History GoMadFromTheRevelation / ComicBooks

** In ''ComicBook/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', a clique of [[KnightTemplar extremist Jedi]] known as the Covenant murder most of their students and begin ruthlessly hunting down the SoleSurvivor after receiving a vision of themselves all dying and a powerful Sith Lord wearing a red environmental suit arising. They had assumed that because their students happened to be wearing the same kind of environmental suit at the time, the vision is the Force trying to warn them that one of said students would become the Sith Lord in question. [[spoiler:Naturally, it turns out the vision was ''actually'' the Force [[SelfFulfillingProphecy warning them of what would happen]] if they continued down [[WellIntentionedExtremist their dark path]], and by attempting to defy the prophecy by doubling down on their fundamentalism, they simply seal their fates. All but one of them dies over the coming days, the last survivor goes into hiding after being disgraced and maimed, and [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Darth Malak]] arises partly/indirectly because of their actions… complete with briefly wearing the environmental suit.]]

* From ''ComicBook/KingCity'': The sight of the Demon King, even in its incomplete state, is known to have driven some people over the edge of sanity.

* In the ''ComicBook/CaptainBritain'' storyline ''ComicBook/ACrookedWorld'', the precognitive Cobweb goes mad when she makes the mistake of looking into the very near future, which has just been invaded by a cybernetic nightmare from another dimension and is steadily being dominated by an insane [[RealityWarper reality-warping]] Prime Minister by the name of Mad Jim Jaspers. Naturally, after puking her guts out and mumbling a few [[MadOracle garbled prophecies]], she tries to swallow her tongue.

* In ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'' ComicBook/LexLuthor acquires all of ComicBook/{{Superman}}'s powers. All of them. In the end, he is stopped not by anyone, but Superman's Super Senses. Luthor sees the universe as Superman does and realizes that Superman isn't a villain - his altruism comes from his understanding of how interconnected the universe is. Luthor ''[[InvertedTrope went sane from the revelation]]!''

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** ComicBook/TheJoker is like this at least some portrayals, more so than most ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' villains. More than one interpretation (including the [[Film/Batman1989 1989 movie]]) has shown him bursting into maniacal laughter after seeing his disfigured reflection for the first time (depending on the interpretation, it was the result of falling into a chemical vat, getting shot in the face, or both). His fellow RoguesGallery members are listed alongside him under FreakOut.
*** For instance, ''Comicbook/TheKillingJoke''. Averted by Commissioner Gordon's resistance to Joker's attempts to drive him crazy in the same graphic novel.

*** Inverted in ''Going Sane'', where Batman's apparent death causes Joker to lose his insanity.

** The Lazarus pits of ComicBook/RasAlGhul seem to have this effect on anyone they resurrect. How long this effect lasts varies DependingOnTheWriter, swinging from a few minutes of cackling lunacy in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' to permanent damage in more than one storyline of the comics themselves (Ra's egomania is attributed to his repeated resurrections, as is [[Characters/{{Robin}} Jason Todd's]] shift from troubled kid to murderous ComicBook/{{Punisher}} clone.)
* In ''ComicBook/CaptainBritain,'' the precognitive Cobweb goes mad when she makes the mistake of looking into the very near future, which has just been invaded by a cybernetic nightmare from another dimension and is steadily being dominated by an insane [[RealityWarper reality-warping]] Prime Minister by the name of Mad Jim Jaspers. Naturally, after puking her guts out and mumbling a few [[MadOracle garbled prophecies]], she tries to swallow her tongue.
** Captain Britain himself had his own brush with this trope when he was first confronted with a supernatural occurrence he couldn't [[FlatEarthAtheist dismiss or explain away]] - in this case, extradimensional beings contacting him in the middle of a Trans-Atlantic flight. He promptly freaked out and jumped out of the plane. At this point in time, Brian got his powers from an amulet and scepter given to him by Merlin and Arthur. ([[Myth/KingArthur Yes, them]]). This has been {{retcon}}ned at some point to Brian getting his brains rattled by a psychic attack and jumping to protect the plane's passengers (At this point he couldn't fly yet).

