History Main / OutscareTheEnemy

-->-- '''Block Warlord''' from ''Film/JudgeDredd'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itmNiTwHOsM#t=40s (context viewable here)]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'', the foosa try to attack the lemurs but become scared and run away at the sight of Alex the lion. [[PointyHairedBoss King Julian]] and [[OnlySaneMan his advisor Maurice]] briefly discuss whether or not it is wise to keep a large sharp-toothed predator (that the other predators seem terrified of) around for the sake of scaring the enemy.

* ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'': A certain text log from an unnamed [[GiantMook Komato Annihilator]] in Sector X seems to take this approach to [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority leadership]], stating that "he ain't sparing anyone who tries to run away from that mission" and ending his message to his troops with "If you're more afraid of [the title character] than ME, you're a TRAITOR."

* In ThomasLovePeacock's TheMisfortunesOfElphin, the monks are intimidated by the ruthless King Melvas, but: "The anger of King Arthur," said Taliesin, "is certain, and its consequences infallible. The anger of King Melvas is doubtful, and its consequences to you cannot be formidable."
* Various Literature/{{Discworld}} novels deal with this theme.

** In ''Literature/LordsAndLadies'' Nanny Ogg rallies the villagers against the invading elves by pointing out that when they march off to face them, she'll be following on behind a little...just in case.
--->"Well," she said, "it's like this. If you go out there you may have to face elves. But if you stops here, you ''definitely'' have to face me. Now, elves is worse than me, I'll admit. But I'm persistent."
** In ''Literature/InterestingTimes'' Cohen the Barbarian tries this, but without success - the villain in this case has quite a nasty reputation:
--->[The Lord Chamberlain] risked looking up and found the point of Cohen's sword just in front of his eyes.
--->"Yeah, but right now who're you more frightened of? Me or this Lord Hong?"
--->"Uh... Lord Hong!"
--->Cohen raised an eyebrow. "Really? I'm impressed."
* In the Literature/GauntsGhosts novel ''His Last Command'', Gaunt tells some soldiers that he could tell them he was more frightening than the enemy.
** When the Blood Pact warriors launch a frontal attack on the Hinzerhaus fortress in ''Only in Death'', their appearance is so terrifying that one of the Ghosts mutters that perhaps the Imperial Guard should learn from them how to raise fear among the enemy ranks.

* In the Literature/CiaphasCain novels, this is Cain's own personal motivation: In any situation where his life is in peril, he will use any tactic that has only a slight chance of working in order to escape a situation that will be certain death. Case in point: in his first encounter with Necrons, he jumped into a teleportation device that would send him to an unknown location, since the odds of him surviving whatever he ended up at were at 1%, but the odds of him surviving another ten seconds in a room full of Necrons was 0%.
* In ''Literature/WorldWarZ'', a Palestinian family decides to accept Israel's offer of sanctuary in the days before the mass zombie outbreaks. The family's teenaged son, full of religious fervor and thinking that this was just an Israeli trick of some kind, declares his intention to go join the anti-Israeli militants instead. His father, who at all other times was a patient, quiet, and unassuming man, smacked him upside the head and shouted at him until the son was cowering and sobbing in fear. The son knows why his father did this in retrospect: his father knew it was the only way to get his son to go with them, and the only way to save his life.
* Many, many books and folktales aimed at three to six year old children use variations on this trope as the basis for their plot.
** ''Literature/TheGruffalo'' is currently the most popular example of this genre. In it, a little mouse scares off its predators by inventing an imaginary animal called a gruffalo and describing how horrifying said creature is, then runs into an actual gruffalo, and tricks it into thinking that mice are the most terrifying creatures in the forest, due to the fact that all the woodland predators scatter when they see the mouse and gruffalo pass by.

* Subverted in "The Black Seal" episode of Series/BlackAdder, the Hawk impugns Edmund's fitness to lead the Six Most Evil Men in England. Edmund tries to dismiss this by telling them how utterly evil his rival is.... and of course it backfires.

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', one version of the "Raging Goblin" card (the Exodus one) has this in the flavour text: "Volrath has bred them to fear only him. Are they charging to battle or merely fleeing his wrath?"
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' RPG TabletopGame/BlackCrusade has a rule for this. If your minions are up against a ''fear''-causing foe, you can try to terrify them into attacking anyway because you happen to be the scarier threat. The next game in the Warhammer-[=RPGs=] ''RPG TabletopGame/OnlyWar'' does this as well, although due to lack of a minion-system, it is more broadly designed for anyone you can affect with the command-skill. The Commissar mentioned above in fact specialises in this with a special talent for him, which not only gives him a bonus for terrifying his underlings by - in that regard only - counting as causing fear similar to blood raining from the sky or "basic" demons, but also allows him to affect the player characters themselves. Similarly, he can also shoot the players NPC-comrades to make the player heal and ignore critical damage, like loss of limbs or broken bones (even not including the usual limitation of this not affecting effects resulting in death and lost/destroyed bodyparts).

