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| 14 | [[quoteright:295:[[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/badfuzz.png]]]] |
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| 19 | ->'''Varla:''' You afraid of milk? How old are you, man? I got a two-year-old nephew who's not afraid of milk!\ |
| 20 | '''Monk:''' You must be very proud of him.\ |
| 21 | '''Varla:''' For what? Not bein' afraid of milk? That just means he's normal! |
| 22 | -->-- ''Series/{{Monk}}'', "[[Recap/MonkS3E6MrMonkAndTheGirlWhoCriedWolf Mr. Monk and the Girl Who Cried Wolf]]" |
| 23 | |
| 24 | [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Everyone is afraid of something.]] While phobias are defined as '''irrational''' fears, most of the time they still make perfect sense. Fears of things that can hurt you like [[SpidersAreScary spiders]], heights, [[AfraidOfNeedles needles]], and [[SnakesAreSinister snakes]] are perfectly understandable. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | [[FauxHorrific A crippling fear of grass, on the other hand, not so much.]] |
| 27 | |
| 28 | Sometimes, in a work, a character has a phobia of something that is so ridiculous that people have a hard time comprehending it. Often comes in one of these flavors: |
| 29 | |
| 30 | * A character being afraid of something so mundane and/or harmless that it borders on absurdity. [[NightmareRetardant (e.g., a fear of cardboard boxes)]] |
| 31 | * A character established as being extremely tough and imposing has an exaggerated common fear. [[NotSoStoic (e.g., a proud warrior who's terrified of mice)]] |
| 32 | * A character has a crippling fear of something that they consciously deal with on a daily basis. [[IronicFear (e.g., a circus owner who's afraid of clowns)]] |
| 33 | * A character has a phobia with extremely specific conditions. [[FauxHorrific (e.g., a fear of prime-numbered Tuesdays... in March... during Leap Years)]] |
| 34 | * A character suffers from an {{exaggerated|Trope}} version of Panphobia[[labelnote:*]](Fear of everything. More commonly known as Generalized Anxiety Disorder.)[[/labelnote]]. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin (e.g., being afraid of]] ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin literally everything]]''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin , from bees to hardwood flooring)]] |
| 35 | |
| 36 | A ComedyTrope, this kind of phobia is usually PlayedForLaughs. In the rare instance that this phobia is PlayedForDrama or characters sympathize with the phobiac because of it, such as if the said phobia is a result of childhood trauma, then it is considered a {{subver|tedTrope}}sion. {{Justified|Trope}} if a logical reason is given for said fear. |
| 37 | |
| 38 | Remember, however, that RealityIsUnrealistic. While an absurd phobia is played for humor in fiction, people in real life can have phobias and trauma triggers that seem ridiculous to others but have very logical origins -- for instance, a person who has repressed memories of being abused by a man in a red cap could develop a phobia of red hats without knowing where it comes from. Ignoring or deliberately poking at the phobia because "it's silly" is cruelty, and helping someone get over a phobia requires psychiatric training and should not be attempted by non-professionals. |
| 39 | |
| 40 | Compare FauxHorrific, NightmareRetardant, FearInducedIdiocy, and WeaksauceWeakness. An IronicFear can be considered one of these. If one of these phobias is a recurring plot point, then it is WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes; if it's a one-off gag, it's OneEpisodeFear. In contemporary settings, when irrational fear causes magical creatures to hide from Muggles, it is a MasqueradeParadox. To the phobia sufferer, of course, it is always SeriousBusiness. This can add some levity to a WhatDoTheyFearEpisode. See also ElephantsAreScaredOfMice, where a huge and powerful animal is irrationally afraid of a small and harmless one. |
| 41 | |
| 42 | ---- |
| 43 | !!Examples: |
| 44 | |
| 45 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 46 | |
| 47 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 48 | * ''Manga/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou'': Eira Kaho is a KickChick whose main phobia is anything she ''can't'' beat up with kicks. This comes in two distinct flavors, either anything very small or immaterial such as insects, germs, or ghosts, or things such as babies and animals that she regards as ''so'' fragile a mere touch is enough to break them, nevermind a kick. To heighten the absurdity, Eira has absolutely zero fear of anything she ''can'' defeat with a kick, such as an oncoming car. |
| 49 | * ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': Shadow Mei, [[FishOutOfTemporalWater who had recently been in stasis since the late 19th century]], believes in the "cameras steal your soul" superstition so strongly she's deathly afraid of having her picture taken. |
| 50 | * ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita'': Alita is a fearless warrior, but it turns out that she has a phobia of owl-eye moths because the "eyes" on the wings unsettle her. ([[AuthorPhobia Author Yukito Ishiro shared this phobia]].) She [[SoMuchForStealth accidentally reveals herself to a roaming warband]] the only time this phobia affects the plot by emptying her HandCannon trying to kill one of these moths. |
| 51 | * The Devils in ''Manga/ChainsawMan'' are physical manifestations of different fears humans have, which include some really specific fears such as tomatoes, chickens, or even ''marshmallows''. This works against them as each Devil's power are equal to how broadly humans fear the concept, meaning that Devils who represent absurd phobias tend to be really weak. |
| 52 | -->'''Makima:''' Coffee has no scary mental image whatsoever. If there was a Coffee Devil, it would probably be weak. |
| 53 | * ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'': |
| 54 | ** Celty has several odd fears, in fact there's a whole chapter of Shinra explaining that no, the world will not end in 2012, the photon belt is not sentient and will not kill everyone, tesseracts from the fourth dimension will not destroy the earth and aliens did not kill the dinosaurs. Celty herself is a [[TheGrimReaper dullahan]]. |
| 55 | ** Izaya is afraid of dogs and dead fish eyes. Later, in his spin-off, due to being traumatized from [[spoiler:nearly being killed by Shizuo, he develops a fear of anything remotely related to Shizuo]]. The mere sight of a [[spoiler:woman wearing a bartender uniform]] was enough to make him freeze up, and he panicked after hearing about a [[spoiler:man capable of lifting a vending machine]]. |
| 56 | * Sara of ''Anime/JewelpetTwinkle'' has a fear of mushrooms due to the little gills under their caps and will invariably do a WildTake if she sees one. This is the same girl who thinks snakes are cute, by the way. |
| 57 | * ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' |
| 58 | ** Josuke Higashikata from ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'' has a fear of reptiles - including turtles. This didn't stop him from healing one that was wounded by jerkass upperclassmen. |
| 59 | ** Guido Mista from ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'' is afraid [[FourIsDeath of the number four]]. He freaks out when a waiter serves his teammates four slices of cake and when he has only four bullets left. |
| 60 | * Mio Akiyama in ''Manga/KOn'' (mostly the anime) has a fear of barnacles, mold, crayfish, other people's blisters, the covers of horror films, and pretty much any string of scary words involving blood, injury, or ghosts. In TheMovie, she gains a fear of things that turn (including conveyor belt sushi and ''The London Eye'' of all things). |
| 61 | * Tohru of ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'' is afraid of the shopping mall, due to it resembling a castle to her. The white color in particular reminds her of the fortresses of the [[UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar crusaders]] who'd try to kill her on a regular basis. |
| 62 | * ''Manga/MyBalls''. Elyse has a literal fear of penises, picturing a horrifying monster whenever she looks at one. |
| 63 | * ''Manga/OnePiece'': Sugar, a member of Donquixote Pirates, developed a phobia of long noses or anything that resembles them, due to the long-nosed Usopp accidentally scaring her with a NightmareFace (after being unknowingly fed with a spicy pepper) that made her faint. |
| 64 | * Ranma of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' has a crippling phobia of cats. It's often played for laughs for being a WeaksauceWeakness. But then it's revealed that this was the result of learning a particularly brutal martial art that activates his BerserkMode whenever said fear reaches its limit. And, of course, the brutal martial art training, which entails being repeatedly thrown to the mercy of hungry cats by his [[AbusiveParents asshole father]] as a child whilst wrapped in fish meat, kind of makes it very understandable why he is afraid of cats. |
| 65 | * ''Manga/SoulEater''. [[TheGrimReaper Death The Kid]] has Asymmetriphobia (a fear or strong disgust towards asymmetrical things) due to being [[UsefulNotes/ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder extremely obsessive-compulsive.]] Because of this, anything slightly out of place will cause him to freak out. And don't remind him that [[FashionableAsymmetry he only has stripes on one side of his hair.]] [[spoiler:In the manga, they reveal this fear is due to being a lord of order, and as asymmetrical objects are disorderly, naturally he detests them]]. |
| 66 | * When Momoko of ''Manga/SumomoMoMomoMo'' was six years old, her father tried to increase her protein by putting her on a diet of hardboiled eggs. Momoko has since developed a trauma-induced phobia of them, to the point she won't even use eggs in the food she cooks. She can handle it if they're normal hardboiled eggs, but the trauma kicks into full gear if faces are drawn on them since her well-meaning father did that to ''all'' of the eggs to try and make it more enjoyable for her. |
| 67 | * Alice Asmodeus from ''Manga/WelcomeToDemonSchoolIrumaKun'' is afraid of fish. He can't even approach one without wearing a full hazmat suit. |
| 68 | * The title character of ''Manga/{{Yotsuba}}'' has an intense fear of targets and eyeballs, or anything that ''resembles'' either. This first comes up when she gets scared of a scarecrow with a target design on it, with her wanting to avoid being seen by "him" while walking with Miura. |
| 69 | [[/folder]] |
| 70 | |
| 71 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 72 | * ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': In ''ComicBook/BruceWayneNotSuper'', Dick Grayson picks "Robin" as his alias because he is convinced that robins are scary after one of them pecked him. |
| 73 | * ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'': |
| 74 | ** Deadpool is afraid of cows. As he puts it: |
| 75 | --->'''Deadpool:''' You ever had one of 'em ''stare you down''? It's ''chilling''! And that's all they ''do''! ''Stare'' at you. ''Waiting''. |
| 76 | ** Conversely, him admitting this got Domino to open up and confess she's afraid of chickens... Which factors in his ZanyScheme to get the X-Men in the clear when Norman Osborn is trying to make them out as murderers during ''ComicBook/DarkReign''. And it ''works''. |
| 77 | ** Deadpool has also expressed an extreme fear of clowns, considering them a greater threat than ''[[PlanetEater Galactus]]''. |
| 78 | * ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'': In ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol2016'', Flex Mentallo mentions that he is afraid of bicycles. |
| 79 | * ''ComicBook/MonicasGang'': Cascão has an extreme hatred of water to the point of it becoming his [[WeaksauceWeakness one weakness]]. He basically sees it like a normal person would view acid, even though you need water to survive. |
| 80 | * ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse'': There is a comic that shows Minnie being [[FurryConfusion afraid of]] [[EekAMouse mice]]. This makes more sense than it sounds as most people would scream too, if they found a primitive hominid like say an Australopithecus waiting for them in their living room. |
