History NightmareFuel / CriticalRole

* [[spoiler:Vecna, the Whispered One, the Undying King, '''''rises.''''']]

[[/folder]]

* In Episode 35, Percy's interrogation of Lady Briarwood. When she says everything has already been taken from her, Percy says she still has her sanity and her life. She won't be leaving with the latter, but he ''might'' let her keep the former. When she isn't convinced, Taliesan says "I'm going to be an asshole." What does he do? [[spoiler: Cast Minor Illusion to make his face look like Lord Briarwood's, ''screaming in agony and slowly melting''.]] No Mercy Percy indeed.

* In Episode 42, Vax explains how he ended up joining The Clasp. Someone wanted Vex for some unspecified, but ''definitely'' creepy, reason, and The Clasp had been hired to take her. Vax made a deal with them to spare her, which involved bringing them a ''child rapist'', who they changed into an exact replica of Vex using a staff made out of human tongues. The worst part about this is that Vax doesn't know what happened after this, meaning that both Vex's stalker and ''a child rapist who now looks like her'' might still be out there. In his own words, he didn't tell anyone before because it was too creepy.

* Matt's description of [[spoiler: Orthax "hungrily feasting" on Percy's soul during his death]] in Episode 69. Even worse is the knowledge that he's been in that situation for an entire day - and once [[spoiler: Percy comes back]], he implies that [[AndIMustScream it felt much longer]].

* [[spoiler:The description of Thordak in Episode 77 can be considered truly nightmarish in itself. And then there's the reveal of his actual physical form in Episodes 78 and 79, along with the description (and portrayal) of his sheer insanity.]]

* [[spoiler:The reverse gravity chasm trap in Episode 82. It was bad enough that the gravity in the chasm was inverted. It was even worse when bodies starting falling upward and the ceiling was a ''massive amount of bodies bound together in the shape of a human skull.'' And then they find out all those bodies are undead, and they are hungry.]]

* It's more on a personal level, but there's something unnerving in what we know about Taryon Darrington's father. Taryon initially says he's a real estate agent, before admitting he doesn't know what he actually does. But the way he values strength and, in Taryon's own words, "a cut-throat attitude", is fine with his daughter constantly picking up on his son and completely disrespects him for not being strong and ruthless (Taryon might be arrogant and a bit spoiled, but he does have some impressive skills, considering he is at the very least capable of building constructs, but that means nothing to his father), and the sheer vagueness about the details of how he got and kept his fortune, with his own son knowing nothing except that he has a huge influence in many places and that Taryon is convinced that he would have no problem in order the whole Vox Machina killed, makes it a far darker picture.

* The second thing to occur in Episode 89, following a brief meeting between [[spoiler:Vax and the Raven Queen]], is the Kraken trying to force its way through the portal between the Water Plane and the Material Plane. When the guards manage to repel the tentacle and beak, it turns to face the portal, its eye taking up the entire space. When Grog [[EyeScream hits the eye with his hammer]], it promises Grog that this isn't the last Grog has seen of it before retreating.

* Near the end, [[spoiler: Percy is tragically killed by his archrival, Anna Ripley.]] Scanlan is able to contain [[spoiler: her]] with a clutch Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere, and what follows is quite possibly [[spoiler: the most ''terrifying'' display of brutality ever exhibited by Vox Machina, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath as they proceed to slowly surround Anna before literally tearing her apart in a fit of grieving rage as soon as Scanlan drops the Sphere.]]]] It is all described in [[NauseaFuel such loving detail,]] too. The party [[UpToEleven ''and the players'']] are quite possibly at the [[DarkestHour lowest point]] they've ever been, and it's both incredibly unnerving and [[TearJerker heartbreaking]] to see.

* Near the end, [[spoiler: Percy is tragically killed by his archrival, Anna Ripley.]] Scanlan is able to contain [[spoiler: her]] with a clutch Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere, and what follows is quite possibly [[spoiler: the most ''terrifying'' display of brutality ever exhibited by Vox Machina, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath as they proceed to slowly surround Anna before literally tearing her apart in a fit of grieving rage as soon as Scanlan drops the Sphere.]]]] It is all described in [[NauseaFuel such loving detail,]] too. The party is quite possibly at the [[DarkestHour lowest point]] they've ever been, and it's both incredibly unnerving and [[TearJerker heartbreaking]] to see.

