History YMMV / DokiDokiLiteratureClub

** In the Finale, Monika addresses you by your actual name, rather then the Player Characters. This is a genuinely chilling moment of TheForthWallWillNotProtectYou... ''if'' your steam account name is your actual name, or close to it. If it ''isn't'' then the moment might at best fall flat and at worst become ''jarringly hilarious''

** WebAnimation/KizunaAI [[https://youtu.be/ZccG78hJBY8?t=828 figures out]] faster than most that Monika was behind the whole thing. Why? It takes [[VirtualCelebrity one]] [[ArtificialIntelligence to]] [[AIIsACrapshoot know]] [[BreakingTheFourthWall one]].

* ItsPopularNowItSucks: Like many other hit [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys indie]] [[VideoGame/{{Undertale}} games]] VideoGame/{{be|ndyAndTheInkMachine}}fore [[VideoGame/{{Cuphead}} it]], after several famous Website/{{YouTube}}rs played the game and gave it a ColbertBump, this game swiftly grew a hatedom simply for being popular. Being anime-themed doesn't help its case, as many people decried it for only having waifus and metafiction as its main selling points, often with many of these haters completely [[MisaimedFandom missing the point of the former]]. Many fans of the series also abandoned it ''because'' it got so popular.

* {{Moe}}: Every character begins the game as this; the [[ThePollyanna happy-go-lucky Sayori]], the [[{{Tsundere}} sweet-and-sour Natsuki]], the [[ShrinkingViolet shy and quiet Yuri]], and the [[CoolBigSis kind and responsible club president, Monika]]. Needless to say, once you finish the game, [[DisguisedHorrorStory no one]] [[BreakTheCutie is this anymore]].

* DiscreditedMeme: Calling Natsuki a trap[[note]]now-controversial otaku slang for a male character, often a WholesomeCrossdresser oblivious to how they're perceived, who looks like a cute girl, usually in the context of an UnsettlingGenderReveal[[/note]]. It got to the point where someone on Twitter tried to get Salvato to tweet the meme in confirmation for "waifu ruining purposes," but Salvato responded saying that the meme is disrespectful and couldn't believe it went on for this long. Instead, he had to confirm that all the characters in DDLC, apart from the player character, are girls.

* DiscreditedMeme: Calling Natsuki a trap[[note]]controversial anime slang for a male character dressing as a cute girl, usually in the context of an UnsettlingGenderReveal[[/note]]. It got to the point where someone on Twitter tried to get Salvato to tweet the meme in confirmation for "waifu ruining purposes," but Salvato responded saying that the meme is disrespectful and couldn't believe it went on for this long. Instead, he had to confirm that all the characters in DDLC, apart from the player character, are girls.

* NeverLiveItDown: Despite the fact that Sayori and Yuri have their qualities (especially in Act 1), people will always make jokes about how both of them died (Sayori via hanging, Yuri via stabbing herself). Doesn't help the fact that even Monika makes jokes on Sayori's death (even Team Salvato does, such as the Valentine series of pictures where Sayori is shown tying up knots). As for Yuri's death... let's just say that there are a ton of knife jokes out there. Yuri also has a disproportionate amount of jokes referring to her [[ADateWithRosiePalms infamous "pen" remark]]. Monika has a minor case where she is associated with literally "deleting" her rivals.

** Natsuki never does get a horror scenario of her own and gets deleted entirely offscreen, coupled with a less in-depth look into her mental state, some players think she was underused.

** ''Plus'' reveals that the Protagonist ReallyWasBornYesterday and was ''always'' just a blank vessel for you to view the game world through. Given the game places a lot of emphasis on people realizing their role in the context of the game, having the ''protagonist'' react to his powerlessness and objectification for another higher entity would be interesting to see (especially as he was completely ignored after Monika starts openly interacting with ''you''). However, neither the story nor the devs were interested in exploring the Protagonist any further than as a vehicle.

** [[WebVideo/GameTheory MatPat]] claims that Monika is a WellIntentionedExtremist who wants to win the player's affections specifically so [[MagnificentBitch she could get the player to save Sayori, Yuri and Natsuki from a horror game called "Project: Libitina"]], a currently unreleased {{Defictionalization}} of "The Portrait Of Markov", a book Yuri talks about in her route. Interestingly enough, the ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiABrandNewDay'' mod has the Portrait of Markov book act as an ArtifactOfDoom.

** [[WebVideo/GameTheory MatPat]] claims that Monika is a WellIntentionedExtremist who wants to win the player's affections specifically so [[MagnificentBitch she could get the player to save Sayori, Yuri and Natsuki from a horror game called "Project: Libitina"]], a currently unreleased {{Defictionalization}} of "The Book Of Markov". Interestingly enough, the ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiABrandNewDay'' mod has the Book of Markov act as an ArtifactOfDoom.

