History VideoGame / IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream

* HeroesWantRedheads: Ted is quite attracted to the maid and is given the option to have sex with her. He will regret cheating on Ellen if he does it, though.

* NightmareFetishist: AM. The horrors that the remaining humans endured in their pasts is something he finds...intriguing.

* FateWorseThanDeath What happens if you get the bad ending.

* GoodHurtsEvil: How to defeat AM. More precisely…

** [[spoiler: It IS possible to save all five survivors, but only if Nimdok is the first character you send to the final confrontation. It's not necessary to raise the pillars to awaken and counteract the Id, Ego, and Superego, but Nimdok is the only one who can engage the bridge and properly start the quest in the first place. The ending doesn't change either way, though., and some dialogue from the Chinese and Russian supercomputers suggests that they may have died when their digital counterparts were erased]].

** [[spoiler: It IS possible to save all five survivors, but only if Nimdok is the first character you send to the final confrontation. It's not necessary to raise the pillars to awaken and counteract the Id, Ego, and Superego, but Nimdok is the only one who can engage the bridge and properly start the quest in the first place. The ending doesn't change either way, though., and some dialogue from the Chinese and Russian supercomputers suggests that they may have died when their digital counterparts were erased ]]

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: You'd never know it because [[GuideDangIt the game certainly isn't going to tell you]], but it's possible to finish the game and get the good ending [[spoiler: possibly without killing any of the protagonists. It is ambiguos as some dialogue from the Chinese and Russian supercomputers suggests that they may have died when their digital counterparts were erased.]] Unfortunately, the ending doesn't reflect that, unless you want to assume that [[spoiler: Nimdok just plain put the others out of their misery.]]

** [[spoiler: It IS possible to save all five survivors, but only if Nimdok is the first character you send to the final confrontation. It's not necessary to raise the pillars to awaken and counteract the Id, Ego, and Superego, but Nimdok is the only one who can engage the bridge and properly start the quest in the first place. The ending doesn't change either way, though.]]

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: You'd never know it because [[GuideDangIt the game certainly isn't going to tell you]], but it's possible to finish the game and get the good ending [[spoiler: without killing any of the protagonists.]] Unfortunately, the ending doesn't reflect that, unless you want to assume that [[spoiler: Nimdok just plain put the others out of their misery.]]

*** This can be averted [[spoiler: if you choose Nimdok first for the endgame. The pillar puzzles reserved for each character are not needed for the good ending, but Nimdok is the only one who can access the bridge to the site where the final confrontation against AM takes place]].

* NotHisSled: It is possible to prevent the original events of the story and EarnYourHappyEnding.

* PressXToDie: As Nimdok, if you [[spoiler:stab the Nazi Anesthetist]], then get caught by the guard, you're told that you will be punished like all enemies of the regime. You're then shown an image of a chamber full of fire. Nimdok can also die if the golem is commanded to attack him.

* TermsOfEndangerment: AM occasionally addresses Ted and Ellen with sickly-sweet pet names, using words like "dear," "sweetheart," and "my love." He does not mean it.

* {{Unwinnable}}: The section with the Nazis is removed entirely in France and Germany, but the {{Event Flag}}s aren't modified to reflect this.

An adaptation of Creator/HarlanEllison's story [[Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream of the same name]], the game is also notable for including the author as a designer. The game is divided into a separate scenario for each of the characters and delves deeper into their backstories than the original work does. It is considered to be just as nightmarish as the story; one of Ellison's goals was to create a game that players could not possibly "win."

** [[spoiler:Showing compassion to the Id will cause it to lash out in confusion at a mere human being able to understand its pain. The frustrated Id then shuts itself down in despair, as its hatred of humanity is now completely pointless.]]

* GoodHurtsEvil: How to defeat AM. [[spoiler: More precisely, the Ego will die of a LogicBomb if you forgive it for all the ColdBloodedTorture it did.]]

* ButtMonkey: PlayedForDrama thanks to the last 5 humans enduring an eternity of torture.

* {{Forgiveness}}: [[spoiler:Part of the key to defeat AM in the endgame scenario. Overcoming his Id and Ego components involves invoking the Totems of Compassion and Forgiveness on them respectively. The Id gives up in despair, realizing that his hatred for the human race is useless now that AM's own suffering is understood by a human who even can find it in themselves to pity him for it, while the logic-driven Ego simply crashes, being unable to comprehend how a petty creature like a human can forgive their tormentor after being subjected to a century of torture.]]

* AIIsACrapshoot: AM was once the Allied Mastercomputer programmed to protect humanity, but he chose to wipe it all out and take over the world.
* AdaptationExpansion: The game expands on both the protagonists and AM. Most of this expansion comes from Ellison being asked why AM chose to torture these five people particularly.

* BlackAndNerdy: Ellen is a computer science and engineering wiz.
* BloodFromTheMouth: This is what happens if Benny ever tries eating anything himself. It only lasts for a few seconds, though.

* HeelFaceDoorSlam: The main premise of Nimdok's scenario.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Ellen is not only the main female in her group, but the last female ''on Earth''. [[spoiler: Subverted when it turns out that hundreds of human survivors are revealed to be alive in a space colony, quite possibly with a large number of women on board. Though if Ellen is given the bad ending, then this trope is played straight again.]]

* RedIsHeroic: Ellen is dressed in a red suit and is a computer genius trying to take down AM.

* AscendedExtra: Nimdok was OutOfFocus for the majority of the short story, but his origin story is really fleshed out here.

* AGodAmI:
** One of the interpretations of what "AM" means. ''I think, therefore I AM'' is sort of a shorthand for the awakening of AM to his omnipotence, at least in terms of absolute power over his five victims. It's also a DeconstructedTrope, since it's not the ''power'' that drives him mad, it's the lack of power to do anything ''except'' to those five victims.
** Subverted in the good ending: [[spoiler: The last survivor gains all of AM's power and, being human, has everything AM lacked to truly become a worthwhile deity, or at least what passes for one in this otherwise godforsaken setting.]]

* {{Sadist}}: AM takes this UpToEleven with his love for torturing the last remaining humans.

** Gorrister still feels guilty over the fate of his wife, and constantly seeks to [[TheAtoner atone]] or [[DrivenToSuicide finally end his life.]] [[spoiler: He finds peace by realizing that his wife's madness is not his fault, and finding catharsis by posthumously punishing Edna.]]

The game was rereleased on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and [[Website/GOGDotCom GOG]] on October 17, 2013.