He could scare Luigi right here and now, but he has other plans...
Don't let the game's lighthearted tone fool you, this game is not definitely not afraid of being scary like its predecessor, and sometimes, it gets even creepier than said predecessor.- King Boo actually looks rather frightening this time around, especially when he appears behind Luigi from the darkness at one point.
- He also broke out of his painting on his own, before getting the new crown.
- The final security image. Throughout the game, Toads give visual status updates, and gradually a menacing figure becomes apparent on them. An unearthly glow just off-camera, a shadow whose owner cannot be seen, and so forth. On the final image, King Boo is not even trying to hide himself, floating in plain view of the image. And when you examine him, he turns towards the camera and cackles maniacally. He's known you've been watching him all along. Because as you soon find out, he's been watching you. The absolute worst part? This happens on a still image that is otherwise devoid of animation you're watching in a place that's supposed to be protected from any kind of paranormal activity. He is that powerful. To top it off, as he laughs, the screen breaks off into static before shutting down, ala Slenderman and every other horrible "caught-on-camera" abomination. Long story short, Bring My Brown Pants, gents.
- To top it off, in most of the scenes when you're looking at the latest photo, you look at it to an arrangement of the first Luigi's Mansion theme. When you look at the final security photo, the music cuts out and is replaced with the chilling ambient sounds from the Garage.
- Not forgetting that by "turning torwards the camera", we mean covering the entire thing with his face. Picture that, and imagine you're part of this game's target audience.
- Let's look at his motivations from the last game. He stated he wanted retribution on the Mario Bros. and Gadd for the trouble they caused him and his kin in the past. Working on behalf of his kind; understandable. Here? He deliberately shattered the Dark Moon to break the minds of the ghosts residing there to experiment on and enslave them into an army to conquer the world. Combine that with how his eyes seem even more sunken in than before and how he obsessively stalks Luigi towards the game's end? Call it crazy, but King Boo might be a tad unhinged after his last humiliation.
- King Boo's design has drastically changed since last time, too. Before, he was just a giant Boo wearing a crown. Here… His eyes are purple and sunken in. Unlike other Boos, he wears a constant toothy Slasher Smile and the inside of his mouth has turned blue, unlike the red it was before. It really looks like he's gone off the deep end.
- Speaking of paintings, the look on Mario's face while he's trapped in one
◊ is particularly jarring. He's visibly terrified. Also, in this game, he can't move or call for help. Being trapped in a painting for all eternity and being unable to move is a Fate Worse than Death.- Even worse is that King Boo states that he plans a similar fate for not only Luigi, but all of his friends as well.
- For the most part, this game's soundtrack is more epic, lively and whimsical than the first game's, but within it lies some terrifying Mood Whiplash; the themes for the Garage, the Graveyard, and the Antechamber sound right out of a horror game.
- Speaking of the soundtrack, the Ghost Themes are very unsettling to listen to, while the ones in the Gloomy Manor, Haunted Towers and Treacherous Mansion are ominous enough, the ones in the Old Clockworks and Secret Mine are terrifyingly out of place, and sound like something out of Insidious (particularly Old Clockworks) or another disturbing horror film.
- And then there's the dreadfully panic attack inducing boss fight music that plays whenever you fight The Three Sisters, Strong Sneaker and the Strong Poltergeist, good luck sleeping tonight when listening to it.
- The fish tank in Gloomy Manor contains an angelfish with a giant toothy maw where its face should be.
- In the E-1 mission, look in the window on the right immediately after approaching the door and having Polterpup appear. It's not only scary, it's just plain wrong. You actually see a Toad in the process of being trapped in a painting by a couple of Boos, and he's downright terrified. (On the plus side, the other Toad's painting is seen in the background, so this gives foreshadowing for the E-2 mission by letting you know that there are two Toads beforehand.)
- The Rumpus Room in Haunted Towers is very creepy, at least compared to the other, less frightening rooms. There's a doll house that mindscrews you if you look into its window: you see the exact same room you're standing in, with Luigi looking through the same window. Then there's a creepy doll of a little girl with an unnaturally pale face and glittering eyes, whose head rotates 360 degrees to follow you. Then there are the loud Jack-in-the-boxes. And the room is pitch black at first.
- The boss of the ice mansion when he possesses the ice itself, thanks to its spooky face, introduction, and its evil laugh, which you will hear every time you miss a shot. Probably one of the more intimidating-looking bosses in the game.
- Even worse, this boss has a bite worse than its bark. Literally, as if you miss the final shot in its mouth to stun it, something that isn't impossible, it will reach out straight to the screen and bite you for massive damage.
- The cutscene right before Luigi enters the Mansion in Mission E2. Luigi opens the door, but finds only darkness… as he turns around and scratches his head, King Boo appears right behind him with a horrible, evil smile, but vanishes before Luigi turns around. If that doesn't scare you, nothing will.
- It's even worse when you know how he appears. Luigi opens the doors and activates the flashlight to look into the darkness. He then turns around, understandably confused. There's a brief moment of lens flare from the flashlight, and in that one second, King Boo appears. Floating perfectly still with a mad smile, and he vanishes out of sight just before Luigi turns back around.
- And arguably the worst part is, it can't be intended for Luigi. After all, the plumber never actually sees it; by the time he turns around, the lights are on. King Boo isn't trying to scare Luigi here; he's trying to scare you.
