Not long after you enter the area where the Darkstone is located, which was somehow moved near the location of one of the three Big Bads' bases (which changes depending on whom you chose as the main character), the stone shatters and you're transported to another dimension where you're surrounded by a trio of gigantic Magical Clown heads that are trying to kill you. That trio is what makes up said Benevodon. The music that plays before the shattering of the stone and during the battle, The Sacrifice Part 1 and Three of Darkside, respectively, both fit the scene perfectly: a scene where you witness the destruction of the Darkstone and then get transported to an oblivion where you're surrounded by monstrous jester heads that want you dead, no matter what. And worst of all, the defeat of this Benevodon also happens to be where Faerie realizes that the defeats of the Benevodons have been infusing the Sword of Mana with their power so that the Big Bad could absorb them as part of a plan to usurp the Goddess of Mana. Need a better idea on how scary Zable Fahr can be? Take a gander if you want.Or don't; we understand.
The way the boss fight against Zable Fahr works counts as well. When you start the battle, only two of the three heads are visible, so you'd think defeating both of them would end the fight, right? Wrong. Dead wrong. All of a sudden, a third head appears and revives both of them, but luckily you only have to defeat the third head now. Even so, of course, that doesn't make Zable Fahr any less creepy. If Duran is your main character, his reaction in the remake when the third head shows up pretty much sells it.
Duran: Curses! Not another one!
As is explicitly expounded upon by True Queen Valda, the Crimson Wizard, and the Priest of Light, the three most powerful mages (at least of the start of the game) in the world, who definitely know what they're talking about, to activate the Mana Stones requires a spellcaster to cast a spell that kills themselves. This is what drives the start of Angela's plot, because she understandably wants nothing to do with that. However, when Faerie goes to open the portal to the Sanctuary of Mana, she reveals she couldn't do it on her own; she felt the Mana Stones activate while she performed her magic. Not only that, but when the party goes to the Labyrinth of Ice, the Water Mana Stone is already activated. We know that Bil and Ben's souls were used on the Fire Stone, which begs the question - who else was sacrificed? And in the case of Altena, could it have been a willing attempt to perform a Heroic Sacrifice to save their country?
In terms of music, we have Political Pressure, an ominous musical theme that plays in the Fiery Gorge, Chartmoon Tower, the Crystal Desert and the Night Cavern, complete with ominous church bells and ominous Ethereal Choirs, not even minding the odd name of the song itself. The remake makes it sound even more terrifying, ramping up the bells and choirs to an even more frightening extent. And what makes things any worse? Two of the aforementioned areas where this theme plays happen to be the same areas where you eventually stumble upon the Darkstone followed by Zable Fahr.
The Sacrifice Part 1 (remake) is another tune that sets a truly terrifying tone that brings much dread to players, and you can even hear what sounds like glass shattering throughout the theme as it goes on. It's no wonder it sets the tone perfectly for your witnessing of the Darkstone's shattering before suddenly being teleported to the dimension where Zable Fahr waits for you, as well as the Big Bad's destruction of the Mana Tree, swatting aside of Faerie, and Evil Gloating with an extra touch of Nothing Can Stop Us Now! thrown in before he goes One-Winged Angel. The remake version of this track manages to up the creep factor even further, even to the point of sounding much more like it came out of a horror movie as well as managing to keep the glass smashing sounds of the original.
Three of Darkside (remake) deserves special mention, too. The drums beating through this song only make it worse in terms of creepiness, and aside from playing during the fight against the aforementioned Zable Fahr, it also sets the tone perfectly for when Kevin overhears his father talking with Goremand about their acts of corrupting Karl's will to attack him, and when the three villainous factions prepare to invade the Sanctuary of Mana. It's considered by far one of the creepiest tracks in the game, and it sounds as though it has its own way of telling you to Run or Die.
The Stinger of the Sacred Sword trailer and the game's ending for the remake gives us a glimpse of what appears to be a woman in a shadowy oblivion, with her voice giving off an echo that sounds like she's making a bad phone call as she voices her wonder on where she is and her recognition of what world she's in. What makes it any creepier, you ask? The woman appears largely in shadow thanks to the effects of the darkness, and we don't even see her eyes. As it turns out, the post-game reveals that the woman that was shown at the end of the trailer and in the post-credits scene is none other than Anise, who happens to be associated with Mavolia - the same Mavolia that the Dark Majesty and Belladonna are associated with and is currently owned by the Dragon Lord.
