Basic Trope: Great power does bad things to one's sanity.
- Straight: Bob gets ahold of the Artifact of Doom, and his continual usage of it ends up giving him a god complex and makes him much more erratic and paranoid.
- Exaggerated:
- All wizards and practitioners of magic are mentally unstable.
- Bob puts on the Artifact of Doom and immediately turns into an Omnicidal Maniac.
- Almighty Idiot
- Downplayed: Bob gets a little careless of collateral damage after acquiring the Amulet of Concentrated Awesome, but that's it.
- Justified:
- The Artifact of Doom's powers are so evil that only people with a few screws loose to begin with would seriously consider using it. No matter how good their Mask of Sanity was beforehand, when they do use the artifact, constant fulfillment of their worst and most damaging desires causes them start sliding down the slippery slope really quickly.
- Alternately, said Artifact of Doom is an Artifact of Doom specifically because it has the side effect of driving its users insane.
- The Artifact of Doom is also Sealed Evil in a Can; it hosts an ancient evil spirit which slowly takes over its user with continued use.
- Inverted:
- Bob gets Brought Down to Normal and undergoes Sanity Strengthening.
- The magical device only works with sane people, any acts that society would consider "insane" by the broadest of definitions cause the device to shut down, and Bob and everybody around him becomes more sane the longer they have the device. It is the most extreme example of "Sanity Has Advantages" that magic can devise.
- Subverted: At first it seems that the Artifact of Doom is doing bad things to Bob's sanity, but then it turned out that something else unrelated to Bob's new power was the cause.
- Double Subverted: However, the Artifact of Doom was enhancing the psychological damage from that other source and making sure it was always at the forefront of Bob's mind.
- Parodied:
- Bob is looking forward to getting the Artifact of Doom, because he's always wanted a chance to go mad with power.
- Everyone repeatedly warns Bob that using the Artifact of Doom will cause him to develop a "serious mental condition" that he will never be able to fix. Said condition is an aversion to seafood.
- Zig Zagged: Bob gets a new power and undergoes Sanity Slippage, but then he gets therapy and and his mind is restored, only for him to become incredibly overconfident in his power.
- Averted: Whatever new artifact or power Bob is using has no effect on his mental state.
- Enforced: The writer wants Bob to make a Face–Heel Turn. Bob has previously demonstrated a weakness to temptations of power, so what better way to do that then to have him jump at the chance to get the Artifact of Doom, and then be corrupted by it?
- Lampshaded: "Bob sure has become more unstable since finding that Amulet of Concentrated Awesome."
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: Bob's nemesis Alice makes sure to put Bob in the path of a power-granting but mental instability-inducing artifact, as Sanity Has Advantages, and Bob's best weapon against her was his mind.
- Defied: Bob learns that using this power could have negative effects on his sanity and decides that it isn't worth it. He leaves the power alone.
- Discussed: "Bob, all this power may be tempting, but it isn't good for you. I really don't want to have to lock you in a mental institution because of what it will do to you."
- Conversed: "Mental instability is a common side effect of incredible power."
- Implied: Several previous owners of the Artifact of Doom went insane, but it's not quite sure whether it was the result of the artifact, stress from their situation, or if they were already nuts and really good at hiding it.
- Deconstructed: All kind of powers make you go Ax-Crazy, due to all the crazy people with powers the setting becomes a Crapsack World, the story's aesop is that the world would be better without superpowered people.
- Played For Laughs: After discovering the Artifact of Doom, Bob behaves in a very off-the-wall manner.
- Played For Drama: Bob knows that the Artifact of Doom will damage his mind, but the Godzilla Threshold has been passed and it really is his only choice.
Back to With Great Power Comes Great Insanity
