History NightmareFuel / JusticeLeague

* While he’s PlayedForLaughs and is rendered sympathetic as a victim of mental illness, the Trickster in “Flash and Substance” is by no means a harmless villain. If you actually listen to his scheme to kill the Flash, it may come with goofy aesthetic choices such like fake dog barf but it includes killing Flash with metal spikes and burying him while he’s still alive. When the heroes corner him in the bar later, he pulls out a goofy looking nose gun that shoots out “snot” corrosive enough to instantly destroy a pool table. While his “tricks” may look silly and his motivations sympathetically drawn from mental health problems, he’s still just as violently dangerous as the Joker and should not be taken lightly.

* Faust's ultimate fate in "Paradise Lost." [[KickTheSonOfABitch Yeah, he deserved it]], but it's still really chilling to see him go from SmugSnake to screaming horror while Hades just stands there calmly explaining that [[GoMadFromTheRevelation he now merely has knowledge of human suffering]]. The scene [[DiscretionShot cuts away]] as he undergoes RapidAging, and implies that he crumbled into dust.

--> '''"Supergirl":''' [[PreMortemOneLiner You can scream now]] [[EyeBeams if you want.]]

** The song people possessed by the Dark Heart sing starts out kinda [[{{Narm}} narmy]] until everyone but Flash gets possessed and starts singing it. Combined with the dark, enclosed watchtower with no exits...really hammers home the oppressive nature.

* The end of "Kid Stuff," where Mordred's spell to get rid of all grown-ups is reversed when Mordred is tricked into turning into an adult himself, and his mother Morgan Le Faye notes that the spell giving him eternal youth is now broken, leaving him only with [[AgeWithoutYouth eternal life]]. As if simply thinking about the ramifications of this isn't enough, the last shot of the episode shows Morgan tenderly wiping the drool from the mouth of [[FateWorseThanDeath a glassy-eyed old man]].

*** And she ends up releasing Darkseid, ''endangering Earth'', just to screw Luthor out of possessing Brainiac and for spurning her.

** Then the Screamers (oh god, the Screamers), headless horrors with screaming mouths in their palms. [[FromBadToWorse It only gets worse]] when you realize that the Screamers are Shoggoths in the shape of [[EldritchAbomination Y'golonac, Lovecraftian God]] of [[ErectionRejection Rape and Sexual Perversion]].

** With a false promise of inner peace, a dreaming Green Lantern is goaded into entering a giant power battery that will presumably kill him in real life. Superman and J'onn desperately try to stop him but are overpowered by Dr. Destiny. The moment Lantern runs into the battery, Destiny lets out a horrifying laugh that truly signals his transition from a vindictive human experimenting with powers into a genuine monster.

** With a false promise of inner peace, Green Lantern is goaded in his dream into entering a giant power battery that will presumably kill him in real life. Superman and J'onn desperately try to stop him but are overpowered by Dr. Destiny. The moment Lantern runs into the battery, Destiny lets out a horrifying laugh that truly signals his transition from a vindictive human experimenting with powers into a genuine monster.

[[caption-width-right:350:'''''[[NightmareFace Now you see the real me.]][[note]]This isn't a mask. This was behind his face.[[/note]]]]'''''

** With a false promise of obtaining inner peace, a dreaming Green Lantern is goaded into entering a giant power battery that will presumably kill him in real life. Superman and J'onn desperately try to stop him but are overpowered by Dr. Destiny. The moment Lantern runs into the battery, Destiny lets out a horrifying laugh that truly signals his transition from a vindictive human experimenting with powers into a genuine monster.

** Whenever Superman cries out in pain and images flash past, it's probably a good idea not to pause the video and look at them. [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/justice_league_nightmare_fuel1.JPG Some of them are truly terrifying.]]

** The part where he deals with the Imperium, grabbing the tentacles ''still embedded into his own body'' and dragging it into the sunlight. We see the Imperium's outer layers starting to form bubbles that quickly burst, like a hyper-skin irritation, like boils, and as it screams, J'onn delivers the line: "You live in the shadows, and shun the light. Why? ''Does it '''burn''' your '''putrid skin'''?''" The seething hatred in J'onn's voice is all the more chilling.

