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Sanity Has Advantages: Difference between revisions
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== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'': Spike is cornered by [[Nigh Invulnerable]] Mad Pierrot, but is saved by Mad Pierrot's paralyzing [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?|fear of]] {{spoiler|cats}}.
* A so-called [[Useless Useful Spell|"invincible technique"]] in ''[[Ranma ½]]'', the Cat Fist, induces an [[Unstoppable Rage]] in its user that boosts speed and reflexes, as well as giving "ki claws" that can cut through just about anything... but since he acts and thinks like a kitten, he can be distracted by toys and games. Even [[Too Dumb to Live|Kuno]] figured out this weakness within seconds of witnessing the Cat Fist in action. Not only that, it takes considerable time for Ranma's fear to reach the necessary level, which means he (or she, as the case may be) is simply running around, completely open, unable to fight back until it kicks in... a perfect target for anyone who is aware of what's happening and has the skill to capitalize on it. In fact, the only time that the Cat Fist has been an actual advantage in [[Ranma ½]] is the climax of the Phoenix Pill saga, where Ranma uses it to catch Cologne off-guard: most likely, as an [[Old Master]] who may well have been one of the people who proclaimed the Nekoken to be [[Harmful to Minors]], she doubted anyone would be stupid enough to teach it in this day and age, nevermind the trainee actually being willing to use that training.
** It's notable that teaching this technique involves covering the student in fish and throwing them in a hole with a buttload of cats. The book in which Genma found the technique even points out that the technique is effectively useless (because of all the reasons above) and was only included as a historical curiosity. If only Genma'd turned the page and read that part...
*** Not sure about the anime, but in the manga the page with the insanity warning and how useless the Cat Fist is was stuck to another page, keeping Genma from noticing it.
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* Clearly, this is why Kirk and Spock were able to defeat Garth in the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' episode "Whom Gods Destroy". Garth was a madman, and the fact that he flew into rage on more than one occasion when he was frustrated (such as when he realized he needed to know a countersign in order to board The Enterprise) showed that his madness was hindering him greatly. Garth's attempt to intimidate Kirk by murdering his lover with the super-powerful bomb he created does nothing more than prove to Kirk — and the viewers, most likely — that he was a lunatic, and when he thinks he'll have more luck with Spock due to Spock being a "very logical man", Spock's logical thinking is, in fact, what leads to Garth's final defeat.
* ''[[Kamen Rider Ryuki]]'': Asakura Takeshi (Ouja) is raving mad and prone to crazy, suicidal behaviour. Once he starves his [[Mons|bound monsters]] until they threaten to eat him. Once, after [[Antagonist in Mourning|failing to kill a long-running enemy]], he charges a bunch of armed policemen without even using his powers. {{spoiler|That last one does not end well.}}
* ''[[Deadliest Warrior]]'' has two, according to the experts.
** Saddam Hussein defeated Pol Pot, despite the fact that both were classified as insane Saddam was still more sane than Pol Pot. They say that, like history shows, Saddam would use his violent insanity to his advantage [killing thousands of Kurds to prevent
** Hernan Cortes defeated Ivan. Cortes isn't classified as fully insane, just greedy and violent.
* This is likely the biggest reason why the Rangers managed to defeat the Psycho Rangers in ''[[Power Rangers in Space]]'', despite the fact that the Psycho Rangers were far stronger than they were. The Psycho Rangers were not only insane, they were obsessive, unwilling to co-operate with each other (something the real Rangers were rather good at) and too impatient to adhere to the careful strategies that Astronema laid out (while the true Rangers were very good at sticking to theirs). In fact, in retrospect, the villains may have been more trouble to Astronema than they were ever worth.
* In a heroic example, ''[[Monk]]'''s severe OCD [[Crazy Awesome|makes him the world's greatest detective]], but also makes him too unstable to be relied upon in desperate situations, as evidenced by the pilot in which his condition causes him to freak out and let the killer escape. This is why he's not been allowed back on the police force since the [[Heroic BSOD]] he had following his wife's death.
** Even in the depths of the seriousness of the series finale, the OCD comes shining through full force in an intentionally [[Level Breaker]] moment after Monk has been poisoned and told he will vomit first, then die. Cue awesome run-on gag of Monk focusing on the vomiting aspect and ignoring death.
{{quote|"Are you sure? Does the vomit really HAVE to be first?" }}
* River Tam in ''[[Firefly]]'' is unbelievably intelligent, combat-capable, and {{spoiler|psychic}}, but her usefulness in a number of situations is clouded by mental instability.
* When it comes down to it, this is the entire point of ''[[Criminal Minds]]'' (and similar [[Real Life]] organizations): Serial killers are rarely mentally stable. Therefore, they have patterns that can be predicted, flaws that can be exploited, and make mistakes that can be taken advantage of. If the criminals they hunted were actually [[Genre Savvy]], they wouldn't have lasted the first episode.
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* Trapped by a vampire? Throw some rice/beads/knotted bits of string at it! They ''have'' [[Weaksauce Weakness|to stop and count it]]. [[Sesame Street|Ah ah ah!]]
** Beautifully done in [[The Rashomon]] episode of ''[[The X-Files]]''.
** And subverted multiple times in [[Discworld]]'s ''[[
*** Of course, it's inverted right back when, under the stress of having their plan spontaneously collapse when {{spoiler|Granny Weatherwax ''"borrows" their blood''}}, the Magpyr's conditioning starts to fail. Since the Magpyr's conditioning involved knowing the root cause of every traditional weakness and countering that, the resulting collapse added a form of hypochondria of sorts. So, for example, they're no longer immune to religious symbols... and they've memorized so many that they see religious symbols everywhere.
** ''[[Charby the Vampirate]]'' subverts it in one early strip. He is compelled to count a handful of beans his intended victim throws at him, but does it by determining the average weight of a bean, weighing the pile, and extrapolating how many there are from that.
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* In ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' there was an [[Duel to the Death|Agni Kai]] between Zuko and Azula where Zuko intended to take an advantage of his sister's crumbling sanity.
* Phantom Limb from [[Venture Brothers]] spent the third season insane but becomes a true menace again once he regains his sanity and builds the Revenge Society into a true supervillain alliance.
* In ''[[Transformers Generation 1]]'', Megatron's transformation into Galvatron clearly drives him out of his gourd (not that he was completely lucid to begin with) making him erratic, unpredictable, and more a hindrance to the Decepticons than a benefit. In one episode, [[The Dragon| Cyclonus]] decides to subdue his boss and drag him to the Cybertronian equivalent of a psychiatrist; remarkably, the treatment works, making Galvatron far more lucid, far more competent a leader, and to the Autobots, ''far'' more dangerous.
== Real Life ==
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