History Main / TheDreaded

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Although there are exceptions, (particularly on the other side of the fence) a key characteristic of this trope tends to be [[TheUnseen invisibility]]. In general, characters--villains, in particular--who conform to this trope will not be seen directly the first few times they are mentioned. The show will tend to work on building up their perceived threat in the minds of the audience: a dark, shadowy ''something'' that's out there somewhere, but you don't know where, who or what they are, or even whether or not they can be killed, at least at first. As such, it usually involves acceptable forms of CharacterShilling. It is possible for them to remain this trope after they come out of the shadows, but if they do not then beware VillainDecay.

** Then there are the Eminence, a FogOfDoom from the end of time who use the Breath of Forever to turn people into [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Zombies]]. They are so dangerous 8 is willing to work with the Dalek Time Controller against them, despite the Time Lords trying to use them against the Daleks.

** Selina Kyle is absolutely terrified when the Joker appears in front on her.
* The Horned King from ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'': is ruthless and hideous, so all of his minions and everyone that sees the Horned King up close is almost paralyzed with fear. Considering he sought to turn all life into undead minions, so he can rule over them as a PhysicalGod, it is not hard to see why.
* Played completely straight with Chakal from ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'', but also parodied with a RunningGag where the same child announces that him and/or his bandits are coming to others, usually by bursting through a door and yelling.

** Gwen Batterbie the sea witch, a reclusive old woman with a talent for poisons and deadly weapons. It's said that her wares come with a steep, non-monetary cost, so the Code of the Hunters forbids turning to her.
* An example that lives up to the hype, ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNimh'' features The Great Owl. He is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, a gigantic barn owl made even bigger by being introduced relative the protagonist, a small field mouse.
* Maleficent from ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty''. Her mere presence strikes fear in the hearts of everyone present, the ''queen'' fears her enough to call her "your excellency" to avoid offending her and the palace guards back down from their order to capture her simply because she raised her hands and commanded them to stand back.

*** Sid's dog ''Scud'', on the other hand, remains a terrifying, vicious threat through the entire movie. Which means when Scud backs away in fear at the sight of Sid's dad, it speaks ''volumes'' about what the man is probably like.

* ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'': Grandma Wu. It's played with in her first scene when she calls Ming. It plays it like she's the DragonLady head of [[TheTriadsAndTheTongs a Chinese Tong or Triad]]. However the reason she's so dreaded to Ming is because [[spoiler:of her upbringing and the incident where she attacked her in panda form years ago.]]

** The only reason Creator/ChuckNorris is afraid of death is because he knows Creator/BruceLee will be waiting for him.

** Death had to take him sleeping, for if UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt had been awake, there would have been a fight.
*** This wasn't intended as a joke - this was ''actually said'' about his death by UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson's vice-president, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_R._Marshall Thomas Marshall.]]
** The reason why the attempted assassination of UsefulNotes/AndrewJackson didn't work is because even the bullets are scared of him.

** The Turaga conconted similar legends of various beasts like the Manas crabs, the island-destroying Bohrok swarms and the Rahkshi, aka "the Makuta's Sons". And for good reason: the legends were based on truth, [[spoiler:although the Bohrok and their {{hive queen}}s eventually turned out not to be evil, the destruction they caused served a higher purpose]].
** Irnakk to the Skakdi race. Originally a folkloric figure, Irnakk became reality when six Skakdi, the ruthless and seemingly fearless Piraka gang entered a chamber that brought their worst nightmare to life. The boogeyman proceeded to kill them by exploiting their personal fears, until their gang boss Zaktan realized that his life had already been much worse than anything Irnakk could dish out, and that their fears can't be real if they're dead, [[PuffOfLogic making Irnakk disappear]] and undoing the chamber's effects.

