Ruin

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**Ruin** is the fourth area in the second part of the game, accessed by getting through Blight and jumping into the hole in its final level. It is the first unique area in the Future, not being an altered version of a Past area. Ruin is a sewer filled with extremely toxic water. It also contains explosive mines and plenty of turrets, suggesting that during the war preceding the end of the world, the tunnels may have been used for military purposes.

Ruin's main path consists of 21 level.

Ruin contains 9 secret levels, in which 2 cartridges (Ghosts N Grieving and Dead Racer) can be collected. The level containing the second cartridge is inaccessible initially.

Final level of Ruin contains a warp and a **giant glowing orb** with the Friend attached to it. Approaching the orb triggers the Glowing Orb Cutscene. Details regarding Ash's potential interactions with the orb are described below.

## Mechanics

Aside from the toxic water with a very short toxic timer (1.05 s), Ruin features multiple mechanics that are unique to this area:

### Mines

Mines are non-deadly obstacles seen throughout Ruin's levels. They look like naval mines suspended from the ceiling on chains. Touching a mine makes it explode, sending Ash flying. Mines are mostly used for movement, allowing Ash to reach higher places or cross long gaps quickly.

### Gravitational pull

Gravitational pull is a mechanic which can first be experienced in Ruin 17. It is a constant force which will slowly pull Ash to the left. It persists up until Ruin 21, in which it is revealed to be coming from the orb.

## Enemies

* Agons - spiky balloons that come in two sizes (big agons and small agonyias). They are dead or mostly dead creatures inflated with gases from decomposition. Agons float in the air, connected to the ground with a chain, and act as passive obstacles, similar to spikes. Touching one kills Ash.
* Ferals - more active, aggressive versions of agonyias. Unlike agonyias, both of whose eyes are crosses, ferals have one eye open. They will slowly follow Ash as long as he is in range, and retreat to their original position if Ash gets too far away. Ferals' movement is restricted by the length of their chains. Touching a feral kills Ash.
* Thistlefish - hostile fish which will chase Ash in the water. Thistlefish will approach Ash slowly if he is far away and quickly dash towards him within certain range. If the fish manages to jump out of water and onto a solid platform, it will flop around unpredictably, attempting to get back into water. Touching the thistlefish kills Ash.
* Wailers - large ghosts that inflate and deflate at regular time intervals. When the wailer is deflated, it becomes less opaque and Ash can pass through it safely. When the wailer is inflated, touching it kills Ash.
* Crunches - round and hostile creatures chained to solid blocks. They will remain near their chain hitch when undisturbed, breathing loudly. When Ash is in range, the crunch will charge towards him, as far as the chain's length allows. After an unsuccessful charge the crunch will stay in place for a bit, recovering, and either charge again if Ash is still around or slowly retreat back to the original position. Touching the crunch, even when it is not charging, kills Ash. In this area crunches only appear in the secret above Ruin 12.
* Retinaras - round one-eyed creatures, which will track Ash for as long as he is in their field of view, charging up a laser attack. If Ash does not break the line of sight for slightly over a second, retinara will fire its laser, killing Ash. Their tracking is perfect, so the retinara can't miss its shot. Breaking the line of sight resets the laser charge timer.
* Turret (static, single-shot) - a stationary turret firing relatively slow-moving bullets in one direction at even intervals. Touching a bullet or the turret itself kills Ash.
* Turret (tracking, single-shot) - a rotating turret which tracks Ash's movement with a slight delay and fires relatively slow-moving bullets at even intervals, as long as it can see Ash. This turret type and the one below only appear in the secret levels or Ruin.
* Turret (tracking, rapid-fire) - a rotating turret which tracks Ash's movement with a slight delay and fires a continuous stream of fast-moving bullets, as long as it can see Ash.

## Acceptance

 **Next area**

**Acceptance** is presented as a separate area in the game, having its own map icon. It is unlocked upon reaching Ruin 21.

Acceptance functions as an escape sequence, starting after the Acceptance cutscene ends. Ash says goodbye to the Friend and prepares to leave the Ruin. At this point a timer appears on the screen, starting a 6 minute countdown until the orb's explosion. The warp disappears from the level and Ash must make his way back to Ruin 1 before the timer reaches 0. Failing to escape within the given amount of time leads to Ash dying in the explosion. The game displays a Game Over screen and Ash gets sent back to Ruin 21 for another attempt.

Making it to Ruin 1 in time reveals that Mother has also caught up with Ash, covering the bottom of the level. Ash must jump into the escape warp, replacing the area warp which originally appears in this level. Doing so counts as a successful escape and starts the Acceptance Ending cutscene.

The escape sequence is accompanied by its own music track, screenshake, and a glow from the orb coming from the left of the screen. The screenshake and the glow will gradually intensify as time goes on.

