History Main / DissonantLaughter

Compare DissonantSerenity and LaughingMad, and consider StepfordSmiler. Can be a characteristic of the BloodKnight. Contrast BerserkerTears.

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* There's a lot of this in ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'', mostly on the parts of Ladd Russo and his buddies. The most dissonant example comes from Dune, who giggles maniacally as [[spoiler:Claire Stanfield dangles him off the caboose of a moving train and grinds his arm to bits against the tracks]].
* Some of the [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Biological CPUs]] in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Gundam SEED]]'' and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny Gundam SEED Destiny]]''.
* Donquixote Doflamingo of ''Manga/OnePiece'' is pretty much always seen laughing, or at least grinning widely, even as he [[PeoplePuppets forces people to fight each other to the death]], among other things. This is cranked up even further during the war with Whitebeard, where he reacts to pretty much everything with psychotic laughter.
* ''Manga/SoulEater'''s Franken Stein starts laughing at his craziest, notably when facing Medusa, and it's pretty alarming. Even when not at his craziest, he sometimes sports a [[SlasherSmile wide grin]] while beating the crap out of people. And he's a good guy... [[spoiler:on most occasions.]]

* ''Anime/{{Kemonozume}}'' has Ooba who is obviously completely insane but is obviously enjoying himself immensely and is often seen chuckling or laughing like a maniac.
* Whenever ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry''[='=]s Shion is the "crazy one" she's prone to this. After [[spoiler:she kills Satoko, shortly before remembering Satoshi asking her to protect his little sister, she [[SanitySlippage snaps]] and is laughing even harder. Even while falling off the roof of a building.]]
* Tsuruya of ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'' is TheHyena and has laughed, serious or not, for '''everything''', practically.
* [[BloodKnight Scorpio]] [[CombatSadomasochist Kardia]] in ''Manga/SaintSeiyaTheLostCanvas''. His opponent [[NobleDemon Wyvern]] [[VillainousValour Rhadamanthys]] is ''not'' amused.
* Shin Kazama does this in the last issue of the ''Manga/{{Area 88}}'' manga. [[spoiler: After witnessing the deaths of Saki, Mickey, and Sela, Shin is so emotionally overwhelmed that he starts laughing hysterically. His laughter makes Kim extremely uncomfortable. He returns to his senses when Kanzaki contacts him.]]
* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', Sayaka Miki begins to laugh and smile during her battles [[spoiler: as a result of her effectively becoming a DeathSeeker as she lets her Soul Gem darken. She also giggles insanely during one of her special attacks in the PSP game.]]
* Misty's Togepi from ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' will often laugh even when things go south. Then again, it's probably just easily excited considering it's a baby.
* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', [[spoiler:Annie]] (usually very stoic) gives off an unsettling laugh and pulls an [[SlasherSmile extremely creepy smile]] when [[spoiler:Mikasa correctly accuses her of being the Female Titan]].
* [[TheStoic Ren Kouen]] in ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'' laughs out loud for the first time in-story (and apparently in living memory). His subordinates are quite shocked.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** Batman in ''ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder'' was laughing like a maniac while driving through a bunch of cops.

* Comicbook/TheCreeper acts like this, but in a subversion, it ''is'' an act. He does it because he knows how disturbing it is to his opponents.

* Baby Face Nelson in ''Film/PublicEnemies'', has to be dragged into the car to stop him laughing and killing people. Earlier, in the robbery in question, he is seen cackling "I GOT ONE!" after gunning down a motorcycle cop. The RealLife Baby Face Nelson almost certainly suffered from bipolar disorder (manic depression). And an incident similar to the one seen in the film occurred when the combined Dillinger / Nelson gang robbed the First National Bank in Mason City, Iowa on March 13, 1934.
* A character in ''Film/OBrotherWhereArtThou'' laughs while firing a tommygun. He stops laughing when someone calls him 'Baby Face'. The character is of course Baby Face Nelson. Later after gleefully and manaically robbing a bank, he becomes depressed and wanders off, trailing sad dollar bills behind him. He also laughs and shouts with glee as an angry mob drags him off to the electric chair.