- The cutscene before the final boss fight. Just imagine how frightening that whole scenario was for poor Luigi. Without warning, he's suddenly been transported to an unfamiliar area where it's pitch black. Then, windows begin appearing all around him, and an all-too-familiar laugh starts coming from… well, everywhere. Then, as Luigi spots the painting Mario's trapped in and starts to reach out for it, King Boo appears right in his face. And the worst part of all? King Boo is pissed. No wonder Luigi was shaking like a leaf in there.
- Even worse, you can tell the reason King Boo doesn't just end Luigi's game in the dark: He's screwing with Luigi. King Boo wants Luigi to die alone and frightened, and it's terrifying.
- Even when Luigi starts to get the upper hand in the final boss battle, King Boo escapes from the Poltergust. TWICE. And each time he does it, he gives Luigi an absolute Slasher Smile as the plumber nearly panics. This is then followed up by King Boo enlarging himself and knocking Luigi into a corridor, which he'll proceed to chase Luigi through while all the plumber can do is run for his life. This shows that, in no uncertain terms, he wants Luigi dead.
- The Old Clockworks and the Secret Mine, these mansions are probably the closest the game has gotten to the creepiness of the previous game.
- The Old Clockworks is very creepy, complete with a terrifying droning ambience if you're outside of the mansion, as well as the fact that it's an abandoned factory (yes, you read that correctly) makes it all the more unnerving, not to mention, the creepy organ music that plays in the background, as well as the unsettling ghost themes.
- The Secret Mine is not recommended for those who have frigophobia (fear of the cold) as the music and atmosphere is set to do nothing but to make players unnerve as if they were cold themselves.
- In the second mission of the Secret Mine (D-2), Luigi discovers a room full of Boos, along with a Greenie, a Slammer, and a Sneaker trapped inside red crystals that the Boos have put them in. It becomes disturbing when you realize that the Greenie, Slammer, and Sneaker are all terrified and are banging against the sides of the crystals, voicelessly pleading to be released from their containment.
- The Spider boss and the cutscene after it. After the ghost possessing it is defeated, the spider returns to normal and goes home. Luigi turns around to find a stampede of baby spiders following her. It's mostly Played for Laughs, but to an arachnophobe, it's a nightmare come true.
- Sometimes, when you're being Pixelated somewhere, there's pixels in the stream that are a different size and color then the ones that Luigi turns into, and they're traveling at a different speed than the Luigi pixels. Someone or something else is in the stream with you.
- It's most likely King Boo himself, who abducts you in the middle of your return journey from the fifth boss mission (E-Boss).
- Treacherous Mansion itself is rather creepy, especially as the game comes to a close. All alone at the furthest corner of the valley, smack in the middle of an endless ravine. And inside the mansion is a pitch black maze chock full of enraged, berserk ghosts and King Boo. And it just gets scarier as it goes. First, we Shoo Out the Clowns by finally capturing Polterpup for good, and rescuing the last of the Toads. Not scary, but it puts an end to any lightheartedness. From there, it steadily gets creepier until the fake boss of the mansion.
- Big Boo's battle has a creepy song playing, like the carousel in Big Boo's Haunt. And the context of the fight: King Boo knows what you've been doing. He anticipated you reaching the toy train tracks, so he stationed Big Boo there as a trap. The game's objective even says "Escape the trap", not "beat the enemy", making this feel even more like a situation you shouldn't be in.
- And it doesn't end there. For the next mission, the mansion is completely empty (save for one Boo you can catch). It's just you and King Boo. Nothing Is Scarier in full effect, the music is only helping the mood. You walk in on King Boo at the terrace, just as he's opening a demonic portal. If only you'd been able to avoid Big Boo's ambush. What follows may qualify as That One Level, but the game's stakes are at an all-time high, not unlike Super Paper Mario: King Boo unleashes an entire army of berserk ghosts in the mansion. If Luigi doesn't capture them all within the time limit, their combined paranormal energy will cause Luigi's dimension to collapse on itself. Just like that, King Boo is able to match Count Bleck, and at a much faster rate. He's not messing around.
- A more gradual and paranoia-inducing factor is how the mansions change from mission to mission.
- Gloomy Manor gets overrun with spiderwebs. Finding one blocking a path that was free in the previous mission is quite jarring, especially to arachnophobes.
- Haunted Towers get enveloped by overgrowth, with plants occasionally breaking through brick and mortar and generally becoming more and more commonplace.
- Old Clockworks gives some respite, but pretty soon you get to meet empowered ghosts for the first time.
- Secret Mine takes the cake: not only does it gets darker and colder (a snowstorm starts, places with water freeze, lights get dimmer as torches are blown out), but powerful ghosts become more frequent than their normal counterparts, especially once you see how they're created.
- Treacherous Mansion has rooms getting more and more overrun with ghosts, and harmless furniture turn into traps in later missions.
- Near the end of the Secret Mine, you're able to see into the boss room through a window. In there, you'll view the boss spectre, who turns around, sees you, and disappears… only to give you a scathing jump scare a few seconds later. It's truly unexpected and will leave you and Luigi shaking.
- The beginning offers a subtler, but also very creepy moment. You've only just started D-1 and haven't even entered the titular mine yet, you head across a frozen pond after fighting a few minor ghosts here and there, and just as you're starting to think this place might not be so bad, King Boo shoots across the background and disappears behind a hill. It's so sudden and comes without so much as a Scare Chord that you might miss it entirely, and the fact that Luigi himself doesn't even notice makes it all worse. Just how long HAS King Boo been following him around?
- If you think the creepiness is going to end once you beat the final boss, think again. After the ending cutscene, you are taken to the level clear screen. However, the usually cheerful level clear theme is gone. Instead, the theme from the garage is playing. And Luigi is not seen celebrating like normal. It is a super eerie way to end the game.
