History Main / WhatDoTheyFearEpisode

* The ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' episode "Fear Factory" had several Legionnaires confronted with their fears in a space station that feeds on their fears.

* In ''Creator/DavidEddings'''s ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' and ''Literature/TheMalloreon'', the sorceress Polgara is able to force people to tell the truth by showing them pictures of whatever they fear most.

Related to WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes May be part of HiccupHijinks. At least one character may have an AbsurdPhobia that sticks out among the fears.

See also IKnowWhatYouFear, FaceYourFears.

* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'' has the third-year Defense Against the Dark Arts students taking on a boggart, a ShapeShifting creature which can take on the form of whatever its viewer fears the most. This provides a pretty funny chapter in which the students conquer the boggart by using the ''Riddikulus'' spell to turn it into something laughable, but it also shows the reader what some of the students fear most. Hermione, during her final exam, is terrified by her boggart, whose appearance (Professor [=McGonagall=] telling her she failed all of her classes) illustrates her deep-rooted fear of failure; Harry, by comparison, sees Dementors when he faces boggarts, which Professor Lupin says means that what he fears most is fear itself. The boggart scene also includes a clue as to [[spoiler: [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Lupin's]]]] true nature. [[spoiler:His boggart is a "silvery orb" which the students misinterpret as a crystal ball. However, Hermione realises that it is in fact the full moon, and this allows her to figure out Remus's secret and become his SecretSecretKeeper.]]
** There is a TearJerker echo much closer to the end of the series where MamaBear Molly Weasley confronts a boggart who turns into her biggest fear -- the dead forms of her beloved husband, her children, and Harry. [[spoiler:This turns out to be the most heartbreaking bit of {{foreshadowing}} in the entire series, since one of her children is killed by Voldemort's forces later.]]

** There is a TearJerker echo much closer to the end of the series where MamaBear Molly Weasley confronts a boggart who turns into her biggest fear - the dead forms of her beloved husband, her children, and Harry. [[spoiler:This turns out to be the most heartbreaking bit of {{foreshadowing}} in the entire series, since one of her children is killed by Voldemort's forces later.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MoonGirlAndDevilDinosaur2023'': "Coney Island, Baby!" is about Lunella overcoming her fear of Coney Island after a traumatic memory where she got separated from Mimi and wandered into a scary funhouse. [[GreatGazoo The Beyonder]] is present at Coney Island to study eating, but he is intrigued by human fear after seeing Lunella and decides to force her to confront it. Though Lunella specifically acts afraid of a clown prop from the haunted house, the Beyonder deduces that her underlying fear is losing people she loves, so he puts her through that by abducting Mimi and hiding her in that same haunted house.

* In ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'' episode "Strange Days" everyone in New York and possibly the world (except for Spider-Man, Iron Fist, and Doctor Strange) are put to sleep by Nightmare who feeds on their worst fears in their dreams. White Tiger's fear is failing her exams, Power Man's fear is not being able to save his friends, Iron Fist's fear is thinking that he isn't worthy of his powers, Doctor Strange's fear is realizing that magic isn't real, and Nova is afraid of rabbits. Nightmare tries to pull one on Spidey by making him look back at his failure to save Uncle Ben, but Spider-man accepted his guilt and overcomes his fear, allowing him to beat Nightmare, because he figured out that nightmares aren't real.

%% Image removed per Image Pickin' thread: tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1503453195070157700
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* Similarly, ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'' also has an episode dedicated to this trope, in which the whole main cast is trapped and forced to see their worst fears.
* One episode of ''Anime/DigimonDataSquad'' had the main cast captured and made to face their worst fears courtesy of [=MetalPhantomon's=] powers.
* In ''Manga/{{Dorohedoro}}'', En has Fujita, Ebisu, and Chota consume a special brand of mushroom he intends to sell on the market called "Dream Machine", which causes consumers to fall into a immediate sleep and [[LotusEaterMachine live out their desired dreams]]. Unfortunately as En and the others found out, after a short period, a side-effect occurs that causes them to experience their deepest fears; Ebisu had to relive watching her past-self with her family, Fujita is scared of being abandoned by his comrades, and En is terrified of turning into a mushroom and getting wilted.
* An early episode of ''Anime/GalaxyAngel'' revealed that Forte is deathly afraid of (and allergic to) rodents. Despite Normad's clear intent to use this for blackmail, it's never brought up again in the anime.
* Yusei of ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' is practically crippled by fear after losing his duel with Kiryu (once his best friend and BigBrotherMentor now brought BackFromTheDead -- which Yusei blames himself for -- and psychotically evil), as if he's so unfamiliar with the emotion, he has no idea how to deal with it (dialogue {{Dub Induced Plot Hole}}s regarding visually non-existent entomophobia aside).

