History Main / PreInsanityReveal

This is a BackStory trope: if the character is first shown as sane, then it's SanitySlippage or one of the other MadnessTropes.

* In Season 4 of ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'', we see flashbacks of the early life of Beatrice Horseman, Bojack's abusive mother. She was once a happy child, but growing up with an abusive father and a bipolar (and later lobotomized) mother crushed much of the innocence out of her. In spite of this, she became a witty, educated young woman, but her terrible, impulsive decision to sleep with and then marry the shiftless Butterscotch doomed her to spend her productive years as an upper-middle-class housewife, and she took out her frustrations on her son.

* In the second season of ''LightNovel/ReZero'', it's revealed that once upon a time Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti was not only sane, he was on good terms with Emilia's village, and was even developing a budding romance with Emilia's foster mother Fortuna. But when [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Pandora]] showed up, he pushed himself close to the limit absorbing and using the Witch Factor to protect Emilia and Fortuna. Then, thanks to an illusion induced by either Pandora or the Witch Factor, in the end he accidentally [[ILetGwenStacyDie killed Fortuna himself]], thinking he was attacking Pandora. When he realized what he'd done, it only took the [[BreakThemByTalking tiniest nudge]] from Pandora to make him [[FreakOut completely snap]]. 100 or so years later, he's the [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis insane, grotesque, sadistic, murderous, self-mutilating]], [[LaughingMad cackling]] Archbishop we're all far too familiar with. The only thing that hasn't changed is his conviction that he's fueled and motivated only by endless love and devotion.

* ''Literature/CiaphasCain'': One of Amberley Vail's retinue is a soldier named Simeon who was implanted with a remote controlled drug dispenser and transferred to a penal legion (where Vail found him). He flinches every time he sees Cain's commissary uniform, so Cain asks what his deal is. She tells him he snapped under pressure and started executing men for failing to salute a superior officer... while on the receiving end of an artillery barrage. Cain notes that preventing that sort of breakdown is why they have commissaries in the first place. Vail then says Simeon ''was'' the commissary.

* Playing through the Story and Arcade modes for Arakune in the ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' games reveals that the crazy, incoherent, black blob that he is was once a normal human scientist who dedicated his life to study of the Boundary. Even as he was exposed to seithr the closer he came to the Boundary, he became aware that he was transforming, and that he couldn't stop. In his final moments as a human, it was business as usual as he continued recording his research and studied the Boundary.

* One ''WesternAnimation/BugsBunny'' cartoon had a man escape the clutches of "Pirate Sam" (WesternAnimation/YosemiteSam). The scraggly, ratty looking man in chains [[NoFourthWall looks at the viewer]] and says "I was a human being once!" before running away. Kinda dark for a ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoon.

* ''WesternAnimation/ElTigre''. The several-generations-back original holder of the belt buckle started out sane, but slowly lost his mind from trying to decide whether to be good or evil. We finally meet him in the Day of the Dead episode. Because he's been dead and without the belt buckle for so long, he's mostly lucid, but the insanity is still lurking under the surface.
* In season 4 of ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'', we see flashbacks of the early life of Beatrice Horseman, Bojack's abusive mother. She was once a happy child, but growing up with an abusive father and a bipolar (and later lobotomized) mother crushed much of the innocence out of her. In spite of this, she became a witty, educated young woman, but her terrible, impulsive decision to sleep with and then marry the shiftless Butterscotch doomed her to spend her productive years as an upper-middle-class housewife, and she took out her frustrations on her son.

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* While Freelancer Agent Maine from ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' wasn't the nicest person, he was still a loyal team mate. However, he gets shot in the throat on one mission, losing his ability to talk. The AI called Sigma was implanted into him so he could have a sort of voice through Sigma. But as time went on, Sigma's ambition for Metastability (the point where an AI could be considered human) drove the Maine mad as Sigma corrupted him, and he began killing others under Sigma's control. At that point, Agent Maine became the AxCrazy Meta. Even when Sigma and the other AI fragments were destroyed, the Meta was still an EmptyShell bent on carrying out Sigma's goal.
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* To most people's surprise, in Series/GameOfThrones. In a vision Bran Stark sees [[GentleGiant Hodor]] as a kid behaving perfectly normal and speaking in full sentences. His name is revealed to be Wylis.

