History HeroicBSOD / Literature

* ''Literature/AlexRider'': In the final book. After [[spoiler:Jack is killed, Alex loses his cool for the first time in the whole series, screaming and crying over the death of the only person in his life who was always there for him]]. He then, seemingly, gives up, becoming quiet and unresponsive, even when Gunter reveals Scorpia's plan to him. But [[spoiler:this turns out to be nothing but a ruse to catch Gunter off guard; he later kills the man and rushes off to save the world once again]].

* In ''Literature/ArtemisFowl: The Lost Colony,'' Artemis suffers a very, very brief one of these when [[spoiler: Holly is killed.]] To all appearences, he's completely unmoved, continuing to concentrate on the [[spoiler:bomb]], ignoring everything else as the same guy who [[spoiler:killed Holly]] goes on to quickly [[spoiler:murder everyone but Artemis]]; however, it's all he can do to keep his concentration, which turns out to be what saves them all. Just before Artemis gets killed himself, he looses a single shot from Holly's Neutrino in a seemingly random direction. Turns out that Artemis had the TimeyWimeyBall all figured out, and the shot got pulled back in time to just the right second to [[spoiler:stop Holly and everyone else from being killed in the first place.]]
--> '''Artemis''': You didn't [[spoiler:kill my friends]]. That never happened.

* In the Creator/CalLeandros book ''Deathwish'', Niko has one of these when [[spoiler:he is tricked into seeing the false image of a dead Cal lying in a huge pool of blood]], and goes into a fugue state/rampage, in which he is later told that he'd [[spoiler:single-handedly killed an entire zoo-full of dangerous supernaturally-enhanced animals with nothing but his katana.]]
* In Creator/RobinJarvis' ''Literature/DeptfordMice'' trilogy, Piccadilly has two of these, both in the same book (''The Final Reckoning''). The first time is when he discovers that [[spoiler: everyone in his home, Holeborn, has been savagely slaughtered by Morgan's rat army]], and the second is later when he sees that [[spoiler: his friend Marty did not survive the attack after all, and his skin is being used as the rats' flag]].

* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Ward doesn't talk for several days after [[spoiler: killing Oreg]]. As he mentions that is what others have told him, he seems to have been mostly unconscious during the time as well. The healers think it's because of the loss of blood during a previous fight, and exhaustion as he had to do a lot of running, but he knows better.
* Literature/TheDresdenFiles:
** Harry Dresden has one at the end of ''Literature/GravePeril'' after [[spoiler: his girlfriend is partially turned into a Red Court vampire]]. He arguably has one in ''Literature/FoolMoon'' as well, when he basically shuts down for a little while due to being completely worn out and despairing because [[spoiler: Murphy no longer trusts him and has arrested him for withholding information in a murder investigation, when he had just begun to regain her trust after losing it in ''Literature/StormFront'']].
** In ''Literature/TurnCoat'', Harry Dresden uses his wizard's Sight to see the true nature of a skinwalker, and has a BSOD that is awesome in its proportions. He isn't just taken aback or slightly shocked--he loses consciousness, slowly comes to and realizes that he is crying hysterically, shaking uncontrollably, blacking out periodically, screaming non-stop, and is pretty much out of his mind. In a few seconds of lucidity he realizes where he is and manages to stagger to a friend's house that is luckily nearby, all the while counting prime numbers to keep himself sane. It's only after spending an hour in a dark room that he's able to pull himself together.\\\
Even days later he's still shaken by the memory, because anything you perceive using the sight is pretty much hard written into your mind forever, and the Skinwalkers are essentially angel-sized bits of pure hate that feed on suffering and fear. The fact that he didn't GoMadFromTheRevelation is amazing to say the least.

* Kallista Varyl in ''[[Literature/OneRoseTrilogy The Eternal Rose]]'' has one when [[spoiler: the first godmarked, Stone,]] dies. Since she can literally feel him get poisoned, starts healing him, then his head gets chopped off... she needs some time.

-->Aroon: I could accept nothing. I was on the floor bowing my head, rocking myself against acceptance; I was a rooted thing, torn about in a volume of storm.

* Literature/HonorHarrington spends a good chunk of "Field of Dishonor" in one after [[spoiler: Paul Tankersley's death]]. She's just recovered from it in "Flag in Exile" when the [[spoiler: an industrial accident which killed several schoolchildren, for which she is blamed]] sends her right into another one. And that doesn't even count all the [=BSODs=] that occur during and immediately after the battles in that series.

* Achilles falls into one ''twice'' in ''Literature/TheIliad,'' first after Agememnon steals Briseis, and then again [[spoiler:(and more legitimately) after his [[HoYay friend]] Patroclos dies in Achilles's place.]]

* [[Literature/InheritanceCycle Eragon]] has one of these after he finds out the identity of his father [[spoiler:(both times}]]. He gets better freakishly fast.

--> ''The frightful loss of Jeeves made any thought of pleasure more or less a mockery, but at least I found that I was able to have a dash at enjoying life again. What I mean is, I braced up to the extent of going round the cabarets once more, so as to try to forget, if only for the moment.''

* ''[[Literature/{{Dragons}} The Last Dragon Chronicles]]'': Lucy was [[spoiler:abducted by an evil witch and lived on mushrooms in the Arctic for a few months. When she was eleven.]] What's one to expect?
* [[Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt Drizzt]], in some of R.A. Salvatore's later books (specifically ''The Hunter's Blades Trilogy''), especially ''The Lone Drow'', where he flips back and forth between this, [[BerserkButton murderous]] [[UnstoppableRage rage]], and pure {{Wangst}} for most of the book.
* ''Literature/LesMiserables'' has quite a few... ok, better pick those rare characters who don't get at least one. Valjean has this at least 3-4 times. Then he gets better and saves the day.
* In ''Literature/LesMondesDEwilan'', after escaping the government facility that captured her, [[spoiler:Ewilan]] spent several weeks in an almost catatonic state, completely emotioneless, [[ThousandYardStare her stare empty]], barely doing anything besides sleeping, and not even ''talking'' anymore. And to make it [[NightmareFuel even creepier]], [[NothingIsScarier we never find out]] [[MindRape exactly what happened]].

--> "Then suddenly he beheld [[spoiler:his sister Éowyn as she lay, and he knew her]]. He stood a moment as a man who is pierced in the midst of a cry by an arrow through the heart; and then his face went deathly white, and a cold fury rose in him, so that all speech failed him for a while."

* Karn the Silver Golem had a BSOD during a scene in Magic the Gathering: Rath and Storm. When he goes to kill the murderous traitor Vuel ([[BigBad Volrath]] before he was Volrath), he smashes a cart of food in a fit of rage to show his power to Vuel's men. However, the cart toppled over onto an innocent boy and crushed him, prompting Karn's BSOD and invoking a vow of pacifism from him.

* In Alexander Yang's Literature/MidnightWorld series Aeneas's BSOD after his wife's death lasted for several monthes. By his own account, it was something like "walking letargy".
* The ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' novel ''Mosaic'' details when Captain Janeway goes through one of these. Considering that Kathryn lost her father and her fiancee on the same day, she's entitled.

* In the ''Literature/JamesBond'' novel ''Literature/OnHerMajestysSecretService'', [[spoiler: Bond's new bride is shot to death within an hour of their wedding by Ernst Stavro Blofeld.]] Bond does not take it well, and spends the first chapter or two of the next novel, ''Literature/YouOnlyLiveTwice'' in a drunken stupor, slagging off on work and generally acting an uncharacteristic disgrace. It gets so bad that M revokes his 00 number and finally, as one last attempt to shake him out of it, assigns Bond a suicide mission on behalf of their allies the Japanese, a mission that if Bond succeeds will convince the Japanese Secret Service to part with juicy information the British need. It works, especially when [[spoiler: Bond finds out the big bad he is going after is none other than Ernst Stavro Blofeld, precipitating a berserk RoaringRampageOfRevenge that leaves Blofeld dead and Bond's mind shattered...]]

