Line #32 Main/NunsAreSpooky


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6	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheNun https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_nun.png]]]]
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8	->''"They have the skirts too of course,'' so many ''skirts and veils that you could never hear or see their feet. "Hover Nuns" we used to call them. [...] They're damn spooky."''
9	-->-- '''John Rodgers''', on his time in a Catholic School.
10
11	Nuns follow a spiritual calling, and the word "ghostly" used to be a synonym for "spiritual" (see, for example, ''Literature/{{Ivanhoe}}'' by Sir Creator/WalterScott, and the [[Literature/TheBible King James Bible]] which refers to the Holy Ghost), so maybe this is why nuns in movies are sometimes otherwordly, and seem touched by the supernatural in ways that are frankly disturbing. Other times it's more that the nun's reason for having become one is less about being 'called' than [[MyGreatestFailure a try at redemption]] or willing away [[BrokenBird some horrible trauma in the past]].
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13	There is an exception, of course, for when NunsAreMikos. Contrast NaughtyNuns. Compare and contrast NunsAreFunny, SternNun, WomensMysteries, VirginPower, and NunTooHoly. For when they're actually villains see SinisterMinister.
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15	----
16	!!Examples:
17	[[foldercontrol]]
18
19	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
20	* ''Kichikujima''- Mariko Glaccias is a nun and former agent of the Vatican who later marries Yoshikazu and had five kids. She also has tentacles when she gets angry.
21
22	[[/folder]]
23	[[folder:Comic Books]]
24	* Creator/WarrenEllis's ''ComicBook/{{Fell}}'' features a recurring character that is a crazy nun wearing a NixonMask. Creator/BenTemplesmith's artwork certainly works well for [[NightmareFuel the spooky factor]].
25	* The Italian comic book ''Suore Ninja'' (literally "Ninja Nuns") featured an extremely creepy ''werenun''. And a less creepy and very sexy one (infected by the former with a bite), at least until her transformation in a monster isn't triggered.
26	** A third nun, Sister Valerio, has a typical male name, a hook in place of a hand, and an impressive PornStache. {{Justified}} when it's revealed that [[spoiler: they're the result of a job GoneHorriblyWrong: she used to be a normal Ninja Nun, but a witch transformed his left hand in a [[TakeThat sadistic tv host]], forcing her to cut it, and before dying cursed her with the stache and a name change]].
27	** Also, the Ninja Nuns themselves: every generation the Catholic Church has three nuns subjected to TrainingFromHell with ninjas until they develop {{Charles Atlas Superpower}}s, and uses them as assassins and troubleshooters.
28	* The Sisterhood of Blood in ''ComicBook/RequiemVampireKnight'' is an order of vampire nuns that guards {{Dracula}}'s brides. Make no mistake: they might be dressed in [[ChainmailBikini chainmail bikinis]], but they are more creepy than [[NaughtyNuns sexy]]. Their daily activities include processing blood from still fresh bodies all day long, and any foolish vampire male caught sneaking into the convent to try their luck with the brides is punished with [[GroinAttack castration]] and [[AssShove a rod shoved where the sun doesn't shine]]. And as if that wasn't enough, their Mother Superior pilots an HumongousMecha to utterly demolish any trespassers.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
32	* ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'': The Penguin (with the extremely intimidating name of Mother Stigmata) does not walk, [[GhostlyGlide she glides]]. Doors open and close without her touching them. Of course, this is all PlayedForLaughs.
33	* ''Film/TheOmen1976'': The nun at the hospital seems quite sinister, as she tells Gregory Peck that she can't give him any information. She then rises silently up the [[FauxSymbolism paternoster]] lift.[[note]]Paternosters had been discontinued long before the time of film, but this particular one [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paternoster#United_Kingdom still]][[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paternoster#United_Kingdom exists]] in the Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow, Middlesex. According to the [=DVD=] commentary, they just happened to find it in the shooting location and decided to ThrowItIn because of this trope[[/note]].
34	* In Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/{{Vertigo}}'', the gliding dark spectre which [[spoiler:prompts Kim Novak to jump to her death]] turns out to be--a spooky nun.
