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{{trope}}
[[File:Witch-king-on-beast.jpg|link=The Lord of the Rings|
{{quote|''"Keaton always said, 'I don't believe in God, but I'm afraid of Him.' Well, I do believe in God... and the only thing that scares me is Keyser Soze."''
|'''Verbal Kint''', ''[[The Usual Suspects]]''}}
A villain or [[Anti-Hero]] whose primary characteristic is the fear the other side has of them.
To be
It is also possible for them to remain this trope after they come out of the shadows, and most of the heroic examples are not invisible; they're just so monumentally [[Badass]] that they generate the same level of fear in villains anyway. If a villain does keep this trope after coming out of the shadows, beware Villain Decay. The Borg from Star Trek are probably the single most prominent example of this trope later being emasculated, as mentioned below. Generally when it happens, it sucks.
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{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* In ''[[Bleach]]'', strangely enough, it's the warm-hearted captain [[Team Mom|Retsu Unohana]] that has this effect on pretty much the entire soul reaper army. We've never seen exactly ''why'' this is so, so it remains a bit of a [[Running Gag]].
** [[All There in the Manual|Supplemental material]] has shown that she can be a nightmare if you ever dare speak ill of Squad Four. Also: she's the Captain of Squad Four - ''the '''only''' captain it's ever had''.
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** Nanao Ise can terrify anyone, even ''Mayuri'', by taking her glasses off.
* In ''[[Naruto]]'', Orochimaru has this effect on people, freaking out even the likes of [[Torture Technician|Ibiki Morino]].
** [[A God Am I|Pain]]. Jiraiya nearly shat himself when he heard that Pain had defeated Hanzo,who a younger Jiraiya had failed to defeat even with the support of his team. He goes to his Super Mode to counter Pain's power {{spoiler|but sadly it's not enough.}}
*** Sometime later pain makes the whole of Konoha wet their pants {{spoiler|when he effortlessly destroys Konoha.}}
** Likewise, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was this for the enemy troops. He was so powerful and feared that the shinobi of Iwagakure during the Third War were ordered to cut and run if he was so much as ''spotted'' anywhere ''near'' the battlefield.
* Shizuo Heiwajima from ''[[Durarara!!]]'' is this to all of Ikebukuro, having a well-deserved reputation as [[Super Strength|super strong]] [[Hair-Trigger Temper|berserker]] who no one in their right mind should cross (unless its [[Magnificent Bastard|Izaya]]). He's recognizable by his [[Memetic Outfit|bartender clothes]] ([[Memento MacGuffin|even if he isn't one anymore]]), and Tom thinks that anyone who lives in Ikebukuro but doesn't know him are probably public school dropouts.
* ''"Oh shit! It's the Teacher!"'' from ''[[The Sky Crawlers]]''.
* Evangeline A. K. McDowell from ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' qualifies. She has a bounty of millions upon her head, and most people are terrified by her. An example can be seen in Anya's reaction to discovering that {{spoiler|Evangeline, [[Red Baron|the Queen of the Night, the Doll Master, the Maga Nosferatu, the Apostle of Destruction]], is teaching Negi magic. "She's gonna eat me alive!"}}
** [[Big Bad|The Lifemaker]] also counts. Even the most [[Badass]] people in a [[World of Badass]] such as Jack Rakan and the aforementioned Evangeline fear him.
* Great Demon King Chestra, the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Violinist of Hameln]]'' manga, inspires this reaction both through his reputation and his magical power. The entire armies are literally frozen in terror by his mere presence, [[The Determinator|implacably courageous]] characters doubt aloud whether they have a slightest chance against him, and greatest heroes of humanity see him in nightmares even after he is defeated.
* Seiichirou Kitano from ''[[
* Erza Scarlet in ''[[Fairy Tail]]'' is a rare heroic example. The entire guild freaks when it's announced she's returned from a mission, and nobody dares step out of line when she's around. Even Natsu and Gray stop bickering and pretend to be best friends.
** Apparently, [[Beware the Nice Ones|Mirajane]] used to be this.
** A villainous example, is Bluenote.
** Black Mage Zeref to the Magic Council. The mere mention of his possible return is enough to convince the first Magic Council to authorize a ''[[Kill Sat]]'' strike.
** {{spoiler|Acnologia the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse}}. Representatives from the second council immediately flee Tenrou Island {{spoiler|when they hear Zeref mention Acnologia and when he appears the whole Fairy Tail pulls a [[Mass "Oh Crap"]].}}
* Yuu from ''[[Holyland]]'' wants to become this so that the bullies and gangsters will stop making trouble for him. It's not working out yet.
* Zebra from ''[[Toriko]]''. The entire world panics when he is released from prison. Just news of his release causes massive economic and social upheaval. And he hasn't even ''done'' anything yet.
** What he DID do to get him into prison was {{spoiler|Cause the extinction of 26 SPECIES. Said species were damaging the ecosystem, but still!}}
* The Tokiwadai Dorm Manager in ''[[
** Accelerator in ''[[
** Touma also has this effect to the magic side, to the point many magical organizations start sending assassins after him. All fail.
* [[Trigun|Vash the Stampede]] is well named, as whole townships have been known to evacuate at the rumor of his approach. He has defeated [[Mooks]] and resolved conflicts simply by announcing his presence. Not bad for a [[Technical Pacifist]] who just wants some donuts. (In the manga, it's not the man himself civilians are afraid of, but the [[Doom Magnet|terror and destruction that inevitably follow him]])
* [[Big Bad|Johan Liebert]] is this in ''[[Monster (
** A psychopathic serial killer even kills himself when he's shown a picture of him.
** When {{spoiler|Anna}}, his own flesh and blood, confronts him with the intent on killing him, she falls to pieces as soon as he says hello and {{spoiler|tries to kill herself}}.
* In ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'' this is a common reaction to finding out the title character was once Hitokiri Battousai.
* '''[[Memetic Mutation|"IT'S A]] [[Gundam]]!!!!"''' - inspiring this reaction in enemy [[Mooks]] since 1979.
* ''[[One Piece]]''
** The Three Admirals are this for most pirates. Only the strongest of pirates don't immediately run screaming at the mere ''sight'' of an Admiral. And with good reason, considering all three are [[Implacable Man|nigh-invulnerable]] elementals with abilities that cause massive devastation.
** Whitebeard; during the Marineford Arc, all it took [[Crowning Moment of Awesome| was him bellowing his name]] to convince a whole battalion of Marines to ''run for cover''. His sole declaration of ownership of an island is enough to keep it out of harm’s ways and people with his mark on their back are deemed untouchable, because he is famed for going on [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] against anyone, who has laid even one finger on his crewmen. Many characters have an [[Oh Crap]] moment, when they hear that the World Government {{spoiler|decided to publically execute Portgas D. Ace,}} which means an open declaration of war against [[World's Strongest Man]].
** Other pirates of sufficient power can be this trope. The people of Fish-Man Island become terrified when they realize how close they are to experiencing the wrath of someone on Whitebeard's level of power. The marines of G5 (A Navy branch full of [[Jerkass]]' that love to torture pirates and refuse to obey headquarters) panic at seeing Trafalgar Law, a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea who sent the Government 4 hundred hearts to join. Back in the East Blue, people are scared of the idea of pirates like Krieg and Arlong coming.
** Shanks; he was able to stop the battle at Marineford simply by showing his face. Even the aforementioned Admirals hesitate to confront him and Mihawk (who tends to fit this Trope himself) turns and leaves, advising the Marines to do the same. His reputation is such that even the Five Elders agreed to grant him an audience. A big reason for this seems to be his mastery of all three types of Haki, [[Person of Mass Destruction|particularly Haoshoku Haki]], though some have commented that he gains much of his reputation through charisma alone.
