The recency and unusually specific nature of this genre, despite its numerous examples, derives from the heavy influence of Five Nights at Freddy's (which started the trend in 2014) on the indie game scene. Similar trends to Mascot Horror are previously known from the slasher films of the 1980s, and the creepypasta-based games of the early 2010s; both of these also revolved around a recognizable character to market their horror-based properties. In contrast to Mascot Horror however, these mascots are often unsettling or disturbing from the get-go, whereas Mascot Horror mascots, while sometimes also unsettling in appearance, tend to retain at least some semblance of the idea that they were once intended for children in-universe.
These are common features of many (though by no means all) Mascot Horror games:
- A recognizable, ostensibly child-friendly mascot or group of mascots, serving both to market the game in real life and often also existing as a mascot in-universe to market an in-universe product/establishment. Almost always the antagonist aside from very few exceptions, and always the most iconic character(s) of the game, sometimes leading to the creation of a Villain-Based Franchise.
- A Featureless Protagonist, as many of these games are in first-person perspective.
- A cartoonish art-style, or at least for the mascot(s) specifically, that often contrasts with the horrors found within.
- Elements of comedy in addition to horror, with some mascot horror games being parodic in nature.
- References to popular childhood media, such as child-oriented products or establishments. Especially those popular around the 1980s to the 2000s; though pre-1980s examples definitely exist.
- Themes of childhood in general, such as taking place from the point of view of someone who grew up with said children's media, helped create it, or is even a child themselves.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters; while the mascot (if physically non-human) is the face of the game and serves as the main antagonist, there may be someone behind the scenes who is either controlling the mascot or caused it to become the way it is.
- Hidden lore: One of the most clear-cut inspirations from Five Nights at Freddy's, expect lots of hidden lore that can only be uncovered through environmental storytelling throughout the game or hidden in the code. Said hidden lore frequently involves themes of supernatural horror (especially with a cold, uncaring corporation) or family trauma, contrasting even further with the art style.
- At least one Jumpscare as a reference to Five Nights at Freddy's' most iconic element. Usually, as is the case in Five Nights at Freddy's, each of the mascots has their own unique jumpscare animation that they perform when they catch the player, causing an instant Game Over.
- An unusually high proportion of children in the fanbase; as these games tend to be outwardly a lot less disturbing than other horror games, expect them to have a large Periphery Demographic of very young fans, something that the creators may embrace and market to.
- In a meta sense, many of these games often require similar pathways to success as Five Nights at Freddy's, including Let's Plays (with many even being Better as a Let's Play) and theory videos focused around the hidden lore.
A subtrope of Subverted Kids' Show focused specifically around indie horror games that have a marketable mascot. Has nothing to do with Mascot Fighter.
Note: Many other video games, such as Undertale, Doki Doki Literature Club! and Cuphead are often lumped together with the various games of this trend with the reasons being their comparable popularities and there being a massive overlap between all these games' fandoms. These games also features easily recognizable characters and were popularized by Let's Plays and videos speculating about their lorenote , as well as some levels of unexpected horror to variying degrees. However these games are otherwise a different genre from Mascot Horror and simply happen to have benefited from a trend at the time.
Mascot Horror is still a genre primarily associated with video games, especially indie ones. However, the success of the genre has inspired works in other mediums to emulate the style of typical Mascot Horror games. Certain Analog Horror series can be considered an extension of Mascot Horror, primarily those either directly based on or inspired by FNAF. Other horror webseries not directly inspired by FNAF, like ChezzKids Archive
, could also be considered a form of Mascot Horror. These types of works are often more focused on the stories of the people involved, however, with the mascots playing more of a supplementary role even if they're still the biggest physical threat. Often, the humans involved ARE the mascots.
Examples
- 123 Slaughter Me Street: The game is about a thief hiding from the police in an abandoned apartment building that is haunted by three very bloodthirsty Sesame Street-esque cartoon characters. He needs to make it to the exit without letting any of them catch him and kill him.
- All Alone With Mannie: A kid spends his nights in bed being pursued by a Cute and Psycho mouse girl with a knife named Mannie.
