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Making someone face their worst fears is supposed to defeat or disable them. Sometimes however making them face their worst fears just gives them a target they're more than happy to beat up. Also called "desensitization".
Contrast Villainous BSOD.
Examples of Therapeutic Manifest Nightmare include:
Advertising[]
Anime and Manga[]
Comic Books[]
Fan Works[]
- Astral Journey: It's Complicated has Melanie subjected to a 'mock' funeral in hopes she'll start cooperating with the mandated treatment for both depression and eating disorder, known as section 3. Both Victoria and Emma tried to calm Melanie down, with latter having that look of You Have Got to Be Kidding Me!.
- More than a few Ranma ½ fanfics written since 1990 have depicted Ranma gaining control over the Neko-ken by defeating an embodiment of his ailurophobia or his alternate cat-persona (or both, or more) in a Battle in the Center of the Mind.
Film[]
Literature[]
- Several hunters confronted by their nightmares in Monster Hunter Legion handle it quite well, thanks to their fears being based on events from before they became heavily armed badass professional monster killers.
Live-Action Television[]
Music[]
Myths and Legends[]
Newspaper Comics[]
Oral Tradition[]
Pinball[]
Podcasts[]
Professional Wrestling[]
Puppet Shows[]
Radio[]
Tabletop Games[]
Theater[]
Video Games[]
- In Silent Hill 2 Eddie is faced with the visages of all the people who have tormented him throughout his life. Ignoring that he's in a horror game, Eddie sees this as an opportunity to dish out Disproportionate Retribution against his tormentors and takes full advantage of it.
Western Animation[]
- In the Xiaolin Showdown episode Dreamscape after the monks are forced to fight their fears instead of having their partners deal with them, they quickly realize how ridiculous the things they fear (a creepy doll, a grandma that won't stop pinching cheeks, squirrels) are.
Web Animation[]
Web Comics[]
Web Video[]
Other Media[]
Real Life[]
- Allergists essentially do this for a person's body when they treat allergies by desensitization -- tiny samples of an allergen are injected into the patient's skin, (hopefully) too small to trigger a full-fledged reaction, but sufficient for the body to recognize, with the intent that the patient will slowly build up a tolerance to the allergen due to repeated exposure.