Please note that this page and the Game Mod it covers contain MAJOR spoilers for Doki Doki Literature Club!. If you have not played that game, it is strongly recommended that you do so before reading this page or playing the mod, as doing either first is very likely to ruin your experience.
"What if things could be different? What if you could save her?"
Doki Doki Salvation Remake! is a fan-made Game Mod of Doki Doki Literature Club! and, as its name suggests, a remake (and considerable expansion) of Doki Doki Salvation. Created by 12Gizguy6, the creator of the original Salvation, it begins with the main character (MC) finding Sayori in the course of hanging herself and saving her life. Things proceed from there as the Literature Club's members learn more about and work to help one another. Monika, meanwhile, grapples with an ever-increasing countdown to herself being "reset".
The mod, like the original, focuses heavily on Sayori, who eventually becomes MC's girlfriend, but Monika is a second POV character and the story's Deuteragonist. Completing the mod unlocks five side stories.
You can download it here
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This mod contains examples of the following tropes:
Main story
Tropes
- Adaptational Alternate Ending: To the original Salvation mod. There, Monika attempted suicide and the player could stop or allow it. Here, Monika undergoes a Heel–Face Turn and a Death of Personality, all without revealing the truth of the game to the other characters.
- Adaptational Costume Change: The characters keep their base outfits from the original game, but the four girls also acquire a number of alternate outfits.
- Adaptational Romance Downgrade: Downplayed. MC and Sayori have sex in the original Salvation; here, the main game ends with their first kiss.
- Adaptational Secrecy Downgrade: Inverted. In the original Salvation, Monika ultimately revealed the Awful Truth to Sayori, Yuri, Natsuki, and MC; here, she is tempted to tell Sayori shortly before her Death of Personality, but decides not to.
- Adaptation Expansion: The original Salvation came in not much longer than the vanilla game itself (roughly 6-7 hours). Salvation Remake on the Auto speed setting is easily 25+ hours (not counting the post-game side stories).
- Adapted Out: The poem mini-game of the original; even on the two occasions MC writes poems, the player has no input on their content.
- Addressing the Player: Twice, from Monika.
- After reaching her room in the Void, she tests out a "Can you hear me?" prompt with an option for the player to click "Yes".
- Just before the kernel access reset, she makes her Dying Declaration of Love to the player.
- Adults Are Useless: Averted; emergency services personnel transport Sayori to the hospital, and hospital personnel treat her (and later Monika). Sayori also has a therapist, and her parents are also referenced visiting her (both in the hospital and at home).
- Affectionate Nickname: Before the base game's events, Sayori and Monika called each other "Sayo" and "Moni". They recover the habit toward the end of the mod.
- Art Shift: Downplayed. Some scenes are animated in styles very different from the base game, but other aspects (such as the girls' outfits unique to the mod) fit quite well.
- Ascended Extra: Sayori and, oddly, Monika. Sayori and MC's relationship becomes the primary plotline, but although Monika eventually hijacked the vanilla game, here, she is the Deuteragonist from the get-go.
- Awful Truth: Averted. Monika is on the cusp of revealing the fact that they live in a game to Sayori before her Death of Personality, but restrains herself to protect Sayori.
- Beach Episode: As in the original Salvation, MC and Sayori have a beach date (though this time they leave voluntarily, as Sayori gets cold in the ocean).
- Be All My Sins Remembered: After her Heel Realization, Monika is constantly bewildered by Yuri's and Sayori's willingness to forgive her and work to repair their relationship, assuming her wrongs against them should put her Beyond Redemption.
- Best Friend: Sayori to both Monika and the main character (and vice versa).
- Big Damn Hug: Several characters receive one throughout, especially Sayori and Monika. Perhaps the most dramatic is Monika to Sayori after Monika's My God, What Have I Done? moment below.
- Blade Enthusiast: Yuri. When Monika visits Yuri's house, she takes an interest in Yuri's collection of knives, and Yuri explains several in loving detail.
