[[quoteright:337:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Miserere_Spaceship_8239.png]]
[[caption-width-right:337:The Protagonist in their [[WhoForgotTheLights dark]], lonely space station.]]

->''"Recently, my dreams have become increasingly hard to control. Is this a sign of my deteriorating mental health?"''
-->--'''Miserere's [[NoNameGiven nameless]] Protagonist'''

For twelve years, an [[NoNameGiven unnamed]] astronaut has been living solitarily in a small space station located on a planet close to the center of a galaxy. While the astronaut initially enjoyed their solitude, they now primarily experience [[SpaceMadness boredom and depression]]. Now the astronaut's only joy is their vivid dreams during their constant sleep. However, recently the astronaut's lucid dreams have become more disjointed and difficult to control. As our protagonist [[MentalStory continues to sleep and dream]], they realize that they have [[DarkAndTroubledPast painful demons from their past]] that they must come to terms with.

''Miserere'' ("have mercy" in Latin) is a {{freeware}} game made on RPG Maker by the independent game developer [[http://owlgame.webs.com/ Snow Owl]]. It is highly inspired by the RPG freeware game ''VideoGame/YumeNikki'', another SurrealHorror game made on RPG Maker which involves heavy exploration of bizarre dream worlds. The most recent version of ''Miserere'', v1.02, was completed August 2012. This version can be downloaded [[http://www.mediafire.com/?4688vju6254y2j6 here]].

Many of these tropes are found within plot twists revealed during the endgame. Therefore, '''expect many unmarked spoilers ahead.''' It's recommended to play through the game before perusing the tropes on this page for the best possible playing experience anyway.
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!!The game provides examples of:
* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Present in some of the dreams' settings. Additionally, the protagonist lived happily here with their mother during their childhood.
* AcidTripDimension: This is a given, since this game is greatly inspired by ''VideoGame/YumeNikki'' and is about exploring bizarre dream worlds.
* AlienBlood: Averted. Despite being half-alien, the protagonist's death-scenes within their dreams show them having human-like red blood.
* TheAloner: The protagonist has been living in a remote space station by themselves for over a decade.
-->'''Protagonist:''' ''I can't remember the last time I saw another human being....Or actually, I can. The real problem is, I can't remember the last time I saw a REAL human being.''
* AmbiguousGender: From their sprite's androgynous appearance, the protagonist may either be a male with shoulder-length hair or a female in unisex clothing. The fact that the protagonist [[NoNameGiven never reveals their name]] doesn't help to clarify this mystery. They could be something else entirely, considering they are half-alien.
* BadFuture / CrapsackWorld: In the time period that the protagonist lives in, rats are frustratingly commonplace. In comparison, rabbits, snakes, and monkeys are extinct. Oxen, tigers, horses, sheep, roosters, dogs, and pigs have been extinct for so long that the protagonist cannot identify them.
* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: Beating the game entails the protagonist [[spoiler: battling their darkest demon, who takes the form of their mother's murderer]].
* BeautifulVoid: The dream worlds consist of [[SceneryPorn gorgeous]] yet eerie and lonesome surreal landscapes.
* BiblicalMotifs: Motifs from Christianity found within the dreams include crosses, stained glass windows from a cathedral, God's pointing hand from the [[Art/SistineChapel "Creation of Adam"]] {{painting|s}}, and [[OurMonstersAreWeird disembodied bishop heads]]. Satan is mentioned once in a short story and even appears to the protagonist in reality from the dream world as a possible hallucination.
* BigBad: Carrie, the [[KnightTemplar “hero”]] of Terra Puritatem who murdered the protagonist’s mother. Or at least, a nightmare that takes her form.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Quite a few. Giant spiders, a hive of giant insects, [[OurMonstersAreWeird giant grinning worms]] that [[TeleportersAndTransporters teleport]] you...
* BittersweetEnding / GainaxEnding: So by the end of the game the protagonist [[spoiler: has managed to kill their darkest inner demon within their dreams, who took the form of their mother's murderer]]. The last scene of the game is [[spoiler: the protagonist mourning over their mother's corpse]]. But does [[spoiler: the protagonist ever wake up, recover from their clinical depression, or return to Earth in at least a happier mood]]? No one knows.
* BlackBugRoom / BleakLevel: None of the [[AcidTripDimension surreal]], [[WhoForgotTheLights dimly-lit]] areas in the protagonist's dream world's BeautifulVoid are exactly chipper. However, near the end-game the protagonist can now fall asleep in the bed near the mechanical controls room. The dreams the protagonist explores while asleep in this bed are even more dreary than the dreams experienced before, since this is where the protagonist confronts their deepest, darkest memories.
