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* ShopKeeper: One of the humans that aids the protagonist is the shop keeper, who gives him a free item (oil lamps or lures) each time he visits the village. The manual suggests he does this as a friendly favor, while in-game his commentary of "Take my goods, foul creature of the night," suggests he's not doing it quite voluntarily.

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* AbsoluteCleavage: Hecate wears a dress that leaves her torso vertically exposed from her cleavage down to her navel.

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* AbsoluteCleavage: Hecate wears a dress that leaves her torso vertically exposed from her cleavage down to her navel.


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* NavelDeepNeckline: Hecate wears a dress that leaves her torso vertically exposed from her cleavage down to her navel.
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* {{Animorphism}}: One of the key gameplay features is the ability to take the shape of any of four animals after defeating various bosses. Thet are the owl, which can [[{{flight}} fly]], the bear, which is [[BearsAreBadNews strong]], the badger, which is [[CrouchAndProne small]], and the wolf, which is the only form that can [[EvilDetectingDog see through Hecate's disguise and harm her]].

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* {{Animorphism}}: One of the key gameplay features is the ability to take the shape of any of four animals after defeating various bosses. Thet That are the owl, which can [[{{flight}} fly]], the bear, which is [[BearsAreBadNews strong]], the badger, which is [[CrouchAndProne small]], and the wolf, which is the only form that can [[EvilDetectingDog see through Hecate's disguise and harm her]].
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Merged per TRS


* UnwinnableByMistake: There's a hole in the darkwood that leads into the cave. Unless you've already obtained the owl form, you cannot reach the hole to get back to the surface once you've fallen through it and you have to restart the game because you can't proceed without the badger form (which can only be unlocked after the owl form is). On top of that, it is very easy to accidentally or curiously jump into the hole before you're ready, because the darkwood is the most likely place to visit first as it is located on [[WhenAllElseFailsGoRight the right of the village]] and the hole seems like any regular path to take. It is not UnwinnableByDesign because then you'd expect a warning from the wise woman like she gives in other situations.

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* UnwinnableByMistake: UnintentionallyUnwinnable: There's a hole in the darkwood that leads into the cave. Unless you've already obtained the owl form, you cannot reach the hole to get back to the surface once you've fallen through it and you have to restart the game because you can't proceed without the badger form (which can only be unlocked after the owl form is). On top of that, it is very easy to accidentally or curiously jump into the hole before you're ready, because the darkwood is the most likely place to visit first as it is located on [[WhenAllElseFailsGoRight the right of the village]] and the hole seems like any regular path to take. It is not UnwinnableByDesign because then you'd expect a warning from the wise woman like she gives in other situations.
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Not to be confused with the other horror game called ''VideoGame/NightmareCreatures''.

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Not to be confused with the other horror game called ''VideoGame/NightmareCreatures''.
''VideoGame/NightmareCreatures'' or the film ''Film/CaptainClegg'', which was released as ''Night Creatures'' in some markets.

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* DungeonTown: The town is overrun with large and hostile bats and rats. It looks devoid of townfolk, but it's contextually suggested everyone is still around and either sleeping or wisely staying indoors. After the first encounters with the girlfriend and the wise woman, who live there, they don't show up there a second time, but the shop keeper comes out every time the protagonist visits to gift him an oil lamp or one of the three lures.



* UnwinnableByMistake: There's a hole in the darkwood that leads into the cave. Unless you've already obtained the owl form, you cannot reach it to get back to the surface and you have to restart the game because you can't proceed without the badger form (which can only be unlocked after the owl form is). On top of that, it is very easy to accidentally or curiously jump into the hole before you're ready, because the darkwood is the most likely place to visit first as it is located on [[WhenAllElseFailsGoRight the right of the village]] and the hole seems like any regular path to take. It is not UnwinnableByDesign because then you'd expect a warning from the wise woman like she gives in other situations.

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* UnwinnableByMistake: There's a hole in the darkwood that leads into the cave. Unless you've already obtained the owl form, you cannot reach it the hole to get back to the surface once you've fallen through it and you have to restart the game because you can't proceed without the badger form (which can only be unlocked after the owl form is). On top of that, it is very easy to accidentally or curiously jump into the hole before you're ready, because the darkwood is the most likely place to visit first as it is located on [[WhenAllElseFailsGoRight the right of the village]] and the hole seems like any regular path to take. It is not UnwinnableByDesign because then you'd expect a warning from the wise woman like she gives in other situations.

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The game was judged poorly in its day and the decades following haven't offered it more grace. ''Night Creatures'' is too short to make the most of its {{Metroidvania}} content, being completable in well under half an hour. Combat is key-oriented, meaning there's one particular weapon that's effective for each enemy type or category. The result is that either you don't have the right weapon and winning may very well be [[TrialAndErrorGameplay literally impossible]] or you have the right weapon and you may very well need to land only one hit. If the hitboxes cooperate, at least. The animal forms drain vitality and generally are needed only once or twice, making for limited gameplay experimentation. On the upside, the game is commended for its original take on the MonsterMash, such as having Hecate as the BigBad and featuring a Headless Lady who has a few more parts loose than just her head.

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The game was judged poorly in its day and the decades following haven't offered it more grace. ''Night Creatures'' is too short to make the most of its {{Metroidvania}} content, being completable in well under half an hour. Combat is key-oriented, meaning there's one particular weapon that's effective for each enemy type or category. The result is that either you don't have the right weapon and winning may very well be [[TrialAndErrorGameplay literally impossible]] or you have the right weapon and you may very well need to land only one hit. If the hitboxes cooperate, at least. The animal forms drain vitality and generally are needed only once or twice, at most, making for limited gameplay experimentation. On the upside, the game is commended for its original take on the MonsterMash, such as having Hecate as the BigBad and featuring a Headless Lady who has a few more parts loose than just her head.



* AwesomeButImpractical: The bear form is huge and powerful and solely for combat purposes. But it becomes available only late into the game, when there's little left to do and enemies barely drop vitality points. There are no healing potions in the game and having an animal form active drains vitality. Using the bear form is more of a guarantee of death than dealing with the remaining enemies with the weapons you've got.



