Creepypasta Wiki:Creepy Clichés

The following is a list of what are generally considered to be overused clichés. That doesn't mean to avoid them at all costs; in fact, some of these are overused because they are highly usable. But if the story you're planning on writing incorporates many of these, that should be a warning sign, as they tend to bring the reader out of the story, and will more than likely interfere with their suspension of disbelief.

And remember: this is a list of actual cliches, not complaints or opinons (no matter how valid they may be.) If you have a complaint that isn't about cliches and more about things that generally tick you off in pastas, try making a blog post about it instead.

However, these aren't always to be avoided. If you can work one into a story well, then for God's sake make it.

General Clichés

 * Anything starting with the phrase "I know you're not going to believe this".
 * Also "I used to be a skeptic, but..."
 * The numbers 13 and 666.
 * Random, pointless violence (people disemboweling others or being disemboweled, people fucking up someone's eyes, etc.). Not only is it cliché, it's annoying; it's an obvious cheap gimmick to add some crazy disturbing aspect to your story. Neito 04:15, July 27, 2011 (UTC)
 * Falsely believing something is over, and then creepy shit happening again anyway.
 * Using "This actually happened to me" or "This isn't a creepypasta, it really happened!" in an attempt to turn up suspense only kills it. Especially "You have to believe me" or "You won't believe this" is added on. Suspension of disbelief is broken when directly addressed. --King Starscream 18:19, September 27, 2011 (UTC)
 * Making the first word/letter of every paragraph spell out something, usually something along the lines of "DON'T LOOK BEHIND YOU!". This usually makes the reader laugh from such a silly attempt to scare, especially if they're sitting with a wall behind them. --aradials18:56, October 30th, 2011 (GMT)
 * On the same note, ending the pasta with "YOU'RE NEXT!!!!" What are you, twelve?! Furbearingbrick 21:46, December 18, 2011 (UTC)
 * Starting a story with "Don't read this or you'll be cursed" or similar will just make people not read it. --King Starscream 20:47, November 14, 2011 (UTC)
 * Zalgo text. It's just not scary anymore, plus it's hard to read and incredibly annoying. Furbearingbrick 20:28, December 26, 2011 (UTC)
 * File extensions. "Supersuicide.avi", you are a "candyass.exe". Use them with caution. Wadster97 23:56, July 26, 2011 (UTC)
 * Using hyper-realistic eyes or empty sockets or bleeding eyes, it's used too much The King Of Waffles 03:19, January 15, 2012 (UTC) (I used that in my pasta and got PotM, haha. I didn't know it was a cliche back then. Mr. Pengy 20:27, January 31, 2012 (UTC))
 * Just... Just hyper-realistic stuff. I mean, DAMN, I think that this is the most overused creepypasta cliche EVER. If you use it, dear, delete it from your creepypasta immediately, if you don't want it to be rated lower.
 * Smile.jpg. Or basically any other pasta monster/meme (Jeff, Zalgo etc.) 19:05, March 24, 2012 (UTC)

General Video Game Clichés

 * Haunted cartridge (Copying the original story BEN).
 * Classic childhood game with super-violent content added.
 * The cartridge/label shows obvious signs of tampering. Furbearingbrick 21:58, August 16, 2011 (UTC)
 * Obviously technically impossible stuff, such as games that delete themselves in such a way that you can't recover them, or games with "perfect" copy protection. (Such as Killswitch, which is both.) This includes older games having graphics/sound/visual effects beyond the system's technical limitations. NES Godzilla Creepypasta manages to pull this off well by doing this very gradually. Faster than a computer! Deadlier than a laser! 12:14, March 20, 2012 (UTC)
 * "Hidden" content in popular games (such as Pokémon, that have been gone over with a fine toothed comb a thousand times).
 * The game knows my name (even though I never put it in anywhere/the game has no ability for me to change my characters/save files name). An example is Kingdom Hearts: The Other Mix. However this was pulled off rather successfully in The Lion King Sega Game Creepypasta.
 * Song generally regarded as "creepy" plays on repeat or backwards (HI, LAVENDER TOWN THEME!). MothmanVQX 00:43, July 27, 2011 (UTC)
 * Of note is the fact that most video game background music is on repeat ANYWAY.


