History Main / FromNobodytoNightmare

* [[FromNobodyToNightmare/AnimatedFilms Films -- Animated]]

* Alastor, AKA [[RedBaron The Radio Demon]] of ''WebAnimation/HazbinHotel''. He arrived as just a rank and file damned soul in Hell. And in disturbingly short order, toppled powerful demons who had been ruling for centuries. The entire underworld is rightfully wary of getting his attention.

* In Theatre/TheDevilsDisciple, Rev. Anthony Anderson goes from being an anonymous provincial priest to the man who almost singlehandedly destroyed Gen. Burgoyne's American campaign.

Compare the DiabolusExNihilo. If the character was already a bad guy previously but [[HarmlessVillain never a serious one]], it's NotSoHarmlessVillain. Heroic versions may still find themselves wondering, "DudeWheresMyRespect". (Or becoming HeWhoFightsMonsters.) Frequently, the details of this process are uncovered in the villain's StartOfDarkness. Contrast FromZeroToHero. Also see WhosLaughingNow, MalignantPlotTumor, and MagikarpPower. When a villains power gradually does this, see SnowballingThreat.

Compare the DiabolusExNihilo. If the character was already a bad guy previously but [[HarmlessVillain never a serious one]], it's NotSoHarmlessVillain. Heroic versions may still find themselves wondering, "DudeWheresMyRespect". (Or becoming HeWhoFightsMonsters.) Frequently, the details of this process are uncovered in the villain's StartOfDarkness. Contrast FromZeroToHero. Also see WhosLaughingNow, MalignantPlotTumor, and MagikarpPower.

* FromNobodyToNightmare/WebOriginal

* FromNobodyToNightmare/ProfessionalWrestling

Through a series of unlikely coincidences, or through [[NiceJobBreakingItHero accidental or unknowing actions]] on the part of the heroes themselves, or as a result of things which should never have happened -- and in most [[ForWantOfANail alternate timelines]] ''don't'' happen, but just barely by the skin of their teeth, ''do'' happen -- someone who might have stayed an insignificant nothing is transformed into a nightmare that grows and grows, absorbing the power to rend civilizations to dust and bring universes to their knees.

* In Wagner's ''[[Theatre/DerRingDesNibelungen Ring Cycle]]'', Alberich is just a [[ExtravertedNerd lovesick dwarf]] until he gets hold of the Rheingold and makes a ring which makes him [[TookALevelInBadass a threat]] [[BigBad to the gods themselves]].

Through a series of unlikely coincidences, or through [[NiceJobBreakingItHero accidental or unknowing actions]] on the part of the {{heroes}} themselves, or as a result of things which should never have happened -- and in most [[ForWantOfANail alternate timelines]] ''don't'' happen, but just barely by the skin of their teeth, ''do'' happen -- someone who might have stayed an insignificant nothing is transformed into a nightmare that grows and grows, absorbing the power to rend civilizations to dust and bring universes to their knees.

* ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'': [[spoiler: The students of Hope's Peak Academy's 77th class (excluding Chiaki) were all fairly normal, if [[DarkAndTroubledPast somewhat messed up]], high school students before they became members of Ultimate Despair. Afterward, they were responsible for the murders of their families and friends, terrorism, coup d'etats, wars, the massacre of countless innocents, and even [[BodyHorror destroying their own bodies through self-inflicted mutilation]]. The [[Anime/DanganRonpa3 finale anime]] describes them as ''million-class murderers''.]]

** ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'': Shuichi Saihara is a rare protagonist example. For his whole life. He was fabricated with false memories of being afraid of seeing a truth because of arresting a sympathetic killer who gave a look of hatred on his face, lost his friend Kaede to a wrongfully executed, Constantly harassed by Miu and Kokichi, was forced to convict [[GentleGiant Gonta]], lost Kaito, and was [[SanitySlippage abused and tormented severely]] by [[BigBad Tsumugi]] after [[TheReveal The Reveal]] that Danganronpa is a [[ImmoralRealityShow Immoral Reality Show]]. And what does he do? He ENDS Danganronpa for good as revenge for the torment Tsumugi, Monokuma, and the [[HumansAreBastards Outside World]] has put him, Maki, and Himiko through.