* BottomlessMagazines: Averted hard. You find the rifle, you get six bullets with it. You find the crossbow, you get six arrows with it. You find the spears, there's five in total. And you'll never get more ammunition than that, so do save up for bosses.



* ColdIron: Presumably the magic of the iron sword comes from the fact it's cold iron. It and the rifle, which is probably also iron, are the only weapons that can defeat the Headless Lady.

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* ColdIron: Presumably the magic of the iron sword comes from the fact it's cold iron. It and the rifle, which is probably also iron, are the only weapons that can defeat the Headless Lady.



* DecoyDamsel: Downplayed due to missing story content in the game. The manual mentions that ghouls abducted the protagonist's girlfriend to the crypt. This then suggests that the crypt-residing Headless Lady, who looks a little like the girlfriend and makes a curious beckoning gesture before revealing her monstrous form, is supposed to be a decoy damsel. In-game you don't hear about the girlfriend's abduction until the very end, so this falls flat.

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* DecoyDamsel: Downplayed due to missing story content in the game. The manual mentions that ghouls abducted the protagonist's girlfriend to the crypt. This then suggests that the crypt-residing Headless Lady, who looks a little like the girlfriend and makes a curious beckoning gesture before revealing her monstrous form, is supposed to be a decoy damsel. In-game you don't hear about the girlfriend's abduction until the very end, so this falls flat.



* EmergencyWeapon: Without weapons, you can still punch night creatures to death. It's always effective in that punching does more damage than a not-advantageous weapon, but the cost of getting within range to the night creatures makes it an inadvisable emergency weapon.



* SecondHandStorytelling: Likely the result of missing content. The girlfriend's abduction is neither shown nor technically mentioned in the game. What happens is you meet her at the start of the game where she refers you to the wise woman. Then she's absent until she suddenly approaches you in Hecate's Den, but this turns out to be a shapeshifted Hecate. After defeating Hecate, the (supposedly) true girlfriend meets you in the moors and thanks you for saving her. From this, one has to infer she'd been abducted. The manual, at least, is explicit about the situation and mentions that ghouls abducted her to the crypt. This then suggests that the crypt-residing Headless Lady, who looks a little like the girlfriend and makes a curious beckoning gesture before revealing her monstrous form, is supposed to be a DecoyDamsel.

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* SecondHandStorytelling: Likely the result of missing content. The girlfriend's abduction is neither shown nor technically mentioned in the game. What happens is you meet her at the start of the game where she refers you to the wise woman. Then she's unremarkably absent until she suddenly approaches you in Hecate's Den, but this turns out to be a shapeshifted Hecate. After defeating Hecate, the (supposedly) true girlfriend meets you in the moors and thanks you for saving her. From this, one has to infer she'd been abducted. The manual, at least, is explicit about the situation and mentions that ghouls abducted her to the crypt. This then suggests that the crypt-residing Headless Lady, who looks a little like the girlfriend and makes a curious beckoning gesture before revealing her monstrous form, is supposed to be a DecoyDamsel.



* TimeKeepsOnTicking: The wise woman shows up with advice any time an animal form is unlocked or you've used a continue. Everything stops while she talks to you, but there's one scenario is which the time does keep going and that is if you've activated an animal form. Animal forms drain vitality and this doesn't stop just because she talks to you. Because you have to walk a bit for her to come after beating a boss, there's plenty of time and incentive to try out the new fancy animal form and her message is likely to distract from the fact your health bar down in the corner is decreasing.

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* TimeKeepsOnTicking: The wise woman shows up with advice any time an animal form is unlocked or you've used a continue. Everything stops while she talks to you, but there's one scenario is which except for the time does keep going and that is if you've activated an protagonist's vitality being drained from being in animal form. Animal forms drain vitality and this doesn't stop just because she talks to you. Because you have to walk a bit for her to come after beating a boss, there's plenty of time and incentive to try out the new fancy animal form and her message is likely to distract distracts from the fact your health the vitality bar down in the corner is decreasing.
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* WickedWitch: Foremost, there's the Witch of the Cave, one of the bosses. She dresses in a [[TheFaceless face-obscuring cloak]], flies unassisted, and attacks by conjuring bats from her MagicCauldron. Defeating the Witch unlocks the bear form. Secondly, there's regular witches that have all the classic witch traits: pointy hats, [[Flying Broomstick]]s, and {{Sinister Schnoz}}s. They shoot magic down at the protagonist.

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* WickedWitch: Foremost, there's the Witch of the Cave, one of the bosses. She dresses in a [[TheFaceless face-obscuring cloak]], flies unassisted, and attacks by conjuring bats from her MagicCauldron. Defeating the Witch unlocks the bear form. Secondly, there's regular witches that have all the classic witch traits: pointy hats, [[Flying Broomstick]]s, {{Flying Broomstick}}s, and {{Sinister Schnoz}}s. They shoot magic down at the protagonist.
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* FlyingHead: Both the winged skulls and the killer mists are regular enemies that classify as special monsters and consist of flying heads. In the case of winged skulls, they're flying skulls. In the case of killer mists, these are whirlwinds generated by four skulls. All four skulls need to be destroyed to end a killer mist. As for bosses, the Headless Lady's head comes off and floats around while her body disappears.

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* FlyingHead: FlyingFace: Both the winged skulls and the killer mists are regular enemies that classify as special monsters and consist of flying heads.faces. In the case of winged skulls, they're flying skulls. In the case of killer mists, these are whirlwinds generated by four skulls. All four skulls need to be destroyed to end a killer mist. As for bosses, the Headless Lady's head comes off and floats around while her body disappears.