* In ''March Upcountry,'' Literature/PrinceRoger etc. [=MacClintock=] discovers a) that his father is a traitor, b) that everybody else already knew this, c) that everyone assumed he knew this already, d) that everyone thinks this is the reason he's such a jerk, and e) his mother sent him away because she distrusted him (for reasons a, c and d). This is why he's stuck on a DeathWorld, and this is also why several hundred people have gotten killed trying to protect him. Understandably, he gets angry, swears at his guards, and trashes his room, causing everyone else to doubt his sanity.
--> "I heard he called the Empress a bitch!"\\

* Beka has one in the third ''Literature/ProvostsDog'' book when they find that [[spoiler:the slavers and slaves that the abducted young prince had been hidden among]] have all been brutally slaughtered and left rotting in a field like garbage, this after dealing with many other horrific deaths and cruelties inflicted by the treasonists. She's desperate to find ''some'' way to give the poor folk a bit of dignity in death even though they don't have time, and she probably would have broken had not [[spoiler:had the Black God suddenly appeared to bury them himself in pity and thanks for all the good service she'd done him]].

* Alexia goes into shutdown mode in ''[[Literature/TheParasolProtectorate Timeless]]'' after she watches [[spoiler:her temporarily-mortal husband fall to his apparent death. She snaps out of it when he does a BigDamnHeroes at the climax of the book.]]

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's ''Literature/ConanTheBarbarian'' story "A Witch Shall Be Born", the thought of turning against his queen, even though she suddenly turned into TheCaligula, drives Valerius into BrainFever. Especially when he is called a traitor.
-->''Despair and bewilderment shook his voice. The girl murmured pityingly, not understanding it all, but aching in sympathy with her lover's suffering.''
* Roland in ''Literature/WizardAndGlass'' goes to a catatonic state for weeks, after witnessing Susan burned to death.

* Creator/DavidEddings' ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' and ''Literature/TheMalloreon'':
** Both Garion and Ce'Nedra have [=BSODs=]: Garion's comes after he [[spoiler: burns Asharak to death]] outside the Forest of the Dryads and is relatively minor as [=BSODs=] go. Ce'Nedra has at least one brief one in the Belgariad when she realizes the fate in store for the soldiers she has recruited as the Rivan Queen; it could be argued that she spends virtually the whole Mallorean in one, with brief remissions. And then there was Garion's reaction in the Malloreon to the birth of his son. His ''entire brain'' shut down. [[IdiotHero Of course, Garion's brain isn't the most powerful organ in his body.]] This leads to quite a funny moment:
--->'''Garion:''' Bed....Baby....Wood..Fire, Ce'Nedra needs big fire..baby...
--->'''Polgara:''' Oh dear, it's going to be one of ''those''.
** The two companion books that serve as autobiographies of Belgarath and Polgara have an intersting case - after the destruction of Vo Wacune, Belgarath thinks Polgara has gone into this, but when you reach that point from Polgara's point of view it turns out she was faking it to get him to leave her alone while she orchestrated her revenge on the armies that destroyed it.
** Polgara has a more serious [=BSOD=] when her sister dies. Belgarath snaps her out of it by giving her lots of orders to keep her mind occupied... and then promptly goes off somewhere private to have one for himself.
** Silk gets one after visiting his mother. ItMakesSenseInContext. He deals with it by drinking copiously, and is more or less back to normal (if cripplingly hungover) the next day.
** The mother of all [=BSODs=] in the series is Belgarath's own, after his wife dies in childbirth and he spends months chained to his own bed. The other Disciples are forced to keep watch over him constantly, preventing him from suicide by Sorcery.
* A common theme the novels of Creator/HPLovecraft is for the main character to witness something so horrifying that they pass out or [[GoMadFromTheRevelation go insane]].

* Literature/JohnCarterOfMars has experiences a massive one at the end of ''The Gods of Mars'', [[spoiler: when he witnesses his wife Dejah Thoris being locked up inside a inescapable dungeon, possibly to starve to death if not murdered by a love rival that was imprisoned with her]]. After spending a decade away from her and the entire book trying to reunite with his beloved, he nearly loses the will to live and would have crossed [[DespairEventHorizon the next level]] had he not recovered.

* In web phenom-turned book/film ''JohnDiesAtTheEnd'', Protagonist Dave and best friend John find themselves in a confrontation with some Otherworld enemies. Dave is behind one of the mask-wearing alternate universe villains and during a struggle, John pulls off the villain's mask. Dave literally describes John's reaction as this trope 'like a computer crashing' or words to that effect. John just goes blank, no screaming, just blank. He recovers in time to join Dave in escaping and the incident is, to date, never referenced again and what John saw is never, ever raised.

* In Creator/RobinJarvis' ''Literature/DeptfordMice'' trilogy, Piccadilly has two of these, both in the same book (''The Final Reckoning''). The first time is when he discovers that [[spoiler: everyone in his home, Holeborn, has been savagely slaughtered by Morgan's rat army]], and the second is some time later when he sees that [[spoiler: his friend Marty did not survive the attack after all, and his skin is being used as the rats' flag]].

* In Creator/RobinJarvis' ''Literature/DeptfordMice'' trilogy, Piccadilly has two of these, both in the same book (''The Final Reckoning''). The first time is when he discovers that [[spoiler: everyone in his home, Holeborn, has been savagely slaughtered by Morgan's rat army]], and the second is when, some time later, he sees that [[spoiler: his friend Marty did not survive the attack after all, and his skin is being used as the rats' flag]].

* In Creator/RobinJarvis' ''Literature/DeptfordMice'' trilogy, Piccadilly has two of these, both in the same book (''The Final Reckoning''). First when he discovers that [[spoiler: everyone in his home, Holeborn, has been savagely slaughtered by Morgan's rat army]], and then when he sees that [[spoiler: his friend Marty did not survive the attack after all, and his skin is being used as the rats' flag]].

* Draffut has one at the end of ''[[BooksOfSwords Sightblinder's Story]]'' when he realizes that he has accidentally caused the death of a human being. Since his entire existence had been dedicated to the service, protection, and healing of mankind, this kind of makes him lose his mind.

* At the end of the third ''SirAproposOfNothing'' novel, the eponymous (anti)hero gets an (anti)HeroicBSOD when he learns that [[HurricaneOfPuns Verah Wang Ho]], the leader of an Asian-like crime syndicate and his temporary lover, [[UnsettlingGenderReveal is the Emperor's...brother]]. [[spoiler:The BSOD consists of Apropos saying "I don't care" over and over, which just happens to be the trigger word of his InfinityPlusOneSword, and the repeated triggering of the sheathed sword eventually causes a Hiroshima-like explosion (which is lampshaded in the last chapter, when he gives the sword to a fat man and his little boy).]]

* Hana and Kip's backstories in ''TheEnglishPatient'', when their father and [[AFatherToHisMen mentor]], respectively, are killed. Kip gets one at the climax of the book, when [[spoiler:he learns about the bombing of Hiroshima]].

** For that matter, Tarma and Kethry do this in their backstories, both of which involve rape. MercedesLackey employs this trope rather liberally.

--> '''Artemis''': "You didn't [[spoiler:kill my friends]]. That never happened."

* Nicholas Fox, Lilian Bunting's nephew, flees the meeting near the end of ''[[AuntDimity Aunt Dimity: Detective]]'' and stands in a downpour without a coat. Lori cannot rouse him from his catatonia, but does manage to get him inside the vicarage and wrapped in a blanket before a fire. At length, he explains to Lori that he couldn't stand the villagers' callous attitudes toward Prunella Hooper's death from [[spoiler: an accidental blow to the head. He worked as an undercover cop and saw his partner brutally beaten to death several months previously]].

