History Main / PeekABogeyman

The Peek A Bogeyman is one level ''more'' harmless than the HarmlessVillain. He's (almost always) a cartoon monster who is more of a jerk than "evil". He takes advantage of the frightening image for which other more industrious of his kind have labored, and uses his existence to frighten people.

** In ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'', we meet the ''original'' bogeyman, who apparently used to be legitimately terrifying, but has had his power sapped by old age and younger pretenders [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly sapping the amount of belief available for him to subsist on.]] As he grew old, [[spoiler: he took the job of the Tooth Fairy, collecting children's teeth and keeping them safe so those teeth won't be used by someone trying sympathetic magic, which Archancellor Ridcully describes as "Magic so ancient it's age of the world stuff".]]

* Schleppel the bogeyman in ''Discworld/ReaperMan'' doesn't even do ''that''. Other bogeymen hide under beds or in wardrobes and then leap out to scare people. Schleppel just stays there... at first.
** In ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'', we meet the ''original'' bogeyman, who apparently used to be legitimately terrifying, but has had his power sapped by old age and younger pretenders [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly sapping the amount of belief available for him to subsist on.]] As he grew old, [[spoiler: he took the job of the Tooth Fairy, collecting children's teeth and keeping them safe so those teeth won't be used by someone trying sympathetic magic, which Archancellor Ridcully describes as "Magic so ancient it's age of the world stuff".]]
** The bogeymen who are around these days are banished when their prey hides under bedclothes. As ''Discworld/FeetOfClay'' demonstrates, the City Watch have a protocol of dealing with belligerent bogeymen by putting a blanket over the bogeyman's ''own'' head, thus [[PuffOfLogic giving it a brief existential crisis.]]

* The Flying Dutchman of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' is this only sometimes. At the best of times...

* [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-650 SCP-650]] of the Wiki/SCPFoundation. It uses OffscreenTeleportation to teleport behind its victim, then waits for the person to turn around and freak out upon seeing it.

* Any and all ghosts in ''WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters'' dabble into this from time to time, though Prime Evil's gang despise the harmless scare part and the ghosts who don't go all the way into bullying and terrorism. And [[DependingOnTheWriter depending on how much an episode tries to be kid-friendly]], they can forsake scares entirely and [[NotSoHarmlessVillain get into typical villain world domination stuff]] including brainwashing, attempted mass murder, zombie-making bombs,[[NeverSayDie ghost-making]] gasses, the list goes on...

* Any and all ghosts in ''WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters'' dabble into this from time to time, though Prime Evil's gang despise the harmless scare part and the ghosts who embody this fully. And unfortunately, that lasts only [[NotSoHarmlessVillain until they get into]] brainwashing, attempted mass murder, zombie-making bombs,[[NeverSayDie ghost-making]] gasses, the list goes on...

** The bogeymen who are around these days are banished when their prey hides under bedclothes. Susan Sto Helit has a nasty trick of putting a blanket over the bogeyman's ''own'' head, thus [[PuffOfLogic giving it an existential crisis.]]

** In ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'', we meet the ''original'' bogeyman, who apparently used to be legitimately terrifying, but has had his power sapped by old age and younger pretenders [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly sapping the amount of belief available for him to subsist on.]] As he grew old, he took the job as ToothFairy , collecting children's teeth and keeping them safe so those teeth won't be used by someone trying voodoo magic, or, as Archancellor Ridcully puts it, "Magic so ancient it's age of the world stuff".

* The Hamburglar in the McDonalds commercials once fit the HarmlessVillain Trope, but sometime around the mid-80s they made him cuter, funnier, and friendlier, placing him in this Trope. The Goblins (later renamed the Fry Guys) were the same.

* A decidedly adult spin is put on this trope in the ''XXXenophile'' story "The Monster Under the Bed".

Often the foil of the ReluctantMonster. Compare to the NobleDemon, who is a more serious version of this. Shouldn't be confused with the ''real'' [[ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight Bogeyman.]] Not to be confused with the actually scary PeekABooCorpse.