* In ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar'', you can try to counteract a dreaded general with a chivalrous one... or you could just use a ten-dread general yourself and make the enemy break first!
* ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'': A certain text log from an unnamed [[GiantMook Komato Annihilator]] in Sector X seems to take this approach to [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority leadership]], stating that "he ain't sparing anyone who tries to run away from that mission" and ending his message to his troops with "If you're more afraid of [the title character] than ME, you're a TRAITOR."
* In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' this can work against Caesar's Legion on one occasion. [[spoiler:There's a quest where you can be hired by the NCR to help interrogate a Legion officer they've captured. If your character has a high enough intelligence, then the best solution is to convince him you're a Legion assassin sent to punish him for allowing himself to be captured. He's obviously more afraid of the Legion than the New California Republic, and in his panic and indignation he lists everything he'd done for the Legion lately, which is exactly what the NCR wanted to know.]]

-->'''Legion Assassin:''' You just don't know when to quit, do you?
-->'''The Courier:''' Not while there are still spines left unshattered.
-->'''Legion Assassin:''' Oh God help us!!
* The opening of ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' has you rallying West Harbor's militia to fend off an attack by bladelings and duergar. When you encounter one cowardly member of the militia, you have the option of telling him that if he doesn't head for the front line, you'll kill him before the enemy does... or beating him until he joins the fray.

* ''[[http://uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Art_of_War_Magic The Art of War Magic]]'', an [[Literature/TheElderScrollsInUniverseBooks in-universe book]] which appears in some ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games, contains an account of a battle between the Chimer and the Nords; a Chimer sorcerer hears how the Nords have shamans who summon storms to confuse and dismay their opponents, so he summons an ice demon and orders it to hide behind the Chimer army. When the storm forces the Chimer army into retreat, the demon appears and terrifies the Chimer army into charging back towards the Nords, taking them by surprise and eventually winning a victory.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' RPG TabletopGame/BlackCrusade has a rule for this. If your minions are up against a ''fear''-causing foe, you can try to terrify them into attacking anyway because you happen to be the scarier threat. The next game in the Warhammer-[=RPGs=] ''RPG TabletopGame/OnlyWar'' does this as well, although due to lack of a minion-system, it is more broadly designed for anyone you can affect with the command-skill. The Commissar mentioned above in fact specialises in this with a special talent for him, which not only gives him a bonus for terrifying his underlings by - in that regard only - counting as causing fear similar to blood raining from the sky or "basic" demons, but also allows him to affect the player characters themselve. Similarly, he can also shoot the players NPC-comrades to make the player heal and ignore critical damage, like loss of limbs or broken bones (even not including the usual limiation of this not affecting effects resulting in death and lost/destroyed bodyparts).

It's a common [[VillainousDemotivator leadership technique]] of DrillSergeantNasty and SergeantRock, or other kinds of [[AntiHero anti-heroes]] who sees this [[ShootTheDog as a means justified by a goal]]. See also IControlMyMinionsThrough, where fear is one of the means. TheMobBossIsScarier is a specific subtrope related to the world of crime dramas.

* ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'': The unnamed author of a certain text log in Sector X seems to take this approach to leadership, ending his message to his troops with "If you're more afraid of [the title character] than ME, you're a TRAITOR."

* In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' this can work against Caesar's legion on one occasion. [[spoiler: There's a quest where you can be hired by the NCR to help interrogate a Legion officer they've captured. If your character has a high enough intelligence, then the best solution is to convince him you're a Legion assassin sent to punish him for allowing himself to be captured. He's obviously more afraid of the Legion than the NCR, and in his panic and indignation he lists everything he'd done for the Legion lately, which is exactly what the NCR wanted to know.]]

* The opening of VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2 has you rallying West Harbor's militia to fend off an attack by bladelings and duergar. When you encounter one cowardly member of the militia, you have the option of telling him that if he doesn't head for the front line, you'll kill him before the enemy does... or beating him until he joins the fray.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

->"''You want to be afraid of somebody, be afraid of ME!''"

* In ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'': Shishio's mooks are trying to escape as they can't beat the police troops guarding Kyoto. Then, [[BadassGay Kamatari]] [[CreepyCrossdresser Honshu]] appears and proceeds to mow them down with his giant weapon, claiming that anyone who wants to flee can do it... if he can [[SinisterScythe escape his giant scythe first]].

