Line #24 VideoGame/TheKidnap


1	[[quoteright:460:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/header_224.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:460:''Don't talk to strangers...'']]
3
4	''The Kidnap'' is a 2023 psychological horror video game created by {{Creator/Chillas Art}}.
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6	You play as Renya, an elementary school boy living with his sister, Sakiko. Their mother walked out several months ago, leaving both children to fend for themselves. One rainy night, Renya discovers his sister has mysteriously disappeared as well. He pretends that everything is fine at school, but with rumors of a clown breaking into houses and a man following Renya wherever he goes, Renya grows paranoid that something may have gotten his sister and is coming for him too...
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9	!This game contains examples of:
10	* AbusiveParents:
11	** Renya and Sakiko's mother can hardly be even called a ''parent'', to the point where she is easily considered the true villain of the game.
12	** Sarao's mother [[spoiler:is established to be this to him early in the game. She was emotionally and physically abusive to him because he reminded her of her ex-husband. Eventually, [[TheDogBitesBack Sarao snapped and killed his mother for her treatment of him]].]]
13	* AdultsAreUseless: Renya's teacher asks him if his sister is okay, but doesn't infer more even as days go by without any word from her. [[spoiler:If you stay at Sarao's house or run to any house that isn't Kohime's, then the police will arrest Sarao but will not listen to the children's explanations and call the children's mom to get them]].
14	* AntiVillain: [[spoiler:Sarao is the antagonist behind the kidnapping, but it's hard to call him evil, as he was just working alongside Sakiko to carry out her plan, and also due to his mentally troubled state and his own traumatic past. The children's mother is ''far'' more evil and villainous despite having much less screen time than him.]]
15	* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Renya and Sakiko's mother is killed by Sarao in the true ending. It's very hard to argue that she didn't deserve it after all the evil she's committed against her own children.]]
16	* BigSisterInstinct: Initially played straight, [[spoiler:but later heavily subverted as it turns out that Sakiko isn't above ochestrating an entire false kidnapping, thereby traumatising her brother, all to ensure that it would be enough to garner her mother's attention.]]
17	* BookSmart: Sakiko performs very well in school, having a full set of test papers with perfect scores. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, this doesn't mean she can't also come up with a [[TooDumbToLive truly awful plan]] to get their mother to return.]]
18	* CoolBigSis: Sakiko loves and cares for Renya, even if she doesn't always show it to him over her desire for their mother's love. [[spoiler:He does [[BrokenPedestal get disillusioned]] when he finds out Sakiko orchestrated the whole kidnapping scheme, but you can get Renya to go along with it for her sake as one of the endings]].
19	* DisappearedDad: Neither Sarao’s nor Renya and Sakiko’s fathers are ever seen in their kids’ lives. [[spoiler:A diary entry from Sarao’s mother briefly mentions his father, but it’s unknown what happened to him and it’s unknown why she mentioned Sarao looking like his father.]]
20	* EmbarrassingDampSheets: The first thing that happens with Renya is him waking up and finding that he’s wet the bed. Judging from his reaction, this is something that’s happened before.
21	* EvilDetectingDog: Early on, you hear Tama meow and hiss as a door opens. This is the player’s indication that someone has broken into Renya’s house.
22	* HarmfulToMinors: [[spoiler:One of the things Renya can find in Sarao's attic is the ''rotting, butchered corpse'' of a woman, who is implied to be Sarao's abusive mother.]]
23	* HateSink: The kids' mother is an evil, abusive, and despicable woman who abandons them for months for seemingly no reason at all, and is up there with the [[VideoGame/TheKaraoke Gym Coach]] and the [[VideoGame/TheBathhouse Monk]] as one of the most disgustingly evil and repulsive characters in a Creator/ChillasArt game.
24	* HatesTheirParent: Sakiko notes that Renya seems to be afraid of their mother, [[spoiler:but judging by [[SlasherSmile how happy Renya is]] after Sarao kills his mother, his feelings towards his mother lean more towards "hatred" than fear]].
25	* HeelRealization: After being taken into foster care, Sakiko realizes she didn't consider her brother's feelings in her [[spoiler:fake kidnapping plan]], as she remembers that Renya was afraid of their mother. [[spoiler:Or rather, he [[HatesTheirParent hated their mother]].]]
26	* ItsAllAboutMe: [[spoiler:In the Bad Ending, Renya and Sakiko’s mother yells at them for inconveniencing her and making her pick them up from the police station. She’s more concerned about how “embarrassed” she is to have gone to the police station than the possibility of her children being kidnapped.]]
27	* {{Jerkass}}:
28	** Renya and Sakiko's mother, [[AbusiveParent obviously]]. She yells at and berates them, even wishing she never gave birth to them. Soon after, she callously abandons them. When she comes back after the kidnapping incident is resolved she either, [[spoiler:A: abandons them again, or B: self-righteously confronts the kidnapper and provokes him.]]
29	** Sarao's mother physically and emotionally abused him for most of his life. [[spoiler:It's implied she's a TroubledAbuser and deeply regrets what she's done, but it is still no excuse.]]
30	* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:The good ending has the childrens' mother provoke and verbally abuse a man who was also abused in the past, and is rightfully killed by him for her trouble.]]