** [[WebVideo/GameTheory Matpat]] claims that Monika is a WellIntentionedExtremist who wants to win the player's affections specifically so [[MagnificentBitch she could get the player to save Sayori, Yuri and Natsuki from a horror game called "Project: Libitina"]], a currently unreleased {{Defictionalization}} of "The Book Of Markov". Interestingly enough, the ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiABrandNewDay'' mod has the Book of Markov act as an ArtifactOfDoom.

** [[WebVideo/GameTheory Matpat]] claims that Monika is a WellIntentionedExtremist who wants to win the player's affections specifically so she could get the player to save Sayori, Yuri and Natsuki from a horror game called "Project: Libitina", a {{Defictionalization}} of "The Book Of Markov" That's currently unreleased. Interestingly enough, the ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiABrandNewDay'' mod has the Book of Markov act as an ArtifactOfDoom.

* BetterAsALetsPlay: The game is most popular for its SurpriseCreepy plot twist, but most people who know anything about the game know about the twist, taking some of the impact away (though the psychological horror element still remains and there are many horrifying scenes that have not been as spoiled). Most fun comes from asking Let's Players or friends unfamiliar with the game to play it under the assumption it's just a silly dating sim, and then wait for them to reach the infamous WhamShot and freak out. Those who find the [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou interactions with the player]] too [[ParanoiaFuel unsettling]] also find more security in watching others play the game. The ParanoiaFuel has gotten so bad, that players that do get the game either play up to the end of Act 1 (or before finding Sayori's body) or just get mods where the game is kept as dating sim visual novel.

** There's a good overlap between ''DDLC'' fans and ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' fans given that both deconstruct popular video games wish-fulfilment (AAA military shooters for ''Spec Ops'', romance games for ''DDLC'') with SurpriseCreepy.

* {{Moe}}: Every character begins the game as this; the [[ThePollyanna happy-go-lucky Sayori]], the [[{{Tsundere}} sweet-and-sour Natsuki]], the [[ShrinkingViolet shy and quiet Yuri]], and the [[CoolBigSis kind and responsible club president, Monika]]. Needless to say, once you finish the game, [[SurpriseCreepy no one]] [[BreakTheCutie is this anymore]].

** In a meta-example, the game won the Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award [[http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/03/18/sxsw-gaming-awards-2018-winners-revealed at the SXSW Gaming Awards]]. Not bad for a freeware game that turns out to have a little SurpriseCreepy on its own!

** Creator/{{Nitroplus}}'s ''VisualNovel/YouAndMeAndHer'' (or ''Totono'', for short) follows a very similar SurpriseCreepy arc, such as:

** Monika is sweet, good-natured, popular, likable, and beautiful. She also seems to get along great with the main character, and it's implied he has a bit of a crush on her. It's a pity you can't romance her. And as it turns out, [[InvokedTrope Monika agrees with this notion wholeheartedly]]! Cue the SurpriseCreepy.

** Natsuki. Her abrasiveness has put her off to a lot of people to the point that many choose to take the Sayori or Yuri routes, which isn’t helped by the fact that a lot of fan games and mods tend to put her front and center. However, there are a number of people who find this aspect of hers to be endearing and her status as the OnlySaneMan during Act 2 had people rooting for her. Just like with Yuri, Natsuki was given more opportunities to be fleshed-out in ''Plus''' side-stories, which made the fanbase appreciate Natsuki more-so than they initially thought.

* BrokenBase: The effectiveness of Act 2 is a little bit debated on within the fandom. Act 1 benefits from having all four girls present, grounding its topics in reality, and using an effective form of SurpriseCreepy, whereas Act 3 provides a slew of insight into Monika's character, elaborates on how the game functions, and has a satisfying ending. Act 2, on the other hand, relies on tropes all too commonly seen in web horror, including {{Jump Scare}}s and visual glitches, along with massive time sinks that grind the game to a halt, not to mention how much of a BaseBreakingCharacter Act 2 Yuri is. That said, there are plenty of fans who will jump to Act 2's defense in saying that it builds off of Act 1's foundation and provides a smooth gateway into Act 3.

* HoYay:
** Monika talks about [[https://twitter.com/lilmonix3/status/1001946080957911043 having a sleepover]] with Yuri on her Twitter account. The accompanying image is mildly suggestive, [[SleepCute with a sleeping Yuri and a half-awake Monika huddled up together]].
** The DDLC Plus side story "Trust" shows Sayori and Monika bonding as they start the Literature Club. This includes Monika calling Sayori "the sweetest girl" she's ever met, and comforting Sayori about her depression quite similarly to how the protagonist comforts Sayori in the main game. While it's a story of friendship, it thus comes across as quite intimate and romantically charged.

