History Main / BadDreams

* NightmareSequence

* YourWorstNightmare: Intentionally causing someone to have nightmares.

* FlashbackNightmare
* GuiltInducedNightmare
* IrritationNightmare

* PlaguedByNightmares
* YourWorstNightmare

* PastExperienceNightmare

[[redirect:PastExperienceNightmare]]

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[[caption-width-right:350:The deeds of your days may become the demons of your nights.]]

->''"I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams."''
-->-- '''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'''

At some point in the past, Bob TheHero got [[DarkAndTroubledPast hurt]]. [[HurtingHero Badly hurt.]] He suffered some horrible injury. He saw people he loved being brutalized or murdered. He had to ShootTheDog and [[DirtyBusiness has been living with the guilt ever since]]. Maybe it was even ''[[SurvivorGuilt all of the above]]''.

But Bob doesn't want anyone else to know he's still hurting; not him, not Bob TheStoic. He won't even say DontYouDarePityMe; he ''would'' if anyone showed him pity, but his pain is too well concealed for that. He won't even suffer a NotSoStoic moment or brush off the tears that come in a rare unguarded moment with "There's SandInMyEyes."

So how do you show the readers (and sometimes the other characters) that Bob's impassive demeanor is the result of superhuman control and iron will, not a sociopath's LackOfEmpathy? How do you show his breaking heart without CharacterDerailment? Or inappropriate CharacterDevelopment for the story?

You give him Bad Dreams.

'''There are various options:'''

* At its mildest, we see that Bob is restless in bed, prone to [[TalkingInYourSleep muttering to himself]], crying, or even screaming. He may also sleepwalk. The audience always sees this; other characters may or may not be aware.
* Another option is to show Bob's dream sequence, letting us view his terror and a remarkably clear account of the trauma (possibly a FlashbackNightmare, possibly symbolically represented), and Bob waking in horror. A NightmareSequence, DaydreamSurprise or AllJustADream are all possible options.
* A third option, useful for letting the cast in about Bob's secret pain, is to show him [[TalkingInYourSleep talking in his sleep]] (or in a delirium). His speech will usually be remarkably clear and lucid for someone who is out of his conscious mind, but other times what he says is cryptic and its significance has to be pieced together by the rest of the cast. If he sleepwalks, they will catch him doing some activity or ritual related to the cause of his pain.

The instant Bob wakes (often [[CatapultNightmare by bolting upright in bed]]), he will be back to normal. However, dread of more nightmares makes him likely to become TheInsomniac, which can prove dangerous if these are RecurringDreams. If he woke everyone else up with his screaming, he will apologize for disturbing them. Usually. But he also usually won't tell them what made him scream. If he has superpowers then they may [[PowerIncontinence spark and fly about]] as he tosses restlessly, unable to control them as they activate in his fevered state. (Every once in a while this vulnerable moment opens the door for Bob to tell someone else about his trauma; this can be [[EpiphanyTherapy unrealistically beneficial]].) If Bob also suffers from GoMadFromTheIsolation, he will often not be able to remember that he is safe until several moments after waking.

If they stemmed from MyGreatestFailure, Bad Dreams may overlap with AnxietyDreams, and be fixed with it if Bob tackles the problem the second time round.

''Visions'' about bad things, whether [[DreamingOfTimesGoneBy past]], [[DreamSpying present]], or [[DreamingOfThingsToCome future]], or plain old ordinary dreams that are just unpleasant, are not Bad Dreams; Bad Dreams indicate that Bob is a traumatized character even though he is doing his damndest to hide that fact. (And nightmares from trauma can indeed be TruthInTelevision.)

Being the outward sign of an inward pain, Bad Dreams are obviously more likely for characters who keep their feelings on the inside: the Stoic, the EmotionlessGirl, BrokenBird, and the like (whether Bob hides his pain from everyone or just from one particular person). But they can be a useful tool for demonstrating trauma for -- and humanizing -- anyone, since you can't control your dreams. May be used to reveal the true character of NoHeroToHisValet (type 2). Or demonstrate that BeingEvilSucks. Or to show that TheAlcoholic is DrowningMySorrows. TheCaptain is prone to Bad Dreams because they [[TheChainsOfCommanding cannot show weakness]] in front of their people and [[AFatherToHisMen feels responsible for any injury or death that befalls those in their care]].

YourWorstNightmare may be mistaken for Bad Dreams. When the character suffers from TraumaInducedAmnesia, they can overlap with DreamingTheTruth. When the dreams are symbolic, they can not always be distinguished; dreams of a villain could be remembering the past encounters, or foreshadowing future ones. The character may not be able to tell that someone is communicating because the means are bringing up memories. May be a FeverDreamEpisode. It often involves reliving YourWorstMemory. Contrast DreamingOfThingsToCome and TalkingInYourDreams.

These are often RecurringDreams, at least by implication. May be caused by buried memories from AlternateIdentityAmnesia.

Supertrope of FlashbackNightmare, which shows the nightmare in the form of a {{flashback}}.

Not to be confused with the ''VideoGame/BadDream'' series.