31	* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:In the bad ending, the children's mother never faces the consequences of abandoning them, and by all appearances, just drops them off at home and leaves them again immediately.]]
32	* MatureWorkChildProtagonists: Our KidHero Renya is a normal boy who goes to school and plays with his friends but is hiding the fact that he and his sister are living alone without their mom and that his sister just went missing as well.
33	* TheMentallyDisturbed: [[spoiler:A notebook you can find in Sarao's house reveals that Sarao was also abused by his mother, and it's heavily implied that he eventually snapped and killed her after her abuse went too far, butchering her corpse and stuffing it in the attic, resulting in his current mental state. His killing of the children's mother after she confronts him was likely triggered by his trauma.]]
34	* MissingChild: The plot begins when Renya discovers his sister is missing. Three days go by without any word from Sakiko, and Renya begins to fear the worst. [[spoiler:Turns out that Sakiko [[FakedKidnapping faked her own kidnapping]] with the help of Sarao in order to get their mother to notice and come home]].
35	* MonsterClown: Rumors are going around that a clown has been seen watching children and breaking into people's homes. There are a couple of times Renya thinks he sees a clown lurking nearby, and even has nightmares about it. [[spoiler:This turns out to be a red herring as the true "antagonist" is Sarao, who's actually just a mentally disturbed man, helping Sakiko with her kidnapping plan]].
36	* MultipleEndings: There are three endings depending on what you do at [[spoiler:Sarao's house]]:
37	** [[spoiler:If you try to flee from Sarao by tricking him into swerving off the road and continuing on foot, he will eventually catch up to you, ending with a GameOver]].
38	** [[spoiler:If you try to go to anyone else's house other than Kohime's, or you obediently stay at Sarao's house, then the police will arrest him and take you and Sakiko to the station where the mother will pick you up. However, she will then drop you off at the house and abandon you two once again, while Sakiko tries to stop her from leaving]].
39	** [[spoiler:If you run to Kohime's house, her mother (who turns out to be a social worker) will let you and your sister stay at their home before sending you to foster care, where you are much happier. Unfortunately, the mother comes to the foster center and forcibly takes you both home. When she finds out about Sarao's involvement, she marches over to his house and confronts him, only for Sarao to slash her neck with a sickle, killing her. While Sakiko screams over her body, Renya is [[SlasherSmile smiling]], happy their mother is finally dead]].
40	* NeverMyFault: The mother of Renya and Sakiko [[spoiler:is angered that Sarao would dare to kidnap her children, despite her leaving them to fend for themselves, vulnerable and unprotected, for who knows how long.]]
41	* ParentalNeglect: Renya and Sakiko's mom is a [[AbusiveParents downright awful parent]], berating her kids for being born and leaving them for months to fend for themselves. [[spoiler:Even if the kidnapping plan succeeds and the mother comes to get the kids, she will leave them at the house again after yelling at them for disturbing her]].
42	* PromotionToParent: Sakiko is the one who takes care of Renya rather than their neglectful mother. It's shown early in the game that she's the one who cooks and teaches Renya how to do the laundry.
43	* PsychopathicManchild: A tragic example with Sarao, who mentally regressed to a child-like frame of mind as a result of his mother's abuse.
44	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: [[spoiler:Kohime's mother is a social worker and is the only adult whom Renya and Sakiko can trust in the ending to take them to safety. She also seemingly knows what Sarao went through, and warns the kids to leave him alone and give him space.]]
45	* RedHerring: The beginning part of the game builds up the evil clown that's been sighted throughout town. Renya believes the clown is following him from school and peeping at him in his room. However, [[spoiler:it's AllJustADream or Renya's imagination playing tricks on him]].
46	* ResentfulGuardian: What Renya and Sakiko's mom is all but explicitly stated to be, as she constantly rants about how she wishes they were never born and doesn't want them to disturb her when [[spoiler:Sakiko pulls her fake kidnapping scheme]].
47	* TooDumbToLive:
48	** Sakiko's plan to [[spoiler:fake getting kidnapped to get her mother's attention was already boneheaded enough, but she never thought about the possibility that Sarao might be more dangerous than he seemed. During his escape, Renya discovers the rotting corpse of Sarao's mother, whom he killed at the beginning of the game. One misstep and Sarao might have killed Sakiko and Renya.]]
49	** [[spoiler:The children's mother provokes Sarao, a mentally unstable man, who was holding a sharp weapon. Naturally, it leads to her [[AssholeVictim completely deserved demise.]]]]
50	* TroubledChild: Renya and Sakiko have to survive on their own after their mother leaves home for several months, with Renya having to steal food from the store after Sakiko disappears as well. Their issues run deeper than that as [[spoiler:Sakiko plans a FakedKidnapping to get their mother's attention and Renya is shown to be happy about his mother getting brutally killed in front of him]].
51	* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: [[spoiler:Renya sports a downright ''maniacal'' grin over his mother being killed by Sarao in the ending.]]
52	* WellDoneDaughterGirl: Sakiko desperately wants her mother's love and approval. Said mother makes it clear she's not interested.
53	* WhenYouComingHomeDad: Asked by Renya to his sister about their mom. [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter Sakiko staunchly believes their mother loves them]] and will return home soon, even though it's obvious their mother wants nothing to do with them.

Context VideoGame / TheKidnap