Ax Crazy: Difference between revisions

''and gave her mother forty whacks.

''And when she saw what she had done,

 

An "ax crazy" character is someone who is psychologically unstable ''and'' presents a clear danger to others. Ax crazies are capable of extreme violence, whether carried out with a [[Slasher Smile]], a [[Creepy Monotone]], or out and out [[Unstoppable Rage|murderous rage]], and with no way of knowing just what [[Berserk Button|will set them off]], this makes them extremely frightening to deal with. Also be prepared to expect them to burst out into [[Laughing Mad|insane laughter]] while undergoing the extreme violence. This mainly differentiates them from other eccentric characters who may themselves be obsessive, weird or seemingly crazy, but use this condition hand in hand with doing good, or at least not being in the way. However, some formerly established heroes can go through an episode of ax-craziness and still retain their heroic mantle.

 

 

See also [[Insane Equals Violent]], [[Mad Bomber]], [[Cute and Psycho]], [[Hair-Trigger Temper]], and [[Blood Knight]]. Many characters with a [[Hair-Trigger Temper]] are also Ax Crazy, as is the [[Yandere]] when she goes off the deep end. Also see [[Mama Bear]], [[Papa Wolf]], and [[Violently Protective Girlfriend]], who are capable of temporary Axe Crazy grade fury when their kids or mate are under threat, though those characters are almost ALWAYS played sympathetically. The all but canonical [[Character Alignment]] for an Ax Crazy character is [[Chaotic Evil]] (or, sometimes, [[Chaotic Neutral]]). Sometimes [[The Unfettered]], depending on whether they feel freed or enslaved by their bloodlust.

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* [[Witchblade (anime)|Witchblade]]: Shiori, one of the Cloneblades, becomes Ax Crazy after fighting Masane Amaha. {{spoiler|After going off the deep end, she murders a nurse, has sex with a corpse, and tries to rape Takayama, the protagionist's boss.}}

* ''[[Peacemaker Kurogane]]'': In the manga, Suzu becomes both Ax Crazy and gay after [[Rape and Switch|an old man rapes him]].

** {{spoiler|Shion}}, a psycho [[Yandere]] who tortured several of her [[True Companions]] to death in two arcs.

* Any Diclonius from ''[[Elfen Lied]]'' has the potential to be extremely Ax Crazy, although the show manages to [[The Woobie|raise a lot of sympathy for them]] as well. Lucy, the primary character of the series (when she's not in her cute and harmless "Nyuu" mode) is one of the most frightening characters you will ever meet. Her [[Establishing Character Moment|introduction scene]] has her violently slaughtering people left and right with her vectors at a lab while wearing [[Full-Frontal Assault|nothing but a helmet]].

* ''[[Bleach]]'':

** Kenpachi Zaraki is an Ax Crazy badass who takes great pleasure in stretching fights out as long as possible for maximum bloodshed.

** Mayuri Kurotsuchi, who is very much a danger to anyone and everyone around him. The biggest difference between him and Kenpachi being that Mayuri is infinitely more sadistic and [[Crazy Prepared|only fights when he knows he has the upper hand]]. That, and he's only a danger to you if you make him mad ([[Hair-Trigger Temper|good luck avoiding that by the way]]); compared to Kenpachi, who's only a danger if you're strong.

*** His arrancar counterpart, fellow [[Mad Scientist]] Szayel Aporro Granz, fits as well. He even represents 'madness' as his aspect of death among the Espada.

** Aizen himself gets into this trope when he throws a [[Villainous Breakdown]] before his defeat.

** Loly shows signs of the jealousy-driven version.

** The Vampire Twins, Hansel and Gretel. Hansel even carries an ax. They make Revy seem almost normal, fer cryin' out loud. The most unfortunate part of that story arc is they seemed to fool viewers into thinking Rock might turn Gretel around...

** Shenhua and Sawyer the Cleaner. Both of them loved to chop up victims with their kukuri knives and chainsaw respectively. In fact Sawyer loved it so much she became a professional cleaner so she could slice up all the unfortunate people that pissed off the different mafia groups in Roanapur.

** And in the ''El Baile De La Muerte'' arc, [[Implacable Man|Roberta]] [[Up to Eleven|takes this trope to a new high]] in the course of her [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]], which is ''seriously'' bad news for Roanapur in general.

* Dr. Kazutaka Muraki from ''[[Yami no Matsuei]]'' is looking to bring back his dead older brother Saki. Not crazy enough? His brother killed both their parents. Still not crazy enough? His brother tried to kill him but was stopped (lethally) by the family butler and now keeps his bro's head in a jar till he can revive him and kill him properly. '''STILL''' not crazy enough? He's been known to remove his own major organs just to mess with people... and he's a [[Depraved Bisexual]] to boot.

* ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]'': [[Serial Killer|Johan Liebert]]. If you associate with him, you will die. If you meet him, you will die. If you make eye contact, you will die. If you so much as ''think'' about him, ''you will die.'' And if you ''won't'' think of him, he just has to think about ''you'', and you'll be just as dead. [[Complete Monster|We think you get the point.]]

** Also his [[Undying Loyalty|unquestionably loyal]] [[Psycho Supporter|hitman]], [[Implacable Man|Roberto]], though even he pales in the face of Johan's bloodlust.

* The title character of ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' actually acts this way when someone presses his [[Berserk Button]]. He's usually easy-going, but when someone sets off his temper he gives in to his demonic nature and will attack those he feels responsible - as well as anyone stupid enough to get in the way. {{spoiler|At one point, he even sets part of San Francisco ablaze and kills innocent bystanders during one of his Ax Crazy moments.}} In the manga, a major part of his character development is him learning to control his temper {{spoiler|and doing so is a key part to his victory in the end.}}

** There's also Joshua Christopher, who's gone crazy [[Comes Great Insanity|due to having Chrono's horns]]. His [[Establishing Character Moment|first appearance]] with the horns is him tearing apart a group of demons ''with his bare hands.''

** Ladd Russo and Graham Spector. Ladd is a token [[Psycho for Hire]] who takes maniacal glee in killing anyone and everyone, once beating a man to death by brutally punching him ''47'' times in the face, even after he died, and expressing his love for his fiancée Lua by passionately threatening to murder her. Graham is a destruction obsessed maniac who expresses himself by dismantling everything around, including people (he also holds deep admiration for the aforementioned Ladd, referring to him as an "older brother").

** Claire Stanfield, the cheerful train conductor who has a habit of holding people outside of moving trains and grating them on the rails.

*** Fortunately, that's just if you fuck with his train, the staff, or the passengers. Don't do any of that, and he manages to be a surprisingly friendly guy...[[Badass|who can kick the asses of anyone in the entire series.]]

** [[Blood Knight|Luciano Bradley]], the Knight of Ten, is known as the "Vampire of Britannia" in and is a self-proclaimed "homicide genius". When Zero attacks Tokyo directly, he immediately asks to be assigned to the defense just because he wants to kill people.

** Mao the [[Psychopathic Manchild]], who's usually looking for a chance to use his [[Chainsaw Good|trusty chainsaw]].

** Jeremiah Gottwald spends a brief period like this near the end of season one. After hearing Zero's voice over a broadcast channel, he goes completely berserk, steals a mech, and rushes off in an [[Unstoppable Rage]], taking out anything and everything in his way to get to the Gawain and losing his shit even more when Zero insults him. He's calmed down considerably by his next appearance, though.

* Alan Gabriel from ''[[The Big O]]'', who, due to him often descending into fits of insane laughter, and him wearing make-up, powdering his face white and wearing red lipstick, is a blatant nod to the Joker of Batman fame. [[Word of God|Most of that show is a blatant nod to Batman.]] R-D also fits this trope.

** The psychotic alter ego of Allelujah Haptism, Hallelujah, who takes this trope and runs lightyears with it.

** Michael Trinity, Nena's [[Big Brother Instinct|overprotective older brother]] and blood-thirsty pilot of the Throne Zwei (who ''always'' goes around with [[Knife Nut|his trusty combat knife]] when off-duty), in ''Gundam 00''.

** {{spoiler|Michael's killer}}, Ali Al-Saachez, a sadistic, sociopathic [[Blood Knight]] and [[Psycho for Hire]] who commits horrific and random [[Moral Event Horizon|atrocities]] for his own [[For the Evulz|amusement]].

** Gaara of the Desert, before he [[Defeat Means Friendship|loses]] to [[The Messiah|Naruto]].

** Kakuzu when he gets mad becomes an [[Omnicidal Maniac]].

** Deidara is also pretty crazy as evidenced when he tried to kill both himself and Sasuke via blowing them up.

* ''[[Death Note]]''

** Teru "Sakujo" Mikami. He loves passing "God's judgment" on the people he kills. During the warehouse scene he had what would be hard to describe as anything but an orgasm after he wrote {{spoiler|the SPK members' names}} in the Death Note. {{spoiler|But as it turns out, Near replaced the pages of Mikami's Death Note so that he could not kill them no matter how many times he wrote their names down}}.

* In ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', most evil characters were at least [[The Stoic|cold or sensible]], and at the most just a bit odd. That is till Tsukiyomi, deprived of seeing her [[Sempai-Kohai|sempai]] Setsuna for months turned from merely fight-happy with a touch of [[Blood Knight|blood-lust]] to a complete [[Psycho Lesbian]] for her rival swordswoman. The [[Subtext]], Oh [[This and That|The Subtext]].

