* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Was [[spoiler:the Batter]] a sociopath whose [[spoiler:"holy mission"]] was really one of vengeance against [[spoiler:his wife]]? Was he a WellIntentionedExtremist who thought he was doing the right thing by [[spoiler:erasing everything "impure" from existence]]? Or was he truly [[spoiler:performing a MercyKill on an ever-worsening, twisted world of suffering and neurosis]]?
* AluminumChristmasTrees: Metal really does [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_disease accumulate inside cows]], although not in such large quantities as found in the game, and certainly not without making the cows sick. [[FridgeBrilliance Then again, if all the 'dirt' in the world is actually made of metal…]]
* AnticlimaxBoss: Both {{Final Boss}}es have pitifully low HP. [[spoiler:The Judge]] only has as much health as the first boss, and you outnumber him four to one. [[spoiler:The Batter]] has even less HP, and you're given an incredibly powerful competence for the battle that can kill him in three hits or less. Or you can use Palsy on him to flat-out turn him into a ZeroEffortBoss. To be more exact, [[spoiler:The Batter]] can be killed so fast he lands exactly ''one'' hit on you in the entire battle. [[EpicFail And even that hit can miss.]]
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
** The giant flying whales that appear out of nowhere in Zone 2. The description says nothing at all about them being related to the specters at all — they are apparently actual living whales that for some reason fly and attack the Batter. This BLAM has been the subject of several pieces of fanart.
** Most baffling of all is the fish that appears when you step on a certain circular pad in Zone 1. It briefly jumps up, and that's it. The event also only plays once, so you're likely to forget that it even happened. The event itself is even very easily missable, so you're likely to never encounter it. Not to mention that the fish is the only living thing in the area that's actually in color.
** In the Room, you encounter what appears to be either a giant Elsen stuck in the wall or a large, talking mural of one.
* BrokenBase: The 3.0 translation. While it was far more literal than the original translation, it also [[{{Bowdlerize}} removed all of the swearing from the game]], even [[SirSwearsALot Dedan's]]. Many fans also find it drier than the 2.0 release, but also more polished.
* CommonKnowledge: It's widely believed that the person that gave Hugo his pills and who he refers to as "Papa" is either his biological father (he has none) or the Batter. WordOfGod states that he is ''the'' Elsen.
* CreepyCute:
** [[CheshireCatGrin The Judge]] is this to many fans.
** To a lesser extent, some people consider Zacharie to be this.
* CrossoverShip:
** The Batter with [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 the Scout.]] Presumably, it has to do with the fact that they use baseball bats as weapons.
*** This is apparently starting to become an [[OneTrueThreesome OT3]] featuring the two mentioned above and Leon Kuwata from ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc''. [[ThemePairing It's a baseball thing.]]
** On a non-baseball related note, Batter[=/=][[VideoGame/WiiFit Wii Fit Trainer]] are starting to become a thing thanks to the latter's similar pale and featureless appearance, as well as the fact that one of her moves in the new ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' game utilizes several hula-hoops — which fans have joked about resembling the Add-Ons.
** There's also a bit of [[{{Webcomic/Homestuck}} Dirk Strider]]/Zacharie.
* DemonicSpiders:
** The Secretaries, extremely strong and hard to beat enemies that appear in [[spoiler:the purified zones]], though luckily only in said zones, which are optional and not required to beat the game. Although Secretaries give monstrous amounts of experience when defeated, they tend to show up in groups of 2 or 3 at a time, and do things like hit harder than anything else in the game in terms of damage, or inflict you with the nastier status effects, all of which are very annoying. The most advice one can give you with them is to not directly go to [[spoiler:the purified zone]] immediately after it opens.
