Their numbers are limitless. Their malice infinite. To know them is madness. The Daemons of Chaos are the most feared of foes; they are liars one and all, but it is the truth that damns us above all. They are here because we want them to be. They shall kill us because we deny that want. The Galaxy shall die not in blood and fire, but with a realization: Chaos can not be denied!
I can taste your fear, human. It is a tangible thing. I can run my fingers over it and drink deep of its sticky aroma. If this terror is the food of hatred, let me feast upon it and in the feasting destroy you utterly.
What are we? Your scholars claim we exist only to tempt you, yet in a very real way we are you. We are your own desires, your own fears, your own ambitions and rages, given form (if not flesh). How can you fight us? Only by fighting your own Humanity, and why would you want to do that? You would be fighting against life itself. For what is Chaos but life?
— Tzaal, momentarily lucid Horror of Tzeentch, Warhammer 40,000
Anger, hatred, corruption, become power! Everything that exists will be devoured!
— Sora's Heartless, Kingdom Hearts coded
"It happened when you and I were split into two. The negativity took shape as these monsters. They are what I feel- a horde of fledgling emotions under my control."
— Vanitas, on the Unversed, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
"All they know is how to hurt and destroy and kill. Admirable when you need someone hurt, destroyed or killed, but what about the times when you just want them to sit down and shut up? Oh, FORGET that. 'I wanna go to Earth.' 'I want to kill my old girlfriend.' 'I want to eat my family's flesh and drink their marrow.' 'I want to blow up my school.' 'I want to anally penetrate my kindergarten teacher.'"
"Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them... Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself...soulless and evil. You will be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life."
— Remus Lupin, Harry Potter
"Understand that there is no point in living. Cry, that there is no answer! Where there is darkness, there are shadows. I, myself, am all of you humans!"
— Nyarlathotep, Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
"You are me. I am you. I know what's in your heart. Hatred: that's what I really am."
— Dark Naruto, Naruto
Supergirl: It happened some years ago, both in my time and yours. I was coming to your era to attend a Legion meeting. Just routine business, but the bylaws stated that a member had to attend a minimum number of meetings to keep her status, and I chose this one. And just after I popped into your time, I ran right into a chunk of Red Kryptonite.
Shrinking Violet: That's the stuff that always has crazy effects on Kryptonians. Makes 'em fat, or crazy, or giants, or gives 'em ant's heads, and like that.
Blok: Please continue, Kara.
Supergirl: All I knew at the time was that I had a fainting spell. While I was out, the real Red K effect came through. The thing... it... I was cloned! It cloned me, and the clone was, well, my evil side. My dark side. And it was just as real as... as real as me.
Shrinking Violet: That's the stuff that always has crazy effects on Kryptonians. Makes 'em fat, or crazy, or giants, or gives 'em ant's heads, and like that.
Blok: Please continue, Kara.
Supergirl: All I knew at the time was that I had a fainting spell. While I was out, the real Red K effect came through. The thing... it... I was cloned! It cloned me, and the clone was, well, my evil side. My dark side. And it was just as real as... as real as me.
"The dictionary tells us the Id in the psychological sense is 'the fundamental mass of life tendencies, out of which the ego and the libido tendencies develop.' Which may mean, and in my present usage does mean, the mass of formless, bestial impulses, entirely self-centered, which are part of the basis of every thinking creature…
Now, suppose the collective 'conscious' minds of a race to have developed to a pitch where the forbidden creation is an established (or about to be established) fact. What more logical than to suppose that, at the same time, the 'subconscious' mind—the Id—has developed to the point of autogenesis?
The result? The letting loose, upon an unsuspecting and defenseless race of beings, of a horde of dread and insensate monsters! The most frightful monsters of all—the realized basenesses of their own natures! Monsters concrete and yet impalpable! Monsters with illimitable physical powers to rend and destroy but with no true physicality to be rent or destroyed themselves!"
Now, suppose the collective 'conscious' minds of a race to have developed to a pitch where the forbidden creation is an established (or about to be established) fact. What more logical than to suppose that, at the same time, the 'subconscious' mind—the Id—has developed to the point of autogenesis?
The result? The letting loose, upon an unsuspecting and defenseless race of beings, of a horde of dread and insensate monsters! The most frightful monsters of all—the realized basenesses of their own natures! Monsters concrete and yet impalpable! Monsters with illimitable physical powers to rend and destroy but with no true physicality to be rent or destroyed themselves!"
— Diary of C.X. Ostrow, from the Novelization of Forbidden Planet
“The fabric of our star began to fray… and the unchecked energies of creation begat malformed beasts. Just as prayer gives rise to primals, our dread made manifest our deepest fears.”
— Emet-Selch, Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
"I don't see any reason why I'm not him. I've been inside his heart every second in his life from the moment he made the contract. I know everything about him. I have the same memories, and they are not as hazy as you may think they are. There is literally no reason why I am not him."