"Ugh... What is this? Where am I? Oh. Oh, I see. This world is..." *chuckles*
The entire Bonus Dungeon in the remake is a remix of all six characters' hometowns in a fallen and destroyed state as part of Anise's plan to demoralize the heroes. The fate of each hometown is also personalized to be what the country and the character associated with each town feared the most, filled with enemies personal to the heroes. The fact that the illusion versions of Valsena, Wendel, and Laurent use the music from Dragonsmaw, Mirage Palace, and Dark Castle, respectively, further drives Anise's insult in a subtle way.
Valsena is overrun by crystals like those found in the Crystal Desert, as if it became a vichy state to the Dragon Lord.
Nevarl Fortress is riddled with sand in many locations, like the desertification became so bad that it consumed the fortress from the inside out.
Wendel is doused with poison lakes and swarming with undead, and the Temple of Light has collapsed in places.
Altena is caked in snow in many locations and crusted over with ice in others, without the magic prowess of the True Queens to keep the cold at bay.
Laurent has collapsed in places but is otherwise overrun with demons and corrupted Nevarlans, as if it became an outpost to Mavolia. It's also empty, with rooms formerly occupied by beds and furniture sitting bare, no tapestries on the walls, or anything, to drive home the point that nobody lives there.
Ferolia is on fire with crazed werewolves running about, the locals having been consumed by their instincts to ravage and destroy everything.
The Ghost Ship. The party involuntarily boards a ship leading to their next destination, free of charge, then wake up noticing the ship had suddenly become dilapidated, completely haunted by undead. It doesn’t help there’s no music other than the loud sounds of heartbeats. They also come across what looks like the captain’s diary (but is labeled “Dieary”), with the pages containing mouthing but the word “death” repeated over and over. Made even more unsettling in the Remake as the scene gets a scare chord along with dark flashes and the face of a ghost suddenly appearing on screen.
One of the All the Worlds Are a Stage segments of the Mirage Palace is an illusory version of the destroyed Astoria, even worse than its ruins in the main story due to the dark purple sky and monsters everywhere. The most disturbing part is the NPCs, who babble vague references to some catastrophe involving the Benevodons. Whether this is a vision of the Dark Stone incident of the past, a warning of the future should the bad guys win, or just an illusion designed to mess with the heroes, the implications of this one line are horrifying:
Woman: If only they had spared the children.
Another doppelganger stage from Mirage Palace is an empty version of Wendel's light temple. The only thing there is the Priest of Light...except he begins to cackle, his eyes turn completely white, and turns into a demon which attacks you.
The dire state the Sanctuary of Mana appears in during the game's climax. Most of the plant life has withered, the buildings are in a more ruined state than before and the water appears to be completely polluted, and not to mention there are Shape Shifters and Shadow Zeds everywhere. Even worse is the aforementioned destruction of the Mana Tree courtesy of the Big Bad himself, who, as also mentioned before, swats Faerie aside when she tries to stop him and make him pay, badly injuring her and nearly killing her as a result - right in front of the heroes to their horror and concerns, no less. And after he himself goes One-Winged Angel, he proceeds to knock the entire party out with an all-attacking magic attack as a display of his newly-gained powers that he absorbed the Mana Sword to obtain earlier, and laughs hysterically about their downed state and what he believes to be his ultimate victory. The fact that the also-aforementioned musical track known as The Sacrifice Part 1 plays during that very scene only makes it even more chilling.
Big Bad: Such a shame. The tree has withered and the Goddess of Mana is no more.
The Dark Majesty's first One-Winged Angel form has him turning into a monster sitting atop the stump of the destroyed Tree of Mana, which resembles a heart with his upper body's human good looks in the center. The remake has that human upper body of his covered by vines, thus making it look too creepy to be anything other than Fan Disservice. His next One-Winged Angel form is even worse, taking the form of a Satan-lookingEldritch Abomination with disembodied arms. If you think the way that form looks in the original SNES version already looks scary enough, the remake takes the creepiness of its appearance even further, even going so far as to give you a close-up of his face - which looks like something resembling a human face but edited through Photoshop and giving his eyes an ominous yellow glow - all before zooming out to show the rest of his full body as well.
Or don't; we understand.