History CreepyDoll / AnimeAndManga

* Creator/JunjiIto uses this trope to distressing effect in "A Doll's Hellish Burial", a one-shot comic included with ''Manga/JunjiItoKyoufuMangaCollection''. Over the course of six pages, a disease [[ToyTransmutation transforms a small girl named Maria into a doll]], which is creepy enough on its own. [[FromBadToWorse It doesn't stop mutating her there, though]].

* Creator/JunjiIto uses this trope to distressing effect in "A Doll's Hellish Burial", a one-shot comic included with some editions of his adaptation of ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}''. Over the course of six pages, a disease [[ToyTransmutation transforms a small girl named Maria into a doll]], which is creepy enough on its own. [[FromBadToWorse It doesn't stop mutating her there, though]].

* ''LightNovel/{{Kampfer}}'':

* Season 1 of ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'' had Friagne the Hunter, who, while he wasn't a doll himself, was way, ''way'' too attached to his Creepy Doll minion Marianne. The reason he's in town is so he can [[spoiler:dissolve the city to give her real life]].
* In ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}} NEXT'', one of the possible locations of the Clair Bible is a tower full of these. In truth the dolls were mostly harmless (aside of just floating around) and people ''thought'' they were creepy due to a legend about the person who used to live there, [[LonelyDollGirl a handsome yet lonely]] [[RareMaleExample male dollmaker]] who supposedly turned the girl he was a StalkerWithACrush to into a creepy doll so that she'd stay with him forever. [[spoiler:Except for two of them, and one was a demon in the shape of the cutest doll of them all, making people believe that the ''other'' doll was a the dollmaker from the legend after a DealWithTheDevil.]]

** Asuka possesses one and plays with it at one point in ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion 2.0''. Also, according to many, it's by far the creepiest thing to come out of anything Evangelion-related ever.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': In his released form, Szayel has the ability to create a small VoodooDoll that has his enemy's likeness. Any damage done to the dolls' internal organs, accessed by taking the doll apart (which doesn't happen to the original) removing the organs and then crushing them, is done to the original, debilitating them from the inside. The doll's exterior has some effect on the victim as well, as seen when Ishida felt Szayel scratch and flick his doll's face. And Szayel later makes a voodoo doll of Mayuri who is pretty creepy himself... [[spoiler:but Mayuri is so CrazyPrepared that he manages to out gambit Szayel, as he had replaced his own organs with doll-like substitutes so Szayel's powers had no effect on him]].

** The original ''Anime/YuGiOh'' anime has one carried by Dark Necrofear -- a baby doll with a large piece missing from its head, and a ''really'' creepy laugh. [[{{Bowdlerise}} 4Kids apparently thought it too scary for the English dub, so it was edited out]].

* A major motif in ''Literature/{{Another}}''. There's a dark and deserted doll store in the series' TownWithADarkSecret, where really creepy ("laying in coffins, like corpses" creepy) are displayed, including one that looks eerily like [[EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette Misaki]], then there's the deal with her [[spoiler:doll eye under [[EyepatchOfPower her bandage]]]]. Also, in the anime, occasional flashes of dismembered sad eyed dolls dripping with UncannyValley-ness. Brrr.

[[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/anotherdoll2.jpg]], Literature/{{Another}}

[[quoteright:350:[[Literature/{{Another}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/anotherdoll2.jpg]]

* Creator/JunjiIto uses this trope to distressing effect in "A Doll's Hellish Burial", a one-shot comic included with some editions of his adaptation of ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}''. Over the course of six pages, a disease [[ToyTransmutation transforms a small girl named Maria into a doll]], which is creepy enough on its own. [[FromBadToWorse It doesn't stop mutating her there, though]].

