History Main / MadGod

[[redirect:MadGoddess]]

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[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mad_discord_9810.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Who needs reason when you can have chocolate rain?[[note]][[Music/TayZonday Some stay dry and others feel the pain...]][[/note]]]]

->''"Praying to yourself, my Lord? That's not a good sign. Or perhaps it is. Prince of Madness, and all that."''
-->-- '''Haskill''', ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Shivering Isles]]''

This god isn't [[GodIsEvil Evil]] in [[GodOfEvil either sense]] (or at least if it is, that's not the point) or even a {{Jerkass God|s}}; it is simply insane. Its mad throes create and destroy in equal measure, leading to untold chaos. That there is a universe at all is usually due to it being SealedEvilInACan, dormant, or so random that it's been less destructive over the past few aeons.

It might pose as a sane and good god because it has momentarily grown BoredWithInsanity. Of course, that does not usually last, as sanity tends to bore it greatly as well. If he is [[GodIsGood good]] in [[GodOfGood some sense]] he'll be the KingOfAllCosmos and fond of working InMysteriousWays.

Expect them to act AboveGoodAndEvil, or follows BlueAndOrangeMorality that anyone can understand... [[GoMadFromTheRevelation if you just gaze into the abyss of madness long enough.]] If especially mad and powerful, it may also be an EldritchAbomination, and even if it isn't one, it is highly likely that it will ascend into one. Can overlap with AlmightyIdiot when the Mad God is so mad that it destroys their mind. It may not cause insanity or revulsion to observers, but that's usually iffy, and depends on if it has enough presence of mind to take on [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith A Form You Are (at least mildly) Comfortable With]].

Compare AGodAmI, a character so crazy that they only think they are gods. Contrast AGodIAmNot, where a god-like being refuses to be called a god to avoid something like this occurring.

