Berserker Tears

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
For the medic!
Jacuzzi was angrier than I'd ever seen him. Which means he cried a whole lot more than usual.
—Donnie, Baccano!

A character is fighting or screaming or deeply lamenting/angsting, sometimes in a rage that's frightening to behold. At the same time tears are streaming down their face.

Sometimes they cry with grief about what just happened that drove them into the rage. Others show their regret about the harm that they're doing. Occasionally it's just the fear, physical pain and plain horror of battle. It's hard to tell.

Either way the fight often seems like a last resort to overcome the pain and lash out against this cruel world as a whole. It is usually followed by Heroic BSOD. In some cases, this can accompany a Villainous Breakdown.

Contrast Tranquil Fury and Dissonant Serenity. See also: Manly Tears.

Examples of Berserker Tears include:


Anime and Manga

  • Happens in Bitter Virgin to Daisuke. Later he berates himself for being "so uncool!"
  • In Dragonball Z, Gohan has a variant of this after breaking through the Super Saiyan 2 barrier. What makes it so powerful is the implication that Gohan understands the kind of line he just stepped over to go this far (that his childhood innocence is lost). The implication is backed up by the horrific brutality he attacks with in the next episode.
    • Also happens to Trunks in the Future timeline, who cries tears of rage at Future Gohan's death at the hands of the Androids as he finally breaks the Super Saiyan barrier.
  • The whole concept of the Crying Freeman.
  • Subaru did this during her moment of Unstoppable Rage in Episode 17 of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS. Nanoha herself also did this, whilst unleashing the most comprehensive Befriending ever on Vivio.
    • In A's, when the Wolkenritter desperately fight Nanoha and Fate near the end of the season. As does Reinforce while trying to kill Nanoha and Fate.
  • Alita got these when she thought some thugs had killed Figure Four.
  • Guts from Berserk gets these during Griffith's horrific crossing of the Moral Event Horizon at the end of the anime. More specifically, after he chisels off his own arm with a broken sword in order to attack Griffith while he is brutally raping Casca as Femto. After this attempt to save her fails, Guts can only cry streams of blood and tears as he is Forced to Watch the horrific rape of his lover continue as he gets his right eye clawed out.
    • In the scene prior to this where Guts and the Hawks discover Griffith broken and tortured, Guts cries while holding him and then goes... well, berserk all over the Midland guards holding Griffith captive, killing them in great swaths.
    • After the horrible, horrible events during the Eclipse and Guts awakens days later, he goes through a monumental Freak-Out that consists of many tears, utter despair, bursts of rage, and finally an epic vow of revenge in the rain.
    • After Judeau dies and she's surrounded by apostles, Casca gives one last shot at trying to defend herself by picking up Judeau's sword and charging at the apostles in rage and tears. Though she goes against them pretty valiantly considering the situation, Casca is still no match for the apostles as they break the sword and then start discussing what they intend to do with her. All Casca can do is stand there utterly petrified, let the tears fall, and say one name: "Guts..."
  • The teddybear fighter after his mask gets cut down and we find out he's actually Jinno while fighting the Afro Samurai.
    • Does it still count because Jinno CAN'T STOP crying ever since he fell off the cliff? Even after being "rebuilt" I think his tear ducts are still leaky...
    • That's the point, the fact that he physically cannot stop crying tears of rage emphasizes his characterization
  • When Kallen is trying to kill Lelouch in episode 24 of Code Geass R2, there are tears in her eyes.
    • In episode 22 of season 1, Lelouch has tears streaming out of his Geass eye when he declares his intention to find and kill Euphemia.
    • Suzaku after Euphemia is injured and killed by Zero. And again, when he becomes Zero and kills Lelouch.
    • Nina also does this during her Freak-Out moment.
