History NightmareFuel / DragonBallZ

* Then, Piccolo has the mother of OhCrap moments when he sees Buu regenerate from that! Piccolo, the team's SmartGuy and TheStoic is literally running for the hills upon seeing the pieces of Boo come together.

** The next transformation, while not as graphic, is even more [[BodyHorror horrific]]; Frieza extends his shoulder guards and grows spikes on his back, his face stretches out and then contorts into a malformed beak while his head elongates. Which leads into a really creepy XenorphXerox like form that acts far more insane than before as he rapid barrages Piccolo helplessly, before Gohan's sudden power-boost forced him to quickly/thankfully transition to his next form.
*** It doesn't help that in the original dub, [[VoiceOfLegion the third form initially had a voice filter that made him feel appropriately alien]].

** Frieza's transformations are in a category of his own. His first transformation into his 2nd form is BodyHorror at its finest, first his chest and arms enlarge giving the appearance of an upper torso way too big for Frieza's small frame until his legs bulk out starting from the thighs to his ankles, also [[{{Satan}} his horns turn upwards as seen through a shadow]], then we see from his point of view of Vegeta gradually getting smaller, then stretching out his neck, a pink aura surrounds him as his facial features become more adult and his shoulder pads enlarge. In fact, the sheer weight of the form causes him to fall to his knees as power is straining his being. In the anime, he then stands up and turns around to show his satanic new form, while in the manga, he gives a SlasherSmile knowing that the heroes are now screwed. Everyone including Vegeta are scared of this new form [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice which is completely justified as Frieza goes to impale Krillin with his horns and prolongs it with sadistic pleasure]].
** The next transformation, while not as graphic, is even more [[BodyHorror horrific]]; Frieza extends his shoulder guards and grows spikes on his back, his face stretches out and then contorts into a malformed beak while his head elongates.

** It doesn't help in the brief moment before his body breaks apart completely that his face distorts at a rapid pace.

* Super Buu. While Fat Buu was more like an innocent child that didn't know how not to break stuff, Super Buu was, along with Kid Buu, the most deranged. [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100708084130/dragonball/images/thumb/e/e4/MajinBuuSuperNV..png/250px-MajinBuuSuperNV..png He has this trademark pose where he's standing straight up, but his long neck is tilted to one side and he's got a Cheshire Cat grin about two sizes too big for his face]].

** ''Manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman'' managed to make this one even scarier in hindsight. He explains that the Galactic Patrol has Extinction Bombs, devices that release a virus that quickly drives an entire race into extinction, but they never managed to create one that worked for the Saiyan. A Saiyan's immune system can deal with the mightiest bioweapons of a galaxy-spanning civilization... But not with that.

* In general, what the transformation did to Goku. It took a gentle man who didn't like to kill and turned him into a monster that Frieza [[NotSoDifferent describes as just like himself]]. Also, instead of taking Frieza down quickly, he let him go to full power so he could make Frieza suffer longer and humiliate him with the fact that even at his best, he never stood a chance at winning. He bluffed to Frieza that Gohan, Piccolo, and Bulma weren't his concern, his thoughts on Gohan attempting to escape the planet distracted him enough for Frieza to momentarily get the upper hand. [[FridgeBrilliance This may be the other reason why he allowed Frieza to power up to 100%: If he's focused on fighting Goku, he can't go after the others]]. That the bluff was ''plausible'' says ''a lot'' about what the Super Saiyan form did to Goku's personality.

* In general, what the transformation did to Goku. It took a gentle man who didn't like to kill and turned him into a monster that Frieza describes as [[NotSoDifferent just like himself]]. Also, instead of taking Frieza down quickly, he let him go to full power so he could make Frieza suffer longer and humiliate him with the fact that even at his best, he never stood a chance at winning. He bluffed to Frieza that Gohan, Piccolo, and Bulma weren't his concern, his thoughts on Gohan attempting to escape the planet distracted him enough for Frieza to momentarily get the upper hand. [[FridgeBrilliance This may be the other reason why he allowed Frieza to power up to 100%: If he's focused on fighting Goku, he can't go after the others]]. That the bluff was ''plausible'' says ''a lot'' about what the Super Saiyan form did to Goku's personality.

*** To sum up [[spoiler:Beerus, the most powerful character in the series, has several beings above him. There's his mentor who's [[strike:stronger than he is]] strong enough to smack him around like a child and have it PlayedForLaughs, and then there's the '''other Eleven Universes' Gods of Destruction that are all probably as strong if not stronger than he is''']]. Talk about a dark deconstruction of AlwaysSomeoneBetter.