----
!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Eren Yeager from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' starts having some rough nights late into the story [[spoiler: as he relives his [[DarkAndTroubledPast father's memories]] in his dreams, triggered by reading the journals in the Yeager basement (don't ask, it's complicated)]]. He's [[CatapultNightmare woken up screaming]] at least once, and for good reason [[spoiler: he saw the AwfulTruth behind the titan that killed his mother.]]
* Guts from ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' gets these a lot because of his [[DarkAndTroubledPast horrible childhood]]. It only gets worse when he gets the [[MagneticPlotDevice Brand Of Sacrifice]].
* Tarou from ''Anime/GhostHound'' has been having these ever since he got kidnapped when he was four-years-old.
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': Asuka has one right beside [[LoveInterest Shinji]] on their final night of having to sleep together. It's about her [[FreudianExcuse mother]].
* Lucy from ''Manga/ElfenLied'' demonstrates all three of the variations at one point or another. One of her Bad Dreams lasts for more than an episode.
* ''Manga/FruitsBasket'':
** Yuki suffers a Bad Dream about his [[AbusiveParents mother]]. He is worried because he hasn't had it in a while.
** Rin also suffers a Bad Dream about her [[AbusiveParents parents]] when she's ill.
** At one point, Tohru has a bad dream about the day her mother left and was hit by a car and killed. The dream itself wasn't bad (just her mother bidding Tohru goodbye as she left for work), but Tohru watches while knowing what will happen and wakes up as she tries to warn her mother not to leave.
* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' empowers total strangers to come in and mop up her bad dreams, then has a good dream with her SO.
* ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' : Alucard, of all people, has bad dreams of when Abraham Van Helsing defeats him, and later has hallucinations containing homages to various films. He's properly freaked out about this. This is exaggerated in the fifth OVA.
* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' basically managed to turn Ken Ichijoji from the [[KickTheDog psychopathic Big Bad]] into TheWoobie by using this method.
* In ''Manga/CountCain'', the titular Cain suffers near-constant nightmares due to his father's abuse and generally miserable childhood. Peculiarly, his own bad deeds, [[spoiler: including several poisonings,]] don't seem to bother him at all.
* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'':
** [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Evangeline]] has recurring nightmares of the day the Thousand Master rejected her, defeated her, and sealed her in Mahora Academy.
** After the events at the start of the Magic World arc, Negi himself had one where he saw all his students petrified. It ends with the petrified Asuna shattering.
* Shows up multiple times in ''Manga/ChronoCrusade''.
** Chrono is shown having nightmares both after Rizelle is killed (implying guilt for Chrono and also hinting at his [at the time] unrevealed {{backstory}}) and in a flashback (hinting that he possibly has something like [=PTSD=] after a battle while leaving the demon's home world).
** Rosette also has a bad dream after a traumatic battle that's half-flashback and half-symbolic, which sets up the uncharacteristic despair she's in for the rest of the chapter.
** In the anime, Rosette has a bad dream about Joshua to foreshadow the reveal about her backstory.
* ''Anime/PokemonTheRiseOfDarkrai'' features a Pokémon specifically capable of giving any sleeping person Bad Dreams, and is physically incapable of doing otherwise. When the main character, Ash, is put to sleep, he's given a vision of Palkia's appearance in the city. Of course, he doesn't realise what's going on until it's too late.
** Additionally, due to Palkia's Space Warping powers being out-of-control at this point, any Pokémon put to sleep will have their nightmares in full view for everyone to see. Most of the Pokémon dream of being chased by "something frightening" - Lickylicky on the other hand dreams that it has transformed into Baron Alberto (not strictly the villain, more of a {{Jerkass}}) and thus the actual Baron ends up turning into Lickylicky. He even takes advantage of this in an attempt to battle Darkrai and begins using attacks. He loses. When Palkia wakes up and regains some control of its powers, the images of nightmares fade away and the Pokémon all inexplicably wake up at the same time.
* In ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'', Sousuke is eventually shown to have nightmares concerning [[spoiler: Kaname]], along with his dead mother (who died protecting him, and told him to "fight" and "never give up"). These nightmare sequences are pretty much the only mention or thoughts he gives of his mother (as he [[TheStoic isn't a very sentimental person]]), and without them, it would be made rather ambiguous whether or not Sousuke even ''remembered'' his mother (since she died when he was 3-4 years old, and he was even shown going mute and repressing memories of her when he was young, and only got better with Kalinin's help).
* Happens early on in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', with Ed [[spoiler:waking up from a dream of his mother with her flesh falling off her body.]]
* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', Lelouch, Suzaku, and Nunnally all have bad dreams from their experiences as children in a war zone. Around others, they put on a mask of cheerful, ordinary high school students, but when they are alone, this shows. The show uses this to frame some flashbacks as well.
* In ''Manga/VirginLove'', Kaoru has a lot of trouble catching sleep because he always dreams of his abusive childhood.
* In the first chapter of ''Manga/SangatsuNoLion'', Rei suffers through bad dreams while sleeping over at the Kawamoto residence after bottling up all of his negative emotions regarding his victory over his father in shogi earlier in the day. While bringing him bedsheets to sleep with, Hina notices Rei crying in his sleep as she takes off his glasses, causing her concern.
* ''Anime/YuGiOhCapsuleMonsters'':
** Yugi has a couple nightmares about Yami being captured and the armor they later get being not enough to save him against the Seven-Armed Fiend.
** After he and Anzu survive a train crash in the anime filler arc, Yami has a nightmare/convenient flashback to losing Yugi's soul.
* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Doflamingo continued having nightmares well into his mid twenties reliving his experiences being [[spoiler:tortured when he was a child by angry citizens. This experience was a result of his father denouncing the Donquixote family as Celestial Dragons, when the ordinary citizens of the country they were living in found this out they rounded them up for torture. Even up to the current story point, Doflamingo continues to loath his father for throwing away his birthright and placing them in that predicament. And even more personal, Doflamingo continued holding such hatred that he poetically named his ultimate attack "16 Sacred Bullets of the Assassin, God Thread" a mocking reference to a man who was part of the mob that tortured him claiming his sons were shot dead 16 times by Celestial Dragons. A subtle glimpse to how badly Doffy still wished his father hadn't denounced their Celestial Dragon status.]]
* In ''Manga/VinlandSaga'', Thorfinn is troubled by bad dreams every night, both shown directly and through his inability to sleep peacefully. These dreams are a mixture of childhood traumas over losing his father and home and his own bad conscience about all the people he has killed.
* Ash from ''Manga/BananaFish'' is shown to have these, most likely in the form of [[FlashbackNightmare Flashback Nightmares]]. His friend Eiji pretends to not notice him calling out in his sleep or waking up crying.
* In episode 6a of ''Anime/{{Tamagotchi}}'', Lovelitchi has a nightmare where her friends are shocked to hear she's been keeping her identity as Lovelin a secret and voice their feelings of being betrayed, with Mametchi angrily telling her they're not Tama-Friends anymore.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Asian Animation]]
* In ''Animation/HappyHeroes'', Careful S. is so distraught over [[spoiler:his friend Kalo sacrificing himself to save Planet Xing]] that at the beginning of Season 8 episode 7, he's shown to have what appears to be a nightmare about it, complete with him [[CatapultNightmare catapulting out of bed]] when he wakes up from it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Heather Hudson has a dream sequence after the death of her husband in ''ComicBook/AlphaFlight'': in the graveyard, one by one, the team members leave her. Then her dead husband's rotting corpse rises out of the grave and chases her.
* Franchise/{{Batman}} in various media and usually focusing on reliving the night of his parents' murder, with story appropriate variations.
* In ''Franchise/XMen'':
** ComicBook/{{Magneto}} suffers these from his experiences in the Holocaust and his daughter's death afterwards.
** In ''The Killing Dream'' arc of ComicBook/{{X 23}}'s solo series, Laura has recurring nightmares of being chased or hunted, which lead to a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind against a demon attempting to recruit her into his service.
* At the end of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', [[spoiler: Ozymandias]] seems perfectly content that he did the right thing, but seems to show a hint of doubt when he mentions his dream of "swimming towards a terrible...never mind", drawing a parallel between his story and the mariner of the comic-within-a-comic, in which [[spoiler:a man commits horrible atrocities in order to save his home from attack from a dreaded ship of the damned. However, the attack never happens, and he eventually joins the ship, having ironically lost his soul through his attempts to save his village]].
* Several of the members of the post-''Comicbook/ZeroHour'' ''Comicbook/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}}'' have recurring Bad Dreams following the "[[ZombieApocalypse Legion of the Damned]]" arc, in which many of them were taken over by [[TheVirus The Blight]].
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' stories provide some examples:
** In the ''ComicBook/WhoTookTheSuperOutOfSuperman'' story arc, the Man of Steel has been gaslighted into believing he has to pick between his two identities. In order to make a decision, he spends one whole week being only Clark Kent, and every night he suffers nightmares of strolling around Metropolis with Lois, ignoring each and every disaster and plea for help.
** At the beginning of the ''ComicBook/{{Bizarrogirl}}'' storyline, which happens right after the destruction of ''ComicBook/NewKrypton'', ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} has nightly nightmares in where she fights Superwoman again, and a legion of corpses tries to drag her down to Hell.
--->'''Supergirl:''' Some people talk in their sleep. Others walk. I heat-vision, apparently.\\
'''ComicBook/LanaLang:''' I'm sure someone out there makes a sleep mask that can handle that. Nightmare?\\
'''Supergirl:''' Yeah... Again.
** In ''[[ComicBook/Superboy2011 Superboy vol. 5]]'' Kon-El comes across a corrupted red strain of [[LotusEaterMachine Black Mercy]] on a drifting spaceship which traps its victims in their worst nightmare rather than a paradise and forces him to live out a future in which he's turned villainous conqueror like his evil alternate self Black Zero.
* In the beginning of ''ComicBook/Trinity2008'', Franchise/{{Superman}}, Franchise/{{Batman}} and Franchise/WonderWoman get together to talk about several strange dreams they keep having night after night concerning a prisoner intent on breaking free.
* Yorick, the protagonist of ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'', gets these frequently. At one point one of his companions comments that they'd hate to live in his mind.
* A variant of this trope appears in ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX''. Frank's worst dream is actually a happy dream of an alternate future in which his family didn't go to the park and he is a grandfather who is having dinner with his wife, children, children-in-law, and grandchildren. The reason that Frank considers this a bad dream is because it painfully reminds him that his family is dead when he wakes up.
* In "Swamped", a vegetative ComicBook/SwampThing had a confused, pun-sprinkled nightmare about Linda Holland and his humanity.
* ''Comicbook/{{Empowered}}'': Basically everyone. Most of the cast is dealing with serious PTSD, with the obvious result.
