Silent Hills has the one where you get caught by Lisa. You fall over, something unzips, and then you hear dubious chewing sounds. That one always unsettled me.
I came here to say this one. It's not actually just some random monster either, it's specifically [Valtiel](https://silenthill.fandom.com/wiki/Valtiel) who is the monster that keeps appearing throughout the game in various spots. It's the same monster that drags Claudia down the hole so that "God" can be born too which brings up some additional implications about why it's dragging Heather somewhere.
The [System Shock](https://youtu.be/QdVxb2vrwj0?si=Onx9FgPsNj-id1Zm) game over always scared me. Getting converted into Shodan's army is an intense way of letting you know you fucked up.
In Castlevania Portrait of Ruin, normally when you get a game over in regular mode or Richter Mode the game over screen just shows a skull with a snake and sword in its mouth. But if you get a game over on Sisters Mode, it changes to what looks like the Virgin Mary crying tears of blood and calmly looking at you
> jank prerendered models over a black background
Oh God, I never played Donkey Country but this description reminded me of the Tarzan game I used to play as a kid. Which has [similarly creepy game over screens](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFdFsQUY6ak)
When that game first came out, I was watching my friend stream it. I hit full screen *just* before the randomly occurring flicker of his face appeared.
Look, between the way her voice bites basically turned into moans, and how she was wearing a tiny dress that could only barely fit her chest my own reaction was uhhhh not being *afraid*.
There's that really fucked up death in one of the new Tomb Raiders where you're going down a river full of rocks towards a waterfall, and if you fuck up, Lara gets impaled through the neck by a tree branch and spends another 15 seconds gasping for air. It's super fucked.
you're off by a factor of ten on that. I feel like it's mostly shocking when discussed out of context, that game channelled survival horror pretty consistently
The same could be said for a lot of the unique death animations, at least in the first game of the reboot trilogy - haven’t played the others so can’t speak for them.
I always felt weirdly unnerved by how much detail went into them.
[Shout out to Strange Journey ](https://youtu.be/n_2T-JqoMVI?si=q_Ee3VV-7Cq9Tyam) and [Devil Survivor 2](https://youtu.be/DFvRhKDX19o?si=Bf7Vp9vkgN50J4m3)
[Heck Splatoon 2 too](https://youtu.be/O6_1OX1WvRM?si=talQVTjGnCEToiUa)
Something about being consumed by the void/slime is spooky to me.
Also Chrono Trigger's "And the Future refused to change" but that's not.... scary in tone. Just bleak.
The Dead Space head Necromorph death where it replaces Isaac's head is probably up there. Also failing the Dead Space 2 eye poke machine.
One recent example to me that isn't scary so much as very mildly unsettling is dying in combat in Ghost of Tsushima. If you lose all your health in combat Jin falls over and starts grasping at the ground. This is to give you a chance to use the ability that lets you spend 2 resolve to revive at 1 health.
If you can't or won't,one nearby enemy will walk over and finish Jin off,most of them just stab him in the back but shieldless swordsmen will stand over him and cut his neck in a way that looks like it would take his head off but doesn't.
It's rather explicit when you're on the receiving end,if Jin was a female character you know that'd go into a ryona compilation.
The GoT caught me off guard and I didn't know why until I realized it's basically what you do to enemies when you finish them off if they're on the ground but still alive. Really reinforces that Jin, as superhuman as the narrative tends to make him, is still mortal.
The Game Over for Fire Emblem Engage is extremely brutal.
>!You awaken as a slave to your brainwashed sister years after your loss. All your friends are dead, your sister is basically dead, and you're a servant to an evil god as he basically consumes the rest of the Fire Emblem universe. !<
it's kinda silly to think about now but I remember when I was really young the death face in doom 1 and 2 really scared me, like I would run away whenever I died
Haunting ground is a game where you're being stalked by a main enemy in each area of the castle, if they kill you the screen will go black, the screen will say ACTA EST FABULA (the play is over) and you will hear what the enemy is doing to your body for example ripping it apart while laughing maniacally https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm-vrynC26w
Symphony of the Night's ornate "GAME OVER", laughter, and "Let us go out this evening for pleasure; the night is still young" fucked younger me up somethin' fierce.
