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4[[quoteright:350:[[Film/RobotMonster https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_robotmonster5_7477.jpg]]]]
5[[caption-width-right:350:"I am Ro-Man of the Gorilla Divers Association!"]]
6
7->''"I think this video's supposed to be like, freaking us out, but like, I'm unfreaked. In fact, this video is making me feel totally normal."''
8-->-- ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'' regarding Music/{{Silverchair}}'s "Tomorrow" music video.
9
10The polar opposite of AccidentalNightmareFuel: Something meant to be truly terrifying (or at least somewhat frightening or disturbing) which instead comes off as stupid, laughable, cute, or all of them. As with NightmareFuel, examples will often be subjective; what one may consider this, [[NarmCharm another may still find terrifying as heck]]. Often caused by SpecialEffectsFailure or StockSoundEffects; sometimes, for older titles with now-outdated special effects, it can simply be an example of said effects visibly aging. Also often unintentionally invoked when a character looks or sounds like a less frightening character from another work. Of course, when used intentionally, it could be an IntendedAudienceReaction.
11
12May be caused by, or be the cause of, VillainDecay.
13
14Many B-movie creature features, especially those featured on [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]], were chock full of this since most of them had very low budgets and had to rely on puppets and guys wearing carpets over their heads for their creature effects.
15
16On the other hand, this effect can be deliberately invoked by the artists. For instance, there can be scenes of horror and of menacing evil, but it can be countered with reassuring images and music as powerful heroes learn of the menace or are otherwise called into action to stop it. Or the work is child friendly and any potentially frightening elements are [[{{Bowdlerise}} Bowdlerised]] to avoid scaring the kids watching. It can also be done InUniverse, usually to comedic effect or to show that the character being frightened by the non-scary thing is a wimp (such as a character having an AbsurdPhobia).
17
18Compare FauxHorrific, which involves horrified reactions to mundane objects and occurrences played for comedic effect. Contrast NothingIsScarier, which is a possible way to avert this trope by not showing the monster at all and letting the characters — and audience — scare themselves with the fantasy of what it might be. For InUniverse examples, see FailedAttemptAtScaring.
19
20See also {{Narm}}. Compare FetishRetardant for the {{Fanservice}} equivalent, and contrast LightmareFuel where the horror aspect is made fun of but still manages to be scary.
21
22----
23!!Example subpages:
24
25[[index]]
26* NightmareRetardant/{{Creepypasta}}
27* [[NightmareRetardant/LiveActionFilms Films — Live-Action]]
28* NightmareRetardant/VideoGames
29** ''NightmareRetardant/FiveNightsAtFreddys''
30*** ''NightmareRetardant/FiveNightsAtFreddys1''
31*** ''NightmareRetardant/FiveNightsAtFreddys2''
32* NightmareRetardant/WebOriginal
33* NightmareRetardant/WesternAnimation
34[[/index]]
35
36!!Other examples:
37[[foldercontrol]]
38
39[[folder:Advertising]]
40* One advertisement for Traveler's Insurance has a rattlesnake surprising a hare...except that its rattle was a ''baby rattle''. Cue the hare falling over with laughter and other hares coming out and laughing as well. The snake is understandably mortified.[[note]]Ignore that [[ArtisticLicense the rattler isn't the end that makes them dangerous, nor do they use it when hunting prey]].[[/note]]
41* "Advertising/KFee", a German brand of coffee, had a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFsiSxDKgKM TV advertising campaign]] with several adverts featuring several peaceful and tranquil locations... until the peace is broken at the last second when a [[JumpScare zombie or gargoyle suddenly pops up from nowhere and lets out a loud, monstrous scream]].[[note]]The campaign's tagline was "Ever been so wide awake?"[[/note]] In the following year, however, parodies of three of the adverts were made to promote the new "K-fee Lite", which had men in silly costumes popping up at the end instead of the more realistic zombie or gargoyle screaming. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ6YhhfCexM car parody]] had a man in a girly outfit slowly rising up and saying "Boo" in a casual voice. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc5n_7aPM8s sunset beach parody]] featured a man in a teddy bear costume also saying "Boo", and the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoUgSQV6l44 golf parody]] features a man in a sort of demon costume making a silly roaring noise, with the top part of his head and antennas visible throughout the advert before he actually pops up.
42* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZreEBnqlZlk This]] PublicServiceAnnouncement made by ''Greenpeace'', despite being called "frightening" in the description of the upload, is far more likely to cause the viewer to laugh. It shows a [[SpecialEffectFailure badly edited-in]] plane crashing into a nuclear power plant for no reason at all, cutting off to imply that it caused a nuclear accident, but the power stations are built with thick walls to prevent such accidents from happening.
43[[/folder]]
44
45[[folder:Anime]]
46* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': As terrifying as the titular Titans can be, the appearances, expressions, and actions they can get up to will often make taking them seriously almost impossible if they're not currently trying to eat someone. Like the titan who poses like he's channeling [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure DIO]], or the [[https://i.redd.it/mbuvpqv1u7x21.gif one who runs making finger gun motions.]]
47* ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'':
48** Belial Vamdemon from ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' ([=MaloMyotismon=] in the dub). In addition to looking completely stupid, he just ''stands there and gets pummelled'' like a moron before [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath literally being killed by the power of children's dreams]].
49** And his Venom Vamdemon form in [[Anime/DigimonAdventure the first season]] wasn't much better, acting mainly like a fairly bland and stupid kaijuu wannabe with a supernatural backstory... up until the "crotch monster" came out. Then it divided everyone between freakish dismay and immature giggling.
