History Main / AscendedFridgeHorror

%%* Kanta, the main character of ''Anime/DesertPunk'' starts off very much a NominalHero. He's a bounty hunter with no true heroic characteristics. In fact, many of his deeds are down right heinous, but they're often played for BlackComedy. When the opportunity presents itself though, Kanta does end up pulling a FaceHeelTurn and both the viewers and the characters really aren't that surprised.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
%%** The episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E10SecretOfMyExcess Secret of My Excess]]" applies ascended fridge horror to the implications of a dragon living in a pony community, even though most other episodes before it stepped around it. Later, though the issue isn't explicitly dwelt on for very long, "Dragon Quest" addresses the fact that Spike is an orphaned child and neither he nor Twilight knows where his egg came from or who/where his real parents even are.
%%** It's been suggested by some that Fluttershy's ShrinkingViolet characteristics are at least partially the result of childhood trauma. "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" establishes that she was bullied, but Rainbow Dash seemed to get it about as badly as her (at the hooves of the same bullies, no less), and [[BoisterousBruiser look how she turned out]]. But then "Hurricane Fluttershy" shows us just how pervasive the problem ''really'' was, and how it affected her to the point that its resurgence is enough to provoke graphic, demonic hallucinations well into her adulthood.
%%** "Keep Calm and Flutter On" confirms the popular theory that Discord is [[AndIMustScream still aware of everything]] while in his [[TakenForGranite stone]] [[SealedEvilInACan prison]].
%%** "Princess Twilight Sparkle" revolves around how Discord, a [[ForTheEvulz massively vindictive]] {{Reality Warp|er}}ing ManipulativeBastard, left a few nasty surprises around for his captors even after he was defeated the first time, an idea that fan-fiction writers used constantly ever since his debut.
%%** Despite the show itself [[AngstWhatAngst glossing over it]], fans quite reasonably speculated that Celestia being forced to banish [[CainAndAbel her sister]] to the moon for a thousand years, to save Equestria from [[SuperPoweredEvilSide Nightmare Moon]], would have been devastating to her. Cue Twilight's vision of the past in "Princess Twilight Sparkle", which shows Celestia ''desperately pleading'' with Luna to stop, tried to stop her by herself, only using the Elements of Harmony when it was clear Nightmare Moon was too powerful, and when she makes that decision she starts ''crying'', one of only two times in the series she does so (the other being when Luna returns to her old self in the pilot).
%%** Similarly, the first part of the season opener addresses Celestia's feelings about the Summer Sun Celebration, with Celestia confirming to Twilight that to her, the Celebration was for a thousand years little more than a bitter reminder of the banishment mentioned above, with Celestia [[StepfordSmiler putting on a brave face for her subjects while hiding her inner pain]], and that she's happy that it can now be a reminder of their reunion.
%%** When "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E20ItsAboutTime It's About Time]]" introduced the realm of Tartarus, where various monsters and villains were sealed away, many people feared that someone may have been able to escape it while Cerberus was away from his post in that episode. The Tartarus plot point was even used in the "Feelin' Pinkie Keen" arc of webcomic ''Webcomic/FriendshipIsDragons'', complete with escaped prisoner, though it was a non-canon creature. In season 4's [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E25TwilightsKingdomPart1 finale]], it turned out [[ArcVillain Tirek]] HAD.
%%** The same episode also addresses the fan theory that Discord may not have been sincere in his HeelFaceTurn.
%%** Season Five's premiere had an antagonist that ascends a Fridge Horror that people have addressed regarding Cutie Marks and the social standing between those that have them and those that don't, along with other things by having a MotiveRant that revolves around her saying how she created harmony through [[spoiler:taking away the Cutie Marks and replacing them with the same one]]. By the finale, [[spoiler:we're revealed the villain's backstory, in which her friend manages to get a Cutie Mark before she did]].

** The mysterious places that appear in every game can be absolutely lethal to muggles, since they on principle don't know how the dimension works unlike our heroes. In ''VideoGame/Persona4'', the main antagonist is somebody that uses that game's mysterious place to go on a killing spree, simply by forcing muggles in and letting the Shadows take care of the rest. [[spoiler:And to make matters worse, he's been chosen by a higher power of his own.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' has Foop, who, from the start of his introduction episode, had a ThereCanOnlyBeOne mindset with regards to Poof. However, it has been hinted that fairies and their anti-fairy counterparts are connected and anti-fairies rely on their counterparts to exist, leaving many to wonder what would happen to Foop if he ever succeeded in eliminating Poof. The answer comes around in "Timmy's Secret Wish" when Foop manages to get Timmy branded as the worst Godkid to exist and have all his wishes erased, including Poof. In the middle of celebrating his success, Jorgen tells Foop that as Poof's Anti-Fairy, [[PyrrhicVillainy his existence is erased as well]]. [[ResetButton Following being restored]], [[VillainDecay Foop went from seeking Poof's destruction to being]] TheRival, since he realized that killing Poof would kill himself.

