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{{trope}}
[[File:brown-note 9042.png|frame|[[Classical Mythology|Medusa]] was a [[A Worldwide Punomenon|stone cold]] [[Taken for Granite|killer]].]]
The Brown Note is named for the urban legend about an audio tone that, when played, causes the listener to lose control of their bowels and spontaneously defecate.
▲A sound, image, or written work that has a physical or psychological effect on anyone who hears/sees/reads it. This can range from wounding/killing someone, causing them to [[Go Mad from the Revelation|go insane]], or become obsessed with the '''Brown Note''' to the exclusion of all other things (including eating, drinking, sleeping, and yes, even troping).
If it's not harmful itself, but summons or draws the attention of a harmful entity, then it's a [[Speak of the Devil]]. When it is specifically a book, it can be a [[Tome of Eldritch Lore]] or a form of [[Reality Writing Book]]. Musical examples are extreme cases of [[Hell Is That Noise]], [[Ear Worm]] or possibly [[The Power of Rock]]. See also [[Magic Music]]. A lighter version used for torture would be [[Cool and Unusual Punishment]]. Can overlap with [[Suckiness Is Painful]], when the note is a [[Stylistic Suck|really bad work]]. It may occasionally serve as a type of [[MacGuffin]].▼
Compare [[Words Can Break My Bones]], some of which have similar effects given by single words, written or spoken, and are by magic. See also [[Weapons Grade Vocabulary]] if its simply straight words, spoken or read. Contrast with [[Gale Force Sound]], where the sound has a physical effect, not a psychological one, and [[Incessant Music Madness]], where repetitive music drives a person to distraction. If you aren't affected right off the bat, perhaps [[You Cannot Grasp the True Form]] or [[You Are Already Dead]].▼
A '''Brown Note''' is a sensory input that is ''inherently'' harmful. Named for the urban legend about an audio tone that, when played, causes the listener to lose control of their bowels and spontaneously defecate. If it's not harmful itself, but summons or draws the attention of a harmful entity, then it's a [[Speak of the Devil]]. See also [[Loud of War]], [[Make Me Wanna Shout]] and [[Musical Assassin]] for specific forms of sound-based attack. For a practical application in science fiction to showcase harmful energy sources, try [[Showing Off the Perilous Power Source]]. Compare and contrast [[Made of Evil]].▼
▲
▲When it is specifically a book, it can be a [[Tome of Eldritch Lore]] or a form of [[Reality Writing Book]]. Musical examples are extreme cases of [[Hell Is That Noise]], [[Ear Worm]] or possibly [[The Power of Rock]]. See also [[Magic Music]]. A lighter version used for torture would be [[Cool and Unusual Punishment]]. Can overlap with [[Suckiness Is Painful]], when the note is a [[Stylistic Suck|really bad work]].
▲Compare [[Words Can Break My Bones]], some of which have similar effects given by single words, written or spoken, and are by magic. See also [[Weapons Grade Vocabulary]] if its simply straight words, spoken or read. Contrast with [[Gale Force Sound]], where the sound has a physical effect, not a psychological one, and [[Incessant Music Madness]], where repetitive music drives a person to distraction. If you aren't affected right off the bat, perhaps [[You Cannot Grasp the True Form]] or [[You Are Already Dead]].
{{examples}}
* The ''[[Read or Die]]'' [[OVA]] revolves around a symphony that
▲== Anime & Manga ==
▲* The ''[[Read or Die]]'' [[OVA]] revolves around a symphony that cause anyone who listen to it to become suicidally depressed. The villains' plan is to broadcast it around the world and wipe out the weak-minded. To spare the viewers of such a fate, Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" is played.
** This is possibly based on the myth of the Hungarian song "Gloomy Sunday" (see [[Real Life]] below). It was so sad that it was dubbed the "Hungarian suicide song", and caused depressed people to kill themselves when they listened to it. This, however, was all a marketing ploy (while the original lyrics were thought to cause people to become depressed, they were almost completely changed when it was released outside Hungary), and no suicides were actually linked to the song.
** The manga also contains a scene where two captives are tortured with the audio version of ''The Dark Abyss'', a book bound in human flesh and printed by five different people, one page at a time, so they wouldn't succumb to it. The pair withstood the audiobook for some 4 minutes before caving in.
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* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' (anime and manga), [[Cursed with Awesome|although not really a bad thing]], Ed sees "truth" after attempting to perform a human transmutation on his mother at the very beginning of the series and, along with learning a good deal of alchemic knowledge, is able to perform alchemy without a circle, something only those who have also seen the "truth" can do. In the manga only, {{spoiler|Al also ends up seeing the "truth" and gains this ability as well.}}
** That happens in the anime too, he just forgot for most of the series. After remembering, he could transmute without a circle, but refrains from doing any transmutation for other reasons.
* ''[[
** Similarly, Capacity Down is a sound that shuts down esper powers. And it ''is'' quite [[Hell Is That Noise|headache-inducing]] to those who have sensitive ears.
** The second season of ''[[
* One episode of ''[[Science Ninja Team Gatchaman]]'' has [[The Man Behind the Man]] of Galactor compose "Murder Music #1", a rock song that can drive people insane and even shatter buildings when played from the [[Monster of the Week|Mecha Of The Week]].
* ''[[Violinist of Hameln]]'' ''runs'' almost entirely on this trope, flavored with [[Rule of Cool]], [[Refuge in Audacity]] and copious amounts of crack. But what else can you say for a series whose entire premise is that the heroes use magical music to beat evil up (and to beat each other up, they're rather dysfunctional)...?
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* Dimitri from ''[[Kurobara Alice]]'' is a tenor who acquires this power after being turned into a vampire. {{spoiler|He accidentally kills his own audience, to start}}.
== Comic Books ==
== Comics ==▼
* ''[[The Invisibles]]'' must be the chief proponent of the trope, filled with "superdimensional" sounds and words with both positive and negative effects. There's sounds that cause rapid cancer, sounds that opens your consciousness similarly to an explosive, permanent LSD trip, sounds that make you throw up but only if you're a secret agent with multiple cover stories and at one point a hyperdimensional villain is ''defeated by the word "POP"''. (It makes him go pop.)
** ''[[The Invisibles]]'' even posits that ''the alphabet itself'' is a Brown Note, the true name of a powerful demon that the Conspiracy uses to restrict human minds by inculcating the name as a sort of mantra in children.
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* In Mike Carey's ''[[Lucifer (comics)|Lucifer]]'', a primordial Jin En Mok creature in human guise punishes a janitor, who disturbed his train of thought, by giving him a gold coin bearing "the sigil Calx." As the janitor stares transfixed at the sigil, the Jin En Mok tells him that he will look at it more often each day, with a corresponding increase in pain and pleasure, until he dies within a year.
* When Marvel Comics had the ''[[Star Trek]]'' license, they did a ''Deep Space Nine'' Dominion War crossover where the bad guys decided to incapacitate all the good guy telepaths with what amounted to an earworm. It flipped your brain, so friends were enemies and enemies friends. When the Marty Stu original character figured it out, he fought back with another earworm. (TNG telepaths ''liked'' sharing thoughts on the aether.)
* ''[[Li'l Abner]]'' featured "Lena the Hyena", who was supposed to be so ugly that the sight of her face would cause insanity in Dogpatch residents ''and the reader'', so her face wasn't shown at first. Eventually there was a contest to decide what she looked like. [http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/lena.jpg Basil Wolverton won.]▼
* In ''[[The Sandman]]'' #45, Ishtar is a [[God in Human Form|goddess in human form]] working as an exotic dancer, and apparently she's been holding back the full extent of her dancing talents. After a visit from Dream and Delirium, she stops holding back. Her last dance kills the audience and burns the strip club to the ground.
