History Main / PowerBornOfMadness

* In the Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures novel ''Timewyrm: Exodus'', the Timewyrm tries to possess UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler and is instead trapped in his mind by his madness. Yes, there's a group of [[StupidJetPackHitler aliens trying to take advantage of this.]] Yes, [[HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct things go exactly as planned in the end.]]

* The Incubators of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' consider humanity's magical potential this, as it's fueled by emotion (which the Incubators believe is a mental disorder). The plot is driven by the Incubators' attempts to farm and use this power without revealing it to the humans.

* A lot of the stuff {{Freakazoid}} pulls off (on a disturbingly regular basis) suggest that his comic psychosis is actually the source of his power, not [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity the other way around]].

->''ComicBook/TheJoker's a special case. Some of us feel he may be ''beyond'' treatment. In fact, we're not even sure if he can be properly defined as insane... It's quite possible we may actually be looking at some kind of super-sanity here. A brilliant new modification of human perception. More suited to [[CityNoir urban life]] in the twenty-first century.''

* [[TokenEvilTeammate Whirl]] of ComicBook/TheTransformers does this on purpose: specifically, he's (mostly) rational but deliberately acts insane (or deliberately makes himself insane, nobody can really tell) in combat. His behavior makes him feared by Decepticons and Autobots alike.

* The TransformersAnimated villain Blitzwing seems to be able to use two elemental weapons and two vehicle modes due to his SplitPersonality. However, it's not completely clear if one causes the other.

->''ComicBook/TheJoker's a special case. Some of us feel he may be ''beyond'' treatment. In fact, we're not even sure if he can be properly defined as insane... It's quite possible we may actually be looking at some kind of super-sanity here. A brilliant new modification of human perception. More suited to [[CityNoir urban life]] in the twenty-first century.''
-->-- '''Dr. Ruth Adams''', ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth''

->''SelfDemonstratingArticle/TheJoker's a special case. Some of us feel he may be ''beyond'' treatment. In fact, we're not even sure if he can be properly defined as insane... It's quite possible we may actually be looking at some kind of super-sanity here. A brilliant new modification of human perception. More suited to [[CityNoir urban life]] in the twenty-first century.''

** SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker is sometimes portrayed as being able to see through the FourthWall because of his insanity.

* SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}} has this.

* [[EvilSorcerer Gallian]] in ''[[DungeonSiege In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale]]'' is one of the last magi. He figures out how to be independent from servitude (a magus must serve a king) by naming himself king of the mindless Krugg. He then forges them into a fearless horde that he uses to try to conquer the kingdom of Ehb. He also gains more power by sleeping with Muriella, the daughter of [[Creator/JohnRhysDavies Merick]], the king's magus. When confronted by Merick, they converse while dueling with magical swords suspended in mid-air. Merick finally realizes that Gallian has truly gone insane with power. Gallian doesn't deny and shows him exactly what madness can do, even though Merick is the older and more experienced magus.

* In the ''{{Mistborn}}'' trilogy, by Brandon Sanderson, allomancers come into their powers after Snapping (something like a breakdown after a horrific event) - the most notable being Kelsier, who came into his powers after spending an unidentified amount of time working in a really nasty mine, followed by watching his wife being beaten to death before his eyes.
* Lampshaded at least as early as ''{{Dracula}}'' where Renfield mentions having heard of the strength of madmen, and reasons that as he's mad he must have it. He successfully uses this strength to knock Dracula out of his mist form and, for a moment, get the upper hand in the fight.

* From the {{Nightside}}, there is the one known as Madman, who was driven mad by perceiving the truth underlying reality? He's a dangerously powerful RealityWarper whose hallucinations manifest around him. Most notable is that he's accompanied by his own personal soundtrack. The other one is Jessica Sorrow the Unbeliever, who thinks that everything is just her hallucination and everyone is just another voice in her head. She tears heavy doors like paper, and anyone she finds a nuisance disappear.

* Rorschach from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', CaptainErsatz to The Question, is similarly able to do things like [[ImprovisedWeapon fighting off cops with some hairspray and a match]] because he is [[AxCrazy crazy]], [[NietzscheWannabe crazy]], {{Badass}}, and ''[[SerialKiller crazy]]''.

