History NightmareFuel / AmphibiaSeason1

-->'''Hop Pop:''' ''[shocked]'' I don't feel safe.

* Hop Pop and Anne get [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs tripped]] [[MushroomSamba up]] on each other's energy drinks and end up mistaking Sprig and Polly for the corn thief. They almost kill them (before they come back to their senses), and Sprig is in tears and begging them not to kill him. Given Hop Pop's GuiltComplex over Sprig and Polly's parents, this would have been especially horrible for him once he came back to his senses. Of note is the moment when their tripped-out wacky actions stop being funny and start turning serious.

[[caption-width-right:350: NiceKitty]]

All the messed-up scary moments from season one of WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}} %%*
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* Anne's been wandering around the woods for days, fending for herself while hiding from carnivorous beasts. The only things to eat are bugs, and some roots if she's lucky-- and it's unknown how much she was able to salvage of those on her own, given she needed Sprig's help to identify some potentially edible foods. She's alone, confused, trapped in a bizarre and dangerous world with extra-large bugs and predators that could and ''would'' eat her if they get a chance, and with zero context as to how she ended up there in the first place, not to mention her fears about being separated from her friends and family, as well as the unresolved guilt from feeling this must be some karmic DisproportionateRetribution for ignoring her family and stealing the music box the whole time. And she's only ''thirteen''.

* The serpent in the lake. Anne goes OhCrap when she spots it behind Sprig and they try to outswim it. Sprig can, but Anne's limbs are too tiny, demonstrating how she's mentally ''and'' physically not equipped for survival in Amphibia, being pretty much near the bottom of the food chain along with the Frogs. Soon the snake catches up and wraps them in its coils. Anne goes MyGodWhatHaveIDone and begs Sprig to leave her.
** It's never stated outright, but it's implied that the serpent ''ate'' which poor frog tried writing the sign to warn others against swimming in the lake. Sprig notes that the sign looks like it was written in a hurry, but observant viewers will note that the painted letters devolve into a squiggly line towards the direction of the lake, as if he was seized and dragged into the waters in the act of finishing the sign.
** The serpent actually ''swallows'' Sprig in what appears to be a HeroicSacrifice on the young frog's behalf. Although it's just a ploy by Sprig to poison the predator with some hot pepper, for a while it looks like Anne lost her new best friend.
* It's revealed that Anne’s friends, Sasha and Marcy, also wound up in Amphibia the same time she did. Sasha has already been captured by the BigBad of the season, chained and imprisoned at the top of an EvilTowerOfOminousness while Marcy’s whereabouts are currently unknown.

* When Anne breaks Hop Pop's favorite cane just after he threatens to throw her out if she continues to disrespect him, she freaks out and says that she cannot go back to living in a cave. We're treated to a flashback that shows Anne in a cave, curled up in a [[TroubledFetalPosition fetal position]] and surrounded by giant bugs and worms. These ones don't seem interested in eating Anne, but their [[HellIsThatNoise hellish screeching]] and slithering around in the darkness with her, without Anne having any such form of shelter or protection from the elements like a blanket to comfort herself with, is hardly a pleasant experience. Anne is depicted with a ThousandYardStare, clearly having learned it's better to endure the discomfort than make an enemy of her 'roommates'. One can only wonder what other hellish things she'd had to endure before she met the Plantars.
-->'''Anne:''' ''(Shudders in remembrance)'' The nights were the hardest.
* The Doom Tree. Few have ever found it, and fewer still have returned to tell the tale (Hop Pop's grandfather apparently being one of those lucky few). When Anne, Sprig and Polly find it, they notice it's surrounded by frog skeletons, and it turns out to be a giant stick insect, who likely devoured anyone who got close enough. Sure, its true form once Anne uses a bunch of termites to strip its wood armor off it is NightmareRetardant, but on the other hand, something that cute-looking had no compunctions murdering and potentially eating a bunch of frogs that wandered too close to it, thinking it was nothing more than a harmless tree.

* Maddie's behavior is rather creepy, to say the least, like the VoodooDoll of Sprig she's introduced ''driving a sharp stick into'', and implying that she wants to ''kill him''. Even when later episodes show that she's not a bad person deep down, it's still hinted that her interest in magic has lead to her dabbling in some ''seriously'' dark stuff -- and she's still just a kid!

''[Close-up on a terrified-looking Sprig while vaguely demonic chuckles are heard in the background]''
* The tomato plant is the stuff of nightmares with how it easily eats the Plantars, and nearly digests them. Sprig hopes that ''maybe'' the gastric juices are painless. Even more so, the plant is shown intentionally sneaking up on the Plantars when they're distracted arguing over whether they should risk getting the tomatoes they need from it, underplaying the reach it's tentacles have to snag them when they're unprepared and easily consuming them all despite their attempts to run away, showing a degree of intelligence and cunning to grab its prey.
** Of course, there's also the way the Plantars ultimately extradite themselves from their perilous situation- [[KillItThroughItsStomach eating their way out through the plant's throat stalk]], complete with particularly wild-eyed expressions and being covered in the plant's SymbolicBlood.
-->'''Polly:''' ''([[SpitefulSpit Spits]] on the plant's still-twitching corpse)'' [[SapientEatSapient Know Your Place Plant!!]]