- Blowout Fight: MC and Sayori have a nasty one about halfway through the mod over what she believes to be his badgering about her depression, what he believes to be her lack of effort in addressing it, and their mutual misconceptions about each other.
- Broken Tears: Sayori during her Blowout Fight with the main character, and Subconscious!Monika in the Void Room.
- Call-Back: Sayori and Yuri reference their poems from the base game ("Bottles" and "The raccoon", respectively) in discussing their mental health. Yuri actually writes a sequel to "The raccoon".
- Childhood Friend Romance: MC and Sayori, with each other.
- Chronic Self-Deprecation: One of the largest manifestations of Sayori's depression is her persistent belief that wanting to be happy (even so far as enjoying MC's reciprocated love for her) is being "selfish".
- Clawing at Own Throat: Sayori struggles after starting to hang herself; MC saves her before she dies.
- Closet Geek: Apart from his canonical manga interest, MC also enjoys learning about the weather and weather patterns, which he reveals somewhat sheepishly and only when asked.
- Clothing-Concealed Injury:
- Yuri and Monika both use their sleeves to cover their Self-Harm injuries. Monika, however, lets it slip her mind when wearing a tank top, and Yuri notices the mark.
- After her discharge from the hospital, Sayori spends the majority of the game applying concealer to her neck to hide the rope burn from her attempted suicide.
- Cuddle Bug: Sayori is the group's hug expert, and multiple characters seek out her hugs throughout the mod.
- Cutting Off the Branches: Dialogue makes clear that the Natsuki route in the base game's Act I is "canon" to this mod, though the main character also confessed to Sayori shortly before her attempted suicide.
- Death of Personality: Downplayed. The Monitor Kernel Access Reset erases Monika's Medium Awareness, as well as her memory of why she did the villainous things she did, but "resets" her basic personality and leaves (sometimes-hazy) memories of the events of the mod.
- Dénouement Episode: Completing the main mod unlocks five mini-episodes (called "Side Stories") set afterward.
- Monika's Matchmaking: MC attempts to take Sayori on a fancy date in the city.
- Friendship and Fantasy: Yuri, Sayori, and MC play Dungeons & Dragons and experiment with drinking wine.
- A Day With Natsuki: Monika helps Natsuki with a bake sale.
- School Dance: The Literature Club members attend a school dance.
- It's Just a Club Meeting: Shouko Komi from Komi San Wa Komyushou Desu finds herself in the Dokiverse and befriends the Literature Club while Monika works on getting her home.
- De-power: Monika loses her ability to alter aspects of the game. She recovers her powers in the Void Room right before her Death of Personality, but intentionally declines to use them, accepting her "reset" to protect her friends.
- Didn't Think This Through: Monika, finding herself unable to simple delete Sayori's character, instead sends the main character a text to check on Sayori, thinking that might help ensure Sayori is taken out of the picture. Instead, MC comes upon Sayori just after she begins hanging herself and saves her life.
- Dying Declaration of Love: For a given value of "dying", but just before the reset, Monika's Last Words (spoken to the player) are "I love you."
- Empathic Environment:
- It rains the night of MC and Sayori's Blowout Fight.
- It also snows the day MC confesses to Sayori.
- Empty Shell: What Monika suspects she may be left as after the monitor kernel access reset.
- Exhausted Eye Bags: Monika develops them throughout the mod as the weight of her past evils (enacted and contemplated) begins to tell on her. The main character notices them after Monika's vision of Sayori's successful suicide.
- Existential Horror: Monika gets a double dose—the vanilla game's Medium Awareness, and a "monitor kernel access reset" countdown which, when it progresses to 100 percent, will wipe her mind.
- Extremely Short Timespan: Inverted. Unlike the original game, which took place over a week, the mod explicitly takes place over multiple months.
- Face Death with Dignity: After many hours of Character Development and a Heel Realization, Monika allows a Death of Personality to wipe her knowledge of the real world, and even prevents the self-centered part of herself from interfering; she simply says a final farewell to the player, dons a music note necklace Sayori gave her, and watches the timer count down.
