| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0000_00.jpg]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:'''All Will Be One.''']] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | From a plane which is GothicHorror personified, to a race of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s that threaten to corrupt and erase whole planets, to TheVirus that assimilates its victims via BodyHorror, as well as having some of the most graphic and grotesque card art in trading card game history, to say that TheMultiverse doesn't have its fair share of NightmareFuel would be a lie. |
| 5 | |
| 6 | '''As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.''' |
| 7 | ---- |
| 8 | |
| 9 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 10 | |
| 11 | [[folder:Phyrexia]] |
| 12 | * Phyrexia in general is an excellent source of nightmares. Check out the art on [[http://media.wizards.com/images/magic/daily/li/li133_vivi.jpg Vivisection]]. Yes, that is indeed a human head split open and picked through while its owner is still alive. |
| 13 | ** Or the horror-filled expression captured in [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=218058 Phyrexian Unlife]]. Equal parts BodyHorror and PsychologicalHorror, it is the platonic ideal of the anguished cry, [[IAmAMonster "What have I become?"]] |
| 14 | ** Check the art on any blue Phyrexian card, and there's a good chance you'll see [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=218040 giant]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=214375 syringes]]. |
| 15 | ** [[ParanoiaFuel All you need is a single drop of oil and an entire plane can become like this in a matter of years]]. [[OhCrap And Karn has traveled through plenty of them before realizing he was infected]]. |
| 16 | ** Most [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=214352 Phyrexian creatures]] [[EyelessFace don't have eyes]]. |
| 17 | * The long list of atrocities Yawgmoth did during his five year exile consist of him using other races as lab rats for his plagues while making sure everyone involved with him gets genocided. To put several examples, he spread rabies onto the leaders of Cat People and got them to rip each other into pieces, created a plague that killed many elves in Argoth, took all of their healers hostage for ransom and shown up with sugar water and 12 dead healers after they paid their ransom, and spread another plague to the dwarves of Oryn Deeps that caused a worker's rebellion which overthrown the dwarven king. He has ''no'' reason to commit all of these atrocities save for studying the plagues on live subjects. |
| 18 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7ixdHQj3O4 The Phyrexian recruitment video contains a mix of electronic moans and surreal, gruesome imagery. All Will Be One indeed.]] And the sequel video: Phyrexia won. Mirrodin is clinging just barely to life. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdDXMG9jvwg The Father of Machines is coming.]] |
| 19 | * Yawgmoth might be a monstrous lunatic who committed atrocities ForTheEvulz and created Phyrexian horrors to help him conquer Dominaria, but what's more nightmarish than him is a whole group of entities who create the same horrors but ''genuinely'' consider them as pure perfection and want to turn the ''entire'' multiverse into these monstrosities that they basically consider as "perfect lifeforms". Come ''New Phyrexia'', and the latter is what the Praetors of the titular plane embody. First the full corrosion of (former) Mirrodin into "perfected" Phyrexian Horrors, then as soon as Bolas is sealed off they prepare the whole multiverse to the same fate. |
| 20 | * The Phyrexians in the books are absolutely terrifying, having a disturbing fixation on perfection, and in some books, you see events through a Phyrexian's eyes. And in one case, you see a complete metamorphosis in perspective. MindRape through BodyHorror and [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul cybernetics eating your soul]]. There is the oh so subtle hinting in Planeswalker and Time Stream that anyone you know or love might just be a Sleeper who is waiting to call on the Negators. Their appearance and fighting style lends heavily toward implanted weapons and other nasty things. They look like mishmashes of mummies and magitek. And any Sleeper can call on them. And some of the said Sleepers don't even know they ''are'' one until a voice starts up in their head. In New Phyrexia, the Negators '''[[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=214386 got worse.]]''' |
| 21 | ** As the stand out example of Negator Nightmare Fuel, there's the horrific "Negator Massacre" of Tolaria Academy - which resulted in the deaths of Barrin, Jhoira and Teferi before Karn time traveled back to prevent this. |
| 22 | * [[https://scryfall.com/card/khm/199/vorinclex-monstrous-raider The Phyrexians are on Kaldheim.]] |
| 23 | ** What's more, the recent story chapters give an insight into Vorinclex's...unique approach to Green's style of magic. He can regenerate by absorbing people into himself, growing even stronger in the process. Presumably he's on a multiverse-wide flesh-sampling tour, thus making Vorinclex MTG's version of ''[[Film/TheThing1982 The Thing from Another World.]]'' He also demonstrates the ability to infect someone with a "seed", and a greater amount of premeditation and planning than one might expect from the supposed DumbMuscle Praetor. |
| 24 | ** The story ends on a rather ominous note. With the rest of Kaldheim distracted by the Doomskar, Vorinclex sneaks into the Tyrite Sanctum, [[KillTheGod mortally wounds Esika]] (or [[TheAssimilator possibly worse]]), steals a sample of [[{{Unobtanium}} Tyrite]], and heads back to his master (presumably Elesh Norn) on New Phyrexia via some form of interplanar gateway. TheBadGuyWins this round, and this is just the first step of whatever the Phyrexians are planning... |
