Doki Doki Exit Music is a game mod for Doki Doki Literature Club!, created by Oliver Norton. The Protagonist foils Sayori's suicide and on a particularly horrific night sneaks Natsuki away from her Abusive Dad after he leaves town, allowing her to stay at his place. The story centers around the relationship between the two and the inevitable return of Natsuki's father.
Due to viewers expressing problems with the original version (along with copyright concerns), a remake of the mod titled Doki Doki Exit Music Redux was later announced, with the demo for Act 1 being released a while later. The full version was released on October 8, 2021.
While the original mod was taken down due to containing copyrighted music, Redux can be downloaded here
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This mod contains examples of the following tropes:
- A Day in the Limelight: As stated above, the mod has a heavy focus on Natsuki, who was more of a Satellite Character in the original game.
- A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Inverted. The tragic ending comes as a result of fearful hesitation, on multiple occasions.
- Abusive Dad: Natsuki's father is just as villainous here as in other portrayals. He even becomes the last straw that pushes Natsuki to commit suicide.
- Adaptational Heroism: At the beginning Monika seems to come off as just as antagonistic as the original, what with how passive-aggressive she is over having to back out of the festival, making references that make her appear to know more than she does and the awful things she does to the club members (like revealing Yuri's cut arms in a fit of anger) but these are simply personal flaws and the basis for her Character Development. In the end it is Monika who tries to pull MC out of his Despair Event Horizon following Natsuki's suicide, but he follows in his lover's footsteps and pulls a Goodbye, Cruel World! regardless.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Sayori is downright antagonistic towards MC and Natsuki, heavily implied to be because of petty jealousy. She outright states that MC should break up with Natsuki since she loved him first (despite never indicating it in this mod) and coldly rejects any attempts for MC to explain himself. She comes around a little after Natsuki's suicide, but she still calls a grieving MC a jerk for dismissing her ineffective attempts to console him. Considering the mod begins with MC essentially saving her life, said behavior borders on Ungrateful Bitch at times.
- Adaptational Villainy: While Yuri was a possessive and destructive Yandere in the original, she is far more cruel and thoughtless here. In one scene she comes close to sexually-assaulting MC and even has the gall to not-so-subtly attempt to seduce MC after the girls reveal he has been so Driven To Despair that he missed Natsuki's funeral. Despite being one of the causes of her suicide.
- Adults Are Useless: While Sayori's parents take her to a therapist and put her on medication they refuse to take MC's insistence that she's getting worse seriously. Ultimately subverted as nothing comes of it. At least, not during the events of the game. In her attempt to talk MC down from committing suicide Monika seems to adamantly believe that Sayori will try to kill herself again if MC dies. He is too far past the Despair Event Horizon to care.
- Anger Born of Worry: MC is furious with Natsuki upon finding her having cut her wrists in their bathroom. This seems to be a result of finding his childhood friend Sayori in a similar position not too long ago. It lasts all of five seconds as he instantly jumps to call an ambulance and take care of her.
- The Atoner: Despite her lashing out at the club members for missing the festival early on, Monika spends the second half of the mod desperately trying to make amends after learning more about MC, Natsuki, and Sayori's situations. She pretty much ends up the Only Sane Woman by the end as a result. Sadly, her efforts cannot prevent the death of two of her club members.
- Ax-Crazy: Yuri, as par for the course.
- Bait-and-Switch: A moment occurs earlier on in the mod when MC is unable to find Natsuki after returning home. There's even a buildup similar to Sayori's suicide in the original, complete with a closed door and a "gently opened the door" reference. It turns out to be a lighthearted and embarrassing moment where MC walks in on Natsuki in nothing more than a Modesty Towel.
- Big Bad: Natsuki's father. He is introduced as having beaten and starved Natsuki before leaving town on business. In the final act of the mod, MC is so terrified of him that he simply can't enter the house while he is there. MC waits outside for the entire day just waiting for his chance, and when he has finally left MC rushes in... to find Natsuki has hung herself from the trauma of her final beating.
- Book Ends: The mod starts with MC preventing a suicide, and ends with him committing suicide himself after failing to stop another.
- Bungled Suicide: The story opens with this premise— MC prevents Sayori from hanging herself and Natsuki from poisoning herself.