* WordOfGod says that Frieza was inspired by Akira Toriyama's worst nightmares. And no wonder, considering many of his transformations and actions in the series. And for a bonus, Frieza is voiced by Creator/RyuseiNakao, who went on to voice [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Mayuri Kurotsuchi]].
** His transformations, unlike the other transformations that were either weird, NightmareFuel or heroic, are in a category of his own. His first transformation into his 2nd form is BodyHorror at its finest, first his chest and arms enlarge giving the appearance of an upper torso way too big for Frieza's small frame until his legs bulk out starting from the thighs to his ankles, also [[{{Satan}} his horns turn upwards as seen through a shadow]], then we see from his point of view of Vegeta gradually getting smaller, then stretching out his neck, a pink aura surrounds him as his facial features become more adult and his shoulder pads enlarge. In fact, the sheer weight of the form causes him to fall to his knees as power is straining his being. In the anime, he then stands up and turns around to show his satanic new form, while in the manga, he gives a SlasherSmile knowing that the heroes are now screwed. Everyone including Vegeta are scared of this new form [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice which is completely justified as Frieza goes to impale Krillin with his horns and prolongs it with sadistic pleasure]].
** The next transformation, while not as graphic, is even more BodyHorror; Frieza extends his shoulder guards and grows spikes on his back, his face stretches out and then contorts into a malformed beak while his head elongates.
** Arguably the worst part about Frieza is how he's not just going to ''kill'' you; he wants you to die ''terrified''. Probably the best example is in ''Anime/DragonBallZKai'' after he [[spoiler:[[ShootTheMedicFirst kills Dende]]]] and then {{Flash Step}}s right behind the heroes, and says this priceless bit of dialogue, all while [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhCn_q04qBk this music is playing in the background.]]

** To add to it, Frieza was not created to be evil like Cell and Majin Buu. He commits xenocide regularly because it is simply ''cheaper than buying the planet'' before he sells it off to someone else. It's all a ''real estate scam!''

* Cell's desperate attempt after he takes too much heavy damage from Gohan who was in Super Saiyan 2 form manages to beat Android 18 out of him. Reverting back into his second form, Cell goes ballistic knowing he is outmatched and starts bloating up like a [[BodyHorror grotesque]] [[HavingABlast balloon]]. Before the inevitable EarthShatteringKaboom, Goku intervenes and manages to transport him onto King Kai's planet until he finally detonates, taking King Kai, Gregory, Bubbles and Goku and the ''entire'' little planet with him. You would think with Goku's HeroicSacrifice that it would be the end. [[FromBadToWorse But it's not]]. In fact, Cell regenerates with his cell core and manages to resurrect himself into a more powerful state called [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "Super Perfect Cell"]]. Cue MassOhCrap from what’s left of the Z gang at that point on.

* While it's easy to overlook thanks to it being an incredibly [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome awesome moment]] for Gohan, Cell's death is pretty gruesome if you overlook that. Saying that he didn't deserve it would be a ''[[AssholeVictim massive]]'' [[AssholeVictim understatement]], but Cell doesn't die quickly and painlessly, no. Cell slowly disintegrates while ''screaming in pain''. Even as he breaks apart into millions of pieces and then into microscopic cells, take into consideration that this is ''Cell'' we're talking about here, so he likely [[AndIMustScream felt every last bit of it]] until he was erased for good. That ''had'' to have been utter hell to go through.

* Let's cut to the chase. When Son Gohan achieves the Messianic powers of a Super Saiyan 2, he turns from a [[NiceGuy sensitive and kind-hearted little boy]] into a [[SuperpoweredEvilSide cold-blooded sadistic murderer]] that would make Frieza or Broly run for their lives. Watching the once kind-hearted boy coldly sneer ''"Kill him now? Hmph, not yet Dad. He deserves to suffer much longer!!"'' is really uncommon in his personality. Cell even called him "a ''monster''": as in the same Cell that is ''fueled'' on the lives of thousands, if not millions of people and laughed with glee as he absorbed the two teenagers his creator turned into cyborgs as they screamed for their lives. He also stated he loves seeing the twisted faces of terror in people, and said to Goku that if it wasn't for the tournament he created, [[EarthShatteringKaboom he'd wipe out the earth in one shot]] without batting an eye. When Goku called out to Gohan that he should end the fight since Cell, while cornered could become more unpredictable than before, Gohan's response was to glare at him and give his most [[PsychoticSmirk sadistic smirk]] he's ever shown, before giving the line that he'd like to carry on what was effectively '''torture'''. That kid was clearly NotHimself.

