History SanitySlippage / ComicBooks

** In ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfTheBatman'', a mysterious foe is attacking Batman, destroying his father's "Bat-Man" costume (in this point of Pre-ComicBook/{{Crisis|OnInfiniteEarths}} continuity, it was one of the inspirations for Bruce) and destroying the Batmobile. Batman later heads to the abandoned Wayne Manor and is caught in a DeathTrap where Bats realizes that ''he'' has been the one doing this, thinking he finally lost his mind. [[spoiler:Robin saves Batman from the trap wearing a copy of the "Bat-Man" costume, getting him to understand he's only suffering lingering effects from getting caught in an explosion. The shock is enough to rattle Batman back to sanity.]]

** This has been happening to Batman himself for a long time throughout his publication history and is arguably still happening now. Ever since the dark age of comic books began, writers have been increasingly portraying him as being more and more mentally unstable. Notable examples include him being ludicrously paranoid and spying on his friends with a giant spy satellite in space, or him ''literally shattering his own mind to create a split personality as a backup contingency plan in case he went insane someday'', to outright deceiving and manipulating his friends and loved ones in a questionable manner and acting like a massive {{Jerkass}} ControlFreak. Some stories even imply that he may be just as crazy as The Joker and that he belongs in Arkham Asylum as much as his nemesis. It’s especially jarring when you compare him to his early appearances in the golden age and silver age to his present self (granted, he was violent and wasn’t afraid to kill back in the golden age, but he was still more rational by comparison).

** This has been happening to Batman himself for a long time throughout his publication history and is arguably still happening now. Ever since the dark age of comic books began, writers have been increasingly portraying him as being more and more mentally unstable. Notable examples include him being ludicrously paranoid and spying on his friends with a giant spy satellite in space, or him ''literally shattering his own mind to create a split personality as a backup contingency plan in case he went insane someday'', to outright deceiving and manipulating his friends and loved ones in a questionable manner and acting like a massive {{JerkAss}} Control Freak. Some stories even imply that he may be just as crazy as The Joker and that he belongs in Arkham Asylum as much as his nemesis. It’s especially jarring when you compare him to his early appearances in the golden age and silver age to his present self (granted, he was violent and wasn’t afraid to kill back in the golden age, but he was still more rational by comparison).

** This has been happening to Batman himself for a long time throughout his publication history and is arguably still happening now. Ever since the dark age of comic books began, writers have been increasingly portraying him as being more and more mentally unstable. Notable examples include him being ludicrously paranoid and spying on his friends with a giant spy satellite in space, or him ''literally shattering his own mind to create a split personality as a backup contingency plan in case he went insane someday'', to outright deceiving and manipulating his friends and loved ones in a questionable manner. Some stories even imply that he may be just as crazy as The Joker and that he belongs in Arkham Asylum as much as his nemesis. It’s especially jarring when you compare him to his early appearances in the golden age and silver age to his present self (granted, he was violent and wasn’t afraid to kill back in the golden age, but he was still more rational by comparison).

** This has been happening to Batman himself for a long time. Ever since the dark age of comic books began, writers have been increasingly portraying him as being more and more mentally unstable (notable examples include him being ludicrously paranoid and spying on his friends with a giant spy satellite in space, or him ''literally shattering his own mind to create a split personality as a backup contingency plan in case he went insane someday'', to outright deceiving and manipulating his friends and loved ones in a questionable manner. Some stories even imply that he may be just as crazy as The Joker and that he belongs in Arkham Asylum as much as his nemesis.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}:''
** ''ComicBook/{{Azrael}}'': Jean-Paul Valley's stint as Batman during the "Knightquest" portion of the ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'' storyline went like this: After being doused with the Scarecrow's Fear Gas, the hypnotic trance known as The System kicked in, haunting Jean-Paul with images of his father and of Saint Dumas, the "creator" of the order he once was part of. As he's haunted by these apparitions, The System drives him to be more brutal and continuously modify the Bat-Costume, the pinnacle being when he allowed Abattoir to die, condemning his captive to death, modifying the Bat-Costume to the point where it was less Batman and more Azrael and outright kicking ComicBook/{{Robin}} out of the Batcave and working against him, alienating Commissioner Gordon, and ''Bruce Wayne'' and deciding that all criminals need to be put out of their misery. It's at that point that Bruce decides enough is enough and sets out to take back the Mantle of the Bat.

** ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'' is one take on the Sanity Slippage that eventually led to the origin of ComicBook/TheJoker. But the Joker admits he's an UnreliableNarrator and could be remembering wrong or making the whole thing up. He attempts something similar to crack [[spoiler:Commissioner Gordon. He doesn't succeed.]]
** ''ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures'': What happens to Hugo Strange. By the end of Vol. 1's final arc, he's literally seeing his son's face in everyone he looks at, as a result of tampering with his own memories. He tried to remove the one of his son's death, but wound up also removing the one of the memory-removal itself, thus he started obsessively removing every single memory he had. And it still didn't help one bit.
** In ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfTheBatman'', a mysterious foe is attacking Batman, destroying his father's "Bat-Man" costume (in this point of Pre-Crisis continuity, it was one of the inspirations for Bruce) and destroying the Batmobile. Batman later heads to the abandoned Wayne Manor and is caught in a DeathTrap where Bats realizes that ''he'' has been the one doing this, thinking he finally lost his mind. [[spoiler:Robin saves Batman from the trap wearing a copy of the "Bat-Man" costume, getting him to understand he's only suffering lingering effects from getting caught in an explosion. The shock is enough to rattle Batman back to sanity.]]

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

--->'''Superman:''' Luthor's slipping — the pressure is beginning to get to him! He's always walked a fine line between genius and insanity — and this time, I think he's taken the fatal fall!

** ''ComicBook/SupermanVsShazam'': Apparently, Karmang was a good person before becoming immortal, but spending one million of years tortured by legions of ghosts has eroded both his goodness and his sanity and nowadays he is willing -and eager- to blow planets up in order to get whatever he wants.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman:''

* The time since he last fought the Justice League and his appearance in the opening arc of ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' wasn't kind to Dr. Destiny given, while he wasn't a saint before, he's now a PsychopathicManchild who got his jollies torturing a diner full of people.

* After Optimus Prime dies ([[TheyKilledKennyAgain the first time, that is]]) in ''ComicBook/TheTransformers'', Megatron takes it poorly, and becomes convinced Optimus is still alive and planning something. His madness eventually winds up causing him to shoot at the Space Bridge, which promptly explodes and apparently kills him. [[spoiler:Or not, as it turns out Megatron was just ObfuscatingInsanity, and using his 'death' as a cover to return to Cybertron. He just miscalculated when shooting the Space Bridge, resulting in a spot of LaserGuidedAmnesia.]]

[-[[AC:Creator/DCVertigo, [[Creator/{{Wildstorm}} DC Wildstorm]], Other Inprints]]-]

** ''ComicBook/{{Azrael}}'': Jean-Paul Valley's stint as Franchise/{{Batman}} during the "Knightquest" portion of the ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'' storyline went like this: After being doused with the Scarecrow's Fear Gas, the hypnotic trance known as The System kicked in, haunting Jean-Paul with images of his father and of Saint Dumas, the "creator" of the order he once was part of. As he's haunted by these apparitions, The System drives him to be more brutal and continuously modify the Bat-Costume, the pinnacle being when he allowed Abattoir to die, condemning his captive to death, modifying the Bat-Costume to the point where it was less Batman and more Azrael and outright kicking ComicBook/{{Robin}} out of the Batcave and working against him, alienating Commissioner Gordon, and ''Bruce Wayne'' and deciding that all criminals need to be put out of their misery. It's at that point that Bruce decides enough is enough and sets out to take back the Mantle of the Bat.

* The time since he last fought the Justice League and his appearance in the opening arc of ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' wasn't kind to Dr. Destiny given, while he wasn't a saint before, he's now a PsychopathicManchild who got his jollies torturing a diner full of people.

