History Main / AngerIsNotEnough

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'': At the climax, Anakin believes that his anger-fueled use of the dark side now makes him more powerful than ''anyone'', including Emperor Palpatine and Anakin's former mentor Obi-Wan. However, it is not clear during his lightsaber duel with Obi-Wan that he actually possesses any new powers, as opposed to just fighting more aggressively than he had before. While Obi-Wan is largely on the defensive during the fight, Anakin loses the duel because Obi-Wan uses rational tactical planning to gain a solid defensive position on a slope, and when Anakin angrily tries to jump over him, he is able to sever three of Anakin's limbs.
* ''Film/XMenFirstClass'': Magneto initially requires tapping into his anger and pain to use his magnetic abilities, which is initially not a problem as [[DarkAndTroubledPast he has plenty to call upon]]. However, Xavier is convinced he is only scratching the surface of the power he is capable of. Xavier proves to be correct, as by convincing Magneto instead to utilize his happier memories of his family, it dramatically enhances not only his control over his abilities, but his scale.

** Asura is a rage-powered demigod who was betrayed by his fellow demigods and cast as their scapegoat for their NewWorldOrder which cast them as {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s, killing mortals for their [[SoulPower souls]] to combat Vlitra, [[GaiasVengeance the will of the planet]]. His rage at being betrayed, as well as having his wife killed and daughter kidnapped, made him powerful enough to come BackFromTheDead, and rampage through their number and their forces. But Vlitra proves too much for him, and it is only once his daughter channels the remaining SoulPower into him that he is able to defeat it.

** Yang's semblance is based on her anger. When she gets angry, her power skyrockets. Unfortunately, it proves to not help her in her fight against Adam, who overpowers her and [[spoiler:cuts off one of her arms]]. By round two, not only does [[spoiler: she have a mechanical prosthesis]], but she is fighting Adam [[ThePowerOfFriendship along with Blake, one of her friends]].

** Part of Watts’ TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Cinder is this trope, explaining that being angry and deserving isn’t enough when you don’t use your brain and put in the work properly. Unfortunately for the heroes, she actually takes this advice to heart.

* Katsuki Bakugo from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' is known for his incredibly versatile "Explosion" quirk and his even more volatile temper. He is proven to be both powerful and skilled enough to face against villains and other opponents but falters at nearly every other category due to his abrasive attitude. This is best illustrated in the Entrance Exam: he scored the highest amount of Villain points (points earned from destroying attack robots) but scored absolutely zero rescue points (points scored from assisting other attendees and other acts of heroism). He is told repeatedly by various individuals from All Might to Best Jeanest that while he is incredibly talented, his UnstoppableRage will make him fall short of becoming the No. 1 pro-hero. This is shown when he was one of the few students to fail his License Exam because the point of the exam was to rescue civilians, and while he ''did'' rescue them, his utter abrasiveness and temper docked him points since he's also supposed to reassure them rather than yell and curse.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender:'' Zuko's firebending is primarily fueled by anger throughout the series. When he loses it, he and Aang learn that the ancient firebending tradition is much more powerful than anger-fueled firebending. Realizing that anger is temporary and not powerful enough to sustain him is what brings his bending back.

* ''LightNovel/AccelWorld'':

Compare BlindedByRage, which skips the "makes you stronger" part completely and causes your anger to actively hinder your performance.

->''"Anger gives motivation without purpose"''

** This is the whole philosophy of the old Jedi Order, who believe that while anger (and TheDarkSide of TheForce in general) is a [[EvilIsEasy quick and easy]] way to a lot of power, true mastery of the Force (which far exceeds the potency of the dark side) requires [[TheFettered temperance and self-control]].

** Even for the Sith, and dark side Force-users in general, pure anger (and other raw emotions) only take you so far. True masters of the dark side have to learn to yoke the raw power of their emotions with a clarity of thought. A [[TheBerserker berserker]]-esque Darth Maul type might be a physical threat to two or three Jedi at a time, but a [[TheChessmaster cold, cruel, calculating]] Darth Sidious type can bring the galaxy to its knees without ever touching a {{lightsaber}}. In addition, if you give in ''too much'' to your anger, you're no longer a master of the dark side but a slave to it.

* ''VideoGame/StreetFighter:'' The ''Satsui No Hado'' is a powerful Ki born of negative emotions, including that of rage and anger - it makes whomsoever succumbs to it incredibly powerful and grants access to numerous {{Dangerous Forbidden Technique}}s, and [[TheHero Ryu]] succumbs to it in an attempt to kill Akuma, who has all but mastered it. It's not enough, and it's only through accessing [[EnlightenmentSuperpowers The Power of Nothingness]] that Ryu is able to eventually defeat Akuma.