* ''Music/EvilliousChronicles'': Duke Venomania, otherwise known as [[spoiler: Cherubim]], as expanded in ''LightNovel/TheLunacyOfDukeVenomania'', the tie-in to the song of the same name. He's a [[spoiler: [[TheWoobie deformed guy who was locked in the basement because of this, and only two people actually cared about him]]...and then [[DespairEventHorizon the girl he loved rejected him.]]]] So he ''murdered his entire family, made a DealWithTheDevil, and [[RapeAsDrama raped]] [[ReallyGetsAround pretty much every character in that story arc]].'' Not to mention all of the murders and brainwashing he committed to keep it quiet.

* In the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series, Joe Darke was an ordinary office worker, until he killed someone with his car. This led to a chain of events that made him an infamous Serial Killer.
** The beginning of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' has Miles Edgeworth. He's known as the Demon Prosecutor who is said to do whatever it takes to get his guilty verdict, including forging evidence ([[spoiler:though Case 1-5 verifies that particular rumor was untrue]]) and who ''never'' lost a case before going up against Phoenix. It's later revealed though that Edgeworth used to be a perfectly normal kid, albeit one very interested in being a famous defense attorney. CharacterDevelopment in later games makes him less of a nightmare, though.

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'''s Sakura Matou goes from the cute girl with a jerk brother who gets kicked out of all the routes early, never does anything important, CannotSpitItOut and more ShrinkingViolet traits to [[spoiler:an all-powerful dark mage with the ''exact'' magic traits needed not only to be able to be the host of the (sort of) devil but also express its power. And also to keep her mind (to a certain extent). Oh, and she can eat Servants or corrupt them as she pleases, has an immense HealingFactor, and a bunch of other nifty moves. The one thing it ''doesn't'' do for her is improve her self image, causing her to believe that Rin (her sister) doesn't care about her (Rin's [[IdiotBall rather cold statements]] don't exactly help matters...), and to worry that Shirou might abandon her for Rin]].
** Avenger[=/=]Angra Mainyu too. [[spoiler: Started off as just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill Mesopotamian villager. After being randomly picked to be a scapegoat for 'all evils of the world' he ended up being summonable for the Holy Grail War, but even there he was still pathetic, being one of the weakest Servants imaginable. However his spirit then went inside the Grail where he made a wish to truly become the manifestation of evil for revenge on humanity, and that's the reason the Grail has been corrupted ever since.]]

Compare the DiabolusExNihilo. If the character was already a bad guy previously but [[HarmlessVillain never a serious one]], it's NotSoHarmlessVillain. Heroic versions may still find themselves wondering, "DudeWheresMyRespect". (Or becoming HeWhoFightsMonsters.) Frequently, the details of this process are uncovered in the villain's StartOfDarkness. Also compare FromZeroToHero. Also see WhosLaughingNow, MalignantPlotTumor, and MagikarpPower.

Compare the DiabolusExNihilo. If the character was already a bad guy previously but [[HarmlessVillain never a serious one]], it's NotSoHarmlessVillain. Heroic versions may still find themselves wondering, "DudeWheresMyRespect". (Or becoming HeWhoFightsMonsters.) Frequently, the details of this process are uncovered in the villain's StartOfDarkness. Also see WhosLaughingNow, MalignantPlotTumor, and MagikarpPower.

* In ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend: Holiday Star'', [[spoiler:The King]] was once a depressed quail whose otherwise-uninteresting life was so horrible that he became [[spoiler:a WellIntentionedExtremist EldritchAbomonation in the afterlife; he refuses to let himself be reincarnated and creates a fake fairytale kingdom where he steals the souls of all visitors, [[AssimilationPlot forcing them to become part of his hive mind]] so that nobody in the kingdom disagrees or is reincarnated, and they "happily" stay in his false paradise forever.]]