- Fainting: Monika faints twice, each due to the strain of the impending monitor kernel access reset. The first time, Yuri brings her around relatively quickly. The second time, she heads to her Death of Personality and Sayori takes her to the hospital.
- False Friend: Natsuki's original friend group. Part of her arc involves recognizing their mockery for the emotional abuse it is and cutting ties.
- First Kiss: MC and Sayori's is the end of the main story.
- Fingore: Frequent, unsuccessful attempts to control the game after losing her power over it leave Monika with bruised fingers that other characters notice.
- Flashy Protagonists, Bland Extras: Exaggerated—the four girls are as detailed as in the original game, and MC (during his brief appearance from Monika's POV) is fully drawn, but the two minor characters with speaking parts (Sayori's mother and an old friend of Natsuki's) are just silhouettes.
- Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: When Monika finally confesses she intentionally pushed Sayori toward suicide, Sayori forgives her, but admits it will take time to rebuild trust between them.
- Fourth-Wall Observer: Monika. Unlike the base game and the original Salvation, no one else ever learns the Awful Truth (though Yuri and Sayori both get hints).
- Friendship Trinket: Sayori buys Monika a necklace with a music note, which Monika later dons as a reminder of her friends seconds before her Death of Personality.
- The Glomp: One of Sayori's specialties.
- Go Mad from the Isolation: Subverted. Monika, though not literally isolated, is the only medium-aware character in the game, and starts off quite stressed over being trapped and depowered in the game with a bunch of "friends" she sees as nothing more than code. Over time, however, she comes to see her friends as equally real in their own way.
- Group Hug: The last scene with all the Literature Club members ends this way.
- Happy Flashback: Atypically not Played for Drama or tearjerking—the end credits feature a montage of images of childhood MC and Sayori playing and studying together.
- Hates Being Touched: Downplayed. Yuri is unused to and uncomfortable with physical affection, which contrasts (and initially conflicts) with Sayori's Cuddle Bug nature. Over time, however, Yuri comes to appreciate Sayori's hugs, albeit still preferring a little warning.
- Heal the Cutie: Sayori gets a much slower one than in the original Salvation, but it remains the heart of MC's storyline.
- Heartfelt Apology: Several, but notably:
- MC apologizes to Sayori after their Blowout Fight.
- Monika gives Sayori a Big Damn Hug while apologizing after seeing a vision of Sayori's suicide if it had been successful.
- Monika gives another to her own subconscious shortly before the kernel access reset.
"And even now, knowing I can communicate fully with The Player...I'm truly sorry for everything." - Heel Realization: Monika's slowly develops throughout the first three Acts, but peaks when she envisions Sayori's suicide if it had been successful."I claimed I wanted to do all these things for You. Because I loved You. But that's not love..."
- Hidden Depths: As revealed in her Stargazing Scene, Sayori knows a fair bit about astronomy.
- Iconic Outfit: Sayori and Monika both treat their hair bows this way. When Sayori's bow comes off (once in the main mod and once in an epilogue), MC jokingly pretends not to recognize her until she puts it back in. Monika, meanwhile, is briefly startled to find hers missing when it is removed after she faints.
- I Hate Past Me: Subverted. When Monika comes face to face with the subconscious part of herself who was willing to hurt Sayori and the others, she stands firm on her Heel–Face Turn, but treats her past self with compassion, recognizing her loneliness and fear.
- Instrumentals: The entire soundtrack; much of it is adapted from the original Doki Doki Literature Club, though two points feature a soft piano cover of "Can't Help Falling In Love".
- Internal Reveal: Monika already knows about Yuri's Self-Harm tendencies, but MC, Natsuki, and Sayori each find out at different points during the mod.
- Interrupted Suicide: MC prevents Sayori from successfully hanging herself. Unlike the original Salvation, however, he comes upon her after she has already started the hanging; she spends the first chunk of the game hospitalized and has a rope bruise around her neck for most of the game.
