History Main / PowerBornOfMadness

One form of DeadlyUpgrade and sometimes CharlesAtlasSuperpower. Compare WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity (the sister trope), where the power came first, the madness later. Contrast EnlightenmentSuperpowers, where it's a sanity/morality uplifting epiphany that grants power. See also SuccessThroughInsanity.

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', the inherent power of the Uchiha clan (Sharingan) may be activated only in the event of suffering ultimate stress and loss so strong that they break the Uchiha somewhere deep.

One form of DeadlyUpgrade and sometimes CharlesAtlasSuperpower. Compare WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity (the sister trope), where the power came first, the madness later. Contrast EnlightenmentSuperpowers, where it's a sanity/morality uplifting epiphany that grants power. Do not confuse with CrazyAwesome.

** Later on, [[spoiler: Black*Star and Kid]] both utilize insanity as well, having earned the favor of the EldritchAbomination from the Book of Ebon. They were both already somewhat [[CrazyAwesome crazy]] anyway, so it's a fairly logical step to just go the whole way. Speaking of the Book of Ebon, said EldritchAbomination, the Black Mass, actually represents Madness born of Power.

* In ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol'', [[CrazyAwesome Steven Heck]] (''don't'' call him [[BerserkButton "Steve"]]) is one of the world's most talented secret agents. He's also insane. Although never stated outright, there are some suggestions that Steven [[spoiler: doesn't even work for the CIA like he claims, but is just some crazy guy who ''decided'' to become the world's greatest operative on a whim, and now is]].

*** The personalities are named [[AnIcePerson Icy]], [[PlayingWithFire Hothead]], and [[AxCrazy Random]]. As stated above, Random has access to all of Blitzwing's forms and abilities, but it's balanced by [[CrazyAwesome Random's tendancies to sing nursery rhymes or go off on tangents about servo salad.]]

->''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 urban life in the twenty-first century.''

* Big Fido, the [[ThoseWackyNazis Canine Supremacist]] in ''Discworld/MenAtArms''. He's a small poodle, but his madness gives him the power to rip a man to shreds, and cow all the other dogs through sheer force of personality.

** ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime'' : Excessive sanity as a form of insanity. Jeremy Clockson is [[BlatantLies completely sane]] and has a paper that confirms it (not a lot of people have those). At first [[TheIgor Igor]] has to admit that after working for [[MadScientist Mad Doctor Scoop, Crazed Baron Haha, Screaming Doctor Berserk, Dribbling Doctor Vibes]], and [[AxCrazy Nipsie the Impaler]] "when it came to getting weird things done, sane beat mad hands down" but it eventually becomes clear Clockson's '''''so''''' sane he's gone around the bend and come out the other side. "Stark, staring sane" has to lead somewhere bad... [[spoiler: like nearly ENDING TIME ITSELF.]]

* MadMathematician and MadScientist — Somehow no longer seeing the world as others has unlocked a brilliance that is far beyond what a sane mind can achieve. Until you apply it to [[IdiotSavant those few select areas]] at least.

* 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]]''.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* The only real way to describe Wrestling/{{Boogeyman}}'s quirks, such as his ability to evade and bypass all security measures and the difficulty in getting him to [[NoSell sell]] anything up to and including shards of glass buried in his skin.[[/folder]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'': "In the darkness, a blind man is the best guide; in an age of madness, look to the madman to lead the way."

