Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.
"Tell me what you've been doing, busy little bee, or I shall strike down those dearest to you. You shall watch as I bathe in their blood."
—Commodus
- "They say no."
- The scene where Maximus finds his wife and son crucified is both Nightmare Fuel and a Tear Jerker, not unlike the scene where Commodus smothers his father to death so he can usurp the throne and become the new Emperor of Rome.
- Later Commodus employs Would You Like to Hear How They Died?: "They tell me your son...squealed like a girl, when they nailed him to the cross. And your wife...moaned like a whore, when they ravaged her again...and again...and again."
- During the 'Battle of Carthage' in the Coliseum, one of the female gladiators barely has time to scream in terror before she's sliced in half by an out-of-control chariot's spiked wheel. Brutal and graphic.
- The undefeated gladiator Tigris' helmet, which is designed to look like Hercules wearing the Nemean Lion's hide, with the helmet being the lion's head and the visor Hercules' face. When he's defeated, blood seeps out of the mask's mouth.
- Commodus. He kills his father, lusts after his sister, orders Maximus and his family murdered, taunts Maximus about it later, threatens to kill his own nephew to force his sister to marry and have sex with him and later challenges Maximus to a Duel to the Death, but wounds him beforehand so that he'll have the upper hand. He looks increasingly evil and vampiric as the film progresses. Ridley Scott said that he tried to use Commodus's make-up to create the impression that he's slowly turning to stone as he becomes more and more evil, which is evidenced by Joaquin Phoenix's spine-chilling performance throughout the film.
- The scene when Commodus watches Lucius sleep. You worry for a second that he's going to smother him to death.
- Commodus at times seems like an outright Cool Uncle, not unlike Scar. But even then, you can see his villainy. When Lucilla asks a servant "Where is Lucius?" and the servant answers "With the Emperor m'lady", you can see the terror on Lucilla's face. She's relieved when she finds the two of them together with Commodus just telling Lucius stories about the Egyptians. Then he launches into possibly one of the most terrifying monologues in cinema history. What makes it scarier is that he's threatening his sister whilst pretending to tell his nephew a bedtime story.
- How about his death? Being slowly overpowered by your opponent until he manages to slowly shove a dagger into your throat, probably leaving you to die slowly as blood fills your lungs. Entirely deserved and satisfying nevertheless.
- Lucilla's life. As she says to Maximus "You don't know what it's like to not be able to sleep knowing that your son is heir to the throne, to be afraid to mourn your father for fear of your brother."
- The scene when a snake is put in one of the senators' bed can be very unsettling if you have ophidiophobia.
