History Main / HellishHorse

* The Nightmare, or [[SpellMyNameWithAnS rather]] "[[EverythingSoundsMenacingInGerman Nacht--mar]]" in ''[[http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/423130 At Night It Comes]]'' (naturally) by Lost in Oblivion -

* From ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'':

* The horses in the anime short ''[[Creator/FranzKafka A Country Doctor]]'' look pretty damn creepy.
* When ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'''s Alucard pulls out his army of familiars during his Level Zero Release, it includes horses. Big, undead horses made of shadows and blood.

* Albedo from ''Literature/Overlord2012'' finds out that she has actually has one of these she can summon, a Bicorn in fact. It's played for laughs when its revealed the thing won't let its succubus ride it because it's the EvilKnockoff of a unicorn and she doesn't meet the [[VirginPower qualifications]]. Both Shalltear and Aura can't help but laugh.
* A lot of playing with this goes on in ''Anime/ReignTheConqueror'', an ''WesternAnimation/AeonFlux''-style animated story [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory loosely based on]] Alexander the Great. Alexander's horse is a demonic horse, and at least half the main cast if not more expect Alexander to go the DarkMessiah route, which would make the horse appropriate, but Alexander ultimately rejects that route. Alexander's horse, Bucephalus, really was an unstable horse, according to Plutarch. This was probably the first time he was described as a murderous horse.
* D's horse in ''Literature/VampireHunterD'' in at least one incarnation is actually some sort of cyborg, but can appear pretty monstrous. A memorable caption in ''Anime Insider'' had someone ask D what was wrong with it, and all he could say was "I don't know." According to the light novels his horse is a perfectly ordinary cyborg horse that can be bought from any livery stable in the Frontier, but D's influence will make it gallop faster and longer than any other, at least until its inevitable demise from the wildlife or from D riding it too hard.
* Zigzagged with Rurune from ''Literature/TheFruitOfEvolution''. She doesn't ''look'' terrifying -- in fact, she looks like a regular donkey. But she's also [[SuperStrength insanely overpowered]], to the point she kills an elephant-sized Hell Wolf, an A-ranked monster so fearsome that a gathering of over two dozen adventurers would rather turn back than fight it, [[OneHitKill with a single kick to the face]]. She's also a ProudWarriorRaceGuy who has spent her whole life dreaming of finding a powerful adventurer to call her master, as well as a [[BigEater voracious glutton]] [[AscendedToCarnivorism with a particular taste for meat]].

* Nightmare, one of ComicBook/DoctorStrange's recurring foes, rides a gaunt black unicorn named Dreamstalker.
* Caleb, the 19th century ex-slave turned ''ComicBook/GhostRider'', has one of these as his ride, as do other Riders of roughly the same era. As befits the Ghost Riders, these horses are usually on fire.
* A Marvel villain called Dreadknight who first fought ComicBook/IronMan early in the hero's career (and has been infrequently seen since, opposing the ComicBook/FantasticFour, ComicBook/SpiderMan, and ComicBook/CaptainBritain) has a bat-winged flying horse called Hell Horse, which was sired via genetic engineering.
* ComicBook/ConanTheBarbarian once had to fight the Hell-Hordes of Chaos, led by Prince [[UnfortunateNames Gaynor]] who rode steeds that inexplicably had beaks. [[ImMelting And melted in the rain]].
* The '60s comic book of ''Ripley's Believe It or Not True Ghost Stories'' explored a few scattered legends of giant[[note]]which means larger than a normal horse[[/note]] black horses, in a story entitled "The Devil's Steed."
* Appropriately enough, Tarra rides a fire horse in ''[[ComicBook/{{Swordquest}} Swordquest: Fireworld]]''.

** ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1942}}'': The Adjudicator's four HorsemenOfTheApocalypse ride powerful steeds with flaming manes.

* ''ComicBook/RebelDeadRevenge'': Satan revives fallen steeds for his undead soldiers. The beasts are as ravenous for human flesh as their riders.

* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXoYK4b_q24 the movie]].
* It's revealed during ''Fanfic/HopeForTheHeartless'' that when [[FriendToAllLivingThings Avalina]] first met her future CoolHorse, he was in great grief due to his previous rider's death and projected his grief as fury, refusing to allow anyone to tame or approach him. Known as [[MeaningfulName Malwolaeth]] and [[BilingualBonus Diafol Ceffyl]] ("Death" and "Devil Horse" in Welsh), he was believed by everyone but Avalina to be a lost cause and intended to be put down, but against everyone's expectations, Avalina got through to him, earning his UndyingLoyalty.
* One parody of ''VideoGame/RobotUnicornAttack'', with Heavy Metal music and background symbolics and one of these as the character.
* ''Fanfic/ADiplomaticVisit'': In chapter 11 of the third story, ''Diplomacy Through Schooling'', [[spoiler: Twilight's full-powered form as the Lady of Magic certainly resembles one... but at heart, she's still good.]]
* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail:'' Lexi -- a talking book who is capable [[PaperMaster of controlling paper into whatever he wishes]] -- briefly transforms into a skeletal horse when he, Chloe and Atticus are in The Midnight Car. It doubles as a GeniusBonus; his human persona is based on a story Chloe made of the son of the "White Knight" Eligos. Eligos, a demon from the Ars Goetia, was said to have written into battle on a skeletal horse.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'': Gaston's horse.
%%* ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'': Jafar can be seen riding on one of these at the very beginning.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfIchabodAndMrToad'': The horse is especially... noticeable... in the Creator/{{Disney}} version of Irving's short story. It has [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]], and it looks incredibly mean and ''angry'', as it carries a massive scowl on its face for the entire scene.

* ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'': One of the four spirits Elsa has to battle is the Nøkk, a horse made out of water that guards the Dark Sea. It has GlowingEyesOfDoom and it doesn't play around, repeatedly dragging her under the water every time she tries to breathe.

* ''WesternAnimation/UnicornWars'': The titular unicorns are presented this way, they're only shown as black silhouettes, soome of them have AnnoyingArrows sticking out of them from the bear soldiers unsuccesful attempts to kill them and their leader is implied to be some EldritchAbomination pretending to be a unicorn.

* ''Film/{{Jumanji}}'': Zebras are among the stampeding animals, and they will trample anything in sight.
* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'': The mounts of the Nazgûl look pretty monstrous (and later they upgrade to riding vulture/dragon "fell beasts") and have been specifically bred to withstand the Nazgûl's presence.
* ''Film/GhostRider2007'': The Caretaker/old Ghost Rider, as per [[ComicBook/GhostRider the comic]], transforms his horse from an ordinary steed to a burning horse skeleton.

%%* ''Film/SleepyHollow1999'': The Headless Horseman has a horse like this.

* ''Film/TombsOfTheBlindDead'': The titular undead monks ride equally undead horses.

%%* ''Film/BehindTheWaterfall'': The Puca might qualify, even though he doesn't burst into flames.%%Examples aren't ambiguous, ZCE that only describes what the example isn't like.
* ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' has the pa'li and the ikran, and if you're too badass to be satisfied with those there's the [[spoiler:toruk]] and [[spoiler:palulukan]].
* ''Film/{{Thor}}'': Odin rides a rare heroic example. His steed, Slepnir, is a giant black horse with eight legs. Considering it was shown inside of a pillar of exploding light, it invoked this trope quite a bit.

* ''Literature/TrialOfChampions'' have an unavoidable encounter against the Skeleton King, a powerful skeletal knight sitting on a skeletal horse, both who attacks you in tandem.

** {{Downplayed}} in Boris from ''Literature/GoingPostal''. Though he wasn't anything supernatural, it was 10 pounds of angry in a 5 pound bag. Definitely the type of horse you'd describe as "hellish."
** The unicorn from ''Literature/LordsAndLadies'' ''seemed'' pretty because of its glamour, but if you looked closely (as Granny Weatherwax would tell you to) you would realise the fact that it was a large, angry horse with a huge horn. The "horses" ridden by the elves, meanwhile, are carnivores. We aren't told what sort of meat they prefer...
* ''Literature/DragonBones'': Ward's father owns a very fierce stallion, who throws him off one day, causing his death. Ward's uncle believes the horse is the monster from hell that has come to destroy the house of Hurog (there's a curse on the family), and recommends to put it to death. Ward ... decides to keep the horse and rename it "Pansy". [[spoiler: It turns out it's a normal, though CoolHorse]]
* ''Literature/FengshenYanyi'': Luo Xuan rides the Red Smoke Foal, a bright red horse which can spread flames from his hooves. In an unusual variants, at least three different Taoists ride an Hellish ''Camel'' instead.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': The Thestrals look like skeletal crosses between pegasi and dragons, only those who've seen death up close can see them, and to everyone else they're {{invisible|ToNormals}}. However, [[DarkIsNotEvil they're actually quite gentle and end up significantly aiding the main characters]]. According to WordOfGod, the Elder Wand, the strongest wand in history, is the only one to use thestral feather as its core, befitting its purported origin as a gift from [[TheGrimReaper Death]] to the eldest Peverell brother.
* In ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' the greatest product of the art of horse breeding is the Shin'a'in battlesteed, created over many generations and with the help of mages and healers manipulating the line. They're ugly, muscular creatures with enormous blocky heads, impressive stamina and toughness compared to granite, and very different ''behavior'' from normal horses. Instead of herd animals, they're pack animals which are trained exactingly along with the riders who depend on them so that they're completely dependable and can make their own decisions and [[ActionPet solve problems to an extent]]. Way over in Valdemar it's thought that a line of large, [[HorsingAround difficult]] gray horses is descended from a battlesteed bought in [[Literature/LastHeraldMageTrilogy Vanyel's time]] but an actual Shin'a'in hired to sort out their behavior problems thinks this is hilariously improbable, as had Vanyel himself.

