History Main / MotivatedByFear

* ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'': Sabrina decides to invoke the trope to break her hometown out of their lazy attitude, using her powers to terrorize everyone. She decides that, if the promise of something greater won't motivate them, then maybe the fear of losing what they have will do.

* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}} and the Normans''' plot starts when the Normans take the expression "Fear lent him wings" literally and decide they'd like to know how to fly. Being [[HornyVikings Vikings]], they also literally don't know what fear ''is'', and embark to find the biggest coward who will teach them. They eventually learn the feeling when [[spoiler:they're threatened with listening to another of Cacofonix's songs.]]
* ''ComicBook/DisneyMouseAndDuckComics''

--> "Yes, but she did what she did and we can't go back and change it. I can't say for certain as to why she'd keep it to herself but I could say that she did it for what, to her, felt like protection. She wanted to protect you and, so, in her grief, she kept the picture from you, especially since she already had it ingrained that the outside world was dangerous."

[[folder:Film]]

* ''Film/{{Tremors}}''. CrazySurvivalist Burt Gummer gives annoying teen Melvin Plug a handgun to shoot the Graboids with as they run to the safety of a rock outcropping and after he continuously asks for one... and Melvin finds out the hard way that the [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets gun was unloaded]], forcing him to run faster. [[BatmanGambit Which is exactly what Burt wanted him to do.]]

* {{Inverted}} in ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'', where The Ancient One claims that fear of failure has actually held Strange back (he claims his fear of failure is the reason for all his successes) rather than made him great, because it has kept him [[ItsAllAboutMe focused on himself]] instead of others. We see that before his accident when he refuses a patient because they're implied to be a hopeless case and taking it would damage his well-known success rate.

* In ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', when asked to give a pep rally to JD's residents, Dr. Cox deliberately tries to frighten them by telling the residents it's just a matter of time until they kill someone. Later, when talking with JD who is shaken by the experience, Cox tells him that a little fear is good for a doctor. It keeps you on your toes, or as he put it, "stops you from becoming a crappy doctor".
* Played for laughs in the ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "The Pegasus Project," a crossover with ''Series/StargateAtlantis''. Rodney [=McKay=] from Atlantis has a well-known citrus allergy. When SG-1 needs some calculations five minutes ago, Col. Mitchell threatens him with a lemon Col. Sheppard gave him for exactly that purpose, and Rodney provides the results very quickly.

* ''Series/BreakingBad'': Fear motivates a lot of Walter White's actions throughout the series. Partially, fear of dying and leaving nothing behind for his family gets him into the meth business in the first place. Fear of himself and his family being murdered causes him to conspire to [[spoiler:kill Gus Fring]], even though he had the chance to walk away clean.

'''Scarecrow:''' You married your wife...Margaret, isn't it?...because you were scared of dying alone. You have children because you are scared of leaving nothing behind that really matters. You go to the doctor's because you're scared of dying. Do I need to go on?\\

** There's a Franchise/DonaldDuck story where he needs to win a bicycle race, but his nephews' Training From Hell was so horrible (bathing in ice water at 5 AM, attacked by bees, etc) that he falls asleep at the start line even when the gun is fired. Scrooge hides in the bushes and makes a loud buzzing sound, which not only wakes Donald up but supercharges him to the point that he careens past the other racers without even realizing it.

* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'': Raoh explains this as how he keeps his army in check. When facing against Shuren's army, he explains that their loyalty comes not from being a good leader or being an inspirational speaker, but because the only other option is death by his hand. And considering that Raoh is a behemoth of a man who can make people explode with a finger while riding an equally massive horse, he pretty much has all the motivation his troops need to throw themselves to their deaths at the hands of the enemy.

** There's a Franchise/DonaldDuck story where he needs to win a bicycle race, but his nephews' Training From Hell was so horrible (bathing in ice water at 5 AM, attacked by bees etc) that he falls asleep at the start line even when the gun is fired. Scrooge hides in the bushes and makes a loud buzzing sound, which not only wakes Donald up, but supercharges him to the point that he careens past the other racers without even realizing it.

* ''Film/OnceUponATimeInTheWest'' has Frank (Creator/HenryFonda) quipping to his employer, the rail baron Mr. Morton, that people are more likely sell the land to them if they're properly scared and that 'people scare better when they're dying.'

* In ''Literature/SnowCrash'', the protagonist Hiro faces off against a beast of a man named Raven who fights with glass knives [[SharpenedToASingleAtom sharpened to only a single molecule wide]], and also uses them to create deadly spears out of bamboo. Hiro is saved by only a stroke of luck, and later is up until three in the morning training with his katanas, and "floating around on an ocean of generalized terror." His panic inspired intense training ultimately saves his life later and allows him to defeat Raven and stop the Snow Crash virus.

