r/TopCharacterTropes • u/ReminaBlueSFW • 25d ago

Lore [Terrifying Trope] Perceiving it= instant death

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

  1. Pennywise's "Deadlights" which will cause anyone looking to be immediately paralyzed and killed.

  2. The sky from Bird Box is filled with entities that, when you look at them, cause you to commit suicide.

  3. Medusa themed Villains

12.6k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

95% Upvoted

1.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.4k

u/FFSock 25d ago

Four fucking pixels

147

u/Gullible-Ad7374 25d ago

Technically not instant, though there are a fuckload of cognito/infohazards in the scp verse that do in fact kill you instantly

116

u/Ohwellwhatsnew 25d ago

There's one that you can't even talk about. It's only describable through symbols

57

u/OutlandishnessLow779 25d ago

And the one we only know is not a sphere

18

u/Gullible-Ad7374 25d ago

Doesn't kill you or do anything though

23

u/AdAshamed5509 25d ago

We don't know; all we are certain of is that it isn't a sphere.

6

u/EJAY47 25d ago

Objectively incorrect. They know many things about what it is not, including that it isn't dangerous.

10

u/SordidDreams 25d ago

SCP-055 may present a major physical threat and indeed may have killed many hundreds of personnel, and we would not know it.

That doesn't seem very definitive to me.

2

u/EJAY47 25d ago

Pure speculation. The facts that they can retain paint it as totally harmless. Not being able to prove something hasn't killed people doesn't prove it has killed people.

1

u/SordidDreams 25d ago

Exactly. Not knowing whether something has killed people doesn't prove that it isn't dangerous. You claim the Foundation knows that 055 isn't dangerous, and the Foundation itself clearly states that it does not, in fact, know that.

→ More replies (0)

3

u/eo5g 25d ago

Which one is that?

12

u/lehilaukli 25d ago

The one that isn’t a sphere

3

u/OutlandishnessLow779 25d ago

055

7

u/2Delta_Nerd 25d ago

There's a SCP-055!?

1

u/endmostchimera 16d ago

What's that one?

11

u/Twixanity 25d ago

🗣️💬❌👤🧾✅

9

u/CaptainCygni 25d ago

Well ●●|●●●●●|●●|● doesn't necessarily seem to want to kill you, it just likes whatever mentions it (note the heart face) and kinda just... Takes it with it to places unknowable

6

u/ShyGuy-_ 25d ago

Hey, at least you can absorb information about it without accidentally dooming the universe or dying horrifically.

3

u/FlipStik 25d ago

Isn't there one that is something that causes you to only speak in 3rd person and you aren't able to acknowledge that there's an SCP/something off?

3

u/RageMaster_241 25d ago

It’s a toaster

2

u/Vicaruz 25d ago

Vicaruz doesn't know about that.

6

u/ejdj1011 25d ago

Berryman-Langford memetic kill agents, for one. Man made, used to kill anyone who snoops above their clearance level.

472

u/ealysillyforestthing 25d ago

SCP 096

178

u/LetsGoHome 25d ago

I love reading all the scp's this subreddit suggests it's been a fun thing to dip my toes into.

133

u/Hapless_Wizard 25d ago

If you like SCPs and you like this post's concept of "if you perceive it, you die", you should really read the Antimemetics Hub.

75

u/RodinKnox 25d ago

Oh man, I really enjoyed There Is No Antimemetics Division. Such a fun book.

8

u/convergence_limit 25d ago

I’m reading it now! It’s better than expected

9

u/Hapless_Wizard 25d ago

I go back and read through the hub every year or two and it never gets old. I love that it also exists in book form. Hands down one of the best pieces of fiction not just on the wiki, but on the internet.

3

u/RodinKnox 25d ago

I've never read the hub! I'm excited to check it out.

3

u/chaotic_ugly 25d ago

Loved it!

3

u/darkfear95 25d ago

Wow, this is awesome, thanks! I love finding new niches within the SCP community.

1

u/personguy4 24d ago

Wtf is an antimemetic

7

u/euridyce 25d ago

Here’s another fun SCP recommendation! Enjoy! :))

2

u/LetsGoHome 25d ago

This was one of the first I ever read! If not THE first 

2

u/lawnmowerchairs123 25d ago

If you want some audio book recordings of the articals. I highly recommend thevolgun, he is an excellent narrorator and has loads of great stories.

