History Main / PersonalHorror

* ''Videogame/HonkaiImpact3rd'': The protagonist Kiana has several cases of this, from her GuiltComplex over having her closest people get hurt while trying to help her and her not being able to do anything about it, to realizing that [[IAmAMonster she's a "monster" or a "time bomb"]] [[spoiler:due to her SuperpoweredEvilSide, in which she was controlled to hurt her closest ones]]. It's "horror" enough for her that she keeps getting nightmares about it. Her whole struggle is about how she could become a "hero that saves the world" [[HurtingHero despite suffering from all of the above]].

* The song "Trees and Flowers" by ''Music/StrawberrySwitchblade'' is about a person who does not sleep at nights, dislikes bright and upbeat things like trees, flowers, sunshine etc. Considers home to be a prison. Hates buildings in general. One could say it is agoraphobia but there is definitely something else about the case. This person is lost in a horror of a very personal kind.

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

-->-- ''TabletopGame/UnknownArmies'' corebook.

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

* ''Anime/{{Inuyasha}}'':
** The titular protagonist goes through this after his evil side takes over.
** [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Kohaku]] realizing that he was BrainwashedAndCrazy and killed his family.

[[folder:Film — Animation]]
* ''Film/TheLastUnicorn'' starts losing her sense of self when she's transformed into a human.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' Elsa freezes her sister Anna while trying to drive her away to protect her.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'' Quasimodo inadvertently [[spoiler:leads Frollo to The Court of Miracles when he goes there to warn everyone that Frollo is coming.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/BrotherBear'' Kenai is first transformed into a bear. Then he finds out that the bear he killed earlier [[spoiler:was Koda's mother.]]

[[folder:Film — Live Action]]

* 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.
* ''Film/{{Inception}}'' deals with the aftermath of this. In TheReveal we find out that [[spoiler:Cobb planted the idea that her reality isn't real in his wife's head when they were stuck in a dream. This resulted in her [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]] to wake up. It's unclear if she died or [[DreamWithinADream woke up]].]]
* In ''Film/IronSky'' Renate has a HeelRealization followed by a HeelFaceTurn when she finds out who the Nazis were.
* In ''Film/RedRover'' Kylie [[spoiler:killed her mother with her powers, and all of Kylie's problems and life events since then have revolved around her denial of what she is. The film ends with her acceptance and owning of her powers.]]
* In ''Film/SarahsKey'' the eponymous Sarah had to live with [[spoiler: the fact she inadvertently locked his brother in the closet during the Nazi raid, he died there because she couldn't manage to rescue him and eventually her depression lead her to commit suicide as an adult.]]
* In ''Film/FantasticBeastsTheCrimesOfGrindelwald'' Leta Lestrange is dealing with this after [[spoiler:swapping her brother for a baby that wasn't crying so she could get some sleep. The ship sunk directly afterward and her brother died.]]
* ''Film/GhostStories2017'' begins as a fairly unique but still pretty standard movie about a noted professor and skeptic being challenged to explain three cases that have haunted his mentor for years. It ends as a movie about [[spoiler:a man suffering from locked-in syndrome, doomed to live in the world of dreams created by his own brain as a coping mechanism over the choices he's made in life.]]
* Elise in ''Film/{{Insidious}}'' discovers that despite her life's goal being to help people who are afflicted with supernatural entities, she [[spoiler:unknowingly let a woman in her house die as a teenager because she believed her to be a spirit and didn't save her from being murdered by her father.]]

* This is what the horror of {{Room 101}} in ''Literature/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.

* ''Literature/FunnyBusiness'' is entirely about the guilt the main character feels as a result of misusing her RealityWarper powers.

* In the ''Series/GameOfThrones'' episode "Hardhome", Jon Snow, the rest of the Night Watch, and surviving Wildlings can only watch as the army of the dead grows by the almost 100,000 Wildlings they went to save.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Best of Both Worlds", Federation Captain Jean-Luc Picard is forcibly assimilated into the Borg Collective. The trauma this caused him is explored over the course of several later episodes, the movie ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'', and the later series ''Series/StarTrekPicard''.

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

* ''Videogame/HonkaiImpact3rd:'' The protagonist Kiana has several cases of this, from her GuiltComplex over having her closest people get hurt while trying to help her and her not being able to do anything about it, to realizing that [[IAmAMonster she's a "monster" or a "time bomb"]] [[spoiler:due to her SuperpoweredEvilSide, in which she was controlled to hurt her closest ones]]. It's "horror" enough for her that she keeps getting nightmares about it. Her whole struggle is about how she could become a "hero that saves the world" [[HurtingHero despite suffering from all of the above]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'': Imagine that one day, you decide to join a group of bank robbers, and to ensure that nobody can figure out that you're no longer a law-abiding citizen you come up with a criminal alias. That alias quickly snowballs out of control to the point that years later, long after you've quit the outlaw lifestyle [[ReformedCriminal and now trying your hardest to uphold the law]], practically everyone still called you by said alias, which you now regard as a shameful reminder of your mistakes that you wish to part with. This is what [[SpaceCowboy Cole Cassidy]] had to deal with, and in the ''New Blood'' tie-in comic [[FriendlySniper Ana Amari]] comments that she could tell that he felt trapped by the life that he was living beforehand.

