Line #56 Main/CreepyCathedral


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7	[[quoteright:332:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/creepycathedral_3351.png]]
8
9	->''"Now when we enter an old cathedral, we have scarcely a hint of the esoteric meaning of its stony symbolism. Only the general impression forces itself on our mind. We feel the exaltation of the spirit and the abasement of the flesh. The interior of the cathedral is a hollow cross, and we walk here amid the instruments of martyrdom itself. The variegated windows cast on us their red and green lights, like drops of blood and ichor; requiems for the dead resound through the aisles; under our feet are grave-stones and decay; in harmony with the colossal pillars, the soul soars aloft, painfully tearing itself away from the body, which sinks to the ground like a cast-off garment."''
10	-->-- '''Heinrich Heine''', ''The Romantic School''
11
12	So, you're up against the CorruptChurch. You know that they're lying to the people, but [[VillainWithGoodPublicity no one will listen to you]]. It's time to take matters into your own hands, storm their base and reveal them for the [[AlwaysChaoticEvil evil bastards]] they are.
13
14	There's just one little problem. That means you actually have to go into their Church. And that place is scary as Hell itself.
15
16	The Creepy Cathedral might not have the vigour of a good old HauntedCastle, and it might not seem to give off that [[EvilTowerOfOminousness scary dungeon]] aura... but there's just something about it that makes you think, "OhCrap", the moment you go inside.
17
18	''Guaranteed'' to be a Gothic cathedral, in all their pointy towers and {{Unnecessarily Large Interior}}s glory. Bonus points if it's accompanied by [[OminousPipeOrgan organ music]]-- which of course will likely be the Music/ToccataAndFugueInDMinor. Triple Word Score if it has OminousLatinChanting. May have [[NunsAreSpooky spooky nuns]], {{Sinister Minister}}s, and CreepyCrosses at no extra charge. Other action scenes, especially in works aiming for a gothic vibe, might take place in an abandoned cathedral instead.
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20	----
21	!!Examples
22
23	[[foldercontrol]]
24
25	[[folder:Action-Adventure]]
26	* ''VideoGame/{{Aquaria}}'' has the [[ThatOneLevel Mithalas Cathedral]] which [[HailfirePeaks combines it with]] WombLevel: it's got [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Shoggoth-like]] monsters, MeatMoss everywhere (plus tentacles), [[SandWorm worm enemies]] coming out of the walls, mutants that look too much like Naija for comfort, and you have to [[spoiler:fight the [[ThatOneBoss Mithalan God]] turned EldritchAbomination]] at the end. Do not play this level if you are planning to get any sleep that night.
27	* ''VideoGame/{{Blasphemous}}'' features the Mother of Mothers in the second half of the game, which is the seat of the BigBad, His Holiness Escribar.
28	** ''VideoGame/BlasphemousII'' features again the Mother of Mothers, now in a ruinous state; in addition to the Sunken Cathedral, which was risen from the depths by the Penitent One's actions.
29	* Most ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' games hold a "Chapel" level. ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaCircleOfTheMoon Circle of the Moon]]'' had one with a giant lamb's head that spews poison, fireballs, and flying skulls, while ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness Curse of Darkness]]'' has an extra-boss living inside a mass of corpses, hidden in the church, in a room full of bodies that make the walls. (Scares and WombLevel, anyone?)
30	** [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight The Royal Chapel]] plays with this trope somewhat. Although it's still full of monsters and dangers, the chapel is easily the most serene area of Dracula's castle, with unsullied Christian imagery and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_4lIXJ4KwQ soft, peaceful music.]]
31	* As a SpiritualSuccessor to the aforementioned ''Castlevania'', ''VideoGame/BloodstainedRitualOfTheNight'' also features the Church of Dian Cecht, with stained glass windows, OminousPipeOrgan music, and church bells everywhere.
32	* The FinalBoss fight in ''VideoGame/APlagueTaleInnocence'' takes place in a cathedral that's in complete disarray because of the plague. The scene features lanterns falling from the ceiling and hoards of rats clashing into each other.
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Adventure]]
36	* ''VideoGame/BeneathASteelSky'' has an old, disused cathedral on the ground level. Once you get inside, you get some hint about what's going on. It's just a prelude of what you'll find later [[SinisterSubway in the subway]] though.