50** Apocalymon. His quips in the dub make him the most pathetic BigBad in the series until Belial Vamdemon. To be fair, he is probably just utterly insane and LaughablyEvil. Still, some of his lines are pure fourth-wall-breaking awesome.
51* As creepy or scary as some of the dungeon monsters in ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'' are, it's hard to stay intimidated after you see them cooked into delicious FoodPorn.
52* ''Anime/HellsingUltimate'', while awesome in many ways, would probably have been a lot more frightening if it weren't for all the GratuitousEnglish. The upbeat drums during the Nazis butchering Londoners while the [[BigBad Major]] er...ate lunch...[[Manga/DeathNote epic]][[MundaneMadeAwesome ally?]] rather killed the scariness you'd expect of Nazi vampires killing random Londoners and reviving them as cannibal zombies. This display of callous brutality and the deaths of thousands of noncombatants at the hands of vampires was accompanied by a cheerful drum beat and a chorus of ''"AKUMA STALKING, DO DO DO DO!"'' SoundtrackDissonance much?
53* Random Security Guard Guy being squished with ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' blood-spray in ''Anime/WXIIIPatlaborTheMovie3''. It actually won an award in a magazine for being the most hilarious death of the year.
54* ''Manga/{{Gantz}}'' is not scary or horrifying at all, in spite of the egregious amounts of gore. This is mainly due to the fact that, first off, the English dub borders on GagDub territory, and second off the series is already slightly BlackComedy to begin with. The manga, on the other hand, is A LOT less campy and a lot more disturbing.
55* ''Anime/MazingerZ'': Count Brocken's appearance--a man whose head and body are split apart, and the former constantly hovers around the later, talking, laughing and screaming--was meant be frightening (in the manga he got Kouji reaaally scared when he showed up for the first time; and in the anime [[TheDragon Baron Ashura]] initially thought it a bodyless ghost). Buuuut in the manga Boss managed to grab his head when he got distracted, and Kouji and his friends played fetch and Brocken Ball with it (think of it like soccer, but replacing the ball with Brocken's head. And the only rule is everyone wins. Except the ball). It was a tad ''hard'' taking him seriously after that. That scene did not happen in the anime, but on the other hand you had Brocken's head and body arguing with themselves--and the body punching the head--or Ashura grabbing his head and instead of bringing it back with the body, slapping him around. The "Brocken Ball" scene ''finally'' took place in ''Anime/ShinMazinger''. [[MemeticMutation It REALLY didn't help Brocken's reputation.]]
56* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
57** Pain is very hard to take seriously ever since [[ThisWasHisTrueForm his true form]] has been revealed: [[spoiler:an emaciated guy in a wheelchair with bright red hair that would make Carrot Top proud]]. Others can see his appearance as arguably even more scary and disturbing with the FridgeHorror attached. There's his [[MotiveRant Motive Rants]], which combined with excessive body piercings makes him sound like an EmoTeen. The terrible, ''terrible'' animation quality during the Pain arc did not help, of course.
58** Manga chapter 427, where he gets knocked across the room by [[spoiler: twelve-year-old comic relief character Konohamaru.]]... Of course, he later recovers from the hit and doesn't even need to repair that body.
59** Orochimaru is introduced as a thoroughly creepy character: eating people's faces off and taking on the role of an already creepy woman (?) and first making himself known by picking up a kunai knife with his ''tongue'' and talking about bloodlust because he lost some hair... which all comes into perspective after the Internet "outed" him as gay. His otherwise creepy Body Transfer Technique loses its scary appeal entirely when inside it. That tongue. ''His expression''.
60* The balloon monster from ''Manga/CorpsePrincess''. Sure, its bizarre marker-drawn face and creepy voice does slightly help it. What doesn't is its theme. Having an invisible balloon lightly wrap its string around its victim's neck to turn their happiness into a marshmallow monster doesn't exactly scream scary.
61* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
62** There is a creature known as Ayon, who is actually genuine Nightmare Fuel for the first few moments of its introduction. That is, until its ridiculous face is revealed (what we had thought was its face was more like a nose, and its eyes and mouth are hidden), and all fear is promptly forgotten, even as it starts tearing through Soul Reapers like butter and almost ''eats'' one of them.
63** Aizen has been going through some OneWingedAngel phases as of late. Unfortunately for him, these have only gotten sillier and sillier. The first one has garnered {{Fan Nickname}}s along the line of "Tube Sock Ninja" and "[[UnfortunateCharacterDesign Condomman]]" and led to jokes about how Creator/TiteKubo finally let his background artists design a character. The next was essentially him [[PowerMakesYourHairGrow with a mullet]], and as long as you focused on [[BlackEyesOfEvil his eyes]], only mildly {{Narm}}ful. But then he went and morphed into [[spoiler: a six-winged seraph with butterfly wings]], and his next comment was drowned out by the chorus of laughter from everyone reading. Made even funnier by the fact that his earlier comments about evolving into a superior being had earned him the FanNickname [[spoiler:Butterflyzen]], which [[HilariousInHindsight was suddenly perfectly appropriate]]. Thankfully, his final transformation [[spoiler:while fighting Ichigo]] went back to appropriately horrifying [[spoiler:when his face split open to reveal a Hollow-like monstrosity and his wings turned into part tentacle horror with eyeless mouths on the ends]].
64** When Tousen revealed he'd hollowfied, much of the dramatic impact was lost when his transformed version looked like a big ol' sperm.