* ''Series/BreakingBad'': Fear motivates a lot of Walter White's actions through the series. Partially, fear of dying and leaving nothing behind for his family gets him into the meth business into the first place. Fear of himself and his family being murdered causes him to conspire to [[spoiler:kill Gus Fring]], even though he had the chance to walk away clean.

* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'', one of Scacecrow's interview tapes has him stating that every decision people take is motivated by fear. Judging from the reaction of the doctor interviewing him, [[VillainHasAPoint it appears that he might have a point]].

'''Scarecrow:''' You married your wife...Margaret, isn't it?...because you were scared of dying alone. You have children because you are scared of leaving nothing behind that really matters. You go to the doctors because you're scared of dying. Do I need to go on?\\

* Late in ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'', when [[spoiler:Iovara asks the Watcher why their original incarnation betrayed her]], [[MultipleChoicePast one of the possible answers]] is that they were scared senseless of what the BigBad would do to them if they didn't. This answer actually relieves her greatly, since it confirms that it weren't her teachings that turned them away.

* GodEmperor Nadia Om from ''WebComic/KillSixBillionDemons'' has been driven by fear all of her life, which she admits to her {{Foil}} Alison in a rare moment of candour -- fear of her (now long-dead) husband, fear of her DecadentCourt, fear of her own power as a GodEmperor, fear of growing old and losing control, fear that Zoss will return and overthrow the Demiurges' order, and fear of OmnicidalManiac Jagganoth. Mottom's fears have become her EpiphanicPrison, preventing her from changing and making the Multiverse a worse place for its presence. [[spoiler:During the FinalBattle, Mottom being able to temporarily overcome her fears actually unlocks more of her power and makes her able to recapture her prime, showing that the only thing that was aging her in the first place were her fears of growing old and impotent. Sadly, [[DrivenByEnvy Gog-Agog threatening to leave the battle because the others don't appreciate her enough]] ends up ripping up Mottom's fears and she lashes out, making Gog-Agog's betrayal and Jagganoth's victory inevitable.]]

[[folder:WebAnimation]]
* In ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', this is ultimately what truly drives the desperate actions [[spoiler: of General James Ironwood after he and the rest of the heroes find out that Salem is coming to Atlas. While he tries to frame it as being ProperlyParanoid, and Salem does actually show up and Atlas ''is'' her target, the big problem is that instead of acknowledging how afraid he truly is and working to find a better solution to the problem, he allows his fears to dominate his behavior, descending from a well meaning but inept General to a paranoid ControlFreak who is convinced that his methods are the only way to avoid losing to Salem. This ends up having dire consequences, as not only do the heroes have to contend with his faction after he betrays them, but Salem was actually banking on this FatalFlaw of his in [[TheChessmaster order to ensure the success of her plans]]. In the end, Ironwood's inability to face his fear combined with his warped hero complex only ends up putting everyone on the heroes side into having to [[TheEasyWayOrTheHardWay choose the lesser of two evils to save the people of the kingdom]], resulting in Atlas falling, the Relics lost to Salem, and said heroes falling into the void between worlds.]]
[[/folder]]

* ''Literature/ChroniclesOfNarnia'': In ''Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy'', the horses Bree and Hwin are too tired from their voyage to outrace Prince Rabadash's army, and the author notes that they were pushing themselves only as far as they ''thought'' they could. Suddenly, a lion attacks them and the horses get a burst of speed from their fear to escape the predator. [[spoiler:The lion is later revealed to have been Aslan, whose attack was a BatmanGambit that he knew would make them go faster.]]
* In ''Literature/SnowCrash'' by Neal Stephenson, the protagonist Hiro faces off against a beast of a man named Raven who fights with glass knives [[SharpenedToASingleAtom sharpened to only a single molecule wide]], and also uses them to create deadly spears out of bamboo. Hiro is saved by only a stroke of luck, and later is up until three in the morning training with his katanas, and "floating around on an ocean of generalized terror." His panic inspired intense training ultimately saves his life later and allows him to defeat Raven and stop the Snow Crash virus.

