History Main / PrimalFear

* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'', when helping Emma walk out of Shell 1, you will encounter hundreds of sea lice, which Emma is afraid and disgusted of. In order to clear a path to the elevator, you have to use your coolant spray to spray them away.

* The K'vir a la the ''Series/DoctorWho'' example below in the very first episode of ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfTime''. Living, malevolent shadows? Well, what about an entire ''legion'' of living, malevolent, hyper-''intelligent'' shadows that will ''possess'' you? Even the Doctor is afraid.

* According to ''Fanfic/OneMoreTimeOneMoreChance'', Ryuko is afraid of the dark and can't sleep without a nightlight. This is due to her experiences with her previous placements or her experiences at a school (where she was locked in a dark room as punishment).

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink "Blink"]] involves aliens who look like statues. They can't move if someone is looking at them, but travel at amazing speeds as soon as you blink. If they catch you, they will knock you into the past, forcing you to live to death. ([[ParanoiaFuel Say, where's the nearest statue to you right now]]?)\\\

* ''VideoGame/{{Darkwood}}'' is a smorgasbord of various fears in reality, but that one that stands above all the others is the fear of darkness, or more appropriately the ''fear of the unknown'' that is the underlining reason why darkness is terrifying and represented in-game by [[EldritchAbomination abominations of eldritch nature]] lurking in it. [[NiceDayDeadlyNight While daytime isn’t completely safe, it’s far safer than nighttime]] where monsters who couldn’t invade the Protagonist’s current hideout can now do so with impunity. He has zero advantages that work in the darkness, must top off his generator at his chosen hideout with gasoline to make sure the lights stay on at night, and it’s pointless to try hiding in darkness because the monsters will find you regardless. The game will also use random “night events” to either hinder the Protagonist, outright try to kill him as “The Shadows” night event attempts to do,[[labelnote:note]]The hideout at any given time can suddenly be swarmed by ghost-like beings, who knock out all the floodlights and all but one lamp, plus it also disables every light source the Protagonist has except flares and flashlights. If you’re caught in the dark, said ghosts will attack the Protagonist, causing his health to rapidly decrease and kill him if he doesn’t find light in time.[[/labelnote]] and even occasional beneficial night events will encourage the Protagonist to travel out in the dark where he can easily be ambushed by a horrifying monster patrolling the area. There is also the [[BorderPatrol Floor]] [[SuperPersistentPredator Gore]], a entity of dark mass that cannot be killed or slowed down by the Protagonist and will kill him if he’s not at his hideout before nightfall (the gas being emitted throughout the hideout is the only thing that keeps it at bay).

* ''VideoGame/BlackSnow'' takes this trope to literal extremes by having some sort of ambulatory darkness that tries to smother you to death. [[spoiler:It's really a fungus that can't survive in light.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Zork}}'''s "It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue." Note that the game presents it not as a possibility, but as a certainty. Which it is; after a random number of moves in the dark (usually less than 10) you die.
* ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' uses this as a gameplay mechanic. [[PlayerCharacter Daniel]] is lygophobic, so staying in the dark drains his SanityMeter; even if he has fairly decent night vision after his eyes adapt, it does nothing to settle his nerves. It's a delicate balance when you ''need'' to stay in the shadows to hide from a patrolling monstrosity, but with every second he gets more and more panicked...

* ''VideoGame/DeepSleepTrilogy'' embodies this trope, with lowly-lit areas and the presence of dark, humanoid creatures trying to capture you. They are entirely black, with [[TheDarknessGazesBack only two white eyes]].
* In ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'', Freddy Fazbear himself will appear at your left door to play an OminousMusicBoxTune should you run out of power. Unless you are very close to 6 AM, your CruelAndUnusualDeath is inevitable.
* ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' causes the dungeons to get scarier as the light reduces, with enemies moving faster and hitting harder, and the sound mix shifts to emphasise the ambient noises of the terrible pits. It even includes a certain measure of speculation about the origins of the fear of the dark, namely, that [[EldritchAbomination the Shambler]], an utter bastard of a BonusBoss who will give even the toughest party a hard time and is a HeroKiller in and out of universe, lurks within it...
* In ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'', the Lord of Sunlight, apropriately enough, has this. Gwyn fought dragons and demons, but nothing frightened him like the dark, and that fear inspired him to cause untold eras of suffering.