37	* ''Videogame/{{Scratches}}'' features an extremely creepy chapel featuring an unsettling wooden statue of Christ, and [[spoiler: a hidden room filled with books and stuff of the occult right underneath the altar]]. Oh, and it has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kLZg0qzCfQ this BGM]].
38	* A secret passage that Brian Dutton follows in ''Videogame/TheSeventhGuest'' leads him and the player to a dark, demonic chapel. It has all the accoutrements of a Catholic chapel, with a {{Confessional}} booth and a pipe organ played by a skeleton. And per the game's overall strangeness, the front door is blocked off from the inside.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Fighting Game]]
42	* In ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'', The Temple (aka the Kombat Temple, The Church or The Cathedral) is a fighting arena that Shao Kahn [[ShrineToSelf constructed for himself]] within his palace during his invasion of Earthrealm. It has an altar, lots of lit candles, and a stained glass window in the shape of the Mortal Kombat Dragon in the background. The arena was revamped for ''VideoGame/MortalKombatGold'' and given a darker, creepier look, and revamped again for ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9''. In the most recent version, where Noob Saibot [[ContinuityCameo (sometimes)]], the Shadow Priests, Rain, and [[EasterEgg (what appears to be)]] Meat appear [[SignificantBackgroundEvent in the background.]]
43	* [[AliceAllusion Alice's]] and [[BadassPreacher Elias's]] shared stage in ''VideoGame/RageOfTheDragons'' is a derelict cathedral.
44	* The "Antares" stage in ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}} 5'' is a dimly-lit, mostly red colored cathedral. The same stage reappears in ''[[GaidenGame Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection]]'', although the creepiness is gone; it's well-lit, [[SnowMeansDeath snow pours in through a hole in the ceiling]], and the music is miles ahead of its predecessor.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:First-Person Shooter]]
48	* In the FPS video game ''VideoGame/{{Painkiller}}'', one of the early stages is exactly like this. You fight your way through a graveyard full of revenants and confront the Big Baddie inside the cathedral. Something about the place isn't quite right... maybe it's the dismembered corpses suspended by chains from the ceiling?
49	* ''Videogame/ReturnToCastleWolfenstein'' in the appropriately named level "The Defiled Church", with Nazi soldiers on the top levels and undead in the bottom.
50	* In ''VideoGame/SystemShock2'', [[spoiler: After reversing the gravity in Deck 2 of the UNN Rickenbacker,]] the player comes across a coldly-lit, futuristic chapel that's been turned completely upside down. Naturally, the cross in the back now looks satanic, cleverly symbolizing the hellish nature of everything around the ship.
51	* Notre Dame from ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters2'' qualifies. It's full of undead for good measure.
52	* ''Videogame/{{ULTRAKILL}}:'' The Heresy layer (after a brief stint through dungeon-like tunnels) takes the look of a ''massive'' church in a blood-red landscape swallowed by red fog and fire. You find Gabriel at the very heart of the church in question, too, playing the organ while waiting with as much patience as his fury lets him afford.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Hack and Slash]]
56	* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' series:
57	** Tristram Cathedral, the site of the main action in ''VideoGame/Diablo1997''. It's got 16 levels, each more horrific than the last, and they eventually take you to Hell itself to face the title archdemon.
58	** The Cathedral is revisited in a limited capacity in the first act of ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'', where you make two trips -- one to rescue Deckard Cain, and the other to destroy the Skeleton King and get to the bottom of the star that fell upon the cathedral.
59	* ''VideoGame/DiabloII'':
60	** The Chaos Sanctuary looks like a cathedral. A cathedral that happens to be in Hell and doubles as Diablo's lair. When all five seals are opened, the place glows red.
61	** The Rogues' Monastery in the first act ''was'' a normal-looking cathedral, until Andariel and her demonic minions took over.
62	** The Durance of Hate from the third act was a temple used to imprison one of the Prime Evils, Mephisto, who used the opportunity to corrupt nearly every Zakarum priest and turn them into demons.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game]]
66	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': The penultimate MSQ dungeon of the ''Heavensward'' expansion is "The Vault", which serves as both the center of worship and the tactical headquarters of the Ishgardian Orthodox Church. The cathedral itself is the first section of the dungeon and is separately referred to as Saint Thordan's Basilica.
