Basic Trope: A monster is a manifestation of psychological problems.
- Straight: Bob fears becoming like his Abusive Parent, so when he goes into the Fortress of Fear, he gets attacked by a monster that shifts randomly between his own face and that of his parent.
- Exaggerated: The Five-Man Band goes into the Fortress of Fear. Bob fears becoming like his Abusive Parent and sees a monster that shifts randomly between his own face and his parent's. Alice has a fear of commitment and sees a monstrous version of Bob that clings to her and drains her life. Charlie the Shell-Shocked Veteran finds himself attacked by the Body Horror-ridden corpses of fellow comrades and innocent civilians alike, grotesque monsters resembling weapons of war, and the demonic specter of his blood-thirsty superior who constantly taunts Charlie over the fact that he too enjoyed committing atrocities of war, no matter how much he tries to deny it. Dracone sees his villainous self, who taunts him that he'll never escape his past. Eva fears being alone and gets attacked by a monster that wants to trap her in a void dimension.
- Downplayed: Walking nightmares are real creatures who wear psychological problems of their victims as a mask. Someone completely mentally healthy would see their true form and cause the walking nightmare to avoid them at all costs.
- Justified:
- The Fortress of Fear is a Genius Loci that feeds on personal trauma.
- Bob's subconsious conjures a hallucination he can interact with as a way to deal with both his past trauma and his own anxiety about the future. Once he stops running from it, he can confront it as a way of calling out his horrible (and since deceased) father.
- Inverted: Bob encounters a version of himself that randomly shifts between himself and his Good Parent and assures him he'll do just as well when his time comes.
- Subverted: Charlie thinks the child zombies are a manifestation of his guilt over his stray bullets hitting a young girl. It is just Nero the Necromancer using bodies of dead children for shock value.
- Double Subverted: Except Nero himself is a manifestation of Charlie's guilt.
- Parodied: The fears are all some variant of an Absurd Phobia or ludicrously minor like leaving their sock drawer unorganized.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted: ???
- Enforced: The author thinks the story will come off as more complex if the monsters are psychological.
- Lampshaded:Bob: Um, maybe I'm not the best choice for this mission. Doesn't the Fortress fasten onto mental issues?
- Invoked: Emperor Evulz enchants the Fortress of Fear so it will spawn monsters specifically tailored to the mental problems of whoever enters the area.
- Exploited: The Five-Man Band lures Emperor Evulz into the Fortress of Fear.
- Defied: The heroes never enter the Fortress or only send in people with a good grip on their neuroses.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
So you fear getting lost on this wiki, eh? So your monster manifests as...a page without a returning link to the main page! Mu-ha-ha-ha-ha!
