History Main / FutureMeScaresMe

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobMovieSpongeOutOfWater'', [[spoiler:after [=SpongeBob=] and Plankton travel back in time to the point when Plankton is about to steal the secret formula, Past [=SpongeBob=] is horrified when he sees himself aiding Plankton in stealing the formula; he doesn't know that he is actually taking it to save Bikini Bottom]].

* ''ComicBook/BlackPanther'': A long-running story during Creator/{{Christopher Priest|Comics}}'s run had a sort of subversion and played straight with. The future Black Panther was an intentional throwback homage to a [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age characterization]] by creator Creator/JackKirby during Panther's original solo series, which was more light adventure than his at the time [[DarkerAndEdgier serious personality]]. The problem was that said future Black Panther was at the final stages of a fatal [[SoapOperaDisease brain aneurysm]] ailment, losing his mind, and Panther at the time himself was just starting to get the same symptoms.

* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': In ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulkFutureImperfect'', the Hulk was transported to an alternate future and had to [[FightingYourFutureSelg overthrow his tyrannical future self]], ]]FallenHero the Maestro]]. Ever since then, Bruce has had a fear of becoming the Maestro, one way or another.

* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': In ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulkFutureImperfect'', the Hulk was transported to an alternate future and had to overthrow his tyrannical future self, the Maestro. Ever since then, Bruce has had a fear of becoming the Maestro, one way or another.

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So you're a [[TimeTravel travelin' in time]], as you do, when suddenly! Ooh, it's future you! Only... you're different. And not in a good way. If you were cool, maybe TheHero (or the AlphaBitch[=/=]JerkJock), then you discover [[FutureLoser you've become really lame]]. Conversely, if you're the PluckyComicRelief or someone similar, [[FutureBadass older you is a badass]]... a ''scary'' badass. Or worse, your future self could be ''[[FaceHeelTurn evil]]''. Milder versions simply result in a personality change that bugs you.

* Even [[spoiler: Dr. Robotnik[=/=]Dr. Eggman]] gets this in ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations''. Even though the two of them are working together and are collectively the game's BigBad, [[spoiler: Robotnik looks at Eggman's behavior with puzzlement and asks "Wow. Will I really get that crazy?"]] At the very end of the game [[spoiler:when Robotnik learns that Eggman ''has never defeated Sonic'', he gets depressed and decides to go for a teaching degree instead]].

* [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Classic Amy]] is shown to be less than pleased with her modern self in [[http://dhim.deviantart.com/art/CRYOCH-MACHINE-Amy-and-Amy-215805015 this]] [[WebAnimation/LadyLumpsVSBoyBumps [=CRYOCH=] Machine]] animation.

* ''Fanfic/WeightOffYourShoulder'': After Marinette [[ForWantOfANail changes the future]] by giving up her Guardianship and role as Ladybug to a SuperiorSuccessor, Future!Alix alerts her past self to what's going on, insisting that they have to restore the original timeline. However, Future!Alix is actually a TimeTravelingJerkass who has ''incredibly'' [[ItsAllAboutMe self-centered ideas]] about what the future ''should'' be, and is actually [[NiceJobFixingItVillain responsible for Marinette's decision in the first place]] -- while trying to convince her to tough it out, Future!Alix [[SayingTooMuch accidentally revealed]] just how much worse things were going to get, something she simply [[LackOfEmpathy does not care about]] so long as she gets her way. Present Day!Alix is understandably disgusted when her counterpart makes the same mistake with her, angrily declaring that she hopes she ''never'' becomes as selfish and callous as her.

* In ''VideoGame/SoulCaliburVI'', [[spoiler:Cassandra's Soul Chronicle has her come across Astral Chaos, and this causes her to meet the version of herself from the original timeline of ''I-V'', now driven mad by all of the suffering she and her family went through during those games and fully Malfested. After defeating her and receiving a message about her future, she resolves to [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong make sure that timeline never comes to pass]] and immediately [[ForWantOfANail causes divergences in the timeline]]]].

* In Ed Brubaker's ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' run, Midnighter is contacted by a future version of Apollo and warned that he has to leave the team or he will kill Jack Hawksmoor, go insane, and become the undisputed genocidal ruler of future earth. [[spoiler:It turns out to be part of an EvilPlan by Henry Bendix to disband the Authority, but still...]]
* A long-running story in ComicBook/BlackPanther had a sort of subversion and played straight with. The future Black Panther was an intentional throwback homage to a [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age characterization]] by creator Creator/JackKirby during Panther's original solo series, which was more light adventure than his at the time [[DarkerAndEdgier serious personality]]. The problem was that said future Black Panther was at the final stages of a fatal [[SoapOperaDisease brain aneurysm]] ailment, losing his mind, and Panther at the time himself was just starting to get the same symptoms.
* ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' Season 8: The Future Willow has fallen to the dark side, greatly resembling Dark Willow from Season 6.

