History YMMV / Grounded

* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:Director Dalton Schmector, Dr. Tully's MeanBoss]] and the true BigBad of the game. [[spoiler:He rose through the corporate ranks of Ominent by [[StealingTheCredit taking all the credit for his co-workers' inventions]], particularly Tully's, whom he threw under the bus and fired after his first attempt at the SPAC.R prototype failed. After ousting Tully from the company, Schmector continued to work on Tully's initial SPAC.R design without his consent, [[WouldHurtAChild using teenagers as]] {{Unwitting Test Subject}}s once he discovered that they are functionally immune to the effects of raisining, and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness disposing of them in local backyards to be killed by hostile insects after he's finished with them.]] The story strongly implies that at least several teenagers before the player characters were killed this way due to his actions with the players finding multiple miniaturised skeletons around the yard during their explorations and when he realizes the aforementioned player characters have met with Dr. Tully, he actively sends dozens of mind-controlled insects and a heavily-armed defense drone to kill them to cover his tracks, all of this [[MoneyDearBoy in the pursuit of fame and fortune.]]]]

* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:Director Dalton Schmector, Dr. Tully's MeanBoss]] and the true BigBad of the game. [[spoiler:He rose through the corporate ranks of Ominent by [[StealingTheCredit taking all the credit for his co-workers' inventions]], particularly Tully's, whom he threw under the bus and fired after his first attempt at the SPAC.R prototype failed. After ousting Tully from the company, Schmector continued to work on Tully's initial SPAC.R design without his consent, [[WouldHurtAChild using teenagers as]] {{Unwitting Test Subject}}s once he discovered that they are functionally immune to the effects of raisining, and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness disposing of them in local backyards to be killed by hostile insects after he's finished with them.]] The story strongly implies that at least several teenagers before the player characters were killed this way due to his actions, and when he realizes the aforementioned player characters have met with Dr. Tully, he actively sends dozens of mind-controlled insects and a heavily-armed defense drone to kill them to cover his tracks, all of this [[MoneyDearBoy in the pursuit of fame and fortune.]]]]

---> She's so terrifying... [[MoodWhiplash you should probably turn on]] arachnophobia mode!
---> ''{{Beat}} (The settings change to enable arachnophobia mode.)''
---> Euugh! Even her blob scares the [[SoundEffectBleep S@*T]] out of us!

** Twinkling Shells. They're part of the crafting recipe for the final tier of weapon upgrades, and they're only dropped by Scarabs, who appear very rarely and randomly around the shed in the upper yard. As soon as they take damage, [[MetalSlime they dart away very quickly and soon burrow into the ground, despawning from the map.]] You essentially ''have'' to make elemental arrows to kill them, as even a highly-upgraded Black Ox Crossbow with Splinter Arrows won't down them in one shot and you won't be able to reload before it gets away. An upgraded Insect Bow can fire off more quickly, but considering it moves extremely fast after taking damage it can be very difficult to land that second shot. There is a small area in game where several of them spawn and can't escape you, but that area is [[spoiler:A plastic pipe in the Undershed biome only reachable by a parkour sequence that practically demands a dandelion.]]

** The Haze. Essentially off-limits until you procure a gas mask, and once you do, you get to contend with all sorts of dangerous infected critters, exploding spore pods and [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs infected critters that shoot exploding spore pods at you,]] all the while trying to navigate through the dense yellow fog and avoid or traverse the vast chasms that snake through the biome, housing even more deadly infected bugs. If you decide to plug up the weed killer canister and remove the toxic haze, the influence of the Cordyceps strain begins to spread across the yard, meaning infected bug variants will now show up in all sorts of places. Even with the haze cleared it still houses several underground caverns full of orb weavers and wolf spiders waiting in the wings to tear you to shreds. It's also one of the four biomes that contain a Super BURG.L chip necessary to complete the game, so you ''have'' to go through it at some point.
** The Undershed. 80% of the biome is shrouded in darkness, which sheaths the many [[LightningBruiser black ox beetles]], [[AcidAttack termites]] and [[DemonicSpiders wolf spider]] within. If you're not careful, you'll plummet into a ravine housing ''several dozen'' orb weavers, who will gleefully gang up on you and rip you apart if not taken out one-by-one. After progressing for a bit, you'll come across a sinkhole flanked by droves of mosquitos. Trying to avoid them by jumping in the water? Prepare to get swarmed by ''dozens'' of spiky water fleas, who will instantly be aware of your presence the second you dip your toes in. Shortly after, in order to progress, you must traverse through a webbed cave housing a '''[[TheDreaded Black Widow spider]]''' (though, mercifully, you don't have to kill it to progress, meaning you can attempt to sneak by or make a mad dash for the other side if it spots you, and if you are able to kill it, it will never respawn) and several smaller spiderlings that can poison you on hit. This all culminates in an encounter with the [[spoiler:Mant]], who has a rather predictable pattern but takes ''ages'' to wear down.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghASSqu7Ur0 Danger Dumplings]] plays the moment any of the [[DemonicSpiders four spiders]] aggros and locks onto you, and it really does scream "DANGER!". The devs ''knew'' that the spiders would be menacing enough to players that it would warrant getting their own theme.