* In ''[[The Umbrella Academy]]'' story arc "The Apocalypse Suite", the antagonist has constructed an orchestra of the sadistic and suicidal to play a symphony that will end the world. Similarly, The White Violin is capable of making heads explode and bodies tear themselves apart by just barely scraping her strings.
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** Orian, a demonic hunter, is summoned by merely reading (not aloud) a mystic sigil. He arrives in our world by ripping his way out through the victim's mouth.
* A ''[[Hellblazer]]'' story seemed to be about this when people celebrating a [[Attack of the Town Festival|revived pagan festival]] became many interesting shades of crazy while some scientists were conducting mysterious tests at a nearby facility {{spoiler|it turns out that [[A Fete Worse Than Death|the festival itself was the cause]], since the scientists' equipment was not only unplugged but ''never worked to begin with''}}.
* In the one-shot ''Battle for the Cowl: Arkham Asylum'', the Hamburger Lady believes that her face is so deformed that anyone not already insane can't look upon it. Dr Arkham tries to prove her wrong by looking at her face... and is later implied to have gone insane because of it.
* One of ''Tharg's Future Shocks'' from ''[[2000
* Lars Bengtsson's novel, "The Long Ships", had an appearance by two Irish jesters/dwarfs who said they were careful to tone down their performance because they'd killed one patron by being so funny that he laughed himself to death.The Viking crew who'd picked them up decided not to tempt the fates/Norns by calling the jesters on their claim.▼
▲* One of ''Tharg's Future Shocks'' from ''[[2000 AD|Two Thousand AD]]'' written by [[Alan Moore]] gave a spin on the alien parasite, ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers''-type tale by suggesting that an alien life form could even be as abstract as an idea. One such "idea" takes over the mind of a person once he/she is told the "idea" by someone already possessed by it.
* In ''[[Scott Pilgrim]]'', the rival band "Crash and the Boys" has [[The Power of Rock|a song that is so epic]], it knocks the audience unconscious for twenty to thirty minutes.
* ''National Lampoon'' once ran a comic about Ugly Deirdre, a little girl who was so hideous that the sight of her face caused people to lose bowel control. A kind plastic surgeon tried to fix Deirdre's face... and the results were so horrible that anyone who looked at her would violently blind or kill themselves. The cartoonist spared us the sight of the after-surgery face by covering it with a black box labeled "TOO HIDEOUS FOR PUBLICATION".
* Again in the DC Comics world, the Accomplished Perfect Physician of the Great Ten (the Chinese Justice League) is capable of both healing diseases and
* The Mike Allred comic, ''Red Rocket 7'', featured a secret note of existence that if played, signaled the destruction of evil and the dawn of paradise. He used it to destroy an evil alien empire that was invading Earth (after it had taken over most of the universe) and signal the second coming of God.
* One issue of ''Peter Parker, the Spectacular [[Spider-Man]]'' gave Kraven the Hunter a girlfriend named Calypso, who could play the drums in such a way that it interfered with Peter's spider-sense.
== Fan Works ==
* In the ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' fic ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6509106/1/Danny_Phantom_Stolen_Years Danny Phantom Stolen Years]'', Jack invented a device that emitted a painful sound that only ghosts could hear. {{spoiler|He got the effect [[Reverse Polarity|backwards]]}}.
* In [http://thepunishment.tumblr.com/post/7430283171/prequel-daisy the prequel] to a ''[[Portal 2]]'' fanfiction called ''[http://thepunishment.tumblr.com The Punishment]'', Wheatley falls victim to a glitch programmed into all personality cores which makes them [[Cute Machines|"fall]] [[Sleep Cute|asleep"]] at the sound of human singing.
* Brown notes ''abound'' in the ''[[Worm]]/[[Luna Varga]]'' crossover ''[[Taylor Varga]]'':
** The very nature of the Taylor/Varga symbiosis does this to Thinker powers.
** Some of the ... more [[Eldritch Abomination|extreme body shapes]] Taylor tries have this effect on those who see them -- even the microshoggoth. Lisa in particular seems especially prone to just shutting down when she sees one.
** The various multi- and fractionally-dimensional constructs Taylor and the Varga create have this effect on most normal humans.
** The drawings Vista makes after seeing online photos of Danny's birthday present from the Family have this effect on her classmates and teachers. She actually makes one teacher vomit (unintentionally, of course). Amusingly, she doesn't quite realize the actual effect they have on other people.
** After a little tutoring from Saurial, Vista (as Cloak) can create (or warp existing items into) multi/fractionally-dimensional objects that are also visual brown notes.
==
* ''The Signal'' features an audio/video signal that has a psychological effect on anyone who hears/sees it, causing people to go insane, or become obsessed with the signal, and trying to make others experience the signal.
* The videotape from ''[[Ringu]]'' (and its [[Foreign Remake|American adaptation]], ''[[The Ring]]'') which causes anyone who watches it to die seven days later {{spoiler|unless they made a copy of the tape and gave it to someone else}}. In the American version, the short film ''Rings'' and the website "[https://archive.today/20121216122419/http://www.she-is-here.com/ She Is Here]" expand on the concept; Samara's videotape is treated almost like a mind-expanding drug.
** To be clear, although the death of anyone who watches the Tape is just as inevitable as a Brown Note artifact, the videotape itself is harmless, it's the fact that anyone who watches it draws the attention of the psychotic ghost haunting it that leads to fatalities, making it more of a [[Speak of the Devil]].
* [[David Cronenberg]]'s ''[[Videodrome]]'', about a TV signal that causes brain tumors and hallucinations. The discoverers of the signal attach it to a violent [[Gorn]] show {{spoiler|in order to clean up society by killing everyone who watches violent television}}.
* In ''[[Mystery Men]]'', Casanova Frankenstein built a machine that could warp [[Reality Warper|reality itself]]. Apparently the equations underlying it were so complex that anybody who studied them would go insane. Fortunately for Frankenstein, he was [[Obfuscating Insanity|already insane]] and had spent a decade in [[Bedlam House|the asylum]] with several of those scientists.
* ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]'' has the Knights who say Ni!. [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Like their name makes clear]], they utter the word "Ni!" in a very screechy high pitched voice to hurt passing travelers and scare them into doing their bidding. {{spoiler|
** "Ni!" works whether it's the Knights saying it or someone else, as when King Arthur is [[It Makes Sense in Context|harassing that old woman to find a
* In ''[[Mars Attacks!]]!'', it is discovered that the Martians' main weakness is the singing voice of Slim Whitman, which causes [[Your Head Asplode|their heads to explode]]. Seriously.
** Which is itself likely a call back to ''[[Attack of the Killer Tomatoes]]'', where the title tomatoes are pacified by a song called "Puberty Love". The last tomato, wearing earmuffs, was defeated by {{spoiler|showing it a copy of the sheet music.}}
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{{quote|"For your safety, please avoid contact with close family members, and refrain from the following: all terms of endearment, such as 'honey' or 'sweetheart'; babytalk with young children; and rhetorical discourse. For greater safety, please avoid the English language. Do not... [[Oh Crap|translate... this message.]]"}}
* ''The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz'' features the Tuning Fork of Annihilation. When played back over the emergency broadcast system, it causes the destruction of all TV sets and kills all children who hear it.
* In Steve Sullivan's ''[
* In ''[[Iron Man (film)|Iron Man]]'', one of the weapons Stark Industries had developed was an auditory paralysis device. It caused anyone who heard the noise to be temporarily paralyzed. The government didn't ok production because it violated the Geneva convention. Obadiah, however, had no qualms about using it for his own gain more than once.
