Despite the rampant smut in this series, this is still one that involves 48 characters in one setting having to either survive or kill each-other...and even outside of the series, they're not safe. Unmarked spoilers ahead.
General/Multiple Episodes
- The general concept of the Arena. A Sadistic Game Show combined with a Battle Royale concept that takes place in an ever-changing biome with everything designed to end you as quickly as possible. Anyone Can Die is in full effect, no matter HOW popular you are.
- Downplayed by the fact that anybody who dies is sent back to their original point in space/time. But it's been shown that a few people have lingering memories of being killed there, especially when they return.
- Season 2 changes this up with each "Arena" being replaced by a certain theme. Gone is any of the consistency, however much there was, of the original Arena, which was destroyed during the Season 1 finale. Even worse, most of the time, it's the fault of a third party that, for all intents and purposes, Baskerra ALLOWED to commit the atrocities that follow.
- For that matter, Baskerra Hellmane herself. Sure, she's a nudist Hellhound with the personality of a giddy game show host with a bit of a snarker attitude AND generally encourages noble wishes for the winners, but make no mistake. She's responsible for this mess and she's fully capable of putting the combatants in their places, as Episode 1 demonstrated with her dealing a Curb-Stomp Battle to those remaining.
- The fact that just about ANYONE can be plucked up, at any time, to participate in an Arena. And the range of who gets chosen goes from a toaster and a forklift (which actually were chosen for one episode), to Physical Gods like Darkseid and Kratos! Oh, and not even children are safe from being chosen as well.
- Most of the deaths qualify. Sure, a lot of them are quick, but some are kind of gruesome. Especially if they happen to anybody that doesn't deserve it.
- RIDLEY. The space dragon we all know and loathe shows up in various Arenas and most of his appearances showcase just how much of a Sadist he is, especially now that he's been given the ability to speak, like in the Metroid Manga. As seen in the episode recaps, he gets worse and worse with each appearance, culminating in him becoming an Omnicidal Maniac willing to cause a Zombie Apocalypse just to get one over the heroes!
- The fact that the the Infinity Stones in the Arena's universe can be used in ANY universe, unlike the canon Infinity Stones, is a grim one. But it really gets bad in the Season 1 film-fic when that theory is put to the test...
- The sheer abuse that returnees to the Arena can get, especially Ed, is nauseating at times. Yank the Dog's Chain covers it nicely.
- Starting from Episode 15, a whole series of portals have started to open up all over the Multiverse, leading to more havoc OUTSIDE the Arena! Downplayed, as it often works out for the best, but still. Talk about From Bad to Worse!
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Season 1
December 2020
- Isabelle accidentally melting Speedy Gonzales with an acid-laced party popper. That could have NOT been a pleasant image.
- One of the assist trophies the Alucard utilizes? A giant vampire bat, which proceeds to maul and drain Zebra DILF.
- Remember in "How I Became Yours" when Katara blood-bended Mai to death? Pretty bad, right? How about her doing the same to Akrog, twisting his limbs in various directions before forcing him to stab himself in the face? Just goes to show that even the joke characters are dangerous.
- Baskerra Hellmane's Curb-Stomp Battle against the contestants remaining halfway through the fic. Among the few deaths shown, we get to see several immolated or Impaled with Extreme Prejudice. All culminating in a Mind Rape that even leaves Megatron shaken.
- And keep in mind, this is one of the ONLY times where she's actually dead serious. And all of this because one of Megatron's blasts hit her owner's room.
- Acererak possessing Judy Hopps to escape death. She's just barely clinging to life as her body is puppeted, before it's unceramoniously shot in half by a Gyaos.
- Lilith's death may have been quick, but she still crumbled to dust in Megatron's claws after being hit by a meteor strike.
- The Gyaos swarm. The reveal of their nest in the underground bunker is creepy enough, but imagine a whole army of these voracious demonic bat-like monsters. Remember the ending of Gamera 3?]] Imagine if they were controlled by a centuries old lich!
- Despite it being a moment of awesome, Megatron's true power being unleashed at the end. It goes to show WHY he's The Dreaded among Cybertronians. You don't get any more terrifying when your spark, if overclocked enough, becomes an Unrealistic Black Hole, which proceeds to tear apart the Gyaos swarm around him.
- On that note, Megatron himself. Adaptational Heroism or not, he's sporting his "Revenge of the Fallen" design and a later story shows that he is as brutal as we remember him. Not to mention, he goes on an eerily calm rampage when Lilith dies, with one death he deals involving him running over a contestant in tank mode.
January 2021
- The Vaal Hazak. It was bad enough in its home game, but his fic gives it several new powers and what seems to be an greater sense of aggression. Because of this, many combatants are wiped out, even the Nergigante, which is supposed to be an Elder Dragon that eats other dragons!
- Its introduction is also grim, with it sucking the life-force out of several trapped competitors. One of which is a CHILD. All reduced to zombie hordes that attack in literal waves.
