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| 4 | [[quoteright:300:[[Manga/{{Parasyte}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Parasyte_Hand_3.jpg]]]] |
| 5 | [[caption-width-right:300:His Saturday nights just got incredibly awkward.]] |
| 6 | %% |
| 7 | %% Caption selected per discussion in the Caption Repair thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900&page=162 |
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| 9 | %% |
| 10 | ->''"Arthur, my mustache is touching my brain..."'' |
| 11 | -->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'', "That Mustache Feeling" |
| 12 | |
| 13 | Welcome to the lovely land of Body Horror. Simply put, this is any form of {{Horror}} or {{squick}}iness involving body parts, parasitism, disfigurement, mutation, or unsettling bodily configuration, not induced by immediate violence. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | For example: Being shot in the chest and having your organs exposed is BloodyHorror, not body horror. Turning into a monster is a ForcedTransformation, but still not a body horror. Having your chest tear open of its own free will, exposing your organs as your ribcage is repurposed as a [[BellyMouth gaping maw full of bony teeth]]? ''That'' is Body Horror. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | This trope is difficult to pin down, as it has a wide range of potential applications and invocations, but what they all hinge upon is the PrimalFear of deformity, parasites, contamination, the ravages of disease, and the aftermath of bodily injury. The mind knows on a deep instinctive level that [[EyelessFace faces should have eyes]] and [[EyesDoNotBelongThere hands should not]]. Organs and bones belong on the inside, and parasites and circuit boards do not. Bodies should be roughly symmetrical and have logical proportions. And ''nothing'' should ever look like this page's example image. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Slowly mutating in a [[TransformationHorror sickeningly twisted and deformed manner]] after contracting TheVirus, a [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong close encounter of the squick kind]] leaving someone the incubator for a ChestBurster, [[TheUndead a rotting zombie]], an EldritchAbomination resembling a tangle of organs, and a shapeshifter abandoning any attempt at aesthetics or imitation to become a [[ShapeshifterMashup writhing mass of random but recognizable parts]] are all examples of Body Horror. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Obviously, as a trope based on PrimalFear, body horror is OlderThanDirt. This is also often paired with PsychosexualHorror. Because a lot of these tropes can be the results of medical procedures/experiments gone wrong, it can often pair with MedicalHorror (especially given the early days of medical science... [[https://hydramed.com/blog/12-shocking-and-strange-medical-treatments-from-the-past-a-journey-through-the-bizarre-world-of-historical-medicine yikes...]]). |
| 22 | |
| 23 | For a character or {{Mook|s}} who has this as their back story, see WasOnceAMan and TragicMonster, and/or TheGrotesque. If Body Horror is played for sympathy, it can be used to explore the issue of WhatMeasureIsANonHuman. It can result in AndIMustScream if the victim is aware of their condition but totally helpless. Using this trope can result in OurMonstersAreWeird of the most horrific kind. Often the result of the wacky experiments of an EvilutionaryBiologist. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | Sub-supertrope of EvilIsVisceral. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | [[noreallife]] |
| 28 | ---- |
| 29 | !!Subtopics |
| 30 | [[index]] |
| 31 | * AbnormalDentalGrowth: Growing another set of pearly whites to replace the lost ones. |
| 32 | * BeautyToBeast: Making Casual Friday look very smart indeed. |
| 33 | * BellyMouth: When your stomach not only growls, it ''bites.'' |
| 34 | * TheBlank: When someone takes being TheFaceless a bit ''too'' literally. |
| 35 | * BodyOfBodies: When you can't decide on just one, wear them all. |
| 36 | * BrainInAJar: The ultimate beauty in a bottle. |
| 37 | * BrainMonster: Just in case anyone questioned your intelligence. |
| 38 | * CloneDegeneration: Duplicates aren't here for a long time *or* a good time. |
| 39 | * CreepilyLongArms: Perfect for long-sighted reading. |
| 40 | * CreepyLongFingers: Permanent, personalized chopsticks. |
| 41 | * {{Cyborg}}: Comes with maintenance costs. |
| 42 | * CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Sometimes, [[RussianReversal cybernetics control you]]! |
| 43 | * DemonicHeadShake: When a mere "no" just won't get across. |
| 44 | * EvilHand: [[RussianReversal In body horror, transplant receives you]]! |
| 45 | * ExtraEyes: Giving the term "four-eyes" a whole new disturbing meaning. |
| 46 | * EyelessFace: Eyes ''do'' belong here... |
