History Main / MadGod

** Loki in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' is a mad PhysicalGod -- he's more than a little unhinged after the events of ''Film/{{Thor}}'' [[spoiler:(namely falling through a portal into the abyss of the universe, which he is now ''completely sincerely convinced'' was his father and brother disposing of him rather than the [[DrivenToSuicide suicide attempt]] it really was)]], and abuses his powers as the God of Mischief to [[BigBad terrifying effect]].

* Loki in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' is a mad PhysicalGod -- he's more than a little unhinged after the events of ''Film/{{Thor}}'' [[spoiler:(namely falling through a portal into the abyss of the universe, which he is now ''completely sincerely convinced'' was his father and brother disposing of him rather than the [[DrivenToSuicide suicide attempt]] it really was)]], and abuses his powers as the God of Mischief to [[BigBad terrifying effect]].

* Loki in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' seems to have a bit of this -- he's more than a little unhinged after the events of ''Film/{{Thor}}'' [[spoiler:(namely falling through a portal into the abyss of the universe, which he is now ''completely sincerely convinced'' was his father and brother disposing of him rather than the [[DrivenToSuicide suicide attempt]] it really was)]], and abuses his powers as the God of Mischief to [[BigBad terrifying effect]].

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:FanWorks]]
* Corona, The Tyrant Sun, in RainbowDoubleDashsLunaverse. She's not evil in the same way Tirek or Grogar are, or even crazy in the same way Discord is, but Luna alone knows how many centuries of trying to protect her ponies from the horrors of the world drove her off her rocker, and she became a ruler so despotic that her own sister was forced to bind her into the sun.

[[folder:Film]]

* Loki in ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' seems to have a bit of this--he's more than a little unhinged after the events of ''Film/{{Thor}}'' [[spoiler: (namely falling through a portal into the abyss of the universe, which he is now ''completely sincerely convinced'' was his father and brother disposing of him rather than the [[DrivenToSuicide suicide attempt]] it really was)]], and abuses his powers as the God of Mischief to [[BigBad terrifying effect]].

[[folder:Live Action Television]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

[[folder: Web Original]]

* The Storyteller from Blog/OffThePageAndIntoLife has long since [[GoMadFromTheIsolation gone crazy from loneliness]], and it ''shows''. She's more of a frightened child lashing out in any way she can most of the time, but when she loses it, ''you will know about it''. Usually in the form of people dying, or coming damn close to it.
* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', Shakkan isn't exactly a sane god and only cares about his children, the lizard folk. He might just as easily oppose as help the heroes depending on his mood. Dionysus is even madder than Shakkan as he's always been like that whereas Shakkan was driven nuts by his lengthy imprisonment.

[[folder: Western Animation]]

** This is one interpretation of Nightmare Moon, Princess Luna's SuperpoweredEvilSide, created from resentment towards the ponies who rejected her night in favour of Celestia's day, her [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy]] (and a bit of [[TheCorruption corruption]] by dark magic) consuming her until she enacted [[TheNightThatNeverEnds eternal night]] to force ponykind into appreciating her work. She is either completely unaware or perhaps she just doesn't care that this would end all life in Equestria.

* The Diamonds from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse''. Despite being [[PhysicalGod Physical Gods]] in comparison to normal Gems, they have all the issues any mortal would, including ''mental issues''; Yellow is a narcissist with an [[HairTriggerTemper explosive temper]], Blue is [[TheEeyore a hyper-emotional wreck who’s depression leaves her sobbing all day]], and [[spoiler:White is a weird, robotlike HumanoidAbomination who practically ''lives'' in the UncannyValley and comes off as [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} more than a little insane]].]] All of them are callous MoodSwingers prone to massive DisproportionateRetribution. The only one who doesn’t qualify is Pink, [[spoiler:who’s [[BigGood Rose Quartz]] and was pretty much the OnlySaneMan. Even she was quite naive, and didn’t seem to truly understand what it meant to be a leader/god.]]