 * Not being able to turn off/unplug the game console/TV. Assassin's_Creed has a good (bad) example of this one toward the late middle. Rather than doing this in order to explain why you didn't just turn off the game when it started getting creepy, simple human curiosity is a much more sane explanation.
 * On the same note, being unable to turn the volume off/down. Extra cliche points if the volume becomes deafeningly loud. Also applies to lost episode pasta. HOW&#39;S YOUR MOUTH ROLLIN TODAY? 14:07, March 6, 2012 (UTC)
 * Buying the game from someone at a yard sale; the seller usually having a story behind the game (i.e. "the kid who used to own this game was a very disturbed but brilliant hacker.("BEN")
 * Trying to relive some childhood nostalgia. (i.e. Easter Egg-Snow on Mt. Silver, Pokemon Lost Silver, Super Mario 64, Jessica)
 * This mod was PMed to me personally/found it on a skeezy looking site/found on a random disc and ZOMG IT'S SUPAH CREEPY GUIZ. Jvk1166z.esp, for example. Neito 20:30, July 27, 2011 (UTC)
 * The game's talking to me, telling me to go away, turn back or something of that sort. MARIO, even though it's a real hack, is exactly this. Neito 20:33, July 27, 2011 (UTC)
 * Characters begging you (or appearing to beg you) not to go to certain places or do certain things, like Elliot in the NiGHTS Into Dreams pasta.
 * Random .EXE files appearing on your computer or being sent to you by an 'anonymous sender'. User:Retro Man 404 17:00, October 15, 2011 (GMT +0)
 * When the player refuses to shut down the console/TURNBACK and has real dead/mutilated bodies appear all over the screen. Or it just happens randomly because the ghost is ****ing evil.
 * Downloading obviously suspicious ROMs or Hacks because "you desperately need to play."
 * Games that mess with your computer background or desktop icons. Also applies to pastas about video files.
 * Thinking that certain things were just some "minor glitches" MoMo6 14:52, December 28, 2011 (UTC) I'd say it depends on the glitch, but if its actually something that could be written off as a minor glitch then it prolly goes without saying anywayHeavyMetalProphet 04:15, April 25, 2012 (UTC)
 * Destroying the cartridge/disc/game card in disgust as an explanation for why you can't provide proof of the game's existence; that's just lazy writing. Also applies to DVDs and VHS tapes in Lost Episode pastas. Furbearingbrick 23:07, January 19, 2012 (UTC)
 * The person who was selling the game (yard, eBay, whatever) was begging for people to buy it, with low price too. Just too many of those. Crossfire2 15:04, February 7, 2012 (UTC)
 * Also, the ebay account/yardsale/old creepy game store mysteriously disappears if the narrator tries to check back in.TomorrowTomorrow
 * Old cartridges/disks/game cards/flash drives/etc found in garbage cans, desks, the ground. And names scribbled on with Sharpie or carved into the plastic itself. MurderaTheEevee 01:33, April 9, 2012 (UTC) My Signiture Deal With It
 * As awful as the above cliche is, there's actually a grain of truth behind it: there ARE people who thoughtlessly throw away unwanted video games, rather than trade them in for cash or other games to a game reseller or donate them to a thrift store. Years ago, when my brother was a garbage collector, he would routinely find abandoned DS cards and GBA cartidges literally lying on the side of the road. Faster than a computer! Deadlier than a laser! 17:08, April 12, 2012 (UTC)

Pokemon Cliches

 * Pokemon with abandonment issues.
 * Pokemon dying instead of fainting when you defeat them in battle.
 * Anything to do with Lavender Town, but especially "Lavender Town Syndrome ."
 * Vengeful/jealous Pokemon from a previous generation or save file. Furbearingbrick 19:54, January 31, 2012 (UTC)
 * Distorted/demonic-sounding Pokemon cries. Furbearingbrick 03:35, February 1, 2012 (UTC)
 * the Natures, descriptions, and/or status of your Pokemon changing to creepy stuff like "Vengeful", "Dead", "Cursed", and "HATE". Furbearingbrick 20:23, February 21, 2012 (UTC)
 * A legendary you just obtained, especially an event-only one, becoming jealous of the rest of your team and murdering them one by one. This seems to happen a lot with shinies and starters, too. Furbearingbrick 17:46, February 21, 2012 (UTC)
 * Finding a Ghost-type Pokemon in an odd place (ie Glitchy Gengar.) Furbearingbrick 20:23, February 21, 2012 (UTC)
 * When being traded a Pokemon, the person you got it from claims it's evil. Furbearingbrick 14:48, February 22, 2012 (UTC)
 * Pikachus and Eeveeluitons (especially Umbreon and Espeon) are extremely overused. Furbearingbrick 14:52, February 22, 2012 (UTC)
 * Unown either appearing or being in your party since the start of your game, spelling a 'creepy' message. I see the bright blue skies! Through the clear ocean waters! 19:06, March 6, 2012 (UTC)
 * A Pokemon you used to like or that you don't use very much tears apart other Pokemon and attaches bits of them to itself to make you like them. It's really getting overused now. SMEWWOVISION WEPWACES TEWWOVISION?! 18:35, March 12, 2012 (UTC)
 * GHOST. 'nuff said. did you know i&#39;m amazing? 01:02, March 16, 2012 (UTC)

