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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/evilgiant.png]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:''[[Literature/TheWiseMansFear There are three things all wise men fear. The sea in storm, a night with no moon]]... '''[[BewareTheNiceOnes and the anger of a gentle man]]'''''.]]
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4'''All spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff per wiki policy]]. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
5%%
6* The very first time we see the Giant... or rather, much like [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ganon]], we don't see him at all, but instead all we see is a towering silhouette outlined by a flash of lightning... and [[GlowingMechanicalEyes a pair of unblinking eyes shining out from the darkness]].
7* The bit from the old horror movie Hogarth watches where the mutant brain is presumably eating the man's head.
8* As Hogarth checks out the damage done to the forest, he realizes, to his shock, that whatever caused it has left behind a giant human-shaped silhouette going through the woods.
9* The Iron Giant's first full appearance at the power plant. He turns his head the same time Hogarth turns his own, his eyes appear from the darkness, and he moves toward the power plant completely oblivious to Hogarth, nearly stepping on him.
10* Early in the film, Hogarth is trying to get a photo of the Giant. During a TimePassesMontage, one clip shows Hogarth cleaning the lens of his camera only to accidentally take a picture of himself. Later, Mansley discovers the camera and develops that same photo, discovering the Giant was looking over Hogarth's shoulder the whole time. This means the Giant was right behind Hogarth for ''hours'', just standing there watching him. After Hogarth sees the Giant looming over him and runs away, the Giant is ''walking'' right behind him and gaining quickly despite Hogarth's few seconds head start. Then Hogarth runs into a branch and the Giant is standing over him again.
11** The smile on Mansley's face when he develops the photo makes it clear the man has found leverage to use against Hogarth.
12* The [[MemeticMolester sinister, almost pervy smile]] Mansley makes after Hogarth learns that his mom rented out a room to the man.
13* From Hogarth's point of view, Mansley blowing up at him in the ice cream parlor. Think about it: Hogarth may be a strong kid, but he's still a kid and he is alone with this complete stranger to whom his mother recommended a tour around town. Even if he is in a public place, this boy is in a very vulnerable position of having this man who, up until this point, Hogarth and the audience has believed to be a pencil-pushing bureaucrat, going off on a near-psychotic, paranoid, right-wing rant. [[ToiletHumor Thank God for Landslide]]!
14** After this, imagine how hard it would be for Hogarth to try warning people that [[CassandraTruth the man seems to be one step away from doing something dangerous]]. Who will everyone find it easier to believe? The government agent with a badge or the nine-year-old with an active imagination?
15* That moment in the woods after the deer has been shot that the Giant notices the guns...and [[RedEyesTakeWarning his eyes turn into red pinpricks]]. And [[{{Foreshadowing}} we immediately get the hint about what he truly is]].
16* Mansley interrogating ([[WouldHurtAChild and then]] ''[[WouldHurtAChild chloroforming]]'') Hogarth and [[NotSoHarmlessVillain proving how terrifying he can be]] despite his early antics. The way he emerges behind Hogarth makes the JumpScare spine chilling.
17-->'''Mansley''': You're late for dinner, Hogarth. (''Hogarth tries to escape from the barn but Kent locks the door'') Your mom's working late tonight, Hogarth. So it's just us guys. And we're gonna have a little chat. Sit down! (''shoves Hogarth into a chair and shines a bright spotlight in his eyes'') [[TortureAlwaysWorks How's that? A little too bright? Good]]. (''chuckles'') Forgive me, Hogarth. I wanted you to learn something.\
18'''Hogarth''': What can I learn from you?\
19'''Mansley''': You can learn this, Hogarth: that I can do anything I want, whenever I want, if I feel it's in the people's best interest. The giant metal man, where is it?\
20'''Hogarth''': I don't know what you're talking about.\
21'''Mansley''': You don't? Well... (''lays his photos on the table, first the one of the piece of metal that Hogarth lured the Giant with'') Does this ring a bell? (''Hogarth doesn't answer'') No? How about '''this?''' (''lays another picture which Hogarth accidentally took of himself, with the Giant behind him'') You've been careless, Hogarth.\
22'''Hogarth''': It doesn't prove anything!\
23'''Mansley''': It's enough to get the army here with one phone call.\
24'''Hogarth''': Then what's stopping you?\
25'''Mansley''': '''[[SuddenlyShouting WHERE'S THE]]''' '''''[[NightmareFace GIANT?!]]''''' (''roughly grabs Hogarth by the jaw'') You can't protect him, Hogarth. [[WhamLine Any more than you can... protect your mother]].\
26'''Hogarth''': (''muffled'') My mom?\
27'''Mansley''': (''releases Hogarth's jaw and sighs'') It's difficult to raise a boy all alone. We can make it ''more'' difficult. In fact, we can make it so difficult it'd be irresponsible for us to leave you in her care, and all that implies. You'll be taken away from her, Hogarth.\
28'''Hogarth''': YOU CAN'T DO THAT!\
29'''Mansley''': Oh, we can, and we '''will'''.\
30'''Hogarth''': (''defeatedly lowers his head, seeing no other choice'') He's in the junkyard. [=McCoppin=]'s Scrap, off Culver Road.\
31'''Mansley''': Ah, the junkyard. Of course! Food for the metal-eater. [[FalseReassurance I wouldn't worry about this, Hogarth]]. It isn't really happening. [[FauxAffablyEvil This is only... a bad dream]]. (''presses a chloroform rag over Hogarth's face, knocking him unconscious'')
32** The worst part is the quiet, gleefully sadistic tone Mansley is speaking in the whole time; he is perfectly capable (and willing) to follow through on any threat he makes, and he's absolutely loving every second of it.