* In general, what the transformation did to Goku. It took a gentle man who didn't like to kill and turned him into a monster in which Frieza states that they have become just alike. Also, instead of taking Frieza down quickly, he let him go to full power so he could make Frieza suffer longer and humiliate him with the fact that even at his best, he never stood a chance at winning. He bluffed to Frieza that Gohan, Piccolo, and Bulma weren't his concern, his thoughts on Gohan attempting to escape the planet distracted him enough for Frieza to momentarily get the upper hand. [[FridgeBrilliance This may be the other reason why he allowed Frieza to power up to 100%: If he's focused on fighting Goku, he can't go after the others]]. That the bluff was ''plausible'' says ''a lot'' about what the Super Saiyan form did to Goku's personality.

** After becoming a Super Saiyan in ''Kai'', Goku tells Gohan to take Piccolo and Bulma to the ship, then says "DO AS I TELL YOU, RIGHT NOW, BEFORE I LOSE WHAT LITTLE SENSE OF REASON I HAVE LEFT!" It is at this point, he doesn't even trust himself to not hurt his own son as a Super Saiyan.

* Aside from being blown up or vaporized by energy blasts, Toriyama seems to like large chest wounds as indicators of fatal[=/=]near fatal injuries. Happens to Goku (literally in the second episode), Vegeta, Piccolo, Yamcha, Future Trunks at different points, among others. UpToEleven during Buu's infamous Human Extinction attack, where the ''ENTIRE POPULATION OF EARTH'' save a handful, gets a terminal case of hole-through-torso, including (although not shown on screen) all the kids.

** Extra-Nightmare Fuel for the galactic government, they were so willing to commit mass genocide that they invented and used dozens of civilization ending WMDs on the Saiyans. [[PayEvilUntoEvil Even if the Saiyans deserve it]], that's still horrific.

* Goku's False Super Saiyan transformation. It shows up for a brief moment, but it's scary to see the desperate Goku suddenly turn in a Kaioken-esque ScreamingWarrior on a [[UnstoppableRage rage fueled rampage]].

* Van Zant, the bandit who shot Buu's dog and later Mr. Satan. In his first scene he kills an elderly couple and revels about how great it feels to kill someone. Then we see him shooting people at random in a nearby town. It all leads up to Van Zant shooting Buu's dog and Mr. Satan and this triggers the release of Buu's evil side, making everything what Buu does afterwards his fault. All this for no reason other than the sheer thrill of killing people. Even worse is that at the time Buu had reformed and posed no threat to anyone. What's worse is that he uses Buu's destruction spree as an excuse, reasoning that everyone will be killed eventually, and even going so far as to pretend that Buu killed his victims. And just ''why'' he does all of this? He's reckoned that with Buu flying around basically laying waste to the planet, he's probably going to die soon, and he decided it'd be fun to try to take as many people with him as possible. That's his entire motivation. The most terrifying thing about him is that he is [[HumansAreBastards a completely normal human being]] with ''no superpowers''. Put emphasis on ''completely'', since he is just a simple human with no superpowers or martial arts training. All other human villains were leaders of evil organizations (Commander Red), or were mercenaries and later cyborgs (Tao Pai Pai), but he is just an average human. Most of the other villains in the series are intergalactic warlords, androids or other supernatural creatures and use ki-blasts and other superpowers for evil, Van Zant uses ''normal guns'' to accomplish bad things. It is terrifying to see that a regular human, who uses normal guns to accomplish bad deeds, can be just as bad as intergalactic alien warlords or insane androids.

** Because of Gero's hatred of Goku he ruined at least two timelines, one where Future Trunk came from and the one Cell came from, and nearly destroyed the solar system of the main timeline. All those people dead and suffering at the hands of the androids happened because of one man's petty vengeance. ''One man'' completely ruined the world.

*** To make it even worse-[[FridgeBrilliance if you think about it, that wasn't the first time he tried to kill Babidi]]. He had been trying to kill him for a while, only restrained by the need of [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident make it look accidental]] so he wouldn't be sealed again, thus he was only flying recklessly to have him splat somewhere... Then, during his fight with Goku, [[EurekaMoment Buu realized Babidi couldn't seal him away if he couldn't speak]]. And as soon as Goku has left, Buu kills Babidi the way described above.

** After Buu destroyed the Earth he transports and destroyed several other planets in a roll like a cosmic wrecking ball without giving the people on those planets any chance of fighting back or even realizing what was happening. It was at this moment that you truly realized that the entire universe really was in danger since this thing wouldn't stop until everything was dead.

