Berserk Button - Television Tropes & Idioms

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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