Line #16 NightmareFuel/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shesha_second_form_smtivf.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Yes, that's a ''3D model'' in the battle interface and not a sprite.]]
3	-> '''Asahi:''' Wow, everyone's really worked up. It's actually kind of scary...\
4	'''Dagda:''' Heh, your friend's perception is spot on. ''[[FromBadToWorse Show's about to start, kid.]]''
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6	Much like its [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV immediate predecessor]], and the series as a whole for that matter, ''Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse'' has its share of [[NightmareFuel insomnia triggers]].
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8	'''As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
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11	* The PsychoticSmirk that Nanashi sports in some promotional art can be pretty uncomfortable to look at. Especially the pose in which he points a finger to himself as if it's a gun, as if he's been playing a little too much ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' lately.
12	* One of the lesser, otherwise humorous facts about this game is seeing the description of the relics you collect when appraising them on the shops. Back at [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV the previous game]], we had Flynn trying his best to comprehend utensils and mundane objects from his medieval-era perspective. Now, we get to see these from the eyes of a 15-year-old Hunter, with a modern view of these. Except, he was born a decade after the Firmanent was erected and raised amidst all the reigning chaos present, so he interprets makeup cases as bullet packers, kitchen racks as gun shelves, glass cups as spy tools... Everything from the insight of a [[ChildSoldiers Nanashi and Asashi's generation]], living day by day hunting demons for survival or even for ''meat sources''.
13	** Speaking of which, take a look at the phone's Database after being officially promoted to a Hunter. This game finally explains why one of the demon races is ''Food''. FridgeHorror spoiled it since the first game, but the weight of that one tidbit feels heavier when you see whose demons are in this category, like the already-underdogged [[http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Hare_of_Inaba Hare of Inaba]] or [[http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Onmoraki Onmorakis]] in general.
14	* In general, this game likes to use HopelessBossFight to pit you against a powerful adversary, have them [[CurbStompBattle beat you down]] with no way to defend yourself [[SeeminglyHopelessBossFight unless]] someone else pulls a BigDamnHeroes moment, and [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration immerse]] you in the feeling that you and your friends are about to die:
15	** [[http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/4/46/SMTIVF_-Protagonist_get_killed_by_a_demon.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20151201155049: Nanashi's death]]. The youngest SMT Main Series protagonist at 15 years old, he suffers a gruesome demise at the hands of a rather flamboyant, horse-like demon shortly after his story begins. And this is after he and Asahi witness their two mentors being killed by said demon as they were trying to protect them. Thank god Nanashi gets '''much''' better due to Dagda's intervention...
16	** The FantasticRacism exhibited by the Angels -- "Land of the Unclean Ones", [[FantasticSlur "Filth"]], etc. -- is back in full force, and this time, as a Hunter from Tokyo, ''you'' get to experience it firsthand as Aniel shows up to summarily execute you and Asahi for attempting to trespass on the angels' territory, all while shouting "Unclean!" with each attack. [[HopelessBossFight And because he's far higher-leveled than you, he nearly completes the job]], bringing Asahi, who had ''already had her life and yours threatened not too long ago'', to her knees as she realizes the hopelessness of her situation. Sure, [[DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist you would've survived anyway]] thanks to Dagda, but Asahi wouldn't have had it not been for [[BigDamnHeroes Flynn and Isabeau]].
17	** The first fight with Odin. You're maybe expecting a difficult but still doable battle, but then he casts Will of Thunder: "Elec attacks will [[ArmorPiercingAttack pierce]] until end of turn!" Well, okay, that sounds bad, but surely this can be survived, right? Zionga didn't do ''that'' much damage...and then on his next turn, he casts Will of Thunder ''again'', followed by Concentrate so [[ThisIsGonnaSuck you know the next hit is going to do an ass-load of damage and not even Repel Elec is going to save you]], and finally, he casts '''[[SignatureMove Thunder Reign]]''', killing off all of your demons with about 1000 HP of damage each, ending the battle, and leaving you at the mercy of a group of omnicidal polytheistic gods.