- Limited Wardrobe: Averted; all four girls acquire multiple non-uniform outfits.
- Living Emotional Crutch: Downplayed. MC plays this role for Sayori to some degree, but part of his character arc is giving her enough space to function without him constantly hovering over her.
- Love Confession: MC finally works up the courage to give Sayori one in Act IV.
- Love Letter: MC's and Sayori's final poems in Act IV are love letters to each other.
- Love Redeems: Platonic love for (and from) her friends drives Monika's Heel–Face Turn, and ultimately leads to her preventing her subconscious from deleting the game.
- Mid-Suicide Regret: Sayori struggles with the rope when MC saves her, and when Monika envisions Sayori's suicide, she notes Sayori's bloody fingers (from clawing at the rope) and the tears on her face.
- Ms. Fanservice: Sayori picks out a bikini while shopping with MC, and later wears it during the Beach Episode.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- While Sayori is hospitalized, the main character reflects on the ways he has failed and neglected her as a friend.
- Monika grows increasingly uncomfortable with visions of her past actions (aggravating Sayori's depression and driving her toward suicide) and the consequences that could have been (Yuri's suicide from the base game), but she finally hits a Heel Realization at full force when she envisions Sayori's suicide if it had been successful."I keep trying to justify every single little thing I did. But I can't justify letting one of my best friends die."
- Parental Abandonment: Zig-zagged. Monika's and Yuri's parents and Natsuki's mother are dead. Natsuki's father is distant (and overly strict when he is involved). MC's parents and Sayori's father work overseas. Sayori's mother is implied to work extensively too, but is more engaged with Sayori's life (and even appears with lines, albeit as a silhouette).
- Patchwork Fic: The mod incorporates both Act I of the base game and some details from the alternate-reality side stories in Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!, such as Monika discovering Sayori's depression by reading a poem Sayori left behind.
- Piggyback Cute: Among the images in the end credits is MC giving Sayori a piggyback ride when they were children.
- Positive Friend Influence: MC, Sayori, Natsuki, and Yuri on each other, and all of them on Monika.
- Power Loss Depression: Monika, after losing her power to alter the game, becomes even more frustrated and miserable—she retains all her Medium Awareness, but now can do nothing about it.
- The Promise:
- As a child, the main character promised Sayori "I'd always be your bestest [sic] friend."
- While Sayori is comatose in the hospital, MC promises to always be there for her.
- Purple Prose: When MC goes to Yuri and Natsuki for help planning his Love Confession to Sayori, Yuri's suggested speech is so flowery and nigh-Shakespearean that both MC and Natsuki can only stare.
- Rash Promise: The main character pinky promises Sayori to stop bringing up her antidepressants. Guess what triggers their Blowout Fight?
- Redemption Earns Life: Though Monika undergoes a minor Death of Personality which erases her Medium Awareness and some of her memories, accepting it (rather than hijacking the game as in the original) allows her base personality to reemerge and return to the game to be with her friends.Monika: "Worse case scenario is, I live out my days with my best friends. In the Literature Club."
- Redemption Equals Death: Downplayed. Monika recovers the power to freeze or even delete the game shortly before the kernel access reset kicks in, but allows it to proceed out of love for her friends. It winds up being a minor Death of Personality rather than full deletion.
- Reincarnation Romance: Discussed. As she braces herself for her Death of Personality, Monika expresses hope she and the player might see each other again in another lifetime.
- Relationship Compression: Inverted. MC and Sayori's romance is a much slower burn than in Salvation.
- Relationship Sabotage: Monika tries it early on with both Sayori in her relationship with MC and Yuri in her bonds to the other club members, but her gradual Heel–Face Turn eventually leaves her horrified and apologetic over her actions.
- Romantic Ribbing: MC and Sayori continue to affectionately call each other "dummy".
- Self-Harm:
- Consistent with the original, Yuri engages in self-harm; MC catches her at it, and his support starts her slow process of kicking the habit.
