Fear Is Normal

"Fears don't always make sense. Sometimes you can't explain why you're afraid of something; you just are. It's a feeling deep down in your gut, Lis, and your gut doesn't always listen to your brain."

— Lincoln Loud, Irrational Fear

Fear is a perfectly normal human emotion, but it's also somewhat stigmatised. After all, no one wants to be branded a Dirty Coward. So sometimes, characters have to learn that Fear Is Normal.

If it's an Edutainment Show, this might serve as An Aesop for the entire work (or episode). Perhaps a character (usually a kid) is afraid of something, be it a ride, visit to the doctor, movie, or anything else. Perhaps they're just a Nervous Wreck or Shrinking Violet in general. However, they don't want to admit their fear — perhaps they think they're too old to be afraid, they're tough (or pretended to be tough), they think the fear is too irrational, they're just too prideful, or he's a boy and thinks boys are meant to be tough.

In more serious works, the character might have done something out of fear, such as hiding while someone else was attacked, leading to a disaster (or at least, almost leading to one) that they blame themselves for. If the disaster involved a death, it could involve Survivor's Guilt.

This could lead to them hiding the fear, though they'll always get found out — perhaps their lies were too transparent.

Whatever the situation, the character gets reassured (maybe even by someone who they thought would make fun of them). They also might get told that they're braver than they think if they accomplished what they wanted despite their fear, since you can't have bravery without a bit of fear, or that other people (even those the scared character wouldn't expect) get scared too. If the one doing the reassuring is normally at odds with the other person, they might make a "Not So Different" Remark. It could also lead to Not So Above It All or Break the Haughty if they were hiding the fear out of pride.

Compare It's Okay to Cry, "Anger Is Healthy" Aesop, and Mistakes Are Not the End of the World, for other lessons about unpleasant things being normal, and Fear Is the Appropriate Response for when the best thing to do is to run away. Contrast Cowardice Callout. Could be a deconstruction of Absurd Phobia. Can overlap with Embarrassment Plot, Injection Plot, One-Episode Fear, Repression Never Ends Well, "What Do They Fear?" Episode, Fear Song, Lovable Coward, Cowardly Lion, Not So Stoic, and Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? (and any of its subtropes, such as Fear of Thunder, Mortality Phobia, Afraid of Blood, etc.).

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Ouran High School Host Club: In "The Sun, the Sea, and the Host Club", the guys have been trying to find out what Haruhi is truly scared of. In the end, Haruhi hides in the closet, not wanting to admit to Tamaki that she has a Fear of Thunder. Tamaki instantly understands because she was raised not to depend on others, so he tells her not to be ashamed of it and that she is not alone. She gladly accepts the invitation to cling to him.

Fan Works

• Boldores And Boomsticks: Lillie collapses in shame when after all her training from Team RWBY, she still can't muster the courage to fight the Grimm. Ruby consoles her by telling her that everyone on Team RWBY is afraid, and that courage is carrying on in spite of fear. Ruby suggests she find something that scares her more than the Grimm, like Nebby being hurt, and use it as motivation.
• Face The Vax: Everest, who is deathly Afraid of Needles, does everything that she can to get out of having to get a flu shot. When Jake drags her to the vet's office, Marshall admits that he's a bit scared of shots too despite being an EMT, and Ryder says it's a very common and understandable phobia. Marshall offers to go with Everest to ease her nerves.
• In The Real Ghostbusters fanfic In the Night, Egon has a nightmare about when he fell from the World Trade Centre five years prior. He worries this is not normal, but Peter assures him that it is.
• Invader Zim: A Bad Thing Never Ends: When the events of Chapter 14 force Gaz to confront her trauma from nearly dying back in Chapter 7, she's at first angrily in denial about it, as she equates showing fear with weakness. Dib tells her that feeling fear is perfectly normal, especially since despite how strong she is she's still just an 11-year-old, and that the important thing is that she learns to not let the fear hold her back.
• In Irrational Fear, Lisa is embarrassed by her Fear of Thunder, feeling it's too irrational. Her brother, Lincoln, consoles her and tells her that fear is not a sign of low intelligence. In its sequel, her friend Darcy is afraid of snakes, and Lisa gives her the same words of wisdom Lincoln gave her last year.
• Lighting Candles: Tadashi points out to Pitch that fear is important for kids to learn, and is only a problem if there is too much of it. The "Man in the Moon"/Chang'e also tells Tadashi she was mistaken for believing fear no longer served its purpose when she rejected Pitch centuries before, leading to Pitch's Start of Darkness.
• Pokémpanions: In Fear Today, Gone Tomorrow, Lairon and Gyarados watch The Banana Cream Pies Movie (a stand-in for The Banana Splits Movie) and are horrified by the movie's violence. Gyarados initially tries to hide how scared she is, but Lairon isn't fooled, and he reassures her, saying that a lot of people are afraid of horror films. He also admits that the film's violence disturbs him as well, so she does feel a little better knowing that she's not alone in this regard.
• Subverted in The Mandalorian fanfic The Vaccine. Din doesn't want to be vaccinated, so Peli assumes he's Afraid of Needles and in denial. She tries to reassure him by saying, "We don't choose our phobias", but it turns out that Din's just worried the doctors will inject him in his head (since his religion requires him to be Never Bareheaded).
• In The Loud House fanfic Wet Genius, Lisa is embarrassed about having had a nightmare about the Boogeyman, since she feels she ought to be too smart to fear things she knows aren't real. Her sister Leni assures her that unrealistic nightmares don't detract from intelligence.

