Beware of the witch...
Berl and the Candy House (ベルとお菓子の家 Beru to Okashi no Ie) is an RPG Maker horror adventure game released in 2014 by Giggle Game.It follows the experiences of a German young man named Johannes (Hans for short). He was visiting a famous doctor in order to cure his ill sister Margarete. After going out for 10 days, he returns only to find out his sister is gone and that children have been abducted from the village. He decides to search for his lost sister and finds an abandoned candy house in the forest. What secrets lie at the mysterious candy house?
Berl and the Candy House contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Maria Magdalene regularly abused Hans for refusing to become a cannibal like her and his sister. It escalated in her locking him up in a cage with nothing but human meat to eat in hopes he'll change.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Berl claims that she doesn't have many friends, due to having red eyes and carrying around a stuffed bunny despite being "too old for toys".
- Ambiguous Innocence: Margarete acts rather childlike frequently, not seeming to understand that things like craving human meat and killing people are wrong. Her Obfuscating Stupidity makes this even more ambiguous.
- Asshole Victim:
- Implied with Lezia and Mike. An official comic by the author show Lezia to be a rich spoiled brat while Mike goes along with whatever she does because he has a crush on her. It's hard to feel sorry for them after Margarete kills them.
- Maria Magdalene was a serial killer cannibal who encouraged her children to eat human meat and abused her son Hans when he refused to do it. She gets absolutely no sympathy when Margarete pushes her into the oven after she tries to eat Hans.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Maria Magdalene liked dismembering animals for fun as a child.
- Berserk Button: One played for laughs. Berl's full name is Berliner
, like the cake, to which sweets enthusiast Hans likes to tease her about. - Beyond Redemption: Margarete attempting to capture and eat Berl is what finally convinces Hans that his sister can't be helped.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Maria Magdalene, a seemingly-sweet lady who kills and eats people.
- Brother–Sister Incest: Hans and Margarete are completely codependant on each other and display some....disturbing behavior when they're talking about how much important they are to the other.
- Child Eater: Margarete admits that her favorite meat is the one from little girls. Hans gave her animal meat in a desperate attempt to curb her compulsion to kill, but it only made things worse.. Meanwhile, her mother Maria Magdalene likes eating children and babies, but was not picky about eating adults either.
- Child by Rape: Maria Magdalene was raped by a bunch of witch hunters, resulting in Hans and Margarete's conception.
- Children Are Innocent: Berl. Mercilessly averted with young Hans and Margarete though.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Hans is one of the best examples out there. He makes sure Margarete stays safe, keeps her fed, explains her oddities to other people, and finally sends her to the afterlife himself rather than let her cannibalize an innocent child.
- Creepy Child:
- Margarete was already this as a child, embracing her mother's cannibalistic tendencies and her obsession with eating her brother someday.
- According to Maria Magdalene in Kapitel 4, Hans unnerved her with his mature self-assurance as a child.
- Conversation Casualty: In Ending 1, Hans is calmly talking to Margarete about their childhood; he hugs Margarete and asks her to close his eyes while talking....and then Hans uses his powers to burn them both.
- Died on Their Birthday: Lezia wanted to celebrate her birthday in the mysterious Candy House, and she ends up being killed by Margarete.
- Dissonant Serenity: Hans. He never shows much excitement, no matter what he's been up to.
- Despair Event Horizon: In Endings 2 and 3, it's Margarete killing and eating Berl that breaks Hans. He is forced to give up any lingering denial he may have had about Margarete's evil nature or his inability to control her.
- Eats Babies: Maria Magdalene's first victim was Amy, her neighbor's newborn daughter.
- False Friend: Lezia and Mike invited Berl to investigate the Candy House with them, despite not getting along with her. A comic by the author◊ reveals they only invited her because they needed a scapegoat in case anything went wrong.
- Faux Affably Evil: Margarete. She acts sweet (especially in front of Hans) but when she doesn't get her way or someone gets in between her and her goals, she shows what a murderous psycho she is.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Berl is a sweet little girl that's nice to everyone, despite the hardships she endures. Even the loner Hans quickly warms up to her. And in the Bonus Room, Margarete develops a soft spot for her.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Maria Magdalene eats her victims due to her morbid fascination with death. Also her daughter Margarete, as part of a psychological compulsion.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: All Hans wanted was to live a peaceful life with his mother and sister. Too bad they are cannibals.
- In the Blood: Hans discovers that his mother was a cannibal serial killer and believes that she passed her murderous nature to Margarete.
