History NightmareFuel / ShamanKing

** The abilities they display [[spoiler: in the final fight against Shaman King Hao]] are impressive but also goddamn scary. The Spirit of Fire casually throws around magma exceeding 1200°C, the Spirit of Thunder can generate massive storm clouds, lighting of 1,500,000,000 KW and a voltage of 100,000,000 V, as well as magnetic field strong enough to stop solar attack that could destroy entire earth, the Spirit of Earth can control gravity, manipulating meteor rain without problem (and according to Pascal Avaf, is responsible for creation of metal and gives life to plants), the Spirit of Wind has incredible speed and attacks with [[RazorWind sharp winds]] and debris, with gust of 120m/s, and a pressure of 900hPa, and the Spirit of Rain can create unlimited amounts of holy water, massive icicles and blizzards (in combination with Spirit of Wind). There is a good reason why [[spoiler: Elemental Warriors have to go through literal TrainingFromHell to control them, and why Patch entrusted remaining Spirits to four Kings of Hell (Mephistopheles, Anubis, Izanami and King Enma) after Hao stole Spirit of Fire]]. Though in the manga, Hao demonstrates multiple times what happens when this power falls into the wrong hands.
** Hao, as far as we know, isn't an [[spoiler:Elemental Warrior]]. Meaning that either Hao is strong enough to control Elemental Spirits by his raw power alone... or that the Spirit of Fire joined him [[GaiasVengeance willingly]].
* As scary as the powers of Elemental Spirits are, they pale in comparison of the power of The Great Spirit [[spoiler:once Oversouled by Hao]], in the manga and 2021 anime at least. To witness: it can create an artificial star that can produce solar flare and solar prominence as an attack, and it can collapse that star into supernova, with residual taking form of a ''black hole'', with all what that implies. It can also summon meteors and comets. Keep in mind that its powers are basically limitless.
* Tokagero in his first appearance in Volume 3, both in his normal and a deranged skeletal version prior to him possessing Yoh, [[spoiler: leading to his HeelFaceTurn]].

** Tao Yuan/En, [[spoiler: before being revealed as a normal guy]] had [[OneSceneWonder demonic fangs in one scene]]. His mistreatment of Ren and Jun also counts. No normal father would chain their children in a dungeon.

** And there's her [[spoiler: demise in the hands of Hao, especially in 2021 anime where it's shown in fully animated glory. First she's impaled by Spirit of Fire's claws, then she's burned to the ash that you can see scatter in the air. Sleep well.]]

* Faust torturing Manta in front of Yoh. [[spoiler: Made all the worse in the manga and the 2021 anime because Faust ''eviscerates'' Manta and leaves him pinned to the ground with his organs sticking out while he fights Yoh. At least the part with the organs sticking out is censored in the 2021 anime.]]

** The Spirit of Fire and the other four [[ElementalEmbodiment Grand Elemental Spirits]] in general. They are the [[OlympusMons greatest of God class spirits]], second in power only to the [[EldritchAbomination Great Spirits (God)]], from which they are created. Like Great Spirits, they are collective of souls, composed of pretty much every NatureSpirit ever, and one [[AllThereInTheManual Shaman King File]] claims that they are [[SuperPrototype prototypes of every elemental deity out there]]. That is scary enough, but becomes even worse when you learn that they [[EvolutionaryLevels can grow even more powerful]] by [[SoulEating eating other spirits]]. According to Hao, Spirit of Fire can completely [[CessationOfExistence annihilate]] soul [[spoiler: though by the end of manga, all souls consumed by Spirit of Fire appear, so it seems that Hao's claim is either untrue or that [[TheOmnipotent Great Spirits]] can recover those souls]].

* Boris the vampire [[spoiler: wannabe]] whose actions [[DisproportionateRetribution like killing his own teammate just because he looked like Dracula more than he did]] and killing innocent tourists to power up his Over Soul which can be either creepy pig faced bats that regenerate from being squashed or large bony wings.

