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When a nice, normal character suddenly goes into a rage over a seemingly minor issue, you've hit their Berserk Button.

Video Game series with their own pages:

Series with enough buttons for their own folders:

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    Dragon Age 
  • Dragon Age: Origins:
    • Do not take Sten's sword, which he considers his very soul. You and everyone within reach will die.
    • Do not speak of Orlais in anything but the most hostile terms around Loghain, much less do anything that might mean letting Orlesians into Ferelden again. The guy is so hung up about the Orlesians because of his experience during the occupation that it is by far his biggest character flaw.
    • Don't be disrespectful to the Lady of the Forest around Witherfang.
  • Dragon Age II:
    • Never, ever point out that Hawke is more capable than Carver. He isn't likely to take it well. However, harming Hawke will warrant you to be on the wrong side of Carver's blade.
    • Don't suggest leniency with the mages to Meredith. All that remains of you will be a reddish smear on the wall.
    • Conversely, Anders hates pretty much anything to do with the Templars because of how they treat mages.
    • And finally, don't you dare suggest that blood magic is inherently evil in front of Merrill. She'll make frowny faces.
  • Dragon Age: Inquisition
    • Do not be a Venatori around Dorian. He kills Venatori on principle.

    The Elder Scrolls 
  • In Daggerfall, the Daedric Prince Azura does not take mortals criticizing her well, nor does she take it well if a mortal refuses her requests. (This is a bit of Early-Installment Weirdness, as later games portray her as much more benevolent, if not always nice.) If you summon her but do not accept her (rather petty) request:
    Azura: No! You're supposed to say yes! You're supposed to say: Yes, beautiful Azura, I would gladly murder at the snap of your ivory fingers. Boor! Bigot! Barbarian! Now, I must go before I forget that I am a lady and say something that I'll regret.
  • Skyrim:
    • Calling a Nord a "milk-drinker" is something not recommended unless you want a fight. Really, doing anything that questions a Nord's honor, no matter how small, will invoke this response.
    • The outlawing of the worship of Talos has a lot of Skyrim's people up in arms, especially given the Thalmor's penchant for dragging people off in the middle of the night just for doing this.
    • Getting too close to a giant or messing with its mammoths is a very good way to get yourself sent into low orbit.
    • When met in Sovngarde, Tsun, the old Nordic god of "trials against adversity" and shield-thane of Shor, will be much more hostile to a Player Character who seeks entry to the Hall of Valor by declaring themselves to be a Nightingale or the Listener, neither of which are professions associated with honorable combat.
    • The only observed thing that pisses Hermaeus Mora off outright is trying to hide information from him, even if it's only of passing interest; his usual politeness ends there, and he will kill you even for some data that would barely interest even a dedicated historian. When he kills Miraak, it's implied that the actual plot to betray him didn't bother him, it was thinking he could hide the plot from him in his own realm that got his tentacles in a twist.
  • In the series' backstory, Pelinal Whitestrake, the legendary hero of mankind/racist berserker, is believed to have been a Shezarrine, a physical incarnation of the spirit of the "dead" creator god Lorkhan (known to the Imperials as "Shezarr"). However, suggesting that Pelinal is a god, or an aspect of a god, or divine in any way, or making any mention of what he considers "god-logic", is not advisable. One Nedic soldier who suggested this to him was "smothered by moths" in his sleep.

    The Fate Series 
  • Fate/Grand Order:
    • In the Battle For New York challenge quest involving Eric Bloodaxe where Gunnhild, his witchly wife, is supporting him, do not use Charm effects on him. Gunnhild is very, very attached to Eric and will freak out at the possibility of him being in love with someone else, such that doing this is a good way to get your entire party afflicted with over a dozen Curse Amplifiers.
    • Lying to Kiyohime is one of the absolute worst things you can do with her — enough so that according to official material, she will take a Command Seal from anyone who does it, whether she's seen through the lie or not.
    • Penthesilea has two really big ones: being called beautiful in any way, and Achilles, who only complimented her on her beauty rather than her strength after she went all out to try to best him. The latter pisses her off so much that she cannot stand his name even being mentioned within earshot (which, given Penth's Super-Hearing, is pretty damn far).
    • Do not say anything about Scathach's age. When Caster Cu did this, she tried to kick the Gae Bolg onto him.
    • Do not call Francis Drake old unless you want to get shot out of a cannon. When Blackbeard calls her an "old hag" in Okeanos, Drake goes off on him in a big way.
    • Medusa has height issues, but in her case, it's comments about being too tall that set her off.
    • Medea in the meantime hates it when couples like Sakamoto and Oryou get lovey-dovey with each other, considering her own romantic history.
    • Do not disturb Murasaki Shikibu's library, as she will immediately drop her Yamato Nadeshiko persona to deal with those who do so.
    • Fuuma Kotarou does not take kindly to any assertion that the Fuuma clan is in any way inferior to the Iga and Kouga clans.
    • Don't be a Saber or a Saberface around Mysterious Heroine X. The entire plot of the Saber Wars event is about her wanting to kill every last one of them.
    • Berserker Lancelot has similar issues regarding Artoria or anyone who looks like her, to the point that he will go out of his way to target them over other Servants in battles with him (such as Jeanne during the battle with him in the First Singularity).
    • For Antonio Salieri, anything to do with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart will send him into a complete and utter rage due to him being Driven by Envy.
    • Edmond Dantès loses it when the Ruler servants in his event talk about the salvation of his soul. As an Avenger Servant, he is barred from the redemption the original Edmond Dantès eventually found and is pretty bitter about it.
  • Fate/Samurai Remnant: Saber claims to be very famous, so when their Master Miyamoto Iori asks who they are, they become really insulted and refuse to reveal their name, calling Iori stupid for not recognizing them.

    Final Fantasy 
  • Final Fantasy VI: Locke goes nuts whenever someone calls him a thief. He prefers to be known as a "treasure hunter".
  • Final Fantasy VII: Cid's pretty protective of his toys, such as the Tiny Bronco and the Highwind. He's also extremely upset about Shinra's decision to cancel its space program.
  • Final Fantasy X:
    • Machina and Al Bhed are initially Berserk Buttons for Wakka — using machina or being of Al Bhed heritage is a good way to get yourself on his bad side. He does mellow out about it later on in the game though.
    • Also, don't talk about Chappu in front of Lulu.
    • Rikku apparently can't stand people who just blindly follow Yevon's teachings without thinking for themselves, as shown when she chews Wakka out for it shortly after her (proper) introduction.
  • Final Fantasy XIV: Don't get Alisaie mixed up for her twin brother Alphinaud.

    The Legend of Zelda 
  • The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask:
    • The Happy Mask Salesman keeps up that perpetual smile until you tell him that you haven't gotten his precious mask back yet.
    • Anju's mom doesn't react well if you talk to her while wearing Kafei's mask.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: There's a shrine quest involving a crazy flower lady and her flower bed, which she is extremely overprotective of. There's a path leading to the shrine among the flowers, but step on them three times, and you'll end up on the wrong end of a Roaring Rampage of Revenge from her note . And boy, oh boy, are the Chu-Chus that pop up from the ground just itching to take advantage of such a scenario...

    Mass Effect 
  • Do not open a mass relay without knowing where it leads first. The Council... frowns upon such shenanigans.
  • Don't imply to Zaeed Massani that his vengeance-turned-obsession against Vido Santiago is a mere grudge. He will flip his shit.
  • Liara hits the Shadow Broker's Berserk Button by speculating that he was taken from his homeworld by a trophy hunter who wanted a slave... or a pet. A text file from the previous Broker reveals that this is a weakness shared by the rest of its species: when calm, they are terrifying and calculating. When angry, they become mindless berserkers that, while still formidable, are easier to bring down.
  • You may also wish to avoid even suggesting that Grunt is not a true krogan, unless you like walking around without a head.
  • In the Citadel DLC, Shepard frowns upon those who would belittle their friends, steal their ship, or god forbid try to send their poor pet hamster to an animal shelter for "proper disposal"!