Not to be confused with the movie ''WebVideo/MadGod'', although see below under Western Animation.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Asura from ''Manga/SoulEater'', [[EldritchAbomination a demon god who went mad with fear and infects the world with his insanity merely by existing]].
** However, it's revealed that Asura is part of the Great Old Ones, beings of such massive power and influence that their mere ''presence'' creates madness, all of which originating from an emotion/phenomenon that can define them. Asura himself is Madness From Terror, [[spoiler: Shinigami-sama and by extension Kid represents Madness From Order, Eibon represents Madness from Knowledge, The Black Mass represents Madness from Power and Excalibur represents Madness from Rage.]] Asura was merely the only one to go back because he was overwhelmed by his fear.
** Turns out that [[spoiler:Crona hirself toes the line when they absorb the Kishin. However, they are still pretty mortal and Crona uses hir power to seal the Kishin in the Moon along with themselves to end the madness. As for their Madness? [[ItMakesSenseInContext Madness from Breasts]]. Why? Breasts, to Crona, represent motherhood and symbolizes Chrona's former obsession in trying to please her mother, the BigBad Medusa and longing to have had a proper parent.]]
* Deus Ex Machina from ''Manga/FutureDiary'' deconstructs this, along with JerkassGods. He is dying and summons twelve contestants in a battle royal to attain his power by killing off the other eleven contestants in a game of death; on paper, this sounds pretty awful. In practice, however, each of the candidates has aspects that would make them more or less equally valid as options, and it's made explicit if he were to put off the issue any longer or choose nobody, ''everyone'' would experience CessationOfExistence as reality itself breaks down. Rather than being a mad or dickish god, he is a fairly benevolent one who cares about his charges deeply, and is simply backed against the wall with [[MortonsFork only bad choices available to him]].
** [[spoiler:Yuno Gasai won the first tournament and became God, and immediately decided to abandon her dead world and not bother recreating it. Instead, she decided to go back in time to a new timeline, kill herself in that universe, and try to win over her sweetheart with the long game on a second playthrough. Needless to say, it becomes apparent she is functionally only after Yukiteru's attention, the universe be damned. She could not care less about the world itself, even allowing the second iteration of the world to fall apart completely without ever telling the truth to anyone until Yuki figures it out on his own thanks to clues from his friends and Yuno's sloppy handiwork hiding what happened.]]
* [[spoiler: The newborn "Devil" Homura Akemi]] gets furious debates within the ''[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' fandom [[AmbiguouslyEvil whether she is evil or not]], but one thing no one can deny is that she is totally insane. She can't spend two minutes without breaking out a NightmareFace ''and'' a creepy speech pattern.
* Zamasu from ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', once a noble Kai, the Gods of creation, he [[FallenAngel became disillusioned with mortals]] and [[KnightTemplar viewed them as a mistake and needed to be exterminated at all costs]]. The more time passes the [[SanitySlippage more unhinged he becomes]], until he [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jumps off the slippery slope]] and reenacts his "Zero Mortals Plan", stealing the body of Goku to become Goku Black, before teaming up with his AlternateSelf from another timeline where the two of them kill off all life [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans so they can create a utopia]]. Even more exemplified with Fusion Zamasu, who is created from Goku Black and Future Zamasu fusing together, so unstable that's he is prone to fits of rage if anything does not go his way. His [[OneWingedAngel final form]], Infinite Zamasu, has him lose ''all'' his rationality where he is reduced to a multiversal-spanning EldritchAbomination [[AlmightyIdiot only capable of cackling madly and killing all life on raw instinct.]] The only way to stop him was to [[SummonBiggerFish summon Zeno]] who destroys Zamasu [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill along with the entire timeline]].
* ''Literature/TheHeroLaughsWhileWalkingThePathOfVengeanceASecondTime'' takes place in a grimdark fantasy world, specifically because its goddess has multiple-personality disorder. Her personalities range from AntiVillain (the facet that saves the VillainProtagonist party) to AxCrazy (the facet that Alesia worships).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]], in the ''ComicBook/EmperorJoker'' series, tricked [[GreatGazoo Mr. Mxyzptlk]] into giving up the lion's share of his power, and he used it to rewrite the entire universe in his image. In the end, only his obsession with Batman (and his inability to keep his imagination from conjuring his own worst fears) stopped him (with a helpful nudge from Superman).
* In ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'', the First of the Fallen claims to have found {{God}} "squatting in a corner of Eternity. Clutching his genitals... and drooling." Not that he is [[{{Satan}} the most trustworthy of fellows]]...
* The Christian {{God}} of ''ComicBook/TheChroniclesOfWormwood''. The only thing he does throughout his entire appearance is float in the air, grunting and constantly masturbating, and in "Chronicles of Wormwood -- The Last Battle", Jesus reveals that when he ascended to Heaven after his resurrection and went to see his father, he found him making little toy houses out of his own feces.
* In the ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'', any echidna who [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility absorbs too much Chaos energy]] is transformed into the [[PhysicalGod demigod]] Enerjak, and is driven mad in the process. Dimitri and Knuckles have both suffered this at different points, and an AlternateUniverse features a version of Enerjak-empowered Knuckles who's pretty much [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroyed the whole world]].
* The cover of ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'' [[http://www.comicvine.com/green-lantern-captives-of-the-mad-god/37-33391/ issue #6]] from the nineties series describes Appa Ali Apsa, the Old Timer, the last Guardian, this way. It is a reasonable description, given his power at that point.
** The Supreme Being of Space Sector 3600, the god TDHD, has gone utterly mad and was for some time walled off from reality by the [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Guardians of the Universe]].
* Delirium from ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'', what with her being the AnthropomorphicPersonification of madness. Though she is rather [[CuteMonsterGirl cute]] and generally harmless (unless you personally get on her bad side ''or'' good side, as her insanity makes it so that even when she is trying to do a favor for somebody, it may have horrible unintended consequences). And she is the baby of the family.
* ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'':
** [[Characters/MarvelComicsThanos Thanos]] is occasionally referred to as the Mad Titan.
** The Phoenix and its avatars, particularly [[Characters/MarvelComicsJeanGrey Jean Grey]] and ([[ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen more recently]]) [[spoiler:[[Characters/MarvelComicsCyclops Scott Summers]]]], have ended up this way, going Dark Phoenix.
** [[Characters/MarvelComicsLoki Loki]]'s mental state was always [[DependingOnTheWriter unpredictable]], but their third incarnation showed legitimate mental illness symptoms from hallucinations, to depression and suicidal thoughts (you [[ComicBook/YoungAvengers really]] do not want to be around a RealityWarper with those), which ''improved'', relatively speaking, in the case of the fourth to very strange thought processes coupled with real problems understanding people (like not getting why [[ComicBook/LokiAgentOfAsgard turning someone's soul into magical jewellery]] is bad).
* ''ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}'': One of Vampirella's most powerful foes is the "Mad God Chaos", who rules over TheLegionsOfHell. He is usually a stand-in for Satan, but he didn't get the nickname for no reason since he is literally insane. This has also affected the way Hell is being run for the worse.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'': The Greek gods have a WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity problem, which long ago caused them to split off the avatars of themselves that became the Roman pantheon. Most of them do not have to worry about this in the modern age due to their lack of worshipers, but Ares and Dionysus have pretty constant trouble:
** Ares can't figure out how to be decent even when he is honestly trying as in ''ComicBook/WonderWomanRebirth'' because of the nature of war. He and his mindset shift drastically over short periods because he is tied to war and conflict and not really in full control.
** Dionysus remains incredibly dangerous to be around even if he is fond of you because he is the god of madness and revelry and in addition to reducing your inhibitions by proximity might turn you into something, [[ComicBook/WonderWoman2011 like a pig]], on whim without understanding why that might be unwanted.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* Corona, The Tyrant Sun, in ''Fanfic/RainbowDoubleDashsLunaverse''. She is not evil in the same way Tirek or Grogar are, or even crazy in the same way Discord is, but Luna alone knows how many centuries of trying to protect her ponies from the horrors of the world drove her off her rocker, and she became a ruler so despotic that her own sister was forced to bind her into the sun.
* This is a common refrain in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfics regarding - and countering - ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureau''. In ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureauTheOtherSideOfTheSpectrum'', Celestia [[spoiler: was driven to this point by Tirek's bag]]. In another, ''Fanfic/CulturalArtifacts'', the Solar Princess genuinely believed her own tyranny was beneficial. In very few of the counterpoints to the original Bureau fics is she depicted as anything but mad.
* In further My Little Pony fics, ''Fanfic/TheAudience'' has a whole cavalcade of mad gods. Specifically, the Draconequui, whose [[BlueAndOrangeMorality rationales and mechanisms vary greatly]]... but whose goals are always towards the furthering of chaos on their own terms.
* In the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'':
** Discord, naturally, who is treated as legitimately insane as opposed to his family who merely have BlueAndOrangeMorality and are GoodIsNotSoft. [[spoiler:During the FinalBattle, Scootaloo uses the cape she got from Entropy (Discord's mother and the Elder God of Oblivion, Nothing, and The End) during Rumors to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu literally punch Discord's detachment Goatcord into Oblivion]]. As Goatcord [[LiteralSplitPersonality represented Discord's insanity]], this has the side effect of erasing it and driving Discord ''sane''.]]
** Discord's brother Destruction had this issue to an extent: if he didn't destroy something every so often, he'd go into a feral 'Omega State' and destroy anything in sight until he burned it out and had no control over himself at the time.
** Discord's father Havoc created an Avatar to fight in the Alicorn/Draconequi War. Unfortunately for everyone on ''both'' sides, the Avatar went insane and [[RogueDrone Havoc lost control of it]], at which point it began doing things Havoc himself would never have condoned or done [[spoiler:like feeding Destruction to Discord then itself.]]
* The Laughing Mare from ''Fanfic/EquestriaDivided'' is [[AnimalisticAbomination is something like a god]] and is [[MonsterClown very much mad.]]
* [[FaceHeelTurn Dark]] [[Franchise/MortalKombat Raiden]] in ''Fanfic/MortalKombatDesperation'' is this to a T, thanks to [[VideoGame/MortalKombatX Shinnok's corruption]]. His KnightTemplar attitude from his appearances in [[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception the original]] [[VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon timeline]] gets cranked up here, and he straight up [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jumped off into the abyss of the]] MoralEventHorizon.
* ''Fanfic/TheMLPLoops'':
** In an early loop, Pinkie finds herself in the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' universe. She [[HijackedDestiny usurps Slaanesh]] (by [[TooSpicyForYogSothoth breaking its mind]], [[{{Objectshifting}} convincing it that it would be a good idea to transform into a cupcake]], [[GodEating and then eating the cupcake]]) and throws a massive party for the entire Eldar Empire. She then ascends as the Chaos Goddess of Parties and spends the rest of her time in that loop screwing with ''everyone'' else.
--->The Emperor looked to the heavens. By blood and fire and steel he had unified humanity, and then the three Chaos Gods had cast his sons into the depths of space. But there were ripples in the Warp. The long storm was about to clear, and--\\
And then everything went ''pink''.
** Discord, funnily enough, gets downplayed from canon. Once he starts looping, he discovers that the loops are so freaking crazy (and the loopers so incredibly powerful) that there's surprisingly little he can do to mess with everyone. He still ''does'', of course, but he ends up more as TheGadfly rather than a dangerous semi-divine entity. The fact that Pinkie is actually more powerful than him when she puts her mind to it is probably part of it.
** Discord says that ''all'' loopers are ultimately like this, which is another reason he does not fight them: He finally has friends as crazy as he is.
--->'''Discord:''' Did you know that Celestia once banished the entirety of Equestria to the Moon so that she could take time off to do some surfing? Or that Luna has occasionally turned the Moon into a spaceship and taken it on joyrides? And that's positively tame next to what Tia's student gets up to, to say nothing of the sheer variety of tree sap related mayhem I've been privy to.
* ''Fanfic/CodexEquus'': There are many deities throughout history who have fallen into insanity, with their behaviors varying as a result of this.
