he ended up losing his match.]]
188* DestructiveSavior: Raz may save the population of Lungfishopolis from being brainwashed, but he will probably destroy lots of the city and step on many lungfish along the way, both because smashing the buildings gives you health and ammo, and [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential because it's fun]].
189* DepravedDentist: Doctor Loboto. He became so obsessed with yanking out teeth, he wound up ''yanking out people's brains.''
190* {{Deuteragonist}}: Lili Zanotto, also Raz's love interest, is the only other camper doing anything to investigate the mystery.
191* DevelopersForesight:
192** Raz is restricted from leaving the bunkhouse area of camp and entering the rest of the camp's property until he finishes Basic Braining. This means he can't get to the Main Lodge to buy any Psi Cores until that's done. There's actually enough Psi Cards in the bunkhouse area to complete a Challenge Marker, and when you get nine cards, a message automatically pops up to tell you that you've collected nine cards and you should buy a Psi Core to take advantage of them. If you haven't completed Basic Braining by that point, a second message will follow immediately after saying "...after class, of course." This message has a picture of a yelling Coach Oleander to remind you of who you need to find to get Basic Braining done.
193** During Sasha Nein's training, he tells you to defeat 1000 [[{{Mooks}} censors]] in order to receive the Marksmanship Badge. To generate these Censors, there is a lever with output levels to monitor in what frequency they appear with a gauge indicating from "1" to "[[SchmuckBait SKULL]]". The game only progresses if you, being Raz, gets impatient and turns the switch to the "Skull" setting. If you go about killing 100 Censors without turning the switch up, [[ButThouMust the Censors stop spawning until you increase the level]] which eventually leads to you summoning the boss of the level.
194** After your mentors are suddenly kidnapped, you can still return into their minds - and they are there, too, but for ''some reason'' are nearly helpless. If you go there after freeing them but ''before'' saving Lili, which the player would normally do immediately afterwards with a single button press, they'll [[WhatTheHellPlayer be confused at what he's doing in there at a time like this]].
195** Not only do all the psychic powers in the game get different (and often hilarious) reactions from every NPC, almost every ''item'' gets similar reactions. For instance, at one point you need to rescue Sheegor's turtle, Mr. Pokeylope. If you were playing the game normally, you'd probably have him in your inventory for less than 30 seconds. Yet most of the cast has something to say about him. There's even an achievement on Platform/{{Steam}} for showing Mr. Pokeylope to all of the campers (save for Benny and Maloof).
196*** Another example is the various items you collect in the Milkman Conspiracy can be taken out and both Boyd and the Den Mother will have unique reactions to them. Not only are you never told to show them any of the items, you have otherwise no reason to in the Den Mother's case since it's in the middle of a boss fight.
197** Try to enter the mind of someone you're not supposed to enter, and there'll always be an explanation. Except for Sheegor (who is one of the sanest characters in the game) and Dogen, which is actually an even further case of DevelopersForesight as you're unable to stick it to his head since he's wearing his tinfoil PowerLimiter.
198** If you turn invisible and attempt to steal Gloria's trophy, you get a different cutscene than if you interacted with the trophy without using your invisibility power.
199** Normally during the fight against the mega-censor in Sasha's mind, Sasha would give you tips on how to defeat it. Get crushed by the Mega Censor's stamp enough times, and [[NonSequiturThud he eventually devolves into gibberish]] before looping back to the tips.
200** In "Waterloo World", Napoleon explains that all Fred has to do to win is storm Napoleon's stronghold. If you try doing it yourself, Napoleon gets annoyed and clarifies that you have to storm his stronghold with your knight.
201** The G-Men who are "baking a pie" occasionally say rhubarb is a controversial pie flavor. If you show other G-Men your rolling pin, they will either claim rhubarb is their favorite flavor, or the only flavor they dislike.
202** Characters have special lines for being tickled with the Crow Feather when their brains are stolen.
203** Vernon has a special line of dialogue if his brain is found before Franke's. You'd ''really'' have to go out of your way to do this, because her brain is at the start of Thorney Towers and his brain is found at the end.
204%%* DialogueTree:
205* DieChairDie: Among the things you can destroy: pillows, stereo speakers, fruit carts, buildings, stacks of papers, lava lamps, napkin dispensers, watermelons, televisions...
206** Special mention: Sasha Nein ''hates'' Tiffany lamps, and uses one to demonstrate how to use the Psi-Blast ability. This is somewhat explained after one of his memory vaults shows a Tiffany lamp on a table next to his mother's deathbed, along with WordOfGod stating that he worked in a factory that produced Tiffany lamps before he joined the Psychonauts.
207--->'''Sasha''': ''(covering his eyes and momentarily looking away)'' So... tacky! ...Can't look directly...at it! But I control those feelings, focus them, and... release! ''(lamp shatters)'' And the world is a better place.
208** There's also the soldier whose father was [[DroppedABridgeOnHim killed by a bridge.]]
209* DirectionallySolidPlatforms: Trampolines act like this in a few places.
210* DirtyMindReading: In one of Sasha's memory reels, he was reading his father's mind in order to find nice memories of his mother, and ended up finding... [[PrimalScene more about her than he wanted to know]].
211** In a more G-rated example, early on Raz is talking to Lili about the Psychonauts, and mentally she states she wish he'd just shut up and kiss her. Unfortunately for her, she didn't realize that mind reading was one of the abilities Raz has, and runs off in embarrassment when she realizes it. [[spoiler:At the end of the game, she thinks the same thing, fully aware this time that he can read her mind.]]
212* DisasterDominoes: The asylum's destruction is caused by a number of individual factors all coming together. [[spoiler: Edgar pulls free his chain which tears open the floor breaks a gas pipe. Fortunately, the gas is off... until Gloria (in her dazed state) turns the main gas valve, thinking it would provide water for flowers. Edgar then spills all his turpentine and acetone. Then, when convincing Boyd to leave with the other inmates, Fred happens to use the phrase "blow this popsicle stand", which triggers Boyd to throw his molotov cocktail and ignite the gas leak.]]
213* DontExplainTheJoke
214--> '''Raz''': Hey, Bobby. Someone's stealing kids' brains!
215--> '''Bobby''': Well in that case, you've got nothing to worry about! Ah-ha-ha-ha!
216--> '''Raz''': ...Good one.
217--> '''Bobby''' BECAUSE YOU GOT NO BRAINS!
218--> '''Raz''': ''(sighs in frustration)''
219* DowsingDevice: The Dowsing Rod. A mere 50 arrowheads, it lets you find deep arrowhead caches worth dozens of arrowheads. It's the only practical way to get the 800 arrowhead Cobweb Duster, which is required to progress.
220* {{Dissimile}}: "We've fought monsters like you before, Goggalor! Only much smaller!"
221* {{Dreamville}}: "The Milkman Conspiracy." Accessed when Raz enters the mind of Boyd Cooper, it's a quirky, chaotic mimicry of a 1950s-style suburb. Featuring the floating roads that corkscrew upside-down and eerily-empty buildings, it's infested with poorly-disguised G-Men impersonating the residents, suspicious-looking girl scouts roaming the streets, and omnipresent spy cameras (hidden everywhere from trash cans and pink flamingo ornaments). In other words, Boyd's paranoid nightmare made manifest as a MentalWorld.
222* DrillSergeantNasty: Coach Oleander.
223* DrivenToSuicide: Crystal and Clem, who attempts to drink poison after you've talked to them for the first time, behind your back. This is extra sad, when taking into account that they're supposed to be the camp's pepping cheerleaders...
224** Also, [[spoiler: Gloria's mother, in response to her daughter's success.]]
225** Reading the history of the camp reveals that the founder of the insane asylum did this by throwing himself off the top of the asylum's tower.
226* DyingToWakeUp: One of the facts established in [[DrillSergeantNasty Coach Oleander]]'s [[JustifiedTutorial Basic Braining]] is that being killed while [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind exploring someone's mind]] will only result in you getting kicked back to reality, a point revealed when [[SpeaksFluentAnimal Elton]] gets himself blown up within seconds of starting the course. For good measure, tokens exist in the various dreams that can replenish or even strengthen Raz's astral projection - in other words, extra lives for Raz.
227* DysfunctionJunction: Paying enough attention to throw away conversations and memory vaults will make it clear that most of these people are either ''really'' messed up or bearing up under horrible past tragedies.
228* {{Eagleland}}: The Milkman Conspiracy. On the outside, it looks like a typical Flavor 1 1950s suburb...Though it's incredibly twisted. It's immediately apparent it's under an obvious yet incredibly creepy BigBrotherIsWatching scenario, with government agents dressed in [[ConspicuousTrenchcoat trench coats and fedoras]] poorly attempting to imitate normal people, trashcans and fire hydrants staring at you, mailboxes walking around, and unusual girl scouts.
229* EasilyForgiven: [[spoiler: Coach Oleander, despite his attempt of world domination.]]
230* EasterEgg: The original protagonist, D'Artagnan, who was replaced with Raz [[strike:for being ''really hard'' to render]] because his hat was ''too awesome'' for the engine to render, shows up briefly in the ending. Briefly, as in a one-second appearance. [[spoiler: For those who can't find him - at the beginning of the final cutscene, peeking from the outhouse, as Raz is running after Lili.]]
231* EccentricTownsfolk: Most of the children have some form of insanity.
232* TheElectricSlide: Raz does it at one point.
233* EleventhHourSuperpower: For the final, two-headed boss, [[spoiler:Raz's dad lends Raz his psychic powers in order to protect his mind, which in-game translates to Raz projecting a giant body of psychic energy]].
234* EmptyEyes: [[spoiler: When all the campers are debrained.]]
235* EntertaininglyWrong: When Raz tries using levitation on water in Milla's mind, the Hand of Galochio tries to grab him. When Raz refuses to talk about it, Milla thinks it might be a bedwetting problem.
236* EntertainmentAboveTheirAge: Most of the campers at Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp (who are all children) list PG-13 or R movies as their favorites on their [[https://assets.doublefine.com/archive/website/campster/index.htm Campster profiles]]. Some of them, like [[KidAnova Nils]], even like NC-17 rated movies.
237* EpiphanyTherapy: Edgar, Fred, Gloria and [[spoiler:Coach Oleander]] all have their own struggles and personal demons that they've been dealing with for (presumably) a long time. When Raz comes in and defeats the personifications of their issues, they're all finally able to move on with their lives (and in [[spoiler:Oleander's case, reform from evil]]).
238* EscortMission: A brief optional one early in the game, plus the final platforming section.
239* EverybodyLaughsEnding: Everyone laughs at the end of the bonus scene you get for HundredPercentCompletion.
240* EveryoneCanSeeIt: A lot of the characters in the game could see something going on between Raz and Lili.
241* ExternalCombustion: If you return their brains, Mikhail and Maloof offer to help you deal with Coach Oleander by wiring up his car with a bomb. On the one hand, it's nice that they're one of the few campers who actually do anything to help you especially if all else fails. On the other, it doesn't solve the problem right now.
242* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The entirety of events that play out in the game take place over a single day and night.
243* EvilHand: Whenever Raz gets close to deep water, a supernatural hand called the Hand of Galochio tries to submerge him.
244** The cardboard waves in Gloria's Theatre can also produce a cardboard hand to pull down the player.
245* FallingIntoHisArms: In one of Milla's memory reels, Sasha catches Milla in this fashion after they escape from an exploding building. They both look [[ShipTease quite happily flustered.]]
246* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: Yeah, there's a reason this game is rated T...
247** How does ''falling into a meat grinder'' sound? Yeah, [[GoryDiscretionShot you can't see it]], but you can definitely [[SickeningCrunch hear it]].
248** If Raz steps on any of the citizens of Lungfishopolis, they become a bloody little mess. [[RefugeInAudacity Which he can wipe off his shoes like gum as an idle animation]].
249** Milla's backstory involves [[spoiler:''a full orphanage of children being burned alive'']].
250** The first, out of many, BlackComedy jokes in the game involves Dogen ''blowing a group of squirrels to pieces'' with his psychic powers. There's no blood or anything, but there's still big meaty chunks.
251* FantasticRacism: It's heavily implied, both with Coach Oleander's opening monologue and Raz's fear that his father wants to kill him, that prejudice against psychics is all too common.
252* FateWorseThanDeath: The whole brain-sneezing thing just can't be pleasant.
253* FisherKingdom: When Raz goes into Edgar Teglee's mind -- [[ArtCourse Black Velvetopia]] -- his clothes take on characteristics that match the world. There are orange accents on his clothes, his lenses change from red to pink and his whole body looks like he's under a black-light.
254* FissionMailed: When you attempt to pick up the book during the Milkman Conspiracy, you are immediately arrested and taken to interrogation. The exact same thing happens when you would attempt to cross a restricted area without the correct prop...the player may think they made a mistake, but it's actually needed to proceed.
255* FloatingLimbs:
256** The dancers in Milla's Dance Party have limbs, but they taper off before connecting to the body.
