History CreepyChild / WesternAnimation

* The original ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' series had Kevin. He was Ben's age, but highly sociopathic and his plans added up to "how can I kill the maximum number of people in my plan to get money/revenge?" He had all Ben's 10 original alien forms plus a hideous mashup of them that let him use all their powers at once, but it was creepiest when he was a ''kid'' and so pure evil. This is what made his (initially unexplained) HeelFaceTurn between the original series and ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce Alien Force]]'' so jarring: bad guys become good all the time, but he wasn't Ben's Catwoman, he was Ben's Joker.

* Some say that Suzy Johnson, Jeremy's little sister on ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', is the true villain of the show. And who can blame them? As Jeremy's self-proclaimed "favorite girl", Suzy resents her brother's relationship with Candace and constantly puts the hurt on Candace when no one else is looking... and thus, no one believes Candace when she says that [[DevilInPlainSight Suzy is evil]]. Buford Von Stom is the only other character on the show who knows what Suzy is really like (no one believes him either).

* Dawn from ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Revenge of the Island'', as she manages to creep out several contestants with [[AuraVision the freaky ability to read their auras]], including Zoey, Dakota, Lightning, and Scott. Lighting even refers to her as a "Creepy Girl". However, Dawn isn't malicious at all and is in fact a very sweet and gentle character.

* ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' has Gene and Louise. Gene is a relatively mild example, whose height of creepiness is wanting to slap a dead seal because it "sounds like an orgy". Louise, on the other hand, attempts to convince her father to kill a man with a knife, a cheese grater, a batter whisk, his credit card (which she cuts into a ninja star), and his own nose bones. Later episodes reveal their mother Linda was also a nightmare as a child, one who used to throw rocks at cars for fun (it reached a point people stopped driving down her street) when she was looking for glass to break. She's also admitted to stealing and setting fires, but the worst would have to be when she spent an entire year "pranking" some former friends by calling them at 2 AM every night ''pretending to be a serial killer who wanted to murder them''. As an adult, Linda's (somewhat) mellowed out considerably to the point even she realizes some of her worst antics were too much.

* ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' has Gene and Louise. Gene is a relatively mild example, whose height of creepiness is wanting to slap a dead seal because it "sounds like an orgy". Louise, on the other hand, attempts to convince her father to kill a man with a knife, a cheese grater, a batter whisk, his credit card (which she cuts into a ninja star), and his own nose bones.

* Gaz Membrane of ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' is a morbid, vindictive little girl with supernatural powers and prowess who plunges people into nightmare worlds from which there is no waking if they dare interfere with her pizza or her video games. Not even her brother is immune. [[DaddysGirl Her ''father'' is, though]]. Too bad this trope is left out in the [[ComicBook/InvaderZim com]][[SeasonalRot ics]] and ''Enter The Florpus''.

** [[spoiler:Pink Steven, the Steven that forms out of Steven's gem when it's removed from his human body in "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E28ChangeYourMind Change Your Mind]]". While Human Steven retains his personality but none of his power, Gem Steven retains all of his power but none of his personality. As a result, except for when he is in the process of fusing again with Human Steven, his face remains completely expressionless throughout, even when he's ''[[AngstNuke screaming at the top of his lungs]]'' at [[PhysicalGod White Diamond]], loud enough to [[MakeMeWannaShout smash a giant crater into the concrete floor]]. He NoSell[=s=] White's attacks, even nonchalantly turning White's power back onto the possessed Diamonds and Crystal Gems, flinging them all across the room. This is a Steven without any compassion, love, or care for others, a completely ruthless machine with a singular goal, to reunite with Human Steven, and no qualms about hurting those he loves in order to reach it.]]

