History VideoGame / DarkDeception

** The ''VideoGame/SilentHill'' chapter has [[VideoGame/SilentHill3 Heather Mason]] and [[VideoGame/SilentHill1 Cybil Bennet]] as playable mortals while having the Nurse and Robbie the Rabbit as playable monsters. The level accompanying the chapter is based off the area of Silent Hill seen in the [[VideoGame/SilentHill1 first game]].

* IronicName: The ring that we are trying to forge has a name and origin that contradicts each other. Bierce describes the situation best herself.
--> '''Bierce''': "The ring is called the Riddle of Heaven. An ironic name, don't you think? A demon's power is contained inside it: the creature of infinite cruelty that you just met. Malak."

* JumpScare: If you get caught, the monster who caught up to you will do this.
* KillerTeddyBear: Both Mama Bear and her Trigger Teddies are this...at first.

* LivingToys: The Dread Duckies and Doom Ducky are living rubber duckies. Mama Bear and the Trigger Teddies are also living teddy bears encountered later in the story.

* MythologyGag

* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The fourth level, ''Stranger Sewers'', occurs in a sewer system with plenty of space for Doug to run from the larger Dread Duckies.

** [[spoiler: Some secret documents in Bearly Buried indicate that Doug's mother was also this to her son, as she admits she sees the young Doug as nothing but a burden and reminder of her [[DomesticAbuse horrible husband]], while admitting she took delight in hearing him "beg" when she locked him up in the dark on one occasion. Doug's wife also notes that Doug does not want to visit her again when the question is brought up.]]

* AcidPool: The caves of Bearly Buried have these in certain areas, and they all have a SicklyGreenGlow to them. Mama Bear is able to dive into these pools and [[spoiler: transform into a far more powerful version of herself.]]

* AllForNothing: [[spoiler:The Joy Joy Gang are the only monsters to successfully capture Doug for Malak in Mascot Mayhem. However in Bearly Buried, due to the blue orb's intervention and Malak's tendency to again underestimate Doug and also hide the ring pieces at Mama Bears' level, their efforts became for naught as Doug manages to get back all the ring pieces including the new one and escape.]]

* AlliterativeTitle: The game's title, as well as various levels, such as '''E'''lementary '''E'''vil and '''D'''eadly '''D'''ecadence. The only exception so far is the first level, Monkey Business.
* AmusementParkOfDoom: The seventh level, Mascot Mayhem, takes place in one initially, and it's apparently run by a gang of demonic animatronics.
* AndIMustScream: Bierce hints at this since the shards are made up of human souls, presumably screaming in agony. [[spoiler:This is also seen in Bearly Buried, revealing that anyone sent by Malak here to be executed are incorporated into the cave walls, apparently as agonized faces]].

* BedlamHouse: While the hospital of ''Torment Therapy'' is quite clean and nice looking at first, it later shows that deep within it lies a gruesome underbelly. The intensive therapy unit is by every means an asylum. But not the one where patients recover from a psychological disorder, oh no, this place is a torture facility. A place where suffering is the only form of medicine with mercy never truly being an option. The place is filled with all types of traps that will give you a painful demise.

** In ''Elementary Evil'', Bierce unlocks the gym doors when Agatha traps Doug within them, allowing him to escape at the last moment, much to Agatha's chagrin.
** In ''Bearly Buried'', [[spoiler:Tammy appears out of nowhere in soul form to rescue Doug from Mama Bear's clutches, doing so by electrocuting the Trigger Teddies escorting him. She saves him two more times after that, one from Malak's marking using the ring pieces, and at the very end from Mama Bear by opening the portal]].
* BigFancyHouse: The second half of ''Deadly Decadence'' takes place in one made of gold and other riches.
* BilingualBonus: A Chinese onomatopoeia for laughter 哈哈(hā hā) can be seen on one of the walls in the Funhouse in ''Crazy Carnevil''.

* BroughtDownToBadass: [[spoiler:Doug is stripped of all of the ring pieces at the end of ''Mascot Mayhem'' with all of his power-ups and is left to die in the Cave. Doesn't stop him from getting all of them back and evading dozen of Trigger Teddies and Mama Bear.]]

