History Main / FearIsNormal

* ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'': In "The Sun, the Sea, and the Host Club", the guys have been trying to find out what Haruhi is truly scared of. At the end, Haruhi hides in the closet, not wanting to admit to Tamaki that she has a FearOfThunder. Tamaki instantly understands because she was raised not to depend on others, so he tells her not to be ashamed of it and that she [[YouAreNotAlone is not alone]]. She gladly accepts the invitation to [[SecurityCling cling to him]].

* ''Fanfic/InvaderZimABadThingNeverEnds'': When the events of Chapter 14 force Gaz to confront her trauma from [[spoiler: nearly dying]] back in Chapter 7, she's at first angrily in denial about it, as she equates showing fear with weakness. Dib tells her that feeling fear is perfectly normal, especially since despite how strong she is she's still just an 11 year old, and that the important thing is that she learn to not let the fear hold her back.

* ''Literature/TheDeedOfPaksenarrion'': This is an important plot point in ''Oath of Gold'', the third book of the original trilogy. As a mercenary and then as a paladin-in-training, Paksenarrion ('Paks' for short) loved to fight and felt no fear in battle. After being cursed by the kuaknom, she loses this, and instead becomes scared of everyone and everything, completely unable to fight any kind of attacker. It takes a long time, and some careful counseling by Master Oakhallow, but eventually Paks comes to understand that courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the ability to go on despite the fear. Feeling and understanding the fear that normal peasants feel every day is an essential step on her journey to becoming a paladin.

* ''Series/BabylonFive'': In "[[Recap/BabylonFiveS02E10GROPOS GROPOS]]", a young Earth Alliance Marine (i.e. ground-pounder or "gropo" for short) named Yang is about to go on his first combat mission and confesses to being terrified. His veteran squadmate Large tells him that's okay: "Like Buffer used to say, 'A gropo who ain't scared is either dead, or stupid.'"

* ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'': Subverted in "Nightmare On Oak Street," when Darlene is apparently stricken with night terrors. Roseanne and Dan try consoling her and saying that fearing bad dreams is perfectly normal, which manages to make her even more upset. It turns out she didn't have nightmares, she had her first period.

* ''WesternAnimation/LittlePeople'': In the 2016 series episode "Roar in the Face of Fright", Eddie has [[HiccupHijinks the hiccups]], so the others try to scare him to cure him, despite his insistence that he's afraid of nothing. Leonard and the kids [[FearSong sing a brief song called "Everyone's Scared of Something"]], but Eddie is revealed to have a FearOfThunder. Sofie tells him that it's nothing to ashamed of. Leonard suggests roaring back at the thunder, and Eddie soon realizes his hiccups have gone away.

Compare ItsOkayToCry, AngerIsHealthyAesop, and MistakesAreNotTheEndOfTheWorld, for other lessons about unpleasant things being normal, and FearIsTheAppropriateResponse for when the best thing to do is run away. Contrast CowardiceCallout. Could be a deconstruction of AbsurdPhobia. Can overlap with EmbarrassmentPlot, InjectionPlot, OneEpisodeFear, RepressionNeverEndsWell, WhatDoTheyFearEpisode, FearSong, LovableCoward, CowardlyLion, NotSoStoic, and WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes (and any of its subtropes, such as FearOfThunder, MortalityPhobia, AfraidOfBlood, etc.).

* ''Literature/TheGunsOfNavarone'': Lieutenant Andy Stevens, youngest and least experienced of Mallory's team, is secretly utterly terrified of just about everything to do with the mission, but mainly of not being good enough. Then while climbing the south cliff on Navarone, he's crippled in a fall and knows he's likely going to die. Eventually he admits his fear to the others, and is shocked (and relieved) by the response:

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Aesop of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E4Listen Listen]]." The episode delves into how The Doctor learned his creed of "never cruel or cowardly." One scene in-particular sees The Doctor and Clara arrive in a little boy's room, where he's found a monster hiding under the covers of his bed. The Doctor comforts the boy (unbeknownst to them, a young [[spoiler:Danny Pink]]) by [[NegativesAsAPositive applauding his caution and spinning it as a good thing]]; encouraging everyone to turn their back on the creature, which ends up leaving without an audience. This is later revealed to have been a philosophy he [[spoiler:learned from Clara as a child while he was crying in the barn]].

*** In "Night Terrors", the crew are suffering "dream deprivation", which makes them paranoid. Worf feels ashamed of this fear due to being from a ProudWarriorRace, and even tries to cut his own throat. However, [[TheShrink Troi]] convinces him that he's still brave, since admitting one's fears takes courage.

* ''WesternAnimation/BugsBunnyBuilders'': In "Dino Fright", the Builders are tasked into constructing a dinosaur's skeleton, and Tweety admits that he's scared of dinosaurs. The others say they can relate since they have some fears of their own, with Porky revealing that Daffy has an AbsurdPhobia of kites as an example (much to Daffy's annoyance, as he told him that in confidence).