** Really, it's gotten a bit too [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v25/c227/8.html blatantly] [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v25/c228/12.html obvious] to still be called 'subtext'.

* Sekai and Kotonoha, two almost-protagonists from ''[[School Days]]''. Especially Kotonoha (in the anime and game).

* Gettou Mokoto from ''[[Change 123]]'' suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder. Three of her personalities (Hibiki, Fujiko, and Mikiri) aren't actively dangerous to those around them and only fight as a defense (admittedly, [[Blood Knight|Hibiki]] has a liberal definition of same). It's Zero, her fourth personality, that is dangerous to everyone around her, whether they be enemies, one of her fathers (long story), friends, or even her [[Love Interest]] Kosukegawa.

* In ''[[Angel Densetsu]]'', while Ryoko and Ikuno [[Berserk Button|usually aren't]] ''that'' dangerous, being always around [[The Messiah|Kitano]] is not a good comparison for them. There's even a nice [[Lampshade Hanging]], in which Ryoko ends up beating up several times the same guys: she tries to calm them, they get even more scared, she gets annoyed, and then she 1-hit KO's them again.

* Most of the main cast in ''[[Dorohedoro]]'' is, but [[When All You Have Is a Hammer|hammercrazy]] Shin and [[Knife Nut]] Cayman take the cake.

** At point in the first or second series (the [[Hot Springs Episode]]) she decided that humanity is an impediment to true order [[Kill All Humans|that must be purged]], and [[Nightmare Face|then]]...

* By the end of the third arc of ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'', {{spoiler|Eva}} has gone off the deep end and {{spoiler|shoots Battler}}. [[Mind Screw|Probably]].

* Grell Sutcliff from ''[[Black Butler]]'' is Ax Crazy, although somewhat manageable.

** [[Creepy Child|Alois Trancy]] from the second season. Oh GOD.

* Claire Leonelli, from ''[[Heat Guy J]]'', is a 19-year-old mafia don with severe mental issues, and an unnerving love of hand grenades (or as he calls them; "fireworks). He even decides to give his father a "fireworks show" at his funeral, by chucking a grenade into his father's grave, saying "papa! It's fireworks! You like them, right?" He then found this [[Evil Laugh|extremely amusing]].

* All over the place in ''[[One Piece]]'', starting with a minor case in the appropriately themed [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|and appropriately named]] [[Red Right Hand|Axe-Hand Morgan]]. Some examples:

** A better example would perhaps be Shine, who had no qualms whatsoever about blowing up a city full of innocent people for the sole purpose of traumatizing Mara...and then ''grinning'' about it as she screams in pain.

* Gennai Doma from ''[[Black Lion]]'' is extremely murderous; he'll slaughter any ninja in his path. This is because a group of them killed his wife and he got cyborgenetic implants that gave him super strength and other powers.

* Kevin of ''[[Karate Shoukoushi Kohinata Minoru]]''.

* [[Depraved Homosexual|Captain]] [[Complete Monster|Continental]] of ''[[Legend of the Blue Wolves]]''. He tries to sexually subdue subordinates that take his fancy and if they happen to refuse him he whips them and beats them half to death unless they submit. And if even that doesn't work he just rapes them, beats them, and forces them to participate in various sexual activities with absolutely no remorse. In fact, he seems to get sexual pleasure (if his constant [[Slasher Smile]] is any indication) out of breaking, beating up, and raping people. And at one point, he ran at Leonard, all the while screaming like a savage when Leonard tried to stop him from continuing his [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]] on Jonathan.

** Takamura and Ryo Mashiba have their moments too. Mashiba himself goes '''mad''' when he fight Sawamura, which results in one of the dirtiest matches in the whole series.

* Hibari (more Tonfa Crazy though), Mukuro, Byakuran, Birds, Belphegor, Rasiel, Glo, Xinia, Xanxus, and {{spoiler|Daemon Spade}} from ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]''.

* ''[[Eyeshield 21]]''

** Agon Kongo was implied to be this early on in the series. After being defeated by Deimon, his earlier axe craziness evolves into him simply being incredibly selfish and willing to use violence to further his goals if he can get away with it. His later characterization of just being a major prick means his earlier actions could be seen as him just being a ''ridiculously'' petty [[Jerkass]].

** Hiruma purposely builds his image off of being seen as one. Once you get to know him, you realize there's actually meaning to his madness.

* Suikotsu's evil side from ''[[Inuyasha]]''. The title character himself can also be this whenever he goes into his youkai form.

** Also Jakotsu, the local [[Depraved Homosexual]]. He has an attraction to Inuyasha and in his sadistic version of love tries to torture him to death because of it.

** From the [[Puella Magi Madoka Magica|main series]]: Homura, Kyouko, and Sayaka have various shades of Ax-Craziness at various points in the story. {{spoiler|Sayaka}} especially goes psycho as the series goes on, eventually {{spoiler|becoming a witch and having to be put down}}. [[Deconstruction|Yeah, it's that kind of story]].

*** The manga makes it worse, just with some of the [[Slasher Smile|facial]] [[Dissonant Serenity|expressions]] at some points. Probably helps that the manga was released alongside the anime and so the artist knew little more than the audience at the time of drawing it, so not knowing who was really good and who was really bad, he apparently just decided to make everyone insane... [[Tropes Are Not Bad|which isn't such a bad thing, really.]]

* Sakon Daimaru from ''[[Gamaran]]'' when he fights seriously. Partially justified by the massive trauma caused by his ambitious big brother Ryuugo.

* ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' had two characters who shared this trait. The first and most obvious is [[Monster Clown|Pierre Le Fou]] who is a complete sociopathic serial killer who just...kills. {{spoiler|And has the mind of a 4-year old to boot}}. The second is, to a lesser extent, [[Big Bad|Vicious]]. His megalomania and quest for power leads him sacrifice everyone from {{spoiler|his pet bird to old friends with whom he shared many memories}}. Both share the characteristic of killing for the sake of killing more people.

* ''[[Fairy Tail]]'' has [[Pyromaniac|Zancrow]] and [[Super-Powered Evil Side|Zero]] and both the eyes are [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]].

* Rune of ''[[Karakuridouji Ultimo]]'' is definitely heading this way. And then there's [[Cute and Psycho|Ultimo]]...

** Tsukune's Ghoul form definitely counts, what with all the bloodshed, [[Laughing Mad|insane laughter]], and repeated use of the word [[Madness Mantra|'kill']].

* After he realizes that Ichigo loves Masaya and not him, Kisshu from ''[[Tokyo Mew Mew]]'' becomes this way via [[Love Makes You Crazy]]. In episode 45, after Ichigo refuses to leave Earth with him, he goes into a rage and tells Ichigo that if he can't have her then he'll kill her. He even employs the usage of a [[Slasher Smile]].

* ''[[Big Order]]'': Kurenai Rin.

* Saionji and Nanami fall into this during their respective duels with the titular Utena of ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]''.

* Sakurako and sometimes Katsuragi from ''[[Sakura Gari]]''.

* Many a villain from ''[[Berserk]]'' such as Femto ( {{spoiler|or Griffith}}), and Guts evil side.

 

== Comic Books ==

** Batman used to be quite willing to kill people though that may have been changed one of the times they retconned the entire DC universe. It's been established that he'll kill if it's a matter of multiversal importance ([[Darkseid]]), or if you really, really, ''really'' piss him off (Joker, [[Infinite Crisis|Alex Luthor]]).

* ''[[Superman]]'' also has his share of crazies.

** Subverted in the same series with the Chainsaw Vigilante, who was [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]]. Except he always fought to wound rather than kill, and was skilled enough with his weapon of choice to actually pull it off.

* ''[[The Badger]]'' by Mike Baron featured a [[Badass Normal]] superhero... except that Norbert Sykes was in fact batshit insane with multiple personalities, one of which was his heroic alter ego, [[wikipedia:Badger (comics)|the Badger]].

* Deeply subverted by ''[[Johnny the Homicidal Maniac]]''. Johnny, who is a [[Serial Killer]] and [[Anti-Hero]], knows he is crazy and thinks of himself as the villain, but he's [[The Woobie|treated sympathetically]] by his creator. You get the feeling that he would be [[Misaimed Fandom|shocked by the positive light]] usually put on him, if he knew about it.

{{quote|'''Johnny:''' I've been talking to dead rabbits and feeding bloody walls. I've done horrifying things with salad tongs. It's really eaten into my social life.}}

* "The Female" and "The Frenchman" from ''[[The Boys]]'' and [[Wolverine]] from ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' - all "good" guys!

** Don't forget Sabretooth, the [[Psycho for Hire|psychopathic]] bestial assassin who, unlike his "good" counterpart Wolverine, fully embraces his murderous and feral instincts.

* The villainous Psyko, one of ''[[Sleepwalker]]'''s most dangerous adversaries, more than lives up to his name. He was a [[Serial Killer]] ''before'' being transformed into a demonic creature, and after that using his powers to make everyone else around him [[Brainwashed and Crazy]], including Sleepwalker himself.

