Line #62 NightmareFuel/TheAngryVideoGameNerd


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7	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/avgn_metalgear.jpg]]
8	[-[[caption-width-right:350:The more [[SugarWiki/AwesomeArt awesome the art]], the more [[BodyHorror horrific the detail]].]]-]
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10	You thought [[WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd a series of videos about a nerd who rages over video games]] couldn't possibly give you nightmares? [[NightmareFuel Think again]]. When [[Creator/JamesRolfe the nerd himself]] turns out to be a big fan of the {{horror}} genre, except some horrors to creep up at any moment.
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12	You might change your mind after reading this.
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15	* The 2nd episode where he just sits and rants about ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde''. James said once this is the only episode where he was drinking real Rolling Rock, and was slightly tipsy. Watching him sitting there, eyes widened into the camera, and SuddenlyShouting a couple minutes in, and that SlasherSmile he makes at the end? ''shudders''
16	** [[NightmareRetardant Less scary]] when you take into thought that the supposed SlasherSmile at the end is actually the Nerd {{corpsing}} at the last second.
17	* The jumpscares during the Friday the 13th videos were genuinely startling. Even with the comedic context, James does a great job at building suspense throughout the review, with the music, long pauses, acting from the nerd, and overall tone giving off a tense atmosphere where Jason Voorhees' presence is always felt.
18	* The Nerd trying to hide from Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street review is genuinely creepy, especially when Freddy pops up after a lot of buildup, and he has the Nerd's face!
19	* Much like Friday the 13th, James uses atmosphere expertly during the Halloween review. Michael Myers' presence is tense for different reasons. While the Nerd is fully aware of Jason and is afraid of whenever he will strike, he is completely unaware of Michael's presence until the end, making the build up quite nail biting. The jumpscare during the basement scene is startling and the overall intensity during the climax felt genuine even with the goofy antics and shit flying everywhere.
20	* Not as extreme as most instances of NightmareFuel, but in the Atari 5200 review, when the Nerd plugs in the system's cord, sparks come flying out, and they weren't faked!
21	* The ending to "Bible Games 3": "...although, I will give my heart to Jesus." ''(cue a rather graphic VisualPun, then a faint HeartbeatSoundtrack lasting through the ending logos)''
22	-->"AAAAHHH, JESUS!!"
23	* The Nerd is outright ''terrifying'' at the end of the ''Dark Castle'' review.
24	-->"IT'S A CURSE TO THE SOUL, AND IT MUST SUFFER THE ''TORTURES OF THE DAMNED''!"
25	** He then proceeds to '''[[ATasteOfTheLash brutally flog]]''' the cartridge and disc versions of the game. ''While they're in chains'', no less. He actually hits the cartridge so hard ''he breaks one of the chains''.
26	** In the same episode, we see him seething with rage as he pulls out the CD-i version.
27	--->"Alright, Let's flip that shit switch and crank up that diarrhea dial. I got Dark Castle on [[PunctuatedForEmphasis C! D!]] ''(cue hellish flames and a very serious DeathGlare.)'' [[VoiceOfTheLegion IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII]]!!!!"
28	* The extended version of his VideoGame/WallyBearAndTheNoGang review. He is informed that there is an old Wally Bear hotline that was still active (until around mid 2007) and calls it. Cut to an abandoned house with creepy ambiance and a prerecorded message of Wally talking in the background. The Nerd is obviously disturbed...and then Wally Bear's ghost [[JumpScare suddenly pops out of the phone to scare the Nerd.]]
29	* In the part of his ''Roger Rabbit'' review where he calls Jessica Rabbit, we get this:
30	-->'''Jessica''': I'm not bad...I'm just drawn that way.
31	-->'''Nerd''': [[MoodWhiplash Yeah, well, wait until I draw your suicide note in your own blood, you bunny fucking bitch. I'm coming over and I'm gonna kill you. I'm gonna kill your whole motherfucking family.]]
32	* The end of the ''Dick Tracy'' review shows the Nerd at full-blown '''insanity''', and is one of his angriest and most terrifying moments on the show. He starts ''screaming'' about the NintendoHard aspect of the game so loudly while coming closer and closer to the screen, starts drinking beer like crazy (''wetting his clothes'' in the process), starts screaming bloody murder while pushing his face into ''a pillow'', [[ClusterFBomb a brief montage of him screaming "FUCK" in various parts of his house follows]], and even then, he pierces the cartridge with [[ThisIsADrill a drill]]. ''[[FromBadToWorse Then]]'' he looks at the cartridge, spinning because he wasn't holding it and it was still on the drill, '''with a demented stare''', at that, and the screen ''finally'' cuts to black as he destroys it with his hammer. ''While the cartridge is spinning''.
33	* While not to the extent of his ''Dick Tracy'' review, the Nerd is similarly terrifying in his ''Winter Games'' review. After giving up in frustration, the Nerd uses all kinds of methods to destroy the game, such as putting it in the oven, in the freezer, in the sink and doused with water, pouring alcohol on the inside of the cartridge, hitting the cartridge with his hammer and dropping it violently and disassembles the cartridge, culminating in him ''[[KillItWithFire putting the cartridge in the fireplace to burn]]''. This is not just an NES cartridge shell, but '''the real thing'''. The whole thing being [[SoundtrackDissonance set to a jazzy version of "Jingle Bells"]] only makes it worse.
34	* The title card for the ''Metal Gear'' episode, which features Snake throwing a grenade at the Nerd, which is seen going off, completely obliterating his hands to the point where bone is visible, as well as blowing off most of the lower half of his face (as well as his nose), leaving a bloody, chunky mess.
35	** The ''Rambo'' title card is just as bad. While in the foreground Rambo is shooting up the jungle, in the background we can see both The Nerd's head ([[{{Squick}} along with his]] ''[[{{Squick}} entire spinal column]]'') flying from his body with a bloody trail lagging behind it and a decapitated Vietnamese soldier.
36	* Bugs Bunny and R.O.B. both hit him hard enough to cause him to spit blood. In the R.O.B. episode, blood stays on his face throughout the rest of their battle.
37	* In his ''VideoGame/HongKong97'' review, it is revealed that if you die in the game, you are treated to an image of what appears to be an actual dead man lying on the ground [[note]]This is a photo of one of the victims of the Bosnian Genocide[[/note]]. Even the Nerd is [[EveryoneHasStandards creeped out by this]], wondering how anyone could be so tasteless as to put up something like that.
38	* The ''VideoGame/{{Seaman}}'' episode combines this with ParanoiaFuel when he realizes through the eponymous smart-mouthed fish-man asking about his family, Sega naming their consoles after planets, the Sega Channel peripheral for the Genesis plugging us into Sega's network, and "SEGA" meaning "[[FunWithAcronyms Sentient Electronic Global Annihilator]]", that Sega is trying to take over the world. He tries to stop this scheme by speeding up time using the Dreamcast's internal clock until the Seaman has been withered away by the sands of time, but the effort proves fruitless as the Nerd's reality becomes a RecursiveReality for the Seaman.
39	* The tenth Halloween Special, 2016's "Berenstain Bears" review. You'd think its funny that he's reviewing '''freaking Berenstain Bears''' for a Halloween Special? This episode is the scariest of the series up to that point. And you thought ''WebVideo/BoardJames'' 's ''Nightmare'' episode was scary.
40	** The entirety of the episode goes to great lengths about supposed effects of interdimensional crossovers, existences and realities on the very things we know and love. The AVGN meets his alternate self from the year 2006 in a parallel universe from his very first Halloween episode for Friday the 13th for the NES. It turns out that in this alternate timeline [[TheReveal Jason was really the Nerd]] [[MindScrew killing the other Nerd]] again and again, who also happens to be trying to get back into his own timeline. What started off as another festive Halloween spooktacular turns into utter contorting madness for The Nerd as he tries to prove to us that what we know from our childhood books as the "Berenstein Bears" turns out to be the "Berenstain Bears". And to cap it off the Nerd the one dressed up as Jason turns out that he hails from a universe that was from neither before. His universe's equivalent to the "Berenstein Bears" is called [[NamesToRunAwayFromVeryFast "Bloodstain"]]. Cue the titular bears ganging up on him and mauling him to death as 'our' Nerd [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere runs like hell]]. ... [[RecursiveReality Kind of makes you question your own existences]] [[FridgeHorror on what we all know and love now, doesn't it]]?
41	*** For bonus terror, he mentions how the Nerd used to ''love'' the NES Ninja Turtles game until he grew up and decided he hated it. Why is this scary? Jason!Nerd makes the suggestion that maybe the Nerd's opinion didn't change, ''the actual game did due to an unwitting universal shift''. If someone is paranoid about this sort of thing, they shouldn't watch this episode ''at all''.
42	*** Even worse, there's no resolution to what happens. The last scene of the episode is the Nerd running away into some foliage and a shot of Jason!Nerd's blood dripping down a book.
43	*** Not only that, but during the time of the video's release, [[ParanoiaFuel the title would alternate between "Berenstein" and "Berenstain", with the thumbnail following suit..]]
44	* The jarring ending to the VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 game review. Compared to the rest of the goofy campy nature and atmosphere of the episode, it ends with The Nerd [[MoodWhiplash unveiling a secret bloody torture room for the worst of the worst games in his collection end up]]. Talk about ColdBloodedTorture. Yeesh!