67	* In ''[[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft World of Warcraft: Legion]]'', the Tomb of Sargeras has a 5-player dungeon called "The Cathedral of Eternal Light" at its summit. The Tomb itself looks like a creepy cathedral.
68	[[/folder]]
69
70	[[folder:Roguelike]]
71	* The Cathedral is one of the final levels you can reach in ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac''. True to Isaac form, pretty much every creature there is trying to kill you, up to and including [[spoiler:the Cathedral's boss, which is none other than yourself]].
72	* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' players tend to favor these as [[SelfImposedChallenge megaprojects]], after [[EvilTowerOfOminousness Evil Towers Of Ominousness]] of course. They usually revolve around [[HumanSacrifice offerings of blood for the blood god]], Armok.
73	* ''VideoGame/EnterTheGungeon'' has [[spoiler:The Abbey of The True Gun; a secret area]] full of Religious-like elements and the Cardinal enemies, Bullet kin in priest clothing
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder:Role-Playing Game]]
77	* The Cathedral Ward from ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' is the place for conducting blood transfusion by the [[ReligionOfEvil Healing Church]].
78	* The cathedral in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' has the whole "totally not evil" shtick going on, even though the residents couldn't be [[PaperThinDisguise more obviously evil]].
79	* The main feature of the Undead Parish in ''VideoGame/DarkSouls''. With plenty of tough Undead, some very troublesome unique foes, its bell tower is also home to the first Bell Of Awakening. The cathedral in [[spoiler:Anor Londo]] becomes this if [[spoiler:you kill Gwynevere which causes the (fake) sun to vanish.]]
80	* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' likes this trope. In addition to the imposing entrance to Lothric Castle, the Cathedral of the Deep is an entire area unto itself (dedicated to worshipping [[EldritchAbomination Aldrich]]), Pontiff Sulyvhan makes his home in one in Irithyll (more beautifully built, but still dedicated to worshipping [[ReligionOfEvil Aldrich]]), and finally [[spoiler:Anor Londo]] makes a return, except dark, covered with filth and slime, and, once again, now dedicated to [[RuleOfThree worshipping Aldrich]] (the Aldrich faithful seem very fond of cathedrals).
81	* The BigBad of ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 1}}'' resided under a Cathedral in the ruins of Los Angeles. The basement levels are especially creepy.
82	* The Hulle Granz Cathedral from the ''[[VideoGame/DotHackGUGames .hack//G.U.]]'' games. Might not have the whole dungeon thing going, but makes up for it with sheer imposing ominousness, as well as being the home to more than a couple of plot twists and epic battles through the series.
83	* The infernal plane of Stygia in ''VideoGame/NexusClash'' is dotted with Dark Cathedrals made of ''bones'' and packed with ancient dust and entrapped soul energy. As the FlavorText puts it, "you don't want to be here during mass".
84	* Creepy Steeple from ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor''.
85	* The Grand Cathedral is a...well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin massive cathedral]] that functions as TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon of [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI Shin Megami Tensei I]]. Interestingly, where you go to fight the FinalBoss depends on your route: If you're in the Law Route, you fight that route's final boss in the depths of the Cathedral, while in the Chaos route you fight the final boss at the highest floor. In the Neutral Route, [[PathOfMostResistance you fight both in whichever order you want.]]
86	* The Chapel of Lights from ''VideoGame/SunlessSea'' is out on a distant island in [[GrimUpNorth the far north]] and heavily isolated. The residents, who stick to the shadows and are rarely seen, offer visitors food that has a chance of [[TheSecretOfLongPorkPies being people]]; there's a well on the island that will eat your dreams and wound your soul, but only if you've committed cannibalism.
87	* ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' had the Cathedral of Fenrir. With, for bonus points, an organ BGM named "Perverse Religion".
88	* In ''VideoGame/VagrantStory'', the Cathedral is TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. Located at the very center of [[GhostCity Leá Monde]], it's the place where the power of [[TheDarkSide The Dark]] is at its strongest.
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	[[folder:Stealth-Based Game]]
92	* ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}:'' ''The Dark Project'' has a level where [[PlayerCharacter Garret]] must infiltrate a Hammerite cathedral at the epicenter of a disaster that ruined a district of TheCity decades ago, which has now been walled off and is infested with {{the undead}}. The [[spoiler:[[LightningBruiser Hammer Haunts]] ]] in the cathedral itself are [[DemonicSpiders especially dangerous]], and it is one of the most chilling levels in the game. The Soulforge Cathedral of the Mechanists from the second game (''VideoGame/{{Thief}}: The Metal Age'') isn't haunted, but it's still a very eerie place to be (at least during the events the mission is set in).