** One of the scenes in ''LightNovel/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove'' involved [[https://www.reddit.com/r/DDLC/comments/a99olx/predicted_the_future/?utm_source=reddit-android Luhy Distone telling Mahiro about a cursed dating sim game]] called ''Doki Doki High School''. They would have predicted the release of ''DDLC'' if not for the last two words of the title.

** Natsuki. Her abrasiveness has put her off to a lot of people to the point that many choose to take the Sayori or Yuri routes, which isn’t helped by the fact that a lot of fan games and mods tend to put her front and center. However, there are a number of people who find this aspect of hers to be endearing and her status as the OnlySaneMan during Act 2 had people rooting for her.

** Yuri. Her ShrinkingViolet status earned her a lot of fans and her confiding in the player is seen as heartwarming. However, she does have detractors: her yandere tendencies are easily seen as the more {{Nightmare Fuel}}-ish parts of the game. Even before Act 2, her attitude towards Natsuki threw a lot of people off. There is a third camp that says that as long as she's kept in her Act 1 personality, she's okay.

** A couple of months (or weeks if you include the physical edition, which actually includes a business card to the Metaverse company, mocked up with a website and everything) after the release of Plus, Mark Zuckerberg of Website/Facebook decided to rebrand the larger Facebook brand as Meta, with the reasoning to "reflecting its focus to build on the metaverse." Bonus points to "Metaverse" being one of the alternate brands as well.

* EvilIsSexy: Monika]] is incredibly attractive, less because she's outwardly sexy, but more because she has such a [[CoolBigSis pleasant personality]] and genuinely loves the player for [[OneTrueLove who they are as a person]]. And all of this is despite her tampering with the game's code, driving Sayori and Yuri [[DrivenToSuicide to suicide]], and [[{{Unperson}} erasing Natsuki]] from existence [[LoveMakesYouEvil in the name of her love]].

* EvilIsSexy: Monika, perhaps by her own design due to tampering with the game's code, has gained a fair few fans of her appearance. Her thighs in particular managed to attract a fair amount of MaleGaze.

** It got even better when ''Plus'' was released, as the side-stories, while taking place before the events of the main game (albeit in a separate universe not connected to the OG one), end on a GoldenEnding feeling, as all four girls manage to make true friends with one another- and its implied that '''none''' of the disturbing events that follow Act 1's end of the main game make it's way into the side-story timeline.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: At first glance, the game is cute and lighthearted, with only a vague disclaimer presaging that things are not what it seems and that the game switches genres to horror mid-game. After several in-game episodes of romantic shenanigans, there is a shocking scene that changes perceptions on the characters and its 'verse; after that point, the game becomes a psychological horror-flavored deconstructive take on dating sims. Needless to say, neither VN fans nor horror fans are willing to commit to the gaming incarnation of BaitAndSwitch.

** A large amount of fanfics and fancomics describe Yuri as a HugeSchoolgirl and StatuesqueStunner. While she is the tallest of the girls, her official height is listed as a mere 1.65 m, or 5 feet 4 inches.

** The ambiguously canon DDLC side story "Trust" shows Sayori and Monika bonding as they start the Literature Club. This includes Monika calling Sayori "the sweetest girl" she's ever met, and comforting Sayori about her depression quite similarly to how the protagonist comforts Sayori in the main game. While it's a story of friendship, it thus comes across as quite intimate and romantically charged.

** This game is known for its deconstructive twist on dating sims and visual novels. There are, however, tons of mods that remove all the metafictional horror elements, effectively turning it into a straight dating sim. Considering the tragedies these characters go through, however, [[JustifiedTrope it makes sense]] for people to wonder (and what) to know what would happen if it really was a dating sim.

** ''DDLC'' fans share some overlap with fans of ''VideoGame/BaldisBasicsInEducationAndLearning'', as both games share a similar concept (both are seemingly normal games of their respective genres [[note]] Visual Novels/Dating Sims and Edutainment games[[/note]] that [[SurpriseCreepy become horror games]]), and both being released roughly around the same time. For bonus points, both games are set in a school. There’s enough overlap that some even say ''Baldi's Basics'' is a SpiritualSuccessor to ''DDLC''.

