Nightmare Fuel / Injustice 2

Let's explore this terror together.

Since talking about the scary stuff in Injustice 2 generally means talking about plot details, ALL SPOILERS ARE UNMARKED AND READY TO RUMBLE!

The Comic

• Amanda Waller and Rick Flag being gunned down by a red-eyed Batman with two automatic rifles.
  • Followed in the next issue by 'Batman' ruthlessly killing Clock King, Magpie, Killer Moth, and Mr. Polka-Dot by triggering their head bombs, declaring them useless. If it wasn't for a glitch, Calendar Man would have been dead as well. On his birthday, no less.
• At the end of issue 4, Superman breaks loose.
• Issue 5 reveals the first contingency plan in case Superman breaks out: Atom invades his brain and threatens to render him paraplegic by stabbing him with a Kryptonite fragment.
• Issue 14: Ra's al Ghul's team take both Connor Queen and Lucy Quinzel hostage.
• Issue 23: Blue Beetle makes a fatal mistake by accidentally killing El Diablo, provoking a explosion that incinerates everything in its vicinity. It takes Plastic Man and his son Luke to shield everyone from the flames for them to survive, but the animals in the reserve were not so lucky. It also doubles as a Tear Jerker since these were all endangered species and may as well be the last of their kind, meaning Jaime just completely wiped out entire species by accident. So, in other words, Blue Beetle, a well-meaning teenager with superpowers, just CAUSED A MASS EXTINCTION EVENT COMPLETELY BY ACCIDENT. Batman is absolutely furious with him afterwards and angrily tells him to go home and never use his powers again.
• Issue 24:
  • Aqualad murders the President of the United States as well as a large amount of people during the inauguration by summoning a tidal wave in Washington, drowning all of them.
  • Ra's al Ghul reveals his secret weapon to wipe out humanity: AMAZO.
• Issue 33: AMAZO, period. Unlike his comic book incarnation which looked kinda goofy or his animated version from Justice League which vaguely resembled Silver Surfer, his design looks closer to a Terminator due to Ra's insisting he is activated before Professor Ivo could finish giving him skin covering. Then as demonstration, Ra's unleashes him in a urban area, where he stomps upon a innocent man in front of his wife and proceeds to burn everything with his heat vision.
• Issue 34: AMAZO's mass murdering innocents in Arizona. To give you a clue of how terrifying his power level is, we are shown a counter with the population of around 3000 people that inhabit that town. In just a number of panels, which take place in a few moments, the counter plummets dramatically to '''zero''' by the time AMAZO kills Dex-Starr's owners. Even the fake Batman was horrified by this.
• Issue 37: By freeing the Teen Titans, Plastic Man inadvertently freed General Zod, who immediately kills Tim Drake.
• As of issue 44, AMAZO has started destroying Delhi...