* {{ComicBook/Darkseid}} once met his future self. And was disappointed enough to kill him with Omega Beams.
* Subverted by Franklin Richards in Jonathan Hickman's ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' - Present Franklin and Future Adult Franklin get along great, happily calling each other Kid Franklin and Mister Franklin. Then again, Franklin has the power of being superhumanly well-adjusted, far more than any kid who's been repeatedly kidnapped, has seen [[ComicBook/HeroesReborn every one of his relatives die]] at ''least'' once, sometimes possesses [[RealityWarper godlike powers]], and was once trapped in hell has any right to be.

* ''Franchise/TheFlash'': ComicBook/{{Impulse}} is not at all pleased to discover his future self in Dark Tomorrow is a violent, DarkerAndEdgier hero who is no longer on speaking terms with his then-girlfriend and seems to be more lenient about the ThouShallNotKill rule than present-Imp.

* The ''ComicBook/{{Futurama}}'' comic book had a story involving Leela's baby, teen, and older selves. Current Leela has this effect on Teenaged Leela, who can't believe she grew up to be so "boring" and "bitter."
* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': The Hulk once had to overthrow his tyrannical future self, the Maestro. Ever since then, Bruce has had a fear of becoming the Maestro, one way or another.
* When ComicBook/IronMan and ComicBook/DoctorDoom were stuck in 2093, they were not at all pleased with their future namesakes. The villainous future Iron Man was just a relative of Tony's, but the future Doom was Doom himself, a century older and much the worse for wear. Doom killed him without hesitation and walked away vowing never to become "that". A shame, then, that he got a dose of LaserGuidedAmnesia at the end of the adventure.
** Victor wasn't pleased when he also met [[ComicBook/Marvel2099 Doom 2099]].

* Back to the time-traveling warlord Kang the Conqueror, for the longest, er, time, he shudders at the thought that he will eventually become the "doddering old scholar" Immortus. In the ''ComicBook/AvengersForever'' limited series, [[spoiler:this changes when Immortus is killed and then is brought back as Kang's alternate self and no longer as his future self. Needless to say, Kang is pleased by the turn of events]].

* In ''ComicBook/LoriLovecraft: The Dark Lady'', Lori finds herself unnerved by the presence of her future self and flees even before she discovers her pursuer's true identity.
* Young Loki's biggest fear is to [[StatusQuoIsGod become like their past self]], so everybody can imagine their horror when [[spoiler:the BigBad of their [[ComicBook/LokiAgentOfAsgard solo series]]]] turned out to be a future version of them, who did just that. Except that they lost the aversion to technology and became more pop-cultured... which arguably made them ''[[EvilMeScaresMe worse]]''.

* Subverted in ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'': Most kids would be thrilled to hear that they're destined to lead [[ComicBook/TheAvengers the Avengers]], but Gert calls her future self boring and insists that she'll never become that woman [[spoiler: (and since she ends up getting killed by a group of kids trying to become the next Pride, she turns out to be right)]]. Victor would be a straightforward example of this trope, except that he's never actually met his villainous future self. Just hearing about him is enough to give the boy nightmares, though. [[spoiler:When he dies in ''ComicBook/TheVision2015'', he's actually glad that that future will never come to be.]]
* In ''ComicBook/Supergirl2011'' issue #19, ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} meets her older, alternate self ComicBook/PowerGirl and gets upset because she feels pathetic and inadequate compared with her more intelligent, stronger, and more mature adult self.

** In a story arc, the Titans[[note]]the lineup of ComicBook/{{Impulse}}, ComicBook/BlueDevil, ComicBook/WonderGirl, Beast Boy, ComicBook/{{Superboy}}, Lorena Marquez, Miss Martian, ComicBook/{{Raven}}, and ComicBook/{{Robin}}[[/note]] get dropped ten years in the future, and are more than a little disturbed to find that, in addition to [[SidekickGraduationsStick replacing their mentors]] and becoming DarkerAndEdgier, their future selves are the dictatorial rulers of half of what used to be the United States. The future Titans are equally disturbed by meeting their "naive" past selves. This leads to a sequel arc where those future selves go back in time to MakeWrongWhatOnceWentRight and stop their timeline from being erased.

* ''ComicBook/Venom2021:'' All over the place.

* ''ComicBook/Warlock1967'' Adam Warlock was captured by his mad future self The Magus; after escaping, he soul-sucked a nearer-future self to make sure The Magus was definitely dead. However, by the time he helps found the modern Guardians of the Galaxy, he's still scared of that future. [[spoiler:And then causes himself to become the Magus to save all reality.]]
* The ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' villain Genocide is the corpse of a future version of Wonder Woman brought back to life and dedicated to killing everyone.

* As revealed in ''ComicBook/YoungbloodJudgmentDay'', though they haven't met, when young [[spoiler:Marcus Langston]] got his hands on a book that contains all stories of everybody in the Universe, he read his own story and was horrified with the revelation that he was going to become a junkie and criminal, so he rewrote it, making himself a superhero and member of Youngblood - [[spoiler:Sentinel]].