*** Despite all of the BodyHorror he can do, he, for the most part, was essentially a [[TheBrute thug]] whose only thought was "opponent" and "food" and could only hurt you physically. However, once he absorbed Piccolo and Gotenks, he became ''much'' more dangerous -- not in physical power (which did grow tremendously with Gotenks' Super Saiyan 3 power), but in [[DumbassNoMore intelligence]] (courtesy of Piccolo), something which the other forms mostly lacked. Imagine if you gave the smartest mind in the series to the most powerful being in the universe. The result is a ruder version of [[CompositeCharacter Ce]][[ManipulativeBastard ll]] whose ego is boosted even further after absorbing Gohan himself, [[GeniusBruiser can back his power with wit]], and destroys people with [[BreakThemByTalking emotional torment]] (in this case Gohan, made worse since he was [[IronicEcho repeating things that his teacher taught him to mess him up]] and it works). Buu's manipulation ends with Gohan being rendered helpless by the brutal [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown physical]]l and [[MindRape mental]] assault of his empowered enemy. It got so bad that at one point, it had to be not shown -- not censored, [[TakeOurWordForIt but not shown at all]] -- meaning [[FridgeHorror it was as bad as, if not worse than, Frieza's beatdown of Vegeta]].

*** Despite all of the BodyHorror he can do, he, for the most part, was essentially a [[TheBrute thug]] whose only thought was "opponent" and "food" and could only hurt you physically. However, once he absorbed Piccolo and Gotenks, he became ''much'' more dangerous -- not in physical power (which did grow tremendously with Gotenks' Super Saiyan 3 power), but in [[DumbassNoMore intelligence]] (courtesy of Piccolo), something which the other forms mostly lacked. Imagine if you gave the smartest mind in the series to the most powerful being in the universe. The result is a ruder version of [[CompositeCharacter Ce]][[ManipulativeBastard ll]] whose ego is boosted even further after absorbing Gohan himself, [[GeniusBruiser can back his power with wit]], and destroys people with [[BreakThemByTalking emotional torment]] (in this case Gohan, made worse since he was [[IronicEcho repeating things that his teacher taught him to mess him up]] and it works). Buu's manipulation ends with Gohan being rendered [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown helpless by the brutal]] [[MindRape and mental assault of his empowered enemy]]. It got so bad that at one point, it had to be not shown -- not censored, [[TakeOurWordForIt but not shown at all]] -- meaning [[FridgeHorror it was as bad as, if not worse than, Frieza's beatdown of Vegeta]].

* Even though he only appeared in one episode, Evil Buu (gray) arguably is pretty freaking scary given his depressing, morbid appearance. Any child who sees this haunting stare [[http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c82/PlasmaKing549/MajinBuuPureEvil-Blast1-IntotheEyes.jpg]] would most likely be scared senseless. Let's see. Soulless white eyes within black sclera which originated the BlackEyesOfCrazy trope? Check. Gray, melancholy color compared to bright, jubilant pink? Check. Sickly, anorexic body? Check. Even when anorexic Buu is pink [[http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/YBM/PinkThinBoocard.jpg]], that unnerving [[SlasherSmile smile]] isn't exactly doing anyone's conscious any favors.

** Goku's screams are much more terrifying in Japanese than the English version. Even if you don't like Goku being voiced by Creator/MasakoNozawa, she does a good job of making Goku's voice sound more like a raging berserker, unlike the rather campy performance of Creator/SeanSchemmel back then.

* The horrifying face Goku sports when after turning Super Saiyan and subconsciously absorbing that tremendous power, turning him into a giant ball of pure power that Android 13 can't even approach without disintegrating his fists. Also, even after skewering the android and blowing him up, Goku STILL sports that bared tooth expression as if to stress how BAD the strain maintaining this state is upon him.

* From the second the rain falls on Gohan's final battle, the entire film takes on an eerie FilmNoir aesthetic of dark shadows broken only by flashes of lightning, dim lamps and dying sunlight. Trunks hiding in ''terror'' from 17 and 18 among the shadows of urban decay is a scene straight out of a 1980's VideoNasty SlasherMovie, complete with a blood-chilling OminousPipeOrgan score to emphasize just how hopeless his plight is.

* Even though he only appeared in one episode, Evil Buu (gray) arguably is pretty freaking scary given his depressing, morbid appearance. Any child who sees this haunting stare [[http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c82/PlasmaKing549/MajinBuuPureEvil-Blast1-IntotheEyes.jpg]] would most likely crap their pants. Let's see. Soulless white eyes within black sclera which originated the BlackEyesOfCrazy trope? Check. Gray, melancholy color compared to bright, jubilant pink? Check. Sickly, anorexic body? Check. Even when anorexic Buu is pink [[http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/YBM/PinkThinBoocard.jpg]], that unnerving [[SlasherSmile smile]] isn't exactly doing anyone's conscious any favors.