History VideoGame / ChooChooCharles

** Charles is a children's media themed monster that is also a spider-horror. Are we talking about Charles or ''[[Literature/{{It}} Pennywise]]''?

* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler: For the final battle, Charles transforms into a larger, more demonic version of himself called Hell Charles. This was foreshadowed by when you meet the [=NPC=] that leads you to the final egg.]]

* {{Bathos}}: The game is very much aware of how ridiculous its premise is and at times runs with it. Some mission names and [=NPCs=] can be downright ridiculous.[[note]]The first mission name is called 'Baby's first Mission' and there's an NPC who is downright obsessed with pickles[[/note]] That said, whenever dealing with Charles [[spoiler:or the cult]] (as well as [[VideoGame/{{Slender}} a certain side quest involving finding and collecting eight illustrated pages]]), the game ''will'' remind you why it's classified as horror.

* AlwaysABiggerFish: [[spoiler:A note found in the game warns about something called "Gus the Bus" and that "Charles fears Gus"]].

* HunterOfMonsters: The player character is heavily implied to be this. In fact, "monster hunter" is the next most common term that NPCs refer to you as well as "archivist".

* AmbiguousGender: The spider-train is called Charles by the island folk because it is written on his side and they refers him with male pronouns. But [[spoiler:TheStinger seems to imply that he laid millions of eggs]], leaving his true gender unknown. Though, it is possible that he has NoBiologicalSex.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Invoked. The player's ultimate goal is to make their train strong enough to actually destroy the monstrous train rather than simply escaping him.

* EmpathicEnvironment: During the [[spoiler:final battle with Hell Charles, the sky turns a red-ish orange, and there's a lightning storm going on. Considering this happens immediately after activating the prism, it's not hard to figure out that's likely the cause. The weather gradually returns to normal during the credits once Charles dies.]]

* HunterOfMonsters: The player character is heavily implied to be this, in fact monster hunter is the next most common term that Npcs refer you as as well as archivist.

* ImAHumanitarian: Charles appears around the island to eat human flesh. He shows this when he eats the player character after he drains all your HP in addition of two instances in the main story [[spoiler: from half-eating Eugene when he gets knocked out of the train to eating Warren Charles III after he absorbs the power released by the prism]].

* InvincibleBoogeymen: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] with Charles himself. If you encounter him ''without'' your train, you're as good as dead. However, the weapons you get for your train actually ''can'' deal serious damage to it. The problem is after taking enough damage, [[CowardlyBoss he will just run away to recover his health.]] Getting Charles to commit to fight to the death is one of the major problems the Archivist has to solve.

* MadeOfIron: Literally and figuratively. Charles' metallic hide and supernatural nature mean he can take a lot of firepower, but his growls and visible flinching when hit implies he is not actually invincible, making the idea of destroying him actually feasible for the protagonist. Also, he takes more damage when [[{{AttackItsWeakPoint}} you shoot his fleshy bits]].

* NoNameGiven: No one calls the Archivist by their name, not even Eugene, who's an old friend of theirs. In the Archivist's defense, they don't talk much, and no one ever asks for it.

* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler: For the final battle, Charles transforms into a larger, even more demonic version of himself called Hell Charles. This was foreshadowed by when you meet the [=NPC=] that leads you to the final egg.]]

* TheQuisling: What Warren Charles' cult turns out to be, abating Charles' presence and solidifying their rule of the island. [[spoiler: When you learn more about, it becomes both more and less an example: Warren is not ''exactly'' on Charles' side, but witnessed Charles nearly transforming into Hell Charles when absorbing the energy of the eggs. Thus, Warren keeps the eggs hidden to prevent it from happening again, violently suppressing the villagers who think studying the eggs might be the key to winning. Since he sees no real way to defeat Charles, he also just allows Charles free reign on the island hoping the monster can't leave and instead makes the villagers evacuate - which still leads to Warren becoming a dictator the locals think is just insane and giving in to Charles. That said, a couple of the notes you can find have some locals wonder if the whole mess might be Warren's twisted attempt to protect them.]]

* TacticalWithdrawal: Charles is smart enough to run away when he gets injured enough. The story missions consist of finding a way to get him to commit to a fight to the death.

* YouFool: Warren Charles shouts "You fool! You've doomed us all!!" toward [[spoiler:the Archivist after he place the eggs into its prism, summoning Charles and transform him into Hell Charles in the process]].

** Sasha's sidequest is a WholePlotReference to ''VideoGame/{{Slender}}'', involving the protagonist retrieving eight hidden drawings while being hunted by a ghost.

* SwampMonster: Barry, a mysterious creature living in a swamp in the southern part of the island. He only goes after the player if they move while he's right underneath them, but will otherwise leave them alone. The player never sees him (aside from a brief flash of teeth if the monster kills them), and has to [[{{Wormsign}}pay attention to the ripples he leaves on the surface.]]

