History VillainousBreakdown / Literature

* In Fredrick Forsyth's novel ''Icon'', the AdolfHitler Expy Russian politician Igor Komarov has a breakdown after a disastrous press conference, and his HeinrichHimmler Expy, Colonel Grishin, reflects that such breakdowns are common among the powerful and arrogant:

* Happened to the villain of ''Illusion'' by Paula Volsky. The book is a fantasy loose retelling of the French Revolution and the Terror. As the Robespierre {{Expy}} loses his absolute control, he loses his sanity.

* Several from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. Unfortunately, most of them come from minor villains -- though, in due course, we hope to add several more ([[KarmaHoudini but we are not holding our breath]]):
** [[spoiler: Viserys Targaryen]], after it becomes clear that he will get a rather different "crown" -- [[spoiler:a crown of molten gold poured over his head, which kills him]]: "You cannot touch me, I am the dragon!"
** [[spoiler: Ser Gregor Clegane]], as he fights Oberyn Martell, gets progressively more enraged. A combination of [[DavidVersusGoliath the fight turning against him]], his exceptionally dim wits and the realization that he is being publicly accused of his crimes in front of the entire court leads to him screaming "[[StopSayingThat SHUT UP!]]" at Oberyn repeatedly. This ends with him [[StupidEvil loudly declaring his guilt in front of a large crowd]], although he was seriously wounded and probably past caring at that point. Even ''[[spoiler:killing]]'' Oberyn doesn't help, because the spear that Oberyn wounded him with during the fight is coated in poison, leaving [[spoiler:Clegane]] to die, slowly and painfully, over the course of days.
** [[spoiler: Ser Amory Lorch]], after the Brave Companions and the Northmen take his castle, reveals himself to be a DirtyCoward and weeps and cries before he is [[spoiler: eaten by a bear.]]
** [[spoiler: Queen Cersei Lannister]] has a pronounced one after she is [[HoistByHisOwnPetard imprisoned]] by the [[ChurchMilitant Faith Militant]] in ''A Feast for Crows''.
** [[spoiler: Ser Jaime Lannister]] remains his usual composed, snarky, debonair, and uncaring self despite being defeated in battle and imprisoned. But when [[spoiler: he loses his sword hand]], he goes completely to pieces and [[DeathSeeker loses the will to live]]. He gets better -- thankfully fast -- with a little help, which leads directly to a HeelFaceTurn.
** [[spoiler: Lady Lysa Arryn]], when she sees her childhood crush forcibly kissing Sansa Stark [[spoiler: who is her ''niece'']], goes completely insane, trying to throw poor Sansa (who did not instigate the kiss) out of the Moon Door. Her breakdown is cut short when [[spoiler: she is thrown out said Door herself.]]
** [[spoiler: Craster]], a particularly nasty wilding who "marries" his daughters and sacrifices his sons to the resident {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, takes the suggestion that he is of dubious parentage extremely poorly: '' "WHO CALLS ME BASTARD?" ''
** [[spoiler: Septon Utt]], a PedophilePriest and child murderer frantically pleads with the Brotherhood Without Banners for his life. [[spoiler: It doesn't help.]]
** [[spoiler: Merrett Frey]], a member of the [[ZeroPercentApprovalRating universally despised]] House Frey, is told to deliver a bag of gold to ensure the release of one of his slimy relatives. He brings the gold, his relative is hanged anyway, and he is next. He takes it badly.
** [[spoiler: Janos Slynt]], the captain of the King's Landing City Watch who deliberately betrays Ned Stark when Ned was about to end the whole Lannister conspiracy in the first book and whose betrayal causes Ned Stark's [[spoiler:death]], gets two of these. First, when Tyrion promptly strips Slynt of all the rewards he gained from his betrayal of Ned Stark (for which Slynt shows no remorse) and sends him to the Night's Watch but Slynt continues to betray, plot and put together assassination schemes. However, his second one comes about when [[spoiler:he refuses to obey orders multiple times from the Night's Watch's newly elected Commander [[AChildShallLeadThem Jon Snow]]. Though Jon gives him several chances, Slynt intends to do what he pleases and keeps refusing his orders. Jon explains that he'll be executed, but Slynt still doesn't take him seriously. Then he's dragged to the block and realizes Jon actually intends to go through with it, with Jon following the moral code his father instilled in him to do it himself. Slynt starts pathetically begging for his life. It doesn't help.]] The latter is one of the series's most satisfying moments.
** Only seen in backstory, but Aerys Targaryen, the Mad King, was all set to [[spoiler: burn the whole of King's Landing and its inhabitants to the ground with strategic stores of [[GreekFire wildfire]], spending his last hours just saying "Burn them all" over and over again]]. Then Jaime happened.
* Having a breakdown is the last thing that the usually stoic and cold King Haggard does in Creator/PeterSBeagle's ''Literature/TheLastUnicorn'' when he realizes Lady Amalthea is actually a unicorn -- the only unicorn to have escaped Haggard's Red Bull sending all the unicorns into the sea.
-->"THE LAAAAAAST! I KNEW YOU WERE THE LAAAAAAST!"