* Galvatron, of ''[[Transformers]]'', is frequently thought of as Ax Crazy. This is perhaps unfair. He is certainly ''insane''--think [[Evil Overlord|Megatron]], but [[Large Ham|(more?) operatic]]. He is not Ax Crazy, though...at first. His sanity degenerates markedly, seemingly after the destruction of Unicron, however; a popular [[Fanon]] theory wasn't ''quite'' made canon in Simon Furman's run on the G1 comics. By the end of the series (more accurately, the penultimate issue)...well, when you have a particle cannon that can blow apart even other creations of [[Planet Eater|Unicron]] in a single shot, but think of [http://www.tfwiki.info/wiki/Image:Galvatroniiteeth.jpg this] as a good battlefield tactic, you have a good idea of how Galvatron thinks at this point...

* Played around with in ''Punisher War Journal Annual #1'' (2008)... the [[Big Bad]]'s plot to {{spoiler|siphon Frank Castle's psychosis and mind for sale as an intoxicant in gaseous form}} backfires when everyone exposed ends up "tripping" on the Punisher's mind... and the sheer messed-up-ness. The difference is that he is used to it even after he inhales {{spoiler|his own psychosis}} and can still function, whereas the "super" wannabes that would have been barring his way become incapacitated, babbling wrecks. In general, some writers make him lean in this direction, and the ''Punisher War Journal'' series has recently hinted at this.

* ''[[Deadpool]]'' demands to know why he is not on this page, seeing as he effectively combines this trope with [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]], [[Sociopathic Hero]], [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]], and many more.

* [[Daddy's Little Villain|Sin]], the [[Red Skull]]'s daughter.

** And her equally psychopathic boyfriend Crossbones. In modern Marvel the two are basically Mickey and Mallory Knox as supervillains, with all that entails. In their first story arc they go on a non stop killing spree across America: Because they CAN.

** Speaking of the Dark Avengers, most of the team is nuts. Bullseye is wildly murderous. [[Venom (Comic Book)|Venom]] can barely keep himself from eating everyone he meets. Even Osborn is constantly trying to hold back the crazy goblin voices in his head.

* All the villains in ''[[Hack Slash]]''. The essential concept of the series is that you can become undead just by being Ax Crazy enough, and it makes you '''worse'''.

* Bullseye is this and then some.

* Rorschach and the Comedian from ''[[Watchmen (comics)|Watchmen]]''. While both have different motivations (The Comedian is a sadist who enjoys the harm he inflicts, Rorschach is a moral absolutist who exterminates anyone and anything that he views as evil), both are vicious and not above torture or murder.

* ''Hothead Paisan: Homicidal Lesbian Terrorist''. And bomb crazy, knife crazy, grenade crazy, baseball bat crazy, aerosol spray crazy...

* Troy Grenzer in ''[[Shade the Changing Man]]'', the man who kills Kathy's parents. Subverted when Shade takes over his body at the point of his execution in the first issue. So the hero of the comic has the face and body of a convicted killer! Though Troy dies in the first issue, his influence is felt throughout the series.

* Cain from ''[[Echo]]'' is genuinely insane, complete with religious delusions and messianic fantasies, and that only adds to the terror of his violent rampages. When a man is already mentally unstable things become worse when you add in the ability to literally fillet you with his mind.

* Andrea Mouse in ''[[Horndog]]''.

* It would probably be easier to ask who '''isn't''' Ax Crazy in some way, shape or form in ''[[Sin City]]''.

* In ''[[American Vampire]]'', you have Skinner Sweet...and quite a few of the more "traditional [[Our Vampires Are Different|vampires]]," and {{spoiler|Hattie's getting there in a hurry, if she isn't already there.}}

* Many of [[Darkseid]]'s minions qualify

 

* Anyone that breathes in the Giygas gas in ''[[Attack of Giygas]]''. As for named characters, we have Dr. Mario, Pichu, Ashley (who claims that she's sane), {{spoiler|Lucas, and Link.}}

* Red Cyclone in ''[[Ace Combat: The Equestrian War]]''

* {{spoiler|Daemon}} from the ''[[Tamers Forever Series]]'' could be the posterboy for this trope, a nigh unstoppable psychopath who is quite litterally ''fuelled'' by his own hatred, often exploding into violent rages and laughing maniacally at the sight of others in pain.

* Joe Dark from ''[[Clash of the Elements]]'' is a very prime example of this trope {{spoiler|and this very trait of his is amplified immensely after he gains the Dark King's powers.}}

 

== Film ==

* As almost everyone knows, Jack Torrance in ''[[The Shining]]''. "HEEEEEEEERE'S JOHNNY!"

* "*Mrs.* X" {{spoiler|(Rose Michaels)}} in ''[[So I Married an Axe Murderer]]'' is a very literal example.

* [[Trigger Happy]] Lola from ''[[The Transporter|The Transporter 2]]'' "Actually, my problem's not medical. It's psychological." (shoots the nurse.) And a few moments later: "What seems to be the problem?" "Me." (yet another burst of gunfire.)

* Geaer Grimsrud from ''[[Fargo]]''. In fact, in one scene he actually uses an ax.

* Arthur Burns from ''[[The Proposition]]'' is a well read and very deep [[Warrior Poet]]...who just happens to have a penchant for gang-rape and mass murder.

* Max Cady (especially De Niro's version) from both versions of the film ''[[Cape Fear]]''.

* Mr. Blonde/Vic Vega from ''[[Reservoir Dogs]]'' while certainly being [[Evil Is Cool|the embodiment of cool]], is a sadistic monster who nonchalantly murders and tortures innocent people for the hell of it while [[Faux Affably Evil|dancing to catchy tunes on the radio]]. Let's just say, the scene he is most famous for is a classic case of crossing the [[Moral Event Horizon]].

* Elle Driver and Gogo Yubari (as well as the main cast) of ''[[Kill Bill]]'' are excellent examples. Elle is a venomous, hateful, [[Rival Turned Evil]] who distinguishes herself from the other ruthless killers of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad by being the only member who is genuinely evil and malicious, while Gogo is simply [[Psycho for Hire|a violent, sadistic sociopath]] who, quoting The Bride, [[Little Miss Badass|"Makes up for her young age with madness."]]

* Jonathan Brewster in the play and movie ''[[Arsenic and Old Lace]]''. He's murdered as many people as his two aunts combined, but did it far less calmly. He wants to kill again [[Body Count Competition|just so he can be ahead in the count]].

** Arguably the old ladies are even worse, having killed 11 old men, and making it to the end of the story still convinced that what they've done is a form of charity.

* Heddy from ''[[Single White Female]]''. From the number of people she kills and impersonates she certainly seems to fall under the Axe Crazy heading.

* Kazuo Kiriyama from ''[[Battle Royale]]'': He shoots down several unarmed girls, grabs their megaphone and puts it to one girl's mouth so everyone within hearing distance can hear the sounds she makes as she dies.

* Travis Bickle slides into this throughout ''[[Taxi Driver]]''. No, no sir. I am not looking at you.

* Played for laughs in ''[[Babes in Toyland]]'':

'''Barnaby''': ''No, just steal them!'' }}

* In ''[[Inglourious Basterds]]'', Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz, a German soldier who murdered thirteen Gestapo officers for no explained reason combines this trope with [[The Quiet One]]. He is also considered [[Crazy Awesome]].

** There was a reason. They were Gestapo officers. He's implied to have a moral objection to the Nazis (and also to just enjoy a challenge).

** Probably the entirety of the Basterds also qualify, although to a lesser extent than Stiglitz. For one thing, their second scene had them brutally beating down a German officer who chose death over betraying his comrades, and mocking him and berating him cruelly. In addition, when he refused to supply the info and insulted them, they laughed at him instead of reacting angrily, to which Lt. Raine even admitted that watching the Bear Jew bludgeon the German officer was the closest they'll ever get to watching movies. Their treatment of German prisoners when letting them go is also not much different: They carve a swastika onto the forehead of the German prisoners in order to ensure that they cannot take off their affiliations to the Nazis, and Raine even remarks at least twice that his actions are art.

** Rumpelstiltskin. Don't be fooled by the trickster shell. Deep down, he's really a homicidal sociopath.

** Prince Charming in the ''Scared Shrekless'' story "Boots Motel", (a parody of ''[[Psycho]]'''s Bates Motel) which Donkey and Puss in Boots make up.

* Bobby Thompson of ''[[Targets]]''

* The Yakuza with the Green Shirt (Kenji Mastuda) from Kitamura's ''[[Versus]]'' is a clear example of Ax Crazy. In fact, he seems to be utterly and completely unable to be entirely serious or show any signs of normalcy through the entire movie; he constantly makes faces and sounds, laughs like a maniac, screams and overall draws attention to himself by simply being a nutjob in every scene where he's present.

* Hannibal Lecter in ''[[The Silence of the Lambs]]'', when he escapes from his cage, bludgeons his captors to death with a cool, detached expression on his face.

{{quote|"A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and [[A Glass of Chianti]]. *hisses*"}}

* Fouchet, in ''[[Bad Boys]]''. His plan seemed to involve killing everyone he encountered. His first reaction when the cops arrive at the end? Shoot his partner.

* Sykes and Don Lino from ''[[Shark Tale]]''.

* {{spoiler|King Malbert}} from ''[[Igor]]''.

* The killer in ''7eventy 5ive'' is both crazy and literally uses an axe to kill people.

* Indio from ''[[For a Few Dollars More]]''.

{{quote|'''Tiberius:''' Do you think this boy has drunk enough wine?

'''Caligula:''' I think he's drunk enough, Lord.

* ''[[The Great Mouse Detective]]'': Ratigan towards the climax, when he's enraged.