Film — Animated

• The Good Dinosaur: Arlo says that his cowardice has been nothing but a hindrance to him, but Butch offers an Armor-Piercing Question; "Who said I'm not scared?"
  Butch: If you ain't scared of a croc bitin' ya on the face, you ain't alive. Listen, kid, you can't get rid of fear. It's like Mother Nature; can't beat her or outrun her, but you can get through it, and you can find out what you're made of.
• Inside Out: Fear is anthropomorphized as just one of Riley's emotions, one who Joy considers important to help keep Riley safe.
• The Octonauts: A variation in the movie The Caves of Sac Actun. Barnacles reveals to Peso that he has a fear of tight spaces. Peso is confused because he thought that someone as courageous as Barnacles wasn't afraid of anything. Barnacles then tells him that even the bravest of people can get scared once in a while. This inspires Peso to help his captain get through his claustrophobia because he's always helped him stay strong.
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish: The legendary hero Puss in Boots prides himself on never feeling fear and "laughing in the face of death" during his foolhardy and dangerous adventures, losing several of his lives in frivolous and preventable ways. However, when he loses the eighth of his nine lives and gets scarred by a bounty hunter far too powerful for him to defeat, Puss fears not living up to his legend anymore and runs away in shame. When the same bounty hunter, later revealed to be Death itself, returns and makes Puss flee in terror, Perrito tries to calm him down by saying it is okay to feel afraid. Finally, Puss manages to fight back against the bounty hunter after realizing the value of life and appreciating his own.

Film — Live-Action

• Heartbreak Ridge: when one of his marines illustrates a fear of parachuting, Gunny Highway confides in him he has a similar fear. "Jumping out of a perfectly good airplane is not a natural act."
• Flying Leathernecks: Major Dan Kirby (John Wayne) teaches this lesson to one of his rookie pilots, who had to turn back from a patrol with mechanical trouble and is scared the other pilots will now think him a coward.
  Lt. Ernie Stark: Major, does a good pilot get so scared he breaks out in a sweat on a mission? Does his mouth get so dry he can't swallow?
  Major Kirby: Every one of 'em.
  Lt. Stark: You?
  Major Kirby: The second I push that throttle forward. And any time you meet a guy who says he doesn't, avoid him. He's an idiot.
• Night of the Living Dead (1968): In one scene of the movie, Ben tries to comfort Barbara by saying that he knows she's afraid and that he's afraid of the Zombie Apocalypse which is taking place as well.