* Sinuhe from ''TheEgyptian'' has several, usually triggered by the death of a loved one or the revelation of a secret.

* One of the young protagonists in ''[[Creator/LoisDuncan Ransom]]'' goes into one of these after failing to SaveTheVillain, imagining that he can still see the villain's screaming face. (An unusual reaction for a thriller hero, perhaps, but after all, [[ThisIsReality this is just a high school kid who's never even seen someone die before]].)

* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Ward doesn't talk for several days after [[spoiler: killing Oreg]]. As he mentions that is what others have told him, he seems to have been mostly unconscious during the time as well. The healers think it's because of the loss of blood during a previous fight, and exhaustion as he had to do a lot of running, but he knows better.
* ''Literature/GreystoneValley'' begins in the midst of the protagonist's BSOD thanks to the death of her father.
* Creator/AlastairReynolds - ''Literature/{{Revelation Space|Series}}'''s [[spoiler: Captain John Brannigan suffers a Heroic BSOD after he discovers what he has become by the end of the book. A 4 km long starship. He tries to cut himself in half with a Deathray in ''Redemption Ark''.]]
* In ''Literature/PresidentsVampire'', Cade mentions that he went through one after World War Two, when what he saw made him question whether the world is actually worth saving. He got out of this when he accidentally stumbled upon Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and realized that his HorrorHunger is [[YouAreNotAlone similar to what they're going through]].
* Sam and Lana from the ''Literature/{{Gone}}'' series, at the end of ''Lies''.
** Dekka, after Penny's visions made her think she had the bugs in her again.
** Dekka ''again'' after Brianna dies.
** Edilio too after he thinks Roger dies.
* ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'': Joanna Dark gets several ones after [[spoiler: the deaths of her father and of Benjamin Able, especially since she blames herself for both]].
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
** In ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'', Dash Rendar was supposed to fend off a missile attack from the ''Suprosa'' (the ship carrying the plans for the second Death Star), but failed to shoot the missile down, leading to the destruction of the Alliance's Bothan ships. Dash doesn't take kindly to the aftermath and continuously blames himself at the end of the battle. [[spoiler: Towards the end of the novel, the Rebels inform Luke that the ''Suprosa'' had been using [[InvincibleMinorMinion diamond-boron missiles]] that are immune to laser fire, so Dash couldn't have shot them down anyway. Luke learns this only after Dash was lost in an asteroid field and presumed dead.]]
** In the book ''[[Literature/XWingSeries Wraith Squadron]]'', by Creator/AaronAllston, Myn Donos's Talon Squadron is destroyed around him in an ambush. He escapes, but becomes emotionally numb. Later, his astromech--whom he refers to later as "the last Talon"--is destroyed when his X-wing is hit in combat, and he [[AngstComa shuts down completely for a while]], feeling that he has now ''completely'' failed his squadron.
** It happens again in ''Solo Command''. This time, it's accidentally revealed that the one responsible for destroying Talon Squadron is currently a member of the Wraiths. After this revelation, Donos suddenly goes berserk, and attempts to shoot down his squadmate (who had executed a HeelFaceTurn in the previous book), nearly killing another squadmate in the process. He snaps out of it quickly, but this event reveals lingering issues that he still has to deal with.
** Han goes through a pretty major one following [[spoiler: Chewbacca's death]] in the Literature/NewJediOrder novel ''Vector Prime''.
** In the novelization of ''Literature/RevengeOfTheSith'':
*** During the meeting with the Senators against Palpatine's increasing power grab, Padmé asks if she could discuss the matter with a Jedi she trusts. She meant to be referring to Anakin, but to her surprise instead finds she's thinking of Obi-Wan. The realization that she doesn't trust her own husband with this confidential matter fills her with guilt.
*** Anakin has one that's much more intense than it is in the film, when he reports to Mace Windu that Palpatine is actually Sidious. In the film, he's clearly upset and agitated, but still functioning mostly as normal; in the book, however, he's on the verge of a total breakdown.
* ''Literature/{{Inkdeath}}'': Author Fenoglio spends almost the entire book being depressed and cynical because he no longer controls what happens in the world he created, and it's going to the [[UnusualEuphemism H-word]].
* In ''Literature/LesMondesDEwilan'', after escaping the government facility that captured her, [[spoiler:Ewilan]] spent several weeks in an almost catatonic state, completely emotioneless, [[ThousandYardStare her stare empty]], barely doing anything besides sleeping, and not even ''talking'' anymore. And to make it [[NightmareFuel even creepier]], [[NothingIsScarier we never find out]] [[MindRape exactly what happened]].
* The ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' novel ''Mosaic'' details when Captain Janeway goes through one of these. Considering that Kathryn lost her father and her fiancee on the same day, she's entitled.
* Captain Picard suffered something like this in ''Literature/StarTrekDestiny'' when he came to the conclusion that the Federation could not win the war against the Borg.
* In Creator/AnneRice's ''Literature/TheVampireChronicles'', Lestat spends several books in a catatonic state after an encounter with a being he believes to be {{Satan}}. It's not so much the encounter but the inability to accept that everything he has done after hearing Memnoch's story is a big EvilPlan and that all he has done is promote the Devil's agenda.
* Lymond has these throughout Dorothy Dunnett's ''Literature/LymondChronicles''. The most blatant is when he freezes [[spoiler: after the chess game in "Pawn in Frankincense" when he is forced to sacrifice someone he cares for]] and has to be led back to his room, where he promptly faints. He subsequently experiences blinding migraines whenever he is reminded of that trauma or when he feels that the life of someone he cares about is at risk because of him.
* Ivan Karamazov's FreakOut near the end of ''Literature/TheBrothersKaramazov'' is brought on by this, which takes the form of a conversation with a ManipulativeBastard.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'': Harry locks himself in his room and refuses to talk to anyone after hearing that [[spoiler:he is being possessed by the BigBad]]. However, he is promptly told by another main character [[spoiler:that he is being silly and nothing of the sort is happening, and everybody was jumping to conclusions anyway.]]
*** After witnessing his father and godfather bullying Snape via a Pensieve memory, Harry's horrified at what he saw and empathizes with Snape. His idealized view of his father has been [[BrokenPedestal shaken]], but he later accepts that his father matured to become a brave and compassionate guy.
** After [[spoiler: Dumbledore dies and Snape escapes]] in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince Half-Blood Prince]]'', Harry has a BSOD. Justified, considering what that means not only to him but for the future of the wizarding world.
** In ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]'', Ron shuts down for several minutes when Hermione is tortured.
*** "The Forest Again." Harry's in total shock, which is understandable considering that [[spoiler:it turns out Snape was a hero, and Harry had to die at Voldemort's mercy in order to defeat him.]]
* [[Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt Drizzt]], in some of R.A. Salvatore's later books (specifically ''The Hunter's Blades Trilogy''), especially ''The Lone Drow'', where he flips back and forth between this, [[BerserkButton murderous]] [[UnstoppableRage rage]], and pure {{Wangst}} for most of the book.
* In ''Literature/SpaceMarineBattles'', the Fall of Damnos elicits this from a few characters.
** Colonel Sonne is completely broken and past his DespairEventHorizon before the Ultramarines even show up and spends the entire novel convinced that Necrons will murder them all.
** After Damnos falls, Sicarius undergoes an extended version, blaming himself for everything that happened (he commanded the Ultramarine forces), although [[StepfordSmiler hiding it]] behind gruff and DeathSeeker persona.
* Jake has one that lasts a whole ''year'' in the final ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' book, as a result of the final battle, in which he [[spoiler:ordered his cousin to kill his brother - which she did at the cost of her own life, gaining nothing - and gave the order to massacre ''seventeen thousand'' defenseless Yeerks]]. To his credit, though, he waited until ''after'' the battle was over to have his breakdown.
* Bella spends nearly the ''entire book'' of ''[[Literature/{{Twilight}} New Moon]]'' in this state after [[spoiler: Edward breaks up with her]]. According to WordOfGod, [[spoiler: Edward]] also spent most of this time curled up in a fetal position hating the world, before his [[spoiler:suicide attempt]].
** In ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'s'' fourth book, ''Breaking Dawn'', Edward freezes up and apparently goes into shock after hearing [[spoiler: Bella is pregnant with Edward's baby; something that wasn't thought possible. Edward also knows the myths of things like this, and in the myths, [[DeathByChildbirth the mother never survives]].]] Vampires in ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' are normally very in control of themselves (socially; bloodlust is another thing), and Edward's mind basically shuts down. He lets his phone ring for quite a while, and his expression doesn't change at all after hearing about Bella's situation. While this might not sound like much, it basically means that Edward's mind asploded.

