History NightmareFuel / SuperMarioBros

** ''NightmareFuel/LuigisMansion1''

* In the first game, whenever you access a sky bonus area, the cheerful invincibility theme plays. In this game, however, such areas, as well as the World 5 sky area and [[WarpZone "World 9"]], get a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibjNly0E_gk very eerie and ethereal theme]], which is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3W_fVQdObA doubled down on]] in the ''All-Stars'' version.
** [[NightmareRetardant Of course]], there are some who find it [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic quite beautiful]] instead.

* In ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'', Bowser falls into lava in the first world. Not much different from what happened at the end of every single castle in the original ''Super Mario Bros''... until the game proceeds to show him ''[[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath desperately flailing in the lava, and emerging with all of his flesh melted off]]''. Totally unexpected and freaky as all get-out.

* You know how in ''[=SMB1=]'', when you defeat the fake Bowser at the end of a castle, you then go to the hallway in the back and a Toad thanks you for rescuing him while informing you that "Your princess is in another castle"? ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand'' does a pretty cruel twist on it. You defeat the boss in World 1-3, 2-3, or 3-3, go into the hallway behind them, and as sappy music plays you see what appears to be Daisy at first...[[JumpScare only for her to reveal that she's actually an enemy monster in disguise]] while the music changes to a much more sinister jingle.
-->"THANK YOU MARIO!" \\
"OH DAISY"
* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZm5cXRShO4 U.S. commercial]] for ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins''. Before Wario was portrayed as the greedy AntiHero character he is today, the U.S. portrayed him in a way that made most young gamers afraid of him. It depicts Wario hypnotizing the denizens of Mario Land to follow him and turn against Mario (and thus kicking off the game's plot), all set to a creepy "hypnosis" sound effect.
-->Obey Wario! ''Destroy Mario!''
* ''Super Mario Land 2'' doesn't really have much scary stuff in it, even in the ghost-themed Pumpkin Zone. Except for one bizarre enemy in the boss stage of said zone called [[https://www.mariowiki.com/Pikku Pikku]], which looks like a cross between a leech and a headless fish, and simply bounces back and forth while frantically wiggling. Just what the hell ''is'' that thing?!

** Seaside Town is creepy. When you arrive, your first clue that something is amiss is hearing the same [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgMX2780ki8 ominous music]] that played when Mushroom Kingdom and Rose Town were invaded by Smithy's forces. In the former two places, it was obvious right away what was going on. In Seaside Town, however, it's not clear at first what the problem is. Just that ''something'' is off. The toads in the town all have an unusual grey appearance and seem to have trouble speaking properly, with frequent pauses in their sentences, and they behave strangely in general. Special mention goes to when you rest up at the inn. After waking up in bed, you see that the innkeeper has been standing there watching you sleep, before he runs out of the room.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PN0XQIe6cg Kero Sewers]] theme. Backed by an OminousPipeOrgan, it's very eerie and gives a feeling of desolation in such a dark, underground area. It also plays in Land's End, which is a {{Palette Swap}}ped- Kero Sewers, in the depths of the Moleville Coal Mines that have become infested with enemies, and inside the cave areas of the Sea before you find the Sunken Ship.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kAkh0s4UGc Kero Sewers]] theme. Backed by an OminousPipeOrgan, it's very eerie and gives a feeling of desolation in such a dark, underground area. It also plays in Land's End, which is a {{Palette Swap}}ped- Kero Sewers, in the depths of the Moleville Coal Mines that have become infested with enemies, and inside the cave areas of the Sea before you find the Sunken Ship.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kAkh0s4UGc Kero Sewers]] theme. Backed by an OminousPipeOrgan, it's very eerie and gives a feeling of desolation in such a dark, underground area. It also plays in Land's End, which is a {{Palette Swap}}ped- Kero Sewers, and in the depths of the Moleville Coal Mines that have become infested with enemies.

* In the first game, whenever you access a sky bonus area, the cheerful invincibility theme plays. In this game, however, such areas, as well as the World 5 sky area and [[WarpZone "World 9"]], get a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibjNly0E_gk very eerie and ethereal theme]], which is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOeFxirk94o doubled down on]] in the ''All-Stars'' version.

* ''NightmareFuel/SuperMarioWorld'' (cartoon)

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_2855.JPG]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_159_1.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/furiousbowser.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Go to the beach", they said. "It'll be fun", they said...]]

