History NightmareFuel / TheWheelOfTime

* The sinking village in ''Knife of Dreams''. A perfectly innocent-looking village with a group of peaceful-looking folk. Completely harmless, right? Then Mat spots a huge inconsistency (namely, his implanted memories informing him that there haven't been roofs made like that in several hundred years) and realizes it's a dead village. Then it starts to sink into the ground, with the specters present continuing to act normally. Except that a peddler got caught there as it starts to sink, and Mat's group can only watch in horror as the man screams in terror and sinks with the village. Worst of all, this overlaps with ParanoiaFuel, as the entire group starts to wonder if the peaceful-looking field they next camp on will sink too.

* Rand's battle with the Dark One. We see a world where everyone is a slave and Nynaeve is a Forsaken. Then we see a world without Light where everyone has no conscience. And finally, we see a world without Shadow. At first it looks like a utopia, but then Rand looks into Elayne's eyes and realizes [[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood just how wrong things are]].

* How Seanchan treat ''damane.'' Women who can channel collars locked on their necks, which can inflict many kinds of suffering on the ''damane''. ''Damane'' are treated like animals by the Seanchan, being denied any rights or agency and often not even allowed to keep their old names. And worse, the ''damane'' [[StockholmSyndrome end up liking it]]. To take just one example: Sheraine Caminelle was captured and collared by the Seanchan when they arrived at Falme and refused to cooperate, trying to kill herself by refusing to eat or drink. Tuon muses:

* Early in ''The Path of Daggers'', Merilille breaks her Aes Sedai calmness and shouts a BigNo when she sees Aviendha trying to undo her Gateway weave as there would have been ''considerable'' repercussions had she made a single mistake. We find out later what that is when a ''damane'' shields Elayne and forces her to drop her weave when repeating the same thing: A MagicNuke that decimates the area on both sides of the Gateway and, despite being far away and on the other side of a hill for cover, all of Elayne, Aviendha, and Birgitte get seriously burned and end up covered in their own blood. If Nynaeve hadn't been nearby for Healing, they would have all died.

* How Seanchan treat ''damane.'' And worse, how the ''damane'' [[StockholmSyndrome end up liking it]]. To take just one example: Sheraine Caminelle was captured and collared by the Seanchan when they arrived at Falme and refused to cooperate, trying to kill herself by refusing to eat or drink. Tuon muses:

* Rand's battle with the Dark One. We see a world where everyone is a slave and Nynaeve is a Forsaken. Then we see a world without Light where everyone has no conscience. And finally, we see a world without Shadow. At first it looks like a utopia, but then Rand looks into Elayne's eyes and realizes [[BraineashingForGreaterGood just how wrong things are]].

* Rand's battle with the Dark One. We see a world where everyone is a slave and Nynaeve is a Forsaken. Then we see a world without Light where everyone has no conscience. And finally, we see a world without Shadow. At first it looks like a utopia, but then Rand looks into Elayne's eyes and realizes just how wrong things are.

* Balefire: A DangerousForbiddenTechnique that not only renders its target DeaderThanDead, but messes with the Pattern to the point of rewinding time as it causes its target to die before the actual moment of impact. Overusing it is quite capable of ''destroying the Pattern itself,'' something even the Dark One couldn't do. It's one of the few things even ''Cadsuane'' is afraid of and she expresses that by ''slapping Rand'' and warning him to never use it again. ''Winter's Heart'' reveals that it's the only thing the Forsaken fear more than someone losing control of the Choden Kal and destroying the world.

* Balefire: A DangerousForbiddenTechnique that not only renders its target DeaderThanDead, but messes with the Pattern to the point of rewinding time as it causes its target to die before the actual moment of impact. Overusing it is quite capable of ''destroying the Pattern itself,'' something even the Dark One couldn't do. It's one of the few things even ''Cadsuane'' is afraid of and she expresses that by ''slapping Rand'' and warning him to never use it again.

