History Main / Mangst

* Conrad from ''LightNovel/KyoKaraMaoh'' has lots of Mangst concerning what happened to Julia and the events of the war 20 years ago.
* Shizuo Heiwajima from ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' is a [[IJustWantToBeNormal very]] [[IAmAMonster broken]] [[JerkassWoobie man]]. Nonetheless, any sort of angsting he does over it is restricted to occasional quiet chats he has with Celty.

* Ross Rhea from ''Film/{{Goon}}''. After a teammate takes a vicious elbow to the face, Rhea smacks the offender in the head with his stick and is suspended and sent down to the minors. He winds up at St. Johns where he grew up and got his start playing hockey. When on TV, he is glad to be back home, but throughout the movie is shown sitting alone night after night in an all-hours dirty spoon by himself with no friends, no fans, constantly keeping tabs on an up-and-coming player who has been labeled by the sports media as the "next great enforcer." Turned Up to Eleven when he faces the younger version of himself when his normal level of thuggery on the ice turns brutal as he doesn't want to be remembered as going down as a "Nancy-Boy Fuck."

-->-- '''Kratos''' after Atreus accuses him of not caring about his late wife, ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4''

%%* In ''Fanfic/MementoVivere'', a ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' fanfiction, every male protagonist engages in this at some point in time.

%%* Martin Riggs from the ''Film/LethalWeapon'' series.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** Upon hearing of his father's execution, Robb Stark substitutes a nearby tree for one of the Lannisters.
---> '''Catelyn:''' You've ruined your sword.
** Cersei says that Robert beat his hands bloody on the wall in anguish after their first infant son died of fever.

* Marv from ''ComicBook/SinCity'' is filled to the brim with Mangst after Goldie's murder.

** Wolverine, as per canon.

* Desmond on ''Series/{{Lost}}'' does this plenty.
* Derek Reese from ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' did this a lot.
** His brother Kyle, from [[Film/TheTerminator the original movie]] qualifies also, though less so.

* Giles on ''Series/{{Buffy|the Vampire Slayer}}'' tends to do this quite a bit. Notably, he did this when Joyce Summers died. He sat in his house, drinking scotch and listening to Tales of Brave Ulysses, a song that both he and Joyce had enjoyed.

* Justin of ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'', when he lost Juliet.

* Most of the major male characters on ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'', especially Spartacus himself. Although the death of his wife has made him a CrusadingWidower leading a GladiatorRevolt, he does not use it as a rallying cry and indeed generally only speaks of her to the people he is closest to. It does interfere with his subsequent romances though, as he cannot get past it, nor does he even seem to want to try.