33** Mansley's threat to take Hogarth from his mother could have been worse to think about if Hogarth had a younger sibling for Mansley to use as further leverage.
34* More MemeticMolester implications ensure when Mansley sits down on a bed in the room across the hall from Hogarth's, crosses his legs, and watches the boy to make sure he doesn't "get cute."
35* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu0scA8kqHQ The Iron Giant's transformation.]]
36** The enraged scream the Giant makes during that sequence is just as disturbing; as if being shot at while he's mourning Hogarth was [[RageBreakingPoint the final thing to anger him enough to turn into a literal killing machine]]. Once you've enraged him, [[UnstoppableRage may God have mercy on your soul]].
37** The fact that [[MenacingStroll he just]] ''[[MenacingStroll strolls]]'' [[MenacingStroll after the soldiers]] fleeing for their lives, blasting everything in his path. Everything they try to attack the Giant with, he simply [[NoSell shrugs off with no issue at all]] -- even exploding tank shells -- and he flat-out annihilates the U.S. Army with terrifying ease.
38** Made even worse if you realize those tanks -- likely M47 Pattons given the timeframe -- have a crew of ''five''. You only ever see the Driver and Commander escape in time... and that's to say nothing of what would've happened if the Giant hadn't missed the shot aimed at the battleships.
39** The entire scene is nightmarish for a completely different reason; we're seeing [[ThenLetMeBeEvil a loving soul]] ''[[ThenLetMeBeEvil willingly]]'' [[ThenLetMeBeEvil succumbing to his murderous side]] because he thinks his best friend just got killed. It's a damn good thing Hogarth regained consciousness and was able to talk the Giant down from it when he did... and going by how Hogarth is visibly terrified and bracing himself when he's staring down the barrel of his ArmCannon, even ''he'' was absolutely convinced the Giant was going to kill him, too.
40* Mansley almost nukes an innocent town. The fact that it's out of fear rather than outright evil is... not exactly reassuring. Especially not considering [[DirtyCoward he immediately tries to flee and save himself as soon as he realizes he's doomed the whole town and everyone living there]].
41-->'''General Rogard:''' That missile is targeted to the Giant's ''current position!'' '''''[[ArmorPiercingQuestion Where's the Giant, Mansley?!]]'''''\
42'''Mansley:''' ''(realises the Giant is right there)'' Wha-? [[OhCrap Ooh]]... [[HopeSpot we can duck and cover! There's a fallout shelter right there, if we-]]\
43'''Rogard:''' ''(furiously)'' There's no way to survive this, you ''idiot!''\
44'''Mansley:''' You mean, we're all going to...\
45'''Rogard:''' ...''to die'', Mansley. For our country.\
46'''Mansley:''' '''''SCREW OUR COUNTRY! I WANNA LIVE!'''''
47* [[https://youtu.be/pJX0ynSlAzE One of the trailers for the film was pretty creepy on its own.]] It shows a number of darkly-lit scenes from the movie, covered by an ominous narration about looking for and finding trouble.
48-->'''[[Creator/PeterCullen Narrator:]]''' You're nine years old. You're watching TV, when all of a sudden... (The TV goes out) You go to investigate. Your conclusion...\
49'''Hogarth:''' Invaders from Mars!\
50'''Narrator:''' You do what any kid would do. You go looking for trouble. And sure enough... '''[[OhCrap it finds you.]]'''