* In ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' series, multiple characters hit the BSOD of PTSD. Katniss wanders out of coherence several times, most notably after [[spoiler: watching Prim die in a ball of fire]]. She also has a brief but vividly described one in the first book, right after Prim's name is drawn at the reaping.
** She has a pretty big one at the end of "''Catching Fire''" as well. In her narration she says she loses the will to live after [[spoiler:President Snow captures Peeta and she realizes she'll probably never see him again.]]
* A common theme the novels of Creator/HPLovecraft is for the main character to witness something so horrifying that they pass out or [[GoMadFromTheRevelation go insane]].
* In Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'', this happens to Miles Vorkosigan from time to time -- a particularly graphic example is in ''Literature/{{Memory}}''. With all he's been through, it's a wonder he ever comes out of it.
* At the end of the third ''SirAproposOfNothing'' novel, the eponymous (anti)hero gets an (anti)HeroicBSOD when he learns that [[HurricaneOfPuns Verah Wang Ho]], the leader of an Asian-like crime syndicate and his temporary lover, [[UnsettlingGenderReveal is the Emperor's...brother]]. [[spoiler:The BSOD consists of Apropos saying "I don't care" over and over, which just happens to be the trigger word of his InfinityPlusOneSword, and the repeated triggering of the sheathed sword eventually causes a Hiroshima-like explosion (which is lampshaded in the last chapter, when he gives the sword to a fat man and his little boy).]]
* Creator/DavidEddings' ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' and ''Literature/TheMalloreon'':
** Both Garion and Ce'Nedra have [=BSODs=]: Garion's comes after he [[spoiler: burns Asharak to death]] outside the Forest of the Dryads and is relatively minor as [=BSODs=] go. Ce'Nedra has at least one brief one in the Belgariad when she realizes the fate in store for the soldiers she has recruited as the Rivan Queen; it could be argued that she spends virtually the whole Mallorean in one, with brief remissions. And then there was Garion's reaction in the Malloreon to the birth of his son. His ''entire brain'' shut down. [[IdiotHero Of course, Garion's brain isn't the most powerful organ in his body.]] This leads to quite a funny moment:
--->'''Garion:''' Bed....Baby....Wood..Fire, Ce'Nedra needs big fire..baby...
--->'''Polgara:''' Oh dear, it's going to be one of ''those''.
** The two companion books that serve as autobiographies of Belgarath and Polgara have an intersting case - after the destruction of Vo Wacune, Belgarath thinks Polgara has gone into this, but when you reach that point from Polgara's point of view it turns out she was faking it to get him to leave her alone while she orchestrated her revenge on the armies that destroyed it.
** Polgara has a more serious [=BSOD=] when her sister dies. Belgarath snaps her out of it by giving her lots of orders to keep her mind occupied... and then promptly goes off somewhere private to have one for himself.
** Silk gets one after visiting his mother. ItMakesSenseInContext. He deals with it by drinking copiously, and is more or less back to normal (if cripplingly hungover) the next day.
** The mother of all [=BSODs=] in the series is Belgarath's own, after his wife dies in childbirth and he spends months chained to his own bed. The other Disciples are forced to keep watch over him constantly, preventing him from suicide by Sorcery.
* In ''Literature/ArtemisFowl: The Lost Colony,'' Artemis suffers a very, very brief one of these when [[spoiler: Holly is killed.]] To all appearences, he's completely unmoved, continuing to concentrate on the [[spoiler:bomb]], ignoring everything else as the same guy who [[spoiler:killed Holly]] goes on to quickly [[spoiler:murder everyone but Artemis]]; however, it's all he can do to keep his concentration, which turns out to be what saves them all. Just before Artemis gets killed himself, he looses a single shot from Holly's Neutrino in a seemingly random direction. Turns out that Artemis had the TimeyWimeyBall all figured out, and the shot got pulled back in time to just the right second to [[spoiler:stop Holly and everyone else from being killed in the first place.]]
--> '''Artemis''': "You didn't [[spoiler:kill my friends]]. That never happened."
* In ''Literature/{{Nation}}'' by Creator/TerryPratchett the main character Mau goes into this while disposing of the bodies of his tribe in the sea. While his body drags the bodies out and ritually prepares them, his mind goes somewhere else, refusing to let the faces of the dead register in his mind. His BSOD is so intense that he doesn't even notice the other main character, Daphne, even when she stands right in front of him. He only snaps out of it in time to keep from drowning himself. Longterm effects of his BSOD turn him into a sort of [[FlatEarthAtheist Flat Earth Agnostic]]: he's unsure whether or not the gods exist, but [[NayTheist he refuses to worship them if they do because they either sent or didn't stop the apocalyptic tidal wave that starts the story off and decimated Mau's people]].
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** In the novel ''Discworld/MenAtArms'' this is Detritus's reaction to [[spoiler: Cuddy's death,]] eventually snapping out of it into a [[UnstoppableRage Unstoppable]] [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Rage]]. [[spoiler: Well, unstoppable by anyone but Carrot, but he's Carrot]].
** Vimes at the end of ''Discworld/{{Thud}}''. THAT! IS! NOT! MY! COW!
** Rincewind in ''Discworld/{{Sourcery}}''. Finally returning to the Library after Coin orders it burned. What follows is [[strike: almost]] tragic, as Rincewind frantically searches through the ashes for anything familiar, sobbing.
** Dangerous Beans has one in ''Discworld/TheAmazingMauriceAndHisEducatedRodents'', after learning the book that inspired him to dream of a world where rats and humans live in harmony, ''Mr. Bunsy Has an Adventure'', is merely a children's storybook by the Discworld equivalent of Beatrix Potter.
** Ginger has one of these in ''Discworld/MovingPictures'' after seeing the creature from the Dungeon Dimensions fall off the Tower of Art. Justified, as the giant shapechanger had taken Ginger's own form (among others) as it plummeted to its death.
** Subverted in ''Discworld/TheLastHero'': When Leonard of Quirm is tasked by the gods to paint the entire cosmos on the ceiling of the Temple of Small Gods, as punishment for building the ''Kite'', Rincewind and Carrot ''think'' his silent, inward looking reaction is one of these. Actually, he's just visualising how awesome it's going to look once he's finished.
* Near the end of H.G. Wells's ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'', while exploring the lifeless ruins of London, and already teetering on the ragged edge of sanity, the narrator comes upon a tripod and a dead Martian inside it. The mixture of exuberance and grief that follows is too much for him to handle, and he only regains his sanity several days later, learning from his caretakers that he was found roaming the streets crying and shouting "last man in the world, hurrah, last man in the world".
* Talia of the ''[[Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar Arrows]]'' trilogy suffers two, one relatively minor one when she is forced to confront the fact that she has [[PowerIncontinence absolutely no control]] over her [[TheEmpath empathic powers]], and a later, much more serious one when she lapses into an AngstComa after [[spoiler:being tortured nearly to death]]. Naturally, ThePowerOfLove brings her back.
** Vanyel from the ''Last Herald-Mage'' has {{Heroic BSOD}}s all over the place. The first is in his SuperHeroOrigin, where the death of his lover and a massive infusion of magical power sends him into near-catatonia, and the last comes after being tortured and using his magical powers to slaughter an entire camp of bandits in the culmination of a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
** For that matter, Tarma and Kethry do this in their backstories, both of which involve rape. MercedesLackey employs this trope rather liberally.
* [[Literature/InheritanceCycle Eragon]] has one of these after he finds out the identity of his father [[spoiler:(both times}]]. He gets better freakishly fast.
* Bluestar of ''Literature/WarriorCats'' suffers a major BSOD after the extent of her trusted deputy Tigerclaw's treachery is laid bare. She is almost completely withdrawn from the world for the next book, leaving [[spoiler:new deputy]]Fireheart to pretty much run the Clan in her place, and in the ''next'' book, [[spoiler:when Tigerclaw (now Tigerstar) takes over [=ShadowClan=], she loses her mind and begins to see her ''entire Clan'' as a pack of traitors. Only minutes before her HeroicSacrifice [[RedemptionEqualsDeath does she finally regain her full sanity.]]]]
** This seems to have happened to [[spoiler:Hollyleaf, just before her "[[NotQuiteDead death]]" scene.]]
* In ''Literature/HIVESeries: Escape Velocity'', when [[spoiler:Overlord reveals that all of Otto's unnatural abilities exist because he is a super-clone created for the sole purpose of being taken over by Overlord and used to destroy the world]] Otto stares at Overlord in horror for a few seconds before [[spoiler: Overlord tries to take him over but is stopped by [=HIVEmind=].]]
* In ''March Upcountry,'' Literature/PrinceRoger etc. [=MacClintock=] discovers a) that his father is a traitor, b) that everybody else already knew this, c) that everyone assumed he knew this already, d) that everyone thinks this is the reason he's such a jerk, and e) his mother sent him away because she distrusted him (for reasons a, c and d). This is why he's stuck on a DeathWorld, and this is also why several hundred people have gotten killed trying to protect him. Understandably, he gets angry, swears at his guards, and trashes his room, causing everyone else to doubt his sanity.
--> "I heard he called the Empress a bitch!"\\
"No, he called his mother a bitch."\\
"What's the difference?"\\
"One is treason, and the other is just being really, really pissed at your mother."
* Rand al'Thor from ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' goes through several of these, such as when he hears about the death of [[spoiler:Herid Fel in ''A Crown of Swords''.]]
** His worst one happens when [[spoiler:he tries to murder his own father in a rage and nearly makes himself bring an end to existence itself.]] He gets better.
* Will from ''Literature/TheGoodnessGene'' slips into this when he discovers [[spoiler: that he's a clone of Hitler.]]
* Rowan Mayfair has gone into one of these at the beginning of ''Taltos'', (the third book of the ''Literature/LivesOfTheMayfairWitches'' trilogy) [[spoiler:after killing and burying Emaleth, her daughter by Lasher]].