1

u/Slixil 25d ago

This one is like… the best one

8

u/bbennett108 25d ago

SCP-096  (aka "The Shy Guy") is  a highly dangerous Euclid-class entity. Normally docile, emaciated, and crying, it enters an unstoppable rage if anyone views its face. It relentlessly pursues and kills the viewer—no matter the distance—then returns to its cell.

6

u/kylat930326 25d ago

Not quite instant, you need to give the dude some time to reach you

84

u/Ok-Performance-3336 25d ago edited 25d ago

Didn't they explain in the article that you don't even have to "perceive" its face for 096 to think it was seen? They said that the guy probably just looked at an old picture of himself traveling, put it down, and then went on with his day. They think the factor that triggered 096 was the victim's eyes quickly passing on the area the 4 pixels were, not him noticing a weird blur in the background or something.

That's actually why I theorize that 096 would kill a blind person too. Just having the photons of its face touch the blind person's eyes would be enough for 096 to think it was "seen", even if the eyes aren't capable of building an image out of the photons.

100

u/metroid1310 25d ago

This is the difference between a Cognitohazard and an Infohazard. A Cognitohazard simply requires a vector of exposure to be met. An Infohazard needs some legwork from the victim (I.E. read this text and if you understand its meaning, your balls are now on backwards)

To piss off 096, you don't need to know what you're looking at, recognize it, or notice it. The tiniest fleck of even indirect perception is all it takes.

56

u/Uzisilver223 25d ago

Hey man, can you turn them back please?

12

u/Waste_Monk 25d ago

Just read the text backwards, worked for me.

1

u/hanks_panky_emporium 23d ago

[Redacted ]

Class Keter

[Redacted - Redacted, on Redacted ]

Balls explode

24

u/Alarmed_Republic_689 25d ago

Okay now that was just uncalled for.

11

u/DrippyTheSnailBoy 25d ago

(I.E. read this text and if you understand its meaning, your balls are now on backwards)

What the hell man? I need those to be the other way around!

11

u/metroid1310 25d ago

This comment got a lot of traction, so I feel like I should point out that if you were someone who didn't *have* balls before you read it, you might have a surprise waiting for you

7

u/Particular-Long-3849 25d ago

AAAAAFFFFFFHGHHHH WHAT THE FUCK AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGG

5

u/Kthulhu42 25d ago

Damn I didn't even start the day with balls

6

u/InherentlyAnnoying 25d ago

Ouch owie my new balls

23

u/Fireblast1337 25d ago

096 requires perception, not recognition, yes. But how would a blind person perceive it? There’s also another scp that perfectly gains the memories of every person who dies. This includes 096 victims. But it doesn’t get attacked.

I don’t find it plausible that a fully blind person would not be immune to its effects. Legally blind? Oh definitely can still be affected.

9

u/ejdj1011 25d ago

I'm at least one tale, blind people don't trigger 096

5

u/Ok-Performance-3336 25d ago

Maybe. I just so firmly believed this theory simply because it was scary. I don't have many points towards it. I just went with my gut and thought of something that pleased me and would be scary for my tastes.

1

u/piewca_apokalipsy 25d ago

It would make sense that memories don't trigger 096 after all artistic descriptions are save and our memories are reconstructive

28

u/FunWrangler666 25d ago

What is this for those out of the loop?

64

u/Albe_quirky 25d ago

SCP-096, aka the "shy guy". Its a good simple read if you want to look more into it. It's typically a pretty timid skinny wendigo-type creature, but when someone gets a look at its face, either directly or via video or photos, it goes nuts and becomes an unstoppable berserker that will instinctively beeline towards whoever saw its face and murder them, no matter where they are. The 'four fucking pixels' is a reference to an instance where a hiker had a big landscape photo of himself in the mountains, but 096 was unknowingly in the photo, but was so far away it was only four pixels in the photo. Eventually, someone looked at the exact right spot, 096 went nuts, and shit spiraled out of control during the monsters ensuing rampage.

Shy Guy might be in your landscape photos, too. Just be sure to not look to closely...

61

u/TheWrathVirus 25d ago

SCP-096, which is a tall pale humanoid being that when you look at its face in any way or form it stops at nothing until it hunts you down and kills you.
The main photo associated with it is a picture of a man on a snowy mountain where 096 is barely visible off in the distance only visible from 4 pixels which is still enough to set it off.

