History TheDreaded / Literature

** To various religious institutions of Ankh-Morpork one Mrs Cake is this. She seems to have a habit of insinuating herself into their organization, take control of everything, get into a feud with the nominal leader, then quit, leaving everything to fall apart in her absence. At one point, a pair of priests of Offler stationed in a remote, mostly-forgotten temple in the back of beyond were more relieved to discover that the person setting off all their traps was ''just'' Death possibly coming for one of them and definitely ''not'' Mrs Cake. (It was even better than that: Death was only there for a touch of burglary nobody but they would know about.)

** Vorbis from ''Literature/SmallGods'', a SinisterMinister and perhaps the biggest monster in the series (yes, that's including [[PsychoForHire Teatime]]). He scares Brutha more than their god. [[spoiler: And yet Brutha, being the local Jesus / Buddha analogue, still takes time to save him from hell in the afterlife]].

** After the events of ''Literature/{{Thud}}'' Vimes now has this status with even the most fundamentalist Dwarfs [[spoiler: by virtue of having not only survived but beaten [[EldritchAbomination The Summoning Dark]] out of his body.]] Just showing the scar it left on his wrist is enough to make even the most hardened Dwarf cry in terror and beg for mercy.

** [[SatanicArchetype Morgoth]], Sauron's predecessor & former boss, was a daunting and terrifying being whose campaigns left tens of thousands of elves and men dead. Challenging him was considered death for most elves, as [[OverprotectiveDad King Thingol of Doriath]], not wanting a human named Beren to marry his daughter Luthien, stated that the only way for Beren to earn his blessing was to go up to Angband, Morgoth's fortress, and take a Silmaril jewel, which was prized among the Elves. The thing is, he only said this because he hoped the terror brought about by such a challenge would scare Beren away, but the human was so in love with Luthien that he did it anyways. Morgoth was also feared for creating horrific beasts in his experiments, from vicious werewolves to firebreathing dragons. Even his top lieutenant Sauron feared his wrath, as he avoided returning to his master after being defeated by Huan the wolfhound whilst attacking Beren & Luthien (and this was when Morgoth was at his ''absolute weakest''). Even the Valar, higher angels second only to [[God Eru]] in terms of sheer power, only intervened to stop him when it was the only way to save the elves of Middle-Earth from absolute slaughter.

* In ''Literature/TheSilmarillion,'' Shelob's progenitor Ungoliant was an EldritchAbomination that terrified the Valar, even the fallen ones like Morgoth. This went both ways, as she was initially wary of both approaching Melkor and the other Valar. Her last daughter, Shelob, used darkness and malice as weapons and most of her prey were incapable of even attempting resistance.

** The sixth book, '''Death Bringer'', reveals Vile in his full glory and the truth about where he's been ([[spoiler: Skulduggery ''is'' Vile, or at least, Vile is part of him, and the armour has been hiding inside him ever since it beat him up]]), and that his uncontrollable rage drove him to want to kill everyone and everything in the world. Had the Faceless Ones been bought back he would have tried to kill them too because he was that enraged (and he probably could have done it too) and there's a show down between him and a Necromancer who has been tortured into becoming a HumanoidAbomination and the titular Death Bringer. Despite the fact that she comfortably kills hundreds of power sorcerers and is estimated to be capable of killing millions in one go, even on automatic pilot the armour nearly kills her. When Vile reclaims the armour, the fight is both brutal and brief, and he nearly kills both her and Valkyrie until Darquesse surfaces [[spoiler:due to Valkyrie putting herself in mortal danger]] and fights him. It ends in a stalemate. Yeah: the foretold end of life has a stalemate with Vile.

* ''Literature/TheBeginningAfterTheEnd'': Post-Volume 9, Ascender [[spoiler:Grey AKA Arthur Leywin becomes this to the Alacryans. Case in point, his terrifying reputation began at the Victoriad, where he came out of nowhere to kill a top Scythe and cripple another Scythe in a SingleStrokeBattle, before promptly escaping the High Sovereign Agrona and the Legacy with impunity in front of all of Alacrya. Then, ships arrive from Dicathen, carrying Alacryan soldiers and collaborators who have surrendered to a man in terrifying ebon armor with wheat-blond hair and SupernaturalGoldEyes who conjures purple flames and has a monstrous spectral wolf at his beck and call, a man whose appearance matches that of the mysterious challenger at the Victoriad. Not only that, but said man has been single-handedly undoing the Alacryan conquest of Dicathen in one fell swoop, oftentimes without bloodshed as the terror of facing him has driven many soldiers to surrender. Even Alacrya itself isn't safe, as at one point he showed up in a military facility in the Alacryan heartland - having killed a squad of god-killers Agrona sent after him beforehand - and immediately destroyed the camp and everyone in it, which in turn triggered a rebellion on Alacryan soil against the Vritra. The only respite the Alacryans have is that Arthur is more keen on them surrendering rather than killing them on sight, though he's not afraid to induce a MookHorrorShow on those who do not. After all, from Arthur's perspective it is not the people of Alacrya who are his enemies (after all, he lived among them for a year), but rather their Vritra overlords and the rest of the Asuras who are]].

