History TheBerserker / VideoGames

* In ''Franchise/FireEmblem'', Berserker is an actual character class. Their identifying traits are incredibly high strength stats, piss poor defense stats, can only use axes (which are the strongest weapons compared to swords and lances), and have an added critical hit bonus. This makes them heavy hitters, but also rather fragile at the same time.
** In ''Path of Radiance'', there is Largo, self titled "World Class Berserker". He claims that he allegedly pinned two tigers at once.
*** Although he's not in the Berserker class, we have Boyd, who somehow broke his axe on his first mission sometime before the events of the game and is implied that it happened because of this trope. In a similar manner we have Kieran, an overconfident and reckless mounted knight who is so intense in his methods that he even gets injured while practicing alone, and has at least on one occasion not notice a massive injury caused by his own axe on his head.

* Kratos of the ''VideoGame/GodOfWarSeries'' runs on a rage that has been the ruin of men, monsters, and gods alike. When he gets going, only a fool stands in his way.

* ''Videogame/TalesOfMajEyal'' has a class called the Berserker, but the Cursed class is mechanically a much better fit. The Cursed's [[{{Mana}} resource]], [[ThePowerOfHate Hate]], is gained only through combat instead of resting like with other characters: things like killing something, taking hits while low on health, or moving to attack powerful enemies all increase Hate. If you don't spend your Hate on your active abilities, the stored Hate will instead increase the power of your passive abilities; either way, the more danger you're in and the more you're riding your battle rage, the better you are at killing things. Cursed abilities emphasize closing with enemies quickly and slicing them up in melee. Finally, Hate slowly drops when not in combat. Taken together, this creates a class that emphasizes zipping around the map without rest, trying to find the next thing to kill before their Hate fades and they have to start the next fight with weak abilities and no resources to fuel them with.

** Also relating him to the trope is a logbook by another assassin that criticizes him for rushing straight in to battle like he was a [[OneManArmy One Woman Army]] like Iosa. He is physically weak and the one advantage he has over stronger adversaries (and walls, for that matter...) is [[TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty technique]], but he still acts like an idiot and [[{{Pride}} disregards his own weaknesses]].

** Trolls have had Berserkers since their first appearance in Warcraft II. Unlike most depictions of Berserkers, they're ranged attackers that throw spears or axes at their opponents. They have an improved [[HealingFactor regeneration]] and have an ability that makes them attack faster but take more damage. Troll Berserkers are incredibly buff and larger then Orc Grunts! This state is achieved through goblin or troll {{alchemy}} experimentation and you actually see the trolls [[HulkingOut hulk out]] when upgraded to berserkers. An interesting tidbit was that in Warcraft II, Troll Berserkers were the only trolls seen with tusks.

** Trevor Phillips from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV''. It's hard to imagine Trevor not being a combat maniac.

** There's also DLC character Krieg the Psycho, whose special skill has him go on a rampage with his buzz-axe, regenerating health for every kill he earns in this state. Two of his skill trees focus on fighting as crazed as possible, with the Mania tree focusing on melee combat and dealing as much damage as you take while the Bloodlust tree focusing on constantly doing damage to the enemy. When designing Krieg, they had the specific rule that none of Krieg's abilities should ''never'' encourage stalling, taking cover, or otherwise delaying - Krieg players should, where possible, be running around murdering people, not waiting or hiding.

* Oswald from ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'' could be seen as a deconstruction. Gameplay-wise, he has absolutely no defensive capabilities, merely a ton of attack power and a stamina-draining SuperMode, and his fighting style revolves around violently slamming into your opponent and killing them before they kill you. Story-wise, Oswald has absolutely no sense of self-preservation, verging on outright suicidal tendencies at times as his life gets worse.

* Oswald from ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'' could be seen as a deconstruction. Gameplay-wise, he has absolutely no defensive capabilities, merely a ton of attack power and a health-draining SuperMode, and his fighting style revolves around violently slamming into your opponent and killing them before they kill you. Story-wise, Oswald has absolutely no sense of self-preservation, verging on outright suicidal tendencies at times as his life gets worse.

* Kratos of ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' runs on a rage that has been the ruin of men, monsters, and gods alike. When he gets going, only a fool stands in his way.

* BoisterousBruiser Minsc and SociopathicHero Korgan from the ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' series are both good examples of this trope. Despite being the good one of the two, Minsc's berserker rage is even more indiscriminate than Korgan's, as he is prone to attacking his allies if no enemies are present.

** In ''Path of Radiance, there is Largo, self titled "World Class Berserker". He claims that he allegedly pinned two tigers at once.

* Doomguy from the original ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' series primarily only becomes a berserker when he gets his hands on a Berserk pack or a Berserk artifact. In ''VideoGame/Doom2016'', however, Doomguy is filled with absolute rage at anything to do with demons and Hell in general, and is perfectly capable of tearing enemies apart with his bare hands once they take enough damage, and when he gets his hands on a Berserk artifact? NOTHING that Doomguy gets his hands on is coming out unscathed or alive.

** There's also DLC character Krieg the Psycho, whose special skill has him go on a rampage with his buzz-axe, regenerating health for every kill he earns in this state. Two of his skill trees focus on fighting as crazed as possible, with the Mania tree focusing on melee combat and dealing as much damage as you take while the Bloodlust tree focusing on constantly doing damage to the enemy. When designing Krieg, they had the specific rule that none of Krieg's abilities should ''ever'' encourage stalling, taking cover, or otherwise delaying - Krieg players should, where possible, be running around murdering people, not waiting or hiding.

** Niko Bellic from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV''. Whenever sufficiently enraged enough to fight someone, he's '''frighteningly''' savage and violent.

** Funnily enough, it's the ''{{warrior monk}}s'' in ''VideoGame/TotalWarShogun2'' who are the berzerkers. They have poor armour, but extremely high melee attack and morale, making it very unlikely that they'll rout due to casualties or the loss of their general. No-dachi samurai are this to an extent as well, being the infantry unit most suited to all-out offence at the cost of their own safety.

* ''Videogame/TalesOfMajEyal'' has a class called the Berserker, but the Cursed class is mechanically a much better fit. Their resource, [[ThePowerOfHate Hate]], is gained only through combat: things like killing something, taking hits while low on health, or moving to attack powerful enemies all increase Hate. If you don't spend your Hate on your active abilities, the stored Hate will instead increase the power of your passive abilities; either way, the more danger you're in and the more you're riding your battle rage, the better you are at killing things. Cursed abilities emphasize closing with enemies quickly and slicing them up in melee. Finally, Hate slowly drops when not in combat. Taken together, this creates a class that emphasizes zipping around the map without rest, trying to find the next thing to kill before their Hate fades and they have to start the next fight with weak abilities and no resources to fuel them with.

** The legendary hero Pelinal Whitestrake, who helped Saint Alessia found the First Empire and defeat the Ayleid elves, was a notorious and terrifying killing machine. While clad in plate armor like the knights who would come in later Eras, he would fall into mad, berserk furies and go on rampages that [[PersonOfMassDestruction quite literally ended with entire Alyeid kingdoms being slaughtered,]] one of the Alyeid sorcerer-kings he defeated in battle by biting out his throat, and his first encounter with Alessia involved him walking into her camp covered in the blood and gore of elves he had been killing. It is implied that his mad rage came from an inherently conflicting nature: Pelinal was an Aedric being (the Elder Scrolls versions of angels), but he was also a Shezzarine, which is an incarnation of the god Lorkhan, a "dead" god who is an enemy of the Aedra. The conflicting duality of being both created by the Aedra while also being an aspect of Lorkhan meant that Pelinal was deeply mentally unstable and would often rant and rave at the Aedra who sent him to aid Alessia.

** Niko Bellic from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV''. * TheBerserker: Whenever sufficiently enraged enough to fight someone, he's '''frighteningly''' savage and violent.

** Niko Bellic from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV''. Whenever sufficiently enraged enough to fight someone, he's absolutely brutal and ruthless.