* ComicBook/TheJoker, in the ''ComicBook/EmperorJoker'' series, tricked [[GreatGazoo Mr Mxyzptlk]] into giving up the lion's share of his power, and he used it to rewrite the entire universe in his image. In the end, only his obsession with Batman (and his inability to keep his imagination from conjuring his own worst fears) stopped him (with a helpful nudge from Superman).

* [[FaceHeelTurn Dark]] [[Franchise/MortalKombat Raiden]] in ''Fanfic/MortalKombatDesperation is this to a T, thanks to [[VideoGame/MortalKombatX Shinnok's corruption]]. His KnightTemplar attitude from his appearances in [[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception the original]] [[VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon timeline]] gets cranked UpToEleven here, and he straight up [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jumped off into the abyss of the]] MoralEventHorizon.

*** The ''Shivering Isles'' expansion reveals that [[spoiler:the Daedric Prince of Order Jyggalag is a Mad God. The other Daedric Princes cursed him because they feared his growing power, and he now suffers from a split personality. His other personality is ''Sheogorath''.]] In his own words, he is a "broken ruler, of a broken realm". The Greymarches are merely [[spoiler:his attempts to restore his Realm whenever he briefly regains his right mind. "Killing" him at the end of the ''Shivering Isles'' questline cures him of his madness, leaving him free to wander Oblivion to rebuild his powerbase while he passes on the mantle of the Prince of Madness to the player character.]]
*** If don't complete Sheogorath's Daedric artifact quest before [[spoiler: defeating Jyggalag]], you can go still do it by talking with OnlySaneMan[=/=]ServileSnarker Haskill. Haskill will congratulate the player on [[spoiler:how well they are taking to their new role as Daedric Prince of Madness by setting a quest for themselves to complete and then rewarding themselves with an artifact that is already theirs]].
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', Sheogorath's dialogue heavily implies that [[spoiler: he is/was the [[PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo Champion of Cyrodiil]] from ''Oblivion'']].

* In Literature/TheBelgariad we get two Mad Gods: Torak is essentially this plus GodOfEvil and Mara went crazy after his people were wiped out in a war, casting illusions on the entire country that drive [[strike:everyone]] most people who don't have magic powers or divine protection insane if they dare to make even one step into his country. Then there's Issa, who fell in love with a mortal but neglected to give her immortality (which he presumably could have done, since his brother Aldur routinely does so for his disciples); his priests have for centuries been finding someone who looks sort of like his now-long-dead lover, renaming her, and installing her as queen ... apparently without Issa ever noticing. Really, mad (or at least really, really dumb) is pretty much the "hat" for gods in this series, with the (possible) exceptions of [-UL-] who is just sort of crotchety and Aldur who is mostly aloof.

*** If you've don't complete Sheogorath's Daedric artifact quest before [[spoiler: defeating Jyggalag]], you can go still do it by talking with OnlySaneMan[=/=]ServileSnarker Haskill. Haskill will congratulate the player on [[spoiler:how well they are taking to their new role as Daedric Prince of Madness by setting a quest for themselves to complete and then rewarding themselves with an artifact that is already theirs]].

* This is a common refrain in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfics regarding - and countering - ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureau''. In ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureauTheOtherSideOfTheSpectrum'', Celestia was driven to this point by Tirek's bag. In another, ''Fanfic/CulturalArtifacts'', the Solar Princess genuinely believed her own tyranny was beneficial. In very few of the counterpoints to the original Bureau fics is she depicted as anything but mad.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 4e core setting labels pretty much all the ChaoticEvil gods as this, mainly Tharizdun, Lolth, and to a lesser degree, Gruumsh. This has to do with their redefinition of the ChaoticEvil CharacterAlignment as being about "believing only one's self matters in all reality" and "being willing and able to destroy anything and anyone that doesn't directly contribute tot heir interests".

