History VideoGame / TheEndIsNigh

* TheCameo: [[spoiler: [[Creator/EdmundMcmillen Isaac,Gish,Guppy and the squid from Aether]] all appear (Or at least creatures resembling them do) in the second half of the game,hidden in secret areas. Isaac even uses the "hurt" sound from Rebirth when talked to]]

-->'''Ash:''' "It's a dangerous, twisted place, full of death, decay and... death, mostly".

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: [[spoiler:After assembling your "friend" and somehow triggering the ''second'' apocalypse, all the tumours you've collected so far count as extra lives. Luckily, reaching a warp point resets your tumour count to whatever amount you had collected, and you can always revisit the Past levels to get any tumours you missed]].

* MindScrew: How does Ash survive jumping into [[spoiler:a bomb capable of causing another apocalypse]]? Why is the intro cart [[spoiler:found in an area only revealed by a nuclear explosion]]? And why is there [[spoiler:a miniature [[VideoGame/TimeFcuk Steven]] walking on top of Ash]] during the secondary ending?

* AvoidTheDreadedGRating: Really, the game would have been a solid T rating rather than a hefty M if it weren't for [[ClusterFBomb the massive amounts of F-bombs]] that Ash drops.

** The headblobs you can enter to play hidden Future levels are called [[VideoGame/TimeFcuk Steven]]. [[spoiler:The Nevermore ending also features Steven walking on Ash and ends with his face. (This resembles the setting of the canceled game ∅uroboros)]]

* MindScrew: How does Ash survive jumping into [[spoiler:a bomb capable of causing another apocalypse]]? Why is the intro cart [[spoiler:found in an area only revealed by a nuclear explosion]]? And why is [[spoiler: a miniature [[VideoGame/TimeFcuk Steven]] walking on top of Ash]] after Ash enters [[spoiler:the exit warp in Nevermore]]?

* LevelInReverse: Some screens require this to collect the tumor. [[spoiler: And "Acceptance". [[labelnote:further spoilers]]That is, if you don't have the tumors[[/labelnote]].]]

* MeaningfulName: After the final level, [[spoiler:the entire world ends up destroyed by... whatever that glowing orb happened to be. The end was indeed nigh.]]
* MeatMoss: Prevalent in Retrograde. Unlike most examples, [[EverythingTryingToKillYou it's not there for show]]. [[spoiler: It is also prevalent in Nevermore]]
* MultipleEndings: Three of them. One for beating the game, one for beating a set of levels unlocked by collecting at least 450 tumors, and one for beating the retro platformer game that Ash is streaming at the very start of the game without dying.

* DownTheDrain: Overflow, [[spoiler: Blight and Ruin. ]]

* OutrunTheFireball: [[spoiler: Subverted. Regardless if you escape within the time limit in Acceptance, Ash is still caught in the mushroom cloud at the end. ]]

* PublicDomainSoundtrack: The whole soundtrack are reworked classical pieces. For example, the theme of The End is Camille Saint-Saëns' "Danse Macabre", the music in the Wall of Sorrow is Franz Listz's "Hungarian Rhapsody", the music in the secret underground Mega Tumor rooms [[spoiler:and Ruin]] is Edvard Grieg's "In The Hall of the Mountain King", while the music of [[LethalLavaLand Golgotha]] is Modest Mussorgsky's "Night On Bald Mountain", just to mention some examples.

* SpiritualSequel: To ''[[VideoGame/MeatBoy Super Meat Boy]]''.

* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: [[spoiler: Nevermore]]

* GuideDangIt: Accessing [[spoiler:the Nevermore stage]]. Trying to enter it without [[spoiler:at least 450 tumors]] means you will just [[spoiler:repeatedly die until you get a game over]]. If you don't pick up on the small hint you're given that the entry point is significant, you might assume that what happens when you enter it prematurely is just a glitch, and that the entrance does not actually lead anywhere.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Pay close attention to the very beginning of the game, where Ash plays the "End is Nigh" cartridge just before it breaks. [[spoiler:His livestream name is "ASH_DIES_ALONE", which is exactly what happens in the game's main ending.]]

* GottaCatchThemAll: You can collect tumors located throughout the world. [[spoiler: This comes into play later in the second half of the game, where all of them are converted into extra lives. ]]

** The headblobs you can enter to play hidden Future levels are called [[VideoGame/TimeFcuk Steven]]. [[spoiler:The Nevermore ending also features Steven walking on Ash and ends with his face. (This resembles the setting of the upcoming game ∅uroboros)]]

* VideoGameLives: Either 0, 9, or infinity in the cartrige levels. [[spoiler: Also, the tumors you get in the past are each 1 life in the future.]]

* MeaningfulName: After the final level[[spoiler: The entire world ends up destroyed by...whatever that glowing orb happened to be. The end was indeed nigh.]]

* BlobMonster: Ash himself. The intro suggests he WasOnceAMan.[[spoiler: The Nevermore ending confirms it.]] Many enemies count, as well.

* AmbidextrousSprite: Averted. Ash's sprite is designed so that his missing eye is always on the left, no matter which way you're facing.

* {{Adorkable}}: Ash, so very much. He's a video game nerd who makes awkward Let's Plays and the entire game is about him going out into the world [[IJustWantToHaveFriends to make a friend]]. The voice also helps.

** The Kuko Jr. and Kuko enemies are one to [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} Cracko]], both in name and design.

* VideoGameLives: Either 0, 9, or infinity in the cartrige levels. [[spoiler: Also, the tumors you get in the past are each 1 life in the future.]]
* UpToEleven: The sound menu can be put on 110%

* ControllableHelplessness: You actually play the game Ash is streaming. The game breaks as soon as you "die", and the levels are designed to ensure you won't complete them all in a single life. [[spoiler: {{Subverted}} if you ''do'' manage to complete them without dying, which earns you a NonStandardGameOver in which Ash finishes his stream and doesn't go outside to make himself a friend and an [[BraggingRightsReward achievement]] for your troubles]].

** The optional Future levels [[spoiler:are a hint to Nevermore's existence. To drive the point home, next to the blob creatures that take you to said Future levels have a roman numeral from 1 to 4. The glowing orb at the end of Ruin has the roman numeral for 5 on it.]]

** The headblobs you can enter to play hidden Future levels are called [[VideoGame/TimeFcuk Steven]]. [[spoiler:The Nevermore ending also features Steven walking on Ash and ends with his face.]]

** The headblobs you can enter to play hidden Future levels are called [[VideoGame/TimeFcuk Steven]]. [[spoiler:The Acceptance ending also features Steven walking on Ash and ends with his face.]]