** And of course, there was Gol D. Roger. You know, the man who ''conquered the Grand Line?''. Most of the surviving members of his crew fit too, most notably [[Cool Old Guy|Silvers Rayleigh]], who manages to fight Kizaru (one of the aforementioned Admirals) to a standstill in one arc. There was also the Egghead Arc where, when the Marines ''and'' Blackbeard's crew had invaded Amazon Lily, causing a three-way conflict that resulted in an ugly stalemate; Rayleigh shows up, and simply ''tells'' Hancock to restore her victims and for Blackbeard and the Marines to leave - and they obey him with no fuss. ''That'' is how much everyone is afraid of the First Mate of the Roger Pirates.
* {{spoiler|Seimei}} of ''[[Loveless]]'' is definitely the most feared of the series. Usually used with a pretty little topping of [[Oh Crap]]. What makes him even more creepy is that just about this entire trope applies to him. The [[Fearless Fool]] does indeed cry in fear, and [[The Pollyanna]] does indeed despair over [[The Stoic]] being defeated, who also lost his cool. In fact, his appearance alone isn't the ''only'' way he causes genuine fear - he uses words to, effectively, freak. People. Out.
* In ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'', Kenshiro is known to most of his enemies as "the man with the seven scars", and mentioning this nickname is sometimes enough to make the mooks run in terror.
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* [[Slayers|Lina Inverse]] the Dragon-Spooker. Pretty justified, considering the trail of destruction she leaves behind her and her [[Designated Hero|questionable motivations]].
* Yujiro Hanma from ''[[Baki the Grappler]]'' makes even strongest characters in the series poop their pants in fear. His presence alone has made polar bears and lions run away like puppies. The average human reaction to him ranges from wetting your pants in fear to instinctively punching yourself in the face so he won't do it himself.
* ''[[Dragon Ball]]'':
** [[Complete Monster|Frieza]] and [[Omnicidal Maniac|Majin Buu]] from ''[[Dragonball Z]]''. Even the ''gods'' are terrified of them. When King Kai finds out that Frieza is also searching for Namek's Dragon Balls, he basically tells Goku to grab the Dragon Balls and run for his life, because if Frieza finds out he will hunt him down and kill everyone on Earth. Buu managed to kill all but one of the Supreme Kais and is fully capable of destroying the universe. Guess what he tries to do after turning into Super Buu.
** Beerus, the God of Destruction in ''[[Super Dragonball]]''. Let's put it this way, Vegeta is one of the few warriors who has stood up to both Frieza and Buu without fear, but ''even he'' goes to great lengths to avoid conflict with Beerus, seeing as it is well-established that the only way to "defeat" him is to make it so he does not ''want'' to fight. Seeing as Beerus can destroy whole worlds on a whim (or [[Deader Than Dead| fully eradicate them]] via his ''hakai'' the second-most powerful technique, in the franchise) and is a fighter whom Goku can barely hold his own against even in God-Sayan form, it's little wonder.
** Of course, if Beerus fits, than Zeno - someone even Beerus is terrified of - certainly does. The [[Top God]] of the franchise, Zeno can use the ''most'' powerful technique in the franchise, Erase, which can obliterate can delete entire universes and realities. Suffice to say, even the other deities tend to panic if Zeno becomes even slightly annoyed. Ironically, Zeno is a lonely and depressed being, as he has no real friends - everyone is too scared of his powers to effectively socialize with him.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* [[The Joker]] - just mentioning him to ''any'' superhero and villain in the DCU other than [[Batman]] (even to some of the most powerful villains and heroes in the DCU) instantly kills a conversation, and even supervillains keep healthy distance from him. As The Trickster said: "When super-villains want to scare each other, they tell Joker stories."
** There's a reason [[Batman]] has been called "The Scourge of all Evil" and "the most dangerous man on the planet." Much like [[The Joker]], Batman is able to kill any conversation among villains, even many [[Superman]] villains. You'd think he wouldn't be so dreaded seeing that [[Thou Shalt Not Kill|he never actually kills anyone]]. His solution to this is to merely point out that if he ''has'' killed people, no one would ever know. The Joker, unfortunately, sees through this to Batman's true nature quickly.
*** Interestingly however, if ''[[Batman: Arkham Asylum]]'' is to believed, Joker will cheerfully play up Batman's schtick to scare his mooks, either for shits and giggles or to make them work harder. Likely leading to at least some OTHER villains and mooks believing maybe some of what Joker says.
*** A Sinestro Corp ring once tried to conscript Batman. This means that the ring judged Batman to be one of the scariest beings in the entire space sector. Even if that just effectively means Earth, that's still really impressive.
* Rorschach from ''[[Watchmen]]'', even more so than [[Flying Brick|Dr. Manhattan]]. During the riots people argued with Doc, but the rioters cleared by Rorschach simply walked away once he made his appearance.
* [[Judge Dredd|Judge Fear]] is made of this trope.
** Literally - the sight of [[Nightmare Face|his face]] will kill any normal human. Fortunately, Dredd isn't a normal human:
{{quote|
"[[Talk to
* [[Darkseid]]. There are very few people in [[The DCU]] who can face him alone knowing what he is capable of doing without showing a hint of fear. If he wasn't one of these before ''[[Final Crisis]]'', he probably is now. Put it this way for those of you unfamiliar - ''he's the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of the Platonic Ideal of Tyranny''. And has the power and influence to match.
** Shown brilliantly in the penultimate episode of ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' when the rest of the villains try to resurrect Brainiac but accidentally resurrected Darkseid. The [[Oh Crap]] faces they all make speaks volumes.
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** Wolverine got similar treatment in one storyline when the Hand resurrected and brainwashed him into being an agent of HYDRA. This makes perfect sense, since evil Wolverine essentially ''is'' Sabretooth.
* [[The Fantastic Four]]. There is barely a single supervillain out there who hasn't at the very least heard horror stories about their terrifying badassery and feats of awesome. Like the [[Doctor Who|Doctor]] below, they have entire races of aliens, most of whom they don't even remember meeting, who tell tales about them as mythical bogeymen to scare their children with. Case in point:
{{quote|
'''Sue:''' Go on...
'''Reed:''' Actually, that's as far as I got. It was enough to send them running. }}
** Even among people who've never actually met the Four, the prospect of facing people who [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|defeated]] [[Planet Eater|Galactus]] (more than once!) would legitimately be terrifying.
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* All the Gauls, but especially [[Asterix|Obelix]] are this to the [[Mooks|Roman legionnares]] and [[Running Gag|pirates]].
* [[Doctor Strange|Dormammu.]] [[Dimension Lord]]/[[Eldritch Abomination]] from his own demonic dimension. There's a reason they call him [[Red Baron|"The Dread Lord"]].
** [[Always a Bigger Fish]]; the demonic living superweapon Zom scares the hell out of Dormammu's sister, Umar(who's roughly his equal in power), and took the combined efforts of Dormammu and Eternity(along with unnamed others) to [[Sealed Evil in
** Bizarrely enough, Shuma Gorath is a ''lesser'' example of this compared to Dormammu and Zom despite being a Lovecraftian horror more powerful than Dormammu and on par with Zom (if not stronger). This is due to Shuma Gorath's [[Charm Person]] powers that make everyone it rules over revere it. Everyone ''not'' under its influence and aware of its existence fears it.
* The [[DC Universe]] has the Anti-Monitor. Only rarely seen as an actual [[Big Bad]], he's referred to often as a greater threat than whoever is at the moment. How bad is he? Well, after defeating ''Death itself'' in [[Blackest Night]], Ganthet tells the [[Green Lantern]] that they've [[It Got Worse|actually lost because the Anti-Monitor has been freed]].
* In some stories in both DC and Marvel universes, humanity (and/or Earth) itself. In the Marvel Universe various alien races are simply flat out-terrified by the sole planet that has not only forced Galactus to leave...''multiple times'', but has beaten off invasions by galaxy-spanning empires. In one notable case, when this information was brought to the attention of a soon-to-be-invading fleet's commander, the fleet immediately turned and got out of the area as fast as they could.
** At the end of the Ultimate Galactus Trilogy by Warren Ellis, Nick Fury sends Vision out into space not only with directions on how to defeat Galactus, but also with a little message from Earth: "Human beings can kick the hell out of anything."
