Paintings

Information for each paintings, in each game, will be found here.


 * Paintings hanging on walls can occasionally be found in dungeons. They emit a warning sound to the player once they are proximity of the painting in Dungeon Nightmares 1 and they create screen vibration while the painting itself catches on fire in Dungeon Nightmares: II.


 * In the second game, paintings have been confirmed to appear only in the first 3 dungeons (basements) and the Challenge Chamber.




 * What they have in common is that they all produce sounds when the player is close (for example, Mary is crying). If you have played the game for a while and you hear a constant new sound in a chamber, there's a chance it is coming from a painting hanging on the wall. Look for it and don't stare at it.

Dungeon Nightmares: I Specifics
Two paintings exist in the first Dungeon Nightmares game. Their behavior is more inhibiting than aggressive, limiting the players audio mainly when simply in proximity of the painting. The range in which the player triggers the paintings death zone seems to be longer in the first game when compared to the second. The types of paintings that can be encountered within all 7 dungeons are:

Mary
This is probably the most iconic painting in the series and mainly in the first game. The painting features Mary, bloody and with an elongated neck and closed eyes. The painting cries when the player is in proximity to it. When death sequence occurs from this painting, the screen will shake, a loud noise will sound and the painting of Mary's eyes will open.

The Explorer (Wanderer) with Unknown Motives
The second painting seems to feature a half-human half-skeleton figure. As a note in the game implies ("I wouldn't look into the mirror"), this painting could supposedly be a mirror and thus this may be the image of the character playing as in the first game, called the Explorer (or Wanderer) with Unknown Motives. Without the context created by the next games, it would make sense that this would be the player, as there is no other character with the human form than him and Mary. He greatly resembles the Wanderers in "Ergastulum: Dungeon Nightmares III". When close to the painting, a loud vibration sound is heard. When death sequence occurs from this painting, the screen will shake, a loud noise will sound and the person will turn red, looking more like a skeleton.

Dungeon Nightmares: II Specifics
Paintings in this game are less aggressive to the player by nature. Unlike the previous game, paintings here shake your screen and visible fire starts to occur if you are looking directly at the painting at a close range. What makes paintings in this game unique, is the fact that there are many new paintings. The new types of paintings that can be encountered within the basement levels are:


 * Mary: This painting is the infamous returning painting of Mary from the first Dungeon Nightmare games. The painting features Mary, bloodied and with an elongated neck and open eyes (while in the basement).
 * Lotus: A painting of a lotus.
 * Mary (?) /Lisa (?): This painting is either an additional or updated painting of Mary. Or, this painting is an painting of the character controlled by the player in this game.

More to be added...

Dungeon Nightmares: II - Theory
The fact that they catch fire is a reference to the way Mary was killed. If we take into account that the half-skeleton painting shows the Explorer with Unknown Motives (the male playable character in the first game), they could be people who were killed, trying to escape these dungeons. They were burnt to death in Room 308, as the cages can be found empty in there if the player gets the Bad Ending. This is only a theory, as not enough clues have been found to prove this.

Examples of paintings can be found in the pictures in this page.

Dungeon Nightmares I + II Collection (Switch)
In the collection, paintings revert to the older way of scaring and killing the player. People screaming are heard while looking at the paintings. All paintings have been replaced with newer ones that picture the various enemies found in the second game, plus some bonuses, such as a remake of the iconic crying painting of Mary.