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

** Lie Ren, who is normally TheQuietOne, goes absolutely berserk when fighting The Nuckelavee, [[spoiler: because it [[YouKilledMyFather killed his parents]] and [[DoomedHometown destroyed his home village]]]]. Not only does this fail to help him in any way, but he winds up hindering his own teammates in the process; it takes a GetAHoldOfYourselfMan from Nora to get him to calm down, at which point Team RNJR finished it off with very little effort.

* Asura of ''Videogame/AsurasWrath'' is a rage-powered demigod who was betrayed by his fellow demigods and cast as their scapegoat for their NewWorldOrder which cast them as {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s, killing mortals for their [[SoulPower souls]] to combat Vlitra, [[GaiasVengeance the will of the planet]]. His rage at being betrayed, as well as having his wife killed and daughter kidnapped, made him powerful enough to come BackFromTheDead, and rampage through their number and their forces. But Vlitra proves too much for him, and it is only once his daughter channels the remaining SoulPower into him that he is able to defeat it.
** It is subverted in his series of fights against the TrueFinalBoss, [[{{God}} Chakravatin]] - while his newfound SoulPower-fueled anger gets him a lot of the way, allowing him to blow up planets, stars, and make {{God}} go OneWingedAngel on him, he initially requires the implantation of the Karma Fortress's Mantra Reactor into his body to help regulate his rage-fueled power [[HeroicRROD lest it destroy him outright]] (which grants him his most powerful form), and it is eventually his raw anger at how GodIsEvil that allows him to persevere after Chakravatin [[BroughtDownToBadass takes away]] his SoulPower.

* In ''Videogame/LeagueOfLegends'', Master Yi was a student of the ancient blademaster art of Wuju, an art that required serenity and focus. When invaders came to surrounding towns, he couldn't sit by and watch, so he went to battle. The invaders saw the power of Wuju and turned their attention to his clan's home, turning it into a DoomedHometown while he was away. The resultant anger allowed Yi to become peerless in battle...until he met a trickster Monkey adept at ConfusionFu, constantly taunting him through their battles. It was only through calming his rage that Yi was able to see through the monkey's illusions, allowing him to put his peerless swordsmanship to work against even slippery foes.
* ''Videogame/StreetFighter:'' The ''Satsui No Hado'' is a powerful Ki born of negative emotions, including that of rage and anger - it makes whomsoever succumbs to it incredibly powerful and grants access to numerous {{Dangerous Forbidden Technique}}s, and [[TheHero Ryu]] succumbs to it in an attempt to kill Akuma, who has all but mastered it. It's not enough, and it's only through accessing [[EnlightenmentSuperpowers The Power of Nothingness]] That Ryu is able to eventually defeat Akuma.

* During the fifth book, ''Literature/HarryPotter'' uses the [[AgonyBeam Cruciatus Curse]] on Bellatrix [=LeStrange=] while burning with righteous anger at her for murdering his godfather. This allows him to use the Curse at all, but Bellatrix notes it doesn't hurt her much, because a Cruiciatus Curse fueled by anger pales in comparison to one fueled by ''sadism'' - which she is used to slinging around.

-->"I see what Bellatrix meant," said Harry, the blood thundering through his brain, "you need to really mean it."

-->-- '''Master Yi''', ''Videogame/LeagueOfLegends''.

* Katsuki Bakugo from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' is known for his incredibly versatile "Explosion" quirk and his even more volatile temper. He is proven to be both powerful and skilled enough to face against villains and other opponents but falters at nearly every other category due to his abrasive attitude. This is best illustrated in the Entrance Exam: he scored the highest amount of Villain points (points earned from destroying attack robots) but scored absolutely zero rescue points (points scored from assisting other attendees and other acts of heroism). He is told repeatedly by various individuals from All Might to Best Jeanest that while he is incredibly talented, his UnstoppableRage will make him fall short of becoming the No. 1 pro-hero. This is shown when he was one of the few students to fail his License Exam because the point of the exam was to rescue civilians and while he ''did'' rescue them, his utter abrasiveness and temper docked him points since he's also supposed to reassure them rather than yell and curse.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'': At the climax, Anakin believes that his anger-fueled use of the Dark Side now makes him more powerful than ''anyone'', including Emperor Palpatine and Anakin's former mentor Obi-Wan. However, it is not clear during his lightsaber duel with Obi-Wan that he actually possesses any new powers, as opposed to just fighting more aggressively than he had before. While Obi-Wan is largely on the defensive during the fight, Anakin loses the duel because Obi-Wan uses rational tactical planning to gain a solid defensive position on a slope, and when Anakin angrily tries to jump over him, he is able to sever three of Anakin's limbs.
* ''Film/XMenFirstClass'': Magneto initially requires tapping into his anger and pain to use his magnetic abilities, this is initially not a problem as [[DarkAndTroubledPast he has plenty to call upon]]. However, Charles Xavier is convinced he is only scratching the surface of the power he is capable of. Charles proves to be correct, by convincing Magneto instead to utilise his happier memories of his family, it dramatically enhances not only his control over his abilities but his scale.

