History Main / RepressionNeverEndsWell

* ''Fanfic/JuniorOfficers'': Throughout the first several chapters, a few characters (but mostly Captain Barnacles) make some InnocentlyInsensitive remarks about Shellington. Shellington appears to be rather hurt by those words, but nothing comes of it...until "[[Recap/JuniorOfficersS1E19TheSwellShark The Swell Shark]]", that is. When Shellington embarrasses himself by vomiting in the back of the GUP-A, he has an [[InelegantBlubbering emotional breakdown]] and reveals that [[DidYouThinkICantFeel he's very insecure as a result of what Captain Barnacles and the others have said]]. He then spends the next few chapters in a HeroicBSOD.

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* This is symbolically shown off with Hoshi in ''FanFic/CindersAndAshesTheChroniclesOfKamenRiderDante'', where one of his forms, [[MagmaMan Yellowstone Mount]], has no vents to let out his heat compared to his other two forms. Because of how his powers work by turning his UnstoppableRage into a fuel for his [[PlayingWithFire fire powers]] (and in turn, having them fuel his anger), this results in Hoshi becoming angerier and angerier the more he uses it. At the same time the form was debuting, he discovers more and more about the truth behind his friend's tragic death and how he's bottling these emotions to himself, before ultimately exploding into a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.

* ''WesternAnimation/ParaNorman'': [[spoiler:The witch, Agatha, had been forced to hide her supernatural powers from the townsfolk to avoid being executed, but despite her efforts, they found out anyway and declared her guilty of witchcraft. During the trial, Agatha finally snapped and cursed her accusers to come back as zombies to feel the same pain she did]]. Deconstructed later on by [[spoiler:Norman, who [[NotSoDifferentRemark points out her actions make her similar to her oppressors]]]].

* Discussed in the ''Literature/JunieBJones'' book "And Some Sneaky Peeky Spying". Junie B. catches her teacher (known only as [[EverybodyCallsHimBarkeep "Mrs."]]) secretly eating a grape from the store without paying. Not wanting Mrs. to get in trouble, she keeps this to herself, but Lucille warns her that if she [[KeepingSecretsSucks keeps a secret]], [[YourHeadAsplode her head will explode]].

* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': In the webcomic, after befriending Amber, Collei is guilt-ridden for causing the Black Fire Incident but is unable to tell her friend which, along with her self-loathing and DemonicPossession, becomes too much for the girl to bear. Eventually, unable to deal with shame and being overwhelmed by the creatures inside her, [[TheAtoner Collei]] tells Kaeya to [[MercyKill kill her]]. [[spoiler:Luckily, Amber does not allow this to happen]].

* In ''VideoGame/NightInTheWoods'', as a teenager Mae started [[spoiler: suffering from some form of disassociation disorder]], which went untreated and eventually [[spoiler: caused her to put another kid in hospital during a softball game]]. The local doctor was pretty much the only avenue of treatment her parents had for her, and since he wasn't a psychiatrist, he didn't do much aside from having Mae write a journal and "suppress her anger". As a result, when she left for university [[spoiler: while she didn't have another attack, she couldn't function in this new environment, and basically spent two years crying in her room, before coming home at the start of the game.]]

* In ''Theatre/AlbertHerring'', Albert shocks the officials who selected him to be May King yesterday based on his perceived moral purity, as well as his [[MyBelovedSmother overprotective Mum]], with his tale of how he spent the night and three pounds of his prize money on going to town, getting extremely drunk and starting a BarBrawl. He blames them for having repressed his curiosity for so long that something this drastic had to be done, and gives them his SnarkingThanks for having enabled the misadventure:

* ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'': Mikan acts submissive and timid, allowing everyone to walk all over her as a result of the bullying she endures. In Chapter 3, [[spoiler:in her panic upon being discovered as the Blackened, Mikan turns into a shrieking mess, lashing out angrily at everyone for picking on her and demanding forgiveness. She even gets Nagito to shut up with an ArmorPiercingResponse, which is quite the feat]].

* ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'': Mikan acts submissive and timid, allowing everyone to walk all over her as a result of the bullying she endures. In Chapter 3, in her panic upon being discovered as the Blackened, Mikan turns into a shrieking mess, lashing out angrily at everyone for picking on her and demanding forgiveness. She even gets Nagito to shut up with an ArmorPiercingResponse, which is quite the feat.