* ''The Adventure Of Tom Thumb & Thumbelina'': The Mole King towards the end when he chases down Tom and Thumbelina.

* Pooh-Bear in ''The Salton Sea'' is both crazy and extremelly dangerous.

* Frank in ''[[The Departed]]'' truly embodies this trope.

* ''[[Beauty and the Beast]]'': Gaston during the final showdown with the Beast.

* Lord Barkis Bittern from ''[[Corpse Bride]]'' after finding out that Victoria is poor after he married her. He {{spoiler|murders Emily so that he can get her fortune}} and it is implied that he plans to do the same to {{spoiler|Victoria}}. He also attempts to kill Victor.

** Actually its hinted that she was never entirely sane to begin with...if you take notice of the fact that she has former mermaids as a polyp garden in the entrance to her cave...

* Alex of ''[[Fatal Attraction (film)|Fatal Attraction]]'' although she doesn't seem like it at first is this taken [[Up to Eleven]].

** The Hyenas from the previous film also qualify. They are known to crack jokes relating to eating their victims when they find prey, as evidenced by how they behaved in the previous film when they trapped Nala, Simba, and Zazu.

* Lord Shen from ''[[Kung Fu Panda 2]]''.

* Lola of ''[[The Loved Ones]]''.

* Mrs. Tweedy in ''[[Chicken Run]]'' takes this trope literally when she sees the chickens escaping and suffers a [[Villainous Breakdown|breakdown]].

* ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?|Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]'': [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Judge Doom]]. For the most part, a calm, cool, and collected version. Then after he gets flattened he loses it.

* Loki, the [[Big Bad|main villain]] of ''[[The Avengers (film)|The Avengers]]'', announces his arrival on Earth by killing a bunch of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents with {{spoiler|the evil spear of doom that the Chitauri gave him}}. He then proceeds to kill a lot more people over the course of the movie. A ''lot'' more.

 

== Literature ==

* Patrick Bateman, title character of ''[[American Psycho]]''. And Rachel Newman, of the female-centric sequel to the [[Film of the Book]].

* The ''[[Discworld]]'' series by [[Terry Pratchett]] often has these as villains.

** Carcer, a sadistic sociopath in ''Night Watch''

* ''[[The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]]'' - If Edward Hyde isn't Ax Crazy I don't know who is. He does pretty horrible things throughout the book, but the most gruesome of his deeds is the murder of one of the leaders of parliament. He has completely no reason for it, no provocation, and bashing in the face of old gentleman isn't really anything that sane men would do. As described in the book:

{{quote|The spirits of Hell woke up in me to their full rage. I hit the defenceless body within intoxicating ecstasy and I enjoyed every single hit. Then I ran along the lit street still full of this amphibious euphoria, gloating about my crime and at the same time planning lightheadedly new ones, although listening carefully in case for the steps of chasing avenger. With a song on his lips Hyde mixed the potion, and upon drinking it he drank the toast of dead man.}}

* Holloway Roberts becomes Ax Crazy in ''[[House of Leaves]]'' as a result of ever more dire circumstances while trying to explore the {{color|blue|house}}'s [[Bigger on the Inside|labyrinthine halls.]]

* Rodya Raskolnikov from ''[[Crime and Punishment]]'', like Annie Wilkes, is literally ax crazy at least once. Although that was because he flipped out in the middle of a murder he'd already premeditated.

{{quote|A casebook sociopath, if ever he'd seen one.

People called Larkin mad, but he wasn't mad like Cuu. Cuu was a cold killer. A psycho. }}

** Interestingly enough, Arya Stark (a survivor of one of Gregor's murderous rampages through south-central Westeros) seems headed in this direction. [[Sociopathic Hero|She's one of the good guys, though.]] It's a real pity that she never got the chance to give Gregor a taste of ''valar morghulis'' ( {{spoiler|High Valyrian for "Everyone Dies"}}) before his death.

* In [[Agatha Christie]]'s ''[[And Then There Were None]]'', the murderer is obviously Ax Crazy material as they are more than willing to kill nine people for the sake of making sure they don't [[Karma Houdini|escape justice]] considering they killed people and all. Interestingly enough, one other character qualifies who is ''not'' the murderer: {{spoiler|Vera Claythorne}}, after being [[Break the Cutie|forced to endure four straight days of pure psychological torture]] including looking back on {{spoiler|[[Yandere|her murder of a little boy so her lover could inherit his estate]], [[Beware the Nice Ones|completely snaps and kills Philip Lombard]]}} minutes before committing suicide.

** Note that this is not in any way unusual in Druchii culture, for example, that father of his tortured him for about a week for some reason. And he really, really needed the magic knife, and didn't know who had it until he barged in and started killing people about it. The others had also tried/succeeding in doing rather nasty things to him in the past.

* Iida Sadamu from ''[[Tales of the Otori]]'':

* FBI Agent Pynebox in ''[[The Adventures of Fox Tayle]]'' does this after he breaks off from the rest of his team. He uses a gun, a knife, his fists, and a switchblade.

* Roger and Jack of ''[[Lord of the Flies]]'' eventually become this during their stay on the island. Early on Roger was tormenting the "littluns" for fun, throwing rocks at them. In the end, Roger pushed Piggy to his death by rolling a massive boulder on him. Jack used him as a torturer, and he even made a stick sharp at both ends in order to impale Ralph and roast him over a fire.

** Also Caine after his {{spoiler|visit with the Darkness in ''Hunger.''}}

* Quinton from Zane's ''Addicted''. Add Dempse as well.

* ''[[Colt Regan]]'' - Johnny Nobody's reaction to Colt stealing a job from him is this.

* ''[[Dread]]'' - {{spoiler|Steve}} becomes ax crazy at the end of [[Clive Barker]]'s short story. After [[Break the Cutie|enduring psychological torture that causes his mind to snap]], he takes a fire axe from the homeless shelter where he was dropped off, tracks down {{spoiler|Quaid}}, and proceeds to [[Karmic Death|slowly hack him to death]] [[Beware the Nice Ones|over the course of the entire night]].

* ''[[The Elenium]]'': [[The Brute|Adus]], an ape-faced, [[Dumb Muscle|frighteningly stupid]] thug and [[Psycho for Hire]], who commits rape and murder for kicks, slides into [[Unstoppable Rage]] in battle, and ''cuts through his own men'' to get to [[The Hero]] and [[The Lancer]], all while "bellowing like an enraged bull". Jeez.

* Erik from ''[[The Phantom of the Opera]]'' certainly has more than a few Ax-Crazy moments. His unfortunate habit of garroting anyone that sees him, aside from Christine, is certainly proof of this.

* ''[[In Death]]'': A number of the murderers Eve pursues certainly qualify as this. However, other murderers prove to be perfectly sane.

* ''[[Time Scout]]'' gives us [[Jack the Ripper]]. Twice.

* Richard Lopez of ''[[Ship Breaker]]'', a drug-addicted nut who tries to kill his own son.

* [[Big Bad|The Composer]] of the web-novel ''[[Domina]]'' considers it an act of admirable willpower when he doesn't murder a prisoner just because he can. His larger motives remain unclear, but its looking like he doesn't care for anything besides [[For the Evulz]].

* Lydia of ''Caught In The Act'' by Peter Moore.

* Brinkley, the replacement Bertie hires when [[The Jeeves|Jeeves]] quits in ''[[Jeeves and Wooster (novel)|Thank You, Jeeves]]'', is a [[Battle Butler]] [[Gone Horribly Wrong]]. Ordinarily he's merely unpleasant and creepy, but when he gets drunk, he chases ''everyone'' relentlessly with carving knives, choppers and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|potatoes]]. And, since Bertie never actually gets near enough to fire him, there's some [[Fridge Horror]] inherent in the fact that ''he's still on the loose'', and may at any moment decide to [[A Worldwide Punomenon|take a stab at]] being Bertie's valet again.

 

** Drusilla. Drusilla's craziness is a result of the mental trauma she experienced as Angelus tortured her and made her watch while he tortured and killed her family.

** Angelus, who liked to recreate the slaughter of his own family whenever he got bored.

** Connor ends up Ax Crazy after {{spoiler|killing his godlike daughter Jasmine}}, snapping completely after learning a man he stopped from committing suicide would have left his family alone, holding a mall hostage and rigging it with explosives, insisting that a man stop holding his daughter wrong (because Connor broke his arm). Connor had some [[Abusive Parents|problems]] [[Tyke Bomb|with]] [[Oedipus Complex|his]] [[Eldritch Abomination|family]].

* ''[[iCarly]]'': Nora. ''Literally'', since she also held a medieval hatchet that scared off the trio back to their incarceration.

** Ax Craziness is the [[Planet of Hats|hat]] of the Reavers. As Zoe puts it in the pilot episode, these cannibalistic once-human horrors will "rape you to death, eat your flesh, and sew your skin to their clothing -- and if you're very, very lucky, they'll do it in that order."

* ''[[Dexter]]'' had "the Ice Truck Killer" and the Trinity Killer. Dexter himself is not Ax Crazy. He's very particular and methodical about who, how, and when he kills, and limits his victims to murderers who have evaded justice (He does do in a couple of child molesters, as well).

* In the last season of ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' there's an inmate named KillCrazy. Ironically, at the first chance to actually kill something, he runs headlong into a doorframe and knocks himself out cold.

