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Fan Works
Fear was a weapon that sharpened with use after all.
Film — Animation
"The Mutants are dead. This is the new face of the law. We are the Sons of Batman. And Gotham's criminals are about to enter Hell."
—Son of Batman, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (2012): Part 1
Film — Live-Action
"When that light hits the sky, it's not just a call—it's a warning to them. Fear is a tool. They think I'm hiding in the shadows, but I am the shadows."
— Bruce Wayne, The Batman (2022)
Alfred Pennyworth: Why bats, Master Wayne?
Bruce Wayne: Bats frighten me. It's time my enemies shared my dread.
Bruce Wayne: Bats frighten me. It's time my enemies shared my dread.
"If we are to survive, a new balance must be found. In normal times, evil would be fought by good. But in times like these, well, it should be fought by another kind of evil."
— Opening narration to The Chronicles of Riddick
"We will be cruel to the Germans, and through our cruelty, they will know who we are. And they will find the evidence of our cruelty in the disemboweled, dismembered, and disfigured bodies of their brothers we leave behind us. And the German won't not be able to help themselves but to imagine the cruelty their brothers endured at our hands. And our boot heels. And the edge of our knives. And the German will be sickened by us, and the German will talk about us, and the German will fear us. And when the German closes their eyes at night, and they're tortured by their subconscious for the evil they have done, it will be with thoughts of us they are tortured with. Sound good?"
— Aldo Raine, Inglorious Basterds
Literature
"You don't understand. I think it's good that Papa was bad. I think it's good' that people were afraid of him. If those people in Umbria knew better, they'd never have kidnapped me. If the people in Venice knew better, they'd never have attacked the Trade Road. People should be afraid of us."''
— Caterina, Black Tide Rising: Perdition's Storm
"Such a shame, the bourgeoise youths releasing their primal instincts on a helpless drunkard. A nonviolent lesson was in order. Fear is such a wonderful deterrent and whets the appetite as well."
—Max Hale/Cairax Murrain, Ex-Heroes: Ex-Communication
"There are only about ten thousand Jedi. Even a single planet can have up to a trillion people. Relative to the galactic population, the Order is a whisper of a whisper. Our resources are best used to battle the dark in precise, targeted ways. If you need to field an army or blockade criminals across an entire sector, mostly we let the Republic handle it. But if the job is about stopping bad individuals…we're incredible. You know what I’m talking about. I know you do. Even though we Jedi are very few in number, we can still be effective at bringing light. Because when people consider being really bad, getting truly dark, there's always a little voice in the back of their head-what if they send a Jedi after me? I am the Jedi they send, Abediah Viess, and I have come for you. Everywhere you go, people get hurt, people die. Your time is over. That's all there is to it. I’m certain."
—Porter Engle, Star Wars: Trials of the Jedi
Taylor: I'm a good guy.
Armsmaster: You don't look like one.
Armsmaster: You don't look like one.
— Worm
"Fear was a tool I could use, here, and I could achieve that through uncertainty and the unknown."
— Skitter, Worm
Live-Action TV
Tenth Doctor: It's just a nightmare, Reinette, don't worry. Everyone has nightmares. Even monsters under the bed have nightmares.
Reinette: What do monsters have nightmares about?
The Doctor: Me.
Reinette: What do monsters have nightmares about?
The Doctor: Me.
Castiel: Don't worry about the Winchesters.
Crowley: "Don't worry"?! What, like Satan or Lucifer didn't worry? Or Michael? Or Lilith or Alastair or Azazel DIDN'T WORRY? Am I the only game piece on the board who doesn't underestimate those denim-wrapped nightmares?!
Crowley: "Don't worry"?! What, like Satan or Lucifer didn't worry? Or Michael? Or Lilith or Alastair or Azazel DIDN'T WORRY? Am I the only game piece on the board who doesn't underestimate those denim-wrapped nightmares?!
Tabletop Games
The Culexus Assassin is fear incarnate. He is the nameless dread that haunts the shadows, the terror that lingers on the edge of his victim's gaze. With a glare, he can still a man's heart, while psykers exposed to his presence are driven to madness by sheer terror.