| 81 | * ''ComicBook/{{New Avengers|2015}}:'' Terry the Henchman has a crippling fear of squirrels. Of course, in the Marvel Universe, such a fear is entirely justified, because squirrels can only mean [[TheDreaded Squirrel Girl]]. Though Terry's fear is mainly their fluffy tails. His second worst fear is his fear of betrayal. |
| 82 | * ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': |
| 83 | ** Super-Villainess Titania had a crippling fear of Spider-Man, despite the fact that she is far stronger than him and routinely takes on stronger heroes (ComicBook/SheHulk in particular) with gusto. Her debut story in ''ComicBook/{{Secret Wars|1984}}'' has her getting defeated in an embarrassing fashion by Spidey, and she fears he'll do it again every time she sees him. She gets over it when she realizes she's been in a battle with a disguised Spidey. |
| 84 | --->'''Titania:''' S-S-Spider-Man? I can't fight you!\ |
| 85 | '''Spider-Man:''' Really? You've been doing a pretty good job so far!\ |
| 86 | '''Titania:''' ''[beat]'' You know, you're right! ''[goes on the attack]''\ |
| 87 | '''Spider-Man:''' [[YouJustHadToSayIt Me and my big mouth.]] |
| 88 | ** Doctor Octopus also had, at one point, a fear of spiders. He needed psychiatric counseling to overcome it. |
| 89 | * ''ComicBook/{{Venom}}'': Minor villain Dementoid develops one towards buttocks and anuses after Venom turns his rear end into a set of jaws and nearly [[{{Squick}} eats him in reverse.]] |
| 90 | [[/folder]] |
| 91 | |
| 92 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 93 | * Wiley from ''ComicStrip/{{BC}}'' is terrified of water. Not ''bodies'' of water, the substance; he tries to run away from his own sweat on a hot day. |
| 94 | * Walter the Softy from ''ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUK'' had a few of those, among others from things like butterflies as part of his extra-wimpy characterisation from the late [[TheSeventies '70s]] to the [[TheNineties '90s]]. He'd run in tears to his mother for shelter whenever he encountered one of these. |
| 95 | * ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' had several cartoons describing implausibly detailed (in a slightly disconnected way) phobias, including: |
| 96 | ** Anatidaephobia: The fear that somewhere, somehow, a duck is watching you. Although [[FunnyBackgroundEvent in this case]], [[ProperlyParanoid it might actually be warranted]]. |
| 97 | ** Luposlipophobia: The fear of being pursued by timber wolves around a kitchen table while wearing socks on a newly waxed floor. |
| 98 | * ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}''. |
| 99 | ** Snoopy suffers from Weed Claustrophobia -- a fear of standing in tall grass. |
| 100 | ** Lucy once admitted to being afraid of small pieces of fuzz. |
| 101 | ** One strip (later adapted for a scene in ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'') has Lucy trying to assign various phobias to Charlie Brown. Eventually she arrives at pantophobia. |
| 102 | --->'''Charlie Brown:''' What's pantophobia?\ |
| 103 | '''Lucy:''' The fear of everything.\ |
| 104 | '''Charlie Brown:''' ''[so loud that Lucy {{face fault}}s]'' '''''THAT'S IT!!''''' |
| 105 | * Wade the Duck of ''ComicStrip/USAcres'' suffers from paranoia and the above-explained pantophobia. Both of which are almost always PlayedForLaughs. |
| 106 | [[/folder]] |
| 107 | |
| 108 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 109 | * ''Fanfic/{{Coyote}}'': Played for Drama with original character Riley Coyote and him being AfraidOfBlood -- or being more specific, him being afraid of hurting other people with [[Manga/MyHeroAcademia his Quirk]], a fear so great that he goes into a several-day HeroicBSOD and his subconscious nerfs his Quirk greatly on the meanwhile if he ever so much as thinks this happened. It is treated as absurd by the other members of Class 1 because physical hurt (inflicted or received) in a fight is an accepted risk of being a Hero, and Izuku Midoriya (Riley's best friend) knows that this is a great (read: may get him hurt/killed in a fight) issue, so he asks his classmates to help him wean it out of Riley. The only one who treats it as something worth mocking is [[{{Jerkass}} Bakugo]], and [[RageBreakingPoint and he really comes to regret doing it within earshot of Izuku]]. |
| 110 | * ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/265813?view_full_work=true Fire And Ice]]'': [[ComicBook/XMen Jean Grey]] admits to Emma Frost that she has an irrational fear of birds. When the amused Emma asks if her teammate Warren (Angel) knows about that, Jean clarifies that it's more a fear of creatures with beaks than feathers, but still forbids Emma from telling him. |
| 111 | * ''Fanfic/AGrowingFireInMyHeart'': All the dragons in the barracks in chapter 14, despite dragons being huge fire-breathing monsters and many being depicted as a ProudWarriorRaceGuy, are shown to be absolutely ''terrified'' of [[EekAMouse mice]]. When they spot a changeling disguised as a pony-sized mouse, they all [[ScreamsLikeALittleGirl scream like little girls]] and run around the room, trying to stay away from it with only a few trying to kill it. Then when they lose track of it they all try PlayingPossum until they are sure it is gone. |
| 112 | * ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomverse'': Any story that has Atticus in it will have him note that he's terrified of ball pits. Albeit this is justified because [[WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain the last time]] he was in a ball pit [[spoiler:it had him turned into a Ghom.]] |
| 113 | * In ''Fanfic/ALittleDinnerScandal'', Camilo ''really'' dislikes sheep and hates it when asked to handle them. |
| 114 | --> '''Camilo:''' I hate sheep[.] I hate how they look at me, I hate how they smell, I hate the feel of fleece on my fingers, I hate the oil that's covering them...\ |
| 115 | '''Mirabel:''' Lanolin.\ |
| 116 | '''Camilo:''' Whatever that is, I hate that, too. If it's sheep-related.\ |
| 117 | '''Mirabel:''' That's the grease they produce.\ |
| 118 | '''Camilo:''' Then I hate it from the bottom of my soul. And I don't know anything about wool or fleece or how to say which ram has the best one and I'd rather not come within ten feet of any ram, if I can, because they are vicious dumb creatures. So there. |
| 119 | * ''Fanfic/PeterParkerNeedsAHug'': Red Hood, a fearless and occasionally ruthless vigilante, was afraid of ''Spider-Man'' for a while (he thought that Spider was a Man-Bat, only with spider DNA instead of bat). Even when Oracle and Red Robin told him this was impossible, Hood held on to his fear until Batman adopted Peter Parker into the family, proving to Jason that Spider-Man is just a metahuman and nothing to be afraid of. |
| 120 | * ''Fanfic/ThePokemonSquad'': It's not brought up that often, but RM is ''terrified'' of bronies. |
| 121 | * ''Fanfic/{{Returning}}'' gives us Scorpius Malfoy, a wizard who is afraid of flying. |
| 122 | * ''Fanfic/RidingASunset'': Ultra Magnus is a large, powerful, respected Autobot warrior who serves as Optimus Prime's second-in-command [[spoiler: until Prowl comes back]]. But Chapter 11 shows that he's afraid of spiders. This wouldn't be considered an absurd phobia if he wasn't a giant robot who a spider couldn't ''possibly'' hurt. |
| 123 | * PlayedForDrama in ''Fanfic/RunningAroundInCircles''. Yakko spends most of the story terrified of pencils because the guy who attacked and raped him weaponized pencils during the assault. [[spoiler: According to the epilogue, Yakko does recover from this eventually as he heals from the emotional trauma]]. |
| 124 | * ''Fanfic/TheRWBYLoops'' shows that Ruby Rose has developed what she calls a ''healthy respect'' for rabbits, hares, and all things lagomorph. She attempts to justify it by pointing out the multiverse is filled with literal [[KillerRabbit killer rabbits]] who can pass for "harmlessly cute" until it's far too late, but while other Remnant loopers are portrayed as being somewhat wary around errant bunnies and bunny-themed individuals Ruby is consistently terrified of them (unless they are people she already knows are decent). |
| 125 | * ''Webcomic/ScarletLady'': "[[WhatDoTheyFearEpisode Sandboy]]" reveals that both Chloé and Rose are afraid of having their possessions come to life and turn against them, which is used to [[{{Foil}} highlight their differences]]: for Chloé, the idea stems from a fear of the things she ''owns'' proving to be uncontrollable, while Rose sincerely loves all her stuffed animals and is afraid her affection might not be returned. As Scarlet Lady, Chloé also mocks Rose's fear despite its similarity to her own. |
| 126 | * ''Fanfic/ThroughHerEyes'': We don't see it at work, but Ren mentions that horses are one of the few things that make him lose his cool. [[{{Nuckelavee}} One can only wonder why.]] |
| 127 | * ''WebVideo/UltraFastPony'': In "The Nightmoon Mare Zone": |
| 128 | -->'''Narrator:''' What are you afraid of? Is it death? Perhaps spiders? Why not be afraid of something ''original'' for once? You know what, from now on, you're afraid of farts. ''(fart sound)'' Did I scare you? |
| 129 | * ''Fanfic/AWitchInBroadDaylight'': [[ShrinkingViolet Fluttershy]] has a crippling fear of ghosts [[spoiler:despite [[FriendlyGhost being one herself]]]]. |
| 130 | [[/folder]] |
| 131 | |
| 132 | [[folder:Films -- Animated]] |
| 133 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyANewGeneration'': Most of the unicorns' taboo words make in-universe sense -- "magic" reminds them of their lost powers and "wing" and "feather" of the pegasi -- but it's unclear why exactly they're so terrified of saying or hearing "mayonnaise". |
| 134 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnythingAVeggieTalesMovie'': Elliot has an ever-increasing list of phobias, ranging from the mundane to the absurd. |
| 135 | -->'''Sedgewick:''' He's scared of everything; [[SpidersAreScary spiders]], [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent snakes]]... [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking wicker furniture!]] |
| 136 | [[/folder]] |
| 137 | |
| 138 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 139 | * One segment in ''Film/TheABCsOfDeath'' features a child who is literally afraid of the toilet, to the point of having nightmares about it turning into a monster and killing his parents. [[spoiler:Justified at the end, when the toilet ends up falling apart and crushing him to death.]] |
| 140 | * Jack from ''Film/Blackjack1998'' has a phobia of the colour white, because of a [[BlindedByTheLight flash grenade exploding in front of him]] in the opening shootout nearly blinding him. The main villain takes advantage of this by tricking Jack into entering [[KryptoniteIsEverywhere a room filled with white drapes]] in the final battle and attacking Jack there. |
| 141 | * Madeline in ''Film/TheComplex2012'' is afraid of even numbers. |
| 142 | * ''Franchise/IndianaJones'': |
| 143 | ** ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' has Indiana Jones display epic bravery in the opening sequence, outrunning boulders and outsmarting booby traps. As he escapes in his friend's biplane, he freaks out over the presence of the man's pet snake. Fear of snakes isn't that absurd, but when you are as brave as Indy, it's a bit absurd. |
| 144 | ** ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' then reveals that when Indy was a kid, he wasn't afraid of snakes until a rather traumatic incident in a circus train when he fell into a pen holding about a thousand snakes. |
| 145 | * ''Film/JumanjiTheNextLevel'': Due to dying because of it in [[Film/JumanjiWelcomeToTheJungle the previous movie]], Fridge is absolutely terrified of cake. When an NPC offers it to him in-game, he runs off screaming, and he can't even eat it in ''the real world''. |
| 146 | * ''Film/LoveAtFirstSight2023'': Mayonnaise is one of Hadley's greatest fears. Coincidentally, her love interest Oliver doesn't care much for the condiment. |
| 147 | * ''Film/OurRobocopRemake'' hilariously gives Murph a fear of clowns. |
| 148 | * ''Film/UltramanGingaSTheMovieShowdownThe10UltraBrothers'': The supporting character, Gouki, is revealed to be deathly afraid of.... '''tomatoes'''. Naturally when attempting to infiltrate Etelgar's fortress, his fears then manifest themselves into giant, sentient tomatoes that bounce after him. |