Lost Episode Clichés

 * Got it on a website that doesn't exist anymore and nobody else in the universe has a copy.
 * Like with video game pastas, obtaining the episode from a garage or yard sale. Furbearingbrick 22:00, August 16, 2011 (UTC)
 * I was an intern - SHUT THE FUCK UP. How many times have I heard that? Originally from Squidward's Suicide, but used in others like Pearl.avi. Wadster97 23:56, July 26, 2011 (UTC)
 * With this one try and make it something else since normally interns dont get to see that stuff or do stuff that is actually possible. I know I shouldnt give examples but do something like: I was one of the editors and with this series (like some others) I send off my clip to some other people and they check it over and sometimes do some changes.991woot119 08:47, December 7, 2011 (UTC)
 * A spike in the suicide rate of the target audience after it was aired (also applies to video games). MothmanVQX 00:43, July 27, 2011 (UTC)
 * Content that could obviously never get past the FCC or any channels Standards and Practices board ending up being broadcast.
 * Using "Goodbye" (INSERT CHARACTER HERE) as the title of the episode. Dronian 13:22, August 6, 2011 (UTC)
 * Almost every fucking one of these pastas is "The death and/or suicide of (insert character here)". YeMonkeycxr
 * Posting the story and/or video up on a website, only for it to get deleted in minutes. Legendarygunner1987
 * Characters crying, screaming, and/or bleeding in a "hyper realistic" manner.
 * Most of the episode being distorted or static, and the viewer can only see killing or aformentioned "hyper-realsitic" imagery. Furbearingbrick 17:03, December 26, 2011
 * With older shows, showing or mentioning a culturally-signifigant event or item that hadn't yet happened when the episode was made, like 9/11 or an iPad showing up in a show made in 1983. Popularized by Happy Appy, but originally used in Seinfeld Lost Episode. HOW&#39;S YOUR MOUTH ROLLIN TODAY? 12:28, March 6, 2012 (UTC)
 * Not sure if this fits here, but any theory about a series in which weird things happen on a regular basis (the Pokemon anime, Flapjack, Chowder, Adventure Time, etc.) which states the protagonist is actually in hell or in a coma, and the entire show is a figment of their imaginations/reflections of thier sins. Also applies to video games. Furbearingbrick 20:00, January 31, 2012 (UTC)
 * Zalgofied cartoon characters. Jabronis 21:47, February 8, 2012 (UTC)
 * One character killing all other characters, usually a protagonist. Jabronis 21:47, February 8, 2012 (UTC)
 * Actors, directors, or animators being arrested, killed, committing suicide or sent to a mental asylum after the episode airs. 01:50, February 15, 2012 (UTC)MangoMonkey
 * Finding a random flashdrive on the ground only to find out it has a haunted .avi or .wmv SlayerofTrolls 18:30, February 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * Warning the reader to never watch the tape if he/she finds it somehow. 00:28, March 13, 2012 (UTC)
 * The episode only being shown in a remote area. did you know i&#39;m amazing? 01:05, March 16, 2012 (UTC)
 * Unrelated clips placed in an episode, usually relating to graphic violence or other disturbing content (I.E. clip of IRL murder in the middle of a lost Spongebob tape) 21:11, March 22, 2012 (UTC)
 * Is it me or does it seem cannibalism is getting pretty common? MurderaTheEevee 01:41, April 9, 2012 (UTC)My Signature Deal With It
 * Saying that all the main characters are ghosts that haunt the place where the show usually takes place, and explaining how they all died along with what year they died in. The earliest example I know of this is a theory that all the kids from Ed, Edd, n' Eddy were in purgatory which was actually pretty good, and the pastas The Playground and South Park, Colorado seem to just copy this concept unsuccessfuly. HeavyMetalProphet 04:27, April 25, 2012 (UTC)