  • Happens in Bleach when Momo Hinamori has tears streaming down her eyes when she attacks Gin, suspecting he killed Aizen, and crosses swords with Kira.
    • Later, she attacks Hitsugaya when she thinks was told in a letter that he slaughtered Aizen.
    • Tensa Zangetsu in chapter 420. After he stabs Ichigo with his sword during a battle with him he cries.
  • Although you can't see it until right after the rage is over, it's apparent that Keiichi from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni was crying in the first arc while beating Mion and Rena with his bat. Makes sense; he was scared crapless, and thus killed two of his best friends.
    • Oddly, he was doing it in self defense. Or at least he thought so. It later turns out that they were just going to marker his shirt as a goodbye present, but he hallucinated that they were trying to kill him.
  • Kazuma from Scryed fearsome and hearthbreaking
  • Kaiji does this awesomely during his E-card battle with Tonegawa, when he cuts off his ear to trick Tonegawa and win the match. See also: Crowning Moment of Awesome.
  • Kahlua in Rosario + Vampire. Though she doesn't merely shed tears—she weeps and wails in a most unseemly manner, asking "Why Did You Make Me Hit You??" Turns out she's been conditioned to assassinate people on orders, even against her will. She truly hates being an assassin... and she wasn't happy about being forced to attack her own sisters and their friends, either.
    • Not really. We learn from a flashback that Vampires fight not to win, but to kill. In her mind, Kahlua is already mourning her opponent's death.
    • And Routier does this in chapter 47 of part 2 while attacking Yukari and Fong Fong.
    • Fong Fong does this in chapter 48 of part 2 while lamenting about how he couldn't protect Yukari from Xia-Long. He also does this as he attacks Xia-Long.
  • Pretty much any one of Go Nagai's heroes does this. Probably the originators of the trope in anime, actually.
  • In GaoGaiGar Final, Guy does this when he is sent into a rage at Mamoru's destroying ChoRyuJin, and is forced to use Hell And Heaven with all his might to essentially kill Mamoru, tears streaming down his face all the while. It later turns out not to be the real Mamoru, but that's beside the point.
  • This happens a lot in Gundam Wing.
  • Riza Hawkeye in Fullmetal Alchemist, when she thought Roy was dead. Complete with Heroic BSOD finale.
  • Russia from Axis Powers Hetalia does this in the Bloody Sunday strip, after a heartbreaking soliloquy and before opening fire on thousands of innocent civilians.
    • Also the "Cleaning Out the Storage" chapter, when America remembers how England helped raise him... only to nearly kill the rebellious America during The American Revolution and break down in tears when he can't bring himself to do so. ("You used to be... so big...".)
  • The protagonist of Lone Wolf and Cub does this a lot near the end of the manga, as he gets increasingly sick of having to kill scores of people who have never done anything to him, just so he can get at the Big Bad.
  • Matsuda in the last episode of Death Note when he shoots Light to stop him from writing Near's name, goes into a rage and shoots him some more.
  • Lucia, of all people, goes into one of these in the final battle in Rave Master
  • Fushigi Yuugi has an example of this as well, with—tadaaaaa!--Tamahome. Suboshi kills his family, so his powers elevate to a whole new level and he nearly kills the Seiryuu Seishi during his Heroic BSOD. About an hour or two later, Miaka finds him burying his family along with their gifts, and when he turns around, about six lines of tears were streaming down his face.
    • The REALLY sad part? Suboshi's twin, Amiboshi, wasn't even dead at that point, which was Suboshi's motive for going after Tamahome's family in the first place. Tamahome's family was killed for Amiboshi's death THAT DIDN'T EVEN HAPPEN.
  • Birdy combined this with Screaming Warrior when she trashed the robot that killed Violeen.
  • As did Kagura in Ga-Rei Zero when she killed a bunch of demons after she killed Yomi
  • Asuna in Mahou Sensei Negima has these when she snaps temporarily during her fight with Setsuna due to Albireo picking at her brain and accidentally making her remember Gatou Vanderburg's death momentarily. It's only visible in one frame, though, because the rest of the time her face is highly shadowed.