35	* The dwarfish nun from Federico Fellini's ''Film/{{Amarcord}}''. We never see her face or hear her voice.
36	* In ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet3DreamWarriors'', Freddy's story is told by a spooky nun who turns out to be [[spoiler:the ghost of his mother]].
37	* The black comedy film ''Film/DeathBecomesHer'' has three. Bruce Willis meets the trio at a hallway leading to a morgue. Like Penguin, they do not walk, they glide. Ghostly sobbing for added creepiness.
38	* ''Film/SpyHard'' has gun-toting nuns.
39	* {{Invoked}} in ''Film/TheTown'', where Doug [=MacRay=] and his gang don nun masks and habits with rubber faces to rob an armored car.
40	* When the evil alien first appears in ''Film/SpeciesTheAwakening'', she's disguised as a nun.
41	* The blind nun on the cover of ''Film/TheDevilInside'', formally pictured atop this page, definitely fits this. However, she's merely a [[CoversAlwaysLie background character with no plot significance]].
42	* While the Mother Superior in ''Film/TheSongOfBernadette'' is a sweet old dear, Sister Therese Vauzous the novice-mistress is hell on wheels. Dame Gladys Cooper has been described as "positively cadaverous" in this role, and she is: by the time she gives Bernie her big TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, she appears like a living, whispering skull.
43	* ''Film/MarketaLazarova'': The nuns are seen [[MindScrew carrying doves into their church]] and may or may not be able to influence events through shared chanting.
44	* Good Lord, have mercy! [[spoiler: [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Valak]]]], the main antagonist in ''Film/TheConjuring2'' assumes the form of a spooky nun. It serves as a means [[spoiler: to mock the faith of our heroes]].
45	** ''Film/TheNun'' tells the story of [[spoiler:how [[BigBad Valak]] got its nun disguise]].
46	* The villain of the obscure german slasher flick, ''School's Out 2'', is a spear-wielding killer nun with the face covered in white.
47	* In the Puerto Rican film ''Film/WhatHappenedToSantiago'', not once or twice but ''five times'' a nun carrying a lamb walks through the scene, including the scene where Santiago collapses. It is very surreal.
48	* Notably averted in the horror film ''Film/TheDevilWithinHer''. Lucy the protagonist's sister-in-law, a nun, is easily the most moral character in the film, and ultimately [[spoiler:saves her nephew by performing an exorcism to rid him of DemonicPossession]].
49	* Watery spirit of a dead nun terrorizes group of women in the Spanish fim ''The Nun'' (2005).
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Literature]]
53	* The Armchair Thriller ''Quiet As a Nun'' played upon the quietness of a nunnery and TheFaceless appearance of nuns as a form of horror.
54	* ''Literature/GoodOmens'': Parodied with the Satanic nuns of the Chattering Order of Saint Beryl, a band of affable {{Punch Clock Villain}}s who are only scary if you have a phobia of little old ladies [[MotorMouth who don't know when to shut up]].
55	* In Creator/VictorHugo's ''Literature/LesMiserables'', the hero escapes InspectorJavert, in one memorably spooky scene, by ducking into a small monastery in Paris, and immediately is convinced the place is haunted as he witnesses the self-flagellating rituals of the resident nuns.
56	* The werewolf hunting, gun toting Sister Eileen in ''Dreadful Skin'' by Cherie Priest is a subversion since she's the heroine.
57	* Sister Malcinea, the apparently faceless nun from Italian writer Stefano Benni's ''Elianto''. She's actually a very powerful succubus in disguise and the actual sister of she-devil Carmilla, one of the novel's protagonists.
58	* ''Literature/SkippyDies'' takes place next door to an all-girls Catholic school. Legend has it that the basement is haunted by the ghost of a former nun. When Mario and Ruprecht sneak in there, Mario flips out because he has a crippling fear of nuns.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
62	* Parodied in ''Series/FourOnTheFloor'', with the videogame spoof "Karate Nuns".
63	* Subverted in ''Series/CallTheMidwife''; though Jenny is a bit freaked out when she first arrives, the nuns are very nice and ordinary.