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* Vex of ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' mentions to uptight, guarded Percy that he should cut loose once in a while, not long before the party attend a dinner where some of Percy's old enemies show up. What follows is a dark, bloody RoaringRampageOfRevenge spanning fourteen episodes and featuring ColdBloodedTorture and DemonicPossession. Maybe not what she meant.
[[/folder]]

* ''ComicBook/AstonishingXMen'': Cyclops copes with his childhood trauma by voluntarily choosing to let his powers run wild, thus giving himself something to constantly focus on and try to control in a moment when his life is falling apart due to events beyond his understanding. When Emma Frost forcibly makes Cyclops remember his decision and exposes him to all his repressed fears and insecurities, he sheds a SingleTear before falling into a catatonic state.
* ComicBook/ProfessorX, founder of the ''Franchise/XMen'', has a rather nasty and repeated habit of trying to suppress every bad thought and feeling he ever had until it ultimately forms an evil {{split personality}}. Cases of this include the lead-up to the original ''Phoenix Saga'' (when he was haunted by visions of what'd turn out to be Lilandra calling for help), where it formed mental constructs of the original X-Men to combat the then-current team; the ''X-Men vs. Micronauts'' miniseries, where it was the BigBad; and the ''ComicBook/{{Onslaught}}'' crossover as the titular BigBad (only with influence from Magneto's mind).
* ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'': Loki is guilt-ridden over having manipulated events so he could take advantage of his young, previous self and kill him. It causes him to hallucinate his previous self taunting him before things take a turn for the worse and his guilt causes him to unconsciously use his magic to create constructs of the Young Avengers' exes which attack everyone until Loki finally fesses up.
* Parodied in ''Comicbook/KnightAndSquire'' #4, in which Knight's repressed emotions take control of his armour and attack Shrike, a sort-of-villain who is dating Squire. [[StiffUpperLip Being British]], Knight defeats the armour by repressing these feelings ''further'', despite his American butler's advice to the contrary.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017'': Twilight has been trying to hold in her frustration with her friends for treating this life-threatening adventure like their regular everyday adventures. When Pinkie [[WhatTheHellHero calls her out on not having faith in them]], Twilight [[RageBreakingPoint reaches the limit of her patience]] and [[OpenMouthInsertFoot yells that she'd be better off without them]]. This results in Pinkie being ''devastated'', and the Mane Six leaves Twilight alone as she [[TearsOfRemorse can only sob over what she has said]].

* ''VideoGame/Persona4'': The nature of the cognitive world embodies this trope; any human who stays in that world for too long risks everything that they're ashamed of manifesting in the form of a doppelganger, or rather, a Shadow. These Shadows are hostile to their other selves, happily proclaiming everything that they keep locked in the darkness of their hearts, such as Kanji's [[spoiler:'unmanly' interests]] and Naoto's [[spoiler:real gender and her fears of never being taken seriously as a detective]]. It comes to a head when—not if, ''when'' their other selves deny that the Shadows are part of them, at which point the Shadows go berserk and turn into monsters; the only way to pacify the Shadows is for the owners to accept them as parts of themselves, which is how they turn into Personas.

'''Yusuke:''' My eyes were truly blind...blind, and unable to see the true self behind this one horrible man!\\

** After Ozpin warns Ruby -- who has a history of bottling her feelings -- to think carefully about how she'll uphold the daunting responsibility of leadership, she tells the struggling Jaune that leadership means never being allowed to fail. After Ozpin warns Oscar in Volume 5 that Ruby's inspirational leadership is a terrible burden, Volume 6 exposes his own history of bottling his feelings, forcing Ruby to take over. The Atlas Arc explores the pressure of command and Ozpin's responsibilities as she begins making the same decisions and mistakes that he made. [[spoiler:He sees where he went wrong in Volume 8 and Ruby learns the same lesson after she's left shattered by a villainous DespairGambit in Volume 9. Only through discovering that the mother she idolised was as flawed as everyone else does she learn not to hold herself to impossible standards or try to be perfect for others.]]

** After Ozpin warns Ruby -- who has a history of bottling her feelings -- to think carefully about how she'll uphold the daunting responsibility of leadership, she tells the struggling Jaune that leadership means never being allowed to fail. After Ozpin warns Oscar in Volume 5 that Ruby's inspirational leadership is a terrible burden, Volume 6 exposes his own history of bottling his feelings, forcing Ruby to take over. The Atlas Arc explores the pressure of command and Ozpin's responsibilities as she begins making the same decisions and mistakes that he made. [[He sees where he went wrong in Volume 8 and Ruby learns the same lesson after she's left shattered by a villainous DespairGambit in Volume 9. Only through discovering that the mother she idolised was as flawed as everyone else does she learn not to hold herself to impossible standards or try to be perfect for others.]]