    • She also does this in chapter 352.
  • Angel Densetsu: "You should not hit a girl"
  • Ergo Proxy from the series of the same name often has tears in his eyes after killing. This is because Ergo Proxy is also Vincent Law, who is generally a pretty sensitive, weak-willed guy, and he isn't in control of this facet of his personality.
  • Yuuki of Game X Rush does this after being stabbed and proceeding to demolish his assailant, although less from the stab-wound and more from the traumatic flashback spurred by said stabbing.
  • Cooan from Sailor Moon is screaming and crying as she attacks the Senshi during her heartwretching Villainous Breakdown. She gets better, though
  • A number of the characters in Claymore end up doing this as they get too close to (or surpass) the limit of their Yoma power, in the knowledge that doing so will turn them into monsters. Well, not all of the time. However, there are entirely different reasons that the Claymores do this during the Northern Campaign. Not everyone likes seeing all of their friends and allies go down to a forced Heroic Sacrifice because the Organization finds them inconvenient.
  • Jo from Innocent Venus has the more tranquil variety after piloting his Gladiator. It is said that a Gladiator pilot who doesn't show Berserker Tears, Freak-Out, or some sort of negative response after piloting a Gladiator is a Complete Monster because of the nature ( Powered by a Forsaken Child) of the mecha. Presumably most of the pilots are not in on the secret, but the children's souls manifest as some psychological effect.
  • Jacuzzi Splot (Stop laughing.) from Baccano!! cries all the time. All the time. Including when he held up 18 mafia speakeasies in one night with a machine gun.
  • Gon Freecs in Hunter X Hunter. Somewhere, Kaito is crying.
    • Also Killua in chapter 294.
  • Given all the trauma the characters go through in Chrono Crusade, it's a wonder this doesn't show up more often in the series. That being said, it does show up a few times—most notably when Joshua attacks Chrono in a rage after he finds out about his contract with Rosette after witnessing her dying in his arms. After his burst of rage he falls onto his knees, sobbing.
    • Not to mention when Chrono attacks Aion in an attempt to save Mary, but ends up killing her. Or Rosette and Joshua's fight in the manga
  • Maria does this in episode 22 of Umineko no Naku Koro ni as she repeatedly gets revenge on her abusive mother.
  • As stated below, the titular in Ichi the Killer always cries during, and after, killing.
  • In an episode of Azumanga Daioh, Tomo is pushed over the top and goes on a rampage in the lunchroom with tears in her eyes until she accidentally hits Yukari, simply for the reason that Yomi managed to eat curry noodles without splattering it all over herself. Yukari's subsequent reaction must be seen to be believed.
  • Puella Magi Madoka Magica episode 7 shows Sayaka crying Berserker Tears. Of blood.
  • Taki from Hyakujitsu no Bara when he singlehandedly defeats a group of students harassing him in military academy
  • Naruto, in first-stage Kyuubi mode, when he beats up Deidara (one of those responsible for Gaara's death).
    • Naruto's also crying in chapters 228 and 229 as he's having to fight Sasuke at the Valley Of The End. It's heartbreaking.
    • And Sakura does this a few times, most notably when he's asking Naruto to bring Sasuke back, when she's confessing her feelings to Sasuke and telling him Please Don't Leave Me, when she's trying to kill Sasuke in Part II, and when Shikamaru suggests that they need to take down Sasuke or else everyone will want revenge.
