Sanity Has Advantages: Difference between revisions

'''Will Graham''': You had... disadvantages.

'''Hannibal Lecktor''': What disadvantages?

[[The Hero]] (or another important character) is cornered by the [[Ax Crazy]] villain, and there's no possible way out, except... this guy is crazy. Sometimes he will simply let the hero go, sometimes make an absurd mistake based on whatever his problem is. Somehow, he never does this to characters without [[Contractual Immortality]].

On those rare occasions when an [[Ax Crazy]] villain becomes [[Bored with Insanity]] and turns sane again, the new-found sanity may throw our heroes for a loop when they make their plans...

{{examples}}

* ''[[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 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.

** And when [[Meido|Roberta]] loses it, she's [[Implacable Man|even more unstoppable than before.]]

* In ''[[Bleach]]'', after Aizen fuses with the Hogyoku, he proclaims [[A God Am I]] and throws away [[Master of Illusion|all]] [[Flaw Exploitation|the]] [[Batman Gambit|tactics]] that had previously served him so well in favor of relying on raw power to crush his enemies. This trope comes into play when {{spoiler|he finally comes across someone more powerful than he is- Ichigo after his latest bout of [[Training from Hell]]- at which point Aizen promptly gets curb stomped.}}

== Comic Books ==

* In one early ''[[Spirou and Fantasio]]'' adventure, they have to stop a [[Mad Scientist]] from launching a device that will [[The End of the World as We Know It|set fire to the Earth's atmosphere]]. They fail. They say their goodbyes... only to discover that the [[Mad Scientist]] was, well, [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|mad]] and his doomsday device was mostly made out of old shoes.

* ''[[Zot]]'s'' archenemy, Dekko the [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul|cyborg]] [[Mad Artist]], tends to get beaten by his own self-destructing insanity at least as much as by the hero's actual efforts.

== Literature ==

* Played with in the [[Poirot]] book, ''Lord Edgeware Dies'', in which Poirot admits that what he really needs to catch criminals is a sane [[The Watson|partner]], so he can observe what conclusions the criminal expected a sane man would draw from his misdirection.

* In ''[[The Belgariad]]'' the king of Cthol Murgos is mentioned as having been a great warrior once, but by the time he appears his insanity had grown to the point that when he meets his arch enemy in battle he's so focused on killing him that he doesn't bother defending himself. He dies still screaming for the man to come back and fight him.

== Live-Action TV ==

* 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.

* The primary reason [[House MD|House]] has a team is to balance out his various manias.

== Tabletop Games ==

** Similarly, Beholders are capable of destruction on a massive scale (they can disintegrate matter at will, control minds, kill with a glance, nullify any magic they look at, and more), but can barely even be said to have a society, due to their inherent madness. Every beholder is convinced it alone was created in the true image of their goddess — who abets the delusion by appearing in their form — and any beholders, even their offspring, who look even slightly different should be destroyed.

* ''[[Portal (series)|Portal]]'': Subverted by the Rat Man. He was a programmer who survived GLaDOS's takeover of Aperture Science by being a paranoid schizophrenic who believed that the computer was evil and planning to kill them all. The reason this is a subversion instead of inversion is that the rest of his team ''knew'' that she wanted to kill them all at every boot up but still [[Too Dumb to Live|gave her access to the neurotoxin emitters when she started playing nice]]. Thus, the crazy guy was the [[Only Sane Man]].

* In ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' the ''[[Power Born of Madness|Mad Enhancement]]'' skill, exclusive to [[The Berserker|Berserker]] class Servants, results in a [[Rank Inflation|increase]] of basic parameters ''but'' at the [[Power At a Price|cost]] of mental capacities as well as [[Signature Move|personal skills]].

** However, the Berserker of ''[[Fate/Zero]]'' has an ability called Eternal Arms Mastership that [[One Hero, Hold the Weaksauce|allows him to retain those skills]]. It's [[Superpower Lottery|exactly as broken as it sounds]].

* In ''[[A Miracle of Science]]'', a thorough understanding of [[Science-Related Memetic Disorder]] means that Vorstellen Police officers play their role correctly, ensuring a mad scientist will surrender once their illness takes its course.

* In the "Fire and Rain" arc of ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'', Oasis comes ''very'' close to killing Zoe, but suffers a complete [[Villainous Breakdown]] and collapses in tears moments before delivering the fatal blow.

* [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2010/02/13/episode-1219-earthcake/ This] [[8-Bit Theater]] strip follows the same vein, as Black Mage reveals that he plans to help Chaos because by his (it's?) very nature he is just as likely to turn the world into cake as he is to destroy it.

* The [[SCP Foundation]]'s acquisition of [http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-668 SCP-668] was made significantly easier by the obsessive behavior of the [[Ax Crazy]] [[Serial Killer]] employing it in his killing spree. If he'd had the sense to move around more, the foundation would've had to resort to [[Death From Above|nuking the whole area]].

* Inverted with [[Doctor Steel]]. "I mean, you can get away with pretty much ''anything'' if you're bonkers."

== Western Animation ==

* An episode of the Disney ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' series featured a (non-villainous, though the heroes did not realize that at the time) reality-altering ("more powerful than a palace full of genies") catlike creature who was the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of Chaos, who [[Incredible Shrinking Man|shrunk]] Jasmine and then changed her back just because nobody was expecting it.

* Played with on [[Darkwing Duck]], during Megavolt's introduction in 'Duck Blind'.

{{quote|'''Darkwing''': Fortunately, we have a psychological advantage.

* 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.