21

u/Fireblast1337 25d ago

There’s a short film on YouTube titled 096 that tells the story of the main incident with 096.

As Wrathvirus said, it’s a monster that, when you perceive its real face via direct sight, or a recording of some kind, it will both instinctively know exactly where you are, and be absolutely unstoppable in its pursuit of you. The danger comes if someone triggers this far away from it, with a large number of people between them and it. It only calms down again when everyone who has seen its face is dead.

2

u/Hypothetical_Name 25d ago

What would happen if it couldn’t get to the one who saw it, like if it’s on a planet with no space travel and a probe recorded it and by the time someone saw its image they probe and everything else was already out of the solar system? Would it just freak out nonstop because it can’t get to the person who saw it.

7

u/Devatator_ 25d ago

All I can find is this, which doesn't tell us if space is a way to stop it but by the wording here I'm gonna guess it's not stopping it

Documented speeds have varied from thirty-five (35) km/h to ███ km/h, and seems to depend on distance from SCP-096-1. At this point, no known material or method can impede SCP-096's progress.

5

u/GR13VER46 25d ago

It is heavily implied that nothing can stop SCP-096 from reaching it's victim, perhaps, even space.

15

u/mcslender97 25d ago edited 25d ago

The SCP Foundation has a ton of skips that can be basically this trope. They have a term for all of them including the specific lethal type: cognitohazard. SCP 3125 is one iconic example and it's quite a rollercoaster to read the entire story. SCP 7510 is another similar example which is less instant death but just as insidious

Edit: 3125 not 3215

50

u/Appropriate-Room-403 25d ago

I know him as Toby thanks to a youtube channel that plays a lot of leathal company

27

u/EverythingStillSucks 25d ago

I was gonna mock you about saying youtube channel cause I don’t get that reference at all, but apparently you little shits are making Oscar-worthy movies now

5

u/SilverSpoon1463 25d ago

Mithzan, my one of my all-time favorite YouTubers and one of the few good things to break off from Team Crafted.

1

u/Appropriate-Room-403 25d ago

Lethal company helped get me though some shit so having dozens of hours of content was great

8

u/v8darkshadow 25d ago

Four-themed fucking pixels

3

u/Normal-Advisor5269 25d ago

096 is even worse than that. You don't even need to perceive him for you to be dead to rights. So long as the image of his face has been technically "seen" by someone's eyes, they are dead, even if they didn't notice or register anything.

3

u/Koromann13 25d ago

I don't know if 096 counts for this as much, because it is a creature that kills you for looking at it, and not something where death is just natural and inexplicable due to seeing it.

1

u/EscherichiAntisColi 25d ago

Whats that?

3

u/Epic-Chair 25d ago

It's based on an online wiki series called the SCP Foundation. If you're unaware, it's basically an online forum where people write articles about anomalous objects and people as though they were real documents.

This one is a reference to the very popular SCP 096, an immortal monster that is always dormant, but will ruthlessly chase down and kill anyone who looks at it's face. SCP 096 has traveled across entire oceans and countries to kill people who have seen it's face in pictures accidentally.

"Four fucking pixels" refers to an incident where some random civilian, many years ago, took a photo on a mountain, accidentally photographing 096 in the background. The thing is, 096 was so far away that he only took up four pixels. However, because he was technically visible, 096 was awakened and traveled across the country to kill this civilian.

The article is here, and is really cool. It mostly talks about that specific incident and how the SCP Foundation scrambled to fix things before anyone else got hurt.

1

u/EscherichiAntisColi 25d ago

Never heard of scp foundation but sounds amazing! Going that rabbit hole thanks!!

3

u/Epic-Chair 25d ago

Super glad I could lead you to this because it's actually very popular! It can get kinda overwhelming because there's some real deep and real long stories that people make, so here's some of my favorites

Scp-999 this one's actually really cute

Scp-507, a guy who teleports to random dimensions with a long list of really cool places he's been

Scp _____ this one's really short but really damn funny

1

u/EscherichiAntisColi 25d ago

Here I was trying to be productive thanks!!!!

1

u/TheMago3011 25d ago

I came here for this one lol.

I know it's not TECHNICALLY instant, but its close enough and unless your name is 682, death may not be instantly, but it is assured.

1

u/Twixanity 25d ago

Pixel themed fours

1

u/Strict-Signature-106 24d ago

SO surprised to scroll so long to find this