History NightmareFuel / DeathStranding

* The corpse delivery going wrong shows just how perilous the post-Stranding world is. The Game Awards 2017 trailer introduces {{Invisible Monster}}s known as Beached Things ([=BTs=]), some of which are [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever absolutely]] ''[[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever enormous]]''. A bunch of Hunters surface from the ground and start to carry off the CD team driver, and his teammate [[MauveShirt Igor]]'s response is to [[MercyKill shoot him in the head before he's fully taken away]]. Whatever happens to those who get taken by the [=BTs=], [[FateWorseThanDeath death is a preferable alternative]]. Igor himself is then grabbed by another BT, and he furiously tries to kill himself with his knife, screaming and begging while floating away, but doesn't manage to die before being EatenAlive.

** One portion of the game involves wading into surreal World War 1 firefights, offering [[HarmfulToMinors front row seat for]] [[AdultFear the baby to watch all the violence]].

The second story-mandated BT boss that Higgs sics on you. Atleast with the first one, you could rely on the buildings in the tar for safety. This one? It can ''leap onto those small rooftops after you''. Better hope you can run away fast enough before it catches you.

* Your last stop before Edge Knot City is the Tar Belt. It cuts off the entirety of eastern America from the west. It's populated almost entirely by giant horrifying mutant whales. You ''have'' to go there. Have fun.

* Heartman's 21 minutes of life and Amelie's [[TheAgeless inability to age]] are all due to parts of themselves being stranded on [[EldritchLocation the "Beach"]]--Heartman's soul and Amelie's body, respectively.
-->'''Heartman:''' My body may be here, but my soul is on the "beach". I'm already dead.
-->'''Amelie:''' He knows why. My body's still on the "beach". I don't ''get'' to grow older.

* The voidout. It's a supernaturally souped-up version of an explosion cranked up to max in that it obliterates everything in the surrounding area, triggering only when a "Catcher" or "Controller"-type BT eats someone. And they're ''everywhere''. If you pay close attention to your map, you'll see that the UCA is actually isolated in the western region of the continent because there are thousands of voidout-induced craters separating them from the rest of what's left of their country, nevermind the rest of the world. Not making matters any easier are the Homo Demens, a group of nutjobs who artificially engineer voidouts. In other words, '''they're suicide bombers'''.
* '''Higgs'''. As if being some kind of big shot in the Homo Demens wasn't enough, he has a golden mask that has the power to conjure up a "Catcher"-type BT, meaning he can trigger a voidout anytime he wants. To make matters worse, he's an OmnicidalManiac who wants to cause the Last Stranding -- an explosion so powerful that, according to Amalie, it's on the level of a big bang. Die-Hardman previously said that the Homo Demens only care about remaining independent and don't want to live under somebody else's rules, but Higgs just doesn't give a shit about any of that. As far as he's concerned, humanity deserves to be rendered extinct.

* Heartman's first trip to the Beach offers an eerie sort of horror. The imagery of dozens of people silently shuffling into the ocean, as if sleepwalking, is basically the UncannyValley for human behavior.

* The Game Awards 2017 trailer introduces {{Invisible Monster}}s known as [=BTs=], some of which are [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever absolutely]] ''[[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever enormous]]''. One of them tries to grab a member of Sam's team, and his teammate's response is to [[MercyKill shoot him in the head before he's fully taken away]]. Whatever happens to those who get taken by the [=BTs=], [[FateWorseThanDeath death is a preferable alternative]]. This character is then grabbed by another BT, and he furiously tries to kill himself with his knife, screaming and begging while floating away, but doesn't manage to die before being EatenAlive.
* The {{Invisible Monster}}s that are the Beached Things, first teased with the first trailer and given extensive focus in the Game Wards 2017 Trailer. Unlike you have DOOMS, you can't even see the things, and even if you do, it's not guaranteed you can see them, best example being Sam who has a Level 2 DOOMS factor and can only sense their presence. They're essentially ''Death Stranding's'' version of wraiths, with a good majority of them being incredibly violent. The worst part? They come in different types. The ones you see floating around are essentially hunting dogs who sniff out an unfortunate person they found, and if they catch them, drag them off to get killed by a larger BT called a "Catcher"-type. And they're not even the most dangerous. The strands that are connected to the [=BTs=]' bodies are connected to a [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever gigantic "Controller"-type BT]].

* Even your Private Rooms aren't NightmareFuel-free. Interacting with objects has a small chance to instead trigger a frightening hallucination. One involves Sam and BB-28 playing knock-knock...which results in BB ''bashing its head against the inner wall of its pod, breaking it.'' Another has Sam looking at himself in the mirror, only for Higgs to teleport in behind him. When Sam turns around in horror, Higgs is gone and Sam is wearing his mask.

* The {{Invisble Monster}}s that are the Beached Things, first teased with the first trailer and given extensive focus in the Game Wards 2017 Trailer. Unlike you have DOOMS, you can't even see the things, and even if you do, it's not guaranteed you can see them, best example being Sam who has a Level 2 DOOMS factor and can only sense their presence. They're essentially ''Death Stranding's'' version of wraiths, with a good majority of them being incredibly violent. The worst part? They come in different types. The ones you see floating around are essentially hunting dogs who sniff out an unfortunate person they found, and if they catch them, drag them off to get killed by a larger BT called a "Catcher"-type. And they're not even the most dangerous. The strands that are connected to the [=BTs=]' bodies are connected to a [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever gigantic "Controller"-type BT]].