| 47 | * EyeOnAStalk: One way of making it easier to see things. |
| 48 | * EyesDoNotBelongThere: Or there. Or there. And definitely not ''there''. |
| 49 | * FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: Having your orifices invaded by a monster and its spawn is rarely pleasant to begin with, and typically only gets worse. |
| 50 | * FacialHorror: ''You'' need makeup lessons. |
| 51 | * FleshGolem: MacGyvering meets {{Necromanc|er}}y. |
| 52 | * FlowerMouth: Flower shapes look less pretty when lined with teeth. |
| 53 | * FullConversionCyborg: Proving that the body horror isn't lessened by a lack of meat. |
| 54 | * FoldSpindleMutilation: Fitting a person-shaped peg in a round hole. |
| 55 | * HanahakiDisease: Spitting out flowers from a flowering plant growing in your innards? ''Ouch''! |
| 56 | * HeadHat: Wearing someone else's head as a hat. |
| 57 | * HumanArchitectureHorror: Instead of being for people, the buildings ''are'' people. |
| 58 | * LovecraftianSuperpower: Body horror... weaponized! |
| 59 | * MalevolentMutilation: Sometimes body horror is created intentionally... |
| 60 | * ManInTheMachine: You are locked in a metal coffin, but at least you have internet access. |
| 61 | * MarionetteMotion: When bodies are not allowed to move ''that'' way. |
| 62 | * MeatgrinderSurgery: Crude, but effective. |
| 63 | * MeatMoss: When body horror meets interior decorating. |
| 64 | * MeatSackRobot: When the person is only skin-deep. |
| 65 | * MonsterMouth: Giving your dentist nightmares in more than one way. |
| 66 | * MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: Speaking of a dentist's nightmares... |
| 67 | * {{Mutants}}: Sometimes even the School for Gifted Youngsters has rejects. |
| 68 | * MyBrainIsBig: Extensions with a difference. |
| 69 | * NestedMouths: Mouths don't belong inside of other mouths. |
| 70 | * NightmareFace: Not even a mother could love that. |
| 71 | * OddOrganUpTop: Hey, butthead! |
| 72 | * OrganTheft: Someone stealing your blood or one of your organs while you're helpless to stop it. |
| 73 | * ParasiticHorror: Parasitism being PlayedForHorror. |
| 74 | * PowerUpgradingDeformation: The good news is you can now run twice as fast... the bad news is that it's because you've got twice as many legs. |
| 75 | * PuppeteerParasite: Like driving a car, except you ''are'' the car. |
| 76 | * RapidAging: A lifetime's worth of growing pains in a few moments. |
| 77 | * ScaryTeeth: Sometimes the dentist's headaches are your toothaches. |
| 78 | * SculptedPhysique: When your blind date turns out to be a literal brick house. |
| 79 | * SelfSurgery: What you do when there ''isn't'' a doctor in the house. |
| 80 | * ShapeshifterMashup: Become ''all'' of the things!... at the same time. |
| 81 | * ShapeshifterSwanSong: Become ''all'' of the things!... one after another. In rapid succession. |
| 82 | * SpawnBroodling: Making allies out of your enemies in the most '''horrifying''' way possible. |
| 83 | * SymbolicMutilation: And sometimes it's done to represent something. |
| 84 | * TaintedVeins: Very much not the color blood is supposed to be. |
| 85 | * {{Telefrag}}: Becoming closer to your furniture than you ever thought possible, through the miracle of teleportation. |
| 86 | * TeleporterAccident: When it sends all your parts, but not necessarily in the right configuration. |
| 87 | * TooManyMouths: In this case, any number higher than ''one'' is too many. |
| 88 | * TorsoWithAView: Goes right through you every time. |
| 89 | * TransformationHorror: Don't look at me while I'm changing. |
| 90 | * TransformationOfThePossessed: When possession comes with visible side effects. |
| 91 | * UnwillingRoboticisation: That's a bit too heavy metal as far as makeovers go. |
| 92 | * VaginaDentata: [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 What a horrible phrase]]. |
| 93 | * WombHorror: There's a reason nobody remembers that. |
| 94 | * WombLevel: Like a BattleshipRaid, only squishier. |
| 95 | * YourHeadASplode: When a revelation is truly mind-blowing. |
| 96 | [[/index]] |
| 97 | ---- |
| 98 | !!Tropes that can involve, stem from, or result in Body Horror: |
| 99 | [[index]] |
| 100 | |
| 101 | * AppendageAssimilation: Do-it-yourself transplants. |
| 102 | * AttackOfTheMonsterAppendage: A monster which shows up as a separate limb, tentacle or body part, with the rest of the creature remaining unseen. |
| 103 | * {{Autocannibalism}}: When HorrorHunger isn't just limited to ''other'' people. |
| 104 | * TheAssimilator: Resistance is futile. You will become body horror. |
| 105 | * BioAugmentation: Extreme botox as a hobby. |
| 106 | * {{Biomanipulation}}: Who needs tools to make body horror, you've got ''superpowers''! |
| 107 | * BloodyHorror: Let's paint the town red! It's cheery! |
| 108 | * BodyAndHost: Keeping friends or enemies very close. |
| 109 | * CameBackWrong: Please make sure your necromancers are highly trained professionals. |
