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    Bakugan: Battle Brawlers 
  • From the first season, the Doom Dimension! It is scary looking and in Dan and Masquerade's second to last battle against each other after beating Dan and sending him and Drago to the Doom Dimension, Masquerade himself says that the Doom Dimension is the afterlife for Bakugan! So basically he's sending Bakugan to Hell!
  • Dan’s Saurus getting strangled by a Darkus Centipoid and having it’s life drain out of it’s eyes while being sucked into the Doom Dimension.

    Bakugan: Battle Brawlers - New Vestroia 
  • The Vestals' continual experimentation on Bakugan throughout the series. Basically, it's what would happen if Dr. Gero got his hands on Bakugan to use as lab rats. Case in point, the creation of Mechanical Bakugan, who are shown in nearly all instances as having powers surpassing organic Bakugan and, more notably, Helios becoming a Cyborg Bakugan.
  • The Forbidden Ability Cards, introduced by Spectra when he and Gus travel to Earth. Every moment where these cards are used is one terror after another. This is shown most prominently in the 3-episode mini arc in which Spectra attempts to seize Drago and the Perfect Core's power for himself:
    • The first is in the episode "Show Me The Power!", when Spectra and Helios battle Dan and Drago on Earth. When Spectra first uses a Forbidden Card on screen, the diamond design and braided purple wings on the card become corporeal. Then, the aforementioned wings wrap around the entirety of Helios' body, like bondage gear. Then, finally, the card takes effect, causing Helios' musculature to become grotesquely mutated, all of his muscles bulging like crazy and veins thick and pulsing all along his body.
      • The mutation shown above, put together with what Spectra describes the effect of the Forbidden Card to be, that being to forcibly push a Bakugan's strengths beyond their limits, while risking killing them, essentially makes the Forbidden Cards the Bakugan equivalent of steroids. Drago outright tells Helios to resist the card's power, rightfully seeing that it's killing him. But Helios doesn't even care. He's willing to risk death just to prove himself stronger than Drago.
      Drago: Helios! Resist this power! It's destroying you!
      • Cue Helios then using this new power to defeat Drago, with a high enough power level that Spectra is able to take him.
    • The next episode, "Dude, Where's My Bakugan?", where Dan and Apollonir team up to save Drago from Spectra, only turns the horror up even more. At the end of the episode, it appears to be a Hope Spot when Apollonir quickly overcomes Helios, and he and Dan call for Spectra to bring out Drago. Spectra does so...and the episode ends with showing Drago's new, corrupted form. The red and gold on his body have been replaced by black and amber, the Perfect Core in his chest has turned black, and his eyes have become a blank chalk white. Bear in mind, this is only after Drago has been with Spectra for at least 24 hours. What the hell did Spectra do to him in that time?
    • The final episode of this arc, "Gone, Gone Bakugan", has lots of horrors, in showcasing the full terrible power of the Forbidden Cards and the depth of Spectra's depravity.
      Spectra: (chuckles evilly) Bakugan are no more than animals. I am Drago's master now. He is under my complete control. Talk all you want; he can't hear you anymore.
      • Then, Spectra starts bringing out the Forbidden Cards. Once again, the "wings" on the cards wrap around Drago's colossal body just as they did Helios to take effect. On Spectra's second Forbidden Card, Diano Durance X, the "wings" don't just wrap around Drago's body, they lash out to ensnare Apollonir's body, including around his neck, as Drago uses them to absorb his energy.
      • We get another brief Hope Spot as Apollonir wins the first round with Drago. Spectra quickly crushes it in the next round's opening as Spectra uses his next Forbidden Card, Vestroia X. This time, in addition to the "wings", the card causes Drago's muscles to enlarge in the same disgusting way as had been done to Helios just 2 episodes earlier. This time, we get to see Drago's muscles and veins as they expand slowly, complete with nasty squelching and squishing sounds, almost like bones popping. The veins don't just appear on Drago's limbs, either. They appear on his wings and even his eyes. And the whole time, we get to hear the lovely sounds of Drago groaning and grunting in pain as the Forbidden Card increases his power and forces him to access the energies of the Perfect Core.