* In ''[[
* While not explicitly mentionned as such nor shown to be one (mainly because most people usually believe him dead), Darkhell from ''[[Les Legendaires
* Deathmonger from ''[[
** The only reason Willy Pete isn't this is because he likes to keep a low profile. Though after singlehandedly wiping out an entire team of superheroes, that's likely to change.
* One of the requirements to be part of the [[
* [[The Incredible Hulk]] scares the ''hell'' out of the rest of the [[Marvel Universe]]. The most powerful heroes - even knowing full well he's not evil, just misunderstood - take his arrival as seriously as that of someone like [[Doctor Doom]], if not more. Given what a rampaging Hulk can do, it's not without reason. He could get angry, you see. And you wouldn't like him when he's angry.
** In recent{{when}} stories, people are starting to wonder if Banner is actually the more dangerous one. {{spoiler|He is.}}
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* Princess Jody from ''[http://fav.me/d4a27sp Super Milestone Wars]'' has become this throughout [[The Multiverse]] ever since she became a [[Multiversal Conqueror]]
* In ''[[Tiberium Wars]]'', the [[Warrior Monk|Black Hand]] inspire nearly reflexive terror in GDI troops, thanks to a combination of their fanaticism, combat skill, enormous black [[Powered Armor]] that resists anything short of anti-tank weapons, and [[Kill It with Fire|flamethrowers.]]
* The ''[[Rosario + Vampire]]'' fic [[He Who Fights Monsters (fanfic)|He Who Fights Monsters]] has ''Tsukune'' of all people becoming one of these after singlehandedly {{spoiler|killing, in self defense of course, five students, ''including Inner Moka herself!!''.}}
* In ''[[Nobody Dies]]'', Zeruel is this to the other Angels, the people of NERV that know of him, and the readers on the forum. So much so that when he showed up in chapter 65 and finally started trashing Tokyo-3 at the end of chapter 68, the ''[[Rebuild of Evangelion|Rebuild]]'' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R110lcX_hnw track] for him was cited.
* Much like the Joker from [[DC Comics]], the hideous monstrosity called Psyko terrifies even the other hardened psychopaths of [[Ultimate Sleepwalker|Earth-2706.]] Psyko can emit deadly, murderous insanity, which causes the inanimate objects it affects to take on a twisted, perverted life of their own under his control, not unlike what Sleepwalker does with his own [[Reality Warper|warp vision abilities]]. It's even worse when he affects other living creatures with them, as his victims suffer a brutal [[Mind Rape]] that forces them to continually experience [[Your Worst Nightmare|their worst nightmares]] over and over again while he [[People Puppets|controls their bodies]]. His first attack on New York caused him to spread mass insanity and death across the city, and Sleepwalker only managed to subdue him after a bloodbath of a fight from which the alien hero emerged more dead than alive. For the second go-around, he mentally enslaved a horde of his fellow supervillains and turned them loose on New York City, even as he spread even more madness and suffering than he did the first time.
* The ''[[Touhou]]'' fanfiction ''[[Imperfect Metamorphosis]]'' has both Yuuka Kazami and {{spoiler|the Shadow Youkai}}. The former is an impossibly [[Time Abyss|ancient]] and [[Person of Mass Destruction|powerful]] force of nature that even the local [[Reality Warper]] has trouble dealing with, with numerous characters [[Oh Crap|voiding themselves]] at the very mention of her name, a reputation that she very much earns. And while the latter is known only by a few, having a habit of leaving no survivors of its rampages, as basically the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of death and destruction those that do know of it have no desire to face it again.
* Drake from ''[[The Legend of Spyro: A New Dawn]]'' is this to the Gargoyles and Naga, who are both rather frightened at the prospect of fighting him. {{spoiler|Turns out that despite they've got every reason to be afraid of the guy, he's actually a very nice guy. Still counts, however, in that the Gargoyles still have every right to be terrified of him.}}
* The Dalek Inquisitor General from ''[[A Hero (fan work)|A Hero]]'' is this ''for other Daleks'' to the point that Dalek Sec, survivor of the [[War Is Hell|Time]] [[Up to Eleven|War]], is careful not to think ''too'' hard of him, [[Speak of the Devil|lest he suddenly be there]].
* Several examples in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time]]'' fanfic ''[http://www.mediaminer.org/fanfic/view_st.php/19769 The Legend of Link: Lucky Number 13]'':
** The war god Link Sr. ([[Captain Obvious|father of the Link we know]]) is feared by most of the other gods for being a murderous, disrespectful bastard who doesn't hesitate to kill someone if they offend or annoy him.
** The rare physical appearance of Fate and Destiny tends to get lesser gods on edge.
** The most well-known (in-universe) example would be [[Legions of Hell|the Originals]], a two hundred thousand
** Link himself is a literal embodiment of this trope
* [http://www.fanfiction.net/~mrevil Mr.Evil's] [[Original Character]] [[Knight in Sour Armor|Fredi Heat]]. His own teammates are terrified of him and would consider drinking battery acid than go against him (this due to the higher chance of survival). Not that they are wrong.
* In the ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' fanfiction ''[http://tf2chan.net/fanfic/res/657.html The Lessons]'', [[Complete Monster|Frank the Pyro]] is feared by everyone in the story to the extent that the narrator at first doubts his existence.
* ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6335808/1/The_Wizard_in_the_Shadows The Wizard in the Shadows]'': Harry Potter, the Black Wizard, a.k.a. The Moristar, the Darkness Slayer. Since he's vaporised people who pushed one or other of his [[Berserk Button]] and actively hunts the Nazgul, this is hardly surprising. The Dunlending's use him as a sort of Bogeyman for the children, sort of like a Batman who's willing to kill. This makes it a bit of a shock when one Dunlending actually meets him.
* Josh from ''[[Blood in The Water]]'', specifically. In ''[[Dance of Destiny]]'' and ''Let The Flames Begin'', he was a [[Terror Hero]], scaring the pants off any Plasma or Galactic Grunts he ran into. After he finally achieved [[Fallen Hero]] status, he began a reign of terror that was centered on Konar, but the aftereffects of his deeds reached the other regions and continued to inspire fear in people all across the world. He was so feared that the Konar Champion, Naomi, who was essentially the [[Big Good]] of the story, freaked out when the protagonists told her they wanted to take him on. Giovanni had a ''massive'' [[Oh Crap]] reaction when Josh appeared in his window. Even after his death, people were still terrified if they saw a Rayquaza flying around, any more than a few believed he wasn't actually dead.
** [[Word of God]] also says that if Josh hadn't been killed in that final battle, he would have grown up to enslave the rest of the world with his power.
* In the ''[[Ranma ½]]'' fic ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20030607004506/http://members.rogers.com/spghome/ASIS.html The Bet: Study in Scarlet]'' by Gregg "Metroanime" Sharp (part of ''[[The Bet (fan work)|The Bet]]'' fic cycle), Akane Tendo is thrown into the far distant future after an ill-worded wish. The story is about what happens when she finally finds a way back -- but in the several centuries she spent finding a way to do so she became known as "Scarlet", a legendary and universally-feared ''villain'' in that era, whose very name struck terror into the hearts of even ''other villains''.
* Taylor Hebert becomes this to the Death Eaters in the ''[[Worm]]/[[Harry Potter]]'' crossover ''[[A Wand for Skitter]]'', even though she's been reincarnated into an 11-year-old witch's body without her shard -- to the point that even before Christmas of her first year she's gained the nickname "The Terror" among them.
==
* Rattlesnake Jake from ''[[Rango]]''. Even the [[Big Bad]]'s minions are deadly afraid when told to contact him.
* Darth Vader. Throughout the course of the three original ''[[Star Wars]]'' movies he actually does very little. He begins ''A New Hope'' with an established reputation and kills several people, but proceeds to exercise a hands-off management style in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' and ''Return of the Jedi.'' The expanded universe goes to great lengths to establish his awesomeness by making him a more active and dynamic character.
** ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]'' shows well how feared he is: when they see him on Cloud City, Leia and Chewbacca (who is a two-meters tall mass of muscles capable of ripping arms from a droid and has ''never'' showed fear before) immediately get an [[Oh Crap]] face. Han try and shoot him, but after seeing he can deflect blaster bolts with his bare hands ''and'' take the blaster from him starts getting scared too...
