As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
Fridge Horror
- The first three bosses after the Wall of Flesh are robotic versions of the previous bosses. You're rebuilding them to become more powerful and more destructive. As of 1.2, there is a random chance of these bosses spawning on their own if you have not killed them yet. Perhaps someone else on the island decided to reconstruct them first. Official lore reveals that the Mechanic was forced to build them while trapped in the Dungeon. But this only raises questions as to what's in the Dungeon that's capable of being used to build stronger versions of one of Cthulhu's eyes, a gigantic worm that lives in the Corruption, and a skeleton that can become near-invincible in the day.
- We have: traps that are placed pretty randomly into underground locations, mineshafts and dwellings that pop up in some pretty deep locations, a large, fleshy wall with two eyes and one mouth you summon by throwing a voodoo doll of the first human you meet, and somebody apparently rebuilding large monsters using machines. That means nothing good could have happened to those who took up underground.
- Several of the hardmode items are crafted using souls. Where do these souls come from, and how do the bosses have so many? This is not explained in-game at any point.
- There are werewolves at night-time. What are werewolves? People. You're on an island with few people to help you, and you're really killing them.
- Their Bestiary entry definitely does not help. It says that yes, werewolves were people, but once they turned into the monsters, they instinctively slaughtered all of their loved ones and friends, and now want to devour everybody else, including you and your NPCs. Now, imagine if these werewolves turned back into humans to find their families and friends dead, and having to live with that for the rest of their lives. In an essence, by killing them, you're basically putting them out of their misery.
- The Clentaminator can be this. Think about it, you're a creature living in the Crimson/Corruption biome, then some random adventurer starts destroying your home, turning the grass blue, the stone white, and then you see all the people you used to know being slaughtered in front of you...
- Well, to be fair, there will be no sympathy to the beings born from pure malice driven only to kill everything or extensions of an eldritch sentient biome trying to assimilate every single lifeform into itself.
- If one looks closely, the Crimson background features what appears to be mountain sized bones, such as a skull and a ribcage.
◊ That and the addition of ichor, seems to be evidence as to how the Crimson came to be. - If the Crimson's origins is indeed what the statement is above, then it growing larger might be a VERY BAD SIGN. The official lore since stated that the Crimson is its own Genius Loci that spans across all worlds and is not the regrowing remains of Cthulhu, which in many ways in actually worse. Consider how many copies of the game were sold, how many worlds each player made on average, and then take in to account that half of them at least have a little bit of Crimson. Should it somehow "unite" all of that controlled land, and the Crimson would be astronomically powerful.
- The reason why the Cultists are able to summon the pillars and the Moon Lord? You. They only appear after you unlock the Lihzahrd Temple and destroy its protector, the Golem. With the temple open and lacking a protector, the cultists are free to waltz in and steal the tablet, hence triggering the Lunar Events. Nice Job Breaking It, Hero.
- One of the Cyborg's Quotes refers to The Wall of Flesh as "The Wall of <Guide's Name>." Still think you can trust The Guide?
- Thankfully, the Steam Cards call the Wall of Flesh the 'god of eternal nightmares' and paints the Guide as little more than a sacrifice. Which is only marginally less terrifying, but still.
- And then the Voodoo Demon's bestiary entry reveals that the Guide's soul is linked to the Wall of Flesh. But how exactly it's linked?
- Speaking of the Wall of Flesh itself, according to the official lore and the Bestiary entry, it is the guardian of the world, serving as its core and master and keeping ancient spirits of light and darkness sealed. And then you kill the guardian with the sole purpose of releasing them. Gee, thanks a lot, player. You just released the ancient evils just for the sake of power all for yourself.
- Even the Eater of Souls can be this. Just simply think about why they were called this.
- This kicks in once you realize that 1: Corruption, Crimson and Hallow can spread through sand, and 2: the Ocean floor is made entirely of sand. Even if you manage to curb the spread of these contagions on your isolated island, if they consume the Ocean floor then they've already spread to other parts of the world, and will continue spreading without any way for you to stop them.
- The official lore pages◊ state that along with the other mechanical bosses, the mechanic was also in the process of making a mechanical Brain of Cthulu too. You rescued her before she could finish, but it's presumably still down in the dungeons somewhere. With the Cultists, the Lihzahrds, the Goblins, and the Old One's Army all being antagonistic forces, what's to say one of them won't one day finish the mechabrain to wreak havoc upon the land again?
- Most of the mushroom biome enemies are stated to be hosts for the eponymous glowing mushrooms. So far, it has infected bats, insects, jellyfish, and undead humans. What's to stop it from infecting you?
