Nightmare Fuel / Cyberchase

"Is this your worst nightmare come true or what?!" (Yes it is!)

One would think this would be out of place in a kids' math edutainment show, but things can get dark in Cyberspace…

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.

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• Hacker fits Vile Villain, Saccharine Show to a T. He's a tall, vengeful borg who holds very few punches against the normal, human, child protagonists. They're the only ones who can stop him, and they constantly find themselves in the crosshairs of his treason attempts and hostage crises. And because they're designed as Audience Surrogates, the Target Audience is primed to imagine themselves in this situation, ramping up the fear factor.
• Motherboard's appearance has unsettled some viewers due having two entirely different shaped eyes. Her tendency to glitch out makes it worse.
• Motherboard first turning delirious in "Cool It". Her image starts stretching in a pulsing manner, and her round eye suddenly lurches towards the camera. We then get a lovely perspective shot showing her field of vision squashing, stretching, and distorting. Instead of animating the background, there is only a black void with perspective lines tunneling behind Digit, making it look like space itself is warping with him inside. Things get less frightening once Motherboard starts singing "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain".
• "Fortress of Attitude" has several scenes where the CyberSquad will be crushed or fried by lasers if they make a wrong move. When The Walls Are Closing In, they're animated too quickly^note as impending threats so often are in the traditionally animated seasons, making it constantly feel like the kids and Digit should be out of time to escape.
• In "Hugs & Witches", Buzz and Delete are sent to the beginning of time and forced to take the The Slow Path while locked in a time machine they can't operate. In their last scene in the episode, they're crying for their boss's help while being shaken up by a dinosaur.
• "Harriet Hippo & the Mean Green":
  • The Spell of the Mean Green puts Motherboard clearly out of her mind. She spins around randomly, vacantly babbling nonsense as she corrupts each cybersite with a Hate Plague. Her face also appears to be floating in front of her head, and the backs of her eyeballs (eyeball and eye-rectangle?) are visible. Looking closely at other episodes makes it clear that's just how she's modeled, which is either a great relief, or just makes Motherboard's appearance that much freakier.
  • The (intentionally) ridiculously child-friendly titular hippo is transformed into the also titular raving monster that chases down Matt and Digit to do god knows what to them.
• The For Real Courtroom Episode, "Harry Makes a Mess". Harry's Power Fantasy Sequence of suing Mr. Sleazé turns sour. The judge slams Sleazé with a fifty-year sentence, leaving his children unprovided for. She won't withdraw the charges, leaving the imaginary Harry to guilt-trip. For some young viewers, the melodrama was enough to distract from questioning the proceedings. And yes, the fantasy deters Harry from actually going to court. But how much does that knowledge downplay the horror of watching him innocently destroy a man's life and family and reduce him to tears?
• "A Whale of a Tale" is chock-full of these moments.
  • R-Fair City feels like a Circus of Fear once Spout is reprogrammed into a rampaging Killer Robot. The dark red sky does nothing to help.
  • Matt risks his life jumping a gap without being able to see the other side. He believes he knows how far it is, as if that helps, but Inez thinks that distance doesn't make sense. She tries to reason with him, but can't pierce his rash nature, and turns to Anger Born of Worry as he resists her. It's prime Paranoia Fuel because real children might make similarly dangerous decisions.
  • Spout can only be stopped from the inside, so the characters have to enter a chamber in his head, with a strange, dingy color palette, while he's completely uncontrollable. It helps a bit that Inez and Matt find it cool.
  • Glowla and the CyberSquad must stop Spout before he reaches the Aqua Power Plant. And if they fail?
    Jackie: Oh, man. I don't want to think about it. Just reprogram him, quick!
    • It doesn't help that this particular power plant appears to have a variation on the nuclear radiation warning symbol on the main building.
• Darkspot, the toy frog in "Trick or Treat", also counts. Especially when the group are crawling around looking for it and it appears above their heads bearing a Slasher Smile. Applies in-universe when the Earthlies run from a kid in a frog costume. This suggests that they might be developing trauma from their adventures in Cyberspace, which is scary in its own right.
• In the episode "The Guilty Party", The Hacker has come to Poddleville claiming to be a friend, and then becomes outraged at the apparent theft of his recharger key, which he uses to recharge himself. He speaks to the crowd:

  The Hacker: I want my key back, and if it isn't returned in 12 hours, Poddleville will perish in a pile of pumice.

  (the crowd gasps and runs away)

  Digit: Whoa! A pile of pumice. What's pumice?

  Matt: It's a type of rock. I wouldn't want to be a Poddle.

