"Beware the fury of a patient man."
— John Dryden
Sometimes, trying to
Break the Cutie has consequences. Sometimes, the nicest person in the story
gets pushed to the limit of what they can take... and the results are
not pretty.
The sweeter, gentler, more polite, more peaceful, and overall
nicer a character is, the worse it will be for whomever is in the vicinity when they're subject to one round too many of
Break the Cutie, or
Dude, Where's My Respect?, a
Rant Inducing Slight, or hitting their
Berserk Button or
Rage Breaking Point. What was once a sweet and nice individual suddenly
snaps and becomes something far worse than the
Big Bad could have expected.
Think it's called
Unstoppable Rage for nothing?
Things get worse if they're a
Technical Pacifist, and worse still if they're an
Actual Pacifist, since outright villains will only
kill you. If a sweet, gentle soul snaps, all you can do is pray for a
quick death.
This is also why pushing the
Gentle Giant too far is generally a bad idea, why brushing off a
Death Glare is an
idiotic idea, and why
Teaching Him Anger is a
suicidal idea.
More
Truth in Television than you think -
deferring gratification
with regards to expressing one's anger tends to lead to the end result being...
less than pretty. Also, it's generally more frightening when a more mellow person starts acting up because it's so unexpected.
See also
Good Is Not Soft, when a normally nice character realizes that nice won't always get things done in a situation. They can coincide, if the realization and the outrage are triggered at the same time. The results are quite similar if they
Madden Into Misanthropy, the difference being the new misanthrope isn't so much a violent dynamo as a care free
Jerkass.
This is not to be confused with a character being a
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing (or even
Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon). While the latter trope's 'nice' image is usually just a facade for their genuinely callous personality, this trope involves a genuinely nice character submitting to a rare act of malice. Repeated subjection of a nice character to this trope, though, may result in
Flanderizing them to such a degree that it's impossible to tell the difference.
The polar opposite of
Is This What Anger Feels Like?.
Subtropes include
Let's Get Dangerous,
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass,
Minored In Ass Kicking,
The So-Called Coward, and
Who's Laughing Now?.
Compare
Yandere,
Cute and Psycho,
Mama Bear,
Papa Wolf,
Killer Rabbit,
Did You Think I Can't Feel?,
Action Santa,
Rage Breaking Point.
A
This Means War! declaration may be delivered as a result of it. For a common aftermath of this trope, see
Cruel Mercy.
Compare/contrast
Knight Templar. Compare
Beware the Quiet Ones if they are known for their silence more than their kindness. Compare
Killer Rabbit for when you need to beware the
cute ones. Compare
Beware the Silly Ones when they're known for clowning around. Compare
Silk Hiding Steel, for when you should beware the
proper ones.
Examples:
