History VideoGame / CaveStory

* BareYourMidriff: Both Curly and Misery wear tank tops that show their midriffs off.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: "Humans can be terrible creatures indeed..." [[spoiler:Just to make it clear, a human king who was [[GreenEyedMonster jealous]] of Ballos' [[HundredPercentAdorationRating popularity]] imprisoned him and subjected him a very, ''very'', cruel torture, leaving Ballos insane and [[PowerIncontinence unable to control his magic]]. Even worse, his own neice forced him to make the [[ArtifactOfDoom Demon Crown]], a powerful tool that humanity tried to obtain through war, very nearly [[FinalSolution destroying an entire sapient species]] in the process. This ''is'' however [[{{Deconstruction}} nuance to this]]. Quote and Curly were both made by humans to ''destroy'' the crown, and - excepting [[BigBad the Doctor]] - the entire scientific expedition that came to the island are reasonably decent human beings.]]

''Cave Story'' is a [[FreewareGames freeware]] {{Metroidvania}} game by Daisuke Amaya, aka Creator/StudioPixel. The game thrusts you into the action with no explanations, forcing you to figure out the plot by yourself as you go. You play as Quote, a mysterious robot who finds his way to a village of bunny-like people called Mimiga, who are housing a team of scientists that came to study the caves. Meeting up with fellow robot Curly Brace and a selection of other characters, Quote must save the Mimingas and scientists from [[BigBad The Doctor]], a rogue MadScientist who seized the [[HatOfPower magic helmet]] known as the Demon Crown and is trying to raise an army of robot soldiers and zombified Mimingas to TakeOverTheWorld.

* AnotherSideAnotherStory: In the UsefulNotes/{{WiiWare}} version and ''Cave Story+'', it's possible to unlock "Curly Mode" or "Curly Story", which essentially asks the question of "{{What if}} the roles of Curly Brace and Quote were reversed?" [[InSpiteOfANail The story goes pretty much the same way]], the only differences being the fact that you get to see what Curly Brace would say if she was in Quote's shoes (unlike him, she's not a SilentProtagonist) while he remains silent [[spoiler:apart from one brief moment]] (with Curly providing the rest of the dialog for him).

'''A Mimiga:''' ''[to [[spoiler:Quote]]]'' Man, these sprinklers just... Whoops. Not supposed to talk to humans.

** Due to the art style, nearly all the badasses in the game are like this, but Quote and Curly Brace really take the cake.

* BattleCouple: Curly Brace and Quote are this on two occasions. The first is when they're making their way to The Core while trying to escape the Labyrinth, and the second has them using a fairly unique variation of BackToBackBadasses (the former actually strapped to the latter's back) during the BrutalBonusLevel.

** The GoldenEnding ''starts'' with [[spoiler:Balrog huzzahing]] into the [[TheWallsAreClosingIn rapidly-narrowing arena]] of the defeated TrueFinalBoss and jetting Quote [[spoiler:and Curly]] out of there by ''smashing his cranium through the ceiling and out of the island''.

** If Quote chooses to sleep in Chako's bed [[EventFlag at a specific moment]], it results in a ''very'' thinly disguised [[OptionalSexualEncounter one-night stand:]] he will wake up to find her sharing the bed with him, and with her lipstick in his inventory.[[note]]taking a trinket from one's lover is a rather common practice in Japan.[[/note]] This was rather clumsily bowdlerized in the 3DS version: he'll wake up to find her sleeping on the floor instead of next to him, presumably because she had nowhere else to sleep with him in her bed. However, ''he still gets her lipstick,'' so [[FailedASpotCheck someone was not paying full attention]]. Later releases on other systems leave the easter egg untouched.
** Later on, Quote can [[KleptomaniacHeroFoundUnderwear acquire Curly Brace's panties.]] While that in and of itself wasn't considered too much of an issue, in the original game, [[spoiler:the [[https://archive.is/Snnlv panties]] share their color and heart-shaped emblem with the [[https://archive.is/srjRN Iron Bond]], which she gives the player as a [[{{Subtext}} symbol of their connection]]. The [=NiCALIS=] releases had this [[{{Bowdlerise}} Bowdlerised]] by changing the emblem on the panties [[https://archive.is/yHhVX into a red bow]], though [[FailedASpotCheck the description of the item still mentions the emblem.]]]]