** After being thrown into the '[[EldritchLocation Well of Eternity]]' by the [[SorcerousOverlord Knowledgeable Sorcerer]], Prince Varázsló is now somewhat insane. His vast knowledge makes him perceive things differently than even fellow divines, which makes him easily distracted and prone to going on odd, philosophical tangents at random. His psychic visions make it hard for him to separate them from reality, and it's very common for people to hear him muttering or screaming prophecies frequently. Being forced to bear a large portion of knowledge and magic of the universe also made him incredibly serious and [[TheStoic stoic]]. What keeps Varázsló from becoming completely mad is his strong will, which is likely how he survived being in the Well of Eternity for an unknown time. Fortunately, both Kúzelník and Golden Scepter have been helping him control his powers, and Mentálne is helping him overcome (or at least control) his worst flaws and impulses.
** The Codexverse version of [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDWIssue75To78 Cosmos]], [[{{Characters/CodexEquusUnaffiliatedDeities}} the Serpent of Obsession]] was once the LoveGoddess of a destroyed pantheon who attempted to defeat the then-evil Discord by redeeming him through the PowerOfLove. Discord, who saw through the plot, turned it against her and corrupted her instead, [[MadLove driving her mad and turning her into a Draconequus hopelessly and obsessively in love with him]], to the point of [[FaceHeelTurn willingly destroying her own pantheon and joining Discord's side]]. When she made her return in the present day after escaping her sealing, she did not take [[HeelFaceTurn Discord's genuine reformation]] and [[{{Yandere}} relationship with Fluttershy, the Kind Redeemer well]], and tried to make him love her again and 'finish what they started', resulting in the 'Cosmos Incident'. While unlike the comics she was not evil enough to warrant redemption and was given the chance, [[ReformedButNotTamed she is still quite mad]].
** Caelum Filum, the corrupted form of Moon Ray Vaughoof/Canticum Lunae Cahaya, is a divine EldritchAbomination who became completely stoned out of his mind after taking a very powerful divine drug. He is blissfully unaware to the damage and chaos his actions were causing, but once he is cured and restored back to normal, he gains awareness of what he did and strives to make amends for it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* The protagonist of ''Film/TheGodsMustBeCrazy'' assumes that this is why a Coke bottle falls out of the sky into his primitive village, bringing strife to the community. To them, it's a cruel trial that can only have been masterminded by a malevolent and crazy, or at the very least careless, god.
* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': If the {{Kaiju}} are {{Physical God}}s, as the Franchise/MonsterVerse tries to make them out to be, then Ghidorah is arguably this trope: a PsychoElectro and one of the very few Kaiju who is individually equal in power level to Godzilla himself, Ghidorah stands out from the other, more neutral or heroic monsters for his thoroughly AxCrazy behavior, his unnaturally overt [[KillAllHumans hatred of humanity]], and his plans for the Earth threatening to cause global extinction. In the film's {{novelization}}, one of the human cast thinks the following about Ghidorah:
-->"''Maybe he was a god -- but there was nothing that said a god had to be sane.''"
* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:''
** In ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', Loki is a mad PhysicalGod who is ''sincerely convinced'' that him falling through a wormhole in space in ''Film/{{Thor}}'' was his father and brother disposing of him rather than the [[DrivenToSuicide suicide attempt]] it really was, and that enslaving humans to become their [[GodEmperor God-King]] is a grand idea.
** Thanos's title of "The Mad Titan" in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and [[Film/AvengersEndgame its sequel]] is well earned. [[KnightTemplar He sincerely believes]] that he has to wipe out half of the population in the universe in order to prevent even more people from dying due to a lack of resources and overpopulation, even though [[InsaneTrollLogic that makes no sense]]. The "children" who stay faithful to him either have the blind loyalty of people indoctrinated in a cult are insane, or both, and Thanos comes off as the leader of a bunch of delusional extremists. Even though he is committing mass genocide, he thinks of himself as a hero, and [[ObliviouslyEvil does not even realize that he is evil]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Most of the deities featured in ''Literature/AmericanGods'' are quite stable... except for [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Horus]], who is crazy. Fortunately, he is [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly not really in a position to do anything damaging]].
* The Weaver in the ''Literature/BasLagCycle'' is referred to as one by the narration. While it isn't explicitly a god, it has near god-like power [[RealityWarper by being able to manipulate the rules of physics (time, space, matter and casuality) with a thought]] and lives on several planes of existence at the same time. [[StarfishAliens Its mind is also completely alien to every other sentient species known in the setting]], meaning that even if it isn't 'insane' by its own standards it is definitively by everyone else's.
* In ''Literature/TheBelgariad'', we get two Mad Gods: Torak is essentially this plus GodOfEvil and Mara went crazy after his people were wiped out in a war, casting illusions on the entire country that drive most people who do not have magic powers or divine protection insane if they dare to make even one step into his country. Then there's Issa, who fell in love with a mortal but neglected to give her immortality (which he presumably could have done, since his brother Aldur routinely does so for his disciples); his priests have for centuries been finding someone who looks sort of like his now-long-dead lover, renaming her, and installing her as queen... apparently without Issa ever noticing. Really, mad (or at least really, really dumb) is pretty much the "hat" for gods in this series, with the (possible) exceptions of [-UL-], who is just sort of crotchety, and Aldur, who is mostly aloof.
* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'' has She Who Must Not Be Named. Introduced in the last sub-series, she [[spoiler:was once the Lover, a being on par with the Creator and Lord Foul; Foul seduced her and then broke her heart in order to taint the concept of love forever, and then they were both imprisoned in the same world by the Creator (him deliberately, her by accident). Foul coped well enough, his nature as the Despiser lending itself well to the situation, but the Lover could not handle it and went a ''little'' nuts]]. She became one of the most terrifying entities in the Land, though normally quiescent, [[spoiler:and in the end, Linden helps her put her mind back together, at which point she helps lay a righteous divine smackdown on her betrayer, Lord Foul]].
* [[EldritchAbomination Azathoth]], the Blind Idiot God gibbering at the chaotic center of Creation (''his'' creation) in the ''Franchise/CthulhuMythos''. Note, however: his being a 'god' is debatable, as it is with practically all of Creator/HPLovecraft's more tremendously powerful entities.
* In ''Literature/TheDarkProfitSaga'', the goddess Al'Matra went insane after her husband turned evil and her son had to kill him, this madness usually manifests through her priests' automatic writing, which is usually inane rambling but sometimes contains hints of prophecy. Niln is in the running for head priest because most of his writing turns out to be an accurate chronicle of the party's adventures, sometimes as the events he writes are happening past his line of sight.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** Nuggan, despite being [[GodIsDead dead]], manages to effectively behave in this way in ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'', forbidding crop rotation, accordion players, the color blue and other absurd things.[[note]]He died due to people only really believing in the list of things he'd forbidden, so since GodsNeedPrayerBadly, all that was left of him was a voice forbidding random things.[[/note]]
** Judging by Nuggan's brief cameo appearance in ''Literature/TheLastHero'', this is as much a rather extreme case of in-universe {{Flanderization}} as anything else, because he had an extensive history of banning his worshippers from just about anything enjoyable for petty reasons.
* In the backstory of ''Literature/TheDivineCities'', Kolkan, one of the Divinities reigning over the Continent, went insane by giving his followers endless rules to live by. He started out fairly sane, but kept on making thousands upon thousands of rules about incredibly minor things -- like what shoes and fabrics his followers were allowed to wear -- and mandating increasingly harsh punishments for the mildest violations, until his fellow Divinities [[UnPerson disappeared him]].
* The [[FaerieCourt Faerie queens]] of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' [[TheFairFolk do not have a great track record for sanity]]. However, [[WordOfGod Word of Jim]] points out that since madness is defined as being out of touch with reality, you can't really call someone who can warp reality to their will mad.
* In ''Literature/EverybodyLovesLargeChests'', the God of Chaos, whose name changes every time it is mentioned, has more than a few screws loose in his pineapple.
* In ''Godshome'' by Creator/RobertSheckley, the only god Arthur Fenn can find who is willing to listen to him and offer help is, worrisomely, living in the section of Godshome marked with a sign saying "WARNING! PROCEED NO FURTHER! WARD O FOR BIPOLAR CONDITIONS. OCCUPANTS MAY BE VIOLENT."
* AM from ''Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream'' is a [[MechanicalAbomination god-like A.I.]] who is utterly, completely, genocidally insane.
* Geoph Essex's ''Jackrabbit Messiah'' jumps aboard this trope immediately -- on the back cover blurb -- and rides it all the way to the end of the line. As both the blurb ''and'' a character in the story suggest: if a guy claims to be a god, and you think he is crazy, there's always the possibility that you're ''[[BothSidesHaveAPoint both]]'' right.
* The unnamed creator of humankind in the ''Literature/KaneSeries''. He created humans from apes in order to play with them, but since he was mad, his creation inherited his madness. Then Kane rebelled against God, [[CainAndAbel killed his brother]], and [[KillTheGod set out to kill his creator]].
* In ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'', there are cults on the island of Cabal which worship Icarium Lifestealer, a SemiDivine being with memory loss and [[TheBerserker rage management issues]] as the One God, the Stealer of Life, essentially claiming he is a mad puppet with unimaginable power, turning any power of creation he may possess into random destruction. One sect calls itself that of the Mockers, asserting that a god who never left his worshippers any doctrine to live by but allows them to make and interpret their own, cannot be anything but insane.
* Crake from ''Literature/OryxAndCrake'' is functionally this. He essentially both creates a new species, and engineers the destruction of civilization. However, he is in his twisted way actually benevolent. He did this because he had become convinced that humanity and human civilization was inherently evil.
* Creator/HarlanEllison's short story "The Region Between" proposes that all life in the universe is formed from [[PiecesOfGod fragments of a god like this]], which destroyed itself in its own madness. [[spoiler:In the end, it's reconstituted just long enough to [[SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum kill itself for real by ending the universe]].]]
* Nalar, the BigBad [[spoiler:(or not)]] of ''Literature/TheRiftwarCycle'', is sometimes called the Mad God, though it's implied that even if he was sane, he'd still be a GodOfEvil.
* ''Literature/RollOverAndDie'': Origin is the main god worshipped by the people of the setting and, unfortunately, is not very sane and serves as the most malevolent force in the story. Those who hear its voice either hears its MadnessMantra of "Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!" or its multiple voices arguing with itself. Those empowered by Origin tend to also go insane and be subjected to BodyHorror.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E7TheCelestialToymaker The Celestial Toymaker]] is an enormously powerful being who devotes his time to playing games, either turning people into toys or (if they win) [[PyrrhicVictory destroying his realm]], which he can survive.
** The 10th Doctor claims to have met mad gods. This could refer to a variety of characters.
* Invoked in ''Series/Elseworlds2018''. The Monitor gives Deegan [[RealityWritingBook the Book of Destiny]], knowing that he is basically the worst person to have godlike powers, hoping that the insane world that he creates will be a suitable test for the heroes. This backfires when Deegan proves to be a rather incompetent god; his first attempt just switches the lives of Green Arrow and the Flash. They certainly find it annoying, but it's hardly a worthy test. The heroes defeat Deegan, only for the Monitor to arrive, teleport the book back into Deegan's hands, and tell him to do better this time.
* In the MirrorUniverse of ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'', Zeus went mad from the strain of building "The Labyrinth of Eternal Memory" for his newborn son Hercules. With the king of the gods insane and the rest of the pantheon thrown into chaos, the stage is set for [[EvilCounterpart this version of Hercules]] (known as [[EvilOverlord "the Sovereign"]]) to TakeOverTheWorld and hatch a scheme to become the new ruler of Olympus.
* ''Series/TheMagicians2016'' has an example with the Fillorian deity [[spoiler:Ember]], who is the god of Chaos and a counterpart to [[spoiler:Umber, his brother, and the god of Order]]. In the series, although initially he presents as a benign--albeit eccentric--and generally helpful being,[[spoiler: his true nature is revealed after the Beast is finally removed from Fillory and he can be allowed to flourish. He unleashes chaos of varying kinds on Fillory, including turning many of its denizens into rats spontaneously and even changing fundamental aspects of Fillory's nature, all for fun. He is eventually killed by the protagonists.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Played with in the song "The Gods Aren't Crazy" by Leslie Fish. She describes several Fortean events and says they happen because the Gods are drunk. [[OhNoNotAgain Again]].
* The omnipotent Writer from the ''Good Apollo I'm Burning Star, IV Volume One: From Fear Through The Eyes of Madness'' arc of [[Music/CoheedAndCambria the Amory Wars]]. He doesn't just have conversations with his bicycle; he actually ''follows its editorial advice''.
* In one of the songs that are a part of the [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKOY6La9LWix2oIPzL_z_mAHTcx_oHLC2 Happiness Series]] of Music/{{Vocaloid}} songs, Music/HatsuneMiku is a goddess, and while she seems nice at the beginning of the song, it quickly turns into her being an egotistical and sadistic goddess who enjoys humanity's suffering, wants the praise of humanity, and eventually wants to kill all humans.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', Shakkan isn't exactly a sane god and only cares about his children, the lizard folk. He might just as easily oppose as help the heroes depending on his mood. Dionysus is even madder than Shakkan as he has always been like that whereas Shakkan was driven nuts by his lengthy imprisonment.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'': Cyric while under the effects of his own Greater Artifact was very much insane to the point of near-complete incompetence. Basically, he made an artifact tome that would convince the reader that Cyric is the only true god worthy of worship, and all others are pretenders; after reading this book, Cyric became absolutely convinced of this truth, despite recently getting his ass kicked up between his ears and having a good number of his divine portfolios stolen. Between the Prince of Lies, and before the ending of The Crucible: Trial of Cyric the Mad, he was very much completely out of control insane which lasted for around a decade or so.
* The Chaos gods of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. [[TheHeartless Composed of every mortal thought and emotion]], magnified and taken to the extreme by their concentration in the warp, they are the essentially personifications of Rage ([[BloodKnight Khorne]]), Despair, ([[{{Plaguemaster}} Nurgle]]), Desire ([[SenseFreak Slaanesh]]), and Scheming ([[ManipulativeBastard Tzeentch]]). Spreading their emotions and philosophies in the real world through mortal and [[TheLegionsOfHell daemonic]] followers, they are well aware that true victory for any of them (or all of them) would [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly destroy what keeps them existing]], yet they pursue it anyway.