* In ''[[ComicBook/{{Convergence}} Convergence: The Atom #1]]'', Pre-ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}} Ray Palmer has been hearing a voice in his head that may or may not be Ryan Choi's and has been acting considerably loopy ever since he was trapped in Gotham.

* ''ComicBook/IronMan2020'' and its lead up are really [[spoiler:all about Arno Stark descent into this. His JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope by having Tony declared illegitmate due to the nature of his resurrection, stealing Tony's business and identity as Iron Man, replacing Sunset Bain with a robotic duplicate -- and all for a delusion due to his disease coming back and killing him.]]

** ''Comicbook/{{Azrael}}'': Jean-Paul Valley's stint as Franchise/{{Batman}} during the "Knightquest" portion of the ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'' storyline was this. After being doused with the Scarecrow's Fear Gas, the hypnotic trance known as The System kicked in, haunting Jean-Paul with images of his father and of Saint Dumas, the "creator" of the order he once was part of. As he's haunted by these apparitions, The System drives him to be more brutal and continuously modify the Bat-Costume, the pinnacle being when he allowed Abattoir to die, condemning his captive to death, modifying the Bat-Costume to the point where it was less Batman and more Azrael and outright kicking [[Comicbook/RobinSeries Robin]] out of the Batcave and working against him, alienating Commissioner Gordon, and ''Bruce Wayne'' and deciding that all criminals need to be put out of their misery. It's at that point that Bruce decides enough is enough and sets out to take back the Mantle of the Bat.

** ''Comicbook/TheKillingJoke'' is one take on the Sanity Slippage that eventually led to the origin of ComicBook/TheJoker. But the Joker admits he's an UnreliableNarrator and could be remembering wrong or making the whole thing up. He attempts something similar to crack [[spoiler:Commissioner Gordon. He doesn't succeed.]]

* In the sixth volume of ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'', Krypton's destruction and his inability to save Argo City and his own family have deteriorated Zor-El's sanity to the point he strikes a bargain with ''Comicbook/{{Brainiac}}'' of all people and becomes [[spoiler:Cyborg Superman]]. Supergirl wonders what happened to his father after hearing about some of his actions in ''Comicbook/SupergirlRebirth''.
* Franchise/{{Superman}}:
** In ''Comicbook/KryptonNoMore'', super-villain Radion got radioactive powers because of an accident. His sanity has been deteriorating since, and he has become a raving, murderous, megalomaniac lunatic.
** ''Comicbook/SupermanVsTheAmazingSpiderMan'' During the climax, Superman thinks his ex-friend Comicbook/LexLuthor was always about to lose it... and he's finally lost it.

* Jackson Georges from ''Comicbook/ExMachina'', Mayor Hundred's former NSA handler fits this trope. In flashbacks the reader is shown how the cryptic shard that Mitchell found when he got his powers slowly drives Jackson to levels of extreme paranoia. He develops an unfounded contempt for Mitchell, claiming that without Mitchell's appearance and the mystery of the shard, he could have foreseen and prevented 9/11. He becomes obsessed with protecting his family from dirty bombs and the like, buying a HazmatSuit and making tally marks on the wall to represent god knows what. It's clear he's a step away from the deep end. Darkly subverted when [[spoiler:in desperation to save their failing marriage, his wife breaks into his work shed and steals the shard. A few seconds near a TV are enough to drive her completely and utterly insane, leading her to kill her daughter, husband, and dog. She even chops off her own arm with the shard itself. It was an incredibly jarring and brutal twist on the slow burn of paranoia the reader had been witnessing for months.]]
* Rorschach from ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' is clearly mentally unstable even before the event that causes him to [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope slide off of the slippery slope]].