Story Mode

• The opening scene shows Kara stumbling over the destruction caused upon Krypton by Brainiac. It's very distressing when you see Supergirl in her helpless state without a yellow sun to give her superpowers and surrounded by Brainiac's robotic mooks, who proceed to effortlessly massacre a group of Kryptonian soldiers. And to make things worse, she has to enter the escape pod and watch as they kill her mother.
• Imagine you're a hardened thug in Arkham Asylum. One night the staff orders you and all the other inmates to load into vans. A bit spooked, you grab one of the orderlies and demand to know what's going on, and then you hear "Get back in line". And in flies the Man of Steel, who recently snapped and whom you can't possibly harm in any way. At this point you probably realize you're being shipped off to your death.
• Robin slitting Zsasz's throat with a batarang in the first chapter. Just how easy it was for one of Batman's signature tools to be used to kill a man is incredibly disturbing. Granted, Zsasz had it coming, but the fact that Robin did it while he was not only unarmed, but also after putting him in a chokehold and kicking his legs out from behind was very hard to watch. Doesn't help that it looks eerily similar to a terrorist execution. If you look at Superman's face, although he is clearly horrified at what Damian just did, it was the abruptness that shocked him, not the remorse as the Man of Steel himself was desensitized to killing by then. Add to the fact that Robin sounded more like a cold-blooded killer.
• The second chapter gives a first-hand introduction to Scarecrow, who tries to fight Harley using his fear gas, but she manages to beat him. He proceeds to use a more powerful toxin that traps her in a nightmarish hallucination where the Joker mocks her for joining the heroes, then attempts to force her back into her old ways. Hallucination!Joker comes very close to shooting Harley in the back of the head when she chooses not to kill Hallucination!Batman before she snaps out of it and fights back.
  • The Joker's entire appearance in general, even if it's only during that single fear toxin-induced hallucination, is utterly terrifying. Of particular note is his Break Them by Talking speech to Harley; Richard Epcar's performance completely sells it.
• Atrocitus' appearance in Green Lantern's chapter is very brief and disconnected from the whole plot, but damn if it isn't scary. He wants to recruit Hal to the Red Lantern Corps and has been subtly manipulating his anger (with his eyes occasionally glowing red sometimes). In order to make him embrace it, he and Dex-Starr vomit blood on Hal's face, boiling his body alive in the process. They try to put a red ring in his finger, but he manages to resist long enough by reciting the Green Lantern Oath and beats them both back where they belong. Atrocitus turns tail and never appears again beyond this point, fortunately.
• Wonder Woman's chapter as a whole:
  • For starters, she crushes the head of one of Brainiacs' drones in a manner that screams "this is going to happen to you."
  • Scarecrow's fear toxin puts her in a hallucination of Superman attacking her, accusing Wonder Woman of taking advantage of him and help furthering his descent into tyranny. She responds by stabbing the fake Superman in the gut and after defeating Scarecrow himself, it's heavily implied she killed him...
  • Cheetah taking advantage of Kryptonians' vulnerability to magic to torture poor Supergirl by cutting through the side of her face before Diana stepped in.
  • In the middle of Wonder Woman's attempt to kill Cheetah, Harley stops her and, in response to Diana pointing out her past as a criminal, calls Diana out on her relationship with Superman. Diana runs Harley through for it. Luckily, Supergirl intervened.
• Any scene involving a Brainwashed and Crazy character is bound to give the player some chills. Grodd and Brainiac control various characters during the story, including Blue Beetle and Green Arrow. The brainwashed characters speak in a demonic-sounding Voice of the Legion, and their random twitching and convulsions are incredibly jarring.
• When Superman confronts Green Lantern after defeating Brainiac, instead of taking the ring from him, like the heroic Superman did with Sinestro in Injustice: Gods Among Us, he simply catches Hal's punch and crushes his hand. When Clark lets go, the fingers point in all sorts of directions.
• The Story Mode's endgame forces the player to pick between siding with either Batman or Superman. Should Superman be picked, his ending is anything but good. Superman kills Brainiac and gains control of his ship, turning him into what looks like a Coluan-Kryptonian hybrid, complete with lifeless Prophet Eyes. Superman imprisons Supergirl, and boasts that with Brainiac's powers and collection, he can now reinstate his power across the whole universe (and possibly others, if his ending is to be trusted), with the powers of a full Kryptonian army, among others, that could rival the entire Lantern Corps (including the Red and Yellow Lanterns). The worst part? Batman isn't killed, but is instead transformed into a mindless robotic monstrosity, and threatens Supergirl with a similar fate if she refuses to become The Dragon to his new regime, forcing her to a Sadistic Choice. Her look of shock and horror upon seeing "Batman" says it all. It's unknown what happened to her in his Arcade ending, but it's implied that she chose to become his Number Two under pain of death, or worse, she was forcibly turned into a brainwashed Cyborg by her cousin.
  • Also borders on Paranoia Fuel and Fridge Horror of what Superman could do with a brainwashed Batman. Superman could force him into breaking his no-killing rule constantly, permanently staining Batman's hands with the blood of countless people. This could be so downright jarring that if Batman somehow ever gets freed, the immense trauma he would suffer after being Reforged into a Minion and forced to kill many (possibly his own allies) could leave him catatonic, and that's just assuming he isn't Driven to Suicide. Not to mention, Batman seeing himself forced to murder may likely cause him to effectively lose the will to lead another rebellion against Superman. If being brainwashed wasn't enough, then this could be an even bigger Fate Worse than Death for Batman.
  • And remember the implication that the Injustice universe was destroyed in the comics? If that's the case, then this game doesn't take place in the Injustice universe, but another universe where similar events occurred. How many universes are there where Superman was driven by Joker to form the Regime? And in how many of those did Superman triumph over Batman, kill Brainiac, and take power for himself? Somewhere, in some universe, Multiversal Conqueror Superman is a reality, and he's coming...
  • Even worse? Judging by Injustice vs. Masters of the Universe, Absolute Power is the canon ending.

