History WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'': "[[Recap/StarTrekLowerDecksS2E01StrangeEnergies Strange Energies]]": Ransom is driven mad by his newfound power, remaking the planet in his image. He begins acting on his resentment towards Freeman and Mariner, partially because of the attention that the former is giving the latter, but mostly frustration that they're clearly hiding their anger at the new status quo.
* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'': Luthortech has two examples of experimentation causing insanity.
** ComicBook/LexLuthor creates a super suit ostensibly to help the police fight crime. The officer testing it builds an unhealthy bond with it and becomes drunk with power, forcing the Man of Steel and John Henry Irons to take him down. Irons later worked out the flaws in the suit that caused this behavior and created his iconic "ComicBook/{{Steel}}" armor. Interestingly, the first opponent he fights as Steel is Metallo, the below example.
** Luthor poisons unwitting gangster John Corben, then offers to save his life with the Metallo project. Corben, advised only that there may be "some adjustments needed" to help him live a normal life after the process, accepts. But in his new robot body, the hedonistic Corben can't feel, smell, touch, or taste anything, and becomes destructive in his rage at his human sensations being lost. To be fair, Corben was already a criminal and card carrying psychopath.
* In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'', this is revealed to be the reason behind Kevin's villainy in the first show. Absorbing energy causes insanity in people with his powers: before he'd even met Ben, he was hooked on electricity and was planning to do things like crash trains full of people together to make a buck. After accidentally absorbing energy from Ben's Omnitrix, he ''really'' goes nuts, and turns into a full-on psychotic [[ShapeshifterMashup amalgamation of Omnitrix aliens]]. After the TimeSkip in ''Alien Force'' and ''Ultimate Alien'', he is noticeably wary about doing it.
** Aggregor claims that this is BS. However, since he is already an insane [=supervillain=], he probably isn't the most reliable source.
** Kevin ends up proving it by absorbing Omnitrix energy to stop Aggregor, but loses his sanity in the process. In his new Omnitrix Amalgamation form, dubbed Ultimate Kevin, he then proceeds to take the power Aggregor stole and then try to drain energy from anyone with power, right after giving out DisproportionateRetribution to everyone he's ever had problems with. He is barely stopped long enough to cure him.

* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' introduced the Nemetrix, an EvilDoppelganger of the [[TransformationTrinket Omnitrix]]. In contrast to the Omnitrix only using the DNA of sapient life-forms, the Nemetrix used feral beasts that acted as predators to those life-forms, and as a consequence it could only be used by animals. Most intelligent life-forms attempting to use it would at best experience memory loss and mutation, and at worst have their higher brain functions destroyed.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'':
** Raven must suppress her anger, otherwise she takes on a far more evil side that has no mercy and takes up a form that can border on EldritchAbomination.
** WordOfGod ascribes this trope to the Amazing Mumbo; originally a harmless stage magician, when he got ahold of a magican's wand that was actually magical, it granted him [[MagiciansAreWizards full-fledged sorcerous powers]], turning him into a RealityWarper of such power he's even a DomainHolder, with a pocket-plane of which he is the DimensionLord tucked away inside of his top hat. However, the powers also drove him completely ''bonkers'', and as such he now uses them to create "real" magician tricks that he uses for petty crimes like robbing banks.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'':
** When Stanley puts on the Mask of Loki, he becomes a genuinely insane cartoonish man called the Mask, but it is {{Downplayed|Trope}} as The Mask is pretty much harmless, is a troll and a sweet and kind person who has a charisma personality which brings girls over to him despite he can be too strong at first towards them.
** Evelyn accidentally puts on the mask when she put on her glasses which got attached to them and she becomes a Southern American Girl named Eve with an accent that goes with it and like The Mask she is also genuinely insane but a sweet and kind person as well which is shown when she falls in love with Stanley in no time at all and ends up genuinely caring about him.
** Dr Neuman puts on the mask as well and he becomes an insane and psychotic but AffablyEvil supervillain who still retains some standards such as putting everyone in wedgie straitjackets and also denies that he is wearing the mask even though he is and he still do his job such as when his appointment alarm goes off on his watch and he decides to go to the prison where Pretorius is and after listening to his story agrees that Pretorius is insane but decides to help him with his plan and team up with him anyway.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'', when good cop [[FaceHeelTurn Ethan Bennet becomes Clayface]], he goes on a murderous vendetta against his former Captain. It's later asserted that the incident that turned him into Clayface damaged his mind, and that, the more he keeps his form, the less unstable he will be. In fact, whenever he stays in his normal form, he's polite and rational, but the moment he uses his powers, he tends to become violent and unhinged.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Aang can enter the Avatar State, channeling the power of all his previous incarnations. You'd think channeling all those former Avatars would make him calm, wise, and experienced, but no... Instead he gets all [[GlowingEyesOfDoom incandescent]] and frags everything in sight. However, true mastery of the Avatar State includes being able to control it, [[spoiler:which he finally manages to achieve in the GrandFinale]].
** In the GrandFinale, after being made Fire Lord, [[spoiler:Azula]] ''loses it''. In an inversion, it's because [[spoiler:she's ''losing'' power and she knows it -- her friends had shown themselves insufficiently scared of her and defied her, and her dad appointed her Fire Lord right before turning the position into "irrelevant figurehead". Paranoia of further betrayals if she didn't instill fear in everyone around her, and insecurity that no one (especially her [[MissingMom mother]]) truly loved her for who she was, caused her to finally snap.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan,'' three [=supervillains=] qualify when they get bonus mental instability with their powers. Electro and ComicBook/DoctorOctopus each suffer a FreakLabAccident. Electro gets [[PowerIncontinence volatile]] [[PsychoElectro electricity]]-based powers, then [[FreakOut freaks out]] at his loss of humanity. Comicbook/DoctorOctopus' [[ArtificialLimbs robotic arms]] are [[{{Cyborg}} fused]] [[UnusualUserInterface to his spine]] when radiation fuses his mechanical arms with his spinal column, which causes an [[NotSoHarmlessVillain extreme]] [[MadScientist personality change]]. The Green Goblin ''claims'' that he suffered no blackouts and no change in personality from his PsychoSerum, but it is very likely that he is in denial considering that he actually keeps acting crazy and speaking in rhymes while he's hovering above the prison in season 2 while no one can hear him. The Goblin formula probably enhanced his insanity, however.

*** Eddie Brock would also qualify as an example. When he's stripped of the symbiote in a battle at Peter's high school, he is strapped to a stretcher and removed by two hospital orderlies, screaming at a crowd of spectators that "WE'RE VENOM!" (though he had problems beforehand and the symbiote just released the inhibitions).

** The otherwise peaceful Dr. Greenbox invented Zed, a robot that could repair any mechanical device. When said robot went on a rampage, he initially came along to help stop it...but was so delighted with how powerful his creation was that he tried to sabotage the mission and ended up merging himself with Zed.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' centers around Jack defeating three shadowy warriors with amazing powers who attack anyone who comes near. After the battle, it turns out that the warriors were actually three men who used a magic well to wish for the power to be the greatest warriors in the land. While the well granted their wish, it also made them blind and took their free wills. And it was Aku behind this.
* Maria from ''WesternAnimation/ElTigre'' is a mild mannered family woman who is terrified of danger and hyperventilates when it is around her or her family. However, when she puts on her magical glove, she transforms into the 'superheroine' Plata Peligrosa. If she only has it on for an hour, she is fine, but a second longer and she becomes crazed and will do anything for a fight (even free crooks from jail). At one point, she even starts attacking herself (because she has released villains and that is evil) and trying to kill HER OWN SON because he is trying to help her when she has labeled herself evil and attacking herself.
** Arguably Manny himself and the El Tigre beforehand. Those who end up with the title of El Tigre along with the belt buckle end up suffering from whether to become good or evil, with the first El Tigre having gone quite mad. However, they also have more raw power and abilities than either the Good or Evil family members. Besides the enhanced capabilities along with chain claw, the first El Tigre explains that Manny will keep getting new powers after demonstrating some such as growing the claws to be quite long and a sonic explosion-causing roar. Lastly, El Tigre has the power to ''escape the underworld'' with the power of the ''Ancient Tiger Spirit.''
* This is the hat of pretty much ever version of Galvatron that's ever appeared in any iteration of ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers''. He's usually a powered-up version of Megatron, and he's also usually [[AxCrazy batshit insane]]. The one exception to this is IDW's run of the comic books, where the two are separate characters rather than Galvatron being a stronger upgrade of Megatron, though that Galvatron is possibly even more evil to make up for it ([[DarkerAndEdgier certainly he's allowed to do]] much more evil things than most other versions could get away with).
* Two examples from ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'':
** Rampage. A Maximal experiment to create an immortal spark, he is nigh-immortal but also [[AxCrazy completely insane]] and takes great pleasure from torturing others in the sickest ways possible. He's also a [[ImAHumanitarian cannibal]].
** [[spoiler:Megatron]] too. Once he [[spoiler:mingles his spark with that of his namesake, and then takes control of the Nemesis]], he goes ''completely'' bonkers and begins [[AGodAmI quoting the Transformer bible]].
** Optimus Primal had a couple of instances too. When he carried the spark of Optimus Prime, he not only got a new body out of the deal, but took on some of Prime's mannerisms. Prime was an incredibly ''good'' character, so Primal didn't get the nasty side effects Megatron got. In another episode, he gets injected with a serum that was [[GoneHorriblyWrong supposed]] to turn him into a coward. However, it instead ''removed'' all fear, turning him into an unstoppable berserker. He didn't get stronger, just ''fully'' utilized his already considerable strength.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', [[WordOfGod Word of God]] says that the experiment that turned Blitzwing into a triple changer drove him [[SplitPersonality insane]].
* Ratchet on ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' goes nuts when hopped up on synthetic Energon.
** [[spoiler: Silas gets hit with this as well when he gets drugged up on ''several'' doses of the stuff courtesy of Knock Out as payback for hollowing out Breakdown's corpse and turning it into a mech suit. [[FromBadToWorse And then he and Starscream get the]] [[SarcasmMode brilliant]] [[OurVampiresAreDifferent idea to throw in some]] [[MadeOfEvil Dark Energon...]]]]
* in ''WebAnimation/TheTransformersCombinerWars'' Starscream goes completely insane soon after using the Enigma of Combination, and he goes out of control, attacking everything.
* [[InsistentTerminology Professor Von Madman]] in the ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'' episode "Eye of the Tempest" after he tested his revolutionary crystal/human hybrid technology [[ProfessorGuineaPig on himself]]. But he has [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter a daughter]]...
* In ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'', the Big Bang was occasionally thought to invoke this in earlier episodes. Notably, it's why [[SecretKeeper Richie]] refused to trust Static when the metahuman Replay was framing him, believing that Static just took longer to go nuts than the others. However, since the Big Bang took place in the middle of a gang war, the guys who got the highest doses were generally not great people to begin with, and later episodes introduce other perfectly sane superpowered characters.
* Inverted and then played straight in ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot''. Hexadecimal started out very powerful and insane. When she gets reformatted into a sprite and as a result is depowered, she becomes very sane and cheerful. But then she needs to go viral again to fight Daemon, and the powerup makes her insane again.
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'':
** Simon Petrikov, aka [[WasOnceAMan the Ice King]]. An antique merchant from JustBeforeTheEnd who found an ArtifactOfDoom that gave him immense magical power and immortality... but also slowly drove him to become a demented, miserable [[TheSociopath sociopath]] who only has the vaguest memories and a FreudianExcuse from his past life.
*** In the season 5 two-part opener, [[spoiler:Farmworld Finn]] wears the crown and starts going insane too, complete with maniacal laughter. Notably, he loses his marbles ''much'' faster than Simon ever did.
*** The crown has been driving people insane since it was first created, according to the episode "Evergreen". [[spoiler: The first person to wear it, Urgence Evergreen's apprentice Gunther, wished to be more like his master... [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor but he turned into]] ''how he deep-down perceived'' Evergreen, which was a bearded bully who goes around blasting things with ice and shouting [[MadnessMantra "Gunther, no!"]]]]
*** ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTimeFionnaAndCake'' reveals the madness the Crown imparts is so intense it ''cannot'' be stopped or circumvented. [[spoiler:The Winter King, an alternate reality Ice King, only kept his sanity because he channeled all the MindRape pouring out of it into Princess Bubblegum instead, turning her into the utterly psychotic Candy Queen]].
*** In the season 6 episode "You Forgot Your Floaties" it is revealed that this may be the case with all magic, through the triumvirate of "Magic, Madness, and Sadness." [[spoiler: Betty goes crazy after accidentally absorbing Magic Man's powers.]]
** Subverted, however, by Flame Princess in "Vault of Bones". As she is attacking the monsters with her flames, she shifts into OneWingedAngel form, laughs maniacally, and generally seems to be going this way... but then, when one of them grabs Finn, [[spoiler:she opts to intimidate it into letting him go, rather than risk hurting him by burning it, and she seems perfectly normal later]].
** This is a common problem in single-episode plots, as well. As Jake says in "Crystals Have Power", after Tree Trunks has come down from a temporary-power-induced bout of deranged violence:
--->'''Jake''': If I had a penny for every time someone went crazy-hopped-up on magical energy, I'd be Abraham Lincoln!
** {{Inverted|Trope}} in "[[Recap/AdventureTimeS6E4TheTower The Tower]]," when Finn's trauma over losing his arm and being [[DisappearedDad abandoned by his father a second time]] unlocks his latent psychic potential, creating a powerful psionic ghost arm. [[PowerBornOfMadness With Great Insanity Comes Great Power]].
** "The Real You" had Finn don a pair of [[SmartPeopleWearGlasses magical glasses]] that make him TheOmniscient. By the end of the episode he's done a science experiment that threatens to kill them all, and is cackling cheerfully about the whole thing until [[EmperorScientist Princess Bubblegum]] snaps him out of it. [[spoiler:Amusingly, we then learn that the glasses let him ''know'' that he was going to go insane, so PB's help was part of his BatmanGambit.]]
** In the miniseries ''Elements'': [[spoiler:Patience St. Pim creates a spell to wake the Elementals powers forcibly, this leads to them being overturned by their own elements and parting the land of Ooo in 4 parts, one for each. Fire Princess turns into a dragon that looks for things to fight against, as well as all her followers, Bubblegum becomes a always happy Tower-sized entity that turns everyone around her in candy overly sweet versions of themselves and does BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood, Slime Princess becomes tyrannical, lazy and wishes to absorb other slimes into her own besides behaving and talking in a similar fashion to [[Franchise/StarWars Jabba The Hut]], and Patience herself becomes gloomy and melancholic]].
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'' is the rare heroic example. Becoming the titular hero drives Dexter Douglas insane, but it's the "[[{{Manchild}} five-year-old]] [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} after drinking an]] [[FunPersonified entire case of Mountain Dew]]" kind of insane, not the "[[SuperpoweredEvilSide Mwahahahaha! Ultimate power to rule the world!]]" kind of insane.
* Spider-Carnage of ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'' is an example of this happening to a [[EvilTwin version]] of Spider-Man himself.
* The [=EVOs=] of ''WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex'' can get hit with this, BodyHorror, or ''both''. The clearest example would probably be Breach, though she's at least ''coherent''. No-Face from the Bug Jar also demonstrates a seriously degraded mental state, though not in the same way as Breach. And some [=EVOS=] are so far gone, it's easy to forget they were [[WasOnceAMan ever human in the first place]].
* Nerissa of ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'' is a sad example of this. She was actually pretty well-adjusted until she gained control of the Heart of Candracar. The Oracle tried to cut her off at the pass, making her hand it over to her best friend, Cassidy. All it did was drive Nerissa farther into needing it, in which she killed her friend in cold blood. A good generation later, she comes back, pulling off a plan to obtain more Hearts "for the greater good of the universe".
** Will comes close in the second season, but manages to pull back at the last second (quite literally).
* Happened to Goofy in the ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'' short "Sandwich Makers".
-->'''Donald:''' He's ''lost'' it.
* In a less malevolent example, an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'' had Genie's powers be transferred to Iago. Iago notices pretty quickly that, along with Genie's powers, he has also become more eccentric and strange, while the de-powered Genie becomes more morose. Apparently, possessing semi-phenomenal, nearly-cosmic power makes you a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}.
** Played straight when Sultan dons the armor of Killeem, which grants him superhuman strength and speed, but at the cost of his identity.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E5MagicDuel Magic Duel]]", [[RivalTurnedEvil Trixie]]'s sanity deteriorates while under the influence of a magic-boosting ArtifactOfDoom; the first thing she does after banishing Twilight being to turn Ponyville into a micronation with her as its [[TheCaligula Caligula]], then it comes to a head when she has [[ThoseTwoGuys Snips and Snails]] drag her chariot across the ground, as [[AbsurdPhobia she is now so paranoid that she can't trust wheels]].
** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E23InspirationManifestation Inspiration Manifestation]]", the more Rarity uses the book's power, the more deranged she becomes.
** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS9E25TheEndingOfTheEndPart2 The Ending of the End – Part 2]]", Pinkie Pie briefly absorbs Discord's chaos magic and goes mad with her newfound power. Fortunately, Discord promptly drains his magic back out of her.
--->'''Pinkie Pie:''' ''I COULD TRANSFORM THE COSMOS SO EVERYTHING IS MADE OF ICING!''
** The Alicorns show this. When the main cast fails in their destiny, they go a bit wonky, which the fans dubbed Cutie Mark Failure Sudden Insanity Syndrome. However, the alicorn goddesses have this manifest as full alternate personalities. Nightmare Moon and Midnight Sparkle were each an apocalyptic MadGod who was also [[SuperpoweredEvilSide stronger than their normal counterpart]]. It is good that Daybreaker was just a dream, as Celestia is the strongest, it is likely she would have been an unstoppable god of fire.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode "[[Recap/BatmanBeyondS1E8Heroes Heroes]]", three scientists are transformed by a FreakLabAccident. They are angry and frustrated at being unable to lead normal lives, and are pushed over the edge when they learn that the transformation is killing them and driving them insane -- and that the "accident" was deliberately set up by a colleague who had intended to [[MurderTheHypotenuse kill his romantic rival]].
* Sugilite from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse''. A building sized fusion of Garnet and Amethyst, she's a walking wrecking machine. Problem is, the combo of Amethyst's wild personality and Garnet's power makes her violent and hard to manage. If the fusion lasts too long, she becomes a serious threat.
** It's implied that all fusions can have that effect, especially forced fusions. [[spoiler: Malachite]] is essentially a case of multiple personality disorder (including with Steven having a short view on the two gems inside who are both [[DrivenToMadness going insane from the abuse they put each other through]]) and [[spoiler: the Cluster]] is this [[FromBadToWorse times hundred]], even adding AndIMustScream and BodyHorror to the mixture.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/AtomicPuppet'' episode "Sword Sisters", Pauline becomes the superheroine Sword Sister after she gets her hands on a CoolSword, but soon goes mad due to its incredible power. Joey and AP are forced to find the sword's original owner in order to stop their friend.
* Dark magic has this effect in ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'': as it's fueled by negative emotions, the more powerful its users become, the more they risk becoming fully evil.
** Best shown by the Trix:
*** They start out as powerful, ambitious and mean, but not particularly evil (especially [[TokenGoodTeammate Darcy]], who actually fell in love and got together with Riven halfway through the first season);
*** The moment they got their hands on the enormous power of the Dragon's Flame (a power-up they couldn't handle), they ''instantly'' became borderline {{Omnicidal Maniac}}s bent to take over the universe or destroy it trying (with Darcy 'breaking up' with Riven in a nightmarish BreakTheHaughty sequence, in which she claimed she was only using him);
*** At the start of season 2 they've lost the Dragon's Flame, and aside from the mental trauma from getting imprisoned at [[SugarBowl Lightrock]] (a FateWorseThanDeath, according to them), they seem back to normal;
*** Soon after Darkar give them the Gloomix power-up, and they grow more sadistic;
*** In season 3, without the Gloomix and with ''little'' negative emotions due to their crush on Valtor, they're at their weakest, only returning to be dangerous when facing Bloom (who they blame for defeating them and letting them get imprisoned at Lightrock);
*** In the second movie and early season 5, after the Ancestral Witches' tutelage brought them on par with Believix fairies, they're back to Gloomix-like evil;
*** When they get the Dark Sirenix (and somehow maintain that level of power even after losing it), they're back trying to take over the universe.
* In the episode "The Forgotten Element" of ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'''s fourth season, Kai briefly becomes corrupted by the power of Master Chen's Staff of Elements and it causes his suppressed envy of [[TheChosenOne Lloyd]] becoming the Green Ninja to surface. Fortunately, it doesn't last long.
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': In "Cranius Maximus", Baljeet becomes a super-genius thanks to an intelligence-boosting helmet Phineas and Ferb made him. He promptly becomes obsessed with stripping away the Earth's atmosphere so it doesn't interfere with astronomical observations.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'': In "Dressed to Kill", the Crust Cousins get their hands on some alien crystals that give them superpowers, but also cause them to go from mere school bullies to would-be tyrants. Jenny ends up tricking them into taking the outfits off by [[spoiler: showing them a fashion magazine saying that crystals are out of style.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': This is the stated consequence of using too many Miraculous at one time, which is why the heroes never go above two on the rare occasions they use multiples at all. One episode featured Marinette employing some clever LoopholeAbuse by first using the Mouse Miraculous to [[MesACrowd clone herself]], then having each clone take a different second Miraculous to use.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': PlayedForLaughs in "Page Turner". At the end, Star has read the forbidden chapter of her spellbook and [[spoiler:decided it's not for her. ''Marco'', however]], has gone insane with power:
-->'''Glossaryck:''' [[ResetButton Luckily, there's a spell to fix that]].
** Played far more seriously with the [[SuperSoldier Solarian Warriors]]. Overexposure to the setting's magic has mind altering effects in general and Solarian Warriors are created by channeling it directly into the warrior's body. The first generation of warriors killed each other in their madness. The second took people who were merely intolerant and turned them into genocidal maniacs.

*** In the season 5 two-part opener, [[spoiler:Farmworld Finn]] wears the crown and starts going insane too, complete with maniacal laughter.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode "Heroes", three scientists are transformed by a FreakLabAccident. They are angry and frustrated at being unable to lead normal lives, and are pushed over the edge when they learn that the transformation is killing them and driving them insane -- and that the "accident" was deliberately set up by a colleague who had intended to [[MurderTheHypotenuse kill his romantic rival]].

** {{Inverted|Trope}} in "[[Recap/AdventureTimeS6E4TheTower The Tower]]," when Finn's trauma over losing his arm and being [[DisappearedDad abandoned by his father a second time]] unlocks his latent psychic potential, creating a powerful psionic ghost arm. [[InvertedTrope With Great Insanity Comes Great Power]].

** Dr. Viper was formally one of two biochemists who invented the Viper mutagen, which was intended to regenerate plants. Then he decided to try and steal it so he could sell it, directly leading to his transformation into the crazed, lizard-like Dr. Viper.

*** At the start of season 2 they've lost the Dragon's Flame, and aside from the mental trauma from getting imprisoned at [[TastesLikeDiabetes Lightrock]] (a FateWorseThanDeath, according to them), they seem back to normal;

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'' is the rare heroic example. Becoming the titular hero drives Dexter Douglas insane, but it's the "[[{{Manchild five-year-old]] [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} after drinking an]] [[FunPersonified entire case of Mountain Dew]]" kind of insane, not the "[[SuperpoweredEvilSide Mwahahahaha! Ultimate power to rule the world!]]" kind of insane.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'' is the rare heroic example. Becoming the titular hero drives Dexter insane, but in the sense of "[[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} five year old manchild]] [[FunPersonified on a sugar high]]" level of insane instead of "[[SuperpoweredEvilSide Mwahahahaha! Ultimate power to rule the world!]]" level of insane.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'', this is revealed to be the reason behind Kevin's villainy in the first show. Absorbing energy causes insanity in people with his powers: before he'd even met Ben, he was hooked on electricity and was planning to do things like crash trains full of people together to make a buck. After accidentally absorbing energy from Ben's Omnitrix, he ''really'' goes nuts, and turns into a full on PsychoForHire amalgamation of Omnitrix aliens. After the TimeSkip in ''Alien Force'' and ''Ultimate Alien'', he is noticeably wary about doing it.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'':
** ComicBook/{{Raven}} must suppress her anger, otherwise she takes on a far more evil side that has no mercy and takes up a form that can border on EldritchAbomination.

** When Stanley puts on the Mask of Loki he becomes a genuinely insane cartoonish man called The Mask but it is {{Downplayed}} as The Mask is pretty much harmless, is a troll and a sweet and kind person who has a charisma personality which brings girls over to him despite he can be too strong at first towards them.
** Evelyn accidentally puts on the mask when she put on her glasses which got attached to them and she becomes a Southern American Girl named Eve with a accent that goes with it and like The Mask she is also genuinely insane but a sweet and kind person as well which is shown when she falls in love with Stanley in no time at all and ends up genuinely caring about him.
** Dr Neuman puts on the mask as well and he becomes a insane and psychotic but {{Affably Evil}} supervillain who still retains some standards such as putting everyone in wedgie straitjackets and also denies that he is wearing the mask even though he is and he still do his job such as when his appointment alarm goes off on his watch and he decides to go to the prison where Pretorius is and after listening to his story agrees that Pretorius is insane but decides to help him with his plan and team up with him anyway.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' animated series, Apocalypse was this according to Professor Xavier, which means that unlike Magneto and the group behind the Sentinels, he cannot be reasoned with and has to be stopped at once by the X-Men before he will destroy the world.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'', this is revealed to be the reason behind Kevin's villainy in the first show. Absorbing energy causes insanity in people with his powers: before he'd even met Ben, he was hooked on electricity and was planning to do things like crash trains full of people together to make a buck. After accidentally absorbing energy from Ben's Omnitrix, he ''really'' goes nuts, and turns into a full on PsychoForHire. After the TimeSkip in ''Alien Force'' and ''Ultimate Alien'', he is noticeably wary about doing it.

** Kevin ends up proving it by absorbing Omnitrix energy to stop Aggregor, but loses his sanity and takes the power Aggregor stole in the process. He then proceeds to try to drain energy from anyone with power, right after giving out DisproportionateRetribution to anyone he's had problems with. He is barely stopped long enough to cure him.

** Evelyn accidentally puts on the mask when she put on her glasses which got attached to them and she becomes a Southern American Girl name Eve with a accent that goes with it and like The Mask she is also genuinely insane but a sweet and kind person as well which is shown when she falls in love with Stanley in no time at all and ends up genuinely caring about him.

** Evelyn accidentally puts on the mask when she put on her glasses which got attached to them and she becomes a Southern American Girl with a accent that goes with it and like The Mask she is also genuinely insane but a sweet and kind person as well which is shown when she falls in love with Stanley in no time at all and ends up genuinely caring about him.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'': When Stanley puts on the Mask of Loki he becomes a genuinely insane cartoonish man called The Mask but it is {{Downplayed}} as The Mask is pretty much harmless, is a troll and a sweet and kind person who has a charisma personality which brings girls over to him despite he can be too strong at first towards them.

*** Dr Neuman puts on the mask as well and he becomes a insane and psychotic but {{Affably Evil}} supervillain who still retains some standards such as putting everyone in wedgie straitjackets and also denies that he is wearing the mask even though he is and does still do his job such as when his appointment alarm goes off on his watch and he decides go to the prison where Pretorius is and after listening to his story agrees that Pretorius is insane but decides to help him with his plan and team up with him anyway.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'' When Stanley puts on the Mask of Loki he becomes a genuinely insane cartoonish man called The Mask but it is {{Downplayed}} as The Mask is pretty much harmless, is a troll and a sweet and kind person who has a charisma personality which brings girls over to him despite he can be too strong at first towards them.

** In the episode Bride of Pretorius Evelyn accidentally puts on the mask when she put on her glasses which got attached to them and she becomes a Southern American Girl with a accent that goes with it and like The Mask she is also genuinely insane but a sweet and kind person as well which is shown when she falls in love with Stanley in no time at all and ends up genuinely caring about him.
*** In the episode Shrink Rap Dr Neuman puts on the mask as well and he becomes a insane and psychotic but {{Affably Evil}} supervillain who still retains some standards such as putting everyone in wedgie straitjackets and also denies that he is wearing the mask even though he is and does still do his job such as when his appointment alarm goes off on his watch and he decides go to the prison where Pretorius is and after listening to his story agrees that Pretorius is insane but decides to help him with his plan and team up with him anyway.