* There are countless mannequins strewn across the bar in ''Anime/DeathParade'', which Decim collects as a hobby. Some are dressed up, most are nude, many are broken and faceless. As it turns out, [[spoiler: the mannequins belong to former guests whose souls were either reincarnated or sent to the void, leaving their featureless bodies behind. As such, Decim has taken to collecting their bodies and dolling them up in their likeness to ensure they are not entirely forgotten, especially when he's subjected to frequent mind wipes to prevent the inevitable psychological strain of possessing many lifetime's worth of memories]].
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'':
** There's one in Asuka's MindRape sequence. The truly horrifying part is when the doll is ''hanging from the ceiling spinning on the end of a rope'' [[spoiler:along with Asuka's mother, Kyouko, who has just committed suicide]]. Scarier still were some of the scenes that were left in the director's cut of that episode. "Do you love me? Do you ''really'' love me?" "BUT YOU'RE '''LYING'''"
** After [[spoiler:piloting EVA 02, having half of her soul sucked out by it and going ''insane'' because of that]], Kyouko is seen holding the same doll in her arms and talking to it, believing it to be her daughter and refusing to acknowledge the real Asuka as her kid. Now you know where Asuka's hate of the "doll" word and concept comes. [[spoiler: Meaning Kyouko hanging the doll along with herself was an attempted murder-suicide. She wanted to take her daughter with her.]]
** Asuka possesses one, and plays with it at one point in ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion 2.0''. Also, according to many, it's by far the creepiest thing to come out of anything Evangelion-related ever.
* In ''Anime/{{K}}'', it's revealed in the manga ''Days of Blue'' that Gotou has a collection of freaky dolls that creep out Hidaka, his roommate. In fact, Hidaka escapes to Enomoto's room at one point since he was attempting to read a magazine in his own room, but the dolls kept staring at him.
* Boogie-Kun of ''Manga/{{Karin}}'' is a doll possessed by a serial killer that holds a knife in its hand. And later on Anju mentions that [[http://www.onemanga.com/Karin/13/60/ she collects other creepy dolls]] that all have interesting histories. She then asks Karin if she wants to hear about them but Karin quickly leaves in fear.
* ''Manga/BlackButler'': The second opening of the second season has a scene where [[DarkActionGirl Grell]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} Sutcliffe]] is holding a creepy doll version of Sebastian, which she kisses before placing it among doll versions of Ciel and Alois... which she then proceeds to drive her chainsaw through.
* ''Manga/GhostHunt'' has Minnie, a possessed doll.

** UpToEleven in the live-action series, where Near communicates with Mello as a ventriloquist's dummy. It remains to be seen whether the dummy ''is'' Mello, or merely a representation of him, but either way, it's creepy.
** One of the Shinigami, named Gelus, looks like a creepy doll. It's actually quite innocent and forlorn compared to the typically assholish, apathetic Shinigami, and having no friends and obsessing with the aforementioned Misa Amane.
* In one episode of ''Manga/{{Mokke}},'' a bunch of abandoned Hina dolls are possessing a bridge to try to get attention.
* A creepy doll in traditional Japanese dress appears throughout ''Literature/{{Paprika}}''. [[spoiler:It starts out as a sort of dreamscape "avatar" of one character, but later takes on a life of its own.]]
* ''Manga/SailorMoon'':
** The episode "Shingo's Innocent Love! A Sorrowful French Doll" is all about the Creepy Dolls. Shingo's [[PuppyLove almost girlfriend]] Mika is a ChildProdigy doll maker who takes to working on her latest project nonstop after her and Shingo's friendship goes briefly sour, and once Nephrite targets her she starts making dolls who are REALLY damn creepy...
** Also, more than one MonsterOfTheWeek, such as [[https://sailormoon.fandom.com/wiki/Murido Murido]], a sweet dream princess that is a youma under her cute face.