* ChekhovsGun: Zone 3 of ''Mascot Mayhem'' reveals a set of crusher pistons around the beginning. [[spoiler:These are later used to defeat the frenzied Joy Joy Gang, as well as subduing Joy Kill later on.]]
* CircusOfFear: ''Crazy Carnevil'', home to the Clown Gremlins.

* CreepyCave: Most of Bearly Buried takes place in one. And the deeper you go, the more disturbing it becomes.

* CutsceneIncompetence: A bizarre case considering it comes shortly after a case of CutscenePowerToTheMax: At the end of ''Mascot Mayhem'', [[spoiler:Joy Kill suddenly drops between Doug and the exit portal. However, unlike when Doug got cornered at the end of ''Torment Therapy'', Doug makes no attempt to use his abilities to get past the monster, and ends up getting subdued.]]
* CutscenePowerToTheMax: {{Downplayed}}, but pops up with the cutscene at the end of ''Torment Therapy''. Doug's usage of "Teleport" and "Primal Fear" is consistent with their normal uses, but attempting to use "Speed Boost" to [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom push a Nurse across the hallway]] would not end well in normal gameplay, and that's assuming it was actually "Speed Boost" and not [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands Doug pulling a new ability out of nowhere]].

* DownTheDrain: Stranger Sewers takes place in a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin strange sewer.]]

** In ''Monkey Business'', we see a cardboard cutout of a Murder Monkey with chef clothing in the kitchen. The Chef Monkeys would appear in that location later on.
** In ''Deadly Decadence'', a larger stone version of the Gold Watchers appears inactive at the beginning. At the end, said watcher reappears behind the portal as a Titan Watcher.
** In ''Stranger Sewers'', the Doom Ducky appears several times prior to their boss fight, such as attacking the player in a hole at the start, roaring before you enter zone 2, and staring at the player through sewer grates.
** In ''Crazy Carnevil'', all four of the Goliath Clowns appear in a cloudy red room, laughing at us while we ride the roller coaster.

* FissionMailed: [[spoiler:The Mascot Mayhem level is this. Even if you manage to return to the portal to finish the level, the Joy Joy Gang will always catch you at the end. There is even a fake game over screen, before the game proceeds to a cutscene.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Lucky claims that he never loses. [[spoiler:Joy Kill also claims that it isn't over after his apparent defeat]]. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, that's exactly how it goes, as Lucky and his gang manage to incapacitate Doug and leave him at Malak's mercy]].

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: In ''Torment Therapy'', one of the cutscenes involves a weighing scale that triggers fire to shoot from the ceiling. After the cutscene is over, going on the weighing scale again does nothing.
* GiantMedicalSyringe: The Reaper Nurses from ''Torment Therapy'' wield giant syringes as their main weapons.

* HedgeMaze: The first half of Deadly Decadence takes place in one.

* HellHotel: The first level, Monkey Business, takes place in one where you're chased by killer monkeys dressed as bellhops and where you can be served free breakfast and [[BreadEggsMilkSquick murder]] until 10 AM.

** Speaking of Malak, his name actually means angel in Arabic. And yet again, he is very much a demon.

* MagicalDefibrillator: Inverted in Torment Therapy. The giant defibrillators are the most common trap in torment therapy and they ''will'' burn anything that gets caught between them.

* MonkeyMoralityPose: A painting in Monkey Business shows the enemies of said level doing this.

** One of the dead-ends in ''Monkey Business'' has graffiti that reads "Evans was here". This is referencing Detective Evans, who was the original protagonist of the 2014 demo of the game and also appears as one of the mortals in ''Monsters & Mortals''. Interacting with the graffiti replaces the music with that of the 2014 demo.
** The Chef Monkeys appearing in the kitchen after the player collects all the shards can be seen as a callback to a much earlier version of the Monkey Business level. Back then they could be seen in the kitchen but they never chased the player like they do in the enhanced version.

* NightmareFuelColoringBook: In ''Elementary Evil'', there is a secret room containing a whiteboard with a disturbing drawing on it. [[spoiler: The child who drew it is in the back of a car that is on fire and sinking into a body of water. Mommy is in the front of the car, presumably dead. Daddy is watching this happen from a distance and smiling. Considering the [[RoomFullOfCrazy writing on the walls]], it makes for some disturbing implications about the protagonist.]]
* NightmarishFactory: The third zone of ''Mascot Mayhem'' takes place in an automatic one.
* NoGearLevel: [[spoiler:Bearly Buried starts as one, due to Malak having cut Doug off from Bierce and stolen the ring pieces.]]
* NoodleIncident: Noted twice in both ApocalypticLogs. In E's notes, she notes to have visited nightmares outside the ones seen like a [[CreepyDollhouse dollhouse]] and a [[CreepyCathedral cathedral]].