* CreepyDoll: The doll head that the protagonist acquires always looks toward their general direction no matter which angle the protagonist is viewing the head.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: The protagonist has one...
* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: The protagonist remembers their deceased mother as "Loving, caring, understanding, kind and wise."
* DisappearedDad: The protagonist's mother was murdered in the past, but where exactly was their father the whole time?
* {{Doppelganger}}: During one event the protagonist watches their shadowy doppelganger commit suicide.
* DreamEmergencyExit: The protagonist wakes up from their dreams by pinching themselves.
* DreamLand: Every setting except those within the space station is this.
* DreamPeople: More like [[StarfishAliens dream]] [[OurMonstersAreWeird creatures]]. The only actual "person" the protagonist can have a meaningful conversation with in the dream world is [[spoiler: the game's villain Carrie.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: After having watched their shadowy {{doppelganger}} commit suicide by jumping off a building's steep ledge, the protagonist contemplates suicide also; however, they don't follow through with it.
-->'''Protagonist:''' ''There is nothing between me and certain death. I get vertigo just by going close to the edge.''
* DullEyesOfUnhappiness: Considering the protagonist's obvious clinical depression, the [[EyesAlwaysClosed closed-eyes]] appearance on their sprite could be interpreted as these.
* EmptyRoomPsych: The rusted ship area has quite a few jammed doors that the player will not be able to open, even with the various keys they may find throughout the game. Also in the rusted ship are two rooms which hold nothing of real importance. Either way, the player may furiously try to open the doors or explore these useless rooms trying to find ''something'' important or interesting...
* EvilLaugh: [[spoiler: By the BigBad Carrie, right before the final boss battle with her.]]
* EyesAlwaysShut: The protagonist's
* FacelessEye: The little eyeball people in the fungus cave area
* FanSequel: ''Miserere'' is heavily inspired by ''VideoGame/YumeNikki''. However ''Miserere'' is not as similar to ''Yume Nikki'' as other fangames such as ''VideoGame/DotFlow'' or ''VideoGame/{{Yume2kki}}'' since it has dialogue, characterization, and a coherent plot. In this sense, it is similar to other "second generation" fangames such as ''Answered Prayers'', ''Fleshchild'', and ''The Looking Glass''.
* FantasticRacism: The protagonist and their mother, who are half-alien and full-alien respectively, suffered persecution from regular humans and had to live in the sewers for safety. Eventually the mother got murdered by an alien exterminator.
** FantasticGhetto: Aliens and alien-human hybrids must live and hide in the sewers to escape persecution from humans.
** FantasticSlurs: Alien-human hybrids are referred to as "mutants."
** KnightTemplar: The organization Terra Puritatem wants to exterminate all aliens and alien hybrids in place of the ineffectual government because these undesirables "...attack citizens, they eat our crops, and they befoul our homes!"
* FreakOut: The protagonist experiences this when they finally begin to remember their childhood in the sewer, but can't remember what their beloved mother looked like.
* TheFutureIsNoir: Even in reality the space station is dimly lit at best.
* GoMadFromTheIsolation: Over a decade by themselves in the remote space station may be the reason why the protagonist is having increasingly deranged and disturbing dreams as well as possible hallucinations in reality.
* GoodMorningCrono: The game begins just as the {{sleepyhead}} protagonist wakes up at their desk. The protagonist then remarks that they should do some work, and this gives the player a chance to explore the space station.
* GottaCatchThemAll: The protagonist must collect all parts of a doll to give to the lonely old lady in order to progress to the second part of the game.
* GratuitousLatin: The game's title ''Miserere'' ("have mercy") and the [[KnightTemplar alien exterminating organization]] ''Terra Puritatem'' ("pure Earth"). This is especially apparent since this game takes place in a future that includes distant space travel, massive animal extinctions, and illegal extraterrestrial immigration. What use would a long-dead Classical language be in this high-tech era?
* GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe: The protagonist's mother is a beautiful humanoid alien.
* GrayRainOfDepression: Many of the areas in the clinically depressed protagonist's dream world are dark and rainy. Even the sky bridge area, which is relatively well-lit and with upbeat music, is rainy.
* GuideDangIt: This gameplay mostly involves finding an item in one area and then using that item in some other specific area to progress the game. Considering that the dream world is a WideOpenSandBox, this entails ''lots'' of exploration, attention to detail, and trial and error if a player is to abstain from a strategy guide. Interestingly, this game is actually somewhat more forgiving in this aspect than VideoGame/YumeNikki and other fan-sequels, as the areas are slightly more linear, smaller, don't wrap around themselves (meaning there aren't any of the void-like open areas these games are known for), and are connected a bit more coherently.
* HalfHumanHybrids: The protagonist is a human-alien hybrid.
