Nightmare Fuel / Tales of the Drunken Paladin

"That's his sword, but some-how I doubt he impaled himself to the wall".

Yes, you're reading things right. Even a game as humorous and awesome as this one is bound to have more than it's fair share of horror; ESPECIALLY once the primary antagonists come into the picture, and the tone starts to darken. Suffice to say, you'll probably end up shocked at how terrifying the Kingdom of Maine can be, once you peel away it's goofy and satirical skin.

Moment Subpages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned.

---

General Moments

• Anebriate, of all people, can be a surprising source of this during his more intimidating moments, especially if provoked enough. The speech he gives to Leonard during the party's visit to Freeport, in particular, even if it's partly meant to be darkly humorous, is nothing short of terrifying.
  Anebriate: "You listen very carefully to me you worthless, festering barrel of rancid prawn juice. I have sailed halfway around the god damn planet. I have crawled through frozen wastes, labyrinths, ancient caverns and deserts just to stand here before you. I have fought and I have KILLED things you cannot even begin to imagine. I have seen the darkness, and I have stared back into its ten-thousand paralyzing eyes. And you... you are nothing. Some pencil-pushing pirate clerk with a desk and a nametag who thinks he can blackmail me.

  You have no fucking idea what I'm capable of. I will hang you upside-down and inside-out until your blood dries, and then I will wear your ugly carcass as a rain coat. I will scream down your throat so loud that your bowels EXPLODE. I will stare into your eyes so hard that they boil over and turn into cottage cheese. I WILL RUIN YOU, YOU WORM. YOU LITTLE INSECT. DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

  • The speech is so unsettling that Leonard curls up into a fetal position and cries for at least a little while. Even PALMER admits to having shit himself during it, which is quite understandable, all things considered.
  • The rage face◊ Anebriate flashes from time to time, while hilarious, can be startling to see at first if you aren't expecting it. Especially if the above speech is your first time seeing it, since he's flashing it the whole time.
    • Then there's the times where he busts THIS◊ out, which will DEFINITELY unnerve you until you get used to it.
• Some of the regular monsters you fight look downright horrifying, to say the least.
  • To drive the point home: there's the mildly disturbing Ghoul Fish◊ that pops up in the swamp here and there... then there's this◊ thing. And those two examples are hardly scratching the surface; a lot of the bosses you fight (discussed below) are just as disturbing to look at.
• The soundtrack of the game is pretty good at setting the mood, more often than not. This includes the more ominous and tense moments:
  • The Extreme, by the Black Mages, while an INCREDIBLE piece of music, also masterfully sets the tone for when Anebriate and co. go to confront the Deep Crow late into the first arc. The beginning with the bells will DEFINITELY send shivers down your spine, as you make your way through the blood-soaked Deep Hall.
  • Omen, originally part of the Xenogears OST. It makes confronting the Old One that much more tense and foreboding.
  • Chronopolis, originally part of the Chrono Cross OST, and among the most ominous and tense tracks in the entire game. It plays both times you confront Professor Reynolds, which just drives home how powerful he really is, and how in over your head you are to even THINK about taking him on in a straight fight.
  • Cleyra's Trunk, from the Final Fantasy IX OST, plays in the Save Realm prison. It's every bit as unsettling as you'd expect the theme for an otherworldly penitentiary to be, and then some.

Original Story Arc

• The swamp, thanks to the music, the murky visuals and some of the monsters that infest it; such as the Ghoul Fish listed in the above section.
• Tommy's Bull,◊ a boss encountered in the Winter Wastes cave leading into Bowdoin. Those eyes are bound to scare you the first time you see them, to say the least. The fact that this thing pops up completely out of nowhere only makes it worse.
• Lewiston in general is shown to be in a terrifyingly run-down state, largely thanks to the Deep Crow that the Old One let loose in the town. The citizens are largely either miserable, dealing with heart-breaking personal issues, or just completely fucked up in the head thanks to what the leader of They did years ago. The music, an ominous, yet subdued track from Final Fantasy VII, is the icing on the disturbing, sordid cake.
  • The Deep Crow itself, from it's appearance alone,◊ to it's reputation and the blood-red caves it resides in. Altogether, it's one of the scariest bosses Anebriate and co. face in the entire game, and that's saying something.
• George Washington (King Steve's personal bodyguard and right-hand man) is another prime example of The Dreaded, thanks to what various people say about him; including and especially the penultimate boss of this story arc. If you actually decide to fight Washington and WIN (as hard as that is), then Anebriate starts yelling about how reality itself is coming undone, then the game cuts to a Game Over. The fact that you don't see anything after what Anebriate says does not help at all.

Big Trouble in Little China, Maine

• The Skinhead Optional Boss you can fight before the arc kicks off is just freaky, to say the least. Located in the Gardiner pub, he initially appears to be a bald dude from out of the town. Then you chat with him, and a tentacle suddenly appears on his head, then he attacks you. It's even creepier than it sounds.
• The Murder Bear is yet another example of The Dreaded, and her appearance◊ edges just enough into the Uncanny Valley to disturb you when you first see her. And to add insult to injury, she's required to fight in order to complete a side-quest.
• Dead Anebriate's face is more than enough to freak you out the first time you see him, even if what he's saying is hilarious. Dead Palmer and Dead Steve, his buddies, aren't exactly pleasant to look at either.
• The simple fact that Theodore, your save point, is the Big Bad of the entire game. The revelation that he's behind the Save Council collapsing on itself is scary on it's own, but him being probably the LAST person you'd expect to have done all this makes it that much worse.
  • Him cornering Anebriate at the end of the story arc is like something out of a horror movie, especially when Anebriate nervously asks if it's him coming out of the portal to the court.
  • Theodore also threatens to kill Wesley to prevent Anebriate from reloading the save file from right before the boss fight, making this as close to a direct attack on the player as possible. If Theodore wasn't actually trying to lose, he could delete every save file for the entire arc and even some of the ones from the previous arc.
  • Professor Reynolds, Theo's partner, is even more intimidating than Theo himself, thanks to the fight with him and the music (linked above in General Moments) that plays both times you encounter him when he's by himself. The fact that HE'S the one who captures the humans essential to Theodore's plans perfectly caps off how terrifying he is. Although he is an Unwitting Pawn to Theodore, it's implied he would have done much worse to the hostages if it weren't for the latter.

Hobotropolis

• Albert, the thief you can recruit at the beginning of the game, is one of the focal points of this arc; as you can probably surmise just based on that idea, he's one giant bag of Nothing Is Scarier. Among other things, not only is he able to teleport basically wherever he wants, he can easily steal all of Anebriate's items without really trying, and is shown to have a very duplicitous, reserved personality. The fact that he fights you around halfway into the arc without any explanation, and seems to know way more than he probably should about who is revealed to be the Final Boss of the game only makes him that much scarier. It's little wonder Greg sent him into a pit without telling Anebriate at first.
• The Save Realm prison is... not a pleasant place to be in. Not only is Anebriate placed in what appears to be the lowest level (which is all but pitch black and grimy as all get-out), the security is bad enough that ROBERT, of all people, can escape pretty much on accident. The Warden and Jailer, the two heads of the prison, are all but stated to treat their prisoners like garbage, which doesn't help.
  • It's such a mentally traumatizing place to be in that Professor Reynolds (or someone who appears to be him) is all but begging Albert to leave him to die when the latter busts into his cell late into the arc.
• The monster (Bebop) Albert is forced to fight once he's sent into the pit by Greg. It's in such intense pain just by existing that it's begging Albert to kill them throughout the battle. It's quite disquieting.
  • Some post-game notes in Groobs' secret basement reveals that he funded for and oversaw the creation of Bebop and the various other beasts similar to it. He doesn't care enough to make sure that their biology is properly formed during their creation, which explains why Bebop and Rocksteady (a post-game version of Bebop) are begging to die pretty much every moment of their lives. It paints Groobs in a far more terrifying light than how he's initially presented.
• The entire scenario involving Greg ordering Anebriate to plant fireworks throughout the Save Realm. As soon as you're finished, Greg reveals that he plans to have every single firework detonate during a Ram Race hosted by Groobs in order to further his agenda. This wouldn't be so bad on it's own, except Greg made relatively little precautions against harming civilians, prompting an argument with Anebriate himself.
  • This is also the point where Greg directly reveals to the party that he sent Albert into a deathtrap due to his perceived untrustworthy nature. The simple fact that someone as polite and seemingly mind-mannered as Greg would be willing to do such morally questionable things is more than a little unsettling.
  • While it's undoubtedly one of the game's most awesome scenes by far, Dave threatening to kill Greg if he harms Anebriate or anyone else in the party is still VERY shocking and intense, even with prior knowledge that Dave is a Pirate King. The fact that he's cloaked in shadow with blood-red eyes while making it clear that he'll pierce Greg's heart if he has to only serves to further amp up the tension of the scene.
• The pit the party is thrown into if they lose a battle in the Danger Dome. It's dark, covered in blood and eerily quiet. Anebriate will react as well as you'd expect, if you end up in here.
• The Box Demon Mindy (a Hobotropolis con artist) asks you to deal with in exchange for her joining the party on their heist late into the arc. Just being in the same room as it is incredibly disturbing; a chest by it is unlockable, Anebriate comments on how infected and "fucked up" things feel the closer you get to finding the damned thing... and then you actually fight it. It's literally a demonic box with a giant tentacle coming out of it, and it's HORRIFYINGLY powerful, to boot. It also freaks out and breaks the message window during one of it's reality-breaking tantrums, just to make things that much more messed up. It's very hard to blame Anebriate for threatening to kill Mindy herself in response to her trying to weasel her way out of the deal, even after you kill the demon.
  • The sound it makes when you find it is terrifying, as well. It's like it's trying to sense whatever is in front of it with its tentacle.
• The Old One in general. The music (listed above) that plays when the party encounters him alone is among the most ominous in the entire game... and that's not getting into his One-Winged Angel form, much less his cruel dismissal of his own son as well as Greg.
  • Said One-Winged Angel form is especially unsettling during the final battle, as well; he moves around like a marionette, ESPECIALLY when casting a spell, and shouts most of his dialogue. It's almost like an outside force possessed him just before the battle begins.

Other Moments

• The eldritch-looking Mother of Beasts is the ultimate boss of Brunswick, and you encounter it by going into an ominous cave and using the Save Unoculars, which reveals it was in the cave the whole time. Worse yet, there's a sleeping bag to rest in the cave, meaning it was always watching the party in their sleep.

---