History Main / WhatTheHellAreYou

** ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds has Yusei ask this of ZONE after the latter is revealed to look like a much older version of himself under his mask.

* In ''Fanfic/MyHeroAcademiaUnchainedPredator'', this is screamed out by the last Saber {{Mook}} before the Slayer blasts him to pieces with his Super Shotgun.

** The FinalBoss of patch 5.3 also asks this of the [[PlayerCharacter Warrior Of Darkness]] just before the fight starts. Not in rage or terror, but with ''genuine wonder and curiosity'', as the WOD just did something so unusual that it amazes even a millennia-old individual like the Boss. It ''almost'' gets him to back down, until [[IgnoredEpiphany his desire to destroy anyone in his way reasserts itself]].

** The final boss of ''Heavensward'' asks this of [[PlayerCharacter the Warrior of Light]]. [[spoiler:Archbishop Thordan became a primal via using an ArtifactOfDoom and a millennium of prayers, powered himself up with Nidhogg and Ratatoskr's eyes on top of that, then hit the Warrior with an attack called Ultimate End, which was a "divine reckoning" that used a massive amount of aether from Thordan and all of his Knights Twelve at the same time. And yet, all of that power is only enough to barely scratch the Warrior of Light. Upon seeing the Warrior of Light largely unfaed by what was as much power as he was ever going to muster, Thordan enters into a VillainousBreakdown where [[ThisCannotBe he desperately tries to convince himself that the Warrior can't possibly be standing]] as he flails his sword without any technique, completely ignoring enmity and muttering to himself that he's better than this. After losing here, Thordan looks up at the Warrior, and says "Who... ''What'' are you?!" to them before Thordan DisappearsIntoLight, along with his Knights Twelve.]]

** The final boss of ''Heavensward'' asks this of [[PlayerCharacter the Warrior of Light]]. [[spoiler:Archbishop Thordan, who became a primal via using an ArtifactOfDoom and a millennium of prayers, powered himself up with Nidhogg's eye on top of that, then hit the Warrior with an attack called Ultimate End, which was a "divine reckoning" that used a massive amount of aether from Thordan and all of his Knights Twelve at the same time as the Knights of the Round. And yet, all of that power barely scratched the Warrior of Light. It's the end of Thordan's VillainousBreakdown where [[ThisCannotBe he desperately tries to convince himself that the Warrior can't possibly be standing]] as he flails his sword randomly, completely ignoring enmity and muttering to himself that he's better than this. After losing here, Thordan looks up at the Warrior, and says "Who... ''What'' are you?!" to them before Thordan DisappearsIntoLight, along with his Knights Twelve.]]

** The final boss of ''Heavensward'' asks this of [[PlayerCharacter the Warrior of Light]]. [[spoiler:Archbishop Thordan, who became a primal via using an ArtifactOfDoom and a millennium of prayers, powered himself up with Nidhogg's eye on top of that, then hit the Warrior with an attack called Ultimate End, which was a "divine reckoning" according to Thordan... and all of that didn't even slow the Warrior down. It's the end of Thordan's VillainousBreakdown where [[ThisCannotBe he desperately tries to convince himself that the Warrior can't possibly be standing]].]]

* In ''Fanfic/MyHeroAcademiaUnchainedPredator'', this is screamed out by the last Saber [[Mooks mook]] before the Slayer blasts him to pieces with his Super Shotgun.

* In ''Fanfic/MyHeroAcademiaUnchainedPredator'', this is screamed out by the last Saber [[Mook mook]] before the Slayer blasts him to pieces with his Super Shotgun.

** A couple non-canon posts by the author also have Madison Russell reacting this way to meeting monstrous alternate versions of herself from recursive [=AUs=] made by fans of the fic (a [[https://hrodvitnon.tumblr.com/post/701557250929688576/ Biollante version]] and a [[https://hrodvitnon.tumblr.com/post/729498582548348928/ Ghidorah version]] of her respectively).

* In ''FanFic/Digimon02TheStoryWeNeverTold'', a shocked [=BlackWargreymon=] asks this of [[RealityWarper Oikawa]] after his attempt to kill him completely fails.

** In ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum Arkham Asylum]]'', Scarecrow asks this of Batman after he has had ten times the normal dose of fear gas and is still alive and sane.

** Frieza has a moment after he realizes what a Super Saiyan is capable of. Frieza blasts Goku square in the face with one of his beams, sending his head reeling backwards. But Goku [[NoSell just slowly lowers his gaze back to normal]] [[TranquilFury like nothing happened]]. It's at that moment Frieza [[OhCrap realizes]] just what he's dealing with.

Assumptions are dangerous. You assume that your foe is mortal and limited, that there are certain things they cannot do or [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat survive]]. When these assumptions break down, in their panic, [[StockPhrase many heroes or villains will ask]], "What the hell are you?"

* ''VideoGame/MarkOfTheNinja'': When the player character terrorizes the {{Mook}} guards, one of things they'll mutter as they stumble backwards is "What ''is'' this guy...?"