- Monika experiments with it once too, mostly to feel something.
- Shipper on Deck: Natsuki, Yuri, and eventually even Monika become this for MC and Sayori.
- Shown Their Work:
- Sayori throws away her antidepressant pills because she feels they don't help. In real life, finding an effective antidepressant is often a matter of trial and error, and antidepressants are not the ideal solution for every patient.
- After her Death of Personality, Monika is diagnosed with "something global amnesia" (as Sayori phrases it). Transient global amnesia is a real diagnosis which does roughly match Monika's symptoms.
- Sleep Cute: MC and Sayori sleep together (non-sexually) several times during the game.
- The Sneaky Guy: When Yuri teaches her Dungeons & Dragons, Sayori elects to play a rogue.
- Snow Means Love: MC finally decides to confess his love to Sayori during an early snowfall, and in fact does it in the snow before he and Sayori head inside.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Monika, though she does undergo a downplayed Death of Personality.
- Sparkling Eyes of Excitement: Sayori (and only Sayori) shows these when particularly wowed by something.
- Split-Personality Merge: Monika confronts her subconscious, self-interested nature in the Void Room and, after refusing to hijack or delete the game, gives herself a hug, accepting that part of herself without allowing it to rule her, and the two merge back into one person.
- Stargazing Scene: MC climbs up on Sayori's roof to share one with her.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- MC dropping everything to tend to Sayori after her suicide attempt leads to his own grades cratering; it takes him time and effort to bring them back up.
- MC is Sayori's primary emotional rock and starts Yuri on the path to breaking her Self-Harm habit, but he can not and does not personally solve every issue; the four girls mutually support one another too, and MC has no involvement with (or even knowledge of) Natsuki's rocky home life (Yuri is most supportive of Natsuki in that regard).
- Suspiciously Apropos Music: The second time the instrumental "Can't Help Falling In Love" plays, Monika is in the Void Room, and the scene ends with her Dying Declaration of Love for the player.
- Switching P.O.V.: The game goes back and forth between the player character and Monika as the narrative POV.
- Tabletop RPG: Yuri teaches Sayori how to play Dungeons & Dragons.
- Tears of Remorse: Monika breaks down in tears when she envisions Sayori's successful suicide.
- Trauma Button: MC struggles to contain an emotional reaction when he sees Sayori wearing the same pajamas she wore when attempting suicide.
- Unseen No More: The main character appears on screen many hours into the game, from Monika's POV. Unlike the original game, which showed him only from the back with Sayori obscuring his face, here he faces the camera directly.
- The Very Edge of Everything: Subconscious!Monika says the Void Room exists at the edge of the code.
- Virtuous Vegetarianism: Double subverted. Monika is a vegetarian for moral reasons (to reduce her carbon footprint), which contrasts against her indifference to the others early on. By the end, though, she recovers her innate compassion and allows it to override pure self-interest.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Yuri and Natsuki occasionally snipe at each other throughout the mod, but it becomes increasingly friendly.
Side stories
Monika's Matchmaking
After the main story, MC plans to take Sayori on a fancy date, but circumstances conspire to send them in a different direction.
- Alliterative Title
- Blatant Lies: After MC "Eek!"s while making a snow angel with Sayori.Sayori: "Did you just 'eek'?"MC: "Uh...no. I think you heard someone else."
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Played for Laughs. Sayori's father briefly sweats the main character before their date, but only jokingly.
- A Dog Named "Dog": Sayori gives us this gem:Sayori: "...like that movie about a Kung-Fu panda."MC: "...You mean, Kung Fu Panda?"
- The Fashionista: Downplayed. Though it is not a major part of her character, when MC needs help picking out a good outfit for a fancy date with Sayori, Monika is his go-to advisor.
- Flashy Protagonists, Bland Extras: Exaggerated again. Sayori's father "appears" with speaking lines, but gets the same "only a silhouette" treatment as other minor characters.
