History NightmareFuel / GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3

* '''''The High Evolutionary'''''. One of the scariest and most horrifying villains the MCU has ever presented, he's an uncompromising, manipulative and downright ''cruel'' MadScientist who strives to create the perfect world. And there is ''[[TheUnfettered nothing]]'' he won't do to achieve it. Creator/ChukwudiIwuji delivers a very sinister performance and it doesn't help that the practical effect of his face being stapled onto his head is disturbing to look at, since it's [[UncannyValley just a little too smooth and glossy]] to be actual human skin. And that's because it isn't actually skin. All in all, he's basically the MCU equivalent of [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Fabius Bile]].

The final adventure for the Guardians proves to be their darkest; a deeply unsettling backstory for one of their members is unraveled and at the helm of it is one of the most ''sickening'' villains in all of the MCU. The galaxy may still be under their protection, but there's still dark places full of horrors.

* '''''[[WhamLine "RELEASE THE HELLSPAWN!! ALL OF THEM!!!"]]''''' Upon realizing that the combined might of the Guardians of the Galaxy and Knowhere itself has a legitimate chance of defeating him, the High Evolutionary unleashes a locust-like swarm of the PraetorianGuard crafted by his empire of cruelty and pain; ''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Hellspawn.]]'' Tumor swollen, asymmetrical, malformed brutes comprised of his countless failures to literally nail incompatible body parts together with painful and rusty staples, they can barely even stand, much less walk properly, dragged down by bloated heads and swollen limbs their all too small bodies were never meant to support. All are clearly driven mad with agony by the process that deformed them, obeying the High Evolutionary's commands out of fear of further torture.

* Even as he cradles young Rocket on his lap and speaks to him in a gentle fatherly tone, the sinister intent behind every single action he does and word he says makes it clear that he is ''nobody's'' father. Perhaps the creepiest moment is when he describes to Rocket what his mission is; to create what is already there, flawed as it may be, and make it into something perfect for his utopia. He does this as he grabs Rocket's head with far too much force (to the point Rocket is genuinely distressed) and gives the terrified young kit an utterly deranged wide-eyed glare.

* '''''[[WhamLine "RELEASE THE HELLSPAWN!! ALL OF THEM!!!"]]''''' Upon realizing that the combined might of the Guardians of the Galaxy and Knowhere itself has a legitimate chance of defeating him, the High Evolutionary unleashes a locust-like swarm of the PraetorianGuard crafted by his empire of cruelty and pain; ''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Hellspawn.]]'' Tumor swollen, asymmetrical, malformed brutes comprised of his ''countless'' failures to literally nail incompatible body parts together with painful and rusty staples, the wretches can barely even stand, much less walk properly, dragged down by bloated heads and swollen limbs their all too small bodies were never meant to support. All are clearly driven mad with agony by the process that deformed them, obeying the High Evolutionary's commands out of fear of further torture. One would ''almost'' pity them were they not a muscular tsunami of thousands of claws, fangs, wings and ''tentacles'' that can rip through steel and concrete like so much rice paper, and would have literally torn Knowhere apart were it not for the Ravagers, Kraglin and remaining Guardians defending the Dead-God's Head. Biomechanical BodyHorror made manifest, scuttling and chittering from the darkest nightmares of Creator/HPLovecraft, Creator/DavidCronenberg and Creator/HRGiger, The Hellspawn make Thanos' fanged army of Outriders seem outright ''cuddly'' in comparison.
* The last humanimal left alive after the destruction of Counter-Earth and the demise of the High Evolutionary's guards is the Controller, a nightmarish-looking naked mole-rat cyborg piloting the High Evolutionary's ship while ''literally fused to the control panel'' via wires and mechanical parts. However, despite her horrifying appearance, she, like many other mangled and mutilated creations of the High Evolutionary we have seen in the film so far, is completely harmless and non-hostile, simply doing her job as the ship's pilot while being screamed at by her progressively unstable superior and eventually witnessing a mutiny take place. The worst part? She is slaughtered along with the crew members who started the mutiny before she even has a chance to pick a side. The High Evolutionary was perfectly willing to mercilessly dispose of his last living creation, ''who had not wronged him in any way just yet'', simply because she had the means to and could potentially take the rebelling crew's side. There is something existentially horrifying about the species of humanimals going out like that, with the last member perishing by the hand of their creator despite having done nothing wrong and being the only person in a room full of armed people who did not pose any harm and was, in fact, doing exactly the thing she was created for, ''actively trying to pilot a heavily damaged ship and prevent it from crashing''. This serves to show that it never truly mattered what the humanimals did with their lives - they would have been destroyed either way, their lives meaning nothing to their cruel creator.

* The movie begins with a cage full of adorable baby raccoons. Then, ominous music plays as the High Evolutionary walks towards the cage. The camera cuts to the baby raccoon who will become Rocket, and from Rocket's point of view, we see the High Evolutionary's giant hand slowly reach for him while the music intensifies.

* As the rest of the Guardians fight Adam at the start of the film, Peter and Mantis try to use a Medpak on Rocket after he is hit hard by one of Adam's attacks, only for it to supposedly go haywire and almost kill him. It turns out that there is a fail safe attached to Rocket's heart in case anyone decides to mess with his enhancements. As discussed, he is at risk of dying either way and half of the film focuses on shutting down the kill switch to give him proper treatment while he is already in critical condition. As for the one responsible for making Rocket the way he is...

** It soon becomes very clear that beneath the mask of his supposedly visionary and high-minded goals, [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist he's nothing but a power-mad psychopath with a god-complex and a sadistic streak a mile long]]. He all but laughs in Rocket's face when he tells him he'll never leave his ship, and be vivisected in the morning. He mocks Rocket after shooting Lylla in front of him, and never shows an iota of genuine care or compassion for his creations. All of them, everyone around him, everything in the ''galaxy'', is just a "step for me to walk".
** [[EstablishingCharacterMoment His first scene]] in the present day, as he interrogates Ayesha, is particularly telling. While she's reporting to him he has his attendants bring him [[ScullyBox a box]] to stand on so he can tower over her. Then he starts inspecting her teeth and eyes, as if she were a piece of livestock. And Ayesha -- who the previous film established as an arrogant and powerful authority figure -- meekly submits to his examination. It efficiently showcases both his absolute inhumanity and his power.
** Racing against the clock to find the deactivation-codes to the kill-switch the High Evolutionary stitched to Rocket's heart, the Guardians pore through the datadisk containing recordings of Rocket's memories, and hence are forced to bear witness the nightmare incarnate of his modification surgeries, wherein he was torn apart and refitted with invasive implants while conscious, ''without anesthesia'', screaming in terror and agony. It's not clear if this was done for an actual reason, as it actually made the surgery ''harder'' due to the surgeons constantly struggling to hold him still. Both Peter ''and'' Drax are driven to ManlyTears by the obscene spectacle, as Mantis openly ''weeps'' for her friend's suffering, while ''Gamora'' silently gnashes her teeth in sympathetic rage. Even Nebula, who had suffered a similar experience for years of her life, is ''horrified to tears'' by the footage; implying that even ''Thanos'' had the (comparative) decency to put her to painless sleep with anesthetics ''before'' forcibly modifying her. That's right, the High Evolutionary is ''so'' evil that he makes '''''Thanos''''' look nice by comparison.
--->'''Nebula:''' ''[after the footage is deactivated]'' This is ''worse'' than what Thanos did to me.
** The High Evolutionary's sadism and cruelty is so monstrous that it immediately makes Quill abandon his ThouShaltNotKill ideals, because the man's villainy makes him, and anyone ''complicit'' to his evil, BeyondRedemption in Quill's eyes. Of his entire tenure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this is Peter Quill at his most vicious and ruthless, out for ''blood'' to avenge his beloved little brother. Keep in mind that the other person that was able to force Quill to kill is '''''[[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2 Ego.]]''''' That's just how evil The High Evolutionary is.
--->'''Young Rocket:''' ... hurts.
* The Orgoscope is a nauseating-looking [[WombLevel planet made of living tissue]], with its surface composed of living flesh covered in giant hairs. The fact that a corporation which manufactures kill-switches preventing individuals from receiving medical help is seemingly [[IndustrializedEvil a legitimate business]] in the cosmic setting of the MCU is also itself a disturbing thought, although the commercial that Mantis and Drax see in the lobby imply that this nefarious design choice is not known to the general public.
* Everything about the High Evolutionary's deranged research into creating the perfect society qualifies as some of the most horrific content in the MCU so far:
** The monsters mutated from the animals the High Evolutionary and his team of scientists abducted. It's not only [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything creepily reminiscent of human trafficking]], it's also a very dark look into the more nefarious and uncompromising side of science and research, since--setting aside the sci-fi trappings of his experiments--the sight of wounded and exploited animals in filthy cages is a disturbingly [[RealismInducedHorror realistic visual]].
** Even as he cradles young Rocket on his lap and speaks to him in a gentle fatherly tone, the sinister intent behind every single action he does and word he says makes it clear that he is ''nobody's'' father. Perhaps the creepiest moment is when he describes to Rocket what his mission is; to create what is already there, flawed as it may be, and make it into something perfect for his utopia. He does this as he grabs Rocket's head with far too much force (to the point Rocket is genuinely distressed) and gives the terrified young kit an utterly deranged wide-eyed glare.
** The High Evolutionary [[CivilizationDestroyer casually blows up Counter-Earth]], an inhabited planet with its own culture and intelligent inhabitants, [[DisproportionateRetribution just because they didn't fit his exacting standards of total obedience]]. The worst part is his admission that this is just one of many worlds he's destroyed in his quest for "perfection", making him a perpetrator of genocide on a truly vast scale. This is the moment that Quill recognizes how big a monstrous threat he truly is.
--->'''The High Evolutionary:''' Anything I've done, I've done for the betterment of the universe!\\
'''Quill:''' Newsflash, Einstein. "Better universes" generally don't include a bunch of octopuses selling meth to guys with cockroach heads!\\
'''The High Evolutionary:''' They do not. [[WhamLine Which is why]], [[CivilizationDestroyer as I've done many times before]], [[FinalSolution I'm going to have to raze it all, and start again]].\\
'''Quill:''' ''[[[OhCrap goes pale]]]'' [[FlatWhat ...What?]]
*** This is a "utopia" that Quill points out as having drug dealers, homeless people, and violence in the streets, issues he could easily solve without a second thought. The High Evolutionary's reaction? To shrug it off, wipe out billions of lives, and start again. Never even considering that he made a mistake, that he could aid them, or just ''leave them alone''. They’re not deserving of assistance, or even ''existence,'' to him because he considers them a failed experiment.
*** And it's not just [[AMillionIsAStatistic shown from a distance]], either. The movie goes into ''full detail'' about how many innocent people, including ''[[WouldHurtAChild children]]'', are killed by this, showing their horrific demises as Counter-Earth is destroyed. Several of them were helpful and friendly to the Guardians, and just when we're starting to like them, ''they're dead.''
** This gets worse with the final act's reveal that his ship is full of alien children in cages, whom he intends to raise as the population for his next planet, fully willing to repeat the [[WouldHurtAChild exact same measures]] should they too fail.
** The High Evolutionary brings a child Rocket to witness him forcibly evolve a turtle before it [[JumpScare roars at him and pounds on the glass trying to attack him]], at which point he immediately has it just as swiftly [[KillItWithFire incinerated]]. He later informs Rocket that, besides his brain being dissected, his friends are to meet the same fate, spurring Rocket to escape.
** When the High Evolutionary contacts Quill to demand Rocket be handed over to him, Quill unloads on him, shouting, "Screw you! You stretched-faced, [[Film/RoboCop1987 RoboCop]]-lookin', [[Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse Skeletor]] wannabe, purple nurple [[CurseCutShort piece of--]]" before the High Evolutionary crushes his earpiece to end the call. Played for laughs at first, this BrickJoke gets PlayedForHorror later on when it is revealed that just like Alex Murphy, the High Evolutionary's face ''is'' actually just a rubbery fake skin stretched across a bare skull.
* Crosses over heavily with TearJerker, but the High Evolutionary's meltdown over Rocket's superior intelligence. Young Rocket is suddenly awoken in the middle of the night by a frantic High Evolutionary, who needs him to come with him for reasons he doesn't explain. Not only is he clearly erratic and panicking, but since Rocket is only a child and still drowsy, he can't make sense of it and for a moment it seems like something is ''seriously wrong'' and the High Evolutionary needs his help to fix it. Instead, poor Rocket is abruptly subjected to a harsh interrogation about how he was so easily able to figure out the evolution chamber's flaw, almost as if he's ''blaming'' him for it. At first, the High Evolutionary [[FauxAffablyEvil puts on a front of fatherly patience]], but once Rocket stumbles a second too long for his liking, the mask slips as though it's laced with soap and the true monster underneath makes itself known to the terrified and confused Rocket. All the more disturbing, the whole scenario plays out exactly like an abusive father waking his child in the middle of the night and finding any excuse to antagonize them.
-->'''The High Evolutionary:''' How did you know about the microseminoproteins, P-1-3? What happened in there? Why? How did you know, P-1-3?\\
'''Rocket:''' I-i-it was too little filtration.\\
'''The High Evolutionary:''' In the hypotonic, yes, we know, we fixed that! '''[[SuddenlyShouting BUT HOW DID YOU KNOW?!?!]] ''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis I! MADE! YOU!!!!]] HOW DID ''YOU'' KNOW?!!!''''' Because it worked. It... it worked. Their rage is gone.
* Peter and Groot exact revenge on Recorder Theel, the scientist responsible for Rocket's suffering. The humane thing was to simply shoot him and end the quivering bastard's life quickly. Nope. Peter lunges him and Theel out of the High Evolutionary's ship's window, with Peter fully expecting Groot will jump with him and cushion his fall. Theel only screams and cries at his inevitable demise; we see his body not only hit the ground hard, but Peter dragging his lifeless body through the ground at high speed until they crash into a pond, with all that is left is the Scientist's mangled corpse. Peter made damn sure the man paid for what he did to Rocket in blood. GoodIsNotSoft, and it can and ''will'' make an effort to make you suffer when you least expect it -- a lesson Theel most certainly learned the hard way.
** From the first movie onward, Peter has been the Guardian least likely to kill and constantly discourages his teammates from doing so, typically only resorting to lethal force in the heat of battle or to stop the BigBad from killing innocents. This is a rare instance of Peter ''wanting'' to kill someone, which just goes to show how personally he took what Orgocorp did to Rocket. And unlike Ego or Thanos, Theel is no position to stop him.
** This can also come across as UnnervinglyHeartwarming since both Peter and Groot [[FamilyOfChoice clearly love Rocket as family]] and anyone who dares come close to killing him will learn that the hard way. It's worth noting that a good chunk of the bridge crew were unarmed. Quill (and Groot) don't care. [[TrueCompanions They willingly aided in hurting their friend]], and [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge they're all going to die]].
-->'''Quill:''' ''[without a trace of humor or mercy]'' Kill 'em all.
* Rocket's attack on the High Evolutionary. It begins right after probably the biggest TearJerker in the film, and from there it becomes an unmitigated nightmare as the young and traumatized raccoon unleashes all his built-up rage. The use of practical effects lend heavily to the nightmarish gore the film has and this scene is no exception. The only mitigating factor is that Rocket did this to someone completely and utterly bereft of empathy and general redeeming qualities. Keeping with the movie's theme of animal cruelty, this scene perfectly demonstrates why messing with a wild animal - however domesticated it may appear - is a '''very''' bad idea, which [[TruthInTelevision far too many people in real life]] learn the hard way.
** The thought of someone as innocent as Rocket is in the flashbacks being driven to such bloodlust in a matter of ''seconds'' may be unnerving, but it's a ''more'' than justified retribution to having the death of his FirstLove Lylla [[LastDisrespects insulted in MOCKING LAUGHTER by the mad scientist]].
** Teefs' reaction to Rocket's unbridled rage towards his creator is that of pure horror. Despite how monstrous the High Evolutionary is, he sees Rocket's descent into animalistic savagery and screeching to be more upsetting than Lylla's death, and he begs his friend to stop his actions.
--->"Let's go! Rocket, please! ''Rocket!"''
** Floor's screams of panic for her friends to flee with her afterwards is essentially that of an innocent child's when caught in the crossfires of a mass shooting. The incoherent terror of her desperate pleas for survival will haunt you ''long'' after the credits roll:
--->''[[MadnessMantra "ROCKET, TEEFS, FLOOR, GO NOW!" "ROCKET, TEEFS, FLOOR, GO NOW!"]] '''[[FamousLastWords "ROCKET, TEEFS, FLOOR, GO NOW!"]]'''''
** While he [[AssholeVictim deserved every second of it]], it's still somewhat unnerving to see the High Evolutionary's reaction to all this. He's taken completely by surprise as Rocket knocks the gun out of his hand, tackles him to the floor, and proceeds to unabashedly and unapologetically '''maul''' him. The High Evolutionary is even shown trying ''desperately'' to keep the young animal off him, even trying to throw him off, but he's either too weak or Rocket is '''too damn angry''' to let go. His screams - while satisfying - are quite palpable and the editing to this scene makes it gory and nightmarish ''without even showing the full extent of it.'' If one looks at the High Evolutionary's body slumped to the ground, you can see his foot ''twitching'', likely from severed nerves or the sheer agony he's in. He outright says he made the mistake of letting his guard down once. Only once. ''And it cost him his whole face.'' No wonder he went mad and developed his gravity powers. Had he been even remotely sympathetic, it likely would have been one of the most difficult scenes to sit through.

** Three of the High Evolutionary's guards run into the room and open fire. Rocket picks up the High Evolutionary's gun and fires back, killing all three of them...only to then find out that they weren't aiming at him, [[ExactlyWhatIAimedAt but at Teefs and Floor behind him]]. He can [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone only ponder the implications of what he's doing for a moment]] before [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he escapes]]. He's also likely only an ''adolescent'' by this time and has to strike out on his own, and such sympathy as his friends showed him is going to be hard to come by in the rest of space.

** This gets worse with the final act's reveal that his ship is full of alien children in cages, whom he intends to raise as the population for his next planet.

** The High Evolutionary's sadism and cruelty is so monstrous that it immediately makes Quill abandon his ThouShaltNotKill ideals, because the man's villainy makes him, and anyone ''complicit'' to his evil, BeyondRedemption in Quill's eyes. Of his entire tenure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this is Peter Quill at his most vicious and ruthless, out for ''blood'' to avenge his beloved little brother. Keep in mind that the other person that was able to force Quill to kill is '''''[[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2 Ego.]]''''' That's just how evil The High Evolutionary is.

** The High Evolutionary's sadism and cruelty is so monstrous that it immediately makes Quill abandon his ThouShaltNotKill ideals, because the man's villainy makes him, and anyone ''complicit'' to his evil, BeyondRedemption in Quill's eyes. Of his entire tenure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this is Peter Quill at his most vicious and ruthless, out for ''blood'' to avenge his beloved little brother.

* The movie begins with a cage full of adorable baby raccoons. Then, ominous music plays as the High Evolutionary walks towards the cage. The camera cuts to one baby raccoon, and from his point of view, we see the High Evolutionary's giant hand slowly reach for him while the music intensifies.

** The way he treats Ayesha is particularly telling. While she's reporting to him he starts inspecting her teeth and eyes, as if she were a piece of livestock. And Ayesha -- who the previous film established as an arrogant and powerful authority figure -- meekly submits to his examination. It efficiently showcases both his absolute inhumanity and his power.

'''Quill:''' ''[[[OhCrap horrified]]]'' [[FlatWhat ...What?]]

** While he [[AssholeVictim deserved every second of it]], it's still somewhat unnerving to see the High Evolutionary's reaction to all this. He's taken completely by surprise, the gun knocked from his hand and knocked to the floor with no means to defend himself as Rocket unabashedly and unapologetically '''mauls''' him. The High Evolutionary is even shown trying ''desperately'' to keep the young animal off him, even trying to throw him off, but he's either too weak or Rocket is '''too damn angry''' to let go. His screams - while satisfying - are quite palpable and the editing to this scene makes it gory and nightmarish ''without even showing the full extent of it.'' If one looks at the High Evolutionary's body slumped to the ground, you can see his foot ''twitching'', likely from severed nerves or the sheer agony he's in. He outright says he made the mistake of letting his guard down once. Only once. ''And it cost him his whole face.'' No wonder he went mad and developed his gravity powers. Had he been even remotely sympathetic, it likely would have been one of the most difficult scenes to sit through.

** Three of the High Evolutionary's guards arrive and open fire. Rocket picks up the High Evolutionary's gun and fires back, killing all three of them...only to then find out that they weren't aiming at him, [[ExactlyWhatIAimedAt but at Teefs and Floor behind him]]. He can [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone only ponder the implications of what he's doing for a moment]] before [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he escapes]]. He's also likely only an ''adolescent'' by this time and has to strike out on his own, and such sympathy as his friends showed him is going to be hard to come by in the rest of space.

* The last humanimal left alive after the destruction of Counter-Earth and the demise of the High Evolutionary's guards is the Controller, a nightmarish-looking naked mole-rat cyborg piloting the High Evolutionary's ship while ''literally fused with the control panel'' via wires and mechanical parts. However, despite her horrifying appearance, she, like many other mangled and mutilated creations of the High Evolutionary we have seen in the film so far, is completely harmless and non-hostile, simply doing her job as the ship's pilot while being screamed at by her progressively unstable superior and eventually witnessing a mutiny take place. The worst part? She is slaughtered along with the crew members who started the mutiny before she even has a chance to pick a side. The High Evolutionary was perfectly willing to mercilessly dispose of his last living creation, ''who had not wronged him in any way just yet'', simply because she had the means to and could potentially take the rebelling crew's side. There is something existentially horrifying about the species of humanimals going out like that, with the last member perishing by the hand of their creator despite having done nothing wrong and being the only person in a room full of armed people who did not pose any harm and was, in fact, doing exactly the thing she was created for, ''actively trying to pilot a heavily damaged ship and prevent it from crashing''. This serves to show that it never truly mattered what the humanimals did with their lives - they would have been destroyed either way, their lives meaning nothing to their cruel creator.

* '''''[[WhamLine "RELEASE THE HELLSPAWN!!!!"]]''''' Upon realizing that the combined might of the Guardians of the Galaxy and Knowhere itself has a legitimate chance of defeating him, the High Evolutionary unleashes a locust-like swarm of the PraetorianGuard crafted by his empire of cruelty and pain; ''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Hellspawn.]]'' Tumor swollen, asymmetrical, malformed brutes comprised of his ''countless'' failures to literally nail incompatible body parts together with painful and rusty staples, the wretches can barely even stand, much less walk properly, dragged down by bloated heads and swollen limbs their all too small bodies were never meant to support. All are clearly driven mad with agony by the process that deformed them, obeying the High Evolutionary's commands out of fear of further torture. One would ''almost'' pity them were they not a muscular tsunami of thousands of claws, fangs, wings and ''tentacles'' that can rip through steel and concrete like so much rice paper, and would have literally torn Knowhere apart were it not for the Ravagers, Kraglin and remaining Guardians defending the Dead-God's Head. Biomechanical BodyHorror made manifest, scuttling and chittering from the darkest nightmares of Creator/HPLovecraft, Creator/DavidCronenberg and Creator/HRGiger, The Hellspawn make Thanos' fanged army of Outriders seem outright ''cuddly'' in comparison.