* From ''VideoGame/{{StarCraft|I}}'', Zeratul to Duran: "Who...what are you?" ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'' expansion has everyone wondering just what the hell Kerrigan is. She was [[spoiler:de-infested at the end of ''Wings of Liberty'', and seems to have little-to-no memory of the time she spent infested, yet still can control the swarm and still has Zerg features about her]]. Is she really redeemed this time, or is she just trying to pull her MagnificentBastard act again?

'''Bendu:''' You cannot see... [[{{Seer}} but I can]].\\

** ''Naruto himself'' makes that exclamation of Pain when's he's impaled by his chakra rods. The rods are chanelled by Pain's own chakra, which allows him to mobilise his hosts - [[PeoplePuppets The Six Paths]], and disrupts Naruto's own once he stabs him with it. Ironically, in contrast to the above, Pain is fully aware he's going after a Jinchuriki and refers to Naruto as the demon inside him.

** In the case of Sanji, opponents and other people asking wandering what the hell he is serves as {{foreshadowing}} [[spoiler: over the fact that [[BioAugmentation he isn’t completely human]] after all]].
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion'': [[spoiler: Kyubey, friggin' [[StarfishAlien KYUBEY]], screams this in regards to Sayaka and Nagisa, who have just revealed themselves to be [[OurAngelsAreDifferent agents of the Law of Cycles]]]].

** There is a RunningGag of protagonist Akira being PhraseCatcher for this, thanks to his PoweredArmor being moved like PeoplePuppets by his ArtificialIntelligence VirtualSidekick Alpha. Akira is mistaken for a {{Cyborg}}, MistakenForSpies, mistaken for a {{Tykebomb}}… The most subdued example comes when Lattice simply determines that Akira's [[AdventureGuild Hunter's Office]] level is fraudulently low, which is something Akira had gotten in trouble with before.
** Akira gets to deliver his own curse of this when fighting against an enemy that reattaches a limb he severed mid-air due to having been injected with a {{Nanomachines}} SuperSerum.
* In ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'', after [[spoiler:Neo ''ate'' [[EarthShatteringKaboom a tiny supernova]], that Don Slime created as a last-ditch effort to [[TakingYouwithMe kill him along with himself and the rest of the planet]], Don]] suffers a [[HeroicBSOD full-blown mental breakdown]] and asks, what the hell he is, while proclaiming, that creatures like this simply can't exist.
** Happens again (although on a smaller scale) in the very next chapter. This time [[spoiler:NEWS]] asks [[spoiler:Jiro]] what he is, not believing that human (or really any Earth creature besides Eight Kings) can withstand his attack without injuries. In response to questions about the origin of his powers, [[spoiler:Jiro]] reveals that he [[spoiler:was [[RaisedByWolves raised by the Wolf King]], who would feed him [[HumanoidAbomination Red]] [[TheDreaded Nitros]] since he was a baby]].

* ''ComicBook/DarthMaul''. This is the reaction of Jedi padawan Eldra when Maul turns up outside her cell, glares at her in silent rage and then starts slashing at the ForcefieldDoor with a ''lightsaber'' (this is before the Jedi know the Sith have returned).

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'': At one point during the sequel, ''Ghosts of the Past'', Dracula asks this of Harry after smelling [[spoiler: the Phoenix]] in his blood.
-->'''Dracula''': ''What. Are. You?''\\
'''[[DeadpanSnarker Harry]]''': Tell you what, I'll make you a deal: when I figure it out, I'll let you know.

** When Mother Talzin meets Ben in ''Night'', she can sense that there's something deeply ''wrong'' about him. [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness This is enough to make her loses her composure]] and she has this reaction:

* ''Fanfic/AshesOfThePast'': Mewtwo asks this about Ash when Ash decides to fight him [[spoiler: [[EmpoweredBadassNormal himself]], using BloodMagic to generate Ghost-type attacks]].

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueThroneOfAtlantis'': A thug asks this when he tries to stab Arthur Curry in the chest only for his knife to shatter. Arthur, who at this point doesn't know his Atlantean origins, tosses the man into the water and says, "I wish I knew, pal."

'''Larry:''' [[PremortemOneliner I'm the night guard.]] ''[shoves Kahmunrah into the underworld]''
* In ''Film/OrcaTheKillerWhale'', at the end of the movie when Nolan and the orca are staring each other down, after everything the orca's done throughout the movie to destroy his life, his friends, and his boat, and with a harpoon lodged deep inside its body, all Nolan can do is scream in frustration and fear ''"What the bloody hell are you?!"'' at his cetacean nemesis.

* ''Series/ShadowAndBone''. This is the first question that General Kirigan asks Alina when he's brought before him after her TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening. (Alina makes a CallBack to this in the Season One finale when using her full power as the Sun Summoner for the first time.)

** In ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity Arkham City]]'', terrified mooks will demands this of Characters/{{Batman|TheCharacter}}, Characters/{{Robin}}, and/or Characters/{{Nightwing|DickGrayson}} after their mook buddies begin dropping like flies during [[StealthExpert Predator]] mode.

