The Cradle of Ruin is a horror visual novel made by Charon in 2017.
Hotarou is a ten-year-old boy living in an underground shelter with his mother and three other women. They never doubt the happiness in their daily life, but it suddenly comes to an end one day. The first but the most difficult choice lies in front of Hotarou. He has to do something to escape from the circling and repeating tragedy before their whole world is destroyed.
The Cradle of Ruin contains examples of:
- All Just a Dream: A strange variation. It turns out everything is a dream created by Hotarou who, in the real world, is an unborn baby.
- Ambiguous Gender: Zigzagged. The rough translation says Mikuri’s androgyny makes it hard for Hotarou to tell if she’s male or female. However, the rest of the story identifies Mikuri as a woman.
- Babies Ever After: ”The Tender Cradle” ends with Hotarou and Tsuna becoming a couple when they’re older and having a baby together.
- Bittersweet Ending:
- “Wings of Hope”. Megi shows up in time to save Hotarou from Angelica and heals Mikuri. Unfortunately, Megi disappears soon after and Mikuri chooses to stay behind and let Hotarou and Tsuna escape the shelter.
- “The Tender Cradle”. Angelica’s fate is unknown, especially in the final cg art. However, Tsuna is saved from falling to her death and she and Hotarou become a couple when they grow up.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Tsuna and Hotarou are both kids and Tsuna talks about becoming Hotarou’s wife when she’s older. They do become a couple in the “Tender Cradle” ending.
- Cleavage Window:
- Megi wears a white top, which occasionally shows off her cleavage.
- Angelica’s dress has a portion cut out to show off her cleavage. Demonica’s dress is a palette-swapped version of Angelica’s white dress, but keeps the open view of her breasts.
- Downer Ending: There are several endings that end in despair.
- “Demon in the Garden”. Megi died while going on a supply run with Angelica/Demonica and Demonica brutally kills everyone left in the shelter, starting with Tsuna.
- “The End of the Unfavored”. Telling Megi it’s wrong to protect what she loves leads to everyone dying. According to Hotarou in Route C, it was Angelica/Demonica who killed everyone.
- “The Last Supper”. Angelica is killed by Megi to provide food for everyone left, Tsuna dies in the engine room, and Mikuri is shot by Hotarou. Megi offers herself as food for Hotarou and the poor boy is traumatized from the events.
- “Dying North Land”. Angelica and Tsuna are dead and Hotarou shoots Megi. Mikuri, realizing the button leading out needs weight, offers to stay behind to let Hotarou escape. Hotarou escapes, but he goes out into a winter world.
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness:
- Mikuri’s eyes are permanently glazed over. She’s the only character who is unhappy living in the facility and she wants to leave for Tokyo. Even in the best ending possible, her eyes remain dull.
- Hotarou’s eyes are the same as Mikuri’s. He was raised in the shelter and has presumably become bored of the same routine he’s been living for the last ten years. In the Route C opening, he does gain some sparkles in his eyes, signifying his determination to redo the next four days correctly.
- Megi’s eyes only become empty when Tsuna dies in Route A when she blatantly lies to Hotarou about Tsuna’s existence. They reappear in Route C’s Bad End when Hotarou decides to live in his nonexistent world rather than be born.
- Angelica’s eyes lose their sparkle when her evil personality Demonica shows up.
- All the female characters, sans Mikuri, have empty eyes in the seconds between the days.
- Endless Winter: It’s revealed that the surface world is stuck in eternal winter. This is the reason why everyone is living in the shelter.
- Fashionable Asymmetry:
- Mikuri wears one large crystal earring. It’s unknown if she has a second one or if she wears one for fashion.
- Megi has one black sock and one white sock.
- Freudian Excuse: Angelica and her sister Demonica grew up in an abusive household. If one of the sisters misbehaved, both girls would be thrown into the woods. Demonica says the reason she yelled at their mother was because she was physically abusing Angelica. It’s implied Demonica jumped off a cliff and Angelica developed a Split Personality modeled after her sister.
- Four Is Death: The story usually takes a dark turn on the fourth day. Defied in Route C where Hotarou ensures everyone survives.
- Here We Go Again!: The True End implies that everything that happened in the story is doomed to repeat again.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Mikuri usually prioritizes the safety of the other characters over hers.
- In Route B, she begs Hotarou to choose her when Demonica forces him to choose whether she or Tsuna will die. When they’re saved by Megi in “Wings of Hope”, she gives Hotarou the tunnel key and urges he and Tsuna leave.
- In Route A, she’s willing to stay behind on the button to let Hotarou out in “Dying North Land”.
- I Am a Humanitarian: If Hotarou agrees with Megi that doing what’s necessary to protect what you love, then it can lead to two Bad Ends where Megi kills Angelica and uses her body for some curry. In “The Last Supper”, she tells Hotarou to eat her body to survive.