** Tzeentch is mad even by Chaos standards. TheChessmaster par excellence, it constantly weaves [[GambitRoulette extremely complex schemes]] that more often than not [[GambitPileup contradict each other]], that ultimately have no point at all, and in succeeding with one it foils countless others (and so on ad infinitum). Indeed, to Tzeentch scheming is a purpose in itself, as if any of its big plans were to ever succeed it would [[PuffOfLogic cease to exist]].
** The [[PhysicalGod C'tan]] Outsider in ''[=40K=]'', one of the Necron star gods who was tricked by the Laughing God of the Eldar into consuming others of its own kind, which eventually drove it insane. Put this way, the Tyranids are all-consuming horrors from another universe, the Zerg combined with all your worst nightmares, and they give the Outsider's DysonSphere prison [[TheDreaded at least one hundred light years of breathing room]].
** The Eldar have their own Mad God in Cegorach, the Laughing God. [[EvilHasABadSenseOfHumour He probably would not think twice about destroying your planet as some part of a joke on his part]].
** Even crazier than Tzeentch is Malal the god of [[LogicBomb paradoxes,]] that wishes to destroy Chaos. Being a Chaos god, if Malal is ever successful then it would [[TooDumbToLive die as well]], not that the crazy thing cares.
** The Chaos gods are actually more subtle than you'd think; they are deities of good aspects horribly twisted and warped beyond recognition by fear and terror. Khorne is the god of Valor and Bravery, Nurgle is the god of Love and Mercy, Slaneesh is the god of Passion and Beauty, Malal is the god of Balance and Justice, and Tzeentch, the most frightening of all the perversions, is the God of ''Hope''.
* The Primordials of ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', the creators of the universe, are quite insane by human standards, even the relatively nice ones like Gaia and Autochthon. The developers have even used human mental disorders as metaphors for how each Primordial views the world--Oramus is schizophrenic, Malfeas is solipsistic, Autochthon is autistic, She Who Lives In Her Name is obsessive-compulsive, and so on.
* All of the Madlander deities in ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}} Fantasy II: Adventures in the Mad Lands''. Togeth, god of the Togethians, may be one too - the magic he grants to worshipers is extremely random, though at least it's always beneficial, unlike what the Madlander gods tend to do.
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 4e core setting labels pretty much all the ChaoticEvil gods as this, mainly Tharizdun, Lolth, and to a lesser degree, Gruumsh. This has to do with their redefinition of the ChaoticEvil CharacterAlignment as being about "believing only one's self matters in all reality" and "being willing and able to destroy anything and anyone that does not directly contribute to their interests".
** Not merely being one of his [[IHaveManyNames numerous appellations]], Tharizdun has more than proven his insanity by babbling incoherently before seamlessly moving into long-winded tirades, frequently and unpredictably changing his mood and behavior (but almost universally destructive), and being the only deity whose followers are encouraged to destroy him along with all other life.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', Nethys the God of Magic is TrueNeutral because his magical power has driven him [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity completely insane]], leaving him torn between competing urges to save the world and to destroy it, which results in extremely erratic, unpredictable behavior.
* Ragnaglar from ''TabletopGame/{{Runequest}}'' is the Mad God.
* The [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Mad Gods]] from ''TabletopGame/{{Witchcraft}}'', natch- every single one is [[EldritchAbomination a monster from beyond our reality]], whose understanding of it is terribly limited; so when they manage to intrude here (and before, even), they begin to [[RealityWarper reshape it to a form they prefer]]. Which needless to say is very bad news for the natives (even including the angels and demons).
* The Mad God from the Literature/FightingFantasy gamebook "Portal of Evil." Provides the hero with a helmet that has mirrors attached to it. The helmet turns out to be useful later on when revealing to TheDragon what a monster he has become.
* The Wyrm in ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'' was originally the force of destruction which allowed for renewal and balance in the cosmos. Unfortunately, he has gone a little nuts and now seeks to destroy or corrupt the entire world.
** Most people overlook the fact that the other two members of the Triat are just as insane, the Wyld being an essence of creative chaos and the Weaver a manifestation of absolute order. The Wyld was always, by mortal definitions, "insane," whereas the Weaver tried to figure out why the nice things she made were broken down by the Wyrm to fuel the Wyld. Her first step was to try to define the Wyld by binding it in her webs. [[GoMadFromTheRevelation This ended... poorly]]. She then moved on to the Wyrm, which is why ''it'' ended up going insane.
* The Wildlords of ''TabletopGame/{{Nobilis}}'' have set their feet on a path leading to a kind of solipsistic insanity.
* In ''TabletopGame/TheDarkEye'', the Brobim dwarven tribe believe, that their god Ingra has gone mad, spreading sparks by frantically striking his anvil, that light the volcanoes of their icelands, one day to set the whole world on fire. Their king is just as insane (taking "advice" from a mushroom), which they take as a good omen for his reign.
* This is a possibility for the God-Machine in ''TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent''. Although the game is intentionally ambiguous as to [[InMysteriousWays the true desires of the God-Machine beyond its own continued propagation]], more than a few demons have noticed that they Fell because it either set them towards an impossible goal or set two angels towards competing goals (e.g., set one angel towards protecting a mortal and another towards killing them). The Integrators are demons who often believe that the God-Machine is broken or damaged, and that it needs to be fixed in order to become a better god.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* [[{{God}} YHVH]] in the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series, according to WordOfGod. True, he does commit acts of hideous evil, but the cause is because the universe itself is fundamentally broken in some way, and [[GodIsEvil the Abrahamic God being an insane puppy kicking asshole]] is merely one of the most blatant symptoms of how much the universe itself is screwed up. Likewise, the Demiurge, whenever it pops up, is portrayed as a PsychopathicManchild with ''far'' too much power at its hands, and is obsessed with sealing all mortal souls in the physical universe so it may rule over them forever.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** Throughout the series, the principal example of this trope is Sheogorath, the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] of Madness. His condensed title, of which he is explicitly called by some of his followers, is simply "the Mad God." Madness falls within his sphere of influence and the insane are his subjects. In one moment, he can be a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} with some GreatGazoo traits who will make it rain cheese or literal cats and dogs because [[ItAmusedMe It Amused Him]], then the next, he'll show why you need to BewareTheSillyOnes with a sudden AxeCrazy [[KickTheDog Dog-Kicking]] or some [[ColonyDrop Celestial Body Hurling]].
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', the Tribunal and [[BigBad Dagoth Ur]], each of whom [[DeityOfHumanOrigin ascended to godhood]] after tapping into the power of the [[CosmicKeystone Heart Of Lorkhan]], the [[GodIsDead "dead" creator god]] of Mundus, the mortal plane. Dagoth Ur was much less restrained in his consumption of power from the Heart and experienced much faster SanitySlippage as a result. (Vivec, one of the [[PhysicalGod Tribunal deities]], explicitly calls him a "mad god" at one point.) However, the Tribunal did not escape with their sanity completely in-tact either. Upon completing the main quest and the ''Tribunal'' expansion, the Daedric Prince Azura states that madness would have befallen each member of the Tribunal eventually, as mortal minds simply aren't equipped to handle the rigors of godhood. In-game, [[spoiler:only Almalexia actually shows signs of this, and it seems to be the ''loss'' of her divine power which [[GoMadFromTheRevelation drove her to madness]]]]. Sotha Sil was always reclusive and Vivec, despite his [[BlatantLies lying]], {{Narcissist}}ic ways, does not actually seem to qualify as "mad".
** On another level, per some interpretations of the ''36 Lessons of Vivec'' regarding Dagoth Ur, the implication is that Dagoth Ur somehow achieved an unspeakably dangerous middle ground between [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence CHIM]], [[TheOmnipotent Amaranth]] and [[CessationOfExistence Zero-Sum]] where he exists in a godlike state because of his awareness of Anu's dream, but he lacks the ability to maintain his individuality and exist within it like someone who has achieved CHIM, and he hasn't simply faded into the Dream like someone who Zero-Summed. This leads to a situation where Dagoth Ur's consciousness ''[[LeakingCanOfEvil is being imprinted on the Dream of Anu, until eventually all of reality becomes just an extension of his twisted and broken mind.]]'' With that in mind you really appreciate just how important the Nerevarine's actions were, and the terrible fate they spared every man, woman and child on Nirn from.
--->''I PUT A STAR\\
INTO THE WORLD'S MOUTH\\
TO MURDER IT\\
TEAR DOWN THE PYLONS\\
...\\
AND ORBIT ME''
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'':
*** The ''Shivering Isles'' expansion reveals that the Daedric Prince of Order, Jyggalag is a Mad God. The other Daedric Princes cursed him because they feared his growing power, and he now suffers from a split personality. The other personality? ''Sheogorath''. In his own words, he is a "broken ruler, of a broken realm". The Greymarch, a regular event wherein the Shivering Isles are completely ''annihilated'' by Jyggalag and his minions, is merely the repetition of his attempts to restore his Realm whenever he briefly regains his right mind. "Killing" him at the end of the ''Shivering Isles'' questline cures him of his madness, leaving him free to wander Oblivion to rebuild his power base while he passes on the mantle of the Prince of Madness to the player character.
*** If Sheogorath's Daedric artifact quest in the main game is not completed before defeating Jyggalag in the expansion, you can still do it by talking with OnlySaneMan[=/=]ServileSnarker Haskill. Haskill will congratulate the Champion on how well they are taking to their new role as Daedric Prince of Madness by setting a quest for themselves to complete and then rewarding themselves with an artifact that is already theirs, beginning to embody this trope themselves at least from his point of view.
*** It is suggested that Jyggalag himself was also a Mad God before he was cursed into becoming Sheogorath. It is simply that Jyggalag's madness is [[ObsessivelyOrganized an extreme obsession with ordering everything perfectly]], whereas Sheogorath's madness is unfettered chaos and complete disorder. Sotha Sil's priests posit that the Daedric Princes are "errors" in the structure of the universe, and that the cause of Jyggalag's insanity is the Prince of order and structure [[GoMadFromTheRevelation realizing that he is an error in reality.]]
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', 200 years after the last Greymarch and the revival of Jyggalag, the incarnation of Sheogorath met by the Dragonborn [[MentalWorld inside the dreaming mind of a long-dead monarch]] heavily implies through dialogue that he is/was the [[PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo Champion of Cyrodiil]] that became the new Mad God in ''Oblivion''.
* ''VideoGame/DungeonCrawl'': "Xom thinks this is hilarious!" Xom randomly acts upon the player. By doing things he finds amusing, you can improve the chances of him giving you something good. On the other hand, if you bore him, he'll hand out random punishments at a quickening pace...
** Unfortunately, most of the things he finds amusing are things that are bad for you. So you have the choice of either deliberately doing stupid things in order to be rewarded by Xom, or playing carefully and intelligently and making him ''bored''. Needless to say, Xom worshipers do not tend to live very long.
* ''VideoGame/NamuAmidaButsuUtena'': [[HealerGod Yakushi Nyorai]] is a decent guy, but is curiously mentally unstable, and can [[MoodSwinger mood-swing]] into a violent, LaughingMad nutjob seemingly at random.
* In ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers'', the god of time Dialga, while normally benevolent enough, has gone insane after the theft of the [[CosmicKeystone Time Gears]], becoming ''Primal'' Dialga, an unhinged beast dedicated solely to its own self-preservation that deploys agents to preserve the hellish BadFuture he resides in, as [[RetGone fixing the timestream would undo his existence]].
* Jubileus the Creator of ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' goes insane [[spoiler:once the Left Eye is lost, throwing the [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil Balance Between Light and Darkness]] out of alignment.]] Whether Jubileus was good or evil to begin with isn't clear, since in this CrapsackWorld DarkIsEvil, LightIsNotGood, ''both'' Angels and Demons qualify as [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]] and humans are, for the most part [[HumansAreBastards worldly]] or [[TooDumbToLive gullible]] [[UngratefulTownsfolk idiots]].
* In ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'', the player is trying to prevent the world's destruction at the hands of Giygas, a powerful psychic entity from the future. Their efforts apparently spook him so badly that he overdoses on evil energy before the final confrontation, turning him into a god ([[EldritchAbomination of sorts]]) and destroying his mind. He rambles insanely during the last fight and seems barely even conscious enough to know who he is fighting.
* Vertigo from ''VideoGame/PrimalRage'' is the Goddess of Insanity and a sorceress from another dimension who wants to torture and enslave all of humanity [[ForTheEvulz for her own amusement.]]
* In ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' [[EvilIsVisceral Chattur'gha]] and [[LightIsNotGood Ulyaoth]] are not particularly right in the head, at least [[BlueAndOrangeMorality not to human senses]], but Xel'lo'tath is the only one whose very ''presence'' (and those of her troops) drives people mad; she hears voices in her head, and ''you'' hear voices in her head too.
** It's worth noting that her minions have lost their heads. [[OffWithHisHead No, really]]. And the creature herself? Vaguely humanoid and feminine with four arms, [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent a long fishlike tail]], an eye in the middle of her torso... and no head.
* Kefka Palazzo becomes this in the second act of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''.
* Tarjan from ''VideoGame/TheBardsTaleTrilogy''. He is even ''called'' the Mad God.
