Berserk Button / Live-Action TV

When a character always goes into a rage over a certain minor thing, you've hit their Berserk Button.

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• 30 Rock: If you eat Liz Lemon's food, she'll cut you so bad you'll have a chin. You'll all have chins!
  Devon Banks: You don't tell me what kind of pizza to like!
• Adam-12: Malloy doesn't take kindly to Dirty Cop stuff, and he ratcheted it up quite a few degrees in an episode where the cop was involved in blackmail and dragged Pete into it, trying to use their friendship. In the final scene, he tried to say Pete owed him because he'd saved Pete's life twice, and that only made Pete even madder.
• The Adventures of Pete & Pete: "Yellow Fever": Bus Driver Stu Benedict's Berserk Button is the song "If You're Happy and You Know It." He and his girlfriend, Sally Knorp, loved that song... but then Sally broke up with him. AGAIN. Over NOTHING!!!
• In the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "Crackpot", a man flies into a rage when another man accidentally gets his suit dirty. It's not what it seems, though.
• All The Small Things: The normally-placid Kyle physically attacks an antagonist who speaks badly of Tom DeLonge, Kyle's favourite singer.
• All That: Don't refuse Ms. Piddlin's peas.
• Almost Live!: The "Mind Your Manners With Billy Quan" skits. Seriously, when you're around Billy, mind your manners.
• In Auction Kings, Cindy hates when people win an item at auction and then don't pay for it. Cindy makes Paul a Medal of Dishonor when he does it. Everyone else goes on the Wall Of Shame.
• In Babylon 5, a surefire way to anger a Vorlon is to ask it "What do you want?" This is because that is the question their old rivals the Shadows ask other races to determine their identities. The Shadows for their part aren't particularly angered when asked the Vorlon's question "Who are you?" but do avoid actually answering it.
  • In his epic "The Reason You Suck" Speech to the Vorlons and Shadows in the episode "Into the Fire" Sheridan throws the respective species questions back in their faces and notes that neither of the races have answered their own questions.
• Banshee:
  • Kai Proctor really hates it when people insult the Amish. He takes it really bad when one of the Amish being harassed is his father.
  • Kurt Bunker rarely manages to keep his composure in the presence of his former "brothers."
  • Anyone who messes with Deva is in for some very big trouble courtesy of Hood.
• Bar Rescue
  • Jon Taffer has many, which include:
    • Blatant overpouring.
    • Drunk owners. He really tears into the owner of Extremes when he sees him drinking with the guests, to the point he almost walks off production.
    • Don't ever insult the people Taffer brings along to fix the bar up. The owner of ZanZBar called Chef Brian Duffy who was helping to remodel the kitchen a "fat boy" and Taffer blew up on him like a hydrogen bomb.^note This moment was ranked #1 on Taffer's top 10 list of the angriest moments he had during the first 3 seasons of the show.
    • Accusing him or the show of executive interference on-air.
    • Do not fail to show up for training, or waste the time of Taffer or his experts. If you do, you will be deemed the weakest link at the bar, and start having them push for you to be fired, or hammering on you to drive you to quit.
    • Punching bag machines due to them being a huge legal liability. Taffer lost a lawsuit involving them so if he sees one, he will demand that the owner get rid of it.
    • Wearing sunglasses as he feels it makes you offputting to the guests. That being said, if there's a good reason (one owner had to wear sunglasses because he suffered vision damage while serving in the military) he'll cut them some slack.
    • Cross-contaminating a kitchen with raw meat. If the cameras catch a cook doing it he will quickly confront them.
    • Recent episodes have Taffer driven to insanity when male bar owners/managers cry over their failures. Taffer has gone as far as to mock the manager's sobbing in "Fish Out of Blue Water", and he outright calls the owner of RJ'S Replay a "mama's boy".
    • Posing a risk to someone's health by getting them sick via contaminated food and drinks. As he says:
      "Look, I know bar ownership can be a dirty business, but when owners slack on sanitation they risk getting people sick, and nothing makes me angrier than when a lazy operator puts customers in danger."
  • For the bar owners, a major berserk button seems to be the idea of changing the bar's name for any reason. Most will change it right back immediately after Taffer leaves. For example:
    • The owner of Canyon Inn in Loma Linda, California, couldn't stand the idea of changing the name of his bar, even though Taffer and at least one customer told him that "Inn" is an archaic term for a tavern and that the modern use of the word causes people to think it's a hotel. They have actually received calls from people asking what their nightly rates were. Taffer changes it to "Canyon Saloon" but the owner changed it back to "Canyon Inn" after a month. The fact that the "Inn" hasn't been able to keep up the volume of business that it had on re-opening night suggests that perhaps some of Taffer's other changes haven't been kept, either.
    • Tim from The Brixton was so adamantly against changing the bar's name that when Taffer instructed him to paint over the sign on the side of the building, he painted a big middle finger over the O. He changed the name back almost immediately after the cameras stopped, but he still embraced Taffer's lessons.
    • In the most notorious example, the staff of Piratz Tavern not only changed the name back but went back to the original décor before the episode even aired. They even went to the trouble of burning Taffer's décor.
    • Taffer was so adamant about the owner not reverting the name to "Underground Wonder Bar" that he forced her to sign a contract preventing her from doing so. Which she broke.
• Battlestar Galactica (1978): Starbuck just about hates Ortega because he cheats in almost any Triad game.
• Battlestar Galactica (2003): And as evidenced in Season 4.5, do not keep Laura Roslin from talking to her people. Do not cut off Laura Roslin's wireless.
• Being Human (UK): Milo is normally quite calm, even chummy when he he hasn't been ordered to kill you, but the second Tom calls him a coward to his face, he flips. He may be an opportunist and a Category Traitor, but after the horrific things he had to do to gain his place at the Old Ones' side despite how they generally view werewolves, no-one calls him a coward.
• The Big Bang Theory:
  • Howard Wolowitz doesn't like being reminded that he doesn't have a PhD. Every time he tries to start something, Leonard tells him to sit down and he complies. He might not have a PhD but he recognizes he's too puny to do anything about it.
  • Sheldon Cooper has numerous examples:
    • Perhaps it would be best to begin with an in-universe listing...
      Raj: What did you do? Did you change the contrast or brightness settings on the television?
      Leonard: No.
      Raj: Did you take a Band-Aid off in front of him?
      Leonard: No.
      Howard: Did you buy generic ketchup, forget to rinse the sink, talk to him through the bathroom door?
      Raj: Adjust the thermostat, cook with cilantro, pronounce the T in often?
      Leonard: No!
      (Beat)
      Howard: ...Did you make fun of trains?
    • Don't mention Wil Wheaton around Sheldon, unless you want a "WHEEEEEAAAATOOOOOONNN!" that would make William Shatner proud. They make up at the end of "The Russian Rocket Reaction" and are now good friends (according to Sheldon, anyway). Unfortunately, Brent Spiner then inadvertently replaces Wil Wheaton on Sheldon's Mortal Enemy list.
    • Goofy.
      Penny: What's wrong with Goofy?
      Leonard: Beats me... he's fine with Pluto. ^note  This is a reference to a one-panel webcomic strip known as "It's Goofy Time". Sheldon's dialogue is a direct copy of the non-goofy character from it.
    • The following exchange:
      "You want me to share credit?"
      "Yes."
      "GET OUT."
    • A minor example, but only his mother and sister are allowed to call him "Shelly".
    • "NOBODY CALLS ME MOONPIE EXCEPT MEEMAW!!!!!!!"
    • He hates it when his science is understated. While he was in the middle of a feud with Leonard, he gets angry when Penny says Leonard called his paper a "little idea," and suddenly starts demanding to know the exact words he said. When Penny tells him that Leonard called it a "lucky hunch," he refuses to talk to him.
• Black Books: For some reason, Manny suggesting that the children's book they're writing have a panda as one of the characters drives Bernard into a rage.
• Bones: Do not call Gordon Gordon Wyatt a fry cook. Also, do not call Hodgins "harmless".
• The Boys (2019):
  • Homelander may be all smiles in front of cameras and large crowds of fans, but underneath his public image he's one of the most Ax-Crazy Supes of them all, and he has several such buttons to accentuate it: he blows up over a reminder of his childhood Security Blanket, don't lie to him and, as of Season 2's ending, don't insult Stormfront or remind him of her death.
  • After being continuously babied by his father into young adulthood, Hughie does not like being demeaned for his youthful looks, and it's implied to be what tilts him toward going through with blowing up Translucent.
  • Reminding Butcher of his wife Becca is a bad idea. Hughie rightly calling Butcher out on the bullshit of his "I'm doing this for Becca" justification for his all-consuming and toxic vendetta against Supes causes both M.M. and Frenchie to shit bricks in a way which implies that if anyone else had said that in Hughie's place, they would've met a very nasty retribution.
  • One trait Homelander's son Ryan has in common with his biological father? He hates being lied to.
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Captain Holt, who is obsessed with minor details and is married to a history professor, is not fond of the way society uses the word "doctor", as demonstrated in "The Box".
  Philip: It's not like we're college professors calling ourselves "doctors".
  Holt: Not the same thing, my friend.
  Philip: Well, sure it is. When someone has a heart attack on a plane, do they yell out, "Yo, does anybody here have an Art History PhD?"
  Holt: A PhD is a doctorate. It's literally describing a doctor.
  Jake: Maybe let's refocus.
  Holt: [increasingly livid] No! The problem here is that medical practitioners have co-opted the word "doctor".
  Jake: Okay, Captain—
  Holt: I know we live in a world where aaaaaanyything can mean anything, AND NOBODY EVEN CARES ABOUT ETYMOLO—
  [Smash Cut to Holt and Jake back in the break room]
  Holt: Apparently that's a trigger for me.
• The Catherine Tate Show: The comedy in the "Derek" sketches comes almost exclusively from his reaction when Mistaken for Gay.
• Cavemen: Do not say "Yabba-Dabba-Doo!" around Nick.
• Charmed (1998): Whenever Piper is pregnant she gets irritable about people trying to touch her belly without asking permission.
  Darryl: Well, if you ask me, (reaches towards Piper's belly) there's nothing more beautiful than a pregnan—
  Piper: (grabs his hand) Do it and you pull back a bloody stump.
• Cheers:
  • Cliff Clavin is very, very close to his mother. And any suggestion that she won't always be there for him is met with furious denial.
    Cliff: YOU TAKE THAT BACK!
  • He also gets angry at anyone who mocks his job, his uniform, or the postal worker profession in general.
  • Never tell Norm there's no more bar food. He can survive there being no beer around (he's got other places he can go, and supplies hidden around the bar), but according to Woody when he said there were no peanuts left Norm nearly snapped off his thumb.
  • Don't mock Sam's alcoholism in front of Carla. In the first season she attacks a patron who makes some horribly cruel jokes about it and smacks the guy's head against the bar.
• The Cleaner (UK): Wicky doesn't like it when people refer to his occupation as "mopping up" because he doesn't use a mop.
• Community:
  • Don't steal Annie's pen.
  • Also don't mention Jeff's dad. He will beat you, even if you are a generally harmless old man.
  • And whatever you do, DO NOT refer to Starburns as Starburns to his face. A war (well, okay, a multi-day pillow fight) was started over this.
    Starburns: MY...NAME...IS...ALEX!!!
  • You'd do well not to insult the Barenaked Ladies in front of the study group, as Jeff discovered.
  • Don't call Abed "weird" in front of Troy (it doesn't matter how hot you are)
• El corazón nunca se equivoca: Mateo starts a fight after the suggestion that he is jealous of Temo.
  • It's not a good idea to mock Temo in front of Ari or Diego.
• The Daily Show:
  • Do not, under any circumstances, let Jon Stewart catch you eating pizza with a fork.
    • And GOD HELP YOU if you like deep-dish pizza.
• Deadwood: Do NOT accuse Dan Dority of being scared of you. He'll tear your damn eyeball out of your head, and let you flop around in the muck screaming for a little while before he bludgeons you to death.
• Doctor Who:
  • If you tell Jacob Kewper that smuggling is bad, your only hope of surviving is if he owes you a favour.
  • Don't make fun of the Fifth Doctor's celery. Okay, granted, he doesn't go full-on Ax-Crazy on you, but he will get angry. And he doesn't get angry very often, so that's kind of a big deal.
  • Don't tell the Sixth Doctor he's got no fashion sense. It's a very bad idea.
  • You do NOT call Ace small. She will hurt you. With a bat. And Nitro-9. Even if you're a Dalek. And it will be the definitive Moment of Awesome for her.
  • Captain Cook from "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy" is, in fact, a crashing bore. Just don't say that to his face.
  • "Tooth and Claw": Father Angelo finds out the hard way that Queen Victoria does not appreciate being condescended to.
  • "School Reunion": Sarah Jane Smith does not like it when people make fun of her robot dog, K9. Especially if they point out his zeerusty appearance.
  • "The Sontaran Stratagem": The Sontarans, being a warrior race, do not like people saying that they have any weaknesses, even though they do.
  • "The Vampires of Venice": Francesco does not take insults about his mother well.
  • "Amy's Choice": Upper Leadworth Amy, who is heavily pregnant, does not take comments on her size well, especially since the Doctor and Rory can't seem to stop making them.
  • "Fugitive of the Judoon": According to the Doctor, snapping off a Judoon's nose horn is the single most insulting thing you can do to it. The episode also establishes that the Thirteenth Doctor doesn't like being called short.
  • In the revival series, the Daleks and the Doctor to each other. The one in "Dalek" endures years of torture without speaking, only to snap into frenzied rage the moment the Doctor identifies himself, and as for the Doctor, well...
    The Doctor: The Daleks have failed! Why don't you finish the job, and make the Daleks extinct? Rid the universe of your filth! Why don't you just DIE?!
    Dalek: YOU WOULD MAKE A GOOD DALEK.
  • "The Giggle": A consequence of the Hate Plague going around is that even the most innocuous question, like "are you okay?" can set someone off, as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart demonstrates. What follows is her ranting that even asking that question is a violation of her privacy, before raging at everyone around her until they can get the filter mechanism back on her.
• Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza: DON'T MENTION SUZANNE!
• Engine Sentai Go-onger: Don't call Kegareshia an old lady. Seriously, unless you have a giant robot, don't. But, as pollution-based villains, the worst thing you can call her, or any Gaiark, is 'pure.'
• Emerald City: West isn't exactly the most genial character, but is generally a lovable Deadpan Snarker. That is until someone lies. THEN she loses it, like when Dorothy was interrogated by her.
  West: If there is one thing I cannot stand, IT'S A LIAR!
• Farscape:
  • Aeryn — Don't touch her Prowler. This is NOT what it sounds like.
  • Rygel — Do NOT touch his food.
  • Chiana — Don't call her a trailk.
• In the BBC adaptation of G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown, the eponymous Catholic priest is shown to display attitudes at least five decades ahead of his time. However, he has a fairly reasonable button for people of his job description that gets pressed towards the end of the very first mystery: hiding behind your religion when murdering someone.
  Father Brown: GOD! IS NOT! YOUR SCAPEGOAT!
• Father Ted: While playing himself, Richard Wilson is portrayed as reacting violently whenever someone repeats his catchphrase as Victor Meldrew to him. The actor himself admits that this (much like anyone else haunted by a well-known catchphrase) is something that spills over to real life.
• Fauji: Do not ask Major Narayanan any questions while he is instructing the class, and neither should you mention Peter in front of Devender. Just... don't.
• Firefly: Do not insult Serenity in front of Kaylee. When an Alliance officer makes that mistake during "Bushwhacked", he gets a royal earful.
  Kaylee: Six gerstlers crammed right under every cooling drive so that you strain your primary artery function and you end up having to recycle secondary exhaust through a bypass system...just so's you don't end up pumping it through the main atmofeed and asphyxiating the entire crew. Now THAT'S junk!
• Frasier:
  • Don't correct Frasier's French pronunciation.
  • Don't tell Niles he's being irrational. It makes him irate.
• Friends:
  • "JOEY DOESN'T SHARE FOOD!"
  • Do not make a mess in Monica's apartment. Or move stuff around without her permission. Or mess around with her expensive dishes.
  • Don't tell Rachel she and Ross were on a break either. On the other hand, don't tell Ross that they weren't on a break.
  • Don't mess about on any sailing boat Rachel's on. She's inherited her father's abusive attitude for not respecting the dangers of being at sea.
  • For your own good, don't tell Ross you ate his sandwich, and especially don't tell him you threw most of it away.
  • In "TOW Monica's Thunder", Phoebe threatens to "pound on" Monica and Chandler when they touch her guitar without permission.
• Game of Thrones universe:
  • Game of Thrones:
    • Robert despises the Targaryens for what they did to the woman he loved and his friend Ned's brothers. As a result, he loses his temper whenever anyone so much as tries to downplay the threat they present to his kingdom.
    • Insubordination for Tywin, particularly from his children and any slights on the family name, real or imagined.
    • The Hound hates knights, so never, under any circumstances, call him "ser." Really, don't.
    • Ramsay doesn't like when people point out that he's a bastard, even after he is legitimized.
    • Mocking Cersei about her incestuous relationship with Jaime is a quick way of pissing her off — she responded to Littlefinger doing so by nearly having her Kingsguard slit his throat, gives a cruel retort to Tyrion when he jokes about it and is seen giving Ellaria Sand a Death Glare when she indirectly mentions it.
    • Varys hates magic and all those who practise it. Given what happened to him as a boy, it makes sense.
    • Harming or stealing Dany's dragons. She considers them to be her children, and fucking with them will land you at the top of her shit list. For example, she locked Doreah and Xaro in a vault to rot after they took her dragons, and the Night King became her primary enemy after he kills Viserion.
    • Shae does not like people talking about her parentage.
    • Don't snore too loudly around Gregor Clegane.
    • Joffrey hates having his authority challenged, and will often punish someone cruelly if they do so. When someone beyond his power to punish undermines his authority, however, it typically results in a temper tantrum.
    • Viserys hates being commanded to do anything, because he thinks it undermines his authority as the self-proclaimed rightful king. When Daenerys sends her handmaid Doreah to invite him to supper, he flips out.
      Viserys: (angrily dragging Doreah into Daenerys' tent) You send this whore to give me commands?!? I should have sent you back her head!
    • Bringing up how his last rebellion ended seems to be this for Balon Greyjoy.
  • House of the Dragon:
    • After his son by Alicent is born and lords start pestering him to name him heir instead of Rhaenyra, such politicking becomes a major sore spot, and just about the only matter upon which King Viserys becomes assertive and commanding in his anger (at least until the below issue with Rhaenyra's children comes to be).
    • Viserys threatens to cut off the tongue of anyone daring to call the children Rhaenyra officially had with Laenor Velaryon "bastards" (while it's an Open Secret that they are actual bastards sired by Harwin Strong, Viserys continually looks the other way to avoid dealing with the fallout of publicly acknowledging it). Even as he's crippled and nearing the end of his life, he's very willing to do this to Vaemond Velaryon for saying just that (and calling Rhaenyra a "whore" on top of this). A similarly pissed-off Daemon spares Viserys the tremendous effort of doing the deed by performing a Clean Cut on the upper part of Vaemond's head instead.
• Glee: You think Sue's bad on normal day? Try insulting her hair. Then run for your life.
• Good Eats: Alton Brown will be happy to ruin you if you create soulless over-processed food.
• Grantchester: Geordie learns the hard way towards the end of the second series that Sidney's button is comparing the recently-executed Gary Bell's manslaughter of Abigail Redmond to his killing others during the war. Needless to say, Geordie is taken completely by surprise when Sidney doesn't even wait until he's outside of the Lord's house before pummeling him for that one.
• The Great British Bake Off:
  • For Paul, any basic mistake such as missing an ingredient — as David did in episode four of series 1, when he missed the eggs from the technical challenge (a souffle) — or accidentally substituting salt for sugar (which has actually happened twice in as many series) means you're automatically out of the competition. The souffle episode in question was framed to make it look as if there was more to it than that, but Paul's anger at the error was completely clear, especially at the end.
  • For all her comparative gentleness in getting it across, Mary can be as much of a perfectionist as Paul, and does not appreciate flaws in basic technique. Hilariously demonstrated in the first episode of series 5, as she watches a contestant try to achieve a tight Swiss roll by scoring it across beforehand. Of course it simply breaks apart at the cuts, and as this becomes more and more obvious Mary gets more and more tight-lipped, shaking her head in disapproval. Paul(!) and Sue have to bodily escort her away ("Now, now, come along and leave the nice boy alone...") before the stern lecture she's clearly dying to give can erupt.
  • In terms of flavouring, any contestant using alcohol in a bake Paul is about to taste had better make very sure they've got the strength exactly right, preferably down to the barest hint. Mary, meanwhile, doesn't at all mind a little extra booze in a bake (to the point where it's become a mild Running Gag), but is otherwise very hard to convince re: unusual flavours or ingredients.
• Guest from the Future: Don't call Werther the biorobot a tin can, especially when trying to charge past him. He will grab you, spin you over his head, and throw you across the room.
• Hannah Montana: Do not, repeat, do not call Lilly Truscott "stupid" within earshot of her boyfriend, Oliver!
• Hell's Kitchen:
  • The best way to press Gordon Ramsay's Berserk Button is to put up food that is improperly cooked or prepared, especially if it's undercooked:
  Chef Ramsay: It's RAW!
  • The other way to push Chef Ramsay's Berserk Button is to disrespect him, usually by forgetting to say "Yes chef" when he gives an order or by second-guessing/completely disregarding his orders.
• In High&Low, do NOT say the word "crab" around Kabuto. Don't even say anything that could be MISHEARD as "crab". It's all thanks to an embarrassing childhood memory...
• In Highlander, Duncan does not like it when people threaten whoever he’s in love with at the time. Threatening Tessa was a huge mistake multiple times in Season 1. Richie didn’t take kindly to the times someone tried hurting her either.
• Horrible Histories: Don't call Caligula a goat or otherwise make fun of how hairy he is. It leads to Disproportionate Retribution: "If you so much as whisper goat, with an iron rod you will be smote!"
• How I Met Your Mother:
  • Ted is an extremely proud New Yorker and an extremely proud non-New Jerseyan. How proud, you ask? When Ted runs into Stella after she leaves him at the altar, the tipping point at which Ted decides to chew her out is not the fact that she left him in the first place — it's the fact that Stella refused to move to New York and expected Ted to move to New Jersey to be with her, but moves to Tony's place in New York once he and Stella get back together with no fuss.
  • Barney has a few:
    • Don't EVER tell him magic is lame or he'll come at you with a fireball (as Ted found out to his horror):
      Barney: Is This LAME?!? (spark flies out of his hand)
      Lily: Barney, no, no! We said no fireballs at the table!
      Marshall: What the hell is wrong with you?
      Robin: There's alcohol here!
      Wendy: Barney, we've talked about this. It's a fire code violation.
      Barney: Ted provoked me!
      Lily: No, you're on a timeout. Go sit over there.
    • Also, don't ever break up a girl fight with him watching.
  • Robin, whenever she interacts with Patrice or whenever anybody so much as mentions Patrice to her.
  Robin: I love Patrice. We're like sisters.
  Ted: You've never gotten through even one exchange without screaming at her.
  Robin: SISTERS FIGHT, TED!
• iCarly:
  • Despite having an anger management therapist, Sam still has a lot.
    • Never pick on Carly in front of Sam.
    • Never attempt to cut Sam's hair.
    • Never play a prank on Sam, even just to "be even". Mama doesn't play to get even. Mama plays to win.
    • If you offend Carly and she sends Sam to you, be afraid. Be VERY afraid.
  • Do NOT tell Carly to calm down. It will whip her up and send her ranting about.
    • If you're Spencer and her nerdy cousins are visiting for dinner, you better damn well be there!
  • Calling Spencer's butt flat will provoke this.
• I'm With The Band: Charles, the music producer's son, goes nuts if anyone calls him 'Chucky'.
• I Love Lucy: Ricky never reacts well when fellow Latin musician Xavier Cugat is brought up.
• Intergalactic: Don't call Tula "crazy"-she'll kill you for that.
• Interview with the Vampire (2022): Mentioning God, Jesus or Christianity in general is a major one for Lestat de Lioncourt, who's a Hollywood Atheist with a grudge against his raised religion. When Paul de Pointe du Lac brings it up in "In Throes of Increasing Wonder...", Lestat drops his manners and gets genuinely angry, and he later becomes furious at Louis for trying to seek salvation through his faith. Lestat's response is to burn the pews at St. Augustine Church and murder the two priests present in grisly fashion.
• Just Shoot Me!: Elliot is a very nice and mild-mannered photographer; but if you find any fault with his work, he goes on a rampage of insults and stalking. Naturally, job-performance reviews are problematic.
• From the Kamen Rider franchise:
  • Kamen Rider Kiva: Knight Templar Keisuke Nago goes berserk over a button on a shirt. Nago is a Bounty Hunter who takes a button from every crook he captures as a trophy. In one episode, a Fangire criminal goes out of his way to mess with Nago, even having the buttons of his coat reinforced so they can't be yanked off. This causes Nago to go completely off the deep end, even beating up some cops and abducting the criminal post-arrest just to get the damn thing. And while doing so, he rants "BUTTON! MY BUTTON! MY BUTTON!" Not his proudest moment.
  • Kamen Rider Double: While calling Hidari Shotarou 'half-boiled' will annoy him, making someone cry will really piss him off. Also, Shotarou once found out the hard way not to mess with Philip's mommy issues. Like Spock above, and like many other cases of The Spock, it takes a lot to get under his skin, which means when you finally do, it is (a) all that much more dramatic, and (b) a sign you're probably being a dick.
  • Kamen Rider Gaim: Kaito hates dishonesty in all forms, including cheating to win a competition and Dirty Cowardice, guys like Mitsuzane Kureshima, Ryoma Sengoku, and even Shura are the only ones who finds this easy to piss him off.
    • In Gaim Gaiden: Knuckle, tarnishing Team Baron's name is for Zack. With Neo Baron being one particular example.
    • Ryoma Sengoku himself has few: One, don't use his research and inventions for petty acts of terrorism. Just ask Kugai Kudo. Two, Kachidoki Arms. And lastly, Kaito's evolution into Lord Baron!
  • Kamen Rider Ex-Aid:
    • Hiiro Kagami has one: Don't slice a pie or whatever dessert without his consent.
  • Kamen Rider Build: Ryuga Banjou doesn't appreciate anyone calling Sento Kiryu out on his crap with or without the intention to hurt him. Only he (and Misora) can do that, because they never intend to hurt him.
  • Kamen Rider Zi-O: Big Bad Swartz absolutely despises his younger sister Tsukuyomi, especially the implication that she's more powerful than him or might be the right choice to take over their parents' jobs as guardians of time. He might make some high-minded claims about wanting to save the multiverse, but his sheer rage when Sougo suggested that Tsukuyomi could do the job herself proved that he was lying his butt off.
• The Kids from C.A.P.E.R.: In this '70s live-action Saturday morning show, Bugs went into complete gibbering hysterics for no apparent reason. Sometimes (not always) he also lost his immense strength. (The show wasn't around long enough to explore any of this, or we might have found out why this could be his "Kryptonite".)
• The Kids in the Hall: Takes this to an extreme in the sketch "Citizen Kane", in which a man's inability to remember the name of said movie (and refusal to accept his friend's suggestion of the title he was looking for) drives his friend into a homicidal rage.
• The King of Queens: In the episode "Bun Dummy," Carrie would get very defensive if someone (usually Doug) made even a passing comment about her wearing her hair in a bun (indeed, Carrie was taking her bun-wearing pretty seriously). It was only when she saw a picture of Doug's old high school librarian (emphasis on "old") with her hair in a bun that she realized they were right all along. To be fair, it was just in that episode, so it could also be considered a Compressed Vice.
• Kung Fu (2021): Whenever someone says anything bad of Pei-Ling, Nidky gets angry. Especially if it also involves Zhilan.
• Law & Order:
  • Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Don't bring up the fact that Olivia Benson is not a mother. At best, she'll tell you off. At worst, she'll lock you up. And definitely don't cast doubt on her parenting skills now that she is officially a mom.
  • She also despises people who are willing to defend rapists. She doesn't get angry at those who do not know they are defending one, but it's another matter when someone has the gall to protect a sadistic criminal when they know they've done wrong. Unfortunately this also extends to defense attorneys who at worst are just doing their jobs.
• Lost:
  • Hurley is a pretty easy-going guy who can take a lot of abuse, especially about his weight, but you're taking a chance if you ever call him "crazy."
  • Don't tell Locke what he can't do!
  • Also, touching upon Sawyer's dark past always makes him act even more angry towards people than usual.
• Magic City: Bel Jaffe attacks someone who owes him money after he calls him the K-word.
• Malcolm in the Middle: Francis does not want to be reminded of his mom.
• Man in a Suitcase: McGill really does not like to be reminded that he is officially a traitor. In one episode ("No Friend Of Mine"), he even punches a man in the face for bringing it up.
• Married... with Children: After Al is mistakenly circumcised, he calmly points out that "the next person who asks 'What's up?' goes down". Unfortunate for Bud and Jefferson, who did not hear this thread before being knocked out.
• Merlin (2008):
  • Do not infer that something is the result of magic on Merlin when Uther is around. Don't confess to using magic when Uther is around. In fact, don't even say the word 'magic' when Uther can hear you. The result will not be pretty.
• Miami Vice: Don't ever touch Tubbs' Cadillac... just don't.
• The Mighty Boosh: You don't want to criticize the writings of Howard T.J. Moon.
• Monk:
  • Adrian Monk has several things that set him off, but most of his Berserk Buttons (such as urinating in the subway or public nudity; which by the way are things that you really could get arrested for in real life) are played for comedic effect. But never, ever make fun of the late Trudy Monk or her murder, unless you want him to break your face.
    Dr. Shuler: His vital signs have improved. We're not sure why.
    Stottlemeyer: That would be the hatred. Pure malice, it's the best medicine in the world.
  • Randy Disher, the Cloudcuckoolander and sometimes Butt-Monkey, has buttons:
    • He does not take it kindly when other cops think that he is not a reliable source when he had managed to witness a murder (while anesthetized), as happens in "Mr. Monk Goes to the Dentist" (then again, you might take someone's claims they saw their dentist murder a patient while they were being operated on and were semi-conscious with a grain of salt).
    • Don't diss Randy's music. In "Mr. Monk and the Rapper", notice how Randy is offended when Murderuss calls him "white".
  • Natalie Teeger is often both amused and exasperated by Monk's eccentricities. However, even she has buttons:
    • Natalie flies into a furious rage when Monk is late with her paycheck or is unable to pay her. This is suggested in "Mr. Monk and the Genius" to happen very often. In the opening scene, Monk and Natalie are fighting about back pay, with Natalie actually screaming in frustration, and are interrupted when Linda Kloster walks in and says she thought she heard screaming. Natalie immediately coolly comments, "Oh, no, that's just me. I scream every payday."
    • Oh, and don't criticize Julie's acting or singing abilities, or Natalie will have a vendetta against you. Just ask John Hannigan from "Mr. Monk and the Critic", after he writes a scathing review of Julie's performance in a play, and it turns out he used the play as his alibi while he killed his girlfriend Callie Esterhaus.
  • "Mr. Monk and the Panic Room" has a unique instance, as Monk figures out that the killer is a bald man from the fact that the victim's monkey begins throwing a tantrum whenever he sees a bald man.
• Monty Python's Flying Circus:
  • "The Golden Age of Ballooning" sketch in one episode starred Ferdinand von Zeppelin, creator of the zeppelin airship, taking a trip in one of his zeppelins. Several people come up to him to congratulate him on his marvellous "balloon," to which he screams in a terrible German accent, "IT'S AN AIRSHIP!" and throws the offender out the window. And he's NOT going to name it after Bismarck. It's a Zeppelin! It's nothing to do with bloody Bismarck!
  • Downplayed in the Mattress Sketch, it's important that if you go a certain furniture store, you must never say the word "mattress" to Mr. Lambert. Instead, you must say you want to see the "dog kennels"^note yes, Pets department, second floor, because if you do say "mattress", he'll promptly stand up and put a paper bag over his head and respond to nothing, and the only way to snap him out of it is to stand in a tea chest and sing Elgar's "Jerusalem" a capella. It's nothing he can help you understand, but apart from that, he's perfectly all right.
• Moon Lovers: Wang So doesn't react well to people seeing his scars. He nearly chokes Ha-jin when she sees them.
• Nashville:
  • If you know what's good for you, you will not eat the bean dip of Juliette Barnes. Or anything else of hers.
  Juliette (to Avery): Touch my caramels and Imma cut a bitch.
  • Also, try and go behind her back and she will verbally disembowel you in front of her staff. And it's best not to insult her late mother either.
  • Should you be in earshot of Teddy Conrad, don't bring up Maddie being Deacon's biological daughter rather than Teddy's. Seriously, just don't.
• NCIS: You try to mess with Agent Gibbs's coffee, you better damn well try to find a coffee for him! Also, don't waste his time for solving a case. So if you are one of his team members and you want to talk to him something that was not case-related, don't. He can stare at you... with his Death Glare.
• No Ordinary Family: Lucas Winnick doesn't like being compared to an animal, even though his Personality Powers and brutality make it a perfectly fair description.
• NUMB3RS: Threatening or hurting Charlie is a surefire way to piss off Don.
• The Nutt House: Do not mess with one of Ms. Frick's maids. When an immigration agent starts hassling one, Ms. Frick charges in and judo-flips him.
• NYPD Blue: Andy Sipowicz is a veteran of The Vietnam War (as is Dennis Franz). He doesn't talk about his experience much, but when a fellow officer lied about serving in the war, Sipowicz went off on him.
• Odd Squad:
  • If you know what's good for you, then you won't touch any single portion of Oprah's juice stash. And if you do touch it...well, just hope it's on a good day where you'll get off with an Implied Death Threat and no injuries.
  • And if you know what's good for you, then you won't try to stop Oprah from swimming, either, unless you want to be ripped in half. Olive and Otto find this out the hard way and are given an Implied Death Threat in the form of Oprah ripping her pool noodle in two, which sends them racing down the stairs in a hurry.
  • Orson may look like a cute baby Odd Squad agent at first glance. Threaten the destruction of Precinct 13579's Headquarters, however, and you'll be dealing with an opponent that's at least four times your size and likely no match for you, whether you're a villain or an odd creature.
  • The Season 3 episode "Odd Squad in the Shadows" implies that if Omar doesn't get a souvenir from a place that he wants to get a souvenir from, he'll go from Nice Guy to Unstoppable Rage. "Monumental Oddness" pedals it further by having Oswald mutter "Dark days" in response to Omar narrowing his list of his 2,500 favorite monuments to visit down to a mere 25 for a The Shmumber Times magazine feature.
    Oswald: Wait. Should we go get Omar?
    Opal: He's looking for a souvenir. You wanna be the one to tell him he has to go?
    Oswald: [scared] Yeah, I'm sure he'll be fine.
    Opal: Good choice.
  • In "Villains Helping Villains", Marty Marmalade insults his cousin Jamie Jam by mocking her for only attacking two people with strawberry jam. Her response is to make him the third person attacked by strawberry jam by attempting to attack him with it but missing completely. It's only the beginning of what eventually delves into a winded argument held by them while they're stuffing marmalade and jam into their mouths.
• One of Us is Lying: Fiona absolutely hates being called "crazy" or "psycho", however much it really fits her based on her unhinged, very violent behavior.
• Oobi is known for being understanding, kind, and soft-spoken... unless something bad happens to his toy car, in which case he goes ballistic.
• Parker Lewis Can't Lose: Do not mess with Larry Kubiak's lunch. According to rumors he once punched and possibly killed a nun for accidentally sitting on his lunch bag on the bus.
• Pit Boss: Never claim to Shorty that all pit bulls are vicious, or say that you've got something better to do than help a pit bull in need.
• Power Rangers:
  • In the third season of the original incarnation, whenever Rito Revolto would call Lord Zedd "Ed"... it just wouldn't end well. At all. Actually, Rito was just a walking Berserk Button for all the other villains.
    • Alpha 5 does this as well when Zedd invades the Command Center in "Changing of the Zords, Part 2":
      Lord Zedd: Oh, Alpha, you can come out of hiding.
      Alpha 5 [trembling]: I don't like you... Ed!
      Lord Zedd: IT'S ZEDD, YOU BLINKING BUCKET OF BOLTS! LORD ZEDD!
  • Power Rangers: Dino Thunder:
  • Syd from Power Rangers S.P.D. may have problems getting along with RIC in "Dogged" due to its malfunctions, but damaging it is not something you would wanna do in front of her as the Krybots learned it the hard way.
  • In RPM, don't call the suits "spandex" in front of Dr. K. Not even schoolchildren are safe from her wrath ("tights" seems to be OK). On a less comical note, she does not take kindly to being reminded that she created Venjix. Also, never put a scratch on Scott's car, don't call Fresno Bob "Bobarino," and don't call Tenaya 7 either human or cute.
  • She doesn't react as violently as the franchise's other examples, but Kendall Morgan has a tendency to get extremely annoyed if any of the Rangers call her "Kendall" instead of "Ms. Morgan." Since she's technically their actual boss, it makes sense. The only exception to the rule is Koda, who always calls her by her first name and is never called out for it. Which is an Imposter Forgot One Detail when he's replaced in the Halloween Episode. Time will tell whether this Berserk Button becomes a significant issue when Kendall becomes a Ranger.
• Press Gang: If you like your eardrums intact, your confidence undestroyed and all your extremities attached, don't suggest to Lynda Day that she might be attracted to Spike Thomson... especially if your name happens to be Spike Thomson.
• QI: A more humourous example is Stephen Fry in this wonderful gameshow. One of the few things that ruffles Stephen's usually relaxed mood is willful ignorance or asking why people should know obscure facts, or read certain books etc etc. Asking this tends to get you a forceful, yet beautiful, summary on why you are wrong.
  Stephen: It's always the children who say, "Sir, sir, what's the point of geometry" or "what's the point of Latin" who end up having no job, being alcoholic and they don't notice that the ones who actually find knowledge for its own sake and pleasure in information and in history and in the world and nature around us are actually getting on and doing things with their fucking lives!
  • Needless to say, several players (most notably Lee Mack, whom Stephen Fry has said is probably the smarter of the two of them) spent most of the time of the show jumping up and down on this particular button because it's funnier that way.
• Reba: A mild example, Played for Laughs, is a therapist, David, who appears in one episode. Call him "Dave," and he'll have a cow. As for regular characters... Reba gets upset should she be compared to her ex-husband's wife and told to be not that different from her, while said ex-husband's wife won't take being called "blondzilla" kindly, which Reba learns the hard way.
• The Redd Foxx Show: Ray J. Johnson employed a variation on this as his signature trope; whenever addressed as "Mister Johnson," he would angrily rattle off a list of other things he would prefer to be called.
• Red Dwarf:
  • Do not call Kryten tetchy!
  • In "Polymorph", the Polymorph is attempting to get Rimmer angry so it can suck the emotion out of him. It begins by taking the form of his mother and has sex with Lister, but Rimmer holds back, only losing his temper when the "mother" Polymorph says Lister used Alphabetti Spaghetti as a sexual aid:
    Rimmer: ALPHABETTI SPAGHETTI?!
  • In "Beyond a Joke", it is revealed that Kryten has a device that saves all negative emotion. After Lister asks for some ketchup to go with the lobster Kryten has just served, the drive becomes full, and Kryten's head proceeds to explode.
• Rome:
  • When in Rome, don't talk ill of the XIII Legion. Just don't.
  • Do not imply that Mark Antony is feminine or gay. He can kill you with a book!
• The whole point of Room 101 is getting celebrities ranting about their personal Berserk Buttons.
• Roseanne:
  • Don't mess with Dan's motorcycle.
• The Sarah Silverman Program: Sarah befriends a homeless guy that she knew in high school. When she talks about his mother 'queefing' he goes crazy and tries to kill her.
• Saturday Night Live:
  • A memorable sketch by Chris Farley had his character being secretly filmed for a Product Switcheroo Ad and reacting pretty badly to the fact that he had his coffee replaced. Turns out he hated being lied to about what he purchased, and he then over-reacted... as in "being held down by several people while he swears to kill them all in revenge" 'overreacted'.
• Scrubs: When he was first introduced, Hooch did not take kindly to his name being misused. And then, he went crazy. Man, Hooch is crazy. Also, did you pull a screw from a door, so it won't stay open right? The next 7 years of your life are hell, courtesy of the Janitor.
• The Serpent Queen: Diane de Poitiers really doesn't like it when people bring up her age.
• Sesame Street once featured a character named Cyranose de Bergerac, who had a nose that would put Pinocchio's to shame. Unlike his namesake, the mere mention of the word "nose" in any context really would send him into a violent rage, coming at the offender waving his nose like a sword. He was later briefly joined by a Roxanne expy who had a similar complex about her large ears.
• In the Shadowhunters episode "The Mortal Cup", Valentine kills one of his underlings for insulting Jocelyn.
• SM:TV Live: TV Presenter Dec would frequently go insane from people being unable to follow the basic rule of this show's phone-in game thing "Wonkey Donkey" (The rule, quote him is: "IT HAS TO RHYME!!!")
• Soap: In this TV series, Danny Dallas' brother, Jodie (Billy Crystal), is gay. Do not say this around Danny. He's just a little bit in denial.
• Spaced: Tim's reaction to a little boy entering the comic store and asking for a Jar Jar Binks toy is to throw the little kid out of the shop. His boss, Bilbo, also punched an employee in the face for saying Hawk the Slayer was rubbish. .
• Star Trek:
  • Star Trek: The Original Series:
    • Scotty has a very logical Berserk Button for a chief engineer. Insult The Federation? Fine. Insult Captain Kirk? Fine. Insult him? Fine. Insult the Enterprise, compare it to a garbage scow, and suggest it should be "hauled away as garbage" (like the Klingon officer does in "The Trouble with Tribbles")? Prepare for a Bar Brawl.
    • James T. Kirk will let a lot of stuff slide. But DO NOT try to hijack or steal his lady, the Enterprise. He WILL blow up the damn ship, just so you can see who you're truly messing with.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation: In "Code of Honor", Data makes the mistake of calling the French language obscure in front of Captain Picard — who was born and raised in France. Naturally Picard is a bit defensive about France and the French language.
• Still Game: One episode has an otherwise perfectly nice bus driver set off by people saying "donuts", which makes him flip out. Once everything's over, he explains that he's been suffering from depression, and his mother's been ill, and the only food she'll eat is donuts, so it wasn't a good combination.
• Supernatural:
  • Don't mess with Dean's car.
  • Did you just call Naomi a bureaucrat? Because that's an offense even the king of Hell won't risk reaping the consequences of.
• The Time In Between: When he returns, Ignacio maintains an icy calm demeanor, but any reminder of Ramiro sets him off.
• Top Gear:
  • Do not imply that Richard Hammond has had his teeth whitened. Or (from the Middle East special onwards) play Genesis' "I know what you like (In your Wardrobe)"
  • And never — but never — tell Jeremy Clarkson there's no hot food available.
• Torchwood:
  • There's an engineered instance: the guy Suzie has been messing with will go into a ten-second Unstoppable Rage when the titular organization is mentioned.
  • Do *NOT* touch Jack's Hand-In-A-Jar.
• True Blood:
  • Jason Stackhouse: don't call him "J." Unless you were on the football team.
  • Tara hates vampires. And I mean, she HATES vampires.
  • As much as Tara hates vampires, Antonia's loathing of them is far worse. She will actively put curses on vampires who are threatening/bullying other humans, and she views all of them as abominations who desecrate the miracle of life. Her attitude eventually changes towards the end of season 4 when she sees the error of her ways.
  • Do not mock Lilith or her religion to the Sanguinistas. They will not take it well, and it may end up costing you your life.
  • Do not bring up the war in Iraq to Terry. He does not like talking about it, and it's one of the few instances where Arlene has seen Terry unhinged.
• The Twilight Zone (1959): In "It's a Good Life", Anthony Fremont for some odd reason absolutely hates singing. He's quick to deliver Disproportionate Retribution on anyone who sings or plays music in his presence.
• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Jacqueline is very sensitive about her appearance. When Kimmy tells her, "Just follow your gut," Jacqueline suddenly snaps, "I don't have a gut, you motherf-" before Kimmy clarifies that she means "intuition."
• Veronica Mars: Do not mess with Logan's V, or he will smash up a police car with a baseball bat JUST TO GET ARRESTED, so he's close enough to beat the shit out of you.
• Vida: Eddy will not tolerate anyone speaking ill of Vidalia, even her (Vida's) own daughters.
• Walker, Texas Ranger: Anyone who threatens the love of his life or others, especially if they are of different races, and most especially if they are a senior citizen or a child, best be warned: don't do it, or else it will earn you a well-deserved ass-kicking from the eponymous Texas Ranger.
• The West Wing: If you waste his time by making a fuss about how you shouldn't have to pay parking tickets because you're a diplomat, the President of the United States will END you. Although in that particular case, technically he'll end your secretary who's unlucky enough to have to place the call, but still.
• White Collar: Neal, who's generally a pretty mild mannered person, gets mad if you damage a piece of art. Even more so if you accuse him of doing that same thing.
• The Whitest Kids U' Know: PIZZA'S NOT FOR BREAKFAST.
• Win Ben Stein's Money: This game show is a parody/comedy game show that is Q&A style. If a contestant for Ben Stein's cash answered in the form of a question, accidentally or otherwise, then it earned them a tongue-lashing from Stein, who then required them to wear a Dunce Cap for the rest of the round that they gave that question in.
• Without a Trace: In one episode, Jack and Samantha catch a serial killer (who was posing as his twin brother) by using his Berserk Button: he hated his childhood nickname, "Mouse." The resulting violence was then cut short by the above agents immediately pointing their guns at him.
• Wizards of Waverly Place:
  • Zeke: Never mention there can be more than 3 meals a day in his presence.
  • Jerry: Standing between him and food.
• The X-Files: Do not insult Langly's hair or mistake him for a woman.
• The Young Ones: Do not mention The Good Life within Vyvyan Basterd's earshot. It's an equally bad idea to remind him that he has a girl's name. Also, Neil may be an Extreme Doormat 90% of the time, but don't mock his flares.

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