History NightmareFuel / CodexAlera

** High Lady Antillus Dorotea is collared by Sarl, who orders her to heal, do no harm and obey any order she's given. Sarl is then killed in battle, meaning the collar's impossible to remove without killing her. Then the Canim start liberating slaves, who are not very kindly disposed towards nobles and would be particularly hostile towards a close relative of High Lord Kalarus, who's notorious for his monopoly on slavery. Tavi, learning about this after the fact, shudders to think what must have been done to Dorotea (or what she was ordered to do) by angry and vengeful former slaves, who would have ''no'' mercy just because she was collared and couldn't refuse or defend herself.

** High Lady Antillus Dorotea is collared by Sarl, who orders her to heal and do no harm. Sarl is then killed in battle, meaning the collar's impossible to remove. Then the Canim start liberating slaves, who are not very kindly disposed towards nobles and would be particularly hostile towards a close relative of High Lord Kalarus, who's notorious for his monopoly on slavery. Tavi, learning about this after the fact, shudders to think what must have been done to Dorotea (or what she was ordered to do) by angry and vengeful former slaves, who would have ''no'' mercy just because she was collared and couldn't refuse or defend herself.

--> She had a wild thought that he was being tempted. He didn't have to take the collar off her, did he? No one could except for him, after all. What if he simply left it on her? The collar pulsed with pure bliss again at the very thought, and Amara swayed on her feet, struggling to remember why that would be a bad thing -

** The vord are basically the Zerg from _Starcraft_. Even with bleeding-edge technology like power-armor and advanced weaponry, as well as centuries of experience fighting against these things, they're ''still'' a major threat; imagine what trying to fight them with normal metal plate armor, swords, and spears would be like. Even the power of the elements is often not enough, as these buggers are ''smart''.

** High Lady Antillus Dorotea is collared by Sarl, who is then killed in battle, meaning the collar's impossible to remove. Then the Canim start liberating slaves, who are not very kindly disposed towards nobles and would be particularly hostile towards a close relative of High Lord Kalarus, who's notorious for his monopoly on slavery. Tavi, learning about this after the fact, shudders to think what must have been done to Dorotea (or what she was ordered to do) by angry and vengeful former slaves, who would have ''no'' mercy just because she was collared and couldn't refuse or defend herself.

** High Lady Antillus Dorotea is collared by Sarl, who is then killed so it's impossible to remove. Then the Canim start liberating slaves, who are not very kindly disposed towards nobles and would be particularly hostile towards a close relative of High Lord Kalarus, who's notorious for his monopoly on slavery. Tavi, learning about this after the fact, shudders to think what must have been done to Dorotea (or what she was ordered to do) by angry and vengeful former slaves, who would have ''no'' mercy just because she was collared and couldn't refuse or defend herself.

--->"Honestly. Once the collar is on, it's quite difficult to imagine living without it. [[MindRape You scream all the time, but it's the inside kind. You scream and scream, but you can only hear it when you're asleep.]] Otherwise, it's quite lovely."
:::Thank you, JimButcher, for feeding my mind-control phobia.

-->On the other side of the clearing, Odiana sat on her horse, humming quietly to herself. The ground in front of her had, it had seemed, quite abruptly transformed into bog. Neither Marat nor herdbane could be seen, but the silt and mud before her stirred vaguely, as though something thrashed unseen beneath its surface.
-->The water witch noticed him [Fidelias] looking at her and commented, her tone warm, "I love the way the ground smells after a rain."

** Did we mention the Vord are smart? Come up with a defensive strategy, and they ''will'' devise a counter to it that you'll likely never anticipate. The assault on [[spoiler: Alera Imperia itself]] in ''Princeps' Fury'' even has them [[OutGambitted Out Gambitting]] [[MagnificentBastard Gaius Sextus]] by [[spoiler: packing thousands of crows with body-snatching takers, innocuously flying them over the city, and then, at the height of the assault, having them ''all'' drop dead into the city at once.]]

-->"I saw an earth fury that looked like a gargant bull knock down a building being used to shelter orphaned children. I saw a pregnant woman burned to black bones by a fire fury. I saw an old woman dragged down into a well by a water fury, her husband holding her wrists the whole way. He went with her." She paused, musing over the placid, inflectionless calm of her own voice, and added, "The second minute was worse."

* In the last book, [[spoiler: High Lord Attis]]'s description of what [[spoiler: his wife]]'s blade did to him.

** Not necessarily - Isana realizes [[spoiler: Araris's]] metalcrafting may render him immune to whatever mind-numbing toxin is in the croach. This does not detract from the original NightmareFuel, however.

* [[HordeOfAlienLocusts The Vord]] from the same series are no slouches at this either. Imagine giant insects that are collectively smarter than 99% of humans, live only to consume everything in their path, can sent parasites to take over your body that, unlike the Yeerks of Literature/{{Animorphs}} ''completely destroy your original personality beyond all hope of recall'', and basically have the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil as a superpower. Kill some? Great, but the Vord Queen will just breed new warriors without the earlier models' weaknesses. Fun times. And when the Vord start learning to work the aforementioned discipline collars- well, if we had a trope called something like "Crowning Moment of Nightmare Fuel'', that would be it.

** The [[PuppeteerParasite takers]]. They numb you up with poison and crawl inside you, where they obliterate your personality but keep you memory and skills intact. They also give the victim SuperStrength and suppress pain, resulting in scenes of taken children and old people literally ripping people apart and disregarding any sort of injury that doesn't immediately kill them.
** The vord are basically the Zerg from _Starcraft_. Even with bleeding-edge technology like power-armor and advanced weaponry, as well as centuries of experience fighting against these things, they're _still_ a major threat; imagine what trying to fight them with normal metal plate armor, swords, and spears would be like. Even the power of the elements is often not enough, as these buggers are _smart_.

