History Main / SupernaturalFearInducer

* In ''Fanfic/DarthCainTheReluctantSithLord'', Darth Cain can weave his very own fear around him to give a terrifying presence, which he uses to both enhance his persona to his subordinates, and against his enemies in battle to put them on edge, for example he used it to utterly terrify Captain Varan, as when Darth Cain walked into the bridge of his ship his first thoughts were to immediately run away.

* In ''Fanfic/DarthCainTheReluctantSithLord'', Darth Cain can weave his own fear around him to give a terrifying presence, which he uses to both enhance his persona to his subordinates, and against his enemies in battle to put them on edge, for example he used it to utterly terrify Captain Varan, as when Darth Cain walked into the bridge of his ship his first thoughts were to immediately run away.

* In ''Fanfic/DarthCainTheReluctantSithLord'' Darth Cain can weave his own fear around him to give a terrifying presence, which he uses to both enhance his persona to his subordinates, and against his enemies in battle to put them on edge, for example he used it to utterly terrify Captain Varan, as when Darth Cain walked into the bridge of his ship his first thoughts were to immediately run away.

** In ''Detective Comics'' #247, the criminal pharmaceutical scientist Professor Milo uses a drug of his own invention to artificially induce a phobia of bats in Batman, in order to make him give up his crime-fighting career. This is done by applying the phobia drug to the lens of a miniature BatSignal and then shining the light on Batman, imprinting the bat emblem in his unconscious mind. How the drug's effects can be transmitted by light is never properly explained, but the issue comes from [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks the Silver Age]], so [[MST3KMantra just roll with it]].

* Phobia, a minor enemy of the ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' and sometime member of the Brotherhood of Evil, has this power, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin as her codename indicates]].
* In the Creator/MarvelComics miniseries ''Thanos Vs. [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]]'', [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Annihilus]] manages to reverse-engineer the Hulk's power to make himself one. This also gives him the ability to project fear strong enough to even make the Hulk turn and run.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 Vol 2]] and [[ComicBook/WonderWomanRebirth Vol 5]]: Phobos and Deimos can induce fear and panic in others, and exponentially increase any that's already there.

In the ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' novels the Tower of Sorcery in Palanthis was cursed by a black robe wizard that no one should enter until the true Master of Past and Present returned. The grove around the tower causes fear so severe that even Kender (who are immune to fear) will flee in terror.

** Brass dragons have a BreathWeapon that consists of a gas that causes fear in anyone who breathes it.

* This is one of [[http://www.flipsidecomics.com/comic.php?i=436 Bloody Mary's powers]] in ''Webcomic/{{Flipside}}''.

* ''WebOriginal/{{Mortasheen}}'': The monster Doomboros is a CowardlyLion which can generate a psychic empathy field that makes its enemies just as fearful as it is.

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The person who has this may be psychic and can alter your emotional state. Maybe he's got magic powers that can do the same. Maybe he gives off a pheromone that attacks the amygdala and induces terror. Maybe there is no obvious explanation. However he does it, it isn't natural[[note]]well, pheromones ''are'' natural, but using a chemical to directly induce a state of fear still bypasses the brain's normal criteria for deciding whether or not to be afraid of something[[/note]], and now anybody who wants to fight him will have to do so while struggling to avoid wetting their pants.

This tends to be a villainous power for [[BadPowersBadPeople obvious reasons]]. Having your hero stand up to someone who can literally transform his enemies into {{Dirty Coward}}s makes for good drama. Many of those who possess it will, accordingly, be {{sadist}}s of one stripe or another, reveling in the terror they cause. It isn't impossible, though, [[TerrorHero for a hero to harness this power to a better purpose]], scaring off people they might otherwise have to hurt. Regardless of the side they're on, characters with this sort of control over the fears of others are unlikely to be mentally well-adjusted.

Compare/contrast TheDreaded, who scares you with his reputation. For characters who use a person's pre-existing fears against them, see IKnowWhatYouFear. A hero who uses this power is a TerrorHero. Compare EmpathicShapeshifter (beings who transform as a response to another's emotions) and KillingIntent (which may cause fear and thrilling effect). Subtrope of EmotionBomb.

* Alucard from ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' can cause this effect through his supernatural presence, as best seen in the hotel scene. [[spoiler:It's an ability all true vampires have, as when Seras fully awakens as a true vampire, her presence is enough to freeze every artificial Nazi vampire she is facing stiff with mortal terror]].
* Zofis, the BigBad of a story arc of ''Manga/ZatchBell'', is able to manipulate the demons of a thousand years ago into fighting for them by making them believe that, after being freed of their stone curse, that Zofis can ''return them to stone at will''. After spending 1000 years utterly immobile, that fear is enough to get them to do anything for him.

