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So you're dealing with a character who seems perfectly normal. He's friendly, sociable, and well-adjusted, saving stray kittens and helping old ladies cross the street on the way to his day job of working at a soup kitchen.
But then you make a mistake. You happen to mention in passing what you think is a fairly innocuous observation, maybe pointing out that the character could stand to lose a little weight, or is a little on the short side, or you do something that you think is no big deal in their presence. And the character is instantaneously reduced to screaming, incoherent fury, from which you will be lucky to escape with your life. You have pressed the Berserk Button.
The Berserk Button tends to be a physical feature that the character is insecure or in denial about, like his height or weight (or an Embarrassing Nickname based on one of these attributes.) Animals also don't seem to like having their species misidentified. Insisting on pitying a character who says Dont You Dare Pity Me can bring it on. Many characters, particularly heroes, have a Berserk Button over someone messing with or threatening people they care about (or mentioning killing them), and when that happens, the result is usually a supreme asskicking.
Sometimes a character's Berserk Button is really more like a Berserk Keyboard, in which case you are probably dealing with The Pesci.
If a particular character's Berserk Button is pushed when their children are threatened, you're dealing with a Mama Bear or Papa Wolf.
See also Beware The Nice Ones. Often overlaps with Lets Get Dangerous, Crouching Moron Hidden Badass or The Law Of Disproportionate Response. Contrast Death Glare.
Although lots of people in Real Life are touchy about a few issues, very few people can pull off the terrifying (and often lightshow-accompanied) crazy of a Trope-ified berzerker. The Internet is different. See Single Issue Wonk for the Internet equivalent.
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Examples
Anime & Manga
- Corporal Randel Oland from Pumpkin Scissors displays this. Normally lighthearted and puppy-friendly, when he finds himself in mortal danger, he reverts to the role he served in his previous military as a one-man killing machine specifically designed to take out tanks all by himself. This coincides somewhat with the idea of an Unstoppable Rage, but his behavior in this "form" doesn't look angry so much as it looks completely cold, determined, and calculated. Nonetheless, the end result is the same and most would be wise not to incur his pavlovianly conditioned wrath.
- Samurai Deeper Kyo has mellow bishie Yukimura, who will tolerate familial treachery, attempted assassination, kidnapping, and many other horrible things without his trademark smile even flickering. Even if you try to kill him, he won't lose it. But hurt or disrespect one of his beloved ninja followers, and he will slice off your ass and hand it to you on a platter. While still smiling.
- Don't ever mention spiders to Hunter X Hunter's Kurapika. Don't show him a spider. Basically don't expose him to anything involving spiders at all, ever.
- Wolfgang Grimmer from the series Monster has an alternate personality that functions as one of these. It activates whenever he is in extremely stressful situations and invariably results in a body count. Ironically, when he commits his most extreme act of violence, he remarks that he didn't need to invoke his alternate personality and that he really was just that angry.
- Desert Punk has, in its first chapter, a lesser Big Bad who weathers a hurricane of insults in a letter without even flinching, but goes completely off his nut -to the point of Hulking out- when the resident Anti Hero suggests that his mother ''has a fat bellybutton''.
- Neon Genesis Evangelion used the Berserk Button trope to great extents as a plot device.
- Series protagonist Shinji Ikari, the pilot of the Evangelion Unit-01, gets his Berserk Button pushed more often, and to more disastrous effect, than any other character. An ironic trait, as his usual demeanor is so timid and passive. Many of the key Berserk Button moments are involuntary, the result of Shinji's Eva unit being knocked out of commission... and a certain subdued consciousness (presumably his mother Yui) within the Eva taking control to avoid obliteration. On another level, however, the Eva units are adult extrapolations of of the children who pilot them. Shinji's Berserk Button is often connected to his feelings about his father and about his own powerlessness.
- In the alternate universe retelling of the series, Evangelion 2.0, Shinji and the Unit-01 go berserk against the Angel Zeruel in such a way where Shinji is actually conscious... and seems to willingly instigate the Eva's berserker behavior through his own will to save Rei Ayanami... whose Eva had been "eaten" by said Angel shortly prior. Shinji takes on a red-eyed, vicious appearance despite his altruistic intentions. This is one of the many large changes the retelling has incorporated.
- Manga Shinji starkly replaces anime Shinji's lethargic passiveness with passive-aggressiveness and sometimes hot-headedness. He has attempted to punch his father Gendou (albeit with good reason), and his general attitude to others, including Asuka, is grumpier: the manga's Shinji gets irritated at behavior that the anime's Shinji would simply retreat from.
- Asuka Langley Soryu (or Shikigami in 2.0), the pilot of the crimson-colored Evangelion Unit-02, has so many Berserk Buttons that it's arguable whether she should even be considered for this or The Pesci. Too bad it didn't come into play (until too late) when it would have counted in The End of Evangelion.
- Although Misato Katsuragi's Berserk Buttons are generally tame compared with those of most of the cast, you still don't want to make any comments about her recent weight gain, her status as Christmas Cake, or her deeper feelings for either Kaji or Shinji.
- Dr. Ritsuko Akagi displays one hell of a Berserk Button late in the series after it's revealed to her that her beloved Gendou was merely using her for his own devices. In a fit of jealous rage, Ritsuko destroys all the remaining Rei Ayanami backup clones, meanwhile exposing many of NERV's secrets to Misato and Shinji. Later, she makes an ill-fated attempt on Gendou's life. Ritsuko had fallen into the same trap as her mother, and with the same man.
- Does she make an attempt on Gendou's life, or does she just try to get the Magi to self-destruct? Either way, it fails, which leads to her prompt execution by Gendou.
- New pilot Mari Illustrious Makinami, introduced in the Evangelion 2.0 retelling Takes control of the Unit-02 in the fight against Zeruel, when Asuka is out of comission due to taking Touji's place as the Unit-03's test pilot in an alternate universe twist on the original story. Although very little about Mari is revealed as of the second film, it's shown that she's an incredible pilot. So good in fact, that she's able to actually activate Unit-02's long unseen Berserk mode with a simple phrase...in a sense literally pressing its Berserk Button. This has led many to consider Mari something of a possible Mary Sue, but since little about the character is known as of now judgements are in reserve.
- Minor correction: the "Beast" mode that Mari activates is actually the result of an upgrade, not a "classic" Berserk moment. That is why she could activate it by simply uttering a secret (not to creative) codeword: "Za Beasto!".
- The Evangelion "robots" (In actuality, a very loose description) themselves, perhaps more than Shinji himself, could be considered characters with the real Berserk Buttons.
- Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist goes into a berserker rage whenever someone mentions his vertical deficiencies. He usually ends up exaggerating the insult to ridiculous extremes as well.
- The only one he won't go nuts on is Al (after all, they're brothers... and someone has to keep him in line), and even he got away with a knock on the head and a (tired) retort of "Don't call me small." Of course, the short rants are constantly a Crowning Moment Of Funny...
- He won't lash out at his teacher Izumi either, primarily because she can kick his ass if he ever even thought about hitting her!
- Same with Olivia Armstrong. He actually got scared!
- Edward also finds himself the victim of the Berserk Button whenever he needs to go back to Winry for maintenance and (predominantly) repairs. If there's even so much as one scratch...
- Izumi also seems to have a few of these, and they seem to be set on a hair trigger.
- Roy Mustang is generally a Chessmaster who pretends that he is not more than he seems; pursuing career and chasing girls shamelessly. But if you dare to harm his comrades, he'll give you hell for all his worth. Literally.
- Chapter 93 shows mocking the death of a close friend, especially when you're the killer, is another excellent way to push it.
- And he's ready to take a dive down to the extreme just to make sure Envy paid for it. Good thing (or bad thing) Hawkeye and Ed stop him.
- On the other hand, you shouldn't tell Hawkeye that you killed Mustang (even if it's not true). The result is not pretty.
- A scene with Greed shows that calling Envy "ugly" is a great way to tick him off, and get him to turn into his true form to freaking kill you.
- You think it's dangerous to poke jabs at Ed's height? If you threaten Winry he will kick... your... ass!
- In the first anime, even mentioning Hohenheim of Light is a great way to have your face pounded in by Envy.
- Choji Akimachi from Naruto is constantly prodded into battle by his allies and enemies who call him fat.
Choji: (after one of the Sound Genin calls him "fatso") "I'M NOT FAT! IIIII AAAAAAM BIIIIIG BOOOOOOONEEEEEEEED!"
- One of the Sound Genin calls him worthless and fat. In response, Choji takes some random Pill, and it makes him skinny, gives him magical glowing butterfly wings, and enough raw power to kill the Sound Genin (in his own Final Form) in one strike.
- It was hardly a random pill. It was a secret formula of the Akimichi clan specifically designed to trigger a person's metabolism to rapidly burn massive amounts of calories and turn them into chakra for pure power.
- The Choji example is even more amusing considering that, yes, he is fat, his entire family is pretty big, because their family specialty involves various uses for all that extra weight, including burning through all of it in a single fight for extra energy. Although Chouji himself is less fat and more big-boned after the Time Skip.
- Did we somehow forget insulting Shikamaru. I'm pretty sure the following quote explains it
Choji: You can [...] mock me all you want, but when you insult my best friend... (dramatic pause) ... I will obliterate you!
- This exchange from The Movie is pretty self-explanatory:
Naruto: Man, I don't know where you got your taste in men, Sakura, but it stinks. Sakura: (furiously) WHAT DID YOU SAY?! Naruto: (with Blank White Eyes and a small voice) I'm sorry, what was the question?
- On a more serious note, mentioning Orochimaru in a respectful fashion in front of Naruto is a good way to activate Naruto's Superpowered Evil Side.
- After the timeskip, Naruto and Sakura are both angered by anyone who badmouths Sasuke, or suggests that he is too far gone for them to bring back.
- Lee gets quite angry whenever anyone speaks ill of Guy.
- In Shippuuden, a surefire way to push Kankuro's Berserk Button is to badmouth Gaara in front of him.
- Never! EVER! Call Tsunade an old hag! EVER!
- The Mizukage does NOT like anyone implying that she's in danger of ending up an old maid.
Even if they're not.
- Those examples are NOTHING compared to Naruto's biggest berserk button; killing or appearing to kill his friends. When Pain pushed that button in his legendary Moral Event Horizon in chapter 437, it triggered an Unstoppable Rage that would make the fury of the Incredible Hulk seem like a child's tantrum.
- Speaking of Naruto, you should never insult the Third Hokage in front of him. He won't care if you're one of the legendary sanin. He won't care if you're a woman. He...will...KICK...YOUR...ASS!
- Lina Inverse from Slayers lays the smackdown on anyone who's impolite enough to point out she's rather flat-chested, especially her younger incarnation. After a Slayers Next exchange, where Martina says her chance to win against her are smaller than her curves:
Lina: That bitch!... She has the nerve to defy me and even brought up my weakest point!
- In the harem comedy manga Ai Kora, Maeda tends to go ballistic on those who ridicule or harm the girls in his
semi-wanted hunted-after harem, especially if they threaten their "perfect features" (like a delinquent who nearly knocked out one of Sakurako's flawless blue eyes, or a salesman pushing dodgy "breast-reduction bras" who made Yukari feel self-conscious about her "bullshitrain bustline").
- In the manga Cafe Kichijouji, Jun, a younger effeminate boy, snaps into a violent manner if anyone makes the unfortunate mistake of saying that he looks like a girl.
- Ikuto of Nagasarete Airantou, if told anything is "absolutely impossible", will get it done with twice the speed and four times the effort.
- Josuke of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure will go from polite doormat to rampaging berserker if anyone dares insult his hair. This includes his allies.
- In one particularly humorous scene, his opponent (who is currently bedridden from severe racing injuries) plays off of Josuke's moral nature to keep himself from getting attacked... only to end up insulting his pompadour. Josuke gets around beating up the helpless by using his powers to heal the fellow, and then beats the man to a bloody pulp and throws him out a window. He gets better, though.
- In Hayate the Combat Butler, Nagi goes ape when Hayate discovers her self-made manga and calls it a "picture diary". She boots him out of the study, but he mistakes it for her kicking him out of the mansion.
- In Shin Mazinger, Kouji snaps when Boss and his goons insult his grandfather Juzo one too many times. He promptly beats the ever-loving crap out of Boss, and would have seriously hurt him if Kouji's soon-to-be girlfriend Sayaka hadn't interrupted to tell Kouji that his grandfather was in real danger.
- Kei and Yuri have only one official code name: The Lovely Angels. Calling them the Dirty Pair to their faces — or suggesting that two college-age girls can't be all that dangerous — will earn you a punch in the face.
- Not to mention what they will do if you actually are the individual that they have been hired to bring in.
- Or if you're simply unfortunate enough to be in the immediate area once they're finished their mission.
- In some cases, "the immediate area" may be the entire planet — or on one occasion, several star systems.
- In Dragon Ball Z, a key part of Gohan's character was the power he gained whenever one of his friends or family members was the victim of cruelty. He goes insane with rage and usually the Big Bad or an army of his Mooks are left reeling or dead. It was this that allowed him to be the first to reach Super Saiyan 2. Seriously, never do something horrible and snark Gohan. He will end you.
- Same thing happened to his dad in the last major arc... Frieza just had to kill his best friend Krillin at the end of a chain of revenge attacks (killing Dende, and severely injuring Piccolo) and then go on to threaten Gohan. Bad. Fucking. Idea. Just to prove he's Not Himself, he actually yells at Gohan to go back to the ship. And Frieza still doesn't get it afterwards, proceeding to mock Krillin later...
- Vegeta gets one of these as well during the Cell saga, when Cell kills Future Trunks. Vegeta — who, up until this point, has either ignored or explicitly rejected any attempts by Trunks to reach out to him — absolutely loses it. Of course, his attack doesn't work, but it's a pretty critical character-defining moment.
- Call Allen Walker from D.Gray-Man "Moyashi" and watch him boil and explode. Or mention to him something about "debt"...
- Souichi Tatsumi from Challengers and The Tyrant Falls In Love may be antisocial, but he's pretty normal otherwise... until a reference to homosexuality is made, upon which he burns with a desire to bash all homosexuals' skulls in, especially the one courting his little brother. He even becomes The Pesci to Morinaga after the latter drives home the point that he's a homosexual with a crush on him, interpreting every offer from Morinaga as an attempt to get into his pants (sometimes it's actually true, sometimes it isn't). And NO, he himself ISN'T a homo; he's just sleeping with one!
- Oniwakamaru, from the second episode of Samurai Champloo, kills anyone who calls him a monster (usually based on his physical appearance).
- Chrono Crusade has a more serious example (that's particularly noticeable in the manga version): Chrono is known (depending on the translation and whether it's the manga or the anime) as "the Slayer of 100/1000/100 million". How'd he get that name? Well, in the manga, he tried to rescue some of his fellow Sinners and found them killed by enemy demons. He picked up the body of a small child, staring in horror, then snapped, killing the number of demons he was said to have killed in one short, bloody, rage-filled battle. This happens at least a few other times, particularly in the manga: basically, if he's threatened or someone he cares about (PARTICULARLY Rosette) is hurt, his demonic nature takes over and things get very violent, VERY quickly.
- Bleach: Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya is usually an apathetic, grumpy captain. But he has sworn that should anyone ever try to make his adoptive sister Lieutenant Momo Hinamori bleed just one drop, he had no qualms about going batshit to kill the one who makes her bleed. Unfortunately, the only time he really wants to go batshit, he's up against someone so broken that it's justified he'd lose that instant.
- He also gets pretty pissed when someone makes fun of his hair, but he's never tried to kill anyone in that instance (that we know of).
- Or when he gets called anything else but "Captain Hitsugaya". Momo is the only one who can call him "Hitsugaya-kun" without getting him to growl. But not even she can call him "Shiro-chan" without him going "... stfu, Bed-Wetter Momo!"
- Like a certain other shorty, he also gets pretty pissed if anyone mentions his shortness and he will immediately start going berserk. And it's even funnier because both of them are voiced by the same seiyu.
- Let's not forget Ikkaku Madarame, who threatens to kill anyone who mentions his lack of hair.
- Ichigo also gets very upset when he sees an older sibling threaten to harm a younger one. To him, older brothers are born first in order to protect the ones that come after them.
- Ichigo also gets upset when people attack unarmed or defeated people.
- And, lately, Ichigo has been going nuts on anyone that would dare harm Orihime. No prizes for guessing how the Shippers are taking that.
- Not only that while in "Hollow Mode", he impaled Ishida just for touching her! Talk about agressive competition.
- Not exactly, but the overall sentiment is the same; he percieved Ishida as an obstacle to protecting Orihime when the Quincy tried to dissuade him from killing Ulquiorra.
- Let's not forget Captain Byakuya Kuchiki. Do anything to his adoptive sister/sister in law and he will make his cute little pink cherry blossoms eat you alive. All 100 million of them. Poor, stupid Leroux Zommari.
- Not that this was always the case. It wasn't long ago that he was mauling people for trying to save Rukia.
- Ganju will get angry enough to drive a bucketload of customers out of his store if you mention his eyelashes.
- Kira Izuru is a very quiet, calm person who would really rather not hurt his opponents too badly. Bring up the defection of his former boss, a man he was absolutely devoted to, however, and be prepared to die horribly.
- In the same vein of that, though for now only in the filler, Momo Hinamori has gained a similar Berserk Button. Try to mention or taunt about Aizen's betrayal on her, she'll stop caring if she was just trying to persuade you to join her, she'll cut you down. Even if the one who pressed her Berserk Button is her beloved Zanpakutou
- Ayasegawa Yumichika hates ugly things in general, but absolutely cannot stand being called ugly. Amusingly enough, his latest opponent, Charlotte Cuuhlhourne, shares this Berserk Button. Hilarity Ensues.
- In essence, to hide his zanpaktou's real power (because it's real power is a Kido type the 11th Division is sword combat based), Yumichika presses it's berserk button. He calls it Fuji Kujaku, which pisses it off and causes it to release halfway. However, when he calls it by it's real name, Ruri'iro Kujaku, it releases fully, turning it into a vine sprouting blade that drains his enemies Reiatsu.
- And what about Nel? You lay one finger on somebody she cares about and you...will...die. Because she will become an adult and spear you with her Ressurecion. Funnily enough, this really only happens to Nnoitra, and she never manages to finish the job. Ah well, goes to show you, Beware The Nice Ones.
- In Slam Dunk, Shohoku ace Rukawa shall NOT be interrupted when he's sleeping. Expect physical damage if you do.
Rukawa (to Norio Honda): My name is Rukawa Kaede, I'm a first grader, and I will NOT forgive the idiots who wake me up when I'm sleeping. *beats the crap out of Honda*
- Also earlier in the series, if you ever say 'Basket' or something that sounds like that in the vicinity of Sakuragi, expect yourself to pass out after he headbutts you.
- Don't forget their captain and leader, Takenori Akagi. Insult basketball in front of this Genius Bruiser and you'll see exactly how much of a Serious Business the sport is for the guy.
- Apparently "bastardizing Shuffle! and insulting Rin-chan" does not sit well with Kaede Fuyou, who threatens to kill anyone who does so in this piece of fan art.
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- Would've been better if it said "Rin-kun", as it's her Love Rival and senpai Asa Shigure who calls Rin "Rin-chan". Kitto Kitto Kaede is gonna have a field day with this.
- Uh... in all seriousness, don't mess with Rin in range of Nerine's hearing. She does not approve. As she says, fortunately, you don't have to be hospitalized... because she'll try to kill you.
- Takeru aka TK is generally a Cheerful Child in Digimon Adventure 02. But because of seeing Angemon die in the first season, he can get very angry when people don't realize that Evil Is Not A Toy.
- In episode 2 of the Pretty Sammy OAV, Tenchi mentions to Bif Standard that his software is slow. At that comment, Bif goes into a lengthy rant, feeling that he had insulted his software, and Tenchi, Sasami, and Misao quietly escape while he is still ranting.
- One of the baddies taunted Cure Black about how easily he separated her from her partner and went on to explain how doomed they were (etc etc). Black then proceeded to blow up the subway car they were riding with her Battle Aura. "ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT HONOKA!?"
- Another baddie forfeited his life when he nearly killed her brother.
- Daigo Ikari of Eyeshield 21 has a Berserk Button that goes off whenever someone insults one of his teammates, regardless of whether the insulting party was joking or not, or if he could get injured in the process (for example, he at one point dives off the stands to attack Onihei after he had called Otawara an idiot). The result is often that his own teammates have to restrain him with chains because he'll break free if they use rope!
- Of course, in this situation Ikari was frankly just being too sensitive; Otawara is an idiot. In any case, the fact that he goes completely nuts whenever he hears someone badmouth his school or its football team is the reason he's two years behind in school; He was sent to a juvenile detention center after one of his "incidents".
- NEVER insult anyone who stands up to Gaou around him. He will kill you.
- Monta has a berserk button of being called a monkey.
- Do not insult Sena in front of Chuubou unless you want to get knocked down.
- Despite his cold demeanor, Mikagami Tokiya from Flame of Recca HAS one Berserk Button: Call him a girl, a she-man, or whatever Gender Bender insult to him and the best thing you can hope for is a death cold stare from him (which thankfully what he usually did, thus far...)
- Kamishiro Yuu from Holyland totally loses it after one of his friends is beat up by a gang and goes on a gang-hunting rampage. Given that the manga is fairly realistic in its treatment of street fights, this is quite the feat of endurance and strength.
- Monkey D. Luffy of One Piece. He has two; run far, far away if you damage his hat, or hurt one of his nakama — or for that matter, one of your own.
- The entire plot of One Piece seems to be based around this. If you fight Luffy without having hurt one of his friends, you at least have the possibility of victory. If you hurt one of his nakama... not so much.
- Massively subverted in one fight with Kuma. The man made the Straw Hat pirates vanish one by one, and Luffy couldn't do anything about it.
- And if you hurt one of YOUR nakama, you are so screwed Boa Hancock & sisters, we're looking at you.
- Also, let's not forget Captain Kuro, whom Luffy defeated in righteous anger for turning on his own crew.
- Also, Buggy the Clown. If you insult his clown nose, he will freak out, and given the chance, he will shoot you with a cannonball capable of destroying several city blocks. When you account for the fact that he tends to mishear things and assume they were insults to his nose...
- Robin is also quite angered by those who destroy ruins, as she demonstrates on a Mook and Yama in the Skypiea arc. She also gets angry when people talk about her past and why she got her bounty often because what they're saying is not true.
- Don't call Chopper a tanuki; he'll go
gorilla Muscle Point on your ass.
- Sanji will beat anyone who mistreats the ladies to a bloody pulp, especially if the lady in question is his dear Nami-san. Also, he often goes batshit when called weak or something like that. And if you don't like his cooking or his table service? You're so dead.
- And don't let him catch you wasting food either; that's a big one.
- Zoro is normally the type of guy who doesn't take revenge on things. But once, Ohm's traps brutally cut and mangled Chopper ...
- Recently, we get one for Boa Hancock: You so much as lay a hand on Luffy, and not even a Logia Devil Fruit Power will save you from the Snake Princess tearing your ass to shreds. Yeah, when Sengoku mentioned that Hancock is strong? That is NO Informed Ability.
- Even though she is sadistic and brutal, Suigintou rarely drops her cool and composed manner, antagonizing Shinku with an alluring, self-confident voice occasionally interspersed with a soft evil laugh. This goes away when Shinku calls her 'junk', whereupon Suigintou completely loses her cool and starts screaming "I AM NOT JUNK!!!!". Her power does significantly increase, but that's not doing her good most of the time.
- Most of the characters on Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha are generally well-mannered. However... don't touch Vita's hat. Just don't. You'll live longer.
- The third season adds more cases: Don't hurt Vita's friends either; abducting Subaru's older sister or Nanoha's adopted daughter, and destroying Caro's home or threatening to do so is a bad idea as well, as all of those have led to an unstoppable rage.
- Do NOT refer to Faust VII's wife and partner spirit Eliza as a "puppet" or a "doll". He's usually calm and arrogant to an unhuman point, but the moment you insult her, he will go into an Unstoppable Rage and KILL YOU.
- Lelouch Lamperouge's Berserk Button is people threatening or harming his little sister or [[Nakama his friends]]. Not a problem in and of itself, but he has... trouble with restraint once the button's been pressed.
- Rolo also goes nuts when somebody mentions Nunally.
- Actually, what got Lelouch to really flip his lid was when his "brother" shot Shirley and, despite Lelouch's strongest efforts, he could not save her. It didn't help his sanity that she gave him a most romantic "good bye" speech.
- "You've hurt my brother. That, I WILL NOT FORGIVE!"
- Obligatory Death Note example. Do not call Soichiro Yagami a fool in front of Touta Matsuda. Even if you're his son. You will not like the result.
- Butch, a member of Pokemon's Team Rocket, will not take happily someone butchering (no pun intended) his name. (Some examples include Botch, Bob, Bill, Biff, Buffy (seriously), and a variety of other names (except the obvious one)). In Japanese, the mistake is always Kosanji (instead of Kosaburo).
- Apparently, some time during the Hoenn arc Team Rocket got the funny idea to steal food destined for the "twerps". They soon learned that this is the very thing that turns normally Type-B Tsundere May into a bona-fide killbot. They try this again during the Sinnoh arc, and yes, she is in attendance, as these pics prove
. They just didn't learn...
- Ash used to get really pissed off
if when someone stole his hat (Indigo League series). He's mellowed out about it recently.
- Ash's other beserker button is if anyone harms/kidnaps/insults Pikachu. Cases in point: Pikachu got kidnapped by Hunter J and Ash gets very, VERY pissed off
, eventually starting with jumping onto a driving car, then sneaking aboard J's ship with Team Rocket (who are also going to recue Meowth), he gets in a fight with Lucario when it insults Pikachu in movie 8, he rescues Pikachu and takes a poison tail from Seviper in the back to protect Pikachu, he attacks a machine to break Pikachu out in the first movie and does a similar thing during the thrid Sinnoh episode.
- If someone deliberately harms Ash, then
any everyone of his Pokemon will pounce on you, hard. Team Rocket, being the Chew Toy group that they are, managed to do such a thing just at the right moment that Charizard has finally learned to respect (and care for) his trainer. VERY OUCH for them.
- Fall asleep while Jigglypuff's performing and it will get angry. Steal its marker/microphone or otherwise deny it the chance to perform and it will get REALLY angry.