* In ''Literature/TheZombieKnight'', any high-level [[CameBackStrong servant]] can be this to a low-level ones. [[TheDragon Gohvis]] is especially feared. Just hearing that he was on the way once caused a Vanguard [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority full general]] to [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere abandon a whole country with no shots fired]].

* [[OmnicidalManiac Lord Vile]] from the ''Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant'' series. Nobody knows where he came from, or who he was (except that he was a Necromancer), but he fought in the war for 3 years on the evil side. He was said to have massacred thousands. Then, one day 'he went away' and vanished. There's lots of fear and rumour around him, with everyone agreeing that he was crazy powerful. The tailor Ghastly sums it up best he can.

** Skulduggery himself has a similar reputation among criminals. No one wants to go up against the skeleton.
** Mevolent's Three Generals conformed to [[QuirkyMinibossSquad quirky miniboss]] standards: Serpine was the cunning, devious, underhanded and stealthy one, Vengeous was the zealot who was used to try to bring back their {{Eldritch Abomination}} Gods, and Vile was his [[PersonOfMassDestruction one man army of destruction]] used to wipe out everything in his way.

** The sixth book Death Bringer reveals that [[spoiler: Skulduggery is]] Vile, and that his uncontrollable rage drove him to want to kill everyone and everything in the world. Had the Faceless Ones been bought back he would have tried to kill them too because he was that enraged (and he probably could have done it too) and has a show down between him and a Necromancer who has been tortured into become a humanoid abomination. Vile wins and nearly kills both her and Valkyrie until [[spoiler: Darquesse surfaces due to Valkyrie putting herself in mortal danger and fights him. It ends in a stalemate. The foretold end of life has a stalemate with Vile.]]
*** It's pretty telling that the best idea anyone has had so far to deal with Vile or Darquesse is [[GodzillaThreshold to pit them against each other and hope they don't kill everything]] [[spoiler: fortunately Skulduggery is able to implant tactics and (mostly non-lethal) techniques into Vile's head for him to use or talk Darquesse down.]]
*** While Vile currently is able to outmatch Darquesse, who is still getting the hang of her immense strength and intuitive abilities, he has reached his peak and is having to resort to cunning to win, and Darquesse is a really quick study....
** Kingdom of the Wicked has Valkyrie sent to a parallel earth where Skulduggery never came back and as such Vile, Vengeous Serpine and Mevolent were never defeated and have claimed victory. She is about to be tortured when she thinks she hears Skulduggery coming as is horrified to see that it's Vile. Shortly afterwards she sees first hand how Vile decimated armies as he tears into the entire resistance single handedly, killing most of its top mages and his mere presence causes most of the people to flee in terror. He shrugs off everything that comes his way and impales everyone around him with shadows.

** The Dementors who are one of the most foul creatures in the world. Wherever they go the atmosphere goes cold, and the sky darkens. They thrive by draining all the happy memories of an individual, and worse can suck out their soul. Harry himself is more afraid of them than he is of Voldemort to point where it’s actually his boggart.

** The fear Fenris the Feared generates is actually implied to be magical in nature. Of course even if that weren't the case, he's still gigantic, incredibly strong, and apparently invulnerable, to boot.

* ''Literature/{{Twig}}'': Primordial Life has this descriptor. As one character puts it, if an organization as obsessed with power and devoid of ethics as the Crown has ''absolutely forbidden'' creation of Primordial Life, [[EvenEvilHasStandards even among its own people, what does that say]]? We get a glimpse of just how dangerous Primordials are in one arc, and afterward any mention of their creation causes any Academy-trained personnel to shudder in horror that anyone would dare create one.

** Gellert Grindelwald was the equivalent of Wizard Hitler, and he became so powerful that, towards the end of his reign of terror during World War II, it was believed that the only person who could stop him was his eventual conqueror Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore knew this, but delayed stopping Grindelwald until he couldn't ignore what was happening any longer. The books imply that it was because he was ashamed of their history together, but the ''Film/FantasticBeasts'' series reveals that [[spoiler:it was because the two made a non-aggresion magical pact when they were still friends, so Dumbledore literally could not attack Grindelwald until the pact was removed]].

