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"Don't tell me to calm down. Calm was killing me."
—Stuart, Small Soldiers
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Sometimes characters have every reason to be angry, but they try to hold it back for various reasons. Sometimes the reasons are selfish; sometimes they are because they know it would be wrong to get angry or that blowing their top would have bad consequences (such as losing their job or getting killed); and sometimes the reason is just for the sake of appearances.

Eventually there will be a last straw. It could range from a minor thing, to out-and-out hitting the character's Berserk Button. But now the flood of anger comes pouring out like water from a burst dam. It usually involves Unstoppable Rage, but in some cases it can even be Tranquil Fury. Some stories might even have this trigger a Heroic Second Wind. Also, if the berserk button is hit, this character might even be twice as berserk as usual.

A Sub-Trope of You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry.

A Super-Trope to Rant-Inducing Slight (in that the trigger is very minor).

Compare Trying Not to Cry, Teach Him Anger, Break the Cutie, Not So Stoic, Beware the Nice Ones, Sudden Principled Stand (principle is handled similarly), and Moment of Weakness (which the Rage Breaking Point can provoke).

Contrast Hair-Trigger Temper, The Stoic.


Examples:


Anime & Manga[]

Film[]

  • In the movie Drive this pretty much describes the character of Driver. He is a quiet emotionless guy but after his Love Interest's husband comes home from prison, you start to see that he is holding back a lot of anger. As things start going to hell, he maintains his cool up until the elevator scene where he stomps on a mook's head so many times that it is nothing more than a bloody smear once he's finally done.
  • Star Wars: Luke Skywalker had already been through enough by the time the climactic battle with his father Vader in Return of the Jedi rolls around. But he knew that getting furious now would lead to The Dark Side. Vader and the Emperor taunt him, but he stays calm. But then Vader threatens to take the last family he has left. Luke lets out a Big "Never!" and wails on Vader, coming very close to killing him before he realises that his own sanity was starting to leave him, leading to Luke sparing his father, which nearly bites his butt although Vader gets his own humanity back and saves Luke's life.
  • The Marvel Cinematic Universe:
    • At the start of Thor, Thor pays a "visit" to the Frost Giants, and Loki manages to talk him out of violence. Until one of the frost giants resorts to name calling, demeaning Thor as a "little princess" and all hell breaks loose.
    • Throughout Captain America: Civil War, Tony Stark was largely keeping a lid on his emotions as he dealt with the geopolitical fallout of the Avengers' Hero with Bad Publicity reputation and Team Cap treating him as the Scapegoat. Then the climax reveals to him that his parents were murdered by Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier, something that Steve, the person who'd previously called Tony out for keeping secrets, knew for two years and didn't tell Tony. All the anger Tony has been bottling up for days explodes and he turns on Cap.
  • Small Soldiers: Tom punches out resident Jerkass Larry near the ends of the movie, providing the page quote.
  • In the 2009 Star Trek Kirk is advised to do this to Spock, by Spock's alternate timeline self, in order to make his other self realize that he had been emotionally compromised due to seeing both his mother and his homeworld die.

Literature[]

  • In the novel Bishop's Heir, after Morgan and Duncan fail to save Sidana's life when Llewell slashes her throat just after she exchanged wedding vows with Kelson, Morgan looks up and sees Llewell's triumphant expression, leaps to his feet, grabs Llewell by his tunic, yanks him downward and shouts, "On your knees before your king, Mearan excrement!" He wants to kill Llewell and says so. Cardiel has to grasp Morgan by the wrist and forbid him from acting.
  • In Small Favor, from The Dresden Files, Harry is tired, angry, scared (mostly for his friend who is being eyed intently by a Valkyrie) and being chased by fallen angels. When one of them shoots his friend with an AK-47, Harry flips out and blasts a massive hole in the shooters chest (the shooter being a 2000 years old, demon possessed and a heavy weight sorcerer to boot) with a fire blast that is described as so intense it was almost a solid object.
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 Harry: Fuego. Pyrofuego! BURN!