** Later in Part 3 is [[FauxAffablyEvil Telence T. D'Arby's]] doll collection. He uses his stand [[YourSoulIsMine Atum]] to cheat in competitions to seal his victims souls into dolls he makes in their image. The dolls can still move in [[MarionetteMotion herky-jerky movements]] and talk [[AndIMustScream while fully aware but unable to do anything]], with some of them even [[SanitySlippage going insane as a result]].
* An episode of ''Manga/{{Tactics}}'' featured a doll-maker and a house full of creepy dolls.
* ''Manga/RozenMaiden'':
** Suigintou, Barasuishou, and Kirakishou, the antagonist dolls. Interestingly, Suigintou is considered [[PerverseSexualLust the most attractive Rozen Maiden]], at least [[PsychoLesbian physically]], and Barasuishou is reasonably popular as well. Both have [[TheWoobie Woobie qualities]] that endear them to fans. Even Kirakishou comes off as somewhat sympathetic in her insanity as she gets more developed in the tales.
** The rows of lifeless dolls in Enzu's shop definitely count. Compared to the living dolls, even Suigintou, they are way ''creepier''.
* In ''Manga/DescendantsOfDarkness'' part of Kazutaka Muraki's general state of madness stemmed from memories of his mother's enormous collection of porcelain dolls. It didn't help that the panels of the manga depicting the dolls copy-pasted four or five of them to horrible heights of creepiness. In the opening of the anime, a child Muraki is seen among dozens of dolls; he then picks up one from the floor and holds it in his arms.
* Dolls are a recurring motif in the ''Manga/CountCain'' series. One chapter featured a girl in a leg-cast who kidnapped other girls to turn their corpses into dolls.

* Season 1 of ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'' had Friagne the Hunter, who, while he wasn't a doll himself, was way, ''way'' too attached to his Creepy Doll minion Marianne. The reason he's in town is so he can [[spoiler:dissolve the city to give her real life]].
* Sorta the point for ''Manga/HydeAndCloser'' as dolls are used as curses to attack people. Even Hyde, the protagonist's doll, isn't exempt from this, it has a chainsaw sword in his zipper!
* ''Franchise/YuGiOh'':
** ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'':
*** An episode has Jaden and his crew face a creepy doll come to life.
*** There's also the card Malice Doll of Demise, which serves as the figurehead for [[spoiler:Jinzo/Psycho Shocker]]'s deck. He even appears on the eyecatch.
*** And the "Rogue Doll" card.
** ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'': IV (Four) uses a Gimmick Puppet Themed deck; his two Numbers cards are Gimmick Puppet -- Giant Killer and Gimmick Puppet - Heaven's Strings both of which are uber creepy.
** The original ''Anime/YuGiOh'' anime has one carried by Dark Necrofear -- a baby doll with a large piece missing from its head, and a ''really'' creepy laugh. [[{{Bowdlerise}} 4Kids apparently thought it too scary for the English dub, so it was edited out.]]
* In ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}} NEXT'', one of the possible locations of the Clair Bible is a tower full of these. In truth the dolls were mostly harmless (aside of just floating around) and people ''thought'' they were creepy due to a legend about the person who used to live there, [[LonelyDollGirl a handsome yet lonely]] [[RareMaleExample male dollmaker]] who supposedly turned the girl he was a StalkerWithACrush to into a creepy doll so she'd stay with him forever. [[spoiler: Except for two of them, and one was a demon in the shape of the cutest doll of them all, making people believe that the ''other'' doll was a the dollmaker from the legend after a DealWithTheDevil.]]
* Road Kamelot from ''Manga/DGrayMan''. As well as possessing a number of creepy dolls, she herself can transform into an extremely creepy doll.
* The episode "Raindrops" from ''Anime/WitchHunterRobin''. A bunch of creepy dolls chanting "UNFORGIVABLE!" qualifies as some serious nightmare fuel.

