History NightmareFuel / Batman

* Scarecrow, anyone?

* One particularly creepy, but rather unknown, adversary of Batman is Jane Doe. She is, as quoted by one of her personas, "a cipher, she's incomplete, her life is empty, so she covets the lives of others. She takes their lives so she can have their lives." In short, she learns people's traits, kills them, then wears their skin and acts like them. If that, and [[NausaFuel what's really under her skin]] doesn't unnerve, it's also worth noting she's primarily responsible for [[spoiler:turn Warren White into The Great White Shark, who would go onto be one of Gotham's most feared mob bosses.]]

*** How he is holding a bucket of his poop and telling Batman how he will fertilize the earth, and the guard is saying "More, please, do it again..." Then he throws some at Batman.

* Maxie Zeus' [[PsychoElectro portrayal]]. Maybe it was the indecipherable graffiti outside his cell, or the electroshock machine which stuck dozens of searing-hot electrical wires into his body (including a few which were probably "down there"), or his disturbing-as-hell messianic complex, or [[BodyHorror what said electroshock machine was clearly doing to his body and mind]]. The cherry on top of the horror sundae is that Maxie Zeus [[PaintingTheMedium has blue speech bubbles]]. Not too disturbing, [[FridgeLogic until you remember]] in ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' who else had blue speech bubbles.

* Batman #497, [[WhamEpisode also known as the 11th issue in the infamous KnightFall story arc]], but better known by it's title of of ''[[GameBreakingInjury The Broken Bat.]]'' Imagine being a little kid, or a long time Batman fan(which many of us likely were at that time) wondering how things would go with Bruce's confrontation with Bane, Batman gives a big speech, slaps on his mask... [[CurbStompBattle and then spends the whole issue getting his ass kicked.]] Really, after the first few pages where Bane lays out his motives, it's a one sided confrontation from start to finish. Imagine the horror that must have went through the minds of many readers as they watched their hero get totally massacred, his every attempt to fight back failing pitifully. the battle was over before it even began, and both Bane and Batman knew it. And then final terrifying moment [[http://jaymckinnon.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/bane-breaks-batmans-back-rises.jpg where Bane puts Batman out of his misery, and breaks him.]]

* An alternate version of Two-Face's backstory is presented in Batman: ''Jekyll and Hyde''. Basically, Two Face was, as a child, accidentally responsible for the death of his older brother Murray, though his true innocence is up for debate. The implication is that said dead brother's spirit is inhabiting Harvey's body, reponsible for the evil side of his personality.

* Batman himself is this in ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder. Unlike his dark but heroic counterparts in most media adaptations and comic books, this Batman is psychotic, violent, unstable, bloodthirsty sadist who KIDNAPS Dick Grayson and forces him to become Robin against his own will, verbally and physically abuses him, in order to prevent him from grieving over his parents' deaths, even slapping the boy in the face and gloats that he is going to put Dick through hell with sadistic smile on his face, which is NightmareFuel in itself. He also leaves Dick to fend for himself in the Batcave, by eating rats and then when he finds out Alfred fed him a proper meal, he threatens him. And keep in mind that Alfred is closest thing Bruce currently has to a father. He also takes really creepy and borderline pedophilic interest in Dick, watching him ''before'' he became Robin. And as pointed out in [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara's]] review of the comic, Batman sounded like he was going to kidnap Dick Grayson even if his parents were alive and possibly would have killed the boy's parents himself if the assassin didn't do it first. And that's not all. He murders criminals in various cruel and shocking ways, like he throwing a Molotov cocktail that engulfs several of criminals with flames and also attacking corrupt police officers with sadistic joy. And if Linkara's observations are anything to go by, it is implied that Batman was involved in an incestuous relationship with or sexually abused by either of his parents, giving him a FreudianExcuse.