* In ''[[High Anxiety]]'' Dr. Wentworth gets {{spoiler|trapped in his car and killed from an ear hemorrhage caused by the loud rock music blaring from the car radio.}}
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'''Soldier:''' And his word shall bring death eternal for all those who stand against the righteous! }}
* In the ''[[Rocky and Bullwinkle]]'' movie, the villains use a television program that causes the viewers to become zombies and attempt to broadcast it across the United States so Fearless Leader can become president.
== Literature ==
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* ''The King In Yellow'' is later used by [[August Derleth]] for the [[Cthulhu Mythos]], with a performance of the play acting as a [[Speak of the Devil|summoning ritual for]] Hastur. Anyone who ''wasn't'' driven insane by reading or viewing the play can say goodbye to their sanity once ''he'' shows up.
* In the novel ''[[Infinite Jest]]'', a movie known only as "The Entertainment" was described as so fascinating, anyone who watched it became obsessed with it.
* SF author [[David Langford]] invented the ''basilisk'', also known as the ''[[The Basilisk|Langford fractal basilisk]]'' or blit ([https://web.archive.org/web/20131005141835/http://data.tumblr.com/13741903_500.jpg see here]), a fictional type of computer-generated image that basically acts as a [[Logic Bomb]] to the human brain. In the story, it is explained that logical paradoxes like <small>THIS SENTENCE IS FALSE</small> aren't normally dangerous to our sanity or our health because we filter them through three or more levels of cognitive understanding; basilisks, as theorized by Langford,
* An image similar to Langford's "basilisk" was used in the [[Star Trek]] novel ''Before Dishonor''.
* The short story ''Von Goom's Gambit'' featured a mathematician who became the world champion chess player "by default" when he discovered a certain arrangement of pieces on the board which formed an image that would short out the brain of anyone who saw it from the opposing player's perspective. Effects of the gambit included; causing some to go blind, driving others insane, and in one instance even turning all of those who saw the gambit at one tournament to turn to stone.
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* The plot of Neal Stephenson's ''[[Snow Crash]]'' revolves around the titular Snow Crash virus which ''resets'' a person to speaking and understanding only ancient Sumerian, which is described as a programming language for human beings. It allows people to be programmed directly, but leaves them gibbering crazy people spouting glossolalia until then, and shows up in the form of a bitmap image. All hackers are vulnerable, because they can understand the embedded binary code in this bitmap, which causes their unconscious to be able to pick up and mentally "run" the virus. Any [[Hackers]] who sees the bitmap, whether in cyberspace or in real life, becomes infected with the virus and instantly turns into a wandering bag-lady (or, erm... bag-lord?).
** In [[Cyberpunk]] novels, the concept of "ice" capable of killing people in [[Your Mind Makes It Real|virtual reality]] is often based on the same idea of an image [[Go Mad from the Revelation|or piece of data]] that the [[You Cannot Grasp the True Form|brain cannot process]].
* [[Logic Bomb]]s were used in the [[Discworld]] novel ''[[
** The ''[[Discworld]]'' also features the [[Warrior Poet|gonagles]] of the Nac Mac Feegle, who fight by reciting atrocious poetry and by playing music on their painfully high-pitched mousepipes. They can make it rain.
** [[Great Big Library of Everything|The Library of the Unseen University]] is full of books that do [[Tome of Eldritch Lore|horrible things to people]]. In particular the Necrotelecomnicon (
** On a less-rarified level, the 128-foot "Earthquake" pipe on the UU's pipe organ is said to have caused acute bowel discomfort across a quarter of the city when sounded. Which was only attempted once, as the same subterranean-depth note also got the six students who'd worked the bellows to power the organ sucked into the ductwork, plus the university's Great Hall shifted an inch to one side.
** In a less-than-lethal example, the species of bird called "geas" (mentioned in ''[[Sourcery]]'') uses this trope defensively, by being so monumentally silly-looking that any potential predator will laugh itself sick at the sight.
** The Patrician's waiting room has a clock designed so that the ticking is irregular, the sounds coming a tiny bit before or after you're expecting it, or sometimes not happening at all. It's described as, after about ten minutes, reducing one's mental state to mush.
* One of the best known examples of a Brown Note in Hispanic literature is in ''[[wikipedia:The Zahir|The Zahir]]'', a short story by [[Jorge Luis Borges]]. In the story, the Zahir is a random, unique object, picked by Allah himself, which drives anyone who takes even a tiny little peek to total and complete obsession with that thing, to the point of becoming unable to feed himself out of pure detachment. The list includes a navigation device, a tiger, a vein of marble in a mosque, and an Argentinian coin with a "2N" scratched on one side. The story itself tells how the character became increasingly obsessed with the Zahir.
** This trope was a favorite of Borges' actually (especially the obsession version). In ''[[wikipedia:The
* ''Ubbo-Sathla'', a story from the ''[[Cthulhu Mythos]]'' by Clark Ashton Smith, is about a British archeologist, called Paul Tregardis, who found a strange gem that causes anyone who looks at it to have all his mind and consciousness transferred to all the ones who looked at the gem before, until his body disappears and his mind is transferred to the "original chaos".
* In the [[Cordwainer Smith]] short story ''The Fife of Bodhidharma'', the fife can cause either serenity or madness, depending on how it is played.
* Necromancers' bells in the ''[[Old Kingdom]]'' trilogy by Garth Nix. Different bells give different effects, and the effect also depends on how the bell is played. One of the bells kills everyone who hears it, including the player.
* A variation of this occurs in ''[[A Clockwork Orange (novel)|A Clockwork Orange]]''. After Alex's psychological conditioning, he is unable to listen to classical music without feeling sick and weak (in the film, only [[Ludwig Van Beethoven|Beethoven's]] Ninth has this effect). At one point, one of Alex's former victims uses this knowledge in an attempt to drive him insane.
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* The [[Fritz Leiber]] short story "Rump-Titty-Titty-Tum-TAH-Tee" is about the discovery of a waltz rhythm that causes anyone who hears it to become maniacally obsessed with it, listen for other examples of it, and recreate it at every opportunity.
* The [[Chuck Palahniuk]] novel ''[[Lullaby]]'' is about a poem which kills anyone to whom it is recited. Or even those toward whom it is '''[[Paranoia Fuel|thought.]]'''
* Palahniuk also included a box in ''[[Haunted
* ''[[
** Passing references to books that burn out the reader's eyeballs. And also books that can't physically be put down—readers are cursed to go around reading those books for the rest of their lives.
** A more harmless example is the occasionally-mentioned ''Sonnets of a Sorcerer'', which makes you speak in limericks for the rest of your life.
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* The scrimshaw Turtle in ''[[The Dark Tower|Dark Tower VI]]'', a [[Clingy MacGuffin|Clingy Artifact]] which possesses whoever sees it in a ''good'' way, hypnotizing them and leaving a chain of forgetful, happy people in its wake. The turtle is possibly a [[Shout-Out]] to [[Jorge Luis Borges|Borges]] above, given its presumably divine origins.
** The [[Artifact of Doom|"Black Thirteen"]] crystal ball from the ''[[Dark Tower]]'' series has similar effects from an evil perspective. Left alone, it would kill everyone it comes in contact with by causing them to kill or commit suicide and/or [[Speak of the Devil|release the Beast into the world]]. Fortunately, the heroes, who are [[I'm Not Afraid of You|pressed for time]], decide to leave it in a long-term storage locker {{spoiler|under the World Trade Center}}.
