History Main / EvilMeScaresMe

* ''FanFic/InnerDemons'': Twilight Sparkle is horrified when she uncovers a prophecy that seems to foretell her becoming an UltimateEvil and taking over Equestria. After discovering the prophecy, she's plagued by bad dreams about being consumed by her inner darkness, one of which opens with seeing herself proclaim her rule to the terrified citizens of Ponyville. [[spoiler: Eventually, however, the darkness consumes her, and she becomes the thing she feared.]]

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': One of Data'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.

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* ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'': [[AmnesiacHero Haise Sasaki]] is utterly terrified of [[EnemyWithin his old self]] [[spoiler:Ken Kaneki]], as he is afraid both of [[BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind losing the life he has built if he recovers his memories]] and of [[SuperpoweredEvilSide whatever kind of monster he may have been]], as [[spoiler: Hallucination!Kaneki's]] appearance, demeanour and creepy way of addressing Sasaki comes across as [[TheCorrupter an evil side attempting to take control]].
* ''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 [[MessianicArchetype Vash]] came a ''lot'' closer to going off the deep end, because Knives' StartOfDarkness was [[TheyWouldCutYouUp a]] [[StrappedToAnOperatingTable lot]] [[GoMadFromTheRevelation more]] [[HumansAreBastards justified]].
* ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'': The titular character is afraid of his full demon state, mainly because it could threaten the life of his LoveInterest and puts humans in danger as well.

* ''Anime/FateStayNightHeavensFeel'': When Shirou eventually realizes the risks Sakura poses [[spoiler:as her role as the Shadow is revealed]], he begins dreaming on how he will have to be the one to kill her. This is further compounded by his dream voice mocking him for hesitating. Finally, he sees a future white-haired, golden-eyed version of himself looking like [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder his evil darkened EMIYA]] executing Sakura.

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** Pre-Crisis ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} was frightened of Satan Girl, a duplicate of hers who was more powerful, evil, ruthless and extremely conniving.
** In "[[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 Girl Power]]", Supergirl was split into her normal self and an evil alternate personality when exposed to black Kryptonite. Supergirl was frightened of her dark, violent and murderous self because "Dark Supergirl" claimed she was the real Kara, and Supergirl's kind and well-meaning persona was only an act.
** In ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' storyline ''ComicBook/TheGreatDarknessSaga'', ComicBook/{{Superboy}} is spooked by one Servant of Darkness who somehow looks familiar, has his same powers and wears a diamond emblem on his chest. Later it's revealed that Servant is a [[spoiler:Franchise/{{Superman}} clone]] created by [[spoiler:ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}]]
** [[ComicBook/Supergirl2011 Post-Flashpoint]] Siobhan Smythe fears that her Silver Banshee persona will take over her body when it manifests.
* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'': Steve Rogers faces his worst nightmare in ''ComicBook/SecretEmpire'': [[spoiler:himself as a fascist.]]
* ''ComicBook/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'': The BigBad of the first arc is [[spoiler: an alternate universe version of [[SixthRanger Tommy]] who chose to stay on Rita's side after the mind control was broken, eventually conquering Earth with her]]. [[spoiler: Tommy]] is more than a little concerned that it might be a matter of time before [[spoiler: he]] becomes the same.
* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'':
** Hulk once traveled to a future ruled by a brutal being called the Maestro, who had killed all the other superheroes and [[spoiler:turned out to be a [[FutureMeScaresMe future version of the Hulk himself]]]]
** There's also the Devil and Guilt Hulks, the worst parts of Banner's extremely fractured psyche, locked up in the very depths of his mind. Devil Hulk especially wants to smash the entire world, just for Bruce. ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'' then turns some of this on its head: [[spoiler:The Devil Hulk isn't actually a full blown OmnicidalManiac, but Bruce's view of him was twisted by his dad issues. Devil Hulk's pretty annoyed about that one. And after the events of ''Secret Empire'', he takes control over the other Hulk personalities, and in conversation with Doc Samson reveals that in doing so, he sealed away an even more dangerous personality let loose by Bruce's most recent string of traumas.]]