* In the ''{{Geneforge}}'' series, serviles aren't able to do magic until the proper Geneforge and canisters are developed. Before then, though, a few serviles would develop the ability to cast spells anyway, [[TrainingFromHell by forming small cults where they could meditate and engage in self-harm]] until they went insane.
* ''TheSuffering'' has some fun with this. The main character has suffered blackouts his whole life, and in-game develops the ability to trigger those blackouts and [[SuperpoweredEvilSide turn into a hideous monster]]. There's a reason this ability is called "Insanity," though--[[spoiler:he doesn't actually change, he just goes into an UnstoppableRage and tears foes apart, hallucinating that it's not really him]].

** Nightmare Moon seemed to be this - at least Princess Luna seemed much weaker once she'd regained her sanity. However, when she returned in the second season, we find out that she is in fact so powerful as herself that she can be destructive ''without meaning it'' if she doesn't work to keep a lid on her godlike powers. She seems more powerful than her sister because she is less restrained, and of course being ''evil'' is the logical extension of this.

** While definitely the exception rather than the rule in real life, there have been an undeniable number of individuals worthy of the title of MadScientist- simply check the real life section of the respective page. In science as in math, sometimes a [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight novel approach]] leads to a novel discovery, and more than a few [[TheyCalledMeMad discoveries]] have been achieved in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatomy_murder ethically questionable circumstances]]

** Deadpool is an interesting example of both WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity AND this. His lunacy is due to having been imbued with superhuman regeneration while suffering from terminal cancer, which means that his brain is constantly rotting away and regenerating back. However, this same insanity grants him several [[BreakingTheFourthWall perks]] that increase his power even further.

* In {{Drowtales}}, Kiel'ndia Vel'Vlozress, though not as murderously insane as some of her clan members, is decidedly [[CloudCuckooLander whacky]]. She's also the comic's only FourthWallObserver, often addressing the audience directly. (To the rest of the cast, it only makes her look crazier: she is, after all, talking into thin air.) In a remarkable ''{{inversion}}'' of TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou, she even learns to summon her fans as LivingShadow minions.

* DoctorSteel. "Being insane allows me to be who I want to be. There are no longer any rules. I am crazy, and I will become World Emperor. Even if it's simply because I'm ''convinced'' I'm World Emperor." "You can get away with pretty much anything if you're bonkers."

** In another series of novels, the Q-like entity 0 has gone insane after being locked [[SealedEvilInACan out of the can]] for millennia, and thus has no limits on what he can do. Q specifically invokes this trope by saying, "0's insanity gives him an insane amount of power."

* FourthWallObserver -- Their perception altered to see beyond the borders of their fictional world, these characters have become DangerouslyGenreSavvy.

* In David Brin's ''{{Uplift}}'' series there is a species of client-alien called the Episiarchs, which have been genetically engineered to be so insane that they have the ability to [[RealityWarper alter reality]] by [[IRejectYourReality refusing to accept it]].

** Mental breakdowns of varying degrees are unusually common among [[MadMathematician pioneers of mathematics]], some apparently driven [[GoMadFromTheRevelation insane]] by endless calculations in [[AcidTripDimension hypothetical]] [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace hyperdimentional]] [[AlienGeometries non-linear systems]] while others [[ABeautifulMind begin a bit off from the start]], which [[BlessedWithSuck may actually contribute to being able to deal with]] high level mathematics in the first place.

* GuildedAge has the Order of the Countless Limbs, an apocalyptic cult that worships EldritchAbomination OldGods dedicated to bringing about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. They embrace AxCrazy as a ''virtue'' and delight in putting the "chaotic" in AlwaysChaoticEvil. Their higher level clergy can magically infect people with "the Madness", locking them into an UnstoppableRage where they lose the ability to distinguish between friend or foe.

* In the ''{{No More Heroes}}'' series, Travis Touchdown is quite out of his mind with the occasional forth wall breaking. It's in the second game that it becomes a power, using his sexual complexes and anger to fuel him in battle and enter super forms, including ''turning into a tiger.'' Being sexually attracted to moe designed characters and having a recently killed friend does some weird things to a man.