* The ''very'' well-hidden sidequest Chapter 18xx in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword]]'' does this. We see what is heavily implied to be the BigBad Nergal as a loving father in the past, telling his two children ([[spoiler: Nils and Ninian]]) that he's going to find their mother. Their mother was a dragon, so Nergal studied dark magic to open the Dragon's Gate. Tragically, the dark magic slowly drove him insane to the point where [[MotiveDecay he can't even remember why he wanted to open the Dragon's Gate to begin with]]. By the time we meet him during the story, he's so far gone he's acting like a GenericDoomsdayVillain.

** [[Characters/BatmanHarleyQuinn Harley Quinn]] was once a promising young psychologist ([[DependingOnTheWriter or psychiatrist occasionally]]), and while she was definitely a bit arrogant and narcissistic, she didn't go fruit loops until after she tried to cure the Joker.

* It's mentioned several times in ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' that the youngest of The Endless, Delirium, was once Delight, the personification of joy and happiness, but changed to Delirium long before the onset of the story for reasons unclear. She's a bit of a MadGod. In a few flashbacks, we get to see her before her MadnessMakeover.
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** ComicBook/HarleyQuinn was once a promising young psychologist ([[DependingOnTheWriter or psychiatrist occasionally]]), and while she was definitely a bit arrogant and narcissistic, she didn't go fruit loops until after she tried to cure ComicBook/TheJoker.
** ComicBook/TheJoker himself, [[MultipleChoicePast depending on the version]], may have been an ordinary comedian (or a ruthless, but still sane criminal) before he went crazy and became a super-villain.
* In the comic book version of ''ComicBook/{{Wanted}}'' Mr. Rictus, a Joker {{expy}}, was a highly moral and religious man until a NearDeathExperience showed him that there was no afterlife, so he became an OmnicidalManiac.

* ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' shows more of what ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' BigBad Sephiroth was like before going insane and trying to destroy the world. As in the flashback sequences in ''Final Fantasy VII'', pre-insanity Sephiroth is cool and somewhat detached, but does show genuine care and humanity, especially towards his few friends.

* In ''Webcomic/RomaticallyApocalyptic'', it's revealed that {{Cloudcuckoolander}} {{Manchild}} Pilot was originally a [[{{Cyborg}} DEX]] private investigator hired to assassinate Snippy, before a grenade going off in his face left him amnesiac and severed his connection to ANNET, basically resetting him into being a child mentally.

** ComicBook/TheJoker himself, [[MultipleChoicePast depending on the version]], may have been an ordinary comedian before he went crazy and became a super-villain.

* In the second season of ''LightNovel/ReZero'', it's revealed that once upon a time Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti was not only sane, he was on good terms with Emilia's village, and was even developing a budding romance with Emilia's foster mother Fortuna. But when [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Pandora]] showed up, he pushed himself close to the limit absorbing and using the Witch Factor to protect Emilia and Fortuna. Then, thanks to an illusion induced by either Pandora or the Witch Factor, in the end he accidentally [[ILetGwenStacyDie killed Fortuna himself]], thinking he was attacking Pandora. When he realized what he'd done, it only took the tiniest nudge from Pandora to make him [[FreakOut completely snap]]. 100 or so years later, he's the [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis insane, grotesque, sadistic, murderous, self-mutilating]], [[LaughingMad cackling]] Archbishop we're all far too familiar with. The only thing that hasn't changed is his conviction that he's fueled and motivated only by endless love and devotion.

** A major plot point in [[Recap/BabylonFiveS03E13ALateDeliveryFromAvalon "A Late Delivery from Avalon"]]. The man who arrives on the station convinced he's KingArthur returned in Britain's hour of need is really David [=McIntyre=], a retired [=EarthForce=] gunnery sergeant wracked with guilt over firing the shots that triggered the Minbaris' RoaringRampageOfRevenge.

Related to HiddenDepths, LossOfIdentity, WasOnceAMan, SanitySlippage, and UsedToBeASweetKid. May also involve CerebusRetcon, RichesToRags, TwoAliasesOneCharacter or AmnesiacDissonance. Can result in the character becoming InsaneNoMore.

!!Examples

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* Inverted in ''Literature/ZenAndTheArtOfMotorcycleMaintenance''. In the first half of the book, oblique references are made to a character named "Phaedrus"; we're told little about him except that "he was insane." This turns out to be the narrator himself, before he was hospitalised and given electroshock therapy.

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--->'''Guard:''' How do you know?
--->'''Garibaldi:''' I've had that same dream.

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