| 149 | * Dan Mott in ''Film/WithoutAPaddle'' divulges to his friends that he's terrified of (among other [[PrimalFear more]] [[DarknessEqualsDeath mundane]] [[{{Claustrophobia}} things]]) Saran Wrap. |
| 150 | -->'''Dan:''' I won't even keep it in the house anymore, because I'm afraid that somehow it'll get draped over my head and stick to my mouth and nose and I'll suffocate. How pathetic is that?\ |
| 151 | '''Tom:''' Very. |
| 152 | [[/folder]] |
| 153 | |
| 154 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 155 | * To Daisy in ''Literature/AnansiBoys'', it sure looks like Charlie's apprehension concerning birds is an Absurd Phobia: |
| 156 | -->'''Charlie:''' You'll think this is a bit silly, but I'm a bit -- well, I have a thing about birds.\ |
| 157 | '''Daisy:''' What, a phobia?\ |
| 158 | '''Charlie:''' Sort of.\ |
| 159 | '''Daisy:''' Well, that's the common term for an irrational fear of birds.\ |
| 160 | '''Charlie:''' What do they call a rational fear of birds, then? |
| 161 | * ''Literature/RoysBedoys'': "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, Roys Bedoys!" reveals that Loys is scared of feathers (or at least one particular feather). |
| 162 | * In ''Literature/CastleHangnail'', the castle's cook has an irrational hatred of the letter Q as a result of a past trauma. This mainly manifests in a running gag about Molly finding books and bits of books missing whenever she goes to look anything up in the castle library. |
| 163 | * ''Literature/CoolAir'' is a short story explaining why the narrator is afraid of the cold. Given that this is a [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft]] story, this trope is naturally PlayedForHorror. |
| 164 | * ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'': |
| 165 | ** Greg admits in ''Cabin Fever'' that he developed a fear of puzzles, ever since he opened a puzzle box filled with crickets. He seems to have gotten over this fear in ''The Deep End'', as he was shown doing puzzles without any problems. |
| 166 | ** An earlier book saw Greg admit to having a fear of Creator/ShelSilverstein when he was younger, to the point that his dad was able to stop him from getting out of bed at night by claiming he'd probably run into Shel in the hallway. |
| 167 | * ''Literature/EpithetErasedPrisonOfPlastic'': Phoenica has a crippling fear of Halloween, stemming from the time she got lost at a Halloween party during her childhood. Her fear also applies to common Halloween decorations, such as pumpkins, and the fear is specific to decorations — she'd find a real bat cute, but a cartoony bat decoration would terrify her. |
| 168 | * ''Literature/FamilySkeletonMysteries'': Deborah is apparently afraid of inflatable arm-flailing tube men and the feel of rubber bands. |
| 169 | * In ''Literature/TheInfernalDevices'' Will Herondale is scared of ducks - "Bloodthirsty little beasts. Never trust a duck." This becomes a running joke as some of his Herondale descendants also have a strong dislike of ducks, implying that this fear of ducks is hereditary. |
| 170 | * The Nomes from the ''Literature/LandOfOz'' series are terrified of eggs. They claim they're toxic to them, but it's heavily implied that's not true. |
| 171 | * In ''My Godawful Life'' by Michael Kelly, a parody of MiseryLit, ''all'' the characters are afraid of Northumberland (a county in England.) This was the author's TakeThat at Judith O'Reilly, a journalist who wrote about her wealthy family's move from London to Northumberland; Kelly considered her to be portraying a perfectly normal place in an unnecessarily harsh and negative light. |
| 172 | * In ''Literature/TheSavannahReidMysteries'', the tough, manly-man cop Dirk is terrified of chickens. Savannah finds this amusing. |
| 173 | * ''Literature/TheSecretLivesOfPrincesses'': Princess Hot-Head is only afraid of mini tree mice, which are even cuter than regular mice. |
| 174 | * Aunt Josephine from ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' suffers from phobias of everything, tripping over the doormat, getting electrocuted by using a telephone, and finally, ''realtors''. In TheFilmOfTheBook, her fears of them prove amusingly rational for just one evening, when a hurricane strikes her house and causes all her appliances to malfunction in exactly the way she claimed they would. Apart from the realtors. |
| 175 | * In the ''Literature/TeenageWorrier'' books, Letty has a phobia of the word death and instead substitutes the word "banana." Her brother Benjy is terrified of floors, although Letty finds this justified, since the floors in the household are rarely cleaned. |
| 176 | [[/folder]] |
| 177 | |
| 178 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 179 | * ''Series/OneHundredThingsToDoBeforeHighSchool'': In "Run with the Bears Thing!", Fenwick reveals that Crispo has a phobia about orange juice pulp. |
| 180 | * ''Series/ANTFarm'': [[InsufferableGenius Olive Doyle]] claims she has many phobias, including "ghosts, vampires, witches, zombies, leprechauns, giraffes, double-decker buses, balloons and... ''(shudders)'' curly fries." Cue Fletcher sitting next to her with a tray of curly fries. |
| 181 | * ''Series/AustinAndAlly'': Austin is terrified of umbrellas since he had his pants ripped off by an umbrella in 4th grade. This becomes a problem in the episode "Filmmaking & Fear Breaking" when he's starring in Dez's movie which is on a beach full of umbrellas. |
| 182 | * ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' has [[PlayedForDrama a dramatic variation]] with Chuck [=McGill=], who's developed a fear of electronics. Believing he has [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_hypersensitivity electromagnetic hypersensitivity]], he's a [[TheShutIn shut-in]] who lives in a dark house devoid of any modern tech and relies on family to bring groceries and provide for the bills as he's too afraid to venture out into the world. What's more is that at several points, his condition is challenged (EHS isn't considered a diagnosable condition with scientific backing), and others consider that perhaps his symptoms are [[YourMindMakesItReal psychosomatic]], but he's too much of a stubborn ControlFreak to consider otherwise or [[TherapyIsForTheWeak believe he needs to seek treatment for it]]. [[spoiler:This gets blown wide open when -- during a disbarment hearing -- Jimmy secretly plants a battery on an unknowing Chuck's shirt pocket, showing him to suffer zero symptoms for hours until he's informed of it, where only ''then'' does he freak out, suggesting that even if his condition isn't real, [[{{Hypochondria}} his fear of it certainly is]] and likely represents much more pertinent mental problems.]] |
| 183 | * ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': Sheldon has a fear of birds. The guys often tease him for it, particularly about the time he was chased up a tree by a chicken. Amy and Penny help him get over his fear when a bird flies into the apartment. |
| 184 | ** Sheldon is also mentioned to be afraid of hamsters, spiders, dogs - in fact, pretty much all animals except cats (he gets 25 of those). |
| 185 | * ''Series/BigTrain'' did a sketch where one new office manager had a phobia of spoons and was explaining to his new co-workers about this by passing a piece of paper with the word "spoons" written on it so as not to even mention spoons himself. Sadly, one of the employees is late to the meeting and enters the room stirring a cup of tea. Cue the office manager diving out the three-storey window to get away from the spoon. |
| 186 | * ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': Tim is afraid of men in parkas, to the point that seeing one in “Walk On The Wild Side” sends him screaming. |
| 187 | * ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Anya is afraid of bunnies. |
| 188 | * ''Series/{{Cheers}}'': After Diane leaves, Carla's hatred of her turns into a full-blown fear of her, screaming in horror when anyone mentions her name, [[SpeakOfTheDevil since she believes it will "summon" her]]. By the finale, Carla's fear of Diane is so extreme she'd rather believe she's near death in hospital rather than acknowledge she's seen her again, and when she's faced with Diane in the flesh repeatedly screams in horror. |
| 189 | * In ''{{Series/Community}}'', Abed has a bizarre fear of Daylight Saving Time, claiming that it "makes no sense". He finds the change back to Mountain Standard Time even more frightening. |
| 190 | * ''Series/CornerGas'': A WhatDoTheyFearEpisode is sparked by the other characters learning that Lacey is globophobic (afraid of balloons), which is treated as a ridiculous fear. Although Hank seems to think the name is even more ridiculous than the actual fear. |
| 191 | -->'''Hank:''' Shouldn't it be called "balloonophobia"? I mean, what if you're afraid of globes? What, your phobia doesn't get a name because the balloon people took it already? How's that fair? |
| 192 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'':In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E1TheWomanWhoFellToEarth The Woman Who Fell to Earth]]", Karl is a tower crane operator who is afraid of heights. While a common fear, it makes it nearly impossible for him to do his job. |
| 193 | * In "The Masked Veggies" from ''Series/DonkeyHodie'', when Purple Panda goes on the ''The Masked Veggies'' game show, he has a fear that he might suddenly put on a Santa beard and sing Jingle Bells, though this stems from a deeper stage fright. Wackily enough, it turns out his fear is actually justified, as he ends up doing just this while Donkey is trying to help him. |
| 194 | * In ''Series/ForThePeople'', Jay claims to have a legitimate fear of fluorescent colours because of Kate's propensity for neon tabs on her paperwork. |
| 195 | -->'''Jay:'''Do you realize I have an actual fear of fluorescent colours because of her? Because of the tabs! A clinically verifiable phobia. I have been treated for this. ''Unsuccessfully!'' |
| 196 | * ''{{Series/Friends}}'': |
| 197 | ** "The One with the Embryos": Michael Flatley, Lord of the Dance, scares the bejeezus out of Chandler. |
| 198 | --->'''Joey:''' The Irish jig guy?\ |
| 199 | '''Chandler:''' His legs flail about as if independent from his body! |
| 200 | ** In "The One With The Home Study", Rachel reveals that she's been terrified of swingsets ever since she got her hair caught in the chain as a child. Ross makes no attempt to hide how ridiculous he thinks it is. |
| 201 | * In ''Series/FullHouse'' "The House Meets the Mouse, Part 2", as Joey freaks out over seeing a shark swimming around their underwater radio station, he says this: |
| 202 | -->'''Joey:''' Some people are afraid of the dark. Some people are afraid of heights. Some people are afraid of eggs.\ |
| 203 | '''Jesse:''' Don't worry, Joey. We're safe in here[=--=] Eggs?\ |
| 204 | ''[Joey shrugs]'' |
| 205 | * In the ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie'' episode "Sleepless in Denver", one of the kids from Gabe's slumber party is afraid of going upstairs because he lives in a one-story apartment. |
| 206 | -->'''Amy:''' [[SarcasmMode Interesting new phobia.]] |
| 207 | * ''Series/HappyDays'': |
| 208 | ** "Fearless Malph": Ralph admits to having literally every phobia in the book. The episode centers on Ralph becoming fearless through hypnotic suggestion. |
| 209 | ** "The Muckrakers": Richie potentially exposes the Fonz's fear and disgust for liver. Fonzie eventually chokes down the fear and eats some. |
| 210 | * ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'': One episode has the Sibuna characters admitting and discussing their fears. Patricia's turns out to be feet, which immediately garners weird looks from the others, who are afraid of things like bugs, skulls, and tight spaces. |
| 211 | * ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'': While not explicitly described as a phobia, Marshall has an extremely strict rule about having food, ''any'' food, in his Fiero car, even something as basic as a bottle of water or a granola bar. The reason for this? He got the car from his older brothers, who wouldn't sell it to him unless he performed a dare; drive up naked to a [=McDonald's=] drive-through and order a bunch of coffees with no lids. They then hid in the backseat and jumped up, scaring him and [[GroinAttack causing him to drop all the scalding coffee right in his naked lap]]. |