* ''Videogame/SilentHill2'' is the poster-boy of this trope, featuring the guilt-ridden protagonist being invited by mail from his supposed-to-be-dead wife to the namesake town. [[spoiler: Many of the horrifying apparitions in the namesake town takes from the protagonist's own fear and guilt, up to and including the revelation that he killed his own wife in the past.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' does this to several of the heroes in the episode "Only A Dream". Superman's nightmare has him dealing with PowerIncontinence. His heat vision kills ComicBook/LoisLane and he accidentally breaks [[Characters/SupermanJimmyOlsen Jimmy Olsen's]] back when attempting to give him a hug. Meanwhile, Green Lantern is dreaming about losing his identity to the ring to the point where he becomes transparent, and the Flash dreams of being unable to turn off his SuperSpeed and being trapped in a world where everything else is standing still.
* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueDoom'' the plan against Green Lantern relies on this trope.

** [[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseTheMovie The movie]] gives us [[spoiler:Spinel's HeelRealization. She was literally made to be Pink Diamond's friend. She enjoyed being Steven's friend. And then she reactivated the injector that would kill all organic life on Earth when she thought he was going to use the [[IdentityAmnesia rejuvenator]] on her.]]
** Spoilers for the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'': [[spoiler: This ''entire followup series'' is this for Steven. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Turns out that]] [[SoWhatDoWeDoNow saving the universe has left him]] [[DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife without any life-changing goals to pursue]] and instead created a vacuum for all the pent-up [[ShellShockedVeteran trauma]] and [[SinsOfTheFather anger at his mother's irresponsibility]] to surface. This isn't helped by [[PleaseDontLeaveMe all his friends and family members moving on with their lives]], or sudden bouts of serious PowerIncontinence ([[IneffectualLoner both of which he conceals from his family, despite their repeated attempts to offer help and support]]). This eventually culminates in Steven ''[[AccidentalMurder accidentally shattering one gem]]'', then ''[[MomentOfWeakness nearly shattering another]]''. By the penultimate episode, his inability to live up to his ([[DramaticIrony mistaken]]) belief that his friends expect him to be always and only an AllLovingHero causes him to cross the DespairEventHorizon, [[SuperpowerMeltdown triggering]] [[PainfulTransformation his corruption]] into a Pink {{Kaiju}}.]]

* In Real Life this is called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_injury moral injury]]. Although research has been focused on the military it can happen to anyone. As it's not commonly talked about or only talked about very narrowly it can lead to people feeling AloneInACrowd. [[SincerityMode The index above is incomplete, so if you recognize the description from some situation you never should've been put in but don't see the trope for it, don't downplay what happened. Reach out to someone.]]

Related to PsychologicalHorror. Very much TruthInTelevision, but please remember the Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment if adding examples. ''Not'' related to IKnowWhatYouFear or AuthorPhobia.

* ''Anime/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.

* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'': happens to the Spiral King in the prologue/parallel works.
* ''Anime/{{Inuyasha}}'' goes through this after his evil side takes over.

This trope is when a painful betrayal of one's self image, self-loathing, internal conflict, personal failing/flaw or guilt is PlayedForDrama. It can be [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone because of what someone did]], [[AccompliceByInaction didn't do]], [[IShouldHaveBeenBetter tried and failed to do]], or they were just unlucky and got caught up in a bad situation. The key part of this trope is that something goes against the character's [[CodeOfHonor personal moral code]], leading to the alienation of self.

** Spoilers for the WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture: [[spoiler: This ''entire followup series'' is this for Steven. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Turns out that]] [[SoWhatDoWeDoNow saving the universe has left him]] [[DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife without any life-changing goals to pursue]] and instead created a vacuum for all the pent-up [[ShellShockedVeteran trauma]] and [[SinsOfTheFather anger at his mother's irresponsibility]] to surface. This isn't helped by [[PleaseDontLeaveMe all his friends and family members moving on with their lives]], or sudden bouts of serious PowerIncontinence ([[IneffectualLoner both of which he conceals from his family, despite their repeated attempts to offer help and support]]). This eventually culminates in Steven ''[[AccidentalMurder accidentally shattering one gem]]'', then ''[[MomentOfWeakness nearly shattering another]]''. By the penultimate episode, his inability to live up to his ([[DramaticIrony mistaken]]) belief that his friends expect him to be always and only an AllLovingHero causes him to cross the DespairEventHorizon, [[SuperpowerMeltdown triggering]] [[PainfulTransformation his corruption]] into a Pink {{Kaiju}}.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' Quasimodo inadvertently [[spoiler:leads Frollo to The Court of Miracles when he goes there to warn everyone that Frollo is coming.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' does this to several of the heroes in the episode "Only A Dream". Superman's nightmare has him dealing with PowerIncontinence. His heat vision kills ComicBook/LoisLane and he accidentally breaks ComicBook/JimmyOlsen's back when attempting to give him a hug. Meanwhile, Green Lantern is dreaming about losing his identity to the ring to the point where he becomes transparent, and the Flash dreams of being unable to turn off his SuperSpeed and being trapped in a world where everything else is standing still.