* ''Manga/DearBrother'':
** One of the rooms at Fukiko's summer house is full of creepy dolls and obsessively arranged items of memorabilia from the day she first met her crush [[spoiler: Takehiko Henmi]], which she has since kept completely unchanged for six years and forbids anyone else to enter, save for herself and a maid whom she specifically tasked with its cleaning.
** [[spoiler: Rei Asaka]] also keeps one. It's both one of the dolls seen in the OP and ED, as well as one of the two gifts that [[spoiler: Fukiko]] gave her some time ago (The other being [[spoiler: a gold bracelet]]). [[spoiler: That doll becomes Nanako's TragicKeepsake, though the circumstances vary: in the manga Rei gives it to Nanako before committing suicide, in the anime Fukiko gives it to Nanako after Rei's fatal accident.]]
* ''Manga/Reborn2004'':
** Ginger Bread is a CreepyChild and a vice-captain of the Millefiore Family's eighth squad, the enemies of the main protagonists in the future. He is also known as the Magician's Doll, primarily due to his usage of similar looking dolls that are clothed in a wizard's hat and cape, and have stars in their eyes (like he does), to fight. In addition, he uses spiders, summoned by what he calls sorcery. He claims to have had a hand in the death of Colonnello. As such, Lal Mirch engages him in battle, but after he loses, it is revealed that she was only fighting one of his dolls.
** One of the Six Funeral Wreaths, Daisy is the holder of the Sun Mare Ring. He has a rather uncanny appearance with scars on his face, dirty-looking hair, sunken eyes, and carries a creepy plushie in his hands.
* One shows up in the first episode of ''Anime/{{Texhnolyze}}'' while Ichise has sex with a bizarre, bionically augmented woman.
* ''Anime/GhostStories'' features a supernatural doll named Mary who stalks the main character Satsuki throughout episode 11. At the end of the episode the Mary doll also commands other dolls to gang up on Satsuki and attempt to kill her all while singing a song about how they plan to do so.

* ''Manga/{{Amatsuki}}'': The doll that Ginshu [[SoulJar keeps his/her soul in]], what with its high pitched voice and jerky movements.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': In his released form, Szayel has the ability to create a small VoodooDoll that has his enemy's likeness. Any damage done to the dolls' internal organs, accessed by taking the doll apart (which doesn't happen to the original) removing the organs and then crushing them, is done to the original, debilitating them from the inside. The doll's exterior has some effect on the victim as well, as seen when Ishida felt Szayel scratch and flick his doll's face. And Szayel later makes a voodoo doll of Mayuri who is pretty creepy himself... [[spoiler: but Mayuri is so CrazyPrepared that he manages to out gambit Szayel, as he had replaced his own organs with doll-like substitutes so Szayel's powers had no effect on him.]]
* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'': Chachazero, who doubles as a sort of [[GreekChorus evil peanut gallery.]]
* In a ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' story, Ranma accidentally breaks a typical Japanese doll during a trip to a hot spring. The doll has magic powers, and it starts to plan her revenge by targeting Akane and [[GrandTheftMe switching bodies with her.]]
* Episode 9 of ''Manga/BetrayalKnowsMyName'' features a shop full of creepy dolls. And ElegantGothicLolita Ashley always seems to be carrying one around with her and uses them to attack people.
* ''Manga/VampirePrincessMiyu'' has dolls as a sort-of theme in both the TV series/OAV:
** In the TV series there is Matsukaze, a doll that WinterRoyalLady Reiha constantly carries around in her arms and seems to be there as a mouthpiece for Reiha's hate towards Miyu.[[spoiler:He ends up pullin an HeroicSacrifice to save Reiha's life.]]
** Also, this is the shinma [[spoiler:Ranka]]'s true form in the second OAV. [[spoiler:And she not only turns people into creepy dolls, but she does this to her love interest Kei. ''On Kei's own request'', since he wants to be with her forever.]]
** At the beginning of that same OAV, Miyu in a schoolgirl disguise passes by a toy store and sees a very pretty but creepy ''ichimatsu'' traditional doll ([[https://www.flickr.com/photos/22518148@N00/2312705616/ like these ones]]) and says "You're frozen in time too, hmmm" while smiling softly. [[spoiler: That's foreshadowing of Miyu's true nature as a Shinma who's [[OlderThanTheyLook Older than she looks]], having been turned into a Shinma at age 13 ''and'' given eternal youth at the same time.]]
** In the TV series episode 19 "Love of the Dolls" "Ningyōshi no Koi" (人形師の恋)- the episode revolves around a doll-maker, who falls in love with one of her creations... and how things get very creepy from there on...
** In the manga, there's another Shinma that pulls similar stuff on two of Miyu's school friends and a chubby OfficeLady. [[spoiler:His first victims were an antique shop owner and his son Takumi, whom he revived after they died in a fire caused by Miyu when she gave a MercyKill to Takumi's Shinma mother; then, he erased the two's memories and used them as his pawns.]]
* Tsukiyo's doll Luna, from ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows''.