| 25 | * At the end of ''Neon Dynasty'', Tamiyo is compleated. Phyrexia has what it never had before: '''planeswalkers'''. To top it off, we finally get a glimpse into the mind of someone who has been compleated; Tamiyo is still very much herself, with only her allegiances changing. She even continues to care about her family more than anything in the multiverse; only now, ''Phyrexia'' is her family. [[https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/episode-5-threads-war-2022-01-27 And according to Jin-Gitaxias, she won't be the last]]. Based on what happened in ''Dominaria United'', this is ''not'' a hollow boast. What makes this even worse is by all means, the Emperor and Kaito ''won'' against Jin-Gitaxias (the mastermind of the operation) and are preparing to deal with Tezzeret next. But it didn't matter because the Emperor's spell wore off at the wrong place and the wrong time, so he crashed the mech they are in and ran away with Tamiyo and Jin-Gitaxias. They basically claimed Tamiyo as a causality because of ''dumb luck''. |
| 26 | * '' Dominaria United'''s story fully features Phyrexians under Sheoldred doing their best to homage ''Film/TheThing1982''. Sleeper agents have existed in old Phyrexia, but here they're depicted as bursting into flesh and machinery as soon as they're exposed, separating into multiple parts and crawling all over. Worse, they can now infect people with the glistening oil, something their old counterparts could not do. |
| 27 | ** Relating to the above [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqTOfSgXfZo&ab_channel=Magic%3ATheGathering revealed art]] is some of the most gruesome outside of New Phyrexia itself. |
| 28 | ** Believe it or not, it gets worse. They compleated '''''Ajani Goldmane''''' like they did with Tamiyo before. And turns out he was sent back to Karn's side as a Sleeper Agent. '''And then the Phyrexians got Karn back'''. |
| 29 | *** Elesh Norn looks quite enthusiastic upon Karn's return to New Phyrexia, and it's the first time we do get to see her smile. Unfortunately, said smile is described as "rows upon rows of teeth spread into a mocking rictus". Now imagine a flayed, woman-shaped HumanoidAbomination made out of exposed flesh and porcelain making the widest grin while looking at the captured steel giant and you get the picture. Worse is when this happens, Norn's enthusiasm is genuine, sorta like a daughter being excited at her dad's return. |
| 30 | *** A side story in ''The Brother's War'' has Tezzeret note that Bolas always has plans against Ajani ''every single time'' he makes a move, but he still fails to get him. Yet, New Phyrexia manages to make Ajani their second Planeswalker casuality without much of a sweat. Awful as Tezzeret is, he doesn't seem to be delighted about it. This alone tells us how insanely competent these guys are. |
| 31 | ** Nothing is safe from Phyrexia's grasp. In a true insult to Dominaria as a whole, ''the Weatherlight itself'' is compleated. The greatest symbol of Dominaria's power is in Phyrexian hands. |
| 32 | ** After seemingly vanishing for a decade after her defeat under the hands of Elesh Norn, Sheoldred was revealed to be still alive and is now loyal to Norn, but if one pays attention to her [[https://www.artofmtg.com/art/sheoldred-the-apocalypse/ new artwork]], she seems to have white porcelain armor and more exposed tendons not unlike the Grand Cenobite. Did she got ''captured and brainwashed'' by Norn to be used as an underling and a proxy to invade Dominaria? |
| 33 | * The last two stories in the ''Brother's War'' set show that the Phyrexian menace on Dominaria is far from over even after Sheoldred was knocked back. First they are assaulted by an army worth of body horrors like men sewn to wolves or reduced to ribbons attached to black bars as flying troops... then what is heavily implied to be Norn's forces finally sent off-world from New Phyrexia bring in an organized army or porcelain and flesh ribbons they barely manage to defeat. |
| 34 | * We learn why Tezzeret is working with the Phyrexians. With the Planar Bridge implanted in his body, he is slowly dying. He turned to Phyrexia in desperation for a new body made of darksteel, only to be betrayed. He knows that he is living on borrowed time as the power of the Bridge slowly tears him apart from within. Worse, the Phyrexians knew he cannot be compleated unlike Tamiyo and Ajani and is going to betray him, so instead of giving him the "friendly" option (as in Compleating him) they leave him to die. |
| 35 | * Many assumed the Gatewatch had strong PlotArmor due to being the centerpiece of multiple storylines. ''Phyrexia: All Will Be One'' rips that plot armor away, with Jace and Nissa joining the ranks of the compleated. AnyoneCanDie. |
| 36 | * The process of compleating planeswalkers and the effects it has on their minds. Unlike most other creatures who suffer Phyrexia's touch, the personality of both compleated planeswalkers that we have seen so far remains uncannily familiar to how they were before, but twisted to serve Phyrexia. |
| 37 | ** Tamiyo still values her family, but her views have been distorted to view Phyrexia as her family. |
| 38 | ** Ajani's sorrow over being cast out of his pride was also exploited and twisted to serve Norn. His new compleated self rejoices in the sense of belonging that Phyrexia brings him. |
| 39 | ** Lukka loves the strength that his new body gives him and takes joy in being feared. He is also gleeful that he's become stronger than any of the monsters on his home plane, and that nothing can stop him. |
| 40 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPTEufbfoIg The cinematic trailer]] for ''Phyrexia: All Will Be One'' gives us glimpses of Elesh Norn's throne room: an intricate structure of recomposed and calcified bodies, probably covered in the same white porcelain that grows on her own body. To make things worse, Elesh speaks not in Phyrexian but in English, without referring to anyone in particular (if you don't consider the already compleated planeswalkers, who are barely visible in a shot), making it seem like [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou she's talking directly to you.]] |
| 41 | -->'''Elesh Norn:''' Your realms are diseased and we are the only cure. [[WithUsOrAgainstUs You can either kneel before this throne, or become a part of it.]] All will be one. |
| 42 | * Elesh Norn's comments about the Compleated Nissa and Nahiri. There's something ''so'' wrong and ''so'' awful about this drivel, that it's absolutely unbelievable that it's for real and not just some veiled BringIt taunt. She's ''unironically'' offering them to [[WeCanRuleTogether join her in the "utopia" she envisions]]. Naturally, Kaito, Tyvar and Kaya can only react in ''offense''. |
