History Main / BreakTheBadass

** The Thousand Year Blood War Arc does this to [[spoiler:just about ''every single protagonist'' capable of combat, with the ''entire Gotei 13'' and ''Ichigo'' being the prominent examples. It started with a few unlucky Captains who happened to be ont e receiving end of their Bankai and the powers of the Sternritter, with [[AloofBigBrother Byakuya]] being the most prominent when he is broken by fear and begs half-dying to Ichigo to save him. The rest of the Gotei 13 then suffers it following the death of their Head Captain Yamamoto by Yhwach, who proceeds to shatter Ichigo’s will along with his Bankai.]] By the time the first attack is over, even with their time for reprieve, [[DarkestHour everyone is so broken that almost no one seems willing to fight anymore]].

** The Thousand Year Blood War Arc does this to [[spoiler:just about ''every single protagonist'' capable of combat, with the ''entire Gotei 13'' and ''Ichigo'' being the prominent examples. It started with a few unlucky Captains who happened to be ont e receiving end of their Bankai and the powers of the Sternritter, with [[AloofBigBrother Byakuya]] being the most prominent when he is broken by fear and begs half-dying to Ichigo to save him. The rest of the Gotei 13 then suffers it following the death of their Head Captain Yamamoto by Yhwach, who proceeds to shatter Ichigo’s will along with his Bankai. By the time the first attack is over, even with their time for reprieve, [[DarkestHour everyone is so broken that almost no one seems willing to fight anymore]].

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': Commander Shepard. [[VideoGame/MassEffect First Human Spectre. Hero of the Citadel.]] [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 Vanquisher of the Collectors.]] [[WorldsBestWarrior All-around badass]] who can break every bone in your body in more ways than you ''have'' bones in your body. And, by [[VideoGame/MassEffect3 the third game]], Shepard may be so emotionally strained and haunted by the fate of the galaxy on his/her shoulders, by the men and women he/she couldn't save, by the simple fact that he/she has literally been going ninety-to-nothing since the series began that you just want to hug him/her and tell them it will be alright. If ''Mass Effect'' has taught us anything, it's the simple fact that being a hero [[TheChainsOfCommanding is anything but easy]]. Depending on the events of the game (read: your choices), Shepard may be [[BrokenAce barely keeping it together by sheer force of will alone]]. Even if everything has been going as well as possible due to your play through the first two games, Shepard is still showing significant signs of wear.

* Eobard Thawne (the Reverse-Flash) from the ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}''. He's a calculating, evil, genius-level SOB, who casually kills even those he considers friends. What's the only thing that can scare him shitless? The Black Flash (a zombie speedster, who used to be Hunter Zolomon, AKA Zoom), who's faster than pretty much any speedster out there and can ''smell'' the usage of the Speed Force. [[spoiler:Eobard is right to fear him, since that's how he dies in the end (again)]]. The Black Flash is so scary that even Savitar (the self-described God of Speed) dares not try to ascend to godhood while the Black Flash is still alive ([[spoiler:luckily for him, he manages to convince Killer Frost to help him out, and ice is the only thing that can kill something like the Black Flash]]).

* [[Franchise/MassEffect Commander Shepard]]. [[VideoGame/MassEffect First Human Spectre. Hero of the Citadel.]] [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 Vanquisher of the Collectors.]] [[WorldsBestWarrior All-around Badass]] that can break every bone in your body in more ways than you ''have'' bones in your body. And, by [[VideoGame/MassEffect3 the third game]], Shepard may be so emotionally strained and haunted by the fate of the galaxy on his/her shoulders, by the men and women he/she couldn't save, by the simple fact that he/she has literally been going ninety-to-nothing since the series began that you just want to hug him/her and tell them it will be alright. If Mass Effect has taught us anything, it's the simple fact that being a hero [[TheChainsOfCommanding is anything but easy.]] Depending on the events of the game (read: your choices), Shepard may be [[BrokenAce barely keeping it together by sheer force of will alone.]] Even if everything has been going as well as possible due to your play through the first two games, Shepard is still showing significant signs of wear.

* In the ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/series/2186232 Pay No Mind]]'' series, the raid to rescue Eri fails and Aizawa gets caught. Things get twisted as he’s tortured somewhat physically but mainly psychologically to forcibly regress him to a toddler like mental state. Hizashi naturally doesn’t stop looking for him and he does get rescued but it isn’t something he can totally recover from. He *does* regain his adult mind but it’s only a partial recovery as he can’t predict when he’ll revert to “Shota-chan” and it can take several hours to come out of it. He still feels somewhat broken between not seeing how he can ever do hero work or even teach again and feeling like he’s burdening Hizashi since Hizashi has to care for him during the episodes. And things can get extremely embarrassing like the time he comes out of an episode while Hizashi is changing him.