* The power of Reishi (Reading the Heart). It's an ultimate BlessedWithSuck power, a case of AMindIsATerribleThingToRead turned up to eleven. [[PowerIncontinence Uncontrollable]] mix of telepathy [[TheEmpath and empathy]] that is working 24/7 and forces shaman to hear and experience thoughts, emotions and desires of pretty much everybody around them to extent that it borders on [[MindRape mind rape]]. When enough of negative thoughts gather, they create Oni (see above). As a shaman's power grows, so does reishi. Aside from obvious mental and emotional trauma it causes, reishi also causes trust issues that border on paranoia. While this sounds more like tear jerker, it becomes nightmare fuel once we learn [[spoiler: that only way to get rid of it is by trusting somebody. In a sense, the ability ensures that it won't be (easily) rid off.]]
** According to Hao [[spoiler: who has had this power since his early childhood, so some 1000+ years, reishi is also generated by intense feelings of loneliness. While it is scary and tragic enough, according to him, every shaman has the potential to develop it. All that is needed is lack of proper emotional support and you get stuck with it. And as the manga showed us, many shamans experienced bullying and alienation by humans on basis of their powers. This also implies that people who need help most (like, say, neglected children) are in biggest danger. Oh, dear Great Spirits...]]
** [[spoiler:Anna]] had this power as child. She developed it because her parents were scared of her strong powers and neglected her because of them, so she needed to find way to interpret their feelings about her besides interpreting their faces- implying it was case of BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor. Then she got reishi, her spiritual powers grew, she started manifesting demons, and her parents abandoned her. And this all happened before she was ten! Due to this, she became reclusive - as just going out in public was enough to cause her to start summoning demons who hated everybody.[[spoiler: Then she created the Oh-Oni, who called her mother. Creepy enough, except that in order for it to grow stronger, it had to eat other demons she summoned. If it weren't for Yoh and Matamune, Anna may have either died, or spent the rest of life captive of a murderous, violent demon. Best case scenario, she would have remained a bitter, hateful recluse tormented by her powers for the rest of her life. In the worst case, she may have turned out like Hao...]]
** [[spoiler: Hao got reishi when he was child, still going by name Asaha/Mappa Douji.]] He got it by over-using his first Oversoul and accidentally absorbing his first friend [[spoiler: Ohachiyo, small demon who took care of him after his mother's death. Hao at first loved power, which he got with Oversoul, as it allowed him to predict attacks of people sent to kill him because they thought he was demon ( which in itself is worthy of nightmare fuel). However, then it turned out that monk sent to kill him, Densen Hoshi, was same man who murdered his mother and burned down Hao's home. Not only that, but man didn't even believe that demons existed- he was perfectly aware that both Asanoha and Hao were humans, and yet WouldHurtAChild and burn innocent woman for sake of money. Hao didn't take well to this and murdered the man, by smashing his skull. Ohachiyo was then absorbed and his last words to Hao were that they couldn't be friends after all and that he (Hao) is same as humans who hurt him so much.]] He was around five at that age. It's hard to decide which is scarier and sadder [[spoiler: getting power due to wanting to understand why you are neglected by your own parents or due to absorbing your best friend...]]
** Unlike Anna, he could somewhat control demons he created, by keeping them sealed within his own body, though when they got out, they could overrun whole capitol and required main onmyoji and his apprentice to get rid of them [[spoiler: which eventually, as shown in Shaman King Zero, led to it's own set of problems and another traumatic experience for then preteen Hao]], or even weaponize them [[spoiler: by willingly fatally wounding himself and allowing oni to enter target, eating their soul from inside out]]. However, his reishi never could be controlled, and being constantly exposed to negative thoughts and emotions, along with discrimination he received as shaman, being feared and mistrusted for his powers, always lonely and seeing destruction of nature [[spoiler: led him to being [[GoMadFromTheRevelation driven]] [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity mad]] and bitter, convinced that humans are utterly sinful creatures that will destroy the world unless exterminated. And rest is history...]] In a way, reishi could be said to be responsible for the entire plot of the show.

* Volume 24 gives us zombie soldiers, [[spoiler: though they're curb-stomped by Team Gandhara very quickly]].

