History WebVideo / MidgarSyndromeTheFinalFantasyHouse

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: After Zack comes to his senses and successfully flees the house, text appears detailing what happened to him and the other cult members. Zack spends a few days homeless before reclaiming his belongings and returning to his mom, Jen strains her marriage with Hojo further by dating another woman who moves into the house, Aeris forms a new cult based around ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' and moves to southern California, Zack writes an expose on [=LiveJournal=] that sends the cult members into hiding, and "Final Fantasy House" becomes an online byword for abusive living conditions.

''[[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gqqEv_097OI Midgar Syndrome (The Final Fantasy House)]]'' is a 20-minute dramatization of the real-life “Final Fantasy House” incident by punishedbread. As the description says, it is “based on the amazing true story of a man getting abused by a {{cult}} who [[CannotTellFictionFromReality believes they are reincarnated characters]] from the video game [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Final Fantasy 7]].”

The video, taking place in Pennsylvania in 2002, follows a college freshman who is a fan of FFVII and runs a site dedicated to the characters Cloud Strife and Zack Fair. He is approached online by two fans going by married couple Hojo and Jenova/Jenny-Nova, after two of the main villains of the game. Jen explains to him her belief that they are actually the characters of FFVII reincarnated on Earth, and assigns him the character of Zack. He believes they’re just role-players and agrees to stay with them for a bit, not seeing anything really wrong, and befriending the other members of their group, also assigned various FFVII characters.

But soon, he begins to realize that their beliefs are very real, and that Jen believes she can connect to their past selves through ‘soul-bonding’. And so, “Zack” plunges into a dark pit as he sees just how twisted this cult really is.

-->'''Jenny-Nova:''' u know those days where ur like “should I get cupcakes or actually eat a breakfast?”\\

* FreezeFrameBonus: When Zack's computer screen is shown in the beginning, it has several humorous usernames and signatures on the sidebar. For example, Zack's username is demon-sushi, and his signature says "admin and cool dude([[{{Tradesnark}} tm]])".

** When Zack's screen is shown, the signature of the user Psycopath says "[[VideoGame/ZeroWing All base belongs to us]]".
* {{Tradesnark}}: Zack’s signature on his site says "admin and cool dude(tm)".

But soon, he begins to realize that their beliefs are very real, and that Jen believes she can connect to their last selves through ‘soul-bonding’. And so, “Zack” plunges into a dark pit as he sees just how twisted this cult really is.

* {{Dramatization}}: The film is one of the Website/LiveJournal posts by a man who temporarily lived with a cult of people who believed themselves to be Final Fantasy VII characters. The intro lampshades that the names themselves are unchanged, as the original post never gave out real names in the first place, only using their nicknames desired from the FFVII characters.

* LaughingMad: Upon being woken up in the middle of the night and dragged to a forest to "see the magic around us", Zack starts laughing in despair at never being allowed to rest.

* RomanAClef: The film is a dramatization of the Website/LiveJournal posts by a man who temporarily lived with a cult of people who believed themselves to be Final Fantasy VII characters. Oddly, the intro lampshades that the names themselves are unchanged, as the original post never gave out real names in the first place, only using their nicknames desired from the FFVII characters.
-->THIS IS A TRUE STORY\\
The events depicted in this film\\
took place in Pennsylvania in 2002.\\
No names were changed [[red:because]]\\
[[red:they already did that for us]]

* FreezeFrameBonus: When Zack's computer screen is shown in the beginning, it has several humorous usernames and signatures on the sidebar. For example, Zack’s username is demon-sushi, and his signature says “admin and cool dude([[{{Tradesnark}} tm]])”.

* LoonyFan: The antagonists are a group of Final Fantasy VII fans who believe that they are reincarnated characters from the game and have built an entire lifestyle around ‘soul-bonding’ with their past lives, whether it be listening to game music or practicing ‘magic’ from the game.

* SadTimesMontage:

** The end credits names the ''WebVideo/DownTheRabbitHole'' episode on the real-life “Final Fantasy House” as being the inspiration for the video, though referring to the series creator Fredrik Knudsen rather than the series name.
** When Zack’s screen is shown, the signature of the user Psycopath says “[[VideoGame/ZeroWing All base belongs to us]]”.
* {{Tradesnark}}: Zack’s signature on his site says “admin and cool dude(tm)”.

* LaughingMad: Upon being woken up in the middle of the night and dragged to a forest to “see the magic around us”, Zack starts laughing in despair at never being allowed to rest.

* TwoPlusTortureEqualsFive: The protagonist initially refuses to play along with the cult and their delusions that they are FFVII characters reincarnated. But he notes that after two months of little food, no sleep, omstamtly being watched at all times, and having his social life limited to the cult, he slowly lost his resistance, until they one day chained him to a table leg in the basement and left him there for daring to insult the leader and her wife. He broke right there, and subsequently participates in the cult's attacking of Aeris for wanting to leave the house- the very same treatment he was subjected to. Thankfully, after his shoes are stolen, he is able to snap out of it and leave the cult forever.

* BasedOnATrueStory: The film is a dramatization of the Website/LiveJournal posts by a man who temporarily lived with a cult of people who believed themselves to be Final Fantasy VII characters.

* {{Tradesnark}}: Zack’s signature on his site says “admin and cool dude(tm)”.
* TwoPlusTortureEqualsFive: The protagonist initially refuses to play along with the cult and their delusions that they are FFVII characters reincarnated. But he notes that after two months of little food, no sleep, omstamtly being watched at all times, and having his social life limited to the cult, he slowly lost his resistance, until they one day chained him to a table leg in the basement and left him there for daring to insult the leader and her wife. He broke right there, and subsequently participates in the cult's attacking of Aeris for wanting to leave the house- the very same treatment he was subjected to. Thankfully, after his shoes are stolen, he is able to snap out of it and leave the cult forever.

* TwoPlusTortureEqualsFive: The protagonist initially refuses to play along with the cult and their delusions that they are FFVII characters reincarnated. But he notes that after two months of little food, no sleep, omstamtly being watched at all times, and having his social life limited to the cult, he slowly lost his resistance, until they one day chained him to a table leg in the basement and left him there for daring to insult the leader and her wife. He broke right there, and subsequently participates in the cult's attacking of Aeris for wanting to leave the house- the very same treatment he was subjected to.

* {{Tradesnark}}: Zack’s signature on his site says “admin and cool dude(tm)”.

** When Zack’s screen is shown, the signature of the user Psycopath says “[[VideoGame/ZeroWing All base belongs to us]]”.

* DisproportionateRetribution: One day, Zack criticizes Jen and Hojo for their abuse of him to Crystal/Aeris in confidence. Jen learns what he said and, in retaliation, locks him in the basement, chained to a table leg, with no sleep, food, or socialization allowed until he cracks and agrees to do whatever they say.

->'''Zack:''' Oh hey, Aeris. Have you seen Jen and Hojo?\\

* FreezeFrameBonus: When Zack’s computer screen is shown in the beginning, it has several humorous usernames and signatures on the sidebar. For example, Zack’s username is demon-sushi, and his signature says “admin and cool dude([[{{Tradesnark}} tm]])”.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: In part to protect the identities of the real people involved in the actual incident, the characters are only referred to by their FFVII identities- for example, the protagonist is called Zack despite him not believing in the soul-bonding nonsense.

* ShoutOut: When Zack’s screen is shown, the signature of the user Psycopath says “[[VideoGame/ZeroWing All base belongs to us]]”.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: In part to protect the identities of the real people involved in the actual incident, the characters are only referred to by their FFVII identities- for example, the protagonist is called Zack despite him not believing in the soul-bonding nonsense.

The video follows a college freshman who is a fan of FFVII and runs a site dedicated to the characters Cloud Strife and Zack Fair. He is approached online by two fans going by married couple Hojo and Jenova/Jenny-Nova, after two of the main villains of the game. Jen explains to him her belief that they are actually the characters of FFVII reincarnated on Earth, and assigns him the character of Zack. He believes they’re just role-players and agrees to stay with them for a bit, not seeing anything really wrong, and befriending the other members of their group, also assigned various FFVII characters.

''Midgar Syndrome (The Final Fantasy House)'' is a 20-minute dramatization of the real-life “Final Fantasy House” incident by punishedbread. As the description says, it is “based on the amazing true story of a man getting abused by a {{cult}} who [[CannotTellFictionFromReality believes they are reincarnated characters]] from the video game [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Final Fantasy 7]].”

!This video contains examples of: