History Main / RealismInducedHorror

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In the two-part episode "Chain Of Command", Captain Picard is captured by Cardassians and gets subjected to ColdBloodedTorture. With the exception of the pain device, everything the Cardassians do to torture Picard was taken from Amnesty International archives in a terrifying case of ShownTheirWork. Stripping for the purposes of humiliation? Check. Deliberately acting to dehumanize the prisoner and negate their identity and dignity? Check. "Stress positions", aka suspending the prisoner by their arms in such a way that their feet barely touch the floor, for long periods of time? Check. Idea that non-official combatants aka "terrorists" are not covered by conventions forbidding torture? Check. Objective of breaking the prisoner through distorting their perception of reality, successful to the point of producing hallucinations? ''Check.'' Creator/PatrickStewart carefully studied the behavior of the victims to get the broken, defeated look just right and even insisted on being naked on set.

* Some of the antagonists' [[KickTheDog dog kicking]] in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' are realistically disturbing for the faint-hearted:
** Monokuma being an [[AbusiveParents abusive and dismissive father]] to the Monokubs, such as [[spoiler:giving Monophanie and Monotaro a [[ChestBurster disturbing death]] in Chapter 4 because he says that [[BlatantLies "they've been ignoring him"]], [[SympathyFortheDevil something that even Keebo was horrified over]], and in Chapter 6, having them blown up one by one, despite Monophanie and Monotaro's pleas, saying "their story doesn't matter"]], is rather chillingly reminiscent of real life abusive parents.
** [[spoiler:[[BigBad Tsumugi]] driving [[DespairEventHorizon Shuichi, Maki, and Himiko into suicide]] [[HumansAreBastards as the outside world takes pleasure in all of this]] with the survivors being called weak, filth, worthless, and how their lives are nothing but playthings for their own sadistic entertainment is also a realistic portrayal of someone being [[SuicideDare bullied to suicide]]. Plenty of people in real-life have been tormented to the same degree as Shuichi, Maki, and Himiko in this scenario and even ''died'' because of it]].

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'':Prince Hans is revealed to be a manipulative sociopath who takes advantage of the naive Princess Anna's love for him, making her think he loved her all while planning to kill her and take the throne, revealing that this was his plan from the beginning. This is similar to how some people would form relationships with others, taking advantage of their naivety for personal gain and discard or even kill them when they are no longer useful to them.
** ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'': Anna and Elsa's grandfather King Runegard was remembered as a good and heroic king who tragically lost his life in battle, when in reality the true story is glossed over as he was neither a good king nor a good father. In addition being an emotionally AbusiveParent towards his son, showing no sympathy towards him for missing his mother who secretly ran away, He was a colonizer who wanted to commit genocide on a group he believed posed a threat to his kingdom out of fear of losing power.

* ''Anime/Belle2021'': [[spoiler:Tomo and Kei's father, at first appearing to be [[BitchInSheepsClothing a friendly family man who loves his sons]] on camera, is revealed to be an AbusiveParent whose mental health was ruined by the loss of his wife, leading him to hit and yell at his children many times under the justification that it will make them more disciplined and obedient. The effects of his abuse have taken a toll on the brothers' mental health, with Tomo becoming withdrawn and Kei taking his anger out in U as the Dragon due to having to [[TakingTheBullet shield his brother from his father's physical abuse almost every day]]. The abuse and the effects it has on the boys is horrifying because of how realistic it is, and the DepartmentOfChildDisservices is prevented by the law from taking action despite an urgent need to do so, so the abuse can go unchecked and only be addressed days after a report at best, which is very much an actual real-life issue in Japan.]]

** The Cult of Terra being religious extremists whose ideology leads them to commit terrorism and suicide attacks in the hopes to achieve their unrealistic goal of obtaining power. With many of their attacks leading to mass civilian deaths and those of high ranking figures in the hopes it would cause the destabilization of their enemies.
* ''Manga/{{Monster}}'': Aside from being the main source of the manga's [[NightmareFuel horrors]] and being chillingly effective at that, this is the main reason why [[BigBad Johan Liebert]] is such a terrifying villain in the first place. In what's clearly a [[CrapsackWorld crime-ridden setting]] that's entirely grounded in reality where all sorts of extremely depraved and psychopathic criminals [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse manage to perfectly blend in with other people]], Johan stands out among them because unlike the other AxCrazy criminals of the series and despite [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane the subtly implied supernatural elements]] of his character, he manages to perfectly capture all the elements of a [[TheSociopath real-life sociopath]], keeping a low-profile when committing his crimes, [[TheStoic never showing any emotion]] from the countless hideous casualties he inflicts ForTheEvulz, covering up the evidence of his acts and using his ungodly [[FauxAffablyEvil charisma]] and [[WickedCultured intellect]] to [[TheChessmaster exploit people's naivety]] and [[DevilInPlainSight successfully conceal his true nature while carrying out his twisted agenda]], not unlike many [[SerialKiller serial killers]] of his ilk like UsefulNotes/TedBundy and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Dahmer Jeffrey Dahmer]], which is why Johan is so incredibly successful in camouflaging with the rest of this society and giving many audiences the night terrors.

* ''Series/AvatarTheLastAirbender2024'': While Ozai was already an example of this in the original, his [[AbusiveParents parenting tactics]] are taken up a notch by adding psychological abuse into the mix, as he pits Zuko and Azula against each other to receive his attention and a position as heir, and makes it very clear that his love for them is conditional. This is all on top of the other abuse (physical, emotional, etc.) he heaps upon his kids. While he a genocidal tyrant who wants the entire world for himself, his abusive behavior towards his children is easily his most horrifying trait.

* The cruel and insane Desirability Coin system in ''Literature/PosterGirl'' where the people are constantly monitored and rewarded/punished for everything depending on how "good/bad" it is, they do might seem like something out of a {{Dystopia}} novel... yet it is not that far off from the "Social Credit" system the People Republic of China practices.