65* In ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'', one of the lines [[spoiler: the Lieze twins]] says during said scene can be translated close to [[VideoGame/ZeroWing "you have no chance to survive make your time."]] Cue viewer going [[VideoGame/ZeroWing "Ha Ha Ha".]]
66* Maria's faces in the Anime adaptation of ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry''. The original visual novel succeeded in making Maria creepy through subtle expressions and description. That's not mentioning her head on a plate, that instead of creeping most fans out, inevitably reminded them of [[Music/{{Vocaloid}} Tako Luka]], and thus ended up being morbidly cute. The Anime decided to [[http://gargarstegosaurus.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/umineko3_15.jpg take a different route...]] (Warning: Link is not an example of this trope.)
67* In the translated version of ''Manga/TheEnigmaOfAmigaraFault'', the sound effect [[spoiler: DRR DRR DRR]] doesn't quite read in many people's minds the way the translator intended.
68* The monsters in ''Manga/MermaidSaga'' would have been a little ridiculous no matter what, given their ridiculously oversize eyes. The capital mistake, though, was to have the first one in the manga be a still-sentient [[TheWoobie Woobie]] with a speech impediment. It's hard to take the later {{Smash Mook}}s seriously at all. (To be fair, the primary fear here isn't being killed by one of these freaks, but [[BodyHorror turning into one of them]].)
69* ''Mimi no Kaidan'', illustrated by horror master Creator/JunjiIto, features some prime nightmare retardant. Works best on a small screen and out of context.
70* ''Anime/SailorMoon'':
71** All the MonstersOfTheWeek after season 3 might fall in this category.
72** Most female monsters in ''Sailor Moon'' after Season 1 fell into MsFanservice territory, regardless.
73** Almost every aspect of Tomoe's personality once the Witches 5 make the scene fits in, including his being [[BenevolentBoss the nicest evil boss]] in the series. Considering how he's TheFaceless (aside from ScaryShinyGlasses and a SlasherSmile) standing over phials full of SymbolicBlood and accompanied by a terrifying BGM, this was probably intentional just to keep the NightmareFuel in check.
74* In ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' much of the horror comes from not knowing what is causing all these horrible occurrences to happen and why. As the second season explains more and more, much of the original horror is lost. Perhaps most notably in finding out that the sinister deity Oyashiro-sama is in fact [[spoiler:Hanyuu, a CuteGhostGirl who just wanted to help all along.]] On a similar note, in both seasons, there are moments where the "crazy faces" kill the horror.
75* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'':
76** Charlotte's OneWingedAngel form in is a large worm made out of candy with a face that looks like a grinning clown (and not a SlasherSmile at that). It's thus hard to take seriously [[spoiler:until it devours Mami]] unless you are [[MonsterClown afraid of clowns.]] Though one could argue that its [[CuteIsEvil cute]] appearance made [[spoiler: biting Mami's head off]] a million times worse. [[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/File:Charlotte-manga.jpg The manga version]] is slightly less nightmare retardant.
77** The Witches and their labyrinths can turn into this. While the imagery is supposed to give off a feeling of other-worldliness, it's hard to take seriously when it most of the designs look they were lifted from ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''.
78* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'':
79** Rei Ayanami was meant to be creepy, and probably is. Suffices to say that she has an entry at the {{Moe}} page.
80** Kaworu was also meant to be unsettling. He ended up [[EnsembleDarkhorse becoming a fan favorite]] and many people were actually ''happy'' he showed up because of how utterly depressing the [[DespairEventHorizon series had gotten.]]
81** ''End of Evangelion'' is meant to be terrifying, with [[spoiler:everyone dissolving into LCL and becoming [[AssimilationPlot assimilated into a single consciousness]].]] Except that LCL looks like orange juice. Cue the [[spoiler:"everyone melts into Tang"]] meme.
82* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'':
83** There's an example almost certainly done on purpose. [[spoiler: Mysterious old man Onji, who had just effortlessly beaten Kuwabara, ''[[NightmareFuel rips off his face like a mask]]''...and then, in a puff of cartoonish pink smoke, reveals himself as [[VillainousHarlequin "The Beautiful Demon Fighter" Suzuki]].]] The horror of both the characters and the audience is instantly replaced with hilarious incredulity.
84** Done again the first time we see Puu. We find out that the egg that Yusuke got when he was dead is about to hatch. Koenma goes on to warn him how even he doesn't know what will come out, or what it will do. Yusuke stands to face whatever is about to appear. The egg hatches, he looks around. [[spoiler: The spirit 'beast' is an ''adorable'' blue penguin with Yusuke's hairstyle. It is perched on his head.]]
85* Mentioned in ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'' by Aozaki in Paradox Spiral on how not to make it a monster a NightmareRetardant, one of those rules being that the monster has to be something that is unknowable.
86* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
87** In ''Anime/Pokemon4ever'', when Celebi is turned evil, it creates a giant dragon-esque monster made of forest debris. Any chance of it being frightening is destroyed by the extremely dated CGI and the odd, awkward bellowing sound it makes.
88** Guzzlord is one of the most horrifying looking Pokémon and the two-part episode it first appeared in is arguably one of the darkest episodes in the ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoon''. What it sounds in the Japanese version however painfully tries to be terrifying but instead the screams it makes are downright laughable and unfitting. Even worse is that people widely compared it to ''[[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry Tom's screams]] of all things'', making the fear factor die out even more.
89* The climax of ''Anime/TamagotchiTheMovie'' involves Mametchi and Tanpopo [[spoiler:very nearly being sucked into a black hole in space; the black hole is itself a Tamagotchi, so everyone on Tamagotchi Planet shouts "Please wake up, Blackholetchi!" to save them. Blackholetchi, when he finally does wake up and realizes what's going on, resembles a giant space squid and has an equally goofy voice on top of being as friendly as most other Tamagotchis.]]
