History Main / InsanityEstablishmentScene

* ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest3TheKindred'' clearly shows why Brian Forbes, the nearly naked man at Aspen Falls, is called a raving lunatic. He charges at policeman Sonny Bonds, yelling that he'll vaporize him if he interferes, first stealing his badge and then hiding in the water. He also claims the Bathonians and their mothership will squash Bonds like a pimple.

* In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', halfway through the first case, [[spoiler:Nagito Komaeda]] reveals himself to be obsessed with hope to the point of having suicidal and homicidal desires in order to "become a stepping stone for hope." The reveal comes complete with mad laughter, and an admission to committing murder for the sake of hope [[spoiler:even though he wasn't the culprit, an act which could have killed 14 people, including himself]].

* The ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E11Waltz Waltz]]" shows BigBad Gul Dukat [[SanitySlippage slowly losing his mind]] as he has increasingly intense arguments with hallucinations while stranded on a planet with Sisko, culminating in firing a phaser at them. While the audience knows what's happening, it's only after noticing the reason he wasn't hit was because Dukat was aiming ''behind'' him does Sisko realize that Dukat's gone mad.

* ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest III: The Kindred'' clearly shows why Brian Forbes, the nearly naked man at Aspen Falls, is called a raving lunatic. He charges at policeman Sonny Bonds, yelling that he'll vaporize him if he interferes, first stealing his badge and then hiding in the water. He also claims the Bathonians and their mothership will squash Bonds like a pimple.

* In Creator/AAPessimal's Literature/{{Discworld}}-themed story ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12650047/34/Strandpiel Strandpiel]]'', Mariella Smith-Rhodes has such a moment when she realises the senior Army officer who nurtured her career and made her [[{{Conscription}} National Service]] halfway bearable isn't just a likeable, affable, [[TheBrigadier commanding officer]]. Promoted to General, the AxCrazy Hans Dreyer has somehow passed beyond that and is demonstrating signs of what at the very least might be called a sociopathic streak. His reaction to the possibility that lots of civilians and non-combatants are likely to be killed, if he launches a raid to take out a dangerous enemy, is to shrug and say they'd have brought it on themselves by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He then goes beyond this and contemplates the advantages of ''terrorizing'' other people out of working for their enemy. Mariella then realises why senior politicians are colluding to get the possibly psychopathic Dreyer out of the front line, as a potentially dangerous liability to his country.

* ''VideoGame/PoliceQuestIIITheKindred'' clearly shows why Brian Forbes, the nearly naked man at Aspen Falls, is called a raving lunatic. He charges at policeman Sonny Bonds, yelling that he'll vaporize him if he interferes, first stealing his badge and then hiding in the water. He also claims the Bathonians and their mothership will squash Bonds like a pimple.
* In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', halfway through the first case, [[spoiler: Nagito Komaeda]] reveals himself to be obsessed with hope to the point of having suicidal and homicidal desires in order to “become a stepping stone for hope.” The reveal comes complete with mad laughter, and an admission to committing murder for the sake of hope [[spoiler: even though he wasn’t the culprit, an act which could have killed 14 people including himself]].

May overlap with TomatoInTheMirror. Contrast TomatoSurprise.

* The ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode ''Waltz'' shows BigBad Gul Dukat [[SanitySlippage slowly losing his mind]] as he has increasingly intense arguments with hallucinations while stranded on a planet with Sisko, culminating in firing a phaser at them. While the audience knows what's happening, it's only after noticing the reason he wasn't hit was because Dukat was aiming ''behind'' him does Sisko realize that Dukat's gone mad.

* Near the end of ''Literature/OfMiceAndMen'', [[spoiler:Lenny hallucinates an image of a woman and an animal scolding him in his voice in a moment which [[WackyPointlessMoment provides nothing to the story]] except this trope]]. Naturally, the FilmOfTheBook omits this scene entirely because Lenny's disability is obvious from the moment he speaks.

* In ''YMMV/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', halfway through the first case, [[spoiler: Nagito Komaeda]] reveals himself to be obsessed with hope to the point of having suicidal and homicidal desires in order to “become a stepping stone for hope.” The reveal comes complete with mad laughter, and an admission to committing murder for the sake of hope [[spoiler: even though he wasn’t the culprit, an act which could have killed 14 people including himself]].

* In ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'' Ben Poindexter is introduced as a deadly FBI agent who executes two gangsters trying to surrender. However, we do not find out just how badly messed up he is till we see a flashback to his childhood. As a kid, Ben was a star baseball pitcher and was mentored by his peewee league coach whom Ben adored. During a game, the coach pulled Ben from the game so another kid could get some play time. This interrupted Ben's attempt to pitch the perfect game, so full of rage he threw a baseball at his coach's head, killing the man.

Often, a mentally ill character is not confirmed mentally ill from the beginning. Although there will be hints dropped, every reader realizes the character has a mental disorder when they have their Not Okay Moment. This can be for any mental illness, and can be a serious consideration of suicide, a hallucination that other characters are saying isn't there, or something else entirely, such as a StalkerShrine. This scene can come from some hapless person discovering a RoomFullOfCrazy.

* The Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine episode ''Waltz'' shows BigBad Gul Dukat [[SanitySlippage slowly losing his mind]] as he has increasingly intense arguments with hallucinations while stranded on a planet with Sisko, culminating in firing a phaser at them. While the audience knows what's happening, it's only after noticing the reason he wasn't hit was because Dukat was aiming ''behind'' him does Sisko realize that Dukat's gone mad.

* The Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine episode ''Waltz'' shows BigBad Gul Dukat [[SanitySlippage slowly losing his mind]] as he has increasingly intense arguments with hallucinations while stranded on a planet with Sisko, cumlulating in firing a phaser at them. While the audience knows what's happening, it's only after noticing the reason he wasn't hit was because Dukat was aiming ''behind'' him does Sisko realize that Dukat's gone mad.

[[folder: Video Games]]
* ''VideoGames/PoliceQuestIIITheKindred'' clearly shows why Brian Forbes, the nearly naked man at Aspen Falls, is called a raving lunatic. He charges at policeman Sonny Bonds, yelling that he'll vaporize him if he interferes, first stealing his badge and then hiding in the water. He also claims the Bathonians and their mothership will squash Bonds like a pimple.

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* ''Film/AceVenturaPetDetective'' learns that Ray Finkle lost his mind both through Finkle's father mentioning his escape from a mental institution and through checking out his room, which turns out to be a RoomFullOfCrazy containing scrawls of DIE DAN DIE and LACES OUT, laying bare that he blames Dan Marino for the disastrous kick that cost the Dolphins the Super Bowl and turned Finkle into a goat, and that he has really bad designs for him.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* In ''Series/Daredevil2015'' Ben Poindexter is introduced as a deadly FBI agent who executes two gangsters trying to surrender. However, we do not find out just how badly messed up he is till we see a flashback to his childhood. As a kid, Ben was a star baseball pitcher and was mentored by his peewee league coach whom Ben adored. During a game, the coach pulled Ben from the game so another kid could get some play time. This interrupted Ben's attempt to pitch the perfect game, so full of rage he threw a baseball at his coach's head, killing the man.

[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'': The first hint that Steven is mentally unwell occurs when his SuperpoweredEvilSide flares up as he [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness utterly snaps unlike ever before]] at the revelation of yet another skeleton in his mother's closet.