* CharacterPortrait: Every major character except [[TheQuietOne Quote]] has one (and even then, [[spoiler:he gets one for his single line in Curly Story]]), and they are generally used if there's more than two {{NPC}}s talking.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Quote, Curly Brace, and Toroko all have one. The Mimiga [[FinalSolution share one as a race]]. [[spoiler:Also, [[TrueFinalBoss Ballos]].]]

* KleptomaniacHero: Quote doesn't seem to have a problem with stealing things and not returning them. He steals the Polar Star--the first gun he gets at the beginning of the game--from a hermit blacksmith. Later, he can take the Bubbline from Mimiga village, and later on, [[KleptomaniacHeroFoundUnderwear Curly's panties]]. The player doesn't have to return any of it. [[spoiler:However, in the case of the Polar Star, returning it to its owner comes with a ''[[InfinityPlusOneSword very]]'' [[MercyRewarded substantial reward]].]]

** Later on, Quote can acquire his new female partner's panties. They don't actually do anything; they just sit in your inventory for you to look at. [[spoiler:Why a robot would need panties, we may never know... though considering what Quote can do with Chako, It's pretty easy to infer that both he and Curly completely avert BarbieDollAnatomy.]]

* OptionalSexualEncounter: One of these exists as an EasterEgg (by way of SexyDiscretionShot). At one point while you're working through Grasstown/Bushlands, Chako will step forward and stand next to her bed. If you go to sleep in her bed at that point, then she'll be sleeping in the bed next to you when you wake up, and her lipstick will be in your inventory. [[spoiler:Exactly how a ''robot'' is implied to have sex with a ''rabbit'' is left as an exercise to the reader.]] In the 3DS remake, if Quote sleeps in Chako's bed, [[{{Bowdlerization}} he'll wake up to find her sleeping on the floor instead of next to him]]: presumably, she had nowhere else to sleep with him in her bed. However, he still gets her lipstick, so [[FailedASpotCheck someone was not paying full attention]].

* PoorCommunicationKills: Jenka keeps the key to her storehouse so that no one will be able to abuse the Demon Flowers within. She doesn't clue into the fact that Quote is there to ''[[JustEatTheMacGuffin destroy]]'' the flowers. Jenka's hesitation buys the villains enough time to accost her for the key [[YouCantThwartStageOne before Quote can plead his case]], and everything quickly goes to shit.

** As of the present, Quote/Curly will encounter a handful of recon robots who managed to survive and hide away from the chaos that ensue, and are not hostile towards them. When Quote/Curly were thrown inside the Labyrinth, they encounter the remaining three of them. [[spoiler:Sadly when the three took the opportunity to escape when Quote/Curly opened the door, they were all destroyed by a lone Gaudi stationed outside.]]

* ScarfOfAsskicking: Quote wears a green one.

** The Bubbline is the most defensively-oriented weapon of the bunch, but this doesn't become apparent until it reaches max level, which enables it to produce bubbles that orbit around Quote. At a high enough concentration, said bubbles can protect you from incoming projectiles, and can form a handy InstantDeathRadius that quickly chews up enemies' health upon contact.

* SuperNotDrowningSkills: Initially Quote sinks like a rock and has roughly 15 seconds to surface before drowning. Once [[spoiler:Curly sacrifices herself and gives you her oxygen tank]], you can stay underwater indefinitely.

* WalkDontSwim: Quote sinks like a rock in water. [[spoiler:Since he is a [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot robot]], [[JustifiedTrope he is likely too heavy to swim.]]]]

* AlmostDeadGuy: There's a RobotSoldier in the Core chamber that live just long enough to warn the player of a powerful entity that killed his team. [[spoiler:Professor Booster becomes this in the Labyrinth.]]