Arcade Endings

• Superman: A continuation of the "Absolute Power" ending where he fuses with Brainiac's ship shows exactly what he has in mind: he forms a new Regime with the countless aliens he released, his brainwashed victims and the fallen heroes still loyal to him and plans to extend his authoritarian rule beyond planet Earth, across the entire universe... and universes beyond.
• The Joker: He gains control of Brainiac's ship and the shrunken cities inside. He then mixes up several cities and drops them onto Earth to let the inhabitants go wild as he sits back and watches them tear the world apart.
• Black Adam: He finds his wife dead and decides to find a way to bring her back. To do this, he agrees to a deal to aid the one man on Earth who has the experience, skill and will to take both Superman and Batman down: Ra's al Ghul.
• Scarecrow: Crane, having figured out how to adapt the Fear Gas to Brainiac's physiology, breaks his mind before commandeering his ship. From there, he realizes that all the cities Brainiac shrunk are now his own personal laboratories for his Fear Gas tests. That, combined with his access to Brainiac's tech, speaks for itself.
• Darkseid: After defeating Brainiac, Darkseid vaporizes him with his Omega Beam. Later, in the destroyed remains of a city, Darkseid vaporizes Superman, which is shown in disturbing detail. On the side, we see Wonder Woman dead as well, impaled with her own sword. Supergirl is seen lying down beneath Darkseid, as Darkseid kills her cousin. Darkseid later mentions that, after some brutal torture by Desaad, Supergirl became his own personal weapon of destruction, completely obedient to Darkseid's every command. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! Darkseid now has a new army of Parademons. The twist? They are all cloned from Superman's DNA. With all that being said and done, Darkseid establishes himself as Earth's ruthless new leader.
• Gorilla Grodd: Grodd betrays Brainiac and pulls off his head, then uses the Coluan's technology to increase his psychic abilities. After enslaving the heroes and forcing them to serve him and his gorillas food and drinks, Grodd renames himself "Emperor Grodd" and decides to try his hand at being a Multiversal Conqueror. It's like a mixture of The Terminator and Planet of the Apes.
• Cheetah: When she defeats Brainiac and is about to finish him off, the Coluan offers her the ultimate hunting ground in exchange for being spared. After Brainiac fulfills his end of the deal, Cheetah pulls an I Lied and kills him anyway, basking in her new playground while wearing Brainiac's Shrunken Head as a necklace.
• Swamp Thing: Fed up with everyone he meets caring little about nature, Swamp Thing takes Brainiac's invasion as an excuse to take back Earth for the plants, unleashing the full might of the Green and resulting in all of civilization being overgrown, while claiming that from now on, nature will defend itself. The image it ends on looks like concept art from The Last of Us.
• Poison Ivy: After somehow seducing Brainiac, Ivy commands him to collect every last city on Earth, which he does. She rewards him with a kiss, which, if you know Poison Ivy, doesn't end well for Brainiac, then proceeds to reclaim Earth for her plants. Some surviving heroes try to stop her, including Swamp Thing, Batman, and Harley, but it's clear that their efforts are in vain.
• Enchantress: June tricks Brainiac into consuming Enchantress, the merging apparently killing them both. June is now free to live a normal life, getting her job back, and having a date. Sounds pretty heartwarming right? But then Enchantress comes back, regains control of June and now plans to bewitch all 52 multiverses. June's painful scream as she's being taken over by Enchantress just makes it even harder to watch.

