History Main / EvilMeScaresMe

* [[{{Trigun}} Vash the Stampede]] seems to feel shades of this, among other things, toward his EvilTwin, the BigBad of the series. Especially in the manga, where their [[BodyHorror truly remarkable biology]] sets them apart more than in the anime and young [[TheMessiah Vash]] came a ''lot'' closer to going off the deep end, because Knives' StartOfDarkness was a lot more justified.

* In the ''DoctorWho'' story ''The Ultimate Foe'', it turns out that the Valeyard was siphoned off the Doctor's twelfth regeneration. The Doctor is not happy.

* The DoctorWho [[DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Eighth Doctor Adventures]]: Future alternate Fitz, now known as Father Kreiner, scares Fitz. Being a SadClown DeadpanSnarker, he pretends not to take him seriously:

[[Bong milk is good for the brain.:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/werewolf_9693_8856.jpg]]

But you can't tell your boyfriend about it! He'd freak out and leave you, or worse. But then, you can't keep it a secret forever, either. At some point, one of your supernatural incidents will inevitably happen exactly when you were having a romantic dinner. Or maybe your relationship has simply reached the next level, and you feel that you need to be completely honest with him.

So what now? How will he react? Well, it turns out he's perfectly okay (well, for the most part he's perfectly okay) and understanding with it! That's right, as a reward for your sacrifices, the PowersThatBe will make sure that you end up with a truly noble and loving soul who loves you for who you are and doesn't care what you are. So no worries!

This trope is a DoubleStandard, in that wives and girlfriends are pretty much automatically accepting of their ActionHero husband/boyfriend's actions, whereas the number of husbands/boyfriends who automatically accept that their significant other is an ActionGirl are pretty thin on the ground. For the guy who is a super and needs a girlfriend, his powers are often a plus for her (because AllGirlsWantBadBoys). For women, finding a guy who truly doesn't have a problem with dating someone with superpowers when he's a {{Muggle}} is the bigger issue, because, well, NoGuyWantsAnAmazon.

Compare ButYourWingsAreBeautiful, when a disguise forms part of the powers. Compare to ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend for the ActionGirl [[InvertedTrope variant.]] Compare and contrast BoyMeetsGhoul, for the guy/girl who is on the other end of this trope. See also TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife, which is an aversion of this trope.

!!Examples:
[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* The central premise of ''[[NogizakaHarukaNoHimitsu The Secrets of Haruka Nogizaka]]''. The titular girl is an otaku.
* Ditto with ''[[OreImo My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute]]''. Except that the guy is not a boyfriend, but the big brother... [[{{Squick}} yeah]].
* Austria from ''AxisPowersHetalia'', in regards to his VictoriousChildhoodFriend Hungary. While he's concerned for her well-being, in the end he knows that if she wants to fight, he better lets her... since she will go [[OneManArmy One Woman Army]] and destroy the enemy. Considering their childhood, [[LoveAtFirstPunch he knows it beforehand]]!
* [[ShamanKing Keiko Asakura]] had been dumped by ''every'' single boyfriend she had when they learnt she was able to see spirits. Until the last JerkAss left her and a penniless musician with similar abilities comforted her. That guy was Mikihisa, and she would marry him.
* Horribly deconstructed with [[spoiler: Shiso and Ceres]] in ''AyashiNoCeres''. [[spoiler: Shiso started like this, but being left helpless when he and Ceres got attacked [[IJustWantToBeSpecial made him very frustrated]], so he asked Ceres to give him a part of her powers [[IWillProtectHer so he wouldn't be a burden on her.]] But then, [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity said powers turned out to be too much to handle]], and ItGotWorse...]]


[[AC:{{Comic Books}}]]
* [[NiceGuy Kong]] is this to [[XMen Kitty Pryde]] in UltimateMarvel, even going so far as to yell "You're welcome!" at AllOfTheOtherReindeer for not thanking her when she saves their lives.
* Back in the GoldenAge, Steve Trevor was this for WonderWoman (a remarkably progressive move for the times), and not at all threatened by the idea of getting rescued by or mooning over a woman who was twenty times stronger than him. The Silver and Bronze Age characterizations of him were...[[TooDumbToLive unfortunately]] [[JerkAss less so]], which probably led to him being deleted from continuity PostCrisis.
* In an old What If comic, Jimmy Olsen married Supergirl because of amnesia. Once she recovers and lets him know, he's totally fine with being married to Superman's cousin.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* In ''InnocentBlood'', FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire Marie has her understanding CopBoyfriend Joe.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* Elend in Brandon Sanderson's ''{{Mistborn}}''. At least [[spoiler:until he gets superpowers himself.]]
* Seth in ''WickedLovely''. When Aislinn tells him that she can see faeries, he has exactly one moment of "Is this a joke?" before accepting it and trying to help her with her faery situation.

[[AC:{{Live Action TV}}]]
* The ''GhostWhisperer'' features Jim the Understanding Husband.
* Both [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] and played straight in ''{{Bewitched}}''. The original Darrin (Dick York) was less than understanding, to the point of being downright hostile to Samantha when she used her magic. TheOtherDarrin (Dick Sargeant), on the other hand, tried his hardest to be understanding, the point that it was more the fault of Endora and the rest of Samantha's family that TheOtherDarrin didn't get along with witches.
* Played with in the ''SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' TV series. Harvey ''does'' leave Sabrina when he finds out she's a witch, not out of intolerance but because she'd been using magic to mess with his life for years. He eventually does come back to her, though, and says he never had a problem with her being a witch per se.
* Zack was the "gay best friend" equivalent of this in ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', at least until ExecutiveMeddling got in the way.
* Unless she's dating one of the undead, Buffy never got this on ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' (even Riley, who was himself a demon fighting super-soldier, had an inferiority complex due to dating a genuine superhero). It's Willow who hit the boyfriend jackpot with Oz; upon being told the truth about the supernatural world she runs in, he replies, "Actually, it explains a lot," and just goes with the flow from there.
* Tyler Ford in ''TheMiddleman'''s unaired season finale (released as a comic)...[[spoiler:at least, until MM pushes the ResetButton]].
* Allison's husband Joe on ''{{Medium}}'' believes in her powers and is understanding and accepting of them.
* In ''{{Series/Merlin}}'', 2x09. Merlin discovers [[spoiler: Freya turns into a bastet at night, but he isn´t afraid and stills takes care of her. He even pets her cat´s head...]]
[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/understanding/ this]] ''WapsiSquare'' comic. Also the page quote.
* {{Subverted}} (although this may be a retrospective way of seeing it) in ''SluggyFreelance''. Leo seems to be accepting of all the weird things Zoë tells about happening to her - but it turns out that was only because he thought she was lying. In the words of another jerk he hangs out with, "You've got to respect a girl who realizes romantic relationships are based on lies and goes to town with it!" As soon as Leo finds out it was all true, he feels betrayed, and they eventually break off.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* [[PhineasAndFerb Candace]] seems to have this with Jeremy. Despite all of Candace's attempts to put a stop to PhineasAndFerb's projects, the guy never, ever seems to lose his cool, and they're still an item.

-->"Kill them all... no... no, that's not ''me''... Help me! I'm scared of me..."
--->--Doc, RedVsBlue

Maybe Bob saw an alternate timeline in which he was a CompleteMonster. Or maybe he sees an evil goateed twin indulging in his dark fantasies. Or maybe he simply sees a sordid side to his character gaining ground. Or maybe he meets an [[FutureMeScaresMe evil future time travelling version of himself]]. Or maybe he delivers ExtremeMeleeRevenge to a CompleteMonster, but has to be dragged away and only realizes afterward that he [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown kicked him while he was down]]. Whatever the case, he is horrified. He may attempt to nip a FaceHeelTurn in the bud (this [[YouCantFightFate may]] or [[ScrewDestiny may not]] [[SelfFulfillingProphecy backfire]]).