** Emp herself has nightmares both of her father's death (he had a fatal brain aneurysm right in front of her when she was a kid) and the many, ''many'' times she's been tied up by the bad guys. Her boyfriend often hears her whimpering in her sleep.
** Emp's boyfriend isn't much better. He used to be a {{Cape Buster|s}} leading a [[BadassNormal capeless uprising]] until the San Antonio incident (when he missed getting killed by a newborn supervolcano by less than a mile). He lost a lot of friends during that time, but what he has the most nightmares about is Willy Pete, a "goddamn fire elemental" who raped all his remaining friends to death. Emp often hears him calling out the names of people she's never heard him mention while awake, and his greatest fear is that Willy Pete will one day find Emp herself.
** Ninjette is on the low end of the nightmare scale, but not for lack of a horrific backstory. Her nightmares are more about her fears of the future. Specifically, her father sending her ninja clan to capture her, cut off her hands and feet, and turn her into a breeding sow for the rest of her life. And yes, that actually is his stated goal.
** Mind████ was forced by her brother to [[DisabilitySuperpower cut out her own eyes and tongue]] in an effort to make her a better telepath (by forcing her to piggyback on other people's senses). He was stopped before he could make her deafen herself, but she still relives the event every single night, over and over and over. Worse, [[PowerIncontinence since she can't control her powers while asleep]], these nightmares ''leak'', and anyone nearby sees them in vivid detail. Normally she follows isolation protocols to keep others at a safe distance, but once she accidentally fell asleep in her girlfriend's arms. When they both woke up, she tried to leave, but her girlfriend insisted on her remaining. What followed was the worst night of her girlfriend's life, and she later says that she feels like it was the most heroic thing she had ever done.
* In his first appearance in ''Amazing ComicBook/SpiderMan'' #101-102 ComicBook/{{Morbius}}' backstory is retold through the nightmares he suffers, in which he keeps recounting the scientific accident that turned him into a living vampire and killing Emil immediately after. He is occasionally shown to be reluctant to go to sleep because he knows he'll have more nightmares.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11886910/1/Gankona-Unnachgiebig-Unità Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità]]'': Ever since Germany's and Japan's [[CockFight cock fight]] over him, Italy had been having recurring nightmares of the event. They only found out because he began mumbling in his sleep.
* ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'':
** Asuka has suffered recurring nightmares for sixteen years. They were pretty bad when they “only” consisted of her mother’s madness and suicide, but they got worse during the Angel War and the post-TI years. However they stopped after she and Shinji started to sleep together.
** Shinji had frequent bad dreams, too. Often they were about the abuse Asuka was suffering at the hands of Winthrop while he was powerless to stop it and save her.
* ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'': Shinji and Asuka had nightmares constantly about their mothers dying and their fathers abandoning them afterwards.
-->'''Asuka''' (talking about both): "You have nightmares all the time about it. The memory keeps coming after you when you try to sleep,"
* ''Fanfic/TheChildOfLove'': Asuka often has nightmares where she dreams about her mother, her madness, her suicide… and how Kyoko wanted her dying together with her.
* ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'': Due to his childhood trauma, piloting an Evangelion (which drives most people insane), fighting {{Eldritch Abomination}}s ''and'' stealing their powers after killing them, Shinji has frequent bad dreams. Sometimes they start out innocently but they soon devolve into nightmares where he is seized by a mob and thrown into an underground lake filled with black sludge which will turn him into a monster.
* In ''Fanfic/GhostsOfEvangelion'' Asuka and Shinji have frequent nightmares and they don't abate until they are in their late twenties. Often Asuka wakes up screaming after dreaming again with being chopped into pieces and eaten alive. And Shinji...
-->"God, I hate this."\\
"Me too," he said.\\
"What was yours about?" she asked.\\
"Misato's blood, and Lilith's eyes," he replied.\\
"One of your worst ones, huh?"\\
"Yeah."
* ''Fanfic/{{HERZ}}'': Even after twelve years Asuka still has nightmares about the Angel War where she relives her defeats, her failures, her humiliation, her MindRape... and the FinalBattle where she lost her left eye, got her right arm cut in half, was impaled, tore into pieces and eaten alive.
* ''Fanfic/TheOneILoveIs'':
** Asuka suffers frequent nightmares, specially after [[spoiler:getting raped by Arael.]] Usually they revolved around her mother's insanity and craziness. During a conversation with Rei, Shinji says they are getting so bad he is worried about Asuka.
** Shinji also had bad dreams after [[spoiler:Rei blew herself up and Asuka ran away.]] Often he sees [[spoiler:his Eva tearing his best friend apart, Rei exploding and Asuka killing herself while he does nothing to prevent it.]]
* ''Fanfic/ScarTissue'': [[OfficialCouple Shinji and Asuka]] had been suffering from awful nightmares during the series. Then [[DespairEventHorizon the]] [[EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt events]] of the movie happened and their nightmares got way, WAY worse. Shinji's nightmares consisted of him letting Asuka dying and getting the whole humankind killed. Asuka's nightmares features her mother's insanity and suicide, her MindRape, her extremely bloody death, and later the abuse that she heaped on Shinji after Third Impact.
* In ''Series/Supergirl2015'' story ''Fanfic/{{Survivors}}'' [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]] suffers from nightmares where her mother and her aunt Astra stare down at her reprovingly after [[spoiler:being forced to kill Astra]].
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9951417/1/Destroyer-of-Olympus Destroyer of Olympus]]'', Percy suffers through them as a result of his PTSD from being tortured in Tartarus.
* [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/73406/rainbow-in-the-dark Used twice in]] the My Little Pony fic, ''FanFic/RainbowInTheDark''.
* In ''Fanfic/HumanCuriosity'', England has a bad dream about [[spoiler:discovering that Portugal was "killed".]] He also had some weird dreams that he found unpleasant, which later turned out to be his repressed memories.
* Agumon has been having these for some time before ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7623289/1/ Transcendence: Digital Curse]]'' even starts. Apart from being sleepy during some meetings they don't bother him too much until [[spoiler: he dreams of himself in a superpowered form that attacks his friends]]. He doesn't appear to suffer from them anymore after his visit to The Tree of New Beginnings.
* In ''FanFic/CadenceInAMinor'', both Shining Armor and Princess Cadence have recurring nightmares about the ordeals they went through when a changeling queen replaced Cadence before their wedding.
* Something of a {{Motif}} in ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfTime'':
** In the first episode, [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor]] admits to Literature/SherlockHolmes that he can't remember the last time he slept, mumbling that "the screams usually keep him awake." This is later implied to be his memories of the Time War.
** Midway through the first season, Sherlock undergoes an AndIMustScream experience. He comes back from it physically whole but thoroughly shaken, with sleepless nights ahead implied.
** In the finale, Beth Holmes relives her ''death'' in her dreams. Sherlock later relives the same moment in one nightmare but with a horrific twist that leaves him screaming himself awake.
** Both Holmeses continue these patterns into the second season with heart-wrenching results.
* In ''Fanfic/TheFifthAct'', Sephiroth starts getting nightmares of [[PeggySue Cloud]]'s memories in the original timeline. Due to their S-cells, [[spoiler: they evolve to Sephiroth seeing Cloud's recent memories in his sleep.]]
* In ''Fanfic/TheLionKingAdventures'', Simba keeps having RecurringDreams featuring Hago. They begin in Series Two and don't stop until midway through Series Three. [[spoiler: It turns out that Hago is using them to try and psychologically damage him.]]
* ''Fanfic/AMightyDemonSlayerGroomsSomePonies'': Megan mentions that she had nightmares for weeks after she faced and killed [[BigBad Tirek]]. She was just a KidHero at the time.
* In ''FanFic/TheEndOfEnds'', Count Logan has one of these in the from of the clip from ''[[Recap/TeenTitansS5E13ThingsChange Things Change]]'', where [[spoiler:WesternAnimation/{{Te|enTitans}}rra tells his younger version, Beast Boy, that the girl she wants him to be is just a memory]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' story, ''[[Fanfic/LegacyTotalDrama Legacy]]'', most of the surviving contestants must deal with nightmares in the wake of their campmate's death.
* During the later chapters of ''Bringing Me To Life'', Max implies that he has these about some of his PastLifeMemories of killing people during events of ''Franchise/TheMatrix''.
* ''Fanfic/{{Sight}}'': Ichigo suffers from nightmares before his Inner Hollow attempts to win control over his body during one.
* Syaoran suffers from nightmare due [[MyGreatestFailure his regret over past actions]] in ''FanFic/{{Shatterheart}}'' but they get worse after he gets kidnapped and tortured by {{Serial Killer}}s.
* In the ''Fanfic/EmpathTheLuckiestSmurf'' novel, Empath suffers from a bad dream of Papa Smurf leaving him in Psychelia as an infant before he got {{Mind Rape}}d. Papa Smurf reveals to Empath that this dream was a memory, which leads to the revelation that [[spoiler:Empath is Papa Smurf's only begotten son and that he was brought to Psychelia because Papa Smurf feared that Empath would be rejected by his fellow Smurfs due to his telepathic and telekinetic abilities]].
* ''Sailor Moon: Legends of Lightstorm'': Darien has this happen to him while Jason is planting bugs in his home at night. In his sleep, he begs for the life of an unknown individual, which Jason finds disturbing for a reason he can't explain.
* In ''Fanfic/StormsOverhead'', Louise suffers from these after the Battle of Tarbes [[spoiler: as she realized she was responsible for the death of so many and the ever-growing fear she may use her power selfishly.]]
* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}''/''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' crossover fic, ''FanFic/{{Outcry}}'', Emma Barnes suffered through a string of these [[spoiler:because Nadalia is connecting to her dreams through the Dark and tormenting her for what she put Taylor through, and Alsanna was forced to use a great deal of power to push her away. Even then, she warned Emma that ItOnlyWorksOnce.]]
* ''FanFic/NeoDigimonDigitalWar'': Hikari has been plagued with recurring nightmares that she can never remember since five years prior to the start of the series.
* In ''The Bug Princess'', it's revealed that [[WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}} BJ]] has a recurring nightmare about the events of the previous story, ''Fanfic/{{Cinderjuice}}'', and that this is a huge part of the reason why he hates to let Lydia out of his sight.
* In ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'', Rei suffered from bad, nightmarish, bloody dreams due to her powers and her jealousy driving her mad. She dreamed that she seduced Asuka, she killed Asuka and in reaction Shinji killed her or killed himself and she was left all alone...
* In ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionGenocide'', Asuka suffers from frequent nightmares. She often dreams about her mother's suicide and her MindRape. In chapter 10 she has a particularly nasty nightmare where she's being hanged. [[spoiler:It is eventually revealed to at least partly be a side-effect of exposure to [[TheAssimilator the Emerald Tablet]]]].
* ''Fanfic/CodeGeassColorlessMemories'': Mixed with DreamingOfThingsToCome, the main character Rai experiences a few dreams of someone calling out to him. In one particular dream, a shadowy figure taunts Rai about his amnesia. Turns out it was [[spoiler:E.E, his contractor, calling to Rai from Kamine Island]].
* ''FanFic/RobbReturns'': Apart from the ones detailed in BadFuture, there's the ones shared by several Baratheons (Robert, Shireen, Gendry) where [[spoiler:Lyanna Stark appears in the middle of a snowstorm, trying to tell Robert something, before disappearing and being replaced by one of the Others.]]
