History Main / TerrorHero

* ''Franchise/Baldursgate'':

* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'', explaining to stubborn thugs that you're the child of the god of murder and attacking you is a really bad idea usually does the trick, especially in the [[VideoGame/BaldursGateIIThroneOfBhaal expansion]] when you're at your most powerful. [[Main/TooDumbToLive Not always]], though.

* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' has the Confessor, a Franchise/{{Batman}} {{Expy}} who intimidates criminals with scary deep voices and persistent rumors of supernatural origins. During Astro City's equivalent of [[MediaNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks the Dark Age]], other characters appeared, including the Blue Knight, the Street Angel, Hellhound, Stone Cold, and the Pale Horseman.
* Trauma from ''ComicBook/AvengersTheInitiative'' is a Supernatural Illusionist. His powers produce whatever his foe most fears.
* Most versions of Franchise/{{Batman}} since roughly the '80s can be considered the TropeCodifier for TheCowl and TheDreaded variations, especially given his quote about criminals being "a superstitious, cowardly lot". He is also very much an Intimidator -- his favorite interrogation tactic is [[HighAltitudeInterrogation holding someone over the edge of a roof while he asks them questions]], and he'll drop them if he has to prove his point (though he'll always catch them). Being feared is pretty much a necessity to Batman, as he faces off against overwhelming odds alone quite often, and very much relies on his foes being too scared to fight properly. And it works. Even many villains who don't fear ''Superman'' are terrified of The Bat.
** There is also the matter that his ThouShaltNotKill creed is basically reliant on it. He needs to ''convince'' the people he's cornered that he will use any means to get them to talk, even threat of death, but never acts on it. If word got around that, for all his posturing, Batman would never kill anyone, then he'd probably be far less effective in getting information. When dealing with a criminal who's clued in that Batman never kills, he "corrects" them by claiming it's more a matter that he's never left any evidence when he kills somebody.
** Also, Batman might not kill, but [[TechnicalPacifist he's perfectly willing to break bones and knock people unconscious]] if he has to. So even if a criminal knows Batman won't kill them, he's still got a hundred different ways to hurt them. In any case, if Batman asks you a question, it's detrimental to your health not to answer. In ''Batman'' #423, ''You Shoulda Seen Him'', he states this (very) explicitly:

* ComicBook/{{Blade}} has from time to time been presented as the Dreaded or the Boogeyman to vampires. Young vampires fear him, many of them won't even dare whisper his name or his other epithet: The Daywalker.
* ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}. It all culminates when he ''beats up ComicBook/TheKingpin in public'', proclaims himself the new ruler of Hell's Kitchen ''while unmasked'', and proceeds to spend six weeks beating the crap out of every criminal who didn't flee. During the whole arc -- this takeover was in the middle of Matt being exposed as Daredevil by the media -- several people, including the reporter Ben Urich and Stilt-Man, say that the only reason his RoguesGallery hasn't banded together to stop him is that they are ''that'' terrified. Oh, and the unmasked public proclamation above? No witnesses. It was in the middle of a crowded bar, but there are no witnesses. Daredevil has a ThouShaltNotKill policy. Think about that for a moment.
* When ComicBook/{{Deadman}} wants to, he can haunt people ''very'' well. Don't wanna wake up hanging out a window by your ankles or on the edge of a skyscraper? Then ''don't piss off Deadman''
* Two examples from ''Creator/{{Disney}}'', of all publishers:

* ComicBook/GhostRider. His powers are supernatural in nature and specifically meant to horrify and traumatize evildoers. His Penance Stare makes a criminal experience all the pain and suffering he's inflicted on the innocent: the worse you are, the more you are left a drooling vegetable by it. He is also horrifying to behold, what with his {{Flaming Skull|s}} [[SkullForAHead for a head]].
* ComicBook/HarleyQuinn: Harley has become this in the more recent books. She's more of an AntiHero than AntiVillain at this point, and often does outright heroic deeds [[CopsNeedTheVigilante at the Police Chief's behest.]] People are still (rightfully) rather scared of her, as she's still a violent psycho, especially if [[ThePowerOfFriendship someone threatens her friends or family.]]
* ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk is treated as a level Alpha threat by military forces with missiles. Bruce Banner's gamma-powered alter ego has several personalities with varying levels of (conscious) intelligence, but even the Savage Hulk gets that he intimidates people and isn't above using it.
* ComicBook/MoonKnight is often considered Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}}'s AlternateCompanyEquivalent of Batman, and while there are differences, he does take the "strikes fear in the hearts of criminals" aspect and run with it. Most notably [[BrightisNotGood he deliberately wears a stark white costume so the bad guys see him coming well in advance]], where most criminals know he's going to be much rougher with them on average than say, Spider-Man or Daredevil would be.
* Dani Moonstar from the ''Comicbook/NewMutants'' refined and diversified her illusion-casting PsychicPowers over time; but until she was stripped of them outright her go-to offensive technique boiled down to digging the worst fears out of her enemies' hind-brain and make it reality for them until they crack or get beaten down physically while they cower.