| 110 | * CapturedSuperEntity: Do you think this trope applies only to ''humans''? |
| 111 | * ChestBurster: Exercise caution when implanting monsters in your body, as they have a tendency of escaping. ''Painfully''. |
| 112 | * CreepyAsymmetry: Body horror disrupting the balance and symmetry of a character's body. |
| 113 | * EmergencyTransformation: When saving the world, time is of essence. |
| 114 | * FanDisservice: We all need excitement in our lives. Not generally this kind of excitement, though. |
| 115 | * FantasticDrug: Narcotics [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]! |
| 116 | * FetusTerrible: Raising young to be just like your nightmarish self. |
| 117 | * FreakLabAccident: While running experiments, you ''become'' the experiment. |
| 118 | * GarrulousGrowth: It really ''does'' have a mind on its own! |
| 119 | * HumanoidAliens: Because clearly our form is something that the universe itself finds enviable. |
| 120 | * ImMelting: Suffering a ''literal'' meltdown. |
| 121 | * KidnappedForExperimentation: When something is ForScience, things like "laws", "ethics", and "consideration for others" go ignored. |
| 122 | * MedicalHorror: Again, make sure your doctors are highly trained professionals. |
| 123 | * MixAndMatchCritters: Combine ''all'' the pets! |
| 124 | * MonsterOrganTrafficking: Lending a helping hand...which you may have just liberated from a beastly abomination. |
| 125 | * MutagenicGoo: Side effects may include... |
| 126 | * NauseaFuel: We'd ask you to view this on an empty stomach, but let's be real, here - you're not going to have a choice. |
| 127 | * NightmareFuel: Sweet Dreams... |
| 128 | * NightmareSequence: ([[Music/{{Eurythmics}} Are [Not] Made of This]]) |
| 129 | * OrganAutonomy: Why should your skin and eyes have exclusive rights to sunbathing? |
| 130 | * OrganicTechnology: 100% recyclable. |
| 131 | * ParasitesAreEvil: They live in you, and they're objectively evil! |
| 132 | * PainfulTransformation: Also make sure your anesthesiologists are highly trained professionals. |
| 133 | * PoweredByAForsakenChild: [[Music/QueenBand It's just a poor boy... Nobody loves it...]] |
| 134 | * PersonalHorror: "You are Body Horror." "I am what?" |
| 135 | * PopGoesTheHuman: "Where's Bob?" "Over there... and there... and there." |
| 136 | * ReforgedIntoAMinion: WeHaveReserves... From our enemies! |
| 137 | * SlowTransformation: Because slow and steady wins the race. |
| 138 | * {{Squick}}: Who said it couldn't be scary ''and'' disgusting? |
| 139 | * TheSymbiote: Now you're eating for two! |
| 140 | * TarnishingTheirOwnBeauty: When SoBeautifulItsACurse reaches a whole new level. |
| 141 | * TheTopicOfCancer: No funny joke here -- just cellular chaos and slow death. |
| 142 | * ToxicWasteCanDoAnything: Sometimes all you need is a little bath to wash off all the normal. |
| 143 | * ViralTransformation: A reminder to take your flu shots. |
| 144 | * WeightLossHorror: Skin removal surgery isn't going to cut it... |
| 145 | * WhatHaveIBecome: Whatever the answer is, it ''isn't'' human... [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters Or is it?]] |
| 146 | * WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: They don't ''look'' like us, but they certainly ''act'' like us... and that might not be a good thing. |
| 147 | * WipeThatSmileOffYourFace: "My lips are sealed-- ''Mmph!''" "Indeed they are." |
| 148 | [[/index]] |
| 149 | ---- |
| 150 | !!Examples with their own subpages: |
| 151 | [[index]] |
| 152 | * BodyHorror/AnimeAndManga |
| 153 | * BodyHorror/ComicBooks |
| 154 | ** ''BodyHorror/TheDCU'' |
| 155 | ** ''BodyHorror/MarvelUniverse'' |
| 156 | * BodyHorror/FanWorks |
| 157 | * BodyHorror/{{Film}} |
| 158 | * BodyHorror/{{Literature}} |
| 159 | * BodyHorror/LiveActionTV |
| 160 | * BodyHorror/{{Music}} |
| 161 | * BodyHorror/TabletopGames |
| 162 | * BodyHorror/VideoGames |
| 163 | * BodyHorror/{{Webcomics}} |
| 164 | * BodyHorror/WebOriginal |
| 165 | ** ''BodyHorror/SCPFoundation'' |
| 166 | * BodyHorror/WesternAnimation |
| 167 | [[/index]] |
| 168 | |
| 169 | !! Other examples: |
| 170 | |
| 171 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 172 | |
| 173 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 174 | * Anti-drug commercials often do this. |
| 175 | * Modern ''Advertising/{{Skittles}}'' commercials just won't give up on the body horror. |
| 176 | ** In "Harvest the Rainbow", a boy has a skittles tree growing out of his abdomen. |
| 177 | ** In "Chocolate the Rainbow", a guy who looks like and may be a humanoid piñata has been assaulted by a colleague who wanted the skittles he presumed were inside him. |
| 178 | ** In "French the Rainbow", a boy has skittles as teeth. A girl open-mouth kisses him just to eat his skittle-teeth. |
| 179 | ** In "Warp the Rainbow", a guy ages rapidly over the course of a few seconds because his roommate takes skittles from his skittle-filled hourglass. |