* In the film adaptation of ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers'', Gandalf laughs heartily during his BigDamnHeroes moment as he casually beats the [[OhCrap terrified Uruk-Hai]] with his [[MagicStaff staff]]. [[RuleofCool It was glorious]].
* A notable trait of The Joker in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. During the famous interrogation scene, Batman keeps punching the Joker harder and harder until the Joker just starts laughing hysterically. The same thing happens later when Batman throws him off a building. The Joker laughs like a Disney villain. (Won't die [[JokerImmunity like one]], [[SaveTheVillain though.]])
-->'''Joker:''' You have nothing. Nothing to threaten me with. Nothing to do with all your strength.
* ''Film/TheRoom2003'': Mark tells his best friend Johnny a story about a girl he once knew.
-->'''Mark:''' She had a dozen guys. One of them found out about it; beat her up so bad, she ended up in a hospital on Guerrero Street.\\
'''Johnny:''' Ha ha ha. What a story, Mark.

* Thanks to the constant abuse of StockFootage, the opening of ''WesternAnimation/TitanicTheLegendGoesOn'' involves two old women smiling and laughing on a lifeboat while the Titanic is violently breaking apart.
* In ''Film/EvilDead2013'', Eric breaks into mirthless laughter after [[spoiler: Natalie's gruesome death.]]
* In ''Film/{{Gamer}}'', when Ken Castle is being interviewed about his new simulation "Slayer," basically any [[{{FirstPersonShooter}} F.P.S. multiplayer]] but with real humans controlled via brain implants, he talks about his earlier success, "Society," basically ''VideoGame/TheSims'' but with real people who are also controlled via brain implants. We see some people controlling their human avatars in "Society," and when a rollerblading human avatar crashes onto another one, the old man controlling her bursts into laughter, while she laughs along, tears stream down her face as she's clearly in pain. To add further insult to her misery, the guy makes her lick her bleeding wound.
* ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'': The Skeksis Chamberlain begins to laugh as the castle crumbles and the urRu enter. It's clear he knows exactly what is going to happen next. It's ambiguous as to whether he's pleased by the prophecy being fulfilled or simply doesn't care anymore.
* ''The Sea Wolves'' (1980). While at a formal ball, a FemmeFataleSpy gets Captain Stewart (a British spy, played by Creator/RogerMoore no less) to go somewhere private so she can assassinate him, only to get killed herself. A Portuguese official who's working with Stewart then enters the room and is shocked to see a dead woman on the floor. Stewart says IWasNeverHere and threateningly tells the official to laugh, so they'll be seen leaving the ball with smiles on their faces so it won't look like were up to anything sinister.
* ''Film/{{Hammett}}'' (1982): Hammett consults a doctor about a grisly killing that was ruled a suicide. While giving him the gory details, the doctor breaks down laughing.

* Literature/MikeHammer was this way during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, as related in ''One Lonely Night''.
-->"You should have seen the way they looked at me; you'd have thought I'd had fangs."
* In the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' series, Sirius Black does this all the time. Notably, when the wizard police find him in a street full of corpses, and later on when he's [[spoiler:being killed]].
* In ''Literature/MostlyHarmless'', Ford Prefect [[spoiler: laughs while the earth is being ripped to shreds for the last time.]]

* Ganner Rhysode, a wayward Jedi in the New Jedi Order series, struggled his entire life with his need to be the hero. After being captured by the Yuuzhan Vong and rescued by Jacen Solo, he realizes that playing the hero had always been his greatest weakness, but it could also be his greatest strength. He uses the knowledge of who he truly is to become one with the Force and rushes out to hold off the Yuuzhan Vong warriors, buying Jacen the time he needs to enact his plan. After his badass one-liner of [[YouShallNotPass "None shall pass,"]] Ganner fights and slaughters hordes of Vong warriors...laughing delightedly the whole time.
* Willy Wonka sometimes does this in ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory''; Augustus Gloop's mother is horrified that he's laughing hysterically after Augustus has been carried off to who-knows-where via the pipes, and on the boat ride to the Inventing Room, as it speeds off into a dark tunnel, he's "hooting with laughter" as he explains that "there's no knowing where they're going!"
* In ''Literature/TheDisasterArtist'', Greg Sestero (Mark) wrote that the crew was always deeply disturbed by Tommy Wiseau's (Johnny) laughing, but when he was asked to sound more serious, Wiseau instead read the line in CreepyMonotone, making the crew even more uncomfortable.

* ''Literature/WatershipDown''. Rabbits have no concept of laughter, so when Cowslip starts laughing, the rabbit protagonists freak out as they can't understand what's happening. Cowslip's warren turns out to be a TownWithADarkSecret, so that's only one of the strange things about the inhabitants.
* In ''Literature/KnightsOfTheBorrowedDark'', the protagonists are attacked by a gigantic monster taking the form of a misshapen angel formed of stone and rubble. Denizen is terrified, sure they're about to die...until Grey digs a sword out of his sports bag, begins [[PowerIncontinence glowing]], dodges everything the angel can try and destroys it with a DangerousForbiddenTechnique, laughing joyfully the whole time. Denizen starts wondering whether or not he's insane. (He's not, but neither is he [[WeakWilled particularly]] [[StepfordSmiler stable]].)

* Whenever the partners Bruno Wolters and Gereon Rath get into a physical fight (which happens repeatedly) in ''Series/BabylonBerlin'', it usually ends with Bruno breaking into chuckles. By the end of Season 2, it has [[spoiler:veered off into downright GigglingVillain]] territory.
* Guido Geller from ''Series/CameraCafe'' is known for his downright moronic laughter (hee-hee), usually when he talks about either old oriental legends, firing someone, or [[BreadEggsMilkSquick the smell of a fried hamster.]]

* The ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' version of Sherlock Holmes isn't one for laughter, but you don't see him happier than when he's on a case.
-->'''John Watson:''' Enjoying yourself? ... I'd drop the smile. Kidnapped kids, remember?
* ''Series/BreakingBad'': The episode "Crawl Space" ends with Walt lying on the floor laughing hysterically when he finds out that Skylar gave away the money he needed to to buy new identities for the family, right after Gus Fring had declared his entire family fair game.
* Fisk, XO of the Pegasus in ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'', has a disturbing laugh that he gives after relating how Admiral Cain executed his predecessor. Fisk gives another such outburst in "Resurrection Ship", earning himself a puzzled look from everyone in CIC, who are unaware that [[spoiler:Cain had just cancelled her orders to terminate them all.]]

** In "Prophecy Girl" Buffy has a mild episode of very unsettling laughter after she overhears [[spoiler:Giles talking about her upcoming prophesied death]].
** "Tabula Rasa" has a spell giving the gang, when they're at a depressing point, a mass memory loss where they're engaged in a freewheeling adventure. When the spell is broken they revert to their gloomy selves, then Xander starts laughing.
---> Sorry, I just got back the memory of seeing ''Film/KingRalph''.
* In Series 4 of ''Series/GameOfThrones'', [[BadassAndChildDuo Sandor Clegane and Arya Stark]] arrive at the Eyrie after traveling across the war-ravaged Riverlands [[spoiler:and seeing the massacre of Robb Stark and his army just as Arya was about to be returned to her family, only to be told that the aunt Sandor hoped to ransom her to has also died only three days before.]] Arya's response is to break down in peals of laughter as [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior everyone stares at her in disbelief]].

* ''Series/TheMagicians'': Quentin's reaction to [[spoiler:Penny's death]] is a burst of hysterical laughter. [[spoiler:Penny, who was astral projecting when his body died, is understandably pissed off.]]

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* A frickin' [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily disturbing]] [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/600px-Red_0509_3444.jpg example]] comes courtesy of Red from ''Roleplay/RubyQuest'' during [[http://evilcorporation.com.br/rubyquest/scene-268.html this scene]]. He has just [[spoiler:pulled down the tarp in the room Ruby woke up in the second time, revealing a stitched-up, bloody body pinned to the wall]].
* ''Roleplay/ShadowhunterPeril'': Veronica Carter is always doing this. During the final battle, when she was singlehandedly dueling [[BigBad Valentine]] in the middle of an AnyoneCanDie final battle. She was laughing like a child at an amusement park.
[[/folder]]

* In ''Theatre/LesMiserables,'' it's common to have Thenardier let off some cackles during the "Dog Eats Dog" number. Considering that he's [[spoiler: gleefully looting the bodies of murdered men, and singing about how the world is [[CrapsackWorld a sack of crap]], he ''definitely'' counts.]]

