History NightmareFuel / PunishingGrayRaven

** Eventually, Nanami began to produce [[MentalTimeTravel her own simulations]], finding herself in a future where she had hooked herself into a spaceship and fled with anyone she could find after Earth was annihilated. Although her future self is able to give her the answer to save Liv by [[ForWantOfANail waking up the Commandant]], these possible worlds go to show just how much worse the situation could have been if she had failed.

* ''Spiral of Chronos'' introduces The Observers, a group made up of alien civilizations that AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence to become a SentientCosmicForce, and they serve as the BigBad.

** First, a human has to be compatible with a special material called Tantalum-193. Anyone who's affinity isn't good enough will likely die during the procedure.
** As it turns out, altering a Construct's form to be different from their original appearance can cause their M.I.N.D. to deviate, which makes them more vulnerable to memory loss, insanity, and Punishing corruption amongst other things. This didn't stop some scientists in the Artic Route Union from trying it, with the result being a gigantic monster of a Construct called [[PsychoPrototype Amberia]] who was practically a human torso on a walking tank. While she was sealed away before she could destroy the area, the rest of the ARU decided to punish the researchers [[SinsOfOurFathers and their descendants]] to be hybrid constructs themselves.

'''As per policy, Administrivia/SpoilersOff will apply to this page, so beware of potential spoilers'''.

The world of ''Punishing: Gray Raven'' is already rather grim and gritty, so it's no surprise there's plenty of horrors both expected and beyond the ken.

** The next world shows a future where the attck lead by Trailblazer went without a hitch, with Nanami finding herself in a war after the Ascendants successfully dropped Babylonia on Earth. She runs into Zero, a leading member of the Church who is eventually all but said to have crushed Nanami's remaining human friends '''into a jewel''' in an attempt to "preserve" them for Nanami, marking the fact that she hadn't been completely awakened. Murray also points out that other tragedies that occurred include Liv dying during the events of ''Surviving Lucem'', Bianca being corrupted into a witch by a weapon made of Punishing virus, and Hassen and Nikola dying in humankind's largest underwater fort (implied to be Atlantis) along with all members of Strike Hawk except Wanshi, Commandant losing both hands, Vera sacrificing herself to protect Murray, and so on.

* ''Spiral of Chronos'' introduces The Observers

** The next world has Nanami finding herself in a war that had just ended with the machines as the victor. She runs into Zero, a leading member of the Church who is eventually all but said to have crushed Nanami's remaining human friends '''into a jewel''' in an attempt to "preserve" them for Nanami, marking the fact that she hadn't been completely awakened. Murray also points out that other tragedies that occurred include Liv dying during the events of ''Surviving Lucem'', Bianca being corrupted into a witch by a weapon made of Punishing virus, and Hassen and Nikola dying in humankind's largest underwater fort (implied to be Atlantis) along with all members of Strike Hawk except Wanshi.

*** The Ascendants successfully dropping Babylonia on Earth.

*** Nanami losing a battle against tens, if not hundreds, of Hetero-Sapiens as powerful as the Unidentified Twins.

** The very idea of the Punishing virus being [[EvilEvolves capable of evolution]]. When it first broke out, it was just a simple gas that killed humans and warped machines. But after the Hetero-Core fell from the International Space Station, the Punishing virus took on various forms that were difficult to control for various reasons. [[GreyGoo Red Tide]] could sweep across the land and devour anyone who falls into it, while Hetero-Creatures could behave in ways more similar to animals than machines. It eventually grew to the point where the Punishing virus began to [[HumanoidAbomination mimic human appearances]] and [[ItCouldThink emotions]] such as pain and fear.

** It went FromBadToWorse for her after Gabriel managed to get her before Ayla could. The ''Echo Aria'' chapter revealed that she was dumped into the Red Tide as part of his experiments, after which the Hetero-Core fragment in her chest warped her into a monstrous being called the Siren. Even after the Merciful One stops the Punishing virus from remerging with her, her mind was broken enough for her to lose her memories.

