History NightmareFuel / StevenUniverseFuture

** The process begins with Steven finally snapping, at first downplaying his issues throughout ''Future'', then revealing that he shattered Jasper and thought about smashing White Diamond's head into a pillar in front of Greg, Connie, and the Crystal Gems. This then descends into a fit of self-loathing and he collapses to the floor, decrying himself a fraud and a monster just like his mother before he transforms. Once again, Zach Callison gives a truly terrifying performance as you can ''hear'' the raw madness and anguish in his voice as Steven completely falls apart. The deeply disturbing music that becomes more disconcerting the further his SanitySlippage goes during this final breakdown only makes it worse.

** Making everything ''so'' much worse is the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9XoivaEz5A background music]], which sounds just as sick to its stomach as Steven himself probably feels at this moment. It makes the pure ''pain'' the poor kid is going through so palpable throughout his entire breakdown that it's almost a relief when he finally caves in on himself.

* The mere ''[[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/steven-universe/images/9/9c/Everything%27s_Fine_Artwork_By_Amish_Kumar.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20200326200544 promo image]]'' has fans unsettled due to it depicting an all too calm looking Steven and proclaiming [[BlatantLies everything to be fine.]] The fact that Steven's breakdown-induced Diamond Pupils are visible in the promo art only makes it scarier.

While ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' has never been afraid to dip its toe into some dark waters, ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'' decides to simply dive in headfirst, and bathe itself in its murky darkness. With the show mainly focusing on and deconstructing Steven's attempts to adjust to his new life in Era 3, ''Future'' ultimately provides new waves of terror even veteran fans weren't prepared for.

* The two [[PersonOfMassDestruction Lapis Lazulis]] introduced in the episode are so oblivious to our Lapis and Steven’s message of preserving life and enjoying nature that they continually attack our Lapis and Steven and literally slice apart the landscape with a giant water bandsaw blade. It’s a powerful reminder of the Lapis Lazuli caste's programming: to use MakingASplash to KillEmAll and terraform planets.

** If Steven wasn't scary enough in "Fragments" with his vicious, aggressive demeanor, he's [[UpToEleven even scarier]] in this scene with White Diamond. As he forces White Diamond to walk towards the pillar, there's no emotion in him at all. He's completely cold and flat, further proving himself to have become worse than his mother. Zach did an absolutely tremendous job with his voice acting in this scene. Fans have collectively agreed that Steven's voice is '''terrifying'''.

* A lot of people have compared Steven's [[SuperMode Pink Form]] as similar to a [[Franchise/DragonBall Super Saiyan]]. This episode proved them right. Only Steven's not [[StockShonenHero Goku]], he's [[TheDreaded Broly]].[[note]][[Anime/DragonBallZBrolyTheLegendarySuperSaiyan Old Broly,]] not [[Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly the new one]].[[/note]]

* The mere ''promo image'' has fans unsettled due to it depicting an all too calm looking Steven and proclaiming [[BlatantLies everything to be fine.]] The fact that Steven's breakdown-induced Diamond Pupils are visible in the promo art only makes it scarier.

** Through the whole thing, the Gems, Connie and Greg are standing there in horror as they all see the full picture of what's been going on with Steven lately, and it's much worse than any of them thought. The AdultFear of realizing that your child (or friend) has gotten to such a bad place almost without you realizing is very strong.

** Connie [[AbsenteeActor finally]] returns to the show... And her first line is "Steven! I've been worried about you!" That can't mean anything good, especially since Steven is pink as he holds his phone. Doubles as [[TearJerker/StevenUniverseFuture Tear Jerker.]] Everything after that, however...

** The spiked monster in the back is particularly unsettling. To start, it's the only antagonist in the shot that moves, and it ends its motion with an ominious gleaming that reveals two [[BlackEyesOfCrazy black eyes with glowing white pupils]]. [[EvilIsBigger The creature also appears to be colossal, easily surpassing the size of the other antagonists in the shot (even White Diamond!)]]. Finally, the monster doesn't seem like anything that has ever been faced in the series before. All the other antagonists in the shot are known or recognizable gems or can be explained by elements already established within the show (like Cactus Steven being a result of Steven's powers alike to the watermelon Stevens), but there is no clear hint of what the monster is, [[NothingIsScarier making its prominence in the shot even more creepy]], ''especially'' when we finally get to "I Am My Monster", and said monster eventually turns out to be '''''Steven himself!'''''

* Cactus Steven. Not only for its prickles and resiliency, but its sheer largeness and UncannyValley qualities, and its genius in combat. That’s not even the worst part: the PlantPerson unsettlingly warps NotInFrontOfTheParrot and QuoteMine for its own HannibalLecture to the Gems in the climax, before Steven hugs it to back down and it leaves of its own accord by smashing through the iconic front wall of the beach house.

** Through the whole thing, the gems, Connie and Greg are standing there in horror as they all see the full picture of what's been going on with Steven lately, and it's much worse than any of them thought. The AdultFear of realizing that your child (or friend) has gotten to such a bad place almost without you realizing is very strong.

** Take a moment to realize that Steven's ultimate monstrous form is, for all intents and purposes, Franchise/{{Godzilla}}, King of the Monsters, the unstoppable, unkillable, world-destroying creature that has been feared and hated by everyone. It's bad enough if the Crewniverse used this as a metaphor, but the real nightmare scenario is [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Steven]] unconsciously selecting this form because ''[[BrokenBird this is how he's come to see himself]]''.

** Take a moment to realize that Steven's ultimate monstrous form is, for all intents and purposes, Franchise/{{Godzilla}}, an unstoppable, unkillable, world-destroying King of the Monsters that is feared and hated by everyone. It's bad enough if the Crewniverse used this as a metaphor, but the real nightmare scenario is [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Steven]] unconsciously selecting this form because ''[[BrokenBird this is how he's come to see himself]]''.

* Steven recounting his past experiences to Dr. Maheswaran really brings to light how screwed up his life has been when talks about how many times he's been injured, abused, nearly killed, attacked by monsters, lost control of his body, how his loved ones almost died, how his loved ones ''did'' die--and hadn't even got through the ''first season''. When Dr. Maheswaran explains how his trauma affects his body, Steven flashes back to the most scariest, traumatizing, and terrifying events in his life in rapid succession.