Count Lucanor: Hellish goats, disembodied goatherds and though choices [Creepy Characters]

Count Lucanor is a little weird gem, a dark fairytale where the exploration of a mysterious castle and the interaction with different characters allow the discovery of alternative scenes and endings. The most interesting features of this game are the characters and their evolution, really creepy and unsettling. A naked man thinks to be a pig transformed in human, while the decapitated head of a goatherd is using his two demonic goats as hitmen. Yes, you read right, killer hellish goats.

This last character is particularly creepy and disturbing, so let’s talk a bit about him. At the beginning of the game you will find him happily surrounded by peaceful goats. However, when the nightmare begins, the goatherd will be dismembered by his own goats. But he will survive, well, just his rotten talking head. Two hellish goats will be by his side, killing at his will. He will become a nightmarish killer, offering his services to the player.

In a particular moment of the game his goats can be used to kill two specific characters. Each goat will kill one character, and the decision is in the hands of the player. Also the player can decide to kill both the characters, making the bloody goatherd screaming happily “Party, party, grotesque party!”.

When you will come back in the room, you will see the terrible consequences of your choices. If you thought that Count Lucanor is a game for children, now you will change idea. Blood and guts are everywhere, highlighting the terrible and painful death of the characters. If only one of the characters is killed, the other will be in pain commenting the atrocity of the scene. A really though moment for a pixel art fairytale.

 

Many games allow the player to experiment the consequences of their action, but rarely I found myself so disturbed like after the dark deal with the creepy goatherd. The toughness of dealing with such intense violence in a game that looks like a “retro coming to age fairytale” is really shocking, especially thinking that the main character is just a child in search of adventure. Do not misunderstand me because I am not doing moralisms here, I just want to highlight how I was surprisedly creeped out and disturbed by this game. The Goatherd and his hellish goats will always have a place in my personal list of the most creepy and surreal characters of a videogame.

Did you know that the Goatherd was the first protagonist of Count Lucanor? Check it more in the interview that I had with Francisco Calvelo from Baroque Decay.

Silent Hill 2: the mysterious sound at the beginning

After so many years, Silent Hill 2 is still a game full of secrets and hidden symbolism. The magic atmosphere of this game it is not only visual, but especially in the deepness of its sounds. Replaying it again, I discovered something that long time ago I didn’t notice.

At the beginning of the game, James has to walk a long isolated and desert way in the misty countryside to reach Silent Hill. The silence is absolute and the way apparently empty. Just James alone within the woods.

Suddenly, a deep and feral sound breaks the silence. It is a growl of a mysterious creature, a monster hidden somewhere behind the trees, ready to attack the player. The tension is at its climax, also because the player is only at the beginning of the game, having no idea of which kind of monsters has to face in Silent Hill 2. Later he will discover that there are no monsters that growl like a tiger in the entire game. After a long way in the mist listening to this creature… nothing happened.

What was that sound? What was its meaning?

If for sure for the player this was a trick to prepare him for the terrors waiting in Silent Hill, for the main character, James, the meaning is a bit different. The feral sound is in fact the city of Silent Hill calling for James, being sure that he will not turn around and escape, but will face his destiny. James will run away from this sound going directly toward the city, guided by the player, thinking that something is chasing him in the mist. But this is what the city wants, that James runs in its direction, entering in the unholiness of its streets.

The sound at the beginning is the city forcing James to go, it is too late to turn back and escape the purgatory that is waiting him. This sound trick works at a double level, having the same effect also for the player, that is only thinking to run away from mysterious monsters in the misty, long and empty way to Silent Hill. It is impossible to avoid the destiny, this is what the beginning of the game symbolised, highlighting one of the main topics of the entire game.