Dragon Ball/Nightmare Fuel

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


"Yeesh!"

For Nightmare Fuel in the Abriged Series, go here.

Frieza: *After blasting a (at most) ten-year-old child into a smoldering corpse* "I promised, didn't I? To show you a terror greater than Hell? But that Namekian child there won't get to experience this. It's a shame, isn't it? I'll just have to let you guys take his share."

    • Another example is when he impales Krillin on his horn, and bucks him up and down as blood spatters around.

Frieza: Stay with it. Yee-haw! That's it buck-a-roo. Ride 'em cowboy!

    • To add to it, as has been mentioned he was not created to be evil like Cell and Buu. He commits xenocide regularly because it is simply cheaper than buying the planet before he sells it off to someone else. It's all a real estate scam!
    • And of course, the line in the Z dub after he kills Krillin, Freeza tells a joke which should be so bad it's funny but it goes right past that and makes Freeza seem as evil as possible.
      • Get to the uncensored version, and you see Krillin's chest expand right before he explodes. OH MY GOD...

Frieza: Pop goes the weasel.

    • And of course there's the sheer power Frieza wields. The Saiyans and the Ginyu Force were all intimidatingly strong, but Frieza is this close to being a horribly evil Physical God. When Goku shows up to fight Nappa or the Ginyu Force, we know everything will be okay, but after he shows up to fight Frieza, and seems to be winning for a while, Frieza states that if he uses half of his full power, he can finish Goku. Okay, this is all trash talk we've heard before, but then Goku realizes, with a look of genuine fear, that Frieza isn't bluffing. The alien tyrant then gives him a savage No-Holds-Barred Beatdown, stopping only to say:

Frieza: "Never mind half max power; I'm not even using one third of it."

    • Goku tries to turn things around with the Kaioken x 10, greater than anything we've seen before...and it doesn't even slow Frieza down. That's the moment where the viewer realizes just how bad things are for the heroes.
    • There's also the fact that Frieza's forms were specifically designed to look like monsters from the author's own childhood nightmares.
    • Frieza's 4th form is pretty freaky when he first transforms into it, mostly because of how his chalk-white skin combined with it being his most humanoid form makes him look ghostly. Of course, it doesn't hurt that his first order of business is to blast Dende.
    • The scene when Frieza appears shortly after the Dragon Balls become useless was already scary when you see his angry expression. However Dragon Ball Abridged made this scene even scarier when the camra zooms in on him smiling menacingly. The dialogue (which is quite possibly the best line in the Abridged series) tops it all off.

Vegeta: "I'm not immortal! And Frieza is going to... to...

Frieza: "Oh, don't mind me. By all means... Give me some ideas..."

      • The original lines were very chilling on their own:

Frieza: "It'll be quick. You needn't worry... death is my specialty."

    • Frieza floating in space with a chunk of his face, an arm, and his lower half missing is pretty disturbing. Surprisingly, the Nicktoons broadcast of Dragonball Kai only edits this for blood, and nothing else.
    • His actions, by themselves, are very disturbing. His attitude, however? When he's not angry at you, He's rather polite.
    • After being ineffectually beaten up by Gohan, he gets up, very effectively beats up Gohan, and then begins to slowly crush his skull. Judging by Gohan's screams of agony, it's excruciatingly painful, and Frieza is LAUGHING. Did I mention that Gohan is five?
  • Cell, Doctor Gero's greatest creation. He wants to eat you and all your friends. Slowly. Through a large, natural syringe. Even if you're strong enough to rip that natural syringe clean off to try to control the damage, it'll just grow back. There's no way to stop him - machine guns, tanks, and entire armies only serve to annoy him... or amuse him. And after he eats you, he wants to destroy all traces of everything you know and love, but only after sending all the survivors into absolute soul-crushing despair. The icing on the cake is that one of the world's most brilliant scientific minds saw fit to create this thing.
    • Though to be fair, it's very likely Doctor Gero simply had no idea what kind of a personality his creation would develop. Had he known that the ultimate being would inherit the personality of the most sadistic warlord of the universe, combined with the ambitions and love for combat of an entire warrior race, things may have turned out differently.
    • Cell's battle aura in his Imperfect Form is made of the souls of the people he absorbed. And they're crying out in pain.
    • If you think the way he absorbs normal people is bad, wait till you see how he absorbs Androids 17 and 18. His stinger opens up into a funnel and he sucks them in whole like a snake. Watch as the bulge in his tail that was once Android 17 gets smaller and smaller as he advances towards Cell's torso until completely disappearing... You have the pleasure of watching from Android 17's PoV as Cell's tail slowly opens and descends. You actually see the throat of his tail. On top of that, what Cell says as he does this:

