Adult Fear: Difference between revisions
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* Ryuunosuke and Caster in ''[[Fate/Zero]]'' are this trope incarnate. They're basically ''serial child murderers'' who like to give their victims a [[Hope Spot]] before brutally killing them. In one episode, you even see a memorial service for one of the victims, who happens to be one of the young Rin's classmates. It's just a single photo frame, and you hear someone mention that they coundn't do a proper burial because the body was too mangled. It gets so bad that, in-universe, a reward is offered to whoever can kill Caster first, and the ''entire Holy Grail War'' is put on hold until then. Cue nearly everyone doing an [[Enemy Mine]] to take these two down.
** Really, REALLY not helped by [[wikipedia:Gilles de Rais|who *this* Caster really is]]. [[Take Our Word for It]].
* In ''[[Kodomo no Jikan]]'', despite [[Wife Husbandry|all]] [[Kissing Cousins|Reiji's]] [[Yandere|faults]], when Rin is in any danger, real or imaginary, he really freaks out. On the other hand, Reiji himself is no small cause of nightmares, with his disturbing and unhealthy interest in Rin.
* While it's generally [[Played for Laughs]], it's heavily implied in ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' that the nations have no choice but to obey their bosses, meaning that the characters all live in a world where their best friends or even family members could turn on them in an instant. When the series was in its webcomic format, it was played ''very'' seriously in [http://hetalia.livejournal.com/2977183.html the story of China and Japan]. China raises Japan and considers him a little brother, only for Japan to show up in the middle of the night and attack China with a katana. China has ''no idea at all'' this is coming, and is inviting Japan inside for some food when the blade is drawn.
* The core of ''[[Ayashi no Ceres]]'' is this. {{spoiler|There's an [[Action Girlfriend]] who at first has a kind and endearing [[Interspecies Romance|human husband.]] After receiving some of her powers on his own request [[I Will Protect Her|so he can help her when in trouble]], however, said powers turn out to be [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|too much to handle.]] The formerly sweet [[Understanding Boyfriend]] becomes [[Crazy Jealous Guy|so obsessed]] [[Yandere|with her]] that he starts restricting her behavior, like locking her in the house to prevent her from talking to men who aren't him, to beating her, forcing sex on her, and even going so far as to [[Offing the Offspring|killing one of their kids]] out of fear that she would take her (Ceres) away from him (Mikage).}} Basically, this manga is a story of {{spoiler|[[Domestic Abuse]].}}
* ''[[Your Lie in April]]'':
** Saki's way of trying to address it was absolutely atrocious, but her concern that Kousei will be left alone by himself, with no way to provide for himself and his father perpetually away at work, is in of itself painfully relatable.
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** The greatest threat to Taki's physical wellbeing comes not from some fantastic beast, but rather {{spoiler|a fall. Considering how the mountain crater shrine is so desolate that the bottles there had moss growth from being untouched in 3 years, one can only imagine that no one would have found the body for a long time, if ever. Also imagine how terrible Miki and Tsukasa would have felt if the last they ever heard from him was a vague note that shed absolutely no light on what he was going to do.}}
** Come the [[Distant Finale]], {{spoiler|Taki is struggling to find a job, and judging by how Japanese universities have their graduation in the spring, it's been months.}} The whole thing is kinda [[Played for Laughs]], but makes for uncomfortable watching for anyone who's been in a similar situation.
* ''[[Suzume (film)|Suzume]]'':
** Screenings in Japanese theatres specifically warn audiences about realistic earthquake alerts.
** The film ''starts'' with our protagonist, at this point only four, wandering through [[Scenery Gorn]] desperately looking for her [[Missing Mom]]. She never finds her, never gets closure even years later.
** Your loved one apparently runs away from home and refuses to explain in any detail.
** The [[Invisible to Normals]] nature of the worm, while obviously fantastic, reflects a very real possibility overlapping with [[Paranoia Fuel]] that danger could be lurking around the corner at any moment with you not knowing until it's too late.
** You lose someone right before your eyes, helpless to do anything.
== Comic Books ==
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== Fan Works ==
* The ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' fic ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2350953/1/Elladans_Trials_For_Estel Elladan's Trials For Estel]'' deals with a young Aragorn (who was adopted and raised by Elrond) being kidnapped from Elrond's bedroom and [[Buried Alive]]. One chapter writes from the perspective of the kidnapper and it turns out the kidnapper worked and lived in Rivendell. It didn't help when the kidnapper mentioned there were some nights where he would stand over a sleeping Aragorn, thinking how easy it would be to kill the boy while no one would know.
** ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2506330/1/Delw_yomenie_Deadly_encounter Delw Yomenie Deadly Encounter]'' has Elrond and his warriors going to rescue the kidnapped Aragorn and during the ambush Elrond released an arrow to kill just as the kidnapper shoved [[Human Shield|Aragorn to the frontline.]] That split second when he realized his hand would kill his adopted son, Elrond was torn between [[My God, What Have I Done?|denial and horror.]] {{spoiler|Fortunately the arrow hit a non-lethal area.}}
* In ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2976012/1/Final_Selection Final Section]'', a ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' fic, five-year-old Sam Winchester was taken by a man who preys upon children in a school's playground when John happened to be preoccupied, despite attentively watching Sam. The detail that the assailant had already kidnapped several other children by luring them away from their watchful parents (and being gleeful about his successes) was disturbing.
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* ''[[Orphan]]'': having your children in danger, your spouse turn against you, and being thought insane when in reality you are the only one who knows what is really happening. Then the terror of having it be even worse than you already thought.
* Discussed in [[Parenthood]]: Kevin suffers severe anxiety issues as a gradeschooler, in part, because he "was first" and his parents frantically over-protected him as a child.
* ''[[Death Sentence]]'': The protagonist's son is killed by a gangster. He avenges the son, only for the gang to escalate by killing his wife and hospitalising the other son.
* ''[[Harry Potter (film)|Harry Potter]]
** In the very beginning of ''[[
** Fenrir Greyback. In the book he just manages to edge out Bellatrix in the bone-deep creepiness category. In [[Harry Potter (film)|the movie]]{{context}} <!-- MOD: Which movie? He's in more than one. --> he's downright disturbing, especially with Hermione. This was entirely intentional on Rowling's part.▼
*** In the first part of the final film installment, Fenrir's part is downplayed... but they play up the character of Scabior, one of the snatchers. To children in the audience, Scabior is frightening because he's feral-looking, gross, cruel, and hunting down the main trio. To slightly older viewers, particularly women, he is... a ''lot'' more frightening because he's ''threatening to rape Hermione''.▼
** The flashbacks to the night Lily and James were killed, full stop. The two died in total fear, but doing their best to protect their infant son. In the end, they weren't able to hold back the guy who broke into their house at all. If it weren't for [[The Power of Love]] and Lily's [[Mama Bear]] [[Dying Moment of Awesome]], they would have had no way to protect baby Harry at all.▼
== Literature ==
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* ''[[Two Weeks With the Queen]]'' is told from the perspective of the young Colin, who takes a long time to understand what's going on. However, the focus on the book is still a very adult fear: living knowing you are going to lose your brother (Colin), your child (his parents), or your life partner (Ted).
* The ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' series, despite being [[What Do You Mean It's for Kids?|aimed at children]], has ''plenty'' of moments that scare the parents more than the kids, and a lot of them have to do with child abuse, [[Parental Abandonment]], and not being able to protect or take care of your own children. Most of this probably came from Rowling's own fears as a mother (and especially as a single mother, having broken off an ''abusive'' marriage.).
** It's very easy to see ''why'' Molly Weasley goes full [[Mama Bear]] during the Battle of Hogwarts. ''Not my daughter, you BITCH'', indeed. After all, we saw her boggart in the [[
▲** In the very beginning of ''[[Harry Potter/Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows|Harry Potter]] [[Harry Potter (film)|Part One]]'', when Hermione has to {{spoiler|erase all of her parents' memories of herself so Voldemort can't torture them for information.}} It gives a parent a sense of failure to protect their child, that they're weak and powerless.
** When you're a kid, the scene in the [[
▲** It's very easy to see ''why'' Molly Weasley goes full [[Mama Bear]] during the Battle of Hogwarts. ''Not my daughter, you BITCH'', indeed. After all, we saw her boggart in the [[Harry Potter/Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix|fifth book]] - {{spoiler|her family dead.}} Not to mention, {{spoiler|she lost her two brothers in the last war, one of the Weasley twins has just died, and the daughter she so desperately wanted after having several sons is apparently the next one...}}
▲** Fenrir Greyback. In the book he just manages to edge out Bellatrix in the bone-deep creepiness category. In [[Harry Potter (film)|the movie]] he's downright disturbing, especially with Hermione. This was entirely intentional on Rowling's part.