** The Weapon Factory. It's an apocalyptic, [[TheNightThatNeverEnds sunless]], wind-ravaged, ghost-inhabited DeathWorld that's SurpriseCreepy compared to what's mostly been a bright, cheerful game up until now. The assembly lines are full of copies of Smithy's goons the player already defeated, revealing they weren't people but ''products'' which Smithy is now ''[[OhCrap mass-producing]]'' in preparation for an invasion. The player immediately understands the Weapon Factory is [[HostileTerraforming what the Mushroom World will become]] should Smithy win. In the end, the heroes don't even fix Smithy's world once they beat him; the damage is too far done and they have to leave the place as-is, simply cutting off access to it with Exor's destruction.

* "Be Afraid of the Dark" is [[SurpriseCreepy a terrifying level in a cutesy, charming game]]. The level's primary enemies are [[TheJuggernaut invincible]] MonsterClown ragdolls with axes chasing you throughout the stage. They can pop out from the background at any moment, make a [[HellIsThatNoise horrific screeching sound when doing so]], [[JumpScare and one moment has them appear]] ''[[JumpScare en masse]]'' [[JumpScare when you hit a winged cloud]]. Even worse is the atmosphere, since almost everything is dark and dreary, and even the ''text boxes'' are ominous jumbled phrases that would feel more at home in a psychological horror game. And to top it all off, there's [[SymbolicBlood red paint on the walls]] as a stand-in for blood.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[JoinTheArmyTheySaid "Go to the beach", they said. "It'll be fun", they said...]]]]

With a series as iconic and [[LongRunner long-running]] as his, Mario has obviously run into his fair share of frights, as these examples will attest to.

* The final boss fight first starts off with a regular Bowser-on-the-bridge boss fight. Mario looks up to what appears to be Peach, a remix of [=SMB1=]'s ending music playing... before it starts LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand, unveiling Kamek in a Peach disguise. He gets on his broomstick and gives Bowser some magic...the ground starts shaking. Kamek looks down, wondering what's happening... and then, Bowser ''springs up'', looking tremendously giant, his eyes ''glowing'' [[RedEyesTakeWarning a blood red]], and he is truly livid. He starts chasing Mario down relentlessly in a mindless rage, with intense orchestral music playing and only becoming even more intense in the second phase... and it's [[HellIsThatNoise his ungodly roar that really sells it]].

* World 6, Ice Land, has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8LnHIODRMM an incredibly eerie theme]] which stands out from the rest of the game's soundtrack. In stark contrast to the jolly and peaceful music and atmosphere most ice levels in the series seem to be made with in mind, it has a terrifying feeling of isolation that sounds appropriate for being trapped and lost in a blizzard. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPJ14CtNN24 All-Stars version]] isn't any better, and it's appropriate [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5CnaZemxA4 it'd be remixed again]] for when Mario receives threatening emails from an unknown stalker in ''The Thousand-Year Door''.

[[folder:1993 movie]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/super_mario_bros_movie_nightmare_fuel.jpg]]
* Daniella and Daisy's kidnappings are played to scary effect, as Iggy and Spike grab them when they think they're safe; Daniella's is worse because it happens just after Mario leaves and her screams are cut off when they gag her. Worse, Iggy and Spike had been kidnapping other girls off-screen, and the residents of Brooklyn have no idea who took them and why.
* Koopa attempts to seduce Daisy in an incredibly creepy manner, talking about how fresh and clean she is while telling her she really belongs in the world of dinosaurs. His appearance gradually gets less human over time, including a more prominent forehead and a long lizard tongue, and when he moves in to kiss her Daisy, understandably, screams and forces him away. (Early drafts suggest he was attempting to ''rape'' her.)
* The brothers dissolving between dimensions. Mario was conscious of the fact that he ''disintegrated'', and there's a lengthy shot of him falling between worlds without any solid ground above or beneath him.
* Koopa's TransformationRay, which can de-evolve his prisoners into their evolutionary ancestors or worse. When the machine is first seen and activated, Toad's head is shoved into it, where his face is repeatedly stretched and grotesquely warped out of shape as the rays rewrite his DNA into a Goomba's. Toad's screams of agony make it very clear that this process is ''not'' pleasant.
** Made even worse in the [[https://youtu.be/M1kzWq20a9I?t=136 deleted scene]] where a technician gets devolved into primordial slime and sloshes out of the chair and onto the floor. As Koopa puts it, "it's [[FateWorseThanDeath more than just death]]--it's being... undone". The reason Koopa had the guy devolved: ''He sneezed''. We get that Koopa is a germaphobe, but it kinda makes you wonder how many people he had slaughtered for even the slightest "infraction".
* Halfway through the movie, Lena is fed up with Daisy and Koopa's interest in her and attempts to kill her with a knife. Daisy is barely able to stop the blade from going in, and when Yoshi rescues Daisy by grabbing Lena with his tongue, she retaliates by stabbing him in the neck and getting away. It's very intense, especially for kids, and is made worse by the MoodWhiplash of jumping back and forth from this scene to a funny scene of dancing Goombas in the elevator.
* After Yoshi helps Daisy escape, she runs down a hallway and into Toad the Goomba, who is shot by another Goomba's flamethrower and set on fire. Daisy is horrified, and it's made worse by the practical effects used and that despite being turned into a mindless brute Toad is clearly in pain and scared.
* After Lena succeeds in reuniting the meteorite piece with the meteor, energy flows across her, briefly showing her skeleton. Then she's suddenly flung into the wall and disintegrates into a skeleton, literally fossilized by the meteor energy.
* When the Bob-Omb blows up, Koopa is already half de-evolved into a dinosaur by this point and looks ''very'' freaky as he has claws, a reptilian head, and a too-wide mouth with MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily but still retains a humanoid body. When he's launched into the bucket, there's a very effective pause as all you can hear are faint rattling noises, before a sudden JumpScare of his Tyrannosaurus form lunging out, its mouth filling the screen.
* After retrieving the meteorite at the night club, Lena swallows a worm that she's using like a cocktail olive. Except that the worm ''pleads for mercy as she drinks and then lets out a dying scream when she swallows it''. It's not made any better when you realize it's a ShoutOut to ''Film/TheFly1958''.
* The city itself is pretty terrifying, especially for anyone expecting the bright, cheery Mushroom Kingdom of the games. It's dark, fungus-infected (and the fungus is ''sentient'', albeit helpful), and full off strange devices and hostile people. It also has more than a few things in common with a police state, given how Toad is arrested for singing an anti-Koopa song and prisoners are hung from the ceiling in cages. Oh, and at least one form of punishment is for prisoners to be de-evolved into hulking monsters to work for the very people who did this all to them.
[[/folder]]