** Hades was this to the Greeks themselves; he's the yardstick by which terrifying creatures in myth (like Typhon) are compared to. Typhon is so bad that he was not only scarier than Hades, he [[HorrifyingTheHorror frightened him]]. This is in spite of Hades being one of the most agreeable gods in the pantheon; the combination of being the guardian of Tartarus (meaning he was in charge of keeping creation's worst monstrosities locked up) and being a ConsummateProfessional immune to flattery, sweet-talk and general silver-tongue antics (very much ''un''like most of the pantheon) were more than enough reason to be wary. Death comes for ''all'' and cannot be reasoned with, and these traits very much extended to him.

** Jormungandr, Fenrisulfr and Hel, the children of Loki, were feared by god and man alike. Of the three, one is a serpent that wraps entirely around the earth and will kill Thor, one is a wolf whose jaws open wider than the sky and will kill Odin, and one is the personification of ignominious, dishonorable death.
** Odin was feared by mortal warriors on account of the fact that he was the Valfodr, the Father of the Slain, and constantly on the look-out for more warriors to pad out his ranks with for the upcoming battle come Ragnarok. Nothing guaranteed a shorter life than gaining Odin's favour.

* Myth/EgyptianMythology: Apep/Apophis. He was so terrifying, the Egyptians built temples to ''prevent'' him from coming to them.

* For generations, Vampires of all kind are ''personified'' as this trope too. They are based upon the fears of rape, sexual assault and cannibalism, which are all real terrors. To add more danger to the name, such beings possess powers of great intimidation from turning into wolves, to raising the dead.

--> ''"Brock Lesnar is a human cheat-code. He is 300 pounds of muscle and judging by the way he darts around, I don't think mass and inertia were properly explained to him. He has so much wild animal meat inside him at any time that bears unsheath their penis bones when his scent catches the wind. Brock Lesnar is exactly what you would use if you were making an army of super clone soldiers, which explains why his outgoing voicemail message is, "I am one of you, ordinary human. You can tell me where the resistance is hiding after the beep.""''

* [[Wrestling/KanakoUrai Kana]]/[[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} Asuka]] is probably the closest you can get to having someone be a WrestlingMonster without actually [[PintSizedPowerhouse looking like one.]] She is feared for her notoriously stiff style which involves things such as reversing a simple slap into a flying armbar, a [[AssKicksYou hip attack]] that has legitimately injured people, and managing to win multiple victories by straight up knocking the opponent out with a kick to the head. Also her [[SlasherSmile creepy smile]] and primal screams mid match probably doesn't help. In her NXT run, she's also [[DefeatingTheUndefeatable undefeated]]; the only person who has managed to even come close to being on her level was Wrestling/{{Bayley}}, and considering she was the NXT Women's Champion at the time, she had the best chance of any competitor there.

* Wrestling/BraunStrowman has become this as well, having intimidated many superstars. The list of these superstars include Wrestling/MickFoley, Brock Lesnar, Triple H, and Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon. Literally the second act of [[Wrestling/TheShield the reformed Shield]] was to take out Strowman, who had been a pain in the ass for all three members of the stable individually for ''months''. ''That's'' how dangerous Braun Strowman is.

* Wrestling/ScottSteiner, both onscreen and allegedly in RealLife. If the rumors (which are mentioned in ''Literature/TheDeathOfWCW'' and remain persistent even decades later) are true, then the reason why Steiner got such a massive push in WCW's twilight years is because most of the locker room and almost all of the management were legitimately terrified of him. Considering he was a large, muscular man with a notorious HairTriggerTemper that puts the above-mentioned Randy Orton's to shame, who also (again, allegedly) carried a gun, it's not hard to see why. Even when his already-outrageous behavior became too much for management to tolerate no matter how scared of him they were, they never really bothered to seriously punish him -- the most he ever got was [[{{Unishment}} suspension with pay]].

* Reinhard Heydrich from ''VisualNovel/DiesIrae'' has a tendency to invoke the feeling of fear in everyone who meets him. Even [[SerialKiller Wilhelm]] wasn't afraid to admit that he almost shat his pants first time he saw him. In fact he is so dreadful that simply having a premonition of being observed by him caused [[TheHero Ren]] to flee in a panic.
* ''VisualNovel/EndlessSummer'': [[spoiler:Estela's]] file in Chapter 6 has a warning not to approach her.

