Line #12 NightmareFuel/GunnerkriggCourt


1	!!Moment Subpages are Administrivia/SpoilersOff. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.
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3	[[quoteright:289:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nightmare_7.png]]
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5	* The hallucinations Zimmy suffers (for example, in Chapter 11), during which she is sucked into a cursed version of Birmingham populated by insects, giant monsters and people with no faces.
6	* From ''Chapter 4: Not very scary'':
7	** The illusionary circus Mort creates for Paz in [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=65 Page 7]] and [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=66 Page 8]].
8	* From the Summer Holiday special:
9	** [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=303 Page 9]] is nice except for the fourth image. Those eyes.
10	* From ''Chapter 16: A Ghost Story'':
11	** [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=345 Page 13]] through [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=353 Page 21]]. Annie's assessment of the EldritchAbomination is dead on the money.
12	** This chapter also features an in-universe example in the form of Ketrak. We don't see him in this chapter, but Kat's reaction to him is pure terror and a craving for BrainBleach. [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1551 If the insect-like psychopomp seen in a much later chapter]] by Anthony Carver is Ketrak or something similar, though, then her reaction becomes easily understandable.
13	* From ''Chapter 23: Terror Castle Of The Jupiter Moon Martians'':
14	** In the last panel of [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=595 Page 24]], Reynardine shows off how terrifying he can be. An atypical example of NightmareFuel blended with Heartwarming and a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, given the fact that he does this to protect a loved one.
15	* From ''Chapter 28: Spring Heeled, Part 2'':
16	** Jack. [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=733 Page 15]] sums his problems up pretty well. It's also freaking scary, for bonus points.
17	** Also from [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=736 Page 18]], what sharp teeth you have there, Annie. Or Zimmy. Or whoever you are. [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=737 And a homicidal rage to go with it in the next page? Well done!]]
18	* From ''Chapter 30: The Coward Heart'':
19	** In [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=780 Page 18]], when Jeanne puts on her GameFace and releases all that bottled-up rage.
20	* From ''Chapter 31: Fire Spike'':
21	** Annie's dream/flashback in [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=815 Page 25]], after running away to the forest.
22	* From ''Chapter 34: Faraway Morning (and Three Short Tales)'':
23	** The ghosts from the mandolin in John/Margo's tale in [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=913 Page 12]].
24	** Even after it's gone, Jack can still remember the Spider [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=930 whispering to him]]. ''On and on, over and over.''
25	* From ''Chapter 35: Parley And Smitty Are In This One'':
26	** Robot being cut right through and Shadow 2 being torn away from the ground by Coyote's Tooth. They turn out to be perfectly fine, though Shadow 2 is disoriented, but considering it's ''Coyote's Tooth'' that did it, [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=966 the scene in question]] is definitely an example. Also, all the time the sword is ''laughing''. Swords shouldn't laugh...
27	-->'''Parley:''' Oh god, I - I dropped it...\
28	'''Smitty:''' It's OK, it's OK, Pearl.\
29	'''Shadow 2:''' Urghh... I... don't feel so... good...
30	* From ''Chapter 38: Divine'':
31	** The last panel of [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=1047 Page 20]].
32	** [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=1051 Kat's Etheric look in Zimmy's eyes]], despite its [[SugarWiki/AwesomeArt high-quality art]], the fact it has no speech bubbles, no more than one panel, just... [[EldritchAbomination That.]] It's made even worse by the text on the previous page, and Tom's comment ("One day, Zimmy.") which becomes even creepier if you remember that it's a reference to a much earlier strip where Zimmy declared: "One day I'm going to die here (in Zimmingham)".
33	*** As of chapter 87, we now know what that "One day, Zimmy" refers to -- someday, Kat will kill Zimmy and Zimmy always knew it.
34	* From ''Chapter 39: The Great Secret'':
35	** ''' [[WhamLine I]]. [[ArtShift DO NOT.]] [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=1070 EXIST.]]'''
36	** The CallBack to Chapter 16: ''' [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=1074 The world continues to spin, pup.]]'''
37	** When Ysengrin gets pissed, ''[[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=1082 he gets pissed.]]''