      • After this moment, Spectra begins using the Forbidden Fusion Ability Cards, forcing Drago to access the Perfect Core's power to change his own attribute and use abilities from all 6 attributes. So now the Forbidden Cards don't just let Spectra force Drago to boost his own power like crazy, but to access all the possible powers of a Bakugan. This line from Spectra outlines just how Drunk with Power he's becoming:
      Spectra: (evil laugh) Now you get it? Drago's perfect! The other Bakugan we experimented on couldn't handle so much power. As long as I have Drago and the Forbidden Cards, we are unstoppable!
      • Every new Fusion Ability only causes Drago to feel more and more pain as he takes in more and more of the Core's energy. And after Spectra's had him cycle through all 6 attributes, Drago's in so much agony that he starts shedding tears from the strain. Apollonir sees what's happening, which leads to this conversation. Never Say "Die" is averted in this series for a reason...
      Apollonir: The power of the Forbidden Cards and the Perfect Core are too great! The combined energy is burning out Drago's new body! He doesn't have much time.
      Dan: What?
      Apollonir: The new body we gave him wasn't meant to contain so much might! I'm afraid Drago could-
      Nemus: Drago could die!
      • Following this, the 5 other Ancient Warriors of Vestroia, currently spectating the battle, explain exactly what Drago's death would result in. Because Drago remains symbiotically linked to the Perfect Core, if Drago is killed, the Perfect Core will be unable to sustain itself, and New Vestroia will be destroyed. In other words, Drago's death would result in the deaths of millions of innocent Bakugan, not to mention the Vestals currently on New Vestroia. And Spectra? He couldn't care less.
      Spectra: If the Dragonoid doesn't survive, then it just means he wasn't worthy. Then, I'll just have to find another Bakugan who is!
      • Fortunately, Spectra's plan is stopped and Drago is saved, but if the worst happened, Spectra would have crossed the road into Omnicidal Maniac territory. All within 2 days!
    • And if you thought that you'd seen the last of the Forbidden Cards after that, think again. The cards are used one more time by Spectra and Gus to forcibly evolve Vulcan, Elico, and Brontes. The fact that Spectra and Gus are willing to have their partner Bakugan experimented on like this is horrifying.
      • However, it's possible that in Vulcan's case, he gave them permission to do so, like Helios asking Spectra to turn him into a cyborg, which lessens the horror slightly. But the same can't be said for Brontes and Elico. And after Gus saved them from getting killed. Talk about hospitality. In particular, Gus' description of the effects this forced evolution had on Brontes when he explains it to Volt is chilling, saying that he "modified" Brontes and "took away his soul".
      • We finally learn the full extent of the damage done to Brontes in "Brontes' Betrayal", in which Volt battles Gus to try to win back Brontes. Here, we see that while Brontes has evolved physically, he's also devolved mentally into a full-on Monster Clown, only able to laugh like crazy as he proceeds to utterly trounce Volt's Boriates. During the battle, both Volt and Gus note that Brontes straining his power like he is runs the risk of killing him, just as the Forbidden Cards threatened to do to Helios and Drago. Gus, just like his master, is equally uncaring about this, saying that if Brontes grew weak as a result, he'd make him "evolve" again!
    • And to top it all off, we don't know where the hell the Forbidden Cards even came from! The Doom Cards were at least explained as creations of Naga, but for the Forbidden Cards, we get nothing. Were they made by the Vestals? Are they based on the Doom Cards Masquerade used? Were they made from negative energy like the Doom Cards? We never get an answer, and we'll likely never know.
  • Helios' conversion into a Cyborg Bakugan in an attempt to become the "Ultimate Bakugan". First, there's the fact that he actually asks Spectra to do it to him, but then there's the way Spectra mentions it, giving the implication that the Vestals were already prepared to turn Bakugan into cyborgs. Helios is the only Cyborg Bakugan we ever see, but what would've happened if Professor Clay wanted to make more?