18	* Nanashi coming back to life but return becoming Dagda's [[PeoplePuppet human puppet]]. If he tries to do something that Dagda sees as counter to his plans or just plain dislikes, Dagda will just ''[[ButThouMust hijack Nanashi's body to make him do otherwise]]'' and Nanashi can do naught to stop it. The Divine Powers end up being released this way, if you try to say no to unsealing their ark. What if Dagda, for example, needs Nanashi to kill his friends or other innocent people off as part of his plans or simply ForTheEvulz, something that wouldn't be beyond him given how he rambles about how stupid friendship is? Yes, he tries to make Nanashi do just that to his friends in the Cosmic Egg. If you refuse to do it, Dagda will ''try to suck the life out of you'' in a SeeminglyHopelessBossFight, and since your demon summoning powers come from him, you also have trouble trying to command your demons! Had Danu not been there to save you with a Dagda clone, you would've died, and [[KilledOffForReal for real]] at that!
19	* Exploring one of the Challenge Quests reveals that the leaders of Japan, before the creation of the Firmament, had dabbled in human experimentation to summon the National Defense Divinities. The ringleader of this plot, the crazed Minister of Defense, also transplanted his personality into the body of an innocent woman before he died, and now "she" mindlessly wanders around Tokyo, carrying his brain in a jar and ranting about "saving" the country.
20	* The Tokugawa Mandala. You know all those bloodthirsty wild demons roaming the streets who are out to kill any unfortunate humans they find? Now try defending yourself from them ''without any demons of your own.'' Fortunately, Nanashi is still able to summon his demons thanks to Dagda granting him his Godslayer powers, but everyone else in Tokyo isn't as fortunate.
21	* Shesha, the massive dragon (both literal and [[TheDragon otherwise]]) of the Divine Powers. It looks like it's made of lava and it turns entire districts into ground-zero zones splattered with blood where the dreary aboveground music plays instead of the more mellow underground music in order to [[ToServeMan consume humans]] and grow more powerful, leaving [[TheDreaded everyone around the area who isn't dead yet freaking out for their lives]]. It makes its introduction by ''punching a huge hole in the Firmament''. When you fight it, to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVJcMzAXTW4 creepy distinct BGM]] to boot, you don't see a sprite of it; you see its ''overworld model'' moving about as it attacks you. Its second form has [[ExtraEyes way more eyes than is comfortable to look at]], and can ''speak''. Defeating this form doesn't even faze it much; it just taunts that it will come back even stronger and more powerful. Which it does.
22	* While fighting Merkabah and Lucifer, Flynn periodically flashes a PsychoticSmirk, which is creepy on two fronts: it looks [[UncannyValley rather off]] on his face, and it's {{Foreshadowing}} the fact that [[OutOfCharacterAlert he's not actually Flynn]].
23	* The moment when the Flynn you spent the game with is revealed to really be Shesha in disguise, he ends up flashing an absolutely hideous NightmareFace, a super-realistic design of Flynn's face with a sickly green skin and blood-red colored eyes and lips. '''[[http://i.imgur.com/dlbZYeq.jpg Exhibit A. ]]''' UncannyValley doesn't even begin to describe it: like our beloved Champion of Tokyo had a horrific Fusion Accident with ComicBook/TheJoker and a snake. He then proceeds to '''gruesomely devour Asahi''' after she jumps in to protect Nanashi, leaving nothing but pools of blood and ripped flesh and her goggles, meaning '''the same thing would have happened to him.''' The worst part is that this is literally the ONLY part in the game that uses this super-realistic art style. It's just so sudden and alien to the entire art style of the game, it looks like this... '''thing''' was not even supposed to be there in the first place. Shesha only adds insult to injury by leaving without a care while saying how scrumptious Asahi was.
24	* While raiding Tsukiji Konganji for the second time, you may notice that there's a conspicuous lack of Ring of Gaea members patrolling the area this time around. A group of Hunters you meet inside the facility point this out along with the fact that the building shows signs of very recent activity, theorizing that they all sacrificed themselves to power up Shesha. As you find out much later, they're right, and [[RewatchBonus if you're re-playing this segment]], note that the end of this raid involves witnessing Flynn-who's-actually-Shesha pretend-defeating Odin. "Flynn" had ''just'' mass-consumed Gaean souls when you "interrupt" him. Spooky!