| 212 | * ''Series/TheITCrowd'': Roy is afraid of balloons. |
| 213 | -->'''Roy:''' Balloons explode, Jen. They explode suddenly and unexpectedly. They are filled with the capacity to give me a little fright, and I find that unbearable. |
| 214 | * ''Series/{{Kaamelott}}'': |
| 215 | ** Guenièvre is afraid of birds because they don't have arms. |
| 216 | ** Later, it's revealed that Arthur is afraid of snakes. While it's a common fear, his reason isn't: |
| 217 | --->'''Arthur:''' They walk on their belly, it's creepy! |
| 218 | * ''Series/KenanAndKel'': Until seeing a hypnotist for a cure, Chris had an irrational fear of sandwiches; Kenan thought it was ridiculous. |
| 219 | -->'''Chris:''' If it wasn't for hypnotism, I would have never gotten over my fear of sandwiches.\ |
| 220 | '''Kenan:''' ''You were afraid of a sandwich?!''\ |
| 221 | '''Chris:''' ''Not anymore!'' |
| 222 | * In ''Series/LilHorrors'', Webster Swampson is a [[FishPeople fish man]] who is afraid of water. |
| 223 | * In ''Series/MakoMermaidsAnH2OAdventure'', all mermaids not accustomed to life on land scream in terror upon seeing an ordinary house cat. No explanation is given, and over time all of the mermaids come to realize that cats aren't any sort of threat to them; in fact, the cat most commonly seen in the series (Poseidon) is owned by Rita, a mermaid who had been living on land for well over a decade before the series begins, and all other merpeople who ''are'' accustomed to life on land immediately declare their love of cats upon first seeing Poseidon. (The fear does not appear to extend to dogs, as an early episode has a dog bark at Lyla, and she only reacts with annoyance.) |
| 224 | * ''{{Series/Maury}}'': Some episodes focus on people with weird fears, such as pickles and cotton balls. First they talk about the fear, then Maury has the thing that the guest fears brought out, guest freaks out and runs backstage. Somehow, they're all cured by the end of the show. |
| 225 | * ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'': In addition to arachnophobia, Zack is not especially comfortable around mice, snakes, or most types of insects. If the plot calls for it, he can overcome the fear long enough to defeat the MonsterOfTheWeek, but the issues never fully go away and are often PlayedForLaughs. |
| 226 | * ''{{Series/Monk}}'': Adrian Monk has a '''''VERY''''' long list of irrational fears, including milk, glaciers, clouds, chalk, bees, blenders, [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs bees in blenders]], soccer riots, round things, dryer lint, underwear, harmonicas, mixed vegetables, "the miracle of birth", and [[LiteralMetaphor fear itself]]. |
| 227 | * ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'': In the ''Barber Shop Sketch'' the barber has a fear of ''cutting hair'', which makes him murder every client he gets. As it turns out he would have rather been a lumberjack... |
| 228 | * In the ''Series/MurdochMysteries'' episode "Murdochophobia", the episode is spent surrounding a group of asylum patients being treated for their phobias, one of whom is afraid of ''feathers''. However, beyond the initially absurd introduction, this aspect is PlayedForDrama as the episode's murderer is literally trying to scare the patients to death (the aforementioned patient suffers a terrible panic attack after a rigged pillow sets off in her room, showering her in feathers). Murdoch himself also admits he's phobic of butterflies; at first, Dr. Ogden believes he's rather patronizingly attempting to connect with her patients and starts laughing when she realizes he's serious. |
| 229 | -->'''Murdoch:''' I certainly hope that isn't the reaction you give your patients. |
| 230 | * Gerry in ''Series/NewTricks'' has a phobia of woods and forests, due to being lost in one as a child when his friends ran away and abandoned him. His colleagues display as much sympathy as you might expect. |
| 231 | * ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': Miss Brooks is generally portrayed as a strong character. However, she is frightened of snakes. In "Cure That Habit", Miss Brooks is less than pleased by Stretch Snodgrass' milk snake, Clarence. Miss Brooks briefly climbs onto a chair when she thinks Clarence is loose in Mr. Conklin's office. |
| 232 | * ''Series/OutOfThisWorld1987'': Donna has a fear of gelatin. |
| 233 | -->"I don't like the way it wiggles around. It's just not right." |
| 234 | * ''Series/{{Psych}}'' episode "Shawn Interrupted" featured a possibly crazy, possibly ObfuscatingInsanity character with an Absurd Phobia of ''saxophones''. Cue Gus putting on some Kenny G and the ''genuinely'' crazy man having a panic attack. |
| 235 | * ''Series/RonenAndRenana'': This Israeli comedic education show featured a skit where a librarian blackmails someone by threatening to splash water on him. She figured out his fear of water based on his aversion towards the book ''Literature/ThreeMenInABoat'' and that he once ran screaming at the sight of a glass of water. |
| 236 | * ''Series/SchittsCreek'': David Rose has a number of phobias, including heights, moths and butterflies, and businesswomen in sneakers. |
| 237 | * ''{{Series/Seinfeld}}'': George Costanza refuses to carry a pen around with him because he's afraid that it might accidentally puncture his scrotum. |
| 238 | * ''Series/TheSketchShow'': The "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koNwUeG-iKE Phobias Workshop]]" sketch is about a support group for people with these. The group has one member who is afraid of the word "Aagh!", one who is afraid of apologies, one who is afraid of repetition, one who is afraid of awkward silences, and one who doesn't have a phobia but who compulsively barks at other people's. They keep setting one another off. |
| 239 | * ''Series/TheSlammer'' has a TyrantTakesTheHelm episode where the Governor is replaced by Mr. Beltsem, who suffers from 'show-biz phobia': a crippling affliction for someone running a prison for show-biz offenders. |
| 240 | * In ''{{Series/Smallville}}'', Clark Kent had a crippling fear of heights, despite his invulnerability. He eventually gets over it. |
| 241 | * ''Series/SoAwkward'': In "Friendundancy", Ollie decides that due to his fear of clothes, he can't take the girls talking about clothes anymore. |
| 242 | * ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': |
| 243 | ** Dean Winchester, a man who grew up hunting ghosts, demons, and all manner of supernatural monsters and is one of the greatest hunters who ever lived, is so afraid of flying that it causes panic attacks. |
| 244 | ** Sam Winchester, who also grew up hunting monsters, is also one of the greatest hunters who ever lived, has demon blood in his veins and is very, very tall, is afraid of clowns. |
| 245 | ** There's also a pantophobia episode wherein Dean contracts ghost sickness and develops a fear of everything, including speeding, high floors, ghosts, cats, dogs, and teenagers, among others. |
| 246 | * Gaz from ''Series/TwoPintsOfLagerAndAPacketOfCrisps'' has a crippling fear of sheep. He even sings a little ditty to himself before going to bed so that he doesn't dream about them. |
| 247 | * In ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'' one of the lasting effects of Kimmy's fifteen years in the bunker is a fear of Velcro. Eventually explained as related to the moment when she was first abducted: she was alone and vulnerable because she fell behind her friends while struggling to deal with Velcro straps on her shoes. |
| 248 | * In ''Series/Zoey101'', Lola reveals during a psychology class that she has a fear of people in mascot costumes due to a man in a hot dog costume falling over and nearly trampling her when she was five. |
| 249 | [[/folder]] |
| 250 | |
| 251 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 252 | * 2D from {{Music/Gorillaz}} has an irrational fear of whales, Although he is later swallowed by one, only surviving due to the whale dying before he could be digested. |
| 253 | * "Bang" ("Frightened") by Music/DoeMaar from their album ''Music/VirusAlbum'' is about somebody who feels anxious and frightened of all kinds of things but is unsure why. |
| 254 | * Liam Payne of the band Music/OneDirection has a phobia of spoons, exaggerated for comedic effect in the fanvid series ''The Adventurous Adventures of One Direction''. |
| 255 | * The Music/{{Psychostick}} song ''"Quack Kills"'' is about a man who's afraid of ducks and convinced they're trying to kill him. [[spoiler: The song ends with him being attacked by a massive flock of ducks. Twice.]] |
| 256 | * Music/{{Eminem}} admitted in 2010 to having a phobia of giraffes, and his fans frequently bully him in social media replies with giraffe gifs. This is part of why he called his self-declared ArchNemesis Benzino "[the opposite of] a giraffe" in his 2024 song "Doomsday Pt. 2" (the other half is Benzino's lack of a neck). |
| 257 | [[/folder]] |
| 258 | |
| 259 | [[folder:Podcasts]] |
| 260 | * ''Podcast/TheThrillingAdventureHour'': Frank and Sadie Doyle regularly face down supernatural threats, such as ghosts, genies, and even actual gods. Despite this, they both have a crippling fear of bees after a NoodleIncident in which a bee got into their apartment; every time it's mentioned it's with a touch of terror or dread. In "The Haunting of Howard Schroeder", the Doyles calmly explain to a MonsterClown that they see ghosts all the time, socially even, and there is nothing in the world that can frighten them; they completely freak out when Sadie notices that a bee has gotten in. |
| 261 | * ''Podcast/Wolf359'': In a season 3 episode, [[spoiler: Jacobi]] has an "inexplicable, nearly pathological fear of ducks." |
| 262 | [[/folder]] |
| 263 | |
| 264 | [[folder:Radio]] |
| 265 | * ''Radio/BleakExpectations:'' |
| 266 | ** Mr. Benevolent is terrified of badgers. The mere thought of the "appallingly stripey" creatures is enough to drive him away, until series 3, where he without comment is no longer afraid of them. |
| 267 | ** After the opening episode of series 3, Pip Bin develops a fear of cheese, thanks to Mr. Benevolent ''cheeseboarding'' him. |
| 268 | * ''Radio/OldHarrysGame'': It's a minor RunningGag that Satan himself is creeped out by...motorcycle couriers. |
| 269 | * ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': In "A Demonstration of Male Superiority", Miss Brooks and Mrs. Davis are terrified by a mouse. Walter Denton chases it away, and is much amused. Walter also laughs about how Mrs. Conklin and Harriet were scared by a praying mantis. [[spoiler: Miss Brooks is shown to be much braver than Walter, Mr. Conklin and Mr. Boynton. When the four are accidentally locked in a freezer, Miss Brooks is the only one not to panic.]] |
| 270 | [[/folder]] |
| 271 | |
| 272 | [[folder:Roleplay]] |
| 273 | * ''Roleplay/DestroyTheGodmodder'': The [[AntagonistTitle titular antagonist]] is terrified of tubas, to the point where seeing one in his chronologically early incarnations could easily be used to deal damage. He's gotten less scared of them as he continues fighting the Descendants, however. |
| 274 | [[/folder]] |
| 275 | |
| 276 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 277 | * ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Phobiak Madboyz are commonly afraid of something small and insignificant, such as insects or other small animals, the sight of which will send them into paroxysms of terror. |
| 278 | * ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'': The Irrational Phobia mutation, one of the mutation options in the 2E ''Tome of Corruption'', causes its bearer to develop a crippling, irrational fear of some random thing -- sample options include Elves, Dwarfs, Halflings, men, women, children, ham, and salt water. |
| 279 | [[/folder]] |
| 280 | |
| 281 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 282 | * ''VideoGame/{{Afterlife|1996}}:'' The "Fear, Unlimited" generic punishment dedicates itself to inventing new kinds of phobia, then testing them out and implementing them on the damned souls that are tossed their way to torment them more and more. Given as examples are the fear of [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou characters in a movie stepping out of the screen to murder you]] and the fear of fizzy drinks. |