    • In chapter 457 in which Naruto practically begs the Raikage to spare Sasuke's life and then says "I know it's a lot to ask...but I have to try! Sasuke is my friend! I can't sit back and watch him be killed! I don't want either of us to get caught up in revenge." And when he sees that the Raikage is ignoring him Naruto drops down to his knees and begins to cry, and screams at the top of his lungs, "I'm begging you! I don't want anyone else getting killed for revenge! All Sasuke ever thought about was revenge! It consumed him and changed him! He was driven mad by revenge! He's not the same guy I knew anymore! I don't want that to happen to anyone else! I don't people from Konoha and Kumo to be killing each other! PLEASE!" However the Raikage flat out refuses with "I will kill Sasuke! It's up to you to make sure it stops there!" He then reprimands Naruto with "a ninja should not be so quick to bow to another! You beg for mercy for a criminal, for the safety of your friends, in the ninja world we do not call that friendship!" and spells out the harsh truth "The history of the human race is a history of war! The weak will be crushed!" Finally, the Raikage and his group leave with "You won't get far in the ninja world if you keep acting so stupidly!" and Naruto just remains there curled up on the ground in a sobbing wreck.
    • At the end of chapter 585 Kabuto does this as he bisects Itachi, saying that he just wants to become himself and he won't let anyone stand in his way.
  • In Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, when Simon starts crying Berserker Tears, the results are not just epic, but sometimes terrifying.
  • Karakuridouji Ultimo: Rune has these when fighting Yamato in chapter 11.
  • Mirai Nikki: Yukiteru when he goes crazy and shoots his friends after realizing he can't bring his dead parents back to life. And Yuno and Hinata in the climax of episode 9. Also, Yuno does this in the anime after Yukiteru calls her a "nut-case".
  • Occurs in Elfen Lied in episode 12 by Kouta when Lucy says they're friends so that's why she didn't kill him. Kouta's also crying as he tackles Lucy after she murdered his father and sister and he bangs her body repeatedly into the ground. Lucy gets so upset by seeing Kouta's tear streaked face that she starts crying too. And Kanae does this as she's laying dead on the ground from when Lucy cut her in half and she had been upset at her brother Kohta for saying that he hates her.
  • Kanon: When Sayuri is injured by a demon and hospitalized, it causes Mai to completely break down and even try to kill herself.
  • Daisuke in episode 13 of D.N.Angel. Also, in the most recent cliffhanger, Satoshi breaks down while Daisuke hugs him. Of course given the context Satoshi begging Daisuke to turn into Dark so things can be over and then Satoshi putting a gun to his own temple when Daisuke rejects him it's also going into Tear Jerker territory.
  • Naoe of Mirage of Blaze does this in the second OVA during his Attempted Rape of Kagetora.
  • Played for Laughs in Slam Dunk. When the Hot-Blooded protagonist Sakuragi Hanamichi is yelledat by the girl he likes (she thought he'd beaten up the guy she liked), he tried to jump off the roof of the building while crying Berserker Tears. Of course, his friends kept him from jumping and it was never mentioned again.
  • Hellsing: Seras during the battle with Zorin Blitz in the 7th OVA after she is Mind Raped by her and during the flashback of her childhood as she watches her mother's corpse being raped.
  • Occurs a few times in Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru like with Yuki and Hotsuma.
  • Misao of Black Bird does this during an Attempted Rape scene in volume 3.
  • Rumi of Perfect Blue does this while watching Mima filming her rape scene and Mima does this during her Freak-Out moment in her apartment following filming the rape scene, and as she's running for her life from Rumi.
  • Young Asuka does this during her Mind Rape in episode 22 of Neon Genesis Evangelion as she's screaming at her mother "Why won't you look at me?!"
    • Like much of End, the very last scene is both disturbing and heartbreaking: Shinji trying to strangle Asuka with a blank face, and then he just breaks down crying.
  • In episode 88 of Marchen Awakens Romance Alviss has tears running down his face after being brainwashed by Phantom.
  • In episode 25 of Outlaw Star Harry does this right before he dies.
  • In chapter 12 of No. 6 Nezumi cries after Sion gives him a good night kiss.
  • Ginza in Speed Grapher as she's telling her love rival she wants to kill her.
  • Episode 19 of SHUFFLE! features Kaede doing this as she's going crazy at Asa.
  • Wolf Guy Wolfen Crest: Inugami lets loose tears of pure rage and despair as he demands to know where Haguro and his goons (they're gang-raping Aoshika) are keeping Aoshika.
  • Little Deyzune from Red Line, who becomes impossibly strong when he cries.