* From ''[[Scrubs]]'':

{{quote|"Heh, Hooch is crazy."

** He once shoved a man into a pizza oven because he asked for a raise. This killed him.

** The Axe Murderer, who shows up from time to time.

** The Daleks. Ex-ter-min-ate! Extra credit to the Special Weapons Dalek. Basically, a Dalek with a [[BFG]] strapped to the front. The only problem is that the radiation drives the Dalek insane, and as liable to destroy its own Dalek comrades as the enemy. The Daleks keep it chained up and call it "The Abomination".

** Their creator, Davros who kill off his own race when they tried to stop him from make the Daleks, told the Doctor that if he were giving the power to end all life he would do it just to prove that he could and later on made a bomb that would DESTROY! REALITY! ITSELF!

** In [[The Movie]], he's [[Incredibly Lame Pun|fax]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lNDXc7a8p4 crazy].

* ''[[Doug Anthony All Stars|DAAS Kapital]]'': Psycho Bob, a psychopathic American [[Serial Killer]] with a fixation on Tim.

* Tuco from ''[[Breaking Bad]]''.

{{quote|'''Jesse:'''"Are you basing that on he's got like a normal, healthy brain or something?! Did you not see him beat a dude to death for, like nothing?!"}}

* Most of the killers in ''[[Criminal Minds]]'', as the show tends to only deal with the most extreme criminals. They range from the technically-sane but extremely sadistic and heartless to people with almost no grip on reality whatsoever.

* Centauri Emperor Cartagia of ''[[Babylon 5]]'', epically ax crazy and in charge of a planet. Prone to laughing and doing a merry jig with you one second and casually having you executed the next. Planned to have his world {{spoiler|blown up by the bad guys in exchange for his ascent to godhood (or so he believes.)}}

* Many a inmate on ''[[Oz]]'' is this. Beecher becomes this after taking a level in badass, and some of the guards show these tendencies.

* In ''[[Young Dracula]]'' Boris ends up like this after merging with his vampiric reflection, appalling even the vampires around him with his willingness to ignore [[Even Evil Has Standards|their few moral codes]], culminating in him {{spoiler|murdering the Grand High Vampire so he can steal his crown.}}

** In the season 3 finale {{spoiler|[[Sealed Evil in a Can|Sethius]] quickly proves utterly insane, killing the vampires around him purely because he can. He intends to replace humanity with vampires because he ''wants'' them to run out of food and descend into violent chaos. He's bad enough that Ingrid and the Count actually follow the plan instead of scheming so they can take him down.}}

* ''[[Rizzoli and Isles]]'' features Hoyt.

 

== Music ==

* Referenced in [[Pink Floyd]]'s "One of My Turns" from ''[[The Wall]]''. As Pink proceeds to demolish his apartment in front of a groupie, he screams the following:

** The lines have a double-meaning, since Pink is a guitarist and would under normal circumstances simply be referring to his guitar.

** Also, there's their early song "Careful With That Axe, Eugene".

** And why not mention "One of These Days": "One of these days, I'm going to cut you into little pieces"

* The protagonist of the ''[[The Birthday Massacre]]'' song "Happy Birthday".

** "Sweating Bullets" by [[Megadeth]].

** "Axes of Evil" by 3 Inches of Blood, literally.

** [[Metallica]]'s (quite good actually) cover of [[Queen]]'s "Stone Cold Crazy". Also, "Battery", as in 'assault and'.

** [[X Japan]]'s "ILLKILLYOU," "Kurenai," "Week End" (alongside a nightmarish and over the top PV) and "Rose of Pain." "Rose of Pain" is about [[Elizabeth Bathory]], a [[Real Life]] Ax Crazy. ([[Historical Villain Upgrade|Okay, MAYBE not as much.]])

* "[[Fallout|Hey everybody, did the news get around/About a guy named]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34ivDW_BU94 Butcher Pete?]"

* In the video to Babes in Toyland's "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU1ANLb4QPY He's My Thing]," a [[Creepy Doll]] mutilates another [[Creepy Doll]] out of jealousy.

* In the first few lines of [[Cage]]'s "[[Dream Within a Dream|Among the Sleep]]", he wakes up to find a dead prostitute with an ax in her back.

* The Writer from Coheed and Cambria's first Good Apollo album. By the end, he is definitely mentally unstable and has the ability to kill off any character he wants, since he wrote them into existence.

* [[Space|Mr Psycho]]. He'll blow you away.

* The title character from [[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]]' "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", who goes around bashing people over the head with said hammer whenever something doesn't go his way.

 

== Newspaper Comics ==

** Another arc had Steve being the defense-lawyer for a crazed elderly female murderer who "signed" court documents by chopping at them with her axe.

* Pig's Guard Duck from ''[[Pearls Before Swine]]'' has this played for laughs.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* The Wayward creed in ''[[Hunter: The Reckoning]]'' are all Ax Crazy. Every Hunter is imbued by the [[Powers That Be]], but most are left to their own devices afterward. The Waywards, however, get to experience the Powers up close and personal ''all the time''; this being the [[Old World of Darkness|(old) World of Darkness]], that's ''not'' a good thing. Furthermore, other Hunters show a preference to protect humanity from unruly supernatural forces; Waywards, on the other hand, are more likely to blow up any supernatural creature they encounter (no matter how harmless), and shrug their shoulders if any humans die as a result of "collateral damage." The biggest Ax Crazy is Joshua, AKA "God45," who is implied to have {{spoiler|stolen a nuclear weapon}} during the [[The End of the World as We Know It|Time of Judgement]]. He [[They Just Didn't Care|becomes a player character]] in the video game ''Hunter: the Reckoning: Wayward'', where Fanatic656 displays the traditional Wayward traits.

** ''[[Hunter: The Vigil]]'', Reckoning's [[New World of Darkness]] counterpart, features slashers as antagonists, humans who are driven to kill. Some become mortal serial killers; others, however, begin to manifest supernatural powers to 'help' in their pursuit...

** Khorne's favorite daemonic servant is the Bloodthirster known as Skarbrand, who was manipulated by rival god [[Magnificent Bastard|Tzeentch]] into attacking Khorne himself. This ended with a furious Khorne grabbing him by the throat and hurling Skarbrand from his citadel so that he fell for seven days and lost his wings in the crash-landing. The experience left Skarbrand with no other emotion than pure, undistilled hatred and fury, and a mission to roam the mortal and immaterial universe and kill anything he finds in a vain attempt to appease his god - for Khorne is so impressed with Skarbrand's work that he prefers his rampage across reality. Skarbrand is ''so'' contagiously Ax Crazy, in fact, that any creatures nearby are also overcome by insatiable bloodlust, compelling them to tear apart their enemies in hand to hand combat.

** On the subject of Chaos Space Marines, [[Mini-Mecha|Dreadnoughts]] have a special Crazed! table they must roll on each turn, giving them a chance to lunge into close combat or unload their ranged weapons on the nearest squad, friend or foe. They're such demented killers that outside of combat, even after the pilot's [[Emergency Transformation|sarcophagus]] has been removed, the empty war machine is kept chained to a wall, just to be safe.

** Even heroic factions are subject to this. The Blood Angels' Death Company consists of Battle-Brothers who have fully succumbed to the chapter's flawed gene-seed, hallucinating themselves as their lost Primarch during the final battle of the [[Horus Heresy]]. Not only are they so consumed by bloodlust that they must charge into close combat, but their minds are so far gone that they [[Feel No Pain]] as well. They're not expected to survive their battle, and any that do are [[Mercy Kill|mercy killed]] by the chapter's [[Badass Preacher|Chaplains]].

** [[Space Elves|Eldar]] Exarchs are warrior-priests of Kaela Mensha Khaine, their bloody-handed god of war. Though the Eldar Path leads each member of the race to foster [[Split Personality|multiple personalities]] as they master one occupation at a time, the Exarchs are those who have become trapped on one of the Warrior Paths. Forsaking their past identities, they take up the mantle of the last to wear their armor and live only to wage battle on the Eldar's enemies. Biel-Tan [[Generation Ships|craftworld]] is ruled by a council of such Exarchs, and known for its zealous and xenocidal campaigns to rebuild the ancient Eldar empire.

* ''The [[Iron Kingdoms]]'': Kommander Orsus Zoktavir, [[The Butcher]] of Khardov, is a very literal case of ax crazy. [[I Call It Vera|Its name is Lola]].

* Cyborgs who get too many implants, in settings where [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul]]. They're known as "cyberpsychos" in ''Cyberpunk 2020'' and C-SWAT's special Psycho Squad gets called in when one goes on the loose.

** In the fourth edition of the game, Gruumsh is changed from the axe crazy god of the orcs, to simply being the ''god'' of axe crazy-ness.

** In addition to Gruumsh, ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' has Garagos, a practically nonsentient deity of bloodlust and destruction.

** "Madman" actually had its own entry in the 2nd Edition ''Ravenloft Monster Compendium''.

* In ''[[Talislanta]]'', any [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Ahazu]] in the throes of "shan-ya" counts. Actually, most Ahazu are [[Blood Knight|pretty edgy to begin with]].

* [[Our Orcs Are Different|Orcs]] in ''[[Pathfinder]]''. [[Half-Human Hybrid|Half-orcs]], however, are not necessarily so; in fact, the one half-orc iconic (so far) is [[Neutral Good]].

* ''[[Arkham Horror]]'''s maniacs. In particular, while most [[Eldritch Abomination|Ancient Ones]] have rules changing how the cultist enemies function, [[Mad God|Azathoth]]'s cultists are completely insane and count as maniacs.

** Almost all demons under the rule of Belhalhar act the same way, to the extent that getting them to stop fighting is quite hard.

** The [[Lizard Folk|Maru]] a race of crocodile people almost all act the same way as directed by their god Kr'Thon'Chh {{spoiler|he and Kor are one and the same god, despite many humans fear that the Maru follow a demon}}

 

== Theatre ==

* The eponymous hero of [[Sophocles]]' ''[[Ajax]]'' goes on a murdering rampage of sheep and cattle after Athena strikes him with madness. It's pretty clear that he was intending a rampage against Odysseus and the Greek troops anyways, but it would have been slightly less [[Break the Haughty|humiliating]].

 

== Video Games ==

* ''[[Xenogears]]'' has Id, also known as [[Names to Run Away From Very Fast|the Demon]] [[Red Baron|of Elru]]. Whenever he pops up, he goes around killing ''everything'' in sight, committing genocide, crashing a "space station" (killing all the people living inside), or just behaving like a "normal" serial killer, and murdering people one by one. {{spoiler|In reality, Id is actually [[The Hero|Fei]]'s [[Split Personality]]. The guy has a lot of issues.}}

* The Prophet of Truth, ''[[Halo (series)|Halo]]'''s own ax crazy madman. He finally gets to almost use his weapons (seven rings that will kill all life in the Milky Way) in ''[[Halo 3]]''. The Arbiter in Halo Wars is a clear example.

*** Outside of canon, his change in mental stability is due to Joseph Staten not playing him in 3. Staten had protrayed him as a calculating, heavy headed leader in Contact Harvest and Halo 2, which is a stark contrast to how he is shown in 3.

* Fritz from ''[[Brain Dead 13]]'', whose deranged methods of killing involve eggbeaters, harpoons, and a blender. Combine that with him being a [[Determinator]], and, well... you're screwed.

* ''[[Drakengard]]''

** Arioch is an Ax Crazy Elven [[Action Girl]]. Due to the loss of her children (presumably right in front of her eyes and in [[Heroic BSOD|some gruesome way]]), she's now a cannibal, and has a preference for small children. She's also on the player's side.

* In ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'', every now and then one of your dwarfs may snap and start killing anything and everything in sight. The usual cause for this is their happiness falling too low, although there are others. Often from having seen/being attacked by another dwarf that had this happen to them.

*** A (rather appropriate) meta example from that very [[Let's Play]] comes in the form of StarkRavingMad, one of the appointed overseers of the fortress, who devises a plan to finally end the seige of elephants that was threatening to kill them all:

{{quote|'''StarkRavingMad:''' I've started project 'Fuck The World,' a top secret attempt to funnel magma to the outside. I'll kill those elephants. I'll kill ''all'' those fucking elephants.}}

* Kefka from ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]''. This is a man who reduced the planet to a burned-out shell [[For the Evulz|because he could]], and then randomly took out the remaining pockets of civilization with a [[Wave Motion Gun]] whenever he got bored. That's during his encounter with the Warring Triad. Beforehand, he was, while relatively normal, a man prone to [[Laughing Mad|breaking into fits of hysterical laughter]] when doing atrocious crimes, had brainwashed Terra and ordered her to torch fifty soldiers alive, attempted to burn Figaro, poisoned Doma (and in that particular case, he also mused maniacally about his joy about listening to "music" revolving around hundreds of people screaming in unison), brutalized various Espers in the [[Magitek]] research facility while maniacally declaring himself [[A God Am I|to be a god]], massacreing various Espers at Thamasa as well as burning Thamasa to the ground.

** His backstory reveals that he was the first Magitek Knight, but the process was imperfect, and that he became insane after the process, which is heavily implied to involve brain surgery, meaning that the Empire literally broke his brain.

{{quote|You'll ''never'' get your hands on my brother ever again, you [[This Is for Emphasis, Bitch|bitch]]! [[Laughing Mad|HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!]]}}

** And there's also Arakune, the [[Laughing Mad]] [[The Unintelligible|unintelligible]] [[Eldritch Abomination]] who will [[Implacable Man|never stop hunting for]] the Azure, and kill and/or [[I Am a Humanitarian|consume]] anyone who gets in his way.

** Didn't find out that {{spoiler|Snake is alive}}? Hopefully, you didn't go through Door 1...

* ''[[Super Paper Mario]]'' has {{spoiler|Dimentio}}. It's not obvious at first, but about three-quarters of the way through the game he starts {{spoiler|killing characters left and right, all the while cracking jokes and delivering lines like "It won't be so bad, I promise", in addition to being [[The Starscream]]}}. He's also referred to as being psychotic at least once in the game.

* Daniella the maid from ''[[Haunting Ground]]''. She is a homunculus created to be the "perfect woman" by her master. However, she cannot feel pain or pleasure, which drives her to scream at her reflection because she feels she is not "complete". She becomes even crazier and hateful towards Fiona, who ''can'' feel what Daniella cannot. Daniella comes to a logical conclusion - she must obtain the vital essence known as Azoth, which Fiona possesses, in order to become complete. She plans on tearing the Azoth right out of Fiona, and pursues her relentlessly throughout part of the game. She is prone to fits of maniacal laughter (her head often spasms violently when she does so) and will shriek at random.

* In the first ''[[Mechwarrior]]'' game, you can get pilots to help you in your group, each comes with a picture and a quote along with their stats, before you hire them. One of them is Killer, wearing a ski mask, with the quote "I want to burn villages and eat dead, burnt bodies, kill, kill, kill!"

** He gets an homage in ''Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries'' in the form of Jake "Killer" Ives, a cheerful psychopath who was also a cheap, effective pilot, noted in his hiring profile to be a sadist bar none, with [[Humongous Mecha]] as his tool of choice for hurting other people.

* From ''The Mark of Kri'' we have Tati. This deserves special mention because her older brother [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Rau]] is the one with the ax, but he's remarkably calm and level headed. And he never speaks in anything except battle cries. {{spoiler|Unless Tati turns to [[The Dark Side]], in which he will utter her name once before Tati and the forces of darkness slaughter him.}} Tati, on the other hand, is ''very'' vocal and has moments of exceeding maliciousness. The way she slaughters single enemies with her knives looks more painful than anything Rao does with his ax, and considering the body count Rao racks up with it, that's saying something.

* Barbatos Goetia of ''[[Tales of Destiny]] 2'' is also an example of Ax Crazy trying to prove that he's the strongest out there, which caused him to be written out of history in the first place. It's not just his personality that is insane, his power is also insane that he can even be invulnerable against magic whenever someone tries to cast one. He also wields an ax. If you want more of his Ax Crazy stuffs, just listen him pull an [[Evil Laugh]] or his [[Kiai]].

* The main reason Jade Curtiss from ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]'' banned relicating living creatures was that when he attempted to revive his [[Dead Little Sister|mentor who he accidentally killed]] through it, the resulting clone was an ultra-powerful [[Bonus Boss]] with a sociopathic personality. No wonder he was a bit apprehensive about using it again.

* Zagi from ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]'', who, at about 3/4 through the game seems to have no reason for wanting to kill Yuri other than that he wants to kill Yuri. His Ax Crazy status is lampshaded by his one eye that's smaller than the other possibly because he's so insane that he can't be bothered to hold them both open. {{spoiler|In one of the boss battles against him, he casts poison on HIMSELF!}} Most battles consist of him spouting random crap about wanting to kill Yuri.

* Jerme, the Black Fang assassin nicknamed Death Kite from ''[[Fire Emblem]]'', fits this one like a glove. He says to [[Hot Chick with a Sword|Lyn]]: "You! Woman! You have beautiful skin. If I sliced you into lovely red ribbons with this, would the pieces be as soft and delicate as silk?"

* Several of the playable characters from ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'', particularly Scout, Soldier, [[More Dakka|Heavy]] and possibly [[Kill It with Fire|Pyro]]. Surprisingly, not [[Punch Clock Villain|Sniper]].

{{quote|No, I'm not a crazed gunman, Dad; I'm an assassin. The difference being that one is a job, and the other is mental sickness.}}

* Needles Kane the driver of Sweet Tooth in the ''[[Twisted Metal]]'' series, especially his Twisted Metal Black incarnation.

** The cast of ''[[Twisted Metal]] Black'' is made up of delusional priests, hillbilly psychos and doll faced murderers. The sanest characters in the whole thing are [[Big Bad|Calypso]], Agent Stone, and John Doe. The last two are genuinely good and sane people, who are in it for just reasons, and were institutionalized for severe PTSD and amnesia-related conditions. Still, the fact that the [[Big Bad]] is saner than most of the cast is somewhat... disturbing.

** In between rounds, he shouts to Mac, "Keep hitting me! ''I love it!!''" Then, when he gets back in the ring, he punches himself several times, then makes an insane smile at the camera. His fighting style involves him running around the ring and attacking from the side, as well as jumping off the wires and trying to punch. This guy was perfectly normal in his first appearance.

*** "Your wimpy little punches won't even faze me." There's taking a hit and then there's getting your jollies from it.

* ''[[Batman: Arkham Asylum]]'' has {{spoiler|Quincy Sharp}}, who is by all appearances normal when you speak to him except in the {{spoiler|Spirit of Arkham}}, where it can be seen that he is an absolutely ''insane'' [[Knight Templar]].

** Let's not forget the main villains of the plot, some of the absolute craziest of Batman's rogues gallery. [[Serial Killer|Zsasz]], [[Monster Clown|Joker]], [[I Am a Humanitarian|Killer Croc]]...

** Her ''[[Grand Theft Auto III]]'' incarnation is just as crazy and [[Yandere]], but has traded in the adrenaline junkie streak for a treacherous streak a mile wide.

* The Burning Blade clan in ''[[Warcraft]] II'' and ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' deserve a mention, as a clan of Ax Crazies that were held in check by a large group of ogre enforcers. The Horde "was not willing to employ them except in the most extreme cases, for fear that they might turn on other clans or even each other".

** ''Warcraft III'' has the Alliance rifleman (well, rifledwarf) revealed as this if you [[Stop Poking Me|click on one often enough]].

{{quote|Guns don't kill people, '''I do!''' (cackles insanely)}}

{{quote|Whenever I see a world untouched by war, a world of innocence, a world of lush forests and clear rivers... I really just wanna ''nuke the crap out of it''!}}

* ''[[Zombies Ate My Neighbors]]'' has both Chainsaw Maniacs and traditional ax-wielding Evil Dolls. The sounds of a chainsaw revving offscreen coupled with insane children's laughter serve to keep you awake at night.

* ''[[God of War (series)|God of War]]'' has [[Villain Protagonist|Kratos]], who slaughters his way through [[Classical Mythology|the gods and monsters of Greek mythology]] in all three games.

* The [[Big Bad]] {{spoiler|Elizabeth Greene}} from ''[[Prototype (video game)|Prototype]]'' is so Ax Crazy that she forces Alex Mercer (who is quite violent in his own right) into an alliance with Blackwatch in order to bring her down. {{spoiler|The fact that her mind was fried by Carnival II some time ago might have something to do with this.}}

* Penny from ''[[Nintendo Wars|Advance Wars: Days of Ruin]]'' vacillates between being an [[The Ophelia|Ophelia]] and being Ax Crazy, mainly depending on the wishes of her stuffed Mr. Bear.

{{quote|'''Penny''': "Hee hee! Penny likes you...but Mr. Bear ''HATES YOU!''"

* In ''[[Soul Nomad and The World Eaters]]'', the [[Omnicidal Maniac]] Gig is a good example of this. {{spoiler|Absolutely ''everyone'' on your side is Ax Crazy in the Demon Path.}}

* Both [[Sands of Destruction (video game)|the game]] and [[Sands of Destruction (anime)|manga]] of ''World Destruction'' has the heroine, [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Morte]], who is more than happy to blow up a city. The anime version, however, gives us the resident [[The Chick|chick]] Rhi'a, who has no qualms to pull out her guns when she is pissed.

* Sandal from ''[[Dragon Age]]''. Enchantment? Enchantment!

* [[Super Soldier|Jack]] from ''[[Mass Effect 2]]''.

* Adele in ''[[Arc Rise Fantasia]]'' is an [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]]. She did not take it well.

* Snow White from [[Fairytale Fights]].

** And Yuuka Kazami was this in the PC-98 games. Genocide was just a game to her... It's been dialed back quite a bit for the 9th game in the series... Though she is still able to worry some characters, including '''Cirno''' of all of them. And there's very little that worries that ice fairy even slightly.

** And now from [[Word of God]], Kisume has been confirmed as this much to the fans surprise. This also makes her somewhat unusual for this trope as she is also a [[Shrinking Violet]].

* The Evil Twins from ''[[Crash Twinsanity]]''.

* {{spoiler|Marx}} from ''[[Kirby Super Star|Kirby Super Star and Ultra]]''.

* In ''[[The Dishwasher]]: Vampire Smile'', Yuki starts out killing enemies with her teeth, and doesn't see much reason to stop.

* In ''[[Double Switch]]'', {{spoiler|Eddie}} is revealed to be this.

* ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' series has a few noteworthy Ax Crazies:

** Ghirahim from ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword|Skyward Sword]]''. He has unabashed bloodlust, first promising to beat Link within an inch of his life, then burn him alive, and then finally torture him until he's deafened by his own screams.

* The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5Wg9i3UNOY Assault Bomber] in ''[[Bomberman|Bomberman Generations]]'' is both a [[Mad Bomber]] and [[Trigger Happy]].

* [[Big Bad]] Mordred from the ''[[The Black Mirror|Black Mirror]]'' games.

* ''[[Saints Row]]'': Johnny Gat in ''2'', the Boss him/herself in ''3''.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* ''[[Supernormal Step]]'' has [[Hidden Agenda Villain|Mr. Kite]], who blends elements of Ax Crazy, [[The Mad Hatter]], and [[Magnificent Bastard]] all at once.

{{quote|Mr. Kite: Whatever. Nothing else [[Incendiary Exponent|left to burn]], I'm bored, let's get out of here.}}

* In ''[[Devil Bear]]'', [http://www.thedevilbear.com/?p=21 Winnie the Pimp] is brought back to life by well meaning friends but he [[Came Back Wrong]]

** Also, White Mage in [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2005/05/22/e3-05-dream-analysis/ this guest comic].

* Belkar Bitterleaf of ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'', described as "a Chaotic Evil halfling who is constantly trying to murder anyone who gets in his way! Or looks like they may possibly be thinking about getting anywhere sort of near his way at some unspecified future point, just to be sure."

* The Infernomancer ([[Fan Nickname|TIM]] for short) from ''[[Dominic Deegan]]: Oracle for Hire.''

* Red of ''[[No Rest for The Wicked (webcomic)|No Rest for The Wicked]]'', even if she is one of the protagonists.

{{quote|'''Klaus''': DuPree. When I say the words ''Alive and Unharmed'' -- do ''any'' neurons actually ''fire'' in that brain of yours?

'''Bang''': Um--No Sir!

'''Klaus''': I thought not. }}

* Kamekaze Kate is a car racing Ax Crazy in ''[[Misfile]]''.

** At first at least after she was freed from her sister's influence she got a lot better. And her race with Ash ended in a traditional [[Defeat Means Friendship]] moment, {{spoiler|that is Ash's defeat by Kate}}

* ''[[Electric Retard]]'' is full of them. One even happens to be a naked guy with an axe.

* Axel of the ''[[Ansem Retort]]'' seems to go out of his way to inflict grievous bodily harm on his "friends", and generally murders anyone who happens to exist anywhere within a hundred mile radius of himself.

** Larxene is, arguably, even crazier having destroyed Disney Land and everyone/thing inside it just because she wanted funnel cake.

* Cousin Dougal from ''[[Platinum Grit]]'', a psychopathic immortal Scotsman who lives to stab.

* David Willis, author of ''[[Walkyverse|It's Walky!]]'', ventures into this from [http://www.shortpacked.com/d/20060710.html time to time].

* Butch from ''[[Chopping Block]]''.

* Mal from ''[[Head Trip]]''.

* Mel Kelly from ''[[Narbonic]]''. Very.

* Nina from ''[[Venus Envy]]'' - starts out as a [[Sociopathic Hero]] of sorts who constantly threatens / injures people and is played mostly for laughs. [[It Got Worse|Then she]] {{spoiler|stabs the main character.}}

* ''[[Bittersweet Candy Bowl]]'': Just [http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs48/f/2009/228/b/c/Heeeeeere__s_Abbey__by_taeshilh.jpg imagine][[The Shining|...]]

** undyingUmbrage. He apparently wants to kill everyone and wants to kill uranianUmbra for no practical reason.

** Jack Noir. At one point, he's stuck in jail with nothing but a pumpkin full of knives. He then proceeds to murder everyone around him, even when he's trying to keep at least one of them alive to open his cell.

** Meenah, also. to the point where she greets people by trying to kill them, and blew up herself and all her freinds, as well

* [[Karate Bears]] are [http://www.karatebears.com/search/label/axe pretty fond of axes.]

 

== Web Original ==

* {{spoiler|Umbridge}} in ''[[A Very Potter Musical|A Very Potter Sequel]]'' at the beginning of the second act. [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Literally.]]

* {{spoiler|Evan}} of [[Everyman HYBRID]] seems to be turning into this; [[Depending on the Writer|some]] interpretations of the [[Slender Man]] also point him as this.

* [[Chorocojo]]'s [[Let's Play]] of the ''Pokémon'' games has characters interpreted as being completely Ax Crazy, such as Misty (no relation to the second gym leader from ''[[Pokémon Red and Blue]]''/''Yellow'') and Gatorface the totodile starter for ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver|Pokémon Crystal]]''.

* While not as bad as, say, [[Ask That Guy With The Glasses]] or Sage, [[The Nostalgia Chick]] has a habit of smiling a big, girly grin right after she's said something disturbing. It kinda gives off the impression that she has more than a few screws loose.

** And let's be honest here, while his craziness is different from Ask That Guy's stepford, sadistic brand, [[The Nostalgia Critic]] ain't exactly all there.

* The actress playing Juliet in ''[[The Demented Cartoon Movie]]'' throws a bomb at her Romeo. After being told to not do it again, she goes crazy and throws a bomb at the replacement Romeo.

 

== Western Animation ==

* Disney's classic ''Mickey and the Beanstalk'' features [[Donald Duck]] near the start, almost delusional from hunger. It's one of his funniest moments; see it [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGnz4RykgF8&feature=related here].

* Ren from ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show]]'' is probably one of the most infamous examples of this trope.

* Katz from ''[[Courage the Cowardly Dog]]'' is a genuine psychopath.

** With his pants off no less, commenting throughout on how wrong it is but how he's going to continue to do it.

* Who could ever forget Flippy from ''[[Happy Tree Friends]]''? Over the course of the show, he has brutally murdered around 53 innocent characters in a variety of ways that are as creative as they are gruesome.

* Stewie from ''[[Family Guy]]''. Particularly when Brian owes him money, or when he is [[Not Good with Rejection|rejected]].

** Meg too, out of a desperation for love and affection.

* Groundskeeper Willy from ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' is just one [[Hair-Trigger Temper]] away from becoming this trope.

** There was also a one-shot (well, technically, ''two''-shot) character employed at the power plant in "Marge Gets A Job." This guy was shown polishing a shotgun and talking to himself:

{{quote|'''Crazy Dude:''' I am [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|the Angel of Death]]. [[The End Is Near|The time of purification is at hand]].}}

** Homer himself went on a murderous rampage in a Treehouse of Horror episode when the cable wasn't working and when they ran out of beer.

* The eponymous character of ''[[Invader Zim]]'': Ax Crazy, [[Psycho for Hire]], and [[Mad Scientist]], all rolled into one. Which ''would'' make him a [[Magnificent Bastard]] [[Badass]], if he wasn't also [[Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds|hyper-incompetent]], [[Lord Error-Prone|incredibly narcissistic]], and a frequent [[The Chew Toy|Chew Toy]], as well.

** Negaverse Launchpad? Happy with firing a bazooka at cute little girls. The Muddlefoot family? Tank's OK as a [[Non Evil Twin]], but Herb, Binky, and Honker were shown with a row of severed duck heads on a pole in their yard. With their beaks sewn shut. Fun for the whole family, that Disney!

* Disney [[Up to Eleven|one-upped itself]] in ''[[Gargoyles]]'', with Demona. During the City of Stone arc, she manages to turn all the humans in [[New York City]] [[Taken for Granite|to stone]], and then is seen roaming the streets, casually destroying humans-turned-to-stone with a huge mace. This one didn't so much bypass the radar as tore the radar a new a-hole. And since it's Disney, ''nobody called them on it''.

* Eva and Izzy from ''[[Total Drama Island]]''. Izzy does appear as a lovable goofball but she shows signs of this.

* ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' has Danny's [[Psycho for Hire|evil]] [[Bad Future|future]] [[Future Me Scares Me|self]] as this. The first thing he did upon "reawakening"? Steal the ghostly half of [[Big Bad]] Vlad Masters ([[Our Ghosts Are Different]] is in full force here) and then kill his human half in front of Vlad, who viewed Danny as a surrogate son. In his first scenes, he kills at least a dozen people as well and spends much of the episode killing or planning to kill some more. The fact that even Vlad refuses to tell Danny how his human half died speaks ''volumes''.

** Then there's Inferno, Megatron's [[Pyromaniac]] [[The Dragon|Dragon]]. To wit:

{{quote|''"[[Feed Me|Burn in the fires of Inferno]]!!!"''}}

** Also Brock Samson when he goes on one of his killing rampages. The Monarch accurately describes him as a "Swedish Murder Machine".

* Rico from ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar]]''. Lampshaded by Skipper.

** Also, [[Yandere|Princess Mandie]].

** [[George Washington|MUST CHOP WOOD!]]

* Eric Cartman on ''[[South Park]]''. He {{spoiler|kills Scott Tenorman's parents and feeds them to him in the form of chili. Why? Because Scott scammed him out of $16.}}

** On his page on the official [http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/Eric_Cartman#Mental_Health South Park wiki], it has a detailed paragraph on his mental health. Apparently, Eric Cartman shows signs of sadism, Schizophrenia, identity issues, gender confusion, psychosis, psychopathic nature, narcissism, and [[Department of Redundancy Department|possibly even insanity]].

* A good portion of [[Superjail]]'s cast. ''Especially'' [[Killer Robot|Jailbot]].

* The Monkey King from ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]''. At first, he seems like a [[Crazy Awesome]] prankster, but before long he's going after Jackie and Jade with an actual axe.

{{quote|'''Therapist''': Just say whatever comes to mind.

'''Galvatron''': Rend! Mangle! ''[[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|Distort]]''! }}

{{quote|"[[Madness Mantra|Where's a patient? Where's a patient? I gotta find a patient. I gotta find a patient]]."}}

* ''[[Thundercats 2011]]'' has Kaynar, a [[Giggling Villain]] [[Psycho for Hire]] recruited as one of [[Big Bad]] Mumm-Ra's new [[Four-Star Badass|generals]]... when they bust him out of ''prison.'' His [[Establishing Character Moment]] sees him strapped to a gurney and heavily restrained just to be moved to solitary confinement, which he earned after killing [[Serial Killer|eleven inmates]]. He's pretty sanguine about his punishment:

{{quote|'''Kaynar:''' At least I'll have the voices in my head to talk to. }}

 

== Real Life ==

* Socrates argued that not all good-faith promises should be kept. His example is a scenario where an ax is borrowed from a man who then goes crazy. It would be immoral, Socrates notes, to return the ax. This may be the origin of the ax as the weapon of choice for a fictional homicidal maniac, and qualifies this trope as [[Older Than Feudalism]].

* The [[Too Soon|real-life incident]] involving a Japanese high school girl [[Self-Made Orphan|who beat her father to death with a hammer]], that led to the cancellation/preemption of select episodes of ''Higurashi Kai'' and ''[[School Days]]'', i.e. the infamous "Nice Boat" incident.

** Greyhound: Where will you [[Incredibly Lame Pun|be heading]]?

* What's scarier than Ax Crazy? Ax Crazy ''[[The Caligula|in charge of a country]]''. How about a list of some deranged dictators?

** [[Emperor Caligula]]

** Idi Amin

** Rafael Trujillo

* German actor [[Klaus Kinski]] was famous for playing many complete psychos, and equally infamous for acting the same way outside of movies as well. To this day, most people are not really sure if he actually ''was'' that crazy or just an incredibly firm believer of True Artists Must Be Offensive and simply loved to scare and [[Troll]] the shit out of everyone near him. During interviews and life performances, he's constantly shouting at and insulting the interviewers and his audience.

* Joshua "General Butt Naked" Blahyi of [[Liberia]], infamous for entering combat [[Full-Frontal Assault|in the nude]].

** Nah, he was just fighting in the spirit of Terry Goodkind. He had the right Moral Fiber to run around naked in battle!

* Foday Sankoh who fought in the civil war in Sierra Leone. His best-known military campaign bore the charming title: ''Operation Kill Every Living Thing''.

* Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army. Viewing himself as a spokesperson to God, he abducts children and forces boys to kill their own families.

* Lewis Powell, the [[The American Civil War|Confederate Army]] veteran tasked by John Wilkes Booth to assassinate the US Secretary of State William Seward. After failing to gain access to Seward's room by pretending to be a pharmacist's messenger, Powell pulled a revolver on Seward's son Frederick. The revolver misfired, so Powell [[Pistol-Whipping|smashed Seward's head in with the pistol]], irreversibly jamming it. He then burst into Seward's room with a 14-inch long Bowie knife, grievously injured Seward's other son Augustus and daughter Fannie and a Union Army nurse, and stabbed Seward so badly that he was at first given up for dead. One of his stabs ripped open Seward's entire left cheek, exposing his teeth. The only thing that saved Seward's life was the fact that he was had been injured in a carriage accident several weeks prior, and was wearing a brace around his jaw that prevented Powell from cutting his throat. After stabbing a messenger who had heard the commotion and come to help, Powell threw down his knife and ran into the street screaming "[[Villainous Breakdown|I'm mad! I'm mad!]]". He was arrested several days later, and hanged with three other conspirators in Lincoln's assassination.

* Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. He was considered Ax Crazy ''[[Even Evil Has Standards|by Al-Qaeda standards]]''. Shortly before his death by airstrike, US intelligence intercepted messages from Al-Qaeda leadership essentially telling Zarqawi to tone it down, as his penchant for [[Off with His Head|decapitations]] was turning other insurgents against Al-Qaeda and pushing them into the US camp.

{{quote|Heaven Brings forth endless things to benefit man.

Man has nothing with which to repay Heaven.

[[Madness Mantra|Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.]] }}

* Killer bees. There's a reason they're called that-most bees won't sting you unless you threaten them. Killer bees will attack at what they consider even the slightest sign of provocation. Which is almost anything. Even your breathing can set them off. [[Turned Against Their Masters|We created them]] [[Gone Horribly Wrong|to be a great source of honey.]] [[It Got Worse|And they multiply.]]

* [[Video Game Cruelty Potential|There are some gamers who grow very bloodthirsty when in the joys of the slaughter in a game of their choice]] (it's been theorized that this is the reason why ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'' sells enough to warrant many sequels). If any [[Moral Guardians]] are reading this, most of them limit it only to games, not in real life.

 

----

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Tropes of Legend]]

[[Category:Madness Tropes]]

[[Category:Just for Pun]]

[[Category:Violence Tropes]]

[[Category:Truth in Television]]

[[Category:Villains]]

[[Category:Horror Tropes]]

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]