Line #21 NightmareFuel/Lisathepointless


1	[[quoteright:171:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/twisty_7.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:171:[[WasOnceAMan This used to be a human being.]]]]
3
4	LISA: The Pointless is often more disturbing than the [[NightmareFuel/{{LISA}} original game]], and that's saying something.
5	----
6	* One of the first places Alex visits on Garbage Island is the mass grave, a barren field strewn with trash and corpses. The bodies are all decayed, surrounded by masses of [[DroneOfDread buzzing flies]], and [[DrivenToSuicide have cellophane bags on their heads]].
7	-->Everyone here ends up like this.
8	* After enemies are defeated in battle, their corpses appear in the overworld. Besides being [[ArtEvolution a nice addition to the visuals]], it's a stark reminder of your actions and their consequences. Alex and Joel aren't just defeating RPG opponents for experience points, they're ''killing'' other human beings with their own personalities and thoughts in a grim struggle for survival. It feels much more dramatic knowing that each battle irrevocably reduces the number of people left in Olathe (and presumably on the entire planet) by another increment.
9	** The boss fight against Roland is similarly disturbing once you get to his third phase. He's been knocked to the ground, he's visibly bloodied, and he starts wasting turns to cry and cough up blood. Roland's an antagonistic {{jerkass}}, but it still feels weird watching Alex and Georgy mercilessly wail on him even when he's already clearly down for the count. Roland's death ends up being very prolonged and painful, with him slowly getting brutalized until he slumps to the ground and dies.
10	* While resting at House Dust after getting to the mainland, Alex and Joel awaken to discover that Chaz, the joy addict, has mutated and violently killed all of the inn residents. Upon leaving the inn, the area outside of it is completely deserted, with all of the NPC's having vanished (save for the one who said he hated everybody). It's discomforting, [[MoodWhiplash especially right after Alex and Joel's moment of bonding.]]
11	* The long walk Alex and Joel take across the desert starts to feel like this after the first minute or so. There's no music, no NPC's, and minimal attractions (save for [[NoodleIncident some sun-blasted ruins littered with human skeletons]]). Only the hot desert wind accompanies Alex's footsteps, giving the whole sequence an [[NothingIsScarier eerie feeling of loneliness]].
12	** A troubling detail in the village reveals what happened to it and provides a little foreshadowing. Some of the skeletons are wearing [[ArtifactOfDoom the infinity jerseys.]]
13	** At House Dust, a man dug up a bunch of Infinity Jerseys. Then when everyone leaves for Garbage Island, the box is empty, implying that they took them with. Given [[HatePlague what's known about]] [[ArtifactOfDoom the Infinity Jerseys]], Garbage Island may soon become an even less hospitable place to live...
14	* At one point while crossing the desert, Alex enter a cave, where only his silhouette is visible. While resting, he awakens to [[AnimalisticAbomination some kind of quadrupedal creature]] quietly standing over them, making a horrible moaning noise. You're given the choice to either offer it some jerky or remain still. Although the creature ends up just walking away in either case, it's a very tense moment because [[NothingIsScarier you can't tell what it is or what it wants]].
15	** Later while exploring Downtown Olathe, you encounter the creature again, whereupon it's revealed to be an especially nightmarish-looking joy mutant named Twisty (pictured). While most of the mutants from the original game have clearly human characteristics, Twisty looks more like a deer or an equine. However, closer analysis reveals that his mouth is actually his head, which has been twisted around and split wide open to accommodate his coiled tongue. It's distressing to dwell on how a normal person was contorted into [[BodyHorror this horrible new shape.]]
16	*** This is diminished somewhat by Twisty actually being one of the [[DarkIsNotEvil least malevolent mutants]] encountered in the LISA games. It will only attack if you try to grab the baby crow from its maw, meaning it otherwise minds its own business unless you specifically disturb it. If you gave it the jerky earlier, [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe it will simply let Alex have the crow without any fuss]]. It should be noted that it can't deal damage in battle, which is disturbing because [[YouBastard it feels like you're pummeling some hapless animal that can't fight back]].
17	* Downtown Olathe. While the rest of Olathe has its share of violence, the upgraded art is full of SceneryGorn and all the gangs there are engaged in "the game," a perpetual turf war with no foreseeable end. And that's ''before'' the Infinity Franchise really starts upsetting the power dynamic of the area.