257** Jasper Rolls' head also detaches from the body, but it's usually in a position where it seems attached.
258* FluffyTheTerrible: A horrific, mutated lake monster -- with a deep, thoughtful voice -- named [[spoiler:Linda]]. Granted, it wasn't born as a monster.
259* {{Foil}}: Edgar Teglee and Gloria Von Gouten, two of the residents at Thorny Towers, serve as foils to each other. Edgar's mind is visually dramatic and dark, being styled after a black velvet painting, and he seems to be haunted by demons that manifest in the form of a bull that keeps him from moving forward. However, it turns out his entire psychosis came from [[spoiler:not being able to get over being dumped by his cheerleader girlfriend in high school - even Raz seems surprised that this has weighed him down for all these years.]] Gloria Von Gouten, on the other hand, has a mind that is rather comical in tone, where we get to see various vignettes acted out (rather poorly) on a mental stage that vary between disgustingly sweet and comically dark depending on the mood that you set for the scene. [[spoiler:However, she has one of the darker backstories in the game - she was abandoned by her famous mother at a young age at an abusive boarding school for the arts, before eventually becoming a star herself and overtaking her mother in fame until she had a nervous breakdown when her mother killed herself out of jealousy.]]
260* FollowTheWhiteRabbit: A (mindscape-generated) rabbit acts as something of a guide for Razputin in the first tutorial, leads him to an important clue, and also eventually becomes a central element in an Escort Mission.
261* {{Foreshadowing}}:
262** In the opening cutscene, [[spoiler:when Raz is quoting the Whispering Rock pamphlet, the camera cuts to Oleander staring in awe - then mouthing along - when he reaches the words "your father looks at you with shame in his eyes."]]
263** Also in the opening cutscene, [[spoiler:Oleander says to not worry about the rumours of the lake monster, and to feel free to walk around alone during night, in the perfectly safe camp.]]
264** [[RuleOfThree Also in the opening cutscene,]] Oleander tries to read Raz's mind and is astonished it's "armored like a tank!" He then mentions how he has big plans for Raz's mind. [[spoiler:That's not some turn of phrase. He intended to use Raz's brain to pilot a psychic death tank.]]
265** And when Raz introduces himself [[spoiler: Lili's knees visibly weaken, showing that she started crushing on him from the very beginning.]]
266** [[spoiler:During Basic Braining inside Coach Oleander's mind there are meat-cleavers amongst the imagination figments, which stands out a bit amongst the otherwise military themed figments. Not to mention the bunnies under assault by the turret, or the meat plant Lili calls attention to.]]
267*** [[spoiler: One of Elton's very first observations when seeing the beginning of the Basic Braining course is to comment that it looks like a dentist's office. As it turns out, Oleander is in fact preparing kids to be sent to Doctor Loboto, a MadScientist dentist that tries to apply his knowledge to brain surgery.]]
268** One example that's PlayedForLaughs in Basic Braining is how Oleander's Memory Vault makes him out to be an army man that's much taller than he actually is. [[spoiler:The reality is that he was rejected from all branches of the military, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking including their cooking service just because he was too short.]]]]
269** [[spoiler:Then you have Oleander talking in his sleep after Basic Braining; he mentions "eggs" (brains) and seems to be talking to the "Easter bunny" (Linda), telling it to be careful with the eggs under the water (Lake Oblongata), give them to "you know who" (Doctor Loboto) and put them in their "holders" (the tanks). Then they'll all see. Who are you callin' short?]]
270*** Likewise, listening in on Oleander's sleep-talking allows you to hear begging his papa not to do something, and then crying out for "Mr. Bunny". [[spoiler:Given the final level's revelations, Oleander was likely having a nightmare, begging his father not to kill his childhood pet rabbit.]]
271** The collectible [[PickupHierarchy figments]], when they aren't thematic or seem out of place, often serve as obscure hints about a given mind's past traumas or current issues before they're fully explored.
272** When inside what is apparently Raz's mind through the brain tumbler experiment, [[spoiler:after Dogen's brain gets stolen, Raz has to fight a tank powered by said brain. The boss theme has a small segment that is taken straight from the theme in Oleander's brain. Indeed, Oleander is ultimately the one responsible for the plot to steal children's brains to power psychic tanks.]]
273** Elton talks to the fish about a ghost town and a giant lake monster with glowing eyes and a prehensile lure.
274** Boyd's ramblings include him mentioning "that freaky hunchback girl" and "that fat kid with the bunny", foreshadowing two characters: [[ReluctantMadScientist Sheegor]] and [[spoiler:Lil Oly.]]
275** [[spoiler:The Meat Circus has Raz get haunted by a ghost-like figure with an equally eerie voice. It would be reasonable to believe that it represents Raz's father, but he still sees it after encountering Evil Augustus. Raz eventually discovers that the figure is actually the real Augustus trying to project himself into Raz's psyche.]]
276** The Hand of Galochio attacks Raz when he's on a ''wooden representation of water''. [[spoiler:This is a clue that there is no curse to die in water, and just a mental quirk, as revealed in ''2''.]]
277* ForgotAboutTheMindReader:
278** Raz overhears Lili's thoughts.
279** Played with, since [[spoiler:the last time, she intended for him to hear them.]]
280* FormerChildStar: Gloria von Gouten.
281* FourFingeredHands: Everyone except Raz and his father.
282* FreudianTrio: Literal example in Gloria's Theater. Becky is Gloria's superego, desperately trying to maintain order and control over Bonita and the rest of the production. The Phantom aka [[spoiler:Jasper]] is her id, constantly trying to derail her. And Bonita Soleil is her ego, the most balanced one.
283* FriendToAllChildren: Milla treats all the campers like they're her own, to the point where using Clairvoyance on her shows that she sees Raz as a little baby. [[spoiler:This becomes a lot more tragic once you find out about her backstory]].
284* FunnyBackgroundEvent: In the final cutscene, there's a shot of Nils picking his nose. To the side, Mikhail can be seen staring at him while he does so.
285[[/folder]]
286
287[[folder:G-I]]
288* GambitRoulette: Spoofed. Upon returning to Sasha's mind, Raz is told by Sasha that the "censor overload" incident was all an elaborate training course, knowing that Raz would push the censor deployment rate to maximum against Sasha's advice. Raz, of course, asks if the giant mutant censor that handed Sasha his ass on a platter was all part of the course, too. Sasha is not amused (because it wasn't).
289-->'''Sasha''': Okay, ''that'' part got a little bit out of hand...
290* GenderReveal: Bonita Soleil. The viewer can determine the gender by triggering reactionary speech (smashing objects, etc), but Raz is still unsettled during conversation for assuming the wrong gender. Although Bonita still might be a woman that sounds like a really gruff man, either way the voice is a reveal in itself.
291** [[spoiler:Linda, the lake monster is actually female.]]
292* GentleGiant: Linda is a giant fish monster [[spoiler: but she's actually quite nice]].
293* GermanicDepressives: Chronically ComicallySerious Sasha.
294* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: The Nightmare boss fights in "The Milkman Conspiracy" come entirely out of nowhere and have no explanation for their existence. [[spoiler:This is mainly because they're the remnants of a cut sub-plot featuring Milla's unresolved issues involving the orphans she used to care for.]]
295* GimmickLevel: Almost all of them.
296%%GirlInTheTower
297* GirlScoutsAreEvil: The Rainbow Squirts from "The Milkman Conspiracy", [[spoiler:who are guarding the Milkman so he can bomb the asylum when the time comes]].
298* GoAmongMadPeople: When in the asylum.
299* GoKartingWithBowser: Among the level images shown in the game's credits, you have amusing stuff like Raz and Sasha posing with the latter's Censors and the whole cast of Milkman Conspiracy (including both Boyd and [[spoiler:the Milkman]] somehow) [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/psychonauts/images/9/9e/Milkman_Conspiracy_Credits.png/revision/latest?cb=20190617052327 having a fun barbeque]] together.
300* GogglesDoNothing: Raz wears a pair of goggles on his head, and only puts them over his eyes when he enters a person's mind. There's no readily apparent reason for having them at all, though there is a brief mention of them being used as a method of protecting his eyes from rabid conspiracy theorists in the manual.
301** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in the Milkman Conspiracy level, when Raz is captured and interrogated by the Men in Black, one of the things they ask him is "''What is the purpose of the goggles?''". Later, the boss of the level screams "'''I'll pluck out your eyes!'''" and Raz's [[{{Subversion}} response]] is "Ha! You can't! ''That'' is the purpose of the goggles!". So the boss shuts off the lights.
302* GoodAllAlong: [[spoiler:The agents in The Milkman Conspiracy.]] They may get in your way, but they are [[spoiler:searching for the Milkman, who's actually an implanted - and very dangerous - alternate personality]]. A late hint is that [[spoiler:they're siding with the Censors, who are similarly benign entities - to the host mind, at least]].
303* GottaCatchEmAll: Figments, PSI Cards and Challenge Markers (and as a subset of that, Mental Cobwebs), Scavenger Hunt Items, Emotional Baggage, Memory Vaults and [[spoiler:campers' brains]] are all tracked, and the first four categories are factored into your PSI Cadet Ranking. If you ''really'' want to go all out, there's also the ammo/extra life capacity upgrades.
304* GravityScrew:
305** Sasha's stage features planetary gravity.
306** Boyd's stage features a vaguely-enforced "fall towards the ground" gravity system, which will probably kill you more than anything else in the level.
307** There's even a bit during a few select parts of the tutorial level. Specifically, after you complete the obstacle course with taking cover and the machine gun, what looks like a drop when you jump into the nest instead becomes a hallway...
308* GreenRocks: Psitanium, a psychoreactive mineral that Raz can use as currency [[spoiler: and also helps Ford regain his sanity]].
309* GrindBoots: Raz can grind on ''anything''. Even wooden railings and telephone wires.
310* GuideDangIt: Certain sections can be trying. Thankfully using the summoning bacon can provide some helpful advice.
311* HailfirePeaks: The final level is [[spoiler:a haphazard mish-mash of Raz and Oleander's psyches.]] The Meat Circus is a CircusOfFear where nearly everything is constructed out of flesh and bone.
312* HairRaisingHare: The Meat Circus contains hideous, mutilated bunnies who [[spoiler:attempt to target Lil Oly during the escort mission section of the level.]]
313* HarshWordImpact: [[spoiler:Jasper uses this as a weapon. He fires criticism projectiles and these can actually damage Raz.]]
314* HartmanHips: Milla Vodello - exaggerated because of the thin torso and neck.
315* HearingVoices: While not in the insane manner, in the last level there are ghostly voices repeating your name now and then. [[spoiler:It's Raz's father trying to get him to allow him into his mind.]]
316* HeartContainer: [[spoiler:The brains found in the later part of the game.]]
317* HehHehYouSaidX:
318-->'''Kochamara''': I've got the brain of a little girl back in my lab that's strong enough to power a whole army of psycho-blaster death tanks!\
319'''Raz''': ''(starts laughing uncontrollably)''\
320'''Kochamara''': What?\
321'''Raz''': You've got the brain of a ''little girl''?\
322'''Kochamara''': I ''said'', "in my lab!"\
323'''Raz''': I think you've got the muscles of a little girl too!\
324'''Kochamara''': ''(groan)'' ...[[ActuallyPrettyFunny Good one]].
325* HintSystem: Summoning Ford with the bacon allows him to give specific advice on the current situation or general advice about foes you've encountered previously.
326* HistoricalInJoke: Razputin is a psychic who's cursed to die in water. In real life, [[UsefulNotes/RasputinTheMadMonk Grigori Rasputin]] was an adviser to the Russian royal family who claimed to be psychic and [[DatedHistory supposedly]] died by drowning. Coincidence?
327** Waterloo World is almost entirely built out of this trope.
328* HiddenDepths: Pretty much every character whose minds you jump into.
329* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
330** [[spoiler:Oleander's the one who led Raz to the camp in the first place, through his pamphlets. If he hadn't done so, his plan would have gone off without a hitch.]] That said, it ended up better for him in the end...
331** Double hoist: [[spoiler:He only let Raz stay to begin with because he was so impressed by Raz' natural psychic prowess that he just ''had'' to use it in the plan...that it eventually ended up foiling]].
332*** ''Triple hoist:'' [[spoiler: He ends up getting a dose of the sneezing drug he'd been using to extract the campers' brains, and ends up sneezing his own brain out... [[DoubleSubversion and it went into the Psychic Tank.]]]]
333** Also, Dingo Inflagrante's defeat is contingent on the confusion grenades that he earlier gave Raz, and he's damaged by the spears that he intends to use on El Odio.
334* HookHand: Dr. Loboto. Although in his case, it's more of a 'Peppermill-with-Talons' hand.
335* HotBlooded: A lot of the characters in Waterloo World. You know your army is going strong when a ''bucket of snails'' are proud to fight and die for your cause.