* The {{color|blue|house}}, particularly the deeper parts of it (such as the Grand Hall and the Spiral Staircase), in ''[[House of Leaves]]''. Some would argue that ''[[Tome of Eldritch Lore|the book itself]]'' is a [[Real Life]] Brown Note. Seriously, it's that strange. It has managed to cause [https://web.archive.org/web/20190713025335/http://www.
** Not to mention the '''{{color|red|Minotaur}}'''. Seriously, [[Incredibly Lame Pun|don't mention it]].
* [[Mark Twain]]'s witty essay/short story ''Punch, Brothers, Punch!'' (also known as "A Literary Nightmare") concerns a tune which the narrator is unable to force from his head, and is unusual in that the killer verse is presented for us in full—and the nature of the silly little ditty is such that just reading the lyrics really ''is'' enough to get the damn tune [[Ear Worm|stuck in the reader's head]]! He finally banishes it from his mind {{spoiler|by tricking a friend into getting it stuck in ''his'' head.}}
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** [[It Got Worse|It gets worse]]: {{spoiler|[[Big Bad|Quinn]] [[Omnicidal Maniac|Dexter]] gets the weapon at one point. He's very happy when he finds out what it does. Turns out it facilitates possession when the body is soul-less.}}
** What's disturbing is that the technology was derived from commercial memory-imprinting educational devices, which have made schools obsolete by the 25th century.
* In "The Bottle Imp" by [[Robert Louis Stevenson]], the eponymous bottled imp will show itself if its owner commands, but both the owner and any other witnesses will be paralyzed with terror for several hours after seeing it. This happens to the protagonist and his friend, but because of this, no physical description of the imp is given.
* ''[[The Demolished Man]]'' by Alfred Bester mentions advertising melodies called 'pepsis' which, once heard, are almost impossible to remove from the conscious mind, due to the way they are constructed. {{spoiler|The [[Big Bad]] asks specifically to hear one of them because he wants to use it as a [[Psychic Static|blocking mechanism to avoid telepathic detection of the criminal thoughts]] he harbors.}}
* The whole plot of Simon R. Green's ''[[Nightside|Nightingale's Lament]]'' deals with this: a singer whose songs cause (some) audience members to commit suicide.
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* In ''Wheel of Darkness'', an [[Agent Pendergast]] novel, the {{spoiler|Agoyzen is a type of this - the mere sight of it unhinges something in the viewer's brain, making them become a sociopath. Pendergast is one of those who suffers from Agoyzen sociopathy, but [[It Got Better|he gets better]].}}
* German sci-fi pulp series [[Perry Rhodan]] has Alaska Saedelaere, a man who had an alien fragment fused to his face in a transporter accident which made everyone go insane and die just from looking at it. He had to wear a mask to disguise it. Being one of the series' main characters who had received cell activators to make them immortal, he had to wear that mask for a very long time. He got better after a couple of centuries, but had his condition [[Reset Button|reverted again]].
* The short story ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130614230946/http://www.math.yorku.ca/Who/Faculty/Steprans/Courses/3500/Consciousness/mi269-276.txt The Riddle of the Universe and its Solution]'' by philosopher Christopher Cherniak provides an example where comprehension of a certain fact induces a coma. Often, the last word uttered by a victim is "Aha!".
* Some of the magical tricks Garrett keeps up his sleeves in the ''[[Garrett P.I.]]'' series would qualify, as they impair anyone who's looking at the flashy F/X when he activates them.
* In Tad Williams's ''[[Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn]]'' trilogy, we have ''Du Svardenvyrd'', the Wyrd of the Swords. The man who wrote it was insane, and the first person to encounter it immediately committed suicide. Only one other person's response is shown, and he went from being the best and brightest of a circle of wise, learned men to being a wandering thief and alcoholic, unable to commit suicide, but unable to live with what he'd read.
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* A lesser example than some of these, but nonetheless: in ''[[Tales of Kolmar]]'', the [[Our Demons Are Different|Rakshasa lords]] must have their true names spoken for them to be summoned. Demon summoners are practiced in this and manage, but a non-summoner overhearing is driven to vomit. Late in the series, we see that the sound of the Demonlord's laughter has the same effect.
* ''The Dictionary of the Khazars'' by Milorad Pavic had Princess Ateh protected in sleep by the runes painted on her eyelids, that would kill anyone who sees them, i.e. sees her face while her eyes are closed (she didn't mind the night light, apparently). This worked fine until she received as a gift two mirrors, one of which allowed to see reflection from the very near future, and the other slightly delayed (thus allowing to see oneself in motion and from the angles normally unavailable with a simple mirror, aside of the amusement value). She was shown these early in the morning before having the runes washed off and... three guesses at what could possibly go wrong with that.
▲* Lars Bengtsson's novel,
* The second ''[[Tom Stranger]]'' audiobook has a sequence claiming [[Bill Nye]]'s "My Sex Junk" can function as such. A character [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall|leans on the fourth wall]] to make clear [["Not Making This Up" Disclaimer|Bill Nye really did make something called "My Sex Junk"]] and that the audience [[Shmuck Bait|can look it up on YouTube and witness the effects for themselves]].
== Live
* ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' had a classic Brown Note in the form of the "Funniest Joke Ever Written", so funny that anyone who heard it would die laughing, used to parody documentaries on World War 2 (more specifically, those about the atomic bomb). We could tell you more about it, but instead, why don't you [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gpjk_MaCGM see for yourself?] (At your own peril, of course.)
** The premise is that a British humorist writes a joke so unimaginably funny that anyone who reads or hears it quickly dies from fatal hilarity. The British army then [[Blind Idiot Translation|translate the joke word-by-word]] to German using different translators (some of them fall into a coma after translating more than two words) and use it as a weapon against the Germans in WWII.
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* The Indian classical pieces of music known as "Raga" are supposed to produce strange effects when played in certain conditions. A story tells of the 16th century musician Tansen who, singing before the skeptical emperor Akbar, put himself (and the surrounding palace) in fire by merely singing the Raga "Deepak". His daughter came to the rescue by singing the rain raga called "Megh Malhar" to extinguish the flames. One researcher noted that the musicians still avoid performing the raga Deepak.
* Averted by [[Van Halen]]; Eddie Van Halen's [http://www.legendarytones.com/brownsound.html "Brown Sound"] apparently didn't have any adverse effects on its listeners, other than hearing loss.
== Mythology ==
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* The Basilisk and/or Cockatrice. Depending on who you ask, they are either the same monster or two entirely different monsters that always get confused with one-another. If they are different, then they also look different: the Basilisk is either a lowly lizardy thing or a snakelike thing and the Cockatrice is essentially half rooster, half demonic monster.
** The main points about these creatures ''are'' basically the same: they are small and can easily hide and sneak about and pop up anywhere, they are [[Made of Evil|pure evil]], they must come into this world by unnatural means (often by a '''rooster''' laying an egg), and to meet their gaze is to drop dead on the spot. Or to turn into stone. Or they kill/petrify you just by ''looking at them''. Or by touching you or breathing on you. [[Walking Wasteland|Or they leave a path of desolation ("creating a desert") wherever they walk]]. Or... it may be easier at this point to say that the [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent]] trope is very old, and has much to do with the wildly exaggerated dangerousness of poisonous snakes.