** Earlier than that are the Fat Spectres, which only appear in Zone 1. While they aren't so bad themselves, they can spawn "Ah, ah" speech bubbles (covered under GoddamnedBats), and due to the fact that both they and "Ah, ah"s can spawn "Ah, ah"s at an alarmingly fast rate means that you're going to pray your attacks are always accurate when dealing with them since you don't have Omega or Epsilon to cover for you if the Batter or Alpha miss. Oh, and you have to take out five of them in a row during an early part of Zone 1.
* DesignatedVillain: While the Guardians are all guilty of something, the Queen doesn't seem to do anything especially evil. [[spoiler:Maybe because she's not actually a villain?]]
* DracoInLeatherPants: All of the villains get this treatment in some part or other of the fandom. Especially [[spoiler:the Batter]].
* EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame: The gameplay is average up through Zone 3 where it starts becoming a lot more frustrating, and almost every boss is a DamageSpongeBoss with little challenge. However, this is compensated for by the auto option being pretty useful. The real focus of the game is on the story, and to some extent the puzzles.
* EnsembleDarkhorse
** You'd be forgiven if you thought Zacharie was the protagonist, based on all the fanart he has.
** The Whale is easily one of the more recognizable enemies.
** Sugar is also very popular among fans, despite being a very easily missed enemy.
* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: To be expected when there are BiblicalMotifs all over the place. One of the most out-there ones has to be when a reader/friend of the Something Awful [=LP=] claimed that [[http://lparchive.org/OFF/Update%2043/ it was a deconstruction of sexist power fantasies]]. (However, this was largely a joke.)
* FanNickname:
** It's one of those common word titles where everyone types it as "OFF (game)" just to make it clear that's what they're talking about.
** [[spoiler:"badbatteur"]] is the file name of the picture of [[spoiler:whatever the Batter turns into in the Special Ending]], and [[spoiler:"le batteur"]] is his name in the original French, so the fans naturally decided to call this "[[spoiler:Bad Batter]]".
** Elsen, in reference to the people populating the game world. It's actually just the name of the first area of Zone 1, with no specific name given to the people. [[spoiler:Mortis Ghost says they're human.]]
* {{Fanon}}:
** A lot of fanart out there tends to give the Batter ExtraEyes due to a misunderstanding of his character portrait where the way his eye is squinting looks vaguely like he has multiple eyes.
** A lot of fanart also tends to draw Zacharie wearing a sweater. This probably stems from a misinterpretation of his sprite, which has misled a lot of people into thinking Zacharie's neck is his sweater collar.
* FauxSymbolism: The BiblicalMotifs spread around the game. Besides the names of the guardians (Dedan, Japhet, and Enoch), most fans (and even the creator himself) tend to ignore the motifs spread throughout the game when people try to discuss the game. Beyond the Batter being "Savior" class.
* FriendlyFandoms:
** With ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' and ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'', due to the three being popular fandoms on Website/{{Tumblr}}.
** Also ''{{VideoGame/Undertale}}'', due to the similar narrative tone, though the gameplay is different.
** With ''VideoGame/YumeNikki'' as well, since both games are [[RuleOfSymbolism highly interpretive]], SurrealHorror games made in UsefulNotes/RPGMaker.
* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: There's a fairly large English following for ''OFF''. To contrast, there aren't too many French fans of the game, even though it was originally created in said language.
** ''OFF'' also has proven to be very popular in both Japan and Korea, with dozens of Japanese and Korean fangames and fanart.
* GoddamnedBats: "Ah, ah"s, or the word bubbles that the Fat Spectres and Dedan spawn. Dedan doesn't spawn them as fast and they never attack, making them less annoying than the normal "Ah, ah"s, but the "Ah, ah"s Fat Spectres spawn can not only spawn more "Ah, ah"s but they are also able to inflict Blinded. While they have low health, if you aren't careful to take out the "Ah, ah"s quickly, they can overwhelm you, especially since you have to clear out ''every'' enemy before the battle can end (not just the ones at the start).