- Worrisome questions about the in-universe royal family's status arise with the Princess moving in to the player's town, and her description of how she took up many hobbies. Where's her family and her entourage? Why is she all alone until she joined us?
- Considering the state of the world, well... anything could've happened to them. There's a chance that they've been zombified or were straight up killed by monsters.
- Both of the "evil biomes" have a special pattern of cave that's formed when enough of the stuff subsumes an area. For the Crimson, the cave resembles a long, zigzagging gash reaching into the earth. You'll first notice when entering said cave that the bit at the end of the gash looks eerily similar to an organism's digestive system, the various pulsating hearts located within, the various digestive juices/pools of blood, the fact that the entrance to the cave looks disturbingly like a mouth...and then you'll realize this is not a cave and you need to leave RIGHT NOW.
- Santa is known for employing elves as his helpers and workers. Santa-NK1 carries a flamethrower titled the "Elf Melter". Let that sink in for a moment.
- Sure, the Tax Collector seems harmless when he moves in, but the fact that he was in Hell and being tortured implies he was doing something sinister.
- As the Tax Collector is an expy of Ebenezer Scrooge, he was sent to Hell for his greed. It seems like even spending time in Hell didn't teach him a lesson.
- According to the Bestiary entry for the Elf Archer, the arrows it uses are the gifts it was making for the children all year. What kind of demented child asks for a quiverful of flaming deadly arrows for Christmas?
- In a world like this? Possibly an ordinary one... which may not be much better of an implication.
- The 'Don't dig up' seed (and by extension, the 'Get fixed boi' seed) have the player start off in the Underworld and make their way up to a fully corrupted (and buffed up) surface where it's Always Night. What's more, the Dryad doesn't sell purification powder and the Steampunker doesn't sell the clentaminator or any of its solutions (though thankfully, you can bring stuff over from other seeds). This has the unsettling implication that this is a world where the Evil you're fighting has already won and permanently altered the world for the worse.
Fridge Brilliance
- You can stop pre-Hardmode Corruption from spreading by planting sunflowers. In real life, folks living in Japan plant sunflowers to absorb radiation from the nuclear plant that was flooded in the tsunami.
- They did it prior to that in Ukraine to help purify the soil contaminated by the Chernobyl disaster.
- Sunflowers have long been planted around the edges of fields, especially among the Pennsylvania Dutch community, to ward against evil.
- The enemy types at each Celestial Tower correspond to the class equipment its fragments give you:
- Solar Pillar (Melee): Enemies mainly attack by Collision Damage or rolling into you.
- Vortex Pillar (Ranged): Enemies attack with ranged attacks from a distance.
- Nebula Pillar (Magic): Enemies attack with various energy bolts and debuffs.
- Stardust Pillar (Summoning): Enemies are able to spawn smaller enemies or Attack Drone-like objects.
- In 1.3, the Lost Girl/Nymph now drops a Metal Detector. Considering that her behaviour is based off The Fair Folk rather than an actual Nymph, and Fae are harmed by Cold Iron, she's probably using it to avoid such substances.
- The Merchant can sell Dirt Blocks for high prices on the international market because there are countries that buy them to create arable land for farming.
- Why is the Solar Pillar the one that represents Melee? Because out of the things the Pillars are named for, the sun is the nearest to us.
- Why does Skeletron Prime become so inhumanely hard at dawn? That's probably how he's supposed to be, but he's solar powered. So when you fight him at night, he's running on auxiliary power and has to tone down his weapons to not drain his battery too fast.
- During the course of the game, the player fights three giant eyes in the forms of The Eye of Cthulhu and The Twins. Three eyes seems like a weird number, especially since The Twins are the only mechanical boss to incorporate two versions of its Pre-Hardmode variation. When fighting the Moon Lord, the player releases three True Eyes of Cthulhu in order to expose his heart.
- All of the chlorophyte-made armors are all related to some form of life: Chlorophyte armor itself is based on plants, Turtle and Beetle armors are based on animals, Shroomite armor is based on fungus, and the Specter armor is based on death. The reason for the theme? Chlorophyte is said to be a "living ore" in the PC achievements.
- Summoning the Wall of Flesh, which enables Hardmode when defeated, involves killing the Guide. The Guide's main purpose is to help new players learn the ropes; by fighting and defeating the Wall of Flesh, you're proving that you're capable enough to handle what happens next and thus don't need the Guide to hold your hand anymore.