**
* [[Older Than Feudalism]]: The sight of Medusa and her Gorgon sisters either [[One-Hit Kill|kills you instantly]] or [[Taken for Granite|turns you into stone]] depending on what version of the legend you read. In most versions, this power remains with her hideous visage even after she's been beheaded, and it ends up mounted on Athena's shield or breastplate for exactly that reason. Note that Medusa was killed by the hero Perseus who had ([[Supernatural Aid|along with various god-given tools]]) a mirrored shield—not to reflect her gaze back [[Nethack]] style, but to look into, so he could aim his sword to kill her without looking directly at her.
* The Sirens are like an auditory version of the Gorgons, as they lure sailors to their death with their song.
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* The eyes of cemetery statue "Black Aggie" are said to glow bright red in the middle of the night, either blinding or killing anyone who looks into them. ([http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/agnes.asp source])
▲== Newspaper Comics ==
* ''[[Li'l Abner]]'':
▲*
** Stupefyin' Jones was the opposite. She was so stunningly beautiful that any male who looked at her would freeze, rooted to the spot. (She was a deadly hazard for any confirmed bachelor on Sadie Hawkins Day, and she would often use her powers then on purpose, [[For the Evulz|simply for fun]].) Her cousin, Available Jones [[Intrepid Merchant|(who was ''always'' available — for a price)]], wasn't above providing her power for a fee if anyone needed someone subdued.
* ''[[Dilbert]]'' once [https://dilbert.com/strip/1996-04-25 exposed Ratbert to his company's marketing plan]. It gave the rat a brain tumor.
==
* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'':
** An article in ''[[Dragon (magazine)|Dragon]]'' magazine described a sage who delved into the study of the Lords of the Nine, the nine arch-devils who rule the Nine Hells of Baator. He went missing; all that turned up of him were a few spots of blood on his floor. It's speculated that either he [[Speak of the Devil|attracted the attention of the devils]], who spirited him away; or that that the sheer evil of the tomes he was reading caused him to spontaneously implode.
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** Power Word spells, single words that can blind, stun or [[One-Hit Kill|kill]] those too weak or injured to resist without even a saving throw.
** In ''D&D'', it's possible to place spell traps on objects, which are triggered by looking at, or reading them.
*** [[The Order of the Stick|"I prepared Explosive Runes this morning."]]
*** And of course, ''Urban Arcana'' takes this trope to the 21st century, by including rules on how to send spells ''over the Internet''. Be careful next time you open that email attachment...
** Bards can charm other creatures using singing and music.
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** There are a number of monsters that can harm with sound: Wolfweres (singing = sleep), androsphinx (roar = deafness), cloaker (moaning), tyrg (howling) and so on. And banshee, of course.
** Many magical musical instruments can affect targets as well, such as a satyr's pipes.
** A tune played on [[Artifact of Doom|Heward's Mystic Organ]] can become this if a user plays it wrong; [[Blessed with Suck| or even worse, plays it too well.]]
** There are a plethora of spells which create harmful sounds as well.
** Also visual effects like Colour Spray and Hypnotic Pattern.
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** And the worshippers of Slaanesh in ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' have a word that, when whispered into your ear, ''can kill you''.
** Speaking of Slaanesh, any mortal who looks directly at his true form will ''instantly lose their soul'' and [[More Than Mind Control|willingly become his slave for all eternity]].
** Basically anything involving Slaanesh would result in this. His champion, Lucius, has a set of armor that [[Involuntary Transformation|turns you]] [[Body Snatcher|
** The new Jabberslythe unit for ''Warhammer'' Beastmen apparently drives enemy units insane. Understandably, it's the only unit without a picture in its entry. Good luck modeling it.
* ''[[Earthdawn]]''. Simply reading about the Horrors can cause psychological problems and attract their attention upon the reader.
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** In other Deathlord wonkiness, there's the Monstrance of Celestial Portion, the cages used by the Deathlords to put Solar Exaltations through the spin cycle of evil so they come out as Abyssal shards. Solars can't even look at the Monstrances without feeling violently ill.
** There is also the Yozi called She Who Lives In Her Name - her true name traps lesser beings into endlessly repeating it should they ever hear more than a few words of it.
* ''[[Deadlands]]'' has the Whateley family <s>tree</s> shrub. ''Looking'' at it is more than enough to drive someone insane. Then there's what the Whateleys are actually doing...
* ''[[Eclipse Phase]]'' has weaponized the brown note, in the form of "basilisk hacks", combinations of sensory input which essentially crash the human brain. Also, {{spoiler|low exposures only cause seizures, but longer doses can cause [[The Corruption|Exurgent infection]].}}
** Pandora gates are also noted to be odd enough that they hurt your head and cause some [[Psychic Powers|asyncs]] to wig out. Most of the solar system bases that contain gates keep them covered at all times...just to be on the safe side.
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* Second and Third Edition ''[[Nobilis]]'' both have flavour text describing a book on the true nature of beauty. Because the book is a sacrosant object not meant for mortals, it kills the first to read any word within. The vignette wraps up with "It is a statement on the nature of beauty, and the nature of scholars, that [...] over half of its text had been read, understood, and transcribed."
** Any picture of Ananda, Lord of Murder, the Infinite, and the Fourth Age, induces physical and/or psychological damage in those who see it. Actually seeing him in the flesh is worse.
* In Fantasy Flight Games' ''[[Star Wars]]'' system (''Edge of the Empire'', ''Age of Rebellion'' and ''Force and Destiny'') the Scathing Tirade talent allows a character to inflict strain with their coercion (intimidate) skill. For non-boss enemies this is ''the same as shooting them'' (for bosses it's the same as shooting them with a stun weapon). Since there are more options for boosting social skills than boosting shooting, this is easily turned into a [[Gamebreaker]] if focused on (though range is limited).
== Toys ==
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** Tren Krom and {{spoiler|Anonna}}, [[Eldritch Abomination]]s that can potentially drive people who see them insane.
** The Klakk's scream, which can cure Shadow Matoran of their corruption.
== Video Games ==
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* In the world of ''[[The Demented Cartoon Movie]]'', saying the word "Blah" sometimes causes your head to pop off of your neck, although the exact rules regarding this are inconsistent. Saying or producing a recording of the word "Zeekyboogydoog" causes a nuclear explosion at the location the sound originated from. Saying the word "Gleegsnagzip" causes [[Earthshattering Kaboom|the entire planet to explode]]. And saying "Kamikaze Watermelon" cues a visit from Fooby, the Kamikaze Watermelon.
** "(Fanfare plays) Wheeee! (splat)"
* In [[YouTube Poop]], an [[Off-Model]] picture of [[Super Mario Bros.|Luigi]], nicknamed "Weegee", has gradually developed this power. Anyone who looks at him for too long [[The Virus|will become him]]. It's been used as a metaphor for how [[
* According to the ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' cartoon "Fall Float Parade", Strong Sad goes into an unexplained trance whenever he hears the phrase "covered bridges". At least until Strong Bad starts hitting him with nunchucks.
** In this same series, there's the Creepy Painting Strong Mad keeps in his closet, which depicts a gargoyle-like creature named Rocoulm who says "Come on in here!" and causes anyone who hears those words to get "the jibblies."
*** Not just the painting saying those words, the painting ''itself'' is said to give people "the jibblies". Strong Bad is especially creeped-out by it.
* In ''[[Dick Figures]]'' Red finds an adorable Kitten he dubs "Kitty Amazing" (because that's what he is). The kitten is so adorable it melts the hearts of all who look at it... ''literally''. Blue recently had eye surgery so he is spared, but no explanation is given for why Red is immune.
