Line #10 VideoGame/LittleMisfortune


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/little_misfortune_6.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The rules of this game are simple: Play it until the end and you'll be rewarded.]]
3
4	->''There is no right or wrong, only consequences.''
5	-->-- '''"Mr. Voice"'''
6
7	''Little Misfortune'' is a PointAndClick AdventureGame developed by Creator/KillmondayGames, the makers of ''VideoGame/FranBow'', and released September 18th of 2019 for [[Platform/IBMPersonalComputer PC]] through Platform/{{Steam}}. It is an interactive story, focused on exploration and characters, both sweet and dark, where your choices have consequences.
8
9	Starring Misfortune Ramirez Hernandez, an imaginative 8-year-old, who seeks the prize of Eternal Happiness, as a gift to her Mommy. Led by her new friend, Mr. Voice, they venture into the woods, where mysteries are unraveled and a little bit of bad luck unfolds.
10	----
11	!!The this game contains the following tropes:
12	* The90s: A newspaper is dated October 11, 1993.
13	* ActionSurvivor: Misfortune survives a great deal of physical trauma that should have caused her grievous injury, likely due to her ability to cause misfortune to ''others'' while staying mainly clear of it herself. [[spoiler:Subverted in the end game, where it's revealed that Misfortune has been dead the entire game, making it no wonder how she survived so many incidents.]]
14	* AnachronismStew: A recent newspaper dates the game in 1993, but at one point Mr. Voice mentions Googling some information, when Google wouldn't be founded until 5 years later. [[spoiler:This is more {{Foreshadowing}} that Misfortune is actually dead and most of the game is a GroundhogDayLoop, with the implication that Morgo has done this loop enough times that over 5 years have passed in the real world.]]
15	* AngelsDemonsAndSquid: In ''Videogame/FranBow'', Angels (Valokas from the realm of light) opposed Demons (Kamalas from the realm of darkness). Here, a Squid joins the fun - the Squid being [[spoiler:a parasite from the Beyond, weird realm with, for now, incomprehensible laws]]. Interesting that visually the Squid isn't that different from Kamalas (and they both resemble a wendigo).
16	* ArtsyBeret: Misfortune is a creative child who is introduced doing arts and crafts, and she also wears a pink beret, even indoors.
17	* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Benjamin saving Misfortune from Morgo's realm.]]
18	* BittersweetEnding: The Somewhere Else ending. [[spoiler:Misfortune comes to terms with the fact that she's dead and escapes Morgo, and she's able to cross over to a "somewhere else" that, despite spooky appearances, seems much nicer. But this means she has to leave her old life behind (with her mother in tears over her death) and multiple other children, including her friend Hiro, have already been lost.]] It's a little bit sweeter in the Good Ending where you put glitter on everything you can: [[spoiler:Misfortune's mother at least receives the happiness that Misfortune wished to give her. In the last shot of the game, she takes off her mask and smiles through her tears.]]
19	* BlackComedy: There is a plethora of terrifying and disturbing things about the story, especially all the references to death and bodily functions, but Misfortune's [[ChildrenAreInnocent childish innocence]] and [[DissonantSerenity serenely dissonant reactions]] turn all of it into something horrifically hilarious.
20	* BlatantLies: The moment when Mr. Voice realizes that Misfortune hears his narration:
21	-->'''Mr. Voice:''' The sad part is... Today is the day she will die.\
22	'''Misfortune:''' I can hear you, you know... <...> What did you say about me dying today?\
23	'''Mr. Voice:''' Die? No! Nobody said anything about anyone dying today.
24	* BreakingTheFourthWall: Mr. Voice does it a few times when he wishes to share information with the player about the game - although, if he's not careful, Misfortune can often hear him.
25	* CooldownHug: [[spoiler:Near the end, when Misfortune looks upon her own dead body and realizes that she is actually dead, she starts crying uncontrollably. But then Benjamin, whom Misfortune thought was lost, comes up to her, making her feel a little relieved and happy to see him. He pulls her into a comforting hug, which somewhat calms her down.]]
26	* CreepyGood: [[spoiler:Benjamin's boss. She has a grim reaper-like design, but she sends Benjamin to help Misfortune. When she finally meets Misfortune, she speaks to her in a kind voice and refers to her as "Lady Misfortune". She also welcomes Misfortune when she enters the Fifth Reality with Benjamin.]]