* Being a [[spoiler:HumanoidAbomination]], ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'''s Ronnie Schiatto has managed to employ this technique to scare literally everything in a room (except for [[FearlessFool Isaac and Miria]]) stiff -- including the ''air''.
-->The air didn't grow cold -- it just stopped. Completely.
* Ruti from ''Literature/BanishedFromTheHerosParty'' is a tragic version of this. Her aura as the Hero causes people to become fearful, even when she’s trying to be friendly. Even friends and allies aren’t immune, as seen when Tisse was frightened into drawing her sword at Ruti’s approach, who was only trying to be friendly to her pet spider. Needless to say, this aspect of her leaves Ruti terribly lonely.
* Orsted from ''Literature/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation'' is {{curse}}d with this. Anyone crossing his path will be paralyzed with terror, as seen by Eris and Ruijird in their first encounter. Rudeus, not being from this world, isn't affected.

** In ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'', Batman uses a military-made fear-inducing chemical compound to reduce Two-Face's hired goons to quivering wrecks and gives a PrivateEyeMonologue about its effects (as seen in the page quote).

* In ''ComicBook/SleeperWildStorm'', Peter Grimm has the ability to trap someone in a mental loop reliving their greatest fear until they die.

* ''ComicBook/UltimateGalactusTrilogy'': One of the weapons of Gah Lak Tus, a psychic attack that can turn whole worlds mad with fear.

* In ''Fanfic/ThroughHerEyes'', Ruby Rose has to wear tinted goggles whenever she interacts with another person, since her [[RedEyesTakeWarning Grimm]]-[[BlackEyesOfEvil eyes]] cause an overwhelming fight-or-flight response of anyone looking into them - either fleeing in terror or attacking her in perceived self defense. In the original version of the story, this even carried over to photographs, while the ''Remastered'' story makes them the only safe way to look at them.

* ''Fanfic/ShepherdOfTheStars'': This is the Morrigi's favorite trick because of their affinity for EmotionControl. The Asari are rapidly learning how to do it too. Thane gets hit by a particularly nasty one midway through the story and has yet to fully recover.
* ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': There are magically powered trap statues that induce fear. Ami repurposes them as a [[spoiler:non-violent torture method.]]
* The alien weapon in ''[[Fanfic/TheRoadToShalka Children of the Sanctum]]'' reduces a troop of [[MauveShirt UNIT soldiers]] to complete mess in about two minutes of working on reduced power. Even the Doctor isn't immune, but he [[TheDeterminator doesn't give up]].
* ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfTheForce'': Ezra was made into one by the [[AcademyOfEvil Inquisitorius]] traumatizing him until he [[PowerIncontinence lost control of his empathic powers]] and started projecting his fear to anyone nearby. Depending on how badly he's triggered, this can range from simply intense nightmares to incapacitating anyone nearby.

* ''Fanfic/CodePrime'': [[spoiler:Megatron's Dark Geass of Absolute Terror allows him to kill just about anyone with sheer terror alone. Even Code Bearers like V.V. and C.C. are not immune to it!]]

* In ''Literature/TheSwordOfShannara'' the Warlock Lord, Brona, attacks Shea's mind with fear, nearly shattering the young man's psyche with vision after vision of Brona breaking or killing him.
* In the ''Mithgar'' books, Gargons/Ghaths cast fear into anyone who comes near them, freezing their enemies in place.

* The Literature/HarryPotter universe has two creatures with this kind of power (both introduced in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban''):

** The Boggart is a more thematically specific ShapeShifter who can sense what people are the most afraid of, and takes that form. It can be defeated by the power of laughter. For Harry, the Boggart turns into a Dementor, implying that he's the most afraid of fear itself.

