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They are [[Moe|cute, sweet, innocent]] and [[I'm Taking Her Home with Me|extremely huggable]]. Incidentally they are also [[Ax Crazy|varying shades of violent, unstable, and downright insane]].
 
[['''Cute and Psycho]]''' is a trope that describes characters who are ''genuinely'' cute in both appearance and mannerisms but have a completely batshit crazy side. Sometimes there are distinctly different sides which may be shown equally, but other times they are mostly one or the other, the [[Killer Rabbit]] displaying moments of sweetness and relative-sanity or [[The Cutie]] showing hints of a dark psychotic nature. Often there is some kind of [[Dark and Troubled Past]], or [[Split Personality]] to justify how the two aspects of the person can both be genuine, but other times no explanation is revealed.
 
The primary difference between this trope and the [[Yandere]] is that the [['''Cute and Psycho]]''' character is not driven by an obsessive need to possess a friend or lover. Their motivation, if they have one, can vary immensely. They also don't necessarily have to be [[Berserk Button|provoked]] to enter their Psycho-state, but can switch for reasons observers would be hard-pressed to determine.
 
[['''Cute and Psycho]]''' is a [[Sister Trope]] to [[Killer Rabbit]], [[Yandere]] and [[Enfant Terrible]] and closely related to [[Psychopathic Manchild]] and [[Beware the Nice Ones]]. If the "cute" part isn't real, then the character is [[The Fake Cutie]] instead. Characters of this type tend to be female, though male examples do exist.
 
In some anime fandoms this character is referred to as a ''yangire'', an informal fanspeak term. It's also used to refer to [[Axe Crazy]] versions of [[The Fake Cutie]].
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* [[Big Bad]] Byakuran from ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]''.
** Daisy and Bluebell of the {{spoiler|real Six Funeral Wreaths}}.
* ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'' features some of the more well-known ones, such as Rena Ryugu up there in the page image. It's implied that that Rena is actually bipolar, though it may be a misdiagnosis. A lot of the times the characters are delusional, so that either makes them [[Cute and Psycho]] or makes them [[Unreliable Narrator|appear]] [[Cute and Psycho]]. The page image is from when {{spoiler|Keiichi is hallucinating all of Rena's behavior, but she does ''genuinely'' fall under this trope in her own arc, Tsumihoroboshi-hen, where Rena rather than Keiichi succumbs to Hinamizawa syndrome. It's all implied that all the central characters except Rika, Rena included, contracted it during many other iterations of the [[Groundhog Day Loop]] each; Rena would be a straight example in every one where she did. We're just only shown one.}}
* ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'''s [[Creepy Child|Maria Ushiromiya]]. In some scenes, the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A23uoWinmVc cutest little girl imaginable]. At others, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS-8iJ2Yn1s&NR=1 well...]
** Those same clips give you a hint of her mother Rosa's version of this: she can swap between [[Team Mom|loving and motherly]] and [[Abusive Parents|abusive monster]] at the drop of a hat.
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** Ghinias Saharin from ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team]]'' starts as a [[Workaholic]] [[Hot Scientist]], but as his health gets worse and {{spoiler|his Apsalus project is cancelled}}, he becomes more and more unhinged. Granted depending on how much you factor his clingyness towards his sister and the aforementioned project into the cause of his breakdown, he might count as a somewhat unusual manifestation of [[Yandere|the other thing]] instead.
** ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny]]'' has Stella, one of the Extended members of Phantom Pain. Adorable, childlike, happy... and a supersoldier with mental conditioning and enhanced physical skills from a complex, long-term treatment of drugs (which she can't survive without). She ends up torching half of Europe with a superweapon not out of malice... but because she was scared and had been told that the people there were "bad things" that were going to get her.
** ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00|Gundam 00]]'' features [[Dark Action Girl|Gundam Throne pilot]] Nena Trinity, a [[Genki Girl]] redhead who likes to wink, mock-fight with her [[Knight Templar Big Brother|violently overprotective brother]] and fellow Throne Michael and throw up the [[Victory Pose|V-sign]]. She also gives Setsuna his [[Sacred First Kiss]] (also the first kiss for the series), [[Hates Being Touched|much to his disgust]]. Exactly one episode later, Nena blows up a civilian wedding while on her way to the next mission to vent her frustration with having a hard day of work while others have fun. When asked by her brothers why she fired on civilians, Nena simply giggled and replied, "Heehee, sorry, I pressed the wrong button." Makes one wonder if she actually wanted to press the [[Macross Missile Massacre|missile button]] instead of the [[Frickin' Laser Beams|laser button]]. Well, {{spoiler|the girl and her brothers ''are'' [[Artificial Human|Artificial Humans]]s bred and born ''only'' to pilot their Gundams}}, but still... Sheesh.
** In the second season, {{spoiler|while working under Wang Liu Mei and occasionally acting cheerful again, she dropped the facade as Liu Mei belittled her, eventually leading her to snap again after learning that Liu Mei had taken sides with the Innovators, the group who had employed Ali al-Saachez, her brothers' murderer. Liu Mei <s> learns</s> the hard way about double-crossing people when Nena traps her inside her ship as it's exploding, [[Evil Laugh|cackling maniacally all the while]].}}
** {{spoiler|Liu Mei learned nothing as she, having had her brother save her from Nena twice, still only thinks of herself and how she can use people. Nena shows up again and [[Bolt of Divine Retribution|gleefully finishes her off]] for good, earning her redemption...only to get royally fucked over and killed by [[Dark Action Girl|Louise Halevy]] (the only survivor of the wedding she blew up) in turn. [[Karmic Death|Payback is a literal bitch]].}}
* Parodied in ''[[Galaxy Angel (anime)|Galaxy Angel]]'' with the [[Character Exaggeration]] of Chitose, who already had some belonging issues; when the Angels left her behind or otherwise slighted her without knowing it, she went absolutely crazy with revenge, once even trying to turn them into rice and eat them. (Don't ask.)
* [[Played for Laughs]] with Kafuka Fuura of ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei]]''. This eternally happy, cheerful girl has an [[Dark and Troubled Past|obvious and horrible past]], involving suicidal parents, relatives in jail, ostracization at school, and at least one ''exorcism'', and yet there she is, [[Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant|enjoying life... for a value of it]]. She shows no signs yet of snapping, though people are scared of her and fear the day she does. (On one memorable, her classmate, resident [[Little Miss Snarker]] Meru Otonashi, tries to "read" what Kafuka is communicating through her eyes at her prompting; she sees nothing but a red screen with the words "die die die die die killy kill die die die" and so forth, despite Kafuka never once dropping her happy appearance.)
** For that matter, virtually ''the entire cast'' has some sort of vicious or crippling psychosis -- itpsychosis—it's just that the fifty percent of them who aren't capable of hiding it make the rest look well-adjusted by comparison.
* Minatsuki "Hummingbird" Takami in ''[[Deadman Wonderland]]'' appears to be a shy, sweet young girl with a [[Freudian Excuse]] (actually [[Parental Abandonment]] Issues) who was imprisoned in the eponymous prison-slash-themepark, mainly due to her having {{spoiler|blood-based killing powers called the "Branch of Sin"; the ''real'' reason she should've been sent to prison (see next spoiler) is apparently ignored}}. This persona turns out to be an act to seduce her naive opponent into not fighting her. In reality she is a sadist who not only gets extremely turned on by the suffering of her opponent but she also {{spoiler|killed her mother after she panicked and abandoned her in an earthquake and got her brother to kill her father after making it appear that their father tried to rape her}}.
** There's also Shiro, the hyperactive, scatter-brained apparent [[Manic Pixie Dream Girl]] who can and will rip off people's heads with her bare hands whilst smiling like a kid who's just left the sweet shop. {{spoiler|She's also the 'Red Man', the unstoppable killing machine who slaughtered Ganta's entire class at the start of the story.}}
* It's debatable whether Russia from ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' is this or [[Yandere]].
