Afraid of Needles: Difference between revisions

This can help make the pain of the fight more recognizable. Few viewers will have been riddled with bullets or been hit by a speeding motorcycle, but most will have had antiseptic rubbed on a wound or a bandage removed, and know how much '''that''' hurt.

 

 

A subset of [[Fatal Flaw]].

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Rose of Versailles]]'': Oscar—a woman who regularly gets into bar fights, duels, etc., and who towards the end happily {{spoiler|storms the Bastille whilst suffering from terminal tuberculosis}} - bursts into floods of tears after ''scratching her hand on a broken violin string''.

* ''[[Dragonball Z]]'': Only in the anime, Goku is screaming in fear when the doctor is giving him a shot while in the hospital. The second time he goes into panic when he sees a syringe among a pile of medical equipment, much to the embarrassment of his son Gohan and the annoyance of Vegeta. This happens three more times in ''[[Dragon Ball GT|GT]]''.

* Mamoru of ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' comments on this jokingly to Ami, one of the few personal quirks we ever learn about him.

* Edward Elric from [[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|the 2003 anime adaptation]] of [[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]] acts like an adult, but betrays his young age when he has to be restrained to have an injection. This is the child, who, after performing an unholy ritual and ''losing a limb'', does it ''again'', even offering his ''heart'' to bring back his brother... Then, when being fitted for automail to replace the arm and leg and having things connected to his nerves, didn't cry once. Mustang commented he had seen grown men break down crying from this process.

* ''[[Ranma ½]]'': In one episode, Ranma crash-lands in front of the Cat Cafe after another [[Megaton Punch|trip to sub-orbit]], and a kindly wandering salesman, who had originally intended to sell to the Amazons (currently out on business) tends to his scrapes with disinfectant. This leads to the [[Made of Iron]] martial artist hissing and wincing in pain, leading to the page quote. Somewhat disconcerting, given the sort of abuse Ranma has stoically endured in the series—and while he has complained at medical treatment before, that's been due to the treatment itself being painful (Tofu brutally snapping Ranma's joints back into place and proper rotation, being burned with the counter-moxibustion, etc).

* Not only is he afraid of needles, but Yogi from ''[[Karneval]]'' utterly fears being anywhere ''near'' Doctor Akari, which provides humor for the readers insofar (though there could be more to it). Gareki is probably correct to guess that it's the after-effect of a traumatic surgery done or headed by said doctor.

 

== Comic Books ==

* Max, the psychotic rabbit of ''[[The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police|Sam & Max: Freelance Police]]'' fame, passes out on sight of a needle. At least according to a single 1994 strip in a series that has [[Negative Continuity]] up the wazoo.

* ''Mr Kiasu'': Kiasu's boss, Saboh Singh, is an almost fearless man even during his Reservist NS training exercises. He has only one fatal flaw - the fear of needles.

 

== Film ==

* ''[[Escape from New York]]'': No less a badass than Snake Plissken remarks that he "doesn't like needles". When you say it in his voice, it's still cool.

* ''[[Saw|Saw II]]'': Slightly subverted in the "needle pit" scene. {{spoiler|There's a trap with a key to a door. The resident [[Jerkass]] tosses Amanda into a trap set for himself: A pit filled with dirty syringes. Though shocked at first, she [[Badass|rises to the occasion and gets the key out of the trap]] as everyone else looks on in cowardly fear and revulsion}}.

 

== Literature ==

* Kitiara from the ''[[Dragonlance]]'' books - warrior woman, general of the Forces of Darkness, possessor of a frightening combination of her younger brothers' respective strengths. She's been wounded in battle several times, and fought on with injuries that would have crippled a lesser person. But when she cuts herself on a broken wine-glass, not only does she burst into tears, she also has a full [[Minor Injury Overreaction]]...

** Considering she very nearly severed her hand and just winced a bit, this is untrue.

 

== Live Action TV ==

* ''[[Firefly]]'': River is also deathly afraid of needles, operating theaters, and the like, for [[Strapped to An Operating Table|perfectly]] [[Playing with Syringes|understandable]] [[Mind Rape|reasons]].

* The various ''[[Star Trek]]'' series use hyposprays, which are supposed to be painless and which don't pierce the skin. Nevertheless, many recipients wince when the spray is "injected."

* Early in ''[[Smallville]]'', Clark uses this as an excuse to get out of a blood drive.

