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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ducktales_nightmare.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:Scrooge and Launchpad just seconds away from a [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath surprisingly]] CruelAndUnusualDeath[[note]]Thankfully Gizmoduck [[BigDamnHeroes arrives to save the two]], though it is cut pretty close.[[/note]]]]
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4'''Moment pages are Administrivia/SpoilersOff per site policy. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
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7[[AC: [[Recap/DuckTalesS1E2Armstrong Armstrong]]]]
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9* Armstrong. Despite his goofy appearance, he actually managed to be a serious, menacing threat. Not to mention [[NearVillainVictory how dangerously close he came to actually winning.]]
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11[[AC: [[Recap/DuckTalesS1E5NothingToFear Nothing to Fear]]]]
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13* The entire episode could count as this; it features everyone's worst fears coming to life and attacking them. For young minds watching this episode in the dark, it is one of the scariest things you can possibly ever watch. Just wait until you see the vacuum cleaner.
14* Realistic or not, the kids in the audience might relate to some of the boys' fears:
15** First Doofus's banana turns into a monster (with creepy green eyes, red slithering tongue, [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily rows of sharp, jagged teeth]] and a scowling voice provided by none other than Creator/FrankWelker which sounds surprisingly similar to [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Megatron]]). Then his nightmares quickly get a lot more serious when his school bully Bully Beagle shows up and threatens him. When Scrooge finds him, [[TheWoobie Doofus cries about how much he hates it when Bully picks on him]].
16** Another relatable fear is Huey admitting that he's scared of a video game villain who's one of the illusions terrorizing them. Many of us can remember being afraid of fictional monsters and villains (Such as [[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants Plankton]], [[Franchise/StarWars Emperor Palpatine]], [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]], [[WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteandtheSevenDwarfs the Evil Queen]], [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]], [[WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians Cruella De Vil]], [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 Scar]], etc.) as young children, considering that they're [[ObviouslyEvil truly]] [[CardCarryingVillain evil]], but we never admitted it because we were afraid our friends would think we were wimps. Hell, video game villains can arguably be worse than ones from TV or movies because you effectively have to confront them yourself as part of the game, even games meant for younger or all-ages audiences. Imagine being a kid and being confronted by, say, Dracula from ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'', Ganon from ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', Kefka Palazzo from ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'', Bowser from ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' or Dark Matter from ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}''.
17* And then there is the nephews' teacher, Mrs. Quackenbush, an ugly (anthropomorphic) vulture with crazy eyes, talon-like fingernails, and a raspy voice.
18* Seeing Uncle Scrooge as an [[ResentfulGuardian abusive guardian who wants nothing more than to get rid of the nephews]] and the nephews [[KidsAreCruel sneering at Uncle Scrooge]] is as scary as it is [[TearJerker heartbreaking]].
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20[[AC: [[Recap/DuckTalesS1E16MagicasShadowWar Magica's Shadow War]]]]
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22* Magica De Spell's shadow. She is at first a mute servant and ButtMonkey who tries to steal Scrooge's dime. Then she becomes self-conscious and [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters turns against Magica]], transforming [[http://images.tvrage.com/screencaps/17/3394/54909.jpg into a hunched, wild-haired monster]] with red GlowingEyesOfDoom and an unsettling [[EvilSoundsRaspy hissing voice]].
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24[[AC: Home Sweet Homer]]
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26* The Sirens, no doubt about it. Three blond female duck heads sharing a purple, limb-less, flabby body? Check. Said heads [[VoiceOfTheLegion creepily groaning in unison]]? Check. GlowingEyesOfDoom? Check! Said flabby body revealing a [[NightmareFace demented, hideous, deformed, monstrous, enormous face]]? Oh so very, very much.
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28[[AC: [[Recap/DuckTalesS1E24MeritTimeAdventure Merit-Time Adventure]]]]
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30* The Sea Monster, a gargantuan green-skinned red-eyed horned sea serpent who is introduced attacking one of Scrooge's cargo vessels with a disturbing roar and eating Archibald Quackerbill alive. Shortly afterward, it appears out of nowhere to grab Scrooge himself and carry him off. Then it goes after Launchpad and the kids.
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32[[AC: [[Recap/DuckTalesS1E26TheGoldenFleecing The Golden Fleecing]]]]
33* Scrooge's GoldFever -- not in a scream-out-loud fashion but in a subtler, quietly unsettling one. Scrooge's mania for anything valuable is often just accepted casually or {{played for laughs}}, but the events from the dragon's big entrance to the climactic FriendOrIdolDecision ultimately play it deadly seriously and draw attention to what severe consequences it could have if he ever failed to control it.
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35[[AC: [[Recap/DuckTalesS1E3LuckOTheDucks Luck o' the Ducks]]]]
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37* The leprechauns dragging the Ducks across the floor to throw them into a pit full of hissing serpents.
38* King Brian threatening to throw Far Darrig into the snake pit if he doesn't either convince Scrooge to leave the Golden Caverns alone or kill him.
39* The initial appearances of the banshee and the dullahan, especially the former's chilling wails.
40* Just how close Scrooge comes to being sealed inside of the Golden Caverns forever.
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42[[AC: Sphinx for the Memories]]
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44* The mummy. [[HellIsThatNoise His moan]] is a call for "sweet dreams".
45* Donald while he's possessed by the pharaoh. Him coldly ordering Scrooge and [[WouldHurtAChild his own nephews]] to be tied up and ''eaten alive'' by vultures circling overhead without a second thought is bad enough, but hearing the orders coming from a beloved animated character like Donald Duck manages to make the whole scene even more disturbing.
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47[[AC: Hotel Strangeduck]]
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49* The episode is creepy, no doubt, but there wasn't anything in it that sent it into complete nightmare territory... at least up until the point where the shadow of a skeleton comes out and starts ''strangling Uncle Scrooge''. Then he goes limp. Granted, we knew he wasn't dead (he's the hero and this is a Disney story), but the visuals could have fooled the viewer.
50* The scene where Mrs. Beakley and Webby are making the bed and suddenly discover the outline of a person under the sheet is genuinely hair-raising [[NothingIsScarier since at first there is no sound or movement, or anything to indicate something like that is about to happen]]. It's just...there.
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52[[AC: [[Recap/DuckTalesTheGoldenGoose The Golden Goose]]]]
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