93	[[/folder]]
94
95	[[folder:Survival Horror]]
96	* ''Amnesia''
97	** The final sections of Brennenburg castle from ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' are named after the parts of a cathedral (Chancel, Choir, Transept, Nave), though the set as a whole doesn't quite ''look'' like a church.
98	** The chapel near Mandus' home in ''VideoGame/AmnesiaAMachineForPigs''. The windows are stained with the blood of pigs and their mutilated corpses piled atop the altar. In the notes it is revealed this was a key source of "raw material" for the Manpigs, abducting entire congregations and sending them to the machine through a hidden passage.
99	* Oublie Cathedral from ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' would qualify. Most of the fighting and exposition take place in the catacombs beneath it, though.
100	* Near the end of ''VideoGame/{{Observer}}'', Dan Lazarski enters such a cathedral, converted into [[spoiler: a VR Salon called "Sanctuary" on the inside. He talks to his [[BrainUploading digitized son Adam]] when entering his VR capsule, who directs him to an even creepier hotel next door.]]
101	* Pops up in the Franchise/ResidentEvil series:
102	** Actually [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'' where the church in the clocktower is a saferoom.
103	** Ashley is held in one of these in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''.
104	** In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil0'' there's a boss fight with a giant bat in one.
105	* The final level of ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'' takes place in the cult's church, which is complete with pews, pulpit, and confessional.
106	* The setting of ''VideoGame/Wick2020'' is a Gothic cathedral where all the lights have gone out and seemingly everyone has been killed or driven away by a plague. And that's ''without'' mentioning the malevolent zombie nun and demon flies out to get you.
107	[[/folder]]
108
109	!!Non-video game examples:
110
111	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
112	* In the fifth episode of ''Anime/CowboyBebop'', "[[Recap/CowboyBebopSession5BalladOfFallenAngels Ballad of Fallen Angels]]", Spike and Vicious have their bloody reunion in a cathedral.
113	* The cathedral from ''Manga/SaintSeiyaTheLostCanvas'' where Tenma and his companions find Nasu Veronica. On top of that, Veronica is dressed as a nun and plays the organ as they arrive.
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	[[folder:Comic Books]]
117	* The Ossuary of [[EldritchLocation Orqwith]] in ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol''.
118	[[/folder]]
119
120	[[folder:Fan Works]]
121	* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': Inverted in "The Paris Trip," where Penny, her mom, and the three pets greatly enjoy a visit to Chartres Cathedral. All but Rhino are in awe of the architecture and stained glass, while the hamster prefers seeing the gargoyles. Mittens and Berlioz also greatly like the stained glass at a visit to Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.
122	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * ''Fanfic/{{Obscuro}}'': The Driftwood Cathedral.
123	[[/folder]]
124
125	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
126	* Zigzagged in ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney''. The eponymous cathedral is depicted as [[SceneryPorn extremely beautiful]] but also imposing and foreboding, especially to [[BigBad Frollo]] at the beginning where he feels he's being judged by the cathedral for killing Quasimodo's mother in front of it.
127	[[/folder]]
128
129	[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
130	* [[http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/Gotham_Cathedral_%28Burton_Films%29 Gotham City Cathedral]] from ''Film/Batman1989'', where the Batman and the Joker [[BloodstainedGlassWindows have their final confrontation]]. Amusingly, any Catholic will tell you that Catholic churches are almost always named after a saint, and ''never'' after the city or town in which they are located (which is a Protestant tradition). Some famous cathedrals have [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_National_Cathedral widely used nicknames]].
131	* True to its gothic aesthetic, the final battle between Eric Draven, Top Dollar, and his minions in ''Film/TheCrow1994'' also takes place in an abandoned cathedral.
132	* ''Film/InTheTallGrass'': There's an abandoned, dilapidated church opposite the grass maze called the Church of the Black Rock. When Travis investigates, he finds a closed door at the back. [[spoiler:It later turns out to be an exit portal from the maze, although one can only access it by becoming one with the black rock.]]