* "Be Afraid of the Dark" is [[SurpriseCreepy a terrifying level in a cutesy, charming game]]. The level's primary enemies are [[TheJuggernaut invincible]] MonsterClown ragdolls [[AnAxeToGrind with axes]] chasing you throughout the stage. They can pop out from the background at any moment, make a [[HellIsThatNoise horrific screeching sound when doing so]], [[JumpScare and one moment has them appear]] ''[[JumpScare en masse]]'' [[JumpScare when you hit a winged cloud]]. Even worse is the atmosphere, since almost everything is dark and dreary, and even the ''text boxes'' are ominous jumbled phrases that would feel more at home in a psychological horror game. And to top it all off, there's [[SymbolicBlood red paint on the walls]] as a stand-in for blood.

** [[NightmareRetardant Of course]], there are some who find it [[AwesomeMusic quite beautiful]] instead.

** [[NightmareRetardant Of course]], there are some who find it quite beautiful instead.

* The final boss fight first starts off with a regular Bowser-on-the-bridge boss fight. Mario looks up to what appears to be Peach, a remix of [=SMB1=]'s ending music playing... before it starts LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand, unveiling Kamek in a Peach disguise. He gets on his broomstick and gives Bowser some magic...the ground starts shaking. Kamek looks down, wondering what's happening... and then, Bowser ''springs up'', looking tremendously giant, his eyes ''glowing'' [[RedEyesTakeWarning a blood red]], and he is '''''TRULY LIVID.''''' He starts chasing Mario down relentlessly in a mindless rage, with intense orchestral music playing and only becoming even more intense in the second phase... and it's [[HellIsThatNoise his ungodly roar that really sells it]].