** Theon Greyjoy also has some, [[spoiler: involving being rowed to an island made of bones by a crew of walking rotting corpses led by his dead brothers. On the island is a menacing figure heavily implied to be the Drowned God.]]
* In ''[[Fanfic/TwiceUponAnAge All This Sh*t is Twice as Weird]]'', the two leads have a RunningGag in which they sometimes ask one another whether it's possible that they're still asleep back on the ''Queen Madrigal'' (the ship which brought them to [[Franchise/DragonAge Ferelden]] and thus to the plot) and one of them is just having a nightmare about the whole thing.
* Red has them often in ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'', according to Yellow. They involve hearing the voices of his childhood tormentors, and apparently escaping a HouseFire.
* In ''[[Fanfic/LeviathanMyHeroAcademia Leviathan]]'', Izuku suffers from these fairly frequently, having a particular NightmareSequence that he's very familiar with. It consists of him being all alone while clinging to a streetlight on a dark, foggy night as the Leviathan looks him dead in the eyes and roars. Normally, he's able to comfort himself with the fact that it was AllJustADream. [[spoiler:But Izuku has a different nightmare the night after Aizawa's test, in which Blade stumbles towards him as an eviscerated walking cadaver that's falling apart at the seams, as if to remind Izuku of the fact that he has killed people, before the Leviathan barrels towards Izuku and swallows him whole. It turns eerily prophetic when Izuku starts flipping through the news channels and finds that Blade has escaped custody, causing Izuku to run to the bathroom and vomit in disgust and terror.]]
* ''Fanfic/TheMakingsOfTeamCRME'':
** ''Fanfic/MyNameIsCinder'': While on her own, Cinder said she had nightmares about [[AbusiveParents her mother's abuse]] often. [[{{Sadist}} She recalled the night she watched her mother burn alive to help keep them at bay.]]
** ''Fanfic/AnEmeraldUnearthed'': Emerald implies that she had nightmares about watching her mother getting killed by the BigBad of her story, Silva. One of these dreams [[FlashbackNightmare opens up the story]].
* Both Anna and Elsa suffer from frequent nightmares in ''Fanfic/TheQueenOfHearts''. Elsa mentions that Hans is in almost every one of her dreams. She's awakened twice in the fic by Anna because she was screaming in her sleep, once because she was dreaming Hans was torturing her and the second time because she was seeing her parent's death.
* ''Fanfic/ThoseThatCarryOn'' has Cima haunted for years by dreams of those she killed at Halifax, starting the Zeon War.
* ''Fanfic/MuchAdoAboutShakespeareLovesLaboursWon'': Archie Kennedy keeps having nightmares about Jack Simpson, a sadist who was abusing him aboard HMS ''Justinian''. In the dream he's trapped somewhere from where he can't escape and he's sure that Simpson will find him.
* Ed suffers nightmares in ''Fanfic/MyMasterEd'' because of [[spoiler: how terrible the Promise Day was and [[SetRightWhatOnceWasWrong to prevent it]] means erasing almost everyone and everything he's ever known]]. It causes him to become TheInsomniac.
* In the ''Series/Supergirl2015'' fanfic ''Fanfic/FutureShock'' Kara suffers from these badly due to having 11 years of memories of fighting, and more importantly losing, a war fought across fifty three universes to Darkseid.
* ''Franchise/XMen'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/DevilsDiary'' reveals that ComicBook/{{Magneto}} suffers from frequent nightmares in which his helmet is crushing his head, or his wife is leaving him, or he's being tortured in Auschwitz again.
-->In the middle of the night I woke up in terror.\\
In my dreams, I was back within my helmet.\\
It was pressing inwards and threatening to crush my head.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'': Joy, Sadness, and [[spoiler: Bing Bong]] try to give Riley a nightmare to wake her up. She has to be awake for the Train of Thought to start up to take them back to Headquarters. [[spoiler: They succeed by releasing her memory of [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Jangles the Clown]] from her subconscious and leading him to Dream Productions to wreak havoc]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'', Simba has a nightmare of his father's death from [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 the first movie]]. Things take a worse turn when Scar turns into Kovu, who knocks Simba into the gorge the same way.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'', the title character has a nightmare about her parents and her home island being swallowed up by the encroaching darkness before she has a chance to restore the heart of Te Fiti.
* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsLegendOfEverfree'', Twilight Sparkle has recurring nightmares about Midnight Sparkle, the villain she became temporarily in the previous movie. The movie opens with one, where Midnight Sparkle shows up in her room, dissolves the whole place as well as her friends, and states that Twilight will never be free of her. She also has one during the first night at Camp Everfree, with Midnight Sparkle bursting out of the campfire.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/BreakfastAtTiffanys'', Holly gets into bed with Paul and talks in her sleep about, apparently, losing her beloved brother in the snow. The trope is slightly averted in that she'd already revealed, earlier in that scene, that she worries about her brother, but not the extent to which it distresses her.
* Richard Kimble has recurring nightmares of his wife's death in ''Film/TheFugitive'', complete with [[CatapultNightmare bolting upright as he wakes]] and a few near-panic-attacks in the moments directly after.
* ''Film/IRobot'': Detective Spooner has nightmares about drowning in a car accident that includes a 12-year-old girl and an older NS robot, showing his SurvivorGuilt.
* In ''Film/IronMan3'' Tony's been suffering from them ever since [[Film/TheAvengers2012 the last film]].
* Averted in ''[=McCullin=]'', a film about the British war photographer Don [=McCullin=]. He says that he never has nightmares about the terrible things that he has seen on the job. He often thinks about them when he's awake, but never in dreams.
* Ethan Hunt in the ''Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries'', particularly ''[[Film/MissionImpossibleFallout Fallout]]''. He never tells anyone about his dreams, but they very clearly leave him shaken. The nightmare/hallucination he has in ''[[Film/MissionImpossible MI: 1]]'' is particularly harrowing, because at that point he's so traumatized and sleep-deprived that he can't tell where reality ended and the dream sequence began.
* In ''Film/TakeShelter'', it's an ongoing problem for the protagonist.
* Eve, the heroine of ''Film/WomanInBlackAngelOfDeath'' is especially vulnerable to the titular Woman in Black because of her tragic past. It is revealed that she [[spoiler: became pregnant as a teenager, but that the child was put up for adoption by her disapproving relatives.]] Eve has recurring nightmares about this incident, in which the Woman in Black makes an...[[JumpScare unexpected appearance]].
* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'':
** Wolverine is shown to have some nasty nightmares about his experience with Weapon X. They're so terrifying that he wakes up and stabs whatever's in front of him. Or ''whoever'', unfortunately for [[Film/XMen1 Rogue]] and [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast Kitty Pryde]].
** ''Film/TheWolverine'': Logan suffers chronic nightmares of [[spoiler:Jean Grey]], his [[TheLostLenore Lost Lenore]] who he [[Film/XMenTheLastStand previously]] was [[spoiler:[[MercyKill forced to kill]]]].
** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'': Past Charles is plagued by these, which is why he informs Erik that he takes the serum so that he can sleep at night.
** ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': Jean Grey has one when Apocalypse awakens, and it's not the first (Xavier mentions to Hank that her nightmares are different this time).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Several characters in ''Literature/TheAliceNetwork'' have Bad Dreams.
** [[FemmeFataleSpy Eve]] has horrible nightmares. She mentions that she dreams about René’s study more than the trauma she was put through during [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne the war she fought in]], though.
** [[ShellShockedVeteran Finn]] also has nightmares about [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII the war]] ''[[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII he]]'' [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII fought in]], although they’re not as heavily featured as Eve’s are.
* ''Literature/TheQueensThief'': Eugenides is often woken screaming by nightmares of the Queen of Attolia, the woman who [[spoiler: cut off his hand]] and is also his [[spoiler: wife]].
* Apparently this is a ''thing'' for the [[CrapsackWorld grimdark]] world of ''[[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Warhammer 40k]]'' tie-ins:
** In Creator/SandyMitchell's ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' books, Cain claims that his sleep has not been troubled by leaving people to die; in a footnote, Amberley Vail comments that actually, Cain is prone to nightmares.
*** In ''The Traitor's Hand'', he has a nightmare of an encounter with a Chaos cult, some FlashbackNightmare, with some alterations. He later learns [[spoiler: he was DreamingOfThingsToCome; the [[WomanScorned daemon]] came back]].
** In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' novel ''Ghostmaker'', Major Rawne stands over Gaunt while he is sleeping. He is considering killing him for preventing him from trying to save his planet, Tanith, when he hears Gaunt babble about Tanith, and no, and I won't let you. Enough to keep him from killing him.
*** Later, Gaunt realizes that something is odd when he dreams about Tanith before it was destroyed; it is the lack of destruction that is odd, because his dreams are haunted by Tanith's destruction.
*** In ''Necropolis'', soldiers are ordered to close the gates on refugees because the city already has as many as it can take (and feed). They are described as having nightmares about it for years.
*** In ''First & Only'', when on Cracia, Corbec reflects on how Fortis Binary still shows up in his dreams, but less frequently as time passes.
*** In ''Honour Guard'', Dorden describes dreaming of his dead son, which he thinks [[TalkingInYourDreams a message]]; Corbec asked if he had dreamed before, and Dorden says, every night, but this felt different.
** In Creator/GrahamMcNeill's ''Literature/{{Ultramarines}}'' novel ''The Warriors of Ultramar'', Sister Joaniel still has Bad Dreams of her work on Remian IV, though she was dubbed "the Angel of Remian" by the soldiers grateful for her ministrations. (Didn't help that she was [[SurvivorGuilt the sole survivor]] of a direct hit on her hospital.)
*** ''The Killing Ground'' features numerous characters suffering from Bad Dreams.
** In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/HorusHeresy'' novel ''Legion'', Soneka has Bad Dreams [[spoiler:after [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the destruction of Nurth]]]].
*** In Creator/GrahamMcNeill's ''Fulgrim'', Serena d'Angelus suffers nightmares from [[spoiler:murders she committed]] and forgot; this leads to her realizing that she was DreamingTheTruth, and DrivenToSuicide.
** In Gav Thorpe's ''The Last Chancers'' novels, Kage suffers from bad dreams while in warp. When, in ''Kill Team'', he frightens the trainees by showing them he could have killed them all in their sleep, they suffer from bad dreams as well.
** In Lee Lightner's ''Literature/SpaceWolf'' novel ''Wolf's Honour'', Ragnar confides in Gabriella that he think [[TalkingInYourDreams his enemy Madox is in his dreams]]. Gabriella dismisses it as Bad Dreams; he feels guilty about what went awry in an previous encounter. [[spoiler: In reality, he is DreamingOfThingsToCome.]]
** In Creator/JamesSwallow's novel ''Faith & Fire'', Miriya says that her time as a warden over psykers still haunts her on the darkest nights.
** In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Xenos'', {{Literature/Eisenhorn}} describes the Bad Dreams he suffers from a number of failures. He also suffers from DreamingOfThingsToCome, and at the end of ''Xenos'', explicitly says he can not tell whether dreams of a daemonhost were Bad Dreams or Dreaming of Things to Come.
** In Simon Spurrier's ''[[Literature/NightLords Lord of the Night]]'', Zso Sahaal has bad dreams over losing the ''[[RoyalCrown Corona Nox]]'', the [[ItWasAGift gift]] of his primarch and the symbol of being his heir.
** In Nick Kyme's ''Literature/{{Salamander|s}}'', Dak'ir dreams of the past, including Bad Dreams about Moribur. This may be related to his DreamingOfThingsToCome.
* It's never stated exactly what the deal is, but Mr. Tulip in the Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Literature/TheTruth'' supposedly screams in his sleep due to severe childhood trauma. The only clue we get is something about hiding from soldiers inside a church.