* Malygos, the Aspect of Magic from the ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' games used to be a fun-loving [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon]] who ruled over magic. But after his entire people, including his mate and children, were slaughtered by his best friend with a weapon he helped create, he completely lost his mind. He hid for millennia in a cave and was prone to killing anybody who approached him. It's only after being given a new flight that he starts to become sane again... at which point he decides to declare war on every magic user in the world (that is every single faction of the game, including the other dragons which helped him and the mortals who did his job for 10,000 years).
** Neltharion aka Deathwing is this ''and'' a GodOfEvil. That's what happens when a godlike dragon is [[MindRape Mind Raped]] by a cabal of [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]]. Deathwing's own power is tearing his body apart (to the point that he has to have metal plates riveted to his body just to keep it together) leaving him in constant agony and driving him further into madness. In the finale of ''Cataclysm'' [[spoiler:being blasted by the Dragon Soul makes him lose what little control he had over his own power. His body falls apart and the last vestiges of his sanity go along for the ride.]]
** Sargeras was once the champion of the Titans, fighting demons across the cosmos, [[HopelessWar though he was convinced that they could not be truly vanquished]]. He would eventually come across a planet with a world soul, a Titan embryo, covered in void and shadow due to an old god burrowing itself into the surface and corrupting the soul. From the local Dreadlords he learned of the plans of the void, to corrupt one of his kin to destroy existence, and decided the best course of action was to give the universe a cosmic reset; wipe out all of creation and restart it himself before the void can corrupt one of his infant masters into wiping it out forever.
* The BigBad of the flash game ''VideoGame/RealmOfTheMadGod'', the titular Oryx the Mad God. The title was given to him by the world's inhabitants as an act of spite after he doomed the Realms and sacrificed their freedom just to sate his ego and desire to dominate all. However, he leans a bit more towards GodIsEvil than the traditional insane depiction of the trope, although he is not particularly ''sane'' either.
* At least two gods in the ''VideoGame/{{Disciples}}'' series get treated to this. First we have Soloniele, the goddess of the seas and merfolk, as well as co-deity of the [[OurElvesAreDifferent elves]] with her lover Gallean. When [[TheDevil Bethrezen]] sends his Legions of Doom to the surface of Nevendaar, they happen to come out in the elven forests, sending the elves on a massed exodus to the lands of the [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Mountain Clans]]. The dwarves, seeing a huge mass of elves encroaching on their lands, assume it's an invasion and strike at them. Angry, Soloniele and Gallean go to Wotan, the god of the dwarves, and demand he punish his people for this unprovoked attack. Enraged by their audacity, Wotan rips out Gallean's heart and throws it at the sun. Soloniele manages to catch her lover's heart in time but has her flesh burned off by the heat. Going mad, she renames herself into Mortis, slaughters an entire people and raises them as her Undead Hordes. After she revives Gallean, he is disgusted with what she has become and leaves. Mortis proceeds to turn on the elves, kills Gallean's son and turns him into an undead elf to mock Gallean. Gallean also goes mad and gets the elves to strike at humans, with whom they have been at peace for centuries, and personally (through his oracle) kills the dwarven queen. Needless to say, Nevendaar a CrapsackWorld. On that same note, Bethrezen himself could be considered fitting this trope, although bordering on GodOfEvil. Originally, he was the most favorite angel of Highfather, to the point where Highfather granted him the power to create. Bethrezen created Nevendaar and humans as a tribute to Highfather, with other gods creating other races and landscapes. Unfortunately, the other angels grew jealous and tricked humans into starting a war while Bethrezen was out. When Highfather saw Nevendaar, it was engulfed in war. As punishment, he imprisoned Bethrezen in the molten core of his own creation. It's obvious that anyone would go insane at this point, especially someone who didn't think he deserved punishment.
* ''Franchise/FireEmblem:''
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' the GreaterScopeVillain, Anankos is revealed to be this. [[spoiler:His inability to fully become [[OurGhostsAreDifferent a spirit]], [[DrivenToMadness along with the burgeoning strain of his draconic nature, are what started to drive him mad]]. A bunch of misunderstandings and almost everyone turning against him in Valla only drove him further into the mad god seen in the story.]] Additionally, [[spoiler:[[GoMadFromTheIsolation It's implied that isolating himself from others]] after burning the forest by accident and being attacked by fearful humans didn't help his mental health one bit, to the point that even though he longed for companionship, his mind was being twisted in his loneliness to desire the [[KillAllHumans death of all humans]]. This plays a part in why he killed the King of Valla despite knowing he truly meant to help him.]]
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'''s remake, ''Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'', Duma and Mila are Divine Dragons who are both suffering from the effects of degeneration and have gone mad, and the countries that have become their domain have suffered for it. Duma, the god of strength, desired that his people be strong and enduring, but his madness ensured that they became cruel and militaristic; Mila, the goddess of love, desired that her people be well cared-for and bountiful, but her degeneration ensured that they became slothful and over-indulgent.
* In ''Videogame/SaltAndSanctuary'', the BigBad is [[spoiler:the Nameless God, a DeityOfHumanOrigin. Unfortunately, he was driven to seek godhood out of pride, greed, and envy of true gods. Though he gained the power he sought, he was unable to obtain the ''soul'' of a god, which is what he really wanted. His pride, greed, and envy intensified as a result and he went mad. Now he spends his days capturing gods, stealing their worship, and desperately attempting to create a candlelit soul from one of his many horrifying experiments.]]
* ''VideoGame/CultistSimulator'' has [[MothMenace The Moth]], who was the first [[AbstractApotheosis God-from-Blood]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': The Will of Magic might count, if - indeed - the [[BlueAndOrangeMorality slightly insane]] intelligence fueling the ''force of magic itself'' counts as a divine entity.
* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'': Demiurges are [[GodOfHumanOrigin Gods of Inheritor Origins]]; Humans or Servants who possess a fragment of [[CosmicKeystone one of God's 777,777 names and voices]]. The first Demiurge, Zoss, was ThePhilosopherKing, but as the Demiurges began to increase in number and Heaven got too crowded the Demiurges took to war to increase their power and mortal domains. The ensuing DivineConflict killed all but seven of them, and the seven [[ShellShockedVeteran were the ones best at butchering their fellow gods in a god-war]]. After millennia of ruling as multiversal conquerors and tyrants, the Seven have gone totally over the deep end; the best of them have succumbed to [[DespairEventHorizon suicidal despair]] or [[TheFogOfAges dementia]], while the worst have become [[TheCaligula deranged narcissists]] or [[OmnicidalManiac want to watch the multiverse burn]]. Most of them spend their days on inane things like counting all their stolen wealth or destroying worlds out of boredom.
* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': Loup is a merger of TricksterGod Coyote and his right hand, Ysengrin. He has the powers of both, but he also has Coyote's unpredictable, manic nature and Ysengrin's emotional and rage issues. The result is a manic PsychopathicManchild who tends to lash out at anyone who doesn't treat him with utmost deference.
* In the ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'' strip [[https://www.oglaf.com/assorted-fruits/ "Assorted Fruits Of Wrath"]] (safe for work), an army commander notes that while the enemy has God on their side, said God is a complete psycho, judging by His bizarre and nonsensical commandments in scripture. God then proves his point by wiping out the entire enemy camp in a hail of wrathful fire, because someone there blasphemed somehow.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* The Storyteller from ''Blog/OffThePageAndIntoLife'' has long since [[GoMadFromTheIsolation gone crazy from loneliness]], and it ''shows''. She is more of a frightened child lashing out in any way she can most of the time, but when she loses it, ''you will know about it''. Usually in the form of people dying, or coming damn close to it.
* [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/collected-excerpts-on-the-sea-mother The Sea Mother]] was the first sapience in existence that infused her essence into the ocean but went insane from the constant sensation of fish and boats moving about in her this entailed. She lashes out and attempts to drowns them all, and humanity has grown to despise her for it and she knows.
* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-3004 SCP-3004]] is an insane cicada god for some now disappeared druidic cult, the Cétlaidí, operating in Ireland. When its followers were forcibly converted to Christianity in the English invasions, the resulting turn of belief and metaphysical confusion seems to have ''scrambled'' its mind. It now believes it is the Judeo-Christian God and it warps Christian ceremonies into evil rituals often involving {{Animalistic Abomination}}s and self-mutilation to [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly "feed on the faith"]]. Worse, it's actually starting to [[spoiler:''usurp the real God and break into our reality.'' The Foundation's plan in that event is to use Thaumiel-level [=SCPs=] and amnesia-inducing agents to completely erase Christianity from the historical record in an attempt to starve it. According to a researcher who communicated with it, SCP-3004 isn't ''evil'', it's just extremely deluded and does not understand what its worshippers really want or believe, or the harm its causing.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Might be what's going on in [[Creator/TippettStudio Phil Tippett]]'s StopMotion film ''WebVideo/MadGod''. While no specific character can be identified as the eponymous Mad God, the implication of the title seems to be that the story's [[WorldGoneMad setting]] could only exist in a universe created by such a god. Tippett himself has said that the title refers to the ideas that inspired the movie, and that he is the "abbot" of the Mad God.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** This is one interpretation of Nightmare Moon, [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicPrincessLuna Princess Luna's]] SuperpoweredEvilSide, created from resentment towards the ponies who rejected her night in favor of Celestia's day, her [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy]] (and a bit of [[TheCorruption corruption]] by dark magic) consuming her until she enacted [[TheNightThatNeverEnds eternal night]] to force ponykind into appreciating her work. She is either completely unaware or perhaps she just does not care that this would end all life in Equestria.
** [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicDiscord Discord]], [[GodOfChaos spirit of chaos and disharmony]] (pictured above), whose body even looks like someone [[MixAndMatchCritters chopped up half a dozen different creatures, lost most of the pieces, and tried to stick them back together]]. As a RealityWarper of near-unlimited power he [[RealityIsOutToLunch turns Equestria almost literally upside-down]], with inconsistent day/night cycles, gravity, and sanity, as well as making roads of soap and cotton candy clouds that rain chocolate milk ([[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking without a single dollop of whipped cream to go with it]]). At one point, he collects some chocolate milk in a glass, drinks the glass, throws the [[MindScrew apparently solid (but not)]] chocolate milk over his shoulder, where it then explodes off-screen, turning the screen darker instead of lighter. He gets ''some'' sadistic pleasure out of the fact that mere mortals really do not like his chaos, but for the most part he just ignores their griping in favor of detail work on his WorldOfChaos. Overtime, he has learned to tone his chaos down and consider others' feelings more, but is still more than willing to cause mischief.
* In ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', we have Bill Cipher. The fact that he looks like a yellow EyeOfProvidence with a cane and a top hat already says a lot about him. He is comparable to Discord (above), and both are able to create a WorldGoneMad, but unlike Discord (who has indulged in MindControl and some MindRape, but nothing lethal), Bill is far, '''far''' more malevolent, and (though we never get to see him do it) does not seem to have any qualms with outright '''killing'''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': [[Characters/TheOwlHouseTheCollector The Collector]] is introduced towards the end of Season 2 as a godlike RealityWarper and a sort of ManBehindTheMan to [[spoiler: Emperor Belos, having supplied him with powerful magic in return for Belos freeing them from their Titan-built prison]]. King, in a moment of [[GodzillaThreshold immense desperation]] agrees to [[spoiler: free the Collector in return for stopping the Day of Unity]]. Unfortunately, while the Collector is not as malevolent as [[spoiler: Emperor Belos]], they are nevertheless a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} operating on BlueAndOrangeMorality that keeps them from recognising the harm they are inflicting on the inhabitants of the isles. It doesn't help that the Collector is, for all intents and purposes, [[GooGooGodlike a child]] with no sense of consequences for the immense power they wield.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Despite being {{Physical God}}s in comparison to normal Gems, the [[Characters/StevenUniverseDiamondAuthority Diamond Authority]] have all the issues any mortal would, including ''mental issues''; [[Characters/StevenUniverseYellowDiamond Yellow Diamond]] is a narcissist with a HairTriggerTemper, [[Characters/StevenUniverseBlueDiamond Blue Diamond]] is a [[TheEeyore hyper-emotional wreck whose depression leaves her sobbing all day]], and [[spoiler: [[Characters/StevenUniverseWhiteDiamond White Diamond]] is a weird, robotlike HumanoidAbomination and comes off as [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} more than a little insane]].]] All of them are callous {{Mood Swinger}}s prone to massive DisproportionateRetribution. Pink was the only exception, [[spoiler:but even she was quite naive and didn't seem to truly understand what it meant to be a leader/god.]]
** It turns out [[spoiler: [[Characters/StevenUniversePinkDiamond Pink Diamond]] shared more traits with the other Diamonds]] than was previously thought in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture''. She apparently didn't only have healing powers, but destructive, dangerous ones as well and was prone to literally violent mood swings when she didn't get her way. [[spoiler:Pink Pearl recounts that Pink could scream loud enough to shatter glass and frequently injured her during her tantrums, though the crack on Pink Pearl's eye was actually from the psychological trauma it caused her]].
[[/folder]]
----