** Some of the witches' minions counts, especially Oktavia's Clarissas during episode 10, [[spoiler: which are simply Sayaka's loosely copies of her friend and love rival Hitomi, in horrid colors]].
** Also, the witch Charlotte looks like a stuffed doll with creepy eyes. [[spoiler: Before evolving into a much bigger form and killing/eating Mami.]]

* ''Manga/OtogiMatsuri'': The giant, eight legged cat/spider demon Kenzoku is accompanied by numerous creepy-looking dolls who refer to it as "Go-shu-jin sama" (meaning "Master of the House"), and who mainly serve to find humans to become the demon's next meal.
-->'''Doll #1:''' Go-shu-jin sama, here.\\
'''Doll #2:''' Over here.\\
'''Doll #3:''' The new offering is here.
* ''Anime/GhostInTheShell1995'':
** The gynoids in ''Ghost in the Shell: Innocence'' are modeled after Hans Bellmar's UncannyValley doll-sculptures, and are every bit as creepy.
** There's also the hacker Kim who lives in a (possibly virtual) giant dollhouse, and has his cybernetic body made to resemble a life-sized balljoint doll, and is more than eager to {{lampshade|Hanging}} his creepiness at every opportunity.
* ''Manga/HelenESP'' has a school mannequin that falls in love with is maker, and because [[IfICantHaveYou she can't have him, decides to kill him]], all the while knowing [[TragicVillain just how wrong her actions are.]]
* ''Anime/HellGirl'':
** [[spoiler:Mina]], but we don't learn it for a while since [[spoiler: she's a ThirdPersonPerson who manages to fool Hajime and Tsugumi with her speech patterns]].
** Invoked to great effect in an early episode. A girl from an orphanage, Inori, is picked up by a dollmaker old woman named Kyogotsu, supposedly [[ArrangedMarriage to marry her son]]... [[spoiler: on the condition that she acts like a doll: she should only sit around, looking pretty and quiet, without even interacting with the family or her new husband. Naturally, poor Inori snaps after a while and, despite Hajime's warnings, she sends Mrs. Kyogotsu to Hell; fittingly, the upcoming scenes feature many of these dolls coming to life and attacking Mrs. Kyokotsu, then transforming ''her'' in a Creepy Doll before sending the old woman to Hell as Inori's revenge.]] Even the title of the episode lampshades it: [[spoiler: it's ''Hanayome Ningyo'', which means ''Bride Doll'']].
* Anime film ''Unico in the Island of Magic'' by Osamu Tezuka, featured the main villain which embodies the creepy doll trope. [[spoiler:The evil Lord Kuruku plans to turn all living creatures, animals and people alike, into "Living Puppets" and he himself is a puppet who was mistreated by his owners and discarded. He washed up at the edge of the world - where all unwanted "junk" ends up eventually - and was brought to life, determined to take revenge on the human race.]]
* A major motif in ''Literature/{{Another}}''. There's a dark and deserted doll store in the series' TownWithADarkSecret, where really really creepy ("laying in coffins, like corpses" creepy) are displayed, including one that looks eerily like [[EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette Misaki]], then there's the deal with her [[spoiler:doll eye under [[EyepatchOfPower her bandage]]]]. Also, in the anime, occasional flashes of dismembered sad eyed dolls dripping with UncannyValley-ness. Brrr.
* ''Manga/CaseClosed'' has cases where traditional dolls play rather bloody and creepy role:
** In one of them, there are mentions of a certain Shinto deity named the Kimono Goddess. She doubles as a goddess of revenge, and if a devotee of hers wants to ask her to sponsor their punishment of someone who has wronged them somehow, said person must make a creepy doll in paper and leave it in a box at the Goddess's shrine at midnight. [[spoiler: Conan, Ran and a woman named Eri find two dolls in the local Kimono Goddess Temple, and talks about revenge are had. That same night, another doll is found... and it's wearing a demon mask. Few afterwards, two women named Ema and Asuka are stabbed to death, and in Ema's case there's a fourth paper doll on her pierced chest. And the killer is ''Eri'', since they drove her long-lost sister Sakurako to suicide.]]