%%* The first act of ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods'' is a cheerful FracturedFairyTale. The ''second'' act is every single nasty consequence of every single person's actions coming back to haunt them (and everyone else around them).
* In Theatre/ShrekTheMusical, any struggles you could think of with Fiona being locked in one little room of the tower are lovingly spelled out in her verse of "I Think I Got You Beat", making it clear she was more a prisoner than anything. SanitySlippage from isolation and boredom, minimal creature comforts (including needing to boil her chamberpot since she had no toilet), not much headroom when she grew taller... She even admits that it's a good thing the walls were padded.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' and their ''[[VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon Ultra]]'' versions take a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome approach to sidequests, including five powerful Eevee trainers from the past who in the present day all middle-aged, elderly, or in one case dead, and a woman whose husband died to his own Machoke in an accident. [[spoiler:''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' also touch on long-speculated things like what happens to Pokémon abandoned in the PC, as well as the thought of Ditto, a Pokémon that can theoretically mimic anything, and Zorua, a Pokémon with the power to cast illusions to pose as other Pokemon and people, replacing humans]].

** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' had a couple bits at the end. Okay, so Peter is a HalfHumanHybrid, and that explains how he was able to handle the Power Stone and not die instantly. And [[EvenEvilHasStandards Yondu, a notorious career pirate and criminal, refers to Peter's father as a "jackass".]] Okay, so what kind of being was both ''that'' powerful and so bad that someone who spent a lifetime plundering ships and killing people would call a "jackass"? We find out [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2 in the sequel]]: [[spoiler: [[Characters/MCUEgoTheLivingPlanet this universe's version]] of Ego the Living Planet, a Celestial who sired - and [[OffingTheOffspring murdered]] - untold numbers of his own offspring trying to find one that had enough power to help him destroy the entire universe. Yondu was hired to deliver Peter to Ego, but backed out of the deal and raised Peter as his own when he realized what Ego was doing to the ''other'' kids he helped bring to him.]]

* A promotional booklet for the 2015 ''Film/{{Goosebumps}}'' film adopts the popular if not universal {{fanon}} interpretation of a line from the [[Series/{{Goosebumps}} tv series']] episode "Night of the Living Dummy II" that the incantation that brings a DemonicDummy to life (who, keep in mind, proceeds to blackmail and threaten prepubescent-to-teenage girls into being his "slaves") translates to "You and I are one now." Only fans could come up with a translation ''that'' creepy.

** ''Comicbook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderThePromise'' confirmed several fan theories that ending a hundred years war did not suddenly fix all problems created because of that war. In particular, colonized Earth Kingdom territories.

* The ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' series starts out taking the concept of sentient toys relatively light, while it explores some of the darker implications of having an AnimateInanimateObject co-exist with oblivious humans, it leaves one of the biggest ones out, namely the owner growing up and separating from them forever, but as the series goes on, it recognises the FridgeHorror of the concept more and more thoroughly; it openly spells the issue out in the second film and eventually, to a further extent than most people would probably expect from a children's movie series. The whole premise of ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'' is the toys having to deal with the fact that their owner has grown up and put them aside.

** FurryConfusion in Hanna-Barbera cartoons (and in the show itself) is somewhat addressed in an episode where WesternAnimation/AugieDoggieAndDoggieDaddy appear. Turns out sentient anthropomorphic dogs have no more rights than regular ones; Doggie Daddy is arrested for not having a license, sentenced to obedience training, ''fixed'' (try not to think of the many people in RealLife who have been sterilized against their will), and winds up so brainwashed from his ordeal that he is basically lobotomized. All PlayedForLaughs of course.

%%** The episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E10SecretOfMyExcess Secret of My Excess]]" applies ascended fridge horror to the implications of a dragon living in a pony community, even though most other episodes before it stepped around it. Later, though the issue isn't explicitly dwelt on for very long, "Dragon Quest" addresses the fact that Spike is an orphaned child and neither he nor Twilight knows where his egg came from or who/where his real parents even are. [[TearJerker Ouch]].

** The episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E10SecretOfMyExcess Secret Of My Excess]]" applies ascended fridge horror to the implications of a dragon living in a pony community, even though most other episodes before it stepped around it. Later, though the issue isn't explicitly dwelt on for very long, "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E21DragonQuest Dragon Quest]]" addresses the fact that Spike is an orphaned child and neither he nor Twilight knows where his egg came from or who/where his real parents even are. [[TearJerker Ouch.]]

** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E11KeepCalmAndFlutterOn Keep Calm and Flutter On]]" confirms the popular theory that Discord is [[AndIMustScream still aware of everything]] while in his [[TakenForGranite stone]] [[SealedEvilInACan prison]].

** Despite the show itself [[AngstWhatAngst glossing over it]], fans quite reasonably speculated that Celestia being forced to banish [[CainAndAbel her sister]] to the moon for a thousand years, to save Equestria from [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Nightmare Moon]], would have been devastating to her. Cue Twilight's vision of the past in "Princess Twilight Sparkle", which shows Celestia ''desperately pleading'' with Luna to stop, tried to stop her by herself, only using the Elements of Harmony when it was clear Nightmare Moon was too powerful, and when she makes that decision she starts ''crying''.

** Strangely, the only timelines where Ganon(dorf) is KilledOffForReal are ones where Link wasn't around to stop him at some point. In the Adult timeline, he dies for good in ''Wind Waker'', and in the Downfall timeline, in the original ''The Legend of Zelda''. Breath of the Wild potentially throws a wrench in this, but it's confusing regarding the timeline in the first place, seemingly deliberately.

** [[spoiler:When Gallifrey was saved]] in "The Day of the Doctor", [[spoiler:though it is in another Universe, some people pointed out that if the Time Lords return it could mean another Time War]]. This is the threat being staved off in the next episode, "The Time of the Doctor".
** The old series occasionally used AngstWhatAngst to keep the characters from being utterly destroyed. [[labelnote:examples]]Notable instances include the Fourth Doctor's apparently blasé attitude to the departures of Sarah Jane and Leela, and how none of the TARDIS crew even begin to process the unimaginable scale of destruction in "Logopolis", which included Nyssa's entire planet.[[/labelnote]] The new series suggests the Doctor ''does'' actually deal with that, through a combination of StepfordSmiler behaviour and forcible denial, because if he stopped to think about all of the loss he'd have a complete mental breakdown. Matt Smith said if Eleven didn't act foppish and silly, he probably would've ''hung'' himself.
** In "The Long Game" Adam is thrown out of the TARDIS for trying to send future knowledge back to his own time, having installed a data chip in his head. Having a chip that opens when someone snaps their fingers is PlayedForLaughs when Adam's mother accidentally causes it to open. The comic "Prisoners of Time" shows this basically ruined Adam's life, as he had to hide away for most of his life in fear of being discovered and became bitter and hateful towards the Doctor, eventually using his data chip to perform robberies via hacking and trying to get revenge on the Doctor.
** When River Song first made her debut in "Silence in the Library", many fans observed that she seems oddly nonchalant about [[spoiler: sacrificing her life]] at the end of the episode, and she doesn't seem to consider that there might be another way to save the victims of the Vashta Nerada. As many people pointed out, [[spoiler: her supposed HeroicSacrifice looks suspiciously like ''suicide'']]. As River's character arc slowly progresses in the next few seasons, and we get to meet her [[StableTimeLoop before she ultimately travelled to the Library]], it slowly begins to look like this might indeed be the case. River strongly suspects that one day she will cross paths with the Doctor at a time before he's met her, and she believes that [[spoiler: she won't be able to live with the grief of knowing that the man she loves has no idea who she is]]. "The Husbands of River Song" reveals that [[spoiler: her last adventure with him before "Silence in the Library" ended in a night that lasted ''twenty-four happy years'']], which may or may not soften this tragic situation.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Willow activates the powers of all of the Potential Slayers in the finale, so there are thousands of girls who would have started having horrific nightmares they don't understand and new powers that could be abused (the latter of which we've already seen with Faith). As the Watcher's Council has already been destroyed, they have no one to help them. ''Series/{{Angel}}'' season 5 shows that there is a slayer that was traumatized in her youth, and the nightmares made it worse, so she ends up breaking out of a hospital and killing people. In the season ''Buffy'' 8 and 9 comics there are quite a few rogue slayers who reject Buffy's leadership and use their powers to hurt others (a couple of them plotting to kill Buffy), so Giles recruits [[AntiHero Faith]] to help [[GodzillaThreshold deal with them]], which required [[ShootTheDog desperate measures]] at times.