* {{ComicBook/Enigma}} features a villain called The Truth who has the ability to look someone in the eyes and remove all the comforting lies they tell themselves. It generally results in either suicide or mass murder.

** Cy has had the dubious honour of Going Mad From The Revelation ''twice'' in the same series. The first bout of insanity occurs when Nyarlathotep whispers his [[BrownNote true name]] in his ear; after spending the rest of the evening and the next morning in shock, and attempting to commit suicide, Cy finally descends into catatonia for the next year. The ''second'' time is some time after Cy's recovery, when he manages to save the world by sending Nyarlathotep back to the court of Azathoth; unfortunately, he manages to catch a glimpse of its main occupant. Cy doesn't survive this next brush with insanity.

-->'''Ultraman''': There is a God...and he hates us all.
* During the original ComicBook/{{Galactus}} storyline in ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'', the Human Torch fell into a brief HeroicBSOD moment after traveling to the far reaches of space to find the Ultimate Nullifier. TheWatcher assured the Fantastic Four that the state was only temporary, as his brain would soon [[LaserGuidedAmnesia purge itself of the memories of his travels]] for the sake of its own sanity.
-->'''Human Torch''': I traveled through worlds so big...so big...there..there aren't words..! We're like ants..just ants..ants..!
* One issue of ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'' features a WellIntentionedExtremist priest who gets into the habit of calling the police when teenagers start confessing their misdeeds to him- and at one point, he goes so far as to physically assault a girl who confessed to having sex with her brother. And then the Devil shows up; after letting him know how badly the teenagers have suffered, he ushers the priest back into the confessional and lets him hear ''his'' confession. Minutes later, the priest burns the church to the ground; from then on, he's straight-up AxCrazy, murdering people from one end of the country to the next, culminating in his attempt to rape a young John Constantine- which results in him getting a razorblade wedged in his face, being arrested, and committed to an asylum. After being released over twenty years later, he bumps into Constantine again at a local church; by now completely lucid, he explains everything, then [[EyeScream jams a pencil in either eye]] and [[DrivenToSuicide headbutts the pew in front of him.]]
** John himself was pretty horribly traumatized by what happened in Newcastle in '79, and had to go in and out of institutions for several years afterword.
** Prior to this, in ''Comicbook/SwampThing'' Constantine leads a mentalist to make contact with heroes and villains battling what appears to be a giant, black [[UltimateEvil shelled mollusk]] that even defeats [[DefeatingTheUndefeatable the Spectre, implied to be an aspect of God.]] Though the entire experience has been traumatic, Constantine's patsy gets a good look at the shell on the creature to snap his mind: [[spoiler: It's not a shell, it's a fingernail. The entire battle had been fought on a scale so alien, whole armies had been assaulting just the fingertip of their foe without realizing.]]
** The being in question was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Evil_Beast The Great Darkness]], basically the leftover primodium after God created the Universe. No wonder everyone was having such a hard time.
* This is what causes the murderer to go on a rampage in the facility Sanctuary in ''ComicBook/HeroesInCrisis'': [[spoiler:[[ComicBook/TheFlash Wally West]], grieving at the fact that Linda Park does not remember him and that, without her, that means he doesn't have his kids, had been sent to Sanctuary to help recover. He had spent the entire time there thinking that the place was designed for him and him alone, that there was absolutely no way the other heroes could be suffering as bad as he was. He ended up finding out a way to reconstruct and watch numerous confessionals of virtually ever hero who stepped into Sanctuary and the fact that he wasn't alone caused him to snap and lose control of his powers. ''ComicBook/TheFlashInfiniteFrontier'' ended up {{Retcon}}ing it to absolve Wally of guilt by the reveal that the explosion wasn't Wally losing control of his powers, but instead caused by the Speed Force fighting to expel the villain Savitar from taking possession of it.]]
* During a FifthWeekEvent in 2000, the Swordsman of ''ComicBook/HeroesReborn'', who turned out to be his reality's version of Franchise/{{Deadpool}}, went off the deep end and tried to destroy reality upon learning that his universe was literally [[RealityWarper created by]] [[Franchise/FantasticFour a child]].