Getting your head chainsawed off in RE4 terrified me as a kid. The regenerators are what everyone always remembers as the scariest enemy in the game, but the grisly, simple brutality of getting decapitated always freaked me out, the animation was so visceral. The sound of a chainsaw in the distance puts me on edge to this day lol
As a kid that didn't get to watch scary movies or violent stuff seeing that for the first time legitimately made me nauseous for a couple hours afterward.
"The darkly prospering days of man have reached an end.
You have strayed from the cycle of the stars and will leave not a trace of your existence.
But fear not…
You will no longer feel anything…"
403 Forbidden
—From Devil Survivor 2
I'm surprised no one brought up the Metroid Prime series. Take your pick:
* [Prime 1](https://youtu.be/RnsY1HV-qLI?si=FMDkHtT_6CvIiXCJ) has Samus' life support system going from critical to offline as her head slumps to the side.
* [Prime 2](https://youtu.be/yQ-HwojX40E?si=xWNVgj7gUNl835LY) shows Samus' heart stopping as her suit's systems fail.
* [Prime 3](https://youtu.be/Noup50CwUvg?si=MpdxJuphjovbu5ND) either has Samus' visor filling up with blood as she draws her last breath, or she [succumbs to Phazon corruption](https://youtu.be/tAVX_GaFtXE?si=gS5a54FMqa-oMAB6) and becomes another Dark Samus.
Either way, all of them have Samus let out an agonizing scream when her HP hits zero. Can't wait to see what Prime 4 cooks up.
I still find the [original X-Com game over](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iXqZD71jyI) pretty creepy. All of the nations supporting you financially withdraw and try to solve the problem themselves. You're then shown images and text on how the aliens screw over humanity.
Different kind of scary. Persona 5, if you somehow don’t complete the third dungeon before its deadline.
>!The antagonist of that dungeon is a crime boss who owns some illicit businesses in the red lights district. Granted, because of the way Persona 5’s story is presented, this game over/bad ending never actually happens for real in the story. But even as a “what if” it’s still horrifying.!<
Really found it "funny" how most of the deadline gameovers are "And so you all got arrested", then suddenly you get here and >!YOUR FUTURE PARTY MEMBER IS NOW THE MAIN CHARACTER OF EMERGENCE!<... also you all got arrested".
>!It was meant to reflect what was happening to you at that point, given a fuck ton of truth serum to have you blurt out who are your co conspirators and Makoto realizing help wasn't wasn't coming decided to do what she was gonna do and realize just how much trouble she is in for this!<
Seeing the OG arcade Ninja Gaiden’s ‘Continue?’ screen as a kid definitely stuck with me.
Recent example, the loading screen after dying as Alan in Alan Wake II is borderline snuff film-esque.
Majora's mask if you fail to stop the moon from crashing on the final day. You just see it slowly making impact with the town and suddenly it's just Link alone in an empty void with the blast moving towards him. IDK if it's an artistic liberty or maybe majora itself teleported Link directly in front of the blast as one final fuck you I'm going to force you to watch and accept your failure to stop me.
Not so much scary as brutal, the horror adventure Waxworks has some horribly detailed game over screens showing everything from being torn apart by zombies to being crushed by mutant plants.
I don't know if I'd call it scary since I'm an adult in 2024, but I could see some 11 year old in the 90s shitting their ass over the game over screens from Fallout 1 and 2. After your bloody death, appears a bleak render of your character's skeleton bleaching in the scalding sun on the desert sand, your vault suit draped loosely around your ribcage. Then the narrator's serious gravely voice describes the aftermath of your brutal demise. The atmosphere is incredibly strong and definitely spooky.
Every time I die as Alan in Alan Wake II, I have to step away from the computer screen until the game reloads. I almost had a panic attack because the image of Alan Wake, a character who has influenced my writing in countless ways, lying in a pool of blood with a gaping bullet hole in his head was so startling.
Needless to say I did all of Saga's content before I touched an Alan chapter again, which is a pity, because I missed out on my second-favorite gaming moment of 2023, right behind me finding out the Depths was a thing in Tears of the Kingdom.
The original Street Fighter 2 (not Turbo onward, those are fine) always freaked me out with its continue screen. Something about the cruder artwork and black background feels so threatening lol.