** He's a mix of both. He cracked for non-romantic reasons (the Bloody Sunday), but his unstable side comes out ''especially'' strongly in regards to Lithuania, whom he seems to have feelings for.
** Lithuania's younger brother Latvia is potentially [[Cute and Psycho]], having been abused so much by Russia that he comes close to snapping in the "Lily of the Valley" incident. It's not mentioned later.
** Some of the most popular [[fanon]] [[Alternative Character Interpretation|renditions]] of Spain revolve make him into this during the darkest periods of Spanish history (the Conquest of the Americas and the Spanish Civil War. ''Specially'' during the Civil War.) It's known that Himaruya stated early on that Spain was supposed to have these qualities, but they've only been mentioned ''once''... and were completely [[Played for Laughs]]. ([[Never Live It Down|Go tell that to the fan dumb, though.]])
** And Japan! While he's almost always depicted as a polite and emotionally reserved guy in canon, [[Alternative Character Interpretation|you can't really blame some people for wondering]] if what motivated him to brutally stab his brother China in the back is still lurking somewhere underneath that calm exterior, and many serious fics set during the Sino-Japanese War or World War II depict him as a master of [[Dissonant Serenity]]... even though we know '''from canon''' that [[Not So Stoic|he's perfectly capable]] of losing his calm and express rage, enthusiasm, etc.
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* Several in ''[[To Aru Majutsu no Index]]'' and its spinoff. From the ''Railgun'' anime, we have {{spoiler|Telestina, who appears to have some kind of magic power related to choosing jelly bean colors}}. From the novels, we have {{spoiler|Anyeze, who goes from ditzy, innocent fanservice girl to psychotic religious freak proclaiming Catholics believe that marriage with 'outsiders' is bestiality in the course of a single scene. Which is offscreen.}}
** The 4th level 5 esper "meltdowner" isn't much better while usually cold and calculating once you kind of annoy her she kind of...[[Incredibly Lame Pun|melts down]]: her speech turns horribly vulgar and starts tearing apart her opponents with sadistic delight capitalizing on her massively powerful ability to basically blast holes through anything and surprising physical strength
* A good example would be {{spoiler|Czeslaw Meyer}} from ''[[Baccano!]]'' -- you—you know, his whole reason to come to NYC...
** Although you also get through his desperate psychopathology and find an actual wounded little boy, despite his age. It's all the [[Cold-Blooded Torture]].
* ''[[Code Geass]]'''s Rolo Lamperouge can qualify for this. Even though he acts as an [[Ordinary High School Student|adorable and shy schoolboy]], he's really a [[Tyke Bomb|cold-hearted assassin]] underneath. He could potentially fall into [[Yandere]] as well, concerning his obsessive relationship with his "brother" Lelouch. It didn't take much to make him snap and {{spoiler|kill Shirley when she was honing in on Lulu.}}
** Technically speaking, Rolo ''started'' out as [[Cute and Psycho]] due to his raising in the Geass Cult. Once Lelouch started manipulating him, he switched to [[Yandere]], and predictably [[It Got Worse]].
** {{spoiler|Euphemia}}, after {{spoiler|she gets accidentally Geassed into becoming a mass murderer}}. "Those of you who call yourself Japanese, I have a favor to ask. Could you all die, please?" "I was hoping you'd all just commit suicide, but you can't, can you? O.K. So, soldiers, please kill the Japanese. Kill them all." {{spoiler|Then she procceds to grabs a submachine gun and shoot everyone.}}
* Diva, the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Blood Plus]]'' often acts like an amusingly spacey example of [[The Ophelia]], but she's pretty horribly evil.
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*** And {{spoiler|Mama who can turn into a very crazy witch when under too much stress}}.
**** {{spoiler|Sara had some shades of this in episode 15 when she was dieting like *literally* crazy}}.
* Yukino-sensei in ''[[Hohzuki Island]]'', who at one point sneaks around the school in the dark, naked, with a wooden sword, ready to beat one of the children to death. {{spoiler|Later turns out to be a subversion--yes, she's snapped and is fucking creepy, ''but'' it was because [[Poor Communication Kills|she thought one of the children]] was [[Cute and Psycho]] themself, due to her best friend and fellow teacher turning up murdered. The fact the kids were acting very suspiciously (though only because ''they'' were afraid that all the teachers were planning to kill them) didn't help matters. By the end of the manga, she realizes everything she thought was wrong, clears up some misconceptions about her, and then pulls a [[Big Damn Heroes]] on the ''real'' [[Sadist Teacher|murderous teacher.]]}}
* The Claw in ''[[Gun X Sword]]'' appears to be just a sweet old man.
* Hansel and Gretel, the [[Creepy Twins]] from ''[[Black Lagoon]]''.
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* {{spoiler|Yukio}} from ''[[Bleach]]'' is revealed as such in chapter 466, when {{spoiler|he gleefully uses his Fullbring against Hitsugaya}} while explaining {{spoiler|how [[Self-Made Orphan|he drove his parents to commit suicide]] as revenge for their [[Parental Neglect]].}} And once his rival presses his [[Berserk Button]]? [[Ax Crazy|The guy went BATSHIT INSANE.]]
* Henri Claytor from ''[[Future GPX Cyber Formula]]'', who appears to be a cute and cheerful rookie racer in ''ZERO'', actually has a homicidal obsession with making Hayato pay for ruining his life. This is due to {{spoiler|his father ignoring and abandoning him after Hayato wins the championship instead of him}}, and he's also partially responsible {{spoiler|for the crash between Hayato and Randoll}}.
* If there are types of criminals that [[Detective Conan|Shinichi Kudo aka "Conan Edogawa"]] absolutely ''loathes'', it's either this and/or [[Yandere|Yanderes]]s. And there's '''no''' shortage of those in such a [[Long Runner]] of a series.
* Apparently, Dead Master in ''[[Black Rock Shooter (manga)|Black Rock Shooter]]: Innocent Soul'', as right before devouring a soul she calls the ([[Les Yay|naked]]) Rock tasty, ending it [[Say It with Hearts|with hearts]].
* Fear from ''[[Cube X Cursed X Curious]]'' can become quite creepy when she decides to go fully psycho. Also it does'nt help that [[Girl with Psycho Weapon|she IS a weapon]] able to become all kinds of torture devices.
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* {{spoiler|The Trinity Killer}} from ''[[Dexter]]''. It's also an [[Inverted Trope|inversion]]; we see the dark side first. It's the "nice guy and family man" side that comes as a complete shock.
* ''[[All That]]'''s "Ask Ashley" featured a sickeningly sweet little girl with an insanely unstable temper answer moronic viewer's mail. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
* Gem and Gemma of ''[[Power Rangers RPM]]'' are a mild case. Mentally, they're about kindergarten age, and their favorite things in the whole wide world are ''[[Stuff Blowing Up|explosions]]''. Especially when it's the evil [[Killer Robot|Killer Robots]]s going boom. The reason they're only a "mild" case is that they don't really want anyone hurt (though there was one time they had to be reminded that there were civilians enslaved in a factory they planned to "vaporize from sub-orbit").
* The third series of ''[[The Thick of It]]'' introduces us to Steve Fleming, MP, who is a spectacularly unstable version of this trope; that cheerful grin, the slightly creepy compliments and the "call me Uncle Steve" attitude you see when you first meet him? Get him even slightly agitated and his [[Ax Crazy]] side will come to the fore. The scary part comes when he desperately tries to suppress his insanity, swinging from [[Stepford Smiler]] to [[Unstoppable Rage]] and back again so violently you wonder why he doesn't give himself whiplash.