* GoodBadBugs: Poisoning Sugar. She is one of the few enemies that can easily get poisoned, has lots of turns without doing anything (but where each counts as a turn to get poison damage) and Poison itself is based on a percentage of maximum health points instead of based on the level of the Batter. It is possible to easily and quickly kill her as soon as after beating Zone 1, as can be seen [[https://youtu.be/ARfSjXZ6X7k?t=30m16s here]].
* GoodBadTranslation: The English version lists your special attacks as "Competences", which probably refers to "skills". This actually works in the game's favor, as it goes with the cerebral nature of the game and the awkward and abstract naming schemes of the competences themselves.
* HilariousInHindsight: [[Webcomic/{{Paranatural}} A character with a baseball bat fighting the paranormal, huh?]]
* ItWasHisSled:
** The Batter is the VillainProtagonist and an OmnicidalManiac whose quest to "purify" the world, as literal or metaphorical as it can be, still involves murdering everyone and annihilating what's left of creation.
** Hugo dies.
** With all of the fanart, it's hard to hide the fact that the Batter is a potential final boss.
** While not as talked about, the fact that Sugar (not the {{Superboss}}, but the material) is made from Elsen corpses is fairly common knowledge.
** Pretty much everything about The Queen. Shes a wildly popular character who you can see left and right in fanart and discussion. She's also an OneSceneWonder character in game whose said scene is ''the'' most critical spoiler-heavy moment in the whole game due to the scale of the revelations and significance in it. Her relationships to other characters, role, purpose, and even her apperance are all spoilers.
* MemeticMutation:
** [[BlatantLies A nice game for cute children.]]
** The Batter's mission to "purify the world" as well as Zacharie's love of money/credits are played up to nearly-obsession levels in {{Fanon}}.
** Hula Hoops [[labelnote:Explanation]]The Add-Ons notably resemble Hula Hoops, and have been frequently joked to be these, with the Batter sometimes doing acrobatics routines. In rare cases, they're called onion rings as well.[[/labelnote]]
** [[Film/HighSchoolMusical HEY BATTER BATTER HEY BATTER BATTER SWING!]] [[labelnote:Explanation]]This line from ''High School Musical 2'' has been commonly associated with The Batter in the fandom.[[/labelnote]]
** Beating OFF [[labelnote:Explanation]]It's very common to say that you "beat" a game after completing it, which combined with the name of ''this'' game can very often lead to massive cases of ThatCameOutWrong. The infamy of people frequently saying that they "just beat ''OFF''" without realizing the other meaning of that phrase led it to become a common joke in relation to the game both in and out of the fandom.[[/labelnote]]
* MoralEventHorizon: The fight against [[spoiler:Hugo, who's only an infant]]. Arguably also the one against the [[spoiler:Critic Burnt crying for help in the Zone 3 subway]] (though that one could be seen as a MercyKill).
* NauseaFuel: The makers picked a ''damn'' realistic sound when they were making the pedalo ride on the meat fountains. Too bad the sound of paddling through a river of meat isn't exactly something that'd stir your appetite.
* OlderThanTheyThink:
** A video game where [[spoiler:you're actually playing as the villain]]? There are many games just as old as ''OFF'' that do the same thing, some even older.
** ''OFF'' itself is an example. A lot of Americans would tell you that the game came out around 2013 (around the peak of its popularity), but it was actually released in 2008.
* OnceOriginalNowCommon: It's easy to forget, but ''OFF'' came out way ''before'' the slew of ''[[VideoGame/Earthbound1994 Earthbound]]''-inspired [=RPG=]s that the mid-to-late 2010s would produce, making much of its content feel tepid in comparison to games that came out after it. Not to mention that "morally dubious protagonist in a quirky CrapsackWorld" became a genre staple of [=RPG=] Maker games very quickly after ''OFF'''s release (''VideoGame/{{Lisa}}: The Painful'', ''Suits: A Business [=RPG=]'', etc), making its original premise quickly feel derivative. The combat got hit especially hard by this, since combat in ''OFF'' is basically an afterthought to the story which encourages the player to put it on Auto mode, when later games would find unique ways to keep the turn-based combat engaging and intertwine it with an enthralling narrative, with ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' probably being the crown example.