336* HouseWife: One of the many [[PaperThinDisguise Paper Thin Disguises]] the G-Men can wear.
337-->"Over the last several years I have relied on prescription medication to make it through my day."
338* HundredPercentCompletion: ''Damn'' do you have to work for it.
339** Over100PercentCompletion: The "Math is Hard" achievement is so named because you can get to PSI Cadet ranking of 10''1'' by beating every round of the punching game in Basic Braining.
340* IdleAnimation: They vary from level to level, and can involve everything from bowing to rolling out invisible pie crusts to dancing enthusiastically. And they occasionally cause Raz to walk on air.
341* TheIgor: [[PunnyName Sheegor]], a female and obviously TheWoobie during her brief appearance.
342* IHaveNoSon: Outright stated by [[spoiler:Raz's mental image of his father]].
343* IShallTauntYou: That little bizarre dance and humming by Bobby Zilch and Raz. According to Schafer, it was based on something his brother did.
344* IllKillYou: Napoleon's soldier.
345* ImAHumanitarian: The Butcher.
346-->'''Lil' Oly''': He says little bunnies are good for nothing... nothing but ''food''!
347-->'''The Butcher''': [[OhCrap Here, little bunnies...]]
348* InCaseOfBossFightBreakGlass: The [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin brain-powered psychic tank]] is defeated by [[MindOverMatter flinging chunks of concrete]] at the glass dome [[JustifiedTrope shielding the final boss's brain]].
349* IncurableCoughOfDeath: Inverted: The fact that Lili had a head cold was the only thing between her and [[spoiler: Doctor Loboto's magical brain-sneezing powder]].
350* IndianBurialGround: Subverted:
351-->'''Franke:''' The camp is built on an Indian Burial Ground and -\
352'''Raz:''' Oh my gosh! Indians buried their dead here?!\
353'''Franke:''' Ewwww! I hope not. No, stupid, they buried their arrowheads here.
354* InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals: Dr. Loboto and Bobby Zilch. Both have tall and gangly physiques, green-blue skin, heterochromia (one red eye, one green), and high-pitched voices prone to lisping. The boy's huge afro is even shaped like the dentist's shower cap, but the two characters are never seen interacting, nor are said to be relatives. [[spoiler:In ''Psychonauts 2'', however, Loboto claims he accidentally left his kid at Whispering Rock in all the excitement...]]
355* InOneEarOutTheOther: Once Dogen [[spoiler:loses his brain]].
356* InsaneEqualsViolent:
357** Played straight with [[spoiler:Oleander, who wants to conquer the world, no matter what it costs. He gets better.]]
358** Played with by Edgar and Gloria. They both have tendencies to fly into rages unprovoked, but this is because their mental disorders are untreated and they've never received help to learn how to control them. Edgar only takes his rage out on his art, and the worst thing Gloria does to Raz is briefly chase him away from her garden.
359* InstantRoast: Killing various critters (birds, squirrels, etc.) with [[PlayingWithFire Pyrokinesis]] turns them into miniature roasts which restore health.
360* InterfaceScrew: When hit with a confusion grenades (or similar effect), the screen is flipped horizontally. It also randomizes your psi powers, even switching to those you didn't have selected.
361* InterfaceSpoiler: If you're good enough at raising your ranks, you will get informed of new powers before you get them. It's even possible to gain an upgrade for the final power without actually having it.
362%%* InUniverseGameClock:
363* {{Invisibility}}: One of the available PsychicPowers.
364** Milka, one of the campers, is really skilled at this power. She once stayed invisible three days straight.
365* InvulnerableCivilians: You can attempt to set fire to your fellow camp mates and the worst that will happen is that they complain about it. It's likely that their own psychic powers suppress your pyrokinesis.
366* IronicName: [[AllThereInTheManual Raz's last name is Aquato]], but [[SuperDrowningSkills his family doesn't take to water too well]].
367* IronicNickname: Benny "The Nose." [[DontExplainTheJoke Have you seen the size of his ears?]]
368* {{Irony}}: In Gloria's mindscape, [[spoiler: one would ''[[RedHerring think]]'' Jasper (the [[CausticCritic critic]]) would be the Super Ego for holding Gloria back, while Bonita (the diva) would be the Id for delaying the show. But in the grand scheme of things, Jasper's the Id for trying to stir up drama for the sake of getting attention. Whereas Bonita represents Gloria's self-confidence and regulates her insecurity, making her the ''true'' embodiment of Super Ego.]]
369* ItMakesSenseInContext: ''Constantly.''
370* ItsUpToYou: Used to the point of deliberate absurdity: of the ''nineteen'' campers [[spoiler: whose brains you recover]], ''none'' of them are willing to directly help you save the world. Most or all are perfectly capable of helping, they just have better things to do. Like getting pedicures or making out. Aversions:
371** Maloof and Mikhail sabotage [[spoiler: the coach]]'s car. However, it's really only useful in case you fail.
372** Chloe tries to help by using the coach's radio in an attempt to contact aliens. However, if you talk to her again, you find out that [[DoubleSubversion she thinks that Earth is doomed and she's just looking for a ride out]].
373** Chops and J.T. patrol the cabins of the campers. Considering that there are [[BearsAreBadNews telekinetic bears]] and [[IncendiaryExponent fire-starting]] mountain lions, and that the camp counselors who would be keeping them away are all unavailable, that sentiment is nice, even if it wouldn't matter if the world is conquered.
374* IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure: Dr. Loboto keeps Sheegor under his command by threatening to make soup out of her pet turtle.
375[[/folder]]
376
377[[folder:J-L]]
378* JokeItem: The crow feather, which can be used to tickle nearly everyone that can be interacted with (except Sasha, Chloe and Boyd). Using clairvoyance on it helps to solve a puzzle, but it can be solved with luck. Clairvoyance can also be used on it to find out where items for a couple of the GottaCatchEmAll quests are, provided that those items are outside and that Raz is standing within mind-range of a crow.
379* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: The basic premise of the game.
380* JustAStupidAccent: Used deliberately in Waterloo World. Napoleon and his toy soldiers have archetypical French accents. Fred Bonaparte's troops all have modern American accents, since Fred is an American, despite the fact that the "game" they're in takes place in a setting very loosely based on Napoleonic-era Europe. Even the Knight, who specifically identifies himself as a Frenchman, only speaks in something like an upper-class New England accent.
381* JustifiedExtraLives: You're not "dying", you're just getting kicked out of the person's mind. That said, [[FridgeLogic this explanation does raise the question of what happens when you die in the overworld]]...
382* JustifiedTutorial: Basic Braining.
383* KickTheSonOfABitch: In Fred Bonaparte's mental landscape, while the first two recruited peasants lament their fates and wax philosophical about the cruelties of war, the third is a jerk that fully admits he plans to rob the Carpenter at gunpoint when you complete his FetchQuest, and only fights against Napoleon's soldier because he's in the way and he wants to practice.
384* KidAnova: Nils Lutefisk, though it might be all talk.
385* KingMook: The Mega Censor boss is a giant censor that resulted from a buildup of censor energy.
386* KillItWithFire: One of your standard psychic powers. Target the squirrels and seagulls. Also, Boyd's reaction to [[spoiler: being fired]].
387* KillTheLights: Used by the Den Mother in the Milkman Conspiracy boss fight.
388* LadderPhysics: The super-long twisty ladder in the Meat Circus allows you to slide [[GravityScrew in pretty much all directions]]. Justified, since it takes place in the MentalWorld of an acrobat whose having... issues.
389* LaResistance: In Lungfishopolis, "For Freedom!"
390* LargeHam:
391** Coach Oleander.
392** The Den Mother really takes the cake though. "And the seas shall run white... with his... RAGE!"
393* LarynxDissonance: Linda, the mutated lungfish, and Bonita Soleil, the personification of Gloria's star power, both have gravelly, masculine voices.
394* LastLousyPoint: Packing off all the Emotional Baggage and getting all the Scavenger Hunt items? Simple. Tracking down every Memory Vault and Mental Cobweb? Difficult, but doable. Finding every PSI Card and Challenge Marker? Challenging, but at least there's not too many per area. But getting every figment -- of which there are ''hundreds'' per level, and you have to get them ''all'' for OneHundredPercentCompletion -- is an exercise in masochism. Some fly, some are hidden in areas you have no reason to visit otherwise, and all of them can blend in with the scenery thanks to their coloration. Let's not forget how the figments are ''2-dimensional'', making them next to invisible at cerain camera angles.
395* {{Leitmotif}}: The soundtrack features a recurring eight-note sequence that represents mental illness.
396* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: Sasha, at the end of his stage.
397* LipLock: After Bobby kicks Raz off the platform in Basic Braining, he mocks him with some half-singing gibberish while doing a dance. If you watch his lips, it isn't matching what he's saying.
398-->'''[[TheBully Bobby Zilch]]:''' I'm not stupid. You're stupid. The Coach is stupid. This whole camp is stupid! ''(points behind Raz)'' That thing flying at you is stupid!
399-->'''Raz:''' What thing?!
400-->'''Bobby Zilch:''' ''(kicks Raz off the cliff)'' Bobby Zilch's foot, that's what! ''(performs victory dance)''
401* {{Lobotomy}}: The appropriately named Dr. Loboto -- who is a dentist, by the way -- specializes in removing people's brains. Instead of using ice picks, however, he prefers using his own special brand of PepperSneeze, ground out of his prosthetic arm; one sniff, and you'll sneeze so hard your brain will hit the wall with a splat.
402* TheLostLenore: Strongly implied to be the case with [[spoiler:Sasha's parents, the Lenore being his mother]].
403* LoveMakesYouCrazy: A contributing factor behind [[spoiler:Edgar's]] insanity was [[spoiler:losing his high school sweetheart.]]
404* LukeIAmYourFather: A really weird example. The five other acrobats Raz and his father are seen performing with in Raz's vault are actually his other family members: his mother, his older brother and sister, and his younger brother and sister. The fact that he even ''has'' a mom or siblings is never even hinted at in-game, which lead fans to speculate for a while before it was finally confirmed by the creators.
405[[/folder]]
406
407[[folder:M-O]]
408* MadLibsDialogue:
409** Boyd Cooper, a conspiracy nut suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, spends all his time scrawling on things and [[TalkativeLoon rambling about some sort of conspiracy that only makes sense in his own disjointed mind]]. This effect is done by having his voice actor record a ton of funny dialogue quips that sound like the sort of thing you'd hear when listening to a conspiracy, and then programming them to play at random when the player hears Boyd talk. Not only would you never notice unless you listened for a very long time, but it's extremely unlikely you'll ever hear him say the same thing twice, not to mention it does a very good job at making him sound like he's completely insane.
410** During Basic Braining, Raz gets into a plane with Vernon Tripe, who begins to discuss the time he went on the longest walk ever with his dog, Lady. All of the dialogue lines are picked at random, and the conversation only ends when Raz smacks the door open.
411* MadScientist: Dr. Loboto, although he's a dentist.
412** Also Sasha, to a lesser extent. "If I could only get him (Raz) in my lab, I'm sure he could withstand more than the others."
413* MagicAIsMagicA: The cougars have pyrokinesis, bears have TK Claws, and the psychic death tanks have confusion grenades. The [[ActionBomb rats]] are effectively confusion grenades themselves.
414* ManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:Coach Oleander]] is the one behind Loboto's plot.
415** Whose identity is revealed unusually early for this trope. A far better kept reveal is the true source of [[spoiler:Oleander]]'s insanity: [[spoiler:the Butcher]].
416* ManchurianAgent: [[spoiler:Boyd's alternate personality, the Milkman, was created to destroy the Asylum on Oleander's order]]. Raz accidentally sets off him off while exploring his mind.
417* MaskedLuchador: A QuirkyMinibossSquad in Black Velvetopia consists of four of these, each based on an animal and a card suit.
418* TheMenInBlack: The hilariously inept, robotic undercover agents in The Milkman Conspiracy.
419* MentalWorld: The premise of the game, pretty much.
420* {{Metaphorgotten}}: "It's like looking at the site of a horrible car accident! A car accident where the victims can't act, and the paramedics forget their lines!"
421* MilkmanConspiracy: In the level that [[TropeNamers named the trope]], the conspiracy is actually ''about'' a milkman, but ''of'' eight-year-old girls.
422* AMindIsATerribleThingToRead:
423** Sasha Nein's second mental vault shows us that reading the mind of your parents is [[DirtyMindReading not a good idea]].
424** [[spoiler:Milla's personal nightmare room, where visions of monstrous ashen ghosts whisper her name and ask why she did not save them.]]
425** Entering someone's minds in general is a very dangerous process, especially if that person isn't mentally well.
426%%* MindOverMatter
427* MindRape: Inverted. Raz enters people's minds to ''help'' them.
428** Played straight with [[spoiler: Linda, who was possessed by Coach Oleander by the time she was attacking.]]
429* MindScrew: ''The World Shall Taste My Eggs!''