    Shepard: (S)He messed with my hamster, guys. Now It's Personal.

    Sonic the Hedgehog 
  • Sonic's berserk button is calling him a rat. Erazor Djinn pushes it in Sonic and the Secret Rings and... yeah... let's just say Erazor probably wishes he was dead right now.
  • Rouge finds out the hard way that Tails does not like it when people flirt with him.
  • Do not tell Amy Rose that Sonic doesn't feel the same way about her or that she doesn't have a snowball's chance with him, unless you want a hammer to the head. Not even the object of her affections himself is safe from this.
  • Infinite from Sonic Forces does not like being called weak. "Episode Shadow" reveals that after a humiliating defeat at the hands of the titular hedgehog, Shadow rubs salt in the wounds by telling him how pathetic he is. This drives Infinite to insanity and is what causes him to go From Nobody to Nightmare.

Other examples:

  • Akanesasu Sekai de Kimi to Utau:
    • Mistake Yui Shōsetsu for a woman and he flies into a shrieking rage. The fact he looks oh so very much like a lady doesn't help.
    • Soga no Umako will only get angry when he is called an old man.
  • Alpha Protocol:
    • Steven Heck's a pretty fun guy, and plenty friendly for a highly talented super-spy. Still, don't call him "Steve". He'll set you on fire. After cutting off some of your fingers. Yeah, fun guy, not sane. And for god's sake don't make him think you took his keys. Even if you didn't do it, he'll tie you up, beat the crap out of you, possibly make you drink laundry detergent, and then when that's not enough, he might decide to implicate you in the assassination of a world leader to take heat off another he may like more. Poor Wen.
    • Conrad Marburg despises unprofessionalism. By taking advantage of this (and doing some research) Mike can actually goad Marburg into fighting to the death rather than simply retreating.
    • Albatross is quite sensitive about anything to do with his bodyguard Sis. Asking questions will tick him off.
  • AMC Squad:
    • Zaxtor Znort hates it when his homeland of Madagascar is defiled by alien presences. When he discovers from James that a group of Cycloids have built a base in a jungle in his homeland, he decides that the way to go is to kill every last alien bastard and cultist and destroy the base.
    • Highwire doesn't like political inaction, especially during crises and other times that require direct action. When his home country of Russia is taken over by a far-right political movement and his countrymen are suffering from it, and the Earth Defense Force refuses to act for superfluous reasons, Highwire leaves the EDF in disgust and decides to take matters into his own hands - by helping out the rebels, instead.
    • One-shot villain Maddrax flies off the handle when James calls his overcoat baby blue instead of ultramarine, and responds by shooting him with a minigun.
  • Do not touch the eggs of the Angry Birds unless you want to find out why they have the name.
  • Hit the reset button on a game of Animal Crossing? Expect to be visited by a mole named Mr. Resetti who proceeds to give you an angry talking to. Hitting the reset button is literally his berserk button.
  • Asura from Asura's Wrath has a few of these. He does not take kindly to being called a god or worshipped like one, mainly because of the behavior of the "gods" he is trying to take down, who betrayed him, murdered his wife Durga, kidnapped his daughter Mithra, and make a habit of harvesting Mantra from innocent humans by killing them.
  • In Backyard Sports, Maria Luna says that she is like this whenever Kimmy Eckman destroys her pony dolls.
  • Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning:
    • Baldi cannot stand having wrong answers on his math problems, upon which he will hunt down the player to teach them a lesson. And the worst part is that the third question in the second notebook and onwards is an unsolvable mess, forcing you to enrage Baldi on purpose. Heck, one of the two things he says when you fail a question is...
      Baldi: I get angrier for every problem you get wrong.
    • Mrs. Pomp seems much nicer than Baldi in comparison and will even invite you to her classes. Get there on time and she will praise you and dismiss the class. However, if you fail to get to her classes on time, well... brace yourself for lots of loud, rapid-fire stomping and a good dose of Sensory Abuse.
  • Raphael, from Baldur's Gate III, is Affably Evil most of the time, and rarely gets angry: even if you continually refuse to make a deal with him, he won't be anymore than mildly miffed, but still patient — as a demon, he can afford to play the long game. However, he is also a Control Freak who absolutely cannot abide people intruding upon his home uninvited and making a mess of things. And he goes ballistic if you mock his lack of sexual prowess.
    Raphael: If you have any last words, make it quick. It will only take a moment to finish you.
    Player Character: That's twice as long as Haarlep said it takes to finish you.
    Raphael: You contemptuous CREATURE!
  • In Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Haggard flips out when their Blackhawk pilot mentions being a pacifist.
  • Bendy and the Ink Machine:
    • "Bendy" doesn't take kindly to his cut-outs being destroyed.
      Alice: Ah, now that was fun! Oh! But I forgot to mention... he hates it when I do that. I would hide if I were you.
    • Bertrum Piedmont was not amused when Joey Drew referred to him as "Bertie".
  • BioShock:
    • Sander Cohen has a few of these buttons. Harm his art, interrupt his music, even doubt him (or, as the player finds, be suspected of doubting him) and you better be ready for a face full of fire. Even before he went (completely) crazy, he used his connection to Andrew Ryan to have the police secretly kill Anna Culpepper just because she criticized his music.
    • Dr. Steinman will horrifically mutilate you if you don't fit his standard of beauty. Which pretty much no one does, since his standard of beauty is the works of Pablo Picasso.
  • Borderlands series:
    • Top on the list of things that piss off Mister Torgue: dissing video games that he likes (and if you give it an average score and then say it sucks, God help you) and laser weapons (they don't explode, ergo, they are a travesty).
    • Do not give Tiny Tina oatmeal raisin cookies. People will die.
    • Headshots are the most common way to finish off enemies. But shooting off a Goliath's helmet will cause him to flip the fuck out and become a berserker who gets more powerful the more of his fellow bad guys he kills on his way to you.
  • Dr. Neurosis from Brain Dead 13. Don't call him "average". Just don't.
  • Don't call Gary from Bully boring. While he doesn't completely flip his shit, he still overreacts.
  • In Call of Duty: Black Ops, don't mention Dragovich, Steiner, or Krevchenko anywhere within fifty feet of Alex Mason. Especially if you are Dragovich, Steiner, or Kravchenko. He will kill you.
  • In the Command & Conquer games, if you so much as lay a finger on the AI's resource harvesters, you'll find yourself at the receiving end of a massive all-out attack by the computer's forces. The AI doesn't mind if you kill its harvesters with air or naval units, or landmines though.
  • Cuphead: Don't make King Dice lose a bet against you, or he will pull you through a Boss Bonanza in an effort to defeat you.
  • Darkest Dungeon:
    • In the Crimson Court DLC, chopping down the Fanatic's pyre replaces the attack he usually uses to tie someone up and burn them to smack your whole party with Fury of the Righteous; the rest of his attacks, already painful on their own, proceed as normal.
    • Similarly, don't touch Wilbur when you're fighting the Swine King. Doing the little guy any amount of damage at all will cause the big guy to unleash Enraged Destruction on your whole party, which has a high chance to crit and a high chance to stun.
  • Dark Souls 2:
    • Grave Warden Agdayne is for the most part personable and friendly to anyone who visits the Undead Crypt... unless they bring a torch. Agdayne hates light because it disturbs the rest of the dead, and he takes his job as caretaker of the Crypt, as well as the dead souls resting within it, very seriously.
    • The Fume Knight, also known as Sir Raime, is normally a two-stage boss battle: he wields a normal sword in his off hand in addition to his gigantic greatsword, and after losing some health he will get serious and start wielding the greatsword alone while powered up with dark flames. However, if you enter the fight wearing any of Velstadt's equipment, Raime will attack with full force from the get-go. Players who pay attention to the lore will know why: The two used to be partners and comrades, but when Raime dared to suggest that Vendrick was taking actions that were dangerous to the kingdom (which he was), Velstadt fought and exiled Raime rather than hear any word against his King.
  • Dead Rising 2:
    • The mentally handicapped tiger trainer Ted takes great offense to being called "slow". Note that simply using the word "slow" around him in any context is enough to make him think you're calling him that. Reminder that he has a trained tiger at his command.
    • Postal worker Carl Schliff takes his job seriously. So seriously that when he realizes he's talking to Chuck Greene, whom the media has blamed for causing the zombie outbreak, he tries to murder Chuck with a shotgun and mail bombs because the zombie outbreak ruined his perfect mail delivery record. In Off the Record, he's even worse, trying to kill Frank just because he signed for a package that wasn't intended for him (which he was perfectly willing to let Chuck do).
  • Devil May Cry 4 has Agnus, who runs a secret underground lab beneath the Order's HQ. He does not take kindly to Nero calling the place a hellhole or making fun of his stutter, and both acts get him mad enough to send the Gladii after him in one of the more annoying boss battles in the game.
  • Digital Devil Saga:
  • Disgaea:
  • In Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga, the dragon knight Amdusias absolutely loathes his former master, Maxos, and will freak out at the mere mention of his name. You can not only mention it multiple times before fighting him, but also confront his soul in the Hall of Echoes and say it again, and much later you can instruct a man on the verge of dying to carry a message for you, saying it again.
  • Donkey Kong: DK will show no mercy to those who are stupid enough to steal his Banana Hoard; just ask K. Rool and the Tikis. Tropical Freeze has a related example when the second boss, Scowl, puts a banana on an altar and smashes it with a hammer. Donkey Kong smashes the altar with his bare hands (though to be fair, he was aiming for Scowl).
  • Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker: Don't call Solitaire by her birth name. This applies to humans and monsters.
  • Dungeon Keeper 2: Break a hero's spirit through torture? Fine. Send them into battle against their former comrades? No problem. Control them with casual beatings? Not ideal, but acceptable within limits. Make them bunk in the same room as their Evil Counterpart Race? They will rebel against you.
  • Dynasty Warriors: If Sima Shi is eating meat buns, don't try to take them away from him. He doesn't like that.
  • Eagle Eye Mysteries in London gives us Nigel Eagle, who'll chow down on fish and chips at every opportunity, plays cricket like any English chap, and is usually very cheery and chummy. He will not, however, take it very well if you cheat at chess, which he considers a royal game.
  • Echocalypse: Katch will come after your hide if you scribble or intend to scribble on the books she guards such as one blonde girl during one of the events.
  • In Façade (2005), Trip will throw you out of the apartment if he gets offended enough. Curiously enough, one of the most well-known ways to do this is by saying "melon" in any context.
  • Fallen London:
    • Whenever you're talking with any of the masters of the Bazaar, don't bring up the Second City under any circumstances. Each of them will lash out in a different way, including such things as giving you blatantly subpar merchandise or reading you the riot act for being a discourteous twit, but it's a topic that will piss off every single one off them.
    • Jack-of-Smiles is already an Ax-Crazy Psycho Knife Nut that will stab the hell out of you if he so much as spots you (and then get pissy at the fact Death is Cheap and you just got back up), but do not call him Smiles if you don't want him to be thorough about it. Getting up from a Slashed Throat is one thing, coming back from being sliced into tiny pieces and scattered all over the streets is another.
  • Fallout: New Vegas:
    • In the Old World Blues DLC, Dr. 0 despises Mr. House and anything designed by RobCo, which includes your Pip-Boy. You can even find a picture of House with knives stabbed all over it in his house in Higgs Village.
    • Ulysses of the Lonesome Road DLC despises those who use symbols without any understanding as to their meanings. Notably, he's offended by the White Legs braiding their hair in dreadlocks in honor of him, since they actually served a symbolic purpose in his former tribe while the White Legs simply did it because they thought it looked cool.
    • Mr. House really hates the Brotherhood of Steel and isn't shy at all telling you about it. He's also not shy about telling you how much he doesn't like it when you refuse to give him the Platinum Chip in front of him, at maximum length, volume, and ferocity.
      Mr. House: Do you really think I'm going to let an upstart come into my home, and ransom my property to me!? I spent two centuries searching for the Platinum Chip! It's my invention, my property, mine! Now be a good courier and deliver it!
    • Caesar himself has a number of Berserk Buttons which cut right through his calm and sophisticated front and expose the megalomaniacal monster dwelling underneath. Among these are Joshua Graham, questioning him, or being told "no".
  • In Fire Emblem Engage, Griss, one of the Four Hounds is usually eerily calm when he's not taking masochistic glee in his enemies inflicting pain on him. However, when Alear politely asks why he's so loyal to the Hounds' leader Zephia, someone who killed their fellow Hound Marni for trying to save Veyle, during the final battle with Griss and Zephia, Griss becomes furious at the idea Alear would sympathize with him.
    Griss: Worried about little old Griss! That's an insult to me and Zephia! I won't forgive that ever. Ever! EVER!
  • Freedom Planet brings us Sash Lilac, who does not take kindly to being called "sparkly twit". Serpentine learns that the hard way.
    Serpentine: Hold it right there, you sparkly twit!
    Lilac: What did you call me?!
    Serpentine: You think you can just walk into this conflict, don't you? Well I have news for you... This isn't your fight!
    Lilac: It was the moment you brought it to our homeworld!
    Serpentine: So, the duck-man couldn't keep his mouth shut... Well I hope he realizes that he just cost you your life!
    Lilac: You'll have to take it first, snake man! [goes whaling on Serpentine]
  • Freedom Planet 2 has this dialogue that gets Lilac cheesed off.
    Syntax: WELCOME. PLEASE STATE YOUR IDENTITY.
    Lilac: "Uh... Sash Lilac!"
    Syntax: I'M SORRY. I DID NOT UNDERSTAND "sash lie lack". DID YOU MEAN "SQUIDHEAD"?
    Lilac: "WHAT?! Ooooooooh...! Someone is definitely going to pay for that, and I get the feeling I know who!"
    Syntax: ENEMIES DETECTED. EXECUTING SLAUGHTER SEQUENCE #2. (cue boss fight)
  • Girls' Frontline has quite a few, despite a lot of the cast being androids:
    • 416 has two: being compared to the AR Team and talking about her being a lightweight.
    • Both M1895, MP5, and Judge do not take kindly to comments about their short height.
    • AR15 is touchy about her "small magazine size".
    • Galil will laugh out any comments about her weight. With her finger on the trigger.
    • MAT-49 will go ballistic as soon as anybody mentions her polar opposite and real-life successor FAMAS.
  • God of War: Notwithstanding Kratos being Unstoppable Rage incarnate, he does have two buttons that will ensure your death wil be especially brutal. The first is bringing up the failures of his past. The second is insulting Pandora.
  • Kratos has calmed down a good bit by God of War (PS4), but he's still got that temper, and a few new buttons to go with it. The first is threatening Atreus (an excellent way to get yourself on the wrong end of Spartan Rage), the second is referring to him as the Ghost of Sparta, and the third is ordering him to kill something. He's fine with killing people in defense of himself and his friends, but he's done with being a divine attack dog. If he fights, it's on his own initiative.
  • God of War Ragnarök: Don't insult Thor's family, don't pity Heimdall, and never question Odin. Doing any of these is in an invitation of immediate violence on the part of the Aesir in question.
  • Kornell goes nuts and breaks out of a trap in Grandia III when Miranda calls him a "muscle-bound peabrain".
  • Granblue Fantasy: Calling Vyrn a "lizard" will always end with him shouting "I ain't a lizard" in response (he is actually a small dragon). This becomes a Running Gag in the game, as almost all recruitable characters will mistake Vyrn for a lizard the first time they meet. Well, except for Ayer, who correctly identifies Vyrn as a dragon from the start.
  • Grand Theft Auto:
    • CJ from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas reacts very badly to being called a "bustah". Badly enough that the game goes to pot whenever someone does... Also, do not talk smack about his sister Kendl. In the "Deconstruction" mission, when he hears about how a bunch of construction workers were calling Kendl a hooker, C.J. pays a visit to the construction site, thoroughly trashes the place, and, just to top things off, traps the boss of the place in an outhouse, dumps him in a hole, and buries him alive in cement. Damn. Just damn.
