History Main / ExistentialHorror

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* ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' asks the question; "[[spoiler:What would happen if a side character in a typical Romance Visual Novel was aware of being trapped in a game, but was also still unable to go against the fundamental constraints of the kind story/game of they existed in]]?" which of course leads into the question; "[[spoiler:do we ourselves truly have free will, or are we just as fundamentally constrained in our worldview by the society we grew up and live in]]"?

** "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS1E6RickPotionNumber9 Rick Potion #9]]" has Morty ask Rick to concoct a love potion to administer to Jessica before the school prom, which in fact is more a hyper-aphrodisiac that causes Jessica to go crazy for him, ''really crazy'' for him. Unfortunately, Jessica has a cold, and the effect spreads virulently. As a solution Rick creates an antidote from praying mantis DNA... [[EpicFail which only causes]] the entire human race to transform into hideous {{Half Human Hybrid}}s that still want to get into Morty's pants. Then Rick engineers another antidote that results in everyone turning back... for a few moments before they all turn into horrifying [[Creator/DavidCronenberg "Cronenburged"]] mutants. [[spoiler:At this point Rick gives up trying to fix the world and takes Morty to an alternate dimension where the two managed to fix their version of the crisis but shortly died afterwards in a laboratory accident; Rick and Morty have to bury the dead bodies of their alternate selves and assume their place. Morty is left mortified that he has to live every day with the knowledge he doomed the entire human race for asking for a glorified roofie cocktail, that his own rotting corpse is buried a few metres away from his house, and that he'll spend the rest of his existence living a life that was never really his.]]

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/{{Soma}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/existential_horror_soma_0.png]]]]

* Parodied in ''WebAnimation/StarterSquad'', where Haunter casually reveals the somewhat mindless Gastly are what - at least - every Pokémon will turn into.
-->"By the way, [[SillySpook this]] is what you turn into when you die. [[GoMadFromTheRevelation That thought alone]] should existentially cripple you."

* ''Manga/CellsAtWorkCodeBlack'' takes quite an interesting interpretation of this. In it, one of the host body's (anthropomorphized) Red Blood Cells, AA 2153, wonders what even is the point of working so hard to keep the body alive if he's so clearly intent in destroying himself through neglect, vices like alcohol, and bad habits like unprotected sex, and ''especially'' when said cell realizes that the body is incapable of reproducing, the ultimate goal of any living organism.

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[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/{{Soma}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/existential_horror_soma_0.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[ArmorPiercingQuestion "...Who am I?"]]]]
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* Both Franchise/TheDCU and the Franchise/MarvelUniverse have had CrisisCrossover events where TheMultiverse is broken down and recreated. Past the latter half of TheNewTens, this has been deconstructed in their respective relaunch events. Once either something unknown to everyone or to a select few heroes directly involved, it's gradually becoming openly discussed that everything everyone has ever known can suddenly be erased and hastily recreated, with some individuals accidentally shuffled around between universes. In Marvel, this is only being theorized by some civilians, which leads them to commit horrific actions believing nothing matters. DC's ''ComicBook/DCFutureState'' builds a story arc around ''everyone'' in the multiverse being made aware of crisis events and taking drastic action to protect themselves from any future occurrences. There are also survivors of past crises who are furious at falling through the literal cracks of reality and ending up in nigh identical worlds where no one knows them, or worse, there's another version of them who already exists.

* ''Film/TheMatrix'' presents the idea that people are [[PlatonicCave inadvertently living their entire lives]] inside of a LotusEaterMachine. ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'' shows that the protagonists' rebellion is accounted for and an inherent part of the system. ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'' has HappinessInSlavery be the end fate of most of humanity, the HappyEnding being that humans who are unhappy with the system as such will be released to the depressing, black-skied Reality. Said reality is however put into question by the seemingly supernatural powers the protagonist demonstrates in it. Both sequels have Smith as TheVirus, hijacking people's personalities and turning them into ever more of himself, until, by the end of Revolutions, he's the only one left. Between the two sequels, Neo is stuck in a limbo where he is absolutely powerless and ineffectual. The viewer may be left to question whether they themselves are living in a constructed reality to some degree. A lot of philosophers and humanists would say yes, in a variety of ways, but not in the literal way of the films; one of them is referenced in the first film, with Neo keeping his illegal software inside a hollow copy of ''Simulacra and Simulation'' by Jean Baudrillard.
* ''Film/{{Predestination}}'' is about a time traveling agent who wants to stop a time traveling terrorist, [[spoiler:only to progressively find out that through a complex PredestinationParadox, he is his own mother, father, the Time Agency mentor who recruited him in and separated him from his own mother self as a baby, and even the terrorist himself, due to his time-traveling device still working after his last case, which made him psychotic from excessive time traveling, [[ProtagonistJourneytoVillain becoming the very same terrorist he is going after]]. The movie ends with the protagonist killing his future terrorist self, only to realize that his own existence depends on this horrifying circle, since his boss orchestrated everything to create an agent who has no ties to time]].