▲*** In the first part of the final film installment, Fenrir's part is downplayed... but they play up the character of Scabior, one of the snatchers. To children in the audience, Scabior is frightening because he's feral-looking, gross, cruel, and hunting down the main trio. To slightly older viewers, particularly women, he is... a ''lot'' more frightening because he's ''threatening to rape Hermione''.
▲** The flashbacks to the night Lily and James were killed, full stop. The two died in total fear, but doing their best to protect their infant son. In the end, they weren't able to hold back the guy who broke into their house at all. If it weren't for [[The Power of Love]] and Lily's [[Mama Bear]] [[Dying Moment of Awesome]], they would have had no way to protect baby Harry at all.
▲** When you're a kid, the scene in the [[Harry Potter/Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone|first novel]] with Harry seeing his family in the mirror is interesting and sort of sad. When you're older it kind of makes you want to cry.
** Xenophilius Lovegood is a whole lot more tragic in ''Deathly Hallows'' because of this. {{spoiler|"They took my Luna, and I don't know if I'll get her back!" The poor guy nearly blows up his house trying to catch the trio, but ''not'' out of ill will towards them... but only so he can save his poor daughter from being imprisoned by Death Eaters.}}
** Narcissa Malfoy's most prominent and sympathetic role in the story comes from her attempts to save Draco from the power of Voldemort. So much that {{spoiler|she managed to ''lie to the face of Voldemort'' so Draco would live.}}
** In the fourth book, Harry is trapped in a room with someone he thought he could trust, {{spoiler|a teacher no less}}. Only for said person to try to murder him.
** ''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (novel)|Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix]]'', full stop: there's a catastrophe looming in the horizon but the government is too scared/incompetent to do anything about so it just decides to pretend it doesn't exist, manipulate the media into discrediting those trying to warn people about it, send [[Tyrant Takes the Helm|bureaucrats]] to force institutions to leave people ''less'' prepared for the catastrophe and finally just start arresting people who keep insisting.
* In Terry Pratchett's ''[[
* Many of [[Bentley Little]]'s novels deal with these sort of themes, including the nullification of personal identity (''The Ignored'') and the destructive power of consumerism (''The Store'').
* The premise of ''[[The Lovely Bones]]'' is based on the worst possible outcome of the "Oh, shit. My kid was supposed to be home hours ago; what if they're dead?" fear.
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* In ''[[Palimpsest]]'', Lyudmila died as a child, before her younger brother was even born. Her ghost is his sole companion {{spoiler|and turns out to only be a hallucination from him not taking his medication}}. There's also Sei's {{spoiler|pregnancy near the end, with the warnings that her baby will be [[Creepy Child|terrifying]] if she goes through with the birth,}} along with her own memories of her mother's insanity.
* ''[[Radiance]]'' has Severin's disappearance and all the sadness and stress it brings to the ones who love her. Of particular note is her father, who is so heartbroken and convinced he failed as a parent that he spends most of the story struggling to make a movie that will bring him some sense of closure.
* "Balanced Ecology" by [[James H. Schmitz]]: When the [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]'s offer is refused, he reveals that he's already bribed enough people to {{Spoiler|have the farmer's adopted daughter forcibly re-adopted by her uncle, who she hardly knows, and who will use his "parental" right to steal her land}}. As if that isn't enough, {{Spoiler|the parents she knows are to be [[Brainwashed]] and exiled, and it's implied that they'll lose their son as well.}}
== Live Action TV ==
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== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==
* One arc of ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'' has the family return from a trip only to find that their house has been broken into. Calvin is pacified immediately after finding Hobbes, whom they had accidentally left behind when they went on the trip. His parents, however, are notably shaken, and the realization that they aren't as safe as they thought they were lingers with them for the rest of the arc. Calvin's dad in particular has to come to terms with the fact that being a parent doesn't automatically equip you to deal with any problem, contrary to what he thought after idolizing his father when he was younger. Parents are people too, and what makes them seem invincible is the fact that they put on a brave face for the sake of their children, which he learns to do.
** There's also the story arc in which Calvin finds the dying raccoon. He brings his mother to help him save it, telling Hobbes: "You don't get to be Mom if you can't fix everything just right."
