Angst Coma: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Sometimes called Post Traumatic Catatonia, this refers to a situation in which a character enters a comatose or catatonic state that is either directly caused by his personal problems, or cured by dealing with his personal problems, or both. Often, the cure comes when the character confronts his demons in a hallucinatory [[Vision Quest]], sometimes accompanied by one or more friends or loved ones who take a [[Journey to the Center of the Mind]]. For some reason, this condition is often associated with / exacerbated by [[Giant Mecha]].

 

{{examples}}

* In ''[[Vision of Escaflowne]]'', Van goes into an Angst Coma after going berserk and killing a number of minor villains. Hitomi enters his mind to try to bring him out of it, but it is ultimately Merle's heartfelt pleas that do the job.

* ''[[The Big O]]'': In the first episode of the second season, the main character goes introspectively catatonic as he struggles to figure out just who—and ''[[Tomato in the Mirror|what]]''—he is.

** Subaru has experience in this, as in [[Tokyo Babylon]] he pulled a childhood friend from the one she fell in after being brutally raped. {{spoiler|And ''he'' fell into one after Seishirou revealed that he was the Sakurazukamori, going catatonic until his sister Hokuto pulls a [[Thanatos Gambit]] and perishes at the hands of Seishirou.}}

** Clearly [[CLAMP]] loves this trope.

* Fate Testarossa from ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' faints when her mother makes it clear beyond any terms that she rejects her. Fate herself [[He's Back|comes back]] when she realizes [[You Are Not Alone|she is not alone.]]

* Aki Izayoi from ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's]]'' suffers from this after {{spoiler|watching Divine falling to his (supposed) death.}}

* Luffy from ''[[One Piece]]'' suffers from this after {{spoiler|his attempted [[Rescue Arc|rescue]] of his beloved older brother, Ace, ends with Ace [[Taking the Bullet|sacrificing himself to save Luffy from Akainu]] and [[Died in Your Arms Tonight|dying in Luffy's arms]].}}

* [[Pokémon Special|Blue]] falls into one when she sees her long-lost parents vanish right before her eyes. Considering her rather [[Dark and Troubled Past|crappy circumstances]] and everything she put into getting over it, it's understandable. Props to her for managing to get back on her feet to keep fighting and save them.

* [[Played for Laughs]] in ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]? Fumoffu!'' After Tessa's ''very'' overt advances become too much for him (after her XO and father-figure informs Sousuke that if anything "happens between them" he'll [[Overprotective Dad|fire Sousuke out a torpedo tube]]), Sousuke faints from the stress. Well, that and the exhaustion of going four days straight without sleep.

* ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'' has Kenshin go into one when {{spoiler|Kaoru gets killed by Enishi. [[Faking the Dead|Or so he's led to believe.]]}}

* Margery Daw from ''[[Shakugan no Shana]]'' goes into this after {{spoiler|discovering that the demon she was chasing for all her life was in fact a piece of herself.}}