- Ms. Fanservice: After getting snow on her clothes, Sayori just dons a sweater without pants at MC's house.
- Non-Indicative Name: Downplayed. Monika's only involvement in the story is helping MC prepare for a fancy date with Sayori, after they are already a couple. She does advise him that The Simple Gesture Wins with Sayori, which comes into play later.
- Out of Focus: Yuri and Natsuki are absent, and Monika only briefly counsels MC and Sayori.
- The Simple Gesture Wins: The moral of the story (lampshaded by Sayori)—after MC and Sayori's fancy date falls through when they trek through a snowstorm only to find the restaurant closed, they instead get coffee and spend time in a park making snow angels and sitting together.
- Sleep Cute: The story opens with MC awakening from a nap, Sayori having also fallen asleep with her head on his lap.
- Snow Means Love: It is snowing again when MC takes Sayori on their first "officially dating" date; the two make snow angels in a park.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: After Sayori's dad fakes a Boyfriend-Blocking Dad routine with the MC and Sayori assumes MC is shivering because of the cold, he latches onto that excuse.
Friendship and Fantasy
Yuri, Sayori, and MC get together to play Dungeons & Dragons, but hijinks ensue when they decide to split a few bottles of wine.
- Alcohol Hic: Sayori and Yuri (and, eventually, MC) exhibit it.
- Alcohol-Induced Bisexuality: An intoxicated Sayori, in the midst of trying to get MC to decide whether Yuri or she is more physically attractive, remarks that she considers Yuri "pretty hot", says of Monika "If I was a guy, I'd date her", and finishes by saying Natsuki is "very, 'mrrrowww~' you know what I mean?"
- Can't Hold His Liquor: Both Sayori and Yuri get drunk within thirty minutes of starting to drink wine.
- Continuity Nod: Sayori describes Yuri's breasts as "big and beautiful", the same way she described them in the original Doki Doki Literature Club!.
- Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?: While playing Dungeons & Dragons, Sayori rolls a natural twenty and befriends an Always Chaotic Evil black dragon.
- Drunken Glow: Sayori and Yuri both exhibit it eventually.
- Gilligan Cut: MC's warning to Sayori not to go overboard with her drinking immediately transitions into "So they went overboard."
- Group Hug: Sayori, Yuri, and MC all hug.
- Mood Whiplash: A discussion of whether Sayori or Yuri is more attractive and Sayori's offer to compare breasts shifts with little warning into Sayori asking after Yuri's mental health and Yuri admitting that, while she no longer engages in Self-Harm, she still gets the urge.
- My Greatest Failure: Under alcohol's influence, MC tearfully regrets the times he was not there for Sayori in their adolescence.
- Out of Focus: Monika and Natsuki are absent from this story.
- Piggyback Cute: A drunken Sayori tries to rope MC into a piggyback ride, but they don't get far.
- Sadistic Choice: Sayori presses MC to decide whether she or Yuri is more physically attractive.
- Sleep Cute: MC falls asleep with his head in Sayori's lap.
- Sweetheart Sipping: MC and Sayori split their first glass of wine.
- Tabletop RPG: The story opens with Yuri, Sayori, and MC playing Dungeons & Dragons.
- Tomboy Angst: Discussed and Played for Laughs—Sayori asks if Yuri thinks she (Sayori) is a tomboy.
A Day With Natsuki
Monika comes upon Natsuki hosting a bake sale to raise food money, after which the two of them visit Yuri.
- Abusive Parents: Downplayed. Natsuki mentions that her father yells at her even over small issues, and that he is neglectful in buying groceries for their house.
- Broke Episode: Downplayed. Natsuki implies in the main mod that food money is routinely tight, but in this story she has reached the point of selling her pastries at a bake sale to earn food money.
- Out of Focus: Sayori appears only briefly, and MC is Skipping School altogether.
- Sex Sells:
- Natsuki agrees to Monika eating lunch at her bake sale in part because Monika will attract more boys to the table.
