History NightmareFuel / DragonBallZ

-->'''King Kai''': Even he knows that his fate lies in the hands of the icy tyrant. All things come around and Vegeta's treachery is about to be paid back.

--->'''King Kai:''' Poor Vegeta. At last he understands the true nature of the monster he faces. For the first time in his life, he's genuinely trembling. All of the fear and frustration he must be facing. I can only imagine. His eyes don't lie, those tears are real. This is the first time the proud Saiyan prince has ever known what it is to feel helpless.

** Of course, Kai makes this part scarier.

** Fundamentally the whole end of the Cell saga is incredibly disturbing when you actually think about it. Goku fights Cell for the fun of it before saying he's not strong enough, blithely unaware of the fact this leaves everyone else on his side absolutely petrified with fear, particularly his 11 year old son who worships him and can't even concieve of being stronger than his father. Said son is then who Goku promptly leaves the fight to. Piccolo (who didn't even have a real childhood) calling out Goku on the fact he's letting his young child get tortured really emphasises that Goku's just left the fate of the entire world on the shoulders of a boy that isn't even a teenager yet and loathes violence (not to mention giving Cell a senzu bean to ensure a fair fight). Goku's confidence in his son might be proven correct but considering that it required, and Goku was obviously banking on, Gohan literally being driven into a homicidal rage by the emotional trauma, the transformation is arguably worse than Goku's. The fact that he snaps to the point of sadism really isn't surprising considering the emotional state it took to get him there. Just watching him coldly take apart Cell and the Juniors even before he starts talking about making Cell suffer is pretty distressing considering the natural human instinct is to protect and shield children from these kinds of events. It's pretty hard to blame Gohan for any of what ensues and it's just made worse by the fact that the already traumatised kid is left to blame himself for his father's death following this.

** Fundamentally the whole end of the Cell saga is incredibly disturbing when you actually think about it. Goku fights Cell for the fun of it before saying he's not strong enough, blithely unaware of the fact this leaves everyone else on his side absolutely petrified with fear, particularly his 11 year old son who worships him and can't even concieve of being stronger than his father. Who is also who Goku promptly leaves the fight to. Piccolo (who didn't even have a real childhood) calling out Goku on the fact he's letting his young child get tortured really emphasises that Goku's just left the fate of the entire world on the shoulders of a child that isn't even a teenager yet and loathes violence, as well as giving Cell a senzu bean to ensure a fair fight. Goku's confidence in his son might be proven correct but considering that it required, and Goku was obviously banking on, Gohan literally being driven into a homicidal rage by the emotional trauma, the transformation is arguably worse than Goku's. The fact that he snaps to the point of sadism really isn't surprising considering the emotional state it took to get him there. Just watching him coldly take apart Cell and the Juniors even before he starts talking about making Cell suffer is pretty distressing considering the natural human insinct is to protect children and shield them from these kinds of events. It's pretty hard to blame Gohan for any of what ensues and it's just made worse by the fact that the already traumatised kid is left to blame himself for his father's death following this.

* The general fact that in the DBZ's early timeline. Taking place after the events of the Frieza arc and set during the events of the Trunk's arc. It can be jarring to realize that not only did Frieza had his father King Cold but also an older brother. Cooler isn't avenging Frieza's death out of pure love, but out of sheer spite and a sense of self preservation and his family's honor. The fact knowing that a supposeldy 'weak' race of creatures. A Saiyan killing him instead of him is a flat out insult to him. What does Cooler do? He heads to Earth, in a fit to avenge Frieza and kill the murderer that had done it. Just like Frieza but [[FromBadToWorse even worse]]. His power exceeds him. It's implied in the film that he's in the same form and strength as his brother's fourth and final form... except that he has another form to [[OhCrap surpass him]]!

* In general what the transformation did to Goku. It took a gentle man who didn't like to kill and turn 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. At the point, Goku didn't care about Gohan, Piccolo, or Bulma. He was warrior of vengeance.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAkSg8TzDTs Kai redub]] also does a damn good job at just how terrifying Goku's transformation into a super saiyan is, though that can mostly be attributed to the outstanding voice work. Goku actually sounds like he's about to lose his mind, and the grunting, at least to this troper, seems like he's trying to hold himself back but ultimately failing to do so. The track used for this scene [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NokXLGU7JBA 'A Moment For Shuddering']], also shows that as well. While it's certainly dramatic, it's not necessarily meant to convey how awesome the transformation is, rather it gives the impression that Goku's [[RageBreakingPoint rage is about to break.]] This is all culminated in a truly terrifying scream as Goku finally becomes super saiyan, as well as Frieza sounding both shocked and horrified. In fact, the only words he could say at the time was "You ruthless, heartless, BASTARD! I will make you SUFFER!"