[[folder:Episode 100]]

[[folder:Episode 99]]

[[folder:Special Episode: Critical O'Brien Part 2]]

* Liam describing the bloody demise of [[spoiler: one by one, the entire party]], to the increasing shock of the rest of the table.

* Liam describing the bloody demise of [[spoiler: Marisha and Travis]], to the shock of the rest of the table.

[[folder:Episode 91:Vox Machina Go to Hell]]

Being a ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' campaign, ''WebVideo/Critical Role'' has its fair share of horrifying moments.

Being a TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons campaign, ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' is bound to be full of these.

* Episode 25. [[spoiler: Percy ''snaps,'' and goes through every shade of AxCrazy from the moment he fights the Briarwoods and on. Perhaps the most chilling part is when he [[ColdBloodedTorture shoots the fingers off a wounded servant]].]] In-universe, these events seem to have deeply shaken Keyleth.
* Percy's dream at the beginning of Episode 27. [[spoiler: ''Vengeannnnnnce...'']]
* The Sun Tree in Whitestone in Episode 28. [[spoiler: There are eight corpses strung up from the tree, painted and dressed to look like Vox Machina. The two worst effigies were an eight-year old child to represent Scanlan, and [[AndYourLittleDogToo a poor, random bear for Trinket.]] In the words of everyone watching, fuck the Briarwoods]]. Percy adds a bit of FridgeHorror, too:

* Episode 29. The Banshee that attacks Percy, Scanlan and Vax in the church. It takes out Percy with a wail (Reduces to 0 if failed) and then attacks him again while he's prone. Later on, [[spoiler: Percy kills Sir Stonefell, one of the people on The List, and briefly appears to transform into the smoky entity from his nightmares. Grog then rolls a Nat 20 to pull out a prisoner's tongue, Percy brands him with The List, and then Vox Machina burns the structure down.]]
* The end of Episode 34. [[spoiler: The room at the top of the Briarwoods' ziggurat is decorated with "a tapestry of dead bodies", each with their left hand and eye removed. Lady Briarwood also comes within a single hit point of permanently killing Vex and turning her into a zombie.]] This session was apparently stressful enough to give the players [[https://twitter.com/executivegoth/status/672892158534246401 actual nightmares]].
* In Episode 35, Percy's interrogation of Lady Briarwood. When she says everything has already been taken from her, Percy says she still has her sanity and her life. She won't be leaving with the latter, but he ''might'' let her keep the former. When she isn't convinced, Taliesan says "I'm going to be an asshole." What does he do? [[spoiler: Cast Minor Illusion to make his face look like Lord Briarwood's, ''screaming in agony and slowly melting''.]] No Mercy Percy indeed.
* The ending of episode 39. [[spoiler:4 ancient chromatic dragons have attacked Emon. This is an apocalypse level event, and there wasn't a damn thing Vox Machina could do about it. The dragons smashed a city without breaking a sweat. Gilmore is missing in action and there is no telling if Uriel or any other members of the council survived.]] Things look grim not only for Vox Machina, but the world.

* Episode 54 ends [[spoiler: with Grog hanging from Umbrasyl like a piñata as it flies back to Gatshadow with Vax and Scanlan trapped inside the dragon's body, and the latter two have no obvious means of escape.]]
* Percy's theory in episode 57: [[spoiler: the gate that Thordak used to escape might have been caused by something ''worse'', with the Cinder King just taking an opportunity.]] Considering Thordak... let's hope Percy's wrong on that one. (Fortunately, he seems to be; the Fire Ashari close the rift without too much of an issue.)
* Near the end of Episode 68, [[spoiler: Percy is tragically killed by his archrival, Anna Ripley.]] Scanlan is able to contain [[spoiler: her]] with a clutch Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere, and what follows is quite possibly [[spoiler: the most ''terrifying'' display of brutality ever exhibited by Vox Machina, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath as they proceed to slowly surround Anna before literally tearing her apart in a fit of grieving rage as soon as Scanlan drops the Sphere.]]]] It is all described in [[NauseaFuel such loving detail,]] too. The party is quite possibly at the [[DarkestHour lowest point]] they've ever been, and it's both incredibly unnerving and [[TearJerker heartbreaking]] to see.

* [[spoiler:The description of Thordak in Episode 77 can be considered truly nightmarish in itself. And then there's the reveal of his actual physical form in Episodes 78 and 79, along with the description (and portrayal) of his sheer insanity]].

* It's more on a personal level, but there's something unnerving in what we know about Taryon's father. Taryon initially says he's a real estate agent, before admitting he doesn't know what he actually does. But the way he values strength and, in Taryon's own words, "a cut-throat attitude", is fine with his daughter constantly picking up on his son and completely disrespects him for not being strong and ruthless (Taryon might be arrogant and a bit spoiled, but he does have some impressive skills, considering he is at the very least capable of building constructs, but that means nothing to his father), and the sheer vagueness about the details of how he got and kept his fortune, with his own son knowing nothing except that he has a huge influence in many places and that Taryon is convinced that he would have no problem in order the whole Vox Machina killed, makes it a far darker picture.
* In episode 87, Percy reveals just how bad it was to have his soul consumed by Orthax. He also drops this lovely bit of FridgeHorror

* Episode 88 is an exercise first in paranoia as Vox Machina tries to find the requisite three lodestones in the water plane while avoiding the Kraken, and then in endurance and helplessness when the Kraken takes notice of them, as characters are grappled and freed, swallowed and spit up, and knocked unconscious and revived over and over again over the course of ''hours'' of gameplay, while the group has to fight the monster off without killing it.
** Then there's the usual fears inherent in being in an eternal plane of water with limited visibility and enormous sea-life - Taliesin says it's literal nightmare fuel for him as a ichthyophobe.
** In the episode of Talks Machina following this episode, Matt revealed that even had Vox Machina passed all their stealth checks and quickly found the lodestones, the Kraken would still have made its presence known in some way, and that it had [[ParanoiaFuel probably been watching them the whole time]].

* In episode 91, Keyleth and Taryon both [[spoiler:accidentally consume souls]]. Even worse, [[spoiler:Percy does so ''knowingly'', and discovers the sensation is familiar - while possessed by Orthax, he tasted souls from his pepperbox kills]].
* Episode 93 has [[spoiler:the group intentionally arrested in The Nine Hells. This was all part of their plan, but they did come awfully close to torture at the hands of a chain devil. Matt's description of the prison is utterly horrifying in it detail, and the group is left in a less than ideal position bound to a wall with their gear just out of reach.]]
** Also in Episode 93, [[spoiler:Keyleth falls unconscious in the prison and fails two death saving throws. While the prison was on high alert and the party was about to be swarmed by guards. She was also the only one with Planeshift, which was essentially the party's only possible escape at that point. It's very, very likely Vox Machina was one roll away from a horribly gruesome TotalPartyKill at the hands of devils in hell.]]

* Episode 93 has [[spoiler:the group intentionally arrested in The Nine Hells. This was all part of their plan, but they did come awfully close to torture at the hands of a chain devil. Matt's description of the prison is utterly horrifying in it detail, and the group is left in a less than ideal position bound to a wall with their gear just out of reach.]]

* In episode 91, Keyleth and Taryon both [[spoiler:accidentally consume souls]]. Even worse, [[spoiler:Percy does so ''knowingly'', and discovers the sensation is familiar - while possessed by Orthax, he tasted souls from his pepperbox kills]].