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The [[NoNameGiven unnamed]] protagonist is walking alone through the moors one night when he is marked by Hecate to become one of her night creatures. After a little chitchat with a [[TokenHeroicOrc helpful vampire]], the protagonist's equally unnamed girlfriend, and the [[CoolOldLady wise woman]], it is learned that he has until dawn to destroy Hecate and avert the curse. One perk the curse has left him with is the [[{{Animorphism}} ability to take on animal forms]] if Hecate's [[EliteFour more powerful servants]] are defeated. The four forms available are the owl, which can [[{{flight}} fly]], the bear, which is [[BearsAreBadNews strong]], the badger, which is [[CrouchAndProne small]], and the wolf, which is the only form Hecate [[MysteriousAnimalSenses can be defeated with]]. These animal forms, various weapons found along the way, and the guidance of the wise woman are all the protagonist has in his RaceAgainstTheClock.

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The [[NoNameGiven unnamed]] protagonist is walking alone through the moors one night when he is marked by Hecate to become one of her night creatures. After a little chitchat with a [[TokenHeroicOrc helpful vampire]], the protagonist's equally unnamed girlfriend, and the [[CoolOldLady wise woman]], it is learned that he has until dawn to destroy Hecate and avert the curse. One perk the curse has left him with is the [[{{Animorphism}} ability to take on animal forms]] if Hecate's [[EliteFour more powerful servants]] are defeated. The four forms available are the owl, which can [[{{flight}} fly]], the bear, which is [[BearsAreBadNews strong]], the badger, which is [[CrouchAndProne small]], and the wolf, which is the only form Hecate [[MysteriousAnimalSenses [[EvilDetectingDog can be defeated with]]. These animal forms, various weapons found along the way, and the guidance of the wise woman are all the protagonist has in his RaceAgainstTheClock.



* {{Animorphism}}: One of the key gameplay features is the ability to take the shape of any of four animals after defeating various bosses. Thet are the owl, which can [[{{flight}} fly]], the bear, which is [[BearsAreBadNews strong]], the badger, which is [[CrouchAndProne small]], and the wolf, which is the only form that can [[EvilDetectingDog see through Hecate's disguise and harm her]].



* ElementalPowers: Downplayed but present. The elements to invoke against the night creatures are silver (axe, crossbow), iron (sword, rifle), wood (club, spear), fire (oil lamp), and water (holy water).



* FlyingHead: Both the winged skulls and the killer mists are regular enemies that classify as special monsters and consist of flying heads. In the case of winged skulls, they're flying skulls. In the case of killer mists, these are whirlwinds generated by four skulls. All four skulls need to be destroyed to end a killer mist. As for bosses, the Headless Lady's head comes off and floats around while her body disappears.



* StockAnimalDiet: The three lures are pieces of food the protagonist can lay down so that any animal that wants a bite is distracted by it. These are cheese for the rats, piece of meat for dire wolves, and fish skeletons for black cats.



* UndergroundMonkey: The dire wolves, hellhounds, and Cerberus all are based on the same sprite and have similar attack patterns. The dire wolf can only bite, the hellhound can spit fireballs at a save distance, and Cerberus is a miniboss. Muck geysers are elemental hands that rise up from the mire much like grasping limbs do in the graveyard. Muck geysers are more dangerous because they drag their victims into GrimyWater.



* WhenTreesAttack: If it's not human, it will attack the protagonist. The tree monsters, among which the boss Elm the Impaler, are exclusive to the darkwood. Non-tree plant monsters can be found in both the moors and the mire.

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* WhenTreesAttack: If it's not human, it will attack the protagonist. The tree monsters, among which the boss Elm the Impaler, are exclusive to the darkwood. Non-tree plant monsters can be found in both the moors and the mire.mire: haunted cattails will try to shank their victim, strangling vines will try for strangulation, and carnivorous ferns snap at bypassers.

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The game was judged poorly in its day and the decades following haven't offered it more grace. ''Night Creatures'' is too short to make the most of its {{Metroidvania}} content, being completable in well under half an hour. Combat is key-oriented, meaning there's one particular weapon that's effective for each enemy type or category. The result is that either you don't have the right weapon and winning may very well be [[TrialAndErrorGameplay literally impossible]] or you have the right weapon and you may very well need to land only one hit. If the hitboxes cooperate, at least. The animal forms drain vitality and generally are needed only once or twice, making for limited gameplay variety. On the upside, the game is praised for its original take on the MonsterMash, such as having Hecate as the BigBad and featuring a Headless Lady who has a few more parts loose than just her head.

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The game was judged poorly in its day and the decades following haven't offered it more grace. ''Night Creatures'' is too short to make the most of its {{Metroidvania}} content, being completable in well under half an hour. Combat is key-oriented, meaning there's one particular weapon that's effective for each enemy type or category. The result is that either you don't have the right weapon and winning may very well be [[TrialAndErrorGameplay literally impossible]] or you have the right weapon and you may very well need to land only one hit. If the hitboxes cooperate, at least. The animal forms drain vitality and generally are needed only once or twice, making for limited gameplay variety. experimentation. On the upside, the game is praised commended for its original take on the MonsterMash, such as having Hecate as the BigBad and featuring a Headless Lady who has a few more parts loose than just her head.



* CatsAreMean: Black cats are enemies lying in wait for victims upon the boulders in the moors. They're described as a cross between a housecat and a panther in manual. They jump around and claw at the protagonist. Whether it's significant or not, the moors are also [[AllWitchesHaveCats where the witches can be found]].



* FlyingBroomstick: Witches fly around on broomsticks in the moors.
* FrogMen: The bog monsters look like monstrous humanoid frogs. They're green, have webbed hands, and large mouths, but no eyes. Their means of attack are their tongues.



* {{Hellhound}}: There's the regular enemies actually called hellhounds and there's the miniboss Cerberus. Cerberus is a green dog with three heads (the third is barely visible on the sprite) and a snake tail that seems to be inspired by the ClassicalChimera. It is the first miniboss fought in Hecate's Den. Hellhounds are dogs with a green glow that spit fireballs and only show up in the moors. The manual claims they also inhabit Hecate's Den and, as per mythology, are the goddess's favored pets, but in the game they cannot be found in Hecate's Den.



* HyperspaceArsenal: By the end of the adventure, the protagonist has (likely) acquired three hand held weapons (club, iron sword, silver axe), three projectile weapons (wood spear, crossbow, rifle), two explosive weapons (oil lamp, holy water), three talismans (cross, garlic, wolfsbane), and three lures (fish skeleton, piece of meat, cheese). He has nothing to physically carry it all, but somehow he manages to.