* Anais from ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball''. As a four-year-old who's [[ChildProdigy smart enough to be in middle school]], she's created her fair share of plans to get what she wants (such as tricking her whole family out of the house so she could watch TV, or changing the password on the computer to effectively lock Gumball and Darwin out). It's also clear that she inherited her mom's {{Hair Trigger Temper}}, and she's prone to making creepy [[NightmareFace facial expressions]]. And that's not even getting into [[BodyHorror what happened]] when she tried to befriend her classmate Jodie...Oh, and did we mention that she spent most of her infancy trying to ''murder her brothers''?
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''. In ''Rapture's Delight'', AfterTheEnd Stan goes to the headquarters of the AntiChrist (which is the destroyed UN headquarters in New York), he sees a Creepy Child and immediately shoots it under the assumption it's the AntiChrist. As Jesus tells him, that was just a normal kid who sometimes comes there to play. Oops.
** Nemo, Hayley and Jeff's adopted son...who turns out to be the AntiChrist himself in his infancy.

* Ace from the first-generation Royal Flush Gang in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' ("Wild Cards" arc). Just looking at her can make you go insane. Even if you already are; ask the Joker. She turns into the most dangerous, frightening [[TheWoobie Woobie]] you've ever seen in the JLU episode ''Epilogue'' when you [[TearJerker learn her]] [[BreakTheCutie backstory.]] [[spoiler: But for all the scary, you still want to hug her.]]

* Lizzie, a girl at the science fair in ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons'':
---> '''Teacher:''' N-now, what did we say about the fire ants? They have a tendency to bite people\\
'''Lizzie:''' Only my '''enemies'''.

** In the episode "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken," the kids all break curfew to see ''The Bloodening'' -- a parody of the horror film ''Film/VillageOfTheDamned1960'' -- featuring sinister telepathic and telekinetic children terrorizing an English village. When the kids of Springfield are punished for sneaking out, they get revenge by hijacking the radio airwaves and, speaking like the Creepy Children of the film, broadcast their parents' embarrassing secrets.
** "We've got to do something about these blabbermouth kids and their creepy English accents!"
** "Doctor, we know you and the bootblack have been rogering the fishwife in the crumpet shop!"
** Another episode featured a horror film starring Lenny Leonards as a gardener called ''The Redeadening'', which not only draws elements from ''Film/VillageOfTheDamned1960'', but also ''Film/ChildsPlay'' (a demon-possessed doll) and ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'' (victims having their eyes replaced with buttons) as well.
--->'''Lenny''': It looks like if the buttons are sewn onto my eyes, but they're actually held up by hot wax.
** Bart himself becomes one of these in "The PTA Disbands" when the teachers' strike lasts too long. There's something about flying a kite at night that's so unwholesome...
** ...and again in "Bart Sells His Soul," when he [[SoldHisSoulForADonut trades his soul for five bucks as a gag]] and finds himself [[AnimalsHateHim hated by animals]] and [[TheSoulless unable to open automatic doors, fog glass with his breath, or laugh]]. Convinced that he's actually lost his soul, he gets desperate enough to try to make a similar deal with Ralph, scaring the poor kid to tears.

** In general, Bart tends to become this when subject to SanitySlippage. "Bart of Darkness," a WholePlotReference to ''Film/RearWindow,'' has him becoming "[[GoMadFromTheIsolation isolated and weird]]" after breaking his leg and confining himself to his room during the summer vacation. He eventually uses a telescope to spy on the neighbors, including a Creator/JimmyStewart lookalike who's unsettled by him.
--->"[[Creator/GraceKelly Grace]], come here. There's a sinister-looking kid I want you to see."

** There are a few, including Kenny. Then there's Damien from the episode ''Damien'' -- after all, he's Satan's kid.
** Cartman; ever since the Scott Tenorman incident he's become increasingly psychotic throughout the years, going as far as attempting to kill his mother when he feels she doesn't love him anymore. Even [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Damien McSatan]] thinks there's something wrong with Cartman.