| 43 | --> "Nahiri fought us, but she found peace, and a better way in the One," said Elesh Norn. "She and Nissa came from the same place, but they were never friends. Now they are sisters, united, finally on the same side in every way. They are One. You, too, can be One. Only yield, and it will be over quickly." |
| 44 | * The [[https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/a-first-look-at-march-of-the-machine previews for March of the Machine]] shows the extent of the Phyrexian assault. The reveals show at least ''seventeen planes''[[note]]Alara, Tarkir, Shandalar, New Capenna, Amonkhet, Kamigawa, Ixalan, Zendikar, Ikoria, Kaladesh, Eldraine, Theros, Dominaria, Innistrad, Ravnica, Lorwyn, and Mercadia.[[/note]] that have been subjected to some level of compleation. |
| 45 | ** The Phyrexians have targeted some of the most powerful beings on those planes and compleated them. Examples shown were Omnath, the Avatar of Zendikar's mana, Kolaghan, one of Tarkir's 5 Dragonlords, and Heliod, a ''god'' of Theros. |
| 46 | * Compleated Vraska's assault of Ravnica. Her rampage is fueled by the memories of her abuse at the hands of the Azorius and their unjust blinding of any gorgons they had in captivity. So in 'justice' against the entire city, she commands her troops to gouge the eyes out of every creature they meet, and lead them to be compleated, wrecked eye sockets first. |
| 47 | * Urabrask's fate during ''March of the Machine'', which crosses over into Tear Jerker. He is captured, then drawn and quartered at Norn's feet, all his limbs torn off while he is still alive. The fact he's implied to have (barely) survived doesn't manage to make it much better. |
| 48 | |
| 49 | [[/folder]] |
| 50 | |
| 51 | [[folder:Innistrad]] |
| 52 | * The ''Innistrad'' block is based on gothic horror, and the artwork doesn't disappoint. Just consider the chilling feel of [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=222903 Village Cannibals]] and the very aptly named [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=220378 Creepy Doll]]. |
| 53 | ** Also from Innistrad--[[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=222014 Sensory Deprivation.]] Plenty of BodyHorror and EyeScream involved. |
| 54 | ** Just like Village Cannibals, [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=229968 Army of the Damned]] is drawn from the perspective of ''[[FirstPersonPerspective you]]''. |
| 55 | *** [[http://magiccards.info/isd/en/99.html Endless Ranks of the Dead]] Does the same. |
| 56 | ** [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=235601 Claustrophobia]] shows a man buried alive, trying to claw his way out of his coffin. |
| 57 | ** [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=220387 Smile!]] |
| 58 | ** [[http://magiccards.info/soi/en/186.html You ever get the feeling you're being...watched?]] |
| 59 | ** [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=222175 Hope you're not afraid of spiders.]] |
| 60 | ** Because just having regular SavageWolves would have been too vanilla for a second trip into Innistrad R&D decided to give them SpikesOfDoom. [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=409984 Oh]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=409996 goody...]] |
| 61 | ** What's scarier than an UndeadChild or CreepyTwins? [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=409892 How about a combination of the two?]] |
| 62 | ** The [[http://magiccards.info/isd/en/51a.html Delver of Secrets]] was just a guy into bugs and science. Until he transformed into the [[http://magiccards.info/isd/en/51b.html Insectile Aberration]]. And unlike most double-sided cards, ''he can't turn back''. |
| 63 | --->''"Unfortunately, all my test animals have died or escaped, so I shall be the final subject. I feel no fear. This is a momentous night." —Laboratory notes, final entry'' |
| 64 | *** His story continues in the Shadows Over Innistrad block. [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=409790 Aberrant Researcher]] picks up from where we left him off - as a 3/2 human insect - as he transforms ''even further'' into something bigger and even less human. [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=414349 Docent of Perfection]] completes the saga, with the card creating wizard tokens - implying he ''abducted'' them - and its reverse side subjecting them to the same BodyHorror he had experienced, making them the same as Insectile Aberration. And the icing on the horrifying cake? Docent of Perfection's reverse side, Final Iteration, is an ''Eldrazi'' Insect creature. Now we know the true nature of the secrets he uncovered. |
| 65 | ** [[https://scryfall.com/card/m21/126/village-rites Village Rites]], assuming it's meant to also take place on Innistrad, implies the cannibals have since turned into [[{{Cult}} something much, much worse...]] |
| 66 | * In [[http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/drownyard-temple-2016-04-06 Drownyard Temple]], Nahiri's magic is starting to get to Jace... |
| 67 | * The way werewolves transform according to the Planeswalker's Guide for Innistrad ([[http://wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/stf/163 the article about Kessig]]): |
| 68 | -->"The transformation process [[CaptainObvious is harrowing for the lycanthrope and incredibly disturbing to any witnesses]]. The eyes change first, the whites darkening and the iris filling with color. The claws go next; the hands elongate, knifelike claws extend from the fingertips, and the thumb forms a claw back near the wrist. The muzzle thrusts forward out of the human's skull, and the teeth jut through the gums in sharp points. Bones crack as they rearrange. Marrow spills into the bloodstream as ribs and skull fracture and telescope. Thick, wiry fur pushes through the skin, often pushing out normal human hair. The tailbone elongates and becomes a shaggy wolf's tail. Metabolism speeds up, increasing blood flow, oxygen flow, and glandular production, creating cravings for protein and fat. Any clothing that was worn at the time of the change is generally torn to shreds and falls away. [[ThisWasHisTrueForm If a werewolf dies in beast form, it changes back to human form, a process called death reversion]]." In addition, the Leeraug pack apparently specialized in killing ''children''. Thankfully, they probably are gone or made into Wolfir after Avacyn returned, but still... |
