Paranoia Fuel/Anime and Manga

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • For a show that usually dealt in thirty-foot vacuum cleaners with angry eyes and bald guys in off-color Piccolo costumes, Futari wa Pretty Cure sure threw in some creepiness from the villains. Kiriya infiltrating the school was bad enough, and Poisony's various disguises earned her a special place in Cartoon Hell (particularly when she impersonated Honoka very effectively, and was foiled only because she slightly misspoke and Nagisa caught it), but the worst of all—and the king of Paranoia Fuel—would have to be the three Seeds. The scenes of them remembering their real identities are quite disturbing, and serve to underscore the idea that, until that point, they thought they were ordinary people. Translated to kid language: Forget being attacked by monsters—you might be a monster.
  • The Thing is disturbing. They Live! is disturbing. Parasyte mixes the two and manages to be a reservoir of high-octane Paranoia Fuel.
  • Serial Experiments Lain is one of those mind screws involving your computer, the government, and REALITY AS WE KNOW IT being out to get you.
  • Hell Girl definitely deserves a mention. You can be sent to Hell at any time, just because someone wished it. Like a good, caring nurse gets sent to Hell by a junkie for no reason.
  • In Bleach, sociopathic Mad Scientist Mayuri Kurotsuchi reveals that he put spy-bacteria in one of the heroes. Think about that for a moment. A literal "bug" that can never be detected—no symptoms—and thus, can't be eliminated. He sees and hears everything the infected person does. And there's nothing that can be done about it.
    • The Big Bad has the power of complete hypnosis. What this means is that once someone has seen him release his sword, even once, he can completely control what they see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. Think about that. You could just walk past the guy on the street one day... and from that moment, he has basically taken complete control of your mind, and you wouldn't even be able to tell. What's more, it has been shown repeatedly that the reader cannot see through his illusions unless he lets you. It would seem that anyone who reads the manga or watches the anime is already under his control. Does this world even exist? Does this wiki exist? Is this all an illusion created to further Aizen's plan? There is no way to know.
    • The Shinigami are invisible to normal humans. They could be sitting next to you, watching what you do and deciding if you are a potential threat. They might be influencing your life their way to raise you the way they want. It's happened. Oh, and if you catch sight of them, they can modify your memories so that your closest friends might think you're crazy.
    • Congratulations! Hollows also fit the criteria above but they have no sapience and no cunning. No, they are Exclusively Evil and act on their instinct. An instinct to kill, that is. They could kill you in your sleep, taunt you, or stalk you without you knowing. Those Shinigami we mentioned? Oh, they're not that reliable. And you yourself might become one when you die due to some Shinigami not sending to Soul Society in time. Let's not go into Arrancar, shall we?
    • Do not forget people affiliated with X-Cution. One of them, Shukuro Tsukishima, has the power of rewriting people's memories. You've been away for few hours... and once you come back home, you find your loved ones (sisters, friends, boss) all under his control. And you can't call him out on anything, lest your brainwashed loved ones may think YOU are the bad guy. Brrrrrrr! Nicely summed up here:

" Aizen made you think you lost your friend. Bookman actually takes your friends. Makes them do a lap dance. Then they ask you what's wrong while the tassels are spinning."

    • Tsukishima can also rewrite the past of inanimate objects. The only thing that fails in these plans is that, well, the opponent he fought was none other than Byakuya Kuchiki.
    • Ginjo claims that the Substitute Shinigami badge that Ukitake gave Ichigo was actually a device used to monitor him and suppress his powers, which would explain why Ichigo's powers fluctuate. Ukitake was the mastermind of a plot to use Ichigo as a pawn and then kill him if he steps out of line or outlives his usefulness. Even if Ginjo was lying, it's still very unsettling.
  • D Gray Man has Akuma. They are souls of the dead who wear the body of the person who asked the Millennium Earl to revive them. This means that anyone can be killed and worn by an Akuma, with no outward signs. Only Allen Walker can tell who's an Akuma and who isn't. To make matters worse, even the weakest ones are Immune to Bullets, and the stronger start the trip to Nigh Invulnerable.
    • The manga goes into this further when Allen's Akuma-sensing eye is injured and recovering (and thus temporarily not usable). He becomes incredibly paranoid about being attacked, not knowing just who would be an Akuma (and wearing the uniform of the Black Order, so that Akuma would know just by looking at him that he's their enemy). It's then pointed out to Allen that's exactly the kind of thing his allies in the order have to deal with all the time, since Allen is the only one able to see which are Akuma. Although later, when Allen's eye upgrades to allow his nearby allies to see what he sees, it's all but stated that said ability becomes Paranoia Fuel for others in the Black Order.
  • Perfect Blue: enjoy the thought that many of your memories and experiences could actually be elaborate delusions.
  • Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Any of your friends could be suddenly possessed by an Eldritch Abomination and be overcome with a single-minded desire to kill you. Or worse, you could have a parasite that drives you insane, and forces you to kill your friends before doing yourself in.
    • Oh, and is your throat itching? And that's just Onikakushi.
    • Watanagashi is even worse. Here we have the main character perform an act that is considered a grievous crime against the local deity (sneaking into the Shrine's Tool Shed) by the townspeople. This is a day after finding out about a mysterious chain of deaths that have been happening annually for four years - which always occur on the very same night he is sneaking into the shrine (which, by the way, is stuffed to the brim with grotesque torture tools). This gets even worse towards the end of the arc; the perpetrator has been having conversations with someone he believes to be the girl who entered the Shrine with him... except she went missing the day after the crime was committed, and it was actually her twin sister (who he has reason to believe is behind the chain of deaths) he was talking to the whole time. The manga tops this royal Mind Screw off with this image.
  • Death Note: Your life can be ended at anytime just by having some Japanese god write your name in a notebook. Moreover, it's implied that this happens all the time. And any one of them can make it so you kill yourself. In fact, they can make you do almost anything they want for twenty-three days before you go. That doubt in the back of head, saying none of this is true? Are you sure that's what you think?
  • Uzumaki, anyone? In the room you are in right now, there are at least ten spirals ... wait, one in each ear, at least twenty on your fingers and toes, and untold billions in your DNA (plus the fact that you live on the edge of a galaxy-sized one)... Your brain is full of the things. Meaning that the Eldritch Abomination of the work could erase or outright control your mind at will. And it could, theoretically, do so without you or anyone else even noticing.
  • Claymore: Your parents, your siblings, your best friend who you've known forever, that guy/girl you secretly have a crush on...they could all be disguised Youma and you wouldn't even be able to tell until five seconds after it starts eating you.
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
    • The Stands have a lot of Paranoia Fuel potential. First off, they're invisible to Muggles if they're not bound to something physical, so anyone without one is pretty much helpless. Second, a number of them have some truly paranoia-inducing powers. One that always comes to mind is Hanged Man, who can kill you by attacking your reflection in any reflective surface. Mirrors, metallic car parts, coins, buttons, retinas...
    • Can't bathe. Orangutans are watching.
    • Can't eat or drink. Sharks are prowling in the food and drink.
    • Can't play poker. Jotaro may have had Star Platinum swap out the cards.
    • Can't touch anything. Kira may have touched it first.
  • Shakugan no Shana- at any point in the past, you may have been killed and eaten by a crazy evil hellspawn and replaced with a placeholder. A placeholder that will eventually run out of power. And when it does, no one will even remember that you existed.
  • Even Sailor Moon wasn't exempt from this. So there are all these really creepy villains drawn in this weird realistic style that want to steal your life force... and they can look just like anybody. To a six-year-old, that is terrifying.
    • Even Sailor Moon? Watch the S or the Stars seasons, which are chock full of creepy scenes and Paranoia Fuel, especially Kaolinite's Daimons, which make inanimate objects turn against you and rip your heart (crystal) out of your chest, and you'll understand.
  • If you watched Episode 2 of Thriller Restaurant, you better think twice before you order flounder for dinner again.
  • Fullmetal Alchemist
    • Pride is a Living Shadow. As long as there is light, he can be anywhere. See that shadow over there? Any minute it can turn into an Eldritch Abomination of eyes and teeth which will rip you to shreds.
    • Once Riza figures out who Pride is he says to her "I'll be watching from the shadows!"
    • Note that Hellsing's Alucard can also do this.
    • Don't forget Envy, the psycho shapeshifter. Envy could be anyone.
    • The first anime gives us Sloth, who can turn into water and kill people. Or spy on people. Or spy on people and then kill them.
  • There's a manga series called The Horror Mansion that's a big anthology of short horror stories. After reading the story "Cursed Water," you will never want to scratch an itch ever again.
  • Code Geass provides Paranoia Fuel in the form of Mao, an insane mind-reader with the moral sensibilities of a six-year-old boy. He's Not Good with People, but if he takes any interest in you, he will dig through your head and read all your thoughts, and if he sees anything he doesn't approve of, he'll Mind Rape and kill you. Anytime he wants! Just about everybody has unpleasant thoughts or urges they may not even notice (including you). And if you have any real skeletons in your closet, may God help you!
  • In Naruto, Zetsu can fuse with any natural surface and emerge from anywhere, completely untraceable, which means any place outdoors is dangerous. Later it turns out he can release a bunch of undetectable spores which grow into freakish duplicates of himself by clinging to people's bodies and leeching off their Life Energy and transform himself or one of his copies into an almost perfect copy of anyone he touches.
  • The Enigma of Amigara Fault. Human-shaped holes in the wall could unexpectedly and (for unexplained reasons) just show up one day on a cliffside after an earthquake. Odd enough right there. But, now you can't help but be utterly fascinated by these human-shaped holes. And, then you see one that looks exactly like you...And, you can't help but want to see what happens if you walk inside. Drr....Drr....
  • Ghost Stories: The whole series is full of paranoia fuel ghost stories, especially the one with the headless motorcyclist, for a specific reason... you'll understand it when you watch it completely. Just keep a scarf handy IRL.
  • In Karakuridouji Ultimo, the occupations of the Evil doji masters are startling. Among them are a music producer, a cute little girl, an elementary school teacher, a pro golfer, and the hero's best friend. They all look pretty normal, but they control supremely destructive robots that can blow up the entire world.
