Undead

 

 

Lizzie Borden took an ax
and gave her mother forty whacks
When she saw what she had done
she gave her father forty-one.  ^*

^{For the record, Ms. Borden was acquitted, but never lived it down anyway.}

— American Nursery Rhyme

 

An “ax crazy” character is someone who is psychologically unstable and presents a clear danger to others. Ax crazies are capable of extreme violence, whether carried out with a Slasher Smile, a Creepy Monotone, or out and out murderous rage, and with no way of knowing just what will set them off, this makes them extremely frightening to deal with. This mainly differentiates them from other eccentric characters who may themselves be obsessive, weird or seemingly crazy, but use this condition hand in hand with doing good, or at least not being in the way. However, some formerly established heroes can go through an episode of ax-craziness and still retain their heroic mantle. 

Despite the title, ax crazies aren’t limited to using axes — most of them favor big knives, straight razors, or other nasty implements of gory death, with the truly crazy among them favoring the chainsaw, and the best of them, chainsaw axes. A good number of other ax crazies are also Trigger Happy, preferring either Really Big Guns that blow really big holes in people, or weapons that allow them to kill lots of people with reckless abandon, such as any automatic weapon. The truly crazy among these people prefer a heaping helping of high explosives or a good-sized flamethrower. 

It is rare for a truly Ax Crazy character to be a protagonist. Common as the antagonists in Super Hero and Crime and Punishment shows, often serving as a Psycho For Hire. 

Sadly, this is also an example of Truth In Television, as Real Life ax crazies have been responsible for many horrible tragedies. 

If you find yourself sexually attracted to Ax Crazy people, seek help. If the attraction is to the person, run and do not try to reason with them, your safety is paramount. If your attraction is to the axe craziness in general, go for it, it’d be best to get you out of the gene pool. 

See also: Insane Equals Violent, Mad Bomber and Blood Knight. Many characters with a Hair Trigger Temper are also Ax Crazy, as is the Yandere when she goes off the deep end. Also see Mama Bear, Papa Wolf, and Violently Protective Girlfriend, who are capable of temporary Axe Crazy grade fury when their kids or mate is under threat, though those characters are almost ALWAYS played sympathetically. The all but canonical Character Alignment for an Ax Crazy character is Chaotic Evil. Sometimes The Unfettered.