* ApocalypseHow: The island's backstory is pretty harrowing. [[spoiler:Upon learning about the [[ArtifiactOfDoom Demon Crown,]] humanity sent battalions of [[RobotSoldier robot soldiers]] to the island [[WarForFunAndProfit to obtain it]], [[RapePillageAndBurn slaughtering countless Mimiga in the process.]] This [[GodzillaThreshold provoked many Mimiga]] to [[PsychoSerum eat the Red Flowers]], sacrificing their sanity [[SuperpoweredEvilSide to obtain enough power to fight and survive.]] After that, the enraged Mimiga descended to the surface, never to be seen again.]][[note]][[spoiler:[[ImpliedTrope Presumably]], the [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge results were not pretty]]. In any case, [[MuggingTheMonster humanity stopped attacking the Island.]]]][[/note]] [[spoiler:In addition, Mimiga manipulated by the Doctor could easily lead to societal collapse, because he is [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate smart enough and insane enough]] to wipe out civilization as we know it.]]

'''A Mimiga:''' ''[to [[spoiler:Quote]]]'' Man, these's sprinklers just... Whoops. Not supposed to talk to humans.

** This is invoked by [[TheDragon Misery]] ''a lot'', as an indication of her pragmatism and love of using resources on hand to kill you, rather than fighting you directly. This includes [[spoiler:powering Balrog into a giant frog to fight you, provoking a gigantic monster from beneath the sand, and simply teleporting you into the Labyrinth, where you spend a third of the game trying to escape]]. It's cathartic when you finally get to take her on.

* BareYourMidriff: Both Curly and Misery wear tank tops that show it off.

* KillEmAll: By the end of the regular ending, there are more dead supporting characters than live ones, [[spoiler:not counting the ones presumed dead after the island crashes.]]

* AdvancedMovementTechnique: On the ground, your speed oscillates rather than staying capped at a maximum, but once you go airborne, your horizontal speed stays constant until you touch the ground again--so you can travel slightly faster with a lot of carefully timed jumps than with walking. Later in the game, you get a Machine Gun that can recoil you upwards if you fire downwards. This allows speedrunners to avoid having to touch the floor for even longer. So for them, ''Cave Story'' becomes a game about dodging the floor as much as you can with whatever you have.
** Damage boosting is a really precise trick where you hit certain enemies at just the right angle so that it will bounce you horizontally faster than you can walk. And of course, you maintain that speed boost even longer if you stay in the air. It is mostly used in Tool Assisted Speedruns though, because of how precise it is to pull off. Fortunately, there is one spot where speedrunners could pull it off, and that is in the Reservoir section of Mimiga Village. Even then, it is really difficult, and most runners don't even get the boost.

** The Sisters are a less obvious example. They only show up if you grab a specific missile upgrade, so you can skip the fight just by not touching that chest. (Or, as demonstrated in [[https://tasvideos.org/1917M.html this]] {{Speedrun}}, by grabbing the upgrade anyway and boosting away before the fight can begin.)

* StarterGearStayingPower: At the start of the game, you enter a house and pick up your first gun to defend yourself with while the owner is asleep. Over the course of the game you get the opportunity to trade the gun in for more powerful weapons, but if you decline, you can take it back to the original owner who will upgrade its abilities to become the most powerful in the game.

** The [[CoolGuns/RocketsMissilesAndGrenadeLaunchers Missile Launcher]] is best saved for targets with higher HP, like bosses. It has limited ammo and its projectiles do significant SplashDamage. At max level, each shot will fire [[MacrossMissileMassacre three standard missiles]] in a wide range, making it also good for crowd control.

* RobotSoldier: An army of these was sent to the Island during [[GreatOffscreenWar the War]] to [[GuiltFreeExterminationWar kill the Mimiga]]. [[spoiler:The player character is one of them, although both he and Curly Brace were sent to stop the war by eliminating the cause of it, and not the Mimiga.]]
* RobotWar: The Mimiga race was nearly wiped out when humanity sent an army of robot warriors to exterminate their species and take their island.

* BalefulPolymorph:
** Sue and Itoh [[spoiler:are humans whom Misery transformed into Mimiga]].
** Balrog gets transformed into [[spoiler:a massive frog by Misery for his third fight [[IncrediblyLamePun (named "Balfrog")]]]], though he returns to normal as soon as the fight is over.
** Misery herself [[spoiler:gets [[LaserGuidedKarma transformed into a horrendous creature by the Doctor]].]]

