History NightmareFuel / CowboyBebop

*** That "trippy, pseudo-electronica" is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kUTxAIYgBQ a cover]] of [[Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon "On the Run"]] by Music/PinkFloyd. The original song is about the fear of dying in a plane crash. This version is about the fear of something '''[[ParanoiaFuel RIGHT BEHIND YOU]]'''

** Also a bit of FridgeHorror... fans often believe that Vicious uses the Red Eye drug to explain his bullet-dodging and willingness to kill. When the drug was used in Asimov, the man became a rabid animal with just one dose. Vicious is completely cold and stoic.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGdSpcMisk8&list=PLE473037637E3F77C This track]] from the movie (elevator music with gunfire and panicked screams in the background).

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/madclown.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: If you ''ever'' see this face, ''RUN''.]]

*** That "trippy, pseudo-electronica" is a cover of [[Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon "On the Run"]] by Music/PinkFloyd. The original song is about the fear of dying in a plane crash. This version is about the fear of something '''[[ParanoiaFuel RIGHT BEHIND YOU]]'''

** The scariest part about him hunting Spike down with such psychopathic obsessiveness? Spike wasn't even going after his bounty, he just happened to be shooting billiards nearby and then walked down that alley at the wrong time. Forget the sci-fi elements of that, forget the fact that Pierrot seemingly cannot be killed: imagine you [[AdultFear accidentally walk down the wrong alleyway at night]] and find yourself face-to-face with a cold-blooded killer who will stop at nothing to see you dead. And a guy as badass as Spike Spiegel can barely withstand him, so somebody like you? You might as well just give up and pray he'll kill you quickly.

* The Monkey Business virus from ''Gateway Shuffle'', which alters the genes of humans to turn them into violent, terrified ape creatures. The concept is bad enough, but the mook we see subjected to the virus spends most of his screen time being dragged around and screaming pleas to be spared.

* The effects of Red Eye abuse, as seen in "Asteroid Blues." Asimov not only gains superhuman strength and speed while under its influence, he also becomes unhinged and animalistic, and his eyes become bloodshot and bulge out of his skull in an extremely painful-looking manner. What's worse is that all these effects grow more severe throughout the episode as he takes more and more Red Eye. By the end, [[https://archive.ph/HqqKd/0f256c407cf09f72ee0d30ed6035a24b0a030db5.webp his eyes are so grotesquely swollen]] he looks like a demon.

** Another scary bit was his last victim before confronting Spike in the amusement park. He kills his targets bodyguards all without appearing to move and let’s the target run, or attempt to for his life, all the while smiling that same sinister SlasherSmile.

* The effects of Red Eye abuse, as seen in "Asteroid Blues." Asimov not only gains superhuman strength and speed while under its influence, he also becomes unhinged and animalistic, and his eyes become bloodshot and bulge out of his skull in an extremely painful-looking manner. What's worse is that all these effects grow more severe throughout the episode as he takes more and more Red Eye. By the end, [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/cowboybebop/images/c/c0/S10.PNG/revision/latest?cb=20131205200710 his eyes are so grotesquely swollen]] he looks like a demon.

* The Monkey Business virus from ''Gateway Shuffle'', which alters the genes of humans to turn them into violent, terrified ape creatures. The concept is bad enough, but the mook we see subjected to the virus spends most of his screen time being dragged around and screaming pleas to be spared.

NightmareFuel in ''Anime/CowboyBebop''.

** The deaths involved, both in flashback and in the present, are some of the bloodiest in the series. Especially the guards from Pierrot's escape in the past - visible shattered ribcage bones are poking out of a guard's back on-screen. And the mad man himself? [[spoiler: Smashed beneath a giant walking parade animatronic's foot, just.. ''disappearing'' with SickeningCrunch.]] The fact that we don't see the mess along the ground afterwards is only barely a GoryDiscretionShot since we get to see it happen otherwise.

* The fridge monster in ''Toys in the Attic'', which it goes around to bite and poison Jet, Faye and Ein, turning the situation into something reminiscent of ''Film/{{Alien}}''. It's revealed to be drippings from a Ganymede Rock Lobster that [[BodyHorror spoiled]] after [[ItCameFromTheFridge being in a now-disabled fridge]] for more than a year. No wonder Spike is horrified when he opens the damn thing to check on it and then tosses it out the airlock soon after. And speaking of which, the contents within the fridge are ''frightening'' to look at. By the end of the episode, Ed, who hasn't been bitten by the monster, ''[[{{Squick}} eats it]]''.

* The fridge monster in ''Toys in the Attic'', which it goes around to bite and poison Jet, Faye and Ein, turning the situation into something reminiscent of ''Film/{{Alien}}''. It's revealed to be drippings from a Ganymede Rock Lobster that [[BodyHorror spoiled]] after [[ItCameFromTheFridge being in a now-disabled fridge]] for more than a year. No wonder Spike is horrified when he opens the damn thing to check on it and then tosses it out the airlock soon after. Also, when Spike opens up the fridge, the contents within it are frightening to look at. By the end of the episode, Ed, who hasn't been bitten by the monster, ''[[{{Squick}} eats it]]''.

* The fridge monster in ''Toys in the Attic'', which it goes around to bite and poison Jet, Faye and Ein, turning the situation into something reminiscent of ''Film/{{Alien}}''. It's revealed to be drippings from a Ganymede Rock Lobster that [[BodyHorror spoiled]] after [[ItCameFromTheFridge being in a now-disabled fridge]] for more than a year. No wonder Spike is horrified when he opens the damn thing to check on it and then tosses it out the airlock soon after. By the end of the episode, Ed, who hasn't been bitten by the monster, ''[[{{Squick}} eats it]]''.

--> '''Mad Pierrot:''' "Good evening gentlemen, I've journeyed here in order to take your lives."

[[caption-width-right:350: If you ''ever'' see this face, ''RUN'']].

[[caption-width-right:330: If you see this face, ''RUN'']].

** What makes Spike's first encounter with him even more creepy is that, when he first wanders upon Tongpu and his handiwork, Spike seems [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight unfazed as usual for a brief moment]] - he seems to think he's just wandered across another two-bit criminal, or an unfortunate gentleman that's walked into the same crime scene he has. But then Tongpu greets him with a tip of the hat, and when Spike sees [[SlasherSmile the look]] [[AxCrazy on]] [[NightmareFace his face]], all that calm and confidence in Spike's demeanor [[OhCrap flies out the window]] as he realizes that ''this'' '''''[[HumanoidAbomination thing]]''''' ''is going to '''fucking kill him''' if he doesn't pull out all the stops fast.''

* The Monkey Business virus from ''Gateway Shuffle'', which alters the genes of humans to turn them into violent, terrified ape creatures. The concept is bad enough, but the mook we see subjected to the virus spends most of his screen time being dragged around and screaming pleas to be spared.
* "Pierrot le Fou." A balloon-esque, practically invincible manchild with a permanent SlasherSmile who spends the episode floating around, laughing, trying to kill the protagonist. His defeat is [[FromBadToWorse even better.]] He gets trampled to death by a parade of creepy, animatronic amusement park mascots the size of small buildings, all while screaming like a child in the grips of a nightmare from which there is no escaping.