45	** An interesting thing to [[FreezeFrameBonus mention]]. One of said "victims" in the torture room happens to be "VideoGame/DarkCastle" as a CallBack to an earlier episode. Still shackled from the last time we saw it from the aforementioned above.
46	* The infamously frightening [[NightmareFace error message images]] for the VideoGame/GameBoyCamera rear their ugly heads in the "Game Boy Accessories" episode.
47	* The subject of [[MilestoneCelebration Episode 150]]: ''Myth/{{Polybius}}'' took the horror of the ''Berenstain Bears'' episode to new levels, and takes the cake as the darkest ''Angry Video Game Nerd'' episode. It's similar to a found footage horror film in the likes of ''Film/ParanormalActivity'' or ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject''.
48	** It's less a review and more him trying out the legendary game over several days (though he doesn't show footage of it, in case its harmful effects include causing epilepsy). At first, he merely sees the game as [[SoOkayItsAverage average]]. Then he gets more and more addicted to it, recording play sessions that are hours longer than he remembers, and he does things he doesn't remember doing, like locking himself in with the game. By Day 4, he's visibly distressed and broken -- [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness something we've never seen him like before]].
49	--->'''The Nerd:''' (sobbing) [[MadnessMantra It won't let me go, it won't let me go, it won't let me go, it won't let me go...]]
50	** Arguably the worst part is how subtle it is; James clearly has a good understanding of PsychologicalHorror, and it shows. The Nerd's descent is very subtle, and doesn't really start to sink in until Day 3. At first, he just describes it as an average, boring arcade game, then gradually his opinion of it improves; all throughout this, he keeps the screen hidden to avoid transmitting any effects to the viewer (though he's highly skeptical that such effects exist and he's only doing it as a precaution, constantly remarking that [[TemptingFate he doesn't feel any side-effects from the game]]). It's not until this line on Day 2 that things begin to take a turn for the worse (keep in mind that, before the cut, the Nerd said he would play one more round and then go home to upload the day's footage):
51	--->'''The Nerd:''' [[WhamLine So I've played through twice more now... um, thrice, actually...]]
52	** For a brief moment on Day 4, we see someone in the reflection of an ''VideoGame/{{Asteroids}}'' arcade cabinet, who runs off before the Nerd can see them. Bear in mind, he'd locked himself in the previous day... Also on Day 4, he tries to desperately reveal his location, but suddenly stops himself, his eyes abruptly rolling into the back of his head for a moment.
53	** Day 5 is '''even worse '''. The Nerd receives a subliminal message from the game and uses it to [[HopeSpot break the lock on the door]]. Only to run into ''another'' Polybius which is blocking his way. The Nerd then ''finally'' shows the game and warns the audience to not look at it or it will take them forever. When you finally see the game, it's initially nothing unusual... until the episode abruptly ends with a sudden JumpScare, complete with a close-up of Nerd's face with a twisted SlasherSmile and eyes rolled into the back of his head. This is immediately followed by the screen turning into static before cutting into black.
54	*** During the JumpScare, if you have enabled subtitles, you have four Polybius number codes: the first says "[[AndIMustScream SAVEMESAVEMESAVEMESAVEME]]" while the second says "[[MadnessMantra POLYBIUSPOLYBIUSPOLYBIUS]]".
55	** In the complete video, the jump scare is followed by a "This video is unavailable" screen, which turns into a ''second'' jump scare as the sad Youtube play button morphs into a demonic-looking Nerd face. Then the owner of the warehouse finally shows up to check on the Nerd, but only finds the camera next to the ''Polybius'' cabinet. He is then pulled towards the cabinet as he screams in terror. DEAR. LORD.
56	* The intro to ''Robocop NES Games'' briefly recaps what happened in this episode which is followed by the Nerd [[UnwillingRoboticization returning back to his couch]] - as a Franchise/RoboCop. It's subtle but makes you wonder [[NothingIsScarier what exactly happened to him in the warehouse]].
57	** Apparently the arcade itself turned him into a robot. Talk about LightmareFuel. This arcade that drives people insane and warps their mind.. just turns them into a robot. And the Nerd acts like nothing happened. The game might as well had just let him go!