Card Games


Comic Books


Fanfic

  • The Warhammer 40,000 fanfic Gav and Bob has this, when the Ogryn Gav finally beats the everloving shit out of the Thousand Son who killed his best friend Bob.


Film

  • Look VERY carefully, press pause frame by frame if you have to: Anakin Skywalker lets tears roll down his cheeks after brutally murdering the Separatist Leaders on the volcanic planet of Mustafar.
    • He also had tears on his face right before killing all the younglings at the temple.
    • And when he massacres the Sand People in Attack of the Clones. In fact, just about any time Anakin goes on a rampage he lets loose with the waterworks, to the point where the helmet may have been changed over in The Empire Strikes Back owing to rust.
    • In Revenge of the Sith's Novelization, he spouts Bond One Liners as he kills the Seperatists. If he cries it's not mentioned, and this is generally interpreted as the book's Anakin enjoying the deed a lot more than in the movie. After all, he's wanted to do this for years.
  • In A Christmas Story Ralphie, unable to tolerate the torment of the vile neighborhood bully Scut Farkus any longer, is overcome with Unstoppable Rage and wails on him until both boys are a quivering, sobbing mess (Though Ralphie clearly got the upper hand).
  • David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia.
  • Oh come on guys- Ichi from Ichi the Killer is this in spades. Albeit, he's assassinating people while he cries- not to mention jacking off as well.
    • yeah really why isn't he the page pic?
      • Because then we'd have to hand out barf bags.
  • You can't actually see tears because of the mask, but in the film version of Watchmen Rorschach is audibly crying when he picks up the cleaver and splits Gerald Grice's head open for killing Blair Roche.
  • Happens to the Captain in 300 when he breaks rank to charge the enemy after his son Astinos is beheaded.
  • Aileen's first kill in Monster.


Literature

  • Happened in one of the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn books to Simon, who doesn't even realize that he's crying but ends up with a Heroic BSOD. Two times.
  • In Protector of the Small: First Test, the page Seaver loses his cool and tries to attack the spiderlike monster that killed his father. Kel, keeping her cool, trips him so he can't run into the spidren's weapons, and the creature snags him with its web. It's mentioned that he wept in rage while hacking the web off of him.
  • Used in Jasper Fforde's most recent novel The Last Dragonslayer. This is what finally sets off the climax of the Xanatos Gambit that's been running through the whole book.
  • Szeth-son-son-Vallano in Brandon Sanderson's "The Way of Kings".
  • This happens to Beka Cooper at the end of her third book by Tamora Pierce, Mastiff, when she is forced to fight and break the legs of her partner Tunstall after he betrays their king.
  • In the Swedish novel Röde Orm (Red Orm in English) the narrator notes that Orm's best friend Toke tended to start crying when he got drunk enough, and that this was a sign that he was about to get violent.
  • In A Dance With Dragons, Bowen Marsh cries as he and the other Night's Watchmen stab their commander Jon to death, as they believe he's going to destroy the Watch with his actions.
  • In one Savannah Reid book, Savannah's teaching a self-defense class, and she tells Margie to let her feelings out by pretending that the person volunteering to be the "attacker" is the guy that attempted to rape her. Margie attacks him ferociously, and it ends with her sobbing.


Live Action TV

  • Piper in the Charmed episode Hell Hath No Fury, when she finally breaks down and reveals that she is furious with Prue for dying, and then starts to scream and cry and bang on Prue's headstone, until she finally just collapses and cries in Leo's arms. Such a well-acted scene that most viewers were able to overlook the flawed psychology of it all.
  • Farscape: The second season episode "The Way We Weren't" climaxes with Crichton and Aeryn making a full frontal charge on Pilot in order to regain control of Moya. Aeryn has a tear lingering on the very lip of her eyelid during the entire charge. Partially justified as this is one of Claudia Black's signature acting talents.
  • Tended to happen to Magaret in later seasons of Mash.
  • Chloe (or Radcliffe) talking about her father Harvey Denton in The League of Gentlemen: "You wouldn't want to make him angry. I once saw him beat a man until both he and the man were crying."
  • Breaking Bad has Jesse when he's forced to kill Gale.


Video Games

  • Crying Wolf from Metal Gear Solid 4. It's kind of her thing.
  • In the third Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney game, Ron De Lite is said to have done this, although those tears were out of fear rather than anger.
  • Aishi the Mournful Blade, from Jade Empire.
  • Flint from Mother 3, after the great granddaddy of all Tear Jerkers.
  • Neku Sakuraba from The World Ends With You, after finding out that Joshua really was the one to kill him.
  • The Wardog Squadron from Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War, after Chopper is killed in combat during a surprise air attack. Keep in mind that the Wardog Squadron was so badass, the enemy had named them "The Razgriz", after a mythological demon that is said to rain down death when he reveals himself. When the Yuktobanians actually kill Chopper, one of them comments "They're no demons, we can take them!" But shortly afterward, when Wardog starts slaughtering the remaining air force (softly sobbing over the radio while doing it), the Yuktobanians start screaming phrases like "So this is what those demons are REALLY like!" and "Did the demons take them over?!" as they get swatted out of the sky.
  • Cypher Zohar from Silhouette Mirage, after Har removed his/her Fake Memories.
  • The protagonist of I'm OK does this throughout the entire game.
  • Heavy from Team Fortress 2 wells up when talking about his gun Sacha, but he also commands the "babies" he's fighting to "cry some more".


Web Original


Western Animation

  • Dean Venture in a recent ep of The Venture Bros. That stupid bully had to snark on Triana...
    • And before that, when Brock talked Hank through killing a shipload of Fake Ghost Pirates.
  • In Teen Titans, Beast Boy invokes this trope when it's revealed that Terra was working with Slade.
    • Just about every Titan experienced this trope, at one point or another.
  • The Powerpuff Girls in "Speed Demon" against HIM, when they travel Twenty Minutes Into the Future.
    • In the pilot episode (the one with the other mayor, the first aired after being conceived as The Whoop-Ass Girls then renamed), Bubbles goes into this when Fuzzy Lumpkins scores a glancing blow with his Meat Gun (which turns everything into some sort of meat byproduct) and beats the everloving tar out of him (while Buttercup and Blossom watch on in shock).
    • In "The City Of Frownsville," a schlemiel named Lou Gubrious sends the entire city crying with a ray that is channeled from his own sadness.
  • In one particular episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aang is so distraught about Appa being stolen that he goes into the Avatar State reflexively, creating a giant, destructive tornado from the desert sand - all while tears are streaming down his face.
    • Sokka also did this when Manipulative Bastard Azula taunted him with news of his imprisoned girlfriend Suki. He then proceeded to pin her against a wall with his sword at her throat.
    • Don't forget the Grand Finale. When Katara finally has Azula tied up and defeated, Azula goes berserk. Panting, fire-breathing, and crying her eyes out all at once.
    • Katara does this as well, while taking out a Fire Navy ship in "The Southern Raiders".
  • Big Shot from The Tick (animation) animated series, a parody of the Punisher. Sadly, future appearances concerned his psychiatric treatment, and eventual pacifism.

Big Shot: (breaking down, hugging Arthur) Why didn't you love me, mommy?

  • X-23 of X-Men: Evolution got these. Poor dear, who could blame her?
  • In Transformers Generation 1, Scourge gets his hands on the Matrix and becomes horribly mutated and insane, with actual tears falling during part of it. It was serious Nightmare Fuel.
  • In the Season 1 finale of Wakfu Yugo gets a pretty harsh case of these, since he has just sensed the death of one of his allies. Heartbreakingly Badass.
  • Velma in episode 10 of Scooby Doo Mystery Inc, after Shaggy formally tells her he'd rather be friends with Scooby than to be her boyfriend. Velma's anger deteriorates into pitious crying.


Web Comics

"I vowed I would destroy you, Regina! DO YOU HEAR ME!?"

Ruxala: Protecting people from them is my job.
Tarvek: Ah - I'm... I'm sorry, you just seemed rather distraught -
Ruxala: Of course I'm distraught! They hurt my weasels! (weeping, headshoots without looking the bug behind her)

Real Life

  • Confederate guerrilla William 'Bloody Bill' Anderson reportedly went into battle alternately sobbing and laughing uncontrollably.
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