- Mama Bear: Megi is quite protective of her son and her actions are dependent on what happens in the route. In Route B, she appears just in time to save Hotarou from being killed by Demonica.
- Missing Mom: Tsuna was separated from her mother at a young age. Even though Megi has been a maternal figure to her, Tsuna wonders in Route C if she will be reunited with her mother.
- Multiple Endings: There are a total of eight endings, but three different routes. The first two routes’ endings contain letters to unlock the third route.
- Route A has four bad endings.
- "Bad End: The End of the Unfavored”. Telling Megi it’s wrong to protect what she loves leads to everyone dying.
- “Bad End: The Tender Cradle”. If Hotarou doesn’t let go of Tsuna’s hands in the engine room, Megi will show up in time to help pull Tsuna to safety. Tsuna and Hotarou grow up doing as Megi tells them and they eventually get together and have a son.
- “Bad End: The Last Supper”. Hotarou kills Mikuri. Mekuri will assure you to go the way you believe in, and that no one will blame him for his choice before dying. Megi will then tell Hotarou that she is going to die soon, and tells him to eat her once she dies. She eventually does die several days later, and Hotarou eats her as he promised.
- “Bad End: Dying North Land”. Hotarou shoots Megi. Megi will apologize that she can't be with you until the very end, and will thank you for being her child. Mekuri will then take the key to the underground tunnel, and will allow you to visit the rooms in the facility one last time. Upon entering the underground passage, Hotarou and Mekuri will come across a passage where the bridge require someone standing on the button in the corner. Mekuri leaves herself behind to let Hotarou escape. As he escapes to the outside world, he will begin a monologue about his and the other's lives in the facility as he leaves Hokkaido and makes his way to Tokyo.
- Route B has two bad endings.
- “Bad End: Demon in the Garden”. Choosing to kill Tsuna will result in Tsuna being stabbed to death and Demonica moving onto Hotarou. Once the bloodshed is done, Demonica is laying in a pool of blood and asks an unknown person when they’re going to come and kill her.
- “Bad End: Wings of Hope”. Choosing to kill Mikuri will lead to Demonica cutting off Mikuri’s feet. Before Demonica can do anything to Hotarou, Megi (who appears to be a robot) shoots and kills Demonica. With everyone safe, Mikuri gives Hotarou the key to the underground tunnels and urges he and Tsuna leave the shelter.
- Route C has one bad end and one true end.
- Untitled Bad End. Hotarou decides he would rather live in his dream world rather than be born. Megi is disappointed by his choice and tells him that he doesn’t understand his mother’s heart. He wanders around the shelter and finds everyone is gone as the world goes dark. Hotarou then breaks the fourth wall and calls out the player for killing him.
- “True End: The Dream of Fetus”. Hotarou agrees to say goodbye to the world he once thought he knew. Megi sheds tears of joy as she says goodbye to Hotarou. After the credits roll, a monologue about the long dream that was the events of this game inside his mother will play. A baby will be born, under the name of Hotarou, and he accepts his existence into this world and begins his life.
- Route A has four bad endings.
- The Power of Love: Both choices for Route C where Hotarou either gets Mikuri or Megi to help him confront Angelica will result in his selected companion using her love for Angelica to save her. Mikuri will declare her love for Angelica and become her girlfriend while Megi forgives Angelica for everything she’s done and promise to stay her friend.
- Robotic Reveal: Megi in the “Wings of Hope” ending. Given that this never comes up in other endings and would make the “The Last Supper” impossible it likely foreshadows the true ending that the entire story is a dream to begin with.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Route C is Hotarou reliving the events of the visual novel with awareness of all the tragedy that could happen. This time, he is making a concentrated effort to make sure everyone lives.
- Split Personality: Demonica is Angelica’s evil personality. In Route C, it’s revealed Angelica had a twin sister named Demonica and the other personality is a manifestation of Angelica’s guilt of living while her sister died.
- Story Branching: Two options can lead to different outcomes.
- When Megi is about to leave with Angelica to get supplies, he can either stay behind or get Megi to take him with her. Persisting and getting Megi to take Hotarou will lead to Route A while letting her go alone with Angelica leads to Route B.
- In Route C, Hotarou can either tell Megi about Angelica or he can tell Mikuri. The outcome will be the same either way, but it will result in different character moments. Both will use their own type of love to win Angelica over.
- Third-Person Person: Tsuna sometimes refer to herself in third person.
- Too Desperate to Be Picky: Because of how low they are on food, the adults encourage the kids to eat whatever they have.
- What the Hell, Player?: In the untitled Bad End for Route C, Hotarou will call out the player for not letting him be born.
- World of Technicolor Hair: Hotarou has dark blue hair, Megi has teal hair, Mikuri has pink hair, and Angelica has purple hair.
- Would Hurt a Child: Demonica kills Tsuna and Hotarou in the “Demon in the Garden” end. In “Wings of Hope”, she prepares to dismember Hotarou before Megi shows up and kills her.