| 69 | * The ''Midnight Hunt'' trailer. While seeing the abusive orphanage owner being torn to shreds by the children he abused carries a certain CatharsisFactor, it doesn't change the fact that a werewolf managed to [[TheyLookLikeUsNow get into an orphanage]], [[BrainwashedAndCrazy turn a bunch of innocent children into savage beasts]], and [[KarmaHoudini got away scott free]]. The ending of the trailer has a bunch of children jump the owner and maul him like wolves. |
| 70 | ** The card [[https://scryfall.com/card/mid/222/fleshtaker Fleshtaker]]. It's a SerialKiller seemingly wearing the flesh of things it has killed... Seemingly, because the flavor text implies that it is not human at all. |
| 71 | *** What's even more frightening about Fleshtaker is that despite that, it's ''still listed as a human''. Is it a cannibalistic serial killer? A victim of some kind of curse? A person whose soul is being manipulated to kill by an outside force? [[NothingIsScarier No one knows.]] |
| 72 | ** ''Midnight Hunt'''s story is the first to end on an outright DownerEnding since Amonkhet, which is appropriate considering the plane. The Harvesttide Festival, the first hope the people have had for months, is attacked by werewolves. The planeswalkers, cathars and witches present manage to fend them of, but only barely, and countless innocents die. Finally, when it looks like the ritual to bring back the sun will succeed, Olivia Voldaren shows up as a DiabolusExMachina and steals the Moonsilver Key, seemingly ForTheEvulz, and kills the only witch who knows how the ritual is performed. The sun sets and, as far as anyone knows, it will never rise again. |
| 73 | ** It can be easy to forget in MTG that vampires are ''monsters'': Sorin is an anti-hero, the vampires of Zendikar were valued allies against the Eldrazi, and even the Legion Of Dusk had a level of honor and a rigorous code they held to. Sorin's kin have ''no'' such redeeming qualities, and ''Crimson Vow'' really emphasizes just how hedonistic and without conscience Innistrad's vampires really are: they gleefully cause pain and suffering like it's a game, with no thought to the long-term consequences of their actions, and these impulses even extend to ''each other''; Olivia's wedding sees vampires gleefully murder each other with as little care and thought as they do humans, and this is treated as par for the course. One aristocrat watches her long-time friend get murdered right in front of her, and barely feels anything at his death, while Olivia treats these "festivities" as delightful party games. |
| 74 | * [[https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/devouring-house-2021-11-19 The Devouring House]] pits Strefan Maurer, a bloodline founder vampire, against an EldritchAbomination. The SurrealHorror is pretty unsettling by itself, but seeing a human-killing predator on the receiving end shows how hostile to all life Innistrad is. |
| 75 | [[/folder]] |
| 76 | |
| 77 | [[folder:Eldrazi]] |
| 78 | * [[EldritchAbomination Eldrazi]] can be rather eerie. Particularly the biggest one - [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=397905 Emrakul]], if you look at its art closely. It looks like a titanic mushroom or mold thing from Dali's nightmares with a nest of swarming tentacles at the bottom, but the creepiest thing is that some of those tentacles are actually ''hands and fingers'', twisted into unspeakable shapes. |
| 79 | ** This gets worse when the mechanical aspects of what Emrakul actually ''does'' comes into play. The player who summons it gets an extra turn when they do so, which would imply that this thing showing up is a big enough event to ''[[TimeStandsStill distort time]]'' (its title, [[RedBaron The Eons Torn]], is '''not''' just a fancy nickname). Being put into the graveyard by anything (including regular combat) puts the entire graveyard into that player's deck... plus, it is unaffected by any spells that use colored mana, which covers about 95% of the cards ever published. So in-universe, it's a giant, mushroom-like EldritchAbomination that is completely unaffected by almost everything that can be thrown at it, and ''if'' someone manages to muster enough forces and it finally does somehow die, the person who summoned it gains most of their spells back... and is perfectly capable of summoning it ''again''. |
| 80 | ** The signature Eldrazi ability, Annihilator, is also this in the flavor it gives. Whenever an Eldrazi attacks, the defending player is forced to sacrifice at least two permanents. There are two particularly disturbing implications here. The first is that it bypasses [[NighInvulnerable indestructibility]] (by virtue of being a sacrifice effect), implying that the Eldrazi are powerful enough to annihilate even those who cannot be killed by conventional means. The other is that the defender (not the attacker) chooses what gets sacrificed. While it's necessary gameplay-wise to prevent the Eldrazi from being even more of a GameBreaker than they already are, it's also a perfect illustration of TheChainsOfCommanding when facing such a cataclysmic threat. There is simply ''no possible way'' of surviving an Eldrazi attack without casualties, forcing the opponent to make a SadisticChoice as to what forces are expendable and what has to be kept in reserve to stand even a shadow of a chance to claim victory. |
| 81 | ** While it's not exclusive to Eldrazi alone, they might be the best illustration of it: Planeswalkers (i.e. players) fight by summoning creatures through magic. Just take a moment to think about what kind of [[ApocalypseCult individual]] [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill you would be]] [[ApocalypseHow in-universe]] if you're willing to summon a reality-destroying abomination to destroy your enemies. |