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': When a quincy with the power to incite primal fear in his opponents confronts the Sixth Division, there's an entire chapter devoted to what Byakuya himself is afraid of. The consequences end up being one of the most FamilyUnfriendlyViolence moments in the entire manga. [[spoiler: Paralysed by the sight of Rukia's gruesomely decomposing face, Byakuya suffers one of the most graphically drawn defeats in the entire manga. He is literally [[DeathByAThousandCuts shredded]] to the bone by his own bankai and left pinned to a wall by his own blood, his chest ripped open to the ribcage.]]

* In ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'''s Trial of Head, Hand and Heart arc, the Trial of Heart involves Savah mind-probing Cutter and Rayek to learn their deepest fears, and then setting challenges to see whether they can overcome them. The twist is that Cutter's challenge turns out to be Rayek's as well.

* A ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2002'' comic depicted the old toyline character Scare-Glow as having IKnowWhatYouFear powers, and after being pressed into Skeletor's employ he forced He-Man, Teela, and Man-at-Arms to confront their greatest fears. For Man-at-Arms, it was growing old and weak; for Teela, it was failure; for He-Man, it was disappointing his parents (really). Man-at-Arms and Teela are totally cowed by the illusions Scare-Glow shows them, but He-Man snaps out of his with help from Orko and saves the day.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines'' story "Spy in the Sky" (Gold Key, Hanna-Barbera Fun-In #3), Dick Dastardly sends Muttley on a spy mission to find out what Yankee Doodle Pigeon fears. Yankee Doodle suspects he's being spied upon so he makes Muttley think he's afraid of lightning. Armed with this info, Dastardly has the Squadron round up lightning clouds and push them towards the pigeon. Of course, it backfires: the pigeon kitted his flight helmet with lightning rods while the lightning grounds the Squadron.
-->'''Dastardly''' (''to Muttley''): "Afraid of lightning, " you said...'''''give me those medals!!'''''

* ''Fanfic/DarkStudiosKidsNextDoor'': During Operation NIGHT, the Boogeyman invades all of Sector V's dreams and gives them nightmares based on what they fear. Numbuh 1 fears [[spoiler:not being respected by his teammates because of his girlier hobbies]], Numbuh 2 fears [[spoiler:that nobody respects his humor]], Numbuh 4 fears [[spoiler:drowning]], and Numbuh 5 fears [[spoiler:growing up into a teenager, losing her friends, and becoming just like her sister.]] Only Numbuh 3's fears aren't shown and she's the one who helps the other break free from their own nightmares, revealing, ironically what the Boogeyman is afraid of: not being viewed as scary.

* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'' has the third-year Defense Against the Dark Arts students taking on a boggart, a ShapeShifting creature which can take on the form of whatever its viewer fears the most. This provides a pretty funny chapter in which the students conquer the boggart by using the ''Riddikulus'' spell to turn it into something laughable, but it also shows the reader what some of the students fear most. Hermione, during her final exam, is terrified by her boggart, whose appearance (Professor [=McGonagall=] telling her she failed all of her classes) illustrates her deep-rooted fear of failure; Harry, by comparison, sees Dementors when he faces boggarts, which Professor Lupin says means that what he fears most is fear itself. The boggart scene also includes a clue as to [[spoiler: [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Lupin's]]]] true nature. [[spoiler: His boggart is a "silvery orb" which the students misinterpret as a crystal ball. However, Hermione realises that it is in fact the full moon, and this allows her to figure out Remus's secret and become his SecretSecretKeeper.]]

* In one episode of ''Series/BigBadBeetleborgs,'' the cast stumble across the brain of a monster called Dicehead that if held for too long can bring a person's worst fear to life. The first victim is Wolfgang, who gets attacked by giant fleas. Next is Jo, who gets an illusion of her scary looking aunt, and then Fangula, who sees an illusion of his ex-wife, who he claims is a "living nightmare." Mums, who doesn't believe any of this is real, is next to pick up the brain, and gets chased around the house by a giant pair of scissors. The next victim is Drew, who gets attacked by giant broccoli, which also scares Jo and Ronan. The last victim is Ronan's grandmother, who gets attacked by ninjas.

