History Main / RealismInducedHorror

* ''Manga/ZomOneHundredBucketListOfTheDead'' may be set in a ZombieApocalypse, but the most terrifying aspect of it was Akira Tendo's old job in a black company. Every single day drained him physically and mentally through both slave-like labour and being browbeaten by his superiors, regardless of the quality of his work. Oftentimes he was forced to stay at the office with little or no food for days on end, and on the rare chances he got to go home he was too tired to do anything but sleep. This included him being too exhausted to clean his apartment for 3 years! This is a situation that is sadly relatable to many people, especially those in Japan. It speaks volumes with how the world has gone down the toilet the way it has that Akira considers it an improvement compared to his old life.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter''

** Take out the magical diary part of the Ginny subplot in the second book and it's the story of an impressionable little girl falling prey to a manipulative older boy. Ginny is a kid who's grown up in a loving family with a whole heap of brothers to play with but goes to a boarding school and has a hard time adjusting to her new life. She's lonely and starts talking to a "new" friend, a handsome and charming older boy. He {{gaslight|ing}}s her and makes her do his dirty work. She can't remember what she's doing which calls to mind him drugging her. Every time she tries to tell one of her brothers something's gone wrong they tell her NotNowKiddo.

* ''Manga/DeathNote'': The most horrifying part of Light's character, far eclipsing his more absurd [[AGodAmI god complex]] and mass-murder, is the fact that he is 100% absolutely convinced at all times that [[KnightTemplar he is in the right and morally justified]] despite plentiful evidence to the contrary, and is able to use that delusion in order to justify increasingly reprehensible and heinous crimes under the notion of creating an "ideal world". While few real-life dictators would engage in his excessive hamminess, they absolutely do have this mindset that their [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans ends justify their means no matter what]], and that in order to secure this ideal future, they [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist coincidentally have to solely hold onto power.]]

* The classic Hentai series, ''Secret Plot'' and ''Secret Plot Deep'' is about a student being sexually assulted repeatedy by authority figures, that being his homeroom teacher, and the school coach. Both are women who otherwise live normal lives accept their ''secret'' which they both share. But what makes this story realistically disturbing, is how the student is manipulated by the women and groomed to give into their desires. The student does not act like someone who got lucky, which is sadly the feeling a lot have when they hear about a school student having sex with two attractive adult women. He is confused because he knows deep down what is happening is wrong, but is shamed if he tries to stand up for himself. Taken further in ''Deep'' where he falls in love with the coach as he gets older, only to realize she sees him as nothing more than a sex object, which breaks his heart and leaves him depressed. Given the many recent cases of women teachers getting caught having sex with their male students, this story hits close to home, despite being created decades ago.

** The protagonist of ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Golden Wind]]'', Giorno Giovanna, in comparison to the other protagonists of the franchise has a disturbingly realistically tragic backstory. In comparison to the more outlandish and Stand using villains, one of the most vile people in this part is Giorno's own mother. She often left her son home alone when he was only four, because she didn't want to give up her life of partying. She then marries a man who seems nice on the surface, but he's really extremely abusive and would beat Giorno just for looking at him wrong.

* Manga/JujutsuKaisen: Junpei's story being similar to how bullying can affect their victims with Junpei becoming similar to a school shooter, with Mahito taking advantage of Junpei's depression and acting as a toxic friend encouraging his darker side, hoping to turn him into a murderer as well.

* WesternAnimation/Zootopia: The film shows how peoples fear and prejudice towards different races can turn society against each other, with Predators now being seen as unpredictably dangerous, to the point that a mother prey being afraid of sitting next to a predator and to prey and predator protestors fighting in the streets. It also shows how the BigBad exploits of the citizens prejudice towards predators, similar to how authority figures control the populace by taking advantage of their fear in order to stay in power.

* ''Literature/AnimalFarm'': Despite the silly premise, barnyard animals kicking and running the abusive farmer off the land, the book is still a bone-chilling allegory on revolutionaries becoming [[FullCircleRevolution worse than the people they oppose]]. With Napoleon being a clear stand in to Stalins rise to power and the brutality of his regime.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Creator/StanLee famously depicted the very real effects of drug addiction in a 1971 storyline of ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan1963''. In the first issue of the story, Spider-Man saves a young man who's stoned out of his mind from falling off a roof. In the next, it's revealed that Harry Osborne has started popping pills to get over his crush on Mary Jane. He eventually overdoses near-fatally, and Peter has to rush him to the hospital. The comic pulls no punches about what addictive drugs do, and the real terror comes from the fact that ''anyone'' could become hooked on the stuff--Peter even remarks that Harry has everything a man could want and still fell into addiction. Notably, Stan Lee had to [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight defy the Comics Code Authority]] to do the story arc, but he was determined to depict a genuine social problem rather than supervillain antics.