38	** Coyote's method of "comforting" Ysengrin is to ''[[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=1091 reach into his head to pluck out his memories and eat them.'']] Even worse, Coyote partially transforms into his true form bereft of ether, the skeletal remains of a dead coyote (who might have been the inspiration for the original Coyote myth).
39	* From ''Chapter 40: The Stone'':
40	** There's something subtly scarey about how old Jones is. She seems normal and all, but in truth probably is closer to a HumanoidAbomination that any other character. The more you think about it, the more [[EldritchAbomination eldritch]] she becomes. And that's not even counting on the implications behind her [[WifeHusbandry relationships]] with Eglamore and Samuel.
41	* From ''Chapter 42: Catalyst'':
42	** You decide: [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1185 the Owl-Thing?]] CrazyIsCool levels of UglyCute? [[MixAndMatchCritters Walking]] [[OminousOwl Nightmare]]? [[FreakyIsCool Both]]? How badly it haunts you will probably help with the decision...
43	* From ''Chapter 43: Quicksilver'':
44	** [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1224 Hetty's malicious behavior in general]]; she takes great delight in constantly tormenting a young boy as punishment for her condition and his 'treatment' of her - when he certainly ''wasn't'' the one who trapped her in the form of a doll, and in addition ''doesn't even know she exists.'' He was just left ownership of her in his sister's diary - a sister who, by the way, it's heavily implied Hetty killed, or at least had a hand in her 'accident'. And her next victim is the brother.
45	** Hetty's ''true'' form. [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1229 It's what's inside that counts...]]
46	** [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1233 The ad for the mint-condition 'Helpful Hetty' doll at the end of the chapter]] is an exercise in creepy. "Shhh, it's... Helpful Hetty! Helpful Hetty always gets the job '''done!'''" And the doll is advertised as being packaged with 5 free Luer Lock hypodermic needles (17-21 gauge). What exactly ''is'' Helpful Hetty's job...?
47	* From ''Chapter 45: Thread'':
48	** [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1293 Robot's]] [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1294 religion]] is getting more and more creepy.
49	* From ''Chapter 46: The Realm of the Dead'':
50	** That pasty, pimply guy wearing the cheap cloak and rubber monster hand that Kat was bossing around? [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1321 This is what he actually looks like.]]
51	*** Actually, it's implied it was an illusion, and only Kat could see things as they truly were. Creepiness still stands, though, as you have to picture what [=RotD=] might look like to Mort and Annie.
52	* From ''Chapter 47: See Ya!'':
53	** Jones talking to Mort, right before he died trying to save her from the WWI bombings.
54	--> '''Jones''': [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1327 It is too late for you.]]
55	** Although he isn't exactly evil, Ankou's appearance is absolutely terrifying [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1334 as noted by Kat]]). Given that he looks like a dessicated corpse with a scythe, he's probably the only of the psychopomps to approach a traditional western image of death.
56	*** Even worse is the true form of the vampire who brought Mort in to the ROTD. He went from a silly looking [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1332 Bela Lugosi-type vampire]] to, well... [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1337 this]]. Think [[LooksLikeOrlok Orlok]], except with a huge mouth full of sharp teeth, his face and chest completely covered in blood, and ''part of his skull exposed''.
57	*** Subverted when it turns out that it's actually a mask. He actually looks like [[https://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1340 a normal middle-aged man.]] He can, however, turn into a [[BatOutOfHell vicious-looking bat]] when he’s in [[https://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1343 full costume.]]
58	** The premise of the chapter: after [[UndeadChild dying as a child]], Mort has spent around seventy years haunting one of the Court's basements before deciding to give it up and move on.
59	--> '''Mort:''' [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1333 And... I've had enough.]]
60	* ''Chapter 49: Torn Sea'' is full of this
61	** [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1409 Please make me flesh.]] Oh, and if you look below you can see what the flesh would look like, and it's not a pretty sight either. At least he's polite.
62	** [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1443 Oh, hello there,]] Kat.
63	** The very end reveals that taking Kat's word horribly out of context has lead the Robots into thinking anything is fine as long as their goals are furthered.
64	-->'''Seraph Robots''': It Was Worth It.
