History NightmareFuel / PaperMario

*** His most infamous incidents, transporting the cast to the Underwhere, are this for a reason. His casual attitude while shocking your ''whole party'', AND Mr. L by throwing explosions all over his transportation would make a casual player think he's straight up slaughtered them. Luckily this isn't the case, but it made a damn good fakeout.

* [[BigSisterBully Beldam's]] abuse of Vivian is disturbingly realistic. It's not just childish insults. Some things Beldam calls her are just straight up nasty. That's not even getting into the fact Beldam straight up ''[[{{Gaslighting}} gaslights]]'' her twice! While the ending of the game does show them making up, to some, that only makes things worse because it's eerily similar to tricks abusers pull in order to lure their victim back into their grip...

* Mario's body when [[GrandTheftMe Doopliss takes it over]] becomes [[UncannyValley pretty unnerving]] with its facial expressions and posture not seen from Mario otherwise. His eyes become [[OpenTheIris wider]] and [[BlackEyesOfEvil hollow]], and do not blink; his body more [[LimpAndLivid hunched over]], and his voice becomes [[VoiceOfTheLegion metallic]]. When fighting against Doopliss alongside the Shadow Sirens at the Palace of Shadow, he uses this ghastly form of Mario when copying his form.

* [[BigSisterBully Beldam's]] abuse of Vivian is disturbingly realistic. It's not just childish insults. Some of what Beldam calls her are just straight up nasty, along with flat out misgendering her in [[ShesAManInJapan certain versions of the game.]] That's not even getting into the fact Beldam straight up ''[[{{Gaslighting}} gaslights]]'' her twice! While the ending of the game does show them making up, to some, that only makes things worse because it's eerily similar to tricks abusers pull in order to lure their victim back into their grip...

* The Paper Macho Chain Chomp. It can shred Piranha Plants into nothing but confetti in mere seconds, and chases the party at multiple points. Get caught by it, and you'll be treated to a scene where the monster pounces on a terrified Mario before the screen fades to black, [[NonStandardGameOver followed by audible crunching noises]], and there's no way to fight back. Speaking of, there's a really good reason there's a save block just before the third split in the path to the Spring of Jungle Mist. Pick the wrong path, and the Paper Macho Chain Chomp will leap at your party from the trees. The screen then fades to black as a high-pitched scream is heard, followed by the crunching of the monster's jaw. [[NonStandardGameOver Cue Game Over screen.]]

** Can we say Dimentio ''in general''? He is probably the evilest character in the entire ''Mario'' franchise. Hell, he's arguably one of the most vile and dark characters in any Nintendo game. He tricks you into killing a peaceful dragon, betrays Count Bleck, turns Luigi into Mr. L, and tries to destroy all of reality, all because of a vague prophecy. His evil plan and status as a jester almost make him into a kid-friendly [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]] (likely his inspiration).

** Even Bowser, the main villain of the first game who, despite being one of Mario's allies at this time, hasn't truly reformed yet, says, if you're playing as him while entering the World of Nothing for the first time, [[EvenEvilHasStandards "This is messed up! I'm all for being evil, but this is just overkill!"]]

-->[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LKHa7s1pD8&t=23s "Save us, please!"]]

* The music that plays while sneaking in the corridors of Peach's castle in the sequences between chapters [[https://youtu.be/OeqNg7EIn1M isn't too creepy]], but when you arrive there as Mario just before the game's finale, it's [[https://youtu.be/FI00VumQBVA downright sinister]]. Not helping matters is the dark lighting, the emptiness, and that it's an eerie, slowed-down remix of the final showdown with Bowser after he's fully powered by the star rod.

[[caption-width-right:350:''Oh, you wnat to make things ugly, huh? well, that's super. [[OneWingedAngel Let's get ugly.]]'']]

%%[[caption-width-right:350:''Oh, you wnat to make things ugly, huh? well, that's super. [[OneWingedAngel Let's get ugly.]]'']]

%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1600643301049867900
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.

The ''Paper Mario'' series is filled with many quirky characters and vibrant locations. That doesn't stop it from having [[NightmareFuel its moments.]]

* The music that plays while sneaking in the corridors of Peach's castle in the sequences between chapters [[https://youtu.be/OeqNg7EIn1M isn't too creepy,]] but when you arrive there as Mario just before the game's finale, it's [[https://youtu.be/FI00VumQBVA downright sinister.]] Not helping matters is the dark lighting, the emptiness, and that it's an eerie, slowed-down remix of the final showdown with Bowser after he's fully powered by the star rod.

