History Main / Mangst

[[DoubleStandard You never seem to see many women Mangsting]], though ''occasionally'' it does happen, often as a LadyDrunk [[DrowningMySorrows drowning her sorrows]]. This rarely caries through the entire work, however, as even {{Action Girl}}s tend to [[BrokenBird break down crying and need to be comforted]] before all is said and done.

Compare ManlyTears, which a Mangster occasionally engages in, but only in private. Often accompanied by BadDreams. Very often the fuel which powers a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. Mangst is generally the cause of a MookHorrorShow. Often combined with BestServedCold -- though just as often its combined with [[UnstoppableRage Best Served Steaming Hot With Lots Of Screaming]].

There are several variant forms of [[{{Angst}} angst]]. There is {{Wangst}}, the angst of whiners and children. There is AngstWhatAngst, which is angst that is barely even felt by heroes. There is the angst of the BadassAngster, which, while they angst, [[{{Wangst}} a lot]], the character is saved from derision by their usefulness and badass qualities. And then there is {{Mangst}}, the hidden angst of badass [[StoicWoobie characters]] that may be RatedMForManly.

When a Badass has Mangst, he may have an inner monologue, during which the source of his Mangst gets a regular mention. However, to mitigate potential {{AngstDissonance}], the character's monologue often is deceptively [[CozyVoiceForCatastrophe calm]] or [[FilmNoir metaphorical]].

[[DoubleStandard You never seem to see many women Mangsting]], though ''occasionally'' it does happen, normally as a LadyDrunk DrowningTheirSorrows. This is often difficult to keep up in the plot, however, and even {{Action Girl}}s tend to [[BrokenBird break down crying and need to be comforted]] before all is said and done, whereas Mangst is never really shown to anyone else in the course of the story.

There are several variant forms of [[{{Angst}} angst]]. There is {{Wangst}}, the angst of whiners and children, there is AngstWhatAngst which is angst that is barely even felt by heroes, and then there is {{Mangst}}, the manly angst of the BadassAngster.

A man who feels Mangst is the kind of guy who carries around [[MementoMacGuffin a picture of the wife and child]], [[DeadLittleSister both of whom were murdered by the Big Bad]]. Every once in a while he picks up that picture. . . maybe once every three or four days, mind, when [[DontYouDarePityMe no one is looking. . . ]] and stares at it for a couple of hours. [[TheStoic He never talks to other people about his private pain]]. Several things keep him closed up about it. First, he's [[BadassAngster not the kind of guy to get all weepy]] (unless you count the occasional bout of ManlyTears, of course). Second, [[StoicWoobie he's not the kind of person who loads his problems on other people]].

When a Badass has Mangst, he may have an inner monologue, during which the source of his Mangst gets a regular mention. This is not the excessive kind of {{wangst}} you get from a whiney little girly-man who isn't really as tough as he might seem on the surface (*cough* ''{{Angel}}'' *cough*), because [[{{Badass}} real men]] [[BadassAngster angst]] without being wusses about it.

Of course, some would argue that the true cause of Mangst is TestosteronePoisoning. But that's a separate issue entirely.

[[AlwaysMale You never seem to see many women Mangsting]], though ''occasionally'' it does happen, but it's rare; {{Action Girl}}s tend to [[BrokenBird break down crying and need to be comforted]] before all is said and done, rather than carrying around their pain in a quiet and dignified manner.

** Garrus Vakarian as well. Has had his life fall apart and by the time Shepard finds him he's hold up and being assaulted by mercenaries. What does he do? He channels it all into being Space {{Batman}} and turns his disappointment in having his former {{Nakama}} killed into unrelenting hatred for the one who betrayed him [[spoiler:and even then Shepard can teach him to forgive]].

-->"It causes me great emotional duress to hold in all this smoldering maniless."
--->'''TheNostalgiaChick''', acting as [[StarTrek Picard]].

** BioWare shoots for this pretty often, especially on their EstrogenBrigadeBait. [[JadeEmpire Sky]] is hunting Gao the Greater's slavers (and tends to extend the vendetta to ''any'' slaver). [[KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Carth Onasi]] is hunting his SmugSnake of a former commander who turned his planet into ash, killed his wife, and [[spoiler: turned his son to the DarkSide]].

* Vince of ''Series/TheCape'', who started out as a devoted and loving father but is framed and [[FakingTheDead supposedly killed]]. The best he can do for his family now is to protect them as a costumed vigilante, and occasionally gives his son "messages from his father".

