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{{quote|'''Rich:''' I'd ask you this question, Stew: who's really the worst monster in this so-called world of ours? Is it really the Medusa, the snake-haired temptress of olden times? Or is it another monster, Stew? A monster maybe a bit closer to home? A monster we call... man?
'''Stew:''' It's the medusa with all the snakes in her hair. That's the monster.
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If your world is a [[Fantasy Kitchen Sink]] where the heroes spend [[Monster of the Week|every week]] battling vampires, aliens, ghosts and fairies, one easy way to mix things up a little is to scrap the supernatural element altogether for a chapter and have the heroes fight something relatively mundane, be it a serial killer, a robber or even just a murderously grumpy animal.
Of course, since the heroes spend most of their time putting down creatures that are generally more dangerous and powerful than human beings, it's common to make these villains even more of a
To help make the threat even more convincing, you can expect the writers to make these episodes darker than the usual fare, possibly through gruesome horror or psychological tension. The latter is particularly useful, since it can lead to the characters inflicting nasty violence on ''humans'' [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?|rather than monsters]] for once. If the heroes can't kill humans then expect a [[Karmic Death]]. And if the show is given to platitudes you can expect some 'the real monster is man' philosophising at the
The Mundanger may be part of a [[Scooby-Doo Hoax]]
Compare [[They Look Just Like Everyone Else]].
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* ''[[Supernatural]]'' has featured a couple of these: a [[Cannibal Clan]] in "The Benders" (named after a real-life cannibal family nicknamed The Bloody Benders) and feral children in "Family Remains".
* The first season of ''[[Torchwood]]'' also featured a [[Cannibal Clan]] in "Countrycide".
* Unsurpisingly, given its long run on TV, ''[[The X-Files]]'' featured a bunch of these. In "War Of The Coprophages", a cockroach infestation creates mass hysteria about an alien invasion, though the trope is subverted in that there really ''are'' robotic alien cockroaches,<ref>And even then, it's still unclear if there is actually more than ''one'' alien robotic cockroach and the others are not just the common kind</ref>
** "Quagmire", on the other hand, provides a [[Double Subversion]]: The prehistoric monster said to inhabit a lake where people have gone missing recently turns out to be a common crocodile. Mulder is...disappointed, but just as he leaves the scene the audience gets to see that there ''is'' an actual plesiosaur in the lake. Wether the entire episode is just one big [[Deconstruction]] or a vindication of Cryptozoology is anyone's guess.
** Done to chilling effect in 'Paper Hearts' where Mulder conforts a child killer who claims to of taken mulder's sister. The episode ends ambiguously with Mulder's convictions of her alien abduction shaken.
* In the ''[[Charmed]]'' episode "Sight Unseen", a stalker turns out to be a human woman and not a demonic threat after all.
* Although several of the earliest ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episodes had nothing science-fictional beyond The Doctor and his time machine, the only post-'60s story to feature nothing fantastical at all (apart from the presence of the main characters) was the two-part murder mystery "Black Orchid".
** The new series episode "Midnight", while it still had an [[Eldritch Abomination]] alien menace, was far more focused on the people of the episode, who grow more and more paranoid before nearly stretching to murder. What makes it Mundanger is that while the alien presence does manipulate people somewhat, the humans are the ones who are the real threat. A fantastic example of mob mentality. The episode is milked for all the [[Psychological Horror]] and [[Humans Are
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' had a minor villain in the school's lunch lady, who tried to kill everyone in the school by dumping rat poison in their food. Buffy had accidentally acquired telepathy at the time and heard her thoughts, allowing Buffy to stop her.
** The gang never actually thought they were dealing with something supernatural though, just a disgruntled teacher or student who planned on shooting up the place (Willow even prints off FBI mass murderer profiles so they can look for someone who displays what they list).
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== Tabletop RPG ==
* ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]'' normally involves players going up against the creatures and cultists of the [[Cthulhu Mythos]]. One adventure, "Westchester" House, was about a "haunted house" where the hauntings were strictly human created, with nothing from the Mythos involved.
* Although the [[Ravenloft]] setting is best known for its vampires, werebeasts, mad scientists and other horror staples, it's also home to a number of
* Tends to happen to you in ''[[The World of Darkness]]'' if you survive long enough.
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[[Category:Horror Tropes]]
[[Category:Mundanger]]
[[Category:Esoteric Trope Names]]
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