| 82 | * In [[https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/zendikars-last-stand-2016-02-17 Zendikar's Last Stand]], Ugin's words to Jace are shown to ring true when the Gatewatch bind the two Eldrazi titans Ulamog and Kozilek and pulled their larger firms into Zendikar. Suddenly, the two titans stretched so much that they literally ''filled the sky and merged with each other'', tentacles stretched to the ground like tornadoes and it literally ''rained'' Eldrazi. One gets the feeling that our heroes aren't so much as pulling the two titans' forms into reality as they are pulling a massive entity by its appendages. Of course Chandra with the help of Nissa managed to destroy Ulamog and Kozilek by channeling Zendikar's mana into a fiery blast but, based on Ugin's reaction, the [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Gatewatch's victory may be temporary at best]]. |
| 83 | * [[http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/ways-play/blight-we-were-born-2016-01-13 The Blight We Were Born For]] depicts the true power of Kozilek. We know he can distort thoughts and cause pure panic, but here, we see that it's capable of causing General Tazri's life to flash before her eyes... and it doesn't stop there. She sees a BadFuture where the Eldrazi ''win'', the Gatewatch are dead, and she's been driven mad by Kozilek. Ulamog isn't anywhere on the plane, meaning either Kozilek killed him, or he has gone to another plane. When Gideon finally dies, Kozilek is described as making such a bizarre noise that Tazri can only describe it as ''[[EvilLaugh laughter]]''. For literally ''billions'' of years after that, she attempts to re-construct Zendikar to lure him back. CosmicHorror doesn't begin to describe it. |
| 84 | * We return to the nightmare fuel-laden land of Innistrad, but now for the opposite reasons. [[http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/gaze-blank-and-pitiless-2016-03-09 A Gaze Blank and Pitiless]] starts off innocently enough, with Avacyn finding a lost child. But something starts buzzing in the back of her mind and she tries to seek refuge from it. She starts to see what she believes that humans are just as bad as the monsters she was created to destroy. And with the help of Gisela and Bruna (Sigarda notably refuses), [[KnightTemplar she starts to wipe out humanity with her fleet of angels to purify the land]], starting with the village in the beginning of the story. |
| 85 | -->[[WhamLine It was Avacyn. Avacyn was here. Avacyn was destroying her village.]] |
| 86 | * [[https://web.archive.org/web/20160617184801/https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/something-twisted-way-comes-2016-05-30 Chas Andres]] points out all the really subtle BodyHorror in ''Shadows Over Innistrad''. |
| 87 | * The last we heard of Gisela and Bruna before Eldritch Moon was them joining Avacyn in her purge. [[http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/emrakul-rises-2016-06-20 The latest Uncharted Realms]] reveals [[http://media.wizards.com/2016/images/daily/c4rd4r7_3ubNi4n6aj.jpg their fate]]... |
| 88 | -->"We are Emrakul!" |
| 89 | ** {{Narm}}-y as everyone merging Emrakul's name into their words is, the thought is genuinely creepy. All of these people have become little more than extensions of Emrakul and her mere presence is turning all life on Innistrad into her spawn. |
| 90 | ** Jace attempts to read Emrakul's mind. Cue MindRape: |
| 91 | --> ''The enteral infinity—this world is mine.\ |
| 92 | The absolute—I shall have all.\ |
| 93 | The beginning—I shall be all.\ |
| 94 | The being—all are'mrakul.\ |
| 95 | The end.\ |
| 96 | The end.\ |
| 97 | The end.'' |
| 98 | ** And it goes FromBadToWorse. The description of people losing themselves as warp into extensions of Emrakul, and some even fusing together into singular bodies in ''Uncharted Realms''? More card spoilers reveal this to be a ''mechanic'' in-game, called ''Meld''. BodyHorror and TransformationTrauma at their finest. |
| 99 | *** Melding that involves two creatures is bad enough, [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=414428 but it's hardly the worst thing]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=414511 that can happen to them]]. |
| 100 | ** In addition to this, the BodyHorror is also well-detailed in several transforming cards in Eldritch Moon. Witness [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=414470 some of the horrors inflicted on the werewolves]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=414324 rider and horse merging into one]], or [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=414357 a fisherman and his boat becoming a sea creature]]. They don't transform back. |
| 101 | * How does the story of Eldritch Moon end? Tamiyo, working with Nissa and Jace, sealed Emrakul in the moon. That's all fine and good, until Tamiyo tells Jace that she didn't have the power to do it herself; the only reason she was able to seal away Emrakul was because Emrakul herself gave her the strength to do so. As best we can discover about her motivation for doing so, it was either because she'd gotten tired of "playing" with them, or was disappointed that the people didn't embrace her as she expected them to. There is even an indication she was keeping her "word" with Jace to end the struggle if he beat her in chess. Either way, the giant Eldritch jellyfish capable of wiping out all of Innistrad LET herself be sealed... for reasons we can't decipher. If that isn't a [[GreaterScopeVillain Greater-Scope... SOMETHING]] to terrify everyone, it's impossible to know what is. But all we know is that Emrakul playing a much deeper game, beyond our scope of understanding. And her so-called "loss" likely isn't even an inconvenience. |
| 102 | -->'''Emrakul:''' "I can do anything I want. Anything at all. Remember that. The only thing saving you is... I don't want anything." |
| 103 | * In Zendikar Rising, Nahiri is trying to terraform Zendikar back to what it was before the Eldrazi. A noble goal, but Zendikar's life has adapted in the thousands of years the Eldrazi were imprisoned, and most of it would not survive such a drastic change. That's terrifying enough on its own, but the [[https://scryfall.com/card/znr/109/lithoform-blight blight caused by the terraforming]] is vaguely reminiscent of Ulamog's wake... |
| 104 | [[/folder]] |