* [[TheKingOfFighters Heidern]] fits the article description '''word for word'''. Yet he is currently commanding a [[BadassCrew top-rate mercenary squad]] and raised an adopted daughter with a SuperpoweredEvilSide. And he [[ColonelBadass kicks ass.]]

* CodeGeass: Lelouch, man times, but most obviously over the whole 'massacre princess' incident.

* [[{{NCIS}} Leroy Jethro Gibbs]]; for the first three seasons neither the audience nor the other characters are is aware of the fact that his [[spoiler:first wife and child]] were murdered by a Mexican thug after witnessing a crime. Gibbs being Gibbs, the drug lord has [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge more than dealt with]]. The emotional issues, though...that's another story.

There are several variant forms of [[{{Angst}} angst]]. There is {{Wangst}}, the angst of whiners and children, there is AngstWhatAngst which is angst that is barely even felt by heroes, and then there is Mangst, the manly angst of the BadassAngster.

When a Badass has Mangst, he may have an inner monologue, during which the source of his Mangst gets a regular mention. This is not the excessive kind of {{Wangst}} you get from a whiney little girly-man who isn't really as tough as he might seem on the surface (*cough* ''{{Angel}}'' *cough*), because [[{{Badass}} real men]] [[BadassAngster angst]] without being wusses about it.

* FullmetalAlchemist is a prime example in the manga and second anime. To begin with, our hero, Edward Elric carries on his shoulders the guilt of [[GoneHorriblyWrong resurrecting his mother as a horrific THING and believing he killed her again]], and [[MyGreatestFailure damning his brother to life as a animate suit of armor in the process]]. He bottles this up for years and never once asks his brother if he blames him for this. Note that this started when he was 11.

* {{Rambo}}.

* [[{{NCIS}} Leroy Jethro Gibbs]], for the first three seasons we didn't even know he had a child. Even the other characters didn't know. All we got were odd hints like the flask from "Shannon and Kelly". RoaringRampageofRevenge is relevant, too.

* Cain from {{Series/TinMan}}. Considering he's an DarkerAndEdgier counterpart to Nick Chopper from the original Oz books, this makes sense. Eight years in a metal coffin with the [[ForcedToWatch holographic recording of his family's torture on an endless loop]]...Yeah, he's got some of this to burn off.

One of the things that turns basic {{Angst}} into Mangst is the source of the character's pain. When ThatOneCase involved someone dying (especially if it was [[ChildrenAreInnocent an innocent kid]]), the hero will most likely end up Mangsting. Having their wife or girlfriend [[WomenInRefrigerators horribly killed by the Big Bad]] is perhaps the most common cause of Mangst in the world. [[TheAtoner Guilt over some past misdeed, or from failing to stop someone else's past misdeed, can also be a cause]].

[[AlwaysMale You never seem to see many women Mangsting]], though ''occasionally'' it does happen, but its rare ([[ActionGirl action girls]] tend to [[BrokenBird break down crying and need to be comforted]] before all is said and done, rather than carrying around their pain in a quiet and dignified manner.

* FullmetalAlchemist is a prime example in the manga and second anime. To begin with, our hero, Edward Elric carries on his shoulders the guilt of [[GoneHorriblyWrongressurecting his mother as a horrific THING and believing he killed her again]], and [[MyGreatestFailure damning his brother to life as a animate suit of armor in the process]]. He bottles this up for years and never once asks his brother if he blames him for this. Note that this started when he was 11.

* How is [[{{NCIS}} Leroy Jethro Gibbs]] not on here yet? For the first three seasons we didn't even know he had a child. Even the other characters didn't know. All we got were odd hints like the flask from "Shannon and Kelly". RoaringRampageofRevenge is relevant, too.

!!Examples

* GearsOfWar, or more exactly, [[{{Badass}} Marcus]], [[TheLancer Dom]], and [[TheBigGuy Cole]]. Marcus does it because of a shitty childhood. Dom's kids were killed, his brother, and [[spoiler:[[{{Tearjerker}} he had to euthanize his wife]]. Cole never got to say a lot of things to his Momma. Now that she's dead, he still writes her letters to tell her things so that he can vent his problems. Not too sure about Baird though; he's just an asshole hiding his problems with {{Deadpan Snarker}}y.