* MagicCauldron: The Witch floats into battle with one. Its vapors take the shape of monsters to fight for her.

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* MagicCauldron: The Witch floats into battle with one. Its vapors take the shape of monsters bats to fight for her.



* NestedMouths: Bog monsters are blobular, green, eyeless creatures with huge mouths. To attack, they open these mouths and lash out their long tongues, at the end of which are green, skull-like heads that aim to bite their victims.



* OurGhostsAreDifferent: There's both the ghosts and the wraiths to look out for among the undead forces. Both are found in the catacombs, but wraiths also hang out at the graveyard. Ghosts are invisible except for their red outline, they can rise up through the floor to attack the protagonist but cannot descend the same way, and they do a lot of damage. Wraiths are black-cloaked figures that attack with [[ChainedByFashion chains]].



* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: The werewolves are only found in the darkwood. They are reasonably fast and capable of jumping far, but they keep a distance mostly to anyone carrying wolfsbane with them. Upon being hit with silver, even if that silver is incorporated in an axe, they do not die but return to human form and cease being hostile.
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: There's the full zombies that shamble around in the catacombs and there's the partial zombies known as grasping limbs. Grasping limbs are hands reaching out of the ground in the graveyard and the catacombs. They don't do damage, but hold up their victim for other night creatures to attack them.



* ScaryScarecrow: One of the bosses, Pumpkinhead, rolls into the scene as just a pumpkin and then grows an immobile body on the spot. His strategy is to regenerate his head over and over and roll it towards the protagonist. It's possible for the head to break and spawn several tiny jack o'lanterns. Pumpkinhead is invulnerable to all attacks but getting hit by the oil lamp, which is an insta-kill. Defeating Pumpkinhead unlocks the owl form.

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* ScaryScarecrow: One of the bosses, Pumpkinhead, rolls into the scene as just a pumpkin and then grows an immobile body on the spot. His strategy is to regenerate his head over and over and roll it towards the protagonist. It's possible for the head to break and spawn several tiny jack o'lanterns.o'lanterns that jump around. Pumpkinhead is invulnerable to all attacks but getting hit by the oil lamp, which is an insta-kill. Defeating Pumpkinhead unlocks the owl form.



* ShoutOut: Elm the Impaler is a treant adaptation of UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler.



* TimeKeepsOnTicking: The wise woman shows up with advice any time an animal form is unlocked or you've used a continue. Everything stops while she talks to you, but there's one scenario is which the time does keep going and that is if you've activated an animal form. Animal forms drain vitality and this doesn't stop just because she talks to you. Because you have to walk a bit for her to come after beating a boss, there's plenty of time and incentive to try out the new fancy animal form and her message is likely to distract from the fact your health bar down in the corner is decreasing.



* UnwinnableByMistake: There's a hole in the darkwood that leads into the cave. Unless you've already obtained the owl form, you cannot reach it to get back to the surface and you have to restart the game because you can't proceed without the badger form (which can only be unlocked after the owl form is). On top of that, it is very easy to accidentally or curiously jump into the hole before you're ready, because the darkwood is the most likely place to visit first as it is located on [[WhenAllElseFailsGoRight the right of the village]] and the hole seems like any regular path to take. It is not UnwinnableByDesign because then you'd expect a warning from the wise woman like she gives in other situations.



* WickedWitch: Foremost, there's the Witch of the Cave, one of the bosses. She dresses in a [[TheFaceless face-obscuring cloak]], flies unassisted, and attacks by means of the vapors emanating from her cauldron. Defeating the Witch unlocks the bear form. Secondly, there's regular witches that have all the classic witch traits: pointy hats, flying brooms, and {{Sinister Schnoz}}s. They shoot magic down at the protagonist.
* WrapAround: The surface area wraps around, suggesting that the four areas all neighbor the village. Going right from the village, there's the darkwood, the mire, the moors, and the graveyard before one's back at the village. Going left gets one across the same areas in reversed order.

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* WickedWitch: Foremost, there's the Witch of the Cave, one of the bosses. She dresses in a [[TheFaceless face-obscuring cloak]], flies unassisted, and attacks by means of the vapors emanating conjuring bats from her cauldron.MagicCauldron. Defeating the Witch unlocks the bear form. Secondly, there's regular witches that have all the classic witch traits: pointy hats, flying brooms, [[Flying Broomstick]]s, and {{Sinister Schnoz}}s. They shoot magic down at the protagonist.
* WillOTheWisp: Will o'wisps appear as slow-moving green lights exclusive to the mire. They explode upon contact and are classified as special monsters.
* WrapAround: The surface area wraps around, suggesting that the four areas all neighbor the village. Going right from the village, there's the darkwood, the mire, the moors, and the graveyard before one's back at the village. Going left gets one across the same areas in reversed order. order.
* YouALLLookFamiliar: The sprites for the wolf form and the owl form are also in use as the dire wolf and demon owl enemies.

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* AbsoluteCleavage: Hecate wears a dress that leaves her torso vertically exposed from her cleavage down to her navel.



* DamselInDistress: Downplayed due to missing story content in the game. The protagonist's girlfriend gets abducted shortly after the start of the game. However, unless you read the manual, you won't know this until the very end of the game and even then her abduction can only be inferred from the fact the girlfriend says you saved her.
* DecoyDamsel: Downplayed due to missing story content in the game. The manual mentions that ghouls abducted the protagonist's girlfriend to the crypt. This then suggests that the crypt-residing Headless Lady, who looks a little like the girlfriend and makes a curious beckoning gesture before revealing her monstrous form, is supposed to be a decoy damsel. In-game you don't hear about the girlfriend's abduction until the very end, so this falls flat.



* HarpingOnAboutHarpies: There's one harpy in the game and she's part of the end game BossBonanza. Her look is fairly true to mythology, being a bird's body topped by a human head.



* MichaelJacksonsThrillerParody: Hecate's death pose sees her raise up her clawed hands sideways and slightly lift one leg.



