Red flowers

NICALiS Aeon Genesis I heard that if we eat red flowers our blood pressure skyrockets and we'll die in an instant! -- Sandaime to Quote in Yamashita Farm If you eat a red flower, they say your blood starts to boil, and soon you fall over dead! -- Sandaime to Quote in Yamashita Farm

Red flowers in the Sand Zone storehouse.

Red flowers (also known as demon flowers) are plants that grow on the island. They contain a substance that, upon being consumed, unlocks the latent strength of the individual who eats them. This causes the eater to become larger and far stronger than normal. However, the red flowers also contain a substance that crushes the eater's faculties of reason, enraging them to the point where they lose all self control. Humans are typically immune to its effects, but in high enough concentrations it can affect humans as well. Mimigas have no resistance to its effects.

Locations

Red flowers can be found in several places throughout Cave Story.

• Arthur's House - A patch of red flowers can be seen growing at the bottom floor of Arthur's House, next to a pool of water.
• Egg Observation Room - Red petals are scattered around a bed next to the save disk.
• Bushlands Hut - Red petals can also be found around the bed in the Bushlands Hut.
• Sand Zone storehouse - Red flower seeds are kept and grown in the Sand Zone storehouse. The Doctor locates the flowers in this building.
• Plantation - Several Mimiga who support the Doctor cultivate red flowers on their farm.

Role

During the war that took place ten years before the events of Cave Story, an army of combat robots was sent to claim the Demon Crown for their master. The robots also targeted and killed Mimigas in the attack. Defenseless against the assault, countless Mimigas perished. Desperate to hold their ground, the Mimiga ate red flowers, allowing them to fight back. In turn, they lost control of their own actions and disappeared, seemingly descending to the surface, where Humans live. The witch Jenka tells Quote that "had there been no red flower, it's very possible that the Mimiga on this island might have been annihilated..."

Present events

In the game, the Doctor is trying to locate the red flowers to use on Mimigas. He finds them in the Sand Zone storehouse and enters the building to test their strength. Along with this, he gets Mimigas to work in the Plantation and cultivate the flowers.

The Doctor's plans consist of attacking the surface with enraged Mimiga as weapons, using the Demon Crown to direct their actions. He also attempts to extract the substance in the red flowers so that its effects may be possible on humans. Eventually, he succeeds, and creates the Red Crystal, which he uses on himself to fight Quote.

Effects

Red flowers only affect Mimiga when eaten directly. When eaten raw, the eater's eyes turn deep red, as seen when Toroko was force fed a flower directly from the Storehouse. Shortly afterwards, the eater's body size increases substantially and they lose their ability to reason, effectively becoming a mindless and potentially murderous savage. Enraged beings can also be directly controlled through the Demon Crown. Upon death, an enraged individual may return to their body size, as shown by both Toroko and Igor upon their deaths.

Cooking a flower reduces its potency, which in turn colors the eater's eyes a shade of lighter red than typical, and reduces the eater's ability to reason, rather than destroying their rational mind entirely. The cooked flower does leave the eater highly temperamental, but still lucid, as shown by King.

Trivia

• You may be trying to look for the Cave Story's Secret Santa Red Flowers. In there, they take a 4x4 tile place and will eliminate the player if touched, similar to Spikes.