58	* His [[ChristmasEpisode holiday episode]] titled "Lightspan Adventures" has a later portion to one of the sight for sore eyes ladened games in the Lightspan Adventures library called "Welcome to the Quaddle Museum". In light of a couple of the other games that had just as much ugly animation in CGI "Kaz Mania" the Nerd himself admits that the former is just flatout nightmarish due to strong levels of quality drop and just the OffModel appearances of [[https://youtu.be/KKjodfe0lgE?t=485 P.K the Parrot]]
59	* Partway through the ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound\|1994}}'' episode, the Nerd reaches Poo's [[TrainingFromHell Mu Training]] and, somehow, [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou begins to]] ''[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou personally experience]]'' [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou the training himself]]. As the training goes on, the Nerd's ''actual [[AnArmAndALeg legs, arms]], [[EarAche ears]] [[EyeScream and eyes]]'' are torn away from him one by one, with the video's audio cutting out just as he loses his ears. As the training reaches near the end, we get the ''ghastly'' sight of the Nerd's bloodied, eyeless, earless body just silently staring at the camera as the game prepares to take the last thing: his mind. Once that's gone, the video abruptly [[SmashToBlack Smashes to Black]]. A few seconds later, the Nerd returns, fully unharmed but clearly dazed by what happened.
60	** [[https://i.gyazo.com/3bb89e8075f669c184b632875d784865.png It looks like something straight out of a creepypasta...]]
61	* At the end of the ''Pepsiman'' episode, the TV Game Guy arrives and reveals Pepsiman is an OmnicidalManiac who wants to turn the entire universe into Pepsi. While funny at first, [[CerebusRetcon he then reveals Pepsiman turned his]] ''[[CerebusRetcon entire family]]'' [[CerebusRetcon into Pepsi]]. He then takes a bullet for the Nerd and begins turning into Pepsi himself, complete with BodyHorror. It's far more disturbing than it sounds.
62	** It doesn't help that whenever Pepsiman gets upset he makes [[HellIsThatNoise a disturbing, distorted yell]].
63	* Even though ''VideoGame/ChexQuest'' is a surprisingly awesome family-friendly reimagining of ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', this doesn't stop the Nerd from delivering yet another worst nightmare. The culprit? Made-up ''[[VideoGame/BrutalDoom Brutal Chex]]'' cereal: along with usual components you would expect in a morning cereal, it has ''shattered glass'', ''rusty nails'', ''shaving razors'', and other sharp objects... ''and Nerd himself clearly shows [[BloodFromTheMouth what's gonna happen]] if you try to '''eat''' all this.'' The lighthearted tone of ''Chex Quest'' episode [[MoodWhiplash suddenly becomes]] '''fucking unsettling'''.
64	* While 'Fear and Loathing in Vegas Stakes' has its humorous segments--including picking up a hitchhiking Spider-Man, and then subsequently causing him to bail out of the car after The Nerd unnerves him, the visuals and direction of the episode dives into a surreal direction. Hearing him talk about "LSD Dream Simulator", while the room around him seems to break down and twist around him, drives an equally distorting sense of dread in the atmosphere.
65	* ''[[Franchise/{{Shrek}} Shrek Fairytale Freakdown]]'' is a pretty unnerving episode, being an homage to ''Film/TheWickerMan1973''. It starts with the Nerd BoundAndGagged in a dark shed with torture equipment and Shrek shrines, being approached by a cultist in a Shrek mask. While he manages to free himself, he quickly gets exposed by the Shrek-cultists. The plan from the Shrek-cult leader is to sacrifice the Nerd in a giant wooden Shrek. [[DownerEnding The episode ends with the Nerd burning alive in the wooden Shrek statue.]] That said, [[LightmareFuel the 3D dancing skeleton at the end takes the edge off.]]
66	* ''The Last Ninja'' for the most part is a light hearted episode, but as soon as [[Franchise/SesameStreet Ernie]] [[MoodWhiplash comes in things take a turn for the dark.]] The music cuts out while Ernie starts grilling the Nerd after he beats his high score, and after the Nerd breaks Ernie's RageBreakingPoint, he starts assaulting the Nerd. The Nerd fights back and takes Ernie and the Nintoaster to a bathtub, killing Ernie via an ElectrifiedBathtub. What would have been a simple episode made a '''sharp''' turn into realistic horror.
67	--> '''Ernie:''' You're one sick fuck, Nerd!
68	* For his video on ''Doom'', the Icon of Sin appears with John Romero reprising his role from ''Doom II''. And with more modern distortion effects, his performance manages to be genuinely unsettling with how ''calm'' he is, never feeling threatened or raising his voice even slightly. Just a soft, mellow voice dripping with all the malice of humanity combined.
69	* The entire ''My Horse Prince'' video, just the fact that the bizarreness of the game is enough to make the viewers and the Nerd laugh and feel unnerved is quite the experience.
70	** Near the ending, '''''the horse from the game appears''''', which scares the Nerd enough to throw his mobile phone to the chimney which causes said Horse to disappear, not only does it come straight out of nowhere, but it's still a very disturbing scene in an already unsettling video.

Context NightmareFuel / TheAngryVideoGameNerd