* Throughout the first book of ''Literature/TheFallenMoon'' Arren has dreams about falling that are part FlashBack and part Foreshadowing. During these he also talks in his sleep, a monotone asking for help.
* In Creator/PatriciaAMcKillip's ''Literature/TheForgottenBeastsOfEld'', Coren wakes Sybil with his screams and when she goes to wake him, he is babbling of his brothers and a disastrous battle they fought.
* In Creator/DorothyGilman's ''Literature/TheTightropeWalker'', Amelia is plagued with nightmares. Once, she wakes up screaming of the nightmare of finding her mother's body after she had committed suicide by hanging herself. She confesses to Joe that her mother had not just died when she was young, she had committed suicide. Joe deduces from her comments that her mother must have known she would find the body.
* Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'':
** Miles Vorkosigan suffers from repeated Bad Dreams from the combat-related deaths he has seen.
** In ''Literature/CaptainVorpatrilsAlliance'', Tej also suffers from their escape.
* Eddard Stark from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' also suffers from repeated nightmares where he relives his sister's death and the promises he had to make her. Whatever said promises actually were.
** Melisandre also has bad dreams, and hopes that eventually her god will remove the need for sleep from her entirely.
** While on TheQuest to find Sansa Stark, ActionGirl Brienne suffers from nightmares due to a combination of guilt over her past failures, the atrocities she's witnessed and the men she's killed, and the fear created by the [[ProperlyParanoid need to be constantly on alert against ambush, betrayal or rape]].
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** Invoked: Harry has a dream of his parents' death. [[spoiler: It's actually the piece of Voldemort's soul in Harry that [[TalkingInYourDreams is causing all of these bad dreams]].]]
** When Harry is ''mocked'' by his cousin for this in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'', we learn that he's been having dreams about [[spoiler:[[SacrificialLion Cedric]]'s death.]]
** Also, Dumbledore, when tormented by [[spoiler: Voldemort's poison/elixir in the cave at the end of ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince Half-Blood Prince]]'' ]] has some bad, bad recollections.
** Ginny whilst possessed by Riddle in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets Chamber of Secrets]]'', assuming Percy was telling the truth about her having nightmares.
** And Molly had dreams about her husband and children dying.
* ''Literature/InDeath'''s Eve Dallas gets these. She often has to be dragged out of them by her husband Roarke.
* In Creator/StephenKing's ''[[Literature/DifferentSeasons Apt Pupil]]'', one of the main characters, who used to be a commander of a Nazi concentration camp, frequently has nightmares about it. [[spoiler: He eventually commits suicide by overdosing sleeping pills, and he ends up dreaming those dreams - forever]]. The other main character, a boy who blackmails him to tell stories about the Holocaust, also gets nightmares from them.
* Imriel de Courcel from ''[[Literature/KushielsLegacy Kushiel's Dart]]''. As she had been kept as a sex slave for over a year at the age of ten, it was understandable.
* In Robert Jordan's ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', certain characters can inhabit the World of Dreams, where you can be killed by your own nightmares, or sometimes other people's nightmares. And some of Egwene's prophetic dreams scare the living shit out of her. Especially the one with the lamp and the ravens.
* Crake, from ''Literature/OryxandCrake'', is mentioned to scream in his sleep, but says he never remembers his dreams.
* In Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin's ''Literature/TheTombsOfAtuan'', the heroine suffers Bad Dreams after she [[HumanSacrifice sacrifices some prisoners]].
* In ''Literature/DeathStar'', Nova Stihl, a trooper on the Death Star, was mildly Force-Sensitive. Not only did he [[DreamingOfThingsToCome dream of future events]], but as the date before the Death Star was completed and [[EarthShatteringKaboom tested]] came near his dreams became worse and worse, and apparently he woke up screaming pretty often. The gunner who actually ''fired'' the Death Star quickly found that [[BeingEvilSucks Evil Feels Terrible]], and he just plain couldn't sleep for guilt and horror.
* In Brian Jacques' ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'', Cluny has Bad Dreams about past atrocities -- mixed with DreamingOfThingsToCome.
** This is given to many of the villains.
** Nimbalo also gets one in ''Taggerung''; his sleep-talking is how Tagg knows he had an abusive father.
* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', Harry reports these, briefly and in passing. He specifically contrasts TalkingInYourDreams with them.
** The events of ''Changes'' causes them for everyone with the Art after a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome.
* In Creator/NeilGaiman's ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'', Door dreams of the past. These are not always bad as such but they always remind her.
* In Suzanne Collins ''Literature/TheHungerGames'', Katniss still has Bad Dreams about her father's death (in the {{Backstory}}).
** In ''Catching Fire'', they have mutated to being about the Games. [[spoiler: Peeta, too. He paints them.]]
** This is implied to be almost ubiquitous among victors.
* ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'': [[DreamingOfThingsToCome Prophetic dreams]] are fairly common (and often unpleasant), due to the characters' ChildOfTwoWorlds nature, but regular old human bad dreams make a few appearances. Most notably in ''The Mark of Athena'' where we get front-row seats to [[HurtingHero Percy]] reliving traumatic memories of being suffocated in frigid mud in the previous book.
* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''[[Literature/ChroniclesOfChaos Titans of Chaos]]'', Amelia mentions she still sees the eyes of a certain maenad late at night.
* In James Stoddard's ''The High House'', Carter has bad dreams after being locked in the well-named Room of Horrors.
* ''Literature/WildCards'' series:
** Croyd "The Sleeper" Crenson spends weeks awake, then weeks to months sleeping. The same nightmare returns every time, unless he seeks professional help. As Croyd grows more and more paranoid with every waking day, said help is very unlikely.
** James "Demise" Spector has survived the Black Queen, a condition usually fatal. He is permanently experiencing death, and tries to never fall asleep sober.
** Jay "Popinjay" Acroyd returns to the same nightmare every night. He gets better after [[spoiler: teleporting a nightmarish Joker-Ace into said nightmare]].
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's ''Literature/TheHourOfTheDragon'', Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian suffers from bad dreams, though less bad than most, and with hints of TalkingInYourDreams.
-->''A devilish dream it was, too. I trod again all the long, weary roads I traveled on my way to the kingship.''
* In Creator/JosephaSherman's ''Literature/TheShiningFalcon'', Ljuba has bad dreams about her attempts to ensnare Finist. She suppresses the knowledge that she deserved it.
* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''[[Literature/ProsperosDaughter Prospero Lost]]'', Miranda recounted how she suffers bad dreams from an AttemptedRape.
* ''Literature/CarrerasLegions'': Carrera is plagued by these, both over the murder of his family in a terrorist attack and, later, his [[spoiler:nuking a city]] to get the family of the leader of the terrorists he was fighting in the first half of the series.
* In Creator/JasperFforde's ''Well of Lost Plots'', Literature/ThursdayNext suffers these -- albeit under the influence of a DreamWeaver.
* In ''Literature/{{Krabat}}'', when some peasants ask the miller (really an evil wizard) to make it snow, {{Jerkass}} Lyschko uses magic to make them think they were attacked by wild dogs. In the night, someone makes Lyschko dream of wild dogs killing him. Five times, then the other boys have enough and make him sleep somewhere else.
* In Creator/JackCampbell's ''[[Literature/TheLostFleet Fearless]]'', some of the freed prisoners suffer from bad dreams of being prisoner again.
* King Elias in ''Literature/MemorySorrowAndThorn'' is plagued by dreams so terrible that he no longer sleeps, opting instead to wander his castle throughout the night. Other characters closely affected by the swords are also tormented in their sleep; most notably Simon, Guthwolf and Camaris.
* In Creator/MichaelFlynn's ''[[Literature/SpiralArm The January Dancer]]'', the advantage of fighting for a nobler cause is that a ShellShockedVeteran, waking cold and shaking from Bad Dreams, can sometimes get back to sleep.
* Creator/WenSpencer:
** In ''[[Literature/{{Tinker}} Wolf Who Rules]]'', Tinker has them after her kidnapping. (She also suffers AnxietyDreams and DreamingOfThingsToCome.)
** Ren of ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' has a lot of bad dreams tying back to a theater explosion six years ago which killed her husband and all of her older sisters.
* In Creator/MelisaMichaels's short story, "I Have a Winter Reason" (which was repurposed as the prologue to the first Skyrider novel), Melacha ("Skyrider") is tormented by dreams of the accidental death of her lover Django, for which she feels responsible.
* The first chapter of ''Literature/GreekNinja'' begins with Sasha having one.
* Zak Arranda opens ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear: City of the Dead'' with a dream that he is safe at home and the [[EarthShatteringKaboom destruction of Alderaan]] never happened. It turns bad when the body of his mother turns up, asking why he left her behind. He wakes up screaming. And yep,he has more than one dream like that.
* In Creator/RobinMcKinley's ''Literature/{{Sunshine}}'', Sunshine has them after the kidnapping and her escape.
* In Creator/SarahAHoyt's ''Literature/DrawOneInTheDark'', Tom dreams of the triad and the pearl as soon as he falls asleep.
* In Creator/NeilGaiman's ''Literature/AStudyInEmerald'', the narrator screams in the night, sometimes, after being tortured.
* In Creator/SeananMcGuire's ''Literature/OctoberDaye'' novels:
** ''Rosemary and Rue'' Toby dreams of the pond where she was a fish for over fourteen years, entirely disrupting her life.
** ''Ashes of Honor'', Toby hasn't slept well in almost a year, after [[spoiler:Conner's death]]. She also knows that [[spoiler:Gilliane]] will be having bad dreams.
* In Creator/SeananMcGuire's ''Literature/VelveteenVs The Junior Super Patriots'', it is pointedly said that the refounders of the Super Patriots slept just fine at night.
* In Creator/MadeleineERobins's ''Literature/SoldForEndlessRue'', Laura has these after her escape from the bandits.
* Creator/JulieKagawa's ''Literature/TheIronFey'': In ''Literature/TheIronKing'', Meghan starts having disturbing dreams as soon as she's in the LandOfFaerie, about Ethan's kidnapping.
* Frodo Baggins from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' often has bad dreams during the quest. They get more frequent as he approaches Mount Doom, due to the heavy toll the Ring is taking on his mind.
* The protagonists in the ''Literature/CircleOfMagic'' books by Creator/TamoraPierce. Tris gets them in the first quartet after she sinks a pirate ship full of oarslaves. Sandry gets them as the result of the plague that killed her parents and then after working with [[AntiMagic unmagic]] in her ''Circle Opens'' book. Briar has them in ''Will of the Empress'' after living through the war in ''Battle Magic''.
* Ricker, from Casey Fry's ''Literature/DeathSpeaker'', is an assassin who spends most of his time while asleep suffering from nightmares that are retellings of jobs he has taken in the past. And that's not counting the memories he relapses into while awake.
* In ''Literature/{{MARZENA}}'', Dr. Sam, while being under the influence of Ibogaine, has nightmares with recurrent symbols about a house, jihadist soldiers and white/red candles, all pointing toward some kind of psychology trauma.