* Early in ''The Path of Daggers'', Merlille breaks her Aes Sedai calmness and shouts a BigNo when she sees Aviendha trying to undo her Gateway weave as there would have been ''considerable'' repercussions had she made a single mistake. We find out later what that is when a ''damane'' shields Elayne and forces her to drop her weave when repeating the same thing: A MagicNuke that decimates the area on both sides of the Gateway and, despite being far away and on the other side of a hill for cover, all of Elayne, Aviendha, and Birgitte get seriously burned and end up covered in their own blood. If Nynaeve hadn't been nearby for Healing, they would have all died.

* Early in ''The Path of Daggers'', Merllile breaks her Aes Sedai calmness and shouts a BigNo when she sees Aviendha trying to undo her Gateway weave as there would have been ''considerable'' repercussions had she made a single mistake. We find out later what that is when a ''damane'' shields Elayne and forces her to drop her weave when repeating the same thing: A MagicNuke that decimates the area on both sides of the Gateway and, despite being far away and on the other side of a hill for cover, all of Elayne, Aviendha, and Birgitte get seriously burned and end up covered in their own blood. If Nynaeve hadn't been nearby for Healing, they would have all died.

* The sheer horrific level of what Forsaken have done are terrifying. Lanfear was known for her hobby of driving people to suicide using [[DreamLand Tel'aran'rhiod]]. Graendal brainwashed many people, mostly nobility, to adore and love her, making them like animals, then killed their children, boasting about her kindness. [[TortureTechnician Semirhage]]... well, read above. Ishamael, with his manipulations leading to the destruction of the biggest empire in the world (and the rise of [[TheEmpire another one]]) also counts; and it without mentioning his goal of destroying existence altogether. He also drove [[WeUsedToBeFriends Lews Therin]] to suicide by revealing him that he killed his own family when he went mad. Mesaana conditioned children to be bullies and killers, and they were so notorious that they were remembered ''millenia'' after being destroyed. Demandred destroyed whole cities, if there was ''someone'' who had disrespected him. Feeding people to Trollocs, which was possibly done by all of them. The sheer level of their insanity and pettiness is ... unnerving, to say the least. [[ButForMeItWasTuesday And it's not even breakfast!]]

* Semirhage, undisputed master of torture. Back in the day, she so terrified her ''jailors'' that they smuggled her to freedom themselves. Some of the atrocities committed by the other Forsaken and Darkfriends also qualify. Her captives desperately tried to committ suicide so not to fall in her hands. Even her fellow Forsaken are afraid of her!
** Her EstablishingCharacterMoment, where she [[spoiler:breaks an Aes Sedai by doing...whatever [[PowerPerversionPotential the opposite]] of ColdBloodedTorture is to her [[MindlinkMates Warder]]]], easily rivals anything involving ''damane'' or Hinderstap (see below) for "creepiest moment in the series." Arguably made worse by the coldness of both her POV and her motive: [[spoiler:to obtain information that will allow Aran'gar/Halima to infiltrate the Salidar Tower more easily]]. Her victims were small pieces in a much larger game, and it resulted in them being snatched up by the Shadow, used, and presumably disposed of without anyone the wiser.

* The human breeding camps Balthamel set up to provide food for the man-eating Trollocs.
** That's not as bad for NightmareFuel as eating normal humans: In a war that lasts hundreds of years, and possible lengths of generations of 13 years or so, the people in the camps would be way more ok with the whole thing than normal, former free people. Still horribly scary to think about, though.
*** [[ConditionedToAcceptHorror That's arguably worse.]]
* Machin Shin, the Black Wind that messes with peoples brains before filleting them, has a VoiceOfTheLegion and LovesTheSoundOfScreaming.
* Mashadar, the FogOfDoom that messes with peoples souls while killing them extremely painfully, though it lacks the voice or preference.
* All of the "bubbles of evil" in which inanimate objects try to kill you.
* [[DreamLand Tel'aran'rhiod]] and [[YourMindMakesItReal its incarnate nightmares that become real there and attack you inside your consciousness while you sleep]].
** Probably the worst (best?) example is from ''Lord of Chaos'', where Elayne, Siuan, and the leaders of the Salidar Aes Sedai stumble upon a nightmare of a Trolloc TortureCellar. Elayne manages to get everyone to work together to dispel it, at literally the last second (i.e. [[spoiler:just before her throat would have been cut]]).