25	* Hallelujah's true form: a [[HalfHumanHybrid half-demon hybrid]]. While certainly not as horrifying as the Shesha-disguised-as-Flynn example immediately above -- for starters, he is still firmly on your side with the only change to their personality being [[TookALevelInBadass a few levels in badass]] -- he looks...unwell, to say the least. His skin turns completely white, his eyes are entirely blood-red, and he has a mass of cracks in the skin around his eyes and cheeks. No wonder he was so reluctant to show his true power.
26	* Toki being overshadowed by Inanna in the Cosmic Egg. The way that Krishna tries to coax her into acting on those feelings to the point where she believes she's giving birth to Nanashi's child is to bring back Maitreya is ''disturbing''. Then there's the birthing scream...
27	* Cleopatra's DLC story is horrifying. You go to an inverted pyramid to investigate the disappearance of many women, and what does Nanashi find? ''A LOT of mummified corpses with roses blooming out of them, with certain parts of their bodies chopped off.'' '''''[[MoralEventHorizon About 1,464 of them.]]''''' All of this in an effort to resurrect Cleopatra herself with the perfect body. You also find Asahi and manage to save her, but imagine what would have happened had Nanashi been too late to arrive...
28	* "Explosive Epidemic in Mikado" has the player fight through several of Mikado's citizens who have been transformed into demons. Remember what happened to Issachar in the previous game? The same is happening to ''everyone of Mikado''. Even Hugo and Hope get special portraits for the occasion. Reading through the related lore has one realize that the angels were behind the Demonic Gene, which is responsible for the demonic transformations and ingrained in the "new humanity" that populates Mikado. One of the triggers of this transformation? '''''Cultural development'''''. Not only do the Angels directly keep the masses ignorant and subservient, but they've practically instilled a kill-switch in their ideal version of humanity as a form of insurance for if they were ever to stray from their subservient role.
29	** A few players may realize that this DLC is a tie-in with the AlternateUniverse mangas from the previous game, ''-Prayers-'' and ''Demonic Gene''. Even if it's clearly a Massacre-route Nanashi that fought it off, imagine how ''worse'' this all could go if he hadn't interfered...!
30	** ''You yourself'' get infected with the demonizing effect as well, and you have only 25 turns to defeat all of the enemies before you become another one of them. Oh yeah, and if you want to listen to Hugo tell you about how all of this came to be, TalkingIsAFreeAction is averted, as you ''lose a turn'' for accepting.
31	* The game just loves to give the humans of Tokyo what appears to be their moment of salvation, their moment when their hope is finally answered, from their crappy 25-year situation, only to ''[[HopeSpot crush it in front of their very eyes]]''. Oh, Flynn's about to summon Masakado to help remove the Firmament?[[note]]Not that it would've been of significant help by itself, as Flynn would've still needed to travel to Purgatorium and the Chaos Realm / Lucifer's Palace to destroy both Merkabah and Lucifer, as shown in ''SMTIV''.[[/note]] The Divine Powers step in and kidnap him. Merkabah, Lucifer, and the Divine Powers are destroyed and everyone's celebrating with Flynn? Actually, not only did the Divine Powers only ''feign'' defeat, but the Flynn who's been with the people of Tokyo since his apparent rescue is actually Shesha, more powerful than ever and leading the consumption of souls across Tokyo.
32	* In order to face [=YHVH=] and have a chance, a major portion of the fight involves denouncing any claim [=YHVH=] has to divinity, pointing out he is no greater than any other demon in the world. In the end, he is himself subjected to the same practices that caused pagan deities to be canonized as demons. It causes him to become... ''something'', vaguely akin to the gnostic deity Yaldabaoth; A seven-headed, maned serpent who even in his twisted state, continues demanding praise from you as he lashes out and curses your party. He is one of ''three'' characters in the entire game rendered in full 3D.