* In ''ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderThePromise'' Ozai teaches a lesson of governing to his son Zuko. He says that there are no right or wrong decisions, the decisions taken by the Firelord is always the right ones. Ozai is right because throughout mankind's turbulent history, mad-powered dictators with delusion of grandeur like him have always used this twisted mindset to rule over others.
* Many fans find ComicBook/TheJoker's [[KickTheDog horrible treatment]] of ComicBook/HarleyQuinn to be his [[HateSink most despicable trait]], as while him trying to, say, turn fish evil by putting poison in the water seems like your typical hokey comic villain plot, his abuse of Harley is all too much like real DomesticAbuse, and, even in the kid-friendly works, doesn't have any AmusingInjuries or the like as cartoon violence often does. Tellingly, the (now-defunct) Website/YouTube channel Guitan had a video about why Harley Quinn is such a good character, and at one point he showed a list of clips (mainly from the [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries animated series]]) of the Joker abusing her and put ContentWarnings even though most of the clips are from a Y-7 rated show.
* The ComicBook/{{Batman}} story "Venom" from the Legends of the Dark Knight anthology series is easily [[DarkerAndEdgier one of the darkest and most disturbing tales involving the Caped Crusader]] for this very reason. After Bruce fails to save the life of a young girl held for ransom, [[HeroicBSOD he falls into a depression]] and decides to try the titular [[SuperSerum synthetic drug]]. Once he tries it, he undergoes a disturbingly realistic transformation from a [[TheDreaded feared]] and [[DarkIsNotEvil well-respected night-dwelling vigilante]] to a deranged, shambling junkie that not only gets affected from the drug's effects (begging and pleading for more of the stuff and wallowing in himself inside, being weak, becoming more highly deranged with occasional roid rages, enjoying causing pain and suffering on his foes, etc.), but almost ends up destroying his kindled relationships with his trusted allies. In the end, when Bruce decides to overcome the addiction, he undergoes various craves and also suffers horrific hallucinations. It's a chillingly down-to-earth portrayal of [[DrugsAreBad the effects of drugs]], pulling absolutely zero punches on every area imaginable when it comes to the subject of [[TruthInTelevision a very serious problem that's all too real]] to handle in an otherwise mostly fantastical setting like Gotham City.
* The very premise of [[ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX The Punisher MAX]] adds an undercurrent of this to every story, but the Slavers arc displays it most prominently. In that arc, Frank Castle battles against a disturbingly realistic group of sex slave traffickers from the former Yugoslavian territories. They kidnap young women from Eastern Europe, rape them repeatedly until they break their spirit, and then force them into prostitution. The arc ends when Frank Castle kills the leaders of the US part of the ring, knowing both that he can't truly stop the operation since the true leaders lie far beyond his reach, and that he cannot help the women that he freed from them to remake their lives, with the last page depicting Viorica, the woman who alerted The Punisher about the ring and herself a victim of them, having a PTSD attack in her job as a waitress.
* ''ComicBook/TheMask: I Pledge Allegiance to the Mask'' has a politician becoming Big Head, and using the resulting lack of inhibitions to spew wacky sociopathic outbursts that make himself endearing to the populace in a presidential run. [[https://monkeysfightingrobots.co/interview-the-mask-cantwell-reynolds/ As put by the author of said series]]:

* Creator/StanLee famously depicted the very real effects of drug addiction in a 1971 storyline of ''ComicBook/SpiderMan''. In the first issue of the story, Spider-Man saves a young man who's stoned out of his mind from falling off a roof. In the next, it's revealed that Harry Osborne has started popping pills to get over his crush on Mary Jane. He eventually overdoses near-fatally, and Peter has to rush him to the hospital. The comic pulls no punches about what addictive drugs do, and the real terror comes from the fact that ''anyone'' could become hooked on the stuff--Peter even remarks that Harry has everything a man could want and still fell into addiction. Notably, Stan Lee had to [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight defy the Comics Code Authority]] to do the story arc, but he was determined to depict a genuine social problem rather than supervillain antics.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' is known for its surreal stories and twist endings that swerve into fantastical horror or suspense. The episode "[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S4E4HesAlive He's Alive]]" sets a very different precedent from others. The ghost of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler aside this is the story of a Neo-Nazi's rise to power and eventual fall as he attempts to spread the messages of the past war into the modern age. Many of Peter Vollmer's tactics including but not limited to [[AdHominem claiming everyone who opposes him is a communist]], framing his racism as merely "A different set of opinions" (without saying what those opinions are) are all tactics used by various real world hate groups, especially going into UsefulNotes/TheNewTens. Take away Hitler's ghost and the episode is a disturbingly accurate portrayal of how hate groups continue to thrive after UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo.

