History TheBerserker / TabletopGames

*** Many Space Wolves of the ranks of Blood Claw or Skyclaw. Unlike other Chapters, these roles (melee/jetpack assault) are given to their ''newest'' recruits, letting them get theirenthusiasm out of their system before they're trusted with big guns.

** The frenzied berserker class prestige class goes into berserker rages on top of a standard barbarian rage. If they kill all the enemies in sight, they have to make a Will save to avoid [[FriendOrFoe attacking allies]]. On the upside, a sufficiently advanced frenzied berserker will also [[UnstoppableRage survive otherwise fatal injuries]], potentially allowing them to continue fighting through hundreds or thousands of lost hit points, [[GoodThingYouCanHeal and even survive, if they get enough healing]] before their frenzy ends.

** The frenzied berserker class prestige class goes into berserker rages on top of a standard barbarian rage. If they kill all the enemies in sight, they have to make a Will save to avoid attacking allies.

** Khornate Berserkers in both ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer Age Of Sigmar}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. The 40k Berserkers actually undergo voluntary lobotomies to increase their psychotic blood lust (by berserker-surgeons no less). The page quote is one of their most infamous warcries. It also helps that in regular TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} that Khorne's warriors tend to come from a fantasy Viking culture and is essentially an evil Odin.
** Many Orks from 40k spill over into this if they're not just having fun. In ''Fantasy'', Savage Orcs are always this.
** For a more heroic variety, Blood Angels Death Company. When they meet the above, things get ''really'' bloody, even by 40K's standards.
** Many [[BoisterousBruiser Space Wolves]] of the ranks of Blood Claw or Skyclaw. Unlike other Chapters, these roles (melee/jetpack assault) are given to their ''newest'' recruits, letting them get theirenthusiasm out of their system before they're trusted with big guns.
** [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Khârn the Betrayer]] takes it up to eleven when he [[TeamKiller attacked his own]] fellow World Eaters when they wouldn't fight due to the cold. He managed to so completely devastate both his army and the enemy's that both now survive only as fragmented, roving warbands. For his actions, Kharn received his nickname and... was chosen as Khorne's Champion.
** Officio Assassinorum Eversors are this, too. They undergo a series of incredibly brutal cybernetic and genetic modifications to make them more efficient killing machines, and are then pumped up on combat drugs that are both addictive to the point that they die in ''hours'' if they go into withdrawal, and would shorten their lifespan to a matter of years if they remained conscious all the time (and are effective to the point where the genetic modifications are ''required to boost their immune systems to avoid immediate death upon injection''). To counter-act this, they're kept in cryo-pods all the time before deployment, and only awakened once they're within range of their target to avoid them going into a frothing berserker rage before time. And then they explode upon death, in case the target was not dead yet. They are, on the tabletop, one of ''the'' one model units with the most dice to roll in the attack phase.
** ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' is no slacker, with Witch Elves, Savage Orcs, Skaven Plague Monks, and anyone else with the Frenzy special rule. One classic Skaven spell, Death Frenzy, would turn any Skaven unit into this... but they'd be so psychotic that they would rip each other to shreds as well.
** ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer Age Of Sigmar}}'' has the Khorne Bloodbound, an entire army of frenzied berserkers that fall into this trope, all dedicated to the god of rage and murder. Special mention goes to the Wrathmongers, who have a special ability that causes not only themselves to enter a berserker rage, but all nearby allies and even their ''enemies,'' who become so engrossed in the berserker rage that they lose the ability to tell friend from foe and will just attack everyone withing range. Then there's the Blood Warriors, who will fight until their bodies are absolutely destroyed, even going as far as to take their murderers down with them. And not to be outdone is the Skullgrinder, gigantic warrior-blacksmiths who appear out of nowhere with murderous gleams in their eyes, armed with gigantic anvils on chains, and join battles using their anvils as makeshift flails while blinded by a raw murderous intent. And lastly, for anyone who isn't quite as berserked as we want, there's the Bloodsecrator, priests of Khorne carrying giant totems dedicated to the Blood God which opens a portal to Khorne's realm that, among other things, causes nearby allies to enter an unstoppable frenzy and lose all sense of preservation and any fear of pain and death.