* From ''ComicBook/TheSandman'': "Not knowing everything is all that makes it okay sometimes." Delirium epitomizes the trope in a little speech to Destiny in ''Brief Lives'' where she expresses a [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness chilling moment of complete clarity]]:

* ''ComicBook/SecretWarriors'' ultimately reveals this to be the driving motivation of the Gorgon, a HYDRA leader and ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} villain who up to that point mostly seemed to be in the villainy game ForTheEvulz. Revealed in flashbacks to have been born with a mutant-level ImprobablyHighIQ, the young Tomi Shishido distinguished himself in his youth by working out and publishing an equation proving the existence of God. Unfortunately, this led to some very quick SanitySlippage and a RageAgainstTheHeavens that would consume him for the rest of his life.
* In the ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' book ''Recap/TintinTheShootingStar'', scientist Philippulus goes mad from the news that an asteroid is about to destroy Earth, and starts calling himself "Philippulus the prophet" while [[TheEndIsNigh rambling about divine punishment]].

* ''ComicBook/TheUltimates2015:'' When Connor Sims gained his powers, he was cast into the Neutral Zone, which exists right on the edge of all existence, and attained a state of hyper-awareness [[spoiler:that allowed him to the cage surrounding all existence, along with whatever made it]]. He spent the next several decades going increasingly mad, which didn't help his efforts to convince people that what he saw was true.
** The titular team of heroes also received a (slightly redacted) glimpse at [[spoiler:the nature of the [[ComicBookTime sliding time scale]] of the Marvel Universe.]] [[ComicBook/MsMarvel Captain Marvel]] in particular didn't take it well.
* ComicBook/UltimateMarvel

** ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'': When Cap hears that he has been frozen for ''fifty-seven years'', he starts attacking everyone, thinking that it must be a trick of the nazis.
* The Comedian appears to go medium-mad when he stumbles on the secret island prior to the events of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', although his behaviour (breaking in to the home of an ex-villain whom "he knew wouldn't understand," weeping uncontrollably, and expressing remorse for all the horrible things he's done which nonetheless pale in comparison to the plot he's uncovered) may be attributable more to a massive attack of conscience and ethical sensitivity, thus arguably making him more, not less, sane. A more straightforward example from this work would be Rorschach's DespairEventHorizon, upon discovery of a little girl's butchered remains, which transforms him from a relatively rational crimefighter into a pathologically obsessed NietzscheWannabe intent on imposing his own brutal, uncompromising justice on what he sees as an uncaring, meaningless world.
** Dr Manhattan also deserves a mention, having been through something very like [[Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy the Total Perspective Vortex]] and then acquired the power of God. He doesn't exactly go ''mad'', but he certainly wasn't the same person after his experience.

--->"[[HeWhoFightsMonsters I was a horror... amongst horrors must I dwell.]]"

** ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} ends up doing this to Carnage in ''Deadpool vs. Carnage'', revealing that they are all just little pawns in a writer's game that drives Carnage so out of his mind, he refuses to leave his cell. And his cell door is unlocked.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': As Donna Milton the ancient immortal witch Circe learned for the first time to empathize with humans, and even became close friends with a handful of them. Once her full memories returned however she could not reconcile her new experiences with the literal milleniums she's spent horrifically torturing, transforming, enslaving and eating humans and her next confrontation with Wondy leaves her LaughingMad on the ground without even trying to properly defend herself.

** ComicBook/{{Mystique}} gets a taste of this in ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen2016'' when she makes the mistake of thinking her natural resistance to telepathy is enough to let her go head to head with [[KnightTemplar Exodus]]. Long story short, it isn't. He not only leaves her a catatonic wreck, but in the aftermath she suffers from PowerIncontinence and schizophrenic episodes until ComicBook/{{Psylocke}} forcibly stabilizes her by way of some impromptu PsychicSurgery.