    • Fridge Horror also kicks in when one starts to wonder - what kind of experiments did Professor Clay perform in order to perfect this procedure before it was done on Helios? And what happened to the Bakugan he would've done those experiments on?
  • The end of "Brontes' Betrayal" is as much nightmarish as it is heartbreaking. At the end of the battle and the end of the episode, it's implied that Brontes is aware of what Gus has done to him, but can't speak out or do anything about it. Then, Gus, having no more use for Brontes, tosses him away, sending him to New Vestroia. Unfortunately for Brontes, at that point in time, the BT System has been rooted into New Vestroia, trapping all Bakugan there, including him, in ball form. So, once more, Brontes is trapped, only now in his tiny ball form, and completely alone. His only line in this episode, and his final line in the series as a whole?
    Brontes: Volt...save me...
  • The BT System (short for Bakugan Termination System), basically a Doomsday Device commissioned by King Zenoheld for the purpose of wiping out every last biological Bakugan on New Vestroia as revenge against the Resistance for the destruction of the New Vestroia colonies. To power it, it requires the attribute energies of the Legendary Warriors, whom Zenoheld straight up murdered to get (or he would have had they not passed them and their respective powers on to the Resistance at the last minute for safekeeping). Fortunately, the device is taken care of by Drago just before it has a chance to go off.
  • The Alternative Weapons System, a second, bigger Doomsday Device commissioned by Zenoheld after the BT System gets destroyed. It’s essentially the Bakugan equivalent of the Death Star with intentions of being used to obliterate everything and everyone in its path, including Vestal and Earth. When it's finally operational, we get a demonstration of its power as it rips a gaping hole in a nearby moon before eventually vaporizing the rest of it during the final battle between the Resistance and Zenoheld.
    • There's also the impact that working on the Alternative has on Professor Clay. By this point, after so many failures and becoming desperate to appease King Zenoheld, Clay begins undergoing Sanity Slippage, hungry to complete what he sees as the ultimate weapon. In "Ultimate Weapon", the episode in which the finished Alternative is launched, after the ship create a hole in a moon, Clay gives a chillingly giddy laugh and Slasher Smile as he sees the destruction his weapon is capable of.
      Professor Clay: That...was merely a warmup. Imagine their faces when we switch to full power!
      Zenoheld: I want to see more, Clay!
      Professor Clay: YES!
    • Fridge Horror kicks in when one considers the origin of the Alternative. Professor Clay found the schematics for the Alternative in the Phantom Data, and claimed that it was "the ultimate weapon for the Battle Gear". As we learn next season, both the Data and the Battle Gear come from Gundalia and Neathia. Also, the Gundalian ships used by the Twelve Orders bear an ominous resemblance to the Alternative. It's entirely possible that the Alternative, and similar weapons, could've been ideas that Kazarina had on her drawing board during the war between Gundalia and Neathia. Fortunately, it appears that if that were the case, then it seems she abandoned such projects in favor of others, but the idea of a monster like Kazarina in possession of a weapon like the Alternative is chilling.
  • Death Bombs, the Vexos' answer for dealing with traitors and/or deserters to the organization. Once thrown on the ground, they generate a swirling black hole to another dimension where the victim will be trapped for all eternity.

    Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders 
  • This season turns up the intensity by casting the Brawlers into a full-blown Bakugan war. Despite the cuddly nature of the show, War Is Hell remains in effect here, with the Neathians being one push away from total extinction, and a lot more onscreen deaths.
    • Special mention goes to the demise of Gill, who we see literally burned alive as his ship is destroyed by Phantom Dharak, and Stoica and Lythirius, who were killed simply for getting in the way of one of Dharak's attacks.
    • For the first half of the season, the Gundalians are hard at work covertly kidnapping children from Bakugan Interspace and having them brainwashed into Child Soldiers. The fact that these children are being used to command Bakugan for battle doesn't make the notion any less chilling.