* Túrin from ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' and ''Literature/TheChildrenOfHurin'' undergoes several of these, after [[spoiler:he accidentally kills his best friend Beleg, after he finds the grave of the princess who he swore to protect and finally when he finds out that his wife is actually his sister. He kills himself after the last one]].
** Also from ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', Sauron seems to be deliberately invoking this on Finrod Felagund during their song duel, by singing of Kinslaying at Alqualondë.
* In ''Literature/WatershipDown'', the rabbit language actually has a word, ''tharn'', for this state of mind. Rabbits, being small, flighty animals at the bottom of the food chain, have a lot of opportunities in their lifetimes to bluescreen in the face of hopeless danger. Heartbreakingly, this is TruthInTelevision, as baby rabbits often suffer heart attacks if sufficiently frightened. Poor things.
** If ''Literature/WatershipDown'' were just a little more prominent, in fact, this trope might have been '''named''' "Tharn." It's shorter.
* In ''Literature/TheStand'', Stu recalls the description of ''tharn'', realizes he's close to a similar mental state himself, and that he has to keep himself out of that state to have a chance at escaping from the Plague Center.
* Literature/TheDresdenFiles:
** Harry Dresden has one at the end of ''Literature/GravePeril'' after [[spoiler: his girlfriend is partially turned into a Red Court vampire]]. He arguably has one in ''Literature/FoolMoon'' as well, when he basically shuts down for a little while due to being completely worn out and despairing because [[spoiler: Murphy no longer trusts him and has arrested him for withholding information in a murder investigation, when he had just begun to regain her trust after losing it in ''Literature/StormFront'']].
** In ''Literature/TurnCoat'', Harry Dresden uses his wizard's Sight to see the true nature of a skinwalker, and has a BSOD that is awesome in its proportions. He isn't just taken aback or slightly shocked--he loses consciousness, slowly comes to and realizes that he is crying hysterically, shaking uncontrollably, blacking out periodically, screaming non-stop, and is pretty much out of his mind. In a few seconds of lucidity he realizes where he is and manages to stagger to a friend's house that is luckily nearby, all the while counting prime numbers to keep himself sane. It's only after spending an hour in a dark room that he's able to pull himself together.\\\
Even days later he's still shaken by the memory, because anything you perceive using the sight is pretty much hard written into your mind forever, and the Skinwalkers are essentially angel-sized bits of pure hate that feed on suffering and fear. The fact that he didn't GoMadFromTheRevelation is amazing to say the least.
** Harry's mind shuts down for a large chunk of time after a ''massive'' spell goes off in ''Literature/{{Changes}}''. The same spell causes nightmares and mental trauma in anyone even slightly magical on the ''entire planet''.
* Richard suffers this in ''Stone of Tears'', from the Literature/SwordOfTruth series, after finding out [[spoiler:Darken Rahl was his real father]].
** Kahlan has her BSOD moment in the same book when she realizes that Richard will be trapped in the Palace of the Prophets for centuries and she will never see him again. [[spoiler:Fortunately, he escapes and reunites with her hours later]].
** In the fourth book, ''Temple of the Winds'', Richard has to enter the eponimous temple to stop a plague that is ravaging the world. Doing so, however, requires a betrayal on Kahlan's behalf, and Richard arrives at his destination fully convinced that he has no reason to live since his true love has forsaken him.
** The fifth book, ''Soul of the Fire'', ends with people of Anderith rejecting Richard's call to join him in the war against the Imperial Order. This is a turning point for his character and for the series, because it helps Richard realize what it is he really fights for, and changes the tone of the following books correspondingly.
** ''Chainfire.'' Richard is falsely led to believe that Kahlan existed only in his mind, and this extinguishes his will to live until he is reasoned with and convinced not to give up and fight for his values and beliefs.
** And at last, in ''Confessor'', after Richard finds a contradiction that he can't explain.
* Jonathan Harker, from ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', suffers one after his imprisonment in the villain's castle and no wonder. His physical health breaks down right along with the mental, and he doesn't even know if everything he saw was real or in his head until Van Helsing confirms it.
* In Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/PetSematary'', [[spoiler: after killing his son, who CameBackWrong]], Louis Creed crouches down in a corner, and sucks on his thumb for two hours. And he doesn't get better; he's really just insane now.
* Roland in ''Literature/WizardAndGlass'' goes to a catatonic state for weeks, after witnessing Susan burned to death.
* Mike Jenkins has one after finding out that the young woman he loved was killed on a mission, in ''[[Literature/PaladinOfShadows Unto the Breach]]''. Granted, this is with a somewhat flexible definition of "hero", given the victim of the BSOD.
* Achilles falls into one ''twice'' in ''Literature/TheIliad,'' first after Agememnon steals Briseis, and then again [[spoiler:(and more legitimately) after his [[HoYay friend]] Patroclos dies in Achilles's place.]]
* Sinuhe from ''TheEgyptian'' has several, usually triggered by the death of a loved one or the revelation of a secret.
* OlderThanDirt: In Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh, Enkidu's death knocks Gilgamesh flat. He has to watch him die over the course of twelve days, is utterly shellshocked when it happens, and by his own account refused to start the funeral rites until Enkidu's corpse was visibly rotting, because Gilgamesh has really hoped the violence of his grief could bring his friend back.
** He could have gone back for more of the Flower of Youth, but turns out having everyone say something is impossible and reckless, going out and doing it, then having it snatched away at the last second can change your outlook on things a bit.
* Examples in Literature/TheBible:
** David has an epic and heartbreaking one when he learns about the deaths of King Saul and his son Jonathan, David's [[HeterosexualLifePartners best]] [[HoYay friend]]. It included David giving himself ClothingDamage, throwing ashes upon himself and screaming out loud that he had loved both of them greatly and never wanted such things to happen.
** David has another after his rebellious son Absalom is killed.
** It can be said that the whole "prayer at Gethsemane" scene is about Jesus having an HeroicBSOD as he realizes that he's just hours away from dying and only then fully acknowledging what ''that'' means for him.
** Jesus has another one after John the Baptist is killed.
* In the ''Literature/JamesBond'' novel ''Literature/OnHerMajestysSecretService'', [[spoiler: Bond's new bride is shot to death within an hour of their wedding by Ernst Stavro Blofeld.]] Bond does not take it well, and spends the first chapter or two of the next novel, ''Literature/YouOnlyLiveTwice'' in a drunken stupor, slagging off on work and generally acting an uncharacteristic disgrace. It gets so bad that M revokes his 00 number and finally, as one last attempt to shake him out of it, assigns Bond a suicide mission on behalf of their allies the Japanese, a mission that if Bond succeeds will convince the Japanese Secret Service to part with juicy information the British need. It works, especially when [[spoiler: Bond finds out the big bad he is going after is none other than Ernst Stavro Blofeld, precipitating a berserk RoaringRampageOfRevenge that leaves Blofeld dead and Bond's mind shattered...]]
* The eponymous protagonist of the short story "Young Goodman Brown" by NathanielHawthorne suffers a crippling HeroicBSOD after he wakes up in the forest, unsure of whether or not the events of the previous night, [[spoiler:an occult ritual involving himself, several of his townsfolk, and his wife [[MeaningfulName Faith]]]], really happened or was AllJustADream.
* In ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'', Matthias undergoes a short Heroic BSOD when he learns that [[spoiler: Methuselah was killed]] while he was in the loft.
* Thematically in Haruki Murakami's novel ''Literature/TheWindUpBirdChronicle''. Most memorably since the events are described in graphic detail, Lieutenant Mamiya describes himself as living in a functional, permanent HeroicBSOD state after having seen his commanding office flayed to death.
* ''Literature/LesMiserables'' has quite a few... ok, better pick those rare characters who don't get at least one. Valjean has this at least 3-4 times. Then he gets better and saves the day.
* In web phenom-turned book/film ''JohnDiesAtTheEnd'', Protagonist Dave and best friend John find themselves in a confrontation with some Otherworld enemies. Dave is behind one of the mask-wearing alternate universe villains and during a struggle, John pulls off the villain's mask. Dave literally describes John's reaction as this trope 'like a computer crashing' or words to that effect. John just goes blank, no screaming, just blank. He recovers in time to join Dave in escaping and the incident is, to date, never referenced again and what John saw is never, ever raised.
* Derek suffers once of these in ''The Reckoning'' after [[spoiler:he [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone breaks Liam's neck, killing him]]]]. The fact that [[spoiler:Liam was trying to kill both Derek and Chloe]] doesn't make him feel much better about it. [[spoiler:Directly after it happens, Chloe gets through to him by pointing out that even if Derek didn't mean to kill, Liam ''did''. It's not enough to alleviate the guilt, but it's more than enough for Derek to get up and deal with it]].
* In the Creator/CalLeandros book ''Deathwish'', Niko has one of these when [[spoiler:he is tricked into seeing the false image of a dead Cal lying in a huge pool of blood]], and goes into a fugue state/rampage, in which he is later told that he'd [[spoiler:single-handedly killed an entire zoo-full of dangerous supernaturally-enhanced animals with nothing but his katana.]]
* Phaethon, hero of Creator/JohnCWright's ''[[Literature/TheGoldenOecumene The Golden Age]]'', has two: a mild one when he finds his wife has committed suicide by checking herself into a LotusEaterMachine; and a much worse one after [[spoiler: he is exiled and loses his PowerArmor.]] Fortunately for him, his wife made a [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan backup copy of herself...]]