430-->'''Raz:''' Okay...what the hell was ''that?''
431* MisplacedKindergartenTeacher: Milla sees her students as little children and treats them accordingly. If you use Clairvoyance on her, you can see Raz through her eyes as a very small child. It turns out that [[spoiler: she once worked at an OrphanageOfLove which was accidentally burned down, and her psychic abilities caused her to hear the thoughts of all the children as they burned to death. She was traumatized as a result. The part of her mind that contains these memories is well-hidden, and she gently tells Raz not to go there.]]
432* MissingMom: [[spoiler:Sasha]]'s mother died shortly after he was born.
433** Raz's mother is never seen or mentioned once. [[AllThereInTheManual Unless you've read up on Psychopedia]], in which case you'd know that the other circus performers shown in his backstory were, in fact, his other family members, one of them being her. She still doesn't play any part in the story, however.
434* MistakenForFlatulence: If you blow the Lungfish Call in Loboto's lab, he will say "Sheegor, please! Open a window if you're going to do that".
435* MomentOfLucidity: If the player uses confusion grenades on Boyd or any of the characters in The Milkman Conspiracy (only accomplishable with cheat-codes), instead of discombobulating them it instead brings them to sanity temporarily.
436--> '''Boyd Cooper''': Wait a minute. I think there might not be a conspiracy after all. It's possible I'm suffering from paranoid delusions linked to an entity I call "The Milkman", who is, in actuality, [[SanitySlippage the mummified remains of Abraham Lincoln]]!
437* MoodSwinger: Gloria, one of the mentally ill patients at the Asylum. The mission is even called "Help Gloria control her mood swings".
438* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: Dr. Loboto is an evil ''[[DepravedDentist dentist]]''.
439* MostDefinitelyNotAVillain: "I am a phone repairer. I can listen to any phone conversations I wish, but do not do so out of my sense of professional responsibility."
440* MundaneUtility: Sasha uses his psychic abilities to light his cigarette and hold it to his lips without using his hands.
441* MundaneMadeAwesome: Coach Oleander, as you can see from the opening quote, takes summer camp ''way'' too seriously.
442* MurderWater: Raz's ''entire bloodline'' is cursed with this thanks to a spiteful psychic family. Any time Razputin is near bodies of water, a ghastly, aquatic arm appears and will try to drag him to his watery grave if he touches it.
443* TheNapoleon: Coach Oleander, and Napoleon himself. Inverted in Fred Bonaparte, a descendant of Napoleon's, who is extremely tall and has no ambition whatsoever. He also has bizarrely short arms -- he appears to be part T-Rex.
444* NapoleonDelusion: Fred Bonaparte's SplitPersonality. Bonus points for Fred actually being a descendant of Napoleon himself.
445* {{Nerdcore}}: Music/AdamWarRock [[http://www.destructoid.com/feel-doubly-fine-with-adam-warrock-s-psychonauts-single-255576.phtml devoted a song]] to the game, which ends up name-checking most of Tim Schafer's career (and lead artist Scott C.) in the process.
446* NewJobAsThePlotDemands: Every single job around camp is filled by the same guy. [[spoiler:Turns out, he has a particularly nasty case of split personality disorder.]]
447* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Sure, you've gotten Boyd to open the gates... but now he's on a hair trigger: [[spoiler:his original, [[ConspiracyTheorist mildly deranged]] personality has been replaced by another, [[AxCrazy somewhat more deranged]] personality, and he's about to blow up the asylum! On the other hand, you really don't care much about the Asylum...]]
448* NiceJobFixingItVillain: The Gloria's Theater level revolves around finding new scripts and producing a series of plays so Raz can ascend the stage to the catwalks and battle the Phantom, and oddly enough, [[spoiler:the first script you find is given to Raz by the Phantom himself, aka Jasper.]]
449* NiceMeanAndInBetween: The game presents this trope with the staff of Whsipering Rock.
450** Milla and Ford are the Nice. Milla is a friendly party girl who is a FriendToAllChildren and helps them learn to use their powers in ways that don't involve violence, instead creating fun obstacle courses. Ford is a CoolOldGuy who, when sane, helps Raz test some of his psychic powers and aids him through the psychic link in his head.
451** Oleander is the Mean, being a DrillSergeantNasty [[spoiler:who is also trying to take over the world with the brains of the kids.]]
452** Sasha's the In-Between. He's not as rude as Oleander but he also tries to coerce the campers into being lab rats for his ethically-dubious experiments, which gives him a reputation as TheDreaded amongst some of the children.
453* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The bulldog in Black Velvetopia / Creator/ChristopherWalken
454* NoFairCheating: "[[LampshadeHanging Yooooouuuuu cheated!]]". Napoleon also does not permit cheating in Waterloo World. He tells Raz not to touch his pieces, his soldiers tell you that using PK on them is cheating if you talk to them, and he won't accept victory if Raz tries jumping in the stronghold directly. Yet, [[HypocriticalHumor he jams the gate mechanism when you're about to win]].
455* NominalImportance: ''Everybody'' has a name. Usually first and last, too. Most of them have defining personality characteristics and flaws.
456* NonLethalBottomlessPits: The good news about Raz's SuperDrowningSkills is that he doesn't normally lose a life from them.
457* NonSequiturThud: If Raz gets hit with the Mega Censor's stamp one too many times, Sasha will start to get concussed and spout gibberish.
458-->'''Sasha:''' ''My name is Yon Yonson, I live in Wisconsin, I work in the lumberyard there...''
459* NoodleIncident:
460** You're given a rough idea, but you never get told precisely what Clem and Crystal were trying to accomplish. [[spoiler:The poison? Trying to kill themselves. The rooftop? Trying to kill themselves. Crystal's backstory on Campster says that she's suicidal; Clem's says that they're no longer allowed to handle sharp implements. It's strongly hinted that they're trying to gain ultimate psychic power by destroying their bodies and setting their spirits free.]]
461** And then there's Dogen Boole:
462-->'''Dogen:''' And then you make their heads explode.\
463'''Raz:''' No! ... Wait, can you do that?\
464'''Dogen:''' No! Well once, kinda... actually it was more like four times...but now I wear this [[TinfoilHat special hat]]. Do you want to try it on?
465** If you use cheats to get the confusion grenades and use them on the Spies playing assassins, you get this gem:
466--->'''Assassin:''' [[CreepyMonotone Oh God.]] Why am I holding a gun? I hope I didn't kill again...
467* NostalgiaFilter: In Edgar's mindscape, Raz learns from an artistic collie about a scandal: Edgar was once a famous painter, married to the beautiful flamenco dancer Lampita. But one day, El Dingo the matador commissioned the artist to paint his portrait, only for Edgar's cunning client to seduce his wife and run off with her before the painting was complete. Later, Raz talks to an artistic dalmatian who sets the record straight of what ''really'' happened: it was simply a highschool incident where Edgar's girlfriend Lana left him for a male cheerleader named Dean, leaving Edgar unable to finish his wrestling match (or anything else in general). And the notion he's a renowned artist was really the memory of taking refuge in art class as a new outlet after the wrestling team turned on him. In short, Edgar romanticized the memory of Dean and Lana to be more grand than they really were.
468* NotNowKiddo: Sasha ignoring Raz to leave for urgent "official Psychonauts business" when Raz was trying to tell him about [[spoiler:Oleander's psychic death tanks]].
469* NoticeThis:
470** Interactable objects glow with an aqua blue aura or sparkle silvery.
471** You'll know when you can dig up an Arrowhead when Raz is looking at the purple smoke.
472** This trope is the only way to find Deep Arrowheads. You can only dig them up when the Dowsing Rod is out and the higher the sound it makes, the easier it is to pull one up[[note]]If your computer is good enough to run it on the highest settings, there's also a distortion effect around the tip of the Dowsing Rod that increases along with the sound. When it's making things nigh-impossible to see, you're right on top of one[[/note]].
473* NowWhereWasIGoingAgain: The notebook tab in the menu keeps track of whatever Raz is supposed to be doing next, and how it factors into his end goal.
474* ObviouslyEvil: [[spoiler:Oleander. It gets painfully obvious to the point of lampshade hanging, especially on a replay. The "armored like a tank" and "walking around at midnight" thing, etc. etc. It gets up to a peak when you're back in the ominous evil white hallway, and see that really distinct bunny fresco - then the anvil should hit you.]]
475** Some thought he was so over the top that he had to be a RedHerring. Maybe that was the point.
476** Also, [[spoiler:Jasper.]] [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in the cutscene before:
477-->'''Raz:''' ...I totally guessed that!
478-->'''Actress''': Nuh-uh! You said it was [[spoiler:Becky]]!
479* ObliviousToLove: Raz just seems confused about Lili's behavior toward him at first. Not that the average ten-year-old would act any different.
480* OfficerOHara: The opening cutscene to Lungfishopolis features a lungfish police guarding a pedestrian crossing who speaks in a thick Irish accent. He's naturally named Officer O'Lungfish.
481* OfficialCouple: Raz and Lili.
482* OfficiallyShortenedTitle: The full name of the game is ''The Most Excellent Game Psychonauts'', but you'll rarely ever hear it called that.
483* OffingTheOffspring: Raz is clearly terrified of his father, believing that his constant acrobatic training from is actually a plan to kill him and make it look like an accident. [[spoiler:In reality, this couldn't be further from the truth.]]
484* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: At the end of The Milkman Conspiracy, [[spoiler: a huge swarm of agents and censors come after the Milkman. The Rainbow Squirts go out to confront them while you fight the boss. When the camera shows the outside of the house again, there are dead or unconscious combatants everywhere, which suggests that the battle was epic.]]
485%%* OhCisco: The HundredPercentCompletion bonus video ends with a really weird one of these. '''Administrivia/ZeroContextExample'''
486* OldMaster: Ford. Especially in the [[spoiler: showdown against Oleander.]]
487* OnceKilledAManWithANoodleImplement: If you show Coach Oleander Sasha's button.
488-->"If I had that button, I could kill you six different ways."
489* OneHitKill:
490** The sniper in the Milkman Conspiracy will instantly kill Raz if he's shot by it. Figuring out how to get around it is needed for a puzzle.
491** Raz can jump into meat grinders during the final level with predictable results.
492* TheOneThatGotAway: A critical part of [[spoiler:Edgar's]] backstory.
493* OnlySaneMan: Compared to the crazy people and stuff that happens, Raz is the sanest of the bunch. [[spoiler: That is, until you find out about his own issues in the Meat Circus...]]. Ironically, toward the end Raz meets two people that are possibly the most mentally healthy out of the entire cast: [[spoiler: Sheegor and her talking turtle Mr. Pokeylope]].
494* OutOfFocus: While Linda and the campers show up in the animated bumpers for [=MTV2=] and G4, none of the adults in the game appear at all.
495* OneUp: Extra Astral Projection layers, shaped like Raz's helmet.
496* OrphanageOfLove: Milla's old job. [[spoiler:Before it burned down.]]
497* OverlyLongGag: The story of the asylum. The Steam version gives out an achievement for actually listening to it.
498** Vernon's dull, rambling stories, which can literally go on for hours if the player sticks around that long.
499** Also, [[http://v2.razputin.net/index.html@page=razputin%252Ffeatures%252Ftimwords.html This interview]] with Tim Schafer. Specifically, his response to the first question.
500[[/folder]]
501
502[[folder:P-R]]
503* PaletteSwap: The four Luchadores in Velvetopia are all the same basic character model with different paint jobs. They even have the same moveset, except for the special attacks.
504* PapaWolf: [[spoiler: Raz's father, Augustus. Think about it — he comes to the camp for his runaway son, but his son is currently at the asylum across the lake, fighting Coach Oleander. So, Augustus has to figure out what the hell is going on in the camp, cross the lake by taking a kanoe, since he can't summon Lungfish Linda (and do remember that every mumber of Raz' and Augustus' family has a MurderWater issue), get to the ruins of asylum, enter the Meat Circus, reconcile with Raz and help him out in fighting the Butcher. Oh, and his timing is perfect.]]
505* PaperThinDisguise:
506** TheMenInBlack: "[[CreepyMonotone I am a grieving widow. I wish my loved one was not dead, but alive.]]"
507** Raz uses them to get past the MIB, just picking up a rolling pin makes you appear to them as a housewife. Also [[spoiler:a literal example, when Raz uses a painting of Loboto and a few other props to sneak past near-sighted Crispin.]]
508** Clairvoyance actually shows that Raz is this often ''literally''. Whenever a character doesn't see him as himself, he appears as a cardboard cutout, ranging from a slightly modified version of him to looking nothing like himself (the only thing he never seems to lose are his googles).
509* ParentalAbandonment: Gloria never knew her father and her mother abandoned her at Hagatha Home so she could focus on her own career.
510* ParentsAsPeople: [[spoiler:Raz's father,]] in a very interesting {{Subversion}}[=/=]{{Deconstruction}} of the AbusiveParent trope.