** This is the whole philosophy of the old Jedi Order, who believe that while anger (and TheDarkSide of TheForce in general) is a [[EvilIsEasy quick and easy]] way to a lot of power, true mastery of the Force (which far exceeds the potency of the Dark Side) requires [[TheFettered temperance and self-control]].
** Even for the Sith, and Dark Side Force-Users in general, pure anger (and other raw emotions) only take you so far. True masters of the Dark Side have to learn to yoke the raw power of their emotions with a clarity of thought. A [[TheBerserker berserker]]-esque Darth Maul type might be a physical threat to two or three Jedi at a time, but a [[TheChessmaster cold, cruel, calculating]] Darth Sidious type can bring the galaxy to its knees without ever touching a {{lightsaber}}. In addition, if you give in ''too much'' to your anger, you're no longer a master of the Dark Side but a slave to it.

No matter how angry you get, no matter your determination, your rage-fueled powers just aren't enough to best the BigBad, TheDragon, or maybe even the QuirkyMinibossSquad. Anger, in other words, will hit a ceiling for how much power it can provide you. Faced with obstacles above that level, you'll need to find another way to fight, or to augment your rage-granted powers with something else, before you break that ceiling.

[[folder: AnimeAndManga]]

* Katsuki Bakugo from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' is known for his incredibly versatile "Explosion" quirk and his even more volatile temper. He is proven to be both powerful and skilled enough to face against villains and other opponents, but falters at nearly every other category due to his abrasive attitude. This is best illustrated in the Entrance Exam: he scored the highest amount of Villain points (points earned from destroying attack robots), but scored absolutely zero rescue points (points scored from assisting other attendies and other acts of heroism). He is told repeatedly by various individuals from All Might to Best Jeanest that while he is incredibly talented, his UnstoppableRage will make him fall short of becoming the No. 1 pro-hero. This is shown when he was one of the few students to fail his License Exam because the point of the exam was to rescue civilians and while he ''did'' rescue them, his utter abrasiveness and temper docked him points since he's also supposed to reassure them rather than yell and curse.

** True to form, he utilises it once again against a Death Eater, Amycus Carrow just before the Battle of Hogwarts with ''much'' better results as he is not blinded by the pain of loss and his hatred is much more calculated and cold (and its ''still'' not as effective as schadenfreude).

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]

* In ''Videogame/LeagueOfLegends'', Master Yi was a student of the ancient blademaster art of Wuju, an art that required serenity and focus. When invaders came to surrounding towns, he couldn't sit by and watch, so he went to battle. The invaders saw the power of Wuju and turned their attention to his clan's home, turning it into a DoomedHometown while he was away. The resultant anger allowed Yi to become peerless in battle.. untill he met a trickster Monkey adept at ConfusionFu, constantly taunting him through their battles. It was only through calming his rage that Yi was able to see through the monkey's illusions, allowing him to put his peerless swordsmanship to work against even slippery foes.

** Lie Ren, who is normally TheQuietOne, goes absolutely berseerk when fighting The Nuckelavee, [[spoiler: because it [[YouKilledMyFather killed his parents]] and [[DoomedHometown destroyed his home village]]]]. Not only does this fail to help him in any way, but he winds up hindering his own teammates in the process; it takes a GetAHoldOfYourselfMan from Nora to get him to calm down, at which point Team RNJR finished it off with very little effort.

[[/folder]]

* {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''Manga/{{Pluto}}''. Dr. Tenma says that positive emotions like kindness, understanding, and optimism aren't enough to create the perfect AI. They also need to feel emotions like anger, grief, and hatred to fully complete them. [[spoiler:Feeling Gesicht's lingering feelings of pain and hatred along with Epsilon's sorrow is what wakes Atom from his coma and lets him fly off to defeat Pluto once and for all.]]