** At its core, Vassago Casals isn't too different from cult leaders like Charles Manson and Marshall Applewhite, who take advantage of impressionable and disaffected young people and brainwash them into adopting their insane ideologies. Additionally, during the ''War of the Underworld'' sub-arc of ''Alicization'', Vassago taking advantage of the Chinese and Korean players' prejudice towards the Japanese and whipping them up into a murderous frenzy is remiscent of demagogues and rabble-rousers who take advantage of susceptible masses for their own benefit and deliberately inflame societal tensions to instigate violence, which has happened numerous times across history, such as the Tulsa race massacre and the Rwandan genocide. It also invokes real-life tensions that China and Korea have towards Japan due to the latter's actions]] during the first half of the 20th century, such as the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Japanese occupation of Korea. The fact that Vassago also spurs those Chinese and Korean players into killing those who had seen through his trick by branding them as traitors is also similar to moderate Hutus getting murdered by Hutu extremists during the Rwandan genocide because of their perceived sympathy towards the targets.

** The Laughing Coffin guild's modus oprandi is causing as much death and carnage ForTheEvulz. While this seems like over-the-top villainy, what the Laughing Coffin does ''has'' actually happened in real life, such as the UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} killers, who wanted to outdo the Oklahoma City bombing in bodycount and carnage. The fact that the Death Gun murder plot was created by two former Laughing Coffin members so they can continue the death game that is SAO is chillingly reminiscent of the copycat attacks and subsequent "high score" culture that Columbine spawned that has animated mass shootings like Christchurch, Poway, El Paso and Buffalo.

** At its core, Vassago Casals isn't too different from cult leaders like Charles Manson and Marshall Applewhite, who take advantage of impressionable and disaffected young people and brainwash them into adopting their insane ideologies. Additionally, during the ''War of the Underworld'' sub-arc of ''Alicization'', Vassago taking advantage of the Chinese and Korean players' prejudice towards the Japanese and whipping them up into a murderous frenzy is remiscent of demagogues and rabble-rousers who take advantage of existing societal tensions and deliberately inflame them to instigate violence, which has happened numerous times, such as the Tulsa race massacre and the Rwandan genocide. The fact that Vassago also spurs those Chinese and Korean players into killing those who had seen through his trick by branding them as traitors is also similar to moderate Hutus getting murdered by Hutu extremists during the Rwandan genocide because of their perceived sympathy towards the targets.

** Shoichi Shinkawa's backstory is eerily reminiscent of a disaffected person getting radicalized by a dangerous cult simply because he had nowhere else to belong to. To put it in perspective, he was once a sickly boy who, by the time of middle school, had alternated constantly between the house and the hospital. Rather than give him the help and support that he needs, his family had basically given up on him and let him do whatever he wants. He turned to the internet and video games as an escape from the disappointment of his real-life. And then he ended up in SAO, where he met the Laughing Coffin and was corrupted by [[TheCorrupter PoH]] into a murderer as he tool advantage of his desperate situation and made him give in to his darker impulses. By the time he had gone out of SAO, his mind was too far gone as he now only cared about murdering people. The fact that said radicalization took place online is very much reminiscent to how extremists like neo-Nazis and Islamic jidahists use online spaces to lure in and radicalize impressionable and disaffected people like teenagers.

This trope occurs from an an excess of external {{Consistency}}, and as such [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools isn't always beneficial to the work]], or [[UnexpectedReactionsToThisIndex even intended by the authors]]. In a work intended for {{escapism}}, having these moments will shock viewers back to the horrors of reality, not only breaking their immersion in the work but also their trust in the work being able to deliver on its intent. In horror stories where the main threat is a supernatural entity, having a more realistic HateSink as a minor villain runs the risk of distracting from the main threat. More generally, trying to invoke this trope as a calculated plot device -- without seeking to explore the subject in-depth (and sometimes even then) -- will come off in poor taste, especially to those that have personally dealt with these traumas in real life. This trope can still work in unexpected circumstances but requires the ability to not only address these issues with tact but also account for [[GutPunch the impact this will have on the tone of the work]].