| 283 | * ''VideoGame/Borderlands3'': In the DLC "Guns, Love, and Tentacles", Wainwright asks the Vault Hunters if there's anything that scares them. Moze is terrified of exploding bees, Amara fears her personal trainer on leg day, Zane is so terrified of birds that he can't even eat ''chicken nuggets'', and [=FL4K=] admits to being afraid of... tapioca. |
| 284 | -->'''[=FL4K=]:''' That texture. ''Ugh''. |
| 285 | * ''VideoGame/DragonCity'': In his description, the Gingerbread Dragon is said to be terrified of milk. |
| 286 | * ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': Exdeath is stated to have a fear of turtles, a reference to Ghido the tortoise sage from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV''. |
| 287 | * ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': |
| 288 | ** Every playable character has a voiceover where they bring up their [[DoesNotLikeSpam least favorite food]] (except for Jean, who says that she can't afford to be a PickyEater, and Xiangling, who says she'll eat anything). For Lisa, she claims to be afraid of pumpkins. |
| 289 | ** One of Xinyan's {{Idle Animation}}s suggests that she has some fear of frogs, or is at least easily startled by their croaking. |
| 290 | * In ''VideoGame/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream'', Ellen has a crippling fear of the color yellow. It's predictably a hindrance in her area, as AM has painted several rooms and things yellow. [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed that Ellen was once raped by a stranger in a yellow jumpsuit, and the trauma broke her. She doesn't consciously remember the event, only the color yellow. On the upside, after AM forces her to confront the rapist again and she manages to defeat him, she no longer fears the color.]] |
| 291 | * In ''VideoGame/HogwartsLegacy'', one sidequest involves helping a student named Duncan who's become a laughingstock after people find out he's afraid of Puffskeins, which are basically balls of fur with PuppyDogEyes. This led to him earning the EmbarrassingNickname of "Puffskein Dunkein". |
| 292 | * In ''VideoGame/KingOfTheCastle'', the Spy Network ambition involves the King's Spymaster infiltrating the courts of the entire Council of Nobles with her spies, disguised as travelling bards. If the ambition succeeds, she tells the King that one of the nobles is irrationally terrified of lemons, and at the next Council meeting, she {{Blackmail}}s the noble in question into doing as the King commands by casually offering them a glass of lemonade. |
| 293 | * In "The Champions' Ballad" DLC for ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', Daruk is revealed to have a phobia of [[spoiler:dogs. It stems from an incident in his childhood where he angered a dog by stepping on its tail. It's especially comedic when he curls up in fear upon seeing a dog less than a tenth his size that he had just saved from a pack of [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Bokoblins]] he fearlessly attacked right beforehand.]] |
| 294 | * Princess Zelda from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'' is afraid of mice. This may seem rather reasonable for a young princess, but this keeps an issue when she's turned into a ghost and has to take over the big, heavily armored phantoms to have a physical body. So you'll have the sight of a terrifying armor with a huge sword stopping dead with fear until you kill the nearby mice. This even extends to one of the phases of the final battle, when the BigBad surrounds her with ghostly mice to incapacitate her. |
| 295 | * Chase [=McCain=] from ''VideoGame/LegoCityUndercover'', immediately after scaling a building and being thankful he doesn't have vertigo or [[TemptingFate some other ridiculous phobia]], is revealed to be terrified of French parrots. |
| 296 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Littlewood}}'', Dalton states he's terrified of vegetables due to what he describes as "[[NoodleIncident the carrot incident.]]" |
| 297 | * One of the Toads you lead on an EscortMission in ''VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon'' has a fear of clocks and gears, which even he admits is irrational. So, naturally, that takes place in the Old Clockworks mansion. And you've gotta carry him past that which scares him. |
| 298 | * ''VideoGame/MegaMan9'': Splash Woman is weak to Hornet Man's Bee Chaser, so (or since) bees are her worst enemy. But, since she is a mermaid, she ''should'' have the water to protect her, since bees cannot tolerate her natural environment. |
| 299 | * ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'': |
| 300 | ** Guybrush Threepwood has a crippling fear of porcelain that is never explained. |
| 301 | ** Meathook is terrified of the beast that supposedly claimed his hands long ago, and which he forces Guybrush to confront if the latter wants to prove himself worthy. The beast turns out to be an ordinary parrot and is harmless. |
| 302 | * ''VideoGame/MrSaitou'': Saitou has an unexplained fear of the giant, harmless birds called Minimori. He refuses to get anywhere near one, and whenever he finds himself in a room packed with Minimori, he screams in terror and burrows underground while Brandon assures him that there's nothing to worry about. |
| 303 | * Buddy of ''VideoGame/MySims Agents'' is afraid of pudding, and casually mentions [[ArtisticLicenseHistory Pudding War I]]. Justified, as he's allergic to it. |
| 304 | * ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'': Walter, in a rather spectacular moment of [[InVinoVeritas drunken honesty]]: |
| 305 | -->'''Walter:''' Yeah... I'm Walter. I'm the son of a fisherman... But I'm scared of fish! I must go tell everyone! |
| 306 | * Arlene from ''VideoGame/StickItToTheMan'' had a phobia of grapes up until she got therapy for it. |
| 307 | * The ruthless ranger lord Nathanos Marris (who would become Nathanos Blightcaller, one of the most fearsome warriors of the Horde, after dying and being raised in undeath) is revealed, in the ''Dragonflight'' expansion for ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', to have a phobia of ducks (and to also dislike most other birds, though not as much as he does ducks). |
| 308 | [[/folder]] |
| 309 | |
| 310 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 311 | * In ''VisualNovel/IkemenSengoku'', it's revealed in Sasuke's Dramatic route that the normally stoic, intelligent, and rational Sasuke has a deep fear of butterflies. The main character, upon learning this, tries and utterly fails to hold back her laughter. |
| 312 | * In Sasami's route of ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters'', Masato develops a fear of cats after [[spoiler:Sasami knocks him out in her cat form twice]]. No one except Riki (who knows the context behind it) takes his fear seriously. |
| 313 | * The girl from ''VisualNovel/MilkInsideABagOfMilkInsideABagOfMilk'' and its sequel is afraid of the letter O. This is just one of her many crippling insecurities and mental issues. And naturally she has to face it. |
| 314 | * In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'', in one conversation during the third act, Trucy states that, [[NoodleIncident one time]], presumably while making a magic act, she accidentally made a girl get prasinophobia, a fear of the color green. Problem is, that girl was a landscape artist, so her career was practically ruined, and made Trucy feel so bad she could not stand green things anymore, developing prasinophobia as well. Athena believes it's just an excuse, however. |
| 315 | * The [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Lilim]] in ''[[VisualNovel/Va11HallA VA-11 Hall-A]]'' have their fears programmed completely at random. [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold Dorothy]], in particular, has a fear of dogs and chinchillas. |
| 316 | [[/folder]] |
| 317 | |
| 318 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 319 | * ''WebAnimation/ActuallyHappened'': Due to her schizophrenia, Kylie from "I Am Schizophrenic and Stopped Taking My Pills" has some pretty strange fears. She's afraid of staircases, crosswalks, the colors red and yellow, and traffic lights. |
| 320 | * A guy in ''WebAnimation/ASDFMovie 8'' has a fear of backstories. When he consults a doctor who asks how said phobia began, he starts screaming in terror. |
| 321 | * Mera from ''WebAnimation/EpithetErased'' is terrified of ducks, [[spoiler:though this is somewhat justified since [[GlassCannon her Epithet]] would make it easy for a duck to seriously injure her.]] In her words, "they're small, and fast, and they bite, okay?!" |
| 322 | * ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': |
| 323 | ** In "That a Ghost", Old-Timey Marzipan is "suh-suh-suh-suh-suh-scared" of pumpkins. Not even jack-o-lanterns, just pumpkins growing on the vine. She's actually relieved when The Homestar Runner suggests leaving the "Punkin Patch" to go to a graveyard. |
| 324 | ** In the 2019 Halloween episode "The Homestar Runner Enters the Spooky Woods", The Homestar Runner must travel through the spooky woods and face his fears... which take the form of a middle-school life science textbook, decorative toothpicks, and the [[ZigZaggingTrope more-understandable but still oddly-specific]] "[[BreadEggsMilkSquick dead raccoon being held by a family of wet pigeons]]". |
| 325 | * ''WebAnimation/PuffinForest'': Ben's character [[IdiotHero Alagaros]] is afraid of libraries. |
| 326 | * In ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'', Grif is afraid of bats. Never mind that he's in PoweredArmor that no bat could ever penetrate (as Simmons points out), he won't even go into the cave under Blood Gulch due to the possibility of there being bats. |
| 327 | [[/folder]] |
| 328 | |
| 329 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 330 | * Scott of ''Webcomic/BasicInstructions'' [[http://www.basicinstructions.net/basic-instructions/2017/1/5/how-to-face-your-fear once mentioned]] a fear of birds. The "absurd" part was that it included pigeons and [[Series/SesameStreet Big Bird]]. According to later commentary, the real Scott apparently developed a dislike of birds from having been around raised peacocks in his youth. |
| 331 | * In ''Webcomic/{{Erma}}'', the titular StringyHairedGhostGirl, who has beaten Literature/{{It}} to a pulp and leaves the monster under her bed quivering in terror, is scared of Santa Claus. Just hearing what she thinks are sleigh bells will cause her to grab a knife for protection. |
| 332 | * ''Webcomic/LeagueOfSuperRedundantHeroes'': |
| 333 | ** Laser Pony is ''extremely'' arachnophobic. Made absurd by the fact that whenever he's made aware of the presence of spiders, he freaks out and [[EyeBeams lasers]] everything around him until it's dead. Considering the fact that he's blind... His friend and fellow hero Arachno-Dude points out that he's a spider-themed hero. [[http://superredundant.com/?comic=268-revelations The results aren't pretty.]] |
| 334 | ** Good Girl is secretly afraid of being electrocuted whenever she vacuums. |
| 335 | * ''Webcomic/ManlyGuysDoingManlyThings''. [[http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/comic/the-tale-of-commanders-irrational-millipede-phobia These]] [[http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/comic/of-course-the-millipede-planet-has-an-oxygen-rich-atmosphere-how-else-would-the-millipedes-survive three]] [[http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/comic/i-think-this-page-sumarizes-a-lot-of-what-i-like-about-commander comics]] talk about [[ColonelBadass Commander's]] irrational millipede phobia. |
| 336 | -->'''Commander:''' Look, unless you done two tours 'a duty on th' Millipede Planet in Millipede Season you don' get t' judge. |
| 337 | * Yuki of ''Webcomic/MenageA3'' has her fear of phalluses, due to inadvertently reading a hentai doujinshi when she was very young. Not especially comic in itself, but played for (rather cruel) laughs in that she hallucinates tentacles whenever she sees a penis, and then goes into a berserk fugue state. Which is kind of rough on Gary, the LoserProtagonist who wants to date her. |