** The [[George Lucas Throwback|deliberately]] [[Purple Prose|melodramatic]] opening crawl for the movies always refers to something as "dreaded"
* The Agents in ''[[The Matrix]]'' serve as this, at least in the first one.
** Agent Thompson was still no slouch in the second.
* Played for laughs in ''[[The Three Musketeers (1993
{{quote|
''(A few Mooks scream and run for it)''
'''D'Artagnan''': Pirate?
'''Porthos''': I told you I was famous. }}
* Anton Chigurh from ''[[No Country for Old Men]]''. A [[Scarily Competent Tracker]] [[Badass]] [[Psycho for Hire]] with [[Blue and Orange Morality|his own moral code]] that could lead to you being killed merely ''for making small talk with him''. NOT somebody you want to mess with.
* In ''[[The Dark Knight Saga]]'', [[The Joker]] is feared by EVERYONE (with the possible exception of Batman though even [[Not So Harmless|he underestimates the Joker]]). The mob, cops, and politicians all fear him and [[Ax Crazy|for]] [[Magnificent Bastard|very]] [[Chaotic Evil|good]] [[Complete Monster|reasons.]] It really says something that, despite having by far the lowest body count of any Joker adaptation since the one opposed by [[Adam West]] (in fact, he only kills two people other than felons, and maybe another dozen or so of those), he manages to be seen by fans as one of the scariest.
** Erm, two people besides felons? Maybe, if you're only counting the ones he killed with his own hands (even then, I doubt it). {{spoiler|By my count, he gasses a bank manager, feeds the previous commissioner acid, blows up a judge, tortures, kills and hangs the man on a videotape, shoots a cop point blank with a shotgun, goes on a rampage that involves, among other things, shooting an RPG at a police car and bringing down a chopper, then a cop (who mentions Joker has killed six of his friends) has his throat slit during a jailbreak that involves bombing the police station, definitely killing a number of cops, and he sets up a bomb that blows Rachel Dawes to hell, shoots another cop point blank in the hospital. And it's likely not totally safe to assume his hospital bombing and time with his hostages yielded zero additional deaths. After that, we can add probably over a dozen fellow criminals and mafioso.}}
** It primarily has to do with how utterly f'ed up his philosophy on life is. It perfectly matches the comic which is part of what makes him so terrifying to both the audience and characters in the film itself. Life has no meaning and is all a joke, so the only way to live is in a world without rules in a total dog-eat-dog world. He's unpredictable and [[For the Evulz|has no motives]] making him impossible to track (and why he gives Batman such a difficult time), [[Mood Whiplash|goes from being funny to being a serious sadist in two seconds flat,]] [[Disproportionate Retribution|often without much provocation]] and can't be controlled by anyone, [[Evil Is Not a Toy|as the mob found out.]]
*** Heath's Joker actually does behavior patterns, and fairly predictable ones, if you pay attention. He's primarily [[The Corrupter|an]] [[The Dark Side|evangelist]] for [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him|his own]] [[Complete Monster|condition]], or failing that, he attempts to use [[Deadly Training Area|no-win]] [[Sadistic Choice|situations]] for the purpose of forcing people to discover their [[What You Are in
* [[Cthulhumanoid|Davy Jones]] (and his pet, the Kraken) in the ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' films.
* ''[[The Usual Suspects]]'' gives us Keyser Soze, an [[Shrouded in Myth|infamous]] mob boss who [[The Ghost|isn't actually seen on screen]] for the majority of the movie. The mere mention that he's involved in the plot elicits an [[Oh Crap]] from almost every character. From what we see of his actions, it's completely justified. [[Mind Screw|Or not]].
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* ''[[The Terminator]]'': The T800 in the first film, although the T1000 in the second film is arguably much more effective at this.
** The T800 is this even in the second film, at least for Sarah Connor. Her first reaction upon seeing a T800 again before learning it's on her side is to scream [[Big No|"No"]] over and over as she desperately crawls away in fear. She handles the more powerful T1000 much better.
* Hickey from ''[[Last Man Standing (
* ''[[The Avengers (
** [[The Stinger]] of the movie shows that humans have reached this status among the Chitauri by {{spoiler|beating the crap out of their invasion force in
== [[Literature]] ==
* Nazgul in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' do this because of their nature. They just scare people, it's what they do. Pretty awesome fighters in their own right, but their main application is to frighten the other side until they're too scared to think straight any more. Sauron also scares the pants off opposing forces, by reputation this time. And the ghosts Aragorn leads to battle have this effect by both reputation and appearance.
** It's a facet of all undead, Nazgul included, in Tolkien's legendarium. Their only true power is the fear that radiates from them, typically driving most of their foes insensate so that they are easily cut down/dragged into a barrow/etc. This fear is specifically noted to be the fear of death itself, and as such elves tend to be immune to it seeing as how they don't die (even if 'killed' they just 'respawn' back in Valinor).
** The Balrog and Shelob were also thoroughly dreaded. Enough so to frighten even Gandalf.
* [[Legacy Character|The Dread Pirate Roberts]] from ''[[The Princess Bride (
* Sharrakor of ''[[The Seventh Tower]]'' elicits this reaction even from Ebbitt, the resident [[Crazy Awesome]] [[Cloudcuckoolander]].
* In the ''[[Discworld]]'' city of Ankh-Morpork, criminals consider Sergeant Detritus to be this. Justified since he carries as a hand weapon a [[Automatic Crossbows|crossbow]] that would [[BFG|put a bazooka to shame]] and has chronic trouble with Mister Safety Catch, and on top of this he has been known to [[Berserk Button|nail drug dealers to the wall by their ears]]. Apparently small riots can be cleared by shouting that Detritus is on his way.
** Also, Commander Sam Vimes. The criminal underworld is so afraid of him that when he leaves town on a diplomatic mission, the crime rate goes ''down''. Why? Because if things fall apart while he's gone, when he gets back, he will ''not'' be pleased. "And when Sam Vimes is unhappy, he tends to spread it around with a big shovel." It gets to the point that the Assassins' Guild in town won't even take assignments out on
** Vorbis from ''[[
** [[Never Mess
* Most monsters from the ''[[Cthulhu Mythos]]'' have this effect on humans. Speaking of that, so do [[Eldritch Abomination
** The ''[[Doctor Who]]'' [[Virgin New Adventures]] novel ''All-Consuming Fire'' establishes that the Doctor sincerely hopes never to meet Nyarlathotep. And he's already fought Lloigor ([[Doctor Who/Recap/S2
* He Who Must Not Be Named, from ''[[Harry Potter]]''. [[Captain Obvious|AKA: Lord Voldemort.]] A huge part of his power is that the Wizarding World is so ludicrously afraid of him, which makes them screw up many times. It's present throughout the story, but becomes more obvious after book 4, and is taken [[Up to Eleven]] in book 7.
** Although by no means a villain, Dumbledore seems to be this to Voldemort and his followers, [[Badass Grandpa|and with]] [[Old Master|good reason]]. It is outright stated that Dumbledore is the only wizard that Voldemort ever feared and during their duel (a chapter appropriately titled "The Only One He Ever Feared") Voldemort ultimately fled rather than try to fight him any longer. Prior to this, when Dumbledore arrived in the Department of Mysteries, none of the Death Eaters even bothered to try and stop him. They just ran.
* Agramon in ''[[Mortal Instruments|City of Ashes]]'' is made of this trope. Of course, he is the Greater Demon of Fear within the setting and kills people by appearing to them as their greatest terror. Gets [[
* Fistandantilus from ''[[Dragonlance]]'' gets this reaction from people. Like Voldemort above, most prefer to avoid [[The Scottish Trope|even saying his name]], calling him instead by a variety of titles, the most common of which is "Dark One" (no, not ''that'' [[Wheel of Time|Dark One]]).