* Koopa's TransformationRay, which can de-evolve his prisoners into their evolutionary ancestors or worse is nothing short of terrifying.
** What is especially scary is that Koopa originally needed a big room to use it, but by the end of the movie, his soldiers were using hand-held versions of this deadly machine. That's right, Koopa ''weaponised'' this device and intended to ''use'' it!
** Altogether, we witness the devo-machine/guns in use no fewer than six times (seven if you include the deleted scene). '''None''' of them are pleasant.
*** First up is Toad, i.e. the man who Mario and Luigi were arrested with for singing an Anti-Koopa song. Here we witness the effects of the machine in all of its horrifying detail. The scene starts with Toad, now wearing a military uniform identical to Koopa's up until now hidden guards, handcuffed to a moving chair so that he cannot escape. When the machine is activated, Toad's head is shoved into it, where a series of flashing lights and computer programmes rewrite the structure of his head and brain. Toad's face is repeatedly stretched and grotesquely warped out of shape as the rays ''literally'' rewrite his DNA. Toad's screams of agony make it very clear that this process is ''not'' pleasant.
*** The next victim, is shown in the [[https://youtu.be/M1kzWq20a9I?t=136 deleted scene]] where a technician gets devolved into primordial slime and sloshes out of the chair and onto the floor. As Koopa puts it, "it's [[FateWorseThanDeath more than just death]]--it's being... undone". The reason Koopa had the guy devolved: ''He sneezed''. We get that Koopa is a germaphobe, but it kinda makes you wonder how many people he had slaughtered for even the slightest "infraction".
*** Next up is Koopa himself. After witnessing what he did to Toad (and the technician) the brother's seize the chance to not only try and stop Koopa, but give him a taste of his own medicine. When the evil King let's his guard down, they shove him into the machine, knock out his guards and the machines crew, then turn the contraption on. After shoving Koopa's head into it, the brothers make their escape. Fortunately for Koopa, his followers come around just seconds after his head was stuffed into the device and he is quickly removed from it. Even so, Koopa's eyes momentarily take on a reptilian appearance and it is clear that just a few seconds in the machine was enough to effect him somewhat. Many fans have speculated that this was why he had the pointy tongue and warping flesh when he met with Daisy. It could also account, for why he became more ruthless.
*** When Iggy and Spike fail at yet another mission, Koopa places his own ''cousins'' into the machine. Made even wore by the fact that they apparently gave him the idea by essentially pointing out that they don't use their brains. Fortunately, unlike the other victims of the machine, Iggy and Spike were "Evolved" to the "Advanced" setting in order to increase their intelligence. Not only did this save their lives, it also led to their HeelFaceTurn.
*** Next up is Mario and Luigi's rival Anthony Scapeli, who is de-evolved into a chimpanzee like monkey. Unlike the rest of Koopa's victims, there is not indication at the end that he will ever get better. What is worse, is that even though he was somewhat of an antagonist and not very well liked by anyone but his minions, almost everybody present ''laughed'' at him following his transformation.
*** Last but not least, is Koopa again. After having his plans foiled, the evil King flies into a berserkers rage and tries to kill both Mario and Luigi. Toad however, gave Luigi a pair of devo-guns before the fight. After narrowly avoiding a flaming projectile, the brothers fire the two guns. Probably due to the fact that he was having two guns used on him simultaneously and had already been subjected to some rays previously, Koopa is affected differently than any of his over victims. He changes from a man into a humanoid dinosaur, complete with clawed hands and a big slasher grin. When the Bob-omb detonates underneath him, Koopa is thrown into the air mid transformation and lands in giant container. He emerges as a fully transformed ''Tyrannosaurus rex''. After using a phrase Koopa had previously used on Toad ("See ya later alligator"), Mario and Luigi subject the dinosaur to a second dosage of radiation. At first it appears to merely warp him further back along the T rex evolutionary line but then Koopa leans over the side of the grait. Instead of falling out, he transforms into a huge glob of slime, which appears to groan as the former King suffers, to use his own words, a FateWorseThanDeath. To put it simply, the Brothers don't just defeat Koopa, they liquidised him!
* The knowledge of the Devo-machine also opens our eyes to the horrifying reality of the Goomba's. Unlike in the games they are weak little mushrooms, but large humanoid creatures, with grotesquely small reptilian heads. These were men and women who once spoke out against Koopa. For their defiance, they were forcefully transformed into dumb beasts who now blindly follow the very man they once spoke out against.
** This also puts Toad's last scene as a human into frightening perspective. He had to change into that outfit knowing full well what was about to happen to him. It does make his last words as human slightly awesome however, as he used this opportunity to remain DefiantToTheEnd.

* The final boss fight first starts off with a regular Bowser-on-the-bridge boss fight. Mario looks up to what appears to be Peach, a remix of [=SMB1=]'s ending music playing... before it starts LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand, unveiling Kamek in a Peach disguise. He gets on his broomstick and gives Bowser some magic...the ground starts shaking. Kamek looks down, wondering what's happening... and then, Bowser ''springs up'', looking tremendously huge, his eyes ''glowing'' [[RedEyesTakeWarning a blood red]], and he's '''''very pissed.''''' He starts chasing Mario down relentlessly in a mindless rage, with intense orchestral music playing and only becoming even more intense in the second phase...and it's [[HellIsThatNoise his roar that really sells it]].

%%* ''Mario Teaches Typing 2'', like ''Mario 64'', featured the floating disembodied head of Mario. Unlike the ''Mario 64'' version, this one goes back and forth between [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments cracking jokes and being amusing]], to being [[UncannyValley just plain unsettling]] at times.

* Koopa attempts to seduce Daisy in an incredibly creepy manner, talking about how fresh and clean she is while telling her she really belongs in the world of dinosaurs. His appearance gradually gets [[UncannyValley less human]] over time, including a more prominent forehead and a long lizard tongue, and when he moves in to kiss her Daisy, understandably, screams and forces him away. (Early drafts suggest he was attempting to ''rape'' her.)

-->--'''Captain Toad''' ''VideoGame/CaptainToadTreasureTracker''