The Dreaded

"Keaton always said, 'I don't believe in God, but I'm afraid of Him.' Well, I do believe in God... and the only thing that scares me is Keyser Soze." —Verbal Kint, The Usual Suspects

A villain or Anti-Hero whose primary characteristic is the fear the other side has of them.

To be the Dreaded, a character has to be far and away the most feared person in the story. These are people who make you quail not because of anything they are doing at that moment, but simply because you know who they are and what they've done before... and sometimes the latter part is optional. Although there are exceptions, (particularly on the other side of the fence) a key characteristic of this trope tends to be invisibility. Villains in particular who conform to this trope, generally will not be seen directly the first time they are mentioned, and usually not for a while afterwards, either. The show will tend to work on building up their perceived threat in the minds of the audience; they're a dark, shadowy something that's out there somewhere, but you don't know where, who or what they are, or even whether or not they can be killed, at least at first.

It is also possible for them to remain this trope after they come out of the shadows, and most of the heroic examples are not invisible; they're just so monumentally Badass that they generate the same level of fear in villains anyway. If a villain does keep this trope after coming out of the shadows, beware Villain Decay. The Borg from Star Trek are probably the single most prominent example of this trope later being emasculated, as mentioned below. Generally when it happens, it sucks.

Maybe this character has a reputation as a Hero-Killer; a person who kills the other sides strongest and noblest supporters. Maybe they use fear as a magical effect which triggers panic in others. Maybe they are simply so scary looking even the strongest of hearts falter. But the defining trait of the Dreaded is that they are feared. Probably has a scary name, unless they use a really scary alias instead. If their ability in combat lives up to their reputation, then the only choice one has when facing them may be to Run or Die.

Additionally there is a heroic equivalent called the Terror Hero, when there is a hero so renowned that the enemy would rather flee than possibly encounter them. They tend to be anti-heroes of some kind though (ranging from grade 2-4), due to audiences seldom associating dread as an emotion a pure hero inspires.

Note that it isn't the audience's reaction to the Dreaded that matters, but the other characters' reactions to the Dreaded. Other characters think this person is pure Nightmare Fuel, whether they deserve this reputation or not. Sometimes, however, Dude, Where's My Respect? may still be in play.

Examples of The Dreaded include:

• Anime & Manga
• Comics
• Fan Works
• Film
• Literature
• Live-Action Television
• Video Games
• Real Life

Other examples

Mythology

• Typhon in Greek Mythology, who likely doubles as the original Hero-Killer, storming Olympus by himself and driving the gods into hiding. Hades was this to the Greeks themselves; he's the yardstick by which terrifying creatures in myth (like Typhon) are compared to. Typhon is so bad that he was not only scarier than Hades, he actually frightened him.
• Jormungandr and especially Fenrir in Norse Mythology. When there's prophecies running around about how you're going to end the world you tend to get this.
  • Odin himself. If you see an old man with an eyepatch walking around, mind yourself.

Tabletop Games

• In Forgotten Realms, the Simbul used to throw Red Wizards into mindless panic just by appearing. Mostly because of her bad habit of killing them on sight. That, and being probably the most powerful magic user on Toril. Others don't run for cover, but still instantly sober up at a mention that she may or may not be involved—like Cormyreans did in All Shadows Fled.
• Pick a name from Warhammer 40,000 and you'll find a few billion people (and xenos), at least, shitting their pants in fear from the mere thought of them. Maybe a few 'Crons, a few 'Nids, some Dark Eldar or someone straight from the Eye of Terror, and even heroes of great renown find that they have to draw on every ounce of their resolve not to run away or die.
  • Special mention to the Night Lords. Entire solar systems have surrendered rather than battle them (tip: this doesn't stop them from butchering you).
  • Kharn the Betrayer gets points for being so Axe Crazy that even other Khorne Berzerkers have been known to freak out when he shows up. It's not just that he's an unstoppable murder machine, he's a teamkilling unstoppable murder machine.
  • Within the Imperium, Inquisitors. Not just because they're personally Badass, although they are, but because they have effectively unlimited power. They can order your whole planet sterilised or just take you away to torture, and no one will, officially, say anything. Just the sight of their badge of office has been known to make people soil themselves.
  • The Necron Pariahs have this as their entire hat. In a certain area around them, almost any creature experiences crushing, debilitating dread. In a Ciaphas Cain novel, the crack Stormtrooper squad that had been shown to be far and away more cohesive, ruthless, and cunning than any Guard squad Cain had ever fought with falls completely apart in the presence of Necron Pariahs, gibbering and crying and so forth while the Pariahs casually slice them apart.

