For a series that started off with some comparisons to The Incredibles, Tiger & Bunny ended up with several examples of this once it turns out how far the quirky, funny Corporate Superheroism...isn't so funny. Just like The Incredibles when you get down to it...
Spoilers below:
- The major one is the revelation that Maverick is the one who killed Barnaby's parents, and that he has memory-altering powers which he used repeatedly on Barnaby over the years to ensure that the boy never discovered the truth, among other things. The implications of that are just terrifying, because every "flashback" of Barnaby's is now called into question, which naturally has him doubting his own sanity. A particularly horrific/tear-jerking scene has Barnaby recalling the moment he walked in on his parents' murder scene, only to see the killer's face (which he never could recall properly) change from one person to the other including his affectionate old housekeeper, his trusted partner and himself.
- There's Lunatic, the creepy pyrokinetic who despises the HeroTV's idea of "justice" and so kills those criminals he thinks are deserving (and for the most part, they are). While he claims to avoid killing innocents, his hijacking of the police raid showed a total disregard for the amount of damage caused, simply to make a point to his 'fellow heroes'.
- When Kotetsu is framed as a criminal, Lunatic protects him because he found the giant holes in the frame-up story. Wouldn't be scary... Up until one realizes this reveals he's not just a loon with fire powers, he's a loon who knows exactly what he's doing.
- The fact that in the second season the idea of Lunatic assaulting an escaping criminal is dismissed immediately because the criminal survived, even if beaten so hard he had to be hospitalized. Judge Petrov, AKA Lunatic himself, being in the room and not needing to say anything for the idea to be dismissed makes it even worse.
- Episode 15: Cis' flesh starts tearing off after she's revealed to be a cyborg. Her "skeleton" is REALLY creepy.
- Episode 16 reveals Lunatic's backstory as Yuri Petrov, who grows up to be a judge in Sternbild. His father was an ex-hero (and the famous Mr. Legend, at that) who became an abusive alcoholic after losing his powers. One day, when he sees his father beating his mother, Yuri snaps and activates his NEXT power, setting his father's hand alight. Even worse, rather than screaming in pain his father laughs and puts his hand on Yuri's head, giving him the palm-shaped burn mark which is the same pattern used on his mask as "Lunatic". And then we get a little scene in the present day where we find that Yuri's elderly mother believes her husband is still alive, will somehow get better, and that her son is a demon.
- The way that he just stands there and watches his mother scream at him in the present-day scene is pretty chilling. He's used to this, and Yuri implies that this has happened several times before. It's Nightmare Fuel from both of their perspectives if you think about it enough.
- Watching Kriem rip out her IVs after waking up from her coma can be pretty disturbing, especially with the way her body convulses before she dies.
