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alt title(s): Berserker 
"They hewed about them with both hands, hard against iron."
The Berserker is a character who throws himself into a fight with such reckless abandon, it seems like he WANTS to die. It could be over-enthusiasm, overconfidence, Unstoppable Rage, or a real lack of will to live. Whatever the cause, it's usually accompanied by a bellowing warcry. Sometimes with total obliviousness to whether he's actually fighting the enemy. And he never, ever retreats.
Berserkers are equally capable of being good or evil. If they're good, then out of battle, most will brood about whatever it is that causes their berserk fits, or show remorse about losing control of themselves. Most end up one of two ways: being taught by their teammates to control themselves after a particularly close call, or dying in a dramatic fashion while lamenting that they died without completing their mission. Good Berserkers are also very prone to Heroic Sacrifices, for very obvious reasons. An evil Berserker, on the other hand, is generally just unrepentantly Ax Crazy.
The trope’s title refers to the berserkr of Viking-age Scandinavia: Warriors who are said to have thrown themselves into battle wearing only animal hides for armour and with no regard for their own safety. Their 'battle-madness', whose exact nature is presently unknown (some say it came from eating poisonous mushrooms before a battle) is said to have been a gift from Odin.
Berserkers that truly do wish to die in battle are better known as Death Seekers — those who don't often overlap with the Blood Knight or Barbarian Hero instead. When foolishly done without any regard to strategy or planning, the Berserker becomes a Leeroy Jenkins.
Examples:
Anime and Manga
- Asuka Langley Soryuu and Rei Ayanami of Neon Genesis Evangelion: Rei because she really doesn't care whether she lives or dies, and Asuka because she's overconfident and addicted to the thrill of battle.
- Shinji Ikari himself lapses into this under sufficient psychological stress, when his Unstoppable Rage kicks in.
- He's like this by default in Rebuild continuity.
- For that matter, the Eva Units themselves occasionally override their pilots and rush into full furious battle, with disturbingly effective results.
- It should be noted that during combat, Rei never displays any lack of emotional control (initially) and would readily employ basic tactics and follow orders from superiors (usually), but otherwise fits the trope to a T - though she's not as much of a Death Seeker as being literally unafraid of death, because in her own words, "(she is) replaceable".
- That is open to interpretation. Episode 25 has Rei flat out state she wants to die, in my opinion I take that as to mean to be able to live one full life, without being replaced. As for Rei being a berserker, lest we forget the dummy system that is based on her. Apparently the way she tears apart Unit 03 is her fighting.
- That self-same Dummy Plug (which is also the only one seen in active combat) is also noted to exhibit anomalous "readings" right after it is activated; Maya Ibuki even questions Gendou's decision to use it in the first place, explicitly stating that the entire Dummy Plug project is still in the experimental stage. And her wish to die, though may qualify her as a Death Seaker, would remain inconsequential as long as her clones existed, making a self-endangering combat style meaningless and even deterimental to Gendou's plans; I don't rule out practical brainwashing on his part, too.
- Yu-Gi-Oh GX: Kaiser, once he realizes he doesn't have much time left anyway, and Judai, when the desire to find Johan completely overrides his reason.
- The monster Elemental Hero Wildheart and his fusions tend to exemplify the concept, doing things like ignoring/destroying traps, attacking all enemies in one go, etc.
- Myôjin Yahiko in Rurouni Kenshin.
- Gauron from Full Metal Panic!, who takes his constant personal antagonizing of Mithril and (especially) Sousuke to a suicidal degree. He seems to care little whether he lives or dies, or who he harms, as long as he is able to mess up the heroes as much as humanly possible — and with as much panache as he can wring out of it — in the process. In the light novels, it is revealed that his destructive attitude stems from a lethal cancer that would kill him sooner or later anyway.
- Kamina from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. 'Give up' is not a word in his vocabulary, nor is 'tactics', 'sound judgment', or 'subtlety'.
- To a lesser extent, everyone else, even the bad guys!
- In Berserk, both the manga and anime (but especially the manga), Guts takes on this role, acknowledging in the manga that he realizes that his battle-crazed moments make people close to him fear him. He is driven, but definitely is not a Death Seeker, despite his tendency to take on 100 men (or even worse things later on) at once.
- This state is now "magically" enhanced by the use of his Berserker Armor that facilitates such fighting mode for example by numbing any wounds received to keep fighting at his maximal potential. However it does come as a price (aside not being aware that lethal wounds might have been received) in that his evil side always threatens to take over which would cause him to start attacking friends or foes regardlessly until dead or the last standing on the battlefied.
- Björn in Vinland Saga, apart from being a berserker, is also a real berserkr. After eating a special mushroom he flies into an uncontrollable fury, and is able to rip apart multiple enemies with his bare hands. Problem is he has a habit of killing his own men at the same time, just as any true berserker would. His name even means bear in nordic languages.
- Vita from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha fits this trope nicely. She's a badass determinator with a giant hammer and even says herself that destroying is the best thing she can do. For example, in the fight with Nanoha, after her hat gets damaged, her pupils were narrowing in shock, just before she goes ballistic and beats Nanoha like a screaming warrior.
- "Apapapapapapapapapapa!" While Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple actually has a character named Berserker, the real berserker of the series is Apachai Hopachi, the Death God of Muy Thai Boxing. He is literally incapable of holding back in a fight and, as a result, nearly kills Kenichi a few times when training him. He does overcome this to a limited degree, though.
- Also, there is Kisara Nanjo when she first awakens to what other characters name "Nya Kwon Do," during which she behaves exactly like a cat (meowing, grooming herself, and kicking sand at her opponent).
- Ryoma from Getter Robo - his Fan Nickname "Batshit Ryoma" encapsulates him well, as a character who combines all the best parts of Hot Blooded, Slasher Smiles, Ax Crazy and the Determinator.
- Venus Versus Virus's Sumire is a berserker, in guess what? Her Berserker mode.
- The titular Murder Princess has this, fortunately her maid can snap her out of it.
- Iceman Hotty of Basquash! looks like just another pretty boy, but... "Destroy!"
- Carossa from Gun X Sword easily surpasses Shinn Asuka in anger and stupidity, and that's before someone comes within speaking range of his sister. Unlike Shinn Asuka however, Carossa is infinitely more justified in that he's a small child with no military training whatsoever.
- Wufei from Gundam Wing was highly on offense and never cared about defense, even when playing chess.
- Hello? Orson from Record Of Lodoss War, anyone?
- Kenpachi, freaking, Zaraki. He fights until he's about to die and then fights some more. Just about everyone in his squad is like this to a lesser degree, except Ikkaku, who's just as much of a Blood Knight as his captain is.
- Dawn's Mamoswine in Pokemon, arguably even worse than Ash's Charizard in its inability to follow orders.
Comics
- Wolverine of X-Men. Though with his increasingly effective healing factor, he's really got nothing to worry about. Of course, this leads to unfortunate consequences.
- Edward Hyde, as portrayed in the Leagueof Extraordinary Gentlemen comics is a Berserker. Initially he is just so powerful that he doesn't need to worry about taking risks in battle, but this shifts in the second volume when he takes perverse pleasure in sacrificing himself for the sake of killing some H.G. Wells Martians.
- In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, both Raphael and Casey Jones begin like this until they meet each other, which allows them both to gain some perspective; although they eventually cool down considerably, they are both keenly aware of their tendency to fly off the handle when provoked and try to avoid it.
- Hooded Justice, the first ever superhero in the Watchmen universe, was one of these. In his first ever case as a vigilante, HJ beat up a street thug so bad he lost the use of his legs for the rest of his life.
Film
- The aptly-named Sven the Berserk in Erik the Viking is one comedic example. His father explains the philosophy of the Berserk in a funny voice too!
- In the film The 13th Warrior the hero Ahmad ibn Fadlan goes battle-mad during one attack, but seeing as he's hanging around Vikings and taking on more and more of their culture it's not surprising.
- Arguably
Beowulf Buliwyf counts, since he goes back into battle after being poisoned.
- Vikings couldn't get into Valhalla unless they died in battle, so why wait for the poison? Dying of poison wouldn't be a very good ending for the heroic poem he asked Ahmad to write about his deeds, either.
- The Joker as portrayed by Heath Ledger in 2008's ''The Dark Knight'' is concerned only with sowing chaos and panic, even if it means sacrificing himself in the process. Although he typically leaves himself a prearranged "back door" of sorts, a sort of Locking Mac Gyver In The Store Cupboard scenario in which all of the materiel required for a quick escape is secreted away, if not on his person, somewhere remote from the Joker himself (but close enough at hand to pull his fat out of the fire), these "escape clauses" sometimes seem as potentially fatal to the Joker as his enemies.
- Hilariously averted by Mr. Furious in Mystery Men. He pretends to get angry. He pretends to get really angry. And that's it. No super-strength, no supernatural resistance to pain or injury, and he doesn't change into a monster. He's just a raging Ben Stiller with all the fighting ability of a loaf of bread.
- Dying in battle was a family tradition for Lt. Dan in Forest Gump and he is furious when Forrest saves him (especially since he was crippled by his injury).
Folklore and Mythology
- In Irish legend, when the hero Cuchulainn went into "warp-spasm," he was invincible — but could not distinguish friend from foe.
- Sláine, main character of the British comic of the same name, is in part based on Cuchulainn. An almost ridiculously powerful Celtic warrior, even by the standards of Heavy Metal-style comic magazines (imagine Conan the Barbarian on steroids), Sláine's favored weapon is a huge battle axe named "Brainbiter" with which he inflicts much carnage, and he embodies the power of the ríastrad, or "Warp Spasm", which is capable of transforming him into a huge, monstrous mass of muscle and sinew which is incapable of distinguishing friend from foe, but is quite efficient when it comes to dispatching either. He is also, arguably, the Hero and the Big Guy of the series.
- Lancelot from Arthurian legends, had many aspects of this trope. When Monty Python did their Holy Grail movie, Lancelot's character was preserved. He was memorable for scenes where he would kill innocents and be pretty sorry for it later, just like the stories.
- Lu Bu of the Romance Of The Three Kingdoms mythos only knows of two commands: "kill" and "kill faster". He's one of the most powerful characters you encounter in Dynasty Warriors, and it will take an extremely high-leveled character to survive a direct assault against him. Yuan Shao said it best in the Battle of Hu Lao Gate in DW3: "Don't pursue Lu Bu".
- DW 6 ups the ante by providing a Musou Mode for Lu Bu. During this, you (playing as Lu Bu) jumps headfirst into several historical, large-scale battles, usually accompanied only by one or two squads of retainers, and proceeds to take on BOTH armies. For no other reason than the desire to fight and kill. At the end, you are looking out from above Hu Lao Gate at an army consisting of the joined forces of EVERY hero and warlord of the Three Kingdoms period, including several who've risen from the grave to join the fight. What do you do? Why, obviously, you leap off the wall and charge headfirst into the million-strong armies. And win.
- Ironically, the source material subverts this somewhat — his Romance of the Three Kingdoms incarnation is more noted for treachery by murdering first his original lord for money/power, then killing his new lord more or less for a woman — even if this killing was the culmination of a "pro-Han" coup, less than great leadership... and comes to a far more humiliating ending.
Literature
- In a literary example, Wulfgar, the barbarian from the popular Drizzt novels (based on the Dungeons And Dragons "Forgotten Realms" setting), seems to fit into this type in almost every fight he's in after being resurrected after a decade of torment by Errtu. Unable to cope with the hopelessness and torture he endured, and fearing that his escape is all some dream, he fights recklessly. Several times, Drizzt and others have had to divert their tactics to save him from himself.
- For that matter, Drizzt himself also shows aspects of the trope. In a mild form, he's often surprised other characters at how enthusiastically he joins battle against evil foes (especially giantkin). In a played-straight form, he has his Hunter persona, when he lets his survival instinct take complete control. True to form, he does sometimes suffer a Heroic BSOD after these instances.
- Ajax from The Iliad is a very early example of this trope.
- You'd best be kidding or talking about The Film Of The Book, because Ajax is described as a defensive fighter in the poem. Diomedes is a much better fit.
- Achilles himself is also an example once he gets out of his tent that is.
- Also in the Forgotten Realms are the dwarven Battleragers who *love* combat and jump into it with a glee that scares their allies as much as the enemy. Considering that their fighting style incorporates armour that can only be described as a mobile cheese grater which is used to shred opponents by rubbing against them with furiously, this is probably justified.
- Grigoriy Pechorin, the Byronic Hero of Mikhail Lermontov's "A Hero of Our Time", has extreme ennui for a fatal flaw and so lives by this principle as well. He leads charges on enemy positions, enters a duel he knows to be rigged and volunteers to tackle an Ax Crazy drunken Cossack.
- Logen Ninefingers from Joe Abercrombie's The First Law trilogy is a pretty tough fella normally, but when he's desperate, hurt and loses control he becomes 'The Bloody-Nine', an unstoppable warrior who has no distinction between 'friend' and 'foe', only 'dead' and 'soon to be dead'.
- Touchstone, from Garth Nix's Sabriel goes into rages that give him frightening power and disregard for things such as physical impossibilities (i.e. trying to hoist up a throne affixed to the floor so he can throw it at someone.) He regrets these bitterly, and they are said to be the result of his mother's affair with a warrior from the North. It is revealed towards the end of Sabriel that this is why he was frozen as a figurehead of a ship for 200 years.
- His son, Sam, inherits this trait to a degree. Perhaps due to his more cautious disposition, he never loses himself to the extent that Touchstone does.
- Orson from Record Of Lodoss War.
- The Badger Lords, and anyone else unfortunate enough to have the bloodwrath, from Brian Jacque's Redwall series. When the bloodwrath takes over, the warrior will throw themselves into battle, seeking to reach and kill their mortal enemy. They are completely heedless of their own safety, and will kill anyone—friend or foe—who tries to get in their way or otherwise stop them. They usually end up killing scores of foes, their mortal enemy, and themselves.
- Eomer from JRR Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings, when he finds his sister after she kills the Witch King.
- In James Swallow's Warhammer 40000 Blood Angels novels Deus Encarmine and Deus Sanguinius, the Blood Angels are perpetually tempted by their "flaw", the "red thirst", which transforms them into this when they succumb. At the climax, Rafen succumbs to this; on the other hand, it does unlock the powers of the Spear of Telesto for him, and the daemon he fights is shocked to see that the many futures in which Rafen failed instantly vanish. Then the spear protects him. When the dying daemon unleashes it in the other Blood Angels, they terrify their enemies, who retreat although they never retreat, and the spear even lets Rafen bring back his battle brothers who had succumbed.
- David Weber's War God's Oath series features an entire species of these. It's somewhat involuntary, and they're not happy about that.
- Erik Hakkonsen from the Shadow of the Lion series is capable of this, but since he doesn't know friend from foe once he enters a rage, he refuses to do it when the prince he's guarding is nearby.
- In Wraith Squadron, the multiminded alien character "Runt" had a "pilot mind" who was basically a berserker. As berserkers make very bad pilots, Runt did badly enough to qualify for the Wraiths. With his wingman's help Runt eventually got over this problem.
- In The Warlord Chronicles, Derfel muses several times about how any man, whether he be a justice loving generous soul like Arthur or a loving family man like Derfel can transform into a monster in battle, especially when victory seems likely.
''A terrible hate wells up in battle, a hatred that comes from the dark soul to fill a man with fierce and bloody anger. I knew that Saxon shield wall would break. I knew it long before I attacked it. The wall was too thin, had been too hurried in the making, and was too nervous, and so I broke out of our front rank and shouted my hate at the enemy. At that moment all I wanted to do was kill... so I ran ahead, madness filling my soul and exultation giving me a terrible power as I picked my victims. They were two young men, both smaller than me, both nervous, both with skimpy beards, and both were shrinking away even before I hit them. They saw a British warlord in splendor, I saw two dead Saxons.
- Galbatorix creates groups of magically modified soldiers who cannot feel pain in the third book of the Inheritance Cycle. They disregard their safety because they can take crippling injuries and continue on, making them a whole army of berserkers.
- Jarek of The Seventh Tower.
- There are quite a few civilisations that have this as a Plenet Of Hats statement.
Live Action Television
- Numerous alien species from the various Star Trek franchises, including the Klingons and Jem'Hadar (the latter first appearing in DS 9 continuity), are brutally fierce warrior races which not only show no fear of death but in some instances actually seem to relish the prospect of death in battle (although the Enterprise franchise plays down this aspect of Klingon culture somewhat).
- Gem and Gemma of Power Rangers RPM. A pair of psychopathic Adult Children who have a five year old's facination for guns and explosions (or rather, "boom time") and a Henshin Hero's armory. They have to be reminded rather frequently to, for example, not blow up the enemy factory until prisoners have been removed.
Tabletop Games
- Khornate Berserkers in both Warhammer and Warhammer 40000.
- Blood Angels Death Company. When they meet the above, things get really bloody, even by 40K's standards.
- Don't forget both da Orks and many Space Wolves of the ranks of Blood Claw or Skyclaw.
- Warhammer is no slacker, with Witch Elves, Savage Orcs, Skaven Plague Monks, and anyone else with the Frenzy special rule. One classic Skaven spell, Death Frenzy, would turn any Skaven unit into this...but they'd be so psychotic that they would rip each other to shreds as well.
- Hida Amoro
 , one of the Crab Clan's best warriors from Legend of the Five Rings, is a Berserker. In a standard deviation he is cool headed and rational (unlike most crabs) outside of combat. As he fights his vision slowly becomes red-tinted until he has no control left. It is said that this is the only reason he isn't a higher rank- he has no control over friend or foe until he Passes out from Exhaustion. All is comrades are aware of this and stand far away from him on the Shadowlands wall. And quote from memory "The other crab soldiers almost felt sad for the poor goblins that died by impaling themselves on the spears of those behind them while fleeing, so great was their fear of X". This editor does not do his badassitutde Justice. For bonus points he wields a daito.
- In Dungeons and Dragons, the frenzied berserker class can enter frenzies for bonuses. If it kills all the enemies in sight? They start killing allies.
Video Games
- Sork from Treasure of the Rudras is always itching for a fight.
- Leeeerooooy Jenkins!
- The Black Whirlwind from Jade Empire fits this trope perfectly. The character he was based on, from the Water Margin, was exactly the same.
- Boisterous Bruiser Minsc and Heroic Sociopath Korgan from the Baldur's Gate series are both good examples of this trope. Despite being the good one of the two, Minsc's berserker rage is even more indiscriminate than Korgan's, as he is prone to attacking his allies if no enemies are present.
- Saix from Kingdom Hearts II, while normally seemings to be cold and composed, becomes this in battle when the moon shines upon him.
- Beast probably counts too. He always charge against the Heartless head-on with horns, teeth, claws and a roar, hell just the roar can kill the weaker ones, and [[Hercules Hades]] is THE Disney villain version of this. The bigger Heartless attacks more ruthlessly if they're soon out of life and one Nobody race is even called "Berserker" and they're commanded by Saix. One ability is called "Berserk", which help the party member who has it to become stronger if he has lesser life and the first one to get it was Donald.
- Hardfangs in Resistance: Fall of Man are said to have all instincts of self-preservation removed in place of aggressiveness for superior combat performance. True to form, they only have one eye.
- Luca Blight from Suikoden II is what happens when you make this character a Big Bad. In the Climax Boss battle against him, he literally fights until his body is so full of wounds that it gives out on him (but not before fighting through several armies worth of enemies) and even then he only laughs while spiting the main party for being pansies.
- Gears Of War had an enemy called Berserker which was blind and relied upon sound and smell alone. She would basically run at you, not seeing when see was going this is probably the worse battle tactic ever, but she's nearly invincible so maybe not all that bad.
- The various Final Fantasy gaves have had several different types of Berserkers. The most common version is the Berserk spell, which does exactly what it sounds like when you cast it on someone. Final Fantasy VI has the yeti Umaro as a playable character who could not be controlled by the player and otherwise attacked the enemies whenever his turn came up in battle, and Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy X-2 all had the Berserker available in their Job systems, though X-2's is the only one where you retained control.
- In Battle For Wesnoth whenever a Dwarvish Ulfserker enters melee combat, the attack cycle will repeat until one of the units dies. This makes them extremely good at slaughtering Squishy Wizards, especially the poor Dark Adept, which has no melee attacks at all. The game hangs a lampshade on this by having the Ulf and its upgrade, the Berserker laugh maniacally when they attack a unit without a melee retaliation.
- Grom Hellscream from Warcraft II and III. His rage leads to him actually doing a Leeroy Jenkins attack in WC3 (several years before the Trope Namer did his stuff).
- Trolls have had Berserkers since their first appearance in Warcraft II. Unlike most depictions of Berserkers, they're ranged attackers that throw spears or axes at their opponents. They have an improved regeneration and have an ability that makes them attack faster but take more damage. Troll Berserkers are incredibly buff and even larger then Orc Grunts! and This state is achieved through goblin or troll alchemy experimentation and you actually see the trolls hulk out when upgraded to berserkers. An interesting tidbit was that in Warcraft II, troll Berserkers were the only trolls seen with tusks.
- The Stronghold creatures introduced in Heroes Of Might And Magic V: Tribes of the East. Most of the units (except the Wyverns) have the "Rage" property if lead by a Barbarian Hero. Said "Rage" absorbs a portion of damage and increases the damage done by the unit depending on Rage level. Fitting the trope, the units lose Rage points if they do anything except move, use their special abilities, or attack.
- Servants summoned to the Berserker class in Fate Stay Night. These heroes, drawn from mythological heroes known for their potential for madness, have access to the 'mad enhancement' ability that boosts all stats in return for making them impossible to control and and having exorbitant mana drain on their masters; berserkers are usually just as dangerous to their own controllers than to their enemies. The Berserker summoned in the Fifth Grail War is Heracles/Hercules, and Lancer is at one point explained as having the potential to be summoned under this class (understandable, as Lancer is Cù Chulainn). In Fate Zero the Berserker is the Black Knight, later revealed to be Lancelot.
- In Close Combat, soldiers will occasionally become "Heroic," "Fanatic," or "Berzerk." They'll disregard suppressive fire, and sometimes charge across open ground to close with the enemy. They die just as easily as everyone else, though.
- Asha the assassin in Iji is sort of like this, as he won't teleport away even if he's about to die. Funny, as he's an ASSASSIN...
- Iori Yagami from The King of Fighters series. In Ko F '95, when he was first introduced, he brutally beat his teammates Eiji Kasaragi and Billy Kane when losing their match prevented him from taking a shot at his nemesis Kyo. (Brutally enough to have them both enjoy a lengthy vacation on a hospital.) And that was before his tainted Orochi blood caused him to fling into the Riot of Blood and tear Vice and Mature to pieces on Ko F '96. (And Orochi himself on Ko F '97 with Kyo's and Chizuru's help.) Having his purple flames stolen by Ash Crimson didn't calm him down in the slightest - rather than burning opponents down to a violet crisp he claws the living shit out of them.