33	* The first dungeon exclusive to the two neutral routes, the Cosmic Egg, is a massive WombLevel with red, fleshy walls and "doors" that make sickening fleshy sounds when you travel through them, as if taking a page from the [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Labyrinth of Amala]]. There's also a few spots where an appendage will swallow you up and spit you back out elsewhere [[JumpScare with no prior warning]]. To destroy the Cosmic Egg, you reach the center of it and destroy its physical heart. The process of destruction of which is thankfully [[GoryDiscretionShot not shown]], but still, watching it beat... ''ugh.''
34	* [[BrutalBonusLevel Twisted Tokyo]], on the surface, is a [[EldritchLocation Domain]] up to eleven, featuring even more disgusting-looking tentacles and ''[[NothingButSkulls skulls]]'' that make up the walls. The background behind this makes matters worse: It's actually yet another AlternateTimeline of Tokyo where the Messiahs never came and the city was eventually taken over entirely by demons. Apparently, the takeover was so thorough that the locations you explore bear familiar names but look nothing like the places they're named after; one way to interpret this is that ''the entire metropolis'' was turned into one big Domain. At least Blasted Tokyo from ''IV'' has humans and some infrastructure surviving ''at all''.
35	** And the bosses of Twisted Tokyo is the Fiend squad. Yes, those are the skeletons that stomp on new players on their first ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' playthrough. If this is not enough to instill fear, they are even stronger than the majority of bosses in the game and if you have a particular expansion DLC, they can go '''over''' level 900. When you encounter them, unlike most bosses which at least looked like they wanted to fight you, they just make a deep sigh. '''They are probably so strong that they don't even take you as anything other than an ant to be crushed under their feet.'''
36	* Krishna hijacking every smartphone in Tokyo to broadcast his message about [[DeadlyEuphemism "salvation"]].
37	* As Quetzalcoatl murders everyone at the Hunters' Association -- normally [[TraumaInn a place of refuge where you can heal up and chat with your fellow Hunters]] -- leaves bloodied bodies and gore everywhere and and claims their souls for the Divine Powers, he brilliantly corrupts one of the best-known memes from [[VideoGame/DarkSouls another video game series]].
38	-->'''[[HorrorHunger Quetzalcoatl]]:''' ''Praise the Sun!''
39	* TheReveal in the neutral routes that Lucifer was created by YHVH to serve as a [[FalseFlagOperation false-flag]] 'perfect enemy' for Merkabah to put up a ''facade'' of an OrderVersusChaos conflict, just to make YHVH and the Law faction look better by comparison and to get people to side with Him. [[CosmicHorrorStory YHVH does not care about humanity at all.]] Lucifer himself seems completely unaware of this until he dies, [[CryForTheDevil which will likely make you feel pretty bad for him]].
40	* Nanashi killing his friends at the start of the Massacre route isn't just [[TearJerker heartbreaking]], it's horrifying when you consider how his friends feel about it. One of their closest friends and their leader has abruptly decided to turn his sword towards them and they all go down with relatively little effort, likely because this act of betrayal has [[DespairEventHorizon crushed their fighting spirit]] in Tokyo's DarkestHour. He gets to watch them beg and plead for their lives as he coldly ends each and every one of them for what he believes to be the greater good. And then Nanashi moves on to slaughtering the people of Tokyo and Mikado ''en masse'', while Fujiwara can only hopelessly [[YouCouldHaveUsedYourPowersForGood lament that Nanashi could've used his abilities to defend humanity instead]]. While [[GoryDiscretionShot the resulting body count is not shown on-screen]], the narration indicates that he's created ''mountains'' of corpses, with central Ginza likely drenched in human blood at this point. Hope your new universe is worth it!
41	* After his death and subsequent resurrection on Massacre, Flynn CameBackWrong. He loses [[EmptyShell all trace of personality]] and all of his heroic spirit, and even turns against the people he promised to protect. The only thing that matters to him is [[ReforgedIntoAMinion serving Nanashi]], whom he reveres as a god. Seeing someone who took the fate of humanity into his own hands and declared war on Law and Chaos suddenly becoming subservient is... creepy. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And he starts speaking in a]] CreepyMonotone. OOCIsSeriousBusiness indeed. And remember, [[YouBastard it was your decision to side with Dagda that made him come back this way]].