| 338 | * In one ''Webcomic/NameRemoved'' strip, Rabish becomes afraid of birds after watching Rabid get eaten by a [[FeatheredFiend giant penguin]]. |
| 339 | * ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': Durkon, like all other dwarves, is terrified of trees (the roots of which break into their tunnels and are thus seen as violent invaders). In dwarf culture, destroying a tree is an act of heroism. The argument goes something like this: Thor is the god of lightning. The vast majority of lightning bolts strike trees. Therefore, trees must be Thor's mortal enemies. I mean, Thor wouldn't waste a perfectly good lightning bolt on a supposedly harmless tree just for shits and giggles, would he? (Well, yes, actually he would...) Thor himself has tried to repeatedly explain this to his followers when they arrive in Valhalla and freak out at the trees dotting the landscape, but it's so ingrained in Dwarf culture they have difficulty grasping the concept. At this point, he usually just gives up and tells them that these trees are good-aligned individuals [[DefectorFromDecadence who have turned against their evil kin]]. |
| 340 | * ''Webcomic/{{Parisa}}'': Jiro is afraid of revolving doors, which proves to be a problem when he tries entering the wrestling stadium. |
| 341 | * Finn of ''Webcomic/WarriorU'' has a phobia of horses. Justified since during his childhood he was attacked by a [[https://web.archive.org/web/20130601074935/http://warrior-u.com/?p=342 psychopathic unicorn]] |
| 342 | [[/folder]] |
| 343 | |
| 344 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 345 | * EvilOverlordList: |
| 346 | ** #64 recommends [[DefiedTrope getting all "extremely unusual phobias" cured]], because SanityHasAdvantages. |
| 347 | ** #221 suggests faking an AchillesHeel to fool TheHero; the example given involves recoiling from mirrors throughout the majority of the story so that when the Hero shoves one in your face during the FinalBattle you can simply shrug it off with "I think I need a shave". |
| 348 | [[/folder]] |
| 349 | |
| 350 | [[folder:Websites]] |
| 351 | * ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' brings us [[https://www.cracked.com/article_16472_6-absurd-phobias-and-people-who-actually-have-them.html 6 Absurd Phobias (And The People Who Actually Have Them)]]. |
| 352 | [[/folder]] |
| 353 | |
| 354 | [[folder:Web Videos]] |
| 355 | * An episode of ''WebVideo/{{Badman}}'' features [[IKnowWhatYouFear the Scarecrow]] using his fear gas to fight Batman. The results are... [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpzKMr4fJwg unexpected]]. |
| 356 | * ''WebVideo/Formula1'': The absurdity of Pascal Wehrlein's answer of waking up early in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgGnoIGcdYI Grid Confessions: What Scares F1 Drivers?]]'' compared to the other drivers who gave far more normal fears like spiders and heights, is highlighted by him being placed last. |
| 357 | * WebVideo/TheNecroCritic has an admitted fear of babies that is PlayedForLaughs in his ''Film/BabyGeniuses'' review. |
| 358 | * ''WebVideo/SuperMarioLogan'''s version of Bowser becomes afraid of bananas after his son Junior forces him to watch a scary movie with him. On the 3rd time, Bowser gets a fear of milk. |
| 359 | ** A justified example in "Bowser Junior's Biggest Fear". Junior is paranoid that cotton balls would kill him due to [[spoiler:Bowser shoving cotton balls in his mouth when he was a baby in an attempt to substitute a pacifier]]. |
| 360 | ** "Jeffy's Biggest Fear" has [[TheDitz Jeffy]] be afraid of the number 7 the day after Junior tells him the classic "why is 6 afraid of 7?" joke. Hilarity ensues. |
| 361 | * ''WebVideo/VesterAndFriends'': Red Yoshi is scared of VideoGame/{{Minecraft}} because it is too pixelated. |
| 362 | ** While it looks like Blue Yoshi is scared of Brum, in episode 7 of ''Total Drama Plush Season 1'' it is revealed he was faking it the whole time. Subverting this trope. |
| 363 | ** Yellow Yoshi is scared of the Platform/PlayStation2 Red Screen Of Death. |
| 364 | ** Black Yoshi is afraid of the Nintendo Switch because he thinks it will beat Sony. |
| 365 | * In the ''Hello My Name Is Generic'' sketch [[https://youtu.be/CGTzWAqwHtg?si=ZR1F381IRCHFQ-h1 "Homophobia"]], Steve tells Ryan his friend Dylan is coming over and warns him that he's homophobic. Ryan, who has recently come out, complains before Steve clarifies that he is [[NotHyperbole actually afraid of gay people.]] When Dylan arrives, he immediately freaks out upon seeing Ryan and leaves. In TheStinger, Dylan screams when he runs into another man, who shouts that he's [[MistakenForGay not gay]]. |
| 366 | * A RunningGag in WebVideo/DougDoug's streams involves donations from chatters who claim to be afraid of something specific to whatever is happening in the stream, or some kind of negative effect that is similarly applied to whatever Doug is playing, and then innocently asking what is happening. |
| 367 | -->'''jackarie'''[[note]]during "Can you cross ALL of Tears of the Kingdom in a straight line?"[[/note]]: Hi doug! I'm late to the stream, i've just been getting over my intense fear of people making epic fucking comebacks while walking in a straight line. Looking forward to watching! |
| 368 | [[/folder]] |
| 369 | |
| 370 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 371 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': An episode where Jimmy invents a DreamWalker machine to help Carl with his nightmares reveals that the "horrible spooky thing" that Carl doesn't want to talk about is lima beans. Jimmy thinks this is just a case of DoesNotLikeSpam at first, but when he meets a lima bean in Carl's dream, it grows to giant size and reveals itself as a terrifying ManEatingPlant. (It is defeated by luring it out of the dream, where it becomes harmless and is semi-reluctantly eaten by Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen.) |
| 372 | * ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': |
| 373 | ** Stan has an unexplained phobia of seagulls. |
| 374 | --->'''Stan:''' A SEAGULL? WHERE? Don't let it touch me with its feet! |
| 375 | ** He eventually conquers this fear when he and Roger are stranded on a small island atoll for several months, and seagulls are the only edible thing around. |
| 376 | ** And his son Steve is shown to be afraid of moths. |
| 377 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'': In "The Squirrels", the kids in Elwood City all develop a temporary phobia of squirrels after seeing a movie called "The Squirrels" a la ''Film/TheBirds''. |
| 378 | * ''WesternAnimation/BackAtTheBarnyard'': In "Buyers Beware", Otis tries to scare away an old lady who he thinks is someone trying to buy the farm from them. Unfortunately, she isn't fazed by the underworld, zombies, earthquakes, locusts, or ''any'' of the creepy things Otis claims the barnyard contains. She doesn't even freak out when Otis admits he's a talking cow! Otis gives up and hands her the keys to the barn... and she freaks out and drives away because she's terrified of ''jingling keys''. |
| 379 | * ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'': When Batman [[FreakyFridayFlip gets stuck in the body]] of a CaptainErsatz of Batwoman, he [[SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay proves his identity]] to Nightwing by citing that the latter is "deathly afraid of monkeys". |
| 380 | * ''WesternAnimation/BeCoolScoobyDoo'': Something of a subversion, in that the gang takes it seriously when he's confronted by it, but they aren't above mocking him when he isn't. Fred isn't afraid of heights. He's afraid of ''widths''. He believes it's more rational than Velma's more traditional fear of water because: |
| 381 | --> '''Fred:''' The human body is 85% water. But how ''wide'' are we? Hmm? |
| 382 | * ''WesternAnimation/BestAndBester'': In "Get the Hump", Bester is revealed to have a fear of camels. This becomes a problem when the prize for Diamondo's dance-off is a ride back home on a camel. |
| 383 | * ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'': |
| 384 | ** "[[Recap/BobsBurgersS1E7BedAndBreakfast Bed and Breakfast]]" reveals that Teddy has an irrational fear of costumed mascots that stems from catching one ''in flagrante delecto'' with his ex-wife. After [[EnfanteTerrible Louise]] sics a bunch of "Fuzzy Buddies" she hired from a party supply store on him in an effort to get her bedroom back, Teddy claims to have mostly worked out his issues. |
| 385 | ** "[[Recap/BobsBurgersS6E11HouseOfA1000Bounces House of 1000 Bounces]]": Bob has a fear of pigeons stemming from him being attacked by a flock of them in the attic of an old house. [[spoiler:He got over it after he realized that he was describing a scene from ''Film/TheBirds''. Apparently he watched it as a kid and it freaked him out.]] Teddy comments in the same episode that he used to be scared of babies. |
| 386 | * ''WesternAnimation/BugsBunnyBuilders'': In "Dino Fright", when Tweety reveals to the other Looney Builders that he is afraid of dinosaurs during the task of assembling a dinosaur skeleton, they try to help him overcome his fear by revealing their fears. Porky reveals that he's afraid of jack-in-the-boxes, being sung to on his birthday, and flushing toilets. He also reveals that Daffy is afraid of kites, to which Daffy tells him that was supposed to be kept a secret. |
| 387 | * ''WesternAnimation/CampLakebottom'': In "Cheeks of Dread", after much needling, [=McGee=] finds out that Gretchen has a phobia of chipmunks. [[spoiler: The [[MonsterOfTheWeek episode's monster]] turns out to be a [[KillerRabbit vicious chipmunk]] that keeps a giant pile of skulls from the [[ImAHumanitarian people it has devoured]].]] |
| 388 | * ''WesternAnimation/ChopSockyChooks'': In one episode, we learn that Chucky Chan is afraid of a toy duck called Mr. Quackers for unknown reasons while K.O. Joe is afraid of jelly beans due to getting one stuck up his nose as a baby. |
| 389 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Dilbert}}'': "The Gift" reveals that Dilbert is terrified of the local mall, due to losing his father there as a child. He didn't die or anything, he was distracted by the Red Oyster seafood buffet, taking their [[BuffetBuffoonery All You Can eat offer as a personal challenge]] and completely forgot about his son, who ended up alone and traumatized in the crowd. He's ''still there'' over 20 years later when Dilbert finally returns to conquer his phobia once and for all (and find a birthday gift for Dilmom). |
| 390 | * ''WesternAnimation/EarthWormJim'': [[PlanetOfHats The Planet of Easily Frightened People]] is home to people terrified of just about everything they encounter. |
| 391 | -->'''Two inhabitants:''' AAAHH! A crow! AAAHH! A rock!\ |
| 392 | '''Psycrow:''' Ehehehe! I love this planet.\ |
| 393 | '''Two inhabitants:''' AAAHH! A bug! AAAHH! Air! |
| 394 | * ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'': Ed is shown to be afraid of soap and deodorant in "Once Upon an Ed", and the fear of soap becomes a plot point in "Run For Your Ed" when Double D's solution to [[ItMakesSenseInContext removing a ship in a bottle stuck on his finger]] being to lubricate it with soap to slip it off. He also has a fear of wigs and hairpieces as shown in "X Marks the Ed"; for context, Eddy had a pimple on his head that he tried to cover up with his dad's toupee. |
| 395 | -->'''Ed:''' ATTACK THE WIG! ''[does so, specifically with his teeth]''\ |
| 396 | '''Edd:''' Ed, you're violating a hairpiece!\ |
| 397 | '''Ed:''' ''[frowns, in earnest]'' Wigs [[LampshadeHanging scare me]], Double-D. |
| 398 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': |
| 399 | ** The Yugopotamians have a species-wide phobia of such innocent things as candy, flowers, small children, displays of affection, and anything cute, safe, or fun. Justified in that, biologically, [[GoodHurtsEvil these things can actually hurt and/or kill them.]] |
| 400 | ** "[[Recap/TheFairlyOddParentsS2E22DejaVu Déjà Vu]]": Francis appears to have a phobia of getting wet. |
| 401 | --->''[Timmy throws a water balloon at him]''\ |
| 402 | '''Francis:''' WATER! IT BURNS! AAAAAAAAH!! |