Operative Noctus Kord is a man-made monster. His very presence kills. The merest zephyr of his passing plunges bystanders into paroxysms of fear and paranoia, all without them ever knowing Kord was in their midst.
Operative Noctus Kord is a man-made monster. His very presence kills. The merest zephyr of his passing plunges bystanders into paroxysms of fear and paranoia, all without them ever knowing Kord was in their midst.
— Warhammer 40,000, "Assassinorum - Execution Force"
Toys
"Fear can hit targets unreachable to bullets."
— Swoop, Transformers: Generation 1
Video Games
"You meet Danny Sullivan and you have to agree that crafting a new persona and reputation, well, that was in order. It's for the psychological value. Nobody fears Danny Sullivan and security, but the Gunners shit themselves at the thought of the Sheriff... That reputation stops most trouble in the Fens before it even begins."
— Lt. Harkins, The Fens Sheriff's Department
"When the mugger or the thief stops to think twice: that is fear. That is what I am. That is why they hired assassins, because I am the reason that criminals breathe easier when the sun rises."
— Batman, Batman: Arkham Origins
"In the first age, in the first battle, when the shadows first lengthened, one stood. Burned by the embers of Armageddon, his soul blistered by the fires of Hell and tainted beyond ascension, he chose the path of perpetual torment. In his ravenous hatred he found no peace; and with boiling blood he scoured the Umbral Plains seeking vengeance against the dark lords who had wronged him. He wore the crown of the Night Sentinels, and those that tasted the bite of his sword named him... The Doom Slayer."
— The Slayer's Testament, Doom (2016)
"Don't you want to terrify? Fear means there are fewer to fight next time. Fear means lives are saved."
— Anaxis, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Jin Sakai: I did what I had to. For them.
Lord Shimura: Is this how you want to be remembered?
Yuna: He defended us!
Lord Shimura: By spreading fear and chaos!
Jin Sakai: We are at war.
Lord Shimura: And you are acting like the enemy! This is not our way.
Jin Sakai: Your way can't save our people.
Lord Shimura: Is this how you want to be remembered?
Yuna: He defended us!
Lord Shimura: By spreading fear and chaos!
Jin Sakai: We are at war.
Lord Shimura: And you are acting like the enemy! This is not our way.
Jin Sakai: Your way can't save our people.
"The fact is, since people started calling me the Reaper of the Bailey, the number of serious crimes in the capital has dropped substantially. It would appear that even the most hardened criminals can be made fearful for their lives... I mean to say that if my pseudonym serves a useful purpose, I adopt it gladly, and with honour."
— Barok van Zieks, The Great Ace Attorney
People call it the embodiment of rage. It's said that this Pokémon's terrifying expression and shout will rid the world of malevolence.
— Pokédex entry for Gigantamax Single-Strike Urshifu, Pokémon Sword and Shield
All it takes is a glare from this Pokémon to take the lives of those with evil in their hearts—or so they say.
— Pokédex entry for Gigantamax Rapid-Strike Urshifu, Pokémon Sword and Shield
"Caution's nothing without charisma! For if a man plays the fool, then it's only fools he'll persuade. But appear to be the devil, and all men will submit."
— Blackbeard, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Web Original
"I would have loved to have seen a story where he could play a villain as furiously as this ala "Enemy of the World". "Meglos" is as close as we got in that respect ... Go watch him screaming 'GET OUT!' and laughing malevolently as he introduces the Vardans; this is the Tom Baker that those who worked with him admitted was bloody terrifying."
"Where is everybody? They must have gotten wise to Plan A: 'Eat Employees Until They're Too Scared To Work On Mind Control'. Welp, than I guess it's time to move on to Plan B: 'Actually Escaping'."
— Asuna, Sword Art Online Abridged
Western Animation
The Flash: Bats, you're starting to scare me.
Savage Universe Bruce Wayne: I scare a lot of people.
Savage Universe Bruce Wayne: I scare a lot of people.
Real Life