** Also the dragonfear, a supernatural aura surrounding - yes - [[Exactly What It Says
** [[Black Knight|Lord Soth]] also qualifies, as he is nigh unkillable and can pretty much kill anyone at will with his powers. Obviously, no one even wants to try and fight him. {{spoiler|It takes a goddess stripping away his undeath, followed by a collapsing castle, to finally end his existence.}}
* Pavel Kazakov from the [[Dale Brown]] novel ''Warrior Class''. A powerful Russian oilman [[Shrouded in Myth|rumoured]] to be a high-level [[The Mafiya|Mafiya boss]] and druglord, even the Russian higher-ups don't dare to take him lightly.
* Readers of ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' know that Harry Dresden is a [[Hurting Hero]] and [[Sad Clown]]. Everyone else in [[The Verse]]? Not so much. They know him as a possibly-not-so-former warlock who shows a glaring disrespect for [[The Fair Folk|Faerie Queens]], [[Fallen Angel
** Let alone what will happen now after ''Changes''...
** Opposing Harry, several recurring villains get this treatment, most notably [[Demonic Possession|Nicodemus]], [[The Fair Folk|Queen Mab]], [[Physical God|the Red King]] and [[Eldritch Abomination|skinwalkers as a race]] (though mercifully, only one of those last has put in an actual appearace). [[Black Cloak|Cowl]], who may or may not be the series [[Big Bad]], isn't a widely known figure, but among those who ''do'' know him he's feared as well.
*** [[Word of God]] says that Nicodemus is absolutely terrified of Harry after their last confrontation. For those that haven't read the series, this is because Harry ''nearly strangled him to death with the item that makes Nicodemus immortal.''
* Fenris the Feared in ''[[The First Law]]''. The fear he generates is actually implied to be magical in nature. Of course even if that weren't the case, he's still gigantic, incredibly strong, and apparently invulnerable, to boot.
** Then there's Black Dow and the Bloody-Nine. Children in the North break into tears when they learn the former is in their midst, and the very ''idea'' that the latter is on the opposing side has caused hardened warriors to retreat in battle.
* [[Honor Harrington]] is this in the series of that name.
**The Royal Manticoran Navy too, generally. Miscreants when they are about their honest business of piracy and slavery are always worried,"What if the Manties find us."
**Victor Cachet is this to anyone watches him. He can convince anyone that he will do [[Knight Templar|anything]] to get what he wants done.
* Wesley from [[Andrew Vachss]]'s Burke books. Although in the books proper [[Posthumous Character|he's already dead by his own hand]], back in the day he was apparently the perfect killer, never seen coming and never pinned down for any of his kills. Partly because would-be rats feared that they would be next.
* Tywin Lannister from ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]''. His [[Death Glare
{{quote|
** While Tywin is this as far as lords and battle commanders go, (though he knows the value of mercy so long as the defeated had not betrayed him in some fashion, even telling Joffrey that you must lift a man up if he bends the knee to you) his servant Gregor Clegane is this on the battle field. Here's a a quick summary of what you need to know about Ser Gregor: he's the [[World's Strongest Man]], a [[Blood Knight]], an animalistic, conscienceless and sadistic psychopath who kills anyone without warning or remorse, and he's systematically murdered or maimed nearly his entire family and multiple wives. The only person not afraid of Gregor is Oberyn Martell, whose sister Elia was raped and murder by Gregor, and her infant son was also murdered. {{spoiler|Gregor kills Oberyn with his bare hands despite being impaled by Oberyn's spear at the time.}}
* ''[[The Malazan Book of the Fallen]]'': Icarium Lifestealer, Annomander Rake, and Kallor have all held this position at one point or another.
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* In the ''[[Posleen Wars Series]]'', the combat engineers instill this trope to the Posleen. It culminates in the Posleen routing at the sight of the insignia outside Fort Belvoir.
* The ''[[Mistborn]]'' trilogy has the Steel Inquisitors. Even the [[Born Winner]] mistborn (rare individuals who have won the [[Superpower Lottery]]) are terrified of them. The general reaction to their appearance is to [[Run or Die]].
* [[Chaotic Evil|Lord]] [[Omnicidal Maniac|Vile]] from the ''[[
{{quote|
'''Valkyrie''': Is that really true?
'''Ghastly''': Who can say what's fact and fiction about Lord Vile? There was a lot going on. }}
* Herbalist Angela from ''[[Inheritance Cycle]]'' is hinted to be one. She is allowed to enter Farthen Dûr without getting her [[Mind Probe|mind probed]], even though everyone else, including [[The Chosen One|Eragon]], has to go through that whole [[Mind Rape|process]]. [[Manipulative Bastard|The]] [[Creepy Twins|Twins]] are clearly afraid of her and she causes [[Religion of Evil|the high priest of Helgrind]] to [[Freak-Out|scream in terror]] by only whispering her name to his ear. [[Our Werebeasts Are Different|The werecats]] don’t want to associated with her either. Unfortunately for readers, we are never told why she is so feared.
* By the middle of the war with Haven, [[Honor Harrington]] has become THE boogeyman to the navy and political leadership of the People's Republic. Pierre ruefully admits that half his analysts believe her being present at most of the critical confrontations between Haven and Manticore over the preceding decade, and winning them (even after apparently being ''killed'' in one of them), is due to pure chance. The other half believe [[Deal
* The Hunter from ''[[
* ''The Elfstones of Shannara'' by [[Terry Brooks]]. Allanon is this to the demons. When he finally kills the Dagda Mor in combat, the only thing holding the demonic army back from slaughtering the elves and their allies is their absolute fear of Allanon. This forces Allanon to pretend as though nothing's wrong, mount his horse and ride back across the entire battlefield to his side's lines without giving away the fact he's so drained of power and strength he's [[Determinator|functioning on willpower alone]].
* In [[Vorkosigan Saga]] Barrayaran Imperial Security is this and it cultivates the image. Inside it is a respectable if highly competent intelligence agency but outsiders see it as something terrifying.
**Simon Ilyan as one of the directors of ImpSec is of course this.
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Game of Thrones]]'': The White Walkers.
* The Reavers from ''[[Firefly]]''. Of note is that when the otherwise unflappable Operative is confronted by them, he outright ''[[Oh Crap|panics]]''.
** The Hands of Blue have a similar effect, at least on River, and they rapidly pick up this status with Jayne once he hears the effects of what they do to "witnesses."
* The Doctor in the new series of ''[[Doctor Who]]'' is referred to by even the Daleks as [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|The Oncoming Storm]]. He is also known as the Last of the Time Lords, The Lonely God, The Trickster, The Phantom, and The Sainted Physician, and some languages translate his name to mean 'Warrior'. Some species, including living carnivorous shadow swarms, will run just at the mention of his name. In fact, he has become so feared that {{spoiler|the entire plot of Series 6 of the revival is people rebelling against him out of fear.}}
** The Daleks, in turn, are treated by all who know them as the [[Big Bad|bogeymen]] of the [[Doctor Who]] universe. Even [[Badass Bookworm|the Doctor]], who's battled and defeated them uncountable times, always treats their arrival with a mixture of grim determination and just plain old fear. Best seen in the end of the first part of {{spoiler|"The Stolen Earth"}}. When the first broadcasts of "EX-TERM-IN-ATE! EX-TERM-IN-ATE!" reach Earth, the former companions and allies of the Doctor such as Sarah Jane, Martha Jones, and even Jack
* [[Lex Luthor]] has evolved into this on ''[[Smallville]]''. Simply knowing that he's out there and that he knows their secret identities has [[Superman|Clark]], [[Green Arrow|Oliver]], and the rest of the [[Justice League of America|Justice League]] shaking, and the possibility of his return is spoken of in tones usually reserved for [[The End of the World
** Season 10: ''Smallville'''s version of [[Ultimate Evil|Darkseid]]. In fact, that's the whole point of him: as long as you have fear or doubt in your soul he can [[Demonic Possession|control you]].
* Guerrero from ''[[Human Target]]'' has managed to interrogate people just by introducing himself. Of course, being prime time they have to keep most of the stuff that got him the reputation off screen.
