Summary
Anime is chock-full ofscary monstersthat serve as nightmare fuel, and this is partly why the medium is so fascinating. As a sub-genre of fantasy, which usually has a lot of mythical beasts and monsters, isekai also has a few creatures that can make the hairs on the back of the neck stand.
Isekai typically follows the natural standard in terms of beasts and monsters, but once in a while, a truly terrifying entity appears that can be categorized as scary. Here are some of them.
Generally speaking,That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slimeis a pretty chill show with an OP protagonist that was almost never in any real danger of suffering defeat. However, the show did have one rather scary monster. That was Orc Disaster.
Orc Disaster is actually aDemon Lordin seed form, and is simply a step in evolution away from a true Demon Lord. This was a form that Geld the Orc assumed after killing and eating the majin Gelmud. In this evolved form, he took on Rimuru and his party and was more than a match for them until Rimuru decided to get serious. While Geld eventually became a part of Rimuru’s kingdom and was a valued member, his initial form of Orc Disaster remains in the mind as an example of a terrifying isekai monster.
Failure Framecame out in 2024 and went by without much impact. This had a lot to do with the animation, with the use of 3D models giving it a pretty janky look. While forgettable, it did have a rather fascinating monster: the Soul Eater.
The Soul Eater was the guardian of the exit of the Disposal Ruins, and was a creature who loved torturing humans. Worst of all was its appearance: it was simply a large head with a large nose, three eyes, and paper-white skin. The animation added to its terrifying appearance as it had that look of something…unfinished.Failure Framemight not have been thegreatest isekai classicof 2024, but it sure gave its viewers a good scare.
Corpse God, who would become Shinoyama Polka, is the protagonist of the showDead Mount, Dead Play. At the story’s beginning, Corpse God was on the verge of defeat before castingreincarnation magic, which then put him in the body of Polka.
While in the show he was usually in the form of Polka, his Corpse God form was something to fear. Mostly skeletal in nature with six arms, Corpse God is not fun to look at. On top of that, his powers are also quite nasty, as with any necromancer. Able to deploy the dead, including mighty creatures like dragons, the Corpse God is not a being that anyone would like to meet in a dark alley…or anywhere, for that matter.
Re:ZEROis one of the most impressive isekai to come out of Japan in the last two decades, telling a harrowing story of the protagonist, Natsuki Subaru.Re:ZEROis a dark isekai with horror elements, and thehorrific ways in which Subaru has diedis enough nightmare fuel.
But perhaps his most remarkable death, and most difficult to stomach, was at the hands (or rather, paws) of the carnivorous bunnies. These little creatures look innocent enough; white fur, soft eyes, and the typical oversized front teeth. But those teeth can tear human flesh. When a mob of them converged on Subaru to devour him to death, the look in their eyes, the screams from Subaru, and the blood staining their white fur was hard to forget.
Overlordis a show with many scary creatures.Ainz, as a protagonist, is very frightening, and some of the generals are also quite fear-inducing. But it’s hard to look past Neuronist Painkill. She (or he, who knows) is a special intelligence investigator and is in charge of extracting truth from people through torture.
Neuronist Painkill is scary for many reasons. She dresses in BDSM attire and truly considers herself beautiful, even though she is anything but. She ‘teases’ her victims seductively while also torturing them. The fact that she is an NPC and was designed in this way to heighten the fear people feel when dealing with her drives home the reality of her terror.
No Face is a monster from theStudio Ghiblimovie,Spirited Away. No Face is capable of creating gold and many come to him to get their hands on the riches he can create. Simplistic in design, it can be difficult to consider No Face scary, as he is simply a black tube with a mask-like face.
But No Face can morph into something truly terrifying. Able to spout arms and legs and a mouth that can devour large groups of humans, he is very dangerous. What makes No Face so terrifying is the fact that he becomes the people he devours, at least in terms of their personalities. This means No Face’s tendencies are largely human, making him closer to the human race than is comfortable to think about.