      • Doubly so for the parents of these children. Remember, at this point in time, Earth as a whole knows full well that Bakugan are real and that the world was nearly destroyed as a result of Bakugan battles. Imagine seeing your kid off as they leave to play Bakugan with their friends, and they just...don't come home. Fortunately, Kazarina saw fit to simply spare the children she brainwashed once they proved no longer useful, but it was still entirely possible for her to have just killed them all, so the horror still stands. And for that matter, the idea of defenseless children in the company of a heartless monster like Kazarina is...disturbing, to say the least.
  • Kazarina. Fucking Kazarina. She's the most active of the antagonists in Gundalian Invaders, and one of the worst villains of the Bakugan series as a whole, for lots of reasons. Imagine Professor Clay from last season, only with almost no scruples whatsoever, and a much more directly evil, arrogant, and manipulative personality, and you'd get Kazarina.
    • First and foremost, Kazarina possesses Mind Control powers. She can control anyone simply by looking into their eyes, with the effects ranging from as simple as making someone unconscious, like she did to Dan and Drago, to outright brainwashing them, the latter of which she uses many, many times over the course of the season. She's the one who brainwashed the younger battlers from Bakugan Interspace to act as Child Soldiers. She later does the same with Ren's old friends, Jake, and a large portion of the Gundalian Army.
      • The latter part deserves special mentioning. In "Divide And Conquer", in which Nurzak attempts to betray Barodius with Kazarina's help, only to be betrayed by her, Kazarina describes how she intended to "help" Nurzak: using her Mind Control abilities on a lot of Gundalian soldiers, but with a delayed effect. Then, at Kazarina's command, all the soldiers would fall under her control. Nurzak hoped that Kazarina would use this to corner Barodius, but his hopes are dashed when, after Nurzak, Barodius, Kazarina, and the soldiers are all gathered together, Kazarina simply snaps her fingers...and the soldiers corner Nurzak, under Kazarina's orders. That's right, Kazarina can plant delayed hypnosis in people. In other words, anyone that even comes into contact with Kazarina could potentially become a Manchurian Agent that she could set off whenever she wants! It is very fortunate for Barodius that Kazarina was genuinely loyal to him, because if she wanted to rule herself, it wouldn't be very hard for her to take over...
      • "Mobile Assault" reveals another dark detail to Kazarina's powers. Previously, when the Brawlers faced kids hypnotized by Kazarina, they were able to free them by defeating them in battle. They try the same same here...and it doesn't work. As it turns out, they were only able to free people this way before because they were battling in Bakugan Interspace, which is a digital environment in which people are turned to data. Out in the real world, that doesn't apply.
      • It should also be mentioned that, as evidenced above by her using them on Drago, that Kazarina's powers are able to affect Bakugan as well. A regular Manchurian Agent is scary enough, but what about a Bakugan serving that role?
    • After Kazarina's mind control, there's her status as the Gundalians' resident Mad Scientist. Like the Vestals, Kazarina has been conducting experiments on living Bakugan, but she's been doing it for much longer. She has plenty of moments where she muses about taking her enemies' Bakugan captive to become her new lab rats.
      • In "Battle For The Second Shield", she mentions wanting to have Drago as a test subject. We know that Kazarina desired to take the Element from him, but what else is inside Drago's body besides the Element? The Perfect Core, and besides that? The Attribute Energies. If Kazarina discovered these within Drago, she, like Spectra, would've become enamored by all the power and perhaps wanted to keep Drago for herself. However, unlike Spectra, Kazarina possesses no honor and almost no loyalty or scruples. The potential for the kind of horrors she could create with such power at her disposal is...staggering.
      • And actually, Kazarina does get to have a moment like this after Dan and Drago are taken captive. She takes a sample of Drago's DNA, transfusing it into Dharak to force him to evolve into Phantom Dharak. With that one action, Kazarina nearly sealed Neathia's fate, and would've, in turn, doomed the rest of the universe in the process.