** Onion. He has no ears and almost never speaks[[note]]you could count the number of episodes where he ''does'' speak on one hand, and he's TheUnintelligible like his father Yellowtail[[/note]]. He tends to throw away food instead of eating it, and sometimes puts it in his mouth and lets it fall back out. [[AmbiguouslyHuman Steven isn't sure if he's even human]]. The entirety of "Onion Trade" is rather creepy because of him, where he's more of an EnfantTerrible, stealing things, throwing away food, crashing a scooter which burst into flames, and nearly destroying Beach City using a replicator wand because he was ''bored'' and lonely. He shows some good traits in "Onion Friend" (getting Vidalia and Amethyst to hang out again, giving Steven one of his GALS capsule toys) but he still is said not to eat, makes a mashed potato sculpture of Steven's head, licks it, and spits it out, shows Steven a video of his ''birth'', and lures Steven into a secret passageway which Steven is very reluctant to do (though it ends well). Finally at the end of the episode, he opens his mouth and the mouse he was going to feed to his pet snake comes out. Other episodes feature him committing various crimes, up to and including arson, and Steven is concerned that Onion might wind up in prison. In the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'' episode "A Very Special Episode", Steven has to temporarily leave Onion in Pearl's care; she discovers that Onion has a bag of human hair, and things go ''downhill from there''.
--->'''Pearl (frantically, about Onion):''' I can hear him... but I can't see him. I think he's in the walls, and ''I don't know how to get him out!''
** [[spoiler: Pink Steven, the Steven that forms out of Steven's gem when it's removed from his human body. While Human Steven retains his personality but none of his power, Gem Steven retains all of his power but none of his personality. As a result, except for when he is in the process of fusing again with Human Steven, his face remains completely expressionless throughout, even when he's ''[[AngstNuke screaming at the top of his lungs]]'' at [[PhysicalGod White Diamond]], loud enough to [[MakeMeWannaShout smash a giant crater into the concrete floor]]. He NoSell[=s=] White's attacks, even nonchalantly turning White's power back onto the possessed Diamonds and Crystal Gems, flinging them all across the room. This is a Steven without any compassion, love, or care for others, a completely ruthless machine with a singular goal, to reunite with Human Steven, and no qualms about hurting those he loves in order to reach it.]]
%%* Raven from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' at times.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'': ''Robin.'' Yes, the Boy Wonder of Franchise/{{Batman}}. [[spoiler: After you see what the Joker's turned him into, courtesy of MindRape it definitely ends up as this. The poor kid has a manic grin, just like the Joker's, plastered over his face, and ''his high-pitched giggling'' make it downright terrifying.]] And then [[spoiler: [[TearJerker he starts crying, with the same manic grin plastered on his face, after he shoots the Joker.]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etst4t3ES8Y In the unedited version, it seems even more sickening.]]]] It's so powerful that Creator/MarkHamill, the voice actor for ComicBook/TheJoker in this (and a lot of other stuff), said the whole scene was something ''he almost just couldn't do.''

* Mr. Cat from ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}''. He's confirmed to be less than 13 years old ([[VagueAge though his exact age is unknown]]), yet he's an AxCrazy psychopath whose favorite hobby is to repeatedly kill [[NighInvulnerable Quack Quack the indestructible duck]] with various weapons. One of the most notable examples in the show is in the episode "Let's Play Magicians" where he dances around singing "la, la, la" while ''sticking knives into Quack Quack's body''.

* The baby from ''WesternAnimation/TinToy'', due to a major case of UncannyValley. He/she behaves like an ordinary baby, though (not that that isn't distressing to the toys).

* The ''WesternAnimation/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'' episode "The Trouble With Gary" features the duo looking after a child with demonic powers, and whenever he got angry he would [[BalefulPolymorph transform people into things]] or [[{{Telekinesis}} smash stuff with his mind]]. Eventually the two are able to get him to control his anger. By which we mean, "reduce his attention span to rubble", preventing him from focusing on people that annoy him long enough to use his powers[[note]]And also rendering him indistinguishable from an ordinary little boy, to the joy of his parents[[/note]].