* Both played somewhat straight and subverted in the original ''Franchise/CthulhuMythos'' (though may have evolved into a NecessaryWeasel by now due to audience expectations). On the one hand, coming face to face with most of its horrors is a definite OhCrap moment for most humans. On the other, most of said horrors are also too ''obscure'' for any humans who haven't studied just the right [[TomeOfEldritchLore forbidden books]] to ever have heard of in the first place...

** In ''Literature/TheBelgariad'''s sequel, ''Literature/TheMalloreon'', [[spoiler: Belgarath's "grandson" Belgarion commands considerable amounts of respect, awe and fear himself. It might have something to do with his title. Care to cross blades with the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Godslayer]], anybody?]]
*** It might also have something to do with Belgarion stopping two charging armies on a battlefield by calling down a thunderstorm between them. [[spoiler: He got in trouble. Belgarath was irritated.]]
** Also in Literature/TheMalloreon, the entire group is forced to participate in a party in the Angarak empire of Mallorea. Each one is introduced one after another, with all their titles given. Finally, the announcer stumbles and falters, and Belgarath just says "just say it, they know the name". While others entered to fanfare and applause, the entire court was silent as he entered.

--->'''Silk:''' Not to worry, [[spoiler:Urgit]]. Hettar came all the way through the streets of your capital, and he didn't kill even one of your subjects.\\
'''[[spoiler:Urgit]]:''' Remarkable. You've changed, Lord Hettar. [[ExpectingSomeoneTaller You're reputed to be a thousand feet tall and to wear a necklace of Murgo skulls.]]\\
'''Hettar:''' [[DeadpanSnarker I'm on vacation.]]

** Lord Havelock Vetinari is a curious example, in that he is fairly well-known but people do ''not'' want to make him unhappy. This is partly because of his intelligence network and the fact that he has other Dreaded (notably Vimes and the Watch) on his payroll. Also, people are quick to point out he is an accomplished assassin who aced all tests in the guild (except for Stealth and Disguise, because [[UpToEleven his teachers believed he never attended]]). He is the only person apart from Vimes the Assassins' Guild won't take assignments on.

** Lord Voldemort, "He Who Must Not Be Named" or "You Know Who." A huge part of his power is that the Wizarding World is so ludicrously afraid of him, which makes them screw up many times. It's present throughout the story, but becomes more obvious after [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire book 4]], and is taken UpToEleven in the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows last book]]. He exploits this trope in the seventh book by jinxing his name; his followers will instantly travel to and attack anyone who speaks his name. Since only the people who don't fear him actually use his name, it's an excellent way to hunt down his most important enemies. Some of his more terrible Death Eaters are only slightly less feared. It's to the point where in ''VideoGame/LEGOHarryPotter'', he is used as the default [[IKnowWhatYouFear Boggart form]] for over sixty characters, including several of his own followers and a foreign national who would have been more familiar with his PredecessorVillain Grindelwald than him.

** Ferro, leader of the Disciples of Strength, is this to the heroes, who (especially Elin) are terrified of running into him. Which stands to reason, as he's the leader of a group already notorious for their viciousness and lack of empathy and it's said Ferro takes these traits UpToEleven.

* The ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' novel ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresAllConsumingFire All-Consuming Fire]]'' establishes that the Doctor sincerely hopes never to meet Nyarlathotep. And he's already fought Lloigor ([[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E5TheWebPlanet the Animus]]) and Hastur ([[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E3TheCurseOfFenric Fenric]]).

** Aegon the Conqueror's dragon, the largest flying nuke ever recorded and one of the three he used to conquer an entire continent, was Balerion ''the Black Dread''. Truth in advertising.

* ''Literature/CradleSeries'': Has the Dreadgods, four [[spoiler:actually five]] monsters that are endlessly hungry. They wake up every few centuries and have wiped out life on continents
** The Bleeding Phoenix is a malicious phoenix made out of blood that causes every drop of blood spilled within miles of its vicinity to become a monster that tries to kill you.
** The Weeping Dragon is a dragon that sleeps on a hurricane and creates millions of storm dragons to feed itself.
** The Wandering Titan is a bipedal turtle that wades through mountains like waves.
** The Silent King is the physically weakest of the Dreadgods, but makes up for it with its intelligence, able to see the future and coordinate armies perfectly. It controls the mind of everyone within miles of it and causes those it controls to have a halo of light appear behind their heads.
** [[spoiler:Subject One, or the Slumber Wraith, was originally a human who was corrupted by the same Hunger that drives the other Dreadgods. It's been imprisoned within the Labyrinth for millenia, and is one of the main hazards of exploring it]]

* ''Literature/BazilBroketail'': Dragons of Argonath are widely feared by servants of Padmasa (and for good reasons, too), especially imps, who often panic at the mere sight of them.