64	* ''[[Series/AmericanHorrorStoryAsylum American Horror Story: Asylum]]'' has the nuns of Briarcliff, headed by the undeniably spooky Sister Jude. Then there's Sister Mary Eunice, an innocent, kindhearted nun [[spoiler:who spends most of the season as a victim of demonic possession]].
65	* ''Series/JackTaylor'': In the episode "The Magdalen Martyrs," one of his clients have asked him to trace the identity of a nun who had abused her charges physically and psychologically at a Magdalene laundry, one of whom included the client's mother, and as we find out later, [[spoiler:Jack's mother]]. The nun was so terrifying that all the girls called her "[[NamesToRunAwayFrom Lucifer]]".
66	[[/folder]]
67
68	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
69	* Another parody: Ground Zero Games' "Nuns with Guns" miniatures, which are [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin what the name suggests.]]
70	* Similar to the above example, but played straight: TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'s [[AmazonBrigade Adeptas Sororitas]], a [[ChurchMilitant religious order]] dedicated to kicking ass, taking names, and [[KillItWithFire setting the bad guys on fire]].
71	** A much spookier example, the Sisters of Silence. As the name implies, they take a vow of silence once their noviciate is over (using sign language with each other), but their most distinguishing feature is that they're all blanks (their very presence nullifies any psychic activity around them). Depending on the level of AntiMagic they exhibit, their effect on any normal people they're near can range from UncannyValley to full-on HumanoidAbomination. They're used to crew the Black Ships, the Inquisitorial fleets that ferry (sometimes kidnap) young humans with psychic ability to Terra before they can be corrupted by Chaos.
72	[[/folder]]
73
74	[[folder:Video Games]]
75	* In ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', the nuns in the church of the past appear to be creepy, but this is later shown to be [[spoiler:because they are secretly all Nagas]].
76	* ''VideoGame/{{Painkiller}}'' has demon nun enemies.
77	* The battlenuns in ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'' managed to prove that this trope and [[NaughtyNuns its opposite]] are NOT mutually exclusive.
78	* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland Chapter 3: Lair of the Leviathan'', there is a picture of Sister Agnes, a nun with a creepy face, which is what Noogie is afraid of.
79	* Double from ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'' usually takes on the appearance of a nun of [[GreaterScopeVillain The Trinity]], but her [[EldritchAbomination true form]]...
80	-->"Have you come to give confession? I'll gladly accept your tithe... ''in blood.''"
81	* Nun massacre by Creator/PuppetCombo
82	* Despite being a nun in a horror game, Sister Agnes from ''VideoGame/CastleRed'' is an aversion, being one of the friendliest characters in the game. She lives up to this trope a bit more in the [[BadEnd E Ending]], aptly named "Lost and Damned."
83	* You can don a nun headdress as a power-up in ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'', and combining it with BodyHorror-causing items or demonic items can produce this effect.
84	* The ''Evil Nun'' games follow Sister Madeline, an insane nun who kidnaps children to either use them in a ritual or force them to do her laundry.
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Webcomics]]
88	* And yet another parody, sort of--the Satanist, gas-mask wearing "Little Sisters of Belial" in ''Webcomic/ScaryGoRound''.
89	* There's something a little off about Sister Edith in ''Webcomic/SilentHillPromise''.
90	* ''Webcomic/GuildedAge'': The Sisters of the Bloodshot Eye are evil nuns that wield rulers with razors on them.
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Web Originals]]
94	* ''Literature/NoneTooHoly'': The BigBad of the story is [[spoiler:Sister Viola--or rather, a monstrous vampire who hijacks her body to try and get closer to Aleksander]].
95	* One ''Website/RPCAuthority'' log concerns [[http://rpcauthority.wikidot.com/rpc-163 RPC-163]], known only as "The Nun". A HumanoidAbomination that takes the appearance of one, before RunningOnAllFours towards any human it sees and dragging them under its habit with barbed tentacles while screaming. It then gives birth to more monstrous creatures, [[EatsBabies with whatever it produces after eating a child]] supposedly being [[NothingIsScarier too horrible to mention]].
96	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / NunsAreSpooky