** ...and again in "Bart Sells His Soul," when he [[SoldHisSoulForADonut trades his soul for five bucks as a gag]] and finds himself [[AnimalsHateHim hated by animals]] and [[TheSoulless unable to open automatic doors, fog glass with his breath, or laugh]]. He gets desperate enough to try to make a similar deal with Ralph, scaring the poor kid to tears.

--->'''Bart:''' ''(reaching for him)'' I need a soul, Ralph. Any soul. ''Yours!''

-->'''Lenny''': It looks like if the buttons are sewn onto my eyes, but they're actually held up by hot wax.

* The episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid'' the animated series "Island of Fear" featured a mad scientist with a lab assistant, a very creepy young boy named Daniel. Sebastian even screams the first time he meets him, but as it turns out he's not really evil, just misunderstood; he doesn't have many friends and he took the job because his parents were poor.

** The twins are probably at their worst and creepiest in "The Stanchurian Candidate", where they use a MindControl tie on their family members to win an election, an experience that ''terrified'' their friend Soos when they first tested out the tie on him by making him dance and eat a pinecone, which they did without telling him what the tie actually was. Later, after Stan finds out about the tie and mind control he leaves in anger, leaving Mabel and Dipper to find a new candidate, with Mabel saying that what they need is "a blank slate, someone totally suggestible! An empty piece of clay we can mold to our whims." Cue Soos coming out of the bathroom complaining about getting a sweater stuck to his head... and Mabel and Dipper suddenly look at each other and ''smile''.

* ''WesternAnimation/Ducktales2017'' has Doofus Drake, a SpoiledBrat who inherited all of his rich grandmother's money upon her death and terrified his parents into becoming his ExtremeDoormat servants, forcing them to do highly disturbing things. Louie's first encounter with the kid ended with him almost becoming trapped in Doofus' mansion and tortured into submission. [[spoiler:Fortunately, he does get his comeuppance -- in a later episode, his new adopted robot brother [[ItMakesSenseInContext (long story)]] transfers half of Doofus' money into his own account, giving his parents the push they finally need to grow a spine and ground him indefinitely.]]

----

---> [[spoiler:HELP ME ESCAPE OR BE DESTROYED]]

---> “By signing this official document, you are hereby agreeing to dedicate your life, your afterlife, and any potential clone-lives to the discovery, uncovery, and exploration of the paranormal, the alter-average, and the extra-usual. When friends ask you to stop being paranoid, you will scoff. When they say that you’ve been acting really weird since you read that book and they don’t even recognize you anymore, that means they’re jealous/you are like me now. We are part of a higher calling. We will meet one day and on that glorious day we will show the small-minded doubters we were right all along, and are also really cool, and they should have been nicer to us. Okay, that’s about it. This sort of sounds like a supervillain manifesto in retrospect. But you get the gist.”

** An 8-year-old Azula in a flashback episode of displays these traits, doing such things as burning a doll (a gift from her uncle), mocking her uncle's sorrow about his son's death, and hoping for his death as well as her grandfather's so her father can get on the throne. Her mother speaks for everyone when she wonders "What is wrong with that child?" Creepier than all of that together is her display of love for her brother:

** A 9-year-old Azula in a flashback episode of displays these traits, doing such things as burning a doll (a gift from her uncle), mocking her uncle's sorrow about his son's death, and hoping for his death as well as her grandfather's so her father can get on the throne. Her mother speaks for everyone when she wonders "What is wrong with that child?" Creepier than all of that together is her display of love for her brother:

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/creepy_onion.png]]]]

* Gaz of ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' is a morbid, vindictive little girl with supernatural powers and prowess who plunges people into nightmare worlds from which there is no waking if they dare interfere with her pizza or her video games. Not even her brother is immune. [[DaddysGirl Her ''father'' is, though]].
** Not to mention the ROBOT CANNIBAL STUFFED ANIMAL SECURITY SYSTEM.