      • There's also another example of this, only regarding Jake. In "Jake Returns", we're shown a flashback in which she gives a "gift" to Jake: a "Dream Ability" Card of her own making called "Advanced Fusion Ability". This card is apparently capable of doubling or even tripling the power of all of a Bakugan's abilities. However, it places the Bakugan it's used on in a "waking nightmare" state, and risks killing them as a result. That's right, folks; Kazarina created her own version of the Forbidden Cards! Like the Forbidden Cards, we're given no explanation for how Kazarina managed to create the Advanced Fusion Ability card. We're also shown no other examples of the "Dream Ability" cards she'd have presumably made, and it's likely fortunate that we didn't. Imagine what other surprises she could've unleashed upon Neathia with these cards.
  • The Sacred Orb, despite its status as the origin of all Bakugan, is an example of Holy Is Not Safe. The intelligence within it, "Code Eve", exists as the Bakugan equivalent of God, and the powers she's capable of can be pretty scary.
    • In "The Secret Of The Orb", Code Eve is apparently angered by the 4-way battle between Fabia, Marucho, Ren, and Nurzak. So she unleashes what Fabia calls a "dimensional twister" to consume them. Fabis says that if they were caught in it, they'd be bounced across random dimensions, trapped drifting across space for all eternity.
    • Then, in the season finale, "Destiny Revealed", after Barodius and Dharak disobey her word by attempting to seize the Sacred Orb's power after Dan and Drago beat them, she punishes them by seemingly disintegrating them in an instant. As Season 4 reveals however, Code Eve's punishments can be far worse than death...

    Bakugan: Mechtanium Surge 
Part 1

Part 2

  • Coredegon/Wiseman/Mechtavius Destroyer. Just...DAMN. If you thought Mag Mel was Nightmare Fuel, Coredegon is worse. Besides having the highest body count in the series, Coredegon has pulled off several events that can leave you terrified.
    • Coredegon's Wiseman identity. The way Wiseman is able to instill fear within the humans and Bakugan in Bakugan City and manipulate the Battle Brawlers and the Nonets is impressive and makes Mag Mel look like a saint, and the best part is that even if Wiseman is unmasked, his identical appearance to Gunz Lazar will simply paint Gunz as a criminal.
    • During Countdown to Doomsday, Mechtavius Destroyer manages to defeat Dragonoid Destroyer for the first time. It's pretty unnerving to see Dragonoid Destroyer, who effectively curb-stomped Mechtavius Destroyer effortlessly TWICE, suddenly be overpowered and trashed by Mechtavius Destroyer.
      • To make matters worse, Mechtavius Destroyer tells the Brawlers to KILL THEIR OWN BAKUGAN PARTNERS (naturally Dan, Marucho, and Shun don't do this)! What happens if they do? Mechtavius Destroyer will still kill them, but only them. What happens if they don't? Mechtavius Destroyer will kill the entire population of Earth. JESUS, Omnicidal Maniac indeed.
    • When Slycerak, Exostriker, and Mandibor are revived and battling Dan, Marucho, and Shun, Coredegon (in his Wiseman form) kills Balista for finding Gunz. Unlike the other Nonets he kills, however, WE DON'T ACTUALLY SEE COREDEGON KILL BALISTA.
    • During the battle between the Battle Brawlers and the Nonets, Wiseman expresses a Slasher Smile as he gets closer to ressurection, and his stoic demeanor has clearly vanished. This is only topped when Wiseman begins cackling madly as he transforms into Coredegon.
    • It gets better, after revealing the fact that he used them, Coredegon tells the Nonets to either go to the Doom Dimension and rot for eternity or die at his hands before shedding the Wiseman persona for good. Coredegon is essentially telling the Nonets to literally go to hell or be slaughtered brutally. To top this off, Coredegon is transforming into his true form, which causes the cave that Gunz and the Nonets are in to start collapsing, nearly killing Gunz in the process. Coredegon, Slycerak, Exostriker, and Mandibor then combine into Mechtavius Destroyer and effortlessly defeat the Battle Brawlers. Luckily, Mechtavius Destroyer feels that killing the Brawlers would be unsatisfying and sends them to the Doom Dimension, which is Bakugan's equivalent to hell.
