Video Game / Berl and the Candy House

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It follows the experiences of a German young man named Johannes (Hans for short). He was visiting a famous doctor in order to cure his ill sister Margarethe. After going out for 10 days, he returns only to find out his sister is gone and that children have been abducted from the village. He decides to search for his lost sister and finds an abandoned candy house in the Black Forest. What secrets lie at the mysterious candy house?

An English-translated version can be obtained here

Berl and the Candy House contains examples of:

• Alpha Bitch: Rezia is a popular girl who bullies Berl and takes advantage of Mikke's feelings for her.
• Abusive Parents: Maria Magdalene was this to Hans in his childhood, locking him up and emotionally abusing him for refusing to kill. She was a good mother to Margarethe—but in any case, raising them to be cannibalistic killers is pretty abusive in and of itself.
• Ambiguous Innocence: Margarethe acts rather childlike frequently, not seeming to understand that things like craving human meat and killing people are wrong. Her Obfuscating Stupidity makes this even more ambiguous.
• Asshole Victim:
  • Implied with Rezia and Mikke. An official comic by the author show Rezia to be a rich spoiled brat while Mikke goes along with whatever she does because he has a crush on her. It's hard to feel sorry for them after Margarethe kills them, although Berl does feel sorry for Mikke somewhat.
  • Maria Magdalene was a serial killer cannibal who encouraged her children to eat human meat and abused her son Hans when he refused to do it. She gets absolutely no sympathy when Margarethe pushes her into the oven after she tries to eat Hans.
• Bad People Abuse Animals: Maria Magdalene liked dismembering animals for fun as a child.
• Berserk Button: One played for laughs. Berl's full name is Berliner, like the cake, to which sweets enthusiast Hans likes to tease her about.
• Beyond Redemption: Margarethe attempting to capture and eat Berl is what finally convinces Hans that his sister can't be helped.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: Maria Magdalene is a sadistic monster who teaches her children to rob and eat travelers, Margarethe is a sociopathic killer in the same vein as her mother, and Hans, the White Sheep, is a traumatized abuse victim who just wants out.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Maria Magdalene, a seemingly-sweet lady who kills and eats people.
• Brother–Sister Incest: Hans and Margarethe are completely codependant on each other and display some....disturbing behavior when they're talking about how much important they are to the other.
• Cain and Abel: Hans, for all his terrible upbringing, ultimately turns out decent, and in the end not only turns on the family but kills his sister Margarethe before she can add Berl to her list of victims.
• Child Eater: Margarethe admits that her favorite meat is the one from little girls. Hans gave her animal meat in a desperate attempt to curb her compulsion to kill, but it only made things worse.. Meanwhile, her mother Maria Magdalene likes eating children and babies, but was not picky about eating adults either.
• Child by Rape: Maria Magdalene was raped by a bunch of witch hunters, resulting in Hans and Margarethe's conception.
• Children Are Innocent: Berl. Mercilessly averted with young Hans and Margarethe though.
• Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Hans is one of the best examples out there. He makes sure Margarethe stays safe, keeps her fed, explains her oddities to other people, and finally sends her to the afterlife himself rather than let her cannibalize an innocent child.
• Creepy Child:
  • Margarethe was already this as a child, embracing her mother's cannibalistic tendencies and her obsession with eating her brother someday.
  • According to Maria Magdalene in Kapitel 4, Hans unnerved her with his mature self-assurance as a child.
• Conversation Casualty: In Ending 1, Hans is calmly talking to Margarethe about their childhood; he hugs Margarethe and asks her to close his eyes while talking....and then Hans uses his powers to burn them both.
• Died on Their Birthday: Rezia wanted to celebrate her birthday in the mysterious Candy House, and she ends up being killed by Margarethe.
• Dissonant Serenity: Hans. He never shows much excitement, no matter what he's been up to.
• Despair Event Horizon: In Endings 2 and 3, it's Margarethe killing and eating Berl that breaks Hans. He is forced to give up any lingering denial he may have had about Margarethe's evil nature or his inability to control her.
• Dogged Nice Guy: Mikke is pining for Rezia, the most popular girl at the village. Rezia is very aware of this, but uses it to her advantage, flirting with him to get him to do anything she wants.
• Don't Go in the Woods: Lest you become the meal of a cannibal witch.
• Eats Babies: Maria Magdalene's first victim was Amy, her neighbor's newborn daughter.
• Everyone Has Standards: Berl is a nice girl who's compassionate towards everyone, pitying Margarethe and mourning Mikke's death. However she begrudgingly admits that she does not feel sorry for Rezia's death at all.
• False Friend: Rezia and Mikke invited Berl to investigate the Candy House with them, despite not getting along with her. A comic by the author◊ reveals they only invited her because they needed a scapegoat in case anything went wrong.
• Faux Affably Evil: Margarethe. She acts sweet (especially in front of Hans) but when she doesn't get her way or someone gets in between her and her goals, she shows what a murderous psycho she is.
• Friendless Background:
  • Berl is treated as an outcast by the other children due to having red eyes and carrying around a stuffed bunny despite being "too old for toys".
  • Mikke was a loner due to his shy personality and having the Alpha Bitch of the village as his only friend.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Berl is a sweet little girl that's nice to everyone, despite the hardships she endures. Even the loner Hans quickly warms up to her. And in the Bonus Room, Margarethe develops a soft spot for her.