* Karn the Silver Golem had a BSOD during a scene in Magic the Gathering: Rath and Storm. When he goes to kill the murderous traitor Vuel ([[BigBad Volrath]] before he was Volrath), he smashes a cart of food in a fit of rage to show his power to Vuel's men. However, the cart toppled over onto an innocent boy and crushed him, prompting Karn's BSOD and invoking a vow of pacifism from him.
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's ''Literature/ConanTheBarbarian'' story "A Witch Shall Be Born", the thought of turning against his queen, even though she suddenly turned into TheCaligula, drives Valerius into BrainFever. Especially when he is called a traitor.
-->''Despair and bewilderment shook his voice. The girl murmured pityingly, not understanding it all, but aching in sympathy with her lover's suffering.''
* Bruenor is in this state for much of ''[[Literature/LegacyOfTheDrowSeries Starless Night]]'' after the loss of his adopted son, Wulfgar.
* In the third ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables'' book Anne is told that Gilbert (formerly [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend Unlucky]], soon to be VictoriousChildhoodFriend) is dying. She's just returned from a trip visiting friends elsewhere, so she knew nothing of it. Her family wanted to break it to her easily, but a child just let it slip out. Cue a total segfault in Anne's mind. She speechlessly has to go up to her room to spend the night reevaluating everything she thought she knew about love.
* In Alexander Yang's Literature/MidnightWorld series Aeneas's BSOD after his wife's death lasted for several monthes. By his own account, it was something like "walking letargy".
* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', Sansa Stark spends [[spoiler: the Red Wedding]] in this state. She also has another when [[spoiler: she starts menstruating, both because it means Joffrey will try to rape her to produce an heir, and because her cramps were VERY painful]].
* In ''Literature/LittleWomen'', the March ladies have more than one of these.
** Beth in the backstory, when her ShrinkingViolet tendences went to the extreme and she couldn't withstand going to school anymore, thus her parents chose to homeschool her.
** Marmee, when [[spoiler: she gets a letter telling her that Reverend March is on the brink of death in the war front]]
** Meg, as [[spoiler: she overhears the GossipyHens talking about her and Laurie]],
** Jo, upon [[spoiler: Beth's death]].
* Both Vincent and Malim, in ''Literature/UndaVosari'', have their fair share of {{Heroic BSOD}}s during the course of their adventures. Vincent ends up talking to himself using parody voices of other characters, while Malim makes hand puppets out of paper and goes completely nuts.