** Numbuh Three's little sister Mushi at first comes across as being just as childish and ditzy as her older sister. However when she is stuck alone on the spaceship with Cree and Numbuh Five she gives a speech about how they should stop fighting, because sisters are supposed to care about each other and be friends. As the teenage villain stops to think about this, the little girl [[ThrownOutTheAirlock pushes her out the airlock]], turns to Abby and says older sisters always fall for that mushy stuff. In her next appearance, her true colors are revealed as she stabs her sister's stuffed animal and is sent to her room forever. After that, she becomes a full-fledged villain and creates a spanking monster to attack kids.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', "Aye-Aye Eyes", features Dexter returning a creepy looking rag-doll bunny to an even creepier looking doe-eyed little girl who then follows him around everywhere. He eventually gets rid of her by hooking her up with a creepy doe-eyed boy.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Who else but the Griffin family's infant son of the member, [[EnfantTerrible Stewie Griffin]]? Homicidal maniac who owns multiple weapons and goes on murderous rampages? Check. Wants to kill his own mother? Check. Beats the ever-loving shit out of a dog ''[[CrossesTheLineTwice TWICE?]]'' ''BIG ASS CHECK!'' [[TookALevelInKindness He has, however, gradually shifted away from this in the later seasons.]]

** Although Mabel is normally as far from being creepy as is easily imaginable, her normal personality contrasts so much with her behavior [[spoiler: while possessed]] in "The Inconveniencing" that it serves to make the moment even more unnerving than it normally would have been. She's also seen this way by some of the boys in the town, because she can be a bit too forward.
** Dipper is a subtle version of this. He is very interested in the secrets and conspiracies involved with the town, even sometimes going out to actively capture monsters (Like in "Boss Mabel"). He will also seek out revenge on those he feel wronged him or his family/friends and will try and encourage his sister to do the same. By far the creepiest thing about him though is the [[http://gumballsanddippers.tumblr.com/post/100778194102/dipper-and-mabels-guide-to-mystery-and-non-stop unsettling coded message]] he puts in his certificate in [[AllThereInTheManual Dipper and Mabel's Guide to Mystery and Non-Stop Fun.]]
---> “By signing this official document, you are hereby agreeing to dedicate your life, your afterlife, and any potential clone-lives to the discovery, uncovery, and exploration of the paranormal, the alter-average, and the extra-usual. When friends ask you to stop being paranoid, you will scoff. When they say that you’ve been acting really weird since you read that book and they don’t even recognize you anymore, that means they’re jealous/you are like me now. We are part of a higher calling. We will meet one day and on that glorious day we will show the small-minded doubters we were right all along, and are also really cool, and they should have been nicer to us. Okay that’s about it. This sort of sounds like a supervillain manifesto in retrospect. But you get the gist.”

** Then there's Nergal Jr. Nergal Jr. is able to turn into almost anything and is extremely creepy. His true form (although it's rarely seen) is very horrid to see.
* Creepie Creecher, the protagonist of ''WesternAnimation/GrowingUpCreepie,'' is a young girl raised by insects. She is a junior Goth in style, and her creative efforts regularly terrify her teachers and schoolmates. Things like ghost stories and urban legends merely arouse her curiosity, usually leading to her debunking them (usually followed by an RealAfterAll twist that only the audience sees).

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': Lucy Loud certainly fits the bill. She voted to spend a vacation at the beach in hopes of seeing a shark attack; she suggested buying twin burial plots for their parents' anniversary, reasoning "Nothing says romance like eternity"; and according to her parents, she apparently didn't cry much as a baby and the reason they let her bangs grow to cover her eyes is because they found her staring to be creepy. However, she does have a good heart under her creepiness and cares a lot about her family.

** Bart himself becomes one of these in "The PTA Disbands" when the teachers strikes lasts too long. There's something about flying a kite at night that's so unwholesome...

