SCH-NEIGH-ZEL
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so Trauma Conga Line then?
Trauma Conga Line + Self-Inflicted Hell is what we're getting at, basically. Having someone else destroy the character will make them angry. Having them destroy themselves will make them insane. Combining both... will be interesting. 
edited 5th Sep '11 10:58:25 AM by tropetown
Occasionally Smart
Exactly. I couldn't have said it better. Isn't insanity fun?
If I may just add a little bit to the above ideas, I would recommend two things: seclusion, and repetition. When I say seclusion, I mean that it can be mind-straining trying to keep everything bottled up inside because you don't think even your sympathetic boss would understand your pain. And when I say repetition, well...let's say that your scientist accidentally annihilates the retirement home her dear old mother was at. The next day, she could get a letter from her mom that was lost in the mail, wishing her the best of luck in her new career. Have her door squeak just a tiny bit, just like her mom's rocking chair, so she'll be reminded of that tragedy every time she tries to retreat to her personal space. Have the bedsheets she cries into at night be washed in the same pine-scented detergent her mother always used. No matter where she turns, something always reminds her of her now-deceased mother. A major catastrophe resulting from a single accident can make one feel horrible, but if that event was all it takes to utterly ruin every single thing that used to bring her joy, your character will snap like a frail and brittle twig.
...And now I've made myself depressed.
The fact that she acts as the group's semblance of a moral center doesn't have to mean that's specifically why she was hired. It might be more realistic for her morality to be part the reason the Big Bad keeps her around but not the reason he hired her in the first place. However, I find the idea of a villain who is very aware of his own personality flaws very interesting.
As for driving your character mad, keep in mind that in reality people rarely go insane because of one event. So like mentioned earlier, a series of events that force her to confront and then embrace her inner demons would be an effective means of mental destruction.
He's like fire and ice and rage. He's ancient and forever. He burns at the centre of time. Rory punched him in the face.