Yeah, You BETTER be scared, Isaac.note
In the world of Black Comedy that is Isaac's basement, there remains figures within it that are darker than most...
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Cacophobia
Cacophobia (added in a post-release patch for Reheated) stands out like a sore thumb as an honest-to-goodness horror monster. It's telling that the developers remarked upon possibly adding an option in the settings just to make Cacophobia a bit less jarring for players. To recap what the heck this thing even does, as it's quite a lot to take in:
- In the first place, Cacophobia is a semi-rare boss only appearing in Scarred Womb, and its stand-in, Venus, seems totally inert at first before it smash cuts the screen to black... and begins teleporting Isaac through a series of chambers with a full replacement of the soundtrack with a droning hum, eye turrets for walls, always peering at him (and chucking Bullet Hell at him).
- All the while, Venus remains motionless, until she starts morphing between cuts and begins to show a truly gruesome form beneath her shell, appearing in various mutilated forms, with these forms including ones with her head ripped off or crushed, her body cut in half (horizontally, vertically, or while hung up), her jaw broken, with all four of her limbs missing, and completely crushed. Even more baffling is that Venus herself never attacks or even moves, even in its morphing state.
- One of Cacophobia's patterns, FOUND YOU, features no attacks whatsoever. Just a full field of eyes staring directly at the player.
- Defeating it sends you to a strange, grassy field with red vegetation before the game unceremoniously sends you to the boss room, item in townote , with no elaboration as to what happened. It somehow adds more questions than it answers.
Chapter 4/4. 5 Enemies
While Fiend Folio is no stranger to terrifying monsters, The Womb levels have plenty of them, especially in the Scarred Womb and Corpse:
- The Nuchal is a small fetus wrapped in an umbilical cord that, when it takes enough damage, detaches and chases you on foot very quickly, taking on a Nightmare Face and letting out a very unnerving screech.
- The Incisor is a floating Fistuloid-like spider that rips out chunks of the ground using a tube like mouth, spawning Leper Flesh.
- A Mulligan variant called the Facade acts like a normal mulligan at first, even looking a little Ugly Cute, until Isaac damages it and the top of its head splits open and reveals a bloody jaw as it chases Isaac relentlessly.
- Picture this, you're in the Scarred Womb and you enter a new room and find a seemingly normal Fatty, and it... wait, why isn't it doing anythi- OH MY GOD IT JUST ATE ITS OWN HEAD! That thing is the Starving, a Fatty that eats its own head at the start of the room with a Belly Mouth.
- It attacks by eating other enemies, and sometimes the ground, and vomiting up a cluster of flesh and bones.
- Added in the 2.7 update, we get the Nailhead and Contestant, which weaponize Body Horror liberally.
- The Nailhead is a Frowning Gaper variant whose head is covered in nails, they act normal until they get close to Isaac, which causes their heads to explode, scattering nails all over the ground, and also revealing their exposed brains. Ouch...
- The Contestant, on the other hand, also initally act normal, some of them having giant screws lodged in their heads. The Screw-faced ones can lauch their screws as an attack, which causes their heads to cave in. But they don't necessarily aim at Isaac, they aim at Other Contestants. Yes, you read that right, they are perfectly fine with brutally injuring each other in order to kill you.
- Meanwhile, in the Corpse, we have Lurkers, which are giant masses of black flesh covered in eyes, mouths, and teeth. They fill in pits in some rooms, using various arrangements, and sometimes connecting to each other with bands of stretched flesh.
- Also in the Corpse, there's a chance of fighting Whales, arguably the scariest non-boss enemy in the game rivaled only by the Sleeper. It's bad enough they are rotting corpses, but not only are they among the tankiest normal enemies in the game, but they have an attack where their bellies will rupture and spews out their digestive tract! These guts will then start to shoot waving acidic tears in a triangle-shaped range while the whale corpse still tries to home in on you. Destroying it first will cause the whale to collapse and its head to rupture, releasing maggots in a disgusting manner. They are proof that sometimes, it's the most realistic enemies that are the scariest.
- It's old design also dipped into the Uncanny Valley, featuring a human-ish face and a pus filled stomach.
Other Enemies and Bosses
- A enemy first encountered in the Depths, the Sleeper provides the page image, and for a DAMN good reason. At first, they are a seemingly benign ghost that just floats mostly in place... until it is hit. Upon being attacked, the spectre morphs into a nightmarish figure with tiny, wild eyes, a Slasher Smile (that hides a mouth within it), and long, thin arms ending in claws, with its transformation being finished with a hellish screech. After this, it stalks the player as a border of static surrounds them. After hitting Isaac, the figure screeches once more before departing, coating the area in darkness as it does for a few seconds. Doesn't help that the Sleeper is often placed in areas as traps, pressuring the player as they complete puzzles or defeat other enemies in the rooms it's in, creating a very tense situation.
- While Meltdown itself isn't particularly scary, its defeat animation stands out as surprisingly gruesome, having the boss emit a wail not unlike a shutting-down machine as its jaw falls to the floor due to the radiation it spreads.
- Another enemy found in the Depths, the Blare is a seemingly normal variant of the Horf that merely shoots blood at the player... until it suddenly sprouts a spider-like, fleshy body to chase down the player should they get too close.
- While it is generally not threatening, the sudden appearance of the Nightmare Face-having Looksee behind structures, with its red eyes and seemingly blood-stained teeth locked in a Slasher Smile, can be unsettling for some players.
- Depending on who you ask, Mag Gapers can be quite scary, as they chase you down very quickly, breaking rocks in their path, all while having an unchanging large grin on their face. The fact that, as of the Spitshine Update, they can appear in Mausoleum using a unique pale skin (along with Horfs and Clotties) does not help.
- While the Mausoleum isn't the most welcoming level in the game, at least you don't have to worry about any unwelcome guests after clearing a room, right? Well, if you are playing the game after Version 2.7, your solitude will be unfortunately interrupted. Emerging from a hole in the floor, the Temptress enemy is a ghoulish, worm-like being with fleshy slits where its eyes would be, a permanent grin, and plenty of homicidal intent. After appearing, the Temptress chases Isaac across the room at an increasingly fast pace, only stopping to slam its fists into the floor or shoot rings of blood. It doesn't even lay down and die upon being defeated, as its head explodes for a final attack.
