History Main / ImNotAfraidOfYou

* [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Disbelief]]'s main weapon in ''Webcomic/{{Roommates}}'' is simply declaring "I don't believe in you." (he can also use the ReasonYouSuckSpeech if he feels especially cruel). This is frighteningly effective against the cast as they are [[LivingDream self-aware fictional beings]], and yes, contrary to most examples here Disbelief is a villain.

* [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Disbelief]]'s main weapon in ''Webcomic/{{Roommates}}'' is simply declaring "I don't believe in you." (he can also use the ReasonYouSuckSpeech if he feels especially cruel). Works "wonders" on an almost purely LivingDream cast.

* ''SamuraiJack'': Jack is in the woods, angry at everything that has happened lately. Aku uses this anger to create a duplicate of himself that he cannot conquer until he calms down, at which point Mad Jack ceases to exist.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': ''"Riddikulus!"''
** By way of explanation, there is a monster called a boggart, which takes the form of your worst fear. If you use the 'riddikulus' spell, and imagine a way to make the thing funny (e.g. a spider on rollerblades) then it'll be weakened, as it's hurt by laughter.

* Don't forget ''TheLordOfTheRings'', which has Smeagol tell Gollum to "Leave now, and never come back!"
* In ''WheelOfTime'', this is the only way of fighting nightmares in Tel'Aran'Rhoid.

* Played straight in the original ''NightmareOnElmStreet'': "I take back all the power I gave you, Freddy!" Of course, since Freddy can resurrect just by someone who thinks about him, it was followed by a dozen sequels.

** The original scene was going to be parodied in an early version of ''FreddyVsJason''. [[BlackBestFriend Kia]] repeats Nancy's lines almost word for word, and then turns her back... on Jason. As Freddy put it, right before Kia is killed, "Wrong one, bitch."

* In Creator/PatriciaAMcKillip's ''Literature/TheForgottenBeastsOfEld'', Sybel summons The Rommalb, a creature which destroys all those who fear. She's simply too young and too powerful to understand fear though, so the encounter is harmless.

* Don't forget ''The Lord of the Rings'', which has Smeagol tell Gollum to "Leave now, and never come back!"

The imaginary villain may require a series of demotivators, like TheReasonYouSuckSpeech or even just a ShutUpHannibal. Of course, the villain might end up coming back if the heroes think about him or lose faith in themselves.

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* Invoked word-for-word in ''DropDeadFred''.

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** By way of explanation, there is a monster called a boggart, which takes the form of your worst fear. If you use the 'riddikulus' spell, and imagine a way to make the thing funny (e.g. a spider on rollerblades) then it'll be weakened, as it's hurt by laughter.

* Done [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome awesomely]] in the {{Discworld}} book ''Discworld/CarpeJugulum''. "I know who you are. The Count just let you out to torment me, but I've always known. I know who you are now, [[spoiler: Esmerelda Weatherwax. You don't scare me no more.]]"

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* An example in ''Series/{{Angel}}'' involves a couple of ghosts. Cordelia is renting an apartment that is haunted, and the ghost of the resident mother is about to get her to commit suicide when she insults Cordelia. This triggers her self confidence, and she virtually exorcises the mother ghost by claiming the apartment as ''hers''.

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' played with this one a little. The aliens of the episode were being terrorized by a manifestation of fear from their {{Lotus Eater Machine}} that could actually read their mind, and actually kill them. Janeway ends up being the one to defeat it, since the aliens have been too traumatized to do it themselves.

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* ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' had the episode [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "The Spectre of the Gun"]], the FiveManBand of Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty and Chekov are transported to a world based on Tombstone, Arizona. All attempts to stop the fight at the OK Corral don't work, until Spock realizes that [[spoiler: the guns aren't real. They are real only because the men ''expect'' them to be real and, because they know this, the bullets go right through them]].
* ''StarTrekVoyager'' played with this one a little. The aliens of the episode were being terrorized by a manifestation of fear from their {{Lotus Eater Machine}} that could actually read their mind, and actually kill them. Janeway ends up being the one to defeat it, since the aliens have been too traumatized to do it themselves.

* This proved the ultimate undoing of the fear-feeding monkey/demon in ''Saga of the SwampThing'', when one of the disturbed children it'd been leeching off finally got pissed enough to turn on the creature.

* An example in ''{{Angel}}'' involves a couple of ghosts. Cordelia is renting an apartment that is haunted, and the ghost of the resident mother is about to get her to commit suicide when she insults Cordelia. This triggers her self confidence, and she virtually exorcises the mother ghost by claiming the apartment as ''hers''.

* (And in some special cases, God)

* (and in some special cases, God)

* This isn't exactly verbal, but Pinkie Pie's "Giggle At the Ghostly" from the second episode of MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic qualifies. The creepy trees [[spoiler: are made creepy only by magic from Nightmare Moon, and when the ponies laugh at the scary faces rather than scream, they lose their purpose and vanish.]]

** Given who's in charge by the time you meet any Turians in MassEffect3, it is safe to say the Turian councilor's finger quotes did not faze the Reapers one bit.

* Often said by [[{{Bioshock2}} Bioshock 2 Multiplayer]] character [[ActionGirl Naledi Atkins]] upon seeing a Big Daddy.

* The episode "No Reason" from ''{{House}}'' would fit, though House eventually has to break out of his mind at the end.

* ''SilentHill 2'' treats Pyramid Head as manifestations of James' guilt over [[spoiler:killing his wife]], and since he has repressed the memory and not dealt with it, Pyramid Head is unbeatable throughout most of the game. By the penultimate boss battle, James had unblocked the memory, and was willing to face the consequences of that action, so for the first time the [[ImplacableMan Pyramid Head]] has a health bar and can be killed.

* Often said by [[{{Bioshock}} Bioshock 2 Multiplayer]] character [[ActionGirl Naledi Atkins]] upon seeing a Big Daddy.

* In ''MassEffect2'', the [[{{Jerkass}} Turian Councilor]] throws a mocking [[MemeticMutation "Ah, yes, Reapers"]] (even throwing in [[MemeticHandGesture finger quotes]]) at you when you try to convince the Council to help Shepard. Prevailing theory in the fandom suggests that, in ''MassEffect3'', the Councilor will attempt this at [[EldritchAbomination the Reapers]], with predictable results. Either that, or they'll get the chance to throw it back in his face.

* People trapped in a nightmare LotusEaterMachine or EpiphanicPurgatory can be freed by facing whatever personal trauma has them locked in the dream.

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