== Web Comics ==
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* In ''[[Megatokyo]]'', the ''Necrowombicon'' was probably a Brown Note, because Largo's life can be divided in two. Before reading it, he was just a superconfident, super-spirited hardcore gamer; after reading it, he became obsessed with zombie rampages, though that Miho was the "3V1|_ Z0MB13 QU33N", and suddenly started seeing the world through the glasses of [[B-Movie|B Movies]], shooter games and online RPGs. But if we consider that Largo is also a big [[Cloudcuckoolander]], it might as well have been caused by something else.
** This happened about the time the authors were transitioning from a loosely connected series of jokes to a more comprehensive narrative, so the clichés Largo was built on were ramped up overnight to Cloudcuckoolander status to help lead into his plot arcs. It's later mentioned that he's always been this way. In addition, [[Author Avatar|the "other" Largo]] was becoming less influential on the comic's creation by that point—if he had not already been completely forced out—which meant it was also the point where the Largo character was being written by the other author/artist, who had vastly different tastes in humour and writing style.
* In ''[[8-
* ''[[Starslip Crisis]]'' has the sculpture known as "The Spine of the Cosmos". Looking at it by itself is harmless, but when its artistic context is described to the viewer, they are either granted ultimate understanding of the universe or driven insane—either way, becoming a mindless zombie. The insectoid aliens known as Cirbozoids are the only intelligent species immune to this, due to their inability to understand art.
** Also, Cirbozoids can kill people by crying.
** The context involves [[Creator/Yeats|Yeats]]' [[Vagueness Is Coming|poem]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20100815092814/http://starslip.com/2007/11/30/starslip-number-664/ The Second Coming]
** It is forever robbed of this ability, however, when its artistic context is irreparably changed by {{spoiler|[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Mr. Jinx wearing it as a hat]]}}, and is thereafter described by at least one character as "the dumbest thing i've ever seen".
* Librarian Dewey develops a book talk guaranteed to make people faint in ''[[Unshelved]]''!
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* In ''[[RPG World]]'', it's hinted that the four Mystic Keys are these. At least it was strongly hinted that reading the Tiger Book was what made Jeff go crazy and turn evil.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20141018222756/http://www.deadboydesigns.com/kreepy/strip%2035.htm Kreepy Kat]
* In ''[[The
** Vaarsuvius [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0092.html prepared Explosive Runes this morning].
* [http://i33.tinypic.com/15zibf7.gif This comic] from ''[[The Parking Lot Is Full]]'' describes such an occurrence.
* In ''[[Freefall]]'', a unique tone, not
** Not to forget Sam's real er... face, which he theorizes triggers some sort of nurturing instinct in humans, since any time someone sees it they immediately disgorge their stomach contents. This is a big part of why he wears a full-body environment suit with an animated mechanical face.
{{quote|'''Helix''': Remember to keep your helmet on when you're photographed. They had to take your picture down in the post office because it gave seeing-eye dogs heart attacks. }}
{{quote|'''Edge''': "Who wrote this note, [[H.P. Lovecraft]]?"}}
* In ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20110919185727/http://www.jaydenandcrusader.com/2008/06/27/page-74/ Jayden and Crusader]'', the character Third can apparently utter proofs of the non-existence of God so powerful Priests have heart attacks because of the conflict of their profession and the utter logic of the proof. We are of course not told what this proof is.
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{{quote|'''Cloud:''' The bad man with the sword is taking over my mind again!}}
** Unfortunately, that song is also Axel's [[Theme Music Power-Up]].
* ''Ubersoft'' employes were once shown only the shadow of a new Apple product, since
* ''[[Necessary Monsters]]'': Jonathon tells the man on the safehouse front desk ''something'' that causes him to pull his own skull apart.
* Rowasu of ''[[Juathuur]]'' makes his sword screech by draggin it on the ground to confuse his enemies.
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* Art in ''[[Sequential Art (webcomic)|Sequential Art]]'', aspiring to the full [[Mad Artist]] glory, "[http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=665 created an image that combines all known fetishes]".
* ''[[A Miracle of Science]]'' has several texts including the book "Crank Theories on Robotics", that is a known vector of [[Science-Related Memetic Disorder]].
*
** Agatha on the other hand, only seems mildly surprised.
{{quote|'''Mama Gkikka:''' Keeds today. Kent even take a leedle '''existential despair'''.}}
** Mama was surprised, though, that Gil found the sound "beautiful" as it meant Agatha was still alive and fighting. It's been implied, though, that Gil may be "modified" in some way related to the Jägermonsters, which may account for his immunity.
* Draconic, the [[Language of Magic]] in ''[[Nahast: Lands of Strife
* ''[[Chasing the Sunset]]'' had a [https://web.archive.org/web/20171001080702/http://www.fantasycomic.com/index.php?p=c311 moment] when [[The Fair Folk|Feiht]] suddenly screamed and fell to the ground at a party. Turns out, she ran into a witch.
{{quote|'''Cynthia''': I merely introduced her to a concept so revolting, so fearsome to [[Sticky Fingers|the pixie]] mind the mere name didst make her pass out. {{spoiler|(Income taxes)}} }}
* ''[[Does Not Play Well With Others]]'' has an arc about "[http://www.doesnotplaywellwithothers.com/comic/pwc-0135 The Yellow Boy King]" - something between ''The Yellow Kid'' and [[The King in Yellow]]'' (see a description of its effects 2 pages later).
* ''[[Vexxarr]]'' has a creature whose whining (whether vocal or in text form) can make AIs suffer, enough that they are incapacitated or self-destruct. Advanced ones can develop resistance via exposure to small doses, however.
* Lampooned in one series of ''[[Nodwick]]'' strips, the [[Evil Sorceress]] She Who Must Be Obeyed has obtained a written copy of That Which Man Is Not Meant to Know, and she is smart enough not to read it, because she realizes that this Trope must apply if no-one is meant to know it. However, after taking the heroes prisoner, {{spoiler| Piffany assures her that only ''men'' are not meant to know it; women can safely read it, because it's something that they know already. When she reads it (not revealing it to the readers), the fact that such a "secret" would be so devastating to men almost makes her bust a gut laughing.}}
== Web Original ==
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* An [[Easter Egg]] in the ''[[Sonic Shorts]]'' collection volume 2 features an extremely terrifying version of the Tails Doll that allegedly causes grown men to scream like a little girl.
* The ''[[SCP Foundation]]'' has enough of these to call them "memetic hazards"—a syndrome or behavior that can be transmitted by means of sensorial information, such as pictures and sounds.
** A "Langford-Berryman Memetic Kill Agent" triggers a fatal neurally-induced heart attack into any "un-innoculated" personnel trying to view the SCP-001 entry. [http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/
** SCP-701 is [http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-701 a play] very reminiscent of ''[[The King in Yellow]]''.
** SCP-298 is [http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-298 this pipe organ].
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* In H-M Brown's ''[[Shell]]'', using some type of filtration method like a peep hole or a television to see the [[Eldritch Abomination]], will still lead you to madness.
* The [[Creepypasta]] Smile.jpg, an image of a dog that causes the viewer to have bizarre nightmares.
** In case you're wondering what it looks like and are resistant to the [[Shmuck Bait]], it's a picture of a husky with demonic eyes and a photoshopped grin on
* The "full version" of the [[Creepypasta]] video "Mereana Mordegard Glesgorv" is said to drive the viewer to insanity.
* The Choir from ''[[The Fear Mythos]]'' can distort sounds...and make them shatter glass, rupture eardrums, and ''hemorrhage people's brains''. Luckily, most of the time they seem content to simply [[Driven to Suicide|drive you to suicide]], but if you piss them off...
* The ''[[Doug]]'' theme tune to [[The Nostalgia Critic]]. He called the resulting brain tumor "Pork Chop".