* OurHydrasAreDifferent: There's one hydra in the game and it's part of the end game BossBonanza. It has five heads the all can spit fireballs, but the creature has nor regenerative capabilities.



* SecondHandStorytelling: Likely the result of missing content. The girlfriend's abduction is neither shown nor technically mentioned in the game. What happens is you meet her at the start of the game where she refers you to the wise woman. Then she's absent until she suddenly approaches you in Hecate's Den, but this turns out to be a shapeshifted Hecate. After defeating Hecate, the (supposedly) true girlfriend meets you in the moors and thanks you for saving her. From this, one has to infer she'd been abducted. The manual, at least, is explicit about the situation and mentions that ghouls abducted her to the crypt. This then suggests that the crypt-residing Headless Lady, who looks a little like the girlfriend and makes a curious beckoning gesture before revealing her monstrous form, is supposed to be a DecoyDamsel.



* SnakePeople: This is a theme shared by Medusa, the Fury, and Hecate. It is true to mythology, but the meaning in ''Night Creatures'' is unclear. Medusa has both the traditional snake hair and the modern snake body. The Fury isn't part snake herself (although the manual claims she has snake hair) but carries a snake multi-whip. And Hecate has no snake body, but does have snake hair. Curiously, the attributes of the Fury -- the snake theme, the whip, and the torch -- are attributes mythologically associated with Hecate, while in mythology Hecate never has snake hair but the Furies sometimes do.

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* SnakePeople: This is a theme shared by Medusa, the Fury, and Hecate. It is true to mythology, but the meaning in ''Night Creatures'' is unclear. Medusa has both the traditional snake hair and the modern snake body. The Fury isn't part snake herself (although the manual claims she has snake hair) but carries a snake multi-whip. And Hecate has no snake body, but does have snake hair. Curiously, the attributes of the Fury -- the snake theme, held snakes, the whip, and the torch -- are attributes mythologically associated with Hecate, while in mythology Hecate never has snake hair but the Furies sometimes often do.
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* MagicCauldron: The With floats into battle with one. Its vapors take the shape of monsters to fight for her.

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* MagicCauldron: The With Witch floats into battle with one. Its vapors take the shape of monsters to fight for her.


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* OurGargoylesRock: The gargoyles are classified as enchanted objects and exclusive to the graveyard. They don't move from their spot because they're statues, but they're also indestructible. They can only snap at the protagonist, so they just have to be avoided.


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* TheTreesHaveFaces: All the hostile treants and the seemingly normal trees in the background of the darkwood have faces.
* TrialAndErrorGameplay: All of the combat in ''Night Creatures'' depends on knowing the (elemental) weaknesses of the night creatures and having the items to put that knowledge to use. Some of it is intuitive or predictable, such as that having the cross keeps the vampires away or that the axe is useful against treants. Some of it is not, like that the creatures in the mire are vulnerable to wooden weapons or that the treant Elm the Impaler can't be harmed by fire. One mercy is that whenever you die, continue, and reach the area you died in again, the wise woman will appear to inform you what kind of weapon you'll want to equip.
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* Treants: Foremost, there's Elm the Impaler, one of the bosses. It attacks by summoning root spikes from the ground, hence its title. Defeating Elm unlocks the wolf form. Secondly, there's regular tree enemies, which aren't mentioned in the manual. Unlike Elm they have a hunched [[{{Cthulhumanoid}} humanoid form and a tentacle mouth]].

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* Treants: {{Treants}}: Foremost, there's Elm the Impaler, one of the bosses. It attacks by summoning root spikes from the ground, hence its title. Defeating Elm unlocks the wolf form. Secondly, there's regular tree enemies, which aren't mentioned in the manual. Unlike Elm they have a hunched [[{{Cthulhumanoid}} humanoid form and a tentacle mouth]].
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* Treants: Foremost, there's Elm the Impaler, one of the bosses. It attacks by summoning root spikes from the ground, hence its title. Defeating Elm unlocks the wolf form. Secondly, there's regular tree enemies, which aren't mentioned in the manual. Unlike Elm they have a hunched [[Cthulhumanoid humanoid form and a tentacle mouth]].

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* Treants: Foremost, there's Elm the Impaler, one of the bosses. It attacks by summoning root spikes from the ground, hence its title. Defeating Elm unlocks the wolf form. Secondly, there's regular tree enemies, which aren't mentioned in the manual. Unlike Elm they have a hunched [[Cthulhumanoid [[{{Cthulhumanoid}} humanoid form and a tentacle mouth]].

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* Cthulhumanoid: The treants in the darkwood are of humanoid form and have several green tentacles where their mouth is.

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* Cthulhumanoid: {{Cthulhumanoid}}: The treants in the darkwood are of humanoid form and have several green tentacles where their mouth is.



* OurGhoulsAreCreepier: The ghouls of ''Night Creatures'' appear to be of the Lovecraftian variety. They're reptillian-looking with a huge mouth and glowing eyes, are a head taller than the protagonist, are dressed in tatters, and have long, spindly arms.

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* OurBansheesAreLouder: Banshees are undead monsters that look like withered elderly women complete with walking canes. Because there are no creature sounds in ''Night Creatures'', the banshees' screams are purely visual. The soundwaves bounce around the room until they hit something.
* OurGhoulsAreCreepier: The ghouls of ''Night Creatures'' appear to be of the Lovecraftian variety. variety, although they are classified as undeads. They're reptillian-looking with a huge mouth and glowing eyes, are a head taller than the protagonist, are dressed in tatters, and have long, spindly arms.arms.
* ProtectiveCharm: There are three talismans in the game: a cross, garlic, and wolfsbane. They are to be found randomly. The cross protects against vampires (the manual erronously lists mummies as also being repelled), garlic against dire wolves, and wolfsbane against werewolves.



* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Among the earliest enemies encountered are giant rats. They ought to not pose a real threat other than what numbers do for them.



* ShopKeeper: One of the humans that aids the protagonist is the shop keeper, who gives him a free item (oil lamps or lures) each time he visits the village. The manual suggests he does this as a friendly favor, while in-game his commentary of "Take my goods, foul creature of the night," suggests he's not doing it quite voluntarily.