* RunOrDie: Charles, whenever the player is out in the open away from the train. The monster avoids tighter spaces, so the mines and inside NPC houses are safe from him (though you need to worry about the cultists in the mines, and Charles will just wait outside the house until the player comes out), but every weapon in the game available to the player is mounted on their train, so if the player hears his horn and is caught outside, their only real hope is to bolt for their locomotive before Charles gets them so the player can turn it into a more survivable AdvancingBossOfDoom fight.

* BoringButPractical: Of all the weapons in your arsenal, the flamethrower combined with a high train speed is the most effective for keeping Charles off you while he's chasing you. The flamethrower doesn't deal much damage, but it slows Charles down and deals damage over time. Combined with a high train speed, it allows you to effectively manage the weapons overheating with Charles only dealing minimum damage to your train in the process.

* EvilIsNotAToy: Charles' cult doesn't actually seem to have any control over the monster whatsoever. Not only is Charles just as likely to attack cultists as the player if both are caught in the open, but [[spoiler: he devours Warren Charles III right after becoming Hell Charles.

* CoolTrain: Well, there's Charles himself, the spider-legged train from hell. But your only means of fighting him is a steam-powered choo-choo with a machine gun on the back. It's not much to start with, but once you've upgraded it all the way you've got an armored fighting machine bristling with anti-air guns and rocket launchers that can outrun or out-fight Charles. And you can change the color!
* BoringButPractical: Of all the weapons in your arsenal, the flamethrower combined with a high train speed is the most effective for keeping Charles off you while he's chasing you. The flamethrower doesn't deal much damage, but it slows Charles down and deals damage over time. Combined with a high train speed, it allows you to effectively manage the weapons overheating with Charles only dealing minimum damage to your train in the process.

* TheQuisling: What Warren Charles' cult turns out to be, abating Charles' presence and solidifying their rule of the island. [[spoiler: When you learn more about, it becomes both more and less an example: Warren is not ''exactly'' on Charles' side, but witnessed Charles nearly transforming into Hell Charles when absorbing the energy of the eggs. Thus, Warren keeps the eggs hidden to prevent it from happening again, violently suppressing the villagers who think studying the eggs might be the key to winning. Since he sees no real way to defeat Charles, he also just allows Charles free reign on the island hoping the monster can't leave and instead makes the villagers evacuate - which still leads to Warren becoming a dictator the locals think is just insane and giving in to Charles. That said, a couple of the notes you can find have some locals wonder if the whole mess might be Warren's twisted attempt to protect them.]]

* GatheringSteam: The player’s steam locomotive, appropriately enough. At the very beginning of the game, it's so slow and weak that if the player runs into Charles again shortly after his introduction, they'll be very hard-pressed to fend the monster off at all. However, the player can upgrade the engine's speed, firepower, and armor fairly quickly throughout the game. By the end, Charles himself will be little more than a nuisance for the player (as long as they’re in the locomotive), and only turning into Hell Charles for the final battle allows the monster to present a real challenge.

* RunOrDie: Charles, whenever the player is out in the open away from the train. The monster avoids certain areas and tighter spaces, so the mines are safe from him (though you need to worry about the cultists down there), but every weapon in the game available to the player is mounted on their train, so if the player hears his horn and is caught outside, their only real hope is to bolt for their locomotive before Charles gets them so the player can turn it into a more survivable AdvancingBossOfDoom fight.

* {{Bathos}}: The game is very much aware of how ridiculous its premise is and at times runs with it. Some mission names and [=NPCs=] can be downright ridiculous.[[note]]The first mission name is called 'Baby's first Mission' and there's an NPC who is downright obsessed with pickles[[/note]] That said, whenever dealing with Charles [[spoiler:or the cult]] (as well as [[''VideoGame/{{Slender}}'' a certain side quest involving finding and collecting eight illustrated pages]]), the game ''will'' remind you why it's classified as horror.

* {{Bathos}}: The game is very much aware of how ridiculous its premise is and at times runs with it. Some mission names and [=NPCs=] can be downright ridiculous.[[note]]The first mission name is called 'Baby's first Mission' and there's an NPC who is downright obsessed with pickles[[/note]] That said, whenever dealing with Charles [[spoiler:or the cult]] (as well as [['VideoGame/{{Slender}}'' a certain side quest involving finding and collecting eight illustrated pages]]), the game ''will'' remind you why it's classified as horror.

* {{Bathos}}: The game is very much aware of how ridiculous its premise is and at times runs with it. Some mission names and [=NPCs=] can be downright ridiculous.[[note]]The first mission name is called 'Baby's first Mission' and there's an NPC who is downright obsessed with pickles[[/note]] That said, whenever dealing with Charles [[spoiler:or the cult]], the game ''will'' remind you why it's classified as horror.

* InvincibleBoogeymen: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] with Charles himself. If you encounter him ''without'' your train you're as good as dead. However, the weapons you get for your train actually ''can'' deal serious damage to it. The problem is after taking enough damage, [[CowardlyBoss he will just run away to recover his health.]] Getting Charles to commit to fight to the death is one of the major problems the Archivist has to solve.

* SlasherSmile: Thanks to Charles' large face and having MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily, he has a massive and wide sharp-toothed grin that's very hard to miss.