** What he says to Lord Batman and Lord Wonder Woman right after makes it a LOT worse. [[spoiler:"''[[WhamLine I'm great.]]''"]]

** Lord Batman. The biggest nightmare in all this is that Batman himself has [[FaceHeelTurn turned over to the dark side]]. That in itself is scary enough (this is the guy who sees the Justice League, ''all of the Justice League'', as a countermeasure to himself). But what's scarier is that after Lord Superman [[spoiler:vaporizes Lex Luthor]], all he offers is a disinterested "Well. It had to be done." He has no sadness, no revulsion towards Lord Superman breaking one of their central tenets; in fact, he sees [[spoiler:Superman killing Luthor]] as a necessary move. If [[spoiler:ThouShaltNotKill]] was ever a principle for this version of the character, he abandoned it before even [[spoiler:Superman]].

-->'''Lord Superman''': I've done a lot of things I've never thought I'd do these last two years. [[spoiler:One more won't hurt.]]
* Faust’s ultimate fate in Paradise Lost. [[KickTheSonOfABitch Yeah, he deserved it]], but it’s still really chilling to see him go from SmugSnake to screaming horror while Hades just stands there calmly explaining that [[GoMadFromTheRevelation he now merely has knowledge of human suffering]]. The scene [[DiscretionShot cuts away]] as he undergoes RapidAging, and implies that he crumbled into dust.

** Start with Ichthultu himself, an {{Expy}} of [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Cthulhu]], which appears as a monstrous skull-like apparition with [[GlowingEyesOfDoom flaming eyes]] and CombatTentacles. Even worse, Hawk Girl's race use to worship the thing because it gave them technology, knowledge, and prosperity, but they eventually took a NayTheist approach when its exchange price of the souls of Thanagar's people became too great. Ichthultu was shown to still be bitter about the rejection.

* Brainiac [[BodyHorror bursting his way out of Lex Luthor]] in a manner very reminiscent of ''[[Film/TheThing1982 The Thing]]''. Bonus points for the fact that Brainiac was hiding in Luthor all along and promptly tries to ''absorb'' the Justice League.

** Which, if that wasn't bad enough, also means that ''[[DoesNotLikeGuns Batman]]'', of all people, almost killed Princess Audrey's father with a big honking space-gun! When we saw the people running out of the castle, you can see one of the soldiers carrying someone dressed in purple. The king was wearing purple pajamas. So, the king didn't actually die in the explosion. But what if the guard hadn't been on the watch?

** What about what Doctor Destiny did to his wife Penny? She leaves him to be with another man, but upon getting his powers, he pays her a visit and unveils his costumed, skull-faced appearance, growing a set of razor-sharp fingernails as he does. [[NothingIsScarier Whatever he does to Penny, she is left screaming in a sleep no one can wake her from]]. [[spoiler:She dies not too long afterwards.]]

'''John:''' I think you're finally seeing the real me. (''clothes turn into spooky robes'') And now that I'm a doctor... (''face falls off, revealing a skull'') ...I think I'll perform some surgery.
** Doctor Destiny looms over the Flash when he enters his dreams and delivers a chilling line.
--->'''Flash:''' I get it, I'm dreaming. All I have to do is close my eyes and I'll... (''closes eyes, nothing happens'')\\
'''Doctor Destiny:''' Wake up?

** Hawkgirl's nightmare deserves mention. Green Lantern, the Flash, and Superman all have nightmares relating to their powers. Hawkgirl has the [[PrimalFear much more relatable fear]] of confined spaces, which Doctor Destiny exploits by [[BuriedAlive burying her alive]]. [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness The terrified screaming from the otherwise tough Hawkgirl doesn't help]]. ''She breaks down and cries in fear, begging for anyone to help'' while Supes, GL, and J'onn are right outside the locked dream door unable to go through, an unsettling reaction she never quite matches later on in the series. Prompting a HeroicWillpower moment in GL (which is good, as his powers are driven by willpower).
** The cannibalistic kids in Flash's nightmare? They had nothing to do with the nightmare per se, but it was so out of nowhere... They got to be even scarier than the context of the scene. Good thing he has SuperSpeed. Or not.

