History Main / AbsurdPhobia

* ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'': In one episode, the villain Nightmare puts all of New York, except for Spider-Man and Iron Fist, to sleep and traps them in their worst fear. What is Nova afraid of? [[FauxHorrific Rabbits!]]

* There are a wide variety of real-life phobias that can come across as this to other people. Including fear of clowns, ducks, babies, hair, colors, numbers ([[ThirteenIsUnlucky triskaidekaphobia]]), words, etc...

* Probably the single most generally known "absurd" phobia is a fear of firecrackers and fireworks, [[JustifiedTrope a common side effect of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.]] This one, at least, is well-publicized enough not to be used for comedy.

* ''Fanfic/RidingTheSunset'': Ultra Magnus is a large, powerful, respected Autobot warrior who serves as Optimus Prime's second-in-command [[spoiler: until Prowl comes back]]. But Chapter 11 shows that he's afraid of spiders. This wouldn't be considered an absurd phobia if he wasn't a giant robot who a spider couldn't ''possibly'' hurt.

* Lunella/Moon Girl, who is considered fearless by most of the LES and her friends, is afraid of ''Coney Island''. [[spoiler: The Beyonder actually helps her dissect her fear, revealing that she's actually afraid of losing someone she loves, and that she associated Coney Island with that fear because of an incident when she was five where she was separated from Mimi]].

* ''ComicBook/MonicaAndFriends'': Cascão has an extreme hatred of water to the point of it becoming his [[WeaksauceWeakness one weakness]]. He basically sees it like a normal person would view acid, even though you need water to survive.

* ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita'': Alita is a fearless warrior, but it turns out that she has a phobia of owl-eye moths because the "eyes" on the wings unsettle her. ([[WriteWhatYouKnow Author Yukito Ishiro shared this phobia]].) She [[SoMuchForStealth accidentally reveals herself to a roaming warband]] the only time this phobia affects the plot by emptying her HandCannon trying to kill one of these moths.

* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'':
** Celty has several odd fears, in fact there’s a whole chapter of Shinra explaining that no, the world will not end in 2012, the photon belt is not sentient and will not kill everyone, tesseracts from the fourth dimension will not destroy the earth and aliens did not kill the dinosaurs. Celty herself is a [[TheGrimReaper dullahan.]]

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure''

** Guido Mista from ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'' is afraid [[FourIsDeath of the number four]]. He freaks out when a waiter serves his teammates four slices of cake and when he has only four bullets left.

* 2D from Gorillaz has an irrational fear of whales, Although he is later swallowed by one, only surviving due to the whale dying before he could be digested.

* 2D from Music/{Gorillaz} has an irrational fear of whales, Although he is later swallowed by one, only surviving due to the whale dying before he could be digested.

* 2D from Music/Gorillaz has an irrational fear of whales, Although he is later swallowed by one, only surviving due to the whale dying before he could be digested.

* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'': Celty has several odd fears, in fact there’s a whole chapter of Shinra explaining that no, the world will not end in 2012, the photon belt is not sentient and will not kill everyone, tesseracts from the fourth dimension will not destroy the earth and aliens did not kill the dinosaurs. Celty herself is a [[TheGrimReaper dullahan.]]

* ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' has Indiana Jones display epic bravery in the opening sequence, outrunning boulders and outsmarting booby traps. As he escapes in his friend's biplane, he freaks out over the presence of the man's pet snake. Fear of snakes isn't that absurd, but when you are as brave as Indy, it's a bit absurd.
** ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' then reveals that when Indy was a kid, he wasn't afraid of snakes until a rather traumatic incident in a circus train when he fell into a pen holding about a thousand snakes.

* ''WesternAnimation/BestAndBester'': In "Get the Hump", Bester is revealed to have a fear of camels. This becomes a problem when the prize for Diamondo's dance-off is a ride back home on a camel.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' where Jimmy invents a DreamWalker machine to help Carl with his nightmares reveals that the "horrible spooky thing" that Carl doesn't want to talk about is lima beans. Jimmy thinks this is just a case of DoesNotLikeSpam at first, but when he meets a lima bean in Carl's dream, it grows to giant size and reveals itself as a terrifying ManEatingPlant. (It is defeated by luring it out of the dream, where it becomes harmless and is semi-reluctantly eaten by Jimmy, Carl and Sheen.)

* In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' titled "The Squirrels" the kids in Elwood City all develop a temporary phobia of squirrels after seeing a movie called "The Squirrels" a la ''Film/TheBirds''.

* Something of a subversion in ''WesternAnimation/BeCoolScoobyDoo,'' in that the gang takes it seriously when he's confronted by it, but they aren't above mocking him when he isn't. Fred isn't afraid of heights. He's afraid of ''widths.'' He believes it's more rational than Velma's more traditional fear of water because:

** "Bed and Breakfast" reveals that Teddy has an irrational fear of costumed mascots that stems from catching one ''in flagrante delecto'' with his ex-wife. After [[EnfanteTerrible Louise]] sics a bunch of "Fuzzy Buddies" she hired from a party supply store on him in an effort to get her bedroom back, Teddy claims to have mostly worked out his issues.
** In "House of 1000 Bounces", Bob has a fear of pigeons stemming from him being attacked by a flock of them in the attic of an old house. [[spoiler:He got over it after he realized that he was describing a scene from ''Film/TheBirds''. Apparently he watched it as a kid and it freaked him out.]] Teddy comments in the same episode that he used to be scared of babies.

* ''WesternAnimation/CampLakebottom'' "Cheeks of Dread": After much needling, [=McGee=] finds out that Gretchen has a phobia of chipmunks. [[spoiler: The [[MonsterOfTheWeek episode's monster]] turns out to be a [[KillerRabbit vicious chipmunk]] that keeps a giant pile of skulls from the [[ImAHumanitarian people it has devoured]].]]
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/ChopSockyChooks'', we learn that Chucky Chan is afraid of a toy duck called Mr. Quackers for unknown reasons while K.O. Joe is afraid of jelly beans due getting one stuck up his nose as a baby.
* [[PlanetOfHats The Planet of Easily Frightened People]] from ''WesternAnimation/EarthWormJim''.
-->'''Two inhabitants:''' AAAHH! A crow! AAAHH! A rock!
-->'''Psycrow:''' Ehehehe! I love this planet.
-->'''Two inhabitants:''' AAAHH! A bug! AAAHH! Air!
* Ed from ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' is shown to be afraid of soap and deodorant in "Once Upon an Ed", and the fear of soap becomes a plot point in "Run For Your Ed", when Double D's solution to [[ItMakesSenseInContext removing a bottle stuck on his finger]] being to lubricate it with soap to slip it off. He also has a fear of wigs and hairpieces as shown in "X Marks the Ed" For context, Eddy had a pimple on his head that he tried to cover up with his dad's toupee.

** In "Deja Vu", Francis appears to have a phobia of getting wet.

** In "A Bad Case of Diary-Uh!", one of the embarrassing secrets revealed in Vicky's journal is her fear of cows. In the same episode, Timmy is revealed to have a fear of both clowns and feet. Vicky manages to use both [[ItMakesSenseInContext (along with his allergy to oranges)]] against him by going to his school and declaring "Barefoot Orange-Juggling Clown Day". ''[[RuleOfThree Also]]'' in the same episode, OneShotCharacter Winston Dunsworth is revealed to be scared of [[PinkMeansFeminine the color pink]], which Timmy has Wanda exploit so Vicky could save him from the "cute, pink squirrel she thinks is overweight".
** [[NoodleIncident It's not known exactly why]], but Cosmo will have a breakdown hearing the words, "Super Toilet."

** In one episode, Timmy goes to a "Wishing Well" boot camp with two other kids, Molly and Dwight, to learn to deal with things without wishing. One of the challenges has all the kids face their fears. While Timmy and Molly have reasonable fears ([[BabysitterFromHell Vicky]] and [[SnakesAreSinister snakes]], respectively), Dwight is afraid of a ''harpoon.''
--->'''Dwight:''' I dreamt I was a whale one, and it wanted my blubber!

** In the episode "Ready, Willing, And Disabled", one of the "[[UsefulNotes/ParalympicGames Special Peoples' Games]]", one of the events is "100 Meter Mash for People Afraid of Yellow Tape". It ends up being a close finish, largely because everyone is too panicked to cross the line until one of them powers through it and wins.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', the weak spot of the Hatrock family (a bunch of hard-core hillbillies[[note]]and by "hard-core" we mean "an Expy of ComicStrip/TheAddamsFamily [[HorrifyingTheHorror is wrestled into submission]]"[[/note]] the Flintstones encounter in two episodes) is an {{Expy}} of Music/TheBeatles.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGarfieldShow'' episode "Fraidy Cat" revolves around Dr. Whipple creating an invention that can be used to remove people's fears as well as give them fears they didn't have already. In a commercial where he advertises his service of using the device to cure people of their phobias, he mentions some rather ridiculous fears, including a fear of sitting on a grilled cheese sandwich and a fear of moving with your family to Peru and subsequently becoming a toboggan salesman. At the end of the episode, Garfield uses the invention to make Nermal afraid of being too cute and Dr. Whipple afraid of being in a cartoon.
* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': One Halloween special reveals that Mabel is afraid of Claymation. Grunkle Stan takes the kids to visit the Claymation animator who is living in Gravity Falls to help her get over it. Its then revealed, that the animator used dark magic to make his clay models move, and they attack the group when they enter his house. Mabel is able to save everyone with a clay monster of her own. She doesn't get over her fear, but she feels vindicated that her fear is justified.
** In ''Dreamscaperers'', when Bill Chipher declares that he can turn the worst nightmares of people Soos says he hopes he's not talking about the "British Dog Man" he sees in his dreams. Immediately a bulldog in a fancy suit, a monocle and a walking cane appears.
--> '''British Dog Man''': ''"'Ello, 'ello, 'ello! Who's crike for a stick in the pudding?"''
--> '''Soos''': ''"Ahh! It's everything I ever feared!"''
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': While Billy has the more standard fear of [[SpidersAreScary spiders]], he's also absolutely terrified of clowns, and for some reason, the mailman. When the main characters were facing their worst fears manifest in TheMovie, Billy ended up having to face [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot a clown car full of spider-clown-mailmen]].

* The plot of many ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' episodes revolve around him developing an insane phobia of a random mundane Earth object/group/action, and taking drastic measures to be rid of them.
* The title character of ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' is afraid of pickles, which he claims are evil and out to get him. He claims it was due to an incident where fell into a pickle truck and was drenched in pickle brine, but even Beezy and Heloise find his fear to be silly. [[spoiler:Ironically, it's less unjustified than it seems, given that [[BitchInSheepsClothing his neighbor across the street actually is a pickle monster bent on destroying everyone]].]]
* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': Played with in the half-episode "Roachie", which begins with Kim chiding Ron for being scared of ordinary bugs and then had Kim totally freaked out by giant roaches (which are actually harmless and friendly when separated from the influence of the story's villain, as shown by one that Ron develops a rapport with).

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTarzan'', Jane spends a whole episode trying to figure out what Tarzan is afraid of, which seems to be nothing whatsoever. But at the end of the episode, she picks up a powder puff, causing Tarzan to go wide-eyed, jump back, and run out of the room. [[spoiler:He then reveals to Terk that he was faking it to get Jane to stop.]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/LetsGoLuna'' episode "Day of the Dead", Luna is helping Carmen to get over her understandable fear of skeletons and suggests laughing in the face of her fear to make it less scary. The whole gang explain the fears they laugh at, which are all pretty reasonable... except for Andy, who laughs in the face of ''asparagus''.

** Sunil in "Heart of Parkness":
--->'''Sunil:''' I am scared of creatures with six or more legs, loud noises, curtains, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking avocados, and quiet jazz music]], but no, not cobras.
** In the episode "Game of Groans,'' Youngmee reveals that she has a fear of jester hats.
* [[TheBigGuy Norman]] of ''WesternAnimation/MightyMax'' has arachnophobia so extreme that he once jumped through a ceiling in response to a tiny spider landing on his shoulder. Justified when you learn that [[spoiler:he is destined to die by being eaten by a giant spider]].

** According to one of Pinkie Pie's party files in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E11PartyPooped Party Pooped]]", Twilight Sparkle has a fear of quesadillas.

** In the short "Starlight the Hypnotist", Twilight reveals that she's terrified of ladybugs because when she was a filly, a swarm of them invaded her family home and her brother, Shining Armor, joked that their spots were actually extra eyes.
** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E13DoPrincessesDreamOfMagicSheep Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?]]", we learn that Rainbow Dash has a phobia of [[SickeninglySweet the ultra-saccharine]].
** The episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS9E13BetweenDarkAndDawn Between Dark and Dawn]]" reveals that [[PhysicalGod Princess Celestia]] is deathly afraid of chickens and needs her little sister, Princess Luna, to scare them away for her.
* Ryder of the WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol is afraid not of daring rescues, his pups or himself being in danger, or any of the other various dangers involved with running a rescue force, but ''Brussels sprouts''. He's even mentioned having nightmares from them.
* In the various ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' specials has Charlie Brown admit he's afraid of all sorts of things that seem silly. Partly this is justified as he often tries and fails at things to better himself. However, he does rise up to the challenge despite the odds, and tries again.
* Nicky's fear of swans is a running gag in ''WesternAnimation/PepperAnn''. This fear, [[spoiler:which her older sister secretly shared]], is revealed to have a specific cause: [[spoiler:they both had the same [[CreepyDoll exceedingly creepy]] toy swan when they were kids]]. [[JustifiedTrope To be fair]], [[KillerRabbit swans are some of the most violently territorial animals on Earth]].