| 180 | ** In "Touch the Rainbow, an office worker turns everything he touches into skittles, including people. |
| 181 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uQFshnBq_s This Sprite commercial.]] Apparently Sprite is used to fuel RidiculouslyHumanRobots. |
| 182 | * Some Fruit-by-the-Foot ads have involved switching things with it, such as skis. In at least once this included someone's DNA, you can guess how that went. |
| 183 | * The Capri Sun "Disrespectoids" ads. These basically consist of a kid either stepping on a Capri Sun pouch, trading a Capri Sun for something, or even simply throwing away a Capri Sun pouch... and being transformed into something. |
| 184 | ** Fortunately, the tie-in flash games and cartoons show the kids getting along pretty well. They even see their transformations as [[CursedWithAwesome "freaky powers"]]. |
| 185 | ** They even had a GrandFinale game where the kids were turned back to normal. All’s well that ends well, eh? |
| 186 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ti7plFgS9A This ad]] for ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'' |
| 187 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLq5o228Nlk This UK advert]] for X-Cite breathmints that help you "avoid dog breath". For those wondering, a man sleeping on a couch realizes his breath smells and proceeds to ''gag and vomit up a snarling, filthy dog''. No wonder it was banned! |
| 188 | * Fruit Gushers ads from the 90s typically involved folks eating the snack and their heads turned into a random fruits or other objects. Their use of this trope was inevitable. Take [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq_lIW1AktE&feature=related 0:18 of this tropical flavors commercial]] for instance. |
| 189 | * [[http://i.imgur.com/WDGUOBz.jpg This]] horrifying picture advising tourists visiting Suriname to use protection. The picture is a woman with multiple holes in her back. 6 of those holes have an infant inside of it. Not for people with trypophobia. It seems to be intentionally based on the Surinam Toad, which carries its eggs on its back in a thin layer of skin used for that purpose. |
| 190 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3A4Hh8IoPQ This Afrin Nasal Spray commercial]] features a man whose head is transformed into a giant nose. As the commercial puts it, his "nose took over." |
| 191 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evIrwW6cLCg The Natural Born Smoker]], a British PSA from The80s, features an eerie ''Film/BladeRunner''-esque {{Cyberpunk}} world where a future evolution of humanity exists, one that has several adaptations for smoking. These include a bigger nose to filter out impurities, self-cleaning lungs, extra eyelids to protect against irritation, a natural resistance to cancer and heart disease, and [[{{Anvilicious}} smaller ears because they don't listen.]] |
| 192 | * [[https://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/35887/foot/honda This disturbing Honda commercial]] has a podiatrist's patient reveal that after he bought his Honda, his right foot stiffened into a solid [[VisualPun lead foot]]. In addition to the unsettling sight of his leg transitioning from flesh to metal at his ankle, he requires both of his hands to lift up his heavy foot, and it emits a loud ping when the doctor taps it. |
| 193 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0uxAhM5boo This Brazilian MTV promo]] has a man growing an eyeball out of his mouth while his arms stretch and deform. |
| 194 | [[/folder]] |
| 195 | |
| 196 | [[folder:Art]] |
| 197 | [[AC:Paintings]] |
| 198 | * Francis Bacon's ''Screaming Popes'' paintings show the distorted faces of popes apparently screaming in their own horror. |
| 199 | * Creator/HieronymusBosch: The central image of ''The Garden of Earthly Delights'' panel ''Hell'' shows a huge man turned into a tree, with parts of his body as a huge eggshell with people dining inside of it. |
| 200 | * Creator/SalvadorDali: ''Soft Construction with Boiled Beans from Premonition of the Civil War'' shows a huge giant who has no rump, just a trapezium-shaped nothingness in the middle, while his hands and feet appear in odd places. |
| 201 | * Théodore Géricault made some studies of chopped up heads, arms, and legs in preparation for ''Art/TheRaftOfTheMedusa''. |
| 202 | * Creator/FranciscoDeGoya: ''Art/SaturnDevouringHisSon'' and ''Art/TheDisastersOfWar'' show a lot of MalevolentMutilation. Other artworks also show his fascination with deformity. |
| 203 | * Creator/GabrielGrun: A lot of his paintings add something extra to the figures (like bat wings or superfluous genitals) as commentary on real-world issues. |
| 204 | * ''The Judgment of Cambyses'' by Gerard David shows a man being flayed alive. |
| 205 | * ''Judith Decapitates Holofernes'' by Creator/{{Caravaggio}}. |
| 206 | * Creator/ReneMagritte: ''Le Viol'' (''The Rape''). |
| 207 | * Creator/PabloPicasso: The melted faces of the people in his cubist paintings are also a memorable example. |
| 208 | * Creator/PeterPaulRubens: The severed head of [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Medusa]] was subject of one of his {{paintings}}. |
| 209 | * The scrawny nudes of Egon Schiele sometimes have this audience reaction too. |
| 210 | * Zuccari's frescoes of ''Capital Sins and Hell ''in the duomo of the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral in Italy have a man in the centre who is half flayed and still sits upright. At one point these paintings were covered up because they were thought to be too horrific. |
| 211 | |
| 212 | [[AC:Sculptures]] |
| 213 | * ''Fucking Hell'' (Jake and Dinos Chapman): The {{sculpture|s}} shows hundreds of tiny puppets all in a symbolic depiction of the worst crimes mankind has ever committed. |
| 214 | * ''Art/NueCouchee'': It's a sculpture is a {{surrealis|m}}t take on the RecliningVenus pose, exaggerating it to highlight how artworks that play that trope straight depict women in painful positions for the sake of FanService. As a result, it's a hairless, fleshy mass with too many legs replacing its arms, head, and shoulders. Noticeable ridges shape what would be its spinal column and rear end, as well as the skinny waist, evoke the traditional beauty standard used for most Odalisques. |
| 215 | [[/folder]] |
| 216 | |
| 217 | [[folder:Asian Animation]] |
| 218 | * At the end of the ''Animation/{{Lamput}}'' episode "Animal X", Lamput traps the docs, a gorilla, and a banana in the docs' creature-merging machine and bait-and-switches them into thinking he's going to press the button to merge them all together. Then the docs' winged cat falls on the button, creating a two-headed doc gorilla wearing a banana peel skirt. The docs and the gorilla are not pleased. |
| 219 | [[/folder]] |
| 220 | |
| 221 | [[folder:Card Games]] |
| 222 | * ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' has several cards that evoke body horror |
| 223 | ** [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=97076 Riot Spikes]], an aura that gives the enchanted creature extra power, but reduced toughness. The flavor text reads "Most auramancers would have let the spikes hover just above the skin. Having the spikes rip through the skin from beneath was a touch added by Rakdos himself." |
| 224 | ** Everything Yawgmoth does. Flesh and metal were ''not'' meant to go together that way. |
| 225 | *** The freakiest thing about Phyrexia is that since Yawgmoth's death, it's actually been getting ''worse''. (Half of this is due to improved artwork over the years. The other half comes from good old-fashioned warped imaginations.) |
| 226 | ** [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=19594 Maggot Therapy]] |
| 227 | ** The original [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=35194 Mutilate]] is generally considered to be among the most horrifying card art of all time. Features include a woman's hands melding with her face and a man's neck elongating so far he begins to choke. When the card was [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=393909 rereleased]], it was given completely new (And significantly less freakish) art. And then they pedaled back and showed us [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=265134 this]]. |
| 228 | ** It would likely be a shorter list to mention the cards that do NOT invoke this trope in the New Phyrexia set... |
| 229 | ** Exemplified by any non-artifact creature with the type "Horror". Just try and figure out what it was before the Phyrexians got their hands on it (or them). Then there are the ones who have types you'd recognise, but look nothing like what they're supposed to be (Good example is [[http://magiccards.info/query?q=Blighted+Agent&v=card&s=cname Blighted Agent]]. That thing is supposed to be Human!?) |
| 230 | ** The Simic card [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=366388 Rapid Hybridization]] lets you turn a creature into a frog lizard hybrid monster that looks like [[https://scryfall.com/card/trna/6/frog-lizard this]]. |
| 231 | ** [[http://www.mtgsalvation.com/cards/fnm-promos/24643-bile-blight Bile Blight]], FNM version. Humans are not supposed to melt that way!! |
| 232 | ** The ''Eldritch Moon'' set features the [[EldritchAbomination Eldrazi]] titan Emrakul inflicting all sorts of transformations like this on the denizens of Innistrad, like what it did to Bruna and Gisela, [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=414305 for example]]. |
| 233 | * Several cards in ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' fit this trope quite nicely. |
| 234 | ** For example there is the equip spell Ekibyo Drakmord, which represents a disease that weakens its host and slowly kills it, before spreading to another one. |