* After returning to Greyskull Keep from Vesrah, Vox Machina decides to crack open one of the books they collected after defeating Raishan. [[spoiler:It's the journal of a man named Opash, describing in detail his experiments with the soul, necromancy, torture, lichdom, and dracolichdom. Opash's account abruptly ends, and the book continues with Thordak's writings, trying to piece together an unknown equation. Vex, who had been reading the book, nearly falls victim to a presence from the book reaching out into her mind before she shakes it off and shuts the thing.]]
* In episode 91 Keyleth and Taryon[[spoiler: Accidentally consume souls.]] Even worse, [[spoiler: Percy does so KNOWINGLY and discovers that while possessed by Orthax he has tasted souls from his pepperbox kills.]]

* After returning to Greyskull Keep from Vesrah, Vox Machina decides to crack open one of the books they collected after defeating Raishan. [[spoiler:It's the journal of a man named Opash, describing in detail his experiments with the soul, necromancy, torture, lichdom, and dracolichdom. Opash's account abruptly ends, and the book continues with Thordak's writings, trying to piece together an unknown equation. Vex, who had been reading the book, nearly falls victim to a presence from the book reaching out into her mind before she shakes it off and shuts the thing.]]

* Episode 88 is an exercise first in paranoia as Vox Machina tries to find the requisite three lodestones in the water plane while avoiding the kraken, and then in endurance and helplessness when the kraken takes notice of them, as characters are grappled and freed, swallowed and spit up, and knocked unconscious and revived over and over again over the course of ''hours'' of gameplay, while the group has to fight the monster off without killing it.
** Then there's the usual fears inherent in being in an eternal plane of water with limited visibility and enormous sea-life - Taliesin says it's literal nightmare fuel for him as a ichthyophobe.

* Episode 88 is an exercise first in paranoia as Vox Machina tries to find the requisite three lodestones in the water plane while avoiding the kraken, and then in endurance and helplessness when the kraken takes notice of them, as characters are grappled and freed, swallowed and spit up, and knocked unconscious and revived over and over again over the course of ''hours'' of gameplay, while the group has to fight the monster off without killing it.

-->'''Percy:''' Where did the people I killed go?

* It's more on a personal level, but there's something unnerving in what we know about Taryon's father. Taryon initially says he's a real estate agent, before admitting he doesn't know what he actually does. But the way he values strength and, in Taryon's own words, "a cut-throat attitude", is fine with his daughter constantly picking up on his son and completely disrespects him for not being strong and ruthless (Taryon might be arrogant and a bit spoiled, but he does have some impressive skills, considering he is at the very least capable of building constructs, but that means nothing to his father), and the sheer vagueness about the details of how he got and kept his fortune, with his own son knowing nothing except that he has a huge influence in many places and that Taryon is convinced that he would have no problem in order the whole Vox Machina killed, makes it a far darker picture.

* [[spoiler:The reverse gravity chasm trap in Episode 82. It was bad enough that the gravity in the chasm was inverted. It was even worse when bodies starting falling upward and up at the ceiling was a ''massive amount of bodies bound together in the shape of a human skull.'' and then they find out, all those bodies, are undead, and they are hungry.]]
* It's more on a personal level, but there's something unnerving in what we know about Taryon's father. Taryon initially says he's a real estate agent, before admitting he doesn't know what he actually does. But the way he values strenght and, in Taryon's own words, "a cut-troath attitude", is fine with his daughter constantly picking up on his son and completely disrespects him for not being strong and ruthless (Taryon might be arrogant and a bit spoiled, but he does have some impressive skills, considering he is at the very least capable of building constructs, but that means nothing to his father), and the sheer vagueness about the details of how he got and kept his fortune, with his own son knowing nothing except that he has a huge influence in many places and that Taryon is convinced that he would have no problem in order the whole Vox Machina killed, makes it a far darker picture.

* [[spoiler:The reverse gravity chasm trap in Episode 82. It was bad enough that the gravity in the chasm was inverted. It was even worse when bodies starting falling upward and up at the ceiling was a ''massive amount of bodies bound together in the shape of a human skull.'' and then they find out, all those bodies, are undead, and they are hungry.]]

* [[spoiler:The reverse gravity chasm trap in Episode 82. It was bad enough that the gravity in the chasm was inverted. It was even worse when bodies starting falling upward and up at the ceiling was a ''massive amount of bodies bound together in the shape of a human skull.'']]