* In the ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' fanfic ''Fanfic/RiseOfEmpressMidnight'', [[spoiler: [[BigBad Empress Midnight]] is the alternate version of Twilight Sparkle.]]
* In the ''Franchise/HarryPotter''/''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' crossover ''Fanfic/TheMagicOfTorchwood'', de-aged Jack is frightened by his - admittedly distinctly unnerving - worst possible [[FutureMeScaresMe future self]], portrayed by a boggart (it is explained in-universe that boggarts are very intelligent, it's just rare that a fear is strong enough for them to show it and take a sentient form). Of course, Jack being Jack, he considers it to be good company, explaining that while he's terrified of what the boggart represents, he still enjoys talking with it.

* ''FanFic/LegendOfZeldaSacredReliquary'': Ganondorf of all people - the latest reincarnation regained his past lives' memories and regrets everything. [[spoiler: An EldritchAbomination called the Nameless uses it against him by taking the form of Dark Beast Ganon.]]

* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Insontis}}'', Spock goes into a brief HeroicBSOD when he realizes that it was his [[MirrorUniverse alternate-universe]] [[Recap/StarTrekS2E4MirrorMirror self]] who {{mind rape}}d [=McCoy=], horrified by the thought that he could be capable of such things in any reality.
* In ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' fanfic ''Fanfic/ReturnOfThePrimarchs'', many Primarchs have this reaction. Good-Horus is terrified of what Chaos-Horus did and when Fulgrim faces his daemonic self, he has a HeroicBSOD which Ferrus must [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan pull him out of]].
* ''Fanfic/LifeOreDeath'' may be one of the few stories to ever ''invert'' this trope. When the Team goes to [[TheStationsOfTheCanon the Tower of Fate]] they end up fighting various evil versions of themselves as part of a test of worthiness. Aqualad defies this trope because he's made peace with his recent emotional upsets, and even [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome beats his copy off-screen.]] However, [[OriginalCharacter Ferris]] is sufficiently at home with her inner darkness to outwit her clone and cow the copy with a BreakingSpeech after a brutal sucker-punch.
--> Ferris: "You have none of my willingness to endure pain, but I have all of your willingness to inflict and enjoy it. Consider what you would do in my place to a helpless foe, and think very carefully before you try and last second, last ditch efforts."
* In ''Fanfic/TheLegendOfSpyroNewFrontier'' both Cynder and Spyro admit that they are terrified of their respective dark forms' personalities overcoming them, resulting in a sadistic monster and violent berserker respectively.
* The ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' fic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/22550647 Funhouse Mirror]]'' has an Akuma causes Alya to run into a MirrorUniverse version of herself that is based on every RonTheDeathEater cliche applied to her. Alya is horrified at how much of a ruthless servant her counterpart is to Lila, especially when she starts bragging about a plan to trigger one of Chloe's allergies despite the fact it could possibly be fatal. It's later implied that several of the other main characters had a similair experience.
* Another ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' fanfic, ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/25474393/chapters/61793125 Divergent Points: ML Salt]]'', where Marinette, Adrien, and Alya each find themselves acting out as [[RonTheDeathEater twisted]] versions of themselves, and all three horrified. A particular case is [[spoiler:Marinette's encounter with "Saltinette, the {{Tulpa}} of the salt dimension who acts that her friends had betrayed her during the events of "Chameleon". Marinette views her copy as a spiteful, self-centered maniac, and outrights tells her [[ShutUpHannibal no matter what happens, she'll never give up on her friends and become like her]]]].

* At one point in ''Film/AnAmericanCarol'', Michael Malone sees an alternate timeline where the South won the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar, and he is a slaveholder who out-Legrees [[Literature/UncleTomsCabin Simon Legree]].
* In ''Film/SilentHill'', [[spoiler: Sharon is initially horrified watching her evil side, Dark Alessa, slaughter the church full of cultists with telepathically controlled barbed wire]]. The director has stated that, when she stops being frightened, [[spoiler: this is a sign that her two sides have fused together again]].