** If you want some foreshadowing that something terrible happened to the passengers when you were asleep, try going to the train's shop and talk to the toad who works there. When you enter the shop, you notice the shop toad lying on the ground. When you try to talk to him, the bubble text just says ".........." His mouth doesn't even move like normal, which could lead to some first-time viewers thinking he [[KilledOffscreen actually]] [[KilledOffForReal died ]] during the night invasion. Fortunately, it's revealed in a later visit that he was just knocked out

* The bad ending, where Mario joins the Shadow Queen. It is implied that she brainwashes Mario and party to be her eternal servents, and then afterwards we get a [[NothingIsScarier narration text box]] [[ItsAWonderfulFailure describing how the Shadow Queen engulfed the world into eternal darkness.]] Made even worse is that in the Japanese version, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVGAp_FXlZs Mario's sprite changes into his "Doopliss impostor" sprite after the brainwash takes place.]]

* Pictured above, Mimi. Just '''MIMI!!''' Her transformation sequence into a giant spider is one of the scariest things in any mario game. She ''twists her head entirely around'', ''Film/TheExorcist''-style — complete with the sounds of [[{{Squick}} her spine cracking in multiple places]] — and grows extra legs with her head hanging upside down. If you flip while Mimi is in spider form, you can see the gears inside her, too. Even worse, in chapter 2-4, if you slouch for too long in an area while being chased by her spider form, ''she spawns at your location''. With the change of music, this can very well be a JumpScare. It's even an InUniverse Nightmare Fuel moment as most people around her when she's in her spider form get scared or feel intimidated.

--> [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LKHa7s1pD8&t=23s "Save us, please!"]]

* Olly folds Peach herself into a tapestry in the throne room of his new castle, effectively killing her as he talks about how better she is silent. Worse still, to the inhabitants of the Paper Mushroom Kingdom, this would be akin to making a chandelier out of [[GenuineHumanHide human flesh.]]

* There's a bit in Shroom City where you're searching for Luigi somewhere in town and come across a particularly shady Snifit running a carnival game. It starts out comedic as you have to guess what he's feeling from his completely expressionless masked face, topped off with overdramatic zooms and pauses. But once you ([[FailureIsTheOnlyOption inevitably]]) lose three times, he adds in the caveat that you've lost not only your coins, but ''your freedom''. The sudden dark turn in an otherwise goofy scene is jarring enough, but should you choose not to play again, which you just might if you're now convinced it's a waste of time, the result is Mario being sucked into a giant magic lamp with his brother, for all eternity. [[NonStandardGameOver Game Over.]]

** Can we say Dimentio ''in general''? He is probably the evilest character in the entire ''Mario'' franchise. He tricks you into killing a peaceful dragon, betrays Count Bleck, turns Luigi into Mr. L, and tries to destroy all of reality, all because of a vague prophecy. His evil plan and status as a jester almost make him into a kid-friendly [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]] (likely his inspiration).

* Oh, the Smorgs! The day when the Excess Express supposed to arrive Poshley Heights, Mario finds the train eerily quiet with no other passenger in sight. Mario has a talk with the Engineer at the front of the train when a smorg appears on the windshield with the Engineer and Mario not panicking before a swarm of Smorgs covers the whole windshield and the train. Mario is told to check on the other passengers only to find most of them were kidnapped by the Smorgs and he has to fight through the whole swarm of Smorgs and their combined form to save them.

* Functionally, how Twilight Town works isn't too weird in its own right. You must have a name and have it attached to you to both enter and exit... except what do you do when a supernatural opponents steals your very appearance and even manages to ''steal your name''? Now you're trapped in a world of perpetual twilight where said invincible villain can use everything you know and can even convince your allies to fight against you. Worse yet, the villain can apparently even steal entire ''letters'' right out of the alphabet, so even if you did know his name in order to be able to make him vulnerable, you'd be supernaturally unable to defeat him without realizing this detail and finding a way to speak the letter you need.
** To make it worse, think about it from Mario's perspective, this creep has just stolen his identity and the only way he can get it back is to guess his name...''which he doesn't know and has'' (seemingly) ''no way to find out''. If it hadn't been for Vivian, Mario could have been stuck there forever!

* Halfway during Hooktail's BossBattle, she tries to bribe the characters into sparing her and if you refuse to accept all three of her attempts of bribes, she begins to leave behind. At first, [[VillainExitStageLeft you think the battle is over and she's getting away]], but then She lunges for the audience and eats them alive! Complete with the eaten audience's dying screams while the others panicking and fleeing. It's also scary because [[JumpScare this just comes out of nowhere]].

* [[SealedEvilInACan The Shadow Queen]] is nothing less than pure evil. In the prologue, she destroys an entire city by sinking it into the ground with her omnipotent powers. She later goes on to create three dragons and use the Pit of 100 Trials as a torture chamber to those who would oppose her. If it weren't for the four heroes, she would have probably gone on to conquer the entire world. When she's finally defeated, she curses the four heroes by locking them into black chests for a millennia. You later have to go through her palace, which gets more and more disturbing the longer you go through it. Then Grodus releases her, unaware of just how horrible she is...
* [[BonusDungeon The Pit of 100 Trials.]] [[BackstoryHorror According to Grifty, the Shadow Queen created this dungeon and filled it with powerful monsters. She threw people she didn't like into the pit and left them to the mercy of the monsters down there. Sometime after her defeat, the pit was closed off from the public.]] However, it can be personally experienced at any time of the game. Though it starts off as easy, the pit will reveal its true nature at about floor 50 as the floors get darker, the air gets "super-dank" as Goombella puts it, and worst of all, the ''[[DemonicSpiders cryptically brutal enemies]]''. To top it all off, there are no save and heart blocks! Seriously, the DifficultySpike is truly terrifying, and ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' would return the concept ''twice''...

** [[BonusBoss Bonetail]], the eldest of the "tail" siblings and the strongest enemy in the game who's at the bottom of the pit. Unlike [[AmbiguousGender its]] siblings, it's an [[TheUndead undead]], [[DemBones skeletal]] dragon, having died of old age and starvation. [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals This only further demonstrates how nasty the Shadow Queen is...]] whether or not it's harder than her and how well you'll do in the fight depends on how many HP, FP, items, star power, etc. you have left.

** It's very rare, as only a few non-[[GameBreaker Danger Marios]] are willing to return to floor 100, either because they don't want to go through [[ThatOneSidequest that hell again]] or they don't expect anything new. The thing is, if you do, there is this very unsettling [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I91fzbU2ksA ambience]][[note]]Which is reused in ''SPM'' when the player refuses to search for Luvbi and Queen Jaydes [[NonStandardGameOver kills them]].[[/note]] proving that it's ''even worse'' with Bonetail absent. No one's there anymore. Bonetail's gone and it's completely empty, devoid of any life. Only you, your partner, this track, [[NothingIsScarier and that feeling]]. So there's indeed something new: one of the absolute creepiest scenes in the series...

* The bad ending, where Mario joins the Shadow Queen. It is implied that she brainwashes Mario and party to be her eternal servents, and then afterwards we get a [[NothingIsScarier narration text box]] [[ItsAWonderfulFailure describing how the Shadow Queen engulfed the world into eternal darkness.]] Made even worse is that in the Japanese version, [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EVGAp_FXlZs Mario's sprite changes into his "Doopliss impostor" sprite after the brainwash takes place.]]

** Even the Overthere Stair, which is pretty much the path from the underworld to heaven, has a disturbing surprise: you can see The Void in the background covering the blue sky - indicating that it was not just going to destroy every world of the living, but also ''erase the afterlife'', thus not just killing everyone, but ''completely [[CessationOfExistence erasing them from existence]]''.

** Can we say Dimentio ''in general''? He is probably the evilest character in the entire Mario franchise. He tricks you into killing a peaceful dragon, betrays Count Bleck, turns Luigi into Mr. L and tries to destroy all of reality, all because of a vague prophecy. His evil plan and status as a jester almost make him into a kid-friendly [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]] (likely his inspiration).

* The Paper Macho Chain Chomp. It can shred Piranha Plants into nothing but confetti in mere seconds, and chases the party at multiple points. Get caught by it, and you'll be treated to a scene where the monster pounces on a terrified Mario before the screen fades to black, [[NonStandardGameOver followed by audible crunching noises]], and there's no way to fight back. Speaking of, there's a really good reason there's a save block just before the third split in the path to the Spring of Jungle Mist. Pick the wrong path, and the Paper Macho Chain Chomp will leap at your party from the trees. The screen then fades to black as a high-pitched scream is heard, followed by the crunching of the monster's jaw. [[NonStandardGameOver Cue Game Over screen]].