  • Matt does not elaborate further. Pumice is a type of volcanic rock that is highly porous, or full of holes.
    • Hacker, the goofy Large Ham villain of this children's educational show, just threatened to fill all of the people of Poddleville with holes.
    • His recharger key wasn't actually stolen either. The whole thing was a set-up to draw attention away from the statue that he was secretly using to siphon away all of their site's energy. The accused person, Sleight O'Hand, couldn't give The Hacker the recharger key to save his life.
• "A Perfect Fit":
  • A preemptively jealous Buzz is rough with Gigabyte's lifeless body, breaking it throughout the episode and launching it off the top of the pyramid at the end. Buzz doesn't want Gigabyte to get between his friendship with Delete, but why is Delete eager for Gigabyte's re-energization? The first time Gigabyte was brought to life, he ended up with Delete's brain and would thus understand the way Delete thinks. With the conflict being laid out like this, Buzz's behavior might seem particularly violent for neurodivergent viewers.
  • Hacker tries to boil the CyberSquad alive by flooding the stairwell they're in with lava. They're only saved by the lack of convection and a safe platform on the lower floor.
• The shocking end to "The Snelfu Snafu: Part 1", when Hacker's AI is revealed. Not only is he animated in a similar way to Motherboard, he also was able to successfully take over all of Cyberspace by infecting Motherboard via a fake encryptor chip he duped the kids into acquiring. This coupled with the fact that he seemingly erased Motherboard in the Cliffhanger at the end of Part 1 made it upsetting to many young kids. Luckily, Motherboard is restored in Part 2 and most is resolved. Still, as Wicked said (in the quote above under the photo), for many fans of the show, the worst nightmare had seemingly come true.
  Jackie: HOW AWFUL! (sobs) This can't be happening!
  Inez: Hacker's destroyed Motherboard!!
  Matt: He's in total control!!!
  Digit: CYBERSPACE IS...DOOMED!!!!!!
  Hacker: (Laughs wickedly with triumph, as cybersites all around begin to fritz out, ending the episode on a cliffhanger)
  • For the rest of the two-parter, the CyberSquad must navigate a Cyberspace that is visibly ruled by the Hacker. He's terraformed and desecrated plenty of cybersites in the short time he's been in charge. Who's to say how else he could've abused his power?
  • "The Snelfu Snafu: Part 2" gives Hacker two more counts of attempted matricide that were very nearly successful. While Motherboard is trapped on the Encryptor Chip, he throws it into a black hole (which somehow spits it back out because he hasn't paid the fine), and later into a volcano. Seriously, if it weren't for Digit, Motherboard would've been gone forever!
  • "Hackerboard" abruptly shows up again for a scene in "The Flying Parallinis", reminding the viewer that he still has the means to win.
• In the climax of "Shari Spotter and the Cosmic Crumpets", Hacker turning giant is somehow a minor concern in the grand scheme of things. He has untold magical powers that he can use just by speaking. He was one syllable away from casting a spell to make the CyberSquad disappear. The show doesn't have detailed enough magic rules to clarify whether it would've worked if he hadn't been stopped just in time…
• The way Hacker backstabbed Coop, damaging his hard drive with magnetite, in the "Measure for Measure" flashback. Coop had to flee to prevent Hacker from going after Slider. This fear still comes true the moment the CyberSquad finds Coop, with Hacker exposing his son to magnetite and kidnapping him.
  • When Coop discovers the cure for magnetite poisoning, one of the ingredients is magnetite. As a borg, he cannot work with magnetite, as it will damage him. Even if there had been other borgs on the cybersite that he was hiding on, they would have been unable to mix the cure for the same reason. He also seemed to have no way to call for help or leave his hideaway. Coop has no way forward at this point, and he remains in his hide-away, separated from his son, for an unknown period of time. It's not clear whether he just gave up on ever recovering or seeing his son again at this point. Meanwhile, Slider just woke up one morning with his dad gone, and no hints as to what happened. In the end, Slider and Coop needed a whole series of events, some of them very unlikely to happen, in order for Coop to be saved and the both of them reunited.
    • The Hacker creates Digit. (The "How It All Started" webcomic prequel)
    • The Hacker betrays Motherboard and steals the encryptor chip. (The "How It All Started" webcomic prequel)
    • Digit recovers the stolen encryptor chip. (The "How It All Started" webcomic prequel)
    • Hacker is exiled to the Northern Frontier, rather than deleted, and he takes Digit with him. (The "How It All Started" webcomic prequel)
    • Hacker shuts down the power for cybersite Valussa. (The "How It All Started" webcomic prequel)
    • Digit betrays The Hacker and sends a coded message to Valussa to enable them to restore power (The "How It All Started" webcomic prequel)
    • Digit's betrayal is discovered, and The Hacker imprisons him. (The "How It All Started" webcomic prequel)
    • Digit escapes and defects to Motherboard. (The "How It All Started" webcomic prequel)
    • Dr. Marbles takes down Motherboard's firewall to perform some upgrades and/or maintenance. (S1 E1)
    • Three Earth children (Inez, Jackie, and Matt) meet in a library on Earth, closely watched by The Hacker. (S1 E1)
