The Night Terror trilogy is a series of video games existing in the universe of Pilot. Created by the fictional company Lethal Grimalkin Productions, the trilogy is considered the crowning jewel of their work.
The first game follows a man known as Vincent Heliotrope, better known as Vince, a charismatic and hammy hero who lives in a world known as the Mindscape. It's his job to enter children's minds to battle the Phobias, who are anthropomorphic personifications of their fears. While he may be alone in their minds, he's assisted by several other characters: Jasper Cardinal, Vince's teacher and the tutorial, Sasalina, a cat lady who reforms Phobias into productive members of society, and Tybalt, god of the Dreamscape (the half of the Mindscape that isn't a corrupted wasteland). The Phobias are created by the evil Boogeyman, the master of children's fears, and god of the appropriately-named Nightmarescape.
Night Terror 2 takes place several years after the end of the original game. Between games, Jasper died, leaving behind his unhatched egg. Vince protects the egg for several years, until it hatches into Oak Kaleidoscope, a sparrow who can fight Phobias as well. Vince takes over as tutorial, leaving her the sole Phobia fighter in the Dreamscape. The Boogeyman's back again, with even more Phobias now than ever before. With Vince's training, Oak sets off to save the day once more. This game is notable for being a lot darker than the other games in the series.
Night Terror 3: Hero from the Past is a prequel, taking place a long while before the first game. This entry in the series answers several long-standing questions, such as the origins of Tybalt's mask, and where Vinny came from.
Ultimately, Night Terror 3 wound up being the last in the series, though there still exists fan support for a Night Terror 4. The games are still fondly remembered by many gamers in the world of Pilot, and DLC phobias are apparently still being added years later.
Bend the Tropes, kiddo!
- Adaptive Armor: Dreamscapers who fight Phobias don a special suit, which changes itself to fit the Phobia's realm. For example, they allow for underwater movement and breathing in Hydrophobia's realm.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: All Dreamscapers are personifications of people's beliefs, hence, why they can't die - as long as people believe in them, they're practically invincible. The Phobias are this as well, though their deaths are a bit more permanent. Specifically, once they die, no matter how much people believe in them, they're gone until either Sasalina or the Boogeyman reforms them.
- Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence: Shanta balances the essences of Tybalt and the Boogeyman at the end of Night Terror 2, becoming the unified god of the Mindscape.
- Blessed with Suck: Father Time can see other realities. Sounds cool, right? Well, it's not. He can't stop seeing other worlds, and constantly sees himself and his friends die in incredibly horrific ways on a daily basis.
- Darren also suffers from this. It's his job to eat the shadow monsters that torment people with sleep paralysis and schizophrenia. Except he's developed an addiction to them, and risks being corrupted into his original form, Proditiophobia, the fear of being betrayed. Between the first and second games, the Boogeyman promises him all the shadow monsters he can eat. When Darren accepts, he's transformed into the aforementioned Proditiophobia.
- Catchphrase: Vince's "Bend the Nightmare, kiddo!"
- Crapsaccharine World: The Dreamscape is one of these, and it only becomes more apparent the more you think about it. Keep in mind, however, that as Night Terror 2 and 3 reveal, the Boogeyman can break into the Dreamscape. Which he's done twice before. The first time, Jasper lost his beak, Tybalt lost his face, and Shanta lost her life. And when he breaks in during Night Terror 2, on top of possibly injuring and killing tons of Dreamscapers, he begins the series of events that wind up killing Tybalt. And it goes deeper than that. As Father Time's constant visions prove, even when Boogeyman's not breaking in and causing havoc, the Dreamscape is an incredibly dangerous place nonetheless. It seems that, after the series, things are changing for the better.
- Crapsack World: The Nightmarescape. Whether or not it was always this way is unknown, but with Boogeyman in charge, it's a desolate and empty wasteland. There's nothing but some ravanged islands floating in an empty void. The only natural inhabitants are the Phobias, shadow creatures, and the Boogeyman himself. And as Night Terror 3 reveals, short of having wings or being lent wings by a certain Phobia, there's no way out.
- Darker and Edgier: Night Terror 2, big time.
- Lighter and Softer: Night Terror 3 was this, likely so that there would be a logical progression - the game is simple and innocent in its (canonically) first entry, since Vince is a little kid. It's a bit darker in the second since Vince is all grown up now, and incredibly dark in its third because Vince is depressed and suffering from suicidal thoughts.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Seems to be a running theme throughout the series. Darren, Tybalt, and Sasalina all have powers traditionally thought of as 'evil' (in order: Poison, Decay, and Shadow), yet are still kind.
- It's more along the lines of "Dark Is Not Nonredeemable", as the Phobias, the game's main antagonists, are reformed after their defeat. Their new appearances are often less monstrous than their Phobia forms, though they still have some features still almost always portrayed as evil (Dae is still a demon, Sheriff still has multiple arms, Vinny is still a shadow creature, Droplet is still based on an anglerfish, so on and so forth).
- Darkest Hour: Night Terror 2, definitely.
- Dream People
- Dream Walker: Mostly everyone in the Mindscape.
- Dream Land: The Mindscape fits this trope perfectly.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Jasper dies off-screen between 1 and 2.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: By the end, Vince, Vinny, and Oak have quite literally gone to hell and back to stop the Boogeyman. Once Shanta comes back, though, it all turns out for the best.
- Face Your Fears: The whole trilogy is all about facing your fears.
- Fallen Hero: Vince, mid-way through Night Terror 2. And it's later revealed that the Boogeyman is one, too.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: Vinny nearly pulls one of these after Vince's suicide in the second game. Not only did he almost become Autophobia again, he nearly unleashed his obscenely-powerful second form. Luckily, he was talked down before he completely lost control. It seems that, after this incident, he gained the ability to use his second form at will, as he uses it to escape the Boogeyman's realm at the end of the game.
- The Hero Dies: Vince halfway through the second game. He comes back, though.
- Journey to the Center of the Mind: Vince and Oak do this all the time.
- One-Winged Angel: All Phobias have second forms. Autophobia, however, doesn't use his in his battle. It was shown for a brief moment in the second game, when he almost turns back into his Phobia self.
- Rogue Protagonist: Vince becomes Atychiphobia halfway through the second game, and has to be killed.
- Unsound Effect: Porcupine noises sound remarkably like kazoos, which is why Tybalt often says *happy kazoo noises* in doodles.