Webcomics

• Trace Legacy from Twokinds.
• Kore in Goblins has a tendency to induce Oh Crap moments in those he meets, or even those who hear stories of him, particularly since he has utterly no qualms about killing anyone if he perceives them as evil, and is said to have fought entire armies and won.
  • And then there's the fact that he Would Hurt a Child...
• Jack Noir is a fairly light hearted take on this in Homestuck. Lord English would be an example, except few people in the cast know he exists.
• Para Ventura from Schlock Mercenary is a hilarious variant. That's how she got enlisted — Captain Tagon knows the cost of a good reputation (just for comparison, that was the incident which didn't impress the dock bot). As advised in The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries:

Maxim 16: Your name is in the mouth of others: be sure it has teeth.

• In Our Little Adventure, Angelo invoked this feeling when he confronted Randi and Peganone during their quest to capture Umbria. He probably would have for Eva as well, but she retained her resolve due to her Paladin's fear immunity. What happened to Eva due to her not backing down and running away was accordingly horrifying.
• In The Mansion of E, Uncle Frederick's bed-mate is called variously the Woman of Mystery or the Scary Lady.
• Girl Genius has a few people with fell enough reputation. Oglavia Spüdna (Gil's spy) turns out to have some book to her name - the title is open to wide interpretations, but a librarian's reaction rates it very high (though Cheshire Cat Grin probably helps too).

Web Original

• The Necrowatchers (particularly Reagan Adriana Moretti and her family) in Carnivorous Shadows have proven themselves to be this, by cannibalizing people and snatching souls after eating them.
• The Meta from Red vs. Blue. Given its utterly ruthless demeanour in battle, the massive gun it carries, and the the variety of additional abilities it can avail of from the AIs that it captured, it's understandable why the first instinct that many of the main characters who come across it is to run for the hills. It even manages to go toe-to-toe with Tex, who's renowned in the series as being a Badass One Woman Army.
  • I almost see it backwards. Tex finally shows some of that Informed Ability by being able to go toe-to-toe with frickin META.
• Near the end of Ruby Quest, one of the most dangerous and insane mutants is found crying in a corner because Ace is coming.
• BKCRMWDJVG of the Whateley Universe. When even a small part of it is let onto Earth, it causes insanity and terror and mindrape just by revealing its true appearance.
• Lord Vyce. Interestingly, virtually no one except Vyce himself has heard of the far more dangerous Entity he was battling.

Western Animation

• Megatron is this in Transformers Animated. The Autobots regard him as a bogeyman who is reputed to eat protoforms - baby Transformers, basically. The other Decepticons are viewed this way as well. The Autobot leaders are so afraid of them that Ultra Magnus and Sentinel Prime would rather deny the Decepticon presence on Earth than cause a panic among the populace.
• General Grievous in Star Wars: Clone Wars. His near-victory against five (albeit exhausted) Jedi established him as a fearsome enemy. Count Dooku actually taught Grievous to use fear as a weapon, telling him that without it he wouldn't stand a chance against the best of the Jedi.
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
  • Discord. Even Princess Celestia is on edge when she finds out he's escaped from the stone prison she and Luna left him in over a 1000 years ago. Despite what he looks and seems like on the surface, it's quickly very clear that her fear of him was justified...
  • Grogar. Just seeing him cows Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow into subservience. Which is why Discord masqueraded as him throughout Season 9.
• Breach from Generator Rex becomes this in "Lions and Lambs". Everyone who knows what Breach can do fears her. When Six notices the Providence troops are trembling, he asks Rex if they have any experience with Breach. Rex says that's the problem, shuddering as he remembers what Breach did to him.
• In The Legend of Korra, Amon the leader of the Anti-bending Equalists is this, thanks to a combination of his creepy masked appearance, his even creepier minions, and his ability to permanently remove a person's bending. Korra is terrified of him and sees him in her nightmares.
• Horde Prime in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. When the Star Siblings meet the Best Friend Squad, they're visibly terrified just by speaking his name, noting that no one has ever been able to challenge his might.

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