65	* ''Chapter 51: The Tree''. The chapter deals with the return of Annie's father and many believe it hits a number of uncomfortably realistic abuse triggers, to the point that a lot of readers who had similarly bad relationships with family pulled out of reading with "let me know when it's safe again" posts.
66	** To start with, he humiliates her in front of the entire class by [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1488 ordering her to go to the restroom and remove her make-up]]. [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1489 This page's]] ArtShift into a child's drawing makes it terrifyingly clear that Annie is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissociation_%28psychology%29 disassociating]], just from being told to take her make-up off. This, by the way, means that she's become detached from reality, and is usually linked to ''trauma''.
67	** And it gets worse when [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1497 he orders her to give up Reynardine.]] He's separating her from one of her friends, who is even a substitute father figure of sorts.
68	** Additionally, she subsequently [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1499 cuts her hair]] as part of an ill-conceived attempt to remove her emotions so she doesn't have to face them.
69	** In [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1503 1503]] Antimony's TheStoic act is accompanied by strange imagery that many fancy resemble [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1040 the weird bone things from Chapter 38]]. The implications of this potential resemblance are left to your imagination. Worst, the facial expression she makes is eerily resemblant to Anthony's.
70	* From ''Chapter 52: Sneak''
71	** [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1510 Annie's new room.]] Not only isolated from the rest of the school, but it looks similar to the hospital she was raised in. Or a prison cell. Anthony has isolated Annie even more.
72	** More creepy stuff from that room: it's immense, totally dwarfing Annie, and is so long that it appears purposely designed to discourage visitors. It's also alarmingly sterile, all white tile and vast ceiling (admittedly, the Court's dorms aren't very cozy in general, but they did look personalized and livable until now). All of Annie's more personal, homey items seem to have gone mysteriously missing, leaving her only the basics (presumably, this is either due to Kat's absence, or almost everything has been confiscated). In fact, Annie's beginning to look like one of Paz's mice -- a tiny being in a vast building, totally at the mercy of the scientist.
73	** Annie's first thought when she receives a less-than-sensitive (but most likely sincere) card from her male schoolmates is that they're mocking her while pretending to be her friends. These are people that's she'd grown to care about and trust -- she should ''know'' better. Her self esteem and pride has collapsed so completely that it's clouding her judgement.
74	** [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1512 Annie talking about herself.]] The girl who once had ample amounts of confidence has become little more than a shell of her former-self, thinking that she is a "big dumb giant" in the eyes of her former-classmates and her current classes after she was made to repeat a year.
75	** Whilst a relatively minor case, Kat's revelation that even her parents didn't know that Anthony Carver had returned to the court, despite Kat's parents being long-time friends with Anthony. One can only wonder how that conversation went.
76	** [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1514 This page.]] There's something particularly unsettling in Annie's behaviour in front of her father. She's acting like a small child eagerly ready to please.
77	** Kat telling Reynardine - who she's now in possession of since Annie can't keep him - to do ''whatever it takes'' to defend himself from Anthony Carver if he tries to hurt Rey in any way. She even begins by saying that she promised Annie that she wouldn't order Reynard to hurt Anthony, ''but still''...
78	** [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1523 It's just like a playdate.]] Not mention how ridiculously childlike Annie seems when trailing after her father.
79	** The entirety of [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1529 Donald's monologue]] concerning Anthony is rather unsettling, in it's way. His language is strangely disconcerting for someone who is supposed to be speaking about his best friend.
80	** [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1532 The last page of the chapter]] may be implying that whatever Annie's holding at bay is not going to put up with being held for long...
81	* From ''Chapter 53: Annie and the Fire''
82	** Just the very idea of Annie's Fire Elemental side being separated from her is one thing, considering it's the very genetic link she has with her mother. It's the one thing Annie has always been proud of honing, so to see it as two separate entities is both saddening, but also terrifying, as the readers and the characters have no idea what will happen in the future.
83	** [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1536 Antimony's disembodied anger takes the shape of a fiery wraith]], and that anger is being directly targeted at [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1537 Anthony.]]
84	** During his search for the Psychopomps, Anthony ended up in some dark corner of the Ether. [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1551 It's not]] [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1552 pretty]]. The "physical tolls" he needed to undergo to just get there aren't great either.