** And then there's Lauren, who has dreams about a mysterious woman with black hair, a house on fire, and women sneaking into her bed (among many other things). It's not what you think.
* In ''Literature/QuantumDevilSagaAvatarTuner'', Serph has a dream where he is on a battlefield back when Embryon was just he and Heat as well as their mentor figure. The dream ends when said mentor figure get's killed and Serph awakens with a scream.
* In ''Literature/TheDinosaurLords'', Karyl starts having screaming nightmares following his IdentityAmnesia and resurrection.
* Wulfgar from ''Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt'' keeps it together most of the time in ''Literature/PathsOfDarkness'', but he mentions that he sleeps uneasy since he has been the prisoner of Errtu, always thinking that every good moment he experiences is just a dream and that his nightmares are the real thing.
* The troubled main character in William Lindsay Gresham's ''Literature/NightmareAlley'' increasingly suffers from bad dreams, especially towards the end when he begins rapidly sinking into depression and alcoholism. His most recurring bad dream is of him running down an endless dark alley being chased by unseen forces, hence the title of the novel.
* ''Literature/ShadesOfMagic'': [[spoiler:Prince Rhy]] is left plagued with recurring nightmares of his murder after being brought BackFromTheDead, which spill over to [[spoiler:Kell]] through their PsychicLink. He's still able to function, but admits in a candid moment that he sometimes regrets his new lease on life when he first wakes up.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* The two-part ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'' episode "A Nightmare on Dick Street" has each of the aliens experiencing a vivid bad dream (shown in [[ThreeDimensionalEpisode 3D]], no less).
* Commander Sinclair in ''Series/BabylonFive'' was plagued with dreams of the [[LastStand Battle of the Line]].
* ''Franchise/{{Buffyverse}}'':
** In addition to DreamingOfThingsToCome, Buffy experiences guilt-fueled dreams about her encounter with Faith in the season 3 finale "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E21GraduationDayPart1}} Graduation Day, Part 1]]". These dreams begin peacefully but become Bad Dreams because of Buffy's guilt. The dreams appear in episodes involving Faith after the aforementioned encounter.
** Likewise at the beginning of Season 3, Buffy's dreams reflect her guilt at killing a re-souled Angel in [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E22BecomingPart2 the Season 2 finale]]. The dreams stop after she confesses her action to Giles.
** Genevieve is plagued by prophetic dreams and the memories of past Slayers and their deaths. One of the reasons she wants to kill Buffy is because Roden lied and told her the dreams would end when Buffy was dead.
** Angel has them with such regularity, one wonders how he catches ''any'' winks without valium. Yet another downside to being undead: vampires share a PsychicLink with their kin. When a vampire he sired 100 years ago starts killing people locally, Angel feels it. In ''Angel'' Season Two, Angel starts having... erm, 'dreams' about his maker. It is later revealed that Darla is dosing him with occult herbs to drive him into a frenzy.
* ''Series/BurnNotice'': Michael has these in S5 of Burn Notice due to the stress of being targeted by the organisation that burned him and his fear the organisation still exists.
* Spencer Reid in ''Series/CriminalMinds''. In the two-parter "The Instincts" and "Memoriam'', the entire plot is driven by the fact that he is having horrible dreams that include finding a dead body behind a dryer, seeing babies at a crime scene, and being devoured by leeches (he wakes up in the middle of the night at a victims house shouting "Morgan, get 'em off me!", [[HoYay/CriminalMinds which is a huge piece of bait for shippers]]). He later connects these dreams to his father in "Memoriam" and the investigation is on. Earlier in the show, Rossi is haunted by nightmares relating to the Galen murders.
* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' special ''The End Of Time'' begins with everyone on Earth having nightmares of a laughing man.
** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E14TheNextDoctor The Next Doctor]]", the amnesic, possible future incarnation of the Doctor has Bad Dreams, stating that with everything a Time Lord has seen and done, of ''course'' he has Bad Dreams. The Tenth Doctor simply replies "Yeah,". [[spoiler:Jackson Lake isn't the Doctor though. His Bad Dreams are caused by the death of his wife and kidnap of his son that he's suppressed the memory of out of grief.]]
** In the Series Five episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E7AmysChoice Amy's Choice]]", the Eleventh Doctor's cheerful carefree manner is revealed to be a mask at least some of the time. This is revealed in two dreams caused by psychic pollen. Amy and Rory are also included in these dreams, so they end up seeing Eleven's inner darkness for themselves.
* "They've Got a Secret", a first-season episode of ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', shows a hallucinatory version of this: D'Argo is awake and walking around the ship, but is hallucinating, and thinks that the other characters are actually people from his past. They eventually realize this, and play along to get him to snap out of it. We (and his crewmates) learn about his wife and son in this way.
* River from ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' has these as a result of [[MindRape what happened to her]] at the [[SchoolForScheming Academy]].
* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'':
** Both Patricia and Alfie wound up with these in season 1 after traumatic experiences - Alfie being trapped in the cellar, and Patricia getting kidnapped by Rufus. They eventually bonded over it and agreed to hang out more to try and stop the nightmares.
** Nina also got one in the beginning of the season, about how Sarah told her to "Beware the Black Bird". Patricia, who hated her at the time, used this as an opportunity to bully her some more.
* ''Series/{{MASH}}'':
** The later-period episode "Dreams" consists of each of the exhausted characters falling asleep and dreaming a symbolic but horrific dream reflecting the war (except Potter, who has a really nice dream about home). At the end, as they're all talking about going to bed, Winchester quotes, "[[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} To sleep, perchance to dream]]"... and everyone decides that they'll have another cup of coffee, after all.
** In "Hawk's Nightmare", the normally unflappable Hawkeye goes through a period of {{sleepwalking}} and terrifying dreams from which he wakes screaming loud enough to rouse most of the camp. It's determined that he's having a sane reaction to his insane situation, and the worst his childhood had to offer was $20 he may or may not owe an old friend.
* Robin from ''Series/RobinHood'' has nightmares about fighting in the Holy Land, but oddly none (that we see) about the fact that [[spoiler:Marian]] was murdered in the Holy Land. On the other hand, Guy is seen having a nightmare after he kills [[spoiler:Marian]].
* In ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'', John Watson is shown to have nightmares about his time in Afghanistan. Subverted in that those dreams are revealed not to be actually nightmares at all, but because;
--> '''[[spoiler: Mycroft]]''': You're not ''haunted'' by the war, Dr. Watson. You ''[[BloodKnight miss]]'' it!
* In the first series of ''Series/{{Spaced}}'', Tim wakes from dreams of his ex-girlfriend shouting out her name on several occasions.
* The main characters from ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' get hit by this a few times.
** In season four, Dean spends many nights tossing over his nightmares of hell. In season seven, Dean is once again having nightmares, this time about [[spoiler: Castiel's death and Sam's hallucinations. Well, mostly about killing Sam's monster friend]].
** Sam had nightmares throughout Season 1. While some were visions, the ones where he watched his girlfriend die over and over again still affected him like this. In season seven, [[spoiler:his hallucinations of Lucifer began as nightmares.]]
** In one episode, Bobby's nightmares are used against him by a MonsterOfTheWeek, as are Dean's.
* In an episode of ''Series/TalesFromTheDarkside'', a gangster is given a chance to dream beautiful dreams for all eternity. During the trial run he experiences occasional nightmare visions, but is assured that when he goes into the permanent dream state, those will disappear. He goes for it, and it does not end well for him.
* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'':
** In "[[{{Recap/TorchwoodS1E5SmallWorlds}} Small Worlds]]", Jack Harkness dreams about his last encounter with TheFairFolk, and how all his men died.
** In "[[{{Recap/TorchwoodS2E5Adam}} Adam]]", the titular antagonist, makes Jack relive in his dreams, the repressed memories of the death and enslavement of everyone on his home world, [[spoiler: The Boeshane Peninsula]], which was the day he lost his little brother.
* ''Series/{{Voyagers}}'': In "[[Recap/VoyagersS1E13TheTrialOfPhineasBogg The Trial of Phineas Bogg]]", Jeffrey says that up until recently, he's been having nightmares about his parents. As the trial is going badly, he fears that he'll have ones about being separated from Bogg before long.
* ''Series/TheXFiles'':
** Agent Mulder often relives his sister's kidnapping during nightmares.
** In season 2, Mulder dreams of Scully being tortured by those who abducted her.
** Reversed in season 8, in which Scully has nightmares of Mulder being tortured ruthlessly by aliens. These get so regular she panics when she's ''not'' having them anymore, for fear that his death may be the reason.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Podcasts]]
* ''Podcast/DiceFunk'': Johnny inflicts nightmares on the entire party during their first long rest. Leon refers to them as "cutscenes."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* Egg of ''Roleplay/{{AJCO}}'' has suffered from them on-and-off throughout most of her life but after [[spoiler: she contributed to Pi's death]] they came back increased tenfold, to the point that she was waking up in the middle of the night physically nauseous and unable to get back to sleep due to the hallucinations of blood staining her hands and dripping from the walls. They've been decreasing in intensity since she left the Silo to live in Katton, however.
* ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'':
** Josephine suffers from bad dreams relating to her [[DarkAndTroubledPast dark past]] of being bullied by her peers and abused by her alcoholic aunt.
** Simon has to take medication to help deal with the nightmares he experiences as a result of his [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Dark Dragon]] personality. When he stops taking his meds, the bad dreams return.
* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', Refan and Ronove suffer from these. In Refan's case it's mostly about the guilt for having killed for the first time, but he also has flashback dreams which make him gradually remember who was responsible for his mother's death, and later he even has nightmares about his nemesis who contacts him telepathically. Ronove's dreams make him gradually recover his memory, and their content foreshadows that he is in fact a [[spoiler:former demonic Dreadlord]].
* Ti'Cira Hawk from ''Roleplay/TheGunganCouncil'' has reoccurring nightmares reliving the torture sessions under the hands of Azrael Daragon during her time in slavery.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In one of the multiple endings, [[spoiler:Albel Nox]] from ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'' is accused by the protagonist of causing him to wake up every night with his screaming from nightmares. [[spoiler:Albel's [[SurvivorGuilt considerable angst]] over his dead father is ostensibly the cause. Albel's father was a renowned and successful leader in Airyglyph's military, and he died when Albel failed the test to join the same military branch, the ''[[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragon]]'' Brigade. This would have resulted in Albel dying in a fire, if his father didn't [[HeroicSacrifice step in to save Albel at the cost of his own life.]] Even though Albel's father saved his life, Albel still got burned pretty bad and lost most or all of his left arm.]]
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** Cloud from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' experiences these regularly over the course of the game (sometimes while he is wide awake).