| 105 | |
| 106 | [[folder:Nicol Bolas]] |
| 107 | * [[http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/writing-wall-2017-04-12 The Writing on the Wall]] gives us a glimpse of what has happened to Amonkhet. Nicol Bolas didn't create the plane. He ''corrupted'' it, mostly killing its soul in the process, killing/banishing/[[FateWorseThanDeath something else]] three of the eight original gods while twisting the other five, and altering ''somehow'' the population that not even the gods remember what happened. The description of the event is chilling, and it's not even getting into what Nissa gets from communicating with the plane. |
| 108 | -->"I protected the vessels to keep their souls alive and he... took them... He took them! Please, he took them all, corrupted them all, end my guilt, I could not protect them--!" |
| 109 | ** ''How'' he does it is also worthy of this page: Upon arriving on Amonkhet shortly post-Mending, while he's bleeding omnipotence and growing weaker by the second, [[NoNonsenseNemesis Bolas immediately goes to work setting up]]. The Gods are the plane's primary protectors, and they're [[GodNeedsPrayerBadly powered by faith]], right? Step one, Bolas annihilates every single adult left on the plane, leaving only the faith of scared and panicked children, crippling the Gods in a single move. He then casually does away with three of them and corrupts the remaining five into his personal slaves. In the end, he'd slaughtered and enslaved the whole plane, Gods and mortals alike, in ''less than a day''. |
| 110 | ** Maybe worse still: Nicol Bolas did '''not''' cause the ZombieApocalypse that helps reinforce his PathOfInspiration. He merely took advantage of it. Amonkhet was dying ''before'' Bolas showed up. |
| 111 | * [[http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/hour-glory-2017-06-21 Hour of Glory]] follows up on the above with a horrifying reveal: what Bolas did to the other three gods. He twisted them into nightmarish monstrosities whose apparent purpose was to slay their brethren during the Hours. Their cards are only named The ____ God, for Bolas stripped them of name and domain. All that's left are shells whose reason for being is to bring about the apocalypse on Amonkhet, with nothing left of the noble guardians they once were. The Scorpion God kills Rhonas without a word or any recognition of fighting its very ''brother'', while the Locust God sends a swarm to devour the Hekma, inevitably dooming Naktamun's citizens to death at the hands of the undead and horrors wandering beyond its protection. The story also shows just how much even the five gods were twisted. Rhonas begins the story musing on the fake creation myth Bolas planted in his mind, with absolutely no doubt that it's how he was born. It's only right as the Scorpion God kills him that the illusions he's been living under for decades are broken and he realizes to his utter horror and despair that he and his siblings have been nothing but shepherds for Bolas, raising Amonkhet ready for the harvest of the Hours and that his killer is none other than the horribly twisted form of his brother god. |
| 112 | * And then [[http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/favor-2017-07-05 Favor]] adds the final cherry on top of the whole sundae of horror: One of the gods was NotBrainwashed. Bontu the Glorified joined Nicol Bolas ''of her own free will'', and even helped maintain the magics that kept her siblings enslaved to the dragon-usurper. This crosses into FridgeBrilliance territory: Bontu is the god of [[AmbitionisEvil ambition]]. |
| 113 | * [[http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/hour-devastation-2017-07-26 Hour of Devastation]] shows just how powerful Nicol Bolas is, post-Mending. He effortlessly mind fucks Jace, terrifies Liliana just by reminding her WHO he is, overpowers Chandra's fire magic, wrests command of the ley lines from Nissa, then pierces through the once-impenetrable shield of Gideon with a single talon. Sure, pre-Mending, the Gatewatch would be just as equally powerful, but it's Bolas' experience and wisdom that gives him an even greater edge. |
| 114 | * The art of the basic lands in Amonkhet block and Archenemy: Nicol Bolas, show Naktamun's transformation from a beautiful and thriving city into a [[SceneryGorn grim and hostile desert]], where there are [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombies]] [[ZombieApocalypse everywhere]] and if they don't kill you, [[EverythingTryingToKillYou locusts]] [[CruelAndUnusualDeath will]]. |
| 115 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5W9t62t10I War of the Spark trailer]] opens and ends on a [[SarcasmMode lovely]] close-up of Liliana screaming in anger and pain alike as she is ''being burned alive from the inside'' and rest of the trailer is telling the viewer how we got there. After seeing a young girl and her brother, very much like her and Josu before his death, trying to get away from the Eternals destroying Ravnica, only to be [[DeathFromAbove crushed to death by falling boulders]] she finally turns on Bolas. And the dragon in response makes tattoos symbolizing her contract ignite and start ''burning her to cinders''. It's also implied what really pushed her over the edge was Bolas telepathically ordering her to ''raise the children as zombies''. On top of that, we have Dack Fayden having his soul and/or Spark sucked out and sent to Bolas as a wisp. There are ''dozens'' of such wisps flying through the sky constantly, implying a huge number of Planeswalkers, likely including many beloved characters, is just being murdered left and right. |
| 116 | * The early card art released shows something ''truly horrifying'': Bolas has ''Eternalized the slain gods of Amonkhet'', and brought them to Ravnica with him. The reason he did it? '''''[[AddingInsulttoInjury To rub salt in the wound of the Gatewatch’s failure to save Amonkhet.]]''''' |
| 117 | * The Elderspell. The Eternals may have been fearsome, but they were still little more than zombies with fancy armor. Then, they suddenly gain the power to ''drain Planeswalkers of their sparks'' with a single touch. And to make things worse, there is no escape. Bolas has used the Immortal Sun to cut of all planeswalking away from Ravnica. The planeswalkers are hunted like animals. Of course, why the hell would it come without a nice and juicy chunk of BodyHorror? After a spark is harvested by Eternals, the Planeswalker's body loses all of its liquids and is left as a dry and lifeless husk. |