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': In Volume 1, Ruby tells Jaune, who is struggling to become a more capable Huntsman, that now that he's the leader of Team JNPR, he can't afford to be a failure. Ruby got this mindset from a talk with [[TheMentor Ozpin]]. Fast forward eight volumes, and Ozpin has been revealed to be a FailureHero who has spent centuries unsuccessfully fighting [[BigBad Salem]], constantly being betrayed by his allies when they learn of Salem's CompleteImmortality. Ruby and Jaune, throughout Volume 9, are clearly trying to keep it together for the sake of their friends, but eventually, in ''The Perils of Paper Houses'', both snap, with Ruby snarking at her friends for [[TheChainsOfCommanding expecting her to constantly have something to say]], and Jaune [[TheyDiedBecauseOfYou blaming Ruby for the deaths of the Paper Pleasers]]. The latter information causes Ruby to flee the team.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' Petey, the AI for the ''Post-Dated Check Loan'' is [[https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2001-05-11 ordered]] into repression and denial of the four centuries he spent locked out of his own systems ruminating on the noises in his plumbing that sounded like the ghosts of his dead crew. When the Ob'enn Empire recaptures him the orders Tagon gave him are canceled and he [[https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2002-10-31 self-destructs]] after giving his new captain just enough time for an OhCrap moment.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', Willow Park is TheReliableOne of the Hexsquad friend group, and knows it. So in the Season 3 episode "For the Future", despite being just as scared and upset about [[spoiler:the fate of her family and the Boiling Isles]] as everyone else, she does her best to hold in her emotions and stay strong for her friends. Soon, as a result, [[spoiler:her GreenThumb powers start [[PowerIncontinence spiraling out of control]], until she accidentally ensnares her best friend Gus and crush Hunter with vines, and her subsequent panic and attempt to release them causes her to become trapped with her own powers too. It takes Hunter saving her and both boys encouraging her to let her feelings out for her to calm down and retake control]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "Meek for a Week", [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Francine]] is dared to be polite for a week. However, she has no idea how to express her emotions diplomatically and as a result, she stuffs her emotions. Her friends think this is unhealthy and will lead to her "popping".
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': Two-Face's origin is a result of Harvey Dent repressing his anger since childhood. This resulted in a SplitPersonality, "Big Bad Harv", that he mostly kept under control. It isn't until his disfigurement during Rupert Thorne's attempt at blackmailing him that the Two-Face personality [[SplitPersonalityTakeover takes control]] with Harvey Dent occasionally breaking through. In the episode "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE24JudgementDay Judgement Day]]", [[spoiler:Two-Face repressing Harvey Dent for so long, especially his passion for justice, resulted in a ''third'' personality forming: the Judge, a VigilanteMan that treats all crimes as punishable by death.]]

** In "All Bottled Up", Starlight Glimmer tries to suppress her anger, but, being a unicorn, this anger turns into a cloud of magic. This magic eventually spreads to other people, making them mad.
** In "Horse Play", Twilight invites Princess Celestia to take part in her play, only to realize that Celestia can't act at all. She tries to hide this from her mentor, on top of dealing with many other problems, until finally, she explodes and rants about how Celestia is "the worst actress in the history of Equestria" - with [[RightBehindMe Celestia listening from behind the curtain]].

** In "I Am Furious (Yellow)", Homer is offended by Bart's Internet cartoon based on his angry outbursts and decides to hold in his anger, causing lumps to develop on his neck. Eventually, one of Bart's pranks makes Homer rampage through town and cause millions of dollars in property damage, but it's soon revealed that the boils on his neck would have killed him had he not been set off.
** Discussed by Lisa and Homer in "Whacking Day''.

** "Hurricane Neddy" reveals that Ned Flanders used to be a brat until he was subjected to eight months of continuous spanking. This "treatment" made Ned unable to express anger, as any attempt would result in him subconsciously ending his sentences with nonsensical jabbering, namely his {{Verbal Tic}}s "diddly" and "doodly". After being pushed too far, Ned erupts from years of suppressed rage and viciously berates his friends and neighbors, followed by willingly committing himself to a mental hospital immediately afterward.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': In Volume 1, Ruby tells Jaune, who is struggling to become a more capable Huntsman, that now that he's the leader of Team JNPR, he can't afford to be a failure. Ruby got this mindset from a talk with [[TheMentor Ozpin]]. Fast forward eight volumes, and Ozpin has been revealed to be a FailureHero who has spent centuries unsuccessfully fighting [[BigBad Salem]], constantly being betrayed by his allies when they learn of Salem's CompleteImmortality. Ruby and Jaune, throughout Volume 9, are clearly trying to keep it together for the sake of their friends, but eventually, in ''The Perils of Paper Houses'', both snap, with Ruby snarking at her friends for expecting her to constantly have something to say, and Jaune blaming Ruby for the deaths of the Paper Pleasers. This latter information causes Ruby to flee the team.

Might overlap with BewareTheNiceOnes or BewareTheQuietOnes if the character is usually pretty friendly or silent, PentUpPowerPeril if superpowers happen to come out as well, or AngstNuke in the case that the backlash is extremely destructive. Can also result in an AnguishedOutburst. Can lead to CatharticCrying. AngerIsHealthyAesop is when the character and audience is taught that anger is healthy as long as it's not taken to a violent extreme.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'': in the episode "[[Recap/TeenTitansS2E5FearItself Fear Itself]]" The titans watch a scary movie together, and Raven won't admit it frightened her. This becomes a problem when she loses control of her powers and the monsters from the movie come to life.