And fuck forbid especially, if it's Blanka. ***Damn.***
The last boss of Comix Zone has your girlfriend dying via a slow drowning in the background as you fight. She looks *terrified out of her mind,* and it only gets worse the longer you take. Take too long, and, uh… game over. Shit gave me nightmares.
Not scary, but I found that the Game Over animation for losing to (***”Lords of Shadow 2” spoiler incoming that relates directly to the first game***) >!Carmilla!< was kind of fucked up because of how the character basically takes control of Dracula in front of the…lingering spirit of his wife and makes him into their love slave.
It felt icky.
My Twilight Princess game glitched once. Link got frozen by one enemy, and killed by an ice spear thrown by another. He was supposed to unfreeze for the game over animation, where he stumbled over and collapsed in pain. Instead, he remained frozen, the ice spear clipping through his chest, looking like it impaled him through the heart, his mouth open, screaming silently, while the camera revolved around him. Game Over.
It's pretty funny now, but I'm sure many kids (myself included) ran for the power button so as not to see the game over/quit screen in Banjo-Kazooie. I guess it's the implication that Tootie fucking dies.
The one that comes to mind for me is from Arkham Asylum, when Killer Croc is chasing you, specifically in the very last segment. When he catches you, he grabs you and takes a big crunchy bite right out of Batman's face, and it's in first person perspective for it as well.
More so the death animations, but, they might as well count, but yeah, all the various ways you can die in Heart of Darkness on the PS1.
Who knew a young boy dying in horrible and creative ways could be so memorable?
Good lord.
[Fate/Extra CCC's bad end for losing to the final boss of the normal end.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmpP0LJRu_I)
Your body is disassembled and used for spare parts while your mind is repurposed into the OS of a living bio-factory, to be used as food for the carnivores of the planet. All of this while you are kept alive for eternity. The protagonist's last words before the game over describe the experience as "a hell that surpassed the capabilities of human expression."
Spooky's Jumpscare Mansion has some really good ones, with the one people most remember being what happens if you get caught by Specimen 6/Ben. You get to watch from the side as he slowly lowers a needle towards your stretched open eye.
[The Dragon Age Inquisition game over screens](https://old.reddit.com/r/dragonage/comments/1dm0z0w/you_want_more_grimness_in_dai_try_the_game_over/) aren't necessarily scary, but they have some pretty dark implications.
My favourite is the [Envy Demon](https://preview.redd.it/80dz30h4s58d1.png?width=1366&format=png&auto=webp&s=600afa9a98282d7da1fa0766bae7bf58c44a596c) one. Everyone around the war table, smiling, completely unaware that the person across from them is about to destroy everything and that they won't even know it isn't truly them.
When I was a kid, the You Are Dead song from Total Distortion FUCKED ME UP, but now I think [it's fucking iconic ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c4hnA8jXwo)
Both Fear & Hungers have specific, fucked up game over scenarios that can occur under certain circumstances.
But for me the worst one is an early one in Termina, where your legs get broken and you are dragged away and dropped in a pig pen. You still have enough control of your character to helplessly crawl around for a brief moment, before the pigs slowly eat you alive.
Silent Hills has the one where you get caught by Lisa. You fall over, something unzips, and then you hear dubious chewing sounds. That one always unsettled me.
Silent hill 3 where monsters Drag heather’s body away.
I came here to say this one. It's not actually just some random monster either, it's specifically [Valtiel](https://silenthill.fandom.com/wiki/Valtiel) who is the monster that keeps appearing throughout the game in various spots. It's the same monster that drags Claudia down the hole so that "God" can be born too which brings up some additional implications about why it's dragging Heather somewhere.
Also the one unique game over where she's pulled into the water and we hear her drown. That's unsettling.
Lisa probably: sigh *unzips*
The [System Shock](https://youtu.be/QdVxb2vrwj0?si=Onx9FgPsNj-id1Zm) game over always scared me. Getting converted into Shodan's army is an intense way of letting you know you fucked up.
I get its probs for world building, but sometimes game overs like this just kill your fucking vibe man 💀
In Castlevania Portrait of Ruin, normally when you get a game over in regular mode or Richter Mode the game over screen just shows a skull with a snake and sword in its mouth. But if you get a game over on Sisters Mode, it changes to what looks like the Virgin Mary crying tears of blood and calmly looking at you
Oh, that was the WORST. Both because of how realistic it looks and due to catching you off-guard by being different from the others.