- When Natsuki suggests Monika be present at future bake sales to drive up sales, Monika suggests Yuri be present for the same reason.
- Skipping School: MC is ostensibly out sick, though Natsuki suspects he just called out to play a new video game update.
School Dance
The members of the Literature Club attend the annual school dance.
- Affectionate Nickname:
- Monika (for the first time, and uniquely) calls Natsuki "Nat". Natsuki is nonplussed, but lets it go.
- MC also debuts "Bun" for Sayori, who loves it.
- Captain Obvious: MC, who can't dance, thinks, "Aren't you supposed to know how to dance when you ask a girl out to...A dance?"
- Continuity Nod:
- Monika and Sayori discuss Sayori's date with MC in Monika's Matchmaking.
- MC mentions Monika attending Natsuki's bake sales to help her earn more sales, as discussed in A Day With Natsuki. True to Natsuki's expectations then, it seems Sex Sells.
- MC and Natsuki discuss when he did (or didn't) look up her skirt in Natsuki's path of the base game.
- Dance of Romance: After being trained in the basics by Yuri, honing his skills with Natsuki, and practicing slow dance with Monika, MC shares one with Sayori.
- Extra-Long Episode: Nearly half an hour longer than the next longest side story.
- Family of Choice: Natsuki describes the other girls this way.
- Flashy Protagonists, Bland Extras: This time, the other students at the dance get colored background pictures rather than silhouettes, though with blurred faces.
- Friendship Moment: After the dance, Sayori invites the other girls onto her roof for a Stargazing Scene, where they reflect on the strength of their friendship.
- Grand Finale: It's Just a Club Meeting exists in an Alternate Continuity, leaving School Dance the last "canonical" story of Doki Doki Salvation Remake!
- Hidden Depths:
- Natsuki braids Monika's hair, and even calls herself "the hair expert".
- Yuri is formally trained in ballroom dance, and the other girls all dance well. Monika even notes, "we've all got secret talents hidden up our sleeves, huh?"
- High-School Dance: MC and Sayori (and the other Dokis) attend a dance for third-year students.
- Hypocritical Humor: Yuri gently teases MC for waiting until the last minute to buy an outfit for the dance...when she is at the mall with him, buying a dress at the last minute.
- I Can't Dance: In contrast to the girls, who all have various degrees of training or experience, MC genuinely has no idea how to dance.
- Iconic Outfit: Averted—Monika removes her trademark white bow for the dance.
- Impossibly Low Neckline: Yuri's dress, oddly enough.
- Informed Attribute: Though Monika's popularity is treated as common knowledge (and Natsuki even uses it to her advantage in bake sales), no one besides the other Dokis dances with her.
- Instant Expert: Downplayed. MC picks up dancing with only a couple dances' worth of lessons from Yuri.
- Lady in Red: Subverted. Sayori wears a very flattering red dress, but is the same quirky, Endearingly Dorky Sayori nonetheless.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: MC notes, "I'm basically an expert in only wearing like two different outfits."
- Little Black Dress: Alone among the Doki girls, Monika wears one, and looks as stylish as expected.note
- Motherly Side Plait: Monika, President of the Literature Club, wears her hair this way for the dance.
- Out of Focus: The only side story to avert it; MC and all four girls have as much screen time as they do in the base mod.
- "Pachelbel's Canon" Progression: The Trope Namer is used during MC's slow dance with Monika.
- The Power of Friendship: As Sayori puts it, "We need friendship like we need food!"
- Romantic Wingman: Yuri and Natsuki subtly nudge other dancers out of the way to ensure Sayori and MC have space.
- Scars Are Forever: Downplayed. MC observes that Yuri's Self-Harm scars have healed well, to the point that she feels comfortable wearing sheer fabric over her arm, though they are still visible beneath.
- Sexy Slit Dress: Yuri's, uncharacteristically enough, though she is initially self-conscious about it.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Though always cute, when Sayori dons her red dress for the dance, she leaves MC, in his words, "awestruck".