- King Slime isn't the slime itself; the ninja within is controlling it. Not only does the achievement title, Slippery Shinobi, imply the ninja is the one in control, his Trophy is the ninja's sword covered in slime, and the Expert Mode drop for King Slime explains just how the ninja was able to accomplish this—Royal Jelly makes all slimes throughout the game become friendly and deal no damage once equipped.
- The Grand Design is crafted from items bought from both the Mechanic and the Goblin Tinkerer, which definitely shows their budding relationship with each other.
- You might notice some weapon sprites, mostly mineral swords, look wonky and bent. While at first this seems like some kind of artist error, it makes sense when you think about it. Your character, who has no blacksmith training, is the one forging the weapon. Of course it isn't going to be perfect.
- Why is the Terra Blade, Terraria's previously-most powerful legendary sword, inferior to the Influx Waver dropped by the Martians and the Meowmere + Star Wrath dropped by the Moon Lord? Because both of them come from alien beings, outside-context problems that are not native to Terraria. The Zenith combines the power of all of them (among others), creating the most powerful weapon in the entire game.
- Certain NPCs liking/disliking other NPCs make sense when you think about them for a few seconds:
- The Dryad dislikes the Golfer: Many golf courses would be made at the cost of demolishing sections of nature.
- The Angler dislikes the Tavern Keeper: As a kid, how many of you wanted to get into the "Adults only" section of a bar at restaurants your parents took you to? Plus, the Tavern Keeper would treat the Angler as a kid, since the Angler is a kid.
- The Golfer likes the Angler: Golf is an all-ages sport, plus both are found in biomes that involve sand.
- The Wizard and Cyborg hate each other: The Magic Versus Technology War
- The Pirate likes the Angler: Both have a connection to the sea.
- The Zoologist liking the Golfer, but hating the Arms Dealer: Golf would distract people from archery/huntingnote , whereas the Arms dealer would want people to hunt so he would get them to buy ammo from him.
- Word of God is that the Zoologist and Golfer are siblings (and they do indeed have similar skin tones in-game, being noticeably darker than most NPCs), giving them a much more direct reason to be friendly with one another.
- The Mechanic and the Clothier hate each other: The Mechanic was lost in the Dungeon. From the Clothier's perspective, she was trespassing when he was cursed and didn't do anything to help him. From the Mechanic's perspective, the Clothier didn't do anything to help her.
- The lore dump explains this as the Clothier, while possessed, kidnapping the Mechanic and locking her up in the Dungeon; after an experience like that, of course she wouldn't like being near him. Meanwhile, the Clothier has an irrational hatred of her as a lingering effect of his curse.
- The Party Girl likes The Wizard and The Stylist: Magic is one way to spice up a party, and she likely visits the stylist to style her hair.
- The Painter liking the Dye Trader: Dying something in Terraria is technically painting it.
- The Guide dislikes the Steampunker: The Steampunker can only show up in a Hardmode world, and turning your world into a Hard Mode World involves killing the Guide.
- The Pirate hates the Guide: Pirate Captains are leaders and guide their fellow pirates during the Pirate Invasion. They take an active role in the battle. While the Guide advises the Player on how to progress and what they can craft, the Guide does little else to help. The Guide's passivity gets on The Pirate's nerves.
- The Party Girl dislikes the Merchant and hates the Tax Collector since they're trying to squeeze money from her parties, which of course, ruins the fun of them.
- It's also possible she dislikes the Merchant for overcharging for party supplies.
- The bestiary states that the fungus in the glowing mushroom biome is parasitic, and the enemies in it are hosts. The majority of these enemies are insects, which makes sense because there is a real life fungus known as cordyceps that infects insects.
- In the game files, there are pointers to two unused variants of the cultist enemies that spawn at the dungeon entrance once the Golem is defeated. These two enemies are the cultist fighter and cultist caster, which have no sprites in the files left other than unused banners. It seems that like the Celestial Towers they end up summoning, the cultists were initially going to be based on the main classes of the game, with the archers used in game associated with ranged damage while the unused variants were going to be melee and magic based. However, representation for summoner seems to be missing. That is, until you realize the whole gimmick with summoners is to sit back and let your minions do most of the fighting, which is exactly what the generic cultists who are busy worshiping the tablet do while their archer buddies attack in their stead. It can also be argued that the Lunatic Cultist himself is the group's summoner, since his strongest attacks involve trying to call forth a Phantasm Dragon, or in Expert mode, summoning spirits of Ancient Doom to cover for him while he's low on health.
- The mask and hood of Lunatic Cultist make its head look like a crescent.