- Jessie and James will explode if someone mess up their motto.
- However, as seen in Mewtwo Strikes Back, they don't mind if even one of the "twerps" (in this case, Ash) stops their motto before it begins.
- Silver and Blue were raised as part of the Mask of Ice's recruitment and training campaign, and the two of them have developed a bond of their own. Green's "noisy woman" comments about Blue are responded to with a glare from Silver as a reminder that he is on notice; if you harass or bring harm to her, he will turn you inside out.
- When Team Rocket starts fighting in the Viridian Forest, Yellow gets just about ready to kick their asses; her usually weak Pokémon's levels jump up about fifty levels in response to her rage.
- Lance triggers a similar response during his attempt at genocide. The moral of this little story is that Yellow is slower to anger than just about everyone else on the planet, but once she's pissed, you call your Pokemon back, you turn one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, and you never stop running while there is breath in your body.
- Don't call Nora a dog.
- In addition, don't speak dismissively of humanity or threaten the lives of those Kazuma believes to be under his protection if you are at all attatched to your vital organs.
- It isn't wise to refer to Tadase as 'prince'.
- Do NOT say anything bad about one Neil Dylandy within the earshot range of his partner Tieria Erde.
- Or don't mention Celestial Being in front of one Louise Halevy
- Mitsukuni "Honey" Haninozuka from Ouran High School Host Club. Whatever you do, DO NOT attempt to harm his bunny. Or Haruhi or Mori, for that matter. Seriously, don't.
- Tamaki also gets pretty ticked when someone (usually the twins) makes a move on Haruhi. Except for Kasanoda, where he went into a Heroic BSOD!
- Villain example from Black Cat: Do NOT mention Minatsuki Saya in front of Creed. Especially if you mention her in a positive light.
- Oh, and don't refer to Train as "that guy" in front of him, either. You will address his
wife partner with respect.
- In Fruits Basket, black Haru is breaking up a classroom in rage. They try to reason with him, until he grabs Tohru by the arm in front of Kyo. A moment later, standing between him and Tohru:
Kyo: I don't know what made you snap, but don't get Tohru involved in your stupid problems.
- Messing with Tohru around Kyo, Yuki, Hanajima, Uotani, or most of the main characters is a really, really bad idea, especially considering that Kyo and Yuki are both extremely skilled martial artists, Hanajima once accidentally almost killed someone with her denpa, and Uotani is an ex-gangster. Even Yuki and Kyo can get along when Tohru's involved, and they make quite a combination when they aren't arguing.
- From Hidamari Sketch, we have Hiro's weight and figure. And then we also have Miyako pressing it so often...
- In DOGS, both Badou Nails and Haine Rammsteiner have Berserk Buttons: for Badou, who is usually clumsy, goofy, and terminally unlucky, he'll become a terrifying killing machine if he runs out of cigarettes or has them taken away, his rage instantly subsiding the moment you give him a cigarette, leading to Haine at least once intentionally taking his cigarettes away from him to encourage him to fight. For Haine, who is terrified of women, being touched by one will cause him to attack everything around him indiscriminately (with the exception of Nill). And don't shoot his gun, unless you don't like your face.
- Suwabara doesn't wear a bandanna because he's bald. Really!
- Do not call Onizuka trash. Ever. Be prepared to have you back slammed to the floor by a fantastic martial artist if you do.
- ... Did you just refer to Kaidoh Kaoru as "viper"?
- Don't mess with Negi's students in Mahou Sensei Negima. More importantly, do not tell him you just put him through hell and wasted months of his time and made him take up black magic for a fight he had no chance of winning. Possibly an invoked trope considering Rakan just got done revealing himself to not be a moron and here he is acting like one again. Also, he wants Negi to fight his best.
- Galaxy Angel: Colonel Volcott O. Huey is a usually even-tempered and complacent commander. But tell him his mustache doesn't suit him, and he'll revert to his combat days as the "White Wolf" and proceed to destroy everything in his path to defend his mustache's honor.
- In Wolf's Rain, don't hurt or try to abduct Cheza.
- Do not call Tamahome "Obake-chan". It won't be wise to hurt or threaten Miaka or his family either. Too late for the latter, though.
- Also, looking at Suboshi's brother the wrong way is utterly wrong. Suboshi killed Tamahome's family when he thought the Suzaku Seishi had murdered Amiboshi, after all.
- Black Lagoon: Although she's generally maladjusted anyway, do not question Revy's cynicism. You'll probably end up with an extra orifice somewhere, even if you are on her side. She also doesn't like Eda asking if she's already had sex with Rock, or Eda making advances towards Rock. Isn't she just the sweetest Trigger Happy Tsundere?
- Also, anyone who waltzes in and starts shooting when Revy and Eda are at the Church of Violence had better damn well be prepared to go to war
, as the scumbags chasing the title character of the Greenback Jane arc found out the hard way. Eda in particular does not look kindly on anyone putting a bullet in the church.
- Balalaika is often called "Fry Face" behind her back. Almost no one calls her that to her face, and with good reason. Her real Berserk Button, on the other hand, as evidenced in the Vampire Twins arc, is anything happening to her men. She will come down like the wrath of God on anyone who messes with her men, even if she has to call in the Vysotniki to do so.
- Obligatory Sailor Moon example: Sailors Moon, Mercury, and Mars tear Jedite a new one when he makes sexist remarks in the 13th episode. He escapes, if only to be put to Eternal Sleep by his superior for his latest failure to kill them.
- Cowboy Bebop: As shown in "Jupiter Jazz (Part I)", it's a terrible idea to call Spike by the name of his rival Vicious. He ends up going berserk and beating up an entire gang — whose leader survives, only to toss himself into the back of a garbage truck.
Spike: You think I'm Vicious? YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT VICIOUS IS!
- Busou Renkin: Papillon utterly despises being called by his real name by anyone other than Kazuki. He was also not too pleased to find that Kazuki had apparently given up his humanity to become a Victor-like being after having fought Papillon to prevent him from giving up his humanity to become a homunculus.
- Suzumiya Haruhi. Do not hurt Mikuru while Kyon is present. This man did not shy away from attempting to punch Haruhi for it. Yes, Kyon tried to punch God.
- Kyon gets a little scary if any of his friends are threatened.
- It is highly recommended you don't tell Buttercup/Kaoru from Demashita Powerpuff Girls Z she looks cute in a skirt. Her reaction is not pretty.
- Also Bubbles/Miyako hates to see mistreatment to animals of any kind, as the Rowdyruff Boys find out. Except Mojo, obviously, and a bunch of these monkeys who admittedly didn't deserve Bubbles/Miayko's sympathy with the way they were acting. Though she did feel some sympathy for him when she found out why he is the way he is. But of course, Mojo immediatley does something evil to get rid of that sympathy.
- And all three of the girls, especially Momoko/Blossom, will get super-mega-pissed when you steal their food, make them leave lunch, or just prevent them from eating in any way. And to a lesser extent, make them miss sleep and they will get angry.
- Anna and Uni Puma from Dominion Tank Police. Not like they're not psychotic enough to begin with, but if anyone makes reference to their humiliating origins as "love dolls", the body count is going to go into triple digits.
- One has to start wondering why all of Kenichi's opponents say they're going to kill/hurt Miu when that has consistently been shown to be the one thing that will make him stop sucking and actually kick some ass.
- Calling him a chicken has a similar effect, although it isn't quite as strong.
- Hime Makita from Sora No Manimani gets very tense about her hair, and did not hesitate to knee a fellow student when her old nickname of "Drif" (as in "The Drifters", a Japanese rock 'n' roll comedy band with fluffy hair) was brought up.
- Don't feel up Seras Victoria. She will mess you up.
- Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu example: Oh god, never, ever kill the janitor's pet carp Catherine and feed it to him
.
- Kaname Chidori is hardly the calmest of characters, but the one thing that really sets her off is the possibility that her precious grade levels are in danger. Such as the discovery that Sōsuke left her notes back in his apartment on the day of a test. Cue Sōsuke being physically hurled onto the road in order to (barely) stop a taxi in time, so they can drive back and get them.
- Yu-Gi-Oh!: Don't threaten Seto Kaiba's little brother. Just don't. It is not a good way to blackmail him, only a way to guarantee him making you pay.
- Do NOT mess with Yuugi or any of his friends unless you want an ancient Egyptian spirit challenging you to a deadly game with even deadlier consequences once you lose.
- If you actually manage to knock out Yuugi before he can summon the Pharoah, pray that Jonouchi (Joey) is nowhere near you. By that I mean not on the same planet.
- Rurouni Kenshin: Himura Kenshin is a generally calm, friendly, kind-hearted, patient and forgiving man... unless you decide to do something dishonorable and stupid, like needlessly harming (or worse, killing) innocent, weak and defenseless people. Especially when the people being hurt or threatened are women and children. He won't hesitate to beat the crap out of you. Hurting his any of his friends is also something that's sure to piss him off. And while he won't kill anyone, you'd probably wish he had by the time he's through kicking your ass if you so much as think about hurting Kaoru...and all this is AFTER he manages to overcome that nasty little split personality problem of his, because if you had decided to push him over the edge back then, he really would've tried to kill you.
- Keroro Gunsou has Giroro. Don't mess with Natsumi if you want to live. It doesn't even matter if he's anywhere nearby sometimes.
- Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni basically operates by lining up everyone's berserk buttons on a keyboard and then leaning on it. And then they knock it off the table and do a tap-dance on it. Of particularly note are Keiichi's Big Brother Complex towards Satoko and Shion's Yandere tendencies.
- In Darker Than Black, you do not want to give Hei any reason to think you're connected to his sister. Really, you don't. It's a bad idea.
- In Tona Gura, calling Hatsune "motherly" means a Tickling Hell for whatever poor soul did so.
- Macross Frontier's Alto Saotome is prone to eye-twitching or shouting every time someone brings up his more feminine characteristics. Of course, this only encourages his friends — especially Michael (who pretty much popularized his "Princess Alto" nickname not only across the school, but also in fandom).
- Kurama is usually The Stoic, but if you threaten his human mother or force him to take an innocent life, he'll drop the pleasentries and kill you. Painfully.
- Don't mess with Ryu's sweets.
- Make fun of Kamille Bidan's Embarrassing First Name, and he will raise his fists. And he's both a karate expert and a skilled Mobile Suit pilot.
- Many of the characters in Ranma One Half have at least one Berserk Button... the fact just about all of them are either the Arrogant Kung Fu Guy or his Distaff Counterpart doesn't help matters.
- Ranma Saotome hates it when his masculinity is questioned, and only partially due to his Gender Bender curse. Particularly in the anime, calling him a coward also triggers this. He doesn't think much of people attacking innocent bystanders, either.
- Akane Tendo goes nuts if you point out she's got a comparatively plain figure compared to Shampoo, Ukyo Kuonji or even her fiance. Or that she's utterly hopeless at any traditional feminine activity, such as cooking, cleaning (tends to break the tools/what she's cleaning), laundry (rips, stains or shrinks clothes), tea ceremony, etc.
- Don't insult Akane Tendo anywhere in Ryoga Hibiki's hearing. He will make you suffer for it.
- Make any mention of the fact that Taro's first name is Pantyhose, and he'll immediately try to beat your head in. Usually after taking a dip in cold water first, and thus assuming his alternate form; a giant mishmash of yeti, ox, crane, eel and, later, octopus.
- Wolf Guy: Don't you dare compare a gang of common Chaotic Evil delinquents to the noble and much-maligned wolf in front of Inugami, he'll give you a Death Glare and an talking-to the likes you've never seen
!
- Even if a bit scary, Kitano of Angel Densetsu is The Messiah. He will not fight back (not that you can actually hurt him )... unless he thinks a girl or one his Nakamas are in danger. Luckily he will not hurt you much, just be prepared to be knocked out for an hour or two. And hope you're landing on a soft surface after he blows you three meters away. And forget lifting anything heavier than a tissue the day after. Make it a couple of days maybe.
Comics
- Even Superman has his berserk button, often accompanied by a Red Eyes Take Warning, best exemplified in Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow:
Lightning Lord: Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! Want to buy yourself some time, Kryptonian? Why not throw me the woman, so I can fry her the way I fried your other girlfriend? Superman: (in shock) L-Lana? (enraged) YOU HURT LANA?! (hits Lightning Lord with a strong burst of heat vision) Lightning Lord: AAAAA! He burned me! He burned me! Saturn Queen: (scared) His mind... He isn't bluffing... He's prepared to kill!
- Johnny The Homicidal Maniac is not wacky, and anyone who tells him otherwise is in for a world of hurt. He'll also go off on one for someone accusing him of being a killer (which, as the name would suggest...), looking at him funny, believing in God (or anything remotely hopeful) or trying to avoid dying. Still another berserk button is incorrectly assuming what he does with the blood he drains from his victims. He DOES NOT drink it, he paints his wall, and if you say otherwise, he will get upset. With daggers.
- Rorschach of Watchmen can be said to have a berserk button about criminals, which sort of comes with his territory; but his interviews with Dr. Long confirmed one thing: anyone who harms a child or one of his superhero compatriots is in for a world of hurt. He hits his permanent berserk button when he realizes that the child abductor he had been tracking down had butchered his victim and fed her to his dogs. Since then, he has been a Heroic Sociopath in the eyes of many.
- I'd argue that a more accurate example of this trope is when he loses his "face".
- I'd argue Rorschach has more of a Berserk switch board than a single button.
- Death's Head from the Transformers and Marvel comics hates it when people call him a bounty hunter. He prefers "Freelance Peacekeeping Agent", yes?
- Monica from Brazilian comic Monica's Gang. Don't comment on her weight, height, or how big her teeth are, and even worse, call her ugly, if you don't want a girl to beat you up using a plush rabbit.
- Never call Obelix from Asterix "fat" (anyone who does gets a Megaton Punch). His chest's just slipped a bit, is all.
- Whenever anyone points out the fact that Unhygienix's fish are not fresh, a brawl ensues. In Asterix in Corsica, we learn that this is his young son's Berserk Button, too.
- Tintin's Professor Calculus ("Tournesol" in the original French) does this when someone suggests he is "playing the goat." Given the professor's notoriously poor hearing, he is likely to blow up if he hears the phrase "playing the goat" — or anything that sounds remotely similar — used in any context.
- Also Captain Haddock if you take away his whisky.
- The Incredible Hulk is generally a Berserker anyway, but anything or anyone that reminds him of his father is definitely in for a world of hurt.
- Apollo and The Midnighter, members of The Authority, are upstanding heroes (possibly Anti Hero in the latter case, but still...) dedicated to making a better world and raising their adopted daughter Jenny, and they're openly homosexual, not to mention having a very stable and loving relationship. Anyone who calls them 'poofters', though, is in for a great heaping of suffering.
- When talking to Snow White, Don't Mention The Dwarfs. Ever.
- In The Punisher story arc "The Slavers," the brutal treatment that the title slavers put their captives through triggers a rage so deep within Frank Castle that he goes to savage lengths so extreme that even he himself is surprised.
- His surprise might stem from the events in Born.
- And let's not forget what happened when some jackass mob dude dug up the remains of Frank's murdered family and pissed on them. Unstoppable Rage doesn't even begin to describe Frank's response.
- That would be Nicky Cavella, a.k.a. Too Dumb To Live, successfully pissing the Punisher off.
- In "The Long Dark Night", Barracuda kidnaps the daughter Frank had with O'Brien. Frank proceeds to clip a car battery to Barracuda's testicles and shock him for an hour straight.
- Lest we forget Frank seems to draw a berserker rage whenever he remembers his slain family. Compared to his first fight with Barracuda and fighting The Mongolian where he goes ape-shit remembering them. Castle is calm and rational when he thinks Barracuda killed his daughter.
- An Archie Comics story titled "By Hook or Crook" has Jughead visiting the Chocolate Shoppe when a pair of burglars are robbing it. He initally cowers alongside Pop Tate when the robbers take the money, a painting, and the silverware; but when they're about to take all the hamburger meat in Pop's freezer, that's when he starts throwing punches and taking them down.
- A more well-known example from the same comics would be Moose on anyone (usually Reggie) who tries to flirt with his girl Midge.
- In Knights of the Dinner Table, no-one should ever touch Bob's dice, as Nitro, an ex-Marine, discovered to his everlasting humiliation.
- Don't make sexist remarks to Sara (though she usually just grabs the offender by the collar and gives them a chance to recant)
- Brian is the resident table flipper, but the best way to set him off is to mention his former imaginary girlfriend, Alexis.
- Spider Jerusalem is pretty much an entire switchboard of Berserk Buttons looking for an operator, but god help you if he finds out that you've abused your authority and hurt someone defenseless.
- Scrooge McDuck doesn't like it when people disrespect his dead mother. Not
one bit . He's also not too fond of people who try to take his gold or his land .
- In Batman don't ever kill an ally or close friend of his — if you do you'd better hope he keeps his no killing rule. Batman's done this twice with the Joker; first when the Joker killed Jason Todd, and second when Batman thought the Joker killed his childhood friend Thomas Elliot (of course since the Joker's the trope namer for Joker Immunity he survived both attacks).
- Don't call Barb Wire "babe".
- Hunter Rose and Argent were essentially each other's Berserk Buttons in Grendel. Virtually everything and anything either one said or did to the other would set him off.
- From Fantastic Four: Whatever you do, don't mention The Trapster's former villainous handle, "Paste-Pot Pete."
- The Titular Sam from Sam And Max Freelance Police is very calm under really stressing situations, but don't call him fat, give him pink bellies or try to harm his Lil' Buddy. You're already screwed.
- If talking to Deadpool, never mention Weapon X. Particularly not "the Workshop". You might get away with it if you were one of the other participants, but this is not a guarantee.
- Similarly, don't harm innocents. When a group of mercenaries "rescue" Deadpool by killing some cops, Deadpool stops joking. A bad warning sign. Deadpool, after tricking them into telling him about a tracking device in his gun, promptly kills them all.
- In the X Wing Series comics, Tycho Celchu of Alderaan does not take kindly to hearing the planet's stereotype, pacifism, extended into "cowardice
◊", or being told ◊ that as an Alderaanian he can't be a warrior. Or people who say Endor never happened ◊.
Tycho: "I just want you to know - not all Alderaanians are pacifists!"
Films
- Back to School with Rodney Dangerfield has one with the teacher who freaks out about the Vietnam War.
- Said teacher being the one and only Sam Kinison, who made a comedic living by pushing his own buttons while on stage.
- The 2009 Star Trek movie. It is perfectly okay to talk shit about Commander Spock's Momma... as long as you do it while he's under heavy sedatives and has all four limbs tied down. Otherwise, you are going to get curb-stomped. Epically.
- ROMULUS WAS DESTROYED!!. HE SAW IT HAPPEN! So please, do not try to suggest otherwise to Captain Nero. Because that'll only piss him off. And bad things tend to happen to... well... the universe... when he gets pissed off.
- Star Trek V The Final Frontier: "SHOOT HIM!!!"
- Bugsy: "Don't call me that!" (Truth in Television; the Embarrassing Nickname "Bugsy" was Benjamin Siegel's Berserk Button.)
- This was basically the whole plot of the movie The Waterboy.
- The Cotton Club: Dutch Schultz appears to have made a grudging peace with a rival gangster, but the rival won't stop needling him, casually remarking while grazing the buffet, "Aw, what's a Jew but a nigger turned inside out, anyway?" Schultz goes berserk and stabs him to death. Then again, it was never difficult to rile Schultz, in film or real life.
- Kill Bill: Do not disparage the American or the Chinese side of O-Ren Ishii's heritage if you are attached to your head and wish to remain so.
- Marty McFly from the Back to the Future films: "Nobody... calls me... chicken!" This is a Shout Out to Rebel Without a Cause, below.
- Also, Buford Tannen, who was berserk to begin with, completely loses it when called by his nickname, "Mad Dog", which he earned due to his viciousness and tendency to drool.
- Undercover Brother: "You mess with the fro, you got to go."
- Lance, the meek Token White member of the BROTHERHOOD. When he's called a "sissy", he pulls a man's heart out of his chest, rips another guy's head and spinal column clean out of his body (à la the title creature in Predator 2), and squashes the speaker's head between his hands.
- Mr. Feather, when he realizes that he's being subconsciously influenced by black culture.
- Conspiracy Brother flips out when Undercover Brother tells him "Good Morning," accusing Undercover Brother of being a spy. According to Conspiracy Brother, the word "good" comes from an ancient Anglo-Saxon word for white, and the expression "good morning" is actually code for killing black people.
- Conspiracy Brother is a regular Pesci when it comes to this kind of thing. Seriously. At one point, Undercover Brother asks him, "Brother, when you get a minute, could I get a list of the words that trigger these fits?"
- Subversion: In Wes Craven's movie Red Eye, the villain, whose name is Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy) explains early on that he doesn't like being called Jack, because then his name sounds too much like Jack the Ripper. Towards the end, the heroine tries to activate his berserk button by calling him "Jack", with no real effect. He's already chasing her with a knife, so he doesn't seem to take much offense.
- Ironically, mispronouncing Cillian Murphy's real name reportedly has this effect. One kid too many must have called him "Silly 'un" at school.
- In the 1982 Film Noir parody Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid the protagonist Rigby Reardon (played by Steve Martin) goes into a homicidal rage every time someone mentions "cleaning woman". This is later used by the female protagonist to save them from the Bad Guys by tricking the main villain into saying the words and thus triggering a Bad Guy-killing frenzy.
- In Space Jam, Lola Bunny goes into a basket-busting frenzy whenever anyone calls her "Doll".
- Serenity. Who knew that a commercial about Fruity Oaty Bars could result in this much carnage? This is less of a triggering of out-and-out rage than a Manchurian Agent style activation of River's deadly assassin abilities. On the other hand, when Simon gets shot by the Reavers at the film's climax, she gets very angry, very calmly. So River's Berserk Button is located in Simon's chest.
- Mal and Zoe also have a Berserk Button in regards to Serenity Valley. When Jayne, in the middle of ripping Mal's leadership abilities, accuses him of getting everyone on his side killed in that battle, Zoe, the other major survivor of the battle, gives him a high-quality Death Glare and asks him very calmly if he wants to leave the room. Jayne gets the hint and backs off.
- Simon has a general Berserk Button as well in regards to River being put in danger. After the first job Mal takes her on during the movie, a job which almost gets everyone on the job eaten by Reavers, Simon hauls off and decks Mal when he and the others make it back to Serenity.
- Mentioning that Jonathan Brewster from Arsenic and Old Lace "looks like Boris Karloff" will inevitably result in Unstoppable Rage.
- In the movie The Quick and the Dead, outlaw Dog Kelly is so named because of an incident in his Back Story where he was forced to eat his own dog or face starvation. Being as he loved the dog in question, any mention of his nickname or the incident is a good way to seriously piss him off, as evidenced in the deleted scene when Ellen, the heroine, teases him about it.
- In Tim Burton's Ed Wood, Bela Lugosi is having a good day on set, until a well-meaning prop guy compliments him for playing "Boris Karloff's sidekick". Profanity ensues.
- Otamyas in Daft Queens does not "like... being... called... Mother... Fucker!"
- Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls: In a fight with a crazed Wachootoo tribesman, the tribesman grabs Ace and rearranges his hair into horns, mocking Ace's reputation as the "White Devil". Ace gets up and says that this has gone far enough, "Nobody... messes... with the DO!" and then proceeds to get further pummeled by the tribesman.
- As revealed in Escape from the Planet of the Apes, the Apes get angry and defensive (in one case violently so) when called "monkeys". (Even though the title of the original book was La Planète des singes, and singe is the French word for both "monkey" and "ape".)
- No discrepancy there if you translate singe as "simian", which the Apes wouldn't find inaccurate.
- In Meet the Feebles, Heidi's berserk button is Samantha, Bletch's secret mistress. During their first encounter, after Samatha insults her and says Bletch doesn't love her, she calls Samantha a pussy (she is a cat, after all), and throws her in a box. In their second encounter, while Heidi is trying to commit suicide by machine gun, Samantha basically tells her Not With The Safety On You Wont, and begins to leave. Heidi turns the gun on Samantha and kills her, starting Heidi on a murderous massacre.
- Hocus Pocus: The generally practical Winnifred Sanderson only fully unleashes her wrath on anyone who dares to call her "ugly," and tortures or pursues the offenders single-mindedly. This eventually leads to her own demise, and that of her sisters.
- They rather don't like being called "chicks" either — even though they apparently have no way of knowing what it means.
- The Great Mouse Detective features Ratigan (Vincent Price). Ratigan can be quite Affably Evil, but he absolutely flips out when called a rat. (He actually IS one, the only one depicted in the film, though all the rest of the characters are various mice and lizards.) A drunken mouse slips and calls him a rat during his Villain Song. His reaction is all the more effective in that after an initial moment of fury, he calms down... instead, he goes extremely quiet, and cooly, calmly, even lovingly, feeds poor Bartholomew to his Right Hand Cat.
- Wonder why he doesn't flip out when Basil calls him a rat later in the film?
- He controls himself the first time, and SCREAMS the second time.
- Hancock. Call him an asshole. One. More. Time.
- Mary also has one. She doesn't like it when someone calls her crazy.
- Darryl Revok does not sound like Dr. Ruth. He sounds like Revok. Darryl. Revok.
- Er, that's not a reference to the sex-talk Dr. Ruth, BTW.
- Subverted in Straw Dogs: Dustin Hoffman does go completely homicidal when the lads try to break into his house, but he remains entirely calm throughout.
- The Joker in The Dark Knight always gets a little bit more serious whenever someone calls him crazy or a "freak". At first, he merely shows annoyance, but the final time he angrily orders a man cut into pieces and fed to his dogs.
- Repo! The Genetic Opera: If you hurt Nathan's daughter, do not expect to survive the night.
- Duck Soup: President Rufus T. Firefly is prepared to go to war over Ambassador Trentino calling him an "upstart". Later Firefly has calmed down and he and Trentino patch things up, realizing that neither of them can remember the word that set things off. Trentino jokingly tries several possibilities, and unfortunately hits on the right one, which starts the war all over again.
- Forrest Gump: Lieutenant Dan took great offense at Cunning Carla when she asked if Forrest was "stupid or something". Also, Forrest himself unleashed hell on several occasions when he saw someone mistreating his beloved Jenny.
- Return Of The Jedi: You can abandon him in childhood, terrorize the known universe, murder his foster parents, kill his mentor, massacre thousands of his allies, cut off his hand and take him prisoner; all without making him want to kill you for it. But threaten to turn his twin sister to the Dark Side and Luke Skywalker's going to take you to school.
- Austin Powers: "That makes me angry, and when Dr. Evil get angry, Mr. Bigglesworth gets upset, and when Mr. Bigglesworth gets upset people DIE!"
- Spaceballs:
Princess Vespa: My hair. He shot my hair. Son of a bitch!
- In the film version of MASH, a player from the rival team tries to get one of the black players thrown out of the football game by hitting his Berserk Button (calling him a coon) and causing the player to attack him. Spearchucker Jones (played by Fred Williamson) decides that two can play at this game and suggests the player hit his Berserk Button by calling into question the virtue of his beloved sister. This other player attacks him and is himself thrown out.
- Office Space. Excuse me, I believe you have my Red Stapler.
- Jamal Malik of Slumdog Millionaire remains calm, friendly, sweet and honest throughout most of the film. He even retains his composure while the Indian police are torturing him. However, if someone insults or harms Latika, the girl he loves, he becomes a whirling flurry of fists and angry directed at the source of the transgression.
- I dare you to touch Tony Montana's sister. Go on, do it. You'll be meeting his little friend too.
- In The Lord of the Rings movie, the entire Fellowship flips out when Frodo gets stabbed... again.
- Sam always flips when Frodo gets threatened, injured, or the like. He's very protective of Frodo.
- In Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Big Chris is a calm and collected enforcer. When Dog puts a knife to his son, Little Chris' throat, he keeps cool until he gets the upper hand, and then goes completely apeshit.
- Tommy DeVito of Goodfellas normally has a reputation for getting pissed off no matter what is said to him. But when Billy Batts, a made man, talks about a rather humiliating period from Tommy's past when he was known as "Spitshine Tommy" for shining the other mob dudes' shoes, and then tells Tommy to go get his shine box, Tommy goes ballistic, knifing Batts to death in a savage rage. This eventually gets Tommy killed right as he himself is going to become a made man, because you do not kill a made man without a sitdown and an okay from the boss.
- Do NOT, under any circumstances, make Dr. Frank N Furter jealous. You WILL regret it.
- This is evident when, just simply seeing Rocky with Janet causes Frank to go into a psychotic rage and starts to chase Janet all over the castle.
- He also, kills Eddie with a pick axe simply because Eddie was stealing the spotlight.
- Eddie appearing was bad timing, he was showing off his invention, he used Eddie's brain for that and one of his lovers was Eddie's girlfriend and trying to get over Eddie at the time.
- She may be the most peaceful monster in the Toho universe, but it's still a very bad idea to harm Mothra's children or the Shobijin (The two fairies she protects).
- Likewise, even though he's already got a rather violent temper, Godzilla himself tends to go into Unstoppable Rage mode whenever anything tries to harm his son.
- Let's just say that harming a child whenever Gamera is around may just very well be the last thing you'll ever do.
- You can say whatever you like about Frank Hopkins, but leave his horse out of it. Or very, very bad things will happen.
- Another man whose horse you shouldn't insult, even slightly: D'Artagnan from The Three Musketeers. He won't even challenge you to a duel; he'll just charge with intent to run you through. At least, that's what he does in the Douglas Fairbanks incarnation.
- Teddy Duchamp in Stand By Me goes from mocking to frothing in seconds if you insult his dad's sanity. This is an odd case, since his dad once disfigured him on purpose.
- Rock and Roll High School. Never try to burn a pile of your students' rock n roll records, or else they will take over the school with help from The Ramones.
- Lone Wolf McQuade: You can beat him, shoot him, bury him alive, and even shoot his dog and maybe survive, but if you hurt his daughter, you will open the whole can of Chuck Norris whoopass.
- Otto in A Fish Called Wanda: "DON'T! call me stupid!"
- In Enki Bilal's Immortal, Horus really doesn't like hearing Anubis' name. And no god can help you if you get them mixed up.
Horus: Don't ever speak that jackal's name again, you understand? Only my name. Only me.
- "I TOLD YOU..." (kills all the Nazis in the room) "...DON'T CALL ME JUNIOR."
- The Goonies. First when Mouth tells Chunk he has naked pictures of his mom taking a bath, real cheap, forcing Chunk to break the door open. Second, averted, when Chunk accidentally breaks the water cooler he was drinking from when Mouth thought of putting chocolate on the floor so he can eat through. "Okay Mouth, that's all I can stand and I can't stand no more!"
- William from Almost Famous represents this trope nicely. The band Stillwater and their Band Aids use every opportunity to take advantage of him, and he usually lets it happen, but there are moments when he's about had enough:
Penny: Honey... you're too sweet for Rock 'N' Roll. Will: Sweet?... Sweet? Where do you get off? Where do you get sweet? I am dark, and dangerous, and pissed off, and I could be very dangerous to all of you! I. Am the enemy!
- Do not call Jim Stark of Rebel Without a Cause "chicken." His overreaction to this insult gets him into a fair amount of trouble.
Literature
- Barak and later his son in The Belgariad, who turn into rabid bears when Garion or his son is threatened.
- Note that this is indeed literal. They will turn into bears and they will rip whatever is threatening their charges to shreds. Barak's son had to be chained to a ship's mast because he went berserk in the middle of the ocean... when Garion and his son were several hundred miles away. You do not mess around with Garion's family, because if he doesn't get you, his grandfather and aunt will.
- In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, we discover that Molly Weasley also has a Berserk Button. The gentle housewife becomes an enraged witch when you threaten her children, as Dark Action Girl Bellatrix Lestrange learned the hard way. Hence one of the favorite quotes among some fans: "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" In fact, it pissed her off so badly she ignored wizarding laws and killed the bitch with an illegal curse.
- We never know which curse she uses. It's implied that Bellatrix dies the same way she killed Sirius. (However, that means the Movie will have her use the good old AK-666.)
- Snape has a Berserk Button of sorts too. He does some pretty irrational things after being called a coward, like revealing himself as the Half-Blood Prince.
- And never insult The Dumbledore within earshot of Hagrid. That will show you what a Bad Idea is to piss off a Gentle Giant.
- Dumbledore has his own button: he's perfectly calm and cool while he is told he's lost his marbles, or while Harry throws a tantrum, implicates him in the death of Sirius, and wrecks his office... but threaten to harm his students, especially if said student happens to be HARRY (as the Dementors learned the hard way when they sabotaged the Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff match in the third book), and God have mercy on your soul. If you even have a soul to begin with, which the Dementors don't.
- Also Bellatrix herself has a little problem with people pointing out that Voldy is half-blood.
- Dobby is also very protective of Harry Potter ever since he was freed, conveniently appearing more than once and quoting his trademark "You shall not harm Harry Potter!" Dobby is so devoted that he even risked (and lost) his life in order for Harry and the others to escape Malfoy manor.
- For that matter, Ron doesn't typically get more aggressive than the Takahashi Couple-style bickering with Hermione... but should anyone else go after Hermione, all bets are off. In Chamber of Secrets, he twice has to be physically stopped from laying the hurt on Draco Malfoy.
"Let me at him," Ron growled, as Harry and Dean hung onto his arms. "I don't care, I don't need my wand, I'm going to kill him with my bare hands!"
- Impersonate a Dementor in an attempt to sabotage Harry during a Quidditch match, and Professor McGonagall will not only give you a detention, but also take fifty points from your house for your "unworthy trick".
- Terry Pratchett's Librarian in Discworld is famous for his hatred of being called a monkey. (He's an orangutan, and orangutans are apes, not monkeys.)
- Due to hideous mistreatment on his part, the title character of White Fang goes insane when laughed at for much of the book.
- Anne Shirley's hair, especially if you compare it to carrots.
- Harm anyone Honor Harrington considers to be under her protection, and nothing will save you.
- Harm Honor herself (or even think about it), and Nimitz will rip your face off. Literally.
- CS Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle: The chapter "The Rashness of the King" refers to King Tirian going berserk and chopping off a few heads when he sees Calormenes chopping down dryads' trees and harnessing and whipping a Talking Horse. He blows his party's cover later when the Calormenes threaten a Talking Boar. Do not mess with King Tirian's subjects!
- Rugaard from E. E. Knight's Age of Fire series hates being called by any derogatory nickname, and finally snaps when called "Batty" to his face by one of his fellow trainees in the Drakwatch, turning what started off as an ordinary brawl into an Unstoppable Rage as he takes on all three of his bunk-mates at once. Then again, it's understandable when you consider the fact he was without a name as a hatchling and as The Unfavourite was flat out told by his father he didn't need or deserve one.
- Do not call Yosyp Kazakov a Russian. He is not Russian, he is Ukrainian.
- In the Temeraire universe, the marriage-like bond between dragon and handler means that dragons will, generally, flip their multi-tonne shit if their captains are hurt, and vice-versa. Captain Laurence, though, deserves special mention: raised the third son of a Lord, he becomes an aviator only after a long career in the Navy, with manners and a sense of social mores and politesse that most aviators just don't bother with. He's truly a gentleman's gentleman. However, if someone insults Temeraire or mistreats a dragon in any way, he will not be responsible for his very violent actions.
- Anne McCaffrey did it first, with dragonriders whose dragons have died most often becoming suicidal and/or insane. One of the Oldtimers deliberately arranged for his dying dragon to expire in a failed mating flight, specifically so he could go berserk himself and kill F'lar.
- Jack London's famous novel The Call of the Wild features a a grizzled older sledding dog named Sol-Leks, with one blind eye. Buck, the mutt protagonist of the novel, takes a nasty bite when he approaches Sol-leks from his blind side and is careful never to do it again.
- In the Star Wars Expanded Universe, only someone who doesn't mind dying at the hands of Luke Skywalker would even think of killing Mara Jade. Not that she needs his protection.
- And vice-versa; you try to hurt Luke or Ben, and Mara will not hesitate to rip your head off.
- Also, if you mess with Tenel Ka's friends, she'll mess up you!
- Likewise, Tenel Ka's rival Tamith Kai freaks whenever someone brings up how Tenel Ka busted up her knee-cap without breaking a sweat. Tenel Ka makes it a point to ask "How's the knee?" every time they cross paths.
- From Garth Nix's Old Kingdom trilogy, Touchstone goes into a berserker mode once, running up a hill carrying an injured Sabriel away from danger, and again (offpage) when a northern assassin tries to stab Sabriel with a serving fork, he throws the 6 foot assassin accross the table and attempts to crush him with his throne.
- Sam has a half-berseker moment in Lirael when he and Lirael take on Chlorr and her Dead Hands who are ambushing the group of innocent people. He almost gets killed, but he does try to be as nuts as his dad.
- The Saga of Darren Shan: Do not call Steve Leopard evil to his face. Seriously.
- The title character of Hop Frog by Edgar Allan Poe is a short, misshapen jester who meekly puts up with the abuse heaped on him by the king and noblemen he serves... until the king throws his drink in the face of the dancer Trippetta, the only person who was ever nice to him. He immediately devises a scheme that ends with his tormentors getting burned alive in full view of a crowd.
- Examined in The Sleeping Dragon, the first of Joel Rosenberg's stories about a group of college kids transported to a fantasy world. A dwarf warrior needs to go berserk to break the group out of a bad situation. He understands that he needs to find a point of anger and build on it. Cue flashbacks to life back on earth, where he was wheelchair bound with MS. Not enough, no matter how deep he goes. Finally in despair he finds the button "So here I am, just as helpless as I've been my entire life". Last words of the chapter "He went berserk".
- One minor character from Simon R. Green's Nightside series, who fed on the intense emotions of others, went around in public dressed as a Nazi SS officer while wearing a large Star of David, specifically in hopes of pushing other people's Berserk Buttons.
- If you're going to torture a cat, make sure Anonymous doesn't find out. Anonymous does not truck with cruelty to cats.
- Hercule Poirot hates it when you call him French. ("Eye yam BELGIAN!")
- In The Pilo Family Circus, physically harming Goshy the clown- even shoving him- will result in his meek and mild brother Doopy flying into a homicidal rage and thrashing the offender to a pulp with a scream of "HEY HEY HEY HEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!"
- Roland of Giliad has a few of these mostly concerning people to try to kill his Ka Tet/adopted family but being that Roland is an experienced and crafty warrior, he keeps his cool and does things like calmly insult then gun down 30 men in revenge, refusing any offer of surrender.
- The Phantom Of The Opera has a Berserk Button a mile wide. Although in some adaptations it is more a bad sunburn wide.
- Actually, a worse thing to do would be to insult or harm his protégé.
- The Badgers (and a couple others) in the Redwall series have the "Bloodwrath:"
- Salamandastron; don't threaten Urthstripe's foster daughter, poison or just flat out kill his hares...he will go through your army with a forge hammer if he has to. Then don't kill him because then his brother will mess you up even more.
- Mattimeo; you stole Orlando the Axe's daughter...he'll use that Axe to cut through stone to kill you.
- Long Patrol/Marlfox; there's a reason she's called Cregga "Red Eyes."
- Pearls of Lutra; the Abbot and Viola are captured...Martin, a mouse, goes BERSERK and it takes a BADGER to restrain him from leaping off the top of the Redwall battlements so he can get at those who did it.
- Outcast of Redwall; Skarlath is killed with a poison arrow by the fox Nightshade the scene cuts away right before Sunflash kills her (note: Sunflash wields a MACE so go ahead and imagine it).
- "You can trick Travis McGee. Maybe beat on him. If you're lucky he might shrug it off. But whatever you do, don't kill his friends." Cover blurb for Pale Gray for Guilt.
Live Action TV
Music
- You can burn my house, steal my car, drink my liquor from an old fruitjar. Do anything that you want to do, but uh-uh, Honey, lay off of my shoes..
Mythology
- The Bible: Do not transform the sacred temple of God into a marketplace. Jesus will be so "eaten with zeal," he'll literally whip your ass out of there.
- Also, don't be a fig tree without fruit. Jesus will curse you.
- Do not mock the prophet Elisha's baldness, or he will use his hotline to the Lord to sic bears on your ass.
- And LORD almighty save you if you're a Phillistine and you see Samson coming... except most likely the Lord almighty already has you picked out for the slaughter. 1000 men killed with the Jawbone of an ass.
- Do not touch God's apples. Seriously, don't.
- Speaking of Shiva with disrespect is a terminally unwise idea around any form or incarnation of Parvati. Once Shiva's own incarnation tested her that way and was satisfied with the result — that is, she blasted him for good. In the only case when she could not do this (good goddesses have to be respectful to their parents and all that), she killed herself out of indignation, and then he came in Roaring Rampage Of Revenge, beating and maiming anyone he considered remotely responsible or accessory, and that meant everyone present.
New Media
- On a certain famous Image Board, there exist "rage inducing threads", whose sole purpose is to hit the Berserk Button of as many posters as possible.
- This isn't simply trolling, it's actually more of a specific activity, approaching that of a game. The thread is even traditionally started out with the phrase "You get filled with rage, you lose." The starting image is usually a recent piece of Dis Continuity or Wall Banger or somesuch.
- On 4chan, at least, it's "You Rage, You Lose", with certain amounts of time giving you certain grades. (Ranging from a few seconds to several minutes.) The common responses are either "Easy/Medium/Epic/etc. RAGE!" or "FFFFFFFFUUUUUUU"(CK)!"
- Also don't harm a cat, they will have you arrested.
- Mods that add cloaking functionality are a berserk button issue for the entire Freelancer community. Merely mentioning it is a ban-worthy offense on most Freelancer forums.
- In the Left 4 Dead fandom, it is a well-established fact that Louis isn't very visually distinct from the standard infected, because he wears an outfit very similar to one of the infected models. It's also a well-established fact that if you bring this up, you will be shot down by thousands of posts calling you a racist.
- On the gomanga.com message boards, don't fuck with Lord Styphon or else you're banned from the forum within the year.
- NEVER, EVER, post a picture of Weegee on the You Chew Poop forums. Anywhere. You will be ripped apart.
- The internet is a raunchy, sometimes lawless, often vulgar place; but dare, just DARE insult Fred Rogers's memory and you will have a flaming such as you have never known. This is the one man for whom the internet (save for FEEF
) holds universal respect.
- Likewise, the videogame community will burn alive anyone who insults "You're the Inspiration" from EBA. It doesn't matter if you don't like Nintendo, don't like the DS or don't like rhythm games. You will respect that level or BURN.
Pro Wrestling
- Tag team member, Festus, is a Gentle Giant until the bell rings, thus triggering his Berserk Button.
- This somewhat works in reverse, for when that bell rings again, usually after a victory, Festus visibly reverts to his gentle self.
- A sure way to bring out a certain wrestler to interrupt a promo is to say something that plays on his Catch Phrase. This contributor feels that the cleverest use of this was when Booker T said his own Catch Phrase, "Don't hate the playah, hate the game" to HHH who is also sometimes known as the Game.
- And speaking of HHH, should you bring harm to Ric Flair
, he and Shawn Michaels will not be happy campers .
- A documentary on pro wrestling showed a clip from an interview with Leon White (Big Van Vader). He was a nice guy, but that stopped when the interviewer asked him if wrestling was fake. Leon slapped him in the head several times and said, "Does that feel fake to you?!"
- Actually it was David Schultz being asked by John Stossel, who was doing an investigative report on pro wrestling. According to Schultz, Vince McMahon told him to beat up Stossel, threatening to fire Schultz if he didn't.
- André the Giant, normally a Gentle Giant, was taunted about his size by some mooks outside a bar in Europe; they then got into their car to drive away, but André grabbed the car and tipped it over, with all four of them inside it.
Tabletop Games
- Taken almost-literally by the Arco-Flagellants in Warhammer 40000, which are designed specifically to turn into berserk killing machines with the proper command. Don't examine them too closely, either... they're Nightmare Fuel Unleaded. Bring up the Squats at any GW event, and you'll find that the Berserk Button works in real life, too.
- Use the word "traitor" or "heretic" around the Sisters of Battle in reference to someone. Purging ensues.
- Mentioning Squad Broken is a general berserk button for the fan base.
- Eldar: In peace, they're gentle, logical, at-one-with nature, etc, with peaceful, quiet occupations. In war, they turn into furious killing machines, losing their identity to the overwhelming desire to annihilate the enemy.
- Suggesting harming civilians in front of the Salamanders is a bad idea, even if you're a chapter master.
- The "Consumer On the Brink" archetype from the Feng Shui supplement "Seed of the New Flesh" is not very powerful in terms of skills. But attack him or put him in close proximity to his irritant, which is a Berserk Button or something else that pisses him off to no end, and he gets 4 bonus points that he can distribute however he wishes between his Body and Reflexes stat, which can affect his combat A Vs.
- To make lycanthropy less predictable, Ravenloft encourages D Ms to link werebeasts' involuntary transformations (and subsequant Berserk Button rampages) to phenomena other than the full moon, such as the tides, exposure to a particular odor, food or substance, or stressful situations such as feeling hemmed in by a crowd.
Theater
- Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing goes berserk upon being called an ass. And then he tells everyone not to forget it.
- Cyrano's nose in Cyrano de Bergerac. In Act II, scene IX, it's made quite clear that even using the word "nose" is sufficient to send him into a murderous rage. It's moderated in the remake movie Roxanne, though.
- Hilariously subverted in Roxanne into Berzerk Scathing Sarcasm with C.D. coming up with an impromptu list of 20 better jokes than "Big Nose".
- He does that in the original, too.
- Chicklet from Psycho Beach Party takes on her evil personality at the mention of the word "red".
- The vaudeville sketch Slowly I Turned
is based on this, and has been homaged in various songs and films.
Video Games
- A utility droid in Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords has a "short man's complex."
- Don't call Gary in Bully boring.
- While he doesn't completely flip a shit, he still overreacts.
- Jin Saotome from Cyberbots (& Marvel vs. Capcom) goes into a rage if his opponents mention his dead father.
- Flonne from Disgaea, while usually the Love Freak, is unusually loud when someone points out that she's flat. But the closest she actually came to Berserk was when an angel called her an evildoer: She ceased any attempts at a peaceful resolution and decided to "kick some angel butt" with Laharl.
- Ditto for her first encounter with Captain Gordon, Defender of Earth! who dares to call her a villainess.
- That being said, when Etna's assets (or rather, her lack of them) are pointed out, she tends to go right past "loud" and straight to "murderously violent". Rozalin got to learn this the hard way.
- If you think calling Etna flat is a bad idea, then steal one of her desserts. I dare you. I double DARE you, muthafucka!
- From another work of Nippon Ichi, LaPucelleTactics, do NOT mess with Croix's girl or he'll flip out and crush your skull in, slowly, and while you beg for mercy.
- Just how did the games section get this long without any mention of the Big Daddies of Bioshock fame? I will not stand for it.
- So... Big Daddies. Hulking great fellows grafted into old-fashioned diving suits who have found themselves on permanent escort duty. They take this duty very seriously. For the most part they are calm and placid, patiently lumbering along in the wake of their creepy little charges and frequently displaying a touching degree of tenderness. But... should anyone pose the least threat to his Little Sister, Big Daddy will... get a bit annoyed. And, good Lord, when this happens, you will know about it.
- Dr. Neurosis from Brain Dead 13. Don't call him "average." Just don't.
- Raine from Tales of Symphonia, despite her normally rather cynical and sensible behaviour, has archaeological mania. Woe betide anyone who disparages or harms any ruins in her presence.
- Locke from Final Fantasy VI goes nuts whenever someone calls him a thief. He prefers to be known as a "treasure hunter."
- Appearently, in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time/Darkness, if the generally friendly and easy-going Guildmaster Wigglytuff doesn't have any Perfect Apples to eat, the entire room begins to shake violently as if something VERY bad is about to happen. It doesn't happen, however, because another exploration team comes in with a Perfect Apple for Wigglytuff.
- Wasn't that a running gag as well as his entire personality. One of the funniest moments in the game is when Team Skull kidnaps him. Maybe they just put him in there for comic relief so they could hide the High Octane Nightmare Fuel and edginess.
- Kornell goes nuts and breaks out of a trap in Grandia III when Miranda calls him a "muscle-bound peabrain."
- 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...
- Say 'Daisukenojo Bito' in front of Beat. I dare you.
- Okay! DAISUKENOJO BITO!
- You've just been whacked to death with a skateboard.
- "BWAAAAGHHH!"
- Don't touch Boo.
- Insulting Dynaheir or Khalid ( especially after either's storyline death) is a good way to forfeit your life.
- 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.
- In Super Smash Bros Brawl's Subspace Emissary Adventure Mode, the plot diverges slightly based on player action in the first stage, which determines which of the game's two resident princesses is initially captured by the baddies. The one who escapes is later believed by her corresponding hero to have been assaulted by allies. The batshit rage which results from this erroneous belief indicates that for Mario, endangering Princess Peach presses his Berserk Button; to press Link's, endanger Princess Zelda.
- Barbatos Goetia in 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 approach you ASAP, grab you, slam you, stomp you and slash you with all his spectacularly Badass scream: "NO, ITEMS, EVEEEERRRRR!!!!!". Even more in the Japanese version, since he got Norio Wakamoto as his seiyuu.
- 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, annihilates the person responsible, before bursting into tears and shrieking as she runs away from the survivors.
- Welkin Gunther, Valkyria Chronicles' resident Nice Guy has one when he found out that Faldio shot and nearly killed Alicia.
- Do not mess with Bil's teddy bear.
- Fujimura Taiga in Fate Stay Night is typically playful and cheerful...unless you call her Tiger, in which case you'd better have a will ready. Getting called Tiger actually pisses her off so much that saying it is enough to lift her out of unconsciousness.
- Also, Saber has a tendency to go into Tranquil Fury over badly made food.
- Threaten any member of the Vance family, and you'll have to answer to Dog. Dog is a giant robot built like a gorilla.
- Never, are you under any circumstances, are you to touch The Heavy's gun. EVER.
- Sonic does NOT take being called a rat very well, to say the least.
- This berserk button apparently disappeared in Sonic's confrontation with Gawain in Sonic and the Black Knight, though. That, or it is not set off if Sonic's familiar with whoever called him a rat.
- Whatever you do, NEVER harm Shadow's friends. Doing so causes his wrath to become genocidal, which humanity learned in Sonic Adventure 2 and what the Black Arms learned the hard way in Shadow The Hedgehog (Black Doom's actions set off the chain of events that resulted in Maria's death) in one of his Crowning Momentsof Awesome. The thought of Omega being damaged/destroyed in Sonic Chronicles made him a bit unhinged, so you can imagine what would have happened to the Marauders if Omega was actually destroyed.
- 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 in Hell with him, unless you want a hammer to the head.
- "They took away her babies." And that Berserk Button never got unstuck.
- 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 will become more aggressive with his attacks. His berserk button is turned off if you manage to knock him down.
- In the Wii Punch Out, 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, meanwhile, flips out (read: stops taunting you and goes into an endless attack string) should you knock off his toupee.
- Do not refer to Suikoden I's Ronnie Bell as "Giant Woman". She will beat your ass to a bloody pulp.
- From God of War, Kratos once had a berserk switch. But one day it broke off while flipped to the "On" position.
- Touhou's Sakuya Izayoi, according to Fanon and Memetic Mutation, will knife you to death if you mention the word "PAD" around her.
- Cirno, Touhou's resident ditzy ice fairy, reacts rather badly to anyone who calls her a Baka.
- Mystia, the "night sparrow" youkai, gets frightened or angry when 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.
- Ran Yakumo does not take kindly at all to anyone who messes with her shikigami Chen, as your player character finds out the hard way in the Extra Stage of Perfect Cherry Blossom.
- Patchouli likes to Throw The Book At Them on occasion in the fighting games, but as Touhou Musou Kakyou demonstrates, it's not a good idea to do the same to her. When Aya does this accidentally, it sets up a big throwdown between her and Reimu.
- The fandom in general has one in the form of the question "What anime is this?" It's because they hear it all the damned time, and most are rather sick of having to explain things over and over again.
- In Mass Effect, do not open a Mass Relay without knowing where it leads first. The Citadel....frowns upon such shenanigans.
- In Jericho, don't call Billie "Wilhelmina". ONLY HER FATHER CALLS HER WILHELMINA.
- Also, don't damage Cole's computer. Cole does have a subversion of this as well, though. Ask her about maths, and she calms right down.
- The Suffering: Do not threaten Torque's children. Do not claim to have sold drugs to them- not even as a joke. And never, ever, suggest that Torque wasn't their father. Yeah, the blood still hasn't washed off the barroom floor, either.
- Don't ever mess with Ed Edison's hamster in Maniac Mansion. Remembering the events of the first game don't sit to well with him either in Day of the Tentacle.
- Do. Not. Touch. Alyx. D0g will own you.
- 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.
- Aww, isn't Link a cute/sexy and nice young man? And what an innocent farmer/island-boy/Kokiri. Surely, he would never do something devasting on purpose, huh? So come on and try to hurt someone who's close to him. Come on. I dare you.
- In Okami, Susano spends most of the game being totally (if often hilariously) useless. But when Orochi tries to eat his girlfriend...
Web Comics
- In this strip
from El Goonish Shive, we seen Nanase push her own Berserk Button.
- In the same webcomic, Big Bad Damien is seen to snap whenever someone suggests he was artificially created instead of summoned to fulfill a prophecy.
- Just about everyone has one, see for example, Tedd's reaction when he found out Damien physically beat Grace. Seen here
. Grace's is realizing she let people get killed ; Sarah's is threatening Elliot . Sensing a pattern here?
- In Fanboys Lemmy goes into a berserker rage (complete with Glowing Eyes Of Doom) whenever someone says that "Nintendo is kiddy"; his roommate Paul has used this as a Manchurian Candidate-style trigger on more than one occasion.
- In Exterminatus Now, Lothar - who's pretty damn Bad Ass to begin with - goes into berserk mode when his hat is destroyed.
Trying to take his coffee away from him gets a similar reaction from Eastwood .
- Everyday Heroes has Violet Klein (aka "Shrinking Violent") who is sensitive about the size of her nose. If anyone bumps into it, she undergoes a transformation parodying The Incredible Hulk only in reverse. She shrinks down from 7'2" to 2'7" and goes violent until someone can bring her candy to binge on. This returns her to her normal state but is dangerous, because she's diabetic and could die from the sugar rush.
- The Jägers of Girl Genius are all very, very fond of their hats (a common Jäger remark is "Hey, nice hat!") and, apparently, take it badly if the hat is mistreated. When Agatha knocks off Maxim's hat (because he was being rude) he's very much about to flip out... except Agatha is currently in her mad-girl mindset and promptly puts him in his place.
- When around Fighter of 8-Bit Theater, even if you're a teammate, under no circumstances are you to threaten or even imply that you will, either through action or inaction, bring harm to Black Mage. That would be wrong. Kind of chainsaw wrong.
- Referred to in the Narbonic fanfic "A Brief Moment of Culture":
There are some things you can't say to people around here without having them come completely unglued. With Helen, it's, "Well, it looks like those fools at the institute were right after all!" All it takes with Dave is, "Bad news, all they had left was menthol." And Mell? Well, of course... "Your weapons are useless against it!"
- Naturally, Artie doesn't tell us what, if anything, is his own Berserk Button. After all, he is superintelligent.
- Oasis from Sluggy Freelance has two of these. Identify yourself as a HeretiCorp employee or the object of Torg's love, and she will kill you painfully. The first is the result of extensive brainwashing, but the second is pure jealousy.
- In The Last Days of Foxhound, whilst Raven's Not Compensating For Anything, claiming he is will often earn you a one way ticket to a world of pain...
- The Order of the Stick: "YOU BROKE MY SWORD!
"
- Also trying to match Xykon in arcane power and getting sort of close. This irritates him so much that... he stops goofing around and will roflstomp you, even taking advice from subordinates in order to make sure you die.
- Causing Xykon to lose his phylactery will make him furious, to the point of dropping all acts of politeness and trying to outright kill you.
- Are we forgetting Vaarsuvius? Normally bored and apathetic, but threaten his/her family and he/she will brutally and gleefully slaughter you then revive your HEAD and use it as the focus of a spell that wipes out YOU, ANYONE RELATED TO YOU, AND ANYONE RELATED TO THEM. "This — and no less — is the price for threatening my family. Disintegrate.
"
- S/he was recently given a (much) more mild example. Do not call him/her a Warlock unless you want a quickened lightning bolt to the face.
- Don't screw with Mr. Scruffy while Belkar is nearby
.
- Also, don't call him short. Really. We mean it. Seriously. If it's "make fun of Belkar's height" vs. "the worst thing Genghis Khan can think of", go with Genghis Khan. We really aren't kidding.
- Several College Roomies from Hell characters have Berserk Buttons, but the most dangerous is Marsha's. She will literally attempt to kill any of her ex-boyfriends on sight — and God help her current boyfriend if she gets it in her head that he's cheating.
- Friendly Hostility: "Fox" Maharassa, when still a minor character in Boy Meets Boy, was demonstrated to react violently to being called by his actual name ("Kailen").
- Yamara as a halfling and thief seems to be accustomed to some people's disdain, but ones who miss her multiclassing while showing it provoke her to make a point. It isn't Unstoppable Rage, but they just earned a ticket to the world of hurt, one way
or another .
- In this
◊ Penny Arcade strip, Tycho flies into a rage when Gabe insists that Warhammer Online is a ripoff of World of Warcraft.
- In an earlier strip, Tycho mocks the Star Wars Expanded Universe... and Gabe responds by shoving a book in his mouth and punching it so hard that it rips off the top half of Tycho's head.
- In Real Life Comics, the character of Greg Dean owns a replica Master Sword, and while the author Greg Dean owns a number of swords, the Master Sword is not one of them. So don't ask.
It's even mentioned in the FAQ!
- The bartender in Corner Alley 13 does not take it kindly if he's called an ogre. He's actually only half-ogre.
- In Slightly Damned, Buwaro is the most innocent person in Hell until you take away his star pendant. However we later learn that he was born with (Not So) Unstoppable Rage and the amulet suppresses it thus the trope is actually averted
- In The Cobra Days, the Sorrow really doesn't like it if anyone suggests that one shouldn't mourn the dead
.
- Jasmine
apparently has more than one . (Although, the second/third one might be leftoves of the first.)
- In Nodwick, do NOT make Piffany cry: Artax and Yeager will kill you.
- I'M NOT ANY OTHER DOCTOR!!! I'M DOCTOR MCNINJA
Web Original
- Shandala from Broken Saints has a common one: family. She's pretty much the sweetest,most caringperson in the world but Bad shit happens when you mess with her various adopted family members.
- A number of characters have one of these in The Mad Scientist Wars, most noticibly Andrew Tinker. No matter how tempted you are, or how true it is, do not call him 'girly' or refer to him as female. The last guy got pinned to a wall by his neck.
- In Protectors of the Plot Continuum, making pickled pepper jokes around Agent Peter Piper does not do wonders for one's life expectancy.
- Mess with Agent Madison O'Grady's favorite Doctor Who characters in her presence and you risk getting blasted with fire.
- Don't EVER sing "The Hedgehog Song" at the Official Fanfiction University of Redwall, or in front of at least one of the anthropomorphic animal agents (who claims that he has first-hand knowledge that the song is not true but refuses to elaborate).
- And you never threaten anyone in Agent Tawaki Penguin's family (including his in-laws).
- Most Agents from fictional series get extra-furious if their native continua are contaminated.
- You do NOT plagiarize from any musical around Agent Ekwy Fields.
- Never compare Hul Choka to anything mechanical.
- Jeff, the hero of Ewen Cluney's anime-inspired story "Interesting Times," is a basically nice guy, if something of a Weirdness Magnet. But that comic collection that he maintains? Don't mess with it. You will not like him if you mess with it.
- Mackenzie Blaise of Tales of MU has one in her "little sister", the golem girl Two. Even joke about hurting her, and you got a very angry demon girl after you. A lot of the readers feel the same way.
- Unassuming little Hazel Callaway breaks bones whenever somebody speaks ill of her mum.
- Steff has a large half-ogre boyfriend who is very, very protective of her.
- A few characters have at least one in Survival of the Fittest. For example, in v3, Darnell Butler has his protectiveness towards women extend towards being compelled to violently attack anyone he sees severely mistreating one, and Bobby Jacks becomes uncontrollable when called a murderer, causing a fight at the senior year's bonfire and, eventually, driving him to murder Tyson Neills. Especially notable since this seems to be the only thing that can make Bobby actually snap or get angry at all.
- The Nostalgia Critic does not appreciate Batman And Robin creating the bat credit card. The full rant is available here.
- Linkara mentions this at the end of the review of Superman IV as a retort after the Critic makes fun of his special effects.
- Neither did he take Doug well in his childhood.
- Flocculencio in AH Dot Com The Series whenever anyone mentions the name of his nemesis, Justin Pickard. Particularly noticeable considering Flocculencio is usually one of the more laid-back and sedate characters, but this makes him go Ax Crazy.
- In Im A Marvel And Im ADC, Green Goblin is a huge fan of Willem Dafoe, his film portrayer. So when the Joker says "I'm grateful Dafoe didn't play me in the Tim Burton movie", he promptly gets his ass kicked.
- In Tech Infantry, Erich Von Shrakenberg has a bit of a thing about aliens, and about rebels who compromise humanity's unity in the face of the alien threat. And then there's Hex, who alternates between flipping his lid whenever someone calls him "Hex", and flipping his lid whenever someone calls him anything but "Hex".
- In There Will Be Brawl, Mario gets angry when anyone insinuates that he is/was/will be a plumber.
Western Animation
- Peter Potamus will flip out if he finds out that you got that thing you sent him, and didn't tell him.
- One possible reason that the titular Angry Beavers are so angry could be because people keep calling them weasels.
- Pumbaa from The Lion King can take on any animal in Africa if they call him a pig; in the Latin American dub, Pumbaa also insists on being called a "decent warthog".
- Nigel Uno from Codename Kids Next Door has broken out of brainwashing when one of his buttons was triggered. Among the set-offs: being overcharged at a restaurant.
- And don't threaten his Nakama:
Number 86: You made a mistake by underestimating me, Nigel, but I don't make mistakes! Nigel: You just did... you made me angry!
- Also, don't insult the Rainbow Monkeys in front of Kuki Sanban aka Numbuh Three.
Numbuh 13: (breaks the Rainbow Monkey Lisa on Kuki's face) Kuki: (insert The Scream) Mr. Boss: QUICK! RUN LIKE LITTLE GIRLS!
- On another note, do NOT turn down Kuki's thermostat. EVER.
- Or lower her father Kahn's, for that matter.
- As well as Numbuh 84, who, if you threaten to put her in a dark room, will beat up anyone around her.
- Do not threaten to harm Kuki in front of Walabee Beatles and also don't call him an idiot.
- The title character of the animated series Bounty Hamster, a battle-hardened Bounty Hunter who happens to also be a small fluffy critter, develops Unstoppable Rage whenever anybody mentions how cute he is.
- In South Park, English kid Pip can't abide being mistaken for French. In the episode "Conjoined Fetus Lady", the other kids on the dodgeball team actually make use of this fact, to take advantage of his unstoppable rage.
- Also, Eric Cartman apparently has at least two Berserk Buttons. One is any references to him being fat or over weight.
- Another one of his is insulting his mother when Grandpa Marsh does so he flies into rage and starts to beat the crap out of him before he can do any real damage Stan and Kyle restrain him.
- Pesto of the "Goodfeathers" shorts in Animaniacs seemed to have a Berserk Keyboard; he could interpret just about anything Squit said as an insult worthy of a pounding. As he is a No Celebrities Were Harmed of Joe Pesci's character from ''Goodfellas'', he leads into the assault with a parody of the "You saying I'm a clown? That I amuse you?" speech from said film. Example:
Squit: You're a swell guy, Pesto. Pesto: Whataya sayin'? That I got a big head? Is that it?!
- Pesto is a spoof of The Pesci, which is a maniac; meanwhile a Berserk Button is someone who's normal except for a single issue.
- Katie Kaboom, also from Animaniacs, has her own Berserk Keyboard as well, but her preferred targets and triggers are less defined. Might just be from being a teenager.
- She's got teen-PMS.
- Her triggers are perfectly well-defined. Anything that annoys, irritates, inconveniences, insults, or bothers her.
- Spinelli in Recess has gone berserk at people who have called her a girl in the past.
- In the 2001 Homage episode, Gretchen snaps when the SAL-9000 calls her "dumb".
- Gus doesn't play dodgeball. Unless you hit a little kid with a dodgeball. Then you really won't like what happens next.
- Ron Stoppable, from Kim Possible, has a tendency to snap if his beloved fast food chain, Bueno Nacho, is destroyed or taken over by villains. The other way to send him into frenetic rage is to harm Kim Possible. Lord help you if you hurt his girlfriend. Two of his foes learned the hard way that that is something you just don't do in the series finale.
- Not just harm her, the Lorwardians were going to kill her, stuff her, and mount her on a wall as a trophy like some animal!
- And Ron himself is the subject of a berserk button. It's a... hmm... KimPossibly bad idea to bully him, as Drakken, Killigan and Monkey Fist found out. Now think about that, three super villians thrashed by a five-year-old girl.
- Aang in Avatar the Last Airbender is extremely attached to his pet Sky Bison, Appa. (Understandably, since Appa was trapped in ice 100 years with Aang, and is the only being besides Aang that survives the Air Temple raids.) During "The Chase", he remained calm and good natured in the face of Toph and Katara's bickering, continued assault by his enemies and sleeplessness, but he screamed at Toph when she dared blame Appa for the problem. This was some Foreshadowing of Aang's huge freakout, when Appa is kidnapped, which lasts for two whole episodes, the first one which he spends consumed with uncharacteristic rage and pessimism, and actually goes into the Avatar State when facing the kidnappers, and the second one where he represses his emotions. He snaps out of it eventually, but does scream at the brainwashed Joo Dee when she tries to get in the way of their search for Appa, and shows unrelenting determination to find him. In short, don't mess with the Avatar's bison.
- Also, NEVER put Katara in danger in front of Aang. It is THE BEST way to push him into the Avatar State and guarantee complete destruction for a hundred metre radius.
- The first time that Azula ever showed any explicit anger was when a recently Heel Face Turned Mai said that she "miscalculated". As she's a Magnificent Bastard obsessed with perfection, this is a far worse insult than it may seem.
- The above scene also shows that the Emotionless Girl Mai is content to quietly sit on the sidelines as her best friend and nation conquer the world, only entering battle because she's bored. But when her boyfriend's in danger, it's time to kick ass, take names, and throw knives.
- Megavolt really hates it when anyone calls him "Sparky".
- Winnifred, a wannabe witch from Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, gets violent when someone calls her "Freddie".
- The Simpsons features many characters with a Berserk Button, though few would argue that goldenboy Homer Simpson is the greatest example. In fact, Homer's Berserk Button has arguably been a staple of the character since day one, through all the characters' many changes. Homer's primary Berserk Button is his son Bart Simpson. However, many times Homer's thinly subdued insecurity has led to some of his many explosions of anger. Homer may also fall in line with being a Pesci.
- One of the show's most time-honored traditions is Homer stranging his son Bart (never in a lethal fashion of course, most of the time) due to aforementioned boy doing something to either specifically anger Homer, or more often than not being the cause of a vexing situation for Homer. It's iconically complemented with the catch phrase "WHY YOU LITTLE—!!!"
- As Homer's explosive temper is almost as iconic a trait as his childish behavior or appetite, there are countless examples of Homer's Berserk Button being pushed throughout the series. Some examples include:
- Homer doesn't mind if a food will kill him or have other adverse side effects (he even ate old baking soda in one episode), but HATES if something is "low-fat".
- Homer's temper was the subject of a few episodes, particularly the episode "I am Furious Yellow", where Bart makes a successful webcomic called Angry Dad. The comic basically recreated daily fits of rage Bart observed from his dad. Ironically at the end of the episode however, it's said that it's healthier for Homer to act out on his anger rather than try to subdue it... which when tried had harmful side effects.
- Homer was one of the prime suspects in the famous 2-parter "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" episode, where Mr. Burns is expectedly... shot at the end of the first part, albeit with very good reason as Burns entered Complete Monster territory much further than usual. In Homer's case, the old running gag of Burns never remembering Homer's name comes full circle as Homer tries vigorously to get Burns to remember his name in order to put himself on Burns' good side. It's all in vain however, Burns even going as far as to remember every other member of the Simpson household except for Homer. This finally drives an unappreciated-feeling Homer to the brink of murderous rage, nearly beating Burns before being dragged out by security shouting "Oh you're dead Burns! You're dead!!". Although Homer wasn't the culprit, and he seemed to have one of the simpler, less urgent reasons to kill Burns compared to the rest of Springfield, suspicion of him came ironically from Burns finally remembering Homer's name (albeit in a comatose state) which nearly sealed Homer's supposed guilt, which in turn pushed his Berserk Button once more.
- Despite often putting out an attitude of indifference, Homer is actually quite sensitive. He even punched Lenny for no directly personal reason, due to a realization that many of his co-workers laugh at him earlier when at home. This form of mindless anger has often taken Homer into the territory of the Jerkass, most notibly in later seasons.
- Beavis of Beavis And Butthead barely noticed the massive volume of insults Butt-head threw his way, but don't call him a "butt-knocker."
- Danny Phantom: Calm, debonair Vlad Masters turns angry if you call him a "fruitloop".
- Or mention how he lost the woman of his dreams to an idiot and still can't use his vast fortune to buy the Green Bay Packers.
- The Airconditioner in The Brave Little Toaster actually exploded when another character pointed out that it was "stuck in the wall."
- Don't try to harm, capture, take or threaten Timmy Turner's fairy godparents. Timmy has magic on his side, and he uses it to beat your ass to Pluto and bounce off to the other side of the Universe to show he doesn't fuck around.
- In Samurai Jack, the titular character loses it whenever his shoes are damaged. This once lead to a rage that helped Aku create an evil clone of him.
- In the Disney Hercules series episode that's a crossover with Aladdin, being called "Jerkules" seems to function as this for Hercules. "Everyone thinks they're so funny when they call me that, but it's Not! That! Funny!"
- Well, he was called "Jerkules" by bullies in the original film (persumingly a lot), so it's not suprising that it pisses him off.
- Insult Ultra Lord in any way, shape or form in front of Sheen Estevez. Go on.
- In Animaniacs don't ever call Wakko stupid or else you're in for a world of hurt Ms. Flamiel learned this the hard way.
- And don't ever call Dot "Dottie" or else you'll die, although she is never seen doing this.
- Perry the Platypus doesn't usually turn Dr. Doofenshmirtz over to the authorities because he enjoys foiling his plans. But in "Journey to the Center of Candace", when Doofenshmirtz builds a device that "will destroy anyone who can't make up their mind", Perry realizes that this will put Phineas And Ferb (who were earlier having difficulty deciding what to do today) in danger, immediately attacks the doctor, handcuffs him to a pipe, and calls his boss to send reinforcements to arrest him.
- In The Penguins Of Madagascar, never, EVER touch King Julien's feet. And if you ever decide to skate over them...well, say hello to Juliendämmerung
- In Happy Tree Friends, pretty much anything that reminds Flippy of war can cause him to act out on his PTSD and murder his friends. In the spinoff series Ka-Pow, Buddhist Monkey really, really hates vandalism. But then again, the Red Shirt ninjas are asking for it by using martial arts moves to break the necks of flowers and backs of books.
- The Secret Show villain Robert Baron is normally Affably Evil, but he HATES being deceived. If he finds out somebody is trying to fool him, he turns bright red and starts charging through walls.
- Don't you dare break Yin's Two-nicorn toy. She will quite literally rain fire down upon your pitiful head from the sky if you do so.
- Spike of Tom And Jerry has two main ones among others. Number 1: don't wake him up while he's napping; and Number 2: don't ever touch his son.
- Serge the Seal Pup, of Aaagh!! It's The Mr. Hell Show!, can be sent into psychotic fits by anything that reminds him of his parents' deaths. These are usually punctuated by his Catch Phrase:
"IT! WAS! YOUUUUUUUU!!!!"
- Cody in the Street Fighter cartoon Crossover episode, "Final Fight" doesn't seem to like it when "his" Jessica gets hurt. "You! Hurt! MAH! JESSICAAAAAAAA!!!!!
- In Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (and thus extending to the entire DCAU), Batman listened to Joker's story about how he tortured Tim Drake patiently, but when Joker says "You're just a little boy in a playsuit crying for Mummy and Daddy. It would be funny if it weren't so pathetic... oh what the heck, I'll laugh anyway." and laughs at Batman, he flips his shit, to use a technical term, and instantly charges Joker and pummels him, delivering one of the most furious beating Joker's taken from Batman.
- In the same animated movie, Terry also managed to push the Joker's berserk button by laughing at him.
- If you hurt Raven's friends, you're pretty much screwed.
- Robin does not like being compared to Slade. At all. (Most noticeable in the Apprentice episodes, he manages to get over it but it's still a sensitive issue for him.)
- Also, nobody should ever go into Raven's room.
Cyborg: We're in Raven's room, we shouldn't be in Raven's room!
- In the Venture Bros, don't ever insult Triana in front of Dean.
- Charles Foster Ofdensen is a normal looking businessman, a savvy manager, and a very clever lawyer in charge of metal sensation Dethklok. DO NOT threaten his
'boys' 'Bread and Butter'. Just don't. He will END you.
- Though non-violent, Shaggy from Scooby-Doo has a variant: if your criminal scheme threatens to cancel one of his beloved mini-golf tournaments, he will instantly morph into a Sherlock-Holmes-caliber detecting genius and solve the case so fast even Velma's left wondering how he did it.
- On Ed Edd N Eddy, Rolf does not take kindly to those who ridicule the customs of his homeland. "Son of a gun, you insult Rolf by denying the eels?!"
- In the episode "Little Ed Blue", Ed gets into a bad mood that drives him to stand up to his bullying baby sister Sarah ("Ed! You can't kick me out, I live here, too!" "So move!") and threaten his friends Edd and Eddy ("Touch me again, and I will squash you!"). Edd is incredulous when he finds out it was caused by a small rock in Ed's shoe.
- Do not insult the British Empire within hearing range of Sarah Phillips. Just don't. And on a similar note, don't mock France or call Henri little.
- PLATELET!
- Donald Duck is known to go batshit crazy if something of his is stolen or broken.
- "CHOCOLATE! CHOCOLATE!"
- Do NOT mess with Bubbles' hair. And whatever you do, DON'T taunt her and call her the weakest. To say the results won't be pretty would be an Understatement
- You know Ding-A-Ling Wolf from those Hanna-Barbera cartoons starring Hokey Wolf? Sweet, innocent, a little naive, big soft Puppy Dog Eyes? Well, whatever you do, DON'T choke, jump on or try to hurt Hokey in a major way unless you want to be beaten with a tree branch by this little guy.
Real Life
- Jim Rome, in full Jerk Ass mode, kept calling quarterback Jim Everett "Chris" (after Chris Evert, the female tennis player). Everett attacked Rome by pushing him off his chair. Of course, this is widely believed to have been a hoax.
- Even if he does agree with your views, Pete Townshend is still going to take you to school if you dare run across the stage stating your views during The Who's set.
- Apparently, insulting Zinedine Zidane's sister may result in serious chest pain.
- Never aim your camera at Guns N Roses unless you want to take a beating from Axl Rose, who will dive off the stage and lay the smackdown on you if he sees it.
- To press Steven Adler's Berserk Button, call Axl Rose Bon Jovi and try to hit him.
- Don't tell Buzz Aldrin he didn't land on the moon, but especially don't call him a coward and a liar!
- Audie Murphy had a rather famous Berserk Button — having his best friend killed by German soldiers who pretended to surrender. He pretty much Hulked out, killed them all (and they were armed with machine guns), then used their weaponry to kill every baddie in a 100-yard radius, including two more machine gun nests and a bunch of snipers. Yeah, don't make him mad.
- NEVER call Russell Tavares AKA Pyro Dice a nerd.
- Don't mention Vince Offer around Billy Mays, ESPECIALLY since the latter shed his mortal shell and ascended to the Pantheon
- William Wallace's Berserk Button is widely reported to be the murder of his wife. Kill his wife and he will become a walking machine of death and destruction against England.
- NEVER EVER insult the men of the Edmund Fitzgerald in ANY of the steel cities on the Great Lakes. You will be killed and the police won't look too hard for you. In case you were wondering it was a Iron ore Cargo ship that went down with all 29 crew members on November 10, 1975.
- Minneapolis radio personality T.D. Mischke learned the hard way. After replaying an interview he did with an Edmond Fitzgerald expert, where Mischke sang all his questions to the tune of "The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald", and the interviewee acting like there's nothing unusual going on (which is what makes it funny), a man who purported to be the twin brother of one of the men on the Fitzgerald threatened to crack Mischke's head open if he ever saw him. The man also said he was going to run Mishke's kids over with an 18-wheeler! Listen Here
.
- Never refer to gothic-rock band Sisters of Mercy's frontman Andrew Eldritch as a Goth within his hearing. Likewise, never allow industrial artist Al Jorgenson (Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Lard) near your copies of Ministry's With Sympathy or Twitch if you wish to keep them intact.
- Andrew Jackson is well known as America's most ridiculously violent president... and a lot of those duels and fights, and threats of duels and fights, were over insults to his wife. He'd become involved with her while she was still married to someone else, and she was the subject of a lot of scandalous gossip. Jackson couldn't stand it. That guy he killed? Yeah, that was over her.
- Don't bring up the Linux guy or the "Jackie incedent" on the Ctrl Alt Del forums or you and everyone who looked in on it will be perma-banned.
- Never insinuate that Liverpool fans were responsible for the Hillsborough disaster
. Do it in print, and you'll get a whole city boycotting you. Do it on the air, and they'll get your sponsors to withdraw and eventually force you off the air. No joke.
- Never call a New Zealander an Australian. Or vice versa.
- Don't call either of them British, either!
- China =/= Japan
- Which is the real China? The Republic or the People's Republic?
- North Korea =/= South Korea
- Never call a Canadian an American. The results aren't usually as bad as other examples, but depending on who your talking to...
- Never call an Irishman British.
- Never call a Welsh or a Scot English.
- Never praise Fidel Castro or Che Guevara in front of a Cuban-American. Most of them will make you suffer for it. Even the old ladies.
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