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* MonsterClown and maddest of the [[MadScientist mad scientists]] Rhyme in ''StarHarborNights'' is able to produce feats even other mad scientists can't duplicate (like making helium burn like hydrogen) because she follows "an alternate ordering of the universe"
* Music/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."
* Over at Roleplay/DCNation, the crazy but lovable Shift swings between this and TheEeyore depending on whether or not his pills have worn off yet. If he's on his pills, he's more of a CloudCuckooLander hero, and if they've worn off, everything is trying to kill him (or at least that's what he says). He might just be [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity trying to comprehend every single probability at once with a brain that cannot handle the knowledge.]] So the powers cause insanity, and then the insanity fuels the powers...
* Most of the [[Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses Channel Awesome]] reviewers believe this applies to [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Dr. Insano]] in WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}. First the Nostalgia Critic attempts to get Spoony to let him out, followed by those rebelling against him. Only [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] sees that this [[OnlySaneMan is a dumb idea]], but the others are convinced that you need a madman to stop another madman. Sure enough, Insano gets his ass kicked, although he comes closer to defeating the critic than any other individual rebel.
** Even outside of Kickassia, Dr. Insano seems to be able to invent things that shouldn't work just because he thinks they should, and justifies it with [[ForScience SCIENCE]] ((such as the ability to [[ShockAndAwe shoot lightning out of his hands somehow]]))
* In Literature/{{Worm}}, power is born more from psychological trauma than from madness. In order for a potential parahuman to unlock his/her latent powers, he/she must experience a "trigger" event that causes extreme stress and pushes the person to the breaking point. This may explain why there are more villains than heroes in the Wormverse, and the heroes tend to carry around a lot of psychological baggage.
** What's more, the efficiency of a cape's powers are directly linked to how close their mindset is to when they first triggered. This means that a cape will be notably more powerful when being retraumatized than when healthy and well-adjusted.
*** Taken UpToEleven by the fact that some capes can have second trigger events, which can make their current powers grow stronger or change, or even give them new ones. Unfortunately, this requires far more intense trauma than a normal trigger event and there are also several obvious problems with psychologically breaking an already damaged superhuman. Most people would agree that the power boost granted by a second trigger is not worth it.

** 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.

---> '''Rainbow Dash:''' (After watching Pinkie Pie slow her descent mid-air to avoid a splash) How did you do that?
---> '''Pinkie Pie:''' Just trying to show a little consideration for my sleepy friend.

%% Please see thread to discuss a new image.

[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shirogat.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:200:I told you, [[Literature/TheAdventuresOfSamuraiCat Uncle]]! I have the strength born of madness!]]

* MadMathematician and MadScientist -- Somehow no longer seeing the world as others has unlocked a brilliance that is far beyond what a sane mind can achieve. Until you apply it to [[IdiotSavant those few select areas]] at least.
* TheSparkOfGenius -- {{Mad Scientist}}s can apply the laws of nature in ways sane scientists could never dream of.
* MadOracle -- Unfooled by the illusion of linear time, these prophets see all eternity at once -- and maybe [[PrescienceIsPredictable can't do a thing about it.]]
* FourthWallObserver -- Their perception altered to see beyond the borders of their fictional world, these characters have become GenreSavvy.
* RealityWarper -- They force reality itself to reflect their madness, often unconsciously. With mild madness, this can actually be beneficial, but if they are truly deranged [[RealityIsOutToLunch reality starts to crumble]], and {{eldritch abomination}}s flock round.
* MadGod -- What happens when a being with godlike power has no concept of limits and unfettered creativity? ''Anything.''
* InsanityImmunity -- The minds of the mad are so alien and incoherent, MindControl and [[BrownNote mind-breaking]] spells and psychic powers targeted at conventional human minds simply slide off, letting them see through the {{Masquerade}} and shrug off [[PeoplePuppets would-be puppeteers]].
* UnstoppableRage -- Violent mania grants inhuman strength and endurance.

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

[[folder:Film]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The New Who version of the Master.
** As well, Dalek Caan, who managed emergency temporal shift into the Time War, which was supposed to be impenetrable. The process drove him mad, but in the process, he saw [[MadOracle everything.]]

* All the protagonists in ''Series/HikoninSentaiAkibaranger'' have this, and it's commonly referred to as "delusion power". The more insane they get, the more capable they become in combat. [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness Increased delusion power comes at a price...]]