** This is one interpretation of Nightmare Moon, [[BadassPrincess Princess]] [[DarkIsNotEvil Luna's]] SuperpoweredEvilSide, created from resentment towards the ponies who rejected her night in favour of Celestia's day, her [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy]] (and a bit of [[TheCorruption corruption]] by dark magic) consuming her until she enacted [[TheNightThatNeverEnds eternal night]] to [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds force ponykind into appreciating her work]]. She is either completely unaware or perhaps she [[ItsAllAboutMe just]] [[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery doesn't]] [[OmnicidalManiac care]] that this would end all life in Equestria.

* Delirium from ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', what with her being the AnthropomorphicPersonification of madness. Though she is rather [[CuteMonsterGirl cute]] and harmless (unless you get on her bad side, as that highway cop found out the hard way...). And she's the baby of the family.

*** If you've don't complete Sheogorath's Daedric artifact quest before [[spoiler: defeating Jyggalag]], you can go still do it (by talking with DeadpanSnarker Haskill instead of Sheogorath himself). Haskill will congratulate the player on [[spoiler:how well they are taking to their new role as Daedric Prince of Madness by setting a quest for themselves to complete and then rewarding themselves with an artifact that is already theirs]].

* The main villain in the flash game ''VideoGame/RealmOfTheMadGod''.

** The [[PhysicalGod C'tan]] Outsider in ''[=40K=]'', one of the Necron star gods who was tricked by the Laughing God of the Eldar into consuming others of its own kind, which eventually drove it insane.

* Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness from ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''. His condensed title, referred to by the Dark Seducers, ''is'' "the Mad God." In other words, he's not just a Mad God, he is ''the god'' of madness, and the insane are his subjects.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', everyone who has ever touched the Heart of Lorkhan has gone mad (maybe not Vivec, though). Sotha Sil has retreated into a clockwork city of his creation (in a world where clocks have not yet been invented), Almalexia tries to murder you, and the BigBad Dagoth Ur, your past life's lackey gone bad, is repeatedly stated to be mad and it shows through his minions.
*** Granted, some dialogues indicate that Almalexia used to be quite a bit saner, and that it was ''losing'' her godhood sent her over the edge.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Shivering Isles]]'' reveals that [[spoiler:the Daedric Prince of Order Jyggalag is a Mad God. The other Daedric Princes cursed him because they feared his growing power, and he now suffers from a split personality. His other personality is ''Sheogorath''.]] In his own words, he is a "broken ruler, of a broken realm". The Greymarches are merely [[spoiler:his attempts to restore his Realm whenever he briefly regains his right mind. "Killing" him at the end of the ''Shivering Isles'' questline cures him of his madness, leaving him free to wander Oblivion to rebuild his powerbase while he passes on the mantle of the Prince of Madness to the player character.]]
*** If you've don't complete Sheogorath's Daedric artifact quest before defeating Jyggalag, you can go still do it (by talking with DeadpanSnarker Haskill instead of Sheogorath himself). Haskill will congratulate the player on how well they are taking to their new role as Daedric Prince of Madness by setting a quest for themselves to complete and then rewarding themselves with an artifact that is already theirs.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', Sheogorath's dialogue heavily implies that this is canon and [[spoiler: he is/was the [[PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo Champion of Cyrodiil]]]].

* The Crippled God of the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' was a deity who was forcibly dragged from his own reality and into this one. His body torn and ravaged by his arrival, which shattered a continent, he was chained and locked away to try and prevent his increasingly corrupt powers from infecting the world.

* Vertigo from PrimalRage is the Goddess of Insanity, and a sorceress from another dimension who wants to torture and enslave all of humanity [[ForTheEvulz for her own amusement.]]

* [[EldritchAbomination Azathoth]], the Blind Idiot God gibbering at the chaotic center of Creation (''his'' creation) in the CthulhuMythos. Note however his being a 'god' is debatable, as it is with practically all of Lovecraft's more tremendously powerful entities.

* SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker, in the ''ComicBook/EmperorJoker'' series, tricked [[GreatGazoo Mr Mxyzptlk]] into giving up the lion's share of his power, and he used it to rewrite the entire universe in his image. In the end, only his obsession with Batman (and his inability to keep his imagination from conjuring his own worst fears) stopped him (with a helpful nudge from Superman).