The Neverhood (video game)

The Neverhood (also known as "The Neverhood Chronicles", known as "Klaymen Klaymen: Neverhood no Nazo" in Japan) is a point-and-click adventure game released for the PC in 1996. It was published by DreamWorks Interactive and developed by The Neverhood Inc. The game was fairly unpopular and unsuccesful in sales, and was discontinued shortly after its release.

History
The idea of a "plasticine world" was thought of by the game's creator, Doug TenNapel. Doug left Shiny Entertainment after Earthworm Jim 2 was released, and announced in 1995 he was making a new company called "The Neverhood Inc.".The Neverhood Inc. consisted of many people who had previously worked on the Earthworm Jim games. The newly founded DreamWorks Interactive was looking for fresh new game ideas, and when TenNapel proposed the idea to Steven Spielberg, they accepted to publish it. 3½ tons of clay were used in the game.

The Neverhood was released on October 31, 1996. Japan did not see the game until a port for the PlayStation known as Klaymen Klaymen: Neverhood no Nazo (which literally translates to "Klaymen Klaymen: The Riddle of the Neverhood") was released in Japan on April 23, 1998.



Story
The Neverhood was a place created by Hoborg, the 6th son of Quater. After created his world, Hoborg felt alone and so using a life seed he created his first being, whom he named "Klogg". Klogg attempts to steal Hoborg's crown, and afterwards is told it is the only thing he cannot have. Klogg later succeeds in stealing Hoborg's crown, which transforms Klogg into a mutant-like evil Neverhoodian. Klogg discovers that the crown is also Hoborg's life source, and without it Hoborg is put into a deep sleep. A being named Willie Trombone, a son of Ottoborg (Quater's 4th son) is there to witness everything. Willie then notices a life seed falling out of the ground, and takes it to the Nursery in hopes of creating a hero to stop Klogg. From this life seed Klaymen is born. Klaymen collects disks that help him on his journey, and teach him the reason he was created. On his journey Klaymen meets many new people, such as Willie himself and Big Robot Bil, Willie's best friend.

After Klaymen reunites Bil with his long-lost teddy bear, Klogg releases a monster known as the Clockwork Beast. The beast has a Bear Retrieval Unit on its back, which steals Bil's bear and brings it to the beast, where he destroys it. Bil is then encouraged to fight the beast, and after thinking it is defeated Bil tries to murder Klogg. the beast then returns and succeeds in defeating Bil, pushing him over and causing him to fall off the face of the Neverhood. Willie was also inside operating Bil, so both of them die.

The Neverhood is known for having more than one ending:

First Ending: Klaymen finds a massive crater in the ground, surrounded by signs showing messages such as "Don't jump!" and "You will die!" If the player decides to make Klaymen jump, it is revealed that the hole causes people to fall off the face of the Neverhood, which is what happens to Klaymen. He is shown falling as the screen fades to black and says "The End".

Bad Ending: If Klaymen chooses to crown himself, he will mutate into an evil Neverhoodian, who looks exactly like Klogg. The evil Klaymen proceeds to punch Klogg, knocking him out cold, and then laughs in the world which he is now ruler of.

Good Ending: Klaymen steals the crown from Klogg by pulling down his skirt, and later attempts to reach Hoborg and stick it on his head. Klaymen is successful and bring Hoborg back to life, urging Klogg to kill Hoborg with a knife. Klogg attempts to stab him, but steps on the button that activates the cannon, and the cannon shoots a cannonball into the castle, hitting Klogg and knocking him clean off the Neverhood.

After this, Klaymen proceeds to take a nap while Hoborg creates new beings. When Klaymen wakes up, many new Neverhoodians are surrounding him and proceed to cheer for him. After this everyone proceeds to have fun in their new world, but Klaymen is still not happy, remembering that Willie and Bil are still dead. After noticing this, Hoborg revives Willie and Bil and Klaymen cheers up. Hoborg compliments that "things are good" in his new world, and the screen fades to black.

Characters

 * Klaymen
 * Willie Trombone
 * Hoborg
 * Klogg
 * Big Robot Bil
 * Teddy Bear
 * Venus Flytrap
 * Weasel
 * Guy on TV
 * Guy in Tree
 * KlayMice
 * KlayBird
 * KlaySheep
 * Hammer Boy
 * Frenchie
 * The Clockwork Beast
 * Bear Retrieval Units

Places

 * Nursery
 * Public Park
 * Hall of Records
 * Gourd
 * Chip Butty
 * Mush Room
 * Hammer Boy's place
 * Crowbar
 * Cat Head Mountain
 * Big Robot Bil's place
 * Bil's Teddy's Place
 * Whale's Mouth
 * Red Pod
 * Mulberry Bush
 * Weasel Arena
 * Willie's House
 * Explosives Shack
 * West Hall
 * Cannon Post
 * Radio Tower/Drain/Lake Pod
 * Lake Tunnel
 * Aqua House
 * Castle

Movie
The Neverhood movie was first announced in a magazine on June 25, 2007. An entry on the Internet Mobie Database (IMDb) announced the movie was set for release in 2011, but that entry was deleted after TenNapel announced on his "Newt World" blog that the movie had stopped production, but later announced that the movie was simply "on hold".

Trivia

 * There was a rumor saying that a certain cheat code either teleported them to the last place in the game or gave them a cutscene of Klogg getting eaten by a Weasel. This code does not exist.