* Hooch from ''[[Scrubs]]''. He's normally friendly and even charismatic, but pissing him off triggers his [[Ax Crazy]] tendencies. This leads to J.D. and Turk frequently playing pranks on him to trigger his psychotic side, at one point even eating popcorn while Hooch is throwing death threats around. It becomes clearer with every appearance that the catchphrase "Hooch is crazy" thrown around by other characters is ''not'' exaggeration. After another of J.D. and Turk's pranks, he takes four people ''hostage'' and is subsequently fired from the hospital. In the very last episode of season 8, we see him in a strait jacket, proclaiming "Hooch ''is'' crazy."
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** A '''''much''''' [[Lighter and Softer]] version appears in [[The Chronicles of Narnia|Prince Caspian]], as part of the big grape-eating party, accompanied by Bacchus and Silenus. [[Alternate Character Interpretation|Despite their violent insanity being turned to simple merriness]], Lucy and Susan say that they wouldn't like to meet the Maenads without Aslan around.
* [[Norse Mythology]]:
** Loki. Handsome, clever, funny, well-liked--butliked—but sadly, not at all mentally stable...
** Similar to the Maenads mentioned above, there were presumably some [[Berserker|berserkersberserker]]s who were somewhat endearing, or at least relatively non-threatening, when they weren't going berserk.
 
 
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* Ripper Roo from the ''[[Crash Bandicoot]]'' series, while at first completely insane, becomes like this after the epilogue of the first game, where he is stated to have undergone intense therapy and higher education in that game's epilogue.
* [[Scribblenauts]]: Write in a Cheerleader. Then write in a Psycho or a Stalker. Note the similarities (read: they're identical except that the Psycho has a big knife).
* {{spoiler|Iris Sepperin}} from ''[[Rosenkreuzstilette]]'' is generally a prim and proper little girl over the course of the first game's story. {{spoiler|Then, just before the final battle, she starts laughing madly and quickly shifts from her affable attitude to motormouthed insanity and arrogance during her [[Villainous Breakdown]]. This shows just how [[Cute and Psycho]] a little girl like Iris herself can get.}}
 
 
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* Jodi from ''[[Titan Maximum]]'' is showing signs of being this.
* Flippy of ''[[Happy Tree Friends]]'' could be seen as this, as he's calm and sweet one moment, but the minute something triggers him (in his case memories of fighting in the W.A.R.), whether it be something like balloons popping, the sight of a knife, fire, a woodpecker, or an airplane, he goes all [[Axe Crazy]] and starts killing people rather brutally with a huge [[Slasher Smile]] on his face. These swings are a result of PTSD.
* Princess Bubblegum from ''[[Adventure Time]]'' is not only a [[Lady of War]]; she's a [[Science Hero]] who's capable of resurrecting the dead-- anddead—and she's [[Moe Moe|completely]] [[Princesses Prefer Pink|adorable]] to boot. However, she does not have a [[Berserk Button]]--she—she has a berserk ''[[Up to Eleven|keyboard]]'', and she will go [[Laughing Mad]] [[Ax Crazy]] on you if you happen to hit a button. Usually though? [[Spoiled Sweet|She's genuinely very nice]].
** Flame Princess is far worse, since she has a [[Hair-Trigger Temper]] and she's destructivly powerful (capable of setting entire kingdoms ablaze) ''and'' she's evil; she could get mad at any time. But when she's ''not'' mad, she's ''really'' cute.
* Fluttershy, the [[Shrinking Violet|shyest]], [[The Cutie|sweetest]], [[Ridiculously Cute Critter|one of the most precious]] of the [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|ponies]] in Equestria... until you refuse her offer of friendship.
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* Izzy from ''[[Total Drama Island|Total Drama]]'' is this in spades. In ''Revenge of the Island'', {{spoiler|Zoey}} is this ''and'' [[Beware the Nice Ones]] personified after she's pushed too far.
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'':
** [[The Hero|Aang]]. A sweet, cheerful twelve-year-old boy--unlessboy—unless he's in the [[Super Mode|Avatar]] [[Unstoppable Rage|State]]...
** Azula, a sociopathic, unstable, and terrifyingly powerful fourteen-year-old girl.
 
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