* In ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', we have [[Characters/GravityFallsBillCipher Bill Cipher]]. The fact that he looks like a yellow EyeOfProvidence with a cane and a top hat already says a lot about him. He is comparable to Discord (above), and both are able to create a WorldGoneMad, but unlike Discord (who has indulged in MindControl and some MindRape, but nothing lethal), Bill is far, '''far''' more malevolent, and (though we never get to see him do it) does not seem to have any qualms with outright '''killing'''.

* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'': Cyric while under the effects of his own Greater Artifact was very much insane to the point of near-complete incompetence. Between the Prince of Lies, and before the ending of The Crucible: Trial of Cyric the Mad, he was very much completely out of control insane which lasted for around a decade or so.

** This is one interpretation of Nightmare Moon, Princess Luna's SuperpoweredEvilSide, created from resentment towards the ponies who rejected her night in favor of Celestia's day, her [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy]] (and a bit of [[TheCorruption corruption]] by dark magic) consuming her until she enacted [[TheNightThatNeverEnds eternal night]] to force ponykind into appreciating her work. She is either completely unaware or perhaps she just does not care that this would end all life in Equestria.
** Discord, [[GodOfChaos spirit of chaos and disharmony]] (pictured above), whose body even looks like someone [[MixAndMatchCritters chopped up half a dozen different creatures, lost most of the pieces, and tried to stick them back together]]. As a RealityWarper of near-unlimited power he [[RealityIsOutToLunch turns Equestria almost literally upside-down]], with inconsistent day/night cycles, gravity, and sanity, as well as making roads of soap and cotton candy clouds that rain chocolate milk ([[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking without a single dollop of whipped cream to go with it]]). At one point, he collects some chocolate milk in a glass, drinks the glass, throws the [[MindScrew apparently solid (but not)]] chocolate milk over his shoulder, where it then explodes off-screen, turning the screen darker instead of lighter. He gets ''some'' sadistic pleasure out of the fact that mere mortals really do not like his chaos, but for the most part he just ignores their griping in favor of detail work on his WorldOfChaos. Overtime, he has learned to tone his chaos down and consider others' feelings more, but is still more than willing to cause mischief.
* In ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', we have [[BigBad Bill]] [[GodOfEvil Cipher]]. The fact that he looks like a yellow EyeOfProvidence with a cane and a top hat already says a lot about him. He is comparable to Discord (above), and both are able to create a WorldGoneMad, but unlike Discord (who has indulged in MindControl and some MindRape, but nothing lethal), Bill is far, '''far''' more malevolent, and (though we never get to see him do it) does not seem to have any qualms with outright '''killing'''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': The Collector is introduced towards the end of Season 2 as a godlike RealityWarper and a sort of ManBehindTheMan to [[spoiler: Emperor Belos, having supplied him with powerful magic in return for Belos freeing them from their Titan-built prison]]. King, in a moment of [[GodzillaThreshold immense desperation]] agrees to [[spoiler: free the Collector in return for stopping the Day of Unity]]. Unfortunately, while the Collector is not as malevolent as [[spoiler: Emperor Belos]], they are nevertheless a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} operating on BlueAndOrangeMorality that keeps them from recognising the harm they are inflicting on the inhabitants of the isles. It doesn't help that the Collector is, for all intents and purposes, [[GooGooGodlike a child]] with no sense of consequences for the immense power they wield.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Despite being {{Physical God}}s in comparison to normal Gems, the Diamonds have all the issues any mortal would, including ''mental issues''; Yellow is a narcissist with a HairTriggerTemper, Blue is a [[TheEeyore hyper-emotional wreck whose depression leaves her sobbing all day]], and [[spoiler:White is a weird, robotlike HumanoidAbomination and comes off as [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} more than a little insane]].]] All of them are callous {{Mood Swinger}}s prone to massive DisproportionateRetribution. Pink was the only exception, [[spoiler:but even she was quite naive and didn't seem to truly understand what it meant to be a leader/god.]]
* It turns out [[spoiler:Pink shared more traits with the other Diamonds]] than was previously thought in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture''. She apparently didn't only have healing powers, but destructive, dangerous ones as well and was prone to literally violent mood swings when she didn't get her way. [[spoiler:Pink Pearl recounts that Pink could scream loud enough to shatter glass and frequently injured her during her tantrums, though the crack on Pink Pearl's eye was actually from the psychological trauma it caused her]].