* {{Hallucinations}}: After particularly traumatizing dreams the protagonist will begin to see these in reality.
* HandInTheHole: At one point the protagonist encounters a small, square, arm-depth hole in the wall. If the protagonist chooses to reach their arm into there, [[spoiler: then they will obtain a key with no harm done to them.]]
* HollywoodAtheist: Years ago the protagonist used to be a devout Christian. However, years of regularly reading science novels and time alone to ponder their beliefs led the protagonist to no longer believe in any deity.
* HubLevel: Consists of a constantly dark and storming garden with [[OurMonstersAreWeird eyeball creatures]] floating around.
** The space station could count, as well, since [[spoiler:the two different beds connect to entirely different dream worlds]].
* HumansAreBastards: This is the conclusion the Devil came to in the short story "The Devil Is Just A Tired Human."
* IJustWantToHaveFriends: The old lady in the short story "The Sad Lady" has all the wealth in the world, yet yearns for a friend above everything else.
* InstantWakingSkills: Surprisingly enough this is always the case for the {{sleepyhead}} protagonist, whether they're waking up from a nasty nightmare or not.
* JumpScare: The falling corpse in the rusted ship area.
* LeapOfFaith: At one point the protagonist encounters a bottomless hole which recently had a boulder covering it. Depending on which areas the player had already explored in the dream world, the protagonist may have encountered some nasty things and died in-dream. The protagonist has the option of entering the bottomless hole, but there is the risk of dying in-dream. However, entering the hole is nonlethal and the protagonist can exit from the hole again.
* LightIsNotGood: There are monsters in the church area that resemble priests' heads that can kill you. The [[KnightTemplar alien hunting organization]] [[GratuitousLatin Terra Puritatem]] also seems to be this.
* LivingStatue: Sometimes the giant mossy statues may sniff at the protagonist as they walk past them.
* LonelyPianoPiece: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8HCYoEiesg There is one]] in the rusted ship area by Music/BoardsOfCanada, which is fitting since the ship is abandoned and severely dilapidated. The red planet area also has one, which is fitting since this area is very dark with a lonesome atmosphere.
* TheMaze: The bog area has an invisible maze.
** There is also the hellish purple maze full of the monster wall-hands and disembodied bishop heads.
* MentalStory: The protagonist continues to be isolated and bored in the remote space station, so they spend the majority of their time sleeping and dreaming.
* MindScrew: This is a given for a SurrealHorror game such as this.
* MissingMom: The protagonist's mother was murdered in the past.
* MoodWhiplash: So in their darkest dream yet the protagonist has been uncovering painful memories from their past. They do this while exploring a dark and dilapidated abandoned movie studio which has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXrBe6e0sNM music]] from ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'' playing in the background. The protagonist then finds a conspicuous suitcase. The cheery and surreal world they find within the suitcase looks like a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rene_magritte René Magritte]] painting with influences from ''Creator/MontyPython''- though it is in fact a world from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iblard_Jikan Iblard Jikan]].
* MysteriousPast: The protagonist's. They began their life as an orphaned, persecuted human-alien hybrid who lived the the sewers. Just how did they go from that to an astronaut granted their own space station to live and work, which presumably requires intensive higher education and permission from a national space organization?
* NightmareFace: At one point the protagonist encounters the face of a giant which looks corpse-like but with a gaping mouth full of sharp teeth and wild, angry eyes.
** There's also the mossy statue with the [[SlasherSmile creepy grin]] in the "MORE SACRIFICES" room.
* NightmareSequence: Pretty much all of the protagonist's dreams.
* NoNameGiven: The protagonist [[TheUnreveal almost reveals]] their name in the beginning. However, they may have forgotten it after years of [[GoMadFromTheIsolation isolation]].
* NoNewFashionsInTheFuture: From their sprite, the protagonist looks like they're wearing a plain black sweater, baggy denim jeans, and white tennis shoes.
* NoPaperFuture: Averted. The protagonist owns several books, manuals, a notebook to write down ideas from dreams, and a movie poster.
* NothingIsScarier: In certain creepy areas you may hear faint ominous noises (like a crying baby or indecipherable whispering) in the background, yet you can find no discernible source of the noise...
* OffWithHisHead: During one event the protagonist gets their head bloodily slashed off by a yeti.
* OminousFog: This, coupled with the [[WhoForgotTheLights poor lighting]] in many of the environments, makes exploring the highly detailed environments a challenge.
* OneHitKill: Malicious creatures in the dream world can kill the protagonist in-dream by simply touching them, causing the protagonist to wake up.
* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler: For the final battle Carrie]] transforms into a giant snake-like sewer monster.
* OurMonstersAreWeird: What else would inhabit the dream world of someone gradually losing their sanity?