** Dr. Eggman in ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'' goes into a slow burn example after Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy are able to rescue the captured citizens of Knothole, set them up in the nanite-built city of New Mobotropolis, and defeat the machine that defeated Sonic earlier. Things get worse when Knuckles-as-Enerjak destroys Eggman's city and sky fleet and, by the time issue 200 rolls around, Sonic delivers one last defeat that causes Eggman to flip out, ''tear his mustache apart'' and devolve into a blabbering mess.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': After Circe recovers her memories following a MemoryGambit that left her with memories of liking humanity and befriending Diana she tries to rebel against the new things she'd acclimated to by allying herself with a new villain in what was presented as, to her, a little nihilistic throwback to old times, the next time she shows up with her own plan it's incredibly flawed and she's hardly paying attention to what she's doing. By the end of her confrontation with Wondy she is outright goading Diana to [[DeathSeeker beat her to death]] and laughs without defending herself or trying to escape when called out on it. The implication is that she both hates and likes humans and can't reconcile her new feelings with her past (and present) actions.

* ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'': Norman Osborn has now taken over Tony Stark's job of national security, and is in charge of a group of superpowered villains that work for the government and capture unregistered superheroes. Every once in a while he is asked about his previous alter ego the Green Goblin, every time that name comes up, Osborn begins to crack a little. Every time he hears the name Spider-Man he cracks even more. Also it doesn't help that his second in command Moonstone is gaslighting him (leaves his Green Goblin mask in his desk), and switching out his medication, just to drive him over the slope, just so she can get his job. It works.

* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' in the events leading up to the ''Sonic Adventure'' adaptation, Robotnik begins to lose it, first trying to [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroy Mobius]], and later gathering the Chaos Emeralds, the Freedom Fighters, and Chaos itself to his retreat so they would all die together. After this fails, he becomes little more than a catatonic, drooling mess in ''Webcomic/SonicTheComicOnline.''
* In the same vein, Dr. Eggman in ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'' goes into a slow burn SanitySlippage after Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy are able to rescue the captured citizens of Knothole, set them up in the nanite-built city of New Mobotropolis, and defeat the machine that defeated Sonic earlier. Things get worse when Knuckles-as-Enerjak destroys Eggman's city and sky fleet and, by the time issue 200 rolls around, Sonic delivers one last defeat that causes Eggman to flip out, ''tear his mustache apart'' and devolve into a blabbering mess.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': After Circe recovers her memories after her MemoryGambit that went wrong and left her with memories of trying to redeem herself and liking humanity she tries to rebel against the new things she'd acclimated to by allying herself with a new villain in what was presented as, to her, a little nihilistic throwback to old times, the next time she shows up with her own plan it's an incredibly flawed one and she's hardly paying attention to what she's doing and by the end of her confrontation with Wondy is outright goading her opponent to beat her to death and laughs without defending herself or trying to escape when called out on it. Even Diana realizes Circe has gone mad once she tries visiting Circe in jail.

* ''Comicbook/TheKillingJoke'' is one take on the Sanity Slippage that eventually led to the origin of ComicBook/TheJoker. But the Joker admits he's an UnreliableNarrator and could be remembering wrong or making the whole thing up. He attempts something similar to crack [[spoiler:Commissioner Gordon. He doesn't succeed.]]
* Rorschach from ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' is clearly mentally unstable even before the event that causes him to [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope slide off of the slippery slope]].
* Jackson Georges from ''Comicbook/ExMachina'', Mayor Hundred's former NSA handler fits this trope. In flashbacks the reader is shown how the cryptic shard that Mitchell found when he got his powers slowly drives Jackson to levels of extreme paranoia. He develops an unfounded contempt for Mitchell, claiming that without Mitchell's appearance and the mystery of the shard, he could have foreseen and prevented 9/11. He becomes obsessed with protecting his family from dirty bombs and the like, buying a HazmatSuit and making tally marks on the wall to represent god knows what. It's clear he's a step away from the deep end. Darkly subverted when [[spoiler:in desperation to save their failing marriage, his wife breaks into his work shed and steals the shard. A few seconds near a TV are enough to drive her completely and utterly insane, leading her to kill her daughter, husband, and dog. She even chops off her own arm with the shard itself. It was an incredibly jarring and brutal twist on the slow burn of paranoia the reader had been witnessing for months.]]
* J. Jonah Jameson from ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' suffered a nervous breakdown late in Marv Wolfman's run, to the point where he believed Spider-Man was stalking him. However, Wolfman left the book before long, and Roger Stern {{retcon}}ned the whole thing away as mind-control.