* The 1,000 Fold Arms finisher for Stapler, if only for how... [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence unsettlingly brutal]] it is in comparison to everything else. Stapler is portrayed as an AngryGuardDog in the game, and in this finisher, Mario picks it up and snaps it in half with a loud metallic '''''CRUNCH'''''. And since Stapler has been snapping at you throughout the entire fight, ''[[{{Jawbreaker}} Mario just snapped this thing's jaw!]]'' If Stapler wasn't... well, a stapler, this kind of violence would never make it past the censors.

** Can we say Dimentio ''in general''? He is probably the evilest character in the entire Mario franchise. He tricks you into killing a peaceful dragon, betrays Count Bleck, and turn Luigi into Mr. L, all because of a vague prophecy. His evil plan and status as a jester almost make him into a kid-friendly [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]] (likely his inspiration).

[[caption-width-right:350: '''[[GiantSpider M̸͙͗̊͆͌̂̈́̌̑̐̓̉̿̚͝Ḭ̴̮̺̟̳̚M̴͕̞͇̭̍Į̸̧͈̝͕̗̠̭̲̜̞̠̘̪̎̓̓̏̍̌͒̃̿́͆̅͝M̴̨̡̹͕͔̫͕̹͉͓̒͝Ï̷̮̪̥̻̰͔͍̠̼̿̏̀̈́̈ͅṀ̸̪̰̳̺̯͕̘͚̀͝Ĩ̵̭̻͎̰͋̃̊̍͛̀̕͘M̵̡͓͉̱̍̄̑͗̾̎̚͘͝I̶̠͔̮̓̒ͅM̶͓̮̓̃̈̒͂͝Í̷̛̗͍̫̪̟̥̬̤̪̩̝̹̮͕̎̀̈́̍̾̌̃M̸͎̝̓Ḯ̴͈̝̝̤̖͉̤͖̄͗̒̑͘̕̕̚͜͝͝͠͠ͅḾ̶̢̹̩̱̖͙̫̮̜̒͆̌̕͘ͅI̴̲̋̈́M̸̡̡̹̜̗̥̣̻̙̺̬̼̼̖͐̀͌̆̊̐͗͗I̸̡̹̹̫̹͛͆͠M̷̟̹͔̣̗͛͐̍̌̃Ỉ̷̧̧̧̛̫͓̜̳̺̰̞̮̠͙̮̜̈̍́̔̑͑M̴̖̘̫̼̍̿̌͗̇̈́̑̈́́̈̾͝Ḯ̷͍̯͙̫̪̲͓̞̻̺̈́̂́̈̐̊̎͜͝M̸̧̛̱̹̝̈́̀̈́͆͆̍̕͝͝͠͝Í̶̧̗̩̟̝̟̣͓̤̏̈́̓̏̈́̊̇͒̋͂M̸̘̠͖̤͌̓̿Ī̴̢̛̳͉͈̗̭̫̣̭̝̦̬̍̑̊̏͂̑͆̃͜͜͝ͅM̸̼̾̑͒̆̇̒̏̃͌͒͆͛͐̋͝I̴̭̖̼͛̀͊M̴̧̢̡̩͓̘̱̜̜͚̖̦̤̞̂͐I̵̡̛̫͇͓̯͔͕̮͑̌͊͋̀̑́͘M̷͇͍̰̤͚̱̪̖͕̜͈͙̀̂́̿̌̔̈́͝Ì̶̧͕̪͇͓̪̮̳̤͍̪̰̳̆̏̔́̌̔̅̄͒̕̕͠M̶̢̢̛̰̻̹̙̗͓͚̱͕̰̲̻I̸͇̱̻̲̫͓̾͂M̷̛̞͈̩̰͇̱͉̄̾͊̇̂̿̿̌̇͘̚͝͝ͅI̶͉͉͉̦̮͚̒͋̽̓̍̚̚͜M̵̡̢̢̛̹̯͎̰̳̤͖͖͖͉̿̽̒̐̽̐͋̏̒͂̀͝I̶̥͇̹̘̫͈̲̔̃̒͋͌͂̿̐̄͝͝͝M̸̧̛͈̐̒̄̃̅Î̷̢̯̻̣͕̥̊̿̈́̿M̶͓̤͇͍̳̼͚̜̼̬̳̹̩̮̹̈́̃͗͘͠I̷͖͕͖̘̲̲̪̜̮̓̎͝M̴͔̝͑́̾̌̽̇̂̊́̏͌͘̚̚I̴̲͌͂̾͊͠͠M̴̢̡̻̦̦̻̩̺̻̓̒͊̓̔͋̄I̷̢̬̞͙̼̭̱͔̽̈́̈́̈̚͠]]]]'''

* Remember Captain Gills, that little fish you set free into the reservoir in Flipside? Checking on him between chapters reveals that he's been getting bigger, he now has [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily giant fangs]], and there are bones littering the bottom of the reservoir that only continue to accumulate as the game goes on. It's never explained what, or ''who'', those bones belonged to.

