History NightmareFuel / Terminator2JudgmentDay

** As Sarah narrates the Terminator explained everything to Dyson of future events to come, nuclear armageddon and the war against the machines, you can overhear him say a nuclear winter sets in. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Dyson feels like throwing up]]. It doesn't matter humanity eventually defeats Skynet - the planet is wrecked and the victors will either starve to death... or resort to cannibalism.

** And then there are the [[HellIsThatNoise horrific screeches]] it makes. It may be a machine, but it could be interpreted that the T-1000 is experiencing ''absolute agony'' as it fries.

** The noises the T-1000 makes when transforming also count as NightmareFuel. They range from [[HellIsThatNoise weird gloopy metallic sounds]] to AudibleSharpness effects when forming bladed weapons. Somehow all of these noises manage to nail the uncanny valley.

->''"It's like a giant strobe light... burning right through my eyes. Somehow I can still see. Children look like burnt paper. Black. Not moving. And then the blast wave hits them. And they fly apart like leaves... [...] It's not a dream, you moron, it's real. I know the date it happens. [...] On August 29th, 1997, it's gonna feel '''pretty [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] real to you, too!''' '''Anybody''' not wearing two million sunblock is gonna have a real '''bad''' day, get it?! God, you think you're safe and alive? [[YouAreAlreadyDead You're already dead!]] Everybody! '''Him, you, you're dead already!''' This whole place! Everything you see is '''gone'''! '''You're''' the one living the '''FUCKING DREAM, SILBERMAN! BECAUSE I KNOW IT HAPPENS! IT HAPPENS!"'''''

->''"It's like a giant strobe light... burning right through my eyes. Somehow I can still see. Children look like burnt paper. Black. Not moving. And then the blast wave hits them. And they fly apart like leaves... [...] It's not a dream, you moron, it's real. I know the date it happens. [...] On August 29th, 1997, it's gonna feel '''pretty [[PrecisionFStrike fuckin']] real to you, too!''' '''Anybody''' not wearing two million sunblock is gonna have a real '''bad''' day, get it?! God, you think you're safe and alive? [[YouAreAlreadyDead You're already dead!]] Everybody! '''Him, you, you're dead already!''' This whole place! Everything you see is '''gone'''! '''You're''' the one living the '''FUCKING DREAM, SILBERMAN! BECAUSE I KNOW IT HAPPENS! IT HAPPENS!"'''''

** To add one more bit of horror to this abomination (as if it needed more), ExpandedUniverse material and WordOfGod reveals WHY the T-1000 isn't the standard troop of Skynet: ''[[EvenEvilHasStandards Even Skynet is afraid of them]]'' because of how smart and fast-learning they are. [[note]]Per WordOfGod, the T-1000 has no processor, and thus can't be set to read-only. Skynet basically had to send it back in time and hope like hell that it did what they wanted it to do. Considering it took less than 24 hours for the thing to start developing its own (sadistic) personality, Skynet was right to fear it. It's probably just as well that it was destroyed before he could kill John.[[/note]]

** And we can even see the effects on Silberman in [[Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines T3]]. He has clearly been traumatized by seeing the fight between the T-1000 and the T-800; he speaks as though reality has flipped on its head and runs in terror when he sees the T-850. It didn't help that Silberman also watches as T-850 blows the T-1000's liquid metal head in half with a shotgun and sees his liquid metal form beneath like something built on another planet; after this point, Silberman is no longer visible in the background, having fled the scene presumably in horror.

** And we can even see the effects on Silberman in [[Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines T3]]. He has clearly been traumatized by seeing the fight between the T-1000 and the T-800; he speaks as though reality has flipped on its head and runs in terror when he sees the T-850.

** As Sarah narrates the Terminator explained everything to Dyson of future events to come, nuclear armageddon and the war against the machines, you can overheard him say a nuclear winter sets in. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Dyson feels like throwing up]]. It doesn't matter humanity eventually defeats Skynet - the planet is wrecked and the victors will either starve to death... or resort to cannibalism.

*** The horrific image that confirms it was the T-1000 disguised as Janelle: The camera pans slowly to the right showing the T-1000's left arm formed into a sword '''impaling Todd through the milk jug he was drinking and into his mouth and out the back of his head'''. Good Lord. [[note]]Though there is some BlackComedy in the fact that even the ''T-1000'' [[EvenEvilHasStandards can't stand people who drink milk straight out of the carton]].[[/note]]

** That's the ''only'' possible reason. The T-1000 can mimic not only voices but shapes, and we see minutes later that it perfectly replicates Sarah with ease. It could have easily called to John in her voice... but didn't. It wanted her to call to him instead.[[note]]In the Director's Cut, the T-1000 was visibly glitching by this point due to being frozen, shattered and thawed, so an alternative explanation is that it didn't trust its mimicry to function correctly and needed Sarah to do it instead (and indeed, it is what gave its disguise away to John because its legs had taken on the texture of the floor).

