Topic: Moments in Nintendo games that scares or unsettles you?

When I was a kid, me and my brother looked at Smash Brawl Subspace Emissary cutscenes (probably on Youtube). Keep in mind that at the time, I knew nothing about Pikmin or F-Zero. I was looking at the scene where Olimar tries to defeat a giant R.O.B. The first time I saw the Pikmin dies, I was horrified. It's not because I was upset that the Pikmin dies, it's because the way the Pikmin turn into Pikmin souls without leaving a corpse behind that felt very out of place to me. Also, little kid me thought the Pikmins and Captain Olimar look weird. As a kid, I wished Captain Olimar and his weird, creepy Pikmins were not in smash at all.

This one is unrelated to Nintendo. When I was a kid, I remember seeing Sackboy for the first time through an image on a mall somewhere (although I had no knowledge about his name at the time). As a kid, I had no idea he is made out of sack so I thought he looks horrifying.

I think it's hard to top Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask for me. There is a lot in those games that I find, at the very least, unnerving. And I still do, based on my replays this year. I think it's a mixture of two things: 1) Out of Nintendo's franchises, Zelda usually has the most emotional range, from joyous whimsy to deep melancholy. And the N64 Zeldas manage a particularly wide range. And 2) The blocky N64 graphics meant Nintendo could, in some cases, get away with stuff like Dead Hand. Today they'd have to draw that monster with more fidelity and detail, and would probably have to dilute the gruesome impact of it.

Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask could each get their own thread for this.

Twilight Princess- when Link falls into lava with the Zora tunic on, that scream+the instant transition into the game over. Also if Link has 1/4 quarter heart left and he gets knocked off in the Bridge of Eldin fight, likewise the instant transition into the game over is unsettling.

Metroid- when you do not escape in time, and the screen instantly flickers like crazy alongside explosion noises, transitioning into a game over.

Metroid Prime's game over- everything about it

Earthbound- the "Mu training" (when Poo goes up to the mountaintop) near his home village of Dalaam. Even as an adult, it was unsettling the first time I played.

Pokemon Red/Blue- the dialogue from the possessed channelers at the Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town.

Mario 64- the very dark small hallway between the Merry Go-Round exterior and the elevator near the edge of the course. Coupled with arguably the most haunting Mario music, I always high-tailed it out of there as fast as I could when I was younger or altogether avoided it. Also in the same course, the dialogue after you defeat a Boo.

Paper Mario N64- the Game over that shows Mario standing, and staring motionless into the distance with white eyes.

@Eel IMO, I think the idea that they're just "animated non-human magic" might be the result of some attempted retconning from Sakurai and possibly another Nintendo higher up over the years. Similar to how Miyamoto initially wanted to retcon the ending of Goldeneye 007 N64 so that Bond and Trevelyan shook hands as friends at the end . I think that Sakurai likewise tried to soften up one of Nintendo's notoriously creepy/scary enemies via its Smash Melee trophy description of ReDeads as simply "clay-like creatures with non-human origins morphed into that shape by magic". There's a ton more evidence from the original OoT+MM that they are in fact the undead/of human origin. I think you're absolutely right that many of Hyrule Market's townsfolk clearly escaped that fate when ending up in Kakariko Village, but a good number did not imo.

I’m surprised at the lack of Kirby in this thread. These moments may not scare me per se but they do unsettle.

Kirby’s Dream Land 3- When 0’s pupil bursts out of its eye when almost defeated.
Kirby 64- The bad ending when the Fairy Queen makes an evil smirk at Ribbon as the cutscene ends, revealing that she's still possessed by 02. Then there's the 02 final boss battle in general.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land- When Fecto Forgo breaks out of its container and absorbs Leon and members of the Beast Pack who came to attack Kirby. It essentially kills them and possesses their bodies to chase Kirby and Elfilin in one, giant gooey mess. The boss music perfectly captures the disturbing mood.

Besides Kirby, I’ve always been unsettled by the game over screen in Donkey Kong Country. DK is facepalming and Diddy just stares at you as they are beat up and bruised in the darkness while sad jungle music plays.

When I was a kid, Bubba the big fish in Super Mario 64's Tiny-Huge Island scared me more so than the eel or the Mad Piano. He’s an unbeatable enemy that just prowls around in the waters and can chase and swallow Mario whole. I was also afraid of the blackout in Luigi's Mansion when all of the rooms would go dark and the mansion would be swarming with ghost enemies, though in later years I would see this as an interesting challenge to try to suck up a bunch of ghosts in past rooms before restoring the light.

Fury Bowser from Bowser’s Fury would’ve terrified me as a kid. The buildup to Fury Bowser's reappearance is intense and I think it's even scarier than the Blood Moon in Breath of the Wild. Then there's the chaos of running away and surviving Fury Bowser and the kaiju-style boss battles with him. Late in the game, it feels like he just won't ever stop leaving you alone. Even now, I'd still keep looking over my shoulder to keep an eye on Fury Bowser's slowly-rising black shell. I think it’s at least a little unsettling how even in an adorable world of cats and kittens you can never rest knowing that a giant black monster will soon rise up and try to burn or crush you anywhere you are.

I suppose its been mentioned a million times but parts of eternal darkness are even scarier than any horror movie i'v seen.

When the Animal Crossing villagers count exactly how may days you've been gone. Might not be a problem on New Horizons, but I play New Leaf and it's very unsettling.

I think one section that stands out to me as being particularly creepy is the Ghost Trial in Pokemon Sun/Moon. An abandoned, haunted supermarket is one of the most unique locations for a Pokemon game and having to record all the paranormal activity using the Camera function made it feel like a found footage movie at times which I thought was immensely interesting. Mimikyu's room also needs to be given a special mention for having all the horror staples: claustrophobic room, first person view, eerie silence, immensely creepy stalker energy with all the photos of Pikachu and, the slow turnaround to reveal Mimikyu himself was all done so well (the bit right before that was added in USUM where a mirage of Acerola telling you to 'GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT' also caught me extremely off guard the first time through).

However, while all of these things are equally spooky, the one thing that'll forever haunt me about the Thrifty Megamart is the MUSIC.

Any water temple in a sonic game, sonic birthed my fear of water levels forever, it’s the one levels I don’t like, usually. Oh and do I even need to say why Shadow and water temple from OOT. That plays give me the Jubas and the hubas.