| 403 | ** "[[Recap/TheFairlyOddParentsS4E7ABadCaseOfDiaryUh A Bad Case of Diary-Uh!]]": One of the embarrassing secrets revealed in Vicky's journal is her fear of cows. In the same episode, Timmy is revealed to have a fear of both clowns and feet. Vicky manages to use both [[ItMakesSenseInContext (along with his allergy to oranges)]] against him by going to his school and declaring "Barefoot Orange-Juggling Clown Day". ''[[RuleOfThree Also]]'' in the same episode, OneShotCharacter Winston Dunsworth is revealed to be scared of [[PinkMeansFeminine the color pink]], which Timmy has Wanda exploit so Vicky could save him from the "cute, pink squirrel she thinks is overweight". |
| 404 | ** [[NoodleIncident It's not known exactly why]], but Cosmo will have a breakdown hearing the words "Super Toilet". |
| 405 | --->'''Cosmo:''' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis SO!]] [[MadnessMantra MUCH!]] [[RunningGag CLOGGING!]] ''[[[TroubledFetalPosition enters fetal position]], starts sucking his thumb]'' |
| 406 | ** "[[Recap/TheFairlyOddParentsS6E15WishingWell Wishing Well]]": Timmy goes to a boot camp with two other kids, Molly and Dwight, to learn to deal with things without wishing. One of the challenges has all the kids face their fears. While Timmy and Molly have reasonable fears ([[BabysitterFromHell Vicky]] and [[SnakesAreSinister snakes]], respectively), Dwight is afraid of a ''harpoon''. |
| 407 | --->'''Dwight:''' I dreamt I was a whale once, and it wanted my blubber! |
| 408 | * ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': |
| 409 | ** Playing with the SlidingScaleOfAnthropomorphism, Brian, an erudite talking dog, [[FurryReminder freaks out when Lois turns on the vacuum and chases him around the room with it]]. He also has a fear of the sound of nickels rattling in a can, ambulance sirens, and helicopters. |
| 410 | --->"Stop it, you're scaring me! UGH, it's so loud! *starts barking at it*" |
| 411 | ** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS3E15ReadyWillingAndDisabled Ready, Willing and Disabled]]": One of the "[[UsefulNotes/ParalympicGames Special Peoples' Games]]", one of the events is "100 Meter Mash for People Afraid of Yellow Tape". It ends up being a close finish, largely because everyone is too panicked to cross the line until one of them powers through it and wins. |
| 412 | * ''WesternAnimation/FetchWithRuffRuffman'': Ruff's fear of ballet and [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes spiders]] is somewhat PlayedForDrama via a DarkAndTroubledPast. Back then, Ruff was going to star in a ballet that involved fake spiders, but on opening night, Spotnik snuck in, replaced the fake spiders with real spiders, and dumped them onto Ruff; [[PrankGoneTooFar which ruined the show and severely traumatized Ruff ever since]]. It took Brian, Sterling, and [[TheCutie Bethany's]] efforts in their challenges to help Ruff love ballet again. |
| 413 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'': The weak spot of the Hatrock family (a bunch of hard-core hillbillies[[note]]and by "hard-core" we mean "an Expy of ComicStrip/TheAddamsFamily [[HorrifyingTheHorror is wrestled into submission]]"[[/note]] the Flintstones encounter in two episodes) is an {{Expy}} of Music/TheBeatles. |
| 414 | * ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'': While not "phobias", per se, Eduardo easily gets frightened of many ordinary things. One of the more absurd examples is when the friends are playing frisbee, and he is convinced that the disc is going to eat him. |
| 415 | * ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'': Wade Duck is afraid of an incredibly large amount of things, and many fall into this category. Some of them include: chocolate donuts, finding out it's Tuesday, and being attacked by a legion of crazed Pat Sajak impersonators. |
| 416 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheGarfieldShow'': "Fraidy Cat" revolves around Dr. Whipple creating an invention that can be used to remove people's fears as well as give them fears they didn't have already. In a commercial where he advertises his service of using the device to cure people of their phobias, he mentions some rather ridiculous fears, including a fear of sitting on a grilled cheese sandwich and a fear of moving with your family to Peru and subsequently becoming a toboggan salesman. At the end of the episode, Garfield uses the invention to make Nermal afraid of being too cute and Dr. Whipple afraid of being in a cartoon. |
| 417 | * ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': |
| 418 | ** One Halloween special reveals that Mabel is afraid of Claymation. Grunkle Stan takes the kids to visit the Claymation animator who is living in Gravity Falls to help her get over it. It's then revealed, that the animator used dark magic to make his clay models move, and they attack the group when they enter his house. Mabel is able to save everyone with a clay monster of her own. She doesn't get over her fear, but she feels vindicated that her fear is justified. |
| 419 | ** "[[Recap/GravityFallsS1E19Dreamscaperers Dreamscaperers]]": When Bill Chipher declares that he can turn the worst nightmares of people Soos says he hopes he's not talking about the "British Dog Man" he sees in his dreams. Immediately a bulldog in a fancy suit, a monocle, and a walking cane appears. |
| 420 | --->'''British Dog Man:''' 'Ello, 'ello, 'ello! Who's crike for a stick in the pudding?\ |
| 421 | '''Soos:''' Ahh! It's everything I ever feared! |
| 422 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': |
| 423 | ** While Billy has the more standard fear of [[SpidersAreScary spiders]], he's also absolutely terrified of clowns, and for some reason, the mailman. When the main characters were facing their worst fears manifest in TheMovie, Billy ended up having to face [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot a clown car full of spider-clown-mailmen]]. |
| 424 | ** Mandy, meanwhile, is afraid of professional figure skaters. |
| 425 | --->'''Mandy:''' ''[defensively]'' That's not a fear! I just don't trust the way they spin is all. |
| 426 | * ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'': The plots of many episodes revolve around Zim developing an insane phobia of a random mundane Earth object/group/action, and taking drastic measures to be rid of it. In some cases, this is justified; for example, his fears of water and meat are because [[WeaksauceWeakness they're corrosive to his alien skin.]] |
| 427 | * ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'': Jimmy is afraid of pickles, which he claims are evil and out to get him. He claims it was due to an incident where fell into a pickle truck and was drenched in pickle brine, but even Beezy and Heloise find his fear to be silly. [[spoiler:Ironically, it's less unjustified than it seems, given that [[BitchInSheepsClothing his neighbor across the street actually is a pickle monster bent on destroying everyone]].]] |
| 428 | * ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': |
| 429 | ** "[[Recap/KimPossibleS3E7OverdueRoachie Roachie]]": Played with. The half-episode begins with Kim chiding Ron for being scared of ordinary bugs and then had Kim totally freaked out by giant roaches (which are actually harmless and friendly when separated from the influence of the story's villain, as shown by one that Ron develops a rapport with). |
| 430 | ** Ron is also afraid of monkeys, one of several phobias he developed thanks to the trauma he experienced while attending [[SummerCampy Camp Wannaweep]] as a child, in this case due to the camp's aggressive and mean-spirited monkey mascot he was forced to share a cabin with. He gradually gets over this phobia as the show progresses, especially after he begins training in Monkey Kung-Fu, and unlocks a superpowered state known as Mystical Monkey Power, which he eventually uses to save the day in the GrandFinale. Ironically, this also nets him a monkey-themed archenemy: [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Monkey Fist]]. |
| 431 | * ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': |
| 432 | ** There is an episode where Hank develops a serious crippling fear of propane, the thing he sells for a living. Justified, in that he had survived a gas leak explosion in the previous episode. |
| 433 | ** Played straight in another episode where the entire cast treats Hank's fear of bats like this. |
| 434 | --->'''Hank:''' You know, we've all got fears. What about Bill's fear of balloons?\ |
| 435 | '''Bill:''' ''[alarmed]'' Where!? |
| 436 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTarzan'': Jane spends a whole episode trying to figure out what Tarzan is afraid of, which seems to be nothing whatsoever. But at the end of the episode, she picks up a powder puff, causing Tarzan to go wide-eyed, jump back, and run out of the room. [[spoiler:He then reveals to Terk that he was faking it to get Jane to stop.]] |
| 437 | * ''WesternAnimation/LetsGoLuna'': In "[[Recap/LetsGoLunaS1E1WhatsTheBigIdeaDayOfTheDead Day of the Dead]]", Luna is helping Carmen to get over her understandable fear of skeletons and suggests laughing in the face of her fear to make it less scary. The whole gang explain the fears they laugh at, which are all pretty reasonable... except for Andy, who laughs in the face of ''asparagus''. |
| 438 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Littlest Pet Shop|2012}}'': |
| 439 | ** Russell apparently has a phobia of marshmallows, justifying it by claiming they're "soft and... squishy..." |
| 440 | ** "[[Recap/LittlestPetShop2012S2E4HeartOfParkness Heart of Parkness]]": Sunil reveals that she's afraid of creatures with six or more legs, loud noises, curtains, avocados, and quiet jazz music -- but she isn't scared of cobras. |
| 441 | ** "[[Recap/LittlestPetShop2012S4E6GameOfGroans Game of Groans]]": Youngmee reveals that she has a fear of jester hats. |
| 442 | * ''WesternAnimation/MightyMax'': [[TheBigGuy Norman]] has arachnophobia so extreme that he once jumped through a ceiling in response to a tiny spider landing on his shoulder. Justified when you learn that [[spoiler:he is destined to die by being eaten by a giant spider]]. |
| 443 | * ''WesternAnimation/MiloMurphysLaw'' plays with this -- while Melissa's fear of roller coasters is perfectly commonplace, the reason WHY she's afraid of them ([[WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb one fell out of the sky on the first day of summer]] and crushed her science project) is what's absurd. Zack's fear of fish (especially bagged ones) and Milo's fear of Chinese finger traps, however, play the trope straight. |
| 444 | * ''WesternAnimation/MoonGirlAndDevilDinosaur'': There are a few of them here: |
| 445 | ** Lunella's mother Adira has a fear of hair relaxers (chemicals that straighten curly hair). This is actually justified, as she used one of them as a child and it made all of her hair fall out. Her reaction to seeing a young Lunella with one, though, was [[NoKillLikeOverkill a little unnecessary]]. |
| 446 | ** Devil Dinosaur, a ''T. rex'' who is bigger than some of the buildings in the LES and will fight villains with no problem... is afraid of jellyfish. Specifically, he's afraid of being ''stung'' by a jellyfish. |
| 447 | ** Lunella/Moon Girl, who is considered fearless by most of the LES and her friends, is afraid of ''Coney Island''. [[spoiler: The Beyonder actually helps her dissect her fear, revealing that she's actually afraid of losing someone she loves, and that she associated Coney Island with that fear because of an incident when she was five where she was separated from Mimi]]. |
| 448 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': |
| 449 | ** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E11PartyPooped Party Pooped]]": According to one of Pinkie Pie's party files, Twilight Sparkle has a fear of quesadillas. |
| 450 | --->'''Twilight:''' They're just so... ''[shudders]'' ''cheesy''. |
| 451 | ** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS0E4StarlightTheHypnotist Starlight the Hypnotist]]": Twilight reveals that she's terrified of ladybugs because when she was a filly, a swarm of them invaded her family home and her brother, Shining Armor, joked that their spots were actually extra eyes. |