[[caption-width-right:300:From [[Characters/StarWarsAnakinSkywalker slave]] to [[Characters/StarWarsDarthVaderAndServants slaughterer]].]]

[[caption-width-right:300: ''"From [[Characters/StarWarsAnakinSkywalker slave]] to [[Characters/StarWarsDarthVaderAndServants slaughterer]]."'']]

* [[FromNobodyToNightmare/ProWrestling Professional Wrestling]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* Wrestling/TripleH started off in Wrestling/{{WCW}} as just another long-haired meathead([[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness who wasn't even that meaty]]) with a silly WrestlingDoesntPay gimmick during a time when these gimmicks were a dime a dozen. He got squashed by [[Wrestling/UltimateWarrior The Ultimate Warrior]] during his first ''[=WrestleMania=]'' match, then the curtain call happened... But by 1997, he was randomly paired up with fellow long-haired [[Wrestling/TheKliq Kliq]] member Wrestling/ShawnMichaels to form Wrestling/DGenerationX. From there, he would go on to marry the boss's daughter both in storyline and in RealLife, win both world championships over a dozen times, and become one of ProfessionalWrestling's nastiest tyrants, earning himself monikers such as 'The King of Kings' and 'The Cerebral Assassin'.
* Wrestling/JimmyJacobs started his career off in Wrestling/RingOfHonor as a {{jobber}} in fuzzy boots, then as a lovesick emo-teen. Then he snapped, formed the viscous Age of the Fall stable. Since then he was a major player in the S.C.U.M faction and became the Big Bad in Wrestling/{{Chikara}} as the leader of the Flood (he was later revealed to be TheDragon).
* Wrestling/TheMiz. When he first appeared on television in the summer of 2006, it was merely as the obnoxious emcee for that year's Diva Search (which Wrestling/{{Layla}} El won, by the way). He eventually started wrestling, but almost everyone (except for Wrestling/MichaelCole, which Cole himself would [[LampshadeHanging Lampshade]] years later) thought of him as a joke who had only been offered a contract with WWE because he'd been on so many reality shows. (Outside of {{Kayfabe}}, of course, he'd been the second-place contestant on ''Tough Enough'', which did him no favors with the fans since the fan-voted contest winner was unceremoniously booted from the WWE) He remained essentially a "curtain-jerker" for his entire first year on TV, even getting eliminated from his first Royal Rumble Match after only seven seconds! It was only after he was drafted to ''ECW on [=SciFi=]'' in the summer of 2007 and paired with Wrestling/JohnMorrison in a heel tag team that he started to emerge as something resembling a threat. Fast-forward three years and several titles later, and suddenly Miz is "Mister Money in the Bank" and eventually "the most must-see WWE Champion in history!" And, of course, [[MemeticMutation "Awesome."]]
* The Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} season one rookies were just some wet-behind-the-ears, fresh-out-of-training nobodies -- maybe something someday, but for now not worth much. Then they banded together to form Wrestling/TheNexus and completely tore apart [[Wrestling/WWERAw Monday Night Raw]]. For a few months after that, they were "the biggest threat WWE has ever faced" -- bigger than The Alliance, bigger than the [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder nWo]], bigger than the [[Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon McMahon]]-[[Wrestling/TripleH Helmsley]] Regime, you name it. Ironically, their undoing came when [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]], the only rookie who actually had a good amount of experience before coming on NXT, and who had been expelled from the group for showing remorse, joined the WWE wrestlers in the fight against The Nexus.
* Wrestling/MarkHenry spent the better part of ''15 years'' as a midcarder, best known for his angle with Mae Young, and was considered an oft-injured bust who the WWE only hung onto to justify the untold millions they (over)paid him. When the company was short on monster heels, they turned to Mark Henry to see if he could fill that role finally. With strong booking that had him decimating upper midcarders and main eventers alike, coupled with a rejuvenated Henry in the ring and on the mic, he was able to finally be convincing as one of the most dangerous men in the company, if not THE most dangerous.
* Wrestling/CodyRhodes made his WWE debut back in July of 2007 as a generic babyface who teamed up with veteran [[Wrestling/BobHolly Hardcore Holly]] to win the World Tag Team Championships later that year. But Rhodes would turn on Holly at Night of Champions in June of 2008 by revealing himself to be Wrestling/TedDiBiase Jr.'s mystery partner. Both [=DiBiase=] and Rhodes would spend the rest of 2008 to early 2010 as Randy Orton's Legacy henchmen who did all of Orton's dirty work. By spring of 2010 when Legacy disbanded, many experts predicted that [=DiBiase=] would be the breakout star of Legacy while Rhodes would be stuck in WWE Superstars-land. But it would be Rhodes who would become one of the WWE's top heels as well as one of the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champions while [=DiBiase=] faded to obscurity.
** Despite optimistic predictions, Cody never really made it out of the midcard marsh in WWE, leading him to eventually leave the company to seek his fortunes on the indies and in smaller promotions like ROH and NJPW. It was during his time in NJPW that he ended up joining Wrestling/BulletClub and eventually ousted the famous Wrestling/KennyOmega to become ''leader'' of the hottest stable in the wrestling world. Eventually Cody and his friends in Wrestling/TheElite (Omega and Wrestling/TheYoungBucks) had amassed enough clout to hold their own indie PPV, ''All In'', where Cody won the esteemed NWA World Championship, the same title his legendary father [[Wrestling/DustyRhodes Dusty]] had once held, and they parleyed this success into founding ''their own promotion,'' Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling, which has quickly managed to become one of the hottest wrestling promotions in the world, with Cody as its top massively-over babyface. To call his post-WWE career "prolific" would be an understatement of the ''highest'' order and he's the unquestioned poster boy for a wrestler leaving WWE to become a bigger star outside of it than they were allowed to become within it. He's probably the biggest arch-enemy Wrestling/VinceMcMahon has had since Wrestling/EricBischoff (even more so than Wrestling/JeffJarrett); how appropriate that he's called the [[Wrestling/DustyRhodes American Nightmare]].
* Wrestling/AJLee started off as the adorable, nerdy Geek Goddess who won the crowd by being tiny, cute, and easy to relate to. Once she hooked up with Daniel Bryan, her popularity grew... and then he dumped her and she lost her mind, turning her into the crazy WildCard who brutally abused her former best friend, won the Divas Championship and held on to it for longer than anyone before her, running right over the top of the other Divas in the process.
* Wrestling/KennyOmega was a FunPersonified kid best known for pretending to Hadoken people during matches. Then he joined the Wrestling/BulletClub and reemerged as "The Cleaner" a PsychoForHire brought in to take out all of the wrestlers in Wrestling/{{New Japan|ProWrestling}}'s junior heavyweight division. He then ascended even further up the ranks after Wrestling/AJStyles left at Wrestle Kingdom 10, now the new leader of the Bullet Club, he has become one of the strongest wrestlers in the world, being the first gaijin to win the G1 Climax and is now the US Champion of NJPW as well as gaining mass amounts of media coverage for his matches against Wrestling/KazuchikaOkada at Wrestle Kingdom 11 and Dominion 6.11.
* Wrestling/BrayWyatt. Originally Husky Harris, filler for CM Punk's iteration of the Nexus, he later on became "possessed", now the AxCrazy leader of a backwoods cult, who may or may not be the vessel for the devil himself. He got worse after becoming a DepravedKidsShowHost.
* As an unusual heroic example (or straight example, depending on how you feel about his career), the big man himself, Wrestling/JohnCena. Cena's first appearance as a pro wrestler was on a Creator/DiscoveryChannel show called ''Inside Pro Wrestling School'', which caught on camera his first day as a wrestler-to-be. He eventually evolved a rather corny gimmick called "The Prototype" (basically a ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}''-pastiche that derided everyone on their physique, building on Cena's past as a bodybuilder), which he kept up until he made his WWE main roster debut against Wrestling/KurtAngle in 2002 (at which point he began using his real name). Anyone watching back then would have brushed this guy off as another face in the crowd, not expecting him to become the biggest thing the industry has ever seen since the days of Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin.
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