* Both Marvel and DC comics have had crisis crossover events where the multiverse was broken down and recreated. Past the latter half of the New Tens, this has been deconstructed in their respective relaunch events. Once either something unknown to everyone or to a select few heroes directly involved, it's gradually becoming openly discussed that everything everyone has ever known can suddenly be erased and hastily recreated, with some individuals accidentally shuffled around between universes. In Marvel, this is only being theorized by some civilians, which leads them to commit horrific actions believing nothing matters. DC's [[ComicBook/DCFutureState Future State]] is building a story arc around ''everyone'' in the multiverse being made aware of crisis events and taking drastic action to protect themselves from any future occurrences. Particularly there are survivors of past crises that are furious at falling through the literal cracks of reality and ending up in nigh identical worlds where no one knows them, or worse there's another version of them that already exists.
* ''ComicBook/JessicaJones'' once had a client who's husband claimed that they weren't actually married and that he was originally from an AlternateUniverse that got wiped out or ret-conned out of existance during some sort of cosmic upheaval. The man eventually ends up murdering his wife, and when Jessica talks to him at the police station, defends himself with this trope, stating that one murder means nothing in the face of full-on universal genocide, and that these sort of cataclysms have occurred more than once but were covered up by the superhero community. While that sort of thing is far above what Jessica dealt with even as an active superhero, the readers know that these things have in fact happened, and will again, though it's never confirmed if this man in particular was telling the truth.

* ''Film/JohnnyGotHisGun'' focuses on Joe Bonham, a young American soldier who gets hit by an artillery shell in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI becoming a severe amputee who has lost his limbs and senses but is still fully conscious. Thus, the movie is a hopelessly bleak depiction of Johnny being stuck in a AndIMustScream scenario. Joe also meets Jesus in a dream, where they discuss the possibility that the whole ordeal is just a nightmare because dreams have a bigger control over us, while reality could be a dream in which we are in control, but Joe states that he's still unable to do anything to make his suffering stop due to his injuries. Jesus admits that Joe's real life must be a [[FateWorseThanDeath worse nightmare than his dreams]] and states that he can't help him. Joe gives up, but as a final question he asks Jesus to tell him whether they're in a dream or not, Jesus states that they are, Joe angrily refuses to believe him, and Jesus [[ArmorPiercingResponse agrees]], stating that nobody believes him and that's why he's as unreal as every other dream that never comes true.

* In ''Literature/ChildrenOfMemory'', as the main characters in the LostColony start to experience causally impossible events, they question what they and their reality really are.

* ''Film/JohnnyGotHisGun'' focuses on Joe Bonham, a young American soldier who gets hit by an artillery shell in [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne WW1]] becoming a severe amputee who has lost his limbs and senses, but is still fully conscious. Thus the movie is a hopelessly bleak depiction of Johnny being stuck in a AndIMustScream scenario. Joe also meets Jesus in a dream, where they discuss the possibility that the whole ordeal is just a nightmare because dreams have a bigger control over us, while reality could be a dream in which we are in control, but Joe states that he's still unable to do anything to make his suffering stop due to his injuries. Jesus admits that Joe's real life must be a [[FateWorseThanDeath worse nightmare than his dreams]] and states that he can't help him. Joe gives up, but as a final question he asks Jesus to tell him whether they're in a dream or not, Jesus states that they are, Joe angrily refuses to believe him, and Jesus [[ArmorPiercingResponse agrees]], stating that nobody believes him and that's why he's as unreal as every other dream that never comes true.

* ''Film/SynecdocheNewYork'': Instead of aiming to be a 'classic' existential horror story where the protagonist discovers some shocking truth about themselves or the world they inhabit, the film is oppressively focused on the uglier aspects of life and various fears and anxieties such as paranoia, being obsessed with terminal illnesses, having a failed marriage, failing to be a good parent, feeling unwanted and unable to form a meaningful relationship that can grant you some happiness and the paradox that this pursue can further alienate you from others. The main character Caden Cotard aims to build an increasingly elaborate stage production that replicates RealLife in brutal realism and honesty, into which he can pour his whole self. Many scenes feature cynical, unsettling interactions between broken people with few moments of BlackComedy that only momentarily distract from a surreal setting overflowing with decay and isolation. The film has also a huge emphasis on time moving mercilessly fast and death being unavoidable and capable of happening without warning, which can hinder someone's projects and ambitions. The fact that Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman (who portrayed Caden) died at 46 does nothing but elevate the discomfort of the film's themes.