* If you think HumongousMecha can't have an EldritchAbomination of their own, you'd be wrong. The original Marvel run of ''ComicBook/TheTransformers'' featured Unicron, a PlanetEater and PhysicalGod ''disguised'' as a giant robotic planet. His appearance in that run of the comics causes Brainstorm, an otherwise quiet, sensible, and reasonable Autobot who is looked up to by the others as a paragon of forethought and planning, to utterly ''[[FreakOut lose his shit]]'' and simply start babbling a RapidFireNo while trying to shoot the planet sized monstrosity with [[FiveRoundsRapid a dinky laser pistol]]. It doesn't end well for him. For comparison, it's a bit like if you were suddenly attacked by Satan if he were the size of the Earth; the realization that the threat is real and the monster has a form far outside what you were ready to deal with could break even the most level headed individual.

* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'':

* During the ''ComicBook/{{Inferno}}'' storyline, the ComicBook/PowerPack is hit with this when a demon known as the Boogeyman forces them to reveal their identities to their parents. The adults snap under the weight of the revealation before the ComicBook/NewMutants step in and play it off as a hallucination caused by the demonic invasion.

* During a FifthWeekEvent in 2000, the Swordsman of ''ComicBook/HeroesReborn'', who turned out to be his reality's version of Franchise/{{Deadpool}} went off the deep end and tried to destroy reality upon learning that his universe was literally created by [[Franchise/FantasticFour a child]].

* This is what causes the murderer to go on a rampage in the facility Sanctuary in ''ComicBook/HeroesInCrisis'': [[spoiler:[[ComicBook/TheFlash Wally West]], grieving at the fact that Linda Park does not remember him and that, without her, that means he doesn't have his kids, had been sent to Sanctuary to help recover. He had spent the entire time there thinking that the place was designed for him and him alone, that there was absolutely no way the other heroes could be suffering as bad as he was. He ended up finding out a way to reconstruct and watch numerous confessionals of virtually ever hero who stepped into Sanctuary and the fact that he wasn't alone caused him to snap and lose control of his powers. ''ComicBook/TheFlashInfiniteFrontier'' ended up {{Retcon}}ing it to reveal that the Wally never lost control of his powers but was instead caused by the Speed Force fighting to expel the villain Savitar from taking possession of it.]]

** ComicBook/{{Mystique}} gets a taste of this in ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen2015'' when she makes the mistake of thinking her natural resistance to telepathy is enough to let her go head to head with [[KnightTemplar Exodus]]. Long story short, it isn't. He not only leaves her a catatonic wreck, but in the aftermath she suffers from PowerIncontinence and schizophrenic episodes until ComicBook/{{Psylocke}} forcibly stabilizes her by way of some impromptu PsychicSurgery.

* This is what causes the murderer to go on a rampage in the facility Sanctuary in ''ComicBook/HeroesInCrisis'': [[spoiler:[[ComicBook/TheFlash Wally West]], grieving at the fact that Linda Park does not remember him and that, without her, that means he doesn't have his kids, had been sent to Sanctuary to help recover. He had spent the entire time there thinking that the place was designed for him and him alone, that there was absolutely no way the other heroes could be suffering as bad as he was. He ended up finding out a way to reconstruct and watch numerous confessionals of virtually ever hero who stepped into Sanctuary and the fact that he wasn't alone caused him to snap and lose control of his powers.]]

* Happens in ''ComicBook/PowerPack'' when the kids' parents learn that the kids have superpowers. They're ultimately saved by being led to believe that the superpowered kids were fakes switched for their real kids.

--->"I was horror... among horrors."

** The being in question was The Great Darkness, basically the leftover primodium after God created the Universe. No wonder everyone was having such a hard time.

* ''ComicBook/UltimateGalactusTrilogy'': The Kree in general [[TheWorldIsNotReady are not ready]] to learn about Gah Lak Tus. Only high-ranked officials may do, after an extensive training. And yet, Yahn-Rahg went mad anyway after reading the Gah Lak Tus files.