History Main / PersonalHorror

** The Drakh can do this with their keepers. [[spoiler:They forced The Regent of Centauri Prime to turn off the planetary defense grid just as a big fleet was about to attack. They later turn Londo into a [[PuppetKing Puppet Emperor]] by threatening him to blow up the nukes they have hidden around the planet.]]

* ''Anime/Inuyasha'' goes through this after his evil side takes over.

** This is implied with Sinclair[[spoiler:/Valen. After he went back in time and became Valen he left letter for the future. He couldn't do anything to stop the Earth-Minbari war (which he had fought in before going back in time) in case that would drastically change things and give The Shadows an advantage. We never find out what would've happened, nor does he.]]

[[folder: Live Action TV]]

* In season 4 of ''Series/Babylon5'' [[spoiler:Garibaldi has another personality created in his brain by Bester. He ends up selling out his friends and betraying everything they stood for while his real self is watching helplessly.]]

When a painful betrayal of one's self image, self-loathing, internal conflict, personal failing/flaw or guilt is PlayedForDrama.

Can cover:

Related to PsychologicalHorror. ''Not'' related to IKnowWhatYouFear or AuthorPhobia.

Related to PsychologicalHorror.

->''"It's your sense of alienation from self that provides, perhaps, the deepest terror. Where other meters measure how traumatized you are by the things that happen to you, Self measures how traumatized you are by your own reactions to those things. To put it another way, the only thing you can ever really be 100% sure of is "I think, therefore I am." The Self meter measures how uncertain you are about the "I" in that statement."''

* WhatHaveIBecome
* TomatoInTheMirror

* DeadAllAlong

* HeelRealization

* {{Sankarea}}: Rea has this when she starts to succumb to her zombie nature.

-->-- TabletopGame/UnknownArmies corebook.

* ''PerfectBlue'', along with a healthy dose of PsychologicalHorror and SurrealHorror. Yay, loss of identity and emotional insecurity!

* The origin of SpiderMan involves this, as Uncle Ben's death is indirectly caused by Peter's irresponsibility.

* ''TaxiDriver'' is all about the protagonist projecting his self-loathing on others, where his antagonists are just placeholders for the things he hates about himself or wants for himself.

* ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'': all the main cast, but Shinji Ikari might be the poster boy for this trope. A person with very high moral standards, but a weak and tender heart that cannot shoulder them against the odds. He develops a ''bad'' case of self-loathing, reaching a DespairEventHorizon after the final angel and a MoralEventHorizon for himself after DudeShesLikeInAComa.

* ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'': happens to the Spiral King in the prologue/parallel works.

->''"It's your sense of alienation from self that provides, perhaps, the deepest terror. Where other meters measure how traumatized you are by thing that happen to you, Self measures how traumatized you are by your own reactions to those things. To put it another way, the only thing you can ever really be 100% sure of is "I think, therefore I am." The Self meter measures how uncertain you are about the "I" in that statement."''

* {{The Killer In Me}}
* {{Dead All Along}}

* In TheFilmOfTheBook of ''Film/{{FourteenOhEight}}'', the overall schtick of the titular hotel room seems to be dragging guests kicking and screaming through the darkest corners of their own subconscious and beating them over the head with their own doubts, fears, and regrets. Mike Enslin discovers this to his extreme detriment.

* This is what the horror of {{Room 101}} in ''NineteenEightyFour'' is all about. Using your greatest fears to get you to betray the most important thing about yourself, to destroy your self-image by making you betray everything and anything that's left of what you valued before they arrested you.

* This is what the horror of {{Room 101}} in ''NineteenEightyFour'' is all about. Getting you to betray the most important thing about yourself, to destroy your self-image.

* In TheFilmOfTheBook of ''{{FourteenOhEight}}'', the overall schtick of the titular hotel room seems to be dragging guests kicking and screaming through the darkest corners of their own subconscious and beating them over the head with their own doubts, fears, and regrets. Mike Enslin discovers this to his extreme detriment.

* ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'': happens to the Spiral King in the prologue/parallel works.

----

-->-- UnknownArmies corebook.

* ''TaxiDriver'' is all about the protagonist projecting his self-loathing on others, where his antagonists are just placeholders for the things he hates about himself or want for himself.

* This is what the horror of Room101 in ''NineteenEightyFour'' is all about. Getting you to betray the most important thing about yourself, to destroy your self-image.

* Done in both the [[TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness]] and [[TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness the new version]], especially the [[TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade Vampire]] [[TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem gamelines]].

* Done in both the old and new ''WorldOfDarkness'', especially the Vampire gamelines.
* ''UnknownArmies'' has the Self madness meter, which is meant to address this trope specifically.

->''"It's your sense of alienation from self that provides, perhaps, the deepest terror. Where other meters measure how traumatized you are by thing that happen to you, Self measures how traumatized you are by your own reactions to those things. To put it another way, the only thing you can ever really be 100% sure of is "I think, therefore I am." The Self meter measures how uncertain you are about the "I" in that statement."''
-->-- UnknownArmies corebook.

When a painful betrayal of one's self image, self-loathing, internal conflict, personal failing/flaw or guilt is PlayedForHorror.

Can cover:
* WhatHaveIBecome
* TomatoInTheMirror
* GollumMadeMeDoIt
* {{The Killer In Me}}
* {{Dead All Along}}
* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone
* HeelRealization
* MyGreatestFailure

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'': happens to the Spiral King in the prologue/parallel works.

[[AC:{{Comic Books}}]]
* The origin of SpiderMan involves this, as Uncle Ben's death is indirectly caused by Peter's irresponsibility.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* ''TaxiDriver'' is all about the protagonist projecting his self-loathing on others, where his antagonists are just placeholders for the things he hates about himself or want for himself.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* This is what the horror of Room101 in ''NineteenEightyFour'' is all about. Getting you to betray the most important thing about yourself, to destroy your self-image.

[[AC:{{Tabletop Games}}]]
* Done in both the old and new ''WorldOfDarkness'', especially the Vampire gamelines.
* ''UnknownArmies'' has the Self madness meter, which is meant to address this trope spefically.

NeedsAnIndex

* TaxiDriver is all about the protagonist projecting his self-loathing on others, where his antagonists are just placeholders for the things he hates about himself or want for himself.
* Done in both the old and new WorldOfDarkness, especially the Vampire gamelines.
* UnknownArmies has the Self madness meter, which is meant to address this trope spefically.

* This is what the horror of Room101 in NineteenEightyFour is all about. Getting you to betray the most important thing about yourself, to destroy your self-image.
* TengenToppaGurrenLagann: happens to the Spiral King in the prologue/parallel works.
* NeonGenesisEvangelion: all the main cast, but Shinji Ikari might be the poster boy for this trope. A person with very high moral standards, but a weak and tender heart that cannot shoulder them against the odds. He develops a ''bad'' case of self-loathing, reaching a DespairEventHorizon after the final angel and a MoralEventHorizon for himself after DudeShesLikeInAComa.