* Batman himself is this in AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder. Unlike his dark but heroic counterparts in most media adaptations and comic books, this Batman is psychotic, violent, unstable, bloodthirsty sadist who KIDNAPS Dick Grayson and forces him to become Robin against his own will, verbally and physically abuses him, in order to prevent him from grieving over his parents' deaths, even slapping the boy in the face and gloats that he is going to put Dick through hell with sadistic smile on his face, which is NightmareFuel in itself. He also leaves Dick to fend for himself in the Batcave, by eating rats and then when he finds out Alfred fed him a proper meal, he threatens him. And keep in mind that Alfred is closest thing Bruce currently has to a father. He also takes really creepy and borderline pedophilic interest in Dick, watching him ''before'' he became Robin. And as pointed out in [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara's]] review of the comic, Batman sounded like he was going to kidnap Dick Grayson even if his parents were alive and possibly would have killed the boy's parents himself if the assassin didn't do it first. And that's not all. He murders criminals in various cruel and shocking ways, like he throwing a Molotov cocktail that engulfs several of criminals with flames and also attacking corrupt police officers with sadistic joy. And if Linkara's observations are anything to go by, it is implied that Batman was involved in an incestuous relationship with or sexually abused by either of his parents, giving him a FreudianExcuse.

* Batman himself is this in AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder. Unlike his dark but heroic counterparts in most media adaptations and comic books, this Batman is psychotic, violent, unstable, bloodthirsty sadist who KIDNAPS Dick Grayson and forces him to become Robin against his own will, verbally and physically abuses him, in order to prevent him from grieving over his parents' deaths, even slapping the boy in the face and gloats that he is going to put Dick through hell with sadistic smile on his face, which is NightmareFuel in itself. He also leaves Dick to fend for himself in the Batcave, by eating rats and then when he finds out Alfred fed him a proper meal, he threatens him. And keep in mind that Alfred is closest thing Bruce currently has to a father. He also takes really creepy and borderline pedophilic interest in Dick, watching him ''before'' he became Robin. And as pointed out in [[AtopTheFourthWall Linkara's]] review of the comic, Batman sounded like he was going to kidnap Dick Grayson even if his parents were alive and possibly would have killed the boy's parents himself if the assassin didn't do it first. And that's not all. He murders criminals in various cruel and shocking ways, like he throwing a Molotov cocktail that engulfs several of criminals with flames and also attacking corrupt police officers with sadistic joy. And if [[AtopTheFourthWall Linkara's]] observations are anything to go by, it is implied that Batman was involved in an incestuous relationship with or sexually abused by either of his parents, giving him a FreudianExcuse.

** The Joker in general. In his very first appearance, he utilizes his horrible Joker Venom. Canonically-speaking, even when you read a goofy Silver Age story where he's pulling some harmless heist, you're still looking at a MonsterClown with spree-killings under his belt.

*** In the end, arguably the scariest thing about ''Death of the Family'', [[spoiler:is that the Joker doesn't actually kill anyone. He does bring it about in a metaphorical sense however by turning everyone's trust away from Batman and breaking up the Bat-Family, with all of the horrors and {{Breaking Speech}}es he inflicted on them.]] It further shows why he is the most personal and horrifying enemy of Batman as he has left him even more alone than he already was.

-->And it did nothing at all... until I ''smiled''...

* Professor Pyg is what would happen if DavidLynch created a Batman villain. He's a middle aged man with a pig mask and butcher clothing and he's ''terrifying.'' In his first appearance, he has a bunch of Dollotrons (human zombie dolls) hold a criminal accomplice down so Pyg can make him one as well and tells said accomplice that he'll then help Pyg do the same to the man's niece. Then, in the third appearance, he gives a tied Robin (Damian Wayne) a very odd and disturbing MotiveRant that seeps quickly into a VillainousBreakdown, all while dancing with power tools to "sexy hot" disco music. Robin simply responds as he breaks free, "You have just redefined 'wrong'."

* ''TheKillingJoke'', particularly the iconic image of the Joker going insane for the first time; see the image for the work's page to learn why.
** In the special collectors' edition hard cover, there is a second story about a man who's talking to a camera about how he plans to kill Batman. The mood of it is just chilling he talks about Batman, he talks about how he's a normal ordinary guy as casually as how he intends to just walk up behind Batman after he's stopped a bad guy and just out and out shoot Batman. Any actual worries can be dispelled completely since it's a one-shot (hah!) story, but still it never shows him getting stopped or anything it just ends with him going out to act out his plan.
** Speaking of the Joker, Brian Azzarello's {{Joker}} is full of nightmare inducing sequences including skinning a man alive, rape, torture, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the Joker crying on a hooker-like Harley Quinn]], and much, much more. The comic's narrator becomes so horrified by the Joker's world view that he ends up committing suicide to escape.
** Post-Crisis Joker in general is not fun for anyone with a fear of clowns.

** Don't forget the way Robin's mother reacted: turning away with an uncomfortable mixture of disgust and denial, and lighting up a cigarette. Post-Crisis Jason was never a nice kid, but this is the kind of thing that screws anyone up.
* Scarecrow, anyone?
** Speaking of Scarecrow, his great-grandmother was one scary old lady. If you were wondering why her great-grandson turned out the way he did, some very creative child abuse was involved.
* For more Batman-related nightmares, check out ''ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth''. The way that the book is drawn so loose, shadowy, and surreal
** Clayface gets some horrifically creepy moments.
---> "Batman... [[BodyHorror My skin is sick...]]"
** And the postscript from an incredibly minor character, read in context of the whole book, is incredibly frightening: [[spoiler:Dr. Milo's gotten through his insanity, but nobody believes him.]]
** I found Maxie Zeus' [[PsychoElectro portrayal]] in that book to be the scariest. Maybe it was the indecipherable graffiti outside his cell, or the electroshock machine which stuck dozens of searing-hot electrical wires into his body (including a few which I'm fairly certain attached "down there"), or his disturbing-as-hell messianic complex, or [[BodyHorror what said electroshock machine was clearly doing to his body and mind]]. The cherry on top of the horror sundae is that Maxie Zeus [[PaintingTheMedium has blue speech bubbles.]] Not too disturbing, [[FridgeLogic until you remember]] in ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' who else had blue speech bubbles.

** The way that Mad Hatter is hinted at being a pedophile.
** One of the most morbid portrayals of Two-Face is this comic. I mean, the man is portrayed as rather pitiable in it, but it's somewhat horrific to see him having to rely upon cards instead of his coin to the point of having to use them whether to decide to go to the bathroom or not. It's sad, yes, but also extremely scary.
** The twisted flashbacks of asylum founder Amadeus Arkham; who had to slit his own insane and sick mothers throat; and eventually goes insane himself.
** As often is, the Joker. The way that he has high heels, long fingernails, [[FoeYay and he slaps Batman's ass.]] The way that he is drawn, pale skin contrasting with the dark tones, surreal art that frequents between detail and everything being blurred makes it among the most terrifying ways the Joker is drawn ever. [[http://1uponu.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/rev_batman_joker_arkham_asylum.jpg Don't believe me? Take a look yourself.]] Above all the creepiest thing about him though? What he says, does, and how he says it. He [[PaintingTheMedium doesn't have speech bubbles at all, he has demented blood red letters splattered all over the page in all caps;]] it really gives you a feeling about how he talks and his manner. How he talks about stabbing eyes out, divine madness, men who are pranked into thinking that their wife gave a safe pregnancy and then the doctors and nurses yell "April Fool's, your wife is dead and the baby's a spastic!" while at the same time blowing a guards head off. This is one of the scariest portrayals of the character.

** The bit where Arkham comes home...the dollhouse...the scariest stuff I have ever seen.
-->And then I look at the doll's house.
-->And the doll's house
-->looks
-->at
-->'''me.'''
** "Oh Daddy, he's hurting me the dog's hurting me!" [[{{FridgeHorror}} Gets worse when you realize who is saying it]] [[{{RapeAsDrama}} and why.]]
* The Riddler. Yeah, go on, laugh. Nerdy guy who can't even throw a punch, right? Just leaves stupid clues and makes it easy for Batman to catch him, right? Go read "Dark Knight, Dark City" (''Batman'' #452-#454), which has, among other things, Riddler forcing Batman into slitting a baby's throat.

** People wanting to actually stay in the prison that was being run by Lockdown. Lockdown has always managed to terrify me ever since I saw the episode where the Scarecrow escaped Arkham just to get away from the guy. Now, if this guy being able to scare the Master of Fear isn't scary, what is?
** Oh, about Joker's plan to kidnap babies? It's because he wants to kill them all off on New Year's, just to destroy the fragile spirit of the people of Gotham City. And let's not get started on what he does to Commissioner Gordon's wife.