* In ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' the Sole Survivor can ask Nick Valentine this after the former rescues him due to his being a synth missing the rubber skin. This is probably because the synths the Sole Survivor may have encountered thus far are [[KillerRobot Killer Robots]] unlike the robot-bodied, human-acting Nick.

* Sephiroth himself actually utters “What the hell are you?” word for word towards Cloud in ''Anime/LastOrderFinalFantasyVII''. With good reason too as Cloud had [[NoSell no selled]] [[PullYourselfDownTheSpear getting impaled]] and lifted Sephiroth up by his own Masamune, which shouldn’t be possible for anyone who isn’t a SuperSoldier let alone a rookie grunt like Cloud. In the original game and ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' he just exclaims ThisCannotBe, regardless it’s one of the very few times we ever see him lose his cool and show fear.

** The final boss of ''Heavensward'' ask this of [[PlayerCharacter the Warrior of Light]]. [[spoiler: Archbishop Thordan, who became a primal via using an ArtifactOfDoom and a millenia of prayers, powered himself up with Nidhogg's eye on top of that, then hit the Warrior with an attack called Ultimate End, which was a "divine reckoning" according to Thordan... and all of that didn't even slow the Warrior down. It's the end of Thordan's VillainousBreakdown where [[ThisCannotBe he desperately tries to convince himself that the Warrior can't possibly be standing]].]]

** After Commander Shepard defeated Sovereign, it's implied that part of the reason the [[EldritchAbomination Reapers]] turned their attention to Humanity is due to desperately trying to understand how [[HumansAreAverage an average species]] with no special mental or physical attributes, somehow managed to produce a ''single'' individual who is [[TheDreaded so incredibly disruptive to their plans.]]
** In the ''Leviathan'' {{D|ownloadableContent}}LC, [[spoiler: even the ''[[EldritchAbomination Leviathan]]'' have this reaction to Shepard, referring to them as "An Anomaly" that has never manifested before in any previous Cycle. They too are ''very'' curious why Shepard is the first thing that the Reapers have ever shown ''[[HorrifyingTheHorror fear]]'' towards]].
--->'''[[spoiler: Leviathan]]:''' [[spoiler: None have possessed the strength in [[YouCantFightFate previous Cycles]]. Your own species could be destroyed with a [[PunyEarthlings single thought]]. But ''[[TheChosenOne you]]'' are different. I have witnessed your actions in this Cycle: the [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu destruction of Sovereign]]; the [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs fall of the Collectors]]. The Reapers perceive [[WorthyOpponent you]] as [[TheDreaded a threat]]. And I ''must'' understand '''why!''']]

* Shadow asks this of Sonic in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' after the eponymous blue hedgehog survives being [[spoiler:''ejected into space'']]. Though in this case it's out of genuine curiosity rather than panic.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Subnautica}}'', Ryley's first contact with [[spoiler: the Sea Emperor Leviathan]] comes in the form of this question. In this case, it's asked more out of curiosity (perhaps even hope) than fear, though the manner in which it happens is likely to inspire a moment of panic in the ''player''.

** In [[https://www.casualvillain.com/Unsounded/comic/ch17/ch17_22.html Chapter 17]] Elka and Quigley are both shocked when Sette tears ghosts out of the Fist Materials they're possessing with her bare hands, and Duane's non reaction does not settle them.

'''Quigley:''' Personally I've never felt the tail's been adequately addressed.\\

'''Quigley:''' Duane, you will ''not'' equate tha ''freak'' with ''plats''\\

* Bam in ''WebComic/TowerOfGod'' is an Irregular, an OutsideContextProblem practically by definition, with a host of unusual abilities and a fundamental ability to break the rules of the Tower. Thus, he gets this reaction all the time, whether posed as a question or not. The first time is when Lero Ro tests all the Regulars for their ability to withstand [[MagicByAnyOtherName Shinsu]]; he start off by pushing them back with a wave of Shinsu before they have to push through a wall of it -- so the wave pushes back even those who will easily pass through the wall later -- but Bam is completely unaffected in the first place. Lero Ro doesn't say anything, but mentally labels him a "monster".

* In the Sonic fan animation ''WebAnimation/NazoUnleashed'', much like the example with Vegeta and Cell (which it draws inspiration from) Shadow quips this to Nazo after his ultimate attack fails to even scratch him.

* In the alternate ending for the ''WebVideo/SuperPowerBeatDown'' with Franchise/{{Batman}} vs. [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]], the former manages to best the latter not through science or by fighting like a CombatPragmatist but by planning ahead and using all the tools at his disposal, including [[spoiler:Franchise/{{Superman}}, the one he came to rescue in the first place]]. Even the Sith Lord has to wonder how a seemingly ordinary human managed to overcome his Force advantage.

** In the original series King Piccolo have this reaction after Goku survived a blast that nuked an entire city.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': In "[[Recap/InterviewWithTheVampire2022S1E3IsMyVeryNatureThatOfADevil Is My Very Nature That of a Devil]]", after Alderman Fenwick discovers that Louis de Pointe du Lac is ImmuneToBullets and can [[EarAche slice off his whole ear]] with just his fingernails, he recognizes that Louis can't possibly be human.