* Hop Pop and Anne get [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs tripped]] [[MushroomSamba up]] on each other's energy drinks and end up mistaking Sprig and Polly for the corn thief and almost kill them (before they come back to their senses) to the point where Sprig is in tears and begging them not to kill him. Given Hop Pop's GuiltComplex over Sprig and Polly's parents, this would have been especially horrible for him once he came back to his senses. Of note it's the moment when their tripped-out wacky actions stop being funny and start turning serious.

'''Anne:''' Quick! grab those power-ups!\\

(''Anne and Hop Pop grab a pitchfork and a sickle and running screaming at the two children, who turn and flee for their lives'')

* Hop Pop's worries when he realizes that Anne sneaked a wild animal into the house, not knowing it was dangerous to frogs. And they go around the basement, searching for a creature that is meant to be in the wild for the reason. Then you see Domino II's eyes...

* Anne's unexpected (though understandable) reaction to Hop-Pop pulling an IronicEcho on her: Being sleep-deprived and having spent the entire day prior taking the snail on a joy ride, Anne's only response is to chuckle evilly until it slowly evolves into full-on [[LaughingMad evil laughter]] that would make [[WesternAnimation/GravityFalls Bill Cipher]] proud as she bangs her head against the wall a few times and walks out. Needless to say, Hop Pop is quite startled.

* The ending scene where Anne shows the music box. Hop Pop is revealed to know it out of Anne's sight; turns out it's some relic called the "Calamity Box".

* Everyone could see the ending a mile away. The whole thing was a prank to guilt Anne into admitting she skived off work by pretending to be sick. There's no way that the entire Plantar family were ''actually'' quietly resigning themselves to their inevitable deaths, right? Right? ''Right''? Nope! They really did think they were about to die; only it turned out to be a misdiagnosis.

* The mayor nearly kills Sprig when the latter learns that the mayor stole the town's taxes. Now we all thought the Mayor was sleazy, but this is a whole new low.

* Grime gains some VillainRespect for Sasha by the end of the episode after she saves his army from the herons. He says she can either work for him or go into the wilderness with little supplies. Sasha agrees to the former with a CheshireCatGrin about the fun she'll have, but really there isn't a choice; everything out in the wild will try to eat her, and there's little that a human can survive on unless they know a roots expert. Sasha just made a DealWithTheDevil to survive and, she hopes, find her friends.

* Really, this episode puts the events of the previous one and any episode involving the Mayor upping the taxes in a whole new light: The heavy taxation is an ''extortion scheme'' by Grime. Any town that refuses to pay will face Grime's wrath. Whenever the mayor raises taxes, he takes the extra for himself while the rest goes to Toad Tower to save his own skin from Grime.

* Every Hibernation Day, a single member of the town disappears, never to be seen again. It happens so often, the townspeople say goodbye to each other! And what is the reason they disappear? A mother weasel feeding them to her babies.

* Just Jonah. The fact that he had been hunting Mrs. Croaker for thirty years and still hasn't given up despite his elderly age is unnerving. Not to mention the wide variety of weapons he keeps under his coat, followed by the wild, maniacal look in his eyes as he tries to kill her is just terrifying.

* The Dandy Lion Innkeepers start off as a warm, inviting couple who are generally kind and generous to the Planters when their snail stops during a storm. Turns out these people are part of a CannibalClan who actually laid out traps in the road in order to lure wandering amphibians.
* When the Plantars escape and find Bessie inside the barn, they come across many other snails whose owners had been victims. Mixed with TearJerker as one of the snails had been a coach for a newly-married couple.

* Hop-Pop buries the Calamity Box in the ground, saying it's too dangerous for anyone to get their hands on. And he knows he's dooming Anne to trapping her in Amphibia forever.

* Due to the kids acting up and damaging his model boat by accident, Hop Pop desperately tries an elixir on them that makes them behave during the day. He's creeped out by how they are BrainwashedAndCrazy but after it wears off, he uses it ''again'' and promises it's the last time. Small wonder they call him out at the end of the episode, though they admit they were being unreasonable.
* Hop Pop tries to barricade the doors and windows against the mushroom zombies. He escapes to the barn, only to find his possessed kids grabbing him. He goes MyGodWhatHaveIDone. If not for Bessie resting nearby, he would have been possessed as well.

** The way Bessie pulls the mushroom off of Lloyd's head, which is given a ShadowDiscretionShot. While undoubtedly a good thing, it looked and sounded excruciating.
* The final scene where Jeremy the beetle eats the last of the mushroom and becomes zombified.

* The plot to outright kill Hop Pop for unwittingly inspiring a rebellion across Amphibia when he ran for mayor against Toadstool. They make it ''extremely'' clear that they intend to execute Hop Pop in order to make an example of him to the entire valley that dissent will not be tolerated.