511* PassThroughTheRings: When learning levitation. Repeated in the Meat Circus with flaming hoops.
512* ThePenIsMightier: [[spoiler:The phantom/critic]] has two mounted on his flying mecha. They fire deadly inkblots in the shape of insults.
513* PepperSneeze: Exaggerated to the furthest logical extreme - Dr. Loboto's special powder will make you sneeze so hard your ''brain will go flying out''.
514* PermanentlyMissableContent: All mental worlds can be revisited to gather stuff you've missed, so almost no item in those places is lost for good. [[note]]In fact, gathering items after a level is cleared is usually the better option, because it often means that the monsters are gone too.[[/note]] However, since all of the (very) extensive dialogue branches depend the situation, it's almost impossible to hear every line of dialogue in the game. A few of the achievements and achievement-related items can be missed, however, such as the "Made Man" achievement and one of the [[OneUp golden helmets]]. There is a major point of no return, which creates an autosave beforehand.
515* PersonalityPowers: [[ManicPixieDreamGirl Bubbly]] [[DiscoDan Milla Vodello's]] specialty power is levitation. [[GermanicDepressives Repressed,]] [[NoSocialSkills slightly awkward]] [[TheSpock Sasha]] [[MeaningfulName Ne]][[BilingualBonus in's]] specialty power involves controlling one's emotions and turning them into firepower.
516* PickupHierarchy: All of the collectibles serve to help Raz rank up in varying increments:
517** PSI Challenge Markers, a bunch of cards floating around an eye-shaped core. Each one is worth 1 rank on its own.
518** PSI Cards, from challenger markers that fell apart, are now scattered all around the camp. Collect 9 and buy a core from the camp commissary and they can be assembled into a marker in Ford's lab.
519** Scavenger hunt items, 16 in total. For every 8 you collect, you gain 4 ranks.
520** Figments of the imagination floating around inside the various mindscapes, the closest thing the game has to the coins or gems of other games (which are particularly irritating, since there are literally hundreds, they're semitransparent, and they're perfectly flat, making them hard to spot).
521** Mental Vaults, 2 per mind, pig-like safes which run around in typically hard-to-reach spots in the mind. Punch them open and they'll spit out a memory reel consisting of the pivotal traumas creating the mindscape Raz is exploring.
522** Emotional baggage, 5 different pieces of anthropomorphic, extremely unhappy [[LiteralMetaphor luggage]] found inside a given character's head. Find the matching tags and you can sort them out for a third primal reel, made up of an {{unlockable|Content}} gallery of {{concept art|Gallery}}.
523** Mental Cobwebs, which form in disused parts of the brain and can block progress in later levels. They can be cleared out with the Cobweb Duster, a kind of [[GhostsAbhorAVacuum mental vacuum]], and detangled in Ford's lab, reweaving them into yet another PSI Card.
524** [[spoiler:And then you need to get back all the other campers' brains]].
525** There are also the Aggression/[[OneUp Astral Projection Layer]] Trophies, which increase your maximum Psi Blast ammo and "lives". Unlike the other collectibles, they're not included in OneHundredPercentCompletion.
526* ThePinIsMightierThanTheSword: Hypothetically, the merit badges celebrate Raz's mastery of various techniques. In practice, though, he seems to attain mastery of the techniques by earning the badges. Some such as levitation you have to complete a level to demonstrate before you can use it elsewhere in the game. Others such as Clairvoyance or Confusion, you're just given the badge and left to figure it out on your own.
527* PinballZone: Milla's Dance Party, where she teaches children levitation -- in the form of a psychic ball that lifts them a few feet off the ground. The level is a series of challenges, bouncing around inside Milla's colourful mindscape on Raz's own ball, with much less combat or overt danger compared to the other mental worlds.
528* PlayableMenu: Naturally, your main menu is a brain with the ''Psychonauts'' logo and several doors on it. You walk around on its convolutions and access the save, load, and settings menus through astral doors plugged into its surface. [[MakesSenseInContext If you don't think that's fitting, read what it says on the logo again.]]
529* PlotCoupon: Very blatant at the ground floor of the asylum. The only way past an unarmed orderly guarding the elevator is to get a trophy, a straitjacket and a painting to use as a disguise, and there is only one of each item that can be used, and you need to clear a full level before you're allowed to take it? You'd think a boy who can turn invisible and set fire to things with his mind could get past some other way. At least the levels you need to play are a lot of fun.
530** DoubleSubverted: Fred, the mind behind Waterloo World, has a history with Crispin, the "orderly" guarding the elevator. When you complete Waterloo World and get Fred's straitjacket, Fred offers to take care of Crispin, which would remove the need to collect the other two items. Unfortunately, he's so exhausted from fighting with his [[spoiler: now gone]] alternate personality, he decides to have a nap first, and doesn't wake up until you're already past Crispin via the PlotCoupon route.
531* PointOfNoReturn: [[spoiler: Once you free Lili]], you start the penultimate boss fight, and then are immediately thrown in the last level. You can still aceess the mental levels, but you can't explore the real world anymore. The game automatically creates a new autosave slot for this specific point, making it a '''Strict''' example. The game even labels the autosave "POINT OF NO RETURN"
532* PoorCommunicationKills: [[spoiler:All the problems between Raz and his father would have been resolved if they had just communicated better.]]
533* PortalDoor: The Psycho-Portal is literally a tiny door that makes it possible for a psychic to enter another's mind.
534* PowerFloats: Psychics who are relatively green on learning Levitation do so on a visible sphere that abides by normal physics (albeit, with more moon-esque gravity if on top of it). Ones who develop their abilities enough, though, not only lose the physical sphere, but can outright fly.
535* ThePowerOfFriendship: One of the game's last abilities, usually only unlocked by those going for HundredPercentCompletion, uses the power of your friends "focusing their good energies on you" [[RegeneratingHealth to heal you slowly]].
536* ThePowerOfLove: At the end of the game, Raz has to face down against his own personal demon: [[spoiler:a gargantuan EldritchAbomination that represents his fear and hatred of his father. Before he entering the fray, however, his actual father enters the picture, and the two of them have a talk that ends with them making up. After telling him that he's strong enough to take control of his own mind, he then uses his own psychic powers to give his son a [[EleventhHourSuperPower power boost]]]]. Cue a CurbStompBattle.
537* PrimalScene: One of Sasha's memory reels shows that [[spoiler:[[AMindIsATerribleThingToRead he read his father's mind]] to learn what his MissingMom was like.]] He found some memories he really was not looking for.
538* PrinceCharming: Lili sees Raz as this when using Clairvoyance on her. As do the women in Black Velvetopia, provided you have a rose.
539* PsiBlast: One of the plot-relevant psychic abilities Raz learns is Psi-blast, taught to him by Sasha in his mind The Shooting Gallery. Psi-blasts are described as raw negative emotions (mainly the will to attack) and he can expel them in the form of a red laser that works as a long-distance attack. After getting permission to learn psi blast from Ford Cruller with a learner's permit, Raz can use the power outside of his mind with the Marksmanship merit badge.
540* PstandardPsychicPstance: Featured right on the box art by Raz himself, used throughout the game by various characters as an AssKickingPose. Also used by Raz while standing atop the imaginary statue/winners' podium in the cutscene after achieving each new psychic power and its associated badge.
541* PsychicChildren: Naturally, and they're central to the main villain's plot to conquer the world with psychic death tanks.
542* PsychicPowers: Even the animals have them! Including the [[Series/TheColbertReport Godless Killing]] [[BearsAreBadNews Machines]]!
543* PsychologicalHorror: While the game is primarily comedic, some of the minds you enter are healthier than others.
544* PsychoSerum: Psitanium. While it does grant and enhance mental abilities, it can also cause psychological instability in those without psychic aptitude. A large enough deposit of it can slowly cause an entire town's population to slowly go insane.
545* PunchClockVillain: The Censors that you fight in most levels exist for the purpose of stamping out foreign, bad, and hurtful thoughts before they're allowed to come to fruition. They're like mental-antibodies and we're told they're a sign a mind is healthy. [[FridgeLogic (Although, in practice, even demonstrably insane characters like Boyd have them.)]] However, since you're a foreign body, you're fair game.
546** Raz does wonder why they're attacking him inside his ''own'' mind at one point. Or, for that matter, why Sasha's Censors attacked him inside ''his'' own mind. (The first one is because [[spoiler:by that point, Raz isn't in his own mind at all.]] The second is because you're using an experimental procedure to project yourself into your own head.)
547* PunnyName: Too many to count, some [[BilingualBonus in foreign languages]].
548* PuppyLove: Despite being ten years old, Raz and Lili end up kissing twice. At some points in the game you can watch/catch other children making out, making it pretty blatant that they're not the only couple.
549* ThePursuingNightmare:
550** [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind All minds in the game]] feature Censors, entities that protect the brain from dangerous thoughts and commonly take the form of bureaucrats armed with rubber stamps. Unfortunately, as the mind's immune system, they don't differentiate between harmful ideas and friendly psychics, and will pursue Raz the moment he arrives in someone's brain. Though they can usually be fought like any other opponent, in more chaotic levels like "Sasha's Shooting Gallery," they emerge in such numbers that Raz is forced to avoid the oncoming army until he can shut off the valve that's producing them.
551** In the final level, Raz is pitted against the Butcher, the nightmarish memory of [[spoiler: Coach Oleander's father]]. Not only is this gigantic monstrosity immune to Raz's psi powers, but the camera is oriented towards him, railroading the player into a chase sequence in which Raz must stay one step ahead of the Butcher until he gets one of his knives stuck in the ground, allowing Raz to clamber up his arm and attack his head up close. Things only get worse when [[spoiler: the nightmare incarnation of Raz's dad]] teams up with the Butcher and even ''merges'' with him. As such, it's not until the very end, when [[spoiler: Raz's father]] [[EleventhHourSuperpower imbues Raz with enough psychic power to give him an edge over the Butcher]] that the boss battle actually becomes a straight-up fight.
552* PyroManiac: Boyd seems to be a harmlessly nuts conspiracy theorist when you first see him, but when you crack the other vault in his mind, it's revealed that [[spoiler: he was sent to an asylum after he burned down his old workplace for firing him]]. Also, at the end of his level [[spoiler: Raz releases the arsonist part of his personality again, when he is a hair trigger away from burning the BedlamHouse he now guards. Fortunately, once that's done, the persona is exorcised and he seems much more collected]].
553** Also, Phoebe. Using Clairvoyance to see yourself through her eyes reveals that she sees Raz as an unlit campfire.
554* QuickMelee: Raz's basic attack (PSI-Punch) involves hitting enemies using mental hands.
555* QuirkyMinibossSquad: The Luchadores you face in Black Velevetopia.
556* RealityIsOutToLunch: Provides the trope image, and appropriately so; once Raz has entered a mind, pretty much any lapse of logic or physics can occur hassle-free.
557* RecurringRiff: A phrase from the game's theme shows up in many places in its music.
558* RecursiveReality: In the Asylum, you can go inside Fred's mind to find him playing a board game with Napoleon. Then, you can jump on the board to find a whole living world controlled by the rules of the game. Then, you can look in the window of a house to find... wait for it... Fred playing a board game with Napoleon.
559** It's not just any board game, either. Before you jump into the board game you can look out through the window to see the walls of the board game sitting on the table!
560* RedRightHand: Mismatched eyes seem to be a sign of when a character is evil or otherwise an unpleasant person. Most of the time, this takes the form of a character (Bobby, Loboto, the Hulking Lungfish and [[spoiler:the Butcher]]) having red and green eyes. [[spoiler:Coach Oleander has mismatched eyes too...]]
561* ReluctantMadScientist: Sheegor, though she is, of course, technically an [[TheIgor Igor]].
562* TheRemnant: If you visit Lungfishopolis after beating it once, a resistance member informs Raz that some members of the Navy have not realized the war is over and are still fighting for Kochamara despite his defeat.
563* ReplayMode: The game offers a variation; one of the pause menu sections allows you to re-watch most of the game's pre-rendered cutscenes, but not for cutscenes that took place during real-time.
564* TheReveal: Almost [[OncePerEpisode once per level]], sometimes twice or more]]:
565** The reason Sasha is so [[TheStoic borderline-emotionless]] is because he [[spoiler:lost his mother as an infant, then was [[DirtyMindReading traumatized]] when he tried [[AMindIsATerribleThingToRead probing his father's mind for information about her]]]].
566** Milla used to work at an [[OrphanageOfLove orphanage]]. One day, [[spoiler:she came home from grocery shopping only to find the place in flames. To this day, [[TearJerker the childrens' dying screams still haunt her nightmares]]]].
567** Coach Oleander [[spoiler:was never actually drafted in the army due to his short stature. He just made that memory up out of shame.]] Also, [[spoiler:he's the BigBad]]. Also also, he [[spoiler:had an [[AbusiveParents emotionally abusive father]].]] [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Maybe]]...