** [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Khârn the Betrayer]] takes it UpToEleven when he [[TeamKiller attacked his own]] fellow World Eaters when they wouldn't fight due to the cold. He managed to so completely devastate both his army and the enemy's that both now survive only as fragmented, roving warbands. For his actions, Kharn received his nickname and... was chosen as Khorne's Champion.

* Khornate Berserkers in both ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer Age Of Sigmar}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. The 40k Berserkers actually undergo voluntary lobotomies to increase their psychotic blood lust (by berserker-surgeons no less). The page quote is one of their most infamous warcries. It also helps that in regular TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} that Khorne's warriors tend to come from a fantasy Viking culture and is essentially an evil Odin.

** Many [[BoisterousBruiser Space Wolves]] of the ranks of Blood Claw or Skyclaw.
** [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Khârn the Betrayer]] takes it UpToEleven when he [[TeamKiller attacked his own]] fellow World Eaters when they wouldn't fight due to the cold. He managed to so completely devastate both his army and the enemy's that both now survive only as fragmented, roving warbands.

** ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer Age Of Sigmar}}'' has the Khorne Bloodbound, an entire army of frenzied berserkers that fall into this trope, all dedicated to the god of rage and murder. Special mention goes to the Wrathmongers, who have a special ability that causes not only themselves to enter a berserker rage, but all nearby allies and even their ''enemies,'' who become so engrossed in the berserker rage that they lose the ability to tell friend from foe and will just attack everyone withing range. Then there's the Blood Warriors, who will fight until their bodies are absolutely destroyed, even going as far as to take their murderers down with them. And not to be outdone is the Skullgrinder, gigantic warrior-blacksmiths who appear out of nowhere with murderous gleams in their eyes, armed with gigantic anvils on chains, and join battles using their anvils as makeshift flails while blinded by a raw murderous intent. And lastly, for anyone who isn't quite as berserked as we want,there's the Bloodsecrator, priests of Khorne carrying giant totems dedicated to the Blood God which opens a portal to Khorne's realm that, among other things,causes nearby allies to enter an unstoppable frenzy and lose all sense of preservation and any fear of pain and death.
** The ultimate example of this in either setting is Skarbrand, the Exiled Bloodthirster. Having been beaten and flung across the daemonic skies for eight whole days and nights after getting the idea that he could replace Khorne by Tzeentch, he is wiped of all personality and thought beyond mindless rage. He possesses an aura that literally causes anyone around him to be filled with berserker rage, causing everyone to fight in a frenzied blood-fueled orgy whenever he appears. To top it all off, both of his axes contain mad, furious greater daemons, making him a triple berserk daemon.

** Officio Assassinorum Eversors are this too. They undergo a series of incredibly brutal cybernetic and genetic modifications to make them more efficient killing machines, and are then pumped up on combat drugs that are both addictive to the point that they die in ''hours'' if they go into withdrawal, and would shorten their lifespan to a matter of years if they remained conscious all the time (and are effective to the point where the genetic modifications are ''required to boost their immune systems to avoid immediate death upon injection''). To counter-act this, they're kept in cryo-pods all the time before deployment, and only awakened once they're within range of their target to avoid them going into a frothing berserker rage before time. And then they explode upon death, in case the target was not dead yet. They are, on the tabletop, one of ''the'' one model units with the most dice to roll in the attack phase.