90[[/folder]]
91
92[[folder:Comic Books]]
93* ''ComicBook/AmbushBug'': One issue featured Quantis, the koala that walks like a man who is really [[spoiler:Dr Quentin Quantis turned into a giant koala thanks to a serum containing the essence of cuteness]]. This [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever giant marsupial]] even has the authorities going "Aaaaaw!" rather than trying to destroy it. It sounds really funny doesn't it? Then there's the fact that it goes "Niknak!".
94* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'': The ComicBook/RedSkull had the same problem in UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}}, with his skull-shaped space-station (red, of course). It wasn't as scary as he likely wanted it to be, probably the reason he got rid of such stuff in more modern times.
95* ''ComicBook/IronMan'': In a word, [[ComicBook/{{MODOK}} M.O.D.O.K.]]. When A.I.M. first created this guy, a mutated, ugly head with small arms and legs on a high-tech chair with the brain of an EvilGenius, he ''was'' pretty intimidating. Unfortunately, VillainDecay made him more and more ridiculous, even more so when they introduced a DistaffCounterpart called "M.O.D.A.M.". M.O.D.O.K. has since become an IneffectualSympatheticVillain, whose Crowning Moment of Stupidity [[TooDumbToLive was likely challenging Thor to a fight]] - only to be smashed in one hit.
96* ''ComicBook/TheMultiversity'': In-universe in ''Ultra Comics'' #1, [[spoiler:Intellectron is considered to be this. Ultra utilizes comments laughing at his appearance and calling him "an evil egg" with "evil batwings" in their battle]].
97* ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFiendshipIsMagic'': The Siren's issue of can be this for them, since ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'' implied they were a much bigger threat than they're actually presented as here.
98* ''ComicBook/SilentHill'': Your view on Christabella from ''Silent Hill: Dying Inside'' will probably range somewhere between "scary" and "creepy". But the moment she starts swearing like a sailor, you will most likely zero in on "ridiculous".
99* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': As awesome as the ''ComicBook/SupermanBrainiac'' arc in ''ComicBook/ActionComics'' was (which actually contained fairly competent, if mild, nightmare fuel) it also contained spaceships shaped like skulls.
100* ''ComicBook/SupermanVsTheAmazingSpiderMan'': Invoked In-Universe. ComicBook/DoctorOctopus thinks his [[AnimalMecha Flying Octopus]] looks menacing. ComicBook/SpiderMan thinks it looks dumb. And goofy. But mostly dumb.
101* ''ComicBook/TheThingFromAnotherWorld'': The comic and its miniseries thrive on killing whatever horror you felt for the movie, ranging from [[spoiler:Child's thing]] going full Rambo to ''Eternal Vows'' bizarre musings on fish.
102* ''Literature/WhoGoesThere'': The comic book adaption (the same story that ''Film/TheThing1982'' was based on) showed what the monster's original form looked like. It looked a goofy fuzzy green humanoid with stringy white hair and three bulging red eyes. A character in the comic said [[{{Narm}} "It looks like pure evil!"]]. [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] in his review of the comic burst out laughing when he saw this and said it look like a rejected [[Franchise/TheMuppets Muppet]] or a little green man from ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' wearing a wig. In later episodes an [[AdorableAbomination adorable]] plushy based on it can be seen on the shelf behind Linkara.
103[[/folder]]
104
105[[folder:Fan Works]]
106* An InUniverse example from ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'':
107--> '''Hobbes:''' Bumper cars are fine when there aren't ghosts constantly flying down in your face!\
108'''Calvin:''' [[SpecialEffectsFailure They were]] ''[[SpecialEffectsFailure paper]]'' [[SpecialEffectsFailure and on]] ''[[SpecialEffectsFailure fishing line!]]''
109* WordOfGod is this was the intention of ''Fanfic/DantesNightAtFreddys'': to write a story so funny and to introduce such a CurbStompBattle to the cast of ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' that it would ease the fears of any reader... Including the creator himself.
110* ''Fanfic/LegolasByLaura'': Normally a story involving a ten-year-old being tortured by orcs would be horrifying. [[BeigeProse Not this one.]]
111-->'''Legolas''': they bet you up and raped you also the Dark lord gave you the posion!\
112'''Laura''': how did you know that?\
113'''Legolas''': (''[[MoodDissonance cheerful as can be]]'') when I was your age they did the same thing to me.
114* ''Fanfic/DoomRepercussionsOfEvil'': "AndThenJohnWasAZombie." Perhaps if the fic wasn't written by Creator/PeterChimaera...
115* ''Film/TheRing'' and ''Film/JuOn'' are legitimate NightmareFuel... but the Internet has largely defanged them thanks to fanart showing them as {{Cute Monster Girl}}s / emphasizing their {{Woobie}} status, getting stuck in the TV when the GenreSavvy victim unplugs it ([[Rule34 or taking it in different directions entirely]]), or, with the proliferation of smartphones, Sadako coming out of the screen a few inches tall.
116[[/folder]]
117
118[[folder:Films — Animation]]
119* ''WesternAnimation/{{Trolls}}'': Although Chef is already despicable-looking by herself, the movie makes some bland attempts to always make her appear scary whenever she shows up, especially it comes to the stereotypical storm and EvilLaugh, both of which happen when she speaks to the kidnapped Snack Pack members about her intention to overthrow Gristle.
120* ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'': Marshmallow's two lines "Go away!" and "Don't come baaack!" makes him sound more like a disgruntled teenager than an intimidating bodyguard.
121* ''WesternAnimation/ThePagemaster'': The original [[Literature/TheHoundOfTheBaskervilles Hound of the Baskervilles]] was a glowing, eerie sight that could terrorize a man into running himself to death [[spoiler: due to luminous paint]], but it's just a normal dog (albeit big and snappy) in this film.
122* ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'':
123** The creation of the Ruber's metal henchmen could have been fairly unnerving in both concept and execution, but their transformations are accompanied by ridiculous cartoonish sound effects and a goofy chicken getting turned into an axe, which really sucks a lot of the terror out of the scene.
124** Similarly, the following chase scene ''could'' have been scary, as Kayley is fleeing for her life... except that it features Ruber's goofy minions following her on [[HugeRiderTinyMount hilariously small mounts]] while rather [[SoundtrackDissonance unfitting music]] plays in the background.
125* Max's nightmare in the beginning of ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie''. His embarrassment about his father and worries about being too much like him cause him to dream about literally turning into Goofy in front of Roxanne, in a parody of a classic werewolf transformation [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments with Goofy's trademark laugh in place of the traditional howl.]] On the other hand, some may find the transformation scary due to the sheer BodyHorror it features.
126* Creator/DonBluth was regarded as an expert at straight NightmareFuel in his peak year films, but as he was forced to tone down the content of his films, the scares usually went away with them:
127** The Grand Duke of Owls from ''WesternAnimation/RockADoodle'' is supposed to be a scary villain, but he's just [[SissyVillain so goofy in characterization]] and concept (he uses his magical powers by ''puking lucky charm clouds'') that it's impossible to take him seriously.
128** ''WesternAnimation/ATrollInCentralPark''; the villain Gnorga has mildly frightening elements (namely her ability to imprison people helplessly in stone), but she has such a [[CardCarryingVillain one-dimensional personality]] that she comes off as a [[EvilIsPetty petty bully]] instead of a truly fearsome villain. One scene that especially falls flat is when she and her husband chase after Rosie and Gus. It's very hard for them to look threatening when they chase after them on tiny ''tricycles''.
129** ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'' has some of this with the film's VillainSong, "In the Dark of the Night". The song is considered by fans to be very solid, and Rasputin ''himself'' is scary being a rotting corpse bent on getting his revenge on the title character. However, there's nothing ''else'' scary going on in the song itself, with the visuals mostly consisting of singing and dancing bugs and [[ButtMonkey Bartok]] being tormented by them.
130** Ludmilla's transformation into a dragon in ''WesternAnimation/BartokTheMagnificent''. The preceding scene, where she gradually transforms from a lean, graceful physique into a humongous monster and is blissfully unaware of it, is very grotesque and unsettling--but the final result, a fat pink dragon with pajama button like bumps on her belly, is downright laughable.
131* Creator/RalphBakshi's animated adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/TheLordOfTheRings'' suffers this during the scene where Gandalf and his companions are in the mines of Moria being attacked by goblins. Suddenly a fearsome roar is heard, the frightened goblins cease their attack, and the crowd parts to reveal the Balrog, a fiery demon that...looks like a bipedal Chow Chow with butterfly wings, who looks like he is wearing fluffy slippers. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kylnv0eTsGc No, seriously.]] This is especially interesting to consider in light of the fact that this film's depiction of the Balrog turned one of Tolkien's most fearsome creations into a total joke, for the Orcs it did the exact opposite: turning Sauron's mooks into a hellish red vision of faceless, rotoscoped shadow people, accompanied by [[HellIsThatNoise demonic chanting and a frantic, discordant trumpet blare.]]
132* In-universe in ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity''. Mike is the top student in scaring class. He knows the material inside and out, he knows what techniques to use to scare what kids, etc. By rights, he should have gone on to become a record-breaking scarer. Unfortunately, he's a bright green ball with arms and legs sticking out of it and barely larger than a toddler. When he finally gets into the human world to prove himself, no one finds him scary.
133[[/folder]]
134
135[[folder:Literature]]
136* An in-story example comes from ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'' when Prof. Lupin is describing a boggart, a creature that turns into whatever the person in front of it is most afraid of. A boggart's weakness, however, is trying to scare more than one person at a time. Lupin recounts a time when he saw a boggart try to turn into both a headless corpse and a flesh-eating slug at once: "Turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening." Emphasized in the primary narrative when Neville admits that the thing he is most afraid of is Professor Snape, closely followed by his grandmother. But Professor Snape dressed in grandmother's clothes... not remotely frightening.
137* Many, many ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' stories, usually due to either a ridiculous/nonfrightening subject matter or shoddy writing, or both. Due to having different story elements between each book, the level of quality varies like you wouldn't believe, with many stories landing this trope pitifully easily, and others ending up being...[[NightmareFuel genuinely terrifying]]. [[DeathOfTheAuthor Sometimes in ways that the author didn't intend]].
138* In-universe example: during ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'', Lucy is separated from the party and forced to break into a magician's study to find a spell. She climbs up the stairs and goes down the long hallway on her own, during which [[NothingIsScarier everything is dead silent]] and creepy masks watch her from the wall — she even gets a minor JumpScare when she catches a glimpse of her reflection in a "bearded mirror" (a mirror that makes her look as though she has a beard). However, once she gets the spell, Aslan himself shows up and the magician, Coriakin, turns out to be a CoolOldGuy,
139-->''and Lucy noticed how different the whole top floor looked now that she was no longer afraid of it. The mysterious signs on the doors were still mysterious but now looked as if they had kind and cheerful meanings, and even the bearded mirror now seemed funny rather than frightening.''