* In [[Barney Miller]], tough ex-Marine Wojohowicz is shown to be afraid of a flu shot.

 

== New Media ==

 

== Video Games ==

* In ''[[Metal Gear Solid|Metal Gear Solid 4]]'', it is stated that resident [[Butt Monkey]] Johnny Sasaki has skipped out on mandatory shots due to his fear of needles. This leaves him with {{spoiler|no nanomachines in his body}}, unlike pretty much every other soldier out there, and {{spoiler|makes him immune whenever anybody futzes with the nanos.}} Technically [[Subverted Trope]], as he's never shown being afraid of needles and only mentions it right in the middle of his [[Big Damn Heroes]] moment. This also explains the character's trademark chronic diarrhea; {{spoiler|without nanomachines to filter it before it is absorbed into his body, drinking the local water gives his stomach bugs a-plenty}}.

* Montley from ''[[Valkyria Chronicles]]'' suffers from this, being afraid to the point that being close to a Lancer and their [[BFG|Lances]] causes him to hyperventilate and lose health.

* In ''[[Dead Space 2]]'', the player must guide a needle into Isaac Clarke's pupil, in order to extract information from his brain. The needle begins to shake as you get closer to Isaac's soft, tender eye.

* Plays a big part in [[Nightmare Ned|Nightmare Ned's]] Medical Nightmare stage.

{{quote|'''Wrex''': [[Groin Attack|Let's just say no scalpel should cut where he cut.]]}}

* Leif from ''[[Bug Fables]]'' is as cool-headed as they come, and very few things are capable of compromising his usual calm. Needles are one of them, and when Dr. H.B. contemplates running experiments on him when her scanners pick up anomalous readings, he freaks out so badly that he summons his first Bubble Shield in a panic. This fear seems to stem from subconscious trauma related to being {{spoiler|one of Upper Snakemouth's medical experiments}}.

 

* Invoked savagely in [[DMFA]], as Dan is dragged into the pre-enrollment physical at the Succubus and Incubus Academy.

{{quote|Abel: "Dan here needs to take the placement test, but can you bypass the needle part?"

 

== Web Original ==

* The title character of ''[[The Saga of Tuck]]'' also has a fear of needles. And doctors. And psychiatrists. And hospitals. Childhood asthma with recurrent bouts of pneumonia will do that to you.

 

== Western Animation ==

* In the ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' episode "This Won't Hurt an Ed", Eddy learns that Kevin is afraid of needles and uses this to torment him by convincing everyone it's Booster Shot Day. Though by the end of the episode, Kevin overcomes his fear of needles and it turns out that Eddy has to get a shot, providing a very lulzworthy ending.

* In an episode of ''[[Little Lulu]]'', a [[Badass Biker]] has been trying to summon the courage to get a tattoo. Near the end of the episode, he observes kids and their mothers coming out of the tattoo parlour with (painted on) tattoos and nearly collapses on his bike with shame.

* ''[[Transformers Cybertron]].'' Done with [[Humongous Mecha]], no less, with the [[Hand Wave]]-by-[[Techno Babble]] version of a needle. The team ''dreaded,'' the idea of injection, especially Leobreaker. He's not the worst, though: Red Alert has to ''chase Jetfire down''.

* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]'': Harley Quinn cries like a little girl when Poison Ivy gives her a shot in "Harley and Ivy". Harley even [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] this by saying, "You'd think I'd be used to a little pain after hangin' out with Mistah J."

* Loona from ''[[Helluva Boss]]''. She is a hell hound, possibly the type of demon in this setting closest to a primal beast in terms of instinct and personality, and incredibly dangerous when angry, but she seems deathly afraid of being vaccinated. Blitzo has to ''physically'' restrain her so a doctor can do it, the scene in question resembling a cowboy trying to soothe an angry bull.

 

== Real Life ==

* [[Jackie Chan]]. Terrified of needles. Yet he did all his own stunts for years. Cannot be insured due to the guarantee of injury during filming. The man has broken nigh every bone in his body, fractured his nose three (or more) times, has a hole in his skull, burned most of skin of his hand off, to count among others.

* [[Al Capone]] was also afraid of needles. He had syphilis for most of his life (he "interviewed" many of his prostitutes), which could have been cured by a shot of penicillin, but instead suffered for years and eventually died of the disease because he refused to have an injection.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Fear Tropes]]

[[Category:Medical Horror]]

[[Category:Character Flaw Index]]

[[Category:Truth in Television]]