* One of the young protagonists in ''[[Creator/LoisDuncan Ransom]]'' goes into one of these after failing to SaveTheVillain, imagining that he can still see the villain's screaming face. (An unusual reaction for a thriller hero, perhaps, but after all, [[ThisIsReality this is just a high school kid who's never even seen someone die before]].)
* At the end of ''[[Literature/CarrerasLegions Carnifex]]'', Carrera collapses and slips into one of these both from the fatigue built up over the course of a long and hard campaign and the fact that [[spoiler:he nuked a city]].
* ''Literature/AlexRider'': In the final book. After [[spoiler:Jack is killed, Alex loses his cool for the first time in the whole series, screaming and crying over the death of the only person in his life who was always there for him]]. He then, seemingly, gives up, becoming quiet and unresponsive, even when Gunter reveals Scorpia's plan to him. But [[spoiler:this turns out to be nothing but a ruse to catch Gunter off guard; he later kills the man and rushes off to save the world once again]].

* In ''Literature/TimeScout'', Malcolm takes Margo to Brighton during her special trip to VictorianLondon. Normally, he doesn't take clients to the beach in February, and when they do go to the beach he usually avoids Brighton. That's because he's from Brighton and his younger brother drowned during The Accident, in February. He has a breakdown and Margo has to keep him in one piece.
* Literature/SisterhoodSeries by Creator/FernMichaels: Oh, boy! Nikki Quinn suffered this in the book ''The Jury''. Maggie Spritzer suffered this in the book ''Hokus Pokus''. Harry Wong suffered this in the book ''Vanishing Act''. Jack Emery helped them out of this in all three instances.
* ''Literature/TheIdiot'' has this at the very end. [[spoiler:Prince Myshkin's fiancee Nastasya abandons him on the day of her wedding, and instead elopes with Rogozhin (who, for all his flaws, Myshkin still considers his friend and spiritual brother). The next day, Myshkin goes to see them, and discovers that Rogozhin has killed Nastasya. When the police arrive on the scene, Myshkin and Rogozhin are keeping vigil over her body, and Myshkin is now mute and mad. The novel closes with him committed to a sanatorium.]] In other words a typical Russian ending. There's a reason they invented Vodka.

* The Heroic part is kind of doubtful, but Delaney Mossbacher's brain definitely stops working after he hits Candido.
* Draffut has one at the end of ''[[BooksOfSwords Sightblinder's Story]]'' when he realizes that he has accidentally caused the death of a human being. Since his entire existence had been dedicated to the service, protection, and healing of mankind, this kind of makes him lose his mind.
* Creator/DaveDuncan's protagonist in ''Literature/TheGildedChain'' has one because of a death he causes. He goes close to catatonic, and is passively suicidal.
* A major character in Patricia [=McKillip=]'s ''Literature/TheRiddleMasterTrilogy'' has one that spans the course of a book, via a personality change.
* The protagonist of ''Literature/{{Beachwalker}}'' goes into one of these after [[spoiler: her beloved patient dies. [[DownerEnding She does not get better.]] ]]

* In ''Literature/TheBookOfTheDunCow'', Chauntecleer falls into one after being reminded by [[BigBad Wyrm]] that he achieved very little by [[spoiler: killing Cockatrice.]] While in it, he accuses his NumberTwo, his LoveInterest, and [[OurAngelsAreDifferent an angel sent by God]] of betraying him. [[spoiler: He does recover, although not until after the final battle.]]
* Alexia goes into shutdown mode in ''[[Literature/TheParasolProtectorate Timeless]]'' after she watches [[spoiler:her temporarily-mortal husband fall to his apparent death. She snaps out of it when he does a BigDamnHeroes at the climax of the book.]]
* The [[ExpandedUniverse Expanded Babylon 5 Universe]] trilogy of novels, ''The Passing of the Techno-Mages'', has Galen spending a lot of time in this state--frustratingly so, for the reader--when the Technomages exile themselves to sit out the Shadow War. He pretty much cuts himself off from everyone around him, refuses to talk through his issues even with those closest to him, and stoically keeps his anger just below a boil while it eats away at him. Much of this is due to [[spoiler: his discovery that Technomage "tech" was created and supplied by [[BigBad the Shadows]], a truth that was [[WhatTheHellHero kept from him even by his close mentor and father-figure, Elric.]]]] He finally snaps out of it when he makes his own trip to Z'ha'dum.
* In Donald Kingsbury's ''Literature/CourtshipRite'', Oelita experiences an extended version when, on top of discovering conclusive proof that her whole belief system is a lie, she finds that the two people she's just fallen in love with are married to the man who has been trying to kill her. She flees to the wilderness to live as a hermit, until the maran-Kaiel decide that [[spoiler:surviving this shock counts as the last test of the Death Rite]], and decide to [[spoiler:bring her back to marry her]], since they've learned to love her too.
* In Creator/TomKratman's ''Literature/{{Caliphate}}'', Hamilton suffers through this when his girlfriend and fellow officer Laurie was killed in a battle in the Philippines.
* Tobias has a couple in ''{{Literature/Animorphs}}''. The first is really early on, right after he's first trapped in morph. He lets the hawk part of his mind take control and stays away from everyone for a few days before finally snapping out of it. Much later, he has one after [[spoiler: Rachel's death]], flying away with [[spoiler: her ashes]] into the woods and staying away from everyone for a while.
** Cassie in ''The Departure''.
** Jake in ''The Ultimate'' and ''The Beginning''.
* Happens briefly to Éomer in ''{{Literature/The Lord of the Rings}}'' during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, when he learns that [[spoiler:his sister Éowyn, who should have been safely home in Rohan, has died (or so he believes) in the battle]]. Followed by UnstoppableRage.
--> "Then suddenly he beheld [[spoiler:his sister Éowyn as she lay, and he knew her]]. He stood a moment as a man who is pierced in the midst of a cry by an arrow through the heart; and then his face went deathly white, and a cold fury rose in him, so that all speech failed him for a while."
* ''Literature/SongAtDawn'': After [[spoiler: her traumatic first time]] Estela's love ballads fall flat because she's disillusioned. [[spoiler: Dragonetz 'reboots' her, so to speak, after having sex with her himself.]]
* Two different characters each suffer one for almost the entirety of the second book of ''Literature/TheMarkOfTheLion'' trilogy: After her husband dies, Phoebe is completely paralyzed and unable to communicate save by way of a code she worked out with her servant. Then Marcus, [[spoiler:thinking Hadassah has been killed by lions]], spends months so emotionally and spiritually devastated that he is unable to run the family estate and business like he's supposed to.
* In ''Literature/TheHost'' Wanderer has one when [[spoiler:she discovers the doc is attempting to remove souls out of the humans. She hides herself away for two days and doesn't talk to anyone]].
* In ''Literature/ThievesLikeUs'', Con has one when the bad guys force her to ride in the backseat of the car they're abducting her and Motti in. If that sounds rather silly, keep in mind that when she last rode in the backseat, she was a child and had to see her parents die horrifically in a car wreck (and watch their mangled corpses hang there until she could be pulled out by the paramedics.
%% * Hazel of ''Literature/TheFaultInOurStars'' has a [[DeathIsASadThing very understandable]] one after [[spoiler: Gus dies]]. And then, of course, poor Isaac had one after [[spoiler: going blind ''and'' being dumped by Monica.]]
* Arlene in ''{{Literature/Doom}}'' suffers from this twice:
** She falls apart for a bit after having to kill her reworked lover Dodd. She had asked Fly to do it for her if she couldn't but realized that she'd hate him if he did and chose her living friend over her dead lover.
** The second time Arlene breaks down is worse. Dodd was a lover but she otherwise didn't understand her feelings for him. She truly loved Albert and married him. Completing the mission meant returning to Albert forty-years after she left him due to [[AvertedTrope Averting]] FasterThanLightTravel. Fly's berserk rampage on the Fred ship completely robs her of returning to her husband as centuries will pass before they can return to Earth. She wanders the Fred ship in a daze, her only communication with Fly is mourning Albert, [[AndIMustScream she tortures the dead Freds by using them as target practice]], and fires into the bulkheads without caring about a ricochet killing her. The only way Fly can snap her out of it is to walk into her line of fire.
%% * ''Literature/TheHouseOfNight'': [[spoiler: Zoey at the end of "Tempted."]] She gets better.