140[[/folder]]
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142[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
143* ''Series/BlakesSeven'', coming out at the same time as classic ''Who'' and sharing its lack of special effects budget and some of the same production team, had its own howlers:
144** [[FanNickname Brian the Spider]] is the most famous. "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS3E5TheHarvestOfKairos The Harvest of Kairos]]" called for a terrible alien lifeform that makes Kairos uninhabitable for most of the year. The special-effects department delivered a giant orange snail with legs, which wobbled oh-so-slowly towards our heroes as the otherwise scarily competent Dayna [[HelpImStuck forgot how to use her own legs]].
145** A wobbly TinCanRobot with a flamethrower that drops out of its groin, causing it to be dubbed "The Flasher". Instead of becoming the next Dalek, the Security Robot was used for two episodes and then quietly dropped.
146** [[Recap/BlakesSevenS4E5Animals "Animals"]] features HalfHumanHybrid SuperSoldiers who have huge yak horns for no apparent reason. Their fur-covered bodies and mournful expressions make you wonder why people don't just give them a hug instead of shooting them.
147** In [[Recap/BlakesSevenS1E4TimeSquad "Time Squad"]], Jenna is attacked by a genetically-created homicidal maniac... in a PornStache.
148** In [[Recap/BlakesSevenS3E11Moloch "Moloch"]], the titular villain, supposedly an extrapolation of the ultimate lifeform, turns out to be a hook-nosed, one-eyed LittleGreenManInACan who looked like a fried chicken! Apparently, the cast kept [[{{Corpsing}} laughing so hard]] they eventually had to film heroes and villain separately.
149** Shivan from [[Recap/BlakesSevenS2E10VoiceFromThePast "Voice from the Past"]], ostensibly a once-famous RebelLeader who's been so tortured and disfigured by the evil Federation that he's barely able to move or see or speak. Instead we get a shuffling BandageMummy in a green cape whose dialogue is totally incomprehensible. [[spoiler:TheReveal that he's TheDragon in disguise doesn't help matters either.]]
150** In [[Recap/BlakesSevenS3E10Ultraworld "Ultraworld"]], aliens try to take over the crew with MindControl. This terrifying fate is represented by the victim seeing a hallucination of a disco glitter ball.
151** In [[Recap/BlakesSevenS4E7Assassin "Assassin"]], [[spoiler:TheReveal that the DamselInDistress is the assassin is let down not only by bad acting (and not of the EvilIsHammy kind either) but also a silly towering hairdo she's wearing for her EvilCostumeSwitch.]]
152* ''Series/DoctorWho'', being a show that has relied heavily on monsters since the very first season while simultaneously not typically having a very large budget with which to realise them, has many examples.
153** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E5TheWebPlanet "The Web Planet"]], depending on who you ask, is either the kind of SurrealHorror that nightmares are made of, or six episodes of people in pathetically unconvincing rubber suits doing silly voices on a set the size of a shoebox.
154** The Daleks were virtually unique in their success. Several attempts were made to create "new Daleks" by copying the Dalek template (killer LittleGreenManInACan with a shouty catchphrase), especially after they got ExiledFromContinuity in the Troughton era. Every attempt ended in failure:
155*** The Mechonoids in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E8TheChase "The Chase"]] were a potential Dalek rival and were lavishly budgeted and merchandised. Looking like a D20 the size of a garden shed, and being about as maneuverable as one, did very little to make them conceivable threats. There's a whole EasterEgg on the DVD in which various TalkingHeads all make fun of how rubbish they are.
156*** The Chumblies in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E1Galaxy4 Galaxy 4]]". They make strange thoughtful noises and look like metal walnut whips. They're also [[CuteMachines rather cute]]. And can you imagine hiding behind the sofa from a monster called a "Chumblie"? However, the Chumblies are robots made by the Rills, who turn out to be peaceful. So they aren't really villains.
157*** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E10TheWarMachines The War Machines]]. In addition to being a ridiculous concept, the evil computer looks like it has a goofy face on it.
158*** The Quarks in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E1TheDominators The Dominators]]". They were supposed to be PsychopathicManchild robots that act like delighted, giggling children while murdering and killing (and were actually played by children as adults couldn't fit into the suits). Their creators intended them to be the new Daleks (and even fell out over the IP rights to them). Between poor design, stupid squeaky voices and the extremely bad writing quality of the serial, there was no possibility of this happening. New series fans might want to look at the Toclafane for the Quark concept done better.
159*** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E4TheKrotons The Krotons]] are actually a lot scarier than most of these (Creator/RobertHolmes deserves some credit here), and there's somewhat more creativity to their concept (being made of living crystal). Unfortunately, the costumes were too short and so they were given skirts to hide the actors' legs. The top half is a TinCanRobot and the bottom half is a ballgown. Doesn't help that "Krotons" sounds like "[[UnfortunateNames croutons]]" and they have [[WhatTheHellIsThatAccent inexplicable and unidentifiable accents (Brummie-East End-South African?)]]. Very strongly averted in the ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'' book ''Alien Bodies'', which exploits all of the {{Narm}} associated with them to make it both hilarious and shocking when the twist reveals they've been slaughtering Daleks by the ton and trying to steal the Doctor's corpse.
160** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E5TheUnderwaterMenace The Underwater Menace]]" has "scary" {{Cyborg}} fish-people that look like harlequins in white onesies and don't actually do anything scary in the whole story, being CreepyGood. (The {{cliffhanger}} at the end of episode 1 where Polly is StrappedToAnOperatingTable, screaming and about to be surgically transformed into one is decently disturbing, though.)
161** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E1TheTombOfTheCybermen The Tomb of the Cybermen]]" (while scary) features Cybermats — tiny robot bugs — that the script acts as if are terrifying. Viewers mostly reported finding them cute, which the BBC [[MascotMook went along with]], at one point even running a promotion where viewers could write in and get sent vacuum-formed Cybermat parts to assemble into a toy. The next story to feature the Cybermats, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E7TheWheelInSpace The Wheel in Space]]", lampshaded this by having the Wheel staff react to the Cybermats as if they were cute while not making them any more harmless — one victim takes a Cybermat as a pet, and another even begs them to come closer before they kill him. They were redesigned for their appearance in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E5RevengeOfTheCybermen Revenge of the Cybermen]]" to try and make them look like metal silverfish or snakes, but they were still pretty rubbish. They returned to the new series in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E12ClosingTime Closing Time]]", somewhat improved by the addition of vicious, jagged, organic piranhalike teeth.
162** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E2TheArkInSpace The Ark in Space]]" has the leader of a SleeperStarship containing the last remnants of humanity getting infected by TheVirus. He realises this in a famous {{Cliffhanger}} where, sweating with terror, he slowly takes his hand out of his pocket and sees that it is covered in green bubble wrap. The same story has everyone get menaced by a sort of larva represented by an actor crawling around on the floor in the same green bubble wrap. The story itself is well-written and very spooky, though.
163** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E6TheTalonsOfWengChiang The Talons of Weng-Chiang]]" has a subplot about a giant rat in the sewers of nineteenth-century London. The effect was achieved by [[{{Slurpasaur}} filming an ordinary rat in a scale model of the sewer]] and intercutting it with reaction shots of the actors in the life-sized sewer set. We're already into {{Narm}} and SpecialEffectsFailure territory, but there's more. To complete the illusion, a nearly immobile life-sized giant rat was built. It looks jarringly different from the real rat and is the exact opposite of threatening. This trope is in fullest effect in the cliffhanger where the camera dramatically zooms in to the cute rat plushie while the tense music reaches a crescendo. Tom Baker famously referred to this episode with, "The BBC is very good at period dramas but very poor at giant rats."
164** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E2TheInvisibleEnemy The Invisible Enemy]]":
165*** It has some surprisingly horrible bits in the first episode where the Doctor has been infected by a parasite that has taken over his body. We have seen the Doctor get {{Mind Rape}}d before this, but he always maintained his willpower (and the one time he did get broken in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E3PyramidsOfMars "Pyramids of Mars"]] the villain was interrupted before he could go very far with it), so it is the first time we see the Doctor fully possessed and [[AxeCrazy about to hurt people]]. Unfortunately, the budget was really suffering by this point and the story is also a FantasticVoyagePlot with lazy ToiletHumour, which quickly destroys any horror.
166*** The Swarm, a pathetic-looking iridescent space shrimp with adorable little kicky legs that giggles about taking over the universe. Even the Doctor seems to find it a real disappointment, complaining that it's a "pathetic crustacean" and rolling his eyes.
167** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E5Underworld Underworld]]" has characters facing a "dragon" which turns out to be an electrified door. This isn't a case where this is a surprise for the characters — they know that it is an electrified door and just refer to it as a "dragon".
168** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS16E3TheStonesOfBlood The Stones of Blood]]" has vampiric standing stone aliens. The writer intended for them to be realised onscreen as rocks that, when they move around, transform into rocklike humanoids. The director instead decided to go with StyrofoamRocks that move by sliding about and glowing an ugly shade of yellow.
169** The Mandrels in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E4NightmareOfEden Nightmare of Eden]]" are rather cute and fluffy. They even have built-in bell-bottoms!
170** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E2Meglos Meglos]]" has a power-crazy, sadomasochistic shapeshifting villain from a race that has a good enough understanding of technology to intimidate even the Time Lords... that is also a non-anthropomorphic, non-animal, ''sessile'' [[PlantAliens cactus alien]]. It even has a little plant pot.
171** The Myrka from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E1WarriorsOfTheDeep Warriors of the Deep]]" is an infamous example, from its design to it being a PantomimeAnimal, to it being slow even for a classic ''Doctor Who'' monster, to the fact that it couldn't do much.
172** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E4Dragonfire Dragonfire]]" has a scene in which Kane's face is melting. However, it's obvious that a wax figurine was used.
173** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E4Survival Survival]]" has a similar situation to [[Recap/DoctorWhoS16E3TheStonesOfBlood "The Stones of Blood"]] — the writer pictured the cheetah-women as [[LittleBitBeastly normal, beautiful women with yellow eyes and fangs]], but the director decided to go with full fursuits. The writer was outraged by this — although more because it obscured the lesbian subtext than because it looked silly.
174** The Abzorbaloff from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E10LoveAndMonsters Love & Monsters]]". Imagine a slimy green sumo wrestler... with human faces sprouting from random places on its body. Probably justified as it was conceived by an 8-year-old viewer for a contest (although the original Abzorbaloff in the boy's mind was the size of ''[[NightmareFuel a double-decker bus]]''). It might have intentionally been played this way by the writers, given that it was the MonsterOfTheWeek from possibly the biggest BizarroEpisode in the show's history.
175** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time]]" involves an AssimilationPlot where just about every human being on Earth is suddenly and forcefully transformed into [[spoiler:the Master]]. Of course, this includes the women too, [[CrossDresser and the clothes aren't transformed]]. Pair that with [[spoiler:the Master's]] CrazyIsCool LargeHam tendencies, and it goes from NightmareFuel straight into comedy.
176** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E12NightmareInSilver Nightmare In Silver]]" has the Doctor [[spoiler:forcibly converted into a Cyberplanner]] about a third of the way through the episode. Said [[spoiler:Cyberplanner]] is solid nightmare fuel for its first minute or so onscreen... and then immediately names itself "Mr. Clever" without any prompting, and spends the rest of the scene spinning around the room and making random gestures, making what is supposed to be a very serious episode quickly dissolve into feeling fairly ridiculous.
177* ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'': The very idea of the commander of the obviously good organization Fenix Tribe being a mole who can mimic everyone is terrifying. But when they immediately break their facade after being exposed and laughs like Joker while saying '''"GRRRRRRRACIAS, DEADMANS!"? Hysterical!
178* On the third season of ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'', it's shown that the women in Washington D.C. have their mouths sealed shut with metal rings through the lips. While it's a striking visual, viewers and reviews were quick to point out how it makes little sense. How do they eat and drink with their mouths this way? It can also hamper their breathing and the wounds would be open to infection. It would make more sense to just cut out their tongues than go to such major lengths.
179* ''Series/TheJourneyOfFlower'': The glowing orbs in the Pavilion of Strange Decay strongly resemble a collection of large lightbulbs. It's hard to take Qian Gu's frightened reaction seriously when it looks like she was scared by ''lightbulbs''.
180* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': The Night King was killed by a single stab, and with him all the fear and intimidation he'd brought to the table as one of the series' most prominent [[KnightOfCerebus Knights of Cerebus]] [[AllForNothing dissipates entirely]], when he could have done ''so much more'', even in the three episodes the series had had left.
181[[/folder]]
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183[[folder:Music]]
184* An in-universe example occurs in the ''Music/{{Voltaire}}'' song, ''The Beast of Pirate's Bay''. The song mentions the infamous UsefulNotes/{{Blackbeard}} encountering the beast, and now nobody's scared of him because upon seeing it, [[LockedIntoStrangeness his beard turned white]] and he looks like SantaClaus.
185[[/folder]]
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187[[folder:Podcasts]]
188* Plenty of the rooms in the haunted house from the ''Podcast/CoolKidsTable'' game ''Creepy Town'' aren't actually that scary, such as the Dracula room with a bored vampire in a casket and a "Max Schreck-looing motherfucker" in half-assed Nosferatu makeup being the only scares. The victims spend the lead up to Halloween trying to make them look better.
189[[/folder]]
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191[[folder:Other]]
192* Explored in [[http://www.cracked.com/article_16150_10-scenes-brutal-violence-guaranteed-make-you-laugh.html this article]] '10 Scenes of Brutal Violence Guaranteed to Make You Laugh'.
193* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBxn56l9WcU The Desert Rain Frog]]'s defensive "war cry"... is a squeaking noise that sounds like a dog toy. It's supposed to intimidate its foes into submissions, but most humans will find it adorable instead.
194* For many, TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt falls into this due to people at least annually announcing the end is near. There are even [[https://web.archive.org/web/20050426080048/http://www.geocities.com/Athens/oracle/9941/ sites]] [[http://qntm.org/?board dedicated]] to mocking this phenomenon.
195* Done intentionally in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXuR41eisnM this]] youtube video. It starts out showing a fairly horrifying soundtrack and then doing so backwards. ''Then'', it plays [[HeroicMime Gordon Freeman's]] soundtrack backwards. Followed by the sound made when a certain enemy dies. [[spoiler: When played backwards, you get the song Bananaphone.]]
196* The entire MonsterClown genre. For those who, as children, never found clowns even ''slightly'' scary, it's hard to take such characters seriously, let alone be scared of them. Wonderfully lampshaded in ''WesternAnimation/TheTick:'' "People laugh at Proto-Clown, so Proto-Clown ''smash!"''
197* Feathered dinosaurs, especially those that sank into public consciousness as [[PrehistoricMonster scaly, reptilian monsters]] (such as [[RaptorAttack raptors]]) might be viewed as such by people who are oblivious to the more [[FeatheredFiend "fearsome" birds]] of our time, or simply because some illustrations tend to depict them still acting like monsters but looking like brightly colored, overgrown turkeys (akin to a prehistoric MonsterClown), or as harmless-looking, cute feather-balls.
198* Stories of interstellar and interplanetary disasters (rogue asteroids and comets, gamma-ray bursts, runaway stars, etc.) become a little less scary when you realize [[InsignificantLittleBluePlanet how small the Earth is]] compared to the absolutely vast size of the rest of the Milky Way. Odds are the vast majority will miss us, as they have for billions of years. And even if they come close, if it's gravity related Jupiter is probably going to catch it instead anyways, like it's been doing for millions of years.
199* [[MisterMuffykins Angry small dogs]]. A snarling wolf, pit bull, or [[Literature/{{Cujo}} St. Bernard]] can be terrifying under the right circumstances. An angry Maltese or Chihuahua? Not so much.
200* ''WesternAnimation/DisneySingAlongSongs'': The "[[Ride/TheHauntedMansion Grim Grinning Ghosts]]" number from ''Disneyland Fun'' has ''WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck'' dressed up as a BedsheetGhost during random intervals, softening the mood of the song.
201[[/folder]]
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203----
204-->''[[MemeticMutation ...AND THEN A SKELETON POPPED OUT!]]''
205

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