* The monster in the ''Podcast/CoolKidsTable'' game ''Creepy Town'' often takes the forms of the characters' worst fears, such as [[spoiler: Spencer drowning, Katie seeing a giant spider, and Veronica seeing the hall on fire]].

* A bit of a RunningGag in the ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' games, where the villain or one of their underlings will ask Mario or one of his allies what Mario is most afraid of, but will gladly accept that he's terrified of the normal items he'd been using the whole game.
* A Temple in ''VideoGame/StarfoxAdventures'' had this, making Fox remain calm in the face of some frightful experiences in order to get a Krazoa spirit.

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'':
** ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' has literal episodes; Batman gets doused with fear gas 3 times; the first time he hallucinates his allies dying because of him, aka Batman's greatest fear. The second time he has to relive the events of Crime Alley, Bruce Wayne's biggest fear. The third time fakes a [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall game crash and replays the opening cutscene]]... with Joker driving Batman into the Asylum, probably causing the unfortunate player freak out.
** ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'': Batman is afraid of going insane for most of the game, because [[spoiler: he is still affected by Joker's blood; and other's who weren't cured slowly turn into Joker. The endgame also shows that The Joker is afraid of being forgotten after death.]]

* ''WebAnimation/HanazukiFullOfTreasures'': "The Volcano of Fears", an episode that involves a volcano that projects the worse fears of anyone that gazes into the lava.
* ''WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers'' Has the episode ''Mario Goes to Didney Worl''. At one point the gang is tricked into an incredibly lame Scary Mansion ride, until they reach "The Hall of your Worst Fears". Mario sees Luigi throwing his [[TrademarkFavoriteFood spaghetti]] in the trash. [[AuthorAvatar SMG4]] sees [[OldShame his first video]] and Toad sees his psycho girlfriend.
-->'''Toadette:''' [[WebAnimation/ASDFMovie BUY ME MORE JEWLERY!]]

* Subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTarzan''. Jane spends an entire episode trying to find something which scares the titular character. In the end he freaks out over her powderpuff, however the last scene reveals that he pretended to be scared so she would stop trying to scare him.
* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' does this in the sixth "Teror Tales of the Park" Halloween special. In "Fear Planet", Mordecai, Rigby, Pops, Skips, and Benson land on a planet that brings inner fears to life while trying to get gas. Benson's fear are sharks, Skips finds people with flying discs creepy, Pops is afraid of the dark, Mordecai's fear isn't shown, and Rigby is afraid of [[CallBack amusement park mascots]], along with everyone else's fears.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'', Episode 18, "Fear Itself" - The Titans pick up a horror movie called Wicked Scary. After watching it, they are scared out of their wits, although Raven refuses to admit this to the others. During the night, strange things start to happen in the Tower. [[spoiler:Raven's suppressed fear acts out by using her powers to pick off the Titans one by one in increasingly nightmarish ways. Only by admitting that she was afraid is she able to regain control and free her friends.]]
* Happens in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS2E5And6OnlyADream Only a Dream]]", when Doctor Destiny sticks the core seven into their own worst nightmares. Superman was afraid of his powers going out of control and killing all his loved ones. Hawkgirl is [[{{Claustrophobia}} trapped in a coffin and buried alive]] (this was {{foreshadowed}} earlier in the episode). Flash fears that he would run so fast that the rest of the world would [[TimeStandsStill freeze in time]]. Franchise/GreenLantern is afraid that he was [[LossOfIdentity becoming nothing more than a tool for his ring, and losing touch with where he came from]]--reflected in people being afraid of him and being unable to communicate with him, as though it were just another of the alien worlds he's been tasked to protect. Franchise/{{Batman}} cheats--despite telling Dr Destiny how "My mind is not a nice place to be" he just chugs coffee and stays awake until he takes him down, so we never do find out what he fears.
* In the final episode of ''WesternAnimation/VoltronTheThirdDimension,'' Voltron Force is attacked by a spider who's venom sends the victim into a coma where they live out their worst fears.
* In a ''WesternAnimation/MartinMystery'' episode, the MonsterOfTheWeek was a [[TheSandman Sandman]] creature that forced people into slumber and traps them in nightmares of their fears. Diana was afraid of failing in school, Java is terrified of [[AbsurdPhobia kittens]], and Martin is scared of losing his job.
* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'': There are two fear-related challenges in the series, the latter an homage to the former.
** In the ''Island'' episode "[[Recap/TotalDramaPhobiaFactor Phobia Factor]]", the campers make the horrible mistake to bond over sharing their worst fears. It all gets caught on tape and inspires Chris to set up tailor-made challenges for each contestant according to their fears. Gwen has to accept being buried alive, Trent has to face a mime, Cody has to defuse a bomb, Lindsay and Sadie have to suffer awful wigs, Owen and Izzy have to take a trip on a faulty plane, Tyler has to confront chickens, DJ has to confront a snake, Leshawna has to confront Chef dressed as a huge spider, Heather has to fight a sumo wrestler, Harold has to fight ninjas, Beth has to accept a bug bath, Duncan has to hug a cardboard Music/CelineDion standee, Bridgette has to spend time alone in the woods, Courtney has to accept a green jelly bath, and Geoff has to deal with hail.
** In the ''All-Stars'' episode "[[Recap/TotalDramaSuckersPunched Suckers Punched]]", in homage to "[[Recap/TotalDramaITripleDogDareYou I Triple Dog Dare You!]]" and secretly "[[Recap/TotalDramaPhobiaFactor Phobia Factor]]", the contestants have to enter the boxing ring to fight whatever the wheel happens to land on. They are told the matches are random, but in truth the wheel is rigged and all challengers are hand-picked to be the worst opponent a contestant could face. Scott is up against [[ThreateningShark Fang]], Sierra fights the mother of the mutants she had adopted, Alejandro battles [[BigBrotherBully José]], Duncan faces a cute bird he'd befriended the previous episode (the bird is not his fear, but rather being exposed as a softie), and [[WeUsedToBeFriends Gwen is pitted against Courtney]]. Mal and Cameron escape the trickery because Cameron realizes that the wheel is rigged and demands a random match as promised. Chris promises, but instead fixes it so that Mal is up against Cameron's most feared opponent, Izzy dressed as a huge spider, and Cameron is up against Mike's, mutant gophers.
* The ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' episode "Fear Factory" had several Legionnaires confronted with their fears in a space station that feeds on their fears.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'': Him once finds out what each of the girls feared the most and exploits this: Blossom, the leader, is afraid of failure (represented by failure in school); Bubbles is afraid of the dark, as had been seen before; and Buttercup, so vehemently prides herself on fearing nothing that the sisters' mutual minor fear of bugs and spiders makes her feel completely powerless.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' did this; it consisted of [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Jack Spicer]] breaking into the Xiaolin temple and swiping a certain Shen Gong Wu that allowed him to enter the minds of the four main protagonists and find out what scared each of them the most. HilarityEnsues when it is revealed that Omi, who normally prides himself on being the bravest of the group, is afraid of [[spoiler:squirrels.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries'' has the episode [[Recap/TangledTheSeriesS3E09BeVeryAfraid Be Very Afraid]], in which [[spoiler:Cassandra]] sends red rocks into Corona that cause people to see visions of their worst fears, and paralyze them if they are under the rocks’ effects for too long. Some are [[PlayedForLaughs played for laughs]], such as Eugene’s worst fear being a cowlick, but others are serious.
* The HalloweenEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries'' ("Spooky") focused on a experiment that could shapeshift into a person's deepest fears. Of them we learn Stitch is afraid of water (due to his increased molecular density), Lilo is afraid of clowns (this from a girl who ''loves'' monster movies by the way), Jumba is afraid of his ex-wife, Pleakley is afraid of his mother, Mertle and her posse are scared of Lilo herself (though that could've been the costume she was wearing at the moment--being an undead hula girl with a rubber axe in her head) and perhaps the most shocking is Nani's--it's being told that she's an unfit guardian and having her sister taken away by child services (which actually happened in [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch the original movie]]).