--->'''Harley:''' *grins* "Cute face." [[TalkToTheFist *Kick!*]]

---> Harley: *grins* "Cute face." [[TalkToTheFist *Kick!*]]

* [[SamAndMax Max's]] mind is so screwed up he's immune to all forms of mind control and hypnosis, has various psychic powers (which mostly served as DeusExMachina or one time gags until ''The Devil's Playhouse'') and awareness of the fourth wall. Granted this awareness is shaky, so is his awareness of his own world.

* [[MadMathematician Mad]] [[MadScientist Genius]] -- Somehow no longer seeing the world as others has unlocked a brilliance that is far beyond what a sane mind can achieve. Until you apply it to [[IdiotSavant those few select areas]] at least.
** TheSparkOfGenius -- {{Mad Scientist}}s can apply the laws of nature in ways sane scientists could never dream of.

** It's got to be especially maddening if they realize that they don't exist, but are figments of someone else's imagination. It's a little better if they realize that they are nothing more than a representation inside a massive computer.

** MadGod -- What happens when a being with godlike power has no concept of limits and unfettered creativity? ''Anything.''

* ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness'': the Marauders from ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension''. A mage who goes Marauder effectively develops a form of magically-enhanced incurable insanity, their sense of reality now permanently askew. As a consequence, they are ''extremely'' resistant to the effects of [[WeirdnessCensor Paradox]], which can sometimes slide off them and affect ''any other mages in the area''. If they get crazy enough, they're eventually shunted off into their own pocket dimension in the Umbra.
** Their {{Spiritual Successor}}s in the ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'' are the Mad of ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'', mages whose souls have broken (frequently by bottoming the KarmaMeter out), letting the magic within spill out into the world around them. They're resistant to Paradox, hidden from sympathetic magic, and have frightening skill at magic. Unlike the Marauders, they can become normal mages again, but unless they're cured by an archmage, their sanity will always be on fragile ground.

* ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'' has ''"Beautiful Madness"'' as a theme of the game, and the ongoing challenge of a Changeling's life is to strike a balance between the stolid, dependable order of the mundane world and the ''wonderful'', awful power of the Wyrd. More powerful Changelings are almost guaranteed to be at least a bit crazy - but they can also force the world to play along with their ideas of how it should work. Even the weaker ones can, for example, weave moonlight and daydreams into an invisibility cloak, because it doesn't occur to them that you shouldn't be able to thread a needle with either of those things.
** The Eldritch Order of the Lost Pantheon[[note]](In the ''Lords of Summer'' sourcebook)[[/note]] deserves special mention. Every one of them is very powerful, somewhat insane, and believes to their bones that they are the embodiment of an archetype that determines how they make sense of the world. It works: their madness makes them more perceptive and longer-lived, and they gain power from mortal worship.
** The True Fae. Without exception, they have no understanding of objective reality, and define their existence by narrative. While this necessarily includes an AchillesHeel, it can also make them otherwise invulnerable as long as they stick to their story.
*** And, of course, regular Changelings can access some of this power by [[spoiler:raising their own Wyrd high enough, going completely insane, and metamorphosing into True Fae themselves]].
* In the world of ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', when TheFairFolk use up all their Virtue Channels for one of their Virtues, they enter bedlam, a state of absolute madness. Some Fair Folk charms are made specifically to benefit from this state when it happens.
** There are also a number of Charms for the various types of Exalt that use the madness of the Great Curse to their advantage. For example, Stubborn Boar Defence allows a Solar in Limit Break to ignore unnatural mental influence.
*** It isn't strictly limited to Charms; not fighting Limit Break (which usually translates directly "flow with the crazy") yields in-game advantages, such as a maxed Willpower pool.
* Failing a Madness save in a TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}} game is usually bad news, but a couple of possible outcomes do provide fringe benefits, e.g. a bonus to Fear saves because you don't think the threat is for real.
** While nearly all darklords have at least some control over their domains' environment, the batshit-insane Easan the Mad cranks this influence UpToEleven, such that the landscape of Vechor shifts with his mood swings and he can physically alter anyone who lives there just by thinking about them. Another insane villain, Davion, causes drastic changes to the village where he lives, every time he swaps between his four personalities.
* In the 3rd Edition of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', a cleric with access to the Madness Domain (offered by Tharizdun and a couple of other evil deities) gains a Insanity Score equal to half his class level. This lets them add this score to his Wisdom Score whenever Wisdom applies to spellcasting. However, it has a disadvantage: for anything else that involves Wisdom he ''subtracts'' the Insanity Score from his Wisdom Score.
** The Madness Domain also gives the cleric the ability to "act with the clarity of true madness", meaning he gains the above benefit to ''any'' roll involving Wisdom, but only once per day (and he must decide to use this effect before making the roll; if it fails anyway, it still counts as used).
** There is also the Tainted Scholar prestige class, which gains more spells and greater spell potency, as well as some other benefits, based on how insane they are. It is considered one of the more powerful prestige classes in the game.