Literature

• In The Belgariad, Mandorallen has never felt fear before. During a fight with unusual clay and mud monsters, he feels fear for the first time and is ashamed. He also thinks his companions won't be able to rely on him in the future. Durnik comforts him with the idea that everyone feels fear.
• Coraline: At one point, Coraline remembers her father telling her that true bravery is doing something despite one's fear, such as when he braved a wasps' nest to retrieve something.
• The Deed of Paksenarrion: This is an important plot point in Oath of Gold, the third book of the original trilogy. As a mercenary and then as a paladin-in-training, Paksenarrion ('Paks' for short) loved to fight and felt no fear in battle. After being cursed by the kuaknom, she loses this and instead becomes scared of everyone and everything, completely unable to fight any kind of attacker. It takes a long time, and some careful counseling by Master Oakhallow, but eventually Paks comes to understand that courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the ability to go on despite the fear. Feeling and understanding the fear that normal peasants feel every day is an essential step on her journey to becoming a paladin.
• Early in the opening chapter of A Game of Thrones, young Bran has the following conversation with his father Ned:
  Bran: Robb says the man died bravely, but Jon says he was afraid.
  Ned: What do you think?
  Bran: Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?
  Ned: That is the only time a man can be brave.
• The Guns of Navarone: Lieutenant Andy Stevens, youngest and least experienced on Mallory's team, is secretly utterly terrified of just about everything to do with the mission, but mainly of not being good enough. Then while climbing the south cliff on Navarone, he's crippled in a fall and knows he's likely going to die. Eventually he admits his fear to the others, and is shocked (and relieved) by the response:
  Mallory: Now I know you are new to this game, Andy. Maybe you think I was laughing and singing all the way up that cliff? Maybe you think I wasn't scared? Well, I wasn't. "Scared" isn't the word; I was bloody well terrified. So was Andrea here. We knew too much not to be scared.
  Stevens: Andrea! (laughs painfully) Andrea! Scared! I don't believe it.
  Andrea: (gently) Andrea was afraid. Andrea is afraid. Andrea is always afraid. That is why I have lived so long. And why so many have died. They were not so afraid as I. They were not afraid of everything a man could be afraid of, there was always something they forgot to fear, to guard against. But Andrea was afraid of everything and he forgot nothing. It is as simple as that. (looks at Stevens) There are no brave men and cowardly men in the world, my son. There are only brave men. To be born, to live, to die, that takes courage enough in itself, and more than enough. We are all brave men and we are all afraid, and what the world calls a brave man, he, too, is brave and afraid like all the rest of us. Only he is brave for five minutes longer. Or sometimes ten minutes, or twenty minutes, or the time it takes a man sick and bleeding and afraid to climb a cliff.
• In a Howard B. Wigglebottom book, Howard is going through a Nervous Wreck phase. This makes him not want to leave the house because he feels that being afraid is unacceptable, but when he learns it's okay to be afraid, this leads to him leaving the house. Once he's left the house, he faces up to his fears and realises they're not so scary after all.
• In the Warrior Cats guidebook Battles of the Clans, one story is about Lionheart's first battle as an apprentice; he turns and flees as it begins and fears that he'll be punished or have to leave the Clan. When his Clanmates find him, they reassure him that even the strongest warriors feel fear and that there's no such thing as bravery without it.

Live-Action TV

• Babylon 5: In "GROPOS", a young Earth Alliance Marine (i.e. ground-pounder or "gropo" for short) named Yang is about to go on his first combat mission and confesses to being terrified. His veteran squadmate Large tells him that's okay: "Like Buffer used to say, 'A gropo who ain't scared is either dead or stupid.'"
• Doctor Who: The Aesop of "Listen." The episode delves into how The Doctor learned his creed of "never cruel or cowardly." One scene in particular sees The Doctor and Clara arrive in a little boy's room, where he's found a monster hiding under the covers of his bed. The Doctor comforts the boy (unbeknownst to them, a young Danny Pink) by applauding his caution and spinning it as a good thing; encouraging everyone to turn their back on the creature, which ends up leaving without an audience. This is later revealed to have been a philosophy he learned from Clara as a child while he was crying in the barn.
  The Doctor: What's wrong with scared? Scared is a superpower!
  Clara: (to the Doctor as a child) I know you're afraid. But being afraid is alright. Fear is a superpower...If you're very wise and very strong, fear doesn't have to make you cruel or cowardly. Fear can make you kind.
• Roseanne: Subverted in "Nightmare On Oak Street," when Darlene is apparently stricken with night terrors. Roseanne and Dan try consoling her and saying that fearing bad dreams is perfectly normal, which manages to make her even more upset. It turns out she didn't have nightmares, she had her first period (the cramps were keeping her awake).
• Star Trek:
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation:
    • In "Coming of Age", Wesley is applying to Starfleet Academy and part of his application is a psych test, where he would face his fears. He asks Worf for some advice:
      Worf: Thinking about what you can't control only wastes your energy and creates its own enemy.
      Wesley: How can they know what my deepest fear is when I don't?
      Worf: By analyzing your psychological profile. They were very accurate about everyone I tested with. Including myself.
      Wesley: You? I thought there was nothing that could frighten a Klingon warrior.
      Worf: Only fools have no fear.
    • In "Night Terrors", the crew are suffering "dream deprivation", which makes them paranoid. Worf feels ashamed of this fear due to being from a Proud Warrior Race and even tries to cut his own throat. However, Troi convinces him that he's still brave since admitting one's fears takes courage.
    • In "Realm of Fear", Reg Barclay is afraid of transporters because they work by taking you apart and reassembling you. At first he's ashamed, but Troi assures him that this fear is normal and can be overcome.
  • Star Trek: Voyager: Attempted in "Nemesis". An alien soldier is insecure about getting "the trembles" in battle, but Chakotay assures him that everyone is scared of battles, even him. The soldier, however, isn't reassured and says, "But you wrestled your trembles to rages, didn't you?" (essentially meaning he wilfully overcame his fear and chose to be angry instead).
  • Star Trek: Enterprise: In "Fight or Flight", Hoshi is a bit uneasy on the spaceship and when she screams upon seeing some corpses, she fears she's nothing but a nervous wreck. Eventually, however, she realises she's a useful officer when she learns to speak to some aliens.