Miscellaneous

• Black Manta's entrance will start with a view of only his glowing red eyes, before backing up and showing him surrounded by darkness.
• In an intro dialogue, Harley Quinn will offer Catwoman the chance to start a new team with Batwoman and Batgirl. If they clash during the battle, Catwoman will bring up Ivy. Harley's response? The epitome of O.O.C. Is Serious Business!
  (under her breath) Red's a lost cause!
  • Granted, it's more of a Tear Jerker, but Harley's voice NEVER gets that low! That's how you know she's hurt... and might hurt you too.
• Hope you weren't too attached to Nice Guy Superman from the last game, because the characterization of Superman seems to be completely Regime Superman. Aggressive, arrogant, and have we mentioned how much he loves Red Eyes, Take Warning? An opponent speaks to him first in an intro? Clench fist with glowing red eyes. Brought in as a prisoner with Kryptonite cuffs? Break free with glowing red eyes. Victorious in battle? Smash the ground, red eyes glowing. Notice a pattern?
  • Made worse by the fact the original Superman is nowhere to be seen in this game, except for a couple of mirror matches where he faces alternate universe versions of himself hinted to be still heroic and the Multiverse intro alongside the Main Earth Batman.
• Brainiac's win pose has him summoning two of his robots to finish off his defeated opponent.
• Darkseid's win pose has him firing his Omega Beams right at the camera.
• Joker shooting himself through the head with his "Bang!" Flag Gun with no ill effect on himself. Makes you wonder just how he's Back from the Dead...
  • Joker's win pose, simple but chillingly effective: He pulls out some cards, throws them into the air and grabs the joker card and holds it over his face laughing as embers of the other cards fall around him.
  • Plus, the Evil Laugh he lets out in his intro, Arcade Ending and Super Move seems a bit unnerving...
  • It says a lot about Joker that almost everyone, including Brainiac and Darkseid of all people, is disturbed, shocked, or just understandably disgusted at the absolute monster he truly is, given how he caused Superman's fall from grace in the last game; even Hellboy, a guy who has encountered literal demons and monsters, calls him "one sick piece of crap". No wonder why he's despised by everybody, including the villains.
• Brainiac's drone soldiers are frightening to behold: they look less like robots and more like armored corpses◊, with a Skull for a Head, Glowing Eyes of Doom, and exposed ribcages and muscle tissue. They may remind viewers of Husks from the Mass Effect series because of their organic/cybernetic appearance.
  • Made even worse when one realizes that this means those drones are made from the corpses of Brainiac's victims.
  • At the start of Wonder Woman's chapter, she crushes one of the drone's skull heads and there's a brief moment where some pink is seen between her fingers, implied to be the brain matter contained within.
• One of the intro dialogues between Joker and Deadshot has Joker threatening Deadshot's daughter.
  Deadshot: Joker...
  Joker: Mr. Lawton, how's your daughter?
  Deadshot: (points rifle) You don't ever mention her!
  • This extends to clash dialogue.
  Joker: Can't wait to meet Zoe!
  Deadshot: You're staying dead this time!
  • Black Manta does the same thing, and gets the same reaction.
  Deadshot: Do what I say or bullets fly!
  Black Manta: I know where Zoe lives...
  Deadshot: You just committed suicide!
• One of Batman and Joker's intros has Joker bringing up Harley, and Joker's behavior shows how viciously possessive he truly is.
  Joker: You made Harley a hero?!
  Batman: She is away from you.
  Joker [growling]: She's never away from me.
• When Batman and Superman face off Superman claims that only criminals should fear him, only for Batman to ask if Shazam and Green Arrow counted as criminals Superman's response is chilling, just for how casually he says it.
  Superman: Casualties of war.
  • What's even more terrifying about this: Superman is still so blinded that he even believes his murder of a child was somehow necessary.
    • It's also scary how Flash seems to be the only ex-Regimer who actually cared at all about Superman killing a child. Heck, even Green Lantern doesn't have any dialogue to say he's against Clark's decision now and he's one of the good guys.
• Also, the intro dialogue background music on the Joker's Playground stage is properly unsettling, what with its eerie carnival music-box waltz opening. Given that the Joker is a coulrophobe's worst nightmare and plenty unhinged to boot, AND this soundtrack piece has the ability to burrow into your head? Yikes.
