History YMMV / Anchorhead

-->[[spoiler:The tendrils wriggle toward you like eels, and you barely resist as they embrace you. There is nothing left to fight for. As the mist creeps down your throat and begins to drown you in it's foetid breath of graves, you welcome the coming oblivion]].

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Croesus Verlac]] is the patriarch of the Verlac family and a man who discovered a dark route to immortality. Long before the story of ''Anchorhead'' began, Croseus's physical flesh became dust...but his spirit survives by [[FamilialBodySnatcher taking over the bodies of his male descendants]] and impregnating the female descendants to create new bodies for him to steal later. The power Croseus has over his descendants is represented in the chilling ArcWords: '''He always returns to his blood.''' Not content with this, Croseus runs a legacy of dark magic and murder, routinely sacrificing children for power to the point where the well behind the village slaughterhouse is full of the bones of missing children. In the present, Croseus takes control of and possesses the nameless heroine's husband, before setting his plan into motion: to open the gates to the EldritchAbomination beings he worships and allow them to devour all that lives.

** During the finale, [[spoiler:showing the wedding ring to Michael is ultimately the thing that drives Croseus out of him]].

** [[spoiler:Everything about Croseus Verlac.]]

** [[spoiler:During the finale, if you wait too long to banish Croseus Verlac, he murders your husband in quite possibly the most terrifying way;]]

** [[spoiler:If you don't give Michael (actually Croseus) the mirror when he asks for it, he kills you by slamming you against the device, then bending you backwards against it, breaking your back, THEN throws you out a window, sending you falling down towards the jagged rocks below]].

** Doubles as TearJerker, but [[spoiler:attacking Michael/Croseus with the hook in the lighthouse]], triggers this:

** The fact that [[spoiler:Croseus possesses his male descendants and forces them to commit ParentalIncest to keep the bloodline alive.]]

** The suboptimal ending where [[spoiler:you manage to stop Croseus, but Michael dies. The ending text describes you tenderly carrying his body out of the basement.]]
** If you wait too long [[spoiler:to stop Croseus, after he's murdered Michael, he goes for you next]]:

* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:Croseus Verlac]] is the patriarch of the Verlac family and a man who discovered a dark route to immortality. Long before the story of ''Anchorhead'' began, Croseus's physical flesh became dust...but his spirit survives by [[DemonicPossession taking over the bodies of his male descendants]] and impregnating the female descendants to create new bodies for him to steal later. The power Croseus has over his descendants is represented in the chilling ArcWords: '''He always returns to his blood.''' Not content with this, Croseus runs a legacy of dark magic and murder, routinely sacrificing children for power to the point where the well behind the village slaughterhouse is full of the bones of missing children. In the present, Croseus takes control of and possesses the nameless heroine's husband, before setting his plan into motion: to open the gates to the EldritchAbomination beings he worships and allow them to devour all that lives.

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: Just about every bit of the protagonist's and Michael's relationship.

** During the finale, [[spoiler:Showing the wedding ring to Michael is ultimately the thing that drives Croseus out of him]].

* NightmareFuel: Well, duh. On top of it being inspired by the CthulhuMythos, here's a few examples;

* NightmareFuel: Well, duh. On top of it being inspired by the CthulhuMythos, here's a few examples.
** [[spoiler:William. Try examining him sometime.]]

** [[spoiler:William. Just... William. Try examining him sometime.]]

* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:Croseus Verlac.]]

* {{Tearjerker}}: At one point you stumble across [[spoiler: William's drawing. It shows a perfectly normal-looking human woman and something that looks like "an octopus on human legs". Next to the woman is scribbled "MOMY", next to the "octopus" - "WILAM (ME)".]]

** Poor, poor Claudia Benson. And Dr. Rebis aka [[spoiler: the bum]]. And Edward Verlac. And his wife Julia. And their daughters Sonia and Gertrude. And Anna. And her son William ([[spoiler: who's also Edward's older brother]]).

* {{Tearjerker}}: At one point you stumble across [[spoiler: William's drawing. It shows a perfectly normal-looking human woman and something that looks like "an octopus on human legs". Next to the woman is scribbled "Momy", next to the "octopus" - "Wiliam (Me)".]]
* TheWoobie: Let's put it this way - anyone in the game who's even slightly sympathetic goes through hell.

* {{Tearjerker}}: At one point you stumble across [[spoiler: William's drawing. It shows a perfectly normal-looking human woman and something that looks like "an octopus on human legs". Next to the woman is scribbled "Momy", next to the "octopus" - "Wiliam (Me)".]] It's not often you see a game which manages to combine {{Tearjerker}} with HighOctaneNightmareFuel.

* {{Tearjerker}}: At one point you stumble across [[spoiler: William's drawing. It shows a perfectly normal-looking human woman and something that looks like "an octopus on human legs". Next to the woman is scribbled "Momy", next to the "octopus" - "Wiliam (Me)".]] It's not often you see a game which manages to combine Tearjerker with HighOctaneNightmareFuel.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: Well, duh. On top of it being inspired by the CthulhuMythos, here's a few examples.