* In Real Life this is called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_injury moral injury]]. Although research has been focused on the military [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped it can happen to anyone]]. As it's not commonly talked about or only talked about very narrowly it can lead to people feeling AloneInACrowd. [[SincerityMode The index above is incomplete, so if you recognize the description from some situation you never should've been put in but don't see the trope for it, don't downplay what happened. Reach out to someone.]]

* AndIMustScream: Being alive and aware for very, very long, but you can't do anything.

** Spoilers for the WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture: [[spoiler: This ''entire followup series'' is this for Steven. [[RealityEnsues Turns out that]] [[SoWhatDoWeDoNow saving the universe has left him]] [[DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife without any life-changing goals to pursue]] and instead created a vacuum for all the pent-up [[ShellShockedVeteran trauma]] and [[SinsOfTheFather anger at his mother's irresponsibility]] to surface. This isn't helped by [[PleaseDontLeaveMe all his friends and family members moving on with their lives]], or sudden bouts of serious PowerIncontinence ([[IneffectualLoner both of which he conceals from his family, despite their repeated attempts to offer help and support]]). This eventually culminates in Steven ''[[AccidentalMurder accidentally shattering one gem]]'', then ''[[MomentOfWeakness nearly shattering another]]''. By the penultimate episode, his inability to live up to his ([[DramaticIrony mistaken]]) belief that his friends expect him to be always and only an AllLovingHero causes him to cross the DespairEventHorizon, [[SuperpowerMeltdown triggering]] [[PainfulTransformation his corruption]] into a Pink {{Kaiju}}.]]

** Spoilers for the WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture: [[spoiler: This ''entire followup series'' is this for Steven. [[RealityEnsues Turns out that]] [[SoWhatDoWeDoNow saving the universe has left him]] [[DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife without any life-changing goals to pursue]] and instead created a vacuum for all the pent-up [[ShellShockedVeteran trauma]] and [[SinsOfTheFather anger at his mother's irresponsibility]] to surface. This isn't helped by [[PleaseDontLeaveMe all his friends and family members moving on with their lives]], or sudden bouts of serious PowerIncontenince ([[IneffectualLoner both of which he conceals from his family, despite their repeated attempts to offer help and support]]). This eventually culminates in Steven ''[[AccidentalMurder accidentally shattering one gem]]'', then ''[[MomentOfWeakness nearly shattering another]]''. By the penultimate episode, his inability to live up to his ([[DramaticIrony mistaken]]) belief that his friends expect him to be always and only an AllLovingHero causes him to cross the DespairEventHorizon, [[SuperpowerMeltdown triggering]] [[PainfulTransformation his corruption]] into a Pink {{Kaiju}}.]]

** Spoilers for the WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture: [[spoiler: This ''entire followup series'' is this for Steven. [[RealityEnsues Turns out that]] [[WhatDoWeDoNow saving the universe has left him]] [[DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife without any life-changing goals to pursue]] and instead created a vacuum for all the pent-up [[ShellShockedVeteran trauma]] and [[SinsOfTheFather anger at his mother's irresponsibility]] to surface. This isn't helped by [[PleaseDontLeaveMe all his friends and family members moving on with their lives]], or sudden bouts of serious PowerIncontenince ([[IneffectualLoner both of which he conceals from his family, despite their repeated attempts to offer help and support]]). This eventually culminates in Steven ''[[AccidentalMurder accidentally shattering one gem]]'', then ''[[MomentOfWeakness nearly shattering another]]''. By the penultimate episode, his inability to live up to his ([[DramaticIrony mistaken]]) belief that his friends expect him to be always and only an AllLovingHero causes him to cross the DespairEventHorizon, [[SuperpowerMeltdown triggering]] [[PainfulTransformation his corruption]] into a Pink {{Kaiju}}.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' does this to several of the heroes in the episode "Only A Dream". Superman's nightmare has him dealing with PowerIncontinence. His heat vision kills Lois Lane and he accidentally breaks Jimmy Olsen's back when attempting to give him a hug. Meanwhile, Green Lantern is dreaming about losing his identity to the ring to the point where he becomes transparent, and the Flash dreams of being unable to turn off his SuperSpeed and being trapped in a world where everything else is standing still.

* LossOfInhibitions: You lose your restraint and you feel horrified or regretful of what you've just done.