Insanity Creatures

"Ahhh. Refreshing."

- Maxwell Hallucinations are hostile Mobs that begin to attack player upon reaching 30 sanity points or lower. They will spawn once the player's sanity levels are below 165, and they will gradually become more visible as the player's sanity level drops further.

Up to three will spawn around the player, and begin to attack. Upon being killed, Hallucinations will sometimes drop Nightmare Fuel, used for crafting several Magic items.

The sanity meter will drop by both standing near and fighting Hallucinations, but it will rise by at least 15 points after killing one.

Crawling Horror
Originally believed to be the name of all the Hallucinations, the Crawling Horror is now known to be just one type.

It is a large tick-like creature, with many legs, and is the most common of the Hallucinations.

Crawling Horrors turn aggressive when the player's sanity is 30 or below. However, holding Crtl+Click allows you to attack them while your Sanity is above 30. Walking near these will decrease Sanity. They give 15 Sanity when killed.

The Crawling Horror takes 8 hits with the Tentacle Spike to be killed.

Terrorbeak
The Terrorbeak is a creature with an enormous beak and slim body, with several small legs. Like the Crawling Horror, it will attack the player, but is less common.

Players can attack them most easily by trapping them on the coast or by hitting them with a Boomerang.

Killing a Terrorbeak while being attacked by Hallucinations is a good way of stopping the attacks, as they give 30 Sanity when killed causing Hallucinations to go neutral again, even at 0 sanity.

Mr. Skits


Mr. Skits is a small serpent like creature that will watch from afar. Upon attempting to reach Mr. Skits, it turns and slithers away. It is harmless, and cannot be attacked.

Mr.Skits may also flicker on the screen for a fraction of a second, then disappear.

He will only appear if the sanity level of the player is below 165. His only purpose is to scare players of Don't Starve.

Shadow Watcher
The Shadow Watcher is a long, thin Hallucination which appears around light sources at night (which includes a charged Lightning Rod) from many angles, so it might appear to be upside down. The Shadow Watcher will appear when the player's sanity drops below 130. This Hallucination is harmless, and it cannot be attacked. It will not disappear when stood on, unlike the Night Hands, below. When it appears on snow, it will be just an outline. The Shadow Watcher disappears after dawn. Its purpose is unknown, however if you view the source code of the fourth William Carter puzzle there is a shadow watcher in the source code (hard to describe, easier to see).

Night Hand


Night Hands are hallucinations that extend from the darkness at night. While not directly attacking the player, Night Hands will attempt to do damage by putting out fires. Up to 3 Night Hands can spawn at the same time. Their appearance is also marked by a music box playing.

When stepped on, Night Hands will shrink away from the player (with a small Insanity Aura aura at -40/min). Once far enough into the darkness, a Night Hand will disappear. If not taken care of, a Night Hand (or more) can easily take out a small fire, reducing 50% of the fire's strength each.



They do have the potential to actually put out a fire if this occurs; however, it is somewhat rare, and the more hands that appear, the less they can damage a fire (1 Hand = <60% per hand. 3 Hands = <30% per hand).

If the fire is at its highest strength, then it is unlikely that even three hands can completely snuff it out, so a potential tactic is to max the fire and stand near to max it out again after the attack, although this burns quite a few resources and does not get rid of the Night Hands.

Occasionally, even when sanity is over half full, this particular hallucination can still appear.

Eyes
When your sanity is below 160, several Eyes will pop out of the darkness. They are purely for atmosphere and have no effect. They disappear when stood upon.

The lower the player's sanity, the more eyes spawn with increased intensity. They will go from round, small, and sometimes curved eyes to larger, sharp, menacing ones. Sometimes trees or other structures can block eyes, commonly forming a one-eyed hallucination.

Trivia

 * Crawling Horrors and Terror Beaks will go straight through walls while not aggressive, but if sanity is 30 or lower, they will manifest into a physical form and won't be able to pass through them.
 * A second fire nearby "cancels" Night Hands altogether for the night. A Miner Hat does the same.
 * It is possible for a lightning strike to extinguish the Night Hand just as it spawns.
 * Their behavior has references to the monsters in Lovecraftian literature. Being that they are so otherworldly they cause humans to go insane, and their ability to move through dimensions.
 * When one is experiencing a sleep paralysis, it's common to see deformed shadowy creatures creeping around the room. This description fits perfectly to the Don't Starve hallucinations. Also note that sleep paralysis is commonly associated with lucid dreaming  and in the science menu, description for the Dark Sword is: "lucid dreaming damage"

Bugs

 * Sometimes, Shadow Watcher will not disappear when day breaks, but instead a few seconds after.
 * Occasionally, after defeating a Night Hand, the music won't stop playing. This appears to stop after saving, quitting, and reloading the game
 * When fighting the Night Hand, it will sometimes play the retreating animation, but it will still continue to extinguish the fire.
 * Hallucinations can still be aggressive even if the player's sanity is above 30.
 * If the player were to fuel a Campfire or Fire Pit when a Night Hand attacks, the night hand will appear to be shortened.
 * If holding Ctrl+Click, the player can actually attack a Crawling Horror hallucination above 30 sanity, actually making it turn hostile/into a physical mob. Occasionally, it will arch up and return neutral.