85	** We finally find out why Anthony needed his medical supplies in Microsat 5. To make an antenna of 'blood and bone' to reach through the fabrics of reality. In other words, Anthony ''cut off his arm himself''.
86	** The psychopomps who almost tricked Anthony into ''killing his daughter'' by using his love for Surma against him.
87	** This chapter as well as other ones implies that Anthony has some kind of mental illness. However, the way Tony laughs and talks and his facial features make it pretty clear that he's much more like Ysengrin than we might think. Just seeing his daughter's resemblance to Surma was enough to almost drive him completely insane. Tony isn't just traumatized, he isn't just broken or insane, the man is ill and he needs help and the Court is very definitely not the place to get it. Even if it was, it's clear that getting help is not something he is going to do as at this point. He's a DeathSeeker now and it's only his deal with the Court that's kept him from laying down and letting the elements take him.
88	* The style of Chapter 54 might be cutesy and folksy, but it's hard to deny that Coyote being so angry at Annie being kept away that he ''knocks a building down'' is frightening. We can only hope there weren't any people in there. Coyote's NightmareFace is pretty good too, and we only see the abstracted version.
89	** Even worse, if you notice, that when Coyote knocks down the building he's drawn in a completely different form than the other ways he's depicted for that chapter (being drawn in a way similar to if he was drawn crudely with a pencil, rather than being drawn in the Native American-esque style everything else was drawn in up to that point).
90	** The worst part is how easily he is depicted as destroying it. ''By tapping it over with a single finger.'' It was child's play for him. [[BrilliantButLazy Coyote is usually too unfocused to usually use his full powers]]. When he gets serious, he is capable of anything. While this was depicted as a good thing, [[NotHelpingYourCase it kind of proves Anthony's point that Coyote is too dangerous for his daughter to interact with]] and yet he is MORE dangerous when he doesn't get what he wants so they had to submit.
91	* Jeanne's not happy with being tricked by Annie and her friends in Chapter 59. ''Really'' [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1715 not happy]].
92	** Really, the whole chapter after Antimony tries to remove the arrow keeping Jeanne in the valley would fit. Jeanne is a powerful entity that's capable of killing ''psychopomps''. The only one that has a remote chance of protecting the group if she attacks is George, who has ''just'' started to train as the Court's dragon slayer.
93	** And of course, it gets worse. As soon as Annie touches the etheric arrow, she gets pulled into it, falling into a surreal plane. And what does she find? Jeanne's lover, whose soul has been bound to the arrow, trapped just like the woman he loves. And the first thing he does is start to ''choke'' Annie. Now the group has to deal with ''two'' wrathful murder-ghosts, who have every reason to hate and attack anyone from the Court, no matter how young they are.
94	*** His appearance is horrifying too. A deformed, exaggerated, barely humanoid version of his body that appears to be made of water. This is what [[http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=771 he looked when he was alive,]] and this is how [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1720 he looks now]]. Either tree elves's etheric selves look vastly different than their bodies, or arrow harmed his very soul...
95	** Robot getting impaled and then ''cleaved'' by Jeanne's sword. And thanks to the new body Kat built for him, he can feel pain now.
96	** Jeanne figures out that Ayilu is doing something with her mind. Her response? [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1735 Stab Ayilu through forehead! faces really sell it- Red is utterly terrified, with huge white eyes and hanging mouth... while Jeanne is only slightly frowning. Her soul outside of illusion, on the other hand, is utterly calm.]]
97	** While Ayilu is actually fine, Jeanne notices the strings around her, the etheric manifestation of Andrew's power. And she just uses her sword to snip them off her. Now George - an newbie dragonslayer - has to face a master swordswoman who kills Psychopomps. And all the while, Annie's ether form is trapped in a maze being chased by Jeanne's lover.
98	* Annie sees Kat's Ether form for the first time and is understandably ''terrified'' out of her wits.
99	* "A main gauche?" Too late--Jeanne brutally stabs Smitty in the chest, with a blade hidden behind her back.
100	** The elf's rotting, skeletal form crawling out of the water looks pretty creepy, like something out of a zombie film. Fortunately, he's one of the good guys (and he appears to be regenerating).