* The [[http://www.wowhead.com/npc=45704 Lurking Tempest]] from the Vortex Pinnacle dungeon in WoW. It pretends to be dead when you're facing it, then pops up and flings lightning bolts when you're not.

* Any and all ghosts in ''WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters.''

* Squidge the Bogey from ''TalesOfTheQuestor''. It's implied that his people have an entire culture/economy based around scaring children and extorting food and trinkets out of them.

* The Hamburglar in the McDonalds commercials once fit the HarmlessVillain Trope, but sometime around the mid-80s they made him cuter, funnier, and friendlier, placing him in this Trope.

* The Flying Dutchman of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''.
** ...Sometimes.

* [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-650 SCP-650]] of the SCPFoundation. It uses OffscreenTeleportation to teleport behind its victim, then waits for the person to turn around and freak out upon seeing it.

** In ''[[VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon the sequel]]'' Gold Greenies are like the Blue ghosts in the first game. (Except the two that come out of the hockey goal in the fourth mansion, which ''do'' attack.)

* The normal species of ghosts that hang from the ceiling in ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion''. All they do is drop down to scare Luigi, and then vanish. (However, there is a subspecies that attacks with bombs.)

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* Stuart, Cyrus, and Judge in ''TheFrighteners''.

* The Disney/Pixar movie ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' was about a society of monsters that did this to gather power from the screams of frightened children.
* Other ghosts besides ''CasperTheFriendlyGhost'' in any medium he appears in. In fact, scaring is SeriousBusiness.
* This is what ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' was in the beginning of his movie, more as a device to maintain his privacy.

* The citizens of Halloween Town in ''WesternAnimation/{{The Nightmare Before Christmas}}'' scare people for fun. It's a tradition. The scale of meanness in the scaring varies from harmless (Jack) to sadistic (Oogie Boogie).

* Tatara Kogasa from ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' is probably the most harmless non-human in the whole franchise. She's a [[UmbrellaGhost karakasa]] that [[EmotionEater eats surprise]], and she always try to surprise people. However, she's actually pretty bad at it, and will sulk if she fails. [[MrExposition Akyuu]] even suggested to the townspeople to pretend to be surprised just so they won't feel bad seeing her sulking. Other than harmless surprises, she doesn't actually attack any humans at all.

* This is what ''{{Shrek}}'' was in the beginning of his movie, more as a device to maintain his privacy.
* The monsters of ''AaahhRealMonsters''
* The citizens of Halloween Town in ''{{The Nightmare Before Christmas}}'' scare people for fun. It's a tradition. The scale of meanness in the scaring varies from harmless (Jack) to sadistic (Oogie Boogie).
* The Flying Dutchman of ''SpongeBobSquarePants''.

* Just about any and all ghosts in ''WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters.''

* This is what the [[TheDeathsOfIanStone Harvesters]] used to be, with a side order of PhysicalGod--{{Emotion Eater}}s by nature, they instilled fear of themselves in humanity so they'd always have a ready supply of food. By the film's beginning, they've mostly abandoned this (having discovered the addictiveness of the fear humans feel in the moments before death), but [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch Gray]] is still at it, keeping his conscience pure.

* Just about any and all ghosts in ''FilmationsGhostbusters.''

* Tatara Kogasa from ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' is probably the most harmless non-human in the whole franchise. She's a [[{{Youkai}} karakasa]] that [[EmotionEater eats surprise]], and she always try to surprise people. However, she's actually pretty bad at it, and will sulk if she fails. [[MrExposition Akyuu]] even suggested to the townspeople to pretend to be surprised just so they won't feel bad seeing her sulking. Other than harmless surprises, she doesn't actually attack any humans at all.

* Justifed in MonstersInc, since humans screams are a power source. [[spoiler: Though by the end of the film they realize that laughter is much more efficient.]]

The Peek A Bogeyman is one level ''more'' harmless than the HarmlessVillain. He's (almost always) a cartoon monster who is more of a jerk than "evil." He takes advantage of the frightening image for which other more industrious of his kind have labored, and uses his existence to frighten people.