* [[spoiler:The sixty-first episode of the 2001 anime has Hao grabbing into Yoh's abdomen and pulling out his soul, and then proceeding to actually inhale said soul into his mouth. He calls this technique "spirit digestion" in the episode after that. You could even see the huge shock Yoh's friends had on their faces from what they just saw happen. The fact that Anna had just as shocked a look on her face from what she saw as well [[SayMyName and screamed Yoh's name in disbelief]] didn't help lessen the terror, either. Luckily for them, Yoh gets better in episode 63.]]

* [[spoiler:Goldva losing her sanity and LaughingMad while raving about how Hao is now the new Shaman King before she attempts to kill everybody. If you look closely during her rants, you'll notice that Lip and Lap are both sporting DullEyesOfUnhappiness during the whole while - and that's because they both had their souls absorbed by Hao. And speaking of him, that's just the start of the fun: just seconds later, she's immediately killed by Hao's now zombie-like body, who proceeds to absorb the souls of everybody in the tenth plant except for Opacho and Rutherfor. [[OffWithHisHead Even having his head cut off by Yoh]] doesn't stop him from absorbing his soul afterwards. That doesn't even stop there; during Hao's awakening as Shaman King, you can see bright glows of red and white enveloping everybody beyond the tenth plant, which even extend beyond Mu to everybody inside Anahol's Sphinx, of all things! All this especially takes the cake in its fully-animated glory in the 2021 anime. [[SarcasmMode Hope you have a good night's sleep!]]]]

* The power of Reishi (Reading the Heart). It's an ultimate BlessedWithSuck power, a case of AMindIsATerribleThingToRead turned UpToEleven. [[PowerIncontinence Uncontrollable]] mix of telepathy [[TheEmpath and empathy]] that is working 24/7 and forces shaman to hear and experience thoughts, emotions and desires of pretty much everybody around them to extent that it borders on [[MindRape mind rape]]. When enough of negative thoughts gather, they create Oni (see above). As a shaman's power grows, so does reishi. Aside from obvious mental and emotional trauma it causes, reishi also causes trust issues that border on paranoia. While this sounds more like tear jerker, it becomes nightmare fuel once we learn [[spoiler: that only way to get rid of it is by trusting somebody. In a sense, the ability ensures that it won't be (easily) rid off.]]

* In the manga and 2021 anime, how second round of the Shaman Fight begins is this, ''especially'' if you're acrophobic. To elaborate, everyone is boarded to plane heading to America. Mid-flight, Goldva reveals that it's in fact a giant Oversoul and ''dissolves it in air''. Now imagine you're in a plane thousands of miles above the ground and it just blinks out of the existence. 2021 anime is even worse as it shows it all animated, with people in the air ranged in rows where the seats were a second ago. At least it didn't happen above the ocean.

* [[spoiler:Goldva losing her sanity and LaughingMad while raving about how Hao is now the new Shaman King before she attempts to kill everybody. If you look closely during her rants, you'll notice that Lip and Rap are both sporting DullEyesOfUnhappiness during the whole while - and that's because they both had their souls absorbed by Hao. And speaking of him, that's just the start of the fun: just seconds later, she's immediately killed by Hao's now zombie-like body, who proceeds to absorb the souls of everybody in the tenth plant except for Opacho and Rutherfor. [[OffWithHisHead Even having his head cut off by Yoh]] doesn't stop him from absorbing his soul afterwards. That doesn't even stop there; during Hao's awakening as Shaman King, you can see bright glows of red and white enveloping everybody beyond the tenth plant, which even extend beyond Mu to everybody inside Anahol's Sphinx, of all things! All this especially takes the cake in its fully-animated glory in the 2021 anime. [[SarcasmMode Hope you have a good night's sleep!]]]]