Puppet Shows

• Bear in the Big Blue House:
  • In "If At First You Don't Succeed", Ojo is scared by Rabbit's eyes peering out of a bush, mistaking them for those of a monster. When she realises there's no monster, she cries, feeling that being scared will mean she'll never be "big". Bear assures her that everyone, even adults, gets scared.
  • In "The Big Blue House Call", Ojo is revealed to be Afraid of Needles when she hides under a blanket to get out of having to get an injection from Doc Hogg. Bear admits that he can relate since he used to have a fear of vaccinations as well, and he teaches her a song about how shots end as quickly as they begin.
  • This is the main moral of "Nothing to Fear". It starts with Ojo not wanting to admit that she's nervous about trying out a swing for the first time, and Bear tells her that it's natural to be worried about something new. Bear even tells the audience that admitting your fear to someone you trust can help you with it.
• The Sooty Show: In "Sooty's Magic Solutions"^note Or "Phobias", Soo admits to Matthew that she thinks that Spiders Are Scary after he accidentally scares her with a fake one. She says it's not really something to talk about, but Matthew tells her that it's not a shameful thing since people can have fears of all kinds of things.

Video Games

• Adventures with Anxiety: You play as a girl's "anxiety animal", who is responsible for her anxious thoughts, but the wolf you play as has benevolent intentions for his host, even if it's not always as helpful as intended, if not frustrating. Despite this, the girl's anxiety wolf is shown to still be a necessity for getting through tough and dangerous situations, especially when they attempt to stop her from jumping off a building for a dare. In the end, An Aesop is given that despite the problems with anxiety, and the issues with letting it control you too much, it has its purpose and trying to neglect or suppress such fears is just as detrimental, and it's best to accept, understand, and coexist with such anxieties.
• Rome: Total War: During a pre-battle speech, a Roman general might tell his men that feeling fear is nothing to be ashamed of, and bravery is just keeping their cool and fighting on through it.

Webcomics

• Inverted in The Order of the Stick strip #372 "Pot v. Kettle, in which Redcloak gives a "The Reason You Suck" Speech to the paladin Miko. He argues that fear is one of the most natural and basic instincts, and since the blessing of Miko's gods has made her immune to fear, she's every bit as much an unnatural abomination as his boss Xykon (a lich).