| 452 | ** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E13DoPrincessesDreamOfMagicSheep Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?]]": We learn that Rainbow Dash has a phobia of [[SickeninglySweet the ultra-saccharine]]. |
| 453 | ** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS9E13BetweenDarkAndDawn Between Dark and Dawn]]" reveals that [[PhysicalGod Princess Celestia]] is deathly afraid of chickens and needs her little sister, Princess Luna, to scare them away for her. |
| 454 | * ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol'': Ryder is afraid not of daring rescues, his pups or himself being in danger, or any of the other various dangers involved with running a rescue force, but ''Brussels sprouts''. He's even mentioned having nightmares from them. |
| 455 | * ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'': In the various specials, Charlie Brown admits he's afraid of all sorts of things that seem silly. Partly this is justified as he often tries and fails at things to better himself. However, he does rise up to the challenge despite the odds and tries again. |
| 456 | * ''WesternAnimation/PepperAnn'': Nicky's fear of swans is a running gag. This fear, [[spoiler:which her older sister secretly shared]], is revealed to have a specific cause: [[spoiler:they both had the same [[CreepyDoll exceedingly creepy]] toy swan when they were kids]]. [[JustifiedTrope To be fair]], [[KillerRabbit swans are some of the most violently territorial animals on Earth]]. |
| 457 | * ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': |
| 458 | ** Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz has many fears, including heights, bats, and... shellfish. He freely admits that most of his fears are irrational, with the exception of his fear of vending machines, which he insists will one day gain sentience and enslave humanity. His EvilOverlord version from an alternate dimension shares this fear and finds it just as reasonable. |
| 459 | ** His fantasy counterpart Malefishmirtz admits that he's afraid of unicorns, whales, octopuses, pegasi, scorpions, barnacles, and girls. Then a few seconds later a [[MixAndMatchCritter uni-whale-scorpio-Pega-squid-icorn Candace]] appears behind him, though he admits that when combined it's more ridiculous than scary. |
| 460 | ** "[[Recap/PhineasAndFerbMonsterFromTheId Monster from the Id]]" shows that Baljeet is afraid of contractions (the Frankenstein monster of grammar) and Irving is afraid of the color lavender. |
| 461 | ** Candace, for reasons unknown, fears the number seven. Probably because [[{{Pun}} seven ate nine]]. |
| 462 | * ''WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja'': One episode reveals that Randy is afraid of chickens, which gives us this priceless quote: |
| 463 | -->'''Randy:''' Have you ever looked into a chicken's eyes, Howard? [[ThousandYardStare There's nothing there.]] |
| 464 | * ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': Rick mentions that he had a fear of wicker furniture before he [[GrandTheftMe transferred his consciousness]] into a Federation agent. He also has a fear of pirates (despite his passion project, the Pirates of the Pancreas, back in season 1). |
| 465 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'': Chuckie has a long list of these; including shoes, green Jell-O, and "[[BlandNameProduct that guy on the oatmeal box.]]" {{Exaggerated|Trope}} in another episode where Chuckie meets a kid who has even more ridiculous fears than he does, including the fear of being '''eaten''' by oatmeal. |
| 466 | * ''WesternAnimation/SeaPrincesses'': Isa, the Princess of the Penguins, was afraid of water, but with the help of Santa Claus, she overcame her fear. |
| 467 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E11FearOfFlying Fear of Flying]]" it is revealed that Homer has a fear of sock puppets. |
| 468 | * ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS4E1FearOfAKrabbyPattyShellOfAMan Fear of a Krabby Patty]]", [=SpongeBob=] becomes afraid of Krabby Patties after working nonstop and not getting any sleep. |
| 469 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Stanley}}'s Dinosaur Roundup'': After Stanley admits to being afraid of riding on a horse, his pets try to comfort him. Dennis, a goldfish, tells him he felt afraid the first time he tried to ride on a seahorse. Elsie, a cat, says that she used to be afraid of mice. Harry, [[DogsAreDumb a dog]], tells him he used to be afraid of cheese and still gets a little nervous around Gouda. |
| 470 | * ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': Ludo appears to have a phobia of hair stemming from an early birthday party when he was [[ItMakesSenseInContext assaulted by the Tickle-Monster]]. |
| 471 | * ''WesternAnimation/SuperRobotMonkeyTeamHyperforceGo'': In one episode, the whole team has to face their fears. While most of the team had understandable fears, turns out Otto is afraid of clams with feet. |
| 472 | * ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'': |
| 473 | ** In ''Island (2007)'', the episode "[[Recap/TotalDramaPhobiaFactor Phobia Factor]]" shows the castmates' worst fears. While some of them are common, like Owen and Izzy's fear of flying and DJ's fear of snakes, others are very absurd. Examples include Tyler's fear of chickens, Duncan's fear of Celine Dion music store cardboard standees, and Courtney's fear of green jelly. Lindsay and Sadie both share the same fear, bad haircuts (Lindsay originally said her fear was walking through a minefield in heels before changing it). There are also some that are dangerous things but also rather odd, like Heather's (sumo wrestlers), Harold's (ninjas), and Cody's (having to defuse a time bomb). |
| 474 | ** Part 2 of ''Island (2023)'' has the episode ''[[Recap/TotalDramaOffTheHook Off the Hook!]]", which also shows the campers' worst fears, with the two most absurd ones being Priya being afraid of thunder and lightning, and Julia being afraid of old people. The first of Wayne's fears, his best friend Raj playing for a different hockey team, is a subversion since it’s actually a pretty deep fear and a possible sign of separation anxiety. His second fear on the other hand plays the trope straight since it's his own hockey team's mascot, which is just a big cartoony owl costume. |
| 475 | * ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaPresentsTheRidonculousRace'' gives several to [[BornUnlucky the Adversity Twins]], particularly Mickey. Sometimes these include a FreudianExcuse: for example, he's afraid of pencils because he once tripped on a bunch and tumbled down the stairs, and he's afraid of being on stage because of a serious accident he had during a school play. |
| 476 | * ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'': Optimus Prime is shown to have a fear of spiders (despite being a giant robot who can't possibly be hurt by an Earth spider), to the amusement of Sari, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead. [[DeconstructedTrope However]], the episode quickly shows that he isn't so much afraid of spiders as he is [[TraumaButton triggered]] by them: he lost his friend, Elita-1, on a planet full of gigantic spiders (who were big and deadly enough to kill a Cybertronian). |
| 477 | ** Jazz was also afraid of humans in "The Elite Guard", having been told Main/BlatantLies about them by Sentinel Prime. Fortunately, Bulkhead and Bumblebee helped Jazz see better. |
| 478 | * ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'': Subverted in the episode "Scrapheap". At first, it seems ridiculous that the gigantic Autobot warriors would be terrified of the little (even by human standards), adorable Scraplet, and the kids openly question how the Autobots could be afraid of it. It's then revealed that they have a very logical reason for their fear: Scraplets are metal-eating parasites that can eat a Cybertronian alive in minutes. Considering how they possess several rows of razor-sharp teeth and are fast enough to avoid laser blasts, the kids quickly develop a healthy fear of them, too. |
| 479 | * ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRescueBotsAcademy'': In "Tyrannosaurus Wrecked", Whirl mentions that she is afraid of spaghetti. |
| 480 | * ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'': In one episode, the villain Nightmare puts all of New York, except for Spider-Man and Iron Fist, to sleep and traps them in their worst fear. Some fears are logical/common, like Luke Cage's fear of letting his team down or White Tiger's fear of rejection/failure. What is Nova afraid of? [[FauxHorrific Rabbits!]] |
| 481 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheWackyAdventuresOfRonaldMcdonald'' had Grimace reveal in his video call from the live-action portion of ''Scared Silly'' that he is afraid of ''baby ducks''. |
| 482 | * ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'': In "[[Recap/WeBareBearsS4E14MoreEveryonesTube More Everyone's Tube]]", Grizz and Panda discover that Ice Bear, usually the most fearless of the three, is afraid of cucumbers. They shoot a whole video of them pranking Ice Bear by placing cucumbers all over the house and watching him freak out. (Oddly enough, he reacts normally to a pickle.) It ends with Panda dressing up in a cucumber costume, which causes Ice Bear to throw him out the window and end up in traction at the hospital. |
| 483 | * ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'': Omi is afraid of squirrels. Even Jack Spicer thought that was incredibly lame. |
| 484 | [[/folder]] |
| 485 | |
| 486 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 487 | * There are a wide variety of real-life phobias that can come across as this to other people. Including fear of clowns, ducks, babies, hair, vomit, dolls, colors, numbers ([[ThirteenIsUnlucky triskaidekaphobia]]), words, being upside-down, etc... |
| 488 | * Probably the single most generally known "absurd" phobia is a fear of firecrackers and fireworks, [[JustifiedTrope a common side effect of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.]] This one, at least, is well-publicized enough not to be used for comedy, and why more and more cities are banning the use of personal fireworks, or even banning their use at all (e.g. festivals, American Independence Day). |
| 489 | * Creator/HPLovecraft suffered from a wide variety of unusual phobias rooted in his (literal) xenophobia and his general misunderstanding of math, science, and technology. Many of these phobias served as inspiration for his stories. |
| 490 | * According to interviews, Creator/AlfredHitchcock was extremely afraid of eggs. He also was afraid of the police, but that one is a [[PoliceBrutality bit]] [[PoliceAreUseless more]] [[ClearMyName reasonable]]. |
| 491 | * Creator/BillyBobThornton admits to having an unexplained phobia of antique furniture. |
| 492 | * Not even the father of modern psychology was immune to this trope. UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud had a crippling fear of ferns. |
| 493 | * The myth of elephants having a phobia of mice has an element of truth. Elephants' eyesight is not keen enough to clearly see small creatures on the ground, and so they react with fear when they detect unexpected movement from below, not because they hate mice, but because they can't tell the difference between a harmless mouse and a dangerous threat like a snake. Thus their phobia reacts with equal fear, to both harmless creatures and genuine threats. When a mouse is brought up close to the elephant's face, elephants do not tend to fear them at all. |
| 494 | * The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Albert_experiment Little Albert experiment]] where scientists proved classical conditioning in humans by conditioning a baby to fear white lab rats. Eventually they found he feared all white, fluffy things. That's how the story went, anyway, though the experiment has since been questioned a lot. |
| 495 | * In an instance that overlaps with ShapedLikeItself, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobophobia Phobophobia]] is having a phobia of having a phobia. This isn't like [[UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt FDR's]] famous ''"the only thing we have to fear is fear itself"'' but a literal stress reaction to the feelings of being afraid. |
| 496 | [[/folder]] |
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