* ComicBook/SpiderMan is one of TheDreaded as well. Just seeing him can be enough to get a generic robber or mugger to surrender; in one instance several criminals were in a shootout with police but instantly surrendered when he swung over the street, even though he was on his way somewhere else and wasn't trying to intervene. Most of this is because, although Spidey isn't Marvel's most powerful or intimidating hero, he's much stronger than petty thugs and yet still spends a lot of his time dealing with them, as well as being the only major superhero who deals with the criminal underworld, plus having the reputation of going toe-to-toe with various crime lords such as Silvermane and the Kingpin, probably helped.

* Oddly enough, Franchise/{{Superman}} can be this. He never tries to go out and scare people but he has the powers of a God. Usually he's only this to the bad guys and it's usually just when they run into him. Batman even tells this to Clark by saying that, because Clark tells everybody what he can do (fly faster than sound, see hundreds of miles away, strong enough to throw skyscrapers) he's essentially telling criminals everywhere that a demi-god in a cape who can find you no matter where you hide is watching out for them. Batman even states that he couldn't have done a better job intimidating criminals.
* [[ComicBook/{{Venom}} Eddie Brock]] as Anti-Venom (or even as "Venom: Lethal Protector") thinks he's Dreaded, but is both a Cowl and an Intimidator, with his {{Lovecraftian Superpower}}s, monstrous appearance, and tendency to show up seemingly out of nowhere.

** Dr. Manhattan from was deployed to Vietnam and quickly ended the war, with North Vietnamese and Vietcong troops surrendering to him personally the moment he appeared on the battlefield.
** Rorschach is even more. When Dr. Manhattan had to deal with a riot, the people argued with him. When Rorschach arrived at a riot, they stopped and left.

* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' has the Confessor, a Franchise/{{Batman}} {{Expy}} who intimidates criminals with scary deep voices and persistent rumors of supernatural origins. During Astro City's equivalent of [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks the Dark Age]], other characters appeared, including the Blue Knight, the Street Angel, Hellhound, Stone Cold, and the Pale Horseman.

->''"I seek the means to fight injustice; to turn fear against those who prey on the fearful."''
-->-- '''Bruce Wayne''', ''Film/BatmanBegins''

* ''Fanfic/TheRoboutianHeresy'': Konrad Curze and the Night Lords are still this, the same as in canon, but balance it out with a strict code of honor and deep respect for human life (though any ''other'' race is of course fair game). Rather than reveling in their crimes, they see it as DirtyBusiness that [[IDidWhatIHadToDo just needs to be done]], often confessing their crimes to 'sin-eaters' who help them cope.
* The [[VideoGame/Doom2016 Doom Slayer]] in ''Fanfic/MyHeroAcademiaUnchainedPredator'' quickly establishes himself as one of the most brutal Vigilantes in Japan due to the brutal tactics he utilizes against Villains. Ochako is mentally scarred for life after witnessing him tearing off Shigaraki's right arm with his bare hands, All Might is stunned by the Slayer's sheer brutality after having seen nothing like it in his long career, and the Slayer more or less traumatizes the rest of Class 1-A after tearing apart the Steel Sabers on I-Island.
* ''Fanfic/TheFoxOfMarseille'': Years fighting off thugs, rapists, and drug dealers in Marseille have molded Rena Rouge into a terror-powered AntiHero, using both her terrifying illusions and brutal physical force to take down her enemies. This is a major source of conflict between her and the more [[TheCape cape-esque]] Ladybug when the former moves to Paris.
* ''Fanfic/DesperatelySeekingRanma'': Yori is fond of shouting and can be mistaken for strategic nuclear weapons. Chou is more subtle but can still do a number on a miscreant's psyche. Azumi's disapproval tends to hover around liquid nitrogen, and at one point draws on her old hobby of reading Lovecraft when it comes to horrifying a suspect. And if you feel like you're bathing in liquid nitrogen when around Ms Aoyama, that means she's being FRIENDLY.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Medicated}}'', Anne is very much capable of being this as her human form to the FrogMen is so strange that it can make a very good psychological weapon even before her physical attributes come into play.

* ''Podcast/RedPandaAdventures'': The Red Panda makes heavy use of this in his crimefighting, acting as TheCowl in the style of heroes like the Spirit or the Shadow. In the second episode, "Night Patrol" he explains to his still-rookie sidekick the Kit Baxter that their regular night patrols are done to instill a sense that they could be anywhere, anytime, acting as a deterrent even if they aren't or can't actually be present. This gets further delved into in "The Trojan Horse", in which a now more experienced Kit is mentoring John Archer as he stands in for the Red Panda. When John's attempt to bargain with criminals, offering them a walk so the heroes can concentrate on the people they're ''actually'' after, goes disastrously, Kit explains that much of it was precisely because the hoods ''weren't'' afraid of him.

* In ''Literature/TheShadowOfKyoshi'', Kyoshi herself develops into this. Ultimately, she's a giant thug who doesn't do "subtle" or "diplomatic," and she eventually makes a virtue of that. If someone puts one toe out of line, she'll warn them very aggressively to knock it off, and if it happens again, they're dead meat.

* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' is an affectionate parody of The Cowl. His ego makes him a joke -- that is, until he says his CatchPhrase: "LetsGetDangerous!"