Cell: All that you fail to understand will now be made clear to you. Hahahahaha!! Welcome home!!!

    • Cell's absorption of Android 18 is even worse. 17's reaction to the final attack was a look of shock and then a bit of swearing, and Cell swallowed him pretty quickly. With 18, there's something perversely sexual about it. It takes a long time to swallow her, and it's not a smooth process either; there's lots of creepy sucking motions, accompanied by 18's frightened cries, not to mention that when the tail first sweeps down over her, she screams.
      • Something similar happens when Cell confronts 16, 17, and 18. Cell looks at 18 in a way that seems almost covetous and says one of the creepiest lines ever:

Imperfect Cell: Ahhh. You too, my little peach. I'm going to gobble you up!!

    • Another thing that's really disturbing is how after Cell absorbs Android 17, he imitates his voice in order to try to convince Android 18 to be willingly absorbed. The worst thing is that for a split second she seriously looks like she's considering doing that, until Cell makes the mistake of using 17's voice to call Dr. Gero 'great'. (Or refer to him as Dr. Gero-sama, depending on which version of the show you watch.)
    • Cell's overall design is creepy, especially compared to Frieza and Buu because of how different it is to the rest of the cast. He/It was a lizard/insect hybrid with Hellish Pupils and was generally menacing. And when he absorbed 17, Nightmare Retardant aside, it's surreal seeing a monster like that getting an expressive, humanlike face. Thankfully, the effect dissappears when he reaches perfection.
    • When Cell absorbs Piccolo's arm. Fortunately, Piccolo can simply rip off that husk that was once his arm and grow a new one, but imagine if Cell did that to someone who does not have regenerative powers...
    • The absolute worst part is that, when Goku steps down and states that someone else is going to fight Cell, (In the Kai Dub on Nicktoons) Vegeta looks on in horror and shock and says that "None of us have the slightest chance of beating him (Cell)!" Cell is so powerful, cocky Badass Vegeta is afraid. Holy Shit.
      • Keep in mind that this is the second time Vegeta has acknowledged that an opponent was capable of beating him, the first being Broly. He NEVER does that, to the point that in all previous fights he has either won or been incapacitated in some manner.
  • When Son Gohan achieves the Messianic powers of a Super Saiyan 2, he turns from a sensitive and kind-hearted little boy into a cold blooded and sadistic murderer that took pleasure in torturing Cell rather than killing him. Watching the once kind-hearted boy coldly sneer "Kill him now? Hmph, not yet Dad. He deserves to suffer much longer!! sent shivers down my spine.
    • Keep in mind that this is the same Cell that is literally fuelled on the lives of thousands, if not millions of people. Laughed with glee as he absorbed the two teenagers his creator turned into cyborgs as they screamed for their lives. He also stated he loves seeing the twisted faces of terror in people, and said to Goku that if it wasn't for the tournament he created, he'd wipe out the earth in one shot without batting an eye. And Gohan managed to absolutely terrify this thing. Cell even called him "a monster". When Goku called out to Gohan that he should end the fight since Cell, while cornered could become more unpredictable than before, Gohan's response was to glare at him and give his most sadistic smirk he's ever shown, before giving the line that he'd like to carry on what was effectively torture of a literal Complete Monster. That kid was clearly Not Himself.
      • The part of the battle most people remember is this one, but one has to watch the entire fight to really get the full impression. The contrast between Gohan before he ascends and afterwards is startlingly dramatic.
    • Gohan is right about Cell deserving it, though, considering that Cell DRANK 600,000 innocent people and intended to kill everyone on Earth just to see the terror on their faces before they die.
  • Super Buu. While Fat Buu was more like an innocent child that didn't know how not to break stuff and Kid Buu was an evil child that liked breaking stuff (like planets, for instance), Super Buu was probably the most deranged. He has this trademark pose where he's standing straight up, but his long neck is tilted to one side and he's got a Cheshire Cat grin about two sizes too big for his face.