* The protagonist of ''Film/TheGodsMustBeCrazy'' assumes this is why a Coke bottle falls out of the sky into his primitive village, bringing strife to the community. To them, it's a cruel trial that can only have been masterminded by a malevolent and crazy, or at the very least careless, god.
* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': If the {{Kaiju}} are {{Physical God}}s as the Franchise/MonsterVerse tries to make them out to be, then [[Characters/MonsterVerseKingGhidorah Ghidorah]] is arguably this trope: a PsychoElectro and one of the very few Kaiju who is individually equal in power level to Godzilla himself, Ghidorah stands out from the other, more neutral or heroic monsters for his thoroughly AxCrazy behavior, his unnaturally-overt [[KillAllHumans hatred of humanity]], and his plans for the Earth threatening to cause global extinction. In the film's novelization, one of the human cast thinks the following about Ghidorah:
-->"''Maybe he was a god - but there was nothing that said a god had to be sane.''"

** Loki in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' is a mad PhysicalGod who is ''sincerely convinced'' that him falling through a wormhole in space in ''Film/{{Thor}}'' was his father and brother disposing of him rather than the [[DrivenToSuicide suicide attempt]] it really was, and that enslaving humans to become their [[GodEmperor God-King]] is a grand idea.
** Thanos's title of "The Mad Titan" in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and its sequel is well earned. [[KnightTemplar He sincerely believes]] that he has to wipe out half of the population in the universe in order to prevent even more people from dying due to a lack of resources and overpopulation, even though [[InsaneTrollLogic that makes no sense.]] The "children" who stay faithful to him either have the blind loyalty of people indoctrinated in a cult are insane, or both, and Thanos comes off as the leader of a bunch of delusional extremists. Even though he is committing mass genocide, he thinks of himself as a hero, and [[ObliviouslyEvil does not even realize he is evil.]]

* ''Literature/RollOverAndDie'': Origin is the main god worshipped by the people of the setting and, unfortunately, is not very sane and serves as the most malevolent force in the story. Those who hear its voice either hears its MadnessMantra of "Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!" or its multiple voices arguing with itself. Those empowered by Origin tend to also go insane and be subjected to BodyHorror.
* ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'': Nuggan, despite being [[GodIsDead dead]], manages to effectively behave in this way, forbidding crop rotation, accordion players, the color blue and other absurd things.[[note]]He died due to people only really believing in the list of things he'd forbidden, so since GodsNeedPrayerBadly, all that was left of him was a voice forbidding random things.[[/note]]
** Judging by Nuggan's brief cameo appearance in ''Literature/TheLastHero'', this is as much a rather extreme case of in-universe {{Flanderisation}} as anything else, because he had an extensive history of [[StopHavingFunGuys banning his worshippers from just about anything enjoyable for petty reasons.]]
* [[EldritchAbomination Azathoth]], the Blind Idiot God gibbering at the chaotic center of Creation (''his'' creation) in the Franchise/CthulhuMythos. Note however his being a 'god' is debatable, as it is with practically all of Lovecraft's more tremendously powerful entities.
* In ''Literature/EverybodyLovesLargeChests'' the God of Chaos, whose name changes every time it is mentioned, has more than a few screws loose in his pineapple.
* Nalar, BigBad [[spoiler:(or not)]] of ''Literature/TheRiftwarCycle'', is sometimes called the Mad God, though it's implied that even if he was sane, he'd still be a GodOfEvil.
* In ''Literature/TheBelgariad'', we get two Mad Gods: Torak is essentially this plus GodOfEvil and Mara went crazy after his people were wiped out in a war, casting illusions on the entire country that drive [[strike:everyone]] most people who do not have magic powers or divine protection insane if they dare to make even one step into his country. Then there's Issa, who fell in love with a mortal but neglected to give her immortality (which he presumably could have done, since his brother Aldur routinely does so for his disciples); his priests have for centuries been finding someone who looks sort of like his now-long-dead lover, renaming her, and installing her as queen ... apparently without Issa ever noticing. Really, mad (or at least really, really dumb) is pretty much the "hat" for gods in this series, with the (possible) exceptions of [-UL-] who is just sort of crotchety and Aldur who is mostly aloof.
* In the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'', there are cults on the island of Cabal which worship Icarium Lifestealer, a SemiDivine being with memory loss and [[TheBerserker rage management issues]] as the One God, the Stealer of Life, essentially claiming he is a mad puppet with unimaginable power, turning any power of creation he may possess into random destruction. One sect calls itself that of the Mockers, asserting that a god who never left his worshippers any doctrine to live by but allows them to make and interpret their own, cannot be anything but insane.