** Adult fears are also treated humorously with Calvin using them as ideas for his Halloween costumes: a barrel of toxic waste, and nothing (just a child; think of what he and his generation receiving questionable influences will have grown up into when the adults he's trick-or-treating are old and weak).
* Several times in [[FoxTrot]]. One arc had Roger coming home from work to find Andy and Jason gone. Paige tells him they're at the hospital, and that Jason was hit by a car. Of course, she meant to say it was a ''toy'' car (Jason had gotten hit on the chin with one and needed stitches), but Roger doesn't know that and promptly tears outta there to see Jason at the hospital. Then there's the arc where Peter goads Jason into going onto the roof, Jason loses footing and falls off, hitting his head and having to go to the hospital for supervision; Paige and Jason finding a needle at the beach (they throw it out, which freaks Andy out because she fears they accidentally pricked themselves when they did); Paige going to the dance with a lecherous date who ''clearly'' wants to have his way with her...
* ''[[Peanuts
* The cartoonist [[Quino]]
== [[Video Games]] ==
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* [[Kingdom Hearts]]. Imagine this: It's stormy outside - really stormy. Your child has been in his room all evening. You go upstairs to call him in for dinner... the window's open, he's gone, and so are his two friends and their boats. He doesn't come back for years - during which you have no idea where he is, or if he's safe, or if he can ever come back. (Of course, the parents of the main characters never get more than a shadow in a doorway...) On the other hand, [[Word of God]] states that a world remains frozen in time once it is swallowed by the darkness. Also, due to events of [[Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories|Chain of Memories]], the parents forget about their son until Namine restored Sora's memories, which means that they only started worrying at the beginning of [[Kingdom Hearts 2|Kingdom Hearts II]].
* Very little of ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' is particularly scary for most people, because it's not that kind of game, but amidst all the [[Money Spiders]] and [[Eldritch Abomination]] [[Loot Pinata]]s, there's at least one storyline where one questgiver is the ghost of a little girl who doesn't understand that she's dead and her hometown is in ruins. You wind up helping her find her doll, among other things, because she's ''lonely''.
* ''[[Fallout 4]]'': The Sole Survivor's spouse is killed and son kidnapped.
== Webcomics ==
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== Web Original ==
* ''[[Snopes]]'' has an entire collection of Urban Legends with this trope in mind under the [http://www.snopes.com/horrors/parental/parental.asp Parental Nightmares] section.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130529005127/http://bash.org/?32509 This] [[bash.org|Bash]] quote.
* [[The Nostalgia Critic]]'s kindergarten drawing of his parents as monsters bloodily tearing him apart has a tendency to affect real life parents more than the teenagers of his fanbase.
* [[Potter Puppet Pals]] parodies the whole concept of Adult Fear in "Harry's Nightmares", where, nestled in among the bizarre and occasionally juvenile ("In one dream, I was ''middle aged!'' Yuck!") traumas that haunt his noggin, was the dream he had where he gave birth to Ron, and raised him from infancy, but one day, he misplaced him, and that terrified him, because it meant he had failed as a parent.
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** Parodied when Lisa tricks Homer into letting her go downtown by herself on the bus. He casually tells Lenny and Carl this, and they're horrified. Cue Homer making up a story about how Lisa is so smart she overloaded a computer, which Lenny and Carl don't fall for, and Homer finally running off to save Lisa.
** "Alone Again, Natura-Diddly"—Ned and Maude Flanders go to a racetrack and Maude, naturally offended by Homer's inevitable antics, gets up to go get her family some hot dogs. They look away, and [[Distracted From Death|Maude dies in a freak accident moments later.]]
* ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'': ''[
* In ''[[DuckTales (1987)]]'' episode "Nothing to Fear", Magica DeSpell used real-life images of Uncle Scrooge & co.'s worst fears to descend upon them. For Uncle Scrooge, this took the form of being told by Huey, Dewey and Louie that they secretly couldn't stand him and they only wanted his money, for HD&L it was that unca Scrooge never loved them.
* In ''[[Lilo & Stitch: The Series]]'', the Halloween episode featured an experiment that could transform into a person's worst fear. For Nani it turned into Social Services Agent Cobra Bubbles telling her that he had to take Lilo away because she was an unsuitable guardian, a very notable event from the [[Lilo and Stitch|original movie]].
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