** Superman accidentally destroying Metropolis and ''snapping Comicbook/JimmyOlsen's spine'' later in the nightmare. When Superman inadvertently crushes Jimmy with a hug, [[SickeningCrunch you can actually]] ''[[SickeningCrunch hear]]'' [[SickeningCrunch the poor teen's bones snap]] as he screams in agony -- and suddenly goes limp. ''Then'' the viewer gets treated to a few seconds of seeing his body, [[DiesWideOpen his eyes wide open in a chillingly blank stare.]] The whole thing is completely bloodless, but that doesn't mean it isn't disturbing.

** The plot itself--you can't deny this is a cartoon adaption of ''[[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Nightmare on Elm Street]]''. That was a horror movie for adults; [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids this is a cartoon for kids]].

** [[spoiler:Well, actually, that was probably him faking it, since he replaced the torturer easily enough. Shape-changing, SuperStrength, phasing...he's equipped for this.]] Doesn't make his screaming any less creepy. Seriously, something about J'onn's voice makes ''any'' screaming, real or faked, kind of scary.

* Though it doubles as a [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments CMoH]], the end of "Hereafter." The particular alternate future, [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld 30,000 years older]] [[WhoWantsToLiveForever and more insane]] version of [[{{Immortality}} Vandal Savage]] encountered in this episode had [[ApocalypseHow destroyed almost all life on Earth]] [[WhoWantsToLiveForever except himself]] [[HoistByHisOwnPetard allowing him 30,000 years to think about what he has done]]. He wants Superman to use his TimeMachine (that Savage could not use himself) to rectify his mistake despite his knowledge that, in doing so, his current self would [[RedemptionEqualsDeath cease to exist]], while the mainstream and canon Savage would live ''forever''. The character of Vandal Savage [[FridgeHorror hits two birds with one stone]]: simultaneously [[PrimalFear ceasing to]] [[NothingIsScarier exist]] and [[{{Immortality}} living]] [[HealingFactor and]] [[WhoWantsToLiveForever living]] ''[[ICannotSelfTerminate and]]'' [[FateWorseThanDeath living]] until [[spoiler:[[ApocalypseHow no one]] [[LastOfHisKind and]] [[InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn nothing is around]] [[AndIMustScream to care]] that he still exists...]] Either that, or stopping the {{evil plan}} that had resulted in the apocalypse in the first place resulted in the actual death of the mainstream and canon Savage...which is unsettling in and of itself.
** Speaking of "Hereafter," there's also Savage himself in said future. There's another reason why he's become much more sedate and friendly: countless generations of living with the consequences of his actions had made him ''[[BoredWithInsanity bored]]'' [[BoredWithInsanity with insanity and madness]]. Which makes the way he chirpily recalls how he killed the Justice League as if he remembering a sports game seem so unnerving.

** The first person who is revealed to have been lobotomized by Lord Superman is the Joker, who is now the secretary of Arkham Asylum. Hearing his voice and seeing his appearance to be so calm, almost serene, it really drew an unsettling feeling considering we're used to seeing him as a psychopathic, murdering clown. Who would've thought one way for the Joker to be scarier was to calm him down?