** High Lady Antillus Dorotea is collared by Sarl, who is then killed so it's impossible to remove. Then the Canim start liberating slaves, who are not very kindly disposed towards nobles and would be particularly hostile to a relative of High Lord Kalarus, who's notorious for his monopoly on slavery. Tavi, learning about this after the fact, shudders to think what must have been done to Dorotea (or what she was ordered to do) by angry and vengeful former slaves, who would have ''no'' mercy just because she was collared and couldn't refuse or defend herself.

** High Lady Antillus Dorotea is collared by Sarl, who is then killed so it's impossible to remove. Soon after, the Canim start liberating slaves, who are not very kindly disposed towards nobles, and would be particularly hostile to a relative of High Lord Kalarus, who's notorious for his monopoly on slavery. Tavi, learning about this after the fact, shudders to think what must have been done to Dorotea (or what she was ordered to do) by angry, vengeful former slaves, who would have ''no'' mercy just because she was collared and couldn't refuse or defend herself.

** High Lady Antillus Dorotea is collared by Sarl, who is then killed so it's impossible to remove. Soon after, the Canim start liberating slaves, who are not very kindly disposed towards nobles, and would be particularly hostile to a relative of High Lord Kalarus, who's notorious for his monopoly on slavery. Tavi, learning about this after the fact, shudders to think what must have been done to Dorotea (or what she was ordered to do) by angry, vengeful former slaves, who would have ''no'' mercy just because she was collared and couldn't refuse.

** High Lady Antillus Dorotea is collared by Sarl, who is then killed so it's impossible to remove. Soon after, the Canim start liberating slaves, who are not very kindly disposed towards nobles, and would be particularly hostile to to a relative of High Lord Kalarus, who's notorious for his monopoly on slavery. Tavi, learning about this after the fact, shudders to think what must have been done to Dorotea (or what she was ordered to do) by angry, vengeful former slaves, who would have ''no'' mercy just because she was collared and couldn't refuse.

* It gets even worse when the Vord,

* The slave discipline collars in ''Codex Alera''. Once put on a person, they can only be taken off by the person who put them on in the first place; otherwise, the wearer will die. They cause the wearer extreme pleasure for following orders, particularly the orders of the one who put the collar on; they also cause extreme agony (that will kill, if it persists long enough) for disobeying said orders. If children are raised wearing one of these collars, they can be shaped into mindless machines so intent on doing the will of their master that they will ''happily'' hack off their own limbs in order to better follow his/her commands.

** High Lady Antillus Dorotea is collared by Sarl, who is then killed so it's impossible to remove. Soon after, the Canim start liberating slaves, who are not very kindly disposed towards nobles. Tavi, learning about this after the fact, shudders to think what must have been done to Dorotea (or what she was ordered to do) by angry, vengeful former slaves, who would have ''no'' mercy just because she was collared and couldn't refuse.

* [[HordeOfAlienLocusts The Vord]] from the same series are no slouches at this either. Imagine giant insects that are collectively smarter than 99% of humans, live only to consume everything in their path, can sent parasites to take over your body that, unlike the Yeerks of Literature/{{Animorphs}} ''completey destroy your original personality beyond all hope of recall'', and basically have the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil as a superpower. Kill some? Great, but the Vord Queen will just breed new warriors without the earlier models' weaknesses. Fun times. And when the Vord start learning to work the aforementioned discipline collars- well, if we had a trope called something like "Crowning Moment of Nightmare Fuel'', that would be it.

* The ''croach''. Any living animal sealed into it will shortly start to be digested, appearing to be intact while its internal structure rots apart. Not only do they remain alive for a significant length of this process, [[spoiler:Araris Valerian]]'s imprisonment indicates that they also stay ''awake''.

--> "I can't eat anything. Without all the proper tubes in my belly, the food would simply rot in any case. I can drink a little, which means that I will die of starvation a few weeks from now instead of from thirst a few days from now. Unless, of course, an infection takes me, which seems likely."

--->"I saw an earth fury that looked like a gargant bull knock down a building being used to shelter orphaned children. I saw a pregnant woman burned to black bones by a fire fury. I saw an old woman dragged down into a well by a water fury, her husband holding her wrists the whole way. He went with her." She paused, musing over the placid, inflectionless calm of her own voice, and added, "The second minute was worse."

* Odiana has her own moment in ''Furies of Calderon'' during a battle with three Marat:
-->On the other side of the clearing, Odiana sat on her horse, humming quietly to herself. The ground in front of her had, it had seemed, quite abruptly transformed into bog. Neither Marat nor herdbane could be seen, but the silt and mud before her stirred vaguely, as though something thrashed unseen beneath its surface.
-->The water witch noticed him [Fidelias] looking at her and commented, her tone warm, "I love the way the ground smells after a rain."
* The Marat nearly eating that girl alive in ''Furies Of Calderon''.

* The Marat eating that girl alive in ''Furies Of Calderon''.

* The slave discipline collars in ''CodexAlera''. Once put on a person, they can only be taken off by the person who put them on in the first place; otherwise, the wearer will die. They cause the wearer extreme pleasure for following orders, particularly the orders of the one who put the collar on; they also cause extreme agony (that will kill, if it persists long enough) for disobeying said orders. If children are raised wearing one of these collars, they can be shaped into mindless machines so intent on doing the will of their master that they will ''happily'' hack off their own limbs in order to better follow his/her commands.

-->The water witch noticed him [Fidelias] looking at her and commented, her tone warm, "I love the way the ground smells after a rain."