History Main / ShockFatigue

* Many have blamed shock fatigue as a key reason in the decline of {{Creepypasta}}s midway through TheNewTens -- [[FollowTheLeader imitators]] of stories such as ''Literature/JeffTheKiller'', ''Literature/LaughingJack'', ''Fanfic/SonicEXE'' and ''Fanfic/SquidwardsSuicide'' all tried to one-up each other on how much {{Gorn}} and disturbing content they would contain, eventually causing readers to grow bored of almost every story containing at least one over-the-top CruelAndUnusualDeath.

* A primary reason ''WesternAnimation/AllenGregory'' is so hated is this. In fact, the creators knew from the start the show would not last because of this. The show goes out of its way to make everyone as horrendous as possible (with the exception of Julie). Every time it seems like they'll have Allen Gregory learn a lesson? [[AesopAmnesia They swerve back and double down on what a little shit he is]]. That isn't even going into the endless jokes about him wanting to have sex with his elderly principal. It quickly becomes tedious and loses the ability to even disgust within its short seven-episode run.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Creator/MattGroening has stated this is one of two reasons why ''JustForFun/TheItchyAndScratchyShow'' will ''never'' get a spinoff. At one point, Groening put together a compilation of all the segments of Itchy and Scratchy together for some college students and the students were bored ''less than a minute in''. The other reason for ''Itchy and Scratchy'' not being able to hold a show is that there's really only one joke, the SubvertedKidsShow aspect of [[VillainProtagonist Itchy]] killing [[InnocentBystander Scratchy]] ForTheEvulz. After a while, the only joke just gets boring, hence why the ShowWithinAShow is only ever shown in extremely small segments.

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'''s initial appeal and shock was its extreme violence combined with pure irreverence for any life. However, since almost ''every'' episode contained ObligatorySwearing, sex jokes and gory violence, viewers quickly got used to the shocking content, to the point where it was considered unremarkable (and even detrimental to the show's quality for some). [[BrokenBase And depending on who you ask,]] it also makes a lot of [[TearJerker the more]] [[DramaBomb dramatic moments]] fall flat due to there being a BlackComedyBurst every so often; a good example of this has to be the episode "[[Recap/HelluvaBossS2E3ExesAndOohs Exes And Oohs]]", where in a scene where Moxxie is being threatened by his abusive dad and relives the memory of being forced to kill his own mother when he was just a child, the room they're having the conversation in is covered wall-to-wall in ''dildos''. The frequent {{Schedule Slip}}s between episodes (which last for ''at least'' a month or two) don't help also.

* Wrestling/VinceRusso ended up becoming one of the most controversial bookers/writers in the medium in large part due to overindulging in what he codified as "shocking swerves". Russo had already received much criticism for making twists that were either [[ContinuityLockout way too esoteric]] or [[AssPull just plain nonsensical]], but compounding this is how frequently he would try to pull his twists, and with the final years in [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]] being denoted by commentator Wrestling/TonySchiavone declaring [[ItsTheBestWhateverEver "This is the most shocking swerve ever!"]] ''every week'', it's no surprise that "Fi-re Ru-sso! ''(clap clap clapclapclap)''" became such a common CrowdChant.

* ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'': The show's over-reliance on the formula of [[SubvertedKidsShow cute, cuddly animals dying]] in [[CruelAndUnusualDeath increasingly horrifying ways]], while [[OnceOriginalNowCommon revolutionary for its origin year of 1999]], has come across as [[DancingBear gimmicky and repetitive]] to the fanbase later on, which, alongside general lack of funding and an [[ShortRunners ill-fated attempt to branch out to TV]], contributed to its frequent and lengthy {{Series Hiatus}}es.
* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'''s initial appeal and shock was its extreme violence combined with pure irreverence for any life. However, since almost ''every'' episode contained ObligatorySwearing, sex jokes and gory violence, viewers quickly got used to the violence, to the point where it no longer became shocking. [[{{YMMV}} And depending on who you ask,]] it also makes a lot of [[TearJerker the more]] [[DramaBomb dramatic moments]] fall flat due to there being a BlackComedyBurst every so often; a good example of this has to be the episode "[[Recap/HelluvaBossS2E3ExesAndOohs Exes And Oohs]]", where in a scene where Moxxie is being threatened by his abusive dad and relives the memory of being forced to kill his own mother when he was just a child, the room they're having the conversation in is covered wall-to-wall in ''dildos''. The frequent {{Schedule Slip}}s between episodes (which last for ''at least'' a month or two) don't help also.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'''s initial appeal and shock was its extreme violence combined with pure irreverence for any life. However, since almost ''every'' episode contained ObligatorySwearing, sex jokes and gory violence, viewers quickly got used to the violence, to the point where it no longer became shocking. [[{{YMMV}} And depending on who you ask,]] it also makes a lot of [[TearJerker the more]] [[DramaBomb dramatic moments]] fall flat due to there being a BlackComedyBurst every so often; a good example of this has to be the episode "[[Recap/HelluvaBossS2E3ExesAndOohs Exes And Oohs]]", where in a scene where Moxxie is being threatened by his abusive dad and relives the memory of being forced to kill his own mother when he was just a child, the room they're having the conversation in is covered wall-to-wall in ''dildos''. Like "WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends", the {{Series Hiatus}}es between episodes (which last for ''at least'' a month or two) don't help also.