* VampireRefugee: The protagonist gets cursed to become a night creature at the start of the game and his goal from then on is to destroy Hecate before dawn so he won't lose his humanity. Incidentally, it's implied the protagonist is literally on his way to becoming a vampire.

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* VampireRefugee: The protagonist gets cursed to become a night creature at the start of the game and his goal from then on is to destroy Hecate before dawn so he won't lose his humanity. Incidentally, it's implied the protagonist is literally specifically on his way to becoming a vampire.


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* WickedWitch: Foremost, there's the Witch of the Cave, one of the bosses. She dresses in a [[TheFaceless face-obscuring cloak]], flies unassisted, and attacks by means of the vapors emanating from her cauldron. Defeating the Witch unlocks the bear form. Secondly, there's regular witches that have all the classic witch traits: pointy hats, flying brooms, and {{Sinister Schnoz}}s. They shoot magic down at the protagonist.

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The game was judged poorly in its day and the decades following haven't offered it more grace. ''Night Creatures'' is too short to make the most of its {{Metroidvania}} content, being completable in well under half an hour. Combat is puzzle-oriented, meaning there's one particular weapon that's effective for each enemy type or category. The result is that either you don't have the right weapon and winning may very well be [[TrialAndErrorGameplay literally impossible]] or you have the right weapon and you may very well need to land only one hit. If the hitboxes cooperate, at least. The animal forms drains health points and generally are needed only once or twice, making for limited gameplay variety. On the upside, the game is praised for its original take on the MonsterMash, such as having Hecate as the BigBad and featuring a Headless Lady who has a few more parts loose than just her head.

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The game was judged poorly in its day and the decades following haven't offered it more grace. ''Night Creatures'' is too short to make the most of its {{Metroidvania}} content, being completable in well under half an hour. Combat is puzzle-oriented, key-oriented, meaning there's one particular weapon that's effective for each enemy type or category. The result is that either you don't have the right weapon and winning may very well be [[TrialAndErrorGameplay literally impossible]] or you have the right weapon and you may very well need to land only one hit. If the hitboxes cooperate, at least. The animal forms drains health points drain vitality and generally are needed only once or twice, making for limited gameplay variety. On the upside, the game is praised for its original take on the MonsterMash, such as having Hecate as the BigBad and featuring a Headless Lady who has a few more parts loose than just her head.



* HumanShield: Played with in regards to the Headless Lady. Her body is irrelevant -- all there needs to be for her to be is her head. And to protect it, she uses her own heart, lungs, stomach, and intestines as meat shields. The protagonist has to destroy these first before the head can be harmed.

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* GarlicIsAbhorrent: One of the three talismans of the game is garlic, which is a random find. It repels dire wolves.
* GrimyWater: The mire has a lot of grimy water that can't always be avoided, but shouldn't be stood in for longer than necessary for it drains one's vitality.
* HolyWater: Holy water is one of the two "grenades" of the game. It generates a lightning bolt that moves across the screen and is the only means to defeat the Witch.
* HumanShield: Played with in regards to the Headless Lady. Her body is irrelevant -- all there needs to be for her to be is her head. And to protect it, she uses her own heart, lungs, stomach, and intestines as meat shields. The protagonist has to destroy these first before the head can be harmed. harmed.
* KillItWithFire: The oil lamp is one of the two "grenades" of the game. It is the only means to defeat Pumpkinhead and mummies.
* MagicCauldron: The With floats into battle with one. Its vapors take the shape of monsters to fight for her.



* VampireRefugee: The protagonist gets cursed to become a night creature at the start of the game and his goal from then on is to destroy Hecate before dawn so he won't lose his humanity. Incidentally, Hecate curses him in the shape of a bat, she seems to attack his throat, and it's specifically a vampire that tells the protagonist of the fate that has befallen him, but it's left ambiguous whether the protagonist is on his way to vampirehood or is set to become something else.

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* VampireRefugee: The protagonist gets cursed to become a night creature at the start of the game and his goal from then on is to destroy Hecate before dawn so he won't lose his humanity. Incidentally, Hecate curses him in the shape of a bat, she seems to attack his throat, and it's specifically a vampire that tells the protagonist of the fate that has befallen him, but it's left ambiguous whether implied the protagonist is literally on his way to vampirehood or is set to become something else.becoming a vampire.

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The game was judged poorly in its day and the decades following haven't offered it more grace. ''Night Creatures'' is too short to make the most of its {{Metroidvania}} content, being completable in well under half an hour. Combat is solution-oriented, meaning there's one particular weapon that's effective for each enemy type or category. The result is that either you don't have the right weapon and winning may very well be [[TrialAndErrorGameplay literally impossible]] or you have the right weapon and you may very well need to land only one hit. If the hitboxes cooperate, at least. The animal forms drains health points and generally are needed only once or twice, making for limited gameplay variety. On the upside, the game is praised for its original take on the MonsterMash, such as having Hecate as the BigBad and featuring a Headless Lady who has a few more parts loose than just her head.

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The game was judged poorly in its day and the decades following haven't offered it more grace. ''Night Creatures'' is too short to make the most of its {{Metroidvania}} content, being completable in well under half an hour. Combat is solution-oriented, puzzle-oriented, meaning there's one particular weapon that's effective for each enemy type or category. The result is that either you don't have the right weapon and winning may very well be [[TrialAndErrorGameplay literally impossible]] or you have the right weapon and you may very well need to land only one hit. If the hitboxes cooperate, at least. The animal forms drains health points and generally are needed only once or twice, making for limited gameplay variety. On the upside, the game is praised for its original take on the MonsterMash, such as having Hecate as the BigBad and featuring a Headless Lady who has a few more parts loose than just her head.



* DressedLikeADominatrix: The Fury wears a backless leotard, fishnets, knee-high boots, and she's armed with a cat o' nine tails consisting of snakes. There's no reason given as to why she dresses as such.