101	* [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1789 The final page of Chapter 60.]] Whatever Coyote is planning now that the Annan Waters are undefended, [[ThisIsGonnaSuck it can't be good...]]
102	** Even better? He's giving his powers to Ysengrin. ''Ysengrin.'' The one who holds the Court in contempt and would love nothing more than to assault the place. The one who detests humanity. The one with the HairTriggerTemper that nearly ''mauled Annie to death'' because of a perceived slight. ''The one who has been subjected to Coyote's MindRape for an untold number of years.'' Yeah...''that'' Ysengrin. And right before Coyote does this, he idly wonders what Ysengrin would do once he finds out that the Annan Waters have no guardian anymore.
103	** Ysengrin's first act after Coyote grants him his powers? ''He sinks his teeth into Coyote's throat.'' And, after ripping Coyote open, he swallows what look to be all the memories Coyote has been stealing from him over the years.
104	** And the creature that comes from this act? Loup, the new guardian of the Forest. Imagine an amalgamation of both Ysengrin and Coyote, with none of the restraint whatsoever.
105	* Chapter 72 is a bit of a mind screw as the characters investigate a ruined part of the city, only to find distance and size becoming warped, magic malfunctioning, and unknown forces shuffling them around to ensure they never get to far from one another. Why is this? Because ''none of it is real''. All the characters are ensnared by wisps that trapped them in an illusion and webbed them up to drain their life. The haggard and drained [[https://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=2199 appearances of the characters]] drive it home when they wake up and realize the truth of their situation.
106	* Kat is an amazingly talented engineer - too talented for the world's good, it would seem. It turns out that the Tic-Toc birds are the result of a StableTimeLoop that Kat may have created to save Annie from falling off the bridge. In some reality, there was a version of Kat so sad that she ''broke time.'' One shudders to imagine what else Kat is capable of, given the right motivation.
107	* Chapter 78:
108	** [[https://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=2385 Page 8]] is a single image that nonetheless reveals, in intricate detail, what it is like to be Zimmy. Warning: ''this is no exaggeration.'' Zimmy looks as if she's crying out in pain, head thrown back, hands curled, and mouth open in a distorted expression, and the whole thing is in a startlingly more realistic style. Even more so, [[https://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=2384 the previous pages in the comic]] depict a calm conversation between Kat and Paz, and then this just comes out of nowhere without any explanation. A lot of readers compared it to a jumpscare, which is quite a feat for a comic that updates three times a week. And then the following pages are another mundane interaction between Annie and Tony, and why that page was in the middle is not explained.
109	** [[https://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=2391 Another tortured Zimmy page]] appears after the Annie scene, with Zimmy digging her fingers into her distorted face in a disturbing way.
110	* Chapter 81:
111	** Coyote finally speaks to Annie and reveals his plan: he wants her to ''kill Loup'' and is doing it in such a way where she - a sixteen year old child - will be forced to do so in defense of both her and her companions' lives.
112	* From ''Chapter 87: Reconfiguration'':
113	** ''[[https://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=2731 This panel.]]'' It shows Zimmy in front of [[EldritchAbomination Kat's etheric form,]] and Gamma, bleeding ''heavily'' from her head and chest, all while telling of her prediction that Kat would kill her.
114	* Chapter 88:
115	** Paz revealing to Annie that she saw 'something' while helping Kat with her work. That 'something' turns out to be Kat's etheric form, heavily implied to be getting stronger the more Kat throws herself into whatever she has planned.
116	** The chapter begins with Kat asking Annie and Paz to help her implant a chip into her neck. But when she tries to activate, it ''explodes'' and her limp body collapses onto the floor. Thankfully, Kat's 'soul' was just transferred to the nearest electronic, but for those few panels it honestly looked like Kat had gotten herself killed!
117	* Chapter 90: Coyote devouring Lana was a harsh reminder of his mercurial nature. It gets worse when Loup attacks him, while Zimmy and Gamma are there. Something ''happens'' to the three of them that causes a sphere of pure darkness to begin enveloping the Court itself. All Annie and Reynard can do is hold onto each other as they're absorbed into the growing dark.

Context NightmareFuel / GunnerkriggCourt