* OldSchoolBuilding: Elementary Evil is set in a creepy and almost abandoned school. We say almost because there is at least one person inhabiting it, and she is ''not'' friendly.
* OrcusOnHisThrone: Downplayed. Malak makes his first appearance in ''Elementary Evil''. From then onward, he only shows up ''after'' you have stolen the ring piece from that level.
** Somewhat justified; at the start of ''Bearly Buried'', he reveals that there is a war going on to become "the ultimate evil", and by the sounds of it, Malak is a contender for that title. With a war to deal with, he simply doesn't have time to drop everything every time some wayward soul winds up in one of his realms.

* PinkIsErotic: The entrance to the hospital in ''Torment Therapy'' is lit up by pink signs, the hospital itself has a pink and red interior, and the level enemies are seductive nurses. This level is designed to represent Doug's lust for other women and sexual misconduct.

* PsychosexualHorror: In ''Torment Therapy'', the level is designed to represent Doug's lust for other women and sexual misconduct as it's a hospital merged with a strip club and the enemies are nurses dressed in [[NaughtyNurseOutfit nurse fetish outfits]].

** ''Elementary Evil'' has a secret room featuring the phrases "They trusted you" and "No Forgiveness".
** ''Deadly Decadence'' has a secret room with numerous phrases, including "THEY HELD YOU BACK", "YOU DESERVE BETTER", and "DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING".
** The fun house is full of these ''Crazy Carnevil'' with messages like "Who's Laughing Now?" and "Times Up!"
** In ''Torment Therapy", the Therapy Unit is filled with graffiti that seems to be written by the Reapers to vent their rage. This varies from simple taunts like "LIAR, LIAR", to vulgar threats like "MEN ARE PIGS".
** In ''Mascot Mayhem'', some of the walls in the outside section of Joy Joy Land have the word "JOY" written over and over again.

* ScaryJackInTheBox: One of the traps in ''Crazy Carnevil'' is that of a large Jack in the box that will wind itself up to the tune of pop goes the weasel. Once it is done, it will lunge out of the box and will devour anything in front of it.
* SchmuckBait: In ''Crazy Carnevil'', a clown car leads Doug to a strength tester in a circus tent. It's obviously some sort of trap, but Doug hits it anyways out of Bierce's "request"...only to get trapped in a cage and is forced to escape it alongside several Clown Gremlins that ambush him.
** More neutral this time around, but certain Trigger Teddies in the cabin will stand idle rather than chase Doug, instead making hug gestures while saying "Mama". Cue explosion upon touch.

** Some of the paintings seen in ''Monkey Business'' are clearly nods to famous paintings, such as ''Three Wise Monkeys''.
** There's a secret location in ''Elementary Evil'' that reveals Agatha's hiding place, [[Film/TheRing a dirty well]]. The achievement for finding it even shows her coming out of it.

** One of the secrets seen in ''Stranger Sewers'' has graffiti depicting a red balloon saying, "Float On." No points for guessing [[{{Literature/It}} this one]].
*** That, and also one of Bierce's death quotes:

** In Zone 2 of ''Crazy Carnevil'', at least one of the wall graffiti bears a resemblance to the clowns from ''{{Film/Killer Klowns from Outer Space}}''.
** The Therapy Center (a.k.a Zone 2 of ''Torment Therapy'') is a dirty prison walled up with bricks and has messages scribbled all over the walls. This brings to mind certain parts of the asylum from ''{{VideoGame/Outlast}}''.

** Lucky the Rabbit's last line in ''Mascot Mayhem'' is, "Goodnight, sweet prince," [[spoiler:after Malak orders the Joy Joy Gang to send Doug to the portal]], a small nod to Shakespeare's ''{{Theatre/Hamlet}}''.
** The large runes seen in Zone 3 of ''Bearly Buried'' resemble the markers from ''{{Franchise/Dead Space}}''.