* The Underhands are disembodied hands that slowly pursue the player when they are in grabbing range. They are found either in deep water or in dark areas; in the latter, they are usually hidden away in out-of-the-way places, ready to sneak up on you.
* The River Twygz. Pretty tame if you stay near the surface; go any deeper and be prepared to encounter Underhands and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LKHa7s1pD8 creepy music]]. The "music" has a bunch of garbled voices in the background. Most of it's either backmasked or too distorted to understand, but there is one clear line:
--> [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LKHa7s1pD8&t=23s "Save us, please!"]]
* The FinalBoss, Super Dimentio, a monster that Dimentio created by merging with Mr. L and the Chaos Heart, a giant monster who has a fairly disturbing face that resembles Luigi's, and is initially unable to be harmed just like Count Bleck. When he's defeated, he ends up being decapitated and still surviving for a brief period of time before his head explodes.
** The theme music (of Super Dimentio) 'The Ultimate Show' begins close to Dimentio's own theme (AffablyEvil at its finest), before the music seemingly "cracks" to reveal the rest of the tune, a remix of the aforementioned Dimentio's theme, the Chaos Heart, and Mr. L.
** Can we say Dimentio ''in general''? He is probably the evilest character in the entire Mario franchise. He tricks you into killing a peaceful dragon, betrays Count Bleck, and turn Luigi into Mr. L, all because of a vague prophecy. His evil plan and status as a jester almost make him into a kid-friendly [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]] (likely his inspiration).

* The first time you go into the Sammer Kingdom, it's increasingly obvious that the huge void in the sky is growing and there's not enough time to save the place after recovering the Pure Heart. What's even worse is that the inhabitants are completely aware of their imminent demise and even allow Mario and company to bypass the Duel of 100 in a desperate attempt to get the Pure Heart into their hands in time. The party doesn't even come close to getting the Pure Heart before they're forced to evacuate. You go back after it's destroyed, and all that's left is an endless [[WhiteVoidRoom white void]] with occasional debris. NothingIsScarier at its finest. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IihQ5PlQRss The music]] makes it ''even worse.''

* When ascending Overthere Stair, which is pretty much the path from the underworld to heaven, you can see The Void in the background - indicating that The Void was not just going to destroy every world of the living, but also ''erase the afterlife'', thus not just killing everyone, but ''completely erasing them from existence''.
* Megabites, as well as their variations, are flying skull-like enemies that can randomly, and suddenly, appear in almost any level, with the earliest known sighting being 1-3, simply flying in from off-screen. While they aren't especially scary looking, there's a certain creepiness in their appearance, especially the basic Megabites, with their large, red eyes. Especially jarring is encountering them while 3D.

* Mimi. Just '''MIMI!!''' Her transformation sequence into a giant spider is one of the scariest things in any mario game. She ''twists her head entirely around'', ''Film/TheExorcist''-style — complete with the sounds of [[{{Squick}} her spine cracking in multiple places]] — and grows extra legs with her head hanging upside down. If you flip while Mimi is in spider form, you can see the gears inside her, too. Even worse, in chapter 2-4, if you slouch for too long in an area while being chased by her spider form, ''she spawns at your location''. With the change of music, this can very well be a JumpScare. It's even an InUniverse Nightmare Fuel moment as most people around her when she's in her spider form get scared or feel intimidated.

** Speaking of Dimentio, he is probably the evilest character in the entire Mario franchise. He tricks you into killing a peaceful dragon, betrays Count Bleck, and turn Luigi into Mr. L, all because of a vague prophecy. His evil plan and status as a jester almost make him into a kid-friendly [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]] (likely his inspiration).

* Mimi's transformation sequence into a giant spider. She ''twists her head entirely around'', ''Film/TheExorcist''-style — complete with the sounds of [[{{Squick}} her spine cracking in multiple places]] — and grows extra legs with her head hanging upside down. If you flip while Mimi is in spider form, you can see the gears inside her, too. Even worse, in chapter 2-4, if you slouch for too long in an area while being chased by her spider form, ''she spawns at your location''. With the change of music, this can very well be a JumpScare.