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures, 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.''[[note]]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.]][[/note]]

* In ''Literature/HowToLiveSafelyInAScienceFictionalUniverse'', [[AuthorAvatar 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 the ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' DLC ''The Tyranny of King Washington'', the events of the DLC turn out to be a vision generated by a Piece of Eden to show what would happen if Washington claimed its power for himself. Washington is so horrified by the tyrant he becomes in this alternate timeline that he begs Connor to throw the Piece of Eden into the sea to prevent anyone from ever taking it. Later, Washington is tempted by a voice in his own head suggesting that he become king of the newborn United States of America, but he rejects it.
* ''VideoGame/BatmanTheTelltaleSeries'' has Harvey Dent, the persona of Two-Face. [[spoiler: Although it is possible to stop the facial scarring that brings Two-Face's iconic look]], it is not possible to prevent a LiteralSplitPersonality within Dent: One is his normal self and the other is a cruel, violent man lashing out at the problems he sees in Gotham - including Harvey, who he views as "weak". Good Harvey is terrified of this dark personality, and at one point, begs Bruce not to leave him alone with the voice.
* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSecurityBreach'': While Sun is admittedly overbearing and downright manic, it is ultimately harmless and seems to genuinely want to keep its wards in Superstar Daycare happy and safe. Which is likely why its only rule is keeping the lights on, and is intensely distressed when the lights go off, as it turns them into the far less benevolent Moon, who is obsessed with "punishing" bad children who stay up past their bedtime, and has traumatized children who have stayed in their Daycare. And when Gregory accidentally breaks this rule and Sun comes back, it is deeply upset with him, and bans him from the Daycare for it.
* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsX'': [[spoiler:Taking a page from the ''Anime/BuddyComplex'' mobile game, 20 year-old Bizon and his 90 year-old self, Evgeni, manage to exist in the same time period at the same time (explained in this game as a result of [[Anime/CrossAnge Embryo's]] interference). If the secret conditions are met, Bizon, disgusted with Evgeni and determined to change himself for the better, will join X-Cross to defeat his potential future self.]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'':
** [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2010-09-19 Fuchsia]] has this reaction to her reflection after losing her temper with Seymour. In all likelihood, this was a side of herself she never wanted Criminy to see.
** After getting mindwiped, [[spoiler:Lil' E]] also has this response.

* Hannelore from ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'' is definitely freaked out by the evil version of her seen in an ImagineSpot in [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2443 this comic.]]
* ''Webcomic/TwoKinds'': Trace Legacy is horrified at who he was before his amnesia (mass-murdered 400,000 [[FunnyAnimal Keidran]] and sent 100,000 humans to the slaughterhouse), so he has resolved to stop trying to cure himself before his split personality kills his new girlfriend (and son). Sadly, there appears to be a THIRD split personality that is all magic-crack addict and no WellIntentionedExtremist that feeds off the naïve amnesic personality.

* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'': Both Cio and Allison end up going through this during the Seeker of Thrones arc. Cio has to struggle with a past identity, [[spoiler: as she was formerly the Ebon Devil Yabalchoath, a vicious backstabbing tyrant of a guild lord,]] and the events of the arc force her into a role similar to her previous actions. Allison has to deal with what she could be, since [[spoiler: her deal with Incubus]] gives her a split personality that has the will and knowledge to properly use her power but is also a self-centered sociopath.

* In ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'', an alternate-universe Makuta Teridax who never turned against Mata Nui enters the main universe to confront the BigBad who is just about on the verge of winning. It's not so much "Evil Me Scares Me" so much as "Evil Me Has To Die".

* ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'': {{Franchise/Superman}} has to defeat his EvilTwin from an alternate reality. [[spoiler:The alternate Superman [[FallenHero became evil]] when ComicBook/TheJoker tricked him into killing Lois Lane and his unborn child and destroying Metropolis. Later, Superman admits that he could have turned out the same as his alternate self had he experienced the same loss.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Kaeloo has often been shown to be terrified of her Bad Kaeloo side, who has a horrific mean streak and adores violently abusing people.

* Happens repeatedly with several characters in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' after the titular heroes encounter their WellIntentionedExtremist counterparts known as the Justice Lords.
** A similar thing happened in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths'' when they meet their completely evil counterparts.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'', Ben is shown to be scared of his Ghostfreak form several times. [[ProperlyParanoid This turns out to be completely justified]].

* In keeping with tradition, Harvey Dent (later Two-Face) in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' is horrified at what his vengeful personality does [[SplitPersonalityTakeover when it has control]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja'', Julian gets so terrified of [[EvilDoppelganger Evil Julian]] that Randy and Howard have to let him tag along on their trip to the snow festival because he [[PleaseDontLeaveMe simply can't be left alone]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Celestia meets her [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious]], sister-resenting inner side [[DreamWalker in a nightmare]] and does not immediately know how to deal with it.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Kaeloo has often been shown to be terrified of her Bad Kaeloo side, who has a horrific mean streak and adores violently abusing people.