- Near the end he stops Natsuki from bleeding to death after cutting her wrists. The story ends with MC failing to stop Natsuki from hanging herself and Monika in turn failing to stop MC from throwing himself off the bridge.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: Being teenagers, MC and Natsuki get drunk very easily on the wine he stole from her father. Kissing Under the Influence ensues.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Natsuki is clearly jealous when MC doesn't think to delete Yuri's pictures. This exacerbates when she sees Yuri rather...forcefully attempting to seduce MC. Through the blurred glass it looks reciprocal.
- Cruel Twist Ending: Natsuki and MC both wind up committing suicide, each incidence subverting the ending to most stories where MC would be able to save Natsuki from her father, or Monika would be able to talk MC down from the bridge.
- Death Is Dramatic: The five suicide attempts shown in Exit Music are portrayed as horrific, desperate attempts to escape pain, and far from the only answer, for Sayori, Natsuki and MC.
- Declaration of Protection: MC is determined to protect Natsuki from her Abusive Dad and give her a happy life and relationship. He fails on all counts.
- Driven to Suicide: MC breaks into Natsuki's house to find her in a relatively half-hearted attempt to poison herself, possibly a drunken idea.
- After a series of bad events, misunderstandings and years of abuse that are catching up to her, Natsuki tries to kill herself in the bathroom. When MC stops her, it seems like she might get better, like she did before. Once her father takes her home and beats her one last time, she hangs herself to get away from this life.
- After spending days locked away and stewing in his guilt and the sheer emptiness of his life without Natsuki in it, MC throws himself off a bridge and drowns himself.
- Failure-to-Save Murder/My Greatest Failure: The sheer weight of guilt regarding his failure to save Natsuki before she killed herself drives MC to commit suicide himself.
- The Glomp: A not-uncommon aspect of MC and Natsuki's relationship.
- Hope Spot: The last half-hour is riddled with them:
- When MC takes Natsuki to the hospital following her second suicide attempt.
- When MC waits outside Natsuki's house for the chance to break in.
- When Monika confronts MC on the bridge, trying to talk him down from committing suicide.
- Hotter and Sexier: Downplayed. While MC and Natsuki's relationship contains multiple implied sex scenes, they aren't given much focus and don't contribute much to the overall plot.
- His Heart Will Go On: Monika, Sayori and Yuri try to enact this on MC after Natsuki's suicide. Monika and Sayori have...purer motives than Yuri.
- I Should Have Been Better: The source of MC's guilt over Natsuki's suicide.
- He didn't think to delete Yuri's pictures, which, combined with the "it's not what it looks like" moment, made Natsuki think he had feelings for her.
- He fell asleep in the hospital, which allowed Natsuki's progenitor the chance to get her again.
- He hesitated to rush in and save her from her father out of fear of him, and didn't take the knife from his house out of fear of being arrested, which gave her father time to abuse her again.
- He waited outside her house for hours out of fear of her father, which gave Natsuki enough time to drive herself to suicide one more time.
- Karma Houdini: Despite initiating the sequence of events that lead to Natsuki's suicide and still attempting to advance on a grieving MC afterwards, Yuri's only punishment is getting slapped hard enough to draw blood by Monika. She storms out of MC's house afterwards and is never seen again for the rest of the mod.
- Lighter and Softer: The story, for most of the runtime, is devoted to the relationship between MC and Natsuki and their happy life together...before the tragedy and drama hit.
- Living Emotional Crutch: MC becomes one for Natsuki, and she for him. This doesn't end well, since MC turns out to be more emotionally reliant on Natsuki than her on him.
- The Lost Lenore: Natsuki for MC in the last ten minutes.
- Mistaken for Cheating: Natsuki sees Yuri rather...aggressively trying to seduce MC in a scene that comes across as borderline attempted sexual assault. The blurred glass of the door makes it look differently to Natsuki.
- Morton's Fork: No matter what MC did, he was going to lose. Either he rushes in to save Natsuki, only to be viciously beaten by her father and arrested for breaking and entering, or he waits until it is safe to break in and get Natsuki out of there, only to see that she's hung herself out of despair.
- Not Distracted by the Sexy: Yuri sends MC half-naked pictures of herself eroticising her self-harming habit. MC is more creeped out by the wounds than aroused by the girl, and only becomes more worried for Yuri's mental state as a result.
- Parental Neglect: It is implied that while MC's parents have only had to move away for work relatively recently they have still always been a very busy couple and unable to be in consistent contact with him even when they all lived together. Downplayed in that he is not too surprised to hear from them or receive a gift from them, and seems aware that they care for him and understanding of their difficulties. Remains a case of Truth in Television as MC seems to be just as emotionally-dependent on Natsuki as the reverse, despite the differing severity of their situations.