* DiagnosedByTheAudience:
** Yuri is initially presented as a ShrinkingViolet, albeit with strong opinions when prompted about literature. As she gets more tampered with, she exhibits symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder: obsessiveness (both towards [[StalkerWithACrush the player character]] and her interests), SelfHarm, bizarre sexual behavior, [[NervousWreck anxiety episodes]], and mania-like symptoms. Despite this, she is [[ReluctantPsycho aware of her behavior, but unable to stop it]]. It's unclear how much of this is influenced by Monika's MindRape, but it's implied that she had elements of this from the beginning. It's also mentioned that she in the past drove people away "due to coming on too strongly". Overall, it seems isolation is a theme with her. Many people who had experience with friends and family members suffering from BPD recognize Yuri's behavior, particularly the classic self-harming tendencies.
** Under the influence of the position of Club President, Monika, and later Sayori, exhibits symptoms of [[{{Narcissist}} Narcissistic Personality Disorder]]: Arrogance, a need for excessive validation, LackOfEmpathy, Enviousness, and a hypersensitivity to criticism. Monika's ControlFreak tendencies and obsessive love for the player hint at mild Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, amplified by the Presidency into Obsessive Love Disorder. Many narcissists see themselves in Monika, to the point where they are annoyed that Monika is not acknowledged as best girl [[DracoInLeatherPants within the VN itself.]]

* EvilIsCool: Monika may be one of the most [[NightmareFuel nightmarish]] video game villains, but ''damn'' if she isn't ultimately a well-written, stylish and innovatively unique character.

* FandomRivalry: With ''VisualNovel/YouAndMeAndHer'', which has a ''very'' similar PlotTwist and GenreShift of a self-aware anime character driven into madness, sabotaging the game, and forcing the player to love them while [[{{Deconstruction}} subverting various anime and visual novel clichés or using the wider implications for horror]]. However, this is also combined with FriendlyFandoms.

** The girls and MC are often collectively referred to as "Dokis".
** Individually, "Knife Wife" (or "Knaifu Waifu") has caught on for Yuri, Sayori is known as "[[GenkiGirl Cinnamon Roll]]" (users on the ''DDLC'' [[Website/{{Reddit}} subreddit]] use the term "Cinnamon Bun"), Natsuki is sometimes referred to as "[[TheNapoleon Cup]][[SupremeChef cake]]", and MC is referred to as "[[ObliviousToLove dense boi]]".

** Fans of ''Doki Doki Literature Club!'' get along super well with fans of ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'', by virtue of both being {{freeware}} VisualNovel GatewaySeries that explore characterization, personal flaws, and emotional issues in a [[ShownTheirWork very realistic way]]. Fans of both like to make comparisons between the characters of both visual novels, and have made [[https://www.reddit.com/r/katawashoujo/comments/7ount1/crossover_doki_doki_literature_club_katawa_shoujo/?st=jc7tu0pz&sh=3722d72e plenty]] [[https://www.reddit.com/r/katawashoujo/comments/7njn0h/katawa_shoujo_x_ddlc/ of crossover]] [[https://www.reddit.com/r/katawashoujo/comments/7kke6f/katawa_monika/ images]] [[https://www.reddit.com/r/katawashoujo/comments/7o1l0y/ddlcxkatawa_shoujo_part_2_the_best_nose_in_the/?st=jc7v1udg&sh=8eef2710 between]] [[https://www.reddit.com/r/DDLC/comments/7irj6m/yuri_and_hanako_are_friends_ddlc_x_katawa_shoujo/ the two]] [[https://www.reddit.com/r/DDLC/comments/7nwfz9/they_want_to_join_the_club_katawa_shoujo_invades/?st=jc7v4tw2&sh=c7b7e716 games]]. It gets to the point that ''[=DDLC=]'' has inspired plenty of people to try out ''Katawa Shoujo'', leading to a small renewal in popularity for the latter. Even those who are fans of the latter but aren't into the former are pleased about its popularity because it incentivized a lot of fans to try out the latter, [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments leading to a fresh new breath of life]] for the ''Katawa Shoujo'' fandom after it spent years in a figurative coma.
** There's a good overlap between ''DDLC'' fans and ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' fans given that both deconstruct popular video games fantasies with SurpriseCreepy. Of course, Spec Ops deconstructs AAA military shooters popular around its release and was billed as such, while ''DDLC'' deconstructs visual novel romance tropes.

* GatewaySeries: Even though the game is a very non-standard twist on the genre, with some of its key elements [[OlderThanTheyThink already used by older games before it]], ''DDLC'' introduced a lot of new players of the late 2010s to visual novels, thanks to its large popularity, {{meme|ticMutation}}s, [[WatchItForTheMeme people trying out the game because of the memes]], and lack of entry fee.

* AlasPoorScrappy: [[https://old.reddit.com/r/DDLC/comments/88fruz/cheer_up_mc/ MC falls under this]] given what the game forces him to sit through and is judged harshly for his inactions, despite it being out of his control due to Monika's tampering. He's intended to be a stock VisualNovel protagonist, but most remember that by the end of the day, he's a socially inept high schooler that hasn't dealt with something as serious like what his friends are going through. ''Plus'' throws him harder into this territory, as he's not even intended to be a real character ''in-universe'', meaning all of his backstory with Sayori and even ''his life of his own'' never actually existed to begin with.