Western Animation

• Arthur: In "Night Fright", Binky doesn't want to admit that he sleeps with a nightlight due to being afraid of the dark, as he's the toughest in his class, keeping the fear a secret between him and Arthur. Towards the end of the episode, the students talk about things that make them anxious. Binky's terrified that Arthur will blab about his secret fear, so he decides to confess it himself, but Ratburn tells him that having a night light is a fine way to deal with his nighttime nerves.
• Batman: The Animated Series: This is a subtle but recurring Aesop throughout the New Batman Adventures episode "Never Fear", as the Scarecrow's new fear-removing toxin inflicts significantly more disturbing effects on Gotham than his usual tricks, even bringing Batman to the cusp of breaking Thou Shalt Not Kill. It's Robin, who remains unafflicted, who ultimately has to pull his mentor back from the brink.
• Bluey: In "Movies", Bluey is revealed to be afraid of storms, to the point where up until now, she's never been to the movies because she's worried the movie will show thunder. This makes her worry that she's too "different", especially since the movie happens to be about a monkey who wishes he "wasn't different". Eventually, however, she brightens up when she faces her fear and the movie ends on a Be Yourself moral.
• Bugs Bunny Builders: In "Dino Fright", the Builders are tasked with constructing a dinosaur's skeleton, and Tweety admits that he's scared of dinosaurs. The others say they can relate since they have some fears of their own, with Porky revealing that Daffy has an Absurd Phobia of kites as an example (much to Daffy's annoyance, as he told him that in confidence).
• Doc McStuffins: In "Busted Boomer", Boomer the living soccer ball is less than pleased about being inflated, as he is Afraid of Needles (or more specifically, afraid of air pumps). Doc admits that she's not a fan of shots either despite being a doctor herself, and Lambie proposes giving him a hug to get him through it.
• Family Guy: A Cutaway Gag from "Herpe the Love Sore" has Peter attending a Cowards Anonymous meeting with the Cowardly Lion. When the Lion mentions that there are flying monkeys where he comes from, Peter says they really are something to be afraid of and that fear is a logical response to danger. Feeling validated, the Lion then returns to Oz to tell his friends off.
  "Hey, I'm the Rational Lion! So, fuck you guys!"
• Hazbin Hotel: According to Carmilla Carmine, fear isn't only natural, it's the reason The Power of Love works. If you love someone, you fear losing them. That fear will drive you to fight back against anything that would hurt them with all you have.
• Let's Go Luna!: In "Not Home on the Range", Leo keeps stalling when it comes to riding his uncle Crusty's horse Trusty. When the others ask him why, he reveals that he's afraid of horses and that he's worried that Crusty will no longer trust him if he finds out. Luna tells him that it's okay to be scared and that Crusty will understand if Leo tells him the truth. True to her word, Crusty doesn't mind, and when Leo tries to ride a horse for the first time, he ends up enjoying it.
• Little People (Egmont): In the 2016 series episode "Roar in the Face of Fright", Eddie has the hiccups, so the others try to scare him to cure him, despite his insistence that he's afraid of nothing. Leonard and the kids sing a brief song called "Everyone's Scared of Something", but Eddie is revealed to have a Fear of Thunder. Sofie tells him that it's nothing to ashamed of. Leonard suggests roaring back at the thunder, and Eddie soon realizes his hiccups have gone away.
• The Loud House: In "Hurl, Interrupted", Lynn's pals want to go on the new roller coaster, the Whipped Scream, at Dairyland. Lynn is less than enthused, though it's not because she's scared of the ride itself; she's actually emetophobic (meaning that she's afraid of vomiting). She does everything in her power to avoid riding it but ultimately confesses to her friends that she just doesn't want to throw up. They tell her that if she doesn't want to go on the Whipped Scream, they won't force her to. By the end, Lynn does end up puking due to overeating, but she realizes it's not as bad as she thought and she does want to try the Whipped Scream now.
• Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: Lunela is terrified of Coney Island after an accident there when she was only 5. Unfortunately for her, not only did her grandma buy tickets for a trip there, but she encounters The Beyonder who is fascinated by her fear. She's embarrassed by how afraid she is, but a pep talk from Mimi and a demonstration by Devil show her that she doesn't have to get over her fears, she just has to persevere through them.
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: In "Sleepless in Ponyville", Scootaloo has been plagued by nightmares as a result of Rainbow Dash's spooky stories about the Headless Horse. She does not want Rainbow to know about this, as she fears she will think less of her. When Rainbow saves her from an Inevitable Waterfall, she admits to Rainbow that her tales have freaked her out. Rainbow confesses that those stories scared her when she was younger as well and that she is not the only one.
• PAW Patrol: In "Pups Save a Toof", Alex goes well out of his way to avoid a dentist appointment. Ryder approaches him when he's hiding in a treehouse and says that everyone gets frightened sometimes, even the PAW Patrol, and he brings the rest of the gang to prove it.
• The Powerpuff Girls (1998):
  • In "Power-Noia", all three Powerpuff Girls are trapped in a shared nightmare. Buttercup gets startled by a Giant Spider and Blossom explains that it's her worst fear. Buttercup initially attempts to deny it, but Blossom says that everyone gets scared sometimes and that she just has to learn to fight it. Buttercup is still reluctant until Blossom accuses her of being a wimp gives her the drive to prove her wrong.
  • In "Boogie Frights", Buttercup says Bubbles shouldn't be such a wimp when it comes to the Boogie Man. The Professor comes in and explains that being scared doesn't make you a baby as long as you can get over it and face what frightens you the most.
• The Real Ghostbusters: In "The Bogeyman is Back", Egon is scared after a fall from a building, but doesn't want to admit it since he's worried his friends will no longer see him as brave. However, his reluctance to admit his fear leads to the Boogieman emerging, so Egon has to admit he's scared.
• Teen Titans (2003): When Beast Boy rents a horror movie for the team to watch, while he and the rest of the Titans admit to being scared, Raven denies being afraid. However, due to her denial of being afraid, monsters manifest in the tower, and as the team is picked off one by one until only Raven is left, she comes to accept that she is afraid, but that doesn't mean she can't fight back and the monsters (which turn out to be manifestations from her own powers) are reabsorbed into her.

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