** Season 3 of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' has new Airbenders popping up after [[MassSuperEmpoweringEvent Harmonic Convergence]]. Now, while the Air Nomads were pacifistic, developing their bending into a primarily defensive art, FridgeHorror has long abounded among the fans since discovering Monk Gyatso's body and those of the soldiers who tried to kill him regarding what an [[LethalHarmlessPowers airbender could do]] if the user ''wasn't'' focusing on defense, especially since there isn't much that can easily stop an airbender. These fears have now been realized as the apparent BigBad of the season is one of the new benders, and he is ''not'' holding back with his new powers. In a later episode, he even uses his powers to asphyxiate someone by bending the air out of their lungs. In the Season 3 finale, [[spoiler: Jinora leads a small group of relatively untrained airbenders into making a ''tornado'' to help Korra defeat the ArcVillain. A small tornado, granted, but the fact they were able to create something like with minimal training really drives home how powerful an airbender could be if they weren't pacifists]].

%%* The ''Film/{{Bean}}'' movie somehow manages to [[InvertedTrope invert it]]. In the film Bean destroys a priceless historical artifact, but he covers it up by replacing it with a poster of the same painting, and cue the happy if hilarious ending. As it's really only a short-term solution however, the forgery would undoubtedly be uncovered sometime after the film's events. The original script had apparently already considered this, as it ends with someone noticing the change after the painting is slightly damaged, which didn't make it into the final film.

* One of the main criticisms of ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' is how nothing comes of [[spoiler:Naegi defying direct orders from his superiors in the Future Foundation and [[HeelFaceBrainwashing saving the surviving Remnants of Despair]] instead of executing them]]. The very first shot of ''Anime/DanganRonpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'' shows [[spoiler:Naegi being placed under arrest by the Future Foundation]], setting off the plot.
** Given what happened to [[spoiler:the Remnants of Despair]], another criticism is that there are probably more of people like them out there that aren't being dealt with. [[spoiler:Chisa Yukizome, one of the Future Foundation's own ''branch heads'', is revealed to be similarly brainwashed to the Remnants in ''Side:Despair'' and has been unwittingly wreaking havoc from inside the foundation for ''years''.]]
** Among the Hope's Peak Saga villains, fans wondered what kind of killing game would result from a Mastermind that wasn't so honor-bound in their game rules. The result? [[spoiler:Tengan, who rigged the Final Killing Game so that it would go on without him and set up his protege to enact his plan even after the game was over.]]

** While fighting and defeating a Shadow Self is present throughout the series, actually killing one is never shown due to their importance to their real world counterpart. In ''Persona 5'', it's explained that a person with a dead Shadow Self goes into mental shutdown. [[spoiler:The real world person also experiences a heart attack and their brain breaking until they keel over and die, as Haru's father shows us.]]
** ''Persona 5'' has the Phantom Thieves engage in HeelFaceBrainwashing by using the Metaverse to change the hearts of their targets, turning the targets from horrid people into good ones who feel sorry for what they've done. The ethics of doing this were brought up a few times, but ultimately glossed over. ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'' examines this more closely by having the villains use the Metaverse for mind control instead, showing what happens when someone without such strong convictions has that kind of power.

** In this, the series as a whole can be considered Ascended Fridge Horror following on from ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'', since the format and characters were originally conceived as loose parodies of that show. Rusty is of course the grown-up Jonny. However, later on the producers discovered that they didn't have to rely on parody, since the rights to Jonny Quest were owned by Cartoon Network. So in the second season they re-ascended the fridge horror far more directly by introducing Jonny Quest himself as the recurring character of "Action Jonny". Jonny's characterization is dominated by two features: substance abuse, and deep mental scarring from his father. Basically, the same traits Rusty has, but [[UpToEleven dialed up so high]] that Rusty looks normal by comparison.

* ''WesternAnimation/MegaManFullyCharged'''s vague implications of the Hard Age war between robots and humans, with an uneasy peace in the present day, are delved into fully in the ''ComicBook/MegamanFullyCharged'' comic book adaptation, with the revelation that Dr. Light used to fight fully on the humans' side and Mega Man was once a war drone who had his memories erased.

%%* ''Popotan'' is about a trio of sisters who travel through time along with their maid. The catch is that when they are given the signal to leave, they have to, otherwise [[spoiler: they will be unable to age normally]]; as such, they are forced to leave any friends they make behind over and over. It's understood quite early that Mai, one of the sisters, is not all that happy about their situation, but it takes episode 9 to show just how it can mess with the lives of both them and their friends: [[spoiler: Konami, one such friend of Mai, died hoping she would eventually return to her]], putting Mai into a serious depression.