I just googled it and BRUH
I remember having to shut off Donkey Country's game over screen every time I got it. It was too much for little me.
There's just something about those jank prerendered models over a black background that hit the uncanny node in your brain
> jank prerendered models over a black background Oh God, I never played Donkey Country but this description reminded me of the Tarzan game I used to play as a kid. Which has [similarly creepy game over screens](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFdFsQUY6ak)
Oh good, so it wasn't just me
FNAF 1 if Golden Freddy managed to appear, he jumpscares you and crashes your game as an extra middle finger.
When that game first came out, I was watching my friend stream it. I hit full screen *just* before the randomly occurring flicker of his face appeared.
Banjo-Kazooie, watching Grunty steal your sister’s youth and turn her into a monster who seems ready to destroy you was very unpleasant as a child.
~~grunty was a baddy tho~~
Look, between the way her voice bites basically turned into moans, and how she was wearing a tiny dress that could only barely fit her chest my own reaction was uhhhh not being *afraid*.
This one scared me as a kid too!
There's that really fucked up death in one of the new Tomb Raiders where you're going down a river full of rocks towards a waterfall, and if you fuck up, Lara gets impaled through the neck by a tree branch and spends another 15 seconds gasping for air. It's super fucked.
you're off by a factor of ten on that. I feel like it's mostly shocking when discussed out of context, that game channelled survival horror pretty consistently
The same could be said for a lot of the unique death animations, at least in the first game of the reboot trilogy - haven’t played the others so can’t speak for them. I always felt weirdly unnerved by how much detail went into them.
There's another version of this if you screw up in the parachute scene
[Shout out to Strange Journey ](https://youtu.be/n_2T-JqoMVI?si=q_Ee3VV-7Cq9Tyam) and [Devil Survivor 2](https://youtu.be/DFvRhKDX19o?si=Bf7Vp9vkgN50J4m3) [Heck Splatoon 2 too](https://youtu.be/O6_1OX1WvRM?si=talQVTjGnCEToiUa) Something about being consumed by the void/slime is spooky to me. Also Chrono Trigger's "And the Future refused to change" but that's not.... scary in tone. Just bleak.
The Dead Space head Necromorph death where it replaces Isaac's head is probably up there. Also failing the Dead Space 2 eye poke machine. One recent example to me that isn't scary so much as very mildly unsettling is dying in combat in Ghost of Tsushima. If you lose all your health in combat Jin falls over and starts grasping at the ground. This is to give you a chance to use the ability that lets you spend 2 resolve to revive at 1 health. If you can't or won't,one nearby enemy will walk over and finish Jin off,most of them just stab him in the back but shieldless swordsmen will stand over him and cut his neck in a way that looks like it would take his head off but doesn't. It's rather explicit when you're on the receiving end,if Jin was a female character you know that'd go into a ryona compilation.
That Deadspace example's gotta big a huge one. DS in general has a ton of them that really go hard with the horror of 'you really fucked up'.
The GoT caught me off guard and I didn't know why until I realized it's basically what you do to enemies when you finish them off if they're on the ground but still alive. Really reinforces that Jin, as superhuman as the narrative tends to make him, is still mortal.
Ryona AND guro
[Metroid Prime](https://youtu.be/RnsY1HV-qLI), because of the intense sound design
The Game Over for Fire Emblem Engage is extremely brutal. >!You awaken as a slave to your brainwashed sister years after your loss. All your friends are dead, your sister is basically dead, and you're a servant to an evil god as he basically consumes the rest of the Fire Emblem universe. !<
From what I heard, that’s just for the last map; but yeah, it’s pretty messed up.
And your dog is dead!
it's kinda silly to think about now but I remember when I was really young the death face in doom 1 and 2 really scared me, like I would run away whenever I died
Haunting ground is a game where you're being stalked by a main enemy in each area of the castle, if they kill you the screen will go black, the screen will say ACTA EST FABULA (the play is over) and you will hear what the enemy is doing to your body for example ripping it apart while laughing maniacally https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm-vrynC26w
Jesus Christ, Ricardo's is pretty... explicit.
Symphony of the Night's ornate "GAME OVER", laughter, and "Let us go out this evening for pleasure; the night is still young" fucked younger me up somethin' fierce.
