History Main / PowerBornOfMadness

** All characters make use of the phlebotinum, but Kid is a slightly different instance, seeing as -if one believes the Salvage arc- he's either a Clone or a SoulJar of a Great Old One ([[spoiler:TheGrimReaper himself]]), {{Eldritch Abomination}} who in this universe are (supposedly) incarnations of madness - Madness of Law in his case, foreshadowed by his ObsessivelyOrganized personality. Also demonstrated that these beings are susceptible to ''one another'', as Kid reacts badly to both Asura (fear) and the Great Old One (power) inside the book.

* Espers in ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' gain their powers based on their own warped inner view of the world being so powerful that it actually affects the world around them. When you look at the level fives, it becomes only too clear what this means for a person: At least three of them have committed murder, one is a paranoid mind control user, one's identity is unknown because they never appear anywhere and the last one is convinced that he's a superhero. Only Mikoto Misaka is actually well balanced and normal, making her the poster girl for the level fives by default despite her own personality flaws.

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': Coworkers gossiping about Pamela being able to control an entire army of RemoteBody androids suggest it’s only because of how unhinged she is that she’s capable of it.

** All characters make use of the phlebotinum, but Kid is a slightly different instance, seeing as -if one believes the Salvage arc- he's either a Clone or a SoulJar of a Great Old One ([[spoiler:TheGrimReaper himself]]), {{Eldritch Abomination}} who in this universe are (supposedly) incarnations of madness - Madness of Law in his case, foreshadowed by his SuperOCD. Also demonstrated that these beings are susceptible to ''one another'', as Kid reacts badly to both Asura (fear) and the Great Old One (power) inside the book.

* ''Manga/DeathNote'' implies, but never outright confirms, that the only people capable of using a Death Note successfully are ones with spiritual strength and emotional conviction. And someone like Light is definitely ''strong'', but not totally ''normal''. The clue that separates him from Misa, Mikami, Takada, and Higuchi is that they seem to slide closer to WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity, being that it's ''Light'' that had roped the rest of them into his evil plans, and there's not a great deal of evidence to support the fact that, without his influence, the rest of them would've used it to the extent ''he did'', or would've made themselves out to be [[AGodAmI gods far above the rest of humanity]].[[note]]It's subtle, but of all the characters that get their hands on a Death Note (including C-Kira and Taro Kagami), how many of them openly identified themselves as divine?[[/note]]
* In ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', Berserker class Servants have a Mad Enhancement ability that increases all of their stats by one rank at the cost of their sanity while in use.

** All characters make use of the phlebotinum, but Kid is a slightly different instance, seeing as -if one believes the Salvage arc- he's either a Clone or a SoulJar of a Great Old One ([[spoiler:TheGrimReaper himself]]), {{Eldritch Abomination}}s who in this universe are (supposedly) incarnations of madness - Madness of Law in his case, foreshadowed by his SuperOCD. Also demonstrated that these beings are susceptible to ''one another'', as Kid reacts badly to both Asura (fear) and the Great Old One (power) inside the book.

** Stein also makes use of the madness to gain advantage in battle, in his case the madness was always there (increasing since around half of the story), it was just being repressed; in the Battle of the Moon, he releases all his madness in the beginning and then regains control latter in the battle.

* Espers in ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' gain their powers based on their own warped inner view of the world being so powerful that it actually affects the world around them. When you look at the level fives, it becomes only too clear what this means for a person: At least three of them have committed murder, one is a paranoid mind control user, one's identity is unknown because they never appear anywhere and the last one is convinced that he's a superhero. Only Mikoto Misaka is actually well balanced and normal, making her the poster girl for the level fives by default despite her own personality flaws.
* Unlike other homicidal maniacs in ''Manga/BlackLagoon'', Roberta becomes far more powerful and dangerous when she goes off the deep end, with complicated strategies and maneuvers that lunatics like Hansel and Gretel distinctly lacked.
* [[spoiler: The Incubators]] of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' [[spoiler: 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.]]
* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': Coworkers gossiping about Pamela being able to control an entire army of RemoteBody androids suggest it’s only because of how unhinged she is that she’s capable of it.

** 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 in the ''Lords of Summer'' sourcebook). 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. 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]].

* Light in the ''Manga/DeathNote'' [[AlternateUniverseFic AU]] ''FanFic/TheFaceless'', since he's still alive [[TraumaCongaLine after everything he's been through]] he determines he must be immortal.

* [[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk Hulk's]] rage and anger is shown to be so powerful that not only does it cause UnstoppableRage but also gives him immunity to mind control and other telepathic attacks, often showing him simply shrugging it off. Also Banner's fear of his father coming back from beyond the grave has given him the power to see ghosts, and astral forms.
** The fact the Hulk exists at all may be an example of this. When Banner first got hit by gamma radiation, his various personalities manifested themselves as the Hulks.

* [[ComicBook/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice 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.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' ambiguously plays this trope with [[spoiler: Betty]]'s MMS theory about wizards: She realized that, in different amounts, every wizard has levels of '''M'''adness, '''M'''agic and '''S'''adness. She could never figure out whether all Magic would lead to Sadness and Madness (inverting the trope) or being Mad and Sad would give you powers (thus, playing this trope straight). Notably, after stealing [[spoilers:Magic Man]]’s powers, she immediately goes crazy, while her victim is surprised to realize he’s a well-adjusted person now.

* In ''This Alien Shore'' by C.S. Friedman, "Outpilot's Syndrome" is paranoia dialed UpToEleven, and those suffering from it require massive amounts of medication to do more than lie around whimpering. However, HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace, so scary that they're merely ProperlyParanoid when in it, so they're the only people who can pilot spaceships through it without getting eaten by {{Eldritch Abomination}}s.