* Many of the eponymous creatures in ''[[STRANGERS|S T R A N G E R S]]'' have effects on people
* Overlapping with [[Suckiness Is Painful]], a common response on imageboards and other sites to posts considered especially bad is to insinuate that the post gave them a deadly disease, usually signified or accompanied by an image of a character in a hospital bed.
* In the ''[[Tom Stranger]]'' series entry ''A Murder of Manatees'', [[Bill Nye]]'s ''My Sex Junk'' is identified as this. A character [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall|notes that if this were made into an audio drama like Tom Stranger's last adventure]], listeners [["Not Making This Up" Disclaimer|may not realize that's a real thing]] [[Schmuck Bait|that can be found on YouTube]].
== Western Animation ==
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** ''The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs'', a [[Show Within a Show|novel within the series]] made by the boys on an episode with the same title. It causes everyone who reads it (with the possible exception of the boys themselves, who just laugh) to vomit from the [[Squick]]y parts ([[Take Our Word for It|which we never hear]]) of it. Apparently, nobody has gotten past the first paragraph without this reaction, and in a game show where you try to listen to the audio books as long as you can, one person threw up after ''2 seconds''.
*** The twist of all this is that despite this reaction, it is agreed-upon in-universe to be an excellent work of literature.
** Another
* ''Mightyman and Yukk'' is one of the [[Three Shorts]] of the late-70s ''[[Plastic Man]]'' cartoon. The titular Yukk is a dog whose face is so ugly that it is continually concealed by a doghouse; when he takes it off, whoever is looking at it would run away in terror, and it could even cause inanimate objects to break.
* In the pilot episode of the [[Revival|revival... episode]] of ''[[Biker Mice From Mars]]'', the Big Bad throws his little evil brother against a wall, and the sound of his claws scratching makes their prisoners wince and cry.
* DethKlok's music on ''[[Metalocalypse]]'' has some unique effects, but they may be supernatural in origin. In "Dethkomedy", it's mentioned that the song "Go Into The Water" caused a million people to literally go into the water and drown. They summon tornadoes in "Bluesklok", a troll in "Dethtroll", and a large amount of fish in "The Metalocalypse Has Begun
** Let's not forget that every time Skwisgaar starts to play a solo, PEOPLE START DYING! Duncan Hills Coffee anyone?
* In ''[[Justice League]]'', the supervillain {{spoiler|Ace of the Royal Flush Gang}} is a human Brown Note. Simply looking into her eyes, even through a television broadcast, can lead to delusions and eventual catatonia. If she really puts her mind to it, the result can last long after she's left or even become permanent. Eventually, her power expands until {{spoiler|she is a full-blown [[Reality Warper]]}}.
* ''[[The Smurfs]]'' dealt with a magic flute that caused anyone who heard its song to fall into a permanent magical sleep.
* ''[[American Dad]]'' has Oscar Gold - a film so sad you will cry to death. It's about a Jewish, retarded, alcoholic boy, in hiding from the Nazis, whose puppy has cancer.
** There's also an even sadder film, consisting of several hours of a baby chimp trying to revive its dead mother, but fortunately it's never released.
**
** It's implied (though never stated
* ''[[Futurama]]'' has the Hypnotoad, whose penetrating gaze lulls you into a mindless catatonic state until [[Interrupting Meme|ALL GLORY TO]] [[The Hypnotoad]]!
* An episode of ''[[Batman: The
** "[[Exposition|The fiend!]] [[Magic Music|His voice can hit a pitch]] [[Compelling Voice|that hypnotically controls]] [[Brainwashed|anyone who hears it]]."
* An episode of ''[[Transformers Generation 1]]'', "Carnage in C Minor", features a race of aliens who can produce resonant tones which can cause a variety of effects, from healing to destroying stuff. When working in concert, several such aliens can create a harmonic effect that can be quite devastating, and the Decepticon Soundwave attempts to record this sound to use as a weapon.
* In ''[[World of Quest]]'', saying "witch" near Shrieks causes them to... well, [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|shriek]]. Because they have a long history with witches
* ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'':
*
** ''[[The Ugly Barnacle|Once there was an ugly barnacle. He was so ugly that everyone died. The End.]]''
** The fan-favorite ending of "Band Geeks" features [[The Power of Rock]] so awesome,
* Used in ''[[Gargoyles]]'' when Demona used a spell broadcast via TV to turn everybody who saw and heard the recitation into stone by night. Those who didn't catch the transmission, as well as those who did but were deaf or blind (and thus logically couldn't [[Exact Words|both see]] ''[[Exact Words|and]]'' [[Exact Words|hear]] it), were unaffected.
* The first season of ''[[Code Lyoko]]'' has an episode where [[Big Bad|XANA]] distributes an [[MP3]] through the Internet that sends listeners into a coma.
*
**
{{quote|'''Peter:''' "Stop it, you guys, you're ruining all my clothes!}}
* In the animated version of ''[[Fraggle Rock]]'', Boober finds a scroll that holds "The Funniest Joke in the Universe", which is so funny that anyone who hears it will laugh forever, literally. While most of the main cast falls victim to the curse, Boober does not, because he does not "get" the joke, leaving him the only one able to lead the search for an enchanted spring that can cure them by erasing the joke from their memory. He succeeds in the end... And right in time, because then he ''finally'' gets the joke. Fortunately for him, the spring is nearby.
* In the ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'' movie, Shake's horrific self-written song "Nude Love" forces the Insanoflex to kill itself upon hearing it.
* In one episode of ''[[Fish Hooks]]'', Bea attempts to make friends with Albert by playing the violin. [[Dreadful Musician|Her playing is so bad]] Albert's face cracks and his organs fly out.
* ''[[The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!]]'' episode "Stars In Their Eyes" established that certain sounds could disrupt 'Moonman' Koopa's technology. In order to save the
{{quote|'''Koopa:''' You call that ''music?'' Stop that racket!}}
* In ''[[My Little Pony:
== Real Life ==
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** Oh yeah. This turboprop was fitted [[Up to Eleven|with an afterburner]].
* A 1991 [http://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/14/weekinreview/headliners-all-in-the-voice.html news article] reported that a woman suffered epileptic seizures upon hearing the voice of ''Entertainment Tonight'' host Mary Hart. This was worked into an episode of ''[[Seinfeld]]'', because it is [[Rule of Funny|funny]].
* An episode of ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' featured the "digital" Pokemon, Porygon. The surreal nature of the episode resulted in a certain pattern of repetitive red and blue flashes which are known to cause epilepsy; [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/40269.stm 685 children were taken to hospitals] after complaining of blurred vision, headaches, dizziness and nausea, and some of them even had seizures, blindness, convulsions and unconsciousness. Laws now are on the books that animators can't have flashes that fast, and the episode is the reason health warnings in video games and before the beginning of anime remind the viewer to watch in a well lit room and keep back; many of the cases were due to the kids being glued to the TV and the lights turned down low.
** Some of these cases, especially the less-severe ones, may have been caused by mass hysteria after seeing a news report on the initial cases.
** Spoofed in ''[[The Simpsons]]'', when they went to Japan and saw the show "Battling Seizure Robots", which had the expected result.
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** Also spoofed in ''[[South Park]]'', in the episode "Chinpokomon," which spoofs the Pokemon fad. At one point, the boys are watching an episode of this show, and Kenny has a seizure.
** It should be noted that it only affected children who had a history of seizures. If a person without them watches the scene, all it does it make your eyes water.