* OneSceneWonder: Unlike other major characters, [[spoiler:Vader Eloha is never seen before the final showdown with her, even if she's heavily referenced by other characters over the course of the game. However, her conversation with The Batter completely recontextualizes the entire game, heavily expands on the character of The Batter himself, and establishes her as a very unique individual. This is followed by an ''extremely'' memorable MirrorBoss battle]].
* PortmanteauCoupleName:
** Batter/Zacharie: Batterie
** Sugar/Zacharie: Sugarie
** Dedan/Enoch: Denoch
* PlayerPunch: The fight against Hugo consists of the player being prompted to order The Batter to ''murder a helpless toddler'' who doesn't try to fight back in any capacity and cries out in fear of what's happening.
* QuirkyWork: The inhabitants of this game breathe smoke, swim in liquid meat/plastic, and [[spoiler:are horribly addicted to sugar]], among other things. It should be noted that the game credits none other than Creator/Suda51 as one of its inspirations.
* RonTheDeathEater: [[spoiler:The Batter]] is an interesting and very, very subjective case. Many interpret him as an out-and-out [[spoiler:VillainProtagonist]] and being neglectful at best in his relationship with [[spoiler:Hugo and the Queen]]. Most fanon likes to portray it as flat-out abusive (albeit [[HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood Hilariously Abusive]]). However, part of the evidence fueling these is due to nuance being lost or small translation mistakes due to unfamiliarity — further translations came out to fix some of these mistakes.
* SoBadItWasBetter: Some people feel that way about the 3.0 translation. Yes, it removed a lot of translation mistakes, but the old version had more distinct speech patterns for the characters as well as gems such as Batter calling Enoch a "big bacon". That is not at all helped by 3.0 also removing swearing from the game.
* ThatOneAttack:
** Japhet's "Head Voices" is one of the game's hardest hitters this side of the Secretaries and Sugar.
** Also from Japhet, an unnamed attack he will use after failing to summon spectres in his first meeting hits like a freaking brick wall, and will target both the Batter and Alpha with unerring accuracy.
* ThemePairing: The Batter and the Scout (from ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'') because they both use baseball bats as weapons. Later, it became an OneTrueThreesome with the addition of Leon Kuwata from ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', who is also a baseball player.
* UnintentionalUncannyValley:
** The Secretaries look much more detailed than other enemies, which, combined with their already rather unsettling appearance and the places you find them, makes them (especially Zone 2's) quite creepy.
** There's also one section in The Room where the scenery has much greater detail and colour, calling into question what the ''[[EpilepticTrees real]]'' setting of the game is.
* UnderusedGameMechanic: In one section in The Room, there is toxic liquid on the floor which hurts the Batter when walking over it. This is the only time this mechanic appears.
* {{Woolseyism}}: The original translation tended to bound between this and BlindIdiotTranslation, and while the 2.0 translation fixed some of these issues, it didn't remove all of it. The 3.0 translation tried to be a more literal translation, [[BrokenBase for better or for worse.]]
* TheWoobie:
** While cases could be made for several characters, [[spoiler:poor Hugo]] is easily the biggest one by far.
** The Judge. [[spoiler:His beloved brother is killed and he's forced to fight the person he trusted to do good by the world. And if you choose the special ending, he's left with an empty, blank world with only a couple of people left.]]
* WoobieSpecies: The Elsen. They live in a perfect world without danger, but they're hopelessly neurotic anyway. And if they ever get too stressed, their heads explode and they attack everyone around them. Special mention, however, goes to [[spoiler:the Critic Burnt in the Zone 3 subway, who doesn't fight back and only uses his turns to scream out for help]].

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