- Amanda the Adventurer: The player must deal with a Dora the Explorer-esque children's show hosted by the mascot, a little girl who seems all too aware of what's going on and enjoys torturing those around her.
- Andy's Apple Farm: A rare example where the mascot and the villain are two different characters. Posing as a cutesy children's game hosted by the mascot, Andy the Apple, and his four friends, the characters soon start glitching out and the plot takes a turn for the dark as the plot delves into the developers behind the game and the Eldritch Abomination haunting it.
- Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning: Probably the first case of an Affectionate Parody of mascot horror, but reached the same heights. Based on 90s edutainment games, the player must run around a schoolhouse, solve problems, and deal with other classmates, while avoiding the mascot: their enraged schoolteacher, Baldi.
- Bendy and the Ink Machine and Bendy and the Dark Revival: Can be considered the Trope Codifier, due to the first game introducing the concept of "Walking Simulator with a gimmick/gadget/weapon" and the idea of the game being released in individual chapters. Based on 1930s cartoons, the protagonist must delve through their former animation studio and battle the former workers, now corrupted into gruesome facsimiles of the characters their studio created, as they uncover the mystery of what happened to the place, all the while fending off the mascot: the Ink Demon, Bendy.
- Bonnie's Bakery inverts the usual dynamic with a human mascot going after a cast of sapient animals. The titular Bonnie is a human in a world of animals who appears to be the friendly owner of a bakery at first, but is actually a Serial Killer who kidnaps the townspeople at night and bakes them into her recipes.
- Case: Animatronics: This game is set in a police station where, at night, you need to navigate it to safety while avoiding some very deadly-looking Hostile Animatronics.
- Choo-Choo Charles: A parody of Thomas & Friends, the player character must save an island being terrorized by the mascot: Charles, a demonic steam engine. Notably, this game trades a lot of the horror for balls-to-the-walls insanity.
- Duck Season: A VR game with references to Duck Hunt, the protagonist plays a mysterious video game and must deal with the strange happenings in their life, including the mascot, a mysterious costumed dog.
- The Five Nights at Freddy's series: The Trope Maker, taking place in a Chuck-e-Cheese's-esque pizzeria with a tragic history. The player must survive five shifts while warding off the pizzeria's homicidal mascots.
- "Funset Studios": A hippo mascot named Fumbo kidnaps children and kills intruders.
- Funtime with Buffy: A little girl needs to clean her toys up while her mom's out. All the while being pursued by her Psycho Knife Nut Vengeful Abandoned Toy Buffy the Rabbit.
- Garten of Banban: The protagonist must explore Banban's Kindergarten to search for their missing children while fending off the former mascots of the kindergarten, who have come to life and are trying to kill them.
- The Good Grimace Shake Horror Game: The player must escape from a maze-like McDonald's play area while suffering from dehydration, in addition to being hunted by Grimace. Drinking the Grimace Shake quenches your thirst but also makes Grimace's presence stronger and more difficult to avoid.
- Greg's Deadly Draft: A football player has to survive a dangerous drafting program operated by Greg White Shark, the football mascot of one of the worst teams.
- Happy's Humble Burger Farm: The game casts you as a Night Manager working at the titular restaurant, preparing food to serve the customers the next day, and having to keep animals out of the restaurant.
- Hello Neighbor: One of the few examples of mascot horror with an explicitly living human antagonist, this game is still often grouped with the rest due to similar themes such as a cartoony artstyle, a recognizable antagonist who serves as the "mascot", themes of childhood, and hidden lore that the player must uncover.
- Hello Puppets! is about a reporter exploring an old warehouse where the beloved children's puppet show Mortimer's Handeemen used to be filmed. The reporter discovers that the cast of puppets are alive and evil, and they are planning to kill/possess humans to take over their bodies.
- Hungry Lamu: A game starting with the objective of helping to fill the stomach of the eponymous llama named Lamu by eating fruits in a cartoony world. In the second half of the game you follow the protagonist trying to find their friends and escape the park while being followed by a starving llama. Similar to other games, the titular character is implied to be a human transformed into this "mascot".