* Susan Cooper novel ''Literature/SilverOnTheTree''. Will and Bran are menaced by a terrifying skeletal horse.
* The horse in the Edgar Allan Poe short story "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metzengerstein Metzengerstein]]" qualifies.
* The titular pony in the French fairy tale ''[[http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/220.htm The Goblin Pony]]'' kidnaps children who offer to ride it and brings them to the seashore to drown them. Such a fate befalls Old Peggy's grandchildren when they decide to ride the pony on Halloween.
* The Hrulgin (singular: Hrulga) of David Eddings' ''Literature/{{Belgariad}}'' universe definitely fall under this. They have claws and fangs, eat meat rather than grass, are intelligent but utterly insane, and travel in herds. Oh, and they're also ''evil''. Enough so that even the team's designated horse-empath reluctantly had to give up on taming one. He ''did'' consider catching one of the foals and crossbreeding it with a normal horse, but abandoned the plan on realizing you don't want a carnivorous horse in a kingdom based on ''cattle drives''. Oh yeah, and they're all black, but that almost goes without saying...
** He's got what amounts to telepathy where horses are concerned. The hrulgin are similar enough to horses that it almost works, but different enough from horses it makes him nauseous to try (the hrulgin are amused by this).

* Karsa Orlong from Creator/StevenErikson's ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' sets out into the Jhag Odhan to get himself a Jhag horse, a gigantic breed the Jaghut cultivated to be carnivorous and especially aggressive. He names his steed Havok, after his father's late destrier.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': ''Literature/SummerKnight'' has Harry making a voyage into Faerie and encountering a unicorn. But since this is the Winter quarter of Faerie, the unicorn has scales and a gigantic corkscrew on its head.