42	--> '''Flynn:''' I am my master's Godslayer. [[DeathOfPersonality I exist only to serve him]].
43	** On the same route, you can pick which of your friends to revive as the True Goddess. Said True Goddess may have elements of the revived partner's personality, but ultimately that person is, just like Flynn, a brainwashed servant who doesn't care about their own hopes or dreams anymore, only serving you and helping you craft the new universe.
44	*** To drive in how no one else matters to them but you, the True Goddess's DeclarationOfProtection is to assure you not to worry about how many people are going to die in the coming battles. After all, [[WeHaveReserves they can always make more]].
45	---->'''Asahi''': No matter what they send at us, no matter how many of our followers they fight off... I will create many more in their place.\
46	'''Navarre''': No matter what kind of god comes, no matter who they kill... I shall make sure that there are always people to worship you.\
47	'''Nozomi''': No matter what may come our way, or however many of our followers they kill... I will create more to shield us.\
48	'''Hallelujah''': No matter what god or devil comes, no matter how many die... I will make more people for you.\
49	'''Toki''': No matter what happens, no matter how many people die from it... I will raise more people with you.\
50	'''Gaston''': No matter what battle may come to us, no matter what ravages it bring... I will raise an army for you.\
51	'''Isabeau''': No matter what force comes after you, no matter how many die... I shall create more people to serve you.
52	** And when this is not terrifying enough, if you meet the requirements to fuse them and you did, humanity's three biggest enemies: Merkabah, Lucifer and Krishna are now officially on your side, ready to wipe out anyone who opposes you.
53	* Satan has two long spikes piercing his hands in his portrait with red hot cracks in the skin surrounding each of them. They don't seem to bring him any pain, and seem to be a symbolism thing more than anything, but still...that really does not look pleasant to look at.
54	* Early in the game, Nanashi has a dream of his past life as Akira right before God's Plan leads to the ICBM strike on Tokyo. In the dream, we see Flynn's previous incarnation unsheathing Masakado's Katana, in order to summon said deity and create the Firmament / Ceiling, protecting all of Tokyo against the ICBM Strike. Except Masakado's summoning is not that pleasant to watch or perform... He commits harakiri, pulling the blade through his own neck! Masakado, summoned as a floating head, then ''gorily'' merges with Flynn's ascendant's body, guttural sounds and everything, in order to complete his transformation. It's kinda hard to think that Masakado is firmly [[{{Pun}} cemented]] as a ''good guy'' after witnessing this!
55	* Though Stephen has humanity's interests as his end goal, this game shows that he's willing to [[TheUnfettered do whatever it takes to get rid of YHVH.]] He creates a "Goddess of Tokyo" to manipulate you onto the right path and will try to keep the Messiahs alive so they can get rid of any faction that threatens humanity. It's implied several times in this game that he's able to make Nanashi remember his past life (in one case, doing so deliberately to prevent Flynn's abduction at the hands of the Divine Powers), [[BackstoryInvader rewrite everyone's memories into thinking he was Dr. Matsuda]] to help them create the Shesha Radar and [[RetGone erasing all memory of him afterward.]] He also helps the player to reach YHVH on both routes with him deliberately telling Skins and Fujiwara the truth on the Massacre route and sending them and humanity off to die at your hands. Dagda even calls him out on being so nonchalant about their fate and yet Stephen warns them that the fate that befalls YHVH shall be yours eventually. In his DLC boss fight, it takes your party and a team of the previous game's protagonists to defeat him and even ''they'' struggle against Stephen's sheer might. The truly insane part about all this is that he could utterly annihilate you and cut off your cycle of reincarnation for good measure were you to step out of line, as well as [[AlwaysABiggerFish personally do the same to YHVH himself if he so chose]]. To put the magnitude of power we are talking about into perspective, on top of being able to attack you with literal ''singularities'', it takes the combined power of ''five'' Messiahs to '''amuse him'''. [[CruelMercy Alas, he decides to let you choose your own path.]]

Context NightmareFuel / ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse