History Main / SanitySlippage

Compare GoMadFromTheRevelation, FreakOut, VillainousBreakdown, RoomFullOfCrazy, MadnessMantra, LaughingMad, DrivenToMadness and WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity. If this is a backstory it's PreInsanityReveal. Compare SlowlySlippingIntoEvil. The opposite of SanityStrengthening.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': General James Ironwood is introduced as a decent man with a problematic over-reliance on military solutions even when told it's inappropriate. He acknowledges that it's possible to see things that aren't there, even after a battle ends, implying he suffers from PTSD. Then his robot soldiers are hacked, the city he's guarding is invaded, and TheHeavy gives a speech implying the world's on the brink of war and Atlas might be behind it. From that point, Ironwood becomes increasingly authoritarian as he desperately struggles to control the situation and thwart the villains. His decisions increasingly hurt his kingdom while he becomes ever more intolerant of objections. The villains count on this, employing a BatmanGambit in Volume 7 to trigger his TraumaButton. [[spoiler:Once it's pressed, Ironwood fully descends into villainy, becoming as dangerous a threat as the BigBad herself, and an ArcVillain one volume later.]]

* Also appears in TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay, it has a mechanic for going insane and lists quite a nice amount of mental illnesses for which your character can suffer

A character has been a bit ... off for a while now. Maybe they just [[NotHimself haven't been themselves]], maybe they've been [[IdentityBreakdown struggling with who or what they are]], maybe they've gone as far as painting a RoomFullOfCrazy while reciting a MadnessMantra, or maybe they've gone through a MadnessMakeover, but it's apparent from their actions that their rational mind is losing its grip and they are sliding inch by inch toward insanity.

* ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'': Petunia goes through a horrifying example in the episode "Wishy Washy"; which is the first to establish her as a NeatFreak. As she and her house get dirtier, her mind slowly falls apart as she tries to get rid of all the grime. By the end of the episode, Petunia goes completely insane and [[DrivenToSuicide commits suicide]] [[FlayingAlive by skinning herself alive with a potato peeler]] in a vain attempt to clean herself up. This is notable for being the ONLY intentional suicide in the series.

* ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'': Petunia goes through a horrifying example in the episode "Wishy Washy"; which is the first to establish her as a NeatFreak. As she and her house get dirtier, her mind slowly falls apart as she tries to get rid of all the grime. By the end of the episode, Petunia goes completely insane and [[DrivenToSuicide commits suicide]] [[FlayingAlive by skinning herself alive with a potato peeler]] in a vain attempt to clean herself up. This is notable for being the ONLY intentional suicide in the series. What makes this really disturbing is how when Petunia finds the potato peeler, her eyes become bloodshot and she starts [[LaughingMad laughing like a lunatic]].

* ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'': Petunia goes through a horrifying example in the episode "Wishy Washy"; which is the first to establish her as a NeatFreak. As she and her house get dirtier, her sanity slowly falls apart as she tries to get rid of all the grime. By the end of the episode, Petunia completely loses her mind and [[DrivenToSuicide commits suicide]] [[FlayingAlive by skinning herself alive with a potato peeler]] in a vain attempt to clean herself up. All while [[LaughingMad laughing like a maniac]]. This is notable for being the ONLY intentional suicide in the series.

* ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'': Petunia goes through a horrifying example in the episode "Wishy Washy"; which is the first to establish her as a NeatFreak. As she and her house get dirtier, her sanity slowly falls apart as she tries to get rid of all the grime. By the end of the episode, Petunia completely loses her mind and [[DrivenToSuicide commits suicide]] [[FlayedAlive by skinning herself alive with a potato peeler]] in a vain attempt to clean herself up. All while [[LaughingMad laughing like a maniac]]. This is notable for being the ONLY intentional suicide in the series.

* ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'': Petunia goes through a truly horrifying example in the episode "Wishy Washy"; which is the first to establish her as a NeatFreak. As she and her house get dirtier, her sanity slowly falls apart as she tries to get rid of all the grime. By the end of the episode, Petunia completely loses her mind and [[DrivenToSuicide commits suicide]] [[FlayedAlive by skinning herself alive with a potato peeler]] just to clean herself. All while [[LaughingMad laughing like a lunatic]]. This is notable for being the ONLY intentional suicide in the series.

* This happened to both Wrestling/SethRollins and Wrestling/RomanReigns after [[Wrestling/JonMoxley Dean Ambrose]] left WWE in 2019, with the implication that Ambrose was serving as their MoralityChain. Rollins' big face run ended up collapsing thanks to bad booking and his own OutOfUniverse behavior, causing him to make a FaceHeelTurn involving developing a messiah complex before flat-out becoming a straight up [[PracticallyJoker Joker-expy]]. Meanwhile, years of fan vitriol and being constantly screwed out of the world title (in addition to never fully recovering from the trauma of the Shield's break-up) had been secretly eroding away at Reigns' sanity for a while, culminating in him snapping and becoming a sociopathic mob boss that was willing to brutalize and gaslight [[Wrestling/TheUsos his own cousins]] into becoming his lackeys after the company attempted to freeze him out during the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Rather ironically, the exact [[SanityStrengthening opposite]] ended up happening to Ambrose (who used to be Wrestling/TheShield's resident {{Cloudcukoolander}}), in that the stable's dissolution led to him becoming the OnlySaneMan, since he was the only one to make any real peace with what happened.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': When James Ironwood is introduced, he's portrayed as a decent man with a problematic over-reliance on military solutions even when told it's inappropriate. He acknowledges that it's possible to see things that aren't there, even after a battle ends, implying he suffers from PTSD. Then his robot soldiers are hacked, the city he's guarding is invaded, and TheHeavy gives a speech implying the world's on the brink of war and Atlas might be behind it. From that point, Ironwood becomes increasingly authoritarian as he desperately struggles to control the situation and thwart the villains. His decisions increasingly hurt his kingdom while he becomes ever more intolerant of objections. The villains count on this, employing a BatmanGambit in Volume 7 to trigger his TraumaButton. [[spoiler:Once it's pressed, Ironwood fully descends into villainy, becoming as dangerous a threat as the BigBad herself, and an ArcVillain in Volume 8.]]

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': When Ironwood is introduced, he's portrayed as a decent man with a problematic over-reliance on military solutions even when told it's inappropriate. He acknowledges that it's possible to see things that aren't there, even after a battle ends, implying he suffers from PTSD. Then his robot soldiers are hacked, the city he's guarding is invaded, and TheHeavy gives a speech implying the world's on the brink of war and Atlas might be behind it. From that point, Ironwood becomes increasingly authoritarian as he desperately struggles to control the situation and thwart the villains. His decisions increasingly hurt his kingdom while he becomes ever more intolerant of objections. The villains count on this, employing a BatmanGambit in Volume 7 to trigger his TraumaButton. [[spoiler:Once it's pressed, Ironwood fully descends into villainy, becoming as dangerous a threat as the BigBad herself, and an ArcVillain in Volume 8.]]

* Very subtly done with James Ironwood in ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}''. When he's introduced, he's portrayed as an apparently decent man who nonetheless thinks his military is the best solution to everything, even when it's pointed out that it intimidates people instead of reassuring them. He also acknowledges early on that it's possible to see things that aren't there even after a battle ends, with the implication that he himself suffers PTSD. Then his robot soldiers are hacked, the city he's guarding is invaded, and TheDragon of the BigBad puts out a big speech implying every kingdom is secretly on the brink of war. Every appearance since then, James has been shown trying to gain more control of the situation by making decisions that increasingly ignore anybody else's opinions and observations, while hiding his own doubts behind a mask of seemingly rational calm... right up until he snaps at the end of volume seven, decides to abandon the planet, and orders the heroes arrested for pointing out how that doesn't save anyone.

* In ''Roleplay/WeAreOurAvatars'', [[@/HilarityEnsues Hilarity]], [[SuperOCD comedically]]. [[@/SapphireFlame Sapph]], [[ShellShockedVeteran not]] [[DrunkWithPower so]] [[WhatHaveIDone comedically]]

[[caption-width-right:316:Get some sleep, Jack.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/OpenSeason2'', Fifi begins to lose most of [[GenderBenderName his]] sanity after getting the fur on his forehead burned during a chase. Over time, his eyes begin to get more and more twitchy. Ultimately, Fifi tries to kill the wilds with the shock collars in revenge, but then realizes that Elliot put all the collars on him. Fifi survives, but the electricity makes him lose all of his fur, humiliating him.

* In ''WesternAnimation/OpenSeason2'', Fifi begins to lose most of his sanity after getting the fur on his forehead burned during a chase. Over time, his eyes begin to get more and more twitchy. Ultimately, Fifi tries to kill the wilds with the shock collars in revenge, but then realizes that Elliot put all the collars on him. Fifi survives, but the electricity makes him lose all of his fur, humiliating him.

* Wrestling/{{Edge}} began to gradually lose his mind as he kept getting closer to a Wrestling/HellInACell match with Wrestling/TheUndertaker. It took Wrestling/MickFoley to tell Edge that he needed to let loose to have a hope of winning, culminating in a two-word NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech: "I understand."

* Wrestling/RandyOrton infamously started to lose it after his first world title run, which involved his friend and mentor, Wrestling/TripleH, ousting him ([[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown forcefully]]) from Wrestling/{{Evolution}} in a fit of jealousy. Cracks began to show in The Legend Killer's suave persona over the next few years, and a Wrestlemania feud with (and loss to) Wrestling/TheUndertaker shoved him over the deep end. His partnership with Wrestling/{{Edge}} managed to keep him in check for about a year or so, but after that fell apart there was nothing stopping his descent, culminating in his first feud with Cena which saw him attack Cena's father. By 2008, he was more-or-less gone, and by 2009 he had fully become the "Viper" that continues to terrorize WWE over a decade later.

* As events progress and he finds himself in increasingly dangerous situations, Gordon in ''Machinima/FreemansMind'' is showing increasingly common bouts of uncontrolled rage and paranoia, which is impressive considering [[SociopathicHero his original personality]]. This was perhaps most clearly demonstrated in episode 29, when he threw a grenade at a large pile of explosive crates.
-->'''Gordon:''' I ''HAVE'' TO BLOW EVERYTHING UP! IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO PROVE I'M NOT CRAZY!
* ''Machinima/HalfLifeButTheAIIsSelfAware'':
** As the series goes on, Gordon becomes more manic and unhinged thanks to being attacked by numerous horrific monsters and being stuck with the Science Team, a bunch of deranged weirdos who harass him constantly and murder anyone they come into contact with except him. [[spoiler:He completely loses his mind after his arm is cut off]]
** A more subtle example happens with Dr. Coomer after he [[FourthWallObserver realizes his world is fake]]. He manages to hide it for the most part, [[spoiler:but he reveals it in full force when he tries to use [[PlayerCharacter Gordon]] as a puppet to escape into the real world. When this doesn’t work, he calms down.]]

* This happens to a ''book'' in Wiki/TheWanderersLibrary story ''[[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/of-the-metabible Of the Metabible]]''. The Metabible, a godlike entity over which wars have been fought, is an impossibly long book. As you read farther it begins to get more and more incomprehensible, and by the millionth page it's completely broken and begging for somebody to read it. [[spoiler: The last page of the book separates itself from the Metabible and forms a second one. It's implied it eventually goes through the same process.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'': Skinner goes through this throughout the entire movie, to the point he made conspiracy theories of the rat chef. Even his lawyer asks if he should be worried about his client.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'': Charles Muntz is an implied example. Psychologically speaking, the years have clearly not been kind.