* Belgarath in ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' and its sequel series, as well as the prequels, has a reputation for complete and utter implacability, to the point where it's usually assumed that he's utterly indifferent to human feelings - and certainly immune to them in his own right. This is a reputation he likes to exploit, and he's a master actor, so the facade rarely cracks (and when it does, he asks whoever notices to keep it quiet for the sake of his rep). It takes a while for even his rather perceptive relatives, Garion and Polgara, to figure out that he ''does'' care and is, in fact, closer to an AllLovingHero (if a frequently irascible one). In Garion's case, it was a steady revelation over time. In Polgara's, it was when she took her mother's preferred form of a snowy owl and he broke down in front of her, completely shattering her perception of him as a borderline sociopath. Oh, and that grief for his dead wife? It hasn't faded. Not in the least bit. Even though she died over ''three thousand years ago''.
** Polgara has elements of this herself, to the point where Garion, in a fit of anger, accuses her of being so old that she's lost the ability to feel like a human. As it happens, everyone can see that he's wrong (as does he, once his temper simmers down), but she usually locks down her grief over her twin sister's death (also roughly three thousand years ago), and most other signs of pain, to the point where only those who know her over a long period realise that she's got settings other than 'unruffled calm', 'regal/imperious', and 'TranquilFury' (verging on UnstoppableRage when she's ''really'' angry).
* Seregil in the ''Literature/{{Nightrunner}}'' series has a massive case of this. He basically feels guilty about, well, pretty much ''everything'' and studiously resists the efforts of those closest to him to get him to talk about any of it. He just undertakes a variety of efforts to correct any harm he has caused (including some instances that were not his fault). But often he needs to be manhandled by his family, friends, and partner when he gets too melancholy and/or does something stupid.
** Though Seregil is not nearly so stoic and macho as most of the male characters on this list. When [[spoiler: his confidants in the Cockerel get killed and Alec gets abducted]], he basically just waits until his best friend arrives a few hours later to have a good, hard, completely unashamed crying fit on the man's shoulder to release the shock, if not the guilt. And he has no problem crying in front of Alec either, in the end of the second book, when his months-long depression[[note]]Contrary to popular ideas, depression more often causes emotional numbness, not unremitting sadness.[[/note]] finally eases enough to let him ''feel'' some of his grief [[spoiler: over Nysander's death]]. Though he had been trying to run away and deal with it all alone just earlier that day.
* Odo in [[Literature/StarTrekTheFall ''Star Trek: The Fall'']]. He was always a stoic character, given to keeping his identity issues bottled up and rarely showing his feelings to others, but after the only person who really, truly matters to him is left missing-presumed-dead, and he no longer believes his home nation would benefit more from his direct manipulation than his absence, he spends his time mangsting away.
* The readers know that [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]] carries around a lot of angst, but he rarely expresses it outside his inner monologue, only admitting it to a few ''very'' trusted friends. This is suggested to have a lot to do with the brutal, but effective, methods of emotional control his first master, Justin Du Morne, taught him, which he notes when seeing his former fellow apprentice (and first love) Elaine get herself under control.
* Neville Longbottom from ''Literature/HarryPotter'' is a subtle example. He's usually down on himself for his lack of skill or talent with magic, and shy and quiet, but otherwise quite friendly and sympathetic to the pain of others. Harry is ''horrified'' to learn that while his own parents died, Neville's suffered a FateWorseThanDeath for the exact same reason. Reading between the lines, Neville has basically suffered unintentional emotional abuse at the hands of his grandmother all his life, constantly being compared to his father, on top of being one of the biggest victims of bullying in the school, and it is established in the series that emotions affect magic, and a lack of confidence can be crippling. At no point during the series does ''anyone'' learn this from Neville himself.

* Music/TheRollingStones: Paint It Black. Classic.

* ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'': Khan Noonian Singh. But then, he is portrayed by Ricardo Montalban, so what do you expect?

* ''Film/TheThinRedLine''. Every character. ([=Mangst=]).

** [[Characters/MonsterVerseHumans Ford Brody]] in the 2014 movie for the most part appears to have moved on from his mother's death and is quite [[TheStoic stoic]], but it's still implied that he's not wholly over it. It's hinted that Joe has a point when he accuses Ford of running away from his mom's death all this time, and the novelization supports the film's hints that Ford became an EOD due to his mom's death in a nuclear meltdown. The novel also reveals that Ford is worried for the remainder of the story following [[spoiler:his father's death]] that he'll never see Elle and Sam alive again.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Epic}}'': Ronin's facial expressions show that he's visibly upset over [[spoiler:Tara's death]] well, but he takes it in stride.

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]]), [[CollateralAngst the hero will most likely end up Mangsting]]. Having one's wife or girlfriend [[StuffedIntoTheFridge horribly killed]] is the most common cause of Mangst. [[TheAtoner Guilt over some past misdeed, or from failing to stop someone else's past misdeed, can also be a cause]].

-->-- '''Kratos''' after Atreus accuses him of not caring about his wife, ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4''

* ''Kratos'' of all characters come ''Videogame/GodOfWarPS4'', is silently devastated by the loss of his wife, not that he makes it readily known to his son.
--->'''Kratos:''' Do not mistake my silence for lack of grief!

** Harry indulge in this a couple of times towards the end of the first book, after the deaths of [[spoiler: Luna Lovegood]] and [[spoiler: temporarily, himself]] initially cause him to break down, then [[spoiler: his father being put into a coma and his uncle being dismembered (but still alive)]] finally makes him shut down his emotions, leaving a cold, efficient, and merciless BrokenAce. It then reappears at points in the sequel after ''[[TraumaCongaLine Forever Red]]''. However, it is made clear that a) it's only a thin shell for the emotional turmoil beneath, b) it's extremely unhealthy and makes him veer far too close to HeWhoFightsMonsters territory, c) his friends and family won't put up with it, getting him therapy (and in Carol's case in the sequel, having a two-way psychic connection that means that he ''can't'' totally shut himself off from her, and a willingness to comfort him/give him a kick up the arse, situation depending).