568** The Hideous Hulking Lungfish of Lake Oblongata is real. [[spoiler:It was turned hideous and hulking by Doctor Loboto, so its acting [[BrainwashedAndCrazy against its own will]]. Also, [[FluffyTheTerrible her name is Linda]]]].
569** Boyd [[spoiler:''[[TomatoSurprise is]]'' [[TomatoSurprise the milkman]]!]]
570** Gloria Von Gouten [[spoiler:had a really, really, ''really'' bad childhood, lets just keep it at that]].
571** Edgar Teglee [[spoiler:lost the love of his life and all of his friends back in High School. El Odio, the giant rampaging bull that's tormenting his mind, is supposed to represent his own pent-up hatred]].
572** [[spoiler:Raz's father isn't an AbusiveParent. Raz is just an UnreliableNarrator.]]
573* RiseToTheChallenge: The ''Meat Circus'' has a long climb with rising water.
574* RoomFullOfCrazy: The starting room in Boyd's mind.
575* RunningGag: Every time Raz tries to tell someone directly [[spoiler:that Dogen's brains were stolen]], he'll be told some variation of "Oh, no, he's just like that", regardless of who the other person is.
576[[/folder]]
577
578[[folder:S-U]]
579* SceneryGorn: [[spoiler:Oblongata is apparently a manmade lake, with the remnants of an old pioneer town lining the bottom. The old Thorney Sanitarium across the lake is a gutted tower. Both are creepy, ramshackle ruins.]]
580* SceneryPorn: Black Velvetopia. Oh lord ''hallelujah'' - or maybe more appropriately, "viva" in this case.
581* TheSchizophreniaConspiracy: Boyd Cooper, although in this case, [[TalkativeLoon his conspiracies rarely even make sense grammatically]]. And if you think that's bad, just wait until you see [[StepfordSuburbia what the inside of his mind looks like]]...
582* SchizophrenicDifficulty: One of the most common complaints about the game. ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation'' noted that roughly the entire first half consists of tutorials for the various game mechanics, followed by a transition into NintendoHard territory for the last few levels.
583* SchoolPlay: [[BadBadActing Gloria's Theater]].
584%%* SecretLegacy:
585* SeekerWhiteBloodCells: Although it's not a physical example, Censors are a mental equivalent. Censors roam the psyche and censor out anything that doesn't belong, including hallucinations, paranoias... and visiting Psychonauts. In fact, one of the first signs that Boyd's mind isn't safe at all is that ''there are no Censors whatsoever in there.'' It could be argued that the G-Men are Boyd's censors, but this just demonstrates that every aspect of his subconscious mind is dedicated to seeking out the Milkman (which is an artificial intruder that was implanted in his mind) and ignoring all others.
586* SelfDeprecation: InUniverse. Raz buys a painting from an artist in Black Velvetopia:
587-->'''Dog''': Yeah, maybe you can write it off in your taxes as a loss. A ''catastrophic'' loss, even!
588* SensoryAbuse: In Basic Braining, the sound of the aircraft exploding after you jump out of it is ''extremely'' loud.
589* SequelHook: There were actually multiple hooks - the head of the Psychonauts being kidnapped and Raz's father warning him about the rival family of evil psychics he's been trying to protect Raz from. Despite miserable sales figures at first, Tim Schafer continued expressing desire for a sequel, and one was eventually announced in December of 2015, ten years later, with an interquel announced shortly after.
590* SeriousBusiness: As you can see from the page quote, Coach Oleander takes summer camp very seriously.
591* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: Usually played straight, but subverted at least once. [[spoiler:When Raz is looking for Lili inside the fish's mind, and he is asked if ''"Lili is your girlfriend?"'', his answer is a sincere ''"I don't know."'']]
592* ShipTease: In one of Milla's memory reels, she's on top of Sasha Nein (presumably having fallen on top of him after jumping out of an exploding building), and they both have flustered looks on their faces.
593* ShooOutTheClowns: [[spoiler:Once the player enters the final level, they cannot return to Thorney Towers or the camp and interact with the goofy side characters. There are also no [[{{Mooks}} Censors]] in the final level, just creepy carnies and disturbing meat bunnies.]]
594* ShoutOut:
595** To ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet'': "You are my own creation! I command you to stop!" First Sasha tries it on the Mega Censor, then Raz tries it on the censors in the Dream Tumbler vision. The censors keep coming both times.
596--->'''Raz''': Man, does that ''ever'' work?
597** Examining the tree stumps causes Raz to make a remark about "a series of catacombs", a reference to an easter egg from an earlier game Tim Schafer worked on, ''VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland''. Seeing as the game fits neatly onto one disk, however, Raz doesn't need to skip it like Guybrush did and finds a fast travel system inside.
598** Gloria's level is one big WholePlotReference to [[spoiler:''Franchise/ThePhantomOfTheOpera''.]]
599** Dr. Loboto's design and tower lair are deliberately modeled after Sally's creator Dr. Finkelstein in ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas''.
600** After you get your oarsman badge, Crystal and Clem are [[spoiler:contemplating suicide]] on top of the lodge. Crystal says something along the lines of "we're going to become so powerful, aren't we?" Clem responds, [[Film/ANewHope "More powerful than you could imagine."]]
601** Phoebe and Quentin's Band The Firestarters is a reference to the Stephen King novel ''Literature/{{Firestarter}}''. It's about a 7-year-old-girl that can start fires with her mind.
602** The following in-universe setup by Raz: "First question: What do you think the Queen is drinking right now? Second question: What was your favorite science-fiction mini-series in the eighties?"
603-->[[spoiler:'''Dogen''']]: [[BritsLoveTea T]]Series/{{V|1983}}?
604** Lungfishopolis as a whole is parody of {{Kaiju}} films, the Franchise/{{Godzilla}} franchise in particular, with Raz as the monster. "Kochamara"'s jumpsuited design and role as the city's protector are a riff on ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'' (with a little bit of {{Sentai}}[=/=]Franchise/PowerRangers thrown in), but is named after Film/{{Gamera}} the giant turtle, from one of Godzilla's more prominent [[DuelingWorks rival franchises]]. [[spoiler:Unlike Gamera, Kochamara turns out not to be much of a FriendToAllChildren.]]
605** "''[[Film/{{Waterworld}} Water(loo) World]]''".
606** The black knight in Waterloo World declaring [[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail "None shall pass!"]].
607** In one of Fred's memory reels we can see him looking at the mirror and seeing Napoleon instead of his own reflection. Suddenly Napoleon jumps out of the mirror and tries to strangle Fred, a la ''Film/EvilDead2'', when Ash hallucinates his own reflection choking him.
608** The Steam achievement for completing Waterloo World is titled "[[Literature/SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish Thanks for All the Snails]]".
609** Vernon is hunting the most dangerous game of all... [[Literature/TheMostDangerousGame MAN!]] ...in a game of hide and seek.
610** A couple of screens in Ford's secret lair show the games ''VideoGame/{{Pong}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Battlezone| 1980}}''.
611** The soundtrack is a goldmine of shout-outs. In addition to the StandardSnippet examples below, many other level themes have very clear influences: Lungfishopolis and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6qAIaqK3_Q the Godzilla theme]]; Meat Circus and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZktSPrGSck the main Beetlejuice theme]], etc.
612** One of the dogs in Black Velvetopia mentions he used to [[Art/DogsPlayingPoker play poker with the other dogs]]. After you complete this mental world, Edgar will paint four dogs playing poker, and if you enter his mind again, he will be playing poker with the dogs there as well.
613** Also in Black Velvetopia, Tiger is listed as coming from "[[Franchise/{{Rocky}} the Thrilla in Manilla]], Iowa".
614** According to Tim Schafer, all the words weaponized by [[spoiler:Jasper]] in his boss battle are taken from a review of ''Film/WhiteChicks''.
615** By the endgame, Chloe, who at least thinks she's an alien, believes [[Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy the Earth is doomed and is trying to hitch a ride on a spaceship away]].
616* ShownTheirWork: Tim Schafer created Campster [[http://www.doublefine.com/campster/ profiles]] for every kid in the camp. It's revealed that Chloe Barge was really into hardcore rap.
617* SingleIssuePsychology: True for just about everyone whose brain you enter, and often PlayedForLaughs:
618** All of Edgar's hang-ups stem from having been dumped by his high school girlfriend in favour of another guy, which made him lose an important wrestling match and become the pariah of his high school.
619** Fred's came about as a consequence of being repeatedly beaten in a Napoleon-themed board game by an inmate in the asylum.
620** [[spoiler:Raz and Oleander's problems are mainly because of DaddyIssues (although Oleander being TheNapoleon was arguably a contributing factor).]]
621** Milla is haunted about [[spoiler:an orphanage fire in which the children under her care perished]].
622** Boyd went insane due to his string of bad luck with jobs. After having a split personality embedded in his mind, he became paranoid as well; his active mind knew something was wrong and he became obsessed with figuring out what it was.
623* SlideLevel: Milla's level teaches you to control Raz's psycho-kinetic ball that he rides on. To this end, the entire level is rounded and sloped. While Raz can slowly make his way around on foot in places, the ball automatically rolls down with the idea of using ramps to collect the various figments in the level. One whole section of the level is a giant slide with obstacles all over it, set up as a race between Raz and some fellow campers, which Raz must win to proceed through the rest of the level.
624* SlidingScaleOfParentShamingInFiction: [[spoiler:Raz's father]] is a type that makes him a bad parent. His ''actions'' are completely justified in the context that the game is in, it's just the fact that he [[PoorCommunicationKills failed so badly at communicating his intentions]] that caused so many problems between him and his son. The consequences of this are shown loud and clear in the game's final level, and while it isn't outright stated, it's not a stretch at all to assume he felt remorse for his mistake. [[spoiler:Giving his boy a [[EleventhHourSuperpower power boost]] right before the FinalBoss]] certainly helped a lot too.
625* SlidingScaleOfGameplayAndStoryIntegration: Deliberate Integration. Raz's SuperDrowningSkills are the result of a curse on his family which is an important part of the game's backstory. ExtraLives are added layers of "astral projection (depth)". Most marvelously integrated are the {{Mental World}}s, the structure of which depends on the owner's personality, meaning the gameplay will reflect this and any disorders that character has:
626** Sasha is TheSpock who advocates rigid mental control, so his mind is a black-and-white cube with a modern art pattern that unfolds and decompresses, puzzle box-like, into specific memories on command. Until Raz upsets the balance and the whole thing goes spinning out of control.
627** Milla is a bubbly ManicPixieDreamGirl who treats everything like a party, so her mind is a huge, winding [[DiscoDan seventies disco]] with bright colours that you get around by bouncing or gently floating.
628** Boyd has Paranoid Schizophrenia, which causes almost everything in the level to look at you or sneak up on you in some way, which will make some players think that the level is trying to attack them.
629** Edgar suffers from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, which is represented by a bull that keeps knocking you back to the start of the level, causing you to repeat parts of the world over and over again.
630** Gloria has Bipolar Disorder, and you can change the mood lighting in the world to literally swing the mood of the stage between comedy and tragedy.
631** Fred has multiple personalities, so his world is actually two worlds; one world where he manipulates a game board inside of a castle, and a game world containing that castle.
632** The opening few levels are all pretty easy without too much that can kill you, since you are inside the minds of camp councilors who are trying to teach children to control their abilities. Starting with [[spoiler:Linda the mutated Lungfish, the levels become much more lethal and difficult as you are an intruder into their minds and their mental states are much worse than the camp staff.]]
633** The final level takes place [[spoiler:within Raz's own head]] and is not only frustratingly difficult, but [[spoiler:the final boss is completely invulnerable without the aid of another psychic]]. The fact that it's nigh-impossible to solve your own mental problems without outside help is the entire reason Psychonauts exist.
634* SomethingNauts: The Psychonauts, an organization of international psychic do-gooders.
635* SmartAnimalInconvenientInstincts: The bulldog painter in Black Velvetopia refuses to help Raz with Dingo's mission because the bull is still running around. Raz gets around his reluctance by asking "Who wants to go for a walk?" in the same way dog owners typically talk to their dogs. The painter curses his "stupid dog brain" for its weakness and wearily concedes to painting the street ad.
636* {{Spexico}}: Black Velvetopia, oh so very much. Let's see: We have TorosYFlamenco, Spanish architectural style, Mexican sombreros, and [[MaskedLuchador Masked Luchadores]]. [[spoiler: Justified, since Edgar has actually probably never been to anywhere Spanish-speaking, and it's all one big symbolic fantasy of his creation.]]
637* SpectacularSpinning: Vodello gets you to make the hoops spin by [[PassThroughTheRings passing through them]] in order to "lighten up the party".
638* SplitPersonality
639** Fred Bonaparte battling with his ancestor Napoleon Bonaparte.
640** [[spoiler:Ford Cruller, whose psyche was shattered in a mental duel against another psychic and can only be himself when he's near a relatively large Psitanium deposit]].
