Madness Tropes



"Praying to yourself, my Lord? That's not a good sign. Or perhaps it is. Prince of Madness, and all that."

- Haskil, Shivering Isles

Any tropes involving madness or insanity. Except those dealing with Hollywood Psych.

These can run the gamut from the weird but generally happy chaos that inhabits the Cloudcuckoolander's mind to the darkest corners of a person's shattered psyche.

Categories:
 * Split Personality Tropes
 * This Index Has Had a Hard Life

Characters

 * Broken Ace
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer
 * But I Play One On TV
 * The Caligula
 * Cloudcuckoolander
 * Cloudcuckooland
 * The Cuckoolander Was Right
 * Clothes Make the Maniac
 * Crazy Awesome
 * Crazy Cat Lady
 * Crazy People Play Chess
 * Crazy Survivalist
 * Cute and Psycho
 * Death Seeker (usually)
 * Defective Detective
 * Determinator
 * Essential Madness
 * Evilly Affable (sometimes!)
 * Friend to Psychos
 * General Ripper
 * Genius Ditz
 * Heroic Comedic Sociopath
 * Inexplicably Awesome (sometimes)
 * Living Doll Collector
 * Madwoman in The Attic
 * Mad Artist
 * Mad Bomber
 * Mad Dreamer
 * Mad God
 * The Mad Hatter
 * Mad Oracle
 * Many Spirits Inside of One
 * The Mentally Disturbed
 * Mind Virus
 * Murder Makes You Crazy
 * Nervous Wreck
 * Nietzsche Wannabe
 * Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant
 * Only Sane Man
 * The Ophelia
 * Psycho Electro
 * Psycho Ex-Girlfriend
 * Psycho for Hire
 * Psycho Psychologist
 * Psycho Supporter
 * Psychopathic Manchild
 * Pyromaniac
 * Reluctant Psycho
 * Royally Screwed-Up
 * Shattered Sanity
 * Shell-Shocked Veteran
 * Sociopathic Hero
 * Stalker With a Crush
 * Stepford Smiler
 * Talkative Loon
 * They Called Me Mad
 * Mad Doctor
 * Mad Mathematician
 * Mad Scientist
 * Make My Index Live
 * Willing Channeler
 * Windmill Crusader
 * The Wonka
 * Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds
 * Yandere

Issues

 * A God Am I
 * Ax Crazy
 * Becoming the Mask
 * Black and White Insanity
 * Cabin Fever
 * Caligula's Horse
 * Crazy Prepared
 * Crazy Sane
 * Damaged Soul
 * Fighting From the Inside
 * Freak-Out
 * Freudian Excuse
 * Funny Schizophrenia
 * G-Rated Mental Illness
 * Heroic BSOD
 * Heroic Safe Mode
 * Humanity Is Insane
 * I Reject Your Reality
 * Interacting With Shadow
 * Lunacy
 * Lunatic Loophole
 * Mad Love
 * The Madness Place
 * Mind Control Conspiracy
 * Napoleon Delusion
 * Neat Freak
 * Ocean Madness
 * Post-Historical Trauma
 * Science-Related Memetic Disorder
 * Secret Identity Identity
 * Single-Issue Psychology
 * Space Madness
 * Split Personality
 * Sticky Fingers
 * Super OCD
 * Thoroughly Mistaken Identity
 * Through the Eyes of Madness
 * Trauma-Induced Amnesia
 * Trigger Happy
 * Villainous Breakdown
 * Windmill Political
 * Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? (Phobia supertrope)
 * Wrong Genre Savvy (Thinking you're in a sci fi or fantasy story and acting accordingly definitely counts as this when you're in a gritty drama)

Symptoms

 * Angst Coma
 * Apocalyptic Log
 * Axe Before Entering
 * Black Bug Room
 * Broken Smile
 * Chewbacca Defense
 * Companion Cube
 * Consulting Mister Puppet (sometimes)
 * Crazy Consumption
 * Crazy Memory
 * Creepy Cleanliness
 * Creepy Monotone
 * Dissonant Serenity
 * Dissonant Laughter
 * Dumb Struck
 * Full-Frontal Assault
 * Hallucinations
 * Happy Place
 * Hearing Voices
 * Hidden Eyes
 * Horror Struck
 * House of Broken Mirrors
 * Idiosyncrazy
 * Imaginary Friend (outside of childhood, that is)
 * Insane Equals Violent
 * Insane Troll Logic
 * Insanity Defense
 * Insanity Immunity
 * Laughing Mad
 * Limp and Livid
 * Lyrical Dissonance is full of crazy.
 * Mad Eye
 * Madness Makeover
 * Madness Mantra
 * Madness Montage
 * Mood Swinger
 * Murder Is the Best Solution
 * Obfuscating Insanity
 * Power Born of Madness
 * Room Full of Crazy
 * Sanity Has Advantages
 * Sanity Slippage
 * Sanity Slippage Song
 * Sanity Strengthening
 * Slasher Smile
 * Stalker Shrine
 * Talking to Themself
 * Tears of Fear
 * Terrible Ticking
 * Troubled Fetal Position
 * Unstoppable Rage
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity
 * You're Insane!

Ways to Break Characters and Twist the Plot

 * Bedlam House
 * Being Tortured Makes You Evil (and/or crazy)
 * Brainwashed and Crazy
 * Break the Cutie
 * Chronic Villainy
 * Cuckoo Nest
 * Demonic Possession
 * Despair Event Horizon
 * Driven to Madness
 * Driven to Villainy
 * Gaslighting
 * Go Mad From the Isolation
 * Go Mad From the Revelation
 * Go Among Mad People
 * Hannibal Lecture
 * Infectious Insanity
 * Critical Psychoanalysis Failure
 * Love Makes You Crazy
 * Ludicrous Speed
 * Madden Into Misanthropy
 * Mind Rape
 * No Medication for Me
 * Psycho Serum
 * Rape Leads to Insanity
 * Sanity Meter
 * Split Personality Takeover
 * There Are No Therapists

Remedies

 * Bored With Insanity
 * Epiphany Therapy
 * Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!
 * "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight
 * Battle in The Center of The Mind
 * Kind Restraints
 * Percussive Therapy
 * Sanity Ball
 * Survival Mantra

''They said it was impossible to create an index covering all the insanity tropes! They said it couldn't be done! They Called Me Mad! WELL WHO'S MAD NOW?! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!''