- Natsuki's long-gone mother flat-out tells her to her face that she doesn't want her and that she left her with her father for a reason.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Natsuki's father does get arrested for the abuse of his daughter, but only after her suicide brings attention to it.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Natsuki is the fiery, emotional Red Oni to MC's calm and collected Blue Oni.
- Relationship Sabotage: Yuri attempts this and is delivered with an Epic Fail declaration by MC.
- Romance-Inducing Smudge: In the original game, if MC pursues Natsuki there is a scene where the two have a playful struggle while baking together, and MC wipes off the frosting from her cheek in a Ship Tease moment. This is confirmed in-game to be the backstory to this mod.
- Sanctuary of Solitude: After Natsuki's successful suicide attempt, MC retreats to their bedroom and spends days locked up and stewing in his pain, guilt and loneliness. This pain, guilt and loneliness only gets worse when the girls show up to reveal that he has missed Natsuki's funeral, which is the last straw that drives him to commit suicide himself.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: MC's attempts to keep Natsuki safe and happy all come to be for nothing since her Abusive Dad gets his hand on her again in the end and she winds up hanging herself. Doubles as Shoot the Shaggy Dog Story when MC kills himself after crossing the Despair Event Horizon.
- Ship Tease: All over the place for MC/Natsuki. Netflix and chill, the nighttime shopping trip, playing in the snow, but a recurring one, and the first to be seen in-game, is their Sleep Cute.
- Snow Means Love: After returning from a shopping trip in the snow, MC and Natsuki play together in the snow.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Natsuki, in keeping with how she is in the original game, with the sweet side growing more prominent as her relationship with MC becomes more comfortable and affectionate. In the original game Natsuki was the Club's resident Tsundere, acting like she's a mean person but revealing a nicer personality in quiet moments— in the mod she gradually removes the angrier persona and shows a kind and gentle side more and more, although her insecurities are still in full force.
- Monika also displays this, being a cold-hearted and abusive friend to the group at the beginning but going through some serious Character Development after she is handed a "The Reason You Suck" Speech by MC, and is the only friend whose relationship with MC and Natsuki is untainted by jealousy. In the closing moments of the mod, she desperately tries to convince MC not to cross the Despair Event Horizon and commit suicide. She fails, but that she is there regardless shows a tremendous growth and maturity on her part, as well as compassion for her friend.
- Tears of Remorse: MC spends days in this state near the end of the mod.
- Titled After the Song: The creator themselves said the mod's title is a reference to the song "Exit Music (For a Film)" by Radiohead. Considering it's depressing lyrical themes, should it be a surprise on how the end result came out?
- Title Drop: Exit Music is the title of MC's final poem, which is more or less a Suicide Note detailing his grief over losing Natsuki.
- Together in Death: This is part of MC's motivation in committing suicide— an attempt to be with Natsuki again rather than living without her.
- Tragic Hero/Failure Hero: Despite having become far more perceptive and considerate after almost witnessing the suicides of two of his only friends, MC still retains his Fatal Flaw of hesitation. When MC acts based on instinct (like breaking into Natsuki's house twice, once to save her and once to fetch her belongings) good things happen, but when he chooses to wait and overthink his situation (like keeping Yuri's pictures and waiting for Natsuki's father to leave before he breaks into her house in the finale) bad things happen. Ultimately, it gets both MC and Natsuki killed.
- Tragic Mistake: MC makes quite a few during the finale but the clincher is falling asleep in the hospital, which, accompanied by the hospital workers' misplaced compassion, leads to MC's impossible situation at the end, where Failure Is the Only Option.
- Wham Shot: Several, courtesy of the mod's custom sprites and CGs.
- Natsuki at the hospital with a bloody nose and black eye sets the tone for the mod within the first ten minutes.
- The sight of Natsuki with bloodied wrists following the misunderstanding with Yuri, which sets up the chain of events leading to her suicide.
- The final part of the mod contains several. Natsuki's lifeless body hanging in her room, the remaining girls wearing funeral attire, and the final shot of MC's lifeless hand sinking into the water are all indications of just how far the mood of the mod has fallen.
- Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: MC falls asleep in the hospital while waiting to hear news of Natsuki's condition. He wakes up to find that her father has taken her home.