** There's a line in ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}'' where Vimes pretty much says this to a less-than-loyal sailor regarding a dangerous beach.
*** Also in ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}'' is Colon being motivated to go through with the spy mission by the fact that his fear of Vetinari is stronger than his fear of the dangers of the mission.
** In ''Discworld/TheFifthElephant'', Vimes is sent to {{Uberwald}}, much to his chagrin. When Carrot goes AWOL, Colon takes over and quickly drives the Watch into the ground. When the rest of the Watch goes on strike, it turns out crime rates in the city ''drop'', because while every thief knows that Vimes is out of town, they sure as hell know that his reaction on finding such a mess on returning won't be pretty. [[spoiler:Although in the event, Vimes had [[SurprisePregnancy other things on his mind]] when he did get back.]]
** In ''Discworld/LordsAndLadies'' Nanny Ogg rallies the villagers against the invading elves by pointing out that when they march off to face them, she'll be following on behind a little...just in case.
-->"Well," she said, "it's like this. If you go out there you may have to face elves. But if you stops here, you ''definitely'' have to face me. Now, elves is worse than me, I'll admit. But I'm persistent."
** In ''Discworld/InterestingTimes'' Cohen the Barbarian tries this, but without success - the villain in this case has quite a nasty reputation:
-->[The Lord Chamberlain] risked looking up and found the point of Cohen's sword just in front of his eyes.
-->"Yeah, but right now who're you more frightened of? Me or this Lord Hong?"
-->"Uh... Lord Hong!"
-->Cohen raised an eyebrow. "Really? I'm impressed."

* In the eighteenth century, generals were so impressed by UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat that they imitated him, even to the point of instituting rigid regulations far beyond what even Frederick's army had. What they did not understand was that a disproportionate number of Frederick's men had been shanghaied (to coerce or trick someone into a place or position or into doing something) and he had no choice but to be a ControlFreak even when he himself knew it was tactically suboptimal.

* In the eighteenth century, generals were so impressed by UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat that they imitated him, even to the point of instituting rigid regulations far beyond what even Frederick's army had. What they did not understand was that a disproportionate number of Frederick's men had been shanghaied and he had no choice but to be a ControlFreak even when he himself knew it was tactically suboptimal.

* TruthInTelevision in many classrooms. Teachers and childhood workers don't go out of the way to be intimidating or fear-inducing to children, but it isn't uncommon for children to perceive them in these ways due to their size and air of authority. But the converse of this is also true, because fear is a much more common reaction than you'd think in classrooms/ school aged care environments when teachers and carers are confronted with an emotionally disturbed or severely autistic child with tendencies towards violence. A ten-year-old child can do a lot more physical harm than you'd think, and care workers aren't always trained to deal with this or aren't given the right amount of support, and so are placed in situations where they are constantly afraid that they or the children in their care will get attacked or seriously injured.

* TruthInTelevision in many classrooms. Teachers and childhood workers don't go out of the way to be intimidating or fear-inducing to children, but it isn't uncommon for children to perceive them in these ways due to their size and air of authority. But the converse of this is also true, because fear is a much more common reaction than you'd think in classrooms/ school aged care environments when teachers and carers are confronted with an emotionally disturbed or severely autistic child with tendencies towards violence. A ten year old child can do a lot more physical harm than you'd think, and care workers aren't always trained to deal with this or aren't given the right amount of support, and so are placed in situations where they are constantly afraid of that they or the children in their care will get attacked or seriously injured.
* UsefulNotes/JosefStalin is quoted as saying ''"in the Soviet Army it takes more courage to retreat than to advance."'' When one takes account of the fact that the Red Army had units whose sole purpose was to shoot would-be deserters, this is probably not that far from the truth.

* This is also the reason that the Roman Army would decimate its troops.
* In the eighteenth century Generals were so impressed by UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat that they imitated him, even to the point of instituting rigid regulations far beyond what even Frederick's army had. What they did not understand was that a disproportionate number of Frederick's men had been shanghaied and he had no choice but to be a ControlFreak even when he himself knew it was tactically suboptimal.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' RPG TabletopGame/BlackCrusade has a rule for this. If your minions are up against a ''fear''-causing foe, you can try to terrify them into attacking anyway because you happen to be the scarier threat. The next game in the Warhammer-RPGs ''RPG TabletopGame/OnlyWar'' does this as well, although due to lack of a minion-system, it is more broadly designed for anyone you can affect with the command-skill. The Commissar mentioned above in fact specialises in this with a special talent for him, which not only gives him a bonus for terrifying his underlings by - in that regard only - counting as causing fear similar to blood raining from the sky or "basic" demons, but also allows him to affect the player characters themselve. Similarly, he can also shoot the players NPC-comrades to make the player heal and ignore critical damage, like loss of limbs or broken bones (even not including the usual limiation of this not affecting effects resulting in death and lost/destroyed bodyparts).

!! Examples:

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'', the foosa try to attack the lemurs but become scared and run away at the sight of Alex the lion. [[PointyHairedBoss King Julian]] and [[OnlySaneMan his advisor Maurice]] briefly discuss whether or not it is wise to keep a large sharp-toothed predator (that the other predators seem terrified of) around for the sake of scaring the enemy.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' RPG TabletopGame/BlackCrusade has a rule for this. If your minions are up against a ''fear''-causing foe, you can try to terrify them into attacking anyway because you happen to be the scarier threat.