** There are a few, including Kenny. Then there's Damien from the episode ''Damien'' -- after all he's Satan's kid.

** Onion. He has no ears and almost never speaks[[note]]you could count the number of episodes where he ''does'' speak on one hand, and he's TheUnintelligible like his father Yellowtail[[/note]]. He tends to throw away food instead of eating it, and sometimes puts it in his mouth and lets it fall back out. [[AmbiguouslyHuman Steven isn't sure if he's even human]]. The entirety of "Onion Trade" is rather creepy because of him, where he's more of an EnfantTerrible, stealing things, throwing away food, crashing a scooter which burst into flames, and nearly destroying Beach City using a replicator wand because he was ''bored'' and lonely. He shows some good traits in "Onion Friend" (getting Vidalia and Amethyst to hang out again, giving Steven one of his GALS capsule toys) but he still is said not to eat, makes a mashed potato sculpture of Steven's head, licks it, and spits it out, shows Steven a video of his ''birth'', and lures Steven into a secret passageway which Steven is very reluctant to do (though it ends well). Finally at the end of the episode he opens his mouth and the mouse he was going to feed to his pet snake comes out. Other episodes feature him committing various crimes, up to and including arson, and Steven is concerned that Onion might wind up in prison. In the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'' episode "A Very Special Episode", Steven has to temporarily leave Onion in Pearl's care; she discovers that Onion has a bag of human hair, and things go ''downhill from there''.

** [[spoiler: Pink Steven, the Steven that forms out of Steven's gem when it's removed from his human body. While Human Steven retains his personality but none of his power, Gem Steven retains all of his power but none of his personality. As a result, except for when he in the process of fusing again with Human Steven, his face remains completely expressionless throughout, even when he's ''[[AngstNuke screaming at the top of his lungs]]'' at [[PhysicalGod White Diamond]], loud enough to [[MakeMeWannaShout smash a giant crater into the concrete floor]]. He NoSell[=s=] White's attacks, even nonchalantly turning White's power back onto the possessed Diamonds and Crystal Gems, flinging them all across the room. This is a Steven without any compassion, love or care for others, a completely ruthless machine with a singular goal, to reunite with Human Steven, and no qualms about hurting those he loves in order to reach it.]]

* Dawn from ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Revenge of the Island'', as she manages to creep out several contestants with [[AuraVision the freaky ability to read their auras]], including Zoey, Dakota, Lightning, and Scott. Lighting even refers to her as a "Creepy Girl". However, Dawn isn't malicious at all, and is in fact a very sweet and gentle character.

* ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'': Omi becomes one after his good chi is left behind in the Yin-Yang World, turning into a [[AxCrazy crazy kid]] [[BloodKnight who constantly wants to fight]] and destroy the other monks. The faces he makes aren't pleasent, either. Neither is [[EvilSoundsDeep his voice]].

** Whenever a young Avatar--like, say, ''[[KidHero Aang]]''--goes into the [[SuperMode Avatar]] [[UnstoppableRage State]], the results can be extremely unsettling.

** [[spoiler:Cozy Glow]] is revealed to be even worse than Diamond Tiara in "School Raze" - [[spoiler: she works with Tirek, who is himself one of the most evil and sinister villains on this show, she traps Mane 6 and Spike in Tartarus, which is pretty much the show's version of Hell and uses various magical artifacts to trap Starlight as well. She does all of this to become the "Empress of friendship".]] And this is all something that a filly who is around the same age as the Cutie Mark Crusaders did.

** There are a few, including Kenny. Then there's Damien from the episode ''Damien'' - after all he's Satan's kid.

* Ace from the first-generation Royal Flush Gang in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' ("Wild Cards" arc). Just looking at her can make you go insane. Even if you already are; ask the Joker. She turns into the most dangerous, frightening {{TheWoobie Woobie}} you've ever seen in the JLU episode ''Epilogue'' when you [[TearJerker learn her]] [[BreakTheCutie backstory.]] [[spoiler: But for all the scary, you still want to hug her.]]