* SicklyGreenGlow: The sewer is illuminated with dull green lighting. Fitting since GreenIsGross.
** However, the sewer lighting is nothing compared to the [[AcidPool toxic pools]] of Bearly buried which are not only brighter but are also far more vibrant.

* SoundtrackDissonance: At the end of ''Mascot Mayhem'', the Joy Joy Ditty plays while [[spoiler: the Joy Joy Gang is beating the shit out of you.]]

** An implied example. Zone 3 of ''Bearly Buried'' reveals that thousands of souls make up the outer walls of the cave, and it's possible that they are voicing their agony through the level's tracks.

* TemporaryOnlineContent: Both the ''Silent Hill'' and ''House of Ashes'' expansions for ''Monsters & Mortals'' have been delisted
* TemptingFate: During the second part of Mascot Mayhem, Bierce hopes that you don't have to deal with the other animatronics after meeting Hangry. Cue Doug running into Lucky seconds later.
* TestYourStrengthGame: You find one inside the main tent of the Fun Murder Circus. By ringing the bell, you are [[DisproportionateRetribution rewarded with being locked in a cage. ]]
* ThisWayToCertainDeath: [[spoiler: After collecting all the soul shards, the player then proceeds to head to the final passageway that has a giant hole in the center. Once at the bottom, we soon quickly discover that the floor and walls are littered with the bones of Mama Bear's victims. If this doesn't look like a bad sign, then Malak will definitely paint it as one.]]

* UndergroundLevel: Most of Bearly Buried takes place in a vast cave system.
* TheUnderworld: This exists as a zone in Bearly Buried. It turns out that the very depths of Mama Bear's realm consist of thousands of souls from the people she killed. The only way around is through a maze that looks like its floating in the sky.

* VoiceWithAnInternetConnection: Bierce takes this role throughout the game, [[spoiler: with the exception of Bearly Buried where Malak steals the role.]]

* WhamEpisode: [[spoiler:Mascot Mayhem ends with Doug being caught by the Joy Joy Gang and [[MindRape Mind Raped]] by Malak, revealing his DarkAndTroubledPast and allowing Malak and the Nightmare monsters to invade the Ballroom. Bierce is able to drive them out, but not before she is wounded and all the ring pieces are stolen. Despite this, Malak is still able to drag the now powerless Doug into Bearly Buried, where he's left to be murdered by Mama Bear and her Trigger Teddies... if not for a mysterious blue sphere of light, who is actually Tammy, Doug's deceased daughter.]]

** During the second half of Torment Therapy, the Nurses gain the ability to throw pills that stun Doug much like the Dread Duckies can with their extendable duck heads. Unlike the Dread Duckies, however, [[OhCrap the Nurses will immediately go in for the kill instead of taunting.]]

* AbandonedHospital: Subverted, in Tormented Therapy as it is very much clear you are not the only one in that hospital.
* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The fourth level, Stranger Sewers, takes place in one.

** [[spoiler: Also, some secret documents in Bearly Buried indicate that Doug's mother was also this to her son, as she admits she sees the young Doug as nothing but a burden and reminder of her [[DomesticAbuse horrible husband]], while admitting she took delight in hearing him "beg" when she locked him up in the dark on one occasion. Doug's wife also notes that Doug does not want to visit her again when the question is brought up.]]

--> '''Makeship Description''': "Need an overprotective parent? Dark Deception's Mama Bear is here and ready to adopt you as one of her "babies"! With Mama Bear around, there's no such thing as personal privacy. You can feel her disapproving parental stare from anywhere in your home or office! Definitely don't talk back and remember that mother always knows best."

* AllForNothing: [[spoiler: The Joy Joy Gang are the only monsters to successfully capture Doug for Malak in Mascot Mayhem. However in Bearly Buried, due to the blue orb's intervention and Malak's tendency to again underestimate Doug and also hide the ring pieces at Mama Bears' level, their efforts became for naught as Doug manages to get back all the ring pieces including the new one and escape.]]

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: If the player runs out of lives they are given an option to use last checkpoint, allowing the player to start where they left off previously. The catch is that you can't get S-rank anymore once you use it.

