History Main / TheBerserker

* Benjamin Martin in ''Film/ThePatriot'' exhibits berserker-like qualities in battle. Especially his first and last fight scenes.

* In ''Literature/TheThirteenthWarrior'', Ahmad ibn Fadlan goes battle-mad during one attack, but seeing as he's hanging around Vikings and taking on more and more of their culture, it's not surprising.

* Silius's account of the UsefulNotes/PunicWars talked about a Carthaginian mercenary from Spain named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larus_(Cantabrian) Larus]], a huge Celtic bruiser that [[OneHandedZweihander wielded a two-handed axe with a single arm]] and [[RatedMForManly hunted bears as a pastime in his homeland]]. According to Silius, after his entire unit was killed in a battle in Celtiberia, Larus kept covering the field with Roman corpses by himself and making many of them flee in terror, until he was put down by Lucius Scipio.

** In ''LightNovel/FateZero'' the Berserker is the BlackKnight, [[spoiler:later revealed to be Lancelot]].

** ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'', due to its team-based premise, also has two Berserkers: Berserker of "Red" is Spartacus, while Berserker of Black is a genderbent [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} Frankenstein's Monster]] created before the more well-known male monster.

* {{Invoked|Trope}} and {{Exploited|Trope}) in ''WebAnimation/{{Lackadaisy}}''. Thanks to deliberate preparation and prompting by his cousin Rocky, newly recruited booze-runner and TheDragAlong Freckle goes into a [[PutTheLaughterInSlaughter cackling]] rage with dilated pupils when presented with a [[GunNut Tommy Gun]] hidden in Rocky's [[SenselessViolins violin case]], so dissociated that Rocky has to bodily move him from one car window to the other to turn a chase by rival gangsters into a fairer CarChaseShootout. Freckle only comes out of it when asked if they're safe, but not before reflexively clawing holes in the upholstery.

* {{Invoked|Trope}} and {{Exploited}) in ''WebAnimation/{{Lackadaisy}}''. Thanks to deliberate preparation and prompting by his cousin Rocky, newly recruited booze-runner and TheDragAlong Freckle goes into a [[PutTheLaughterInSlaughter cackling]] rage with dilated pupils when presented with a [[GunNut Tommy Gun]] hidden in Rocky's [[SenselessViolins violin case]], so dissociated that Rocky has to bodily move him from one car window to the other to turn a chase by rival gangsters into a fairer CarChaseShootout. Freckle only comes out of it when asked if they're safe, but not before reflexively clawing holes in the upholstery.

* In ''WebAnimation/{{Lackadaisy}}'', newly recruited booze-runner and TheDragAlong Freckle goes into a [[PutTheLaughterInSlaughter cackling]] rage with dilated pupils when presented with a tommygun during a CarChaseShootout, so dissociated that his cousin Rocky has to bodily move him from one car window to the other to help him shoot. He only comes out of it when asked if they're safe, but not before reflexively clawing holes in the upholstery.

* Another WWII soldier, well dentist actually, went berserk against the Japanese. [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_L._Salomon Benjamin “Ben” L. Salomon]] was a front line surgeon during the Battle of Saipan. When the Japanese started invading the field hospital and killing people including the wounded soldiers, he snapped, picked up a rifle, killed the soldier that got into the hospital, then picked up a machine gun and ordered the evacuation while he stood behind to cover their escape. When they came back for him after the battle, 98 dead Japanese soldiers were around him while he took 74 bullet wounds, many of which were inflicted while he was still alive.

For extra points of terrifying spectacle, oftentimes the Berserker is inexplicably [[FeelNoPain immune to pain]] and/or [[MadeOfIron injury]]. It's one thing for the screaming, frothing lunatic hacking people down left and right to simply be too savage to get near, but when they take so many arrows they look like a porcupine [[AnnoyingArrows and it just pisses them off even more]] it is quite another. When they shrug off a cannonball with little more than a feral scream, that's usually sufficient for the opposing army to [[MassOhCrap collectively shit itself]] and ''[[ScrewThisImOuttaHere run]]. ''

* As the above examples illustrate, "going berserk" is a rare but well established phenomenon that manifests as one of several responses to a person being pushed to their psychological limit. Instances have been recorded throughout history across many armies and battles.

* Probably half of the real people profiled on Website/BadassOfTheWeek got on the site by going full berserker. [[http://www.badassoftheweek.com/inouye.html Late US Senator Daniel Inouye's]] story has a good example. He charges a series of German machine gun nests, gets his arm blown off while trying to throw a hand grenade, then ''picks up the grenade he just dropped with his good arm and throws it'', and ''then'' charges the next machine gun nest in a fugue state, firing one handed until getting wounded in the leg, at which point he props himself against a tree and ''keeps shooting''. When his buddies told him what he did, he replied, "No, that can't be... you'd have to be insane to do all that."

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/SamuraiOfHyuga'': The Jigoku Itto-Ryo ''kenjutsu'' style involves the user losing themselves to rage and bloodlust, becoming a feral berserker capable of superhuman feats of violence.
[[/folder]]

* The other wiki describes the word "amok" as such: "The word derives from the Malay word amuk, traditionally meaning "an episode of sudden mass assault against people or objects, usually by a single individual, following a period of brooding, which has traditionally been regarded as occurring especially in Malaysian culture but is now increasingly viewed as psychopathological behavior". The article not only describes the state as much the same as berserking, but draws direct parallels.