* The ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series gives us Manfred von Karma. The most feared prosecutor in the series who has went forty years without losing a case (until Phoenix defeats him). Manfred is well known for his intimating behavior managing to even get the Judge to obey his every command. Even [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Edgeworth]] at the time knows that Manfred is someone not to be trifled with. [[spoiler:The man is willing to ''kill someone'' and effectively kidnap his son [[DisproportionateRetribution over a penalty]].]]
** Actually, just about every prosecutor Phoenix Wright goes up against has a reputation as a terrifying, unstoppable badass who has never lost in court [[AmoralAttorney and will do anything to keep it that way]]. Even ButtMonkey Winston Payne has the title "Rookie Killer", presumably for good reason (though [[InformedAbility we never get to see it]]). This even extends to [[VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney Phoenix's ancestor]], whose own rival prosecutor has a similarly dreaded reputation, though unlike the others it isn't because he's undefeated. Instead, every defendant he prosecutes who is found not guilty mysteriously winds up dead.

** [[ProfessionalKiller Shelly de Killer]] from the second game (and Investigations 2) is this to a number of people that know of him. He is a professional assassin that knows how to get the job done. Also, you do not want to piss him off and destroy his trust. He will hunt you down until you are dead. The last two known people to hire him did this and were pretty much screwed (and they were both [[BigBad Big Bads]]!).

** Phoenix himself is an odd case, in that he's ''technically'' feared but always treated with zero respect in court itself despite his record and the fact he's won against highly respected prosecutors and ended countless winning streaks. Thing is, that's actively part of the reputation, when one combines the infamy for bluffing and struggling with the "Turnabout Terror" reputation he has. Everyone that isn't feeling overconfident (which is many of them) knows that Phoenix's modus operandi is to flounder around helplessly 95% of the time, and suddenly latching on to a single thing and trashing the prosecution's entire case in a matter of minutes before anyone else can do anything, and even if it seems completely certain the Defense's lost. Everyone gets caught up in that initial 95% of relentlessly mocking him, but everyone knows he'll still win. In the sixth game's final case, [[spoiler:Apollo and Athena wind up [[HeroAntagonist facing him in court]] and are naturally ''terrified'']].

** The PACT flagship Legion is a [[MileLongShip three-kilometre long dreadnought]] that dwarfs every other ship in the setting, has enough firepower to take on entire fleets singlehandedly, [[TheJuggernaut and is so heavily armoured and shielded as to be almost invincible]]. When it first appears during the Battle of Cera, the Ceran admiralty knows right away that they're outmatched and urges the civilian government to issue an immediate surrender, [[DoomedHometown not that it does them any good]]. During the Battle of Far Port it takes out most of the Alliance's Second Fleet with a single shot, forcing the survivors to take cover inside PACT's formation so that the Legion can't fire on them again without hitting its own ships. Most characters are understandably reluctant to face the Legion in battle.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': [[BigBad Salem]] is a dark and dangerous being who controls the [[DeathWorld world-dominating]] [[AnimalisticAbomination Grimm]]. Her existence is not public knowledge because her arch-enemy [[BigGood Ozpin]] has created a [[BenevolentConspiracy global conspiracy network]] to prevent global panic by [[SecretWar fighting her in secret]]. Among her subordinates, Emerald and Mercury are terrified of her presence while Watts, Hazel and even the [[UndyingLoyalty enthralled Tyrian]] fear her wrath. Among the heroes, Qrow descrbes her creations as fear itself, Raven abandoned Ozpin's cause when she concluded Salem's unstoppable, Leo is so terrified that Salem turns him into a mole against his oldest friend, and Ironwood obsessively builds up his army to oppose her. Even Ozpin secretly believes she cannot be destroyed, a [[AwfulTruth revelation]] that [[BrokenPedestal demoralises]] the heroes, [[HeroicBSOD breaks Ozpin]], and [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope transforms Ironwood]] into a villain who lashes out at everyone in his desperation to protect Atlas from her.