* Sasha's "End of discussion" face and voice. Really hammers in how she keeps Anne under her thumb. It gets even worse when we see she can do this in a KneelBeforeZod example.

* Hop Pop's AdultFear when he realizes that Anne sneaked a wild animal into the house, not knowing it was dangerous to frogs. And they go around the basement, searching for a creature that is meant to be in the wild for the reason. Then you see Domino II's eyes...

* Anne's been wandering around the woods for days, fending for herself while hiding from carnivorous beasts. The only things to eat are bugs, and some roots if she's lucky-- and it's unknown how much she was able to savage of those on her own, given she needed Sprig's help to identify some potentially edible foods. She's alone, confused, trapped in a bizarre and dangerous world with extra-large bugs and predators that could and ''would'' eat her if they get a chance, and with zero context as to how she ended up there in the first place, not to mention her fears about being separated from her friends and family, as well as the unresolved guilt from feeling this must be some karmic DisproportionateRetribution for ignoring her family and stealing the music box the whole time. And she's only ''thirteen''.

* It's revealed that Anne’s friends, Sasha and Marcy, also wound up in Amphibia the same time she did. Sasha has already been captured by the BigBad, chained and imprisoned at the top of an EvilTowerOfOminousness while Marcy’s whereabouts are currently unknown.

* Hop-Pop buries the music box in the ground, saying it's too dangerous for anyone to get their hands on. And he knows he's dooming Anne to trapping her in Amphibia forever.

* The Doom Tree. Few have ever found it, and fewer still have returned to tell the tale (Hop Pop's grandfather apparently being one of those lucky few). When Anne, Sprig and Polly find it, they notice it's surrounded by frog skeletons, and it turns out to be a giant stick insect, who likely devoured anyone who got close enough. Sure, its true form once Anne uses a bunch of termites to strip its wood armour off it is NightmareRetardant, but on the other hand, something that cute-looking had no compunctions murdering and potentially eating a bunch of frogs that wandered too close to it, thinking it was nothing more than a harmless tree.

* Maddie's behaviour is rather creepy, to say the least, like the VoodooDoll of Sprig she's introduced ''driving a sharp stick into'', and implying that she wants to ''kill him''. Even when later episodes show that she's not a bad person deep down, it's still hinted that her interest in magic has lead to her dabbling in some ''seriously'' dark stuff-- and she's still just a kid!
-->'''Sprig''': Aw, it's not so bad. Maybe we'll learn to love each oth- ''[[StealthHiBye (Maddie is suddenly right next to him)]]'' AHH!\\
'''Maddie''': I've seen your death in my mind.\\
'''Sprig''': ''(nervous grin)'' I was kinda hoping it'd be a surprise, heh...\\

'''Maddie''': ''It will be.''\\

* The tomato plant is the stuff of nightmares with how it easily eats the Plantars, and nearly digests them. Sprig hopes that ''maybe'' the gastric juices are painless. Even more so, the plant is shown intentionally sneaking up on the Plantars when they're distracted arguing over whether they should risk getting the tomatoes they need from it, underplaying the reach it's tentacles have to snag them when they're unprepared and easily consuming them all despite their attempts to run away, showing a degree of intelligence and cunning to grab it's prey.

* Hop Pop and Anne get [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs tripped]] [[MushroomSamba up]] on each other's energy drinks and end up mistaking Sprig and Polly for the corn thief and almost kill them (before they come back to their senses) to the point where Sprig is in tears and begging them not to kill him. Given Hop Pop's GuiltComplex over Sprig and Polly's parents, this would have been especially horrible for him once he came back to his senses. Of note is the moment when their tripped-out wacky actions stop being funny and start turning serious

* Domino II looks like a cute caterpillar, but it grows up into a frog-eating moth that nearly eats the Plantars. It's a mix of both cute and horrifying.

* Hop Pop getting electrocuted in "Taking Charge", which is played with some uncomfortable realism. There's some pretty dramatic music that plays during this scene too.

* Anne's unexpected (though understandable) reaction to Hop-Pop pulling an IronicEcho on her: Being sleep-deprived and having spent the entire day prior taking the snail on a joy ride, Anne's only response is to chuckle evilly until it slowly evolves into full-on [[LaughingMad evil laughter]] as she bangs her head against the wall a few times and walks out. Needless to say, Hop Pop is quite startled.

[[AC: Contagi-Anne]]
* Everyone could see the ending a mile away. The whole thing was a prank to guilt Anne into admitting she skived off work by pretending to be sick. There's no way that the entire Plantar family were ''actually'' quietly resigning themselves to their inevitable deaths, right? Right? ''Right''? Nope! They really did think they were about to die; only it turned out to be a misdiagnosis.

[[AC: Trip To The Archives]]

* Speaking of the weasel, just the design of it is every bit as nightmarish as other predators in Amphibia, with its red eyes and long, pointy teeth.

* The final scene where a bug eats the last of the mushroom and becomes zombified.

[[caption-width-right:350: NiceKitty...]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Nice kitty...]]

[[caption-width-right:350:nice kitty...]]