| 235 | ** And there is also the art for the trap card Ultimate Offering, which shows a green, troll-like demon. Only his head is blood-red. And spawning from it is another, more diabolical demon, trailing what appears to be blood behind him. And the green one is still grinning... |
| 236 | ** In terms of monster cards, there is one archetype that stands out: Worms. Worms are all LIGHT-attribute Reptile monsters. All of them are hideous, unearthly abomination, but some take this just a step too far. For example, Worm Solid is a melted mass of flesh, eyes, and teeth, shoved into a glass prism barely larger than it is. |
| 237 | ** Another monster card that stands out is Parasite Paracide. Its International artwork looks normal, but its original Japanese artwork features it ''growing out of a mans face.'' |
| 238 | ** The Wicked Worm Beast is a humanoid monster with worms (or at least, worm-like tendrils) growing out of it, including from its eye. |
| 239 | ** The Amorphage archetype consists of animals that are partially mutated into dragon monsters. Only the strongest monster in it, Amorphage Goliath, is fully a dragon, and even then, it still looks like it has [[EyesDoNotBelongThere eyes on various spots of its body]]. |
| 240 | ** Infernity Doom Dragon doesn't seem like an example at first, but a closer look at the top of its head reveals that its horns are its skull having opened up, exposing its brain. |
| 241 | [[/folder]] |
| 242 | |
| 243 | [[folder:Mythology & Religion]] |
| 244 | * The abomination called the {{Nuckelavee}} from Scottish folklore. It can only be described as some sort of rider-fused-with-horse centaur with no skin that breathes ''disease''. So even if you escape it, you've got the more common sort of Body Horror to contend with. Depending on the description, "rider's" arms reach down to the ground and its head can be as wide as three feet, rolling back and forth on it's too small neck. Alternately the "horse" head has a single burning eye that shines with a horrible light. Burning seaweed enrages it and it causes plagues, low rainfall, crop wilting, and other disasters and worst of all it kills horses with a deadly plague called Mortasheen. |
| 245 | * The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curupira Curupira]] has feet that are turned to face backwards, flaming hair, and green teeth. |
| 246 | * Myth/ClassicalMythology: |
| 247 | ** Mors is the Roman goddess of death (equivalent to the Greek Thanatos) and quite a terrifying sight to see; she has a female face, legs and arms, but no torso; to cover that up, she wears a ''human ribcage and pelvis''. |
| 248 | ** Not only do the Graeae sisters look horrifying with ghostly grey skin and hair (not to mention the fact they were ''born'' elderly), they also have a single eye and tooth, which they ''share among each other''. |
| 249 | * In Myth/CelticMythology, Cuchulainn's "warp-spasm" was said to cause his legs to twist backwards, one of his eyes to swell to an enormous size and the other to be sucked into its socket, his mouth to stretch open down to his ribcage, his muscles to bulge up, and the skin of his throat and mouth to [[NightmareFace peel back]] forming a GlasgowGrin. People were ''[[HorrifyingHero terrified]]'' of Cuchulainn, and for good reason. |
| 250 | * The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbunche Imbunche]] is a deformed human with its head twisted backwards, along with having twisted arms, fingers, nose, mouth and ears. The creature walks on one foot or on three feet (actually one leg and two hands) because one of its legs is attached to the back of its neck. |
| 251 | * Myth/JapaneseMythology has Hiruko, the eldest son of creator gods Izanagi and Izanami, who was born without bones. Izanami had broken the mating ritual by greeting Izanagi first (women were supposed to greet after men), which resulted in their firstborn being cursed. For the next ritual, Izanagi greeted first, and the results were much more favorable. As for Hiruko, his parents decided to cast him to the sea, but he survived, and ended up becoming Ebisu, one of the Seven Lucky Gods. |
| 252 | [[/folder]] |
| 253 | |
| 254 | [[folder:Podcasts]] |
| 255 | * In Podcast/DarkDice, party's first encounter with [[TheHeavy The Silent One]] involves the creature reaching out through a woman's mouth, pulling it open as far as possible, then climbing out of the woman, leaving her body laying aside like a discarded sock. |
| 256 | * When the party in ''Podcast/TheFallenGods'' investigates the wizard’s tower in Palanthis, [[spoiler: they find the remains of previous adventurers being stitched together in terrifying mashups in the basement of the Tower in Palanthis]]. |
| 257 | * ''Podcast/LessIsMorgue'' has Riley's {{Shapeshifting}}, which is accompanied by horrifically fleshy noises. In Episode 9, they even transform into [[HumanoidAbomination twenty people]] at once, after [[YouAreWhoYouEat eating 20-people chilli]]. It does not sound pleasant. |