* William Afton being a bully, terrorizes the animatronics by playing practical jokes on children, wow! not even the animatronics had been so afraid of him.

* Night Furies from ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon''. Some vikings do not believe they exist, but those that do dread the idea of encountering one. They [[PowerLevels outrank nearly every other dragon in speed, strength, intelligence, etc.]] [[FunSize despite its size]] and they blend in with the dark. [[UndeadAuthor No one has ever encountered one and lived to tell the tale]]. Even the dragon manual says that should one ever encounter a Night Fury, they should [[TheHunterBecomesTheHunted "hide and pray that it does not find [them]"]], and this is a book that tells you that dragons that spit [[HollywoodAcid acid]], turns you inside out and roar so loud that your ears explode should be "[[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption killed on sight]]."

A [[Villains villain]] or AntiHero whose primary characteristic is the fear the other side has of them.

A villain or AntiHero whose primary characteristic is the fear the other side has of them.

** The reason why the attempted assassination of UsefulNotes/AndrewJackson didn't work is because even the bullets of scared of him.

** As he used to do in his Glory Days, a big strategy that Batman employs for his return is to terrify criminals and Mutants who have so far been enjoying a free reign of mayhem in Gotham.

* ''WebAnimation/HazbinHotel'': [[RedBaron Known as the "Radio Demon"]], Alastor is feared by most as an all-powerful tyrant who destroys anyone who stands in the way of his cryptic goals. On his first day in Hell alone he slaughtered so many demons (not just rank and file, but high-ranking Lords of Hell that had been in power for centuries) that he was instantly catapulted into a ranking position among Hell's nobility, and most would rather give him a wide berth than catch his attention in any way.

** Hades was this to the Greeks themselves; he's the yardstick by which terrifying creatures in myth (like Typhon) are compared to. Typhon is so bad that he was not only scarier than Hades, he [[HorrifyingTheHorror frightened him]]. This is in spite of Hades being one of the most agreeable gods in the pantheon; the combination of being the guardian of Tartarus (meaning he was in charge of keeping creation's worst monstrosities locked up) and being a ConsummateProfessional immune to flattery, sweet-talk and general silver-tongue antics (very much ''un''like most of the pantheon) were more than enough reason to be wary.

** Hades was this to the Greeks themselves; he's the yardstick by which terrifying creatures in myth (like Typhon) are compared to. Typhon is so bad that he was not only scarier than Hades, he [[HorrifyingTheHorror frightened him]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'': Ego's taste buds are so hard to please that even Gusteau, Rémy's indirect mentor, couldn't do so. Ego is so infamously picky in Paris that if he announces his intentions to visit a restaurant, it's treated like the death knell of said restaurant's rating since absolutely no-one has been able to satisfy him.

* Night Furies from ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon''. Some vikings do not believe they exist, but those that do dread the idea of encountering one. They [[PowerLevels outrank nearly every other dragon in speed, strength, intelligence, etc.]] [[FunSize despite its size]] and they blend in with the dark. [[UndeadAuthor No one has ever encountered one and lived to tell the tale]]. Even the dragon manual says that should one ever encounter a Night Fury, they should [[TheHunterBecomesTheHunted "hide and pray that it does not find [them]"]], and this is a book that tells you that dragons that spit [[HollywoodAcid acid]], turns you inside out and [[MakeMeWannaShout roar so loud that your ears explode]] should be "[[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption killed on sight]]."
--> '''Hiccup''': This thing never steals food, never shows itself and... [[AlwaysAccurateAttack never misses]].

* Shere Khan from ''WesternAnimation/{{The Jungle Book|1967}}''. Nearly everyone is scared of him, and the rest are TooDumbToLive. He's stripped of this status in the sequel, what with his humiliation at the hands of Mowgli, and goes full-blown KnightOfCerebus trying to get it back.
* Tai Lung in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'', a rogue kung fu master so scary that an entire prison was built specifically to hold him. When he escapes from said prison, ''everyone'' in the Valley is afraid of him, including his former master and TheChosenOne.