* In the ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/series/2186232 Pay No Mind]]'' series, the raid to rescue Eri fails and Aizawa gets caught. Things get twisted as he’s tortured somewhat physically but mainly psychologically to forcibly regress him to a toddler like mental state. Hizashi naturally doesn’t stop looking for him and he does get rescued but it isn’t something he can totally recover from. He *does* regain his adult mind but it’s only a partial recovery as he can’t predict when he’ll revert to “Shota-chan” and it can take several hours to come out of it. He still feels somewhat broken between not seeing how he can ever do hero work or even teach again and feeling like he’s burdening Hizashi since things can get extremely embarrassing like the time he comes out of an episode while Hizashi is changing him.

* In the ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/series/2186232 Pay No Mind]]'' series, the raid to rescue Eri fails and Aizawa gets caught. Things get twisted as he’s tortured somewhat physically but mainly psychologically to forcibly regress him to a toddler like mental state. Hizashi naturally doesn’t stop looking for him and he does get rescued but it isn’t something he can totally recover from. He *does* regain his adult mind but it’s only a partial recovery as he can’t predict when he’ll revert to “Shota-chan” and it can take several hours to come out of it. He still feels somewhat broken between not seeing how he can ever do hero work or even teach again and things can get extremely embarrassing like the time he comes out of an episode while Hizashi is changing him.

-->'''The Heavy:''' I fear no man! But that...''thing''... ''[looks over his shoulder, then leans forward and lowers his voice to a whisper]'' ...[[ItIsDehumanizing it]] scares me.

* Illudere in ''Fanfic/ManehattansLoneGuardian'' successfully does this to Leviathan [[spoiler:by trapping her in a serious LotusEaterMachine of an illusion, making her experience over 230 years of life in a world where Dr. Weil and Omega never existed. After spending all of that time seeing humans and Reploids at their best, waking up back in Manehattan and realizing everything she experienced was false--including the joy of marrying her first real friend--]]shatters her self-confidence and reduces her to a sobbing wreck.

* ''Anime/YuGiOh'': When Marik is about to summon his Sun God Ra, and all the characters present who are aware of its strength have their eyes widened with shock. (aside from Kaiba, who [[AdmiringTheAbomination practically orgasmed]] at the sight of Ra instead)

** Pyrrha Nikos is a [[FamedInStory world-famous student]] who has won the Mistral Tournament a record-breaking four times. In Volume 3, she is given an offer that threatens to break her spirit if she accepts it. [[spoiler:She is asked by Ozpin's inner circle to replace the comatose Amber as Fall Maiden, a girl with magical power the world believes is just a fairy tale. While it may stop the villains from stealing unimaginable power for their own use, the catch is that the artificial process to transfer the power may [[LossOfIdentity destroy her identity]]. While she istressed by the weight of the choice, the villains fix her match to fight Penny; with her magnetism power and Emerald's trickery, she accidentally kills the RobotGirl in front of a live audience, triggering such negativity that the Grimm begin invading Vale. She decides to become the Fall Maiden, but is prevented by Cinder, who obtains the power instead. Believing that only she can try to stop Cinder until help arrives, she fights TheHeavy alone and dies seconds before help arrives.]]

** This was something of a signature trope of the Hinchcliffe (Fourth Doctor) era, which delighted in demonstrating things were getting bad by having the powerful, [[BadassBaritone deep-voiced]], jolly NightmareFetishist seeming genuinely scared, though this was expressed through acting rather than dialogue for the most part. Just a handful of the more obvious examples:

* Happens to quite a few characters in the third season of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' once the series hits its CerebusSyndrome.
** Yang Xiao Long, the character on team RWBY who enjoys [[BloodKnight fighting the most]] and specifically became a huntress [[InHarmsWay for the thrill of it]] goes through a major series of breaking moments from the second half of the third season onwards. Firstly in "Fall" she [[spoiler:is tricked by [[MasterOfIllusion Emerald]] into attacking Mercury and (seemingly) break his leg]]. Since no one else saw what she did the world assumes that [[spoiler:she attacked an innocent man out of spite]] and she's promptly suspended from the Vytal Festival with her reputation in tatters. She spends the next several episodes in the background before trying to [[spoiler:protect Blake from Adam during the Battle for Beacon]] before the latter defeats her in a SingleStrokeBattle [[spoiler:[[AnArmAndALeg which promptly cuts off her right arm.]] By the end of the volume, she wants nothing more than to just lie in bed, refusing to do anything at all. She gets better, though, after strapping on the new cybernetic arm given to her by Ironwood]]
** Pyrrha Nikos, TheAce of Beacon Academy, and the student that is considered to be the most badass student in said academy, goes through a woozy from "Fall" onwards. In said episode she finds out about the existence of the Four Maidens, [[PhysicalGoddess Physical Goddesses]] imbued with power and finds out that one of them, Amber, was attacked and [[spoiler:had half of her powers drained. Realising that the BigBad is still out there and will no doubt try to gain the rest of Amber's powers, Ozpin asks Pyrrha to absorb the remainder of said powers]] with the risk that the process may [[LossOfIdentity change who she is]]. The stress of knowing said secret, the risk she could loose herself, and being placed on a higher pedestal then she usually is [[BrokenAce breaks her]] and she actually bursts into tears when the weight of what she knows becomes to much. Things only get worse during her match with Penny in the Tournanment where she is [[spoiler:manipulated by Emerald into [[AccidentalMurder murdering her]]]] in front of the whole world. The shock of what she did causes her to HeroicBSOD to the point she doesn't even react when a Nevermore attacks her. Finally [[spoiler:when she finally decides to become the Fall Maiden to save the world [[YankTheDogsChain Cinder prombtly kills Amber]] thus absorbing the remaining power and making Pyrrha's suffering pointless. Oh, and then Cinder kills Pyrrha too]].
** In Volume 6, new character Maria Calavera is revealed to have once been [[RedBaron The Grimm Reaper]], a legendary Huntress whom Qrow idolized so much he designed his weapon after her. However, on her final mission, she was permanently blinded. Her fear of the consequences of that fight meant that she never fought again. [[spoiler:Assassins came after her with the explicit instructions to kill her because of the power of her silver eyes. While they only managed to blind her, she was so terrified that more assassins would come that she went into hiding. Even after she was given artificial sight, she couldn't bring herself to return to the battlefield. She now regards herself as a failure who betrayed what it meant to be a Huntress.]]