* OverlyLongTongue: During some jump scares in the game the protagonist will briefly get this for some reason.
* PigMan: The piglet people in the pig pen area have human bodies and pig heads. However, they're not huge and boorish as this trope typically depicts.
* PortalPainting: A painting of a red flower in the abstract art gallery transports the protagonist to the red art gallery.
* TheReveal: While the protagonist appears to be a regular human, they are actually an human-alien hybrid. The protagonist and their mother lived happily in the sewers until FantasticRacism made [[BigBad Carrie]] murder the full-alien mother.
* SanctuaryOfSolitude: At one point of the game the protagonist will rediscover one of these within the space station. Given all the emotional stress the protagonist had experienced up to this point, they have the option to pray at the sanctuary's alter again despite having become an atheist years ago. Incidentally, this sanctuary is one of the most serene areas of the game.
* SanitySlippage: Apparently, the protagonist's sanity has been slipping long before this game even started. And considering this is a SurrealHorror game, their sanity will continue to slip as game progresses. As a dream denizen remarks to the protagonist, ''"You're really starting to lose it. When was the last time you woke up not feeling depressed?"''
* SceneryGorn: Many of the game's areas are very reminiscent of those in ''Franchise/SilentHill'', being severely dilapidated and covered with blood and rust.
* SceneryPorn: The graphics in this game are much more detailed than most other VideoGame/YumeNikki [[FanSequel fangames]]. Particularly beautiful areas of mention are the mossy statues area, the red planet area, and the sky bridge area.
* ShoutOut: Certain denizens of the dream world recite an outside entity's quote or paraphrase of a quote relating to ''Miserere's'' theme of dream exploration:
** '''King Kud''': [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Williams "There is a time for departure even when there is no certain place to go."]]
** '''T'ok''': [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Picasso "Everything you can imagine is real."]]
** '''Hak''': [[ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes "Reality continues to ruin my life."]]
** '''Lh'rye''': [[Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland "If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there."]]
** '''Mossy Old Man''': "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus_Is_Coming_to_Town You better watch out, you better not cry.]] [[http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/38353.html Your time is limited, so don't waste it.]]"
** '''Mr. Moon''': [[http://quotations.about.com/cs/inspirationquotes/a/Wisdom12.htm "A road twice traveled is never as long."]]
* SlasherSmile: The creepy statue in the "MORE SACRIFICES" room bears this.
* {{Sleepyhead}}: As the protagonist puts it,
-->'''Protagonist:''' ''I have found that sleeping has become my one and only enjoyable past time. So I sleep. And sleep. And then sleep some more. Occasionally I make a few rounds and check instruments. Then I sleep.''
* SmallSecludedWorld: The small space station the protagonist occupies in real life
* SnowMeansDeath: During a certain event, the protagonist explores a yeti's snow den. The yeti bloodily decapitates the protagonist in response.
* SolemnEndingTheme: Naturally, considering the game's [[BittersweetEnding ending]]
* SpaceMadness: The protagonist resorts to constant sleeping and dreaming to cope with the isolation and boredom from spending years living alone in a remote space station.
* SpaceStation: The protagonist is the lone occupant of the space station Harmony, which is located on a barren planet near the center of a galaxy.
* SpontaneousHumanCombustion: If the protagonist touches a disembodied bishop head, this how they die in-dream.
* StarfishAliens: Many of the dream world creatures look like this, particularly the veiny mushroom creatures with eyes in the fungus cave area or the [[BuffySpeak floating organic-dirigible things]] from the red gallery area.
* SurrealHorror
* TeleportersAndTransporters: There is a teleporting maze where giant grinning worms teleport you throughout a filthy, abandoned locker room.
* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: Were the objects that begin to appear in the space station always there without recognition from the protagonist, or is the protagonist simply beginning to hallucinate them due to the intensive dream exploration?
* TroubledFetalPosition: Later in the game the protagonist kneels down to inspect a sewer hole. Once they remember their past living in the sewer with their mother, they clutch their head in pain as [[FreakOut they struggle to remember their deceased mother's appearance]], entering the troubled fetal position in full.
* VideoGameCaringPotential: At one point the protagonist has the option of returning a dream denizen's lost black box. This does nothing to progress the game and doesn't reward the protagonist any useful skills or items. However, the item's owner is "thankful. Greatly, deeply thankful."
* WhoForgotTheLights: Many of the game's areas have dark filters around them, making it difficult to see.
* [[YouKilledMyFather You Killed My Mother]]: The protagonist fights against their mother's murderer [[spoiler: as the final boss.]]
* YourMindMakesItReal: Averted. Even if the protagonist gets grisly killed off in a traumatizing dream, the health scanner in the space station will always detect the protagonist's body to be without any injuries or diseases.
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