* In a ShoutOut to ''Literature/TheLegendOfSleepyHollow'', ''Literature/WelkinWeasels'' features the dreaded [[PunnyName manless horsehead]], the hovering head of a riderless horse which flies around eating people.
* Literature/{{Spellsinger}}'s M'nemaxa is a monster [[AnimalisticAbomination in the shape of a winged horse made up of suns]], with dragonfly eyes.
* In P.C. Hodgell's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath'', rathorns (pronounced ''rath-orn'', rather than ''rat-horn'') are carnivorous armored unicorns matching many of these tropes, being fanged, double-horned (nose and forehead), red-eyed, and armored with ivory-like plates on head, neck, chest and forelegs. The armor plates continue to grow as long as the rathorn is alive, so the really old ones are also in constant pain and likely to smother in their own armor. They are notorious man-killers with really bad tempers, and are generally some combination of black and white, from all-black to all-white or various combinations.
* ''Quest For A Kelpie'' by Frances Mary Hendry has a [[UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}} Scottish]] girl [[TooDumbToLive seeking out a Kelpie to ride]] to grant a wish (see below to see why she didn't do research on that one).
* In "The Undignified Melodrama of the Bone of Contention", Creator/DorothyLSayers describes how Literature/LordPeterWimsey encounters a mysterious, silent "death-coach" drawn by noiseless, headless horses. Of course, Lord Peter ''had'' had a few...
* In ''Literature/TheLegendOfSleepyHollow'', Washington Irving does ''not'' describe the Headless Horseman's "goblin horse" as being anything other than "a black horse of powerful frame," though it does have a tendency to vanish in a "flash of fire and brimstone."
* Creator/RogerZelazny character Literature/DilvishTheDamned spent two hundred years unjustly condemned to Hell. When he came back, he rode a fire-breathing, talking horse made of black steel and with cloven hooves. It also turned out to be capable of assuming human form. The "horse" was the demon who helped Dilvish escape Hell ... or maybe not.
* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', the Mouth of Sauron rides a huge hideous horse, with a face like a skull, and flames burning in its eye sockets.
* ''Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt'': Jarlaxle has an obsidian figurine which he can use to summon a [[PunBasedCreature nightmare]] from the lower planes. Later on, he gives another figurine to his dwarf companion [[AxCrazy Arthogate]], allowing him to conjure a demonic, fiery war pig hellbeast to serve as his mount. It should go without saying that this makes him the envy of every other height-deprived character in the series.
* ''Literature/TheLaundryFiles'' novella ''Equoid'': Equoids are large, carnivorous, [[spoiler: sterile]] offspring of [[EldritchAbomination a different kind of]] {{Unicorn}}. Yes, you can ride them, if you don't mind your saddle having a roll cage and protective mesh to keep them from eating you. They're said to be the origins of such legends as kelpies, Baba Yaga's herd, the mares of Dionysus and the spawn of Shub-Niggurath.
* In ''Literature/SheepsClothing'', the vampire Russeau uses vaguely demonic horses to pull his coach, because normal horses freak out at the presence of the supernatural.
** In the sequel, ''Literature/HungryAsAWolf'', Wolf Cowrie has taken possession of one of these horses and named it Lucifer.
* ''Literature/TheMoonOfGomrath'' sees Susan, a novice white witch in all but name, petting an insistent pony in a field. She wonders why it is so keen on her getting on and riding it, but eleven-year-old female instincts take over. She realises as it gallops over a cliff into a flooded quarry, and its eyes turn a blazing demonic red, that maybe it might have been wiser not to give into temptation.[[note]]The horse is possessed by a Celtic spirit of evil, which then possesses Susan[[/note]]. In the sequel ''Literature/{{Boneland}}'', Susan's presumed death is apparently down to her riding a horse into a lake at night, falling off, and drowning. The same demonic entity again?
* Horses appear rather hellish in the ''Literature/{{Bannon And Clare}}'' series as it is, as they are often turned into a {{Magitek}} [[HollywoodCyborg cyborg]] instead of being eliminated by [[SteamPunk steam vehicles]]. Near the end, Bannon, a [[HotWitch sorceress]], combines the bits of dead horse cyborgs which were destroyed to prevent her following into a big monster horse made of corpse parts and metal scraps, much larger than a normal horse, which flies. It falls apart at dawn, as her powers work best at night; but by then she is close enough to the goal. Except that she's about 20 feet in the air.
* Tamora Pierce's Tortall universe has the Hurroks, bat-winged horses with fangs and claws. "Hurrok" is said to be a slurring of "horse-hawk."
* The Not-Horses from Garth Nix's ''Literature/KeysToTheKingdom'' look the part, being metallic and having glowing eyes. But they're fairly amiable and make for great mounts given that they are magical constructs. Even better, the not-horse Arthur rides is called Skwidge.
* One of the students in the ''Griezelklas'' books by Creator/TaisTeng is a Kelpie, a girl who can transform into a horse with the ability to lure in prey, then riding them into the water to drown and eat them. She's got shark-like teeth in her horse form, by the way.
* Near the end of Creator/PoulAnderson's ''Literature/ThreeHeartsAndThreeLions'', an unseen Hell Horse stalks the hero, shortly after he escapes from the Wild Hunt. From 1941-1944 there was an art journal in occupied Denmark called The Hell-Horse [Helhesten]). Anderson's story features a Danish man who falls into a magical world after being shot by Nazis in WWII.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger'' (and its American adaptation, ''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce''), has Barikion (Catastros), the black horse ridden by the dark knight Wolzard (Koragg). A normal horse at normal size, but can become HumongousMecha-ish with a MakeMyMonsterGrow spell (much as the Rangers themselves that year, instead of the usual machines.) There is also a good counterpart: Unigolon (Brightstar), a white unicorn ridden by the [[TheHero Red Ranger]].
** The character model was reused and recolored: Hades God Sleipnir in the later part of the series has a ''chariot'' pulled by two of the mecha-horsies. The whole thing actually rides up from a pit in the ground that he creates.
* ''Series/{{Garo}}'' had the Madouba, which resemble [[MechanicalHorse metallic horses]]. Unlike most examples, they assist the Makai Knights.