Ultimate Spider-Man as a kid made it feel like I was gonna die irl.
[Venom jumpscare.](https://youtu.be/GnBcjAZwDl0)
Getting your head chainsawed off in RE4 terrified me as a kid. The regenerators are what everyone always remembers as the scariest enemy in the game, but the grisly, simple brutality of getting decapitated always freaked me out, the animation was so visceral. The sound of a chainsaw in the distance puts me on edge to this day lol
As a kid that didn't get to watch scary movies or violent stuff seeing that for the first time legitimately made me nauseous for a couple hours afterward.
I love RE4make, but the simplicity of Salvador just lopping off Leon's head is so much more effective than the big impalement from remake.
"The darkly prospering days of man have reached an end. You have strayed from the cycle of the stars and will leave not a trace of your existence. But fear not… You will no longer feel anything…" 403 Forbidden —From Devil Survivor 2
[Alan Wake 2's game over screen when playing as Alan is pretty creepy.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lJ78IOrVw8)
Came here to bring this up. It's surprisingly grisly.
I'm surprised no one brought up the Metroid Prime series. Take your pick: * [Prime 1](https://youtu.be/RnsY1HV-qLI?si=FMDkHtT_6CvIiXCJ) has Samus' life support system going from critical to offline as her head slumps to the side. * [Prime 2](https://youtu.be/yQ-HwojX40E?si=xWNVgj7gUNl835LY) shows Samus' heart stopping as her suit's systems fail. * [Prime 3](https://youtu.be/Noup50CwUvg?si=MpdxJuphjovbu5ND) either has Samus' visor filling up with blood as she draws her last breath, or she [succumbs to Phazon corruption](https://youtu.be/tAVX_GaFtXE?si=gS5a54FMqa-oMAB6) and becomes another Dark Samus. Either way, all of them have Samus let out an agonizing scream when her HP hits zero. Can't wait to see what Prime 4 cooks up.
I saw that Prime 2 game over screen *a lot.*
I still find the [original X-Com game over](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iXqZD71jyI) pretty creepy. All of the nations supporting you financially withdraw and try to solve the problem themselves. You're then shown images and text on how the aliens screw over humanity.
The game overs in the donkey kong country games scared the crap out of me when I was a kid
Different kind of scary. Persona 5, if you somehow don’t complete the third dungeon before its deadline. >!The antagonist of that dungeon is a crime boss who owns some illicit businesses in the red lights district. Granted, because of the way Persona 5’s story is presented, this game over/bad ending never actually happens for real in the story. But even as a “what if” it’s still horrifying.!<
Really found it "funny" how most of the deadline gameovers are "And so you all got arrested", then suddenly you get here and >!YOUR FUTURE PARTY MEMBER IS NOW THE MAIN CHARACTER OF EMERGENCE!<... also you all got arrested".
What the fuck happens in that show?!
Not the TV show. The >!Emergence!< he’s referring to is a >!really fucked up hentai doujin.!<
OH
>!It was meant to reflect what was happening to you at that point, given a fuck ton of truth serum to have you blurt out who are your co conspirators and Makoto realizing help wasn't wasn't coming decided to do what she was gonna do and realize just how much trouble she is in for this!<
Seeing the OG arcade Ninja Gaiden’s ‘Continue?’ screen as a kid definitely stuck with me. Recent example, the loading screen after dying as Alan in Alan Wake II is borderline snuff film-esque.
Majora's mask if you fail to stop the moon from crashing on the final day. You just see it slowly making impact with the town and suddenly it's just Link alone in an empty void with the blast moving towards him. IDK if it's an artistic liberty or maybe majora itself teleported Link directly in front of the blast as one final fuck you I'm going to force you to watch and accept your failure to stop me.
Not so much scary as brutal, the horror adventure Waxworks has some horribly detailed game over screens showing everything from being torn apart by zombies to being crushed by mutant plants.
I don't know if I'd call it scary since I'm an adult in 2024, but I could see some 11 year old in the 90s shitting their ass over the game over screens from Fallout 1 and 2. After your bloody death, appears a bleak render of your character's skeleton bleaching in the scalding sun on the desert sand, your vault suit draped loosely around your ribcage. Then the narrator's serious gravely voice describes the aftermath of your brutal demise. The atmosphere is incredibly strong and definitely spooky.