27	* CrushBlush: When Misfortune trips and falls in front of Benjamin, there is a choice to let him pick you up or [[PlayingPossum pretend to be dead]]. Should you pick the latter, he will do so, and as he touches her face, she goes beet red and she mentions in a awestruck voice that his paws are so soft.
28	* DiscoveringYourOwnDeadBody: [[spoiler:After Morgo is defeated, and everything is seemingly back to normal for the most part, Misfortune heads outside to see her own mom and a policeman talking, upon examining the covered body on the road... It's revealed to be ''Misfortune's'' own dead body, as she was hit by her dad's own car, this understandably leaves Misfortune in tears.]]
29	* DissonantSerenity: Much like in VideoGame/FranBow before her, Misfortune's reactions to some of the deeply disturbing things she sees around her tend to be mildly perturbed at worst, rather than the genuine horror that one would consider to be a "normal" response. This is partially due to [[InnocentInaccurate her young age]], and partially due to [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} her own innate weirdness.]]
30	* EldritchLocation: The Ultra-Reality, which appears in this game both as a reference to ''VideoGame/FranBow'', and [[spoiler:is implied to be where the entire game takes place. In particular, Morgo is suggested to exist somewhere deep within "The Beyond," an uncharted area of the Ultra-reality that exists between Misfortune's world and ours.]]
31	* EverythingsBetterWithSparkles: Misfortune always carries her glitter bottle around to sprinkle onto things and make them fabulous in her eyes. Sparkles appear over objects that glitter can be used on, which will display a more pleasant overlay of the object, made on drawn paper cutouts. Using glitter on every object possible [[spoiler:unlocks the Good Ending of the game, where she does grant her mother the "Eternal Happiness" that she promised]].
32	* FlippingTheBird: In addition to Misfortune's anecdote about showing one to the monster in her closet, this world has a species of [[VisualPun literal flipping birds]] that possess a wing structure which flips off people when they fly by. It's appropriately enough called the "Fuckedilus Dis Shittius", and is described as having a rude and confrontational personality.
33	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Four notable ones for TheReveal that [[spoiler:Misfortune was DeadAllAlong]]:
34	** In the very beginning of the game, when Misfortune is leaving her home to follow Mr. Voice's quest, [[spoiler:she pauses in the middle of the road for quite a while, and has a brief flash to the Ultrareality while standing in the exact spot where her body lies in the end game.]]
35	** The song Misfortune dances to at the beginning. [[spoiler:"Dance to this music forever. Love this song forever."]]
36	** Toward the very end of the game, Misfortune finds Benjamin's bag, which contains [[spoiler:a list of situations in which Protectors must intervene and save the souls of potential victims. One situation listed is when the victim is dead already, and doesn't know it.]]
37	** During the climax of the game, [[spoiler:Morgo]] says to Misfortune, "You [[spoiler:crossed the path]] and now you're mine!" not only implying TheReveal but also that [[spoiler:Morgo might have deliberately lured her to her death]].
38	* GroundhogDayLoop: [[spoiler:Mr. Voice tries to do this to Misfortune when she starts fighting back against him in her house, trying to restart the opening with her playing with glitter and getting angry when she doesn't follow the script. Given how even in the beginning (before the point where she's shown to have died) Misfortune had flashes to the way that the house looked in the finale, it's entirely possible Mr. Voice succeeded in this before and that Misfortune was already reliving the day she died when the game started.]]
39	* InteractiveNarrator: The narrator of this story is an active participant in Misfortune's story, and is the one who gives her the quest "Do exactly what I say and you'll win Eternal Happiness". [[spoiler:It turns out that he's actually the BigBad as well, as he's created this "game" to feed off of her.]]
40	* InterspeciesRomance: Oddly enough, Misfortune has a crush on Benjamin the fox. One optional dialogue has her swooning about how muscular he must be after noticing that he chops wood at his house.
41	* TheJinx: A minor plot point; Misfortune notes that bad things seem to happen around her a lot. Her intro plays this up to eleven: clouds form around her and strike buildings with lightning, satellites fall from the sky to hit furry creatures, crows drop dead in her presence, and of course, her parents are forced into a miserable unwanted marriage because of her existence. This becomes more dialed back as the game progresses, [[spoiler:and some of the bad things that happen are in fact revealed to be Morgo's doing, not hers.]]
42	* LastDayToLive: The narrator has made it clear that the game takes place on the day Misfortune dies. Unfortunately for him, Misfortune can hear him. [[spoiler:Even more unfortunately, Misfortune did indeed die on that day, and very early into it--she just wasn't aware.]]