- It's All My Fault: As shown in Ending 3, Hans tends to blame himself for everything, from his mother's death to his sister's descend into insanity. He feels that if he was born insane like them, nothing bad would've happened.My mother tried to burn and eat me, but I still loved her. My little sister wanted to eat me someday, but to me, she was my only family....I should have never been born. If it wasn't for me, mother wouldn't have been killed by her daughter. Margarete wouldn't have killed her mother trying to save me. It's all because of me. All my fault.
- Light Is Not Good: Maria Magdalene, with her blonde hair and spotless purple dresses, is a classic example.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Hans's nosy neighbor makes a remark about how Margarete ought to see a therapist, which makes Hans immediately defensive. As much of a jerk as she is, she's right that Margarete could really, really use a therapist.
- Living Emotional Crutch: Although Hans is sometimes impatient with his sister, he's the only person Margarete trusts. His presence keeps Margarete (barely) functional, and a week-long absence is enough to send her completely off the deep end.
- Love Martyr: A familial example: Hans sacrifices his sanity, integrity, and in Ending 1, his life out of the love he has for his sister.
- Morality Chain: Hans is this to Margarete. It's fairly evident that she only cares to keep her repressed aggression and craving for human meat in check whenever he's around.
- Multiple Endings:
- True Ending: Survivor: Berl survives and Hans is able to stop Margarete. He reveals that he became a witch after their mother locked him in the cage for a week. Wanting to stop his sister from hurting anyone else, but being unable to live without her, Hans sets the Candy House on fire, killing Margarete and himself while poor Berl is forced to watch. A week later, Berl goes to the destroyed house and to her surprise she finds Hans alive and well. The two friends reunite once again.
- Bad Ending 1: Kiss: Berl dies and her severed head is presented to Hans in a plate. Finally realizing that his sister is beyond redemption, Hans brutally kills Margarete. However he has lost his remaining sanity and starts eating Berl's head, becoming a cannibal like his mother and sister.
- Bad Ending 2: Lovers Suicide: Similar to End 2, but Hans realizes that Margarete became a witch because he left her alone for 10 days. Blaming himself for his sister's descend into insanity and Berl's death, he kills Margarete and them himself.
- Bad Ending 3: Escape: Hans gives up on his search for Margarete and escapes the house without finding the cellar where she keeps the abducted children. Days later, his corpse is found in the forest, firmly clasping his sister's earring.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Kapitel 4 is a huge one for Maria Magdalene. After death she realized how awful she was to her son and brings him back to life using the remainings of Margarete's power.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: The reason why Margarete killed her mother.Margarete: After a week in that birdcage, mom gave up on you and tried to eat you....
Hans: But you stopped her from doing so.
Margarete: Cause I'm the only one allowed to eat you, Hans. - Sanity Slippage: Being isolated with nothing to eat for a week will result in a human becoming a witch. And then you remember Hans left Margarete at home for 10 days and she's ridiculously codependant....
- Maria Magdalene locked Hans in the birdcage for seven days, thus he became a witch as a child. He coped with the situation better than his sister though.
- The Sociopath: Maria Magdalene, who unlike her offsprings has no positive qualities and never did. She killed animals out of fun and morbid curiosity and when she got bored with it, she escalated to killing and eating people. Also, when she was pregnant with Hans and Margarete she said she would eat the babies if they were born ugly. When Hans is born and starts calling her out that killing and eating people is wrong, she tries to make him a cannibal by force by locking him in a cage for days.
- Sole Survivor: Berl is the only survivor of the three children captured by Margarete. In Ending 1, she survives again after Hans burns down the Candy House, taking Margarete with him.
- Spell My Name With An S: According to
Word of God, the game is romanized as Bell and the Candy House, due to Berl's name having the same pronunciation as Bell (ベル). However, it's stated her name is short for Berliner. - We Hardly Knew Ye: Lezia and Mike don't get a lot of screentime before they're killed by Margarete and by the time Hans encounters them, they've been dead for quite a while. Official art by the creator fix this, giving them more characterization (Lezia being an Alpha Bitch while Mike was a Dogged Nice Guy) and showing how they died.
- White Sheep: Hans refused to eat people, so Maria Magdalene locked him up in a cage with nothing to eat but human meat in a desperate attempt to get him a compulsion to kill, but it only made things worse.
- Villainous Lineage: Margarete has inherited her mother's killer instinct, and joined her in slaughtering random people. Her older child Hans, however, is a lot better.