* [[spoiler:Goldva losing her sanity and LaughingMad while raving about how Hao is now the new Shaman King before she attempts to kill everybody. If you look closely during her rants, you'll notice that Lip and Rap are both sporting DullEyesOfUnhappiness during the whole while - and that's because they both had their souls absorbed by Hao. And speaking of him, that's just the start of the fun: just seconds later, she's immediately killed by Hao's now zombie-like body, who proceeds to absorb the souls of everybody in the tenth plant except for Opacho and Rutherfor. [[OffWithHisHead Even having his head cut off by Yoh]] doesn't stop him from absorbing his soul afterwards. That doesn't even stop there; during Hao's awakening as Shaman King, you can see bright glows of red and white enveloping everybody beyond the tenth plant, which even extend beyond Mu to everybody inside Anahol's Sphinx, of all things! All this especially takes the cake in its fully-animated glory in the 2021 anime. [[SarcasmMode Hope you sleep well!]]]]

* [[spoiler:Goldva losing her sanity and LaughingMad while raving about how Hao is now the new Shaman King before she attempts to kill everybody. If you look closely during her rants, you'll notice that the two Patch girls with her are sporting DullEyesOfUnhappiness during the whole while. And that's just the start of the fun: just seconds later, she's immediately killed by Hao's now zombie-like body, who proceeds to absorb the souls of everybody in the tenth plant except for Opacho and Rutherfor. [[OffWithHisHead Even having his head cut off by Yoh]] doesn't stop him from absorbing his soul afterwards. That doesn't even stop there; during Hao's awakening as Shaman King, you can see bright glows of red and white enveloping everybody beyond the tenth plant, which even extend beyond Mu to everybody inside Anahol's Sphinx, of all things!]]

* [[spoiler:Goldva losing her sanity and LaughingMad while raving about how Hao is now the new Shaman King before she attempts to kill everybody. If you look closely during her rants, you'll notice that the two Patch girls with her are sporting DullEyesOfUnhappiness during the whole while. And that's just the start of the fun: just seconds later, she's immediately killed by Hao's now zombie-like body, who proceeds to absorb the souls of everybody in the tenth plant except for Opacho and Rutherfor. [[OffWithHisHead Even having his head cut off by Yoh]] doesn't stop him from absorbing his soul afterwards.]]

* Volume 29 gives us Yoh smiling as an electrocuted skeleton after Ren's attack.

* One X-Law has a burnt up face, which is hinted in the 2001 anime, but is explicitly shown in the manga prior his immediate death.

* The FamilyUnfriendlyDeath that Hao inflicts on his opponents, burning them to bones then ashes. Also the torture themed version, Jeanne inflicts on Team Nile. The 2021 anime shows them fully animated, and it still manages to be messy as hell despite GoryDiscretionShot being somewhat in effect.

* [[spoiler:The sixty-first episode of the anime has Hao grabbing into Yoh's abdomen and pulling out his soul, and then proceeding to actually inhale said soul into his mouth. He calls this technique "spirit digestion" in the episode after that. You could even see the huge shock Yoh's friends had on their faces from what they just saw happen. The fact that Anna had just as shocked a look on her face from what she saw as well [[SayMyName and screamed Yoh's name in disbelief]] didn't help lessen the terror, either. Luckily for them, Yoh gets better in episode 63.]]

** Ren's first fight with Yoh immediately shows how much of a NoNonsenseNemesis he is, when he nearly guts him like a fish at the end. He outright sends Yoh to the hospital with the sheer wound he dealt to him. Yoh does get his payback the next day, but it still takes him a while to fully recover from that blow.

* The 2021 anime's second episode shows just how much more creepy Ren's {{Slasher Smile}}s and maniacal laughter look compared to the early manga and the 2001 anime thanks to the new art style, but what really takes the cake is the blood you see on his face when he gloats about how he's finally going to take Amidamaru for himself after having just knocked Yoh out with an attack used through 100% possession.

* The FamilyUnfriendlyDeath that Hao inflicts on his opponents, burning them to bones then ashes. Also the torture themed version, Jeanne inflicts on Team Nile.

* Hell, just how completely and utterly '''''ruthless''''' both Hao and his followers and the X-Laws are. They will both mercilessly kill anyone who dares defy both their leaders, and have both ended and ruined multiple lives, the X-Laws just to destroy Hao, and Hao and his followers just to exterminate humanity. No wonder Yoh said that they both were NotSoDifferent.