** Tolkien's worldbuilding, in fact, establishes that an aura of fear and terror is an innate trait to the undead, from ghosts to wraiths and anything else. The Ringwraiths are just particularly potent with it because they've got the power of the Nine Rings backing them up.
* ''Literature/{{Once}}'': [[WickedWitch Sinister witchcraft practitioner]] Nell Quick slips protagonist Thom a jar which unleashes a seemingly infinite horde of [[spoiler: spiders]]. Later, a [[LivingShadow pervasive mass of concentrated darkness]] coalesces into nightmarish phantasms.
* The Fury Twins Phobos and Deimos of the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse.'' Each has a fear aura. When they merge into a single creature, the fear aura gets so bad they [[RealityWarper warp reality in the vicinity]]. Unlike most characters in this category, they're not evil, and in fact they are receptive empaths so they have to feel the fear of everyone around them, which they don't like.
* In the Literature/SherlockHolmes story "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot", the murder weapon is a type of plant root which, when turned to a powder and then burned and inhaled, causes terror so intense that the victim is literally scared to death.
* Many of the more powerful monsters in ''Literature/{{Fablehaven}}'' had fear auras that paralyzed any mortal that came too close to them.
* Myrddraal in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' have a "fear gaze", despite [[EyelessFace having no eyes]], that can freeze a man in place if he's not used to it. This power becomes a lot less effective over the series as the main characters [[TookALevelInBadass take levels in badass]], and is seldom mentioned in later books.
* The non-fiction book of the same title on which ''Film/TheMothmanProphecies'' is based supposes that Mothman's [[RedEyesTakeWarning glowing eyes]] emit a particular frequency of infrared light that causes terror in the mammalian brain. This is based on accounts of witnesses who reported being frozen with fear while they saw Mothman looking at them.
* The cursed bridge from ''Literature/TheGirlFromTheMiraclesDistrict'' induces fear and manifests the greatest terrors of all who try to cross it in an attempt to get them to [[DrivenToSuicide jump off it]] into the river below.
* The Quethnethogs from ''Literature/TheTraitorSonCycle'' have the ability to project an aura of fear that causes fear and panic in those trying to fight them - which can be fought off, but few have mental discipline required.

* In the Literature/CiaphasCain novel ''Caves of Ice'', the commando accompanying Cain into the Necron tomb holds its own until Necron pariahs appear, at which point they're overcome by paralyzing fear. It's suspected the reason Cain resisted was being close to [[AntiMagic Jurgen]] at the time, but as inquisitor Vail notes, blanks are too rare to risk in an experiment to verify this hypothesis.
* In ''Literature/{{Touch 2017}},'' fauns apparently have this power, related to the Mythology example below. Peter's parents {{Invoked}} his TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening by locking him in a room with one for three hours, and only let him out when he started begging [[{{Omniglot}} in Turkish]]. As a result, Peter grows up to dislike the "[[SlidingScaleOfParentShamingInFiction abuse your kids JUST enough to give them superpowers]]" school of parenting.
* In ''Literature/ChaosSeeds'', some things have the ability to cause a fear debuff in others. Richter's dungeon creates a "doubt" debuff, and another character points out that it's a particularly insidious type of fear; while for some it's enough to keep them out of the dungeon altogether, others will still be lured into the dungeon only to suddenly have it hit them and make them fatally hesitate in the middle of battle.
* Inverted in ''Literature/WaxAndWayne'', where [[spoiler:Ironeyes]] uses emotional Allomancy as a supernatural fear dampener. He's TheDreaded, so to have a conversation without the other party screaming and running in the opposite direction, he deadens all emotions. When he does this to Marasi, she intellectually knows that this would be just as terrifying if she could feel fear.

* The titular red gas in ''Literature/TheCrimsonSkew'' causes hallucinations that make people see those around them as monsters or enemies, resulting in massacres that wipe out whole settlements. [[spoiler:It's revealed to be a biological defence released by an {{Innocent Plant Child|ren}} the BigBad has exploited to create a PretextForWar.]]

* The first arc of the fourth season of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' featured side villains in the form of [[OurGhostsAreDifferent so-called ghosts]] whose touch induces terror, hallucinations, and eventual death from heart attack in their victims.
* Gachnar, the Fear Demon from the fourth season HalloweenEpisode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''.

* In Myth/ClassicalMythology, {{Trickster god}} Pan likes to sneak up on people and then let out a bloodcurdling scream, causing them to flee in mindless terror. This is the origin of the word "panic".

** The [[AIIsACrapshoot Angel computers]] use BedtimeBrainwashing to make Darv forget about the Paradise survey recording, by associating it with a childhood nightmare to make his subconscious mind afraid of remembering the recording. Later when Darv gets insolent they induce a fear response by transmitting a subliminal signal to remind him of the nightmare. The 'nightmare barriers' guarding the Angel's central switching room use this in combination with holograms of monsters.
** In Season 2, the ArtificialGravity room of ''Spaceguard Six'' is guarded by an auto-suggestion field that causes a fear response to deter people from entering. Elka is unaffected because she's wearing an alien space helmet, but the moment she takes it off she becomes a HystericalWoman.