* Most of the deities featured in ''Literature/AmericanGods'' are quite stable... except for [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Horus]], he is crazy. Fortunately, he is [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly not really in a position to do anything damaging]].
* Creator/HarlanEllison's short story "The Region Between" proposes that all life in the universe is formed from [[PiecesOfGod fragments of a god like this]], which destroyed itself in its own madness. [[spoiler:In the end, it's reconstituted just long enough to [[SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum kill itself for real by ending the universe]].]]

* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'' has She Who Must Not Be Named. Introduced in the last sub-series, she [[spoiler:was once the Lover, a being on par with the Creator and Lord Foul; Foul seduced her and then broke her heart in order to taint the concept of love forever, and then they were both imprisoned in the same world by the Creator (him deliberately, her by accident). Foul coped well enough, his nature as the Despiser lending itself well to the situation, but the Lover could not handle it and went a ''little'' nuts]]. She became one of the most terrifying entities in the Land, though normally quiescent [[spoiler:and in the end Linden helps her put her mind back together, at which point she helps lay a righteous divine smackdown on her betrayer, Lord Foul]].
* The unnamed creator of humankind in ''Literature/KaneSeries''. He created humans from apes in order to play with them, but since he was mad, his creation inherited his madness. Then Kane rebelled against God, [[CainAndAbel killed his brother]], and [[KillTheGod set out to kill his creator]].
* In ''Godshome'' by Creator/RobertSheckley, the only god Arthur Fenn can find who is willing to listen to him and offer help is, worrisomely, living in the section of Godshome marked with a sign saying "WARNING! PROCEED NO FURTHER! WARD O FOR BIPOLAR CONDITIONS. OCCUPANTS MAY BE VIOLENT."
* In the backstory of ''Literature/TheDivineCities'', Kolkan, one of the Divinities reigning over the Continent, went insane by giving his followers endless rules to live by. He started out fairly sane, but kept on making thousands upon thousands of rules about incredibly minor things -- like what shoes and fabrics his followers were allowed to wear -- and mandating increasingly harsh punishments for the mildest violations, until his fellow Divinities [[UnPerson disappeared him]].
* The Weaver in ''The Literature/BasLagCycle'' is referred to as one by the narration. While it isn't explicitly a god, it has near god-like power [[RealityWarper by being able to manipulate the rules of physics (time, space, matter and casuality) with a thought]] and lives on several planes of existence at the same time. [[StarfishAliens Its mind is also completely alien to every other sentient species known in the setting]], meaning that even if it isn't 'insane' by its own standards it is definitively by everyone else's.
* In ''Literature/TheDarkProfitSaga'' the goddess Al'Matra went insane after her husband turned evil and her son had to kill him, this madness usually manifests through her priests' automatic writing, which is usually inane rambling but sometimes contains hints of prophecy. Niln is in the running for head priest because most of his writing turns out to be an accurate chronicle of the party's adventures, sometimes as the events he writes are happening past his line of sight.

* In the MirrorUniverse of ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'', Zeus went mad from the strain of building "The Labyrinth of Eternal Memory" for his newborn son Hercules. With the king of the gods insane and the rest of the pantheon thrown into chaos, the stage is set for [[EvilCounterpart this version of Hercules]] (known as [[EvilOverlord "the Sovereign"]]) to TakeOverTheWorld and hatch a scheme to become the new ruler of Olympus.

** The Celestial Toymaker is an enormously powerful being who devotes his time to playing games, either turning people into toys or if they win [[PyrrhicVictory destroying his realm]], which he can survive.
* ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'': Invoked in the ''Series/{{Elseworlds 2018}}'' crossover. The Monitor gives Deegan [[RealityWritingBook the Book of Destiny]] knowing he is basically the worst person to have godlike powers, hoping that the insane world that he creates will be a suitable test for the heroes. This backfires when Deegan proves to be a rather incompetent god; his first attempt just switches the lives of Green Arrow and the Flash. They certainly find it annoying, but it's hardly a worthy test. The heroes defeat Deegan, only for the Monitor to arrive, teleport the book back into Deegan's hands, and tell him to do better this time.

Not to be confused with the StopMotion series ''WebVideo/MadGod'', although see below under Web Original.

* Might be what's going on in Phil Tippett's SurrealHorror stop motion animated series ''WebVideo/MadGod''. While no specific character can be identified as the eponymous Mad God, the implication of the title seems to be that the story's [[WorldGoneMad setting]] could only exist in a universe created by such a god. Therefore, Phil Tippett himself might be the Mad God.

* ''LightNovel/TheHeroLaughsWhileWalkingThePathOfVengeanceASecondTime'' takes place in a grimdark fantasy world, specifically because its goddess has multiple-personality disorder. Her personalities range from AntiVillain (the facet that saves the VillainProtagonist party) to AxCrazy (the facet that Alesia worships).

* ''LightNovel/RollOverAndDie'': Origin is the main god worshipped by the people of the setting and, unfortunately, is not very sane and serves as the most malevolent force in the story. Those who hear its voice either hears its MadnessMantra of "Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!" or its multiple voices arguing with itself. Those empowered by Origin tend to also go insane and be subjected to BodyHorror.

Expect them to act AboveGoodAndEvil, or that it follows BlueAndOrangeMorality that anyone can understand... [[GoMadFromTheRevelation if you just gaze into the abyss of madness long enough.]] If especially mad and powerful, it may also be an EldritchAbomination, and even if it isn't one, it is highly likely that it will ascend into one. Can overlap with AlmightyIdiot when the Mad God is so mad that it destroys their mind. It may not cause insanity or revulsion to observers, but that's usually iffy, and depends on if it has enough presence of mind to take on [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith A Form You Are (at least mildly) Comfortable With]].

*** It is suggested that Jyggalag himself was also a Mad God before he was cursed into becoming Sheogorath. It is simply that Jyggalag's madness is [[SuperOCD an extreme obsession with ordering everything perfectly]], whereas Sheogorath's madness is unfettered chaos and complete disorder. Sotha Sil's priests posit that the Daedric Princes are "errors" in the structure of the universe, and that the cause of Jyggalag's insanity is the Prince of order and structure [[GoMadFromTheRevelation realizing that he is an error in reality.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Despite being {{Physical God}}s in comparison to normal Gems, the Diamonds have all the issues any mortal would, including ''mental issues''; Yellow is a narcissist with a HairTriggerTemper, Blue is a [[TheEeyore hyper-emotional wreck whose depression leaves her sobbing all day]], and [[spoiler:White is a weird, robotlike HumanoidAbomination who practically ''lives'' in the UncannyValley and comes off as [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} more than a little insane]].]] All of them are callous {{Mood Swinger}}s prone to massive DisproportionateRetribution. Pink was the only exception, [[spoiler:but even she was quite naive and didn't seem to truly understand what it meant to be a leader/god.]]

[[/folder]]\

[[folder:Light Novels]]
* ''LightNovel/RollOverAndDie'': Origin is the main god worshipped by the people of the setting and, unfortunately, is not very sane and serves as the most malevolent force in the story. Those who hear its voice either hears its MadnessMantra of "Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!" or its multiple voices arguing with itself. Those empowered by Origin tend to also go insane and be subjected to BodyHorror.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-3004 SCP-3004]] is an insane cicada god for some now disappeared druidic cult, the Cétlaidí, operating in Ireland. When its followers were forcibly converted to Christianity in the English invasions, the resulting turn of belief and metaphysical confusion seems to have ''scrambled'' its mind. It now believes it is the Judeo-Christian God and it warps Christian ceremonies into evil rituals often involving {{Animalistic Abomination}}s and self-mutilation to [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly "feed on the faith"]]. Worse, it's actually starting to [[spoiler:''usurp the real God and break into our reality.'' The Foundation's plan in that event is to use Thaumiel-level [=SCPs=] and amnesia-inducing agents to completely erase Christianity from the historical record in an attempt to starve it. According to a researcher who communicated with it, SCP-3004 isn't ''evil'', it's just extremely deluded and does not understand what its worshippers really want or believe, or the harm its causing.]]