Sister trope to FutureMeScaresMe (where the future version doesn't necessarily have to be evil). Often a theme of uses of EvilTwin. One way a character may try to surpress a SuperpoweredEvilSide.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Film]]
* We see a touch of this at the climax of ''ReturnOfTheJedi'', as Luke stops himself from finishing his CurbStompBattle against Darth Vader.
* At one point in AnAmericanCarol, Michael Malone sees an alternate timeline where the South won the AmericanCivilWar, and he is a slaveholder who out-Legrees [[UncleTomsCabin Simon Legree]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV]]
* In the ''DoctorWho'' story ''The Ultimate Foe'', it turns out that the Valeyard was siphoned off the Doctor's twelfth regeneration. The Doctor is not happy.
** Also in 'Amy's Choice' the Dream Lord, who is the creepy villain of the episode is [[spoiler: the collection of the Doctors darker side.]]
*** This has led many fans to [[WildMassGuessing speculate]] that [[spoiler: the Dream Lord is a early version of the Valeyard.]]
* Willow in ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. Although the thing that actually horrifies her is more the fact that she seems a bit... you know, gay. Turned right around when Willow [[SuddenlySexuality decides to be a lesbian]] a few seasons in.
** She's not horrified by the fact that Vampire Willow is "kinda gay," it's that Vampire Willow is [[ScrewYourself into her.]]
** She's also disturbed by the fact that Vampire Willow is so "skanky".
* One of Data from ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'''s earliest encounters with emotion was feeling hatred when fighting the Borg. The fact that this first emotion of his was a negative one and that he apparently enjoyed indulging in the furious killing of an enemy disturbed him. Then we get his EvilTwin Lore turning up who embraces his negative emotions and so personifies them to Data (and is in fact the cause of Data's sudden unleashing of emotion). Data would probably have been scared of him, if fear hadn't been saved for a later episode.
** StarTrek has a decent history of {{Evil Twin}}s, what with [[PhlebotinumBreakdown transporter accidents]] and the MirrorUniverse. There's the example of Kirk being a LiteralSplitPersonality with an aggressive, hot headed side and a passive, weak-willed but logical side and the passive side is afraid of the aggressive one. Major Kira Nerys of DeepSpaceNine gets a similar deal to Willow in the Buffy example.
** However, since the MirrorUniverse normally involves plots of being swapped with the guy on the other side (presumably to avoid having to deal with one actor being in a single scene) mostly you get the counterparts never meeting and at most Evil You Scares [-(but sexually intrigues)-] Me.
*** Or in DeepSpaceNine's version, their opposite is usually dead on one side of the mirror or the other.
* In TwoAndAHalfMen, Alan worries in the episode "The Price of Healthy Gums Is Eternal Vigilance" that he may have unconsciously shoplifted a Silly Putty egg when he was nine, and has spent his life struggling to keep Bad Alan under control. He hasn't considered the alternative (true) explanation that [[spoiler: his brother Charlie planted the stolen Silly Putty in his pocket, assuming that goody-goody Alan was less likely to be caught]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature]]
* Rachel of the ''{{Animorphs}}'' goes through a process with results practically identical to Kirk in StarTrek's "The Enemy Within" with a split into agressive and passive personality characteristics, each with their own flaws that get counterbalanced with the other strengths and with the passive side being frightened of the agressive violent tendencies of the other.
** As the series goes on, Rachel (no longer split) gets more and more worried about her emerging BloodKnight tendencies. [[FridgeLogic She could take comfort]] in the fact that her dark side unleashed was a {{Jerkass}} but not full-on AxCrazy.
* The DoctorWho [[DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Eighth Doctor Adventures]]: Future alternate Fitz, now known as Father Kreiner, scares Fitz. Being a SadClown DeadpanSnarker, he pretends not to take him seriously:
--> I am the real Fitzgerald Michael Kreiner and I claim my five pounds.[[hottip:* :If you don't get [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobby_Lud#Lobby_Lud_in_popular_culture the reference]], it's probably because Fitz is a FishOutOfTemporalWater. And if you do, you may be unaware it wasn't coined to describe {{Internet Mimic}}s and is [[OlderThanTheyThink Older Than You Think]].]]
* Commander Vimes in ''{{Discworld}}'' has The Beast. It's made clear in several of the books that the reason he's [[TheFettered so devoted to the rule of law]] is horror as to what he might do without it.
* In HowToLiveSafelyInAScienceFictionalUniverse, [[AuthorProtagonist Charles Yu]] says that peering into parallel universes, 35 of the other versions of himself (out of 39) were assholes. He mentions that if that many alternate versions of you are [[{{Jerkass}} jerks]], you're probably not hot stuff yourself.
[[/folder]]


[[folder: Western Animation]]
* Happens repeatedly with several characters in ''JusticeLeague'' after the titular heroes encounter their WellIntentionedExtremist counterparts known as the Justice Lords.
** Similiar thing happened in JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths when they meet their completely evil counterparts.
* In ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' Aang actually says, "I was scary" when reflecting on the Avatar State. A little different since the Avatar State isn't evil but rather an implacable force of nature.
* DannyPhantom's evil future ghost half, merged with his arch-nemesis' ghost half, Dan Phantom.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Anime & Manga]]
* [[{{Trigun}} Vash the Stampede]] seems to feel shades of this, among other things, toward his EvilTwin, the BigBad of the series. Especially in the manga, where their [[BodyHorror truly remarkable biology]] sets them apart more than in the anime and young [[TheMessiah Vash]] came a ''lot'' closer to going off the deep end, because Knives' StartOfDarkness was a lot more justified.
* In "InuYasha", the titular character is afraid of his full demon state, mainly because it could threaten the life of his {{Love Interest}} and puts humans in danger as well.
[[/folder]]


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<<|EvilTropes|>>
<<|SpeculativeFictionTropes|>>

** Also in 'Amy's Choice' the Dreamlord, who is the creepy villain of the episode is [[spoiler: the collection of the Doctors darker side.]]