* People known as "The Lost" from the obscure RPG "In Dark Alleys" have such a bad direction sense that ''it defies time and space''. By wandering randomly through streets and corridors they can, in about 15 minutes, get anywhere. The other side of town? They could go there. Another continent? yes. Your baby brother's ''subconscious''? Yes, and they'd probably enjoy it, since most of them are either complete {{Cloud Cuckoo Lander}}s or constantly high/drunk. The same stupidity/clumsiness/insanity also allows them to pull anything out of a bag or pocket. Some people can just casually accept the fact that there could be, say, a hand grenade in their wallet they don't remember ever having put in there.

* In ''Dracula'', a patient at an insane asylum tries to [[ExploitedTrope Exploit]] this. "It is said that madmen have incredible strength. I am mad, or was, and I resolved to use all of my mad strength to attack him".

** Despite the insanity of several jinjurikis, their powers are not born of madness. It is a side-effect of hosting a demon.

** The madness of the Demon God Ashura not only warped reality around him slightly, but actually was infectious, forcing those near him to see threatening hallucinations and more importantly, if left to run rampant, the madness would blanket the world, driving everyone insane.
** The [[PsychoSerum black blood]] is an even better example. Since Chrona [[spoiler: and Maka]] gain a great deal of power from being insane under its influence.

*** In the end, though, madness is revealed to be a SuperpoweredEvilSide, that incarnations of concepts like him can use to vastly increase their power and become virtually indestructible, at the small cost of destroying minds of everyone else by just existing. While Ashura, drives people mad with fear, Kid [[spoiler: after assuming his father's mantle]] would have turned them into his mindless puppets of his law, had he succumbed to temptation of using madness as well.

* Insanity seems to be the primary source of physical strength for the antagonists of the ''Franchise/{{Scream}}'' series. In [[Film/{{Scream 2}} the second installment]], even [[spoiler:a middle-aged woman with no sign of physical training]] is able to overpower and kill young men who should be in their prime.

* [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/360482/to-rise-above The Five-Step Path]] from the works of [[https://www.fimfiction.net/user/1400/FanOfMostEverything FanOfMostEverything]] is essentially a progressive mental disorder unique to earth ponies which, if it reaches its final stage, causes the sufferer to believe that they are a cartoon character. Since [[TheCloudcuckooLanderWasRight they actually are cartoon characters]], this grants them the ability to [[BreakingTheFourthWall take advantage of that fact]] to accomplish feats that more sane ponies know perfectly well are impossible.

* In ''AlphaProtocol'', [[CrazyAwesome Steven Heck]] (''don't'' call him [[BerserkButton "Steve"]]) is one of the world's most talented secret agents. He's also insane. Although never stated outright, there are some suggestions that Steven [[spoiler: doesn't even work for the CIA like he claims, but is just some crazy guy who ''decided'' to become the world's greatest operative on a whim, and now is]].