| 258 | * ''Podcast/TheMagnusArchives'' is fond of this trope. Just to name a few examples: |
| 259 | ** In "Skintight", [[spoiler:Sarah]] peels the skin off her injured arm, then staples it back on. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that this isn't Sarah at all, but a MonsterClown masquerading as her [[FlayingAlive using her skin]].]] |
| 260 | ** "The Man Upstairs" features an apartment room covered wall-to-ceiling in fresh and rotting meat. And the misshapen pile of flesh that used to be the former occupant, [[NotQuiteDead which reveals itself to still be alive when it blinks at the narrator]]. |
| 261 | ** In "Rotten Core", [[spoiler: [[WalkingWasteland John Amherst]] infects an entire town with an illness that causes the skin and muscles to slough off their bodies, leaving the skeleton and organs exposed, then [[AtopAMountainOfCorpses forms a throne]] from their rotting, [[FateWorseThanDeath still-living]], bodies.]] |
| 262 | ** Most of [[spoiler:the Avatars]], particularly those of the [[spoiler:[[PuppeteerParasite Corruption]], [[EvilIsVisceral Flesh]], and Spiral]]. Fitting, considering they're living manifestations of humanity's [[PrimalFear primal fears]]. |
| 263 | *** Jane Prentiss. A once-normal human who became TheWormThatWalks, she has so many holes in her face that her eyes are no longer distinguishable in the mess. |
| 264 | *** Jared Hopworth, who can reshape his bones to grotesque proportions and [[spoiler: pulls the protagonist's rib straight out of his chest]]. |
| 265 | *** "[[AmbiguouslyHuman Michael]]", who is described as looking like all of its bones are in its hands. [[spoiler: Its successor, Helen, is implied to meet the same fate.]] |
| 266 | ** And the others are no slouch either-- Annabelle Cane's head is half smashed in with spiderwebs filling the gaps, Jude Perry is a literal wax person who can remold her body and [[PlayingWithFire supernaturally set things on fire]], and [[spoiler:[[BigBad Jonah Magnus]] is implied to hop between bodies by [[EyeScream replacing their eyes with his own]].]] |
| 267 | * ''Podcast/OnTheTropes'' has an episode in which Themmo has pustules grow and spread all over his body, before exploding. |
| 268 | * Gemini from ''Podcast/{{Sequinox}}'' looks like two people made of silly putty slammed together, and when she splits into Pollux and Castor she literally grabs the sides of her head and tears herself apart. |
| 269 | * Happens a couple of times in ''Podcast/SpiritBoxRadio''. Notable examples include Sam throwing up a chess piece, and a woman who gets what is heavily implied to be the One Who Walks Here and There’s black baccara tattooed onto her, and ends up having roses ''growing through'' her skin and around her. |
| 270 | * A few times throughout the WebVideo/TwoBestFriendsPlay podcast, ''Super Best Friendcast'', as well as their show, they discussed how Woolie onetime had to go to the hospital after a violent allergic reaction, presumably caused by ant poison... the symptoms described are not pretty to say the least. |
| 271 | ** During their playthrough of ''VideoGame/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream'', Pat tells a story about his father who, as a child, was attacked by a dog. It clawed [[EyeScream one of his eyes out of the socket]] and it fell onto his cheek. With the nerves intact, he could still see with it. |
| 272 | * Very common with saints, or victims of such, in ''Podcast/TheSiltVerses''. Highlights: A man melted into a chair, the various crustacean saints of the Trawler Man, and a man halfway transformed into a skeletal deer. |
| 273 | * ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'': |
| 274 | ** It's not unheard of for Night Vale residents to grow new eyes (at least one person has eight), or win "prizes" like surgically-applied, working gills. |
| 275 | ** The mayor is seen to be melting at one press conference, and is mentioned another time to have more than two arms. |
| 276 | ** One woman explodes into a fine white dust during a public {{poetry}} reading and then floats down and settles on the heads of the crowd. [[CharacterNarrator Cecil]] at least finds this beautiful and moving rather than repulsive. |
| 277 | ** At least two "Community Health Tips" instruct the listener in graphic detail how to 1.) skin yourself alive and 2.) remove, cook, and eat your own heart. |
| 278 | ** It's been mentioned at least twice that the hearts of Night Vale citizens are full of straw and insects. |
| 279 | ** Once the broadcast announced that following the news is the sound of someone chewing up glass shards. |
| 280 | ** The Whispering Forest lures hypnotized people into wanting to stay there and then slowly turns their bodies into a wood-like substance so they become part of the forest. |
| 281 | ** There is an outbreak of people's skin becoming covered with 15-inch-long spiraling horns. |