| 118 | * The final loyalty ability on [[https://scryfall.com/card/war/207/nicol-bolas-dragon-god his card]] in ''War of the Spark''. In ''Magic'' lore, each player is a planeswalker. If you don't have a legendary creature or planeswalker on the battlefield to protect you, he literally rips '''''YOUR''''' spark out. Sweet dreams. |
| 119 | [[/folder]] |
| 120 | |
| 121 | [[folder:Card Artwork]] |
| 122 | * [[http://magiccards.info/scans/en/m11/97.jpg Grave Titan]]. A walking ZombieApocalypse. Animated corpses ''crawl out of his chest.'' The [[http://media.wizards.com/images/magic/daily/arcana/678_akdpupwtlo_art.jpg Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 promotional art]] is particularly chilling. |
| 123 | ** Even better; in Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014, there is a new feature that makes the art of some card have little effect on them when you zoom in (this works better than it reads). Grave Titan's unliving zombie-innards wiggle around to a horrifying effect. |
| 124 | ** Grave Titan is NOT a zombie himself. Whatever the hell it is,[[note]] A giant.[[/note]] it is completely alive yet continuously produces undead corpses. |
| 125 | * [[https://magiccards.info/dk/en/91.html Tivadar's Crusade]] shows a goblin strung up and stretched out on some kind of battle standard, very clearly disemboweled and its guts hanging out. Even if [[https://magiccards.info/ts/en/44.html Tivadar of Thorn himself]] has a fanatical hatred of goblins, this is still gruesome to look at. |
| 126 | * From the ''Magic 2012'' expansion; [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=221516 "Deathmark"]] Is very subtle but full of EyeScream. One can only imagine what horror's would make your very pupil leak out of your eye. |
| 127 | * The 2012 Core Set edition of [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=236908 Distress]] covers its share of creepiness as well. |
| 128 | -->''"Of course I'm sure I've gone mad. The little man who [[EyeScream crawled out of my eye]] was quite clear on this."'' |
| 129 | * [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=380382 Brain Maggot]]. If the name of the card already gives you an uneasy feeling, do not click the link. Seriously, don't look at that picture if you get squicked easily. |
| 130 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C80w_qip5VU&t=5m56s The full version of the Theros Block animations]], with such gems such as ghastly appearances of Karn, Elesh Norn, Koth, and Daxos and the implication that Elspeth is now a Returned. |
| 131 | * At a glance you'd wonder why [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=106631 Dandân]] has the Fish creature type when all you see are boats. Then you notice [[FiendishFish what's below the water's surface]]... |
| 132 | * Among the Judge Promo cards for 2020 is a reprint of Demonic Tutor with [[https://scryfall.com/card/j20/4/demonic-tutor new art]]. The image and the flavor text alone make this card [[CreepyChild very]] [[CreepyDoll unnerving]], but it gets worse the more you look at it. Note the decapitated teddy bear in the background, or the fact that there's some black liquid coming out of the doll's eyes. |
| 133 | * ''Commander Legends'' gives us a glimpse of the [[https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/large/front/5/6/567dbc64-4d59-4bab-a551-08fc66c085fa.jpg?1604537268 Abomination of Llanowar]], a pants-wettingly terrifying UndeadAbomination made up of numerous unfortunate elves fused together through uncontrolled necromancy... [[AndIMustScream not all of whom are actually dead.]] |
| 134 | * The art for [[https://scryfall.com/card/tsb/40/darkness Darkness]] is pretty grotesque in itself (essentially [[Franchise/{{Alien}} xenomorphs]] with eyes, and one of them is staring at you and grinning) but to make it worse, the context kind of implies that these things [[BodyHorror didn't look like that before the spell was cast]]. Is the one in the foreground dripping slime, or is it ''melting?'' |
| 135 | * [[https://media.wizards.com/2022/images/daily/anw7wbsd66.jpg The art for Kyodai]]. While she is [[CreepyGood benevolent]], her body composed entirely of human arms and faces is still deeply unnerving. |
| 136 | * New Capenna's [[https://www.magicspoiler.com/mtg-spoiler/cut-the-profits/ Cut The Profits]] depicts a person being butchered and converted into gold. |
| 137 | * [[https://scryfall.com/card/mor/102/sensation-gorger?utm_source=mci Sensation Gorger]] is pretty grotesque. It's a goblin who is voluntarily [[SensoryOverload overloading all of his senses]]: his eyes are being forced open by sticks, his ears have large horns shoved in them, he has a skunk on his head with its tail directly over his nose, he has a living frog inside his mouth, and all of his fingernails have spikes driven through them. Topping it off is the masochistic flavour text ''"More, more, more!"''. |
| 138 | [[/folder]] |
| 139 | |
| 140 | [[folder:Others]] |
| 141 | * Pretty much the majority of [[http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/seers-parables-2008-08-05 The Seer's Parables]] (except a few sections), which illustrates how [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos lovecraftian]] Shadowmoor is. |
| 142 | -->"It burns |
| 143 | -->[[GoneMadFromTheRevelation My brain]] |
| 144 | -->[[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow Oh heavens]] |
| 145 | -->How it burns." |
| 146 | * Crovax. He's a vampire who fell in love with an artificially created angel. He joined the Weatherlight crew to try and find said angel, who had kidnapped his parents and ends up killing her, setting off the madness he has up to this point suppressed. He ends up taking over the hellhole that is Rath but not before killing another Weatherlight crew member (Mirri) and breaking Ertai utterly. When Tsabo Tavoc encounters him after the Overlay, she finds him having a tea party with the skeletons of his dead parents; he's even providing voices for them, talking about how they would have let him kill them a long time ago if they knew what he would become. Oh yeah, he ends up tearing her to pieces and eating her, just so no one else can gain her power/intelligence/etc. He has an organ that uses living creatures as the pipes, just in case the rest wasn't bad enough. While it was suggested that he was redeemed after he died, it doesn't seem like he really deserved it. |