* In ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'', Freddy himself will laugh as he pursues you, and Golden Freddy will giggle (which is actually the unaltered clip for Freddy's laughter) when it gets in your office. In the sequel, one of Balloon Boy's voice clips is a cheerful laugh, which he will occasionally play. He'll also laugh ''constantly'' when [[YouAreAlreadyDead he's in your office]].
* {{Deconstructed}} with Laughing Octopus in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4''. True, she cackles madly during her battle with Snake, but it is revealed that she was captured by enemy soldiers and forced to laugh as she killed people. This drove her insane, and it is implied that she continues laughing to keep from screaming or crying.

* ''VideoGame/SpaceChannel5 Part 2'' has Purge. It doesn't help that in the Japanese version of the game, he's mentally ill to the point of being a PsychopathicManchild along with being a DarkMessiah.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''.
** The Pyro. In the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUhOnX8qt3I "Meet the Pyro"]] video everybody sees him doing a MenacingStroll while on a murder spree; then we get to see his point of view: He sees himself joyfully skipping in a SugarBowl world laughing and playing with cherubs.
** Also done in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFqJjs09CeM "Crackpot",]] a video for the Saxxy Awards. In the video the Pyro goes killing and mutilating everybody while he believes to be bathing cherubs in a pot (the "cherubs" are body parts).
* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' has several Villainous Breakdowns that involve laughter.
** In [[spoiler:Damon Gant's]] breakdown he laughs loudly while clapping.
** [[spoiler:Luke Atmey]] laughs madly when he is caught, followed by a short speech.
** Although it is not seen on screen it was mentioned that [[spoiler:Kristoph Gavin]] laughed after his breakdown.
* In ''VideoGame/TheSims3'', sims with the Evil trait will start laughing instead of crying when witnessing the death of another sim that isn't their friend or from their family.

* In ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'', part of Lucius' NightmareFuel factor is his laughter when killing. Seriously, he sounds like deranged version of Mickey Mouse while screaming things like ''We are all going to skullfuck your families!''

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Lackadaisy}}''[='=]s Freckle does this whenever he gets ahold of a gun. He enjoys shooting people perhaps a bit too much. This is actually why he was rejected from the police.

* Website/SFDebris has Parody Janeway. Her favourite comedian? Creator/FranzKafka.

* Blitzwing in his Random persona of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' will laugh at everything no matter what, but he is especially giggly in battle.
* In ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'', [[SweetTooth Nutty]] laughs all the time. Sometimes he even laughs as he dies.
* WesternAnimation/TheInspector and Sgt. Deux Deux are laughing as after they crash their patrol car into a tree they're describing the incredible pain they're experiencing (episode "Plastered in Paris"). That's because they had laughing gas sprayed at them by the villain X.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}'':
** Popeye and Brutus laugh while they beat the hell out of each other in the 1961 cartoon "It Hurts Only When They Laugh."
** In "Nurse To Meet You" (1945), Popeye is laughing while Bluto beats the hell out of him. That's because all the while the two have been deliberately trying to get hurt so they can be close to nurse Olive Oyl at a hospital, and as a last resort, Popeye force-fed his spinach to Bluto.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpy'' episode "Powdered Toastman" after saving the Pope, Powdered Toastman beats up Muddy Mudskipper and ties him to the gun powder keg he had tied the Pope to. Right as the keg is about to explode Muddy laughs like a maniac.
* Robin from ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' has the strange habit of doing this.

* In ''Literature/KnightsOfTheBorrowedDark'', the protagonists are attacked by a gigantic monster taking the form of a misshapen angel formed of stone and rubble. Denizen is terrified, sure they're about to die...until Grey digs a sword out of his sports bag, begins [[PowerIncontinence glowing]], dodges everything the angel can try and destroys it with a DangerousForbiddenTechnique, laughing joyfully the whole time. Denizen starts wondering whether or not he's insane. (He's not, but neither is he [[WeakWilled particularly]] [[StepfordSmiler stable]].

* ''Film/TheRoom'': Mark tells his best friend Johnny a story about a girl he once knew.

* Togepi from ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' will often laugh even when things go south. Then again, it's probably just easily excited considering it's a baby.

* There's a lot of this in ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'', mostly on the parts of Ladd Russo and his buddies. The most dissonant example comes from Dune, who giggles maniacally as [[spoiler:Claire Stanfield dangles him off the caboose of a moving train and grinds his arm to bits against the tracks]].

* Tsuruya of ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' is TheHyena and has laughed, serious or not, for '''everything''', practically.