** Haunted by his actions in the attack of Mysidia, and distraught by the King stripping him of his rank, Cecil from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' suffers from bad dreams on the night before his assignment on the Village of Mist. Rosa is there to comfort him.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', [[{{Ninja}} Shadow's]] backstory is ''only'' revealed through his flashback Bad Dreams when you rest at an inn.
* ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' gets these a lot as a result of [[MyGreatestFailure failing to save his wife and baby girl]].
* Serge from ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' suffers a melancholy dream about Kid after seeing [[GrandTheftMe Lynx take over his body and stab her]], and getting shunted into another dimension in the aftermath.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'':
** At the end of ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'', Snake yells at Big Boss that he's had terrible nightmares for the last four years, and says that by killing Big Boss he can end the nightmares. Not only does this not work, it's [[{{Bathos}} not terribly conducive to drama]] when Snake's nightmares were [[CompressedVice never actually mentioned until that one scene]]. On the bright side, the nightmares were eventually developed into PTSD and this was used to flesh out Snake's character into something more rounded.
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' has a bonus scene if you save while in the prison cell which is Snake's (somewhat odd) nightmare (Snake's afraid of vampires, and Para-medic talks about Dracula after you save). The scene is actually a demo of "Guy Savage", a game that was never released. Following the dramatic wake-up you can call your support team to get some humorous conversations (like SIGINT's rather disturbing dream).
** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps'', [[AnIcePerson Python]] mentions having nightmares every night due to the people he's killed as an assassin, which was only training for him to kill Snake. By killing Snake, he reasons the nightmares would go away.
* Aribeth in the original ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' campaign has a lot of these in chapter 2
* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'', the player character has some [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Vampirism#Vampire_Nightmares pretty scary dreams]] if they become a vampire. It's a good thing they didn't actually show them as a cinematic!
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]],'' it was. It was suitably creepy.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':
** In the ''Point Lookout'' DLC to ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', your character is exposed to hallucinogenic swamp plants, and goes on a bad head trip through the swamp; including mocking bobble-heads with inscriptions insulting you and your mother's death. Then when you wake up, it's revealed somebody cracked open your head and cut out a chunk of brain.
** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' gives us potential companion [[ColdSniper Craig Boone]], who was forced to Shoot the Dog twice. After you gain his trust, he'll tell you that he thinks about [[spoiler:the massacre of Bitter Springs]] even when he sleeps. He also states that a dream made him reconsider traveling with the Courier to the site of the massacre.
* ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
** Grey Wardens suffer Bad Dreams after the Joining [[spoiler: due to their new connection to the Darkspawn taint that lets them hear the Call of the Old Gods]]. How bad it gets varies from Warden to Warden; a rare few are almost fine, while others can have trouble sleeping their entire lives. [[spoiler: The worst part is that this is the warm-up. After thirty years or so, the dreams get really bad, showing the taint is overcoming the Grey Warden. Rather than succumb to it, the Wardens travel to the Deep Roads to die while killing as many Darkspawn as possible.]]
** If he is romanced in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', it's revealed that Cullen struggles with nightmares about his experiences during the events of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', in which he was [[spoiler:imprisoned and tortured by demons]]. The fact that he is [[spoiler:attempting to get over the lyrium addiction which all Templars have]] only makes the dreams worse, as he admits to his beloved.
* Bao-Dur and the Exile in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicII'' are revealed to have bad dreams about the Mandalorian War, particularly the final battle. In a randomly generated cutscene on the ''Ebon Hawk'', the Exile walks the ship while everyone else is asleep - except for Bao-Dur, who can't sleep for [[WarIsHell the same reasons]], and sympathises.
* Kratos's motivation to serve the gods in ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI'' is to rid himself of the nightmares that he'd been plagued with since he killed his wife and child. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, while he ultimately obtains forgiveness from the gods for his service, they don't take away the nightmares.]]
* The ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' [[CastingAShadow Darkrai's]] Special Ability is named this. It hits an opposing Pokemon for 1/8 of its max HP at the end of every turn if it is sleeping. The move Nightmare does the same thing, but it hits 1/4 of their max health instead.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' Shepard can tell Liara that they're being kept up at night from dreams and visions from what Shepard saw when they accessed the Prothean beacon.
** When Liara asks Shepard at the end of ''The Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC'' for ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', Shepard will reply that they're no longer having visions, "if that's what you mean."
** And in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', they have a recurring dream about [[spoiler: a young boy they failed to save on Earth.]] It is indicated in dialogue that [[IronWoobie Shepard]] now suffers nightmares about [[spoiler: The Fall of Earth]] every time they goes to sleep.
* In an e-mail conversation in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'', Rebecca says that she hears Demond ''screaming'' during the night. Apparently, there are some psychological drawbacks to strapping a person to a machine that messes with their memories for several hours at a time. Who would have guessed?
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', main character Luke is realistically traumatized by the first time he kills a human soldier, even though it was in self-defense. Late in the game, after much character development, Jade mentions that he knows Luke continues to wake in the night trembling from nightmares after days when they have to kill people. This seems to underscore that even when Luke was a brat at the start of the game, he still had the essential kindness toward others that he develops in more obvious ways later on.
* Nightmares make up multiple stories in ''VideoGame/FallenLondon''. Following a nightmare path all the way through can leave a player permanently changed, and there is a creature called the Eater of Chains that attacks people in their dreams. Have too many nightmares, and you might end up having a stay at the [[BedlamHouse Royal Bethlehem Hotel]].
-->''Some nights you hardly dare sleep''
* Maria in ''VideoGame/SakuraWars'' has {{Flashback Nightmare}}s about her time as a soldier in Russia and particularly about the death of her commanding officer (who was either her mentor [[[Anime/SakuraWarsTV anime]]] or her love interest [manga]... the original game is unclear on this point), for which she feels responsible.
* ''Videogame/SunlessSea'' also implements nightmares, which will happen if you arrive at London with very high Terror. Notably, these nightmares are a concrete thing (like having nightmares about a vast eye that never stops watching you) rather than ''Fallen London'''s vague Nightmares stat. Having restful nights at home will help in dealing when they come for you at zee, as otherwise they'll shoot up your terror rather quickly.
* ''VideoGame/NiGHTSIntoDreams'' and its sequel ''[=NiGHTS=]: Journey of Dreams'' involve the visitors (the sleeping children) having to overcome these.
* Many interpretations of ''VideoGame/YumeNikki'' hold that the often horrific symbolism in Madotsuki's dreams was inspired by some traumatic event in her past, be it rape, death, the apocalypse, or any other number of theories and abstractions. What is certain is that [[{{Hikikomori}} it's probably not something she's telling many other people]].
* In ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'', the 2015 Halloween Mission "The Seven Silences" features the player trying to discover how one of their fellow Bees has managed the impossible task of committing suicide; as it turned out, the deceased agent used her own magically-empowered nightmares as means of disassembling the Bee inside her... and of course, in order to figure out what really happened, ''you'' have to experience these nightmares for yourself. [[spoiler: It turns out that the Bee in question is none other than Lorraine Maillard of ''VideoGame/ThePark''.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* Miles Edgeworth in the first ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' game admits that he's dreamed of his father's murder almost every night for the last ''fifteen years''.
* In ''VisualNovel/{{Demonheart}}'', the protagonist has recurring nightmares of a tortured demon child begging her for help.
* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': Shirou Emiya still has dreams about the end of the fourth Grail War and is wracked by his helplessness to save those around him at the time. As he learns more about the War the dream gains a new feature: [[spoiler:The true form of the Grail when it partially manifested]].
* ''Franchise/GrisaiaSeries'':
** Protagonist Yuuji is still haunted by his past in his dreams, more specifically the things he has done: [[spoiler:Killing his own father or being made into a child soldier by a terrorist and being forced to carry out several assassinations, to name a few.]]
** Sachi suffered from night terrors that force her to relive [[spoiler:the day her parents died before her eyes, for which she mistakenly believes her mother blamed her]]. Her "perfect good girl" persona is a psychological defense against them.
* ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'' has this play a part in two of the five stories, [[ShrinkingViolet Hanako Ikezawa's]] and [[GenkiGirl Emi Ibarazaki's]]. Hanako's stem from the origin of her scars and is left at that, but Emi's end up being a significant factor in her arc.
* In ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters'', both Komari and Kud's routes involve them having bad dreams. Komari's are perfectly peaceful scenes of herself with an older boy acting as her brother, but they make her quite uneasy because she doesn't have a brother and feels disappointed whenever she wakes up. Kud has the more traditional example of recurring nightmares after she hears that [[spoiler:her home country is falling apart after a big explosion of a rocket there.]] In her good route the player never finds out why, but in the bad ending it's revealed that [[spoiler:she was DreamingOfThingsToCome - namely, her mother being executed.]]
* In ''VisualNovel/LuxPain'', although Atsuki haven't dreamt them since joining FORT, the dream about how his parents died, as well as his sister being ''eaten'' by Silent infectees and barely surviving, came back in Episode 1 and it counts. No one knows about it until [[spoiler:Rui accidentally reads it with her fortune-telling powers]].
* In the Bad End of ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterNG'', Akira becomes plagued with visions of all his companions that died, preventing him from getting any sleep and causing his health to deteriorate.
* In ''VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}} Mask of Arcadius'', after seeing a little girl [[DeathOfAChild get gunned down right before his eyes]], Kayto starts having nightmares in which the girl’s mangled corpse blames him for her death. Later on, the dreams evolve so that the girl morphs into the mangled corpse of Kayto’s sister Maray, who was killed when PACT nuked his home city from orbit.
* ''VisualNovel/YoJinBo'' allows you to [[TalkingInYourSleep have a conversation]] with [[spoiler: either Yo or Ittosai]] if you [[spoiler: choose to stay in the cave with them]] while on their [[MultipleEndings respective paths]]. [[spoiler: Yo dreams about a time when he accidentally hurt his mother as a child, and Ittosai flips out and attacks Sayori, believing her to be his father.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* These happen all over the place in ''WebAnimation/BrokenSaints''. Chapter 7, "Lucid," is all about the lucid dreams Raimi's been having.