* Don Bluth's ''WesternAnimation/ThePebbleAndThePenguin''. It is one of the rare works that portray Orcas as extremely dangerous predators, and they have some very effective buildup. Prior to their appearance, we see Drake, the monsterous Leopard Seal, and even the narrator mentioning that humans are worse than leopard seals. And Rocko, being the tough penguin that he is, isn't too afraid of them either, teaching Hubie how to fight them back. Until he brings up the killer whales, who mentions that they are much worse than the seal, being twice as big, twice as mean, and they always hunt in groups. He goes into despair the moment the Orcas show up, and they very quickly prove to be [[KnightOfCerebus the most terrifying and dangerous presence in the entire movie]], almost comparable to ''Sharptooth''. Hubie even abandons the titular pebble that he risked his life to protect just to ''survive'' against the killer whales.

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* ''UsefulNotes/ThreeKingdomsShuWeiWu'':
** By the end of his life, Sima Yi had developed this reputation amongst the enemies of the Wei Empire. Even the rumours that Wei was ''considering'' to send him to the front was enough to keep the rival states of Shu and Wu at bay, and word that he was on the way was sometimes enough to cause full-on retreats. There was good reason for this: Sima Yi had won several difficult campaigns in the past, and inflicted CurbStompBattle after battle against most who'd ever stood against him. A big part of this was thanks to his mastery of the BatmanGambit, being able to predict an opponent's most likely course of action and taking appropriate steps (e.g. when rumours came about that Wei general Meng Da was planning to defect, Meng knew that since there was no proof of his treachery Sima would have to consult the Wei court first, giving him time to prepare. Sima knew that Meng knew this, and so march directly on his fortress city, forcing him to either [[SadisticChoice surrender to prove his loyalty and thus removing his power, or launching his rebellion early]]) Meng rebelled and was crushed.
** Wei general Guo Huai likewise earned a reputation as one of these, especially among the barbarian tribes. Rebelling tribesmen would surrender or flee on his approach, and his presence alone was enough to keep them in line. Even the Wei court was hesitant to be too strict on him: on one occasion he ignored an imperial summons because his wife had been kidnapped by bandits, and when he arrived at court late after successfully rescuing his wife he was left off with a warning (despite ignoring an imperial summons normally being a major offense that could result in execution).
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* Myth/MesopotamianMythology has Inanna due her great pride, her immense power, and the fact that whenever she threatens to break the gates of the underworld and cause a ZombieApocalypse [[NotHyperbole she means it]].

* Sharptooth from ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' series, especially in the very first movie. The very word frightens any other dinosaur who hears it.
* One example would be in one of Don Bluth's Lighter and Softer works, ''WesternAnimation/ThePebbleAndThePenguin''. It is one of the rare works that portray Orcas as extremely dangerous predators, and they have some very effective buildup. Prior to their appearance, we see Drake, the monsterous Leopard Seal, and even the narrator mentioning that humans are worse than leopard seals. And Rocko, being the tough penguin that he is, isn't too afraid of them either, teaching Hubie how to fight them back. Until he brings up the killer whales, who mentions that they are much worse than the seal, being twice as big, twice as mean, and they always hunt in groups. He goes into despair the moment the Orcas show up, and they very quickly prove to be [[KnightOfCerebus the most terrifying and dangerous presence in the entire movie]], almost comparable to ''Sharptooth''. Hubie even abandons the titular pebble that he risked his life to protect just to ''survive'' against the killer whales.

** Odin was feared by all mortal beings on account of the fact that he was the Valfodr, the Father of the Slain, and constantly on the look-out for more warriors to pad out his ranks with for the upcoming battle come Ragnarok. Nothing guaranteed a shorter life than gaining Odin's favour.

* For centuries, many religions believed [[{{Satan}} The Devil]] was especially this if not the original. Although mostly a story, one cannot help but wonder if there really is a creature of pure evil in this world. If so, then {{God}} help us all.
* The [[ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight Bogeyman]] is this trope ''personified''. Every child that has heard of him fears him, he can appear as the thing you fear most, and if you've been naughty, ''God have mercy on your soul''.