    • Inez, Jackie, and Matt all try to use the library's map at the same time. (S1 E1)
    • The Hacker uses their manipulation of the library's map to cause a breach in Motherboard's security. (S1 E1)
    • The Hacker infects Motherboard with a virus that weakens her severely but does not kill her. (S1 E1)
    • Dr. Marbles is abducted by The Hacker. (S1 E1)
    • Inez, Jackie, and Matt are recruited by Motherboard to stop The Hacker and retrieve Dr. Marbles. (S1 E1)
    • The children agree to continue to work with Motherboard, and they are regularly called in to save Cyberspace (Various)
    • The Totally Rad Ring of Radopolis is accidentally re-discovered by a skater. (S3 E2)
    • Hacker steals the ring and becomes a reality warper. (S3 E2)
    • Inez, Jackie, Matt, and Digit are sent to Radopolis to stop The Hacker. (S3 E2)
    • Inez, Jackie, Matt, and Digit meet Slider for the first time, and they become friends. (S3 E2)
    • The Hacker attempts to seize Coop and Slider's garage by calling Coop's 5,000 Snelfu debt. (S4 E4)
    • Inez, Jackie, Matt, and Digit are called in again to help Slider save the garage. (S4 E4)
    • Inez, Jackie, Matt, Digit, and Slider pay off the debt. (S4 E4)
    • Digit accidentally breaks the picture frame, revealing the Coop's note, the map to where Coop is hiding, and the Network Interface Card that The Hacker needs so badly. (S4 E4)
    • Inez, Jackie, Matt, Digit, and Slider arrive at Coop's hide-away. This reunites Coop and Slider for the first time in ages. (S4 E5)
    • Jackie, Matt, and Digit are all immune to magnetite. Jackie and Matt are Earth children, so they are immune to some of the toxins in Cyberspace. Digit had been constructed by The Hacker with an immunity to magnetite. (S4 E5)
    • Finally, Jackie, Matt, and Digit are able to mix the cure that Coop had known about, but had been unable to mix for so long. (S4 E5)
• The Thanksgiving special, "A Tikiville Turkey Day" arguably shows The Hacker at his worst. We see him steal the Egg of Benedicta, and destroy its nest and canopy. The egg was considered the source of everything lush and green in Tikiville, and we watch all of the plant life on the site start to wither and die. He was willing to kill everything on this site because he saw his skin was growing pale, and he needed some "source of green" to restore his usual skin color.
• Motherboard gradually losing her memory in "The Case of the Missing Memory". Control Central, which for all purposes is her physical body, then starts deteriorating and falling apart. The situation is a bit too applicable to reality whether interpreted as human or computer memory. Just to pile on more stress, Hacker is on the sidelines this time, so the heroes don't know who sabotaged Motherboard and must spend a lot of time figuring out what the Memory Integrator even looks like.
• Where to begin with "A Crinkle In Time"… Hacker nearly tricks the CyberSquad into trapping themselves in a strange, clock-themed Pocket Dimension forever. He holds Slider captive, forcing him to watch this until he finds a chance opportunity to escape. Hacker ends up getting sealed in the dimension instead, openly missed by no one and quickly driven insane. He would be gone forever if not for Negative Continuity. Oh, and there's the creepy giant cuckoo that grabs people to carry them between dimensions.
  • This episode also features perhaps the kids' narrowest miss—with the greatest potential consequences—yet. Slider is willing to risk falling to his death off a giant clock several stories off the ground, for a chance that he can buy the squad just a few more seconds to get out before they're trapped in the Pocket Dimension.
• In "Crystal Clear", Hacker steals the Synchronizer Crystal after a petty slight and paywalls it off. Said crystal is the only known way for cyborgs to reactivate their synchrometers (as they must do every so often). Then Buzz and Delete smash it up and sell the pieces. It's difficult to laugh at this until the heroes discover they can just grow an identical crystal.
• In "A Fraction of a Chance", Wicked breaks the portal system while the Earthlies are inside. They're trapped in the vortex and doomed to slowly dematerialize. While Digit is forced to work with an obviously two-timing Wicked and Solve the Soup Cans to save his friends, the dematerialization process slowly cuts off their contact with him.
• Hacker is this close to destroying Digit's self-esteem in "Digit's B-Day Surprise" and getting his signed permission to reprogram him. Had Hacker only gotten the signature in private, Digit's loved ones would never have known what happened until it was too late.
• Ledge Hackerizing a majority of the cast with Inez being the only holdout. This includes Matt and Jackie, who aren't even native to Cyberspace. Inez missed being Hackerized too by luck alone…
• "Watts of Halloween Trouble" is something of a foil to "A Fraction of a Chance". Hacker freezes the portal system, intending to lock the Earthlies out of Cyberspace, but accidentally trapping them inside. They discuss the prospect of never returning home, and even Digit fails to offer any comfort. If Buzz and Delete had escaped with or broken the Portal Rebooter—and they had every opportunity—the CyberSquad would effectively be stranded on R-Fair City. Hacker would find them in a matter of time. At least if the kids were stuck in the real world like Hacker wanted, Digit could fly across Cyberspace to flee, without risking leaving his friends in Hacker's clutches.