The Mad Hatter: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.''|''A fridge magnet''}}

{{quote|'''Solomon Grundy:''' ''(to [[Lex Luthor]])'' You're crazy.~~ ~~

{{quote|'''Solomon Grundy:''' ''(to [[Lex Luthor]])'' You're crazy.

''[[There Was a Door|Enter Joker, stage left]]''

'''[[Talking to Himself|Joker]]:''' And what's wrong with that? It's done ''wonders'' for me.|''[[Justice League]]'', "Injustice For All"}}

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*** He also once described himself as "a certified, card-carrying, lock-me-up-throw-away-the-key looney!"

*** A number of Batman's [[Alternative Character Interpretation|Alternative Character Interpretations]] state that he '''''is''''' certifiably crazy - just in a [[Reluctant Psycho|constructive manner]]. ''[[The Killing Joke]]'' ends on this:

{{quote| '''Joker''': ''See, there were these two guys in a lunatic asylum... And one night, one night they decide they don't like living in an asylum any more. They decide they're going to escape! So, like, they get up onto the roof, and there, just across this narrow gap, they see the rooftops of the town, stretching away in the moonlight... Stretching away to freedom. Now the first guy, he jumps straight across with no problem. But his friend, his friend daren't make the leap. Y'see... Y'see, he's afraid of falling. So then the first guy has an idea... He says, hey! I have my flashlight with me. I'll shine it across the gap between the buildings. You can walk along the beam and join me! B-but the second guy just shakes his head. He suh- says... He says, Wh-what do you think I am? Crazy? You'd turn it off when I was halfway across!''~~ ~~

{{quote|'''Joker''': ''See, there were these two guys in a lunatic asylum... And one night, one night they decide they don't like living in an asylum any more. They decide they're going to escape! So, like, they get up onto the roof, and there, just across this narrow gap, they see the rooftops of the town, stretching away in the moonlight... Stretching away to freedom. Now the first guy, he jumps straight across with no problem. But his friend, his friend daren't make the leap. Y'see... Y'see, he's afraid of falling. So then the first guy has an idea... He says, hey! I have my flashlight with me. I'll shine it across the gap between the buildings. You can walk along the beam and join me! B-but the second guy just shakes his head. He suh- says... He says, Wh-what do you think I am? Crazy? You'd turn it off when I was halfway across!''

'''Batman cracks up laughing.''' }}

** Funnily enough, Jervis Tech (aka. [[The Mad Hatter]]) is often portrayed as being afflicted with a serious mental illness (typically schizophrenia) and gets upset if called insane.

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== [[Literature]] ==

* ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]'' EMBODIES (and named) this trope. Strangely enough, though, the Mad Hatter didn't offer many lines that exemplify this as well as the Cheshire Cat did:

{{quote| Alice: "But I don't want to [[Go Among Mad People]]!"~~ ~~

{{quote|Alice: "But I don't want to [[Go Among Mad People]]!"

Cat: "Oh, you can't help that, we're all mad here." }}

* [[Douglas Adams]]' ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy/Life, The Universe And Everything|Life The Universe And Everything]]'' (the third book in the then-trilogy which began with ''[[The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy (novel)|The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy]]'', but not the last, oddly enough) opens with Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect trapped on prehistoric Earth. Arthur decides to make most of their situation by going mad, but is side-tracked by Ford, who had the same idea first and now wants to tell him at length how much fun he's been having.

{{quote| ''"...and then I decided I was a lemon for a couple of weeks. I kept myself amused all that time jumping in and out of a gin and tonic... I found a small lake that thought it was a gin and tonic, and jumped in and out of that. At least, I think it thought it was a gin and tonic. I may (grins crazily) have been imagining it."''}}

{{quote|''"...and then I decided I was a lemon for a couple of weeks. I kept myself amused all that time jumping in and out of a gin and tonic... I found a small lake that thought it was a gin and tonic, and jumped in and out of that. At least, I think it thought it was a gin and tonic. I may (grins crazily) have been imagining it."''}}

** They then chase a time-travelling sofa, leading to Arthur happily reflecting on just how fast his slip into insanity was.

{{quote| ''Arthur suddenly laughed with unexpected delight. For once his day was going entirely according to plan. Not half an hour ago he had decided to go mad, and now here he was, chasing a Chesterfield sofa across the fields of prehistoric Earth.''}}

{{quote|''Arthur suddenly laughed with unexpected delight. For once his day was going entirely according to plan. Not half an hour ago he had decided to go mad, and now here he was, chasing a Chesterfield sofa across the fields of prehistoric Earth.''}}

* Antryg Windrose, from ''[[Literature/The Windrose Chronicles|The Windrose Chronicles]]'' by [[Barbara Hambly]]. This character -- influenced somewhat by [[Tom Baker]]'s [[Doctor Who|Doctor]] -- is very charismatically eccentric, has a reputation for being "dangerously insane", and in deep characterization confesses that he really is mad, from long years of having to sustain beliefs contrary to the reality of others around him.

* The lost explorer Gordon Willikers (get it?) from [[Daniel Pinkwater]]'s ''The Worms of Kukumlima'' frequently discusses or makes reference to his insanity. No one questions this even though he's quite lucid and isn't a great deal more eccentric than anyone else in the book. His insanity, therefore, comes across as a mix of an [[Informed Ability]] and a [[Running Gag]].

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* Mick Belker on ''[[Hill Street Blues]]''.

* Dr. Geiger on ''[[Chicago Hope]]''. Justifying his own God-complex to a review board, he explains that because he thinks he's God, he never gets distracted by self-doubt.