133	[[/folder]]
134
135	[[folder:Literature]]
136	* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' has an inverted example: when [[FaceHeelTurn Denarians]] go into churches and places of [[LightIsGood Faith]], they have serious feelings of regret and uncertainty.
137	* The cathedral of Dras-Leona in ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'', where practitioners of a self-mutilating religion do their thing.
138	* A few of [[Creator/MontagueRhodesJames M. R. James']] ghost stories are explicitly set around haunted cathedrals.
139	** "Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book": the real-life cathedral of St. Bertrand de Comminges, in southern France, is given a fictional history involving a cleric who [[DealWithTheDevil went too far]] in search of knowledge.
140	** "The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral": the wooden carvings in this story's cathedral turn out to be cursed, although [[KarmicDeath they only affect people who have done violent or evil acts in the past]].
141	* In ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'', the Lord Ruler, a [[EvilOverlord tyrannical living god]], resides in a giant, imposing cathedral-like palace called Kredik Shaw, also known as The Hill of a Thousand Spires. Being in and around Kredik Shaw fills one with an overwhelming sense of depression.
142	* Most buildings are creepy in ''Literature/TheMonk'', but cathedrals, monasteries, and nunneries take the cake for places of incredible terror and torture.
143	* Creator/PoulAnderson: In ''Literature/OperationChaos'', the cathedral and surrounding town of Siloam are extra creepy, including nonstop chanting of Barbarous Names.
144	* The abandoned Church of Starry Wisdom from Creator/HPLovecraft's "The Haunter of the Dark"; the building is so shunned by the community that when an investigative reporter went to research the place and never returned, it took decades for anyone to find his remains there.
145	[[/folder]]
146
147	[[folder:Podcasts]]
148	* ''Podcast/OnTheThreshold'' has the Cathedral of Bar Shacath, a VR environment created by a MadArtist [[BrownNote intended to inspire]] the "inversion of religious ecstasy." We don't learn much about its contents, except that the frequency of the candle flames has been precisely calibrated in a way that causes seizures in many participants, and its altar with the corpse of Jesus Christ is considered "a minor prelude to what's deeper inside".
149	[[/folder]]
150
151	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
152	* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' has plenty. Pretty much every major city in the Empire has a grandiose and imposing cathedral to Sigmar -- grim fanatical warrior priests giving fiery sermons a given, and the remains of [[BurnTheWitch witch burnings]] usually in evidence outside. The Great Cathedral in Altdorf is easily the biggest, and beneath it are miles of labyrinths where all manner of forbidden magical artifacts are locked away. The creepiest cathedrals have to be the ruinous ones of Sylvania though, which ratchet up the {{gothic horror}} element.
153	* The Imperium of Man in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', with its heavily gothic-inspired aesthetic, has these in abundance. Pretty much any John Blanche illustration will have a background full of them, and the remains of smaller ones are available as scenery kits for the game. Even the aesthetics of the largest Imperial Titans are full of gothic cathedral elements, and Imperial Spaceships have creepy cathedrals integrated into their superstructure. Special mention must go to Black Templars Chaplain Grimaldus though, who is accompanied by a retinue of Cenobyte Servitors carrying pieces of a destroyed Imperial Cathedral with them as holy relics. Most religious buildings are generally decorated with winged skulls which are symbols of the Imperium.
154	** Moving up from Imperial gothic-creepiness into full-on splatterpunk horror, temples to Chaos -- the work of the Word Bearers, generally -- are typically forged from human bodies (either by using blood to mortar the stones or literally by building the entire structure out of human bits), full of editions of the ''Book of Lorgar'' written on the skin of slain Imperial priests, and materials that don't usually exist in normal spacetime, and bear such cheery features as sacrificial altars, torture chambers, constantly shifting runes that hurt the eyes to look upon, and the like.
155	[[/folder]]
156
157	[[folder:Webcomics]]
158	* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': Mechanicsberg's [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20130412 Red Cathedral.]]
159	* ''Webcomic/SilentHillPromise'': St. Stella Church
160	[[/folder]]
161
162	[[folder:Websites]]
163	* One nightmare on the Website/NightmareProject had a strange church with groups of bizarre believers, Templars, an animated shrine, and a void that no one seems to notice.
164	[[/folder]]
165
166	[[folder:Western Animation]]
167	* "Animation/TheCathedral", a highly creepy CGI short by Tomasz Bagiński.
168	[[/folder]]

Context Main / CreepyCathedral