* ''Surviving Lucem'' capitalizes on the horrors that the surge of hetero-creatures brought about. Gray Raven and the surviving Babylonian forces are stuck with human scavengers with their commandant in a coma. The Twins and any horde of Hetero-Creatures are going from town to town, killing anyone and dumping them in the Red Tide, and most attempts at rescue from Babylonia are usually met with flying ActionBombs made of Punishing Virus. It gets bad enough that Lucia, Lee, and Chrome had to stall the Twins while being attacked on a crumbling Asslam, while Liv is receiving her specialized Empyrea frame. They, along with Sophia and Changyu, flee into a church where they are eventually beaten by the Corrupted and succumb in a grim example of a DarkestHour.
** Said DarkestHour was only averted by Liv showing up, but as expected, she could not handle the burden of absorbing Punishing from her teammates. Asimov realizes that her imminent corruption would with experiencing the memories of any and every human and Construct who was absorbed into the Red Tide. Cue the cutscene in which Punishing Virus impales her within her M.I.N.D. as she screams in pain.

** The next world has Nanami finding herself in a war that had just ended with the machines as the victor. She runs into Zero, a leading member of the Church who is eventually all but said to have crushed the Gray Raven team and some other survivors '''into a jewel''' in an attempt to "preserve" them for Nanami, marking the fact that she hadn't been completely awakened. Murray also points out that other tragedies that occurred include Liv dying during the events of ''Surviving Lucem'', Bianca being corrupted into a witch by a weapon made of Punishing virus, and Hassen and Nikola dying in humankind's largest underwater fort (implied to be Atlantis) along with all members of Strike Hawk except Wanshi.

** Eventually, Nanami began to produce [[MentalTimeTravel her own simulations]], finding herself in a future where she had hooked herself into a spaceship and fled with anyone she could find. Although her future self is able to give her the answer to save Liv by [[ForWantOfANail waking up the Commandant]], these possible worlds go to show just how much worse the situation could have been if she had failed.

'''As per policy, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff]] will apply to this page, so beware of potential spoilers'''.

** It went FromBadToWorse for her after Gabriel managed to get her before Ayla could. The ''Echo Aria'' chapter revealed that she was dumped into the Red Tide as part of his experiments, after which the Heterocore fragment in her chest warped her into a monstrous being called the Siren. Even after the Merciful One stops the Punishing virus from remerging with her, her mind was broken enough for her to lose her memories.
* ''Evernight Beat'' is the chapter in which the second Gray Raven team is dealt their first genuine loss and for good reason. Despite evidence that a Hetero-Hive Mother was reaching critical mass, the Babylonian forces failed to destroy it in time, allowing it to birth the most powerful Hetero-creatures yet. These [[HumanoidAbomination Unidentified Twins]] and the surrounding hetero-sapiens would chase after the soldiers and mercifully tear them apart.

"
* ''Surviving Lucem'' capitalizes on the horrors that the surge of hetero-creatures brought about. Gray Raven and the surviving Babylonian forces are stuck with human scavengers with their commandant in a coma. The Twins and any horde of hetero-creatures are going from town to town, killing anyone and dumping them in the Red Tide, and most attempts at rescue from Babylonia are usually met with flying ActionBombs made of Punishing Virus. It gets bad enough that Lucia, Lee, and Chrome had to stall the Twins while being attacked on Asslam, while Liv is receiving her specialized Empyrea frame. They, along with Sophia and Changyu, flee into a church where they are eventually beaten by the Corrupted and succumb in a grim example of a DarkestHour.
** Said DarkestHour was only averted by Liv showing up, but as expected, she could not handle the burden of absorbing Punishing from her teammates. Asimov soon finds out that her imminent corruption would come in the form of experiencing the memories of any and every human and Construct who was absorbed into the Red Tide.