* 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 ''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.

* [[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.

->''"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."''

** In ''TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression'', Geniuses wouldn't exist if their mind wasn't influenced by a mental breakdown fueled by discovery. This often leaves them [[TheMadHatter quite mad]]. Consequentially, their Wonders, while not quite as blatantly as the Mages' magic (for example, the sourcebook says that simply putting Mania into a wooden bird won't make it fly just because it's "enchanted"), can bend or break several important laws of physics. And they are quite explicitly ''not science'' as they're non-repeatable phenomena, [[TheyCalledMeMad which leads to...]]

** Later on in the manga, [[GeckoEnding (the anime didn't get that far)]] madness is a full-blown [[AppliedPhlebotinum phlebotinum]]. It is researched and used for attacks, creating [[MonsterClown "clowns"]] from it for additional power boost or protection, etc. The main researcher is Medusa, the creator of above-mentioned [[PsychoSerum black blood]]. She herself is notably {{san|ityHasAdvantages}}e and chastised by rival factions for creating "fake clowns". [[spoiler: Noah]]'s fraction, notably [[spoiler: Justin]], are more about using natural White Clown.
** Later on, [[spoiler: Black*Star and Kid]] both utilize madness as well, having earned the favor of the EldritchAbomination from the Book of Eibon. They were both already somewhat crazy anyway, so it's a fairly logical step to just go the whole way. Speaking of the Book of Eibon, said EldritchAbomination, the Black Mass, actually represents Madness born of Power.
** All characters make use of the phlebotinum, but Kid is a slightly different instance, seeing as - if one believes the Salvage arc - he's a clone/Soul Jar of a EldritchAbomination ([[spoiler:TheGrimReaper himself]]), who in this universe are (supposedly) incarnations of madness - Madness of Law in his case, foreshadowed by his SuperOCD. Also demonstrated that these beings are susceptible to ''one another'', as Kid reacts badly to both Asura (fear) and the Great Old One (power) inside the book.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' ambiguously plays this trope with [[spoiler: Betty]]'s MMS theory about wizards: She realized that, in different amounts, every wizard has levels of '''M'''adness, '''M'''agic and '''S'''adness. She could never figure out whether all Magic would lead to Sadness and Madness(inverting the trope) or being Mad and Sad would give you powers(thus, playing this trope straight).

* In the movie version of ''Film/SilentHill'', Alessa's powers are born of overwhelming hatred and despair, which ultimately adds up to madness. Plus, have you SEEN the AbandonedHospital slash BlackBugRoom she calls home!?

* 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. It can upgrade into the Mangekyo Sharingan, but only after even greater trauma. Clan lore held that the only way to unlock the Mangekyo was to murder your closest friend], though it's shown that other equally traumatic events can also work. Every Uchiha with the Mangekyo, even ones who didn't do cause the trauma themselves, has been insane, broken, or both.

** Later on in the manga, [[GeckoEnding (the anime didn't get that far)]] Insanity is a full-blown [[AppliedPhlebotinum phlebotinum]]. It is researched and used for attacks, creating [[MonsterClown "clowns"]] from it for additional power boost or protection, etc. The main researcher is Medusa, the creator of above-mentioned [[PsychoSerum black blood]]. She herself is notably {{san|ityHasAdvantages}}e and chastised by rival factions for creating "fake clowns". [[spoiler: Noah]]'s fraction, notably [[spoiler: Justin]], are more about using natural White Clown.
** 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 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.

** [[spoiler: Molly Carpenter]] by ''Ghost Story'', who displays how completely terrifying a master of illusion can be and how fast a newbie can advance if motivated strong enough. Insanely strong.

* In ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', Renfield 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."

* 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. It can upgrade into the Mangekyo Sharingan, but only after even greater trauma. Clan lore held that the only way to unlock the Mangekyo was [[spoiler:to murder your closest friend]], though it's shown that other equally traumatic events can also work. Every Uchiha with the Mangekyo, even ones who didn't cross the MoralEventHorizon to do it, has been insane, broken, or both.
** Despite the insanity of several Jinchurikis, their powers are not born of madness. It is a side-effect of hosting a demon.
** As a fan joke, the protagonist of the story is said to use a unique mental technique that is driven by his... dedication to his beliefs.

* Unlike other homicidal maniacs in ''Manga/BlackLagoon'', [[spoiler:Roberta]] becomes far more powerful and dangerous when she goes off the deep end, with complicated strategies and maneuvers that lunatics like [[spoiler:Hansel and Gretel]] distinctly lacked.

* ''ComicBook/TheMask'': This is how the wearers get their powers and abilites by letting themselves go insane in order to do so and it is implied that those who try to keep themselves in control far more than needed end up losing those powers and abilites as Masked Kathy kept her mind in balance the most out of all the wearers but when in a fight with Walter she doesn't do well at first and only had success when she starts to lose control of her mind which then does she have any success against Walter.

* ''Film/TheMask'': The Mask has his powers and abilites by being genuinely insane which seems to be the only way to get them and the same with Doran Tryll as well.

* The Flagellant in ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' is different from the other religious classes. He doesn't worship [[LightIsGood the Light]] as much as he worships [[CombatSadomasochist self-inflicted pain]]. While the classes who worship the Light can call upon it to heal wounds and strike enemies with it, the Flagellant's utter devotion to pain lets him flagellate his enemies from afar, heal himself from the blood spilt from battle, transfer the burden of others towards himself, cure his wounds by ''whipping himself long enough'', and only gets stronger as he gets closer to death and madness.

* In ''Literature/{{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."

* Lampshaded at least as early as ''Literature/{{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.