-->'''Frieza:''' Stay with it. Yee-haw! That's it buck-a-roo. Ride 'em cowboy!

--> "And the spark goes out. Don't bother trying to save him. You can't, he's already dead."

** His transformations unlike the other transformations that were either weird, NightmareFuel or heroic; Frieza's in a catergory 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 reveal that Goku was actually an alien was quite the shocker [[ItWasHisSled at the time]], but what's really horrifying is how strong Raditz, Goku's older brother seemed at that time. He had no problem dealing with both him and Piccolo '''at the same time''''. Goku was now knowing what it was like for the first time to feel utterly hopeless.

** Cell's transformations as well. Unlike Frieza, where he at least retains some traits of his previous forms, Cell's head crest and some other minor traits is about the ''only'' thing to remain consistent throughout his transformations. But he still physically transforms into his new forms, meaning we get to see [[BodyHorror his body twist and contort itself into his new form]]. It's even worse when he finally becomes his Perfect Form, as after the BodyHorror part, an energy cocoon forms around him and his sheer power sends shockwaves throughout the world. Trunks tries to interrupt the transformation, but as he's trying to pierce the coccoon, he, and the audience, are treated to an absolutely horrifying shadowed Cell midway between forms, emitting an inhuman screech. The scary part is given how much changed between his first and second forms, there's the feeling of mystery at just what he's turning into now.

* 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. This is 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. Cell even called him "a ''monster''". 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.

--> '''Frieza:''' Pop goes the weasel.

--> '''Frieza:''' [[AdultFear I think the brat should go next.]]

** Not only that, he killed Denda so fast that none of the heroes even knew it happened until they saw the explosion behind them. To them, Frieza just pointed his finger and something blew-up only to discover it was one of their comrades. Frieza is so fast he can pull an YouAreAlreadyDead on you.

* Nappa. For those used to how he is in [[TheFool the abridged series]], you'll be in a return of shock when you realize that he is every bit as sadistic and serious as Vegeta in canon. None of the scenes that were played for laughs in the abridged series are done so here. (BewareTheSillyOnes, though.)

** There's some scary foreshadowing in-universe for the Piccolo, Krillin, and Gohan when they see Nappa being terrified when Vegeta yells at him for attempting to disobey. Piccolo came to the correct conclusion that the one tearing them was actually the '''weaker''' one.

!!Revival of F:

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAkSg8TzDTs Kai redub]] also does a damn good job at just how terrifying Goku's transformation into a super saiyan is, though that can mostly be attributed to the outstanding voice work. Goku actually sounds like he's about to lose his mind, and the grunting, at least to this troper, seems like he's trying to hold himself back but ultimately failing to do so. The track used for this scene [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NokXLGU7JBA 'A Moment For Shuddering']], also shows that as well. While it's certainly dramatic, it's not necessarily meant to convey how awesome the transformation is, rather it gives the impression that Goku's [[RageBreakingPoint rage is about to break.]] This is all culminated in a truly terrifying scream as Goku finally becomes super saiyan, as well as Frieza sounding both shocked and horrified.

-->'''King Kai''': Even he knows that his fate lies in the icy tyrant. All things come around and Vegeta's treachery is about to be paid back.

** The scene when Frieza appears shortly after the Dragon Balls become useless:

** Even if you keep the fantasy elements in, for not one, but two solid episodes, the fight between Videl and Spopovitch is pretty horrific. Videl, struggling to even make him rect to her attacks, delivers a kick that spins his entire head around. After a scene in which everyone thinks she did kill him, HE GETS BACK UP, NEARLY PULLS HIS HEAD OFF, AND SETS IT BACK INTO PLACE! From there, he gets his revenge. Her screams are horrifying. Both episodes are considered as nightmarefuel in universe by spectators and the narrator.