* Slayer, a ProfessionalKiller for the Shadow who specializes in people and wolves, and is composed of two identities: Isam Mandragoran and Lord Luc Mantear.
** Which wouldn't be too bad, a killer with a (really) twisted soul. But get this: he can get to you wherever you are, if he knows where you are, and he can even kill you in your dreams if you dream vividly.
* [[spoiler:Jaichim Carridin]]'s execution in ''The Path of Daggers''. He had crossed the MoralEventHorizon several books ago, but having brandy forced down his throat until he drowned in it couldn't have been pleasant. [[spoiler:Falion Bhoda, recurring Black Ajah sister,]] being ForcedToWatch and threatened with the same fate earns her a little sympathy as well.
* [[AFeteWorseThanDeath Hinderstap]], the village of people who transform into bloodthirsty killers after sundown, and then kill everyone in the vicinity and then each other. And then they wake up alive again in their beds the next morning, remembering it as a vivid dream. And this happens '''every night''', and [[FateWorseThanDeath they can't escape]].
** Apparently invoked deliberately. WordOfGod is that Sanderson came up with the concept of Hinderstap after Jordan's widow requested he put something "creepy" into ''Gathering Storm'' to reflect the Dark One's increasing hold on reality. "Creepy" being the understatement of the year...
* The BodyHorror that comes all too frequently with the "[[NegativeSpaceWedgie bubbles of evil.]]"
* The scenes where Rand is going through the test at Rhuidean. Not because of the revelations themselves (which are {{Tear Jerker}}s), but because of the fact that the Aiel man who got there before him becomes increasingly overwhelmed and unhinged by the revelations, to the point where Rand eventually sees him clawing out his own eyes and chewing up his own tongue. Doubles as a TearJerker when Rand knows he won't be coming back out of the gate and leaves him behind, yet we never learn exactly what happens to him or his body.
* The scene where Aviendha sees the very possible future for the Aiel in Rhuidean: [[spoiler:It consists of her children by Rand leading the Aiel into what becomes a very protracted war against the Seanchan, eventually getting beaten down, the White Tower itself falling to the Seanchan, the Aiel clans being either destroyed or reduced to shadows of their former selves, being pushed back into the Aiel Waste and still mercilessly hunted by the Seanchan, and finally reduced to a shattered vestige of their former culture, having totally lost their sense of honour and duty, and all but extinct as they scavenge whatever they can find off travellers in the waste.]]

* [[GardenOfEvil The Blight]] as shown in ''The Eye Of The World''. [[EverythingIsTryingToKillYou Everything there, even the plants, were trying to kill them.]] There are also these giant worms there that will kill anything in their path and are nigh indestructible. At a mountain pass, they give up the chase because [[TakeOurWordForIt they're afraid of the things that live in the pass]].