- Resident Evil 4's monster cast is rife with these. A blind zombie with ridiculously long steel claws that hunts you down by hearing alone and Plagas-infested, chainsaw-wielding villagers are just a few.
Web Comic
- Ed from the webcomic Megatokyo not only seems to relish bloodshed and destruction and to engage in said activities with reckless abandon, he has himself been seriously maimed and/or killed numerous times only to be rebuilt/resurrected by his superiors that he might put himself (willingly) in harm's way again.
- Dominic Deegan had a one-shot character named Brok that was hired by the Infernomancer during his first appearance, who goes into an Unstoppable Rage after Bumper tries (and fails) to knock him out by smashing a staff on the back of his head. He was at first meant to have a much longer run, but writer/artist Mookie stated that he just didn't feel right throwing in a Berserker-type character in a magic-based world, so a raging Brok chases Stunt and Bumper into the sunset and is never seen again.
- Crap, piss, kill!
- The bulk of the The Vloz'res army consists of heavily tainted warriors called berserkers. Curiously, the only named berserker is a subversion.
Web Original
- Regan Bard in Void Dogs uses this, referred to in text as the "warp spasm" of Irish myth.
- For Protectors Of The Plot Continuum Agents, contracting Bloodwrath is a very real risk of working in the Redwall continuum, meaning any infected Agent can become this. The three known Agents with Bloodwrath are Laburnum, Manx, and Tawaki. Agent Vincent Cyrus is also known to have a murderous temper, and acts similarly to someone afflicted with Bloodwrath when sufficiently worked up, to the point of indiscriminately attacking or even killing anything that gets in his way when he's trying to reach whoever or whatever set him off. His partner, Einarr, is an actual historical berserkr, as prior to his recruitment he was a Viking warrior who acted rather like later tales of the Berserkers.
- The Whateley Universe features an official 'rager' classification for mutants that's Exactly What It Says On The Tin. Students afflicted that way frequently come to Whateley Academy with a body count already on their record. Razorback (a student turned basically into a sort of velociraptor by his mutation, complete with loss of his human vocal apparatus) is both a poster child and one of the good guys.
- Admiral Flota Vladimir Ilyavich Tokarev, HERO OF THE TRIBES, from Open Blue. It should be noted that the male population of the aforementioned "tribes" consists entirely of Hot Blooded pseudo-Russo-Japanese warriors, and thus to be regarded as "HERO OF THE TRIBES" means you've gotta be one hell of a Berserker in your own right. It's even lampshaded as one of his specialties. Somewhat subverted in that he only does this when engaged in melees, and if there is no other viable ship tactic. When it's more effective to just blow you up from a distance, he will opt for that instead. Tokarev didn't become an admiral for stupidity, after all.
Western Animation
- Zuko of Avatar The Last Airbender is prone to such moments (running Zhao's Fire Navy fleet, seeking out fights with his more powerful sister) because he truly cannot fathom walking away from a fight.
- Dinobot of Transformers: Beast Wars, is the very definition of this one. He didn't want to die, but wasn't afraid of it, either... Seeing a battle through to the end was a pretty significant part of his code of honor. True to form, he went out in a blaze of glory.
- Buttercup of The Powerpuff Girls
- The Decepticon Sixshot is one of these. He is portrayed as possibly being the greatest pure warrior among the Transformers (though others may be more gifted at overall strategy, or just more powerful), aided by his (even more) rapid transformation speed and five alternate modes. Though a Decepticon, he speaks well of those he's beaten in combat, as he hopes that should anyone ever defeat him he will be treated as respectfully.
- The minor character Shoza in Shogun's Samurai. When Tadanaga chooses to surrender to avoid the massacre of his troops, his retainer rebukes his decision. The samurai boldly announces his independence before his former master and the enemy and proceeds to set off on a lone charge, determined to defeat every last soldier and retrieve the rival prince's head. Even the enemy commander sincerely declares that Tadanaga has one hell of a retainer on his hands before ordering his troops to gun him down.
Real Life
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