Brown Note: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

* The ''[[Read or Die]]'' [[OVA]] revolves around a symphony that causes anyone who listens 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.

* 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}}.

 

* ''[[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.

* 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.)

* 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.

** 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 ''[[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".

* 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 ==

 

== Films -- Live Action ==

'''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 ==

* 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.

 

* ''[[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.

* 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 ==

* 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])

 

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** 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]].

** 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.

** 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.

* ''[[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.

** 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 ==

** 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.

 

== Web Comics ==

* 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.

* ''[[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.

{{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]].

* ''[[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.

{{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.

* ''[[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.

 

== Web Original ==

* 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.

* 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".

 

== Western Animation ==

** ''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.

* ''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.

* [[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 Marios from being blown up by Koopa's spaceship, the quirks- an alien race Koopa enslaved- use their double-snouts to toot a kazoo-version of the Zelda theme.

{{quote|'''Koopa:''' You call that ''music?'' Stop that racket!}}

 

== Real Life ==

** 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.

** 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]].''