• Hillbilly Horrors: A classic example, with a little girl being menaced by the remains of a Cannibal Clan in rural Germany.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Maria Magdalene eats her victims due to her morbid fascination with death. Also her daughter Margarethe, as part of a psychological compulsion.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: A variant with Hans. He wants to have a normal family, but for them, normal is being psychotic child-eaters.
• In the Blood: Hans discovers that his mother was a cannibal serial killer and believes that she passed her murderous nature to Margarethe.
• Light Is Not Good: Maria Magdalene, with her blonde hair and spotless purple dresses, is a classic example.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Hans's nosy neighbor makes a remark about how Margarethe ought to see a therapist, which makes Hans immediately defensive. As much of a jerk as she is, she's right that Margarethe could really, really get help.
• Living Emotional Crutch: Although Hans is sometimes impatient with his sister, he's the only person Margarethe trusts. His presence keeps Margarethe (barely) functional, and a week-long absence is enough to send her completely off the deep end.
• Love Martyr: A familial example: Hans sacrifices his sanity, integrity, and in Ending 1, his life out of the love he has for his sister.
• Morality Chain: Hans is this to Margarethe. It's fairly evident that she only cares to keep her repressed aggression and craving for human meat in check whenever he's around.
• Multiple Endings:
  • True Ending: Survivor: Berl survives and Hans is able to stop Margarethe. He reveals that he became a witch after their mother locked him in the cage for a week. Wanting to stop his sister from hurting anyone else, but being unable to live without her, Hans sets the Candy House on fire, killing Margarethe and himself while poor Berl is forced to watch. A week later, Berl goes to the destroyed house and to her surprise she finds Hans alive and well. The two friends reunite once again.
  • Bad Ending 1: Kiss: Berl dies and her severed head is presented to Hans in a plate. Finally realizing that his sister is beyond redemption, Hans brutally kills Margarethe. However he has lost his remaining sanity and starts eating Berl's head, becoming a cannibal like his mother and sister.
  • Bad Ending 2: Lovers Suicide: Similar to End 2, but Hans realizes that Margarethe became a witch because he left her alone for 10 days. Blaming himself for his sister's descend into insanity and Berl's death, he kills Margarethe and them himself.
  • Bad Ending 3: Escape: Hans gives up on his search for Margarethe and escapes the house without finding the cellar where she keeps the abducted children. Days later, his corpse is found in the forest, firmly clasping his sister's earring.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Kapitel 4 is a huge one for Maria Magdalene. After death she realized how awful she was to her son and brings him back to life using the remainings of Margarethe's power.
• Oktoberfest: The story happens in rural Germany and has all the associated stereotypes. Berl wears a Bavarian dress and her hair in braids, there's mention of sweets such as kirschtorte, baumkuchen and berliner, Hans is quite serious and has difficulty lightening up. Also all little boys wear lederhosen.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: The reason why Margarethe killed her mother.
  Margarethe: After a week in that birdcage, mom gave up on you and tried to eat you....
  Hans: But you stopped her from doing so.
  Margarethe: Cause I'm the only one allowed to eat you, Hans.
• Painting the Medium: The character portraits appears as silhouettes, since we see them from Hans's (who suffers prosopagnosia) point of view.
• Promotion to Parent: After the death of their mother, Hans decided to raise Margarethe. Unfortunately, due to the two being children, this backfired badly in their adult years, with Hans being obsessively overprotective and Margarethe acting too codependant.
• Sanity Slippage: Being isolated with nothing to eat for a week will result in a human becoming a witch. And then you remember Hans left Margarethe at home for 10 days and she's ridiculously codependant....
  • Maria Magdalene locked Hans in the birdcage for seven days, thus he became a witch as a child. He coped with the situation better than his sister though.
• The Sociopath: Maria Magdalene, who unlike her offsprings has no positive qualities and never did. She killed animals out of fun and morbid curiosity and when she got bored with it, she escalated to killing and eating people. Also, when she was pregnant with Hans and Margarethe she said she would eat the babies if they were born ugly. When Hans is born and starts calling her out that killing and eating people is wrong, she tries to make him a cannibal by force by locking him in a cage for days. It’s only when she dies and becomes a spirit that she starts feeling remorse for her actions and becomes The Atoner.
• Sole Survivor: Berl is the only survivor of the three children captured by Margarethe. In Ending 1, she survives again after Hans burns down the Candy House, taking Margarethe with him.
• Spell My Name With An S: According to Word of God, the game is romanized as Bell and the Candy House, due to Berl's name having the same pronunciation as Bell (ベル). However, it's stated her name is short for Berliner.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Rezia and Mikke don't get a lot of screentime before they're killed by Margarethe and by the time Hans encounters them, they've been dead for quite a while. Foolish Girl and The Witch at the Candy House fix this, giving them more characterization and showing how they died.
• White Sheep: Hans's the one decent person in a family of killers and cannibals. And god, he suffers for it.
• Villainous Lineage: Margarethe has inherited her mother's killer instinct, and joined her in slaughtering random people. Her older child Hans, however, is a lot better.