Draft:Mascot horror

Mascot horror is a derivative of the Horror fiction genre and is popular among indie game developers. It gained movement in the mid-2010s with the arrival of the Five Nights at Freddy's series. Comparative patterns to Mascot horror are already known from the slasher movies of the 1980s, and the creepypasta-based video games of the early 2010s; both of these spun around a recognizable character to advertise their horror-based properties. The distinct characteristics of the subgenre are toy-like villains, an abundance of jumpscares, and appealing to children, them being the primary audience.

Characteristics
Mascot horror generally consists of these characteristics:


 * A marketable character, who is most of the time the antagonist and face of the game.
 * A child friendly area to explore (a toy factory for example.)
 * Hidden lore, many times in the form of clues, cryptic puzzles, and environmental storytelling.
 * Jumpscares that always play as soon as the player dies, mostly accompanied by a loud distorted scream
 * A featureless protagonist, as many of these games are in first-person perspective.
 * Frequent references to childhood, such as making the protagonist having grown up with the said in-universe media.
 * In some games, it is implied that the antagonist is a human turned into the evil mascot.

Mascot horror games also become popular through being played by youtubers. Five Nights at Freddy's, for example, achieved some of its popularity through Let's Play videos by famous youtubers such as Markiplier, JackSepticEye and Game theory.

History
The beginning of mascot horror can be retraced to the release of Five Nights at Freddy's, on august 8th. As a horror game, Five Nights at Freddy's steered clear of classic horror elements like blood, gore, and psychological horror in order to appeal to a younger audience. It gained attention through Let's plays, most notably those by Markiplier. In nine years, Markiplier's original Five Nights at Freddy's Let's Play video has received over 111 million views.

The Five Nights at Freddy's series released another 9 games. All of them considered the parents of mascot horror and "Surveillance horror"

After Fnaf, many games released copying the style of a "toy-ish, child friendly monster". Notable examples are Tattletail, Bendy and the Ink Machine, and Hello Neighbor.

Midway through 2023, a video clip of Markiplier criticizing the Hello Neighbor video game series went viral on Twitter, mascot horror YouTube series Skibidi Toilet garnered attention, and a viral tweet comparing old and new horror games all contributed to the mascot horror discourse on the platform.