    • The pure good robot, Ultimo himself, is a fair source of it as well. He's probably just as destructive as the bad guys.
  • Paranoia Agent: Designed to produce as much of this fuel as possible, both in-universe and real life. To elaborate- Lil'Slugger is a fictional character that a girl blames her assault on. He turns out not to be real, but people keep using him as an excuse anyway. Just by believing in him, Lil' Slugger becomes real, and he feeds off excuses. Got a problem? Lil' Slugger will help, you wanted your head smashed in, right? Also, he can appear anywhere, at any time, and you can't stop him because he's not technically real.
  • Hellsing. It might not be that obvious, but this series is oozing with Paranoia Fuel. Consider its three prominent organizations:
    • Iscariot: The supposedly nonexistent arm of the Catholic church, they appear to have contacts everywhere in every country that is Catholic or has a Catholic population, as well being capable of raising an army to attack London and having enough scientific resources to make someone able to beat vampires. And lest we forget about all the relics they have like Helena's Nail...
    • The titular Hellsing organisation is suprisingly less paranoia-inducing, as their operations appear to be limited in Great Britain, but the sole fact that they can send someone like Alucard anywhere is quite scary.
    • And finally, Millenium. They have infiltrated the British military, and can transform anyone into a vampire; that means that if you're a soldier, anyone from your commanding officer to your best friend could be a horrifying killing machine just waiting a command from a guy who makes Colonel Kilgore look like a pacifist. Oh, and it gets worse. They can monitor the transformed and burn them alive if necessary to preserve their secrets and have a sniper who can shoot down jet fighters with an antique musket, a Master of Illusion, a werewolf and a catboy who cannot die and can go anywhere with no restrictions.
    • To top it all off, it's a tough world for Muggles in this universe if they're not Badass Normal. If they catch a vampire's fancy and happen to be a virgin, the vampire is not above raping them before turning them into a ghoul, not to mention that it is implied that virgin blood is desirable and they might just end up as dinner. If you aren't a virgin and are turned, you become a mindless ghoul under the vampire's command and will go after any humans, including your loved ones, if not put out of your misery. Hope that the vampire who finds you isn't going on a bloody rampage and will just shoot you in the head instead of slowly crushing your head with their foot until it explodes from the pressure.
  • What Albert Maverick did to Barnaby in Tiger and Bunny is pure Paranoia Fuel for anyone who has ever been raised by foster parents. The people who (apparently) loved and cared for you? They're manipulative bastards who only ever saw you as a tool to fulfill their own agendas. And while people in Real Life probably don't have Psychic Powers that rewrite memories, there are still plenty of ways to manipulate a child.
  • My-HiME doesn't trumpet it, but it's there if you look for it. How do you know someone is really all they seem? That alluring redhead?[1] She wants your money, and not in the gold digger sense. That handsome chap[2] is (a vessel for) the Big Bad. That adorable chorister[3] is a key figure of an Ancient Conspiracy. So on and so forth. Ironically, the Knowledge Broker/Mysterious Informant, traditionally a shady figure, is one of the most trustworthy people in the series.
  • Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Witches are everywhere and they are responsible for suicides. Whats worse, they are completely invisible to normal humans until you wander into their lair, wherein you will be killed in a most horrific way. That friend of yours online that just killed herself? Could have been because of a witch. Wanna take that shortcut through the alleyway? Could walk in right into a witches lair. You are never safe.
    • Also, once the true nature of Kyubey comes out, the implications are nightmarish. He's working towards postponing an event that will happen after the Sun reaches its end, consumes the Earth and cools down. He's driven by logic, lacks emotions and is 100% dedicated to his goal no matter what. He was present on Earth for millenia. He's a sort of hive mind capable of creating new bodies out of thin air. His influence is such that his kind seems responsible for lifting humanity out of the stone age. And yet, this nightmarish entity has a quota to fulfill, suggesting he's relatively low ranked in his own race. Kyubey himself easily terrifies people. Think of what that says about his superiors. Alternatively, maybe his race found out that the heat death of the universe will be much sooner than we think. But their way of fixing it suggests very, very bad things for us in the name of the greater good.
  • In Ghost in the Shell a talented hacker can hack peoples brains. What this means is they can control anything your brain controls; your muscles, your sensory organs, even your memories. So imagine going about your daily business and finding out that wife and kid you loved so much never existed, or that government agents or terrorists are spying on you using your own eyes and ears.
  • In Berserk, everything is out to get you it seems. EVERYTHING. Nobody is on your side, because you know what? Even your best friend will sell you out, so you really can't trust anybody: your friends, your family, your lover, even your goddamned congregation wants to do something to you! And whenever something bad happens to you, it was MEANT to happen to you, because you know what else? God Is Evil. And it said so.
  • Another: you can't run, you can't hide. You can't take the elevator, you can't take the stairs. Because every little thing could quite possibly kill you, no matter what you do. The anime's oppressive atmosphere does not help this matter at all.
  1. ↑ Nao
  2. ↑ Reito
  3. ↑ Alyssa
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