* Proving that the ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus|Python]]'' boys really did know the lethal joke all along, in 1989 a Danish audiologist named Ole Bentzen [[Die Laughing|died of laughter]] watching ''[[A Fish Called Wanda]]''. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080412072030/http://www.canongate.net/Lists/Death/9PeopleWhoDiedLaughing The film made him laugh so hard that his heart lethally beat upwards up 500 beats a minute.]
** Similarly, in 1975 a U.K. man laughed so hard while watching the "Ecky Thump" episode of ''[[The Goodies]]'' that he suffered a lethal heart attack. His widow wrote the producers to thank them for making her husband's final moments so happy.
** On the other hand, there is a record of a woman suffering a [[Gorn|fatal heart attack while watching]] ''[[The Passion of the Christ]].''
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* According to Viscount Palmerston, the Schleswig-Holstein Question (a complex German/Danish territorial dispute of the 19th century). "Only three men in Europe have ever understood it. One was Prince Albert, who is dead. The second was a German professor who became mad. I am the third and I have forgotten all about it."
* Erik Satie's ''Vexations'' probably counts. The piece consists of a slow, simple theme that the composer insists should be repeated 840 times in a performance. It was first performed by a relay of 10 pianists, and took over 18 hours; reputedly, by the end the audience had dwindled to a handful of masochists. At the end, a sado-masochist shouted 'Encore!'
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131105181116/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16962788 This] is a wonderful interview with a researcher in search of "The Ultimate Yawn"—a yawn so contagious that nobody could resist yawning if they saw it. His results are fascinating. Yawn contagion is connected to empathy.
** Also reading about yawning. Having stopped yet?
** Slowpoke used Yawn! *player yawns*
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** Similarly, the Anons later found that playing a recording of [[L. Ron Hubbard]] reciting the infamous Xenu story would cause any Scientologists who haven't reached OT3 to back off and leave the area. This is due to the fact that they have been told that anyone who hears it before they're spiritually ready will get sick and die.
* In the DVD commentary for one of the Alien movies, it is mentioned that in one of the test screenings, groups of older people kept excusing themselves. Upon asking them about this, it was revealed that they were leaving to use the restroom, due to sudden urges. It turned out that apparently the composer for the score had used brown notes in the score, unknowingly. When they changed the score, the problem stopped.
* The short story ''Guts'' from the larger book ''[[Haunted
* The bizarre angles of the [https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Oregon_vortex Oregon Vortex] will cause most people to lose their balance trying to cross it, or even become physically nauseous. In this case, it's the mind trying to correlate the ear's sense of gravity with the eye's [[Alien Geometries|wildly different impressions]], until it just reboots.
* Throughout the world, it has been proven that two words that can cause unfathomable rage within many people, but only when their attention has been drawn to it. In casually noticing the words, as you, the reader have done do 9 times on this page alone, there is no ill effects. But once one's attention is brought to the words, the rage begins. The two words in question? {{spoiler|The Game}}.
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{{quote|'''Adams:''' ''"[[Loudness War|PPFFFFFFPPPFFFPFFFFPPPPPPT]]. [[Crowning Moment of Funny|The Yangtze River, ladies and gentlemen]]."''}}
* Speaking of the [[Loudness War]], a ''really'' badly brickwalled track played through a really cheap and nasty pair of speakers or headphones will put many people on the fast track to a terrible headache.
* For sound decibels and hearing damage refer to [http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/loudness.html this] [https://web.archive.org/web/20131113204658/http://www.noisehelp.com/noise-dose.html chart].
* Some substances (and there are many) have smell so horrible they incapacitate long before actual toxicity have a chance to kick in.
** Derek Lowe in "Things I Won't Work With", mentioned some of the those - next to the stuff that's horribly toxic, catches fire when someone looks at it funny (or sets on fire things that normally aren't considered flammable), explodes without any discernible reason, or all of the above. Some of the stinkiest are things mammals don't meet in any natural condition, and they have a very convincing way of telling you this.
*** Like [https://web.archive.org/web/20151119182854/http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2009/06/11/things_i_wont_work_with_thioacetone this]:
{{quote|But today’s compound makes no noise and leaves no wreckage. It merely stinks. But it does so relentlessly and unbearably. It makes innocent downwind pedestrians stagger, clutch their stomachs, and flee in terror. It reeks to a degree that makes people suspect evil supernatural forces. It is thioacetone. [...]
Attempts to crack this to thioacetone monomer itself have been made – ah, but that’s when people start diving out of windows and vomiting into wastebaskets, so the quality of the data starts to deteriorate. No one’s quite sure what the actual odorant is (perhaps the gem-dimercaptan?) And no one seems to have much desire to find out, either. [...]
This reaction produced “''an offensive smell which spread rapidly over a great area of the town causing fainting, vomiting and a panic evacuation''”. An 1890 report from the Whitehall Soap Works in Leeds refers to the odor as “fearful”, and if you could smell anything through the ambient conditions in a Leeds soap factory in 1890, it must have been.
«''During early experiments, a stopper jumped from a bottle of residues, and, although replaced at once, resulted in an immediate complaint of nausea and sickness from colleagues working in a building two hundred yards away.''» }}
*** Or [https://web.archive.org/web/20170308224417/http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2010/05/07/things_i_wont_work_with_small_smelly_isocyanides those]:
{{quote| ...isonitriles are not shy about announcing their alien character. Our noses can ''immediately'' tell the difference between garden variety nitriles and their evil twins. [...] And the pride of that bunch seems to be the n-butyl, which should come as no surprise. Straight-chain butyl compounds are well known to be just a poor match for human sensibilities. Butyl alcohol is stinky, butylamine foul, butyraldehyde reeks, butyric acid is famously disgusting, and butyl mercaptan is a standout even in the vile crowd of thiols.
So butyl isocyanide is, well, something to experience. I've never had the pleasure, and will take pains not to. I can do no better than to quote the 1937 observations of one of the first groups to figure out how to prepare this noble reagent in quantity:
«''Butyl isocyanide proved to be so disagreeable to manipulate that none of its physical constants except boiling point were determined. Even when a hood with an extra forced draft was used, the odor pervaded the laboratory and adjoining rooms, deadening the sense of smell and producing in the operator, and in others, severe headaches and nausea which usually persisted for several days.''»}}
*** Or [https://web.archive.org/web/20151127001542/http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2012/05/15/things_i_wont_work_with_selenophenol this]:
{{quote|The chemical literature has numerous examples of people who are at a loss for words when it comes to describing its smell, but their attempts are eloquent all the same. A few years ago, Gaussling at the Lamentations on Chemistry blog referred to it as “''The biggest stinker I have run across... Imagine 6 skunks wrapped in rubber innertubes and the whole thing is set ablaze. That might approach the metaphysical stench of this material.''”
«''The odor of diphenyl diselenide is extremely disagreeable but is not nearly so bad as that of selenophenol. [...] The odor of selenophenol is very penetrating, and is nauseating beyond description.''» }}
* [[Twitter]] completely [https://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/twitter-stops-some-images-animating-to-protect-those-with-epilepsy/ shut down support for Animated PNG] images in 2019, as they were being abused to [https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/17/tech/epilepsy-strobe-twitter-attack-trnd/index.html send flashing images to photosensitive epilepsy patients].
** Not the first time these issues have arisen: John Rayne Rivello, 29, of Maryland was [https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/17/us/twitter-journalist-strobe-epilepsy/index.html criminally charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon] for [https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-38365859 deliberately sending a blinking image] to ''Newsweek'' writer Kurt Eichenwald in 2016.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:These Are Things Man Was Not Meant to Know]]
[[Category:Cosmic Horror Tropes]]
[[Category:Bathroom Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Brown Note]]
[[Category:Tropes Examined by the Mythbusters]]
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