* Yoshino from ''Manga/ZetsuenNoTempest''. His girlfriend Aika died a year before the plot begins, but because he was in a SecretRelationship with her, he maintains a calm and cool exterior regarding her death. He is so good at keeping this a secret that even though all the other characters know he has a girlfriend and that Aika had a boyfriend, he has managed to convince everyone that said girlfriend/boyfriend are other people. But whenever he is alone, Yoshino often looks sadly at pictures of Aika on his cell phone or old text messages she sent him before her death. Much later in the series, [[spoiler: when Hakaze admits she's in love with him, he finally lets her in on the identity of his girlfriend. Hakaze is astonished that he could be so emotionless regarding her death, which leads to a massive emotional breakdown for Yoshino when he tries to maintain his facade but quickly breaks and ends up crying in Hakaze's arms while relating to her how he nearly went catatonic upon learning of Aika's death and his doubt that he will ever be happy in a world without her.]]

* Shizuo Heiwajima from ''{{LightNovel/Durarara}}'' is a [[IJustWantToBeNormal very]] [[IAmAMonster broken]] [[JerkassWoobie man]]. Nonetheless, any sort of angsting he does over it is restricted to occasional quiet chats he has with Celty.

* Vash The Stampede of ''{{Manga/Trigun}}'' could qualify, though he [[StepfordSmiler acts like]] ThePollyanna to help cover it up.

%%* Balsa of ''Anime/MoribitoGuardianOfTheSpirit'' is a RareFemaleExample, living her life as TheAtoner and never unloading her feelings on someone else.

** Kenshin spends ten years mangsting (behind his StepfordSmiler [[{{ObfuscatingStupidity}} facade]]) and WalkingTheEarth due to a combination of general disillusionment and [[spoiler: accidentally killing his wife]].
** Aoshi [[{{StoicWoobie}} stoically]] mangsts his way through a RoaringRampageOfRevenge [[spoiler: and into DeathSeeker territory]] due to his [[spoiler: followers' deaths]].

* Deconstructed in ''ManchesterByTheSea'', about a man whose Mangst has rendered him totally emotionally closed off and unable to get over the tragedies in his past.

[[DoubleStandard You don't see many women Mangsting]] though it does happen, as many female mangsters are more likely to be {{Broken Bird}}s who ultimately break down crying and need to be comforted before all is said and done. Although, with more modern depictions, women are just as likely as men to suffer horrible tragedies, yet have the fortitude (or unhealthy coping mechanisms) to bear their burdens in silence.

* ''Manga/InuYasha'':
** Inuyasha himself, who as a half-demon has had to bear the prejudices of both humans ''and'' demons his entire life.
%%** Kagome, after breaking [[MacGuffin Shikon Jewel]].

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

->''"Mind your tongue, boy! Until our journey is over, one of us must remain focused. Do not mistake my silence for lack of grief! Mourn how you wish...leave me to my own."''

Often derogatively referred to as "man pain" outside of this wiki, because many examples of Mangst veer into AngstDissonance territory for female viewers.

Often derogatively referred to as "man pain" outside of this wiki.

-->-- '''Kratos''' after Atreus accused him of not caring about his wife, ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4''

** Harry indulge in this a couple of times towards the end of the first book, after the deaths of [[spoiler: Luna Lovegood]] and [[spoiler: temporarily, himself]] initially cause him to break down, then [[spoiler: his father being put into a coma and his uncle being dismembered (but still alive)]] finally makes him shut down his emotions, leaving a cold, efficient, and merciless BrokenAce. It then reappears at points in the sequel after ''[[TraumaCongaLine Forever Red]]''. However, it is made clear that a) it's only a thin shell for the emotional turmoil beneath, b) it's extremely unhealthy and makes him veer far too close to HeWhoFightsMonsters territory, c) his friends and family won't put up with it, getting him therapy (and in Carol's case in the sequel, having a two-way psychic connection that means that he ''can't'' totally shut himself off from her).

* The readers know that [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]] carries around a lot of angst, but he rarely expresses it outside his inner monologue, only admitting it to a few ''very'' trusted friends.