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* ColdIron: Presumably the magic of the iron sword comes from the fact it's cold iron. It and the rifle, which is probably also iron, are the only weapons that can defeat the Headless Lady.
* Cthulhumanoid: The treants in the darkwood are of humanoid form and have several green tentacles where their mouth is.
* DressedLikeADominatrix: The Fury wears a backless leotard, fishnets, knee-high boots, and she's armed with a cat o' nine tails consisting of snakes. There's no reason given as to why she dresses as such. such.
* EmptyRoomPsych: There is nothing to gain from visiting the mire. Aside from the village, it is the only surface area that does not host a boss.
* HumanShield: Played with in regards to the Headless Lady. Her body is irrelevant -- all there needs to be for her to be is her head. And to protect it, she uses her own heart, lungs, stomach, and intestines as meat shields. The protagonist has to destroy these first before the head can be harmed.



* NonIndicativeName: The boss known as the Headless Lady is named inaccurately and incompletely. She starts off human-looking, but then her head comes floating off to attack the protagonist and her body disappears, so she's a bodiless lady rather than a headless one. On top of that, when her head comes off, four of her organs burst out of her torso to protect the head. These are her heart, her lungs, her stomach, and her intestines. All in all, she comes across more as an unusual penanggalan than a headless anything.



* OminousOwl: The white demon owls of the darkwood and the graveyard are hostile and fast.
* OurGhoulsAreCreepier: The ghouls of ''Night Creatures'' appear to be of the Lovecraftian variety. They're reptillian-looking with a huge mouth and glowing eyes, are a head taller than the protagonist, are dressed in tatters, and have long, spindly arms.



* ScaryScarecrow: One of the bosses, Pumpkinhead, rolls into the scene as just a pumpkin and then grows an immobile body on the spot. His strategy is to regenerate his head over and over and roll it towards the protagonist. It's possible for the head to break and spawn several tiny jack o'lanterns. Pumpkinhead is invulnerable to all attacks but getting hit by the oil lamp, which is an insta-kill.
* SnakePeople: This is a theme shared by Medusa, the Fury, and Hecate. It is true to mythology, but the meaning in ''Night Creatures'' is unclear. Medusa has both the traditional snake hair and the modern snake body. The Fury isn't part snake herself (although the manual claims she has snake hair) but carries a snake multi-whip. And Hecate has no snake body, but does have snake hair.

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* ScaryScarecrow: One of the bosses, Pumpkinhead, rolls into the scene as just a pumpkin and then grows an immobile body on the spot. His strategy is to regenerate his head over and over and roll it towards the protagonist. It's possible for the head to break and spawn several tiny jack o'lanterns. Pumpkinhead is invulnerable to all attacks but getting hit by the oil lamp, which is an insta-kill.
insta-kill. Defeating Pumpkinhead unlocks the owl form.
* SilverHasMysticPowers: The go-to weapon for the creatures of the darkwood is the silver axe. It's great for chopping the many plant monsters and, somehow, turning werewolves back into humans.
* SnakePeople: This is a theme shared by Medusa, the Fury, and Hecate. It is true to mythology, but the meaning in ''Night Creatures'' is unclear. Medusa has both the traditional snake hair and the modern snake body. The Fury isn't part snake herself (although the manual claims she has snake hair) but carries a snake multi-whip. And Hecate has no snake body, but does have snake hair. Curiously, the attributes of the Fury -- the snake theme, the whip, and the torch -- are attributes mythologically associated with Hecate, while in mythology Hecate never has snake hair but the Furies sometimes do.


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* Treants: Foremost, there's Elm the Impaler, one of the bosses. It attacks by summoning root spikes from the ground, hence its title. Defeating Elm unlocks the wolf form. Secondly, there's regular tree enemies, which aren't mentioned in the manual. Unlike Elm they have a hunched [[Cthulhumanoid humanoid form and a tentacle mouth]].


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* WhenTreesAttack: If it's not human, it will attack the protagonist. The tree monsters, among which the boss Elm the Impaler, are exclusive to the darkwood. Non-tree plant monsters can be found in both the moors and the mire.
* WrapAround: The surface area wraps around, suggesting that the four areas all neighbor the village. Going right from the village, there's the darkwood, the mire, the moors, and the graveyard before one's back at the village. Going left gets one across the same areas in reversed order.

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The unnamed protagonist is walking alone through the moors one night when he is cursed by Hecate to become one of her night creatures. A surprisingly helpful vampire approaches the protagonist when Hecate has left to explain the situation and that he has only this night to avert his fate. After a little chitchat with his equally unnamed girlfriend, the protagonist sets out to destroy Hecate and her minions. One perk the curse has left him with is the ability to take on animal forms if Hecate's more powerful servants are defeated. The four forms available are the owl, which can fly, the bear, which is strong, the badger, which is small, and the wolf, which is the only form Hecate can be defeated with.

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The unnamed [[NoNameGiven unnamed]] protagonist is walking alone through the moors one night when he is cursed marked by Hecate to become one of her night creatures. A surprisingly helpful vampire approaches the protagonist when Hecate has left to explain the situation and that he has only this night to avert his fate. After a little chitchat with his a [[TokenHeroicOrc helpful vampire]], the protagonist's equally unnamed girlfriend, and the protagonist sets out [[CoolOldLady wise woman]], it is learned that he has until dawn to destroy Hecate and her minions. avert the curse. One perk the curse has left him with is the [[{{Animorphism}} ability to take on animal forms forms]] if Hecate's [[EliteFour more powerful servants servants]] are defeated. The four forms available are the owl, which can fly, [[{{flight}} fly]], the bear, which is strong, [[BearsAreBadNews strong]], the badger, which is small, [[CrouchAndProne small]], and the wolf, which is the only form Hecate [[MysteriousAnimalSenses can be defeated with.
with]]. These animal forms, various weapons found along the way, and the guidance of the wise woman are all the protagonist has in his RaceAgainstTheClock.

The game was judged poorly in its day and the decades following haven't offered it more grace. ''Night Creatures'' is too short to make the most of its {{Metroidvania}} content, being completable in well under half an hour. Combat is solution-oriented, meaning there's one particular weapon that's effective for each enemy type or category. The result is that either you don't have the right weapon and winning may very well be [[TrialAndErrorGameplay literally impossible]] or you have the right weapon and you may very well need to land only one hit. If the hitboxes cooperate, at least. The animal forms drains health points and generally are needed only once or twice, making for limited gameplay variety. On the upside, the game is praised for its original take on the MonsterMash, such as having Hecate as the BigBad and featuring a Headless Lady who has a few more parts loose than just her head.



* DressedLikeADominatrix: The Fury wears a backless leotard, fishnets, knee-high boots, and she's armed with a cat o' nine tails consisting of snakes.
* MonsterLord: Hecate is the ruler and occasional creator of all night creatures.

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* BossBonanza: The final area, Hecate's Den, is one long hallway in which seven (mini)bosses are fought in succession: Cerberus, Harpy, Medusa, Fury, Hydra, and lastle Hecate herself. None of these bosses are seen before reaching the den.
* DressedLikeADominatrix: The Fury wears a backless leotard, fishnets, knee-high boots, and she's armed with a cat o' nine tails consisting of snakes.
snakes. There's no reason given as to why she dresses as such.
* MonsterLord: Hecate Hecate, the Queen of Darkness, is the ruler and occasional creator of all the night creatures.creatures.
* NotQuiteSavedEnough: The protagonist defeats Hecate, seemingly killing her, thereby ending his change into a night creature and freeing his girlfriend that had been abducted some time prior. Or did he? When the protagonist and his girlfriend go home, her face changes into Hecate's, suggesting either the girlfriend is possessed or that she isn't the girlfriend but a shapeshifted Hecate. In the latter scenario, where is the girlfriend, and in either scenario, did the protagonist actually undo the curse?



* RaceAgainstTheClock: The entire game is on a timer, presented by the metamorphosis cameo. At the start of the game, it displays a normal human face. As the in-game time moves to dawn, the cameo becomes more monstrous-looking. The final minutes are accentuated by the cameo flashing in warning. The protagonist's sprite also undergoes a change in skin color, becoming green (while the cameo displays him with sheet white skin).
* RespawningEnemies: All regular enemies respawn constantly and on either side of the screen.



* SnakePeople: For unclear reasons, this is a theme shared by Medusa, the Fury, and Hecate. Medusa has both the traditional snake hair and the new-age snake body. The Fury isn't part snake herself but carries a snake multi-whip. And Hecate has no snake body, but does have snake hair.

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* SnakePeople: For unclear reasons, this This is a theme shared by Medusa, the Fury, and Hecate. It is true to mythology, but the meaning in ''Night Creatures'' is unclear. Medusa has both the traditional snake hair and the new-age modern snake body. The Fury isn't part snake herself (although the manual claims she has snake hair) but carries a snake multi-whip. And Hecate has no snake body, but does have snake hair.hair.
* TokenHeroicOrc: Downplayed. A vampire approaches the protagonist when Hecate has left to explain what just happened. While not necessarily heroic, the vampire is the first to warn the protagonist of the doom that has befallen him and in that regard is the only night creature that doesn't try to kill the protagonist. (At least for a time -- he might be any of the vampires encountered later that do try to kill the protagonist.
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In 1991, the ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania}}''-esque horror game ''''Night Creatures'' came out on the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16. It was developed by Manley & Associates and published by NEC Technologies.

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In 1991, the ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania}}''-esque horror game ''''Night ''Night Creatures'' came out on the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16. It was developed by Manley & Associates and published by NEC Technologies.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nightcreatures_coverartanimals.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Badger who?]]

In 1991, the ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania}}''-esque horror game ''''Night Creatures'' came out on the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16. It was developed by Manley & Associates and published by NEC Technologies.

The unnamed protagonist is walking alone through the moors one night when he is cursed by Hecate to become one of her night creatures. A surprisingly helpful vampire approaches the protagonist when Hecate has left to explain the situation and that he has only this night to avert his fate. After a little chitchat with his equally unnamed girlfriend, the protagonist sets out to destroy Hecate and her minions. One perk the curse has left him with is the ability to take on animal forms if Hecate's more powerful servants are defeated. The four forms available are the owl, which can fly, the bear, which is strong, the badger, which is small, and the wolf, which is the only form Hecate can be defeated with.

Not to be confused with the other horror game called ''VideoGame/NightmareCreatures''.

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!!''Night Creatures'' exhibits the following tropes:
* AllThereInTheManual: Plenty of things about the story, such as what the enemies or locations are called, can only be found in the manual.
* DressedLikeADominatrix: The Fury wears a backless leotard, fishnets, knee-high boots, and she's armed with a cat o' nine tails consisting of snakes.
* MonsterLord: Hecate is the ruler and occasional creator of all night creatures.
* PumpkinPerson: One of the bosses is a scarecrow with the telling name Pumpkinhead. He starts off as a pumpkin that rolls towards the protagonist and then grows an immobile body on the spot. His pumpkin head, which regenerates, is used as ammo and can spawn several tiny jack o'lanterns.
* ScaryScarecrow: One of the bosses, Pumpkinhead, rolls into the scene as just a pumpkin and then grows an immobile body on the spot. His strategy is to regenerate his head over and over and roll it towards the protagonist. It's possible for the head to break and spawn several tiny jack o'lanterns. Pumpkinhead is invulnerable to all attacks but getting hit by the oil lamp, which is an insta-kill.
* SnakePeople: For unclear reasons, this is a theme shared by Medusa, the Fury, and Hecate. Medusa has both the traditional snake hair and the new-age snake body. The Fury isn't part snake herself but carries a snake multi-whip. And Hecate has no snake body, but does have snake hair.
* VampireRefugee: The protagonist gets cursed to become a night creature at the start of the game and his goal from then on is to destroy Hecate before dawn so he won't lose his humanity. Incidentally, Hecate curses him in the shape of a bat, she seems to attack his throat, and it's specifically a vampire that tells the protagonist of the fate that has befallen him, but it's left ambiguous whether the protagonist is on his way to vampirehood or is set to become something else.
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