    • Trevor from Grand Theft Auto V has a Hair-Trigger Temper at the best of times, but three things in particular are guaranteed to make him go berserk; using the insult "motherfucker" (he's implied to have some serious mommy issues), mocking his Canadian heritage, and anything at all to do with hipsters.
  • Guilty Gear:
    • Sol Badguy has one particular Berserk Button: That Man.
      Sol: Son of a...! I swear upon my life... I'll get my revenge!
    • May also has a Berserk Button that can be pressed when you're bald. She hates baldies so much that she'd attack any bald person in sight.
  • Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure: No one rejects Lady D. Do it and she'll bring out her giant cake of death of on you.
  • Injustice: Gods Among Us:
    • Regime Superman has several of these, all of which tend to end badly for those who hit them:
      • Anything related to the fugitive Batman, his biggest opposition and the leader of the Insurgency opposed to his Regime, has become this to him in Year Two of the prequel comics. By Year Five, the year the game takes place in the Injustice universe, he's practically obsessed.
      • Do not ask what Lois would think of his present actions. Ever. In fact, criticizing him at all is liable to get you killed, as poor Billy Batson learned the hard way. Deep inside, he is aware that Lois would disapprove of his actions, even if he did it in her memory, but his grief prevents him from moving on.
      • Anything to do with the Joker, whose actions in the Injustice-verse led to his Start of Darkness. This not only gets Injustice!Lex Luthor (who is nowhere near the villain he is in the regular DC Universe) killed, but everyone in the Joker Underground, an offshoot of the Insurgency who idolizes the maniac who blew up Metropolis and got Lois and Superman's unborn kid killed.
    • Never tell Thaal Sinestro that there's someone more important than he is. He's that much of a raging egomaniac.
  • Jericho:
    • Don't call Billie "Wilhelmina". Only her father calls her "Wilhelmina"!!
    • Don't damage Cole's computer. Cole does have an anti-berserk button as well, though. Ask her about maths, and she calms right down.
  • KanColle: Don't call the Yamato a hotel. She's still sore about not getting to see much action because she's Awesome, but Impractical.
  • Kid Icarus: Uprising:
    • Palutena will go off on anyone who calls her ma'am.
    • Dark Pit does not take kindly to anyone calling him "Pittoo".
    • Hades will not stand for anyone questioning his rule. Medusa learned this the hard way.
  • Kindergarten:
    • The Ax-Crazy janitor has several of them. If you 1) point out his mistakes, 2) go into his closet, or 3) correct his spelling, you'll be lucky if he only beats you half to death.
    • It's a really bad idea to throw something into the Nugget Cave, the pit Nugget dug in the sandbox, without his consent. If you do, he'll throw you into it, and since the cave is very deep...
  • Kingdom Hearts: When Lexaeus says "Don't mock me," he means it.
  • Killer Frequency:
    • The "Whistling Night" pranks really anger the Whistling Man. One of the few victims you can't save prank-called the station earlier pretending to be the Whistling Man and threatened to cut off Forrest's face, which is exactly what the Whistling Man ends up doing to him.
    • Any time Brian Ponty calls to plug his pizza parlor serves as this for Forrest. Forrest already doesn't like other people plugging ads in non-commercial breaks, but Ponty's persistent calls drove him into pure Angrish on the pizza parlor owner's third attempt.
    • "Long Ride Home" by The Barn Finds drove Peggy so batty after repeated playing that the normally perky and pleasant producer pitched the vinyl out the window in a fit of rage. This is apparently her sister's favorite song.
  • The King of Fighters:
    • Never remind Kyo Kusanagi that he's a higschool drop-out.
    • Don't tell Kula Diamond that she's Just a Kid, either. Worse, don't have/use fire powers against her unless your name is K'.
    • Kim Kaphwan will not stand for anyone even looking like they're evil. His Catchphrase is "I won't forgive evildoing" for a reason.
    • Shen Woo gets pissed if you dare doubt or insult his fighting skills. And for some reason, he really fucking hates Chin Gentsai's mere presence.
    • Mai Shiranui is mostly a stripperiffic but also friendly and kindhearted Genki Girl, but there are four things that absolutely set her off:
      • One, if she asks you where her beloved Andy Bogard is, do not give her an answer that doesn't sound like his whereabouts, for she is most devoted to Andy ever since she was a child. (Not even his older brother Terry can get away with that one. And he weaponizes it to get under Andy's skin once.)
      • Second: Do not mock or question her clothes (or lack thereof) in any way. Even if you merely insinuate that she should change her looks, Mai will take it very badly (Actually, do it, since it will always bring up the hilarity).
      • Third: Don't insinuate that she's getting old. Seeing Athena in her highschool uniform has her first recalling her schoolgirl years with affection, and then believing that Athena is calling her an Old Maid. (And poor Athena does not get what's going on.)
      • Fourth (and arguably the biggest of them all): Don't you ever dare question or challenge her position as the Top 1 Japanese woman, since she takes huge pride in her own worth, and insinuating that she can't do something or win a fight will have her go Hot-Blooded on you.
  • Kirby:
    • Do not steal Kirby's food. He will go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge throughout Dreamland and devour/beat up everything in his way.
    • In one cutscene in Kirby's Epic Yarn, when Prince Fluff knocks Kirby off of a tree, after a Big-Lipped Alligator Moment, the pink puffball gets angry and runs after him. note  Kirby chases Fluff for so darned long that he forgets all about being hungry.
    • Hyness of Kirby Star Allies is said to have a complex about his face. After taking out half of his life gauge, his face is exposed via half his cloak blowing away... and what remains of his sanity with it.
  • L.A. Noire: Do not call the recently deceased Courtney Sheldon, a former soldier in Cole's platoon on Okinawa back in WWII, a druggie. Cole will pull out his gun, aim it at you, and threaten to blow your fucking head off if you say one more word about him. Oh, and for that matter, don't withhold information that could help him arrest a culprit, especially when women and children are involved and are the victims.
  • League of Legends: Although Veigar is always trying to intimidate people, he becomes disproportionately angry if you call him short.
  • The Witch in Left 4 Dead is the most passive enemy in the game, not attacking until you shine a flashlight on her, bump into her, or do anything to disturb the woman. She then promptly stands up and annihilates the person responsible before bursting into tears and shrieking as she runs away from the survivors.
  • Don't ever mess with Ed Edison's hamster in Maniac Mansion. Remembering the events of the first game don't sit too well with him either in Day of the Tentacle. He also reacts poorly to messing with his stamp collection in DotT, because it's his therapy for the hamster incident.
  • Mega Man:
    • In Mega Man X: Command Mission, Resistance member Steel Massimo has a bit of an idol issue. Never speak poorly of his predecessor sharing the same name. Especially do not call him "weak", "feeble", or mock tearing him apart while saying "rrrriiiiiiipppppp". You will be thrown through a wall... if you're lucky. To put it into perspective, the Reploid that decides to do this is the massive Triceratops-based Silver Horn, who's twice as tall as Massimo and built like a tank. He gets sent flying across the room and onto his ass with one blow.
      Steel: Feeble Massimo? FEEBLE Massimo?! *growl* You sonuva—
      The memory of your insulting him will not wash away, either. A copy Reploid impersonating Silver Horn appears in the obligatory Mega Man Boss Rush. Massimo treats him as if he was the real deal, stating his intent to take the guy out.
    • Rockman 4 Minus ∞: Pharaoh Man gets pretty upset when you destroy the statues in his pyramid, and later blasts Mega Man through the roof of the pyramid when he destroys a coffin.
    • Mega Man Zero: Copy-X seems to have a Hair-Trigger Temper already (at least when he's about to do battle). He's a mix of Knight Templar and immature, spoiled brat who knows nothing of true adversities or sacrifices, any of those things that made the original X a true hero. Tell that truth to him at your own risk... like Zero does. Needless to say, Copy-X takes this as a major insult on his "heroic" character (since he believes himself superior in every way to the original X) and, hating Zero already, becomes exponentially more desperate to crush Zero dead as a doornail.note  Turns out, he manages to only crush himself while Zero (narrowly) escapes unharmed.
  • Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater: Whatever you do, do not let yourself get caught posing as Raikov by Volgin, or else he will give you hell to pay before torturing you, or attack you even faster than before.
  • Mike Shadow: I Paid for It!: Losing even a single coin to a vending machine enrages Mike to such an extent that he decides to brutally beat the machine that did it.
  • Endermen from Minecraft are normally passive unless you look directly at them, which seems to make them fly into a murderous rage.
  • In Mitsumete Knight, a few characters have Berserk Buttons:
  • Mortal Kombat has plenty of this:
    • Mileena: Seeing another clone of herself.
    • Erron Black: Being mocked or insulted is a quickfire way to get shot.
    • Kano: Being misnamed and finding out that he has been cloned.
    • Liu Kang: Raiden, after the events of Mortal Kombat 9.
    • Kung Lao: Being misnamed and deemed weaker than Liu Kang.
    • Sonya Blade: Being reminded that she married Johnny. Also, Kano in general, whom she has a long-standing hatred for.
    • Ferra: Being deemed a twin alongside Torr, as well as Kotal Kahn to a lesser degree.
    • Kitana: Anyone with the title of "Kahn", as well as her evil clone Mileena.
    • Takeda: Being mocked, and Kenshi initially (whom he had a less-than-friendly relationship with).
    • Shinnok: Johnny Cage, who bests him in the opening events of Mortal Kombat X.
    • Onaga: Anything involving Shao Kahn, especially anyone who thinks they can take the right to beat/kill him away from him.
  • Mr. TomatoS: Mr. Tomatos' anger meter goes up every time you feed him the incorrect food item or put all of the food in the blender. If that meter gets filled up, Mr. Tomatos unleashes a more demonic form out for the player's blood. Using the poison on him during the Boss Battle will also anger him, so to defeat him, you must simultaneously feed him food and poison.
  • Neptunia:
    • There are two things that will make Blanc go from a calm stoic to being short-tempered and foul-mouthed: Rom and Ram drawing over her books and anyone (usually Vert) mentioning or making fun of her chest size, especially the latter. In VII, she also shows annoyance over C-sha calling her "Blanny".
    • Similarly, do not make fun of Nisa's bust size (or lack thereof) either, unless you're willing to get beaten up by the heroine of justice.
    • If you don't wanna piss off Vert, specifically her Ultradimension counterpart, then don't have bigger boobs than her, and if you do, get the fuck outta Leanbox.
    • Don't call Rei a psycho or anything to a similar effect while she's... unhinged.
    • Don't be a CPU of Planeptune and be lazy for years on end, lest you suffer getting lectured by Histoire. Also, don't point out Ultradimension Histoire's low processing power.
  • The Neverhood: Do not mess with Bil's teddy bear.
  • In the first chapter of the Neverwinter Nights mod The Bastard of Kosigan, the player character gets really, really pissed off when any Germans mix up France and Burgundy.
  • No Man's Sky: Asides from their nature-preserving tendencies, the Sentinels have marked certain worlds off-limits. These planets have the Frenzied rating for the Sentinel population, usually due to an "Endangered" resource on the planet. Taking any of these resources prompts a strong attack from the robots immediately, and they will attack the player on sight regardless.
  • Octopath Traveler: Calling Tressa "little" riles her up, though not nearly to the same extent as a certain physically handicapped alchemist. Primrose in particular enjoys teasing Tressa for her relative youth, much to Tressa's indignation. A conversation between the two in Primrose's Chapter 3 even has Tressa respond to her teasing with "Hey! Who are you calling little?"
  • OFF: If you piss off/upset an Elsen normally, they'll become a regular Burnt and attack you, which pose little threat. If you threaten to take away their sugar, however, they'll become a Calvary-Burnt, and try to shred you with their huge new-found claws. It's worth noting that Elsens are normally so easily frightened that a rollercoaster that was actually a bunch of immobile chairs was still too much for them, and yet they'll easily slaughter spectres when their sugar's threatened. Of course, it makes sense when you find out they're addicted to it.
  • Overwatch: Don't break Winston's glasses, unless you want him to go apeshit on you. He also doesn't take kindly to being called a "monkey".
  • Persona:
    • Persona 3's and 4's Superbosses Elizabeth and Margaret will kill you dead on the spot with a 9999-damage Megidolaon if you have a Persona with any sort of immunity.
    • Persona 4:
      • An individual's Shadow will go berserk if the person in question says anything to the effect of "You're not me!" When this happens, it usually ends badly for anyone who doesn't have a Persona. For those who do have Personas, however, it's Boss Battle time.
      • It's not a good idea to use the word "strange" around Kanji Tatsumi, or imply that he's gay ("You sayin' I like dudes?!").
      • Teddie goes bear-serk when Mitsuo calls him a freak.
      • Naoto will not stand for weird nicknames or being called "useless".
    • Persona 5
      • Calling Morgana a cat is this for him at first, but he gets used to it after a while (though he still doesn't really like it).
      • Ryuji hates being called "stupid", a button Morgana presses regularly.
      • Do not accuse Shadow Sae of cheating. If you enter the battle against her with Joker alone, Futaba accuses her of cheating after a while, and the mere accusation makes her angry enough that she goes into her berserk form immediately.
      • Yusuke will not forgive those who harm or insult art in any way. During his Confidant, he also gets very angry and indignant at the prospect of himself or his art being marketed or "sold" in a certain way.
      • Don't mess up Futaba's Featherman figurines. Yusuke doing so is the first non-serious thing in the game that makes her get really mad and start yelling at him.
  • In Phasmophobia, calling a ghost by the name it had in life will make it very aggressive, very quickly. It is implied that hearing their name hurts them and causes them to lash out. Swearing has the same effect, but moreso.
  • Plants vs. Zombies: The newspaper-reading zombie really gets pissed when you ruin his paper.
  • Pokémon:
    • Some Lasses will use your locking eyes with them alone as pretext to fight you.
      Lass Janice: You looked at me, didn't you?
    • Super Nerd Miguel will challenge anyone who he assumes is going for his fossils. When you walk up to him, he'll assume you're a plainclothes Rocket (and there actually is one at the end of the Nugget Bridge a bit later on) and tell you off right before the fight begins.
      Super Nerd Miguel: Hey, stop! I found these fossils! They're both mine!
    • Diamond and Pearl added a new ability, Anger Point, which makes its user's Berserk Button Critical Hits: If they're hit by a critical move, they receive the highest possible boost to their attack stat.
    • X and Y: Claiming that Pokémon battles can't ever be considered art in front of Siebold is a very bad idea. Just listen to him lecture you about it.
      Siebold: Fool! You silly, unseeing child! If all you seek in life is to fill your stomach with some tasteless matter, then why are there Chefs in this world?! We labor tirelessly to make something wonderful that will disappear from sight as soon as it is enjoyed. That is the life of a Chef! That is the life of a Trainer!
  • In Portal 2, Wheatley's reaction to being called a moron is a clear indication that you should Beware the Nice Ones. Even GLaDOS, who prides herself on insulting anyone and everyone in every way possible, recognises that it's a bad idea.
    GLaDOS: I may have taken that moron thing a bit too far this time...
  • The whole point of Postal 2 is that the protagonist, an average, down-on-his-luck citizen of a simple little town, can go on a mass-murdering rampage while performing boring, menial tasks that try their hardest to frustrate him. The catch is that the player can choose to do so or not.
  • Professor Layton: Luke, Layton's apprentice (number one!) will absolutely flip his shit if you insult the professor in any manner. This can be anything from doubting his puzzle-solving prowess to simply being "rude" to him (like, by asking him to leave the scene of a crime). He's quite the fanboy.
  • Punch-Out!!:
    • Narcis Prince in Super Punch Out!! admires his face a ton. If you even punch his beautiful face once, he'll get pissed off and become more aggressive with his attacks. His berserk button is turned off if you manage to knock him down.
    • The Wii game:
      • Aran Ryan will go berserk on you if you hit him with a super punch. However, this also presents an opportunity to trap him in a loop that leads to a guaranteed TKO.
      • Punching Soda Popinski's bottle out of his hand or nailing him with a Star Punch makes him go into an uppercut frenzy.
      • Don Flamenco flips out (read: stops taunting you and goes into an endless attack string) should you knock off his toupee.
      • Little Mac himself becomes one to Don Flamenco, Super Macho Man, and Mr. Sandman after they're defeated. Don tears up a poster of Little Mac before lifting weights, and Super Macho Man puts a Little Mac poster on the punching bag he's using after seeing his babes, paparazzi, and other media start surrounding Little Mac. Mr. Sandman? Well, just ask the rubble of the building that he destroys with his bare damn hands after he sees a Little Mac poster on it.
    • In the WiiWare game Doc Louis' Punch-Out!!, Doc Louis works almost the same way as Soda Popinski. Midway through the Sparring match, he will bring out a chocolate bar. If you let him eat it, he will restore all his stamina. If you manage to knock it off his hands, not only will it bring a very humorous warning by the WVBA, followed by Little Mac's humorous reaction when Doc Louis rips off his shirt, revealing a leopard sweater, but his speed is doubled, and he still gets to unavoidably eat another chocolate bar.
  • Ratchet & Clank: Never insult or threaten Veldin in Ratchet's presence (ex. referring to it as a "pathetic lump" that "no one will miss"), because if you do, you're dead meat with a side of fries.
  • Red Dead Redemption 2:
    • Arthur (who is very good looking) almost beats a guy to death in Chapter 2 for calling him a Pretty Boy.
    • Don't doubt Dutch's plans or question the things he does. He'll assume that you're not loyal to him and that you'll betray him, causing him to lash out at you out of the blue, even when you mean well. However, at the end, it is revealed that he's the one who betrays everyone, leaving them for dead.
    • Don't call Uncle "lazy". Or else he'll have many reasons to explain how he's not.
  • In the Edutainment game Redhook's Revenge, Redhook himself is decent and congenial for a pirate, even willing to give players the benefit of a doubt on certain trivia questions. If you try to buy supplies or cannons without having enough money for it, his demeanor changes abruptly.
    "TRYING TO CHEAT REDHOOK, ARE YE? When ye buy food ye bring gold, not talk! I'm gonna take ALL the gold you have left—next time it may be yer life!"
  • In the remake of Resident Evil 2, you can shoot off Mr. X's hat, but it will cause him to charge you and become more aggressive.
  • Nothing sets off Pavia from Reverse: 1999 quite like bad refrigerators. This is because he is incredibly fond of gelato, and a malfunctioning fridge will either be too warm and melt his beloved frozen treat, or worse, freeze it solid and render it totally inedible.
  • Roly Polys No Nanakorobiyaoki has Cho, who can't stand slow people. This leads him to torment Pon.
  • RosenkreuzStilette:
    • Zorne Sepperin is willing to mop the floor with anyone who hits her Berserk Button by either calling her a baka or by defeating Trau, accusing them of brainwashing her.
      Zorne: About time you showed up, Grolla! If it weren't for you, Trau would still be a part of RKS! You're gonna pay for that!
    • Whatever you do, don't humiliate Zorne, unless you want her close friend Trauare Wrede to come at you with her Chaos Spear Leviathan and "seal that impudent mouth of yours once and for all."
      Trauare: Grolla... it looks like Zorne was no match for you. I'll have to take this seriously, then.
    • Telling from her quote in her profile, Dolis Warmind doesn't take too well to being called small.
      Dolis: Hey! Don't call me small!
      This is indeed proven true during the encounter with her in Freudenstachel, where Strudel just so happens to "use the taboo" of calling her small as she says it, which causes her to go ballistic just before the battle starts.
    • Iris also doesn't take too well to any interference with her plans.
  • Saints Row:
    • Saints Row: The Third:
      • Killbane has a deliberately petty one: using his real name. Kiki DeWynter does it (twice), and he snaps her neck one-handed in an act of spectacular Disproportionate Retribution.
      • Phillipe Loren hates being called French, as he's actually Belgian. He lets the Saints off with a simple correction the first time, but when Johnny Gat does it a second time, he responds with Tranquil Fury and proclaims that he's going to cut that disrespectful tongue out of his mouth.
    • Saints Row IV:
      • The Boss and Pierce share a Berserk Button: when Zinyak interrupts their sing-along to Biz Markie's "Just a Friend".
        Boss: Zinyak ruined Biz Markie!
        Pierce: Man, I can't wait to kill that bitch!
      • Zinyak himself is a fan of Earth's classical music and literature, and hates it when someone dismisses or disrespects a piece he adores. For example, when DJing for the game's classical radio station, he closes out his announcement of Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" by threatening to execute anyone who dares refer to the piece as "the Dracula song".
      • If you value your limbs, do not mention the poodle skirt that Kinzie was forced to wear while trapped in an 1950s simulation by Zinyak.
  • The Secret World:
    • Dr Aldini hates Mary Shelley for an unflattering portrayal of his great-great-great-great grandfather in Frankenstein, and the mere thought of her is enough to kick off a string of Swedish expletives. He doesn't much appreciate being compared to Dr. Frankenstein either, and even implying it via silence can trigger a temper-tantrum.
    • Ricky Pagan despises the Orochi Group, the Brotherhood of Phoenician Sailors, and all expressions of "the corporate id"; even tertiary membership induces immediate disgust, and discovering the Phoenician logo tattooed on Kaoru's thigh actually ruined their friendship.
    • As a demon hunter, Gozen of the Jingu clan despises demons on general principle... but the merest concept of "good demons" like Inbeda makes her lose all composure.
    • In turn, Inbeda hates Gozen right back, and mentioning her name prompts a string of obscenities so virulent that his translator has to censor it lest the walls start to bleed.
    • Jung is very sensitive about his head, and because he's a telepath, he knows immediately when people are staring at it; for good measure, he's willing to psychically force the thoughts out of your head before he gets his temper under control, but he can still be heard irritably telling players to stop looking at his head outside of cutscenes.
    • The Black Signal (AKA John) is very territorial about his own memories and anything remotely connected to them — particularly the Dream Palace's A/V room. Trespassers will be subjected to progressively less-friendly attempts to get them to leave, until he just loses his temper and resorts to breaking every single piece of technology in an attempt to force them out. And once he catches you exploring his memories of his younger days, he decides turnabout is fair play and begins violently sorting through your memories instead.
  • Sengoku Basara:
    • Yoshiteru, despite having a generally cheerful and charismatic personality, isn't much in the way of having any True Companions, and on the inside is harbouring a deep feeling of loneliness and isolation that he'll never outwardly show. If you see through that and even go as far as saying that you understand how he feels, you'll be triggering the anger of the most powerful man in Japan, which to be frank isn't the wisest choice.
    • Be Masamune or Kenshin and Matabei will exhibit the full extent of his sadism in making sure that you die as slowly and painfully as possible.
    • Men in general are this to Naotora, unless you're Ieyasu, Tadakatsu, Keiji or Toshiie. The extremely manly Takeda Shingen pisses her off especially.
  • Sheep, Dog 'n' Wolf: For Yosemite Sam, it's getting near his ship.
  • Shin Megami Tensei:
    • This is a key element of demon conversations. Making the wrong conversation choices can cause the demon to do anything from ending the conversation, to leaving in disgust, to outright getting a free attack.
    • As a couple of Manikins learn in Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, do not summon Mara in a Slime body, whether intentionally or by rushing a summoning ritual. The resulting Torn King of Desire will find his Teeny Weenie form offensive and will attack the nearest person as a result.
  • As revealed in Dummied Out content in Silent Hill: Homecoming, don't ever tell Walter that his mother is not Apartment 302. The psychiatrist has to call for help because Walter, as a child, is attacking him.
  • In SimCity 2000, your transport advisor will go apeshit if you decide to cut back on transit funding.
    Transport Advisor: YOU CAN'T CUT BACK ON FUNDING! YOU WILL REGRET THIS!
  • Do not tell Dimitri from Sly 2: Band of Thieves that his suit sucks. Ever. Sly is able to handle his slang as best he can during their confrontation, but when he says that, Dimitri decides to fight him.
  • The titular Spooky from Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion is a Cute Ghost Girl, but she despises being called cute. In fact, the reason she built the mansion, captured monsters, and lured people inside to die was so she could build a ghost army and take over the world so people would stop calling her cute.
  • Star Control:
    • The Orz will get angry and attack you for asking too much about the Androsynth.
      Orz captain: Nnnggggaaaahhhhh!!!!!! It is dancing!!!!
    • Pointing out to the proudly evil Ilwrath that since their culture accepts evil, they are in fact good drives them berserk on the grounds that you're being annoying.
    • Ever since the Utwig broke their civilization-driving artifact by accident, they've been touchy about the issue. They've been almost suicidally depressed as a whole ever since, and have given it away to their allies so they won't have to see their precious artifact damaged like that. Take it and show it to them in its damaged form, and they will get so pissed at the "deliberate reminder of our ultimate failure" that the only way to stop them from killing you is to fix it yourself.
  • Star Wars Legends:
  • Street Fighter:
    • If you are Yun and/or Yang, don't leave home without telling Hoimei. She won't be pleased.
    • Vega will go absolutely batshit if his beautiful face is ever touched, double if you damage it, and triple if the one who damaged it was a young woman. In Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, he threatens to kill Chun-Li after she repels his attacks and rearranges his face with her foot. In the comics, he goes straight into kill mode when Eliza (then Ken's fiancée) so much as slaps him in the face (she's not a fighter like Chun-Li). If it wasn't for Ken arriving just in time, she'd have been torn to shreds.
    • Are you dumb enough to mock/question El Fuerte's Cool Mask? Or his cooking skills? Or his idol Rainbow Mika? Um, he may be a Joke Character, but it doesn't mean he won't try hurting you with a certain "infinite combo"...
      El Fuerte: Lay off the mask, amigo! I'll show you!
    • And in the case of Adon... don't be Sagat.
    • Probably the most extreme example is Decapre. While normally a cold, emotionless assassin, if she so much as gets a sideways glance at Cammy... RUN.
  • The Suffering: Though Torque is pretty much unflappable most of the time, do not belittle his relationship with his wife and his kids, who are the reason he's on death row.
  • Do not refer to Suikoden's Ronnie Bell as "Giant Woman". She will beat your ass to a bloody pulp.
  • Sunless Sea:
    • The Dark-Bespectacled Admiral will see his mood soured if anyone brings up either the Voracious Diplomat, whom he finds to be an utterly unprincipled scoundrel that would ruin the navy in the process of "fixing" London, and the Dawn Machine, whose control over the navy he utterly resents even as he hides it from everyone else that isn't you.
    • Pentecost apes may try to be civilized, but will remind you that they are still wild, feral, and dangerous animals if you call them monkeys. Doing so even by accident is not advisable if you want to remain alive.
    • Scrimshander's scribes will gladly allow you a measured amount of time in their archives if you bring them tales and coffee. Do not stay past this allotted time if you don't want to be mobbed by them and get evicted violently enough to actually lower your stats.
  • Sunless Skies: The Fatalistic Signalman will get quite annoyed if presented with wrongful procedure, especially if it's in official manuals. The one way to bring him out of a depressive funk he falls into is to present him with enough of such that he'd rather finish his work than let that kind of utter crud keep circulating as proper signaling procedure. In his defense, some of the mistakes proposed could genuinely get someone killed.
  • Super Action Adventure: Bear is a bear. He is not a fox, and he gets very mad when he hears people having such a discussion.
  • Super Mario Bros.:
    • Luigi has several: Don't make fun of his mustache, don't call him a pushover, and, if you value your life, do NOT call him a pushover and make fun of his mustache. The only person who dares to do both is a psychotic jester who can warp time and space. His game is over. Luigi is the one person in the party who doesn't help end his game, for obvious reasons.
    • Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door:
      • Do not mess with the Gamecube/Wii clock. Lucky, a Bob-Omb who runs the Happy Lucky Lottery, will almost give you a Game Over if you do it once because the Lottery runs on the console's clock, and if you want to continue playing, you need to pay 500 Coins. Do it again... well, Lucky warned you.
      • Don't read the Toad Ghost's diary. If you do, it pisses him off so much it's a Non-Standard Game Over!
    • Princess Peach has been kidnapped so many times that openly gloating about it when she's not restrained is asking her to spank you, and not in a fun way.
      • In Super Princess Peach, Bowser mocks her over it when she finds him in his own Vibe Island villa. To drive home that this makes her furious, her touch-screen emotional state changes to Anger when he says it.
      • In Super Paper Mario, Mimi mocks her over needing her "boyfriends" to protect her; she flips so hard that she yells at Mario and Luigi to let her take care of Mimi alone.
      Peach: I am a PRINCESS, and she has thrown mud at my dignity! You two leave me be! Understood?!
    • Broque Monsieur from Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story hates people who hit ? Blocks and turn them brown, as he believes this decreases their value. Because Mario and Luigi are famous for doing this, he refuses to service them in his store and will tell them to leave and not return (before apologizing in the very next sentence). He mellows out towards them in Dream Team, but he still tells others that he thinks they're crazy behind their backs.
    • WarioWare:
      • 5-Volt is a very kind and caring mother. Just don't let her catch you playing video games when you should be sleeping, and you should be fine.
      • Don't mess with Spitz if something bad's already happened to him. Trust us. Just don't.
        Spitz: That's it, buckos.
        Dribble: Hm?
        Spitz: First we get stiffed, and now THIS?!? Dribble! The Octoblazooka!
        Dribble: I'm on it. [summons Octoblazooka] But Spitz, ain't we supposed to stay cool and all that?
        Spitz: I'm not gonna sit there and let these punks knock us around! They want a fight. They got one!
        Dribble: Stay cool, Spitz! Stay cool! SPIIIIIIIITZ!!!!!!
  • In the Super Robot Wars Z series, Queennote  laments the tranquility of the days long past. She despises the pluralized world, and as he's the proximate cause of it, she reserves a special contempt for Kei. But she would prefer not to see him in the hands of Sidereal, so she gives Z-BLUE another piece of intel: the location of his partner, Orson.
  • Super Smash Bros.: If Little Mac's trailer is any indication, one shouldn't draw too much attention to his height, lest you're looking to get your liver liquified by a single punch.
  • In Super Surprise Party, the narrator goes on a furious rant if you turn off the location-tracking.
  • The Tales Series:
    • Barbatos Goetia from Tales of Destiny 2 is already batshit insane from the start, but there are some ways to make him even crazier. Cast a spell in front of him? No, not that, he may counter immediately with a spell, but he still keeps his tone to usual... but use an item in front of him, and he'll charge over (Or even teleport in some games), grab you, slam you, stomp you, and slash you while emitting a spectacularly badass scream of "NO. ITEMS. EVEEEERRRRR!!!!!". Even more in the Japanese version, since he got Norio Wakamoto as his seiyuu.
    • Tales of Symphonia:
      • Raine, despite her normally rather cynical and sensible behaviour, has archaeological mania. Woe betide anyone who disparages or harms any ruins in her presence.
      • If you call Cruxis's leader, Lord Yggdrasil, Mithos (yes, the one from the Kharlan war) and isn't one of his old, old companions, prepare to get brutally killed by a ball of mana. Just look at what happened to Pronyma.
    • Rita from Tales of Vesperia isn't exactly the nicest person to begin with, but she has an especially strong hatred of people who destroy blastia (at least until she finds out that they're slowly killing the world).
  • Team Fortress 2:
  • Many bosses in Terraria have one of these, most often leading them out of their biome of choice or fighting them at the wrong time of day:
    • If the fight with Skeletron lasts until dawn, he turns into a spinning skull that reduces all attacks to Scratch Damage. The same applies to his mechanical counterpart, Skeletron Prime.
    • Plantera and Duke Fishron double their attack and defense when led out of the Underground Jungle and Ocean, respectively.