* In Scott Snyder's run on the 2011 reboot of Batman, we're introduced to an AncientConspiracy in Gotham. [[UpToEleven One who knows Gotham better than Batman.]] This, in of itself, isn't particularly terrifying. However, the more Batman investigates, the more he discovers just how powerful they are. And then they capture Batman himself, drug him and start to drive him completely insane in an enormous maze beneath Gotham. Seeing someone as cool and collected as Batman raving and terrified is shocking.
** And now Snyder's added the Joker to his run. And thus we're greeted with a [[http://assets1.ignimgs.com/2012/07/02/batmanpromojpg-9d705f_800w.jpg terrifying, pants-shitting-worthy image of Joker]] holding his cut off face, as it was cut off in the beginning of the New52 reboot of Detective Comics, teasing his return. And the storyline title? it's called "Death of the Family". [[NothingIsScarier That's right, somebody close to Batman will die again]].
** ''ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily'': TheJoker is back. He got his face skin back, and used a belt on it to wear it like a mask most grotesque. He got it from the police station, and turned off the lights and killed a load of cops. He seems to be re-enacting his biggest crimes from before, like poisoning the river and paralyzing Barbara Gordon. His motivation this time is to get rid of the Batfamily and Batman's network of allies. Why? Because he thinks that Batman has grown soft and weak thanks to them, and that Batman would be better off without them. Not only that, but it turns out that [[spoiler: he knows about the location of the Batcave, broke into Wayne Manor to take Alfred hostage and torture him, and he knows all the secrets of the Batfamily. When a guy like the Joker becomes TheChessmaster and knows your secrets, you're really in trouble]]!
* NeilGaiman's ''{{Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader}}?'': [[spoiler:Alfred]] dressing up slowly as the Joker is bizarrely terrifying.
-->And it did nothing at all... until I ''smiled''...
* I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned here, so I'll put this out there: Batman #497, [[WhamEpisode also known as the 11th issue in the infamous KnightFall story arc]], but better known by it's title of of ''[[GameBreakingInjury The Broken Bat.]]'' Imagine being a little kid, or a long time Batman fan(which many of us likely were at that time) wondering how things would go with Bruce's confrontation with Bane, Batman gives a big speech, slaps on his mask... [[CurbStompBattle and then spends the whole issue getting his ass kicked.]] Really, after the first few pages where Bane lays out his motives, it's a one sided confrontation from start to finish. Imagine the horror that must have went through the minds of many readers as they watched their hero get totally massacred, his every attempt to fight back failing pitifully. the battle was over before it even began, and both Bane and Batman knew it. And then final terrifying moment [[http://jaymckinnon.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/bane-breaks-batmans-back-rises.jpg Where Bane puts Batman out of his misery, and breaks him.]] If that's not a little nightmarish, then I don't know what is.

* For more Batman-related nightmares, check out ''{{Arkham Asylum A Serious House On Serious Earth}}''. The way that the book is drawn so loose, shadowy, and surreal

--> "Batman... [[BodyHorror My skin is sick...]]"
** And the postscript from an incredibly minor character, read in context of the whole book, is incredibly frightening: [[spoiler: Dr. Milo's gotten through his insanity, but nobody believes him.]]
** I found Maxie Zeus' [[PsychoElectro portrayal]] in that book to be the scariest. Maybe it was the indecipherable graffiti outside his cell, or the electroshock machine which stuck dozens of searing-hot electrical wires into his body (including a few which I'm fairly certain attached "down there"), or his disturbing-as-hell messianic complex, or [[BodyHorror what said electroshock machine was clearly doing to his body and mind]]. The cherry on top of the Nightmare Fuel sundae is that Maxie Zeus [[PaintingTheMedium has blue speech bubbles.]] Not too disturbing, [[FridgeLogic until you remember]] in ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' who else had blue speech bubbles.

** The way that Mad Hatter is hinted at being a pedophile

--> '''Joker:''' We have SO many friends here, sweetheart. Say hello to Pearl.
--> '''Pearl:''' Oh Buh-bat-bat Bat Ohhh...
--> '''Joker:''' Such a crybaby, isn't she? ''["skrit skirtch" noises are heard over the phone]''
--> '''Gordon:''' What that noise? Can you hear it? Scratching. What's he doing?
--> '''Joker:''' Pearl is nineteen years old ''[scratching noises continue]'' She just started to work here in the kitchens here to earn some extra money. Pearl wants to be an artist, don't you, Pearl, darling?
--> '''Pearl:''' Uh-huh... ohhhh... ''[scratching noises continue]''
--> '''Joker:''' She just drew me a beautiful house. She drew it with this pencil ''[big scratch noise]'' The one I've just sharpened. Open you eyes WIDE, Pearl! Beautiful... blue... oh...
--> '''Batman:''' '''JESUS, NO!'''
--> '''Joker:''' You have half an hour. And bring a white stick.

* As [[WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief unbelievable]] as people find it, the ''No Man's Land'' storyline had quite a bit. First, the very premise: Gotham freaking City, mostly destroyed, then cut off from the rest of America, all laws, and all support, while the wackos run free. Add multiple references to cannibalism, constant moral ambiguity, and the Joker doing classically barbaric Joker-things like kidnapping babies and inciting insane cops to shoot their own, and you have NightmareFuel that's near impossible to laugh off.

-->And it did nothing at all... until I ''smiled''...

* Right after ''TheKillingJoke'' was published, we had ''A Death In The Family'', where the Joker showed everybody that TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks was over the hard way by brutally beating the second Robin, Jason Todd, with a crowbar in front of his mother. As if that weren't enough, he then leaves them both in a warehouse that blows up just as the battered Jason manages to untie his mother, killing them both. The fact that it was drawn with the bright colors of the Golden/Silver ages, but added just enough shading to look realistic, only made it worse; you've never seen blood this scarlet. And he does it all with that smile on his face.

** The twisted flashbacks of asylum founder Amadeus Arkham; who had to slit his own insane and sick mothers throat; and eventually goes insane himself. ** As often is, the Joker. The way that he has high heels, long fingernails, [[FoeYay and he slaps Batman's ass.]] The way that he is drawn, pale skin contrasting with the dark tones, surreal art that frequents between detail and everything being blurred makes it among the most terrifying ways the Joker is drawn ever. [[http://1uponu.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/rev_batman_joker_arkham_asylum.jpg Don't believe me? Take a look yourself.]] Above all the creepiest thing about him though? What he says, does, and how he says it. He [[PaintingTheMedium doesn't have speech bubbles at all, he has demented blood red letters splattered all over the page in all caps;]] it really gives you a feeling about how he talks and his manner. How he talks about stabbing eyes out, divine madness, men who are pranked into thinking that their wife gave a safe pregnancy and then the doctors and nurses yell "April Fool's, your wife is dead and the baby's a spastic!" while at the same time blowing a guards head off. This is one of the scariest portrayals of the character.

** What is it about the Joker [[TheDarkKnight using pencils]] [[EyeScream on eyeballs]]?

** I found Maxie Zeus' [[PsychoElectro portrayal]] in that book to be the scariest. Maybe it was the indecipherable graffiti outside his cell, or the electroshock machine which stuck dozens of searing-hot electrical wires into his body (including a few which I'm fairly certain attached "down there"), or his disturbing-as-hell messianic complex, or [[BodyHorror what said electroshock machine was clearly doing to his body and mind]]. The cherry on top of the Nightmare Fuel sundae is that Maxie Zeus [[PaintingTheMedium has blue speech bubbles.]] Not too disturbing, [[FridgeLogic until you remember]] in {{Watchmen}} who else had blue speech bubbles.

** And now Snyder's added the Joker to his run. And thus we're greeted with a [[http://assets1.ignimgs.com/2012/07/02/batmanpromojpg-9d705f_800w.jpg terrifying, pants-shitting-worthy image of Joker]] holding his cut off face, as it was cut off in the beginning of the New52 reboot of Detective Comics, teasing his return.
* And the storyline title? it's called death of the family [[NothingIsScarier that's right somebody close to batman will die again]]

* And the storyline title? it's called death of the family [[NothingIsScarier that's right somebody close to batman will die again]]

** And now Snyder's added the Joker to his run. And thus we're greeted with a [[http://assets1.ignimgs.com/2012/07/02/batmanpromojpg-9d705f_800w.jpg terrifying, pants-shitting-worthy image of Joker]] holding his cut off face, as it was cut off in the beginning of the New52 reboot of Detective Comics, teasing his return.

** Speaking of the Joker, Brian Azzarello's {{Joker}} is full of nightmare inducing sequences including skinning a man alive, rape, torture, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the Joker crying on a hooker-like Harley Quinn]], and much, much more. [[spoiler:The comic's narrator becomes so horrified by the Joker's world view that he ends up committing suicide to escape]].