* The Courier in ''Machinima/CouriersMindRiseOfNewVegas'' always has nightmares about his mysterious and DarkAndTroubledPast, whenever he goes to sleep. Though, it's played with, as he lives in a CrapsackWorld already and he admits the only real difference is he doesn't have his RobotBuddy in his dreams.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Nightmares in ''Webcomic/{{APOC}}'' come in a number of forms to the main protagonist, Clara. In one sense, they can show glimpses of her past, known and unknown to her. Otherwise, it becomes a way to communicate with the embodiment of Death, [[http://www.apoccomic.com/comic/01_01/ or at least attempt to.]]
* Type Two is the primary way in which the reader learns Lexx's [[DarkAndTroubledPast backstory]] in ''Webcomic/AlienDice''. Early in the story, Chel wakes Lexx up because he was crying out in his sleep while remembering [[spoiler: one of his first attempts at suicide]]. He refuses to share his past with her.
* In ''Webcomic/IronGate'', Embers is plagued by nightmares which can cause her fire powers to activate while sleeping, leaving anything close to her in danger of being burned.
* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', V [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0623.html wakes from a trance with Bad Dreams]]--which are actually memories, as elves' trance isn't technically sleep.
* ''Webcomic/{{Metanoia}}'''s Star Tyrian, {{lampshade|Hanging}}d [[http://metanoia.studiowhippingboy.com/template.cgi?1+ 2+ 19 by the character]].
* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'': Rachel has nightmares of Bam being surrounded by companions and her being alone [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor among the stars.]] Later she claims having nightmares of [[spoiler: Bam's death]].
* Several times in ''Webcomic/PlatinumGrit'', Jeremy has nightmares about his insane cousin Dougal coming back for revenge. Sometimes with a few odd goings on to suggest they're more than dreams.
* Shopclerk, from ''Webcomic/AdorableDesolation'', wakes up screaming every morning, but he doesn't remember what he's been dreaming about.
* ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'': [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/020306c Megaman has them, apparently]]
* ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'': [[http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2003-09-05 After the battle]] [[http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2003-09-15 And for someone else, too.]]
* ''Webcomic/WapsiSquare'':
** Shelley has them.
** [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/notnightmares/ And not Shelley alone, though they thought they were just nightmares]]
* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Grace [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2002-05-20 used to have them]] before [[spoiler: she defeated Damien and faced her fear of her beastly side]].
* In ''Webcomic/PricklyCity'', the voter who cast the deciding vote to elect Kevin, Lost Bunny of the Apocalypse, to the Senate (and get him out of Prickly City), has dreams of his campaign for the presidency -- combining this with AnxietyDreams.
* ''Webcomic/NinthElsewhere'': Since the story takes place almost entirely in one of the character's subconscious, this trope was inevitable.
* In ''Webcomic/BlueYonder'', [[http://www.blueyondercomic.net/comics/1173198/blue-yonder-chapter-1-page-8/ Jared dreams of his family -- ending with the moment they were attacked.]]
* In ''Webcomic/DocRat'', [[http://www.docrat.com.au/default.asp?thisItem=745 Pippie has had dreams of ghosts since her family was killed in a brushfire.]]
** [[http://www.docrat.com.au/default.asp?id=strip&thisitem=1279]], when TalkingInYourSleep, [[http://www.docrat.com.au/default.asp?thisItem=1286 proves to be having this.]]
* In ''Webcomic/TalesOfTheQuestor'', [[http://www.rhjunior.com/totq/00125.html Nessie has them after her rescue, partly because her parents persist in talking about it and so reminding her.]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', Alternian trolls as a race experience horrific nightmares and sleep in sopor slime to suppress the visions. They're implied to be caused in part by Doc Scratch.
* The second day of ''{{Webcomic/Morphe}}'' has the captives [[http://morphe.thewebcomic.com/comics/1790280/chapter-2-page-19-sweet-dreams/ suffering nightmares]] of what happened to them before they woke up at the start of the story.
* The very first page of ''Webcomic/AliceAndTheNightmare'' shows Alice waking up from ''a'' nightmare. Made troubling by the fact that Wonderlanders aren't supposed to have them.
* ''Literature/TheJenkinsverse'' has Xiù Chang, whose dreams are not necessarily *bad* so much as vivid, surreal, and prone to waking her up.
* ''WebComic/StandStillStaySilent'': JustBeforeTheEnd, Árni Reynisson from the prologue works for an Icelandic coast guard that has resorted to bomb refugee boats to stop the spread of ThePlague. The segment focuses on Árni quitting his job because he has been having such dreams.
* In ''Webcomic/UndeadFriend'', [[http://undeadfriend.com/comic/undead-friend-chapter-10/ Chapter 10]] starts with a dream sequence of Wylie's that takes a dark turn, hinting at his past.
* In ''Webcomic/CourtOfRoses'', Merlow seems plagued by nightmares of a demon, which wake him in his sleep. [[http://courtofroses.spiderforest.com/index.php?comic_id=34]] [[spoiler: It's implied this may be the result of a demonic possession.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Considering how traumatic her entire life is, [[DarkMagicalGirl Himei Shoutan]] of ''Literature/SailorNothing'' gets these very often. Most of the time, it's just pieces of her memory replayed for her viewing pleasure, but sometimes, her nightmares go all creative on her. She doesn't wake from them screaming. At least, not anymore.
* Ayla Goodkind of the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'' routinely has Bad Dreams that reflect her self-doubts and the horrific traumas she has gone through since she became a mutant. Most of the Phase stories have at least one night of nightmares.
* One piece of fan-art titled "The Madness of Mission 6" depicts an astronaut gulping down anti-anxiety pills to keep away the skeletal ghosts of his comrades, who point accusingly at him. [[https://www.playthepast.org/?p=2048 Quite a twist on]] [[spoiler:VideoGame/PacMan]]'s plot.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* Kate of ''WebVideo/KateModern'' is frequently disturbed by strange dreams featuring needles, morbid imagery and sinister figures. In the GrandFinale "The Last Work", it is implied that these are memories [[spoiler:of being a baby in an Order laboratory]].
* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick screams at the Creator/WillSmith [[WesternAnimation/SharkTale fish]] to please leave her nightmares.
* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic states Pauly Shore's [[Film/BioDome creepy laughing]] will be the new soundtrack to his night-terrors for a while. Played more seriously later on, as he has nightmares in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee and he keeps waking up with anxiety attacks. In the ''The Sixth Day'' review, apparently this still happens.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
** The Season 2 opener shows that Aang has been experiencing nightmares (for what was probably the better part of a month) about his actions under the [[UnstoppableRage Avatar State]] in the previous season finale.
** Zuko's had some bad dreams, too, mostly having to do with his struggle to [[WellDoneSonGuy please his father]] and his desire to fulfill his destiny, as seen in S2 E17, "The Earth King."
** Season 3 has an entire episode (called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Nightmares and Daydreams"]]) devoted to Aang's stress-induced nightmares before invading the Fire Nation. He forgoes sleep and decides to spend his days ''and'' nights training, resulting in a series of hilarious sleep-deprivation induced daydreams. Most of his so-called "nightmares" are also PlayedForLaughs ("Oh no, I forgot my pants and my math test!"), but at least one of them is seriously scary.
* Done without seeing the actual dream in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', when Payback calls himself Bruce's worst nightmare, and Bruce simply retorts [[Awesome/BatmanBeyond "You have no idea what my nightmares are like."]] Similarly notable in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' where the team was being locked inside their own nightmares. Batman, running on willpower and coffee, struggles mightily to stay awake, and when the bad guy taunts him, he says, [[AMindIsATerribleThingToRead "My brain's not a nice place to be."]] That ChekhovsGun [[ChekhovMIA doesn't fire, though]], and he takes his opponent down before passing out.
* The GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'', "Perfect", featured several of these on account of Courage's constant berating from an evil teacher. They're all manifestations of his low self-esteem and yearnings to be perfect, two of which involving bizarre creatures reminding him of such. And these are ''nasty'' dreams, especially the first, more infamous one: a blue deformed humanoid, [[UncannyValley rendered in CGI]], who whispers "You're not perfect." [[note]] Fans also speculate it to be an amalgamation of Eustace's broken bugle and a human being. [[/note]] Watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFDldk9D_Qc here]], if you dare.
* Subverted in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents''. Timmy is very guilty of releasing the town goat and blaming Vicky that he has "wish nightmares" brought on by wishing in his sleep, creating a garbled pink mess in his bedroom.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra,'' Korra has flashback nightmares about being nearly murdered by Zaheer while struggling with PTSD from that event.
* ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'':
** [[TheDragon Mesmero]] uses his PsychicPowers to enter the minds of a bunch of X-Kids as they sleep, then he turns their dreams into nightmares, and ultimately {{mind rape}}s them [[BrainwashedAndCrazy into serving him.]]
** In "Ghost of a Chance", Kitty has a bizarre dream about befriending a girl named Danielle, and then she has more hallucinations/bad dreams about Danielle, including one where the mansion begins to flood and ooze slime from the walls, while a zombie-like Danielle calls for Kitty to help her. [[spoiler:It turns out that Danielle is a mutant with psychic abilities, who had been trapped in a cave-in near where Kitty visited earlier in the episode. The dreams she was sending Kitty were messages for rescue before her body was drowned. We also get hints in the series that Danielle wasn't very popular in her hometown because she had a tendency to give other people bad dreams by mistake.]]
** Comicbook/{{Wolverine}} also has nightmares about the Weapon X program; the episode they appear in has some justification, though, in that his brain is being remotely messed with by the original scientist in charge of the Weapon X program.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* People with post-traumatic stress disorder frequently have nightmares about the traumatic event in question. In fact, this is a common enough symptom that treatment approaches for PTSD that target nightmares explicitly have been developed (and shown high efficacy).
* People who fall into comatose states frequently have "dreams" in this vein as well, the memories of which usually haunt them for years to come. One member of the ''VideoGame/AdventureQuest'' forums allegedly was tortured by demons for three months while he was in a coma following an ATV accident, and incorporated many of his hellish sequences into his stories.
[[/folder]]
----

* ''FanFic/ThePiecesLieWhereTheyFell'': All six of the characters are said to have had unsettling dreams during their night in the inn, though they don’t remember the details. [[spoiler: This is a [[ChekhovsGun clue towards the identity of their Big Bad]].]]

* It's never stated exactly what the deal is, but Mr. Tulip in the Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Discworld/TheTruth'' supposedly screams in his sleep due to severe childhood trauma. The only clue we get is something about hiding from soldiers inside a church.

* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'': Rachel has nightmares of Baam being surrounded by companions and her being alone [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor among the stars.]] Later she claims having nightmares of [[spoiler: Baam's death]].