* The second anime's second episode shows just how much more creepy Ren's {{Slasher Smile}}s and maniacal laughter look compared to the early mangas and the first anime thanks to the new art style, but what really takes the cake is the blood you see on his face when he gloats about how he's finally going to take Amidamaru for himself after having just knocked Yoh out with an attack used through 100% possession.

* Episode 35, Boris the vampire [[spoiler: wannabe]] whose actions [[DisproportionateRetribution like killing his own teammate just because he looked like Dracula more than he did]] and killing innocent tourists to power up his Over Soul which can be either creepy pig faced bats that regenerate from being squashed or large bony wings.
* One X-Law has a burnt up face, which is hinted in the anime, but is explicitly shown in the manga prior his immediate death.

* Chimimoryo, tiny animal spirits with deranged eyes that the BoZ Brothers attack Yoh and his friends with and, during their first encounter with him, try to defeat him and steal Amidamaru from him with. According to Tamao, they're spirits that have forgotten what they used to look like.

* Chimimoyo, tiny animal spirits with deranged eyes.

* Faust torturing Manta in front of Yoh. [[spoiler: Made all the worse in the manga because Faust ''eviscerates'' Manta and leaves him pinned to the ground with his organs sticking out while he fights Yoh.]]

* [[spoiler:The sixty-first episode of the anime has Hao grabbing into Yoh's abdomen and pulling out his soul, and then proceeding to actually inhale said soul into his mouth. He calls this technique "spirit digestion" in the episode after that. You could even see the huge shock Yoh's friends had on their faces from what they just saw happen. The fact that Anna had just as shocked a look on her face from what she saw as well [[SayMyName and screamed Yoh's name in disbelief]] didn't help lessen the terror, either.]]

** Tokagero makes one hell of a NightmareFace when he possesses Yoh. Although Yoh often grins, it's not normal to see him do so with his eyes wide open, and with white pupils, and holding a knife near his throat. Fortunately, Tokagero couldn't bring himself to kill him and had a breakdown.

** According to Hao [[spoiler: who has had this power since his early childhood, so some 1000+ years, reishi is also generated by intense feelings of loneliness. While it is scary and tragic enough, according to him, every shaman has the potential to develop it. All that is needed is lack of proper emotional support and you get stuck with it. And as the manga showed us, many shamans experienced bullying and alienation by humans on basis of their powers. This also implies that people who need help most (like, say, neglected children) are in biggest danger. Oh dear Great Spirits...]]

* Volume 24 gives us zombie soldiers, [[spoiler: though they're curbstomped by Team Gandhara very quickly]].

* [[spoiler:The sixty-first episode of the anime has Hao grabbing into Yoh's abdomen and pulling out his soul, and then proceeding to actually inhale said soul into his mouth. He calls this technique "spirit digestion" in the episode after that. You could even see the huge shock Yoh's friends had on their faces from what they just saw happen. The fact that Anna had just as shocked a look on her face from what she saw as well [[SayMyName and screamed Yoh's name in disbelief]] didn't help lessen the terror, either.]]

** Unlike Anna, he could somewhat control demons he created, by keeping them sealed within his own body, though when they got out, they could overrun whole capitol and required main onmyoji and his apprentice to get rid of them [[spoiler: which eventually, as shown in Shaman King Zero, led to it's own set of problems and another traumatic experience for then preteen Hao]], or even weaponize them [[spoiler: by willingly fatally wounding himself and allowing oni to enter target, eating their soul from inside out]]. However, his reishi never could be controlled, and being constantly exposed to negative thoughts and emotions, along with discrimination he received as shaman, being feared and mistrusted for his powers, always lonely and seeing destruction of nature [[spoiler: led him to being [[GoMadFromTheRevelation driven]] [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity mad]] and bitter, convinced that humans are utterly sinful creatures that will destroy world unless exterminated. And rest is history...]] In a way, reishi could be said to be responsible for entire plot of manga.