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': In "Hurl, Interrupted", Lynn's pals want to go on the new roller coaster, the Whipped Scream, at Dairyland. Lynn is less than enthused, though it's not because she's scared of the ride itself; she's actually emetophobic (meaning that she's afraid of vomiting). She does everything in her power to avoid riding it, but ultimately confesses to her friends that she just doesn't want to throw up. They tell her that if she doesn't want to go on the Whipped Scream, they won't force her to. By the end, Lynn does end up puking due to [[BigEater overeating]], but she realizes it's not as bad as she thought and she does want to try the Whipped Scream now.
* ''WesternAnimation/MoonGirlAndDevilDinosaur'': Lunela is terrified of Coney Island after an accident there when she was only 5. Unfortunately for her, not only did her grandma buy tickets for a trip there, but she encounters The Beyonder who is fascinated by her fear. She's embarrassed by how afraid she is, but a pep talk from Mimi and a demonstration by Devil show her that she doesn't have to get over her fears, she just has to perservere through them.

** In "Power-Noia", all three Powerpuff Girls are trapped in a shared nightmare. Buttercup gets startled by a GiantSpider and Blossom explains that it's her worst fear. Buttercup initially attempts to deny it, but Blossom says that everyone gets scared sometimes and that she just has to learn to fight it. Buttercup is still reluctant until Blossom [[NobodyCallsMeChicken accuses her of being a wimp]] to give her the drive to prove her wrong.

* ''Fanfic/LightingCandles'': Tadashi points out to Pitch that fear is important for kids to learn, and is only a problem if there is too much of it. [[spoiler: The "Man in the Moon"/Chang'e also tells Tadashi she was mistaken for believing fear no longer served its purpose when she rejected Pitch centuries before, leading to Pitch's StartOfDarkness]].

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Aesop of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E4Listen Listen]]." The episode delves into how The Doctor learned his creed of "never cruel or cowardly." One scene in-particular sees The Doctor and Clara arrive in a little boy's room, where he's found a monster hiding under the covers of his bed. The Doctor comforts the boy (unbeknownst to them, a young [[spoiler: Danny Pink]]) by [[NegativesAsAPositive applauding his caution and spinning it as a good thing]]; encouraging everyone to turn their back on the creature, which ends up leaving without an audience. This is later revealed to have been a philosophy he [[spoiler: learned from Clara as a child while he was crying in the barn]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'': When Beast Boy rents a horror movie for the team to watch, while he and the rest of the Titans admit to being scared, Raven denies being afraid. However, due to her denial of being afraid, monsters manifest in the tower, and as the team is picked off one by one until only Raven is left, she comes to accept that she is afraid, but that doesn't mean she can't fight back and banishes the monsters from the tower.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': This is a subtle but recurring {{Aesop}} throughout the fourth-season episode "Never Fear", as the Scarecrow's new fear-''removing'' toxin inflicts significantly more disturbing effects on Gotham than his usual tricks, even bringing Batman to the cusp of breaking ThouShaltNotKill. It's Robin, who remains unafflicted, who ultimately has to pull his mentor back from the brink.

!!Examples [[foldercontrol]]
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[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film - Animation]]

-->'''Butch''': If you ain't scared of [[NeverSmileAtACrocodile a croc bitin' ya on the face]], you ain't alive. Listen, kid, you can't get rid of fear. It's like Mother Nature; can't beat her or outrun her, but you ''can'' get through it, and you can find out what you're made of.

[[folder:Film - Live-Action]]

-->'''Lt. Ernie Stark:''' Major, does a good pilot get so scared he breaks out in a sweat on a mission? Does his mouth get so dry he can't swallow?
-->'''Major Kirby:''' Every one of 'em.
-->'''Lt. Stark:''' You?
-->'''Major Kirby:''' The second I push that throttle forward. And any time you meet a guy who says he doesn't, avoid him. He's an idiot.

-->'''Bran:''' Robb says the man died bravely, but Jon says he was afraid.
-->'''Ned:''' What do you think?
-->'''Bran:''' Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?
-->'''Ned:''' That is the only time a man can be brave.

-->'''Mallory:''' Now I know you ''are'' new to this game, Andy. Maybe you think ''I'' was laughing and singing all the way up that cliff? Maybe you think I wasn't scared? Well, I wasn't. "Scared" isn't the word; I was bloody well terrified. So was Andrea here. We knew too much not to be scared.
-->'''Stevens:''' Andrea! ''(laughs painfully)'' Andrea! Scared! I don't believe it.
-->'''Andrea:''' ''(gently)'' Andrea ''was'' afraid. Andrea ''is'' afraid. Andrea is always afraid. That is why I have lived so long. And why so many have died. They were not so afraid as I. They were not afraid of everything a man could be afraid of, there was always something they forgot to fear, to guard against. But Andrea was afraid of everything and he forgot nothing. It is as simple as that. ''(looks at Stevens)'' There are no brave men and cowardly men in the world, my son. There are only brave men. To be born, to live, to die, that takes courage enough in itself, and more than enough. We are all brave men and we are all afraid, and what the world calls a brave man, he, too, is brave and afraid like all the rest of us. Only he is brave for five minutes longer. Or sometimes ten minutes, or twenty minutes, or the time it takes a man sick and bleeding and afraid to climb a cliff.

-->'''The Doctor''': What's wrong with scared? Scared is a superpower!
-->'''[[spoiler: Clara]]''' ''(to the [[spoiler: Doctor as a child]])'': I know you're afraid. But being afraid is alright. Fear is a superpower...If you're very wise and very strong, fear doesn't have to make you cruel or cowardly. Fear can make you kind.