* Rand's battle with the Dark One. [[spoiler:We see a world where everyone is a slave and Nynaeve is a Forsaken. Then we see a world without Light where everyone has no conscience. And finally, we see a world without Shadow. At first it looks like a utopia, but then Rand looks into Elayne's eyes and realizes just how wrong things are.]]
* Turning. If you have the right amount of people, in a short time, they can force you to TheDarkSide, ''against your will''.
** We get to see the effects of this in the final book, when Taim and his Darkfriends try to Turn Logain. The latter has will of iron, and he's at his breaking point when saved. He never goes evil, but until the last few chapters of the series, he's unhinged from the experience.
* Poor ol' Perrin? While it was one of the most necessary deaths there was, [[spoiler:crushing Lanfear's neck with his bare hand while being COMPELLED to love her is decidedly horrible... He's explicitly stated to be weeping over her body.]]
* Demandred, on the whole, is one of the less evil Forsaken. He's always calm and composed, ruthless but not particularly cruel, and is the only Forsaken to actually bother to treat his minions with a modicum of respect, who in turn has great loyalty to him. [[spoiler: He even seems to believe that if he wins the Last Battle for the Dark One, he'll get put in charge of reshaping the world, and will therefore be able to protect it from the worst of the Dark One's excesses. WordOfGod even calls him a HeroOfAnotherStory in regards to his actions in Shara]]. There's just one little snag - he ''hates'' Lews Therin Telamon. Hates him more than anyone has ever hated anything, apparently. Hates him so much he's willing to topple empires, move armies, and risk TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt ''all to get at one man''. That level of hate is ''terrifying'', especially as it comes from someone who's nearly a NobleDemon otherwise.
* It's a one-off line as Rand prepares to face Moridin, but Shaidar Haran's final fate is terrifying. He's already NightmareFuel, now imagine his withered husk of a corpse.
* The sheer horrific level of what Forsaken have done are terrifying. Lanfear was known for her hobby of driving people to suicide using [[DreamLand Tel'aran'rhiod]]. Graendal brainwashed many people, mostly nobility, to adore and love her, making them like animals, then killed their children, boasting about her kindness. [[TortureTechnician Semirhage]]... well, read above. Ishamael, with his manipulations leading to the destruction of the biggest empire in the world (and the rise of [[TheEmpire another one]]) also counts; and it without mentioning his goal of destroying existence altogether. He also drove [[WeUsedToBeFriends Lews Therin]] to suicide by revealing him that he killed his own family when he went mad. Mesaana conditioned children to be bullies and killers, and they were so notorious that they were remembered ''millenia'' after being destroyed. Demandred destroyed whole cities, if there was ''someone'' who had disrespected him. Feeding people to Trollocs, which was possibly done by all of them. The sheer level of their insanity and pettiness is ... unnerving, to say the least. [[ButForMeItWasTuesday And it's not even breakfast!]]

* The Blight as shown in ''The Eye Of The World''. [[EverythingIsTryingToKillYou Everything there, even the plants, were trying to kill them.]] There are also these giant worms there that will kill anything in their path and are nigh indestructible. At a mountain pass, they give up the chase because [[TakeOurWordForIt they're afraid of the things that live in the pass]].

** Unlike most of his colleagues, he continued to impact the world after being sealed at Shayol Ghul--the Trolloc Wars are the most glaring example, but the things he created have posed a constant threat along the Blightborder for ''three thousand years'', and have probably killed millions over that period. Oh, and he was also the one who developed the ''[[ImplacableMan gholam]]''.

* The sheer horrific level of what Forsaken have done are terrifying. Lanfear was known for her hobby of driving people to suicide using [[DreamLand Tel'aran'rhiod]]. Graendal brainwashed many people, mostly nobility, to adore and love her, making them like animals, then killed their children, boasting about her kindness. [[TortureTechnician Semirhage]]... well, read above. Ishamael, with his manipulations leading to the destruction of the biggest empire in the world also counts; and it without mentioning his goal of destroying the existense. He also drove [[WeUsedToBeFriends Lews Therin]] to suicide by revealing him that he killed his own family when he went mad. Mesaana conditioned children to be bullies and killers, and they were so notorious that they were remembered ''millenia'' after being destroyed. Demandred destroyed whole cities, if there was ''someone'' who had disrespected him. Feeding people to Trollocs, which was possibly done by all of them. The sheer level of their insanity and pettiness is ... unnerving, to say the least. [[ButForMeItWasTuesday And it's not even breakfast!]]

* How Seanchan treat ''damane'' and worse how the ''damane'' [[StockholmSyndrome end up liking it]].