* In ''Literature/{{Wonder 2012}}'', [[spoiler:August is unintentionally betrayed by his best friend Jack during Halloween, and he assumes this for a while. His sister Via helps him get out of this.]]
* In ''Literature/FrostflowerAndThorn'' [[spoiler:Frostflower]] understandably becomes almost catatonic after [[spoiler:being captured, raped, tortured, publicly humiliated, and hung up for execution before her daring rescue by Thorn and Spendwell. Oh, and her son was taken away from her. [[HumiliationConga And her dog.]]]]
* More than once in ''Literature/TheUnderlandChronicles''.
** Gregor suffers from one in ''Gregor and the Code of Claw'', when [[spoiler: the realization that [[YourDaysAreNumbered if the prophecy is true he's going to die]].]]
** Luxa [[spoiler: becomes essentially catatonic when her cousin betrays her.]]
** Vikus [[spoiler: suffers a stroke after his wife dies.]]
* In the unbelievably bitter and unexpected ending to Judith Merril's 1953 story "Dead Center", Ruth is described as having a "tired and unholy calm" expression.

* ''Literature/AnnalsOfTheWesternShore''
** ''Gifts:'' Both Orrec and his father shut down after the death of Melle, Orrec's mother. Orrec calls it the "year of darkness."
** ''Powers:'' The only reason Gav doesn't throw himself in the river after [[spoiler:the funeral of his sister Sallo]] is because he was too numb to think. It only occurs to him later when he realizes that he probably wasn't pursued because everyone in Arcamand would assume he did.
* ''Literature/ChroniclesofMagic'' The main character, Benjamin, suffers from one of these a couple of times but always manages to recover pretty quickly. His friend Halfrida, on the other hand, seems to be ''living'' in this state.
* [[spoiler:After Mason's death]] in ''Literature/{{Frostbite}}'', [[spoiler:Rose becomes a bit unhinged for a while.]]
* In ''Literature/{{Allegiant}}'', after [[spoiler:Tobias]] finds out [[spoiler:that Tris is dead]], all he can do is stand still and say nothing.
* In Jeramey Kraatz's ''Literature/TheCloakSociety'' novel ''Fall of Heroes'', Alex is in shock [[spoiler:after he accidentally causes Phantom's death]], and [[spoiler:Lone Star]] is not very coherent after his plan fails and reveals thereby how much the citizens of Sterling City support the imposters.
* Literature/JohnCarterOfMars has experiences a massive one at the end of ''The Gods of Mars'', [[spoiler: when he witnesses his wife Dejah Thoris being locked up inside a inescapable dungeon, possibly to starve to death if not murdered by a love rival that was imprisoned with her]]. After spending a decade away from her and the entire book trying to reunite with his beloved, he nearly loses the will to live and would have crossed [[DespairEventHorizon the next level]] had he not recovered.
-->[[spoiler: ''"Go," I urged them. "Let me die here beside my Princess--there is no hope or happiness elsewhere for me. When they carry her dear body from that terrible place a year hence let them find the body of her lord awaiting her."'']]

* In AnneRice's [[TheVampireChronicles vampire novels]], Lestat spends several books in a catatonic state after an encounter with a being he believes to be {{Satan}}. It's not so much the encounter but the inability to accept that everything he has done after hearing Memnoch's story is a big EvilPlan and that all he has done is promote the Devil's agenda.

* In ''Literature/ArtemisFowl: The Lost Colony,'' Artemis suffers a very, very brief one of these when [[spoiler: Holly is killed.]] To all appearences, he's completely unmoved, continuing to concentrate on the [[spoiler:bomb]], ignoring everything else as the same guy who [[spoiler:killed Holly]] goes on to quickly [[spoiler:murder everyone but Artemis]]; however, it's all he can do to keep his concentration, which turns out to be what saves them all. Just before Artemis gets killed himself, he looses a single shot from Holly's Neutrino in a seemingly random direction. Turns out that Artemis had the TimeyWimeyBall all figured out, and the shot got pulled back in time to just the right second to [[spoiler:[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome stop Holly and everyone else from being killed in the first place.]]]]

** David has an [[TearJerker epic and heartbreaking]] one when he learns about the deaths of King Saul and his son Jonathan, David's [[HeterosexualLifePartners best]] [[HoYay friend]]. It included David giving himself ClothingDamage, throwing ashes upon himself and screaming out loud that he had loved both of them greatly and never wanted such things to happen.

* ''Literature/GoodOmens'': Crowley has a fairly epic one when he [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome rushes into a burning bookstore to save]] [[HeterosexualLifePartners Aziraphale]], only to find that he's not there.

* ''Literature/AlexRider'': In the final book. After [[spoiler:Jack is killed, Alex loses his cool for the first time in the whole series, screaming and crying over the death of the only person in his life who was always there for him]]. He then, seemingly, gives up, becoming quiet and unresponsive, even when Gunter reveals Scorpia's plan to him. But [[spoiler:this turns out to be nothing but a ruse to catch Gunter off guard; he later [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome kills the man and rushes off to save the world once again]]]].

* The [[ExpandedUniverse Expanded Babylon 5 Universe]] trilogy of novels, ''The Passing of the Techno-Mages'', has Galen spending a lot of time in this state--frustratingly so, for the reader--when the Technomages exile themselves to sit out the Shadow War. He pretty much cuts himself off from everyone around him, refuses to talk through his issues even with those closest to him, and stoically keeps his anger just below a boil while it eats away at him. Much of this is due to [[spoiler: his discovery that Technomage "tech" was created and supplied by [[BigBad the Shadows]], a truth that was [[WhatTheHellHero kept from him even by his close mentor and father-figure, Elric.]]]] He finally snaps out of it when he makes his own [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome trip to Z'ha'dum]].

* In ''{{Nation}}'' by Creator/TerryPratchett the main character Mau goes into this while disposing of the bodies of his tribe in the sea. While his body drags the bodies out and ritually prepares them, his mind goes somewhere else, refusing to let the faces of the dead register in his mind. His BSOD is so intense that he doesn't even notice the other main character, Daphne, even when she stands right in front of him. He only snaps out of it in time to keep from drowning himself. Longterm effects of his BSOD turn him into a sort of [[FlatEarthAtheist Flat Earth Agnostic]]: he's unsure whether or not the gods exist, but [[NayTheist he refuses to worship them if they do because they either sent or didn't stop the apocalyptic tidal wave that starts the story off and decimated Mau's people]].

* Phaethon, hero of JohnCWright's ''[[Literature/TheGoldenOecumene The Golden Age]]'', has two: a mild one when he finds his wife has committed suicide by checking herself into a LotusEaterMachine; and a much worse one after [[spoiler: he is exiled and loses his PowerArmor.]] Fortunately for him, his wife made a [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan backup copy of herself...]]

* Talia of the ''[[HeraldsOfValdemar Arrows]]'' trilogy suffers two, one relatively minor one when she is forced to confront the fact that she has [[PowerIncontinence absolutely no control]] over her [[TheEmpath empathic powers]], and a later, much more serious one when she lapses into an AngstComa after [[spoiler:being tortured nearly to death]]. Naturally, ThePowerOfLove brings her back.
** Vanyel from the ''Last Herald-Mage'' has {{HeroicBSOD}}s all over the place. The first is in his SuperHeroOrigin, where the death of his lover and a massive infusion of magical power sends him into near-catatonia, and the last comes after being tortured and using his magical powers to slaughter an entire camp of bandits in the culmination of a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.