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    • Earlier, in Grave Peril, Harry quickly discovers that he's been manipulated into a losing position: if he acts, it's bad. If he doesn't act, it's bad. In addition, he's found out that his lover has been cursed, his friends are in peril, and his lack of forethought and planning might spell doom for the Knights of the Cross. On top of all that, his discovery was planned for all of this to have maximum psychological impact. He responds thusly:
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 Harry: Fuego! Pyrofuego! Burn, you greasy bat-faced bastards! BURN!

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  • In the Friday Night Funkin' mod Doki Doki Takeover, the main protagonist, Beep Skee (who was called "Boyfriend" in the base game), explodes with temper when Monika kills his girlfriend Skee Dep, resulting in his sprite being plagued by an angry face for the song "Your Demise." The dialogue box even describes Beep Skee's dialogue as "aggressive beep bop noises." Fortunately, Monika calms Beep Skee down by reviving Skee Dep when she realises what's troubling his mind.
  • The Worlds of Power novelization for Ninja Gaiden explains the "art of the fire wheel" as a weapon Ryu was taught to create through his anger. He unleashes it when struggling against a difficult enemy gets heaped on top of the other issues currently plaguing him — becoming a CIA lackey, failing to protect his father's old associate, and having no leads on his father's whereabouts.
  • In To Kill a Mockingbird Scout tried to keep her temper when her cousin once removed Francis taunts her for Atticus defending the African American Tom Robinson, even after he tries to frame her to get her in trouble. When he croons “n***a lover” at her, she loses it and punches him in the face.

Webcomics[]

  • Bittersweet Candy Bowl sees Mike eventually reach this point when he thinks Lucy is passive-aggressively Playing the Victim Card and trying to guilt him into feeling bad that his long distance girlfriend Sandy is visiting over winter holiday. Instead of lashing out physically, he lays out a devestating "The Reason You Suck" Speech, which takes her to task for ten years of abuse. Made all the more painful by the fact this calling-out comes while she's trying to improve and stop being such a hot-headed Tsundere.
  • Happened in Gunnerkrigg Court twice, to Antimony, who is usually nice and calm to the point of seeming emotionless. The second time was very unhealthy and prompted her to jump on the first proposal of teaching her some self-control.
  • Piro from the webcomic Megatokyo. Normally the nicest guy you could ask for, wouldn't hurt a fly. But he's been shown to have a violent temper, so push him over the edge at your peril. See also Beware the Quiet Ones.

Web Original[]

Western Animation[]

  • In the American Dad! episode "Bullocks to Stan", Stan's boss has been mistreating him all through the episode, making him do lots of menial tasks, all to get his promotion. The also includes being quiet about sleeping with his grown daughter. But then after the two break up, Bullock calls her a slut. Stan goes berserk, with a few And This Is For punches.
  • Invoked in Avatar: The Last Airbender when an Earth Kingdom general wants to utilize Aang's Avatar State. Aang doesn't want to do it, since it's so devastating. The general threatens his friends to make it happen, but sees what Aang meant when he finally got him to lose control.
  • In Sequel Series The Legend of Korra, whenever Korra gets frustrated with her Airbending training, out come the fireballs at whatever object incurs her wrath.
  • Lois in Family Guy‍'‍s first Christmas Episode, "A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas". After Peter lost all of the gifts and the house was practically destroyed in a fire she says that everything's going to be all right, asking Meg to get the paper towels so they can start cleaning up. When Meg finds that there are none, Lois loses it, ranting to the family about all the sacrifices she's made to give them a holiday before storming out to vent her rage at anything related to Christmas. To add insult to injury, Meg then found the paper towels.
  • In the Samurai Jack episode, "Jack Vs Mad Jack," Jack has just fought off a small army of bounty hunters single-handed, but he manages to calm himself down... then his sandle strap breaks...
  • In Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City, Raisin Cane hits this because her boss would rather treat the band cruelly rather than rehearse. What Raisin Cane says when she flips out at how much said boss has been treating her is shown below:
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That's it! You don't rehearse, you're mean, and WE do all the work!

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  • Ned Flanders hits his in the The Simpsons episode "Hurricane Neddy". After Ned's house was the only one destroyed in the hurricane, everyone comes together to rebuild it. When Ned saw the crappy job the town had done, he lost it. He tried to be nice, but he spoke gibberish and then snapped, and insulted everyone there. Particularly notable in this case, because Ned had been building up his rage for decades. Hell, it's the reason he has his Verbal Tic.
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