** This episode deserves mention for when the plant is put on Bruce: We get to relive the moment his parents were shot (in black and white, to give it a proper FilmNoir feel), but in his dream, his father fights the criminal and continues to punch him. But as Wonder Woman tears off the plant, we see Bruce's father be overpowered by the criminal, zoom in on young Bruce's face turning more and more horrified as we finally hear a combination of a tearing sound and a gunshot when the plant is removed...it's truly horrifying. Made worse in that when the plant attaches to him, we see the only genuine, contented smile Batman ''ever'' has in the entirety of the ''Justice League'' run.
*** Even the nature of the fantasy is unnerving in and of itself. In the comic the episode was based off of, by the time the Black Mercy is pulled off of him, the fantasy had extended to growing up, settling down and having a child. In here, that's not the case. In here, his deepest, truest wish is simply to watch Thomas Wayne beat Joe Chill to a pulp. Forever.

--> '''Mongul''': You don't understand. ''He'' was the only obstacle in my way. The rest of you, are already dead.

* The portrayal of Darkseid in the ''Franchise/{{DCAU}}'' is often seen as the definitive portrayal of his character (outside of comics) and for good reason: he is a terrifying character. Not just because he's the only one who can take Superman at his full power, but because he is ''relentlessly'' evil. Other villains had reasons that you could like them; at least ComicBook/LexLuthor was suave, and at least ComicBook/TheJoker had a happy attitude and comic timing. Darkseid is not that kind of villain: he is [[KnightOfCerebus the absolute embodiment of evil]].

* The twist of "Wild Cards" gives a healthy does of ParanoiaFuel: [[spoiler:ComicBook/TheJoker set up the bombs in Las Vegas just to increase viewership so that he could broadcast Ace's hypnotic waves to drive them all insane. And guess [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou who's watching the television while Ace blankly stares at the screen...]]]].

*** The whole thing is practically a KillEmAll episode: [[spoiler: Wonder Woman fades out of existence thanks to Chronos' meddling with the timestream, one of the bad guy's own henchmen is dropped in the Cretaceous to be killed by the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs, Terry is ripped limb from limb, and--as mentioned before--Static fell through a tear in the space-time continuum, plus the implication that ''every other member of the Justice League is already dead''. Green Lantern nearly had something like this happen to ''him'', too--luckily for John, he was just temporarily replaced by Hal Jordan and came back after a few minutes]].
** [[spoiler:Batman trapping David and Enid in a time loop to ensure that David never enacts the chain of events that occurred over the episode.]] That is one chilling AndIMustScream fate.

* In "Flashpoint," Lex Luthor hijacks the Watchtower's Binary Fusion Generator, forcing it to fire on an abandoned Cadmus facility. When the gun goes off, the scene cuts to a peaceful suburban neighborhood...that suddenly goes very quiet as the sky starts to ''light up''. Then the blast wave comes and nearly levels the city, followed by a [[EverythingMakesAMushroom mushroom cloud]]. Aside from the fact that, somehow, nobody (onscreen) is killed, and there's no residual radiation, the entire sequence is frighteningly reminiscent of a ''nuclear attack''.
** That's right, kids! Death from above, with no warning, no escape, and no explanation! It could happen to ''you'' before you finish reading TV Tropes!
* When Green Arrow tries to call out Superman in 'Flashpoint" on seriously considering burning a government agency to the ground and generally putting himself and the team above humanity as of late, all the attention Superman can spare for him is to say is that he could care less about his opinion, or that Batman recruited him to be the team conscience. When Arrow admits that he's starting to become scared of Superman himself it's pretty understandable, especially since if Superman had just snapped then and there he could have blown Queen's brains out with the flick of a finger for talking back to him, or simply turned him to ash with a glance - not an unreasonable response from Lord Superman, who Superman teeters on the verge of becoming for the entire Cadmus arc.
* "Panic in the Sky." Just...just "Panic in the Sky." The League just lost control of their KillSat superweapon that they save for emergencies like the events of "Dark Heart," which they fear may have killed hundreds if not thousands of civilians. Understandably, the President is ''pissed'' about this and the founding members of the League, sans Batman, decide to submit to government custody until they can sort it out. While they're gone and the Watchtower is still out of commission, Cadmus sends [[Comicbook/PowerGirl Galatea]] and an army of Ultimen to attack the Watchtower and kill--not arrest, not defeat, ''KILL''--every last person on the Watchtower. That includes the non-powered civilians who run the Watchtower's everyday systems. In particular, we're treated to a group of those non-metahumans hiding in a safe room when one of the Shifter clones rips the door open, then transforms into a ''TyrannosaurusRex''. The workers are clearly ready to fight for their lives as they charge at her and the Ultimen are eventually defeated, but one shudders to think about [[EatenAlive what probably happened to them]].