* ''Comicbook/{{Azrael}}'': Jean-Paul Valley's stint as Franchise/{{Batman}} during the "Knightquest" portion of the ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'' storyline was this. After being doused with the Scarecrow's Fear Gas, the hypnotic trance known as The System kicked in, haunting Jean-Paul with images of his father and of Saint Dumas, the "creator" of the order he once was part of. As he's haunted by these apparitions, The System drives him to be more brutal and continuously modify the Bat-Costume, the pinnacle being when he allowed Abattoir to die, condemning his captive to death, modifying the Bat-Costume to the point where it was less Batman and more Azrael and outright kicking [[Comicbook/RobinSeries Robin]] out of the Batcave and working against him, alienating Commissioner Gordon, and ''Bruce Wayne'' and deciding that all criminals need to be put out of their misery. It's at that point that Bruce decides enough is enough and sets out to take back the Mantle of the Bat.
* In the ''ComicBook/BatmanVampire'' trilogy, although Batman is a straightforward hero in the first book, by the second book in the series he begins to lose his mind as he becomes increasingly tempted by his new need for human blood, culminating in the former hero ranting about how he will drain the blood of his old friend James Gordon if Gordon won't kill him.
* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' in the events leading up to the ''Sonic Adventure'' adaptation, Robotnik begins to lose it, first trying to [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroy Mobius]], and later gathering the Chaos Emeralds, the Freedom Fighters, and Chaos itself to his retreat so they would all die together. After this fails, he becomes little more than a catatonic, drooling mess in ''Webcomic/SonicTheComicOnline.''
* In the same vein, Dr. Eggman in ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'' goes into a slow burn SanitySlippage after Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy are able to rescue the captured citizens of Knothole, set them up in the nanite-built city of New Mobotropolis, and defeat the machine that defeated Sonic earlier. Things get worse when Knuckles-as-Enerjak destroys Eggman's city and sky fleet and, by the time issue 200 rolls around, Sonic delivers one last defeat that causes Eggman to flip out, ''tear his mustache apart'' and devolve into a blabbering mess.

* Issue #5 of ''[[ComicBook/KickAss Hit-Girl]]'' [[spoiler:shows Mindy having {{Hallucinations}} of Big Daddy, who advises her to go out and slaughter Ralph Genovese and the rest of his men in the horrifying ways that she'd been planning]].
* In ''[[ComicBook/{{Convergence}} Convergence: The Atom #1]]'', Pre-ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}} Ray Palmer has been hearing a voice in his head that may or may not be Ryan Choi's and has been acting considerably loopy ever since he was trapped in Gotham.
* ''ComicBook/RedSonja'': ''Queen of Plagues'' first shows Dark Annisia as a slave alongside Sonja, then as a high skilled military commander. As the plague's true nature is revealed she goes from WellIntentionedExtremist down to bloodthirsty and indiscriminate murderer.

* ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'': Norman Osborn has now taken over Tony Stark's job of national security, and is in charge of a group of superpowered villains that work for the government and capture unregistered superheroes. Every once in a while he is asked about his previous alter ego the Green Goblin, every time that name comes up, Osborn begins to crack a little. Every time he hears the name Spider-Man he cracks even more. Also it doesn't help that his second in command Moonstone is gaslighting him (leaves his Green Goblin mask in his desk), and switching out his medication, just to drive him over the slope, just so she can get his job. It works.

* Though the [[VillainProtagonist titular character]] of ''ComicBook/JohnnyTheHomicidalManiac'' starts out [[AxCrazy by no means sane]], he somehow manages to get ''worse'' over the course of the story, as his telling of the story gets steadily [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness less believable]], he gets [[TalkativeLoon talkier]], [[MoodSwinger less predictable]] and increasingly [[BungledSuicide suicidal]]. It helps that he's being targeted by TheCorruption ([[UnreliableNarrator maybe]]), lives in a LivingLabyrinth, and [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin regularly murders people]].