* Semirhage, undisputed master of torture. Back in the day, she so terrified her ''jailors'' that they smuggled her to freedom themselves. Some of the atrocities committed by the other Forsaken and Darkfriends also qualify. Her captives desperately tried to committ suicide so not to fall in her hands.

* Demandred, on the whole, is one of the less evil Forsaken. He's always calm and composed, ruthless but not particularly cruel, and is the only Forsaken to actually bother to treat his minions with a modicum of respect. [[spoiler: He even seems to believe that if he wins the Last Battle for the Dark One, he'll get put in charge of reshaping the world, and will therefore be able to protect it from the worst of the Dark One's excesses. WordOfGod even calls him a HeroOfAnotherStory in regards to his actions in Shara]]. There's just one little snag- he ''hates'' Lews Therin Telamon. Hates him more than anyone has ever hated anything, apparently. Hates him so much he's willing to topple empires, move armies, and risk TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt ''all to get at one man''. That level of hate is ''terrifying'', especially as it comes from someone who's nearly a NobleDemon otherwise.

* The sheer horrific level of what Forsaken have done are terrifying. Lanfear was known for her hobby of driving people to suicide using [[DreamLand Tel'aran'rhiod]]. Graendal brainwashed many people, mostly nobility, to adore and love her, making them like animals, then killed their children, boasting about her kindness. [[TortureTechnician Semirhage]]... well, read above. Ishamael, with his manipulations leading to the destruction of the biggest empire in the world also counts; and it withoit mentioning his goal of destroying the exisyense. He also drove [[WeUsedToBeFriends Lews Therin]] to suicide by revealing him that he killed his own family when he went mad. Mesaana conditioned children to be bullies and killers, and they were so notorious that they were remembered ''millenia'' after being destroyed. Demandred destroyed whole cities, if there was ''someone'' who had disrespected him. Feeding people to Trollocs, which was possibly done by all of them. The sheer level of their insanity and pettiness is ... unnerving. [[ButForMeItWasTuesday And it's not even breakfast!]]

* The horrific deeds that Forsaken did are terrifying. Lanfear was known for her hobby of driving people to suicide using [[DreamLand Tel'aran'rhiod]]. Graendal brainwashed many people to adore and love her, making them like animals. [[TortureTechnician Semirhage]]... well, read above. Ishamael, with his manipulations leading to the destruction of the biggest empire in the world also counts. He also drove Lews Therin to suicide by revealing him that he killed his own family when he went mad. Mesaana conditioned children to be bullies and killers, and they were so notorious that they were remembered ''millenia'' after being destroyed. Feeding people to Trollocs, which was possibly done by all of them. The sheer level of their insanity and pettiness is ... unnerving. [[ButForMeItWasTuesday And it's not even breakfast!]]

* The horrific deeds that Forsaken did are terrifying. Lanfear was known for her hobby to drive people to suicide using [[DreamLand Tel'aran'rhiod]]. Graendal brainwashed many people to adore and love her, making them like animals. [[TortureTechnician Semirhage]]... well, read above. Ishamael, with his manipulaions leading to the destruction of the biggest empire in the world also counts. He also drove Lews Therin to suicide by revealing him that he killed his own family when he went mad. Mesaana conditioned children to be bullies and killers, and they were so notorius that they were remembered ''millenia'' after being destroyed. Feeding people to Trollocks, which was possibly done by all of them. The sheer level of their insanity and pettiness is ... unnerving. [[ButForMeItWasTuesday And it's not even breakfast!]]

* Semirhage, undisputed master of torture. Back in the day, she so terrified her ''jailors'' that they smuggled her to freedom themselves. Some of the atrocities committed by the other Forsaken and Darkfriends also qualify. Her captives desperatel tried to committ suicide so not to fall in her hands.

* The scenes where Rand is going through the test at Rhuidean. Not because of the revelations themselves (which are {{Tear Jerker}}s), but because of the fact that the Aiel man who got there before him becomes increasingly overwhelmed and unhinged by the revelations, to the point where Rand eventually sees him clawing out his own eyes and chewing up his own tongue.