* Seeing Amazo tear through the Justice League to get to Luthor. In space, he destroyed a fleet of Javelins and defeats nearly dozens of heroes including Green Lantern, Dr. Light, Captain Atom, and ''Superman himself''. In the sky, he goes through the second wave (Supergirl, Fire, Red Tornado, and Rocket Red) like tissue, during which he splits Red Tornado in half and destroys him. He doesn't even try in the last wave (Wonder Woman, Flash, Steel, and Ice). The thought of something that powerful existing is horrifying. [[spoiler:Dr. Fate was not kidding when he claimed Lex was saving the world.]]

** He gets a great one during the series premiere, tricking a pair of Imperium soldiers into cornering a few League members so he can get the drop on them from behind. He puts an intangible fist through each of their chests and goes solid. ''Ouch''. Lampshaded by the Flash who highlights how J'onn veers into being a straight up HorrifyingHero because of this.
-->'''Flash:''' Is it just me or does he creep you out too?
* While generally amusing, the entirety of "Legends" has some extremely creepy subtext; indeed, the fact that [[CrapsaccharineWorld the world is so bright and sunny]] makes it all the more frightening when you put together the pieces. [[spoiler:The ideal, idyllic 50's comic book fantasy world was created by [[TheDogWasTheMastermind Ray Thompson]], formerly a young child who had to experience his [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt entire world go up in flames]] [[WorldWarIII when a nuclear war broke out]], was [[TransformationHorror mutated by the radiation into]] [[BodyHorror some... inhuman... cancerous...]] ''[[HumanoidAbomination thing]]'', and was [[SanitySlippage driven so insane]] that the only way he could cope was by using [[RealityWarper his newfound psychic powers]] to create an [[LotusEaterMachine eternal happy dream world]] where none of this horrible tragedy ever happened.]]

* The scene in "Epilogue" involving eight-year-old [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond Terry]] and his parents walking from a movie and as they start to head home, [[WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm the Phantasm]] begins stalking them from behind. Upon getting closer, she raises her hook hand, moments away from killing Terry's mom and dad, all to give Terry the motivation he needed to become the next Batman. Even more NightmareFuel when you learn that the Phantasm was ordered to kill Terry's parents so Terry could experience the same pain that Bruce did so he'd take up the mantle and was real close to doing so.
** Also a rare case of EvenEvilHasStandards being invoked to avert Nightmare Fuel. The Phantasm is willing to murder unsuspecting strangers but, when it comes right down to it, can't bring herself to traumatize an eight-year-old for life.

* Tala's screams as she's being used up in Luthor's attempt to revive Brainiac in "Alive!" (The show-runners even admitted ''they'' were unsettled by this, even ''after'' having toned it down considerably from the original recordings.)
** Immediately before this, when Tala begs Lex to spare her for betraying him to Grodd, she tells him she's "a sick person." When she realizes he planned on using her up even ''before'' she betrayed him, he coldly replies, "I'm a sick person, too."
*** And she ends up releasing Darkseid, ''endangering Earth'', just to screw Lex out of possessing Brainiac and for spurning her.

** The part where he deals with the Imperium, grabbing the tentacles ''still embedded into his own body'' and dragging it into the sunlight. We see the Imperium's outer layers starting to form bubbles that quickly burst, like a hyper-skin irritation, like boils, and as it screams, J'onn delivers the line: "You live in the shadows, and shun the light. Why? ''Does it '''burn''' your '''putrid skin'''?''"