641** [[spoiler:Boyd / The Milkman]] is an artificial example.
642* TheSpock: Sasha Nein
643* SpoofAesop:
644** "Shooting things is fun and useful!"
645** "Now Razputin, remember only to use your power of Pyrokinesis only when it's very, ''very'' important... or really, ''really'' entertaining...And if you're doin' it to impress girls, make sure none of them have on a lot of hairspray. Whoo!"
646* SpoonBending: Ford Cruller occasionally refers to the PsychicChildren that attends the camp as "spoonbenders."
647--> '''Ford Cruller''': This training facility is built smack on top of the largest Psitanium deposit known to man. It runs under this whole valley and makes this a very critical area for Psychonauts, so I'm here to look after it. And to make sure you little "spoonbenders" don't kill each other.
648* SpringJump: The levitation ball can be used in this fashion.
649* SquareCubeLaw: Played surprisingly realistically in Lungfishopolis, even though it's a MentalWorld where physics need not apply. Raz dwarfs the city, and due to his immense weight, he moves slower, jumps lower, can't use Levitation, and [[SuperDrowningSkills can only bounce off water two times instead of the usual three]].
650* StageMom: Gloria's mother, causing Gloria's many emotional issues.
651* StandardSnippet:
652** The music for Waterloo World is constructed from the PublicDomainSoundtrack ''The 1812 Overture'', with the theme of destroying the oppressive opponent.
653** A lot of levels have snippets meshed with the background music based on the level's theme. For example, the [[SoundOff Duckworth Cadence]] shows up in "Coach Oleander's Basic Braining", "Sasha's Shooting Gallery" has a few measures of ''Eine kleine Nachtmusik'', and the final level "The Meat Circus" features a few rhythms from ''Orpheus in the Underworld''.
654* StealthPun:
655** The final level in the game is a [[spoiler: circus made of meat.]] One could refer to it as a [[spoiler: Carne-val.]]
656*** Sausage-Fest?
657** In order to cure Edgar Teglee, you have to collect the four Queens; otherwise, he can't complete the house of cards, because he's not playing with a full deck.
658** On that note, why does Edgar keep painting a matador fighting a bull? [[spoiler: Because he's painting Dean as a good guy, and himself as the bad guy.]]
659** Ever wonder why the protagonist's name is Rasputin? Well with the respawn mechanic he sure is hard to kill.
660** Then, there's Mr. ''Pokey''lope. He's pretty ''sharp'' for a turtle.
661*** And, as a turtle, he naturally lopes pokey. Or rather, walks slowly.
662** Ford Cruller gives Raz a piece of ''bacon'' to use as a ''beacon''.
663** The clouds in Boyd Cooper's mind look like a vast, endless spider web. Given his paranoia, one could call it a web of intrigue.
664* StealthInsult: This:
665-->'''Boyd:''' (''Referring to the Clairvoyance badge'') There's something in the fridge that might help you see the world like I do.
666-->'''Raz:''' Ooh, sorry, um... I don't drink.
667* StepfordSmiler: The Rainbow Squirts, a transparent parody of the Girl Scouts.
668** Also, the transparently suicidal cheerleaders Clem and Crystal.
669** [[spoiler:Milla]] to a minor extent. She is genuinely cheerful but has some bad memories which constantly haunt her.
670* StepfordSuburbia: "The Milkman Conspiracy", a perfectly ordinary, peaceful, all-American suburb, if you can look past the AlienGeometries, the spy cameras poking out of bushes and mail-boxes, the [[GirlScoutsAreEvil shady Rainbow Squirts]], and the spies transparently disguised as gardeners, road crew workers, and ''grieving widows''.
671* StormingTheCastle: The Hearty Knight helps you do this to Napoleon in Waterloo World.
672* StrawCritic: Gloria has a really ''nasty'' one living in her head.
673* StringTheory: Courtesy of Boyd's attempts to unravel the Milkman Conspiracy, of course.
674* SuicideAsComedy: Joked about, but never gone through with.
675-->'''Jasper Rolls:''' This time I'm going to file a formal complaint and get this theater shut down!\
676'''Becky Houndstooth:''' Great. Well, I'm off to go kill myself.
677* SupernaturalHotspotTown: The backstory indicates that a village called Shaky Claim once existed in the area; people were driven insane due to the psitanium deposit, causing the government to evict the residents and flood the area, forming Lake Oblongata.
678* SurpriseSlideStaircase: Managed by a trained crow. The crow pushes the button at the top step, but you still can't use momentum to jump onto the main platform. You have to go invisible, sneak up the stairs, and punch its cage away from the button.
679* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: In one of the plays in Gloria's mind, with a conversation between actors playing Gloria and her mother.
680-->'''"Gloria"''': And isn't it wonderful that you aren't even slightly jealous of my fame, which has risen so much faster and higher than yours, while your star has faded?
681-->'''"Mother"''': ''({{beat}})''... Yes.
682** Keep in mind the guy saying this next one is still wearing a straitjacket.
683--> '''Crispin:''' I'm an orderly, you know. I am ''not'' an imposter.
684* SuperDrowningSkills: A JustifiedTrope thanks to a curse placed on Raz's family, but taken to ridiculous extremes within the game. Raz can "drown" in a cheap wooden prop made to ''look like'' water. To clarify, hitting a large body of water causes the water to form a hand-shaped-appendage and try to grab Raz and pull him under. When you hit the wooden-prop water, [[DevelopersForesight an equally cheap wooden prop-arm is pushed up and grabs him.]]
685* SuperheroSchool: Technically, it's a psychic summer camp, but close enough.
686* SureLetsGoWithThat: Ford doesn't bother to correct Raz's guess as to [[SplitPersonality why]] he goes around acting as everything from the camp coordinator to the janitor.
687* SurprisinglyCreepyMoment: Milla's level is probably the brightest, happiest mental space in the game, [[spoiler:until you find the hidden area with the memories of the destroyed orphanage.]]
688* SwordOfPlotAdvancement: You need to purchase the Cobweb Duster, and advance your rank enough to unlock Invisibility, to complete a few of the stages later on.
689* TakeThat: The, ahem, [[MediaWatchdog censors]] which serve as your default mooks. They dress up in stereotypical suits, wear overly large glasses, and all their attacks consists of different ways of saying "No." Given the fact that you mercilessly beat them up in hordes and the amount of off-colour humour in this game there is no way this is coincidence.
690** Brainless kids only want to watch television.
691** Or, occasionally, play hacky sack.
692* TalkativeLoon: Boyd Cooper. [[MadLibsDialogue It's quite fun to listen to]].
693* TalkingToPlants: According to the Psychonauts wikia [[http://psychonauts.wikia.com/wiki/Lili_Zanotto]] Lili is very fond of plants and can communicate with them.
694* TeenSuperspy: ''Pre''teen Superspy.
695* TelevisuallyTransmittedDisease: The four residents of the asylum have pretty [[TheThemeParkVersion Theme Park]] examples of paranoid schizophrenia (Boyd), bipolar disorder (Gloria), Dissociative Identity Disorder (Fred), and a combination of obsessive compulsive disorder/chronic depression (Edgar).
696* TheatrePhantom: The Catwalk Phantom, who is the main villain of a MoodSwinger starlets mind.
697* ThemeSongReveal: The boss encounter in the Brain Tumbler Experiment is set to a remix of [[spoiler:Coach Oleander's Basic Braining theme]], foreshadowing the revelation after the battle of his BigBad status.
698* ThereAreNoTherapists: Despite being an insane asylum, though abandoned, there are four psychologically hurt patients there who get no help from anyone, and probably wouldn't if you hadn't come.
699** Pretty much ''every'' camper, including Raz himself, could use a little therapy. Maybe it's not provided to psychics?
700* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: Many of the minds you explore belong to people who are not entirely there. Boyd is a particularly noteworthy example, as you need to use your clairvoyance ability on him in order to see the world as he sees it and help figure out his psychosis.
701* TimeyWimeyBall: Maloof claims that the staff haven't thrown any kids in the Geodesic Psychoisolation Chamber since the fifties, but according to the tree cutting in the parking lot, the camp was opened less than a decade ago. Given Milla's seventies-party-girl flair, it doesn't seem like it's possible for both statements to be true.
702* TinFoilHat: Psychonauts features a character named Dogen Boole who is seen regularly wearing a tin foil hat. When asked about his hat he will explain that he wears it so he doesn't accidentally blow anyone's head up with his incredible psychic powers.
703* TomatoSurprise:
704** [[spoiler:Boyd ''is'' The Milkman.]]
705** Likewise, [[spoiler:Edgar is El Odio.]]
706* TopHeavyGuy: Edgar Teglee. Also, the Lucha wrestlers.
707* TorosYFlamenco: Edgar's mind. And it's [[SceneryPorn smooooooth]]...
708* ToughLove: [[spoiler:Raz's father]]. Unlike most examples of this trope, he's not even all that mean or callous toward [[spoiler:his son]]. The countless hours of strenuous acrobat training that he forced on him were simply done to [[spoiler:keep him safe from the world around him.]]
709* {{Tsundere}}: Lili is very much a Western version of this trope.
710* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The trailers, back of the box, and the summary for the Steam store page all mention the fact that [[spoiler:someone removes Raz's campmates' brains]].
711** TrailersAlwaysLie: Said trailers also said "the councilors have something to hide"; implying the camp itself was a front for the aformentioned [[spoiler:brain thefts]].
712* TruthInTelevision: The G-Men will sometimes mention tidbits that are completely true, such as the "sewer workers" saying there is not a single documented instance of fully grown alligators encountered in sewers, and the "house wives" saying rhubarb is toxic in large quantities.
713* TwoWordsICantCount: Raz and Ford get into a short debate about whether "Ca-Caw!" counts as either one word or two words due to the hyphenation.
714* UnderwaterRuins: The battle with [[spoiler:Linda the Lungfish]] takes place in the submerged ruins of the prospecting town Shaky Claim. The lake was originally a valley until the government evacuated and flooded it to deal with insanity epidemic.
715* TheUnfought: [[spoiler:Doctor Loboto; you don't get to even enter his mind. He just gets pushed off the the top of Thorney Towers by a tank piloted by the ''talking turtle disguised as a human brain''.]]
716* UnreliableNarrator: One twist that happens late into the game is the revelation that [[spoiler:Raz's father isn't anything like his son describes him to be. Raz believes that his father [[FantasticRacism hates psychics]], [[YouAreWhatYouHate despite being psychic himself]], and has been training him in acrobatics either to stamp the powers out of him or [[OffingTheOffspring kill him]], whichever came first. This is in no way close to the truth, Raz just severely misinterpreted his actions.]]
717[[/folder]]
718
719[[folder:V-Z]]
720* VentPhysics: In use in the platforming dream world.
721* VictoryPose: Done via a strange hold-your-hand-out-like-a-chicken (Egyptian walk?) and walking around in a circle while saying "Erh, eh-erh! Eh-eh, eh-erh!" It was originally Bobby Zilch's pose. Raz co-opted it.
722* VideoGameCaringPotential:
723** You aren't ''required'' to return all the [[spoiler: camper's brains]], but you [[HeartContainer are rewarded if you do]].
724** In the first level, you can optionally escort Dogen through a minefield and get a small reward of Psychic Arrowheads for it if you make it through without getting him blown up.
725* VideoGameCrueltyPotential:
726** Raz can attack various animals who can't fight back against him. "See ya in hell, squirrels!"
727** You can use practically any ability or item on any NPC, meaning you can punch them, shoot them, set them on fire, confuse them, lift them up in the air, or tickle them.
728* VirtualTrainingSimulation: This is how the teachers instruct you, by thinking up training grounds in their minds and then letting you explore them.
729* VisibleInvisibility: When Raz turns invisible, his body becomes ghostly and his goggles glow.
730* VisualPun: While exploring the minds of others, you will encounter an assortment of hatboxes, duffel bags, and purses lying around, all bearing very sad faces and crying loudly. These things represent the person's ''emotional baggage''.
731* VocalDissonance:
732** Mr. Pokeylope is a teeny little turtle with a smooth, deep voice.
733** Played for laughs with Bonita Soleil. Outside her dressing room, a woman's crying is heard. When you talk to Bonita in person, her voice is a gravelly man's voice. The feminine crying is a tape she plays to get in character.
734* VoodooShark: The game actually provides a pretty reasonable explanation on how its [[JustifiedExtraLives extra lives]] work: since the whole game is built around the JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind idea, you're not really "dying", you're just getting kicked back out into the real world and have to start over again. Okay... so what happens when you lose a life ''outside'' a mental world?
735* {{Wacky Land}}: Nearly every level is some combination of this and GimmickLevel.
736* WackyWaysideTribe: Fixing the psychoses of the asylum inhabitants is fun, but it doesn't advance the plot in the slightest.
737* WalkOnWater: The Levitation power ''should'' let you do this, but Raz's curse prevents him from doing so. This catches Mila off guard, with her saying that shouldn't be happening. Raz can do this in a very short-lived variant, doing a double jump in an attempt to get to land. If he fails when he comes down to the water the second time though...
