History VillainousBreakdown / ComicBooks

* SelfDemonstrating/{{Thanos}} tends to go nuts whenever anything endangers his relationship with Death. He stammers in disbelief when he realizes that the Power Infinite has made him ''too'' powerful to be with Death[[note]]he had to be ''equally'' powerful to Death, not ''more'' powerful[[/note]], giving the heroes the opportunity to stop him. He throws a fit of jealousy and curses Deadpool with immortality when it seems like Death likes Wade better than him. Finally, when he learns that his ThanatosGambit in ''TheThanosImperative'' has rendered him immortal, meaning he can never be with Death, he loses all of his sanity and becomes so dedicated to destroying everything that he has to be sealed in another universe to stop him.

* All of the Inner Circle by the end of ''{{X-Force}}: Necrosha'', including the sympathetic members, have devolved into raving lunatics giving [[EvilIsHammy hammy speech after hammy speech]] about how they're going to kill everyone on Earth and remake it in their image.

* [[BigBad Overlord]] from ''ComicBook/TransformersLastStandOfTheWreckers'' has the more subdued version. He's a nigh-unstoppable Decepticon [[DangerousDeserter deserter]], whose main motive for desertion (or anything) was to goad Megatron into a one-on-one fight. He takes everything the Wreckers throw at him, [[spoiler: even getting reduced to a burning endo-skeleton]] and keeps going... until [[spoiler: Verity tells him that Megatron is dead, and the fight he spent his entire life preparing for will ''never happen''. After that he just collapses and doesn't even put up a fight as they cart him off to prison.]] When we see him again in ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', he's gotten even worse; [[spoiler: he no longer even moves or cares for himself, simply lying in his cell all day muttering "[[DeathSeeker kill me]]" over and over.]]

* {{Thanos}} tends to go nuts whenever anything endangers his relationship with Death. He stammers in disbelief when he realizes that the Power Infinite has made him ''too'' powerful to be with Death[[note]]he had to be ''equally'' powerful to Death, not ''more'' powerful[[/note]], giving the heroes the opportunity to stop him. He throws a fit of jealousy and curses Deadpool with immortality when it seems like Death likes Wade better than him. Finally, when he learns that his ThanatosGambit in ''TheThanosImperative'' has rendered him immortal, meaning he can never be with Death, he loses all of his sanity and becomes so dedicated to destroying everything that he has to be sealed in another universe to stop him.
* The Riddler has a grand one when he decides to deal with [[TheFlash Impulse]]. After a bad encounter with TheFlash and Comicbook/{{Robin}}[[note]]Riddler had bailed from Gotham following the events of ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand''[[/note]], Edward heads for Manchester to deal with Impulse, thinking he can easily outwit the protege of the Scarlet Speedster and one of the Boy Wonder's closest allies. Instead, poor Eddie is left a blabbering mess with Bart utterly ignores every sign that the Riddler wants him (too busy playing video games), Bart's inability to recognize who he was (he mistakes him for TheQuestion, Mr. Freeze and Abra Kadabra), outwitting his traps without thinking (before he's done reading off his first clue, Bart comes back with the bombs by looking under every porch in town. And finds his other bombs while he was at it!) and ultimately saves his captives by retaping his last clue that he tore up. His comment after revealing the second set of bombs sells it, though:

* Allfather Starr towards the end of ''{{Preacher}}''. The abuses and mutilations he suffers over the series in pursuit of Genesis take a heavy toll, to the point where the final story arc has him pointing a gun at the mirror and saying "Doom cock" over and over again [[spoiler: and gassing his advisors when they say they're abandoning the pursuit of Jesse Custer]].

* ComicBook/TheRiddler has a grand one when he decides to deal with [[TheFlash Impulse]]. After a bad encounter with TheFlash and Comicbook/{{Robin}}[[note]]Riddler had bailed from Gotham following the events of ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand''[[/note]], Edward heads for Manchester to deal with Impulse, thinking he can easily outwit the protege of the Scarlet Speedster and one of the Boy Wonder's closest allies. Instead, poor Eddie is left a blabbering mess with Bart utterly ignores every sign that the Riddler wants him (too busy playing video games), Bart's inability to recognize who he was (he mistakes him for TheQuestion, Mr. Freeze and Abra Kadabra), outwitting his traps without thinking (before he's done reading off his first clue, Bart comes back with the bombs by looking under every porch in town. And finds his other bombs while he was at it!) and ultimately saves his captives by retaping his last clue that he tore up. His comment after revealing the second set of bombs sells it, though:

* This happens to SelfDemonstrating/{{Sinestro}} in ComicBook/GreenLantern throughout ComicBook/BlackestNight, more than once. Sinestro, by his [[KnightTemplar nature]], is big on Authority being competent in their actions. So every time he learns new evidence that the Guardians Of The Universe are [[NeglectfulPrecursors very, very, very, very incompetent]], he gets... a little upset. It's even worse for him because reminds him how the Guardians painted [[OnlySaneMan Abin Sir]] as a CloudCuckooLander for daring to expose said incompetence.

* This was the premise of the ''{{Thunderbolts}}'' "Caged Angels" arc by WarrenEllis. A group of incarcerated telepaths drive each member of the [[AntiHero already]] [[VillainProtagonist unstable]] team over the edge (Except for Bullseye, who can't get any crazier.) The best one is NormanOsborn, starts walking around naked ranting about what he'll do when he's president and how much fun killing people was.

* ComicBook/{{Venom}} (Eddie Brock), in an issue of SpiderMan, suffers a villainous breakdown after he recieves a touch of death from another villain. Eddie Brock is unharmed as his body is protected by the symbiote but the symbiote itself seemingly dies as it melts into a lifeless, motionless, puddle. Brock, who up to this point has lost everything and now the only friend he had is dead, breaks down and cries for his fallen partner. Even Spider-Man, who has been stalked and tormented relentlessly by Venom, can't help but to feel sorry for Brock. However, the symbiote would soon recover.