* While generally amusing, the entirety of "Legends" has some extremely creepy subtext; indeed, the fact that [[CrapsaccharineWorld the world is so bright and sunny]] makes it all the more frightening when you put together the pieces. [[spoiler:The ideal, idyllic 50's comic book fantasy world was created by [[TheDogWasTheMastermind Ray Thompson]], formerly a young child who had to experience his [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt entire world go up in flames]] [[WorldWarIII when a nuclear war broke out]], was [[TransformationHorror mutated by the radiation into]] [[BodyHorror some... inhuman... cancerous...]] ''[[HumanoidAbomination thing]]'', and was [[SanitySlippage driven so insane]] that the only he could cope was by using [[RealityWarper his newfound psychic powers]] to create an [[LotusEaterMachine eternal happy dream world]] where none of this ever happened.]]

** Also, Lord!Batman asking "Do you smell something burning?" right before a cut to where we see the burned remains of the Oval Office desk and Superman standing next to it, which lets us know that, yes, he did blast Luthor.
** What he says to Lord!Batman and Lord!Wonder Woman right after makes it a LOT worse. [[spoiler:"''[[WhamLine I'm great.]]''"]]
** Lord!Superman ''lobotomizes'' Doomsday. The matter-of-fact way in which he does it and the speed in which Doomsday goes from being relatively well-spoken to drooling are equally chilling.

** Lord!Batman. The biggest nightmare in all this is that Batman himself has [[FaceHeelTurn turned over to the dark side]]. That in itself is scary enough (this is the guy who sees the Justice League, ''all of the Justice League'', as a countermeasure to himself). But what's scarier is that after Lord!Superman [[spoiler:vaporizes Lex Luthor]], all he offers is a disinterested "Well. It had to be done." He has no sadness, no revulsion towards Lord!Superman breaking one of their central tenets; in fact, he sees [[spoiler:Superman killing Luthor]] as a necessary move. If [[spoiler:ThouShaltNotKill]] was ever a principle for this version of the character, he abandoned it before even [[spoiler:Superman]].
** Then there's Flash telling Lord!Superman that he couldn't kill him, since the death of ''his'' Flash was what started everything, and that even now he wouldn't go that far.
-->'''Lord!Superman''': I've done a lot of things I've never thought I'd do these last two years. [[spoiler:One more won't hurt.]]

* One of the scenes in the Justice Lords episode "A Better World" has the League visit the alternate Arkham. Many villains, particularly Batman villains, are acting very much out of character. Then, you notice two small dots on all of their heads. Then, you recall what Lord!Superman did to Doomsday. Oh, and Scarface's dots are on the dummy, not on the ventriloquist.
** The first person who is revealed to have been lobotomized by Lord!Superman is the Joker, who is now the secretary of Arkham Asylum. Hearing his voice and seeing his appearance to be so calm, almost serene, it really drew an unsettling feeling considering we're used to seeing him as a psychopathic, murdering clown. Who would've thought one way for the Joker to be scarier was to calm him down?

* When Green Arrow tries to call out Superman in 'Flashpoint" on seriously considering burning a government agency to the ground and generally putting himself and the team above humanity as of late, all the attention Superman can spare for him is to say is that he could care less about his opinion, or that Batman recruited him to be the team conscience. When Arrow admits that he's starting to become scared of Superman himself it's pretty understandable, especially since if Superman had just snapped then and there he could have blown Queen's brains out with the flick of a finger for talking back to him, or simply turned him to ash with a glance - not an unreasonable response from Lord!Superman, who Superman teeters on the verge of becoming for the entire Cadmus arc.

* While generally amusing, the entirety of "Legends" has some extremely creepy subtext; indeed, the fact that the world is so bright and sunny makes it all the more frightening when you put together the pieces. The ideal, idyllic 50's comic book fantasy world was created by a young child who had to experience his entire world go up in flames when a nuclear war broke out, was mutated by the fallout into some...inhuman...cancerous...''thing'', and was driven so insane that the only he could cope was by using his newfound psychic powers to create an eternal happy dream world where none of this ever happened.
** TheReveal of the real world is chilling when you consider how close [[RealLife our world]] has come to that and that it could still end up as such.