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'''s initial appeal and shock was its extreme violence combined with pure irreverence for any life. However, since almost ''every'' episode contained ObligatorySwearing and gory violence, viewers quickly got used to the violence, to the point where it no longer became shocking.

* Discussed in-universe in ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'': children today are becoming more desensitized to fear and violence every day, so the window to scare and collect screams for power is very small, leading to a growing energy crisis [[spoiler:bad enough that Waternoose tries to kidnap and torture children to get more screams out of them]].

* ''Film/RoboCop2'' has been widely criticized for this. It attempts to one-up [[Film/RoboCop1987 a film]] already known for its over-the-top violence, vulgarity, and melodrama to such an extent that it ultimately falls flat and instead becomes either [[TooBleakStoppedCaring downright depressing]] or [[{{Narm}} unintentionally silly]] in its attempts to shock the viewer, featuring such elements as frequent explicit use of narcotics and one of the main villains being a SirSwearsALot EnfantTerrible on top of the already present grimdark setting and atmosphere. It was for precisely this reason and because the title character's costume was uncomfortable to wear that Creator/PeterWeller chose not to reprise the role in the [[Film/RoboCop3 third film]].

* ''VideoGame/OutlastII'' is criticized for being inferior to the original game partly for this reason. It tries to amp up the violence, gore, and bleakness far greater than the already very violent, gory, and bleak story and visuals of the first game, but does so to such a degree that it quickly tires and gets repetitive after the first few hours, and starts getting [[{{Narm}} unintentionally silly]] due to how hard the game is trying to disturb the player, with a ton of dead children and graphic rape (including things like literal piles of rotting baby corpses you have to wade through, a sex slave chained up and covered in feces, ''two'' first-person scenes of being sexually violated by a hallucination demon, and the main character's backstory involving a child rapist KarmaHoudini that has practically no connection to the main story). By the time the protagonist's wife dies, rendering the whole game AllForNothing, [[TooBleakStoppedCaring players will probably be apathetic to her fate]], or angered they wasted their time on this misery, rather than saddened by the loss, because at this point [[TraumaCongaLine absolutely nothing has gone even remotely well]] and the [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness hallucinations have started to make the story hard to even understand]], so a depressing outcome was incredibly predictable.

* ''VideoGame/{{Hatred}}'' was the subject of much moral hullabaloo, with most arguments surrounding [[MurderSimulators the game being largely based around its sincere yet near-cartoonishly edgy embrace of nihilistic violence]], but one particular angle of criticism (largely by critics questioning whether the actual ''gameplay'' was good or not) found that beyond its controversial visage, it really has nothing much else up its sleeve. Aside from just shooting random civilians, the complete absence of any irony, humor, or ''anything'' beyond the high concept becomes obvious pretty quickly, [[HypeBacklash with many finding out after all the overshadowing controversy that the game ends up becoming surprisingly boring]].

* The third season of ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'' saw a decline in ratings and critical reception due to this. The show had become increasingly reliant on its offensive and outrageous nature, to the point where it lost the ability to be funny. This led to a decrease in viewers, as well as a more negative reception from those who did watch. The direct-to-DVD movie takes it even further, to the point of featuring necrophilia and outright ''pornography'', leaving the viewers feeling like the writers were desperately trying to up the ante.