* ''ComicBook/XMen'':
** Early on in ''ComicBook/AllNewXMen'', several of the original 5 X-Men from the past get this reaction upon seeing their future selves.

* Young Loki's biggest fear is to [[StatusQuoIsGod become like their past self]], so everybody can imagine their horror when [[spoiler:the BigBad of their [[Comicbook/LokiAgentOfAsgard solo series]]]] turned out to be a future version of them, who did just that. Except that they lost the aversion to technology and became more pop-cultured... which arguably made them ''[[EvilMeScaresMe worse]]''.

* Subverted in ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'': Most kids would be thrilled to hear that they're destined to lead [[Comicbook/TheAvengers the Avengers]], but Gert calls her future self boring and insists that she'll never become that woman [[spoiler: (and since she ends up getting killed by a group of kids trying to become the next Pride, she turns out to be right)]]. Victor would be a straightforward example of this trope, except that he's never actually met his villainous future self. Just hearing about him is enough to give the boy nightmares, though. [[spoiler:When he dies in ''ComicBook/TheVision2015'', he's actually glad that that future will never come to be.]]
* In ''ComicBook/Supergirl2011'' issue #19, ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} meets her older, alternate self Comicbook/PowerGirl and gets upset because she feels pathetic and inadequate compared with her more intelligent, stronger, and more mature adult self.

* ''Franchise/XMen'':
** Early on in ''All-New X-Men'', several of the original 5 X-Men from the past get this reaction upon seeing their future selves.
** ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} wasn't impressed when he was told his future self cheated on his wife and had become a terrorist. He reconsidered his position when he found out the future X-Men had omitted several key details regarding adult Scott's actions and motivations, and comes to decide that his future self isn’t so bad.
** ComicBook/JeanGrey was disgusted when she found out [[ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga her future self bonded with a cosmic being, got corrupted, and blew up a planet]]. Later on, she met a future alternate self in ''ComicBook/BattleOfTheAtom''. She wasn't impressed. In her solo book, she meets the ghost of her then-dead adult self and blatantly says nobody would want to be her.

** Warren is horrified to find out that, somewhere down the line, he'll degenerate into an amnesiac ManChild with techno-organic wings and, even after they both save Avengers Tower from an out-of-nowhere HYDRA attack, teen Warren messes with present Beast's time-travelling device in the middle of a HeroicBSOD just so he can go back to the past. He's only stopped because Jean mentally manipulates his emotions just in time.

*** This episode also plays it seriously. The War Doctor sees how hard the Tenth is trying to run away from his past, while the Eleventh has chosen to forget it. It's not until he realizes that they are still the Doctor that he comes to believe they're better men than him for continuing forward even after making the decision he's hesitating over.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWho2022CENThePowerOfTheDoctor "The Power of the Doctor"]], Yasmin Khan encounters Ace and Tegan, two former companions of the Doctor. It's written all over her face that she's seeing her own future as an aging ex-companion, long abandoned by the woman she loves.

** ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'': At first it's averted with the title character. When a pair of time-travelers come back to warn Sougo on his 18th birthday that fifty years from now he'll be the nigh-omnipotent EvilOverlord of the future, he considers the idea that he would turn evil to be kind of a bummer, but he likes the idea of becoming a king, and sets out to become "the greatest, most beloved overlord in history". It's not until Series/KamenRiderDecade sends him to 2068 and brings him face-to-face with his future self that Sougo realizes that his companions weren't exaggerating, and that Future Sougo honestly believes he's great and beloved despite the fact that he's killed billions of people and has practically sent humanity back into the Dark Ages. This horrifies the present-day Sougo enough that he actually starts taking genuine steps to overturn the bad future for the rest of the series. During TheMovie, Sougo meets another character who claims to be the ''real'' future version of himself, but the movie frequently breaks the fourth wall and openly admits that it's taking place in NegativeContinuity.

* ''Anime/ScottPilgrimTakesOff'': The true BigBad is [[spoiler:Scott Pilgrim's future self, who could not get over Ramona Flowers breaking up with him. This led him to travel back in time, kidnap Scott, fake his death to try to erase his and Ramona's relationship. Scott vows that he will never become like him.]]

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E5WalkingDistance Walking Distance]]", the future (our present) man scares his younger self so much that the boy falls off the merry-go-round and injures his leg. The man immediately walks with a limp from then on.
%%** [[spoiler: [[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E141SpurOfTheMoment "Spur of the Moment"]]]]

Commonly used in concert with BadFuture OminousMessageFromTheFuture. See also MirrorUniverse, EvilMeScaresMe, FutureBadass, FutureLoser, FutureSelfReveal. Compare AmnesiacDissonance, OtherMeAnnoysMe, IHatePastMe (where your own past shocks you).

* When ComicBook/IronMan and ComicBook/DoctorDoom were stuck in 2093, they were not at all pleased with their future namesakes. The villainous future Iron Man was just a relative of Tony's, but the future Doom was Doom himself, a century older and much the worse for wear. Doom killed him without hesitation and walked away vowing never to become "that".