History Main / TheMobBossIsScarier

* An episode of ''Series/{{Castle}}'' has the former prison mate of a suspected serial killer wary of cooperating for fear of reprisals that the man can secure through his prison connections (which seem justified when he gets beaten in the yard). [[spoiler:It turns out that the prisoner is the serial killer, and [[BatmanGambit manipulated the suspect and the police]] in order to get himself out of prison.]]

* ''Film/AlphaDog'': Frankie is very reluctant to carry out Johnny's order to [[spoiler:murder Zack]], but Elvis convinces him they have no choice, saying that if they disobey him, they are risking retaliation from Sonny Truelove, Johnny's father and supplier. Ironically, Sonny is completely against the idea and tries to intervene, not least because Johnny and his gang are already on the police's radar as prime suspects.

* This is a recurring problem for the cops on ''Series/TheWire'' and with good reason, as many characters who decide to become witnesses end up dead. This is particularly evident in season 1, where in order to convict Barksdale enforcer Bird who is on trial for killing a witness who testified against another Barksdale member. They have to have [[JustLikeRobinHood Omar]], a criminal with a grudge against the Barksdale group, give an obviously false testimony because all the actual eyewitnesses are unwilling to testify and risk being killed for it.

* [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]] in ''Series/Daredevil2015''. Daredevil does manage to force a low-level crook to tell him who he's working for -- but the crook is so terrified of what his boss is going to do to him now that he's ratted him out that he immediately commits suicide.

* Creator/ProZD ''loves'' this trope and features it in many of his skits, especially "Mob Boss Doesn't Know how to Play Poker but His Goons are Too Scared to Tell Him" and "Mob Boss Whose Accent is Too Thick to Understand". Occasionally he subverts it, such as with "Mob Boss with a Non-Scary Voice".

* In ''[[Literature/TheHateUGive]]'', ordinary people are hesitant to "snitch" about anything that the King Lords do. Finally, people are willing to speak up to the police after the leader of the King Lords [[spoiler: tries to burn down Mav's store with his kids inside it.]]

* ''Where the Shadows Have Gone'' from ''Literature/HardaHorda'' antology plays it for laughs. Noah is a necromancer, who [[OnlyInItForTheMoney takes a job]] to deal with a particularly weird and dangerous occurences in a [[HauntedHouse haunted manor house]]. Not only he never seen anything like the ghost dance ball going perpetually in the manor, but he also knows that the previous necromancer sent to deal with it ''bailed on the job'' and returned the money, not wanting to touch it. Still, Noah has a debt to a LoanShark with a reputation far exceding an unknown, wholly new supernatural phenomenon.

* One of the theories about the Monster of Florence is that the man who was incarcerated for his first murders, Stephano Mele, knew his identity but was too afraid to say it.

* Taken to the extreme in ''Film/MarkedForDeath''. One {{mook|s}} is so sure that his boss can't be taken down and so scared of him that he ''jumps out a window'' when cornered by John Hatcher rather than act as TheStoolPigeon. It's brought up even earlier in the movie, when the BigBad asks his mooks "Who do you fear more, him or me?" Their wordless reaction makes the answer perfectly clear.

* Justified in ''VideoGame/TheDarknessII'' and doubles as an example of AsskickingEqualsAuthority. Jackie Estacado is not only the don of the most powerful mob in New York City, he's the host to a demonic EldritchAbomination, whose main powers include [[LovecraftianSuperpower sprouting fanged tentacles and tearing people to shreds with them.]]

** ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'' demonstrates exactly ''what'' would have happened if he did talk, by the way; [[spoiler:Dio's implanted cells turn the Nijimura Brothers' father into [[AndIMustScream an unkillable blob monster]] with almost no memories of his former life. ''Almost'', being the keyword here]].