* In ''WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja'' Julian gets so terrified of [[EvilDoppelganger Evil Julian]] that Randy and Howard have to let him tag along on their trip to the snow festival because he [[PleaseDontLeaveMe simply can't be left alone]].

** A situation like this is PlayedForDrama. [[spoiler:After Leopold Fitz returns from the Framework, an alternate reality simulation in which he was a cruel sociopath known as The Doctor, he suffers severe PTSD and crosses the DespairEventHorizon because his actions within caused the deaths of two real people -- innocent civilian Agnes Kitsworth and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s own Director Mace. Fitz is forced to grapple with the fact that he himself did those things, and "not some other man or a decoy" (because the Framework's altered circumstances created a role of an evil Fitz whom he was forced to be, with no memory of the real world while inside). His fellow teammates are very forgiving, but it's pretty clear that Fitz is going to need some time to recover from the experience. It doesn't help that the next season features a "fear dimension" that manifests ]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' fic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/22550647 Funhouse Mirror]]'' has an Akuma causes Alya to run into a MirrorUniverse version of herself that is based on every RonTheDeathEater cliche applied to her. Alya is horrified at how much of a ruthless servant her counterpart is to Lila, especially when she starts bragging about a plan to trigger one of Chloe's allergies despite the fact it could possibly be fatal.

** There's also the Devil and Guilt Hulks, the worst parts of Banner's extremely fractured psyche, locked up in the very depths of his mind. Devil Hulk especially wants to smash the entire world, just for Bruce. ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'' then turns some of this on its head: [[spoiler:The Devil Hulk isn't actually a full blown OmnicidalManiac, but Bruce's view of him was twisted by his dad issues. Devil Hulk's pretty annoyed about that one. And after the events of ''Secret Empire'', he takes control over the other Hulk personalities, and in conversation with Doc Samson reveals that in doing so, he sealed away an even more dangerous personality let lose by Bruce's most recent string of traumas.]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]

** A situation like this is PlayedForDrama. [[spoiler:After Leopold Fitz returns from the Framework, an alternate reality simulation in which he was a cruel sociopath known as The Doctor, he suffers severe PTSD and crosses the DespairEventHorizon because his actions within caused the deaths of two real people -- innocent civilian Agnes Kitsworth and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s own Director Mace. Fitz is forced to grapple with the fact that he himself did those things, and "not some other man or a decoy" (because the Framework's altered circumstances created a role of an evil Fitz whom he was forced to be, with no memory of the real world while inside). His fellow teammates are very forgiving, but it's pretty clear that Fitz is going to need some time to recover from the experience.]]

* In the ''MyLittlePony'' fanfic ''Fanfic/RiseOfEmpressMidnight'', [[spoiler: [[BigBad Empress Midnight]] is the alternate version of Twilight Sparkle.]]

* In the Harry Potter/Torchwood crossover, ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7151727/1/The_Magic_Of_Torchwood The Magic of Torchwood,]]'' de-aged Jack is frightened by his - admittedly distinctly unnerving - worst possible [[FutureMeScaresMe future self]], portrayed by a boggart (it is explained in-universe that boggarts are very intelligent, it's just rare that a fear is strong enough for them to show it and take a sentient form). Of course, Jack being Jack, he considers it to be good company, explaining that while he's terrified of what the boggart represents, he still enjoys its company.

* Near the end of the FinalBattle of ''Roleplay/DinoAttackRPG'', [[spoiler:once Rex stops and realizes that he has [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope given in to madness]], [[NotSoDifferent much like Dr. Rex before him]], he becomes terrified of what he has become.]]

Sister trope to FutureMeScaresMe (where the future version doesn't necessarily have to be evil). An inversion of DoppelgangerGetsSameSentiment, with the hero worrying that his evil doppelganger ''is'' him on some level. Often a theme of uses of EvilTwin. One way a character may try to suppress a SuperpoweredEvilSide. See also OtherMeAnnoysMe.

** In ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'', [[spoiler:as soon as Rey grabs the Sith Wayfinder, she's ambushed by a vision of herself as a Sith, who tells her to not be afraid of [[InTheBlood who she is]] before attacking and driving her out of the vault.]]