10 Terrifying True Endings In Video Games

On the surface, Doki Doki Literature Club is a Japanese high school dating sim that you won't want your parents to catch you playing. But, under that surface is an experimental meta-horror that messes with your expectations.

The mind-melding game concludes with one of your romantic options (Monika) becoming sentient and causing violent chaos. After deleting her, the vice-president (Sayori) will take her place as president of the literature club, only to also gain sentience and become a new Monika. This leads to the game being deleted and the cycle beginning anew.

However, passionate players can achieve the game's best ending by reloading their saves and romancing all of the characters. This still causes Sayori to take over and become sentient, but instead of turning evil, she thanks the player and wishes them a fond farewell. Aww.

Of course, this is technically he game's happy ending, as it sees the cycle broken and peace restored to the Doki Doki-verse. But when you step back and think about it, this ending is just as terrifying.

It implies that Sayori is now entirely self-aware and is doomed to remain so forever. So putting the game down and quitting play leaves her stuck in eternal darkness until you pick it up again. Does that seem like a happy ending to you?