* ''Series/PushingDaisies'' had the "Ghost" of John Joseph Jacobs riding a horse that somehow blew fire from its nostrils.

** In his Memoirs, General Marbot tells the story of one of his mounts, Lisette, a mare whose achievements include biting off the face of at least one Russian grenadier, kicking another to death and tearing his entrails out, doing the same to at least one stable-boy and being used as a guard-horse to catch a thief.

* In ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' the greatest product of the art of horse breeding is the Shin'a'in battlesteed, created over many generations and with the help of mages and healers manipulating the line. They're ugly, muscular creatures with enormous blocky heads, impressive stamina and toughness compared to granite, and very different ''behavior'' from normal horses. Instead of herd animals, they're pack animals which are trained exactingly along with the riders who depend on them so that they're completely dependable and can make their own decisions and solve problems to an extent. Way over in Valdemar it's thought that a line of large, [[HorsingAround difficult]] gray horses is descended from a battlesteed but an actual Shin'a'in hired to sort out their behavior problems thinks this is hilariously improbable.

* ''VideoGame/Minecraft'' zig-zags the trope with skeleton horses, that appear as traps in the Overworld during thunderstorms. Get close to one and it'll spawn four more, all mounted by skeleton archers with iron helmets and enchanted bows; that said, the skeleton horses themselves are not hostile and can even be ridden like normal horses, provided you put a saddle on them.

** In the ''Devil Summoner'' sub-line, Nightmare changes from its traditional CreepyChild or ChildZombie appearance to instead being a CreepyChild dressed up in a horse costume.

* ''Minecraft'' zig-zags the trope with skeleton horses, that appear as traps in the Overworld during thunderstorms. Get close to one and it'll spawn four more, all mounted by skeleton archers with iron helmets and enchanted bows; that said, the skeleton horses themselves are not hostile and can even be ridden like normal horses, provided you put a saddle on them.

* Ganondorf, unsurprisingly, rides one of these in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime''. Again in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', where you have to face him in a horseback battle. He's a better swordsman than Link on horseback, but you've got Zelda and her Light Arrows to compensate.

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'', you can actually tame and ride a gigantic black horse for yourself. It's implied to be of the same kind that Ganondorf rode in the past. [[spoiler:Ironically, you can even use this horse against Ganon in the final battle!]] It's also possible to ride one of the skeletal Stalhorses, but you're not allowed to keep it at a stable because the owner will exclaim "That's a monster, not a horse!" and will worry that it'll try to eat the other horses. On the bright side, a certain NPC in the Tabantha Tundra will give you 100 rupees for showing her a photo of one.

* ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger'' (and its American adaptation, ''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce''), has Barikion (Catastros), the black horse ridden by the dark knight Wolzard (Koragg). A normal horse at normal size, but can become HumongousMecha-ish with an AttackOfThe50FootWhatever spell (much as the Rangers themselves that year, instead of the usual machines.) There is also a good counterpart: Unigolon (Brightstar), a white unicorn ridden by the [[TheHero Red Ranger]].

* ''TabletopGame/{{Battletech}}'': One of the Clans alludes to this; the "Hell's Horses", named after a transgenic equine species that was carnivorous.

*

* In ''Literature/TheBelgariad'', the party briefly encounter a pack of Hrulgin; carnivorous, horselike monsters with fangs and clawed feet instead of hooves. A character who can psychically [[SpeaksFluentAnimal talk to horses]] is able to briefly make contact with one, but it fights him off and he judges that it is untameable.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'', the first grotto boss is Equinox, a pretty Badass lookin' horse. He has powers related to darkness and hates humanity. In some of the higher-level grottos, one of the monsters that you can see running around is a recolor of Equinox.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'': Kon the Knight, one of the main enforcers of the evil Order of Zugzwang, is a grey-skinned, red-maned giant horse.

* From the islands of Orkney comes perhaps the nastiest of these: [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuckelavee the nuckelavee.]] A creature that takes the form of a skinless man’s torso riding a skinless horse, whose breath is said to spread drought and disease. Though for some reason it never showed up if it was raining.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'': The summon Ixion has been described as a unicorn on steroids, and that's fairly accurate. The horn alone looks more like something one would see on a can opener -- [[{{Dissimile}} a can opener from hell that's used for scalping tortured souls]]. Fittingly, Dark Ixion from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' is an endgame BonusBoss.