43	* MissXPun: The titular Little Misfortune is an 8 year old "little lady" that has both an unfortunate life and an apparent [[TheJinx tendency of bringing misfortune wherever she goes]] [[spoiler:(though more of it is likely caused by Morgo)]]. She knows that she's her mother's "little misfortune" as an unwanted child.
44	* MortonsFork: As you go through the game, it will provide you with various mandatory choices for game progression. However, not only are both choices equally valid for continuing on, neither choice is ever any "better" than the other. As Mr. Voice says: "there are no good or bad choices, only consequences". This is best illustrated by the first proper choice you make: playing with a leashed dog or setting him free. [[spoiler:If you play with him, he immediately dies, but if you set him free, he lives and follows you for a bit until he gets taken away by crows.]]
45	* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: Lampshaded by Misfortune after she manages to get the crow to release her and she free falls back down to the docks. Justified, since her dress acted as a sort of parachute to slow her fall. [[spoiler:And she's already dead anyway.]]
46	* PinkGirlBlueBoy: Downplayed. The female Misfortune and male Mr. Voice are the two most central characters, and they get pink and blue subtitles for their dialogue, respectively.
47	* ProneToVomiting: Misfortune vomits as a response to various player choices.
48	* PuttingThePeeInPool: Interacting with the pool in her front yard has Misfortune tell the narrator it "smells like a toilet" because she often pees in it. The narrator says that is "disgusting", but Misfortune states that it's not as gross as when her dad puked in it.
49	* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Misfortune was DeadAllAlong. She died crossing the street in the very beginning of the game, and simply wasn't aware of it due to Morgo's influence.]]
50	* RewatchBonus: The narrator's seeming trick question "have you ever heard this question before?" gets a lot more meaningful with the the reveal that [[spoiler:he's able to "reset" Misfortune's day to when they meet while she's in his power.]]
51	* RunningGag:
52	** Misfortune tripping and falling down. [[spoiler:Becomes poignant later when she convinces herself to get up and keep going after she learns the truth about Mr. Voice, because she always had before.]]
53	** Mr. Voice getting upset at Misfortune cursing and telling her to watch her language.
54	** Mr. Voice giving Misfortune objects to help her in her quest, throwing them to her from offscreen after she asks where they are. [[spoiler:One of these occasions, he sends her the object--a shovel--seemingly ''from hell'', foreshadowing his true nature.]] Misfortune never notices that he's the one giving them to her.
55	* SexyVillainsChasteHeroes: Morgo has an alluring [[ArousedByTheirVoice accent]] and well-defined muscles. This is in contrast to the good characters, who are pretty much nonsexual (one being a child and another being [[spoiler:a fox without any notable anatomical similarity to humans]]).
56	* SharedUniverse: Little Misfortune is set in the same universe as ''Videogame/FranBow'', 49 years after the latter.
57	* StepfordSmiler: The entire town of Openfields, of a type where they literally wear masks advertised to help someone look happy when they're actually miserable. Everyone in town wears a mask, [[spoiler:likely because of the sheer amount of missing children in the town.]] Misfortune's own mother advises Misfortune to always smile and pretend to be happy even when she's sad, and Misfortune can admit to Mr. Voice that she's tired of faking being happy.
58	* ThereAreNoTherapists: In a town filled with people whom all wear masks because they're all tired of pretending to be happy, this is heavily implied.
59	* TitleDrop: A sorrowful one at the end where [[spoiler:Misfortune acknowledges that she was her mother's "little misfortune" right before she leaves with Benjamin.]]
60	* ToiletHumor: While employing her "ninja skills" and climbing through a hole in the wall, Misfortune farts. She tells her butt to be quiet because this is supposed to be a "ninja mission"... and then she farts again, louder.
61	* UnreliableNarrator: Taken to its logical extreme - [[spoiler:the narrator's word can't be trusted because he's been lying to Misfortune about ''everything'' in order to keep her trapped in his realm. Ironically, the only thing he is truthful about is Misfortune's upcoming death, and he relays this to the player, not to Misfortune herself.]] The ''one'' thing [[spoiler:Morgo]] likely isn't lying to her about is that he's seen worse than the scary looking ladies at the bus stop, [[spoiler:given his true nature as an otherworldly, parasitic, demonic being.]]

Context VideoGame / LittleMisfortune