* PunnyName: One of the enemies is named [=BuyoBuyo=] Base, which kinda sounds like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouillabaisse Bouillabaisse]].
** Balrog's [[BalefulPolymorph frog form]] is given the title of "Balfrog" in the credits.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDfT_EUQaSg Cave Story OST]]: The entire original soundtrack Pixel made. Notably, he didn't just program the music into the game: ''[[UpToEleven he programmed the software that the music was programmed in]],'' using a similar method to the one used to make soundtracks for classic 16-bit games.

** The Jellies look almost exactly like [[Videogame/{{Metroid}} Metroids.]] Additionally, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEyuw3AoaFA "Heart Tank" tune]] is deliberately similar to Metroid's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoubsOsFPs8 "Item fanfare".]] The tune was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2audY_joEY recomposed in Cave Story 3D]] to [[UpToEleven sound even more like Metroid.]]

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The video interview for the [=WiiWare=] version has the game playing in the background, showing off several areas. This includes [[spoiler:[[BrutalBonusLevel the Sacred Grounds]]]]. IGN's one-paragraph description of the game spoils the player character's name, which you only learn on the path to OneHundredPercentCompletion. The fact that [[spoiler:Quote and Curly are both robots was originally a [[TomatoInTheMirror huge reveal,]] deeply buried under their [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots astonishingly human-like existence.]] Now, it's openly spoiled by the cover art of [[UpToEleven almost every commercially released version of the game,]] because the artists just cannot resist adding [[https://archive.is/jaH2a obvious robot details to him.]] For contrast, [[https://archive.is/Y4PFS this is how his close-up actually looks in the game.]]]]

** [[spoiler:That's not even mentioning [[FromBadToWorse where the Demon Crown came from.]] As it turns out, a [[NiceGuy well meaning]] and [[TheArchmage extremely powerful wizard]] - [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished through no fault of his own]] - [[WasOnceAMan became]] an [[EldritchAbomination incomprehensibly dangerous]] MadGod after being tortured for so long that he [[PowerIncontinence lost control of his magic]], which went wild and [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds killed everyone he ever loved.]] He would love nothing more than to die, but thanks to his raging magic, [[ICannotSelfTerminate he cannot kill himself.]] He was [[SealedEvilInACan sealed away]] inside a floating island, but even then his out-of-control magic [[LeakingCanOfEvil manifests as]] the Demon Crown... ''and'' striking red flowers which, when eaten, [[GoMadFromTheRevelation drive the eater as just insane]] as the madman who inadvertently created them. (In particular, it turns those friendly rabbit-folk into [[TheBerserker raving]] [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk-like]] [[HairRaisingHare monsters]] that can [[KiManipulation shoot energy from their bodies]]) Creatures enraged in this way can be [[BrainwashedAndCrazy manipulated by the wearer of the Crown,]] granting them an [[TheHorde army of powerful monsters]] they can use to [[EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroy all civilization.]]]]

* NiceHat: The protagonist, who miraculously keeps it on throughout the entire game. According to official art, it has [[spoiler:"Curly Brace" written on it. [[note]]though the art was made at a time when this was going to be the character's name, it's easy to infer that [[ItWasAGift Curly would give him that hat]]: after all, she gives him the Iron Bond.[[/note]]]]

** Used to pressing up to enter doors? Or a non-directional button to speak or interact? Too bad. Pressing down serves both those actions in this game. Somewhat justified in that during a shootout around scripted objects, you may have to aim up to shoot enemies, and the last thing you'd want is to accidentally interact with them and screw up your flow. Especially around doors, as entering them will respawn all enemies.

* VideogameFlight: Both versions of the Booster, and the Level 3 Machine Gun all provide the player with the ability to fly in different ways.

* FateWorseThanDeath: The effects of the [[PsychoSerum red flowers]], filling whoever eats them with such intense rage that not only their sanity, but their entire personality is lost[[note]]though one Mimiga, Igor, has somehow managed to retain a small part of his sanity[[/note]]. It is heavily implied that the effects are permanent, and that there is no known cure. [[spoiler:The player is forced to give [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth Toroko]] a MercyKill after she's forcibly fed red flowers by Misery and Balrog.]]

* FateWorseThanDeath: The effects of the [[PsychoSerum red flowers]], filling whoever eats them with such intense rage that not only their sanity, but their entire personality is lost. It is heavily implied that the effects are permanent, and that there is no known cure. [[spoiler:The player is forced to give [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth Toroko]] a MercyKill after she's forcibly fed red flowers by Misery and Balrog.]]

* FlashOfPain: All enemies in Cave Story will shake, flash, or otherwise react on being hurt to let you know that you are damaging them.

''Cave Story'' is a [[FreewareGames freeware]] {{Metroidvania}} game by Daisuke Amaya, aka Creator/StudioPixel. The game thrusts you into the action with no explanations, forcing you to figure out the plot by yourself as you go. You play as Quote, a mysterious young man who finds his way to a village of bunny-like people called Mimiga, who are housing a team of scientists that came to study the caves. Meeting up with fellow humanoid Curly Brace and a selection of other characters, Quote must save the Mimingas and scientists from [[BigBad The Doctor]], a rogue MadScientist who seized the [[HatOfPower magic helmet]] known as the Demon Crown and is trying to raise an army of robot soldiers and zombified Mimingas to TakeOverTheWorld.

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1348306114050100100

[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/caves_story_325_2468.jpg]]

* HealTheCutie: Curly Brace is a friendly, upbeat girl who takes motherly care of a group of rabbit-creatures, but [[AdultFear loses all of them]] to the MadDoctor. She then makes a desperate attempt to help the protagonist fight back, [[spoiler:and is forced to [[KillTheCutie sacrifice herself to save him]]. With some VideogameCaringPotential and a good deal of GuideDangIt, you can change the ending and bring about this trope. When Quote initially saves her, she's left an unresponsive amnesiac, but after her memory is restored, she remembers her and Quote's original mission, and returns to her former self.]]

* AdultFear: There's a lot of it. [[spoiler:The Sakamoto family mounted a scientific expedition to a remote place, only to have [[AWolfInSheepsClothing the medic who went with them]] turn out to be a [[TheSociopath complete sociopath]] who has no trouble killing ''[[WouldHurtaChild anyone]]'' who gets in the way of his lust for power. The Mimiga recently survived an [[FinalSolution attempted genocide]], which makes most of them quite willing to believe the Doctor when he tells them that the surface plans to attack them, and that only [[PsychoSerum Red Flowers]] can save them. After Arthur's death, King devoted himself to protecting Arthur's little sister. [[DeathOfAChild He failed.]] Curly Brace adopts four Mimiga children and raises them as her own. [[OutlivingOnesOffspring They are taken from her and are never seen again.]]]]

* BattleCouple: Curly Brace and Quote.

* AdaptationDyeJob: Misery's portrait has [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair blue hair]] instead of green in the 3DS remake. This was done because [[JustifiedTrope her actual sprite always had blue hair.]]

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: It seems green hair is a Sakamoto family trait. The Doctor has green hair as well.
** Misery has blue hair, except for her dialogue portraits, where her hair is green. The later releases correct the portraits so that her hair is consistently blue.

* DifficultySpike: Things up to Plantation are relatively easy with save and refill points scattered around. However, Last Cave, especially if you're going for the best ending, ramps up the difficulty a lot. You do get a little breather at the Balcony with its one save and healing point before having to fight three bosses in a row with essentially no refills in between. This is not counting the BrutalBonusLevel and four/five-stage TrueFinalBoss that await you if you want to actually ''see'' the best ending....

** [[https://archive.is/FRk1B Gaudi]] are giant, intelligent cockroaches. They are also carnivorous - at least a few of them [[SapientEatSapient have a taste for Mimiga flesh]]. Unlike Mimiga, they are very tough, and ''quite'' violent, which is why [[spoiler:Jenka sent them to the Labyrinth to protect the Core from intruders.]] Despite this, they aren't all violent or dangerous, and several of them [[https://archive.is/sZuqA run shops.]]