* ''[[Star Trek]]'' examples:
** The Borg Collective. Despite appearing rather infrequently in [[Star Trek: The Next Generation|the series]] where they first appeared, their [[Implacable Man|sheer implacability]], utterly relentless nature, and single-minded goal to assimilate everyone and everything that they come across led to [[The Federation]] considering them, as Captain Picard puts in ''[[Star Trek: First Contact]]'', "our most lethal enemy". Even ''Guinan'' is afraid of them, what with them having assimilated her home world. The suspense that builds up around their incursions into Federation space is particularly indicative of this. It's less so in ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'', where Voyager encounters them so frequently without being in much danger that the Borg end up exhibiting [[Villain Decay]].
** In the first season of TNG, the Ferengi were treated this way. It didn't last long.
** A variation occurred in the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' episode "Face of the Enemy", where Troi was kidnapped by a Romulan underground movement, and subjected to surgery so she could assume the identity of an operative in the Romulan Tal Shiar named Major Rakal. (The real Rakal had been covertly killed by members of the movement for this very purpose.) Troi quickly found that other members of the Romulan crew were ''terrified'' of her because of the reputation of both Rakal and the Tal Shiar; apparently, they have the authority to execute other Romulan officers for any reason they see fit, and are quite liberal (and at times cruel) with this privilege. {{spoiler|In fact, that's the exact reason resistance member N'Vek chose her for the part; he thought that she could play the role well and not give herself away. He was right; they never suspected a thing until it was too late, with N'Vek making a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to finish the mission and get Troi back to the ''Enterprise''.}}
* [[Kamen Rider Faiz|Kamen Rider Delta]], initially.
* In ''[[Kamen Rider Kiva]]'', Wataru develops into this after recovering from his [[Heroic BSOD]], as demonstrated where he begins sends [[Our Vampires Are Different|Fangires]] fleeing in terror simply by staring them down. '''Without''' transforming into Kiva.
* The Pirhana brothers, in ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'', are so dreaded that when word gets out that they're out of prison, the totality of London's population scurries for safety.
* The main character in ''[[Burn Notice]]'' develops this kind of reputation over the course of his spy work before the series starts. One agent admits his agency always assumed "Michael Weston" was just a code name for a group.
{{quote|
** In one episode, the main characters play up one of their cover IDs this way in a [[Whole-Plot Reference]] to [[The Usual Suspects]], mentioned above.
* Sylar from ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]''. When a gaggle of supervillains are released from their cells and have the chance to take revenge on Noah Bennett, the guy who locked them up, Noah only has to say one thing to scare them into [[Enemy Mine|teaming up with him]]: "Sylar's in the building."
** Bennett was pretty dreaded himself at first. He's a [[Badass Normal]] who used to work for The Company and was very good at it. Sylar is in fact the ''only'' thing more feared than "the man with the horn-rimmed glasses."
* Omar Little from ''[[The Wire]]''. An absolutely [[Badass]] stick-up man who robs drug dealers for a living. The drug dealers generally see him as more of a force of nature. Even CHRIS AND SNOOP get shaken when they realize he's after them.
** By extension, Chris and Snoop also count.
** Brother Mouzone is possibly an even bigger one than all other mentioned. Even the thought of bringing this guy into help them scares the shit out of Stringer and Prop Joe.
* Theokoles, [[Red Baron|the Shadow of Death]], from ''[[Spartacus: Blood and Sand]]''. This giant, undefeated gladiator terrifies ''everybody'' when he's announced to be coming out of retirement. Everyone assumes that Spartacus and Crixus are doomed when they are announced as his opponents.
* From [[
* [[Grimm (TV)|Grimms]] are The Dreaded of the Wesen world. Whenever someone realizes Nick is a Grimm for the first time, they are terrified and often beg not to be killed. Monroe explains it: "''You're'' the monster under the bed! [...] You're not ''real!'' You're a scary story we tell our kids! Be good or a Grimm will come and cut your head off..."
** And like Harry Dresden or the Doctor, he's beginning to earn a reputation for himself one encounter at a time as people get wind of what he went up against and what the outcome was. He'd deny being one of the baddest [[
* In ''[[Fraggle Rock]]'', a Poison Cackler is such a dangerous beast that simply discovering an unhatched Poison Cackler egg causes the Fraggles to evacuate until it hatches and leaves.
== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], Myths and Legends ==
* Typhon in [[Greek Mythology]], who likely doubles as the [[Ur Example|original]] [[Hero-Killer]], storming Olympus by himself and driving the gods into hiding. Hades was this to the Greeks themselves; he's the yardstick by which terrifying creatures in myth (like Typhon) are compared to. Typhon is so bad that he was not only scarier than Hades, he actually frightened him.
* [[Snakes Are Evil|Jormungandr]] and ''especially'' [[Big Badass Wolf|Fenrir]] in [[Norse Mythology]]. When there's prophecies running around about how you're going to end the world you tend to get this.
**Odin himself. If you see an old man with an eyepatch walking around, mind yourself.
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* In ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'', the Simbul used to throw Red Wizards into mindless panic just by appearing. Mostly because of her bad habit of killing them on sight. That, and being probably the most powerful magic user on Toril. Others don't run for cover, but still instantly sober up at a mention that she may or may not be involved—like {{spoiler|Cormyreans}} did in ''All Shadows Fled''.
* Pick a name from ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' and you'll find a few billion people ([[My Friends and Zoidberg|and xenos]]), at least, shitting their pants in fear from the mere thought of them. Maybe a few [[Robot War|'Crons]], a few [[Horde of Alien Locusts|'Nids]], some Dark Eldar or someone straight from the [[Negative Space Wedgie|Eye of Terror]], and even heroes of great renown find that they have to draw on every ounce of their resolve not to run away or die.
** Special mention to the Night Lords. Entire solar systems have surrendered rather than battle them (tip: this doesn't stop them from butchering you).
** Kharn the Betrayer gets points for being so [[Axe Crazy]] that even other Khorne Berzerkers have been known to freak out when he shows up. It's not just that he's an unstoppable murder machine, he's a ''teamkilling'' unstoppable murder machine.
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** The Necron Pariahs have this as their entire hat. In a certain area around them, almost any creature experiences crushing, debilitating dread. In a [[Ciaphas Cain]] novel, the crack Stormtrooper squad that had been shown to be far and away more cohesive, ruthless, and cunning than any Guard squad Cain had ever fought with falls completely apart in the presence of Necron Pariahs, gibbering and crying and so forth while the Pariahs casually slice them apart.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* This is how the [[Karma Meter]] works in ''Medieval: [[Total War]]'', with a Chivalry-Dread axis. Generals earn Dread points by fighting dishonorably, executing prisoners of war, or exterminating the populations of captured cities. On the strategic map such characters will reduce a settlement's growth and tax income, but increase public order. On the battlefield Dreaded generals reduce the morale of opposing forces, and a sufficiently infamous general can cause ''entire armies to rout simply by charging''. These characters often pick up appellations such as "the Tyrant," "the Wrathful," or "the Merciless."
* Someone in ''[[Fable]]'' or its sequel who is both famous and evil will cause non-combatants to run at the sight of you. Particularly if you start attacking, or if you've just been for a bit of town-burning previously. You'll never be totally feared though, some brave (and foolish) soul will summon up the courage to [[What the Hell, Hero?|call you out on your crimes]], and the guards will always do their best even when its a lost cause.
* Eventually, you'll end up becoming this in ''[[Far Cry|Far Cry 2]]''.
* Giygas of ''[[
* ''[[.hack GU|.hack//GU]]'': Haseo, the hero, is nicknamed "The Terror of Death". Most [[Player Kill
** Amusingly enough, Haseo {{spoiler|becomes the Epitaph User of Skeith, the first Phase of the Wave from the first series of games, whose boss subtitle was "The Terror of Death".}}
* All the protagonists of the ''[[Ace Combat]]'' games eventually grow into this. Just from the [[
** A particularly illustrative instance from ''The Unsung War'': When the Wardogs are ambushed over November City and {{spoiler|Chopper}} crashes, the three remaining planes ''scare away'' a virtual airforce of enemy fighters without any kind of ground support and even before the first reinforcements get there.