* That wretched giant spider in the first major act of ''{{Limbo}}''. What's worse? [[spoiler:You end up using part of its body as a platform, actively TOUCHING the damn thing; afterwards, it gets horrifically mutilated.]]

* ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' works this trope perfectly. So well that players really start to be afraid of dark corners. And they should...

* ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeTheMovie'': the BodyHorror that the Cobra Commander is forced to go through — which leads to him being [[BalefulPolymorph turned into a]] [[DeathOfPersonality mindless]] [[ScaledUp snake]] just as the audience was developing some sympathy for him.

* This is a common recurring theme throughout the ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' series, specifically because the characters fear what will happen to them if they do not get played with or are outgrown. This ends up [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]] quite heavily, showcasing how this ends up hurting the characters more than it helps them.

* The K'vir a la the ''Series/DoctorWho'' example below in the very first episode of ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfTime''. Living, malevolent shadows? Well, what about an entire ''legion'' of living, malevolent, hyper-''intelligent'' shadows [[UpToEleven that will]] ''[[UpToEleven possess]]'' [[UpToEleven you?]] Even the Doctor is afraid.

* ''Film/{{Nightwish}}'': A professor uses four graduate students to experience their worst fears, then recording their nightmares. Some of the fears covered include being alone in the dark at night, cannibalism, hallucinations, dismemberment, and parasites. However, what the professor really wants to see is the fear of ''death''.

* The {{Womb Level}}s in VideoGame/LocoRoco. Dear God, the {{Womb Level}}s in ''Loco Roco''. At least you get defecated out at the end of each one, but the last boss... gah.

* The Bunny Children from ''VideoGame/EpicMickey'' eat Splatters during Mickeyjunk Mountain.
** Oh, they only try to throw you in the thinner. They don't eat you, if that's what you think. They actually really seem to like their "Uncle Mickey", and you can distract them by turning on the TV's all over the area they're in. It's really cute, actually.

* Dear god, ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' is one of the scariest games in existence when you count them all.

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* How about the new car ads that seem to feature scientists kidnapping athletes so they can suspend them in garages and suck the athleticism out of them through thick tubes?

* You wouldn't expect to see LFO here, but the video for their song "Freak" features a group of dancing Japanese schoolgirls whose playtime shenanigans rapidly devolve into a vicious schoolyard brawl. The fight culminates in one girl being pushed over, hitting her head, and having a fit. The way her violent convulsions are synchronized to the pounding music is particularly unsettling.
** The visit to UncannyValley doesn't help, either.
** And the fact that she looks like she's trying to [[RapeAsDrama escape something]].

* {{Gorn}}. Particularly the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' franchise, which is a double whammy here. Gory death traps [[BodyHorror in which you inflict self-mutilation]] [[EyeScream of various types?]] Check. [[{{Squick}} Extra-disturbing items and substances like a vat full of dirty needles and liquefied pig guts?]] Check.

* The ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books pull out all the stops on {{Primal Fear}}s. Snakes, death, giant bugs, parental abandonment, humiliation... Name a fear, Ms. Rowling put it in her books.
** In-universe, we have the boggart, a creature that always looks like the worst fear of the closest person. The good news is that it can be defeated with the "Riddikulus" spell, which turns it into something funny. The bad news is that depending on your fear, this can be quite difficult. {{Adult Fear}}s, like the death of loved ones, are quite difficult to make into a joke.
*** So in order to combat the thing that is basically fear incarnate, even if you know the spell, your worst fear must be something ''capable'' of being turned into a joke, you have to be able to think of how to turn it into a joke, clearly picture the joke, ''and'' be able to think clearly enough to remember all of this in the first place while staring your absolute worst terror in the face. Frankly, it's remarkable a class of 13 year olds was able to pull it off.

See also: WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes, BearsAreBadNews, FangsAreEvil, EyeScream, AndIMustScream, JumpScare[[note]]which isn't quite the same as a Primal Fear, but tends to play off of it, particularly loud noises, darkness, and monsters/psychopaths[[/note]], EnclosedSpace (which isn't necessarily this trope), AdultFear, DarkIsEvil[[note]]primal fears of darkness are the ''reason'' this trope is so prevalent[[/note]], and a fair number of HorrorTropes.