* In ''Fanfic/{{Fractured}}'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]'']] [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover crossover]] and its sequel, ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'', Samantha Shepard [[TraumaCongaLine goes through a lot of crap]]. First, [[spoiler:Liara and several others]] end up dying, for which she blames herself. This [[HeroicBSOD drives her into depression]], making her an easy convert to the ways of an [[InsaneAdmiral insane]] [[GeneralRipper admiral]], whereupon she engages in some highly questionable missions. Due to her FaceHeelTurn, her now-former friends abandon Shepard, even going so far as to [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown administer a savage beating]] in order to keep Sam out of the final fight, though she is recovered afterward with severe injuries. Once [[BackFromTheDead reawoken]], a continuous losing battle against [[spoiler:a Force-wielding Siren]] combined with the arrival of [[spoiler:Flood]] breaks her ''again,'' causing Shepard to hang up her uniform. Only some pep talks from [[spoiler:Garrus and Wrex]] combined with the magnitude of what's at stake manage to convince her to step back into the fight. Even then, she initially leaves command to others.

** And of course, there's the Eclipse, during which [[spoiler:Griffith finally shows his true colors, starts a demonic invasion and rapes Casca while forcing Guts to watch, and would have killed them both if not for the Skull Knight's intervention.]] It turns Casca into a helpless WomanChild while Guts take about fifty levels in badass... and quite a few in jerkass.

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'': Just how scary is Negan? He reduces ''Rick'' to a sniveling, pleading wreck of a man desperately begging on his hands and knees. Rick, the same man who spent 6 seasons slaughtering walkers, bandits, cannibals, and homicidal maniacs, is beaten into submission by one man. ''That'' is how scary [[TheDreaded Negan]] is.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'': Tex is one of the best fighters in the series, easily able to kick almost everyone's butt single-handedly, as well as being nigh-unkillable because she's a ghost [[spoiler:and AI]]. Omega is her former AI, fresh off an attempt to take over the entire galaxy, who {{Body Surf}}s and takes over people's minds, including Tex's a long time before. While it happens offscreen, by all accounts both ''freak out'' and desperately try to escape when the Meta shows up [[spoiler:and ultimately takes down both.]]

* ''Film/{{Predator}}'': The first half of the film is used to build up the fact that the mercenary rescue team is made up of the six deadliest men on the planet. This makes the Predator that much more formidable when it causes [[ScaryBlackMan Mac]] to start undergoing a traumatic SanitySlippage after having seen it, and [[BadassNative Billy]] to bluntly admit that, for the first time in his life, he is genuinely terrified and bluntly says they were all going to die.

* ''Film/{{Predator'': The first half of the film is used to build up the fact that the mercenary rescue team is made up of the six deadliest men on the planet. This makes the Predator that much more formidable when it causes [[ScaryBlackMan Mac]] to start undergoing a traumatic SanitySlippage after having seen it, and [[BadassNative Billy]] to bluntly admit that, for the first time in his life, he is genuinely terrified and bluntly says they were all going to die.

** The ''only'' villain that the ComicBook/IncredibleHulk will ''admit'' to being scared of is the Sentry's evil alter ego, the Void.
** Franchise/XMen:
*** In ''Uncanny X-Men #125'', the X-Men had to fight the RealityWarper, Proteus. He was so terrifying that ''Wolverine'' was shaken by the first battle.
*** In the [[WesternAnimation/XMen animated series]], the encounter doesn't just "shake" Wolverine, it leaves him huddled on his knees, ''sobbing''.