— Caecilia, Stray Dog Records
It's almost as if any dream or idea that is shared by enough human hearts and minds has a real chance of being born into the world. The creatures... if any exist beyond what I saw with my own eyes... I think they're the deformed half-starts. Random manifestations of some dark, unquantifiable non-life that seeped into our state of being. They're mistakes of reality. Cosmic abortions. The Corrupted.
"Monsters never die. They are reborn from the chaos and barbarism that is always bubbling underneath civilization, the very stuff that makes Kronos stronger. They must be defeated again and again, kept at bay."
—Chiron, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters
"Our hero, once again attempts to find the words he lacks
And peers between the lines to see the lines observing back
A scratch all too familiar and, oh! The surface cracks
What’s the matter, Alan? We can’t both be worthless hacks
Now, I know what you’re thinking
"This is crazy! Oh, he can’t exist!"
You could have made a killing
Just embraced a little masochist
‘Stead you’re dried up
Trying to earn a living from a manuscript
But have you tried for just one second
Living as the man you script?
I’m the parts you were ashamed of, I’m the parts you tried to fight
I’m the parts you told yourself didn’t keep you awake at night
I’m the part of you that’s better, you just can’t concede I’m right
So, you poured me into pages, then I guess I’m just your type
You meld work with your self-worth
But tell me, what does that sell for?
And was the journey through Hell worth
How short you fell on the bell curve?
Then one day they’ll forget you, ooh!
But I’ve stories to tell first
‘Cause I’m that face that you gave them to be you
And baby, I’m well versed
What am I when you’re already a shadow of yourself?
Tell me who would look at this
And then take that down off the shelf?
You had it, buddy! All of it!
The fame, the glam, the wealth
But what’s it worth if you won’t play the hand the round has dealt?
"Nightmares don’t use logic" Yeah, we know that you can read
Sat there hoping for the credits
But it’s me who’s supposed to lead
All that hokum in your head
But where’s the quote to make you see?
That perhaps YOU'RE antithetical to the poetry of ME!"
And peers between the lines to see the lines observing back
A scratch all too familiar and, oh! The surface cracks
What’s the matter, Alan? We can’t both be worthless hacks
Now, I know what you’re thinking
"This is crazy! Oh, he can’t exist!"
You could have made a killing
Just embraced a little masochist
‘Stead you’re dried up
Trying to earn a living from a manuscript
But have you tried for just one second
Living as the man you script?
I’m the parts you were ashamed of, I’m the parts you tried to fight
I’m the parts you told yourself didn’t keep you awake at night
I’m the part of you that’s better, you just can’t concede I’m right
So, you poured me into pages, then I guess I’m just your type
You meld work with your self-worth
But tell me, what does that sell for?
And was the journey through Hell worth
How short you fell on the bell curve?
Then one day they’ll forget you, ooh!
But I’ve stories to tell first
‘Cause I’m that face that you gave them to be you
And baby, I’m well versed
What am I when you’re already a shadow of yourself?
Tell me who would look at this
And then take that down off the shelf?
You had it, buddy! All of it!
The fame, the glam, the wealth
But what’s it worth if you won’t play the hand the round has dealt?
"Nightmares don’t use logic" Yeah, we know that you can read
Sat there hoping for the credits
But it’s me who’s supposed to lead
All that hokum in your head
But where’s the quote to make you see?
That perhaps YOU'RE antithetical to the poetry of ME!"
— The Stupendium as Mr Scratch, "The Ribbon"
On this planet, you call females who have yet to become adults "girls." It makes sense then that since you'll eventually become witches you should be called "magical girls".
— Kyubey , Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Nowhere Monarch: I KNEW I FELT IT! AN EMPTINESS. A HOLE WHERE A HEART SHOULD BE. IT EMPOWERS ME. I WISH TO CONSUME IT WHOLE.
Meredith: W-who are you? What are you talking about?
Nowhere Monarch: YOUR KIND COULD LIVE SUCH RICH LIVES. BUT INSTEAD YOU TRADE IT FOR HOLLOW SYMBOLS AND ARTIFICE. YOU EXCHANGE SOMETHING MEANINGFUL FOR NOTHING. MY CASTLE IS FILLED WITH ALL THE EMPTINESS YOU LEAVE BEHIND!
Meredith: Your... castle? The mall? Are you serious? This place is a ruin! Filled with trash! It's nothing!
Nowhere Monarch: YES... IT IS NOTHING... AND I AM THE KING OF NOTHING! COME, LET ME CONSUME YOUR EMPTINESS!
Meredith: W-who are you? What are you talking about?
Nowhere Monarch: YOUR KIND COULD LIVE SUCH RICH LIVES. BUT INSTEAD YOU TRADE IT FOR HOLLOW SYMBOLS AND ARTIFICE. YOU EXCHANGE SOMETHING MEANINGFUL FOR NOTHING. MY CASTLE IS FILLED WITH ALL THE EMPTINESS YOU LEAVE BEHIND!
Meredith: Your... castle? The mall? Are you serious? This place is a ruin! Filled with trash! It's nothing!
Nowhere Monarch: YES... IT IS NOTHING... AND I AM THE KING OF NOTHING! COME, LET ME CONSUME YOUR EMPTINESS!