** A darker variant, but is Hoops just a genuinely optimistic girl, or is it a coping mechanism as a result of the [[ImpliedTrope implication]] that she [[AbusiveParents doesn't have the best home life]]?
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Hoops, despite her [[ThePollyanna optimistic attitude]] and sporty personality, seems to be stuck in an abusive household depending on how one interprets her voice lines. She mentions to Pete that her parents refuse to let her eat any form of junk food (including coffee) or play video games, and that her parents basically forced her to become an athelete. Moreover, while in the Termite Den, Hoops tells Willow that her house got infested with the aforementioned creatures and her grandmother made Hoops eat all the food so the bugs wouldn't taint it, which is supported by a line that Hoops begrudgingly mutters when she eats items like cookies or apples found in the yard consisting of ''"Can't waste food...can't waste food!"'', and the poor girl sounds like she's almost crying while choking it down. Willow actually seems reluctant and unsure how to respond to Hoops about it, even after Hoops quickly adds it was the best day of her life. Assuming the above is true, then how much of Hoops's happy-go-lucky personality is genuine? Is it just who she is, or is it her coping mechanism as a result of her upbringing?

** Twinkling Shells. They're part of the crafting recipe for the final tier of weapon upgrades, and they're only dropped by Scarabs, who appear very rarely and randomly around the shed in the upper yard. As soon as they take damage, [[MetalSlime they dart away very quickly and soon burrow into the ground, despawning from the map.]] You essentially ''have'' to make elemental arrows to kill them, as even a highly-upgraded Black Ox Crossbow with Splinter Arrows won't down them in one shot and you won't be able to reload before it gets away. An upgraded Insect Bow can fire off more quickly, but considering it moves extremely fast after taking damage it can be very difficult to land that second shot.

* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:Director Dalton Schmector, Dr. Tully's MeanBoss]] and the true BigBad of the game. [[spoiler:He rose through the corporate ranks of Ominent by [[StealingTheCredit taking all the credit for his co-workers' inventions]], particularly Tully's, whom he threw under the bus and fired after his first attempt at the SPAC.R prototype failed. After ousting Tully from the company, Schmector continued to work on Tully's initial SPAC.R design without his consent, [[WouldHurtAChild using teenagers as]] {{Unwitting Test Subject}}s once he discovered that they are functionally immune to the effects of raising, and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness disposing of them in local backyards to be killed by hostile insects after he's finished with them.]] The story strongly implies that at least several teenagers before the player characters were killed this way due to his actions, and when he realizes the aforementioned player characters have met with Dr. Tully, he actively sends dozens of mind-controlled insects and a heavily-armed defense drone to kill them to cover his tracks, all of this [[MoneyDearBoy in the pursuit of fame and fortune.]]]]

* ThatOneLevel: The Haze. Essentially off-limits until you procure a gas mask, and once you do, you get to contend with all sorts of dangerous infected critters, exploding spore pods and [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs infected critters that shoot exploding spore pods at you,]] all the while trying to navigate through the dense yellow fog and avoid or traverse the vast chasms that snake through the biome, housing even more deadly infected bugs. If you decide to plug up the weed killer canister and remove the toxic haze, the influence of the Cordyceps strain begins to spread across the yard, meaning infected bug variants will now show up in all sorts of places. Even with the haze cleared it still houses several underground caverns full of orb weavers and wolf spiders waiting in the wings to tear you to shreds. It's also one of the four biomes that contain a Super BURG.L chip necessary to complete the game, so you ''have'' to go through it at some point.
** The Undershed. 80% of the biome is shrouded in darkness, which sheaths the many black ox beetles, termites and wolf spider within. If you're not careful, you'll plummet into a ravine housing ''several dozen'' orb weavers, who will gleefully gang up on you and rip you apart if not taken out one-by-one. After progressing for a bit, you'll come across a sinkhole flanked by droves of mosquitos. Trying to avoid them by jumping in the water? Prepare to get swarmed by ''dozens'' of spiky water fleas, who will instantly be aware of your presence the second you dip your toes in. Shortly after, in order to progress, you must traverse through a webbed cave housing a '''[[TheDreaded Black Widow spider]]''' (though, mercifully, you don't have to kill it to progress, meaning you can attempt to sneak by or make a mad dash for the other side if it spots you) and several smaller spiderlings that can poison you on hit. This all culminates in an encounter with the [[spoiler:Mant]], who has a rather predictable pattern but takes ''ages'' to wear down.