{{quote| "Who's kiddin' who? Personally, I'm a mess. Should you let your sister marry me? Not a chance. But if her heart stops, you want her on my table."}}

{{quote|"Who's kiddin' who? Personally, I'm a mess. Should you let your sister marry me? Not a chance. But if her heart stops, you want her on my table."}}

* Deadbeat/Kingpin in ''[[Doctor Who]]'', "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy".

** In "Caves of Androzani", the villain Sharaz Jek goes into a "Do you think I am mad?" rant, before quietly concluding "I ''am'' mad."

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== Radio ==

* This exchange from ''[[The Goon Show]]'':

{{quote| '''Bloodnok''': Do you think I'm crazy?~~ ~~

{{quote|'''Bloodnok''': Do you think I'm crazy?

'''Seagoon''': Yes.~~ ~~

'''Seagoon''': Yes.

'''Bloodnok''': ''What a splendid judge of character this fellow is.'' }}

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== Toys ==

* Vezon from ''[[Bionicle]]'':

{{quote| '''Vezon''':You haven't truly lived until you have seen the world through the eyes of madness. Why, half the time I don't know if what I see is what's really there, or what I wish was there ... or what I pray, I beg, I plead is not.}}

{{quote|'''Vezon''':You haven't truly lived until you have seen the world through the eyes of madness. Why, half the time I don't know if what I see is what's really there, or what I wish was there ... or what I pray, I beg, I plead is not.}}

== [[Video Games]] ==

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* Most of the [[Looney Tunes]] gang know how far out-of-kilter they are.

** This was practically Daffy Duck's catchphrase in his [[Screwy Squirrel|early days]].

{{quote| Random Person: "That duck's crazy!"~~ ~~

{{quote|Random Person: "That duck's crazy!"

Daffy: "You ain't just whistlin' Dixie!" (maniacal laughter) }}

* Really freakin' creepy example: Tarantulas in ''[[Transformers]]: [[Beast Wars]]''. It's unclear how much of his lunacy is genuine, and it's been theorized by at least one fan that this is intentional, and he's actually the most lucid among the Predacons. Either way, the attempts at draining vital fluids of other characters, the gleeful sadism, the maniacal laughter all add up to an over-the-top loon who enjoys being an over the top loon, ''especially'' when it creeps people out... In his own words:

{{quote| '''Tigerhawk''' ''(shocked)'': [[You're Insane!]]~~ ~~

{{quote|'''Tigerhawk''' ''(shocked)'': [[You're Insane!]]

'''Tarantulas''' ''(casually)'': So they say. }}

** ''[[Transformers Animated|Animated]]'' has Blitzwing's [[Split Personality|"Random" personality]]. Generally much more humorous and [[Cloudcuckoolander|silly]] than Tarantulas (though he's made at least one reference to cannibalism).

{{quote| '''Blitzwing''' ''(in reference to Megatron's plan)'': That's crazy, even for me!}}

{{quote|'''Blitzwing''' ''(in reference to Megatron's plan)'': That's crazy, even for me!}}

** Not to mention Rampage from ''[[Beast Wars]]''. The quote speaks for itself:

{{quote| '''Rampage''': Is that fear you're feeling, Maximal? Mmm...yes. My spark, it feeds on terror. Let it grow! Let it consume your circuitry! Feel it! Yes, feel it! Feel the fear!}}

{{quote|'''Rampage''': Is that fear you're feeling, Maximal? Mmm...yes. My spark, it feeds on terror. Let it grow! Let it consume your circuitry! Feel it! Yes, feel it! Feel the fear!}}

* ''[[The Simpsons]]'' ''[[The Movie|Movie]]'':

{{quote| '''Scared Underling:''' Sir... I'm afraid you've gone mad with power...~~ ~~

{{quote|'''Scared Underling:''' Sir... I'm afraid you've gone mad with power...

'''[[General Ripper]]:''' Of course I have! Have you ever tried going mad without power? It's boring. Nobody listens to ya. }}

* In ''[[Batman Beyond]]'', after Shriek explains his demands to Barbara Gordon:

{{quote| '''Barbara''': You're out of your mind.~~ ~~

{{quote|'''Barbara''': You're out of your mind.

'''Shriek''': ''Duh''. (hangs up) }}

* ''[[Darkwing Duck]]'': [[Psycho Electro]] Megavolt gives us this gem.

{{quote| "They called me crazy, they called me insane, they called me loony! Boy, were they right!"}}

{{quote|"They called me crazy, they called me insane, they called me loony! Boy, were they right!"}}

* [[Jackie Chan Adventures|The Monkey King]], once he stops being a pest, brings out the [[Ax Crazy]] and lowers [[Puppet Permutation|Puppet-Jackie]] into a woodchipper.

{{quote| Jade: You wouldn't! That's [[For the Funnyz|not funny!]]

{{quote|Jade: You wouldn't! That's [[For the Funnyz|not funny!]]

Monkey King: Haven't you noticed? I have a '''WEIRD''' sense of humour! }}

* Doctor Weird from ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'', possibly. "It works! ''I'' am one can short of a six-pack!"

* [[Screwy Squirrel]] knows he's nuts, and ''loves'' it. (To the point where [[Insane Equals Violent|some find him very disturbing]].)

* The early [[Daffy Duck]]-[[Expy]] version of [[Woody Woodpecker]] used to sometimes deny his insanity even though [["I Am" Song|he frequently sang a theme song about how insane he was]]. Which only made him seem ''more'' insane.

{{quote| ''So I'm crazy, what what what can I do?''~~ ~~

{{quote|''So I'm crazy, what what what can I do?''

''[[Paranoia Fuel|So are you]]!'' }}