    • It doesn't stop there, folks. After sending the Brawlers to the Doom Dimension, Mechtavius Destroyer proceeds to kill the Nonets with the exception of Betadron (who escaped with Gunz) and Worton, the latter fleeing to the Doom Dimension, in a brutal fashion and absorbs them, eventually becoming larger than he already was. Surely, Mechtavius Destroyer is going to stop now, right? He won't think of attacking Bakugan City, New Vestroia, Vestal, Neathia, and Gundalia, that would be silly.
      • One Nonet's death worth noting is Mutabrid. When Mutabrid, Betadron, and Kodokor attempt to combine, Mechtavius Destroyer blasts them to stop them from doing so, and then proceeds to severely injure Mutabrid. As Mutabrid struggle to combine with his brothers, Mechtavius Destroyer proceeds to blast Mutabrid again, causing him to scream in agony. However, before Mutabrid can return to ball form, Mechtavius Destroyer BLASTS Mutabrid one last time, effectively killing Mutabrid. Fridge Horror kicks in when you realize Mechtavius Destroyer could have done this at anytime, but chose not to in order to give his enemies false hope.
    • After Gunz rejoins the Brawlers, Worton says that Mechtavius Destroyer is on the move. We then see Mechtavius Destroyer arrive at Bakugan City, where he unleashes an energy dome around him that engulfs Bakugan City. After the flash of light ends, we see Mechtavius Destroyer has completely annihilated Bakugan City, along with everyone in it. By the way, prior to this event, no human had ever died in Bakugan.
    • It STILL doesn't stop there, folks. Mechtavius Destroyer then heads to New Vestroia and proceeds to kill all the Bakugan there, including the Brawlers' previous partner Bakugan. To see the Bakugan that had helped defeat Naga, Zenoheld, and Mag Mel be killed in such a brutal manner shows that Mechtavius Destroyer will not stop until all Bakugan are dead.
    • As the Brawlers go down the Current of Time to prevent Mechtavius Destroyer's slaughter fest from happening, we see that Mechtavius Destroyer eventually heads to Neathia, Gundalia, and Vestal since there are Bakugan there and lays waste to all of those areas. Keep in mind that he must have also killed Fabia, Rafe, Ren, Paige, Spectra, Gus, Ace, and Baron since they would've tried to resist him. Thank goodness Dan, Marucho, Shun, and Gunz stopped all of that (minus the Nonets' deaths) from happening.
      • Now, let's count how many named characters died (and would have likely died too) at Mechtavius Destroyer's hands before history was changed for the better. Fridge Horror is in effect here.
      • Bakugan: Balista, Mutabrid, Tremblar, Kodokor, Spatterix, Stronk, Angelo/Diablo Preyas, Infinity Trister, Hammer Gorem, Amazon, Minx Elfin, Master Ingram, Taylean, Storm Skyress, Preyas, Alpha Hydranoid, Aerogan, Blade Tigrerra, Aranaut, Rubanoid, Akwimos, Hawktor, Coredem, Wolfurio, Linehalt, Phosphos, Contestir, Plitheon, Avior, Sabator, Boulderon, Infinity Helios, Rex Vulcan, Knight Percival, Saint Nemus, and Magma Wilda.
      • Battle Brawlers' Allies: Runo Misaki, Julie Makimoto, Mira Clay, Kato, Fabia Sheen, Serena Sheen, Linus, Captain Elright, Rafe, Ren Krawler, Lena Isis, Zenet Surrow, Jesse Glenn, Mason Brown, Nurzak, Paige, Spectra Phantom, Gus Grav, Ace Grit, and Baron Leltoy.

    Other 
  • The HSP card series portray the Bakugan world in a darker and edgier way. Some of the art featured on them are downright terrifying and uneasy, like Reaper's card artwork.

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