** Certain types of bugs and loot are only located in one specific biome and almost nowhere else. Want to farm acorn parts and berry chunks? You'll have to go out of your way to backtrack to the oak tree or the hedge several times, since they're exclusive to those areas. Some resources can be especially bothersome to try and farm:
*** Red ant eggs. With a couple exceptions, you can only generally find them deep within the red anthill, and picking them up immediately aggros all nearby red ants regardless of whether or not you're disguised in their armor set. They also don't appear unless the amount of ants in the colony is low, forcing you to cull several red ants to obtain them. Worse still, if you take too long, they'll hatch into worker or, rarely, soldier ants, ''even while they're sitting in your inventory''. Many mandatory paths to complete the game are hidden behind walls that can only be blown up with bombs made from red ant eggs, so you'll need to gather a few at some point.
*** [=EverChar=] Coal Chunks. Almost all of these are found in the BBQ Spill biome, and their resource nodes build up Sizzle so quickly they can cook you alive in less than a second if you're not wearing antlion armor or have mutations or food buffs active. Even with as much sizzle defense as the game allows, you'll constantly be running back and forth between hammer strikes to avoid getting burned up, making collecting them extremely tedious and time-consuming. Considering they're a vital ingredient in creating ovens, which are used to make higher-level upgrade materials for weapons and armor, you'll likely be spending a lot more time farming these than you'll want to.
*** Twinkling Shells. They're part of the crafting recipe for the final tier of weapon upgrades, and they're only dropped by Scarabs, who appear very rarely and randomly around the shed in the upper yard. As soon as they take damage, [[MetalSlime they dart away very quickly and soon burrow into the ground, despawning from the map.]] You essentially ''have'' to make elemental arrows to kill them, as even a highly-upgraded Black Ox Crossbow with Splinter Arrows won't down them in one shot and you won't be able to reload before it gets away. An upgraded Insect Bow can fire off more quickly, but considering it moves extremely fast after taking damage it can be very difficult to land that second shot.

* AmbiguousSituation: Hoops, despite her [[ThePollyanna optimistic attitude]] and sporty personality, seems to be stuck in an abusive household depending on how one interprets her voice lines. She mentions to Pete that her parents refuse to let her eat any form of junk food (including coffee) or play video games, and that her parents basically forced her to become an athelete. Moreover, while in the Termite Den, Hoops tells Willow that her house got infested with the aforementioned creatures and her grandmother made Hoops eat all the food so the bugs wouldn't taint it, which is supported by a line that Hoops begrudgingly mutters when she eats items like cookies or apples found in the yard consisting of ''"Can't waste food...can't waste food!"'', and the poor girl sounds like she's almost crying while choking it down. Willow actually seems reluctant and unsure how to respond to Hoops about it, even after Hoops quickly adds it was the best day of her life.
** Assuming the above is true, then how much of Hoops's [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation happy-go-lucky personality is genuine]]? Is it just who she is, or is it her coping mechanism as a result of her upbringing?

* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:Director Dalton Schmector, Dr. Tully's MeanBoss]] and the true BigBad of the game. [[spoiler:He rose through the corporate ranks of Ominent by [[StealingTheCredit taking all the credit for his co-workers' inventions]], particularly Tully's, whom he threw under the bus and fired after his first attempt at the SPAC.R prototype failed. After ousting Tully from the company, Schmector continued to work on Tully's initial SPAC.R design without his consent, [[WouldHurtAChild using teenagers as]] {{Unwitting Test Subject}}s once he discovered that they are functionally immune to the effects of raising, and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness disposing of them in local backyards to be killed by hostile insects after he's finished with them.]] The story strongly implies that at least several teenagers before the player characters were killed this way due to his actions, and when he realizes the aforementioned player characters have met with Dr. Tully, he actively sends dozens of mind-controlled insects and a heavily-armed defense drone to kill them to cover his tracks.]]

** [[https://youtu.be/7nowPY7InYE The music that plays while exploring the sandbox]] takes an otherwise-innocuous children's plaything and makes it truly feel like the vast, barren and hellish wasteland [[ThatOneLevel it presents itself as.]]

* GoddamnBats: All variants of larvae. A single larva isn't usually a problem on its own, but they often travel in groups, meaning you can get easily swarmed if you're not careful. One particular cave not too far from spawn houses ''dozens'' of larvae, making picking them off one-by-one a must. Infected variants in the haze have a larger aggro range, and can use an explosive goop attack that bypasses shields and outright kills players with lower-tiered armor. Ladybird larvae found in the upper yard are even hardier, can hide underground and [[JumpScare emerge]] when players get too close, have an irritating habit of dodging backwards away from your melee strikes, and cause sizzle buildup on hit, which can lead to them quickly roasting to death if they get enough licks in.

** Stinkbugs. They're ''massive,'' can leap towards players quickly and attack using noxious gas that quickly drains your health unless you've got smoothie buffs or a Weevil Gas Mask to combat the effects, the latter of which makes you more susceptible to its powerful physical attacks due to it lacking any sort of defense boost.

* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper: Once you rescue [[spoiler:Dr. Tully from the Undershed Lab,]] they follow you around and attack [[spoiler:O.R.C. insects]] that come into view with a charged electric orb projectile. [[CollateralDamage You are not immune to these electric orb projectiles.]]

** Is Wendell a generally nice guy who got in over his head as a result of his unchecked ambition, or was he always a {{Jerkass}} who deserved what he came to him before and during the game?