| 282 | ** A senior football player grows a second head and his mother has the original head removed because she likes the new one better. |
| 283 | ** A woman gives birth to a disembodied grown man's hand. The hand is alive and sentient and the loving parents decide that it's a daughter and name her Megan. |
| 284 | ** People influenced by the Well of Night have skin grow over their eyes, and all their hair ''retracts'' under their skin. Cecil comes under the effects of this, and describes it as enriching. |
| 285 | * When [[spoiler: [[BigBad Kepler]]]] from ''Podcast/Wolf359'' pisses off [[spoiler: the Dear Listeners]], they burn his hand off, audibly, all the while he screams in pure agony. When [[TheStoic Minkowski]] speaks again, she sounds like she's about to throw up, and later dialogue reveals that [[CowardlyLion Eiffel]] had immediately hidden himself underneath a console. |
| 286 | [[/folder]] |
| 287 | |
| 288 | [[folder:Toys]] |
| 289 | * ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' has its fair share of body horror stemming from the fact that the characters are bio-mechanical beings, not robots. |
| 290 | ** The in-universe explanation for why the original toys came in canisters and have to be assembled is that the muscle tissue holding their bodies together rotted while they were asleep for thousands of years. |
| 291 | ** Makuta Teridax's abandoned lair is littered with his experiments, the strangest of dying or dead animal hybrids. |
| 292 | ** Makuta Icarax killed Botar by crushing his organs with his own armor using magnetism. Icarax later got a taste of his own medicine when Toa Ignika devolved him from an EnergyBeing in armor back into a bio-mechanical being. Since his armor wasn't designed with room for organs, this was agonizingly painful. |
| 293 | ** Karzahni was supposed to heal injured workers. However, he was incompetent at this task and instead mutilated their bodies into weaker, twisted forms. |
| 294 | * ''WesternAnimation/LegendsOfChima'' have the Ice Hunter Tribes. Having been frozen for millennia and resurrected with CHI, their LEGO minifigures are absolutely littered with gruesome details. Almost all of them have rotted in some capacity, exposing muscle fibers turned purple by the cold, and many of them have entire body parts that are simply replaced by ice, ranging from limbs to exposed ribs. The Mammoth Tribe in particular have trunks that have rotted to the bone and simply hang there exposed, and one of the Vulture Tribe, Vornon, has quite literally bolted his skull back together. Ironically, despite being left in the ice the longest, the Ice Bear Tribe seem to be in relatively better shape than their fellow Ice Hunters. |
| 295 | * ''Toys/NewTestamentSDGundamGaidenGundamKingStory'': Both Skeleton Knight Xeku Eins and Skeleton Fighter Xeku Zwei have exposed human hearts that squirt [[AlienBlood green blood]]. |
| 296 | * From ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' action figures by Kenner, there was the Haunted Humans line. They look like common people, [[SurprisinglyCreepyMoment until you press a button in them]]. You can check all of them in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzer6r_tGAo this video]]. |
| 297 | %%* There are plenty of examples made by [=McFarlane=] Toys, but few stuff have looked as gruesome as the Clive Barker's Tortured Souls. [[http://clivebarker.wikia.com/wiki/Tortured_Souls Both series]]. |
| 298 | [[/folder]] |
| 299 | |
| 300 | [[folder:Other]] |
| 301 | * The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-S862p69B0 "Transfiguration"]] artistic performances, by French painter and performer Olivier de Sagazan, is focused on an artist altering himself his face, several times. The results are something reminescent to [[Creator/HPLovecraft lovecraftian creatures]], overlapping with NightmareFace and including copious amount of NightmareFuel. |
| 302 | * ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'': One story has the Sixth Doctor go through a FreakyFridayFlip with Davros, intentionally on the Doctor's part. He explains that Davros' body is in constant, agonizing pain like he, a man who has gone through some horrific stuff in his several hundred years, has never felt, and if he could kill himself at that moment, he'd seriously take the chance. Davros, meanwhile, doesn't have as much of a problem. He finds it ''motivating''. |
| 303 | * A member of the East Germany Womens' Gymnastics team goes to the doctor. |
| 304 | -->"Doctor, about those pills you've been giving us..."\ |
| 305 | "Yes? Have you noticed any side effects?"\ |
| 306 | "Two of them, actually. The first is that I've been growing hair in strange places."\ |
| 307 | "Hm. Not entirely unexpected, but where exactly?"\ |
| 308 | "On my balls, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doping_in_East_Germany which is the other side effect I wanted to talk about.]]" |
| 309 | [[/folder]] |
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