* In ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', this is ultimately what truly drives the desperate actions [[spoiler: of General James Ironwood after he and the rest of the heroes find out that Salem is coming to Atlas. While he tries to frame it as being ProperlyParanoid, and Salem does actually show up and Atlas ''is'' her target, the big problem is that instead of acknowledging how afraid he truly is and working to find a better solution to the problem, he allows his fears to dominate his behavior, descending from a well meaning but inept General to a paranoid ControlFreak who is convinced that his methods are the only way to avoid losing to Salem. This ends up having dire consequences, as not only do the heroes have to contend with his faction after he betrays them, but Salem was actually banking on this FatalFlaw of his in [[TheChessmaster order to ensure the success of her plans]]. In the end, Ironwood's inability to face his fear combined with his warped hero complex only ends up putting everyone on the heroes side into having to [[MortonsFork choose the lesser of two evils to save the people of the kingdom]], resulting in Atlas falling, the Relics lost to Salem, and said heroes falling into the void between worlds.]]

* In ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', this is ultimately what truly drives the desperate actions [[spoiler: of General James Ironwood after he and the rest of the heroes find out that Salem is coming to Atlas. While he tries to frame it as being ProperlyParanoid, and Salem does actually show up and Atlas ''is'' her target, the big problem is that instead of acknowledging how afraid he truly is and working to find a better solution to the problem, he allows his fears to dominate his behavior, descending from a well meaning but inept General to a paranoid ControlFreak who is convinced that his methods are the only way to avoid losing to Salem. This ends up having dire consequences, as not only do the heroes have to contend with his faction after he betrays them, but Salem was actually banking on this FatalFlaw of his in [[TheChessmaster order to ensure the success of her plans]]. In the end, Ironwood's inability to face his fear combined with his warped hero complex only ends up putting everyone on the hero's side into a bad situation, resulting in Atlas falling, the Relics lost to Salem, and said heroes falling into the void between worlds.]]

* In ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', this is ultimately what truly drives the desperate actions [[spoiler: of General James Ironwood after he and the rest of the heroes find out that Salem is coming to Atlas. While he tries to frame it as being ProperlyParanoid, and Salem does actually show up and Atlas ''is'' her target, the big problem is that instead of acknowledging how afraid he truly is and working to find a better solution to the problem, he allows his fears to dominate his behavior, descending from a well meaning but inept General to a paranoid ControlFreak who is convinced that his methods are the only way to avoid losing to Salem. This ends up having dire consequences, as not only do the heroes have to contend with his faction after he betrays them, but Salem was actually banking on this FatalFlaw of his in [[TheChessmaster order to ensure the success of her plans]]. In the end, Ironwood's inability to face his fear combined with his warped hero complex only ends up resulting in Atlas falling, the Relics lost to Salem, and the heroes falling into the void.]]

* In ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', this is ultimately what truly drives the desperate actions [[spoiler: of General James Ironwood after he and the rest of the heroes find out that Salem is coming to Atlas. While he tries to frame it as being ProperlyParanoid, and Salem does actually show up and Atlas ''is'' her target, the big problem is that instead of acknowledging how afraid he truly is and working to find a better solution to the problem, he allows his fears to dominate his behavior, descending from a well meaning but inept General to a paranoid ControlFreak who is convinced that his methods are the only way to avoid losing to Salem. This ends up having dire consequences, as Salem was banking on this FatalFlaw of his in order to ensure the success of her plans, and Ironwood's inability to face his fear only ends up resulting in Atlas falling, the Relics lost to Salem, and the heroes falling into the void.]]

* In ''WebAnimation/RWBY'', this is ultimately what truly drives the desperate actions [[spoiler: of General James Ironwood after he and the rest of the heroes find out that Salem is coming to Atlas. While he tries to frame it as being ProperlyParanoid, and Salem does actually show up and Atlas ''is'' her target, the big problem is that instead of acknowledging how afraid he truly is and working to find a better solution to the problem, he allows his fears to dominate his behavior, descending from a well meaning but inept General to a paranoid ControlFreak who is convinced that his methods are the only way to avoid losing to Salem. This ends up having dire consequences, as Salem was banking on this FatalFlaw of his in order to ensure the success of her plans, and Ironwood's inability to face his fear only ends up resulting in Atlas falling, the Relics lost to Salem, and the heroes falling into the void.]]

* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'': Raoh explains this as how he keeps his army in check. When facing against Shuren's army, he explains that their loyalty comes not from being a good leader or being an inspirational speaker, but because the only other option is death by his hand. And considering that Raoh is a behemoth of a man who can make people explode with a finger while riding an equally massive horse, he pretty much has all the motivation his troops need to throw themselves to their deaths at the hands of the enemy.
* The Black Dog knights in ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' are made up of [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores the worst criminal scum in Midland]], so one could imagine just how much discipline would be a problem ...except it's not, as the leader of the unit, Wyald, is both an Apostle and one of the most gleefully sadistic monsters of the setting (which given [[CrapsackWorld the standards of the Berserk-verse]] is really saying something) and he enforces his will through his incredible power and cruelty. As such, when pursuing the Band of the Hawk while the latter attempt to flee Midland, the Black Dog knights throw themselves heedlessly into whatever booby traps and ambushes the Hawks throw at them to slow them down, not out of fearlessness but out of the sheer terror that Wyald inspires in them.