    • His actions in this form don't help. As mentioned before, the other forms just liked Stuff Blowing Up. Some of Super Buu's favorite methods of killing include turning one into a food of choice and eating/stepping on them and liquefying himself and force-feeding his own body down another's throat, then expanding inside them until they burst.
  • Kid Buu was frightening as well. Yeah, he looks smaller, and maybe not as intimidating, but his first act in this form is to attempt to blow up the Earth, seemingly out of pure spite. When that is blocked, he prepares a blast ten times larger that they can't block. Goku begs him to not go through with it, that "There will be nothing! Nothing left at all!" Buu's response is a giggle and one of the most seriously evil smiles of all time, then he destroys the planet. That's when it was clear: this Buu had nothing resembling reason, unlike his previous forms. He had no ambitions to prove himself or to be the strongest, no need for anything to entertain him. He was simply going to kill... and kill... and kill... until nothing was left. For no reason.
  • Even Fat Buu gets one. After deciding he's gonna eat Dabura, he starts dancing towards him in an innocent, yet menacing fashion while chanting "Me eat you up, me eat you up, me eat you up". Dabura tries to put up resistance, pummeling him, blasting him, spitting petrifying saliva at him, but no matter what he does, Buu continues to dance towards him until the Demon King is finally consumed.
  • This creepy, pedophile-like look that Vegeta gave to Gohan back at Namek.
    • Doesn't help that he hits Gohan in the most painful way possible.
    • Just...this...
  • A milder example is seen in this gameplay video of Dragon Ball GT Final Bout, in which the final boss' arrival catches the player off-guard. However, this is made Nightmare Retardant by the crapload of Narm present in the game, as you can tell from its voice acting.
  • So you're watching the last few moments of Goku's fight with Piccolo, all is right, Goku gives a thumbs up to all his friends as they shout the countdown. Right when they get to nine, Piccolo gets up and fires a mouth beam straight into Goku's right shoulder. And this isn't Z where a beam to face results in some external wounds, maybe your clothes would tear or something like that. No. This is Dragon Ball and Goku now has a hole he can stick his hand into under his shoulder. After writhing in pain for a while, Piccolo gets up and begins stomping on the wound over and over as Goku grabs the ground in pain. All the while, Piccolo is grinning ear to ear, and even laughing. Tenshinhan, Yamcha and Krillin try to help but Piccolo stops them before they can enter the ring. Goku, the badass, still manages to get up and get in an attack before a swift kick from Junior reminds him he has a giant hole in his body. Junior, the prick, then elbows Goku, right in the wound, followed by more blood curdling screams. And just to add injury to injury, Piccolo breaks Goku's leg.
    • You're thinking of the Saban/Ocean Dub and the TV versions. When Z is uncut you get stuff like Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon leaving a gargantuan hole where Goku's stomach was, and that one point where Dr. Gero shoved his hand through Yamucha's gut. Thorough and utter terror, especially on the latter.
  • Babidi is a sadistic little creep who can't fight on his own, but can take even the faintest traces of darkness in someone's soul and forcefully corrupt them into psychopathic slaves? Plus, his whole method for reviving Majin Buu revolved around inflicting pain. On top of that, he'll gleefully show you via magic the death and chaos Buu causes, just to show you how little hope you have.
  • Commander Black's utter meltdown near the end of Dragon Ball: Path To Power.
  • Broly's screams when going Legendary Super Saiyan. He sounds like a baby crying interspersed with maniacal laughter.
    • That`s not even close to the scariest part of him. Freiza, Cell, Bojack, Buu...every villian in that series when being fought has taken hits and bled. They always...ALWAYS get a beating here and there. Broly doesn`t get hurt...in fact he only took one hit that affected him in any way and that`s at the end of each movie. He can take everything that you can throw at him and not notice. On top of that, he`s insane. You can`t bargain with him or surrender. You can`t scare him, you can`t team up on him and all he wants to do is kill you...as slowly and painfully as he can. And unlike the other villains, he`s not doing it because you`re in his way or for profit...it`s because he loves it. He`ll hunt you down and go after your children if he has to...