* There is a (relatively) minor one in "Eclipsed" with the soldier who is possessed at the beginning: this guy wakes up and learns that he killed his whole unit, with whom he seemed rather close. Especially since the last time we see him in the episode he's still held responsible for it.
** The song people possessed by the Dark Heart sing starts out kinda [[{{Narm}} narmy]] until everyone but Flash gets possessed and starts singing it. Combined with the dark, enclosed watchtower with no exits...really hammers home the oppressive nature.
* The nerd who performed the satanic ritual in "Wake the Dead" definitely got killed by Solomon Grundy.
* The scene in "Epilogue" involving eight-year-old [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond Terry]] and his parents walking from a movie and as they start to head home, [[WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm the Phantasm]] begins stalking them from behind. Upon getting closer, she raises her hook hand, moments away from killing Terry's mom and dad, all to give Terry the motivation he needed to become the next Batman. Even more NightmareFuel when you learn that the Phantasm was ordered to kill Terry's parents so Terry could experience the same pain that Bruce did so he'd take up the mantle and was real close to doing so.
** Also a rare case of EvenEvilHasStandards being invoked to avert Nightmare Fuel. The Phantasm is willing to murder unsuspecting strangers but, when it comes right down to it, can't bring herself to traumatize an eight-year-old for life.
* Amanda Waller, bad enough she proved she knew Batman's secret identity the first time they met. But every single time she talks about the clones or mutated soldiers Cadmus created, she's always got one of the nastiest, [[PsychoticSmirk evil grins]] ever seen. They're weapons for deployment, nothing more.
* When Green Arrow tries to call out Superman in 'Flashpoint" on seriously considering burning a government agency to the ground and generally putting himself and the team above humanity as of late, all the attention Superman can spare for him is to say is that he could care less about his opinion, or that Batman recruited him to be the team conscience. When Arrow admits that he's starting to become scared of Superman himself it's pretty understandable, especially since if Superman had just snapped then and there he could have blown Queen's brains out with the flick of a finger for talking back to him, or simply turned him to ash with a glance - not an unreasonable response from Lord!Superman, who Superman teeters on the verge of becoming for the entire Cadmus arc.
* "Panic in the Sky." Just...just "Panic in the Sky." The League just lost control of their KillSat superweapon that they save for emergencies like the events of "Dark Heart," which they fear may have killed hundreds if not thousands of civilians. Understandably, the President is ''pissed'' about this and the founding members of the League, sans Batman, decide to submit to government custody until they can sort it out. While they're gone and the Watchtower is still out of commission, Cadmus sends [[Comicbook/PowerGirl Galatea]] and an army of Ultimen to attack the Watchtower and kill--not arrest, not defeat, ''KILL''--every last person on the Watchtower. That includes the non-powered civilians who run the Watchtower's everyday systems. In particular, we're treated to a group of those non-metahumans hiding in a safe room when one of the Shifter clones rips the door open, then transforms into a ''TyrannosaurusRex''. The workers are clearly ready to fight for their lives as they charge at her and the Ultimen are eventually defeated, but one shudders to think about [[EatenAlive what probably happened to them]].

Sweet dreams, Tropers....

** He gets a great one during the series premiere, tricking a pair of Imperium soldiers into cornering a few League members so he can get the drop on them from behind. He puts an intangible fist through each of their chests and goes solid. ''Ouch''.

** Whenever Superman cries out in pain and images flash past, it's probably a good idea not to pause the video and look at them. Some of them are truly terrifying.

** Start with Ichthultu himself, an {{Expy}} of [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Cthulhu]], which appears as a monstrous skull-like apparition with [[GlowingEyesOfDoom flaming eyes]] and CombatTentacles.

** He gets a great one during the series premiere, tricking a pair of White Martians into cornering a few League members so he can get the drop on them from behind. He puts an intangible fist through each of their chests and goes solid. ''Ouch''.