Video Game / DERE.EXE

The DERE.EXE series, also known as the AppSir verse, is a series of horror games created by AppSir, Inc. Taking place in a city in the Philippines, it chronicles several characters and their experiences with the titular in-universe series of platform games... all of which are haunted. As the characters play through these strange games, they become involved in the mystery of their developer, AppSir Inc., and the sinister Rotschstein Institute that has some connection with them and their games.

Games in the series:

• Sorority Rites, a Kinetic Novel about a transfer student named Myles Stone. After accidentally stepping on the shoe of Venice and angering her, Myles finds herself undertaking a sorority initiation- in which she must enter a supposedly haunted mansion and spend the night there- that quickly goes wrong. She meets Yanna Curtis and learns of the dark history of the mansion. Meanwhile, her father finds a strange game called DERE ALPHA on Myles' computer. Also has a remastered version which adds an additional DERE game.
• The Last Yandere, a Visual Novel about an unnamed cancer patient befriending a cake shop woman named Kara Gentner. Though things go swimmingly at first, it gradually turns out that Kara is more unstable than she seems, and is not willing to let him go. This eventually leads the protagonist to a mysterious game, PROGENITOR DERE. Like Sorority Rites, it received a remaster that expands on the story and has more DERE games.
• The Other Yandere, a short spinoff to The Last Yandere that is currently only available as a demo for Sega Megadrive emulators. In-universe, AppSir, Inc. claims it was going to be their first product, and to have originally planned for a December 1999 release. It follows a girl named Kia and her experiences as a test subject for a secretive project.
• PROTO DERE, a Nintendo Entertainment System game that can be played on an NES emulator. You play as a nameless blocky entity that goes through the in-universe game, which is being corrupted by Sara Gentner.
• DERE.EXE: The First Fear, a platform game that starts out normal, until Kara, now a malicious entity within the programming, attempts to be released.
  • DERE EXE: Rebirth of Horror, a remake of The First Fear.
• DERE EVIL.EXE, a Steam sequel (which includes the previous game as free DLC). In this one, you play as a little knight called Knightley who must save the princess Myles from the evil entity Yanna.
• Artificial Iridescence, a kinetic Visual Novel about a recently married couple who suddenly get caught up in events outside their control.
• HOPBOUND, a spin-off of DERE EVIL focusing on Mayumi, a reclusive girl who believes the soul of her boyfriend, Eron, who died in a car accident, resides in the game and searches for him. Along the way, she meets Irvin, a boy looking for someone himself.
• Puzzling Peaks EXE, a physics puzzle game featuring Knightley (in spherical form) and A.I.D.E. from DERE EVIL.EXE. This one consists of 100 levels where you must move platforms to pilot the immobile Knightley to the end of each level and get his body back from Yanna.
• PHOBOS DERE.GB, a game for Game Boy emulators. A guilt-ridden scientist uncovers a haunted game cartridge and must face his fears while reliving his past.
• PRIMA DERE.ZX, a game for ZX Spectrum emulators. The game is an old experiment from Rotschstein Institute, in which a little knight called Kingsley must explore a castle to find cassette tapes; it was considered a success despite numerous player casualties.
• DERE VENGEANCE, announced in early August 2018 and released on September 19, 2023, in which the in-story developer of previous DERE.EXE titles seeks his revenge against Kara, who is attempting to escape the game, and requires your help to put an end to the entity.

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Tropes:

• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: As progress is made in DERE EVIL.EXE, A.I.D.E. becomes a tad...odd. Then in Puzzling Peaks.EXE, she turns Yandere and tries to prevent you from leaving the game. This is because the developer repurposed the remains of Kara's data. Then in DERE VENGEANCE, she fuses with the TriNemesis and threatens to take over the human world should she escape the game.
  "After this game, I want to be in the outside world with you. We will be able to enjoy human activities like eating and breathing, together."
• Artificial Human: The Yanderes created by Mad Scientist Dr. Rotschstein, including Kara and Kia.
• As Himself: Darius Immanuel D. Guerrero, credited as the main developer on store pages, is the Dev that the player interacts with in the DERE.EXE games.
• Be the Ball: PUZZLING PEAKS EXE has the knight transformed into a ball for transportation purposes.
• The Berserker: Kara, who destroyed an entire town before the events of DERE.EXE.
• Big Bad:
  • For the overall series, Dr. Philip A. Rotschstein is the villain of the first half of the series, as the head of the Rotschstein Institute who created the in-universe haunted games as experiments and wants to Take Over the World. After his death, Kara Gentner and Darius Immanuel Guerrero take over, their conflicting agendas and desire to claim the powerful TriNemesis ship driving the conflicts from then on.
  • Sorority Rites: Lilith of the Rotschstein Institute is the one behind the deaths at the mansion, killing them with the TriNemesis ship to use them as experiment subjects.
  • The Last Yandere: Kara Gentner is the titular Yandere who makes the protagonist her target. However, she is working for Dr. Phillip A. Rotschstein, founder of the Rotschstein Institute and the one running the experiments who intends on using the protagonist and the TriNemesis to Take Over the World and wipe out billions.
  • The Other Yandere: Dr. Rotschstein, as before, runs the Yandere experiments that Kia was created in.
  • PROTO DERE: Sara Gentner, Kara's mother, is the entity responsible for corrupting the titular game. Subverted as she isn't actually malevolent; the game itself is deleting and restoring her as part of an experiment by the Rotschstein Institute.
  • DERE.EXE: The First Fear and Rebirth Of Horror: Kara Gentner, now inside the titular game, is attempting to escape the game and kill people in the real world. Or at least, her Superpowered Evil Side is- the real Kara is the protagonist.
  • DERE EVIL.EXE: Yanna Curtis is the entity who kidnapped Myles Stone and is holding her inside the titular game. Except she is actually trying to protect her from Darius Immanuel Guerrero, the Dev who wants to revive Myles by killing someone in her place.
  • HOPBOUND: Miyu, one of the players of the titular game, is the strange entity who tries to stop Mayumi from finding Eron's soul. She is actually Mayumi's depressed memories and hatred of Eron given form.
  • Puzzling Peaks.EXE: Yanna Curtis is once again the antagonist, having turned Knightley into a sphere. Except like before, she is Good All Along; this time, A.I.D.E. is revealed as the real antagonist who wants to keep you playing forever.
• Bonus Stage: Two in a row appear at the end of level 2 of DERE EVIL.EXE, taking the forms of "Dere Quest" and "Derendid".
• Brain Uploading:
  • In The Last Yandere, the Kara that the player interacts with is actually a digital copy stuck in their head.
  • A copy of Kara's mind is trapped within DERE.EXE.
  • DERE EVIL.EXE has Yanna, from Sorority Rites, trapped within it. And the developer is attempting to bring back Myles Stone, one of Kara's victims, with the game.
• But Thou Must!: DERE EVIL.EXE doesn't allow skipping the bonus games, nor deleting the save data.
• Chekhov's Gun: In DERE EVIL.EXE; see Game Within a Game.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Kara Gentner in DERE.EXE wants to be set free by beating the game, though her bad memories manifest as obstacles. Yanna Curtis in DERE EVIL.EXE wants the player to stop playing the game and willingly creates obstacles, because she and Myles Stone don't want to take someone's life in exchange for reviving Myles as the Dev plans to do.
• Evolving Title Screen: In DERE EVIL.EXE, The main menu's title will flicker in a glitched state.
• Eyeless Face: In DERE EVIL.EXE, Yanna Curtis interferes with the player as a 3D model with black gunk where her eyes should be.
• Fission Mailed: Both EXE games feature fake glitches and game crashes right before quick scares and/or a major change in gameplay.
• Fun with Acronyms:
  • DERE EVIL.EXE has A.I.D.E., or "Artificial Intelligence for Dere.Exe", which is meant to aid the player.
  • The initial trailer for DERE VENGEANCE had A.I.D.E.N., a "New" version of A.I.D.E.
• Game Within a Game: DERE EVIL.EXE attempts to give the player access to two bonus games early on, "Dere Quest" and "Derendid", but they both crash thanks to Yanna. The rest of the experience takes place in a version of DERE EVIL.EXE inside the bonus games, so that the actual Yanna and Myles can't be messed with by the Dev. Yanna and Myles are even listed in the credits, under "Game Within A Game Within A Game Within A Game By".
• Greater-Scope Villain: Dr. Rotschstein, Lilith, and Bijuu believe themselves to be descendants of the aliens whose technology they use, as well as various influential leaders, and plan to control the world after reducing its population.
• Hello, [Insert Name Here]: DERE EVIL.EXE requires the player to use the microphone to speak their name, but this is subverted because the app doesn't have microphone permissions.
• Human Weapon: Kara and Kia were artificially created to be Yandere for their destructive potential, ability to blend in with regular humans, and complete loyalty to a "Sempai".
• Imported Alien Phlebotinum: Used to artificially create Yanderes, as well as store complete digital copies of people's consciousness.
• Jump Scare: Used in the EXE games.
• Mad Scientist: Dr. Rotschstein, Lilith, and Bijuu, who created artificial Yandere.
• Meaningful Name: The player's avatar in DERE EVIL.EXE is deemed "Knightly" by the Dev. The Dev's entire motivation is "white knighting" Myles, thinking his solution to her problem is a just cause regardless of any evidence to the contrary, including Myles' own words.
• Mirror Boss: In DERE EVIL.EXE, one of the final obstacles Yanna creates is a copy of the player with inverted colors, who reflects all their left and right movements, and will cause damage if touched; it can be passed by guiding it into an enemy blocking the path forward that would damage the player.
• Multiple Endings: DERE EVIL.EXE has two, depending on whether or not the player tries to go through with the Dev's plan.
  • Bad End: The player deletes Yanna under the Dev's orders. Myles, who doesn't want to be revived at the cost of someone else's life, deletes herself.
  • Golden Ending: The player defies the Dev and chooses to restore Yanna. The Dev says that they'll get revenge on the player and leave, while Yanna and Myles thank the player. They also reveal that most of the experience was a Game Within a Game, and would have deleted mere avatars of themselves in the other ending to fool the Dev and player into leaving them alone.
• Nuns Are Spooky: The later sections of DERE.EXE feature nuns without faces as an enemy type. This is likely a connection to Kara being raised in a facility disguised as a church dormitory.
• Ratchet Scrolling: DERE EVIL EXE removes platform tiles that are too far behind, but still allows minor backtracking and camera movement.
• Shout-Out: The first DERE game played in Sorority Rites remastered is a spooky unreleased arcade game called DEREBIUS.
• The Stinger: At the end of the credits of DERE EVIL.EXE, there is a brief flash of a restored digital Kara wondering where she is.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: The store description for DERE Vengeance includes the statement that one of the player's companions is the Dev himself, who is "very kind and morally right".
• Tomato in the Mirror: In the last area of DERE.EXE, the featureless black box player character is the disguised digital remnant of Kara Gentner's mind, rather than someone being antagonized by her.
• Unexpected Gameplay Change:
  • DERE.EXE starts as an endless runner before enough diamonds are collected to reach the main, platforming section of the game.
  • A section in DERE EVIL.EXE has the player slide around with the mouse instead of regular platforming.
• The Un Favourite: In The Other Yandere, Kia is this, as Kara Gentner is considered by Dr. Rotschstein to be their ultimate creation.
• Unwanted Revival: In DERE EVIL.EXE, Myles refuses the Dev's plan of bringing her back, knowing that a life would have to be taken for her to be revived, and that the father that mourned her will be able to move on.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: In the latter half of DERE EVIL.EXE, the Dev deletes A.I.D.E. when Kara's personality starts reemerging, and warning the player about the Dev's true intentions.
• Yandere: Recurring character Kara Gentner. Also, Kia in The Other Yandere.