* In HowToLiveSafelyInAScienceFictionalUniverse, [[AuthorProtagonist Charles Yu]] says that peering into parallel universes, 35 of the other versions of himself (out of 39) were assholes. He mentions that if that many alternate versions of you are [[Jerkass jerks]], you're probably not hot stuff yourself.

* In How to Live Safely in a Science Fiction Universe, [[AuthorProtagonist Charles Yu]] says that peering into parallel universes, 35 of the other versions of himself (out of 39) were assholes. He mentions that if that many alternate versions of you are [[Jerkass jerks]], you're probably not hot stuff yourself.

"Kill them all... no... no, that's not ''me''... Help me! I'm scared of me..."
-->--Doc, RedVsBlue

* In "InuYasha", the titular character is afraid of his full demon state, mainly because it could threaten the life of his {{Love Interest}} and puts humans in danger as well.

Sister trope to FutureMeScaresMe (where the future version doesn't necessarily have to be evil). Often a theme of uses of EvilTwin. One way a character may try to surpress a SuperpoweredEvilSide. Attempting to supress their evil side may lead to a character becoming TheFettered.

* Commander Vimes in ''{{Discworld}}'' has The Beast. It's made clear in several of the books that the reason he's [[LawfulGood so devoted to the rule of law]] is horror as to what he might do without it.

Sister trope to FutureMeScaresMe (where the future version doesn't necessarily have to be evil). Often a theme of uses of EvilTwin. One way a character may try to surpress a SuperpoweredEvilSide.

* In the ''DoctorWho'' story ''The Ultimate Foe'', it turns out that the [[strike:Railyard]] [[strike:Knacker's Yard]] Valeyard was siphoned off the Doctor's twelfth regeneration. The Doctor is not happy.

* In the ''DoctorWho'' story ''The Ultimate Foe'', it turns out [[spoiler: that the [[strike:Railyard]] [[strike:Knacker's Yard]] Valeyard was siphoned off the Doctor's twelfth regeneration. The Doctor is not happy.]]

Maybe Bob saw a alternate timeline in which he was a CompleteMonster. Or maybe he sees an evil goateed twin indulging in his dark fantasies. Or maybe he simply sees a sordid side to his character gaining ground. Or maybe he meets an [[FutureMeScaresMe evil future time travelling version of himself]]. Or maybe he delivers ExtremeMeleeRevenge to a CompleteMonster, but has to be dragged away and only realizes afterward that he [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown kicked him while he was down]]. Whatever the case, he is horrified. He may attempt to nip a FaceHeelTurn in the bud (this [[YouCantFightFate may]] or [[ScrewDestiny may not]] [[SelfFulfillingProphecy backfire]]).

** She's not horrified by the fact that Vampire Willow is "kinda gay," it's that Vampire Willow is into her (regular Willow) (transdimensional masturbation!).

Maybe Bob saw a alternate timeline in which he was a CompleteMonster. Or maybe he sees an evil goateed twin indulging in his dark fantasies. Or maybe he simply sees a sordid side to his character gaining ground. Or maybe he meets an [[FutureMeScaresMe evil future time travelling version of himself]]. Whatever the case, he is horrified. He may attempt to nip a FaceHeelTurn in the bud (this [[YouCantFightFate may]] or [[ScrewDestiny may not]] [[SelfFulfillingProphecy backfire]]).

* In one ''DarkwingDuck'' episode, Gosalyn inadvertently time-travels forward and meets Darkwarrior Duck, a version of Darkwing whose reaction to Gosalyn's presumed death eventually took him into AllCrimesAreEqual territory.

* In the ''DoctorWho'' story ''The Ultimate Foe'', it turns out [[spoiler:that the [[strike:Railyard]] [[strike:Knacker's Yard]] Valeyard was siphoned off the Doctor's twelfth regeneration. The Doctor is not happy.]]

Sister trope to FutureMeScaresMe (where the future version doesn't necessarily have to be evil). Often a theme of uses of EvilTwin.