* The other wiki describes the word "amoke" as such: "The word derives from the Malay word amuk, traditionally meaning "an episode of sudden mass assault against people or objects, usually by a single individual, following a period of brooding, which has traditionally been regarded as occurring especially in Malaysian culture but is now increasingly viewed as psychopathological behavior". The article not only describes the state as much the same as berserking, but draws direct parallels.

** ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'' had the [=PuToTyra=] Combo, the [[SuperMode final form]] of the titular Rider powered by the absence of desire. During Eiji's first use of the form, it was completely uncontrollable, with Eiji mercilessly attacking the two [[ChromeChampion Births]] after easily obliterating the two [[MonsterOfTheWeek Yummies]]. As if that wasn't bad enough, it also slowly corrupts him into a saurian Greeed monster, starting by robbing him of his taste for normal food. Eiji does eventually gain control of the form (at the cost of losing a good deal of its power), but intense stress not only returns [=PuToTyra=] to its fully-powered berserker state, but speeds up the Greeed transformation. Eventually, Eiji becomes the appropriately-named Eiji Greeed because of this, which starts out near-mindless, but then turns Eiji into a mindless berserker overwhelmed with one desire: [[KillEmAll the desire for nothing]].

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'': The Meta is like this but seemingly in the "berserker rage" state permanently. In ''Reconstruction,'' he goes on a massive killing rampage whenever he gets a new AI fragment, and in ''Revelation'' this is taken to its final extreme.

* Lancelot from [[Myth/KingArthur Arthurian legends]] had many aspects of this trope. When Monty Python did their ''Holy Grail'' movie, Lancelot's character was preserved. He was memorable for scenes where he would kill innocents and be pretty sorry for it later, just like the stories.

The Berserker is a character who throws himself into a fight with such reckless abandon, it seems like he ''wants'' to die. It could be [[HotBlooded over]]-[[BloodKnight enthusiasm]], overconfidence, UnstoppableRage, or [[DeathSeeker the desire to die (in battle)]]. Whatever the cause, it's usually accompanied by a [[ScreamingWarrior bellowing warcry]]. Sometimes with total obliviousness to [[FriendOrFoe whether he's actually fighting the enemy]]. And he [[AttackAttackAttack never, ever retreats]].

The trope's title refers to [[TruthInTelevision the]] ''[[TruthInTelevision berserkr]]'' [[TruthInTelevision of Viking Age Scandinavia]]: Warriors who are said to have thrown themselves into battle wearing only animal hides for armour and with no regard for their own safety. Their 'battle-madness', whose exact nature is presently unknown (some say it came from ingesting weird mushrooms or some other mind-altering substance before a battle) is said to have been a gift from Odin. The word "berserkr" means "Bear-shirt" in Old Norse, referring to either [[BearsAreBadNews their going into battle with the ferocity of bears]] or for wearing [[NemeanSkinning bear pelts]] into battle. Their effectiveness in battle is up for debate, but they were an imposing and terrifying nightmare to the continental Europeans -- and, if Literature/TheIcelandicSagas are to be trusted, to their own civilization. Some Norse societies would eventually outright ban the practices of the berserker, no doubt influenced by its people converting to Christianity.

The trope's title refers to [[TruthInTelevision the]] ''[[TruthInTelevision berserkr]]'' [[TruthInTelevision of Viking Age Scandinavia]]: Warriors who are said to have thrown themselves into battle wearing only animal hides for armour and with no regard for their own safety. Their 'battle-madness', whose exact nature is presently unknown (some say it came from ingesting weird mushrooms or some other mind-altering substance before a battle) is said to have been a gift from Odin. The word "berserkr" means "Bear-shirt" in Old Norse, referring to either [[BearsAreBadNews their going into battle with the ferocity of bears]] or for wearing [[ImpossiblyCoolClothes bear pelts]] into battle. Their effectiveness in battle is up for debate, but they were an imposing and terrifying nightmare to the continental Europeans -- and, if Literature/TheIcelandicSagas are to be trusted, to their own civilization. Some Norse societies would eventually outright ban the practices of the berserker, no doubt influenced by its people converting to Christianity.

** ''Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah'' takes this UpToEleven after Destoroyah [[spoiler:kills Junior.]] Godzilla goes into a berserk rage and begins to unleash his wrath unto Destroyah all the while [[spoiler:[[SuperpowerMeltdown dying of a nuclear meltdown.]]]] This causes Destoroyah, one of the most (if not the most) sadistic and evil monsters in the films to ''run for his life''.

* Drake and Vasquez in ''Film/{{Aliens}}''.

** ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'' has the [=MetalCluster=] Hopper Progrise Key, which causes the user's mind to be overwhelmed by a psychopathic AI. They remain fully aware, but their body attacks indescriminately. It was suppoded to be used to cripple Zero One, as the key locked out the previous transformations. But in practice, it created a murderous, near-unstoppable juggernaut before a workaround was found.

** Hippos are surprisingly aggressive, too. In Africa, they kill more humans than any animal except mosquitoes and other humans.