- Indigo Park: The player explores an abandoned theme park while avoiding its homicidal former mascots, with the park's A.I. tour guide assisting you along the way.
- Kandyland follows animatronics working at the titular amusement park as they slowly turn hostile due to a virus.
- Meatlys Storage World is a short game that serves as a Take That! towards modern Mascot Horror games, from the creators of Bendy and the Ink Machine themselves. This includes running around an abandoned warehouse to search for clues and reading through notes that sarcastically talk vaguely about how the warehouse was once a happy place and is now full of horrors, all while running from a giant, monstrous version of the Meatly mascot.
- Mr. Hopp's Playhouse: The titular Mr. Hopp, a demonic toy bunny, is given to two children at different points in time, both of whom must escape as it comes to life and terrorizes them.
- Mr Tomato S is a parody of the infamous "Hungry Pumpkin" flash game, with its mascot being an anthropomorphic tomato that the player must feed in a certain way in order to avoid summoning its demonic wrath.
- My Friendly Neighborhood is a survival horror game set inside a studio where a Sesame Street-like show was filmed long ago, and the player has to deal with sentient puppets whose sanity has been gone for a long time. In contrast to most other Mascot Horror games, it's a First-Person Shooter where you can fight back against the puppets and plays with many of the tropes associated with the genre.
- Piggy: A parody of Peppa Pig, the protagonist is trapped in a house inhabited by the mascot, a pig-like monster, and must escape before time runs out.
- Poppy Playtime: An ex-employee of Playtime Co. returns to their former toy factory, only to have to escape from the mascots, which are now-living, homicidal toys roaming the area. Each episode sees the employee face a new mascot, each more terrifying than the last.
- Rainbow Friends: The protagonist must escape from multicolored theme park mascots who kidnapped them during a school trip.
- Shipwrecked 64: In-universe, it was a Licensed Game based on the classic "Bucky Beaver" IP from Broadside Animation, recalled after only three days. The protagonist is the plucky Bucky himself, out to rescue his friends who have been marooned on an island. Due to a Troubled Production, however, its developers dug up and hid in the game damning information about Broadside, its history, and the mascots at its theme parks, which Bucky is just as unprepared to face as anyone else.
- Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion: One of the earliest examples, predating FNAF production-wise although releasing a few months later. The mascot is a Cute Ghost Girl named Spooky who challenges the player to explore her mansion, which ends up being far more terrifying than one might expect. Notably, this game wears the horror influence on its sleeve with its scary setting and ghostly mascot, although it still goes from cutesy to disturbing.
- Tattletail: One of the earliest non-FNAF examples to be published as a complete game. The player must take care of a Faux Furby to prevent it from summoning a greater threat.
- Welcome Home: An Alternate Reality Game revolving around a Sesame Street-like children's television series from the 70s that mysteriously disappeared from the airwaves, with a dedicated team of fans hoping to find and preserve the show... only to find the dark secrets behind why the show disappeared.
- Willy's Wonderland is about a drifter trying to survive the night in a once-successful family entertainment center with Hostile Animatronics.
Proto/Pre-Five Nights at Freddy's Examples
- Silent Hill 3: Features Robbie the Rabbit, mascot of in-universe amusement park Lakeside Amusement Park. He's usually featured as a doll or full-bodied costume with a blood-splattered face, though it's never made clear if people are inside the costumes. Robbie also features sporadically throughout the series, including an appearance as an enemy in Silent Hill: The Arcade.
- Dead Rising 2: Features Slappy, a man dressed as the mascot for a kid's clothing store with a giant permanent grin, who attempts to kill Chuck under the belief that he started the zombie outbreak and in turn lead to the death of his girlfriend.
- Luna Game: A series of fan games based on the show My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic created by an unknown game designer. The games are very simple 2D platformers which are relatively faithful to the show they're based on in tone. That is until the horror elements start to rear their heads. The first game the series in particular was notable for creating creepy image files on the hard drives of computers that downloaded it, leading to some players mistaking the game for a virus.