-->-- '''VideoGame/MaxPayne'''

* In ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'', Vinnie Gognitti is shot and in terror of his pursuer manages to run across several rooftops and jump onto a train to escape, bleeding all the while, leading Max to speculate that it's fear that gives men wings.

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. A DiscussedTrope in "The Thaw", where the MonsterOfTheWeek is the [[AbstractApotheosis personification of fear]], created from the unconscious fears of several people trapped in a LotusEaterMachine.

* In ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'', Sasuke activated his Sharingan for the first time when he was scared out of his wits due to [[spoiler:Itachi killing their family]].

* {{Inverted}} in ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'', where The Ancient One claims that fear of failure has actually held Strange back (he claims his fear of failure is the reason for all his successes) rather than made him great, because it has kept him focused on himself instead of others. We see that before his accident when he refuses a patient because they're implied to be a hopeless case and taking it would damage his well-known success rate.

Fear can be a good motivator. Maybe someone is afraid of losing something good, or gaining something bad. Whatever it is, it can push someone to fight harder than ever before. This isn't a trope about FacingYourFears and overcoming them, this is about using fear as a catalyst to do the difficult or impossible.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: FanWorks]]

* In ''The Outside'', this trope is part of the reason why Satsuki does a lot of what she does, as, in being so agoraphobic, she forbids Ryuuko from going outside and enforces her rules with LogicalFallacies, however, the most telling example of this trope is when the others find a picture of a baby Ryuuko with Soichiro playing in the snow, Shiro putting it best:
-->"Yes, but she did what she did and we can't go back and change it. I can't say for certain as to why she'd keep it to herself but I could say that she did it for what, to her, felt like protection. She wanted to protect you and, so, in her grief, she kept the picture from you, especially since she already had it ingrained that the outside world was dangerous."

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* In the ''Literature/ChroniclesOfNarnia'' novel ''Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy'', the horses Bree and Hwin are too tired from their voyage to outrace Prince Rabadash's army, and the author notes that they were pushing themselves only as far as they ''thought'' they could. Suddenly, a lion attacks them and the horses get a burst of speed from their fear to escape the predator. [[spoiler:The lion is later revealed to have been Aslan, whose attack was a BatmanGambit that he knew would make them go faster.]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Commissars are memetically famous for ruling through fear: the slightest sign of Lacking Moral Fibre can and will be interpreted as cowardice of the most base and irredeemable kind, resulting in immediate execution (and a considerable increase in morale among the survivors).

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'': Squads with zero morale move faster but take more melee damage.

[[folder:Web Comic]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* This is often common advice/techniques for actors. Creator/ChrisEvans says he bulked up massively in a short period of time for the role of Film/{{Captain America|The First Avenger}} because he was terrified of letting down people and disappointing fans. Similarly, many actors are often instructed to use their "nervous energy" and deliver a better performance.

This is common in preaching (of the religious sort especially) and propaganda, in that they aim to motivate whoever listens, through fear of something, to follow the preaching/propaganda. See also AppealToFear; related is AppealToForce. (Compare HobbesWasRight, contrast MachiavelliWasWrong.)

[[folder: Fanfics ]]

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40K'''s commissars are memetically famous for ruling through fear: the slightest sign of Lacking Moral Fibre can and will be interpreted as cowardice of the most base and irredeemable kind, resulting in immediate execution (and a considerable increase in morale among the survivors).

* Played for laughs in the ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "The Pegasus Project," a crossover with Stargate Atlantis. Rodney [=McKay=] from Atlantis has a well-known citrus allergy. When SG-1 needs some calculations five minutes ago, Col. Mitchell threatens him with a lemon Col. Sheppard gave him for exactly that purpose, and Rodney provides the results very quickly.

-->'''The Doctor:''' Let me tell you about scared. Your heart is beating so hard I can feel it through your hands. There�s so much blood and oxygen pumping through your brain it�s like rocket fuel. Right now you could run faster and you can fight harder. You can jump higher than ever in your life and you are so alert it�s like you can slow down time. What�s wrong with scared? Scared is a superpower! Your superpower! There is danger in this room. And guess what? It�s you.

* Usopp in ''OnePiece'' gets easily scared by a lot of things, especially his group's enemies... but the fear of losing his friends/allies is greater for him that it motivates him to fight the enemies, although in his own cowardly way.