• Sub-Zero's victory animation. Ever wonder what his classic Spine Rip fatality looked like in first person? Judging by the squelching and the splash of blood on his face, that's what he does to you after he freezes you.
• Bizarro gains a very disturbing look in this game, resembling a White Walker with decrepit pale skin and glowing blue eyes.
• The official Halloween multiverse adds many spooky modifiers to the fights. The one that is leaving a heavy impact on people is the giant spider that will attack the screen at random times with no warning, while screeching quite loudly and will block the fight.
• Hellboy's Super Move: He opens a hole in the ground and pounces on the enemy causing them to fall into Hell. Hellboy punches the opponent several times before sending them to the ground. The opponent then gets assaulted by winged demons like a murder of crows as the opponent flails about helplessly. Hellboy then grabs an axe and slashes the opponent, which also kills the demons.
• If June appears, the Enchantress will appear in a similar way to Suicide Squad (2016) — creeping up behind her to take control before enveloping her body.
• Cheetah's Super Move: She charges at the opponent, throws them into the air, then slices them thrice. After falling off, Cheetah slices her opponent a few more times, then jumps onto their back, breaking their spine and violently slamming them into the floor. At one hand, what makes this Super Move rather disturbing is just how truly ferocious it is due to its brutal animalistic violence, but is the incredibly gruesome sound effects at the very end that show us how EXTREMELY graphic this Super Move is: when Cheetah jumps on the back of her opponent, we very clearly hear an extraordinarily disturbingly realistic and absolutely blood-curdling squelching noise that is clearly the enemy's spine shattering to pieces, which is accompanied by a Sickening "Crunch!" as well as bits of blood-splattering noises (which imply some major damage to the opponent's organs and/or blood vessels) and soon after that, we finally hear a very laud, wet snap and an extremely violent whiplash. All of these sounds are just utterly cringe-inducing and WAY too graphic for a T-rated game like this, and it might as well make you wonder how the makers included all of that graphically explicit material on the game, considering how inappropriate and disturbing the sounds are and how it belongs more to Mortal Kombat or any other M-rated game because of this. To put it simply, this Super Move is actually more reminiscent of an "X-Ray" attack from Mortal Kombat 9 and Mortal Kombat X and/or a "Fatal Blow" from Mortal Kombat 11.
  • Also, Cheetah in general as a character is quite frightening due to how relentlessly psychotic and extremely aggressive she is. Her attacks and moves are all extremely brutal and animalistic, since a lot of them involve her savagely clawing her opponent, much like how a real-life cheetah would do, and she even manages to be much more violent than her mainstream counterpart, making her the most brutal and bloodthirsty character in the game's roster. Basically, here she's less of a half-human, half-cheetah hunter and more of an outright rabid wild animal.
• Never mind Cheetah, what about Gorilla Grodd?! Apart from the fact that we learn that he's ultimately working for Brainiac all along, despite the fact that Brainiac will possibly destroy Gorilla City, thus making his motivation It's All About Me, he's exactly as threatening as you'd expect a misanthropic gorilla with Psychic Powers and a taste for Brain Food to be. He has a menacing deep voice with traces of rasp, scary armour with Spikes of Villainy, and one of his intros features him carrying a human skull on stage, crushing it to fragments. To anyone who's ever considered Grodd a Fad Super, his depiction in this game serves as a reminder why he's the Flash's Arch-Nemesis.
  • Grodd's Super Move is also pretty brutal. He snares the opponent with his psychic powers, reels them in towards him, and grabs their head and slams it into the ground a few times, (the last one of which he uses his psychic powers for), before drawing them in and doing a Mighty Roar in the opponent's face (from the third person point of view), and knocking them down with a simple punch.
  • Also, Grodd's victory animation. He drums on the floor with his fists, roars, then jumps towards the downed opponent, again, from their point of view. Players, Gorilla Grodd Is About To Savage You.
• SCARECROW. His design is completely terrifying, and so is his Super move, but do you want to know the worst part about him? He is voiced by Robert Englund, aka FREDDY KRUEGER!