** Although he hasn't been the most composed guy over the course of the book, Grevane in ''Literature/DeadBeat'' has a Villainous Breakdown that saves Harry's (or maybe Ramirez's) life--right at the instant of his death. The entire time he's been trying to fight Harry he's been continuing a major necromantic working, and when Ramirez strikes the killing blow, his mind snaps and refuses to accept that he's dead. As a result, he keeps trying to finish the spell, instead of casting a Death Curse that would take Harry with him.

* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'''s "lollipops" moment in the first book. Specifically, he suffers a SarcasmFailure so complete, he can only respond to a heroic wisecrack with the sentence "[[LameComeback I don't like lollipops]]," [[ComebackTomorrow long after the hero has left the room]].
** Briar Cudgeon in ''The Arctic Incident'', Spiro's when Artemis apparently disappears in ''The Eternity Code'', Abbot's in ''The Lost Colony'' and Opal Koboi's in ''The Opal Deception'' and ''The Time Paradox''.
** Billy Kong's protracted loss of composure, which eventually ends with him [[spoiler: getting beaten halfway to Hell by Butler in a Taiwanese skyscraper.]]
** The Extinctionists suffer a collective one
* In Will Elliott's ''Literature/ThePiloFamilyCircus'', Kurt Pilo has a particularly spectacular breakdown; convinced that his underlings are turning traitor on him and overcome by rage, he begins [[OneWingedAngel mutating into a monstrous demonic reptile]] with a habit for [[GigglingVillain giggling insanely under his breath]]. Then, he kills every single carny in his path to killing off the suspected traitors, before being fooled into descending into the depths of the funhous e- and [[spoiler: coming face to face with his [[EldritchAbomination less-than-approving Employers]].]]
** Gonko, the normally cool-headed leader of the [[MonsterClown Clown Division]] has one halfway through the book, when he discovers that someone has stolen his trousers -- which are, in fact, enchanted to produce any number of useful items via the pockets. However, since most of the clowns seem to be insane to a certain degree, this is less of a mental breakdown and more of an explosive temper-tantrum. Nonetheless, whilst obliterating all furniture within reach, he screams this:
--->'''Gonko:''' ''If I find the motherfucker who took my pants--'' I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE: CLOWN, ACROBAT, BELOVED FRIEND OR RELATIVE, AN ''INANIMATE OBJECT''... AN ''ASTRAL BODY... ME MYSELF... A ROCK OR A BOWL OF PICKLES... SOMETHING UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE TO KILL,'' LISTEN UP: I'LL ''FUCKING KILL YOU!'' I'LL FIND A WAY, IF IT TAKES ME A HUNDRED YEARS... ''I'LL FIND... A... WAAAAAYY!''
** Mugabo, the Circus Magician, apparently has one every once in a while: being a gifted sorcerer and [[PlayingWithFire pyromancer]] he feels degraded at having to perform the "bunny trick," and breaks into fiery temper-tantrums when pushed into it. However, when [[spoiler: the Freedom Movement]] sabotages his tent and scrawls graffiti all over his equipment near the end of the book, he enters a fully-fledged pyrokinetic psychotic episode, resulting in the death of several carnies and the utter astonishment of the visiting tricks.

* Emperor Jigang goes through one in ''[[Literature/SwordOfTruth Pillars of Creation]]'' when, upon arriving at the Confessor's Palace in the Midlands capital, he finds [[spoiler:the head of his friend and mentor, stuck on a pike in front of the palace, perfectly preserved by a magic spell until he approaches it, whereupon it decomposes in seconds.]]

* So Tropetastic it's featured at least [[strike:twice]] [[strike: thrice]] several times in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** Lord Hong in ''Literature/InterestingTimes'' goes from a smooth, scheming, [[SmugSnake would-be Vetinari]] of near-perfection to just another raving tyrant.
** ''Literature/WyrdSisters'' had Duke Felmet, who becomes more and more unhinged as the story progresses from the guilt of [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} killing his brother]] [[Theatre/MacBeth for the throne of Lancre]]. And from the fact that everyone seems to know, but not care. The citizens of Lancre are more the sort to think that king being killed in usurpation really ''does'' [[TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch count as "Natural Causes"]] than the sort to rise up in arms over a beloved ruler's death only to be tragically put down. They don't even seem to care that Felmet and his wife are [[CardCarryingVillain ruling the land with an iron fist]]: "You couldn't oppress a people like that any more than you could oppress a mattress."
** Reacher Gilt in ''Literature/GoingPostal'' goes through a subdued form of this trope, going from the perfect con man to someone realizing he's been duped by the ultimate con.
** And then there's Cosmo Lavish in ''Literature/MakingMoney''. He finally snaps for good right at the end, but it has already become evident as the story progressed that he's been going odd in the head from the start, even while his plans still seemed to be working. He's teetering on the brink and only needs a minor push to go over the edge. The whole thing is symbolised by the finger upon which he wears a ring that's far too small, which starts to sound more and more worrying, until near the end when his glove comes off -- [[BodyHorror what's happened to the finger]] is revealed to be much the same as what's happened inside his head.
** Count Magpyr in ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'' is a polite, urbane sort who is almost able to convince you that he really ''is'' working for the common good in having people ''queue up'' to have their blood drunk. After he's been Weatherwaxed, and the villagers turn on him, he loses his calm façade and reverts to the bloodthirsty monster that he really is, until he reaches the point of threatening babies and [[KickTheDog killing dogs]].
** [[spoiler:Salzella]] from ''Literature/{{Maskerade}}'' goes on an increasingly unhinged MotiveRant upon being revealed as the killer, adding more and more exclamation points to his sentences until he reaches five, earlier noted as a sure sign of madness. His final words are about how the thing he hates most about opera is how people take ''forever'' to die, which, of course, is just what he's been doing - taking forever (and ranting all the way).
** Teatime in ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'' is quite put off his game when Susan lays out what a sick bastard he is, until he's screaming at his own men, not realizing he's hit the BerserkButton of one by insulting his mother.
* Happened to the villain of ''Illusion'' by Paula Volsky. The book is a fantasy loose retelling of the French Revolution and the Terror. As the Robespierre {{Expy}} loses his absolute control, he loses his sanity.
* Franchise/StarWarsLegends:

* SecretPolice chief Karos Invictad breaks down in ''Literature/ReapersGale'', the seventh book of the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'', when Tehol Beddict continually outwits him, really losing it when Tehol demonstrates his superior intellect by solving a puzzle Karos Invictad deemed impossible -- and which Tehol created, incidentally, in order to distract Karos Invictad.
* In ''Literature/TheSagaOfSevenSuns'', [[spoiler:Basil Wenceslas]] is a classic of this trope. When things stop going according to plan, they Ski Down The Slippery Slope. I call it thus because they stop just short of jumping off entirely, but still make an impressively rapid descent.
* In ''The Riddles of Epsilon,'' [[spoiler:The Lady Yolande]] goes through one of these, betraying the proper choice as it screams at the protagonist to quit hesitating and choose one faction or the other, and [[spoiler:threatening to kill the protagonist if she doesn't give it the tooth.]]
* ''Literature/HarryPotter''
** Voldemort is always close to the edge, but somehow maintains his cool... until ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]'' at least, where Voldemort has so completely ripped his soul apart from his repeated killing and use of Horcruxes that he completely loses it on several occasions, at one point [[ShootTheMessenger killing everyone in the room]] because a hapless goblin [[BearerOfBadNews delivers some bad news]]. Even when he BSOD's during the final fight against Harry, he transfers the shock of that into rage and denial.
** Though Bellatrix was insane to begin with, throughout the series, she just loses it, especially in the final battle. [[spoiler:Especially taunting Mrs. Weasley, who was living on grief and adrenaline, producing the ever-famous "NOT MY DAUGHTER, BITCH!!!" reaction.]]
** In ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'', [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Dolores Umbridge]] has one at the end. First [[spoiler:after she used up Snape's fake veritaserum, and he tells her making more will take a month]] Again, when she is [[spoiler:tricked into going into the forest and is attacked by a herd of angry centaurs]], trying to hex them and calling them filthy half-breeds and ordering them to unhand her.
* In ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', Zhou Yu is completely unhinged by the failure of his last plan against Zhuge Liang. This was probably part of Zhuge's plan: Zhou Yu's rage causes a wound to reopen and he sickens and dies shortly thereafter.
* The BigBad of one series of ''Franchise/StarTrek'' tie-in novels starring Q, the Q-level being known only as 0, goes through a few of these. In the series of flashbacks that Q shows Picard, 0 spends decades "testing" the mettle of a powerful civilization known as the T'kon empire. As the T'kon continue to overcome everything 0 throws at them, he gets more and more pissed off, and in a childish fit of pique, ''triggers a supernova in the middle of their empire, completely wiping them out''. In a flashback set not long after that, 0's defeat at the hands of [[spoiler:a regretful Q]] drives him completely insane; he goes from a "charming" rogue to a deranged madman obsessed with revenge and crooning little ditties to himself. His state of mind can best be seen in the following:
-->'''0:''' Q WILL PAY. ALL THE Q WILL PAY. Q AND Q AND Q AND Q AND Q AND QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ...
** Must be endemic to villains in Q-related novels. Q-Squared, by Peter David features the return of General Trelane, an antagonist from ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. Trelane manages to set himself up as quite the MagnificentBastard... until Picard faces him in a duel, and, upon figuring-out that the Captain is only playing with him, he throws a temper tantrum and reveals himself to be the PsychopathicManchild he really is.
* Ahab's final scene, locked in combat with the white whale in ''Literature/MobyDick'', produces the famous quote: "Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee!"
* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': Sol, aka the king of DissonantSerenity, loses his temper exactly ''once'' for less than ''half a second''. It's not pretty.
** In ''The Forgotten Warrior'', [[spoiler: Sol actually snaps and declares that all the clan cats will kill each other for reasons that aren't worth more than a mousetail.]]

* In ''Literature/TheColorPurple'', Albert experiences this after Celie calls him out. He just loses his cool, stammers incoherently, and suffers a mental collapse. Ultimately, this forces him to change, turning him to a legitimately nice individual.
* In the ''Literature/{{Outlander}}'' series, Captain John Randall normally, in [[AxCrazy all]] [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence his]] [[DepravedBisexual villainy]], has two main expressions: self-assured calm, and mild irritation. The first time he's shown to completely break down sobbing is when he [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove confesses to Jamie that he loves him]], and goes ''completely psycho'' when Jamie refuses to respond in the affirmative when he orders Jamie to tell him that he loves him too.

* Hatsumoto from ''Literature/MemoirsOfAGeisha'' already started losing it when she found out Mameha had taken Sayuri as her little sister and training her to become a geisha, trying several tactics to beat Sayuri, showing just how desperate she was, but Mameha would find ways to best ''her'' instead. Once Sayuri became a much more successful geisha than her at such a young age, Hatsumoto really does lose it. And Mameha had no trouble deliberately driving her further off the edge. Which she would eventually succeed.
* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' largely averts this by having most of the villains start off [[AxCrazy Pre-broken-down]]. However, when [[SixthRangerTraitor David]] finds out he has been deceived and trapped, he begins sliding into this, and when he finds out that his fate is to be [[BalefulPolymorph trapped in]] [[BodyHorror the body of a rat]] for the rest of his life, he slides over the scale. All through the two hour morph limit, and up until they transport him out to a small island and leave him, he ''never stops screaming the word [[BigNo "No"]] over and over, even after they leave.'' Understandable, considering the [[FateWorseThanDeath circumstances.]] Even [[DarkActionGirl Rachel]] is haunted by that experience throughout the series.
** BigBad Visser Three (who becomes Visser One near the end) being one of the already broken down villains, has a ''reverse'' breakdown when he is finally defeated. All the series he's been an AxCrazy personification of pure rage, but after his defeat, for the first time in the series he is calm and soft spoken. He simply slumps down and [[GracefulLoser quietly accepts that the Animorphs won]] (it helps that he's just been betrayed by his NumberTwo, who holds the most responsibility in his defeat, and wasn't even defeated in combat).
* Peter Teleborian, a SmugSnake who physically and emotionally abuses the children placed under his care, suffers this big time in the climax of ''The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest''. As his testimony is ripped to shreds by the lawyer of one of his former victims, Teleborian loses his cool and can only stammer; when the cops come to take him away for possessing child porn, Teleborian's so shocked that he lost that he can't even bring himself to speak.
* The Creator/DanBrown novel ''Literature/AngelsAndDemons'' has a particularly spectacular example of this with the popes aide Carlo Ventresca, who poisons the now-late pope and [[TheChessmaster manipulates a series of events, involving the assassination of the preferiti and the holding of the Vatican hostage, just to turn the world against science]] only for the penultimate scene of the book to reveal that A)the pope committed no lie or falsehood in his service as a priest and B) Carlo Ventresca had killed his own father who'd sired him completely through scientific means just to add insult to the injury of his hatred of science. What followed after this arguably combines VillainousBSOD and RedemptionEqualsDeath.
* In John Gardner's ''Literature/{{Grendel}}'', the eponymous monster who has been philosophical and introspective while he terrorizes the Danes throughout the book has a breakdown when he finally meets someone stronger in Beowulf. Grendel is reduced to blindly running away while crying for his mother after Beowulf tears off his arm.
* Literature/SisterhoodSeries by Creator/FernMichaels: In books like ''Sweet Revenge'', ''Lethal Justice'', ''Free Fall'', and ''Hide And Seek'', the Vigilantes will drive the BigBad into this, and then go directly to them to administer justice face-to-face.
** ''Sweet Revenge'' has Rosemary Hershey suffer one spanning almost the entire book. First she finds out that Isabelle Flanders, the woman she framed and ruined, is back in action and is preparing to sue Rosemary. Then Rosemary gets more than one envelope containing pictures of the three people she killed, and images of her at the trial, with words like "thief" and "liar" scrawled on them. She is told by her husband Bobby Harcourt that he wants a divorce. She finds out from her horoscopes (she puts a lot of stock in them, apparently) that bad things are going to happen to her in the near future. She gets an original set of blueprints made by Isabelle, which Rosemary thought she destroyed, and she wrecks her bathroom in a frantic attempt to destroy it. She gets questioned by reporters about the trial. The big important men she slept with are questioned by said reporters, and these men bombard her with phone calls. She ends up firing all her employees when they can't come up with a good set of blueprints. She seems to regain her composure when she gets a good set of blueprints delivered to her. However, when she and Isabelle Flanders go to an event in which their architectural blueprints will be judged, Myra comes up and reveals to the entire architectural board that Rosemary and Isabelle's blueprints are ''exactly'' the same, with their signatures being the only difference, and that as far as it can be determined, Rosemary plagiarized Isabelle's work! By the time the Vigilantes go to Rosemary and threaten to bury her alive if she does not confess to her misdeeds, Rosemary has lost it. Oh, and it doesn't need to be said that Rosemary went to an institution and may never become lucid again by the end of the book.
* James Taggart suffers a truly devastating Villainous Breakdown at the conclusion of ''Literature/AtlasShrugged''; when he realizes that he would rather kill John Galt than survive himself, he suffers a VillainousBSOD and enters what is implied to be irreversible catatonia. He exits from the plot forthwith.
* ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'': [=DomDaniel=] suffers a Villainous Breakdown including begging for mercy when he's spotted by Marcia Overstrand as having tries to use his Apprentice's body as his own to fool them.
* ''Literature/TheBookOfLostThings'': Once the Crooked Man's plans are finally thwarted, [[spoiler:he tears himself in half.]]
* "Literature/{{Rumpelstiltskin}}": When the queen reveals that she knows Rumpelstiltskin's name, foiling his plot to steal her child, his reactions vary depending on the edition. The early editions simply have him leaving in a huff. The later ones have him going so insane with rage [[spoiler:that he ''tears himself in half''.]]
* ''Literature/TheTamuli'', by Creator/DavidEddings, has [[spoiler:Zalasta]]. He starts as TheChessmaster to such a degree that a total list of his manipulations takes twenty pages and covers centuries of history. The gradual loss of everything he cared about, his growing contempt for his son, coming into too-close contact with an EldritchAbomination, [[spoiler:trying and failing to kill Sephrenia]], and his plans coming crashing down around his ears multiple times, all contribute to making him a furious psychotic avenger by the end of the series.
* Nicomo Cosca in ''Red Country''. [[spoiler: He doesn't take at all well the loss of his gold. Specially shocking given his usual AffablyEvil LovableTraitor personality.]]
* In the climax of ''Literature/AnnoDracula'', Genevieve and Charles gain an audience with Dracula. He acts [[FauxAffablyEvil welcoming but arrogantly self-assured]] in his power, boasting to Genevieve about how he has created a utopia for the undead. However, once Charles [[spoiler: assassinates Queen Victoria, thus dissolving Dracula's claim to the throne]], he devolves into a feral beast, "[spitting] rage and hate."
* Countess Highglider in ''Literature/CaptiveOfTheRedVixen'' becomes explosively unhinged towards the end, eventually ranting that the Council of Countesses are commoner sympathizers and how she wants her son back, [[spoiler: in front of the entire Council, who unanimously vote to have her committed to the same asylum where her son was incarcerated.]]
* In the ''Literature/{{Relativity}}'' story "Master Blankard's Pawn", Blankard's henchman Rasmas has spent the entire story setting up an elaborate deathtrap for the heroes, only to spring it while standing inside it with them.
-->'''Rasmas:''' The charges have been placed. The timers have been set. There’s no way to undo any of this! ''(grabs Overcast by the lapels)'' They’ll never find our bodies!
* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'':
** ''Literature/WordsOfRadiance'': Szeth suffers an absolutely epic one when he discovers that the Knights Radiant actually ''are'' returning, which means he is not Truthless, which means that he could have refused his masters' orders, which means that the hundreds if not thousands of deaths on his hands are absolutely and unequivocally ''his fault.''
--->'''Szeth:''' THEY TOLD ME I WAS TRUTHLESS!
** In ''Literature/{{Oathbringer}}'', Odium has one when [[spoiler:Dalinar summons Honor's Perpendicularity after breaking free from his control]].
--->'''[[BigBad Odium]]:''' No! No, we killed you! '''WE KILLED YOU!'''
* In ''Literature/NoCountryForOldMen'', Anton Chigurh [[TheStoic cannot express any emotion]], including in his breakdown, but he has one when [[spoiler: Carla says that it's not fate or anything compelling him to kill her, and that it's just him making his own choice. Anton then refuses to kill her until after he has pontificated at length about how she's wrong and how he's right and justified, almost as if he's actually talking to reassure himself.]]
* In ''Literature/TheHungerGames'', when Katniss destroys a stockpile of food and supplies belonging to the "Career" tributes that had given them a nigh-unbeatable edge, their leader, Cato, has a thrashing, screaming meltdown -- Katniss, who manages to hide in the bushes just before he makes it back, marvels in a frightened way that people really can snap like that -- and finally [[spoiler:''kills'' the engineer he'd had working for him]], which obviously doesn't help his odds.
-->''His rage is so extreme it might be comical -- so people really do tear out their hair and beat the ground with their fists -- if I didn't know that it was aimed at me, at what I had done to him. Add that to my proximity, my inability to run or defend myself, and in fact, the whole thing has me terrified.''
* At the end of ''Literature/TheDeathCure'', A.D. Janson gets a major one [[spoiler:during his fight with Thomas, partially because the Gladers have escaped and his plans have been foiled, and partially because he is becoming increasingly more deranged due to having contracted [[HatePlague the Flare]] sometime earlier]].
* In the ''Literature/HorusHeresy'' novels, Erebus snaps when Horus starts playing his own games rather than just following Erebus's plan, loses his cool and begins yelling at Horus - a far cry from the smooth manipulator of the Horus Rising trilogy. It doesn't get him killed, sadly, but Horus does peel off Erebus's face and keeps it as a trophy.
* ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'': PlayedForDrama. Captain Nemo succeeds in obliterating an enemy ship, but it's obvious he didn't want [[TheHero Arronax]] to see it, and stops caring about the navigation of the ''Nautilus''.

* ''Literature/TheGirlFromTheMiraclesDistrict'': When the ArcVillain from the second book sees that Nikita's coming for him, he's reduced to tears and can't even beg for his life properly.
* When Vicar Zhaspahr Clyntahn, Grand Inquisitor of the ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'' series' CorruptChurch, is finally brought down and captured, he maintains a high level of arrogance throughout his trial, confident that when he's executed he'll have a place at the Archangels' side for all he did in their names. He even shows contempt for his enemies for not having the conviction to use the same methods of ColdBloodedTorture ''he'' had employed many times over. That changes when Merlin Athrawes and Nimue Chwaeriau visit him in his cell. During the visit they give him proof even he can't deny proves that the church he committed atrocities for was never anything but a man-made made PathOfInspiration. The revelation ''shatters'' Clyntahn, leaving him a gibbering wreck who can only manage to sputter out that all of it wasn't his fault because he'd been lied to.

* ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'': In "The Final Problem", Moriarty's criminal empire has been almost entirely dismantled by Holmes. He tracks them down to Switzerland and sends Watson on a wild-goose chase, allowing Holmes to leave a final explanation behind before trying to [[TakingYouWithMe tackle him off a cliff]]. [[spoiler:Holmes judoes him off alone, then fakes his death for two years before returning to London.]]
* ''Literature/LoneWolf''
** The BigBad of Book 7 of the series (''Castle Death''), Lord Zahda, is initally portrayed as a charismatic EvilOverlord and arrogantly taunts Lone Wolf when he has him flung into the Maze. While Zahda isn't seen again for some time, his next appearance makes it clear that Lone Wolf's victories in the Maze and his subsequent escape have unhinged him. Zahda goes from a feared sorcerer that even the Elder Magi could only [[SealedEvilInACan seal away]] to a crazed old man savagely attacking Lone Wolf.
--->'''Lord Zahda:''' ''You will die... die... DIE!!''
** Archdruid Cadak from the Grandmaster series suffers a protracted one. Lone Wolf's victory over the Exterminatus in Book 13 leaves Cadak gaping like a fish with his confidence shattered. In the next book he takes Lone Wolf's victory over his new monster with even less grace -- he gives off a BigNo and a ThisCannotBe and spends precious seconds staring at his dead monster in shocked disbelief while Lone Wolf escapes. During his final encounter with Lone Wolf, Cadak's composure is shaken again when Lone Wolf completely derails ''another'' evil scheme. By this point his death at Lone Wolf's hands is arguably a MercyKill.
* The BigBad of Book 1 ''Le Carillon de la Mort'' of the ''Literature/LesMessagersDuTemps'' series, Gouttard de Malgrâce, is maybe an insane villain but is composed enough to first keep the Prince/Princess alive, offer him/her a last meal before letting him/her take on the trial of the tower of the Chimes of Death. If a success where the Chimes are destroyed, Gouttard will agressively attack the Prince/Princess and fight him/her in personal combat.
* In ''[[Literature/FelseInvestigates Death and The Joyful Woman]]'' by Creator/EllisPeters, once it's clear the game is up, the murderer's calm composure splits wide open and a wild MotiveRant ensues.
* Several antagonists in ''Literature/TheMentalState'' go through this when Zack's machinations get the better of them. Bones has a sudden fit of rage as his gang turns against him, Little Mickey frantically yells orders to his supporters who no longer follow him, and Harry can do nothing but shriek and rave almost incoherently as Zack leaves him to be brutally tortured by his former friends.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'':
** When Eowyn takes her helmet off during her duel with the Witch-King and reveals that she's a woman, the Witch-King [[OhCrap clams up]] for probably the first time in his (un)life; he doesn't say anything, but is clearly having an internal FreakOut over the implications this may have on the NoManOfWomanBorn prophecy surrounding him, wondering whether or not [[ProphecyTwist Eowyn will be able to actually kill him]]. He gets his answer shortly after when she slams her sword right through his head, killing him instantly.
** Sauron himself has one upon realizing [[SoulJar the One Ring]] is at Mount Doom, the one place in all of Middle Earth it, and by extension him, is actually in mortal danger. He becomes both enraged and ''terrified'' at the realization for the first time in thousands of years, his life is in actual ''danger''.
* In Fredrick Forsyth's novel ''Icon'', the AdolfHitler Expy Russian politician Igor Komarov has a breakdown after a disastrous press conference, and his HeinrichHimmler Expy, Colonel Grishin, reflects that such breakdowns are common among the powerful and arrogant:
-->"''As he spoke, Komarov had seemed to shrink. The former icy control seeped away, the unhesitating decisiveness appeared to bleed out of him. Grishin knew the phenomenon. It happened to the most fearsome dictators when suddenly stripped of their power. In 1944, Mussolini, the strutting Duce, had become overnight a shabby, frightened little man on the run. Business tycoons, when the banks foreclosed, the jet was confiscated, the limousines were impounded, the credit cards withdrawn, the senior executives quit, and the house of cards came tumbling down, actually diminished in size and the old incisiveness became empty bluster. Grishin knew because he had seen generals and ministers huddled and fearful in his cells, once powerful masters of the apparat reduced to waiting for the party's pitiless judgment... Inside his own world Igor Komarov himself sat like Richard II, maundering over the catastrophe that had overtaken him in such a short time.''"

* Tokinada in ''LightNovel/BleachCantFearYourOwnWorld'' [[VillainExitStageLeft retreats back to his mansion]] after his plan falls apart, where he's met by Mayuri, who gives him a brief TheReasonYouSuckSpeech. Tokinada goes off on a self-aggrandizing rant about how no matter what his punishment is, he'll always be the embodiment of the {{Karma}} of the Soul Society. Then, he's stabbed by a [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty completely random girl who's family he killed]]. That's when Tokinada completely ''[[FreakOut freaks out]]'' and starts {{laughing|Mad}} and screaming to everyone he ever hurt or killed about how this is how it ends, and how none of them will ever get the satisfaction of killing him with their own hands, in spite of the fact most of them [[SmallNameBigEgo don't even care anymore]], or are even around to hear it.

** A very, very minor one in Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy. Grand Admiral Thrawn is able to anticipate and counter almost anything the Rebellion and anyone else did. ''[[SpannerInTheWorks Almost]]''. His reaction when those things he hasn't anticipated all come together to thwart him is to get maybe a little flustered, a little distracted, enough so that he doesn't see the BodyguardBetrayal until it's too late. Though, to his credit, after being stabbed he [[GoOutWithASmile smiles]] and says, "[[FamousLastWords But... it was so artistically done.]]"

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': When Eowyn takes her helmet off during her duel with the Witch-King and reveals that she's a woman, the Witch-King [[OhCrap clams up]] for probably the first time in his (un)life; he doesn't say anything, but is clearly having an internal FreakOut over the implications this may have on the NoManOfWomanBorn prophecy surrounding him, wondering whether or not [[ProphecyTwist Eowyn will be able to actually kill him]]. He gets his answer shortly after when she slams her sword right through his head, killing him instantly.

--->'''[[BigBad Odium]]:''' No! No, we killed you![[AC: WE KILLED YOU!]]

* In ''Literature/WordsOfRadiance'', Szeth suffers an absolutely epic one when he discovers that the Knights Radiant actually ''are'' returning, which means he is not Truthless, which means that he could have refused his masters' orders, which means that the hundreds if not thousands of deaths on his hands are absolutely and unequivocally ''his fault.''
-->'''Szeth:''' THEY TOLD ME I WAS TRUTHLESS!
** In ''Literature/{{Oathbringer}}'', Odium has one when [[spoiler:Dalinar summons Honor's Perpendicularity after breaking free from his control]]
-->'''[[BigBad Odium]]:''' No! No, we killed you![[AC: WE KILLED YOU!]]

** Arianna Ortega experiences this in ''Literature/{{Changes}}''. Throughout the book she's been a SmugSnake, and the fact that she plans to murder a little girl purely for selfish reasons only adds to this. Eventually she faces [[spoiler:the father of her would-be victim in single combat and ultimately loses badly, getting impaled by numerous ice spears (including one as thick as a man's fist.)]] As Harry stands over her she simply looses her cool and first says "no no no" over and over again before telling Dresden that he is cattle. He replies "[[PreMortemOneLiner Moo]]," and blows her head off.

* Peter Teleborian, a SmugSnake who physically and emotionally abuses the children placed under his care suffers this big time in the climax of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. As his testimony is ripped to shreds by the lawyer of of one of his former victims he looses his cool and can only stammer; when the cops come to take him away for possessing child porn, he can't even bring himself to speak he's so shocked.

* James Taggart suffers a truly devastating Villainous Breakdown at the conclusion of ''Literature/AtlasShrugged''; when he realizes that he would rather kill John Galt than survive himself, he suffers Mind Existence Failure and enters what is implied to be irreversible catatonia. He exits from the plot forthwith.

** Lord Hong in ''Discworld/InterestingTimes'' goes from a smooth, scheming, [[SmugSnake would-be Vetinari]] of near-perfection to just another raving tyrant.
** ''Discworld/WyrdSisters'' had Duke Felmet, who becomes more and more unhinged as the story progresses from the guilt of [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} killing his brother]] [[Theatre/MacBeth for the throne of Lancre]]. And from the fact that everyone seems to know, but not care. The citizens of Lancre are more the sort to think that king being killed in usurpation really ''does'' [[TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch count as "Natural Causes"]] than the sort to rise up in arms over a beloved ruler's death only to be tragically put down. They don't even seem to care that Felmet and his wife are [[CardCarryingVillain ruling the land with an iron fist]]: "You couldn't oppress a people like that any more than you could oppress a mattress."
** Reacher Gilt in ''Discworld/GoingPostal'' goes through a subdued form of this trope, going from the perfect con man to someone realizing he's been duped by the ultimate con.
** And then there's Cosmo Lavish in ''Discworld/MakingMoney''. He finally snaps for good right at the end, but it has already become evident as the story progressed that he's been going odd in the head from the start, even while his plans still seemed to be working. He's teetering on the brink and only needs a minor push to go over the edge. The whole thing is symbolised by the finger upon which he wears a ring that's far too small, which starts to sound more and more worrying, until near the end when his glove comes off -- [[BodyHorror what's happened to the finger]] is revealed to be much the same as what's happened inside his head.
** Count Magpyr in ''Discworld/CarpeJugulum'' is a polite, urbane sort who is almost able to convince you that he really ''is'' working for the common good in having people ''queue up'' to have their blood drunk. After he's been Weatherwaxed, and the villagers turn on him, he loses his calm façade and reverts to the bloodthirsty monster that he really is, until he reaches the point of threatening babies and [[KickTheDog killing dogs]].
** [[spoiler:Salzella]] from ''Discworld/{{Maskerade}}'' goes on an increasingly unhinged MotiveRant upon being revealed as the killer, adding more and more exclamation points to his sentences until he reaches five, earlier noted as a sure sign of madness. His final words are about how the thing he hates most about opera is how people take ''forever'' to die, which, of course, is just what he's been doing - taking forever (and ranting all the way).
** Teatime in ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'' is quite put off his game when Susan lays out what a sick bastard he is, until he's screaming at his own men, not realizing he's hit the BerserkButton of one by insulting his mother.

** The real bad guys, at least for the characters in the main plotline, of the ''Literature/HandOfThrawn'' duology are the [[BigBadDuumvirate Big Bad Triumvirate]] of Moff Disra, Major Grodin Tierce, and the ConMan Flim. They work to [[DeadPersonImpersonation make it look]] as if Thrawn has come BackFromTheDead. When Pellaeon [[BigDamnHeroes exposes their whole plot at a crucial moment]], Tierce has an incredibly sudden, violent breakdown/MotiveRant [[spoiler:where it's revealed that not only is he secretly a clone, but a clone with a bit of Thrawn engineered into his brain]]. If you read carefully there are hints of this, like the way he very slowly changes over the course of the novel and the way he comes up with tactics becomes creepy.

* CriticalResearchFailure and DanBrowned aside, the Creator/DanBrown novel ''Literature/AngelsAndDemons'' has a particularly spectacular example of this with the popes aide Carlo Ventresca, who poisons the now-late pope and [[TheChessmaster manipulates a series of events, involving the assassination of the preferiti and the holding of the Vatican hostage, just to turn the world against science]] only for the penultimate scene of the book to reveal that A)the pope committed no lie or falsehood in his service as a priest and B) Carlo Ventresca had killed his own father who'd sired him completely through scientific means just to add insult to the injury of his hatred of science. What followed after this arguably combines VillainousBSOD and RedemptionEqualsDeath.

** ''Discworld/WyrdSisters'' had Duke Felmet, who becomes more and more unhinged as the story progresses from the guilt of [[{{Hamlet}} killing his brother]] [[Theatre/MacBeth for the throne of Lancre]]. And from the fact that everyone seems to know, but not care. The citizens of Lancre are more the sort to think that king being killed in usurpation really ''does'' [[TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch count as "Natural Causes"]] than the sort to rise up in arms over a beloved ruler's death only to be tragically put down. They don't even seem to care that Felmet and his wife are [[CardCarryingVillain ruling the land with an iron fist]]: "You couldn't oppress a people like that any more than you could oppress a mattress."

** Lord Hong in ''Discworld/InterestingTimes'' goes from a smooth, scheming, [[SmugSnake would-be Vetinari]] of [[VillainSue near-perfection]] to just another raving tyrant.

** In Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix, [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Dolores Umbridge]] has one at the end. First [[spoiler:after she used up Snape's fake veritaserum, and he tells her making more will take a month]] Again, when she is [[spoiler:tricked into going into the forest and is attacked by a herd of angry centaurs]], trying to hex them and calling them filthy half-breeds and ordering them to unhand her.

** In Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix, [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Dolroes Umbridge]] has one at the end. First [[spoiler:after she used up Snape's fake veritaserum, and he tells her making more will take a month]] Again, when she is [[spoiler:tricked into going into the forest and is attacked by a herd of angry centaurs]], trying to hex them and calling them filthy half-breeds and ordering them to unhand her.

* "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Creator/EdgarAllanPoe is, more or less, a breakdown as a short story. After murdering someone and hiding their body in pieces under the floorboards, [[TerribleTicking the narrator begins hearing the sound of his victim's heartbeat]]. Finally, he snaps, confesses the murder to a pair of bemused police officers and exhumes the body.

** BigBad Visser Three (who becomes Visser One near the end) being one of the already broken down villains, has a ''reverse'' breakdown when he is finally defeated. All the series he's been an AxCrazy personification of pure rage, but after his defeat, for the first time in the series he is calm and soft spoken. He simply slumps down and [[GracefulLoser quietly accepts that the Animorphs won]].

** And then there's Cosmo Lavish in ''Discworld/MakingMoney''. He finally snaps for good right at the end, but it has already become evident as the story progressed that he's been going odd in the head from the start, even while his plans still seemed to be working. He's teetering on the brink and only needs a minor push to go over the edge. The whole thing is symbolised by the finger upon which he wears a ring that's far too small, which starts to sound more and more worrying, until near the end when his glove comes off -- what's happened to the finger is revealed to be much the same as what's happened inside his head.

* Karos Invictad in ''Literature/ReapersGale'', seventh installation of the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' as Tehol Beddict continually outwits him, really losing it when Tehol demonstrates his superior intellect by solving a puzzle he deemed impossible (and that Tehol created, incidentally).