    • The Empress of Light will spawn and begin attacking if you dare to harm a prismatic lacewing, a buttefly native to the hallow. And if it turns day while you fight her, the Empress's attacks will all turn to instantly kill you if they land.
  • Touhou Project:
    • Cirno, the resident ditzy ice fairy, reacts rather badly to anyone who calls her an idiot (she is, after all, the strongest).
    • Mystia, the "night sparrow" youkai, gets frightened or angry whenever someone talks about grilled/fried chicken around her.
    • Tenshi reacts rather badly to anyone belittling her abilities, which involve beam spamming and Earth-based attacks.
    • Yuuka Kazami is incredibly old and powerful even by Gensoukyou standards, but is more concerned with her flowers than fighting, and takes pride in being civil and courteous. Those who mess with her flowers, however, have a tendency to never be seen again.
  • Part of the challenge of The Ultimate Haunted House is figuring out which items anger which inhabitants of the house:
    • Byron Price, the child, doesn't like the dart, as it makes him a violent person.
    • Countess Vena Cava, the vampiress, doesn't like the mirror, as she cannot see her reflection in them. She will break them and give you bad luck.
    • Dr. Synthesis doesn't like "lower order life forms" such as animals or the young blob creature, since he finds them useless.
    • Herbert and Chauncey the two-headed monster likes disgusting things to eat, but there are things that even they won't eat, punctuated with a "EYYYYYUCK!"
    • Frankenstein doesn't like fragile objects, as it is too clumsy and will end up breaking them.
  • Trials of Mana:
    • One of the six playable heroes is Duran, who proudly works for the king of Valsena, Richard. Naturally, Duran will get pissed off at anyone who insults his king in whatever way possible. Just ask his Arch-Enemy, the Crimson Wizard.
      Crimson Wizard: Hah! What senile old fool would entrust the security of the castle to a child? Oh, my apologies. You work for the king, do you not?
      Duran: What!? Don't you dare insult His Majesty!
    • Played for laughs when you have your main protagonist, as a male character, talk to Angela while she is sleeping at the inn in Jadd Stronghold at the beginning of the game. She'll wake up enraged at you, asking you to "give a girl some peace and quiet" and mistaking you for an Accidental Pervert, and slap you away before resuming her sleep.
  • In Tyranny, you can Death Glare at many characters, most of whom will be intimidated by the result. But Tunon, the Archon of Law, is completely unimpressed, and in fact finds your attempt at stoic, intimidating silence infuriating. It's the surest way to earn his Wrath, and the surest way to invite Tranquil Fury punctuated by mocking snark.
  • ULTRAKILL: Several opponents have triggers for aggressive modes where they spam attacks quickly and recklessly and get faster and stronger but less controlled. Many of these triggers don't qualify (loss of comrades, lowered health), but:
    • Swordsmachines get pissed if you parry so much as a single strike of their blade. They will start repeatedly charging at you with it becoming uncontrolled blenders of death, completely forgetting they have a shotgun in the process.
    • V2 normally makes use of all ranges and all of their arsenal while in battle, but they can be infuriated into charging at you to stay as close as possible, neglecting half their weapons while getting a boost of speed and spamming charged Piercer shots in ways V1 can't. There are two ways to set this off: One of them is to stay at a distance for too long, and the other (only available in the second fight with them) is to punch them with the Knuckleblaster, the arm you stole from them the first time, which will instantly send the robot into a rage at the apparent taunt. The latter is especially notable because V2 learns to use the Marksman complete with coins in this fight, and will shoot your own coins, but getting smacked with their own arm infuriates them so much they completely forget how coins work.
  • Papyrus of Undertale is normally a Nice Guy, if one with a big ego, but tell puns around him and he goes into a childish fit. Even if he's smiling.
  • The Walking Dead (Telltale):
    • Lee is clearly annoyed with Larry's dickish ways. To show he's had enough with Larry, in Episode 2 he shouts at Larry to continue eating what he doesn't know is actually Mark. Also, threatening or putting Clementine in danger is a really bad idea.
    • According to AJ, do not make fun of Clementine's cap. Considering it was a gift from her late father, it makes a lot of sense.
    • By the time Season 4 rolls around, AJ's developed one for people walking up behind him, likely as a result of growing up in the post-apocalyptic world. He bites Ruby's hand when she tapped him on the shoulder, sternly warns Louis not to make the same mistake, and elbows Marlon in the groin when he walks behind him to place a hand on his shoulder (likely out of reflex as he later states that he didn't know it was him). According to Clem, these weren't the only times he's lashed out at people for pressing this particular button.
  • In WET, the main trigger for Rubi's Rage Mode is getting blood on her face. When that happens, it's not going to be pretty for anyone in her general vicinity.
  • We Who Are About to Die: The arena crowds have specific triggers that will turn them against you. Using the same weapon constantly will annoy them, too much caution (taking too long, running from battles) will piss them off, and outright dishonorable things like Friendly Fire and smacking foes In the Back will infuriate them. Do these too much and you can expect booing, Produce Pelting, Favor earnings sinking like a rock and people generally calling for your death.
  • Wildstar: The Aurin like nature, and would very much appreciate that you don't mess with it (especially their trees). Otherwise, they will gut you.
  • Don't call Lucrea Quarta, the main character of Witchhunt, a witch. In fact even the stat screen covers over the "W" in skills like "witchcraft" and words like "switch". The poor, poor goblin in the opening scene that offers the other goblins a sandwich after her warning about the word "witch" (after she had already been hit repeatedly with the word) ends up the first to die.
  • The World Ends with You: Say "Daisukenojo Bito" in front of Beat. Dare you to. Getting whacked to death with a skateboard will be the very least of your worries.
  • World of Warcraft:
    • Mimiron, literally. To activate his Hard Mode you have to push a very Big Red Button behind him. Doing this will activate the self-destruct mechanism on his lab and make him VERY pissed. Other bosses that feature similar "hard mode" triggers include XT-002 Deconstructor and Sartharion.
    • Warriors use Rage as their combat resource. They gain Rage by attacking, being hit, or pressing a button on their skill set that causes them to gain Rage. Basically, if you attack them, all you did was piss them off. They even have a literal Berserk Button ability that renders them temporarily immune to a number of mezzing effects.
    • The playable race of Trolls, as well as feral druids, have a racial/ability 'Berserk' the player can activate, another literal case.
    • Insult Coren Direbrew's brew and he will attack you.
    • Kill Runty and Beauty busts out a Raid-level 'Hard Enrage' that will surely wipe the party.
    • If you kill Shannox's dogs, he gains a boost to his attack that results in the tank needing considerably more healing to survive. When you kill Riplimb, he stops throwing his spear and starts driving it into the ground, making it a race against time to kill him before the damage-increasing debuff he puts on you enables him to one-shot you or drains your healer's mana.
    • In The Violet Hold, if you kill Erekem's bodyguards before Erekem, he will flip out and start spamming high dps attacks on the tank, going from a healer/caster to an enhancement Shaman.
    • Never mess with Grandma Wahl's cat.
    • In the trailer for Siege of Orgrimmar, Taran Zhu chews out Garrosh Hellscream by mentioning that his father Grom dabbled in powers beyond reckoning. That was more than enough to cause Garrosh to launch an attack against the Shado-Pan leader.
    • In the actual raid, one of the mechanics in the Siegecrafter Blackfuse encounter is that if the raid members destroy any of his creations he gets angry and gains an attack speed increase.
  • Yakuza 2: Ryuji Goda tends to react violently whenever someone calls him "The Dragon of Kansai". Why? He has no issues with the "Dragon" moniker, but "of Kansai" suggests that there is more than one dragon, and as far as Goda is concerned, There Can Be Only One dragon. This is also why he forges such a powerful rivalry with The Hero Kazuma Kiryu, "The Dragon of Dojima": killing Kiryu would help Goda secure his legacy as the Dragon.
  • In Zanac, do not pick up Weapon 2, the shield subweapon, otherwise the System (aka the game's Dynamic Difficulty) will go berserk and immediately send out reinforcements.

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