* In ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'', the King in Yellow has an attack that literally causes those who look into his eyes to be paralyzed with fear... and generally, causes the character to lose Sanity in the process.

*** ''Magazine/{{Polyhedron}}'' magazine #28 article "The Specialist Mage: Unofficial New Spells for the Necromancer". When a necromancer casts the Fear Aura spell on himself, any creature of two hit dice or less that views the caster will flee in terror. Creatures with more hit dice may be paralyzed with terror.

** ''TabletopGame/WhiteDwarf'' magazine #28 article "Fiend Factory". The black unicorn can send out a wave of fear up to 110 feet away. Creatures are affected by the fear for 11 minutes.

* A ''very'' popular ability in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' is the ability to inflict fear (or, worse yet, ''terror'') on the enemy.

* ''TabletopGame/GammaWorld'': The mutation Fear Generation instills complete terror in a creature, causing it to run away for an entire minute. If the target can't run away it will collapse into unconsciousness.
* ''TabletopGame/DCHeroes''. The Mental power Aura of Fear causes extreme fear in other creatures. If the effect is strong enough the victim flees in terror; otherwise the target just sits there quivering.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Stormbringer}}''. One of the powers usable by certain demons is Fear. A demon can use it to cause panic in any creature (other than a deity) within 10 meters by succeeding in a POW vs. POW conflict. A creature affected by Fear can only cringe, whine and whimper helplessly until the demon moves out of range.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'', supplement ''Champions Universe'' (2002). The supervillain Samhain [[EmotionEater feeds off the fear and terror in the minds of human beings]]. Its superpowers include the ability to induce such fear using mind control.
* ''TabletopGame/TheOneRing'': The Ringwraiths and several other creatures of Shadow have this power as an active attack or passive trait, which can render adventurers unable to bolster their dice rolls with Hope. {{Hobbits}} and Shieldmaidens of Rohan are particularly resistant to fear effects.

* ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}'' has Turahk, the Rakshi of Fear, who can induce anything from slight unease to unrelenting terror in those he strikes with his staff. In especially strong doses he can even use his fear to kill.

* ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'': The MoraleMechanic causes demoralized squads to take a lot more melee damage, reduces their damage and accuracy, and makes them move faster. Some enemies (usually the most fanaticized) [[NoSell don't even have a morale meter]].

** The Imperial Guard commissar inverts this: he instantly restores his squad's morale (even from zero) by [[YouHaveFailedMe executing one member.]]
--->"Fear ensures loyalty!"

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'': The Terrifying Presence perk allows the Courier to pick dialogue options that intimidate foes enough that many will run instead of fight you.

* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' has the Fear status, which makes those afflicted by it so afraid that they either skip a turn or withdraw from battle. ''VideoGame/Persona3'' has Fear make characters more vulnerable to critical hits, while in ''VideoGame/Persona4'' they become vulnerable to the [[OneHitKO Ghastly Wail]] skill.

* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'': Some champions are built around this:
** Nocturne is an EldritchAbomination born from people's nightmares. Of course, you can't ''actually'' replicate "pure undiluted fear" in players, but his ultimate ability is pretty scary- he blankets the enemy team in darkness, making them incapable of seeing enemies ''or'' allies for a few seconds, while Nocturne surges forward to attack. Apparently, the in-game characters see the world as a dark hellscape as he does so. He also has an ability that blocks enemy spells and boosts his attack speed if successful, playing on the idea that fighting back only makes him stronger.
** Fiddlesticks is a demonic scarecrow with an ability dedicated to making the enemy slowly flee in fear for a few seconds, overriding whatever they were trying to do. He also scares enemy players if he gets strong, because his ultimate is a wide area of effect ability that does lots of damage and begins with a teleport, meaning he could be hiding anywhere you don't have map vision. Feel lucky?
* ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfMordor'': Talion can acquire various upgrades and runes that scare Uruks and cause them to run if he murders Uruks in particularly brutal ways. This, alongside his other supernatural powers and guerilla campaign against the forces of Sauron, quickly makes him TheDreaded to his enemies.

* ''VideoGame/Mother3'': The Pigmasks use their Frighbots to interrogate [[spoiler: the Mister Saturns]]; however, when you fight them, [[HarmlessVillain they have no offensive or status-affecting abilities at all.]] Instead, [[InformedAbility you're simply told that their stories are really scary as you smash them to pieces.]]
* ''Videogame/ElSword'': Fury Guardian's skill "Pandemonium: Fear" can induce this (specifically, as a status effect) on enemies. They will take more damage from attacks and be unable.to.use skills for a duration.

** ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'':

* ''Videogame/{{Diablo}}'': Befitting his status as the Lord of Terror, Diablo can to sow panic among his enemies and, as a bonus, is utterly incapable of feeling fear himself.
* ''VideoGame/ImmortalDefense'': The Fear Point slows down enemy targets, but represents the player character's own anxieties and its effect is probably just caused by its environment's metaphor tangibility. If fully upgraded, it "panics" and fires blindly.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** The aptly named "Fear" spell makes the target flee from anything hostile to them.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'':
*** The Battle Cry racial ability held by [[HornyVikings Nords]] makes anyone targeted flee for 30 seconds.
*** The Dismay [[LanguageOfMagic Thu'um]] [[MakeMeWannaShout Shout]] can make enemies flee in terror, its power increase with each word obtained.
* The Daunt skill in the ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' series causes fear, which manifests by lowering the hit% and critical hit% of all opposing units by 5. When it was introduced in ''Path of Radiance'', it was exclusive to a pair of bosses, but in ''Radiant Dawn'' it can be equipped to one of your units--[[GameplayAndStorySegregation even ones that wouldn't make much sense to have this ability,]] like the ActualPacifist herons or the [[SquishyWizard fragile]] [[WhiteMage bishops]], who probably benefit from it more than anyone.
* A ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' using the ability "Intimidate" scares the opponent so badly it lowers its Attack just by showing up. Naturally Gyarados has this ability.
** There's another ability called "Unnerve", which prevents enemies from using their held Berry, and can be used by Pokemon like [[OlympusMons Mewtwo]], [[TRexpy Tyranitar]], [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and]] [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Joltik.]]
** A weaponized version is used in the attack [[CastingAShadow Dark Pulse]], an attack in which an aura filled with horrible thoughts and emotions is fired, which may cause the target to flinch and not attack for a turn.
** In the VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon series, there's an IQ skill called Intimidator (not to be confused with the above Intimidate), which can scare enemies so badly that they won't attack for their turn. High-end bosses and certain enemies in later dungeons use this, which can be frustrating for the player. But if the player picks the right Pokemon and is patient enough to raise its own IQ level, you can also use it, in a rare heroic version. However, this skill doesn't work if the enemy uses a long-range attack, even if they're right next to the the user.

* In ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth'' Strategist heroes can use their Battle Cry to demoralize enemy troops, making them take more damage.
* In ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankIntoTheNexus'', one of the weapons you can get is the Nightmare Box, which summons the nightmares of your enemies. In gameplay, this causes them to stop attacking for a moment and try to kill the box instead.
* In ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', Demons have an ability called "Fear" that inflicts a [[CriticalHit critical damage]] debuff on a target for three turns.
* In ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper 2'', the Fear Trap is a cheap dungeon decoration that triggers whenever an enemy gets close, driving them away with pure terror. Fortunately for the [[VillainProtagonist Keeper]], it's introduced in the same level as FearlessUndead [[DemBones skeletons]].
* Pops up in the form of a status ailment in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG''. Enemies can inflict Fear on your party members which causes them to tremble with terror and cuts their attack and defense stats in half. Bowser's starting attack Terrorize will inflict this status ailment on enemies and make them flee the battle.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' has Emotive Ammo that can inflict crying, screaming, laughter, and rage on their targets. The screaming ammo overwhelms enemy soldiers with terror, causing them to throw their weapons down in panic and sometimes even flee the battlefield altogether.
* In TowerDefense game ''[[VideoGame/KingdomRush Kingdom Rush: Vengeance]]'', the HeroUnit Beresad the Black Dragon has an ability called "Fear the Dragon", a MightyRoar that causes a group of nearby enemies to temporarily reverse direction and walk back up the path. What makes this more than just a simply terrifying roar is that it even affects [[MechaMooks entirely mechanical enemies]] such as Clockwork Spiders and Chomp Bots.
* ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'': Apparition type enemies can inflict a status condition called "Terror", causing the player character to actually ''die of fright'' if it's allowed to build up. A handful of non-Apparition enemies can induce it as well, usually those who are undead or otherwise supernatural in some way.

