History NightmareFuel / XCOMEnemyUnknown

* One of the ShopFodder items that you can collect after capturing the alien base is the "[[WeirdWorldWeirdFood Alien Food]]," a nutritious slurry eaten by the aliens. The description reveals that [[ToServeMan the soup contains unmistakable traces of human DNA]]. With that in mind, just think about what happens to all the civilians that gets abducted, or the unpleasant implications on what will happen to the body of your fallen soldiers if you are unable to retrieve them due to the mission being aborted.

NightmareFuel in ''VideoGame/XComEnemyUnknown''.

* The aftermath of the EXALT Base Assault mission is rather creepy: while we do know that they were a threat to humanity and XCOM are the good guys, it's still chilling to know that there's a secret paramilitary organization with the support of people EXTREMELY high up that can swoop in on a VTOL, land on the roof of a private building, blowing holes into walls with rockets and grenades, firing up a storm of lasers and bullets and leaving the hallways strewn with human corpses, and fly out, and have it all covered up as "a simple electrical fire", as the news clip that plays as the camera shows the Skyranger fly away, leaving behind the carnage you've caused states.

* One of the ShopFodder items that you can collect after capturing the alien base is the [[AlienLunch "Alien Food"]], a nutritious slurry eaten by the aliens. The description reveals that [[ToServeMan the soup contains unmistakable traces of human DNA]]. With that in mind, just think about what happens to all the civilians that gets abducted, or the unpleasant implications on what will happen to the body of your fallen soldiers if you are unable to retrieve them due to the mission being aborted.

* One of the VendorTrash that you can collect after capturing the alien base is the [[AlienLunch "Alien Food"]], a nutritious slurry eaten by the aliens. The description reveals that [[ToServeMan the soup contains unmistakable traces of human DNA]]. With that in mind, just think about what happens to all the civilians that gets abducted, or the unpleasant implications on what will happen to the body of your fallen soldiers if you are unable to retrieve them due to the mission being aborted.

* Site Recon. It's a Council Mission in ''Enemy Within'' where the team is dispatched to investigate a distress signal from a Canadian fishing village. The regular military rescuers have gone silent. You land at the village and start to progress through it. Then, [[spoiler: zombies start popping up.]] This looks ''bad'', because where there's [[spoiler: zombies]], there's [[spoiler: Chryssalids]]. You push through the village, to find [[spoiler: a wrecked whaling ship, where the sharks and a captured whale are being used to incubate an army of Chryssalids. And more and more are getting birthed every round.]] Central makes it clear that you've only got one option: [[spoiler: fight through the horde of Chryssalids to activate the boat's transponder so XCOM can direct an airstrike to wipe out the entire village]]. Then, once you've managed to pull that off, [[spoiler: Chryssalids start pouring out of the whale-hive, and you've got to make a mad dash back to the landing site before either the airstrike wipes you out, or the Chryssalids catch up....]]
** More frightening; [[spoiler: the text during and after the mission implies that this infection happened ''before'' they were fished up. This makes sense given the scene; it looks like the ship crashed into the village, rather than docking with it. While XCOM states that they will attempt to prevent it from happening again, the fact that Chrysalids could infect the oceans is pretty damn scary.]]

* Let's think about this from the [[MookHorrorShow alien mooks' perspective,]] shall we? So your leaders tell you to [[spoiler: forcibly uplift a primitive race known as humans.]] Pah, easy you say. These primitive apes are still using ballistics weaponry and they haven't even figured out practical spaceflight yet. So you send out the Sectoids to start abducting. And then, out of nowhere, a squad of ''four'' of these humans shows up and slaughters your advance guard [[spoiler: (assuming you didn't play the [[PyrrhicVictory tutorial]])]]. Okay, you think. We'll send in the Thin Men, Floaters, Mutons, and Chryssalids. ''They'' get slaughtered. [[FromBadToWorse Then]], your spacecraft start getting shot down by this same mysterious group of humans. Now, the rumors have started among the rank and file of a horrific creature known only as "Doctor Vahlen", who will capture you, place you in a glass pod, and '''[[TortureTechnician stick probes]] [[WeHaveWaysOfMakingYouTalk into your brain]]''' to gain information on you! And [[SerialEscalation THEN,]] this same group of humans, having turned ''[[HoistByHisOwnPetard your own weapons]] [[HumansAdvanceSwiftly against you,]]'' breaches your base and utterly slaughters everyone inside. They never leave any survivors, and they always take the corpses to their horrific underground base to be dissected and used as ''[[BodyHorror weapons.]]'' So you start bringing out the bigger guns: Sectoid Commanders, Muton Berserkers, Muton Elites, Sectopods, Cyberdisks, more powerful spacecraft, the works. ''[[TheWorfBarrage They're all slaughtered, even when you attack their base.]]'' And those psionics that gave you a massive edge early in the invasion? '''[[OhCrap The humans have them too,]]''' and they'll use them, [[EvilLaugh chortling horrifically]] [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters while they do it.]] You think you have it bad? Try being a platoon of Thin Men or Sectoids on a Council mission going up against a squad of Colonels and Majors.

*** Though do bear in mind that the Base Augments are made using regular steel, circuitry and batteries. Considering what the Alien Alloys and Elerium do for all your other tech, it's not hard to imagine biologically-par augments being made. Hell, by the time you're done with levelling and Foundry projects, the actual giant hulking robot suits have roughly the same dexterity, speed and combat options as your flesh-and-blood soldiers.
*** And they mount external weaponry. This brings to mind another Nightmare Fuel moment: the Kinetic Strike Module. Imagine, if you will, you're a Muton fighting some humans. Things are going well. They're pulling back. [[MookHorrorShow Suddenly, some giant walking tank thing rushes you out of nowhere]] and BAM! Every bone in your body liquifies. Your organs implode. You're thrown backwards through a wall [[KungShui with enough force to shatter it]], into the car parked outside, which then ''[[EveryCarIsAPinto explodes from the impact]]''. Not the way I'd choose to go... On top of that, you ''can'' bring a MEC trooper to fight EXALT. Imagine how it must be like to the EXALT operatives to see XCOM suddenly turn a cyborg warrior with weapons best described as "anti-armor" against them.
*** Neither would the MEC's [[KillItWithFire flamethrower]]. Being hit with this weapon makes even ''Chryssalids and '''Ethereals''''' flee in panic.

* Also from the reboot, the [[TheMenInBlack Thin Men]], a modernized version of the Snakemen. Faster, more mobile, and they both spit poison and explode into poison when killed. Oh, and they look [[UncannyValley almost human]]. Good hunting!

* Let's think about this from the [[MookHorrorShow alien mooks' perspective,]] shall we? So your leaders tell you to [[spoiler: forcibly uplift a primitive race known as humans.]] Pah, easy you say. These primitive apes are still using ballistics weaponry and they haven't even figured out practical spaceflight yet. So you send out the Sectoids to start abducting. And then, out of nowhere, a squad of ''four'' of these humans shows up and slaughters your advance guard [[spoiler: (assuming you didn't play the [[PyrrhicVictory tutorial]])]]. Okay, you think. We'll send in the Thin Men, Floaters, Mutons, and Chryssalids. ''They'' get slaughtered. [[FromBadToWorse Then]], your spacecraft start getting shot down by this same mysterious group of humans. Now, the rumors have started among the rank and file of a horrific creature known only as "Doctor [[EnsembleDarkhorse Vahlen,]]" who will capture you, place you in a glass pod, and '''[[TortureTechnician stick probes]] [[WeHaveWaysOfMakingYouTalk into your brain]]''' to gain information on you! And [[SerialEscalation THEN,]] this same group of humans, having turned ''[[HoistByHisOwnPetard your own weapons]] [[HumansAdvanceSwiftly against you,]]'' breaches your base and utterly slaughters everyone inside. They never leave any survivors, and they always take the corpses to their horrific underground base to be dissected and used as ''[[BodyHorror weapons.]]'' So you start bringing out the bigger guns: Sectoid Commanders, Muton Berserkers, Muton Elites, Sectopods, Cyberdisks, more powerful spacecraft, the works. ''[[TheWorfBarrage They're all slaughtered, even when you attack their base.]]'' And those psionics that gave you a massive edge early in the invasion? '''[[OhCrap The humans have them too,]]''' and they'll use them, [[EvilLaugh chortling horrifically]] [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters while they do it.]] You think you have it bad? Try being a platoon of Thin Men or Sectoids on a Council mission going up against a squad of Colonels and Majors.
* The giant, swirling vortex...[[BuffySpeak thing]] that appears over any country that leaves XCOM. Is it a horde of alien ships glassing the country or abducting the populace? [[NothingIsScarier We're never told what it is.]] But it doesn't look good.

* The Base Defense Mission, ''Good lord, the Base Defense Mission''. So you just kicked down the doors the the enemy's base, wiped them out, and either captured or killed what appears to be ''their leader''. Invasion's over now right? You won right? It's just cleanup now right? ''Wrong.'' One day almost a month later the Hologlobe starts freaking out, the HQ's systems start shutting down, and members of ''your own side'' are blowing things up and violently attacking people under the clear influence of mind control. Oh yeah, and those Aliens you've been fighting? They've breached into the base and they're ''pissed''. If you lose, then it's Game Over and you're likely still licking your wounds from the attack on their base. Have fun.

* While the surgery isn't shown, [[ManInTheMachine MEC Troopers]] giving up their arms and legs, along what appear to other parts of their body, is horrifying to picture even if it is voluntary.
** The worst thing about the MEC Troopers is that, unlike [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer40000}} Space Marine Dreadnoughts]] or [[VideoGame/StarCraft Protoss Dragoons/Immortals]], it's not just [[WeCanRebuildHim critically wounded soldiers getting put into mechanical suits so that they can keep on serving]]. Instead, MEC Troopers are men and women that voluntarily amputate their own perfectly fine limbs and replace their organs with machines, just so they can have better combat effectiveness. It is both [[HeroicSacrifice heroic]] and scary at the same time.
** Also, their voices. MEC Troopers speak in a borderline CreepyMonotone with a filter effect that makes their voices sound computer synthesized. Makes you wonder how much [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul of their humanity they traded]] for an arm-mounted flamethrower.
*** I had this thought too, first time I made a MEC Trooper. While my regular soldiers were saying things like "He's down" or "Out of the game" there' a giant robot walking around, sticking to very concise things like "Alien pacified" "Kill confirmed." Said worries were put aside, however, when she charges into a room and point-blanks a Chrysallid who's about to eat my sniper with a particle cannon. The dust clears, and her synthesised, butchered voice speaks two words: "Good Riddance!" To me it seems that as they gain ranks, MEC Troopers regain some of their lost humanity and become pretty snarky.
*** This troper can sort of confirm the above; his MEC colonel once calmly remarked "Vehicle fire detected," after the ''third car in a row'' exploded. If that ain't [[DeadpanSnarker snark...]]
*** It's worth mentioning that, most likely to audio clip limitations, Zhang maintains his regular voice even after being turned into a MEC trooper. If viewed from the right angle, this can come off as a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome and HeroicWillpower

** This is extra the case when you see it through the perspective of your soldiers, I mean, these guys just saw their friends get brutally mauled and now their dead friend is out for their blood. And the case becomes even worse at Site Recon.

* Your own psionics are unsettling to say the least. Their lines when using psychic powers tend to be either CreepyMonotone, or sound like they are [[EvilLaugh enjoying this way too much.]]

** An in-universe example of nightmare fuel comes when you think about things from the perspective of your "D-list" soldiers. You know, the ones who you kept gaining, but ignored because you developed a few core squads of badass soldiers and never developed them beyond rookies or squaddies? Because the Base Defense is an all-hands-on-deck scenario, they can get mixed in with your veteran soldiers, and are suddenly facing the same threats those veteran soldiers have been facing. These poor rookies and squaddies, depending on how far you are into the game, might find themselves facing down Mutons, Cyberdiscs, Chrysalids and Sectoid Commanders when they're barely trained and equipped to handle a ''Sectoid.'' [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Not that it stops them from fighting, mind you.]]

*** It's worth mentioning that, most likely to audio clip limitations, Zhang maintains his regular voice even after being turned into a MEC trooper. If viewed from the right angle, this can come off as a CrowningMomentOfAwesome and HeroicWillpower

* How XCOM handles interrogations. Now some people might inflict pain to try and force answers or bribe to gain the allegiance of the target but XCOM is all about results since the Human Species is on the line. Instead of trying to gain the trust or unwilling acquiescence of the aliens they skip the social aspect of interrogation entirely and cram electrodes into the brains of their enemies until they find the information they want. The Sectoids and Ethereals might have figured out mind reading through psionics but Dr. Vahlen can do the same thing with a probe and electricity though the subject doesn't survive the process.

** An in-universe example of nightmare fuel comes when you think about things from the perspective of your "D-list" soldiers. You know, the ones who you kept gaining, but ignored because you developed a few core squads of badass soldiers and never developed them beyond rookies or squaddies? Because the Base Defense is an all-hands-on-deck scenario, they can get mixed in with your veteran soldiers, and are suddenly facing the same threats those veteran soldiers have been facing. These poor rookies and squaddies, depending on how far you are into the game, might find themselves facing down Mutons, Cyberdiscs, Chrysalids and Sectoid Commanders when they're barely trained and equipped to handle a ''Sectoid.'' [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Not that it stops them from fighting, mind you.]]

*** And they mount external weaponry. This brings to mind another Nightmare Fuel moment: the Kinetic Strike Module. Imagine, if you will, you're a Muton fighting some humans. Things are going well. They're pulling back. [[MookHorrorShow Suddenly, some giant walking tank thing rushes you out of nowhere]] and BAM! Every bone in your body liquifies. Your organs implode. You're thrown backwards through a wall [[KungShui with enough force to shatter it]], into the car parked outside, which then ''[[EveryCarIsAPinto explodes from the impact]]''. Not the way I'd choose to go...

* Remember those [[GiantMook Mutons]] and how they're supposed to be the front line troops for the invaders? They can take some serious punishment, soaking bullets to the face, to say nothing of their [[EliteMooks elite counterparts]]. Now, let's go to South America's continent bonus, "We Have Ways", which allows all interrogations and autopsies to be completed immediately. Just what are they doing to the [[TortureTechnician Mutons to make them talk so fast]]?
** It's not really "making them talk" and more invasive neurological scans. Still doesn't stop the Fridge Horror from developing though...

** It's not really "making them talk" and more invasive neurological scans. Still doesn't stop the Fridge Horror from developing...

** It's not really "making them talk" and more invasive neurological scans.