* ''Literature/TheStrain'''s version of [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]]. In their early stages, they act and look like simple and basic, if pale, zombies. In later development, they are completely devoid of hair, nails, ''genitals'', and lips. Their teeth are razor sharp, and their eyes black. They don't feed by biting: they shoot out a scorpion-like stinger as long as they are tall and pierce your blood vessels with surgical precision (deploying the stinger means stretching their mouth into a long, mirthless grin and dislocating their jaw like a snake). Their middle finger develops long and clawed. Their skin is pure white, and the worms that course through their body can be seen wiggling under their face. Mentally, the mature ones are at least as intelligent as humans, but the newly-turned ("Revenants") aren't lucky enough to get a HiveMind. They are bound, body and soul, to serve the will of the ancient they are descended from. Their instincts drive them to [[AdultFear find the ones they loved in life and turn them.]]

* Not really an animal, but the first appearance of those shadowcats in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' is a real brick-shitter. Phantom would probably qualify for Spider if this wasn't an action game, as well. (Seriously, just imagine the moth boss in ''VideoGame/SilentHill1'' replaced by Phantom with low lighting...)

* ''VideoGame/{{Subnautica}}'': The fate of any player who gets too close to the chompy end of a Reaper Leviathan or the Sea Dragon. Yes, there is a special animation, yes, it is in first-person, and yes, it is pants-wettingly freaky.

* What the mob did to Quasimodo in Disney's ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''. After crowning him "the ugliest face in Paris" and carrying him about the city, they then tie him to a revolving platform and ''spin it at high speed'' while throwing garbage at him. What makes this so utterly horrible is that up until this point, Quasimodo had been so happy that he was ''crying with joy'' at being finally accepted.

* ''[[Pinball/{{Fire}} Fire!]]'' is [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory Very Loosely Based On the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.]] Although the player himself is never in danger, this trope is clearly invoked by the huddled masses of panicking citizens on the playfield.

Some fears are universal. [[DarknessEqualsDeath The dark]], [[ThePrecariousLedge heights]], [[AfraidOfBlood blood]], [[{{Claustrophobia}} enclosed spaces]], [[KillItWithFire fire,]] {{snakes|AreSinister}}, {{spiders|AreScary}}, [[TheSociopath psychopaths]], [[FearOfThunder loud sounds]], pain, [[MortalityPhobia death]], monsters, humiliation, [[GoMadFromTheIsolation loneliness]], [[NothingIsScarier complete emptiness]]; these fears have always been with us. They are the dangers our early ancestors faced, [[GeneticMemory and their shadows still haunt our nightmares]]. Most people are a little nervous about such things — not many people could walk on a glass bridge over the Grand Canyon without any railings, and not feel a little anxious — and full-blown phobias are easily enough induced.

* The ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' animated series featured a two-part episode with a "Spirit-drinker" that Lady Deathstrike [[SealedEvilInACan accidentally released from an alien prison ship]]. It does [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin exactly what the name suggests]]. What made it creepy, though, was the way the energy or gas or whatever that it was made of would occasionally take the form of the face of one of its victims, begging for help in faraway, ghostly voices.

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* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3226 Squidley is about to drug himself to numb the pain of living when the TV blares about the lethal possibilities of drug addiction, so he drugs himself to avoid the fear of dying.]]

* The horror podcast [[Podcast/TheMagnusArchives The Magnus Archives]] has featured just about ''everything'' in this list in one episode or another.

Some fears are universal. [[DarknessEqualsDeath The dark]], [[ThePrecariousLedge heights]], [[AfraidOfBlood blood]], [[{{Claustrophobia}} enclosed spaces]], [[KillItWithFire fire,]] {{snakes|AreSinister}}, {{spiders|AreScary}}, [[TheSociopath psychopaths]], [[FearOfThunder loud sounds]], pain, [[MortalityPhobia death]], monsters, humiliation, [[GoMadFromTheIsolation loneliness]], [[NothingIsScarier complete emptiness]]; these fears have always been with us. They are the dangers our early ancestors faced, and their shadows still haunt our nightmares. Most people are a little nervous about such things — not many people could walk on a glass bridge over the Grand Canyon without any railings, and not feel a little anxious — and full-blown phobias are easily enough induced.