- Its death isn't anything to sneeze at, either. River ends up sacrificing herself to load its body with so much water that it not only expels the effluvium out of it, but overflow the beast's body into exploding violently.
- The Arachnids of Klendathu return for another event. Several characters are torn apart by the hordes, but a standout moment is when Tilroo is so close to escaping with everybody else...only to be reduced to screaming melting mass by a Tanker.
- Ridley impaling Sarah Silkie through the stomach with his tail. He even screams at her to scream for him, watching the life leave her terrified eyes.
- The Dragon Wasps would be this in the final event, given they're obscure Syfy monsters that are fire-breathing giant wasps...but obviously, Ridley takes center-stage, even singing his Villain Song from Man on the Internet. Chillingly, he also bites off Mami Tomoe's head...just like her previous famed fate in her series.
February 2021
- Trypticon wiping out a good CHUNK of the cast after just the first day! Not the worst ways they could go out, given most are annihilated by missiles and laser beams, but still!
- Mulan's Transformation Horror into a perpetually horny kitsune-like monster. Unlike most lust-involved things here, it's played for terror, with her as a feral beast that has to be put down by a Barnacle.
- Ridley's fight with Judy at the end goes just as bad as you might guess. They're also teleported to her home, with her friends helpless to watch as she's brutalized by the dragon to the point of HAVING ONE OF HER EARS TORN. Based on the art commissions that came after this, the wound never heals.
- Speaking of wounds, Chief Bogo intervenes and, for his troubles, gets his eye ripped out!
March 2021
- Nicol Bolas once more proves how vile he is by taking Ugin's recently severed head at the start (his own brother) and mockingly crushes it.
- Throughout the fic, it's shown that Trigon is trying to possess his own daughter throughout. By the end of the fic, it looks like he almost succeeded before Raven was slain.
- Frosh's Attack the Mouth strategy against Cynder? Shove a bazooka up her maw before firing.
- Wonder Woman's death by Sharkopaths. Not helping is that it takes place at night.
- Zig-Zag's fate. Her abuse of the Mind Stone causes her brain to be reduced to mush!
- River's gruesome death by a barnacle.
- While the Garlic Jr. sequence is mostly just action and spectacle, Tigress gains some nasty permanent wounds when Ginger slashes her across the back with his swords.
- When Tigress is sent back home, the whole Valley of Peace looks eerily abandoned...before it's revealed that Alture is mind-controlling the entire populace, including her companions, teacher, and crush! Downplayed by the awesome music number that results from this, but it's not a pleasant though to stomach, considers she winds up having to fight her way through the controlled ones.
- Alture's fate. Disproportionate Retribution, anybody? Sure, he was mind-controlling people by the end, but it was heavily implied the Infinity Stones controlled him first and his fate is to be bred/eaten by giant insects for his troubles.
April 2021
- Draka. A Psycho Knife Nut glory-obsessed draconic humanoid that seems like yet another throwaway OC with a slightly villainous streak, but when he winds up one of the finalists, he shows his true colors as a snake to those he obsenstibly is teaming up with. Dawn and Po violently learn he's not to be trusted.
- Po's death by him deserves mention, as he's tricked into being attacked by a Swampus. He spends his last moments in poison-induced agony.
- Him slowly losing his mind near the end is also unnerving.
- Paige's Transformation Horror into a Spitbug. It's mercifully brief, on account of a Mercy Kill delivered by Heavy Weapons Guy.
- The Fatalis. Complete with its usual theme and its violent tendencies. Greatly mitigated by nobody dying at its claws and the whole thing being more of an Awesome moment.
May 2021
- Not even a day into this Arena, we're introduced to the Akantor and Ukanlos. What follows reduces to the cast from around 48 to 18.
- On one hand, several of the combatants fighting the Akantor are knocked into the lava. One the other (and perhaps worse), those against the Ukanlos are knocked into the water.
- The deaths of the Akantor, whom Zodd rips apart. There's a reason they call him the 'Eater of Elders'.
- The Deadly Spawn's cameo. Loona and Zhima fall into a hole and Blitzo's arm suddenly pats the Hellhound on the shoulder...before the reveal of that arm being eaten by the horrific thing. Loona's soon pinned down by the thing's offspring, allowing it to bite off her head messily. Zhima would have been next had it not been for Zodd.
- Not helping is that this resembles one of the more gruesome death scenes from that film.
June 2021
- Nova LeMarche. A gynomorph Sadist who has a penchant for either devouring people with her genetalia or destroying their minds with her musk to puppeteer them. By the end of the fic, she's already amassed a small army.
July 2021
- Cool Cat. He was already creepy due to his costume and odd mannerisms, but he gets hit with the Adaptational Villainy stick hard. Mainly, he's a creepy stalker for Sarah, manages to control the Goke that tries to possess him while ALSO wiping the invaders out at the same time AND is heavily implied (and then confirmed in a later fic) to have killed children on the pretense of them being 'bullies'!
