This is based on opinion. Please don't list it on a work's trope example list.
Just think about what would happen if
her Mama Bear wasn't there.
- The Will-o'-the-Wisps are pretty creepy: little glowing blue fairy-like creatures that lure people by floating in a long line leading...somewhere, while beckoning with both hands and whispering "Follow... Follow..." in childlike voices... Brrr.
- Made worse if you know that traditionally, Will-O-The-Wisps were said to lead people to their deaths in swamps and bogs.
- Made even worse than that, if you notice that when Mor'du is crushed and dies, his ghost appears for a second before turning into a wisp and disappearing. A lovely bit of Fridge Horror... the wisps may be the ghosts of the people who failed to break the spell, turned into a bear and later died...
- The way Bear Elinor's eyes change from human to feral.
- The first time it happened, it was a Mood Whiplash, because it switched from a funny/heartwarming scene where Elinor and Merida catch fish together to Elinor almost mauling Merida.
- Most of the movie from Bear Elinor's perspective. You can clearly see how terrified she is about the transformation, and simply struggles with walking normally.
- The gigantic bear, Mor'du, in the trailer, with its glowing yellow eyes.
- And then you see the actual Mor'du. They toned him down a lot for the trailer. Let's see. Instead of glowing yellow eyes, we have a single, glowing red eye. He's got a huge hump of scar tissue from which protrudes arrows, knives, and even swords, trophies from those that tried to kill him and failed. Even his fur is scarier, going from long and flowing to chopped up. The worst part is that the trailer implies that Merida will shoot him. In the film, all her arrows do is lure him towards her without any noticeable hesitation at all. The only thing that hurts this monster at all is Bear Elinor, and even then she had to drop a multi-ton rock on him to kill him.
- Mor'du's actual introduction in the prologue of the film also counts. It starts off with a very young Merida and her family having a relaxing, happy picnic, then a Mood Whiplash in Mor'du's appearance. However, what makes it worse is that the audience knows just a few minutes earlier that Mor'du was watching Merida when she walked into the forest, based on a musical cue alone. What could have happened had Merida not followed the wisps back to safety?
- Parts of the Japanese Trailer
implying why the Japanese title translates to "Merida and the Terrifying Forest".- Scenes include Wisps luring Merida into the dark forest, Merida exploring some creepy old ruins including a broken tomb and bones covering the floor, and trying to escape an angry Mor'du.
- The scene in the abandoned castle. It plays out like a scene out of a horror movie. Merida comes to a horrible realization from a stone engraving with one part sliced out of it that splits one person out of the picture (there's a brief horrifying glimpse of the person chopping at the engraving with an axe and he has the head of Mor'du) that the prince from the legend is Mor'du, and then we see Mor'du appearing behind Merida.
- And during this scene, you start to notice bones scattered throughout the area. Bones from his previous kills, human included.
- Imagine how terrifying this scene is for poor Elinor. Her daughter is trapped right below her with Mor'du. All while she is helpless to protect Merida because she can't fit down the hole.
- Whenever Elinor lapsed into acting like a real bear. It's almost as scary as Merida's interactions with Mor'du because it's Merida's mother and she literally cannot stop herself because the spell makes the animalistic behavior come and go at random times. Extra Fridge Horror arises when you realize that Merida loves her mother so much that she stayed with her all that time knowing that at any moment, her mother could switch into a normal bear and eat her alive.
- Near the climax, the scene where her father locks her in the room while he goes after Bear Elinor is horrifying for several reasons. One, her father thinks that the bear killed his wife, so he's out to avenge her; two, said bear is his wife, and he comes this close to killing her; and three, Merida knows that all of this is her fault. Brr. The part where Merida reaches futiely between the bars of the window, screaming desperately to try and call Fergus back as she starts to break down in tears, really sells it.
- Mor'du roaring down right on Merida in the climax (as shown in the page image). Just imagine it. Nearly a ton of killing machine towering over you, roaring barely inches from your face, its roar shaking your very core and bones and will likely kill you and devour you and there's nothing you can do about it. Absolutely nothing except scream.
- Finding out the true nature of Mor'du is pretty horrific on its own when you think about it. The prince is implied to have turned into an animal right there in the throne room and killed everyone, including his family, and he was powerless to stop it. And then it's heavily implied that it's either his spirit or the souls of his family manifesting as the Wisps is so he can finally be put out of his misery and killed so he can finally reunite with them, essentially meaning that he pulled a Suicide by Cop. In a kid's movie.
- Even worse: even if Mor'du understood the real meaning of the Curse Escape Clause (and given the number of claw marks on his part of the stone, it's quite possible), he was stuck as a bear forever because whether he intended it or not, he killed everyone he could've apologized to.
- What's especially worse is we actually get to learn about Mor'du's backstory in the short that appears as a Bonus Feature on the Blu-ray/DVD. The Witch, who is narrating the story, tells us that after Mor'du transformed into a bear, to quote the witch, instead of choosing to mend the bond torn by pride, "he instantly accepted his new form" and then killed his brothers.
- Near the climax where Fergus finds Elinor's room trashed and her clothing torn, coming to the somewhat-true realization that a bear was in there. Then he finds what was likely the same bear attacking his daughter.
- And as mentioned on the Fridge Horror page, it wasn't like he came into the room and thought, "a bear has attacked my wife". It's more likely he came into the room and thought, "someone has attacked and raped my wife". Considering the already sky-high tensions between the four clans, it's a really good thing he took a second to look more closely at the evidence.
- Poor guy gets another one at the beginning of the film. Imagine having a little picnic with your wife and small daughter. You get the scene right out of a post card where mom is holding your darling little girl. Then bear, going after your wife and kid.
- The song "Mor'du, Mor'du, Mor'du" — funny song sung by outrageous Scottish king to entertain his friends, right? Now go back and re-listen, knowing that his wife Elinor turned into a bear and was mistaken for Mor'du, so everything he was singing about, he intended to fully do to his wife once he caught her. Pleasant dreams.
- And likely the triplets as well... it never said his view on cubs, but the fact Fergus is infamous for killing bears. Who knows?
- The scene where the men chase Bear Elinor through the forest, catch her, and restrain her so that she's helpless to fight back.
- How about the triplets turning into bears? I mean, just imagine it. You've just found out that your MOM has somehow been turned into a giant bear. And then, after you help her out, you find a nice little cake just sitting there waiting for you. And then, after eating it, you and your brothers suddenly become violently ill. Since no one freaked out about three little princes suddenly turning into bears, I would assume they were all alone while this was happening. And then you open your eyes and see two other bears next to you. After the initial moment of panic, you find out that you're a bear, too. And then you realize that the same thing happened to you as what happened to your mom, and there is literally no one you can tell. You and your brothers are all alone, scared and confused, and there isn't anyone who knows or might be able to help.
- Oh, also, your dad probably wants to kill you.
- This is made even worse when you realize that the triplets likely had their animalistic instincts take over from time to time too. While cubs probably wouldn't become aggressive, one triplet would actually be TURNING on the other two. Imagine that. Who would be more afraid — the two little boys who have suddenly just seen their brother turn into a real bear, or the last triplet when he goes back to normal and realizes what happened?
- Fortunately, bear cubs actually get along with their siblings quite well.