| 147 | ** He was a good guy in the alternate timeline presented in Planar Chaos, but that required Mirri to inherit the vampirism and insanity that made him the monster he was. Some of the flavor texts suggest that she was actually worse than he was; we do know for sure that she exterminated the Mogg goblins, and she corrupted the Kor to fill their place. Fun times . . . |
| 148 | * The Planeswalker [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=373500 Ashiok]] embodies Nightmare Fuel both in and out of universe. [[AmbiguousGender Ashiok]] is essentially a HumanoidAbomination, a grey-skinned ''something'' [[BodyHorror with a pair of horns and a cloud of manifest nightmare magic where the upper half of Ashiok's head should be]] and an obsession with causing fear. It's as if a [[Franchise/{{Hellraiser}} Cenobite]] joined the [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Sinestro Corps]]. |
| 149 | ** And to make matters worse, Ashiok's summoned nightmares seem to be utterly indestructible. They will kill you in gruesome ways, and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. |
| 150 | ** Turns out they're also '''[[https://scryfall.com/card/thb/91/elspeths-nightmare aware of the Phyrexians]]'''. Imagine the oil as Ashiok's plaything. The potential for new horrors is limitless. |
| 151 | ** [[https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/garden-flesh-2022-05-03 The Garden Of Flesh]] is full of NightmareFuel, literally. Have you ever wondered what a Phyrexian, themselves the living embodiment of NightmareFuel in the Magic Multiverse [[AllJustADream would have nightmares about]]? Ashiok did, and just barely lived to tell the tale. |
| 152 | * Born of the Gods gives us the [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=378443 Forlorn Pseudamma,]] a Returned (Theros' equivalent to zombies) that creates zombie tokens. It's heavily implied by the art and the flavor text that it makes its zombie minions out of ''kidnapped children''. |
| 153 | --->''"More children taken. This is an evil we will track without mercy." - Anthousa of Setessa'' |
| 154 | ** "Implied" is an understatement. On the [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/c5/a2/3b/c5a23b2c79c7e85a7b7489b3242b5469.jpg Forlorn Pseudamma card's art]], you can see the Returned leading two children (who seem to have [[TheBlank no face]]) by the hands. On the official art of the zombie tokens, you can see two withered silhouettes wearing golden masks... and the exact same clothing as the two children. |
| 155 | * If you want to make the situation worse, consider exactly what [[OurZombiesAreDifferent the Returned]] are. Lost souls escaping from the Theros' equivalent of Hades to return to the world of the living... at the price of losing [[TheBlank their face]] and being able to create long-term memories. They retain the abilities and skills they once had, but are unable to create a new identity or relationships. They are poor shades looking for a new life, but suffer a FateWorseThanDeath instead. Daxos is suffering from this fate. |
| 156 | * Nissa's origin story. As an animist, she can ''feel'' the evil of the Eldrazi buried under Zendikar, gnawing away at the world. She sets out hoping to confront and destroy the evil, but just getting a good look at the Eldrazi is enough to defeat her. The psychic blast ignites her spark, and she's thrown across the Multiverse to Lorwyn. Lorwyn just hours away from becoming Shadowmoor. |
| 157 | -->The evil in this land was not far under the surface. It was bubbling up, ready to release; a thousand shadowy spiders had been growing and now were chewing through their silken egg casings. |
| 158 | -->''The Great Aurora brings the night… as Death reveals its door… shadows fast obscure the light… unleashing Shadowmoor.'' |
| 159 | * Heliod may be the worst of the Theran gods, but, as the [[https://scryfall.com/search?q=set%3Athb+Omen&unique=cards&as=grid&order=set Omen cycle]] shows, they are ''all'' selfish, entitled children. Each card's flavor text describes the gods' ideal world, and all of them are different flavors of CrapsackWorld. |
| 160 | -->'''Heliod''': [[TheEmpire My time will come, when every soul will bask in my glory and obey my laws]]. |
| 161 | -->'''Thassa''': [[TheGreatFlood My time will come, when the rising tide will surge above the tallest mountain]]. |
| 162 | -->'''Erebos''': [[WorldOfSilence My time will come, when life's frantic striving will fade into the boundless quiet of death]]. |
| 163 | -->'''Purphoros''': [[InTheirOwnImage My time will come when all the world will be reforged in the fires of my invention]]. |
| 164 | -->'''Nylea''': [[WildWilderness My time will come, when no road will divide the endless verdure of the trees]]. |
| 165 | * [[https://scryfall.com/card/mh1/223/fountain-of-ichor One of the cards in Modern Horizons]] shows us some very ominous details about what might happen to Ixalan. |
| 166 | -->''Sun Empire priests thought they were digging a well. What they tapped was something different entirely.'' |
| 167 | * [[https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/epoch-engine-2022-02-08 Epoch Engine]] details the story of Kotori and the mecha Shorikai. Who turns out to be a very eldritch reality bending dark kami fused to a machine. |
| 168 | * [[https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/contract-breaker-2022-03-28 Contract Breaker]] has some pretty potent FridgeHorror: the Brokers, a faction specialised in [[DealWithTheDevil demonic contracts]], not only can magically bind people to pledges but use magic to erase the memories that these contracts have been made in the first place. |
| 169 | [[/folder]] |
| 170 |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext NightmareFuel / MagicTheGathering
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