** It's worse. Despite his handcuff device quickly showing how fast his condition is getting worse, the worker is ''still alive'' despite the fact that he's likely bleeding out from so many self-inflicted stab wounds. Death has abandoned--or, stranded--this one; he has no escape from the FateWorseThanDeath that the [=BTs=] are about to inflict upon him.
* At one point in the [=E3 2018=] trailer, Sam needs to get out of an area before a group of [=BTs=] find him. To do this, he plugs his Odradek sensor and his Bridge Baby to allow him to sense [=BTs=]. If Sam bumps into one, it and the rest of its companions will lunge at Sam and drag him down into the ground while it turns into a dark pit. While their territory can be easily identified, you wouldn't know they've sensed ''you'' until it's too late.
** How do you hide from [=BTs=]? Simple: Hold your breath. Beached Things don't hunt by sound, like from your Odradek sensor; they hunt by signs of ''life''. Screams of pain? You're screwed. You take so much as a quick breath? You're screwed. Just like Sam said: "''Shut up! Don't even breathe.''"
** The Release Date Reveal trailer Tokyo Game Show 2019 gameplay video reveals that this is only part of the horror. Once they have Sam, they'll drag him away...to a BossBattle with a creature from the other side, that can result in a Voidout crater if you fail.
* Another one from the [=E3=] 2018 trailer is the Voidout itself, which was first shown off way back in the 2017 Game Awards. It's not wholly explained ''what'' a Voidout is, but the end result is the craters that dot the landscape. And they're apparently ''everywhere''. One portion of the trailer shows an area that's littered with craters, implying multiple Voidouts. Sam is somehow perfectly fine when he undergoes it, but the surrounding area--and anything you left in it--is ''eradicated''.
** Apparently, Homo Demens are also capable of ''engineering'' their own Voidouts. If it's anything like how it happens to Sam, these maniacs are using what amounts to ''suicide bombers''. And as of the Briefing cutscene, one of these has destroyed Central Knot City already.
* The [=TGS 2018=] trailer gives us one of the terrors of the dead, summoned by Higgs: a massive lion (or sphinx) ooze creature with a golden face, and said face opening ''sideways'' to reveal a gushing-black maw and [[HellIsThatNoise an unearthly roar]]. Cut to black.
** Worse is the timing: Sam's escorting someone on his back [[OhCrap when Higgs shows up]]. Now he has to deal with a death monster trying to eat him, ''and'' the woman getting eaten with him... or killed in the resulting Voidout.

* Even your Private Rooms aren't NightmareFuel-free. Interacting with your B.B. [[ParanoiaFuel may]] instead trigger a Nightmare--a hallucination of something going wrong. The Nightmare shown in the Tokyo Game Show 2019 involves Sam and the B.B. playing knock-knock...which results in the BB ''bashing its head against the inner wall of its pod, breaking it.'' [[ParanoiaFuel And then Sam wakes up from the Nightmare.]]
** On a lesser note that compensates with {{Squick}}: Sam uses the toilet not only to relieve himself, but to automatically produce the liquds that supply his anti-BT weapons. Which means you're carrying around--and firing at the terrors of the world of the dead--your own bodily fluids... Yuck.

* At one point in the [=E3 2018=] trailer, Sam needs to get out of an area before a group of [=BTs=] find him. To do this, he plugs his Odradek sensor and his Bridge Baby to allow him to sense [=BTs=]. If Sam bumps into one, it and the rest of its companions will lunge at Sam and drag him down into the ground while it turns into a dark pit. Their territory can be easily identified, you wouldn't know they've sensed ''you'' until it's too late.

* At one point in the [=E3 2018=] trailer, Sam needs to get out of an area before a group of [=BTs=] find him. To do this, he plugs into his Bridge Baby to serve as a detector. If Sam bumps into one, it and the rest of its companions will lunge at Sam and drag him down into the ground while it turns into a dark pit. The seemingly tranquil hillside could be hiding a ''herd'' of these things right in your face, and you wouldn't know it until it's too late.
** The Release Date Reveal trailer Tokyo Game Show 2019 gameplay video reveals that this is only part of the horror. Once they have Sam, they'll drag him away...to a Beached Thing BossBattle that can result in a Voidout crater.

** Apparently, Homo Demens are also capable of triggering artificial Voidouts. If it's anything like how it happens to Sam, these maniacs are using what amounts to ''suicide bombers''. And as of the Briefing cutscene, one of these has destroyed Central Knot City already.

* Another one from the [=E3=] 2018 trailer is the Voidout, which was first shown off way back in the 2017 Game Awards. It's not wholly explained what a Voidout is, but the end result is the craters that dot the landscape. And they're apparently ''everywhere''. One portion of the trailer shows an area that's littered with craters, implying multiple Voidouts. Sam is somehow perfectly fine when he undergoes it, but the surrounding area is ''obliterated''.
** Apparently, Homo Demens are also capable of triggering artificial Voidouts. If it's anything like how it happens to Sam, these maniacs are using what amounts to ''suicide bombers''.