*** The horrific image that confirms it was the T-1000 disguised as Janelle: The camera pans slowly to the right showing the T-1000's left arm formed into a sword '''impaling Todd through the milk jug he was drinking and into his mouth and out the back of his head'''. Good Lord. [[note]]Though there is some BlackComedy in the fact that even the ''T-1000'' can't stand people who drink milk straight out of the carton.[[/note]]

** It's also worth noting the T-1000's theme can be heard during the death-scene, changing from the usual low-pitched droning beats to high-pitched, fast-paced, electronic-sounding shrieks, like an alarm wailing, clearly indicating the sheer panic the thing is feeling

* One from the Extreme Edition DVD: The main menu. It starts with an animation of Cyberdyne's T-800 factory, which isn't too scary, but what ''is'' scary is the menu itself. It shows the T-1000's true form, just staring at the viewer, with his droning {{Leitmotif}} in the background...and it still stares at you if you go to the options. And, [[https://youtu.be/uOl9znjkWRA?t=94 if you play the movie]], he ''[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou stabs the screen with his finger weapon]]''. But what's especially horrifying is what happens if you linger on the menu: At random intervals, and out of ''goddamn nowhere'', [[https://youtu.be/D-Pq_62EhXo?t=120 a T-800 endoskeleton will walk into the screen and just stare at you before leaving]]. It seems like every Terminator in the factory is out for blood...

** That's the ''only'' possible reason. The T-1000 can mimic not only voices but shapes, and we see minutes later that it perfectly replicates Sarah with ease. It could have easily called to John in her voice... but didn't. It wanted her to call to him instead.

*** The horrific image that confirms it was the T-1000 disguised as Janelle: The camera pans slowly to the right showing the T-1000's left arm formed into a sword '''impaling Todd through the milk jug he was drinking and into his mouth and out the back of his head'''. Good Lord. [[note]]Though there is some BlackHumor in the fact that even the ''T-1000'' can't stand people who drink milk straight out of the carton.[[/note]]

* Also, there's the T-1000's {{Leitmotif}}. It starts as one long, single, ominous tone played repeatedly, almost coming off like a slow alarm from {{Hell}} befitting the emotional void of the T-1000. [[https://youtu.be/sVTAe6bDCks Listen here]].

Just because ''Terminator 2: Judgement Day'' is an ActionisedSequel, doesn't mean that its predecessor's horror elements have been stripped away.

** As she runs away, she hears the voice of her son. Given the T-800's ability to [[VoiceChangeling mimic voices]] and what it does to the people it mimics, imagine [[AdultFear what she is thinking]].

** This is an oft-overlooked aspect of any time travel story: Your future is completely fucked, and the only way you can see it being fixed is to go back in time and kill the man who caused it, regardless of how long ago that was and what the man himself was like or what his intentions were. [[AdultFear Maybe the best time to kill him is the rare occasion he leaves the office to spend time with his family, playing with his children in the park...]]

** The T-1000 is sheer nightmare fuel in the way it pursues its prey. The first film's T-800 would break off if it saw too great a risk, and could back up and rethink and plan. The T-1000 can do that too, but it largely doesn't need to, because it's ''way more powerful'' than anything the 800 model packed. It causes chaos and destruction on its first chase after John, and then when the fire truck it's in is destroyed and its prey gets away, it slips away and tries another tactic. When it catches up to them in the hospital, things get straight-up ''scary''. The T-1000 works its way in, and it's all the T-800 and Sarah '''combined''' can do to keep it at bay. The elevator sequence comes to mind; it's ''right on top of them'', literally, they're trapped inside, it's inches away from killing them, and they are truly in the belly of the beast. It's a miracle they get away at all.

** One set of subtitles outright calls it’s final noises “unearthly screams”. At that point, it feels less like a machine created on Earth, and more like a GODDAMN [[Franchise/Alien XENOMORPH]].

** And then there's the [[HellIsThatNoise horrific screeches]] it makes. It may be a machine, but it could be interpreted that the T-1000 is experiencing ''absolute agony'' as it fries.

* Also, there's the T-1000's {{Leitmotif}}. It's starts as one long, single, ominous tone played repeatedly, almost coming off like a slow alarm from {{Hell}} befitting the emotional void of the T-1000. [[https://youtu.be/sVTAe6bDCks Listen here]].

'''WARNING:''' Spoilers are unmarked.
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* The T-1000's first attempt on John's life. It ends up pursuing him first with a car, then a ''fire truck''. This scene truly embodies TheChase as played for horror instead of action: the T-1000 is on John's tail and getting closer, and it doesn't stop with a single brush. The scene keeps going and frantically ramping up the imagery of predator chasing prey--it takes ''everything'' just to get away from this nightmarish thing and gain some ground. It ends with the truck it's driving getting blown up in a nod to the first movie. Just like with the T-800, this doesn't kill it. Unlike the T-800, this doesn't even ''scratch'' it.

* The T-1000, full stop, and also doubling as ParanoiaFuel. Let's recap: It can be anyone it touches, and impersonate your family and your friends to get to you. It can become '''other objects''', so that chair or that table in the corner could well be him, and when someone sits down on it, it's sampled them so now it can look like them. It can perfectly mimic human expression and emotion to blend in perfectly with normal society. It understands how to actually '''look''' for you by getting pictures and asking people where you are and searching for your personal data on computers. It understands how to manipulate people, torturing them or playing on their fears. When it finds you, it doesn't need a weapon; it '''is''' a weapon, turning its fingers and hands into knives, blades, or hooks as it chases you down. Like the other Terminators, it '''will not stop''' until you are '''dead''', and destroying it is pretty much impossible unless you have a vat of molten metal nearby. And on top of it all, it poses as a cop chasing a child. Able to be anyone, anywhere, without being detected, never stopping, impossible to reason with, and all it wants to do is kill you--it's about as basic and terrifying as a boogeyman can be.