History VideoGame / CarnEvil

* {{Homage}}: The miniboss Hambone is a throwback to the SlasherFilm genre, [[CaptainErsatz ESPECIALLY]] FridayThe13th. [[spoiler:His reappearance later in the level as "Hambone the Revenge" is a throwback [[{{Sequelitis}} to their MANY sequels]].]]

** All the atrocities and stitched-up horrors in CarnEvil seem to indicate he Majored in [[EvilutionaryBiologist Biology]], Minored in [[NoOSHACompliance Civil Engineering]], and took Honors courses in [[AxCrazy Batshit Insanity]].

** Same with [[{{Mutants}} Flapjack]]. ''[[BodyHorror Both sides of him.]]''

** All the atrocities and stitched-up horrors in CarnEvil seem to indicate he Majored in [[EvilutionaryBiologist Biology]], Minored in [[EverythingTryingToKillYou Civil Engineering]], and took Honors courses in [[AxCrazy Batshit Insanity]].

** All the atrocities and stitched-up horrors in CarnEvil seem to indicate he Majored in [[EvilutionaryBiologist Biology]], and Minored in [[AxCrazy Batshit Insanity]].

** Same with [[CircusFreak Flapjack]]. ''[[BodyHorror Both sides of him.]]''

* EnfanteTerrible: Boss of the Freak Show level. [[TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything The developers, considering that]] ([[BlackComedy even by this game's standards]]) some arcade owners would find this too disturbing, have an option [[ to replace him]] [[KillerTeddyBear with a teddy bear]].

** All the atrocities and stitched-up horrors in CarnEvil seem to indicate he Majored in [[EvilutionaryScientist Biology]], and Minored in [[AxCrazy Batshit Insanity]].

** All the atrocities and stitched-up horrors in CarnEvil seem to indicate he Majored in [[EvilutionaryBiology Biology]], and Minored in [[AxCrazy Batshit Insanity]].

* PoirotSpeak: [[TheVonTropeFamily von]] [[BigBad Tökkentäkker]] peppers his BossChatter with GratuitousGerman, especially [[OneManArmy when you mow through his]] [[DemBones Skeleton]] Mooks.

A horror-themed light gun game from MidwayGames, ''[=CarnEvil=]'' is about... well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin an evil carnival]], which is set somewhere in Iowa (if you can believe the opening cutscene). The game starts off with a hayride/ghost tour making its way through a cemetery at night. One of the patrons, called Jacob in the manual, hops off the ride and locates the grave of Professor Ludwig Von Tökkentäkker, which seems normal enough... save for the evil-looking jester statue on it and a token sticking out of a slot on the tombstone. Curious, Jacob takes the token and puts it in the jester's mouth, where it promptly comes alive and nearly chomps his hand off. Next thing Jacob knows, a carnival indeed comes out of the ground and traps him and presumably his tour inside of it with all manner of nasty and bizarre monsters. Luckily, he stumbles across the shooting gallery, which has real shotguns; Jacob and his friend Lisa grab them and prepare to blast their way out... or die trying.

Released in 1998, ''[=CarnEvil=]'' is considered one of Midway's best arcade games [[hottip:*:though still unreleased on a home console]], giving ''VideoGame/{{House of the Dead}}'' some competition (both games came out the same year). But what people remember the most about the game is its rather surreal and dark humor, as well as its highly disturbing premise. Definitely not one for the kiddies.

** All the atrocities and stitched-up horrors in CarnEvil seem to indicate he Majored in biology and Minored in batshit insanity.

** Same with Flapjack. Both sides of him.

* PoirotSpeak: [[TheVonTropeFamily von]] [[BigBad Tökkentäkker]] peppers his BossCatter with GratuitousGerman, especially [[OneManArmy when you mow through his]] [[DemBones Skeleton]] Mooks.

* TooDumbToLive: The player character, who not only decides to tempt fate by bringing the carnival up in the first place, but decides to ''do it again'' after you win.

* CoolAirship: The FinalBoss battle takes place on top of a dirigible.
* CowardlyBoss: The final boss periodically vanishes, causing your character(s) to move to a new location.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Bloody Marie screams quite... er, "[[OrgasmicCombat suggestively]]"... [[FreudWasRight when she's "IMPALED" on a tombstone]]

* EnfanteTerrible: Boss of the Freak Show level. [[TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything The developers, considering that]] ([[BlackComedy even by this game's standards]]) some arcade owners would find this too disturbing, have an option to replace him with [[BearsAreBadNews a teddy bear]].

* {{Homage}}: The miniboss Hambone is a throwback to slasher films. [[spoiler:His reappearance later in the level as "Hambone the Revenge" is a throwback to their many sequels.]]

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Hambone, an enemy you fight twice in the Haunted House, looks an awful lot like [[Franchise/FridayThe13th a notorious guy with a hockey mask...]]

* EnemyMime: Zombie mimes show up in the Big Top level. They're harmless.
* EnfanteTerrible: Boss of the Freak Show level. The developers, considering that even by this game's standards some arcade owners would find this too disturbing, have an option to replace him with a teddy bear.

* GagBoobs: Evil Marie. The dissonance that results when this is coupled with her half-blown-off face is [[BlackComedy both hilarious and disturbing.]]

** Note that in other cases EyesAreUnbreakable, even if the face around them has been reduced to the consistency of hamburger.

** He shows up twice during this level, swapping the minigun for a skull launcher on his second appearance.

* HostageSpiritLink: Every so often, a girl will pop up and you have to avoid shooting her. Shooting her anyway costs you some of your life.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: The eventual fate of Evil Marie, provided you haven't run out of quarters yet.

* {{Jerkass}}: Umlaut.

* LateToThePunchline: Umlaut's introduction to the Freak Show level insinuates that [[spoiler: you're a freak]]. It takes a second. [[spoiler:Although he could be just screwing with you as usual. Or he's implying what'll become of you once the freaks get through—he makes a similar implication in the intro to the final stage.]]

* WasntThatFun: [[NintendoHard If you have enough quarters to beat the game]], the epilogue will have Jacob put the token in again while [[OhNoNotAgain Lisa screams for him to stop]].

->''When the moon is full and trees are bare. Walk though the cemetery if you dare. Where skeletons rot and corpses fester. Locate the tomb with the skull of a jester. Feed him a token all shiny and new. It is then that [=CarnEvil=] will return for '''YOU!'''

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Hambone, an enemy you fight twice in the Haunted House, looks an awful lot like [[Franchise/FridayTheThirteenth a notorious guy with a hockey mask...]]

Released in 1998, ''[=CarnEvil=]'' is considered one of Midway's best arcade games [[hottip:*:though still unreleased on a home console]], giving ''VideoGame/{{House of the Dead}}'' some competition (both games came out the same year). But what people remember the most about the game is its rather surreal and dark humor, as well as its [[NightmareFuel highly disturbing]] premise. Definitely not one for the kiddies.

* {{Gorn}}: Very, VERY bloody game. It's from the company that made ''{{Mortal Kombat}}'', after all.

* {{Hostage Spirit Link}}: Every so often, a girl will pop up and you have to avoid shooting her. Shooting her anyway costs you some of your life.

* {{Light Gun Game}}
* {{Ludicrous Gibs}}: All over the damn place.

* {{Monster Clown}}: The last stage, the Big Top, is chock full of these.

* CompleteMonster: Tökkentäkker seeing the place he runs.

* LateToThePunchline: Umlaut's introduction to the Freak Show level insinuates that [[spoiler: you're a freak]]. It takes a second. [[spoiler:Although he could be just screwing with you as usual.]]

* DeadBabyComedy: Not incredibly prevalent except for the part where you fight a giant undead baby as a boss.

Released in 1998, ''[=CarnEvil=]'' is considered one of Midway's best arcade games, giving ''VideoGame/{{House of the Dead}}'' some competition (both games came out the same year). But what people remember the most about the game is its rather surreal and dark humor, as well as its [[NightmareFuel highly disturbing]] premise. Definitely not one for the kiddies.