* The Crab Clan in ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'' has two distinct flavors - one set reaching a [[TranquilFury Zen-like state of rage]] and frequently composed of [[DeathSeeker Death Seekers]] from the shamed Hiruma family, and the other typified by [[http://www.kazenoshiro.com/kazenoshiro/3/baddeath.htm Hida Amoro]], who was utterly terrifying in combat for both ally and enemy as well as being an honorless cretin outside of combat (standing out even in the rough-around-the-edges Crab Clan). The latter style of berserker generally became [[{{Flanderization}} the only variety.]]
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
** Barbarians are a play on the berserker. They wear light armor, attack with big weapons, and go into rages during battle to give themselves additional combat ability.
** The frenzied berserker class prestige class goes into berserker rages on top of a standard barbarian rage. If they kill all the enemies in sight, they have to make a Will save to avoid attacking allies.
** 5e Barbarians [[ZigZaggedTrope zigzag]] the portrayal, primarily dependent on which subclass is selected; those on the Path of the Berserker play it completely straight, with Frenzied Rages showing them going into a self-destructive level of fury (granting a bonus action attack but resulting in a level of exhaustion after coming out of it), whereas those who go down the Path of the Totem Warrior, Path of the Zealot, or Path of the Ancestral Guadrian show a more thoughtful and shamanistic side to Barbarians. All Barbarians, however, can still go into a rage as a bonus action on their turn.
* In the classic Avalon Hill WWII game, Squad Leader, shooting at Russian infantry was a dangerous pastime. If you rolled a K(ill), fine; but if you did anything BUT kill the squad, it had a chance to go berserk and ignore all results EXCEPT K, as well as vastly improved close combat abilities. Realistic? Well, it's Squad Leader, where all the streets in the villages are 40 meters wide.
* Any {{TabletopGame/vampire|TheRequiem}} can do this in the ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'' by "riding the wave" during Frenzy, entering a state where they control which targets they attack instead of just tearing crap up. One good example is the Sotoha [[PrestigeClass bloodline]], which grants its members the ability to perfectly hone and control their Frenzy... but having them technically be in Frenzy ''all the goddamn time''.
* ''TabletopGame/PrincessTheHopeful'' has the Princesses of Storms, those who have embraced ThePowerOfHate and dedicated themselves to destroying the Darkness and its servants at any cost. The Practical Magic of Storms allows them to invert wound penalties into bonuses and avoid having to roll to remain conscious when their health track is filled, their Invocation can be used for free if the Princess has taken any amount of Lethal damage, and their Ban forbids them from retreating from battle or showing mercy to anything Tainted by the Darkness.
* The tiraks in ''TabletopGame/{{Eon}}'', especially the frakk, are quite (in)famous for this ability. Since tiraks are well above humans in terms of strength and endurance, they can afford to be a bit reckless.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'', in its book ''Pantheons of the Megaverse'', has a Berserker CharacterClass in its section on Myth/NorseMythology. These berserkers go into their rage by stomping their feet on the ground, yelling, biting their shields, etc. This gives them combat bonuses to attack, but penalties to avoid being attacked.
* The ''TabletopGame/HeroSystem'' models this with the Enraged and Berserk disadvantages/complications, both of which specify a trigger condition, a trigger ''chance'', and what dice roll it takes to snap out of that state again. (An enraged character will at least first of all attack whatever provoked them, while one who's gone berserk simply lashes out blindly altogether.) As written, this is simply pure drawback that doesn't improve the character's actual combat ''performance'' in play any (except inasmuch as having to all-out attack happens to inadvertantly help more than it hinders); to have a berserker who also gets more ''powerful'' in that state, the player would have to buy appropriate stat boosts, skill levels, and/or powers with an "only while enraged/berserk" limitation.
* Clan pilots in ''Tabletopgame/BattleTech'' hurl themselves into one-on-one engagements with reckless abandon, though their generally [[LostTechnology superior equipment]] lets them get away with it frequently. Amusingly, their disdain for actual melee combat (and their [[HonorBeforeReason silly code of honor]]) meant that many a warrior were killed when their [[SnipingTheCockpit cockpits were crushed]] by [[HumongousMecha battlemech]] punches from the much more pragmatic Inner Sphere pilots. Solahma warriors - "old" Clan warriors considered past their prime - are thrown into the field as CannonFodder, often with nothing more than an outdated rifle and a flak jacket, and are expected to charge the enemy and inflict as much damage before inevitably being gunned down.

** Khârn the Betrayer takes it UpToEleven when he [[TeamKiller attacked his own]] fellow World Eaters when they wouldn't fight due to the cold. He managed to so completely devastate both his army and the enemy's that both now survive only as fragmented, roving warbands.

** Kharn the Betrayer takes it UpToEleven when he attacked his own fellow World Eaters when they wouldn't fight due to the cold. He managed to so completely devastate both his army and the enemy's that both now survive only as fragmented, roving warbands.

** Blood Angels Death Company. When they meet the above, things get ''really'' bloody, even by 40K's standards.
** Both [[BloodKnight da Orks]] and many [[BoisterousBruiser Space Wolves]] of the ranks of Blood Claw or Skyclaw.