  • The Recoome fight is pretty disturbing.
    • Vegeta gets utterly tortured by an enemy he can't do anything against, but unlike the second fight with Zarbon he's conscious for the entire fight.
    • Krillin has all his bones broken with one kick and starts lamenting how utterly he and Gohan failed and that they're going to die pointlessly on a distant planet.
    • And Gohan, with tears in his eyes, shouts that he's going to fight until he dies... and subsequently gets his neck broken with one kick.
      • All of these make Goku's "fight" with Recoome all the more satisfying.
    • The fight against Nappa goes much the same way. Tien gets his arm punched clean off, Chiaotzu suicide-bombs Nappa in attempt to save the others, which does nothing to Nappa, Nappa proceeds to beat Tien to death and goes to kill the others, blasting Piccolo while he tries to save Gohan... Goku's beatdown could not have been any better.
  • When Cell comes across Piccolo and a random man in the street, who begs Piccolo to take his money. Cell stabs him with his tail, and it starts....moving, like it's drinking, and the man is petrified. The man's entire body 'STARTS TO MELT'; his face eventually caves in, and his body is sucked up until there is nothing left but his clothes.
      • The other thing that made it all the more scary was that even Piccolo was both scared and disgusted at how emotionless Cell was in killing a random civilian.
    • Gohan's death in Trunks' future.
  • Early in the Buu saga, we see the fight between Videl and Spopovich. Long story short, this entire episode, if you remove the fantasy elements, is a wrestler pounding a young girl to death in a tournament, and absolutely no one is coming to help her!!. There's a shot of Spopovich stepping on her head, and all Videl can do is cry out in pain!! She's lucky Gohan defied his father and flew in to save her, which, really, brings up a whole 'nother issue! Goku, the hero of the entire damned series apparently didn't see anything wrong with this!
    • Goku actually did see something wrong with Spopovich, and went on his way to mutter "I don't like him" and "there's something wrong with that guy" more than once. Still, he didn't actually intervene, but it was more of a matter of time: if Gohan didn't do it first, Goku would have.
  • Van Zant, the bandit who shot Buu's dog and later Mr. Satan. In his first scene he kills an elderly couple and revels about how awesome it feels to kill someone. Then we see him shooting people at random in a nearby town. It all leads up to Van Zant shooting Buu's dog and Mr. Satan and this triggers the release of Buu's evil side, making everything what Buu does afterwards his fault. All this for no reason other than the sheer thrill of killing people. Even worse is that at the time Buu had reformed and posed no threat to anyone. What's worse is that he uses Buu's destruction spree as an excuse, reasoning that everyone will be killed eventually, and even going so far as to pretend that Buu killed his victims. And just why he does all of this? He's reckoned that with Buu flying around basically laying waste to the planet, he's probably going to die soon, and he decided it'd be fun to try to take as many people with him as possible. That's his entire motivation. The most terrifying thing about him is that he is a completely normal human being with no superpowers. Put emphasis on completely, since he is just a simple human with no superpowers or martial arts training. All other human villains were leaders of evil organization (Commander Red), or were mercenaries and later cyborgs (Tao Pai Pai), but he is just an average human. All other Complete monsters in the series are intergalactic warlords, androids or other supernatural creatures and use ki- blasts and other superpowers for evil, Van Zant uses normal guns to accomplish bad things. It is terrifying to see that a regular human, who uses normal guns to accomplish bad deeds, can be just as bad as intergalactic alien warlords or insane androids.
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