- The Amatsu. More majestic than scary, it doesn't change the fact that it bulldozes through the group when it arrives.
- On an earlier note, the Goke. Downplayed due to being hijacked by Cool Cat, but they're still the creepy body-invading parasites from before, even managing to possess some unlucky souls, like Roy.
- Shockwave's breakdown after Sarah's death near the end of the fic. Logic Bomb, anyone? It's brief and humanizes him, sure, but still!
August 2021
- Ajani's conversion into a Matango drone.
- What's worse than having to deal with one gigantic Elder Dragon? How about TWO?! Yep, both the Hallowed Jhen Mohran and Dah'ren Mohran are there to menace the contestants. Doesn't help the music is pulse-pounding.
September 2021
- Wario's possession of a freaking Crimson Fatalis! There's a bit of humor in that it's WARIO that's doing it and the beast sports his mustache afterwards, but still. That's one heck of a power boost that almost assured victory for the maddened Fat Bastard.
October 2021
- Befitting of this episode taking place on Halloween, there are a few scary moments. How about Lola Bunny being Eaten Alive by a Deathclaw. Feet-first.
- The return of Edzilla. Only this time, it's an unintended transformation on Ed's part, forcing Legoshi to put him down like a rabid dog.
- Ridley's rampage in Legoshi's hometown is bad enough, but when he sees Haru, he just...snaps. The mere sight of another anthro rabbit is enough to set him off into a barely together rage. If it wasn't for Legoshi getting a heroic second wind, she would have been slaughtered on the spot.
November 2021
- This fic spells out that Bagan did something awful to the ancient past of the Las Lindas canon. Given that he's a monster created for mass destruction, it doesn't look good...
- Ridley finally snaps during the last rap number between him and Ed. The resulting Disney Acid Sequence doesn't help as reality itself appears to break down with their battle. Not to mention, he capped this off with slaughtering his own men AND the Cul-de-sac in one fell swoop!
- Not to mention, even after being seemingly defeated for good, he makes a vow that he'll be back. Well...he certainly kept his promise, as the Season 1 movie proved...
- While more awesome if anything, there's something off about how Ed enters a state of Tranquil Fury as he pummels Ridley with Ultra Ed-stinct. It's how you KNOW even sweet lovable Ed has limits.
Hell on Hyrule
- While more of a smut fic, if anything, the sheer ease Cy is able to take over a Hyrule still recovering from Ganon is unnerving. Not to mention, Link's state at the end of the fic.
Peace Through Tyranny
- Megatron's origin story goes to show that Cybertron took cues from the 2005 IDW incarnation. Everything from the horrors of Functionism to the higher-ups desperately and even aggressively ignoring the incoming energy crisis.
- The fact that the Council of Primes was willing to condone a False Flag Operation against MacAddams just to quell the (so-far) peaceful Decepticon movement. It was this impulsive act that caused Megatron to finally snap and becoming the monstrous overlord he was.
- And what happened when the truth was unveiled to the Autobot populace? They cheered, mostly because they just wanted the Decepticons gone. Crapsack World, thine name is Cybertron.
- The subsequent surprise attack of the Decepticons that happens afterwards. For starters, it's all during a parade, resulting in Iacon getting all but destroyed along with a host of other cities being taken over. Sure, it's slightly cathartic, but still.
- Megatron's own personal Roaring Rampage of Revenge through the Temple of Primus. Special mention goes to him using Micronus Prime as ammo for his Fusion cannon by SHOVING him in there and dooming Caminus when he shatters the Mistress' of Flame's staff!
- Whatever Soundwave did to Getaway. Sure, he deserved it, but it could have been hardly pleasant.
- A dose of Fridge Horror with Getaway: It's mentioned that prior to his betryal, he constantly hit on Blaster, Soundwave's Conjux. A chapter later, during the false flag attack, Getaway's the one who executes Blaster. Given that this is Getaway we're talking about, his motive for killing him becomes tragically clear.
- Overall, it's quite a violent side-story, as a LOT of Transformers get ripped apart and brutally dispatched. And keep in mind, even an enlightened Megatron is still a violent one, and he's heading for the capital city of Anduruna, another corrupt city...
Infinity Pizza
- Ridley winds up stringing everybody along into getting him the Infinity Stones. What does he do with them? Apart from thrash the heroes, he ZOMBIFIES ALL THEIR LOVED ONES AND PRESUMINGLY MORE. Not to mention, he basically become an Omnicidal Maniac, showing just how much damage the Arena has made an already horrible villain even worse.
- That Zombie Apocalypse thing? He sics them all on our heroes, causing them much emotional turmoil. But the worst part is that they're still somewhat aware and BEGGING for death! Thank GOD for the time travel save!
Season 2
Season 3