** In another, Kogoro is hired by a man who is a member of a BigScrewedUpFamily and makes creepy traditional dolls for a living. [[spoiler: Not only he makes dolls... but it turns out he ''uses said doll making business as a cover for drug traffic'', with the dolls being filled with cocaine bags.]]
** In at least two murders, some rather creepy and old [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karakuri_puppet karakuri puppet dolls]] have been used by the killers to try giving themselves alibis.
* The titular character of ''Manga/TheUnforgivingFlowersBlossomInTheDeadOfNight'' is a youkai whose original form is that of a doll in the school infirmary. According to her ghost story, those who witness the doll dancing in the night will be cursed. Even in her human form, she is described as looking like a doll.
* In ''Manga/HellTeacherNube'', a girl named Shizuka has a traditional Japanese doll that grows its hair and asks Nube to check on it. [[EpicFail He does, but ''all'' of the doll's hair falls out.]] There are other creepy dolls around, like a very detailed "visible human" doll whose left half exposes all its internal organs... and then comes to life and believes itself to be a real boy, forcefully pushing itself into anyone it could think of as a "friend".
* In the ''Manga/{{X 1999}}'' TV series, a creepy life-sized doll dressed in a red kimono is seen in [[spoiler: CLAMP]] Campus. [[spoiler:Tokiko gave it to the CanonForeigner Chairman of said Campus and told him that she'd die soon via [[PersonOfHolding giving birth to one of the Shinken]], and in that moment the doll would break and tell him not just what happened to her, but where to find the Shinken itself.]]
* In the ''Manga/{{Cyborg 009}}'' 2001 TV series, one of these [[spoiler:with the looks and size of an adult woman]] is found in [[spoiler:the center of the BigFancyHouse that is [[GeniusLoci Cyborg 0012]]. The actual brains and control of [[EverythingTryingToKillYou the wayward house]] are implied to be inside the doll]].
* {{Creator/Junji Ito}} uses this trope to distressing effect in "A Doll's Hellish Burial", a one-shot comic included with some editions of his adaptation of ''Frankenstein''. Over the course of six pages, a disease transforms a small girl named Maria into a doll, which is creepy enough on its own. [[FromBadToWorse It doesn't stop mutating her there, though]].
* The principal of Jujutsu Specialty High School of Tokyo, Masamichi Yaga, from ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'' has a childish interest in creepy cute dolls. However, it is revealed that the cute dolls themselves are cursed and can become aggressive.
* In ''Manga/ShadowStar'', [[DudeLooksLikeaLady Norio Koga]]'s hobby is creating dolls and puppets based on [[{{mon}} shadow dragons]], and Needless to say, they're all kind of creepy. The creepiest of them all is a certain doll that's found hanging on the wall of Norio's best friend and UnrequitedLove Takeo's house... [[spoiler: '''with [[OffWithHisHead poor Norio's own head]] [[DeadGuyOnDisplay mounted on it]]'''. Needless to say, [[HeroicBSOD neither Takeo not Shiina's parents take the discovery well]].]]
* Q from ''Manga/BungouStrayDogs'' has a somewhat disturbing plush doll he carries everywhere. When he decides to use his ability, it starts laughing maniacally, even as he mutilates to activate his ability.

* ''Manga/Overlord2012'': Nazarick uses them as part of a trap involving Albedo's sister Nigredo. When you enter Nigredo's room, you see a StringyHairedGhostGirl holding a doll as if it were a baby and with many similar dolls near her, then shrieking that it's wrong and attacking you with scissors... unless you present her with one of the dolls claiming it is her baby. Note that she's actually one of the ''nicest'' (that is, Good-aligned) [=NPCs=] in all of Nazarick.

** Later in Part 3 is [[FauxAffablyEvil Telence T. D'Arby's]] doll collection. He uses his stand [[YourSoulIsMine Atum]] to cheat in competitions to seal his victims souls into dolls he makes in their image. The dolls can still move in [[MarionetteMotion herky-jerky movements]] and talk.

* ''Anime/GhostInTheShell'':

* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' has cases where traditional dolls play rather bloody and creepy role: