History NightmareFuel / HoratioHornblower

* The hopeless situation by the end of ''Lord Hornblower''. Caught between a flooding river and a competent enemy army and at wits' end at last, Hornblower's attempt at playing ''Rifleman Dodd'' without much help from broken terrain or the enemy's other difficulties ended in a disastrous last stand that got his mistress killed, and with himself spending a long, long night expecting to be executed at dawn, and only saved by the grace of his brother-in-law Lord Wellington's victory at Waterloo.

* The hopeless situation by the end of ''Lord Hornblower''. Caught between a flooding river and a competent enemy army and at wit's end at last, Hornblower's attempt at playing ''Rifleman Dodd'' without much help from broken terrain or the enemy's other difficulties ended in a disastrous last stand that got his mistress killed, and with himself spending a long, long night expecting to be executed at dawn, and only saved by the grace of his brother-in-law Lord Wellington's victory at Waterloo.

* The hopeless situation by the end of ''Lord Hornblower''. Caught between a flooding river and a competent enemy army and at wit's end at last, Hornblower's attempt at playing ''Rifleman Dodd'' without much help from broken terrain or the enemy's other difficulties ended in a disastrous last stand that got his mistress killed, and with himself spending a long, long night expecting to be executed at dawn, only to be saved by the grace of his brother-in-law Lord Wellington's victory at Waterloo.

* The hopeless situation by the end of ''Lord Hornblower''. Caught between a flooding river and a competent enemy army and at wit's end at last, Hornblower's attempt at playing ''Rifleman Dodd'' without much help from broken terrain or the enemy's other difficulties ended in a disastrous last stand that got his mistress killed, and himself spending a long, long night expecting to be executed at dawn, only saved by the grace of his brother-in-law Lord Wellington's victory at Waterloo.

* Midway through ''Midshipman'', Hornblower - and by extension, the readers - was treated to the vivid spectacle of the classic Georgian BloodSport of rat baiting, [[spoiler:with the twist that in place of a dog or any other ferocious animal one would not expect to find onboard a ship of war, a seaman of Hornblower's division was inside the ring and, let's just say, worked over the rats with hands tied behind his back, ''with his teeth'']].

* Midway through ''Midshipman'', Hornblower - and by extension, the readers - was treated to the vivid spectacle of the classic Georgian BloodSport of rat baiting, [[spoiler:with the twist that in place of a dog or any other ferocious animal one would not expect to find onboard a ship of war, a seaman of Hornblower's division was inside the ring and, let's just say, worked over the rats with hands tied behind his back, ''by his teeth'']].

* In ''Hotspur'', Hornblower returns to his cabin after blowing up a French battery and semaphore (which involved using the body of a [[RedShirt redcoat]] to conceal the fuse) to find that his steward has hanged himself there after pleading with Hornblower not to go out of [[DirtyCoward cowardice]] and realizing what the consequences of that would be. The description of the body dangling from the ceiling and Hornblower realizing how long it must have taken are shudder-inducing.

* Jack Simpson. The horrible beatings and psychological torture the audience saw, that would be bad enough. NothingIsScarier hough, and the implied stuff he did to other midshipmen... shudder! The way he troubled Clayton and especially poor Archie who was absolutely '''terrified''' of him... Even the tough Horatio contemplated suicide just after several days with Jack Simpson's company. In addition, while they were aboard the ''Justinian'', Simpson was apparently never held responsible for any of his heinous crimes. Captain Keene obviously thought Simpson was an idiot, mocking him with delight during the navigational session, but how come he didn't he see how the guys were scared of him? And what about the lieutenants? AdultsAreUseless or was Simpson really such a skilled ManipulativeBastard?

* Jack Simpson. The horrible beatings and psychological torture the audience saw, that would be bad enough. Still, NothingIsScarier. The implied stuff he did to other midshipmen... Just shudder! The way he troubled Clayton and especially poor Archie who was absolutely terrified of him. Even the tough Horatio contemplated suicide just after several days within his company. Also, while they were aboard the ''Justinian'', he was never held responsible for any of his heinous crimes. Captain Keene obviously thought Simpson was an idiot, but didn't he see how the guys were scared of him? And what about the lieutenants? AdultsAreUseless or was Simpson really such a skilled ManipulativeBastard?
* [[InsaneAdmiral Crazy Captain]] James Sawyer. Captains were absolute masters aboard the ship but when the Captain goes mad, you are doomed and damned. He can get you beaten just for a foul look, and sometimes even doing you duty will get you to try ATasteOfTheLash. Your life is in the hands of a madman who can get you hanged. In addition, he might happen to be a DeathSeeker who doesn't mind taking his crew with him. Terrifying.

* Jack Simpson. His horrible beatings and psychological torture the audience saw was bad enough. Still, NothingIsScarier. The implied stuff he did to guys and the way he troubled Clayton and especially Archie. Archie was absolutely terrified of him. Even the tough Horatio contemplated suicide just after several days within his company.

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