18	** The Infinity Franchise embodies the nihilistic ethos of Olathe and have taken it to a logical extreme. They're not unlike the pro-mutant cult that's briefly featured in The Joyful, but are far more disturbing and fleshed-out. They endlessly kill and pillage [[ForTheEvulz for no apparent reason other]] than [[BloodKnight enjoying the thrill of violence]], invading new areas so they can kill and pillage some more. It's implied that the franchise are overrunning all of Olathe, their numbers sustained by a steady flow of new recruits ([[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane who may or may not]] be under [[HatePlague the influence of sinister supernatural forces]]). They really seem to be dead-set on continuing their rampage until all of humanity has been wiped out. Even if Alex and Joel kill go out of their way to kill every single franchiser in downtown Olathe, it's shown that more men will just take their place, making the fight against them feel completely fruitless.
19	** As you progress further and further through Downtown Infinity, black/green tinged silhouettes called "The Infinite Masses" start appearing. They look like negative space holes in the world, only marked by the ever-present red 88. Some of them resemble people you've killed, but a lot of them don't...
20	** Halfway through the dinner scene with the warlords, the lights go out. When they come back on, we see that Fringe Boy and Shef ([[BrainwashedAndCrazy who have defected to the franchise]]) murdered their compatriots. Up until that point, the scene had been goofy and absurd, so it's jarring to suddenly see the room strewn with corpses and blood while [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFVAELI4JxE this]] plays in the background. [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight Alex and Joel barely react to this development]], [[DissonantSerenity merely throwing out a sarcastic joke and carrying on their conversation with Ottoman]]. Beyond highlighting how desensitized to violence they've become, it gives the sequence an [[SurrealHorror unnervingly dreamlike quality]].
21	** An especially unsettling area in downtown Olathe are the fields where Jessie Mack can be found. The whole landscape, like the rest of downtown Olathe, is layered thick with blood and human flesh from the victims of the franchise's rampage. Far worse than that is Jessie Mack's farmstead, where it's implied that after being [[HatePlague sucked into the franchise]], he killed many of his own [[WouldHurtAChild children]], family members, and friends, [[ImAHumanitarian grinding their bodies down into meat to share with the franchise]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-OW52yA9jg "The Void,"]] a jangly and atonal tune, plays in the background and lends the area an atmosphere of unease.
22	*** There are a few franchisers here that aren't hostile to Alex, but are extremely creepy regardless. They're all to busy muttering to themselves or [[{{Squick}} writhing around in piles of human viscera]] to notice Alex. There's one franchiser who does talk to Alex though: an obese, blank-eyed man who's [[DissonantSerenity unusually calm]] in spite of the blood pouring from [[MajorInjuryUnderreaction the stump where his right arm was]]. He turns to face Alex as he walks along and tells him ominous, cryptic things about the nature of the infinity franchise.
23	-->"You resist the jersey, but HE will transform you."
24	** Many of the peaceful characters found at the beginning of Downtown Olathe suddenly become violent Franchisers as you progress, which makes you question whether people use the Franchise as an excuse to act violent or if [[HatePlague the jerseys themselves are changing them]].
25	** When Alex and Joel finally face [[BigBad Arnold Shpitz]], the duo come under the influence of infinity and see Arnold as a [[BodyHorror lumbering three-headed monster]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qOD7J8fIYI The battle music]], "Land", changes to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qOD7J8fIYI "Firebird"]], [[SensoryAbuse a shrill and unpleasant-sounding song]], to make the transition more jarring.
26	* Right after talking to Yado during the flashback sequence, Alex enters a bus, which rides through a neighborhood. At first, everything seems normal, but then piles of flesh start appearing on the scenery, all over, even filling up an entire house. The music grows more tense as the scene gains a shade of red, the bus meeting a dead end where... [[EldritchAbomination something rises, screeching]]. Alex wakes up immediately after that, and we've yet to discover [[NothingIsScarier what the hell that thing was.]] All we know is that it's called [[https://pointless-rpg.fandom.com/wiki/Principium_Vitae "Principium Vitae"]], it's somehow "the origin of all things", and Alex isn't the only one who can see it: an NPC on Garbage Island makes a passing reference to seeing an "ugly red thing".
27	* The TV program. The two hosts [[WordSaladHorror go on disjointed rants about nonsensical topics while accosting a bloodied and battered Rick about the concept of sin. The harsh sound of Marty's TV from the original LISA plays over the whole scene.]]
28	* Hugo, the gloved man that continually shows up in the background. Besides looking creepy, he's always silently observing Alex for no readily apparent reason. The fact that the areas he shows up in lack music makes his presence feel even more disconcerting.

Context NightmareFuel / Lisathepointless