738* WarmUpBoss: The first boss in the game, the [[ItMakesSenseInContext gigantic mutated censor]], is by far the most straightforward in the game. Other than a simple "kill these four things to keep it from recovering health" mechanic, its the only boss that can be beaten in the standard "shoot it 'till it dies" way. All other bosses in the game are some sort of PuzzleBoss.
739* WarpWhistle: Either the smelling salts or the bacon can take Raz out of a mental world instantly, and the latter can take him to Ford's headquarters to quickly receive new badges, unwind cobwebs or combine cards. There are also several ways of teleporting around an area- see ZipMode.
740* WeakenedByTheLight: The Phantom/[[spoiler:Jasper]] from Gloria's level, though its justified due to every mental world being a WorldOfSymbolism. As a Straw Critic, [[spoiler:Jasper cannot stand any form of positivity,]] and as such his boss fight involves triggering spotlights to hit him so that he's made vulnerable. At the ending of the stage, [[spoiler: Jasper is unable to withstand Bonita's radiance and is left to shrink while screaming ineffectual insults, representing Gloria's positivity overcoming her self-hatred.]]
741* WeaksauceWeakness: Due to a family curse, Raz can't even get close to water more than waist-deep without risking death.
742* WeaponsGradeVocabulary: Jasper fires ink bolts at Raz from giant pens, which turn into critical words like "Awful!" and "Tedious!" on impact. And Raz was so sure he had nothing to fear...
743-->'''Raz''': How can I say this and still sound cool... Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never... hurt me?
744* WeirdnessCensor: Literally - explore any sane persons mind, and you will come across strange little men called censors. They essentially act like your mind's immune system, stamping out anything that doesn't belong in there, such as manias, hallucinations, and delusions. Unfortunately for you, [[SeekerWhiteBloodCells you're considered a threat]].
745* WelcomeToCorneria: Thoroughly averted - nearly every character has a plethora of dialogue pieces, they update frequently as the story progresses, and there are even a few characters who are literally programmed to [[MadLibsDialogue never say the same thing twice]].
746* WellDoneSonGuy: Never outright stated, but strongly implied with [[spoiler:Raz]]. His relationship with his father can be generously described as [[AbusiveParents less than ideal]], and while he outwardly acts like he doesn't care much about him or what he thinks, examining his dialogue closely would indicate otherwise. Then, in the final level, [[spoiler:we meet his own mental image of his father: a sadistic maniac who not only hates his son's guts, but constantly belittles him and calls him a disappointment and a failure.]] Thankfully, [[spoiler:his real father shows up to help set the record straight.]]
747** Gloria Von Gouten is also strongly implied to be a "Well Done, Daughter" Woman.
748--> '''Gloria:''' ''[Delusionally mistaking Raz for her mother]'' Would you like me to tell you how I won that award? ...Or are you trying to take it from me, ''because you don't think I deserve it?'' I never asked to be famous - I just wanted you to ''love'' me!
749* WhamLine: [[spoiler:Once you telekinetically throw Raz's brain into the tank's open hatch with Oleander's brain, they circle each other, the screen goes back, and then a boy you've never seen approaches and says [[UsedToBeASweetKid "Oh, hi! My name is Morceau Oleander. But you can call me Morry. Or Oly."]]]]
750* {{Whatevermancy}}: Several psychic powers get this treatment.
751* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Crispin's fate [[spoiler:after the asylum exploded]] is left unclear.
752* WhatTheHellPlayer: Quite aggressively so - every NPC has a unique reaction to just about every psychic power. Some reactions to psychic powers require cheating to see. Just about every object gets a unique reaction, too. Trying every power and item with every possible NPC and object is vastly rewarding.
753** If you punch a girl scout in The Milkman Conspiracy, "Why did you punch that little girl?" will be added to the list of questions you're asked when captured and interrogated.
754** Raz can jump on and knock over Edgar's card tower in Black Velvetopia prior to getting all four queen cards. Doing so will cause Edgar to become ''furious'' and yell at Raz to keep off.
755* WheelOFeet: In Gloria's stage, this is how the cardboard horses run.
756* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Whispering Rock could really be located in any old forest. Most of the campers have American accents, so its most likely in the United States, but there are very few clues pointing to anything more specific.
757* WhiteDwarfStarlet: Gloria.
758* WhoEvenNeedsABrain: A case of walking vegetables when Dr. Loboto forces all the campers to [[spoiler:literally sneeze their brains out as part of an evil plan]]. They can be put right back in with no ill effects.
759* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Due to a family curse, Raz is ''extremely'' hydrophobic.
760* WiseBeyondTheirYears:
761** [[ChildProdigy At age ten]], Raz was able to cure ''four'' people from their insanity, and he did that by jumping into their minds and talking to their subconscious mental figments, representing the patient's psychological issues, in the most encouraging and most gentle way possible. Did we mention that all these people are ''[[AdultsAreUseless adults?]]''
762** Also, when Raz first arrived at camp, ''three'' of the most powerful Psychonauts in existence try to figure out who he is and what he wants. His defenses are so incredible, they get ''nothing''.
763** Raz earns all badges, learns all skills, saves the campers and by extension probably the world. At age ten. After ''less than a day'' at camp. The only one even close to his abilities is Lili and she's been at camp for at least a few years longer than him.
764* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: PlayedWith in the form of the psychoactive material [[GreenRocks Psitanum]]; it'll either give you incredible power ''or'' drive you insane. The rules on how and why this happens is left rather vague, though it is implied that your chances of becoming more powerful increase significantly if you're already psychic.
765* WombLevel: The Meat Circus, a CircusOfFear with bits of raw meat and bone sticking out of the canvas. You're not inside anybody, but you're certainly surrounded by a lot of raw flesh.
766* WorldOfChaos: All the [[MentalWorld Mental Worlds]] are strange, but the only two that can truly be described this way are the Milkman Conspiracy and the Meat Circus. The former since it takes place in the mind of the most mentally broken character in the game, and the latter because it takes place in [[spoiler:a mishmash of two different minds]].
767* WorldOfSymbolism: Well, considering the fact that all the levels in this game are a JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind, that's to be expected.
768** Sasha's Shooting Gallery is a simplistic white cube with intricate designs on it, representing Sasha's level of control that he has on his mind. However, once the cube unfolds, the player gets to see shoes, shoeboxes and figments that bring to mind items for babies/children amidst the architecture, which represents Sasha's childhood as the son of a cobbler.
769** Milla's Dance Party is a brightly colored fun obstacle course that reflects Milla's fun-loving personality and her DiscoDan aspects. However, tucked away from the party area is a traumatic part of herself: [[spoiler:A traumatic memory of the time she worked at an orphanage and returned home to find the building on fire, unable to save the children.]] However, her nightmares are under control, reflecting that while she does have past traumas, she's risen above it and doesn't let it take over her mind.
770** Lungfishopolis is a representation of Linda's own mind and what "Kochamara" did to her: [[spoiler:He had a hand in her brainwashing to make her steal the brains of the campers.]] While most of the little lungfish in her mind are complacent, there's a few zealots who ask for Razputin's help in breaking the broadcasting tower that's brainwashing everyone, implying Linda is aware that she's been brainwashed and is attempting to fight from the inside.
771** The Milkman Conspiracy is a twisted reflection of a modern suburban neighborhood. The roads all twist into the sky, distorting gravity along with it, a visual metaphor for how Boyd's own logic and reasoning are both twisted to make room for his conspiracies. The level contains mailboxes that follow Raz when he looks away and bushes and animals that have hidden cameras inside of them. This is an example of Boyd's paranoia, thinking that even the most mundane of things are watching him. Further, his mind has no Censors (until the very end), a reflection of his insanity: He has nothing to stamp out thoughts that don't belong.
772** Gloria's Theater is a representation of Gloria's life put onto a stage: Raz needs to find scripts that are plays acting out the various portions of her life, from her childhood in [[BoardingSchoolOfHorrors Hagatha Home]] to her eventual rise to stardom. However, the plays are all very poorly acted because Gloria's muse Bonita Soleil can't act on the stage. Every time she attempts to do so, her efforts are sabotaged by a man called the Phantom. Up in the critic's booth however, is an enormous and really rude theatergoer named Jasper Rolls, representing her inner critic. According to Bonita, he wasn't always so big, but after the suicide of Gloria's mother, that caused him to grow bigger as Gloria's life fell into shambles. Getting to the end of the level reveals that [[spoiler:Jasper and the Phantom are the same as her critic doesn't believe she can do well and attempts to sabotage her performances.]] The play also has mood lighting that causes the plays to transition from being overly saccharine to hostile and rude, reflecting Gloria's mood swings outside her head.
773** Black Velvetopia is a beautiful world of neon colors painted on black velvet architecture, befitting of an artist like Edgar. However, the wild bull El Odio runs free in his head, knocking down the card tower and preventing the artists from moving out onto the streets. Edgar seeks to make a tower of cards to reach Lampita Pasionado, a beautiful woman who cries rose petal tears. Along the way, Raz meets Dingo Inflagrante, a bullheaded bullfighter with a large ego and four luchadores who guard the cards that Raz needs. As the player progresses through the level however, the true nature of why Edgar's mind is the way it is starts to unfold: [[spoiler:"Lampita Pasionado" and "Dingo Inflagrante" are romanticized memories of Edgar's high school girlfriend and the boy she dumped him for. The luchadores that you have to fight to get the cards are memories of the wrestling team Edgar was a part of in his youth. Underneath the beautiful town is a sewer that looks like a high school, complete with figments of teenagers and lockers underneath. To top it all off, El Odio represents Edgar's anger over his high school days and his inability to let those memories go. Only when Edgar lets the memories of "Lampita" and "Dingo" go, he can move on and paint a picture without the bullfight getting in the way.]]
774** The Meat Circus is the game's final level, and it's a twisted fusion of Raz and [[spoiler:Oleander's]] minds. [[spoiler:The circus that Raz performed in is combined with the memories of Oleander's childhood as the son of a butcher and both of their bad memories of their father shape the scene: Oleander's memories of his father killing and selling the rabbits he loved is represented by rabbits falling into meat grinders and becoming grotesque and mangled, and Raz's belief that his father hated him for being a psychic is represented by the circus turning hostile and his father attempting to kill him. In the end, Raz and Oleander's daddy issues combine to become the Two-Headed Dad Monster. That's when the real Augustus Aquato arrives and we learn Raz's issues with his father sprang from misconceptions about his father, and his real dad isn't anything like this. Then Augustus gives Raz his support and helps him defeat the Two-Headed Dad Monster. Fittingly, this is the only level where Raz is helped by someone else instead of the other way around, representing how other people helping you with their problems can make the fight against them easier.]]
775* WritersCannotDoMath: It's vague at best, but the Whispering Rock timeline would seem to indicate that the inmates of the abandoned insane asylum have been there for ''fifty years''. With nothing to eat, drink, or clean themselves with.
776** The game tells you that the highest achievable rank is 100, and there are exactly enough collectables in the game to get to this rank. However, you also get awarded a rank for beating every round of the punching minigame in Basic Braining, making it possible to have a rank of [[Over100PercentCompletion 101/100]]. Doing this in the Steam version nets you the achievement "[[LampshadeHanging Math Is Hard]]".
777* {{Yandere}}: Elka is... kinda nuts about relationships.
778* YouAllLookFamiliar: During most of the game, this is averted quite beautifully, but during the Milkman Conspiracy this is played straight [[InvokedTrope on purpose]]. All the G-Men look blatantly identical and have carbon-copied personalities, and yet they are still trying their best to [[PaperThinDisguise blend in like any other people]].
779* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Inverted in Edgar's Mindscape. [[spoiler: Raz points out that Lana and Dean are ''more worthless'' than Edgar believes they are. Played straight for Edgar, as Raz is lets him know he's bigger than a couple of dumb kids who hurt him in highschool.]]
780* YouGetWhatYouPayFor: During the Brain Tumbler experiment Raz will tell Sasha about seeing "very weird things". Sasha exclaims "Ack! Why did I have to buy the ''cheap'' Brain Tumbler?". [[SubvertedTrope Turns out cheapness has nothing to do with it...]]
781* YourHeadASplode: Dogen did this to someone once. ''Four'' someones. kinda probably. He definitely did it to three squirrels who were saying the little guy would kill everyone. [[spoiler:By little guy, they meant Oleander.]] DramaticIrony hits when [[spoiler: Dogen thought they meant him...leading to him kill all the squirrels]].
782* YouKilledMyFather: Invoked for a joke:
783-->'''French soldier''': [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext Zat voz for killing my father, bridge!]]
784* ZipMode: In addition to the {{Warp Whistle}}s mentioned above, Cruller's transit system allows quick transport between areas of camp. The bubbler provides the same service in mental worlds.
785[[/folder]]

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