* BedlamHouse: While the hospital of Torment Therapy is quite clean and nice looking at first, it later shows that deep within it lies a gruesome underbelly. The intensive therapy unit is by every means an asylum. But not the one where patients recover from a psychological disorder, oh no, this place is a torture facility. A place where suffering is the only form of medicine with mercy never truly being an option. The place is filled with all types of traps that will give you a painful demise.
* BigDamnHeroes: Four moments of this happen. In ''Elementary Evil'', where Bierce unlocks the gym doors when Agatha traps Doug within them, allowing him to escape to Agatha's chagrin.

* BilingualBonus: A Chinese onomatopoeia for laughter 哈哈(hā hā) can be seen on one of the walls in the Funhouse in Crazy Carnevil.

---> [[spoiler:'''Malak:''']] "That looks pretty deep, imagine if you fell in. [[DrivenToSuicide Why not just throw yourself into the pit]] and [[GetItOverWith get it over with?]]"

* BlackAndGrayMorality: Aside from the game’s EvilVersusEvil conflict with Bierce and Malak, this {{trope}} definitely seems to be the main conflict of the game. Let’s just see here, on one hand you have a demon that collects people's souls and is trying to kill the protagonist, AxCrazy monsters, more {{affabl|Y evil}}e but just as bad monsters, and on the other hand you have [[AntiHero the main protagonist]] who thinks he deserves to go to {{hell}} for what he’s done to his family according to his admission, and ALighterShadeOfBlack who is implied to be using the protagonist for her own motives and [[spoiler:[[WouldHurtAChild murdered a child]] in the past]].

* TheChase: Every level usually ends with one.

* GiantMedicalSyringe: The Reaper Nurses from Torment Therapy wield giant syringes as their main weapons.

* ScaryJackInTheBox: One of the traps in Crazy Carnevil is that of a large Jack in the box that will wind itself up to the tune of pop goes the weasel. Once it is done, it will lunge out of the box and will devour anything in front of it.

* WhamEpisode: [[spoiler:Mascot Mayhem ends with Doug being caught by the Joy Joy Gang and [[MindRape Mind Raped]] by Malak, revealing his DarkAndTroubledPast and allowing Malak and the Nightmare monsters to invade the Ballroom. Bierce is able to drive them out, but not before she is wounded and all the ring pieces are stolen. Despite this, Malak is still able to drag the now powerless Doug into Bearly Buried, where he's left to be murdered by Mama Bear and her Trigger Teddies...if not for a mysterious blue sphere of light, who is actually Tammy, Doug's deceased daughter.]]

* YouShallNotEvadeMe: Dread Duckies reel in the player like a fish on a hook with their mechanical inner mouth in one of their death scenes.

** The ''VideoGame/{{Monstrum}}'' chapter brought the Brute and Fiend from the first game as playable monsters and a level based off the [[GhostShip cargo ship]] from the first game. The chapter's only playable survivor, Prisoner Borisov, is a character unique to the DLC and not the game it is based off. The level is mostly based off the area of Silent Hill from the first game.

* NintendoHard: Everything (save for those attacks that only stun the protagonist) is a OneHitKill, and the lives system lets the player only screw up so many times in levels where they're expected to collect hundreds of shards while dodging enemies. Expect to run out of lives several times until you learn the level layouts by heart.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1fb09b32_41fa_49a5_a719_3f6ef23772bb.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The clock is ticking.]]

A multiplayer-based spinoff known as ''Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals'' was released in November 2020. It is a four-player game where players compete in mazes to collect the most shards while avoiding being killed by one another. It received various {{crossover}} DLC based on different IP. First ''VideoGame/{{Monstrum}}'' released a month later. ''Franchise/SilentHill'' was announced on March 21, 2021. On December 10, ''VideoGame/HouseOfAshes'' was announced. In 2022, ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'' was announced, but was pulled due to worsening controversy with Yandere Dev.

A multiplayer-based spinoff known as ''Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals'' was released in November 2020. It is a four-player game where players compete in mazes to collect the most shards while avoiding being killed by one another. It received various {{crossover}} DLC based on different IP. First ''VideoGame/{{Monstrum}}'' released a month later. ''Franchise/SilentHill'' was announced on March 21, 2021. On December 10, ''VideoGame/HouseOfAshes'' was announced. In 2022, ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'' was announced.