%%* ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' similarly takes the MagicalGirl, [[PrinceCharming prince]] and princess tropes from the first half and deconstructs them in the second. This is especially the case with Anthy, who demonstrates exactly what someone treated as a prize to be won [[BrokenBird would actually be like]].

* [[BigBeautifulWoman Big Bertha]] of the ComicBook/GreatLakesAvengers is a mutant with the power to [[TemporaryBulkChange swell her body fat]] to grant herself SuperStrength and durability; her civilian form is a conventionally-thin model named Ashley Crawford who funds the GLA with profits from her career. In order to change back from Big Bertha, she must undergo "power puking" to literally vomit up the excess fat and return to her original size. While this was first played for a joke, fans pointed out the disturbing implications (especially since Ashley is a model, and that industry is ripe with bulimia and other eating disorders); as such, later issues of the comic had Ashley severely traumatized by the fact that she has to make herself throw up if she wants to swap forms. [[/folder]]

** ''Film/BlackPanther2018'''s central conflicts is based on acknowledging the real life pitfalls of a country like Wakanda. A ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' [[https://www.cracked.com/article_24417_why-black-panther-really-marvels-most-dangerous-villain.html article]] claims that Wakanda's refusal to help it neighbors, arsenal of advanced weapons, and absolute leadership determined by brute force would make it an ideal authoritarian state. Likewise, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByeyFfOHgQA an episode ]] by ''[[WebVideo/GameTheory The Film Theorists]]'' pointed out that Wakanda's over-reliance on vibranium and traditionalist society could lead to the country losing out in a technological arms race with the outside world. Come the actual movie, many of these talking points form the crux of the conflict. Not only do many of T'Challa's advisors point out that the outside world is closing the technology gap, but T'Challa realizes that Wakanda's tribalistic isolationism has led to the suffering and neglect of the Wakandan diaspora. The film also shows why choosing a king based on ritual combat is a bad idea when [[spoiler:Killmonger exploits Wakanda's power structure to usurp the throne by defeating T'Challa in combat, despite his lack of leadership skills, and uses his privilege as king to create a fascist state and attempt to start a race war that doesn't have a guarantee of Wakandan victory.]]

** ''Series/WandaVision's'' take on the same events, however, isn't played for laughs at all, and fully explores the panic that four billion people popping into existence would really cause in the moment. [[Film/CaptainMarvel2019 Monica Rambeau]] revives in a hospital, which is in a state of absolute chaos thanks to an untold number of spontaneous new arrivals instantly pushing it well above capacity. On top of that, Monica was unable to be there when her mother died three years ago, even though it was almost instantaneous to her.

** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' had a couple bits at the end. Okay, so Peter is a HalfHumanHybrid, and that explains how he was able to handle the Power Stone and not die instantly. And Yondu, a notorious career pirate and criminal refers to Peter's father as a [[EvenEvilHasStandards "jackass".]] Okay, so what kind of being was both ''that'' powerful and so bad that someone who spent a lifetime plundering ships and killing people would call a "jackass"? We find out [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2 in the sequel]]: [[spoiler: [[Characters/MCUEgoTheLivingPlanet this universe's version]] of Ego the Living Planet, a Celestial who sired - and [[OffingTheOffspring murdered]] - untold numbers of his own offspring trying to find one that had enough power to help him destroy the entire universe. Yondu was hired to deliver Peter to Ego, but backed out of the deal and raised Peter as his own when he realized what Ego was doing to the ''other'' kids he helped bring to him.]]

* In the third ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' game, that fact that one of the game's culprits was executed is a plot point. It's never stated whether any of the other killers you've helped convict were given the death penalty, but seeing as most of them don't appear afterwards, it's certainly likely, though it's never addressed. ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonVsPhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', however, doesn't sidestep the issue: the true culprit of the second case ''is shown being executed on-screen'',[[note]][[spoiler:she wasn't ''actually'' executed, though, though it sure seemed so at the time]][[/note]] and via [[BurnTheWitch horrifying]] CruelAndUnusualDeath to boot.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToaster'' put a [[{{Deconstruction}} very cynical]] spin on the idea of anthropomorphic appliances and electronics: Like ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'', the plot kicked off with the main characters believing that they had been abandoned by their owner, introduces newer appliances which threaten their coveted favorite status, and delivers a truly horrific climax where, [[spoiler: like ''Toy Story 3's'' incinerator scene, the appliances (and their master) are dumped into a junkyard, thrown onto a conveyor belt by a psychopathic magnet, and almost crushed to death.]]