** His fantasy counterpart, Malefishmirtz admits that he's afraid of unicorns, whales, octopus, pegasi, scorpions, barnacles and girls. Then a few seconds later a [[MixAndMatchCritter uni-whale-scorpio-Pega-squid-icorn Candace]] appears behind him, though he admits that when combined it's more ridiculous than scary.
** "Monster From the Id" shows that Baljeet is afraid of contractions (the Frankenstein monster of grammar) and Irving is afraid of the color lavender.

-->Have you ever looked into a chicken's eyes, Howard? ''[[ThousandYardStare There's nothing there]]''.
* On ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', Rick mentions that he had a fear of wicker furniture before he [[GrandTheftMe transferred his consciousness]] into a Federation agent. He also has a fear of pirates (despite his passion project, The Pirates of The Pancreas, back in season 1).
* Chuckie from ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' has a long list of these; including shoes, green Jell-O, and [[BlandNameProduct "that guy on the oatmeal box."]] {{Exaggerated|Trope}} in another episode where Chuckie meets a kid who has even more ridiculous fears than he does, including the fear of being '''eaten''' by oatmeal.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SeaPrincesses'', Isa, the Princess of the Penguins, was afraid of water, but with the help of Santa Claus, she overcame her fear.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "Fear of Flying" it is revealed that Homer has a fear of sock puppets.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Fear of a Krabby Patty", [=SpongeBob=] becomes afraid of Krabby Patties after working nonstop and not getting any sleep.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Stanley}}'s Dinosaur Roundup'', after Stanley admits to being afraid of riding on a horse, his pets try to comfort him. Dennis, a goldfish, tells him he felt afraid the first time he tried to ride on a seahorse. Elsie, a cat, says that she used to be afraid of mice. Harry, [[DogsAreDumb a dog]], tells him he used to be afraid of cheese and still gets a little nervous around Gouda.
* Ludo from ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' appears to have a phobia of hair stemming from an early birthday party when he was [[ItMakesSenseInContext assaulted by the Tickle-Monster]].

* The ''[[WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Total Drama Island]]'' episode "Phobia Factor" shows the castmates' worst fears. While some of them are common, like Owen and Izzy's fear of flying and DJ's fear of snakes, others are very absurd. Examples include Tyler's fear of chickens, Duncan's fear of Celine Dion music store cardboard standees and Courtney's fear of green jello. Lindsay and Sadie both share the same fear, bad haircuts (Lindsay originally said her fear was walking through a minefield in heels before changing it). There are also some that are dangerous things but also rather odd, like Heather's (sumo wrestlers), Harold's (ninjas), and Cody's (having to defuse a time bomb).

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRescueBotsAcademy'' episode "Tyrannosaurus Wrecked", Whirl mentions that she is afraid of spaghetti.
* In an episode of ''[[WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012 Ultimate Spider-Man]]'' the villain Nightmare puts all of New York, except for Spider-Man and Iron Fist, to sleep and traps them in their worst fear. What is Nova afraid of? [[FauxHorrific Rabbits!]]

* On the ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'' episode "More Everyone's Tube", Grizz and Panda discover that Ice Bear, usually the most fearless of the three, is afraid of cucumbers. They shoot a whole video of them pranking Ice Bear by placing cucumbers all over the house and watching him freak out. (Oddly enough, he reacts normally to a pickle.) It ends with Panda dressing up in a cucumber costume, which causes Ice Bear to throw him out the window and ending up on traction at the hospital.
* Omi of ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' is afraid of squirrels. Even Jack Spicer thought that was incredibly lame.

* Catatoullie 101 on LetsPlay/GhabulousGhoti's channel has a fear of clocks moving really fast.

-->-- ''Series/{{Monk}}'', "Mr. Monk and the Girl Who Cried Wolf"

** Josuke Higashikata from ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'' has the fear of reptiles - including turtles.

** Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz has many fears, including heights, bats, and... shellfish. He freely admits that most of his fears are irrational, with the exception of his fear of vending machines, which he insists will one day gain sentience and enslave humanity.

** The episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS9E13BetweenDarkAndDawn Between Dark and Dawn]]" reveals that Princess Celestia is deathly afraid of chickens and needs her little sister, Princess Luna, to scare them away for her.