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'' series, this is implied to be an innate ability of [[YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry Plutia]]/[[TokenEvilTeammate Iris Heart]], to the point where a weaker clone of her was able to make [[LadyOfWar Green Heart]] and [[TheBerserker White Heart]] nervously hesitate even wanting to fight her, even though the two had no prior intel on Iris Heart, and the clone was just standing still, not saying or doing anything.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'' has the Terror sleight, which inflicts the status effect of the same name. It causes enemies to stop attacking and slowly move away from Sora. Naturally, it's learned in [[WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas Halloween Town]].
* In ''VideoGame/DensetsuNoStafy4'', the first gate of Degil's castle, Okubyounomon, induces fear on anyone who approaches it. [[spoiler:Once Starfy passes the Test of Courage and destroys all of the Frightened Hearts, the gate transforms back into its old self, Yuukinomon, which undoes this ability.]]

* [[CuteBookworm Vector]] from ''Webcomic/{{Castoff}}'' is imbued with a power that causes anyone who looks at him to freak out even though the only supernatural element of his appearance are his permanent GlowingEyes. As a result, he's spent most of his life inside his home. Arianna is the first person other than his adoptive mother that ''doesn't'' freak out when she sees him. [[spoiler:She later deduces that Vector's Supernatural Fear Inducer power triggers when people make eye contact with him, rather than when they see him, and that Vector himself isn't inherently frightening.]]

* In the animated web series ''WebAnimation/BrokenSaints'', this is the form which [[SuperpoweredEvilSide angry Shandala]]'s empathic powers take towards any hostiles.
* ''Website/SCPFoundation''

** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2927 SCP-2927 ("Soundspots")]]. SCP-2927 is two tones generated at 75 dB at frequencies of 16.8 kHz and 27 Hz. Anyone who listens to them suffers from dread and unease, which becomes stronger the closer the person gets to the source of the sound. Anyone who approaches within two meters will permanently experience [[BrownNote night terrors, insomnia]] and a strong fear of prolonged noises.
* ''WebOriginal/{{Mortasheen}}'': The monster Doomboros is a CowardlyLion which can generate a psychic empathy field that makes its enemies just as fearful as it is.

* ''Anime/{{Bleach}}'': As Nodt's power is to throw thorns that [[EmotionBomb instil a crippling, irrational fear in his opponents if they touch them]]. His [[SuperMode Vollstandig]] transports his opponents into a dimension where giant eyes everywhere paralyse the opponent with terror.
** Characters with an extraordinarily high Reiatsu (“Spiritual Pressure”) can also be this, as characters aware of it can feel it like a physical weight.

** [[Characters/BatmanTheScarecrow The Scarecrow]] uses fear gas to cause hallucinations, paranoia, and even full-on panic-induced heart attacks in his victims. This sometimes overlaps with IKnowWhatYouFear, while other times it's just straight up irrational terror. In fact, during the events of ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'', he's deputised into the [[Characters/GLSinestroCorps Sinestro Corps]], which proves him to be one of the scariest entities in his ''space sector!''[[note]] "One of" because the yellow ring detects residual traces of a green ring when it goes for the scariest: [[TerrorHero Batman himself]].[[/note]]

** In ''Detective Comics'' #247, the criminal pharmaceutical scientist Professor Milo uses a drug of his own invention to artificially induce a phobia of bats in Batman, in order to make him give up his crime-fighting career. This is done by applying the phobia drug to the lens of a miniature BatSignal and then shining the light on Batman, imprinting the bat emblem in his unconscious mind. How the drug's effects can be transmitted by light is never properly explained, but the issue comes from [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks the Silver Age]], so just roll with it.

** In ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'', Batman uses a fear-inducing chemical compound to reduce Two-Face's hired goons to quivering wrecks and gives a PrivateEyeMonologue about its effects (as seen in the page quote).

* A minor ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'' villain, The Shark, had (among other things) the power to project extreme fear into his victims' minds. Not even Superman was immune.
* In the ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' universe, the Dark Judges include Judge Fear, who can compel anyone to stare at his unmasked face and see their greatest fear, usually inducing a lethal heart attack. It didn't work so well on [[{{Determinator}} Dredd himself]], though:

'''Judge Dredd:''' Gaze into the fist of Dredd!

* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'', [[spoiler:Chaos]] did this. It was resistible, however, as two characters were able to get close to it this way (Sonic achieved it by concentrating on rage).

* In the ''[[Characters/MarvelComicsThanos Thanos]] Vs. [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]]'' miniseries, Annihilus manages to reverse engineer the Hulk's power to make himself one. This also gives him the ability to project fear strong enough to even make the Hulk turn and run.