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''
** The season 3 premiere has Twilight Sparkle and Spike go to a secret door that hides the Crystal Heart that they've been looking for. The door has a spell placed on it so [[MindRape any intruder lives out his/her worst fear]]. It's revealed that Twilight Sparkle's fear is disappointing her beloved mentor to the point where she refuses to teach her anymore, and Spike's fear is Twilight abandoning him against his will.
** "Sleepless in Ponyville" has Scootaloo haunted by nightmares brought on by Rainbow Dash telling ghost stories while they're out camping. After being visited by Princess Luna during one of her bad dreams, Scoots admits the ''real'' reason she's having them is because she fears ''admitting'' the stories scare her will make Rainbow Dash think she's pathetic.
** In "What Lies Beneath", the students are all trapped inside a cave underneath the school and are put through tests by the Tree of Harmony where they must face their worst fears. Sandbar is scared of disappointing the Mane Six, who he idolizes, Smolder is scared to admit that she likes girly stuff like tea parties and dresses, Gallus is afraid of tight spaces, Ocellus is afraid of the Changelings' past as love-devouring monsters coming back to haunt her, Yona is scared of spiders, and Silverstream is afraid of [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017 the Storm King]] returning.

* In ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'' episode "Strange Days" everyone in New York and possibly the world (except for Spider-Man, Iron Fist, and Doctor Strange) are put to sleep by Nightmare who feeds on their worst fears in their dreams. White Tiger's fear is failing her exams, Power Man's fear is not being able to save his friends, Iron Fist's fear is thinking that he isn't worthy of his powers, Doctor Strange's fear is realizing that magic isn't real, and Nova is afraid of rabbits. Nightmare tries to pull one on Spidey by making him look back at his failure to save Uncle Ben, but Spider-man accepted his guilt and overcomes his fear, allowing him to beat Nightmare, because he figured out that nightmares aren't real.
* The end of ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy - Big Boogey's Adventure'' culminates in one of these, as, in order to lay claim to Horror's Hand, one has to [[FaceYourFears Face Their Fears]]. Billy sees a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Spider-Clown-Mailman]], Irwin envisions trying to do stand-up comedy to an audience of bears (who subsequently attack him), and Mandy gets traumatised by the possibility that she would grow up to be a nice person, and end up marrying Irwin. And then she gets mauled by the bears, too. Grim, on the other hand, picks up the artifact with relative ease, as he faces his fear on a daily basis: being picked on and humiliated by Billy and Mandy. It then gets subverted in the finale: [[spoiler: Boogie is defeated when the hand seems to start making his fear (not being taken seriously) come true. In actuallity, Grim had turned off the hand and [[BatmanGambit just relied on the idea that nobody would take Boogie that seriously]].]]
* ''WesternAnimation/SuperRobotMonkeyTeamHyperforceGo'' featured "Night of Fear," in which we learn that [[AcePilot Sprx]]'s worst fear is going blind, [[TheProfessor Gibson]]'s worst fear is losing his intelligence and becoming a TalkativeLoon, [[TheStoic Antauri]] fears losing control of his robot body, [[ActionGirl Nova]] fears becoming a coward, [[TheHero Chiro]] fears being reverted back into a little kid, and [[CloudCuckooLander Otto]] fears clams with feet.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' episode titled (naturally) "[[Recap/DuckTalesS1E5NothingToFear Nothing to Fear]]," the cast are tormented by their fears coming to life courtesy of Magica de Spell's rain cloud. Interestingly, the visions start with fantastic or shallow fears (video games coming to life, the limousine turning into a monster) and become increasingly down-to-earth personal. The final, worst manifestations are mirror images: Uncle Scrooge sees delinquent versions of his nephews that don't respect him, and the nephews see an abusive version of their uncle who considers them a burden.
* The "Shaman of Fear" episode of ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan''. The MonsterOfTheWeek, a Shaman causes Lance and Ilana to see visions in their dreams, regarding Lance's past and Ilana's fear of the fate of her planet, believing she abandoned her people.

* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainSimianAndTheSpaceMonkeys'' used this in the episode "Mind Over Monkey", where Rhesus-2 had the Space Monkeys face illusions of their worst fears as a safeguard against defusing his bomb. Spydor is afraid of pitbulls, Gor-illa is afraid of forest fires, Splitzy is afraid of being locked in a cage, Shao Lin is afraid of being taken from the people she cares about, and Captain Simian is afraid of letting his team down. Captain Simian manages to get rid of the bomb in time after overcoming the illusion of Rhesus-2's worst nightmare, which turns out to be when Lord Nebula first converted him into a cyborg.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim,'' Jim, Peter, and Princess What's-Her-Name are sent to the realm of nightmares, but since they're superheroes who fight monsters on a daily basis, none of the things there actually scare them. That is until the lord of nightmares appears and conjures up their darkest fears. Jim's worst fear is a public washroom with no wax paper seat protectors, Peter's worst fear is a Scottish chef who tries to force feed him haggis, and the princess' worst fear is a perfume seller who keeps spraying her with perfume and repeatably saying "Sample a fragrance."
* The second HalloweenEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'', "A Fear to Remember", has the Queen of Weevils making everyone experience their worst fear, and then get TakenForGranite. Colonel K turns out to be afraid of goats, Professor Squawkencluck of [[MonsterClown clowns]], and Penfold of a GymClassRopeClimb. DM insists he's fearless, but it turns out [[spoiler: he's afraid of something happening to Penfold]]. We also see the fears of InnocentBystanders, including that Mike of Mike's Pies is afraid of salad. In the end, DM turns the tables, realising that what the Queen is frightened of is [[spoiler: nobody being frightened of her]].
* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': In "Sandboy", the titular villain has the power to bring people's nightmares to life. Curiously, the heroes have different fears in their civilian and superhero forms. Marinette is accosted by a zombie-like Adrien professing his love for Chloé, and Adrien finds himself trapped with bars closing in on him; meanwhile, Ladybug's worst fear is being powerless so she gets BroughtDownToNormal, while Cat Noir is attacked by his nightmare of a Ladybug who hates him. Master Fu is confronted by the ghosts of the Order of Guardians blaming him for their deaths, and [[TheRuntAtTheEnd Marinette's dad Tom finds the bread he's baking coming to life and trying to eat him]].
* ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'': The penultimate episode of Season 4, "Horrority House," is a HalloweenEpisode where the main cast goes to a haunted house, and they all get drugged and have gruesome hallucinations representing the fears they've been grappling with all season. Jessi imagines being in a mental asylum due to her severe anxiety, Missy imagines being trapped in a bloody fight between several fragmented versions of herself (representing her identity crisis, especially regarding her racial identity), Andrew has several death hallucinations due to his newfound fear of death, Matthew's struggle choosing between his homophobic mother and his boyfriend is represented by a SadisticChoice where both of them are tied up to be slaughtered, and Nick gets chased by Nick Starr, a vision of his sadistic adult self that represents Nick's paranoia that he's going to be a terrible person forever. Most of the characters learn to cope with these fears, although Nick still grapples with Nick Starr in the season finale.
* ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'': The episode "Face Your Fears" is this. A VR arcade game called the Face Of Fear makes its players face their fears and updates their POW cards to reflect how brave they are. Mr. Gar realizes that his card hasn't been updated in years and, embarrassed, sets the game to maximum difficulty to prove his bravery... only to become overwhelmed by the scenario the game puts him into. KO, Rad, and Enid try to help him by using extra VR helmets to join the game, but due to their convoluted setup, KO must face Enid's fear, and both of them have to face Rad's before all three can face Mr. Gar's. Enid's fear is the parts of herself that she considers dorky and embarrassing. Rad's fear is admitting his own vulnerability. Mr. Gar's fear is his past mistakes, which contributed to the disappearance of his former teammate Laserblast and led to a rift between himself and his other former teammate Carol. KO's plan for facing the scenario based on Mr. Gar's fear involves harnessing the power of his own fear, which he encountered while playing previously - his inner darkness.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' episode "Enchanting Grom Fright" combines this premise with a HighSchoolDance, where every year the equivelant of prom king or queen has to face off against a shapeshifting monster that lives beneath the school and takes on its opponent's worst fear. Interestingly, while Luz and Amity manage to defeat the monster, neither of them is actually able to stand up to their fear ([[spoiler:her mother finding out that she's been lying about where she's been for the past several weeks and [[InsecureLoveInterest being rejected by Luz]] respectively]]).

* Similarly, ''Manga/InuYasha'' also has an episode dedicated to this trope, in which the whole main cast is trapped and forced to see their worst fears.

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

* In ''Series/DarkMatter'' season 2 episode "Take The Shot", Two, Three and Four have their memory imprints used against them, with Two forced to relive the experiments on her, Four having to face his doubts over having to retake the throne of Zairon by force, and Three almost DrivenToSuicide by the loss of his lover Sarah.

%%* ''Series/{{Life|2007}}'' episode "Not for Nothing" turned out to be this.

* ''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}'': In "Fear Knot", when the team enter the Phantom Zone to rescue Supergirl, Alex, Lena, Kelly, Nia and Brainy are all given visions of their worst fears by a Phantom. Brainy's worst fear turns out to be [[AbsurdPhobia balloons]].