* [[BigBad Overlord]] from ''ComicBook/TransformersLastStandOfTheWreckers'' has the more subdued version. He's a nigh-unstoppable Decepticon [[DangerousDeserter deserter]], whose main motive for desertion (or anything) was to goad Megatron into a one-on-one fight. He takes everything the Wreckers throw at him, [[spoiler: even getting reduced to a burning endo-skeleton]] and keeps going... until [[spoiler: Verity tells him that Megatron is dead, and the fight he spent his entire life preparing for will ''never happen''. After that, he doesn't even put up a fight as they cart him off to prison.]]

** He also suffers from this in Brian Azzarello's ''{{Joker}}''. You can see it briefly when he trashes the bar after Harvey Dent doesn't take his phone call, but he finally reaches breaking point at the end when [[spoiler: Batman turn his BreakingSpeech back on him, causing him to fly into a blind rage and shoot his own loyal henchman.]]

* This happens to {{Sinestro}} in GreenLantern throughout BlackestNight, more than once. Sinestro, by his [[KnightTemplar nature]], is big on Authority being competent in their actions. So every time he learns new evidence that the Guardians Of The Universe are [[NeglectfulPrecursors very, very, very, very incompetent]], he gets... a little upset. It's even worse for him because reminds him how the Guardians painted [[OnlySaneMan Abin Sir]] as a CloudCuckooLander for daring to expose said incompetence.

* Dirk Anger of ''{{Nextwave}}'' spends the entire series going through a nervous breakdown. He thinks nobody noticed.
* Long-time ''JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' foe Vandal Savage had a rather pitiful breakdown during One Year Later when faced with the possibility of imminent death for the first time in his millennia long lifetime.

** Also, a large part of the reason for the breakdown was that Magog wasn't a straight villain, but a NintiesAntiHero who tried so hard to be TheCape, and felt guilty about all the death he caused.

* In ''StarWars Knights of the Old Republic'' Arkoh Adasca and Haazen suffer breakdowns right before meeting their deaths; Arkoh goes from Suave Buisnessman in complete control to a gibbering lunatic screaming at his men to murder the heros and daring the man he abused into smiting him in an extremely nasty karmic death, and Haazen is reduced from Magnificent (if smug) bastard to a helpless wretch who can only stammer and beg Lucien not to use the McGuffin to thwart his plans and kill him in the process. Demagol also looes his coherence and stutters, and Raana completely loses her mind.
** And in StarWarsLegacy, Darth Krayt suffers a protracted one across several issues after [[AntiHero Cade Skywalker]], the one man in the galaxy who can cure his chronic illness, escapes his grasp. [[spoiler: It gets so bad that his previously loyal [[TheDragon Dragon]], Wyyrlok, decides to kill him because he's now a liability to his own cause]].

** He gets a worse one in a story in ''ComicBook/ActionComics''. After traveling across the planet and in space in an attempt to regain something like the Orange Lantern Power Ring, Luthor gains the powers of a creature from the Phantom Zone and proceeds to use it to torture Superman. Once he finds out that Superman is Clark Kent, though, he ''loses it''.
** Then there's the time Lex ends up getting his hands on [[AGodAmI incredible cosmic power]], and manages to make the universe perfect for a few minutes. He swiftly learns, however, that in order to cement this power, he must let go of all the hatred in his heart... including his hatred for Superman. Supes, being Supes, begs him to let go of their old grudges. Lex's response? "'''YOU ''DARE'' TO LECTURE ME?'''" And thus was universal bliss ended.

** He gets a worse one in a recent story in ''ComicBook/ActionComics''. After traveling across the planet and in space in an attempt to regain something like the Orange Lantern Power Ring, Luthor gains the powers of a creature from the Phantom Zone and proceeds to use it to torture Superman. Once he finds out that Superman is Clark Kent, though, he ''loses it''.

* In the recent Garth Ennis ''ComicStrip/DanDare'' mini-series, the Mekon uses his grand finale battle with Dare to vent some long pent-up grievances:

* Comicbook/{{Deadpool}} outcrazies ComicBook/{{Carnage}} by convincing him that he's just a character in a story written by someone else with no real control over his life. Carnage falls into a VillainousBSOD so severe that he lets himself be incarcerated and refuses to leave until he can be sure he has free will again. One police officer notes that the door to cell isn't even locked.

* Comicbook/{{Deadpool}} outcrazies Carnage by convincing him that he's just a character in a story written by someone else with no real control over his life. Carnage falls into a VillainousBSOD so severe that he lets himself be incarcerated and refuses to leave until he can be sure he has free will again. One police officer notes that the door to cell isn't even locked.

[[quoteright:234:[[{{Thanos}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thanos_5540.png]]]]

* {{Thanos}} tends to go nuts whenever anything endangers his relationship with Death. He stammers in disbelief when he realizes that the Power Infinite has made him ''too'' powerful to be with Death, giving the heroes the opportunity to stop him. He throws a fit of jealousy and curses Deadpool with immortality when it seems like Death likes Wade better than him. Finally, when he learns that his ThanatosGambit in ''TheThanosImperative'' has rendered him immortal, meaning he can never be with Death, he loses all of his sanity and becomes so dedicated to destroying everything that he has to be sealed in another universe to stop him.

* In the recent Garth Ennis ''DanDare'' mini-series, the Mekon uses his grand finale battle with Dare to vent some long pent-up grievances:

[[{{Thanos}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thanos_7618.png]]

[[quoteright:154:[[{{Thanos}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thanos_7618.png]]]]