## Nevermore

*Main article: Nevermore*

**Nevermore** is an area which can be accessed by jumping into the orb, assuming Ash has collected at least 450 tumors before doing that. The source of tumors does not matter, meaning the extra tumors earned by completing cartridge challenges also count.

When Ash jumps into the orb, he will start burning inside of it, losing his tumors one by one, faster and faster. After burning through 450 tumors a white flash of the explosion covers the screen and Ash miraculously finds himself in the Nevermore area.

If Ash doesn't have enough tumors to survive this event, losing all tumors will result in a "Game Over" screen, like it normally would.

## Secret entrances

* Ruin 2 (upwards secret) - 1 NPC. Accessed by jumping up from the pipe sticking out of the ceiling. The entrance is hidden by a fake wall.
* Ruin 12 (upwards secret) - 1 key, 2 cartridges. Accessed by jumping up from the top platform with the wailer. During the escape sequence, a previously gated off part of the secret opens, allowing the second cartridge to be collected.
* Ruin 16 (upwards secret) - 1 NPC. Accessed by riding an ascending platform all the way to the hole in the ceiling.

## Characters

Ruin contains 3 NPCs. All of them are still present during the escape sequence and will offer new lines of dialogue if interacted with at that time. Click on "Open" to see their dialogue.

**Skeleton in Ruin 1:**

```
I SAW HIM!

I SAW
THE
BAD GUY!

I SEEN HIM
DO THE
BAD STUFF!

THE HORROR!
THE
HORROR!

i kid

. . .

i was born blind

. . .

but i have a
feeling some
really bad stuff

is gunna
go down
down here

some low down
mud slinging
stink stank

he went that way!

pretty
sure
anyway

we are talking
about that
corpse right?

. . .

he
reeked
of betrayal

and balls . . .

giant
glowing
balls!

. . .

you'll get
that joke
later

. . .

GL!
```

**During the escape:**

```
what
are you
doing!?

jump
inside
the mother!

she will
protect
you!
```

**Guppy in the secret above Ruin 2:**

```
wait
am i from
that one game

or the one
that was stuck
in limbo?

. . .

i'll
never
tell . . .
```

**During the escape:**

```
it's fine

i've been
through
this before

just go limp
and enjoy
the ride!
```

**Aether monster in the secret above Ruin 16:**

```
smooch!
```

**During the escape:**

```
quick!
hop on my back and
lets fly out of here!

. . .

just kidding
i'm not
actually real
```

## Trivia

* Ruin's music theme is a remix of Edvard Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King. A different remix of the same composition is used for all underground secrets in the game. Ruin's track even starts with a "fake-out" intro, which sounds exactly like the intro of the secret theme.
* Many of the underground secrets in the Past's areas are partially flooded with water and contain pipes coming from the ground, hinting at Ruin's existence long before Ash actually reaches it.
* The two games Guppy refers to in his dialogue as "that one game" and "the one that was stuck in limbo" are The Binding of Isaac and Mewgenics respectively. In Isaac Guppy appears as a set of items and Mewgenics is a game themed around cats, the development of which was paused for years before Edmund and Tyler started working on it again.
* Pausing the game during the Acceptance escape sequence pauses the music as well. This is the only time in the game when the area's music track does not continue playing in the background while the game is paused. This change was necessary because the duration of the Acceptance track is tied to the escape timer.
* The giant glowing orb the Friend is attached to is his destabilized "heart". Originally collected in The Machine, the heart is a bomb core.
* There is a Roman number V formed by debris visible on the orb. This hints at the orb functionally serving as the fifth Steven, if Ash chooses to jump into it.

## Gallery

### Gallery of Ruin's main levels

* Ruin 1
* Ruin 2
* Ruin 3
* Ruin 4
* Ruin 5
* Ruin 6
* Ruin 7
* Ruin 8
* Ruin 9
* Ruin 10
* Ruin 11
* Ruin 12
* Ruin 13
* Ruin 14
* Ruin 15
* Ruin 16
* Ruin 17
* Ruin 18
* Ruin 19
* Ruin 20
* Ruin 21

### Gallery of Ruin's secret levels

* Ruin 2 up
* Ruin 12 up 1
* Ruin 12 up 2
* Ruin 12 up 3
* Ruin 12 up 4
* Ruin 12 up 5
* Ruin 12 up 6
* Ruin 12 up 7 (Acceptance)
* Ruin 16 up

## Individual level pages

Links to individual level pages

* Ruin 1
* Ruin 2
* Ruin 3
* Ruin 4
* Ruin 5
* Ruin 6
* Ruin 7
* Ruin 8
* Ruin 9
* Ruin 10
* Ruin 11
* Ruin 12
* Ruin 13
* Ruin 14
* Ruin 15
* Ruin 16
* Ruin 17
* Ruin 18
* Ruin 19
* Ruin 20
* Ruin 21

## See also

* Blight - the area which comes before Ruin.
* Nevermore - a hidden area accessible from Ruin.
* Acceptance Ending - first ending of the game, which is accessed from Ruin.