- Shower of Love: Downplayed. MC and Sayori take a shower together; still self-conscious about her body, she makes him face away from her, but washes his hair and body for him, and he finds the gesture incredibly sweet and romantic.
- The Simple Gesture Wins: Natsuki is unimpressed that MC just asked Sayori to the dance directly, but Sayori is happy with it.
- So Proud of You: MC tells Yuri how proud he is of her for breaking her Self-Harm habit.
- Sparkling Eyes of Excitement: Sayori when she sees Natsuki's and Monika's dresses."Ehehe. I was just awestruck."
- Stargazing Scene: Sayori shares one with the other girls after the dance.
- Taught by Experience: Despite starting off unable to dance, MC learns from practicing with Yuri until he can hold his own.
It's Just a Club Meeting
In a non-canonical story, Komi Shouko from Komi San Wa Komyushou Desu appears in the Dokiverse and mingles with the Literature Club.
appears in the Dokiverse and mingles with the Literature Club.- All Just a Dream: Komi asks whether the entire experience was one. Or Was It a Dream? ensues when she wakes up the following morning in her own universe, but with the Literature Club's signatures in her friend book.
- Alternate Continuity: Though following the Broad Strokes of the main story (e.g. MC and Sayori dating), the episode opens with the note "The following story does not take place after the events of Doki Doki Salvation Remake!"
- Art Shift: The last scene of Komi waking up in her own universe is illustrated like a manga.
- Birds of a Feather: Unsurprisingly (and as predicted by Sayori), Komi and Yuri get along fabulously.
- Calming Tea: After Monika nearly tackles Sayori to keep her from realizing Komi is a manga character transported into their universe, Yuri decides to make chamomile tea to calm everyone down.
- Crossover: Shouko Komi is the title character of Komi San Wa Komyushou Desu.
- Fourth-Wall Observer: Monika—and determined to ensure nobody else realizes Komi comes from an entirely different reality.
- Held Gaze: The only time one between MC and Sayori is explicitly noted as such.
- Last Episode, New Character: Shouko Komi.
- Last-Name Basis: Shouko is unused to being called by her given name, preferring to go by Komi-san.
- Late to the Realization: Played for Laughs. Only when Komi expresses a preference for being called by her last name does it occur to Monika that neither she nor anybody else has a last name. Natsuki and MC realize it too when they are introduced, but Monika stops them from expressing it.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Monika asks MC to sign Komi's list of friends as "MC", rather than whatever name the player input.
- Medium Awareness: In this Alternate Continuity, Monika appears to still have hers; she recognizes Komi comes from another world, but is at a loss for how to get her out of this one, having failed to escape herself.
- New Transfer Student: Monika has Komi masquerade as one to avoid even more questions.
- No Mouth: Komi's Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises sprite is drawn this way, though she is depicted with a small mouth otherwise (and, on one occasion, a smile a few pixels wider).
- Overly Nervous Flop Sweat: Downplayed. Monika starts perspiring when MC is on the cusp of realizing he doesn't have a surname.
- Plug 'n' Play Friends: All five Literature Club members welcome Komi without hesitation.
- Shipper on Deck: No sooner has Sayori mentioned that she and MC are dating than Komi writes "Cute!"
- Shout-Out: MC teasingly calls Sayori Ratatouille.
- Shrinking Violet: Consistent with her depiction in her anime and manga, Komi puts Yuri to shame, Talking with Signs and speaking aloud only very rarely.
- Speech Impediment: Komi's is so bad she resorts to Talking with Signs.
- Sprouting Ears: Komi seems to sprout cat ears when excited, though they blend with her hair. Lampshaded by Monika.
- Stutter Stop: Komi is able to say "Tadano-kun", the name of her love interest, without stuttering.
- Talking with Signs: Monika gives Komi a notepad and pen so she can write rather than struggling through her Speech Impediment.
- Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises: Downplayed. Komi's eyes bulge when she is taken by surprise, though her irises still take up a noticeably chunk of them.