*** A little bit more detail. The enemy fighters are at first ecstatic when they shoot down one of the famed "Demons of Razgriz", thinking that it will demoralize the remaining three. However, this quickly turns into absolute terror when they realize that it had the [[Oh Crap|opposite effect]]; the members of Wardog [[Tranquil Fury|go quiet, obviously trying to hold back tears, and begin effortlessly decimating the enemy forces.]] Over the radio, the enemy muses that they must really be fighting the Demons of Razgriz, the demons having taken over the pilot's bodies. Even Wardog's allies are freaked out.
*
* In ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', [[Big Bad|Sephiroth]] is spoken of with a combination of hate, reverence, and ''fear''; the suggestion of his presence is enough to cue an [[Oh Crap]] from the heroic characters, especially [[The Hero|Cloud]], who knows him best.
* The eponymous character in ''[[
* Master Chief of ''[[Halo]]'' is eventually referred to as a "demon" by [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|The Covenant]]. You get that kind of reputation after massacring hundreds of Covenant forces and utterly destroying one of their most sacred (and seemingly indestructible) installations.
** The Primordial/Captive/ {{spoiler|1=Precursor/Gravemind}} could possible be considered one. He's not really a publicly known figure, but every single person who does know of him has [[Oh Crap]] moments upon realizing he's loose.
* Pyramid Head is this to the other monsters in ''[[Silent Hill 2]]''. It's so bad that if James equips PH's Great Knife, turns off his flashlight and drags it along, the signature scraping sound will cause enemies to flee.
* Luca Blight from ''[[Suikoden II]]'', a genuinely terrifying combination of [[Complete Monster]], [[Ax Crazy]], and [[One-Man Army]]. To the point that even his own kingdom fears him and hardened warriors such as [[Boisterous Bruiser|Viktor]] and [[Shock and Awe|Flik]], who in the previous game faced down an ''[[Eldritch Abomination]]'', don't even consider battling him unless they have an entire army on their side.
* ''[[Assassin's Creed
** ''[[
*** In the sequels this is downplayed...since most of Ezio's enemies are ''dead''. The only one left from the first game in Ezio's story is the only one with the good sense to avoid picking a fight with Ezio. The rest are either too arrogant, too stupid, or just ignorant of Ezio's reputation.
* Nemesis from ''[[Resident Evil]]''.
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* Judging by the [[Enemy Chatter]], [[Player Character|Commander]] [[Badass|Shepard]] has become one in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', though his/her reputation was probably soiled by the [[Plotline Death]]. This explains why there are still [[Mooks]] [[Suicidal Overconfidence|suicidal enough]] to attack even after recognizing him/her and shrieking in terror.
** In the Arrival DLC, the ELITE Project troops [[Curb Stomp Battle|swiftly realize how overmatched they are,]] as they're taking on Shepard ''[[One-Man Army|by him/herself]]''.
{{quote|
*** Later on, a Project guard manages to trap Shepard in a maintenance area - for all of a few seconds.
{{quote|
** It's gotten to the point that the [[Eldritch Abomination|Reapers]] are doing everything they can think of to kill off Shepard, and have finally gone from taunting her/his insignificance [[Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?|to admitting their extreme annoyance.]]
*** Shoting a soldier on foot with a giant beam meant to destroy dreadnaughts in a single hit [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|sometimes is justified]].
** The fact that ''no one'' questions the fact that Shepard is back from the dead when told tells you all you need to know about his/her status as
** ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'' also gives you a moment of this, right after you {{spoiler|take down a Reaper on Rannoch}}
{{quote|
'''Shepard''': You know who I am?
'''Destroyer''': {{smallcaps| Harbinger speaks of you.}} }}
** The first time you encounter Cerberus troops in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'' one of them screams "Holy shit, it's Shepard!"
*** Made more impressive that they're revealed to be [[Brainwashed and Crazy|heavily indoctrinated]], having next to no free will by this point. The sheer sight of you showing up still manages to utterly ''[[Beyond the Impossible|terrify]]'' them.
* In ''[[Yggdra Unison]]'', most people who are not Bronquian or didn't serve alongside Gulcasa at some point are scared shitless of
* [[The Atoner|Nathyrra]] in ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]: Hordes of the Underdark'' used to be one, before her [[Heel Face Turn]].
* The Darkspawn of ''[[Dragon Age]]''. Their numbers, sheer evil, hideous appearance, and the plague they carry are just some of the reasons ordinary people are terrified of them.
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** Hawke in ''[[Dragon Age 2]]'', to a lesser degree, as the enemies are usually smaller groups that Hawke slaughters before they have a chance to shit themselves, but the Arishok certainly fears Hawke enough that the first move of his attempted conquest of Kirkwall is trying to neutralize him/her. An odd example too, since in Qunari culture fear and [[Worthy Opponent|respect]] often go hand in hand.
* The [[Horsemen of the Apocalypse]] in ''[[Darksiders]]'' scare everyone. Heaven, Hell, and even their ''own superiors'' fear and respect their terrible power. The entire plot of the game takes place because nobody wants to cross all four of the Horsemen. In-game when Mooks encounter War their reaction is basically a [[Mass "Oh Crap"]] while they desperately charge you.
* Bowser of ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' scares everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom who isn't named Mario, Luigi, or Peach. In ''[[
* By the time of ''[[Half-Life]] 2'', the feats of [[Badass Bookworm|Gordon]] [[One-Man Army|Freeman]] in the first game have been told and retold [[Shrouded in Myth|to such an extent]] that most of the planet is either in awe of him or intensely fears him, to the point where a mere ''glimpse'' of him in City 17 is enough to put the Combine on high alert.
* ''[[
* Play ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'' right, and get the right perk(s), your character can ''become'' this for any one (or more) of the warring factions. The easiest group to do this with is the Powder Gangers when you attain the Villified Status, when one of them refers to you their personal "[[Grim Reaper|Grim]] [[Precision F-Strike|Fucking]] [[Grim Reaper|Reaper]]."
* In ''[[Skylanders:
* The Dragonborn in ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]]'' is literally one to the Dragons, being a mortal who has all of their powers and the ability to devour their souls. Listen carefully during your first fight with one and you can hear it [[Oh Crap|realize]] who it's dealing with.
* ''[[Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten]]'': Both subverted and justified with
* Sepulchure in ''[[Artix Entertainment]]'' games fits this trope really well. In fact, anyone who isn't the hero or any of his/her allies or even King Alteon himself, or doesn't affilate with the Shadowscythe in any way is afraid of him. Even some of the Pactagonal Knights are scared shitless of him and his flying [[Dracolich]] fortress of Shadowfall.
* Diablo, the titular antagonist of the ''[[Diablo (
* Youkai in ''[[Touhou]]'' generally try their hardest to be feared by humans and commonly value their worth by how successful they are at it. The most successful in this department has to be Yuuka Kazami, who garnered a terrifying reputation for her overwhelming power in combat and hatred of humanity, although this last part is probably overblown considering her frequent visits to the Human Village without incidents. Not even other youkai would risk angering her (except [[Too Dumb to Live|fairies]], maybe).
==
* [[Awesome McCoolname|Trace Legacy]] from ''[[
* Kore in ''[[Goblins]]'' has a tendency to induce [[Oh Crap]] moments in those he meets, or even those who hear stories of him, particularly since [[Complete Monster|he has utterly no qualms about killing anyone]] [[Knight Templar|if he perceives them as evil,]] and is said to have [[One-Man Army|fought entire armies and won]].
** And then there's the fact that he [[Would Hurt a Child]]...
* {{spoiler|Jack Noir}} is a fairly light hearted take on this in ''[[Homestuck]]''. {{spoiler|Lord English would be an example, except few people in the cast know he exists.}}
* Para Ventura from ''[[
{{quote|Maxim 16: Your name is in the mouth of others: be sure it has teeth.}}
* In ''[[Our Little Adventure]]'', Angelo invoked this feeling when he confronted Randi and Peganone during their quest to capture Umbria. He probably would have for [[Leeroy Jenkins|Eva]] as well, but she retained her resolve due to her [[The Paladin|Paladin's]] fear immunity. {{spoiler|What happened to Eva due to her not backing down and running away was [[Fate Worse Than Death|accordingly]] [[And I Must Scream|horrifying.]]}}
* In ''[[The Mansion of E]]'', Uncle Frederick's bed-mate is called variously the Woman of Mystery or the Scary Lady.
* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' has a few people with fell enough reputation. Oglavia Spüdna (Gil's spy) turns out to have some book to her name - the title is open to wide interpretations, but [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20160330 a librarian's reaction] rates it very high (though [[Cheshire Cat Grin]] probably helps too).
== [[Web Original]] ==
* [[Implacable Man|The Meta]] from ''[[Red vs. Blue]]''. Given its utterly [[Determinator|ruthless demeanour]] in battle, the [[Grenade Launcher|massive gun]] it carries, and the [[Mega Manning|the variety of additional abilities it can avail of]] [[Powers as Programs|from the AIs that it captured]], it's understandable why the first instinct that many of the main characters who come across it is to run for the hills. It even manages to go toe-to-toe with [[Lightning Bruiser|Tex]], who's renowned in the series as being a [[Badass]] [[One-Man Army|One Woman Army]].
** I almost see it backwards. Tex finally shows some of that [[Informed Ability]] by being able to go toe-to-toe with frickin META.
* Near the end of ''[[
* '''BKCRMWDJVG''' of the [[Whateley Universe]]. When even a small part of it is let onto Earth, it causes insanity and terror and mindrape just by revealing its true appearance.
* [[Atop the Fourth Wall
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Megatron is this in ''[[Transformers Animated]]''. The Autobots regard him as a bogeyman who is reputed to eat protoforms - [[Eats Babies|baby Transformers]], basically. The other Decepticons are viewed this way as well. The Autobot leaders are so afraid of them that Ultra Magnus and Sentinel Prime {{spoiler|would rather deny the Decepticon presence on Earth than cause a panic among the populace.}}
* General Grievous in ''[[Star Wars: Clone Wars]]''. His near-victory against five (albeit exhausted) Jedi established him as a fearsome enemy. Count Dooku actually taught Grievous to use fear as a weapon, telling him that without it he wouldn't stand a chance against the best of the Jedi.
* [[Trickster Archetype|Discord]] from ''[[My Little Pony:
* Breach from ''[[Generator Rex]]'' becomes this in "Lions and Lambs". Everyone who knows what Breach can do fears her. When Six notices the Providence troops are trembling, he asks Rex if they have any experience with Breach. Rex says that's the problem, shuddering as he remembers what Breach did to him.
* In ''[[
* Once Eric Cartman from ''[[South Park]]'' {{spoiler|[[Moral Event Horizon|tricked Scott Tenorman into eating his own parents]]}}, it established him as not only as as [[The Sociopath|sociopathic]] [[Enfant Terrible|brat]], but a [[The Chessmaster|chessmaster]] who will not stop until he gets revenge on anyone who wronged him [[Disproportionate Retribution|even just the slightest]]. So if you value your life, '''DO NOT MESS WITH ERIC CARTMAN....''' unless you're Kyle because Cartman likes having him as a [[Worthy Opponent|rival.]]
{{quote|'''Kyle:''' Dude, I think it would be best for us if we never piss off Cartman again.
'''Stan:''' Good call!}}
== [[Real Life]] ==
* Vlad the Impaler (otherwise known as Vlad Dracula) achieved this reputation with the Ottoman Turks. According to records of the day, not undeservedly so. For example, he once stopped a Turkish army that greatly outnumbered his by ambushing its vanguard (away from the rest of the force) and mounting them all on
** Although interestingly, his own people (the Wallachians) were quite fond of him, because of the various social and economic reforms he made. Well, the Wallachians that were Christian anyway (and thus were loved by him and not a subject of his wrath).
* Genghis Khan used this as his modus operandi. If you didn't submit the moment the Mongols demanded it, you were butchered. Simple as that. Genghis's subordinates were even worse than him in this regard; Genghis at least practiced a degree of brutal pragmatism in his campaigns in China. In the regions conquered by his generals entire countries were left utterly devastated.
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* [[Josef Stalin]] made a science of this trope. After he took control of the Communist Party, the show trials he arranged to execute his political opponents filled his cronies with such dread that they were terrified of invoking the wrath of the ''Vozhd'' ("Führer" in German or "leader" in English) and would never dare try to depose him. Rumors abound that Stalin eventually died from being poisoned, which is pretty much the only way anyone could have stood against him.
** There is also some evidence that his servants heard him dying but didn't summon any doctors [[Bad Boss|for fear of what would happen to them if they were mistaken]], making this something of a [[Deconstruction]] of this trope.
*** Or could it be that they didn't summon doctors in [[The Dog Bites Back|the hope]] that they were right?
** Saddam Hussein was similarly surrounded by a group of yes men who were so terrified of displeasing him that they told him he could beat the [[Yanks With Tanks|US armed forces]]. In 2003. He couldn't.
*** He was so amazingly feared that during his trial, when he wandered in all disheveled and malnutritioned, the jury STILL reeled in horror. It's actually a testament to their courage they managed to find him guilty, so frightened were they of reprisals and reputation both. You can find accounts of the trial as footnotes in such books as Thieves of Baghdad, or on occasional history channel programs about Saddam post-war. Even after being found guilty Saddam felt he still had full control of his country and DEMANDED he be presented with a firing squad like a true soldier, but as we know, he didn't quite get his final wish.
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* Basically every notable warrior (and a couple government officials too) got at least one mention of them being regarded as this by one of the other sides in the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, but Zhang Liao got to truly live up to this trope as he was able to rout a force of 100,000 with only 800 men, and was said to be so feared crying children would grow silent in his wake.
* Many [[Secret Police]] agencies are or have been viewed this way; in [[Gestapo|many cases]], for very good reason.
* Many successful military commanders have been this to their opponents. [[Napoleon]] terrified his enemies, as did Lord Horatio Nelson, to give two examples from the [[Napoleonic Wars]].
* The Wehrmacht was this in the early stages of [[World War Two]]. Indeed, after Operation Barbarossa bogged down in sight of Moscow, [[Noble Top Enforcer|General Franz Halder]] invoked this trope. "The myth of our invincibility is shattered."
* Edward Teach aka "Blackbeard" the most infamous pirate in the world, anyone who see's his ship the "Queen Anne's Revenge" they would surrender immediately than put a fight with him.
* The Royal Navy was this to the Italian Navy in [[World War II]]: while the Italian high officers thought they could win and control the Mediterranean, the sailors and the officers who actually sailed against the Brits (plus a few of the members of the high command) openly admitted they were doomed and their success would be measured by the length of their resistance and the losses they'd inflict before the ultimate defeat. Interestingly, the special operation branch of the Italian Navy had the same reputation among the Royal Navy, especially after that time they ''sank two battleship in Alexandria's harbor'', one of which had the commanding admiral on board (the battleships were recovered and repaired, but remained disabled for months and the Royal Navy didn't dare to lower its guard for the rest of the war).
* The [[Nepali With Nasty Knives|Gurkhas]]. The Pashtun of eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan believe that the Gurkhas are immortal demons, who eat the bodies of the men they kill.
* [[Mossad]]. They are great believers in [[Revenge|Lex Talionis]] and have offed several terrorists as well as kidnapping Eichmann and bringing him to be hanged. Plus they have a really cool name.
* On the dark side, innocent Jews who have had no intention of being spies have had conspiracy theories hung around them, such as the [[Eats Babies|blood libel]], or their supposed [[Take Over the World|world domination]] through control of banking.
** Ironically some Japanese officers during WW2 heard the stories, believed them and thought, [[Pragmatic Villainy|"Those must be good folk to make friends with".]]
* Leaflet raids often use this device. For instance a favorite tract dropped over Japan in 1945 said,"[[War Is Hell|The companion to war is disease".]]
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[[Category:Fear Tropes]]
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