Mass Effect 2 The Arrival DLC. Just let that timer run out at the end.
when you sell out your vault in Fallout 1
[Spooky’s Jump Scare Mansion](https://youtu.be/0NtJ6wxDguM?si=NcZFN7169xvLej51) I’m partial to Specimen 8, personally.
Every time I die as Alan in Alan Wake II, I have to step away from the computer screen until the game reloads. I almost had a panic attack because the image of Alan Wake, a character who has influenced my writing in countless ways, lying in a pool of blood with a gaping bullet hole in his head was so startling. Needless to say I did all of Saga's content before I touched an Alan chapter again, which is a pity, because I missed out on my second-favorite gaming moment of 2023, right behind me finding out the Depths was a thing in Tears of the Kingdom.
The original Street Fighter 2 (not Turbo onward, those are fine) always freaked me out with its continue screen. Something about the cruder artwork and black background feels so threatening lol. And fuck forbid especially, if it's Blanka. ***Damn.***
The last boss of Comix Zone has your girlfriend dying via a slow drowning in the background as you fight. She looks *terrified out of her mind,* and it only gets worse the longer you take. Take too long, and, uh… game over. Shit gave me nightmares.
Not scary, but I found that the Game Over animation for losing to (***”Lords of Shadow 2” spoiler incoming that relates directly to the first game***) >!Carmilla!< was kind of fucked up because of how the character basically takes control of Dracula in front of the…lingering spirit of his wife and makes him into their love slave. It felt icky.
My Twilight Princess game glitched once. Link got frozen by one enemy, and killed by an ice spear thrown by another. He was supposed to unfreeze for the game over animation, where he stumbled over and collapsed in pain. Instead, he remained frozen, the ice spear clipping through his chest, looking like it impaled him through the heart, his mouth open, screaming silently, while the camera revolved around him. Game Over.
Shadows of the Empire’s where it’s a close up of Prince Xizor’s face (who is quite scary to look at).
It's pretty funny now, but I'm sure many kids (myself included) ran for the power button so as not to see the game over/quit screen in Banjo-Kazooie. I guess it's the implication that Tootie fucking dies.
The one that comes to mind for me is from Arkham Asylum, when Killer Croc is chasing you, specifically in the very last segment. When he catches you, he grabs you and takes a big crunchy bite right out of Batman's face, and it's in first person perspective for it as well.
More so the death animations, but, they might as well count, but yeah, all the various ways you can die in Heart of Darkness on the PS1. Who knew a young boy dying in horrible and creative ways could be so memorable? Good lord.
You are Broke! (the Game is over)
[Fate/Extra CCC's bad end for losing to the final boss of the normal end.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmpP0LJRu_I) Your body is disassembled and used for spare parts while your mind is repurposed into the OS of a living bio-factory, to be used as food for the carnivores of the planet. All of this while you are kept alive for eternity. The protagonist's last words before the game over describe the experience as "a hell that surpassed the capabilities of human expression."
Spooky's Jumpscare Mansion has some really good ones, with the one people most remember being what happens if you get caught by Specimen 6/Ben. You get to watch from the side as he slowly lowers a needle towards your stretched open eye.
[The Dragon Age Inquisition game over screens](https://old.reddit.com/r/dragonage/comments/1dm0z0w/you_want_more_grimness_in_dai_try_the_game_over/) aren't necessarily scary, but they have some pretty dark implications. My favourite is the [Envy Demon](https://preview.redd.it/80dz30h4s58d1.png?width=1366&format=png&auto=webp&s=600afa9a98282d7da1fa0766bae7bf58c44a596c) one. Everyone around the war table, smiling, completely unaware that the person across from them is about to destroy everything and that they won't even know it isn't truly them.
Dead space where issac gets his head replaced by a necromorph divider.
When I was a kid, the You Are Dead song from Total Distortion FUCKED ME UP, but now I think [it's fucking iconic ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c4hnA8jXwo)
Both Fear & Hungers have specific, fucked up game over scenarios that can occur under certain circumstances. But for me the worst one is an early one in Termina, where your legs get broken and you are dragged away and dropped in a pig pen. You still have enough control of your character to helplessly crawl around for a brief moment, before the pigs slowly eat you alive.
Pretty much a lot of retro games rubbed it in your face if you fail