51** For someone who has never seen the movie before, this trailer can be especially unsettling. The lack of context around the clips shown, plus the narrator's vague reference to trouble, [[NeverTrustATrailer make it hard to tell whether the Giant is friend or foe.]]
52* If the deleted dream sequence is of any indication, the Giant is one of many machines sent across the universe to single-handedly obliterate ''entire planets''; or, worse yet, may have already done such atrocities in the past.
53** Extra FridgeHorror in that the other robots might ''still be out there''. They might find Earth and not be as friendly as the title character.
54** Given that the reason the Giant is good is due to AmnesiacDissonance after hitting his head, as well as his friendship with Hogarth...how do we know that he ''[[AlternateCharacterInterpretation wasn't]]'' returned to factory settings and his memory wiped, after he was hit by the nuke? Fortunately, though, as stated in the FridgeHorror section of the fridge page: "The very last image of the film is him giving a friendly smile to the camera. We're fine."
55** Then again, the giant's dream is seen from his P.O.V., so the full weapons mode robots reflection seen in the puddle, activating its chest cannon to destroy the planet, WAS the eponymous character.
56** Given the other robots were in "passive" mode, he could even be considered their leader, inventor, or (optimistically) the only one with weapons... which means in that case, he'd be capable of destroying a planet solo and ''still'' has an army of bots like himself.
57** The 2015 "Signature Edition" adds the complete version to the film, and it is ''horrifying''. For starters, the final animation shows the army of giants walking amongst the ruins of the planet they just attacked, and the fire gives it a very hellish appearance. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSjqF5tR894 See here]] for the complete scene.
58*** The deer leaping and falling to its death is particularly unsettling, even if we don't see it directly (only a bunch of junk falling over as a metaphor for what happened when it landed), because of being paired with that music that suddenly turns hellish. That music sounds like it belongs in a horror film.
59** And then there's Dean's reaction. Because the Giant's dream was being projected through his TV, he saw ''everything''. It's at that moment Dean realizes where the Giant came from, what he can do and what he was created to do and becomes afraid for Hogarth's safety.
60* At the very end of the film, the Giant is pulling himself back together after taking a nuclear missile to the face. Between that display of recovery and the weaponry we saw earlier, had the Giant come to Earth for the purpose of war humans would have no way to stop him.
61** In a full invasion, Humans would obviously take the NuclearOption to incapacitate as many robots as possible, and this would take things FromBadToWorse as we irradiate and eventually destroy ourselves from the fallout.
62* There's a bit of Adult Fear with the way Hogarth taped the flashlight to his BB gun right in front of the gun's barrel, leaving one to think where the BB would've landed had Hogarth actually fired and if it would've ricocheted off the flashlight, perhaps into his face.
63* The early script has some moments:
64** Kent has more bits depicting him as a more shrewd character.
65*** He courts Annie by behaving like the perfect father figure to Hogarth. This scenario would be scary to any child with a single parent, especially if the person trying to win over the parent is a [[DevilInPlainSight scheming and devious brown-noser]] using the parent as a way to get to the kid.
66*** Instead of Hogarth being held hostage in his room, he and Kent face off in an argument over "family time," during which Hogarth tells off Kent for sitting in his father's chair and calls him out to Annie for trying to [[AppealToFlattery flatter her by telling her things she wants to hear]]. All the while, Kent continuously sucks up to Annie and she refuses to listen to Hogarth, oblivious to Kent's intentions for her son. Soon, Hogarth gets so fed up that he storms off to bed.
67*** Kent has soldiers restrain Hogarth while he smugly records the boy's protests. Then he has Hogarth gagged and tied to the top of a radio tower on the roof of a five-story building, the tallest in Rockwell, before using his recording of Hogarth's protests to lure the Giant into a trap. A stray shot from the army hits the tower and topples it but the Giant saves Hogarth from being crushed.
68** After escaping the army with Hogarth, the Giant hides underwater out at sea. However, he then notices Hogarth drowning in his hand but he can't surface so the Giant has to bring down an air pocket for Hogarth to breathe in. Then the Giant has to dodge a submarine's torpedoes and depth charges from ships while worrying about Hogarth, so he goes back above water.
69* The Space-Bat-Angel-Dragon from the novel is also a highly dangerous creature. It’s also ''the size of Australia.''

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